DAP wants the Malaysian government to adopt the Maintenance of Parents Act 1996 of Singapore to safeguard the interests of aging parents in the country.

y4c nep forum 060207 m kulasegaran Party national vice chairman and Perak state deputy chief M Kulasegaran ( left ) said that Singapore's laws provides for a jail term of six months for children who neglect and abandon their aging parents.

Kulasegaran said the problem is that the concept of the extended family is disintegrating and children are no longer including their aging parents in their households.

He noted the trend of aged senior citizens being abandoned in welfare homes or even in the streets.

Lack of filial piety

He also claimed that some children had demonstrated such a lack of filial piety that some resorted to declaring their parents mentally unfit and sending them to mental hospitals.

He added that the government had also play its role in providing food and a place to live for the aged, as well as taking care of their mental and physical health.

"The government should also provide medical assistance to old folks by sending medical doctors and specially trained nurses to government and privately-run old folks homes on a regular basis," he suggested.