I know modern day people say that chivalry is dead. But my romantic heart refuse to believe it sometimes. What's wrong with having guys opening the restaurant or car door for a girl? What's wrong with having guys pick up the tab or have him hand over his jacket to you in the cold night? I'm sure there are many independent women out there. I'm an independent woman myself. But being pampered once in a while does not hurt either.
However, this is not what I'm going to explore right now. What I would like to write has nothing to do with guys opening doors for girls.
Then now it's like another trend where husbands turn mad and get violent on their wives and children.
What could be the matter? Has the stress level of men today doubled compared to our fathers? Is there something wrong with the food - too much hormones maybe? Have the bridge we make with our neighbours and friends of the world changed our old values and negatively influenced us into becoming The Hulk? Or could it be, that we just didn't want to state the obvious - all these are signs that we're at the end of the world and we're going to DIE soon!
Less than a week ago the nation was surprised with a news in Terengganu of a man (also a drug addict) who splashed acid on his former wife, daughter and two other family members because his ex-wife wouldn't give him RM30 that he wanted from her. 30 Ringgit! His daughter, an 8-year old was badly scarred and is said might be blind for the rest of her life as a result to his actions.
Che Ku Zaimah (left) and 8-year old Nurul Dahyatul Fazlinda
And then two days ago there was another news about a husband who slashed his wife and her male cousin out of jealousy after seeing her chatting with her cousin at their home. Talk about a rude welcome! There they were, innocently talking and the husband who came home early just went a grabbed a knife in the kitchen and start slashing his wife's face, hands and body. And when he saw his wife was trying to shield her cousin from harm, he went and slashed the man too before leaving the house and the two people lying in their pool of blood.
What could've been in his mind then? I mean, even if what he imagined was true, if maybe his wife was cheating on him, why the need to resort to violence? Why not just divorce the woman and not leave her a cent! Isn't that type of revenge better than having yourself being locked up in jail instead?
Last night I was chatting with one of my best friends and we were talking about the social issues going on in this world when I said something like, "I'm sure some crazy news is going to come out in the papers tomorrow."
Turns out I was right. At the front page of a Malay paper today is a news of a husband who, after being in a quarrel with his wife, got so enraged when she increased the TV volume that he started kicking his 6-month pregnant wife and then stepping on her belly many times as she lay on the floor. Then when he's done, he can just walk out of the house and leave her in pain where she had to endure it by herself and ask help from neighbours to get to the hospital.
I wonder how these men could treat their wives in this animal-like way? These women are the people they claimed they love enough to offer marriage to and then they can just kick, beat and burn them? How can these men live with themselves? Acting like a brute will not make a man anything else but a brute. What is wrong with these people? Have women been trying to call for equality for so long that men forget we are still the weaker sex? Have the wires in the brains of today's men gone awry or something? Is it just chivalry that's dead or respect altogether?
It's scary and sad too. All these things and experiences I see other people go through sometimes make me fear to even think of "marriage". *Sigh*
