The Contrast between ' Poor' and 'Rich'

I do not know much about Indonesia’s history and politics, so I am not trying to act like an expert to analyze the situation here. What I am writing here is purely what I see everyday on the street and my feelings.

I have been trying to blog about this for a very long time – about ‘poverty’ in Indonesia. We are staying in Wisma MM Sagan, one of the prime areas in Yogyakarta. Beside our Wisma MM, there is a Sagan Chinese Restaurant, and a Bangawan Solo café. These 2 places served relatively expensive food and drinks, so it is definitely one of the more ‘atas’ place in Yogyakarta. Yet across the road, there is a slum. People are living in houses that are torn and tattered, and their houses are surrounded by tons of rubbish. Whenever Puteri and I walked passed it, we could always hear this ‘chee chee chee’ sound, and I am not sure if it comes from rats or from other insects. It has a foul smell too, and yet, people are living in this area.

In contrast to the slum, my room is air conditioned; it is clean and is relatively comfortable. At times, Puteri and I will drink coffee at Bangawan Solo café and watch TV. By night, you will not be able to see much of the slum due to the poor lightings here, but you know there are people living on the side of the road and in the slum area. We are in a cool area, they are suffering from heat. We sit on comfortable chair; they sit at the side of the road. The contrast is a little uncomfortable for me. Hence, sometimes when I cannot sleep, I will start to wonder ‘what if I am one of them who live on the street? Will I survive?”

Maybe my research work for my ISM topic on rape cases is ‘heavy going’ and emotional. Many victims who were raped come from weak and poor families; they live in the slum and have no money. In addition to the poor condition of living, they have to fear and tolerate the sexual violence that might happen to them everyday. Given such harsh conditions, people continue to strive on. Sometimes, I think they have more courage than I do.

There is no need for you to live near slum near in order for you to know the poverty of this group of Indonesians. Every where on the street and on the busy road, there are beggars as young as 4-6 years old begging for money. You can’t ignore them; they will knock against your taxi door and put their hands forward, hoping to get some money from you. What could you do for them? Most of the time, we could only feel sad for them, and when we are back in Singapore, we will forget about them and live on with our own life.

I must admit that I not only feel sorry for them, but their experiences instill a certain fear in me. I told Puteri that I do not aspire to be a very very rich person, but I am really very afraid to be poor. I don’t think any amount of money is ever enough to help savage the lives of Indonesians who live below poverty line and we must also accept the fact that corruptions has add on more problems to this major issue, but we must always tell ourselves “能救多少是多少”. This is, we must always save as many lives as we could because every life counts.

God bless this group of people who needs help….