Stories....

A car gets stolen and is left at another location which barely 5 km away from the place where it was stolen. The thieves had second thoughts??? So for 3 weeks it sat in a parking lot in an area frequented by police patrols... and they didn't notice that the same car sitting there. So finally, one observant fler called the police to report the car which had been sitting in the same spot for so many weeks. Turned out the car was stolen from Pacific Hypermart's parking lot. Don't they put out APBs for stolen vehicles? Aren't our police trained to be on the look for things out of the ordinary? Every area is supposed to have their own Beat Officer(s). So, if the said officers have been doing their rounds, they would have noticed the car in the same spot day after day, evening after evening and night after night. Anyway, suffice to say that the owner of the car, an old lady was glad to have her wheels back again. One more thing, this car was parked in an area where you are supposed to pay for parking. 3 weeks! Not even a wheel clamp on this car! So much for efficiency...

Schools have also become grounds to collect donations. I recently saw a brochure from a NGO to seek donation from students. Apparently it's sanctioned by the MOE. And students who donate more than RM100 will be given a certificate signed by none other than our Angkasawan. But at one school, the students said that their school counsellor told them to go canvas for 10 people to give donations or if they cannot do that, donate RM5 themselves. The donation is for the Gaza cause. A friend of mine was questioning how can we be sure that the money will get to the intended people... After all, there is no issuance of receipt even for money given. There is no transparency at all. These days... it's money this and money that. Some schools hold a Bacaan Yasin for their exam students but make them pay money (around RM5); for food. We want to be hospitable but we make our guests pay for our hospitality. Aiyo!

A friend said this recently... all the ferrying her son, the crazy tuition schedules, the long hours that he had to stay back at school... and all for just 3 days of UPSR. A whole year of childhood gone into all that. Now she wonders whether it's worth it. I said most of us will say it's worth it when the momentary joy of seeing the 7A(s) on the result slip. But deep down I wonder too... why have we all turned so siao?