I only ran 5.8km today and it was because I was interrupted by a phone call. The only people who would call me would be my parents, siblings, or spouse so I was surprised to see that it was my brother-in-law who called me. I think it would be rather rude to continue running since he is after all my senior and I decided to stop and answer the call (only reason I run with my phone is to track the distance I run as I lost the free Mi Band watch my brother gave me *Sad*)
It was rather sweet of him to call to check if my parents were having a good time on their vacation since he played a role in managing their trip and giving good traveling advice. I told him that my parents were having the time of their lives especially my dad. Papa seems so honored to be born as a Chinese even though he is not born in China but he just felt proud to see how advanced China is (anyway my grandparents were from Fu Jian, China). Mama was just telling me how he seemed to be in awe with everything and we were all so glad we pestered him to go for a vacation. I felt gleeful to know that mother-in-law did not text my husband to update on their trip but she was texting me instead. I feel lucky that she understands my concerns and worries when they go traveling and she knows just what to do to make me feel peaceful and assured of their well-being and safety. My husband was like "Ohhh she texted you but she never text me, mama dotes on you more ya".
2 days ago my facebook gave me a notification regarding a reply I posted in 2011 was being "liked". Checking at the reply, I think the owner of the post finally understood how lucky it is to receive unconditional love. Years ago when I saw that post, my intuition told me it was probably implying a love that is sometimes suffocating or involves stuff like helicopter parents which I also experienced but even then I know that being loved unconditionally is a great feeling. The post had stated "Your unconditional love has imposed a lot of conditions on me!" and my reply was "The recipient of unconditional love is the luckiest person in the universe!" Back then the owner of the post did not seem to like what I said but 13 years later, he finally understood I guess since all the other comments were not "liked" as they had supported his original statement.
Right now I can safely say that unconditional love is not something natural and it is also a choice. I often thought just because my parents brought me to this world so they must love me unconditionally but looking at a lot of lousy parents, I realize my parents made a choice to unconditionally love me. I think just because people can reproduce, it does not give them the right to do so if they are not going to nurture the life that they brought into this world. I still have trouble understanding how parents could be so lax that their child is killed from heat strokes because they "forgot" them in the car or not supervising them and letting them wander on their own resulting in a lot of mishaps. Just this year, I have seen 2 deaths and 1 morbidity because of parenteral negligence. One was a severe brain injury after getting hit by a car for playing by the roadside, and another was a toddler who was missing and was found unconscious in an old vehicle with heat stroke and multiorgan damage and another was a drowning case. They all were preventable and they all shared the same problem - irresponsible parenting.
I know it can happen among the educated as years ago there was a horrible incident of a toddler falling from the balcony from a high rise because she was very excited that the mom who was a professional is returning home from work and had tip over the balcony and fell to her death. As a pet owner, I would place barricades to ensure my pet's safety and I cannot comprehend how was the balcony accessible to toddlers? Neither can I understand about the burn injuries that I see which often points to negligence. I also find that there is barely any "punishment" or "penalty" for such parents or care-giver which make me wonder if other people value life.
The world is overpopulated anyway, if there is a need to have a license to own pets, I think it is high time the government set conditions to what sort of people can have children and have licensing to own children too. I see a lot of mixed reactions about the new rule to limit the number of cats and having different licensing prices for sterilized and non sterilized cat. Anyway like always neighbouring first-world country have always thought of ways to ensure things are under control. So many rules and regulations but in the end it is for the greater good I guess although I find those conditions to be so restrictive.
So if I was the rule setter, I am going to make the following conditions as pre-requisites to have children:
1) Only legally married people are allowed to have children
2) Combined household income at least MYR 10,000 per month - seriously education is expensive and so is baby sitter etc
3) House checks to ensure it is safe for pediatrics - during the planning phase of having a baby, after having the baby and periodic checks whereby the license could be withdrawn if there is failure to comply and child will be taken away by social worker. Maybe a warning letter at first and after 3 warnings to take child away.
4) Parents before conceiving must agree to those vaccines that have been proven to be effective and is in the national vaccination schedule (I am sick of some anti-vaccination parents who in the end bring their child in for things like measles, pertussis, meningeal tuberculosis) I can understand if the vaccine is new and does not have a long term safety profile such as the Covid-19 vaccine but rejecting vaccines that have proper research to back them up is just being irresponsible.
5) Must have access to healthcare. Sorry to say a lot of people staying in rural region have no proper access to healthcare and by the time they bring a sick child in, the child is already at the gates to heaven. So, yes must have access to healthcare.
6) Must ensure formal education at least till secondary school - otherwise we are going to be an uneducated nation.
7) Children must have their own room in the house after they hit puberty or turn 12 years old and above whichever comes first and it is parents' responsibility to ensure a personal space exists for them.
8) Extra fees for having more than 2 children. Seriously I don't like an overpopulated world. Comparing 1 decade ago, Singapore's public transport felt more spacey but after a decade later, it feels like being packed into a can of sardines. I don't live there so it is none of my business but it is a good example of how uncomfortable things are when the population density goes up.
In the future, if there will be licensing to have children, I am going to have a good laugh.
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