Good old Mr. Ambassador, TYT Dato Mohd. Radzi. This is his last week in Japan. He has served for....okay, I don't know how long has he served but I do know he is going back to Malaysia this Saturday. Sorry Mr. Ambs...
A farewell event was planned for him on yesterday, in conjunction with Agong's birthday,
here in my University in Nagaoka. About 150 people are expected to attend this event so, as for the preparation, we(us Nagaoka Students committee) organized a gotong royong.
I was put under nasi minyak department. Gosh...I have never cooked 25 kilos of rice before in my life!! Originally a 10 member strong group, only 4 turned up...but what the hell, we managed anyway. By the time I got back home, it was almost 1 a.m and I was dead tired.
But somehow, strangely, I felt a sense of accomplishment!
I felt happy for being able to lighten someone else's load.
I felt belonged as I connected with others...
My spirit felt SO alive!!
So, this is what you call a gotong royong. While i used to participate back when I was a kid, I have somehow forgotten about the joy of gotong royong as I grew older...as I grew more materialistic...and as I grew more selfish. Somehow, at one point I started asking for reward, refusing to help, and only doing things that involves recognition.
Having spoken that, I gotta admit that I wasn't at all helpful last year...
I participated in the Japanese drum group and I devoted myself entirely for practice. I was constantly using "drum practice" as an excuse to not help in any cook outs.
While it is important to pursue materialism, we must never forget that it is always the connection with people that keeps us going...
keeps our spirit strong....
1 comment:
good job Randy !
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