Dear Editor,
I am writing to express my concern about the plight of the elderly. In today’s Hong Kong, more and more old people are living below the poverty line and the suicide rate among the old people in Hong Kong is climbing. These undoubtedly draw the public’s attention so we now have to do some more to solve the problems and to prepare for a happy and secure retired life in the future.
The reasons why there is so many elderly living below the poverty line are not difficult to work out. The likelihood of getting sick is extremely high for the elderly. As a result, they have to spend huge amount of money on medical expenditure. However, this budget is too heavy to be afforded. They could only have very little money left for daily use.
Another reason is that most of the elderly are living alone. They may even have no children or the children had already immigrated to foreign countries, leaving them alone. They are living on a small pension or allowances given by the government. Nonetheless, it is still not enough for the elderly. That’s why we could find the elderly people begging on the streets or collecting aluminum cans for selling.
The government should swing into action before it is too late. Raising the medical allowances is an essential task to help shoulder the elderly’s financial burden. Besides, the government should set up an association for the elderly who are in need, especially for the elderly living alone, provide special financial help to them. If it had not been for the effort paid by the elderly, we probably could not have such a prosperous city now. Thus, the government should offer more help to the elderly.
For the citizens, if you do not want to live below the poverty line in the future, you should now start to prepare for your own pension. It is also important for each of us to maintain a healthy body as to reduce the risk of getting illnesses in the future. What is more, as being a daughter or son, it is our duties to take care of our parents. If you do not want to be left alone after getting, do not leave your parents alone as your children might follow suit.
There is an upsurge in the number of suicide among the old people in Hong Kong. The elderly have the idea of committing suicide as they always consider themselves useless, with nothing to do and just consuming the resources of society. They might consider themselves as a burden to society. Moreover, after their retirement, the elderly are always feeling bored with nothing to do. And it is easy for them to get sick or suffer from psychiatric problems. According to a study, 77% of suicide subjects have consulted doctors within a month of suicide. This proves that illness is the major reason in pushing the elderly to commit suicide.
To stop the trend, the government should provide both mental and physical care for the elderly. Medical care for them is needed. Besides, the government could also offer some courses for the elderly to join, so as to add some more spice to their life. Furthermore, it is important for the elderly to understand that, they contributed a lot to our society in the past and would never be a burden to the society. They should enjoy their retirement to the fullest. As Wong Wai Chin, an elderly at the age of 93 said, ‘think about the happiness we have every day and don’t think too much about the future. If there is rice today, eat the rice!’ The government should put effort in changing the elderly’s concept of being a burden to the society and asking them to think in a positive way all the time.
As for the citizens, we have to offer emotional support to the elderly. One way to express our concern about them is to join volunteer work for elderly. Through visiting and offering help to the elderly, they would no longer feel lonely, there is still someone who care about them. Or it in return encourages the elderly to be volunteers, helping others who are in need. In this way, the elderly actually contribute to society and would not consider themselves useless.
It is believed that life expectancy of Hongkongers is among the longest in the world-85 years for women and 79 years for men. Therefore, we should now start to prepare for a happy and secure retired life.
Yours faithfully,
Chris Wong