19. BOROBODUR REVISITED

Driving from Jakarta into the Muslim heartland of Central Java allowed me a peek into a part of Indonesia many do not see.
Indonesia in general has been off the traveler's radar for a while now.

We drove with a slip of a dog, my Indonesian friend's tiny terrier, into rural hamlets and provincial towns. The little fella was a big attraction everywhere we went but nobody said anything negative about us walking a dog around, not even in the motels where we smuggled him into the room but he gave the game away each time by barking, but we were not evicted. The people everywhere are so damn polite and easy going.

Life in rural Indonesia is simple and quiet. At least they have electricity and running water, several homes we went into had wells within its compounds. It was de je vu for me, going back in time to a period where I spent 20 years in Malaysia, surrounded by nature, communing with fruit trees, bamboo groves, creeks, birds, chickens, ducks, cows. Children ran around playing simple games - it was an age of innocence.

We ate at roadside warungs, simple and same fare throughout. In each district, the same food had some variations. I survived the diet. Flies shared the food. I was'nt sure about the water and ice I was drinking. The vendors used their fingers to pick up my selection, I figured if my friend and her driver can eat this all their lives and are still OK, I guess my stomach can take it as well.

The Dieng Plateau was 2000+ m above sea level so was chilly in the night but what a spectacular sunrise and sunset. The plateau offered a lake thick with minerals as well as a bubbling thermal hot spring pungent with sulphur. Throughout the long ride, we were surrounded by volcanoes, they look deceptively beautiful, with fluffy white clouds dancing around it.

The land is fertile volcanic soil and grows lovely cash crops and tobacco which have made tycoons out of the Indonesian Chinese. The personal wealth of the Chinese is legendary. They live in large palatial homes with their army of servants and cars. Singapore has been the beneficiary of their material success and many have PR status. When they became targets of fanatical marauders, many sort refuge in Singapore. The rich and famous live in homes no better then prisons, surrounded by very high walls and the latest security systems. When I retired for the night, I was enclosed by doors and gates which lock quickly without having to fumble with locks or chains which in the mornings, I opened with keys or the servants unlocked from the outside. Many homes keep handguns. Their army of guard dogs were those big black fearsome ones with killer instincts.

The Muslim youths in the rural communities spend their leisure time sitting around smoking, chatting, perhaps dreaming of a move to and a job in the cities. There's a large number of them, they look bored, listless, restless - these are fertile recruiting grounds for political Islam. These youths have nothing to do after a day in the fields, there's no outlet for creative expression, no movies, no clubs, no dating - its a lot of pent up emotions, mostly anger, frustration and envy. There's lots more of them in the more remote areas.

It was nice to be back in Yogjakarta and especially Borobodur for a midnight Wiesak (Vesak) candlelight and moonlight procession. This year's gathering was a marketing coup for the country's new President who came to grace the occasion, together with a bunch of Tibetan monks and Muslim clerics who got in on the act. If a bomb had gone off under that marquee, I would have been another statistic.

The Indonesians I met during the long drives are peaceful and friendly and very much family oriented. The fact that they welcomed our dog into their midst was special.

Like the Thais, the Indonesians do not toot their vehicle horns unnecessarily, making the long overland drive pleasant.

Prambanan Temple, ancient Hindu monument in the largest Muslim nation.
 
Warung dining, with our dog, in a Muslim stall. I ate at such warungs so often during the long drive, there were times I prayed I don't pick up an amoeba. Reminded me of days gone by when such sarabat stalls were common in Singapore.

Blast from the past! Like I've travelled back in time in some Toyota Time Capsule, this roadside warung had Gen. Soekarno as poster boy.

May '05

18. NORTH vs SOUTH

The Kama Sutra on the walls of Kajuraho Temple













Indian friends ask if I prefer the North or the South.

Both ends have their attractions, it is the people who will make or break the enjoyment of your stay. This applies to anywhere in the world.

My friends from the South will say the South is better and its people nicer. My friends from the North will say likewise about the North. Most of the Indians in Singapore are from the South and we continue to receive them as immigrants. They come in as IT professionals or are in the finance and banking industry. In my conversations with them, I gather they enjoy their life in Singapore. I meet them at yoga or meditation classes, at other times, during seva work or occasionally, house parties. I observe they enjoy their personal freedom best - freedom to express themselves without constraints, for those so inclined. Singapore has always had a multiracial, multicultural, multireligious, multilingual mix. Racism is confined to a small number of ignorant people, but may rear its ugly head as Singapore lets in large numbers of migrants from mainland China, Myanmar, Nepal, Vietnam and other Asian countries.

Some Indian immigrants came because they wanted their children to enjoy a more rounded education. Singapore's education system is not perfect, but it is always evolving and the authorities are not afraid to change and learn from others. Migrant children adjust very quickly to the Singaporean way of life and many eat only local food and speak English with local expressions. They mix with classmates and neighbours who are of other races and such exposure can only be good. It's an education they will not get should they grow up in India.

The South Indians are more accommodating, less quarrelsome, less aggressive. Unfortunately, in Singapore, they tend to be involved once too often in molest and violent crimes of passion.

I observe for the most part, cities and state goverments in the South seem more progressive. Delhi city center, for instance, as the country's capital, is filthy and a total mess, although there are some suburbs which are quite pleasant. Apart from my friends in the North who are wonderful people - that's why they're my friends - the North Indians by and large, seem more arrogant.

The fairer Indians suffer from a certain superiority complex. In conversations, they will mention they are from the Brahmin class. As if I care.
In their papers, there are ads for brides and grooms in which they describe themselves as fair or coffee coloured (not dark or black), Brahmin or even a certain tribe (tribe?) These are quite entertaining to read.

For a long time now, India has not had a South Indian holding office as Prime Minister. I wonder why. But no worries there, the South Indians have progressed by leaps and bounds and best of all, many speak English, even taxi and some auto drivers, and many shopkeepers, even street vendors selling postcards speak such fluent English. As India rises and takes its place in the global village and its people become global citizens, only those with the right mindset will move ahead.

For many Indians without the opportunity for exposure, or because they don't want to, the world to them will continue to revolve around India and many will remain frogs in the well. 

Response to comment:
A police detective friend with the CID confirmed that many reported molest cases were committed by Indian males - a minority race. Many cases go unreported. In Singapore, molest is categorised as a sex crime, with mandatory jail terms and caning.
 
I've been groped 4 times, 3x by Indian males, once by a Chinese male which became a police case as I was older and wiser and could react and think more calmly. The first time I was just 11 and I can recall it as it is traumatic for a young girl. 

My daughter has had an Indian male pushed his prick against her in a crowded train, she was too shocked to react and too embarrassed to create a scene, there's a first time for everything, it may not be the last as she's young. I've taught her not to give such men any face and to respond with a kick, punch or elbow in the groin region and make it a police case. Men who commit molest are opportunists, they are probably aware that the victims will be too taken aback to know how to react calmly, in any case, its hard to prove if the victim waits to complain. The response has to be immediate.

Over the years, friends/acquaintances/colleagues/relatives have had experiences to share, from flashers to rubbing of the prick against the women's body, to stroking the thigh as one walks pass, 3 of the 5 episodes related were committed by Indian males in Singapore and Malaysia. None had its day in court. The Chinese guy I reported received 3 months in the cooler with 4 strokes.

From the land which gave the world the Kama Sutra and Kajuraho Temple, its men may look at groping as part of their culture - as a guy thing. The men's attitude/mentality would be 'it's just touching, the woman was'nt hurt.' 

This is made worse in a male dominated society where women have a low status. Should any women complain to the authorities, which are all men, they are discouraged from filing complaints with the same excuse as above, or worse, being accused of enticing the men.
That said, it did not prevent me going into India that many times nor have Indian male friends with whom I eat and drink with and even traveled with. 
 
My ayurvedic masseur is an endearing old Indian gent who loves a good chatter when he's giving me a massage - yes, on my body too - his son is my ayurvedic doctor. From what I can tell, I'm the only female massaged by him - I have no hang-ups - the rest, nearly all Indian ladies, wait in line for his wife.

My postings on my Indian experiences have been positive but let's not kid ourselves - that dosen't mean there's nothing negative to report on the place or its people.
 
Nowhere did I sing the praises of China or its people, I'm Singaporean not mainland Chinese. I will never refer to China or Malaysia as 'motherland' - there's no emotional attachment to the 2 countries. The word is as archaic as 'freedom fighter.'

17. CHIANG MAI

The Northern Thai city of Chiang Mai is one of my favourite places. Once again, I observe the strong Buddhist/Hindu influence in their culture, mannerisms and way of life, like in Jogjakarta and Bali. The Thai people are gentle, quiet and polite, like the Javanese......considerate too.....terribly easy going.

Thai Buddhism has evolved into something uniquely Thai but they retain reverence for the elephant and have a Thai version of Ganesh in some of their temples, painted a Krishna blue.
 
I read somewhere that ancient rulers in the former Ceylon had close ties with Thai Buddhist missionaries which may explain Buddhism's influence in Ceylon/Sri Lanka.
Some temples I've been into in Sri Lanka have wall paintings and other decorations which seem typically Thai. 
 
The Thais are wonderfully accepting of their good number of transvestites and transsexuals whom they affectionately call lady boys. They do not abhor them and welcome them into their beauty salons and chat like old friends. In Singapore, such lady boys come out only at night and take some pains to hide this aspect of them in the daytime. Thai hospitals are tops at sex change operations. Their transvestite/transsexual shows are tourist draws in nearly every city that showcase them.

Thailand is another place I can be comfortable living in. I like their people and their yummy and exciting food, prepared with flair and imagination. They are highly creative people and what they may lack in classroom education, they make up for by putting their hands to good creative use. So Thailand's biggest tourist draws are all home grown and home produced - products from dry food to mangosteen and strawberry wine, arts and crafts, Thai silk fabrics and knick knacks are proudly Thai, the variety is staggering.

When the weather gets cooler towards the later part of the year, I might just head that way again to catch up with my English friend coming this way to escape winter, and together we will explore another part of Thailand and perhaps cross over to Laos, Vietnam and at last, I will see Angkor Wat in Cambodia and possibly include Myanmar, if the political situation is stable there.

These countries form the former Indochina when under French colonial rule. Politics has divided its people into 4 different nations but the similarities are there. It would be most interesting to take a closer look.

On a previous visit to Phnom Peng, Cambodia, the ladies had on costumes very similar to Thailand's, right down to the silky fabric and little elephant motifs. They speak in a similar melodious style and their music and instuments were identical. The Thai and Cambodian women's national costumes come with a 'perlu' slung over one shoulder, sari style. They greet visitors with a namaskar meeting of the palms.

The colonial French were quite right to associate them with the Indo-China region, in those early days, without the politics of border controls or boundaries, its people would have moved freely between one place to another, traded barter trade, settled and raised families at wherever they found a mate, spoke the same language and dialects, ate the same kinds of food.

Mammals, birds, fish, migrate to warmer climes to find fresh food and water, to find a mate and reproduce. So too, the Human Mammal is essentially nomadic. Today, it is called Emigration.

Thai Ganesha in Krishna blue

With the 'bestest' friend and 'soul sista' a girl can have.

Doing The Baby Elephant Walk - (he's 8 years old!)

All is one.......Baba