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Chor
Meng & Yvonne turn protective parents
July 17, 2001
Chew Chor Meng went to Cambodia as part
of his duties as a World Vision ambassador. He shares with us what
he saw there, and together with Yvonne Lim, talk about their children.
By Kwok Kar Peng
(Click on pictures
for larger image)
Chor Meng and Yvonne
talk about their children.
As ambassadors for
World Vision, Chew
Chor Meng and Zoe
Tay made a trip to Cambodia early this month (July 1-8) to visit
their adopted children and to understand the sad plight that they
live under.
When
we met Chor Meng last week, the usually affable and calm
actor was suddenly a passionate and angry young man.
As his eyes fired up with emotion, he told us
shocking and heart-wrenching stories about the forgotten children
of Cambodia.
Eating the rubbish we throw
"We were brought to this huge rubbish dumping
ground that is the size of our Toa Payoh. I was stunned to see that
this is home to many poor families! I saw kids climbing up the rubbish
trucks and picking up refuse to sell in the city. A child was even
eating the rubbish on the ground!
"There are children on the streets sniffing
glue to forget their hunger and pain. Before we went to Cambodia,
situations and scenes like these are impossible to imagine. Singaporeans
are really very fortunate," Chor Meng said.
Child prostitution
What Chor Meng couldn't accept was the flagrant
and evil acts of child prostitution on the streets.
 "One
male expatriate called a boy on the streets up to his
motorbike and starting having sex with him right there in public!
The poor boy gets in return US$1 or a slice of bread."
Children dying from illnesses and AIDS
There was a young boy in the hospital suffering
from kidney failure. His mother could only sit and cry by his swollen
body.
 "He
is just waiting for death. For them, they have no tomorrows.
But some of the children are still quite optimistic. AIDS children
over there got the disease from their mother, who in turn got it
from her husband.
"I asked a child, 'Do you know you'll die from
AIDS?' She said yes. 'Do you hate your father?' She said no.
"Death perhaps is a release to them. What we
saw in Cambodia was horrible, but it was an eye-opener. We must
treasure what we have here and be happy."
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