OLD CHINESE LADY BEGS AT RESTOS TO SUPPORT SON
ASIAN GOSSIP
By: Serena
Begging is the most ashamed action a person can do. They need to sell what little pride that they have to beg for food. It is the hardest thing to do especially for a 70 year-old lady. There is an old lady in Mongkok that shuffle around fast food restaurants. She cast aside her self-respect to beg from the patrons. She receives the cold shoulder and harsh words from them. Once in a while, she would find a person with a good heart that is willing to help her. A Filipino maid becomes touched by her actions.
This poor old lady carries a tragic story. She and her son rely on social service allowances and disability allowances. But her son’s medical expenses use the majority of these allowance income. The old lady needs to beg for a living. She doesn’t complain about it. She doesn’t have any special requests from the government. She only hopes the financial secretary can increase the amount of the allowance in his budget. Imagine that a maid with a low income can be touched by this old lady’s situation; what about the financial secretary with a stone heart? One question comes to mind: “How could you?”
“Miss, be kind-hearted and treat this old lady to a meal!” Yesterday at 2:00 PM, the reporter at the Mongkok Grand Plaza’s Café de Coral bumped into this old lady. Her thinning hair had ash white grays. She wore a dark red coat and carried an old bag. The old lady tugged at a mid-age woman’s clothing. She wanted the woman to buy her an afternoon meal to fill her stomach. The woman became annoyed. She yells at the old lady: “Go away, no!” The patrons beside her looks at the woman.
The old lady was not discouraged. She turned to the reporter. She enthusiastically saved a spot for the reporter. She also asked if the reporter could treat her to a meal. The old lady said: “I beg you, please be goodhearted.” In the end, a kindhearted patron bought her a HK$17 meal. The old lady became ecstatic. She said: “I wish you good health and whatever you wish for comes true!” A staff said: “She annoys the patron everyday. She gets yelled at by them all the time. She also steals sugar and toothpicks. We tell her to stop but she yells at us instead.” The staff reveals that the old lady appeared three months ago. The old lady used to beg exclusively here but has switched over to the nearby KFC.
The reporter bumped into the old lady at the Grand Plaza’s KFC. She walked around the store. She looked around and then sat in front of a woman. Then she started to beg her. The woman lifted her head and gave the old lady a cold stare. She continued to eat her meal while ignoring the old lady.
The old lady changed targets to a table with three foreign workers. The old lady approached them and said: “I am hungry. Can I?” The old lady sits down with one hand on her stomach and pointed at the food. One of the maids was touched by the old lady. She shared a chicken wing and potato cakes with the old lady. After she finishes, she went to a corner of the store. The old lady stuffs sugar packets and toothpicks into her bag. The kindhearted maid admitted: “It’s horrible that such an old lady needs to beg for food. I shared some of my food. It doesn’t cost much.”
The old lady left around 5:00 PM. She went to a nearby market to buy HK$5 of fish. She returned to a forty year old apartment building at Tung Choi Street. The reporter asked if they could come in for an interview. Her son let the reporter into their home. But unexpectedly, the old lady yelled: “I don’t want to talk about it. We can talk at the fast food restaurant!” The old lady doesn’t mind begging outside of her home but at home, she clings onto her remaining amount of self-respect.
The old lady's son is Mr. Cheung who is 40 years old. But he appears to be a sixty years old man. His movement is slow but he has a quiet attitude. He says his mom’s maiden name is Tang. She is 76 years old. She has mild Alzheimer’s disease. His father died ten years ago. Mr. Cheung originally worked as a taxi driver. Years ago, he had problems with blood vessels in his left leg affecting his movement. Currently, the two rely on a HK$6000 monthly allowance to survive. Mr. Cheung said that his father only left them this apartment. But they need to go to the doctor (for his leg and the old lady’s dementia). He had an operation on his leg a month ago. They need to pay for water, electrical and other necessities. They also need to pay for the administrative costs and pay. They still owe HK$5000. The reporter notes that the 400 square feet resident was very dilapidated. The resident had a musty smell. The walls are turning black and the ceiling is coming apart. The only furniture in the resident was a folding table and two wooden chairs. There were three pieces of electrical appliances including a vintage rice cooker, electrical kettle and refrigerator. The refrigerator had yellow stains and there was no food inside. There was no TV.
Mr. Cheung and his mom eat a bowl of oatmeal each morning. He said: “A container of oatmeal is HK$20 and you can eat it for half a month. We add a little condense milk and sugar which mom takes from fast food restaurants. At night, mom uses HK$5 to buy a meal which we eat together. We can’t spend more than HK$10 each day.” A couple of jars and containers in the kitchen are filled with sugar packets.
The reporter told Mr. Cheung how his mom begs at the fast food restaurants. His eyes become red and said: “We wouldn’t do it if we didn’t need to. I tried to go to the community welfare office to ask them to help me find a suitable part time job. But they ignored me!” There is a surplus but Mr. Cheung only has one small wish. He hopes that the financial secretary, can care for the poor. Mr. Cheung said: “A little increase in the allowances can help all the elderly.”
Source
http://orientaldaily.on.cc/archive/index.html?content=/archive/20080227/new/new_a00cnt.html
The article above is I'm sure you're wondering why I posted this. Like the original poster in
Asian Gossip, this article caught my eye. It's nothing new, in fact I see it all the time in the streets even at restaurants and malls. Children, old, and disabled people would walk up to you and beg for money or food.
I confess that I don't really give much, and sometimes I even try to avoid them. It's just sad looking into their eyes and catching a glimpse of their pain. Its different with old helpless people are different though, I always try to give something without hesitation, especially if they're begging alone, it's just too painful seeing them.
It's sad to hear that a maid had to help the old lady, when I'm sure there are more people around with more money that could help her. Shame on people... Well now if
Edison Chen can read this, he can start doing his charity work and find this poor old lady.
Let's give a little... or more.
SpiderLiliezhttp://spiderliliez.livejournal.com
WELCOME!
