Senior Citizens Make Up 2.8 Mil Of Malaysia's Population

KUALA LUMPUR, March 23 (Bernama) -- Senior citizens aged 60 and above made up 2.8 million or nine per cent of Malaysia's population of 31 million last year. Women, Family and Community Development Minister, Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim said based on the projections made by the National Statistics Department, Malaysia was expected to reach ageing nation status by 2035 when senior citizens made up 15 per cent or 5.6 million of its population. She said this in reply to a question from Datuk Ahmad Hamzah (BN-Jasin) in the Dewan Rakyat Wednesday, on the ministry's preparations up to 2030 in facing the ageing nation status, especially in terms of manpower needs, savings and care centres for the elderly. Rohani said the government had been making various preparations to ensure that this group of citizens would still be healthy, productive and able to contribute to society. She said besides making early preparation by drawing up the National Senior Citizens Policy in 1995, in line with the changing demography, current needs and future challenges, the ministry also took the initiative to review the policy and its action plan, and these were approved by the government on Jan 5, 2011. Rohani said health issues, financial preparation and infrastructural facilities for the elderly were the main challenges for the ministry that needed to be studied from time to time. "With regard to financial preparation in facing old age for this group, the government had raised the retirement age from 55 years to 60. "The increase of five years will help ensure economic stability for the senior citizens after retirement through their Employees Provident Fund (EPF) savings," she added. -- BERNAMA

#seniorcitizens #Malaysia