It was my first involvement in the Great Love Charity Fair. On the eve of this event, we had a 3-in-1 meeting. Upon reaching Jing Si Hall, the mood was just like Lunar New Year eve. Everybody was hard at work preparing for the reunion the next day. It was indeed a reunion during the Great Love Charity Fair. SG and SB that I knew on separate activities like KWSH, Ai Sa or home visits all came back to Jing Si Hall. It just feels like Lunar New Year was already here!
On Sat, I helped out at the Prata stall till 3 pm. There was an incident that I remembered deeply. A visitor asked what the different fillings inside our prata rolls are. As she was one of the several visitors who repeated asked the same question, the owner got rather upset and gave his reply in a slightly rude manner. As a result, the visitor replied: "Do not speak like that. Tzu Chi volunteers do not speak in this manner". I was in an awkward situation. The owner is not a Tzu Chi volunteer. Although he is kind hearted to offer his service, he did not fully understand the Tzu Chi approach of life. But I cannot explain this to the visitor or the owner will be upset.
After I finished my task at the prata stall, I shared this story with Xiao Qun SJ. She told me that I should apologize to the visitor immediately and then explained to the owner gently Master Cheng Yen ideology. It is not an easy task and takes skills to ensure a both the visitor and owner are not upset with Tzu Chi.
On Sat, I helped out at the Prata stall till 3 pm. There was an incident that I remembered deeply. A visitor asked what the different fillings inside our prata rolls are. As she was one of the several visitors who repeated asked the same question, the owner got rather upset and gave his reply in a slightly rude manner. As a result, the visitor replied: "Do not speak like that. Tzu Chi volunteers do not speak in this manner". I was in an awkward situation. The owner is not a Tzu Chi volunteer. Although he is kind hearted to offer his service, he did not fully understand the Tzu Chi approach of life. But I cannot explain this to the visitor or the owner will be upset.
After I finished my task at the prata stall, I shared this story with Xiao Qun SJ. She told me that I should apologize to the visitor immediately and then explained to the owner gently Master Cheng Yen ideology. It is not an easy task and takes skills to ensure a both the visitor and owner are not upset with Tzu Chi.
At the end of the 2 days events, I had a bigger question. Everybody was buying stuffs and eating a lot of food, partly to finish spending the coupons they bought. However, I see a lot overeating and overspending, which I was involved too as I had extra coupons at the end of the event.
But I remembered Zhi Rong SX sharing with me that he no longer eats tidbits, especially when he is not hungry because it is a wasteful consumption of food. Hence, my action of using the unused coupons to buy tidbits is actually contributing to unnecessary global warming and the worldwide shortage of food.
But I remembered Zhi Rong SX sharing with me that he no longer eats tidbits, especially when he is not hungry because it is a wasteful consumption of food. Hence, my action of using the unused coupons to buy tidbits is actually contributing to unnecessary global warming and the worldwide shortage of food.
I also remembered that Tzu Chi hosted the Great Love Charity Fair to encourage residents who are planning to do their Lunar New Year shopping elsewhere to buy at Tzu Chi instead, fulfilling the festive needs and contributing to charity. The idea is not to buy extra stuffs at Tzu Chi which we do not need.
Hence, I know what I should do next year. I will still buy coupons to support Tzu Chi. But I will only use the coupons to buy whatever I need. More likely they will be spent on CNY cookies baked by Tzu Chi. If there are extra coupons at the end of the event, I will not spend it on unnecessary items.
Hence, I know what I should do next year. I will still buy coupons to support Tzu Chi. But I will only use the coupons to buy whatever I need. More likely they will be spent on CNY cookies baked by Tzu Chi. If there are extra coupons at the end of the event, I will not spend it on unnecessary items.
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