Maintain An Excellent Public Order（1）

■Book 111 - Roving Over The World

■Written by GrandMaster Sheng-yen Lu

 

As I am getting older, I really want to find a peaceful place to retire. The choice of an ideal location has been lingering in my mind.

To me, non-interference is peaceful. Having indulged myself in the spiritual world for so long, I must face the `real world` now.

\`Are there such a place called `Pureland` in this Samsara World?` I always have a doubt on this. Maybe human minds have lost its influence on morality, and as a result we have decadent customs.

I ask and answer myself these questions:

\`Do you steal?\` \`Never.\`

\`Do you rob?\` \`Never.\`

\`Do you fight, kill and commit arson?\` \`Never .\`

\`Have such thoughts come across your mind?\`

\`Never occurred to me before.\`

Most of us are wise, kind-hearted and virtuous; we will never steal, fight, kill and commit arson.

Is there a country in this world where you can live and work in peace and contentment without any fear ? 

I was born in Taiwan, a country noted for its kidnapping. Although it claims to have a five-thousand year old of history, mainland China is fraught with massacres such as the one at Qiantao (thousand island) Lake.

After migrating to the United States of America, I have experienced all kinds of encounters including a hail of bullets. 

In Canada, Vancouver is full of thieves.

In South East Asia, such as Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines.......

Officials from Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines interfered, and the public orders there are surprising.

In South America`s Brazil, the situation was worse, we were told not to stop at the traffic light junction, lest we get robbed.

In Europe, the chances of meeting misfortune is high in Italy.

In Africa, the public order is doubtful.

Thieves and robberies occurred daily in every corner of the world, even poor countries such as India and advance country such as America are no exceptions. Maintaining a satisfactory public order has poised a great challenge to all nations.

It is difficult , if not impossible, to find a country with an excellent public order now.

Enjoying material enjoyment, more and more people have lost their bearings. They believe in seizing by force to be the only way to prosperity. It is very sad to note that the human race has lost its self-dignity and morality.

I am fully aware that to enjoy peaceful bliss in life, I have to behave myself and control my greed.

But others go through the abyss of suffering to clamoring for status and wealth, using all possible methods to achieve these ends.

I think this is the crux of the problem.

When in Singapore, I asked a disciple of mine: \`How is the public order here?\`

\`Excellent\`, he replied. I was surprised to hear the answer.

Singapore has adopted its own unique way of governing the country. The sales of chewing gum is banned, so they don`t buy or sell chewing gums in Singapore. The Government has put in painstaking effort to clean up the environment and aims to be \`the cleanest garden city on earth\`.

Because of the indiscriminate disposal of chewing gums, public property was often vandalized causing problems for the Government. To avoid these problems, Singapore Government decided to ban all imports and sales of chewing gums in the country.

That is the death knell of chewing gums in Singapore.

I was told there are many factors contributing to the excellent public order in Singapore:

1. It is easy to manage the Country as the population is highly concentrated.

2. Surrounded by sea, the country is a small island making it difficult for criminals to hide.

3. The punishment is severe, there are all kinds of punishments such as death sentence, death by hanging, caning....etc. (Punishment by caning is very painful, it will take more than 6 months to heal, and will leave a life-long mark)

4. Heavy fine are imposed if one is caught littering.

5. To ensure that the unworthy won`t break the law easily, laws are strictly adhered to.