Good day me fellow peeps. Hope everything is good on your side. July's here, which means we're half way through the year of 2012. It definitely felt like just a blink of an eye. Time does fly pretty fast when we're having a great time ey? Well lets not waste any more time & get down to business, shall we?
Today, the beautiful world that we live in, has changed into a world which gadgets seems to be more important than a pity human being. Little that we know, when we watch a video of a person destroying a brand new i-Pad, people will turn rage upon his actions. Have we forgotten about the life around us? Why are we letting gadgets taking over our world? Isn't a soul of a saint more important than a mini gadgets that can never interact with you?
During any given mamak session, an average Malaysian encounters creep by beggars at least once: from an old man who beseeches you to ask for your loose change on the table to a blind man lead by a normal saint in aim of selling their serviettes. They may act out in different characters, but their aim is the same-to seek for generosity.
Many who sees them will simply ignore, some will wave their hands as a gesture to say no but only a few's willing to reach for their wallet to spare the beggars with their loose change-even for that, some actually do it with the intention of shooing them away-annoyed. Question is, which one of the above is you?
As the beggar approaches to the other tables, will we normally hear the old ones say 'Why would I want to spare them my change when they can work with both their hands & legs functioning properly.' But have you ever asked them, 'Uncle, if you're an owner of a company, will you give them the chance by hiring them to work for you? Will you pay them wages to get things done for you?' I guess this is why I always say preaching is always easier than doing, but can they really put their actions into words in this case?
Have we ever ask ourselves why are they doing this for living? Who they were before they become a beggar? For the matter, have we ever try to put ourselves in their shoes before complaining and talking bad about them? Will you actually invite them to sit on your table to buy them some food and drink and listen to their story? Well I have, and I was shocked myself for doing so.
The man that I so-cal interviewed was actually a Malaysian but many thought he was from China because his outfit that he put on every time he goes to 'work'. He was from a well-to-do family before the road that he's currently walking on came. Unfortunate knows no one by name and it can hit anyone at any time. Can you imagine, a person who was supposed to take over the family business got cheated by his own best-friends and left him nothing but a pity road ahead?
Ever since he lost everything, 'I started to hunt for jobs, I didn't mind working as a waiter nor a restaurant cleaner.' he said. I could see in his eyes,he was so in need of money because he said he had a son with him after his wife ran away. Believe me or not, a drop of tears came running down my face when I started asking him why did he only ate 2 tiny spoon of the fried rice I bought for him and decided to packed it instead. And with a cheerful and utterly humble tone he replied, 'My son loves fried rice.'
I have got no intention of cutting onions now, but my aim for this post is to spread to the world or least you guys (my humble readers/followers) to at least try to understand them before we start judging them like how we always do. We cry to our parents for not buying us new clothes & gadgets, they cry because their children had to suffer from hunger because of we, the selfish and greedy people who would rather keep the change in our wallet for years and not to give it to the poor.
We have roofs as shelters and here we are complaining of the squeaky sound our bed make and fussing because of not having new clothes when we have a closet filled with them. While they sleep on a 'comfy and cooling' cardboard underneath an overhead bridge and to wear the same shirt everyday, 24/7, 365 days a year without complaining.
Some may think that I may be fooled by his stories. But how much is it for 2 pack of fried rice do you need to spend? You don't need fancy food to keep your stomach satisfied, for them a piece of bread is as good as a platter of a black pepper sizzling steak from TGIF and Victoria Station.
My fellow peeps, Understand that giving a penny can save one's life and what more when you are willing to donate your dollar; Understand that there are people out there who desperately in need of small changes to buy food to feed their hunger than fancy gadgets to feed their peer pressure. If you think that you need the penny more than they do, at least, say a prayer for them before you go to bed. It will only stall your games for a little while by doing so. Again, it wouldn't kill for you by doing so, would it?
I really wish my voice can be heard out there someday and this post can help the most of us to realize that there are more people who's having worst day than us and our challenge is not as hard as how we think it is. Lend your helping to the people who need them and stop cursing them for they are as human as you are and they definitely bleed the same blood as you do.
Have a great day ahead and may God bless you all. Feel free to share it around if you want to.
Picture credit to : http://heikkialanen.net/?page=photos&cat=europe
Yours truly,
Tyler.
so to answer your question, if i were the boss or the CEO of a company, I would definitely hire them as a janitor or a cleaner for them to earn that decent living. however, they have to make an impression, an effort, to earn that trust I'm about to give. Clean themselves up, have the necessary papers, then come to me.
ReplyDeletethey must understand why our culture is acting this way, it is by the effects of the syndicates around us that cause us to have this mind set of mistrust against those so called "beggars". some are illegally from China or misunderstood that they are from that land because there are con cases like that.
if they want to have earn a decent income, washing dishes and being janitors are nothing to be ashamed of. Just gotta clean themselves up, put on some clean clothes, have the necessary papers such as ID and whatever they have, get a job. Being a beggar is of their choice and what I said the above does not mean i do not have the empathy for them, but i am just looking at a different perspective that could help them and being practical about it. The thing for them is to never give up, not on the world nor themselves. try and try again.
Hello my dear friend, thank you for reading and also your patient in responding to my post. Really-really appreciate your time. At least I don't feel like I'm talking to myself in a cyber world. ROFL.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, I understand where you are coming from but that's what everyone will say. 'If I am a CEO, I will do this I will do that.' But how many of them are actually doing so? It's hard to find a good Samaritan nowadays, what more than a rich one. If they really put their words into action, I actually don't mind buying the 'beggars' proper clothes, clean them up and compose a proper resume to apply for the job for that matter.
I'm just saying it in general. The society that we live in today is one of the reason why they are who they are, as much as we hate this fact but it is true that the rich is getting richer while the poor is getting poorer. And it is definitely not because they have given up. Partly it is because of the number of rejections that they have gotten every time they go for a job interview. And bare in mind, not all 'beggars' wants to this for their living, but they were rather forced to.
Some of them were at this situation ever since they were a lil' kid. Being kidnapped as a child and thrown to other country with no identifications. Those are lucky will beg with a torn shirt but with perfect condition (body parts), those that are not, amputation of hands and legs, eyes being blinded and etc.
I guess at the end of the day, it's back to different people having different thoughts and preceptions towards certain things. It is no one's fault to be blamed. By nature, as much as we don't want any crime nor bad things to occur, it will still happen whether we like it or not. To me, as long as I'm breathing and am able to give a helping hand, I will try my best to do so. We'll never know, perhaps one day we need them too. God bless you, my dear friend and have a wonderful week ahead (: