Senior Citizens Bill: Focusing on empowerment, not punishment

KUALA LUMPUR: The proposed Senior Citizens Bill, set to be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat next year, could include provisions for legal actions against irresponsible adult children of elderly parents.

However, Professor of Geriatric Medicine at Universiti Malaya, Prof Dr Tan Maw Pin said it was important for Malaysia to move past the rhetoric of making children bear the responsibility of caring for their parents.

According to her, this has been brought up since 1997 when Malaysia first responded to the United Nations’ (UN) call to prepare for population ageing.

“Most of the time when the older person turns up at a healthcare facility and is brought by their children, it is because they can no longer manage that older person.

“They do it out of love, not out of the need to dump their parents,” she told Astro AWANI.

Instead, Tan called for the government to practise “societal conscience” to better understand why families are forced to admit their elderly relatives to care homes, as well as examine the lack of provisions to prevent them from reaching such a stage.

“We should not have a judgmental, punitive government. We should have one that cares.”

Citing other countries that have imposed similar laws against adult children, Tan said it would be better for Malaysia to direct its resources towards empowering the elderly to live independently instead.

“When we consider writing the law, let’s not go backwards and punish adult children for not looking after their older parents.

“Let’s think a bit further ahead, because we have the chance of learning from other people’s mistakes to ensure this law not only protects but also adequately empowers an older person.”

Several states in the United States have filial responsibility laws that require adult children to provide financial support for their parents under certain circumstances.

In Singapore, the Maintenance of Parents Act allows Singaporean or permanent-resident parents to apply for a court order requiring their children to provide financial support if they are unable to support themselves.

Despite these laws being in place, Tan said they were rarely enforced in both countries. For Singapore, most cases were resolved without the use of the law.

Protecting, enabling senior citizens through the law

Rather than focusing on care, Tan said it is crucial for Malaysia to shift its mindset and work on enabling the elderly to continue carrying out their daily tasks despite their old age.

“The philosophy is to encourage them to continue doing things they can do. If they were at risk of losing the ability to do something, then we need to use every single available means to help them maintain that capacity.”

Malaysia is on the path towards becoming an ageing nation by 2030, where 7 per cent of the population will be aged 65 years and above.

Commenting on what aspects the Senior Citizen Bill should cover, she said it must firstly stamp out ageism in the country.

“It must ensure that no policy or employer will discriminate against older people,” she said. “So we cannot say you can no longer work because you’re over 60, or that you can no longer drive because you’re over the age of 80.”

Beyond this, Tan called for the Bill to look at protecting vulnerable adults, particularly those with disabilities, along with provisions that enable them to maintain autonomy.

It must also ensure the elderly are protected from financial exploitation, possibly with laws that incentivise police forces to act against such cases.

Lastly, Tan said the Bill should make it legally binding for senior citizens to make advanced decisions, or to appoint a surrogate decision maker.

“At the moment, if I want to stop my family from resuscitating me, they can still overwrite that decision because any advanced directive is not legally binding.

"There are lots of provisions that we need in our law to ensure our older person's rights are protected, and that law should not exclude younger adults who also have similar issues."