“Go to the ant, O Sluggard,

Observe her ways and be wise,

Which having no chief, Officer or Ruler,

Prepares her food in the summer,

And gathers her provision in the harvest.”

—————————–Proverbs 6: 6 – 8)

There are 3 major points in this message

1. THE WAYS OR BEHAVIOR OF ANT
2.  THE INDEPENDENT SELF DISCIPLINE
3.  SAVING UP FOR A RAINY DAY

 

1. Ants are social creatures. They live as a community. One of the main characteristic is net working. Every time an ant meet head on they greet. See a long lines of ants as they move up and down a wall or tree. How they take time to greet each and everyone in front?

Last week while taking bus in Iskandar I met a guy who worked as a chef in Pinewood Studio. From him I gathered these facts. He told me that there were about 1,000 people employed for the filming of Marco Polo 1. Of the people employed the majority were Thai nationals, followed by Australians & New Zealanders.

I wondered why not many locals were employed? Then I remembered the words of Ms Y whose brother got a contract with Pinewood Studio for 1 year. And his contract was terminated after one year without explanation. Ha! Now I think I know the reason. Could it be cheaper to employ Thais at cheaper wages.

So there weren’t much news about Pinewood Studio in the local media. Never mind. MARCO POLO 1 Has Received Good Response in the West. And MARCO POLO 2 Film will be released soon. Their filming for MARCO POLO 3 Series will also commence again.

So Pinewood caters for Foreign employment at the expense of locals. Its market success also is mostly foreign. How does it benefit Iskandar then?

In many ways directly & indirectly. The 1,000 over foreigners will still need accommodation. So demand for houses will increase. And they will spend their earnings among the shopping malls & restaurants in Johor. As things are so cheap here Some Australians are already planning to migrate and stay in Iskandar more permanently. So this will contribute to the Iskandar Property Boom.

So by net working I get to know more about the operations of Pinewood Studio without the need of going there.

In this way of talking to people and networking with them I get to know thousands and thousands of things with little effort. This is how ants survived & prospered.

2) Ants have internal self discipline. They need no guide. No need of given task as they know what they should do. No need of overseer – they don’t need reprimand or threats of punishment to spur them. They are no “lazy ants” – so to say.

3) Prepare her food in the summer.

Ants can anticipate bad times. So they gather up as much food as possible during the good times of summer. Same for the bees – another group of social creatures. Both bees & butterflies visit the same flower to collect nectar. The only difference is this – while the bee stores his food in beehive the butterfly does not. The butterfly dance from flower to flower all summer. At the first frost of winter all butterflies die instantly. Only bees & ants survive in their hives or nests with ample food stored over the fruitful summer.

 

What is the morale of the Story?

Ants are social creatures. They network for the best information. So must we. Learn to network and gather information from friends and wise people. “He who walks with wise people will be wise”.

Ants have self discipline. Learn to develop your character.

Ants prepare for winter during summer.  So in the youth of summer you must learn to invest for the future old age of winter years. How many youths of today know only present gratification like a butterfly.

They only enjoy life at the present moment without giving a thought of coming winter.

Learn to work, save & invest to compound your interest. It will do wonders in preparation for retirement in later years.

 

Regards,

Calvin

Singapore