To the FutureOct 15, 2006
ALOHA from the Land of Smiles
October 15, 2006
Sawadee Khrap (in Thai), Min Ga La Bar (in Burmese), How are you (in English :-) ?
"The black coffee is as ... black as the devil ... ... hot as hell ... ... pure as an angel ... and sweet as love!"
My friends and I were sipping cappuccino and espresso, sitting at the Black Canyon Cafe at the Major Cineplex movie theatre in Bangkok, and enjoying our Saturday evening after excruciating midterms. People were crossing by as if the world centered around them.
After finishing our cappuccino and espresso, we went to the theatre and enjoyed The Departed, in which Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) compete for the attention of the audience. It was a good movie.
The movie finished around 11:30. We took a taxi with five people squeezing in the back seat and one in the front. It was fun, just like in Burma. It reminded me of my Burmese students and Burma.
My students from the Myanmar Institute of Theology and I went on mission trip like this
After 2 years of teaching at the Myanmar Institute of Theology, I am back at school at the Asian Institute of Technology doing my Master of Science. Thanks to the partial scholarships from the school, the Open Society Institute, First Baptist Church of Fort Wayne, Friends of Burma, Catherine B. Sloan, Ko Toe (Stella Wai's son), Ko Tin Maung Maung Htwe, and Ko Si Thu Win. I really appreciate all your support so I can get back to school to get involved in studies again.
Another reason I am being in Bangkok is my involvement in the Burmese-English dictionary project, which we launched online recently. Here is the link if you are learning Burmese: http://sealang.net/burmese/
As a result, the project made me interested in Southeast Asian linguistics field and realized the lack of professional and talented involvement in the field. I want to be a scholar of Burmese and minority languages of Burma as well as Southeast Asian languages in general. I want to challenge and encourage Burmese students in the States to come back to Asia as we all need scholars and researchers to improve academic standards of Burma as well as Asia. You will never realize how much you are appreciated and how much you are contributing to the society in various ways.
Last but not least, please remember every Burmese migrant worker in Thailand in your prayers. They need your concerns and prayers very much.
Love in Christ,
Lwin Moe
http://lwinmoe.friendsofburma.org
Jun 18, 2006
ALOHA from the Land of Smiles
June 18, 2006
Sawadee Khrap (in Thai), Min Ga La Bar (in Burmese), How are you (in English :-) ? It was hot and humid outside. The rain is so scanty in Bangkok. It is nothing comparable to Burmese rain forest. The cloudy sky made the weather hotter and more humid. Eighty degrees Fahrenheit plus 85 % relative humidity is something not pleasant to bear.
Nevertheless, it was very nice and cool inside Bangkok Christ Church. Leaving a nice air-conditioned building, Steven, Mar Naw and I went to rent a car at Lumpinee Car Rent Center Co., Ltd. at 167/4 Wireless Road, Bangkok. Steven and Mar Naw were students from Burma, studying at St. Johns University in Bangkok. A tall, thin Stephen with a nice smile, was the best in Thai among us.
After showing us around which car we could have, we needed to sign a rental agreement. Steven showed the office girl his passport. As soon as she saw the passport, she said we needed a Thai citizen's help to rent the car. She didn't say it at first even though she knew that we were foreigners. Only after she saw his Burmese passport, she changed all of a sudden. Maybe they had a double standard for Burmese. Steven called his Thai friend for help. Unfortunately, he was out of town. He couldn't come to help us.
A little bit being upset, we decided to go to another place, Highway Car Rent at 1018/5 Rama 4 Rd. Bangkok. This time, the guy from the car rental didn't say that we needed a Thai citizen. Instead, he took my friends' passport and went back into the office. It was more than half an hour later when he still didn't appear back from the office. We told the front office guy to give us our passports back if we couldn't rent a car. He went into the office, took our passports and give them back to us. Desperate, we decided to go to the car rental place at the airport and it went smoothly there. We were able to rent a four-wheel drive with no problems. Later we found out that the guy from the Highway Car Rent called Steven's family, talked to his father and asked questions like a detective would to investigate a crime. What was our crime? Being Burmese? :-)
Burmese people have faced all kinds of discriminations and prejudice here in Thailand. However, many migrant workers, who crossed the border illegally, still want to live and work here. They are making more money and they have more freedom here, not being harassed by village authorities in Burma. However, they were still harassed and extorted money by the Thai police occasionally. When being asked by strangers, they are either too afraid to say they are Burmese or they are ashamed to do so. I truly understand why.
I hope our country's human rights situations and economy will improve so people will work in our own country to contribute to the development of beautiful Burma instead of contributing to the development of other countries.
Please remember all migrant workers, both legal and illegal in Thailand, of Burma in your prayers. May God bless you all!
Love in Christ,
Lwin Moe
http://lwinmoe.friendsofburma.org
