Friday, October 21, 2011

Small child who was street smart

A 2 year old girl, Yue Yue, was run over twice in Guangzhou, China. Many people passing by did not help her. Where were her parents?

I recall a horrifying experience some 20 years ago, also in Guangzhou. I stopped at a small town for dinner. After dinner, I was returning to the bus. I saw a small boy, also about 2 years old, on the opposite side trying to cross a busy road with many fast passing vehicles. There was no adults around to take care of the child. I was horrified that he could be hit by a passing vehicle, but there was nothing that I could do, as I was on the other side of a busy road.

After a while, the little boy saw a gap among the vehicles and run across the road safely to her parents who were nearby. I then realised that this boy, although very small, was street smart. He must have crossed the road many times safely. His parents knew that he could take care of himself.

This is so different from the over-protected children in Singapore!