Malaysia: Living Longer, Working Longer with Dignity and Job Quality

Malaysia’s debate over whether to “live longer, work longer” has shifted from a technocratic footnote into a full policy conversation about health, dignity, workplaces and social design — a debate recently amplified by a Bernama opinion piece that frames the question through the lens of cognitive and positive psychology and urges caution about simply pushing back retirement ages without improving job quality.

Overview​

The central claim driving renewed attention is straightforward: longer life expectancy creates pressure on pension systems and public finances, so many countries (including Malaysia) are considering raising the statutory retirement age. The Bernama commentary argues that the answer to whether Malaysians should work longer is not purely economic; it hinges on the type and quality of work, the psychological benefits of purposeful engagement, and the health risks of low-control, high-stress employment.
This article unpacks those claims, verifies the empirical evidence where possible, and provides balanced analysis for policymakers, employers, and workers. It cross-references national data from the Malaysia Ageing & Retirement Survey (MARS), classic occupational-health evidence from the Whitehall cohorts, and recent reporting on the Malaysian government’s policy review under the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP). (um.edu.my, bmcgeriatr.biomedcentral.com, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

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Background: why the retirement-age debate matters now​

Malaysia — like many middle-income countries — is undergoing demographic ageing. An ageing population increases the ratio of retirees to workers, straining public and private retirement systems and prompting policy reviews about labour force participation rates in later life.

• In July 2025 the Prime Minister announced that retirement-age policy would be reviewed as part of the 13th Malaysia Plan’s social-justice thrust; the Public Service Department has been asked to study proposals such as moving the mandatory retirement age for civil servants toward 65. This is an explicit signal that the government is taking the question seriously. (thestar.com.my)
• At the same time, Malaysia’s national ageing research platform, the Malaysia Ageing & Retirement Survey (MARS), has produced multi-wave data showing significant variability in older adults’ employment, health status and perceptions of purpose — information that can and should shape any retirement policy. (um.edu.my, bmcgeriatr.biomedcentral.com)

These twin pressures — fiscal and demographic — are driving the practical question: if citizens are living longer and healthier lives on average, should legal retirement ages be increased accordingly? The technical answer must be joined to the lived realities of work quality, health heterogeneity and social purpose.

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What the Bernama commentary argues (summary)​

The Bernama opinion (by Assoc Prof Dr Haslina Muhamad) advances several connected points:

• Cognitive stimulation matters. The brain benefits from meaningful mental activity; work that includes decision-making, problem-solving and social engagement can help preserve cognitive function.
• Not all work is equal. Monotonous, physically exhausting, or low-control jobs can harm health and accelerate decline; evidence from long-term occupational studies supports this.
• Purpose matters. Independent MARS analyses show that a strong sense of purpose correlates with better memory, verbal fluency and overall cognitive performance — whether people are employed or retired.
• Policy must be nuanced. Raising retirement age without addressing job quality risks worsening outcomes for the most vulnerable workers. Flexible pathways (part-time, mentoring, consultancy, volunteering) that preserve meaning and autonomy are recommended.

That framing shifts the debate from a single binary — “raise retirement age yes/no” — to a more nuanced policy architecture: how people work in later life, what kinds of roles are available, and what supports are in place to protect health and dignity.

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Evidence check: what does the data say?​

The Malaysia Ageing & Retirement Survey (MARS)​

MARS is a nationally designed longitudinal study launched to inform Malaysia’s ageing policy. Wave 2 (2021–2022) revisited thousands of respondents aged 40 and above and provides nationally representative insights into employment, health, and psychosocial variables.

• MARS Wave 2 reports that roughly 45% of respondents were still engaged in work, with notable gender gaps (higher participation among men). The dataset includes cognitive measures in Wave 2 and enables analysis of the link between occupational engagement and cognitive scores. (um.edu.my, bmcgeriatr.biomedcentral.com)
• Separate peer-reviewed work drawing on MARS data finds associations between social support, physical health and mental well-being in older Malaysians, reinforcing the complexity of ageing outcomes. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

Caveat: the Bernama column’s figure that “1 in 5 Malaysians aged 60 and above are still working” can be read in multiple ways and is not precisely mirrored by the headline MARS Wave 2 statistic (which reports 45% of respondents of a broader age band were employed). The difference likely stems from sample composition and age-banding; therefore the precise “1-in-5” claim should be treated cautiously until the specific MARS breakdown by 60+ employment rate is produced or cited. The broad MARS pattern, however, clearly shows sizeable labour-force participation among older Malaysians and a complex relationship between work, health and purpose. (um.edu.my, bmcgeriatr.biomedcentral.com)

The Whitehall findings: job control and health​

The Bernama column correctly invokes the Whitehall studies to underline that job quality matters. The Whitehall I and II cohorts — long-running studies of British civil servants — are classic evidence that lower occupational grade and low job control are associated with worse physical and mental health outcomes, including cardiovascular disease and higher mortality.

• Whitehall II (a prospective cohort of >10,000 civil servants) found that low job control nearly doubled the odds of future coronary events in people observed with low control at two time points, even after adjusting for standard risk factors. This demonstrates that chronic psychosocial stress at work has measurable cardiovascular consequences. (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, thelancet.com)
• Earlier Whitehall analyses documented steep social gradients in mortality and morbidity even among people with access to universal healthcare, implying that psychosocial work factors — not only material resources or healthcare access — drive large parts of occupational inequality. (thelancet.com)

These findings are widely accepted in occupational epidemiology and support the claim that extending working lives without changing job quality would risk worsening population health inequalities.

Cognitive and purpose-related evidence​

The Bernama argument draws on cognitive and positive-psychology principles: mental stimulation and sense of purpose correlate with better cognitive outcomes.

• MARS data and associated analyses indicate that purpose in life and occupational engagement show independent associations with cognitive test performance (verbal fluency, numeracy, memory). These relationships persist after adjusting for lifestyle and social factors, which suggests that roles preserving purpose — paid or unpaid — may have protective brain-health effects. (bmcgeriatr.biomedcentral.com, um.edu.my)

Cross-check: international longitudinal ageing research similarly finds that social engagement, complex occupational tasks and purposeful activities are associated with better cognitive trajectories over time. This line of evidence supports the Bernama emphasis on quality and meaningfulness rather than on work duration alone.

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Strengths of the Bernama framing​

• Multidisciplinary synthesis. The column brings together cognitive psychology, positive psychology and occupational epidemiology in a policy-relevant way. That integrative framing is important because retirement is simultaneously economic, social and psychological.
• Evidence-aware caution. By invoking MARS and Whitehall, the piece anchors normative recommendations in empirical literature rather than ideological assertions. The insistence that job quality matters is well grounded in both local (MARS) and international (Whitehall) evidence. (um.edu.my, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
• Practical policy alternatives. The suggestion to create flexible later-life pathways — part-time roles, mentoring, consulting, volunteering — is pragmatic and consistent with global best practice for accommodating heterogenous ageing experiences.

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Risks, omissions and where the column needs more precision​

• Statistical precision. As noted above, some numerical claims (e.g., “1 in 5 Malaysians aged 60+ are still working”) require explicit citation and unpacking. MARS outputs are complex; policy debates benefit from precise age-group breakdowns and an explanation of sample frames. Where figures are used to justify policy shifts, the exact denominator and methodology should be transparent. (um.edu.my, bmcgeriatr.biomedcentral.com)
• Heterogeneity of occupations. The column correctly warns that not all jobs are equal, but policy detail is missing on how to operationalise job-quality improvements across sectors like construction, agriculture, services and the informal economy. A one-size-fits-all increase in retirement age could disproportionately harm workers in manual or low-control roles unless accompanied by sector-specific measures (ergonomic interventions, phased retirement, early-retirement safety nets).
• Fiscal trade-offs and labour markets. Raising statutory retirement ages can shift pension liabilities, but the distributional and labour-market effects are complex. For instance, older-worker retention affects youth labour-market entry, skills turnover and firm-level productivity strategies. The Bernama piece focuses on health and psychology — rightly so — but policymakers must also weigh macroeconomic and labour-market trade-offs with clear modelling. The government’s announced review under 13MP is the right procedural step; it needs to include labour-market simulations and distributive analyses. (thestar.com.my)
• Access to quality later-life jobs. Proposal after proposal for mentoring and consultancy presumes that older workers have transferable skills and access to such roles. For many lower-income, lower-education individuals, those options may be unavailable. Policies must include retraining, job redesign, and incentives for employers to create dignified, lower-intensity but meaningful roles for older workers.

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Practical policy design: moving from “if” to “how”​

If policymakers decide to raise statutory retirement ages, the Bernama article offers a useful red flag: do not do it without job-quality reforms. The following policy architecture translates that warning into practical interventions.

1) Make change optional, phased and flexible​

• Implement gradual, consensual increases in statutory age rather than sudden jumps.
• Offer opt-in phased-retirement schemes where older workers can reduce hours while accessing partial pension benefits.
• Provide clear employer incentives (tax credits, wage subsidies) for creating part-time, mentoring or job-sharing roles for older workers.

2) Improve job control and reduce chronic work stress​

• Introduce labour regulations and industry guidance that increase worker autonomy and decision latitude, especially in administrative and repetitive roles.
• Fund workplace redesign pilots in sectors with high physical demand to evaluate effects on health, productivity and retention.
• Encourage employers to implement evidence-based stress-reduction practices (reasonable workloads, predictable schedules, control-enhancing job redesign). The Whitehall evidence suggests these psychosocial interventions are not optional if the goal is to preserve health. (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, thelancet.com)

3) Align retirement policy with skills and re-employment pathways​

• Scale up targeted retraining programmes for mid- and later-life workers, focusing on digital literacy, supervisory and mentoring skills, and low-impact occupations.
• Create “bridging” roles within public services that use institutional knowledge (mentoring, training, archival tasks), offering alternatives to physically demanding frontline tasks.

4) Support purpose through non-wage roles​

• Recognise community, volunteering and civic roles as legitimate contributors to later-life purpose by offering portable, non-monetary supports (transport, small stipends, recognition schemes).
• Fund partnership programmes linking older professionals with universities and vocational institutes for guest teaching and mentorship roles.

5) Use evidence and monitoring​

• Make any retirement-age change contingent on pre-specified evaluation metrics: older-worker employment rates by sector, health outcome trends (cardiovascular, mental health), and pension-fund sustainability scenarios.
• Use MARS and other longitudinal sources to track cognitive and health outcomes so policy can be adjusted as evidence accumulates. (bmcgeriatr.biomedcentral.com, um.edu.my)

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For employers: redesign work for ageing sustainably​

Employers who want to retain older staff without harming health should take immediate actions:

• Audit roles by task demands and reduce heavy physical loads or repetitive, low-autonomy tasks through technology and job re-engineering.
• Offer flexible arrangements (reduced hours, compressed weeks, hybrid work, job-sharing) that value retained institutional knowledge.
• Create mentoring tracks that formally recognise knowledge transfer and include workload adjustments so mentoring is not an added burden.
• Invest in health and wellbeing programs that screen for cardiovascular risk factors and support mental health, given the well-documented links between work stress, control and heart disease. (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, thelancet.com)

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For workers: plan proactively​

• Seek roles or arrangements that preserve autonomy and meaningful engagement.
• Use available retraining opportunities to move into lower-intensity, higher-control positions before forced transitions.
• If possible, negotiate phased retirement or part-time consulting arrangements that let you retain income, structure and purpose without the full burden of prior roles.

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Verdict: the right question — and the right next steps​

The Bernama column sets the debate on the right track: the policy question is not simply whether Malaysians should work longer, but under what conditions working longer will promote health, dignity and cognitive flourishing. The empirical record is clear on two points:

• Work that is cognitively stimulating and purposeful can benefit cognitive functioning in later life — but those benefits are conditional on job quality and autonomy. Local MARS evidence supports the link between engagement, purpose and better cognitive scores. (um.edu.my, bmcgeriatr.biomedcentral.com)
• Chronic psychosocial job stress and low job control are robust predictors of cardiovascular disease and worse health outcomes (Whitehall), meaning that blanket increases in retirement age could be harmful if low-quality jobs are left unchanged. (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, thelancet.com)

Policy therefore must be multidimensional: combine any legal retirement-age adjustments with targeted job-quality reforms, retraining and flexible work pathways. The government’s decision to study retirement-age change under the 13MP is the correct procedural next step; the study must explicitly incorporate sectoral health-risk analyses, MARS-derived projections, and labour-market modelling so trade-offs are visible. (thestar.com.my, bmcgeriatr.biomedcentral.com)

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Closing analysis: balancing risk, reward and equity​

Raising retirement ages can yield fiscal benefits and keep experienced people contributing longer, but the social returns depend entirely on distribution and design. Without attention to job quality, raising retirement ages risks amplifying existing inequalities: the better-educated and higher-grade workers — who typically have more job control and less physically demanding roles — will capture the benefits, while lower-grade workers in physically stressful or low-control roles could face harm.
In policy design, three principles should guide decisions:

• Equity: Protect workers in high-demand, low-control roles through early-retirement options, sectoral supports, and targeted compensation.
• Autonomy: Promote job redesign that increases decision latitude and reduces chronic stressors.
• Purpose: Create and recognise pathways outside formal employment where older adults can sustain purpose (volunteering, mentoring, civic roles), because purpose is a measurable protective factor for cognitive health.

The Bernama column’s psychological lens is necessary and useful. It reminds policymakers that retirement policy is as much about human flourishing as it is about balance sheets. The empirical foundations — MARS for local context and Whitehall for psychosocial risks — are robust enough to demand cautious, evidence-driven reform rather than a blanket statutory shift. (bmcgeriatr.biomedcentral.com, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

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Any policy moves should be incremental, evaluated against clear health and labour-market metrics, and accompanied by concrete interventions to improve job quality, worker autonomy and alternative pathways for purpose. Only then can a policy of “working longer” become a policy of “living better while contributing longer.”

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Source: bernama - Living, Not Working, Longer