By Ng Xinyu
The roads of Hanoi will confuse you.
As a law-abiding Singaporean, I constantly looked out for zebra crossings and traffic lights, only to realise that the only traffic laws the motorists followed were their own. I was surprised to find out that the roads had no indication of lanes that were heading towards a particular direction; everybody just knew where they were going, and how the roads worked.
But I have been to Hanoi before, and Natalia (my fellow USP batch mate) had kindly taught me how to deal with the roads – “Just cross, be careful, and keep at a constant pace!” She was a great teacher. But me, not so much. Sylvia struggled every time we reached a junction. She would run a little, then stop for a bit when she felt like a motorist was too close, too fast, then run a little bit more, more often than not, using us, her fellow friends, as shields. Oh, did I mention that she would also shriek every time she, or when a motorist came to sudden halt?
We explored the Old Quarter – the town area of Hanoi – almost every other night after the symposium. (This was also where we gained tons of experience in crossing crazy roads) The Old Quarter is filled with tall, skinny buildings (a very distinct feature of Hanoi) and the first, second and third floors have been transformed to become shops. These shops ranged from bars, restaurants, cafes, bookshops, tire-repair shops and clothing shops. In particular, the coffee shops drew my attention. On the first floor of the coffee shops, there are short, small, foldable chairs (they are not even at the height of my hips) that were arranged to face the main road. Throughout the day, it is not surprising to see tons of locals/foreigners gathered, or rather, seated on the small, tiny chairs, squeezed together, watching the world go by.
I wondered if these people had big dreams. I wondered then if I had a dream. Geraldine Cox, one of the many fantastic speakers who spoke at the USLS, said: “Living without passion is like living half alive.” In that moment, I really couldn’t decide if I was guilty of not living life to the fullest, or not.
Kwang introduced us to his favorite café that he had discovered, The Note Café. In this café, there were thousands of post-it notes and paper notes that filled the walls. The notes often relayed messages about who were here, from which country, or quotes of inspiration, reminding us to be happy and be thankful for the little things in life. The coffee aroma that filled the place really made the café a warm, cozy sanctuary to be in. We even managed to meet two ladies from Israeli who have just completed their mandatory military service! Zhi Hong and the two ladies started discussing about the places of interest in their country, and we found out later that they were also tour guides.
When I witnessed how tourists interacted with one another, the world felt very small. It was as though I could throw a rock and it would land in Norway, or I could sneeze and someone in the U.K. would hear it. Well, with the internet, I guess these are all possible, and the world is indeed getting smaller and smaller by the second.
There was one night, where the 7 of us sat by Hoa Kiem Lake and sang our hearts out. To be honest, I cannot remember how it started, or rather, who started singing, but we did. We sang songs from Simple Plan, Coldplay, Adele, Justin Bieber… It was a major throwback session and we sang for about an hour. To me, it felt extremely cathartic. The rare, cool breeze caressed our faces as we sang our hearts out to the lake, and we were not troubled about a thing in the world.
That is what being overseas does to most people. For most of us, we forget all of our troubles back home, and concentrate on being in an exotic land. We absorb as much as we can with our selfie sticks, cameras, phones, trying to create and keep memories alive for as long as possible. We take the chance to be by ourselves, recover and rejuvenate, and live in a movie-like setting.
Even in Singapore, I feel like I’m living in a fictional world. My troubles are mostly materialistic and quantitative in nature – scoring well for exams, earning more money, affording a house and all of that stuff you can buy – but out there, in places not far from us, there is someone waiting for his/her turn to take a nice, warm shower. Someone who has not eaten for months. Someone who witnessed a loved one getting shot and breath his or her last. Someone who fears that he might be dead within the next second.
For us, who are so far away, it feels like a movie. For them, who are living the life, it’s real-life. But even when we are so close, we do not know,neither are we aware. Take the seven of us as an example. We roamed the Old Quarters, basking in the benefits of country’s development. Barely an hours’ drive away, in the outskirts of Hanoi, are children who are still suffering the side-effects of Agent Orange. There are starving farmers and their families, who have yet to feel the positive side of development. All over the world, there are people suffering.
In every country, there are the poor and there are the rich. There are those who are privileged and those who are born into unfortunate circumstances. Just like what the many notes from The Note Café preached, for those who are privileged, we should be thankful, and not take for granted the things that we already have. After all, we are often the children of a privileged generation built upon the suffering and sacrifices of our forefathers.
So, you may then ask me, what do we do with the less unfortunate? This is my answer: What shall we do with you? As cliché as sounds, no one can be more accurate than Gandhi when he says that we have to be the change we want to see in the world.
We live and breathe in our comfort zones.
But I would like to challenge you – get uncomfortable. David Begbie, founder of the Cross Roads Foundation, another speaker said, “We are often the consequence of our own inaction.” So take action! Be aware! Start acknowledging that the world can be so much more, because of you and your actions!
We have to acknowledge our world for what it really is – a place of suffering for many, and a safe haven for many as well. Push yourself to see what it is that you, as an individual can do to help. There are so many problems out there waiting for people to help and make a difference. I shall spare you the exact details on what these problems are and what you can do to help, because there is Google for that. But instead, I want to encourage you to just do something, because you can. We as scholars, are so privileged…and I feel like we really, have so much to give.
Of course, just like learning how to cross the roads of Hanoi, it will be different, difficult and scary. People, like the motorists, are going to come at you, taunting you to give way and stop in your tracks for them. But you shouldn’t. Just keep your head high, be careful, of course, but keep going forward until you reach your destination. Like the motorists, create your own rules, and carve out your own path to success!
However, some of you might ask, “Why should I bother to do anything? There are people out there more qualified than I, and I don’t really care that people are suffering. I’m sure someone else more compassionate will help them.”
My answer:
- Because everybody needs help once in a while. You too.
- Because if not you, then who?
No difference is too big nor too small to make. Remember that! Just like what Geraldine Cox, founder of the Australia Cambodia Foundation, said: “You do not need to be qualified to make a difference.”
As for me, I have decided to make conscious efforts to live life to its fullest. I wish to start small; conquering my fear of the dark, maybe, and start on social projects close to me, like in Pioneer Hall, to raise awareness about certain causes. I guess you can say that I intend on saving the world, one step at a time, one friend at a time.
