Covered in smog and
cramped apartment towers, Hong Kong is not usually associated with a
healthy lifestyle. But new figures show that Hong Kongers are the
longest-living people in the world.
Hong Kong men have held the
title for more than a decade and recent data show female Hong Kongers
are overtaking their Japanese counterparts for the first time, according
to the governments in Tokyo and Hong Kong.
Hong Kong women's
life expectancy rose from an average 86 years in 2010 to 86.7 years in
2011, while Japanese women's longevity was hit by last year's earthquake
and tsunami, falling to 85.9 years, census figures reveal.
So what is Hong Kong's secret to a long life?
Experts
say there is no single elixir, but contributing factors include easy
access to modern health care, keeping busy, traditional Cantonese
cuisine and even the centuries-old Chinese tile game of mahjong.
Rolling stones gather no moss.
"I love travelling, I
like to see new things and I meet my friends for 'yum cha' every day,"
Mak Yin, an 80-year-old grandmother of six says as she practises the
slow-motion martial art of tai chi in a park on a Sunday morning.
"Yum
cha" is the Cantonese term to describe the tradition of drinking tea
with bite-sized delicacies known as dim sum. The tea is free and served
non-stop, delivering a healthy dose of antioxidants with the meal.
"My friends are in their 60s -- they think I'm around their age too, although I'm much older than them," Mak laughs.
Mak's
favourite food is steamed vegetables, rice and fruit. Cantonese food is
famous for steamed fish and vegetables -- dishes that use little or
none of the cooking oils blamed for heart disease, obesity and high
cholesterol.
But before Mak enjoys her afternoon tea, she joins a
group of elderly people for her morning exercise of tai chi, an ancient
Chinese practice said to have benefits including improving balance and
boosting cardiovascular strength.
A study published in the New
England Journal of Medicine in February found that tai chi reduces falls
and "appears to reduce balance impairments" in people with
mild-to-moderate Parkinson's disease.
Another factor behind Hong
Kongers' longevity, experts say, is work. While others long for the day
they can retire and kick up their heels, many people in Hong Kong work
well into their 70s and even 80s.
Hong Kong does not have a
statutory retirement age and it is common to see elderly people working
in shops, markets and restaurants alongside younger staff.
"Many
old people in our city remain working, that contributes to better
psychological and mental health," Hong Kong Association of Gerontology
president Edward Leung says.
"For older people, a lot of them are
stressed because they have nothing to do and they develop 'emptiness
syndrome'. This causes mental stress."
Fishmonger Lee Woo-hing,
67, says he could not bear to sit at home and do nothing. His
inspiration is local tycoon Li Ka-shing, Asia's richest man, who still
runs his vast business empire in his 80s.
"If Li Ka-shing
continues working at the age of 84, why should I retire?" asks the
father-of-four during a break from his 14-hour shift at a bustling
market in central Hong Kong.
"If I just sit at home and stare at
the walls, I'm worried that my brain will degenerate faster. I'm happy
to chat with different people here in the market."
'Mahjong delays dementia'.
Hong Kong's cramped
living conditions are famously unhealthy, fuelling outbreaks of disease
and viruses including bird flu and severe acute respiratory syndrome
(SARS) which have killed dozens of people.
The city's reputation
won it the dubious distinction of a starring role in director Steven
Soderbergh's 2011 disaster thriller "Contagion", about a deadly virus
that spreads from Hong Kong to the United States.
But in the day-to-day habits of ordinary people, experts say Hong Kong is a great place to grow old.
A
popular local way of keeping busy and meeting friends is mahjong -- a
mentally stimulating tile game which can help delay dementia, according
to aging expert Alfred Chan, of Hong Kong's Lingnan University.
"It
stimulates the parts that control memory and cognitive abilities. It
helps old people with their retention of memory," he says.
The
complex rules and calculation of scores make mahjong, also known as the
Chinese version of dominoes, mentally demanding. But the social aspects
of the four-player game are just as important.
"In mahjong you
need to play with three other people. It is a very good social activity,
you have to interact with each other constantly," says Chan, who has
studied the game's effects on the well being of elderly people.
"It
is also a self-fulfilling game because if you win -- whether you play
with money or not -- it gives you a sense of empowerment."
Mahjong parlours are popular in Hong Kong, and mahjong tables are a must at Chinese wedding banquets.
"I'm
in semi-retirement. I work in the morning and hang out with my friends
by playing mahjong in the afternoon," says 67-year-old tailor Yeung
Fook, on the sidelines of a game in his modest garment shop.
"I'm happier when I work. It's boring to just sit at home."
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