Malaysia

October 1, 2006

We’re pretty confident older people would read a story about their own concerns. What of younger folk? If you’re one, don’t flip these pages over without reading them because, one day, you’ll be old too? Today, on the International Day of Older Persons, CHIN MUI YOON finds out what it’s like to grow old in Malaysia .

FANNY Foong, 68, fondly recalls the only overseas holiday she had in her life when, three years ago, her eldest daughter took her to New Zealand .

“I fell flat on my face while crossing the road; pedestrians came running to help me immediately and a bus even stopped by the roadside – its passengers and driver wanted to help. Nobody laughed at me. I was so touched and, for the first time since I stopped working, I felt like somebody special!”

We modern human beings, as many sociological studies have reiterated, tend to be defined by our jobs. Then you hit 55 and, as pensioner K. Ramamurthy Achari, 58, puts it, “We are cast aside overnight!” 

More and more elderly people are left behind, no longer deemed useful and excluded from being a part of society.

Foong and Ramamurthy will testify, it isn’t easy being grey in a world obsessed by youth, where the old are sidelined, ignored, and even resented.

Some Western countries with older populations (though Japan seems acutely aware of the issue, too) seem to be attempting to grapple with the reality that, someday, everyone – yes, even that disrespectful punk who won’t give up his bus seat – will have to endure old age before shuffling off this mortal coil.

New Zealand , for instance, has a better attitude towards older people, says Foong. “There was a feeling of acceptance of and respect for the elderly there.” 

Ramamurthy agrees. “There is a better awareness of our needs in other Commonwealth countries.” He points out that, in Australia , for instance, some eateries allow senior citizens to “pay whatever they wish” for meals – after all, “how much can old folk eat, anyway?”

Other examples of how the golden years are treasured elsewhere:

·In the United States , local councils in each state provide comprehensive programmes with activities, outings, classes and opportunities for fellowship among its elderly population.

·In April, Japan revised a law on securing employment. The amendment requires corporations to maintain employees on staff till they reach 62; the age will be increased to 65 by 2013.

·In February, Germany decided to move its legal retirement age by one month every year until, by 2023, it will be 67 years old.

·Britain’s Pensions White Paper, a three-year study on how to bring the country’s pensions systems into the 21st century, recommends a gradual rise in pensionable age, from 65 to 66 in 2024, and up to 68 in 2044.

Malaysia, however, not being a welfare state and with a relatively young population still – according to the 2000 Department of Statistics census, our median age is 23.6 – does not seem to care much for her elderly folk. Just read the letters’ pages of any newspaper and you’re bound to see several missives complaining about the plight of the elderly every week.

In fact, these complaints are so common that anyone who keeps reads the papers regularly would know the problems of growing old in this country. But just because they are oft repeated, we can’t dismiss them. Not in the face of even the most casual glance at the situation. For instance:

·By next year, Baby Boomers born between 1947 and 1952 will all have hit retirement age and more. 

·Advances in healthcare and better nutrition mean that Malaysians live longer today; couple that with lower birthrates and you have a rapidly ageing population. (See graph from the World Health Organisation below left.)

A trawl through the many letters that pour in complaining about ageing in this country provides a brief shapshot of underlying issues, such as a lack of money and services, that tarnish the golden years.

The financial situation

Many Malaysian pensioners struggle with an archaic pension scheme that fails to consider the rising costs of living.

While private sector employees receive their savings in the Employee Provident Fund (EPF) back in a lump sum when they retire, EPF chairman Tan Sri Abdul Halim Ali stated back in 2002 that 70% of contributors go through the funds within three years of retiring. Civil service pensioners receive monthly payments for life but the amounts are based on their years of service and subject to a maximum of 25 years only. That can really sting if someone – like former Special Branch assistant commissioner Francis Morais, 68, – toiled for 37 years but is rewarded for only 25 years! 

Actually, “rewarded” is a dubious word to use. Because, at most, the pensions amount to half of a retiree’s last drawn salary, and, as most people know, civil servants don’t earn a lot, certainly not as much as employees in the private sector. Furthermore, at the time of retirement, many have yet to settle their housing and car loans. And with current loan interest rates nearly double savings account rates, that is not going to be easy.

Of course, the announcement on Friday that the government will not be considering a rise in civil service pay (except for police officers) doesn’t help matters?

The medical situation

As we age, we face more diseases – especially degenerative ones. And socially, we are not equipped to deal with this, as a visit to any Malaysian government hospital’s waiting room will show.

Although medical aid is offered at government hospitals, no queues exist for senior citizens. Often, they wait up to five hours for a five-minute consultation just to get their monthly supply of medicines.

At the newly renovated University Malaya Medical Centre, the lack of an efficient system has hundreds of patients, many of them old folk, shivering through hours of waiting in chilly air-conditioned lounges daily.

Patients can’t make appointments and are asked to just “turn up and get a number”. But despite the automated numbering system, numbers are sometimes called out of sequence for whatever reason so patients don’t really know when their queue number will be called – which effectively traps them in the lounges. 

It is a sad sight indeed. Only a handful of nurses man the desks and, perhaps being understaffed, all are too busy to even dispense a smile. At the pharmacy, there are no counters for the old or disabled.

The services situation

Retired shoemaker Long Hin San, who coordinates a senior citizens’ programme called New Horizon that was started by Grace Community Services in Klang, Selangor, says there is a huge need to engage old folk more.

Many are left languishing in homes as lifestyle changes and financial issues break down the extended family system that used to ensure the younger generation takes care of the older. 

“Annual government functions are not enough, it’s the daily needs that must be attended to,” says Long. “The elderly need opportunities to mingle with others like them and to feel wanted.” Lum Kin Tuck, president of the National Council of Senior Citizens’ Organisations of Malaysia, has been asking for years for more day centres for old folk who could be dropped off by their working children. This would take the pressure of the children while ensuring the aged parent doesn’t get relegated to a home and will have the chance to socialise.

“Old people generally feel lonely and segregated from society as they can no longer work and feel useful,” he points out.

Ah, feeling useful. This is exactly what many elderly folk want. Certainly, that’s what Malaysia ’s largest union –with 120,000 members – wants. 

Lok Yim Pheng, the secretary-general of the National Union of Teaching Professions, says many teachers are keen to carry on working as contract teachers after retiring. “It is time for the government to seriously look into reviewing pensions especially those of the lower income group,” she says, adding the union has some 6,000 pensioned teachers as associate members. 

In the stories on these pages, several older people share their concerns and experiences. Despite the doom and gloom, not all the tales are depressing: there are those unquenchable spirits who have managed to carve out a happy retirement mainly by not depending on one source of income.

And there are also the sad stories of people who are still struggling in the years when they should be relaxing, no thanks to the lack of support.

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