Those who know say nothing

A father tells his children that sometimes things people know may never be put in words. But on the other hand, most would put so many words about things they don’t now. He says that knowing the difference is a sign of wisdom. And he tells them this:
“Those who know do not say. But those who say do not know.”
“Wow! That’s deep. What do you mean by that, dad?”
“Do you know the fragrance of a rose?” he asks.
They all know.
He says, “Now put it in words.”
All are silent.

Buying monkeys

A friend from Kuala Lumpur sent this story to me today. It's hilarious and, if read carefully, we may take a hint to our foolish nature. Don't we buy monkeys sometimes and get nothing in the end except, well, monkeys? Thanks Julie for sharing the story.

Once upon a time in a village, a man appeared and announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for RM10.The villagers seeing that there were many monkeys around, went out to the forest and started catching them. The man bought thousands at RM10 and as supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their effort. He further announced that he would now buy at RM 20. This renewed the efforts of the villagers and they started catching monkeys again. Soon the supply diminished even further and people started going back to their farms. The offer rate increased to RM 25 and the supply of monkeys became so little that it was an effort to even see a monkey, let alone catch it! The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at RM50! However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would now buy on behalf of him.In the absence of the man, the assistant told the villagers. Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that the man has collected. I will sell them to you at RM35 and when the man returns from the city, you can sell it to him for RM50." The villagers squeezed up with all their savings and bought all the monkeys.Then they never saw the man nor his assistant, only monkeys everywhere!! !

The idiot called back

A drunken man was walking on the street with burnt marks on his ears. His friend asked what happened. "My wife left the hot iron on when she left. So when the telephone rang I wrongly picked up the hot iron.""Oh, I see, but the other ear?"

"The idiot called back."

Source: Anthony de Mello

Isn't it funny to catch ourselves 'drunk' from our own foolishness sometimes. And laughing about it can be healthy.

Your faith was strong, but you needed proof

Once I asked my good Danish friend, TJ, what her favourite song was, and she said, "Hallelujah". I listened to the song, originally composed by Leonard Cohen, and was instantly moved by the melody and lyrics. My favourite line is this:

Well your faith was strong but you needed proof....

Aren't we all like that sometimes? We profess our faith in the divine, in someone or in the system. But ironically, we need proof to support our belief. I'm listening to the song as I'm writing now just to remind myself of my foolish human nature.

The price of YOU

A father wanted to teach his teenage children a lesson about self value. He started by holding up a RM50 note. "Who would like to have this RM50?" he asked. Hands started going up.
He said, "I am going to give it to one of you but first, let me do this." He proceeded to crumple the RM50 note up. He then asked, "Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air. "Well", he replied, "What if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. "Now who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air. "Guys, we have all learned a very valuable lesson", he said, "No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth RM50.

Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless.... and especially to those who love you.

The pursuit of stupidity

Allow me to break the sequence of my storytelling. But first of all, I'd like to congratulate another good Danish friend, AC, for having been offered a job as social worker. I believe the world needs more caring people to work in this challenging field. As for my contribution, I'll stick to writing. And speaking of writing, someone asked me yesterday why I remain as one despite all its financial securities and headaches. My answer to her question was stupidity. I notice a funny pattern in my life that in order to get one thing right, I'll have to make ten stupid mistakes. So, to get two things right, I must commit twenty. Stupidity. Isn't that what defines our thinking and actions? So, here I am making yet another stupid mistake by becoming a writer and writing all the stuffs about human stupidity in simple stories. Oh, Albert Eistein said this once:

Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.

She talked to me

To my good friend, TJ from Copenhagen, Denmark, who has just become a social worker, CONGRATULATIONS! Here's a story for you:

A centre for people with physical disabilities was organising an opening of a new wing. A local politician was invited to officiate the ceremony. Several members of the press came too and also distinguished members of the community. In his speech, the politician talked about the government's concern for people with special needs and how he, as an elected representative, would always make sure they get maximum assistance. Next, it was the priest-in-charge's turn to deliver his message. He reminded the community to always have faith in God for He would choose the right people with good heart as leaders. Their speeches were received with loud applause from the invited guests. During reception, one of the reporters interviewed a physically-disabled old man who was the most senior member in the centre.

"Sir, what's your respond to the speeches we heard earlier?"

"For all I know, the politician was actually talking to you guys, the press. He was looking for good publicity. And the priest was talking to the politician for he was hoping to get more of the government's money. But one social worker who was sitting in front turned to to look at me for a moment. She smiled and winked. She talked to me and I understood her."

Sometimes, the simplest gesture can make a big difference. But again, it can be misinterpreted in a different culture.

A young western woman was in Hong Kong recently for a short holiday. She went to a Chinese restaurant for lunch one day and while waiting for the food to be served she saw a skinny stray dog standing outside. She felt pity for the animal and wanted to do something. She called the waiter to her table and asked him to cook some food for the dog, and that she would pay the bill. But because she didn't know a word of Chinese, she made up a sign language by pointing at the dog, her mouth and belly, apparently trying to tell the waiter to feed something to the hungry dog. The waiter nodded and dashed back to the kitchen. After several minutes, he came out with a huge plate of dog meat cooked in soy sauce.

So called faith

One of the things I always find amusing is to hear people talk about faith. Unless tested, well, it's just an empty proclamation...Check this out:

A man accidently fell down a cliff but managed to grab a branch half way the fall. He was still far from safe as the valley below was a few hundred metres away. If he let go, he would certainly fall to his death. But again, there was no way for him to climb back up. In such desperate moment he prayed aloud.

"Lord, please help me in my hour of need," he cried. "You know I'm a man of faith and I believe that you, and you alone, who can help me now."

Suddenly the clouds opened and out came a voice. "Do you really believe that I can help you?"

"Yes! Yes! You know how big is my faith in you," said the man as he struggled to hand on.

"Ok. Now let go of the branch," the voice commanded.

"What? Are you crazy?"

It takes a childlike heart to believe...

A village in Borneo was experiencing a severe drought. Villagers went to see the shaman to pray for rain. "I'll do it," she said. "But all of us must have faith in the ritual I will perform." She then instructed them to bring anything to express their faith. All of them brought religious items except for one young boy. He brought an umbrella.

Change

One of the things we hear a lot during elections is change. Have you ever read this story?

Once upon a time there lived a king who ordered his citizens to carpet every inch of the country's land so he could walk comfortably.

One of his wise ministers came to him and said, "Your Majesty, wouldn't it be easier for you to just wear a pair of slippers?"

Change starts from within...But often it takes maturity to understand what this means. Here's a phrase I stumbled upon some time ago.

When we're young, we're idealistic about changing the world.
When we're old, we want to change the young.

Sounds familiar?

Leaders vs followers

Soon, Malaysians will vote for a Government that would look into their interest as citizens. They will choose leaders who they think have what it takes to represent them; be their voice to be heard. I used to be in the thick of the action during elections when I was still a newspaper journalist, covering the stories and events. I'm interested in only one story now: the foolishness of it all. I found this interesting article that speaks a lot about leadership. Let's ponder a moment:

When leaders make a mistake, they say, "I was wrong."
When followers make mistakes, they say, "It wasn't my fault."

A leader works harder than a follower and has more time;
a follower is always "too busy" to do what is necessary.

A leader goes through a problem;
a follower goes around it and never gets past it.

A leader makes and keeps commitments;
a follower makes and forgets promises.

A leader says, "I'm good, but not as good as I ought to be;"
a follower says, "I'm not as bad as a lot of other people."

Leaders listen;
followers just wait until it's their turn to talk.

Leaders respect those who are superior to them and tries to learn something from them;
followers resent those who are superior to them and try to find chinks in their armor.

Leaders feel responsible for more than their job;
followers say, "I only work here."

A leader says, "There ought to be a better way to do this;"
followers say, "That's the way it's always been done here."

The fish

Two fish were swimming when they saw a piece of meat dangling before them. The younger fish darted toward it with an open mouth. The older fish cried out, “Stop! You can’t see it, but there is a hook inside that meat. It is connected by an invisible line to a pole outside the water. There is a man holding the pole. If you eat the meat, the hook will catch in your jaw and the man will pull you out of the water. He will cut you open with a knife, roast you on a fire and eat you. Then he will throw your remains to his cat.” The young fish stopped. The two of them swam away. But when the young fish was alone, he thought to himself, “Let me investigate for myself how accurate these claims are.” He went back to the meat, swam around it, above and below it. He swam as far as he could in widening circles around the meat. After a long search, he said to himself, “I’ve looked far and wide, and I haven’t found any sign of a man, a pole, a knife, a fire or a cat. In fact, I’ve found no trace of anything outside this water we live in. These must just be stories.” He went back to the meat and ate it. The hook caught in his jaw, he felt himself being yanked out of the water. He saw a pole, a man and a knife, but at that point his knowledge was useless.

The Chinese numbers

A friend shared to me this story over coffee this morning.

The Chinese numbers one, two and three are pretty easy to write. 一 yī (one), 二 èr (two) and 三 sān (three). Well, that's what a young boy thought. His father tried to teach him to write a number each day going from one to ten. By the time he had mastered writing the number three, the boy decided that he had no more need of his father's help.

"It's so easy," he confidently said. "All I have to do is to draw lines."

"Alright then, write the number 100," his father said.

The boy did as told. It took him more than an hour to write all the one hundred lines.

The Chinese character for the number four is 四 sì.

He wouldn't have gone through all the trouble if he had learnt to write the simple number four.

Gotta keep on swimming

I watched a crowd walking in the streets and wondered what their life stories could be. Many, many stories for sure. But if I categorized them, I would find that some stories tell of the optimistic souls and the other half, pessimistic. The fact of life is that life goes on no matter what our troubles are. So, it's best to remain positive all the time; to keep on swimming...

Two frogs fell into a deep cream bowl. One was an optimistic soul.
But the other took the gloomy view.
"We'll drown," he lamented,
and with a last despairing cry,
he flung up his legs and said "Goodbye."

The other frog said with a steadfast grin,
"I can't get out but I won't give in,
I'll just swim around till my strength is spent,
then I'll die the more content."
Bravely he swam to work his scheme,
and his struggles began to churn the cream.

The more he swam, his legs a flutter,
the more the cream turned into butter.
On top of the butter at last he stopped,
and out of the bowl he gaily hopped.

Just move on no matter what...

A prisoner of war tried to keep his sanity by singing. He sang all day, all night in his prison cell. Irritated by his singing, his captors cut his tongue. But that didn't stop him. So, he hummed the melody of his songs. This time, they removed his vocal chord. That silence him indeed. But not long afterwards, his captors found him dancing to the beat of his songs he played in his mind. He danced all day, all night. Irritated by his silent dance movements, they amputated his legs and arms. But soon after, they saw him moving his head forward and backward to the melody of the songs in his heart. Finally, the chopped his head. But his 'music' stayed with his fellow prisoners who, inspired by his outstanding courage, launched an attack against their captors and escaped to freedom.

The magic jar

I was on my way out to town this morning when I realised that two of my car tyres had been stolen. The thief/thieves also took away the toolbox. I will have to spend a lot of money to replace the tyres. But with only little hard-earned money left in my hand from a recent freelance writing job I did, I'm left to wonder how I could ever purchase the new tyres. The kids must go to school next week and I need to move about to do my work. So, I'm desperate for tyres. To cool mysef from anger, I searched for a story (by the way, anger is one better short of danger). Here's what I recalled:

A theft had occured in a village. Villagers went to see a priestess who was known for her wisdom and asked if she could perform some black magic on whoever was responsible. She told them that black magic was not a good thing and suggested another way. That evening, she called all the villagers together at her house. "Here's a magic jar." Then she gave the following instruction. "I want all of you to touch it. The jar will tell who among us is the culrprit." When all had understood, she turned off the light. After the last person had touched the jar, she turned the light back on. Apparently, she had smeared the jar with charcoal. Everyone who touched it had their their fingers blackened by the charcoal except the thief who did not do it for he was afraid that the so called magic jar would identify him. The police were later called to arrest him.

We think that we could hide in the dark but sometimes, it's in darkness that our true identity is revealed.

Today you voted

A friend forwarded me this story today. I find it humorous, so I'd like to share it with you. P.S. it's election fever in Sabah!

While walking down the street one day a Malaysia Boleh Minister is tragically hit by a truck and dies. His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance. "Welcome to heaven," says St. Peter. "Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so we're not sure what to do with you." "No problem, just let me in," says the man. "Well, I'd like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we'll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity." "Really, I have made up my mind. I want to be in heaven," says the Yang Berhormat "I'm sorry, but we have our rules," says St. Peter. And with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a green golf course. In the distance is a clubhouse and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians who had worked with him. Everyone is very happy and dressed in the finest batik there is. They run to greet him, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people. They play a friendly game of golf and then indulge themselves on lobsters, caviar and the most expensive food there is. Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly guy who has a good time dancing and telling jokes. They are having such a good time that before he realizes it, it is time to go. Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and waves while the elevator rises. The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens on heaven where St. Peter is waiting for him. "Now it' s time to visit heaven." So, 24 hours pass with the Yang Berhormat joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St.Peter returns. "Well, then, you've spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity." The Yang Berhormat reflects for a minute, then he answers: "Well, I would never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think Ai yam better off in hell." So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. Now the doors of the elevator open and he's in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage. He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags as more trash falls from above. The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulder. "I don't understand," stammers the Yang Berhormat. "Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, and danced and had a great time. Now there's just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable. What happened?" The devil looks at him, smiles and says, "Yesterday we were campaigning." "Today you voted."

We've heard these before, haven't we?

Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.

To handle yourself, use your head; To handle others, use your heart.

Anger is only one letter short of danger.

If someone betrays you once, it's his fault; if he betrays you twice, it's your fault.

Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people.

God gives every bird it's food, but He does not throw it into it's nest.

He who loses money, loses much; He who loses a friend, loses more; He who loses faith, loses all.

Beautiful young people are acts of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art.

Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself.

The tongue weighs practically nothing, but so few people can hold it.

Who is rich and who is poor?

One day a wealthy father took his son on a trip to a rural village so that the son could see how the poor indigenous people lived. They stayed overnight in a house of a poor villager and his family. When they got back from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?" "Very good, Dad!" "Did you see how poor people can be?" "Yes I did!" "And what did you learn?" The son answered, "I saw that we have a dog at home, and they have six. We have a pool, they have the river. We have imported lamps in the house; they have the stars. We buy our vegetables and fruits in the market; they get theirs free from the farm and forest." When the little boy was finished, the father was speechless. His son then added, "Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are!"

The tale of the two clocks

The world needs some form of a final authority to ensure public public order. But does it really? Ponder the following stories.

Once upon a time, a famous inventor invented what he called a clock. No one questioned the authority of the clock in telling the time for it was the only one available in the world. Well, until another inventor invented another clock. From that time onwards, no one was sure of the time.

***************

"You're late," said a man to his friend.

"No, it's you who are early," replied his friend.

Making a difference

Once upon a time there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work. One day he was walking along the shore. As he looked down the beach, he saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself to think of someone who would dance to the day. So he began to walk faster to catch up. As he got closer, he saw that it was a young man and the young man wasn't dancing, but instead he was reaching down to the shore, picking up something and very gently throwing it into the ocean. As he got closer he called out,"Good morning! What are you doing?" The young man paused, looked up and replied, "Throwing starfish in the ocean." "I guess I should have asked, why are you throwing starfish in the ocean?" "The sun is up and the tide is going out. And if I don't throw them in they'll die." "But, young man, don't you realize that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it. You can't possibly make a difference!" The young man listened politely. Then bent down, picked another starfish and threw it into the sea, past the breaking waves and said, "It made a difference for that one."

The Chinese New Year - a time to impress the guests

It's always fascinating to see how people celebrate a festive season like the Chinese New Year. In my part of the world, visiting families, relatives and friends is a norm. While this practice is hailed as something good, some couldn't help the tendency of wanting to impress, to show off. A new curtain, an expensive furniture set, a latest fashion or a plasma TV - anything that makes one feels good about oneself. So long, of course, the other party takes notice and makes a good comment. Sometimes, it's the children who become an object for showing off. During my Chinese New year visits, I was amused by the following observations:

"Mom, my dress is too tight!" complained a six-year old daughter to her mother.

"Just bear it. You look pretty in that dress," said the mother.

Who cares about comfort. It's looking good that matters. But at the expense of whose happiness?

"Don't you dare play outside and dirty yourself," a young mother warned her three-year old son.

"But I want to play with my friends," the boy insisted.

"Not today. It's Chinese New Year!" said his mother.

Isn't it a day when children are suppose to be happy? In some cases, they get hurt instead.

"Where did you put your eyes!" a father scolded his son who, while playing, accidentally broke an expensive jar. "Don't you know that this thing is expensive?"

Obviously, at his young age, he couldn't have known. What broke that day was his son's vulnerable heart. It was a priceless item he could ever afford.

Then again, some parents simply got too carried away in projecting their children.

"You have two beautiful children. How old are they?" a guest asked a young mother.

"Oh, the professional golfer is five and the Olympic swimmer is seven."

Oh, please......

I was mugged

A young woman saw an old man walking down the street with only one shoe. Thinking that he might be a homeless poor who had found the shoe in a rubbish bin somewhere, she was moved by compassion and approached the old man.

"Oh, you poor soul. It must be difficult to walk with only one shoe," she said.

Before the old man could open his mouth to speak, the young woman started talking about how bad the society had become.

"We take things for granted forgetting that there are people who don't even have a shoe to wear. What a sick world!" she lamented.

"Thanks for your concern, miss. But I didn't find this shoe. I was mugged earlier this morning. They tried to take everything from me including my shoes. But I managed to flee after they removed the other shoe. I'm on my way now to lodge a report to the police."

Pressumptions can be embarassing as it is dangerous.

Good luck or bad luck?

It's Chinese New Year's Eve today. Traditionally, this festive season is always associated with good luck. Who wouldn't want Lady Luck on their side all year long? Thus it's the time of year where experts in the art of Feng Shui demonstrate the how-to in staying in luck and avoid miseries and tragedies. I've nothing against this ancient wisdom but at the same time I find myself with more questions than answers. If people were to ask me if my life was blessed with good luck or condemned to perpetual bad luck, my safe answer would be: Maybe.

Which reminds me of a story...

There was once a farmer. One day his horse ran away and his neighbours, upon hearing about it came to his house. They said, "Oh, what a bad luck." The farmer replied, ""Maybe".

About few days later, the horse came back, bringing with it a whole herd of wild horses. His neighbours heard and came to his house. They said, "Oh, what a good luck." The farmer replied, "Maybe."

One day, the farmer's son fell from one of the horses while trying to tame it and broke his leg. The neighbours, all hearing about the incident came to visit his son. As they stood watching him, they said, "Oh, what a bad luck." And the farmer replied, "Maybe."

During this time war broke out and the army wanted all the able young men they could find to fight for their country. They went to every corner of the country to draft young men into the military. But knowing that there was no way the farmer's son could fight, they left him be. The neighbours, on hearing the news, came to the farmer's house and said, "Oh, what a good luck." The farmer replied, "Maybe."

Perhaps there's goodness in bad luck? Read the following story...

"I hate to tell you that you seem to pull bad luck like a magnet. You were born poor. In fact, there was not even a proper place for your mother to deliver you. People wanted to kill you immediately after. Even as we speak, there are people who are after your neck. Many people hate you so much that they want to see you dead. You're surrounded by people whom society despises and you know what, those closest to you can't be trusted at all. They will run away at the time you need them most. Worse, your family think you're out your mind. And you're going to die a slow and painful death. By the way, what's your name? "

"Jesus Christ."

We invented them

It's always fascinating to see how the young people these days have become so techno savvy. I read a story not long ago which I would like to share. It's about a young teenager who commented about the older generation's ignorance about the latest techno gadgets.

"You guys are so old fashioned," he said to his father. "You know nothing about computers, video games, cellphones and all the stuffs that make our lives so easy.'

"I agree," said the father. "But don't forget it's us, the so called old fashioned generation, who invented them."


But they also invented all the troubles that the younger generations often get themselves into....


"Who taught you to smoke and drink?" an father asked his teenage daughter.

"It's you, dad."

The universal language

A young man vying to become an election candidate was told that he would stand no chance of winning the votes of the people for he could not speak their mother tongue. A few weeks later the election was held and the voters polled their votes. He won.

"How did you do it?" asked one of his curious campaigners. "You hardly spoke their language."

"Well, when they laughed, I laughed too. When they cried, I did the same. And when they came to me with all their problems, I hardly understood what they were saying. I tried not to fall asleep for that would be rude. But I kept nodding my head," he explained.


Who needs words when the body already says so much.

Seeing through our own dirty window

I've come across this story once and I think it's something worth pondering...especially for those who live across annoying neighbours.

A housewife is observing her neighbour's house through the glass window of her house.

"Look at their dirty house," she tells her husband. "Don't they ever clean it?"

Her husband comes to take a look and notices that it's their own glass window that has not been wiped clean of dust.

There's nothing wrong with reality. Only our perception that needs a clean up.