Sharing her views on what is the “ideal age” for most people worldwide today, SMU Dean of Students and Professor of Sociology (Practice) Paulin Straughan explained why she believes the magic number is 21. In any case, she noted that the life expectancy of Singapore citizens and permanent residents at birth is 83, according to the latest data from the Singapore Department of Statistics, and is set to rise. She said, “I believe that as life expectancy increases, there will be greater societal acceptance of people, whatever age they may be. In recent years, we hear phrases such as ‘50 is the new norm’ becoming more common. Who knows? Perhaps that might replace ‘forever 21’ as the default reply when asked about one’s age in the future.”