Hong Kong: Aged and Abandoned | 101 East

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Published 2016-05-05
Office workers rush past, oblivious to the army of grey-haired residents toiling in the shadows of Hong Kong's soaring skyscrapers.

Dragging trolleys laden with waste, they sell whatever they can collect for just a few dollars.

Hong Kong is home to 64 billionaires and has the highest number of Rolls-Royces per capita in the world.

But one in three elderly people lives in poverty - one of the highest senior poverty rates in the developed world.

And with a rapidly ageing population, Hong Kong could soon face a "silver tsunami".

101 East asks why so many elderly residents are struggling to survive in one of the world's richest cities.

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All Comments (21)
  • @HelenEk7
    What a shameful way to treat old people...
  • @adamyang5740
    That restaurant owner is a great man! God blesses you!
  • @carl1095
    Watched this video with tears in my eyes. The elderly should not spend their final years like this.
  • @bobsee8226
    This young politician is too heartless. Hope someday he have the same fate to deal and learn empathy
  • What an arrogant young schmuck living on his high horse. I hope he gets to experience what these poor elderly are experiencing.
  • @marthaperdew
    I'm 70 and I am blessed to have children and grandchildren who care about me ,I live with my youngest son and his wife and kids, they are wonderful to me, I have a room and I get the things I need and I am well loved !
  • @808aaq
    How could you sleep at night knowing your elderly parent is sleeping on the streets and being homeless and struggling everyday! Smh
  • @madeleine8977
    Mr. Chan is an angel. Older citizens are struggling everywhere so we should all be aware and try to help when we can.
  • @102082toshi
    I went to Hong Kong last December 2015, and I saw with my own eyes the many homeless senior citizens sleeping in McDonald's & beggars outside places like The Peninsula Hong Kong & IFC Mall. It was so disheartening to see a place looking so affluent yet the poor elderly are left out
  • @jacobrason3708
    GOD BLESS CHAN CHANG MING FOR HIS PRICELESS TREASURE OF FEEDIING THESE ELDERS VOLUNTARILY.GOD BLESS YOU GUYS AMEN.
  • @luomanfei
    I am so happy for the man who moved from the coffin room to the flat. He is such a humble a content person.
  • @GyseleTomlinson
    I think people should sponsor elderly people the same way they do for babies and children. I don't know how people would feel about that; but, I would very much like to help an older couple or an individual on a monthly/annual  basis. Whatever I can do financially, so they can be more comfortable in their old age. My parents are in their 70's now, I cannot imagine them in a situation like this.
  • @miwanabanana
    I'm from the Philippines and this problem happens here as well. Instead of having a lavish birthday party and presents my mom threw herself a birthday party at a home for the abandoned elderly. She invited her friends and asked them to bring party food or donate instead. None of her friends showed up because they were "busy" but at least they gave her money for the party and the elderly. The saddest story came from a 90 year old grandma whose family said they were taking her on a trip.She was so excited as it was her first time leaving her town. They drove into Metropolitan Manila, days away from her rural town, dropped her off a mall, and never returned for her. She had to beg people to help her and on top of that she spoke only Ilocano, which not everyone speaks. By the time she managed to get back they were long gone and the home had already been sold. They dumped her like an old dog without money or clothes. She was homeless for 10 years before a shelter employee found her and took her in.
  • @revbobmartin
    This seems to be the real way people treat their elderly all over the world.
  • Thanks to the restaurant owner helping the poor and elderly people.🌻
  • @eddenoy321
    Sixty-six yr. old man working 13 hrs. a day,living in an attic,with $1800 in savings. All the workers rushing around him afraid they they might one day become him.