Sock Monkeys looking for good homes....

From left to right: Peace, Cheerio, Eko and Tesso

These cute dudes are looking for homes to go to. Let me know if you are interested. Each sock monkey is unique with their own individual message. Eko wants us to hug a tree and to stop destroying Planet Earth. Tesso is the King Of Hearts and is ever ready if you need a sock monkey hug. Peace wants to know what can possibly be more important than World Peace and Cheerio is covered with patches cuz he's been through some rough times and needs a hug desperately.

More thinking aloud ....

When I came home today, my eyes happened to glance at today's Straits Times and something caught my attention. An article on how there's a sharp drop in couples applying to adopt kids. Interesting article that explains the downward trend could be due to the stricter checks on would-be parents that were introduced since 2005. And how strick you wonder. Let's see, in the article, it says that would-be parents have to go through checks, known as the Home Study Reports, if they choose to adopt from overseas. These checks are 'in line with international best practices to safeguard a child's welfare'. Sounds good as we would want to ensure that the adopted children are safe and find good homes just in case we have whackos who may want to adopt children just to make them miserable. So good on us for having such checks.

And let's see what these would-be parents have to go through. Hmm....interviews and background checks, and the first interview has up to 70 questions that range from would-be parents dating history, how they resolve their conflicts, what child-rearing books they have read, who is the disciplinarian among the couple, what they do during their spare time and if they have attended any talks on child-rearing *frowns*. And they would also have to submit proof of their financial stability, past history of mental illness and criminal record. All this must be completed even before would-be parents start scouting for a foreign kid to adopt.

Okay, that's a very thorough check to ensure that would-be parents are totally 'qualified' to be parents. It seems to be such a torture for would-be parents who desire children but for different reasons, may not be able to *frowns* Now if you're wondering why I am frowning, well I don't understand. On the one hand, we go all out to make it really difficult for people to adopt, when the world has so many children without families and need good homes to live and grow up in.

And on the other hand, any woman who is able to bear children can choose to breed even if she is irresponsible. I know of women who smoke and take alcohol throughout their pregnancy. I have read of parents who abuse and abandon their children. I know of families who neglect their children, not even meeting the children's basic needs and leave the kids to fend for themselves. Yet, these parents or people do not have to go through any form of assessment to deem them to be fit parents. Yes, they will be punished IF the case is surface to the authorities and they will be counselled accordingly. But the trauma on the children, what they already had to go through would scar them for live.

It just seems so sad that people who love children, want to have children and only option would be to adopt have to go through so much to 'qualify' to adopt when we should have stricter punishment for parents who are irresponsible. Just a quick check with some of my friends who are parents...I asked some of the questions I listed above and all I got from them were laughs at how silly I sounded asking them those questions.

Thank you to Wee Siew Kim, Member of Parliament, who pleaded for simplified procedures. Let's home that these checks will be reviewed so that it's easier for Singaporeans to adopt children who desperately need good homes. Is there any petition that I can sign for this?

Thinking aloud...

I was having dinner and watching telly at the same time and came across a documentary about the plight of the very poor in the rural areas of Indonesia. Am pretty certain that the situation is similar in other developing countries in Asia but watching the documentary got me thinking.

I use to teach about the rural-urban migration of people in developing countries and how the trend shows that more male adults are heading to the city to look for jobs. As for international migration, you tend to find more of the female adults working overseas as domestic help.

However, there is a trend that's not taught in the classroom as it's not a very pleasant one. Am wondering if the numbers are even recorded as the governments of these countries usually have other 'important' issues to look at but THIS IS an important issue which will affect the future of these countries.

The documentary is about immigrants but they are not adults but rather young children who have been sent to the cities to work as professional beggars to support their families at home. They spend their time begging for whatever they can get so that they can bring home what they make after a period of time to their families in the villages. As they beg on the streets, they risk being caught and thrown into jail (released after some time and their money confiscated by the police), risk being kidnapped and sold off. They sleep anywhere that they can find shelter and some even sleep along the streets. They eat what they can get their hands on and they are at the mercy of people who may throw them a coin or two.

I don't know how their parents can do this to their children. It's probably out of desperation as being uneducated (most of the males are farmers and lack the skills needed to find jobs in the city) they are not able to find work in the city and may be easier for their children to beg for money.

From the documentary when they spoke to some of the children, these children have dreams. One boy interviewed had dreams of being a pilot some day. Another girl dreams of going to school. What kind of childhood do they have? The responsibility that these young children have to bear is way too much for any children, anywhere in the world.

Question to myself - What can I do to help? Can one person do anything to help? Or is it just a losing battle and should just let things be?