By Pauline Wong

When you are 20 years old, you feel invincible. High pavements, steep stairs, and sharp curbs hold no perils for you. You can hop atop buses, stand on your feet all day, and never stumble over a loose tile. You probably see the doctor once a year for a cold, nothing more. The world is your oyster, and you know it.

However, at age 50, things get a little more difficult. The high pavements you once conquered seem to put a little too much strain on your weak knees. You dread rushing across the road while the pedestrian lights are blinking, because you just can’t walk as fast as you used to. Every loose tile, uneven footpath and steep staircase is a challenge. You now visit your doctor more often for all sorts of things — aching joints and such. You have your doctor on speed dial.

At age 70, these things become practically impossible. There is simply no way you’ll be able to rush along with the young ‘uns. Buses are not kind to your knees because the steps are too high up, and the ones that lower to the curb are far and few between.

Assuming you can make it to the bus stop, that is, because the nearest is some 500 metres away from your home and is atop a slope. When you do go out, even going to the washroom is a challenge because there are few cubicles (except the disabled-friendly ones) which have handrails.

You have seen the inside of a hospital more often than you would like, and the doctor now asks you how our grandchildren are getting along. You rarely take public transportation, because its hard to get to and it’s just not senior-citizen friendly.

So often when we are young, we forget that our bodies age from the moment we are born; yet most, if not all of us have a senior citizen living with us, be they our parents or grandparents.

It is absolutely vital that the aged can live in a city that welcomes them, rather than isolates them, and the numbers support this fact.

The World Health Organisation in its guide to Global Aged-friendly Cities noted:

• The world is ageing rapidly, and the number of people aged 60 and over will double to 22% by 2050. By then, there will be more older people than there will be children (aged 14 and below), the first in human history.

• Over half of the global population live in cities. Mega-cities of 10 million inhabitants or more have increased from just two of such cities, to 20 mega-cities in the turn of the 20th century.

• In developing countries (like Malaysia), the share of older people in urban communities will multiply 16 times from about 56 million in 1998 to over 908 million in 2050. By then, older people will comprise one fourth of the total urban population in less developed countries.

In Malaysia, those above 65 years account for just over 5% of our population, a figure which the National Statistics Department predicts will double to over 11% by 2040.

In fact, by 2021, Malaysia will be considered an ageing population with more than 7% of the total population aged 65 and above.

With all these figures in mind, it is crucial that we begin to make our cities aged-friendly.

Kuala Lumpur as an aged-friendly city

In a recent roundtable discussion organised by Research for Social Advancement (REFSA), the issue of aged-friendly cities took a forefront in an effort to begin the conversation of how to make our cities a place where senior citizens need not fear to travel.

The roundtable discussion involved several NGOs, scholars and lawmakers, and was led by the Malaysian Healthy Ageing Society.

Its advisor Dr Nathan Vytialingam said there were currently 55 Aged-Friendly Cities where Asia has two Aged-Friendly Cities – Udaipur and New Delhi, both in India, but none in Southeast Asia — and Kuala Lumpur is certainly not on the list. Our neighbour Singapore is closest to being an aged-friendly city.

“Although Singapore does fulfil many of the WHO’s guidelines for aged-friendly cities, it has not been listed as one,” he said.

The eight areas that indicate and provide a sort of checklist to whether a city is aged friendly are: ‘transportation’, ‘housing’, ‘social participation, respect and social inclusion’, ‘civic participation and employment’, ‘communication and information’, ‘community support and health services’, and ‘outdoor spaces and buildings’.

These are the areas in which senior citizens and their needs must be given due attention, in order for them to be able to continue a free, and safe access to public spaces.

REFSA chairman Liew Chin Tong said that making sure our cities are aged-friendly is an increasingly salient public policy area in Malaysia that should be given due attention by federal, state and local governments.

“The issues surrounding socially-conscious architectural policy are myriad, ranging from healthcare expenditure in the national budget to universally accessible walkways in our urban centres and countless other themes.”

He added that it is time to make fostering age-friendly cities an agenda for the urban planners in Malaysia.

Can Kuala Lumpur or Penang be made aged-friendly?

Awareness, is of course the first step in ensuring that cities can be made aged-friendly, something which has yet to build momentum in Malaysia. Much of the responsibility lies in the city planners — the federal government, local councils, and state governments.

A run-through of the WHO checklist (see accompanying checklist) show how woefully inadequate Malaysia has been in safeguarding our senior community; even something as simple as adequate time for pedestrian crossings is missing.

“Awareness is the key to moving forward,” says Vytialingam. “Education is another. There must be education on the importance of planning a city liveable for the elderly.”

It is still not too late for Malaysia to play catch-up, he feels. Many things can be done with very little effort, and it is as simple as providing safe pedestrian walkways for a start, followed by strengthening policy and ensuring enforcement of these policies. All it takes is political will.