Malaysia
In Malaysia the economy seemed controversial. There was a lot of construction happening and on the drive to the hotel we passed through at least 4 toll stops. From our hotel the skyline was filled with high raises but when you caught the train a few stops away towards the markets you uncovered more poverty. In one situation Daniel (another student on the trip) and I were walking back to the train station when we took a wrong turn down this street, the street was laced with bodies, begging for money. One whom caught our eye was this man sitting on the curb with his back towards us, he had an inch deep whole in his back that was at-least 4cm x 4cm. This was horrifying to see.
Shopping in Malaysia we found that the prices for clothing etc were much the same Australia whereas food in Malaysia was ridiculously cheap, costing only 7-10 ringgit.
An interesting part of Malaysian infrastructure was the political capital Putrajaya which was created when the federal administrative centre was moved from Kuala Lumpur due to congestion and over crowding in 1999. This was where we met Tun Dr Mahatir. From where we were in Kuala Lumpur and what we saw from the streets near the markets it was like entering a world 20 years progressed with its futuristic buildings and architecture.
Turkey
Under the leadership of the AKP and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan the government has created a plan called the 2013 plan where he hopes that Turkey will be ranked top 10 economically. Not only do they want to be in the top 10 they hope to improve health care, transport, and tourism.
At the moment Istanbul is struggling with the massive influx of Syrian refugee's and isn't eligible to receive support financially from the UN.
When meeting with representatives from the AKP they said Turkey has a plan to be in the top 10 economically but said they would rather be a lower number in order to help the Syrian refugee's.
Turkey doesn't receive funding or help for the refugee's they home.
During our meeting with the representatives from the AKP, they said they would rather be ranked 11th in the world if it meant that they could help the refugee's.
The people of turkey seemed comfortable with their earnings, when we were at the markets they were least interested in trying to haggle as they seemed quite comfortable with their earnings. Although the community seemed comfortable money wise, there were still a lot of beggars on the streets, women would use their children to create sympathy. We were later told that the beggars are mostly Syrian refugee's who fled from their camps.
Food and shopping in Turkey was relatively cheap although not as cheap as Morocco or Malaysia. In Turkey th average household net-adjusted disposable income per capita is 23938USD, lower than the OECD average and only %49 aged 15-64 have a paid job (OECD Better life index)
Spain
In Spain there seemed to be a big gap between the rich and the poor. As we got off at the train station we went past lots of poor and old buildings. A lot of the buildings had graffiti on them and looked ran down.
Spain was the most expensive place we visited and although we did the research a lot of us weren't expecting to run out so quickly.
As Spain is popularly known for their siesta time the average person only works 1600 hours a year. According to OECD the average household net-adjusted disposable income per capita is 22799 USD which is not far below Turkey considering the Turkish appeared a lot more hardworking. The top 20% in Spain earn a whopping 6 times more than the lowest 20%. And 56% of people aged 15-64 are employed.
In Spain there seemed to be a big gap between the rich and the poor. As we got off at the train station we went past lots of poor and old buildings. A lot of the buildings had graffiti on them and looked ran down.
Spain was the most expensive place we visited and although we did the research a lot of us weren't expecting to run out so quickly.
Morocco
In Morocco there didn't seem to be a great separation of class although in a meeting with Sandy McCutcheon he said that there is a separation of Islam class. On our first day in Fes we went on a guided tour, walking the streets and there were a lot of beggars and the shop keepers were thirsty for money. He spoke of the problem arising with older women influencing the younger boys looking for money due to poverty. He also discussed the togetherness of the community, that regardless of money everyone was willing to give money to the beggars of give food to help them.
The transport in Morocco, proceeded to be nothing but problems for us as we were delayed numerous times. In one situation the train was about 2 hours late, when we asked a local if the next train was ours he said it would be another hour late, only to arrive 10 minutes later. Half the students unfortunately were upstairs getting some food when the train arrived and had to slip into lower class. They were back to back with people and could barely fit, as we were in for a 2 hour train ride you can imagine how unhappy they were.
In Morocco there didn't seem to be a great separation of class although in a meeting with Sandy McCutcheon he said that there is a separation of Islam class. On our first day in Fes we went on a guided tour, walking the streets and there were a lot of beggars and the shop keepers were thirsty for money. He spoke of the problem arising with older women influencing the younger boys looking for money due to poverty. He also discussed the togetherness of the community, that regardless of money everyone was willing to give money to the beggars of give food to help them.
The transport in Morocco, proceeded to be nothing but problems for us as we were delayed numerous times. In one situation the train was about 2 hours late, when we asked a local if the next train was ours he said it would be another hour late, only to arrive 10 minutes later. Half the students unfortunately were upstairs getting some food when the train arrived and had to slip into lower class. They were back to back with people and could barely fit, as we were in for a 2 hour train ride you can imagine how unhappy they were.
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