THANK YOU: Ngieng (third left) receiving a token of appreciation from the organising chairperson Alice Ngu while others look on.
SIBU: Parents are urged to strengthen the family institution to counter marriage breakdown and parenting failures that can sow human discords and sufferings.
“We must play faithfully and dutifully our roles as parents, children and siblings so that our families have love and commitment to truly transform ourselves,” Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) deputy chairman Daniel Ngieng said when officiating at the closing of the Catholic Women Conference at a leading hotel here on Friday, listing out four main challenges facing Christian families in the new millennium.
The conference was themed, “Challenges faced by Christian families in the 21st century”.
Ngieng stressed that strengthening family institution is the only defence against this challenge.
He added: “Self transformation is the only way to make all of us as imperfect beings to stick and stay together either as husband and wife or as parents and children or as a God-fearing family.”
Ngieng warned that secular culture of negativity is another challenge facing the people today.
He explained that this culture looked at everything in a negative light, including bringing others down. He went on to say, the culture also involved criticising just about everyone.
“We only look at the imperfection of others.”
Instead, what should have been done was to compliment others rather than uttering unkind words, he suggested.
He cautioned that net technology was another challenge affecting Christian families these days.
“This has brought grave challenge to us as the so called touch technology is producing a generation of people who communicate more with computer screens than with real people,” he lamented.
He thus said the growth of science and technology called for more enlightenment and wisdom.