'The Early Bird Catches The Worm!'

“早起的鸟儿有虫吃！”

At an ungodly hour in the morning or “ch’i cha pei cha” (七早八早）in Hokkian dialect, a Proton Wira with three or four passengers arrived at our residential area to do a “sure-win business” as not a single cent was needed to invest in this business. Even if the “business” venture were to turn awry, they are still guaranteed with free board and lodging courtesy of the government and paid by taxpayers.( Masuk penjara makan nasi lemak!)

日前七早八早就有一辆Proton Wira载着三、四名乘客开进我们的住宅区准备做一单稳赚无赔，又不用资本的生意～打劫。万一他们生意失败，政府还会提供他们免费吃住，由人民埋单～坐牢。

Well, the waist pouch of an old Indian man was recently snatched at the front gate of his daughter's house by another Indian man emerging from the Proton Wira.

当时，有一位年老的印度人走到他女儿家门前，正想进去拿脚踏车出来踏，被一个印度壮汉从Proton Wira下车假装问路，抢了老者的腰包，连忙乘车而逃。

那老者因为腰包被抢，一时慌张起来，不知如何是好。过后他急忙求救，叫喊道：“Curi! Curi!"

当时，或许是大多数人还在睡梦中，又或许是有人听到呼叫声也不敢出来，所以没有人跑出来拔刀相助。老人家只有眼巴巴看着跟随多年的腰包一去不回头。

The old man was helpless when confronted by a criminal who was much younger than him. All he could do was to shout out, "Curi ! Curi !” hoping that other residents in the neighbourhood would be alerted to come out to assist him. But, his attempt was in vain. Not a single soul responded to his screams! They could be too indulged in their sweet dream. Or they could be too afraid to risk their lives to lend him a hand.

The snatched thief, after successfully executed the crime, quickly escaped in an awaiting car.

One should not be amazed that criminals have also internalized the proverb, ‘the early bird catches the worm’ which they have most probably learnt in school.

我们也许会感到惊讶，为什么匪徒们也懂得七早八早出来干案。孰不知这些匪徒也有可能受过英文高等教育，懂得英国谚语：“早起的鸟儿有虫吃！”

One needs to be immersed in English proverbs to be a smarter thief.

因此我们可以推论，要想成为一个精明能干的劫匪，必须要受英语高等教育，多读英国谚语，懂得“早起的鸟儿有虫吃！”

God Is Like An Ocean

神猶如一片大海

 

Every sentient being is like a drop of water, and God is like an ocean. When a drop of water drips into the ocean one would not be able to differentiate that drop of water from the ocean as the droplet of water has merged with the ocean as one entity and they are inseparable.

众生好比一滴水，而神猶如一片大海。

当一滴水掉入大海后，那滴水和大海形成一体。我们无从辨认进入大海里的那滴水。

Similarly, a sentient being achieves oneness with God once it has elevated itself from human consciousness and attains a divine consciousness that is part and parcel of the universal consciousness which is known as God by the Christians, and or as Buddha’s nature by the Buddhists or with other names given by other religions.

同样的，一个人的觉性如果能够升华到聖洁的觉性，这聖洁的觉性与宇宙的觉性是一体的，难以辨别。宇宙的觉性是基督徒所谓的真神，或者是佛教徒所谓的佛性。其他宗教也有它们各自的称呼。

Every being has divine consciousness within itself that could only be uncovered and revealed once its ego(我执) is eradicated through the process of persistent meditation as practised in Zen Buddhism and other oriental religions, or by a concerted effort of denouncing and uprooting the three ‘poisons’ (三毒), which are namely: Attachment, Aversion and Ignorance(贪、憎、痴), the main characteristics of ego.

每个众生意识里潜伏着聖洁的觉性被我执所遮盖。只有破除我執，真如性（聖洁的觉性）才能显现。要破除我執，惟有通过修行来消灭众生的三毒（贪、憎、痴）习性。禅宗和东方其他的宗教通常以禅修或静坐来破除我執以求开悟，令真如显现。

As ego is a hindrance to the realisation of divine consciousness or ‘Enlightenment’ in Buddhist terminology, the objective of every major religion is basically to get rid of this ego from a sentient being so as to enable it to return to the house of God, or Nirvana as in the case of Buddhism.

我執是聖洁觉性显现的主要障碍物。因此，每个宗教信徒修行重点最终目标是要破除我執，好让他能回归神的殿堂，或进入佛教所谓的涅槃。

打了折扣的智能交通灯

Not So Smart Traffic Lights

 

现在大多数的交通灯都装有智慧功能的。它们能觉察交叉路口的车流量而分配绿灯时段的长短，来疏导拥挤的交通。

 

Nowadays, traffic lights have become very smart. They can detect the traffic flow at the road junction to determine the duration of the green light in order to ensure a smoother flow of traffic.

 

智能交通灯也有它的盲点。它不能觉察交叉路口的脚踏车或电单车骑士的存在。

 

Though they can sensor the presence of automobiles, they are totally insensitive to those ‘poor guys’ riding motorbikes or bicycles.

 

一位电单车骑士不能顺利穿过交叉路口，除非在同个时间有一辆汽车和此电单车平排並列在同个路口上才能被智能交通灯觉查到。

 

A motorcyclist has to wait at the junction for hours, or even ages until his hair turns grey, just because no green light appears unless there are four-wheeled motor vehicles present.

 

脚踏车或电单车骑士形同被智能交通灯所歧视。
例如今早六点多我骑着电单车要去巴杀买早餐，途经一个十字路口，因为当时没有车辆在我左右，不被智能交通灯觉查到，等不着绿灯亮，没得过交叉路。我只好再等多一轮的绿灯的到来。我从巴杀回来时再次遇到同样的情形发生，需再等多一轮的绿灯的到来才能过交叉路。

 

I am tempted to use the word 'discrimination' here. I, as a motorcyclist, was being discriminated by the Smart Traffic Lights when crossing a traffic junction on my way to and back from the Kampung Baru market one early morning with no other cars waiting alongside me. I had to wait for the traffic lights to change a couple of times before the green light finally appeared.

 

在此我慎重呼吁地方政府当局聘请专家设计一架更精明的交通灯。这交通灯一定要能够觉察到交通路口的脚踏车或电单车的存在。

 

如果我们想要搞城市绿色化的话，不妨将交通灯重新设计和规划，让它只能觉察到交叉路口的脚踏车而已，让其他车辆和电单车无从通过交叉路口。这样一来，车辆和电单车在马路上英雄无用武之地，它们会自动在马路上消失。这样一来，城市肯定会自动得绿化，空气素质也跟着会改善。当然，这只是我个人的幻想和期盼的乌托邦，或许只能在甜美的睡梦中实现。

 

I , therefore, staunchly appeal to the Local Council to get a programmer to rectify the problem with immediate effect so that these traffic lights can also sensor both cyclists and motorcyclists at the road junction.

 

In fact, if we want to turn a city greener, it is better to design traffic lights that can only sensor the presence of cyclists at the junction. The traffic lights can by all means ignore the motor vehicles. The implementation of this system of traffic lights would ensure that the whole city would be cycling, making it greener, cleaner and fresher to live in. This, however, is another Utopia made real in only my slumber land!

 

 

Barber with "Big and Small Mercedes Headlamps”

Once upon a time there was an Indian barber who had a pair of big and small bionic eyes; any rich patron who frequented his shop would receive a complete and thorough range of haircut services from him, hoping to get good returns from the rich patron. Of course not every time he would be rewarded handsomely as most rich patrons were usually stingy.

Once, an unassuming old man entered the barber's shop. From his outfit and appearance the barber thought he was just another poor working-class peasant. So he gave him a casual haircut and facial shaving. The whole process took him less than fifteen minutes. After it was over, the old man dished out from his pocket a handful of notes to pay the barber.

To the astonishment of the barber, the old man had paid him more than one hundred ringgit! Never in his life had the barber received such a huge sum of money for giving just a simple haircut. The barber thankful for his lucky stars and he was hoping the old man would visit him again, the sooner the better so that he could get another windfall.

Months later, the same old man reappeared at the barber's shop. The barber was overwhelmed with joy. He treated the old man like a king. This time around, the barber thought if he were to give the old man a thorough workout paying attention to every minute detail, the old man would reward him with even more money than before.

For more than an hour, the barber cut, trimmed, shaped and styled the old man’s hair and then applied lotion and shampoo. He even provided a massage service on the scalp, neck and face. After the haircut was finally done, the old man asked the barber how much he usually charged others for the service he had just rendered. The barber replied, “Twenty ringgit!"

The old man took out his money and counted it carefully  a few times before he handed it to the barber the exact amount: TWENTY RINGGIT.

The barber was rather puzzled with the payment he had received as well as the 'eccentric behaviour’ of the old man. So he asked the old man for an explanation.

The old man said, “When you were casual with your hair cutting, I  was generous with my payment. But when you were earnest with your cutting, I became miserly with my payment. It is just as simple as that!"

The moral lesson of this story is 'how others treated you is just a reflection of how you have treated others.'

Some may wonder why the old man paid more money for providing a very casual haircut in this instance. This is because the old man did not like to waste his precious time when he had his haircut, so naturally he would reward the barber with more money for the job done in a shorter period.

 

势利眼的理发师

从前有一位理发师。他理发因人而异。遇到穷人他就马马虎虎地剪发。遇到有钱佬进入他的理发室他会热情款待，认真帮他修剪头发、洗头、刮鬍和按摩头皮和頸项，无非是希望有钱佬会施舍，多给点小费。可是，往往多数的有钱佬都是吝啬鬼，裤袋深不见底，很难挖出小费来奖赏这理发师。

有一天，来了一位衣冠不整，骨瘦如柴的老人。理发师以貌取人，以为这老人家只是一般的普通老百姓，不会是有钱人，所以他只花了十五分钟，随随便便为这老者理发和修胡须。

过后老人家也随随便便从怀里掏出一把钞票交给这理发师。当老人离去后，理发师将钞票数一数，总数不少于整百块钱。他很惊讶的说道：“怎么会这样！？”

从此以后，这理发师每天都很期待这位老者会再度出现。

过了数月的某一天、某一时，老者终于出现了。理发师很惊喜见到了他的亲爱的财神爷。他很有礼貌得欢迎这老人家就坐，很费心、费力、很仔细地帮这老人家理发、洗头、刮胡须、按摩头皮和颈项，做足全套的头发护理。前后一共花了整整一个小时多。

理发完毕后，老人家问道：“以你这样的手法，一般上你要收费多少？”

理发师口直心快地回答：“二十块！”

和以往一般，老人家从怀里掏钱。这次不同的是，他很仔细地将钱数了再数，才把二十块钱交给理发师。

理发师丈二金刚摸不着头脑，心里想着：“为什么我随随便便帮这老头仔剪发，他给我整百块。可是，现在我很仔细给他理发他却只给我二十块？？？”

老人家看到理发师为难的样子，了解他的心意，便对他说：“小伙仔，你随随便便剪我的头发，我也随随便便给你钱。现在你认真剪发，我也认真的给钱！就是这样！知道吗？”

这故事告诉我们待人处世有如一面镜子；你如何待人，人们就如何待你。

故事中的老人家是因为那理发师马马虎虎的帮他理发，使他省了不少宝贵的时间。所以，他就以较多的钱来打赏理发师帮他省下来的时间。