They should not be...

Every Sunday morning, after dropping my kids off to Sunday School, I would head off to my Sunday mamak stall for my cuppa joe and tosai. Armed with my music and my book, I have been oblivious to my surroundings at the shop until last weekend.

There was nothing very extraordinary about that Sunday, save for the fact that there was a girl, about 9, lugging a backpack and a younger child in tow, going around the shop with a clear folder. It was pretty obvious she was a child beggar, asking for charity for a specific reason.

Today, they stopped at my table. To my surprise, she spoke very good English. And this was a shock cos I had expected her not to be able to. Seriously - in my 4 years in meeting locally educated kids, very few spoke as well as she did.

And in her fluency, she explained how their family was in need of help for her brother who had an eye condition. Held in the tattered clear folder were his medical records, patient records from a local hospital as well as a doctor's letter explaining his condition. I asked her where her parents were and she explained they were working part-time in the coffee-shop nearby, washing dishes.

And both siblings have stayed with me in my head for the rest of the day, like they have been since last weekend.

I can't help but think of them as I picked my kids up and we headed off to the nearby bakery for brunch. I can't help but think of them as Lydia and Luke ran around in the playground after tea. I can't help but think of them as Luke turns a page and asks me what "has" is and as Lydia sits on the couch reading her fave book.

My kids will go back to school tomorrow and if asked how their weekend was, they would say it has been great with lots of laughter, fun and food with mumsie. I cannot imagine what this girl and her brother has to say when their friends asks them in the morrow how their weekend was.

How do you tell your friends at school that you didn't have a weekend cos you had to go shop-to-shop asking strangers for help in curing your brother from a dreadful illness?

I am not faulting them, they are only doing what they have been asked to do.

I wish I had more in my power to do something really concrete for these children. Maybe I can.... Maybe I should... Maybe I could speak to someone at the hospital, tell this story and see what can be done. I might not be able to save the whole world. But if I can do something within my power to save these two - I would have done something.

At the end of the day... They should not have to grow up this way... they really shouldn't.