A day of Thai culture.

Yesterday was Sunday and I did two things that are typical Sunday activities. I went to mass and I went to see a movie. Both turned out to be Thai cultural events in my day.

Mass
I went to Ruam Rudee, the Redemptorist church, for mass. As it was the first Sunday of the month, they had their usual theme of Missioner of the Month for preaching. This time it was Fr Wanlope, the one in charge of the Redemptorists' minor seminary in Thailand. He presented as a likeable and sociable character. Then he talked on the Seminary.

They have 66 seminarians aged between 11 and 17. They go to the "best school in the country - Assumption College, Sriracha Campus". They can only take 14 applicants each year as there are only 14 places available at Assumption College available for the seminarians. This year, they had 95 applicants. So, he says, there is no shortage of vocations. The proof of this statement would be if there was not the offer of a free education at the best school in the country.

Then he described the weekly devotional programme for the seminarians. This features at least 30 minutes each evening within the following weekly routine.
Mondays - Divine Mercy
Tuesdyas - Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
Wednesdays - Mother of Perpetual Help Novena
Thursdays - Rosary and confession where all the seminarians are to go to confession to Fr Wanlope, their Director, each week. (I think there is something in Canon Law against this.)
Fridays - Stations of the Cross.
In all of this, along with daily mass, Prayer of the Church and meditation, where is there room for the development of an individual prayer life or spirituality? It is like running a take-away 'institutional prayer life' service for boys.

Fr Wanlope seemed a lovely man but I would love to discuss the formation programme with him and the whole Thai philosophy of targeting young boys for formation when they should be at home with their families, being boys. I am willing to admit that I do not have all the answers and that I could be wrong but I would still love to discuss this with a Fr Wanlope.

The Movie
I went to see the last in the Thai film trilogy on the young Prince Naresuan. He was to become the great King Naresuan of Thai history. This character lived in the latter half of the 16th century at a time when the Siamese of the Kingdom of Ayuthaya were under the Burmese and struggling for their independence. Under Naresuan, the master tactician and warrior and leader, the Kingdom of Ayuthaya did gain its independence at a great cost and after many wars against seemingly mightier foes - the Burmese and their allies.

After yet another bloody and mighty battle at the end of the movie, independence seemed finally won for the Kingdom. At its end, Prince Naresuan had the closing line and it went like this - We now have our independence at great cost. Now we will have to fight to keep it.

One of Naresuan's successful strategies in managing campaigns against the enemy was to use the "small defeats big" strategy. Basically, he used well thought out tactics to outsmart a much larger enemy. I am sure there is a lesson for life in that.

What I observed in the movie was how from the Thai side they downed the Burmese making them look incompetent and foolish, and even stupid at times. An example was when a captured Brmese leader was tortured by putting red ants down his pants. When this happened the whole audience laughed. Do I need to say more?

We do tend to retell history from our own side. While Naresuan is truly one of the great Kings of the Thais and he did achieve so much, history can still be skewed to serve one's own purposes.

Well that was my day of Thai culture.