What role religion??

Buddhists believe in karma. So, to differentiate between a good Buddhist and one who is not, we look at the person's deeds. But then, maybe the person does not care about what the present future or the next life may bring.

Other religions also have beliefs and teachings for their followers. The teachings, if you should examine them, are definitely the best possible ones by which life on earth can be wonderfully peaceful and happy.

Then, again, it is evidently tough to be good at any religion. People throughout the world belong to either this religion or that religion except for the few rebellious ones like me who believe in God but refuses to join any. Fortunately or unfortunately (my ego at play), God did not create many like me. But then, with so many religious people in the world we would have thought the world a lovely, peaceful place to fulfill whatever earthly mission we come for.

Sad to say, the world today is filled with turmoil. Television bring all the power struggles and hatred among humans to our living-rooms at certain times throughout the day as if to remind us that something has to be done or else, as some have prophesied, the world may come to an end soon. Indeed, it looks like it, for at this rate, if natural disaster do not wipe us out, we ourselves may do the job, what with the numerous atomic weapons so many countries are developing. And playing with this kind of fire, it is just a matter of time before somebody's madness would get us all burnt to cinders.

So, what is the role of religion in our present situation where comparatively few, if any, truly believes in God even though they conveniently belong to one. Apparently, belief in God and religion is being abused by many. Religion has become a social and political tool. Some people belong to a religion so as to be accepted by certain groups of people, to have a place to congregate, a place to show others how devoted they are to a certain God, and so how morally good they must be. Political leaders would appeal to people of the same religion to unite with them so as to fight for the betterment of that particular religion. (As though Almighty God needs help from such mortals!)Thus, the name of God is being abused. Throughout the world, we have labeled nations as Buddhist countries, Christian countries and Muslim countries and in that way create a demand that only that particular religion be given special preference. (Did God ever demand special preference? No, because God is forever Almighty even if there is just one follower. Even if I am God's only believer, He still IS God. He is not more or less God because of His followers' numbers or deeds.)

As humans develop in intelligence, his ego has grown just as much. Some religions have even created new rules and regulations and caused them to be accepted by their followers. Some rules are created to force followers to stick to a particular religion even when the follower has lost faith in it. Actually, Man has the right to believe and choose his own religion. This is important as a person forced to accept a religion may never find belief in it. However, as a member of a society, to make life easier for himself, he may put on the pretense of acceptance. The crux of the matter is, is it from his heart? But then, ego of the authorities concerned are not happy to see others not in the same religion as theirs, feel slighted that their members would leave for another religion and other religions believed inferior to theirs. (Has God ever taught us those things? No, God is beyond and above all those small-minded matters. All these come through the ego of the leaders of religions.)

Today, humans abuse the name of God often in their struggle for power between countries and ethnic groups. And even among themselves, resulting in denominations and their different versions of God's message. The Christians have the Protestants, the Baptists, the Catholics and more while the Muslims have their Sunni, Matahari and others; and when it comes to the Buddhists, there are the many branches of thoughts. (well, I have to leave out others as there would be too many.)

Someone wants to be a leader and to do that even among one religion, there has to be denominations. With more denominations, there can be more leaders. Then, in a country, or among more than one country, there may be more than one religion. To have greater power than other leaders belonging to other religions, conflicts have to caused and fights lead to some kind of submission to the greater religion? and leader. All this leadership and power struggle is happening in the Middle East and many nations.

Perhaps it is time for a new prophet to straighten the minds and cool the ego of humans. To hope for such a solution is easy and according to 'The Secret' fervent hopes do materialise but it needs to be soon as people are beginning to become numbed to even the horrendous happenings brought to us by television.

Disastrously, the role of religion has changed somewhat. There was a time when religious people were respected for their good morals, their sacrifices and services in the name of God and their friendliness to all, regardless of religion with the belief that God created all humans. Today, there is no respect for God's creation even when it is in a similar form.

Learning and our ego.

At the Semarak Hill this morning, I met this young man who asked me the meaning of the word 'g-o-n-e'. I told him the pronunciation and the meaning. 'Gone' just means no more, no more to be found or seen. Then, he says, "What about 'Let bygone be bygone?"
So, I told him that by adding the 'by' to the 'gone' the meaning has changed; that 'bygone' is what is past and the sentence means 'let the past be past' and therefore 'no need to bring it up again'. With that he nodded and smilingly told me he was trying to learn some English Language. In fact, that was the second time he asked me the meaning for an English word. Of course, it was my pleasure to help him. It is always heartening to see someone wish to improve himself and God must have sent him to give me the opportunity to help.

Do you know how daunting it is for a grown person to learn a new language. It is all the obstacles that our ego put up. There are all kinds of fears and all of them are imaginary. All the obstacles are imaginary. And even if there are some individuals who would dare to laugh at our mistakes, we ought to realise, the courage to learn is greater than the needless and valueless discouragement that are encountered. Furthermore, any mockery can never be an obstacle unless we allow it to become one. For this reason I respect all those who take up the desire to learn a language at that age. There is the indication of greatness in the act.

I know of a young lady, small in built but very energetic, who knew hardly any Mandarin or English after her schooldays. She only studied the Malay language in school. Today, this lady can speak good Mandarin, although there are still mistakes made every now and then which are sometimes corrected by her children. (Her children are studying in schools with Mandarin as the medium of instruction.) From my observation of her, she readily accepts the correction and sometimes even asks for a repetition of the phrase corrected. Her English was not as good although she could speak the language as if it were her mother tongue, rattling away whatever instructions she wishes to convey without much thought to the grammar or the correctness of the sentence. Of course, there were times her language could tickle those within hearing distance as the meaning brings forth all kinds of different unintentional messages. And the beauty of it is that she takes all these in her strides. It does not stop her from learning from her mistakes and practising the language. She improves.

As I see it, she is one lady who would not allow ego to be an obstacle to her advancement. Many less courageous people would have stopped and called it a day but not this pillar of strength. And this, despite her knowing that she does make mistakes. There was once when someone could not understand what she wanted and I was requested to explain to the other person what she wanted. And of course, when it came to formal letters, I have helped to correct her attempts. For me, it has always been a pleasure to be of help to such great people who can overcome their ego to reach their goals in life. Thank god, I was given the opportunity to help.

Actually, our ego can either take us to greater heights or leave us struggling to get up. It was my ego to be better that helped me to overcome my parents' financial position and the weakness of my younger days. Many have not dared to approach others for help partly because of their ego, partly fearing that others would see their weakness. But then, who does not have weakness? All of us do have, more or less. And unless we realise our weakness, how do we ever hope to overcome them and reach for our strengths? In fact I thank God for allowing me to know my weakness so that I could slowly but gradually work on them to emerge stronger in my later years. Today, I can say that I am what I am because of the efforts I put in in overcoming those weaknesses. But then, if I had denied being weak, I would not have strove to be better.

Ego sometimes blind us to possiblities.

I received an email in which the following story was written or taken from somewhere. As it is obviously something we should share, I take the opportunity to put it into my blog so that whoever comes in could enjoy and benefit from it as I have.

It is indeed a touching story. True or not, I do not know but let's just learn something from it.

As for the title, perhaps we could have: Never judge a book by its cover.

A lady in a faded grey dress and her husband, dressed in a homespun suit walked in timidly without an appointment into the Harvard University President's outer office. The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods, country hicks had no business at Harvard and probably didn't even deserve to be in Harvard.

"We want to see the President "the man said softly.
"He'll be busy all day "the secretary snapped.
"We'll wait" the lady replied.
For hours the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would finally become discouraged and go away. They didn't and the secretary grew frustrated and finally decided to disturb the president.
"Maybe if you see them for a few minutes, they'll leave" she said to him.
The President, stern faced and with dignity, strutted toward the couple.
The lady told him "We had a son who attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard. He was happy here. But about a year ago, he was accidentally killed. My husband and I would like to erect a memorial to him, somewhere on "campus."
The president wasn't touched....He was shocked. "Madam" he said, gruffly,
“We can't put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died.
If we did, this place would look like a cemetery."
"Oh, no" the lady explained quickly "We don't want to erect a statue. We thought we would like to give a building to Harvard."
The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at the gingham dress and homespun suit, and then exclaimed, "A building! Do you have any earthly idea how much a building costs? We have over seven and a half million dollars in the physical buildings here at Harvard."
For a moment the lady was silent. The president was pleased. Maybe he could get rid of them now. The lady turned to her husband and said quietly, "Is that all it costs to start a university? Why don't we just start our own?"
Her husband nodded. The president's face wilted in confusion and bewilderment. Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford got up and walked away, traveling to Palo Alto, California where they established the University that bears their name. Stanford University, a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about.

Most of the time we judge people by their outer appearance, which can be misleading. And in this impression, we tend to treat people badly by thinking they can do nothing for us. Thus we tend to lose our potential good friends, employees or customers.
Remember
In our Life, we seldom get people with whom we want to share & grow our thought process. But because of our inner EGO we miss them forever.

It is you who have to decide with whom you are getting associated in day to day life.
a concluding note:

Small Minds talk about People;

Average Minds talk about things,

Fine Minds discuss ideas;

Great Minds Act in Silence!

There is a little bit of evil in us.

There is this friend, an animal lover who has again and again shown herself to be someone who loves animals to the extent of going out of her way to care for them, treat them or give assistance where and when necessary.

We were having lunch eating a kind of steamed flat noodles with fish, eggs and mushroom in a light sauce when she asked me whether it was true that a child is born good and it is only later that we learn to be bad.

My reply was: That is what has always been said. What do you think?

She told me about a guy who caught a rat in a trap one day. The guy told his friends how he got hold of some cooking oil, poured it over the rat and set fire to it before letting the rat run out of the trap. She told me that was really cruel for that rat was burnt to death, suffering from extreme pain before death came to its rescue.

But then, she added it is not that she herself was all that good either. Once, just the guy in the first story, she caught a rat in a trap and thought of her cats. She attracted the cats to the trap and had them waiting to pounce on the rat as soon as she opened the trap-door. Of course, her cats got the rat for their food. She told me that although in nature the rat is possible food for the cat, it could have escaped death if those cats were not placed ready to catch it. She said she enjoyed the sight of the rat being caught by the cat. She admitted that she had that little bit of sadistic streak in her.

When she had finished her story, I realised I too had at one time or another been guilty of demostrating such sadism. Sadism in humans is in fact very common. How many of us get pleasure from saying words that make others feel uncomfortable or hurt others. How many of us have instigated another to some undesirable or healthy activity. How many of us have challenged others knowing full well that that person would certainly end up the loser or the sufferer. Even as youngsters, how often has the stronger squeezed the hands of the weaker that little bit harder to have the other person grimace with pain or discomfort? A very common occurrence during those egoistic youthful period of our lives. Yes, it has a lot to do with ego, the show of superiority over somebody or something. Bullying, for example, is one clear cut indication of sadism among children.

Could it be that adults inadvertently cultivated such sadism? At this point I remembered a scene where a child hit an adult on his hand. Although not painful, just to entertain the little child, the adult pretends to cry. That first surprised the child. Getting over the surprise, the child laughed at the adult. The child did the sme act again, hitting the adult with the adult reacting in a similar manner which gives the child pleasure. Apparently without any harm to anybody, is such a play an unintentional lesson for the development of sadism? What do you think?

If it is the fault of the ego inherent in each and every one of us, then she is right in claiming that a child is not born totally good for every child is born with an ego. No? If sadism had been taught or acquired through actions or some other means that take place while the child is developing, then the saying that a child is born innocent or good is true.

Well, whatever it is, as long as our ego is our master, we will find it difficult to rid our world of a lot of problems caused by humans. And most, if not all, of our problems come from the deeds of Man.

All humans are the same wherever they may be. Who causes the difference?

How we take for granted our neighbours’ presence as we live our lives from day to day sharing each other’s joy and sadness, living our lives safe in the knowledge that there are friendly people around us regardless of the neighbour’s race, religion or beliefs and cultures.

In the 1950’s when I was living in Caunter Hall, now known as Jalan P. Ramli, Penang, a number of families lived in a huge bungalow house with seven rooms, each room housing a family. Some rooms were not as safe as others as their doors face the outside of the house while some rooms are safer as the doors lead out into an enclosed locked area with the common kitchen and big bathroom within that enclosed locked area.

Safer or not, all the families knew that help was always available should the alarm be sounded. Of course, in those days, there was no electronic alarm device which could turn on lights and alert the occupants with loud sounds should there be movement detected in the darkness of the night. But what they had was just as effective for should any occupant were to hear any suspicious movement or sound outside, he or she immediately reaches for a metal pan or its lid and hit it with a stick to sound the alarm, thus awakening all the other households, with every awaken occupant reaching for his or her own pot and stick to add to the din and that was sufficient to deter any robber or mischief maker from continuing with his/her nefarious activity. Pots and pans must be cheap in those days. Either that or they did not mind having dented pots and pans to cook with and possibly broken wooden ladles

And in those days, the Chinese, Indians and the Malays live closer to each other, especially in the rural areas where the simple folks only think of themselves as humans living together with a togetherness that has unfortunately been destroyed by the craze for power and ego politically and in matters of religion where there are those who divide humans into races and religions in order to master the power over God’s people. (To me, everyone is God’s people and God does not belong to anyone, for God is the creator.) These power crazy people use race and religion to separate the people, dividing them, creating the idea that certain races are more superior to others and certain religions the only religion of God, putting in human laws and professing such laws the words of God sometimes by having differing interpretation of words in holy books so that today in every existing religion, there are so many sects or groups with slightly different beliefs and these different sects are not on friendly terms with each other and in such a manner are moving away from the most important teachings of God, one of which is that all men are brothers, therefore women sisters. All are the same in the eyes of God Almighty.

Let us go back to those old days in Caunter Hall, Penang, where of the seven families, one of them was an Indian Muslim family. Although the family practiced the Islamic religion, praying at mosques and not eating pork, they cook in the same kitchen where others cooked their pork and sometimes accept and eat boiled cubed sweet potatoes from the same bowls as those used by the others, as the religion does not want its followers to eat pork and that is accepted and understood by everyone and no one would insist a Muslim should eat pork. With that understanding, they would eat at the same table too, respecting each and everyone with their religion's do and don't. And none felt any other difference among themselves except where religious rules are concerned.

Today, as politics and religious leaders put more meaning into race and religion, more differences are created and many Muslims cannot accept the sight or presence of pork. Sometimes, there is so much suspicion on the food available when it is prepared by people from another religion, even when those people are friends who would never knowingly hurt the feelings of their friends. Some would not take food even from the same bowls or utensils just as some Buddhist separate their utensils from those of non-vegetarians. Do we have to be more than just not eating a particular food? Does God mean us to be this way. Where the Buddhists are concerned, the religion encourages them to eat vegetarian food because Buddhists believe they should not kill and therefore by not eating meat, the necessity to kill the animals is eliminated. But to use utensils which had never been used to cook meat, I think that is not what the Buddha teaches.

It happened a few years ago. This friend was so disappointed especially as he believed that his friends were different. Although the relatives and in-laws had advised him against it, in a positive state of mind he went ahead and reserved some tables in one section and had ordered Muslim food from another restaurant to be delivered there so that all his friends, regardless of race would be there to celebrate the most important occasion of his life, his marriage. Unfortunately, less than half of the expected guests of those specially reserved tables were present. Here was a man who thought his well-educated friends were above those divisive ideas but instead had a lesson delivered on that occasion. Yet it ought not to have happened as suitable food had been provided. If the place was not suitable, would the few who came had come? Who caused such a feeling of difference? It certainly is not God’s doing. God would not be that small minded to mind the place. From what I observed, it is the slow but gradual planting of suspicion in the mind that leaders do to divide, inculcating a difference and inferring that the leaders’ ideology is far more superior than the others.

This superiority complex has been a thorn in the peaceful togetherness of humans. It is the idea of race superiority that led Alexander the Great to conquer other countries, to become their conqueror and have them be the conquered. Then, the same superiority led Hitler and the Nazis to cause so much death and destruction during the First World War. Again, the belief in Japanese’s supremacy took on the world to prove Japan’s greatness through another round of death and destruction only to shaken from their illusion by the atomic bomb. Man has learned from history and understands that with nuclear bombs available, a third world war can lead to the destruction of the human race or worst, the remaining humans maimed or scarred or permanently affected by the nuclear chemicals, living a life of misery, a horrid reminder of human follies.

So history has to be taught to every child in order that such a folly will never befall us to the extent of causing man not just to cause division through some kind of dislike or hatred but a war in which can possibly bring the end to this world or as I have said something incredibly worse.

What’s courage? What is fear?

During my secondary school days, my parents rented a floor of a three-storey house in Bishop Street, Penang. At that time, I had already taken up weight-lifting to strengthen my weak body. I can still remember the great feeling of my strength developing each day as I conscientiously followed a regime of exercise and nutrition to develop strength as fast as I could, enjoying each moment of pain as the muscles in my body grew bigger, firmer and tougher.

It was also in Bishop Street that I had my moment of truth. In those days, there were street gangs and to be safe you have to acknowledge them as your big brothers. I belonged to no such gangs and such people like me were at the mercy of those people. With their numbers, the individual was no match for them. Move away or be mowed down. That was the law of the concrete jungle. Obey that law or your safety is at risk.

However, one evening, with two years of strength training and a solid body to prove it, I returned home from the gym to find my path blocked by one such 'big brother'. Fortunately, he was alone. Young and egoistic, seeing the guy as just my size then, I continued my way instead of moving to the other side of the road like I had done whenever they had a group of them. He faced me as I walked straight towards him. I could have just walked pass him without either of us having to move to one side. However, as I got nearer, he sifted his position to place himself directly into my path. My stupid ego refused to safeguard myself by moving to one side to avoid him. I plowed on. Then, unbelievable as it was, he moved aside for me. Elated, I went on to pass him without looking back, for I was also fearful of the consequences should he decide to call upon his group to teach me a lesson which did happen in another incident at Great World Park, Penang; the incident in which I have written about how a friend and I went through back lanes and places to evade their search. (I have written that in an earlier post on the ego.)

Yes, my heart did beat faster and there was that fear in my heart. But that moment of truth taught me that such people were only brave when they are backed by others. They are courageous because of the numbers. It also taught me that fear could always be there in us when we understand the danger and risk we encounter even when we gather sufficient nerve to face it.

It was a moment of truth that has taught me that courage comes to those who are confident of winning. The fear will be there if we understand that we are sure the chances of losing is greater or when we have no chance at all of winning. And fear of losing something valuable to us may give us the courage to try. Or the fear of hurting someone we love may stop us from carrying on or trying further. Yes, the courage to sacrifice for a loved one can be due to the fear of hurting that somebody. Such are the moments of truth and hurt that I have faced.

The benefits of a new year.

It is great that we look towards the moon to calculate the number of days in a lunar month and the seasons to get twelve months in a year.

However, why do we have seven days in a week and see the moon twice in a lunar month-on the first and fifteenth day of the month. Since it is a lunar month, why not put that as two months? Then we could have 24 months in a year. Well, I used to wonder a lot about such things.

However, I know the good reasons we have a new year day, be it lunar or Chinese, Muslim or any other kind of calender.

The first day of the new year gives us a new beginning. If the previous year had not been good, we can have another try at it. That is why people think of new resolutions, another chance, another twelve months to achieve what we failed to accomplish in the past year.

Besides that, the knowledge that the new year is just round the corner gives us the impetus to clean up not just the mess in improving ourselves, also the mess in our house. it gives us new vigour to remove all the cobwebs from the ceiling and hidden corners of our rooms. It gives us good reason to clean up the whole house as we know there will be visitors and our house-proud ego demands that our home looks presentable to all those who come.

And that is the reason the eve of the Chinese New Year is the time relatives come a calling or gather at one of the houses to have reunion lunch or dinner. Reunion dinners are important as it is the time of the year when all the close relatives get the opportunity to meet each other and overcome whatever distance that could have occured the last twelve months.

It is also the time for friends to have the chance to gather to exchange news and information about each other. Sometimes, we defer meeting with friends due to our presumably tight schedule. Thus, when the new year holidays come, we feel obligatd to visit, removing all excuses for not doing so. Sometimes, we just need such a reason to be closer with our friends.

Well, is not the celebration of a new year so beneficial to us? To all those celebrating the new year, let's look forward to better things to come.

Know what appreciation can do.

There are millions of lovers and married couples in this world. Some are rich while others are poor. Some are happy in their relationship while others are not. Who are those who are happy? Is there a clear division between the married and unmarried? Are the rich any happier than the poorer couples? Which couple is the happiest?

The above questions hold answers to eternal bliss in a love relationship. However, before we start, let us understand that sufficient money and daily life sustenance are essential to any love relationship but, in no way, does it guarantee happiness.

For that, we have to ask anybody what he/she needs other than the bare essentials of life; such as food, water and shelter. Humans need self-esteem. Self-esteem is the nutrient of our soul. Without self-esteem, there is a feeling of worthlessness, no self worth. Useless! Ask those who want to commit suicide and they will tell you, his/her life is no longer worth the living. Somewhere along the way, the self-esteem has been destroyed. And when self-esteem goes to an all-time low, a feeling that life is of no value creeps in.

So, how do we build up and sustain our self worth. It is through the love of parents and friends. Parents makes us feel wanted, needed and loved. With that our self-esteem grows. Thus, children who grow up without parents' expressions of daily love lack self-esteem and this is seen in their lack of confidence.

Later, through our achievements and successes, we develop further our self esteem. We know our worth and capability. We are positive in our attitude towards challenges in life.

If our own self esteem is strong, challenges that manage to batter our self esteem every once in a while, will not put us down for long, unlike those who have a weak self-esteem. Because of our knowledge of our own worth, we are able to sustain our self-esteem despite the odds we face. However, that does not mean that we need no further assurance of our capability to sustain it.

Sometimes, we face failures in life which come one after another, slowly but gradually whittling away our self-esteem. In the face of such storms, who can help us retain our confidence? In a relationship, it is our lover or other half in a marriage. how is that achieved?

Well, appreciation is very essential in stabilising the confidence of a partner. Appreciation is easy. It is merely telling the partner your liking for certain qualities or the gratitude for whatever the partner has done for you each and everyday. This appreciation reminds the partner that someone cares, needs and wants him/her; that his/her existence is important to his/her well-being. This is how one's self-esteem can be boosted.

Criticism is the very opposite of appreciation. It can destroy one's ego together with whatever relationship that exists. There, always show appreciation in any relationship. Never criticise! If there is nothing better to be said, just stopper the mouth and remain quiet until the calm returns.

However, we need the ego to improve ourselves.

In my previous postings, I have told of the times I fell or crashed while on my motorcycle and it was all because of my strong ego. I was the one. I am still the one. To show the world how good I was, be it on a motorbike or a tall tree, my ego was willing to risk my neck and my life.

There were also the times I almost got into deep trouble, like the time when I had an encounter with the gangsters. Fortunately, I had my strength and courage to support my ego.

True, ego can bring us problems and misunderstandings. However, it is also important to have an ego. Without the ego, none of us would ever be anything. Without the ego, there would not have been any pride. Without pride in oneself, we would not desire to be the best in whatever we do. Without the ego, we would not bother to overcome obstacles and prove to ourselves that we are just as good as any other. Without my ego, there would not be me; Ong Ai Wei would not be the adventurous, hardworking, caring, loving guy who is always game enough to face whatever challenges life throws at him. Those who know me would know this to be true while those who doubt this cannot have known me well enough. See, how egoistic I can be. And I believe it is good as without it, I would not still be striving to be the best at my age.

Looking back, I was an excellent teacher, having all, with not even one failure, my art and craft students pass the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia art and craft paper every year. Though I did not get 100% passes in the SPM English paper, the percentage during all those years was something I could be proud of. And when it came to gymnastics, during the late sixties and early seventies, my first school team, the St. Michaels Secondary School team from Alor Star was the champion in Kedah state every year I was their coach. When it came to Sekolah Menengah Tengku Ismail from which I retired, the team was constantly in the first or second placing in the state.
All my efforts and training were powered by my ego.

I am what I am today because of my ego. Without my ego and self-esteem, I would not have stayed the course which was full of obstacles and pain.

So, although we have to beware of the problems our ego may lead us to, we should also let the ego power us to the greater things all of us are capable of as we remove all boundaries that may hinder our direction to better things to come. What I have in mind is control and guidance of the ego towards the right direction, the right path through right decisions.

Our ego can lead us into trouble.

It was in December, the exact date I had forgotten. During that end of the year period, The Great World Park in Penang during those years, was the place to be. There was the usual trade expo and live shows with well-known artistes rendering their latest songs.

It was in one of those halls that this young teenager found himself with a close friend pushing their way to a more vantage position. As they moved forward the teenager stepped on the foot of one big-sized youth who had refused to make way for him and his friend. The teenager appologised to the big-sized youth. Thinking nothing of the matter, the teenager moved on. Then, he felt a hand grab his shoulder. He turned round just in time to see a hand lifted to hit him. he blocked that and, just to show the big-sized youth what he thought of that action, he stepped on the youth's foot again. Of course, the youth was angry. That in no way cowed the teenager as he was already flabbergasted and looked fiercely and tauntingly into the eyes of the big-sized youth. His friend told him to forget the matter and to move on. Unfortunately, the teenager's ego refused to back down. His face strained forward, he demanded what the big-sized youth wanted, glaring at him and waiting for his next move.

The youth hesitated upon finding himself face-to-face with someone who obviously would not buckle under threat. The youth, clearly angered by the situation, turned round and rushed off to the door.

Upon seeing the angry youth's action, the friend knew that that youth had gone to gather man-power to avenge the slight suffered. He told his teenaged friend his apprehension. Realising that his friend's anxiety and fear were not unfounded as that area was known to be the home-ground for a group of well-known gangsters, they decided to leave the place.

They were out of that hall, at another corner of the fair, when they noticed the big-sized guy leading a group of people into the hall. At the sight of those gangsters, they knew that those people would search high and low for them.

Understanding the danger they have put themselves into, the teenager and his friend bolted out of the trade expo and into another street and then into another street again so as to move out of the gang's territory.

In the darkness, with their strength and stamina, they managed to evade the gang's search by moving into shadows and stopping to mingle amongst the crowds, going towards places where their presence would not be too obvious. Eventually, they boarded a bus to take them far away from the area before moving back towards their homes.

What was the teenager's problem? It was ego! It was stupidity! In that stupid moment, he had allowed his ego to put him into a dangerous situation which could have caused death to him and his friend. If not for the escape, it could have resulted in a beating, at the least!

Our ego is important. It is ego that makes us want to improve ourselves every step of the way. It is ego which causes us to strive to be the best.

But, just like fire, ego uncontrolled can lead us astray in more ways than one.

Ego also have us say that such stupidity can only happen to others. Is that true?

Looking back, what a relief it is, to have escaped the consequences of a moment's uncontrolled ego. And as I have said before, no one is infallible. I know for I was that stupid, fearless, egoistic teenager.