He Who Walked the Talk

The measures of this man, how he’d, given all he could in life, and left behind, a wonderful, legacy after his, death…translated…

Zhong-Ji is Very Passionate and Puts Everything He Has into Work, the Tiananmen Incident in Beijing, in the Rain of Bullets, He’d Interviewed the Witnesses, Victims, & Those Who Participated, Had it Not Been the Manager of the Station, Lee Ordering Everybody to Retreat, He’d Thought about, Staying…………

No Matter How Difficult the Check-Ups, He’d Agreed to Them, in an, Instant

It’d been said, that he’d, passed, so, abruptly.

The medical staff members kept trying to pinpoint the source of his infections, but, he was in a coma due to the medications they’d administered to him, he couldn’t say a word, but, the machines showed his vitals were dropping, the blood pressures dropped sharply, then, the heart slowed, slowed…………then, stopped.  He’d, used his behaviors, to prove his statements of death before he’d died: how I will go, is leaving NO regrets behind, free and, clear.

He was, the noted good friend in the news media industry, in the business realms, the not-for-profit organizations, everybody who knew him deemed him a good friend who’s, understanding, and kind.  He was, Zhong-Ji Liu.

In the ten months he’d battled it out with his illness, he was, the best, most compliant sort of wonderful patient that any doctor and nurse could, ever, ask for, no matter how awful the checks, how painful the treatment measures, he’d, agreed.  Like there wasn’t an inkling of emotional response; but he’d disclosed his fears, worries, and helplessness to us in private, it’s just, that he’d, made up his mind, to fight the cancer cells in his, blood.

April 22^nd, 2022, Zhong-Ji’s birthday party was held at a certain restaurant, the owner of the restaurant was an old acquaintance of his; Zhong-Ji told me quietly, that the foods were amazing, the prices, good, but, the owner was having a difficult time, keeping the restaurant going.  That evening, it was so rare, that his son, Jen-Ning was there too, and, in an instant, the wine glasses were emptied in both their, hands, Zhong-Ji talked on, still quite the, drinker.  A few days later came, the news of his blood producing cells stopped working, meaning, he was diagnosed with, leukemia.

He’d immediately gone with the treatment plans the Veteran’s Memorial oncologists had assigned him to, scheduled a bone marrow transplant.  Just got out of the hospital on May 14^th, by the 17^th, he’d gone with his wife, Hsu, became a Buddhist under the Fagu Mountain master.  Close to twenty years ago, his own father passed away, he witnessed how the master of Fagu Mountain and all the other Buddhist followers recited the passages of the dead for his own father, he was moved; after that, he’d gone to all the activities of the Buddhist Foundation, no questions asked.  It’s just, that under the affinities, he’d never, become, “baptized” as a Buddhist, I’d wondered about that a bit, but, it wasn’t my place to ask.  Until the cancer came at him, he’d, told me, that he worried he wasn’t, good enough, that he’d lacked the qualities to become, a Buddhist follower, that’s why he’d, put it off too long.  I’d laughed at him in the phone calls, that he’d, worried to much, that becoming a Buddhist was like registering for an account online, to prove oneself as a Buddhist, with only the desires of finding a place to belong, along with seeking out the wisdoms of mercy, and kindness, the path to learning these values, nothing more.  So, Zhong-Ji stopped hesitating, told me, that he would, become a follower of, Buddhism!

Zhong-Ji is my younger school mate at World Journalism University, we’d gotten involved in the choir, but not together, I was the leader of the tenth annual choir group, and he, the leader of the, fourteenth, and because we became schoolmates, we’d become, connected, and even if we are separated by the years, we naturally, couldn’t, break the bond, for decades, we’d sung, gathered for meals, and it’d, never stopped.

He’d once helped me a great deal at work, in the T.V. programming, he’d only worked for a short six months, and it was the most leisure of time that’d been, offered to me, working with him, all the nitty gritty of the settings of the shows, the shows themselves, he’d, taken it all on his, shoulders.  At the moment that he’d died, he was still, a member of the chairs of the foundation.

Witnessed Everything that’s Bad in the World, the Trials of the People, Had Been Hit by a Serious Illness

Zhong-Ji was more than devoted to his work, passionate too, the interview he’d done of the Tienanmen Incident in Beijing, he’d interviewed the people under the fires, had it not been the station manager Lee, who’d, ordered the crew to immediately return, he would’ve, stayed there.  On his way back from Beijing, to Narita, Tokyo, back to Taiwan, I’d gone to pick him up; on the evening, I’d take him to the beer house in Tokyo, he’d asked me to, stay for the night at the hotel, and, told the thrilling moments he’d encountered in Beijing to me in one breath.

There’s that tight ruler that Zhong-Ji measured himself by inside of him, especially on the means of interpersonal relations; he tight-lipped, only told of what he’d observed, nothing that will put a damper on someone else’s, reputations.  Once after he’d quit the job of a television station manager, as he’d sorted through his desk, I’d gone with him and his wife to dine, as Zhong-Ji went to the restrooms, Huei-Jen, his wife smiled and told me, that this man she had is really, easygoing, he’d made such a high pay per month, and yet, it was, so easy, for him to, let go of that, without a, second, thought.  That evening, Zhong-Ji did not mention anything from work, only comfortably, drank and ate, but, I’d observed, that there was, something, going on, in his mind, that’s, not spoken, aloud.

illustration from UDN.com

During his time at Fuxing Airline, he’d gotten involved in two crashes of the airlines, toward these sorts of bad predicament, most would dodge all they could, but, the owner of the airline asked him how he was to answer the massive media inquiries, Zhong-Ji told him that he will tell the press about the most difficult section, the payments that will be made to the families who’d lost their loved ones in the crash.  In the podcast, “Fearing Death, Wanting to Live Longer”, I’d asked Zhong-Ji why was he willing to, get himself, in that, huge, mess?  He’d told, that he was once a member of the media press, that it was not possible, to take himself out of something this major; at the same time, he’d not feel proper, to just act as a bystander, as the company he worked for, goes into the line of, fire, wanted to use empathy to face the families, who must feel the panic, the losses of their, loved, ones.

He’d continued, that a lot of the families are already in deep distress, and started cussing him out, to cussing his own families out too, but, Zhong-Ji did NOT act upset one bit, he’d empathized, that had it be his own loved ones who’d died in the crash, could he use an even worse means to cuss out the airline too?  And so, he’d flown to China, to help sort out the means of compensation of a mother-daughter pair, the families ordered him to get down on his knees, and had the Taiwanese-Chinese relations agent get down on their knees with him, he’d told me, had he not kneeled, how could the families feel okay, to sit down with him, in a calmer manner, to discuss the compensations with him?  By the same, in the mortuary, seeing how the undertaker had, worked their hardest, to patch up the corpse, how could he not kneeled beside the families?  That was, such, a huge HIT of sorrows, and loss for them!

A survived young man, was paralyzed from the waist down, it took him a total of five whole times, to get him to see him, and, he was made to stand outside under the scorching sun for over an hour, and, the survivor of the crash mentioned the Buddhist master, Shen-Yen, said that it was because of the words of the master, that’s helped healed him, Zhong-Ji immediately used his cell phone, to find the video of a recording of the Buddhist master, and the man’s attitude changed suddenly.  Following that, he’d not only been “graced” by the air-conditioning, the man also, served him some ice tea too, and, at that eighth time, the man finally signed the papers, to get the payments of the damages.  What touched Zhong-Ji the most was, the survivor, before he left, asked, “can we become friends?”

the man, apologizing at a press conference for the crash to the public, photo from online

Zhong-Ji, after he witnessed the ups and downs of life, life and death, was hit hard, with his own, cancer.  He’d told me peacefully, that based off of the prognosis, he had no more than six years at best, but, in only a year and a half, after he was, injured inside and out, he’d finally, turned in his, timesheet in life, and ran towards the embraces of, Buddha.  The moment I’d heard the news of his passing, there was, a scene that’s, frozen, before my eyes,, what his wife, Huei-Jen had, sent to me—his son, Jen-Ning readying to go to the hospital to donate his own marrows to try to save his, father, when Zhong-Ji hugged onto his son, who’s, a head taller than he was tight, with his face, distorted, crying so hard.

And so, this is what this man left behind after he’d died, with his means of treating others kind and gently, and, his actions AND his words, are exactly identical, which was truly rare, especially in today’s, world.

This man had the amazing work ethics, the right way of treating others, and, that’s something, that we can all, learn from!

The Sense of Humor that the Bus Driver Has

Through an act of kindness toward a stranger, hoping, that someone else will follow your lead, and show the same kindness needed, to the man too, translated…

I took my six-year-old son out and waved at the bus driver as we were, catching the bus.  Unless nobody’s getting on or off, the driver would, stop at every bus stop.

To a certain stop, we saw the driver run really fast off the bus, then, slowly, helped a visually impaired person on board, right then and there, I saw the man with a sign with the bus route written on it, readied, to put it inside his knapsack, and that was when I’d learned, that as the visually impaired man heard the bus wheeze by his side, he’d, taken out the sign, so the drivers can see it.

like this???kindness, sighted!  Photo found online

The driver confirmed with him what station he was getting off, returned back to the driver’s seat, I saw the man with his cane, prodding around, headed slowly, toward a certain object on the bus, I’d, reminded him quickly, “sir, there’s a seat next to you!”, he’d, patted the structures of the seats, asked, “right here?  Thanks!”, my husband next to me spoke in synchrony, “Yes, be careful sitting down!”, I watched him smiled, and nodded toward our direction, then, he’d, picked up his cell phone, put on his earphones, and immersed himself in the music happily.

As I was about to get out, the man was, still enjoying his music, I’d, held my son’s hands, as we got off the bus, because I believed, that this, was going to be, a beautiful relay, that as others saw how helpful I’d been to this man, that he was in need of assistance, I’m more than certain, that others onboard the bus will also, lend him, a helping hand.

And so, kindness still, started with one, and this woman hoped, that with her show of kindness toward the visually impaired passenger onboard the bus, someone else will also, follow her example, in lending the man, a helping hand, and this, is exactly, how kindness gets passed down from one person to the next, it all starts, with one!

Disregarding the Costs, the Mobile Supermarkets Entered into the Distant Regions, “We Can’t Care about the Costs”

A social welfare program, that didn’t, CARE about the cost, but only, helping the locals, we need more of these in the world right now that’s for sure! From the Newspapers, translated…

The mountain regions in Yilan is off-the-maps, the locals can’t shop easily, the Helping with Love Supermarket’s C.E.O., Chu made a wish of “delivering the groceries to the distant regions”, push for the mobile supermarket programs, used two million dollars to alter the 3.5-ton truck into a mobile marketplace, yesterday, the truck was official, it’d, delivered the meats, the vegetables, the fruits, the instant noodles, the soy sauces, the daily needs, along with, over a thousand groceries, up to the mountains, to sell.

photo from UDN.comthe grovery store on wheels…

The mobile supermarket at the start of the year, started the trials of using a 1.5 ton truck, it’d gone to the regions of Nanshan, in Datong, the Four Seasons, the Ylang, the Song-Luo, Le-Shui, Ying-Shih, along with Nan-Ao, the native tribal areas first, and, also, to the communities far off in the northern Yilan, Gueishan, Daxi, and other local communities, so these distant towns can also, get their needed groceries.

“We don’t care about the costs!” the mobile supermarket is out on the road a lot, of it, it takes two hours per way, to the 1,200 meter high Datong’s Nanshan Tribes, a total of four hours, over a hundred meters, Chu said, the items in the mobile supermarket is exactly the same as what we sell in the cities, in prices too.

The mobile supermarkets’ “shelves” don’t have the randomized groceries, it’d been, surveyed by the statistics, to see which items are mostly needed by the locals, and, everything the locals need, they can, preorder it from online, the meats, the vegetables, and, then, after the orders were, placed, the mobile supermarket drives up the mountains, there’s no extra, delivery charges.

Chu said, other than deliveries made to the distant regions, if there are larger scale functions, or nursing homes that needed, the mobile supermarkets will deliver, “when we are, service-oriented, we stopped considering the costs!”, Chu said, that the mobile supermarkets bring in a set income, and, considering the costs of gas, of the wear and tear of the vehicles, the drivers, and the costs for hiring the cashiers, they’d have a negative earning, but, because of the needs of the distant regions, it needs, to be done.

And so, this, is something wonderful this man started, he saw a need, and, provided the services, and, we need more of these, understanding minds, more of these, helping states of minds, to make this world a better place, and this man is, already, doing more than his share, to make a difference, in the lives, of others, not caring about the costs.

 

 

 

 

The Sensible & Rational Sides of a Marathon

A more “scientific approach” to running a marathon here, translated…

I can’t really run, but due to chance, I’d had a ton of friends who are, marathoners.

In order to experience this, I’d, entered into my very first, smaller scale, but beautiful marathon around the Sun Moon Lagoon, and I’d, signed up for the shortest distance, the “Fun Run”.  The group of us used brisk walking to replace the jogging; but I’d, still needed to train for it.like this???  Photo from online

On that day, I’d gone to train with a group of visually impaired runners to the riverside.  They’d used a rope, with knots tied on both ends, one end on the visually impaired runner, the other on the seeing volunteers, like the three-legged race, they’d moved forward together.  I’d, followed them closely behind, not long thereafter, there’s, this huge distance between me and them, and, before I knew it, they’d, vanished, into the distances.

I’d continued holding my own tempo, with the cold wind blowing across my forehead, sweating down, it’d felt, really, awkward.  There’s, almost no one else by the riverside pass, most of the times, it was, just me, and every now and then, a cyclist would, speed by me, and then, I was left, all alone.  Most of the time, what accompanied me was, this strong sense of, solitude.

And yet, for the visually impaired to run the marathons, wouldn’t it be……I’d, blurted out, “BORING to even think on it!”

“how can you be bored, by ‘thinking’ about it?” in a gathering, the topic of marathon, it’d, sparked up this debate for the two individuals on each end, they’d told me, a ton of imaginations they had of, marathons.

One of the accompanying runners started as an “intern”.  He’d followed a more experienced guide runner to run with the visually impaired.  On the way there, he was, led by the experienced guide, and on the way back, he’d, led.  He’d spoken, with that disbelief in his voice, “The experienced guide told me twenty kilometers’ worth of stories, and the whole path was only, twenty-one kilometers long, oh mine!”  Whatever she’d thought up of, she’d, told me, to her grandmother, to her childhood, to the flowers by the road, the weather, her job………and a turn, before us, there was, this pass, paved with the shades of the trees, and, she’d started, talking about, Mother Nature, what’s meant by “blue skies”, what’s a “green pasture”, what’s a “never-ending ocean”……she was able to, pull out that horizontal pass, and, through it, led the visually impaired runners onto a journey, like the runners aren’t there to run, but instead, to listen to a tale.

I was curious, why did she talk, incessantly?  Turns out, as the visually impaired runner started running, he’d started cramping, and the volunteer chose to tell the tales, to distract him from his own physical discomfort.  If he’d only told of what they’d encountered on the way, it would be, too boring, after all, ordinary people don’t run too fast, and the scenes, are almost, at a standstill; and this experienced accompanying runner, thought of how to get the visually impaired runner, to enjoy the run as he ran blind………so, this, is how fun running a marathon can be!

And yet, not all the visually impaired runners are, blessed enough, to have a companion runner who’s so full of facts to tell.  I’d recalled that many years ago, I’d, gone to chat with a visually impaired runner of an international marathon on this subject, he was very rational, so was his companion runner, he’d, described the marathons he ran as a “battery cell”.

He’d told me, that running a marathon, it’s, a test of how long the battery on you will last, and, you’d needed to, assigned the energies spent on the way effectively.  He’d made the examples, “If your battery is fully charged, the best case scenario is, you’re able to use it, to finish an entire marathon.  Like how it takes a hundred minutes to run a marathon, then, it would be best, if you’d, used one-percent energy per minute that you run!”  You can estimate conservatively, that you’d only needed fifty percent energy to get to the finishing lines; nor can you, overspent, like as you’re half way through, you’d, used up all your energies.  If you’d run faster, how much energy will be spent, if you run slower, how much energy it will, cost you, you’d needed to, recalculate the time needed constantly, add in your physical strengths, and combine it with the speed to which you’re, running with, and use the exact amount of time, to drain up all the energies you may have in you, to just make it, past the finishing lines………

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!  How much, this, represented life itself!

And so, from this, you can see, that running, is no longer just about exercising the body, you need to make the precise calculations, of how much energy it takes you, and, calculate, and factor in all the possible things that can happen on the roads, which is why running a marathon, is sort of an art, and a science!

A Bunch of Foolish Business Owners in Taiwan, Sponsored Children Who Lived in Poverty Abroad… “Weathered Through My Share of Hardships, and Now, I Want to Help Those Like Me”

Passing the kindness along, because they’d been through the hardships of their lives, and now, they want to help!  From the Front Page Sections, translated…

“I’d Never Bent in Business in My Life, Never Borrowed Any Money from Anybody, But, for the Sake of Helping to Raise Funds for the Charity, I Don’t Know How Many Times, I’d, Already Bent My Back, Begged Others, to Pull the Money Out of Their Own Pockets”.  The Man Who’d Said this, was the Fu-Wei Technology Group’s C.E.O., Hsiao, He’d Started His Company in Changwha, and it’d Already Grown, to Across the Straits to China, Became a Factory for the Intelligent Switching System’s Provider Company, This Past Few Years, He Had Another “Job” He’d Poured His Heart & Soul into—to Help the Fund for Families & Children to Raise Funds for a  Children’s Center, Along with Helping to Sponsor the Children in Poverty Here, as Well as Abroad.

In mid-October, the temperature in middle Asia’s Kyrgyz is already in the teens, Hsiao and thirty more other members of the Taiwan Fund for Children & Families arrived in the dead of winter.  This group consisted of members for Changwha, they were all small-scale business owners, they’d weathered through the poverty in their childhoods, and built up their businesses, from the ground up.  Although many members are approaching their golden years of life, they’d still, taken the three transfers of economy flights to Kyrgyz.  Every member of this group had one thing in common: they are all, very stingy when it comes to themselves, but, they’d, become more than generous in their charitable acts, other than being the permanent sponsors who’d donated $200,000N.T. at once, this time, they’d also, taken along the collected funding of $2.5 million N.T.s, other than visiting with the children they were sponsoring, they’d also, hoped to help build the watering stations in the communities too, Hsiao laughed and told, “We pay the highest amount for this trip!”, and this sort of a foolishness, the outside world often, couldn’t, understand.

Sponsoring Foreign Children, “Donating the Time, AND the Money”

The Taiwan Fund for Children & Family is one of the oldest foundations that helped children out of poverty, in two years, it would enter into its seventieth year of being set up, being able to come so far to this very day, the foundation didn’t rely on government assistance, but the kindness of the members of this society.  From fourteen years ago, the foundation started helping overseas, to help the children in poverty in China in helping them attain better education, and improving their health statuses, currently, there are, SIX total stations abroad.  There was also, a group of sponsors, who’d flown to the various stations abroad by the year, to visit with their children whom they’d never met, and donated the money to better the living environments locally, although they’re unlike the huge corporations, being able to toss down a huge sum all at once, but, they’d donated their money AND time for long-term.

It Wouldn’t Matter if the Needs Were International or Not

But, this group of sponsors were often questioned, there are children in poverty locally too, why would they help the children in poverty abroad?  Hsiao said, ninety-percent of the donations collected by the foundation is being used in Taiwan, only ten-percent are being used overseas, he’d believed, that if there’s a need, then, help shall be given, doesn’t matter if it’s national or internationally.  A member of the group, Chen, who once owned a travel agency, she’d weathered through carrying up her husband’s debts of over twenty million dollars N.T., and she’d not only managed to pay it all up, she’d even, bought a property, opened up her own travel agency.  She said, that being born in the fifties and sixties, everybody was poor, and they’d, received help from abroad back then too, and now, as she’d become, able, she felt compelled, to give back too, “And I’d found, that doing good, can make me even more money!”

And so, this man started something wonderful, because he’d been tried by his own life, grown up in poverty-stricken environment, and knew, how important, having the necessities of life, including the chance of receiving an education is, that is what he’s helping those children in less fortunate backgrounds to achieve, providing them with their most basic needs, so, the children won’t have to worry, and they can, focus on getting an education, and hopefully, pull themselves, out of the poverty they were, born into.

Keep the Love Flowing

The cycle of kindness, also rolls down continually, from one person, to the next, we need more stories like these, especially at this day and age! Translated…

The rain came pouring down on my exercise walk, I’d rushed into the breakfast shops to hide out, the shop owner’s mother in her seventies ushered me in, and she’d, taken out a yellow raincoat from the closets, for me to put on, her act of kindness had, warmed up my heart.

As the rain slowly dissipat4ed, as I was, about to, return the raincoat, she’d started telling me the funny things that happened to her while she was on a trip to the eastern side of the island. A couple of years ago, she’d gone to Hualien to travel during the New Year’s holidays with her family, and, the trip was a spur of the moment thing, and, she’d only worn the short sleeves and shorts, and, the cold fronts made everybody shiver, and so, they can only, run back into the cars to hide, they’d not gone anywhere.

And, a woman who was standing at the side of the road saw, she’d immediately gone home, brought a ton of clothes for them to choose from, waited until the seven, eight adults and children had, selected the thick coats and smiled and said their thank yous, they’d wanted to ask her address, so they can send the clothe back, but, the woman turned them down. She’d told them, that her kids are all grown and lived elsewhere, that the clothes were just, taking up space in her home. And, every time after that, as the family saw the clothes, they’d always, smiled on it, and, remembered the kindness from the woman, who’d given them the coats to wear.

In order to keep the love flowing, the breakfast shop also gathered some donated clothes for the comers to borrow, other than keeping the shop connected with the local communities, it’s, a way of repaying the woman for her kindness. As I’d heard, I thought, maybe I can write this tale down, or maybe, by chance, that kindhearted woman that the family met in Hualien will see, that her kindness had become, a cycle already.

And so, this, is how some random act of kindness had touched so many lives, and, by passing the kindness to the strangers that came to the breakfast shop, the owner is keeping the kindness that was shown to her and her family flowing, and we need more stories like this in the world we live in right now!

The Homosexuals Talked About Coming Out of the Closet, Parents Are the Hardest

From someone’s firsthand experiences, from the Front Page Sections, translated…

Yesterday was the “No More Fears for Homosexuals Day”, the Taiwan Partnerships League had asked seven homosexual couples to share their stories with the public, and, “coming out of the closets” became the focus of the discussion.

There were over hundreds of the public who’d attended the forum, there were mothers with their children, and four members of the Taipei’s First All-Girls’ High School who came, in their school uniform, to conduct an interview.  The very first gay couple who had an ad on their union, He, Wang, celebrated their third anniversary on May 19^th, even bought the prepared cakes to share their joys with everybody else there.

A gay man, Lai who already received the blessings from his own father, had difficulties, coming out to his father two years ago, his father was the one who asked him if he was homosexual.  Lai said, most homosexuals would hid for ten, twenty years, gained acceptance of who they are themselves, then, come out to their parents, and yet, the parents had no other choice, but to face the realities, “the parents of homosexual individuals in accepting their children, is harder than the homosexual individuals themselves; it is, a hard, and long road, taking the parents out of the closets with us.”

Lai’s father suggested that as the homosexual children come out, they’d wanted their parents to feel at ease, in the areas of health, academia, and life in general; but, coming out of the closets is only the first step, they’d still need to know and understand one another.  He’d spoken truthfully, from before he didn’t interact with his son that much, when his son came out, he’d thought to himself, “Would I keep watching his backside, or, will I NOT even see the shadows he’d casted?”, after he’d accepted his son as he was, they’d become closer to one another.

Hsiang He, Tien-Ming Wang said, they’d treated one another’s parents with respect and filial piety since the very start, and so, they’d gained their supports from earlier on, and, each other’s parents and relatives had even turned into what made them so close to one another.  They’d called out to the homosexuals who’d attended the forum, that they should all come out, “If you don’t come out, you’re not truthful to your own lives, you don’t take the responsibilities for yourselves, you’d interacted with your parents, through a screen.”

A physically handicapped homosexual, Vincent told, that he and his partner had introduced each other to one another’s families a very long time ago, it’s just that they didn’t tell the families that they are lovers, and the family was so grateful at how Wei-Wei is so kind to Vincent.  Until once, his mother told others, “if something were to happen to Vincent in the future, ALL of his assets go to Wei-Wei, you all can’t fight him over it!”, that, was when Vincent learned, that his family had already accepted them, as a couple.

From this, you can see, that the support from the families is all too important, because families are the people whom you’re closest to, and, to disclose a part of who you are, is the hardest part, but, these homosexual couples had amazing members of their families who’d given them all the support they needed.

The Multiple Tastes of Life, the Stone Soup Project’s Plans to Keep the Homeless Fed

Story of hope here, translated…

Last year, the volunteer for the raw materials at the March 18^th student movement, Wu, saw how the donated food got dumped out because it couldn’t be finished.  There were homeless people who’d come forth and asked, “if he could have some of the foods?”, and someone had turned the man away, using, “the food is for the students”, it’d made Wu empathic.

One evening, the resources group received a casing of steamy buns, Wu’s coworkers from Fair Trade Organization, Chu, Chang were able to sneak the buns to Longshan Temple.  That, was their very first encounter with homeless people, and, their views of the homeless were altered completely.

Wu said, that day at Longshan Temple, he’d met an older man, who’d handed out the steamed buns for them, at eight or nine in the evenings, as the homeless had returned home to sleep after working their odds and ends, the older man kindly placed the buns next to those who were already asleep, and it didn’t play out like how they thought it would, people fighting over the food items handed out.

After being in long-term contact with the homeless, they’d understood, that the homeless don’t just lay around all day, and do nothing, seventy percent of the homeless actually have jobs, and they’d gone out, early in the morn, to work, and, it may be working at the construction sites, or, holding up signs by the side of the roads.

Chu wanted to do something for these individuals, so, she’d called up Wu, Chang, plus her coworkers, “Uncle”, “Baby”, and became the team of “the Tastes of Life”.  The five youths averaging not yet 30, last July, put forth the “Stone Soup Project”, asked the online community to donate the foods that they can’t manage to finish, and the team found a chef, to cook the hot meals, so the homeless won’t go hungry.

“The Stone Soup Project” had gotten a ton of supports, and, there were local shops in Wanhua that had supplied the food sources, and they’d held over eight Stone Soup Food Sharing Activities.  Not only were they trying to get the food items donated, they are also looking for more volunteers to help out, so, more people can get in touch with the homeless population.

Chu said, a lot of people wouldn’t DARE stare straight into the eyes of the homeless or handicapped people on the streets, feared that it wouldn’t be polite, “turning their heads away, they were actually, refusing to deal with the issues”.  They’d hoped, that through sharing of the food, there would be more chances for people to have interactions with the people on the streets who were being ignored by the world, the next step they wished to take is toward the vendors on the streets, to get the public involved, to break the barriers, so people can understand, that even the smallest offerings can help take care of someone in need.

So, this, is how kindness starts small, and grows bigger and bigger, isn’t it?  The man first felt empathic over the situations he’d encountered, which initiated a response in him, to care, and, through helping, he got to know, that he was making a difference in the lives of those who are homeless, which then became the drive, for him, to keep doing what he was doing, and, he wanted to help others to get to understand the culture of the homeless, so they can be more aware like he himself had become too.

A Hand-Wash Carwash

Translated…

Xin-Yun had always had her small Toyota sedan washed at the malls, and, she’d just spent the last of her twenty ticket packages.  In the morning, at ten when she drove to the marketplaces, she’d passed through a certain hand-wash car wash, she though, that she could just drop her car off, walked to the marketplace, and afterwards, she could get her car back.

She’d parked the car by the side of the road, walked out, the carwash was a huge steel roof shack, about four storefronts, with three cars already parked inside, there were two stands by the door.  A man of around forty years of age walked out, very thin and tall, with a dark complexion, said to her coldly, “We have a lot of customers right now, you want to get your car washed, come back at four in the afternoon.”

Xin-Yun said, “Fine!”

The man glanced over at her license plate, said, “I’ll take down your license plate, at four in the afternoon, because it’s the New Year’s, the price will increase to $450N.T.s”.

Xin-Yun thought, four more days until New Year’s Eve, it’s normal for the car washes to hike up the prices, I’ll do something else now, and, drop my car off at four, and go shopping at the dusk market place.  She’d recalled how unrelenting the man who looked mean was, actually, he looked, like an awful person.  She thought about the shocking events from four days ago, the shooting at the jail that alerted every member of the public, of how the six escapees all committed suicide.  She thought, that maybe, the owner of this carwash is a reformed inmate who’d started his life anew.

At four o’clock, a woman was hosing a car parked by the entryway down, with her black slacks, tucked into her beige colored boots.  She’d hollered toward the inside, “Someone’s here!”

That man left what he was working on, said to her, “We have too many cars today, bring it by tomorrow.”

Hsin-Yun Said, “You told me to come back at four!”

The man walked to the office, picked up a notebook, nodded toward her, said, “Give me your keys/”, then, said, in a hard tone of voice, to the women who sat, face to face, at the desk, “Nothing to do, go wipe that car dry.”

Forty minutes later, Hsin-Yun carried the bags from shopping back to the carwash again, the man was busy, told her, “Your car just had the rinse, wait forty more minutes.”

Hsin-Yun told him, “Then I’ll sit down to wait.”, she’d found a chair by the desk and sat.

This iron clad roof shack was more simplistic than ever, even the desk, the chairs, are all worn too.  The man was cleaning off the windshield wiper of another car, she’d noticed, that he not only worked swiftly, and took care of the details too.  The cell phone rang on the desk, the girl who was wiping dry the Hsin-Yun’s car came to get it, flipped it open, and, took it to the man’s ear.  The man still busied about with his hands, said, “We can’t squeeze you in tonight, bring your car by eight in the morn tomorrow.”

Hsin-Yun said to the owner, “Boss, you have an amazing business.  As the New Year’s is about to come, everybody needed her/his car washed.”  He’d replied, “We’re like this regularly too.”

Hsin-Yun thought, that a hard working man, the heavens naturally blessed.  The woman who was rinsing the car off, petite, with a beautiful face.  The two girls who were wiping off the car, in jeans, slimly built, seeing their three faces, Hsin-Yun all of a sudden came to her senses, they’re mother and daughters, she’d misread the man of the house, it is, a family-owned carwash.  The cell phone rang again, the shorter girl answered it, “Dad, it’s Mr. Lin from the watch shop.”, the owner said, “Tell him to come get his car.”

It is, a family.  The two girls were wiping the water off of Hsin-Yun’s car, the shorter girl said to the taller, “Go wipe the backseat!”

Hsin-Yun asked the shorter girl, “Are you the older sister?”, she’d nodded.  Hsin-Yun said, “No wonder you’re giving out orders!”

The man said, “You two decide what you want for dinner.”

The older girl said, “Dad, what do you want?  You’d only had just two bites for lunch, you mustn’t skip dinner too.”

Hsin-Yun said, “You are way too busy.  Did your mother cook for you?”

The woman said, “I don’t cook at all, I don’t have the time!  We’d bought our meals out.”

Hsin-Yun saw that there was an ASUS laptop on the office desk, the two girls are probably college students, and during their winter vacation they’d helped the parents in the carwash.  She’d commended them, “But, both your girls are well-rounded, beautiful too!”

Smile curled up the couple’s faces now, the man said, “I’d just raised them.”

The younger girl called, “Dad, what, are we having?”, the man said, “I don’t know!”, the younger girl said, “You don’t know?  I won’t buy anything for you then!  Starve then!”, the man said, “You little BRAT!”

The harsher the jokes, it means that more tightly-knit the family members.  As Hsin-Yun left the carwash with her car, she’d lifted her head up to see the signs, “The Honesty Carwash”.

And so, this man kept his family well, and because he was able to manage his own family so very well, naturally, his business is well off too, because everything starts at the MOST basic levels, and, the most basic functional unit of the societies would be the families, and, this man treated his family well, and, the children are very well-rounded, so naturally, his business is well-off also.

 

Without the Darkness in His Past, He Couldn’t Have Produced Such Inspirational Works

Without the darkness in his past, he couldn’t have produced such inspirational works, I know, it’s odd, how someone with such a dark past, can produce so much brightness in his work, right???

But, perhaps, it’s because of ALL that darkness, that enveloped his past, that he felt compelled, to produce those works of light, who knows.  One thing’s for sure though, his work had, inspired a lot of people, helped a lot of lost souls find the light.

Without the darkness of his past, he couldn’t have produced such inspirational work, he’d managed, to turn his own life around, and left it all, behind.  His “former” life was filled with, a TON of uneasiness, a lot of pain, suffering, discomfort he can’t run from, and so, he’d faced them all, HEAD-ON.

And now, he’s out of the dark, and he’s using his own experiences, battling with the addictions, the pains, to help others, hoping, that his life can be something that motivated others.

It’s just, hard to imagine, that someone, whose work is filled with so much hope, so much goodness, came from this awful a past, and, after knowing this, his audience applauded him even louder, because we ALL know how hard it is, to overcome, and he did, MORE than that already!