00:01Every morning at exactly 6.30 a.m., before the rest of the household is awake,
00:07101-year-old P. A. Verges waits for one thing.
00:11Not the kettle to boil or breakfast to be served, but the arrival of his daily newspaper.
00:17Early morning, 6.30, paper is here.
00:21Do you need to start your daily newspaper?
00:48A loyal The Star subscriber for about three decades,
00:52Verges is among the newspaper's three oldest subscribers.
00:56Living with his daughter Susan and son-in-law Philip Inseremban,
01:00Verges has made reading the newspaper a daily ritual he rarely misses.
01:04For the next two hours, he reads every page,
01:08beginning with the nation section before moving on to business, world news and sports.
01:13At 101, he credits the habit with keeping his mind sharp.
01:17It is a good habit.
01:20We have all the news of the world, you know, cover world news also.
01:24You know, New York Times, whatever they write, comes in the paper here.
01:29So that is a very good information given there.
01:33If they read it, it's definitely better.
01:37More articles on health and sickness.
01:43The guest takes his newspaper seriously.
01:46A late delivery makes him impatient.
01:48A rain-soaked copy?
01:49He has an unusual remedy.
01:52Sometimes people get wet, you know, rainy.
01:54So I go to the kitchen and put in the toaster to dry it up.
02:03Once he has finished reading every page,
02:06the newspaper is passed on to his son-in-law,
02:08and the day's headlines often become the topic of conversation.
02:23His love for newspapers is so well known that for his 100th birthday,
02:27his family surprised him with a personalized newspaper chronicling his life,
02:32from his marriage to his late wife Lizzie, who passed away in 2023,
02:36to his career, retirement and family milestones.
02:39Born in Kerala, India in 1925, Verghese sailed to Malaya in 1948,
02:46embarking on what his family describes as a journey into the unknown in pursuit of new beginnings.
02:53He spent 14 years as a clerk with the British Army's Forward Ordnance Depot in Kuala Lumpur
02:59before joining Malayan Cement, where he retired as a works accountant.
03:03Even after retirement, he continued working as an office manager and accountant until the age of 79.
03:12Beyond his career, Verghese devoted much of his time to the Mar Tomah Syrian Christian Church,
03:18serving the Kuala Lumpur Parish in various roles, including treasurer, secretary and auditor.
03:23A keen badminton football and tennis player in his younger days,
03:28the impeccably dressed centenarian now keeps up with the sporting world through the newspaper and television.
03:34Replacing his printed newspaper with a smartphone is simply out of the question.
03:39Verghese believes young people today spend too much time on their devices
03:43and hopes they will rediscover the joy of reading a newspaper.
03:47For him, the secret to a long life is straightforward.
03:51Keep the mind active, eat well, stay physically active and never miss the morning paper.
03:58After he committed the locker room with a man, he could sleep with a teacher.
04:01He should be guided by with His Young, the secret to aapo.
04:02His Young- ول.
04:02With his young men, very good, he could be the main adapter.
04:04For if there are a few years, he could be the result.
04:04For me, I believe he must be the most likely,
04:07the only one can be the most likely to be a socialist journey.
04:09He could be the most likely to remember,
04:09the that he could be the most likely to be the most likely to be a living room,
04:10and for a living room.
04:10You
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