It Depends on How You See Things

I was browsing in YouTube (again) and I came across a list of clips on Indonesian migrant workers in Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong. The clips mostly show a group of migrant workers partying i.e dancing in a room (and I do mean in a room, not a club). What struck me most was the title of the clips. It is either "tki bejad", "tki hongkong keparat", "jeddah bergoyang", "babu edan"  or something like that. I watched the clips and many of them show the scene where they are dancing, some of the clips are showing the female migrants dancing in their underwear or dancing in sexy moves. Shocking? Maybe... Maybe not (well, not for me at least).

When I scrolled down, I read horrific comments on the clips. Of course, most of them are condemning the action (what else?), cursing, swearing and wrote angry messages. I found it frustrating and funny at the same time. Why? Because there is a possibility that the clips were not actually shot in migrants' communities, because especially for those who are working as domestic workers in Arab countries, it is impossible to have a gathering let alone a wild party like that. Okay, maybe those are the ones who runaway from their employers, but still it is not that simple. They live a pretty complicated life abroad. Even if they were shot in - let's say - a temporary shelter for runaway workers, so what? Do the comment writers even have the experience as migrant workers too? It is almost laughable for me that people can be so judgmental in making comments, as if they are the saints.

In many ways, I can understand the whole situation I seen on the clips. Being a migrant worker is not easy. You have to be separated from your spouse, your family, your friends. Sometimes you don't even speak the language in the country that you work. And then you will feel home sick, lonely and depressed. Migrant workers are human beings too, just like us. Most of them are in their peak period of age, which made them sexually active. And let's not be hypocrite, being away from your partner does make you sexually depressed. No wonder if many of them seek intimacy or sexual releases through various forms. And this is actually applied to the spouses or partners who are left behind at home too. Many of them are feeling sexually depressed and most likely will also seek intimacy and sexual releases. It is very humane (in my humble opinion), after all we cannot live in solitary. Everything that they did is a coping mechanism. It is a survival thing because life can be cruel out there. Can you imagine yourself in a strange land, you speak only a little bit (maybe not at all!) of the language, you work long hours, you are paid low wage, you have very little money in your hand because most of your wages you sent home to support your family, you are sexually deprived, you are homesick, you are lonely, you are tired every day. Don't you wish to please yourself every once in a while?

Just because they are migrant workers, do they not deserve good times? Have you had the slightest idea about their jobs? They work long hours, sometimes with no day off, low pay and minimum law protection. And yet, they help build the country's economy through the remittances that they send back every month. So, in my opinion, let's not be judgmental because if you never found yourself in their situation, you really have no idea at all about their stress, depression, loneliness, homesickness, biological needs, dangers and challenges in living overseas. There are many reasons why they did what they did. And I don't think it is fair for them to be judged without us knowing the reasons behind every act. I have to admit that if you are a narrow-minded person, your jaw would drop the minute you saw the clips. I am, however, thankfully not the part of that group (the narrow-minded people). I am grateful that I can see things from different perspectives and angle. I don't necessarily agree to it, but I can understand why they did it. And it is certainly not my place to judge them, because I can only imagine how their life is there. Everybody has their own coping mechanism to survive. And the method that they choose is certainly not our business. Just remember... It is indefinite that we are better than them, and sins are privacy between human being and God. So, let us mind our own business, because the way you perceive things depend on how you see them and from what angle.

PS:

I have spent more than 2 years working with migrant workers overseas, so HELL YEAH... I know what I am talking about... =)