KUALA LUMPUR, Aug. 8 -- How long do you hope to live? Up to 100 years old?

In Malaysia, a baby born in 2024 is expected to live up to 75.2 years on average, up from 74.5 years in 2014, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia's latest figures.

So Malaysians are expected to live longer now.

But speaking at the recent "Twilight Talks" forum organised by the Bar Council's MyBar Ageing Rights Advisory Committee, Prof Dr Shahrul Bahyah Kamaruzzaman of University Malaya's Faculty of Medicine said there is now a huge gap in Malaysia between "lifespan" and "healthspan".

While the former refers to the total number of years someone lives, the latter refers to the total number of years someone lives in good health, without any chronic ...