‘M’sia an ageing nation by 2030’
KUCHING: Malaysia will become an ageing country by 2030 – a time when senior citizens make up more than 15 per cent of its population.
Welfare, Women and Community Wellbeing Minister Datuk Fatimah Abdullah said this during an appreciation dinner for senior citizens here on Tuesday.
She said the development of healthcare services would prolong the lives of the people, resulting in an average life expectancy of 72 for men, and 77 for women.
Currently, Sarawak has more than 250,000 citizens aged 60 and above, which is a large number.
Fatimah said taking care of senior citizens was a challenge, with the government making policies to prepare the people including the young for those days.
The Welfare Department has two centres ( Rumah Seri Kenangan) to take care of the elderly people – one each in Kuching and Sibu.
The government has set up 22 service and activity centres with 32,133 members to give the elderly people the opportunity to be involved in healthy activities.
According to Fatimah, her ministry gives RM300 per month to help the needy elderly folk in Sarawak who are also eligible to apply for business grants.
The dinner was also attended by Assistant Minister for Welfare and Community Wellbeing Dr Abdul Rahman Ismail and state Social Welfare Department acting director Joni Nuruddin.
According to Joni, the government gives each of the 22,663 senior welfare recipients RM300 per month.