INFO : 2030 MALAYSIA NEGARA TUA OLEH DR OLIVIA TAN, UNIVERSITI MULTIMEDIA.

A NEW LEGISLATION TO ENFORCE MAINTENANCE OF PARENTS IN MALAYSIA

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

The general objective of this research is to provide a safety net for neglected parents who are 60 and above and unable to maintain themselves.

The specific objectives are:

1.  To investigate and examine why the current system is not effective in Malaysia.

2. To investigate and examine how this filial piety issues/ maintenance of parents are handled in other jurisdictions especially Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States;

2.1  To recommend the best practice to be implemented in Malaysia.

AGING SOCIETY CHALLENGES

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. This research looks into:
• Causes of an increase in cases of neglecting aging parents
•  How these issues should be solved in the best way
2. Raise in the number of aging parents abandoned by their children.
3. Currently, Malaysia does not have a proper system to tackle the issue.
4. The existing social safety net is not effective in solving this issue.
5. There is no legislation to make it a crime for children to abandon their elderly parents to arrest the problem.

FINDINGS

1. There is not a sufficient number of Government Welfare homes for the elderly in Malaysia since there are only nine (9) centers at the moment.
2. There is an increase in life expectancy in general.
3. Feminization of aging; older females tend to outlive their male counterparts.
4. Low fertility leads to the family base that supports the older generation is shrinking.
5. Diminishing of traditionally family support care despite the continuing practice of intergenerational support.
6. Increase in the number of an older person staying at the social welfare centers.
7. Increase in the number of old folks home across of the country.
8. Increase in poverty at an old age and insufficient saving for retirement.
9. Family and community care services are a more viable option for long term aged care.
10. There are cases of abandonment of parents by the children or refuse to provide maintenance or the parents. However, the number of cases involved is not a big number and most of these cases are from the broken family or where parents left the kids at a young age. Majority of Malaysians still hold filial piety and family responsibilities in very high esteem and Malaysian society in general still care for their aging parents.
11. To encourage companies in Malaysia to contribute to the welfare of elderly people in Malaysia as corporate social responsibility and make it compulsory for all public listed companies.
12. To introduce community-based welfare homes for elderly people in every district and integrate wider neighborhood into social work and health care of elderly persons in order for them to live in the community with proper support.
13. To strengthen the relationship between the generations and educate the younger generations on the importance of family values and promote the traditional values of the family.

Kajian Universiti Multimedia 

2030 Malaysia Negara Tua

- Dr Olivia Tan