Japan's pension system is in worse straits. Many young people are refusing to contribute for fear that they will receive nothing back in their old age. Retirement may become irrelevant as more people are able to lead longer and healthier lives. But that's not really likely. So even relatively young countries like Malaysia cannot avoid raising the pensionable age for long, says Siti Hawa Ali, a specialist on elderly policy in the country.
China faces a much more acute problem.
Not only has its one-child policy hastened the gray tide, the large and creaking state sector can no longer meet its welfare obligations. Benefits under the old iron-ricebowl system ranged from housing to medical care. But nominal pension deductions, which were often used to hide red ink, have long vanished. Now a third of state enterprises fail to make pension payments. Retirees sometimes wait for years to be reimbursed for medical expenses.