The world of Tzu Chi Sep-Oct 2022 (Vol.143)

2022 • 10 50 nspiration Chern Louis’ father, Seong Leng (left), and mother, Ong Kwei Fen (right), took him to harvest at his grandfather’s garden. for one, have turned into a full vegetarian, and so has the whole family.” Once, when the family visited a bookstore, Chern Louis showed his mother a vegetarian cook book and suggested she cook following the recipes given. He would also tell his mother what he ate in school. At home, he would request for certain dishes for the day, and Kwei Fen never disappointed him. In actual fact, Kwei Fen has always been a great cook. Seong Leng even praised that the vegetarian dishes she prepared could taste better than meat dishes. He said, “I had given it a thorough thought. I found that most of the time, the problem of diet change is rooted in the habit of taste. When I realized that eating meat is not beneficial ecologically, and that bacteria exist in meat, I slowly gave up meat consumption.” Chern Louis insistence on eating plant-based food not only brought upon a favourable change of diet to his parents, but also to other non-vegetarians around him. On one occasion, and aware of Chern Louis’ choice to eat vegetarian, his grandmother served him some potatoes. However, he could not accept it because the potatoes were cooked with chicken. Since then, whenever Chern Louis visited his grandmother, his mother would pre-pack his vegetarian meal. Unexpectedly, his cousins showed great interest in his vegetarian dishes. Later, whenever they had meals together, his grandmother would prepare a few plant-based dishes for him. Chern Louis was overjoyed that his cousins chose to join him. He has shown the adults around him that it was not hard to persuade others into embracing vegetarianism.