How to live to 100 (according to Reg) | April 22, 2024 | Illawarra Mercury - video Dailymotion

Illawarra Mercury

Wollongong stalwart, Reg Wilding, talks to the Project about his life at 100 years old. The Mercury spoke to Reg ahead of his 100th birthday where he said his secrets to living a long life was swimming and staying active. Video via The Project

Transcript

00:00 (DRAMATIC MUSIC)

00:04 Start the interview with a clap.

00:06 Oh, with a clap. Yeah.

00:08 (LAUGHS)

00:09 Did you get it? Yeah.

00:10 Hey!

00:11 Yeah, do it again. Nailed it. Perfect.

00:14 Someone the other day, I asked, I said, "How old do you think I am?"

00:19 She says, "53."

00:20 (LAUGHS)

00:21 53?!

00:23 You look very good for 100, but I don't think that you look 53.

00:26 Is that OK? (LAUGHS)

00:28 It was a big year in 1924.

00:31 The Sydney Harbour Bridge was starting to go up

00:34 while Canberra held its first Cabinet meeting.

00:36 We sent our first ever international wireless message

00:39 and, just across the pond,

00:42 my dear friend Reg was born in England.

00:45 What's your earliest memory?

00:47 The year was 1929,

00:51 the age of the Great Depression.

00:54 And when I went to school,

00:55 there were kids who couldn't afford boots and shoes.

00:59 Well, we had a hole in them,

01:01 and so we used to shove a paper in there

01:04 to stop the water coming in.

01:06 (EXPLOSION)

01:09 World War II followed the Depression.

01:13 Reg spent 12 months in Naples on the front lines as a Marine.

01:18 It changed his world forever.

01:20 (EXPLOSION)

01:22 Naples, it was these little kids,

01:25 wandering around, who'd lost their homes.

01:29 "What's happening now in bloody Gaza?"

01:32 And it comes back to me.

01:34 It must happen to every person that served in the Second World War.

01:40 It taught me to be interested in politics,

01:45 to query the people who send us to war.

01:49 Every week, the former Wollongong Communist Party leader

01:54 puts pen to paper, or rather, fingers to keys,

01:58 writing about the issues of the world in the local paper.

02:02 Would you like younger people to write more letters?

02:04 Well, that's right. I mean, they don't seem to be interested.

02:08 They don't seem to be interested.

02:10 They've got to stay interested.

02:11 That's the secret to getting to 100.

02:13 But it's not just letter writing that keeps Reg sharp.

02:17 He's also a member of a weekly coffee club

02:19 where the average age is 87.

02:22 You've got to keep learning.

02:23 What do you and the old codgers talk about?

02:26 Well, first of all, I have a long black.

02:29 Yes, that's very healthy of you.

02:31 We talk a few jokes and the rest of it.

02:34 And then we'll discuss the main issues of the day.

02:38 So keeping in touch with friends, discussions,

02:44 I think that's what's keeping me on.

02:46 You want to lift 100, swim every morning.

02:51 Because it's good for your body and your mind.

02:53 There's a sort of a camaraderie amongst the swimmers.

02:57 They're doing something that other people are not doing.

03:00 It's been connecting with other people.

03:03 What do you make of kids these days?

03:06 Coming back to my childhood, we all walked to school.

03:11 The children now should become more independent.

03:16 What advice do you have for young people?

03:19 To get interested in political affairs

03:23 and question the bureaucrats.

03:26 You obviously have such a great love for letter writing, poetry.

03:31 What do you make of modern music?

03:33 Rubbish.

03:36 (LAUGHS)

03:37 OK.

03:39 I've got these little kids there, all roaming out,

03:42 like shouting at them, shouting back.

03:46 I was brought up in a big band area, you know.

03:49 Hey, Reggie, this is your world. We're just living in it.

03:52 It's a world according to Reggie.

03:54 It's been a very good chat.

03:56 I've thoroughly enjoyed it.

03:58 I thoroughly enjoyed it. You must come down again.

04:01 Well, about the same time next, same place, when you're 101.

04:04 Let's cheers. Cheers.

04:05 You've got whisky in there.

04:06 (APPLAUSE)

04:07 (APPLAUSE)

04:08 [BLANK_AUDIO]

How to live to 100 (according to Reg) | April 22, 2024 | Illawarra Mercury

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