Our government has made it again! This time, the raise is beyond our imagination, a whopping 40% rise on our petrol prices! And the price is going to float with the market soon in August. No joke man! Rising crime rate, rising toll rate, rising medical cost and prices of the essential consumer goods are now becoming the common phenomenon of our country ...
And it was amazed to see how people reacted towards this sort of announcement. Today evening there was a bumper to bumper crawl from Sg Buloh toll exit towards KL Selangor direction, as though it is a pre-festival balik kampong rush. The heavy traffic was also built up in both directions from MSG to the Esso Petrol station. It looks like everyone is queuing up to fill up their tank. On the second thought, it was really not a surprise for peasants like us to respond elastically to this price hike 'coz if we were to get the pump after midnight, for the same price we are paying prior midnight, our tank will only be half-filled...Anyway, getting into the queue was a total nightmare for me and i have chosen not to join the crowd.
Rising crime rate and rising prices of basic commodities seems to be inter-related. It is a chicken and egg kind of thing.. It is because of the increase in prices of these goods that the rich become poor and the poor become poorer. Obviously there bound to be an increase in the number of poor people as an offshoot of the rising prices. Who say poverty and criminality have no relationship?
Immorality is produced by poverty. How will a person practice virtue amid deprivation for food & shelter? Therefore, removal of poverty is seen as a pre-requisite for moral development.
Salaried worker like me now too become poorer 'coz prices for every stuff i bought have risen except for my salary. Just can't deny the fact that the impact of the inflation is now hitting everyone in the country. The super rich are not affected much but the middle and low income bracket like me is greatly impacted as our disposable income has shrunk tremendously. I seriously think that we should really consider supporting our government's call in changing our lifestyle. We should now live moderately and save wisely. We should start practicing the middle way and avoid indulgence of the extreme pleasure. For example we should give up going to expensive restaurant but a normal coffee shop or "tai pai dong" stall for dinner. After all, we need only eat to live.
The Sakyamuni Buddha discovered the Truth is the avoidance of two extremes and lie somewhere in between. He said, "Two extremes, O monks, should be avoided by the one who has gone forth:he should not give himself up to sensual pleasures- they are low, common, worldly, unholy, harmful. And he should not give himself up to self-mortification - It is painful, unholy, harmful. Both these extremes, the Tathagata has avoided..."
Thus to practise middle path is to avoid engaging ourselves with all the worldly activities, live humbly and lead a modest lifestyle. There are indeed many ways to lead a modest lifestyle without depriving ourselves of the basic enjoyment. To describe a few, for example, instead of spending few hundreds a night to hang around at pub and disco's, you can participate in line dancing or yoga classes. Instead of spending a hundred or more per month to join the Fitness clubs, you may as well walk the dog or jog in the park. Instead of brushing your teeth using Darlie toothpaste, you can switch it to hypermarket-brand toothpaste which is of almost similar quality. Instead of taking your family for a holiday in overseas, why not consider retreating at a local seaside or highland resort....
There are just so many ways in living a modest lifestyle. However, the most important of of all is to condition our mind. We must change our mindset and be prepared to live moderately. We must know the meaning for doing so. Think about the benefit of trading off the extravagance to modesty could mean that we can donate a portion of what we have saved to those who live in poverty. To provide them with the basic necessity and for their children to receive education and hence live out of poverty. Consequently, these people will have an opportunity to have moral development and we will see a reduce in crime rate in our future society. Don't you now believe that there is a relationship between poverty and criminality? Don't you now agree that a good cause will bring forth a good effect? Let us live moderately today in giving our next generation a better tomorrow and a peaceful world, especially! Cheers!
And it was amazed to see how people reacted towards this sort of announcement. Today evening there was a bumper to bumper crawl from Sg Buloh toll exit towards KL Selangor direction, as though it is a pre-festival balik kampong rush. The heavy traffic was also built up in both directions from MSG to the Esso Petrol station. It looks like everyone is queuing up to fill up their tank. On the second thought, it was really not a surprise for peasants like us to respond elastically to this price hike 'coz if we were to get the pump after midnight, for the same price we are paying prior midnight, our tank will only be half-filled...Anyway, getting into the queue was a total nightmare for me and i have chosen not to join the crowd.
Rising crime rate and rising prices of basic commodities seems to be inter-related. It is a chicken and egg kind of thing.. It is because of the increase in prices of these goods that the rich become poor and the poor become poorer. Obviously there bound to be an increase in the number of poor people as an offshoot of the rising prices. Who say poverty and criminality have no relationship?
Immorality is produced by poverty. How will a person practice virtue amid deprivation for food & shelter? Therefore, removal of poverty is seen as a pre-requisite for moral development.
Salaried worker like me now too become poorer 'coz prices for every stuff i bought have risen except for my salary. Just can't deny the fact that the impact of the inflation is now hitting everyone in the country. The super rich are not affected much but the middle and low income bracket like me is greatly impacted as our disposable income has shrunk tremendously. I seriously think that we should really consider supporting our government's call in changing our lifestyle. We should now live moderately and save wisely. We should start practicing the middle way and avoid indulgence of the extreme pleasure. For example we should give up going to expensive restaurant but a normal coffee shop or "tai pai dong" stall for dinner. After all, we need only eat to live.
The Sakyamuni Buddha discovered the Truth is the avoidance of two extremes and lie somewhere in between. He said, "Two extremes, O monks, should be avoided by the one who has gone forth:he should not give himself up to sensual pleasures- they are low, common, worldly, unholy, harmful. And he should not give himself up to self-mortification - It is painful, unholy, harmful. Both these extremes, the Tathagata has avoided..."
Thus to practise middle path is to avoid engaging ourselves with all the worldly activities, live humbly and lead a modest lifestyle. There are indeed many ways to lead a modest lifestyle without depriving ourselves of the basic enjoyment. To describe a few, for example, instead of spending few hundreds a night to hang around at pub and disco's, you can participate in line dancing or yoga classes. Instead of spending a hundred or more per month to join the Fitness clubs, you may as well walk the dog or jog in the park. Instead of brushing your teeth using Darlie toothpaste, you can switch it to hypermarket-brand toothpaste which is of almost similar quality. Instead of taking your family for a holiday in overseas, why not consider retreating at a local seaside or highland resort....
There are just so many ways in living a modest lifestyle. However, the most important of of all is to condition our mind. We must change our mindset and be prepared to live moderately. We must know the meaning for doing so. Think about the benefit of trading off the extravagance to modesty could mean that we can donate a portion of what we have saved to those who live in poverty. To provide them with the basic necessity and for their children to receive education and hence live out of poverty. Consequently, these people will have an opportunity to have moral development and we will see a reduce in crime rate in our future society. Don't you now believe that there is a relationship between poverty and criminality? Don't you now agree that a good cause will bring forth a good effect? Let us live moderately today in giving our next generation a better tomorrow and a peaceful world, especially! Cheers!
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