KUCHING: Don’t give up. This was the three-word message from the Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah when addressing
senior citizens here.
“We (the community as a whole) will also not give up on you,” she assured.
Fatimah mentioned that the ministry would try its best to upgrade the quality of life of senior citizens by working together with the society to ensure that the remaining days of the old folks would become delightful and meaningful.
“This is in line with the way forward where the country is expected to become an ageing society by 2030,” she said when officiating at a Rehabilitation Workshop (Cure&Care) for Senior Citizens at Merdeka Palace Hotel here, yesterday.
According to the United Nations (2009) projection, Malaysia will reach the status of an old nation by 2030 when the group of ‘60 years old and above’ reaches 15 percent of the population. Recognising this fact, the federal government took the initiative to address the aging issue by drafting of the National Senior Citizen Policy in 1995.
“The policy symbolises the government’s commitment to creating self-reliant, dignified and respected senior citizens by optimising their potential through healthy and positive aging process as well as improving the well-being of the nation,” she stated.
The four-day workshop began last Thursday (Sept 19) and will end tomorrow (Sept 22). It is participated by 50 persons comprising of Pusat Aktiviti Warga Emas (PAWE) or Pusat Perkhidmatan Warga Emas (PPWE) Kuching Division, Kuching Homehelp Services voluntary officers as well as staff from Rumah Seri Kenangan, Kuching and Sibu divisions and jurupulih (rehabilitators) from every division in the state.
The workshop which was organised by the state Social Welfare Department (JKM) is facilitated by 20 including five Japanese facilitators from the Rehabilitation Care For Asia (Reca).
The event aims to help senior citizens maintain a positive attitude and to stay active.
