Roy's Reflection

My trip to Tanjung Balai, Indonesia on 6 March was a fulfilling one. Although it could have been better if it was slightly longer, I appreciated the opportunity I was given to take part in the trip. Our main activities for the 1 day trip was the home visits, interaction with the villagers’ children and lastly, interactions with the students living in the city area.
Through the home visits, I realised that people there have very basic necessities and carry on life with their counterparts at very young ages. What I learnt is how joyful and satisfied they can be, even without material well-being. Sometimes, I start to think whether or not I should be complaining on whatever small reasons. Life there is indeed less stressful, but given a choice, would I live there?

Well, probably no. That’s to be honest about it. I really admire how they can be so happy, friendly, generous etc. You can ask anyone in the village for something, anything. Take for instance, Ms Ang asked one particular family how they get the coconut down, and next moment, someone is up to get not just one, but 4 coconuts for us. I am amazed by how generous they are. Probably, if one were to ask me for, say, a packet of biscuit, will I give it to him/her?
I presume I will. And the spirit of give and take is what the people in the village have. And that is what I want and hope to learn from them.

Interaction with the villages’ children was very stress relieving. Their laughter, smiles and small little actions make me feel stress free. Although there were times I felt redundant because I wasn’t able to communicate with them, I feel that there is a bond between the children and us. Maybe you are wondering, what’s there to learn from a small little child? Well, when you fall flat onto the ground, would you complain and cry in pain? I think probably yes. But guess what? The children there don’t. Running, falling, standing, running again is like a cycle they experience daily, hourly. What I learn is that life is like a cycle, there will always be obstacles and we need to overcome it again and again. There is no point in stopping. If you do, that’s most likely the end of your learning journey.

Lastly, we visited the students in the city area in Tanjung Balai. Honestly, it wasn’t that fruitful. I thought that we could have spent longer time in the village. The reason is because of the short time for interaction and that they were of close age to us, within such a short period, it is difficult to overcome the barrier most youngsters like me and you have. Nevertheless, I realise that even children there have very few sources of entertainment and thus realised how fortunate I am to be here.