Moment gone is opportunity lost

Post 13 Make hay while the sun shines

Hay is grass that has been cut and dried, especially for use as feed for horses and cows. Sunlight is needed to dry the hay. To make hay while the sun shines is to take full advantage of an opportunity while it lasts. In the next moment, the rain may come and the opportunity to dry the hay would be gone. Thus, we must always grasp whatever golden moment that comes along and never let it go. Make full use of it. If we hesitate, the opportunity will be lost at the twinkling of an eye.

If I may digress for a moment, the wife of a very influential husband lamented on the inconstancy of human relationships. At the peak of their life, a mere mention of a leaking roof at home to a friend would see workers doing the repair work the next day; the casual mention of a faulty lamp or plug would mean that someone would be proactive enough to call for an electrician to repair them. It was a time when friends were so helpful and obliging.

However, by the time the power of her husband was on the wane, their visitors were few and far between. This prompted her to send an article to a newspaper, in the 1980s, using the proverb Make hay while the sun shines to sigh with feeling.

Nevertheless, we must view the proverb at its proper perspective. It encourages us to do something worthwhile to achieve success while there is still an opportunity. We are to strike while the iron is hot.

29 September 2009

Love is a Many-Splendored Thing

Post 12 When you are rich in love, you are poor in hatred.

A Many-Splendored Thing is a novel written by Han Suyin in 1952. She is a well-known Chinese- Eurasian author born in China in 1917. The novel was made into the 1955 film Love is a Many-Splendored Thing, the song of which is an evergreen. Music lovers in their 50s and 60s onwards will no doubt have a feeling of nostalgia for their younger days whenever they hear this song being played.

The novel tells of a British reporter who falls in love with a Eurasian doctor originally from China only to become victims of class struggle and race prejudice in Hong Kong in the 1950s. Class consciousness and racial prejudice are just as relevant today as they were then. Nations are against nations; and civil wars abound in many continents.

Love and hatred know no barriers and they transcend national differences. It is only when love abounds that hatred, which is the result of pride and prejudice, will leave our heart.

In 1631, the Mogul emperor Shah Jahan's second and favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, died while giving birth to their fourteenth child. She uttered a dying wish to Jahan that a monument be built to manifest their love. Jahan then took more than two decades to build the Taj Mahal in Agra, India. This architecture is now one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It is also a symbol of love and passion.

Indeed, Love is a Many-Splendored Thing.

22 September 2009

Be focused

Post 11 The Earthworms and the Crabs

Xunzi, a famous Chinese philosopher, thinker and educationist advised us to be focused in whatever we do. He said that earthworms do not have sharp claws and teeth, and strong bones and muscles, yet they are able to eat of the earth above and drink of the spring water below because they are focused.

Xunzi further said that a crab has four pairs of legs and a pair of big claws. However, crabs are restless in nature and inattentive. This has resulted in them having to stay in holes made by snakes and eels. Therefore crabs are dependent on snakes and eels for shelter.

The teaching here is that we must be focused. We are encouraged to emulate the earthworms who have the will to make use of what they have to overcome all obstacles. When we devote our mind in working patiently towards achieving our goal, we will succeed.

Indeed, when a person is focused, he is like dripping water which can ultimately eat through a stone. His perseverance will lead him to success.

The earthworms focus to get what they want and do so with dignity. The crabs, even though with their innate prowess, fail to match the earthworms in character.


15 September 2009

Trying to please both sides

Post 10 Run with the hare and hunt with the hounds

A hare is an animal similar to a rabbit but bigger. A hound is a type of dog used in hunting and it hunts by following a scent. It is said that hunting hare is challenging because the hare seldom travels in a straight line and is difficult to catch. The hare is always the winner in the hide-and-seek race.

When one runs with the hare and hunts with the hounds, one is supporting two competing sides in an argument. However, in reality it is impossible for one to please the two warring parties simultaneously and a clear stand has just got to be made. In trying to please both sides of a dispute, one may end up undertaking a thankless task. No one can run with the hare while at the same time join the hounds in hunting the hare.

On another aspect, a husband may want to pacify both his wife and his mother, who are having a misunderstanding. In this case he has to think of a way to please one without offending the other. He may go from the frying pan to the fire.

In his Merchant of Venice Shakespeare wrote: "When I shun Scylla your father, I fall into Charybdis your mother.” This is a case of having to choose between two unattractive options. In ancient Greek mythology, Scylla was a female monster who could rip sailors apart and Charybdis was a whirlpool likened to a monster too. When a person says he is between Scylla and Charybdis, it implies he is between the devil and the deep blue sea. He is in a dilemma as to what to do.

Love never fails. When there is empathy, there will be understanding.

8 September 2009

The intrinsic value in a person

Post 9 A rose is a rose by any other name

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright. He was widely deemed to be the greatest writer in the English language. When Shakespeare wrote the line ‘A rose is a rose by any other name’ in Romeo and Juliet, he was implying that no matter what anything is called, it still remains what it is. Thus a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. The intrinsic value of a rose is its fragrance and bright colour. This might have inspired Juliet to say, “What’s in a name?”

What matters is therefore what you are and not what you are called. One can be as sweet as a rose when one is a real person. Mengzi (or Mencius), a famous Chinese philosopher, said that anyone who has the following three traits is a real man:

Neither riches nor honours can lead one to be licentious;

Neither poverty nor want can lead one to be submissive; and

Neither threat nor force can lead one to be subdued.

The wisdom here is that a person ought to have self-control, hold on to integrity, and be determined. Hence, one may be called by any other name, yet one’s strength of character remains to be one’s hallmark.

1 September 2009