Thailand has always pro-moted the family institution. The Thaksin Shinawatra government pushed Sundays as "family day". It encouraged families to spend time together and engage in activities.

It had planned to have monks attend services at department stores on Sundays because of the attraction of shopping to all family members.

That administration never said how it would ensure families attended sermons. Maybe it should have tried lullabies.

The Associated Press reported from Kuala Lumpur last week that Kelantan state is promoting family togetherness through lullabies.

The state believes it has discovered the secret to family unity - mothers singing lullabies to their husbands and children.

The hardline opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party governs Kelantan. It imposes strict rules on women's dress and even insists on separate supermarket checkouts for men and women.

This week municipal authorities in the state capital, Kota Baru, renewed warnings to women workers against wearing revealing or tight-fitting clothing.

Chief Minister and spiritual leader Nik Aziz Nik Mat has said in the past a woman's voice is a part of her body and should not be exposed. He barred women from entering Koran recitals.

But this month the state is holding a lullaby contest to find the mother who can best get her husband and children to sleep with a song. The event hopes to promote family togetherness - especially in homes where both parents work - and improve mothering, according to state women's committee chairman Abdul Fatah Mahmud.

"It shows that the family comes first in the lives of everyone here," he said.

More than 40 couples have entered. The preliminary rounds start soon and the finals are on December 23.

Ask anyone in Thailand aged 40 and younger if they remember their mothers singing them a traditional Thai-language lullaby and there will be blank stares. These days parents rely on Walt Disney to get their children to sleep.

The idea could also encourage us to look back into a part of our culture that has been almost forgotten.

achara_d@nationgroup.com