Daily Lessons from Life 09 February 2011 - "Beggars" Village

"ABDUCTED, sold, and forced to be beggars - AsiaOne 9 February 2011

This might not be news to many in China but the issue is making waves once again due to some disturbing revelations.

The epicentre of the child beggar syndicate has been traced to Gongxiao village in Anhui province, where villagers depend on the trade to make money.

According to various news reports in China, the villagers have been plying this trade for over a decade and made quite a fortune from it.

The cycle is vicious - numerous kids are sold to the villagers, who then decapitate their limbs, chain and lock them up in cages at night, and eventually sell or rent them to various cities in China to beg.

Renting a child beggar costs 3,000 yuan (S$580) a year and buying one costs 6,000 yuan (S$1,161), said a report in news.163.com.

Some of these children end up seeking vengeance when they grow up, by forcing other children into the same fate as theirs."

A sad story to learn in one of the fastest growing economies of the world!

Lessons for me are:

1. if it makes money, lets do it. Is it that simple? Do we not have any humanity left in a rapidly commercialized world?;

2. what do these people do with their 'hard earned' money? To consume? To consume on WHAT for heaven sake?;

3. is this really the price society must pay for 'progressing' economically?;

4. as for those who so-called: 'took revenge' by forcing others to ply the same trade with the same cruelty, I said: this is just an excuse. If you are caught, you will have to pay for it. No 'if' and 'but' about this!! Beware!!

I could not do anything here. I don't normally give money to beggars to start with. I will be happy to buy them a meal if they really appeared to be genuine people fallen into hard time while venturing away from their peaceful and 'not-in-the-city' hometowns into big cities!!

The people of the land need to decide what do they want from 'progressing economically'!