Tag: law

Ageing China

On By PaulLeave a comment
24 Paragons of Filial Piety 5
24 Paragons of Filial Piety 5 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Filial Piety

CHINA TG 946.jpg

China, a country steeped in traditional Confucianism of filial piety, the foundation of all social values, is without exception as with Japan, rapidly facing the changes & challenges of an aging population.

While the physical needs of the aged can be taken care of financially, their social, spiritual & emotional needs are in fact far more critical.

Can we expect the old folks to be left on their own in care or nursing homes? Left to their own accord to congregate among themselves to play Chinese chess, mahjong or tai-chi exercise, as they are fond of & popularly known to indulge?Many old folks complain about being left there alone at care or nursing homes without visits from their loved ones.

Without adequate safety net for the elderly & which is not quite in place, the staggering number & rapid growth of the aged are indeed scary.By 2050 more than a quarter of the population will be over 65 years old and younger generations face an unprecedented burden of care.The present figure stands at 180 millions. The enforced one-child policy & the fact that longevity is prolonged nationally at around 75 because of improvement in health & medical care further aggravate the situation.

The unprecedented growth of such sheer numbers will definitely pose a serious threat to China’s social fabric and economic stability.The planning & tasks ahead are enormous.

China has recently stirred family emotions with a new law making it compulsory for grown adults to visit their elderly parents. It states that adults must take care of their parents’ spiritual needs. The law is short on detail – frequency of visits or potential punishment, but courts could impose fines or jail terms. This is indeed a surprised move.

Another area of concern, both in China and globally, is the proportion of older people living alone. The UN estimates that 40 percent of the world’s elderly are living independently alone or with their spouse, with an big gap depending on where you live – urban or rural.

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So, is China right to make children legally obliged to look after their aged parents? Is the world ready to cope with a rapidly ageing population?


Old parents/grandparents, in their golden years of life, deserve to be well looked after & enjoy whatever leisure & pleasure that the diminishing years ahead of them have to offer.

It’s a shame that in this fast changing world, a lot of traditional practices are phasing out. Nothing pleases the old folks more or can replace the simple pleasure & joy of family reunions during birthday & anniversary celebrations, Spring festivals & others . . . or two, three or four generations simply coming together for meals. Now you see old folks selling off their family home and downsizing to live in apartments or care homes.

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Having A Fair Go . . . For The Senior Gold

On By Paul2 Comments

By P Chong                                                                       Sat. 28 August 2010

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A senior citizen after putting in 40 years of life work is naturally expected to be treated with all due respect, honour, dignity & decency, and to live whatever is left of the rest of his natural life with ease & comfort. Ironically & contrary to such expectations, a criminal enjoys more benefits for which all men slave to provide in their working lives. To make matters worse, even an illegal immigrant or refugee gets better treatment than the senior citizen in terms of perks & benefits.

For crying out loud, is this laughable or laudable? Justice is supposedly to be fair & just – but its scale is tipping rightly or wrongly in favour of the undeserved. Such a scenario you would say can only happen in an undeveloped or under-developed world. But the truth is justice though preached is not seen to be done in the globalised economically developed world.

The world we live in is topsy turvy. Apparently, the value system has been manipulated by the “politically correct” politicians – devils & crooks in disguise.

Let’s switch it around & put the seniors in jail and the criminals in a nursing home. This way the seniors would have access to showers, hobbies and walks for starters and other perks & benefits that follow:

  • They’d receive unlimited free prescriptions, dental and medical treatment, wheel chairs etc. and they’d receive money instead of paying it out.

  • They would have constant video monitoring, so they could be helped instantly, if they fell, or needed assistance.
  • Bedding would be washed twice a week, and all clothing would be ironed and returned to them. A guard would check on them every 20 minutes and bring their meals and snacks to their cell.
  • They would have family visits in a suite built for that purpose.
  • They would have access to a library, weight room, spiritual counselling, pool and education.
  • Simple clothing, shoes, slippers, PJ’s and legal aid would be free, on request.
  • Private, secure rooms for all, with an exercise outdoor yard, with gardens.
  • Each senior could have a PC a TV radio and daily phone calls.
  • There would be a board of directors to hear complaints, and the guards would have a code of conduct that would be strictly adhered to.

Now, for the “criminals” in the nursing home:

  • The “criminals” would get cold food, be left all alone and unsupervised.
  • Lights off at 8pm, and showers once a week.
  • Live in a tiny room and pay £900.00 per month and have no hope of ever getting out.

    A Worthy Law Project?

Whether you are young or old, you’d be the judge and jury!

Surely, such a suggested scenario would be called “A Fair Go”!

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Blogosphere Vs “Emailsphere”

On By Paul1 Comment

Blogosphere Vs “Emailsphere”

SANY2101

There’s that blogosphere, the world of weblogs for you.

Not sure if “emailsphere”

is an acceptable word for the electronic world. Nevertheless,

you know what I mean.

So there I was for the past 10 over years emailing away

until a friend recommended that:

”Since you’re so fond of writing & good at it, you should start blogging.”

Thus on 21 May 2009, my auspicious birthday, I made my plunge.

After several postings, I began to feel like retreating,

until a friend, Ean, in Singapore, whom I have not met in person,

encouraged me to go on. The rest as they say is history – if the word

applies for such a relative short time span of about three months.

At the time of my writing this, I have posted 106 variety of articles

& have reached a readership of well over 3,800.

A big welcome to you if you haven’t been there at my site!


For years I have been writing and I love it. I wanted to share this great love to the world by getting my manuscripts published, but it was all futile & vain. Rejection slips, though polite, are all that I received. I still have two unpublished poetry manuscripts and one on golf entitled “Swap Work . . . Play Golf” – essentially on the creativity of the game, its joy & frustration and the challenges that golf presents. I’ve got some successes getting articles published in the local papers & magazines including a self-published work on motivation “How To Have Motivation Unlimited”.


At Murdoch University, Perth where I spent one year in the graduate law program in 1995, I had to learn the use of the computer for the purpose of doing law assignments. So I did. From that point onwards, I was introduced to the electronic mailing world.


What a pleasure it was! Emailing is so fantastic, speedy, efficient & cheap. It’s miles ahead of “snail mail” which you have to go to the post office, purchase the stamp to post it. I guess that was how you lose track of your friends because it was such a tedious way of keeping in touch. Most people generally don’t like putting pen to paper. With emailing it’s so very convenient – the feel of the keyboard is different and with just one click you can reach a multitude of friends. In fact, there’s absolutely no excuse for people not keeping in touch with friends these days. No place is too far, no day is too short . . . the electronic world transcends both distances & time.


When told of getting into the blogosphere, I had then only fear! What would I know anything about blogging? The word itself was never in my dictionary, nor have I any connotation of its significance. Who would teach me or willing to? As it’s said, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.


That was my initial reaction & really there’s nothing to fear except fear itself. I always believe in action rather reaction. To me, age is just a chronological number. To ward off any physical effects or defects, we have to actively & positively stimulate our mental ability & capacity. Be in it to benefit it.


In the beginning, I played around with “multiply.com”, “livejournal.com” and even Google’s Blogger. However, I didn’t get much interaction, excitement nor satisfaction, until my sister Annie told me of “Wordpress.com”. Ever since end of May this year, I have been electronically transferring all my thoughts & philosophy into this newly created blog of mine. A very warm welcome awaits you if you have not been there yet:

https://p21chong.wordpress.com

As I express, the Word presses on.

Therein I have all my messages in one place accessible by all globally. My blogosphere is my home where I store that which people can conveniently explore. Blogosphere is far more stimulating, inspiring, motivating & “sexciting” than the more traditional “emailsphere.” My blood runs to my brain & through all my veins! My perspective on life takes on a higher plane, rejuvenating life, generating sparks & fire! Life takes on a new meaning and puts you on a different level. Your boundaries are challenged beyond all limits. In sales, they would say “The sky’s the limit”.


Remember the time before Christopher Columbus when men thought that the world was flat. On the Eastern front, there was the Great Chinese naval adventurer, Zheng He. The much more publicised Columbus sailed to America in St. Maria (eighty-five feet) in 1492. Zheng He sailed from China to many places throughout South Pacific, Indian Ocean, Taiwan, Persian Gulf and distant Africa in seven epic voyages from 1405 to 1433, some 80 years before Columbus’s voyages. His 400ft. long ”treasure ship” was much larger than Columbus’s.


By the same token, “emailsphere” pails in significance when compared with blogosphere. To me, the crux of the matter is that I thoroughly enjoy being in a new sphere, making new friends on an international scale & enlarging my circle of friends globally. Not everybody, as usual, will interact with you, but those who do, I find them to be more genuine, sincere & interesting. They are taking the extra effort of interacting with you even as strangers. But a stranger is truly a friend you have not met.


In blogosphere, you are creating your treasure & asset digitally while creating new friends globally. It’s a world of virtual reality. There’s the prosperity transferable in posterity.


In this world, the question is not how many friends have you got – rather how many people are you a friend to?


Paul Chong

Wednesday, 26 August 2009 @ 4.28 am

A Chinese by Descent

An Australian by Consent