Malang, Indonesia 8th March 2012

This old lady sits beside the lake and sells the black talapia the fisherman sells to her for a small sum and she is like the middle man that sells the fish to the consumer. One kilo of black talapia is 10000 Rupiah equivalent to RM3-30.

T

Jambu farm in Batu, near to Malang Town. Temperature is cool.



Guest house that I stayed in along Jalan Bandung, Malang Town. Single room with two single bed is Rupiah 300,000 ( RM100 approx. )



Topedo room inside the Submarine. Surabaya. Russian made and decommissioned in 1968. Made in 1952. Indonesia had 12 such submarines and no air con inside when it was in active service.




Half my heart is in Malang Indonesia for the last 5 years because Elaine Liow is there studying to be a doctor. When I look at the condition they ( meaning the Malaysian student ) live in and the suffering they have to go through I really take my hats off. Many do not know the condition they live in and how they have to cope with life in Malang. I know. I have seen them study for 4 years theory and then final year working in the hospital. Can anyone imagine having to do a 24 hours shift and sometimes a 36 hours shift. I just to have to stay awake for one night without sleeping and the next day I will be sleeping like a log in the forest.
Don't look at the guesthouse i posted above because it is nothing like that. Far from it. Believe me.
Whatever they may say about Indonesian standards of medical students but for me I think they work really hard and they deserve the credit. People have the perception that Oh ! its Indonesia so it is no good. But let me tell you this. They are doing so much practical and they will come up top compared to those just looking at books and reciting theory like the way the Buddhist recites the mantra. Honestly I am not being bias.
I visited the hospital at Malang, which was quite interesting and I talked to many medical students. Some of the stories are so sad I just do not know where to begin. One of them told me that she came across a case where the baby needed an operation and the costs would come up to 500,000 Rupiah. That is about RM175-00. Because she was not able to come up with this amount of money for the operation she had to sign the letter of withdrawal. Can anyone imagine the pain the mother must have felt. Can anyone imagine the guilt, the sense of uselessness and utter desperation. The baby died eventually after a few days.
Not having the money to buy the required medicine, no money to get an operation, no money to keep the patient in hospital. The list goes on and on. Sometimes come to think of it we are so lucky. At least the hospital is free ( affordable ) here in Malaysia.
Imagine one day, when we wake up and find that there is a cut back and hospitalization is only available to those that can afford to pay and medicine is going to costs a lot and the government is not paying.
When I listen to the reports pointing to those in power abusing their positions and sucking the rakyaat's money it makes me angry. It makes me want to curse them for the corruption and cornyism and abuse of power. If it goes on it will make the country bankrupt in no time.
But what to do stupid people keep voting those corrupted buggers back to public office. I remember when I was a kid I saw people lining up to collect their one kilo of sugar, 3 kilos of rice and one tin of milo being given out by politicians in exchange of their vote.
Anyway I have strayed from my main point which is suppose to be about Malang, Indonesia.
Malang is quite near to Surabaya and it is quite an interesting City. Makan - very good. Hotel - very good. Weather - very hot and in March very wet. City tour - interesting.
House of Sempourna - must visit. Chinaman from Hokkien came to Surabaya 1900 and made it good and second richest family in Indonesia today. Original surname Lim. Changed to Sempourna. Makes rokok - hand rolled. Sold the entire operation to Morris Phillips for US$5 Billion in 2005.
When I visited the House of Sempourna and looked at the old photos and listen to the stories it does not make me envious. It makes me want to work harder. It inspires me to work harder.