Some consideration for senior citizens

BEFORE the first movement control order was implemented to control the outbreak of Covid-19, senior citizens were given some privileges at offices and banks. I would like to think that this was a gesture to honour the senior citizens’ contributions to the country and that these places also realised that many among the elderly population are not computer savvy.

Sad to say, there hasn’t been much of this going on recently, as I found out when I went to a bank to get my passbook updated.

I was at the bank for almost an hour, having had to first queue outside the premises (following the SOP, of course). When I was finally allowed to enter, the officer at the counter asked me if I had an appointment.

It is fine to give preference to people who had made an appointment online (generally youngsters), but senior citizens who are not computer-savvy should also be given due consideration. It is gravely wrong to treat us as second class citizens.

The bank’s management could have made the process easier by just getting the person guarding the entrance to take elderly customers’ passbooks and identification cards and hand them over to the bank officer who should be able to do the necessary in the shortest time possible.

Another matter that needs addressing is the work from home policy. Even if employees are working from home, there should still be skeletal staff at the office to attend to the needs of the public. So when someone calls the office to request for assistance or a service, the matter should be attended to in due course instead of telling the caller “Oh, dia kerja dari rumah” (he/she is working from home), which now seems to be the standard response. It is totally unprofessional to give this answer.

With due respect to the many who are working from home effectively, the employers concerned should be monitoring the work of their employees at all times. Only then will the workforce function efficiently.

So many people have lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic that those who are still employed should be ever so grateful, and therefore work conscientiously.