Poverty & Pain

Today I took my driver, Iwan, out for a meal in one of the shopping malls. He told me that he did not feel comfortable eating in a restaurant inside a mall. He claims that his "status" is not the same as others. Iwan believed that he is poor and would not walk into places that he might think others might look down on him.

Another example is at Novotel hotel. I often asked him to wait around the back lobby area while I go for my gym sessions. That location has very few people but he still refused. He claims that staff at Novotel had given him "condescending looks". Perhaps it was coincidental, Iwan also said that every time he wanted to use the hotel toilet the door is locked.

His lack of self-belief and self-confidence is so bad until he had to ask his friend to accompany him when I asked him to check out second hand car prices in the car studio one day! His friend was forced to close-up the shop just to accompany him to the car studio.

My maid, Aeni, also comes from a not-so-well-off family. Her father was ill one day and I asked her why she did not bring her dad to the doctor. She suspected that his dad had some gastric problems until he was bed-ridden. She has 2 elder brothers and 1 elder sister but they refused to come back to attend to their father. Aeni said sometimes she would avoid going home whenever she knows that her father was sick - claiming that "people worry less if they know less"! She also said that if she brings her dad to the doctor, they might discover that her dad might have some other illnesses that might require additional medical expenses.

After I threatened her that her father would die if his gastric was not treated, she finally agreed to take her dad to the doctor's. I really can't believe how people can behave like this??!! Maybe this is how people who live below the poverty line live? That's why we always remind ourselves to do more charitable things for these people and treat them well. God brought us to Indonesia for a reason and we have to make the situation better for 2 Indonesians if we can't help them all.