There's much to be thankful for
03 December 2013
IN my previous commentary, I was motivated to talk about respect
when I heard lovely Christmas songs playing inside a shopping mall in
Johor Baru.
I guess I was inspired by the thought that the world would be a better place if people knew how to respect one another in spite of their differences.
Today, I want to focus on gratitude, and my inspiration for this came after a visit to the One Stroke Calligraphy exhibition at Sutera Mall in Johor Baru.
The exhibition was originally supposed to have been held for two weeks, but due to encouraging public response, the event has been extended to Dec 15.
The show features works by the Venerable Hsing Yun, who was born into a poor family and became a Buddhist monk at the age of 12.
When he was about 17, he was down with a serious illness, his teacher sent someone to deliver half a bowl of pickled vegetables to him. The person tasked to deliver the food had to travel a long distance to get to the young monk.
As he tearfully ate the bowl of pickled vegetables, he made a vow to always remember his teacher's kindness.
Now 86, the Venerable Hsing Yun is still giving motivational talks to Buddhist devotees around the world.
I don't know if this kind of grateful attitude is still practised by today's young people. I did notice many people giving thanks on Facebook during Thanksgiving on Nov 28. Yes, it is so important to give thanks.
But in today's world, what is more common is when you do a hundred good things for someone, but that someone will only remember the one bad thing you did to him or her. Has that happened to you before?
Anyway, the Ven Hsing Yun was so adamant in expressing his gratitude to his teacher that he started The Water Drop teahouses, which can now be found in various parts of the world.
In Johor Baru, one can find The Water Drop teahouse on the fourth floor of the Sutera Mall, which is next to the newly-opened My Library.
The teahouse derives its name from the gratitude expressed in the old saying, "a drop of water's worth of kindness repaid with a gushing spring".
Hopefully, those who dine here often will remember to repay the drop of kindness from their parents, their teachers, and their country with a gushing spring. Only a grateful life can be a rich life.
And since My Library is just located next to The Water Drop teahouse, I can't help but also mention a little bit about this establishment.
According to a My Library officer, Ginny Lim, nearly 300 people and corporate bodies have joined as members of the library, which receives an average of 5,532 visitors daily since it opened on Nov 18.
Besides an assortment of magazines, books and audio materials, the library also has facilities for rental. These include rooms for discussions, seminars and kids' activities.
One can also order coffee or tea from The Water Drop teahouse while reading at the library.
This library is a corporate social responsibility programme of Tanah Sutera Development Sdn Bhd, the property developer that manages the Sutera Mall.
The management, which has been nurturing the local community with education and culture, has been organising programmes like the One-Stroke Calligraphy exhibition annually since it started operations in 2008.
The theme is different each year, but it is always of a cultural nature and with educational values.
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The library also is becoming a favourite haunt for both children and adults. At the library, I saw some children flipping through the pages of the books with great care.
However, there were also some who were running around making a lot of noise. It is very important to maintain silence in a library as people are there to read.
The idea of setting up a library in a shopping mall is a novel one. For that, I am grateful to Tanah Sutera, for having the foresight and the drive to mix retail with education and culture.
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