Chapter 67 Chapter 11 Health Reform and Famine Relief

It is simply impossible for me to be willing to be a member of a political body that does not work.I have always hated concealing or ignoring the shortcomings of the Overseas Chinese Mission, nor would I want to claim various rights without eliminating its flaws.So after I settled in Natal, I have been working hard to eliminate people's accusations of overseas Chinese groups, although these accusations are not groundless.This accusation is often made of the sloppy habits of the Indians, who are always unclean inside and out.The leading figures in the guild had therefore begun to put their houses in order, but the house-to-house inspections did not take place until Durban's reports of the impending plague had been published.

This was done after consultation and agreement with the priests of the town, who also wished to cooperate with us. Our cooperation makes their work easier and eases our difficulties.Because once an infectious disease occurs in the city, the authorities are always impatient, take excessive measures, and use high-pressure methods to make people unhappy.The diaspora has avoided this pressure by taking automatic hygiene measures. However, I have had some painful experiences.I understand that I cannot easily count on the Overseas Chinese Mission to fulfill its responsibilities like I count on the Overseas Chinese Mission itself to fight for its rights.In some places I was insulted, in others polite contempt.It is too much trouble for people to keep their environment clean.It is even more impossible to expect them to pay for this.These experiences taught me better: It is impossible to ask people to do anything without infinite patience.It is the reformers themselves, not society, that urgently need reform. What society can give them is nothing but something little better than opposition, disgust, and even cruel persecution.Why can't society see as a regression what reformers valued as much as life?

But the result of this agitation is that the Indian overseas Chinese community has more or less understood the necessity of keeping their houses clean inside and out. I was respected by the authorities.They understand that even though I fight against injustices for them and try my best to fight for their rights, I still treat them positively and insist on self-purification. However, there is still one thing to do, and that is to awaken the sense of responsibility of the Indian diaspora to the motherland.India is a poor country, Indian expatriates come to South Africa to seek wealth, when their countrymen are in distress, he should contribute a part of the income to them.This they did during the terrible famine years of 1897 and 1899.They donated a lot of money to the relief of the famine, more in 1899 than in 1897.We also appealed to the British for silence and they responded well.Even the Indian indentured laborers contributed, and the system established by these two famines has continued, and we know that in times of national disaster in India there has always been a large contribution from the Indian diaspora in South Africa.

Thus at every stage the service rendered by the Indian diaspora in South Africa revealed to me new meanings of truth.Truth is like a big tree, the more you cultivate it, the more fruit it will bear.In the mine of truth, the deeper one is searched, the richer is the treasure unearthed, which shows the ever-increasing variety of forms that service to man opens up.