I received this forwarded email and although it is not about animals per se, I feel it's useful to share it with all of you.
THE MONEY IS YOURS BUT THE RESOURCES BELONG TO THE SOCIETY
A good lesson to remember . .
Germany is a highly industrialized country. It produces top brands like Benz, BMW, Siemens, etc. The nuclear reactor pump is made in a small town in this country. In such a country, many will think its people lead a luxurious life. At least that was my impression before my study trip.
When I arrived at Hamburg, my colleagues who work in Hamburg arranged a welcome party for me in a restaurant. As we walked into the restaurant, we noticed that a lot of tables were empty. There was a table where a young couple was having their meal. There were only two dishes and two cans of beer on the table. I wondered if such a simple meal could be romantic, and whether the girl will leave this stingy guy.
There were a few old ladies at another table. When a dish is served, the waiter would distribute the food for them, and they would finish every bit of the food on their plates.
We did not pay much attention to them, as we were looking forward to the dishes we ordered. As we were hungry, our local colleague ordered more food for us.
As the restaurant was quiet, the food came quite fast. Since there were other activities arranged for us, we did not spend much time dining. When we left, there was still about one third of unconsumed food on the table.
When we were leaving the restaurant, we heard someone calling us. We noticed the old ladies in the restaurant were talking about us to the restaurant owner. When they spoke to us in English, we understood that they were unhappy about us wasting so much food. We immediately felt that they were really being too busybody.
"We paid for our food, it is none of your business how much food we left behind," my colleague Gui told the old ladies.
The old ladies were furious. One of them immediately took her handphone out and made a call to someone. After a while, a man in uniform from the Social Security organization arrived. Upon knowing what the dispute was, he issued us a 50 Mark fine.
We all kept quiet. The local colleague took out a 50 Mark note and repeatedly apologized to the officer.
The officer told us in a stern voice, "ORDER WHAT YOU CAN CONSUME, MONEY IS YOURS BUT RESOURCES BELONG TO THE SOCIETY. THERE ARE MANY OTHERS IN THE WORLD WHO ARE FACING SHORTAGE OF RESOURCES. YOU HAVE NO REASON TO WASTE RESOURCES."
Our faces turned red. We all agreed with him in our hearts. The mindset of people of this rich country put all of us to shame. WE REALLY NEED TO REFLECT ON THIS. We are from a country which is not very rich in resources. To save face, we order large quantities and also waste food when we give others a treat. THIS LESSON TAUGHT US A LESSON TO THINK SERIOUSLY ABOUT CHANGING OUR BAD HABITS.
My colleague photostated the fine ticket and gave a copy to each of us as a souvenir. All of us kept it and pasted on our wall to remind us that we shall never be wasteful.
Good, eh?
Like I said, it does not have anything directly to do with animals, but it does bring to mind two years ago when I first decided to start AnimalCare as a medical fund to help the strays and their rescuers. I went to see the Chief Reverend to seek his advice and blessings. Initially there was no plans to start a fund (that involves money), I had merely wanted to do the education bit and requested the Venerable's endorsement.
I explained my plan to him (I'll get the panel vets and do the education, but can he endorse and support it? I figured more people would listen if a Chief Reverend supports it). My friend in Singapore had told me that over there, their society merely provided the panel vets and there was no funds at all. The Singaporeans pay for the spay-neuter themselves (yes, of the strays). But this is Malaysia, our Chief Reverend said, and in Malaysia, you have to provide some sort of financial assistance or else not many people would do it.
That's how AnimalCare started as a medical fund. It wasn't really my idea - it was our Chief Reverend's!
But I have never raised funds all my life, I told him. "Learn", he told me. So I learnt. And he told me this, "people will support you once they know your intention is to help". I wasn't sure at that point in time because I had asked a few societies for support, but all had turned me down. Animal charity? Nope, not interested, they said.
A friend was helping me at that time, and she was concerned about abuse once we have funds. To this, our Chief Reverend, who has been the spiritual advisor of the Maha Karuna Foundation for years, said: "In all charities, we must expect 20% of the people to abuse your kindness. Let them. It's their karma. Think of the animals you'll be helping. Always remember that. Your intention is to help the animals. If the humans abuse it, it's their karma."
So, that has been our guiding principle for two years now and will continue to be so for as long as we last.
Has anyone abused our funds? Surprisingly, not really. People have actually been very ethical as far as I know. Kudos to Malaysians for that! The animals who have benefited from our funds are strays or newly-rescued animals. No one has actually come to us with a pet, at least, as far as I know. And if they have, well, as Chief Rev says, "it's their karma"! We're helping the animals.
But of course, there have been some other hitches, ie.
1. A bigtime rescuer who got angry with me when I said we could not provide extended boarding. Nasty emails, too.
2. Another bigtime (self-claimed) "rescuer" who wanted to charge products for his own animals to our bill and wangle one week's boarding for the neutered male cats and put it into our bill. Thankfully, our panel vets told him a flat "no". He also picked a fight with our vet and with me! Strange fellow, really. We've blacklisted him. Cant' "afford" to help him again and have him pick another fight with our vets.
3. Two rescuers who refused to pick up their cats after neutering. One threatened to throw the cat into the drain if we insist that he picks up (I was so lucky, I got the cat adopted on the same day!). That's the trouble if we deal with strangers. We don't know what they would be like. But I deal with strangers all the time, and I can only hope those who come to us requesting for help are genuine in wanting to help the animals.
4. Rescuers who required extended boarding and promised to pay the vets, but did not pay. This is a real pain, because if we lose the goodwill of our vets, AnimalCare might as well close shop.
5. Some rescuers who tried to include other products into our bill, again, our panel vets told them "no", but it's such a pain when people do that.
6. Those who break our rules and make their own rules (!) and insist they know more than the vets. One wonders why they don't do the treatment themselves...
7. The emotional blackmailers (if-you-dont-takeover-I-will-leave-it-to-die), but somehow, we don't get this type anymore these days...thank goodness!
But the above are few and far between, and for this, I thank our guardian angels for guiding like-minded people to us. I learnt that the best way to atrract trustworthy people is to trust them first...and hope for the best!
Our funds come from the public and we are accountable to how it is spent. Our policy clearly states that it would only be used to fund spay-neuter and subsidise medical treatment for strays and newly-rescued animals, and projects related to this cause.
And this is how the money is being used. Personal expenses incurred in the course of doing this work are borne by ourselves.
Ever since we became a registered society, we have stopped doing food donations. But we will publicise for those who wish to do it.
And recently, our vets have requested for not more than 3 (charity) cases per day. This, we will definitely respect as they are commercial vets who have a business to run. So, if I cannot accommodate your request because our quota is full, I hope you'll understand too. Please do not bombard me with nasty emails! Do please use Klinik Kembiri if you have more than 3 cases for one day.
So, "The money is yours, but the resources belong to the society". For our case, "the money comes from the kindness and trust of the public and the resources DO belong to the society and are to be properly utilised".
We work on trust, understanding, goodwill and a common goal to help the animals within our capacity.
And of course, one good turn deserves another. If you've benefited from our funds, it would be nice if you could chip in something to help the next animal who comes along. Do give, but only if you FEEL like giving. Unremembered acts of kindness from the heart are the best kind.
Have a nice day!
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