A new life
See 'Transforming Lives' from the front page of Learning PostLesson by Boon Boonprayoon
Listen here young students, you may want to read this article. It depicts a different way of life in the heart of the city. Read about lives of these underprivileged youngsters and then look at yours. If you always have a good lunch (it does not mean a 'yummy' one or 'very expensive' one), you surely should consider yourselves as having a good life. If you can understand this story in English, then you are even more advantaged. I am deeply touched by the story of Laotians in the community of Wat Pathum Wanaram and you likely will be too.
The lives of those living in the ancient Wat Pathum community have been influenced by the chaotic world taht surrounds it. To me, it is as if people in the community are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Why? The community inhabitants originally came from the Lan Chang Kingdom or Laos. Dating back almost two hundred years ago, their ancestors were taken captive and relocated here. They had no place to go. And, with no access to education, there was no opportunity for a better life. There was no hope in their lives. They could only expect to be poor and to pass their poverty on to their descendants.
I never imagined such lives could exist right next to the mega stores on both sides of their community. Fortunately, there is a silver lining. The kind HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn accidentally discovered the poor community. Now things are picking up for this group of people.
To read this article, I would look at the topic headings and write down the essentials details related to each topic. Also, try to find answers for the following questions. In answering the questions, you will find the main idea and its supporting details.
1. Why is Wat Pathum Wanaram considered important to the Chakri Dynasty?
2. How can you learn about the life of people in the Wat Pathum community?
3. What kind of life do people in the community live?
4. In what way is Wat Pathum important to Laotian?
5. What makes paitings at Wat Pathum different from other Wats? And why are such paintings important to Laotian inhabitants?
6. 'In the following year' means year _______?
7. Why did Wat Pathum School become a tourist attraction?
8. How have lives of the Wat Pathum residents changed after the Royal visit?
depict - to describe something in words, or give an impression of something in words or with a picture บรรยายภาพ
underpriviledged - having less money and fewer opportunities than most people in society disadvantaged ผู้ด้อยโอกาส
advantaged - being in a good social or financial situation มีสถานะทางสังคมที่ดีกว่า
touched - feeling happy and grateful because of something kind that somebody has done; feeling emotional about something ซาบซึ้ง สะเืทือนใจ
transformed - เ to completely change the appearance or character of something, especially so that it is better ปลี่ยนแปลง
inhibitant - noun a person or an animal that lives in a particular place ผู้อยู่อาศัย
captive - kept as a prisoner or in a confined space; unable to escape เชลย
descendant -a person’s descendants are their children, their children’s children, and all the people who live after them who are related to them ลูกหลาน
บทความนี้มีสีสันและน่าติดตามอ่าน แม้ว่าจะเป็นบทความที่มีความยาว แต่การจัดเรียงเนื้อหาเป็นตอนๆ ที่มีใจความสมบูรณ์ในตัวเองทำให้คุณสามารถ download หรือหยิบบทความมาอ่านเป็นตอนๆ ได้เมื่อต้องการ โดยไม่ทำให้ความเข้าใจในเนื้อหา ขาดตกบกพร่องไป
ในขั้นแรกก่อนเริ่มลงมืออ่าน คุณอาจอ่านคำนำข้างต้นและคำถามนำก่อน การทำเช่นนี้จะช่วยให้คุณอ่านบทความได้โดยไม่หลงประเด็น เมื่อเริ่มอ่านและทำความเข้าใจ ดิฉันยังคงยืนยันให้คุณอ่านโดยจับความสำคัญแต่ละย่อหน้า และสังเกตการให้ความสำคัญของเนื้อหาในแต่ละประโยค ในหนึ่งย่อหน้า คุณควรตอบคำถามได้ว่า ใคร ทำอะไร ที่ไหน และเพราะเหตุใดจึงเกิดเหตุการณ์เช่นนั้นขึ้น แล้วนำเรื่องที่อ่านในแต่ละย่อหน้ามาปะติดปะต่อกันให้เป็นเรื่อง คุณจะจับประเด็นสำคัญและเก็บรายละเอียดได้ทั้งหมด
หากใครต้องการฝึกย่อความ บทความนี้นับเป็นชิ้นงานที่เหมาะแก่การฝึกย่อความ ประเด็นเหล่านี้คือประเด็นที่คุณควรกล่าวถึงในย่อความของคุณ
1) ชุมชนนี้ตั้งขึ้นเมื่อใด และตั้งขึ้นได้อย่างไร
2) ลักษณะึความเป็นอยู่ของคนในชุมชนนับแต่อดีตมาจนปัจจุบันเป็นอย่างไร การประกอบอาชึพ และสถานะทางสังคม
3) เหตุใดวัดปทุมวนารามจึงกลายเป็นศูนย์รวมใจของคนในชุมชน มีความเกี่ยวเนื่องกันอย่างไร
4) ความเป็นอยู่ที่ยากลำบากของคนในชุมชนนั้น กำลังเปลี่ยนไปเพราะเหตุใด
TRANSFORMING LIVES
Thai education told through the life of a simple schoolStory by KEN MAY
Cradled between two monolithic
shopping mall towers - in a village once graced with a vibrant canal,
abundant rice fields, and the calloused hands of impoverished farmers -
Wat Pathum Wanaram now nestles
in its modern hiding place, far removed
from the wandering eyes of shop-hungry tourists on Rama I Road. Pedestrians bustle by the temple daily without noticing the village nearby. The old neighborhood still survives, though corralled by high walls and the signs of modern times. Concrete staircases lead above the chaotic traffic toward the smog-filled sky. And if distracted pedestrians pause and look from the sky-train platform, they will spot a school on the horizon that whispers an untold story about Thai education. One only has to step a little closer and listen.
EMBRACED BY ROYAL PATRONAGE
Wat Pathum Wanaram is a vital temple for the Chakri Dynasty. The temple grounds are used for many royal ceremonies, and its main chedi (religious monument) houses the ashes of a family member. The Royal Family has invested in the temple, which now offers dharma lessons and daily meditation practice.
The local villagers are thoroughly entwined around this temple's history, which is reflected by the images of farmers plowing fields that decorate some temple doors and window shutters. This community has lived at this site for more than 180 years, while struggling to adapt to a changing world while burdened by the weight of poverty. Education at their humble school has been their primary hope.
Recently, the community's learning opportunities were raised to a higher level by the patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. As the story goes, one day, she curiously explored the area around the Sra Pathum Palace on foot and accidentally stumbled across the village. She was touched by the poverty that she saw and decided to do something on behalf of the residents.
PLANTING A VILLAGE
The original residents of this village, known as Lan Chang (the name of a 14th century Laotian Kingdom), were relocated to this site as Laotian war captives in the 1820s. This migration was punishment for a rebellion waged by Prince Anuwong (Anu), who was captured by Thai forces. The Laotian neighborhood that survived in dilapidated sheds and shacks subsisted on rice farming, and the only transportation route to their remote area was Klong Saen Saeb, which roughly parallels Phetchaburi Road.
The people in this impoverished village had almost no access to formal education. Few of them could read and write. Instead, they learned the skills needed for agriculture – water management, rice cultivation, animal husbandry and techniques for effective harvesting. The people in Lan Chang lived a simple but hard life, and in their quiet isolation they rarely saw foreigners.
monolithic – (often disapproving) a single, very large organization, etc. that is very slow to change and not interested in individual people
vibrant - full of life and energy; exciting
nestled - be located in a position that is protected, sheltered or partly hidden
bustle - busy and noisy activity
corral - to gather a group of people together and keep them in a particular place
distracted - unable to pay attention to somebody /something because you are worried or thinking about something else
vital - necessary or essential in order for something to succeed or exist
meditation - the practice of thinking deeply in silence, especially for religious reasons or in order to make your mind calm
entwined - to be very closely involved or connected with something
struggling - to try very hard to do something when it is difficult or when there are a lot of problems
humble - showing you do not think that you are as important as other people; modest
patronage - the support, especially financial, that is given to a person or an organization by a patron
stumble across - to discover something /somebody unexpectedly
relocate - to move or to move somebody /something to a new place to work or operate
waged - having regular paid work
dilapidated - old and in very bad condition; ramshackle
sheds and shacks - small building, usually made of wood or metal, that has not been built well
A SCHOOL IS BORN
Two decades later, King Mongkut (Rama IV) decided to construct a temple at this location for a sect of Thammayut monks, a reformist branch of Buddhism that he had helped create. King Mongkut built a palace near this spot a bit earlier and realized the benefit that a temple would have on this community.
Wat Pathum Wanaram was completed in 1857, and the first abbot was a Laotian from Chamapasak. Most monks came from poor districts in Issan, which fit well culturally with the local population. Two cherished Buddha images were finally housed at this temple, which were originally brought from Vientiane along with the Lan Chang.
In contrast to other temples, which usually have murals depicting the life of Buddha, the walls of Wat Pathum Wanaram's wiharn (the building used by the Buddhist lay community for worship) are also portrayed with the crafty trickster Sri Thanonchai, who was well known by local Lao inhabitants. These paintings were perhaps the first "textbook'' known to these illiterate villagers. Monks taught moral and cultural topics by pointing to the art while telling stories. Lan Chang residents gradually learned to read and write through the teachings of monks.
A modest wooden school named Pariyathitham was built outside the boundary walls for novice monks to study dharma. And with this knowledge poor residents could lift their spirits while toiling in rice fields later in life. Young children played at Wat Pathum Wanaram in the afternoon or worked as wat dek (temple boys). All this interaction nurtured a sense of community, and this was a healthy environment to cultivate education.
reformist - wanting or trying to change political or social situations
abbot - a man who is the head of a monastery or an abbey
mural - a painting, usually a large one, done on a wall, sometimes on an outside wall of a building
crafty trickster – a person who tricks or cheats people in a clever way, especially by indirect or dishonest methods
illiterate – not knowing how to read and write
boundary - a real or imagined line that marks the limits or edges of something and separates it from other things or places; a dividing line
toil - to work very hard and/or for a long time, usually doing hard physical work; slave away
cultivate - to develop an attitude, a way of talking or behaving, etc.
HARD TIMES STRIKE
In 1932, the absolute monarchy was replaced by a constitutional monarchy. With this political change also came the development of government schools. In the following year, the temple's abbot granted the government permission to build Wat Pathum Wanaram School. The original state school was a single-story wooden building without walls.
Although temple schools remained active in Thailand, education was gradually placed under government jurisdiction. Wat Pathum Wanaram School's enrollment rate increased, and the school expanded by adding a second story to include a total of eight rooms. The rising cost of education strained the government's budget, while the poverty of the village remained, despite better learning opportunities.
A Bangkok Post article appeared on October 12, 1981, under the headline, "Sign of hard times draws the tourists.'' The focus was on the poverty of students at Wat Pathum Wanaram Elementary School and the contributions made by foreign visitors to the children's education.
School administrators and teachers worried about the diets of its 284 pupils, aged seven to sixteen, who came from broken homes and poor working class backgrounds. The children – whose families no longer sufficiently grew their own food – were weakened from the lack of nutrition and many failed to attend class due to bad health.
Although the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority (BMA) supplied an annual budget to help meet school expenses the amount was not enough to cover students' needs. The school did not require poor students to pay tuition or book rental fees, but limited funding could not adequately pay for school lunches. It was decided to solve this problem by making the impoverished school a tourist attraction for visitors. A sign was placed in front of the school announcing that children received education first and food second, so donations and contributions were appreciated. School staff hosted "mini-tours for inquisitive [foreigners] with Japanese cameras and perplexing questions.'' Four to five tourists visited the school every week, contributing as much as 200 baht.
Adisai Kemapirak, who taught math at the school 31 years ago, remembers the donation box and also the school being very noisy due to traffic when the traffic light was green. She could not hear when students responded to her questions. The school only had one English teacher, a Thai who taught Grade 5-7 using cassette tapes.
While the village's poverty remained constant, Lan Chang's sense of community was rapidly changing. Rapid population growth, modernization, new technologies, and Western influences were settling in; along with the crime, conflicts and corruption that often accompany sudden financial change. The old way of life was blowing away.
jurisdiction - the authority that an official organization has to make legal decisions about somebody /something
strained - the authority that an official organization has to make legal decisions about somebody /something
cover - to be or provide enough money for something
impoverished - very poor; without money
inquisitive - very interested in learning about many different things
perplexing - if something perplexes you, it makes you confused or worried because you do not understand it; puzzle
constant - happening all the time or repeatedly
WHEN THE RICE FIELDS DRY
Urban development dissected the neighborhood into new city streets, and residents' agricultural livelihood was drained away to make room for a business district. Layers of pavement covered so much of the old village that even a patch of grass became a surprising comfort.
Klong Saen Saeb was no longer irrigated for crops. Instead, express boats raced through the polluted black water of a formerly quiet canal. A Bangkok Transport System (BTS) line now slices past Lan Chang, bleeding away the last traces of its agriculture history. The village is now sandwiched between the Central World Plaza and the Paragon shopping complexes. The neighborhood's secret of poverty is hidden behind large concrete walls on prime real estate.
Skills that villagers need to survive have changed, as well as the education system that supplied them. The BMA built a seven-story cement school with 48 classrooms, and eventually tore down the old wooden schoolhouse. The students inside the school prepared for sudden globalization and the growth of new industries, while their parents struggled to make ends meet.
And for a while it looked likely that this village would soon vanish completely. The only two things holding the community together were its strong connection to the temple and the lasting presence of its school.
A NEW LIFE HAS BEEN PLANTED
And now, for the Lan Chang community, there is also strength to be found in the Royal family. On that fateful day, when HRH Princess MahaChakri Sirindhorn went for an inquisitive walk, curiously traipsing across the property that had once been abundant with rice fields and impoverished farmers, an entire village paused and looked.
HRH Maha Chakri Sirindhorn noticed a community that had been missed by the eyes of tourists. She stepped closer and listened. And what she learned from these villagers was that they needed to improve their lives with a better school. On June 18, this year, an opening ceremony was held at the new schoolhouse.
The Princess oversaw its construction from beginning to end and affixed the finished building with her royal insignia. The new school was constructed with state-of-the-art technology and two libraries. Many classrooms were equipped with computers, visual aids and furniture of top quality. English is now provided to students from Kindergarten onward. Chinese and Japanese – two languages formerly banned in Thailand's education system– will be added to the curricula as well.
There are now 40 teachers and over 700 students in this community. School Director Dr Predawan Intavimolsri says that these students are so happy with the new school that they don't rush to return home. The school now provides free uniforms and school lunches to all students.
Adisai, who still recalls the earlier hardships, is quite impressed with the new school. As an English teacher, she observes that the community still retains its connection to the temple by allowing monks to visit outside the school in the morning so students can give them food. The Lan Chang may be poor, but they have survived for close to two centuries in a single location.
The temple, the school and the Royal family are the footholds that have kept this village together despite all hardships. But nothing is permanent. For this village, it looks like its poverty may finally change.
dissect - to divide something into smaller pieces, areas, etc.
irrigate - to supply water to an area of land through pipes or channels so that crops will grow
make ends meet - to earn just enough money to be able to buy the things you need
vanish - to disappear suddenly and/or in a way that you cannot explain
traipsing - to walk somewhere slowly when you are tired and unwilling
oversee - to watch somebody /something and make sure that a job or an activity is done correctly; supervise
retain - to keep something; to continue to have something; preserve
foothold - a strong position in a business, profession, etc. from which somebody can make progress and achieve success