Monkey

This joke highlights the dangers when one follows what others say without thinking & verifying for oneself before believing/acting (some also call that faith for convenience).

Another example of this is a real life story. A couple of months back, I was having breakfast at a coffee shop. It consisted of a cup of tea, 2 slices of bread and 2 half boiled eggs. I got a seat opposite to an elderly Malay man who was probably close to 80. The sight of me relishing the half boiled eggs, triggered his appetite and probably some long gone memories, and he said to me "I'll go get some eggs too".

After he came back with his eggs he told me that he was afraid of taking eggs because of all the talk about high cholesterol.

To which I gave him my usual views about how many people take things out of context esp. the unthinking ones.

I told him that many foods have high cholesterol if you take them out of proportion e.g. beef that the Westerners eat by pounds per day! Their doctors' recommendation not to take more than a few eggs a day was meant for these people who are already eating too much. But which Asian that does not ape these people does eat meat by a quarter of pound per meal?

On top of that, as far as I can recall, eggs had been a traditionally recognised nutritious staple for Asians, and parents used to make sure their young ones have them daily. And what other natural food has the ability to sustain a young life all on its own? Eggs got to be rich in nutrients to be able to do that.

The old man agreed by saying "ya ah, my father used to have eggs every morning without fail and he lived to 110 years!"

I said "there, that's proof that all the fears you had are unfounded".

The 2 of us laughed as we enjoyed those eggs and wondered aloud how many of us will get to live to the ripe old age of that pak cik's father.

And I wondered how many fools there are out there who will say that they won't touch eggs but will gobble down a bottle of coke without question (like the stupid Americans who drink them by litres everyday).

And that thing does not even carry an expiry date! For such fools, that probably means it is proof of a great product!

One day I will tell you another story of a stupid American woman who sends a chain mail complaining about soya beans and her cancer....

xxx


From: Dion Wan
Re: Monkey

There was once a hat-seller who passed by a forest on his way back. The weather was very hot and he decided to take a nap under one of the trees, so he left his whole basket of hats by the side. A few hours later, he woke up by some sounds. The next thing he realized was that all his hats was gone.

Then he heard some monkeys on top of the tree and he looked up. To his surprise, the tree was full of monkeys. They have taken all his hats!

The hat-seller sits down and tries to think of how he can get the hats down. He started to think and scratched his head. The next moment, he realised that the monkeys were doing the same action. Next, he took his own hat and fan himself. The monkeys did exactly the same!

An idea strikes him - he took his hat and threw it on the floor. And, the monkeys did the same too. Alas, he managed to get all his hats back.

Fifty years later, his grandson also became a hat-seller and had heard this monkey story from his grandfather. One day, just like his grandfather, he passed by the same forest. Feeling very hot, he took a nap under the same tree and left the hats on the floor. Again, when he woke up, he realised that all the hats were gone. He looked up and found that the monkeys had taken all his hats. Remembering what his grandfather had told him, he started scratching his head and the monkeys followed. He took down his hat and fanned himself and again the monkeys followed.

Now, very convinced of his grandfather's idea, he threw his hat on the floor ... but to his surprise, the monkeys still held on to all the hats!

Then one monkey climbed down the tree, grabbed the hat on the floor, gave him a slap and said "You think only you have grandfather meh........???!!!"