The Weeping Elderly Woman

“My biggest obstacle right now is whether I can support myself. Survival is difficult for me, and I find it hard to accept the fact that I can’t enjoy my remaining years after working so hard all my life,” said a 70-year-old woman I saw in a video. She’s now bent over, her hands tremble, but she doesn’t dare retire and is still looking for work, leaning on her cane.

This reminds me of news reports about police officers who, after decades of service, still can’t afford a house and have to rent small apartments in the suburbs. These are people who earn their living with their own hands, so how come they can’t even have a stable life in their old age after a lifetime of work? What’s wrong with the current system? It can’t even meet the most basic living needs?

We ordinary people don’t ask for much; we just want a peaceful retirement, access to medical care when we’re sick, and a small family to start with. But the elderly woman in the video, the police officer who can’t afford a house—they haven’t been lazy, they haven’t done anything wrong, yet they have to worry about making ends meet. I really hope those who formulate policies will pay more attention to the difficulties faced by ordinary people and improve the system.

Let’s not let those who have worked hard their whole lives be destitute in their old age, nor let those who work diligently be homeless. We hope that life will truly get better and better, that everyone can have dignity and security, and that they won’t have to worry and shed tears about tomorrow at an age when they should be living in peace.