Travel Tuesdays #5 - Chiang Mai

I had initially wanted to do a post about this last Tuesday, because last Tuesday marked a rather momentous day of my life. I finished my last exam in university, ever. It was momentous, because it really does mean that I'm heading to a next stage in life - that of a working adult. Having done many holiday jobs, I know that working life is a misnomer, one hardly has the time for a "life", especially for my profession - my seniors have all warned us of the late nights, and even late weekends(!) that lie ahead for us. Nevertheless, the end of exams was marked with celebrations - a good meal spent with good company - the only thing missing was the alcohol (which I couldn't take since I was driving). 

Anyway, before any of that 'working thing' starts, I’ve a three-month long break and naturally, I’m going on holiday! Many of my peers have chosen to go to America, both USA and South America, as well as Europe or Korea for their grad trip, but I've decided to do something different. Partly because I don't have enough finances for another grand trip, and partly because I thought this would be a great time to do something meaningful, something that I'd probably won't have the chance to do when I was working. I decided to join a student group heading to Phnom Penh for some volunteer work. I doubt when I start work, I'd be willing to spend my precious 14 days of annual leave on doing volunteer work, so this is a great opportunity, and I do think I need to get in touch with the less affluent world again, having travelled to developed nations (Europe in particular) rather extensively the past year. 

I took a number of photographs during that trip, because it was the first time I had a digital camera! Previously, I used a film camera so having a point-and-shoot was really great because I didn't have to worry about 'wasting film'. I still remember the camera - a Canon Ixus 5 - and I remember that during that time, it was the top of the line - back then, 5 megapixels and 3x optical zoom were the best that money could get you. Fast forward to today, 12 megapixels is merely a drop in the bucket, and 3x optical zoom? Extinct! Don't you find it amazing how fast technology moves? The speed at which science and technology progresses is one that amazes and frightens me at the same time - it frightens me because I'm afraid that people of the next generation might eventually forget how to live their lives without technology, and that is a scary scary thing indeed!

Anyway, back to the photograph - I know I typically post one photograph per Travel Tuesday post, but I thought I should buck the trend by posting a few photos I thought were especially meaningful. I regret that my photographs don't really tell a story by themselves, but these were taken with unskilled hands (which still are unskilled today - I'm really bad at portraits), so bear with me as I tell you the stories behind each photo :] The photograph above was taken when we first visited the children - as you can see, they were wary of us, but 'thankfully', because they had never seen a camera before, they were staring at it and I managed to get this shot of them. I remember two distinct feelings when I first saw them - fear and helplessness - fear because I didn't know how I could help, and helplessness because I knew that whatever help I could render, would merely be superficial and limited. After spending a whole 3 weeks interacting with the children and attempting to teach them basic English, they grew really close to us and were really sad to see us leave. When it was time for us to get onto the songthaew to leave, the children started to cry and seeing them cry made us tear as well, because this outburst of pure emotion from the kids made us realize how treasured our presence was. What was especially touching was our goodbye gifts from these children - each of them gave us little bracelets they had made with twine and seeds - till this day, I still keep my bracelet I got from my little boy :]

I know there are some of you out there who'd say, why waste the money going there when you can donate that money to them directly? To that, I'll first say - this ensures that your money is going to the right places and through the right channels. Second, I think it's important that the beneficiaries actually see who the donors are, in person. That's the difference between a larger donation of say $10,000 and a smaller donation of $5,000 coupled with volunteers helping out for a while at that place. This is what many of the VWOs here believe, and I believe the same too, especially for the teaching of English in these places - when these children see the faces that accompany the monetary donation, they see that their teachers are proficient in English, and they see the importance of learning English. This is why we try to equip them with basic English, because this will expose them to a wider scope of jobs - they'll be able to take on jobs in tourism if they wanted to. Also, for parents who are cynical about their children going for such overseas CIP trips, I'd like to say - please do let them go. It's a learning experience like no other. Nowhere in Singapore will you get living conditions like what you have in these places, be in Cambodia, or China or Thailand, which are the usual OCIP places. My kampong used to have almost similar living conditions, so it wasn't a big shock for me, but I could tell that it was for some of my team mates - no flushing toilet (we had to throw our papers in the makeshift dustbin outside), no toilet light (we had to bathe in the dark and in the cold) and no waste disposal system (we had to dig holes to dispose of our rubbish). It might be true that the airfare and other costs incurred in reaching these places could have translated into donations, but it's not called a service-learning trip for nothing - you want to be able to serve the community, and to learn at the same time. As I flip through the pages of the journal I kept then, I'm amazed at the amount of self-reflection that occurred. Some of my ideals got shattered, and among other things, I got bullied by some of my team-mates, so much so that I'd cry myself to sleep wondering why. Nevertheless, I learnt to pick myself up, and at the same time, I managed to serve the community to the best of my ability. Much was gained during that trip, and I hope for the same this trip - not the bullying, but the journey of self-discovery and helping others. 

Since this is a food blog, I decided to end off with a picture of the food that my host family prepared for us - this is by their standards, an extremely lavish meal - 2 sides to accompany the heaping portion of rice. As you can see, there is a Meiji milk packet on the left, which was a luxury we brought from Singapore. Every night, each family will gather around the 'living area' in their stilted homes, (stilted so that they can rear chickens and pigs underneath, not because of water since they lived on the mountains), which is basically an area which didn't have their sleeping mats and enjoy a meal together. There are no bowls or utensils - the metal spoons you see are specially for us - they dig in with their fingers and partake in the food. Meat, or fish, is a luxury that comes along once a week or for special occasions. This photo reminds me of many long-forgotten memories - things like how each child was so proud to introduce us to their family and their modest home, the pride they took in preparing their meal and offering it to us, as well as giving us the best spot in the home to sleep in. All these little actions simply showcase the boundless generosity of these people. It's perhaps proof to some that there is still good in this world, that people do not always act with ulterior motives. We, the so-called educated and better-off people, have many things to learn from these villagers - family values and benevolence are but a few that I've highlighted above.

I know I said I wanted to end off with the picture above, but I couldn't resist adding this one last photograph below. The little boy 'won' this packet of lollies from a game we played, and having unwrapped his lolly, he immediately offered it to his sister, without even having had a lick from it himself. I'm not really good with emotive words, but I always feel this overwhelming sensation when I think about this incident - perhaps it's awe that one can show such selflessness at such a young age (or is it that we are only able to show such unadulterated selflessness at that young age)? It makes me question if I'm able to be as selfless and generous as these people I've highlighted today. So today, I'd like to challenge you - you who are reading this - when was the last time you performed a selfless or altruistic act? If you have done so recently, good for you; if you haven't, challenge yourself - it could be as simple as giving up a seat for someone needy on the bus, or even dropping a coin for the destitute/homeless. Remember, love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference. They bless the one who receives them, and they bless you, the giver (Barbara de Angelis).

Have a great week ahead, my friends :] And apologies in advance if this sounded preachy or too cynical.  And sorry if the title conned you into thinking that I'd be writing about Chiang Mai today - this post is indeed the essence of what I did in Chiang Mai. I did manage to do the touristy thing in Chiang Mai, and for those contemplating visiting somewhere other than Bangkok and Phuket, do consider Chiang Mai - much of it is still untainted by tourists and it's a total change of scene from the hustle and bustle of Bangkok and the sun/sand/sea of Phuket.