The other side of the story

Sometimes we are so wrapped up in our own lives that we fail to see how others live theirs.There was a recent case of a father beating his 17 year old son to death because he tried to earn a little extra money for the family to have a decent " Break Fast " meal which hitherto consisted of a banana and just water.Imagine having this after having gone one whole day without food. Compare this with the culture of " Buka Puasa " where people feast upon breaking fast normally with lots of food unfinished on their plates and wasted.There are many of us who are so fortunate that we fail to count our blessings and value what we have.It is only when the plights of the unfortunate are highlighted that we perhaps would take a step backwards and think.Never look down on people who take handouts ...they may have reasons which we may never have thought about.I remember the time when I was Headmaster a teacher kept sending one particular little Indian boy to see me almost every day for not doing his homework and wearing dirty clothes .The boy was only 12 years old . When I spoke to him, unveiled a heart breaking story.His father had passed away committing suicide by taking weed poison and he was the eldest of five siblings.His mother was a rubber tapper and was off to work early in the morning.The boy had to look after his siblings before coming to school and he ate nothing before school.When he came home after school the mother would be back and have dinner ready for the family.Dinner was rice with curry water as they had no money to cook the curry with anything else. One would not imagine that some people can live such difficult lives.I called up the teacher and asked him had he ever bothered to find out the reason why the student was like that .He answered " No" and I told him he should be a bit more humane and check on problem students.I then took the boy and bought him two sets of uniform and shoes and told the cafeteria operator that this boy would come and eat there every day during break time and I would settle the bill. Slowly the boy improved on his studies and I was deeply touched when he gave me a hand made "Thank You" card when I was transferred out of the school.It goes to show that too often we are so concerned about ourselves and the things that we "lac" that we forget there are many people in worse shape than us and too often we fail to value the things that we have .Take health for example .I have heard of so many of my friends suffering from all kinds of ailments and it makes me realize how precious health is and how important it is to ensure that we follow a healthy lifestyle and always be thankful for what we have and not forget there are millions out there who dont even have the basic necessities of life .