Activity Centres For Older Persons Will Help Malaysia In Transition To Aging Country

PAPAR, May 18 (Bernama) -- A total of 190 Activity Centres For The Older Persons (PAWE) registered with the Social Welfare Department throughout the country are now actively conducting activities as Malaysia prepares to become an aging country by 2030.

Social Welfare Department director-general Datuk Che Murad Sayang Ramjan said the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry (KPWKM) channels RM50,000 annually through the department to each PAWE to implement their programmes.

“The members in PAWE include former government officers, private sector employees and members of the public who will create more ideas and turn the centres into an attractive programme as they become places to gather.

“The activities include health checks, physical training suitable for the elderly and intergenerational programmes involving youth in PAWE to allow them to learn skills like handicraft,” he told reporters during the officiation of a PAWE in Kampung Benoni here today by Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali, who is also Papar MP.

Che Murad Sayang said that with intergenerational activities in PAWE, youth in each area can learn certain skills that have various traditional and cultural values.

He added that his department would introduce Activities for The Older People empowerment programmes through the ANY WHERE, ANY PLACE, ANY TIME (PAWE@3A) programme.

In PAWE@3A, activities are held even without buildings as they are social support and elderly development activities done through strategic collaboration between government agencies, non-governmental organisations and local communities.

On PAWE in Sabah, Che Murad Sayang said there are 23 such centres operating in the state with a membership of 6,471 with two more centres opening in Kota Belud and Pantai Dalit in October.

Kampung Benoni PAWE chairman Pg Abdul Halim Pg Rambang, 71, said the centre began operating in November last year and there are currently 155 registered members. 

The retired teacher said programmes run by PAWE in the village included organising seminars.

“We are very grateful for the PAWE building located near Assalam Benoni Jamek Mosque,” he said.

Meanwhile, KPWKM deputy secretary-general (operation) Farah Adura Hamidi said the 2025 Kembara Kasih KPWKM programme, which is being held in Sabah for the first time, aimed to bring ministry services to communities, especially in rural areas.

The ministry has taken the initiative to launch mobile buses as Local Social Support Centres, she said, after the ministry considered the difficulties residents faced in gaining access to ministry services.

Farah Adura said with the buses, assistance and support to communities in need of expert advice, especially in matters of health, can be done.

“The facility, which includes buses and trucks, will be left to the Sabah State Welfare Foundation to be used for communities in the state continuously,” she added.

-- BERNAMA