Correction: Thakin Than Tun was not one of the founders of the CPB in 1939 whereas Aung San was and indeed its first secretary general until he left for China with another communist Thakin who became Bo Yan Aung in order to seek military training and form a national liberation army.
Let me make a stupid joke first:
Now I know why some white guys go for Asian chicks (Wendi Deng Murdoch is no exception LOL)
Ok, ok, I apologise, but I will try to post a more “serious” comment later about “sexism in politics” and about this ever-recurring “East vs West dichotomy” rubbish, but before I go let me quote Rudyard Kipling:
“Oh, East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgment Seat;
But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,
When two strong men stand face to face, though they come from the ends of the earth!”
Well, the last line should be changed to “When a strong man and woman (both Oxford-educated, mind you) stand face to face, though they come from the ends of the earth”
How quaintly romantic!
In the words of M.R. Chakrarot Chitrabongs (Distinguished Scholar Chulalongkorn University, Former President Siam Society, Former Permanent Secretary of the Ministry Culture, grandson of Prince Naris and Prince Damrong) in a talk delivered at the Siam Society in Bangkok on May 24, 2012:
“It is universally known that the Thai people believe that their sovereign king is a god incarnate – the avatar of Lord Vishnu on earth to protect and look after the welfare of his people. Members of the Royal Family are also earthly manifestations of angelic beings from heavenly realms. When they come to end their earthly sojourns, their souls return to heaven leaving the physical remains on earth. It then becomes the duty of the Thai people to mount a royal ceremony to cremate the royal remains with the proper procedure as prescribed by the ancient royal tradition.”
“This lecture lays out the traditional beliefs that have been accumulated through time and have formed the basis of the Thai belief system: animism, ancestral worship, Brahminism, Hinduism and Buddhism. The Buddhist cosmology as described in detail in ‘Traibhumikatha: the Three Planes of Existence’ is introduced as the source for all of the Royal Cremation Ceremonies from the Ayudhya Period to the present.
I am a final year MEM student of SDE, NUS who is still struggling to submit a suitable topic for my study report. One of my course mates has started work on food security. Are there other aspects which could be explored? Thanks a million!
[…] Walker spends his time berating Thailand’s self-sufficiency economy, suggesting that encouraging people to be self-reliant agriculturally, the very principle that throughout history has produced the strongest, most resilient nations on earth, somehow excludes them from participating in the “national economy” as well as participating in “electoral democracy.” He and his partner, Nicholas Farrelly, post up articles promoting the very worst aspects of the corporate-financiers’ NGO creep into sovereign Asia, as progressive and justified. […]
Thank you Patrick for the review. If one had to opportunity to visit the “Dharma Expo” in Bangkok last May, what was foremost in most of the pavillions was the way the giving “boon’ and the offering of alms was commoditized. A great example of material spiritualism, a quick Dharma fix along with the flashing lights.
This evolution to commercialism is also being highlighted in the media of late with monks in sex scandals, travelling in private jets, and owning collections of luxury cars, etc.
Buddhadasa kept Dharma simple and earthy, straight to the point, as “Forest Buddhism” in Thailand usually is. Ajarn Po who took over from Buddhadasa maintained this simple and straight forward approach. Consequently Dharma teaching at Suan Moke has remained relatively static, although still immensely popular today with both Thai Nationals and foreign visitors.
However it could be argued that Buddhadasa’s teachings have to some degree fallen by the wayside relative of some of the more “glitzy” and media centered approaches by well known contemporary monks.
With the current Abbott Ajarn Po’s pending retirement, it will be very interesting what direction the core Dharma teachings at Suan Moke will take. There is not yet any confirmed successor to Ajarn Po, and a risk that the new abbot (if selected from among the current Sangha – which he will) will definitely be inclined to preserve rather than evolve Buddharasa’s teaching. Most lectures at Suan Moke are still recordings of Buddhadasa’s previous sermons when he was alive.
However, although the dharma from Suan Moke appears static, there is indeed a younger generation of monks (not at Suan Moke) who are applying Buddhadasa’s teachings to contemporary issues and within the paradigms gen Y can relate to. Unfortunately many of these Ajarns are being hidden by the more flamboyant monks running around the country today.
In fact, there even is an English-language PhD dissertation on one such attempt of police reform:
Amorn Wanichwiwatana. 2005. “The 1998 Thai Police Reform: A Study of the Persistence of Institutional Corruption.” Thesis (D. Phil.), University of Oxford iv+270 pp.
I think it is impossible to make a strict conceptual difference between Buddhism and Royalism in Thailand. Both rely upon and support each other. I honestly do not know whether or not most Thais actually believe that the King is a literal incarnation of Vishnu. But as someone who got his degree in studying Hinduism and Thai Buddhism, I can say that you are totally wrong that the Buddha is merely considered to be a “lesser reincarnation” of Vishnu. That specific doctrinal point was created by the Vaishnavas in ancient northern India to both co-opt the Buddhist movement and make the Buddha hierarchically inferior to Vishnu, therefore making the Buddhist clergy inferior to the priests of Vishnu. Buddhists do not hold this view, because it would inherently suggest that their devotion is misdirected. Furthermore, if the King was above the Buddha in the celestial hierarchy, he would have no need for making a point of displaying his devotion to the Buddha and the Buddha’s teachings, which the King has done throughout his life in royal ceremonies. Not to mention his ordination as a monk symbolically displayed his devotion the Buddha’s teachings. The perception of the King’s devotion, understanding, and morality is a greater source of royal legitimacy than merely his birth. Seriously ask yourself whether one’s birth is enough to command the intense devotion of the Thai people.
Thank you for the review. Prompted by it, I have just paged through a few of the chapters in Kamala Tiyavanich’s Sons of the Buddha that relate Buddhadasa’s early life, with its odd mixture of old Europe-in-Thailand, as-told-to-autobiography, and folkloric sources. What a contrast in ways of construing. It will be nice to have this new work.
Without racial equality, political reform and separating government policies from religion, Malaysia’s economic development will forever be stuck in the same place.
The hill tribes don’t trust her. She had an opportunity to speak up in their behalf, yet remained silent.
“Say hello to the new boss, same as the old boss”.
The religion all Thais follow is not Buddhism but Royalism. The King must be worshiped and venerated as a living god. In fact, he is the living Hindu God Vishnu who has been reincarnated on earth in order to help the Thais and Thailand be united, successful and prosperous. As everybody who has studied Hinduism and Thai Buddhism knows, Vishnu stands above Buddha who was a lesser re-incarnation. Therefore the Thai King stands above Buddha in the celestial hierarchy.
Kessler’s articles were education for me on the nature and necessity of Perkasa and Utusan albeit theirs contradictory to 1Malaysia. I do not see any merits on Helen Ang’s mocking and ridicule by equating that to the STAR and DAP.
However, BN is perceived to be an one-party coalition and so was its predecessor. Thus Kessler’s claim of UMNO’s dominance in BN after 505, is of no meaningful consequences.
UMNO’s restrains are due to the moderate nature of Malays and their avoidance to confrontation, etc., NOT political objection within or without BN. In fact, it would be more effective doing so in a social context.
That was exactly what happened in the recent “minors conversion” bill. The non-Malay / Muslim within BN was muted and the PR voiced halfhearted opposition. (Five states passed similar bills without much ado.) The vocal NGO and segments of the public saved the day.
An important topic to be added to Singapore’s national conversation:
SUICIDES in Singapore hit an all-time high of 487 in 2012 as more young people bogged down by stress and relationship woes took their own lives, a charity group says.
I thank you both for your interest in this piece and for your comments.
Arthurson, this article does not make the claim that the “supernatural component to politics” is not significant, rather it aims to draw attention to how Besson’s film in particular focuses on the supernatural and Ne Win to the exclusion of other factors affecting Myanmar’s politics over time.
The introductory paragraphs also make clear that the example you have chosen to interrogate is not necessarily the “principal example of Said’s Orientalism and Western paternalism” found in The Lady. There is more to come and I hope you enjoy part two when it is made available.
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Review of Modern Thai Buddhism and Buddhadasa
Re Daniel 1.2: Perception being the operative word:)
Just a Lady – Part I
Correction: Thakin Than Tun was not one of the founders of the CPB in 1939 whereas Aung San was and indeed its first secretary general until he left for China with another communist Thakin who became Bo Yan Aung in order to seek military training and form a national liberation army.
Just a lady – Part II
Let me make a stupid joke first:
Now I know why some white guys go for Asian chicks (Wendi Deng Murdoch is no exception LOL)
Ok, ok, I apologise, but I will try to post a more “serious” comment later about “sexism in politics” and about this ever-recurring “East vs West dichotomy” rubbish, but before I go let me quote Rudyard Kipling:
“Oh, East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgment Seat;
But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,
When two strong men stand face to face, though they come from the ends of the earth!”
Well, the last line should be changed to “When a strong man and woman (both Oxford-educated, mind you) stand face to face, though they come from the ends of the earth”
How quaintly romantic!
Malaysian PM should resign, says expert
He is< 60 but looks like 90.
Review of Modern Thai Buddhism and Buddhadasa
re: Daniel
In the words of M.R. Chakrarot Chitrabongs (Distinguished Scholar Chulalongkorn University, Former President Siam Society, Former Permanent Secretary of the Ministry Culture, grandson of Prince Naris and Prince Damrong) in a talk delivered at the Siam Society in Bangkok on May 24, 2012:
“It is universally known that the Thai people believe that their sovereign king is a god incarnate – the avatar of Lord Vishnu on earth to protect and look after the welfare of his people. Members of the Royal Family are also earthly manifestations of angelic beings from heavenly realms. When they come to end their earthly sojourns, their souls return to heaven leaving the physical remains on earth. It then becomes the duty of the Thai people to mount a royal ceremony to cremate the royal remains with the proper procedure as prescribed by the ancient royal tradition.”
“This lecture lays out the traditional beliefs that have been accumulated through time and have formed the basis of the Thai belief system: animism, ancestral worship, Brahminism, Hinduism and Buddhism. The Buddhist cosmology as described in detail in ‘Traibhumikatha: the Three Planes of Existence’ is introduced as the source for all of the Royal Cremation Ceremonies from the Ayudhya Period to the present.
Singapore’s food security strategy
Dear Guanie
I am a final year MEM student of SDE, NUS who is still struggling to submit a suitable topic for my study report. One of my course mates has started work on food security. Are there other aspects which could be explored? Thanks a million!
Royal misrepresentation of rural livelihoods
[…] Walker spends his time berating Thailand’s self-sufficiency economy, suggesting that encouraging people to be self-reliant agriculturally, the very principle that throughout history has produced the strongest, most resilient nations on earth, somehow excludes them from participating in the “national economy” as well as participating in “electoral democracy.” He and his partner, Nicholas Farrelly, post up articles promoting the very worst aspects of the corporate-financiers’ NGO creep into sovereign Asia, as progressive and justified. […]
Reinvigorating rural Malaysia – new paradigms needed
I’m just wondering — is there any country that has had success with rural development?
Review of Modern Thai Buddhism and Buddhadasa
Thank you Patrick for the review. If one had to opportunity to visit the “Dharma Expo” in Bangkok last May, what was foremost in most of the pavillions was the way the giving “boon’ and the offering of alms was commoditized. A great example of material spiritualism, a quick Dharma fix along with the flashing lights.
This evolution to commercialism is also being highlighted in the media of late with monks in sex scandals, travelling in private jets, and owning collections of luxury cars, etc.
Buddhadasa kept Dharma simple and earthy, straight to the point, as “Forest Buddhism” in Thailand usually is. Ajarn Po who took over from Buddhadasa maintained this simple and straight forward approach. Consequently Dharma teaching at Suan Moke has remained relatively static, although still immensely popular today with both Thai Nationals and foreign visitors.
However it could be argued that Buddhadasa’s teachings have to some degree fallen by the wayside relative of some of the more “glitzy” and media centered approaches by well known contemporary monks.
With the current Abbott Ajarn Po’s pending retirement, it will be very interesting what direction the core Dharma teachings at Suan Moke will take. There is not yet any confirmed successor to Ajarn Po, and a risk that the new abbot (if selected from among the current Sangha – which he will) will definitely be inclined to preserve rather than evolve Buddharasa’s teaching. Most lectures at Suan Moke are still recordings of Buddhadasa’s previous sermons when he was alive.
However, although the dharma from Suan Moke appears static, there is indeed a younger generation of monks (not at Suan Moke) who are applying Buddhadasa’s teachings to contemporary issues and within the paradigms gen Y can relate to. Unfortunately many of these Ajarns are being hidden by the more flamboyant monks running around the country today.
Thailand’s knights of the realm
In fact, there even is an English-language PhD dissertation on one such attempt of police reform:
Amorn Wanichwiwatana. 2005. “The 1998 Thai Police Reform: A Study of the Persistence of Institutional Corruption.” Thesis (D. Phil.), University of Oxford iv+270 pp.
Review of Modern Thai Buddhism and Buddhadasa
I think it is impossible to make a strict conceptual difference between Buddhism and Royalism in Thailand. Both rely upon and support each other. I honestly do not know whether or not most Thais actually believe that the King is a literal incarnation of Vishnu. But as someone who got his degree in studying Hinduism and Thai Buddhism, I can say that you are totally wrong that the Buddha is merely considered to be a “lesser reincarnation” of Vishnu. That specific doctrinal point was created by the Vaishnavas in ancient northern India to both co-opt the Buddhist movement and make the Buddha hierarchically inferior to Vishnu, therefore making the Buddhist clergy inferior to the priests of Vishnu. Buddhists do not hold this view, because it would inherently suggest that their devotion is misdirected. Furthermore, if the King was above the Buddha in the celestial hierarchy, he would have no need for making a point of displaying his devotion to the Buddha and the Buddha’s teachings, which the King has done throughout his life in royal ceremonies. Not to mention his ordination as a monk symbolically displayed his devotion the Buddha’s teachings. The perception of the King’s devotion, understanding, and morality is a greater source of royal legitimacy than merely his birth. Seriously ask yourself whether one’s birth is enough to command the intense devotion of the Thai people.
Review of Modern Thai Buddhism and Buddhadasa
You should not be used the word “all Thais”. For I never raise Thai King higher than the Lord Buddha.
Review of Modern Thai Buddhism and Buddhadasa
Thank you for the review. Prompted by it, I have just paged through a few of the chapters in Kamala Tiyavanich’s Sons of the Buddha that relate Buddhadasa’s early life, with its odd mixture of old Europe-in-Thailand, as-told-to-autobiography, and folkloric sources. What a contrast in ways of construing. It will be nice to have this new work.
Thailand’s knights of the realm
5. A History of Police Reform in Thailand
That’ll be a short read then…
Malaysia’s development challenges
Without racial equality, political reform and separating government policies from religion, Malaysia’s economic development will forever be stuck in the same place.
Just a Lady – Part I
The hill tribes don’t trust her. She had an opportunity to speak up in their behalf, yet remained silent.
“Say hello to the new boss, same as the old boss”.
Review of Modern Thai Buddhism and Buddhadasa
The religion all Thais follow is not Buddhism but Royalism. The King must be worshiped and venerated as a living god. In fact, he is the living Hindu God Vishnu who has been reincarnated on earth in order to help the Thais and Thailand be united, successful and prosperous. As everybody who has studied Hinduism and Thai Buddhism knows, Vishnu stands above Buddha who was a lesser re-incarnation. Therefore the Thai King stands above Buddha in the celestial hierarchy.
Clive Kessler’s analysis on UMNO’s strategy and a correction
Kessler’s articles were education for me on the nature and necessity of Perkasa and Utusan albeit theirs contradictory to 1Malaysia. I do not see any merits on Helen Ang’s mocking and ridicule by equating that to the STAR and DAP.
However, BN is perceived to be an one-party coalition and so was its predecessor. Thus Kessler’s claim of UMNO’s dominance in BN after 505, is of no meaningful consequences.
UMNO’s restrains are due to the moderate nature of Malays and their avoidance to confrontation, etc., NOT political objection within or without BN. In fact, it would be more effective doing so in a social context.
That was exactly what happened in the recent “minors conversion” bill. The non-Malay / Muslim within BN was muted and the PR voiced halfhearted opposition. (Five states passed similar bills without much ado.) The vocal NGO and segments of the public saved the day.
Singapore’s national conversation
An important topic to be added to Singapore’s national conversation:
SUICIDES in Singapore hit an all-time high of 487 in 2012 as more young people bogged down by stress and relationship woes took their own lives, a charity group says.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/suicides-hit-all-time-high-in-singapore/story-fni0xqll-1226678705999
Just a Lady – Part I
I thank you both for your interest in this piece and for your comments.
Arthurson, this article does not make the claim that the “supernatural component to politics” is not significant, rather it aims to draw attention to how Besson’s film in particular focuses on the supernatural and Ne Win to the exclusion of other factors affecting Myanmar’s politics over time.
The introductory paragraphs also make clear that the example you have chosen to interrogate is not necessarily the “principal example of Said’s Orientalism and Western paternalism” found in The Lady. There is more to come and I hope you enjoy part two when it is made available.