Building Bonds & Healthier Lives Through Community Collaboration
In September, when Mei Ling residents came together for their community day, the Happy Village @ Mei Ling (HV@ML) team was right there at the heart of the action. Together with community partners, HV@ML showcased ongoing efforts to help residents lead happier, healthier lives.
At Mei Ling Community Day, Ms Sophia Cheong (middle) and Ms Teresa Quek (right) from the HV@ML team engaged with residents and partners alike, showing how community conversations can foster lasting health and well-being.
For the HV@ML team, events like these go beyond outreach – they are opportunities to deepen relationships and strengthen residents’ sense of belonging.
“By being present at community gatherings, we get to explain to residents about HV@ML so they start to see it as somewhere they can drop by, join an activity, or even contribute their own ideas,” said Ms Teresa Quek, Senior Manager of Operations at the National University Health System (NUHS). “These gatherings also help us identify residents who are keen to play a bigger role in their community, whether by leading interest groups, sharing their skills, or simply helping their neighbours stay active and connected. Over time, this helps build a culture of mutual support where health and well-being become part of the everyday rhythm of life in Mei Ling.”
HV@ML, a community space by Health District @ Queenstown’s (HD@QT), opened earlier this year at 160 Mei Ling Street. It operates under an innovative care model that combines the expertise of healthcare professionals, social care partners, and volunteers to support residents’ health and well-being holistically within the community.
From mending jewellery and clothes to fixing wheelchairs, residents and partners joined hands at Mei Ling Community Day – showing how small acts of care can bring the community closer.
Through close collaboration with community partners such as NUHS, the Ministry of Social and Family Development, Agency for Integrated Care, Health Promotion Board, People’s Association, SportSG, and Lions Befrienders, HV@ML encourages residents to stay active, build meaningful connections and enhance their well-being.
A thriving hub of health & connection
Today, HV@ML has grown into lively community hub filled with laughter, conversation and camaraderie. Thrice a week, residents gather for exercise programmes that cater to different fitness levels.
KOPI Fit Strong & Steady helps residents build flexibility and strength through circuit exercises; KOPI Fit Fun & Fit allows them to use everyday items to improve their mobility and reduce fall risks, while KOPI Fit Move & Mingle, a weekly walking group co-led by residents, blends light strength and balance exercises with social connection.
These sessions have been well-received – especially the weekly walks, where participants chat and stroll in small groups, and sometimes end their mornings after a coffee break.
Resident Madam Noraini laughingly admits she used to be “too lazy to exercise”. Today she is a regular at KOPI Fit Move & Mingle and often helps to lead the walks.
The badminton court near HV@ML frequently rings with lively chatter and laughter as residents gather there before setting off for their walks.
“After Happy Village opened, I make it a point to come and join them to take a walk. I enjoy meeting new friends, and every day is a happy day,” said the retiree.
For the HV@ML team, such stories show how their vision for the space is taking root. Every resident who is empowered and encouraged to live more healthily is a success.
Mr P, once a bystander, now actively participates in activities, health talks and follow-ups. He even shares updates on his medical visits with HV@ML staff.
“At Mei Ling, we have seen our vision come to life: Residents have become more engaged, friendships have deepened, and more people are taking active steps to care for their own health and for others around them,” said Teresa. “By anchoring care and connection within the community, we’re building the foundation of a healthier precinct, one where we walk hand-in-hand with residents and partners to make health part of everyday living.”
For more information about HV@ML, visit www.hdqt.sg/hvml.
Step by Step Towards Better Health
On a sunny Thursday morning, Queenstown residents gathered at Happy Village @ Mei Ling (HV@ML) to lace up their shoes for a special Interval Walking + Food Centre Tour. More than just a walk around the hood, residents received a hands-on lesson on how to better take charge of their health.
Beaming participants and SportSG coaches put learning into action by ending their session at Mei Ling Food Centre, where they practised making healthier yet tasty food choices.
This event, co-organised by SportSG and the National University Health System (NUHS) in collaboration with Health District @ Queenstown (HD@QT), is part of the national ‘Journey to a Healthier You’ initiative to give residents more support and access to health and wellness programmes and services. This initiative was made possible through the close partnership between SportSG and NUHS, curating activities that empower residents to adopt healthier lifestyles.
The session began with SportSG coaches introducing the idea of interval walking to participants, who were taught how to alternate between brisk and relaxed paces to boost cardiovascular fitness and build stamina safely.
After a quick gait assessment to determine individual walking speeds, they headed outdoors in groups to try it out for themselves. Laughter and encouragement filled the air as the participants spurred one another on through the five rounds of exercises.
SportSG coaches showed residents how to mix up their pace — 3 mins fast, 3 mins slow — to improve mobility, sharpen their minds and energise their hearts.
The morning continued with a short nutrition workshop back at HV@ML on recovery and refuelling after exercise. They learnt how simple tweaks, such as choosing leaner meat or reducing sugary drinks, can result in healthier food choices without sacrificing taste.
There’s nothing like good food and great company to wrap up the session. Residents enjoyed tucking into tasty local favourites with a healthier twist.
The lesson was brought to life when the residents, alongside SportSG coaches and HV@ML team, adjourned to Mei Ling Market and Food Centre to put into practice the morning’s lesson. Turning learning into doing, one resident bought a bunch of bananas to share, bonding over a shared meal and friendly chatter.
For HV@ML team, their collaboration with partners like SportSG in events like this reflects their broader vision of working with partners to co-create environments and cultures that make it easier for residents to live well. Such partnerships and joint events enhance the variety of activities available to residents, while identifying and engaging interested residents who are keen to join the HV@ML community to stay healthy together.
Take a step towards a healthier you by joining the next event!
For residents of Happy Village @ Mei Ling, register for the Sports Day + Fitness and Health Assessment at Delta Active Health Lab on 18 December 2025, 2.30pm to 4pm: https://for.sg/18Dec-SportSG
Beyond Medicine: HD@QT & Experts Explore Vital Themes Shaping Asian Longevity
What does it mean to age well in Asia? These questions took centre stage at the West Pacific Rim Consortium for Healthy Ageing Symposium 2025 in Singapore from 20 to 22 November 2025.
Lively conversations and fresh perspectives shared among the symposium attendees who came together to connect and spark possibilities for healthy ageing.
Organised by the West Pacific Rim Consortium and hosted by the Health District @ Queenstown (HD@QT), the symposium brought together close to 30 policymakers, healthcare practitioners, researchers, and community leaders from leading institutions in Asia to share regionally grounded approaches to ageing well.
The consortium — a collaboration between the National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology (NCGG) in Japan, and the National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU) in Taiwan, together with the National University of Singapore (NUS) and National University Health System (NUHS) — aims to collectively address the challenges and opportunities of rapid demographic transitions across some of the world’s fastest-ageing societies.
Professor John Eu-Li Wong, Executive Director of the NUS Centre for Population Health and HD@QT Co-Chair, said, “We are facing an unprecedented period in human history with many societies having more older people than younger people. Japan was the first country to experience this and more countries, including Singapore, are now similarly affected. It is through joining consortia and meetings like this that we learn from each other and work together on realising the opportunities this creates.”
By placing Asian contexts, cultures and community networks at the heart of the conversation, the symposium highlighted a crucial insight: ageing is profoundly shaped by relationships and local environments, not solely by medicine or policy.
From research to real-world impact
Over three days, speakers from Singapore, Japan and Taiwan explored themes such as frailty prevention, brain health, community-based rehabilitation and digital innovations that support ageing in place.
The fresh insights shared by the regional speakers kept the audience captivated, leading to lively discussions.
Towards an Asian Framework for Healthy Longevity
Presentations by regional speakers illustrated how each country is leveraging its strengths — from community rehabilitation systems in Japan to integrated care networks— to shape holistic approaches to ageing that are suited to Asia’s diverse populations.
Associate Professor Reshma Merchant, Head of Geriatric Medicine at the National University Hospital, provided an overview of Singapore’s strategy for healthy longevity, and the importance of screening for and strengthening intrinsic capacity through programmes like Screen and Prevent Decline in Intrinsic Capacity in Elders Through Multisectoral Collaboration (SPICE).
Dr Tan Li Feng, Senior Consultant, Division of Geriatric Medicine, Alexandra Hospital, and Geriatrics Lead at the NUHS Regional Health System Office, presented her work on using digital tools and artificial intelligence to detect early memory decline and offer personalised brain health interventions using HD@QT as a platform for developing this technology.
Dr Soh Kai Ruo, a lecturer at the Department of Communications and New Media, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, and co-lead of the Communications and Engagement initiative at HD@QT, highlighted the importance of a participatory approach to communications and shared insights from her experience engaging youths on the topic of ageing in Queenstown.
Professor Michael Chee, Director of the Centre for Sleep and Cognition at NUS Medicine, shared on the importance of sleep in healthy longevity. His data using wearable trackers revealed important insights on the sleeping patterns of NUS students, staff and faculty.
Associate Professor Jan Gruber from the Department of Biochemistry at NUS Medicine highlighted ongoing research with Dr Fong Sheng, Consultant, Division of Geriatric Medicine, Department of Medicine, Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, on biological ageing clocks — algorithms that use observable biological features to estimate an individual’s risk equivalent biological age — and their potential to inform strategies for successful ageing.
Professor Roger Foo, Vice Dean (Research) and Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Professor of Medicine at NUS Medicine, and Senior Consultant, Department of Cardiology, National University Heart Centre, Singapore, added a cardiometabolic lens, highlighting how heart and metabolic health intersect with ageing trajectories. He also shared new insights from Project RESET, his team’s Singapore-based research initiative aimed at promoting healthy ageing, including key findings on insulin resistance and the next steps to turn the project into a modular intervention platform.
Contributing to the theme of Brain Health in Ageing Communities, Dr Yap Kwong Hsia, Senior Research Fellow at NUS Medicine, shared implementation reflections from Singapore’s SINGER multidomain dementia-prevention trial, led by Professor Christopher Chen. Her presentation highlighted the team’s 88.8% participant retention rate — an encouraging outcome as SINGER’s implementation insights are considered for possible future adaptation in real-world community settings, including Queenstown.
Other Singapore academics also contributed to the discussions, including Professor Paulin Straughan, Director of the Centre for Research on Successful Ageing (ROSA) at the Singapore Management University, who shared findings from the Singapore Life Panel® and how social determinants and the social environment impact intrinsic capacity, resilience, and ultimately well-being among older Singaporeans.
Separately, Ms Yang Xiaoxuan from HDB, also shared insights on the future of public housing. Across the sessions, speakers noted Asia’s shared strengths — strong family networks, intergenerational ties and community solidarity — while addressing demographic shifts and rising chronic disease burdens.
Noting on the diversity of the presentations and experiences shared, Associate Professor David Michael Allen, Deputy Executive Director of the NUS Centre for Population Health, said: “While all of the symposium's participants have identified or recognised the same or similar unmet medical, social, psychological needs of their populations, the focus of their individual or region's work may be slightly different. This difference can be due to a difference in the expressed priorities of their communities and leadership, or to the best use of the resources the experts have available. The symposium's value comes from hearing and discussing with them why they chose to focus on what they do, the approaches they took to intervene and how they determined if the interventions are successful or not."
Delegates from Japan, Taiwan and Singapore energising the room with cross-cultural perspectives and fresh insights.
Innovative Approaches Across the Region
The symposium also showcased contributions from Taiwan, where policy and research leaders are shaping ageing strategies. Dr Chen Ran-Chou, Commissioner at the Department of Health in New Taipei City highlighted the role of policy leadership in shaping supportive environments for older adults.
Meanwhile, experts shared how they are harnessing data to support healthy ageing. Professor Chen Liang-Kung, Superintendent, at the Taipei Municipal Gan-Dau Hospital, shared how data can be used to identify high-risk sub-populations.
From Japan, speakers shared a range of approaches to healthy ageing, covering both non-pharmacological and pharmacological strategies. Associate Professor Yosuke Osuka from the Department of Frailty Research, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, discussed digital biomarkers for frailty assessment and pathways to real-world implementation, while Dr Hiroyuki Sasai, Theme Leader, Frailty and Musculoskeletal Health Research, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Geriatrics and Gerontology evaluated Radio Taiso, Japan’s national calisthenics program, examining its effectiveness and strategies for wider adoption.
Summing up the importance of bringing such a gathering of diverse experience — from medical specialists of many stripes, sociologists, biochemists, administrators, architects, psychologists, physiologists, urban planners, etc — under one roof, Associate Professor Allen added: “Healthy ageing will not be achieved by medical modalities alone; it will require a collaborative effort across disciplines and across societal domains."
Collaborating for the Future
From Singapore’s neighbourhood-based health initiatives to Japan’s community-led rehabilitation and Taiwan’s integrated service frameworks, the discussions at the West Pacific Rim Consortium for Healthy Ageing Symposium 2025 showed how Asian approaches to healthy ageing are already broadly aligned. Participants highlighted that solutions such as AI-driven brain health tools and community resilience frameworks must remain both scientifically grounded and culturally responsive, with sustained collaboration across countries key to advancing these shared goals.
Reflecting on the consortium’s long-term regional role, HD@QT’s Professor Wong shared, “If this event helps to develop networks among participants, it would have achieved one of its main goals. If these networks can facilitate innovation, accelerate implementation, and generate value for students, practitioners, researchers and policymakers, hopefully others will consider joining us to uplift the region further, faster.”