[…] by Alan Potkin, appeared on one of the Lao email lists. It is a useful critical follow-up to my earlier post on the Mekong and an associated press report in Al-Jazeera. In an Al-Jazeera article published on 8 […]
Interesting parallels. The Burmese military has tried national socialism, and their sworn enemy remains the communists. The same in the prototype with one Adolf Hitler – state corporatist capitalism masquerading as socialism with rampant nationalism, and the communists the first opposition to be eliminated.
Might the CPT rise from the ashes like the phoenix? Might the CPB do the same? Marxists the world over have gone through a steep learning curve, kept a low profile, and are gaining an audience among the younger generation that has grown up with this same bogeyman. They are no longer satisfied it’s the end of history, or the end of politics, least of all the end of boom and bust. So don’t act surprised if this particular ‘gospel truth’ gets shattered . The demise of communism has been greatly exaggerated.
I think Nick just writes what he sees. And how can you not write what you see with some feeling? That’d be sterile. As I’ve just hit puberty recently, I find it pretty hard not to be totally engaged when a girl talks to me. It doesn’t even really matter what girl. Same goes with Nick I feel. If he’s ‘in the moment’, then how can you not be impassioned with whoever it is that you’re with? Particularly Betty Zipperkorn from Nakhon Nayok. Do you want me to be sterile and beige too Dad? I love Betty.
Chris Beale#51 – So, it is okay to write Kris Beel or Cris Beil? If you are not Chris Beale it makes no difference, unless you are trying to find Chris Beale. But, if you are Chris Beale and need clients to find you, it can make all the difference in the world. And these alternate spellings of your name are correct in their conformance with English language precedents. Now imagine writing your name Kliius Byn.
If you are Isan and need to develop your destination identity in order to position your destination competitively as Authentic Isan: Thailand’s Safe Clean Adventure Destination, you can’t have media taking illiterate license with your identity.
As for transliteration to English, inventing words or guessing without regard to English fundamentals and precedents is just plain lazy and illiterate. Publishing such scrabblety-gook because you’ve seen somebody else publish it is shoddy incompetence.
I got a Chinese lady friend in L.A. a job in a Chinese physician’s office, also my friend; true story. He was born in Bejing and she was born in Hong Kong. Their native tongues are Mandarin and Cantonese, respectively. Of course, being an M.D. in Santa Monica requires English and during his dictation of a letter, my lady friend wrote “Please contact me about the case of your red-skinned penis.” When the doc proofread the letter, he was glad he did. What he had said was, “Please contact me about the case of your red-skinned peanuts.”
D #50: Are you being facetious? Roman transliteration of Thai words is based on Thai conventions, not English conventions. Some make sense and some don’t. But don’t tell us Isaan can’t be spelled Isaan because of the way the non-Thai name Isaac is pronounced.
I am surprised that Greg finds the statistics shocking and startling. While the accuracy of the stats have yet to be verified, it is not difficult to see that the realities on the ground largely correspond to what is being alleged. If you live in Malaysia as a citizen (and especially if you are non-Malay), you will inevitably face discrimination in different forms practically from birth. After all, these discriminative meassures are legal as they are sanctioned by the Malaysian constitution itself. I am sure you are familiar with article 153 of the Malaysian constitution.
Attempts to discuss or worse, challenge this policy is often seen as seditious and many have been detained without trial for doing so, as you have pointed out. Ultra-nationalist Malays point out that the richest men in Malaysia are mostly ethnic Chinese in order to cut short any argument against the government’s discriminative meassures favouring ethnic Malays. However, the simple fact that 10 ethnic Chinese billionaires does not make every single ethnic Chinese Malaysian wealthy and therefore not in need of equal treatment by the state (which is of course a faulty notion in the first place – that wealthy people need not be treated equally) escapes them.
The official discrimination has been going on for a long while, but increased exponentially during Mathathir tenure as Prime Minister. Some facts published – like suppliers to Petronas must be Buminatra status company is only partially correct. It is worst than that. Bumiputra status means more than 50% Malay owned. To supply to Petronas, the company must ne 100% Malay owned. Other GLCs (govt Linked Corps) have a Bumi owned status requirement – written policy – but not generally published. There was a big ruckus a few years ago, when someone published a memo from top management in Maybank to branch managers and purchasing managers to remind them of that policy! Even so, the policy was never retracted.
The list goes on – BTW, it is not hard to work out the rough statistics for bumiputra share of the economic wealth in Malaysia. JUst tally up the share holdings of KLSE companies. Given that GLCs listing are the biggest and in actuality bumiputra controlled, one will find more than 50% of the Nation’s wealth is in Bumi hands.
You are probably one of those guys who put stickers on UDD cut-outs saying, “Stop the mob–we want our normal lifes back.” Or are you one of those who vandalize these cut-outs, or are you merely a talker with no guts to take action for your “civil rights”?
D#50 – good point re. correct spelling for Isan.
But re. “The mandate, especially for all Thai media, is to correctly write and pronounce Thailand’s authentic northeastern provinces by calling them as they have been called by scholarly folks for nearly half a century” – yes : I agree.
In other words, there is a Standard Isan, just as there is a Standard Thai or English (within various branches of English, eg. British English, American English, Australian English, etc.).
But the fact remains, languages-as-spoken frequently do not stick to their standard form. “Esarn”, Esaarn”, “Isaarn”, “Isarn”, or more slurred versions therof, is the name used locally – especially in the evening, after some lao khao, ya dong, or other Thai whiskey !!
And then, there’s the problem of correct TRANSLITERATION and the numerous discussions /debates over that.
You’ve raised a very thorny problem. Any comments Frank Lee ?
Hla Oo#13 – thankfully the CPT disbanded decades ago.
Their collectivist policies, via the barrel of a gun, would have been as big a disaster as tried everywhere else.
Might we stop and ask ourselves, had we been propagandized twice daily or more, for the entire history of broadcast television in our nation, what would our rate of support be for the subject being promulgated? Might it perhaps approach 80% or even 90%?
Indeed, Anonymous, propaganda must be called into question wherever it is found and especially when it verges upon hagiography. To not do so runs the risk of believing that Eminence alone is responsible for the fecundity of the soil and the precipitation of the skies. But we know that to be just another patent falsehood that attends life if the Kingdom.
Foreigners that do not respect the laws of the country they are visiting will not receive any sympathy from me. If they acted in a prim and proper manner, they would not get into trouble. The actions of this chap clearly showed that he got what he deserved and got lucky when he got a pardon. The audacity of thinking that obsure laws did not apply to him. Furthermore, his actions after release showed that he has not learnt his lesson from his “ordeal”.
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Damned Chinese: mighty Mekong a memory
[…] by Alan Potkin, appeared on one of the Lao email lists. It is a useful critical follow-up to my earlier post on the Mekong and an associated press report in Al-Jazeera. In an Al-Jazeera article published on 8 […]
“History will not forgive us…”
Interesting parallels. The Burmese military has tried national socialism, and their sworn enemy remains the communists. The same in the prototype with one Adolf Hitler – state corporatist capitalism masquerading as socialism with rampant nationalism, and the communists the first opposition to be eliminated.
Might the CPT rise from the ashes like the phoenix? Might the CPB do the same? Marxists the world over have gone through a steep learning curve, kept a low profile, and are gaining an audience among the younger generation that has grown up with this same bogeyman. They are no longer satisfied it’s the end of history, or the end of politics, least of all the end of boom and bust. So don’t act surprised if this particular ‘gospel truth’ gets shattered . The demise of communism has been greatly exaggerated.
Bangkok or bust, Part 1
Hi Dad,
I think Nick just writes what he sees. And how can you not write what you see with some feeling? That’d be sterile. As I’ve just hit puberty recently, I find it pretty hard not to be totally engaged when a girl talks to me. It doesn’t even really matter what girl. Same goes with Nick I feel. If he’s ‘in the moment’, then how can you not be impassioned with whoever it is that you’re with? Particularly Betty Zipperkorn from Nakhon Nayok. Do you want me to be sterile and beige too Dad? I love Betty.
best wishes,
Elroy
Thai style democracy?
Anonymous – 73
That was frank lee’s word, I just quoted him its not my word.
Are you kidding me?
Chris Beale#51 – So, it is okay to write Kris Beel or Cris Beil? If you are not Chris Beale it makes no difference, unless you are trying to find Chris Beale. But, if you are Chris Beale and need clients to find you, it can make all the difference in the world. And these alternate spellings of your name are correct in their conformance with English language precedents. Now imagine writing your name Kliius Byn.
If you are Isan and need to develop your destination identity in order to position your destination competitively as Authentic Isan: Thailand’s Safe Clean Adventure Destination, you can’t have media taking illiterate license with your identity.
As for transliteration to English, inventing words or guessing without regard to English fundamentals and precedents is just plain lazy and illiterate. Publishing such scrabblety-gook because you’ve seen somebody else publish it is shoddy incompetence.
I got a Chinese lady friend in L.A. a job in a Chinese physician’s office, also my friend; true story. He was born in Bejing and she was born in Hong Kong. Their native tongues are Mandarin and Cantonese, respectively. Of course, being an M.D. in Santa Monica requires English and during his dictation of a letter, my lady friend wrote “Please contact me about the case of your red-skinned penis.” When the doc proofread the letter, he was glad he did. What he had said was, “Please contact me about the case of your red-skinned peanuts.”
Racial discrimination: Unofficial sources
Thanks very much neptunian,
Indeed, I have heard many stories of such nature, especially from friends in the civil service and entrepreneurs.
Also, as a Malaysian, I have experienced this.
It would be really great if we could find ways to scan these documents and put them on the net and prove it in “black & white”.
Also wonder how other governments would react to this?
Cheers
Greg
“Life in a Bangkok prison”
With all due respect Mr. Lee, but I think any law that does not respect basic human rights should not have been in existence to begin with.
“…due to the sensitive nature…”
The video is blocked in Germany and Switzerland too.
Are you kidding me?
D #50: Are you being facetious? Roman transliteration of Thai words is based on Thai conventions, not English conventions. Some make sense and some don’t. But don’t tell us Isaan can’t be spelled Isaan because of the way the non-Thai name Isaac is pronounced.
Racial discrimination: Unofficial sources
I am surprised that Greg finds the statistics shocking and startling. While the accuracy of the stats have yet to be verified, it is not difficult to see that the realities on the ground largely correspond to what is being alleged. If you live in Malaysia as a citizen (and especially if you are non-Malay), you will inevitably face discrimination in different forms practically from birth. After all, these discriminative meassures are legal as they are sanctioned by the Malaysian constitution itself. I am sure you are familiar with article 153 of the Malaysian constitution.
Attempts to discuss or worse, challenge this policy is often seen as seditious and many have been detained without trial for doing so, as you have pointed out. Ultra-nationalist Malays point out that the richest men in Malaysia are mostly ethnic Chinese in order to cut short any argument against the government’s discriminative meassures favouring ethnic Malays. However, the simple fact that 10 ethnic Chinese billionaires does not make every single ethnic Chinese Malaysian wealthy and therefore not in need of equal treatment by the state (which is of course a faulty notion in the first place – that wealthy people need not be treated equally) escapes them.
Racial discrimination: Unofficial sources
Sorry, have to use pseudoname –
The official discrimination has been going on for a long while, but increased exponentially during Mathathir tenure as Prime Minister. Some facts published – like suppliers to Petronas must be Buminatra status company is only partially correct. It is worst than that. Bumiputra status means more than 50% Malay owned. To supply to Petronas, the company must ne 100% Malay owned. Other GLCs (govt Linked Corps) have a Bumi owned status requirement – written policy – but not generally published. There was a big ruckus a few years ago, when someone published a memo from top management in Maybank to branch managers and purchasing managers to remind them of that policy! Even so, the policy was never retracted.
The list goes on – BTW, it is not hard to work out the rough statistics for bumiputra share of the economic wealth in Malaysia. JUst tally up the share holdings of KLSE companies. Given that GLCs listing are the biggest and in actuality bumiputra controlled, one will find more than 50% of the Nation’s wealth is in Bumi hands.
“Life in a Bangkok prison”
Michael@8 – but you are self-confessed “coward” !
Bangkok or bust, Part 1
Val # 34
You are probably one of those guys who put stickers on UDD cut-outs saying, “Stop the mob–we want our normal lifes back.” Or are you one of those who vandalize these cut-outs, or are you merely a talker with no guts to take action for your “civil rights”?
“We love Thailand”
I want to see Thailand is a land of peaceful and smile.
Hope Red Shirt understand what they must do and mustn’t do.
Are you kidding me?
D#50 – good point re. correct spelling for Isan.
But re. “The mandate, especially for all Thai media, is to correctly write and pronounce Thailand’s authentic northeastern provinces by calling them as they have been called by scholarly folks for nearly half a century” – yes : I agree.
In other words, there is a Standard Isan, just as there is a Standard Thai or English (within various branches of English, eg. British English, American English, Australian English, etc.).
But the fact remains, languages-as-spoken frequently do not stick to their standard form. “Esarn”, Esaarn”, “Isaarn”, “Isarn”, or more slurred versions therof, is the name used locally – especially in the evening, after some lao khao, ya dong, or other Thai whiskey !!
And then, there’s the problem of correct TRANSLITERATION and the numerous discussions /debates over that.
You’ve raised a very thorny problem. Any comments Frank Lee ?
“History will not forgive us…”
Hla Oo#13 – thankfully the CPT disbanded decades ago.
Their collectivist policies, via the barrel of a gun, would have been as big a disaster as tried everywhere else.
Speculation on the popularity of the Thai monarchy
Might we stop and ask ourselves, had we been propagandized twice daily or more, for the entire history of broadcast television in our nation, what would our rate of support be for the subject being promulgated? Might it perhaps approach 80% or even 90%?
“…due to the sensitive nature…”
I wonder what Captain – or is it now Colonel, FuFu – would make of this programme, which obviously has plenty of bark ?
Thai style democracy?
Indeed, Anonymous, propaganda must be called into question wherever it is found and especially when it verges upon hagiography. To not do so runs the risk of believing that Eminence alone is responsible for the fecundity of the soil and the precipitation of the skies. But we know that to be just another patent falsehood that attends life if the Kingdom.
“Life in a Bangkok prison”
Foreigners that do not respect the laws of the country they are visiting will not receive any sympathy from me. If they acted in a prim and proper manner, they would not get into trouble. The actions of this chap clearly showed that he got what he deserved and got lucky when he got a pardon. The audacity of thinking that obsure laws did not apply to him. Furthermore, his actions after release showed that he has not learnt his lesson from his “ordeal”.