Poor Sofie…

It had been more than a month since I last went to visit Sofie and her children. The last visit was about a week before Raya. By yesterday Raya was already over, so I didn’t get to visit them during Raya month.

Yesterday I finally managed to slot in some time to visit them. It was end of the month anyway, time for grocery delivery. So yes, first thing was to buy the groceries. I still have ample funds donated by friends to be used for this purpose.

This time I decided to visit in the afternoon. When I got to their house, Sofie’s youngest, Ika, was already smiling at the door, with a cup of ice-cream in her hand. Her brothers were not back from school yet. So only Ika helped to unload the groceries from my car. I took care of the heavier stuff while Ika carried the smaller and lighter stuff. Sofie herself was limping. She had been working hard to earn some income for her family.

Somehow the news I got this time wasn’t pleasing to my ears, particularly on Azman, Sofie’s second son. The boy who is sitting for his PMR this year, according to Sofie is already planning to stop schooling and work after his PMR. Even during the year he had already skipped school from time to time, giving all sorts of excuses. His interest is simply not in school. Before this he did mention to his mother that he wanted to go to a particular sekolah pondok. Now he says he wants to work. Sigh…

I had been trying my best to stress to them on the importance of education for the betterment of their future, but I guess these kids don’t think long term.

I asked Sofie if Azman had any special interests. His older brother too had earlier on been planning to start working immediately after his SPM, but I told him to at least take a short course or something in a field where his interest lies. Good to know that now he plans to register at a nearby Kolej Komuniti.

According to Sofie, Azman loves cooking. And at one time when Sofie got fed-up and told Azman that there was a vacancy at a canteen to help wash the dishes, Azman didn’t want the job. He wanted a job where he could help with the cooking. Hmmm… so maybe he can take up a course related to that… like hotel & catering maybe? Or any culinary related courses.

There was another piece of news about Azman that wasn’t pleasant to my ears. Recently he befriended another 15 year old boy who managed to “borrow” an uncle’s motorbike, one without road tax. With Azman as main rider and the friend as pillion, they rode the motorbike in town only to confront a police roadblock. Knowing well they were in the wrong, they tried to escape… only to end up in the drains. Needless to say, they got caught.

When the police called up Sofie to tell her to come to the police station, Sofie got so fed up initially she told the policeman to just let Azman sleep in the lockup. She was unwell, she was tired. But the policeman managed to coax Sofie to come. According to him, the uncle of the friend who owns the motorbike was fuming mad at the police station and he was putting the blame totally on Azman (as though Azman would be able to get the motor without his nephew’s help).

So yes, Sofie did finally go to the police station. There were some damage done to the motorbike, for which Sofie had to pay for, which came up to almost RM100. For someone like Sofie, that’s a big amount. But the uncle (and his wife) did not stop there. They had been pestering Sofie to pay for repairs to the engine as well. Thank goodness one of the policemen told Sofie that the engine had already been problematic all the while, so Sofie refused to pay for that. Apparently the boy (Azman’s friend) is a “regular” at the police station, with various types of offences.

Whatever it is, since Azman is under-aged, didn’t have a license and the motorbike he rode didn’t have a road tax, he wasn’t offered a compound notice. The notice he got was to appear in court. Only then will Sofie be able to appeal for some leniency. Sofie had already told Azman to work part-time after his PMR so he’d be able to pay for whatever fine that will be imposed.

Too bad Azman wasn’t home when I visited yesterday. I would have given him a piece of my mind.

I know Azman is not a bad boy. Yes, he may be a bit of the mischievous type, but despite not having any interest in his studies, I find that he is ever willing to help out with any other activities. As a matter of fact, he came with me to one of the exhibitions and he was of great help. And I do know he does care about his mother.

I don’t know how he got involved with the problematic friend. I may need to talk to him face to face after his PMR. Probably the best thing is to keep him busy with activities which are of interest to him. Maybe sign him up for a culinary course.

Poor Sofie… she already had enough problems before this…