In response to the shocking case of an elderly mother and her middle-aged daughter lying dead at their home on Estrada do Cemitério for about a year before their bodies were discovered early this month, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U said yesterday that the government has been thinking about how to break down cross-departmental data barriers, in order to identify Macau’s “hidden” senior citizens.
She added: “After similar problems occurred in the past, we have been thinking about how to break down the data barriers among various departments, such as through senior citizens’ subsidy, pension, social service and medical care registrations, in order to identify the elderly who seldom come into contact with the community or who live in a relatively secluded environment.”
She was quick to add that the two women whose bodies were found in their flat early this month had never applied for any financial support from the government: “[We] had been constantly searching for the mother and her daughter, but it was too late”
Ao Ieong also said that the government has been studying the feasibility of identifying “hidden” senior citizens with the help of new technology. As an example, she mentioned that “if the mobile phone’s track location function does not move at all within a day, the relevant entities would take the initiative to contact the seniors and understand their situation”.
Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) President Wilson Hon Wai added that the development of the relevant mobile app would take time but would be carried out as soon as possible. He told the media he believed that the app would not conflict with the Personal Data Protection Law as it concerned the safety of the elderly.
According to the bureau, the officially estimated number of senior citizens living alone currently stands at more than 9,000.
Ao Ieong and Hon talked to the media on the sidelines of yesterday’s Spring Festival luncheon hosted by the Social Welfare Bureau at Macau Fisherman’s Wharf in the Outer Harbour.
5.2 million social service beneficiaries’ usage times in 2023
Meanwhile, delivering a speech at the luncheon, Ao Ieong said that the local government has always given priority to improving people’s living standards and taking care of the members of disadvantaged segments of civil society, while also having constantly implemented measures on various fronts, with the aim of contributing to the rapid development of Macau’s social services.
According to Ao Ieong, the financial support granted to social service institutions has increased from over 100 million patacas in the first few years after Macau’s return to the motherland in December 1999 to more than 1.6 billion patacas last year, showing an increase of 15 times, while the number of the usage times by beneficiaries of various social services has increased 64-fold, from 80,000 annually when the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) was established to more than 5.2 million last year.
In her speech, Ao Ieong underlined that the level of social welfare services is an important indicator that measures the social progress of a country or region and, therefore, the MSAR government will continue to work with the social service sector to ensure the well-being of vulnerable groups while striving to provide professional and high-quality social services.
During yesterday’s luncheon, Ao Ieong also said: “Improving people’s lives is always a priority in the MSAR government’s lines of action,” adding that the government has launched several measures for the well-being of the population on all fronts, in response to residents’ demand for social services and support provided to vulnerable groups, such as the “Government Residence Plan for the Elderly”.
Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U delivers a speech during yesterday’s Social Welfare Bureau’s (IAS) Spring Festival luncheon for the social service sector. – Photo: MPDG
