Sunday, November 11, 2012
Transititonal Stage (Blog#5)
Burma ===>
Thailand ===> Malaysia
(Flag Images from: Wikipedia.org)
Life in the United States is much different from Burma, Thailand, and Malaysia.. I now have access to 24 hours of electricity, running water, and food. The first day I spent in Lowell, I ate a whole pack of chicken Ramen Noodles and roasted chicken. Me and my sister devoured the food rigorously thinking: "this is paradise!" To be honest, food was scarce back in Asia because the rich plantation and farm owners only sought to export their goods to other countries so that they could make more profits.
The government of Burma in particular, does not care about its citizens and their well being even though their revenues can feed the entire country for at least 3 years. I better not get into politics because that country is still not free, they still censor everything. I remember hunting for food when I was in Thailand, I had a slingshot and a bamboo spear. I will roam around the jungle with some other kids looking for rabbits, chickens, squirrels, and all kinds of birds. We would also set up traps made out of branches and leaves and often times we will be able to catch more than we hunt mostly because we were inexperienced hungry kids who just want some food.
When I got to Malaysia, everything changed.. There, I worked in a construction site owned by a Chinese Boss. I was 12 years old back then and I can no longer get food for 'free' from the jungle, I had to work with my hands to earn money to buy food. I wasn't paid fairly, I was paid only half of what they pay their 'legal' workers, a lot of that is actually based on what kind of manger or supervisor you get, some are very sympathetic and others, not so much. Also religion plays a very important role in Malaysia because it's a very strong Islamic country and their religious toleration is not so great, they rarely tolerate it. Being a illegal christian immigrant in a Islamic country is not a pleasant experience...
(To be continued on Blog#6)
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