Midlife Festival 2025: Two days that made midlife feel less lonely

SINGAPORE — 24 to 25 October 2025: Midlife rarely arrives with a clear headline. It shows up in small ways — a body that responds differently, a mind that feels noisier, a tiredness that sleep doesn’t fully fix, and a calendar that keeps filling up even when your capacity doesn’t.

That’s where Midlife Festival 2025 began.

After Menopause Festival 2024, Surety Singapore returned with a bigger, broader platform — bringing healthcare professionals, corporate leaders and community advocates together at Singapore Land Tower and the SMU Administration Building. Across two days, the festival didn’t try to “fix” midlife. It made space for people to talk about it without shame and to leave with more clarity than they arrived with.

On Day 1: Midlife @ Work, the tone was set early: midlife is not a personal issue people should manage quietly in the corners of the workplace. Ms Tin Pei Ling, Member of Parliament for Marine Parade–Braddell Heights GRC (MacPherson Division), opened the festival with a message about turning silence into support.

“When we normalize conversations about midlife and menopause, we take away stigma and fear of judgment, allowing him/her to speak openly and have a clearer understanding of the challenges involved.”

It landed because many people know what it feels like to “push through” to show up, deliver, and stay professional, while carrying invisible changes in health, energy, mood, or responsibilities at home.

Throughout the first day, the conversations moved between the personal and the systemic. Stories of change and courage sat alongside practical discussions about workplace culture — the kind that recognises midlife experience as an asset worth retaining, not a liability to manage. There was space to talk about the reality of the sandwich generation, and the fact that men and women both navigate hormonal shifts in different ways, often while still expected to perform at full speed. There were also quieter moments like the mindfulness session by where the focus shifted from coping harder to breathing better, and finding steadier footing in the middle of a demanding season.

By the end of Day 1, something had shifted. Not because every question was answered, but because many attendees finally had language for what they were living through and a sense that midlife support at work is not a “nice-to-have”. It is part of building a healthier, more sustainable workforce.

On Day 2: Let’s Talk Midlife & Menopause, the lens widened. The conversations moved beyond office walls into bodies, relationships, caregiving, and community - the parts of life that rarely fit neatly into a policy document, but shape how people feel every day.

The morning opened with Mr Suhaimi Yusof, FLY Entertainment artiste and midlife health advocate, who reminded everyone that support is rarely a one-way street.

“When you think of empathy, when you share for someone, you didn’t know that the things you share are also for you.”

It was a simple line, but it captured the spirit of the second day: when people speak honestly, others realise they are not alone and sometimes that is the first step towards seeking help.

From there, the day unfolded like a map of midlife itself. Conversations on care and community highlighted how easily caregivers can burn out and how much difference family- and community-centred support can make. Sessions on early menopause brought attention to experiences that are often misunderstood or missed. Clinical discussions on vasomotor symptoms (VMS) and treatment options gave attendees a clearer view of what medical support can look like, including hormone therapy and non-hormonal approaches shared by Dr June Sheren and Dr Nav Uppal.

There was also space for what people hesitate to say out loud. The session on midlife mind changes held brain fog and mood shifts with seriousness, not as personal weakness, but as real experiences that deserve accurate information and compassionate care. And when Isabel Galiano shared her journey through cancer and medically induced menopause, the room was reminded that health advocacy is not a personality trait. It’s a skill many people have to learn — sometimes earlier than expected.

As the day moved into conversations about menopause and cancer, and then into sexual health and relationship dynamics, the message was steady: intimacy and identity do not end in midlife. They change and change can be navigated with understanding, communication, and support for both partners.

The festival closed by returning to fundamentals: the daily choices that build long-term health — food, movement, routine, and the willingness to start again without perfection.

Midlife Festival 2025 did not promise a magic solution. What it offered was something more realistic — a place where midlife could be named, understood, and shared. And when a season is finally spoken about without judgment, people stop blaming themselves for struggling through it.

Because the most powerful thing a community can do for midlife is not just to provide answers.

It is to make sure no one has to go through the questions alone.