Reflection by Lim Zhi Jing
My lesson in 2024 can be summarised in a scene that I saw in a fish nursery located in Cambodia. We were there to explore the possibilities of community livelihood projects, and the guide brought us to one of their success stories that helps bring livelihood to the women in the village. There were several baskets of baby fishes learning how to swim before they were released into the big outdoor ponds. One basket of fingerlings were moving rapidly in circles and another basket they were still. The guide asked, “Which basket do you think is ready for the big pond?” To our surprise, he said it was the basket of fingerlings that were not moving! Their stillness actually meant that they were strong enough to swim against the current and thus ready for bigger waves in the pond. The fingerlings that were busy swirling in circles were actually not swimming but just being pushed round and round as if they were in a washing machine.
In the same way, what appears as if nothing was moving or gaining ground, Janice and I as a team travelled to at least 5 countries with double the trips just to learn and explore from others who have gone ahead of us. At the same time I also lost some home ground with the death of my dad and also the loss of some significant relationships in my life. I comfort myself with the image of the fingerlings that remained still in the water. Their seemingly outward passivity is actually their best effort at activity and respect for life.
This year is probably the year where I gained the most ground physically & metaphorically.
