The Inspiration Behind the Project

I was quite involved in volunteering activities in my younger days (junior college, undergraduate) and nothing beats the sense of satisfaction you get from volunteering your time to help another person. Since then, I realized the secret of finding happiness is to bring happiness to another person. For example, when you do something that pleases a loved one, doesn't you feel happy when you see the joys on his/her face?

As I graduated from school and entered the working force, the number of volunteer activities significantly reduced as I spend more time at work and setting up my own family. It has been a good 7 years since I was actively involved in volunteer activities and I have always missed those meaningful days, where I had lots of fun doing volunteer work with like-minded friends.

There comes a time in life where I ask myself these questions, "What am I living for?", "What is the greater purpose in life other than work, earning lots of money, then spending the money to enjoy life?" "What is the reason for my existence and what kind of memories do I want to take with me when I finally complete my time here?" Do I want to have memories of the material achievements that I had, like how much cash in the bank, how many houses, cars? Or, do I want to have memories of how I have made a difference to this world, memories of how I have made efforts to reach out to help others, memories of great satisfaction I had when spreading kindness around and inspiring others to do so.

If I go for the former, I probably be just an average achiever because no matter how rich I can get today, there will always be someone who is richer. Also, all these "assets" cannot be brought along when one passes on. If I choose the latter, I would have achieved much more in this life because no acts of kindness, no matter how small, is wasted. Also, there is no scale to measure kindness, you don't have to do 1000 acts of kindness to be qualify as a kind person. Basically, when you give from the heart, you are a kind person. There is always a richer person but there is no kinder person. If we can embrace this philosophy to give kindness, we will always be rich at heart, no matter how little cash there is in the bank. If we turn this philosophy into a life long mission, we will be filled with memories like no others, memories that money can't buy or match, memories we take with us even when we pass on, memories that we can give to others by touching their lives. The time has come for me to do something that I would be proud of when I look back on my life many years later. I truly believe that, other than fulfilling my primary role in this life as someone's son, husband, father, it is my calling to help others, to spread the kindness and to make the world a better place. If I can get just someone to board to ARK and be part of P.A.R.K., I would be very happy indeed.