satisfaction.Saturday, July 28, 2007
A saint was praying silently. A wealthy merchant, observing the saint's devotion and sincerity, was deeply touched by him. The merchant offered the saint a bag of gold. "I know that you will use the money for God's sake. Please take it."
"Just a moment." The saint replied. "I'm not sure if it is lawful for me to take your money. Are you a wealthy man? Do you have more money at home?
"Oh yes. I have at least one thousand gold pieces at home," claimed the merchant proudly.
"Do you want a thousand gold pieces more? Asked the saint.
"Why not, of course yes. Every day I work hard to earn more money."
"And do you wish for yet a thousand gold pieces more beyond that?"
"Certainly. Every day I pray that I may earn more and more money."
The saint pushed the bag of gold back to the merchant. "I am sorry, but I cannot take your gold," he said. "A wealthy man cannot take money from a beggar."
"How can you call yourself a wealthy man and me a beggar?" the merchant spluttered.
The saint replied, "I am a wealthy man because I am content with whatever God sends me. You are a beggar, because no matter how much you possess, you are always dissatisfied, and always begging God for more."
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the above was a short, inspiring extract that highlighted the need to be content with what we have.
sometimes, due to our innate greed, we desire more. more money, more time, more friends, more happiness. and we get lost in these fantasies, losing our way back to reality.
we fail to look at the treasures we already possess until it is all too late. therefore, we should take some time off and stop to appreciate the things we take for granted, and be satisfied with what we have. and also to find back what we lost.
with that said, i would like to thank those that contributed much to my college experience. it rather hurts because we are all going to graduate soon, ending our whirlwind-like 2 year college life. and we may lose touch with each other. and we may never be able to speak about all those gossips. and we may never eat together again. and one day we may never have the time or interest for a class reunion.
but for now, let's bask in the happiness. forget our worries and enjoy the last days.
3 things about the Happy Prince.Thursday, July 19, 2007
Link:http://fiction.eserver.org/short/happy_prince.html
upon prompting from amphi, i decided to read up the story of the happy prince, which happened to be sitting comfortably in the personal message window of his MSN nickname. at first, it appeared as being no different from a typical fictional story. there is god, prince in shiny gold, happy people and sad people; popular elements of a child's favorite storybook. but the long, shaky bus-ride home became a rather thought-provoking session. The plot of Happy Prince was not as simple as it appeared to be, but there are rather several interesting points to ponder over. and on that same journey, i began to slowly think about it.
1. "Ah! but we have, in our dreams."
i am sure everyone have hopes and dreams. some dream to be the next billionaire to appear on the Forbes magazine, the next Singapore idol or campus superstar, the next miss Singapore. there is always this ideal standard that we are working towards, or trying to emulate. but try as we might, we rarely succeed. this give rise to some of the common phrase used to address dreams; "dreams are for weaklings" because tough macho man go all out for what they desire and not cower in their dreams. "dreams never come true" because dreams are supposed to be impossible to achieve. There is a fine line between targets and dreams and the mathematician, operating on logic and rationale (they support a theory through providing a proof) clearly understands this point. and if you do believe in logic and rationale, then why dream? thus the fictional story, as i intepret it, poses the essential question of why one clings on to dreams, hoping for it to come true, even when logic and rationale indicates otherwise. ah, what an intellectually stimulating thought on a "shagged bus" home.
2. "I lived in the palace of Sans-Souci, where sorrow is not allowed to enter." and "they have set me up here so high that I can see all the ugliness and all the misery of my city"
we have a happy prince as a main character who only felt happiness. because he was unaware of the unhappiness happening around him, he only experienced joy and bliss. he was living a small bubble of heaven, and even though there was unhappiness around him, it didn't affect him. but look at what happened to him when he knew the truth. the happy prince was no more. he lost his identity and perhaps the most important thing of all. because of his curse/blessing to see the unhappy events happening everyday, he became affected by the truth and obliged to help out. along comes the little swallow with a big heart. the swallow too, becomes affected by the truth and with each passing day, they become more and more depressed. clearly, living in our own bubble of bliss seems to spare one from the misery and pain outside. if given the choice, would we prefer to live in that bubble or to know the truth? i couldn't give myself a convincing answer.
3. ‘Dear little Swallow,’ said the Prince, ‘you tell me of marvellous things, but more marvellous than anything is the suffering of men and of women. There is no Mystery so great as Misery. Fly over my city, little Swallow, and tell me what you see there.’
even when the prince turns blind, he still wanted to know the truth happening around him. yes, it would give him even more pain but he wanted to help everyone. and the question which i asked myself hard was what should the swallow have done? telling the truth led to the eventual haggard nature of the happy prince. if the swallow was to hide away the unhappiness, the happy prince would probably be able retain his own identity and his own happiness. so did the swallow do the right thing? was telling the truth the right thing? in the end, the prince and the swallow died, ending their friendship. the happy prince turned from a golden statue with ruby and sapphire to something of past memory. the swallow searching for happiness, eventually died from loneliness and cold. was the truth worth it??
SENSE-TIVITyFriday, July 13, 2007
Live Earth, the sensational 24 hour concert, ended off with a big bang. More than 100 artists took part in concerts in nine different locations around the world in an effort to raise awareness about the global warming crisis. The message to drive home is to be more sensitive towards our delicate environment, already plagued by problems of pollution and depletion of finite resources. For many years, human have ignored the bigger environmental issue when it comes to the selfish pursuit of satisfaction and comfort. Burning fossil fuels to power our air conditioners, or cutting down trees to produce our furniture are just some common examples to highlight our guilt. Yet, this trend continues because man still lacks a basic trait in their behaviour.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you, Sensitivity. (claps)
This is an characteristic that is increasingly becoming important and sorely missed. When companies decide to pollute the rivers, it shows a lack of concern and basic disregard about the people that depends on the river for a living. When politicians recklessly declare war on another, it breaks up numerous families and kills many innocent victims. Yet, they care more about the victory than the precious lives that were thrown away.
The point here is whether we ever consider the impact of our actions on people? Are we sensitive to the needs of the people and the environment around us? Or are we just blindly consumed by the satisfaction of pursuing our own actions, without sparing a thought for others. For a start, we should start to exhibit some sensitivity. Wrong or right actions can be judged if we all use some common sense-tivity. And the world will be a better place if we consider the larger social cost of our actions.
Don't wait for another time to start being sensitive. Don't wait for another man to come to Earth to redeem our sins. Ultimately, don't wait for another concert to raise awareness of the need for sense-tivity.
Thank you. (:
faith.Thursday, July 05, 2007
faith is confidence. faith is trust. faith is belief. it is something that is not easily given away. it is something that is sacred. yet, faith can be earned through observation, understanding, and respect. once given, it stands firm as a fortress, unwavering in the face of doubt. there may be times when the ground turns weak and wobbly, and faith seems ready to topple over. there may be times where faith becomes disturbed by events and incidents that one witnessed, heard or felt.
And at such times, faith starts to melt away. The four pillars of support may just crumble under the pressure, burying faith into the deep depths of earth. forever hidden, until man forgets its existence.
for now, my faith stays.
