bukan senang nak jadi baik

semalam aku tgk channel 5 singapore. org duduk johor ni untung sikit sbb dapat channel lebih, so sbb tu xyah pasang astro kat rumah.. so, aku tgklaa satu cite documentary (or infotary? x tahulaaa) the reddot. b4 ni aku x pernah pun tgk cite ni, but topic yg dia bincangkan semalam was actually really interesting. they were talking about graciousness. A simple act of kindness. What caused the debate? well actually a single viral photo.

gambar kat atas ni adalah gambar Choi Dae Ho. a south korean guy that did one single act of kindness yg aku rasa orang lain xkan terfikir pun nak buat. dalam bas, dia nampak seorg nenek berkaki ayam, and he did the one thing yang dia terfikir nak buat, which is to give his pair of slippers to the grandmother. when asked why, his simple answer was i remembered my own grandmother... I try putting myself in his shoes, kalau akulaa yang nampak apa aku akan buat.. honestly, i think the most that i would have done was cakap dalam hati, kesiannye nenek ni....

aku xpernah rasa yang aku ni baik, but i also have never felt that i'm a bad person in general. i may not do acts of kindness macam mamat kat atas tu, but i also don't think aku seorang yg suka dengki org macam drama2 melayu yg mesti ada scene tipikal bagi org makan pil kahayal pastu buat2 macam diorg tido sama.. (okayyy, off topic). tapi kenapa ye, kena muhasabah diri ni... sampai bile nak terus hidup dalam oblivious, fikirkan pasal diri sendiri je... one thing yang aku ingat prof semalam tu cakap is we are too absorbed in our own world and we don't take self ownership of being kind... analyze myself, yup, tepat kena batang hidung sendiri.... apa tu jadi baik? inche google kata the definition of kindness is:

1. The quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate.
2. A kind act.

senang ke sebenarnya nak jadi baik ni. A simple act of kindness. is it really that simple. to be friendly, bukan selalu mood kita baik friendly2 ni.... to be generous, ketaikmasinan kidung aku ni selalu jadi penghalang nak jadi generous.. and considerate, adakalanya (or maybe selalunye) aku x fikir pun pasal orang lain, fikir pasal diri sendiri je... dan nak buat that kind act, hmmm... entahlaa ek...xde peluang nak buat. tapi bukanke peluang nak buat baik tu kita yg kena cari sendiri? so kesimpulannya, a simple act of kindness is not really that simple. 

something interesting yang diorg mention semalam is the world giving index.  The background of the paper explains that it is "designed to provide evidence-based insight into the scope and nature of giving around the world" The questions asked were:
 

Have you done any of the following in the past month: 

• Donated money to a charity? 
• Volunteered your time to an organisation 
• Helped a stranger, or someone you didn’t know who needed help?

senang kata ini adalah index kebaikan hati seluruh dunia. i know i know, kebaikan hati to put it delicately is something yg susah kita nak quantify or qualify... i mean kalau buat open heart surgery pun bukan boleh nampak hati org tu hitam ke putih kan. but at least it gives a bit of insight  about all this kindness business.

x terkejut pun bile tgk, at no 1, the kindest nation is Australia. i can't speak for other countries, but my 4 years there has certainly shown me the beauty of their kindness. except for one two odd ones, aku boleh dengan confident kata, yes, org aussie mmg baik. ingat lagi, masa aku baru 2-3 bulan sampai, masa tu nak naik tram belum confident sangat, masih takut2 kalau sesat. this one time aku sibuk tgk map dekat tiang tram stop tu takut tersalah naik, then a stranger tetiba datang n tanya, excuse me darling, are you having any trouble, need any help? dengan tersenyum sumbing aku pun buat2 tanya padahal sbnrnye tahu je nak pegi mana...

and don't even start on giving up seats. selama aku naik tram ke train ke bus ke kat sana, jarang sangat aku nampak org tua ke, ibu mengandung ke yg berdiri. naik je tram automatic mesti ada org bangun. bukanlaa nak mengumpat negara sendiri, tapi this one time aku naik ktm ngn kawan2... kitorg xdapat duduk tp x kisah laa pun, then smpi satu stesyen ni sorg nenek tua ngn tongkat naik... seriously, x sorg pun bangun eventhough yg duduk tu semua muda belia, mostly lelaki pulak tu so takkanlaa mengandung pulakkan... so kawan aku ni yg kurang insuran sikit mulut dia, selamba je perli, aku x ingat sangat laa skripnye tapi along the lines of amboi, beratnye laahai bontot lelaki zaman sekarang ni... hehe.. pastu barulaa sorg yg terus bangun..patutlaa ada iklan kat sinar tu yg SY jadi nenek tu, dia cakap, bukan aku xnak naik pengangkutan awam nak kerilll, tapi bukan ada yg nak bangun pun bagi tmpt duduk pun (something macam tulaa, xingat sangat)

tapi according to this index, Malaysia xdelaa teruk sangat, out of 146 countries, kita no 76. halfway laa tuuu.... but remember, there is still another halfway to go.... pelik kan kenapa  negara Islam xde pun dalam top 3 tuuu... sedangkan jelas Islam menganjurkan kebaikan.

"Those who are kind and considerate to Allah's creatures, Allah bestows His kindness and affection on them. Show kindness to the creatures on the earth so that Allah may be kind to you."

 Hadith - Abu Dawud and Tirmidhi

  

salah satu reasons that i think kenapa kita lack kindness is that its really hard to give without expecting reward. dululaa, tapi ni cite kecik2 laa eh, kalau kitorg menderma kat sekolah guna duit belanja yg mama abah kasik, boleh x kitorg balik rumah mintak mama abah ganti balik sebab kitorg dah buat baik... seriously, dah besar ni rasa nak ketuk kepala sendiri je. i mean, of course its hard, kita always want something in return and honestly, we never know when we help someone apa balasannye, mungkin xde pun balasan dunia, tapi kita sebagai orang Islam at least kena ingat, kalau Allah xbayar cash kat dunia, boleh credit kat akhirat what... so let's stop expecting and continue giving. 

it's funny, i tried googling, how to be kind, and there's even a wikihow on how to be kind. kelakar kan, padahal bukankah menjadi baik itu satu fitrah, tapi kita still perlu diajar bagaimana menjadi baik. well i guess its fair, semua orang memang baik, xde orang pun dilahirkan jahat, cumanye mungkin kita xtahu macam mana nak jadi baik. Prof semalam tu cakap, to foster kindness, the journey starts with everyday life. so i guess setiap langkah kita, everything yg kita buat kecil ke besar ke...kita fikir dulu, how do I be kind today, what can I do to make someone else feel better.... kita niatkan nak jadi baik insyaAllah, Allah izinkan.  

being nice makes you feel nice. bila aku dah nak dekat hujung2 stay aku kat melben, i realized, aku pun somehow unknowingly jadi macam stranger yang aku jumpa masa 1st year dulu tu...bila nampak ada tourist yang terkial ke or sometimes bila dia tanya something pastu orang yang dia tanya tu xtahu, x segan pun rasa nak mencelah or nak menegur. because it feels nice when you've helped someone. it feels nice to give up your seat for someone more deserving. if not for any other reason, that nice fuzzy feeling is enough to help me by. so, let's be nice pepel.