Dream Sarawak

Past few weeks ago, was glad to volunteer for a NGO into the semirural of Sarawak. I expected to see poor living conditions and hope for an experience to live it out in the kampung. I was yearning to hear stories of the people there, something that I hope will shape me into a better individual.  As I mingled with the locals there, I found out that the problems faced were worse than I ever imagine. It just felt hopeless in many of the situation but at least someone is there, making a change in their life now. My only way of helping maybe would be to create awareness through sharing and passing on their stories.

I grew up in the capital city all my life. Since young, we were all told to do well in academics to secure a stable job for our future. Everyone seems to be heading towards that same direction and same goal that is to be rich and famous. Even if you think otherwise, deep down you know you want to be acknowledge by others. The truth is, must there be only a certain lifestyle that everyone in this world should follow to be call successful? Many of us are unaware that parallel to our life in the city, lies a universe struggling to survive deep in the rural of Sarawak. As modernization continues, the more neglected these communities are. They exist in the non-industrialize part of Malaysia and so often we forget that they are too are our fellow anak bangsa Malaysia. 

Longhouse too long to fit into one frame

That trip had made me realize many things. To help doesn’t mean to just support them financially only. These people are not actually poor but in fact marginalized. They have a rich culture and heritage passed down through generations. They have been living well WITH nature for centuries and have cultures that are neither frail nor fragile to survive in the forest. So often leaders tend to forgot about that and try to revamp these communities into accepting the urban lifestyle. When you do so, culture is lost though the individual survives. They leave behind the shadows of their formal selves, becoming disinterested in their traditions and roots which are crucial for survival, losing their self sufficiency. They are mislead into thinking that they can attain successful glorious luxurious lifestyle in the town but in reality isolated into an alien world generally to the lowest part of the economical ladder and they goes nowhere. Life turn into a misery and they don’t understand why. In the long run, things would only not improve but deteriorates away. You may have good intentions to help but we so often forget that we should never reflect our own ideology to plan for a certain community. Instead, we should go down, have a dialogue, really understand the issue at hand and exchange ideas to benefit the communities as a whole.

Interior of the Longhouse

Listening to Buaya Stories

Setup of the Dental Corner

It was sad to hear stories that many teens were entangled in illegal social activities when they arrive in the cities for their secondary education. Rather than learning algebra at schools, perhaps these young ones should be taught life vocational skills back in the villages that they can use for survival and maybe their daily bread in the future.

Overall, this short trip was certainly one good eye-opener for me. It was filled with wonderful memories despite the ad hoc change in locations along with 2 busted tires. I was able to meet so many amazing people along the way. To team Buaya, it was a pleasure working along sides with you all and I hope our path cross in the future.

Ps: I have not revealed much detail in this post for security reasons. You may ajak me out for a yum cha story filling session if you are interested to find out more!

Peace!