Waytha: New law to protect neglected parents being planned

SEREMBAN:The government is willing to study the proposal to create a new law to protect parents who are being neglected by their children, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department P. Waytha Moorthy.

However, he said the matter would need a really detailed and in-depth study before it could be implemented.

“It is really inappropriate for any child to neglect or abuse his or her parents and I think, if there is a need, we can have a law to protect those senior citizens and to ensure that their children could not simply wash their hands off their responsibility to take care of the parents,” he told reporters here yesterday.

Universiti Putra Malaysia’s Department of Human Development and Family Studies head Assoc Prof Dr Rahimah Ibrahim had said such a law was needed against children found to have purposely neglected or abused their parents emotionally, including by leaving them home alone or at old folks homes.

Earlier, Waytha Moorthy spent an hour visiting and mingling with the occupants at the Tong Sim Senior Citizens Care Centre in Taman Rasah here.

Also present were National Unity and Integration Department director-general Datuk Bahrain Idris, Negeri Sembilan Department of National Unity and Integration director Salahsiah Hashim.

During the visit, the minister also presented financial assistance of RM20,000 to the care centre, which was established in 2006 and currently provides shelter to 10 senior citizens. — Bernama