an Intrepid move

I was watching an episode of Intrepid Journeys where Tim Shadbolt, illustrious mayor of Invercargill, visited Sabah. I enjoy travel shows (I love the thought of travelling and adventures involved), and the style of this particular show interests me. All is fine, until he makes some sort of comment about it being surprisingly comfortable despite being in a third world country (perhaps he was surprised at the use of vehicles and modern buildings in the town he was visiting). Since I grew up in Malaysia, it was needless to say I felt somewhat taken aback by that comment. The rest of his commentary/comments about life and his observations in Sabah were quite tolerable. Then at the end of the show, he talk about being surprised that people were happy in their lives and contented with their relationships despite an obvious lack of wealth (and “stuff”). Seems that our mayor here might equate happiness and contentment in life with progress and wealth.

I’m no rocket scientist, but I thought it was commonly known that wealth and material possessions never equated to happiness and contentment in life. For many people in Asia, community is a part of life, and relationships within that community definitely added to happiness. Thus it was so in the kampungs (villages) he visited. They have enough to live by, and community living was part and parcel of life and added value to life (city folk have a lot to learn from that!). So it was no wonder that they were happy and contented. So, I would contend that ignorance (though may be bliss at times) can be a cause of much trouble. And reading the History of New Zealand at the moment, I am getting a good insight into the kinds of trouble ignorance can bring.

I now live in a first world country, but I don’t think I am any happier than before. No doubt I have more opportunities (maybe because of less competition due to the much lesser population in NZ) but my sense of happiness and contentment in life is still marked by the same things – relationships with friends and family (community). My decision to stay in NZ isn’t due to the thrill of being in a first world country, but more to do with the laid back way of life that I have adopted (and various other related factors). After all, I think life in New Zealand can be considered more ‘hazardous’ to my life – I now face the threat of earthquakes, volcanoes and a thinner ozone layer.