Not far from Angkor Wat lies a village of wooden homes where 19 year-old Pa Kim San stands out among the other residents. As the treasurer of the local older people's association (OPA), the young Cambodian brings youthful energy to the mission of caring for the grey-haired community.
Ms Kim San works in Kan Chorn Kuy village, named after the kuy trees that grow around the village pond, where the scenery is dramatically different from the famed archaeological attractions and bustling downtown night market in Siem Reap. It's just 38 kilometres away from the country's biggest tourist attraction but it may as well be in another world, reached only after a bumpy ride along dusty, potholed roads.
But the sense of community is strong in Kan Chorn Kuy, thanks to the presence of the OPA, a Cambodian programme that has taken root in hundreds of other villages as a way to meet the challenges of helping the growing population of elderly citizens.
Asia is no stranger to the phenomenon of population ageing. Japan has been grappling with the issue for years. Its population is now shrinking, one-third of its citizens are aged 60 or older, and the fertility rate, at 1.4 births per woman, is one of the lowest in the world.
In the 10 Southeast Asian states, 49 million people, or 7.7% of the 633 million population, were over 65 in 2015, according to United Nations (UN) population data. However, the ratio is expected to rise to 15.5% of an estimated 741 million people by 2035. Not every country is ageing at an equal rate, but Thailand is on track to become one of Asean's greyest places.
Elderly and middle-aged people exercise with wooden dumbbells during a health promotion event in Tokyo. Photo: Reuters
The UN defines an ageing society as having 7% of the population over 65, an aged society at 14%, and a super-aged society at 20%. The over-65 population in Japan is already 26% of the total.
Given the implications of a greying society -- a shrinking workforce, higher healthcare expenditure and other economic challenges -- governments all over the world are looking for sustainable solutions.
Cambodia believes it has found a promising approach in the OPA model. The aim of the programme is to mobilise older people to improve their own lives and contribute to the development of their communities across many domains. Members review community needs such as livelihoods and support for work at later stages of life, health and social care, rights and entitlements, disaster preparedness, women's participation, transparent governance and community participation.
"So far there are 510 OPAs across 15 provinces and there is an ambition to expand that total to 1,123 OPAs in every commune and district by 2017," Mom Bunthan, undersecretary of state for the Ministry of Social Affairs, told Asia Focus.
Cambodia already fits the "ageing society" definition, with 1.3 million people aged 65 or more, or 8.5% of the population of 15.2 million. The ratio is expected to reach 21% by 2050, said Mr Bunthan.
"As healthcare centres are mostly concentrated in Phnom Penh and there are limited community services offered to the elderly, OPAs are in place to promote the welfare of the elderly and improve their quality of life," he said.
The Kan Chorn Kuy OPA was established in 2015 with just 24 members but has grown steadily to 127 members, 86 of them women.
The OPA also acts as a source of small loans for elderly members. Its capital base is small, at just US$1,400 raised from membership fees, interest and external funding, but even a few hundred dollars can go a long way in a Cambodian village.
IMPACT OF AGEING
In the bigger picture in Asia, allocating resources as the population grows older will become one of the toughest choices policymakers face. The Asia Pacific Risk Centre (APRC) estimates that the region's elderly population will rise by 71% by 2030, compared with 55% in North America and 31% in Europe.
Older populations and smaller workforces have implications for everything from the pace of economic growth and retirement age to consumption trends, pensions and care home provision, said HSBC global economist James Pomeroy.
In 2016, the world's total population grew at the slowest rate in at least 65 years. The number of global retirees grew at the fastest rate in history, while the median age in high-income countries crossed 40 years for the first time, he said.
"Smaller populations mean less demand and less potential output. More retirees relative to the number of working-age people will mean more fiscal pressure: greater expenditure on healthcare and less tax income," said Mr Pomeroy.
The APRC estimates that swelling ranks of the elderly will result in a $20-trillion healthcare bill for Asia Pacific by 2030. The rise in public expenditure is "particularly dramatic in East Asia", where spending in China is set to rise by at least 50% by 2050 as rapid ageing combines with "relatively high rates of economic growth", according to the Asian Development Bank.
In Kan Chorn Kuy, hypertension and diabetes are the most common health problems among the elderly, according to Soeun Sokny, health director of the Yeang commune where the village is located. A health centre located nearby provides basic services and medical staff visit the village once a month to conduct check-ups, he said.
The burden of caring for the elderly adds to other major health challenges in rural Cambodia, including inadequate supply of safe drinking water, poor sanitation facilities, and a lack of qualified midwives and physicians, all of which lead to diarrheal disease, persistently high neonatal mortality and relatively high maternal mortality, according to the World Health Organization.
While government funding for healthcare has increased significantly, it remains at only 1.4% of GDP, so allocation of funds needs to be much more efficient and carefully targeted, it said.
Pa Kim San, treasurer of the Kan Chorn Kuay Older People's Association(OPA), provides insight into elder-caring operations and answers media questions on her involvement with the village OPA. photo courtesy of HelpAge International
In Kan Chorn Kuy, Kim San is happy to be working with the OPA. With a ninth-grade education, her prospects in the rural community had been limited to jobs such as house-cleaning. But there is also a personal motivation.
"I am motivated to work for older people because of my personal ambition. My parents will grow old soon and I will become old one day too," she said.
YOUNGER GENERATIONS
Because an ageing society affects competitiveness, Asian governments have stepped up efforts to encourage people to have more children and stave off a dangerous shrinkage of the workforce in generations to come. In China, this meant ending the decades-old one-child policy, and many countries offer financial benefits for couples who have more children.
The policy switch seems to be working in China, where the birth rate last year rose 7.9%, the highest since 2000, according to National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) statistics.
NHFPC official Yang Wenzhuang expects China's fertility rate to improve to between 17 million and 20 million births every year from 2020.
But spurring the birth rate needs to be accompanied by other measures, including structural reforms aimed at improving workforce productivity and promoting innovation for sustainability.
The labour pool can also be expanded by raising the retirement age and encouraging more women to work, while creating a working environment conducive to seniors and women, such as by allowing flexible working schedules and providing more childcare centres, said Deutsche Bank chief economist Taimur Baig.
"Singapore, for instance, apart from raising the retirement age to 62 years (from 60), is requiring employers to re-employ eligible employees up to the age of 65, and from July onward [the age limit] will rise to 67," he said.
"In addition, policies and incentives to encourage childbearing would help to boost labour force participation in the long run."
Singapore, where the fertility rate of 1.3 is even lower than in Japan, has tried several other measures to mitigate the impact of the silver tsunami, with the ultimate goal of increasing the population to between 6.5 million and 6.9 million by 2030, from 5.4 million now. These include attracting foreign workers to become permanent residents and providing "baby bonus" incentives such as cash gifts, tax rebates and government contributions to savings accounts.
In contrast with Singapore, Cambodia has a younger population, with 68% of its people under 30. This young workforce is a potential gold mine for Cambodia, but as a poor country with limited resources, the challenge will be to develop and unleash the potentials of young Cambodians.
Mr Bunthan says the government is working on policies to enhance educational development, paving the way for a more capable workforce in the future.
"Our Ministry of Labour has strengthened students' vocational training programmes and there are programmes designed to fit their passions," he said. "English is also being used in schools and universities across the nation for Cambodian youth."
As part of the government's action plan, the National Youth Development Council was established in 2011 to coordinate, monitor and evaluate the development process.
Thai businessman Wallop Wittanakorn, the chairman of Hi-Tech Apparel, sees great potential in Cambodia. The workers at his factory in the Poipet O'Neang Special Economic Zone are all aged between 20 and 25 years old. "However, there is a problem with skilled labour and we have to provide training in terms of needlework and usage of machinery," he said.
Mr Wallop plans to expand his plant in Poipet because of the appeal of the young workforce, low wages compared with Thailand, and the fact that Cambodian garment exports to the EU are exempt from 12% import tax under the Generalised System of Preferences.
Deepening regional economic integration is also an option for a younger workforce to make better use of their skills as labour mobility across borders improves. Countries with labour shortages can get help from other parts of Asia, said Dr Baig.
"That is partly the goal of the Asean Economic Community, although progress in establishing free movement of skilled labour has unfortunately lagged behind," he said.
"As the West looks inward, Asia will have to awaken its growth potential from within."
