PETALING JAYA: The government may need to set up a universal basic pension (UBP) such as practised in the United Kingdom, so that even those in the private sector who have depleted their EPF savings can still tap into a taxpayer-funded retirement scheme, said think-tank Emir Research head of social, law and human rights, Jason Loh.
He was responding to queries on the World Bank’s research released in 2020, which said more than 7% of the Malaysian population were aged 65 and above, thus classifying the country as an “ageing society”.
The World Bank had also said that the rate of ageing would increase in the coming years, with the portion of the population aged 65 and above projected to double to 14% by 2044 and later to 20% by 2056, making Malaysian society “super-aged”.
“A UBP can be something to be explored, with some modifications that include part-contributions from citizens who are the potential beneficiaries, where regardless of the outstanding amount in their EPF accounts, they can still draw funds from the UBP.”
He also said an agency could be set up under the government or as a government-linked company to provide post-retirement employment to seniors, with no maximum age limit.
“The Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Ministry should also be at the forefront of developing schemes to nurture and help retirees become entrepreneurs in their own right, together with SME Bank,” he said, adding that the National Policy for Older Persons (1995-2005) was last updated in 2011 and the Health Ministry’s National Policy for Older Persons “needs to be reviewed as it is more than a decade old”.
“But before updating the policies, there should be a White Paper presented in Parliament to seek policy input on our ageing population.
“This includes setting out in the immediate term, the national and strategic policy framework and priorities.
“Such a policy framework will set the future direction of tackling the challenges of an ageing society,” he said, adding that it would entail looking at healthcare and social care for the elderly from a holistic perspective.
Loh said the government could also do more to explore a pilot scheme for care homes to be located next to hospitals.
“Additionally, we need to ensure that activity centres for senior citizens are available in every parliamentary and state constituency.”
University of Malaya professor of Economics Datuk Dr Rajah Rasiah said there is “a serious need to establish milestones and to have a review to see if government policies on ageing have been met.
“That review committee must also recommend changes. Otherwise, existing policies will not go beyond symbolic gestures.
“Problems associated with senior citizens range from a loss of income after retirement to myriad health and social issues as they age.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has aggravated (the situation) as the elderly are more vulnerable to the virus owing to comorbidities.
“Digitalisation and Industry 4.0 technologies can absorb the aged back into the workforce, provided they have programming, coding and other digital skills.
“Such an approach will need effective life-long learning programmes”.
