ACEH.

A.C.E.H = Arabic, Chinese, European, Hindu

Dear Friends,

1 week in Aceh really flies. I was just bidding you guys farewell and now I am back with tons of insights to share with you guys.

Disaster Tourism. Yep, that was what my trip was all about. Disaster Tourism. A new term that has emerged in the arena of tourism, visiting an area whereby a huge disaster has previously struck.From another viewpoint, the tsunami was like one of my friend said, a blessing in disguise. Aceh, a region in Sumatra, has been shut out from the rest of the world due to about 32 years of civil unrest. The tsunami brought in new opportunities from the rest of the world whereby Acehese can now look forward to more peace and prosperity.

It was a huge sacrifice, one may say for the tsunami to take away so many lives just at the expense of future peace. However, that is how the world works, nothing is ever earned without any sacrifice. The tsunami has in way contributed to the successful signing of the peace treaty between the Indonesian government and GAM ( who are the rebels). Hopefully there will be less fighting and hopefully better days will come for the civilians.

Well, so before I blabber more on my trip, let me just introduce you the group of people which I went to Aceh with.

Project name: Move for Mobility
1) Joseph- Project Manager from SIF(Singapore International Foundation)
2) Kartini- a Malay Singaporean SVO (Singapore Volunteer Overseas) based in Aceh
3) Jonson- Singapore PR who is an Indonesian Chinese; hometown: Medan- largest city in Sumatra. He is from Keppel FMO- a facilities maintainence company
4) Andy- from Mobility Aids ( the organisation that collects mobility aids including wheelchairs, repair them and redistribute to the needy- the one which I mentioned earlier in my much earlier entry)
5) Allan- from Mobility Aids too ( used to be the chairperson of this group)
6) Mus- from Keppel
7) Khai-from Keppel
8) Kumar- from Keppel
9) Azari- from Keppel
10) Kamal- from Keppel
11) Nazri- from Keppel

Well,yep and including me, the only chinese girl in this group. Anyway this was a joint project between SIF, CDC, SPD and Mobility Aids which started right from the start of this year. Mobility Aids have been collecting wheelchairs and mobility aids since then and we have sent over about 68 wheelchairs plus numerous other walking aids like walking frames and sticks.

Move for Mobility is a project whereby not only are we giving them the mobility aids, we are also hoping that through our training stint in the hospital in Banda Aceh, the staff at the hospital and some other NGOs can learn how to maintain their equipment so as to prolong the lifes of these equipment. Thus, skills transfer is one of my main priority.

We flew in to Medan via SilkAir before taking another domestic flight into Banda Aceh (sort of one of the main towns in Aceh; * in case you guys are not aware, Aceh is actually occupying a relatively big area in Sumatra). Medan is relatively more densely populated with more Chinese as compared to Banda Aceh. From what I have heard, Acehese used to drive the Chinese out of Aceh due to some racial discrimination and there is an area (forgot the name) in Medan whereby these Chinese have settled down after being driven out of Aceh. Hence as it seems that the Chinese in Medan generally do not really like Aceh and viewed it as a relatively unsafe place.

So as far as I can see and hear, racial discrimination is still prevalent in Aceh, having encountered some unpleasant incidents myself. While me and my friends were taking a photo outside the hospital( our training site), a schoolgirl in a the public bus along the road pointed her middle finger at us ( which I do not know if it is targetted at the four Chinese in our group or the whole group in general). Well, initially I ignored it, thinking that I must have seen wrongly. However, it was not once but thrice that she did that, making me realize that, either there is something seriously wrong with her or she simply dislike us- Chinese. I guess it should be the latter. Then, there was this evening when I went out with Kartini to the market near the mosque. Along came a bike and the rider just shouted Cina ( which means Chinese) very loudly. I was a bit taken aback and Kartini explained to me that there are very few Chinese in Banda Aceh and so the reason for that reaction.

For me, all these can be considered little acts of discrimination, though I do not know their main intentions. In Aceh, Chinese are really the minority of the community. Everywhere you go, you see mainly Malays, perhaps just once in a while a couple of foreigners. We were discussing about this topic and the conclusion was discrimination is everywhere as long as you are the minority. What is worse is that Chinese are generally better well off than the Malays there and that worsen the discrimination as people tend to get jealous.

After this trip, I am pretty grateful that racial harmony existed in our country. And I have come to realize that I actually do not really understand the different cultures in our country. Though we have been taught once in a while on the different races in Singapore, be it their culture, religion or festivals, I realize that nothing can be compared to having personally exposed to their culture. The Muslim culture in Aceh is relatively strict and women there are supposed to be covered from head from toe.

Perhaps, I should pose some questions to test your knowledge on the Muslim culture first.

1) Why is it that female Muslims have to wear tudungs?
2) How many times must the Muslims pray everyday?
3) During meals, which hand can only be used for eating?
4) Where do the Muslims bury their ancestors?

And well, here goes the answers. Let's see how many of you get all the questions right. No prize though for getting all right haha.

1) Female Muslims have to tudungs so as to cover their hair which according to them, hair is considered to be a seductive and hence should not be shown in public.
2) Devoted Muslims pray five times a day.
3) Only the right hand can be used during meals as the left hand is considered 'dirty' by the Muslims as it is used to clean private parts.
4) Muslims bury their ancestors in their backyards. ( * not applicable to Singaporeans Muslims due to the lack of space. In Singapore, Muslims bury their loved ones at government designated Muslim Cemeterty but only perhaps for 3 to 5 years as, as usual, not enough land.)

Interesting? That s what I thought so. Perhaps you guys may already have known the answers but for me, these are some of the things which I have learnt during this trip. There s still so much to learn and I realize that my lack of knowledge is mainly due to my lack of Muslim friends. Come to think of it, I do not really have any Muslim or Indian friends. Mostly are mere aquaintainces. We speak about racial harmony but how much do we really know about the other races? Do we really know how to appreciate their cultures?

I realize that it is this diversity that makes Singapore really interesting. I have been to Taiwan and all around, I see Chinese. I have been to Indonesia, and all around I see mostly Malays. I am right here in Singapore now, and I see many different races of people. I have a Malay neighbour right beside my house, an Indian family staying further down and several more Chinese households. Never did I know, such diversity should not be taken for granted until I have been to two vastly different countries. Never did I know, I actually do appreciate this diversity and and the respect and understanding between the different races that come along with it. Well, I guess, there is still more to be done and we should constantly make an effort to appreciate what the diversity has to offer although at times we may not agree nor truly understand why some things are done in that way. Personally, I really admire the female Muslims at Aceh, having to cover themselves practically from head to toe especially in such a hot and dusty climate which I cannot imagine myself doing it.

Enough said about cultures and races. Now moving on to the what we did in Aceh. Basically the first day was spent on sightseeing. We went to ground zero which means the coastal areas that have been the worst hit by the tsunami. It was a sad sight, I must admit. Practically nothing was left except debris. mud and some dilapidated houses. In case, you think the whole town was like that. Well, it s only like half the town that was wiped off. The rest of the town, where we stayed was still pretty ok.
I guess pictures say a millon words. Below are some photos which I have taken at ground zero.

Yep, the ship which you have just seen is right in the middle of the village, whereby the coast is approximately 5 to 10 km away. What could possibly have managed to carry such a huge ship (which most probably weigh hundreds and hundreds of tonnes) right into the village?

Yah, the tsunami lor. Haha. Lame question with a lame answer. During the whole time I was there, I was simply flabbergasted. And the whole time, I was imagining the volume of water and the height of the waves which could have sent the ship floating up and then down. I heard that somebody even saw the ship spin around a few times before landing and crushing a rich man's house which is now under the big ship now. We saw a thing that looked like a crushed car. My friend commented that well, perhaps it could have belonged to the rich man. We tried to look beneath, curious to know what could have been crushed by the big ship. We thought perhaps, many many bodies ? Well, nothing much to see, except for a cat who has inhabitated the small area which I had peered through after mastering enough courage. Haha.

As usual, I heard ( my ears have been working hard during the trip) that they will be turning the ship into a museum, to perhaps remind the future generations of the extent of the destruction. But I guess this might not be the main reason as to why they are not removing the ship. It would have costed a lot of money to remove the ship, being such a big ship I guess. Rather than spending money removing it, why not just keep it and use it to earn more money? However, the ship seriously needs some refurnishing as it is highly corroded by rust.

Another thing which I have noticed is that the locals there (in general term) do not really care about preserving artifacts which might have a long historical background. Well, this is because, we went to visit a kindergarten site (another project under SIF) and at this site, we saw this huge tombstone which most probably belonged to some royalty given the size and material of the tombstone. No effort was made to put it properly somewhere but was just left being half buried in the mud. Kartini said, they are most likely more concerned about the cost of removing it than to preserve the tombstone which actually might worth millions of dollars. What an irony.

Anyway, I fell ill on my second day at Aceh. Poor me. First it was sore throat, then it was flu and cough. Not only that, my eyes became swollen after taking two tablets of panadol. Well and the worst was I had diahorrea during the last few days in Aceh. Well, luckily, I was not that sick to the extent that I could not work. At least, I managed to repaired and cleaned some wheelchairs. Training wise, being an amateur and also because I am sick (though I think it would not have make much difference), I did not contribute much or should I say nothing at all. Feeling a bit guilthy that I was kind of useless, until Allan said," this trip would have been less enjoyable without you". Well, at least I provided some entertainment and laughter to the rest. (with my goldfish eyes and endless teasing or rather the one being teased).But that was really nice of Allan to have said that. I appreciated it. I especially like to make fun of Allan by always wanting to capture his photos. Andy too. Because they are just so camera shy that whenever I took photos of them, they looked as if they are going to kill me. Haha. That s one of the reasons why I have a lot of backview shots of them. Anyway I call the three of us, Triple As. Haha. Batteries anyone?

One thing which I have learnt from the trip was that sometimes help given may not be reciprocated. Sometimes, our help may even be over-exploited to the extent that it was over demanding. Kartini mentioned to me someone from one of the NGOs which we gave the wheelchairs to, was questioning/wondering why we gave them used wheelchairs and not new wheelchairs. It seems that, our kind gesture of giving them the wheelchairs have not been appreciated. They had expected new ones. Well, perhaps it is only a minority of them who thinks this way but it is enough to make one feel disappointed. Though the wheelchairs have been used, they are still in good condition because we have been cleaning and repairing them.Also, as I have heard from my friend, he said some of the facilities maintainence guys at the hospital was laughing at him while he was repairing the wheelchairs, which somehow was related to the fact that they could not understand why he was like repairing the wheelchairs. Well, I do not know how true this is as like I said it s only hearsay and their intention might not have been to ridule my friend. Anyway it is incidents like these that make us, especially Kartini, wonder if our help was worth it. One of our main concerns was whether they will sell the wheelchairs we sent them and whether they will look after the wheelchairs.

Kartini suggested to have a teambuilding and mindset change training programme rather than having the wheelchair maintainence training. Because, seriously one of the main problems is not lack of such mobility aids but the mindset issue. Their culture is generally more relaxed than ours and Joseph has not once but twice reminded us to work according to their timing. They generally do not take care of the medical equipment, like the beds and wheelchairs. As long as they are spoilt they will chuck it at one corner without attempting to repair them. ( as far as I can see, personal opinion). I do not know if they do not know how to maintain the equipment or they simply just do not care. As mentioned by Kart, because this is a government hospital and since it is not their money, they just do not bother to take care of the equipment. (* They as in the general term. I must emphasize this as I do not wish to stereotype all of them). Most of the staff are mostly sitting at their desks, doing nothing much. I was told that they will only do things when being told. And as far as I am concerned, the working structure of the hospital is very messy. Kartini has to walk around the whole hospital ( mind you, the hospital is really big) the whole morning just to get a document signed.

Nevertheless, we did meet some positive incidents as well. When we patronise some of the shops, people will thank us for coming to Aceh to help their people. Though we did not help them directly, they still thanked us. Some of the trainees (staff which we have trained) were rather friendly as well. Though I did not spend a lot of time with them ( cos I was sick), surprisingly they still remembered my name which really kind of touched me. And they would be really concerned for me as I was sick. It was really nice of them. While we were giving sweets to the children at the hospital, the smiles on the some of the children's faces were enough to make our days, though most of them have startled faces rather than smiley faces. Guess they were more shocked than happy. I even had to run after one kid just to give him a sweet. And a little girl ran away from my friend who was giving her a sweet. We were like hunting down kids just to give them the sweets. Hehe. But truly, it is a great feeling to be able to give, to just make someone happy for that moment is great joy for oneself as well.

Give! my friend, within your means and you will feel that you need nothing else. I shall learn to spend less on myself so that I will be able to give more to others. This trip has made me realize that I am indeed fortunate to be born in Singapore. Having clean water coming from the tap seems like to be guaranteed and a flush is almost everywhere in every toilet. Having a roof over our heads and having the luxuries of the glorious food and clothes seem to be a definite thing.

No, not in aceh. Definitely not clean water. I have to bathe with yellowish dirty water for 5 days, used manual flush to flush the toiletbowl ( meaning use pails of water to flush down my stool and urine) and use mineral water to brush my teeth for the fear of drinking the dirty water which may cause me to be very sick. I see the tents that the homeless people are staying and I wish I could build a house for them. I see the people who have lost a limb and I felt such admiration for them to be able to live life as per normal even with their disability. I see those people who have braved through the tsunami and I applaude them for the courage to move on even though the memories and pain of the tsunami may stay with them for as long as they live. In short, I have seen that life goes on, no matter what. And to be alive is already the greatest gift of all. Celebrate life by multiplying love through giving.

However, I believe we should only help those who help themselves. By giving endless help to those who do not help themselves would only make them more reliant on you. Just like in the case of Aceh, I feel that somehow the culture has evolved to become into one whereby they rely too much on others. Help has been taken for granted. Ever since the tsunami, numerous foreign NGOs have been rendering their help to the people there and this will somehow make the people feel that as long as there is a crisis, they can always count on the others to help them. In time to come, they would expect more and more help and will not know how to help themselves first. Some of you may ask, how do you expect them to help themselves when they are really in a dire situation. Well, I guess it is the attitude then. At least be appreciative, that s all that really matters actually. Being appreciative would mean not taking things for granted. And a simple thank you is all I ask for.

By offering our help to anyone, it is a voluntary gesture straight from our heart whereby we do not expect anything back in return. However, we should know how to protect ourselves without having our help being abused. This is a very important lesson which I have learnt and hope that you guys can take it as a learning point too.

Lastly, thank you for reading. I appreciate it.

Grateful to have been given this opportunity to volunteer in Aceh,

Agnes