Take note of the ageing population

IT is surely laudable that our Prime Minister has included provisions for babies who would be born in 2018, increase in maternity leave, and affordable homes for Gen Y and millennials in Budget 2018. We also have a population of senior citizens who number about three million and it has been projected that Malaysia will become an aged nation by 2030. We would have been relieved if these were included in the budget:

1. Plans for creating age-friendly cities where urban safety and security are guaranteed;

2. Transport facilities that are age-friendly, for example having an auto staircase in buses (which can be activated while boarding and alighting);

3. A percentage of tax exemption on income or property taxes for working couples if they are housing their aged parents and doubling up as caregivers; and 4. Government land to be sold at give-away prices to developers who build affordable centres that provide care and services for senior citizens.

It would be a relief if one can designate a counter/lane at supermarkets and health clinics that would be manned just like those at the Immigration Department.

We are thankful for the affordable medical care the Government is providing for senior citizens and we would like to avoid getting sick by living in an environment that accommodates the changing needs of an ageing population.

JALINE WELLINGTON Petaling Jaya