Letters to the Editor, May 22, 2013

Hong Kong is currently going through a period of realisation that, because a greater proportion of its inhabitants are in the "senior" category, something needs to be done about the retirement age.

At present, the government forces many of its employees to retire at 60 and companies often follow its example.

The government is thinking of increasing that age in the light of the concern expressed above.

In countries such as Britain and the United States a specified age for compulsory retirement has generally been abolished. In Britain, for example, it is against the law to make a person redundant purely on the basis of their age. Unfortunately, Hong Kong appears to be a long way from that state of utopia.

What may be of interest to your readers is that in the UK, the Institute of Economic Affairs, in conjunction with the Age Endeavour Fellowship, has published the results of a study that has found that retirement has a detrimental effect on mental and physical health.

More details can be found on the BBC website but, basically, the study is suggesting that people should work longer for health as well as economic reasons.