Taipa and Coloane Community Service Consultative Council member Ng Chio Wai suggested at a regular meeting yesterday that the government should help the elderly tackle the psychological problems that many of them have when dealing with digital technology.
The regular meeting took place at the Seac Pai Van Activity Centre in Coloane.
To reduce the psychological concerns of digital technology by senior citizens, Ng suggested that the government should provide psychological support services for the elderly in the community, cooperate with community groups to organise training courses or workshops for the elderly and urge telecommunications companies to provide an “elderly monthly fee discount plan” or even an “elderly monthly free fee plan”.
Ng said that many senior citizens find it difficult to adapt to the growing impact of the electronic and digital technology on their lives, such as health code conversions, electronic payments, using a smartphone or being unable to connect to a mobile network, among others.
He added that some senior citizens become anxious after using a smartphone, worrying about being monitored all the time, and some are even scared of using a smartphone.
Ng pointed out that the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau (SAFP) plans to launch a “one-stop” service by the end of this year, gradually digitising traditional counter-type services, and help citizens carry out aspects of their daily lives in a simple and convenient way, including dealing with their pensions and allowances.
In July last year, the government launched the “Assistance for the Elderly and the Disabled in the Family to Purchase a Mobile Phone Subsidy Programme” to help the elderly and those in need to purchase smartphones. However, there are still some elderly people in society who do not have a smartphone, and so they don’t have access to the most up-to-date information, Ng underlined.
Taipa and Coloane Community Service Consultative Council members attend a regular meeting at the Seac Pai Van Activity Centre in Coloane yesterday. Photo: Prisca Tang
