I am revisiting the land of my birth. However, the old house where I spent most of my childhood and youth has been replaced by an expressway. My old primary school has relocated to a brand new building. So has my junior college. The buildings where I spent most of my university days are either gone or have been converted to serve other functions. The hotel where I had my wedding reception has been demolished and replaced by a condominium. Only the church where I got married still stands. Even the last home where I resided before I left for Australia has been completely rebuilt and looks nothing like the house we had painstakingly designed and built. In the news recently, I read that the cemetery where my grandmother was buried will be exhumed soon.
Countless new buildings have sprung up in the last few years. There are now twice as many people in the country as when I left. There is a palpable sense of discontent in the locals I have opportunity to speak with, especially disgruntled cab drivers. Everyone is busy, and busy people do get impatient. I had the pleasure of savouring the delights of hawker food that I missed so much recently. However, I discovered that if I hesitated about what I wanted to order, or did not have my cash for payment promptly, I met with impatient looks on the faces of the vendors. I was reprimanded for giving one "poh piah"lady two 5 cent coins because she said it would impede her business counting small change!
Here, one can buy any conceivable manufactured thing under the sun, whatever the budget. I had a lot of fun browsing in a two dollar store selling Japanese goods. There are mega complexes of shopping malls with enticing array of goods to capitalise on festive shopping. I watched a programme on TV last night about how the Bhutanese people are fighting a losing battle to maintain their happiness quotient as tourism expands and the country's youth are increasingly exposed to foreign influences and the consequent hunger for material goods. Consumerism carried to the extreme is a threat to happiness!
It makes me wonder, what price progress?
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