People Like Us!

It felt great to mingle with like-minded people.

I just came back from “International Film Festival in Vientiane”. Film Festival in Laos! What!?

Yup. This is really happening. Check out the details here: www.vientianale.org

I didn’t expect much from this, really. I didn’t expect there would be many films made by Lao being submitted for/shown at this ‘festival’. I didn’t expect, even with some films submitted by Lao filmmakers, there would be any good ones. But guess what, there were really some good films and made in and by Lao! [Though there were not many of them. Lots of films shown were about development issues-education, AIDS, people with disabilities, UXO...produced for development projects, rather than made specially for this event]. And two really good ones were made by two filmmakers from Savannakhet (my province!); one of them is from my hometown (Seno!). What really cool was I had a chance to have a long talk with one of them, Mr Nith Lacroix (director of a documentary ‘Pierre-Pierrot’). I wanted to talk to another filmmaker who is from my hometown, Ms Thivon Muonghane (animator), but she was occupied with other thing. Both of them are French-educated.

Savannakhet’s got talent!

I joked with Nith about his next feature film (he is planning to make one) having to have protagonists performed by Savannakhet actors with Savannakhet accent! (Normally, Savannakhet people are always villains in the movies/dramas, because of our dark skins and strong accent; and the government now requires that those who work for national television and radio have to speak with ‘central’ accent, that is Vientiane accent!). Well, if he doesn’t do that, I will.

Having attended two nights of the 3-day event, I started to realize that there are actually many Lao (aspiring) filmmakers around. Two of short-films submitted for a competition with the theme “Laos, a happy country” were made by Lao students, studying at Lao National University’s Mass Media Faculty (the newly-established course!). And many Lao filmmakers are women!

Now, what we really need is space and ‘enabling’ environment.

[I know I should have done something to submit to this festival. I wanted to. I had an idea or two but didn’t manage to materialize them, again. I have promised myself (again!) to produce something while I’m in Aussie. Maybe, I will see my film being seen and talked about at the festival next year.]

A Lao feature film 'Want to be a soldier' premiered at the fest. It was supposed to inspire viewers. But it failed to do so, miserably. Too slow and with too many unnecessary sub-plots!

"Pierre-Pierrot", one of the best documentary shown at the event. Unfortunately, the last part of the doc. was censored! Damnit! [When Pierre who has been living in France was asked if he wanted to return to Laos. He replied that there was nothing to return to...CUT!]


An animated short film by Thivon Muonghane (a lady from my hometown, Seno).




A tee I got from the festival. I had to 'work hard' for this. "Oh I had to travel from Xiengkhouang, about a thousand miles, to be here specially for this event!" I explained while looking at the tee. "For that, I'll give you this t-shirt,'' an organizer responded. [Too bad, it is an L size. So I can't wear.]

We were not so gentle after all.

Here is a story: A Thai guy posted a message on Lao forum. His message went like this " I am X. I am studying at Korat University (Thailand) and would like to visit another province (in Laos or Thailand). If you are interested (?), please call me at xxxxx."

A Lao lady replied:

sawadee ka....
i'm a lao woman interesting thai men, but afraid you going to bring me
to the hell as i have heard some damn thai men did to some lao women.
i hope you are not planing to do as some of your brothers did.


from lady lao

She got the reply later, not from a Thai guy but angry Lao guys (in Lao and English) that went:

To Lao Lady,

it is very sad to know that there is a Lao woman who is so shameless and bad like you.... you shouldn't be born on Lao land... go to the hell... find the thai D*ck to F*ck... you think Lao men are not cabable of being a good husband? go and worship the thai D*Ck.. u r whore.

Oops!

Source (Samakomlao): http://www.activeboard.com/forum.spark?forumID=112399&p=3&topicID=24432704

If you love me, use me.

Love me, please use Kip (referring to Lao money currency).

Very strict! I should have read the rules before I checked in.

You can climb this mountain to the moon. It's in Vang Vieng, Laos.

Warning: Welcome to our restaurant.

Life Instructions

Have fun

Do not hurt people

Strive to be happy

Khoun District and Khoun Community Radio

Please buy a ticket first

This is an admission ticket to visit Khoun district. Photos were shot by me and the ticket itself was 'designed' by me. Nothing's fancy. I just want to take credit for it :)

I'm running out of excuses

No camera.

No computer.

No editing software.

No money.

No time.

No…

These are some of the things that come up when someone asks me why I have not done any video or when I want to do one.

Last week, my Lao friend who aspires to make a short film/feature film called and asked me if I wanted to do a short film if he could get funding for it.

“Is USD10,000 enough for a short film?” he asked.

“Wow! 10,000? Sure!” I responded.

So now, we have MONEY. And with money we can rent a decent video camera and an editing suite, pay for actors…We can shoot our short film on weekends. We can get a newly open coffee shop and telecom companies to sponsor. We can…

“So? Do you have any nice story that we can use for a short film?” my friend asked.

“Hmm…Let me think…Hmmm…How about…Hmm…Let’s talk about it later,” I proposed.

Since when only girls are allowed to be vulnerable and sensitive?

During our 'conversation' via Windows Live Messenger, my friend in Japan who just got married recently dropped the news about our friend being engaged.

My friend: Do you know our friend SK just got engaged last December in Cambodia?

Me: No way! He never told us or me about this!!

My friend: Well, he didn’t tell me either. I just found out about this recently from his fiancée when she added me in her Facebook. She’s really cute. You can find her in my Facebook. You should check her out. You’ll like her.

Me: Nah. Forget about it. If our friend didn’t want to tell us about his engagement, let’s leave it like that.

My friend: Gosh, you sound upset.

Me: Not upset…just a little bit disappointed.

My friend: Right. Come on. It’s just an engagement.

Me: Yeah right. It’s JUST an engagement. Later on it’ll be JUST a wedding. We were good friends when we’re in Singapore, you know. When you are happy, you should tell your friends about it, shouldn’t you? If you didn’t tell me about your wedding, I would be very disappointed, too.

My friend: You know I would never do that, of course. Gosh, you really sound upset. If you were a girl, I would think you were in love with SK. You are so SENSITIVE!

Me: Guys don’t do THAT (being upset by not being informed about certain things by their friends)??

My friend: No! Only girls do THAT.

Me:...

You know my secrete. I have to kill you.

Remember the first time you wanted to buy a pack of condoms at a drug store or 7 eleven? A pornography mag?

I had been eying on that 'Playboy: Playmate' DVD collect from a Chinese store for the past few days. It was priced at 570.000 LAK (about US67). Today I came in again to check. There were few customers browsing through well-organized DVD collections. So I waited until no other customer was left in the store. I wanted to buy that 'Playmate' discreetly, you know, taking it to the counter, making a payment and leaving, and with no question asked. The problem was it's rather expensive. So I took it to a sale person, a Chinese middle-aged lady, sitting at a counter and asked if she could lower the price. She said she could not do that; she needed to ask her boss first. At that very moment I started to panic. An embarrassing story I heard once appeared in my head. I remember the story about someone wanting to buy a porn mag from a store and a sale man just asked his boss loudly,"How much does this porn mag cost?" and everyone in the store was staring at that mag and then him, a potential buyer, a 'pervert' one. Luckily for my case, she just walked to her boss - who was playing 'Mahjong' with her friends. A moment later, her boss came to the counter, used a calculator to do some maths before showing it to me. It showed 525.000 on its screen. "Could you go lower than that?" I whispered. "Sorry. That's the lowest I could go," she insisted. Not wanting to prolong a situation any further, I decided to take it. She put the DVD into a thin and clear plastic bag.

"Could I have another plastic bag, please?" I requested. I then quickly walked out.

While waiting to cross the road, someone shouted, "Brother Xai, what are you doing here?" It's my junior. It's a she.

"Err...I'm here to use the Internet. What about you?" I asked while hiding my plastic bag at my back.

"I'm meeting my friend for dinner. Would you like to join us?" she invited.

"I'm afraid I can't. I have to use the Net for my work," I declined politely.

"The Internet cafe is that way. Bye!"

"See you!"

I had no choice but to walk to the Internet cafe and used it.

Now It's time I went back to my guesthouse.

You will like them too.

I just watched 'The Fall' and 'The Onion Movie', thanks to cheap and pirated DVDs, and liked them a lot. You should check them out. If I make a film I want mine to look and feel like 'The Fall' and be funny like 'The Onion Movie'.

See me?

Australia Supports Lao Nationals to Study in Australia

Forty Australian Development Scholarships (ADS) and three OZ Minerals scholarships were awarded to Lao Nationals for study in Australia by the Australian Government and OZ Minerals this week. The twenty three male and twenty female awardees are from provinces throughout Laos including Xieng Khouang, Champassak, Houaphan, Luang Prabang and Vientiane.

This year, fourteen awardees have achieved required academic scores which will enable them to commence study in Australia in January 2009; the remaining awardees will undertake a one year preparation course at VientianeCollege before commencing study in Australia in January 20.At the congratulatory ceremony held at Vientiane College on Wednesday 8 October, the Australian Ambassador, Dr Michele Forster said “ADS scholars are particularly valued for their high level of analytical and critical thinking skills. Many former Lao scholars are now in senior decision making positions in government, international organisations and the private sector and now they can make a real difference to driving change and influencing development outcomes in Lao PDR.”

Dr Forster wished all awardees good luck with their studies and urged the new ADS awardees to embrace the challenges ahead as they commence their studies in Australia.

Source: http://www.adsvientiane.com/

You shouldn’t have shared that. Really.

I was invited by my friend to have dinner with his friends whom I have never met before. We introduced ourselves, our names and job titles, and ordered our food.

“Xai, you should order fried broccoli and carrots to get some fibre,” my friend suggested. He looked at his friends and continued, “Xai has not cleared his bowels for few days already.”

I was embarrassed, uncomfortable and a bit annoyed by that information shared by my friend with his friends.

You may share information about your friend’s failed marriage, porn VCD collections, liver condition, sleeping with a prostitute or two, fetish, etc., among your AND his or her close friends. But you should never ever share those kinds of information about your friend (s) with people you or s/he had just met. Do you think other people like to learn if your friend has Hepatitis, herpes, the clap…? I don’t think so, at least not for me. Nor do I think people like their personal/confidential information to be shared with acquaintances.

If you bring that up- to amuse or to enlighten other people (or ‘to whatever’ you may have in mind), it only shows how unconsidered/jerk you are. It’s a no-no thing. Really.

1st January 2009

These are photos of me at my window (taken on 1st January 2009).

That was stupid!

I had a meeting with my colleagues and volunteers today to prepare for an outreach activity to advocate about our Khoun Community Radio for Development.

When one person was proposed to be a presenter at the event, I said “I don’t think he is a good choice. He’s boring and annoying when he talks. I don’t think villagers will understand him; he doesn’t even know or understand what he is saying…”

Everyone looked at me. No one said anything.

Then my boss asked, “How about you being a presenter?”

I said, “No! No! I can’t be. I’m not that good. I’ll just be an observer and taking photos.”

Oops!

You deserve a hug for that!

I have to admit it; I like to touch and be touched by others.

Being Lao and in Lao culture, we don't physically touch one another very much. This is especially true when we get older. We shake hands when we meet or part. We pat on somebody on the back when he or she does something good...

By touching I mean hugging, embracing, holding hands, kissing...to express affection or sympathy.

Lao (Asian) people often associate touching with sexual expression. We avoid touching each other (publicly) for fearing that we might offend the other person or be misinterpreted.

I don't know the hidden power of touching. But it feels good when I'm touched by others.

Give me a big hug.

You know I'd walk a thousand miles if I could just see you tonight.

I'm stuck in Vientiane 'alone' and feeling so bored/miserable/pathetic/empty. I should have gone home by now. But I'm still on my annual leave.

I'm in Vientiane because my Singaporean friends and I were traveling from Xiengkhouang to Luangprabang, Vang Vieng and Vientiane. They left for Singapore yesterday morning. I decided to stay back in Vientiane because I'm still on holiday. Having travelled with friends since last week and been here in Vientiane for countless times, I have lost interest in doing anything else. Not doing or lacking interest in doing 'anything' makes me feel bored/miserable/pathetic/empty. And I start to miss my friends who have just left.

And I don't feel like going back to my work.

My 2009 New Year's Resolutions- Dos and Don'ts

It's my year to shine! I'll be happier. At least, I'll try. Here are my Dos and Don'ts

Dos

1. Have my teeth whitened- I'll have to try to drink less coffee as well. Just because I can drink it for free from my office, it doesn't mean that I have to drink it.

2. Finish reading a book on er... reading techniques by May 2009.

3. Study 'After Effects' and 'Photoshops CS'.

4. Read about Australia in general and Sydney in particular.

5. Study 'Strine English' a word a day. Bloody hard, I reckon.

6. Save money for Canon Digital Ixus or Nikon CoolPix and Apple MacBook.

7. Save money for my brother's schooling.

8. Exercise more.

9. Drink more water.

10. Eat more rice.

11. Write more.

12. Visit museums.

13. Stand in the sun often.

Don'ts

1. Waste time and energy on things or people that won't change.

2. Spend too much on DVDs.

3. Drink beer or Lao wine.

4. Work on weekends.

These dos and don'ts will be revised on semiannual basis.

Reality Check

Let see what have and have not been implemented on my New Year's Resolutions list:

*Study IELTS for AusAid- I'm applying for Filmmaking course! Accomplished.

*Write a short-film script- about a Lao construction worker who falls in love with a Chinese masseuse but he can't speak a word of Chinese...Ah! Initiated but not materialized.

*Save money and visit friends in Singapore- see you all in Singapore in November! I visited friends in Singapore in April but not in November due to work commitment; an old school mate visited me in Laos in December.

*Help my sister to build her house. Almost completed. It is an on-going commitment for me.

*Write more emails to my host family and old friends- I feel so bad for not keeping in touch with them. Irregularly done. I will try to do it better.

*Consume less Pepsi, Coke, Beer Lao, Lao wine...Strictly followed but could have done better. I should have included 'less coffee' into this list.

*Exercise more- I have only one body; if I don't take care of it, no body will. And if I'm sick, I won't be able to do anything. Seldom practiced besides climbing up the mountain to inspect my radio transmitter.

*Read more books-Thai, Lao and English books- I need to keep my brain stimulated. Bought a lot of books but have not finished reading any of them besides mags.

*Keep updating my blog- I hate writing but...Irregularly done so but have been trying.

*Have my teeth whitened. Have not done but will get them whitened soon.

*Visit my family- at the end of the day, sisters and brothers are the ones who love and care for me the most. Visited them once.

*Have my hair grown- I want to feel my head full of hair again. Have been trying but still have had no luck.

*Finish my food-always think about those African kids who are starving. Have always finished my rice.

I'm 25 today!

At least I wish I were.

I just feel like writing something today.

Thanks to Facebook and Hi5, I have received several well-wishing messages from friends some websites. Thanks to Jeremy and his friends for dinner in Vientiane; that was awesome. I do not usually celebrate my birthday. But it is always nice when someone remembers it and wishes me 'Happy Birthday'. It's very sweet and thoughtful of them.

I really appreciate it a lot.

Thanks!

Money! Money! Money!

I’m not very proud to admit this.

Last month, my older brother called and asked me if I could send him some money because he wanted to buy a motorbike, a second-hand one, as he’s been cycling his whole life to work and to somewhere else besides to work. I promised him I would give him some money when I received my next pay cheque. So I did yesterday. He then called me today to inform me that he might be using money for something else; he has been promoted after more than 10 years of working in the army, and he had already treated lots of people. So he needed the money to pay his debt. I angrily scolded him. He said he was very sorry.

Now I’m sorry.

Why did I have to scold him? Why did I not congratulate him on his promotion, instead? Is it because of the money? Is it because I felt he was lying to me? I’m not sure.

Every time my friends back home ring, I always assume that they only have one agenda, that is asking me for help, financially. So do my siblings. I become paranoid (if that’s the right word) and cold.

Now I understand why the well-to-do people often look down on other people.

But I’m not even remotely there yet. I still don’t have my own shelter called home. I still ride a bicycle to work. I still have to borrow money from my colleague at the end of the month from time to time…How come I have already exhibited THAT attitude?