Tuesday, February 26, 2008

GEM


GEM seems to be the recent buzz word in the retail sector which I work for. In this modern & present age, not only has our economy been growing, but so has our appetite for service, quality & speed. Thus came the GEM (aka Go the Extra Mile) program – an initiative coined by the Singapore government to woo tourists in the retail sector.

However, a recent lunch at one of the restaurants in PS with the present ZJ core team seemed to reflect otherwise. The first thing that I notice when we sat down was the waitress who was serving us. Apparently she had difficulty understanding us when she took our order. This is understandably so since she seem to come from China as by the sound of her accent.

15min into our conversation, our food came – an order of 5 full main sets. What irked me was the way she served our food. She simply passed the plates to the one sitting at the edge of the table & expected us to pass our food down the table ourselves! It is ironic how after slapping us with service tax, we ended up serving ourselves! (PS : This restaurant used to have a self-service policy which explained why they do not charge for service fee) Talk about service!

Later as we were about to walk out from the restaurant, she stood by the narrow walkway, obstructing our passage. As this happen, my eyes began to roll. I walked past her, had a good look at her & was about to lash out my resentment about her. But the image that registered in my mind seemed to be that of a desperate China gal who is here to study and to earn some part-time income to supplement the high tuition fee.

For most part of my meal time I was only centered on my expectation of service par excellence. I have failed to look beyond her job title, her nationality to recognize that she is a fellow sister in need of my understanding & support. It is both scary & yet painfully true about my lack of empathy towards these foreign workers. I often look disinterestedly at the articles in the CN about the church’s needs to embrace foreign & migrant workers. Today, this impassiveness has infected my soul to display this lack of compassion. As much as I have lashed out against social injustice & discrimination, but I guess there’s still a Pharisee within me.

This Lenten period, I’m reminded once again to look at people around me through the eyes of Jesus. The passage during the recent Sun’s gospel reading of the Samaritan woman reminded me of Jesus’s approach to people. He looked beyond their culture, nationality, taboo, sinfulness & appearances to who they really are deep within – precious GEMs. That was the difference that changed the world and that is all that matters this day. And the ROI (return on investment) that resulted – a converted town!

"We are so obsessed with doing that we have no time and no imagination left for being. As a result, men are valued not for what they are but for what they do or what they have - for their usefulness"
~ Thomas Merton

Monday, February 25, 2008

The Pulley Principle



“You do know how the train function, right?” my colleague who doubled up as my Penang tour guide, asked me.

“Don’t they all work the same way?” I replied her with the usual dumbfounded look.

"How unusual can one of the oldest train in Penang be?" i thought to myself.

I learned that this was the primary mode of transport that ferried the British people (during the early settlement) up the Penang Hill (which is about 833m above ground) in the 19th century. It was much more cooling staying up in the Hill.

“Well, it works on the same principle as the pulley. When one train comes down, it actually “pulls up” the other train in the opposite tracks. That’s how they work”, my friend explained.

“Amazing…” I thought to myself. Leveraging on the strength of the other! For once, an “opposing force” is to be appreciated and not reckoned.

As I took the train down Penang Hill, memories of my days in church ministry came flooding back. Back then, being in a role that is accountable for the survival & purposefulness of the ministry, it is my upmost concern to ensure that members give their best to God – i.e. they need to give their 100% (or rather. 101%) commitment to the ministry. I spent little time trying to understand those who could not. I would often write them off as uncommitted (or not quite ready to serve yet) or confused (i.e. this was not the ministry for them). And then when attendance dips, which resulted in the stretch in manpower (esp. in service projects), I begin to wonder what went wrong. Were the members too young/immature for responsibility?

But it began to get clearer now as I sat in the train, while watching another train come up. For people to be able to realise their potential, they need support & encouragement. Someone has got to “come down” so that they can “go up”. What is needed is the journey down to understand the other party – to be compassionate – to lend support. When that happens, we need not worry about what instructions or advice to give. By the same principle of the pulley, in so coming down, we would have already helped the other party to begin their ascent upwards (be it consciously or sub-consciously). What was lacking in me, was the journey down – to be with that person. Often times, the Lord remain with His people, despite their hurts & brokenness. HE allowed them the time & space to be where they are. Even if they come or remain with their anger, unforgiveness, sinfulness, they were all welcomed & understood. But once they soak up His love for them, that is when they start to change and to draw towards Him.

Perhaps this is the wisdom of the Incarnation hidden from our ever high & lofty eyes. God knew that for us to ascend to Him, He needs to first come down & reach out to us. So, the next time that i expect someone to be as committed or loving as myself, i need to suspend that pre-judgmental thought in my mind & apply the “The Pulley Principle”. Looking back at the amount of time spent in serving the church, I also knew that all this could not have been possible had it not been for the quiet but essential support from my family & friends. Had my mother not helped me in my weekly laundry etc, I’m most certain that part of my time would be spent on houshold chores. i would not be able to give as much as I could. They have indeed come down to my aid, so that i may rise beyond myself to reach out to the those around me.

"The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them."
~ Thomas Merton