Day: 73
Location: Monash University Sunway Campus, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
The last week has provided some challenges to what I am used to in Australia. It is different to going through the same thing when you’re only in a country for a short amount of time and constantly moving around. In defiance of this and the insulation of campus life I must tell you about my journey back from the formular one race last weekend. I will elaborate on all of this in greater detail when I return from my imminent expedition.
I am unable to write all that I want to tell you unfortunately as I have a flight to Burma (now recognised by the Australian Government as Myanmar) in a few hours and have rather run short of time. After receiving my passport back from the Malaysian immigration department on Thursday with a student visa attached we had one day to get a visa for Burma as this can’t be done on arrival. Fortunately we hadn’t booked flights and shown up at the airport only to be rejected as some other tourists we met had done. A 100 Ringgit ‘Express Processing’ Fee ensured we would have the crucial stamp by 5pm that day.
In the meantime we went to an event hosted by a coalition of Burma ethnics which aimed to raise funds and awareness for refugees who are fleeing what was claimed to be genocide in the Kachin state (North East on the border with China). This was a fascinating preview into Burmese culture and the events taking place there. I will add that it is very difficult to access any of the areas where this conflict is occurring or anywhere near the four international borders as a tourist.
Through talking to a few people at the event we were then invited to speak to a small group of leaders from a number of the Burmese ethnic groups who are standing in solidarity with their neighbours, the Kachin during this conflict. Despite feeling a little out of our depth we managed to keep up with the discussion and pose some questions about the treatment of refugees in Malaysia, the situation in Burma and Kachin and how recent international attention and the reported democratisation of the country may impact the situation. More on this later.
As you can see it will be a very interesting time to be in the country and the events are completely relevant to the content of all three of my subjects (including a response that is due two days after I return). The chance to travel to somewhere that you have been talking about in class the week before is truly phenomenal.
I am vaguely aware that Easter is going on at the moment in the Christian world so Happy Easter to all of you who are celebrating it, 'confectionarily' or otherwise.
I will return on the 14th of April and cannot wait to tell you about adventure and inspiration then.
Ben x
Location: Monash University Sunway Campus, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
The last week has provided some challenges to what I am used to in Australia. It is different to going through the same thing when you’re only in a country for a short amount of time and constantly moving around. In defiance of this and the insulation of campus life I must tell you about my journey back from the formular one race last weekend. I will elaborate on all of this in greater detail when I return from my imminent expedition.
I am unable to write all that I want to tell you unfortunately as I have a flight to Burma (now recognised by the Australian Government as Myanmar) in a few hours and have rather run short of time. After receiving my passport back from the Malaysian immigration department on Thursday with a student visa attached we had one day to get a visa for Burma as this can’t be done on arrival. Fortunately we hadn’t booked flights and shown up at the airport only to be rejected as some other tourists we met had done. A 100 Ringgit ‘Express Processing’ Fee ensured we would have the crucial stamp by 5pm that day.
In the meantime we went to an event hosted by a coalition of Burma ethnics which aimed to raise funds and awareness for refugees who are fleeing what was claimed to be genocide in the Kachin state (North East on the border with China). This was a fascinating preview into Burmese culture and the events taking place there. I will add that it is very difficult to access any of the areas where this conflict is occurring or anywhere near the four international borders as a tourist.
Through talking to a few people at the event we were then invited to speak to a small group of leaders from a number of the Burmese ethnic groups who are standing in solidarity with their neighbours, the Kachin during this conflict. Despite feeling a little out of our depth we managed to keep up with the discussion and pose some questions about the treatment of refugees in Malaysia, the situation in Burma and Kachin and how recent international attention and the reported democratisation of the country may impact the situation. More on this later.
As you can see it will be a very interesting time to be in the country and the events are completely relevant to the content of all three of my subjects (including a response that is due two days after I return). The chance to travel to somewhere that you have been talking about in class the week before is truly phenomenal.
I am vaguely aware that Easter is going on at the moment in the Christian world so Happy Easter to all of you who are celebrating it, 'confectionarily' or otherwise.
I will return on the 14th of April and cannot wait to tell you about adventure and inspiration then.
Ben x
Aus
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