Senior Citizens Bill to be tabled next year

A SENIOR citizens Bill will be tabled in Parliament by next year, says Aiman Athirah Sabu.

According to the Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister, the Bill is a step by the government to protect the elderly as the country prepares to become an ageing nation by 2030.

“The Bill is targeted for first reading in 2024,” she said during Question Time.

Aiman was responding to Mohd Sany Hamzan (PH-Hulu Langat), who asked if the ministry would introduce a law to cut the salaries of children who sent their parents to aged care homes.

The deputy minister welcomed Mohd Sany’s proposal to introduce such a law.

Aiman said the ministry has a number of comprehensive programmes to take care of the welfare of senior citizens whose children are not able to do so.

For instance, she said the Welfare Department has Rumah Seri Kenangan (RSK) and Rumah Ehsan (RE) for impoverished senior citizens.

“RSK is to protect poor senior citizens and their quality of life. RE is to provide care, treatment and protection to old and poor senior citizens without any relatives or children so that they can live comfortably and peacefully.

“All these institutions are funded by the government with no charges imposed on residents staying there,” she said.

Aiman also said they were looking into taking action against irresponsible children.

“The ministry will look into the suitability of laws against children who are irresponsible towards their parents. This ensures public awareness is increased in relation to the importance of looking after senior citizens,” she added.

Statistics showed that 2,144 senior citizens had been abandoned at hospitals across the country from 2018 until June of last year.

In 2020 alone, 752 senior citizens were abandoned, and of this figure, 412 were placed in welfare homes.