When I approached my last weeks of study in the US, last
year, my sponsor sent me a video containing tips of addressing potential cultural
shocks if students return to their home countries after living overseas for a
while. The video perplexed me because I did not believe it would be true. How
can I be shocked with my own culture? It sounds weird to some of us. However,
it is true theoretically, based on research studies, the video explains the
process why it could happen to expat students after they return home. Just an
example, when you live outside of your country, you might experience a more reliable
telecommunication service, but your country’s is fucked up; your phone plan credits
are sucked in a matter of seconds with no reasons. How would you feel? The feeling is part of the
cultural shock thing.
By the
way, I ended up agreeing everything that the video explains. However, I am not
shocked, at all, with acute corrupt behaviors and politics. It has been and
will be here for an undefined period. Instead, the shocking thing after I
returned is the telecommunication service. I still remember, experts and
politicians of this country used to argue that allowing competition in the
industry would lower costs for users. However, the claim has never happened.
Is
there anybody agreeing with me, your internet plans are even more expensive
than in America or Australia? Let’s imagine non-monetary costs you lose that
tradeoff monetary costs of an American or Australian phone plan, for instance. You
are told to have a very good plan. You refill five bucks for a 1 GB data ration;
a half of it is gone before you even click anything yet. Another, your signal
is on and off even when you are roaming like a homeless in downtown. Not to
mention hassles dealing with the call center. The guy or lady tells you to wait
until a problem is fixed, but you wait until the next day, there is nothing
fixed. A week ago, you could not even do refills, and contact to the call
center for two days. Those are more expensive than a fifty bucks phone plan per
month.
Timor
Telecom is the poorest service provider in our telecommunication history. It is
the first, oldest, and richest, but the worst one. Why? it has never changed
since I knew it sometime ten years ago, by the time we proudly got it as an
independent country. I feel like Timor Telecom is like a regime, political
entity which no one has been able to break its wall for a change. People said
that the shareholders are influential people, that is why, complains have never
been taken into account although some group of people have voiced it out
through political channels to put pressure for changes in its service quality.
Hopefully, it is not accurate.
The
main message that I would like to express here is not asking telecommunication services
here to be as sophisticated as in developed countries like America and Australia.
But, we never learn to change. NEVER. No, there is a change, but the course is
backward.
**Hope this gives you an inspiration
