Tuesday, August 29, 2006

I have learned a lesson from a security guard

i was walking to the cyber cafe last saturday night. i parked my car quite far, so i have to walk pass this corner shoplot. there's a guard sitting in front of the shop. it was quite late, about 10pm, so the shop was already closed. i didn't take note what kind of shop is that, how come they have a guard for overnight... must be some big company huh... but, that's not my point. i saw this guard was holding a book and read. on closer look, he does not look local - not chinese, not malay, and not indian too... more like a mix Nepal-Bangladeshi kinda man. and again... that's not my point. my point is the book that he was reading... one glance, i gotta know already, it's a dictionary that he was holding!!! YES, a dictionary! an English-Malay dictionary!!

now, the moral of the story... we always have some stereotypic perception about these foreign workers that they are (sorry if my language is going to be inappropriate!!) lazy, not intelligent, criminal, uncivilized.... well, sorta, and we seldom see the other sides of them. that night, i have the pleasure to witness this - a man, searching for knowledge. he came to faraway land to seek fortune, or some are here simply to survive. they have a tough life back in their motherlands, they do not have the opportunity for good education, let alone comfortable life. yet, this guard that i saw, not only he is not lazy, he grabs whatever chances he got to improve himself.

i was standing there, stunned and somehow motivated!! --- i can do my PhD -- no problem at all!! i can get my resources much easier than the guard, i'm earning much better than the guard, i have my family and frens to support me, i got all the privilleges that the guard would never have... so what am i complaining about my life?? it seems that most of the time, the person/thing that hampers us is ourselves!!

i have learned a life lesson from a guard i met. have you?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

我知道臺北有個外勞詩文比賽,
很有意思,也許你會喜歡。

http://www.wretch.cc/blog/kamadevas&article_id=3375198

meikeng said...

i guess i have..

i guess sometimes we take important things for granted like our education.. most ppl have the "don't know what u've got til it's gone" attitude.

for students, it sucks to be stressed out over exams and assignments. but we forgot that we r already lucky enough to be in a university.

hmm..that's a cool security guard! but shouldn't he be concentrating on his job at that time ah.. i mean, can read at home mah.. =P

Teddy Beh said...

Ah-Li-An: wau... they do have these kinds of competition wor... i'm amazed! and the poems (althought they are translated yet) are really meaningful.

Meikeng: well, i guess his shift is graveyard, so there's really nothing much to do... :)

yewmiin said...

qsir...
呵呵...有感触捏..
很多时候我们都会忽略身边的这些微小的人事物...可是往往他们会给我们大大的启示大大的感动...是吗??每个人都可以成为生活的老师...而人却总是忘了珍惜自己所拥有的而一再埋怨...我要加油了~~
p/s: sir...thursday we'll be sitting for your paper d...yet i'm still checking your blog..ahaha..take a break lar..=.=''
scare~~

Teddy Beh said...

yes, we always blinded by a lot of desires and distractions, and we miss out those wonderful things around us. happiness is so easy to achieve, if only we don't strive too hard for those materialistic things. i think you understand what i mean yewmiin. :)

Anonymous said...

hi, i like ur blog and reviews. it's very real.

hv a good day! will keep coming back, keep it up! :)


CV

Teddy Beh said...

thanks!! :)