來吃口安樂茶飯～ Long for tea and rice
by Stephanie Lai, Smarties, 16 Aug 2015 星期日 富昌邨 — 感悟
在走出去之前，我們心𥚃有包伏有前設(重甸甸的包)：惶恐找不到長者和我們傾談，再者一定是對生活感到不開心，時代莫名的變化一定會帶來不習慣，總之一切皆負面。(累)
對，有些問題的確預料受訪者會提出。比方說健康與醫療制度的＂問題＂，有錢的話看私家醫生一定比政府醫生可靠，快捷、舊深水埗區比屋邨型的新深水埗區環境質素較差，長者步行上唐樓有困難，空內的空氣，溫度與環境未如理想等等。
在我們面前的是個活脫脫堅強的女性， 從大澳搬到西環再在深水埗落腳，由帶著2個小孩到一個人住，雖已八十有九但有自信、靠自己，有人際脈絡、咬緊牙關挨出來的一代。但是，我需要坦承的説，以上所謂的問題對於受訪者都不是令其感到困擾的。
她所提出的憂慮是年青人和他們的將來。在這複雜的政治氣候令她感到不安煩燥的是為何這麼多和政府對著幹的人和事件。就正如鄰里間的是非，她都一樣不喜歡的。我想這就是＂相嗌唔好囗＂的道理吧。Gen X，Y和Z其實都要好好的想在Make a Difference 的同時，怎樣令上一輩有信心相信我們不是為港添亂吧。
另外一點令我們意外的是破冰之旅比想像中易，我們用了智能手機打開話匣子。長者亦像年輕人一樣接受新科技和事物，前提是他們有沒有渠道接觸或得到。這個會是一個很好的溝通機會和有效地應用在長者的生活上，我想智能城市都應該包括長者，至少他們在生活上都是有經驗和智慧的一群。
雖然我們天南地北有的沒的說著，回想一番都離不開＂吃＂的話題：自己煮野食，＂相嗌唔好囗＂，羅富記，茶果，蝦膏⋯⋯活了這麼久最想吃的都是安樂茶飯。＂搵到食＂之餘，我們想要共建一個怎樣的社區和社會呢？
Long for tea and rice
by Stephanie Lai, Smarties, 16 August 2015 Sunday, Reflection
Nothing is positive…
When we were given the assignment, it felt heavy and solemn like carrying a bag of hesitations and assumptions, such as worrying about not being able to find any elderly to talk to us, their life must be miserable and the change of era brings negative impact to their life….
As we expected…
Our interviewee “Granny Ho” did mention about the medical system in Hong Kong, even though the public clinic service can be utilized for free, she preferred to visit the private doctors for a more reliable and effective treatment. Also, walk up in tong lau- old tenement buildings is rather difficult for the elderly, let alone the hot and stuffy condition in the interior space. She preferred the public housing estate she was staying in rather than the core Shum Shui Po setting.
To our surprise…
In our head, we thought elderly “needs our help”, in contrast, the 89 year-old lady sitting in front of us was very independent along her path of life. She left Tai O as a widow with 2 kids to Sai Wan and relocated to Fu Cheong Estate living by herself, being confident and maintained a strong social network within the estate. She did not really see the “problems” she mentioned annoyed her, rather the current political climate and the conflict between government and the people bug her the most, just like she has been trying to avoid gossips in the neighbourhood. What made her worried the most are the younger generation and their future. It is really an insight for the generation X, Y & Z to rethink about the method to initiate a change and make a difference without leaving a bad impression of us ruining HK to the older generation.
Connecting people…
Another incident inspires us is the ice-breaking process came so much easier than we thought it would be. We first observed that Granny was playing with her Sony Smartphone and that was how we started our conversation. Elderly could also accept new things and technologies like youngsters, the prerequisite is the channel they could reach technology and acquire the equipment. This would be a great chance to facilitate communication and their daily life. I reckon we should not leave out elderly when constructing a smart city/ smart society.
Culture of eating
Although we talked about everything under the sun, food was the topic that we brought up the most, for instance, cooking for yourself, Law Fu Kee Noodle, Cha Kwo steamed bun, Tai O shrimp paste etc… In a Chinese idiom, we always say “to live in ease and pleasure with a bowl of rice and a cup of tea”. Food for thought: what kind of society we would like to build beside bringing home the bacon?
