Ageism in Malaysia
Tags: Malaysia, Ageism, Public Health, Global Health, Retirement

Ageism in Malaysia

The term ‘ageism’ was described by Robert N. Butler in 1975 as the process of systematic stereotyping and discrimination against people because of their old age. According to the latest WHO data published in 2018, the total life expectancy in Malaysia is 75.3 years; 73.2 years for males, and 77.6 years for females. The Malaysian government has passed the National Policy for Older Persons in 2011 as an initiative to overcome the problems of age discrimination. However, the enforcement of policies was vague, and age discrimination is still a social norm. In fact, many workers were still unaware of their own rights and were forced to unreasonably ‘retire’ in their early 50’s. During the debate about raising the age of retirement, some politicians disagree with raising the retirement age to 60 years old as they claimed that it might decrease opportunities for the younger generation and fresh graduates to participate in the workforce. Starting from 2012, private-sector workers may retire at the age of 60 according to the Minimum Retirement Age Act (2012). This act is a starting point for workers to remain in the workforce longer, which aligns with the concept of productive aging.

Malaysians retire around age 55–60. For those who worked in private sectors or informal jobs, they need to depend on their children or own savings to live for 15-20 years without income if they reach the general life expectancy of 75 years old, not mentioning the years with a disability and health care costs that come with old age. Photo by Dillip Behera

What are the cultural norms and attitudes around aging people in Malaysia?

Negative stereotyping of aging people exist as a norm in Malaysia. A common example of stereotyping on the aging workforce includes questioning the capacity and productivity of the aging population. Most of the employers in our society are still unable to see the benefit of hiring older people since people generally assume that productivity and working quality decreases as a person gets older. For employees working in the private sector, you’re basically on your own once you retire. Generally, a Malaysian retiree is not expected to work after retirement and most people do not save up or plan for retirement. Retirement is generally a point when parents start relying on children for a living, which also burdens the younger generation.

Retirement is generally a point when some parents start relying on their children for a living, which also burdens the younger generation. Photo by Aidil Bahaman

Working after retirement would still be considered as poor and pity by society because retirement was thought to be the time to finally enjoy life after decades of hard work. However, due to the rise of the platform economy in recent years, many retirees started to take on jobs through apps such as Uber & Grab to keep themselves active and occupied while enjoying the flexible work time after retirement.

Retiree started to take on freelance jobs through apps to keep themselves active and occupied while enjoying the flexible work time after retirement. Photo by Tim Samuel

Different patterning of experience of aging according to gender and social class

Generally, life expectancy differs between gender. Research shows that widowhood is associated with an increased risk of depression and psychosocial distress. However, widowhood at old age has different impacts on different gender. For example, the psychological effects of widowhood appear to be worse for men than for women; widowed women maintain more contact with their family and friends compared to men, therefore having more social support compared to widowed men.

Due to the growing aging population, more and more working-age-women in Malaysia were forced out of the job market, to be caregivers of the elderly. It is the social norm in Malaysia that caring for the aged and sick is the responsibility of women. Currently, about 60% of women who were not in the workforce are doing unpaid household labor such as caring for the elder family members. Culturally, it is considered a shame for the family if the elderly were to be sent to old folks’ homes or care centers instead of living together with their adult children or being cared for at home by a female family member.

In terms of social class, income determines one’s access to social and health resources and varies across older adults due to a variety of demographic factors. People with lower socioeconomic status were found to be associated with an increased risk of health decline and mortality.

Poorer health thus affects the quality of life, years of living with a disability, and care burden on families. Photo by Nikki Bernardez

So what’s the big deal?

Aging in Asia and the Pacific has been characterized at a more rapid pace than those in OECD developed countries. Given that they have limited time and opportunity to adjust to the needs of an aging society, social and economic challenges are expected to be tremendous. Some of the challenges include the lack of legislation regarding elder rights; labor market and institutions are not prepared for the elder workforce, i.e. lack of elder-friendly workplace, lack of the sustainable social welfare system to cope with poverty caused by an increase of non-communicable disease related to aging and the accompanying burden of care, and lack of research to inform policies about elder rights, long-term care, and social welfare in many developing countries, just to name a few.

More research is needed to inform policy-makers to cope with and tackle the problem of a rapidly aging society. To start, we need to identify some of the current challenges, be aware of the consequences, and then design solutions that could maintain the sustainable growth of our society despite the aging population.