THERE is a story going around about a father who called up a tech support line to
get some help. ``My 10-year
old son and I are trying to set up our computer for Internet access,'' said the father.
``Okay sir, could you please get
your son on the line,'' said the tech support guy.
Yes, it would seem that the young
have taken over the computer world, and they rule the Internet. They can adapt easily to
new changes in technology, and they have an uncanny affinity for it.
Old folks, well, they're still
struggling to understand how to programme their VCRs.
Not quite true anymore. All over the
world, an increasing number of senior citizens are getting into technology, and many are
now online.
In.Tech speaks to three senior
citizen who have taken technology by the horns. They're still wrestling with it, but
they're already warming up to the idea, and are definitely enjoying it.
The instant publisher While most of
his contemporaries are enjoying their twilight years in prayer, the energetic 71-year old
La Salle brother, Vincent Corkery, has found a new profession as an ``instant reporter.''
And the Killarney-born Irishman
could teach his younger peers a thing or two about his craft.
At a recent conference, Corkery
recorded the proceedings on his Acer Extensa 500DX notebook computer, and whipped out
copies via his Canon BubbleJet for all the participants as soon as the session ended.
``Totally amazing,'' declared one
participant, who added that Corkery's record was useful reading for reflection and future
reference.
Another participant at the
conference said she even offered Corkery a job after she saw what he could do.
The soft-spoken Corkery is a
director at the La Salle Centre in Ipoh, and is actively involved with the Brothers
Council and Malaysian Catholic Education Council.
Born in the picturesque Irish
countryside, he came to Malaysia when he was 29-years old, as the vice-principal of St
Michael's Institution Ipoh.
Corkery is modest about his ability,
and says his role is to ``monitor'' proceedings. His real interest lies elsewhere.
``Everyone above 60 should be
entitled to choose their form of madness, and mine is rock-climbing,'' adds the man who
cycles 16km daily to church.
He is not sure how he learned to
type so fast as he never had formal lessons, but thinks it has something to do with
playing the organ.
``I take great delight in being able
to get up from my chair when everyone else does, and hand them printouts of a discussion
as soon as a session ends,'' he says.
He is quick to say that the
conferences he attends are not typical conventions, but cater to a specific group, and
this simplifies his reporting task.
``My work is to listen, and deliver
the thoughts that are expressed in simple English.''
Corkery has been using a PC since
the early 80s, and feels he has travelled a long way with technology, and with the humble
wordprocessor in particular, having progressed from Wordstar to MS Word and PageMaker
today.
He ardently believes that the PC is
a fun and terrific tool for collecting input. He now also ranges across the Internet in
search of useful information.
Have PC will travel Corkery takes
immense pride in his ``reporting'' career, which began in 1996. He says he likes
information to be presented in a certain way; and his personal style imbues his reports.
``A computer gives you the ability
to capture various points together on a single sheet of paper to give you a `total
picture.' It then allows you to contract and expand the points according to your choice.
You can't do that with a typewriter,'' he says.
Corkery has been finding his
reporting experiences very enriching. At a programme in Thailand last year, 100 young
Catholic brothers from all over Asia were happy to receive his notes after the conference,
as not all of them were that conversant in English.
In May next year, Corkery will be
attending a theologians conference in Rome to document the proceedings.
Although he feels he would be out of
his depth, a senior official of the Catholic Church was so impressed with Corkery's skill
at recording the proceedings of the Thailand conference that he invited the latter to do
the same for the four-day Rome conference.
Still, despite his anxiety, Corkery
welcomes the challenge of being able to capture the nuances of proceedings that would
delivered in various accents, and simplifying it all for everyone else's consumption.
``I pray each time before starting
out and constantly surprise myself,'' he says, adding that he feels he's divinely guided.
Multimedia combo Chin Pak Kooi has
combined his love for amateur radio with the Internet. He uses the radio to communicate
with his friends from all over the world, and the Internet as a way to get additional
information for his conversations.
``For instance, when I speak to a
someone of a different culture, I take time online to find out about his culture to
understand it better,'' says the retired State Education Department financial clerk.
The 60-year-old Chin's fascination
with amateur radio began when he was a 15-year-old student at Sekolah Menengah Anderson.
``My father did not encourage this,
as he didn't want it to affect my studies,'' Chin says, adding that he finally got his
amateur radio licence in 1970.
He says there are many similarities
between amateur radio and the Internet, and that ``the main difference between the two is
cost. Radio communications is far cheaper as it does not involve telecommunication
costs.''
Chin's amateur radio set is also
connected to an ancient 286 PC and modem for keyboard communication. He also shares the
use of a Pentium multimedia PC with his two daughters and son.
When Chin wanted to set up a relay
station in Kledang Hill in Ipoh, he went online for help and to source for components.
``The Net made it much easier to look for parts, as there are special interest groups
willing to lend a hand,'' he says.
A frequent participant at electronic
newsgroups, he also surfs sites for news and medical, electronics and cultural
information. He admits that he's learned about technology through trial and error.
Chin, who also helps his wife sell
insurance policies, lists the ICQ chat software and IPhone (a voice over Internet Protocol
application) as the closest to offering the instantaneous communication you get with
amateur radio. ``Both apps offer voice-like radio communications,'' he points out.
Despite the close similarities, Chin
still prefers chatting via amateur radio, saying amateur radio participants are generally
more ``refined'' than net chatters.
``You can be chatting amiably online
when someone would suddenly make a crude retort,'' he says, adding that amateur radio
users are required to sit for exams before they are issued a licence, unlike the Net which
is free for all.
Although the Internet is exciting
and has a lot of promise, Chin thinks it would take a while before its users treat it with
the respect it deserves.
A will to learn You're never too old
to learn, says Patrick Tan, a former businessman whose first attempt to foray into
cyberspace was spoilt by what he calls ``skirmishes.''
When Mimos first introduced its
Internet service more than five years ago, Tan's attempts to get online met with a series
of dead ends.
``Mimos was not very
customer-friendly then, and its attitude put off newbies like me,'' he claims.
But when he opted for early
retirement in 1996, Tan -- who turns 55 this year -- decided try his luck again. Telekom
Malaysia has then just introduced its TMnet Internet access service, and he promptly
signed up with the new provider.
His two daughters had also just left
to further their studies abroad, giving him greater impetus to get connected.
``It just made more sense to
communicate with them via e-mail,'' he says.
Getting online opened up a whole new
world for Tan, who explored it as eagerly as a kid let loose in a playground for the first
time.
Over time, he even stopped buying
newspapers and subscribing to foreign magazines, preferring to read them online at a
fraction of the cost.
So he opted for popular online news,
motoring and photography magazines. Among them were The Australian, South China Morning
Post, Sydney Morning Herald, Times, Asiaweek, the Far Eastern Economic Review and Car
& Driver.
``In the beginning, I signed up for
a whole slew of publications to download and read offline. But it got tedious, so now I
read a limited few,'' he says.
When the currency crunch came along,
Tan had to stop subscribing to the foreign online magazines as the exchange rate proved
too costly.
Free and sharing Tan also downloads
and explores a whole bunch of programs -- shareware, trialware, freeware, utilities and
just about ``everything under the sun.''
He also enjoys scanning old
black-and-white photographs from his younger days, and e-mails them to friends and family
to remind them of their early days.
``Sometimes, I take pictures of my
wife's cooking on my digital camera, scan them on the PC, and e-mail them to my daughters
just to show them what they're missing,'' he chuckles.
Tan still thinks he has a long way
to go in the IT world. He only recently decided to learn how to use graphics software to
create pictures and posters.
A ``do it yourself'' man, he also
loves gadgets and often visit sites with information that can be used to support his
mechanical and electronic hobbies.
He spends two hours online daily,
and rings up an average of RM200 on monthly Internet phone bills alone.
Next on his agenda is learning how
to use CAD/CAE programs so he can combine that with his love for cars.
Tan recently upgraded his old Cyrix
to an Intel P200MMX, and treats the PC like any other appliance in his toolbox.
``I really enjoy using the PC and
feel that I am just at the starting point. There is so much more to learn and do. And it
is fun,'' he says.
Links:
A community of seniors
The whys and wherefores
Teaching 'em new tricks
Youngsters set to soar
Published in In.Tech, Star Publications (M) Bhd.