BORN TO TRAVEL, FORCED TO WORK (2)
(ACEH: TRAVEL FOR WORK)Perhaps I should tell you about Aceh. Because it was my recent “travel for work” projects- just before Melbourne.
Aceh is of course a globally well-known place; owing to the devastating tsunami that hit the region back then in 2004. Hundreds of thousand people were killed. But actually, disregarding the tsunami, Aceh has always been a place of interests due to its turbulent relationship with the govt of Indonesia, politically speaking. I’d say the conflict in Aceh was a multilayered one. Not only did the people hold a rather different perspective of how the region should be run, they also bore grunts of how economically unfair Javanese people were (Java was, beyond any doubt, the unofficial “central” of Indonesia, and so the Javanese ruled).
Economically unfair! That’s where my office gets into the story. Aceh is indeed a rich region. Fertile soil for plantation in the South, huge gas reservoir in the North. The gas thingy means money- big time! My office drilled wells and got the share, the govt in Jakarta sat watching and got the share, the people in Aceh sacrificed their land and got next to nothing.
(Pray this won’t make me sound like a company woman!) As far as I know, my office did quite well with social programs and community development there –but stuffs like this are never enough, ain’t ‘em? And after all we’re talking about capitalism here. Who says the world is fair?
(Pray this won’t make me sound like a typical hypocrite critic!) But what of the govt? The govt ain’t a product of capitalism as well, were they? They should be fair. If it was Aceh that made the money, it was Aceh they must distribute MOST of the money to. On the contrary, they distributed a bunch of army to suppress the rebellions- and another, and another- when Aceh cried for their rights. And when you start disliking someone, it’s easy to point out the differences between you two. You don’t feel like you belong to the same league. For Aceh people, the Javanese practiced Islam too moderately, invaded their lands so shamelessly, and so on as the list grew longer. It was only natural that they wanted to be out of the league: independence.
I, a Javanese (though a Humanist at heart), came to this “historical” land last month. Sorry to say: for gas exploitation instead of humanitarian aid. But it was Aceh all the same. Land of Syaria. Land where using your left hand is uncultured and therefore unforgiven. Land of headscarved women.
Did I get to see the beauty of exquisite nature? Only so far as the work allowed me- and gas wells with their Xmas Trees and pipelines weren’t exactly pretty, FYI.
Did I get in touch with the local people? Did I immerse myself in their culture? Depends on how you define “local people”. Do people who had been with the company for ages count? Because thanks to this conflict hovering the region, it was literally forbidden for me to get my curious feet even a step away from the Camp. Every trip to outer fields was of Army convoy. Stop by a bit to lay hands on those seemingly delicious local fruits galore along the way, perhaps? “No Ma’am, security measures cannot permit such a risky venture”. Merlin’s pants! I thought we had peace in Aceh already!
Moral of the story?
Inasmuch I enjoyed my trip to Aceh, I would have enjoyed it MORE had it not been for work! Travel and work should be kept separate, folks. You work to earn money to travel, that’s how it is.
PS: I had the rare opportunity to visit offshore platform because of WORK, though. I’ll share it (hopefully) later.
posted by eloque @ 5:09 PM
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