Posted by: JavaBeans January 26, 2013
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I think the thought of justifying where one lives and being critical of others who don't has no place in this day and age Vivant - those who do are really playing with a double-edged sword. Everyone has a different set of circumstances. Everyone's goals may be different. Not everyone wants to return to Nepal and not everyone wants to stay in Nepal. Everyone is free to move as they please - humans, after all, are selfish - they are guided by their own self-interest. We just hope that moral and integrity, in the end, outshine their prejudices. There is no need for us to be judgemental about people's choice of domicle, whether one lives in Nepal or outside of it.
Just as you have returned there are plenty of others who have made a decistion to migrate. But there is no need to criticize you or others. The move, in either direction, is a fair game. There are *many* benefits to this sort of activity than those who never travel outside of Nepal. History tells us that a citizen of a developing nation is better off spending time in a fully developed country, sometimes for a month and maybe even for a decade - the choice is up to the citizen. Those who return have far more chances to bring their country (or sometimes leapfrog in the case of Singapore, South Korea - aka Tiger countries, etc.) to better standards. This sort of trend is prevalent all over the world, from the current leaders of India, China to Singapore and beyond. Take for example, India's IITs were created in the 1960's by the help of Indian professors who worked in US universities for years - they won friendships with American professors at Stanford, Berkeley, UPenn, etc and asked them to help build a top notch university system. If we try and track the success of Indians in the US and thus in India a lot of credit is due to the IIT graduates. And there is also absolutely nothing wrong with choosing to live outside Nepal if that choice is made - as this also brings advantages to citizens inside Nepal. Can you imagine the economic consequences of current remittance dollars falling significantly? The situation would be quite chaotic.
I think the level of comfort is a matter of interpretation. A materially comfortable ex-pat may not be so comfy if they are home-sick and miss their family. You, on the other hand, being close to your family and within your comfort zone may be quite comfy although you are perfectly content with not wanting any material comfort. The connotations of how you define comfort has many meanings - so your statement above isn't entirely true. The ex-pats also have to earn a living (just as you did when you were outside Nepal) - which means learning the ropes for the first few years and trying to fit in to the new culture (not so easy as you've discovered yourself).
I do not think that people in the thread are pitying Nepal. We are sorry if that's the way you see it. But your misunderstanding could be a result of being misinformed. In order to assist in the (hopefully upcoming) transformation of Nepal - not all of us - need to be physically there. We regard people like you and others to be the fortunate ones who are able to return - and most of us ex-pats would feel more comfortable sharing our ideas with you than the old timers - as they haven't grown up with the times. And as we get more and more returnees with your set of motivations and is able to upskill others, we are hopeful that things will turn for the better.
With that in mind, I think most of us try honestly to pinpoint issues (without nitpicking) what we think could serve Nepal better - sort of weeding out the bad stuff. One of them discussed earlier is that Nepal is an overtly paternal society - which I think was Riddle's point. But let me try and qualify that a bit. The general environment of women traveling is not the main concern - there is a bigger fish to fry when it comes to gender equality. And that fish is the government. Take for example, if I need to prove my identity I will be asked who my father is - in absense of that who my grandfather is. If a proof for property is required the first question is who is the huband, father or grandfather. And the treatment of obtaining a nepali citizenship for a foreign wife is more lenient that it is for a foreign husband. Most govt positions are held by men. There are, I'm sure, more examples. So, let's not go to the general environment without changing the foundational underpinning of our government to re-write the rules on gender equality.
I think we all agree that burning bridges can only languish the upcoming progress - so let's not point fingers and try to collaborate on how we think our own contribution can make a difference.
Just as you have returned there are plenty of others who have made a decistion to migrate. But there is no need to criticize you or others. The move, in either direction, is a fair game. There are *many* benefits to this sort of activity than those who never travel outside of Nepal. History tells us that a citizen of a developing nation is better off spending time in a fully developed country, sometimes for a month and maybe even for a decade - the choice is up to the citizen. Those who return have far more chances to bring their country (or sometimes leapfrog in the case of Singapore, South Korea - aka Tiger countries, etc.) to better standards. This sort of trend is prevalent all over the world, from the current leaders of India, China to Singapore and beyond. Take for example, India's IITs were created in the 1960's by the help of Indian professors who worked in US universities for years - they won friendships with American professors at Stanford, Berkeley, UPenn, etc and asked them to help build a top notch university system. If we try and track the success of Indians in the US and thus in India a lot of credit is due to the IIT graduates. And there is also absolutely nothing wrong with choosing to live outside Nepal if that choice is made - as this also brings advantages to citizens inside Nepal. Can you imagine the economic consequences of current remittance dollars falling significantly? The situation would be quite chaotic.
I think the level of comfort is a matter of interpretation. A materially comfortable ex-pat may not be so comfy if they are home-sick and miss their family. You, on the other hand, being close to your family and within your comfort zone may be quite comfy although you are perfectly content with not wanting any material comfort. The connotations of how you define comfort has many meanings - so your statement above isn't entirely true. The ex-pats also have to earn a living (just as you did when you were outside Nepal) - which means learning the ropes for the first few years and trying to fit in to the new culture (not so easy as you've discovered yourself).
I do not think that people in the thread are pitying Nepal. We are sorry if that's the way you see it. But your misunderstanding could be a result of being misinformed. In order to assist in the (hopefully upcoming) transformation of Nepal - not all of us - need to be physically there. We regard people like you and others to be the fortunate ones who are able to return - and most of us ex-pats would feel more comfortable sharing our ideas with you than the old timers - as they haven't grown up with the times. And as we get more and more returnees with your set of motivations and is able to upskill others, we are hopeful that things will turn for the better.
With that in mind, I think most of us try honestly to pinpoint issues (without nitpicking) what we think could serve Nepal better - sort of weeding out the bad stuff. One of them discussed earlier is that Nepal is an overtly paternal society - which I think was Riddle's point. But let me try and qualify that a bit. The general environment of women traveling is not the main concern - there is a bigger fish to fry when it comes to gender equality. And that fish is the government. Take for example, if I need to prove my identity I will be asked who my father is - in absense of that who my grandfather is. If a proof for property is required the first question is who is the huband, father or grandfather. And the treatment of obtaining a nepali citizenship for a foreign wife is more lenient that it is for a foreign husband. Most govt positions are held by men. There are, I'm sure, more examples. So, let's not go to the general environment without changing the foundational underpinning of our government to re-write the rules on gender equality.
I think we all agree that burning bridges can only languish the upcoming progress - so let's not point fingers and try to collaborate on how we think our own contribution can make a difference.