Fieldwork and Documentation

Daily Reflections – 6 January 2016

I took away much from my visit to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. Firstly, I was able to better understand Buddhism through visiting the temple premises. With the use of paintings on the wall, my tour guide explained the story of how the Buddha came to be. I was intrigued by the story of how…

Tale of the Coconut

Leadership is like a Coconut, hard on the outside, yet nurturing on the inside First thing’s first, we were lucky that we bought a coconut for the challenge on getting a quote. Well, turned out it was much simpler than if it were to be, say, crackers, which we were tempted to buy just to…

Post-Trip Reflections

It only felt like it was yesterday when we left for Chiang Mai. I can’t believe it has been 2 weeks since we came back! I miss the laid-back culture, I miss the people and I most definitely miss having my daily cup of Thai iced tea. As I re-read my pre-trip reflections and reflect…

Post-Trip Reflections

For me, this Chiang Mai trip was a continuous journey of self-discovery and personal growth. Before setting off for the trip, I was full of apprehension and anticipation, because I had never been to Chiang Mai before, and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the trip. There was one thing that I was…

Day 5: Leadership

“If you always do what is easy and choose the path of least resistance, you never step outside your comfort zone. Great things don’t come from comfort zones.” – Roy Bennett Photo credit: Darren Leong Undergoing leadership training has always been uncomfortable for me. The last leadership camp I went left me feeling inadequate rather than…

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…

Day 3: Living in the moment

I’m never one to “live in the moment”. I’d always be caught up with events of the past, or worried about what the future might bring. Today, I learnt to let go and simply enjoy the moment. I envisioned trying out many activities today. I had a whole list of things planned out. I wanted…

8th Jan/ Day 5

If we classified each day according to the number of big-ticket items, then this was it – we had the long-awaited interviews with the professors from Chiang Mai University, as well as the leadership segment. Both were, in their own rights, enlightening. Not to mention fun, too. I would like to highlight two points that…

Day 2: Changing perceptions

With a new direction for our research problem, we were ready to head out to the streets to find out what Thai youth had to say about female empowerment. We first visited Wat Chedi Luang for a chat with the monks. Prior to the trip, Prof Natalie linked us up Chirabodee Tejasen, a residential mentor…

Day 5: Insights & Inspiration ?

Day 5: Our last official day begun with a visit to Chiang Mai University for an interview with two professors specializing in Elephant Tourism and Elephant Veterinary. An interesting point that the Tourism professor pointed out was that there will always be a proportion of tourists who will favour the thrill of riding on elephants…