Feel obliged to correct the mistakes I made regarding 8 Mile Street and Detroit. 8 Mile Street is actually a street the separates the city of Detroit and its suburbs. Detroit is a very polarized city, with 80% of the city dwellers being black and 90% of the people living in the suburbs being white.
In the 1940s and 1950s, Detroit was the industrial hub of US - Ford and General Motors had their factories set up there. In addition, the city supplied a lot of reinforcements for WW2, thus there were a lot of people moving into the city to seek job opportunities. However after the World War, Ford and General Motor realized the cost efficiency of outsourcing to countries like China and Japan, and they pulled out of the city, causing the city to be in a state of severe unemployment. The city had always been quite segregated, but it was aggravated in face of this, and led to a lot of riots, the most serious one being the riots of 1967, where tanks were actually drove into the city. It didn't help either when most of the police were white.
In the current Detroit, crossing the 8 Mile Street is like crossing the Causeway; on one side, you see vacant houses, many of which are used by drug dealers at night to carry out their dealings and sometimes the rape scene of many. Some of these houses had be been burnt too, and some had broken windows despite the cold harsh winter. On the other side of 8 Mile Street and beyond, you see high end shops that boast of merchandise at least US$100.
I lived at the YMCA on 14 Mile Street, it's like a community centre, with a gym, a swimming pool and a couple of weights/martial arts studio. The tread mills in the gym have their personalized TVs. Everyday we'll commute from 14 Mile Street to the city of Detroit and it never failed to shock us to see how great the disparity is.
We worked with several non-profit organizations; tore down the interior of a vacant house, helped out at food centre, packed medical supplies for people who are not insured, taught at a community centre, helped out at a homeless shelter, cleaned a childcare centre and sent Easter lilies to home-bound seniors. Pretty diverse group of activities, guess there's merits and demerits. Got to see different facets of the city, but didn't manage to stay long enough at a place to bond with people over there.
Yet, the experience was enough to set you thinking. Why are there so many organizations committed to reviving the city when its outlook seem so bleak? We went to a park which was situated at an offshore island by Detroit, and it was beautiful. The tour guide said,"Is this the Detroit you've seen the past week?" Yeah, I guess there are parallels in this aspect with regards to people as well. No matter how much you dislike a person, there must be something good about this person as well. These organizations focused on the potential beauty the city is capable of, and that's what kept them going for so long, and into the future. Similarly, we shouldn't be so judgmental towards people around us. Ah well.. Haha, in a naggy mood.
It felt very heartwarming too, when people at the food centre, while delivering lilies, said,"Thank you sweetheart", "Thank you darling" as if you were the one giving them the gifts they have in their hands. (And yet heart wrenching)
It also made me appreciate our local government a lot more. (Not that I've not been appreciating them) Like how diverse we are, how vulnerable a position we are in, with pressure from surrounding neighbours. It's so easy for us to start marginalizing the minorities, but it didn't happen. (At least not too significant) How the government made use of propaganda, balancing it so well that we're supposed to be "Having our own identity but yet proud of our heritage and diversity." Yet on the other hand, there are so much complaints about us not being pro-active enough, and we're known for being manipulated like checkers. However, if we aren't like that, how could we have reached where we are today? Not trying to be Sino-centric here, but I guess everything about the country fell into place so nicely; though we have no resources and we're just a "little red dot on the map", but it's because of this as well, that we're able to have control on various aspects of the country. =) Thank you PAP, hahaha~
Yet, going to Detroit, made me realize one of my greatest fears: to live in poverty one day. Too used to the comfort zone I have. Which brings me to the question: How much to give? There was a lady who lived in the suburbs with her family in luxury. In her pursuit of restoring the city, she moved in with her family to the centre of the city. Would I be that magnanimous? I don't think so... But yet, ya, how much to give? The Bible suggests giving 15% of your income, is that enough? Is that too much? On one hand, it's a very personal thing, on the other hand, you'll wish there's a set of guidelines for u to follow... Ah well...
In the 1940s and 1950s, Detroit was the industrial hub of US - Ford and General Motors had their factories set up there. In addition, the city supplied a lot of reinforcements for WW2, thus there were a lot of people moving into the city to seek job opportunities. However after the World War, Ford and General Motor realized the cost efficiency of outsourcing to countries like China and Japan, and they pulled out of the city, causing the city to be in a state of severe unemployment. The city had always been quite segregated, but it was aggravated in face of this, and led to a lot of riots, the most serious one being the riots of 1967, where tanks were actually drove into the city. It didn't help either when most of the police were white.
In the current Detroit, crossing the 8 Mile Street is like crossing the Causeway; on one side, you see vacant houses, many of which are used by drug dealers at night to carry out their dealings and sometimes the rape scene of many. Some of these houses had be been burnt too, and some had broken windows despite the cold harsh winter. On the other side of 8 Mile Street and beyond, you see high end shops that boast of merchandise at least US$100.
I lived at the YMCA on 14 Mile Street, it's like a community centre, with a gym, a swimming pool and a couple of weights/martial arts studio. The tread mills in the gym have their personalized TVs. Everyday we'll commute from 14 Mile Street to the city of Detroit and it never failed to shock us to see how great the disparity is.
We worked with several non-profit organizations; tore down the interior of a vacant house, helped out at food centre, packed medical supplies for people who are not insured, taught at a community centre, helped out at a homeless shelter, cleaned a childcare centre and sent Easter lilies to home-bound seniors. Pretty diverse group of activities, guess there's merits and demerits. Got to see different facets of the city, but didn't manage to stay long enough at a place to bond with people over there.
Yet, the experience was enough to set you thinking. Why are there so many organizations committed to reviving the city when its outlook seem so bleak? We went to a park which was situated at an offshore island by Detroit, and it was beautiful. The tour guide said,"Is this the Detroit you've seen the past week?" Yeah, I guess there are parallels in this aspect with regards to people as well. No matter how much you dislike a person, there must be something good about this person as well. These organizations focused on the potential beauty the city is capable of, and that's what kept them going for so long, and into the future. Similarly, we shouldn't be so judgmental towards people around us. Ah well.. Haha, in a naggy mood.
It felt very heartwarming too, when people at the food centre, while delivering lilies, said,"Thank you sweetheart", "Thank you darling" as if you were the one giving them the gifts they have in their hands. (And yet heart wrenching)
It also made me appreciate our local government a lot more. (Not that I've not been appreciating them) Like how diverse we are, how vulnerable a position we are in, with pressure from surrounding neighbours. It's so easy for us to start marginalizing the minorities, but it didn't happen. (At least not too significant) How the government made use of propaganda, balancing it so well that we're supposed to be "Having our own identity but yet proud of our heritage and diversity." Yet on the other hand, there are so much complaints about us not being pro-active enough, and we're known for being manipulated like checkers. However, if we aren't like that, how could we have reached where we are today? Not trying to be Sino-centric here, but I guess everything about the country fell into place so nicely; though we have no resources and we're just a "little red dot on the map", but it's because of this as well, that we're able to have control on various aspects of the country. =) Thank you PAP, hahaha~
Yet, going to Detroit, made me realize one of my greatest fears: to live in poverty one day. Too used to the comfort zone I have. Which brings me to the question: How much to give? There was a lady who lived in the suburbs with her family in luxury. In her pursuit of restoring the city, she moved in with her family to the centre of the city. Would I be that magnanimous? I don't think so... But yet, ya, how much to give? The Bible suggests giving 15% of your income, is that enough? Is that too much? On one hand, it's a very personal thing, on the other hand, you'll wish there's a set of guidelines for u to follow... Ah well...
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