Saturday last week was the Double Ninth Festival, commonly known as Respect for the Aged Day. To cherish older people and respect one’s elders is a part of traditional Chinese culture.
However, at a time when intergenerational ethics are fading away and the welfare state system is threatened with collapse, both present and future generations of older people must wake up to the fact that one can no longer expect preferential and reverential treatment from the state and society simply on account of being old. They need to psychologically prepare themselves for having to be self-reliant.
A documentary produced by Japanese national public broadcasting organization NHK revealed that many older Japanese die alone in what has been described as a “no-relationship society.”
Social worker Takahiro Fujita has written about the “down-and-out elderly people” who only eat one meal a day, while Tomomi Fujiwara’s novel Bousou Rojin talks about “angry old people” who commit crimes so they will be jailed, because they cannot survive on their pensions.
To avoid such fates, older people must try to stay competitive and maintain the strength to struggle. Only if they do so will they be able to preserve their independence, autonomy and dignity in their later years.
As old people, we oppose the age bias and statistical fallacy in population statistics, where people over 65 years old are presumptuously categorized as “dependents.”
This categorization forgets about people like 85-year-old Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co chairman Morris Chang (張忠謀) and 61-year-old Microsoft founder Bill Gates. It overlooks vendors like the “ginger grandpa,” who, at 85, supports his 106-year-old mother; the “rice noodle soup lady,” whose food stall contributes to her family’s household income; the 81-year-old “peanut uncle,” who independently takes care of his sick wife; and the “steamed bun grandpa” who gets up for work early in the morning every day.
It also ignores the fact that older people prop up the budgets of half the poor households in the nation.
As old people, we oppose the forced retirement system. On the one hand it drives older people out of the workplace and on the other it threatens coming generations with having to bear a heavier burden of supporting retired people.
Work is a basic human right, so decisions about continued employment should be made according to each person’s ability, will and needs. If young people cannot support older people, then let older people support themselves.
In 2013, Japan passed legislation that established a “continued employment system.” The laws state that businesses are obliged to guarantee that older people who are willing to work can stay in their jobs. The system also provides subsidies to be paid to companies that employ people until they are 70 years old.
According to statistics compiled by the Taipei Employment Services Office for this year, the number of jobseekers over 65 years old has grown by 20 percent over the past three years. New Taipei City has seen an increase of 15 percent over the same period.
However, because of age prejudice, older people often have no chance to work.
Data compiled by the National Development Council shows that 44.7 percent of people older than 65 have less than NT$270,000 in disposable annual income.
As old people, we are worried about the negative, biased and narrow-minded image of old people that is often projected.
Some supposedly respectful activities actually juvenilize old people by, for example, putting rouge on their cheeks and having them dress up in “cute” children’s clothes and shake tambourines as they play the role of “Lao Laizi” (老萊子), a legendary figure who, while getting on in years himself, is said to have played the fool to amuse his parents.
At a time when Germany, the US and some north European countries are all actively embracing old age, Taiwan is still stuck in the mindset of “not” getting old.
Activities such as the one just described create an image of weak-minded old people that reinforces society’s ostracism, anxiety and fear of the elderly.
These problems will not be dispelled until we develop a new consciousness about old age.
As old people, we need to be ready to stage a comeback. The world we live in is built around the themes of young people and those in the prime of life. However, as we enter an aging society, old people must take a more active part in what is going on.
For example, Germany has laws that specifically give older people the right to take part in the process of social policy and policymaking.
Just as Japanese novelist Ryu Murakami points out in his book Old Terrorist, in this time of social upheaval and economic depression, and when young people are engrossed in self-pity, we need to think about how to use the power of older people to save the world.
Chiou Tian-juh is a professor of social psychology at Shih Hsin University.
Translated by Julian Clegg
When US budget carrier Southwest Airlines last week announced a new partnership with China Airlines, Southwest’s social media were filled with comments from travelers excited by the new opportunity to visit China. Of course, China Airlines is not based in China, but in Taiwan, and the new partnership connects Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport with 30 cities across the US. At a time when China is increasing efforts on all fronts to falsely label Taiwan as “China” in all arenas, Taiwan does itself no favors by having its flagship carrier named China Airlines. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is eager to jump at
The muting of the line “I’m from Taiwan” (我台灣來欸), sung in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), during a performance at the closing ceremony of the World Masters Games in New Taipei City on May 31 has sparked a public outcry. The lyric from the well-known song All Eyes on Me (世界都看見) — originally written and performed by Taiwanese hip-hop group Nine One One (玖壹壹) — was muted twice, while the subtitles on the screen showed an alternate line, “we come here together” (阮作伙來欸), which was not sung. The song, performed at the ceremony by a cheerleading group, was the theme
Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised eyebrows recently when he declared the era of American unipolarity over. He described America’s unrivaled dominance of the international system as an anomaly that was created by the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War. Now, he observed, the United States was returning to a more multipolar world where there are great powers in different parts of the planet. He pointed to China and Russia, as well as “rogue states like Iran and North Korea” as examples of countries the United States must contend with. This all begs the question:
Liberals have wasted no time in pointing to Karol Nawrocki’s lack of qualifications for his new job as president of Poland. He has never previously held political office. He won by the narrowest of margins, with 50.9 percent of the vote. However, Nawrocki possesses the one qualification that many national populists value above all other: a taste for physical strength laced with violence. Nawrocki is a former boxer who still likes to go a few rounds. He is also such an enthusiastic soccer supporter that he reportedly got the logos of his two favorite teams — Chelsea and Lechia Gdansk —
RSS