Realities

I read a sad article few days ago in The Star Paper. A young mum committed suicide with her 2 small children at the railway track. And it all began with an argument with her husband who had lost his job recently.

The newspaper reported that they had some financial difficulties. What most people assumed would be a common tiff between husband and wife turned out to be an ending so devastating.

Then there was this story this morning about children of sex workers growing up in Chow Kit, an area just a stone's throw away from the renowned Petronas Twin Towers.

These sex workers are either drug addicts or women who are forced into prostitution. The highlight of the article is about the plight of these children who often sleep along alleys while waiting for their mothers to finish with their clients.

Some of these children have started to write their names at the age of 10, when children at this age are exploring the digital age.

Then we have the urban and financially stable parents/couples who sometimes argue over small matters but due to lack of self control, display acts of violence and words of abuse upon each other.

I couldn't help but wonder about the troubles of human race. Growing up in a less than perfect family makes me feel alot about these things.

This is especially after I became a mum myself, when I start to understand how strong my mum has been.

It brings me also a sense of gratitude cos she has stood firm for my brother and myself. This hasn't been easy unless you know the emotional traumas my dad put her through in the early days.

There is a loud call for women to be treated with more respect since our grandmothers' days and today. Yet, in this modern age of technological advancement and innovation, education has done little to influence this basic and simple truth among some.

May all women remain strong and steadfast in our call as members of the so-called weaker gender. May we live with dignity as individuals, wives and mothers to our children.