The Escalator Comparison (and a little more)

When I was in Myanmar last December, one of my cousins brought me to a place called BAK Shopping Centre. Of course, don’t picture it to be anything like the malls in Singapore but ironically, it is one of the better ones I saw there. It was a modest and decent shopping centre, with only three floors and escalators linking each floor.

When I was there, the escalator to the second floor was not working, so I had to climb the steps up. That same evening, I returned to the same place, to buy some groceries and do some window shopping. At the feet of the same escalator, I was greeted by maintenance workers, four or five of them, sweating it out to get the escalator working again. Some of them were standing on the normal ground, shining light with their torches for their fellow workers who were about 1.5 metres underground, checking the internal system.

On the way to work this morning, the escalator I normally take to get out of the Novena MRT underpass was not working. One had to climb up the flight of escalator steps, a task which would easily get on one’s nerves if he was pressing for time. But it didn’t matter to me.
After I knocked off just now, the same escalator that was out of order earlier has already started working again.

Nothing surprising, you might say. But it made me draw comparisons and project it on a larger scale.

This comparison of escalators that I’m trying to elucidate can be likened to the current state of both countries, one of which is my birthplace and where my roots are, and the other of which is where my future lies (insha-allah).

Something which I recently discovered, but has been a long standing fact, is that Myanmar is a country which has tremendous potential, in its people and its rich resources. Thirty years ago, it was on the right track to develop itself towards economic prosperity and better living standards. Thirty years on, while most countries have become developed, Myanmar is still struggling to keep up with the pace. It is obvious why this is so.

The case of Singapore is almost the exact opposite. Singapore has developed itself to be one of the leading nations in the world in many areas. What was a nation with lack of proper housing, of a good defence force and what-have-you is now enjoying a first-world status.

This disparity, as far as I see it, boils down to one single reason – the Governments. You need an effective, efficient and reliable Government to get things done well and fast, to get the escalator working again before you know it. If it is anything otherwise, you will have to make do with the ‘out-of-order escalator’ for sometime.

Anyway, I have been thinking of visiting Myanmar once again. The only reason that draws me back is my relatives. It is the 15th today, one exact month after I departed Singapore. On the hindsight of this past month alone, I have gone through a wide array of experiences, including meeting my relatives whom I’ve not seen for a long time, or whom I’ve not seen before at all, traveling 300 miles to the village where my father grew up and where we celebrated our Hari Raya Haji with the Korban (sacrifice) of a sheep right in front of my eyes, traveling to a town at an altitude of 1500m above sea level, attending the Friday prayers in the Burmese style, returning to Singapore in time to usher the New Year, and finally commencing this attachment to SPF, to date. It’s no wonder why this past month felt like eternity.