Scholars call for allocation of more resources to elderly care as more tragedies happen

A mother and her son were found dead the day before yesterday (Aug.7) in a flat in Cheung On Building on Shui Wo Street, Kwun Tong. It is said that the 60-year-old son probably died of an accidental fall while his 82-year-old bedridden mother died due to lack of care. The incident again aroused the community's concern over "the elderly taking care of the elderly". Some scholars believe the government needs to consider whether more resources can be allocated to elderly services as Hong Kong's population is aging rapidly.

Wong Yu-cheung, dean of the Felizberta Lo Padilla Tong School of Social Sciences, Saint Francis University, said in a radio program today (Aug. 9) that, five tragedies related to carers or "caring for the elderly" have occurred so far this year, which mostly have something to do with carers' worries, helplessness and depression.

He said, "Hong Kong does not have many resources for elderly services compared with Japan. I learned that the proportion of elderly people in the population was 25% in Japan a few years ago, and the resources for elderly services used by the government amounted to 2% of the Gross National Product (GNP). At present, the proportion of elderly people in the population of Hong Kong is about 22% to 23% while the resources for elderly services account for about 0.6% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Given that the aging population in Hong Kong is increasing rapidly, maybe the authorities could consider increasing the resources for elderly services by 1%."

This case involves a family receiving Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA). The Social Welfare Department (SWD) paid this family a home visit in November last year.

Yuen Suk-yin, a member of the Society for Community Organization (SoCo), said in the same program that home visits conducted by the SWD are relatively simple, which mainly include examining whether the financial situation of the recipients and the number of members in their families comply with the declaration requirements. She hopes that the authorities could make use of the information on CSSA and the information on elderly households provided by the House Department (HD) to screen out high-risk cases.

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