Don't leave our lonely elders to die in the dark

A Chinese saying goes "the adult children shouldn't go too far away for the sake of the aged parents". Unfortunately sometimes tragedy does happen when people don't follow such advice.

One of the most tragic news this week was about the death of an aged couple in Jiaxing of East China's Zhejiang province. The 73-year-old man lived with and took care of his 66-year-old wife, who was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Their son, surnamed Chen, who works in Shanghai, used to keep regular contact with them. Unable to contact them for three weeks, Chen eventually rushed back home only to see the bodies of his parents.

Investigators suspect the man died first, leaving his wife who, unable to fend for herself, starved to death in a week.