Unintentionally, I seem to have painted a picture of a lonely hard struggle of a life where people take your things and no one cares for you. I feel I may need to set the record straight.

I am living on a small island in a very poor, developing country and I live the life of a queen compared to the majority. Maybe sometimes I compare it too much to western standards and in that regard, I guess yes, it is sometimes hard, but out here? My life must seem luxurious. I live in a three bed roomed house on my own, whilst families with 7 children, ma and pa, grandma and two brothers cousins live in much smaller accommodation.  I have a house mere and a security guard (staff – hark at me). I wear different clothes every day. I take my own laptop to work and have electronic gadgets people have never seen before (and believe me, they are not special). Just buying tea and coffee for the office is seen as an extravagance. People wear second hand clothes until they are threadbare. It sometimes takes more than five years to build a house, room by room. Many don’t have electricity, others only use it on special occasions. The minimum wage is less than $1AUD (60pence) an hour and nurses get paid a mere 25% of the Australian minimum wage. The cost of living here is not that cheap either for a developing country, with most things having to be imported. Can I really complain if I “loose” some bed sheets or a bottle of wine?
We also need to think about culture and what is culturally acceptable? I think that whilst someone coming into your home uninvited is not OK in any culture, it is only really frowned upon here, especially as it is nothing of value.  It is certainly not the hung, drawn and quartered reaction you would expect in England or Australia. Since having my locks changed, things I thought were missing are gradually being returned to their rightful place. Simply “borrowed” and not stolen. Unfortunately I think I can wave goodbye to the rum, cigars, wine and food items but that’s OK, my liver will be happy. Despite all that has happened, I feel safe and at home in my new house and continue to thrive in both my life and my work. I may not have the life and the friends that I left behind but I have support and respect from the community and I am thankful for that. On the whole, the majority of Solomon Islanders are really good, honest, happy, and thankful people. I wouldn’t stay if I wasn’t enjoying myself.
I have been thinking a lot about my constant need to be amused and/or entertained. I always seem to have my phone, or a book, or my laptop, a jigsaw, a puzzle book or the paper out at any one time in the day. God forbid I should be alone with my own thoughts or miss out on a crucial bit of gossip from a world that I no longer inhabit. The only time I ever really stop and sit is when I have a drink in my hand. Whilst I was in Hong Kong at New Year, I was amazed at the hundreds of thousands of people just trying to get from A to B. Could I even be as bold as to say I felt disgusted by the logistics, the expense and the blatant consumerism that is involved in simply keeping people amused? Not alive. This is not about need or survival. This is about entertainment. There were queues everywhere for hours long. 

 Every pavement was rammed. Every train, bus, taxi, tram, boat, cable car packed. Every bar and every restaurant is busy. Everywhere you turn is a designer shopping center, cinema, beauty therapist, car showroom, zoo, park, funfair, cake shop. You can buy anything you want, anywhere you want and when I say anywhere: at the top of a mountain, designer shopping center.

Visiting the big Buddha temple? No worries, there’s an air conditioned shopping center. Got 5 minutes between trains? Buy a handbag, a new dress or change your skincare routine. 

 

As if all this amusement is not enough, everybody but everybody is on their mobile phone.  I know, I know, I sound just like my dad but it was insane. People don’t just walk anywhere anymore; they have to do it whilst on video chat with their best friend. People can’t just sit on a bus for two stops; they have to have a quick game of surf championships. People can’t just listen to music; they have to watch the pop video at the same time. Am I getting old? I found it so thoroughly depressing. I see friends and families spending time together, connecting to anything but their reality. How can I live in a world where two societies are so vastly different that I feel like I am on another planet? 

Life here is played out very differently from the one I witnessed in Hong Kong. People will only travel if it is necessary: for work, for food, for family. Very few can afford the luxury of travel simply in the pursuit of pure pleasure. Shops sell essential items: Food, clothes, building, cleaning, fixing. It is simple: there is everything you need and nothing you don’t. Time is filled with the daily throng of life: gardening, washing, cleaning and cooking. What time is left is spent either at church or they simply sit and “stori” about who went where, bought what, with whom as there is very little else to discuss. Hardly anyone has a television and if they do, they have one channel, mostly football. “News” here is local only and the Solomon Star is devoured daily in the admin office. This is their world. Children play in the street, in the stream, in the sea. They don’t have toys, gadgets or computer games. They play with sticks and sand. They laugh and run about, naked and happy. They have no choices, no decisions to make, no worries. They have large bush knives and climb tall trees (OK, maybe one worry).
Now, I know what I have described sounds idyllic and in lots of cases I’m pretty sure it is. I am, however, well aware that this is not always the truth. Solomon Islanders have a life expectancy of 65, high rates of infant mortality and maternal deaths, deprivation and violence against women, little healthcare, even less education and so much corruption in every walk of life it makes my head hurt. But it is a developing country, things are slowly improving and this is not the point I am trying to make here. There is so much aid poured into the Solomon Islands economy everyday to try and build it into a developed country and I ask myself why? If they have access to everything they could ever desire, would that be right? Would that make everybody happy? 

Splat! My brain explodes. I am aware it’s like trying to compare two pieces in a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle and this is a much bigger debate than I am capable of, but should we aspire to be living in a world that is so focused on consumerism, money, wealth and greed? 

So, here is what I plan to do. Don’t try and stop me. When I get a moral bee in my bonnet there are no boundaries, no limits. I will take the higher ground and I will not be a slave to this blatant consumerism and constant need for entertainment. 

I have deleted candy crush and I plan to spend at least 20 minutes a day doing nothing at all. 

Thank you.