A friend named Ah Fatt

Things didn't go well with Ah Fatt today. I feel so much pity for him. He was wearing his torn shoes to work while trying to avoid other noticing the soles were actually torn. He was a little embarassed but he has not enough to buy himself a new pair.

At work he met with some difficult people. He tried so hard to explain but people just don't seem to understand. I know he has done so much to make his future better but the call is not up to him, it's above him. I could feel down his heart, he is yearning for more, but his out look disguised his true feelings. He is having lower self-esteem than it seems.

Ah Fatt has another problem. He merely earns enough just for himself but he has to own the debt of his mother. Ah Fatt told me about his childhood during lunch. It's really heart wrenching to look at him, the way he suffered through his childhood and the past has to relive again and again.

The other day I went to this restaurant. There were a few kids around the ages of 10 to 12 working. An obvious child labour. I have certain admiration on them. Never complain once, but working to feed themselves. Kids at their age should be in school and loved. But they don't have the choice. They have to work like the adults or else they have to go empty stomach. One might ask, why are these unfortunate souls live on this earth? Is there a purpose of being born and left unattended. What the parents were thinking? That kids are just a toy and in their hand for manipulation. Poor kids, who will go into a vicious cycle following the footsteps of their parents.

So there was a family right across my table. This kid was crying and asking for something. The dad was very upset and tried to calm the kid. Obviously like a spoilt brat. But having 2 different phenomena in 1 place had given me something to ponder on. That we have no choice when it comes to selecting parents, or more to that, life. Some people come easy with life. Some don't.

You may argue that one can be in control in life. We choose our life and how we live with it. But to balance the ecosystem, life is very much interdependant. It's not enough just to say that you shove the problems aside and avoid the people who give you problem. Life is more complicated than that. You can't discard the people around you just like that, especially your family and your colleagues. Thus life has force you to come to terms to things like this.

Either you like it or not, you have to live with it, unless you choose not to live. I feel so bad for Ah Fatt, despite of so many problems he has, he has to relive it day by day. Just when he thought life would be better by himself, he was actually wrong, coz he can't discard anybody just like that.

I would really like to see someday, people like Ah Fatt are being given a chance to make his own life. Before I left today, I spotted a small smile on Ah Fatt's face when he spoke to my face, 'life goes on.'