Hello there!
We are Xiaoxi and Fangqi, students from the Journalism and Media Studies Centre of the University of Hong Kong. This is our capstone project for our Master of Journalism program.
When we first come to Hong Kong about a year ago, we were both surprised seeing the elderly working everywhere in Hong Kong. Why people still working when they get to the age supposed to retire? Where are their family members who should have supported them in Chinese traditions?
We care about the situations of the working elderly as they are the future of us as a part of the society. With all our questions, we went to social organizations, scholars and some productive older people. Here we present their life stories and thoughts in various forms of text, sound and image.
Maybe you have also noticed the working elderly around every corner in Hong Kong. Some are cleaning workers in streets, pushing a trolley full-loaded with paperboards which they can sell as a small amount of extra income. Some works as security guards of buildings, sleep at the desk almost 6 nights a week. Others do laundry works in restaurants, stores and food markets.
Maybe you have also wondered why those old people are still working so hard in such an international city which supposed to be rich and prosperous. Here're some statistics that can help us understand background a little bit.
Hong Kong is ageing.
Decades after decades, the population over 65 is not only increasing, but taking a larger and larger proportion as well.
Like in any other big cities all over the world, people in Hong Kong are also living longer than before. With the life expectancies going up to 81 for male and 87 for female, according to Census and Statistic Department, Hong Kong has become one of the most longevity societies among developed economies.
In the latest Hong Kong Population Projections 2015-2064, it predicted:
"The population is expected to remain on an ageing trend. The proportion of the population aged 65 and over is projected to rise markedly from 15% in 2014 to 33% in 2064. Correspondingly, the median age would rise from 42.8 in 2014 to 51.0 in 2064. On the other hand, the proportion of the population aged under 15 is projected to decrease from 11% in 2014 to 9% in 2064."
However, living longer sometimes put poor elderly into dilemma - they are too old to work but too poor to retire. Hong Kong is such an expensive city. The luxury houses are often sold at exorbitant prices while the cage houses packed with the poor. Nevertheless, there’s no evidence showing the gap between poor and rich are narrowing down.
In this multimedia project, we present the personal stories of the working elderly, opinions from observers and statistics from government and social organizations. We hope this will provide our readers with some understanding of this issue. Thus, when we walk into next generation of a real old society, we would know how to solve the problems by understanding how they appeared at the first place.
