A story for my nephews and nieces:
(my own and through marriage alike)
Being young is the most exciting time of life....
One would tend to think one is invincible....
that one is destined for something great...
that one will do no wrong...
and that when one is older, one will change the world....
well...there's nothing wrong with that line of thinking....
Sort of reminds me of the song...
I hope you dance....
but you might think that i contradict myself in this issue...
i do not of course object to this being young and idealistic kind of
ideas....
but...at the same time we have to have humility in
everything we do...
Why the sudden interest in this worldly issue...you might ask...
as my blog is usually about something fickle...
ROFL....(to me that is...fickle)
Right....it sparks off by an argument that MR Chin had
with one of his nephews...
we disagree basically with how they 2 of them
treat their mother....
i know that their mother is a naggy woman that
even the most patient saint will scream....BAH.....
but that is no way to treat her...
His mom called to arrange a lunch or dinner outing or
even a whole day outing with him...
but the way he sounded when talking to his mom was
really like he was unhappy...
that his mom is an intruder to his daily routine
which is according to him 'really busy'.
So ended up his mom was really hurt and upset...
imagine you come all the way from Kelantan
and you have not seen your son for months
and now finally you get to spend one precious day with him...
and suddenly
you are being splashed with cold water....
Hmmm.......
So Mr Chin texted him the next day to express his
dissatisfaction over this matter...
of how he showed that he does not put his family
first and appreciate the rare moment of togetherness.
Imagine his surprise when he got a rude reply from him.
To sum up everything...he used the classic argument of
'I'm old enough to know what i'm doing'
and
'I did nothing wrong' statement.
When Mr Chin chided him on being rude talking in that manner to
an older person....
a very interesting phrase came up....
"I don't care about rank.....when we are talking about facts..
we do not consider about rank.
Rank is only an excuse for people who cannot accept the truth"
or something like that...
(The argument on the sms ran a whole 2 pages of foolscape
paper long you see...and i have to sum it up in
4 sentences)
Mr Chin chided him on his arrogance
and mind you he had his replied ready....
he actually scolded Mr Chin and rudely asked him
to check his fact and that Mr Chin was the one who was wrong
and rude...
Mr Chin finally threw his arms up and said
...yea..live your own life...it's your life after all....
and if you refuse to listen to my advice....
it's fine by him.
well...i smiled at all these arguments...
not condescendingly...but at how naive and innocent his replies
were...
I though to myself: If Rudyard Kipling were still alive
he would cringe at this....
all his wise words gone down the drain...
My word.....no matter how knowledgeable you are...
it is not an excuse for not respecting others....
especially someone older who tries to advise you...
for your own good...
you may think that they are old fashion and that the world no longer operate
the way it used to be...
but the skills to survive that the old possesses will help you
go a long way...
It that's difficult to understand, let me give you
an analogy:
The sea and the fish may change and evolve
but the skills to catch the fish and face the rough sea
are still the same...
it may need some upgrading but the basic skills are still there..
So...go out...change the world to be a better place
all you can...
but DO NOT EVER FORGET the VALUES that
we hold dear to us...
that actually DEFINE the person that we are....
To the young people out there....esp. my nieces and nephews...
Yes...I do hope you guys will DANCE....and not choose to
SIT it out....
(I mean get involve and not be a spectator)
but when you do dance...dance with
respect and humility...
The old may lack in knowledge and facts...
but they are rich in life's experiences....
and with due respect....
these two (knowledge and experience) are a potent combination
of the word SUCCESS...
some of you may not even live a quarter of this life yet
but the old...they have reach maybe 3 quarters for
all you know...
You have not met all or maybe any of the
big fish yet
but the old...they have met all the different kind of fish..
You may have the technology
but they may have the strategy...
So...a little of respect and humility will go a long way...
especially when you have just started your journey
and tried to expand your wings...
