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©New
Straits Times (Used by permission)
by Yong Huey Jiun
A falling birth rate and more senior citizens add up to a big problem for
Malaysia’s working population. YONG HUEY JIUN finds out why and what should be
done  Senior citizens having an afternoon break outsideat the Calvary Old Folk’s Home for Women. About half of the medical costs involved in a person’s life occurs in the last two years of his or her life. THANKS to advances in health care and medicine, long life has
become a blessing increasingly enjoyed by many.
Ageing is a sign of success in two aspects, according to Gavin Jones, a
professor at the Asia Research Institute in the National University of
Singapore. It symbolises success in "the elongation of life" and "controlling
what were previously overly high fertility rates", Jones said at the launch of a
book he co-edited, The Impact of Ageing: A Common Challenge for Europe and Asia,
in Kuala Lumpur recently.
But like other ageing nations, Malaysia will have to grapple with financing
health care for the "silver generation". "There are real issues relating to
ageing and all of them have to do with the very end of life," says Jones.
"Typically, about half of the medical costs involved in a person's life occurs
in the last two years of his or her life."
With rising health care costs, the government will have to
make greater allocations for health services. The long-term care movement is
emerging as the population ages. Assisted-care and senior living services and
facilities are increasingly available but remain largely unaffordable to the old
poor.
For obvious economic reasons -- and strong family bonds -- the elderly typically
eschew nursing homes in favour of living with their children. But all that may
change in the future as a growing number of women join the labour force, leaving
a void in the family support system.
While greater female participation in the work force may ease labour shortages
brought about by the greying population, it also lowers birth rates: career
women are less inclined to get married and have children. More importantly, it
raises the question of who will look after the dependent elderly -- a role
typically assumed by women in the past.
But it is too late to turn back the clock on women in the labour force, says
Jones. "This is quite aside from whether it is desirable or not. I think that
the policies have to adapt to that situation."
The changing demographic landscape of longer life spans and falling birth rates
mirrors what has been happening in the West, but with a major difference: unlike
developed countries whose economies were fully developed by the time ageing set
in, in developing economies like Malaysia the transition to a mature market
economy has not been completed, notes Yeoh Yeok Kim, assistant representative of
the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
The number of older persons in Malaysia has doubled in the past two decades, to
almost 1.4 million in 2000. By 2025, 14 per cent of the country's population
will be 60 and older, classifying us as an ageing nation alongside other rapidly
ageing Asian countries such as Singapore and Korea.
(A country is considered "aged" when the proportion of older persons aged 60
years and over reaches 15 per cent, or seven per cent when 65 years and over.)
By 2043, there will be more older persons than children in Malaysia, a
demographic revolution that could strain economic growth and competitiveness,
warns Professor Datuk Dr Mohamed Ariff, executive director of the Malaysian
Institute of Economic Research (MIER).
"Resources would be diverted from investment into consumption, which could have
a significant negative impact on the country's economic growth. The older
generation dis-saves. They live on past savings, which erode with time."
Ageing could contribute to a rising dependency ratio -- the ratio of the
economically dependent younger (below 15 years) and older (65 years and over)
populations to the working population (15-64 years). It could depress national
savings in the long term. As a result, the country could face shortages of
savings and investment funds.
"We've got a double dilemma in that people have to take care of their own
children and their old parents," adds Ariff. He suggests that tax deductions be
increased for medical care for parents.
Indeed, many rapidly ageing nations have begun to face up to the impossibility
of supporting retirees by taxing the dwindling numbers of working population.
Ariff proposes an investment scheme where retirees are given the option of
monthly withdrawals instead of a lump sum payment, to ensure that their capital
does not expire before they do.
Ultimately, people will have to spend more time contributing to pensions and
less draining them. One way would be to extend the current retirement age of 58
to 60, suggests Datuk Lum Kin Tuck, president of the National Council of Senior
Citizens Organisations Malaysia (Nacscom): "The government needs to tap the
potential of retirees and consider how best to harness their unused talents.
Senior citizens can contribute their talent and experience to national
development."
Still, the problems associated with an ageing population ought to be viewed as
"an opportunity for economic gro-wth", says Ariff.
"The issue ought to be addressed in the annual budget and developmental plans."
Malaysia is still far from joining the ranks of other ageing nations in Asia.
"I don't think it would be sensible to view the problem in any sense as a
crisis," Jones says. "It is an emerging pheno-menon that needs to be planned for
and dealt with."
Experts agree the impact of our ageing population on the nation at large depends
on the political will to undertake radical reforms, and our ability to plan
ahead for their needs. Caring for the elderly will, in time, be a responsibility
shared by families and the state.
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