Mbak Rita

Another human tragedy hit the headlines this week.  This very sad story came from Makassar, South Sulawesi. No, I didn’t mean the seasonal attack from those so-called-students who are now famous for being like a mob, crashing their own campus over any simple rift between them, not at all, I am talking about a pregnant women, mother of three, a wife of a pedicab driver named Daeng Basse. The 35 years old Basse suffered malnutrition and later a very bad diarrhea. Three days of starvation and without proper care, the neglected woman was found dead with her youngest kid, Bahir. This kid, Bahir, was only 5 years old, followed his mother miserable departure while his big brother and the oldest kid, a daughter, survived the terrible fate. Those two children now are, thanks to media spotlight upon them, treated with good handling in local hospital and showing a good sign of healing.

Please just don’t blame Basse’s neighbors for the very late help to her families. Those people are living in their own poor condition, the slum place where a cabin like Basse’s was available for rent at Rp 50.000/month, equivalent to just five bucks! And don’t start to mention rumors about her husband drinking problem. A man without skill and future, who has to live a hard life of such big families with a pregnant woman and three very young kids, is more than enough for me if sometimes, as scapegoat, he tried to escape the burden in such stupid ways like drinking. The real ghost in this tragedy is their poverty. Our very own poverty….