Love and Compassion

Usually, a token of appreciation is given to the participating subject in an interview. Today, the reverse happened.

It warms my heart to start this blog by recounting an experience of genuine hospitality and graciousness of the Thai people. I would never have come to expect the willingness of Thai people to be not only tolerant, but enthusiastic about granting us their time, energy and patience.

We were conducting interviews about nutritional labels where we chanced upon a jovial, motherly store owner who was more than willing to grant us an interview despite her responsibilities of manning the store. She exuded such warmth with her smile as she answered our questions melodiously with nothing but genuine passion to share and to help. Even more amazing was that she even went all out of her way to encourage both her husband and her son to also join in the interview!  To top it all, as the session came to a close, she gingerly scooped a huge portion of a local thai dessert of tapioca balls in coconut milk and gave it to us as a treat.

Moving back, the day started off with a refreshing experience of witnessing a temple that was a dazzling white. I felt that it was extremely clever of the architecture that reflective mirrors were used to complement the temple’s luminous white, as it provided it an aura of mystique and opulence by glimmering in the warm glow of the morning sun. It made me feel so alive. But yet in all honesty I had a lingering thought: How difficult it would be to maintain the white with so many tourists!

How fascinated I was when I saw the bust of Ironman in the vicinity of the temple. Yes, I didn’t type that wrongly, it is the Ironman we are familiar with in the movies. Amazed at the open-mindedness of the temple (the first I have ever witnessed), curiosity got the better of me and from asking the temple attendants, I learnt that pop-culture artefacts were placed there to etch the memory of the current generation like a time capsule. This is done so that people from the future who visit are able to be intrigued by what was going on in th  2000s. Amazing as it was, I was even more awestruck by the juxtaposition of modern pop-culture with ancient beliefs and traditions.

Having learnt that Mohn’s favourite lunch was a simple meal of sticky rice with pork, I was more than willing to partake in such a meal as we arrived at the Warorot market soon after. Ever so eager to share about Thai culture, Mohn chided me jokingly as I requested for the utensils: “We never use spoons to eat sticky rice!” I must say that I was still hesitant about the lack of utensils, but went ahead with the Thai way. And it all made sense! It just felt so natural to eat sticky rice with your hands~

Onto what I mentioned in the opening. With the crux of the day being research, we advanced fearlessly with the guidance of prof Natalie’s good friend Lukpong (whom I am extremely grateful for). Again, I was so amazed at the sheer commitment to compassion of the Thais, who would go all out of the way just to help us, despite being busy or having issues of shyness with the camera. The Land of Smiles certainly has lived up to her beautiful moniker. This all just made me wonder more about recent surveys of Singapore as the country with the least emotion, or the unhappiest country in the world, were true.

-Day 2