A SENIOR citizen goes to pay her bill at a leading telco, and she is inundated with several online updates on her mobile phone, prior to paying her bill. Another senior citizen cringes on what are the new travelling criteria after she has to fill up online forms at airports.
I am not against online updates and online payments as I am a baby boomer and am naturally comfortable doing things online. But 3.5 million people, or 7%, of our population are above the age of 65. How can we help them with this arduous and tedious tasks?
Many senior citizens are not IT savvy. They have been forced into this IT era in an ad hoc and haphazard manner. Even if they are savvy, they have trembling and shaky fingers, which can be a problem when handling the tasks at hand. Furthermore, poor vision can also be a problem and deterrent, preventing them from going online.
My teacher, who is almost 80 years old, says that they are vulnerable and weak. Despite that, they have to find their way to hospitals, clinics and utility service providers like the post office, electricity, water, Indah Water Konsortium, assessment and other types of services.
I urge these institutions to be empathetic and sensitive to these vulnerable senior citizens and set up user-friendly online systems, or alternatively provide customer service through phones, something that they are comfortable with.
For airports, ensure dedicated counters for senior citizens. These counters should be able to facilitate, guide and assist the senior citizens with filling up online forms or updating any applications. This gesture will boost their confidence and increase their usage of online applications when paying bills and using other services.
Let us take care of our senior citizens so they are not left out in this digital age as the country progresses ahead.
Ravindran Raman Kutty
Kuala Lumpur
