Beautiful tigers are few in the wild, but restless ones are many in the hearts of man.
The latter creatures in the jungle of brick and mortar constantly seek to devour, to fill what cannot be filled. Until they come across that which they are unable to conquer and consume.
Then they reflect. As did my friend sometime in 2021.
He thought, "the Chinese New Year is a nice time to buy a car, yes?" A brand new, handsome machine purring in the porch and a happy song playing in the heart. This he was persuaded to be true.
He already had two cars — a SUV and a sedan, both less than five years old. But a new SUV in the market had curves and colour and character to "kill for". The beauty was before his eyes on the road, and it was on his mind in the bed, so he told me.
And told his wife he did, too. She was, by his account, "not as excited as I was".
He was not dismayed. You see, my friend is a man of commerce, and wealth is his longtime companion. But he is not one to squander money. Or count his riches every night like a Scrooge.
He knows well enough the great concerns of our age — economic, political, social, environmental — but "I've got too many things to think of and enjoy than worry about these, especially the substandard actors in politics".
Strong and piercing are his words, but he merely wants to reward himself for his labour, not trouble his thoughts with problems that he cannot solve.
Long story short, he decided he had to get the SUV. But then he faced an impossible conundrum in the form of his 10-year-old daughter.
He says he dotes on the little one, and would climb any mountain and swim across any sea for her. Ha ha.
And he is her "superhero Pa". But scarcely did he expect the child to ask "perplexing questions".
This was one of them: "Pa, why do you want to buy a car when we don't need another one? Isn't it a waste of resources?"
Her other queries were equally sharp.
Wow, I exclaimed. Where did she get these from?
"I really don't know?" my friend shrugs. Maybe it's one of those environmental shows she watches on Netflix. I wanted to respond to her, but did not know how."
The bright girl's words warm my heart. As did many of the thoughts of more than 200 young people who participated in an NST environmental essay-writing contest late last year.
Their passion for the natural world is obvious, their ready-for-action attitude is infectious.
Many of them seem to understand at a deeper level what Wilde's Lord Henry told his wife more than 100 years ago, that "people know the price of everything and the value of nothing".
These teenagers see precious connections between life forms when capital-is-king types see only a source of ringgit and sen.
There are too many names to mention in this space.
Allow me to cite six: Joseph Tan Yung Wei, Mikail Ezha Muhamad Izham, Dhievakar Paramesivan, Aayden Davadason Abszra, Maryam Sofea Ahmad Firdaus and Alisa Rose Teo Zhi Hui.
Well, young people, you've got to be, in a manner of speaking, the tail that wags the dog. Some of your elders have greyed into wisdom, but too many have aged into ossification of thought (and thoughtlessness) and entrenched interests.
So you've got to make use of Undi18 to bend the will of politicians. And speak up in your family, in school and in the public space about the environmental causes that are dear to you.
Like 17-year-old Anjali Sharma and seven other teenagers, who sued the Australian government to stop the expansion of a coal mine in New South Wales.
Like my friend's daughter, who by the power of courage, love and understanding, awakened his mind to her future, and dimmed his eyes to the SUV.
Who says restless tigers in the hearts of man cannot be tamed?
Happy New Year, folks. Care for your kids' future.
The writer is NST Production Editor
