Showing the determination of the retired Chinese population not
to be left out of the computer boom, a web-page designing contest
in Shanghai targeted exclusively for the over-50 has attracted over
5,000 entries, according to the organizer on Tuesday.
The contest is aimed at encouraging more and more senior
citizens in Shanghai to learn more about the Internet, said Ma
Haitao, executive vice secretary-general of the Shanghai Internet
Services Association, a non-governmental organization.
Participants are expected to submit their work to the organizer
by Nov. 25. A period of on-line voting will follow with the results
published on Nov. 30, Ma said.
Finalists will receive free training on web page designing and
the eldest participant will be awarded "The Most Senior
Participant" honorary title, he said. It is expected that more
elderly people will sign up for the contest by the end of October
deadline, he added.
.
"We elderly people should improve ourselves with the Internet to
shorten the distance between us and the young people," said
60-year-old participant Wang Zhiqiang.
The contest has won the support of the local government
authorities concerned, such as the Shanghai Municipal
Informatization Commission. With about 30 million personal web
pages, China can give elderly people a necessary pulpit to explore
web-designing as Shanghai's over-60 population accounts for 2.6
million out of the city's population of 17 million, according to
Ma.
(Xinhua News Agency October 11, 2006)