To be rich and to be poor

To be rich and to be poor

I once lamented the poor souls carving out a living from
begging at traffic lights, but was stopped in the track by a
partner of mine making a rejoinder that if the then Liem Sioe
Liong (one of the richest men in the world, and from Indonesia)
were to see us, he would think us salaried employees poor souls
too for having virtually sold our souls to our companies.

The news media never fails to measure individuals by the
billions they own -- a disagreeable necessity I suppose -- and
this inevitably influences people's minds, if somewhat
unconsciously. Not that I am implying there is the question of
morality, good or bad.

To be rich does not mean to be counted in money terms, but in
a wider sense of being able to strike a proper balance which
differs from one individual to another, based on his past
experiences of time, work and family and personal pursuits.

Invariably, there is the other side of the same coin.

To be poor does not mean to be lacking or devoid of money, but
to be in a state of imbalance.

Perhaps, neither of these would be rapturously embraced until
one has gone through enough of life's experiences.

I cannot not see this more clearly than in the ordinary people
in Indonesia who have gone through so many convolutions in past
years, but yet they have never lost their conscience.

Kosasih, my driver for umpteen years, has a young family to
support and one day turned up to say that he would like to leave
for his home town in Central Java. My own urban training led to
me to ask how he was going to support himself and his family. Not
that he was intelligently weak or unable to understand the
consequences of his actions. He was quite frank and forthright in
saying that he missed the rural air, the simple lifestyle of
waking up to the calls of birds and the first rays of the
pristine morning sun and enjoying simple village food of
fermented soya bean, fresh vegetables, steamed rice and chili
paste.

Having lived a city life (in Singapore) all my life, I find
that Indonesians have a lesson to teach urbanites, and certainly
indolence has nothing to do with it.

As in the case of Kosasih, it prompted a moment of deep
reflection. I gave my blessings and in turn received blessings in
learning a life's lesson myself.

To live a life with a measured pace for everything and
everything with a measured pace, be it work, entertainment,
lifestyle and wherever life's path may lead.

Definitely a rich one, if not just rich enough.

S.K. TAN

Jakarta