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A Treat for Senior Citizens |
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 WITH medical and social advancements, the life expectancy of Malaysians has reached 76 years old for women and 72 years old for men as compared to only 54 years old before the country gained independence.
It is good news but it also means the country has an ageing population and all
parties should play a part to safeguard the |
interests of senior citizens.
Pavilion Kuala Lumpur became one of the latest
organizations to do that. The shopping centre treated 108 senior citizens from Rumah Charis, Rumah Victory, Rumah Sejahtera Seri Setia and Caring Old Folks Home to a luncheon spiced up with an intense Chinese New Year spirit in conjunction with its first anniversary celebration.
Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen officiated at the event, which was made even more joyous by 8TV personality Owen Yap and songstress Yu Di.
Dr Ng said the Government had continued with its efforts to meet the needs of an aging population despite the global economic downturn.
One of the most notable moves was that the ministry was granted another RM500mil in allocation for the welfare of needy persons in addition to the sum of RM315mil last year.
Apart from that, the
ministry's Project Cari, a project launched six months ago to search for those who are qualified to receive welfare aid but are not aware of it, had to date registered 40,000 applicants, she said.
She added that the ministry had been
subsidizing registered welfare homes at RM8 per person per day, while individual senior citizens whose family earned less than RM720 monthly were entitled to a RM300 allowance.
With her were Urusharta Cemerlang Sdn Bhd chairman Tan Sri Zainol Mahmood, Pavilion Malaysia Sdn Bhd deputy chairman Datin Cindy Lim and acting chief executive officer Joyce Yap.
Source: The Star
Author: Yip Yoke Teng
Date: February 5, 2009
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