Old dogs, new tricks: Retired and elderly people join a computer class in Ho Chi Minh City. VNS Photo.
Computers these days have become more and more popular, not only for youths, but also for the elderly. In fact, for many elderly people, computers have become part of everyday life.
Sixty-five-year-old widower Nguyen Quoc Huy began learning how to use the computer just last month. He said that he was now rather fluent in his e-mail technique, and particularly liked sending them to his darling.
"Two months ago, I couldn’t understand why my seventh-grade nephew was so interested in the computer. He’d even forget to eat or do his homework he was so busy on it.
"One day, I asked him to teach me how to use it. And after a week, I knew nothing. I thought it was very difficult, so I enrolled in a computer class.
"Almost all of my classmates were elderly, like me. They were already retired and some of them were widows or widowers."
Huy said that apart from learning how to use a computer, he had also formed relationships with many new friends, including a widow named Lam.
"After one week, since we were all so interested, most of us knew how to perform simple operations on the computer, like how to chat or send e-mails.
"Chatting is particularly great for elderly people like us, because we’ve already retired, but still like to meet new friends and share our experiences with others," said Huy.
Since meeting at the centre, 60-year-old Vu Thi Lam and Huy had become very close, and were even making plans to have a wedding by the end of the year, according to Lam.
She added that thanks to the Internet, many people, particularly elderly, felt less lonely at home.
"We share both good news and sad stories with each other through chatting and e-mails, whereas before it was difficult if I were having a problem and needed someone to talk to, especially since my husband died 10 years ago.
"Since joining the computer class and meeting Huy, I’m very pleased with my life. We e-mail each other about everything, but some topics we can chat with each other about for hours, like talking about beloved old songs or a poem that we both enjoy," said Lam.
She said that she also knew how to keep an everyday blog, to write things that inspired her.
"Writing a blog helps me feel more active compared with before. I feel so much younger these days."
One classmate, Trinh Van Nguyen, said that he first learned about the computer in order to read news on the internet, but later he also found out how to visit Google and search for information regarding his plant research.
"The internet is great. I can find so many things for my research," said Nguyen, adding that the internet helped users, particularly Vietnamese, become closer to the rest of the world."
The centre’s manager said that since computer classes opened in April 2007, more than 4,000 students had attended, and many lonely hearts had found new friends.
"Every day after exercise and breakfast, my widow mother sits before the computer, checking her e-mail and writing her blog. I can even tell by visiting her blog that she has many friends. And she shares many things with them, such as that she has felt lonely, even though she lives with her only daughter’s family," Truong Le Mai, a foreign company director, told Viet Nam News.
"My daughter and her husband work all day and return home very late at night, while their two children also come back late from their semi-boarding schools. They rarely stay at home on the weekend because they’re always going on trips or visiting friends," the mother’s blog reads.
"Reading my mother’s blog, I realised that I had made so many mistakes toward her. And I’m so sorry, mother. We will all pay you more mind from now on," said Mai.
Copyright by Vietnam News Agency
August 26, 2008
VIET NAM: Internet helps warm hearts of the elderly
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HANOI, Viet Nam (Viet Nam News Agency) August 26, 2008:
By Ha Nguyen
Old dogs, new tricks: Retired and elderly people join a computer class in Ho Chi Minh City. VNS Photo.
Computers these days have become more and more popular, not only for youths, but also for the elderly. In fact, for many elderly people, computers have become part of everyday life.
Sixty-five-year-old widower Nguyen Quoc Huy began learning how to use the computer just last month. He said that he was now rather fluent in his e-mail technique, and particularly liked sending them to his darling.
"Two months ago, I couldn’t understand why my seventh-grade nephew was so interested in the computer. He’d even forget to eat or do his homework he was so busy on it.
"One day, I asked him to teach me how to use it. And after a week, I knew nothing. I thought it was very difficult, so I enrolled in a computer class.
"Almost all of my classmates were elderly, like me. They were already retired and some of them were widows or widowers."
Huy said that apart from learning how to use a computer, he had also formed relationships with many new friends, including a widow named Lam.
"After one week, since we were all so interested, most of us knew how to perform simple operations on the computer, like how to chat or send e-mails.
"Chatting is particularly great for elderly people like us, because we’ve already retired, but still like to meet new friends and share our experiences with others," said Huy.
Since meeting at the centre, 60-year-old Vu Thi Lam and Huy had become very close, and were even making plans to have a wedding by the end of the year, according to Lam.
She added that thanks to the Internet, many people, particularly elderly, felt less lonely at home.
"We share both good news and sad stories with each other through chatting and e-mails, whereas before it was difficult if I were having a problem and needed someone to talk to, especially since my husband died 10 years ago.
"Since joining the computer class and meeting Huy, I’m very pleased with my life. We e-mail each other about everything, but some topics we can chat with each other about for hours, like talking about beloved old songs or a poem that we both enjoy," said Lam.
She said that she also knew how to keep an everyday blog, to write things that inspired her.
"Writing a blog helps me feel more active compared with before. I feel so much younger these days."
One classmate, Trinh Van Nguyen, said that he first learned about the computer in order to read news on the internet, but later he also found out how to visit Google and search for information regarding his plant research.
"The internet is great. I can find so many things for my research," said Nguyen, adding that the internet helped users, particularly Vietnamese, become closer to the rest of the world."
The centre’s manager said that since computer classes opened in April 2007, more than 4,000 students had attended, and many lonely hearts had found new friends.
"Every day after exercise and breakfast, my widow mother sits before the computer, checking her e-mail and writing her blog. I can even tell by visiting her blog that she has many friends. And she shares many things with them, such as that she has felt lonely, even though she lives with her only daughter’s family," Truong Le Mai, a foreign company director, told Viet Nam News.
"My daughter and her husband work all day and return home very late at night, while their two children also come back late from their semi-boarding schools. They rarely stay at home on the weekend because they’re always going on trips or visiting friends," the mother’s blog reads.
"Reading my mother’s blog, I realised that I had made so many mistakes toward her. And I’m so sorry, mother. We will all pay you more mind from now on," said Mai.
Copyright by Vietnam News Agency
Old dogs, new tricks: Retired and elderly people join a computer class in Ho Chi Minh City. VNS Photo.
Computers these days have become more and more popular, not only for youths, but also for the elderly. In fact, for many elderly people, computers have become part of everyday life.
Sixty-five-year-old widower Nguyen Quoc Huy began learning how to use the computer just last month. He said that he was now rather fluent in his e-mail technique, and particularly liked sending them to his darling.
"Two months ago, I couldn’t understand why my seventh-grade nephew was so interested in the computer. He’d even forget to eat or do his homework he was so busy on it.
"One day, I asked him to teach me how to use it. And after a week, I knew nothing. I thought it was very difficult, so I enrolled in a computer class.
"Almost all of my classmates were elderly, like me. They were already retired and some of them were widows or widowers."
Huy said that apart from learning how to use a computer, he had also formed relationships with many new friends, including a widow named Lam.
"After one week, since we were all so interested, most of us knew how to perform simple operations on the computer, like how to chat or send e-mails.
"Chatting is particularly great for elderly people like us, because we’ve already retired, but still like to meet new friends and share our experiences with others," said Huy.
Since meeting at the centre, 60-year-old Vu Thi Lam and Huy had become very close, and were even making plans to have a wedding by the end of the year, according to Lam.
She added that thanks to the Internet, many people, particularly elderly, felt less lonely at home.
"We share both good news and sad stories with each other through chatting and e-mails, whereas before it was difficult if I were having a problem and needed someone to talk to, especially since my husband died 10 years ago.
"Since joining the computer class and meeting Huy, I’m very pleased with my life. We e-mail each other about everything, but some topics we can chat with each other about for hours, like talking about beloved old songs or a poem that we both enjoy," said Lam.
She said that she also knew how to keep an everyday blog, to write things that inspired her.
"Writing a blog helps me feel more active compared with before. I feel so much younger these days."
One classmate, Trinh Van Nguyen, said that he first learned about the computer in order to read news on the internet, but later he also found out how to visit Google and search for information regarding his plant research.
"The internet is great. I can find so many things for my research," said Nguyen, adding that the internet helped users, particularly Vietnamese, become closer to the rest of the world."
The centre’s manager said that since computer classes opened in April 2007, more than 4,000 students had attended, and many lonely hearts had found new friends.
"Every day after exercise and breakfast, my widow mother sits before the computer, checking her e-mail and writing her blog. I can even tell by visiting her blog that she has many friends. And she shares many things with them, such as that she has felt lonely, even though she lives with her only daughter’s family," Truong Le Mai, a foreign company director, told Viet Nam News.
"My daughter and her husband work all day and return home very late at night, while their two children also come back late from their semi-boarding schools. They rarely stay at home on the weekend because they’re always going on trips or visiting friends," the mother’s blog reads.
"Reading my mother’s blog, I realised that I had made so many mistakes toward her. And I’m so sorry, mother. We will all pay you more mind from now on," said Mai.
Copyright by Vietnam News Agency
