Member of Parliament for P216 Bintulu Dato Seri Tiong King Sing described it was a shame for those children to send their elderly parents to old folks' homes which are sither subsidised  by the government or  run by  charitable bodies.

He said the givernment had allocated RM27 million in the year 2003 to build more Old Folks Homes though the statistic in 1999 showed there were 186 such institutions had been built then.

Tiong said though Sarawak had only two established Old Folks Home, he sensed there was a trend among the young generation to have the preference to send their elderly parents to these centre than looking after their parents themselves.

"In the old days, when people were undergoing hardships, they seldom sent their children away or gave them up for adoption. It is an irony in an affluent society like today, we often hear elderly folks being sent to spend the rest of their lives at Old Folks Home," said Tiong.

Tiong's text of speech was read by the President of Bintulu Federation of Registered Chinese Associations, Pau Chiong Ung  at the Mooncake Festival Dinner hosted by the Bintulu tiong's Clan Association at Li Hua Hotel Saturday evening.

The function also featured the presentation of cash iincentive to about 50 students for achieving excellent academic results in public examinations last year, and presenting gifts to elderly folks who were parents of the members of the association.  

Chairman of the association Tiong Fu Kieng also recounted how a young Chinese man lost his parents favour after he failed to fulfill some of the filial piety’s duties.

"This is a true story taking place in the 1980s when a timber tycoon and his wife visited his beloved son who had graduated and married an Australian woman while settling down in one of cities Down Under," said Fu Kieng.

The parents had already packed a bag filled with RM3 million cash as a gift to the son and his wife.

"However, on their arrival at their son's residence, they were left alone in the sitting room for quite some time before the son sheepishly told his parents no dinner had been prepared for them," recalled Fu Kieng.

The infuriated parents, angered at their son taking up the western culture, immediately flew back to Sarawak the following day, with the RM3 million cash as well.

Among the invited guests were Senatir Hii Yiong Kuoh and Pemanca Ling Kong Mee.