There is a saying: " A fisherman's children eat small fish, a cobbler's children wear broken shoes."
During my last stint in Borneo, one of the children taught by my son often came to 7pm tuition session with an empty stomach. After a while, I actually cooked a little extra just in case she needed food. She has grown older and attends a private all day school now. Just last month I met her in a leading supermarket. She is quite a beautiful young lady now, though still rather slender. Her mum used to operate two restaurants.
My good friend in Singapore used to pack extra sandwiches for a poor girl whose parents had to work at multiple jobs to be able to pay for her expensive education. They love her and made big sacrifices financially for her. But very often they had no time or energy to look into the daily small tasks like preparing school snacks. My friend understood and stood in the gap by providing food. She used to teach in a tuition centre specialising in coaching dyslexic children.
In the Klang valley, another friend's nephew has a friend who comes from a rich family. Mum and dad are busy business folks. The maid at home only cooks breakfasts and dinners. The "poor" teenage boy has no pocket money. He would have gone hungry each weekday with no lunches but for my friend's sister supplying identical lunches she served her son without charging the school mate. The kind boy who shared food gained literally a friend for life.
Food is one of the most basic human needs. Look around us, is there anyone whom we meet daily who lack basic food?
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