Post-Trip Reflection: A Learning Process

Somebody once said that “Life is a journey, with problems to solve, lessons to learn, but most of all, experiences to enjoy.” Though this 7D6N trip might seem a little short, I personally thought that I had benefitted from this journey thoroughly. It was indeed enlightening to gain exposure to a new environment and a different culture. Besides, I was also introduced to the severity of the real-world problems, and instilled a greater sense of responsibility in myself to bring about greater improvement to the living conditions of the less privileged.

What was different from expected:

Back when we were conducting our research over the Internet, we learnt that it was the tourists, and not the locals, who enjoyed purchasing ivory products. In particular, Chinese tourists would acquire large amounts of ivory. However, through our interviews with the Chinese tourists, we realised that this fact was untrue. This was contrary to what I thought of them – people who would close one eye to the elephants’ sufferings in exchange for the valuable ivory. Many of them in fact felt the need to protect elephants and their rights. When asked questions as to whether they had plans to visit the elephant camps, most of them mentioned that they did not plan to do so. Their reasons were simple: if they visit the elephant camps, this will signal to the locals a demand for elephants’ show – meaning that more elephants will be further harmed. Whenever we hear responses like these that are similar to our stand, we feel comforted to know that people are gradually paying attention to such issues about elephants’ conservation.

My group and I initially foresaw that we would have difficulties communicating with the locals – those that could not speak English. It turned out that this also applied to the tourists. In particular, we tried to interview a Japanese tourist who did not understand English. Since we could not speak Japanese either, we gave up the chance to interview her and spoke to other tourists that could speak either English or Chinese.

Besides, according to our research prior to the trip, we found out that the occurrence of ivory trafficking was relatively high in Bangkok, Thailand. We thought that this would apply to Chiang Mai since both cities are situated within the Thai borders. To our dismay, we were not able to gather much information about the poaching situation in Chiang Mai; the locals themselves were unaware of how the elephants were hunted for their ivory. This could be due to the law that deemed all ivory trading illegal. It was a little regretful that we were not able to capture actual video footage of elephants being hunted. However, no news is good news. If we were unable to find ivory products selling along the streets, this meant that the government ban on ivory trading has been effective. It also implied that the locals are in the midst of looking into conserving these beautiful creatures, and replacing ivory with other materials in the manufacturing of figurines, etc. Rather than hunting down traces of poaching, we began exploring alternative reasons that might have indirectly led to elephants being poached for their ivory.

What I like about the trip:

Throughout the trip, I enjoyed working together with my groupmates, especially during interviews. Each of us would assume a role, and we would carry out the necessary duties without the constant need for reminders. Besides, even though we prepared sets of questions to interview different groups of people, we would inquire further whenever there were areas that left us puzzled. The replies not only increased the amount of research data collected, but also opened us up to alternative areas that we had never considered before.

There were relatively little conflicts – merely last-minute decisions as to which venues to visit to conduct interviews. For instance, we planned to visit the Maesa Elephant Camp to capture footage of how elephants were used to display artistic performance. However, the long travelling time would cause us to miss the last elephant show of the day. It occurred to us that we would be making a wasted trip there, thus we changed our destination immediately. Fortunately, we were able to secure interviews from undergraduates practicing veterinary and personnel from another elephants’ organisation on the same day.

What brought my group members and I together, I believe, was the long journey as we travelled from places to places, where we displayed contrasting behaviours – our “crazy” sides. This was something that we would not be able to witness when discussing about serious work, and I was glad to see the different sides that we all have.

I felt thankful that I was able to interact with our friend from Chiang Mai University (CMU), Pro, without much difficulty. He is a really intelligent senior majoring in Political Science, and I took pleasure in all our conversations. They included learning about his school life, to him introducing the amazing sceneries in his hometown. Similar to an older brother that I could look up to, he was very patient and accepting towards my group’s last-minute plans and abrupt changes.

 

Most impactful event:

The most impactful event throughout the trip would be the sharing session at the Elephant Nature Park, where our guide introduced us to the different elephants at ENP. Honestly, I thought that all the elephants there would be leading healthy and happy lives, with sufficient food and shelter, especially after receiving love from the mahouts and public. Though this was true, to my horror, most of them were physically abused by their previous employers, leaving some of them blind, unable to walk properly and mentally unsound. According to our guide, it would take those elephants quite some time before they open up to human beings again.

Although the elephants were of a different species from us human beings, I could feel an emotional attachment to them. Learning about the cruel treatment that the employers had given to the elephants made me upset. They were scarred, yet there were no avenues present for them to voice out their miseries. While I understood that solutions such as education and laws have been put in place, I felt a stronger need to continuously spread awareness about the threats that human beings have posed to elephants. It would be favourable if such solutions could persist on in the long run, allowing elephants and human beings to live peacefully together.

Most impactful experience – most rewarding feeling:

During the Leadership Programme, I selected two leadership qualities that represented me: humility and taking initiative. Though the programme was held on Friday, I was glad that I managed to display both qualities throughout the trip, rather than only during the amazing race.

While conducting interviews, I observed a few moments where either my group members or I would “retreat”. Perhaps it was due to the language barrier, or fear of being rejected and misinterpreted that made us retract our footsteps. It took me some time before I eventually took the initiative to step out of my comfort zone and approach strangers. After doing so, conducting interviews with strangers became much more manageable, since I developed more confidence in what I wanted to convey. It was a relatively fulfilling experience for me, especially when I picked up something new through the interaction, and saw things from a different viewpoint.

In addition, it has always been a principle of mine to remain humble at all times. Born in Singapore, I am deeply privileged to be enjoying a “higher social status” – one that I have not worked for. However, it does not give me the right to look down on or disrespect others whom might be “inferior” compared to me, such as in Chiang Mai (so-called ‘less developed’ than Singapore). After all, we are human beings of the same level, and there is always something valuable that we can learn from each other. Therefore, I will always make it a point to greet everyone humbly, treat everyone equally, be it people that I know or I do not know, and see the good in them that I can emulate.

What could be better:

When it comes to reaching out to the locals, I believe that more could be done on my part. During the trip, I felt that I spoke to the locals for the sake of gathering information for work-related matters, and not because I truly wanted to know more about them. I did not really feel a sense of closeness to the people whom I had spoken to, and this remained as a little regret on my part. If I could carry out the interviews again, I would first approach them by asking about their way of living so that I could observe from their point of view and appreciate all the minute things along the way. I believe that this will be a more appropriate method to foster greater cordial relationships between people from all walks of life.

Conclusion:

Overall, I personally thought that my group did fairly well – we obtained more information than expected, which included learning about the dark side of elephant parks and both sides of a coin to using chains on elephants. I am rather thankful towards the good balance between work and play for my group’s itinerary, where we managed to visit the beautiful sights in Chiang Mai, such as the Chiang Mai Grand Canyon and Cherry Blossoms. While we were having fun, we did not forget about conducting surveys with the tourists at the attractions’ sites.

I am indeed humbled to be able to speak to many people during this trip, such as our friend from CMU, our bus tour guide, our guide at the ENP, veterinary undergraduates, professors at CMU and Elephant Jungle Sanctuary personnel, who gave us their stances regarding the use of elephants as a commodity in the tourism industry. It seems like my conversations with them have sparked me to do something that I am passionate about. This can be seen from how they are all in professions that they derive pleasure from, and are working towards creating meaningful developments – be it helping the animals or improving the locals’ lives. It is time for me to use what I am learning in my course to improve the standard of living of the needy in my country. 🙂