In the light of the growth of the older  population, there is a need to respond to the  increasing proportion and absolute number  of older persons in the total population. The  Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing  expresses the international concern raised by  the challenges of adjusting to an ageing world  and of improving the quality of life of older  persons and recognizing their contribution to  social development. In Malaysia, unlike Japan  and other developed countries, the issue  of ageing is not as critical. However, with  increasing proportion and number of older  persons, Malaysia has to plan early to cater for  the needs of the older persons, which are quite  different from the rest of the population.  

According to United Nation’s estimates, 21  per cent of the population in the developed  countries was aged 60 years or over in 2005.  This proportion is projected to increase to 28  per cent in 2025 and 32 per cent in 2050. In  countries where economies are in transition,  the average proportion of the population  aged 60 years or over was estimated at only  8 per cent in 2005 but is expected to reach  13 per cent by 2025 and nearly 20 per cent  by 2050. Thus, the number of older persons in  the developing countries will likely more than  double between 2005 and 2025. This increase  is much larger than in the developed countries  compared to countries where the economies  are in transition, where the number of older  persons will grow by about 44 per cent and 32  per cent respectively during the same period.  

The current Malaysian population is about 27  million. The number of persons aged 55 and  older has increased from 1.5 million in 1991  to a little more than 2 million in 2000. Given  the prevailing age structure and demographic  dynamics, the number and proportion of  older people will be increasing very rapidly.  Between 2005 and 2025, the median age of  the population will increase from 24.1 years to  30.7 years, and the proportion aged 55 and  older will increase from 10.6 per cent to 17.8  per cent. During the same period, the number  of persons aged 55 and older will increase from  2.7 million to 5.9 million (out of a projected total population of about 33 million).  

Even though Malaysia still lags behind in the  ageing process when compared to the more  advanced countries, the early sensitization  and consciousness-raising efforts of the  government on the issue of ageing is reflective  of its awareness of the significant changes  taking shape in the demographic process. One  of such changes is the clear trend towards  declining family size. As care for the older  persons has traditionally been within the family  system, further decline would ultimately reduce  the number of family members available to care  of their aged dependents. Care of the elderly  within the family system is fast becoming a  problem owing to the fact that the extended  family structure is slowly being overtaken by the  nuclear family. Such problems are compounded  as more women participate in the labour  market and with increasing mobility of young  family members. 

The impact of demographic ageing is visible  in the support ratio, which is falling. Between  2000 and 2020, the support ratio is expected  to decline from 15 to 10 working-age persons  for each elderly person. This means Malaysia  will have fewer workers to support dependents  (particularly those in the retirement years),  and that may impel substantial increased in  expenditures for social securities as a share of  national income. 

Despite posing numerous challenges, population  ageing also presents great opportunities. The  large number of older people represents a  vast pool of human resources for national  development, particularly as they are now better  trained as a result of rising educational level.  Concomitant with economic transformation,  there has been a shift from the informal sector  to the formal sector with mandatory retirement  age. The 2000 Population Census shows that  about two-thirds of the workers are now  working in the formal sector, and as such most  workers would be withdrawing from the labour  market at age 55/56. Pre-retirement courses  are being conducted to equip the older people  with the necessary skills to continue working.  With the increased life expectancy, it is timely  for the government to seriously consider raising the age of retirement.

Improving health standard has resulted in  declining mortality and subsequently longer  life expectancy. The life expectancy at birth  for males and females have increased from  68.9 and 73.5 years in 1990 to 69.3 and  74.1 years respectively in 2000. The increase  in life expectancy has been attributed to the  improvement in health standard. It means  that people are in better health than in  the past, and are expected to live longer.  Normally, women would live longer than  men, and as a result there is a predominance  of women among the aged population. The  fact that females survive longer than males  is illustrated by the expectation of life shown  in Table 1. The expectations of life at ages  55 and 60 are consistently higher among  females than males. In 1991, a female aged  60 is expected to live 2 years longer than a  male of the same age. The same is true for  the year 2000.  

Table 1: Expectation of Life by Sex, Malaysia 

As in other part of the world, older  women outnumber older men in Malaysia.  Moreover, a high proportion of the older  women are widowed. In 2000, 12 percent  of women aged 50-54 were widowed,  and the proportion widowed increased  to 19.2 percent among those aged 55- 59 and almost one in three among those  aged 60-64. Many older women are  living alone, with no financial security and  suffering from ill health. Given the current  population structure, feminization of ageing  is becoming a major concern.  

The other important aspect regarding the  aged population is their living arrangement.  Strained relations between parents and  children can strongly influence their living  arrangements. Table 2 shows that nearly  10.0 percent of persons 60 years and  above live alone. The majority live with their  spouses or with other family members. The  need for institutional care is due to the lack  of home care, the reduced number of family  caregivers, or declining family cohesion.  Older people still prefer to remain at home,  surrounded by close family members,  and become part of a community and  neighbourhood network that supports them  as active community members. However,  governments are realizing the importance  of filling the relevant needs in the case of  unavoidable circumstances where older people are placed in nursing homes and  shelters. In Malaysia, the institutional care  centres were built by the government,  in collaboration with non-governmental  organizations (NGO) and the private sector.  

Table 2: Living Arrangement of Persons 60 Years  Old and Above, Malaysia 

Over the years the Malaysian government has  introduced various policies and programmes  that aimed to improve the quality of life of  the elderly, and to integrate them into the  mainstream of development. The National  Social Welfare Policy formulated in 1990  calls for the welfare of the aged to be  safeguarded with the support of the family  and the community. Institutional care is to be  considered as a last resort. Towards this end,  the government allowed tax deductions for  the payment of medical expenses incurred  by parents. The government also established  day-care centres to provide care for older  persons during the day in the absence  of family members. To date, 18 day-care  centres have been established throughout  the country. In addition to that, NGOs  namely Malaysian Gerontology Association  and USIAMAS Welfare Association have  introduced “home help” to assist the elderly  who stays alone at home.  

For older persons who are destitute and  have no relative to care, the government  has and will continue to establish homes  and provide financial aid especially to the  elderly living in poverty to ensure their well-being. The Plan of Action for the Older  Persons, which was introduced in 1995,  recognized community-based programmes as one of the feasible approaches that  would be able to meet current and future  challenges pertaining to older persons.  Additional support facilities would need  to be provided so that reliance on family  support would not put great stress on family  members. Moves towards creating a caring  society should take cognizance of the need  to encourage three or four generation  households or alternatively for elderly  persons and their children to live close to  each other. The policy and plan of action are  being reviewed, taking into consideration  the changes and new challenges faced by  community and society.

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