槟城德教会紫云阁“施济贫老，赈济孤儿障友”活动 槟州首席部长曹观友致词稿

槟城德教会紫云阁“施济贫老，赈济孤儿障友”活动
槟州首席部长曹观友致词稿
2024年5月19日

槟城紫云阁阁长拿督沈雅财德长
President of Che Hoon Khor Moral Uplifting Society Penang
-Dato’ Sim Ah Chye

槟城紫云阁署理阁长陈金湖德长
Deputy President of Che Hoon Khor Moral Uplifting Society Penang - Mr. Tan Kim Oh

紫云阁阁务顾问拿督许春畴德长
Advisors of Che Hoon Khor MUS Penang -Dato’ Khor Choon Thiew

拿督斯里周荣吉德长
Dato’ Seri Chew Weng Khak

拿督斯里黄智绪德长
Dato’ Seri Ng Tee Soo

拿督斯里黄赐兴德长
Dato’ Seri’ Ooi Soo Hing
拿督斯里林嘉水德长
Dato’ Seri Lim Cheah Chooi

各位长者、各位来宾、各位志工、各报媒体代表、大家早上好！

首先，很感谢槟城德教会紫云阁邀请我出席今早的活动。据我所了解，德教会紫云阁今早除了共拨出2万2000令吉福利金给11个受惠的慈善团体之外，同时将有2000名65岁以上长者和500名孤儿也将分别获得30令吉以及20令吉的红包。

贵阁从2002年开始颁发义款给慈善团体，2009年开始派发红包给各族长者。德教会紫云阁虽然作为华裔宗教组织，但是所帮助的群体是不分种族和宗教信仰。这种为慈善公益而付出，而且行善不分你我的做法，令人敬佩，也值得其他团体组织的学习。

各位，我国人口已迈向老龄化，其中60岁以上的乐龄人士就占了全国人口的7.2%，目前槟城超过60岁的人口已经超过10%，预计到了2030年将达到15%。

人口的老龄化是目前槟州所面对的挑战之一，要如何保障年长者的福利，让乐龄人士可以安享晚年，是政府目前必须要正视的问题。

州政府在这几年也积极采取多项措施，包括逐步落实“乐龄友好城市计划”、发放i-Sejahtera援助金等，向老年人提供这些福利及服务，希望他们的生活能过得更舒适。

虽然槟州可以说已是先进州，各项发展也在陆续展开中，但州内的福利工作仍有许多提升空间，因此我们会继续努力推动各项利民政策，让更多有需要的弱势群体受惠。

当然，单靠州政府的力量是不足够的，我们还需要中央政府、私人界、非政府组织等的合作及配合，才能改善我国的福利条件。让我们携手努力，共同打造一个爱心社会。

最后，再次感谢大会的邀请，也祝在座各位身体安康，平安幸福。谢谢。

First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Che Hoon Khor Moral Uplifting Society for inviting me to this morning’s event. It is understood that in addition to the allocation of a total of RM22,000 in terms of welfare funds to 11 beneficiary charitable groups this morning, Che Hoon Khor Moral Uplifting Society will also be giving out red envelopes worth RM20 and RM30 to 2,000 elderly people who are over the age of 65 and 500 orphans.

Since 2002 and 2009, The Che Hoon Khor Moral Uplifting Society has been distributing donations to charitable organizations as well as red envelopes to elders respectively. Although the society is of Chinese religious belief, the group extends arms to all regardless of ethnicity or religious belief. This kind of dedication to charity and doing good deeds regardless of who they are is admirable and worthy of learning from.

Ladies and gentlemen, our country’s population is aging, with senior citizens over 60 years old accounting for 7.2% of the country’s population. Currently, the number of people over 60 years old in Penang has exceeded 10%, and it is expected to reach 15% by 2030.

An aging population is one of the challenges that Penang faces. How do we protect the welfare of the elderly so that they can enjoy their old age is an issue that the government must face forthrightly.

With that, the state government has been proactive with undertaking multiple measures in recent years, including the gradual implementation of the "Age-Friendly City Plan'' and issuing i-Sejahtera assistance funds, to provide benefits and services to the elderly. With hopes that their lives can be more comfortable.

Although Penang can be said to be a developed state, with various developments being carried out one after another, there is still a lot of room for improvement in regards to the welfare of the state. Therefore, we will continue to work towards promoting various policies that benefit the people of Penang, particularly, the disadvantaged.

Of course, the efforts put by the state government alone is not enough. Therefore, we need the cooperation and cooperation of the federal government, the private sector, non-governmental organizations, etc. in order to improve our country's welfare conditions. Let us work together to build a caring society.

In closing, I would like to thank Che Hoon Khor Moral Uplifting Society again for the invitation to this auspicious event, and I wish everyone here good health, peace and happiness. Thank you.