Fostering a Learning Society through Sustainable Muslim Retirement Villages: Empowering the Rights of the Elderly

Abstract

The phenomenon of rapid aging global population is happening in many countries including Malaysia. Thus, the country should be giving more priorities towards the agenda of empowering the rights of the elderly. This paper examines the development of sustainable Muslim retirement villages as a mechanism in building a learning society while empowering the rights of the elderly. The main objective is to explore how these institutions able to provide a medium for the elderly to have lifelong learning, social engagement and quality ageing life. This alternative lifestyle trend would allow for their rights to be empowered. This paper is a doctrinal research paper analysing laws and policies surrounding elderly in Malaysia specifically on lifelong learning activities. Semi-structured interview with the administrator of the retirement village is also conducted to gain insights on real situation of day-to-day operations of institutions. The findings indicate that sustainable Muslim retirement villages do not just enhance the residents’ quality of life but also able to encourage building of learning society amongst the elderly. The study concludes that these institutions can serve as a model for integrating the rights of the elderly into broader societal frameworks, thereby contributing to sustainable development. These findings shall assist the policymakers and industry players in establishing proper legal and working framework in the effort to foster more participation of elderly in learning society.