CADENZA symposium 2010

Age-Friendly World Cities & Environment

October 8 2010

Dr. C.H. Leong

      I am most honoured to be asked to address this august gathering. In thanking the host, let me congratulate the Hong Kong Jockey Club for bringing in this initiative CADENZA — a word in classical music to mean the crescendo towards the end of a movement in a concerto.  Breaking down the alphabet, CADENZA is an acronym for and I quote “ Celebrate their Accomplishments; Discover their Effervescence and Never-ending Zest as they Age”.  As an elderly myself and as the Chairman of the Elderly Commission, I salute you.

        The theme of today’s symposium is Age-Friendly World Cities.  The topic is most appropriate for what is better to promote the spirit of Cadenza than to provide an age friendly environment where our elderlies can timely enjoy Active/Healthy Ageing.

        It is on the issue of Elderly Friendly Environment that I would like to bring you through my thoughts today in relation to Hong Kong :

• Is Hong Kong an age friendly city?
• Are there more that we can do if it is to make it better? and
• How do we coordinate this Age Friendly city concept with the push for Active Ageing?

So, is HK an age friendly city?

        Let us look at the fact.  Our average life expectancy at birth for male is 79 years and for female is 85 years, almost at the top of the world league table, this against the odds that HK has a stressful livelihood and an polluted environment, one wonders whether HK really is an age friendly city.

        In many ways we are.  Our public health care service is second to none. For some HK$100 a day, at the maximum, anyone, everyone who is a HK permanent resident can get equal access to the best that medical science can offer.  Our motto of “Nobody will be denied of care because of lack of means” is the envy of any well developed country.

        Let us look further.  Our public Housing Estate has since 2002 comprehensively adapted a “Universal Design” — a design in the words of the then Secretary for Housing and Transport, “the concept of Universal Design can meet our residents’ needs in the living environment at different stages of their life”.  In others words, it will be as suitable to the young as to the old.  The objective is to provide a barrier free living environment that allows “Ageing in Place”.  To wit, doorways and passageways are of a minimum width of 75 cm. Thresholds are lowered and bevelled to ensure easy access by wheelchairs or walking aids. Non-slip floor tiles, space for future grap bar installations, larger buttons and switches are installed, etc.

        For our elderlies who for physical and mental reasons that need to be institutionalized, HK boast some 700+ Elderly Homes offering different degrees of nursing care.  Some 500 are privately run, many charging a modest and affordable fee equivalent to the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Scheme of the government.  Whilst standards of services vary, most consider them acceptable.

        Almost all public transport offers concessionary rates for elderlies in particular during non rush hours.

        For leisure and recreation, concessionary rates are provided by many entertainment centres — cinema houses, Ocean Park and pubic sports hall etc.

        Needless to say, there is never enough.

But are we all that rosy.  Without trying to sound too pessimistic, let me portrait a few scenarios.

Many housing estates that go up to some 10 storeys, do not yet have elevators.  Elderlies with even minor walking problems are therefore incarcerated.

        For visitors to HK, let me throw out a challenge.  Try to walk around HK and if you can walk for 5 minutes and do not encounter at least one road work, you would have hit the jackpot.  Roads and pavements are dug up for resurfacing, for laying water pipes, sewage pipes, electric wire, etc.  All for a good cause, but are invariable done separately.  Is this a sign of societal affluence or an indication of inefficiency?  The fact remains, elderlies are often less stable, and prone to fall and if they fall, bone fractures are more common, worse after recovery, they loss confidence in walking, they become home bound — something bad for an elderly men or women.

   How many of our zebra crossings are equipped with traffic light that has a timer devise?

        Have we done enough for our senior citizens, who through their toll have contributed immensely to HK.

        A week ago, the Financial Secretary in his speech to the London School of Economics, gave praise to the status of HK economy, rightly so and I quote “I am pleased to say that today, our economy is back on it feet. Unemployment has returned to pre-crisis (Financial tsunami) level to 4.2% and we are forecasting rapid GDP growth for this year of between 5-6%.”

        Yet, on the same day, a report of a survey conducted by the HK Council of Social Services have shows that in HK in 2001 only 1.18 million people were considered poor, today it is 18.1% or 1.26 million.  More alarming is one in three people aged over 65 is considered poor in the first half of 2010.  How ironic!

What more can be done?
        Perhaps one of the biggest stumbling blocks is that elderly discriminations are still fairly widespread and elderly abuses are not infrequent.

        I was once approached by a group of young tenant of a public housing block, led by a district councilor objecting to allowing the lower floors to be used for an elderly home.  Call it age discrimination if you will be — the real reason is simple, having an elderly home in the neighbourhood is a genuine cause for dropping the real estate property price.  The Elderly Commission has therefore urged the relevant government bureau and departments that in new tenant houses to be built, an elderly home/centre be incorporate into the original design and plans.

        But it is the culture that is important.  How often do we see young people offering a seat to en elderly in public transport?

        Elderly abuses, though it is difficult to have an accurate quantification, is not uncommon.  Most may not go to the degree of severe physical trauma, yet even neglect is a form of abuses, often with traumatic mental affect.

        Young people may abhor the issue of filial piety, considering it as outdated — NOT IN, but do not forget, anyone will be an elderly one day!

The promulgation of Active Ageing
        It is on the basis of all the above, and more that the Elderly Commission even at its embryonic stage have pushed for the concept and implementation of “Active Ageing”.

        The Elderly Commission would like our senior citizens to strip off the stigma that they are a burden, furthermore, we would like them to establish their own image and self esteem through learning, through participations and continuous contributions to the communities.
We thus have three prongs approach:

• We have established an Elderly Academy.  Using existing schools (primary and secondary) as platforms, elderlies are being enrolled as students, students of these schools will take on the role as teachers to teach the elderly students — on health education, modern issues such as computers, English language and Putonghua.  So far, more 100 schools are involved.  Over 10000 elderlies have benefited.  The scheme has now been extended to include some 8 tertiary institutions.  Elders learn new things, they participate and as a corollary, an added value, they increase their social contact and interacting with the young students, boost the spirit of intergeneration harmony.

• We have promulgate 4 neighbouthood pioneer cooperation schemes.  Fairly active retirees in a housing block, are asked to group together and together with young volunteers, under the training and leadership of community NGOs, welfare organizations and/or religious bodies, they act as friendly neighbours, paying home visit and result in identifying and offering advices to hidden elderlies, eldelires with potential family abuses or suicidal tendencies.  Success is difficult to quantify, but successful cases are obvious.

• We are pushing for a change in government policy from retiring at 60 to “flexible retirement age” to ensure that our young olds could still contribute to the society, thus diminishing the issue of dependency ratio, prevent the unnecessary waste of talents, experience and improving the well being of the elderly.

Ladies and gentlemen, the whole world is facing an ageing population.  The concept of ACTIVE AGEING is being taken on board on a global basis.  Active Ageing is NOT a slogan, but an action that has to succeed at all cost.  Yet, for an Elderly to age actively, we need an age friendly environment.  On the other hand, when our senior citizens are active, they will enhance the development of an age friendly city.

        May I end by again congratulating the organizer.  In the next 2 days, experts will be putting their hands together to identify ways and means of bettering on age friendly environment.  This is essential.  We will all get old if you are not old yet.  Demography is a destiny.

Thank you.