Brunei, Singapore and Bali

Since my last post I've visited several countries. I went through the beautiful and interesting, but excruciatingly unexciting country of Brunei. This is a place with no income tax, subsidies for everything and no cost for post-secondary education. It also has some beautiful rainforest because the country's oil money has allowed them to keep the rainforest intact (of course, the debt remains and the interest accumulates). It's also a place where alcohol is outlawed and it effects the overall vibe of the country. Nearly everything shuts down at 10pm, and there is literally nothing to do at night. When I asked the couchsurfer I was with (couchsurfing.com - check it out), he had no answer for what he did at night. "Watch TV or movies" was his answer. Now, of course there are positives to no alcohol: the crime rate is low, violence is unheard of, and I'm sure health care costs are lower per capita than in countries with alcohol. However, is it not possible for clubs, bars, or some kind of establishments to exist without alcohol? My parents always asked "Do you need alcohol to have fun?" After visiting Brunei, I would have to say, "Yes mom, I do, and so does the rest of the country." I don't feel like sitting at home in front of the TV is any more productive than having a few beers with friends on a Friday night. Of course, people in Brunei could read a book, but I could go to the club just to dance - so long as other people are getting drunk...

Singapore was next. If you are in the area, go. It costs a bit more than other places in south-east Asia, but it's really nice. First-world-clean, cutting-edge, nice. The coolest thing I did in this country (besides walking around little India for hours on end) was going to the zoo with another couchsurfer and we happened to stumble upon the tortoises at the exact time of their feeding (just my luck!). For less than $4 CDN I was able to feed 80-year-old tortoises, as well as a few younger ones. Watching their mouths as their soft pink tongues stuck out to pull the apple back in to their beak-like mouth made me feel like a kid at a petting zoo for the first tim; giggling and wide-eyed in amazement of these magnificent creatures. I was then advised to touch, pet and scratch them (particularly under the chin of the biggest one!). The skin on the neck felt dry yet stretchy, while their legs were as hard as rocks. Despite all the rumours about tortoises being immovably slow, they move with great consistency and I can now see why the hare lost the race.

Currently I am in Bali and the Hindu culture has been intoxicating (Bali is the only part of Indonesia that ins't predominantly Muslim). Ornate stone temples with carvings that would take ages are everywhere, and offerings are made throughout the day everywhere I go. The offerings usually consist of several flowers, rice and incense compiled in small boxes made from banana trees. Beautiful for their elegance, simplicity and devotion, they are unlike anything I have seen before. There is also art everywhere, and people continue to greet me with a smile everywhere I go. It is a relaxing and calming atmosphere. I also happened to get into Ubud at the exact time the Spirit Festival began. Apparently this is the biggest single draw to Bali all year, and I happened upon it by dumb-luck. The festival is all about balinese music, dancing and yoga. It's been uplifting to be a part of, and it's definitely good for the soul.

The Rainforest Reality

As I drove from Mt Kinabalu to the town of Sandakan (where the Orangutan sanctuary is), I quickly noticed that the roads were lined with what seemed to be an endless palm tree forest. Literally, for 3 and 1/2 hours of driving I only saw plam trees. At first, I thought they were naturally occurring and quite beautiful - I mean who doesn't love plam trees? They are part of the quintessential tropical vacation: lazing on the white sand beach with the breeze blowing through the palm trees' leaves with a cocktail in hand... Who doesn't dream of that scene as they prepare for their beach vacation? However, as I continued to watch them fly by from the bus window, I realized they were perfectly spaced apart and all at the same age of maturity. Typically, such perfection doesn't occur in the forests of nature, and I realized that these were the plam oil plantations I had read about before coming to Borneo. Malaysia is the world's second biggest exporter of palm oil, (first - Indonesia, who owns the other two-thirds of Borneo island... what do you think I'd see if I drove around the Indonesian part of Borneo?).

I mention this because for years I've heard about the "destruction of the rainforest", but it's never really meant anything. Obviously, I know it's a bad thing and that it's causing the loss of countless flora and fauna species, but could I really understand it as I read about it in my National Geographic magazine (printed on glossy-paper) from my air-conditioned living room in Canada (or even more absurd - my heated living room as the snow accumulated outside)? What was the tropical rainforest to me? Even when I went to the Peruvian Amazon the rainforest was a lush place, full of life and untouched by the hand of man. All looked in good order there.

The palm oil plantations in Borneo, on the other hand, have given me poignant proof that we are destroying the rainforests. At first, I was sad to see the plam trees, after a few hours I was scared at the sheer number and size of the plantations - on the upcrest of a hill looking down, all one can see is palm trees for kilometres around. The next day, as we drove from Sandakan into the jungle, again the roads were lined with plam trees. The palm trees went almost right up to the river - the government has forced a small buffer zone along the river that can't be planted. Even with the buffer zone sometimes I could see the plantations in the distance from the "jungle". At this point, I was just disappointed (remember how your parents used to do that to you "We aren't mad Russell, we're just disappointed... ouch). The forest, although still teeming with life and a great adventure, wasn't nearly as thick and exotic as the Amazon experience I had.

Now, some palm oil is used as a biofuel - but only a fraction of it, and how are we improving the situation if we cut down the rainforest as a way to combat our dependency on fossil fuels? It's like borrowing from Peter to pay Paul - the debt remains and the interest is still accumulating. I obviously have no answers, but I wanted to put this out there to remind myself of what I saw on my drives in Borneo, and hopefully make it a little more real for everyone else.

Content with no where to be and anywhere to go

Borneo is an adventurer's paradise - hiking mountains, trekking jungles, boat rides through jungle rivers and incredible scuba diving. I am so thankful for how fortunate I am to be experiencing this.


As I was on the boat back to Semporna from Mabul (where I did my PADI certification and went diving for three days), I couldn't help but smile as the boat bounced off the waves and I looked out onto the sea. I realized that I was as free as I could be - I had nowhere to be, no one to see and I could go anywhere I wanted to. Quickly however, I felt the need to preserve the moment and hold onto it, in order to re-live it again and again in the future. This, as we all know, is a futile exercise - capturing moments is impossible. Of course, a camera can capture a scene, and it can help us remember that time in our lives, but it can't truly capture the emotions of the moment. As I came to this realization I just sank into the boat and enjoyed the moment for what it was supposed to be - a perfect moment. Perfect moments, when I notice them, bring so much joy and emotion that I can't help but think about loved ones who are no longer here physically, but who I feel sharing those moments of perfection with me.


Not everything has been perfect though - I feel torn by the disparity between my good fortune and the people I see everywhere who struggle to make ends meet. Why should I be given the opportunity to see all the riches the world has to offer, while others grind away everyday? The funny thing is people here smile more often and more genuinely than people at home (myself included). This makes me think that we have something backwards at home. We're so concerned with what happens next - what we have to do next, where we have to go next, who have to see next, that we can't enjoy the moment we are in. This constant planning for (or worrying about) the future makes the present less happy, as proven by the absence of random smiles in our lives, or by the forced smiles we make everyday.

Obviously, I am trying to connect both of these ideas, and while my buddy Mac may say that "we look for meaning in things", I feel that the Malay people are more prepared to enjoy their day, regardless of how their day will turn out, while we (and I include myself in 'we') spend all day planning how we will be happy next, yet rarely achieve any real happiness.

As I read over this post I just want to say that it wasn't meant to be so morose, in fact I hope that I read this in the months after I return home and it serves as a reminder for me to be content with the Now. I hope it can do the same for you.