Never before has the conflicts between residents in the three most Muslim-populated provinces of Southern Thailand been as violent as what recently happened. Seventy eight muslims were killed while they were transported away from the scene in the army trucks after they had been captured. The incident provoked a lot of heated discussions in the Thai community. Having learned that many goodwill scholars failed to present a thorough analysis of the factors involved and as a result they were condemned rather unfairly, or fairly!!, on their innocent acts. I jumped in to lodge a detailed warning, and some good, constructive dialogs followed.

Everything is in Thai, but I will find time to translate them later. [Read More!]

I have had quite a few compelling dreams, after which I felt either nostalgic or deep with some sort of feeling. These dreams included some places in the old days that I couldn't identify, ex-girlfriends, some people I never met in real life but felt so close, etc. None of those dreams was like the one I had minutes ago.

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Shor defines Critical Literacy as follows:

We are what we say and do. The way we speak and are spoken to help shape us into the people we become. Through words and other actions, we build ourselves in a world that is building us. That world addresses us to produce the different identities we carry forward in life: men are addressed differently than are women, people of color differently than whites, elite students differently than those from working families. Yet, though language is fateful in teaching us what kind of people to become and what kind of society to make, discourse is not destiny. We can redefine ourselves and remake society, if we choose, through alternative rhetoric and dissident projects. This is where critical literacy begins, for questioning power relations, discourses, and identities in a world not yet finished, just, or humane.

What's my take?
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I have been trying to do what I seldom did as a lecturer at Chiang Mai University, which is to peek out through the academic window. Reading the world(s) indeed requires multiple ways of looking at the multiple perspectives with multiple lenses. One of these efforts is to read the stuffs with which I tend to disagree at glance.
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At a meeting between students and the department management team yesterday afternoon, I heard two voices from two opposing poles. While international students expressed their desire for the department and professors to consider openning more courses that respond to their immediate needs related to EFL issues, the department, while listening, sees that international students should be open to the Y and Z although they originally came to the U.S. for X. The Y and Z happen to be the issues about social justices at different levels under the umbrella of criitcal literacy in the globalized world.

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This year the weather remains bearable until even now, November 15!!! The past few years passed with very cold November. Today, I managed to go out and play soccer at 3 p.m. and met a number of familiar faces. It's truly interesting how you can connect with people with the same passion in this kind of sport.

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It is not always easy to be truthful to life and reflect on & react toward what you see frankly. [Read More!]

I found this piece of article in Thai pretty informative and brief for a starter like me.

Change the Encoding to "Thai Windows" to read the article in Thai. [Read More!]

I have seen a number of direct quotes about how violent and bloody the Koran pertains to.
The conflicting picture is that I have had so many nice, peace-loving Muslim friends?
What's in it that I still need to see to appreciate it? [Read More!]

Today I met a friend from Uganda who is working on his PhD at the final stage while his wife is working full-time. They both have established a non-profit school for AIDS orphans in Uganda and have been running it quite successfully. [Read More!]

A Prologue that explains why I started this personal blog.

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