Think about it....

17.11.2009

Tuesday

It has been a thought-provoking Tuesday.

Case 1
Our PD shared about the plight of a P5 Muslimah in a national school. Her father is a Muslim, a foreigner. Her mother is a non-Muslim, a local. Don't ask how they were married. Point is, she became the brunt of cruel jokes from her friends due to her background. That is not the end of it. Her parents divorced recently. Her father went back to his native country, leaving this underaged girl with her mother. Her mother puts her up for adoption, requesting that her foster parents be of the same religion as her. Imagine. A P5 Muslimah, trying hard to keep her faith, but is fighting a losing battle. Her foster parents do not stop her from practising her religion, but is not being encouraging either. Like in the month of Ramadhan, they of course did not wake her up for saum, nor prepare iftar for her.

She became the outcast of her own people when she did not fast.

Point is, where are all the self-groups who professed to fight for the interest and well-being of others ? There are a few red tapes to clear. Who will take the cause of this mere 11 year old Muslimah and be her champion? Who?

I have no answer.

Nor, (and I am ashamed to say this) am i her Champion.

Case 2
One of our own P4 student lost his mother to cancer a year ago. He never saw his biological father and had looked up to his doting stepfather as a real dad. But of late, his uniform was unironed when he turned up to school and friends reported him as not having breakfast nor pocket money to school. The worst was yet to come. We just found out recently that his stepfather was going to remarry and did not want him in the picture. Period. He was so adamant not to have this poor boy in his new family, that he actually packed this boy's clothes in a suitcase and left him, all alone at an MRT station. Yes. A 10 year old boy, with no mother, no home, alone with his life packed in his suitcase. He luckily had the mind to call up his grandmother, who came and took him home. He is now living with his uncle. From a quiet and docile boy, this boy has learnt to pull punches on his friends.

What would have happened if even his grandmother would not accept him?

I have no answer.

Just a deep sense of shame of the 'emotional cruelty' that a so called adult Muslim can do to a defenseless, 10 year old boy.

Case 3 (and all these happened on the same day!)

I was going to park my car by the roadside to get to a nearby bank atm when i noticed a traffic policeman by the side. Cursing my luck, i had to park inside the Interchange and had to walk a long distance to the bank. On my way back, and still thinking (!) about the policeman, two boys stopped me. They could not be more than 11 year olds. They carried what looked like camping bags, complete with nicely rolled up sleeping bags. This is roughly what transpired between us:

Boy 1 (has a very earnest look) : Cik, cik...cik ada dua fifty-cents tak? Boleh pinjam?

Me (giving my sternest look) : Untuk ape?

Boy 1 (still looking earnest) : Kite nak balik tapi tak cukup duit.. (at this point, he dropped a ten-cent coin)

I sighed.

Boy 1 : Tadi kita minta nyonya gemuk tu, tapi dia tak kasi.

Me (giving my sternest voice) : Yelah, awak minta orang duit, mana orang nak kasi!

I sat down at a nearby bench, rummaged through my coin box and took out a one dollar coin.

Me : Ok. Cik takde fifty-cents dua - ini cukup kan?

At this point, both looked at me with a confused expression.

Boy 1: cukup...saya tinggal Yishun...kawan saya ni tinggal Tampines...

Me (almost shouting): T-am-pi-nes! Kenapa jauh sangat?

Boy 1: Kita pergi camping kat Sentosa, teacher tinggalkan kat sini....

I sat down, took out another one dollar coin, took out fifty-five cents in two sets, and gave each of them $1.55. Yes. I felt so cheap...

Me: Okay, ambil duit ni, pergi balik terus, okay? Jangan pergi mane-mane lagi.awak tahu tak balik Tampines?

Boy 2: Tahu, naik bas -

Boy 1: Cik, ambillah duit ni -(he was trying to give me his last 10 cent coin)

I shook my head.

The last I saw them, they gave me a long, kind-of-grateful look.

I cried as i drove back to my mum's place. Maybe this was the straw that broke the camel's back.

If they had been my children, i surely hoped that some kind soul would help them go back home.
Why had their parents allowed them to go camping and expect them to go home by themselves?

Why didn't I call up their parents first, to inform that their children were going home?

Why had the teacher just left them there?!

Again, I have no answers.

Are these yet some more tales of how our people take care of their progeny? Young couple not mature enough to look after an unplanned pregnancy? Parents too busy trying to make ends meet to fully monitor the movement of their children?

What can we do to help?

If we are not part of the solution,
then we are part of the problem.

Think about it.
Or in the words of one wise Tok Karut -
Fikir-fikirkan lah...

I have no answers.