Growing old alone

• Source: The Global Times
• [20:18 May 06 2009]
• Comments

By Zhang Nan

 

Chen Yongbo sat on his bed at a nursing home in Changchun, capital of Jilin Province, and cried.

“I’ve never been so upset in my entire life,” he told Dongya News.

Over the past five years, the 56-year-old paraplegic has lived at seven homes in and around the Binhe area of the city, but he said none of them has ever made him feel peaceful or happy.

His current abode is a 10-square-meter room he shares with two other men at the Tianyi nursing home. The four-room property covers just 100 square meters but is crammed with beds.

“We have 39 old folk staying here,” a nurse said.

Chen said he is terrified that a fire might break out, because all of the windows are fitted with steel bars.

“I don’t feel safe. There’s not a single fire escape in the whole place,” he said.

Sun Shufang, the owner of the home, told an undercover reporter, “We wouldn’t be able to stay in business if we took care of everything. But at least we offer the best food in the area.”

Chen disagreed. “They wouldn’t even give me a drop of rape oil with my meal,” he said.

The nurse proffered the day’s menu. It read, “Breakfast: Noodles or mantou (steamed buns). Lunch: Rice and vegetables. Dinner: Porridge and mantou.”

Most of the people living at Tianyi are sick or have nowhere else to go, Sun said.

They all had to sign contracts before moving in saying they would not hold the home responsible if they were to “get lost,” she said.

Chen said he and other residents suffering from paralysis are treated the worst.

“The nurses make us pee into plastic bags. Are we here to suffer, or to be cared for?” he said.