KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Government Pensioners Association is seeking greater protection and focus on pensioners and the elderly.
Its president, Datuk Wilfred Lingham said rising costs had acutely affected government pensioners' wellbeing.
He said 80 per cent of its members were earning pensions below the poverty line.
Wilfred added that this had a significant impact on their health due to stress.
Wilfred also highlighted the need to protect senior citizens from scams and to ensure their financial and confidential details were not leaked to unscrupulous people.
Wilfred urged the authorities to investigate the issue of information leaks regarding pensioners' savings in financial institutions.
He added that the association will conduct awareness programmes to prevent their members from becoming victims of scams.
Wilfred said the country was projected to have about 20 per cent of its population comprising senior citizens by 2030.
As such the association aims to introduce more development programmes focusing on human rights for its members next year.
The two-decade-old association hopes to shift its approach from providing welfare to implementing development programmes for its 5,915 members across 21 branches in the state.
"For the future, there is a need to shift current policies and programmes from a welfare approach to a developmental one, which encourages the involvement of senior citizens in programmes that will improve their standard of living through access to greater social support.
"More importantly, there is a need to adopt a human rights approach in addressing the issues faced by senior citizens to ensure their needs and dignity are protected," he said during a press conference at the association's office at Maksak Likas here.
Wilfred said the association plans to advocate for various rights, including social security and income support, decent employment, the choice to work or retire and enjoy their pensions, the right to housing and healthcare, equal protection under the law, social and political participation, and freedom from discrimination.
He also said the association would be organising the Suara Emas Pesara event at a restaurant near here on Sept 28, which will be attended by about 350 of its members.
"This is part of our association's activities to bring entertainment to pensioners," he added.