The Good Samaritan dilemma

Last week while driving to church, I saw this guy by the side of the road.

An Indian guy who seemed to be poor and homeless, as I can think of little other reason why he would be sleeping on the grassy curb by the roadside.

As I continued to drive by, I felt bad for the guy and I wanted to help him by giving him something to eat, at least. But if I were to go back and buy him food, I'd be late to church. And I realized I was I was in the Good Samaritan dilemma.

For those not familiar with the story, this is the parable of the Good Samaritan as told by Jesus in Luke 10:30-37:

Jesus answered, "A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. By chance a certain priest was going down that way. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. In the same way a Levite also, when he came to the place, and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he traveled, came where he was. When he saw him, he was moved with compassion, came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He set him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, and gave them to the host, and said to him, 'Take care of him. Whatever you spend beyond that, I will repay you when I return.' Now which of these three do you think seemed to be a neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?"

He said, "He who showed mercy on him."

Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

The priest and the Levite were the 'religious' and supposed good people of that day, but they walked right pass the guy who was half dead and in dire need of help. Along comes a Samaritan guy, and in those days, the Samaritans were despised by the Jews just coz' they were a 'mixed' race (bunch of racists!). And the guy who got beaten up, was probably a Jew. But the Samaritan helped him anyway.

So I was thinking, if I had driven right on to church without helping the guy, I would have been just like the hypocritical priest or Levite. And I was like "Dang, this is gonna bug for the rest of the day if I don't do something".

So I turned the car around, went to the nearest Mamak restaurant, bought a nice pack of food, including rice, chicken, mutton and an egg, which came up to RM8.20. Drove back to where the guy was still sleeping on the curb, and went over to him with the pack of food.

I was a bit worried on whether he would try to do something funny like attack me and try to steal my handbag (which I had left in my car, just in case). So I woke him up, and put the food next to him, saying it was for him but kept a bit of a distance away, getting ready to run if I had to. It's unfortunate that the level of crime these days results in people like myself developing such a sense of wariness, even over a homeless guy.

Anyway, the first thing he did was ask (not in a rough manner though) whether I had any water for him, which I didn't. Then he asked if there was chicken in the pack, and I said yes. Only then did he say thank you to me, and opened the pack as I went back to my car. It was from there that I took these pics.

He was still lyging down and eating by the side of the road!

Well, at least he looked like he was enjoying himself.

Anyway, I left after that, wondering where the guy would get his next meal, or wondering if he's actually homeless in the first place or just a bum wandering around pretending to be homeless but actually has a nice place somewhere. Such crazy things do happen in this world! But at least the guy didn't ask me for money... that would have been way too obvious. After all, some of us do dout the sincerity of people who come to our tables at restaurants during meal time, begging for donations for one cause or another. But I guess all I could do was assume the guy was actually homeless, and I did a small thing to help him out.

I guess for the rest of us who have a good home, nice clothes, choice of good food everyday, etc,etc.... it's a reminder to be thankful for what we have and not complain about silly little things in life that really are quite insignificant compared to having no place to go or food to eat. :)

The Good Samaritan dilemma

If Chun Li celebrated Chap Goh Meh....

Today was the last day of the Lunar New Year celebrations (which means all of you who have been holding on to your ang pow stash until day 15 can start counting your moolah, and give your ang pow packets to meeeee please!), and also the Chinese equivalent of Valentine's Day, Chap Goh Meh. And if you have no idea what this day is all about, this site explains it like so:

Chap Goh Mei being regarded as the Chinese Valentine's Day, also brings forth lots of fun and gaiety. It is well-known that Chap Goh Mei is a night of courtship and has since been the forerunner in promoting match-making. On this night, many young ladies would make their way to the temples, dressed in their best, with hope of finding prospective suitors. One of the fun activities that take place on this auspicious night includes the throwing of oranges into the sea by these young maidens. It is without a doubt, the most popular and colorful moment in the history of Chap Goh Mei. It is believed that by throwing tangerines into the sea, these young girls would find themselves a good husband. For many, the act of throwing tangerines into the sea also signifies that these women are available for marriage. It is also said that if someone else who sees the floating tangerine in the water and picked it up, that generally means that the single who threw it would be able to find a good spouse.

You might be even more surprised to learn this tradition didn't come from China, but started in our own little humble Penang island!

Of course, these days in KL, I doubt very few lovely young maidens bother with the whole idea of throwing of tangerine oranges into the river... simply coz' KL rivers are so full of pollution and other crap, no man in his right mind would pick up anything floating along in there.

So in light of that dilemma, I had a fun idea of how to update and simplify the good old CNY tradition.

Ladies, if you fancy a guy and he doesn't know it, just grab an orange and chuck the thing at his head.

By golly, if that doesn't get his attention, nothing else will.

Just be glad that the tradition doesn't involve throwing watermelons. Happy Chap Goh Meh, everyone!

If Chun Li celebrated Chap Goh Meh....