The public has cause to resent the attitudes and arrogance of the children of the rich, a few belonging to the old money class, but mainly the nouveau riche. There is a clear indication that the ‘get rich quick’ crowd has children who no longer care for anything else but their own enjoyment. If their irresponsibility has to be curbed, the law has to include a provision to make the parents also responsible. If it can be proved that parents have been culpably negligent then there should be provisions to punish them also, not necessarily by jailing or fining them but certainly by sentencing them to a term of compulsory counseling along with their wayward children.

And as regards the children themselves, I feel that the law should provide for compulsory social work with the poor and the dispossessed so that they are sensitised to poverty and deprivation. For example, if Alistair was made to work for a year at least in the slums or with pavement dwellers like many social workers are doing voluntarily, it might make him into a much better human being, responsible, caring and compassionate.

And finally, the police should sit and ponder on their own role and responsibilities in enforcing the law of the land. In Romania, where I lived for four years, whenever we invited couples home for dinner, only one of the pair would drink so that one totally sober person could drive back home. In Europe people respect the laws, and those who disregard regulations are not spared. Our traffic police needs to be more proactive in checking drivers, particularly after midnight, so that preventive measures are in place to ensure that irresponsible citizens do not turn into public menace.