it’s been said that monks cannot beg, unless it is for food, and before noon. it has been long brought to the attention of the government of these vagrant monks and the public has been advised not to make any donation to them. “donate to the real monks in temples”, is the general advice.
i was having my breakfast in one of the coffee shops in PJ State when this lady “monk” came along. my friend quietly made a donation, and i noticed that there were not many donors from other tables.
honestly, i can’t stand it when they hover at your elbow, when you’re trying to eat in peace. it’s just plain annoying, and i’d feel better making donations straight at the temple. most of the time they’re fake and taking advantage of everyone’s generosity! most of them are not locals, too …
read this.
in general, some beggars’ determination is so strong that they should be put to better use, e.g., doing charity work (genuine!) or part time jobs, perhaps. i don’t mean to be cruel, but if you can hobble around, or walk with your eyes partially closed, or just stand in one spot from morning til night, with your hands outstretched, surely it can be put to use? dammit, i’m referring to capable ones, ok.
yup..u r right, monks don beg, that *bowl* is for food…they don beg for food too, it’s us who give them those food..
yea yea, that’s annoying..i dont usually look at them wan lar, even though they don’t wear shoes n showing sympathetic eyes..sorry, no means no…
my usual reply to ‘beggers’ is “sorry, i student oni. no money one.” and walk away…fast…hehe
n yea, they can’t beg but only wait for the generousity of the public to kick in to give them food to bring back to their temple..
There’s always the “Sorry, I don’t speak chinese” 🙂
Andrew: unfortunately, many of the begger just stand there until you give them money. i had one monk giving me a card with picture of the goddess of mercy, as soon as i took the card, he gave me a list to fill up for donation.
i have to say, i really do enjoy reading the blog entries in xes.cx ..comapring to some other blog i visit, xes.cx’s blog shall i say..tops ’em all ? =P i find the etopics interesting, from foods to relationships.
about the monks..i only donate to them if i have small change…most i would give them would be rm1..i think its sufficient..i guess…i rather donate to those handicaped beggers than monks though
Monks, and blind men with people leading them….zzz….its so cliche la. Its like most ppl know its fake but some ppl still donate anyway.
the blind man at bangsar shopping centre … always there 24/7 …..
i thnk that “monk” in the pic is a good example of a sex change gone absolutely wrong.
when the person is actually holding out a begging bowl or cup, then u know that he/she is asking for something.
the ones i find hard to handle are the ppl who ask me for a couple of dollars (or even a couple of quarters (25cents)!) because they are a few dollars/quarters short of buying a bus/train/subway ticket home.
how do u know if they’re real or not? bcos it’s not too unusual for regular ppl to be in that kind of situation (a few dollars short, or no change, etc) as well.
usually i go by their appearance i.e. whether they look like they’re really going to use the money for their bus/train/subway ticket or not…
peggy & electronicfly: ehehe. thank goodness you agree. thought you wanted to say i’m stingy. hehehe.
andrew: sometimes they don’t speak, the just stand there expectantly…
xes: FORM?? tax exemption ler, for your donation.
knickx: ya lor. e-topics? hehhe… wah, new term. ;P rych wants sexcapade stories tho…
wolfx: cos to some ppl, as long as they are donating, they are doing their part kua, don’t really wanna bother whether genuine or not.. for me, it matters!
rych: of all the things to say …. i din check properly ler. next time …
whyrl: aiks… that day, i borrowed 10sen from someone to pay my parking ticket, because i was 10 sen short …. felt really bad. ;P