The Need to Adapt
We lived in Singapore for 13 years, and spent a good 9 years in Australia before that.
Order and cleanliness are commonly found in those two countries.
Generally, people throw their rubbish into bins. They flush after toilet use. Public facilities are continually developed and relatively well maintained.
In Singapore, I especially appreciate their many, free and very nice playgrounds, including water playgrounds. Anya and Levi sure enjoyed lots of playtime outdoors.
Then.
We moved to Jakarta with 3 kids close to 9 years ago.
(Can’t believe it’s NINE years ago!)
Now.
Indonesia is one huge country with more than 250 millions of people.
So many beautiful natural landscapes here.
People in general do not pay much attention to order nor cleanlinessOne of the issues we face is, people in general do not pay much attention to order nor cleanliness.
Littering is common, and public facilities are either under-developed or not maintained well by the local government and locals.
We often share with our kids that despite all that, we must not be the ones ‘adding’ to existing problems.
Still throw rubbish into bins.
Leave things clean after use.
Do not damage public properties, etc.
The thing is, as much as we prefer order and cleanliness, they are, more often than not, hard to find.
Traffic rules are often NOT followed (and somehow most people accept it)
When we explore places across Indonesia, when we go to the beach, toilets are far from clean.
Cemented floors, spider webs, minimal lighting, rubbish at corners, etc.
If that’s what’s available, then we will adapt, use, and learn to tolerateSo, does it mean we STOP exploring, complain all the time, and yell at every other driver who break traffic rules?
Unfortunately, we cannot.
And we should not.
We tell ourselves that we must learn to … adapt.
Which basically means, if that’s what’s available, then we will adapt, use, and learn to tolerate.
More than once I share with the kids:
It is okay if you prefer things to be clean, but we must be able to adapt and survive if they are NOT clean.
And this means, we’d still go to the beach and use its ‘unclean’ toilets to shower, etc.
…
“We don’t have to like the condition, but we must learn to live with it, and survive if that is what’s available.
Real life is like that, too.
We can’t always have things the way we want.
We need to learn to adapt, though it’s not easy, and we must learn to NOT forget how these things should’ve been made / kept at high / higher standards to begin with.
And one day, if God is willing, we perhaps can be an agent of change, bringing positive impacts, making things better, for other people’s benefits.”
…
Food for thought.
