By: Yusuf L. Henuk*)
This is one of my paper have been presented at the National Workshop on Ageing from National Commission on Ageing in order to form “SilverCollege” in theUniversity of Nusa Cendana, Kupang, 22nd June 2012, and it has been compiled in my book: “I am a Writer and Leader from Undana” (2013: 16 – 19). Personally, I want to republish the paper here because I have read in the latest news in the newspapers that there is a suggestion for Prabowo Subianto is now 62 years to fight again as a candidate for the next Indonesian Presidential election in 2019 at his age of 67 years. He of course qualified for it as compared to the age of our elected Vice President, Muhammad Jusuf Kalla is now 72 years and the elected President, Joko Widodo is now 53 years. However, I personally disagreed with the suggestion because I personally have judged his characters here as not a statesman as compared to John McCainis is now 78 years of age from the USA (http://politik.kompasiana.com/2014/08/18/prabowo-subianto-tidak-belajar-dari-william-h-seward-john-mccain-dan-prof-yusuf-l-henuk-669111.html). Therefore, so I want to suggest to our younger fellow Indonesians either as leaders or not, please do not to imitate his character or as I said in Bahasa Indonesia: “JANGAN TIRU PRABOWO”. Hopefully, I will write a book as well as will publish it in the near future with the cover below in order to support vision of Jokowi-JK as our elected President and Vice President (2014 - 2019) in terms of education focuses on Education of Character or Manners ('Pendidikan Karakter atau Budi Pekerti'). This is a concern because they view education as the most fundamental thing in one's life.
Defining of an old age
"The ageing process is of course a biological reality which has its own dynamic, largely beyond human control. However, it is also subject to the constructions by which each society makes sense of old age. In the developed world, chronological time plays a paramount role. The age of 60 or 65, roughly equivalent to retirement ages in most developed countries, is said to be the beginning of old age. In many parts of the developing world, chronological time has little or no importance in the meaning of old age. Other socially constructed meanings of age are more significant such as the roles assigned to older people; in some cases it is the loss of roles accompanying physical decline which is significant in defining old age. Thus, in contrast to the chronological milestones which mark life stages in the developed world, old age in many developing countries is seen to begin at the point when active contribution is no longer possible".
Age classification varied between countries and over time, reflecting in many instances the social class differences or functional ability related to the workforce, but more often than not was a reflection of the current political and economic situation. Many times the definition is linked to the retirement age, which in some instances, was lower for women than men. This transition in livelihood became the basis for the definition of old age which occurred between the ages of 45 and 55 years for women and between the ages of 55 and 75 years for men.
Although there are commonly used definitions of old age, there is no general agreement on the age at which a person becomes old. The common use of a calendar age to mark the threshold of old age assumes equivalence with biological age, yet at the same time, it is generally accepted that these two are not necessarily synonymous. Historically, as far back as 1875, in Britain, the Friendly Societies Act, enacted the definition of old age as, "any age after 50", yet pension schemes mostly used age 60 or 65 years for eligibility.
According to data from World Health Organization (2013), worldwide, the average life expectancy at birth was 71.0 years (68.5 years for males and 73.5 years for females) over the period 2010–2013 according to United Nations World Population Prospects 2012 Revision, and 70.7 years (68.2 years for males and 73.2 years for females) for 2009 according to The World Factbook. Overall ranked of Indonesia is listed in 117 with overall life expectancy 72 years which is divided into male life expectancy and female life expectancy is 72 years and 76 years respectively. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy). In general, The age of pension for a public servant, a lecturer and a professor is 58 – 60, 65 and 70 years repectively.
The History of Old Age
One of the earlist document about old age was composed by the Egyptian philosophers, Ptaphoped, in 2500 BC:
How hard and painful are the last days of an aged man! He grows weaker every day, his eyes become dim, his ear deaf, his strength fades, his heart knows peace no longer; his mouth falls silent and he speaks no word. The power of his mind lessens and today he cannot remember what yesterday was like. All his bones hurst. Those things which not long ago were done with pleasure are painful now; and taste vanishes. Old age is the worst misfortunes that can affict a man. His nose is blocked, and he can smell nothing any more.
In ancient Greek and Roman times, old age had an earlier onset than today. Cicero claimed that old age began at the age of 46, while in the fourth century BC, the Greek philosopher, Hippocrates, placed the beginning of old age is 55 years for men and 50 for women. However, a perceived early onset of ageing did not imply that the Greeks and Romans shared Phaphotep’s belief that old age consisted of unmitigated gloom or unbroken decline. Hippocrates subdivided old age (which he saw as lasting over four decades) into five substages:
Age 50 to 65. The ‘springtime’ of old age: a person is gaining wisdom and maturity, yet also has reasonably good health and physical power. Age 65 to 75. The phase of ‘green’ old age: a person is beginning to show signs of physical decline but, ideally, can maintain activity while enjoying the social respect that comes with venerability. Age 75 to 80. ‘real’ old age: a person is definitely becoming physical frail, but should sustain cognitive function effectively. Age 80 to 90. The ‘ultimate’ stage of old age: through psysically frail, an old person iscapable reaching a peak of wisdom and spiritual insight. Age 90 onwards. The stage of ‘caducity’: this is inevitably a period of senility and painful infirmity from which death provides a welcome relief.
This generally optimistic model of old age carried over into ancient custom. The social position of the elderly in ancient Rome was enviable. In old age, the family patriarch had the power of life and death over his children and his slaves; and when the votes of the elderly counted for more than those of younger men, people looked forward to growing old despite physical aches and pains or disabilities. According to Plato: As age blunts one’s enjoyment of physical pleasures, one’s desire for the things of the intelligence and one’s delight in them increase accordingly.
However, the notion of ageing as the ‘worst of misfortunes’ was prevalent during eras of history when the physical attributes of beauty, strength and endurance where highly prized. In medieval Europe, for example, where military and courtly exploits served to brighten an otherwise harsh and psysically stressful style of existence, old age was scorned.
In the other words, in Confucian China, where wisdom and continuity with tradition were valued more highly than psysical strength or athletic prowess, the same distinctive characteristic of old age were viewed in a favourable light.
Confucius wrote:When I was 15 years old, I set my heart upon the study of wisdom. At 30, I planted my feet on firm ground and grew stronger in it. At 40, I no longer had doubts. At 50, I understood Heaven’s bidding. At 60, there was nothing on earth that could shake me. At 70, I could follow the dictates of my own heart without overstepping the boundaries of what was right. With the onset of modern industrialization, the younger adult’s physical assets of health, strength and endurance became less relevant to social position of functioning in society. At the same time, medical advances –from antibiotics to spectacles and hearing aids—contributed to the prolongation of the older person’s peak level of fitness in later years. Thus, over the last century, old age has become a very different kind of life experience from the one portrayed in these historical images.
For addition information, I like the following quotation from Pablo: “No matter how old you are now. You are never too young or too old for success or going after what you want”. Here’s a his short list of people who accomplished great things at different ages: 1) Helen Keller, at the age of 19 months, became deaf and blind. But that didn’t stop her. She was the first deaf and blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. 2) Mozart was already competent on keyboard and violin; he composed from the age of 5. 3) Shirley Temple was 6 when she became a movie star on “Bright Eyes.” 4) Anne Frank was 12 when she wrote the diary of Anne Frank. 5) Magnus Carlsen became a chess Grandmaster at the age of 13. 6) Nadia Comăneci was a gymnast from Romania that scored seven perfect 10.0 and won three gold medals at the Olympics at age 14. 7) Tenzin Gyatso was formally recognized as the 14th Dalai Lama in November 1950, at the age of 15. 8) Pele, a soccer superstar, was 17 years old when he won the world cup in 1958 with Brazil. 9) Elvis was a superstar by age 19. 10) John Lennon was 20 years and Paul Mcartney was 18 when the Beatles had their first concert in 1961. 11) Jesse Owens was 22 when he won 4 gold medals in Berlin 1936. 12) Beethoven was a piano virtuoso by age 23. 13) Issac Newton wrote Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica at age 24. 14) Roger Bannister was 25 when he broke the 4 minute mile record. 15) Albert Einstein was 26 when he wrote the theory of relativity. 16) Lance E. Armstrong was 27 when he won the tour de France. 17) Michelangelo created two of the greatest sculptures “David” and “Pieta” by age 28. 18) Alexander the Great, by age 29, had created one of the largest empires of the ancient world. 19) J.K. Rowling was 30 years old when she finished the first manuscript of Harry Potter. 20) Amelia Earhart was 31 years old when she became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean 21) Oprah was 32 when she started her talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind 22) Edmund Hillary was 33 when he became the first man to reach Mount Everest. 23) Martin Luther King Jr. was 34 when he wrote the speech “I Have a Dream." 24) Marie Curie was 35 years old when she got nominated for a Nobel Prize in Physics 25) The Wright brothers, Orville (32) and Wilbur (36) invented and built the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight. 26) Vincent Van Gogh was 37 when he died virtually unknown, yet his paintings today are worth millions. 27) Neil Armstrong was 38 when he became the first man to set foot on the moon. 28) Mark Twain was 40 when he wrote "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", and 49 years old when he wrote "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". 29) Christopher Columbus was 41 when he discovered the Americas. 30) Rosa Parks was 42 when she refused to obey the bus driver’s order to give up her seat to make room for a white passenger. 31) John F. Kennedy was 43 years old when he became President of the United States. 32) Henry Ford Was 45 when the Ford T came out. 33) Suzanne Collins was 46 when she wrote "The Hunger Games" 34) Charles Darwin was 50 years old when his book On the Origin of Species came out. 35) Leonardo Da Vinci was 51 years old when he painted the Mona Lisa. 36) Abraham Lincoln was 52 when he became president. 37) Ray Kroc Was 53 when he bought the McDonalds Franchise and took it to unprecedented levels. 38) Dr. Seuss was 54 when he wrote "The Cat in the Hat". 40) Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger III was 57 years old when he successfully ditched US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River in 2009. All of the 155 passengers aboard the aircraft survived. 41) Colonel Harland Sanders was 61 when he started the KFC Franchise. 42) J.R.R Tolkien was 62 when the Lord of the Ring books came out. 43) Ronald Reagan was 69 when he became President of the US. 44) Jack Lalane at age 70 handcuffed, shackled, towed 70 rowboats. 45) Nelson Mandela was 76 when he became President”.
[46]. Joko Widodo was 53 when he became the 7th President of Republic of Indonesia.
[47]. Muhammad Jusuf Kalla was 72 when he became the second term as Vice President of Republic of Indonesia.
In short, live begins at 55 years for man and 50 for woman. Overall life expectancy in Indonesia is 72 years which is divided into male life expectancy and female life expectancy in Indonesia is 72 years and 76 years respectively. The age of pension for a public servant, a lecturer and a professor is 58 – 60, 65 and 70 years.
*) A Professor from the University of Nusa Cendana, Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, INDONESIA.
