Healthy Living - Your health does not guarantee how long you live

 

A 20 min cautionary clip for seniors that could save them a lot of money, from fear and maybe from pain and their lives. When one becomes a senior, your body conditions and systems changed accordingly.  This is part of ageing and has nothing to fear.

Below is a piece I wrote a few weeks back and finally put it up after viewing the above clip that shared the same views of mine. Live and enjoy life, and don't disturb your body unnecessary when it is taking care of itself and you.

When Healthier SG was launched in 2023, Mr Sebastian Lee signed up with a general practitioner near his home after seeing advertisements for the health campaign.

While the subsidies and free check-ups drew him in, little did Mr Lee know that this would save his life.

Earlier this year, the 71-year-old retiree found out through a screening under Healthier SG that he had high levels of a protein produced by the prostate gland known as prostate-specific antigens.

After further checks in April this year, he learnt that he had muscle-invasive bladder cancer, believed to be either stage two or three. The tumour was removed on April 22.

Today, doctors are still deciding if he will require chemotherapy or radiation therapy.

“If I had not gone for the health examination, I would not have found out,” said Mr Lee. 

“Now that I know I have muscle-invasive bladder cancer, I can seek proper health treatment as recommended by the doctors.” Lorraine Lee CNA

The above is from an article in CNA about Heathier SG and the promise of better health for those above 40. I am 75 going 76 and would like to share some of my thinking about healthy living and how it would affect how long one would live. I am not a medical professional and what I am going to say is just a personal opinion from a layman. Do not take what I say as medical advice.

One thing that struck me about health and living longer is that many believed that there is a direct relationship, ie the healthier you are, the longer you live. The facts are contrary to this belief. There are many with serious illnesses, incapacitated, bedridden, but just would not die even in their 80s and 90s. There are many healthy and fit younger people that died suddenly. In my view, how long a person lives is not directly related to his health. Good health means a person can have a high quality of life while he is alive. It doesn't guarantee he will live longer.

Another point I would like to make is that our body will degenerate and all the parts would gradually age and die. This is nature and the process is slow and gradual. Anyone 60 and above, or even younger, would experience ageing of cells and organs. I can guarantee that if I go for an Xray, CT scan, MRI or a full checkup, many parts of my organs are going to show signs of ageing and dying. I believe that if there is no pain or discomfort, it is better to let the ageing process takes its natural path, gradually. If your parts are not ageing and dying, you are not human. But if there are pains and discomfort, then better go see a doctor.

I choose not to go for a medical checkup because my body is functioning normally for my age. The last medical checkup I did was on my ROD from Reservist. That was not really a thorough checkup but good enough for me. I had a bit of gout problem on my toe and the doctor was very persistent to the point of irritating that I should go for a thorough check up. He was annoyed that I refused to do so. By the way, my gout condition has disappeared with a little care with my diet. I am still competing in the 100m sprint for seniors. The most important things, I can eat, sleep, pee and shit normally. 

What is likely to happen if I go for a full medical checkup is that I will be presented with a list of all the ageing parts in the body, little polyps here and there, dead tissues, mostly benign, not malignant. At this age, there will be many dead spots all over for sure. But if they are not affecting my daily activities, no pain and discomfort, why would I want to poke at them, or even worse, go and cut it up? In my view, some medical views also agree, that poking at benign growth or tissues could cause it to break out and spread and become malignant. The above clip discussed about the risks of doing an ops or some professional procedures.

I choose to let the body adjust by itself. The body is supposed to take care of itself, to heal itself, in the best way possible. If I can do all the physical activities normally, I am very happy and satisfied.  Why spend more money and risk getting into more trouble when I can live normally? Why go for a checkup and be frightened by all the spots in the body and starts to worry about this and that? Sure, the ageing parts would go on ageing and soon I will die like everyone else. Touch wood, I could go on for a few more years living normally before ageing takes its natural course. We will all die sooner or later.

One thing for sure, your health does not determine how long you live but how well you live. Take care of your health, do some exercises within the limits of your body conditions. Don't overindulge in anything, in exercises or in eating, drinking or merry making. Moderation is everything.

Israel's weaknesses - Arabs and Muslims can hold Israel at ransom

 The Americans and Israelis have the Arab and Muslim states by their balls, literally speaking. They have all the military power to wipe them out at their whims and fancies and knowing no one is out there to stop them. And the Arab and Muslim leaders understand this and thus have to behave appropriately, even to kiss the ass of Trump and Netanyahu to the dismay of their people and hurting their own pride. But what can they do? They are held at ransom by the two terrorist states that have no inhibition to attack them, to assassinate them. The two terrorist heads in Washington and Tel Aviv talked about it openly. Their latest, letting Khamenei live for a while, how long depends on which side of the bed they wake up the next morning.

The Arab and Muslim states are held at ransom by the American and Israeli terrorists, with the threat to bombing them to oblivion, with nuclear bombs. The problem with the Arab and Muslim states is that they could not find any weakness in the Americans and the Israelis, unable to deal with them, unable to hit back and fear being blasted to the Stone Age.

Are the Americans and Israelis really that formidable, without any weakness, without any Achilles Heel? For a long while, the Israelis have built a myth that they are invincible, nothing can harm them, Israel is an impenetrable fortress. The Iron Dome, David Sling and whatever would keep them safe from any attack or harm. The Arabs and Muslims believe this and give up, no point trying.

The latest missile attack by Iran has exposed the weaknesses of the Israeli defence system. Israel is not defensible and can be destroyed. All the big cities like Tel Aviv can be destroyed, flattened, turned into the likes of Gaza. The Americans and Israelis have threatened all the Arab and Muslim states to turn them into Gaza, especially with nuclear bombs by the unscrupulous terrorists in Tel Aviv. They did not make any pretence about it, about what they would do. The threat is real.

The Arab and Muslims states did not have nuclear bombs to nuke Tel Aviv and other big Israeli cities. This is the key reason why the Israelis are obsessed that no Arab and Muslim state can have nuclear bombs. They would bomb Iran again. The Israelis were working with the Indians to nuke Pakistan too.

The Arab and Muslim states, other than Pakistan, may not have nuclear bombs now. But the same damages of a nuclear bomb can be achieved in Tel Aviv or any big Israeli cities by 100, 200, 500 or 1,000 hypersonic missiles with conventional bombs. Iran has more than 10,000 of them. The combined arsenal of the Arab and Muslim world could have another few thousand of such conventional bombs. 

Yes, Tel Aviv and other Israeli big cities can be flattened by a few hundred bombs. This can be the ransom the Arab and Muslim states are looking for. Finally they have enough bombs to hit the big cities of Israel. And to flatten them and decimate the whole cities and their population, don't need that many bombs. The thing is that it can be done. The Arab and Muslim states can now turn the table against the Israelis by threatening to send everything they have to the big Israeli cities if they are bombed or nuked by the Americans or the Israelis. 

The big cities are Israel's Achilles Heels. Israel cannot take such hits. In the past they thought nothing can hit their big cities. This is no longer true, just Israeli and American fiction. What the Iranians did in the 12 Day War is a game changer. The Arab and Muslim states can now recalibrate their defence strategies against Israel, no longer be held at ransom. They can hold the Israelis at ransom, not for a few hostages, but a few big cities, including Tel Aviv and all the Israelis in them. This is another version of MAD. Both can now play the threatening game, a suicidal game.

Shhhhhh, tariff is paid by the sellers and is good for Americans. Do not tell the Americans

Trump is gloating about his deal with Vietnam with tariffs reduced to 20% instead of 48%, while Vietnam will allow USA products to enter Vietnam tariff free.

In the face of the zero tariffs imposed by Vietnam, what products are USA companies making in USA going to sell in Vietnam that the Vietnamese are not already making themselves? Maybe Trump needs a market for his US$5 million golden visas, gold coins with his face, his own brand of lotion and perfumes, maybe arm-twisting Vietnam by force if necessary? India was arm twisted to buy expensive military equipment because Indian consumers cannot afford other expensive USA products. In the process Modi backstabbed Putin by buying weapons from USA instead of Russia. Trump laid a trap for Modi, to sour his relationship with Putin, and he fell headlong into it

On the surface, Trump has a good deal with Vietnam, until you realize that many USA companies are doing manufacturing in Vietnam in every sector, and Trump's 20% is also punishing them, with their exports to USA more expensive for USA consumers. Most other manufacturing entities are basically Chinese companies manufacturing in Vietnam, and their products will also be more expensive for the USA market. The loser is still USA importers and consumers.

On the other side of the coin, what products are the USA selling to Vietnam when many of them are already manufacturing products in Vietnam, competing with the Chinese and others? Are they going to be cheaper than Chinese manufactured goods made in Vietnam factories? So, even without tariffs can imported USA products sell in Vietnam?


Anonymous

China winning the economic war. The West still trying to start a military war

The military supplies sector is one area that China also has a massive advantage to move into, not that China is not already doing so. China has all the rare earth elements and processing logistics, all the iron, steel, aluminum and other essential metals like titanium all at much cheaper prices than the USA (that is raising tariffs on them to thwart its own military industrial complex and manufacturing sectors), all the supply chains to cater to a particular sector, a ready supply of skilled engineers and scientists that China had been training over the past decades. All these are long-term thinking by the Chinese leaders.

Western leaders are short-term thinkers, wanting quick short-term returns, ignoring the long-term consequences. They have been nakedly exposed for their warped thinking. Greed has led them to forget about needing to go for the raw materials, rare earth resources and refining logistics, new growth sectors and blaming others for their missing the bus when they are late for the party. A perfect example is their pre-occupation with logging on to protect its internal combustion engines (ICE) car manufacturers when others are already in the thick of the EV revolution and zooming ahead. The blame should fall on the fossil fuel lobby in the USA, of which Trump is a big supporter. That is one evil with businesses using campaign donations to pursue an agenda.

Even Tesla, the pioneer of EVs, despite its head start, is facing severe headwinds from Chinese EV makers, not to talk about those USA and EU late comers hitching a ride on the EV revolution. I think the USA and EU have comprehensively lost the EV battle and the market, and the only way out for them is erecting barriers or banning Chinese EVs entering their market, which is a fruitless battle. When they cannot compete at home against Chinese EVs and resorting such tactics, how are they going to compete outside the USA and EU? Just making highly expensive EVs for a limited market is suicidal.

By the way, here in Singapore, according to one onlooker, it was reported that BYD sold more than six thousand EVs in 2024, ahead of all others. It already sold more than three thousand EVs or 20% of total EV sales in Singapore just four months into 2025. And BYD is a very late comer to the Singapore EV market, entering only in 2023, which makes it even more worrying for other EV makers. No, I am not paid by BYD or CCP to promote its sales.


Anonymous

Grandstanding policies by the USA are going to backfire badly

All these grandstanding policies by the USA are going to backfire badly or are already backfiring against the USA.

Taking the Chip war as an example, the policy is really forcing China to dive headlong to prioritize chip development which it would not have done so and still content to rely on imported chips from USA, Japan and South Korea for a longer duration. Now the chip market in China is closing for these three countries like in motor vehicles.

And those chip factories set up by TSMC and others in Arizona are not even proven to be progressing unhindered with unforeseen issues cropping up and delaying the production schedule. By the time they are sorted out, especially to train skilled workers, China would already be self-sufficient and dominating. The China high speed train waits for nobody to catch up.

Decoupling from China is also proving to be a no go, which is why it is now called 'de-risking' with even the nonsense about over-capacity thrown in. Right now, China is exporting less to the USA and more to the Global South, a growing market that cannot be ignored. China is building all the new bridges to take advantage of the situation, which is in fact a blessing in disguise. The USA on the other hand is blowing up bridges and closing its doors. Who would investors bet on to invest in manufacturing? It is a no brainer choice.

Now, the USA and Israel have forced Iran's hand to make nuclear weapons. And China has also benefitted from the miscalculation of Trump and Netanyahu, selling more weapons to Iran to beef up its defense capabilities. This is another example of backfiring against the USA.


Anonymous