Daily Lesson from Life 29 November 2008

"Parents forced to beg
Blind parents of a high-ranking Malaysian official say that they had no one to take care of them. -Sat, Nov 29, 2008 The Star

THE parents of a high-ranking government officer have been arrested for begging in Kangar, reported Nanyang Siang Pau.

They were among nine beggars rounded up by Perlis Social Welfare Department in an operation at a night market on Wednesday.


The couple, who are blind, said they were forced to beg as they had no one to take care of them.

Perlis Social Welfare Depart-ment deputy director Mastura Abd Rahim said the beggars, including two foreign men, were aged 60 and above. Most were disabled.


Mastura said the local beggars were receiving welfare aid from the department. She said children should not abandon their old and handicapped parents, and leave them to beg for food."

This is not a good story to read. Blind parents of a high-ranking government officer, presumably financially well off, were left to beg for a living.

However, without any more information, I reserved my judgement on if the child of the blind parents has been infidial child. WHY? When relationship broke down, parents or otherwise are forgotten when emotion rules over rationality and hence morality!

Lessons for me are:

1. do not jumped to conclusion based on initial information and despite on face value the accused seemed to be a guilty party! Jumping too quick to conclusion may caused a concussion as we plunge headlong!;

2. the report is too terse and contains insufficient information to form an opinion. e.g. why were the parents blind and on the street begging when the child supposedly is well to do financially? could it be ruined relationship or infidelity?;

3. while it is great to think that if we have children, our children will take care of us when we are old and frail, it is better not to rely on it and plan for your old age to be independent! Sometimes our children may have more problems than they could handled without worrying about supporting us. Of course it does not mean the children will abandon the parents when they do come knocking on the door for help - even if all have to stretched to support the aged parents! This is a controversial suggestion as it is not what we grow up to believe in - that as filial children we must support our parents no matter what. Just like they did when we were helpless babies that need their care and investment in money to help us grow!

May the high-ranking government officer reunites with the blind parents and sort out whatever the issues may be within the family.