A Malaysian doctor in Bangkok

Bangkok is everything I had expected it to be. It’s alive, buzzing, noisy, hot, frenetic – the Big Mango. Being and feeling at home here somehow comes naturally – I know enough of the language, people don’t treat me as a foreigner, I have many Thai and non-Thai friends. The language classes at AUA allows me to meet many interesting folks from all parts of the world. The food is cheap and delicious, and KL is just a short flight away.

A weekend ago I was in Singapore to attend a friend’s wedding. It was somewhat strange just flying over the peninsular without stopping by in KL.  On the same day, there was in fact another wedding to attend to – a Thai one in Bangkok. Alas, I wasn’t able to attend the latter. Congratulations L and  K, and Selamat Pengantin Baru, as we say it. I have also been invited to a Javanese wedding in Jawa Timur next year by a course mate here at Mahidol. Really looking forward to that. I had jested with the chap, querying whether it was safe for me to travel to Indonesia Tak habis2 bergaduh!

There are several doctors from Myanmar in my course – they are a great bunch. We’re currently learning about malaria, and a recurrent theme is the high burden of the disease along the Thai-Myanmar border. There was interesting talk this morning from a a Dept of Health doctor, on elimination of malaria in Thailand.One of the topics he touched upon that piqued my interest was the situation in the deep south of Thailand.

The southernmost three provinces have been a very problematical area with regards to malaria control as the incidence is amongst the highest in the country. The Thai health ministry personnel couldn’t safely carry on their work in treatment and prevention programs with the troubles that are occurring.

I honestly don’t know what to make of the troubles in Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat. Undoubtedly they are Malay, but living in a Thai state. Somehow it has to work. There are so many Thai Muslims living in absolute peace and harmony in Bangkok – I haven’t felt uncomfortable being a Muslim for a single moment here in Bangkok.

Oh yeah, also learnt was also reminded that the 5th strain of malaria parasite, Plasmodium knowlesi was found in Sarawak a few decades ago, and is now making its way into the medical textbooks.

 

One month in Bangkok

It has been a wonderful month. I am now officially a Bangkok resident.

Register with the Malaysian embassy. Tick.

Register at the local sports club. Tick.

Get a local driver’s license. Tick.

Open a bank account. Tick.

Register with a doctor. Tick.

Find the nearest mosque. Tick.

I have met may wonderful new friends – Thais and foreigners alike.  Everyday brings new experience. Bangkok is buzzing and heaving with activity. And hot. It gets really hot these days – 39C today.

The whole country celebrated Songkran recently. Sanuk maak for tourists but many residents remain firmly indoors. The local papers (The Nation and Bangkok Post are the two English broadsheets) write of the high death toll on the roads in the week surrounding Songkran. Reminds me of the road traffic accidents (hello Ops Sikap!) on Malaysia roads during the Hari Raya period, though I can confidently say that alcohol plays an insignificant role during the Malaysian Ramadan compared to the hot Thai Meesaayon month.

Everywhere I go I get mistaken for a local.  I’m yet to meet a Thai who starts speaking to me in anything other than Thai. I wish I could more confidently speak back and hold a conversation. I could, but only say the basic phrases. Should anyone ask my opinion about the recent problems in the deep south and I’ll be speechless. In Thai, anyway. Ordering food and asking for directions isn’t a problem. I also speak to the taxi drivers and motorbike taxi riders in Thai. They get what I say without me having to repeat what I’d said – that’s a good start!

 

Tahan – ทหาร

ท

This is ‘tor tahan’ – a low class Thai consonant. It was only when going through the Thai alphabets for the umpteenth time that something clicked at the back of my mind…

‘Tahan or ทหาร’ means soldier in Thai,  whilst in Malay ‘tahan’ means to refrain/endure/hold back. The corresponding Malay word for soldier is ‘askar’. The root word is taken from Arabic, عسكري

However, there still appears to be some similarity between Thai and Malay with regards to the usage of  ‘tahan’ in terms of military meaning. The Malay term for defence is  ‘pertahanan’, which literally means ‘of defence’ – our Ministry of Defence is called Kementerian Pertahanan.

Interesting.

Belajar Bahasa Thai

Rentetan di hening malam…

Prosa minda di malam hari…

“Kenapa nak belajar bahasa Thai?…  Asyik-asyik kun kap kun kap memanjang… Mesti nak cari orang Thai ni. …  Kat sana cakap omputeh aje cukuplah… Lagi baik belajar Mandarin kot…”

Demikian antara komen-komen teman yang mengetahui saya ingin mempelajari bahasa jiran kita di utara. Ramai yang pelik melihat seorang yang asal warga KL, tanpa pertalian di Thailand , mahu menunjukkan minat dalam bahasa tersebut.

Thailand – negara jiran kedua yang pernah saya lawati (sebenarnya Singapura merupakan negara pertama, tetapi bagi saya ia memang terlalu banyak persamaan dengan KL, lebih-lebih lagi pada tahun 80an – ia tidak langsung terasa asing, dengan ini saya ikhlas bermaksud baik).  Keluarga saya pernah  melawat seorang bapa saudara yang ketika itu bekerja  di Kedutaan Malaysia di Bangkok. Tahunnya awal 90an. Masih segar pengamatan saya ketika itu, ramai sungguh umat manusia Bangkok berbanding kita di Kuala Lumpur.  Walaupun bahasanya langsung tiada persamaan luaran ketara dengan bahasa Malaysia, keramahan dan kemesraan orang Thai masih jelas terpancar.

Selang sedekad kemudian. Saya mengenali rakan Thai di fakulti universiti di UK. Teringat kembali akan percutian bersama keluarga di Bangkok. Sedikit demi sedikit, terutama sewaktu bosan, saya dan rakan berkongsi bahasa ibunda.  Dan setiap kali pulang ke Malaysia, saya perhatikan semakin banyak rancangan Thailand di kacamata tv. Nampaknya orang kita memang suka akan ceritera yang seiras dengannya – Indonesia, Filipina dan kini Thailand juga!

Dalam pada itu kagum saya melihat rakan-rakan di UK fasih berbahasa Perancis dan Sepanyol, sedangkan bahasa inbunda mereka adalah Inggeris. European Union menjadi kenyataan (walaupun kita getir sedikit akibat kegawatan ekonomi sesetengah negara ahli). Jalan bagi kerjasama erat ASEAN masih jauh dan berliku. Bahasa Inggeris masih menjadi bahasa pengantara bagi jiran-jiran terdekat yang berkongsi geografi, sejarah daerah dan cara hidup yang sepadan; jejiran yang sama dalam ketidakserupaannya.  Memang harus dan pragmatik bahasa Inggeris digunakan tatkala ini, namun apakah nasib bahasa-bahasa serantau kita? Bukankah kata orang lama sesungguhnya bahasa itu jiwa bangsa?

Selang  lagi sedekad kemudian. Kini timbul peluang untuk menimba ilmu di Krung Thep Mahanakorn, Kota Bidadari, “City of Angels”. Peluang yang baik untuk terus mendalami bahasa warganya.  Sambil menyelam minum air.

Tuhan menciptakan manusia berkaum-kaum untuk berkenal-kenalan. Untuk mengenali seseorang itu, tiada cara yang lebih baik dari mendalami bahasanya. Akan kita ketahui budi bicara dan isi hatinya.   Naskah  ini adalah hasil tulus saya yang tidak seberapa untuk merapatkan jurang antara dua budaya bersebelahan di Asia Tenggara.

Khun Benjawan in San Francisco

I was recently in California visiting a cousin to whom I had promised a visit over the the last ten years. Given my imminent relocation to southeast Asia, and with the free time that’s available, it was a good time to visit if there ever was one. I just had to, I was quite close to getting disowned as family!

I took the opportunity to meet up with Khun Benjawan Becker, who is the author of Paiboon Publishing’s Thai language book series. Anyone who is serious about learning Thai would know of her books, which I think have been instrumental over the last decade in making Thai language learning more accessible to the masses. I would certainly recommend it to fellow Malaysians. Probably best to get it online – it’s stocked by Amazon or you could get it directly from Paiboon Publishing’s website. For a more hands-on browsing experience in KL, I’ve come across them in KLCC’s Kinokuniya and MidValley Megamall’s MPH. I don’t get any kickbacks for promoting her books, I promise! They are really good especially for self-directed learning in your own time, but you do need to put in the effort . Start with “Thai for Beginners”.

Khun Benjawan and her husband, Nicholas, were such kind and gracious hosts around San Francisco on the day we met up last week. Terima kasih banyak-banyak, khob khun maak na khrab!

Left: Bumbling novice-amateur ; Right: Cool expert-guru

Paiboon Publishing has released books on Lao, Cambodian and Vietnamese languages. Maybe one on Malay will come someday?

Zeedijk street, Amsterdam

The home countries are neighbours in real life, and so too are these restaurants.

Joost and I had yam neua and tom yum goong in the Little Thai Prince, and char kuey teow and nasi lemak in Wau.

Joost – thank you for the kind hospitality that you and your family showed me. Terima kasih banyak-banyak. ขอบคุณมากครับ.

 

Pad Thai restaurant in the Aberdeen Market

It’s a non-descript lot on the ground floor of the Aberdeen Market, accessed either via Union Street or Market Street. This is a shop that belongs to Stacey, a friend of mine. Friend-cum-Thai-teacher. It all started late 2010 when I had lunch one Saturday…

“Could you teach me Thai?”

“Sure!”

And that was that.

The food is reasonably priced, delicious and the ambience cozy. The clientele, eclectic. The owner and cook (hello P’Anna!) are friendly. They certainly make me feel very welcome. Recommended!