Encouragement

The sun is shining brightly. It was noon. I rode my motorbike home in order to have my lunch. While I was riding, my mind was flowing away from my body. I really wanted to relax. I imagined of the time when my friends and I had lunch with each other in the shad of a big tree and in a very long field. By that time, I was thinking of what I called the “shad of tree.” Shad is an area that is dark and cool under or behind something, for example a tree or building because the sun‘s light does not get into it. To me, the shad of tree is a kind of push factors that let me feel freely from job and tiredness. All of these things are referred to the “encouragement.”

For a life cycle of the human being, there are two types of encouragement: ex‐encouragement and in-encouragement. External encouragement or ex‐encouragement is denoted to the things like the shad of tree, friends, family and love. What do those things do to us? When I felt tired, I liked to sit under the tree and read some comic or fiction story. I could felt really fresh and happy. I forgot all of my difficulties and challenges that I would face in the near future. I also liked to talk with my friends at the weekends. I usually met my friends and shared some experience with them at LUCKY ANG TEK. Sometimes, we talked about our sadness and difficulties that we faced while we were working or studying. But, sometimes, we changed our subjects to discuss some happy things that we have done successfully. And, sometimes, we tell each other a funny story in order to change the atmosphere. I have a lot of energy for working tomorrow, if today I am be able to be with my friends. Additionally, I also try to work so hard while I am thinking that Phchum Ben Ceremony will be coming soon. So, I can go to my hometown and meet my family. Then, I always want to get the scholarship to study abroad and to find a well‐paid job when I am thinking of my love. These are what? I want to continue to work for the next hours; I’m happy to get my job done for tomorrow, I want to finish my work and get back to my hometown for next month, and I’m willing to get the scholarship to study abroad by next year. Of course, these are the natural medicines that encourage my life to keeping moving forward without waiting for the time to come.
On the other hand, I also have my internal encouragement or in‐encouragement. Firstly, I learn to appreciate the persons who I know well, for example, my professors. When I can see those persons, I must also learn to be as well as them or even better. Every thing has it ending point, so when I can be like them. I tick in my checklist and say to myself that I can reach one point successfully. Thus, for next time, I will keep doing so and until I have everything I want. Finally, I can get what I expected to get. This is the process of self‐encouragement that some people have already done it without notification. As a human being, this special ability is priceless. Therefore, we have to know and use it in the effective way as we can do. From the ex‐encouragement, I can also create my inencouragement. For instance, I was encouraged by my family, and then, I tried to commit this to my family. When I did it, I admired my family and at the same time I also appreciated myself as a follower. Thus, I also encouraged myself after I encouraged my family. This process keeps moving like the systematic effect of life cycle. We learn to be what we are but we also learn to be what we want to be. Our natural ability sets out our future, but we, ourselves, have to motivate, to be motivated and struggle for our brightest future too. We live in one world, so we have to find out the solution to share the same profits, advantages and benefits with care.

By Sochheka Ong
14‐Sep‐2007

Destination

Have you ever heard of a movie named “Final Destination?” In the story, there is an actor who knows about his dangerous fate in the future and he tries really hard to prevent it. But at last he can not. The author just wanted to tell us that something that is going to happen, in the end, it will occur without any contestants. The movie consists of 3 sets and each of them is built up with the same purpose. However, “Destination” in this small text is NOT the final one. Here, I just want to mention about the professional career and goal of each person before they decide to do something.

Let begin with one example: there was a man who was interested in Accounting and Finance. He determined his direction clearly. In the future, he wanted to be a Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Firstly, he decided to get into the School of Accounting. He was graduated with the title of BBA, majoring in Accounting. After graduation, he tried to find the job but unfortunately, he could not find any suitable ones. He skipped his professional life and turned back to his academic life with the Master’s Fellow Course. Because of his first decision didn’t pay well. He told this issue to his friends in order to persuade them to help him finding another major in Master’s class. You know, what did his friends said? “If you want to change your major, I suggest the Management Program. With this field, you would be able to be a General Manager or CEO of the company. It is the only highest position that pays you really well in your life.” You know what? Now, there are thousand of people in Cambodia majored in Management and have not found out the suitable jobs yet.

If you listen to such kind of guy, you may immediately think that he is right because in a company; who is more powerful than CEO? The answer is NO. CEO is the only highest position in the company. It’s really attractive because you can control and manage a lot of people with the management skills and high salary. Do you want to go for it? Of course, your answer must be YES.

Wait! Let’s think of something else. What is going to happen if in a country, there are ¼ of the total population want to be a Chief Execution Officer or CEO in the company? Will such position be available for all of them? No, need to conduct the statistical research, just close your eyes in a second and you must say NO. So, how can we make the uncontestable market for such position? To me, we don’t need to do like that. I say “Find the fittest job rather than the highest job.” What is the fittest job? If we take a look at the example above, a man who wants to be a CFO and learns so hard to get into his field of interest, doesn’t have to change his major of study. He has to pursue in the same direction of what he has expected since the beginning and upgrade his skills until he can find a suitable job. So, to him, it calls “achievement.”

In the developed countries like Europe, there are so many that come up with the different ideas and perspectives about what they want to be. Oscar Wild, my most favorite Irish author – “The Picture of Durian Grey” said that he wanted to help the poor. He was not a rich man, but he always spent all of his money for the taxi drivers, waiters and waitresses, and so on. He added that if he didn’t have in the morning, the others might not have for 3 mornings already. This was his destination and it was paid to him really well. There is one school in Ireland, named “Oscar Wild.” And his name has never been erased. How about us? Be what you want to be, than you will make it. If you are interested in something, build your way to get into that loop. Don’t take left or right, so it will make you feel happy and enjoy your life. The world and the lives have two towers, one is at the top and other is at the bottom. But what we want is only in the middle of these two towers, so please “want what you have and build up what you have to be what you want.”

By Sochheka Ong
13-Sep-2007

Rich or Poor?

If you propose a question to everybody in the world that “do you want to be rich or poor?” Most of them will probably say “I want to be rich rather than poor.” That’s normal because it is the ambitious nature of the human being. Now, let transfer your question to “do you want to be too rich or too poor?” I believe people will take a little while to think and then say that “I don’t want to be too rich or too poor but I want to be in the middle of the two and rather close to the rich one.” That’s also normal because every body want to be richer rather than poorer. But now, if you turn these two questions to the poorest and the richest people in the world, the poorest may say “I don’t want anything more than rice, bread, clothes, and accommodation” and the richest may say “I need to have more right to free myself from all of these dump properties.” What do you think of that? To you, are all of these answers possibly acceptable? I am not a researcher and I have never spent time to take the sample and evaluate the population of this hypothesis. I am not a statistician. I am not so good in sampling analysis. But I believe in what I have thought and analyzed from the fact of my society nowadays.

In my point of view, I think the best answer to these two questions is “I want to be rich within the poor condition.” It is the best answer that people should better say. Now, let me say something about the rich people. For example, if you are a rich person, you can see every thing around you is good, modern and up-to-date. It makes you feel more confident and flexible. But what happen when you meet a beggar is folding his hands and begs for your money? There are two options: one, you give him your money, two, you offer nothing to him and walk away. Normally, people do that without reflection. I tell you something, if you are in such condition (I mean rich condition), you will never ever see the difficulties of the poor. Sometimes, they use the earth as their home, the sky as their net, and the grass as their blanket. A rich person has ever heard of that? That’s why I say the only rich is meaningless. Moreover, if you get into the high class restaurant, you may have to follow some steps such as taking a little piece of cloth and put on your lap, respect the outside-in process of using spoons and folks, and so on. Do you want to live with such order in your daily life or not, if I honestly and personally ask you? This is what the poor condition is better than the rich one.

To me, judging a person who is rich or poor is useless. You will never ever find a good friend or partner as you wish. You can see an outsider, s/he is really nice and friendly, but sometimes, it happens only when s/he speaks with the rich people. Actually, s/he does completely look down on poor people. How can we know about that? So, you should take a look at his/her involvement and conditions. For instant, you can simply find out a person who has joint a lot with society, involved a lot with the poor people and finally had the kind-hearted feeling. Psychologically speaking, someone who does always put their feet into somebody’s shoes. Thus, from day to day, please try out to change your mind from wanting to be rich to needing to be rich in the poor condition.

Finally, I just want to mention again that this small text doesn’t create in purpose of blaming the rich people. However, it is created in order to encourage them to put more time in thinking about the poor condition. Of course, as humanity, we were born with nothing. So, how can we say of rich and poor? There is a man, said that his friend was born with one LEXUS car and two flats in the downtown near Phnom Penh city. And, I claimed that “Wow, how can a baby bring this stuff with him?” That’s impossible and in my life, I have never ever appreciated that. You know, we were born with the same condition, but what generate us to be poor or rich is not because of ourselves, but it is truly because of our family living condition. Therefore, what we have to do, is to build a prosper generation from our starting point with a phrase “We don’t want see the disjunction of the World as we are all the same now.”

By Sochheka Ong
06-Sept-2007

4 Years, 1 Blink

Tonight, I go to take the bath late at night, maybe around 11:00 PM. I have thought of our part on the day after tomorrow. Of course, you may laugh at me because I might think that I thought I don’t have enough money to pay for the party. Yes, may be it is one of the reason, that’s why it comes immediately into my mind. But, I have thought of something else. Something that makes me scares and writes down this small text to you. 4 years passed in a very short time. We have tried all of our best to study and to learn the new things including theories and practices. And until now, we reach the intersection point, which is the only one point that we meet each other again. Like our palms and figures, how many palm and figures do you have in your hand? Naturally, we have one palm and five figures, right? When we fold our figures into our palm, we may feel that our figures is now touching our palm but when we unfold them, we will feel that there is no attachment between our figures and our palm. Virtually speaking, palm refers to the BBA class that we have taken and each figure signifies each of us. The period of time that we are with each other is the time that we put our figures into our palm tightly. I think we have done as what to be friends pretty well. In this part of my age, I think it is a very good time and occasion that we can be altogether being with each other, sharing a cup of tea and even more having a chance to say good bye to each other.

Let me say something about us. First of all, I would like to say thank to God that gives me a chance in this life to meet and make a great friendship with all of you. I think of myself and I want to cry out since I forgot to say this phrase to my friends since I was in the Primary and Secondary Schools. This life I have met a lot of excellent friends and things. I really appreciate myself and I also want to appreciate all of you. Secondly, I want to remind you that you may remember to say that you have passed your BBA at Royal University of Law and Economics, but you may never ever say that my BBA class has taken with 34 students within all of those friends, I met Mr. A, Ms. B, etc. This is the problem! I really wish that in my life I can finish every thing with souvenir and reminiscence. If I can do it, I will win and die with happiness. Finally, you will remember this occasion for your entire life since you will have the same time as today. You know, it is not a curse, but I just want to tell you that at this moment, you may stand happily with friends because you don’t even get yourself much involved in the professional domain or put yourself so hard to be good students in MBA, but if we have another day with the same party and place, some of you may be very tired with business, job or studying and that sort of thing. With the same place, we would have the same feeling. It is a big difference that we are going to have in our life. So, please take this occasion as the most important as you imagine and we will memorize it in our heart.

By the way, this is not what I expect to happen and say, but by default it will be going to happen and we have to accept. I just want you to know what the advantages of this party are. From all of my heart, may be to apart of your heart, I’m just very happy and don’t want the time to move forward to drain this occasion out from me. Even four years at the University is a blink but one day that we celebrate this party is hundreds year of recollection in our future. I hope we do enjoy our party!

By Sochheka Ong
26-Aug-2007