He stressed this while addressing its members during the luncheon held in conjunction with the annual Parents’ Day celebration, at the Wisma Hakka here, yesterday.
To better convey this message, he shared with them a childhood story which was told to him by his late mother, on how a King fell in love with the food served by the poor villagers.
There was this King on a hunting trip who was lost in the forests. His hunting team came across a poor villager home. The villager family served the King the best of the food that they had.
The King was so pleasantly surprised that here in this remote village was delicious food that he had never tasted before. When the King returned to his palace, he asked his palace chef to cook the same type of food that the King has wanted. The chief chef could not cook the same type of the food that the King has wanted. The King summoned all the best chefs in his kingdom and described how the food tasted. But after many days, all chefs failed.
Finally, one chef who came from a poor background realised what the King had eaten at the village. He told the King that it would take at least two days and one night to make the food. So after two days, he served his food to the King who was very happy that he could get the same type of food that the poor villager in the forests had served him.
The King demanded the chef to reveal the secrets of making the food. The poor chef told the King that as King, he should be served fresh food. Whereas the food served by the poor villager was “overnight, left-over food” which the poor villager has kept for another day.
“The subtle meaning of this story is that we should appreciate our food, that even kings can appreciate the food of poor people. The moral of this real story is that we not be wasteful in our lives, do not waste food, do not waste time, do not waste our lives. The success and well-being of children brings the greatest happiness to their parents. “In today’s context, it is important that we take the advice of our elders, the wisdom that elders have acquired over many generations. Some of the advice of our elders are not immediately obvious but that it takes some time before we come to realise the value of the advice based on life-long experiences,” said Yong. Besides this, he also commended SAPP Wanita Movement for organising the annual Parents’ Day for the last 20 years.
“This shows consistency and resilience in your promotion of respect for parents and elders in our community,” he said.
Meanwhile, SAPP women chief cum organising chairperson for the event, Chia Miu Lee in her speech emphasised that it’s important for members to always show gratitude to their parents, so that their children too would take good care of them when they grow old.
“Spend more time with our elders, the joy and happiness they received is not money can buy or replaced. “Say thank you, papa and mama. Hug them and hold their hands. When we were small, our parents hold our hands. When they are old and weak, we hold their hands. One day we shall be like them becoming old and hoping our children will care and love us,” she urged. Besides a sumptuous lunch, there were also programs like the Look-Alike Parent-Child Contest, the Oldest Parents Contest and lucky draws.
Also present yesterday were Yong’s wife, Datin Stella, SAPP Deputy President Melanie Chia, Edward Dagul, party advisors Datuk Hj. Murshidi Nambi, Datuk Paul Wong, Datuk Joseph Voon, its Speaker Datuk Eric Majimbun, and Tamparuli Assemblyman cum president of Movement for Change Sabah (APS), Datuk Sri Panglima Wilfred Bumburing. - NST
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