Father's fate inspires compassion

A painful personal experience has turned Samuel Ku Kwok-wo into a patient and loving volunteer who offers home care and counselling services to the elderly in need.

'My father died of heart failure and cancer 10 years ago. I still regret that I did not take good care of him when he was alive,' Mr Ku said.

He is one of the 26 volunteers who have completed training on caring for the elderly at the Haven of Hope Christian Service.

'My father was dirty and incontinent. I found it very distasteful to do the cleaning and take care of him. Also, I moved out after getting married, so I really didn't have time to take care of my father,' he said.

Mr Ku found the training - which taught him basic medical knowledge on diabetes, heart diseases, Alzheimer's disease and depression - very useful.

'If only I had learned about all this when my father was still alive, I would have treated my father differently. I really hope that more people can join us and become a carer for the elderly as we all will be old one day,' he said.