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 !

PARK $2 Project (P2P)

It has been a fulfilling week for me. I got to know of 2 charity initiatives (Saturdays at Lengkok Bahru and Caring Singaporeans Outreach Group) and I tried to render some support for these 2 projects by appealing for volunteers and sponsorship. I am not affiliated to these 2 initiatives (don't want to steal their credits) but I thought their cause is meaningful and we should all support and encourage such initiatives to bring kindness and love to the less fortunate members of our society. I am also very touched by the generous and warm response from my friends, who rally to offer their time, effort and donations to help out in the events organized. I am very proud to have such kind friends like them, it further reinforce my belief that I have found the right people to join me in this lifelong kindness journey.

The past one month has been nothing short of exposure to the charity work for me and I come to realize that in order for any charity movement to be successful, there are two important components; volunteer support and funding. The volunteers are the vital resources to keep things running smoothly on the ground and the organizing committee will not able to complete a successful event without them. The second important resource for any charity projects is funding, this is the area I would like to further elaborate, especially after what I have observed for the past one month.

When I browse through the cases in "Keeping Hope Alive", I am reminded that this resource is clearly essential because the beneficiaries are in need of diapers, mattress, groceries, fridge, wheelchairs and money to pay outstanding bills. Fion and her team of volunteers have done an excellent job in helping to clean the houses of the beneficiaries, keeping them clear of bed bugs and stench. The rest is dependent on kind donors to sponsor the basic necessities that the beneficiaries need. Without them, the beneficiaries will continue to face challenges in their everyday lives.

I come to realize that funding is one big headache facing all the organizers of such charity drives. We can appeal and there will be generous friends who step out and donate in hundreds of dollars but I feel that this approach is not sustainable. How long can one consistently donate $200 every month to charity? I believe most of us belong to the middle income household and some of us are breadwinners working on a tight household budget. If we were to depend on a few person to donate in generous amount to help the beneficiaries, these donors would soon exhaust their own budget. However, if we can get many people to donate a small amount, say $2, at a minimum interval of once a month in between donations, I believe that is more sustainable in the long run. While some people may dismiss $2 as an insignificant amount, it can mean so much to the beneficiaries, it can buy a loaf of bread or some food to keep a person from starving. With the intended multiplier effect of many donors, we are looking at possibly $20, $200 or even $2000. I believe this amount would go a long way in providing happiness, hope and support for the needy families.

"PARK $2 Project (P2P)" aims to share with you what are the ongoing charitable initiatives and the support required from the organizers. Members of P2P can come together to leverage on the multiplier effect to do more with less (pool together a huge sum of donation through minimal contribution each by getting many friends involved) and help the less fortunate members of our society. On behalf of the organizers and beneficiaries, I thank you for your kindness and support for our group. Thank you for bringing joy, love and hope to the lives of the needy, poor and less fortunate friends of our society.

My Amazing Young Friend, Derek Lim

I was chatting with a new friend on FB last night and he shared with me that he has been volunteering for the past 2 years plus and enjoying every moment of this meaningful experience. We talked briefly about my kindness project and he also shared that he is trying to spread positivity and kindness on his FB wall. Out of curiosity, I went to check out his wall and I am really amazed by what he has been been doing for past 2 year plus, all the way back to 2011, when he first joined FB.

His wall is filled with positive and uplifting comments, articles, pictures that encourages happiness, kindness, positivity and compassion. The well wishes he shared for the world, the good things he has done for the less fortunate, the willingness to reach out to help another fellow human being, make me feel that he has so much love inside him. He really earns my respect for what he has done for this world and the people around him.

I found the most amazing discovery when I scrolled to the very end of his wall and saw his birthday, 22 May 1995. OMG! As of today, he is only 18 years old, which also means that he started proactively giving love to the people around him when he was 16 years or even younger. He may be so young, but his maturity and compassion level has far exceeded many peers of his age. I wondered how many good things I have done when I was a 16-year-old. The future is bright for him and if he can influence more of his peers to be like him, I am sure we are going to have a new generation of kind, caring and compassionate leaders.

I thought I should share some of the amazing comments I read on his wall:

"since christmas day is coming soon and our o level results are too.i thought that i should start giving a daily prayer and blessings to all my friends.i really wish you all have a great christmas week this week and i also pray that you all will get good results for o level.i know you all will do well.i hope this cheers somebody up.thx."
-Derek, Dec 2011

"Actually Derek, which course are you entering? I've seen you helping so many other people ranging from many different course yet I've not known yours. Lol."
-Troy Tay, March 2012

"Hope every one in polys will have a wonderful beginning to their studies in poly i also hope that everyone will have lots of happy moments in poly good luck to everyone"
- Derek, Apr 2012

"Since mother's day is tomorrow ,Happy Mother's Day to every mother in the world i hope that everyone's mother will be blessed with wonderful health,luck and love i hope that everyone's mother will be happy and will have a great day tomorrow for mother's day i hope that all of their wishes will come true and they will have more wonderful and sweet moments in their lives with their lovely family and friends i hope that every mother in the world will have lots of special,awesome and beautiful memories to gain in the future in their lives"
- Derek, May 2012

"Sometimes, the most happiest moments in our life is when we give that magical touch to another's person life which brightens up their lives even more"
- Derek, Oct 2012

"The best feeling in the world is to see someone smile"
- Derek, Nov 2012

"I wish that everyone who is feeling down or sad now, will cheer up i wish that everyone won't feel down or sad anymore and that they will be very happy and smiling ^^ i wish that everyone will have a wonderful and meaningful day today with lots of happiness and smiles ^^ Be Happy always ^^ jiayou to everyone in their projects,studies and assignments you can do it ^^ all the best ^^ "
- Derek, Jan 2013

"My wish is to have a chance to start a project to help the needy, children or elderly in the world!"
- Derek, Jun 2013

"Learn baking so that I can bake cupcakes, muffins and many more food for the needy elderly, children and families as well as for all of my friends so that they will be very happy hopefully, one day, I can learn how to bake"
- Derek, July 2013

"I volunteered to spent the whole afternoon with special needs kids and interact with them they are so so so sooooooooooooooo cuteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee and so funnnnnn! I love kids! ^^ we should respect everyone for who they are even if they have intellectually disabilities or any form of disabilities Today was so so so meaningful because not only I get to interact with them and make them happy! but ii also learnt the great importance of accepting people's differences and respecting who they are everybody is unique in their own ways! ^^ This puts a new belief in my life and encouraged me to spread more love and happiness to everyone around me!"
- Derek, Sep 2013

"Bless those who doesn't have a family or loved ones to spent time with during the holiday seasons (Christmas and New year) this year with lots and lots of happiness, love and smiles! Bless those who also have problems during this holiday seasons with lots and lots of happiness, love and smiles! I wish that all of them will be able to enjoy the holiday seasons a lot this year and that they will be very happy!"
- Derek, Dec 2013

Instead of wishing for an ipad, a new phone, a branded school bag or more allowance to indulge in fun, food and play, Derek is wishing for less suffering and more joy to the people around the world. Instead of spending time in arcade centers, movie theaters, Derek is spending his time volunteering in elderly homes, children homes and bringing joy to the beneficiaries. That says so much about the character of this young man. Well done, Derek Lim ! I am proud to have you as a friend and hearten to see so many amazing things you have done. I hope to meet you to do something meaningful together, someday. Cheers !

[Reflection] First Volunteer Activity after 7 years

Today is a day that I have been looking forward to because I am going to do something which I have procrastinated for a long time. More than 3 years ago, I signed up as a member under a Volunteer Portal called SG Cares, which provides ad hoc volunteering activities, for busy Singaporeans who are unable to commit to volunteering on a regular basis. However, a combination of timing mismatch, lack of interest from my circle of friends and procrastination meant that I have not signed up for a single activity under SG Cares since then. The reason I always give myself is the same, "There's something more important to do that particular day". Deep down, I have always missed the good old days of active volunteering during my undergrad studies.

One of the reason of setting up PARK and starting my kindness journey is to tell myself that if I can't find time or motivation to do volunteer work, let me do something meaningful instead of doing nothing at all. Therefore, I made it a point to start from the very basic, the very small things that I think I definitely can do. It is also another way of building momentum towards bigger things to come. When I open my heart to kindness, more opportunities start to pour into my life, starting from the simple acts of kindness that I can do everyday, to the volunteer opportunities with 'A Packet of Rice', 'Willing Hearts', 'Caring Singaporeans Outreach Group', 'Keeping Hope Alive' and Lovorth's '12 Days of Christmas' Project. Every opportunity gets me excited and motivated to be involved.

I am amazed by how far kindness has taken me and I believe I am only seeing the tip of the iceberg. In this journey, I met amazing people who have so much love for this world and have stepped out to make a difference for their cause. They are the ordinary people who do extraordinary things and their spirit of giving is truly inspirational. Looking back, if I had not started my journey of giving kindness, I guess I would still be procrastinating about when I am going to start my volunteering journey and soon, many 3 years would have passed and I achieved nothing, with a large part of my life gone. Whether I become an active volunteer (I hope I do) or not, the mission of embracing kindness and proactively giving kindness must go on.

It is my biggest wish that you, my friend, can join me in proactively giving kindness, because you will soon realize that it is one of the best thing you have ever done in your life. This journey will bring you happiness, satisfaction, meaning and purpose and I am sure you will not live to regret it. My humble advice is always to start small and over time, you can accomplish big things!