The 1st day of my path to Nirvana

11Hazrul Azhar Jamari • 3rd Mar 2010 • My Notes, Life, My Notes • Life, Money, poverty

Jakarta Contrasts. A picture showing the rich-poor divide of Indonesia. Original picture by John and Mel Kats.

Bismillah hir Rahman nir Rahim. In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

Life isn’t easy and the past couple of months were probably the most difficult I’ve ever had to endure. It wasn’t too long ago in December 2009 when I had taken a week’s break for an all-guy’s holiday to Jakarta and Bandung. It was my 3rd trip to Jakarta in my lifetime and a lot of things have changed ever since President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono took over.

There were a lot of things that awed me about Indonesia. Particularly how despite some segments of the population live in abject poverty, they do not seem to feel pathetic about their lives. There was once when my friends and I were trying to find a museum in Jakarta, and we passed this middle-aged lady, dressed in batik sarong, a worn out kebaya, carrying a basket of goods on her back, walking barefooted on the concrete pavement, and when we approached her to ask for directions, she gave this pleasant smile, and politely pointed us the right way.

This was probably one of the most life-changing points in my life, despite how insignificant a person giving you directions seem to be. But how does one tolerate life’s harshness and still afford to smile and lend a hand to lost tourists from one of the most wealthiest nations in the world?

I realised that you cannot change where you were born, to which family, and in what kind of social status. Millions of people were born and still do, into abject poverty, but they did not allow their lives to be empty. This woman, worked. And you can see from her wrinkled face, soiled feet and iron fists that she made a harsh, meagre living to make ends meet in a city that is progressing ever rapidly.

Poverty does not mean hopelessness. We were all born poor, without a dollar in earnings. The difference between me and this woman was that I had the opportunity to an education to alleviate myself from the cycle of poverty and the opportunity to find work in white collar activities, behind a desk in an air-conditioned room in one of Singapore’s impressive skyscrapers, and parents who weren’t too poor to finance my life before I could hold my own.

But I don’t smile as willingly. And I must contemplate if wealth makes people unhappy?

The former colonial building of the VOC. Now Muzium Fatahillah. Jakarta History Musuem.

When we left the musuem, we stopped by a street vendor manned by ladies with containers of water to quench the thirsts of the mid-day heat. Handing over the 50,000 Rupiah made their day as it was not long that they opened their stall.

No. The mighty dollar has never made people unhappy. It is when we make too much or try so hard to make so much that we may feel this sense of incompleteness. That it’s really never enough.

Living in Singapore, I realised why we are so unhappy. For some of us, we make enough to cover our own costs of living. Everything here is about money. You want a house? It costs S$350,000 for a simple 4 room apartment. A young couple has to put down 10% before getting one, and demand is high but supply isn’t always enough. For those Singaporeans who simply don’t have the qualifications to earn a basic of S$1,800, they need to put in overtime work to ensure they have money for other costs, like food, transport, conveyancing charges, mobile phone, electricity and utility bills and the few children you’re raising which you hope will not turn out like you.

We work so hard, for $1,800 a month, only to see most of it disappear into these costs. That’s why we’re unhappy.

Will costs go down? When has it ever gone down? The one thing consistent about Singapore is that the cost of everything goes up! And everyone’s trying so hard to outdo everyone else in winning the rat race. The problem is, even if you win the rat race, you’re still a rat. And how can you be happy when you realised that you’ve become the vermin that people despise and love to hate?

The first step of being happy, is stop racing. Get out of the rat race. Singapore is a land of many opportunities and that Singaporean dream of being successful and a high standard of living has brought many immigrants to our shores and joining the rat race.

Stop racing, get your soul checked. Understand what makes you happy. Is it the good life? Or is it a good life?

If it’s the latter, good for you. You’ve quit the rat race and joined what some scientists are concerned as being an almost extinct species – the Human race.

When we are human, we will recognise that everyone is entitled to a good life. As long as we have enough to go around. Capitalism has grown our economy, but eroded our dignity. We need to balance our economic capacity with the capacity to love and care.

Some business gurus will teach you that the money you take from other people is your right. I beg to differ. The money you earned is but a placebo to make yourself feel whole. Without money, you feel empty. And it seems that whatever you earn is hardly enough.

When we stop feeling pathetic about ourselves. When we stop looking at poverty as a disease to be avoided and not solved. When we share, and give. The amount of love we receive in return far outweighs the amount of money we will ever earn. Because love, unlike everything else in this world, can never be bought.

May your life be filled with a wealth of love. Amiin.