Culture matters

The shrieking of pigs in distress shattered the peace one early morning. I spied a commotion in my landlord's backyard and went out to take a peek.

A few young men were busy tying pigs to homemade bamboo cages, and the poor animals were wailing. The landlord's wife saw us standing at the gate and strolled over to chat with us.

"We're taking the pigs up to Mateus' sacred house in the district for a ceremony," she explained, referring to her husband. "They've just finished rebuilding the sacred house. It was destroyed during the Indonesian occupation. Today and tomorrow, everyone will gather at the new sacred house to perform ceremonies."

"How much does a pig like that cost?" I asked, pointing to another pig that was tied upside down to a pole.

"That one costs about US$100. A bigger one costs US$400," came the reply.

"So after you kill the pigs, do you eat the meat?" I probed.

"Yes, but we will be served buffalo meat and mutton that Mateus' sisters must bring. They will eat pork instead." By this, she was referring to the many obligations that the Timorese must fulfill, and these vary, depending on which side of the family you come under. Men in a household have different duties to perform, as opposed to married daughters and their spouses.

Curious, I walked over to where the young men were busy tying up the pigs. There were three big ones, and one smaller pig. Our landlord had easily spent US$1300 on these animals. They would be slaughtered, and then served to the extended family gathered at the sacred house.

A wave of dismay swept over me as I watched the young men load the pigs unto the truck. The squealing pigs represented money that could be spent on so many other worthy pursuits. Mateus' daughter, a lovely young lady, had just graduated from senior high school, and was planning to study in Indonesia. I wondered how many semesters of university education had just vaporised with the purchase of these pigs instead.

There are many reasons why some communities remain locked in the poverty trap. Culture is sometimes the main culprit. A series of social and cultural practices ensure that it is impossible for the Timorese to save or invest their money wisely. Anyone who seeks to break out of these practices will face tremendous pressure from the rest of the extended family. And they believe that in not fulfilling their cultural obligations, they will be cursed by their ancestors. The sense of fear is oppressive. Ask a Timorese if it's ok not to participate in these traditional rituals, and they will invariably recount a story of how someone fell sick or died because he refused to go.

Yet, it's always easy to critique a foreign culture. There is a Chinese saying that describes the onlooker as the person with the sharpest insight into a situation, while those who are affected are confused. As much as I grieve over the darkness over parts of Timorese culture, I also find myself thinking about Singaporean culture, and the ways many Singaporean believers remain trapped by social and cultural conventions and beliefs without even knowing it.

The Timorese fear the curses that come with not performing certain rituals; we worry incessantly about not having enough for our retirement if we opt for full-time Christian service, or that we will never own a home if we don't have CPF contributions, or that we can't ever find a good job again if we quit to spend a year or two in the nations.

In the midst of these voices of fear and anxiety, another voice rings out, loud and clear - "He who loses his life will save it." I think too of Queen Esther's attitude towards the crisis she faced - "If I perish, I perish". G K Chesterton writes: "Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of a readiness to die."

So unless we are willing to give it a shot - it being the very thing our culture tells us never, ever to do - we may never live an abundant life, as surely as this generation of  Timorese will remain in poverty for as long as they spend all their money on animal sacrifices.