Oprah at 5am...

For the past 3 days I've been sleeping really "earlier". Sigh. 5am, 8am, 5am?? And the result of it is me falling ill. 2 nights of jamming, 1 night of insomia. :( I do hope I recover fast, get back on track and do something about my sleeping habits and health. Our health is really really important!

The night when I was suffering from severe insomia, I caught Oprah's show at 5am. I used to watch it quite often; enjoyable and informative. This time round, it was about the FLDS. Whats that? It stands for Fundamentalist Church of the Latter day Saints. They are a religious group and community that is very much self-contained. Situated in Eldorado, Texas I think they live far from the city, in the middle of nowhere. The world is really big and different people live very very different lives. Thats what intrigues me everytime. But more than that, this group of people... they have very different beliefs!

The girls marry off at a very young age, at around 14-18 and usually to much older men. One of the girls was asked, "What does it feel do be 17 and pregnant?". She said, "Oh... Its an HONOUR." They practice polygamy (men marrying many wives) and they believe its for their good. Quoted from wiki "The FLDS Church teaches the doctrine of plural marriage, which states that a man having multiple wives is ordained by God and is a requirement for a man to receive the highest form of salvation." Therefore, their family is very very big. Their leader was convicted of being an accomplice to rape and many other allegations in 2007. His father had 19 wives and around 60 children. The leader arranges the marriages, deciding who gets married to who. Its an honour for the girls to get married as said by a woman who was interviewed on Oprah. She escaped from the community and is now leading her own life. The children do not go to a public school and is taught with the curriculum set by their leader. Sex education is not taught thus when the girls get married off, they do not know what happens after marriage and stuff. To me, everything is very hidden! The women wear long dresses and comb their hair coiffed. Its appalling to know that they are cut off from the world. There have been some people who escaped and left the community and they didn't know that there was "another world" out there. The place has also been raided and people are rescued out of this "lifestyle". Is there even a life in there?!?!?!?

Its devastating and appalling to know about all these. But I am glad for those who have left the community for another life out there!

The world is really so big and lifestyles are so different. All I can say is that we are very blessed in Singapore, for the knowledge that we've got and access to many things. Thank God!

-LeB-