Then, I saw 2 elderly ladies (you can tell they are really old, maybe around 70-80 years old) sitting on something which looks like a small fountain which has no water..(I don't really know what it is actually..hahaha). They were talking to each other, ignoring other people who passed by. One thing that attracted my attention was, the 2 "grandmothers" were eating ice-cream. YES!! Ice-cream. Both of them! I guess these are some of the scenarios that I didn't see or I can't see back home. Really old people eating ice-cream, some of them even have their own "Shopmobility" some sort of vehicle to move around. They don't rely on other people at all.
Here, there might be 3 assumptions:
1st - They have a very strong will and courage to go anywhere on their own. They don't rely on other people or family members at all to do their daily chores. Or
2nd - Their family values are different than ours - Asians. Their children might have abandoned them.Moved out from the house and no visits from them. So this leaves them no choice ,but to be independent. Or
3rd - They might not be very old ( not as old as I think of). Maybe they are younger and stronger but they look old. ( Is this logic? I'm not sure myself...)
In which position WE want to be when we are old ? Do we want to be independent? Or do we want to rely on our children? I guess, a balance of both will be the ideal situation. But balance? How can we? Its relates back to our culture and values. We definitely won't allow our mother to walk with her walking stick , around in town, ALONE, will we? And eat ice-cream in the park? hahaha....my grandmother still does it....once in a while. But with her grandchildren, of course!!
Talking about the photo above, it is actually one of the many charity shops here. Unbelievable!! There are so many charity shops. Some of them related to Scouts, Cancer, Children and a few more. Interesting......I didn't find any charity shops back home too. Maybe I was not observant enough. A friend, whom I got to know here, told me that there is one in Bukit Bintang or Sungei Wang Plaza. Or maybe around the area. I'm not sure. Does this mean that we don't do charity? How does these charity shops work? I wonder. Back home, we do charity work - but usually through concerts or activities involving famous artists. Shops? - hmm...don't know if it will work or not. The last one I remembered getting myself involved was for the Tsunami Aid Collection. The place was great! We were selling mineral water, hair dryers, vouchers and many more. And the "creme de la creme" was when famous artists came over to do a short performance and to assist with the collection of the donations. What an great reponse!! And guess what? Definitely we had more people to donate.
Maybe, there are good things and bad things to learn from each other's culture and values. If we are rational enough, you could get the best from both world.
P/S: Anybody out there, if you know any charity shop in KL , please do tell me.
Here, there might be 3 assumptions:
1st - They have a very strong will and courage to go anywhere on their own. They don't rely on other people or family members at all to do their daily chores. Or
2nd - Their family values are different than ours - Asians. Their children might have abandoned them.Moved out from the house and no visits from them. So this leaves them no choice ,but to be independent. Or
3rd - They might not be very old ( not as old as I think of). Maybe they are younger and stronger but they look old. ( Is this logic? I'm not sure myself...)
In which position WE want to be when we are old ? Do we want to be independent? Or do we want to rely on our children? I guess, a balance of both will be the ideal situation. But balance? How can we? Its relates back to our culture and values. We definitely won't allow our mother to walk with her walking stick , around in town, ALONE, will we? And eat ice-cream in the park? hahaha....my grandmother still does it....once in a while. But with her grandchildren, of course!!
Talking about the photo above, it is actually one of the many charity shops here. Unbelievable!! There are so many charity shops. Some of them related to Scouts, Cancer, Children and a few more. Interesting......I didn't find any charity shops back home too. Maybe I was not observant enough. A friend, whom I got to know here, told me that there is one in Bukit Bintang or Sungei Wang Plaza. Or maybe around the area. I'm not sure. Does this mean that we don't do charity? How does these charity shops work? I wonder. Back home, we do charity work - but usually through concerts or activities involving famous artists. Shops? - hmm...don't know if it will work or not. The last one I remembered getting myself involved was for the Tsunami Aid Collection. The place was great! We were selling mineral water, hair dryers, vouchers and many more. And the "creme de la creme" was when famous artists came over to do a short performance and to assist with the collection of the donations. What an great reponse!! And guess what? Definitely we had more people to donate.
Maybe, there are good things and bad things to learn from each other's culture and values. If we are rational enough, you could get the best from both world.
P/S: Anybody out there, if you know any charity shop in KL , please do tell me.
No comments:
Post a Comment