Day 1: Hello, Mae Fah Luang University

Featured Photo Credit: Natalia Chioang

It was only yesterday that we arrived at Chiang Mai yet the next morning we were immediately whisked away to our next destination – Chiang Rai. Our aim of the day? To conduct our very first interview with a sociology professor at Mae Fah Luang University. Man, I hardly even toured Chiang Mai yet!

Interview with Prof Chirada NaSuwan

Today we will be interviewing Prof Chirada NaSuwan. Her area of expertise is on Southeast Asian youth’s involvement in politics, especially Myanmar’s youth. We had high hopes and expectations for today’s interview and were very optimistic that Prof Chirada will be able to offer us many insights with regards to our research topic. After all, who wouldn’t want to start their research project on a good note? However, as the interview progressed, we soon found out that her views were seemingly off tangent from what we were anticipating. There was clearly a mismatch between Prof Chirada’s area of expertise and our research topic. She was only able to offer us her own sentiments, as compared to that of a sociologist’s perspective, which we had initially hoped for. This was not the most disheartening occasion, as what was worse was that Dr Chirada did not seem to be able to understand our interview questions and even pointed out loopholes in our research topic that we failed to consider and define. Oh no, will this be THE END of our research topic?

A glass of water half filled.
Photo Credit: https://apenquotes.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/0421-glass_full_600.jpg

When I was younger, I was posed this question: Is the glass of water half empty of half full? The optimist will reply, “half full” while the pessimist will reply, “half empty”. It is a simple psychological test to differentiate the optimist from the pessimist. Applying the concept behind this simple experiment to our research, Prof Chirada’s insights could be viewed as criticism or suggestions on how we can further develop our research topic. It was all a matter of perspective and how we deal with her comments. Indeed, it was demoralising to learn that we have a lot more to work on, but that should not lead us to ignore the pointers that she shared with us. We should take it in good faith, and look at ways we can further improve our research topic and interview questions. After an intense team discussion and lots of encouragement from Prof Geraldine in the evening, our group emerged stronger and better!

Although Dr Chirada was not able to offer us the insights that we were yearning for, personally her lecture on human security had raised my awareness on how politics can affect and influence youths. In recent years, the Kingdom of Thailand has been plagued with political turmoil. She shared with us how these political instabilities had resulted in Thai youth’s education to be hindered and freedom of speech to be suppressed. As a result of the political scene, youths in Thailand have lower political apathy as compared to their neighbour Myanmar, where a more robust framework was developed to encourage youth’s participation in politics.

The sharing by Dr Chirada has left me pondering and to feel very fortunate as a youth growing up in Singapore. My generation has enjoyed good governance and political stability since birth. We are groomed in a world class education system, where we are encouraged to voice out our opinions, even on political issues. For instance, youths in tertiary institutions are given the opportunity to engage with Ministers or Members of Parliament in dialogue sessions. Political parties such as the People Action Party (PAP) have also set up a youth wing to recruit passionate youths in politics, allowing people of my generation to be actively involved in shaping this island we call home. Prof Chirada’s sharing has made me realised how privileged I am to be an empowered youth in Singapore, where my opinions are heard and where I can make a positive impact in my society. Realising the lack of opportunities for Thai youths to be heard in politics has made me learnt to be more appreciative of opportunities offered to us in Singapore.

A group photo with Prof Chirada NaSuwan. Photo Credit: Natalia Chioang.

Day 1 may not have turned out as expected but I believe tomorrow will be a better day!