Received this in my INBOX. I think this is a good comperative analysis of Nepal.
Dear All,
>Did you read this article written by a 15 year old Korean boy who
>visited Nepal?
>
>Nepalese complain about the caste system and corrupt officers. They
>openly vent their anger against the government. But have they ever
>thought About Nepal's real problems? I believe that they have not. I
>want to say that Nepal's real problems are lack of patriotism among
>the people and lack of love for one another. This is the conclusion
>I have reached during my stay. This summer, I did voluntary work
>from July 5 to July 30 at FHI Ever Vision School, Matatirtha,
>Kathmandu.
>
>Let me first tell you about my country, Korea. This might help you
>understand my point. Just after the Korean War, which claimed lives
>of more than 5 million Koreans, Korea was one of the poorest
>countries in the world. Without natural resources, Korea had no
>choice but to desperately struggle for its survival by all means.
>Under this gloomy situation, Koreans envied other Asian countries
>like Japan, Taiwan, and Nepal. Korean government officials were
>horribly corrupt. With the dual classes of Yang ban (nobles) and
>angnom (peasants), Korean society was sickening day by day. However,
>Koreans, having determination to become rich, overcame the unfair
>social structure and put the country onto the track of development.
>When the former president Park Jung Hee took over the government,
>there were few factories in Korea. Korea could not attract loans or
>expect foreign investments. Under these circumstances, President
>Park 'exported' miners and nurses to then West Germany. The salaries
>that they earned were used to building factories and promoting
>industrialization of Korea. In 1964, when President Park visited
>then West Germany, the miners and nurses asked the president when
>the Koreans would become rich. The president replied, crying with
>the miners and nurses, that someday the Koreans would become rich.
>Many of Korean scientists and engineers, who could just enjoy
>comfortable lives in the United States, returned to Korea with only
>one thing in their mind: the determination to make Korea the most
>powerful and prosperous country in the world. They did their best
>even though their salaries were much less than what they would have
>received in other countries.
>
>The Koreans believed that they have the ability to change their
>desperate situation and that they must make the country better, not
>only for themselves but also for the future generations yet to come.
>My parents' generation sacrificed themselves for their families and
>the country. They worked 14 hours a day, and risked their lives
>working under inhumane conditions. The mothers, who went to work in
>factories, fed their babies while operating machines in dangerous
>environments. They always tried to teach their children the true
>value of 'hard work'. Finally, all of these hard works and
>sacrifices made the prosperous Korea that you see now.
>
>Nepalese, have you ever cried for your country? I heard that many of
>Nepali youth do not love their Nepal. I also heard that they want to
>leave Nepal because they don't like caste system, or because they
>want to escape the severe poverty. However, they should be the first
>ones to voluntarily work for Nepal's development, not the first ones
>to complain and speak against their country. I have a dream that
>someday I would be able to free the souls from suffering from the
>underdeveloped countries, anachronistic customs and the desperate
>hunger. My belief has become stronger than ever after seeing the
>reality in Nepal. A child with a fatal disease who doesn't have
>enough money to buy a pill; a child living in what seems like a
>pre-historic dwelling and not having the opportunity to receive
>education; and a student who cannot succeed, no matter how hard he
>studies, just because of the class he comes from. A society, in
>which wives not only take care of children but also work in the
>fields, while their husbands waste their time doing nothing; a
>society in which a five-year-old must labor in a brick factory to
>feed herself. Looking at the reality of Nepal, I was despaired, yet
>this sense of despair strengthened my belief. I already know that
>many of the Nepalese are devout Hindus. However, nothing happens if
>you just pray to hundreds of thousands of gods while doing nothing.
>It is the action that you and Nepal need for the better future. For
>Nepal and yourselves, you have to show your love to your neighbors
>and country just as you do to Gods. You know that your Gods will be
>pleased when you work for the development of your country and
>improvement of your lives. Therefore, please, love your neighbors
>and country. Teach your children to love their country. And love the
>working itself. Who do you think will cry for your Nepal? Who do you
>think will be able to respect the spirit of Himalayas and to keep
>the lonely flag representing it? You are the ones responsible for
>leading this beautiful country to a much brighter future. This
>responsibility lies on you.
>
>(The writer is a 15 year-old student of Hankuk Academy of Foreign
>Studies, South Korea).
