 |
Gaby Djohan |
|
| |
 |
Jasper Chiu |
|
| |
 |
Joyce Tang |
|
| |
 |
Katherine Yung |
|
| |
 |
Ryan Tang |
|
| |
|
|
What is our role in the world?
Jasper Chiu
Throughout the trip, I have reflected across several areas which I would like to discuss in depth, including boundaries between nature and modernisation and responsibilities as a global citizen.
“To what extent does modernisation does good to rural villages?”
During the trip, I have tried my very best to observe and interact with the villagers as much as possible, their daily routine is perhaps a bit too boring for most of us, but it seemed like they found joy in what they are doing and they are grateful. Meanwhile, us, as city people, we are always not satisfied with what we are doing, we often tried to find ways to spark our life up and tried to make our life seems perfect to others. But through this process, we often ended up following trends created by the ‘business world’ blindly and causing emotional distress, that’s why nowadays people always emphasised in finding your true self, following your heart, etc. This is what made me to think whether bringing knowledge from city is the right thing to do, have we been trying to impose the same cycle to them
“Is it really possible for people to go back to that simple life after being exposed to the modern lifestyle?”
This is indeed questionable, I have been saying that I always prefer rural villages over cities, but now if you ask me if I can really live in rural village for a long period of time and stay away from western culture, the answer will probably be a solid no. This is not because I hate rural life, it is because I have seen and experienced the modern life, and it is indeed more tempting to choose from, it’s like the story of Adam and Eve. Now it seems like we can generate a conclusion already, but that is not true, because this is an inevitable fate for them to be exposed to modern world, just a matter of time. Therefore, I believe the best way to deal with this situation is start from providing them these knowledge and also show them the importance of conversing the environment, we should try our best to educate in the right way so they won’t make the same mistake although mostly likely they won’t listen. The main point here is we should try to help them as well as ourselves to try striking a balance in between rural life and modern life, as they both got their disadvantages, but we shall discuss what should be the balance.
“What’s our role in this world?”
To me, as an educated individual I think I should not only receive knowledge but should also share knowledge and put that knowledge in use. On top of that, as a Christian, I feel obligated to help those in need and do good to the society. Therefore, in the past few years, I have found myself highly interested in service trips especially to less developed places and involved in education. And in the foreseeable future, I shall continue exploring the world through service trips and try to apply my science knowledge in real life to help shaping a better world, that’s also my reason of taking biotechnology as my major.
However, though a discussion with my teammates during the trip, it made me realise that why I am only focusing on other countries but not my home country, Hong Kong. I think the reason for being so is that I always find local volunteering work awkard, it feels weird to have the target audience as locals. But the sad truth is Hong Kong has countless social problems such as poverty cycle and the society is very fragmented, and it’s rare to have service trips to Hong Kong because this place is often perceived as a rich country, which statistically it is. With that being said, it sounds like no one will help Hong Kong, except us, the “Hong Kongers”, sad but true.
In conclusion, I think I achieved more than I expected, including personal growth, changed my vision towards the world and managed to experience a series of challenges with a group of genuine friends, which I am very grateful and thankful. |
|
