We had a nice conversation on the way back even though Kak Su did most of the talking while Maya and me did most of the listening.

Kak Su related to us an incident involving her next-door neighbours and one of their children. She was telling us about a complaint she received about her maid and guess who did the complaining? The little girl of the neighbours, who happens to be in K2. Apparently, she accused Kak Su's maid of hitting her head repeatedly on one occasion. She did not come directly to Kak Su but instead told the tale to her mother, who in turn confronted my dear colleague.

Kak Su was horrified of course but first and foremost she checked with her maid to confirm whether the complaint was true. The maid in turn became horrified and denied any knowledge of the incident. It was then that Kak Su's eldest child spoke up:

"Bibik(the maid) never did anything to her(the little girl). That girl likes to tell tales because we(him and his siblings) have seen her say one thing and do another thing the next. Bibik is innocent."

Kak Su was relieved to hear that because she herself had heard the same little girl carrying tales about one of their neighbours who had stayed in the block for as long as Kak Su could remember. Kak Su was convinced of the truth and straightaway notified the mother.

As I continued the second half of my journey home, there were these 3 primary school boys who boarded the bus and sat opposite me on the left. I didn't take any notice of them until a loud ringing tone was heard. No prizes for guessing the owner of the phone. It was then that I realised children nowadays are becoming more and more sophisticated. They are more independent, more vocal, more strong-willed and definitely have parents who are far richer than those in my time. It's not such a surprise to learn that these children thus have more pocket money to spare and definitely more accessories to boot. My my, such lucky children!

However, as much as I can say that they're lucky, fortunate etc, it's also fair to say that they too have their own fair share of problems. Children as young as ten nowadays have been sexually abused; suffer from depression and withdrawal symptoms; encounter brutal pressure from school, parents, friends or peers; are tensed up most of the time, having the sense of urgency to excel and do well; are all the more confused about their identities, asking questions pertaining to gender, culture and so on. With such burdens that they have to carry on their shoulders, it is no wonder that more and more children are admitted to hospitals and mental institutions, where they have to undergo counselling and therapy.

I do feel sorry for these children. The claim that most of them originate from broken relationships and families is not entirely true. Who ever said that only the poor are troubled?

With more luxuries come more woes.

I suppose today's entry has been influenced by my EED101 module for which I attempted the exam just now. Note : "attempted". I am not confident of getting a high mark. Who is? It's not an easy module to battle with, considering its theories formulated by Piaget, Kohlberg et al. There has always been a standard casualty rate for the module each year. However, I feel that the questions were fairly manageable, save for the last two.

I keep my fingers crossed.