Published on December 12, 2005
let us get caught up in the seasonal shopping spirit
Re: “‘Tis the season for shopping up a storm”, Letters, December 8.
Chris Stanford shouldn’t confuse his narrow-minded “Christian” ideology with shopping. Not that we like the elves or the endless Christmas Carols-to-come any better, but don’t apply your shallow, provincial standards to ours. Don’t adopt that patronising tone of voice with us. There are many Christians – as well as Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims – in Thailand. Thais embrace all religions, and we all go shopping. I wonder why in Thailand there are so many provincial Westerners. Western expats would do well to keep their uninformed opinions to themselves and stop trying to be patronising. Buddhist Shopper Bangkok LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Look past commercialism to find a truer Christmas spirit Re: “Happy Holidays”, Sunday Style, December 4. Reading this column on the meaning of Christmas and how this has been hijacked by commercialism, I thought I might put forward an alternative perspective to what the celebration of the birth of Christ should actually be. Like Catherine, I also lived in the West. I lived in the UK for some 40 years and have seen the gradual drift away from the Christian belief of what Christmas is all about to the current trend of an excuse to indulge in excessive eating, drinking and giving of presents and greetings cards etc. Some 10 years ago I calculated the amount of money I spend on greetings cards, postage, food, drink and presents to those who really do not need gifts. Then I decided to break from this pointless exercise and send a cheque instead for that amount to a charity that builds schools, digs wells and feeds children in Africa, India and other poor areas worldwide. I then phoned my friends, telling them that from now on they will not be receiving cards from me but that I did wish them to have God’s blessings and good luck in the coming year. I was amazed at the response from my friends. They thanked me for the brave step I had taken in breaking with a tradition that they regarded with a “Humbug”, stating that for many years they also wanted to do something similar but were afraid of being branded as “stingy” or “miserable”. Instead of making salmon and turkey, why not go to a food outlet, buy some simple food and give it to those who are less fortunate? Take your friends with you so you can all participate in the spirit of giving. I guarantee you will have the most enjoyable Christmas ever, in the true spirit of Christ. Brian Edwards Bangkok --------------------------- Korean rice nourishes a lot more than the body Re: “Thai rice a fair swap for Korean soap”, Opinion, December 10. Despite what it seems like, Korea still is and always has been an agricultural nation. Korea produces 4.5 million tonnes of rice every year, almost all of which is consumed locally. Though that may not seem like much compared to the amount of rice produced in Thailand, it is enough for the country to live on. Yes, it very well may be cheaper to buy rice from Thailand and replace Korean farms with factories. But Korea still continues to do what the country has been doing for the past 5,000 years. They farm. They farm not because it’s a good business. They farm because that’s who they are. The values and culture of Korea are based on the way of farmers. Farming best depicts what Korean values and culture are all about. Eliminating or even reducing the existing farmland would be like erasing Korean values and culture. Without them, Korea would be soulless and dull. That is why Korea still needs to keep the farmlands. Chul “Cho” Chang Nakhon Pathom --------------------------- Capital punishment has no place in the civilised world The tendency to invoke the death penalty as an instant solution to ills in society is regrettable and to be countered. The acceptance of violence as a solution to violent problems only causes more violence and crime, as is experienced over and over again in every country or city that takes this path. There is no alternative to the establishment of law and the maintenance of a just system of government to counter social ills. Recourse to the death penalty runs counter to a worldwide trend to abandon capital punishment. On November 2, Seiken Suguira, the newly appointed justice minister in Japan, announced that he would no longer sign execution orders for those condemned to death, saying: “Personally, I believe that nobody should be able to take away somebody else’s life”. Some hours later he was obliged to emphasise that his remarks were his personal opinion rather than government policy. However, it appears that there is a tendency to repeat earlier practice in Japan where from 1989 to 1993 anti-hanging justice ministers refused to sanction executions. The most complete rejection of capital punishment is stated in the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which 55 states have acceded, the most recent signatory being Liberia on September 16. Moreover, the number of states that have abolished the death penalty is now 88, while 58 countries retain execution. Among the countries that retain the death penalty, China, Iran, and Vietnam execute the greatest number. Ninety-nine per cent of all executions are carried out in dictatorial, authoritarian or illiberal states. Mongolia, Thailand and Botswana form a group of countries where the number of executions has been decreasing and where no executions have been carried out since the end of 2003. Since October 20, 2000 Thailand has been a signatory to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which excludes all recourse to the death penalty. On October 28 Mexico became the 100th signatory to the statute and has gone on to eliminate all references to the death penalty in its own constitution. As Thailand participates in a worldwide system of justice it is timely to pay attention to consequences of an increasing abandonment of the death penalty throughout the world. On the occasion of a report on human rights to the Human Rights Committee in July by the Thai delegation, the committee pointed out that widespread instances of extrajudicial killings are serious human-rights violations. Imposition of the death penalty other than for “most serious crimes” was also strongly criticised. The committee proposed alternative policies and a legal framework to combat domestic violence. The recommendations are in no way an imposition but reminders based on worldwide experience of how best to advance the cause of justice. The results of the present survey show the relevance of a further recommendation by the Human Rights Commission that “awareness-raising efforts should be continued to widely sensitise members of the public” on the legal path to controlling violence. Otherwise we fall into a spiral of violence, counter-violence, mob retaliation and a police force that itself perpetuates injustice. Danthong Breen Union for Civil Liberty France --------------------------- Tweak tasty Thai dishes, and they’ll be healthful as well Thai cuisine is heavy on exotic tastes but a lightweight on healthfulness. Every food item is steeped in myriad spices and additives, yet few of those spices are health-inducing, particularly in such high doses. Besides titillating the taste buds, they also irritate the stomach and intestines. In northern Thailand, where I’ve resided for nearly 10 years, I used to frequent many restaurants, around 15 different places each week. Sometimes I’d get flat-out sick, and often I’d suffer sleeplessness, headaches and exacerbated allergy symptoms. Granted, I can’t attribute every ailment to restaurant foods, but my health is much better since cooking for myself. The foods I eat now are either slightly cooked or raw (veggies and fruit), and spice consists of garlic and a tad bit of real soy sauce. Most often I don’t add spice in order to appreciate the basic tastes of the food. Speaking of sauces, have you ever looked in the kitchen of a Thai restaurant? Even though the establishment may promise that no MSG is used, they still likely rely on 10 to 20 unrefrigerated bottles of sauces. Most of them originate in China, and you can bet they have copious amounts of sugar and MSG. I may sound like an alarmist (chicken little let loose in the kitchen), but just for fun, take a look at the labels of the sauces and try to decipher what weird things are in them. Salt, pepper, fish sauce, hot pepper and the brown sugar in what is called “soy sauce” is added to your Thai dish before you get it. In its campaign to spread Thai cuisine around the world, restaurateurs might want to tweak their recipes with fresher ingredients and fewer additives. It would endear it to those who consider the healthfulness of what they ingest. Ken Albertsen Chiang Rai --------------------------- If you want to catch cheats, take a look at Burma’s govt Besides raising the issue of unfair refereeing with other Asean leaders at the upcoming summit in Kuala Lumpur, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra may also want to raise the issue of cheating with the Burmese dictatorship and its main sponsor, China. After all, the generals in Rangoon are not the legitimate leadership of their country: this title (or gold medal) belongs to Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party, which won the 1990 elections but has been silenced and brutally suppressed. Hopefully the PM’s decision to criticise others will open a new chapter in Thai-Burmese relations and replace Asean’s outdated policy of non-interference. Such a change of course would require courage. Silence and cowardice are not the answer. Rainer Pawli Mae Hong Son
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