Alexis Tam condemns violence towards elderly

The Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Alexis Tam, has condemned a recent case of violence against a physically handicapped elderly woman.
A video clip showing a woman violently slapping her handicapped mother while she sits quietly in her wheelchair surfaced on the Internet last weekend. The video has sparked outrage both here and in Hong Kong, where it was shared multiple times through social media.
Mr Tam announced that the government is now providing support to the affected family. He added that he has already instructed the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) to increase their supervision of carers while also further promoting their services within the community.
Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of the AL Follow-up Committee on Land and Public Concession Affairs, Mr Tam said that he vehemently condemns the daughter’s attitude, stressing that no matter the pressure a person is under, it does not justify hitting a family member.
“I felt extremely sad when I saw the video clip. This should not happen. We have a lot of elderly people in our society. Usually each family has an elder at home that they need to look after, sometimes with a chronic disease. But that’s not an excuse to hit an elder. This is our principle,” he reiterated.
Mr Tam added that, “for us Chinese, family should live peacefully and in harmony. But in this case it is believed that the daughter was under pressure and that’s why she hit her mother. I can’t seem to understand this.”
On Sunday, IAS attributed the cause of the abuse to the tremendous stress the daughter was under as she was caring not only for her mother but also an intellectually disabled brother and her elderly father.
The Secretary acknowledged that, “we can do better given that we have a department providing support specifically to families.”
Mr Tam said that the Social Welfare Bureau’s department could do more and provide more services. In addition, he recalled that the bureau is still lacking in promotional initiatives, “as many citizens do not know that certain services and support mechanisms already exist.”
Mr Tam yesterday confirmed that the case has been referred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP). The woman may be prosecuted for the crime of harming bodily integrity. CP