experiences from Batam

I went to Batam very recently, to build a water filtration tank there. The trip fulfilled one of my wishes, as I only realise now. Back in 2005, there was this big hooha about poverty in Africa, and I started reading about developmental economics and what was really going on with poverty. And as I kept reading, I realised that I wanted to do something about it, only to realise that the barriers for entry in the community sector was... simply unknown to me. I didn't know where to go or what to do about the ideas that I had - I guess now its so much more simpler for JC and Poly and ITE students... The gift of empowering our students is perhaps, one of the most powerful legacies that people of the previous generation can give to them, and this is a gift that must keep flowing...

Anyhow, so I was finally able to do something with my hands, to help a less-privileged community in a tangible way, perhaps by the reduced count of microbes that they are drinking. As I immersed myself there, I was thinking about the various needs that the community required, and I broadly classify them into two kinds of needs: knowledge and infrastructure. The latter needs little elaboration - the local community that we helped was running on fossil fuel generator, which is expensive, where the lights can only be used for a few hours every night - micro-, onsite, off-grid power would be immensely useful. Solar power is decent, but too expensive. One of the technical expert cum team leader has a solar lantern project going on - charge the lantern in the day, to let the kids read at night. Incidentally, one of the kids burned down the whole dormitory while trying to read at night using candle light. I can't find the link at this moment - anyone who wants to help can get in touch with me through this blog, I suppose.

Electricity is a major concern, but there are others. There are flies, some variety of houseflies that is simply pervasive, and is simply everywhere. Where they land, there might be pathogens to contaminate the food. A ecological solution might be useful - to determine what creature feeds on the flies and so on. They have a waste disposal problem - they simply burn the trash, not the best way, both hygiene and ecological terms.

So those are the broad infrastructure-based needs that they require. In terms of knowledge, they might need better teachers, better pedagogy, better books, to help them get connected to the rest of Indonesia and the world. The local community that we helped is serviced by a Catholic Church - kudos to them for being so persisting for so many years.

Broadly speaking, I believe that technology - informed, decent technology can be a multiplier of ongoing efforts. These communities do not need spanking new tech to solve their needs - they need low-maintenance, suitable tech to get them started. They need basic electricity before we can talk about connecting them to the internet, although that would be nice, but they need the skills and the knowledge to get started first before we can talk about the advanced infrastructure. And another thing, they are decent human beings too, so when we help, we must be helping them on equal terms, not us being superior and them inferior or any of that nonsense.

In addition, we aren't the only ones there - there must be numerous missions done by Singapore churches to the region. This lines up with the efforts to integrate ASEAN socio-economically, and I believe that taken together, they constitute a different kind of informal diplomacy... Could YEP be retooled to serve that function - does it need to be retooled? I think its already serving pretty much as Singapore's version of the Peace Corps - exposing young people to the world and to the less-privileged conditions of others.

And since this is only the second post of 2010, blessed new year!