Elderly Chinese were thrust into the spotlight Thursday when the
whole nation celebrated the Day for Elderly People.
Officials and volunteer workers went into the streets to provide
services and consultation to the elderly.
Wang Chaohan, a retired teacher in his seventies, was especially
interested in learning about nursing homes.
Wang and his wife don't need to move into one yet, but he wanted to
learn more about the homes since his only son is going abroad and
won't be able to care for them.
"The government is taking better care of the elderly," Wang said.
"The nursing homes sound nice, with their separated apartments,
around-the-clock medical services and plenty of recreational
facilities."
Good communication between parents and children is crucial when
deciding each other's living arrangements, said Wu Qiufeng, an
official in charge of elderly's affairs under the
State Council.
According to Wu, times when children have to obey their elderly
relatives unconditionally or when parents have to ask for their
children's permission about where to live are over.
"The enhanced self-awareness and the improved public welfare system
have largely stopped the two," Wu said. "But the ever-increasing
ageing population has forced us to think seriously about whether
the unconditional respect children must show their parents is
healthy for our society's development."
The Old-Age Work Committee under the State Council announced on
Wednesday that it would insert questionnaires in newspapers to find
out people's preferences for where they want to live.
"We try to ask things as specific as a particular consumption habit
to get a detailed understanding of today's parent/child
relationship in Chinese society," Wu said. "It will help us with
future policy-making."
Also Wednesday, the Beijing Red Cross Society issued 100,000 Help
Cards to local people over age 60 listing their file numbers at the
Society and contact phone numbers. So anyone who finds a lost
senior citizen can dial 999 and ask a society employee to escort
the person home.
Also as part of the festival, many subdistrict offices in Shanghai
took their seniors to theatres for free performances or hospitals
for free physicals.
(China
Daily October 26, 2001)