飲水思源
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
This Chinese phrasing has been passed down from generations before of Hwa Chong seniors. 飲水思源 basically meansTo trace back to our roots and originsIf everything was to happen for a reason, it must be one that is worth remembering. In our journey in life, there will be highs and lows, different phrases to life, we should remember these significant periods of our lives forever and thanking their every existence.
A major form of 飲水思源 would be our parents. Parents play a very important factor in our lives. Our parents. The ones that gave birth to us. The ones that looked after our every concern. The ones that ensured our future. The Mr and Mrs Yes that never said NO to our qualms. Our parents.
Other than the obvious factor that they are the ones that feed and pay for our expenses and necessities, they often act as a role models in our lives. It would only be fair that such "godly" personnels get rewarded. Personally, i look up to my dad alot, knowing his poor family background where him and around 9 other siblings were supported based on the income of his fourth brother. Such poor surroundings, where their house was succumbing to wet weather, and that university education was not a given, but a strong burden, forcing him to work and study at the same time, a feat seemingly improbable in mordern days.
Small little things go a long way.
It may be hard to repay their love, but small tell tale signs of care would never fail to help. Helping to massage your parents, helping to pour tea. These are Chinese moral values that we were thought in Primary school, but how come, so many old people are left in old folks home. Does the love stop when a person reaches 65 and retires?
Does it say something about our character? Our superficiality, the way we only see the money and not the love? The way we never truly discovered the personality of our parents? Oh the irony.
I am sure many of us are aware of the many different stories of parents left behind in Old folks home, even refusing to pay the bill by shifting houses and changing contact numbers. I have seen many Service Learning projects that have been directed at this recent trend. But i wonder sometimes, what kind of impression are adults leaving on their kids, abandoning their parents like that.