"So, Bivan, now that you have moved out all the way from Korea to Singapore, how do you compare both countries? Which one is more preferable to live on, and why?" To be honest, I encountered this kind of question a lot when I firstly came to Singapore, not only from my fellow friends from Korea but also from Singapore itself, and obviously Indonesia (yes, that's the country of origin I am from). However, in this post, I am not that interested in answering that question in direct style. Instead, I am about to describe what I felt and what I have encountered that have me realised how grateful I am that God has lined up and planned on my line of life so far.
First time coming to Korea, of course it's a real challenge for me. Not knowing that many people in the country of destination, plus that there are lots of rumour about suicide here and there, and for me especially the food, all of those makes my life in Korea in the beginning the hardest so far in my life. But does that make my life miserable? It actually depends on how you describe one thing as miserable. If you describe the difficulties in finding Halal food that led towards the significant decrement of your body weight as miserable, yes perhaps. If you describe the lack of people to trust and confide with in your vicinity as miserable, it may be true. But if you describe the more closeness you can feel with God as not miserable at all, then yes it's absolutely true.
Another thing is that I became more resourceful about my own religion. I believed that Islam does not necessarily make my life miserable, but several facts left unknown to me makes me miserable. So I started to understand the verses of Qur'an, especially about this Halal/Haram pact, and turns out that the meat slaughtered by People of the Book (Christian, Catholic, Judaism) are also Halal for me to eat. Looking around, I saw and realised that most of the meat used by Korean restaurant (and some other restaurant) are actually imported from countries in which those aforementioned people are quite majority there. Then my choice of food dramatically increased, and again I delivered my gratitude towards God that He led me towards this answer I was seeking for a long time. (I understand there may be several opinion regarding this very verse, but I think we may put that aside for now).
Therefore, I kinda think that this, ironically, makes me closer to God than I ever was, before I dared to embark on this journey to Korea.
There is this one guy (and then eventually several people that I am still connecting on until now) that was texting me when I almost missed one exam due to being overslept (well I was studying all night the day before and the exam was at 9AM), and as a result I woke up and got straight to the exam room. What I still find it miraculous is that this guy has actually never been in contact with me previously. I just knew him as one person from Egypt in my batch, and nothing more than that. I was quite surprised since the one I expected to wake me up did not do that to me, and even all those people I considered close, at that time.
Later on, we kinda became close friends and later became roommates. Also from that moment, I was being met with lots of other people I considered really nice and, though not really a perfect match, tried to have some mutual understanding with me (despite the difference in culture and interest). I was so grateful to meet those people, and until today I still believed that those people are the one God really sent to me as being friends for life, even though we have gone separate ways, each of us, towards our own dream.
However, maybe if I ended up in Singapore, I won't get to be quite close to God, perhaps. Halal food won't be as meaningful to me as it is now (since if I was sent to SG, then finding for Halal food won't be like finding a pearl inside a mud, and thus won't be that precious). I may not be able to connect with God in the way I am connected with Him now. Of course I am not that perfect in practicing my religion, but by having that feeling of closeness once, I am always aware of the circumstances of God. Perhaps I may call myself as quite a spiritual person.
So, back to the title.. Which one do I actually prefer? For now, perhaps I may say SG is much more desirable for me, due to the easy access for me to practice my religion and also the familiarity in culture that I may feel in SG. But, if I may rewind the time and do something different about this, will I neglect Korea and try to pursue my study in Singapore and have a life in SG?
To be frank, actually I remembered I have that choice before. Back then in 2013, I finally got Bronze Medal in IMO which would definitely secure my place in NUS or NTU for 2014 Entrance. However, by several consideration at that time (and also by letting my heart and God to be my guiding key), I decided to stay in KAIST, despite several hardship that I was encountering back then. So glad that I made a good judgement that time.
Perhaps my life would be better should I chose to try for NUS and NTU back then, but with the benefit I have now, I may say that I do not regret the decision I made back then, since it led me towards several journeys that I have never believed I would have, and those journeys are what shaped me into who I am today.
First time coming to Korea, of course it's a real challenge for me. Not knowing that many people in the country of destination, plus that there are lots of rumour about suicide here and there, and for me especially the food, all of those makes my life in Korea in the beginning the hardest so far in my life. But does that make my life miserable? It actually depends on how you describe one thing as miserable. If you describe the difficulties in finding Halal food that led towards the significant decrement of your body weight as miserable, yes perhaps. If you describe the lack of people to trust and confide with in your vicinity as miserable, it may be true. But if you describe the more closeness you can feel with God as not miserable at all, then yes it's absolutely true.
1. Food
It may be ironic, considering that in Korea there are not that much Muslims around, and most people there are not that familiar with this religion at all. But then, since I did not know when, God always put His hand on me, helping me in every hardship that I encountered there. When I got really stressful due to terrible hunger (yes, you read it right. I got really skinny and my weight was dropped from 65 to 58 in a matter of weeks), God showed me the way in introducing me towards several people from my batch who were facing the same difficulties, and there we kinda shared some Halal food together. Also there is this one Halal restaurant that turns out to be quite affordable, and soon after that I became the regular customer in that restaurant. Despite the loathe that people addressed towards this restaurant, but I think this is the restaurant that God has chosen for me. Due to the difficulties in finding Halal food, whenever I eat one, I always remember about God and His Greatness in being.Another thing is that I became more resourceful about my own religion. I believed that Islam does not necessarily make my life miserable, but several facts left unknown to me makes me miserable. So I started to understand the verses of Qur'an, especially about this Halal/Haram pact, and turns out that the meat slaughtered by People of the Book (Christian, Catholic, Judaism) are also Halal for me to eat. Looking around, I saw and realised that most of the meat used by Korean restaurant (and some other restaurant) are actually imported from countries in which those aforementioned people are quite majority there. Then my choice of food dramatically increased, and again I delivered my gratitude towards God that He led me towards this answer I was seeking for a long time. (I understand there may be several opinion regarding this very verse, but I think we may put that aside for now).
Therefore, I kinda think that this, ironically, makes me closer to God than I ever was, before I dared to embark on this journey to Korea.
2. Friends
First time I came to Korea, to be honest it's really hard to find a friend that I can really trust. I dunno, it's just really hard for me to connect with those people somehow. Most of the people I know did their Undergraduate somewhere else, be it in Singapore or Indonesia, or anywhere else, but not in Korea. I felt like I lived in exile. I was really prone to misunderstanding about people, as do people are being prone to misunderstanding about me, somehow making my life really morose there. Again, when you literally have no one to lay your back on, you do realised that God is the only One who you can rely on, all the time. Again, I prayed to God so that He may lead me towards this difficult journey, and again He helped me in a way I have never realised before.There is this one guy (and then eventually several people that I am still connecting on until now) that was texting me when I almost missed one exam due to being overslept (well I was studying all night the day before and the exam was at 9AM), and as a result I woke up and got straight to the exam room. What I still find it miraculous is that this guy has actually never been in contact with me previously. I just knew him as one person from Egypt in my batch, and nothing more than that. I was quite surprised since the one I expected to wake me up did not do that to me, and even all those people I considered close, at that time.
Later on, we kinda became close friends and later became roommates. Also from that moment, I was being met with lots of other people I considered really nice and, though not really a perfect match, tried to have some mutual understanding with me (despite the difference in culture and interest). I was so grateful to meet those people, and until today I still believed that those people are the one God really sent to me as being friends for life, even though we have gone separate ways, each of us, towards our own dream.
3. Final
All in all, despite the tremendously hard journey I had while in Korea, I rarely think my life there was miserable. Yeah, maybe sometimes, when I just could not get a hang on several problems I encountered while being there, when those traumas I had with some people suddenly got arisen in my head. But overall, I think all those journey actually means something to me. I happened to find the answer on why was I being destined to go to Korea and not Singapore, let's say (okay, I really hoped to get into NUS or NTU really badly, but I ended up in KAIST). In Singapore, of course there are lots of Halal food to fetch and it's much easier to socialise since most of my friends are actually doing UG in there and not in Korea.However, maybe if I ended up in Singapore, I won't get to be quite close to God, perhaps. Halal food won't be as meaningful to me as it is now (since if I was sent to SG, then finding for Halal food won't be like finding a pearl inside a mud, and thus won't be that precious). I may not be able to connect with God in the way I am connected with Him now. Of course I am not that perfect in practicing my religion, but by having that feeling of closeness once, I am always aware of the circumstances of God. Perhaps I may call myself as quite a spiritual person.
So, back to the title.. Which one do I actually prefer? For now, perhaps I may say SG is much more desirable for me, due to the easy access for me to practice my religion and also the familiarity in culture that I may feel in SG. But, if I may rewind the time and do something different about this, will I neglect Korea and try to pursue my study in Singapore and have a life in SG?
To be frank, actually I remembered I have that choice before. Back then in 2013, I finally got Bronze Medal in IMO which would definitely secure my place in NUS or NTU for 2014 Entrance. However, by several consideration at that time (and also by letting my heart and God to be my guiding key), I decided to stay in KAIST, despite several hardship that I was encountering back then. So glad that I made a good judgement that time.
Perhaps my life would be better should I chose to try for NUS and NTU back then, but with the benefit I have now, I may say that I do not regret the decision I made back then, since it led me towards several journeys that I have never believed I would have, and those journeys are what shaped me into who I am today.
May your heart be your guiding key
-Kingdom Hearts-
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