Dear Friends,
I was at SJK(C) Chi Hwa in Sandakan last week, and I came across this poster. It had pictures of cooked rice that looked okay, and rice that had gone bad. Before I could ask, the headmistress, Mdm Ooi, explained it to me.
She did an experiment on what she calls the "Power of Words." She placed cooked rice in 3 cans, and covered them. She placed the first can on a table in an area where pupils and teachers pass by frequently, another can in a quiet area, and the third can was kept on the floor, next to a trash bin.
The experiment ran for 10 days. The first can was showered with words of love and kindness. Students and teachers spoke to it saying that it is good, it will do well.
The second can was left in a lonely part of the school, so no one passed it. No one spoke to it. It was left to be.
She instructed students and teachers to say bad things to the third can, placed next to a rubbish bin. So each time someone threw something, they would tell the can that it was useless, that it doesn't deserve anything.
After 10 days, Mdm Ooi opened the 3 cans. The can that was loved had rice that had turned fluffy (like snow) and even smelled sweet. The second can that was left to be was half mouldy. The third can, the one that was cursed, had rice which had turned rotten and smelled very bad.
Her message is simple -- speak kindly to others, and they will bloom.
