Lim was a lazy person who worked on a rubber plantation. His job
was to collect the latex from the trees and bring it to the shed for his father
to supervise. One day, Lim noticed that many of the tins were half-full or less.
Instead of finding out the reason why, he just shrugged it off and joined his
father at the shed.
His father was upset when he realized that they were not paid as much as usual,
and he asked Lim what had happened. Lim didn't know why, but his father
suggested that some of the tins had holes in them. The next day, Lim did check
the tins and found that many of them indeed had tiny holes. However, he did not
take any action to fix them.
The next morning, the pools of latex below the rubber trees were even bigger,
and his father was furious with Lim. He told him that if he had fixed the holes
when they were small, they wouldn't have to replace all the tins now. But Lim
never fixed the tins, and eventually, there was no more latex, and the tins had
to be replaced.
His father scolded Lim, telling him that the proverb "a stitch in time saves
nine" means that taking a little bit of trouble and work today can save a lot of
trouble and work in the future. He asked Lim if he would ever learn to listen
and take responsibility for his actions.
In conclusion, taking responsibility for one's actions is crucial in avoiding
future problems. By fixing the small issues early on, we can prevent them from
becoming big problems that will require more time and resources to resolve. The
story of Lim is a reminder that we must always be proactive and take charge of
our responsibilities, so we can save time and avoid more significant issues in
the future. |