Facility, Mentality, Affordability

I read a news a couple of days ago about a man and his family living under a bridge. He was detained as he was a suspect for stealing construction equipment. When he was asked what his address was, he wrote there, under a bridge. He could not afford to pay the rent of his previous house, so he was kicked out from the house.

A few days ago I watched a Malay drama on Astro Oasis. It was totally unintentional as I was just browsing through the channels. The title of the drama was “ Rahmat…..Ana Nak Susu” which was about a rich man who was robbed and he had to be a beggar for a whole day before he could go back. He encountered so many people, people who had no money to buy food, people who had to be a prostitute just to buy some food for her daughter, people who had to sell things at the roadside as they cannot afford the plush shops in shopping malls. Only when he experienced all these, he realized that he should be more compassionate about people on the street rather than just concentrating on his business.

I have a friend who volunteers for an NGO, Belamiskin(Pertubuhan Membela Miskin Tegar Malaysia), where they give foods and donations to people who are in need. He sometimes volunteers to teach there where they provide free tuition to school kids. We sometimes discussed about this and he told me how he felt pity for the people who came to the place. Most of them were from nearby area and could not afford to buy food for their family so they had to rely on NGO like this in order for them to survive. They did not have enough food or money but when they got to eat the food there, the smile on their face really lit up the day, he said. Maybe you would want to join their Facebook group.

Today I read a news how money were spent unnecessarily based on the Auditor General Report 2010. While some school kids could not get a decent meal, some buildings were built without following the specifications which led to a ballooning cost. It is good that we have a lot of development such as more constructions. But the problem is when we concentrate more on developments of concretes and stones rather than the developments of human beings. The poor get poorer while the rich get even richer. I mean, why would people be bothered about ethics and what happens around them when they cannot even fill their stomach with some decent food or having a decent shelter from the sun and the rain? So in the end, what we have are first world facilities but people with third world mentalities.