This is a wonderful reminder not to waste resources. The email says:
You see this sort of wasteful behaviour/conspicuous consumption to show off in almost any restaurant in China. This article is written by a fellow Malaysian.
MONEY IS YOURS BUT RESOURCES BELONG TO THE SOCIETY.
Germany is a highly industrialised country. It produces top brands like Benz, BMW, Simens etc. The nuclear reactor pump is made in a small town in this country. In such a country, many will think its people leads a luxurious life. At least that was my impression before my study trip.
When I arrived at Hamburg, my colleagues who work in Hamburg arranged a welcome party for me in a restaurant. As we walked into the restaurant, we noticed that a lot of tables were empty. There was a table where a young couple was having their meal. There were only two dishes and two cans of beer on the table. I wondered if such simple meal could be romantic, and whether the girl will leave this stingy guy.
There were a few old ladies on another table. When a dish is served, the waiter would distribute the food for them, and they would finish every bit of the food on their plates.
We did not pay much attention to them, as we were looking forward to the dishes we ordered. As we were hungry, our local colleague ordered more food for us.
As the restaurant was quiet, the food came quite fast. Since there were other activities arranged for us, we did not spend much time dining. When we left, there were still about one third of unconsumed food on the table.
When we were leaving the restaurant, we heard someone calling us. We noticed the old ladies in the restaurant were talking about us to the restaurant owner. When they spoke to us in English, we understood that they were unhappy about us wasting so much food. We immediately felt that they were really being too busybody.
"We paid for our food, it is none of your business how much food we left behind," my colleague Gui told the old ladies.
The old ladies were furious. One of them immediately took her handphone out and made a call to someone.
After a while, a man in uniform claimed to be an officer from the Social Security organisation arrived. Upon knowing what the dispute was, he issued us a 50 Mark fine.
We all kept quiet. The local colleague took out a 50 Mark note and repeatedly apologised to the officer.
The officer told us in a stern voice, "ORDER WHAT YOU CAN CONSUME, MONEY IS YOURS BUT RESOURCES BELONG TO THE SOCIETY. THERE ARE MANY OTHERS IN THE WORLD WHO ARE FACING SHORTAGE OF RESOURCES. YOU HAVE NO REASON TO WASTE RESOURCES."
Our face turned red. We all agreed with him in our hearts. The mindset of people of this rich country put all of us to shame. WE REALLY NEED TO REFLECT ON THIS. We are from country which is not very rich in resources.
To save face, we order large quantities and also waste food when we give others a treat. THIS LESSON TAUGHT US A LESSON TO THINK SERIOUSLY ABOUT CHANGING OUR BAD HABITS.
My colleague photostated the fine ticket and gave a copy to each of us as a souvenir. All of us kept it and pasted on our wall to remind us that we shall never be wasteful.
My household always practice and try our best not to be wasteful. Indeed, the food we throw so easily, would have fed someone else in some other part of the world who are starving. When we use too much resources, and then waste it, we deprive that same resources from others.
ReplyDeleteWell-said, Lina. It's good to be mindful and to just order or take (as in a buffet) what you know you can finish - a habit we can all put to good practice.
ReplyDeleteSri Sathya Sai Baba used to say this 'Food is God same goes with water'..great reminder tQ.
ReplyDeleteA slogan of armed forces of the US during WWII was a sign hung over the mess halls: "take all you want, but eat all you take".
ReplyDeleteThese days, with the world population approaching 7 billion, we need to be even more careful than that if there is to be enough to go around.
yes totally agreed with that & I normally do not waste food :-)
ReplyDelete