XN000022-1978-04-13 — Page 28

THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 1978

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FAMILY LIFE EDUCATION DRAMA ON FRUSTRATIONS OF OLD AGE

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THE RELUCTANCE OF LOSING ONE'S GRASP ON A HARD-EARNED CAREER, COUPLED WITH PHYSICAL FRAILTY THAT HERALDS THE START OF OLD AGE, COULD BE A MOST UNSETTLING EXPERIENCE FOR THOSE ON THE VERGE OF RETIREMENT.

TYPICAL FEELINGS AND REACTIONS SHARED BY MANY PEOPLE WHO ARE UNPREPARED TO ACCEPT AND ADJUST TO THIS LESS EVENTFUL STAGE OF LIFE ARE DEPICTED IN A FAMILY LIFE EDUCATION TELEVISION SPECIAL THE OBSTINATE GRANDPA', SCREENING OF WHICH STARTS FROM TOMORROW (FRIDAY) NIGHT.

FROM THE CALM OPENING SCENES RIGHT UNTIL HIS FATAL FALL FROM HEIGHT, THE ATTITUDE OF A RETIRED SCAFFOLDING WORKER WAS GIVEN ADEQUATE EXPOSURE IN THIS HALF-HOUR EPISODE, PRODUCED BY THE RTHK IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE SOCIAL WELFARE DEPARTMENT AND VOLUNTARY AGENCIES.

THE INABILITY TO CONVINCE HIS SON INTO FOLLOWING HIS FOOTSTEPS, THE SHIFTING OF ROLE FROM A BREADWINNER AND HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD TO A DEPENDANT PROVED TOO MUCH FOR THIS 'OBSTINATE GRANDPA', WHO, DESPITE FAILING HEALTH, RESORTED TO TAKING UP HIS OLD JOB ONCE AGAIN.

A SPOKESMAN FOR THE SOCIAL WELFARE DEPARTMENT SAID TODAY THAT THE DECISION WHICH LED TO THE TRAGIC ACCIDENT WAS BY NO MEANS ONE MADE AT THE SPUR OF THE MOMENT.

+THE OLD MAN'S STUBBORNNESS, OVER-CONFIDENCE, SUSPICION TOWARDS AND REFUSAL TO ACCEPT CHANGES OF THE MODERN WORLD WERE PARTLY BROUGHT ABOUT BY THE INDIFFERENT ATTITUDE OF THOSE AROUND HIM,+ HE SAID,

HE POINTED OUT THAT AT A TIME WHEN MATERIAL SERVICES FOR THE ELDERLY WAS GIVEN DUE EMPHASIS, THE IR NEED FOR UNDERSTANDING AND CONCERN DURING THIS PERIOD OF TRANSITION COULD NOT BE OVEREMPHASISED.

+ASSISTANCE FROM MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY, RENDERED BY MEANS OF DAY-TO-DAY CONVERSATION, OR CONVEYED THROUGH GESTURES OF KINDNESS AND WARMTH, WOULD GO A LONG WAY IN FACILITATING THEIR ADJUSTMENT,+ THE SPOKESMAN ADDED.

HE SAID THAT SUGGESTIONS OF SOME COMMON WAYS IN ACHIEVING THIS WAS BORNE OUT IN THE EPILOGUE OF THE PLAY, THROUGH A DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE SON AND THE POLICEWOMAN AFTER THE TRAGIC ACCIDENT.

HE ADDED THAT PROGRAMMES AIMING TO PREPARE INDIVIDUALS FOR LIFE AFTER RETIREMENT WERE ORGANISED AS PART OF THE CURRENT FAMILY LIFE EDUCATION CAMPAIGN.

'THE OBSTINATE GRANDPA' THE SEVENTH EPISODE OF THE SERIES 'UNDER THE SAME ROOF' WILL BE SCREENED ON TVB JADE TOMORROW AT 8.30 P.M., ON RTV CHANNEL I ON SATURDAY AT 7 P.M. AND ON CTV ON SUNDAY AT 6 P.M.

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