CY@CY Says Welcome to my dreamscape. Where a Lim is also a Ling.
Older people are especially vulnerable to loneliness and social isolation for a variety of reasons such as no longer being the hub of their family, leaving the workplace, disability or illness, and the deaths of spouses and close friends.
Whatever the cause, it’s easy to be left feeling alone and vulnerable, which can lead to depression and a serious decline in physical health and well-being. And someone who is lonely often also finds it hard to reach out. There is a stigma surrounding loneliness and older people tend not to ask for help because they have too much pride.
It is a pity that a lot of the older folks in Miri are not computer-literate. Social media such as Facebook and Wechat are so alien to them. Social media could have helped them overcome their loneliness. So what do quite a lot of the older folks in Miri do to overcome their loneliness?
Along South Kabor Road is the “Old Folks Street” (Lau Ren Jie), a mecca for older folks especially men. These older folks like to congregate there for drinks, chatting, playing chess, and just passing their time. Because they have all the free time in the world, they sit and yak over coffee for as long as they want.
Old Folks Street aka Lau Ren Jie
Old Folks hanging out at the place
At the coffeeshops in the Old Folks Street, I sometimes see folks poring over the 4D lottery tickets they have bought. The theory is that by examining the computer printout tickets, they can tell whether the numbers are likely to win or not. If they deem their tickets are not likely to win, they may resell them at a discount! It is truly amazing!