‘Every Time Raya Comes, There’ll Be Elderly Folk Left At Hospitals’

Some are willing to block hospital numbers, give them the wrong number or ignore calls from hospitals to avoid picking up their elderly parents, claims a Twitter user.

(Credit: Freepik)

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While most people are excited every time Eid comes along, there are a lot of people still suffering during Eid.

Every year, there will be elderly people either waiting for their family members at old folks’ homes or worse, left at hospitals.

Recently, a pharmacist named Ammar Kamar brought attention to this issue on his Twitter.

Manusia apa yang lebih teruk dari khinzir?

Manusia yang hantar parents ke hospital dan DENGAN SENGAJA
1. Bagi nombor telefon salah.
ATAU
2. Block no telefon hospital
ATAU
3. Ignore bila hospital call sebab taknak dtg ambil.

Ni mesti lajak sampai lepas raya.

Biadap.
— Ammar Bin Kamar (@AmmarKamar) April 10, 2023

He pointed out that there are people out there who are willing to leave their elderly parents in hospitals on purpose, and some intend to never pick them up again.

These people who leave their senior citizen parents at the hospital have these common tactics that they use every year.

Giving the hospital the wrong number
Blocking the hospital’s phone number
Ignoring the calls because they don’t wanna pick them up

This might seem appalling to some, but sadly, this happens every year during festive seasons, no matter Eid or CNY.

Ammar said that this is a normal scenario for those working in hospitals. Senior citizens are often bullied like this, especially those who are ill and bedridden. They are viewed as a burden, especially on Eid. So they get dropped off at hospitals.

Some people share their stories, agreeing to the sad reality

One commenter said that there’s even a case where a son/daughter even dared to stop giving medications to their parent for a few days. They then called the ambulance and got their parent into the emergency department. After that, they whole family went on a holiday.

1st time sy baca sini dulu, anak2 sengaja stopkan ubat darah tinggi bbrp hari. call ambulance, masuk ED. then anak menantu pergi holiday.

saja nk cakap la. korang2 yg konfiden cakap “beranakla byk2, nnt anak boleh jaga bila dh tua”. korang sembang ngan doktor je lah tau realiti
— NoOneYouKnow (@NightOwlGenY2) April 10, 2023

One user recalled a story that a nurse told her. A senior citizen was left home alone. When the senior citizen was sick and called for an ambulance, the paramedics found the door unlocked and medication all prepared, as though the whole situation had been planned.

Teringat cerita ni staff nurse hospital cerita. Patient dah tua. Family tinggal seorang kat rumah. Lepastu patient call ambulans cakap sakit. Datang rumah macam dah plan, pintu semua tak kunci. Ubat semua dah siap siap tersusun. Sanggup buat macamni sebab nak beraya.
— 🇲🇾 (@_whhsnasofin) April 10, 2023

One netizen also pointed out that no matter what race, this case happens quite often than you think. Some of them gave various reasons to postpone the date to pick them up. He said that even if they don’t know how to take care of them, nurses there are willing to teach. His last resort was to call the police, which the guardians had to eventually come.

Pernah kena beberapa kes di hospital besar. Benda jadi tak kira kaum. Kita pun dah banyak tolak ansur bila depa minta tangguh nak ambil dengan bermacam alasan. Tak pandai jaga, kita dah minta waris datang belajar dgn staf. Sampai aku ugut nak call polis. Baru pandai nak mai.
— Asyraf Nor (@AsyrafNor2000) April 10, 2023

Over 2,000 senior citizens were “abandoned” in the last 5 years

Just the last five years alone (2018 – 2022), around 2,144 senior citizens were abandoned at the hospital, as told by the previous Women, Family and Community Development Minister, Datuk Seri Rina Harun in the Dewan Rakyat last year.

In those numbers, only 914 people were successfully returned to their family members and the other 1230 have been placed in welfare institutions.

Social workers at hospitals would normally trace the senior citizens’ next of kin by checking their identification cards, contacting the families, doing house visits or tracing them through the National Registration Department’s system.

Some guardians gave reasons such as lack of guardians and family problems, while some even deny having any relations with them.

Meanwhile, the Malaysia Healthy Ageing Society (MHAS) added that some of the elders were not truly abandoned. Factors such as having illnesses like dementia and psychiatric conditions, socioeconomic factors such as financial difficulties or stressed and overburdened caregivers might pose special challenges for families to care for the elderly.

As reported by The Vibes, Senior Consultant Paediatrician Datuk Dr Amar-Singh H.S.S. also supports the fact that families at times may not have the resources to care for the sick and elderly.

He further said that Malaysia could look to nations with proper social and elderly care initiatives to rectify the situation.