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The Monk's Tale: March 1999
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This story comes from my new boss. He is the Executive Vice President for Retail Banking Group in the DBS Thai Danu Bank. His name is Khun Chaiwat Utaiwan.
Here is the story that Khun Chaiwat told me. Recently, he got a visit from a well respected monk. The monk is 93 years old and rich with knowledge and wisdom. The monk is based in the provincial. He spent the night at Khun Chaiwat's house for his trip to Bangkok. In the morning, the monk had a chance to talk with Khun Chaiwat and his family. During the conversation the monk said... "Since you are a banker, I would like to suggest a tip for you to manage your fund"... He told Khun Chaiwat that as a good citizen, he should divide his fund into 4 categories as described below:
The monk said that Khun Chaiwat must translate the symbols into reality. "Let me tell you the rational, young boy". In the monk's eye, Khun Chaiwat is still a boy. The first part is to pay back debts. Since, you are "owned" by your parents; they have raised you, provided you with an education, and so on ..., you own your parents a debt. Thus, when you are able to make the money yourself, you have to pay them back. To be a good credit person, you have to pay back." The monk continued his story. "The second part is to put it underground. It refers to the portion of your fund that you must save for necessary use in the future." Khun Chaiwat kept on listening as the monk continued his tale. "The third part is to put it in the mouth of Cobra. The Cobra in this case is represented by your children. You have to spend money on your kids; you must raise them and give them the opportunity for education as your parents did for you. The reason that I use the Cobra to represent the kid is because it may turn out to be worse than you expected, ...like a Cobra". Khun Chaiwat's eyes were sparkling. The monk said, "The last portion is throw away some of it into the water. What I mean is that after you have already set aside the money for the above three categories, then you can enjoy life. The way you enjoy life is like throwing away money into water because you may not get any return from it." What the monk said enlightened all of his family members. Khun Chaiwat responded by saying, "As a banker I just learned the advanced fund management in life, Sir!" What I like about this story is :
It also explains that if Thais still hold the Dhamma (the core of Lord Buddha practice), our life will be peaceful. Dhamma is still pragmatic, particularly in today's material world. I hope you all learn something from this tale. P.S. The Author of Thailand Tales has just moved from Kepner-Tregoe (Thailand) Ltd. to DBS Thai Danu Bank as Vice President of Marketing for Retail Banking Group. He can still be reached at same email address. Kriengsak Niratpattanasai
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| ...from Kriengsak Niratappanasai's Thailand Tales |
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| Kriengsak Niratpattanasai Thai Danu Bank Bangkok Thailand |
| Kriengsak was one of the Asian Business Strategy & Street Intelligence Ezine's earliest columnists and continues to provide some of the most savvy advice on the Net on working in Thailand. His down to earth advice from years of working with falang and locals mixed with local folkstories continues to delight and inform. Click on Kriengsak's picture to learn more about our great friend and colleague. |
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© Kriengsak Niratpattanasai and the Asia Pacific Management Forum 1998