actually wanted to blog abt the batam trip yesterday. but im such a sloth and i cant be bothered to type something on the keyboard. now im like freaking bored, and having ample time at my hands.. perhaps its time for me to get in retrospective and recall what i've been up too for that few days...
basically, that overseas trip wasnt even considered as being an overseas trip. cuz normally we wuld like travel to exotic places for holidays and batam is like... 1 hr of ferry trip from singapore? and the trip sorta fall below my expectations cuz it wasnt as comfortable as i thot off.. oh well im too used being pampered at home. but in terms of intangible terms like the precious time spent with loved ones, its priceless. some wuld say that an truly enjoyable holiday wuld be lazing on a deck chair on a luxurious cruise. and some wuld claim that a holiday well spent is to go visit those cultural attractions which are of great heritage value. but i say a true good holiday is spending time with ur family and ur loved ones.
and this is how my trip goes. on the first day, we stayed in a supposedly luxurious hotel, and yes, its supposedly luxurious. this is becuz, to our dismay, the infrastructure of the hotel is left to ruins despite its grandiloquent facade. in chinese it wuld be "金玉其外，败絮其中”.. there shld be a pool bar as described but even leaves was being accumulated on the pool.. perhaps the hotel ppl do not have the management abilities to run the hotel. but nevertheless, we had fun that day with nigel and me camwhoring, sing our hearts out for karaoke in the louge and embarassing ourselves in front of the korean tourists, and spending quality time with each other.. and meanwhile, i get to meet my two little cousins whom, together with my relatives, stayed in indonesia.
on the second day, we left the beach resort for the hotel nearer to the town center. my uncle who stayed in batam told me that the infrasture in indonesia wasnt as well developed as singapore. and indeed, what my uncle said is so true as we have to take many twists and turns just to get from point A to point B.. and i had the ride of my life as the vehicle jerked terribly as it travelled along the porthole-ridden road. the journey was really an eye opener. was saddened and appalled when i saw a man, with both of his legs amputed, was crawling along the bz strech of road begging for money. and his little son, i presume, was sitted on the curb of the road., forlone and lost. the father who was begging money from the motorists, passed the coins to the boy and the boy chewed on it to test that it is not a counterfeit. and for another instance, i saw a boy who is in his teens was selling souveniers to the motorists along the road. den my uncle started a lecture on my little cousins, warning them that they will end up like that boy if they dont study hard in school.
i gotta say that im really well blessed enuff to have the opportunity to pursue an education where million of kids in the world, like that boy selling souveniers on the road,are being denied from it. education is like a key - it allows you to have the knowledge to understand the world and the knowledge to be in demand in the economy. likewise, education opens more opportunities to you and you are not being condemned doing meager jobs. but those poor kids deprived of education would find themselves trapped in the neverending cycle of poverty. and there stems out many of the social problems we see in our society......
not to sidetrack, we arrived to the next hotel in the city. my sis was sick and was unable to accompany us.. so me and my fren accompanied my parents to visit my relatives in batam. on the first trip, we visited my san jiu's [third uncle] resisdence. my sanjiu lives in a terrace house and i even took a picture of his beautiful lotus. after that, we went to my xiaojiu's house where my cousins stay there too. they lived in a shophouse with three storeys, and my little cousins even claimed that there is a bird nest on the roof of the building. that's living large yeah? as compared to my small measly condo apartment, they have so much albow space! and space to stretch their limbs too! but my fren made a poignant statement which i cant help agreeing to it. in terms of living conditions, i wuld really prefer my home in singapore than theirs in batam. not becuz i stay in a condo, but at least i have running water and constant electricity which the indonesian municipal authorities arent able to provide sufficiently. my mum always complained that i had a pampered life. maybe i shld have my own version of "Simple Life" where im sent off to stay in batam for a month to experience the rural, countrylike lifestyle that the city dwellers can onli see it on the tv.
on our way there, we saw many slums which the natives lived in there. but yet, few pockets of well built houses juxtaposed the shantytowns. obviously, those houses are owned by the more affluent and well off chinese. and while i was walking on the street, i felt a surge of fear not becuz im in some foreign lands, but simply becuz im a chinese. i learnt in history that the chinese are loathed [and still loathed today] in both malaysia and indonesia. being called the jews of the east, the natives have reasons to hate us as most chinese dominate the modern economy, leaving the natives to the traditional, less profitable agriculture sector. and this explains why those governments have imposed discrimatory laws on the chinese. and in the asian financial crisis, indonesia was badly hit by deflation, and riots and mobs broke out in most cities. the mobs turned nasty as ppl began perpetuate violence against the chinese, claiming that these chinese were the blood suckers of the country. it is a chilly reminder of germany where nazi propaganda blamed the jews for the great depression.
enuff of my history stuff. anyway while i was walking into my xiaojiu's shophouse, i saw rows of shabby, crudely built shacks where the indonesians lived in. and right in the entrance of the shophouse, i saw a man making ketupats [spelling?] outside his shack. and it struck me that illegal tenacy is a persistent problem in indonesia and many ppl still did not have a basic shelter. and what happens if it rains? will those houses leak? and speaking of the rain, it really rained as we are on our way back to the hotel. a heavy one, i wuld say. as we were travelling, the road was so waterlogged that big slashes were created as the vehicle ran over the puddles. and this commence the begining of the monsoon season, where singapore rained heavily for the next few days.
in a nutshell, from what i learnt in school... being endowed with resources like oil and many raw materials, indonesia is indeed a resource rich country. being the largest muslim country and one of the most populous cuontry in the world, indonesia have an abundant labour force to drive a big economy. likewise, with many natural attractions which singapore can only envy of, indonesia has the potential to be a popular tourist destination. in all, indonesia is a country full of potential. however, being ridden with abject poverty and rampant violence, the reason is simple - the country lacks effective governance. as the confucian text had mentioned, if the government is less corrupt and take care of the needs of the people.. problems even like terrorism can be solved. why? forget abt religious extreminism and america. 穷途末路, and ppl wuld commit drastic acts only in times of desperation. and tis explains why relgious extreminism werent that serious in affluent and stable countries like malaysia and the gulf states.
btw i wuld like to dedicate the last paragraph to my little cousins - david and jannes. i hope that u will still remember me and nigel as ur kors, cuz u two have made a deep impression in our hearts. for the three days, we have so much fun and i really appreciate both of you making my trip an enjoyable one! david is a boy with a small stature but a big heart, and a big mouth! chatterbox is not apt enuff to describe him, as he talks nonstop, as in nonstop literally. and in constrast, jannes is much quiet and subdue as compared to his big brother, but he is a nice and gentle boy. so, when sch reopens in singapore and both of u are back to sch [btw my cousins have their education in singapore], do drop by my place to swim in the pool and play my comp. its just a stone's throw away from ur school. cuz ur big kor here dotes u a lot! and david, dont be disheartened or upset whenever ur father nags at you abt ur education. i think that u can do well ur PSLE cuz u have a quick mind and an intelligent brain. but, as ur father said, do cherish ur chance in singapore as ur dad works very hard just to give u a decent education. ur biaoge/tangge [argh i hate chinese formalities] will be there to give u free tuition and give u all the encouragement.
oh well, this entry took me two days and im finally done with it. its time for me to sleep... thats all folks!
<3
path crossed, lives changed. a trip that is both an eye opener and an experience that transformed my world view.
p.s: to my cousins, pls drop me a tag on my tagboard [points to the right] if u see this entry!
12:07 AM;
old man ist tot (old man is dead)
old man ist tot (old man is dead)
