Leave us alone

 

The sight that I saw several years ago was appalling.We were at a hotel in the heart of KL and decided to have our dinner somewhere nearby.As we walked by ,we saw rows and rows of people , sleeping ,huddling on the pavement.I was petrified! They were like the zombies and the apparitions in some horror movies.

The buildings in that stretch of road had high fencing of barbed wires and spikes……. Well,I could never forget that .

The last recent visit to KL and we stayed at the same hotel,those haunting pictures were there no more.I heaved a sigh of relief.

But the expose by NST for two days on those runaway and homeless children opened a can of worms. These homeless people numbering more than a thousand are taking refuge in abandoned buildings around the city.And what is more embarrassing,these people do include runaway kids from home and they are bins and bintis.

SIGH

Leave us alone,they say.Even our parents are not worried about us. 

I had the experience on a number of occasions finding runaway kids.How traumatised were the parents when their loved ones decided to free away.

The kids were soon found but what had they bring to the parents?

Nothing but misery!

When a kid went MIA ,we scouted the empty buildings,the indon kongsis,with the heart pounding faster with each passing minute.We prayed with fervor ,no harm would come to her and her mother was near hysterical.And how we heaved a sigh of relief when the girl was found safe and sound.

Years back, a  relative of my former helper wasnt that lucky.As the family didnt have a transport,our help was needed to trace the girl.They found her,in a place that a mother would tell her child not to be near.

I asked the parent to make a police report but they declined.What can I say? And the girl was unfortunate . That's what I heard. I do not know what happened now.As I lost contact.

The girl from Kuantan by the name of Mia had gone MIA and what was sad was she is an intelligent girl.How a bright future is marred by some unfortunate reasons…..parents who dont care!But sometimes its the other way round….children who dont care!

Children,dont leave your home,however inconvenient your home is.Because its the place that is safe! Is it?

  image :street children of  manila…visayan org…googled picture.