Some of them use trolleys, but mostly, they carry the sacks on their back, up the hill, under the sun, to the nearest recycling centre about a kilometre away.
No, this is not a story about good recycling habits.
For me, it is a story that questions whether we will - or can - provide our parents a dignified life as they enter their golden years.
“My son is far away. So I make some money collecting plastic bottles,” an elderly woman told me when I drove her to the recycling centre.
Many of these senior citizens who live around the neighbourhood are urban poor.
Although one can argue that garbage picking is something that they might enjoy doing during their free time that they have after retirement, would this be the kind of ‘past time’ you envision for your parents in their later years, let alone yourself - even if picking up other’s people’s rubbish is not a means to make ends meet?
An ‘auntie’ who regularly collects trash for recycling near where I live
It is a known fact that Malaysia, like many other countries in the world, is on track to become an ageing nation by 2035.
What it means is that 15 percent or more of the population will be 60 years and above by then. And what it calls to question is whether we are ready for this demographic change?
With the proportion of working people decreasing, there will be a drop in economic productivity.
A bigger elderly population also adds strain to the healthcare system. Coupled with the ever rising cost of living, a person who is struggling with their own livelihood is faced with the extra challenge of taking care for elderly members too.
As a result, many are left to fend for themselves. Some are placed in old folks home. Some abandoned by their families at public hospitals.
Going by numbers, we are about twenty years away from officially reaching the ‘ageing’ status. Going by what I see around me, its challenges are staring right at our faces already.
Are we making serious investments to caring of our elderly?
For those who are able to provide a comfortable life for their loved ones, this might not be a reason to worry. But for the families who lack the ability to do so – what are their options?
Increasing the retirement age to 60 is a good move to keeping senior citizens in the workforce. However, will that be enough to ensure a social safety net for the elderly, in particular the poorer segment of the society who does not necessarily have medical insurance or pension fund to protect them from impoverishment in old age?
For the young and healthy, growing old and the challenges that come with it may still seem ‘unforeseeable’. But the fact is, today’s young will be the 2 billion old people in the world by 2050.
And I am quite certain that picking up rubbish is not part of the plan in your later years.
