The Crow and the Magpie

Okay, brace yourselves boys and girls. Because when I've talked about decay of society and mindless sheep taking over, I wasn't talking about the future. It was here and now.

If you haven't read the Crow and the Magpie, it tells of an eerie tale of a crow wanting to learn how to sing better. He couldn't and he was miserable because of this. All of the other birds hated him because of his attitude. One day, the crow asked the Magpie to teach him how to sing. At first, the magpie refused because he hated the crow but agreed later on if the crow followed strict conditions. The conditions were that he is not to drink or eat anything until the magpie tells him to. The crow, eager to learn was fooled by the magpie. He ate and drank very little and became to weak and eventually died.

To you and me, the above story might mean political or somewhat fueled by an unknown vendetta similar to Cask of Amontillado. Weird stories that you have to find meaning for or just simply dismiss as crazy ramblings of another Edgar Allan Poe. It is not. There is nothing deep about it. I know this because it was taken from a preschool book published by www.rhythm.com.my, a Malaysian company. It came with illustrations and it was 5 or 6 pages long.

At the end of this really sick book, the moral of the story was: "never attempt the impossible". So it's okay to kill off somebody who's trying just because he was never going to be good at it. I've read this as one responsible Mom was kind enough to screen the books she let her son read. It was bought off at a Filbar's stand in Ortigas for a mere 10 pesos.

It has come to this. If you still think that passive parenting is okay. You'd be dead wrong. If you're not careful, your child could read this. He may become the next best Terrorist (and this is not the reality TV show kind).

I could blame the Malaysians for not using their brains before publishing this crap. I could blame the anonymous writer who was probably raised by wolves. I could blame Filbars for not screening their material well enough. But you see, I could not. Because it has come to this point that you, as a parent, would have to.

I believe the children are our future.

Do a better job. Please.