Once upon a time, it was hailed as the cultural and historical heritage of Malaysia, the birthplace of our current nation.
I have been there a number of times, and I see nothing to shout about. Everything is touristy and fabricated. Perhaps I should have headed for the beaches instead of trying to explore the town.
But what can you expect from Melaka, when its state government has decided to allow child marriages to purportedly curtail out-of-wedlock pregnancies?
I won't say more on government policies and the need for restructuring society and addressing social ills, as this entry says it all.
However, I recall a bit of drama concerning teenage parents when I was in the UK last year. Apparently, a 13-year-old boy had fathered a child with his 15-year-old girlfriend.
It was even more befuddling as the kid's voice hadn't even broken yet and he looked like a 9-year-old.
But Alfie Patten was going to raise the child well, he claimed. Never-ending news reports detailed how he had bottle-fed his daughter and changed diapers.
It was very hard for me to smother my cynicism. It is rather difficult for parents in their 20s to cope with raising their newborns - what more for teenagers?
Anyway, it turned out his girlfriend was a bit of a player. After numerous other teenage boys came forward claiming to be the father, Alfie Patten took a paternity test - only to discover that the little girl wasn't his.
So that was that.
I suspect if he had gotten hitched to his girlfriend, that marriage would have ended in divorce.
Children do grow up and change, after all.
7 comments:
Melaka has a long history of Lolitas and Humbert Humberts. Remember a chief minister named Rahim Thamby Chik and his 15-year-old squeeze?
Funny country this.
Obvious solution is to have good sex education in our schools (not only on sex, but also on responsible behaviour).
But introducing sex education will
(shudder) corrupt the youth of Malaysia!
Phua Kai Lit
Antares - yes, I certainly remember Rahim Thamby Chik. I especially remember that Lim Guan Eng got put behind bars because he brought it up.
PKL - I think Malaysian youth is beyond corrupted already.
Yes, Ms Cranky
Signs of corrupted/beyond corrupted Malaysian youth:
1. Voting for non-BN political parties
2. Malay youth who are ingrates
and forgot the help given to them by the caring Government
3. Traitors who emigrate and leave
1Malaysia behind
4. And worse of all, taking the govt's buy-election handouts and voting for the opposition! Totally unprincipled behaviour right, Ms Cranky?
Phua Kai Lit
Ali Rustam is nuts.
PKL - utterly unprincipled. ;-)
resident wangsamaju - every other chief minister from Melaka seems to be nuts.
yeah, Malacca will legalise pedophilia. and we as Malaysians get dragged down with the bad name.
as for the 13-year old, thank goodness for the paternity test. I suspect, years down the road, he will be heaving one giant sigh of relief.
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