Reading amongst South East Asians

Last week, I was in Chiang Mai to meet my dentist for the final treatment. Yes, hopefully the final treatment to replant two teeth extracted in November last year. As usual, I travelled 4 hours to Chiang Mai on a modest van squeezing among other people while having such a gigantic body. Alas Alas a woman almost my size was sitting besides me with a 4 year old child. Undoubtedly, she only bought one seat for herself. When the van started engine, I was ready with my inhaler. The zigzag road to Chiang Mai did not usually make me dizzy but I am sure that I would feel unusual on that day. :-)

I want to take the opportunity to tell you that if you are travelling and thinking about taking your child/ren who are under 18 but old enough to sit on their own, please spare some money so that you and the child are at comfort all the way. You will smile to your child on the way and you child will not utter a single noise or disgusting sound all the way. But if you are thinking to save excessively, then first, in this hot weather around 30 C inside the car, your child who you are holding will not stop crying all they way.

Of course, they have energy from the food you bought previously from your extra savings. To make yourself an environmental friendly parent, you will start shouting at your child, not to scream with all your facial action to the noises. But, I tell you, my humble suggestion, just buy a seat for your child because I have reasons. I know, you want to save money and you saved some for not buying a seat for your child but minus the food you bought for him to cry out loud. You still have some money saved. But you cannot smile. You have to do so many facial expression to stop his crying and at last, it badly affects your skin. Remember, the good skincare sets are quite expensive these days. So you need to know that not buying a seat for your child does not mean saving but more spending will go into skincare products. Buy a seat for your child. By doing that, you automatically become environmental friendly. If a lawyer, social worker or rights activist sits beside you, you will not know but he will applaud that you abides with the CRC (Child Rights Convention) by giving a comfortable seat while travelling for a child.

To cut it short, I arrived in Chiang Mai after 4 hours on that noisy (by the mother and child), hot and sweaty van. I went to the guesthouse I used to stay and got a room as usual. I fell asleep so quickly after a warm shower that night.

The next morning, I got to my dentist and had my artificial teeth replanted. I thank my insurance company for paying the dentals to a certain percentage. If not, I am broke.

In the evening, I went to see my friends who are gays and working as housemaid and cook in a house of a western gay man in his early 90s. That guy once used to be an author as well as a teacher in his early retirement years. I happened to meet him and had a pleasant conversation with him. He at his aged has come across so many life encounters and I supposed that he could share them with us and we can be aware of such developments in our lives. Unexpectedly, he was not talking to me that evening about the gay relationship. Instead, he is encouraging me to read many books as much as I could. What the hell is about? Books!!!!!!

But later his comments convinced me that I need to read :-). He told me that people in South East Asia do not read. They are mobile phones genius. They are on facebook. They communicate by emails. But they do not read books that give essence of life. And he also urged his two gay housemaids to read and study more. He said,"People needs to read if there are books for them to read and study." I don't think the two gay maids were listening to him. They enjoy their lives to a fuller extent by one playing Cityville while the other on tagged.com busy with some kind of restaurant or food stall game. I am thinking. Is it the reason why homosexuals are called GAY because of their easy-going lifestyle? And why this old guy is telling me seriously? I am sure he did not live his younger life that loosely! He is living a life full of facilities at this age means he did not spend his younger age meaninglessly though he came across the second world war and the Nazi invasion. We continued to talk about the books that he read and what was he reading at the moment and what is he going to read after reading this one. We sipped beer but we did not talk about it. I would not know what to say because I don't like beer too. After all everything was about Books!!!!!

On that night, lying in my bed, I started to think about my reading history. I had to agree that we, the South East Asians are not very used to with books. When I was young, well the whole study period from KG to secondary, I remembered the books I read from the school library was not over 10 books over the period I studied 10 years. Others are the prescribed texts. Why? When we were young, we were not encouraged to read books by our teachers and parents apart from the prescribed texts. We did not have easy assess to the library. We did not visit the school library. Some students hardly know that a school is equipped with a library. Nothing to say more. I only learnt my school has a library while I was in Standard 7, at that time I was 14 years old. Borrowing the number of books I mentioned before happened later that year. It means I only borrowed books between Standard 8 to 10.

I put more concentration in my thinking. (Alas, I am writing this blog during my working hours because, I am about to leave my present job and completed most of my tasks. One of my colleagues is fallen asleep and snoring - South East Asian) Recollection of my memory was that the library in our school was smaller than the principal's office :-). Don't be surprised. Books are not meant to read in the library. They were to be borrowed and read at home. Under these circumstances, it is no surprise that we simply do not know how to read books when we were young. Besides, published and printed books are very expensive. Only those who could buy them or borrow them from the private books rental at expensive daily rental charges could read. Can a child of a person with lesser income could do that? Or are they willing to do that comparing to a video or computer game? Where is the National Library of our country? Less than 10 percent of the population of our country will know that the national library exists in our country or maybe more knows that there is a kind of national library in almost every country. But do they know exactly where it is situated? Here you go!!!! Tell me if you know...

With so many changes these days, I do not know where the National Library of our country is. In the past when I was 18 years old, I could remember that, the National Library was situated in the one or two of the floors of the Government Six Floors Building. After that, a huge building was built as a National Library. Then I heard that Building was sold to the businessmen. Please correct me. It was my little knowledge about the national library in our country. But sad to say, I have never been to the National Library of my country. I hope to find out and visit the National Library this time I return to my country for good.

I have studied to an extent. I don't love reading books but I read manuals, guidelines, SOP and handouts to perform my job. These books are easily available in my workplace and they are must read. Apart from that, I read nothing. Nothing at all. Though I have access to books and periodicals, I did not bother reading them. Because, we were not taught and trained to love books. Some may insist that they love books and read a lot. Yes, I am proud of you because you have taken great pains in your life to improve yourself. But may I ask you? How many of your friends love reading like you? You were born gifted and took your time to read. How many of your friends spent their times to read like you? It came into my mind that reading is not about hobbies. People may take up reading as a hobby but in fact when you were younger if you were trained to love books, it will automatically became a hobby. I missed something here. When we were young, in English essays or in our CV, we put "reading" as a hobby. Why? Come on, admit the truth. "Reading" is easy to spell. Nothing's wrong with "Reading". Many people can read. If you put swimming or skiing and you could not do that then it does not look very good. But there is nothing people will ask about your "reading".

I realised that I met some tourists on the bus, coffee shops, airports and many other places. They look shabby or are like gypsy. But they always have a book in hand to read. When people from other regions of the world are travelling, they have maps and guidebooks. What about us, South East Asians? Do we have them. Hardly, haven't we?

How do we do to promote access to reading? How do we let people know that there are libraries around them that they can get books for free? I don't know the answer myself. But you who have read this might have some ideas to share. Some of you may insist that the access to the library is very easy and we did read a lot of books we bought from the shops here and there and we read all the time. Yes, fuck you. You are now reading my blog. I did not publish it on a piece of paper. I typed it and saved it on whatever server provided by google. You are accessing this page via an electronic device and which you own it or using it in your workplace and you have certain experience of using that device. You will not have read this blog up to this point if you are not an English reader. Your life is settled for certain percentage. You came across some difficulties. And you know reading enlightens you.

What I am saying is children who are attending government educational institutions in the country where access to internet or library is very limited. If you are over 25 years old. You know what I mean because we were brought up without these facilities. We could still manage our lifestyle but what could have been better if it is the other way round?

An old man (gay) in his early 90s who loves reading lives a perfect life and hired housemaids who spends their lifetime as such to bid. I know you are not the housemaids. I only want to show an example. How will the housemaids survive their second childhood?

Btw, I am originally from Myanmar, a country known as Burma and I am a Burmese gay. I hope you don't see this blog offensive.

David (pour toi) | 19 April 2012 @ 14:55 | Mae Sariang | Thailand