GEORGE TOWN: Come 2040, Penang is expected to be one of the states with the highest population of senior citizens in the country.
State Social Development and Welfare Committee chairman Lim Siew Khim said, according to statistics by the Department of Statistics, Penang is categorised as an ageing state.
"This is because the percentage of the population aged 66 and above will be 7.7 per cent, whereby seven per cent is the benchmark for an ageing state.
"The increase in the number of senior citizen, especially in Penang, will have a significant impact on the state's socioeconomic development and fiscal position.
"As such, serious attention must be given to address this issue,'' she said in her winding up speech at the state legislative assembly sitting here today.
Elaborating, Lim said " senior citizens have every right to enjoy equal rights, irrespective of their background.
She said it could be implemented
through continuous support from a healthcare aspect, welfare and socioeconomics to enable them to face old age with dignity.
"As part of efforts to face the challenges of an ageing state, the Penang government launched the Active Ageing Roadmap Plan last year to recognise and empower senior citizen as the state's development assets.
"This plan gives focus to the implementation of the programme, improve the cooperation network with the private sector and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and policy-making, which is sustainable to improve social, physical well-being
and the psychology of the elderly," she added.
She added that the Active Ageing Roadmap Plan was divided into three phases — Conscious Phase, Integration Phase and Sustainability Phase.
"Under this plan, the state government, through the Penang Women Development Corporation (PWDC), will collaborate with the Malaysian Healthy Ageing Society (MHAS), in realising Penang as an
Age Friendly City towards the final phase of this plan in the year 2025," she said.