|
Redemptorist students perform
Wai Khru and community service
Derek Franklin
Each June the students at the Redemptorist Vocational
School for People with Disabilities in Pattaya perform a very special
ceremony - Wai Khru, or Teachers Day. Students recently gathered early one
Thursday morning to pay respect to the teachers, both Thai and foreign, and
to show gratitude for the work they do to ensure each student receives the
education, skills and knowledge they need.
One of the winning floral tributes.
Fr. Peter, acting-president of the Fr. Ray Foundation,
welcomed the students and teaching staff before the students recited a
Buddhist prayer to signify the start of the ceremony. The student oath was
then recited, in which the students repeat their vow to study hard, respect
their teacher, and behave well to their fellow students.
Following on from this a representative from each class
presented a beautifully arranged floral paan to Fr. Peter who accepted them
from each student on behalf of the teaching faculty. Each chosen student
bowed in front of the teaching staff before they went down on their knees,
performed a wai and then bowed very low until their head touched the floor;
this may seem strange to many westerners, but for the students the respect
they have for their teachers can not get any higher.
Students bow low to show respect to their teachers.
Once the main event was over prizes were awarded for the
best paans, with the second year electronic repair students claiming not
just the first prize but also the second prize.
After the ceremony the students went out onto the local
streets to perform community service. Along Soi Yume, smaller side sois and
at the local market the students swept the streets and cleared up all the
rubbish. In the heat of the day they worked until the streets were cleaner
than they had been in a long time.
The Vocational School currently educates more than two hundred and fifty
young disabled adults and is one of the projects managed by the Fr. Ray
Foundation. For more information on the work of the Fr. Ray Foundation take
a look at their website www.fr-ray.org or email
[email protected].
Each
student participated in making the most beautiful offerings.
A
Buddhist prayer starts the annual Wai Khru ceremony.
Miss
Praporn tries to keep cool.
In the
heat of the day everyone worked hard.
There
was more rubbish than the students thought there would be.
The winning electronic repair students.
Jesters Care For Kids Charity Drive 2010 sponsored by Glencore International
Ways you can help us help needy kids
Lewis Underwood
Now that summer is here, we have once again intensified
our organizing efforts for what is now the 13th Annual
Jesters Care for Kids Charity Drive. Our main events, the Jesters
Children Fair on Sunday, September 12th at the Diana
Garden Resort and Driving Range and Jesters Party Night on the following
Saturday, September 18th at Jameson’s Irish Pub are
now only 93 days away!
In the meantime, there are several ways you can help us
raise money for the needy kids this year, ranging from cash donations to
simply displaying our promo stickers on your bumper or window.
1. You can join our Corporate and Individual
Sponsorship Program. This continues to be the biggest source of funds
for our projects. There are 6 levels that vary from Diamond Sponsor (Bt.
400,000) to any amount - none ever considered too small. Donations can be
sent directly to the Good Shepherd Foundation (Registered Charity # Tor
460/2543) or via online in merely 3 clicks on our homepage at
www.care4kids.info through PayPal or Thaiepay.
2. You can donate a Grand Raffle Prize or Auction Item
for our Party Night. We usually seek hotel/restaurant vouchers, travel
packages, etc., for our GR draw, and signed memorabilia, art objects,
handicrafts, etc., for our Auction. You can make reserve bids on the latter
by going to our homepage.
3. You can advertise in our Fair Souvenir Program.
You can also donate to our cause by booking ads in our Fair Souvenir
Program. Full page color ads are 7500 baht and half-page ads 4000 baht.
4. You can Rent a Stall at our Fair. Non-food
stalls are 1500 baht and food stalls 2500 baht on Fair day from 10 a.m. to 6
p.m. You can book a stall on our website.
5. You can Donate a Case of Canned Beer, or 800 baht
equivalent, to the Jesters Beer Tent. Your donated beer will be sold at
50 baht per can, which increases the value of your original donation from
800 to 1200 baht.
6. You can buy Children’s Raffle Tickets at Fair or GR
Tickets for Party Night.
* Children’s Raffle tickets are sold only at the Fair.
* Grand Raffle tickets are sold from July through the
evening of Party Night at 50 baht per ticket or 12 tickets (1 book) for 500
baht.
7. You can buy our Promo and Event T-shirts; the
former are black and presently being sold, while the latter are white and
available from August onward at 300 baht.
8. Or you can just display a Bumper Sticker or Poster.
And as we mentioned above just displaying our sticker or poster helps us!
Additional information on all of the above, plus
continuous updates are available on our website, www. care4kids.info. You
can also email us at jesterscd@care 4kids.info. We hope you will join us
once again in our 13th Year of helping the kids in
need.
Pattaya donates 202 pairs of glasses, wheelchairs, canes to disabled residents
Children
gather to show how happy they are to receive new pairs of eyeglasses.
Vimolrat Singnikorn
Pattaya city officials donated glasses, canes and
wheelchairs to disabled residents as part of the continuing “People with
Disabilities Support Project.”
Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome presided over the May 24
distribution of 202 pairs of glasses, six wheelchairs, six canes and two
walkers to elderly, disabled and visually impaired residents and children at
Pattaya City Hall. Since 2005 the city has given away 960 such devices.
The support program is part of the city’s plan to improve
the quality of life for disabled citizens and by protecting their rights and
helping them participate as equals in society.
“Pattaya is aware of the need to improve their quality of
life and this program is to assist people in difficult situations so they
can get help and live in society happily,” the mayor said.
Honorary World President of Skål International visits Cambodia
Uzi Yalon from Jerusalem, Israel, an Honorary World
President of Skål International (Past President 1993-1994), visited Siem
Reap for a brief vacation and on June 4th held a press conference at the
Angkor Palace Resort & Spa in Siem Reap - Angkor, Cambodia. He also stayed
in Phnom Penh from June 4 until June 7.
Uzi presented his views on the current state of global
tourism and reported on his observations during the recent 39th Skål Asia
International World Congress / General Assembly held at the Shangri-la’s Mactan Island Resort & Spa in Cebu, Philippines May 26-May 30.
Poolside at the palace (left to right) Wichai, Charles,
Pierre Carron, Uzi Yalon, Scott McNeil and Sanit.
Skål is the largest travel and tourism organization in
the world and the exclusive membership is made up of the top executives in
the industry. Skål International has 500+ clubs in 90 countries.
“Our industry is one that accounts for 10 percent of the
world’s GDP and nearly 900 million travelers around the world annually. And
as the financial contagion normalizes in the years ahead, we can expect
Asia’s tourism growth to be significant. The 21st century has ushered
phenomenal growth in Asia, and the prospect for membership growth is full of
promise,” Uzi said.
Skål International Siem Reap was organized in late 2008,
but had become inactive until the May 24, 2010 appointment of a new board of
directors and committee members. An informative web page is available at
www.skalsiemreap.org.
Wines - Old World, New World and now Eastern World?
Dr. Iain Corness
Last week I had the opportunity to meet the executive
chef at Heichinrou Bangkok, the Hong Kong born Chef Man Wai Yin who has
delighted diners in Pattaya with his masterfully created Cantonese delights.
He was in residence at the Mantra until June 10, but some of his dishes will
be included in the Mantra menu until the end of this month. This is a unique
selection of dishes - from the traditional to the exotic.
Dr. Iain Corness (right) interviews Man Wai Yin for Pattaya Mail
Television.
Not only was it a meeting with this extraordinarily
talented Chinese chef, but he introduced five Chinese wines for tasting from
Grace Vineyard. I must say I approached the tasting with a little
reluctance. The last time I had tried Chinese wine was in 1975 at a little
Chinese restaurant in Walking Street. The wine was red in color and other
than that was totally forgettable.
However, that was 35 years ago, and like all things from
China, there have been great steps forward. Grace Vineyard, in northern
China’s Shanxi province, has taken only a decade to start producing wines
recognized at home and abroad.
(L to R) Chatchai Wongsala and Pranee Jittiprasong sip a chenin blanc.
The winery was established in 1997 by
Chinese-Indonesian businessman Chan Chun Keung, who invested 60 million yuan
($8.8 million) in the 200 hectare property.
Grace produced its first vintage in 2001 and now produces
one million to 1.2 million bottles a year of wines such as Cabernet
Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Chardonnay. The winery has also
brought in foreign expertise and is in daily contact with Australia-based
winemaker Ken Murchison. With that background, it puts a different face on
Chinese wines.
(L to R) Dr. Iain Corness, Jens Heier, and Pratheep S. Malhotra quaff one
of two reds, a cabernet sauvignon and a cabernet merlot.
Grace Vineyard is one of the few wineries in China that
adopts French wine-making traditions, and we tasted two reds (a cabernet
sauvignon and a cabernet merlot) and two whites (a chardonnay and a chenin
blanc) and a rose. The whites were fine for drinking immediately and very
pleasant, but I felt the reds could have done with another year of cellaring
to bring out some more smoothness and a longer finish.
However, the lasting impression of these wines from China
was that where we have tended to divide wines into New World and Old World,
we should perhaps be adding “Eastern World” as well.
(L to R)
Isozaki, Urabe, and Agata sample
a chardonnay from China’s Grace Vineyard.
|
