Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Summary


Yoke Kwan grew up in a Chinese family although her dark skin and looks differ from her parents and the rest of her family members. She went through a lot in her younger days having been teased and tortured about her appearance. One day, Yoke Kwan attended one of her friend’s party and several people commented how she resembled their friend staying in Jelapang, K.Anama. She shrugged it off thinking it was just a mere coincidence but that thought taunted her the whole night. So, the very next day she decided to go to Jelapang, not knowing what to expect and coincidencially stopped at her biological parent’s house. DNA check-up, pictures and further investigation proved indeed that there was a mix- up at a hospital years back. Even though both girls know who their biological parents are, they decided to stay on with their current ‘adopted’ family. Anama and Yoke Kwan are now good friends, having met up occasionally. Both of them and Yoke Kwan’s biological parents sued the hospital for negligence.



Reflection

I guess the saying ‘you don’t have to give birth to someone to make you family’ can be implied in this matter. For example in K.Anama and Yoke Kwan’s case which they were switched at birth and later found out the truth about themselves. They eventually found out about their biological parents and family after more than two decades. They always felt like the ugly duckling in the family as they were growing up but kept their feelings bottled up, not wanting to hurt their parents feelings. Later when they found out the truth, they felt relieved as though all of their problems were solved. After a lot of pondering, they made a drastic decision to stick with their current family. It wasnt stated in the article why they decided to do so but in my opinion I guess they felt more comfortable with their current family as they have known them all their lives. I personally think it is hard for someone to accept someone new in one's life especially if that person plays a major role in your life such as a daughter or a sister thus sticking with your current family members seems like the best idea. Not only that, it doesn't make sense if u leave your whole family just to fit in with your biological parents and family. In this matter, hospitals and clinics should be blamed, they should be more responsible and more aware in handling newborn babies to avoid such mix-ups.