Raya Blues
During Hari Raya or any other festivities, when we are with our families and close friends, we often forget that there are people out there with no one to talk to, no one to visit or no one to care about them. Hari Raya can be the most poignant to many people out there. If you were formerly a student overseas, you would know it. It is so sad to be away from families. Luckily nowadays many Brunei students live very near to other Brunei students and the phone or the plane are all within reach.There was a letter to Brudirect where the writer talked about how lonely he was during Hari Raya. Both his parents had died and he could not share the joyfulness of Hari Raya. A number of comments commented that he should open up and visit other people. While I am not going to comment what is right or what is wrong, everybody is entitled to form their own opinion and for that person to think what is best.
What struck me is the letter. There was no one else he could write to, other than the whole world. Many of us live in pressure cookers. One little thing can explode. We want to talk to someone but not everyone has a loving family or close relative or close friend they could turn to.
Public Works Department now has a hotline number. This hotline number is meant for the public to call in about emergency or services related to PWD such as your water supply, your roads, your drains etc. However it is manned 24 hours a day and you get a voice when you called. I have been told that the 140 hotline is getting strange calls like how come he gets a scholarship and I don't. Many of the people who called obviously knew that 140 hotline for PWD is meant for PWD services but the callers just did not know who to call.
In many countries, there is an organisation that deals with questions or just a voice to talk to. I remembered the Samaritans in UK that does this. I checked their website and the Common reasons to call Samaritans are:
+ Relationship and family problems
+ Loss, including loss of a job, a friend or a family member through bereavement
+ Financial worries
+ Job-related stress or overwork
+ College or study related stress
+ Body image issues
I know this should be a government issue but I think this would rather be much better to be tackled by an NGO. If there are people out there who are interested in forming the equivalent of a Samaritan group in Brunei that can help with problems our people are facing, perhaps we can talk about it? Or better still, someone be proactive and does something about it?
Comments
and i tink lim ah meng was the guest counsellor of the radio show. am not sure if the segment is still on air nowadays. and then some listeners would call in and share their views on how to solve the distressed callers' probs atu too.
but then atu sharing problems with the rest of 350++ K bruneians tia (berijap jua urg terguess or kenal urg yg menelipun atu).
some would prefer to tell just a particular trusted person kan and not share with the rest of the world.. anda outlet as such sini except for di some skulah sja x.
saw a teledrama yesterday di astro called 'perempuan' which was about the life of this schoolgirl yg kana abuse ulih the mother to the point of letting her own daughter get raped by the mom's 'boyfriend'/ client. and the girl only source of letting out her feelings was thru writing to a column in a mag called 'perempuan'. and the story went thru the journey of her life where she got influenced by her so called boyfrind who then drugged her and ,shared, her with his other frens and later got the girl to do drugs as well and then later 'sell her' to his clients. he even sold away the girl's baby...
anyhoo.. it was a good story .. and eyeopener and good for our younger gens who went thru such route and thought that is the end of it..
taubat and reform is the key.
lari dari tajuk tia ku plang..
hehehe