Monday, May 14, 2012
Are we forgetting them??
Was talking to a friend of mine today about working in another country like Singapore, or UK. Most people I know go there to seek greener pastures, and to earn more money. That’s why she asked me why not consider working in other countries to earn more? Actually, I’ve thought about it, but decided not to. I prefer to stay here, looking after my parents.
However, I know that a lot of people out there do not have the same kind of thinking. A lot of them think about earning more money, to pursue their own career and to start their own family. In other words, to start getting themselves stuck in our modern world rat race. Not many think about their aging parents. The nicer ones would say they will bring their parents over when they’ve settled down while the not-so-nice ones would just try to push the responsibility of looking after the parents to another siblings. “Oh, not to worry, my elder brother is staying in the hometown, he can look after them”.
But what if all the siblings are saying the same thing? What if all of them are trying to push this responsibility to another sibling? In the end, the parents might not have anyone to look after them. Perhaps this is why the number of senior citizens in our country’s old folks home has been increasing in an alarming rate in the past few years. But those are the slightly fortunate ones.. what about those who are left homeless?
For some, they do not wish to abandon their parents. They just want to take few years off to go earn more money. True, money is everything nowadays and it’s a prerequisite in order for our family to lead a better life. But how many years do you intend to take? Remember that our parents do age with each passing year, and their health will deteriorate. If you want to do something like this, fine, but please don’t take too long. 5 to 10 years for a 30-year-old are not much.. but 5 to 10 years for a 60-year-old, it means a lot. Bear in mind, they won’t be with us forever. Sad, but it’s a reality of life.
So at the end of the day, it is really up to us, to think about our own responsibilities to look after our parents.. the same way our kids would think about their own responsibilities to look after us in years to come. And for me, I’ll just hope you guys will take up the initiatives to look after your parents.. and not trying to push that responsibility to another person.
p/s: if it’s been a while since you last call your parents.. maybe now is the right time. Call them up, have a chat. Ask them how are they doing.
p/s: I know there are some who have abusive parents. But people do change with time.. maybe they’ve changed now? If that’s the case, perhaps it’s better to let bygones be bygones? If they’ve not changed.. then just know that you’ve done your part trying to mend the broken relationship.
p/s: when you’re staying with your parents, do make sure you give them some stuff to do. Most of them want to be useful in order to help us, and not as an obstacle.
However, I know that a lot of people out there do not have the same kind of thinking. A lot of them think about earning more money, to pursue their own career and to start their own family. In other words, to start getting themselves stuck in our modern world rat race. Not many think about their aging parents. The nicer ones would say they will bring their parents over when they’ve settled down while the not-so-nice ones would just try to push the responsibility of looking after the parents to another siblings. “Oh, not to worry, my elder brother is staying in the hometown, he can look after them”.But what if all the siblings are saying the same thing? What if all of them are trying to push this responsibility to another sibling? In the end, the parents might not have anyone to look after them. Perhaps this is why the number of senior citizens in our country’s old folks home has been increasing in an alarming rate in the past few years. But those are the slightly fortunate ones.. what about those who are left homeless?
For some, they do not wish to abandon their parents. They just want to take few years off to go earn more money. True, money is everything nowadays and it’s a prerequisite in order for our family to lead a better life. But how many years do you intend to take? Remember that our parents do age with each passing year, and their health will deteriorate. If you want to do something like this, fine, but please don’t take too long. 5 to 10 years for a 30-year-old are not much.. but 5 to 10 years for a 60-year-old, it means a lot. Bear in mind, they won’t be with us forever. Sad, but it’s a reality of life.
So at the end of the day, it is really up to us, to think about our own responsibilities to look after our parents.. the same way our kids would think about their own responsibilities to look after us in years to come. And for me, I’ll just hope you guys will take up the initiatives to look after your parents.. and not trying to push that responsibility to another person.
p/s: if it’s been a while since you last call your parents.. maybe now is the right time. Call them up, have a chat. Ask them how are they doing.
p/s: I know there are some who have abusive parents. But people do change with time.. maybe they’ve changed now? If that’s the case, perhaps it’s better to let bygones be bygones? If they’ve not changed.. then just know that you’ve done your part trying to mend the broken relationship.
p/s: when you’re staying with your parents, do make sure you give them some stuff to do. Most of them want to be useful in order to help us, and not as an obstacle.
Labels: Current Affairs
just my 2cents at 11:26 PM |
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