After the introduction of Mental Capacity Act (MCA) three months ago, 38 people have already legally appointed other people to become their decision makers in case they become mentally unfit in doing it themselves. Among the most notable persons to have signed up is Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan.

This was revealed by the Minister himself during a seminar on Friday. These people are aged between 27 to 86 years and have applied for a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA). It allows a person to appoint someone else to decide about their welfare and property related things if they become incapable of deciding it themselves in the future.

The Minister revealed that he had appointed his wife, Joy, to be the decision maker in case a situation like this arises in the future. The decision maker is called a donee according to this act. He encouraged others to also enroll and maintained that is a very simple process.

Almost 80% of the people have appointed their own family members as donees.

It is bring estimated that by the year 2030, around 20% of the Singapore population will be above the age of 65 years. It will also increase the number of people suffering from dementia to 45,000 by 2020 compared to 20,000 today.