Saving the world, one thought at a time.
On one Saturday afternoon, I happened to read the Straits Times. It really happened, as in, it's not my habit to read the papers. With so things on my to-do list everyday, reading the news is the last thing on my mind. But I was sitting in the living room, waiting for the Husband to be ready, before we head out and with nothing much to do, I casually flipped through the papers, only to be totally fixated 5 mintues later.
Throughout my whole life, I always feel I am not an exceptionally bright person. You know how we will know someone who's really quick in his thinking, witty, have brillant ideas ever so often and probably have a place or two in some high IQ club? Well, I'm not one of them and I always ask myself why can't I think in the same pattern as them? I remembered when I was a kid, I find reading the papers a chore. Every other news did not interest me much. It was a horrifying moment when I had to learn to write argumentative essays in secondary school. What happen to just spinning fanciful stories out of my head, just like primary school? I used to ace my English but once I did General Paper in junior college, it was so god-damn painful. I can't write factual stuff well, nor did I have much of a stand in world issues and opinions. I force myself to read the Straits Times, just so that I can be better at GP. But the left side of my brain somehow didn't have functioning brain cells for that.
Till this day, I remained amazed at how brilliantly wired some people's brains are. On a philospical level, I am in awe of Confucious, Buddha, my Grand Master Lu etc. On a business level, I will stand up in ovation for the people behind Ikea, MacDonald & Coca-Cola and more.
Prior to reading this article, I was catching up on my old books to remind myself the power behind our thoughts. What you think, you attract. I wanted to be more in control to direct my thoughts to where they should be and not the other way round.
So reading this news article got me really excited. What a timely reminder that we are really more powerful than we think we are!
 |
| ColaLife |
THIS is my favourite idea!! Because it involved my favourite drink, Coca Cola!!
Did you know diarrhoea is the second biggest killer of children? WHO statistics show at least 760,000
infants die due to that, even though it is totally preventable &
curable!
And why does the rural village provision shop stock Coca-cola but not simple medicine salts? (Yeah, why??)
Why is Coca-Cola able to reach almost every other distant village and "how can we learn from that and cover those last, crucial miles to reach that child?"
You can click on the photo to magnify the article for easier reading. In short, a British aid worker thought of a brilliant way to transport medicine and other necessities to the needy in Zambia, by leveraging on the supply network of Coca Cola. Simply because there are gaps & unused spaces in a crate of Coke! How did he even think of that?? It was pure ingenuity!
 |
| www.packforapurpose.org |
Here's a similar idea that I love so much too! What a kind gesture to be using our baggage space allowance to help transport supplies to the needy!
I visited the website of Pack for a Purpose and was pleasantly surprised to see that they really cover many countries, including South East Asia.
Wow, I didn't know 400 pencils is only around 2.27 kilos.
I'm gonna bear this in mind and next time when I travel, I hope to help out.
 |
| www.homelessworldcup.org |
Pretty sure the international language of women will be shopping.
 |
| www.roomtoread.org |
I was a librarian during my secondary school days. Not quite an exciting CCA but I loved it to bits. I like being surrounded by books and every time when I report for duty, I would be doing data entry as the school was installing a computerised system for the library. I was surrounded by books (tattered and scotch-taped, because I would read them over and over again for years) at home and again at school. Life was great.
I can't imagine growing up without books. After I got married and moved, my home now has an entire wall of books. From ceiling to floor. Easily more than 200 books. If I have it my way, I would have the entire living room transformed into a library of books. But oh well, there's the Husband and his hobby of kicking a small ball around to think about.
 |
| www.roomtoread.org |
I am of the belief that no one should be deprived of an education, no matter how poor you are.
I was once a poor kid and government subsidies helped put me through school. Without an education, I would have never had a chance to make things right in my life. Or even be blogging here, for that matter of fact.
I had given free tuition to children I know who are less privileged. I was in hope that one day they will live a life very much different from their parents and with that power, they too can lift their parents out of poverty. The only problem is to break that pattern of thinking needs years of effort.
Once, I was having this random conversation with someone. We were on the topic of doing good and the person said she did good every month. I was fairly surprised because not many people bothered. And then she said, "Every month, the company deducts a 1% of my basic pay to Community Chest."
I was like...%#*@.
No, I don't mean money donation is not vital. But if that 1% is the only thing you remember doing good for the entire year, then something is not quite right, isn't it?
Or the other time, I had another conversation with another acquaintance. And the only good he remembered doing was 5 years ago. Perhaps he forgot the smaller acts of good that he have done. I hope.
It can be donating blood regularly, it can be running for a cause, it can be leveraging on your personal network and starting your own fundraising campaign on your birthday instead of asking for lavish gifts, it can be even making an effort to recycle and reduce the usage of paper/plastics.
My model has this aspiration of being a speech therapist for autistic children. She spent her holidays working at a special school and is now taking up sign language, so that she can learn to communicate better with autistic children. I once asked her why she wanted to do all these - a career that is not mainstream and with her looks and education, surely many other career options are available too. I can't recall her exact words but I left the studio remembering she just wished to help.
The older I
get, the more I can't be contented with just using my time and abilities for making
money or like many of my friends, being busy with their children. I
realised a couple of years ago, I won't be happy raising children and
fending after them, just because they are from my factory. That's easily
10-20 years of my life investment. I might not be as bright as many
people, but there must be something else I can do to bring happiness and
transformation to people beyond my family. No one has to fit into a
mold of how life should be led.
All
this need is a thought to make a difference, to think for others. With a
gazillion thoughts running though our minds every second, surely it
can't be that difficult to think of something good, right?
人如果只為自己而活，未免也太無聊了。
Metta,
欣雨 Xinyu
