More than a figure

"As parents, we often think we are the ones who teach our children, but really we learn so much more from them. Childre are untainted. And when we see the world through their eyes, we see a different world - one that's new and exciting, that's still filled with all the good stuff. Chidren see the best in people. They take each person as is - without suspicion, expectation or hidden agenda. It's the stuff we've lost along the way, as we grow up." - Vanilla Magazine October 2008

Words from Steven Chia, the news presenter of Channel News Asia for Vanilla magazine. Don't ask me why but I really like this guy. True, there is no way I will know him more than just a figure from the television but yup, I like this man.

The very first time I read his thoughts was in another magazine while I was rebonding my hair on 31 December 2007.

"Mention the word slavery and many of us will simply shrug it off as something of the past. Well, it came as a shocking reminder recently that this is far from true. Slavery is stll very much prevalent in our lives today....

At a time when humans rights issues are seen at the forefront and civilisation seems to be at its most humane, I am constantly surprised to hear horror stories of how one person could treat another so badly. And just when we want to say that such acts of slavery only happen 'somewhere else', I was reminded of another recent event in New York City where a well-to-do Indian couple was found to have kept two Indonesian women as slaves.

Applying it even closer to home, let us be reminded that many of us are employers of domestic helpers and moment we forget they are people just like the rest of us, we, too, face the danger of crossing that line. As the saying goes, 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.'"