Editorial | Brothers’ deaths call for another long, hard look at Hong Kong care services
- Grim discovery of mentally disabled siblings in city public housing flat is the latest in disturbing cases that reflect big gaps in the welfare system
Hong Kong often portrays itself as a caring society, with several support services available for those who need them. Unfortunately, there are still loopholes, as reflected in repeated reports of the weak and vulnerable who are left to die through an apparent lack of care, culminating in distress that could have been avoided.
The circumstances leading to the deaths of two mentally disabled brothers, aged 53 and 55, inside a public housing flat at Sau Mau Ping Estate are now a matter for an inquest. The decomposing bodies of the siblings, left alone at home after their mother was admitted to hospital in May, were only found on September 22 after neighbours complained of a smell.
The grim discovery has inevitably raised questions as to whether the two men died because they were unable to take care of themselves.
Sadly, theirs is not an isolated case. In May, the skeleton of a tenant, 69, who lived alone in a Sha Tin public rental flat was discovered by Housing Authority staff.
Only the day before, a woman, 59, and her father, 86, were found dead in their home at Mei Foo Sun Chuen in Lai Chi Kok, after a relative could not reach them and called for help. The following month saw a bedridden woman, 75, rescued from her flat in Happy Valley while her younger brother, 71, who also cared for her, lay dead in the bathroom.