Malaysia must pass parental maintenance law to protect elderly
With over 3.5 million citizens aged 60 and above, a figure expected to reach six million by 2030, thousands of elderly parents are abandoned each year – left destitute, desperate and reliant on an already strained welfare system.
Our nearest neighbour, Singapore, enacted its Maintenance of Parents Act in 1995. Taiwan did so in 1980, China in 1996, the Philippines in 2003 and India in 2007. Malaysia, despite drafting a bill in 2003, has yet to pass it into law. This longstanding delay is unacceptable and it must change now.
Shameful reality
• Rising abandonment: Welfare Department reports show a 40% surge in elderly abandonment cases since 2020.
• System collapsing: Welfare aid applications from seniors have doubled between 2020 and 2025, stretching resources to the brink.
• Legal void: Without a specific law, desperate parents are forced to pursue justice through outdated legal precedents, such as the Ho You Kong case (1996), a costly and time-consuming process that few can afford.
The Parents Maintenance Bill, mirroring successful models in Singapore, India and Taiwan includes key provisions such as:
• Tribunal system: A low-cost, fast-track mechanism to deliver justice to elderly parents.
• Children's liability: Legally enforceable financial support from children who are financially capable.
• Mediation first: A focus on family reconciliation before resorting to litigation.
Yet, this crucial bill continues to gather dust – untabled, undebated and ignored.
Benefits of a Parents Maintenance Act
• Restores dignity: Ensures seniors have a guaranteed right to food, shelter and healthcare – not as charity but as a basic entitlement.
• Eases welfare burden: Shifts financial responsibility from taxpayers to capable children, potentially saving millions in public funds.
• Faster, affordable justice: Tribunals resolve cases within weeks, unlike lengthy and costly High Court proceedings.
Promotes accountability: Establishes legal responsibility for children to support their parents – moving beyond moral obligation to enforceable duty.
• Boosts national pride: Demonstrates that Malaysia values and protects its elderly, keeping pace with regional peers.
Many of our neighbouring Asian countries already have laws to protect elderly parents. Malaysia has a draft bill but what it lacks is political will. With an ageing population and increasingly fragmented families, such legislation is no longer optional; it is a moral imperative.
Parliament must act before another parent dies abandoned.
Every day without this law, elderly parents suffer in silence while taxpayers shoulder the cost. Malaysia's seniors helped build this nation. They deserve justice, not abandonment.
Yew Kam Keong
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