Sihui's reflection
Heys. I’m typing this with my eyes half closed but I have to get this down today so I won’t forget what I have reflected on the bus. Our trip to Balai is something that I have not done before. There were many things that seem to be common yet, as children born in a developed country, I’ve failed to experience. Things as simple as tasting a yellow coconut, walking a crab and really seeing a turtle without going to a zoo are stuff that I only have a chance to enjoy today. With learning and experiencing things from the people in a small fishing village, it really makes the whole SL thing click in my head. I really received a lot but gave little today. Just yesterday, I was crying like it was the end of the world over my A level Chinese due to high expectations that could not be met. Today, while walking through the beach of Tanjong Balai, I am truly ashamed of myself and envious of their care free lifestyle. Men are all greedy animals; we are always not satisfied with what we want. Without comparing the village kids to us, just by comparing them to the kids in the more developed part of Balai, the difference is jarring. I still remember that Fang Yin and Roy were telling me that the kids at the Natalie’s tuition class were complaining about how boring there island is without a shopping mall or a cinema. These are also not found in the village; furthermore, the village kids do not even have an air con classroom compared to the tuition class’s kids. But, they are not complaining! In contrast, the village kids are more approachable and friendlier. They have permanent smiles plastered over their faces, contended with what they already have. Thinking about how happy they were to receive their pencil boxes and their extremely sweet and cute “Thank You”, it really make me wonder if a more developed society is a better one. With what they have, they seem to be happier than even me as a Singaporean, who has a better toilet, better food everyday, air con above my head 24/7… The interviewee that we have today over the beach just enjoys sitting outside her door and enjoy the sea breeze. Apart from housework and feeding her pet turtle ikan she practically does that everyday. This makes me really reflect on how happier she would be than anyone of us now. Another point that makes me really doubt our presence in the Balai village is the disposal of rubbish. With many Singaporeans going there once a month to play and teach the kids English, non-biodegradable items are also brought into the village. These villages do to have a proper disposal rubbish system as they do not have any of them until foreigners like us came. Today as we picked up Styrofoam boxes that were thrown by locals on the floor beside our holding area after finishing lunch. I had this weird thought that maybe if this area was not developed and they lived in their old ways by fishing, the area might not be as dirty as today. There were glass bottles and plastic wraps for food all around the village. These obviously were brought in with the development of the area. By realizing that we are the ones contributing to the village’s pollution problem, I really have doubts in our purpose of our trip. Have they gained from us apart from material wise or have we destroyed their environment and their way of life? By teaching them English and showing them the outside of the world, are we influencing them to become like us in the future? Making them to become selfish and unhappy humans or should we just leave them to become what there now and be happier than any of us? That’s what I’m going to wonder when I suffer through my A levels this year.:D