Encouraging Voluntary Work Among Public Service Retirees ... PAPERS/JSSH Vol... · Kertas kerja ini merupakan sebahagian empirikal dan sebahagian lagi teoretikal. la menyarankan kesukarelaan

Pertanika J. Soc. Sci. & Hum. 13 (2): 219-230 (2005)ISSN: 0128-7702

Universiti Putra Malaysia Press

Encouraging Voluntary Work Among Public Service Retirees:How Policy Intervention Can Help1

SURJIT SINGH S/O UTTAM SINGH, RAHIM M. SAIL, BAHAMAN ABU SAMAH,RAJA AHMAD TAJUDIN SHAH & LINDA A. LUMAYAG

Institute for Community and Peace StudiesUniversiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

Keywords: Voluntary work, retirees, Malaysia, older women, ageing, participation,ageing policy

ABSTRAKKertas kerja ini merupakan sebahagian empirikal dan sebahagian lagi teoretikal. la menyarankankesukarelaan boleh menjadi satu ciri yang kekal dalam masyarakat, jika terdapat polisi yangmenggalakkan, memotivasikan dan menghargai nilai-nilai kerja sukarela dan seterusnya diperakuidi dalam masyarakat. Bagi merealisasikannya, satu pandangan pembangunan yang baru terhadapsumbangan populasi yang berumur perlu diwujudkan dalam intervensi polisi. Malaysia, sebagaisalah sebuah negara yang sedang membangun di Asia, harus mengenal pasti sejumlah pesarayang sanggup dan komited sebagai pekerja sukarela yang berpotensi ke arah pembangunan yangberterusan dalam komuniti yang lebih luas.

ABSTRACTThis paper is part empirical and part theoretical. It argues that for volunteerism to be a permanentfeature in the society there must be a public policy that encourages, motivates and appreciatesthe value of volunteerism, and that it should be consciously acknowledged in the community. Tobe able to create this sense, a new developmental view on the contributive roles of the ageingpopulation must be in place in the policy intervention. Malaysia, a rapidly industrializing countryin the Asian region, must recognize the fact that a great number of willing and committed retireescould be tapped as potential volunteer workers for the continuing development of the broadercommunity.

INTRODUCTIONDeputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib TunRazak said in his address during the MalaysianStrategic Outlook Conference 2005 that,"nogroup would be left behind as Malaysiaprogresses to become a developed nation in2020" (New Straits Times, 3 February 2005). Headded further that "our aim will be to developan efficient and talented workforce and thusincrease overall national productivity and

growth". The above statement coming fromno less than the national leadership could bethe basis upon which the promotion ofvoluntary work from the highly knowledgeablesector of the ageing population be a part ofthe national agenda. In another development,one of the leading radio stations in the countryplugged in an interesting advertisement onvolunteerism exhorting all Malaysians to takepart in volunteer work to find more meaning

1 This research was funded by IRPA, 8th Malaysia Plan, Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, under ProjectNo.: 07-02-04-0540-EA001.

Surjit Singh et ah

in their life. The two scenarios provide thepreface of this paper. It is based on thecontention that voluntary work amongretirees, or even among the younger agecohorts, will face an uphill battle whenvolunteerism is not promoted in the form ofnational policy, instruments or conventionsthat would spur the spirit or desire to renderservice to the society of which people are apart. But for this to happen, a few importantpoints should be raised. The first concerns howthe national government perceives the ageingpopulation vis-a-vis their role and contributionin the country. The second concerns thereadiness of the government to face an ageingpopulation like Malaysia, and the third, overand above the two, pertains to the kind offramework or paradigm that best answers theneeds and interests of the older population.

The objective of this paper is to provide aglimpse of volunteerism in Malaysia and howpolicy intervention initiatives could propel orcreate an environment where volunteerismbecomes an ultimate landscape in the localcommunity. Such social landscape is onlypossible when a new perspective that thehuman capacity for learning and growthcontinues well into later life providedincentives and opportunities are available (seeparallel argument by Moody 1988).

The empirical findings of the paper weredrawn from an exploratory study conductedin 2003 among 261 pubic service retirees inparticular the Premier and the Managerial andProfessional Groups who had retired between1989 and 2000. Most of the retirees had onceworked in the education service and claimedto possess expertise and skills which can bevery useful in the local community. Thepurpose of the research was to come up withbenchmark information of the status of publicservice retirees in Malaysia in as much as therehas been no empirical study done about themand their propensity to engage involunteerism. A mailed-survey questionnairewas sent to retirees based on the list providedby the Public Service Department.

AGEING POPULATION IN MALAYSIAAgeing means acknowledgement of finitude:of limited time, a limited span of organic life.It is a common knowledge that the improvedeconomic status of Malaysia hascorrespondingly improved the longevity of thegeneral population. In the same manner, thewhole world is facing an ageing population andthe number is still growing. Even in lessdeveloped countries, demographicconsequence of longer life course is projectedbased on the U.N. Population Report:

The developing countries will also reachthat stage (percentage of persons aged 60years and over as the more developedregions did in 2000) over a much shorterperiod of time than that required by themore developed regions. In many cases,rapid population ageing will be takingplace in countries where the level ofeconomic development is still low (UnitedNations 2002:34).

Table 1 presents the increasing numberof the population in Malaysia from 1980 to2000, in particular, the increasing number ofolder persons from 55 years old and beyond.Curiously enough, there is also a gradualshrinking of the younger cohorts (5-25 yearsold). Is Malaysia ready to face this challengewhere the once called "baby boomers" havereached a distinctly crucial transition in theirlife?

Three or four decades ago the situationwould have been different where lifeexpectancy did not go beyond 65 (Table 2).In fact, the Human Development Index 2003of Malaysia puts the overall life expectancy at73.2. Today, Malaysia is confronted with issuesrelated to the ageing population, whether ornot the government is an "enabling force" thatunderstands the situation of the elderly not asa "bundle of needs" but as a particular sectorof the population that can offer productiveroles in development. Three commonprescriptions operate within the developmentagenda, namely, liberal, conservative anddevelopmental view. The conventional liberalsolution to the problems of old age is the

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TABLE 1Malaysian population by age group (1980, 1991, 2000)

Age Group

0-45-910-1415-1920-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-4950-5455-5960-6465-6970-7475+Total

N ('000)

1,779.61,782.81,633.51,493.51,265.11,058.4

874.7671.3624.0473.3414.8319.8269.7188.2146.6140.6

13,136.1

1980

Percent (%)

13.513.612.411.49.68.16.75.14.83.63.22.42.11.41.11.0

100.0

N ('000)

2344.62333.32030.91832.91682.81627.71469.11217.7969.4699.7635.3467.8388.9252.9203.2223.6

18,379.7

1991

Percent (%)

12.812.711.010.09.28.98.06.65.33.83.52.52.11.41.11.2

100.0

N ('000)

2,612.72,646.52,491.82,367.02,087.21,921.11,800.21,705.01,487.51,168.5

918.9616.6551.0346.7264.1286.5

23,274.7

2000

Percent (%)

11.211.410.710.29.08.37.77.36.45.03.92.62.41.51.11.2

100.0

Source: Department of Statistics (1983, 1995, 2001)

TABLE 2Life expectancy at birth of Malaysian by gender, 1957-1996

Year

195719661970198019901996

Male

50.261.363.866.569.068.8

Malay

Female

53.462.565.568.972.472.7

Chinese

Male

59.566.265.168.070.671.9

Female

66.771.273.474.076.377.6

Indian

Male

57.562.560.262.164.465.0

Female

54.661.963.967.070.472.8

National

Male

55.863.161.666.468.969.3

Average

Female

58.266.065.670.573.574.0

Source: Ministry of National Unity and Social Development, 1999

expansion of the welfare state i.e. moreservices, more professional intervention,greater dependence on government. Theconventional conservative solution is relianceon the private marketplace i.e. on productionand consumption of goods and servicesmediated by the cash nexus of monetizedtransactions (Moody 1988). The third policyalternative views government as an enabling

force meaning it is neither getting the"government off our backs" nor expecting thegovernment to provide all the desired services.The liberal and conservative prescriptions aremirrors of one another, each emphasizing a"monetized solution" to the ageing problem.Both view the ageing group as a structureddependency of old age and as object ofgovernment support. The alternative view

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however perceives older persons as subjectswho possess latent strengths and capacities andwhose contributive roles to the community arevital in the development initiatives. This papertakes the position of the alternative view. Thatwhich acknowledges the positive contributionsof the ageing population by virtue of theirstrengths and abilities as opposed to viewingthem as "surplus" population, dependent andunproductive, would elevate the position of theageing population in Malaysia.

In an interesting study by Merriam andMazanah (2000), they stressed that perhapsageing, as a natural life course pattern, cannotbe understood in its totality withoutconnecting it with the cultural values andbeliefs of the society. This meant thatunderstanding the ageing issues demands thatthey should always be seen in relation to thesociety's view of life, death, relationships withothers and God, etc. This brings into focusthe different perspectives between westernvalues and eastern values within the contextof ageing. Western values stress autonomy,independence and individualism while easternvalues stress dependency, interdependency,cooperation, spirituality, filial piety, etc. Thedifferences in values and their importance alsoaffects the way ageing issues are understoodin each social setting and orientation. This inreturn differentiates the way we perceive theolder population in the family and communityas well as the government's direction of policyintervention.

It is in this view of government as anenabler in the creation of a quality-of-lifeamong the elderly that volunteerism and thepromotion of self-reliant/self-help groups andlifelong learning initiatives should beappreciated. Looking at the how Malaysianelderly fares with the rest of the population isreflected in most national blueprints especiallythe various Malaysia Plans. For instance, whilethere was an emphasis on volunteerism amongthe youth in the Eighth Malaysia Plan (EighthMalaysia Plan 2001: 557, 580, 582, 585) therewas no explicit programme provided by thegovernment whereby the potentials of retireescould be harnessed for their contribution to

society through voluntary service. While theSeventh and Eighth Malaysia Plans providedfor the care of older persons, the emphasis wason health education, social, recreational andday-care centers for the needy and the invalid(p. 516). Besides leaving out the so-called olderpersons who are not "sick", the Plans did notcater to the elderly from 55 to 59 years old(see also National Policy for the Elderly 2002).The 55 to 59 years old cohort who is nowconsidered retirees does not fall in any of thecategories. What would then happen to thisparticular age cohort as far as participation innational development is concerned?

In Malaysia, volunteerism across the lifecourse is promoted with the founding ofYayasan Salam Malaysia in 1997(wzvw.salam.gov.my), a local version of PeaceCorps Volunteer Service in the United States.It aims to encourage Malaysians to take partin community activities by listing a wide rangeof non-governmental organisations that are inneed of volunteer full-time or part-timeworkers to run their administrative, language,training, and social and educationalprogrammes among others. It is noted thatSALAM Malaysia as a volunteer service centredoes not confine its service within the country,in fact it tries to position itself outside thecountry by sending highly motivated andqualified volunteers to selected countries likeCambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Timor Lestewhere care services are felt most needed.

THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF

VOLUNTEERISMIt is often asked why in certain communities,volunteerism seems to be an intrinsic valuewhile in other communities it remains anelusive social act? Definitely, volunteerism doesnot exist in a vacuum; it is founded on thebelief that the desire to help others, withoutexpecting a return or reward, forms part ofthe moral and social responsibility in livingwithin a human society by the very people whoare actors in the everyday social drama. Thisshared belief has social and economicrelevance reinforced by certain rituals, as seenin earlier subsistence economies or peasant

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societies. It is argued that the transformationinto cash economies has in most respectseroded commonly shared beliefs aboutpeople's understanding of their humanenvironment. This has therefore also changedpeople's view about other people in the sensethat private ownership of property andhitherto accumulation of it, takes itsunprecedented role than say, desiring to helpothers first. When people are now viewed ineconomic terms, such desire to help otherstakes a backseat.

But how is it that in western and advancedcountries where economies do not deter theunlimited accumulation of private property, orto put it simply, the capitalistic form ofeconomy, people across ages have higherturnout for volunteering work (see Table 3)?How is it that the tenets of capitalism no longercontravene the desire to volunteer? It issurmised that the promotion of civil societyrevives the sense of concern towards others,and only when the level of civility, or civicconsciousness is raised to the highest planethat the basic sense of human value is placedback in the forefront.

Penner (2004) has suggested thatvolunteerism has three important attributesthat separates it from any other type of socialaction.

First, it is planned action; people thinkand weigh their options before they makethe decision to volunteer. Second, it is along-term behaviour; most people whovolunteer continue this activity for anextended period of time (IndependentSector 1999; Penner and Finkelstein1998). Third, as Allen Omoto and MarkSnyder (1995) have pointed out,volunteering involves "nonobligated"helping (Penner 2004).

Most literature on volunteerismunderlines the salience of volunteer'swillingness or desire to "give themselves" toothers in need (e.g. Sorokin 1948; Wilson2000). This involves selfless action and ismainly motivated to give their free service topeople they feel so strongly about. In a

beautifully worded statement of Pi trim Sorokin(1948:57),"a society consisting of onlythoroughly egoistic members could notsurvive; likewise, no peaceful or creative societycould be made up of wholly egoistic members".

TABLE 3Percentage of people volunteering

Country Percentage of people volunteering

Australia 32% of people over 18 years of ageCanada 27% of people over 15 years of ageGermany 34% of people over 18 years of ageJapan 25% of people over 18 years of ageUnitedKingdom 48% of people over 18 years of age

UnitedStates 44% of people over 18 years of age

Source: Penner, 2004

Tomy Koh, a prominent Singaporediplomat and scholar shared that one in 10people did volunteer work in Singapore in1994, while in America, 1 in 3 of the 80 millionAmericans "donate time to a cause(wzvw.salam.my). Penner (2004) provides anoverview of people who volunteer in advancedcountries in the world noting that of the sixcountries, the United Kingdom seems tovolunteer the most with almost half of thepopulation over 18 years of age actively sharingtheir time. It is interesting to note that inadvanced countries, the high rate ofvolunteering among people is commendable.Table 3 shows that volunteering is not onlyconfined within a particular age cohort butrather it cuts across the whole adultpopulation. In the present study amongvolunteer retirees in Malaysia, of the 261respondents surveyed, more than half wereinvolved in some form of organizedvolunteering.

John Wilson (2000:219) suggests that:"education boosts volunteering because itheightens awareness of problems, increasesempathy, and builds self-confidence". Whilesome consider education as an importantvariable to raise the level of awareness towardsvolunteerism, others view the primary

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responsibility of the transmitter ofvolunteerism in the society. It reckons the roleof parents whose volunteerism emanates fromtheir altruistic behavior that is learned andpassed on to their children. Pancer and Pratt(1999), for example, argue that "generosityand altruistic behaviours are stronglyinfluenced by the presence of a positive rolemodel, more often the parent", as expoundedin the socialization theory. This theoryprovides that the propensity of the childrento engage in voluntary service is influencedby the parents' active involvement in voluntarywork as well through the process ofsocialization (see also Park and Smith 2000 onthe role of religious socialization of parents tothe children). In social transmission theory,on the other hand, it assumes that themotivation to volunteer is randomlydistributed, but the ability to do so is not. Itfocuses on the parents' role in bestowingresources on their children (Featherman andHauser 1978 as cited in Mustillo et al 2004). Itpoints directly to the possibility that "parentsdo not transmit specific values and beliefs but,rather, access to social, cultural, and economicresources and position in the larger socialstructure (Moen et al 1997). In other words,children received their early exposure andeducation to volunteering from the parents,either by motivating the children to engage inhelping others or parents themselves areengaged in voluntary work and children simplyfollow where parents have left off. Otherresearch has highlighted that earlyvolunteering experience with religiousinstitutions act as a significant force inpromoting volunteering behaviour whenpeople reach adulthood (Hodkison 1995;Wuthrow 1995; Wilson and Janoski 1995 ascited in Park and Smith 2000).

WHY ENCOURAGE VOLUNTEERISM

(AND PARTICIPATION) IN

COMMUNITY SERVICE?There are several reasons why retirees areencouraged to volunteer and participate incommunity affairs. Firstly, research studies

have shown that retirement is a statustransition from active working life to ageing;secondly, Malaysia is not immune to problemsrelated to the changing economies of rapidlyindustrializing countries; thirdly, mapping ofavailable human resources in the localcommunity to answer community-relatedservices; and, fourthly, volunteerism comeswith hiring retirees to engage in selected jobs.

Research findings show that the absenceof work (both paid and unpaid) immediatelyafter the mandatory retirement age creates avacuum both in their social and personal life,depending of course on whether they are readyto leave the portals of their working place orthe workplace being the center upon whichsocial life revolves (Moen et al. 1997). Forinstance, Moen etal (1997) demonstrated thatretirement is a status transition of manyeconomically productive workers from theirworking life to old age and it does not have tomean complete withdrawal from work in thesense that their unpaid work in the communityprovides that transition of their status asproductive workers. More often than not, workconnects people's personal and social well-being and, by working during retirement,though sometimes without renumeration, itcould maintain the social and mental healthof the people. It is argued that work boostspeople's image and well-being. Friedmannand Havighurst (1954) developed a five-pointtypology of the meanings of work as: (1) asource of income, (2) a life routine structuringthe use of time, (3) a source of personal statusand identity, (4) a context for socialinteraction, and (5) a meaningful experiencethat can provide a sense of accomplishment(Moen and Fields 2002). Along the same line,Dr. Guy McKhann, professor of neurology andneuroscience at John Hopkins UniversitySchool of Medicine argued that stayingmentally and physically active in later years canalso keep one younger. "When you continueto do new things, you're making connectionsin your brain and keeping it more dynamic.Recent studies have shown a relationshipbetween sustained mental activity and delayedonset of Alzheimer's disease".

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Encouraging Voluntary Work Among Public Service Retirees: How Policy Intervention Can Help

Secondly, Malaysia is not immune to thesocial problems associated with a rapidlyindustrializing country and having facedproblems such as drug addiction, juveniledelinquency, domestic violence, etc., there aremultifaceted ways where retirees could workas volunteers especially at the level of raisingawareness or counseling. It is assumed thatretirees' scope of understanding of the socialproblems and issues is something that has tobe utilized in order to assist the nationalleadership in its fight against these problems.

By reading the newspapers, watching theTV, and/or hearing stories from friends, thereis more than one way to alleviate the seeminglyworsening social problems caused by relativedeprivation, modernization and urbanization.Engaging in a meaningful community workcould greatly help the government tominimize expenditures on personnel salary insocial services, and instead redirect resourcesto other problems that need immediateassistance.

Thirdly, the potential of retirees to dowork is not a far-fetched reality provided thatproper mapping of their capacity is done. Job-matching is essential in identifying the retirees'interests in relation to available voluntary workthat retirees could participate.

Fourthly, it concerns the extent Malaysiaa variety of workers from other countrieswithout looking into the possibility of hiringretirees to engage in selected job areas in theform of voluntary service or, maybe, in paidwork.

But a note of caution is worth mentioning.Given the diverse nature of the ageingpopulation, retirees who fall within the samecategory are a group of individuals with diverseneeds and interests depending on their socio-demographic characteristics, economicsituation, educational achievement, genderorientation, to name a few. Over and above allthese, retirees have differing motivations forengaging in voluntary work in the community.It is assumed that when there is a high senseof volunteerism in the community, the peoplein that community also develop a high senseof civic consciousness, thus, creating acommunity of sensitive, concerned and

empowered individuals living a quality life.This augurs well for the state machineryindicating that it does not need to spendmillions of dollars to initiate campaigns tosensitize the people, as the people themselvesplayed that role.

RESEARCH FINDINGSThe empirical data of this paper were takenfrom an exploratory study conducted in 2003on volunteer retirees as potential resources forcommunity development. The studyattempted to determine the involvement ofretirees in volunteerism, identify therelationship between their psycho-socialvariables towards altruism and volunteerism,and to ascertain their inherent potential forvolunteerism. Most of the retirees were menand came from Peninsular Malaysia andMalays.

In this study, volunteerism is stronglyviewed by volunteer retirees as reconnectingthemselves to the community where theybelong. As they experienced, prior toretirement, their time (and life) was focusedon their work so much so that they seldomparticipated in community affairs. Afterretirement, with so much time at their disposal,they are more encouraged to share whateverexpertise they could share to the communitysaying, "I want to give back to the community".

Table 4 shows the various areas or servicesthat both volunteer and non-volunteer retireeswere working before retirement, while Table5 shows where they worked or volunteered atthe time of the survey.

PROMOTING ACTIVE AND

PRODUCTIVE AGEINGEarlier it is mentioned how other countrieshave developed their sense of volunteerismamong the people and, in a way, the role ofthe government is crucial in the promotionof volunteerism, be it for the retirees or theyounger members of the society. Statistics inMalaysia already tell us that the signs of anincreasing number in the ageing populationdemand a new social meaning and policychange towards ageing. In as much as there is

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Services

TABLE 4Percentage distribution of respondents by service at the time of retirement

Volunteer(n=136)

Non-Volunteer(n=125)

Overall(N=261)

EducationPoliceFinanceMedicalSocial/WelfareAdministrativeEngineeringAgricultureOther

61.05.11.51.53.7

14.01.52.29.5

42.411.24.06.44.8

19.22.43.26.4

52.18.02.73.84.2

16.51.92.78.1

TABLE 5Percentage distribution of volunteer respondents by type of voluntary service preferred

Preferred Service Volunteer(n=136)

Non-Volunteer(n=125)

ReligiousEducationSocialCommunityWelfare and societal benefitHealthPoliticalRecreationalWork-relatedSports and service clubYouth and Culture

34.633.822.118.420.610.37.47.45.16.692.2

28.828.018.427.229.616.85.67.210.49.65.6

pervasive public opinion that retirees and,henceforth, the older population, are nolonger useful after leaving the portals of publicservice, changing public perception is all themore pressing. How do we do this? Thegovernment should commence its campaignto promote active and productive ageing inMalaysia, which includes among others, aseries of awareness, information and advocacycampaigns, research activities that focus on thewelfare of the elderly, job-matching ofindustry/organization needs with elderly jobneeds, promotion of lifelong learningprograms, a review of the national social policyfor the elderly , to mention a few. Key players

in the promotion campaigns must cut acrossdifferent sectors of the society including theeducation sector, civic groups, religious-basedorganizations, village-based and people-initiated groups, political parties andgovernment-bodies concerned. For example,certain groups could pick up one programmeand let it be its own flagship for promotingproductive ageing e.g. in the area of life-longlearning as observed among certain groups inMalaysia.

Productive ageing should not beconstrued within the purview of economicsalone. This means that both the monetary andnon-monetary transactions should constitute

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the concept of productive ageing by virtue ofthe fact that being productive does not onlymean engaging in waged employment ratherit also means social productive roles such asengaging in voluntary work in both formal andinformal organizations. It is reckoned thatdefining productive ageing within the purviewof economics is definitely to recast its valuewithin the domain of rural work roles therebydiscounting equally productive work rolesamong the rural elderly. It is noticeable thatthe remuneration of productive roles that arerural-based is much lower compared to thoseperformed in urban areas. Following theconceptual definition that productive ageingis a relative construct, it also has to be situatedwithin a certain cultural context, in this case,the Malaysian eastern culture which primarilyplaces importance to the values ofinterdependency as opposed to autonomy,cooperation as opposed to competition andpersonal and familial relationships as opposedto individualism. This implies that the type ofrural work that the older persons couldpossibly be engaged in is basically informal.Informal volunteering includes the non-organizational help that people offer to friendsand neighbors, from taking soup to a sickneighbor to baby-sitting for a friend.

Awareness, Information and Advocacy CampaignThe prevailing notion that older people canno longer perform productively and thereforeof less relevant in the development of societymust be tackled head on. This can be done bya series of sustainable awareness and advocacycampaigns on the role of retirees in particular,and the productive responsibilities of olderMalaysians in general. This involvesunderstanding the crucial support that retireescould contribute to the community. It is alsoabout time to re-evaluate the commonlyuttered jokes and anecdotes, prejudices andstereotypes addressed to the older adults,because by continuing its usage, it thereforesustains and strengthens their existence to thedetriment of the elderly psyche.

Pertinent to the awareness and advocacycampaign on ageing is installing a

collaboration mechanism where thestakeholders of the programme, namely, non-government organisations, governmentbodies, religious and civic groups (e.g. SeniorCitizens' Association) are well equipped withthe right education on ageing issues.

Promotion of Research Activities on the ElderlyThere is no substitute to acknowledging thefact that, indeed, there is a missing linkbetween what information we have at handand the reality affecting the elderly. Ittherefore calls for an intensive research on thestatus of the elderly and what they cancontribute to the ever-changing economic andsocial landscape of Malaysia. It is also veryimportant to disaggregate data according togender, class and ethnicity as each dimensioncould present a different situation with regardto volunteers and the ageing adults. As theDeputy Prime Minister and the country'sprominent leaders have espoused, Malaysiansacross races and economic class should be ableto enjoy the fruits of Malaysia's progress and,therefore, no one should be left out in thedevelopment process. If this statement ringstrue, then, a lot more should be done tochange the scenario of our elderly populationin the country. Malaysia cannot afford toignore the fact that the elderly population'sinterests and needs must also be recognizedbefore one can say that it is truly creating acaring society. The fact remains that thecountry's image as a caring society, one of theguiding slogans of then Prime Minster TunMahathir Mohamand, is reflective in the waysociety cares for the elderly, a vulnerable sectorwhich gave their time, talent and resourcesduring their younger years. It should be withinthis premise that the whole society should lookat how this particular group's interest has beenaddressed in light of their conditions.

The founding of the Institute ofGerontology in Universiti Putra Malaysia in2002 to engage in a multi-disciplinary researchand extension services to the aged and theageing population in Malaysia is a positive steptowards understanding the status of theelderly. It is supposed that the formation of

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more research-based organizations that lookinto the status of the elderly would give way toa more informed public in Malaysia.

Institutionalising Volunteerism and Making it

VisibleIt is already a known fact that there has to be away of institutionalizing volunteerism in thecommunity in particular, and the wider societyin general. Institutionalizing volunteerismmeans that a formal structure, functions/responsibilities, role, and incentives amongothers, are well defined and delineated. It issurmised that with incentives given tovolunteers, especially among the youngermembers, in the form of tax reduction or workpromotion, it encourages wider and fasterinvolvement of everyone in the community. Avery good illustration is the Philippineexperience, where volunteerism isinstitutionalized at the University level. TheUniversity of the Philippines (UP) establishedthe Ugnayan ngPahinungod [Oblation Corps]in 1998 in all UP branches throughout thecountry to promote volunteerism within theranks of the faculty and staff, with the idea thatvolunteerism is only "effective if it is backedby policy at the university level". In order topromote it, faculty members are given certainincentives in the form of promotion points ifthey are involved in volunteer work. Theattractive rank promotion feature in theprogramme has served 40,000 Filipinos whichinvolved 4,500 volunteers (University of thePhilippines 1998) to work on variousprograms, including Affirmative Action,Disaster Relief and Rehabilitation, PeerCounselling, EcoCamp, Coastal ResourceManagement, Cooperative and Livelihoodprojects, Agrarian Reform Communities andFarmer-Scientists.

In like manner, Malaysia could establishvolunteer offices throughout the countryespecially in big cities and towns where thereis a felt need for community service to beinitiated. There should be an added value involunteering, in particular if the bulk of thevolunteers will come from the retirees, forexample, some degree of monetary

remuneration to cover transportation andfood needs while rendering their free service.

Creating an atmosphere of a participativeand humane approach should also be part ofthe process in order to attract volunteer-workers. It should be remembered that oneof the many motivating factors why peoplevolunteer is because it gives them a sense ofsatisfaction in fulfilling the needs of others.It is not sufficient that volunteerism isinstitutionalized in the sense that a structureis well placed. It is also equally important thatan organization is visible, which means thatthe society is aware of its existence and what itoffers to others. Many of the retirees in thestudy, for example, asserted that they have noidea of what is going on in their community,more so, of what they could contribute. Inother words, volunteerism could be developedthrough proper campaign and disseminationof its programme to attract more volunteersinto the fold. The formation of Yayasan SalamMalaysia is a step towards that direction. Withits clearly-defined structure and programmeshowever, it still needs a horde of committedvolunteers to provide for the needy both withinMalaysia and abroad.

Programmes Drawing Retirees' InterestsAt the outset, it should be borne in mind thatthe elderly population is a heterogeneousgroup with diverse interests, needs andcapacities. Using this as a benchmark, drawinga lifelong programme for the elderly mustcater to these needs and capacities. It is likelythat organizations in Malaysia can enlist theassistance from the retirees or draw theirinterests towards volunteerism where theirinterests are. For instance, in a recent studyon volunteerism among retirees, it showed thatretirees drew their interests on religious, socialor community-based organizations. This initself is a good indication for local leaders totap the retirees in their own communities byencouraging them to serve in organizationsof their own liking.

In the same manner, gender should alsobe accounted for when designing aprogramme in as much as women form part

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Encouraging Voluntary Work Among Public Service Retirees: How Policy Intervention Can Help

of the greater majority of the elderlypopulation in Malaysia. The literature showsthat older women are active across the wholespectrum of volunteer service. Some studiessuggest that there may be differing motivationswhen comparing older and younger women,with younger women more likely to citegaining knowledge or advocacy as a motive.Older women may be more motivated by thetraditional desire to give back to thecommunity. One study on volunteers pointedout the difference in motivation between olderwomen and men. The women gave dualreasons for volunteering, both altruism andsocializing. The men described only altruismas a motive (Morrow-Howell and Mann 1999).

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

A Need for Policy-shift

Statistics have shown that there is an increasingnumber of ageing population within the 55-75+ age cohorts since the 1980s. TheDepartment of Statistics Malaysia found thatthe ageing population grew in number from140,600 in 1980 to 286,500 in 2000 or anincrease from 7.9 percent to 8.8 percent of thetotal population in Malaysia. Contrasting thisto the longevity index, men have 71 years whilewomen, 76. What does this imply? It impliesthat with the improved economic and healthstatus of most Malaysians, there is acorresponding increase in their lifeexpectancy. By leaving the public service atthe age of 55/56, it amounts to wasting another10-15 years of productivity of our valuedhuman resource. The waste is so much moreconspicuous when there are no tangible orconcrete measures to utilize the bulk ofcommitted retirees back into the mainstreamof public service. If 55/56 as the mandatoryage of retirement is to be maintained, a viablecontinuing education for the older adults mustbe put in place and this includes thepromotion of volunteerism at the local, stateand national level of governance.

Perhaps, it is also interesting to note thedemographic change as far as the issue ofaverage marital age is concerned and how itinfluences the status of retirees in the country.Generally, it is observed that, observation, aspeople's aspirations change caused byeconomic improvement, there is a change inoutlook towards education and marriage.These days, men and women postponemarriage and family in favour of pursuinghigher education or a career. Directly andindirectly, the delay in marriage affects thenumber of children who are still dependentin terms of daily sustenance, education orhospitalization after the parents' retirement.With parents out of work and dependent onthe monthly pension, children's financialdependence itself causes tremendous stressand anxiety, assuming that retirees have notadequately planned the domestic budgetingand accompanied by the rising cost of basiccommodities.

There are several international lessonsthat Malaysia could draw inspiration fromwhen redesigning its social policy for theelderly such as the 1992 United NationsInternational Year of Volunteers, the 1982World Assembly on Ageing in Vienna as wellas incorporating those international issues thatare relevant for Malaysia.

CONSISTENCY IN OPERATIONALIZJNG

DEFINITIONS: 55/56 OR 60?Within the context of Malaysia, there has tobe a more or less consistent application ofterms and concepts that has something to dowith the ageing population - the retirees - inparticular. At present, there seems to be aglaring disparity regarding the application ofthe National Policy for the Elderly (NPE), forexample, to the retirees in Malaysia in relationto the age qualification of the elderly. Whilethe NPE, following the World Assembly onAgeing in 1982, adopted the cut-off age as 60years old to be considered as elderly, Malaysiawould have a considerable proportion of thepopulation that are within the 55-59 age cohort

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Surjit Singh et al

that would be left out in the policy agenda.This has implications to any lifelong educationand whatever social security policy forretirement beneficiaries that the governmentmay wish to conduct and develop in the nearfuture. Even at this stage, with the currentdefinition of an elderly person as applied inMalaysia, it automatically deprives 55/56-59year-old retirees from being covered in theNPE. Inevitably, we would have in our midst aparticular sector of the population that isconsciously or unconsciously devoid of socialpolicy protection.

In a similar vein, what differentiatesretirees from the elderly or senior citizens? Itis suggested that if Malaysia were to peg theretirement age of 55/56 for civil servants, theNPE and other national instruments shouldreconsider those whose age fall within 55 /56 -59. In the absence of any clear mandate fromthe relevant authorities, people within this agecohort will be in limbo and whose needs andinterests are not well-taken care of by themainstream society. In addition, it would beanother stress in life having to think that afterhaving contributed to the broader societyduring their most productive years of theirworking life, they are left to fend forthemselves or, worse, considered as "surpluspopulation" or as a""bundle of needs" (Moody1988).

REFERENCESFRIEDMANN, E. and R. HAVIGHURST. 1954. The Meaning

of Work and Retirement. Chicago: University ofChicago Press.

MALAYSIA. 1989. Eighth Malaysia Plan. Kuala Lumpur

MOEN, P., M.A. ERICKSON and D. DEMPSTER-MCCIAIN.1997. Their mothers' daughters? Theintergenerational transmission of genderattitudes in a world of changing roles. Journalof Marriage and the Family 59: 282-293.

MOEN, P. and V. FIELDS. 2002. Midcourse in theUnited States: Does unpaid communityparticipation replace paid work? AgeingInternational 27'(3): 21-48.

MOODY, H.R. 1988. Abundance of Life: HumanDevelopment Policies for an Aging Society. NewYork: Columbia University Press.

MORROW-HOWELL, N., S. KiNNEvy and M. MANN. 1999.The perceived benefits of participating involunteer and educational activities. Journal ofGerontological Social Work 32(2): 65-80.

MUSTILLO, S., J. WIUSON and S. LYNCH. 2004. Legacyvolunteering: A test of two theories ofintergenerational transmission. Journal ofMarriage and Family 66(May): 530-541.

NEWS STRAITS TIMES. 2005. 9MP thrust on humancapital. Kuala Lumpur.

PANCER, S. and M. PRATT. 1999. Social and familydeterminants of community serviceinvolvement in Canadian youth. In Roots ofCivic Service and Activism in Youth, ed. M. Yatesand J. Youniss, pp. 32-55. Cambridge, U.K.:Cambridge University Press.

PARK, J. Z. and C. SMITH. 2000. To whom much hasbeen given...' Religious capital andcommunity voluntarism among churchgoingProtestants. Journal for the Scientific Study ofReligion 39 (3): 272-287.

PENNER, L.A. 2004. Volunteerism and socialproblems: Making things better or worse?Journal of Social Issue 60(3): 645-666.

SOROKIN, PITIRIM. 1948. The Reconstruction ofHumanity. Boston: The Beacon Press.

UNITED NATIONS. 2002. World population ageing:1950-2050. Population Division, Departmentof Economic and Social Affairs [DESA], NewYork, United Nations.

UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES. 1998. Brochureugnayan ng pahinungod/Oblation Corps. Thevolunteer service program of the University ofthe Philippines. Quezon City: Diliman.

WILSON, J. 2000. Volunteering. Annual Review ofSociology 26: 215-240.

http://www.salam.gov. my

(Received: 29 August 2005)

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