Last Friday evening , while SYuen, SLing and myself were having our dinner at Malai Curry House, a lady, obviously a rather distraught looking woman, came to our table and asked us for directions to Unitem's girls hostel. She spoke in Mandarin while being not conversant in Mandarin, SLing answered her by giving directions as much as we can in our "broken" Mandarin.
Upon knowing that both, husband and wife had traveled all the way from Batu Pahat to see their daughter, I sought for directions from several people at the shop to help them. As SLing explained and told them the direction , you could see that they definitely did not have a clue to what we we saying to them lest giving directions to them. That was when SLing and I decided that were are going to take them there despite our apprehension on the location of the hostel. Yunno, I wasn't really in a mood to help out as it has been quite a day for me but somehow the look on these parents faces says it all. The anxiety, the anticipation to meet up their daughter and the journey they had made triggered off a mighty compassion in my heart. I know deep down in my heart that someone along the way would help me if I did not know how to meet up with my own children wherever they may be. So, I asked them to follow my car lead so that I could bring them to their destination.
So, I mustered the courage and started to drive towards Taman Tasik Utama and from there asked a few good souls for directions to the girls hostel. When we finally reached the destination, both parents came out of their car to thank us for taking the trouble to lead them to there. You could see the joy and the relief on their faces. The father took my hand and shook them rigorously. You could tell that these are rough working class hands. I do appreciate a good hardworking man when I meet one. His wife thanked SLing for taking the trouble to lead them to the the place. I had to apologised to them as we were not that conversant in Mandarin and so the next best thing to do was to bring them there though we may not be too sure about the place too but we asked and tried our best. I could sense a relief on their part and when they told us that they would be going home to Batu Pahat after meeting up their daughter, my heart really goes out to them. At that time , it was already way past 9.30pm and with the meeting and so on , they'll probably reach home in Batu Pahat way past midnight. What a drive to make in the middle of the night!
My heart was touched by the fact that these parents sacrificed a lot for their children. I could tell that they had not come from a rich family. They did not dress up fancy but simple and clean. The handphone wasn't the android one but an old Nokia model while the car was a beat up 1st model Proton Saga. But the sacrifice to drive all the way to Melaka just to meet their daughter was indeed an applaudable act of responsibility. I do wish the daughter would be able to see that sacrifice made by her parents. I am constantly reminded of the hospitality shown by our close family, Vive & Sathy who had extended that same kind of love and hospitality to us and to our son , JWee who is in Penang too. Felt so blessed and indebted in many ways!
For a moment , it really felt good being able to help these folks out despite our own shortcomings. I guess, the joy on their faces just says it all. I even asked the father if he would be able to get back to the highway on the way back and he answered that he would be able to. There was great relief and great sense of overwhelming feeling inside. I know it is just a small act of courtesy on our part but it really made us feel alive again and this is what we need each day of our lives. To continue to do good and shun evil. Despite our glum and gruesome daily happenings in our society, we can still play our part to bring cheer to people's heart. We are so drawn in by the daily glummy happenings that we had shrunk into our own world and had forgotten what it is like to bring cheer and feel good again. We are battered, pounded and abused each day physically , mentally , socially with the daily corrupt ways & practises, lunacy of the lives and sickening happenings that we forget that there are people out there that required a word of encouragement, an act of kindness or even a word of consolation to cheer their hearts each day. We had become so withdrawn in fear, paralysed and even constricted in our ways because of how values in society had been compromised and adulterated. We had forgotten of the great blessing God has bestowed on us and we had kept that blessings under wraps instead of spreading and investing that blessings to the people.
I believe , each and everyone of us can make a difference in this life of ours. No matter how small our contribution may be or how insignificant it may look, it is a contribution noted by God. I would rather die fighting a good fight in life rather than giving a walkover for my fears, my inadequacies or insecurities!
I am a firm believer that it is easy to become a nasty person but it takes a gentleman to be a nicer person. Don't you think so?
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