It’s my life, I do what I want

April 7th, 2008 Posted in Uncategorized

 I have no regrets.

I am living the life that I want.

I've had some of the best sex of my life.

These are some of the quotations attributed to maths prodigy, Sufiah Yusof , a Brit of Pakistani-Malay descent who has now become a prostitute.

Without sounding disrespectful to members of her family here, Sufiah's mum is from Johore, many people have said that this story is a welcome reprieve from the  current political posturing and intrigues in the country.

Having gone to Oxford  to study Maths  at the age of 12, Sufiah was an instant celebrity. It wasn't a smooth path for her though. At 15 she ran away from the university, her relationship with her family especially with her father was strained to the point of no return.

She didn't want to have anything to do with them and was  later placed in foster care. 

In between she  got married and divorced. Quite an experience for someone who was not allowed to have much of a childhood .

There will be many explanations for her fall from grace if you will. It's so easy to blame  parents for being overambitious for their children.

Had she been allowed to have a normal life, maybe, she would have turned out differently.There was also the pressure to be a good Muslim from an early age by her parents when her father was not really a good example. He had been  jailed previously for fraud, and is currently inside for molesting young girls he tutored. 

Sufiah is  highly intelligent, maybe, becoming a prostitute  is her way of  getting back at her father. Something is not right  somewhere. Is this her way of forgetting her pain?

Parents should allow their children freedom, let them find their own pace instead of forcing their own ambitions on them . With little room to breathe, they suffocate. 

Parents mean well, poet Khalil Gibran said our children come through us  not from us and they have their own wings , after a while they fly wherever they want to. We can only guide them.

What's absurd in this episode is the news that some UMNO ministers have been reported as saying that they wanted to help Sufiah.

She is an adult, and a Brit, how do they propose to help? The ministers will be better appreciated  if they help   our own people who are drug addicts, HIV   carriers and  sort out other social ills usually associated with Bumiputras in the country. 

Sufiah doesn't have your  typical Malaysian mind set, she is free in a free country. She does what she wants. Her parents can't do anything about it,  can our UMNO ministers do any better ?

If there is any learning process here, UMNO ministers must learn to accept that people have their own mind. They can think for themselves. If you try to influence  and control people too much, there is a natural backlash like  what happened in the last elections.

People want to do their own thing, they don't want to be dictated to. Let young people learn from their own mistakes, we, as adults have to learn to be more tolerant and more forgiving. Don't think we have all the answers.

Listen, please, listen to others. It is good manners to do so.

On second thoughts, maybe, the ministers should go to UK after all, let's see who influences who and who saves who.