Kuala Terengganu Chinatown

My mother grew up in Kuala Terengganu Chinatown. Most peranakan Chinese live here, and everybody here knew everybody. Most of those who stays here are of Hokkien descent. Some of them are filthy rich, some of them are moderately rich and some of them are very poor. One of my relatives happen to be one of the poorer ones, contrary to common belief, living in our ancestral home.

Lets name her Mrs. K (nothing to do with Siti Norhaliza). Her story is worth knowing. She has a husband who works as a manual labourer who travels to Ipoh every now and then to find odd jobs to support his family. They have 3 daughters A, B and C. Mrs. K had a tough life raising up her daughters while her husband travels to work. She can't find employment due to depression at one point of her life, while receiving very little money from her husband. Thus, she had to depend on the compassion of her neighbours to help with her household expenses (sometimes begging from her neighbours), and her daughters did not receive much parental care and good upbringing. Her well-to-do relatives did not do anything to help her. She died in a car accident many years ago.

Daughter A met a guy from Ipoh, and got married. Few years after her marriage, her husband had an affair with his sister-in-law, and divorced her. She is now left with two sons. She went to Kuala Lumpur to work, while leaving her sons to a caretaker in Ipoh since she can't afford bringing them along. She visits her sons once in a while.

Daughter B met a guy from Kuala Lumpur, and got married too. She always had a dream of opening a beauty saloon, and saved several thousands to realise her dreams. Sadly, her husband knew of her savings, cheated her to lend him the money to do business, and finally dumped her together with her children after having an affair with an immigrant woman from mainland China.

Daughter C stayed in Kuala Terengganu for many years, working at different places to support her living. She's lonely at home since her mother had passed away and her father is not at home, working. She longed for companionship, but lacked communication, social and educational skills to fit into the society. She happen to meet a guy recently, and had sexual relationship with him hoping that the guy would fall for her and eventually marry her. Now, she's married, yet living a hard life with her in-laws without any emotional and social support from friends, family members and relatives.

All ended up with broken families, broken relationships, dissapointments, financial hardships, sexual temptation and immorality, lack of educational opportunities, lack of social and family support, lack of social and communication skills, mental illness etc.

All of these portrays the evil of systemic physical, emotional and spiritual poverty. The lack of economic opportunities due to lack of working skills and education in a family lead to family breakdown and broken relationships, which leads to emotionally affected individuals.

These emotionally affected individuals, can't function healthily in their career and relationships, which will eventually lead to financial hardship and dysfunctional families. This end up in a cycle.

The lack of social and family support also worsen the situation as these individuals do not know whom seek help when they need it.

This is the reality of our broken world. Shall we weep and remember them in our prayers?

Come to the Father,

Though your gift is small,

Broken hearts broken lives,

He will heal them all,

Because of His great love,

He gave His only Son,

Everything was done

So You would come