WHAT KIND OF PARENTS ARE THEY???????http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,135275,00.html?
THE ELECTRIC NEW PAPER
LOITER
FAVOURITISM IN THE FAMILY SISTER, 9, NEEDS TO STUDY INSIDE SO NOISY TODDLERS HAVE TO... JURONG TWINS AT VOID-DECK FROM 7AM-11PM EVERY DAY
By Hedy Khoo
July 09, 2007
You can call them Jurong's void-deck twins.
Almost daily, this pair of 2-year-old boys wander and sleep at the void-deck of their block, along with their two maids, from morning until sometimes very late at night.
The maids have to take care of the boys downstairs, apparently on the instructions of the boys' parents, who also have two daughters, aged 4 and 9.
According to the maids, they have to stay with the boys at the void-deck because the parents didn't want the boys disturbing their elder sister.
The boys have become such a fixture at the void decks that they have aroused the curiosity and sympathy of some residents in the area.
Neighbours said they could be spotted there from as early as 7am, till as late as 10 or 11pm. One resident, who wanted to be known as only Mr Lucien, called The New Paper hotline after seeing the boys for the last eight months.
DOWN ALL THE TIME
'They are downstairs all the time,' said the 52-year-old horticulturist.
'How can parents allow their young children to loiter around with the maids all day? The boys have a home, but they can't enjoy the comforts of it.'
Mr Lucien said he often sees the boys crying downstairs.
'I feel very sad, and my heart goes out to them. The boys cry, the maids try to console them, but they too end up crying,' he said.
'The boys often sleep downstairs, with the stone bench as their bed.'
With dengue epidemic, some residents also feel it is risky to keep the boys in open areas for so long. Another resident, a 55-year-old housewife who wanted to be known as Mrs Tan, said the boys' grandmother would usually come downstairs and stay with them after 7 pm.Said Mrs Tan, who has been living there for eight months: 'I find it strange that the family can afford two maids, but can't give one room to the boys, switch on the air-conditioner and let the boys stay there.'It's very pitiful, to see the maids rocking the boys to sleep sometimes, but they still hang around downstairs, instead of putting the boys to bed properly.'It's as if they are homeless. This is not the right way to bring up a child.'A resident, who wanted to be known only as Madam Ng, said that on one occasion she approached the maids and asked them to take the sleeping children upstairs.But they just kept quiet and remained downstairs, cradling the boys in their arms.
Said the 36-year-old housewife, who has two children: 'The void deck is not a home. 'I won't allow my maid to hang around with my children like this, especially when there is a construction site nearby.' Madam Ng found it strange that even on Christmas Day last year, she found the children and the maids hanging around downstairs in the night.'I remember I was surprised to see them downstairs in the night when we came back from celebrating Christmas,' she said. 'It's also not fair to the maids. It's actually more tiring than staying at home and doing housework.'
Their routine doesn't change even when it's raining heavily.
Madam Irene Tan, 45, a sales co-ordinator, said: 'It is pathetic. Even when it is raining heavily, they are still wandering around downstairs.
'It looks as if the boys are homeless.' She recalled: 'Once I touched one boy's forehead and he was running a fever, but he still had to remain downstairs.
'I told the maids I could speak to their employer, but they are so afraid, they asked me not to.'
When approached, the two maids said it was their routine to come downstairs at 7 am and they had to stay there until late at night. The maids could take turns to return to the flats to shower, have their meals and do household chores.
They said the boys' maternal grandmother stays with the family from Mondays to Fridays. Asked why they cannot stay at home, both maids replied that it was because their employers found the twins noisy, and didn't want them to disturb the eldest daughter from doing her homework.But it appeared that they had to be at the void deck even when the girl must have been at school.
When The New Paper approached the boys' grandmother, she gave the same reason.'The twins are noisy and their sister needs to do her homework. It's normal. Their second sister was raised this way, and she is okay,' said the woman, who declined to give her name.When probed further, the grandmother refused to reply and walked away.
When we asked the maids if their employers seem to love their two girls more than the twins, the maids merely shook their heads and replied: 'We don't know. Don't ask us, we don't understand.'
When The New Paper on Sunday tried interviewing the father of the boys at their unit, the man said it was his family's 'private business'.
He declined to speak further and slammed his front door shut.
NOT SEEN FOR 2 DAYS
According to Mrs Tan, the boys were not seen downstairs for about two days after we approached the father recently. But later, Mr Lucien said he saw the twins crying as usual at the void deck.
'It is worse now. I observed that they don't hang around the void decks of these blocks. The maids have to take the boys further, as far as six blocks away,' he said. Mr Lucien said the Indonesian maid had approached him and asked if he was the one who had called the press. When he asked her why she had asked, she told him: 'Nothing has changed. We still have to come downstairs.'Mr Lucien said the two maids looked tired and sad when they spoke to him.'The maids are hoping for some form of help,' he said. 'Something must be done.'
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Sad right.......the boys very poor thing right???? Feel like slapping the parents........... grrrr................ anyway......... wait for my next post on the PUNK....Good nite......sigh.....the boys have just gone home an hour ago.........
