"A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.”
Think about it for a while folks. Nations rise and fall, generations after generation walk the earth and leave but the only thing that prevails will be our developments and the stories of our understanding and capacity to care for one another.
A while back this year I was fortunate enough to attend a week long symposium on humanitarian affairs down in Melaka, Malaysia. Many students from prestigious universities in south east asia had come together to take part in this event. We were told that there are many for whom school is just a dream in some parts of Cambodia; that there are women who are traded off for money to men at the borders of China-North Korea; that there are children who are exploited mentally and physically on daily basis in the more impoverished parts of the world.
Sadly the planet we live on doesn’t help that much either. Natural disasters wipe out an entire city abruptly. Just very recently the volcano eruption down in Indonesia devastated many, leaving them in trauma. An earthquakes killed many in Haiti and monsoon floods made many homeless in Pakistan.
Let me suffice to say that these predicaments are the reality of the world we live in and they might never cease. But that glimmer of hope on the horizon keeps us trying to make our world a better place to live where such tales have no place. A place where care and love for another human being in difficulty brings a slight sense of comfort.
But are we capable to do so? I believe we are. I believe you don’t need to be a noble peace prize nominee or the UN general secretary or a civil servant of any sort for that matter to help and care for others. I think all it takes is to wake up in the morning and look straight into the mirror and believe that he or she can do some good. however small.
Just last week, Annexee Gallery hosted a photo exhibition for Burmese refugee children who are deprived of their very basic civil rights. A bunch of students with the help of their lecturer from Taylor’s Canadian Pre-University Program conducted a series of workshops attended by professional photographers to teach the children the art of photography. This not only allowed the Burmese refugee children to raise money by selling their photos in the exhibition, but also gave them the priceless gift of knowledge. This is just one small example how capable we are when we try whole heartedly. If only we try.
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| "Everyone has Hope", Burmese refugee children |
And the way we contribute to the world doesn't only end there: among you might be a person who finds the cure to aids or cancer; among you might be a person who finds a way to abolish crime in our society; among you might be the next loving parent who nurtures a caring leader of tomorrow; among you might be a person who is more than willing to plant a tree when he’s old.
Last updated: 9th July 2012
Last updated: 9th July 2012
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