An elderly mother and her daughter were found dead in Kaohsiung after having not been seen for several days, discovered only when a foul odor began to spread and drew neighbors’ attention. There have been many similar cases, but it is particularly troubling that some of the victims were excluded from the social welfare safety net because they did not meet eligibility criteria.
According to media reports, the middle-aged daughter had sought help from the local borough warden. Although the warden did step in, many services were unavailable without out-of-pocket payments due to issues with eligibility, leaving the warden’s hands tied.
When members of the middle class slip into the lower socioeconomic strata, they might be overlooked by social welfare agencies simply because they own a home or have children who are employed.
Although there was a son in their family working in Taipei, they had not been in contact for a month, and the circumstances of their situation remain unknown.
When the daughter sought help from the warden, she was likely already on the brink of falling apart. Each person possesses a different capacity for stress, and what you might regard as rational analysis might become a form of indifference — someone who knows how to swim might never understand how another could drown in shallow water.
Of course, government resources and social work personnel are limited, and it is nearly impossible to cover every single case. However, when you encounter someone in need on the street, do you first inquire about their family situation before deciding whether to help?
There were other possible approaches to this issue. For example, when the daughter sought help, the warden, a social worker or the police could have reached out to the son in Taipei or asked nearby neighbors to keep an eye on them. The warden could have also made regular calls to check-in. An even simpler option would have been to keep in touch with them through Line.
Even a small gesture can be enough to save a life. It costs no money and very little time, and it is something everyone is capable of doing. One day, as I was heading out to tend to my vegetables, an elderly woman who lived alone across the hall suddenly came knocking on my door. She said she was ill and needed to go to the hospital, but had lost her National Health Insurance card, and asked if I could accompany her to Taipei to apply for a replacement. Her voice was weak and she looked unwell, so I immediately dropped what I was doing and took the MRT with her to the National Health Insurance Administration office near Taipei Main Station. Her mental state was quite poor — she misplaced her EasyCard as soon as we exited the station and could not find it no matter how hard she tried. I told her not to dwell on it and that getting the health insurance card taken care of was the priority.
After everything was taken care of, I took her home to rest. She insisted on getting a new EasyCard and loading it with NT$500 to give to me, but I refused. After all, neighbors are supposed to help one another.
Before long-term care services were fully developed — before there were stair-climbing chairs — my mobility-impaired father relied on passersby or neighbors to help him up and down the stairs whenever he required medical care. Now, it is my turn to return the favor.
I later learned that, as well as having a daughter, the older woman across the hall actually also had a son — yet neither her daughter nor her son visited often.
By government standards, someone like her — who owns a home, has children and is still able to get around — would likely be excluded from long-term care services. Yet people like her make up the majority of society.
It might be precisely this gap in the social welfare system that causes many people who are in need of timely assistance to fall through the cracks. I hope the government and civil society organizations could adhere to the principle of providing urgent assistance, rather than means-testing poverty and immediately turning those seeking help away simply because they do not meet eligibility criteria. Long-term care qualifications might differ, but suffering does not distinguish between rich and poor.
If we all make an effort to empathize with those seeking help, without prejudice or discrimination, we might be able to prevent lonely deaths, deaths resulting from gaps in long-term care, or other such tragedies from occurring.
Jimmy Hsu is a farmer.
Translated by Kyra Gustavsen
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