KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 5): Several ministries and a statutory body announced initiatives on retirement and the ageing population at The Edge Third Age Megatrend Symposium 2026.

Lim Hui Ying, Deputy Minister of Women, Family and Community Development, said the ministry has proposed more than RM168 million in additional funding under Budget 2027 to strengthen welfare support for target groups, including the care sector.

"In our proposals for Budget 2027, we are seeking enhanced direct support for unpaid home caregivers. Because caregiving should never come at the cost of a person's dignity, livelihood or future," she said during her keynote address at the event, held at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club (KLGCC) Convention Centre on Oct 3.

She added that women have a longer average life expectancy than men and are expected to live for another 21.6 years after age 60, compared with 18.8 years for men. However, women are more likely to spend time outside the formal workforce to raise children, care for ageing parents or support other family members. This can mean fewer years of Employees Provident Fund (EPF) contributions and lower accumulated retirement savings.

"We cannot have a meaningful conversation about ageing without addressing women's economic empowerment and financial security," she said.

She also said the ministry has decided to table the Senior Citizens Bill early next year, moving it from October this year, following extensive consultations with state governments and non-governmental organisations. The bill is set to address key areas, including legal mechanisms to prevent and penalise physical, emotional and financial elder abuse, neglect and abandonment.

Hannah Yeoh, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Federal Territories), said the ministry has been working on designing KL around liveability, green space and better city management, which benefit older residents. But KL's city planning needs to focus more on the elderly, as Malaysia is already an ageing nation and its overall population continues to age.

Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) conducted a children's walking audit, known as the Child Discovery Walk, in August, which gave DBKL insights into how the city is viewed by children.

"The feedback was shocking. They said the city is so boring. There's nothing for the kids. There's no water feature. They cannot play. There is no vending machine and the drinks are too expensive," said Yeoh.

Following the children's audit, Yeoh said the next audit will be for the elderly. "Now we have done that with the children, the next audit will be for the senior citizens, because it's important," she said.

While things will continue to improve, Yeoh said DBKL has already started opening all of its major parks earlier, at 5.30am instead of 6am, as senior citizens tend to sleep and wake up early for a morning walk. Some previously spent time waiting for the parks to open.

However, this also means that DBKL needs to make sure cleaning services with contractors are updated and washrooms are accessible during those hours. "We look into all these little needs and make changes, [and factor them into the next budget]," she said during her closing address.

DBKL is also working with the Malaysian Institute of Architects (PAM) to design mobile toilets that can be fitted into car parks and other places in the city, among others.

Datuk Ho Kay Tat, publisher and group CEO of The Edge Media Group, said Malaysia is already an ageing nation, with 8.4% (2.9 million) of its population aged 65 and above, up from 8% last year, according to the Department of Statistics.

Looking ahead, the United Nations has projected that Malaysia will become a super-aged society by 2056, when one in five Malaysians will be 65 or older.

From a fiscal perspective, pension payments totalled RM38.6 billion last year, taking up 11.5% of total government revenue. This year, the figure is expected to rise to RM42.8 billion, or 12.5%.

For comparison, pension payments grew at a compound annual rate of 7.4%, while government revenue grew at just 4.4%.

"The government cannot solve the challenges of an ageing population alone. It will take all stakeholders working together to raise awareness about retirement savings and help people build good habits to prepare for retirement. Individuals must also take steps themselves to prepare early for retirement," he said in his welcoming speech.

Ho also moderated the fireside chat with Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar, chairman of INCEIF University and former managing director of Khazanah Nasional Bhd, in which the latter shared his personal experience and thoughts about retirement.

Azman also suggested that the government look into developing the reverse mortgage market, which allows retirees to turn the equity in their homes into regular income. The EPF could act as a market maker by allocating a small part of its portfolio to the market, he said.

During the panel session, Private Pension Administrator (PPA) CEO Taufiq Iskandar said the PPA had asked the government for higher tax relief for investors in private retirement schemes or PRS, as part of efforts to encourage Malaysians to better prepare financially for longer lives.

Datuk Ismitz Matthew De Alwis, CEO of Kenanga Investors Bhd, said during the panel session that Malaysians should plan early for retirement by thinking about the decumulation phase.

The decumulation stage is when one transitions from saving and growing wealth to systematically withdrawing and spending those accumulated assets during retirement.

"A lot of times we speak about [the] accumulation stage but I think many of us do not pay attention to the decumulation stage … you will know how to plan for your retirement when you work it backward," he said.

In the session titled Public healthcare reimagined, Dr Maheshwara Rao Appannan, director of the digital health division at the Ministry of Health, announced that a new MySejahtera feature allowing users to share their health records with healthcare providers will be available by the end of October.

With the user's consent, healthcare records at public hospitals can be shared with more than 50 private hospitals and roughly 3,000 general practitioner clinics. They can read, via the app, the information that users choose to share.

Vincent Ooi, head of the high-net-worth and affluent segment at Prudential Assurance Malaysia Bhd, also broke down the importance of legacy planning and how insurance policies can play a role in it.

"Insurance can do so much more for legacy planning. If you deploy insurance and bundle it together with a will, it can actually help to dismantle a lot of bottlenecks," he said.

The event partners were Kenanga Investors Bhd, Prudential Assurance Malaysia Bhd and Sime Darby Property Bhd.