KUALA LUMPUR: Tan has worked tirelessly his entire life, supporting his family. With savings from his retirement fund, he is looking forward to spending quality time with his wife.
The couple have a son named William, 35, who is self-employed.
When William needs money to pay for his new house, he persuades his father to withdraw from his pension savings to cover the instalments.
This goes on until Tan's savings are finally exhausted and he is left penniless.
To make matters worse, William refuses to acknowledge his father and begins to neglect him when he falls sick.
Sounds familiar? What Tan has just gone through is known as financial abuse. Are our parents vulnerable to this kind of abuse?
Despite the growing number of elderly financial abuse, many choose to suffer in silence because of prejudice and shame.
A 2022 study by the Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency (AKPK), titled "Elder Financial Abuse: Protecting and Empowering Our Seniors", highlights the prevalence of this disturbing trend, where one out of 10 elderly is exposed to the risk of financial abuse.
Elderly Abuse and Neglect (EAN) is often committed by people closest to the victims.
In most cases, the perpetrator is none other than immediate family members. There are also cases that involve close friends and neighbours.
There are five types of EAN: Financial abuse, psychological abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse and neglect.
Of the 1,972 respondents who took part in the survey, a whopping 57 per cent chose not to report about their financial abuses because they did not wish to implicate their family members.
Others were in denial (25 per cent), didn't know where to seek help (16 per cent) and felt ashamed (two per cent) of their predicament.
There are many risk factors contributing to this kind of abuse. One of the strongest risk factors is income status. Besides having low income, living arrangements are also the strongest risk factors.
To address the issue, the AKPK is working with the relevant authorities, such as the Welfare Department, to discuss legislation to provide protection to the elderly from financial abuse and neglect.
On another matter, consumers tend to overspend when they do not have a structured decision-making process when it comes to shopping online.
In another AKPK study titled "Rebuilding Financial Resilience (What consumers can learn from the pandemic)", compulsive online buying behaviour exposes consumers to financial vulnerability.
Of the 2,240 people who took part in the survey, 28 per cent said they sometimes felt "something inside" had "pushed them" to spend more online.
Eighteen per cent said online shopping was a way of coping with daily stress; like buying a product even when a person does not need it, and despite having little money.
Others said they bought things online because it was part of a lifestyle (14 per cent), or it was a habit to spend part or all their money on online shopping (12 per cent).
Some also admitted to being a reckless spender (10 per cent) or spending beyond their means (six per cent).
As such, the AKPK says concerted efforts are needed to improve consumer behaviour and build their financial resilience.