Merry Christmas!!

Three little pigs went out one day, shaking their tails and wiggle their body...
It's Christmas and they took their Santa Cap and snap some Shots!

Chemistry sparks

It’s not an easy task to bond with others. Now, I could think of four.

First, you can do it by Nationality.

Secondly, bond by Ethnic.

Thirdly, through the language you speak.

Forth, Religion.

As a Chinese, English, Malay, and some other dialects not good enough to be mentioned, or having attended an English speaking International College, I tend to be proud of my ability to differentiate people from different countries and places. For instance English, I could quite easily identify the different accent from different countries and places that I have been.

As a Chinese speaker, I hate to be called a Chinese from Mainland China. I called myself Malaysian Chinese. We are Chinese, but we are different. With a linguist tongue, tough fighter for the survival of culture and language in a ‘foreign’ land, I somehow want to justify that Malaysian Chinese are ‘better’ than the others from around the world thus we are a unique group. Funny that I enjoy being mistaken as Japanese or Koreans, people with the same slit eyes but different ethnics.

However, being called a Malaysian, I am not particularly proud of my own country’s political situation either. I feel reluctant to represent my country sometimes, telling others the ‘harmonious’ society of multiracial and colors are only as a result of separate ruling methods and settlements. For generations we have been talking about the opportunities not given evenly to different ethnics, and yet until today, the problems have not been solved, and the people are still continuing to mumble in the dark, fearing to define the reality of the freedom of speech in the country. I condemn the political decision that has made the society ‘color’ conscious more than ever (even we tend to explain we are only joking).

Then in a foreign land, where you are known as the ‘Farang’ ( foreigner in Thai),where you are supposed to be lost and confused, I feel free like a bird. I am suddenly given the benefits of both foreigners and locals. Simple, I speak fluent English which I can share information 'secretly' with the farangs, enjoy the rights of being an outsider oversee and comment different situations critically, not abide (or often forgiven) by the culture and rules of what is ‘appropriate’ or not to do or say.

On the other hand, due to my ethnic (or looks), religion and interest in Thai, I am easily being accepted locally. I can blend into the crowd easily, I can enjoy local price, I know about the inside stories within any groups without much pressure to choose a specific social group to hang out with. I stroll from groups to groups, forming the map of relations in my head, improving my Thai.

Moreover, in a foreign land, I am bonded with my own ethnic faster and easier due to the knowledge of our roots and language. Suddenly, the ‘other’ Chinese that are different before are my friends now. From our common superstar idols to little family talks, we have nothing to hide. The different accent and dialects are tolerable now. We started to prioritize these friends over the others, thinking that they can understand us better.

And so I tried, my sister and I went out with our new Taiwanese friend to a Chinese Temple, another place which I never thought that I would meet so many Chinese from different Nationalities in Bangkok. Our common topic? Cynical enough, it was about how the locals ‘bullied’ the Chinese wherever we go. Well it is understood that these Chinese are from the older generations who had experienced the changes before and after war. They had seen Government closing down the Chinese stall and tearing the Chinese business plate apart, for the sake of equality economically; taking away our common Mother tongue, (which I think they are still gradually trying to make it happen in Malaysia), by changing names and closing schools…We have come this far, and yet, we are still striving, sharing our story of success, from our new homelands.

A trip to the temple made me understand it is always up to me to decide what links me to the others. There are many different dots to link, we, the citizens of the world, are so different, yet so similar in many ways.

Would I try to ignite a spark if I am home in my comfort zone?

Gorgeous Garden of Rama9(Click)

Although this has nothing to do with my work, I would like to share these marvelous pictures that I have taken during last weekend!

It was the King's Birthday on 5th of December and this garden of Rama9 was dedicated to him. The gardeners took 15 days to arrange and decorate the flowers , with all the colours you can ever imagine. First time for a very long time, I am enlightened simply just by the colours and all kinds of flowers!

Live Today or Tomorrow?

Well, I don't like to put people into categories, but in HDF, I think there are two obvious groups of people.

Number 1, those that I am trying to get them understand the word 'future'. Understanding Something beyond their daily life, something meaningful but yet to be discovered by them, something in them that they have not known. Potentials, courages, discipline, self-esteem, confidence, I was trying to stuff all those things in one person overnight. Yeah, I am beware of the Microwave effect, hot outside but yet to cooked inside? (Interesting description I once heard from a friend). However, these are qualities that they don't seem to appreciate and even if they have, they are NOT PLANNING something out of it! Fighting for a scholarship, going abroad, going to school, education, expand their skills ...then again, one will argue, they have scars and wound that need to be sewed up, fixed....

Of course their 'parent'- the foundation is planning, thinking, improving their lifestyle all the time. One houseparent told me that when he used to be a boy in the Mercy home ten years ago, he has to work in order to help the centre survive. No plasma TV, dvd players, computer games, you can imagine how far they have gone from nothing to something.

Number 2, those who are fighting against their fate from God since birth, those who are fighting to live one more day, one more year. When I arrived, I persuaded myself not to think about the 'future' , and just enjoy their wonderful company. I had so much fun going to the beach, having drawing lessons, dancing with the cuties. Yes, they are living normally, going to school, representing the centre in alot of fundraising occations, Thai-dancing, even winning numerous medals in sports day! You wouldn't know if you aren't told that they are the HIV infected children....

Then again reality check, I was told that one boy( actually I overheard the conversation) that I admire very much, an artist, sportsman, potential-percussionist, is going through his 3rd stage of medication. The kids will take their medicines from 1st stage, and if their body don't react well to the medication, after some time they have to move on to the next stage. We don't know how long will the body accepts the medicines, can be years, months, but once it rejects the medicine, We have to pray for a better solution , hopefully some more advanced medication is available by then.

3rd stage is the final stage, 5 other kids out of 50 of them are on that same stage. I kept quiet for quite a while after hearing the news....

Then Tom said, " Don't worry, they will still be around when you are here. I think they can make it, Just live Today, enjoy Today, when there is one."

So yesterday, Me and my sister( Yes, my sister is here for visit!) sat with them and watched a really handsome- looking Thai superstar, acting as an idiotic-clumsy Spy and the movie is about how he Spys on a women's husband.

The images on the screen tell it all, you don't need to understand the language to know their humour or the story, but looking at the kids' expression... I can never tell what is in their head, and the way they deal with- Life.

Milk for Free!

Deborah and Mike have been mentioning Sister Joan’s big venture before, but only after a month I met her.

Trust me, you will be impressed the moment you see her in her big pick up truck. She is 75 and she is still driving around the slums with big bags of Milk powder behind.

7.30 am, the parking lot of Rong Mo Slums was filled with a long line, waiting for Sister Joan. The new born babies were comfortably sleeping on their mother’s arm. She gives away milk every two weeks for many years now, and not a day without a new born baby.

It was depressing for me to see very young mothers, some of the age of 14 and 15. Everyone has their own story, heartbreaking sometimes. Imagine the load of drama sister Joan receive every fortnight, when they fail to present the birth certs, or Father’s ID. Some fail to show who the Mom is!

Behind this Milk Powder giving, it is the unknown destiny of the child, a generation yet another generation of uneducated young mothers, possibilities of human trafficking, raping cases, taking and selling the free products. There is a whole lot of way to take advantage of Sister Joan’s big heart. That is why they have a card system, where they stamp the card whenever one takes the opened milk powder( prevent them from reselling) and support each child for only 12 months. Also they have to show both real copies of the parent’s ID cards, and the baby’s birth cert. One ridiculous case of the day was when a mother claimed that the hospital would not issue a birth cert to the baby because the fees were not paid!

After a long day of giving out cards, stamping, registering, and playing with the babies, I went to shop with Sister Joan for stocks. She has an explicit humor to deal with the problems; everything seems so easy for her! I couldn’t help but only to respect what she is doing! She knows she can’t do anything about her short term memory now so she has her way to tease herself! We came back and forth to her house twice to get her keys, car keys and lastly we arrived Carrefour without her mobile phone!:P

When I asked about the situation in the slum, “Education,” She blurted out. The truth is well known. The people need to be educated, but how? Education as we learnt in economics is a long term process, and people are unlikely to see the effect right away. People have to fill their stomach EVERYDAY, and also feed their children. The fastest way what more than to steal or selling themselves, or even the children? That is why someone has to come in to support a little, push them a little bit, and hopefully one day they will realize that it is not the way to live.

Why the young mothers? Besides the criminal cases, actually it is the grandmothers who want their daughter to have child! When you see the word grandmother, are you thinking of grey hair, aged, old women? You see, these grandmothers are only in their mid 30s and early 40s, they have not been taking care of their daughter because in a similar pattern, the daughter has to go out and work for the baby, leaving the babies to their aunt or grandma.
So when they are mature enough, they wanted a baby, to do it one more time, in a different way.

If I want it a different way, I will try to stop the cycle. It is the circle of life we are talking about. Hmmm…

Also, Petrol price inflation…price of one bottle of cooking oil has increased almost 40%, adding to people’s everyday problems. One shift of the Price in the Economics supply and demand chart, yupe, I am seeing the consequences here.

(pic4: the baby boy is two months old and still have not any clothes to wear, only wrapped in towels)

Peter and the Wolf and Thanksgiving(click)

Jewish Percussionist Mr. Asaf Roth arrived together with famous female singer Min, to tell a story to the children. “Peter and The Wolf” a fable that is known to the world, may sometimes remain anonymous to the children here. Mr. Asaf would like to be the first one to expose the story to the young audience with his expertise in Marimba.

Lucky enough, I stayed with them together with the Israeli Ambassador and his staffs before the show started. “High So”, the Thai way to refer to High Society was what I felt from my conversation with them. Well of course, the functions they had been in were grand enough to accommodate these famous people, hotels, entrepreneurs gathering, huge performing hall, yet music and arts should really spread to every corner of the society! Glad that there was this connection between the Israeli Embassy and HDF, Mr. Asaf was able to perform in our little garden oppose to anywhere he has been in the four days of his stay in Bangkok.

It was a wonderful performance, besides the Mosquitoes snapping game in the garden, the children managed to concentrate and “sucked into” the imaginary world of Marimba. Each character from the story was represented into a specific tune. Birds, Peter, Wolf, Father, duck where composed into little tunes that were easy to be identified by the children, alongside with Min’s cheerful narration of the story.

(pic 3: Min the singer and I)

Being a percussionist myself, I was most drawn with Mr. Asaf's ability to attract the audience with only a whistle. The climax of the night is when all the children stood up on the stool, jumped around and danced along with his whistle. Of course that took quite a bit of warming up.

The Israeli TV crew came to report this event. Many other Israeli musicians and Israelis who live in Bangkok came to watch the performance. Since graduation in Norway, since leaving my chatty Arab Israeli roomie Lelia, with 3 other roommates, It was my first time listening to Hebrew. College sick.

Then, it was Thanksgiving!

Satisfying enough, I was invited to Father Joe’s house for a real American Style Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey, ham, cranberries, you name it! The Thais are not really happy with the meal, they didn’t eat as much as I do! First western meal after a long time, together with white wine
and my favourite Strawberry, how can I complain?

The day was noted one of the most significant day after I met with Sister Joan. She lives in the slums and deals with the people’s everyday life problems. One of them is to support young mommies from the slum with Milk Powder. Immediately, I agreed to join her ‘Milk day’ the very next day.

(pic4: Far left, HDF's advisors John, Tom me and Kun Ratanna, Father Joe's secretary)

Story from the Slums

One of my close friends here lives in the slums.

Once in a while, she will visit her mom and her niece who live in her 'old' house, where she grew up. They meet for Aerobics in the evening, a social gathering for the women in the slums, where they dress up according to the colour of the day ( They have a colour code for everyday in Thailand, Mon: Yellow, Tues: Pink, Wed: Green, etc...)

Its quite a fancy multipurpose hall, equipped with gym, playgrounds, basketball court, and park, built just right next to the slum. The land itself is enough for a hundred family in the slums, imagine how little space you need for a family.


I was quite confuse in the beginning, when I first saw the little niece, Phiaw. My friend keep saying that she is her daughter, but I know for sure that she is still single. An angel who loves to smile. Later on, I started to teach in the slums' kindergarten, and Phiaw is in my class. She is the little ambassador who will held my hands, goes around the slums introducing me as her teacher.

One day, we had a trip to the Night Market together with the kindergarten teacher. I was extremely amazed that they still have the movie screening with the old screening machine. She sat on my lap, (while myself on the rough ground ), drinking her favourite blue saft. Random kids stumbled upon her, and some recognised me as their "kunku" (teacher in Thai) , then they started their girls talk.


It was a movie about homosexual( its actually called "Metrosexual". A couple that is about to be married face challenges from the best mates trying to find out the real interest of the groom. Living in a conservative ambient here, I face conflict myself seeing them being so open when they talked about sexuality. Men are free to dress whatever they want( including dresses) yet they are extremely strict when girls are not dressed decently.

There is a joke in the movie that during the " Loi Ka Tong" festival ( which happens This coming Saturday, 24 of November.Everyone makes little paper boats to float into the river, they thank the river God and make wishes for the coming year) , 80% of the Thai women will lose their virginity. Then, I thought that it is a taboo to talk about Virginity, so I whispered to my friend, whether that statement is true. It became the top CNN news the next day in the foundation, and the senior staffs started to joke about it , asking who I will go to Loi Ka Tong with. So much of a taboo hey?


On the other side of the Market, there is this superstitious/religious ceremony. I recognized the Kuan Yin statue from the Chinese beliefs however abit reserved when I saw a 'living Buddha' sitting on a big chair, giving the people 'Words or Wisdom'. From what I understood, when he is touched, his soul will be shared with the person, and images of his /her future will be sent to his mind. I was smart enough to get away from the crowded long lines of people, who were patiently waiting for their turns.

The interesting day ended with me sending Phiaw back home to her grandmother. I was looking at the pictures on the wall. No sign of her family pictures. Cautiously, I asked.

A young girl met a young man. They were in loved. The young girl was pregnant. One month. No sign of the young man. The baby was raised up by her aunt and grandmother. No sign of her mom. The young girl is still out there, searching for love.

Nothing to be cautious about, she says, its normal. It isn't an issue of right or wrong; it is who and how to continue living.

Democracy

Back in the days when I attended ' World Today' in the College to discuss about World Issues, I often wondered myself: Who am I do jot concern to my own country? Am I even knowledgeable enough to discuss about it? Am I eligible for political discussion?

An editor pointed out that Malaysians in general are reluctant to claim for their rights. A taxi driver have cheated a few dollars, and we take the "nevermind "attitude. Different races are not treated equally, there are little chance to study in a Public University, "Nevermind, my parents work enough to support me, I don't need to complain. " Thus my attitude thinking that, Its okay for things are not going in the right track, because people around will adapt to the situation and live with it. The more you complain, the more you suffer from not getting the right action.

Gradually, people has forgotten about they are members of the society who's individual rights can actually make a difference when you want to make a change. That is when you want to.

I cannot describe my feeling when I met the former Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand, Jaturon Chaisaeng. A powerful and prominent person like him, speaking casually with two young girls, who has yet to learn about the outside world. Yushan and I are certainly the lucky ones.

As I only know the brief news about the Military takeover in Thailand, I listened quietly as Yushan asked about the main factor that cause the 'koo'. It started all from the word: " Democracy" He says, clear and fluent, taking all my attention.

The contituition of a country is supposed to be the most and utmost important document that cannot be changed in the country. However the constituition in Thailand has been changed 17 times since it first existed, deligating the 'power' to the favour party, Now and then after the military takeover.

How do you fight for democracy when the question is about " having a democratic constituition"? Whenever the people think the government is not good enough, they pull all the roots out, including the good ones, and start all over, leaving an empty land for makeover.

How tired can one be? Thailand has been moving to quite a sustain development. However 80 % of the interllectual actually support the military takeover, instead of waiting for the next election.

Then again it comes back to the education systems. Apparently, every field of expertise has their own council. The council decide what is the syllabus for their own field, and rarely interact with the outside world about the updates and advanced information. It is kept in a well.
The minister of education, which he has been before, has no control over the system, since people are refusing to change. When there is a suggestion, the answer will be a No.

"Renaissance" in Europe happened because experts of all field came together and shared their knowledge and experience. They help each other to improve and to be not too skeptical about their own views, the host said.

Every country has issues of their own. I am not touching senstitive issues here but just trying to have a grasp of what information I have been receiving. For those who understand the word Democracy, they have been fighting since 1970s for it to happen. Student activists from that time had a huge demonstration which is similar to China's "Tian an Men" incident. After the Military kill hundreds of people, these student activists ran into the forest, surviving by their own agricultures and spirit to live, in the most basic way, for almost four years.

"As long as the constituition is allowed to change, and people still believe in bringing peace through Violence, Democracy , is yet to happen. "

Democracy is actually a chance to speak out and have equal rights. A very simple explanation. But, how many country in the world has true Democracy?

Mr Jaturon is exempted from Voting nor held any political rights for 5 years, and so are the other 110 people under the Taksim regime. I personally felt that he is a sincere politician who really cares for his country. Before we ended our conversation, he said he has been a politician for 20 years, and still will be one.

AT some point of the conversation, I asked myself, "How many people really care about politics in their country, if they are fighting in their daily life with poverty, family problems, access to education?"

It inspired me to expose the children I teach about democracy and the right curiosity towards knowledge, for that it is how I came to stop by and say Hello to them. English class can be really flexible, the content is ANYTHING in English. I realized it today.

Children and Keys

I can't remember the age of getting a key of my own, but I remember it was quite sacred. Imagine an adult, giving you a key to keep for yourself. You are responsible for it if it get lost! How cool is that!

That is why i feel fascinated when the Mercy kids hold a big bunch of keys next to their pocket. They don't put it inside, they left it hanging, clinging to each other, making noice, as if to announce to all that they hold the KEY! The more heavy the bunch is, the more likely it is for their pants to drop when they are fighting or swinging their body!

They may lose their books, their spoons, or their cups, but they never lose their keys.

One dance rehearsal i had with the boys, I asked them to flip over.

Three to four bunch of keys fell from their pockets.

Father Joe's Birthday(click)

Father Joe is back from Bangkok and was celebrating his 68th Birthday (69th for chinese) this Saturday. I managed to took some pictures an some video clips for his b'day.

You will be impressed by the number of sons and daughters celebrating and sharing their love for him!

His present for me: " Things are always changing here, and its so hard to catch up sometimes, the kids are naughty in their own way, What do you do? they are really street kids! Glad you are catching up and getting on the pace!!! Thank you for being here with us, I have not seen the kids this active! "

CUTIES!

I taught in the slum's kindergarten, and these little 4 yr olds are my student of the day. First english lesson, Learning to write the letter 'A'.







I must get a pictures with them! They seem to love the stranger!!:P





















They dress beautifully to the kindergarten. After lunch, the girls putting on 'make ups' , actually powder( very common for kids here to fill white powder all over their faces , although I am not quite sure about the function)










Then is napping time!

LessonX: Make sentence

Realize: I realize my father is dead.

Think about: I do think about father and mother.
I don't think about anything.

Character: My character is good but bad sometimes.

Understand: I don't like my teacher to understand me because I am bad sometimes.

三兄弟, the three brothers

This story has a reverse sequence...

The funeral lasted for 6 hours

I was told they must not cry so that the deceased could go to heaven. This is a catholic believe.

I only see the Chinese crying. He is 79 and they are equally aged. They parted since they are kids, yet I could felt their love to their brother. . Although the Thais have soft voice, the guy who spoke are was soft and slow, yet they did not cry.

I talked to the Chinese relatives who came all the way from Hong Kong and Macau.

It was a well arranged ceremony, with lots of food for the people while waiting for the following agenda. All the colleagues helped in the hall, serving food, giving out ribbons and flowers, thanking people, giving out souvenirs. They thought of everything. I am so touched with the people who came 4 days consecutive for helping out during the prayers.

It was a catholic church. My first time seeing the statue of Jesus in gold. Thailand style cathedral, looks similar to their temples.

We got the news that the father of a colleague has passed on during the camp in Kau Yai.

I know this colleague on my first day in the Foundation. He speaks a bit of Cantonese but has lost most of it since He doesn't use it in Thailand.

His father sells roasted duck in China Town of Bangkok, since he arrived. He said nobody else could roast duck, it ended in his generation.

He sailed all the way from Guang Dong, to Bangkok. Settled down, and has four kids.

Three brothers are separated because of the poor condition in China. The eldest was 8 was he reached Thailand. The others settled in Macau and Hongkong, having their own families.

This story reminded me of the struggles of most Chinese during the early 20th century when they all fled to continue with their lives. Yes, just to survive.

Have we ever thought of how we manage to survive in our new home without their sacrifices of their original home?

三兄弟

Kau Yai Trip (national park)(click)

Four days in the wild...

The cold shower in the wooden villa... the fire place with planks of woods...warming the hearts and souls...

They always circle around the fire, sharing experience , learning from activities, teaching, giving advice.

Being in a group allows me to know the boys better. We made masks ,coloring, cooking, playing football..cheering (in thai)

The deepest impressions from the camp:

-Groups were to perform how Thai peole are easily contented with their lives..even if they are poor. Group A: they sell rice for their neighbours without earning profit, as they just wanted them to have food for the day; Group B: Teacher teaching the kids to save money for their future; Group C: the important five things: Rice, Fish, Veges, Chicken and ( i don't remember) in their lives that they won't live without

- during the performace, they always have Fight scenes. I asked why they had to show it, then I was told that almost all the boys come from difficult backgroud: with family in prison, surviving the streets, its who they are and what they are accustomed to. They always joke about thai boxing, just like we joke about masak-masak.

- no one, i mean NO ONE is afraid of the BUGS. One boy ties a small string on a grasshopper and many have a little pet of their own for the four days. They set them free just before we left.

- There was a ceremony of blessing on the first night. The adults ( including me ) will tie white strings on their wrist. I don't understand before that, and many boys just ran to me and asked for more than two strings. Some said five. Apparently the string represents happiness.

- The last dinner from the trip was supposed to be meaningful. But my group accidently got off control and got into a food-fight. Me and the other facilitator were out of veges. He got angry and left the group. The next morning, a plate of rice full of veges and meat is prepared next to him.

- One boy called me "Mommy" . I thought it was illusion, until he repeated it for the second time.

- Two boys sharing one pair of snickers in the football game.

- Bird, an authistic boy can actually called out the scent of the mosquito repellent on me."Lemon grass", he said.

- the mood swings all boys have . They can be extremely happy and then suddenly sad.

- The praying ceremony to end the nights. They are always thankful to what they have been through the day. both Happy and sad.

Hip-hoping with shyness: How much do they already know?

It was during the sending off party of Tat’s, that I starting to discover hidden talents. The kids learnt hip hop steps, secretly, from somewhere. Some knew some break dance turns, flip over, standing on their hand that totally freaks me out. And here I am trying to teach them some moves!

But they usually don’t show off. Opportunity like this is so rare, that they are willing to show me. Usually after one round, they went to hide behind the refrigerator, or just simply stop dancing. I have to think hard to remember who knows what, to put it in my choreography.



Reminds me of Xuan’s visitation trip, where the boys danced excellently. I bet it will be the same high standard performance if they are willing to show.

I can’t wait for the day to come.

Sticky Rice Incident

Kau Niaw, Sticky rice is quite a normal side dish for all kinds of food. It could be eaten with BBQ chicken, Coconut, Eggs, Mango etc. How do I know it?

It’s simple. First I know about it is when my student, Ning from fundraising department, bought me sticky rice as a thank you gift for correcting her email. Then I said,” Its good!” then I announced I like sticky rice.

Since then, this high cholesterol, fattening sticky rice appeared in front of me wherever I go. I got it for the next day, for breakfast. Then I mistakenly bought raw meat (it was wrapped the same way in leaves), thinking that it was sticky rice by the street. Pi Deng(woman in red, Deng means red in Thai), heard of the story when the raw meat was sent to her office, the next two days, she came with Mango sticky rice with extra coconut extract. That second day was the day that I ended up with 4 packets of sticky rice on my table.

I have to shout that I am on a diet to stop all this sticky rice from keep coming to me. God knows when I am on diet.

A Football artist and a send off party

A young healthy football player cum skillful artist was put on bed, paralyzed after huffing “glue”. Basically it is a cheap alternative of drugs that can be bought easily. It could be the thinner that we use in wheels of the engine, or the ‘fragranced’ petroleum.

PIC2: THE BOYS AND THEIR HOUSEMOM, AN PAN
On the other hand, we just send off Tat, a talented football player to a boarding school where he could expand his football skills in Phuket. No wonder that day only two turned up in my English class. I thought they were all lazy, but they were helping in the kitchen, preparing for the send off party. I felt guilty for being angry afterwards realizing that is the reason they skipped class. What could I do, I do not understand the announcement during dinner the day before.


That is how I came up with drawing portrait of Tat as a send off present. Since then, I am overbooked for more portrait-drawing.

PIC4: TAT THE FOOTBALL PLAYER

A Home in the Shack

Kun Sombat invited me to their routine community outreach. They do it once in a while, to ensure the aid is available for the need. So out we go with packets of daily products and food. The ice-cream like cookies in the plastic bags, wow, never seen it again since I live in Kuala Lumpur.


We dressed in Yellow and walked around the slums of Suan Oi and Ban Kuay, with two big plastic bags on our hands. It was a very hot sunny days. The staffs in yellow look like angels as I see them seeking for the needy ones and hand out the plastic bags. Yeah, they don’t just give everybody. If so they are not doing their jobs. They asked the people in the slums the name of people that are in trouble. Then they surveyed about their family members and what they are doing.


One family of ten we visited were basically living in a shack, barely 6 x 4 feet square, consist from new born baby and up till the old grandmother. The young teenage girl is studying with the scholarship support from Mercy Centre. The slums are mostly built roughly under big highways and dirty still river. I took a picture at a bridge right on the still river, filled with insects and eggs, never seem so on a photo. One staff joked that it is yet another Venice.





These were the support Mercy Centre gives to the community besides the Home for orphanage and HIV/Aids Hospice. Some people thought they have got enough money because of the big office building and the Aid Hospice house accommodating few hundreds of staffs and children. Is aid ever enough for the community that is filled with drug problems, family problems and poverty?

The “what do you do?” conversation

I remember an ex-MD of Microsoft said on Oprah, “As I quit the job from Microsoft to work on donating books to Nepal, I am not a popular guy in functions anymore,” and he chuckled.

Deb told us during her last English class before leaving, that “What do you do?” is always the right way to start conversation in parties in the states. Then people will start telling you their life story, what they work as, where do they come from, where they got their degrees…

My brain starts spinning quickly as the staffs start asking the question among us. Give them an answer about myself in a simple sentence. After all it’s only an English class, but I was serious about it, thinking that it is a practice before going to the States.
Until… Te, the Computer teacher, asked me.” Are you married?” and asked again for several times.

You don’t need to teach a man how to flirt.

Paper frogs

The kids always make me think. They are so tiny, yesterday when one hopped on the other and stood on the scale; they added up to 50 kilos (not even a full Si Jie).

They chose to be crazy about paper frogs over expensive toys. (Yeah, nobody buys for them). I sat down two days ago one evening watching 7 kids blowing the paper frogs from one end of the table to the other, repeatedly, for one hour, giggling and laughing.

Then, all would get distracted from their Cartoons and gathered around to check out on a bug, flying moth, or any insects that is unlucky enough to be seen. When they are watching cartoons, I am invisible (they usually approach me asking where I’ll be going). When they saw a bug, the TV will turn invisible.

So, by deduction, I am less than a bug.

Then you thought they are all cute and innocent. But one manage to survive in a garbage dump after the parents passed away for a year before was found by social worker. One manage to live alone in a Market since 3 years old, then ran away from the centre 5 years later to 20 km away to see his family out from prison.

I brought 8 to a park yesterday, to join a farewell of a staff.

Food + Soft drinks + chocolate ice-cream + paddle boat trip + taking pictures + outdoor = a Happy day to remember!

Galong ( a 35 year old man with a form of down-syndrome) was dressed up since 8 am to go to this trip which started at 1.30 pm.

Bus and Song Theaw

Never really tried taking a bus back home, I was breaking my own rules by trying on buses to save cost. I prefer to shop for stickers and Cartoons these days.

When people thought what could be cheaper than the bus, there is this special service called “Songtheaw”. Anyone who has tried hitch-hiking will know how to do this. The Songtheaw truck is bigger than a tuk tuk, more efficient than the bus ( it goes all around the main road and stops at bus stops and whenever you say stop!) and 2 baht(RM 0.20) cheaper than the bus!

So here, people hop on and off from trucks. You wave to stop them. Having one terrible experience taking the wrong bus when it was raining cats and dogs, I decided to stick with the later. Although, I still have problems identifying one (most vehicles used here are trucks!)

Thai massage : Overrated

Having heard so much about thai massages and how the Farongs (foreigner) love them, I decided to spend 250 baht ( RM 25, 50 kroners, 8 dollars…) on a full body massage. Deb and Mike brought me to their regulars, where it is next to a cozy bar.

I could hear the songs from the bar in the private room of the Massage centre. It was totally overrated, as I came back with a pain on my spine, not to mention how clumsy I was in following instruction in their Thai-accent-English. Then again, I do got the sense of satisfaction after hearing some ‘Clag and clug’ as she twist my waist and arms.

As I am about to leave, Deb and Mike told me that the lady who serves you will stand right at the front door. I asked “For what?” “Oh, for the tips!” So another unspoken rules over here, and I am telling you guys.

I followed them, paying 50 baht to our lady. Heartache.

‘Venice’

I am lucky enough to have been to the real Venice. However, these two weeks, I have also visited some really incredible actions in the other ‘Venice’. Mainly all these ‘venices’ serve only one purpose, to fill our stomach!

One boat after another passed by or stopped to carry their ‘good’s with a ‘fishing net’ to the customers by the deck. From teh tarik to Kuey Teow, pop corns (an exceptional item that is thrown), the floating market sellers busy cooking on their wooden boat, making the sell of the day.

I thought I am proud of the varieties of the food that I have tried in Malaysia, but as I entered the buzz of another floating market in Wan Nam Pheung, my eyes popped! From Chinese dim sum to some nyonya-like coconut cakes, Cookies, food wrapped in leaves, my colleagues took me from one stall to another TRYING the food.

Looking at the Chinese Thais, more questions came about: How could they remain their traditions and food but not their mother tongue? As the worst hokkien speaker, people are still pretty amazed I could understand ” ku di gor “ “Jiak ba beh?”