It’s never too late to chase your dream

From opening supermarkets to deep sea research missions, senior citizens in China are proving that age is no barrier in achieving what you want in life.

AGE is never a barrier in realising one’s dream.

A 98-year-old granny proved this to the world when she opened her first supermarket in Changchun, the capital of China’s northeastern Jilin province, last year.

“I have dreamed of opening a small supermarket for many years and I believe it’s never too late to start,” Jiang Naijun told local media.

The nonagenarian named her outlet 97 Supermarket because that was her age when her dream came true.

She gathered some 20,000 yuan (RM12,500) from 52 investors via a crowdfunding campaign to start the business.

While some people doubted her ability to run a modern supermarket, Jiang said she could learn and ultimately proved them wrong.

“Nobody should stop a senior citizen from realising her dream. I learned to use the cash register machine and found out about QR codes and mobile apps for e-payment,” she added.

Every morning, Jiang works at the supermarket for four hours before taking a lunch break.

After that, she spends another two hours there to make sure everything runs smoothly.

“It’s never too late to realise your dream and I will keep working until I can’t move,” she said.

Previously, Jiang was a factory worker with a meagre salary of 18 yuan (RM15) per month, while her teacher husband earned 41 yuan (RM26).

“Our incomes were barely enough for daily life,” she recalled.

After retiring, she desperately needed to find another source of income to sustain the family.

After trying several businesses, she decided to open a logo-making workshop with help from her four children.

She was already 66 then.

“It was really hard in the beginning. We only had basic tools such as a hammer, scissors and pincer pliers.

“Worse still, none of us had mastered the techniques and we didn’t have enough money to buy raw materials,” she told China Daily.

However, the family persevered by picking up skills from experienced craftsmen and developing machines to make their production more efficient.

Within a few years, the small workshop grew into a large-scale company with some 500 employees.

In 2000, Jiang retired and passed the business to her children, but she did not stop there.

“I wanted to do more for society,” she said.

Jiang did so by actively participating in charity activities, including sponsoring a welfare home with over 100 children.

“I came from a very poor background. I have been through hardship and now that my life is getting better, I hope to help those in need,” she added.

Her little supermarket makes a profit of about 5,000 yuan (RM3,100) per month.

Half of the money is channelled to the welfare home, while another 30% is shared by the shareholders.

The remaining amount goes towards expanding the business or purchasing necessities for the underpriviledged, she explained.

A video on Jiang’s story has become one of the most shared clips online.

Her courage and love for the children at the welfare home have inspired many netizens, who call her “The Amazing Granny”.

One of them wrote: “If a 98-yearold granny can do it, what reason do we have not to work hard for our dreams?”

Some who lived in the same city have voiced their support for Jiang, saying that they would shop at her store.

Many people also wished her excellent health.

Another senior citizen has also proven that though he might be old, he is not a liability to the nation.

Wang Pinxian, an 82-year-old geologist, has become the oldest passenger to embark on a deep sea research mission in the South China Sea in a submersible.

Wang travelled in the vehicle named Shenhai Yongshi (Deep Sea Warrior) with another researcher to a depth of 1,410m to conduct a more than eight-hour underwater study.

“We found a cold seep bio-group mainly consisting of feather duster worms and sea mussels,” the academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences told Xinhua, adding that they also discovered a special biogroup of cold water coral and sponges.

“The journey reminded me of Alice’s adventures in Wonderland, and I just came back from the fairyland,” Wang said as he climbed out of the submersible last week.

On the streets and at the parks of Shanghai, an elderly Chinese man has been seen greeting foreigners and chatting with them in fluent English.

According to a video clip, believed to be taken by one of the visitors who bumped into the man, he learned the language on his own after receiving encouragement from his grandson.

“Sometimes I say I’m too old to learn. But my grandson says that anybody who stops learning is old, while those who keep on learning stay young,” he said to the camera.

He said he was 93, although he did not disclose his name.

With a walking stick in his hand, the man advised those who wished to pick up a new language: “Don’t be shy, just speak. It doesn’t matter if you get it wrong.”