Remarks by MOS Rahayu Mahzam at the Launch of Lions Befrienders' New Neighbourhood Assistant for Nurturing Ageing (NANA) AI Initiative

Introduction

1.  Good afternoon, everyone! It is a pleasure to be here at Lions Befrienders today.

2. Every time I visit an Active Ageing Centre, I leave feeling truly energised. The 'can-do' spirit I see in our seniors and service providers is truly infectious.

3. We are here today to celebrate that spirit of innovation. I am very happy to join you for the official launch of the Neighbourhood Assistant for Nurturing Ageing, also known as NANA.

Transforming Care in the Community in an Aged Society

4.  By 2030, one in four Singaporeans will be aged 65 and older, and one in four of them will be aged 80 and above. We want our seniors to remain healthy, active and connected. We want them to be supported, to live in the community for as long as possible.

5. And technology can help us to do so. For example, seniors can take a wellness questionnaire on the LifeSG app, which is an app that consolidates over 100 government services, and receive a summary of their well-being, along with personalised recommendations to improve their well-being, such as the active ageing programmes available near them.

6. Technology would also allow us to move more upstream and expand the support for seniors. We want to build a community where someone is always looking out for us, not just when you are unwell, but even before anything goes wrong. To make this vision a reality, we need to embrace technology as an enabler for care.

Harnessing Technology for Care

7. NANA represents this approach. It is an AI-powered voice assistant that can be automated to make check-in calls to seniors for a chat in their preferred language or dialect. After each conversation, NANA provides Lions Befrienders staff with a summary of the key points, and highlights anything that may need follow-up. This AI voice befriender demonstrates how we can harness technology to keep an eye on the emotional and mental well-being of our seniors, even between visits and centre activities.  

8. I know that when we talk about AI, some may worry that the human touch will be lost. However, this is not about technology replacing people. It is about technology supporting people. We can think of AI tools like NANA as the "eyes and ears" that support the "heart" of our care providers. By handling the routine check-ins with seniors, NANA frees up our staff and volunteers to focus on what they do best: providing deep, meaningful companionship and support that only humans can give.

9. I understand that Mr Yoganathan will be sharing his experience using NANA and how it has opened up his perception of AI. And I look forward to hearing his experience.

Recognising Ground-Up Innovation

10. I want to commend Lions Befrienders for the incredible work you have done over the past few years, refining and “teaching” NANA to better understand and respond to our Singaporean seniors. Thank you for this innovation and for always thinking of new ways to care for our seniors in the community. I look forward to seeing how NANA transforms care for our seniors.

Conclusion

11. To all our seniors here today, I hope you will welcome NANA with open hearts. Do not be shy, talk to NANA, share your thoughts and feedback, and help to make these tools work better for you. Because the more NANA interacts with you, the more NANA learns, the better NANA will be.

12. And I want to again, congratulate the team at Lions Befrienders for this meaningful effort. I wish you all good health and a wonderful afternoon ahead.

13. Thank you very much.