Let Kindness Be Your Healing Powers

Dear Friends,

If you are feeling down, sad, worried or going through a bad patch in life, try to give a bit of kindness to others, in simplest ways you can; be it a an encouragement, a nice compliment, or some simple ways to make someone happy. Not only will doing so get your mind off those nonconstructive thoughts, it might even make you feel better. No harm trying :) 

With Kindness Comes Inspiration

After asking around for the last few weeks and with many kind friends sharing the posts to reach out to a wider audience, we are still unable to find someone who owns a lorry/ van and can help out with the collection and delivery of bulky items (furniture/ electrical appliance) to the needy families. I guess the main reason is that most friends don't own a lorry/ van.

This morning, I thought of this idea, why don't I put forward this request to the professionals instead, i.e. companies who are helping people with the transportation when they want to move house/ offices? I can explain to them the good intention behind the initiative when used furniture/ electrical appliance are being collected from kind donors and passed on to the needy families who can't afford them. I can appeal for their support to provide a driver and a lorry to help the volunteers collect and deliver the bulky items between different locations. I can suggest to them a collaboration that benefits both sides, e.g. our volunteers can like their FB page and for every 30 new "likes", they can offer us 10 hours of support.

I searched and found about 20 mover companies in Singapore and contacted them via emails and their FB pages to put forward my proposal. I am really thrilled to receive 3 positive responses within the same day, in fact just within a couple of hours after I sent out my request. Two of the companies have generously offered their services with no strings attached while the third company is seeking their management for approval. I hope there will be more positive responses later or tomorrow.

I would like to share this good news with all my dear friends, especially those who have helped or supported this initiative in some ways. Thank you all for your kindness !

Free Food Forest in Singapore?

Hopefully, some day as we progress to a more gracious society, we can see something like this happen here in Singapore. The herbs, fruit trees and vegetable plants are planted, free for harvesting by members of the public, safe in the knowledge that they would not be over-harvested by anyone and that people would practise care when harvesting (not destroy the plants). We can have volunteers who are passionate about gardening to take care of the "food nation". The location can be in the vicinity of the poorer neighbourhood so that the low-income/ needy families can benefit most from this initiative.

Be Kind In Our Words

I watched this variety show last night whereby youth talked about their growing up experience and yesterday's topic was on self-esteem. Many of them grew up lacking self confidence because of the insensitive remarks made by friends and even parents. I think the words we say can have a great impact in someone's life, we can potentially make or break someone with our comments. Therefore, I strongly feel that we must strive to be kind to others, especially in our words. "You look lovely" vs. "You are ugly", both sentences made up of 3 words but they had such different impact on the recipient.

If we don't have kind words to say to others, at least don't hurt them with insensitive remarks. We should teach our children that to prevent them from unknowingly hurting others through their comments. Not everyone is born with good looks and nice physique but we can always help to boost their self confidence by being kind to them.

PARK's Chinese New Year Ang Bao Giveaway

Last night on our way home, we saw an uncle, who dressed shabbily, selling tissue near the MRT station. It was around 10 plus and the people who exited the station were hurrying to get home as some could be working the next day. The uncle looked very desperate to sell his tissue paper and was trying very hard to sell them against a fast moving crowd. It was a pitiful sight to watch, especially when he looked so disappointed that no one was buying from him. When we handed him $5 for a packet of tissue, he was so grateful. He kept blessing us with many well wishes.

This incident made me reflected on two thoughts. One is that there are really poor people living around in an affluent country like ours. Though they may not be within our social circle, it does not mean that they don't exist. The second thought is that a small token, maybe just a small Ang Bao of $5 can mean so much to someone who is poor.

If you can, please support PARK's Ang Bao Giveaway  Let's give a little bit of kindness to the needy people on the street, people who despite their disadvantaged situation, tried their best to make a living instead of asking for free money. We can encourage them and support their spirit of self-reliance, by giving them some kindness :)

The world is blessed because you care to give love and kindness. We only live once, let's make it a meaningful and fulfilling one!

An Act of Kindness to kick start the Year of the Horse

The first day of CNY was spent visiting at my relative's place and if you have been to one whereby there is a large crowd, you know seats are very limited. As we were comfortably sitting around on the sofas and stools, one of my uncle came and asked if there was a spare stool available because he was having a mini beer gathering with a few other uncles outside the house and they needed one more seat.

We looked around and realized all seats were taken, either by those watching TV or those eating dinner. I decided that I could give up my seat so I passed my stool to my uncle. He said, "Wah, you sacrifice your seat!" and I thought he was appreciative of this gesture.

Kindness is about giving something that you can keep for yourself to others and you will find more joy in doing so :) In the Year of the Horse, I wish all my friends a blessed year ahead, with great wealth (the best of health) and living each day fullest with meaning and purpose. Be Kind and Be Happy :)

Pay-It-Forward Kindness Initiative

A kindness initiative on Facebook to encourage people to pay it forward acts of kindness:

"An awesome idea from a very sweet friend, so I'm spreading it!

To start this year in a loving way, I'm participating in a pay-it-forward initiative: the first 5 friends who comment "I'm in" will receive a surprise from me at some point during this calendar year! It could be anything from a book to a ticket, to something homegrown or made, a postcard...absolutely any surprise. There will be no warning and it will happen whenever the mood strikes and I find something I believe would suit you and make you happy!

These 5 people must make the same offer in their FB status. Copy and paste this text to your profile (don't just "share"), so we can form a network of connection and kindness!

Let's do more loving things for each other in 2014, without any other reason than to make people smile and show that we are thinking of them. Here's to a more enjoyable, more friendly, and more love-filled year!"

The World Needs ACTIONS, not Questions

The previous guy did not flush the toilet after use, but this does not stop me from doing something kind by flushing on his behalf, so that the next guy coming can have a more pleasant experience. It is easy for me to do two things; ignore and tell myself "none of my business" or ask questions like "How someone be like that?", "Where is the basic responsibilities?"...etc.

I think the world don't need more people to ask questions because there are already many questions going around, "Why is life so tough?", "Why is the income gap increasing?", "Why are the charities, government not solving the problems of the poor and needy?" Sometimes, we need to put a little more faith in our own abilities and try to do something about the situation rather than wait for some organizations which are influential to make a difference. The world needs more of ACTIONS and less of questions. The world needs people to step out and say "Yes, the situation is bad, there are poor people, there are needy families, they are struggling, let me do something about it".

If we must ask question, then the question I am going to ask is, "What can I do today to make someone feel better?"

My Last Kind Act of 2013

My family & I went to watch TV50 Countdown Party. We were given LED Light Clappers for the concert. Midway through the event, a family of 3 came along but did not receive the freebie as they were late. The little girl was excited but she did not have the LED Light Clapper to join in the cheering. I thought it would be nice to pass her one of ours so that she can join in the fun, especially with the LED lights flashing. I am happy that I did what I wanted to do, although I felt kind of reserved initially about passing a gift to a complete stranger. The dad was very grateful and that makes me happy.

The highlight of 2013 is to have started my lifelong mission of doing good and spreading kindness. I am glad to find many like-minded and supportive new friends in this journey, people who trust me and encourage me numerous times to excel and do better, thank you all for your kindness, I do very much appreciate them  I do hope that 2014 will be a smashing year for all of you. Regardless of what you do, whether related to kindness or not, I sincerely hope that you find joy and fulfillment and live the life you always wanted to live.

We sometimes wish that it will be a good year ahead but the person who is really capable of making the year a great and memorable one is yourself. Therefore, I hope that you have faith that 2014 will be a great year for you and put this faith into action and create your greatest year ever. If it is not for the dreams that you are chasing, at least find ways to make yourself happy. Life with Happiness is Life with Meaning, discover what you are really passionate about and keep working on it, soon you will find your greater purpose in life

Lastly, I like to wish all my friends Happy New Year 2014, may you be blessed with best wealth that you possible can have and need, which is your health. With the healthiest body, you can go out to do the things you enjoy, the things that makes you alive and live each day to the fullest, with lots of enthusiasm and positive energy. All the best !