Elderly urge youth to continue moral tradition

Ten elderly people in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province, stood along a city street on Dec 25, holding signs that said, "If I fall over on the street, please lend a helping hand and lift me up", Zhengzhou Evening News reported.

The 10 are volunteers in a community, whose average age is above 75. They said that they held the demonstration to arouse awareness of caring for society’s elderly people.

"I fell over on the street right in front of a hospital in October. I struggled getting up, and asked for a helping hand from people passing by. But none of the young people around was willing to help," said 85-year-old Liang Yongxiang, one of the volunteers.

"It was a man in his 50s who helped me stand up," he said.

Liang continued: "I do not blame those young people. I know there are people being ripped off by old people. But this should not be the reason that the young no longer care about the elderly."

Another volunteer — 75-year-old Xu Tianzhou — said that the weather in Zhengzhou is getting colder, and icy roads may be dangerous and troublesome to the elderly. He said he hopes that through the demonstration, the moral tradition of respecting the elderly can be carried on.