(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-01-09 07:32

We should do more than just encourage children to visit their elderly parents more often, says an article in Xiaoxiang Morning Post. The following is an excerpt:

An 80-year-old blind woman took her own life by jumping off a building after she failed to convince her maid to stay with her during next month's Spring Festival.

If people were to show their sympathy toward this "empty nest" elderly woman, they would be sure to wonder where her children are.

They may even come to the conclusion that the woman's children have been neglectful, and the tragedy could have been avoided if they had visited her more often.

Children should visit their elderly parents frequently. However, that is not always possible for many children who live a fast-paced modern life, and work a considerable distance away from their parents' homes. And it is very possible that some "empty nest" senior citizens have no children or relatives at all, and no one visits them.

On the one hand, we should encourage children to visit their parents more often; on the other, we urgently need to create a happy caring environment for the elderly by resorting to various social resources.

In some universities outside of China, students are asked to undertake voluntary work, such as servicing the elderly. We should establish a similar channel to help those senior citizens.

Moreover, our society is obliged to provide more public activities and entertainment options for the elderly. When those senior citizens receive the care and love of society, no one should feel they should have to end their own life because the maid left.

(China Daily 01/09/2008 page8)