Exercise can be as simple as a daily walk or round of golf.

THE counterpart of “health is wealth” in Pali is arojjan paramam labham and it is a frequently quoted adage. Literally, arojjam means absence of illness or disease, paramam means supreme and labham is fortune. Absence of illness or disease means good health and good health means long life.

I am not a doctor. I am a 90-year old retired government official so what I am going to say is not medical advice. It is just what a layman thinks is a pragmatic approach towards a healthy and long life, based on personal experience. To put it in a nutshell, I believe in moderation – moderation in one’s lifestyle.

Though a 90-year-old man cannot be expected to be as fit and strong as a 19-year-old teenager, I can say that I am in relatively good health for a nonagenarian – despite having one of my kidneys removed 31 years ago because of cancer. Thanks to those who diagnosed the problem and performed the operation, I survived and have been leading a normal life with my remaining kidney.

I still play golf. I play with people younger than I and they often remark that they wonder if they would still be able to play golf at my age. I wanted very much to tell them not to think of playing golf at my age, but first to think of living up to my age! But instead, I advised them: “Don’t be pessimistic. Be optimistic. Live with hope, not with despair. In fact, you should be inspired playing with me instead of having doubts about your future.”

If they ask what is the secret to living long I simply reply, “Don’t die young,” before adding: “A moderate lifestyle is the secret. See the doctors and seek their advice when you should – don’t delay and let the problem get worse. But, of course, prevention is better than cure and the best form of prevention is moderation – moderation in everything.”

Yes, moderation is the key word. Many lose their lives to over-indulging in things they shouldn’t – such as alcohol. I am a teetotaler and I don’t smoke; I have never touched any alcohol in my life.

But I am not trying to preach total abstention, I only wish to recommend moderation. If you are a heavy drinker, you must have the gumption to scale down to a moderate one and stay there with a strong willpower. Don’t behave like the alcoholic who, when told that heavy drinking meant a slow death, replies that it is OK because he is in no hurry to die. When you reach that stage, you are no longer an alcoholic but an incorrigible slave of alcoholism.

People have to eat to live, but must not live to eat. Diet is a very important factor in life. It is a good sign nowadays that people are more knowledgeable about the dos and don’ts in diet. They know that they should limit their intake of sugar to fight diabetes, avoid excessive fat to keep cholesterol down and cut down salt to prevent high blood pressure. But knowledge does not always equal practice.

Physical fitness is also essential for good health and can be achieved by regular exercise. I once read an article in the Readers’ Digest that your legs are your second heart. The best exercise for the legs is walking as it will keep the leg muscles in trim and strengthen the heart muscles. How far you should walk depends on your constitution. When I play golf, I cover an average of about 3.5-4km over nine holes, depending on the course. On other days, I go for my morning constitutional for half an hour. Care must however be taken not to do more than what you are physically able to. Don’t bite more than what you can chew. I don’t jog because I know that I shouldn’t at my age.

Finally, I like to say that mental disposition is important for a healthy and long life – “A man is as old as he feels.”

Though I am 90, I feel like I am 70. Don’t consider yourself as getting old and infirm. Whether you are male or female, always feel young and keep your spirits high.

Wishing all my readers a healthy life so they maybe be centenarians.