Speaking of Kindness and Humility

             According to Jean-Jacques Rousseau, man by nature is good. Yes, I always believe so.

            I travelled to Malaysia alone last December to attend a yoga conference. Since my flight from Manila to Kuala Lumpur was delayed, I missed my 7:00PM flight from Kuala Lumpur to Johor Bahru. I have to contact the person who would fetch me at the Johor Bahru airport to inform him that I missed my flight. I learned that roaming services work only if I contact numbers in the Philippines, but does not work on contacts in Malaysia. Worst, there are no public phones at the Kuala Lumpur Airport. So, I have to use my congeniality skills, hence, a kind Malaysian passenger helped me to reach the number. I spoke to my contact and I was advised to take the bus from the airport to Johor Bahru.

            But before I left I had to buy a sim card to use while in Malaysia. I couldn’t believe it costs 200.00 in Philippine peso. While here in the Philippines a sim costs only P15.00 plus a free chocolate which costs more than the sim. It's more like buying the chocolate with a free sim. Whatever! But the good news was that internet is free in Malaysia and works even if you’re out of load and works even in the outer edge of Malaysia.

            So, going to Johor Bahru I took the 10:00PM bus and arrived in Johor Bahru at 3:30AM. Oh, how I love the bus ride. It’s a little bit expensive but it’s more convenient than my plane ride. I couldn’t believe that I could sleep soundly in a bus.

            When I arrived, the terminal was very quiet. Of course, it was wee hours of the morning. All stores were close and only very few people were around. I sat on a bench and texted and called my contact, but to my dismay he could not be reached. Fear started to creep in. So glad I saw an open resto where I decided to stand by, but was unhappy to find the staff therein were quarreling. After a few minutes, my contact called and said he is coming. Thanks heavens!

            A few minutes later, a man came up and introduced himself. We will just tag him as Brother V, a margi. (A margi is a member of the Ananda Marga Society.) We rode in his car and in about five minutes we entered a posh subdivision. My sleepy eyes grew wide when we stopped in front of a large, remote-controlled gate. That was the first time I saw a remote-controlled gate. Poor me. When the gate opened, there were four other cars parked in front of a very big house.

            Brother V told me there were 80 Vietnamese delegates who arrived earlier and occupied the second and third floors, so I have to sleep at the ground floor. Well, it didn’t really matter, I just wanted to sleep. I was so tired. But I ended up sleeping in a large room near the kitchen alone. It was quite comfortable. And I knew he would still be fetching other margis who would join the conference. It was very kind of him, yet at that time I admit I didn’t mind the kindness as much as I mind my sleepiness.

            It was on the next morning that I realized that there were almost a hundred of us billeted at Brother V’s house for free. I found out that the house is consists of three storeys, an underground, it has several large rooms and it has an elevator. It also serves as the office of Brother V.

            Well, Brother V is a businessman and he is the president of his own company. Yet he is genuinely a very simple and humble person. He made us all feel at ease in his huge abode and always ready to serve us. I noticed that he has no driver and has only one househelp. His wife, too, is very kind. His children are well-disciplined and grounded. Unlike other rich kids, they help on house chores and even iron their own clothes.

            Brother V arranged everything for us, including the transportation going to the venue for the conference which is almost two hours from the center of Johor Bahru. Even after the conference, the delegates were accommodated to his house. He also arranged for the Vietnamese delegates a Singapore tour, wherein I was invited and was the only Filipino to join the tour.

            After all the activities, Brother V sent us all to the terminal. Since he is the only one who drove the car, he went to and fro the terminal several times. Together with his son, he sent me to the terminal after we arrived from Singapore and helped me book the earliest bus ride going back to Kuala Lumpur as I have to catch an early flight to Cambodia. Like a good father, he gave me instructions where and what to ride going to the airport and even told me to inform him when I get to the airport. 

         Brother V's kindness and humility struck my senses. Honestly, I've never met someone so grounded, despite being rich. It humbled me to think that someone like him could be so considerate and thoughtful to all of us. His kindness and humility were so overwhelming. Maybe, he got it for being a margi who practices the philosophy that love is all there is and service to mankind. But anyhow, I realized that money and power don't change people, it depends upon people on how they handle power and money. It's all about one's philosophy of life.

              Now, every time I deal with people I remember Brother V, especially in times when I feel so overbearing. If someone like him could humble himself, how could I not?