Featured in "The Star" Newspaper on 23-February-2005, Section 2, Youth Page 13 entitled "What's your problem?" by IRENE KIEW

Drug abuse, alcoholism, gambling addiction, truancy, sexual abuse, juvenile delinquency - all these are serious problems affecting youth today.

But many youths are not involved with these things; instead they struggle with more mundane stuff like having parents who don't understand them, girlfriends who are drifting away and having to cope with piles of homework.

Because your struggles don't seem so serious, and you're not a problematic child, you feel overlooked or forgotten sometimes.

Dr Lee Bee Teik addresses these issues in a slim booklet called The Forgotten Teenagers. The booklet is one in a series of 18 targeted at both youths and their parents.

Other topics covered include Understanding Addictions, Understanding & Managing Stress, Mind Your Language, A Letter To Youths, Understanding Human Sexuality and The Gift Of Feeling. 

"Youths and parents need to work together if they want circumstances to change," says Dr Lee who is one of the directors of Reconre Sdn Bhd, the company that publishes the booklets.

Having spent eights years in Australia and two in England from 1971, Dr Lee says she has noticed some of the negative trends from the West creeping into Malaysia.

"In fact, it happens faster here because we are a younger country and we tend to imitate the West. It's very sad," she says.

She hopes her writings will encourage both youths and parents to explore alternatives and "realise that their parent lifestyle is not the only way to live."

Most of the content of the booklets was reworked from previous booklets authored by Dr Lee.

"Previously, I wrote bookes mainly targeted at adults. But as years passed, I realised that youths are looking for answers and they are not interested in big books, which are also more expensive. So i decided to condense some of my writings into these booklets," explains Dr Lee.