• Send Me An Angel by Scorpions

Have you ever wondered why there are so many young novice monks in Laos, especially in Luang Prabang?  Our Buddhist faith in Laos is not as strict as the Myanmar, where it’s their tradition that every Myanmar Buddhist boy average age between 7 and 13 is expected to enter the monastery as a novice for a period of a few weeks to months, it’s considered to be the most important day in the boy’s life.

But in Laos, we don’t have a tradition like that, but yet we see many young novice monks at the local temples.  Back in the olden days, temples were the schools, especially if you’re poor, as there was no formal education system.   This makes sense because the Buddha is a teacher, and monks provide basic lesson in both spiritual and secular subjects, and for some, this might be the only way to get an education, not just in the olden days, but also in today society.

During my visit to Laos and Thailand, after we got stranded at Suvarnabhumi Airport, we went back to Vientiane Laos to catch our flight back home, and we stayed at a hotel that’s not too far from Wat Mixay. I didn’t get to take a picture of the entrance, and this is a borrowed photo from here.

My dad and I passed the temple gate, and saw school children playing in the temple ground and thought that the school must be nearby.  We visited the temple and that’s when I realized that the school is at the temple, kind of surprised me at first because I didn’t expect to see this at all. The children are very happy.

When I was in Ubon Thailand, seeing a daycare at the temple is kind of odd to me also, but makes perfect sense now, this temple is Wat Don Yung.

The monks and novice monks would collect alms every morning, and they’d give some items that they collected to the young children at the daycare, especially juice, milk and snacks.

I thought this was a great idea and I didn’t know before that they have something like this in Thailand.  It’s very much like the daycare in the US, but according to my cousin, they didn’t have to pay for my little cousin to attend, of course in the US, daycare is very expensive and takes precedence over anything else, even your house payment, rent or car payment, and that’s because if you don’t pay, then you can’t bring your child the following week.

A great way to make them smile is to show their picture on the LCD screen afterward, then all I heard was “Take it again…” and a big smile.

When I visited Dannavieng Elementary school in November 20, 2008, I didn’t get to meet the superintendent of the school. After I came back, Darly informed me that she will get me the receipt, something that I needed to provide for Friends of the NLL, also known as my coworkers that had helped supported the school project. Below are the receipt and photos taken by Darly’s Aunt, Aunt Kian. When I was there, they talked about putting up a new name, and now it is up. The school is now named after the village, Ban Dong Yang Elementary School.

Video by Boon Vong, from his trip to Laos. The preschool location was in Xieng Khouang Province, one of the most bombed areas in Laos, and one of the poorest. The region also has the sad honor of being first in bombie farming accidents. Lathesene village lacked running water but the schoolchildren and villagers treated us so kindly.

The song is Jack Johnson’s “We’re Going to be Friends.”
Photos from his DSLR’s and shaky video (sorry!) from his Kodak digicam.

I’ve had opportunity to give the gift of knowledge to children in Laos, books are very special to me, and might be because I didn’t have many growing up, and now I often buy books for myself. I could imagine the excitement of these children at Dannavieng Elementary School when they received their books box, but imagining is not the same as feeling.

Believe it or not, I also received a children’s book as a gift, this one is very special to me, to all my sisters, and my dad. It is called ‘My Great-grandma Mintie’ written by Bobbie Hinson McNeil with Cathy Hinson Franklin-Griffin, illustrated by Chad Chrysler. My sisters, dad, and I each received a signed copy by Cathy, a very special lady that helped care for my mom during her final months, and my mom often talked to Cathy about going back to Thailand, if and when she would get better, and Cathy often has had a sincerely smile, looking back at my mom then and said “I’ll go with you.” When I received my copy over the weekend, I was very excited, read the whole book in one sitting, and thank you Cathy for thinking of us.

Below are photos of books box gift that Lao Voices gave to Dannavieng Elementary School, the same school that we are currently helping to finish with the construction, and according to Darly, “…the book box library is shared by the entire student body from the first grade to the fifth grade. There are various topics to match all levels of the students. The children at Dannavieng Elementary School sent their big warm Sabaidee “hello” and a word of thank you to all the supporters of the book box library project. You have given them the “gift of knowledge” and they are very grateful for that.”

I’m happy to learn that other Laotians are also doing this, below is a photo of an older books box library, donated by a former villager during a visit to his hometown, many years ago.

This is updated news for Friends of National Library of Laos (Friends of NLL, also known as my co-workers for your generous support in the purchasing of my spring rolls) in regard to the construction progress of Ban Dannavieng Elementary School; other supporters of this project include the local villagers, Laocook, Nye Noona, and Darly who coordinates the whole project.

I’m happy to see that the students have had a good school year in the new (unfinished) school; the funding from supporters made it possible to complete the roof, a new water pump installed and new restrooms built early than expected.

I’m surprised to see such progress being made, a bit worried about the budget at first because everything is so expensive nowadays, but I can see that they’ve used their budget wisely. According to Darly’s post, “The new Dannavieng Elementary School is not quite 100% completed. At the moment, the school is missing the doors, the windows, and of course the concrete floor. The ceilings and the walls are still needed to work on. But even at this state of the condition, the students, parents, and the entire community are happy and grateful to have a new school. They sent their blessings and gratitude to the generous contributors half the world away and waiting for the arrivals of their donors on the opening ceremony of the school. When the school is completed, you will know the date so you can all be there for the Baci ceremony and the ribbon cutting time.”

The children of Laos will always have a special place in my heart and to Lao Voicers as well. One of the four Books Boxes delivered to NongDong Elementary School, located in Muang Phone Thong, Khang Champassak is made possible by the former Laoplanet forum supporters, and Friends of the National Library of Laos (also known as my co-workers through their support and purchase of my spring rolls) and a special thanks to each of you for your generosity. Laoplanet Forum has lost her data last year, but our projects of helping to complete Bane Dannavieng Elementary School and Books Box Project are still supported by Lao Voicers.

It has been a year since the delivery, and I’m happy to see that the books are being used, and special thanks to Darly for the lovely photos.

Graduation party at the park, I think this is not a typical Lao way of celebrating graduation in the US, especially if one earned a Bachelor degree; most would have it at the Civic center or indoor location with over 200 to 300 in attendance, where there is live band and partying the Lao way that can go on till midnight.

Of course, this is a very small gathering for 2 people graduating party, only family and close friends attended, this was yesterday, family and friends attended the graduating ceremony in the morning, and had the party in the afternoon.

One thing that I can always count on at any Lao party or gathering is Tum Buk Houng, if anyone were to ask me what is Lao food, I would say “Ping Kai, Tum Buk Houng, and Sticky rice” (Lao style BB chicken, spicy papaya salad and sweet rice). Of course, I was busy eating and only took the picture of Tum Buk Houng.

This is a huge fish, Lao Canadian called it Pa Har Hoi, meaning that if you go fishing and catch one of this Striped Bass, you’ll be fined $500 each and that is because Lao people don’t follow the rule, such as catching the ones that are too small, or catching too many. This Striped Bass was for Pun Pa, as you can see the mountain of vegetables.

I met a Tai Tai that has interesting stories; he said that since I love taking pictures, I’d definitely love Laos. He once visited a village of the Lao Ka and the men wear huge earrings (this seems so intriguing to me, I can’t wait to see, maybe Flickr would do it for now) and he stayed with one family and they have 6 dogs. He doesn’t know if this still holds true because time has changed, but after a meal, they would leave the dirty dishes out and the dogs would come up and lick it clean, then they would put the dishes away. He said that the first meal was not bad because of not seeing and knowing this, but the second and third were harder to swallow, I could imagine. I’m glad that he told us this story after we ate, he did try to tell us the story of how they make Padek, but we asked him to wait until we finish eating and he never did come around to that story.

I asked him about the Lao phrase ‘Hoi or Loi’ that Dallas Lao once asked, and he said that it should really be Hoi because that is how it’s written out in Lao wording, but when the people see the number of 100, then they say Loi, makes sense to me, sort of like a Lao slang. I wish I had a recorder with me, very interesting person indeed.

This is from Manager online, April 2, 2008, written in Thai Language, translated by Ginger.

She has recently become known to Thai people, and now Alexandra Bounxouei, a superstar from Laos has bid her fans farewell, and left for Japan on Tuesday, April 1, 2008, it will take her about 2.5 years to complete her study.

Alexandra has completed her bachelor degree from a Lao-American College in Vientiane and she told Manager Online that “pursuing her education in Japan has always been a life long dream of Sandra,” (a Lao-Bulgarian), and she received her bachelor degree in March 2007 (Thai year: 2550).

After the Lakorn ‘Pleng Ruk Rim Fang Khong,’ that was aired last year, Sandra has returned to Thailand once more to play in a lakorn, ‘Ray Rai Louk Sao Pa’ directed by producer Thongchai Prasongsun, which will be aired on Thai TV, channel 7 on April 4th and she will not be here to view the first episode.

According to work point Entertainment that claimed to have interviewed the superstar on the left side of Mekong River, this is what Alexandra said, “As a matter of fact, Sandra have been planning to study abroad for quiet some time, so everything is prepared in advance, including the time slots for ‘Ray Rai Louk Sao Pa’, let just say that after the filming of the last episode, Sandra will be leaving right away.”
Sandra will be studying Media Design at Keio University School of Media Design in Tokyo.

“Normally, Sandra like to learn about IT, especially in the Internet area because the courses that Sandra will be studying can be used to create a new technique, a new way of communication, as we can see that currently there are various ways of communication…”

“I’ll miss acting, and all my fans, many from the fan club don’t want Sandra to go, but for my future, I have to choose education first”

Even though Alexandra receives a warm welcome from her fans in Thailand, but she still receives harsh comments from her own people in Laos, even from the officials that mentioned that Alexandra should act more tradition, and not dressed too revealing, sort of verbally reprimanding her of how she is presenting herself is ‘not considered normal’ for a Lao girl to be hugging with a foreigner in a public places in front of other people.

As for the latter statement, it is believed to have come from the images of Alexandra’s romantic scenes with Thai actor from her previous Lakorn, which is not socially acceptable amongst the Lao culture.

Before this, Sandra was paired with Weir, but this time a new leading man, Cee Siwat, who has become a household name for Lakorn viewers, and the plot of these 2 Lakorns are totally different, from playing a role of a tour guide in ‘Pleng Ruk Rim Fang Khong’ to playing the role of ‘Ray Rai’ a daughter of a local forest villager, and another lead actor is Nom Rapeepat who plays the role of Priavanh, RayRai’s childhood friend that grew up together, which Priavanh has a crush on Ray Rai all these years, and they have many friends rooting for them that creates lots of fun and excitement, a Lakorn in the style of producer Thongchai Prasongsun.

Source: โดย ผู้จัดการออนไลน์ 2 เมษายน 2551 17:00 น, Manager Online, April 2, 2008.

I saw that she received Sayo Laos magazine, which I saw that they ran their ad in Koosang Koosom Thai magazine in the past issues, and there was an interview of the owner of Sayo Laos on the December 2007 issue. The article was written in Thai language, and I’ll be translating part of it so we will have some good ideas as to what goes behind this magazine, and the current project that she is working on.

Ardina Mahavong is the modern Lao woman, with high self-confident that is living in the digital world. She is a working “Laos” woman that’s juggling between import and export, magazine and television. She was born and raised in Vientiane, Laos, and is of mixed Lao-Pakistan descent, growing up in the modern society of Lao Muslim. Koosang Koosom interviewed her in Vientiane.

Question: What type of business are you currently doing?

Currently, I’m working on “Sayo Laos,” it is a monthly magazine issues, we publish 16,000 magazines per issue, and I also run a factory clothing apparel in Vientiane that we do import and export. I’m currently working with the Lao government on setting up Lao movie television, it will be a free TV, creating something such as this is a dream of mine. I want the world to know where Laos is, which we will stress tourism, health issues, and the beauty that Laos has to offer.

Question: How many channels does Lao television currently have?

We currently have 1 channel, and we also have satellite TV. The current one that we’re working on is going to be called MV (abbreviation from Movie Lao Television,) which the major source of income will come from sponsors, mainly commercials.

Question: Is there any magazine in Laos that is currently competing with Sayo Laos magazine?

I started doing Sayo Laos in 2004, and at that time there were very few magazines, the government allow us to write according to the best interest of the country but we have to send in our issue before each publication for approval, as far as them checking the contents, this we do not know, I guess it’s up to the individual that’s doing it. But to write in the style of attacking them is probably not good, we have our code of ethics that we go by, using the actual event as the core, the truth, the promotion of our culture that the government support, and we’re protected under the law, but not totally restricted in what we can write.

Question: Like Koosang Koosom magazine, we can publish without getting an approval, there is no government official that would come and review our magazine.

We can also do this, every publishing company in Laos can do this, that they don’t have to be inspected, or come and arrest us when we write, but there is a censorship there where we have to meet the requirement. As for us, we don’t have to wait because the government fully support in what we’re doing. There is no restriction because time is money, and we always have to race with time but we have to make sure that the magazine comes out good and not writing to attack anyone.

Question: Do you need a lot of capital investment in television production?

We are living in the digital world therefore we must be able to follow the new trends and when there is a new program we often times have to spend a lot of money, very much like Thailand and it also depends on who is the supporter at the time, when we signed the contract with the Lao government we have a budget of 2.5 million US dollars.

Question: Do you have enough skills and resources to do your job?

Yes, we have many that graduated from overseas, such as from Australia, and America; we’ve a lot of financial assistance but like everything else, there is no guaranteed, and it could change at any given time. As of right now, we could be doing it this way, or changing to something that’s completely different, therefore we constantly have to learn new things. We do our marketing in Bangkok, which we have someone there to help us.

Question: How many hours are you on air?

From 16 hours to 20 hours, but approximately 12 hours is considered great, we wrote the program for it already.

Question: There are approximately 6 million populations in Laos, how many television sets are there in all?

I can’t remember the exact number but we’ve a survey that estimated the actual number of household that would be able to receive the signal, how many television sets per household, but the actual marketing survey came from Thailand because we don’t have enough resource.

Question: What are some of the problems that you’ve encountered while making ‘Sayo Laos’ magazine?

There are some problems on a day-to-day basis, no matter what you do in life, you’ll always encounter some problems, and it’s up to you to handle that problem. But I want to stress again that we don’t have any problem with the government, they actually help us on a periodically basis. As of right now, ‘Sayo Laos’ magazine is mailed to 27 locations of the Laos Ambassador’s office across the world and I don’t have to pay for the shipping and handling cost. In the course of conducting our business, we are like the children where we’ve one father, and we’ve the Thai government as our godmother, this is the main goal for most of us that grow up in today society.

Question: Who is MTV target audience?

We are living in the digital world, and it is impossible to prevent people from watching MTV, but our strongest competitor is the Thai TV because they’ve been around a lot longer and are more experienced. They’re up to date with their technology, they’ve a good reception and signal strength; even though we’ve helped from the government but it’s not as easy as it appears.

When I was 21 years old, I was in charged of running factory-clothing apparel, which has about 500 employees. There were many problems that I faced and I asked myself then if it was the best that I could do at the time, and sometimes problem resolves itself in given time, but if we face a problem and feel discourage, then I think we’re tested by the lord, we can’t just throw our hands up in the air and give up, we’ve to move forward.

Question: Does advertising revenue cover ‘Sayo Laos’ magazine cost?

Is everything good? The answer is no, we’ve been doing it for 3 years now, and things take time. Lao society is going through a transformation, there is a lot of competition, and we’ve increasing number of foreign investors and every new products need introduction to the local markets, which we play a major role in helping them to become successful. Then we’ve to ask ourselves, can we survive by doing this? We’ve to examine ourselves, if you think we’re rich because of the income from the magazine, this is not true, I’m a bit better than an average person living in Laos that I have a car, I have a house, but I’ve invested a lot of time and money just like everyone else.

Question: Is there any International magazine in Laos? For example buying the brand name of certain well know magazine and publish in Lao language.

No we don’t have anything like that, but I’m not worry because no matter what kind of magazines out there, if written in Lao, people will read and this will help our younger readers to be able to pronounce and read Lao correctly because our language is a mixed language, just like why am I able to speak Thai clearly even though I’ve never learned the Thai language, it’s because I learned from Thai television, and the mixed language (pasa ga jai) is when we speak half Lao and half Thai, but cannot speak any language clearly or properly, and we’ve the tendency to combine the two languages together as one.

On behalf of Laovices.com and Houay Laou Elementary school in Pakse, Champassak province, I want to thank the Friends of the National Library of Laos (my co-workers) for making it possible for us to deliver our 9th Books Box; with your generous support, we were able to give the gift of learning.

Darly wrote a post at Lao Voices that describes the condition of the schooling in Laos, and also a special thanks below,

The parents and students are grateful and happy to know there are people outside Laos that care a great deal about them. They sent their big Thanks and warm regards. The students at Houay Laou Elementary school are eager to learn and you can see their enthusiasm as they surrounded the book box, trying to get a piece of the action. Please visit the Gallery for more photos of the book box delivery to Houay Laou Elementary school.

I was pleased to see the progress of the school project that my co-workers and I help support. For some of you that have seen the name Friends of NLL as a donor to Book Box Fund, and Dannavieng School Building Project in the past, those are money from my co-workers; they’re kind enough to help support in what I’m doing.

When Darly first introduced the project to us, I didn’t know how I’d raise money to help at the time, the only thing that I’m good at is making spring rolls which I’ve been making it for the last 10 years or so in helping raising money for the March of Dime, and Christmas for the Salvation Army Angel Tree, and this year, in placed of the Angel Tree, we decided to help sponsor the orphanage at the Children’s Home in our area, hoping to sponsor 30 children. When I first introduced the idea to my co-workers, beside from raising money for above causes, I also want to raise money to help with the school in Laos; which the only thing that Laovoices.com (formerly known as Laoplanet.net) support last year was the Book Box, and that’s how the name Friends of National Library of Laos came about, it was Darly’s idea; my co-workers loved the idea and I’ve been making a lot more spring rolls since; I’ve gotten more orders than I’d fill.

Some of my co-workers have been asking me about the building project, that if I need more money, but I think they just want to eat my spring rolls, but the intention is all the same, they want to help, thanks for supporting. One Book Box is being delivered as we’re speaking, I’ll keep you update on this and post as soon as I’ve photos from Darly.

Darly has posted an update at Laovoices.com, and this is part of her post,

Bane Dannavieng, in Champassack Province. The new elementary school is not quite completed but has made a big progress thanks to the contributors to the project. The school now has a roof over the 8×50 meters building, which will hold 6 classrooms to be utilized for many years to come. At present, the piles of red dirt you see in the photos will be used as the floor foundation. Below are photos from the school’s officials with a note of big THANK YOU, to all who made this possible.

Before photo of the school taken by Darly when she was in Laos earlier this year,

Current, still need some more work.

Darly received these photos in hard copy, sincere apology if they’re not very clear, I hope to be there after it’s finished.

You hear all the time that people would tell you to go into a profession that will make you happy, if that’s the case, what if you love to eat and sleep; if you can convince yourself that’s a profession, then more power to you and good luck, but to be honest with you, I don’t think it’s a profession.

I came across an article in a Thai Magazine, listing of professions that would make you happy, after finished reading it; I think it might have some truth in it. When I was little, I remember that most of my friends want to be a doctor, lawyer, or Indian chief, and I do have one Chinese friend that is a lawyer living in NYC, I visited her last year but I do have to say that she is one of the most unhappiest person I knew; success doesn’t always come with happiness. I guess being an attorney is somewhat stressful, having to deal with lawsuits, divorce cases, bankruptcy cases, and much more but all problem related cases. I’ve never wanted to be a lawyer, so I’m not sure what attracted her to this profession to begin with, she is a CPA (still has active license I believe) prior to going to law school and was very unhappy with that profession as well, made me think, maybe she is just an unhappy person.

I think many of us will agree or disagree with the two professions below, mainly because we think that we’re happy or unhappy with what we’re doing, every professions have its own reward, and the happiness varies from person to person, it’s all how you look at it, what you make of it.

The number one profession that gives the greatest joy is a photographer. You can boss people around, even be able to tell them to smile, I think people look beautiful when they smile, but I don’t know why most don’t do it as often. You can tell them as to where to place their hands, turn left or right and after finishing bossing them around, they still manage to give you one of the most beautiful smiles, and if you don’t like it, you can tell them to do it all over again. What joy would that be, to be able to boss people around and see beautiful smiles all the time.

Then there’s a writer, or songwriter, especially if you’re gifted. For some, it might take them a few hours to write a song, but what it does for people varies, for some music can balance their emotions or can drive them to the extreme of their feelings, music can make us smile or cry and it’s definitely soothing to our soul, we all need music in our lives. The people that go into this profession are artist, they love freedom, I can’t even imagine them working from a 9-5 job, or dress in a business attire, why should they when they have the freedom to dress anyway they want. Their songs are an inspiration to many of us, and some of the classic ones have been around for many, many years.

These are just the two professions that I admire and happen to be the professions that bring happiness, but life is what you make of it, if we’re happy with what we’re doing, then it shouldn’t matter what others think. Many people think my profession sucks, and that might have some truth in it, and to some, they might want to get out, but to me, I just need to find a hobby that would make me happy, and I think I found one.

On a day-to-day basis, we all express ourselves in different way. For some of us that decide to write poems, books, articles, blogs, form Lao forums, Lao Radios, Lao TVs, become artists, or publish Lao magazines, whether it’s hard copy or on-line, we all want our voice to be heard. Some might feel that they are only doing it as a hobby, but deep down inside, we all want to voice our opinions, in a fashion that best suits us. We are unique individuals, but what we all have in common is that we have the same root, we are from Laos, and we are Laotian. I am proud of my heritage, of who I am, and have so much to tell and the internet has made that possible for most of us, an instant publishing at the click of a button, and we have voiced our opinions. I think writing is a powerful tool, we can create, can communicate, can make progress, but if use in the wrong way it can delay progress, can destroy images of our people, our country, and of someone (innocent) that might have tried to create a name for themselves for many years. Therefore, when we write, we need to think of other people’s feelings as well, not just venting out our angers.

I have recently heard a voice of concern, from a Lao forum expressing concerns about Lao Magazines, that if Lao Magazines “can make us proud to be Lao and show us a way, but not necessarily as ‘the only’ way, I think it’ll be doing a good job.” I think differently; it’s unfair to ask that of any Lao Magazine, their jobs are to create an awareness, they’re the voice of our community, being proud of our heritage should come from within ourselves, and not from outside sources such as a magazine. I am proud, and not ashame to tell people that I am Laotian because our culture is unique, rich with tradition. Lao magazines give many of us the opportunity to express our voice, our opinions, otherwise our voice might not be heard, and to me that is very powerful; I marvel those that put forth effort in publishing Lao Magazines.

It has been over a year since the death of the royal couple, to some they were the fallen heroes, the voice that had spoken loudly, and proudly at Lao studies, many looked up to them with admiration; to others they were regarded as individuals that tried to gain status as royalty, and nothing more. There were so many mysteries surrounded their death, but many became unfolded at their funeral, people that were involved came forward. Many were the “Gouh Sodh” or freedom fighters, openly spoke at their funeral, and many from the group were there, you can tell by their little red pins that they wore on their black jackets. They stood proudly, they are the people that were so active over the years, and most of us are wondering where they are now, still around and living among us. They are waiting for the right opportunity to voice their opinions. To some, they are regarded as the heroes living underground, to others, they are the ones that cannot let go of the past. As to the families and friends of the royal couple, they were the most caring couple and their legacy will continue to live on. It was such a tragic loss to a Lao community, we loss another voice, which would have been proudly heard in our community, and in many Lao studies.

This is my voice, a voice of concern for our Lao community. What will the future hold for the voice of Lao people? Only time can tell. In the near future, I hope our voice will create, will reunite, will make progress, will proudly be heard, and not the voice that have been forgotten.