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Malaysia is now officially an “ageing” nation, with more than 7% of its population aged 65 and above.
This is the first of the three society thresholds defined by the United Nations — 7%: ageing, 14%: aged, 20%: super-aged. A fuller statistical picture is delineated in an EdgeProp article dated April 21: “Are we ready for an ageing Malaysia?”.
The government has acknowledged the challenges ahead. In July, Economy Minister Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir said efforts to support an ageing population were being stepped up. A National Ageing White Paper is expected to be tabled in Parliament in 2027, followed by the National Ageing Blueprint 2025–2045.
The blueprint is expected to provide a longterm framework for elderly care, covering macroeconomic and fiscal policy, employment and skills, social protection, lifelong healthcare and long-term care. It will also support the expansion of community programmes such as Pusat Aktiviti Warga Emas (PAWE), or Senior Citizens Activity Centres.
Even so, Malaysia is ageing on a Japanese timeline without anything approaching Japan’s level of preparation. Encouragingly, the Housing and Local Government Ministry (KPKT) has incorporated senior-living components and age-friendly infrastructure into the newly-launched National Housing Policy (Dasar Rumah Negara — DRN) 2026–2035.
Taken together, the statistics point to both present and incoming demand for senior living. Yet the current offerings remain fragmented across price points, types of care and service models.
Much has been written about senior living as a real estate play. But conversations with practitioners reveal a consistent message: the ecosystem — the community, knowledge base and care expertise — must precede the real estate component.
At a February 2024 Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association (Rehda) Institute roundtable, industry stakeholders identified the shortage of trained caregivers as a major barrier to Malaysia’s aged-care development. Unlike Australia, Japan and Singapore, Malaysia has no certification framework, leaving many caregivers with minimal formal training and limited opportunities for progression.
Participants called for collaboration among the Health Ministry, Human Resource Ministry and private operators to introduce recognised certification and apprenticeship programmes, supported by incentives such as training subsidies or tax relief. Without a strong pipeline of skilled and motivated caregivers, even well-designed facilities will struggle to provide consistent, dignified care.
Learning from Australia
Re-U Living (by IGB Bhd) head of healthcare management Pua Ai Leng believes the Australian model offers useful pointers. A qualified nurse who has worked in hospitals across the region, including in Australia’s senior-living industry, Pua also formally studied the Australian healthcare system as part of her postgraduate education there.
Countries such as Japan and Australia had decades between each demographic milestone — time to develop licensing regimes, funding mechanisms and a dedicated care workforce.
Malaysia is compressing the same transition into a far shorter window. Pua believes the priority must therefore be twofold: developing an ecosystem suited to Malaysia’s cultural context, while the private sector — currently serving the mid- and higher-end segments — builds depth and breadth of expertise along the way.
Drawing on her experience, Pua notes the sector’s development in Australia was driven not only by rising demand, but also by sustained government funding and incentives, supported by insurers, financial institutions and pension funds. This coordinated ecosystem was initially government-led, creating the conditions for Australia’s aged-care industry to mature over several decades.
According to global management consulting and market research company IMARC Group, Australia’s full-spectrum aged-care market was valued at approximately US$34 billion (about RM136 billion) in 2025 and is projected to reach US$61 billion by 2034.
More importantly, Pua highlights Australia’s experience-built capabilities across the wider ecosystem, not only in facilities, but also in specialised design and architecture, nursing and caregiving, care management, technology, and living models tailored to different levels of need and affordability.
Effective senior living more than a real estate theme
Care Concierge CEO Martin Yap, an Australian-trained architect who entered the industry 16 years ago, emphasises the importance of a continuum of care that responds to the different stages of ageing. Ageing in place is preferred by many when circumstances allow, but the ecosystem must also cater to varying levels of care and individual need.
Many facilities today are developed from hotel or serviced-residence layouts retrofitted for senior living, including Re-U Living and several of Care Concierge’s centres. Yap’s latest project, Care Collective, developed in Kuching in partnership with Elica Equity, follows this path. Positioned as East Malaysia’s largest premium retirement-living community, it is integrated within a wider destination that includes the VOCO Hotel, grocery outlets, wellness services, hospitality and community spaces.
Yap believes developers should begin with the operating model and the lived experience of future residents — not simply with the building.
Too often, senior living is treated as a real estate theme, or an added feature to help sell residential units. In reality, genuine senior living is an operating business that depends on trained personnel, appropriate staffing ratios, robust care protocols, effective family communication, meaningful programming and long-term financial sustainability.
Developers must first determine whom the community is intended to serve. Independent seniors, residents requiring assistance with daily living, people recovering from hospitalisation and those living with dementia each have distinct needs, environments and operating models. The physical design must respond accordingly — with accessible layouts, safe circulation routes, suitable bathrooms, good lighting, dedicated staff and service areas, emergency access, rehabilitation spaces and, equally importantly, welcoming places for dining, activities, nature and social interaction.
He also believes the industry must move beyond the perception of senior care as merely a profit centre. Within a township, it can function as essential community infrastructure — much like a school, clinic, library or childcare centre. A senior day-care facility or care hub could support not only residents within a particular development but also families in the surrounding community. Technology should be integrated unobtrusively, enabling residents to arrange transport, request assistance, communicate with family, schedule appointments and access activities — without making the community feel institutional or hospital-like.
Strategic, cross-ministerial approach needed
The urgency is reinforced by the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) data showing that most members exhaust their retirement savings within five years of leaving the workforce. Many retirees who stop working at 60 may thus find themselves seeking new sources of income by 65. Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan highlighted this in June, warning that the trend could place mounting pressure on the government to expand social protection programmes for the elderly.
Malaysia’s ageing agenda should therefore not begin only when an individual becomes frail or in need of institutional care. It should start much earlier by creating the conditions that enable people to remain healthy, socially connected, physically active and economically and emotionally engaged for as long as possible. This requires active ageing to be treated as a form of preventive public policy, not simply as a welfare concern or healthcare issue.
The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry; Health Ministry; Finance Ministry; Economy Ministry; and KPKT; among others, should work towards a coordinated framework connecting public health, housing, transport, urban planning, social services, community facilities and care provision. Without such coordination, the country risks developing fragmented services that fight fire rather than reduce over-dependency.
Prevention better than cure
Many older persons who are healthy and independent do not need to move into a senior-living facility. They may instead benefit from accessible community spaces, exercise and rehabilitation programmes, lifelong learning, social activities, health screening, nutritious food, transport support, home-based services and opportunities for intergenerational engagement. These interventions help people maintain their mobility, confidence, social networks and independence.
The benefits extend well beyond older persons themselves. When a senior can no longer manage basic daily activities, family members may have to reduce their working hours or leave employment altogether to provide care. This affects household income, career progression, mental health, childcare responsibilities and national productivity. For older persons without family support, the responsibility falls largely on the public sector. Investment in active ageing is therefore not merely expenditure on seniors; it is a preventive investment in families, the workforce, communities and the long-term sustainability of public finances.
Meaningfull Life CEO Anna Chew says Malaysia’s approach has traditionally centred on illness care, while active seniors are often offered simplistic daycare activities providing limited intellectual, emotional or physical stimulation.
The intergenerational care hub supports the sandwich generation by bringing together senior-care, rehabilitation, wellness and children’s enrichment services at community-friendly rates.
Operating through a hub-and-spoke model that includes home visits, it promotes ageing in place through reablement, helping seniors regain independence after falls, strokes or surgery, she says.
Race against time
Malaysia does not lack awareness of its demographic trajectory; what it lacks is time. The countries we look to for lessons had decades to lay the bricks. We will have to accomplish the same in a fraction of that period, and that demands deliberate sequencing: ecosystem and expertise first, policy coordination alongside, and real estate as the enabler rather than the starting point.
The building blocks are emerging though.
The forthcoming White Paper and National Ageing Blueprint signal policy intent; the DRN has brought age-friendly infrastructure into the mainstream; and pioneering operators are quietly accumulating the operational know-how. The task now is to thread these entities — government, private capital, insurers, pension funds and care operators — into a coherent tapestry, before demographic pressure converts today’s opportunity into tomorrow’s crisis.
David S Chong is a corporate lawyer by training. He is currently with Rehda Institute, where he works withv real estate industry stakeholders on strategic initiatives involving research, training, education, roundtable discussions and conferences.
He previously worked with Property Incorporated (MPI), a public–private initiative under the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) of Malaysia. In that role, he engaged with local and international stakeholders to explore the opportunities and potential of Malaysia’s senior-living industry.
The views expressed are the writer’s and do not necessarily reflect EdgeProp’s.
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