Warga tua Melayu di pinggir wilayah metropolitan, Selangor: Pengalaman dan persepsi tentang diri (The Malay elderly at the fringe of metropolitan region, Selangor: Experience and perception of self)

Pengalaman subjektif meningkat tua amat menekankan terutama bagi mereka yang sakit dan terpaksa bergantung kepada orang lain. Pengalaman ini telah mengubah cara warga tua melihat diri mereka. Mereka kerap merasa diri terpinggir, diabaikan, didera dan dilabel sebagai negatif oleh orang lain terutama golongan muda. Makalah ini mempunyai dua objektif utama, iaitu memahami pengalaman hidup warga tua dan menganalisis pengaruh pengalaman tersebut terhadap persepsi mereka tentang diri sendiri. Perbincangan ini diasaskan kepada kajian kualitatif yang dilakukan dalam jangka masa setahun (dari Jun 2009 ke Mei 2010) dengan menggunakan kaedah temu bual mendalam dengan 20 orang informan yang terdiri daripada warga tua yang dipilih dengan menggunakan kaedah pensampelan bertujuan di tiga daerah di Selangor (Kuala Selangor, Kuala Langat dan Sepang). Setiap informan ditemu bual secara mendalam sebanyak tiga kali yang hasilnya dianalisis berasaskan tema. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa warga tua mengalami keterasingan sosial, kehilangan autonomi, perubahan nilai dan sumber keseronokan lama, terasing, sepi dan takut, penderaan, keperluan rohani dan merasa diri menjadi beban sosial, ekonomi dan emosi keluarga terdekat. Katakunci: autonomi, beban, emosi, kerasingan sosial, penderaan, warga tua The subjective experience of being old has become increasingly distressing especially for those who are sick and relying on others. This experience has changed the way the elderly look at themselves. The elderly often feel rejected, neglected, abused and being labeled negatively by others especially young people. This paper has two main objectives, i.e. understand life experiences of elderly people and analyses the effect of these experiences on their perception of self. Data is drawn from qualitative research conducted over one year period (from June 2009 to May 2010) with 20 elderly informants selected by using purposive sampling in three districts in Selangor (Kuala Selangor, Kuala Langat and Sepang). An in-depth interview method was used whereby each informant was interviewed at least three times. The data were analysed based on themes. Results indicate that elderly people experienced social isolation, scared, loss of autonomy and old sources of happiness, abused, spiritual needs and feel that they are becoming social, economic and emotional burdens to their immediate families. Keywords: abused, autonomy, burden, elderly, emotion, social isolation