Do Better: No Education, No Ambition, Now What?

I couldn't resist posting that funny pic even though this is serious problem. I’ve been here in Sandakan (East Malaysia on the island of Borneo) for a few days now and I haven’t seen a whole lot yet. But one of the things I have observed makes me sad: there is no priority put on education for small children. I work on a construction site, where the general workers live on-site in tenements that they built out of the project materials and whatever else they could gather. It’s bad enough that grown men have to live this way but that’s just how it goes in Malaysia. But here I’ve seen so many 10-14 year olds working at my site, at restaurants, and everywhere. All I can keep thinking is: what kind of life are they setting themselves up for? Not only do they have no idea what they’re missing or what is going on in the world, they may not know about anything going on outside of this construction site. If this is the case, there is no ambition in them, no drive, no expectation of a better life at all. All they know is that tomorrow, the sun will come up and they will come out and continue to server as helpers for lightweight construction work such as grouting and finish work until the day ends and they walk back to their tenements and start the process over tomorrow. Once this project is over, they will likely find another project nearby and start the same lifestyle over again. I was once told by a Malay co-worker of mine that locals – even the educated ones – are essentially programmed to be robots in this country. Whether you go to school and college or not, once the work world comes at you, the expectation is to settle into some convenient lifestyle close to home. Get married, get some job (often with no upward mobility), work hard enough not to lose this job in the next 40 years, start a family and never think about anything outside of that. I talk to locals about my travels and they’re amazed, even though they’ve spent their lives in this part of the world. You’re from Kuala Lumpur and you’ve never been to East Malaysia? If you plan ahead, you can fly there for next to nothing. You’re from Kuala Lumpur and you’ve never been to Singapore? It’s a 4 hour bus ride for something like $10 US. I dare not even ask about China, Australia, Thailand, or somewhere else slightly further away. So what are they waiting for? The truth is they’ve never even thought about going somewhere else. That’s why my presence and situation shocks so many people. I’m not saying every American thinks globally because most don’t. But even Americans I know who have never left the US have travelled a bit within their region of the US; they have wanted to see SOMETHING other than what they see in their hometown every day. Well, over here, travelling that region of the US is like going from country to country, and the locals have not done it. You ask them why and they stumble. They say they don’t want to miss work like they don’t have leave like me. They may say money, like it’s not dirt cheap if you plan ahead. At the end of the day, it’s a mindset. To me, they’re existing and not truly living. Forget travelling, but most locals (even many educated ones) don’t even have any idea what is going on outside of their country. How is it you have cable television and the internet but you have no concept of current events whatsoever? I could see if you had hobbies or enthusiasms which were taking up your time, but no that’s not the case either. I’d guess that if you charted out their days it would go: Wake up, work, back home, eat, watch tv, talk about something other than current events or hobbies with your family, go to sleep, start over. To me, you only get one life and that is no way to spend it. I know my two cents doesn’t mean much to them and wont change their culture, but I can’t surround myself with people like that. Knowing how sensitive Malays are, this is one of the things I’ve been trying to spare feelings about when people here ask me “Nigel, you’re not going to stay here in Malaysia forever?” I can't say "I feel like I'm losing intelligence if I'm willing to stay surrounded by dumb fucks" so I have to gracefully sugar coat this kind of question. I'm tired of it. It depresses me, I weep for them. This lack of education makes things like the Nazi shirt mentioned in the last blog entry necessary. Readers out there, I never thought I would appreciate you so much just for the simple fact that you can read. SMH. Selamat malam