Senior citizens living alone can get monthly monetary aid of RM300 BUT is this enough...

1.1495 million Malaysians above the age of 65 years old in 2006, today it will be more. The Ministry's homes are housing only 13,714. There are about 400,000 pensioners(that would be those above 55 years old)... What is the status of the rest of our senior citizens. Those who opted for KWSP(EPF) would have expended all in less than 10 years.

In many towns there are extremely depressing "old folks home" housing usually the Chinese old. Usually, there is no proper bedding let alone full-time staff at these "homes". Wonder whether the government is aware of these homes....

Even the wisest of our senior citizens will find that their calculations for their old-age going hay-wire -- and the increased cost of living may not be having an immediate direct effect save for the increase tension and worry of what will happen tomorrow.

With the increase in fuel-prices and the already high toll-rates, there will lesser "balik kampungs", and this will definitely have its effect on family relations - and families of the "modern" Malaysia would be more nuclear. The concern now is the old. With the rise in the cost of fuel, the visits home will reduce....

Saturday June 14, 2008

Welfare of senior citizens protected

MALAYSIA Nanban reported Women, Family and Community Development Deputy Minister Datuk Noriah Kasnon as saying that the Government had not neglected the welfare of senior citizens in the country.

She said the Government currently managed 19 social welfare homes throughout the country that housed about 13,714 senior citizens and that the ministry organised various programmes to help them.

She added that it was the policy of the ministry that these homes serve healthy food and ensure cleanliness was always maintained.

Senior citizens living alone could apply with their district social welfare offices for monthly monetary aid of RM300, she said.

Noriah was refuting allegations that the Government had ignored the welfare of senior citizens.

Have more non-Malay staff
MIC central working committee member S. Murugesan said the Government must issue a directive to all government departments to ensure more non-Malays were employed in the civil service, reported Makkal Osai.

He was referring to the recent recruitment of 751 assistant enforcement officers by the Road Transport Department (JPJ). Only 15 candidates were non-Malays, of which 10 were Indians.

Other News & Views is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a sub-heading, it denotes a separate news item.