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THE LEGEND BEGAN 1,600 YEARS AGO
MULAN IS NOW IN THEATERS NEAR YOU
Read the book and go see the movie, it will be more fulfilling.
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หนังสือชื่อ Mulan: Five Versions of a Classic Chinese Legend, with Related Texts เขียนและแปลโดย Shiamin Kwa (Assistant Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures, Bryn Mawr College) และ Wilt L. Idema (Professor of Chinese Literature Emeritus, Harvard University), Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., Indianapolis / Cambridge, 2010, 136 pages, ISBN-13: 978-1-60384-196-2
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 © 2020 Walt Disney Pictures
For Thailand, beginning September 3, 2020, MULAN (มู่หลาน), Disney's live-action movie, is in theaters near you (with regular COVID-19 social-distancing measures). About 60% of US movie theaters, except in New York and Los Angeles, began opening a week later on labor day weekend. So the ancient Chinese classic hero, or heroine, is now for the public to love, again. It is the "Poem of Mulan" during the period before the 6th century that started it all. It'll be a good idea to read the original poem of Mulan before seeing the movie. Disney's Mulan came 1,500-1,600 years after the story of Mulan was told in ancient China. In preparing myself for Disney's 2020 Mulan, I read Mulan history book by professors Shiamin Kwa and Wilt L. Idema last year. And I went to see Mulan the movie in a theater in Bangkok just this past Friday September 11, with comfortable regular COVID-19 social-distancing practice. And I enjoyed the movie immensely. Disney's live-action Mulan may be a modern take of an important ancient Chinese legend with necessary attention to modern movie-making and marketing for the new generation of the world's movie goers, but it remains faithful to the original Chinese cultural sacredness of filial piety. I sat through the end credit immersing myself in the three beautiful songs - one in Chinese, and came out of the movie theater with full satisfaction and deeper respect for our eastern cultural tradition of filial piety. For me, the movie is worth a second and third viewing. And especially, for senior citizens - anyone above 60 - like me at 72, SF Cinema in Thailand offers the ticket at half price. A good 200 Baht seat cost me only 120 Baht ($4.00) - with membership card fee and all. Disney+ charges US members an extra $29.00 just to see Mulan online! AMAZING THAILAND! Somkiat Onwimon Bangkok / 9 September 2020 ▶️ POEM OF MULAN●บทกวีเรื่องมู่หลาน●บทวิจารณ์ภาพยนตร์ |
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DONALD TRUMP, A PATHOLOGICAL LIAR
Long before Donald Trump decided to run for the US presidential election he had been known to be a dishonest person. He lies very often, so often that Republican senator Ted Cruz, one of his presidential candidate competitors called him a 'pathological liar'. The Washington Post fact-checker continues to have a busy day every day, and days ahead. ▶️ IN MY OPINION |
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SOMKIAT ONWIMON (b.1948) lives in Thailand. He was educated at Park Hill High School (1966-67), Chandra Kasem Teachers'College (1964-68), University of Delhi (B.A., M.A.,1968-73) and University of Pennsylvania (Ph.D.,1975-81). He was a lecturer in Political Science and International Relations at Chulalongkorn University, a television news and documentary producer-presenter, member of Thailand's 1997 Constitution Drafting Assembly, and a senator (2000-2007). He has since retired from public life. MAKE THE UNITED STATES GREAT AGAIN
The pandemic is raging on. The economy is plunging. Racism is on the rise. Trump's politics of division quickly filling up the swamp. His first four years is up for renewal. And America is heading for more trouble. The world is watching with pity. ▶️ READ FULL ARTICLE |
❌ This 26th September printed issue of the Economist is banned in Thailand because of an article about the monarchy. Subscribers in Thailand will be compensated and can still have unlimited digital access. |
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The Question from a HuffPost Reporter
Left Donald Trump Speechless! คนอเมริกัน ได้ Donald Trump เป็นประธานาธิบดีที่เป็นคนโกหกพกลม ไม่บูชาคุณธรรมและสัจธรรมบกพร่อง เป็นนิสัยประจำตัวที่ไม่ปกปิด แถมเป็นคนไม่ใส่ใจหาความรู้ใส่ตัวเพื่อปรับปรุงคุณภาพตัวเองในฐานะผู้นำประเทศที่ทรงมหาอำนาจที่สุดของโลก คนทั้งประเทศรับรู้แต่ไม่มีผู้สื่อข่าวคนใดจะกล้าถามและติติงต่อหน้า จนกระทั่งเข้าเดือนท้ายๆของปีที่สี่ปลายช่วงดำรงตำแหน่งของเขาก่อนการเลือกตั้งใหม่เดือนพฤศจิกายนนี้ มีผู้สื่อข่าวคนหนึ่งจากสำนักข่าว HuffPost.com website กล้าหาญตั้งคำถามต่อหน้า ณ ห้องแถลงข่าวทำเนียบขาวเมื่อวันที่ 13 สิงหาคม 2020 ที่ผ่านมา ถามว่า "รู้สึกเสียใจบ้างไหมที่โกหกประชาชนมากมายตลอดเวลา?" ไม่มีคำตอบจาก Donald Trump นอกจากจะแสดงอาการตลึงงันเงียบไปชั่วขณะ แล้วชี้เรียกขอคำถามจากนักข่าวคนอื่นต่อไปแล้วปิดการแถลงข่าวฉับพลัน. ⬇️ เชิญอ่านข่าวที่เกี่ยวข้องข้างล่าง ⬇️ LINKS TO REPORTS BELOW ⬇️
▶️ IN MY OPINION |
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"Why has the pandemic spared the Buddhist parts of South-East Asia? Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam have had only tiny outbreaks...Thailand, a sham democracy overseen by generals...the quality of its health care makes Thailand a popular destination for medical tourism...the government was quick to set up a vigorous covid-fighting task-force." (The Economist, 11 July 2020)
▶️ THAILAND 
วันที่ 6 สิงหาคม 1945/2488 เครื่องบินทิ้งระเบิดแบบ B-29 ของสหรัฐอเมริกา มีชื่อเรียกว่า “Enola Gay” ทิ้ง “ระเบิดอะตอม” (Atomic Bomb)* ลงเหนือเมืองฮิโรชิม่าทางใต้ของเกาะฮอนชิวของญี่ปุ่น สามวันถัดมา วันที่ 9 สิงหาคม 1945/2488 เวลา 11:02 น. สหรัฐอเมริกาก็ทิ้งระเบิดอะตอมลูกที่สองทำลายล้างญี่ปุ่น ครั้งนั้นเป็นระเบิดจากการแยกอะตอม แต่วันนี้มนุษย์ก้าวหน้าสู่การทำลายล้างโลกได้ยิ่งยวดกว่า เพราะจะเป็นระเบิดที่แยกอนุภาคที่เล็กกว่าอะตอม เรียกว่านิวเคลียส นั่นคือระะบิดนิวเคลียร์ หากมนุษย์ทำความเข้าใจต่อเหตุการณ์เมื่อ 75 ปีที่แล้วได้ สงครามโลกครั้งที่สามอันเป็นสงครามนิวเคลียร์ก็อาจหลีกเลี่ยงได้
▶️ 75 ปี HIROSHIMA & NAGASAKI |
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What's in a name?
Why should the sea south of China be called the South China Sea? As it is surrounded by Southeast Asian countries, shouldn't it be renamed the South East Asian Sea? Then we have the Sea of Japan that does not belong to Japan, and the Gulf of Siam that does not belong to Siam or Thailand. ▶️ SEAS SUPPOSE THEY GAVE A WAR AND NOBODY CAME Donald Trump has proved to the world that the greatest democracy on earth can be fooled into electing a real bad man. ▶️ READ FULL ARTICLE 
When seeing becomes feeling, the visual context gets translated into detailed observations of time and experiences. I endeavoured to render the aesthetic of various moments throughout my life. [Clare] |
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ไม่รู้ว่าประเทศไทยทำอะไรได้ถูกต้องบ้าง
แต่เท่าที่เห็นก็ใช้ได้เลย By Hannah Beech Photographs by Adam Dean July 16, 2020Updated 12:55 p.m. ET BANGKOK 
"ไม่รู้ว่าด้วยเหตุผลอันใดประเทศไทยจึงรอดพ้นภัยCOVID-19 ไปได้.
▶️ THAILAND AND COVID-19 ▶️ THE NEW YORK TIMES FULL STORY + 18 PICTURES 
The Economist (11 July 2020), attempted to figure out the reason why Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam had surprisingly succeeded in fighting off the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of infected cases and fatality rates have been extraordinarily low in these countries.
It's nice to hear good news about Thailand from The Economist once in a while. I'm sure those generals will be happy to allow the circulation of this current issue of The Economist in their 'sham democracy'. 
FAILING TO RENEW VOA FOREIGN STAFFERS’ VISAS
WOULD DEVASTATE ONE OF ITS CORE FUNCTIONS The Post's View: It could also put the current VOA foreign employees in danger, if they are forced to return to countries whose regimes disapprove of VOA reports. Thailand, for example, is governed by an autocratic regime that regularly imprisons journalists.... ▶️ THE WASHINGTON POST EDITORIAL MY COMMENT POSTED TO THE WASHINGTON POST ▶️ WASHINGTON POST EDITORIAL ▶️ THAILAND READING THE PAIN - JUST TRYING TO UNDERSTAND An extended version of my 14 June 2020 comment to The Washington Post ▶️ IN MY OPINION |
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THE FOUR FACES ON MOUNT RUSHMORE
Mount Rushmore National Memorial Visitor Center, picture credit: © Harpers Ferry Centre, Historic Photo Collection, taken from the book 'The National Parks: America's Best Idea, An Illustrated History' by Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2010, p. 334
American history is full of stories of environmental destruction - cutting down trees, clearing lands for settlers, heavy logging industries, etc. But to carve four gigantic human faces out of a towering mountain top, and destroyed the sacred beauty of the mountain, is not to be forgiven nor forgotten, certainly not by the Sioux native American nation who own and worship the sacred Black Hills.
▶️ READ FULL ARTICLE ▶️ IN MY OPINION COMMENT POSTED TO THE WASHINGTON POST
14 June 2020 - A comment to an article on 12 June 2020, "When black people are in pain, white people just join book clubs.I'm caught in a time loop where my white friends and acquaintances perform the same pieties over and over again" by Tre Johnson: I have been observing racism in America since I was 18 attending a senior year at Park Hill High School, Parkville, Missouri. I do not have a book club to join in Thailand but I read books from my own private collections to help myself better understand whatever puzzles me in the news. For the current racial crisis in America my first read is "The American Republic Since 1887", a 2007 Glencoe textbook my son once used in Walla Walla High School. This helps me understand the sense of history in the mind of youth in America today. I read Foreign Affairs' "America’s Original Sin: Slavery and the Legacy of White Supremacy" By Annette Gordon-Reed January/February 2018. This Harvard law and history professor clearly explains why emancipation of slavey could not abolish white supremacy along with it. Laura Coates of CNN, while reporting from Minnesota, recommended Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man" which I will read after I finish Hugh Brogan's "The Penguin History of the USA" (2001). I have read Alexis de Tocqueville's "Democracy in America" a few times and plan to re-read de Tocqueville's idea on American prison reform in 1800s again. Of course, I enjoy Toni Morrison's "Love" almost every other Valentines until now that I am a little too old for romance. Even though I do not quite understand racism in America enough to help solve the two-centuries-old social conflicts, but I take comfort in reading and trying to understand, and hope one day a solution can be found. Somkiat Onwimon Pak Chong, THAILAND 14 June 2020 Reference: America’s Original Sin: Slavery and the Legacy of White Supremacy, by Annette Gordon-Reed, FOREIGN AFFAIRS, January/February 2018 AMERICA NOW AIN'T SO GREAT After less than four years of his presidency, “Make America Great Again” seems successful in its first phase by undoing the greatness of America. After the November presidential election Joe Biden will be tasked to make America great again if American people would choose him. As of now, America is not so great. ▶️ IN MY OPINION |
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Thailand: An Introduction to Modern Siam |
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THE WORLD WIDE WEB
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THAIVISION* is a personal website of Somkiat Onwimon of Thailand. All contents, unless otherwise stated, are SO's sole responsibility. Intellectual property rights are strictly observed under the Berne Convention (1886, 1914, 1979), the World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty (1996), and Thai laws. THAIVISION aims to serve the public in areas of SO's personal interest. Books and literatures are the main sources of enlightenment. World affairs, science, humanities, philosophy and culture are among leading subjects to be explored. Constructive engagement from readers are highly valued. THAIVISION is bi-lingual, ไทย and English. Thai Vitas Co.,Ltd. is the legal owner of THAIVISION and all copyrights therein, excluding other non-copyright and public domain materials. THAIVISION.com is registered with Network Solutions and hosted by Weebly.
*Header/logo background picture: Park Chong sky, 26 April 2019
*Header/logo background picture: Park Chong sky, 26 April 2019
