Happy 2011!

Sat down to write my last post of the year and realised that I haven't been writing since my last few days in Bangladesh. Wrote "My longest hiatus ever!!!", paused for a very long time, and then closed the tab. Too many words, too much had happened and too lazy!!!

I have been very busy at work since getting back from Bangladesh, then spent an activity-packed week back at home. In short, I was busy, very occupied, but enjoying every minute of my last month of 2010. I am thankful for how my 2010 had ended.

As for 2011, I am looking forward to the launch of our new business venture in the first quarter, myself getting acquainted with everything in my new workplace and the development sector, and... getting ready to be a mummy. *gasp*

Happy 2011!

What we see

I have finally started the last activity for my Bangladesh trip this morning. My 3-day workshop will end on Tuesday and on Wednesday morning, I will be heading home!!! This feels like a really long trip .

I met a couple of Afghans at the workshop, and a young American lady who has been working in Afghanistan for the past year. Over lunch, they were describing the weather, the mountains and the many things that you would not have imagined if you hadn't spoken to someone coming from Afghanistan. And I recalled what Juma, an Afghan I met during my training in Bangkok, told me about his country. He said security is an issue, but certainly not that much of an issue, especially in Kabul. He then invited me to Afghanistan. I mean, I am not sure about most people, but I would not have dreamt about visiting Afghanistan. But after the many conversations I shared, I am not so sure. Has the situation been dramatised by what we are watching on the TV and in the theatres? How much of what we see have been politicalised? The situation in Bangkok was a very good example of how the government had manipulatively disseminate information by broadcasting only what they want us to see and how the mainstream media can be controlled to dramatise the situation so as to cast the opposition in bad light.

Sometimes, what we see may not be real.
Sometimes, what we see may only be half of the truth.

10 nights in Bangladesh

Accomodation for Leg 1: The Ambrosia, located at close distance to our office at Dhamondhi.


My room for the first 3 nights:

The main door to my room


Strangely led to a walkway, with mattresses and some garbage piled up on the left



And a second door (which cannot be locked) and the mini fridge


Leading to the main room

Basic facilities:


Night 4 and 5 at Rajshahi at Parjatan Motel


BBC all day for me



Last 5 nights in Gulshan, Dhaka

Right out of my room:


A & W!!!!!

Purchases in Bangladesh

Finally, I am at the last leg of my trip. 4 more nights in the heart of Dhaka city, I will be heading back to Chiang Mai. I took a slow stroll in the afternoon and decided that the dust and the stares were too much for me to handle. Plus, the aimless stroll didn't seem fitting for a Chinese lady in a busy town.

I managed to grab some small gifts for the ladies in my family (my 2 mums, MM, SILs, nieces) this afternoon at a local craft shop


Adding on to these are some (Bengali inspired) cushion covers I got few days back


And a T-shirt for P


These are my survival kits that I got from a local DVD store (that would be keeping me occupied for the next few nights), at USD 1 per disc.


And a portfolio by Shahabuddin Ahmed from the Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts




Amazing pieces that portray the spirit of the Freedom Fighters, a pack of 30 for USD5!!!

Leg 2 in Bangladesh

The 2 nights I spent without internet connection

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Day 1 in Rajshahi

We set off on the second leg of my trip here in Bangledesh this noon. We took a whole 5 hours for a 300-kilometres trip and the ride wasn’t exactly conducive for nap taking. I spent most of my time looking out of the window, getting amazed by the people and things I saw on the way up north. The 2 cities are separated by townships (where traffic immediately slowed down), stretches of fields and bodies of water. When we got to the motel, we were welcomed by our partners. In my previous position, our institution was a grantee, and I know exactly how it felt to be receiving donors. When the role reversed, it started to feel kind of weird.

Now that Yvonne and Mattias left, I am continuing my adventure with my colleagues from Bangladesh.

Day 2 in Rajshahi

Today is a long day. We started off the day with a visit to our partner’s office, then a local pre-school, the Union Parishad’s office, a village belonging to an indigenous group (Adivasi) and the bi-monthly Gender Development Forum.

I was amazed at the spontaneity displayed. The children didn’t need egging of any kind when asked to volunteer for performances. The indigenous, a group that is highly marginalized and living in extreme poverty, were highly pro-active. They shared spontaneously about the issues they were facing and how the help they have received from our local partners had changed situations in their lives. They also asked interesting questions that I wasn’t expecting. The participants at the Gender Development Forum were an interesting lot. They were very vocal about the key issues in their daily lives. Men and women, old and young sat together on a large straw mat laid across the field. There wasn’t a single moment of silence. We hear their views and their efforts in making positive impacts in their community. I don’t understand them, and so I observed their expressions. You know how when people speak passionate about things they truly feel for, their eyes sparkle? That happened. It was pretty obvious that our process of empowering the rights holder is very well implemented here. The results were stark and remarkable.

The people asked: Does your government take a top-down or bottoms-up approach? I paused for a while, looking for the most diplomatic answer. Here, we are advocating the participatory approach but I cannot lie. And so I went “top-down, but my government is one of the least corrupted (if not, the least) in the world, and so we trust our leaders”. They looked at one another, then nodded their heads. I came back in the evening thinking how we Singaporeans are becoming so complacent that we are somewhat ignorant. I am guilty of that.

Suddenly, I felt ashamed.