Chinese man swindled £600,000 off parents to study abroad - stayed in Beijing

For traditionally minded Chinese parents, keen to encourage their son's ambitions, spending 6m hard-earned yuan (£595,000) on prestigious postgraduate studies at Oxford University must have seemed a sound investment.

But six years later they learned that the young man had never left China – instead living in Beijing and blowing a third of the money on his girlfriend, Chinese media reported. She dumped him when his cash ran out.

It is unclear how the Dalian University graduate, who has not been named, managed to convince his parents that he was in the UK for all that time, or how he persuaded them it was costing him 1m yuan a year.

The 31-year-old, from Jiangsu province, appears to have planned to study at a foreign university. According to the Beijing Morning Post, he had spent some of the money on agencies that promised to find him a place abroad and had given more to people who claimed they could help him through their personal connections.

When his parents ran out of money to fund him, he borrowed 400,000 yuan more from loan sharks, but could not pay it back.

He was finally forced to confess to his parents after saying he would kill himself over his unpaid debts. They called police and firefighters to stop him.

His parents said they ran a small silk-making factory and had struggled to make the money they sent to their son.

They were furious on learning the truth, but forgave him because they believed he too had suffered a blow and because of their fears he might attempt suicide.

This really reminds me of a parable, The Prodigal Son. His parents love him so much that they willing to forgive him even though he swindle. There are some incidences here in Malaysia where children owed loan sharks so much money and their parents paid their debt. Many do not learn their lesson and I hope that this man in China will learn his lesson.


News Source: the guardian

Parents sold kids to play video game

A Chinese couple sold their three children for cash to play video games, according to a local report.

Sanxiang City News newspaper said the parents, both under 21, sold their children for money to fund playing online games at internet cafes.

In 2009, Li Lin and Li Juan sold their second child, a baby girl, for less than $500. They reportedly spent the money shortly after.

They then sold their first child, a boy, for about $4600. They sold their third child, also a boy, for the same amount.

They were reported to the police when the man's mother found out what they had done. Apparently the 2 parents showed no remorse for their actions. "We don't want to raise them, we just want to sell them for some money," they said. The parents are young and naive, so when asked about their nefarious deeds, they stated that they were unaware what they were doing is illegal.

The games played by the couple were not disclosed, or the type of games they were.

The couple met in an Internet cafe in 2007, and shortly after meeting quickly consummated the relationship and moved in together, spending most of their time playing video games in Internet cafes. Shortly after their first child was born in 2008, they left it at home and traveled 30km to play video games.

The trophy goes to these 2 parents as being the most disastrous parents of the year!

Have we taken our parents for granted?

This evening I saw my neighbour, an old man in his mid 50s, cleaning and washing 2 of his cars. I had mix feelings for him as I can see how much a father loves his children and how much his children took him for granted. Every week, he faithfully washes the cars that are frequently driven by his 2 teenage children. I believe he services the cars, pump gas into it to keep it running and also keeping the cars clean. Every now and then I see his children taking out the cars with their bunch of friends to go for a jolly ride but leaving their father to pick up the bill and hassle of keeping the car in tip top condition. Every week, I will see this old man sacrificing for his children without complain.

Indeed our parents love for us is unconditional. With their sweat from their brow, they toiled to put food on the table and to keep their children's needs are met. Some of us may not be financially ready yet to help out parents but the least we can do is to lighten their burden in anyway and be sensitive towards their feelings.

In the Quran, it is clearly stated as one the commandments to honour our parents as long as we live. Parents are to be treated equally with kindness and humility. As we reflect, our days with our parents are numbered and when they are no longer with us, it is too late for us to turn back time to show our love and appreciation.

Therefore I besiege all of you and even myself to start to take our parents seriously. We can show our appreciation to them in many ways and to tell them that they are always important to us. Honouring them does not only earn us reward in heaven but also strengthen the bond between us and our parents.

I hope one day the children of the old man will come to their senses on how much love and sacrifice their parents has poured out to them and to return their love before it's too late to regret.