ANYONE WHO HAS answered the call of nature in the middle of the night knows the perils of protruding chairs, low coffee tables, sharp-edged furniture and lamp switches so small and fiddly it hardly seems worth the effort. So imagine attempting the same task with joints stiff with rheumatism, failing eyesight and brittle bones.
If you're having trouble imagining it, don't worry - it's called old age and you'll be living it soon enough. Hong Kong's population is ageing rapidly and many of us are unaware how much our lives will have to change as we grow older. Simple tasks such as visiting the bathroom, making a pot of tea or even just drawing the curtains will take an increasing amount of time and effort. Many people with elderly friends and relatives - and property developers and architects - are still blind to the needs of the city's old folk. Yet things are changing, albeit slowly.
Mary Wong's 90-year-old mother was returning home from a stint in hospital and her daughter wanted to put a handle next to the toilet to help her climb on and off. With limited space, she thought some kind of collapsible handle would help. Her search took her to the Hong Kong Housing Society's Elderly Resource Centre in Yau Ma Tei, where she quickly discovered that collapsible furniture and pensioners aren't a good combination.
'I had this picture of a handle in my mind that I didn't know existed,' says Wong, whose mother lives in a private apartment with live-in help. 'Medical suppliers didn't have them and I was looking through this senior citizens' magazine when I found the [Elderly Resource Centre]. I went along and I was amazed at all the different types of handles they had.'
After a free home visit by one of the centre's occupational therapists, Wong's mother now has a (non-collapsible) handle to help her on and off the toilet, another for the bath and a special chair to sit on while washing - all for less than HK$500.
According to the Census and Statistics Department, the proportion of the population aged 65 and over will rise from 11 per cent in 1999 to 20 per cent in 2029. With the city's population expected to hit nine million, 1.8 million people will be elderly.