Ageing
By Kaypo anak Kuching
ACCORDING to the definition established by the United Nations, an aged person is one who has reached or exceeded 60 years of age. That makes me an aged person.Of course, when you have passed the magic hurdle of 60, you think sometimes of the ‘Grim Reaper’, for there is no way of getting out of this life alive. But according to the national statistics for life expectancy, I should have 16 years more to go, if I am careful.
But life is hard to tell. A friend’s son aged 49 just died from a heart attack three days ago on the badminton court; he was given a clean bill of health 6 months ago by his doctor during a regular medical check up.
So I consider myself blessed, living in relatively good health, except for the mandatory conditions of the aged like diabetes, high blood pressure, and creaking joints. I still contribute to the national GDP growth by my writing, a task I can do as long as I am sane and have two hands to do the typing on the computer keyboard.
The contribution to the GDP by the aged is an important issue for national economic planner.
Our country Malaysia is still a relatively young country. In 2000, Malaysians aged 60 and above were estimated to be 1.4 million. By 2020, it should reach 3.3 million.
In the period between 1990 and 2020, population is estimated to increase from 18.4 million to 33.33 million, an increase of 80 per cent. In the same period though, the number of Malaysians over the age of 60 would increase from 1.05 million 3.26 million, an increase of 210 per cent.
In short, as standard of living and health care facilities continue to improve, Malaysians are going to live longer lives. This may be good news to middle-aged Malaysians, but bad news for economists and politicians.
As the percentage of aged people grows, it means that the younger people in the workforce will have to pay for their upkeep and the health care costs.
In case you didn’t know, Japanese live the longest lives on earth. There the ageing population exerts great stress on the Japanese national economy.
The proportion of the elderly in Japan (people over 65 years of age) in 2003 stood at 24.3 million, but this figure is expected to go up to a whopping 34 million by 2018. The percentage of old people is expected to go up from 19 per cent in 2003 to more than 30 per cent by 2033.
In Japan, 70 per cent of government social security benefits are distributed to the elderly, to be paid out of the tax-payers’ pocket. In economist terms, a higher proportion of ageing population will reduce savings and induce a higher capital/labour ratio. That is bad news for macro-economic planners.
But elderly people are not just numbers and percentages in national statistics. They are also living and breathing human individuals who have been young and productive once, and contributed their share to the care of their family and national development. It is only right that the society should repay them with all kinds of special amenities in return.
I note that MAS no longer offer half fare to senior citizens, and that is morally wrong for any corporate citizens.
Malaysians are Asians with Asian value of filial duty to ageing parents. Many children and grandchildren continue to care for the aged in their home. I have known many aged friends who move in to live with their children to take care of household chores and caring for the grandchildren. There, the greatest beneficiary would be the children and the grandchildren.
But many older people are not healthy, having been afflicted by typical diseases that attack the aged, like frailty, diabetes, heart conditions, kidney problems, stroke, weak eyesight and poor hearing, and urinary incontinence. Most senior citizens fear a fall the most, because the old bones do not heal well, and they can become bed-bound or wheel chair-bound.
Another much feared disease among the aged is the Alzheimer’s, which is believed to have attacked 5% of all those Malaysians above 65 years of age.
Alzheimer’s disease was first identified in 1906, and this incurable, degenerative and terminal disease affects 35 million worldwide in 2009. Patients affected by this commonest form of dementia usually die within seven years of diagnosis.
The care of a bed-bound elderly person can be very stressful for the whole family, especially if the patient is incontinent and suffers from horrible bed sores. That is when the children will face the painful choice of keeping the elderly at home and suffering the trauma of daily stress or sending the elderly to a nursing home or some kind of medical facility for professional care.
Our general hospitals are bursting at the brims and so are not really suited for long-term care of the aged. Private nursing homes are far from being an industry in Malaysia. The government run homes for the aged are mostly for abandoned old people. They are not the place you want to send your aged parent to spend their sunset years.
I have heard of this gentleman in Kuching who runs a private home for the aged in Kuching. He rented a big house with inmates who are still able-bodied. He hired two maids to do the cleaning and the cooking, so that food and drink were available around the clock. The ambulance and doctor’s service was one telephone call away during an emergency. He charged RM900 per month for each elderly person, at no profit to himself.
The Lions Nursing Home run by the Kuching Lions’ Club houses 56 elderly people, and I wish there are more voluntary and charitable organisations that emulate their fine example.
Like almost all aged people, I have formed long-time personal habits in my private life. Going to live in one of those nursing homes would mean making radical adjustment to a new environment, especially to the loss of personal privacy. Frankly, I don’t see how I can ever fit in as a guest of those special institutions for the aged.
Fortunately, I am in relatively good health, and keep myself busy writing and reading everyday. The important thing in old age is to keep busy and engaged with the world.
I know of this friend in my neighbourhood who is 54 and had long ago retired from his life-long career as a printing technician. He has a year ago purchased a van and started going around collecting old newspapers and household junk.
He loves a beer or two in the evening after work, and reports to me his day’s progress. I was amazed that he often makes more than RM100 a day, and that any old junk is worth a lot of money. The copper wire in old electrical coils can fetch up to RM20 per kilo, for instance. Because of his heavy lifting work, he has maintained his very robust physique.
That is really a very good way of spending one’s retirement years. The EPF would soon run out, and a pension is never sufficient to maintain one’s life style in one’s old age. By continuing to work at his own pace, my friend has shown that he can still contribute to our nation’s effort at recycling instead of depending on the government or other people for the enjoyment of his life.
By the time you pass the magic milestone of 60, your life-long struggle would be over. Your youthful ambition for true love, fame and fortune is all behind you. All you want is peace and quiet.
In the world of the aged, there is also this consensus that good health — and a set of good teeth or good denture — is the most important thing in life, and not a great deal of money. They would all tell you there is no worse fate for the aged than to lie in bed with a debilitating disease for years, and being a burden to others.
They will also tell you that in their youth, they might have spent all their life trying to make money, but now that they are old, they cannot bring a million bucks to six feet underground!
That is the wisdom that come with old age.
(The writer can be reached at bapakmiki@hotmail.com) – The Borneo Post
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