Encouraging healthy lifestyle for ageing population

Prof Faidz (third from right) presenting the token of appreciation to Cheah (second from left) as (from left) Ooi, Alvin Ho, Dato’ Muslim and Prof John look on

Delegates from the Third Age Media Association paid a visit to UTAR Sungai Long Campus on 19 December 2019 to seek for a university and industry linkage collaboration.

UTAR was represented by Vice President for R&D and Commercialisation Prof Ts Dr Faidz bin Abd Rahman, Centre for Research on Non-Communicable Diseases Chairperson Prof Dr John Paul Evangel Judson, Faculty of Arts and Social Science (FAS) Dean Dr Lee Lai Meng and FAS Department of Psychology and Counselling Head Dr Chie Qiu Ting. Representing Third Age Media Association were its Founding President Cheah Tuck Wing, Deputy President and Editor Dato’ Muslim Ayob, Hon. Secretary Alvin Ho and UTAR’s Master of Philosophy (Social Science) student Ooi Chia Sin.

Prof Faidz introduced UTAR and its history and the research conducted by UTAR academics specifically in the area of social science, ageing population and medical-related areas. He said, “We will look into the areas we can collaborate such having a joint conference with our Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, and Faculty of Arts and Social Science as well as conducting workshops for the members of the public to acquire the knowledge of writing and producing articles.”

During the visit, Cheah gave a brief introduction about the association and said, “Our lifestyle magazine provides information that encourages the seniors to live a healthy life and to have a lifestyle whereby they can still contribute to the society even after retirement. We can work together by incorporating young and fresh ideas into our lifestyle magazine.”

Registered with the Registrar of Societies, the Third Age Media Association was founded at the end of 2016. Third Age Media Association launched its first quarterly magazine in February 2017. The ‘Third Age’ denotes post-middle-age when most people retire and are ready to enjoy getting out of the daily grind of employment. A non-profit organisation, the association engages a variety of media channels to make information available through the generosity of sponsors, strategic allies and volunteers. The primary channels are the quarterly, lifestyle magazine ‘The Senior’ which is distributed at strategic, high-traffic locations, and its Facebook page which attracts contributions from members of the public who have been sharing it with their own networks. The Third Age Media Association meets society’s needs for knowing where to find information of interest to this significantly expanding age group, such as Travel for seniors, Aging healthily, Technology for seniors, Healthcare, Jobs for seniors and Trends in retirement villages.

Ongoing discussion between both parties