EVERY YEAR on the 1st and 2nd day of the new Chinese New Lunar Year or Spring Festival as it is called elsewhere around the world, hundreds of millions of Chinese families come together from far and wide to enjoy family meals and to share gossip and interests that may kickstart long-drawn conversations.
Today is the 2nd day of the new lunar year of the Dog (2006). The sun is shining very brightly as on most Chinese New Year days. It is so hot at times, like today, that most of Chinese make a hasty retreat into the cool confines of their own homes, but not before gobbling up another slew of CNY dishes at some relatives' homes or in their own homes.
Chinese New Year is also a time of giving. Say what you like about the money-grabbing Chinese and their inscrutable ways, the Chinese are familiar with the philosophy of giving. That is why ang pows are not only a must but also given with great generosity.
I just returned from visiting an old friend at the Cheshire Home. She has been there for more than 25 years. As on most CNY occasions, my wife and I dropped by to visit here. Also, like in previous CNYs, there are the unannounced arrivals of strangers who come to the Home to distribute CNY ang pows. They do not seek publicity not do they make a big fanfare about the purpose of their visit.
Basically, what they do is to come and distribute ang pows (red packets) to all the inmates and staff of the Cheshire Home. Today, I was fortunate enough to witness one such person. He was past middle-age. He came on a motorcycle and promptly on arrival, he took out a stack of ang pows to distribute to the residents.
On the sound of the ringing of a bell, the residents came rushing out from their rooms to wait in line for the ang pows which the quiet, unassuming man gave to one and all. It was a sight to behold. It wasn't like a presidential visit or anything even close to that but the sight of an individual who had sought no publicity and gave so much gladdened my heart and provided much hope to the handicapped people who will spend the rest of their days in quiet solitude and perhaps quiet desperation which most of us ordinary folks do not understand or want to understand.
Human beings are like that, so long as this kind of physical predicament is not ours to bear, we have a tendency to push it out of our mind and not entertain the thought of knowing that there are individuals somewhere out there who are a thousand times worse off than the rest of us who simply have no time to sympathise with this group of minority.
However, one single individual can sometimes do so much in so short a time. This middle-aged man after distributing the ang pows went on to sing a medley of Mandarin songs, much to the delight to a majority of the inmates at the home. His voice was powerful and it echoed across the hall and hallways of the Home.
We the unsuspecting curious-onlookers were simply impressed by his energy and enthusiasm exhibited by this man whose identity remained unknown to us all. Sometimes in our busy lives, we do not realise that there are some generous souls out there in the blue yonder carrying out generous acts of kindness which we often hear about or read about in magazines and newspapers. Perhaps, sometimes too we would want to carry out similar acts of compassion and generosity but somehow we find the excuses that we often gladly find not to do it.
And here today at this home, I bear witness to this man. His acts reminded me of the times when my grandest intentions of splendid human acts yet unperformed pale a thousand times in comparison to his small, ordinary acts of kindness and generosity.
There is much to learn from strangers like that on some days of our lives. We come across them at the most unexpected moments. For a while, we remind ourselves that we too are capable of carrying out similar acts but our courage often is found wanting.
Maybe after today, the thought will remain in my heart and mind so that I too will join this legion of do-gooders who want no rewards and expect none.
Life can only get better after this!
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