(102) East met West

My last blog, Feeding Station, seemed to have been received well. Let me continue, the gentleman who has been such a blessing to the needy in Penang went on to tour Thailand and he landed in a hostel for poor hill tribe children in Chiangrai state.

This orphanage or hostel was founded on faith, people and Christian organisations from many parts of the world donated funding to feed and educate the children of minorities who otherwise would not receive any education. Our friend met a Thai widow there and to cut a long story short, they were married and worked in this place where abandoned children find hope and future.

Well, the East is still the East while the West remains the West. I stepped into a rather volatile situation where the East and the West clashed. Since I am an Asian who speak English, I was asked by both sides to speak to the other. After listening to the long and short of it, I came to the conclusion that the Thais were expecting the white man to behave like a Thai since he has been there for quite a while (in their opinion). However, nobody could change his culture in such a short time (as far as I know). The white man obviously was behaving like a sincere crusader but no one appreciated that.

For a while I believed both parties were right in their own ways. Yet I know that if there was conflict both parties must be wrong too. After praying for wisdom and a persuasive tongue, I ventured to try to be a peace-maker. After assuring the hosts that they did have a right to set down some basic rules for the guests, I explained that once a Thai lady married a white man, she should step into his culture. That would most easily be accomplished when she follows her husband to his country. Therefore, the hostel should release her so that she could be with her husband in his own country (she was a staff member prior to marriage).

For the newly wed, I explained that they need to start anew. After all, she has not gone over to meet his family at that point. Why not take her over to Australia, let her stay long enough to get her permanent residency. After that, if they so feel called, they could always return to Thailand and start their own work in any way they see fit.

The day after I provided a solution and talked to both parties, I could sense relief and the very worked up people relaxing. My friend, the Thai lady, was really excited about her forthcoming trip to Australia. The hosts, which was made up of many families serving in the community, were most pleased about their white guest willing to leave for a few months. As my white friend worked out the finance side, his wife said that she would be more than willing to work in his home town at any jobs she could find. Hence everyone was focusing on how to help the couple make the trip. Conflict flew out of the window, truce was declared and the atmosphere really improved. They did leave for Australia in a few months' time and stayed on there.