One day I walked past a pizza joint and saw five tweens and teens crashed higgledy-piggledy on slabs of carton pieces along the side walk on the shaded side away from the elements.
It was a school day. All of them, judging on their heights and sizes, should be in school. No, those are not illegal immigrants. They are not even documented workers' children. Apparently each one has a home somewhere. There are fathers and mothers. At night they go home. It was only between 8am to 5pm that they sleep along the side walks of commercial areas.
My land lady said that those throwaway kids have been sniffing glue for many years. They were stunted, some could be as old as past their twenties but look like twelve year olds. Poor diets, damaged brain cells, compromised respiratory systems by toxic fumes prevented them from growing to their full potential sizes.
Strangely, each one of the five were well dressed. Perhaps a little scruffy due to the lack of hygiene amenities. One small (about nine years old by size) boy has his hair dyed blond.
As far as I could see without staring, they were all boys. Assuming those I talked to were right, these are local children - perhaps they are of Malay parentage or are native descended. They are too fair to be Indians or Africans, yet too dark to be Chinese or even Kadazans. If they are locals, then they have identity cards. Even if they missed the academic trains in schools, they could work legally. For basic, low wage jobs, it is an employees' market. Business owners find it very difficult to get workers with documents. Jobs go begging for takers.
Perhaps it is easier to beg for fifty cents here and a dollar there. Or with the tiny bodies, it is possible to squeeze into business buildings or homes to steal computers and flat screen TVs.
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