the contrasting fortunes of this world

just watched an australian produced documentary on how two 14 year old girls were conned into taking a job at batam that was in fact prostitution.

these girls have not even started menstruating yet and already they had to endure having 5 men every night and are tested positive for verenial diseases. i only pray they did not get HIV

these girls left their home towns because they wanted to escape the poverty cycle. they come from villages so poor the parents cannot afford to send them to school. they make a living from farming yet all they own is one small plot of land without even a chicken of their own let alone cattle or sheep.

the reason why some people are so eager to have such young girls in batam are because there are many perverted, sick men from malaysia and singapore who are more than willing to take the 1/2 hour ferry ride to batam so that they can enjoy cheap sex without having to worry about getting the girl pregnant. after all, she has not even started ovulating yet. what could be more convenient than that for them right?

as a singaporean, it is emberassing for me to say that, from the looks of it, it seems like most of the customers are singaporean. it is easy to say "let's boycott batam" but frankly that won't solve the problem and perhaps even irrepsonsible. we shouldn't boycott an island so in need of our tourist dollar. but we should be spending that tourist dollar on beach resorts, elephant rides and heck even a casino if possible. almost anything is better than spending the money on prostitution or drugs.

the best way we can stop this atrocity from happening is not by donating money to rescue those young girls. it is by sending out a message that if those sex-driven men want sex they better make sure the girl is a willing above age prositute or face tough punishment. at the very least can we offer free condoms to them before they board the ferry? then again that would only encourage them further won't it?

here i was a few days ago complaining about the weather. how utterly, emberassingly pathetic that now sounds in comparison to what i just watched.

as my pastor once said, it is pointless to ask why i have such a wonderful comfortable life when i could have been born into a poor rural family just like that girl instead. what is more important is to ask HOW we should make use of the gifts God has given us. i know HE has blessed me with the ability to make a difference to others, be it in a small or big way. and i just have got to make sure i fulfil that potential in me.