Another task that I undertook during GPS
was being the group’s accountant and I’ve learnt very important lessons on
accounting and currency.
Being the accountant meant that I worked
with Mr Ong almost every other night to take accounts of the group’s
expenditure. I knew about the Singaporean Dollar to Filipino Peso exchange rate
(1 SGD to 30 PHP) but I never realized how ‘powerful’ that exchange rate made
us, it enabled us. Right now, I’m wondering if that is truly a good thing. A
few figures stuck with me, one was the 25kg pig that we bought for the Barangay
to have Lechon Baboy (Roasted Pig), it was glorious feast during our closing
ceremony of the arts camp and we ate that pig for probably 4 days straight
after. The pig cost about 4000 PHP converting that it’s about 133.33 SGD it
does not seem like a lot us but it was a real treat for them.
The same was also true for our groceries
lists, that most of the time reached staggering numbers in the thousands. If I
converted all the numbers and figures in Pesos to Singaporean dollars never
seemed like a lot of money to me. Our biggest grocery bill that came up to
14,630p is only close to 500 dollars and that bill fed close to 60 people or
even more for about 3-4 days. This was also true when we provided the kids with
stationary and materials for art or when we bought paint for our mural project.
Our currency probably empowered us to make more ambitious decisions in our
planning and execution. I also noticed that whenever we were confronted with a
problem that required us to change our plans we didn’t have any qualms on
logistics because we had the means to acquire them. I’m not sure if this
impeded in how creatively we problem solved and how effectively we worked with
all that we had already; But I’m just wondering now if our Singaporean
mentality to problem-solve is ultimately influenced by the currency that we
hold in our hands and not in engaging the people around us.
Perhaps this might be the same for people
in every other Capitalist country. We are wired to make our decisions around
our money and I feel that sometimes when problems arise one of the first
questions we ask is about our budget. One cannot deny the importance of money
as a means to reach out to the masses at the same time I’m very certain that it
is not the only means at our disposal. But there has been a shift in that focus
I realize, our GPS group grown in the sense that our budget becomes quite
secondary, it is the means but not the end. Throughout our planning and
conducting the arts camp, we focused on the kids and how we could improve our program to benefit them.
I thought that this was a very heartening shift from the material and physical to the emotional and inter-personal relations between people. At the same time too, we as a team became more bonded and aware of each individual's actions and well-being. And in that sense I would say that unconsciously we did learn from the villagers in Tap Tap, we learnt to be accountable to the people around us.
I noticed that the villagers from Tap tap were more focused on the inter-personal relations than the material. It's quite paradoxical in a sense. We who have so much, don't 'value' what we have as much as them. What struck me was the way they cherished every single thing that was given to them, even to a point of almost possessiveness, because they valued what was given to them. Which again struck me because in Singapore, we are well attuned to people moving in and out of our lives, we become somewhat desensitized to acquaintances that we make and perhaps after a while, we forget about them.
But the people in Tap tap were different, they valued the friendship that we had with them even though we had not seen each other in months. From their warm hugs to welcome us back to Tap tap to the tears and hand-written letters when we left, it made me think about the fact that we did make an impact into their lives. And ultimately we do every-time we interact with someone, we leave our marks on other people, therefore we have to be accountable to them.
I thought that this was a very heartening shift from the material and physical to the emotional and inter-personal relations between people. At the same time too, we as a team became more bonded and aware of each individual's actions and well-being. And in that sense I would say that unconsciously we did learn from the villagers in Tap Tap, we learnt to be accountable to the people around us.
I noticed that the villagers from Tap tap were more focused on the inter-personal relations than the material. It's quite paradoxical in a sense. We who have so much, don't 'value' what we have as much as them. What struck me was the way they cherished every single thing that was given to them, even to a point of almost possessiveness, because they valued what was given to them. Which again struck me because in Singapore, we are well attuned to people moving in and out of our lives, we become somewhat desensitized to acquaintances that we make and perhaps after a while, we forget about them.
But the people in Tap tap were different, they valued the friendship that we had with them even though we had not seen each other in months. From their warm hugs to welcome us back to Tap tap to the tears and hand-written letters when we left, it made me think about the fact that we did make an impact into their lives. And ultimately we do every-time we interact with someone, we leave our marks on other people, therefore we have to be accountable to them.
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