Day 4: Thankful Thursday

I spent the previous days wishing Singapore had some of the things Chiang Mai had (gracious culture, night bazaars, Thai food, the list goes on!). But today, I found a reason to appreciate my homeland, thanks to Ms Matcha whom we interviewed at Chiang Mai University.

Photo credit: Darren Leong

The interview with Ms Matcha (right) revealed the ugly side of Thailand. She spoke with passion, and her life experience was testament to the grave social issue that many Thais ignore (or are ignorant of, based on the responses of our interviewees). As a female who came from a humble background, Ms Matcha suffered gender discrimination. She shared that resources were limited, and males were given priority for many opportunities, irregardless of the talent or skill that females possessed. It was almost a given – males go to school and females do the household chores. But Ms Matcha was a fighter. She fought for her education and she fought to break the cycle of discrimination she faced at home. As the Director of SAY-DY, she now commits her life to empowering youths who share the same fate.

From her interview, we gleaned that socio-economic background and gender inequality go hand-in-hand. This was something we never considered. Her sharing revealed yet another layer of dimension to our research. Our research topic is definitely an interesting one. Throughout the course of the trip, I would liken our research process to that of peeling an onion. Like the many layers an onion has, there is so much dimension to our topic that we are gaining we gain new perspective every day. From Prof Chirada, to the monks, to university students and to Ms Matcha, different people with different experiences provided us with different insight. Every day, we gain a step closer towards having a better understanding of the topic at hand. Every day, I get more intrigued by the stories I hear.

It was an insightful and inspirational interview, and I only wished I was there to listen to it myself. However, hearing Ms Matcha’s story from my group mates doesn’t make it any less inspirational.

Her story has me feeling very fortunate to be a Singaporean. The education that we so often take for granted, is what many are fighting for. In the midst of our hectic school lives, it’s easy to be caught up with the demands of school and lose track of the importance of education. It’s easy to forget that gender inequality is an issue, especially since it’s not prevalent in Singapore. At home, even the less fortunate is not deprived of education. Life has always been easy, peaceful and stable. Being the generation who is fortunate enough to enjoy the fruits of the labour, we don’t see the effort put in to build Singapore into what it is today. It’s so easy to forget that building a nation as successful as Singapore takes hard work.

I greatly admire Ms Matcha’s willpower and her fighting spirit. She didn’t let her circumstances define her. Instead, she fought hard to shape the life she wanted. Her resilience is truly inspirational. Ms Matcha’s story will definitely be my source of strength whenever I face challenges in the future.

Today’s experience serves as a timely reminder for me to appreciate what I have, fight for what I want and a stark reminder for me not to neglect those in need.