SMU Dean of Students and Professor of Sociology (Practice) Paulin Straughan said, “I think one important consideration for policymakers is how well we are prepared to receive an ageing population with a large number of singles who are ageing alone in their own homes, and older couples who live in a family nuclei with no younger adult members.” Prof Straughan also said that the role of the community would be increasingly important as family sizes continue to shrink with the decline in the number of children born. “I believe we have to move to continue to improve our infrastructure to support ageing in place, and to step up on encouraging volunteers... to build a strong social support network that supports community self-help,” she added.