The world of Tzu Chi December 2020(Vol.129)

eature Less is more – Fong Yee Leong, minimalism practitioner T he wind was howling, rattling the windows, as a storm was on its way. From his condominium unit on the 19th floor, Fong Yee Leong saw an eagle trying hard to fly upwards against the wind. “It was like a scene in the movie. I was cheering for the eagle. For me, eagles are amazing solitary creatures. The wind was suppressing it. Its struggle brought me to relate with the Covid-19 pandemic that has disrupted my plans for this year. I too, refuse to give up and am trying to find a way out.” Yee Leong, who has a professional counselling background, was a medical social worker in Singapore before giving up his job ten years ago to return to Malaysia and serves as Xiao En Group counselling and support adviser, devoting himself to hospice care. Before the pandemic hit, he had never-ending daily work commitments, not to mention coaching, workshops and talks. “Slowing down” was just impossible. During the CMCO period, he posted on his Facebook: Now, there is another norm in life. Less socializing, more me-time. Less income, more off days. Less travelling, more peace. Less chatting, more reading. The pandemic dawns on us on the truth of impermanence. Yee Leong opined, “We built our daily lives on our blueprints. But that’s not how life works. Impermanence struck, toppling the castles we built. It awakens us to live in the moment, that is permanent and yet impermanent.” The lesser you own, the freer you are Like most people, Yee Leong works from home nowadays. However, as he lives in the Covid-19 red zone, he does not leave home unnecessarily since the CMCO was in place. With more time at home, he spends his time exercising, watching good movies he had missed, reading and enriching himself. He keeps his home minimally furnished, with each item serving a purpose. There is only a comfortable, single-seat white leather sofa in his living room. It attests to his practice of minimalist living. Both minimalism and Danshari concepts from the West and Eastern worlds talk about relationships between Translated by Jilly Bong 2020 • 12 22