The World Of Tzu Chi(Vol.112)

2019 • 07 18 eature the value of hard-earned money by observing his father’s labour and resolved to study hard to secure a better future for his family. Chin Siong recalled a teacher in school who emphasized character education in class. The teacher would punish disobedient students – Chin Siong admitted to be one of them – by instructing them to copy lines of Jing Si Aphorisms . Chin Siong has long left his school days behind, but the Aphorisms remain firmly etched in his memory. He would turn to the Aphorisms for wisdom and guidance in his business dealings whenever he is torn between following his conscience and the lure of lucrative gains to avoid falling into the trap of greed, suspicion and conceit. After leaving school, Chin Siong crossed paths with Tzu Chi again through his acquaintance with some volunteers, whose dedication to humanitarian work left a deep impression on him. He came to acknowledge that beyond organizing international relief and recycling efforts, Tzu Chi also imparts life lessons through its events. From then on, he has committed to volunteering with Tzu Chi and embraced a vegetarian diet with his family, besides adopting eight bamboo banks to be distributed to family and friends. In pursuit of a more fulfilling life, he has also enrolled in the Parent-child Bonding Class with his wife and children for opportunities to be involved in serving the community. He hopes to lead by example to encourage his daughter to serve as a volunteer in the future. Taking a leap of faith In 2010, Chin Siong stumbled upon the book 50 Facts That Should Change the World , which cited a global food crisis as one of the 50 contributing factors in changing the course of the world. He was so unsettled by this revelation that he decided to quit his job as an insurance broker to pursue farming. Chin Siong first ventured into the agricultural industry at the age of 20. He started by adhering to conventional farming practices involving the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, but gradually discovered that instead of facing a shortage in food supply, food safety is a more pressing concern in the local food industry. To address the issue, he contemplated cultivating fruits and vegetables that are safe for consumption. He was also motivated by the words of a senior who advised him, “As a farmer, you are contributing to society and reaping merits by providing sustenance to the masses, but you are obligated to protect the interests of consumers by ensuring that your produce is safe for consumption. If you contaminate your crops with pesticides, which is hazardous to the health of all consumers, the merits you have accumulated will be undone by the harm you have caused.” He heeded his senior’s counsel and took the leap in restructuring his farm and farming processes, starting with downscaling his farm from 70 acres to 20 acres. He implemented the reform in stages reverting to a more organic approach to farming employed by earlier generations of farmers. However, eliminating the use of pesticides has inevitably resulted in more tedious work processes. “The most labour-intensive farming tasks are sowing seeds, weeding and harvesting crops. The sowing and harvesting