The Soul

I’ll never forget when I arrived in Singapore after living in Indonesia for four weeks.

I walked out of the airport into a country which was sanitised and ordered, where simple infringements were met by harsh fines and everything ran like clockwork. The first day I spent there in the CBD I had a deep sensation that something was missing, something not of a physical nature. The city had no soul.

In all fairness to Singapore over the next three days I explored communities which revealed to me the heart and soul of Singapore, the colour and the smells of areas such as Little India and Chinatown which transported you to faraway lands. But it still seemed all too Western.

Growing up in Australia I took a lot for granted, I thought that our way of life was the best in the world. That my house, my car, my top university were the best way to live and that anyone in their right mind would crave that lifestyle but I never realised what I was missing out on. I love the life I lead in Australia however after experiencing a different culture I crave different things.

The moment you step off the plane in Southeast Asia you are suffocated by humidity, it is sticky and quickly draws the sweat to the surface of your skin, making you uncomfortable and impatient until you adapt and adjust to the different climate. This first shock sets the scene until you try to conquer the traffic. While in Asia I travelled by local bus, walking, motorbike, coach, in the back of a cauliflower truck and becak all of which involved the manic battle for supremacy on the roads. Whether your enemy is potholes or the countless other vehicles it doesn’t matter as the goal is simple get to your destination quicker than anyone else. The best way to gain an advantage of course is the use of the humble horn if not to warn traffic then to remind them that you are there. I’ll never forget the cauliflower truck out of all of the modes of transport with 6 of us huddling in the back among the local produce winding past farms and rice paddies among spectacular scenery. The driver slightly amused by the group of muddy Australians who had approached him in his small village at 10am in the morning.

Noise is another thing I had never experienced to such a degree. The call to prayer was a shock at first until it became an integral part of the day, a way to tell the time and a chance to stop and reflect as well as a reminder to get home because you didn’t want to be late for dinner. The same went for the kaki lima, men peddling carts around town selling all types of delicacies some of which were foreign to me but emitting screeching jingles from their carts. People everywhere would greet you with “Hello Mister” irrespective of your gender or simply a shy smile.

A particularly memorable aspect of life in Indonesia was the smell. There was always a scent of something in the air from the downright disgusting and unexplainable to scents which excited the senses, delicious, rich flavours wafting through the air. This, I had never experienced to this degree in the past. It was the single thing that shocked me most of all on my arrival in Singapore, I could not smell anything, it was almost like losing your sense of smell all together,

Throughout Southeast Asia I have found these things, from sprawling metropolis like Jakarta and Manila to the smallest villages whose names I will probably never know. Furthermore between cities and towns these senses differed, each area with its own unique signature leaving a mark on me forever and creating a desire to experience and discover more of these foreign lands. A living soul permeating through every layer of society, not restricted by class or ethnicity, painting a picture for the senses and overwhelming you in every single way.

I am incredibly grateful that I have had the opportunity to grow up in Australia and live the life that I have been given however the soul never leaves you, it lives within you. We try to remember the noise, the smell, the taste of the places we have experienced. We attempt to cook the traditional dishes we sampled in street side stalls or bash away at unusual instruments and scour youtube to find examples of the sounds of these strange lands. We explain these experiences to friends, family and colleagues but deep down one must live them to truly understand them.

These are the things we treasure, hold close to our hearts and never forget. The soul.