We reap whatever we have sown.

Once upon a time, my wife and I used to travel from Sungai Petani, Kedah to sungai Dua, Penang in search of orchid plants for their exotic blooms. The flowers are sometimes used by me in floristry.

While passing a small town known as Kepala Batas, we noticed some orchid plants in the garden of a house. We stopped to admire the beautiful flowers. As we reached the gate, we were shocked by an frightening cry from within the house. It was like the anguished cry of a trapped animal. Then, the owner of the house appeared and i requested permission to have a closer look at her orchids.

As we were appreciating the beauty of some of her flowers, the bizarre cry was heard again. curious, i asked the lady what cry that was. At that, she looked so sad and did not seem to want to respond to my enquiry.

It was only when we got to know her better with more frequent stops to admire the flowers that she became friendlier with us. Then, one day, just after we heard the same cry again, she began to tell us it was the sound of her son. Puzzled and surprised, i asked what her child's problem was.

She quietly led us into her house. She took us to a room at the back portion within which was seen a very thin naked figure lying on the floor. The smell from that room was nauseating and it was only with great effort that my wife and I managed not to vomit. The door to the room had been cemented permanently shut with two openings in the door; at the bottom was a slit approximately four inches high, certainly not big enough for any human to squeeze through; and higher up was a barred window through which we could see the figure in the room.

What she told us was a tragic story of how a family suffered; had to imprison their eldest child to prevent the themselves from being threatened with harm and death.

Many years ago, the family was very rich with a thriving business in the town. The child was pampered with everything he demanded. With lots of money at that time, his demands was not a problem. Unfortunately, too much money for a boy of fourteen meant he could avail himself of anything, be it good or bad.

With his money, he tried everything, form girls to drugs. He discovered the easy availability of drugs. As expected,he soon got addicted. Addiction lead to the need for more daily dosage of expensive drugs. Even for the rich, he found that the money given him was not enough.

Before long, the parents realised that a lot of money was being used to support his addiction. They began to oppose his wasteful spending of their money. Without money to feed his addition, he became angry with his parents. when anger did not get him what he demanded, he threatened them with a knife. At first, fear for their lives made them submit to his demands.

However, the demand for more and more money each passing day was a strain on them. One day, to overcome their miserable dilemma, they locked him up in his room.

His savage behaviour shocked them when he broke down the door, grabbed a long knife and demanded more money. From then on, they never could have a good night's sleep, unsure what calamity the next minute might bring.

The stress eventually became too great for the family to bear and so they decided to imprison him in the room we saw.

At first, when they witnessed his withdrawal symptoms, they almost sympathised with him. But realising the difficult situation they faced, they had to harden their hearts and bear the pain of knowing that there was just no way out. They did want people to know the shame they have brought upon themselves.

They would throw him clothes but those clothes were never worn. Each day they pushed in plates of food and bowls of water through the four-inch slit below the door. A long stick was used to retrieve the metal plate and bowl. A hose was used to direct sprays of water to bathe their son and clean the room. When i saw him, he had been in that room a good number of years.

I have known of at least two drug addicts who were pampered children. Miserable were their lives. Thus, as parents, we must never pamper our children. No matter how difficult it is, love them enough to say 'No!' to things or behaviour that is harmful to them.

As a parent, I know it pains us or bring anxiety or guilt sometimes, when we have to discipline our children. We have to remind ourselves that our children need discipline to grow into strong, useful people.

To end, perhaps this particular story i heard sometime ago is appropraite.

A prisoner was being lead to the gallows. The mother rushed forward to hug him for the last time. The prisoner put his mouth to his mother's ear. He bit off her ear! Then, he turned tearfully to his mother and said,"If you had loved me enough to teach me the difference between good and bad; punish me when I am bad, I would not have to die this way."