Elders abandoned and alone

NEARLY 2,200 senior citizens were abandoned across the country from 2018 until June this year, said the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry.

From the total of 2,144 persons, 914 of them – 656 males and 258 females – were successfully reunited with their respective family members.

However, the ministry reported that another 1,230 seniors (650 males and 380 females) are completely alone and appear to have no next of kin.

Last year alone, the ministry said 752 senior citizens were abandoned, with 412 of them subsequently placed in suitable welfare institutions.

“Social medical workers in hospitals make effort to track down their relatives. If unsuccessful, they are then placed in government or private welfare institutions,” said the ministry in a written reply dated July 20.

The ministry said many abandoned senior citizens actually have relatives such as spouses, children or siblings. The medical social welfare officer will try his best to track down relatives.

“This includes going to their registered address, calling their relatives, or tracking down their relatives through the National Registry Department (NRD).

“However, many relatives who were successfully tracked down refused to step forward to care for the senior citizen involved,” said the ministry.

“Among the reasons given by Malaysians refusing to care for the elderly were family problems, while some flatly denied even knowing the senior citizen involved,” added the ministry.

The ministry also said hospitals often encounter challenges in tracking down relatives when abandoned senior citizens fail to provide accurate information like IC numbers, relatives’ phone numbers, as well as residential addresses.

“Many of these cases consist of vagrants and the homeless who were referred by the public to hospitals for treatment.

“Senior citizens involved in drug and alcohol abuse cases were also referred to the hospital,” said the ministry, which added that a draft on the proposed Senior Citizens Act is currently being prepared and will cover various aspects on rights, protection, care and support.