English Audio Request

Topic: Helping People

Do you think it’s important for people to help each other?

Yeah, without a doubt. I mean, if people help each other, it kind of has a positive knock-on effect, because the people we help will remember what we’ve done for them, and consequently, they will be more likely to help others as well. So you know, one small act of kindness could end up having quite a large effect on people.

Would you say you are a kind person?

I don’t think I’ve ever been asked that before! But I’d say I am, yeah, at least I try to be anyway! You know, of course there may be the occasional instance when I might get impatient or lose my temper with someone, but I’d say most of the time I’m pretty nice to people.

How can you know whether or not someone is a kind person?

That’s a good question, and I’m not altogether that sure if there’s any definite way to tell. But possibly one indicator to tell whether someone is kind is to see whether this person is nice when there is nothing to be gained from doing so. Just to give you an example, when I see my neighbours saying good morning to the cleaning staff and security guards of the apartment complex where I live, that, for me, shows that they are a kind and good-natured person, because it’s not something they need to do, but they still do it. So these kinds of small gestures towards others are what make people nice I think.

Is it important to be kind to strangers?

Yeah, without a doubt. I mean, the way we treat strangers says a lot about the society we live in. So in other words, if everyone treated strangers with indifference, then I think our society would be in a pretty sorry state. But thankfully that’s not the case here, and there have actually been some well-known instances reported in the news where people have gone to great lengths to help complete strangers, which has kind of served as an inspiration to others. So I think this goes to show the positive effect that helping strangers can have on society.

How do you think children could be brought up to become unselfish people?

Well if I think about how my parents brought me up, one of the things they did to prevent me from becoming selfish was to set a good example for me. In other words, they were always considerate and generous towards others, and this rubbed off on me, you know, it made me act in the same way. So I’d say this is definitely one of the best things that parents can do.

Do you think it’s important for nations to help each other?

Yes I think it is. You know, if one country is in desperate need of help and another country has the means to offer assistance and support, then it should definitely do so. For example, a country might be ravaged by a big earthquake or tsunami, after which it might be extremely difficult for the country to carry out all the relief efforts by itself. So in such situations, these countries need all the help they can get from other countries.

What are the benefits of being a volunteer?

Well, I suppose the best thing about being a volunteer is the feel-good factor you get from helping others. So basically I mean, when we help people, it generally makes us feel good about ourselves.

And as well as this, I guess you could also say that it’s a good way of experiencing things you might not otherwise get the chance to experience, a prime example being the Olympics, which a lot of people want to be a volunteer at, mainly for this reason.

What benefits do volunteers bring to society?

Well, I think it goes without saying that they bring a lot of benefits to society, the most obvious of which would be that they’re willing to work for free. And as a result, it means that cities and communities, in general, are able to provide services which they might not otherwise have been able to provide.

So, just to give you an example, in my hometown, there’s a volunteer association which regularly sends volunteers to nursing homes to help look after the elderly, and if they didn’t do this, then it’s likely that these places wouldn’t be able to afford such services.