Mrs Cheng made a few comments about the donations to the school's student welfare this morning, and I disagree with her to a very large extent. I can only vaguely remember 3 points now:

1) "Giving till it hurts"
I really cannot accept this phrase. It's not the 1st time she's saying this, and emphasizing on it especially. Giving doesn't hurt. If it does, it isn't giving, because it's called 'FORCING'. People give because they're willing to do so, and it comes naturally from the heart, from the kinder part of the human instincts. If it hurts to 'give', it defeats the purpose of the meaning to GIVE. Isn't that so? I always thought giving is what we all do it willingly.

2) "When we become richer in future in terms of material means, we will realise that giving is a habit in our lives."
Will we all become richer? ok. I think we'll be richer than what we are right now, but not everyone will become THAT rich? However, the main point here is not whether we're rich or not, but whether it is true that giving is a habit only in rich people's lives. She's assuming that every NJCian will become rich in future, which is an extreme stand to take. In addition, I think giving is not a habit, but an action, a driving force so powerful to make you want to help others just because you want to. If it becomes a habit, the meaning of giving is usually mostly gone, because when it's a habit, you tend to neglect/forget the purpose of giving. What I mean is, habit tends to change a person's heart of giving. Only when you're met with obstacles will you begin to be reminded of your real purpose again. No doubt, it's a good habit to give, but you need a constant reminder to tell yourself what your actual purpose of giving is: beneficial to you or to others? are there any selfishness in you?

3) "You'll lose this experience of the joy of giving."
She's contradicting herself by saying "giving till it HURTS" VS "the JOY of giving". Ironic? And, must I gain the joy of giving just through this way? No. I still can choose how I want to give. Everyone has their own freedom to decide on whether they want to give or not, isn't it? We can always give, but it really depends on us to feel the real joy. Anyway, just to sum up: Giving comes from one's heart. Real joy only results when you give from your heart. I want to emphasize again--FROM YOUR HEART.


I'm not blaming her or anyone else. I just cannot agree with the many things that she said. Maybe we all need to see each other's point of view, so that we can understand how different people of different parts of the world see things and how this real life really is like. =)