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My 94-year-old aunt had a fall a couple of weeks ago and fractured her hip. She was rushed to hospital for surgery.

While she survived the accident, my pensioner aunt was not best pleased with her stay in hospital. "The doctors and nurses are reluctant to see me," she complained. "They're not willing to pay attention to an old lady."

I agree that sometimes my aunt is not easy to please, like many senior citizens of her age. But I do not agree with the attitude that a person of advanced age deserves whatever happens to them, which was clearly the thinking of some of the hospital's doctors and nurses.

For them, hip fractures are nothing unusual for old folk. After they operate, there is really not much for them to do.

For elderly people like my aunt, however, the accident is no trivial matter and they are understandably focused on their pain or discomfort. Being vulnerable and fragile, these senior citizens can be stubborn and unreasonable. And they expect more care, or counselling, even though further medical treatment is not needed.

But it is the care they long for that seems hard to come by. In my aunt's case, I got the sense that some hospital staff took the attitude that she has lived long enough and her days in this world are running out anyway.

True, we will all reach the point when our time is up. But does that mean we should be denied quality of life when we live too long? Should there be an age ceiling for quality of life? I do not think so.

China has become an ageing society, with more than 10 per cent of its population of 1.3 billion over 60 years of age. In another 30 years, one out of every four Chinese could be a senior citizen. Their well-being will be more and more critical in China's drive to build a harmonious society.

One thing that is inevitable for people of advanced age is hospital and medication as their health fades. The Chinese Government said that all elderly people in the country "are to be provided for and should enjoy proper medical care." Such care will not be effective if it is provided without love.

Do we really love our elders? It is hard to say. My aunt is fortunate in this regard as her two sons are both filial and do their best to take care of her. But they are not doctors and were helpless when hospital staff gave their mother the cold shoulder.

So the love of their children alone is not enough to guarantee the well-being of our senior citizens. The whole society should treasure them so that they receive proper care.

People treasure their kids, as kids are our future. People treasure some old folk when they are still fit and can support the family. But what about those who have lost the ability to work do we still treasure them?

Yes, we should. One cannot treasure someone only when they are "useful." Our elderly should be treasured as well, even when they can no longer work or think properly, because we would not be what we are without them, and because they, too, represent our future.

It is a traditional Chinese virtue to "respect and love one's elders and others," as the fourth-century BC Chinese thinker Mencius put it when describing his ideal society.

Some argue that it is difficult for China to cope with the grey tide, as our per capita income is just US$800 per annum, whereas most developed countries had a per capita income of US$1,690 when they became ageing societies. So it is no surprise that the provision of social services for the elderly in China is inadequate.

We may have little material wealth, but that is no excuse for shunning our elders. After all, we are surely far better off than Mencius was 2,400 years ago.

(China Daily December 31, 2006)