The Need to Feed Hungry Families Cultivates New Interest in Gleaning | csmonitor.com

The concept of gleaning goes as far back as biblical time when the LORD commands “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap into the corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest: you shall leave them for the poor, and for the foreigner. I am Yahweh your God.’” (Leviticus 23:22, WEB).

Before reading this article on csmonitor.com, I did not know gleaning is still applicable today.

It’s the matter of taking the efforts to gather and distribute the otherwise not marketable but still fresh and edible produce to the needy.  There are kind-hearted people who make the difference in someone’s life.  Corine Almquist is one of them.  According to the article, ”Corinne Almquist wants to restore the biblical tradition of harvesting what farmers leave behind.”

Read the complete article here:  The need to feed hungry families cultivates new interest in gleaning | csmonitor.com

Posted using ShareThis

Photo credit:  r-z / CC Attribution 2.0 Generic

Filed under: CS Monitor, Community, Environment, External Source, ReBlog, Sharing , Carbon Footprint, Food, Gleaning, Harvest, Sharing

The Power of Guilt and Apology

Interior & exterior wall paints

The two-week home improvement and remodeling have finally completed. As my family’s appointed project manager, I was sandwiched in between family members who demanded the best quality and punctuality, and the contractor who wanted to get things done within quoted cost.

I enjoyed the whole exhausting process – observing and learning from the renovation team, negotiating and compromising materials used (there were endless last

minute changes) while earning  the respect of the crew members.

I enjoyed the whole exhausting process – observing and learning from the renovation team, negotiating details and compromising materials used (there were endless last minute changes) while earning the respect of the crew members.

The most powerful lesson learned was knowing the power of guilt and apology.

The most powerful lesson learned was knowing the power of guilt and apology.

 

Splashed old paint residues

As I was about to leave for my yoga practice last Saturday morning, one of the painters were scrubbing and washing the gate column that is located less than one meter (3.3 feet) away from my car.  I saw old paint residues splashed and stuck on the car.  I was panic and I yelled with dismay “Oh my God! There’s paint on my car!”.  I was ignorant apparently.  He replied with a calm voice “Don’t worry.  It’s washable.”  I left home in a hurry.

As I was about to leave for my yoga practice last Saturday morning, one of the painters were scrubbing and washing the gate column that is located less than one meter (3.3 feet) away from my car. I saw paint residues splashed and stuck on the car. I was panic and I yelled with dismay“Oh my God! There’s paint on my car!”. I was ignorant apparently. He replied with a calm voice “Don’t worry. It’s washable.” I left home in a hurry.

My ignorance stirred up guilt within me throughout the practice session. I was overwhelmed by guilt at the end class. By the time I reached home, the painter was painting the wall after finishing the first coat of paint on both gate columns. I struggled for a while before approaching him and apologizing for my harsh reaction and ignorance over the minor incident that took place earlier. I breathed a sigh of relief immediately after he said “It’s okay!” and explained the nature of old paint that he scrubbed off the gate columns.

Trial and error is part of life.  We learn from mistakes.  People tend to forget our actions but would remember what affect their feeling most.   When our mistakes hurt someone’s heart, we have to mend the wound.

It’s hard to be humble and to apologize when we erred regardless of the magnitude of our mistakes. But it’s even harder to live with the burden of guilt. The hardest part is to forgive and forget some major mistakes, and move on.

Photos:  My collection

Filed under: Apology, Guilt , Apology, Guilt, Home Improvement, Remodeling, Renovation

reBlog from altitudebranding.com: Humans Don’t Scale

I found this fascinating quote today:

17 October, 2009 | Written by Amber Naslund2 CommentsSocial Media Time Managementaltitudebranding.com, Humans Don’t Scale, Oct 2009

You should read the whole article.

Filed under: ReBlog, Social Media , Amber Naslund, Social Media, Time Management

It Takes a Village to Jump Start a Car

Life is always good if we react positively to temporary setbacks.

I learnt a few things when my car would not start a few days ago.  Frustrations did set in initially but I chose to remain calm.  I knew frustration would not solve my problem.  I tried to jump start my car the conventional way with my uncle’s help but the procedure did not work for some reasons.  My retired neighbor, who was a heavy machinery technician, stopped by to offer help.  My jumper cable from my new toolbox failed again even with professional assistance.  Finally, we called our local car battery dealer who made ‘house call’ to replace my car battery last year.  He said that chances are the battery just need some extra boost with his professional gadget.  We jumped start the car in no time once we had the gadget.

I like my neighbors and local small businesses.  Beside my family, they are my second line of defense in time of troubles.  Maintaining good rapport with everyone is crucial to maintain strong neighborhood bond.  It’s the sense of belonging that prompts us to return to the same place.

I believe in helping the growth of local small businesses because we keep our money local and create employments.  In reciprocating our patronage, honest small business owners always offer good product advice, money-saving tips and excellent after sales/customer service.  My family doctor, air conditioner repairman, car mechanics and battery dealer have been offering my family invaluable advice and services over the years.   We have peace of mind knowing that they are always there for us.

My long forgotten unopened new toolbox set that I have kept in my car for years gave me some pleasant surprises.  I found a few new tools!  Now I have a new tire pressure gauge that I wanted to buy!  It looks like I always overlook treasure trove I have  around me either at home or in our neighborhood.

When I reflect on “It Takes a Village to raise a child”, the famous African proverb offers me some insights into how we live as a community.  The very foundation of civilization is built on the spirit and bond as a neighborhood.  We share, trade, barter and rely on each other for basic necessities, safety and supports.  Though globalization brings us products, knowledge and friends from all over th world, it’s our good old neighbors who are always nearby offer us immediate supports and comfort when we need them most.

No man is an island indeed.

Food for thought:  ”Don’t forsake your friend and your father’s friend. Don’t go to your brother’s house in the day of your disaster: better is a neighbor who is near than a distant brother.”  (Proverbs 27:10, WEB)

Tip:  How to jump start a car?  Go here for step-by-step visual and written guides by ehow.com

Photo:  Charles Williams / CC Attribution 2.0 Generic

Filed under: Business, Community, Neighbor, Neighborhood, Optimism , Car, Civilization, ehow.com, Jump Start, Neighbor, Neighborhood, Positive, Proverb, Small Business, Village

The Revolutionary Social Media

I am a social media enthusiast and advocate for it has broaden my horizons.

Social media has inspired and influenced me in many ways.  I have learned to think and see in larger scale, explore many topics in-depth and share ideas after being able to get connected with like-minded people/institutions directly and instantaneously.

I first came across “social media” term in early 2008.  I was and am still amazed by social media and its irreversible revolutionary influences on socioeconomic and political lives that have access to uncensored Internet connections.

Social media is a powerful tool for individuals, social causes, businesses and political movements (the best example is Barack Obama’s presidential election campaign). Democratic nations and forward-thinking businesses have embraced it as direct and transparent communication media to engage supporters/consumers.  Whereas, corrupt, authoritarian and autocratic regimes have tremendous fears for it for it empowers the people who yearn for freedom of speech.

If you ask “Social what?” or “What is social media?”,  chances are most of us have already used a combination of the media like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Delicious, Digg, blog, etc., and can’t part with most of them in daily life.

The following  slide show by Marta Kagan gives an overview and answers basic questions about social media.  You may view/share/download other slide shows by Marta Kagan here and learn more details about her on her blog.

Slide show credit:  What is Social Media? by Marta Kagan

(Updated blog post title on Oct 12, 2009)

Filed under: External Source, Media, Sharing, Social Media , Blog, CRM, Customer Service, Facebook, Marketing, Media, Presentation, Sharing, Social Media, Twitter, Youtube

Friendly Supermarket

A total stranger advised me to take a large loaf of bread when I picked up a small loaf of wholemeal bread at the supermarket.

I was stunned when she started to talk to me as I was about to rush away.

Lady:  Why don’t  buy the big one?

Jon:  I’m the only one in the family who likes wholemeal bread.

Lady:  Buy the big one.  It’s cheaper!  Just keep it in the fridge for up to a week.

Jon:  But I hate still old bread.

Lady:  Just steam and it will be good! (Malaysian loves steamed soft white bread with salty margerine and kaya/sweet coconut cream).

Jon:  I have thought abput it.  I just pop it into taoster.

Lady:  The bread is also good for fried egg sandwich.

I thanked her for all the godd advice.  The 400g (14oz) of bread is going to last for a few days.  I have to be creative with cheese, peanut nutter and jelly, margerine and

chunky strawberry jam …

That was not it.

By the time I was abiut to check out, the immigrant labor in front of was puzzled with the change he received fron the cashier.  Maybe he was not familiar with local

currency.  By the time the cashier started to scan my item, she started to tell be her expeience with paper/plastic notes.

Jon:  It must the the RM5  (US$1.43) again?

Cashie:    The plastic RM5 are easily torn.

Jon:  Always?

Cashier:  Yes!  And the RM10 (US$2.86) note (regular paper note) has it own problem.  The embded metal thread (one of the security features) come off all the time.

Jon:  Oh, never heard of it.

Sharing as a community is a good thing.  It’s a trait that is hard to find in urban area nowadays.  I apprecaite both ladies who shared their advice and informations.  I think

aquitances and freinds is a relection of our our image.  If you look friendly, then someone would take the initiative to talk to us and even go the extend of sharing

information.  I guess I looked fresh and super friendly after the haircut today.

Supermarket offers us invaluable lessons in marketing, consumer behaviors and humanity.  Special items of the week,  brands occupied premium spots on shelves, newly launched items, promoters who offer free samples, etc. tell us a lot about the state of economy, advertising and promotion activities, and corporate expenditures.

Today I had more information than my normal observations when a total stranger offered me some practical advice at the bread counter.  I was surprised when a the lady talked to me as I was about to walk away with my small bag of wholemeal bread.

Lady: Why don’t you buy the big one?

Jon: I’m the only one in the family who likes wholemeal bread.

Lady: Buy the big one. It’s cheaper (price per gram)! Just keep it in the fridge for up to a week.

Jon: But I hate old bread!

Lady: Just steam the bread.  It will be nice and soft!

Jon:  Usually I just pop old bread into toaster.

Lady:  The bread is also good for fried egg sandwich.

I thanked her for all her good advice. The 480g (17oz) bread is going to last until the weekend. I have to be creative with cheese, peanut butter, margarine, chunky strawberry jam and eggs for appetizing bread-based meals.

More friendly experience ahead.

By the time I was about to check out, the immigrant labor in front of me was puzzled with the change he received from the cashier.   Maybe he was not familiar with local currency.  By the time the cashier started to scan my items, she told me her experience with paper/plastic notes.

Jon: It must be the RM5 (US$1.43/€1.00) again?

Cashier: The plastic RM5 are easily torn.

Jon: Always?

Cashier: Yes! And the RM10 (US$2.86/€2.00) note (regular paper note) has it own problem. The embedded silver thread (one of the security features) comes out all the time.

Jon:  I’ve never heard about it.

The supermarket should reward her for her big smiles.

Spontaneous sharing as a community is a good thing but it’s become a rare trait among metropolitans.  I appreciate both friendly ladies who shared their advice and information.  They reminded me of something I read long time ago – acquaintance and friends are reflections of ourselves.  If we look (our personal image) friendly and are affable to others, they would reciprocate our kindness.

I guess I looked fresh and had enhanced personal image today after having my hair trimmed by my favorite hairdresser.

Photo credit:  ©aius / CC Attribution 2.0 Generic

Filed under: Business, Food, Marketing, Sharing , Bread, Consumer, Friendly, Humanity, Marketing, Stranger, Supermarket

Innovative Mooncake Marketing

Mooncake with birds and flowers motif

How do you market a traditional Chinese pastry called mooncake that is a must-have item for Mooncake/Mid Autumn Festival (the 15th day of the eighth month of Chinese Calendar/Oct 3, 2009)?

How do you make a traditional festival “cool” again so that young adults would not think only grandparents celebrate it?

How do you outsell your competitors since mooncakes contribute to a significant portion of your annual turnovers?

The key words for the answer are – differentiation, creativity and innovation.  Marketing concept of differentiation is best demonstrated by mooncake marketing in Malaysia in the following ways:

1. Innovative Flavors: The top three traditional mooncake fillings are lotus paste, red bean paste and mixed nuts.  These are not “cool” products for young adults.  In order to outdo competitors, bakeries and restaurants seek inspirations worldwide.  The end results are annual impressive array of innovative mooncakes with exotic flavors like green tea, lemon tea, bamboo charcoal hazelnut, chocolate, coffee, mocha, lemon tea, yam/taro, durian, ice cream and the list can go on and on.  Click here to see samples of 2009 innovative mooncakes.
2. Creative Packaging: Mooncake marketers literally think out of the box.  Casahana, a local company that is famous for both innovative mooncake flavors and creative packaging.   A pictures is worth a thousand words, go here to view its amazing packaging lineup.
3. Media Campaigns: The aggressive synchronized media campaigns usually feature a happy three-generation family members reunion, local celebrities and traditional filial piety virtue.   The final screen shot/voice over would be the highlight of unique selling proposition of each mooncake brand – innovative flavors of the year.  Print ads and retail outlet promoters complement electronic media campaigns.
4. Healthier Product: Many consumers have refused to consume excessive mooncake for its high sugar content.  Some brands launched low-sugar mooncake to induce more consumptions among health-conscious consumers.
5. Halal product: Cultural exchange is a natural course of daily life in a multiracial country.  Mooncake is not an exclusive product for ethnic Chinese consumers market anymore.  Expanding into Muslim market is sensible business decision in Malaysia.  Hence, most major bakeries have long had their mooncakes certified Halal in order to penetrate into all retail outlets.

How mooncakes are made (video clip in Cantonese without English subtitle)?

During my childhood years, Mooncake Festival was as traditional as it could be.  There was neither mooncake with innovative flavor nor extravagant packaging.  The bakery in the neighborhood wrapped freshly baked red bean paste and lotus paste mooncakes in baking sheets and secured each four-cake roll with a simple red label (the reverse side of each label was first brushed with a thin layer of sticky corn starch-based paste).  Everything was simpler, greener and local (sounds like today’s not-so-mainstream consumer movement).

What I miss the most are playing with candle-lit colorful traditional paper lanterns in the evenings and eating piglet-shaped mooncake that was packed in a red or pink toy basket.  Those were the days when we had limited resources but life was filled with simple fun.

The big bright full moon tonight reminds me of grandma’s story about a bunny that lives on the moon.  A simply story that used to triggering my childhood imaginations about what’s out there in the wide open sky.  Maybe some creative individuals could commercialize this story into some lucrative merchandise with worldwide appeal.

Photo credit:  My collection

Video credit:  thestaronline on Youtube

Filed under: Festival, Food, Malaysia, Marketing, Tradition , Advertising, Brand, Consumer, Creativity, Differentiation, Innovation, Local, Malaysia, Marketing, Moon Cake Festival, Mooncake

Staying Strong with Our Strong Tower

An unprecedented series of natural disasters have been ravaging across Asia-Pacific region for the past few days.  Yesterday alone, the world had witnessed havoc unleashed by typhoon-related deluges in the Philippines and Indochina, tsunami in the South Pacific and earthquakes in Indonesia.   Many lost their lives while the survivors are left homeless and are mourning for their untimely losses.   While the rescuers race against time to save precious lives, meteorologists are watching closely a few typhoons/tropical storms in the making over the Pacific that might make landfall soon.

We are dwarfed by power of nature no matter how advanced we as a human race claimed we are in science and technology.  We are bewildered and helpless when catastrophe strikes.  This is not the time to point figures or to discuss root cause/causes of  the disasters.  It’s the time to act swiftly and to reallocate public resources for immediate and timely rescue efforts, and rebuilding thereafter.

In the depth of our despair, nothing is more comforting than unconditional help and prayers from total strangers.  Psalms 46:1-3 (NIV) reminds us that:

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.”

As we feel the helplessness, we can always resort to prayers to seek comfort, peace, strength and hope.  We might never know why certain things happened but we can always stay strong “[f]or you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe” (Psalms 61:3; NIV).

Photo credit:  Lel4nd (busy) /  CC Attribution 2.0 Generic

Filed under: Disaster, Strength , Comfort, Disaster, Earthquake, Hope, Peace, Psalms, Strength, Tsunami, Typhoon

Optimistic Midlife Milestone

My friend has recently commented on Facebook that he’s lost temporarily in endless streams of societal expectations, personal responsibilities and commitments, emotional and financial stress, multiple roles he has to play and fears in life.  However, he views all these as blessings and is grateful for all the challenges in life.  I like his positive attitude and optimisms, and am inspired!

My response to his comment verbatim:

For a combination of reasons, people of our age (late thirties) tend to pause and ask a lot of questions about life.  I agreed that we have the heaviest burdens with lots of roles to play at this stage of life, and with lots of peer pressures that we have to do each task right based milestones set by society.

We just have to think and set priorities for what are the most important for us, our family and good friends.  Nothing else is more important than these two groups of people for they are always with us during good and bad times no matter what. Things are simpler than we thought.  Being ourselves would ultimately bring more happiness and lighten the self-imposed/society-set standards/burdens.

We might be at crossroads at any stage of our life but we can always look for directions from mentors, books, friends and most importantly from our faith.  I always draw strengths from:

1. Psalms 37.5 -  “Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass” (KJV)
2. Proverbs 16:3 -  “Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed” (NIV)

Have you ever faced crossroads in life?  What are your views on this?  Please use the comment box to share your thoughts.

Photo credit: Tim Green aka atoach / CC Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic

Filed under: Midlife, Optimism, Positive Mindset , Crossroads, Facebook, Friend, Midlife, Milestone, Optimism

Beaming with Pride and Joy

When I reached home after meeting some friends for afternoon tea, Jessie, my four-year-old niece was standing at the door.  She was beaming with joy in her pink dress.   She waved at me .  As I read her lips, I knew she was happily greeting me “Uncle Jon!”.  I could not hear her voice in my air-conditioned car, though.

I guessed my sister and her children had just arrived minutes earlier as her car’s trunk and doors were wide opened.  They should be exhausted after a cross-country drive after spending the long holiday weekend with my youngest cousin in Penang, a northern state that is famous for its local street foods.  My niece and nephew must have had good times with my cousin who cherishes them so much.

I walked towards Jessie and she called out “Uncle Jon!”.  I gave  her a big hug as usual.  Then she told me with excitement, “Yesterday auntie (referring to my youngest cousin) brought me to the swimming pool!”  (her kindergarten teachers have done a job in educating children of her age to speak English as their second language).  I was right, she enjoyed her aunt’s company.  Then she handed me a small bag and said “Auntie bought this for you”.  I took over the bag and amazed at what I saw.  My cousin bought me two homemade mooncakes and a can of strawberry jam from a farm in Cameron Highlands.  Great!  I was delighted with the gifts.  My mind drifted away momentarily to a mouthwatering breakfast of chunky strawberry jam on scones and freshly brewed aromatic Earl Grey tea.

My sister and her children stayed for a short while.  When I fastened Jessie’s backseat seatbelt, I told her “I love you!”.  And she replied “I love you” with a broad grin on her face.

I knew I was glowing with pride and joy in the late afternoon sun rays for having such lovely and thoughtful extended family members.

Photo credit:  bitterjug / CC Attribution 2.0 Generic

Filed under: Family, Food, Love, Pride , Cousin, Jam, Joy, Love, Mooncake, Niece, Pride