Survival

The topic of survival surfaced a few nights ago. The following are the thoughts of my conversation partner and I just felt compelled to write it down.

South East Asia is probably the most fertile region in the entire Asia. It has plenty of natural resources, fertile soil, no harsh climate, land, space, sea, food, everything you need. Then why most countries (except for Singapore - which lacks natural resources) in SEA are still considered "developing" countries when other countries with limited natural resources like Japan are so advanced?

The theory put forth is, essentially, hardships make the people. If things get too comfortable, over generations, you would see that everything went slow. The people got lazy, the drive to reinvent in order to survive was missing. Living is so comfortable, why bother?

Here comes the foreign forces. The Dutch, the Portuguese, the British, the Japanese, neighboring countries. Lured by the abundant of spices grown in the region and promise of new riches and trades, they came and occupied some of the places and left their marks all over the place. Then consider the immigrants, the majority of immigrant pioneers in the region came all the way from their own rural villages in search of the promise of wealth and better life for their families. They were courageous, even though forced by circumstances. Imagine leaving your old life, your parents, your siblings, stepping on board that ship, probably cramped til its last inches, saying goodbye forever to your homeland. You arrived at the new land, drafted as rough labor, worked day and nights, earning small stipend just enough to get by. Then people had to get smarter, businesses thrived, trade volume grew, businessmen emerged. New riches were made, not found. These entrepreneurs still exist today, and I'm not talking just immigrants, but anyone who succeed with a sole motivation to better their own and their families' lives. They're the kings in dwarfs' land. They continue to reinvent, think of ways to get around things, to survive in this unruly land.

At this point I asked, well, since that period of wars, occupation, economic hardship, immigrant exports, civil unrest (generally our great-grandparents / grandparents' period) had passed us; won't our generation, or our children's generation enjoy a relatively peaceful and safe life? Won't our generation get 'lazy' because the previous generations have made life as comfortable as possible for us?

Well it's not, although I'm blessed enough to live the way I live right now, our generation still present its own challenges in different context and environment. In a way, the socio-economic issues are still persistent, civil unrest are still raging in some parts of SEA. Although we have a job, a life, we're still struggling to make ends meet. Everybody is. The same challenges remain, only we're surrounded by concretes and walls, where it was thatched roof and grass before.

I love South East Asia. This is one region on earth that I'll be perfectly comfortable moving around in. It's East meets West at places where you least expected, it's raucous; it's utter chaos; it's everything you won't expect and it's everything you expect; it's a cultural melting pot; and it's the place I love most.