Contributed by the Human Rights Committee
Ageing is an inevitable process for each and everyone. Have you ever pictured your old days? Imagine spending your remaining days homeless, with no proper income and savings, without proper access to food, sanitation, clothing and health, being perceived as a burden and marginalised by society.
Human rights are for everyone, including the elderly. All senior citizens should be equally entitled to the enjoyment of the full range of human rights without discrimination of any kind by virtue of their age. There are numerous international norms like the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (“ICESCR”) (and in particular the Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights’ General Comment 6) and the United Nations International Plan of Action on Ageing that make reference to and set out standards concerning the rights of the elderly. Despite this, a national-level human rights framework focusing on respecting, protecting and fulfilling the rights of the elderly has however yet to emerged in Malaysia. Regrettably, direct and indirect discrimination and societal attitudes towards the elderly have impeded them from fully participating in all aspects of the political, economic, social and cultural life of our society.
Ageing is an inevitable process for each and everyone. Have you ever pictured your old days? Imagine spending your remaining days homeless, with no proper income and savings, without proper access to food, sanitation, clothing and health, being perceived as a burden and marginalised by society.
Human rights are for everyone, including the elderly. All senior citizens should be equally entitled to the enjoyment of the full range of human rights without discrimination of any kind by virtue of their age. There are numerous international norms like the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (“ICESCR”) (and in particular the Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights’ General Comment 6) and the United Nations International Plan of Action on Ageing that make reference to and set out standards concerning the rights of the elderly. Despite this, a national-level human rights framework focusing on respecting, protecting and fulfilling the rights of the elderly has however yet to emerged in Malaysia. Regrettably, direct and indirect discrimination and societal attitudes towards the elderly have impeded them from fully participating in all aspects of the political, economic, social and cultural life of our society.
Because of the lack of recognition of the rights of the elderly to an adequate standard of living, the highest attainable standard of health, economic independence, self fulfillment and dignity, full participation in community life remains a struggle and a distant reality for some. Elderly women specifically suffer double discrimination because of both their age and gender. The principles of equality and non-discrimination are enshrined in our Federal Constitution. However, our government is still striving to take these provisions beyond mere rhetoric through effective implementation of legislation, administrative programmes, policies and financial measures to properly cater for and realise the needs of the elderly and to offer redress in cases of violations of their rights.
Discrimination targeted at older employees has the potential of narrowing the economic opportunities for this vulnerable group in society. Some may be forced to accept odd jobs at low remuneration. Compared with other jurisdictions which have enacted anti-age-discrimination legislation, the economically-disadvantaged elderly in our country simply do not have appropriate complaint and remedy-pursuing avenues in cases where they face discrimination by virtue of their advancing age. In this regard, apart from the need to enact laws to prohibit discrimination on the grounds of age and gender, to capture any possible violations of elderly rights and properly accord them the right of redress, the government should also consider increasing the retirement age at the option of employees. An acceptable retirement age should take into account the nature of the job, and the general working ability and health-care conditions available today to the working population. Public and private sectors should be encouraged to continue hiring older employees by way of tax relief policy for instance. Similarly, older employees within the low income range should be given higher personal tax relief to enable them to have more disposable income.
Older persons are also more susceptible to old age diseases such as sight or hearing deterioration that would restrict their ability to work and this unavoidably also weakens their employability due to the medical costs associated with such conditions. The ill health of an older family member and ongoing financial concerns would inevitably result in immense stress and emotional strain on family members in providing care to older persons. As such, having an accessible, affordable and high-quality health care facilities and services specially catered for the elderly would promote the fulfillment of elderly rights to the highest attainable standard of health under Article 12 of the ICESCR. Further, there should be wide dissemination and access to information to create awareness and enable early detection of old age diseases especially in rural areas. As for the nursing homes, merely taking into care those elderly who are homeless or being placed there by their family members are insufficient. The type and nature of care being extended to older persons should always take into cognisance human rights principles. Caretakers should respect the private life, dignity and autonomy of older persons and not subject them to what could constitute torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
In addition, a lot of these vulnerable groups in society are actually unable or lack the ability to realise the rights themselves. For instance, many elderly with consistently low income simply would not have been able to afford the premium for health insurance or to contribute towards any kind of old-age benefits when they were young. Article 9 of the ICESCR dealing with "the right of everyone to social security, including social insurance" implicitly recognises the right to old-age benefits. The government should therefore undertake appropriate measures by way of legislation and to allocate sufficient resources to establish social security schemes that provide benefits and social services to older persons, starting at a specific age. This should nonetheless include non-contributory type of health care schemes.
With their age, social interaction of older persons with others in society may decrease due to limitations in their mobility and society’s unenthusiastic attitudes towards older persons. With the fast pace at which society is moving now, the pictures of older persons telling stories, sharing their life experience and skills with youngsters, playing chess, and exercise taichi in the parks have slowly faded. To repaint these pictures, it is critical to have a national education campaign to raise public awareness about age discrimination, understanding of needs and rights of the elderly and to promote the creation of a caring society towards elderly. In short, we have to actively include the elderly in our social activities. To achieve this, we also need to dismantle the barriers which hinder the elderly from fully participating in community life. There has to be studies and research made on the public transport system to determine the needs of the elderly and to make the public transport system more accessible and elderly-friendly. Lifts, handrails, lower buttons, signboards with large enough words and better lighting, reservation of seats for the elderly and announcements in various languages and dialects are necessary in public transport stations. Senior citizens should be given discounts on usage of public transport and social and recreational activities. More sponsored senior citizens associations should also be established and more gatherings and group excursions involving senior citizens should be actively organised by civil society to fulfil their emotional needs.
To target the issues of ageing, there is an immediate need for the government to not only ratify the ICESCR and implement it by way of domestic legislation, but to also incorporate ageing issues into the government’s plans of action. This has to be done by maximising the available resources for the elderly. On the other hand, society should shift from the adoption of a welfare-oriented approach to that of a rights-based framework in respect of the elderly. Perceptions of the elderly as victims, objects of pity or burden ought to be changed. Instead, we should recognise that the elderly have rights too. We must demand that the government be sensitive and accountable in fulfilling its minimum core obligations to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of the elderly to which they are entitled. No doubt ageing is expected, but if the government and each and every one of us in society are willing to put in a little bit of effort towards creating an enabling environment where the elderly would be able to fully claim and enjoy their rights, we could make a positive difference to the lives of the elderly and improve what we can to better look forward to in our own golden days in the future.
Discrimination targeted at older employees has the potential of narrowing the economic opportunities for this vulnerable group in society. Some may be forced to accept odd jobs at low remuneration. Compared with other jurisdictions which have enacted anti-age-discrimination legislation, the economically-disadvantaged elderly in our country simply do not have appropriate complaint and remedy-pursuing avenues in cases where they face discrimination by virtue of their advancing age. In this regard, apart from the need to enact laws to prohibit discrimination on the grounds of age and gender, to capture any possible violations of elderly rights and properly accord them the right of redress, the government should also consider increasing the retirement age at the option of employees. An acceptable retirement age should take into account the nature of the job, and the general working ability and health-care conditions available today to the working population. Public and private sectors should be encouraged to continue hiring older employees by way of tax relief policy for instance. Similarly, older employees within the low income range should be given higher personal tax relief to enable them to have more disposable income.
Older persons are also more susceptible to old age diseases such as sight or hearing deterioration that would restrict their ability to work and this unavoidably also weakens their employability due to the medical costs associated with such conditions. The ill health of an older family member and ongoing financial concerns would inevitably result in immense stress and emotional strain on family members in providing care to older persons. As such, having an accessible, affordable and high-quality health care facilities and services specially catered for the elderly would promote the fulfillment of elderly rights to the highest attainable standard of health under Article 12 of the ICESCR. Further, there should be wide dissemination and access to information to create awareness and enable early detection of old age diseases especially in rural areas. As for the nursing homes, merely taking into care those elderly who are homeless or being placed there by their family members are insufficient. The type and nature of care being extended to older persons should always take into cognisance human rights principles. Caretakers should respect the private life, dignity and autonomy of older persons and not subject them to what could constitute torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
In addition, a lot of these vulnerable groups in society are actually unable or lack the ability to realise the rights themselves. For instance, many elderly with consistently low income simply would not have been able to afford the premium for health insurance or to contribute towards any kind of old-age benefits when they were young. Article 9 of the ICESCR dealing with "the right of everyone to social security, including social insurance" implicitly recognises the right to old-age benefits. The government should therefore undertake appropriate measures by way of legislation and to allocate sufficient resources to establish social security schemes that provide benefits and social services to older persons, starting at a specific age. This should nonetheless include non-contributory type of health care schemes.
With their age, social interaction of older persons with others in society may decrease due to limitations in their mobility and society’s unenthusiastic attitudes towards older persons. With the fast pace at which society is moving now, the pictures of older persons telling stories, sharing their life experience and skills with youngsters, playing chess, and exercise taichi in the parks have slowly faded. To repaint these pictures, it is critical to have a national education campaign to raise public awareness about age discrimination, understanding of needs and rights of the elderly and to promote the creation of a caring society towards elderly. In short, we have to actively include the elderly in our social activities. To achieve this, we also need to dismantle the barriers which hinder the elderly from fully participating in community life. There has to be studies and research made on the public transport system to determine the needs of the elderly and to make the public transport system more accessible and elderly-friendly. Lifts, handrails, lower buttons, signboards with large enough words and better lighting, reservation of seats for the elderly and announcements in various languages and dialects are necessary in public transport stations. Senior citizens should be given discounts on usage of public transport and social and recreational activities. More sponsored senior citizens associations should also be established and more gatherings and group excursions involving senior citizens should be actively organised by civil society to fulfil their emotional needs.
To target the issues of ageing, there is an immediate need for the government to not only ratify the ICESCR and implement it by way of domestic legislation, but to also incorporate ageing issues into the government’s plans of action. This has to be done by maximising the available resources for the elderly. On the other hand, society should shift from the adoption of a welfare-oriented approach to that of a rights-based framework in respect of the elderly. Perceptions of the elderly as victims, objects of pity or burden ought to be changed. Instead, we should recognise that the elderly have rights too. We must demand that the government be sensitive and accountable in fulfilling its minimum core obligations to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of the elderly to which they are entitled. No doubt ageing is expected, but if the government and each and every one of us in society are willing to put in a little bit of effort towards creating an enabling environment where the elderly would be able to fully claim and enjoy their rights, we could make a positive difference to the lives of the elderly and improve what we can to better look forward to in our own golden days in the future.
Dated this 25th day of November 2009
Human Rights Committee
Bar Council
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