QCEC 2023
The Irrelevance of Age is Our Potentiality

The renowned oldest yogi, Tao Porchon, once claimed: "I don't believe in age. I believe in energy. Don't let age dictate what you can and cannot do.” She was also the first to discover yoga at the age of eight. Does age only represent the length of time that a person has lived or does it serve as the limit and framework in one’s life? Age is definitely a major factor of one’s performance in a particular field. Whether it is superb or inferior, it will be affected by the change in our body and mind when growing. However, should we be restricted by the rule of age? Obviously not. In my opinion, age is just a mathematical number, it does not denote our experience and not even our capability. 

Would you accept a 20-year-old young adult to be the president of your country? I believe most of us will deny it. Why? They are too young to be exposed enough to have the competence in leading a whole country or even a state. Indeed, a callow novice will not be able to handle the global situations as effectively as an experienced predecessor. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, governments had to take decisive and helpful measures to counteract the effects of the contagious disease. However, there is a misconception in this case. Instead of him being not as old as expected, it is the amount of experience that he has accumulated. Likewise, if a 45-year-old unemployed uncle who lives next to you is becoming the prime minister, a majority of us will find it unacceptable too. Experience and capability are not equivalent to how old we are, yet they are relevant to the resources that we can access to, such as political knowledge, information of current affairs and the liberal education that we are exposed to. 

Sanna Marin is the incumbent prime minister of Finland since 2019. She was elected to be the prime minister at the age of 34 and she was renowned for being the youngest prime minister in Finland’s history. Despite her age, she was praised for handling the Covid-19 pandemic effectively and leading her country to join NATO. Her political astuteness and skillfulness in negotiating with other ministers even transcend that of some of the senior politicians. 

Nowadays, some of the young adults are competent to take on the mantle of leadership in a country and outshine their predecessors. How about the Generation X, those aged between 41-56? Although scientific research has shown that the physical strength of the older may not be as strong as the younger, it is not always the case. Usually, those professional athletes who enrol in international sports competitions such as the NBA, NHL and MLB, are physically strong and resilient. In order for them to have a superb and outstanding performance on the arena, quick body response, agile body coordination and muscular endurance are required to meet the basic physical demands. In the recent two decades, scientists have discovered that the human body will start weakening after around the age of 30. Not only is their stamina declining, but also their bones are becoming more fragile and susceptible to injury. Therefore, the golden age for professional athletics is always between 18 and 21 years old. 

Normally, the older cannot perform as well as the younger on the arena. However, Ezzeldin Bahader had contradicted the norms, as he had gained the reputation of being the oldest professional footballer to play in an official game at 74 years old. Regardless of his age, his performance on the field does not lose to the other football players. Some people may regard his achievement to inherited talents and he is the only one who still can play sports at such age. It may not be certainly correct. Even though our body strength will inevitably be debilitated with age, consistent training and working out are useful in combating the impacts of ageing. If all of us are willing to contribute some time to exercise regularly, it is not impossible for us to remain fit and healthy when getting older. 

Age does not really decide what we could and could not do. Even though our body condition will inevitably be influenced by ageing, there are some precautions we can take to counteract the effects of ageing. Adopting an active lifestyle; consuming a healthier choice; going for a full body check-up regularly - these incremental changes in our daily life play a crucial role in depending on our health conditions. We should not be limited by age, instead we should acquit ourselves and pursue our aspirations dauntlessly. As mentioned in the quote by Tao Porchon above, do not let age determine your pathway in life. You only live once, so transcend your own abilities and be ambitious in achieving your goal in life.