PETALING JAYA: An activist has welcomed the government’s plans to ensure the rights of senior citizens but says more must be done, and more quickly.
“We should have started earlier because even now, we are too late,” Ho Yock Lin told FMT.
In particular, she said, the government should focus on improving medical and transportation services for the elderly, instead of building activity centres to encourage their participation in the community.
She said Malaysia was on its way to becoming a “senior citizen country” where one in five people would be a senior citizen by 2040.
“The government needs an overall plan for that, and one of the ways would be to provide adequate medical services that tailor specifically to senior citizens.”
She gave the example of healthcare in Australia, where there are geriatric hospitals and medical services for the elderly.
Such institutions are built with “senior citizen-friendly” facilities such as specially designed walkways, railings and furniture, and are also accessible in terms of cost, she said.
As for public transportation, Ho said, very few services were geared towards elderly people.
“What happens is, they become trapped in their own homes, with no friends if their families do not bring them out. Their mobile devices become their ‘best friends’.”
She compared this with the situation in England, where she said bus drivers show special consideration for senior citizens, to the point of waiting for them to reach the bus and sit down before driving off, or going out of their way to drop them off at their doorsteps.
“The government needs to encourage this kind of behaviour in public services,” she said.
She was responding to the announcement last month that legislation would be enacted to protect the rights and welfare of senior citizens.
This includes the provision of a support system for senior citizens, and the development of an “age-friendly city” in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme.
On the government’s proposal that the mandatory Employees Provident Fund (EPF) contribution for workers aged 60 and above be reduced from 6% to 4% to incentivise employers to hire senior citizens, Ho said she disagreed.
“These are retirement savings. The government should not encourage this,” she said.
She suggested that the government instead increase the employers’ contribution and think of ways to offer more incentives for senior citizens.
The government had also announced that senior citizens who are employed need not contribute to the EPF, which would leave them with more disposable income.
Companies with elderly employees will also enjoy tax incentives.
Lim Peck Kuan, who works part-time as a clerk, agreed that medical facilities needed improvement. She added that the country also needed “doctors with a heart for senior citizens”.
“Many times, when I visit the doctor to treat a nerve problem that is affecting my palms, the doctor rules it out as ‘old people’s sickness’ but does not explain to me what caused it,” Lim, 61, told FMT.
Zabedah Aziz, 63, said not all senior citizens had medical insurance to cover the cost of treatment.
“So they have to opt for treatment at government hospitals. But have you seen the condition of our government hospitals? It’s so hard to even find a decent wheelchair.
“When the doctors are diagnosing a patient, they talk as if we owe them our entire lifetime of healthcare bills,” she added.
Retired engineer Thomas Chong meanwhile said senior citizens had no need of activity centres.
“What we need is elderly-friendly walkways on streets, well maintained parks, functioning pedestrian crossings and public restrooms that are friendly to senior citizens. The list goes on,” the 70-year-old said.
“What use is an activity centre when we can’t get to it safely?” - FMT
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