The Underdogs
Last Sun, I was switching TV channels as usual when came across the program "The Underdogs" in TVB Pearl. Never heard of this term. In Chinese, it means: 1. 鬥敗了的狗, 2. 競爭失敗的人;處於劣勢的一方, 3. 受迫害者. What was it all about? I was curious and decided to stay with it for awhile (before my habitual switching kicks in again).
Around 6-7 kids in their late teen introduced themselves in front of the camera individually looking healthy and normal. Yet, each of them had unique problems which seriously worried his / her parents and troubled their own life. They were rejected by schools, employers, etc..
As a last resort, their parents enrolled them to an innovative program which helped transform problem youngsters by training them to be dog trainers. The dogs were either strayed dogs or abandoned by the previous masters. And the most amazing part was the dogs were specially chosen to mirror the kids' characters/personalities/behaviours. A lazy one got a passive lazy dog, a hot temper one got an impatient angry dog, etc..
Initially, as expected, the human-dog pairs didn't get along well with each other due to "personality crash". Eventually, the dog trainer, psychiatrist and doctor guided the kids to see themselves through the behaviours of their dogs. By understanding that, it greatly improved the relationship. However, it was just the beginning. It took them a number of training sessions before they developed the self-confidence and learnt the skills for achieving their ultimate goal of participating in the dog trainer competition.
This program got a really perfect name, didn't it? The kids were underdogs, so were the dogs. They were both rejected by the society and were losers. Because of this common point, the kids got connected to the dogs which enabled them to be aware of the problems and pulled them out of their own enclosed world.
Although life is tough, it can still be fulfilling if enough effort is made to turn bad things into positive energy. May God grant me the necessary wisdom and capability to make this happen.
