My sweet Mom emailed me a good question today. As I wrote, I realized I should just post my response to her...to you...just in case anyone was wondering.
As for the difference between here and Sing….Oh where do I begin? Singapore is clean, buildings are kept up, roads are developed and smooth, people drive with more care, there are endless things to do especially with children, there are western/european/international people everywhere…so many expats and people who choose to live there…endless restaurants, the water from the tap is safe to drink, the public transportation is awesome- buses amazing and a Metro system all over the island. It is EXPENSIVE to live there. Grocery stores carry all the things we get at home. There are so many rules and regulations that the place is completely safe…you can walk anywhere at night even as a woman and nothing will happen to you. Drugs are non existent because if you are caught with them you are put to death. Not kidding. Fines for drunk driving are over $2000 first offense. So it is clean, safe and vibrant.
Johor Bahru- just across the bridge- struggles. This is third world living. Buildings are abandoned because no one can afford to keep them up, buildings are crumbling, or molding or or simply empty. The police takes bribes…so you get pulled over and they say pay a ticket and then the next breath say or pay me now. So if the police can be bribed than anything is possible. People work so hard and make almost nothing. I just found out that one of the drivers here at the resort who drives Nevi to school, Subra who has six children at home makes R1200 a month driving. 1200 ringgit equals about $300 USD. Yes, it is cheap in our standards to live here…but raising 6 children on $300 USD a month is desperate really. There is only one main road that leads North and South…it is in ok repair, but needless to say with so many commuting to get to work…nightmare. Another driver, who I adore- we call him Catfish…he drives 60 KM each day to get to work. Takes him over an hour. Johor Bahru wants to improve- they are trying to build new roads and overpasses to ease the hassle, but the construction takes forever and sometimes does not get completed. There are a few bridges which literally just stop and drop off- no money to continue. With the lack of funds and the lack of regulations, crime is much higher. People can steal and put food on the table even though they also work their asses off to provide for their families. It is not safe for me to walk alone in some places…it is not safe for our family to be out in random places after dark. We are fine in Taman University area here…but not so much down town. It is not unheard of for westerners to be pulled over driving and wallets stolen… but here where we are living I feel absolutely safe- I just do not get out as much as I would like too.
Also with my inability or desire to drive on these crazy roads with crazy drivers…I am trapped. Unlike in Singapore, free as a bird to go wherever I want when I want. So it is a mixed feeling. I love having the more authentic, truthful experience of Malaysia. But from my mother perspective my life would be so much more free, easy and independent if we were living in Singapore. Nevi would have way more friends, we could explore, I would not feel so isolated…but alas in Singapore we would feel like we were just living in a place really similar to home. See the bittersweet? So here is the lesson- to be grateful for exactly WHERE YOU ARE.
No comments:
Post a Comment