Now, you and I know that not all men are bastards, but we also know that they can behave like absolute bastards if they want to do so.

Today I heard that a friend and fellow editor Yasmin passed away from cancer. Fine, I hear you say, we’re sorry to hear you lost your friend, but wake up, Dave shit happens all the time, nothing to get worked up about. Quite.

Yasmin was being treated by Dr Wong at the same alternative health clinic I go to. Diagnosed at stage 4, she did not undergo any chemotheraphy or take the requisite drugs. Under Dr Wong’s care she was making amazing progress.

Then her husband of twelve years asked her for a divorce so that he can be with his girlfriend. She confided to a small group of close friends, including me. I was gobsmacked. There’s honesty and then there’s sheer dumb stupidity. “Moron” or “retard” doesn’t even begin to describe it.

We advised her to be strong and fight to live for the sake of her 11 year old son. Her husband started pressuring her to transfer the house and her EPF savings to him. Long story short, he dragged her sickly body to the Syariah court and got his divorce on account that she couldn’t provide him with sex anymore. She stood there propped up by her parents and cried her heart out because she still loved him.

Yasmin refused to answer my phone calls after that. She also refused to go to Dr Wong’s for treatment. She gave up.

She died today, two months after her husband broke her heart. Two miserable months. If only he had just shut his gab, he would have emerged as a hero who stood by his wife through thick and thin. Instead he chose to think with his dick.

Yes, as an adult I fully recognise that sometimes people marry the wrong person, and sometimes you fall in love again. Yes, I accept this as a fact of life. But what I cannot accept nor condone, is this cavalier attitude some men have towards their own children. Leave if you must, but don’t make your child suffer any more than he or she already has to.

Oh, and newsflash - once you get married, there is another person sharing your life. Kiss goodbye to your bachelor days when you can hang out with the guys 24/7, and don’t expect her to just meekly wait and look after your brats whilst you go gallivanting about painting the town red and bonking other women.

Goodbye, Yasmin. I console myself with the thought that you are no longer in pain.