Money is Yours But Resources Belong to the Society

This is about an Indian's experience in Germany. Please read it carefully.

MONEY IS YOURS BUT RESOURCES BELONG TO THE SOCIETY.

 
Germany is a highly industrialised country. It produces top brands like Benz, BMW, Siemens etc. The nuclear reactor pump is made in a small town in this country. In such a country, many will think its people lead a luxurious life. At least that was my impression before my study trip.

When I arrived at Hamburg, my colleagues who work in Hamburg arranged a welcome party for me in a restaurant. As we walked into the restaurant, we noticed that a lot of tables were empty. There was a table where a young couple was having their meal. There were only two dishes and two cans of beer on the table. I wondered if such simple meal could be romantic, and whether the girl will leave this stingy guy.

There were a few old ladies on another table. When a dish is served, the waiter would distribute the food for them, and they would finish every bit of the food on their plates.

We did not pay much attention to them, as we were looking forward to the dishes we ordered. As we were hungry, our local colleague ordered more food for us.

As the restaurant was quiet, the food came quite fast. Since there were other activities arranged for us, we did not spend much time dining. When we left, there was still about one third of unconsumed food on the table.

When we were leaving the restaurant, we heard someone calling us. We noticed the old ladies in the restaurant were talking about us to the restaurant owner. When they spoke to us in English, we understood that they were unhappy about us wasting so much food. We immediately felt that they were really being too busybody. "We paid for our food, it is none of your business how much food we left behind," my colleague Guy told the old ladies.

The old ladies were furious. One of them immediately took her hand phone out and made a call to someone. After a while, a man in uniform claimed to be an officer from the Social Security Organisation arrived. Upon knowing what the dispute was, he issued us a 50 Mark fine. We all kept quiet. The local colleague took out a 50 Mark note and repeatedly apologised to the officer.

The officer told us in a stern voice, "ORDER WHAT YOU CAN CONSUME, MONEY IS YOURS BUT RESOURCES BELONG TO THE SOCIETY. THERE ARE MANY OTHERS IN THE WORLD WHO ARE FACING SHORTAGE OF RESOURCES. YOU HAVE NO REASON TO WASTE RESOURCES."

Our face turned red. We all agreed with him in our hearts. The mindset of people of this rich country put all of us to shame. WE REALLY NEED TO REFLECT ON THIS. We are from country which is not very rich in resources.
To save face, we order large quantity and also waste food when we give others a treat. THIS LESSON TAUGHT US A LESSON TO THINK SERIOUSLY ABOUT CHANGING OUR BAD HABITS.

My colleague photo copied the fine ticket and gave a copy to each of us as a souvenir. All of us kept it and pasted on our wall to remind us that we shall never be wasteful.

My Sharing on hiking shoe

We have planned for a trip to Mt KK (Sabah)  in June 2013. Training at Bt Timah Hill has started on every Sat morning at 6:30 am.

We have bought ourselves a pair of hiking shoe from Queensway Shopping Centre. The store we bought from is DECK & BOOTS P/L. 1 Queensaway #02-03, Singaore 149053. It cost each of us S$160 for a pair. We also bought 2 pairs of good socks for each of us, each pair cost S$22. I have tried them yesterday at Bt Timah Hill, they are good.

Help At Events for the less fortunates

Help At Events for the Less Fortunates

I have been helping with Apex Club of Singapore-City and Firefly Mission in organising events for at least 5 years. The more I do, the more I get myself familiar with the needs of the less fortunates especially the aged.

The last being the monthly home visit to the Bukit Batok Home For The Aged on 7 Oct 12. It is the first time we have live band entertaining the residents. I also did a Mid-Autmn Festival Celebration on 29 Sep 12 at Institute Of Mental Health.

My objective is very simple, at the end of the event, I hope to bring some happiness for the less fortunates. I also hope volunteers who came to help up are satisfied and happy with their participation after the evet. I will try to gather feedback after each event to make the next event even better.

What I normally have for the less fortunates are usually songs, dance and games, on top of snacks, drinks and lunch/dinner. I have my own sound systems and coreless microphone. My brother-in-law also bought me a karaoke player with more than 10,000 songs to choose from. I also did a few such event in Batam for the less fortunates there.

I am usually very busy during Chinese New Year, Mid-Autumn Festival and Christmas.
Anyone who need my help can let me knows. I will do my best if I am available to help.
e-mail ychaoloy@singnet.com.sg

How did elephants know ?

What an incredible, amazing story!

HOW DID THEY KNOW? SOMETHING IN THE UNIVERSE THAT IS MUCH GREATER AND DEEPER THAN HUMAN INTELLIGENCE. THE ELEPHANT'S JOURNEY TO PAY RESPECT, BUT HOW DID THEY KNOW?     Lawrence Anthony, a legend in South Africa and author of 3 books including the bestseller The Elephant Whisperer, bravely rescued wildlife and rehabilitated elephants all over the globe from human atrocities, including the courageous rescue of Baghdad Zoo animals during US invasion in 2003. . On March 7, 2012 Lawrence Anthony died. He is remembered and missed by his wife, 2 sons, 2 grandsons and numerous elephants. Two days after his passing, the wild elephants showed up at his home led by two large matriarchs. Separate wild herds arrived in droves to say goodbye to their beloved man-friend. A total of 31 elephants had patiently walked over 12 miles to get to his South African House.   Witnessing this spectacle, humans were obviously in awe not only because of the supreme intelligence and precise timing that these elephants sensed about Lawrence 's passing, but also because of the profound memory and emotion the beloved animals evoked in such an organized way: Walking slowly - for days - Making their way in a solemn one-by-one queue from their habitat to his house. So, how after Anthony’s death, did the reserve’s elephants — grazing miles away in distant parts of the park — know? “A good man died suddenly,” says Rabbi Leila Gal Berner, Ph.D., “and from miles and miles away, two herds of elephants, sensing that they had lost a beloved human friend, moved in a solemn, almost ‘funereal’ procession to make a call on the bereaved family at the deceased man’s home.” “If there ever were a time, when we can truly sense the wondrous ‘interconnectedness of all beings,’ it is when we reflect on the elephants of Thula Thula. A man’s heart’s stops, and hundreds of elephants’ hearts are grieving. This man’s oh-so-abundantly loving heart offered healing to these elephants, and now, they came to pay loving homage to their friend.” Lawrence's wife, Francoise, was especially touched, knowing that the elephants had not been to his house prior to that day for well over 3 years! But yet they knew where they were going. The elephants obviously wanted to pay their deep respects, honoring their friend who'd saved their lives - so much respect that they stayed for 2 days 2 nights without eating anything. Then one morning, they left, making their long journey back.

Willing Hearts

Willing Hearts: Feeding the Poor in Singapore

Published by The Online Citizen on August 29, 2012

By Creatives For Causes (CFC) -

What happens when a poor elderly woman faces difficulty walking but has to buy groceries and cook daily to support herself and her bedridden husband?

Who takes care of and feed the children of a lower income family when the breadwinner, a single mother, has to work several jobs?

Clearly, our current social assistance schemes are not adequate to alleviate the dire circumstances of the poor entirely.

However, several good Samaritans from Willing Hearts have come together to provide free food and groceries for the lower income in Singapore… every single day of the year.

The Creatives For Causes team follows Willing Hearts on a typical day of their Soup Kitchen operation to cover their daily activities.

Willing Hearts operates their 100% volunteer run soup kitchen. They provide meals to over 2500 lower-income households in over 25 distribution locations such as Circuit Road, Ang Mo Kio, Bukit Ho Swee and many more..

Every day, starting at 5am till 12pm, their soup kitchen prepares, cooks and distributes meals to the needy including the elderly and families in various locations in Singapore.

After a tiring day, at 1pm, the volunteers begin to prepare for next day’s work. They start by collecting bread from charitable bakeries. Following which, they head over Pasir Panjang Wholesale Market where they collect donated groceries for cooking and distribution.

Volunteers loading the groceries into the van.

Tony Tan, 65 is the founder of Willing Hearts Singapore. He runs his own printing business at Commonwealth and started this organisation because he wanted to do something for the poor in Singapore and also because of his late mother who influenced him positively through her active community involvement.

Tony cooking chicken for the lunch and dinner boxes to be provided to the lower income beneficiaries.

“To me, the poor are the most important people in the world as they cannot even afford the most basic need – their next meal. So, we hope to reach out to anyone who requires a meal,” says Tony.

When asked about what motivates him to do this 365 days a year, even on Chinese New Year and Christmas, he says simply

“Why not? The poor need to eat every day, even on special occasions!”

The Soup Kitchen begins work at 5am everyday and is currently the only daily, secular and non-profit soup kitchen based in Singapore. They even go the extra mile to ensure that their food is halal so that it suits the requirements of the Muslim’s lower-income groups.

A volunteer preparing rice

Sandy Ho, 39 (right) a Freelance Makeup Artist and Housewife volunteers her time every weekday.

She shares her experience about volunteering with Willing Hearts with us:

“I was looking for a voluntary job on weekdays and found out about Willing Hearts through SG Cares,” she quipped

“This is meaningful because it really helps people who really need it – those who do not have enough money to even afford their next meal!”

When asked about what kept her coming back, she mentioned that it was due to the people she met here.

“I like it here because all the people here are sincere and come every day despite not having recognition or pay in return,”

Her volunteering stint also has positive effect on her children, both of whom she brings over to help during their school holidays. Her two children are 8 and 9 years old.

“My son told me that he wanted to find a job which required him to work at night or on weekends. When I asked him why, he mentioned that it was because he wanted to spend most of his time helping out like all the people he met at Willing Hearts.”

After cooking, the food are packed into boxes and sent for delivery in different locations in Singapore where volunteers help to distribute to them.

Upon arrival at the delivery points, we could see a group of eager elderly eagerly awaiting their meal. It touched us to see their smiles of gratitude upon receiving the free groceries, food and bottled water.

The food, ready for delivery

Our volunteers distributing the food supplies which includes a packet meal (or two if they need more) , bread, water and groceries (vegetables for them to choose from so they can save money on shopping).

Volunteer Marean Chua (left) helps out daily with food distribution and cooking. She is currently between jobs and was looking for a volunteering opportunity to pass her time. She found the Willing Heart’s call for volunteers via SG Cares as well and decided to come down to help out.

“Besides food, Willing Hearts also tries to support our beneficiaries in whatever way we can. For instance, when we receive donations of adult diapers and wheel chairs, we try to ask around if any residents need it and supply it to them.”

She also shared with us that Tony was an inspiration to her because besides running his organisation, he sometimes brought the homeless back to stay in his home for a short while and helped them look for a job.

When asked about whether the government is doing enough to support the lower income, Tony said something that we felt was very sensible.

“Singaporeans must help other Singaporeans. This is not just the moral duty of the government and in fact, they cannot do it alone. It is the duty of every Singaporean to reach out to the government.”

Willing Hearts Volunteers.

Ending off, we would like to sincerely appeal to the general public to take action to create a more equitable and inclusive Singapore.

Here is how you can be involved to help Willing Hearts:

Volunteer!

If you would like to help out at the various distribution points or the main soup kitchen, please call Tony Tan at 9690 2086 or Charles Liew at 9873 2288.

Donate!

If you would like to make any donations (in cash or items), here is what Willing Hearts currently needs:

1. Providing more meat and fish
2. Providing more sauces for the food
3. Diesel for the vans
4. Electricity bills
5. Gas

Currently the kitchen being used at High point Community Services is under lease and the organisation is also seeking a new kitchen space to accommodate their growing number of volunteers and beneficiaries.

For more information, you can refer to http://www.willinghearts.org.sg

And also, support them on their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/willinghearts

—-

This article is brought to you by Creatives For Causes.

We are a pro bono communications agency that provides creative services to non-profit organisations and aim to bring more online attention to less known NGOs in Singapore!

Connect with us at: www.facebook.com/creativesforcauses

For more information, you can visit www.creativesforcauses.com

Photo credit: Mike Mai, Photographer and volunteer at CFC
 

Rediscovering Yourself with Prem Rawat

Discovering Yourself with Prem Rawat

I came across this DVD available free in Singapore, simply follow the instructions and sms to Ho at +65 9457 1401. Explore it yourself.

Search Inside Yourself

3 Things inside us are :
- calm mind
- develop insight
- nourish heart

Calm mind. Why we need to have a calm and clear mind ? It is because only under this condition then we can be happy. It is said that the default state of mind is Happiness.

Develop Insight. Most people frame their emotion, eg I am happy or I am experiencing anger, etc.

Nourish Heart. Develop below qualities :
- Loving kindness
- Compassion
- Sympathetic joy
- Equanimity
Giving end of kindness is happiness. Note that :
Compassion is the happiest thing &
Happiness open awareness.