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.
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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