A job is more than just a job,especially to the older generation."It's not the money that matters,but the sense of selfworth," 56yearold Cheng Wonlan said.So,every day Ms Cheng carries a bag of parcels,letters and documents of all shapes and sizes and does her rounds in North Point.She's a courier . Five years ago,Ms Cheng was a nurse at a private clinic.She had worked there for almost 30 years but was made jobless when the doctor migrated .It was extremely difficult for her to find another job."People do not trust my ability when they learn how old I am," she said.After two years of searching,the mother of two eventually found another nursing job.But then after two years,she quit.Why? "My colleagues were young and they didn't understand me because of my age.They often asked me,'You are so old;what are you working for?' I was very unhappy." she said.So while the rest of her family left for work,she was left to lonely boredom at home.The urge to work drove her to suffering.Then,one of Ms Cheng's neighbours told her about Employee's Retraining Board (ERB) offering retraining courses for older people on specific occupations,such as convenience store assistants,junior clerks and so on. "I was interested in courier work.I didn't think my age was a barrier because I was fit and healthy.So I thought why not give it a try." she said.Upon graduation from the ERB,Ms Cheng was offered a job by the Speeding Shuttle Courier Service Company Limited.But then Ms Cheng was faced with a conflict:she was caught between honour and employment.It took Ms Cheng 24 hours to make up her mind and eventually came to the conclusion that there was nothing wrong or embarrassing about doing the job.So she took heart and went off to work as a courier. Ms Cheng's employer is delighted with her,"Ms Cheng has been working with us for two months and has shown a good responsible attitude to work."Anthony Chong,who runs the company,said.Currently,Mr Chong has 60 couriers working for his company:five of them are over fifty,four of whom have been through the ERB plan.Mr Chong said he hired older people because they were able and reliable."Age is not an important factor but attitude is.Many old people are more capable than the youngsters.They will not run from difficulties but the young ones will," he said."It is not easy to recruit   young people since they shy away from hardship and challenges." Why was it difficult for Ms Cheng to find another nursing job?
Nursing clinics were hard to find. People thought that old people couldn't be trusted. People thought she was too old to take on a new job. People didn't think she had enough working experience.