Music = My Medicine (Blog#8)

(Source:http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs41/f/2009/005/d/5/Life_Sucks__Music_Doesnt__by_AustinE31891.jpg)

          

                                                 

When I was in Malaysia, I was introduced to Heavy Metal and Rock music in Burmese and English. I went to school at a non-profit organization called ACR (Alliance of Chin Refugees) ran by American, British, Scottish and Australian teachers who were kind enough to volunteer their time for the Burmese refugees. When I was attending the school, I had the opportunity to make some friends who were also refugees from Burma and we started to do some 'normal' things that every teenager do, which were gaming, listening to music, singing and playing sports. Some days we will skip school, unnoticed by our parents are go to an internet cafe located nearby and spend hours trying to play Counter-Strike, Command and Conquer, and Age of Empires. I loved playing games with my friends, hanging out and enjoying the never-ending summer. Perhaps I was making up for the childhood that I never had, perhaps I was trying to fit in, and perhaps I am no different at all. Then Music came along and I loved Metal, it was the best thing to listen to and write and sometimes run. Music was my medicine because that was the only thing I had when I was angry and depressed. I bought my first little mp3 player in Malaysia from the money that I earned while I was working at the construction site. From the first day I got it, I couldn't live without music in my ears anymore; it was the best thing I ever had. For the first time in my life, I felt connected and was able to cope with pain and sorrow. My favorite bands are Avenged Sevenfold, Killswitch Engage, and Asking Alexandria. Music became the outlet, my sanctuary. Since then I have always been addicted to Music for its originality and creativity, it made me realize that I am not the only one who feels the certain way...

Malaysia Blog#7

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia [Source: http://www.mandarinoriental.com]

                 In that world, money mattered the most.. Without money, I am nothing but their pawn in the chess game.. Money makes their world go around and people who have money desired to preserve the money they have by hiring gangsters, assassins and even police sometimes. Malaysia is the probably the most divided country in terms of money and prosperity. Chinese business owners are the worst; they control politics, social life, economy and foreign affairs, 50% of the country is made up of Chinese. From restaurants, factories to large corporations, Chinese mafia rule the economy without any rivals. The gangsters that most Chinese Bosses used were never hesitant, they kill when they have to and they torture when they have to, unlike little 'gangsters' in the U.S they don't have to shoot to kill people, they will use silence elimination methods which involve swords, bats, and brass knuckles and they will throw the body in the nearest rivers to make it seem like they drowned themselves. There are no C.S.I in Kuala Lumpur, they are not going to waste time on the body that is dead they will just bury it and give the victim's family their sorrow. They show no mercy, no emotions.. Once you become the target of a gang, you will never escape because you are a fly caught in a spider's net. I lived among them, unnoticed.. I survived among them because I kept quite.. I have seen what they do to people that they don't like. It was then, I learned what it takes to survive in the real world, it was then I learned the price I had to pay to live, which is my beliefs and morals. For me, living means not dying The gangsters back there only lived for today rather than they day after, their lives have been sold to money and power.Therefore they do not care about their lives as much as we do, if they win the fight they will live and that's great but if they don't they die. That world is ugly and cruel but is this world any different? we hide behind the walls of innocence and purity but are we really innocence or pure? I used to believe that I was living in the other world when I got here, because things were so different I don't have to kill or fight anyone for necessities. But then I realized that there are so many things to change in the world, because this is the only world we have.... there are no 'this' world and 'that' world there is only 'the' world...

Malaysia (Blog#6)

[Continued from Blog#5]

 
Map of Malaysia [Source: www.bugbog.com]


           They discriminated us, they made us pay, they made us suffer because of one thing.. We were not Muslims. For those of you out there who are Muslims, I apologize for generalizing but they are true facts in Malaysia where Islamic religion takes its roots..They are extremists, they are ruthless and unkind towards fellow humans. They treated us like animals... They didn't understand us, they think we went there because we wanted to but we didn't.. we went there because we 'had' to.. There was no other way to flee from persecution. If we wanted to live, we had to flee to Malaysia from Thailand. The religious toleration rate in that country is 1.1%. The Malaysian police are also corrupted officials who threaten us to pay them money or will send us to jail whenever they saw us. 
           I worked in a construction site in downtown, Kuala Lumpur (Capital City of Malaysia) which has the famous twin tower in southeast Asia. I worked under the supervision of a Islamic Malaysian who tormented me with more work than his fellow Malaysian citizens. He will assign me to do things with his feet pointing here and there... It was very intimidating but I needed the money, and with my status I was considered lucky to be offered a employment opportunity.... My job was to carry bricks up and down the stairs of a 20 story building in a 100 degrees Fahrenheit heat, in time I grew weak, I didn't have enough food to eat, nor the money to buy them...(to be continued on blog#7)

(This is how thin and malnourished I was back in Malaysia.)

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)

Work Experiences

For the past two years, I have worked at the International Institute of Lowell after school as a Case Manager's Assistance/Translator. For the institute, I provide translation services between Burmese and English to the Case Managers and the clients. The hardest part about my job is that I have to help the Burmese refugees adapt to the new culture, language, employment and laws, which is also hard for them to do because everything is so new to them. Since I work at the International Institute as the only teenager on the team, it is very hard for me to conduct myself accordingly and to deal with many cases that require much thought and consideration. For example having to work with and on behalf of elders is challenging because of the cultural respect that a young person has to have for elders, and yet when I am working with the elders as a team member it is hard for me to say much on any issue. Most of our clients like myself are survivors – survivors from the impossible and the unthinkable situations which forced them to leave their native country and flee to the United States.  Life in America is better but they still struggle to meet basic needs – Food stamps, Mass Health insurance, Welfare, affordable housing, fuel assistance, WOMEN INFANT CHILDREN nutrition benefits. These are some of the specific things that I help our clients apply for. For a teenager as myself, it is very unusual to be concerned about these things, but for me it is my routine of how I help people day after day. It is not uncommon for someone to call me or come to me for help, such as one situation when one of my client's children was sick and he didn't know what to do, so he called me in the middle of the night and I had to get up and go to his house and called 911. The child was taken to a hospital and I followed with the ambulance because the hospital does not have any translators available at that time, and I had to stay at the hospital until 4:00 AM until the child was transported to Boston for further examinations. Those are the kinds of work I do in the United States to help people who had to flee their homes and country in order to survive. And I proud to tell that I have helped some 200 Burmese families in the U.S and I will continue to strive for them..

Picture by: borondy.com

The end of Camps, the beginning of Hell!

Malaysia was burning hot. The heat was unbearable even for native born Malaysian, the country is geographically located on the equator line. I lived in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia for about two years. The memories are not pleasant. Everyday I had to live in fear, in fear of getting arrested, in fear of being robbed, in fear of violence. After all I was a illegal immigrant and I didn't belong to any countries. For the first six months, my sister and I was confined to our apartment because my parents were too nervous to let us out and roam around the city. They feared that we will get into trouble and they may never see us again. But eventually they realized that they had to take the risk because we needed some sort of education and to be socially accommodated. Therefore we had a chance to attend a UN based organization called ACR (Alliance of Chin Refugees) which offered basic English and Math classes. We were very excited that we finally had a chance of getting involved in a community of refugees because all the students were refugees from different parts of Burma and we all related to one another because of our similar backgrounds. We immediately became assimilated and took parts in various activities that will change my life forever. I started to communicate and get involve with the teachers, who are from Britain, Scotland, Australia, Malaysia and the United States. The teachers were volunteering their time and resources for us, the refugees and as time progresses I became a very good English speaker and started to become a translator for them. I translated everyday lessons for the younger kids and I would sit in their classes with the teachers and help them and the kids started to address me as a "teacher" although I didn't deserve the title, what could I've said? the kids will be very disappointed if I tell them I was not a teacher because they liked the fact that I was in class and teaching them whenever the real teachers weren't able to teach. So I became the little kids' "teacher" and I taught them what I knew which was mainly English, and some basic math such as adding, and subtracting. I know that I wasn't qualified to teach them about subjects that I wasn't good at but I didn't have a choice, the organization didn't have substitutes and I was there everyday so I did what needed to be done. The kids have nowhere else to go but to come to school and play with the other kids, their parents were too busy with work and couldn't babysit them and I felt that urge to take care of the kids and help them learn somethings that I know to make the best use of their time in school.When I left ACR to come to the United States there were still a lot of kids remained who were still struggling to leave Malaysia. Because of the hearts of the volunteers, I was motivated to become a volunteer in the United States for the Burmese people who doesn't speak English and the volunteer teachers back in Malaysia are my role models..

"There's nothing stronger than the heart of a volunteer." Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle