Culture

Learn from Lei Feng? Yes. But how?

By Ruan Fan ( chinadaily.com.cn ) Updated: 2016-03-04 20:48:27

Learn from Lei Feng? Yes. But how?

 Richard Sears

 Founder of chineseetymology.org; physics teacher at Beijing Normal University

You should help people when you can. You should do things that are good for society. Not for any reward, but because it is the right thing to do. Sometimes other people do things that are bad for society. You should act to change them.

You cannot feed others until you have enough to eat yourself. A teacher helps others, but the teacher also needs to eat. It is good if you can both make a living off of helping others and help others. Doctors help others, but sometimes they do it only so they can become rich. If you only help others so you can become rich, you are a social parasite.

A person should not brag that he helps others. You have to tell bragging from being objective. I teach physics. I must first let others know that I know enough about physics to teach them. That is not bragging. But once I have my students, I do not need to brag that I can teach physics. If I make much money, I should contribute some of that money to people who are less fortunate. It has nothing to do with "Communism". It is about making the world a better place.Learn from Lei Feng? Yes. But how?

Mahmoud Allam

Former Egyptian diplomat to China

I believe every nation and society needs to have its own Lei Feng or role model. First to honor those who give selflessly to the society and to set the qualities and the standards that are expected to be met by the individuals and the groups in order for the society to develop and thrive for all.

As much as modern life in many societies makes people more separated and more selfish and materialistic, there are universal principals and natural laws that if not followed leads decay to set in. One of them is that we are all interconnected even if we do not realize it and accordingly we are all affected by our deeds in a way or another, so if everyone thinks about giving before taking, about serving above self, society will be more harmonious.

The most valuable aspect of life is giving, serving others and loving them without expecting something in return. All this leads to train the mind and the soul to expand beyond the limits of the game of life we are all tangled in by always thinking about what we get out of it!

 
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