“Quick!” “快!”

We are living in a fast-changing world. Speed is one of the keys for success in many societies and cities. This is indeed not something new for many Chinese parents. They often say to their children, “Study quickly!”, “Wake up quickly!” “Get married quickly!” etc.

Is life really determined by speed? What if there are things which require us to slow down? These are questions worthy for us to ponder rather than just follow the trends of trying to be fast.

Indeed, there are things which require speed and we must act quickly lest we will miss the precious opportunity. If an accident or calamity has taken place, the rescue team must act quickly to prevent avoidable casualties. And also a businessman may have to act quickly lest he would miss the opportunity of making an impressive profit.

However, life is more than saving people from accidents or calamities, and making profit from business investment. There are things that require us to purposely slowing down for long term benefits.

At times, speed can jeopardise us from reaching a wonderful destination. As it is say, “Go alone if you want to be fast. But, go as a team if you want to go far.” Therefore, building up a great team for a far away goal or destination, we cannot focus on speed.

Likewise, if we desire to have a deep relationship and friendship, we cannot attain our desire unless we are willing to spend time to inculcate deeper relationship or friendship. In other words, any attempt to hastily build up a relationship or friendship, it is going to be superficial and temporary. Therefore, a deeper friendship and relationship are for the long haul.

我们如今是生活在一个瞬息万变的世界，而速度是许多社会和城市成功的重要关键。对于许多中国或华人家长来说，”快”並不是什么新鲜的事。他们经常对他们的孩子说：“快快学习!”、”快点起床!”、快结婚!” 等。

难道生活真的是由速度来决定吗？人生中是否有些事情必须我们放慢脚步呢？这两个问题值得我们深思，而不要仅仅是跟随追求快速的趋势。

的确，有些事情需要速度，我们必须迅速采取行动才能避免错过宝贵的机会。如果发生意外或灾难，救援队必须迅速采取行动，以防止可以避免的伤亡。而且商人也可能必须迅速行动，以免他们会错过可以获得非凡利润的商机。

然而，生活不仅仅是为了幫助人免遭意外或灾难和追求商业上的利益。为了达成某些事情，我们有时候必须克意放慢速度。

有时，堅持速度会使我们达不到目标。有言道，”如果你想走得快，就一个人走；如果你想走得远，那就一起走!” 因此，如果为了达成一个远大的目标，而没有花上时间建立一个同心的团队，我们将不会达标。

同样的，如果我们希望建立长久的关系和友谊，我们就必须用时间培养深厚的关系和友谊。换句话说，任何想匆忙建立关系或友谊的行动，通常会造成肤浅和暂时的关系。所以，从长远来看，我们需要时间而不是速度来建立深厚及长久的关系。

It is a choice to pace your life. The garden is a reminder for us that life is not always about speed.
生活的节奏乃是一个选择，花园可以提醒我们生活并不总是关于速度。