Compassion

Sunita had just come  from Timur, one of the many islands of the Indonesian Archipelago.  She was to work for Margaret who owned a beauty saloon in Kuala Lumpur.  On arrival at Margaret's bungalow in the suburbs of the city, she was given a tour around the house and its compound.  She  could not understand half of what her new employer was telling her.  Most of the time she would smile and Margaret would just rattle on not knowing the young girl of sixteen was almost dozing off as she staggered along behind her.
Finally the session ended and her employer pointed to the bathroom, handing to her a big towel which she understood was that she wanted her to take a bath and as Margaret tugged at her blouse, she also understood that she wanted her to change her clothes as well.  At that moment, the not very smart Sunita could guess her new employer was very fussy about being clean.  At first, Sunita was glad that she could live in such a clean and safe environment.  She had not minded working there because back in Timur, she had to do farming.  She had to toil in the muddy fields under the rain and sun.  Just after her bath, Margaret beckoned her to go into the kitchen.  In the sink were many plates, bowls, glasses and cups to be washed.  When Sunita set to wash the plates, she could see that Margaret was standing beside her to watch.  Just as she was about to put the dish washing liquid on  one of the plates, she heard Margaret shouting at her. No, no.  You don't do it that way.  You are going to waste a lot of my money if you use the dish washing liquid like that.
As Margaret grabbed the bottle of dish washing liquid from her, Sunita could feel a  sharp pain as Margaret's long nails dug into her flesh.  Her new employer was such a rough person.  She was shoved away and Sunita nearly fell.  Margaret was really mad that her new maid could not do the simplest thing right. She was really mad at the maid agency for cheating her.  That was not the first time.  Every time the agency would come out with some clever excuses.  Margaret was upset because she felt hopeless caught in such a situation.  She started to grumble.  I asked for a trained maid and they said they are giving me one.  You call yourself trained?  Who taught you to use the dish washing liquid like that. Don't you know how to dilute it first?  Do you realise how much I am paying for you each day?  So, don't expect me to give you good food to eat.  You are very fortunate to be living in this house.  Back in your village, you are living in a dirty shed. 
After Sunita had done her washing, Margaret told her to eat up the food that was put in a bowl.  It was leftover rice and soup.  Eat up and don't waste.  This soup has a lot of goodness.  Don't think it is poor food that I am giving you.  You will sleep over there.  There is a mat, a pillow and a blanket.  You can use that space in that cupboard to put your things.  Don't mess up the room because sometimes when I have guests over, they will use the room. Until then, I will see where you will sleep.  Margaret did not understand why these maids who had come from such poor countries would not show the least appreciation at all.  All they knew was to rebel once they were being scolded for mistakes made instead of positively improving themselves.  Each time it got worse after they were reprimanded. 


 Poor Sunita!  This is worse than Timur, she thought. Back home, she had more than plain rice and bland soup.  She had a little room to herself in the broken down hut her father had built.  That night Sunita cried herself to sleep.  It is this kind of mentality that made them 'difficult' maids. 


Now, Margaret was not rich all the time.  She, too, had come from a poor family who had lived in a hut and had to go hungry sometimes.  Her parents were always quarelling over money matters.  She had to come out to the city to work when she was sixteen too. She had  good luck for she had met kind people who helped her along the way. Later, she married a rich husband and that was how she gained most of her wealth.  She often compared herself with these young girls who had come from the countryside to the city to work.  They have such bad attitudes.


It is not always the case that if you were impoverished before, you will be able to be more appreciative of a better environment or  situation. There are some people who have such bad attitudes that however better life they were given, there is always a complain or two. A Malay saying that goes like this, "The colour of the hair may be similarly black, but the heart is different' best describe the dissimilarities of individuals.  Every individual has a different attitude towards one same situation.

Poverty Forgotten, God Forsaken

During my last Shanghai trip, my first trip to my parents' homeland, I had the opportunity to converse with a few locals. There was this old couple with two children(one male and the other female) in their thirties.  The four of them shared with me many familiar stories of their past.  They were surprised at how much I knew about their past as I chipped in to add a few details that my father told me about.  Soon, I was accepted as one of them for they could feel how much I could understand them.  They related about the Communist past and the tough times they had gone through.  I was soon welcome to their 'club'.  To show their hospitality, they invited me to eat in their homes and we chatted as we ate.
I was happy that my father's stories had become more real.  The story about how they used to celebrate the Lunar New Year with no new clothes.  It was always the same ones for every New Year until the children had outgrown them. They would not wear the suit of clothes on any other day except for the New Year or any other grand occasion.  It was usually red or had some red colour so that it would bring the real meaning to the festive season.  They did not have any lavish meals .  However, they would be given  something extra in their rations like more rice, candies or waxed meat.  During those days, there was not much jealousy amongst them as all were the same.  No one lived a more comfortable life than another.  The old people were the ones who could compare: they could compare with the pre-Communist days, when some of them had luxurious lives.
It makes me sad to think that nowadays people are  still unsatisfied with so much they possess.  There is always wanting for more and more or for better and better.  I don't know when it is going to stop.  Seems like there is no end.  It is some kind of disease or something.  Is it an evil of consumerism, or is it a propaganda that makes people spend so that the economy will not downturn, and who can guarantee which economic theory will be able to solve the crisis, do the economists know what they are saying.  It all boils down to what  is in one's heart.  Do you really care for another individual while you try to acquire as much wealth as you desire?  Are you able to say that you never try to manipulate another individual so that you are able to get the dollars that you want?  Do they realise the danger if there is such a great disparity in wealth distribution?  Are they so intoxicated with self interests that they are not aware or not sensitive to other peoples' suffering?  Some claim that they are so right in their own faiths, but when it comes to caring, they always point to others.  This and that group people will do the work while I busy myself with accumulating my wealth or with the progress of my children's education or careers.  


There is not going to be any wealth or any career if this world is going to be in a turmoil.  Feed the people with spiritual food and there will be food for all. People with a spiritual life will have a heart for others, for the community, for the country and the world.  There will be a better perspective when leaders implement their policies, be it domestic or international.  Sounds too idealistic.  Nothing is not impossible if you believe in the Almighty who controls everything.  We plan as if we are in control but it is God who determines everything.  Believe it or not, it is still your choice.


Let's 'fast' on food, on new clothes, on window shopping, on TV,on internet and maybe we will realise how much we are missing on what God has intended for us.  You will find that you will not eat for the sake of eating, that you will still look good in the dress that you had been using the twentieth time, that the book you are reading instead of going window shopping is 'helluva' interesting and you wonder why you hadn't spent more time reading,  you will also realise why you feel more energetic than before when you would sit for hours in front of the 'silly' box  and the meaningless chat sessions you had with some of your friends you have never met before.


When we are rich, we are tempted more than when we are poor.  Therefore for those who are rich in material wealth, do not be overwhelmed and for those who are poor, do not be sad.  I prefer to be spiritually rich.

Rubber Plantations and Various Phobia

Some time around 1964, when I was about the age of six, my  father had the fortune to own about sixty acres of land , which were to be cultivated with rubber trees.  My father had wanted to plant rubber trees of a better breed, so he decided to collect seeds from nearby estates which had trees that produced good amount of latex.  Doing this would save him a lot of money because the cost of purchasing the seedlings from the nurseries would have made a big hole in his pocket. However, he would have to take the risk of being prosecuted for trespassing. There  was one estate of which the manager was kind and he trusted my father.  My father had taken the liberty of going there to pick up the fallen rubber seeds.


One early morning I could sense a lot of hustle and bustle in the house.  My eldest sister and mother were wearing 'work clothes', hats, shoes and socks, and gloves too.  My grandma was taking a big straw hat.  In a basket were bottles of drinking water and Chinese tea.  It appeared to me in an instant that they were going to work somewhere.  Mummy, I want to go.  I pleaded, not knowing they were going to bring me after all.  There was no one to babysit me. 
Of course you are going. My brother retorted.  Sleeping like a pig. Do you know how many times I called out to you!
Don't bluff.  I did not hear anything.  And stop calling me a pig!
Alright,alright, stop the squabbling.  Go and wash your face.  Drink up that cup of Milo and eat that piece of bread. You are going with us.  My mother gave me my toothbrush with toothpaste already squeezed on it , and a warm towel , as she told me gently.
Quickly, I got myself ready and as I was about to ask what clothes I should put on, I could hear that my father had already started the engine.  Everybody had got into the car and my brother was threatening to lock up the door if I did not come out quick.  I put on my slippers in a hurry and ran towards my father's car which was  already on the road waiting for me. When I got into the car, I grumbled about not having time to change my clothes.  I was angry that I had to wear my pyjamas.  My brother chided that it was all my own fault.  It would not have been like that had I woken up earlier. 
After travelling in the car for some time, my father decided to stop at a spot.  They hesitated and did not want to get down at that spot.  I heard my mother saying that they had been there before and that there were not many seeds to pick up.  I was all excited to start and was rather disappointed when they said that they were not going to get down there.  I was already feeling very bored by all the travelling in the cramped car.  Not long after that, they really stopped and they got down and separated into different directions so fast that it amazed me.  Finally, I had to tag along with my granny and she gave me a tiny gunny bag to put in my seeds.  I was very proud to be given a new task.  I started to pick up the queer looking rubber seeds. As I picked up one, I would stare at it and then compare its design with another.  I noticed that the design was always the same and the only difference was some seeds were shinier than  the others.  My granny told me to throw away those that had no shine because they were seeds that had been on the ground for a long time but could not grow  into new plants. 
I walked and walked , hopping from one spot to another to pick up the shiny rubber seeds.  I was so engrossed in my work that I did not realised I had wandered away from everybody.  Suddenly I realised that the rubber plantation was too quiet for my liking and I straightened my back to look around.  Where is everybody?  Where is granny? I thought she was right behind me but how could she just leave me without telling me?  I called out to her.  No answer.  I called out to my mother.  No answer.  I would not call out to my sister or brother because I knew that they would surely scold me.  They always thought I was a nuisance.  Suddenly the sounds in the rubber plantations seemed very loud and  I thought I heard baboons crying.  I hated those baboons and I had heard stories about how fierce they were.  A squawking sound from above the rubber trees made me jump up.  I looked up at the trees and they all looked like giants looking down on me. They never looked that evil before.  I was overwhelmed with all kinds of fears: fear for snakes that could come slithering down the trees, fear for poisonous spiders that could spin webs across my face, fear of slimming, squirming earthworms in the soil underneath my feet, fear of iguanas with long lashing tongues.   I was almost crying when I managed to call again in a quivering voice.  Mummy, mummy, where are you? 
No answer. All I could hear was the rustling of the leaves.  Why had everything turned so frightening all of a sudden?  Even the wind seemed very evil and why was it that I had not felt it a moment ago?  Granny?  Is that you?   I walked with hastened footsteps towards the direction where I thought the sound of twigs snapping came from.  Much to my relief, I saw my mother.  However, she was on the other side of a small stream.  Can I go with you?  I pleaded. 
No, just stay there.  I am almost finishing.  Wait there.
No, don't leave me.  I want to go over.  I was terrified of being left alone.
Alright, come over. Cross that fallen tree trunk there. 
I looked at the tree trunk  and I walked towards it.  I could not make myself cross it.  I was scared of falling into the water down there.  I had imagined all kind of water creatures that could live there, all of which I was extremely frightened of.  Gliding water snakes, darting water insects, sticky leeches, and even the clinging water weeds would become alive too.  I cried when I could not cross the 'bridge'. My mother lost her patience.  It was almost lunch time and every one was hungry.  She told me to wait for my sister who would be on her way. My sister came and she ran across the 'bridge' surefootedly.  I just could not understand at that moment why it was an impossible 'feat' for me when Ah Peng and my sister would not have any problem at all.