Monday, May 22, 2006

Baby in Cistern

On 15 May morning (the Monday after Wesak Day) a shopper flushed the clean toilet and suddenly, instead of water, blood filled the bowl. It came from the cistern. She screamed her head off and the cleaner rushed in. The cleaner lifted the cistern lid and there was a bloated baby boy, blue black and maggoty, half stuck in the cistern. News papers carried the news on follwing day.

Kina who resides in Pasir Gudang said that was not the first time somebody abandoned a baby at the Kompleks Pusat Bandar Pasir Gudang. She asked why is it most of them babies are Malays. Could it be because we, Malays, abhor these out of wedlock child?

Could be, hence the term anak haram and not anak cinta (lovechild).

Kina said maybe if we have shown a bit more compassion these babies would not have ended up in cisterns or bowls. "Bukannya nak menyokong zina, tapi kan anak-anak ini tak berdosa?"

True, but the sad reality remains that people are not very nice to anak gampang (another not very nice term for love child). What if the Welfare Department trumpeted a campaign for suraus and masjids to have baskets for these unfortunate babies. Let me guess: Some clever people would say, " We are not condoning zina. This action symbolises support for immoral acts."

Have any of these clever people seen how the bloated babies look like? Not very nice. The image would stay in your unconscious and claim your peaceful slumber. Somebody clever however, must think of some ways to stop zina (if they are seriously against it) and stop these infanticide. It is cruel and dehumanised whoever did it.

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