Single at 60: A Wood Dragon looks back on life's choices

Whether married or single, the hope is that you come to terms with life by the time you come full circle.

- John Lui

This year, a group of us Wood Dragons will be turning 60. A Wood Dragon year occurs twice in a person's life: When one is born in 1964 and when one turns 60 in 2024, and as far as milestones go, that is all you get, because that is how human lifespans and the Chinese zodiac line up. Welcome to the world of Asian maths.

My LifeSG app, the one that gives users access to government services, has a section called Key Moments In Life. In trying to be helpful, the app puts on the front page two sites tailor-made for me, the user. They are Active Ageing: check your medical appointments, and Future Planning: plan ahead for end-of-life.

Am I wrong, or does it feel like the app and the Chinese zodiac are trying to tell me something?

They should relax. There is nothing they can say to me about my age that my back, knees and teeth haven't made loud and clear a decade ago.

Along with a fabulous pair of eye bags, time has gifted me with a matching set of saggy cheeks. When I have dinner with my group from National Service, it's like a meeting of sentient jowls.

When I read a week or so ago that the Social Development Network (SDN), also known as the national matchmaking agency, had pivoted to supporting other organisations that provide matchmaking and relationship development services, I felt a pang.