In my undergrad days, Personality was a compulsory course in Psychology. Part of the course dealt with a topic called "The Chinese Personality". It centred around a textbook of the same title edited by a Professor Li from Taiwan. At that time, we were very much fascinated and were not capable of criticizing its flaws. In hindsight, the methodology and theoretical basis were weak. At most, you can only draw some very vague generalizations of the attitudes of most Chinese of a particular age-group in a particular region. Even such a humble aspiration is full of pitfalls. What was true in the 1970's is no longer true today!
Does it mean that it is impossible to make any general comment on the behaviours of a certain people compared with others? But daily observations do confirm that Chinese immigrants are more hard working than the indigenous people and they do advance quickly in foreign societies. Chinese are not physically stronger. Nor are there any evidence of their superior intelligence. The social structure of a foreign society definitely does not favour them. So, how do we explain such successful phenomena without appealing to their personality?
As a Hong Kong Chinese, I suppose I am qualified to say something about the Chinese way of thinking as I understand it. Today, I want to focus on one particular aspect of Chinese culture: the way they deal with talents.
Every culture glorifies heroes and heroes are outstanding and talented. Unfortunately, different generations value and glorify different talents. In Tang Dynasty, poets were highly prized. Today, very few poets are able to survive the high living standards in Hong Kong. You do better if you are a computer wizard like Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. Therefore, if you have the "wrong" type of talents, you are unfortunate, to say the least.
But Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were not only gifted. They were path-breakers. They went all the way out to make things happen. Not so for the Chinese. Even if you have the right kind of talents, you need somebody who is able to discover your talents. A Chinese idiom expresses it well: 世有伯樂然後有千里馬 In this world, you need a Pak Lok to discover a wonder horse. Woe to many whose talents are doomed not to be discovered and they die with bitterness. To console their bitterness, Confucius tells them to remain unagitated because they will be called a gentleman 人不知而不慍，不亦君子乎？ Many Chinese suffer their frustrations and wait patiently to be discovered.
As a Catholic, we believe that God knows us all and gives us talents to serve. Today, the gospel reading (Matthew 25:14-30) tells us to make full use of our God-given talents because when we return to God, we need to settle account with Him. If we do well with our talents, we can enter into the joy of our master (Matthew 25:21b, 23b). If we "bury" our talents, God will cast us into the outer darkness, there men will weep and gnash their teeth (Matthew 25:30).
So, the next question is what God wants us to do with these talents. The answer is immediately given in the Parable of Sheep and Goats that follows (Matthew 25:31-46). God wants us to feed the hungry, drink the thirsty, shelter the homeless, clothe the naked, tender the sick and visit the imprisoned. It should be noted that the Lord will not judge whether we are baptized or not, whether we go to church regularly or not. Rather, he will award us for doing the six actions which do not require special talents, just a compassionate heart. He will not cast us into the outer darkness for being slow in extending our helping hands to the needy. Better late than never. Moreover, he will give us many chances to make up what you have missed. You will be punished only if your hearts are so hardened that you do not even stop to buy a flag on the street from an enthusiastic student on Saturdays. Perhaps I am over-optimistic but it is my belief that God does not want to see us cast into the outer darkness. All in all, we do not need much talents to attain eternal life. Of course, being successful in this world is a different story.
Last Monday evening, my younger brother collapsed in his bath. He suffered a minor stroke and was hospitalized. God is very merciful to us. The limbs of my younger brother are not affected. He only loses some of his memories, his favourite Tang poems and he speaks more slowly than he used to do. Sometimes when he speaks, he cannot find the phrases he needs ... There is one more problem. He has difficulty swallowing the food. He loses his appetite. This is the worst and it worries us.
My younger brother retired early and remains single to take care of our aging parents who are now in their eighties; and release me to build up my family. We know that our happiness hinges on his sacrifice. He was an electrical engineer. He is independent, effective, systematic and resilient. On his sick bed, he reads and reads the pamphlets to rebuild his language. His attitude is very encouraging. May God have mercy on us to restore his health. In the meantime, Erminia and I will do whatever we can to repay him. It is our duty, not only our affection.
Dear Lord, I entrust my younger brother into thy hand. May he re-discover his faith in You. Grant him health, spiritual as well as physical. Amen.
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