The Happy Peasant

One of my earliest childhood ambitions, which has stayed on with me all this years, is to be a farmer. I suppose this is already a well-known fact among all my friends. During my stint in the Police Academy, I was nicknamed the 'Happy Peasant' of which there is a classic picture of me somewhere looking exactly like what which I cant seem to locate now unfortunately. But why did I or rather do I ,want to be a farmer?

I think the first reason I had especially when I was young is that I like animals. I envisioned myself playing with the pigs, sheep, horses, cows and chickens everyday. I think animals are cute! And I also quite like planting crops, or collecting harvests. The appeal lay in the repetitive nature of the job, in which, something productive came out of it. Contrary to popular belief, I do not like to use my brain or complicate things, so farming seemed simple enough to me then.

However, I soon realised that maybe the whole idea wasnt as romantic or idyllic as I wanted it to be. Firstly, if the reasons why I kept animals was to play with them, then how was I going to derive income from them? Secondly, if I did not want to use my brain, how was I going to deal with natural disasters, or pest problems with the crops, or increase my crops to sell and make a living? And thirdly, in a remote farm, where was I going to get proper sanitation and clean water?

Then, I thought of some solutions to my problems and decided that some of the problems were not actually problems at all. You see, I did not intend to become a commercial farmer, I wanted to be a subsistence farmer. Which means, that I only need to feed myself and my wife. (My plan was to become a farmer after an early-retirement, when my children would have grown up and started working.) So I would not need much food. The vegetables would be a main source of food, the cows could provide milk, the chicken eggs, and the pigs and sheep would only be eaten after they died a natural death. I would be in no hurry to increase my food or crop production, so I would not need fertilisers, or force-feed my animals. So, their entire lifetime would be spent playing with me and my wife.

Natural disasters and crop failures. This would more likely affect the crops than my animals, so in the event of extreme crop failure, I could then buy some vegetables from the market to feed myself. I was assuming that I would have some savings by then. Then again, having to buy some vegetables for a subsistence lifestyle to feed 2 people should not be too much.

Thirdly, clean water and sanitation. I would have to spend the most of my savings to ensure these are provided for in my little farm hut before I shift in. So these would not be a problem. We would have a telephone too for urgent contact purposes.

Then, what about family and friends. Oh, they could visit us whenever they wanted, and join us for a game of mahjong with peanuts by the river, as the chicken eat their feed and run around.

Medicine and illness? Would there be a doctor or hospital somewhere? I probably didnt consider this much, as I assumed help would be a phonecall away.

There you go, my dream ambition. I wondered if I would get sick of it, or if my wife would get sick of it, or if the animals would get sick of me. Would I need anything else to be happy? But then again, I think, with food, water, shelter, cute animals and a wonderful companion, what more would I need. Maybe nothing. Or maybe, I would be wrong. But I hope, that at least, I have a chance to try it out sometime this lifetime. Is there any place I could go? Is there anyone who wants to go with me?