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　　粤港澳大湾区建设的步伐正在加快，为解决香港的一些棘手难题提供难得契机。广州南沙区率先向港澳长者开放养老床位，首批提供50个专属床位。暂时床位不多，却令人眼前一亮。相比本港安老，港人回湾区内地城市安老有多项优势，包括床位充足、成本廉宜、空间较大等，特区政府应该抓住机遇，为鼓励更多长者回广东安老提供配套措施，将好事办好。

　　2022年《南沙方案》出台后，南沙区政府在为区内港澳居民提供安老服务方面先行先试，日前推出《南沙区公办养老机构入住本区港澳老年人实施方案》，助力南沙打造港澳长者的“心归处”。首批提供的50个床位，属于五星级的安老机构，已有3人入住。其中之一的何伯曾入住香港安老院，经过观察比较后，最终选择到南沙安老，他对现在的安老院赞不绝口：“这里环境宜人，餐饮实惠又美味，服务优质，在结婚纪念日、教师节、香港回归日这些特别日子里，工作人员还为我们庆贺，亲如一家人。”

　　何伯的现身说法，令人感慨。安老是香港老大难问题之一。首先是安老宿位长期供不应求，公营安老院舍环境较好，可惜宿位少，轮候时间长，每年都有数千人等到死都住不上。虽然政府也向私营安老院舍买位，但成本高昂，数量亦有限；其次是空间不足，香港安老宿位只有约100平方呎，活动空间小，容易导致心情压抑；其三是安老院护工不足，需要从内地输入，今年还要增加输入数量。但输入内地劳工也面对如何安置的难题，随着内地生活水平持续改善，两地收入差距不断收窄，从内地请人的难度势必越来越大，非长久之计。可以说，在香港现实条件下，安老服务的挑战越来越严峻，回内地安老可取分流之效，也是必然的选择。

　　传媒早就报道过，港人回湾区内地城市安老优势多。广东地域广阔，有大量空间建安老院且速度快；内地安老院空间普遍宽敞，人均面积约300呎，且有棋牌室、跳舞室、图书室等设施；内地安老院精细化，可提供多种选择。最重要的是，内地安老院丰俭由人，以广州为例，便宜的月费2000元，一般是3000元，附带老年大学的高级疗养院收费约7000元，比香港仍然便宜得多。

　　既然内地安老有这么多好处，广东省也有玉成此事的意愿，为什么特区政府不顺势而为呢？正如有人建议，特区政府可以与湾区内地城市的安老机构合作，买下大量宿位；特区政府或相关机构还可以北上置业，最好是整栋大楼买下，作为老年公寓。这样做的好处是，一来成本低，除深圳、广州外，其他二、三线城市的楼价不到香港的十分之一；二来香港长者集中住在一起，有亲切感，容易适应也方便管理；三来，随着交通基建的完善，一小时优质生活圈形成，在内地安老的长者回港也方便。港人回内地安老的最大后顾之忧是看病问药，随着港澳药械通政策的落实，适合港人看病的医疗设施不断增加，问题迎刃而解。如果父母在内地安老，子女可享免税额，相信吸引力会更大。

　　共建大湾区，通过对区内资源的最优化配置，可帮助香港解决不少香港本身难以解决的问题，安老只是其中之一。特区政府及香港社会放眼大湾区，眼界就开阔了，思路就畅通了，关键还是拿出魄力，该幹就幹。

Riding the wave of construction of Greater Bay Area to solve the problem of elderly care services

　　The pace of construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (Greater Bay Area) becomes faster and faster, offering hard-to-come-by opportunities for Hong Kong to solve some  thorny problems. Guangzhou's Nansha District has taken the lead in gradually opening residential places of nursing homes to eligible elderly people from Hong Kong and Macao, with 50 care beds exclusively for Hong Kong and Macao elderly people offered as the first step. Although the number of beds available at the beginning is small, the move is rather eye-catching. Compared to staying in Hong Kong, there are advantages for elderly Hongkongers go and reside in public care institutions in Greater Bay Area. For instance, beds available are sufficient, cost low while space big. To encourage more elderly people to go to Guangdong and spend their remaining years in comfort, the SAR Government must seize the opportunity to launch supporting measures so that such a good thing can be done well.

　　Following the unveiling of the Overall Plan for Deepening Globally Oriented Comprehensive Co-operation amongst Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao in Nansha of Guangzhou in 2022, Nansha District Government began to play a pioneering role in providing elderly care services to Hong Kong and Macao people residing in the district. Days ago, it unveiled the Implementation Plan for Opening Government-supported Elderly Care Institutions in the District to Hong Kong and Macao People Residing in the District to help turn Nansha into a “Place for Peace of Mind” for Hong Kong and Macao elderly people. The first step was to provide 50 care beds in five-star institutions, three of which has already been taken. Ho Pak, one of the three, had resided in a Hong Kong elderly home before. After observing and making a comparison, he eventually decided to spend his remaining years in Nansha. He spoke very highly of the elderly home he now resides in: "Here, the environment is pleasant, food affordable and delicious, and services of good quality. On special days such as wedding anniversary, Teachers' Day or the anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the Motherland, staff members would hold celebrations for us, like we are family."

　　One cannot help but sigh with emotion upon listening to Ho Pak's description of his own experience as an example. Elderly care is one of Hong Kong's thorny problems. Firstly, demand for residential elderly care places always exceeds supply. While in better environment, government subvented homes regretfully have fewer places, so the waiting time is quite long. Each year several thousand elderly people died in waiting. Although the government also buys places from private institutions, but the cost is high and the number limited. Secondly, the space is not sufficient. In Hong Kong, a residential care place is about 100 square feet. Small living space could easily lead one to feel blue. Thirdly, elderly homes in Hong Kong are short of care workers and have to import workers from the Mainland. This year, the number of workers to be imported will increase. But importing workers from the Mainland also has the problem of helping them settle down. As the living standards in the Mainland keep improving, income gap between the two places keeps narrowing. Hence hiring workers from the Mainland becomes increasingly difficult and thus cannot go on for long. It may be said that given Hong Kong's reality, elderly care become an increasingly tough challenge. As a result, some elderly people going back to spend their remaining years in the Mainland could have the effect of diversification, and is also a must.

　　As already reported, there are a lot of advantages for elderly Hongkongers to go back and spend their remaining years in Greater Bay Area cities. Vast in area, Guangdong has enormous space to build elderly homes, and the speed of construction there is fast. Elderly care homes in the Mainland are spacious, with 300 square feet per person. And an elderly home normally also has a board-game room, dancing room, library and other facilities. Adopting delicacy management, Mainland's elderly homes could offer multiple choices. More importantly, Mainland's care homes are suited for all budgets. Taking Guangzhou for example, the monthly fee for a place could be as low as 2,000 yuan while it is 3,000 yuan in general, and goes up to 7,000 yuan in a high-end nursing home with an attached university for the elderly. Even so it is till much cheaper than in Hong Kong.

　　Since there are so many advantages for elderly Hongkongers to enjoy care services in the Mainland and Guangdong is willing to make it happen, there is no reason for the SAR Government not to take advantage of such an opportunity. As suggested, the SAR Government could cooperate with elderly homes in Greater Bay Area cities and buy a large number of care beds. The SAR Government and relevant institutions could also go north to buy property. It'd be better to buy whole buildings and use them as apartments for the elderly. There are benefits for doing this. One is low cost. Apart from Shenzhen and Guangzhou, housing prices in second-tier and third-tier cities is less than 10 per cent of that in Hong Kong. The second is that elderly Hongkongers living together would feel familiar with each other and become easy to adapt, which would also facilitate management. The third is that a one-hour high-quality ling circle will be formed with the improvement of transport and infrastructure, making it easy for elderly Hongkongers residing in the Mainland to travel back. Elderly Hongkongers' biggest worry for living in the Mainland is how to see the doctor. This will be easily solved with the implementation of Measure of using HK registered drugs and medical devices used in HK public hospitals in Greater Bay Area and the increase of medical-care facilities available for Hongkongers. It would be even more attractive if tax allowances could be given to children whose parents are residing in Mainland care homes. 

　　Co-construction of Greater Bay Area and through maximised allocation of resources in the area could help Hong Kong solve many problems that could hardly be tackled by itself. Elderly care is just one of them. Keeping an eye on Greater Bay Area, the SAR Government and Hong Kong society could broaden their vision and smooth their thinking. The crux of the matter is to show courage and determination and do what it should be done.