Week 3 (15/9/14 – 19/9/14)
BEGGING & POVERTY IN EAST TIMOR
I've been
surprised at the seemingly lack of begging so far (in spite of the
rampant poverty), but finally encountered my first case on Monday
this week.
I was walking
home from BPC and bought a Magnum ice-cream. After finishing it, I
held the wrapper in my hand, intending to discard it once I went back
to the Motel. Along the way, a boy snatched the wrapper from me, put
it in a pre-dug hole, then held his hand out for what I believed to
be money. I didn't like the fact that he was “littering”, and
that I wanted to discard the wrapper myself, so I ignored him.
I felt a bit
guilty afterwards. According to the Lonely Planet Phrasebook for East
Timor, begging is considered unacceptable here, but then again he did
help me, albeit without my request. I asked an East Timorese person
for what they would've done (ie the “correct” response), and she
said that she wouldn't have given him money either coz she didn't ask
for him to get rid of it.
Still, the
sequence of events stuck in my mind. I had spare money available, but
there were also principles that may need to be followed. If I simply
give money just for the sake of supporting someone, will this
perpetuate the cycle of poverty? Would giving money to him be a mini
representation of the dependency of East Timor on foreign aid? Am I
over-analyzing this? I think what saddened me at the time was that he
was “begging”, when in Australia he would've been at school, with
the parent/guardian receiving a certain amount of welfare. Maybe
that's why in Australia, there seems to be an undercurrent of
“Anti-Intellectualism” in schools and even (especially public
ones) public discourse, because you can still be financially well-off
(or at least not starve to death) even if you do badly at school or
drop out early, ie the incentives of academic achievement have been
significantly reduced. Public schooling is technically free in East
Timor, but the poverty in many families pressures children to drop
out of school early to assist with their parents in housework and
income-generating activities.
I feel that a lot
of Australians are very fortunate (if not “spoiled”) and take
many things for granted (including public health care), because
they've had so many things “too good, for too long”. But with the
predicted economic crash in the coming years, their collective values
may change...
Re: Poverty in
East Timor, I got really disheartened after speaking to a Timorese
Dr. about corruption. She claims that the oil money (which makes up
~90% of the GDP) is nearly all gone due to corruption, and that the
newspaper reports / research papers about remaining oil reserves are
largely inaccurate. It's so sad that a country that had the money to
improve itself (at least in public infrastructure like Brunei) was
unable to do so “on-time”. When the oil money is 100% gone, I
suspect the country will be screwed totally and remain a 3rd-World
Banana Republic, unless some extremely generous organizations will
help foot the bill in the country's development.
How much more
impact will all the NGOs have if this country becomes a complete
“basket-case”, when the government runs out of funding?
Different countries (especially America and Australia) are trying to
help East Timor, but disturbingly in a sense it also lightly mimics
the turf wars of the colonial era, with European powers all trying to
have a slice of their pie in a new land...
This reminded me
of when I ate out with the other foreigners. Never in my life, have I
felt so guilty/uncomfortable in the 3 times I ate at a
“Western-style” restaurant coz of the exorbitant price of the
meals ($US 8+) relative to the average East Timorese income (<$US
10/day). I was at a bar, eating pasta, while the East Timorese
waiters were serving us, knowing inside that these luxuries were for
the most part beyond their reach, and only for viewing.
The NGO
involvement just looks fragmented at the moment. I think there needs
to be cooperation with the local government to help integrate their
collective efforts, and prioritize local expenditure, especially
towards developing local infrastructure. Sadly, my impression from
browsing the official government notices in the newspaper is that
they (government) have their priorities in questionable places.
Apparently hundreds of thousands of dollars was spent on renovating
government buildings, when it could've been spent on improving
sanitation (eg septic tanks), increasing access to potable water in
villages (or Dili itself), or purchasing medications and vaccines
which are in short supply in public hospitals. It disgusted me. So
while East Timor is now an independent country, later on it may be
the case that it'll be totally dependent on other countries for its
sustenance...
It worries me that
given the gravity of East Timor's situation, that the economy is
insufficiently diversified. The majority of food products etc are
Indonesian. There's East Timorese coffee, but the relative yields are
quite low due to inefficient agricultural practices, and very hilly
terrain. I'm not aware of many Secondary Industries in East Timor.
There are tons of
tiny shops selling the same every-day products, everywhere. I feel
there's not enough diversity at the community level. Then again, most
people don't have the capital to set up a more complicated business
to begin with, especially when they don't have regular internet
access. And customers don't have the money to buy more complex items
and services. A lot of the tiny shops, and also taxi drivers don't
have enough small change, which makes financial transactions
difficult, a bit of a Catch-22.
For example,
there's a lady living with her sister and her 2 children, with a cart
selling food and drinks, with her shack behind it. I take pity on
her, and buy 2 bottles of water from her for the day, paying $1.50.
It was depressing to see that she didn't even have enough change for
a $5 note, so I was nice and paid her in exact small change.
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