A couple was facing a sudden financial disaster. That winter, the husband's career hit a snag, and the couple lost most of their fortunes. To pay the debts, the couple had to move out from their warm and beautiful house in the city and rent a simple and ugly unit in the remote rural area. The unit was cold and grim like their feelings. The husband said to the wife, "Believe me. Things will soon be alright." The wife agreed in confidence.
During the day, the husband worked tirelessly outside in order to earn as much as possible. He was so busy that he couldn't make a single phone call to his wife in the entire day. During the night, the husband spent most of the time at home finishing his work on the computer, and making phone calls to clients. He seldom had time to talk with his wife.
As days passed, the wife gradually noticed that her husband was no longer the same as before. In the evening, the husband always wanted to take the bath first which in the past, he always let the wife to take it before he did. The wife asked the husband if she could have the bath first as before. But the husband insisted that after a hard day's work, he needed to take the shower first to clean up and refresh himself. At night, the husband always got into bed before the wife, which again in the past, it was the wife who usually got into bed first. As the wife asked, the husband replied that he was so tired everyday that he had to get to sleep as soon as possible. The wife was very sad, thinking that not only had she lost the house and fortune, but also the love from her husband.
One day, when the husband was out at work, the wife saw her husband's diary lying in the drawer. Out of curiosity, she opened and read it. Tears began to fall as the wife read on, " Today, she asked me why I always took the bath before she did, and why I always got into bed first. I said to her that after a whole day's work, I had to wash and rest as soon as possible. But I didn't tell her, and I didn't want to tell her, that our situation was so bad. The bathroom was so cold. If I took the bath first, the bathroom temperature might increase a few degrees, 3°C, 2°C or at least a 1°C. When she next took the bath, she would feel a bit warmer. The unit was so cold. If I got into bed first, I could warm up the bed for a few degrees, 3°C, 2°C or at least a 1°C. When she next got into bed, she would feel a bit warmer too. In these difficult times, I think that's the very least I can now give her, 1°C .................................."
Love prevails in different forms and in different styles. Sometimes, we just don't appreciate the good fortune when in good fortune. At times (especially difficult ones), we might lose our faith in love, despite love is already around us without our knowing.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
The Story of Buddha (1 of 3) - The Four Signs (四跡象)
I recently read some stories about Buddha. Although I'm a Catholic, I found these stories very interesting and inspirational.
The word 'Buddha' (菩薩) means 'the awakened one' or 'the enlightened one' - one who discovers the truth of life. As such, anyone who reaches the stage of understanding the true nature of life (awakens or attains enlightenment in Buddhism terms) can be called a Buddha. Our stories are about Gautama Buddha (釋迦牟尼) who was the founder of Buddhism more than 2500 years ago. He is generally regarded as the Supreme Buddha (佛祖) or simply called 'The Buddha'. Like Jesus, Buddha was a real person.
Siddhartha Gautama was born in about 563 BC (exact date not known) as a prince, son of King Sudhodana and Queen Maya in ancient India. His mother, Queen Maya died just a week after his birth. His father, King Sudhodana loved him very much. The King was determined to have his only son to become the future king of the country, and provided all the best things possible to prepare him for this role. So Siddhartha grew up in a very comfortable environment. He was handsome and intelligent. At the age of 16, he was married to Princess Yasodhara whom he loved. In order to keep all the unpleasant things away from Siddhartha so he could concentrate on becoming a great ruler, the King built three palaces for the couple; one for summer, one for rainy season and one for winter. Siddhartha was kept in these beautiful palaces, surrounded by luxury and happiness but separated from the rest of the world.
When Siddhartha was 29 years old, one day an idea suddenly came to his mind that he wanted to go out of the palace and have a look of the world outside. The King, still wanting to surround him with only happiness, ordered the streets to be swept and decorated, and any ugly and sad sights to be removed. Despite the King's effort, there were four incidents Siddhartha encountered as he was traveling through the streets with his servant, Channa.
First, he saw a man among the crowds. The man's face and body was withered. His eyes were clouded and his mouth was toothless. Siddhartha was shocked by the man's appearance. He asked Channa, "What's wrong with him?" Channa replied, "Nothing. He's just old, my lord. Old age destroys beauty, memory and strength." Siddhartha shook his head sadly and walked on. That was the First Sign - OLD AGE.
As they walked further, they saw a woman lying in a shelter. The woman was pale, very weak and had an expression of great pain. Siddhartha asked, "What's happening to her?" Channa answered, "She's sick, my Lord. When reaching the moment of death, everybody has to fall into sickness at least once." That was the Second Sign - SICKNESS.
Siddhartha said to Channa, "Show me death. I want to see death." Channa then led him to a funeral place where a corpse was lying on the ground, and people were beginning to cremate it with fire. Channa said to Siddhartha, "Death is the moment of separation, my Lord. It happens to every person and every family." Siddhartha looked at the cremation with awe. That was the Third Sign - DEATH.
Siddhartha was very depressed as he walked on slowly. He was contemplating the scenes he saw before finally running into a monk along the road. "Who are you?" he asked the monk. "I'm a seeker of truth. I'm looking for freedom from pain and unhappiness." replied the monk. "And do you think you can find it?" asked Siddhartha eagerly. "Is it possible?" The monk replied, "I can but try. It is for that I live." The monk bowed to the prince and continued to walk on. That was the Fourth Sign - SEEKER OF TRUTH.
That day, Siddhartha realized things beyond happiness for the first time. He now knew everybody would grow old and become ill even one was still young like himself. Death was unavoidable. No matter how happy one might be today, such happiness would not and could not last for ever. That day, he learned much about suffering and discovered compassion. The Four Signs had aroused in him the thought that an answer must be sought about life and suffering. He too needed to become a seeker of truth. He had to take up the task of finding ways to end all these sufferings, and he wanted to do it for himself and for everyone. As Siddhartha walked slowly back to the palace, he had already made up his mind.
That very night, his son, Rahula was born. In spite of his love for the family, he was determined to free himself from them so that he could begin his quest for answers. He knew his work would take the rest of his life. He would have no time to spare for his family and for becoming a ruler of his country. Very late that night while everyone was asleep, he took a final look of his wife and his son, and to the palace. He rode off with a white horse and with his servant Channa, and left the palace. When they reached to the wilderness, Siddhartha cut off his hair and bid farewell to Channa and the horse. He then went into the forest alone by himself, for his quest of knowledge, truth and answers of life and suffering.
There and then, Siddhartha's long journey to enlightenment had so begun ..........................
The word 'Buddha' (菩薩) means 'the awakened one' or 'the enlightened one' - one who discovers the truth of life. As such, anyone who reaches the stage of understanding the true nature of life (awakens or attains enlightenment in Buddhism terms) can be called a Buddha. Our stories are about Gautama Buddha (釋迦牟尼) who was the founder of Buddhism more than 2500 years ago. He is generally regarded as the Supreme Buddha (佛祖) or simply called 'The Buddha'. Like Jesus, Buddha was a real person.
Siddhartha Gautama was born in about 563 BC (exact date not known) as a prince, son of King Sudhodana and Queen Maya in ancient India. His mother, Queen Maya died just a week after his birth. His father, King Sudhodana loved him very much. The King was determined to have his only son to become the future king of the country, and provided all the best things possible to prepare him for this role. So Siddhartha grew up in a very comfortable environment. He was handsome and intelligent. At the age of 16, he was married to Princess Yasodhara whom he loved. In order to keep all the unpleasant things away from Siddhartha so he could concentrate on becoming a great ruler, the King built three palaces for the couple; one for summer, one for rainy season and one for winter. Siddhartha was kept in these beautiful palaces, surrounded by luxury and happiness but separated from the rest of the world.
When Siddhartha was 29 years old, one day an idea suddenly came to his mind that he wanted to go out of the palace and have a look of the world outside. The King, still wanting to surround him with only happiness, ordered the streets to be swept and decorated, and any ugly and sad sights to be removed. Despite the King's effort, there were four incidents Siddhartha encountered as he was traveling through the streets with his servant, Channa.
First, he saw a man among the crowds. The man's face and body was withered. His eyes were clouded and his mouth was toothless. Siddhartha was shocked by the man's appearance. He asked Channa, "What's wrong with him?" Channa replied, "Nothing. He's just old, my lord. Old age destroys beauty, memory and strength." Siddhartha shook his head sadly and walked on. That was the First Sign - OLD AGE.
As they walked further, they saw a woman lying in a shelter. The woman was pale, very weak and had an expression of great pain. Siddhartha asked, "What's happening to her?" Channa answered, "She's sick, my Lord. When reaching the moment of death, everybody has to fall into sickness at least once." That was the Second Sign - SICKNESS.
Siddhartha said to Channa, "Show me death. I want to see death." Channa then led him to a funeral place where a corpse was lying on the ground, and people were beginning to cremate it with fire. Channa said to Siddhartha, "Death is the moment of separation, my Lord. It happens to every person and every family." Siddhartha looked at the cremation with awe. That was the Third Sign - DEATH.
Siddhartha was very depressed as he walked on slowly. He was contemplating the scenes he saw before finally running into a monk along the road. "Who are you?" he asked the monk. "I'm a seeker of truth. I'm looking for freedom from pain and unhappiness." replied the monk. "And do you think you can find it?" asked Siddhartha eagerly. "Is it possible?" The monk replied, "I can but try. It is for that I live." The monk bowed to the prince and continued to walk on. That was the Fourth Sign - SEEKER OF TRUTH.
That day, Siddhartha realized things beyond happiness for the first time. He now knew everybody would grow old and become ill even one was still young like himself. Death was unavoidable. No matter how happy one might be today, such happiness would not and could not last for ever. That day, he learned much about suffering and discovered compassion. The Four Signs had aroused in him the thought that an answer must be sought about life and suffering. He too needed to become a seeker of truth. He had to take up the task of finding ways to end all these sufferings, and he wanted to do it for himself and for everyone. As Siddhartha walked slowly back to the palace, he had already made up his mind.
That very night, his son, Rahula was born. In spite of his love for the family, he was determined to free himself from them so that he could begin his quest for answers. He knew his work would take the rest of his life. He would have no time to spare for his family and for becoming a ruler of his country. Very late that night while everyone was asleep, he took a final look of his wife and his son, and to the palace. He rode off with a white horse and with his servant Channa, and left the palace. When they reached to the wilderness, Siddhartha cut off his hair and bid farewell to Channa and the horse. He then went into the forest alone by himself, for his quest of knowledge, truth and answers of life and suffering.
There and then, Siddhartha's long journey to enlightenment had so begun ..........................
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Kung Hei Fat Choy - Year of the Rabbit
Rabbits are active, cheerful, pure, honest and elegant. They have sharp observations, vigilant and cautious. They enjoy freedom and the nature.Wish you a happy, healthy, wealthy and wishful Year of the Rabbit.
Kung Hei Fat Choy!
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Commonwealth Games 2010 - Delhi
Following is a piece of news from Sydney Morning Harald on Friday 21 January, 2010.
India on Thursday ordered Commonwealth Games organizers to sort out differences with foreign contractors and sports bodies amid complaints and legal threats over millions of US dollars in unpaid bills. The Sports Minister told a news conference that he has set a 10-day deadline for government officials in the organizing committee of the October 3-14 event to settle all "legitimate" dues.
Firms in Australia, Britain, France and Germany are among those owed money, while national Commonwealth Games Associations have complained of missing refunds and travel subsidies.
An Australian contractor behind the opening and closing ceremonies said his Commonwealth Games experience had soured his view of the host country. He told the press, "We decided that
India on Thursday ordered Commonwealth Games organizers to sort out differences with foreign contractors and sports bodies amid complaints and legal threats over millions of US dollars in unpaid bills. The Sports Minister told a news conference that he has set a 10-day deadline for government officials in the organizing committee of the October 3-14 event to settle all "legitimate" dues.
Firms in Australia, Britain, France and Germany are among those owed money, while national Commonwealth Games Associations have complained of missing refunds and travel subsidies.
An Australian contractor behind the opening and closing ceremonies said his Commonwealth Games experience had soured his view of the host country. He told the press, "We decided that
Monday, January 17, 2011
Brief History of IBM Mainframe Computers and Computing
When I began my working career in the IT (Information Technology) business in 1968, I first worked in IBM with the computer series S/360 (System 360). IBM named the series as 360 (a complete revolution) as, apart from being in the '60s, they regarded those as their first ever all-rounder general purpose computers. Entered the '70s, I then worked with the successor series S/370 (System 370). Came the '80s. IBM stopped short of producing System 380 series. Instead, they produced the 308x series (3081, 3083 etc) and 3090 series, and I continued to work with those. Further came the '90s, I then worked with the Enterprise System ES/9000. At the turn of the millennium into 2000, IBM came back again to the series S/390 (System 390).
All these were mainframe computers which were huge processor complex running all or most applications in a corporation. The processor complex were huge in the sense of their processing power and also they were big refrigerator-type boxes which needed to stay in large air-conditioned, humidity-controlled computer rooms with raised flooring (to hide the numerous computer cables underneath). Data were stored in numerous fast-spinning disks coupling together in a big disk farm which gave another reason why a large computer room was needed. Usually the computer rooms were behind floor-to-ceiling glass walls as companies wanted to show off to their customers the usage of high technology. The computer rooms were dubbed as 'glass houses' at that time. Processing power of the mainframe computers were measured by MIPS (million instruction per second that the processor could compute). As an indication, a S/360 model 20 in 1965 was at 0.002 MIPS and a S/390 model G6 in 1999 was at 1644 MIPS.
In the '60/70s, computing were essentially done by mainframe computers. Processing power of mainframe computers grew exponentially year after year. However, in the '80/90s, with the advent of high-speed telecommunications and personal computers, computing began to shift from centralizing all processing in one single huge mainframe to a distributed processing environment. Individual applications (e.g. accounting or email etc) would be offloaded to individual mid-range computers with medium-sized processing power like Sun Microsystem or HP (Hewlett Packard). Personal applications (e.g. word processing etc) would be offloaded to personal computers with numerous brands and models. Mainframe computers would no longer grew in power as fast as before. Instead, the mainframe computer, mid-range computers and personal computers were interconnected via advanced telecommunications links to form a computer network to collaboratively perform all necessary processing for a corporation. Computing began to be done under multi-tiered architecture environments. A typical 3-tiered architecture might have a large mainframe computer for corporate computing (running the critical applications like reservations in an airline for the entire corporation), several mid-range computers for departmental computing (running individual applications like Accounting for the Accounts department, Flight Scheduling for the Flight Control Department etc), and numerous personal computers for personal computing (running as individual staff workstations and to access the mainframe or mid-range computers depending on individual staff needs).
In addition to computing internally within a corporation, the '90s saw the evolution of business into the e-business era where corporations connected externally to other companies to perform electronic business-to-business transactions (e.g. to banks or credit card companies or to other enterprises etc). Corporations also had increasing demand for global information access and sharing via the internet (which is a global system of interconnected computer networks using a commonly accepted standard called internet protocol), and increasing demand for internal information access and sharing via the intranet (which is a corporate computer network using the internet protocol technologies for internal usage within the corporation).
Moving into the new millennium 2000, computing continues to evolve in different diversities. We are seeing continuing advancements in computing speed, functionality and accessibility at all levels enabling users to obtain information and knowledge of any sort from anywhere at any time as they desire.
All these were mainframe computers which were huge processor complex running all or most applications in a corporation. The processor complex were huge in the sense of their processing power and also they were big refrigerator-type boxes which needed to stay in large air-conditioned, humidity-controlled computer rooms with raised flooring (to hide the numerous computer cables underneath). Data were stored in numerous fast-spinning disks coupling together in a big disk farm which gave another reason why a large computer room was needed. Usually the computer rooms were behind floor-to-ceiling glass walls as companies wanted to show off to their customers the usage of high technology. The computer rooms were dubbed as 'glass houses' at that time. Processing power of the mainframe computers were measured by MIPS (million instruction per second that the processor could compute). As an indication, a S/360 model 20 in 1965 was at 0.002 MIPS and a S/390 model G6 in 1999 was at 1644 MIPS.
In the '60/70s, computing were essentially done by mainframe computers. Processing power of mainframe computers grew exponentially year after year. However, in the '80/90s, with the advent of high-speed telecommunications and personal computers, computing began to shift from centralizing all processing in one single huge mainframe to a distributed processing environment. Individual applications (e.g. accounting or email etc) would be offloaded to individual mid-range computers with medium-sized processing power like Sun Microsystem or HP (Hewlett Packard). Personal applications (e.g. word processing etc) would be offloaded to personal computers with numerous brands and models. Mainframe computers would no longer grew in power as fast as before. Instead, the mainframe computer, mid-range computers and personal computers were interconnected via advanced telecommunications links to form a computer network to collaboratively perform all necessary processing for a corporation. Computing began to be done under multi-tiered architecture environments. A typical 3-tiered architecture might have a large mainframe computer for corporate computing (running the critical applications like reservations in an airline for the entire corporation), several mid-range computers for departmental computing (running individual applications like Accounting for the Accounts department, Flight Scheduling for the Flight Control Department etc), and numerous personal computers for personal computing (running as individual staff workstations and to access the mainframe or mid-range computers depending on individual staff needs).
In addition to computing internally within a corporation, the '90s saw the evolution of business into the e-business era where corporations connected externally to other companies to perform electronic business-to-business transactions (e.g. to banks or credit card companies or to other enterprises etc). Corporations also had increasing demand for global information access and sharing via the internet (which is a global system of interconnected computer networks using a commonly accepted standard called internet protocol), and increasing demand for internal information access and sharing via the intranet (which is a corporate computer network using the internet protocol technologies for internal usage within the corporation).
Moving into the new millennium 2000, computing continues to evolve in different diversities. We are seeing continuing advancements in computing speed, functionality and accessibility at all levels enabling users to obtain information and knowledge of any sort from anywhere at any time as they desire.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Family Re-union - Fiji
Last month, my first daughter, Vickie, came from Hong Kong to Sydney to visit us and for her admission as an Australian lawyer. My second daughter, Veronica, also came back from Canberra on holidays. We took the opportunity to go for a vacation in Fiji together. The weather there was beautiful. We enjoyed the fresh air, sunshine, beaches, food and cocktails. We relaxed and did nothing. We had lots of family chats. We all had a wonderful good time during the period.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Look Ahead
Have you wondered why a car's windshield is so large, and the rear-view mirror is so small?
Because we need to look more to the FUTURE than to the PAST.
Have a healthy and wealthy 2011. Happy New Year!
Because we need to look more to the FUTURE than to the PAST.
Have a healthy and wealthy 2011. Happy New Year!
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
A Story from Li Ka-shing
Li Ka-shing is the wealthiest businessman in Hong Kong and was ranked 14th as the world's richest billionaires by Forbes in 2010. Once, he was interviewed in a TV documentary in Hong Kong, and told the interviewer a personal story:
One day, Li was driven back home after work. When Li got off from his car, he dropped a $10 coin, and the coin rolled underneath the car. Li bent down and stretched his hand under the car in order to grab it back. With Li's age, he was not able to do so even after a few tries. Li's driver saw the situation, and asked, "Mr Li, what are you doing? Is there anything I can do for you?" Li told him that he lost his $10 coin. The driver took off his jacket, knelt down and grabbed the $10 coin out from beneath the car, and gave it back to Li. Li smiled, and happily put the $10 coin into his pocket. He then took out a $100 note, and gave to the driver as appreciation.
Li said to the interviewer, " It's not about the value of the money. I gave my driver $100, he would spend it and make use of it. If I didn't pick up the $10 coin, it would be lost for ever and wasted."
Li Ka-shing's point was that money could always be used, but never be wasted.
One day, Li was driven back home after work. When Li got off from his car, he dropped a $10 coin, and the coin rolled underneath the car. Li bent down and stretched his hand under the car in order to grab it back. With Li's age, he was not able to do so even after a few tries. Li's driver saw the situation, and asked, "Mr Li, what are you doing? Is there anything I can do for you?" Li told him that he lost his $10 coin. The driver took off his jacket, knelt down and grabbed the $10 coin out from beneath the car, and gave it back to Li. Li smiled, and happily put the $10 coin into his pocket. He then took out a $100 note, and gave to the driver as appreciation.
Li said to the interviewer, " It's not about the value of the money. I gave my driver $100, he would spend it and make use of it. If I didn't pick up the $10 coin, it would be lost for ever and wasted."
Li Ka-shing's point was that money could always be used, but never be wasted.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Happy Birthday
Happy birthdays in this month, Vickie and Veronica.
Those were happy memories in the not-too-distant past. To mum and dad, things always seem like yesterday. Here, we'd like to share the following song with you for these special occasions, and with everyone too in this festive season of X'mas!
A ray of hope flickers in the sky.
A tiny star lights up way up high.
All across the land dawns a brand new morn.
This comes to pass when a child is born.
It must come true sometime soon somehow.
All across the land dawns a brand new morn.
This comes to pass when a child is born.
(extract from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R47B9LWjVrg&feature=related)
Those were happy memories in the not-too-distant past. To mum and dad, things always seem like yesterday. Here, we'd like to share the following song with you for these special occasions, and with everyone too in this festive season of X'mas!
When A Child Is Born
A ray of hope flickers in the sky.
A tiny star lights up way up high.
All across the land dawns a brand new morn.
This comes to pass when a child is born.
A silent wish sails the seven seas.
The winds of change whisper in the trees.
And the walls of doubt crumble tossed and torn.
This comes to pass, when a child is born.
A rosy hue settles all around.
You got the feel, you're on solid ground.
For a spell or two no one seems forlorn.
This comes to pass, when a child is born.
And all of this happens, because the world is waiting.
Waiting for one child; Black-white-yellow, no one knows...
but a child that will grow up and turn tears to laughter,
hate to love, war to peace and everyone to everyone's neighbor,
and misery and suffering will be words to be forgotten forever.
It must come true sometime soon somehow.
All across the land dawns a brand new morn.
This comes to pass when a child is born.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
True Love
I heard this story from my friend some time ago:
A young academically excellent person went to apply for a management trainee position in a big firm. He passed the first interview. He went for a second interview with the director of the company who was to make the final decision. During the interview, the director read from the CV that the youth's academic results were excellent all the way from his secondary school until the postgraduate research, never had a year he didn't score.
The director said to the youth, "Your resume looks very good to us. Have you obtained any scholarships in school?"
The youth replied, "None, sir."
The director asked, "Is it your father who paid for your school fees?"
The youth replied, "No, sir. My father passed away when I was one. It's my mother who paid for my school fees."
The director asked, "What is your mother's profession?"
The youth replied, "She's a cloth cleaner."
The director then asked the youth to show his hands to him. The youth's hands looked soft and smooth to the director.
The director asked, "Have you ever helped your mother wash the clothes before?"
The youth replied, "Never, sir. My mother always wanted me to study hard and read more books when I had spare times. Besides, my mother could wash clothes much faster than I."
After a few other conversations, the director said to the youth, " We are very pleased with your academic achievements. But I have a request. When you go home tonight, go and help clean your mother's hands, and then come back to see me tomorrow morning."
The youth had the feeling his chance of getting the job was very good. But he wasn't sure why the director asked him to clean his mother's hands. Anyway he went home that evening, and happily wanted to clean his mother's hands. The mother felt flattered and showed her hands to her kid.
The youth held his mother's hands, and cleaned them slowly. Tears began to fall down as the son started to clean the mother's hands. That was the first time the son noticed the mother's hand were so rough, wrinkled and full of bruises. Some bruises were so severe that the mother shivered as water ran over the skin while being washed. The son then realized it was this very pair of hands that earned him the school fees all these years. The bruises in the hands were the price the mother paid for his graduation, his academic excellence and probably his future.
After finished cleaning his mother's hands, the youth quietly washed all the remaining clothes for his mother. That night, mother and son talked for a very long time.
Next morning, the youth went to the director's office. The director noticed the tears in the youth's eyes, and asked, "Can you tell me what you did in your house last night?"
The youth answered, "I cleaned my mother's hands, and also finished cleaning all the remaining clothes."
The director asked, "Can you tell me your feeling?"
The youth said, "First, I know what appreciation is. Without my mother, I would never be what I am today. Second, working together with my mother, I can realize how tough and hard to get things done, as my mother did in the past. Third, I know the importance and value of family relationship."
The director said, " Good. This is exactly what I'm looking for. I want to recruit a person not only has good academic training and knowledge, but also the ability to appreciate others' help and difficulties when getting things done. I don't want to recruit a person who just put money as his only goal in life to be my manager. You are hired."
Later on, this young person worked very hard and earned the respect from his subordinates. Every staff worked diligently under him as a team. The company's results improved significantly.
If a child was brought up in a fully protected environment, and was given whatever and whenever he wanted, he tended to grow up as a self-centred person who would always take things for granted and always put himself first. He would be ignorant of the parents' efforts and difficulties. When he started work, he would assume people always listen to him, and would blame others whenever he encountered setbacks. When he became a manager, he would not understand his staff's problems and concerns. He might have good results and would be successful in the short term. But in the long run, he would not have good sense of satisfaction and co-operations, and would be unlikely to attain higher achievements. As parents, do we love our kids or spoil them?
Whether we can afford to live in big houses, have maids to serve the family and provide our kids with good educations, learning pianos, watching large TVs and playing latest video games, don't just raise our kids inside the greenhouse. Do give the kids the chance to experience the real life; be it good or bad, easy or difficult, rich or poor, success or failure. Let them help planting trees and flowers when you do the gardening, have turns to wash dishes after meals, and clean the house during holidays. Show them the poor and needy on the street and encourage them to show their concerns and helps to the less fortunate in the community. We love our kids. We want them to become capable persons in the future, be able to appreciate the efforts and difficulties of others, have abilities to work with others to get things done, and have the willingness to provide their contributions back to the family and to the society at large.
A young academically excellent person went to apply for a management trainee position in a big firm. He passed the first interview. He went for a second interview with the director of the company who was to make the final decision. During the interview, the director read from the CV that the youth's academic results were excellent all the way from his secondary school until the postgraduate research, never had a year he didn't score.
The director said to the youth, "Your resume looks very good to us. Have you obtained any scholarships in school?"
The youth replied, "None, sir."
The director asked, "Is it your father who paid for your school fees?"
The youth replied, "No, sir. My father passed away when I was one. It's my mother who paid for my school fees."
The director asked, "What is your mother's profession?"
The youth replied, "She's a cloth cleaner."
The director then asked the youth to show his hands to him. The youth's hands looked soft and smooth to the director.
The director asked, "Have you ever helped your mother wash the clothes before?"
The youth replied, "Never, sir. My mother always wanted me to study hard and read more books when I had spare times. Besides, my mother could wash clothes much faster than I."
After a few other conversations, the director said to the youth, " We are very pleased with your academic achievements. But I have a request. When you go home tonight, go and help clean your mother's hands, and then come back to see me tomorrow morning."
The youth had the feeling his chance of getting the job was very good. But he wasn't sure why the director asked him to clean his mother's hands. Anyway he went home that evening, and happily wanted to clean his mother's hands. The mother felt flattered and showed her hands to her kid.
The youth held his mother's hands, and cleaned them slowly. Tears began to fall down as the son started to clean the mother's hands. That was the first time the son noticed the mother's hand were so rough, wrinkled and full of bruises. Some bruises were so severe that the mother shivered as water ran over the skin while being washed. The son then realized it was this very pair of hands that earned him the school fees all these years. The bruises in the hands were the price the mother paid for his graduation, his academic excellence and probably his future.
After finished cleaning his mother's hands, the youth quietly washed all the remaining clothes for his mother. That night, mother and son talked for a very long time.
Next morning, the youth went to the director's office. The director noticed the tears in the youth's eyes, and asked, "Can you tell me what you did in your house last night?"
The youth answered, "I cleaned my mother's hands, and also finished cleaning all the remaining clothes."
The director asked, "Can you tell me your feeling?"
The youth said, "First, I know what appreciation is. Without my mother, I would never be what I am today. Second, working together with my mother, I can realize how tough and hard to get things done, as my mother did in the past. Third, I know the importance and value of family relationship."
The director said, " Good. This is exactly what I'm looking for. I want to recruit a person not only has good academic training and knowledge, but also the ability to appreciate others' help and difficulties when getting things done. I don't want to recruit a person who just put money as his only goal in life to be my manager. You are hired."
Later on, this young person worked very hard and earned the respect from his subordinates. Every staff worked diligently under him as a team. The company's results improved significantly.
If a child was brought up in a fully protected environment, and was given whatever and whenever he wanted, he tended to grow up as a self-centred person who would always take things for granted and always put himself first. He would be ignorant of the parents' efforts and difficulties. When he started work, he would assume people always listen to him, and would blame others whenever he encountered setbacks. When he became a manager, he would not understand his staff's problems and concerns. He might have good results and would be successful in the short term. But in the long run, he would not have good sense of satisfaction and co-operations, and would be unlikely to attain higher achievements. As parents, do we love our kids or spoil them?
Whether we can afford to live in big houses, have maids to serve the family and provide our kids with good educations, learning pianos, watching large TVs and playing latest video games, don't just raise our kids inside the greenhouse. Do give the kids the chance to experience the real life; be it good or bad, easy or difficult, rich or poor, success or failure. Let them help planting trees and flowers when you do the gardening, have turns to wash dishes after meals, and clean the house during holidays. Show them the poor and needy on the street and encourage them to show their concerns and helps to the less fortunate in the community. We love our kids. We want them to become capable persons in the future, be able to appreciate the efforts and difficulties of others, have abilities to work with others to get things done, and have the willingness to provide their contributions back to the family and to the society at large.
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