 |
|
 |
| Mail Bag |
|
|
|
A message from Father Ray Brennan
Dear Friends,
The annual football was another great success, and as usual I don’t know how
to thank you and all the people who put their effort into it. This is one
annual event that is looked forward to for a long time - and talked about
just as long afterward! The help you all have given shows people do care,
and we’re all more than grateful.
Running an orphanage is not a boring job. As a matter of fact, it is very
rewarding. Sometimes it is sad, sometimes joyous and sometimes even funny. I
would like to give you a brief glimpse of the joys and sorrows associated
with young lives and their process of growing into young adults. If you are
running an orphanage in Asia, you must have a dedication for little lives.
Besides that you must have a sense of humor.
Beside the blind and deaf students, the handicapped young adults in the
Vocational School, the street kids and the stateless old people, there are
180 orphans, all living at Pattaya Orphanage. Each orphan has his or her own
story which is different from any of the others in the orphanage. Besides
these 180 private, personal stories there are thousands of tales about the
wonderful little happenings here over the years. Here are a few...
Two boys came to us, years apart, as very young babies. Both had strange
names given to them by the people who brought them to the orphanage. One boy
was named “Golf”, the other boy “Dollar”. “Golf” was given his name because
he was found abandoned on a golf course. “Dollar” got his because his mother
had sold him to a neighbor for one American dollar. The names stuck, ...and
to this very day that is the name everyone knows them by. Dollar is married
now and has his own children. Golf, being younger, is still with us.
Most of the orphans are Buddhists. But that does not stop us from having a
Christmas pageant. One year a little black Amerasian girl played the part of
Mary holding baby Jesus (a doll). Another orphan played the part of Joseph,
who was supposed to enter into the cave carrying firewood to keep Mary and
the baby warm. As he entered the little cave where Mary was sitting he
accidentally stepped on Mary’s foot. The virgin Mary then grabbed the baby
Jesus by the feet and took a swing at Joseph. The audience almost fell out
of their chairs roaring with laughter.
After watching the movie “Superman”, one little tyke put on a red cape and
proclaimed himself as the “Orphanage Superman”. He raised his arms into the
air and shouted, “Superman can fly like a bird!” He then bravely jumped from
the second floor and broke his leg. After that, we had no more Supermen.
Every year on Christmas Eve the little Buddhist Orphans sing Christian
Christmas carols in restaurants and hotels. We once entered a restaurant
that had very few customers. In fact, just one table of six people. So
thirty orphans made a circle around the table and started singing Silent
Night, Joy to the World, etc. The people were very nice and clapped after
every song. As we were leaving they even gave a nice donation for the
orphanage. The owner of the restaurant told us the table broke out in great
laughter after we were gone. When he asked his guests what was so funny,
they answered, “We’re Jewish”.
During the Vietnam War, we had more than a hundred Cambodian children living
with us. They were on their way to new homes and families in the West. All
of them needed great amounts of ‘iron’ in their diet. The doctor suggested
the best and fastest way to give it to them was by using congealed blood.
Sister went to the slaughterhouse each day and got a bucket of pig’s blood.
She solidified it like jelly, and a small square was given to each Cambodian
orphan at every meal. They hated it, and tried all kinds of means to get rid
of it without eating it. One put a plastic bag in his pocket and when no one
was looking, put the jelly-like square of blood into the bag and disposed of
it later. But there was one little guy who we knew was not eating his ration
of iron, ...but we could not figure out how he was getting rid of it.
Finally we caught him dissolving it in his tea. The tea was served in an
opaque plastic glass, and we never thought to check the tea, ...we only
checked the plates and pockets of the kids.
On the day the U.N. buses came to pick them up to send them to the airport,
...the kids tried to hide. The U.N. official dutifully was counting each
Cambodian orphan as they entered the bus. But the kids were crawling out the
back window, and hiding in the orphanage and the trees. We finally got
everyone on the bus, and all of us both inside and outside the bus were
crying.
As I said in the beginning of this letter, there are thousands of little
orphanage stories like the above that happen all the time. The above are
only a few. Some nights I worry too much and find it hard to sleep. But I
always find it easy to sleep as soon as the alarm goes off!
God Bless you, and thanks once again.
Fr. Raymond A. Brennan CssR
Director
|
|
 |
Thai roads need more than helmet laws
Dear Sir,
Reading the letter from Bjorn Falkenbrink, I came to the conclusion that he
had been “got” by police for not wearing a helmet whilst riding a motorbike.
Perhaps he could explain why he says in the first paragraph that he agrees
that it’s important to wear one?
Anyway, although I agree with his further points, I don’t think that he went
far enough with his questions to the police. Another one comes to mind very
easily.
I personally don’t like a law that forces motorcycle riders to wear a
helmet, even though I do agree that wearing one is good for your own
protection. When you think about them sensibly, all laws worldwide, bar a
few, are enacted to protect the individual against the negligence or
criminality of other people. The motorcycle helmet law, however, is in a
class of its own. If you break this law the only person who will feel the
effect is yourself. You absolutely cannot hurt any other person by not
wearing a helmet, so this is a law designed to protect you from yourself,
pure and simple. Forget the “grieving relatives” argument; if you are
legally riding a motorbike, then you are old enough to make your own
decisions about your own life. Let’s also not have anyone argue that the car
seat-belt law is the same. If you have a car crash while not wearing a belt,
there is a possibility of you becoming the projectile that can hurt someone
else after you have gone through the windscreen. The only other law that
comes to mind protecting you from yourself is the one that (in some
countries) says suicide is illegal. If you successfully break this law you
aren’t really in a position to worry that you are a criminal.
So, the question that comes to mind is simply; why are the police
half-heartedly enforcing a law that protects no-one but the person breaking
it, and totally ignoring all the laws which would protect innocent people
from all the other idiots on the road? At the risk of again offending that
nice Mr. Oduoon, who seemed to disagree with my last letter in which I
maintained that the roads around here are unsafe, I would like to make a
small list of such laws. I won’t quote the laws themselves, but rather
repeat a few excerpts from the “Advice to Visitors” article by the Tourist
Authority of Thailand which appeared in Pattaya Mails’ 20th June edition. I
must also thank them for such a humorous page.
The maximum speed inside a city limit is 60 km/hr. Always drive on the left
hand side of the road. Overtake other vehicles on the right. When driving at
night, turn on headlights and taillights. Strictly obey traffic lights.
All these are common sense, to protect you from the negligence of others.
All have laws backing them up. All are totally ignored on the roads of
Thailand. To quote Mr. Trink, “Any other comment would be superfluous.
Yours faithfully,
Peter Eades
|
|
In love with Thailand
Hello all friends,
I am so much in love with Thailand and Pattaya, and also with my wife
Supaporn Wallin. I have been to Pattaya 5 times the last two years and I
love the food, the people, the culture, the religion and everything around
it.
They say that Thailand is the land of smiles, and I agree with that. Because
it is not only the Thai people who are smiling, even all the tourists who
are going there. My friends here in Sweden are so happy to go to Thailand,
to relax and not think about work and other problems in Sweden.
I met my wife more than 1 1/2 years ago and she made me and my friends happy
only by smiling. She is what they call in Thai “jaidee”, very good-hearted.
She has been to Sweden with me and met my daughter, father, mother, brother
and his family, and met all my friends in Sweden and everyone loves her. She
is a living commercial for happy people in Thailand.
She is now going to the Swedish Embassy to try to get a permanent visa for
Sweden. I am going to buy my wife 40 red roses because she is the most
lovely women I ever have meet. I am involved in a big project in Sweden to
try to make business with Thailand, so far the beginning has started very
well. We are also building a big house nearly like a temple outside my
hometown, so we will do the best to become a good business partner with
Thailand.
When I retire from my work in Sweden I hope I can stay my last 30 years in
Thailand and Pattaya. Who wouldn’t want to stay until he or she dies in the
land of smiles? (You die happy).
With all my love and respect to the people in Pattaya.
Tommy Wallin
Sweden
|
|
15 year old replies to age of consent
Dear Editor,
In this letter I am responding to a complaint made by the Finnish man, Antti
Ilmri Puustinen, who was arrested and fined 5,000 baht for putting his arm
around a 16 year old Thai male, thinking the consentual age of sex was 16.
He complained that it was unfair that he got arrested because he read in an
issue of the Tourism Authority of Thailand that the consentual age for sex
was 16. He also complained that the consentual age for sex was not stated
well enough in tourist information books, or that it was stated incorrectly.
My response to this is that he should not have complained at all, because me
and my friends have seen him several times at the arcades, offering money to
young Thai boys between the ages of 7-9, so that the boys could play games
while sitting on his lap.
He should not have complained and said that it was unfair because he knows
of his wrong intentions by letting the Thai boys sit on his lap.
I hope he learned a lesson from being arrested and fined 5,000 baht and I
think it was a fair action taken by the police.
Boris Broeve (15 years)
|
|
Time for a follow up?
Dear Editor,
We readers never did get a follow up report on what were the penalties for
those six criminals the Tourist Police caught drugging farangs and robbing
them. (Vol. V, No. 5, 31 January 1997) How about some report! Or, was the
boss too “influential” to be punished?
Manee Pinthong
Two prices for chicken
Dear Sir,
No wonder Pattaya’s image continues to suffer. Let me relate what happened
to me today. I went to (a popular chicken outlet in a local mall), after
studying the prices on display behind the counter, I placed my order. When
the counter-hand rang up my order the total amount was more than the
advertised prices (no receipt was offered or given).
I pointed out the discrepancy and was told, because I had ordered two pieces
of chicken breasts, that cost more. I pointed to the price list that clearly
stated, 2 pieces chicken, wing, thigh, breast, 45 baht. Again I was told
chicken breast costs more. In reply I said it was misleading to advertise
one price and charge another. This was met with an indifferent shrug of the
shoulders take it or leave it attitude. The moral seems to be, advertise one
price, but charge farangs another. This is one establishment I will not be
visiting again.
Yours faithfully,
Martin Wythe
“Alternative Pattaya Lady”
Dear Pattaya Mail,
I am not a Pattaya ‘lady’! What I am is an ordinary woman. I don’t have a
driver (or a maid), I don’t fill my days with coffee mornings and afternoon
tea at hotels with other ‘ladies’; nor am I seen to do mindless ‘play school
type’ hobbies ‘en mass’ and spend hours bitching and complaining.
I have lived a normal life here in Pattaya (as an ex pat wife) for the past
12 months. I get on with my life and both enjoy my surroundings and try and
make the most of it. I like Thai people and find them friendly and helpful
and I enjoy Thai food. My ‘hobbies’? I can be found at the South Road market
on a Tues. or Friday, or in any number of small roadside eating houses at
lunch time enjoying the good, cheap, local food and an odd Singha beer. I am
down to earth and (I like to think) good company. Am I the only one out
there?
If there are other women who feel they are similar to me and would like
contact and become an ‘alternative Pattaya lady’, phone Val on 231 164.
Val
|
|
 |
|
|
