UNIVERSITI PUTRA MALAYSIA

ASSESSING THE COVERAGE, ADEQUACY AND ACCESSIBILITY OF SELECTED COMMUNITY FACILITIES FOR MALAYSIAN

ELDERLY BASED ON GIS APPROACH

LIM CHE KIONG.

FK 2005 6

ASSESSING THE COVERAGE, ADEQUACY AND ACCESSIBILITY OF SELECTED COMMUNITY FACILITIES FOR MALAYSIAN ELDERLY

BASED O N GIs APPROACH

BY

LIM CHE KIONG

Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirement for the Degree of Master of Science

October 2005

Abstract of thesis presented to the Senate of Universiti Putra Malaysia in partial f u l f h e n t of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science

ASSESSING THE COVERAGE, ADEQUACY AND ACCESSIBILITY OF SELECTED COMMUNITY FACILITIES FOR MALAYSIAN ELDERLY

BASED ON GIs APPROACH

LIM CHE KIONG

October 2005

Chairman: Associate Professor Abdul Rashid Mohamed Shariff, PhD

Faculty: Engineering

The numbers of elderly in the population nowadays have grown tremendously and

benefited from the modern development of better community services especially in

countries where there are great advancement and progression in health technology.

This emphasis on improvement of community facilities has undoubtedly provided a

better quality of life to many of the older generation and undeniably help in increasing

their life span, hence the increase in population. Contrary to this, many from the older

generations are still faced with dfficulties in getting access to the provided services

because of problems in efficiency of facilities provision. In conjunction to this, many

initiatives have been taken by the associated government agencies dedcated to meet

the needs of the elderly. The dedications are in terms of easier access to the available

fachties and without having to pay an astronomical fee. But the planning for the

elderly is a complex issue because their needs are as varied as the population

composition itself. O n the other hand, conventional method of data collection

(hardcopy based) has been found to be inefficient and ineffective in terms of producing

qualitative results within a short time span. The two primary objectives guide this

research whlch is analysis of the coverage, adequacy and the accessibility of selected

community fachties for the elderly through the GIs technology, and second is to

create an automated data collection technique by using the PDA. Methods in use

involve PDA program customization, selection and surveymg of targeted sites in terms

of accessibility to the selected community facilities. All collected PDA data are pooled

and incorporated into the GIs database. This is followed by creation of elderly

database for spatial analysis and accessibhty analysis. From the experimental results,

the used of automated data collection PDA system is much more cost-effective and

time saving. Besides, with the aid of GIs technology, the distributions of demographic

of elderly in different characteristic are clearly determined based on several definitions.

The study successfully demonstrated the application of GIs with the several methods

in the facilities accessibility assessment of the targeted group, and it has been found

that the community fachties are barely adequate in study area. As an addition, an

automated data collection technique and complimentary spatial analysis procedures can

help to encourage better decision modeling in the development of a better health care

for the elderly. With this automated GIs system, it is hope that better planning and

decision modeling can be done. Ths is to ensure that problems of specific needs of the

target group, in relation of accessibility to social and health facilities, wdl be reduced

and finally overcome albeit slowly.

Abstrak thesis yang dlkemukakan kepada Senat Universiti Putra Malaysia sebagai memenuhi sebahagan keperluan untuk ijazah Master Sains

PENENTUAN LIPUTAN, KECUKUPAN DAN KEBOLEHCAPAIAN PERKHIDMATAN KEMUDAHAN AWAM YANG TERPILIH UNTUK

WARGA TUA MALAYSIA MELALUI PENDEKATAN BERTERASKKN GIs

Oleh

LIM CHE KIONG

Oktober 2005

Pengerusi: Profesor Madya Abdul Rashid Mohamed Shariff, PhD

Fakulti: Kejuruteraan

Kmi, bilangan warga tua telah meningkat secara mendadak ahbat perkembangan

kemudahan kesihatan moden, terutamanya dl kalangan negara yang mencapai kemajuan

dari s e g teknologi kesihatan. Penekanan terhadap pembangunan infrastruktur dan

perkhldmatan penjagaan kesihatan telah meningkatkan kualiti hidup generasi tua dan

jangka hayat mereka. Namun begitu, masih ramai warga tua yang menghadapi

kesukaran dalam mengakses kemudahan dan perkhidmatan kesihatan yang dtsediakan

kerana sistem perbekalan yang kurang efisyen. Sehubungan itu, banyak inisiatif telah

diarnbil oleh agensi-agensi kerajaan yang berkaitan untuk memenuhi keperluan

golongan warga tua tersebut. Antara langkah-langkah yang dlambil termasuk

meningkatkan pencapaian dan akses kemudahan kesihatan yang sedta ada tanpa kos

bayaran yang tinggi. Tetapi, perancangan untuk warga tua merupakan satu isu yang

kompleks memandangkan keperluan mereka adalah berbeza-beza dan berlainan seperti

populasi penduduk yang lain. Kaedah pengumpulan data secara konvensional

perasaskan salinan bercetak) dldapati kurang efisien dan tidak berkesan untuk menjana

hasil kuantitatif dalam jangka masa yang singkat. Dua objektif utama menjad panduan

iv

kepada kajian ini, iaitu 1) analisis liputan, kecukupan dan aksesibiliti perkhidmatan

kemudahan awam yang terpilih untuk warga tua, dm; 2) pembentukan teknik

pengumpulan data secara automatik dengan PDA. Kaedah yang digunakan melibatkan

pengubahsuaian program PDA, peninjauan dan pemilihan lokasi pllihan dari segi

kebolehcapaian kemudahan kesihatan awam. Semua data PDA yang terkumpul akan

dihirnpunkan dalam pangkalan data GIs. Ini adalah diikuti dengan pembentukan

pangkalan data warga tua untuk analisis spatial dan aksesibiliti. Dalam pada itu,

pendekatan baru untuk anggaran jarak sesuatu perkhidmatan turut disarankan.

Daripada keputusan eksperirnen ini, didapati sistem pengumpulan data berasaskan

PDA adalah jauh lebih kos efektif dan menjimatkan masa. Selain itu, taburan demogra6

warga tua dari segi ciri-ciri yang berlainan turut diperjelas dengan bantuan teknologi

GIs, berasaskan definisi yang ditetapkan. Dari segi liputan dan kecukupan kemudahan

terphh, didapati infrastruktur dan perkhldmatan yang sedia ada di lokasi kajian adalah

tidak memuaskan. H a d kajian akses kemudahan kesihatan menunjukkan bahawa warga

tua terpaksa bergantung kepada kemudahan kesihatan swasta daripada kemudahan

kesihatan awam kerana kekurangan hospital dan klinik kerajaan. Kesimpulannya, teknik

pengurnpulan data secara automatik dan prosidur analisis spatial dapat membantu

dalam proses membuat keputusan ke arah pembangunan penjagaan kesihatan warp tua

yang lebih sempuma. Dengan sistem GIs tersebut, adalah diharapkan perancangan dan

pembentukan keputusan yang lebih baik dapat dilakukan. Ini adalah untuk memastikan

permasalahan yang dihadapi oleh kumpulan sasar, dari segi pencapaian kemudahan

kesihatan dan sosial, dapat dikurangkan dan diatasi walaupun secara beransur-ansur.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abdul

Rashid Shariff, for his guidance and h s help as an educator. He has enlightened me

with h s inspiration in GIs since the first class with h. Dr. Rashid is the most

generous person I have ever met. He has always been there whenever I needed any

help.

My warmest thanks also go to my co-supervisor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tengku Aizan

Hamid, the Institute of Gerontology hector , who allowed me wonderful research

experience and gwen me a great opportunity to learn with her. Special thanks to

another one co-supervisor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ahmad Rodzi Mahmud, who supported

me greatly throughout the entire process of doing the research and in writing the

dissertation. My special thanks also for Ms. Marlina Bt. Mansor, the assistant duector

of Town Planning Unit of Municipal Council of Subang Jaya, who allowed me to share

the municipal data used in this research.

Working with social scientist and engineers is such a good experience. In particular, I

would hke to thank Mr. Chai for his hndly help on the demography classification and

the brdltant solutions; Ahmad Fikn for sharing thoughts on my PDA system; King,

Catherine and Desmond for their excellent technical support; Also, I thank Shahrul

Nizarn for h s kind assistance during the ground survey, and to all unnamed friends, my

conversation with them was always pleasant and rewarding.

Without my parents and my grand mother's support and encouragement, I could never

get to this point. Finally, thank you for everything my dear.

vi

I certify that an Examination Committee met on 27' October 2005 to conduct the final examination of Lim Che Kiong on his Master of Science thesis entitled "Assessing the Coverage, Adequacy and Accessibility of Selected Community Facilities for the Malaysian Elderly Based on GIs Approach" in accordance with Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (Higher Degree) Act 1980 and Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (Higher Degree) Regulations 1981. The Committee recommends that the candidate be awarded the relevant degree. Members of the Examination Committee are as follows:

Nor Mariah Adam, PhD Associate Professor Faculty of Engineering Universiti Putra Malaysia (Chairman)

Helmi Zulhaidi Mohd Safri, PhD Lecturer Faculty of Engineering Universiti Putra Malaysia (Internal Examiner)

Shattri Mansor, PhD Professor Faculty of Engineering Universiti Putra Malaysia (Internal Examiner)

Ruslan Rainis, PhD Professor School of Humanities Universiti Sains Malaysia (External Examiner)

fi OHD. GHAZALI, PhD ~ r o f e s s o r / ~ ~ ~ u t ~ Dean School of Graduate Studies Universiti Putra Malaysia

Date: 19 JAN 2006

vii

This Thesis submitted to the Senate of Universiti Putra Malaysia has been accepted as partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. The members of the Supervisory Committee are as follows:

Abdul Rashid Mohamed Shariff, PhD Associate Professor Faculty of Engmeering Universiti Putra Malaysia (Chairman)

Tengku Aizan Hamid, PhD Associate Professor Faculty of Human Ecology Universiti Putra Malaysia (Internal Examiner)

Ahmad Rodzi Mahmud, PhD Associate Professor Faculty of Engmeering Universiti Putra Malaysia (Internal Examiner)

AINI IDERIS, PhD Professor/Dean School of Graduate Studes Universiti Putra Malaysia

Date: O 7 FEB 2006

... V l l l

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the thesis is based on my original work except for quotations and citations whlch have been duly acknowledged. I also declare that it has not been previously or concurrently submitted for any other degree at UPM or other institutions.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ABSTRACT ABSTRAK ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS APPROVAL DECLARATION LIST O F TABLES LIST OF FIGURES LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CHAPTER

INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background 1.2 Problem Statement 1.3 Objectives 1.4 Assumptions and h i t a t i ons of the Research 1.5 Organisation of Thesis

LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction Overview of Elderly and Health in Malaysia Demographic Data Geographical Information System 2.4.1 GIs in Social Science 2.4.2 GIs Application in Malaysia Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) 2.5.1 Capabilities of PDA 2.5.2 Mobile GIs 2.5.3 Program Customization Fachties Planning and Standards 2.6.1 Health Fachties 2.6.2 Worship Facilities 2.6.3 Post Office Accessibility, Planning and GIs

METHODOLOGY 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Background of the Study Area 3.3 Research Approach 3.4 Framework of the PDA System 3.5 Design Consideration 3.6 Programming Development

11

iv vi vii ix . . . xlll xiv

3.6.1 Custom Application 3.6.2 Application Defined and Testing Data Collection Spatial Database Development 3.8.1 Data Edting and Conversion 3.8.2 Data Clearing 3.8.3 Data Updating Demographic Data 3.9.1 Density of Elderly 3.9.2 Proportion of Elderly 3.9.3 Ageing Index 3.9.4 Dependency Ratio 3.9.5 Sex Ratio 3.9.6 Ethnicity Rate of Ageing Accessibility Analysis 3.10.1 Hospital and Clinic Accessibhty 3.10.2 Mosque Accessibility 3.10.3 Post Office Accessibility

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 4.1 Introduction 4.2 PDA System Development

4.2.1 Custom Application 4.2.2 Others Functions 4.2.3 The PDA Experience Demographic Distribution 4.3.1 Elderly Density 4.3.2 Proportion of Aged Population 4.3.3 Ageing Index 4.3.4 Dependency Ratio 4.3.5 Sex Ratio of Elderly 4.3.6 Ethnic Rate of Ageing Accessibility of Facilities 4.4.1 Facilities Distribution 4.4.2 Clinic Accessibility Levels 4.4.3 Private Hospital Accessibhty Levels 4.4.4 Mosque Accessibility Levels 4.4.5 Post Office Accessibhty Levels Discussions 4.5.1 Software and Hardware Selection 4.5.2 Composite Map 4.5.3 Census Data Analysis 4.5.4 Analytical Method 4.5.5 Summary

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 Conclusion of the Study

5.1.1 Accessibility of Selected Community Facilities 5.1.2 Automated Data Collection Technique

5.2 Recommendations 5.3 Future Works

BIBLOGRAPHY APPENDICES BIODATA OF T H E AUTHOR

xii

LIST OF TABLES

Page

8

Table

2.1

2.2

L f e Expectancy at Birth of Malaysians by Gender (1957-2000)

Distribution of Government and Private Hospitals and Beds by State, Malaysia, 2000 20

Public Health Facility and Coverage, 1995 and 2000

Health Facilities Planning Standards and Guidelines

Mosque Planning Standards and Guidelines

Post Office Planning Standards and Guidelines

Model and Method Description of Measuring Accessibility

Proportion of Older Persons in Location of Study

Description of the Attributes of the Facilities Feature

Options of the Each Attributes

Percentage Distribution of Aged Citizen by Ethnic Group and Areas in MTSJ

Ideal Population Served by Clinics

Buffer Access Percentage to Clinic by Distance from Residential Center Points

Network Access Percentage to Clinic by Distance from Residential Center Points

Percentage Difference Between Buffer and Network Method

Ideal Population Served by Post Office

... Xlll

LIST OF FIGURES

Page Figure

2.1 Percentage of Distribution of Older Persons in Malaysia by Years (1950 - 2050)

Distribution of the Elderly Population by State

Location of MPSJ (map not to scale)

Methodology Flowchart

The Framework of PDA system

Mtcrosoft eMbedded Visual Basic Program Worhng Environment

ComboBox Property Pages

3.6 Application Defining Dialog

3.7 Fachties with Good Condition and Big Capacity

3.8 Facilities with Good Condtion and Moderate Capacity

3.9 Fachties with Average Conchtion and Moderate Capacity 41

3.10 Facilities with Poor Condtion, Small Capacity and No Parlung Space 41

3.1 1 Road Network in Scale 1:2000 45

3.12 Overshoot During the Digitizing Work

3.1 3 Road Network Disjoint Problem

3.14 Road Junction Wsmatch

3.15 Symbol of One-way Roads

3.16 Floating Catchment for Clinic by Different Rangmg

3.17 Network Coverage measured by 7 Bands out with 1 krn Interval

3.1 8 Coverage Area Calculation

4.1 Startup Screen of the OnDemand Software

4.2 First Quick Launch Icon in Yellow Star

4.3 Facility Properties Update Form

xiv

Combo Box Drop-down Lsts

Read Attributes Command

Commands View in OnD

Drawing Options

Avdable Applications

GPS Options

Durations of Data Uploading by Synchronize and Manual Key-in

Elderly Population Density Distribution

Proportion of Aged Population

Ageing Index Map of MPSJ

Dependency Ratio of Child and Aged Populations by Main Areas

Sex Ratio of Elderly Distribution in MPSJ

The Facilities Distribution

Clinic Catchment Area by Using Spatial Buffer Distance

Cliruc Catchment Area by Using Spatial Network Distance

Clinic Accessibility Overlaying with Elderly Density

Location of the Private Hospitals and Service Coverage

Private Hospital Accessibility Measured by Network Catchment

4.22 Private Hospital Access from Residential Centroid Overlay with Elderly Density

4.23 Mosque Buffering with 0.8 km Buffer Catchment Area

4.24 Mosque Covered Area Overlay with Malay Population Density Distribution

4.25 Post Office Services Coverage Areas

4.26 Post Office Distribution Overlaying with Population Density Distribution

4.27 Identifying Areas that are Inadequate in Public Health Care Facilities 95

xv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

API

*SJ

CP

EB

GIs

GPS

IDE

IWOD

MP

PDA

POUNC

RSO

SDE

SIP

PC

MacGDI

MNUSD

MOH

NHCE

NPE

RAM

TFR

UMMC

UN

UNESCAP

Application Programming Interface

Majlis Perbandaran Subang Jaya

Center Point

Enumeration Block

Geographical Information System

Globe Positioning System

Integrated Development Environment

IntelhWhere OnDemand

Majlis Perbandaran

Personal Digital Assistants

Post Office Users National Council

Rectifies Skew Orthomorphc

Services Distance Estimating

Soft Input Panels

Personal Computer

Malaysian Centre for Geospatial Data Infrastructure

Mnistry of National Unity and Social Development

Mmistry of Health

National Health Council for the Elderly

National Policy for the Elderly

Random Access Memory

Total Fertility Rate

University Malaya Medical Center

United Nations

United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the

Pacific

xvi

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

In Malaysia, '60 years and over' has been used as the cut-off point in deliberating agmg

trends since the 1982 United Nations World Assembly on Ageing in Vienna (Pala, 1988). At

present, the Malaysian mid-year population stands at 25.49 million persons (UNESCAP,

2004). In the 2000 Census, there were 1,451,665 older persons in the country, which means

that 1 out of every 16 persons in Malaysia today is 60 years old or older. The number of

older person in the population have grown tremendously, have benefiting from the modem

development of the better health care especially in countries where there are great

advancement and progressing in health technology. Thts emphasis on improvement of

health care services undoubtedly provided a better quality of life to many of the older

generation and undeniably help increase their life span, hence the increased in the proportion

of the older persons in the population. Contrary to this, many from the older generations are

still faced with difficulties in getting access to the provided facilities/health services. Many

stdl did not get access to the facilities especially those living in rural area and those facing

financial difficulties (Garman, 1997).

In cogmsance with the growth of the number of older persons in the community, many

initiatives have been taken by the associated government agencies dedicated to meet the

needs of the elderly. The dedications are in terms of easier access to the available facilities

and without having to pay an astronomical fee. Even with this commitment, the number of

fachties still does not meet the elderly needs in the country. This means the effort of

building the various kinds of the facilities is still an on-going process. The needs for new

facdities mean that more sites have to be chosen and decided upon to determine their

suitability, yet these services are beneficial if the target population is able to utilize the

facilities.

In conjunction with this development in the country, there is a clear opportunity for the

synergistic application of GIs (Geographical Information System) technology on this issue.

With an ageing society, there is an increasing emphasis on access to basic health care

facilities and services. Longer life expectancy, higher levels of education and increased health

awareness contribute to the rising demands for better health care and medical services. The

paradox of affluence, where rising standards of living can lead to poorer quality of life of

some, serves as a reminder to the grim reality faced by the at-risk groups such as the poor

and the elderly. W e many could not receive mehcal attention because of physical

accessibility barriers, many older persons simply could not afford private health care

facilities. Therefore, the planning of public health care facilities becomes even more

important to ensure broader access.

Problem Statement

The growth of the older population, due to an increase in life expectancy for men and

women, has resulted in changes on society needs relating to public facilities and services.

The elderly has special needs and concerns that must be met. Hence, plans to build or

upgrade existing facllities and services must be able to anticipate the changes in demand and

demographics of the population.

There have been no studies investigating whether the current facilities and services are able

to meet the needs of the elderly in the community. Research is needed to provide an

empirical and systematic assessment on the accessibdity of key facilities for older Malaysians.

1.3 Objectives

Two broad objectives guide this research. They are:

a. To analyse the coverage, adequacy and the accessibility of selected community

facilities for the elderly through the GIs technology.

b. To create an automated data collection technique using the PDA.

The purpose of this study is to develop an automated method of data collection on elderly-

related facilities and services using a GIs-based approach. Current technology is but

implementation and integration of the approach is still not fully crystallized. The system has

been proposed to explore ways to bring together technologcal innovation in mobile devices

and Geographcal Information System to benefit the public and policy makers. It is hopes

that the mobile GIs technology can be fully uthzed in fieldwork data collection to make it

more efficient and ensuring a smooth workflow between the study area and work office.

1.4 Assumptions and Limitations of the Research

The complexity of the elderly care GIs-based system, its related range of planning activities

and the constraints of time, human resource and financial avadability make it essential to

limit the scope of study. T h s is to ensure that ad the data are manageable. Nevertheless, the

system and analysis proposed in ths research can be applied to any area in this country. The

assumptions and lirmtations are discussed below:

i. The research will be Limited to one Municipal Council only. The proposed study area

is Subang Jaya Municipal Council (Majlis Perbandaran Subang Jaya, MPSJ), Selangor.

ii. Only the community and health related facilities provided by the government or the

local authorities will be taken in to account in this research. The list is as follows:

a. Medical - Hospital and clinic

b. Religious ceremonies or worship facllity - Mosques, Church, Indian Temple

and Chinese Temple

c. Post Office

. . . m. This is assumed that the used of the fachties should be equally accessible for the

dfferent group of the elderly.

iv. The PDA in used wdl be Compaq IPAQ H3900 series with extended backup battery

which operated in the Windows CE platform and the capacity of the device is more

and less uniform for the various brands of PDA. Besides, the availability is also a

contributing factor in the choice of hardware.

v. The census data in used is based on the year 2000 census data set, and the resolution

of the dataset is limted on combined Enumeration Block (EB).

1.5 Organisation of Thesis

The thesis is divided into five chapters. Chapter One introduced the general ideas of the

study, problem statement, aim, objectives as well as the scope of research. This is followed

by Chapter Two which discusses and reviews the literature related to the study. In this I

chapter, a series of related project, research and review are addressed.

The methodology of the research is described in Chapter Three. This includes the study area

background, type of data used and data processing, software customization and the

method/technique used to gauge the levels of the accessibility of the fadties. Chapter Four

is focused on the custom application output and the results of various types of analyses. In

this chapter, discussion on the problems and issues of the research are also highlighted. The

ha1 chapter concludes the overall findings of the study and recommends the future work

that can be integrated with the current work to produce more advanced findings.

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

n s literature chapter wdl start with the current status of older person in Malaysia and issues

faced by the older persons. This is followed by the introduction of Geographical

Information System (GIs) technology and its function in the social science studies.

Automated data collecting environment and the review of the tool kits which performs h s

task would be discussed in de td . Next, the role and function of the facilities planning are

reviewed. The Qscussion then moves on to the relationship between the facrlities

accessibility and spatial analysis. The final section will focus in the issues that influence the

implementation of spatial analysis in the GIs environment.

2.2 Overview of Elderly and Health in Malaysia

"Developing the society of Older People to be secure, digtllfied, highly

esteemed by optimizing their potential and ensuring they enjoy equal

opportunities in all areas and receiving care and shelter as a member of a

family, a society and the nation".

-The National Policy on Older People

The declaration in 1992, of 1" October as the Elderly Day marked a new chapter in the

history of Malaysia as the government began to recogruze the needs of the older person in

thls country. L&e many others countries in the world, Malaysia is experiencing population

ageing characterized by lower fertility and mortality rates (United Nations, 2004, Pala, 1998).

The percentage of distribution of older persons in Malaysia is estimated to reach 21.6%

during year 2050 (Figure 2.1).

o ! ' l l l l l ' l ' l ' l ' l l l ' l ' l l

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050

Year

Figure 2.1: Percentage of Distribution of Older Persons in Malaysia by Years (1950 - 2050)

Source: United Nation (2004)

Malaysia's Total Fertility Rate (TFR) fell from 6.72 in 1960 to 2.95 in 2000 (United Nations,

2004). Life expectancy in the country has also increased. In 1957, life expectancy at birth for

the male and female population was 55.8 and 58.2 years respectively Fable 2.1). In less than

half a century, life expectancy at birth in the year 2000 increased to 70.5 years for males and

75 years for females (Department of Statistics, 2001). That is on average a ten-year increase a

person born today can expect to live when compared to the life expectancy recorded 30

years ago in 1970.

Table 2.1: Life Expectancy at Birth of Malaysians by Gender (1957 - 2000)

'c.. II, *%

,-A . ,pYear a a Malay Chinese Indian National Average I

Male Female Mate Female Male Female Male Female

Source: MNUSD (1999)

The distribution of older persons in Malaysia is further broken down by state in figure 2.2.

From 2000 census data, Johor, Perak and Selangor recorded the west absolute number of

older persons, combining to form 38% of the total elderly population in the country. The

seven states of Kedah, Kelantan, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pe& Perk and Pulau Pinang

are in the same population ageing situation in which the proportion of elderly exceeding the

7% of the total population.

I Number of Older Persons -Percentage (%) Winthin State I

Figure 2.2: Distribution of the Elderly Population by State

Source: Department of Statistics (2001)