00:01At age 53, Singaporean Tiat Lin has a physique many men half his age would envy.
00:07A traumatic experience 10 years ago triggered a transformation.
00:12Well, I guess it was the wake-up call when my father died of a heart attack in his late 60s.
00:20He didn't make it into 70.
00:22That led Tiat down a road towards heavy lifting and high reps daily.
00:27His purpose, to stay healthy for as long as he can, maximising what's referred to in medical circles as your health span.
00:35Most Singaporeans will experience at least 10 years of disease span.
00:38Usually it's the tail end, the last 10 years, the marginal decade of their lives, let's say from 70 to 80 for instance.
00:45So first and foremost, I do not want to have any disease span whatsoever.
00:49Nil is what the result I'm going for.
00:52If by doing so, my lifespan also increases, great.
00:56I do not want to have any disease span.
00:57I do not want to have any disease span.
00:58Dedication to the cause led Tiat to turn this into a full-time business.
01:02This isn't just a gym.
01:04It's also Tiat's home, where he helps other Singaporeans who similarly aspire to live longer, healthier lives.
01:11But it's not just about looks and staying in shape.
01:14Besides strength conditioning, Tiat takes a scientific approach to what he does,
01:18meticulously measuring what are known as biomarkers, like the health of his arteries, kidneys and liver,
01:24and weighing them up against people who are much younger, including his younger self,
01:29pictured here as a young officer completing national service.
01:32Tiat, who calls himself the de-aging guru, is part of a booming longevity industry.
01:55Spanning biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, it's a market expected to hit $600 billion this year,
02:02compared to just $25 billion in 2020.
02:06It's been popularized by the American entrepreneur Brian Johnson,
02:10whose pursuit of life extension has captured global attention.
02:13More recently, Chinese leader Xi Jinping was caught discussing the possibility of living till 150
02:21with Russian leader Vladimir Putin during a grand military parade.
02:25That's also stirred talk about medical and healthcare advances that might make living that long a reality.
02:32Because of all that interest in that space, there are a lot of people now saying that
02:36if you're born in 2025 or 2020 onwards, living to 100 is actually going to be just common.
02:44So that's the figure that people are putting out there.
02:47Dr. Feng Chin Yun is the founder of Osla Health,
02:51one of a growing number of longevity clinics in Singapore.
02:54At the heart of its practice is a shift from healthcare into so-called preventative care.
03:00In other words, to prevent diseases associated with aging rather than treating them.
03:04Like Tiat Lin, Osla Health puts an emphasis on measuring biomarkers.
03:10They're used to tailor programs specific to each patient.
03:13So you can get quite granular.
03:16For example, let's start with the lifestyle pillars.
03:19You can actually measure the impact of the amount of alcohol you drink,
03:24how you exercise, how you eat, environmental pollutants,
03:29and actually measure that impact on you, on an individual, based on your genes.
03:35Besides lifestyle interventions to manage things like diet, sleep and exercise,
03:40longevity healthcare can also include different therapies as well as stem cell treatment.
03:45Still, critics of the industry say there's no clear evidence
03:48that all of these can improve long-term outcomes for otherwise healthy people.
03:53But data suggest life expectancy is something that can be proactively managed.
03:59Since 1960, lifetime expectancy in Singapore has risen by about 20 years.
04:05Today, the average person here can expect to live till around 86.
04:10And the city-state's been dubbed a Blue Zone 2.0.
04:14Blue zones refer to regions where a high percentage of people live exceptionally long lives.
04:19According to experts, Singapore stands apart because longevity is the result of government policy
04:24rather than long-established cultural traditions.
04:28Several factors, such as high-quality healthcare, promoting healthy diets, and exercise play a part.
04:34But it demonstrates there is science behind anti-aging,
04:38and that's enabling the longevity industry to thrive.
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