[asia-apec 56] Re: Globalization: Poor Design? (fwd)

[RVerzola]

I'd like to share a story, my adaptation of a popular Filipino folk
tale about the turtle and the monkey. To those who pay per kilobyte to
receive this list, my apologies for this digression.

Sometime ago, animals in the jungle decided to hold a get-together.
There was a serious matter to be discussed: one of their fellow
animals, Homo, had gotten quite wild, killing everybody else in sight.
Some thought Homo had gotten mad.

The lion called the animals to a get-together to discuss what to do
with Homo. Animals went around to spread the word. Some of them
prepared food for those who would come. Others worked hard to clean up
the meeting place. Some animals travelled a long way to join.

Many were glad to meet fellow animals they had not seen for a long
time. Food was served for the hungry, water for the thirsty, and the
meeting began.

There were many complaints about Homo's behaviour. The ant, the eagle,
the buffalo, and many others spoke up. Everyone had suggestions about
dealing with Homo.

While the turtle was speaking, Homo's cousin, the monkey, suddenly
barged into the get-together. The monkey apparently wanted to defend
Homo. However, the monkey was drunk, called the turtle names, and
challenged the turtle to a fight. Many were shocked.

The turtle was so angry that it wanted to fight back, but others
intervened.

The lion said: "You must forgive the monkey. It is drunk, so it has
forgotten its manners for a while. Monkeys are usually polite
creatures when they are sober."

The owl said: "You turtles have such thick hides that you can only
fight by racing to the water, and whoever reaches it first wins. When
monkeys fight, they tear each other's hair and bite each other's tail.
How can a turtle fight a monkey?"

The giraffe said: "If you fight, the two of you will spoil our
meeting. Our problem is Homo. We should not let Homo's drunken cousin
break up our get-together."

The turtle listened and left the monkey alone. The animals all went
back to decide what to do with Homo.

Before going back, the elephant fetched and poured cold water on the
drunken monkey, admonishing it to apologize for its un-animal
behaviour. ###