【明報專訊】THE GOVERNMENT has suggested encouraging "young-olds" aged between 65 and 74 to return to the job market, with Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung saying the government will take the initiative to implement policies to this end. He mentioned that Hong Kong's workforce participation rate among elderly people has increased significantly in the past decade, and the rise was particularly prominent in the 65-74 age group. However, the participation rate was still much lower than that in other Asian countries, such as Japan, Singapore and South Korea. Amid the challenges of population ageing, encouraging prolonged employment or re-employment of the elderly is certainly an important direction in unleashing the potential of the local working population and promoting "active ageing". But encouraging elderly employment cannot be achieved by merely shouting slogans. The government must formulate appropriate policies that can protect the rights of the "young-old" workforce and avoid the exploitation of elderly employees who lack bargaining power by unscrupulous employers.