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Empowering the elderly through Yellow Heart

17 May 2022
ACCORDING to the Statistics Department, Malaysia has been projected to become an ageing nation by 2030, with 15.3% of the population being senior citizens. Hence Malaysia needs to work towards building a digital society which is not only conducive for seniors to live in, but allows them to thrive and advance as a community. Be it to pursue passion projects online such as digital workshops, or simply to make life easier by buying groceries online or paying for food with an e-wallet, senior citizens need to have a digital presence and be empowered when they are online. But how can we help make the transition more seamless for them to adapt in an increasingly digital world? By being inclusive. While age itself is not a barrier to use digital technologies, many older people face other barriers like knowledge, skills, cost or disability.

Enabling digital lifestyle

Through its Yellow Heart commitment, Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd (Digi) strives to make connectivity equally accessible to all including senior citizens while building skills for a safe and accelerated digital future. Making connectivity more affordable can help improve people’s lives, close the inequality gap, and empower societies. Digi’s postpaid deal of RM10 lifetime rebate for senior citizens enables them to adopt a digital lifestyle.

Building digital resilience

Building digital resilience is just as important as accessibility to become a healthy digital society. This is especially so for the vulnerable groups like elderly and children, who often become easy targets of fraudsters or cyber-criminals.Scams, for instance, are becoming more rampant these days with technological advancement. Scammers use connectivity to carry out their crime. As a digital connectivity provider, Digi has a responsibility to equip senior citizens with the right knowledge to safeguard themselves and eventually build their confidence to have a digital presence.

Continuous public awareness and education through initiatives like scam and fraud awareness campaigns can help people identify frauds or suspicious activities online and prevent victims falling to the increasingly creative modus operandi deployed by fraudsters. The public can also access various cybersafety tips and resources from its one-stop Yellow Heart Safe Internet portal. As the world continues to grow even more digital than ever before, senior citizens should feel like they have the freedom to connect to what matters most to them. It is the responsibility of all parties to make the digital environment more welcoming for the older generation.
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