How safe are our children?

The NST online 27/02/09
KUALA LUMPUR: A babysitter and her two sons were picked up by police in Sentul in connection with the sexual abuse of a 1-year old girl.
Police went to their flat in Bandar Baru Sentul and picked them up about 6pm yesterday. An initial medical report had shown that the girl had been sexually abused. Police are tightlipped as to why the three were brought in and whether a second medical report was ready. City Crime Investigation Department chief Datuk Ku Chin Wah said the three suspects were at the police headquarters here and police expected to obtain a remand order today.
On Sunday, a young couple who had entrusted a family friend to babysit their daughter were devastated when they found blood on the toddler's private parts while changing her diaper. The couple immediately rushed her to a clinic. It is learnt that the toddler had been in the woman's care from 9am to 7pm daily, six days a week, for the past seven months. The couple had earlier told reporters that a doctor at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital said that there were penetration wounds in their daughter's private parts, indicating that she had been sodomised and raped.
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Cases like this gives me sleepless nights, makes me sick, leaves me with a desperate feeling of being helpless, useless & terrified!
As a single mother, I am constantly worried about my kid’s safety. When I 1st started back at work my kid had just turned one. It took me 2 months of searching and coming to terms with the fact that I will be leaving my little one in the hands of a total stranger from 7am to 7pm daily.
My 1st day at work, I spent a lot of time in the toilet crying and in pain as my breast milk was full and I had to throw it away. I prayed so much I’m sure God was fed up with my repeated prayers!
It was for my child’s safety, for the babysitter to take good care of my child, etc.
This world we live in is full of evil now no where is safe anymore. Cases of children being abused and murdered never heard of before is flooding the news.
I tell you the truth, I had insomnia during my 1st year back to work because I used to have nightmares of not being able to keep my baby safe.
I know there are many single mothers out there how do you cope with things like this? Today my child is 4 yet even at the supermarket I’m constantly afraid my little one might get lost or be kidnapped by some evil person.
Sometimes I know I get paranoid but how do I stop this I do not want to be the over-protective paranoid mom but I never want to be the mom that didn’t manage to keep her kid safe.
As parents our responsibility is so big yet sometimes I feel many of us take things for granted.

Some Malay teachers in Bagan Serai are “going mad” as they cannot handle teaching Mathematics and Science subjects in English, claimed a state assembl

The Star:
Thursday February 26, 2009
Teachers going mad teaching subjects in English, claims rep
By RASLAN BAHAROM
TAIPING: Some Malay teachers in Bagan Serai are “going mad” as they cannot handle teaching Mathematics and Science subjects in English, claimed a state assemblyman .
Dr Khalil Idham Lim Abdullah (Titi Serong) said the teachers themselves had to take English classes to improve their command of English.
While they are still grappling with the language, they are required to teach their students as well, said Khalil, who was chairman of the Perak Backbenchers Club in the former Pakatan Rakyat-led state government.
“The teachers themselves have a poor command of English. How do we expect them to teach their students?” he asked in his speech after a briefing on the subject at the state PAS headquarters in Jalan Air Kuning on Tuesday.
Some teachers, he said, “have simply gone crazy” because of this, likening the matter to the blind leading the blind. He claimed the minimum passing mark for both subjects were lowered to ensure that only a rosy picture was painted of the move.
Earlier, the gathering was told by Malaysian Translators Association president Associate Prof Abdullah Hassan that a big gathering is scheduled to be held in front of Istana Negara at 2pm on March 7 to protest against the teaching of Mathematics and Science in English.
Prof Abdullah said the argument that the usage of English would provide better job opportunities could only hold water if there were plenty of job openings.

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Doesn’t this say it all?!
Just look at how bad the state of Our English is when even qualified teachers don’t speak English?!
And your solution is to quit?!!!!! Not to improve our English but to just Quit?! Great!
“Good Job“!!! now let’s see this scenario below:
If my child is bad in.. hmmm… let’s say geography, she’s very weak in this subject, say, I’m helping her as it’s my duty, but I am not well verse in geography I only have the very basic knowledge like if you ask me is America a continent I’ll say yes if u ask me what is the capital of America I will need to get back to you, do my homework 1st. Therefore, it drives me “mad” to keep teaching her geography as I’m not good at it.
Then I decide, ok let’s stop studying Geography, I’ll let my kid watch national geographic once a week and that’s good enough.
I do not need know more on Geography and when my kid is older if she decides to work in an industry that needs geography like a travel agent or a pilot, or shipping, or geography teacher, or geologist, any industry related to geography then she can go take lessons if not then she doesn’t need to know much.
This is basically what the article below tells me. For me personally I would do the following:-
If it shows that I’m need to be good at something totally alien to me so that I can do my job more efficient, I will make sure I do some home work too and I will go for whatever new courses my boss sends me to and if I feel I’m still not competent enough I’ll flood my boss with requests to send me for more courses so that I will be competent! I mean after all, the bosses are the once who suddenly change the rules I still need to do my job but I cannot do it efficiently if I lack the new knowledge.
I mean if as a teacher you think you can’t teach a dog new tricks then you better not be a teacher!
As they say: One is never too old to learn.