Batam, Indonesia, Galang Refugee Camp, Feb 2011
Galang Refugee Camp, Batam, Indonesia, Feb 2011
Spending 3 days in Singapore along the never-ending row of shopping centres and some artificial forests was really far too much and far too long for me. My boredom finally forced me to escape this super modern city to find peace and tranquillity out of intense capitalist atmosphere.
After a few brief discussions with my niece, she agreed to come along for a day visit to Batam Island of Indonesia. We didn’t have any guide book; the plan was just a trip for real Indonesian food, I was bored eating noodle and modern Chinese food for 3 days. I have heard a lot about Batam in the past, but only Batam as an industrial island and as free trade zone area as we all know it, but our visit to Batam was more than just a quick lunch, but an amazing trip full of stories, many of us probably haven’t heard before.
The journey from Singapore took only 45 minutes to the harbour in Batam. The boat was very clean and well managed. Upon arrival in Batam, the immigration procedure was fairly simple and we landed in a cafe/restaurant a few minutes later. I honestly felt so at home here, just by looking at the smiling waitress approaching us. Gosh, I am so proud to be part of this smiling nation. We indulged on some Padang food and Rendang was the main point of the trip. During the meal, a man approached us and I immediately sensed that he was selling something. I gave him a dirty look and said “thank you, we are eating”. After the meal, he started smiling at me again, and said “mbak…mau jalan-jalan?” means roughly in English “are you planning to travel around?”. As we planned to stay a few more hours before the last ferry back to Singapore, I said “yes, do you know a good place here”. He got up and headed towards our table and asked permission if he could sit down near us. He then told us a few good places and offered to take us there in return for a few Singapore dollars, sadly he won’t accept Indonesian Rrupiah L. We agreed and the journey began.
We started the journey from the main harbour, heading towards the outskirt of Batam passing the 7 bridges. The first bridge is very grand and followed by smaller bridges before we finally arrived at the Galang Refugee Camp. We arrived late afternoon welcomed by beautiful blue sky and extremely green forest. The driver suggested that we visit the museum office first to get some ideas what we were about to visit and see. We then drove slowly passing small streets and what looked like an amazingly beautiful village. UNHCR has designed the village so perfectly that the visit to the Camp has prompted many questions in my mind. This village is now redundant, not a single person insight, apart from us and a few other visitors.
It felt so peaceful, so near to heaven being able to see so many different house of prayers (The Mosque, The Church, The Buddhist temple, The Hindu temple, The Chinese Quil) standing side by side, and no war in sight. The fact that we didn’t see any human being around was indescribable feeling.
I dream that one day I would find a perfect village like this one in Indonesia, but functional one of course. A village with so many different religions live side by side in harmony. A village with a school, a hospital, a youth club, and few amazing playing fields between the houses. I don’t think it would be difficult to create this type of village, if we could all put our ego and differences aside and just think of God as the creator of all things.
I wonder how it was, when this camp was occupied?
