EDITORIAL
It is safe to say that almost every Thai paused for a moment on Sunday when he or she heard the news that Grandpa Yen had died. Yen Kaewmanee, his given name, lived a remarkable life, and not only because of his old age. Rather, Grandpa Yen was widely admired and celebrated for achievements throughout his 108 years of life.
He was not famed for his fortune, not respected for his social standing, and not appreciated for a driving ambition that swept away his enemies. He won esteem for his simple and austere life. He taught entirely by example, and it is only a shame that his lessons of humility and thrift have not been learned by so many who need them.
The "grand old man of Phetchaburi River" died as humbly and as proudly as he lived. He was on his boat, of course. The nurses who visited him increasingly often as he aged found him on Sunday morning in weak state. They took him to hospital from the Lamyai pier where he tied up his boat. Doctors were unable to help him as his remarkable heart finally failed. Because he is a Muslim, Grandpa Yen was buried within 24 hours of his death, at the graveyard of a well-known Phetchaburi mosque.
Grandpa Yen thought he was born in 1900 - or so. It doesn't sound like all that long ago, it was a different world. Authorities didn't want to see your ID card every couple of days, family names were a pretty new idea. So it's not certain that Grandpa Yen was exactly 108 when he passed away on Sunday. But the old man lived in interesting times, and lived an interesting life.
Boy, man and aged, respected citizen, here are some of the things that Grandpa Yen was not: greedy, mean, back-stabbing, vindictive. But neither was he a hermit or ascetic.
Stories of the old man inevitably focus on his solitary life aboard his boat in the Phetchaburi River, but he was a friendly, even garrulous man.
He enjoyed the company of others, marvellously engaging with the makers of the 2005 TV documentary which ultimately made him famous. He routinely chatted and exchanged jibes with friends and the large number of visitors, who inevitably came away from meeting Grandpa Yen feeling better about themselves and about life.
He lived on a boat mostly because he was a fisherman by trade, and only incidentally because he saved money. He was happy on his small and old boat. He was even more happy when Her Majesty the Queen arranged for the old man to have a new boat. He was able to provide for himself, but appreciated the daily meals from the Phetchaburi Red Cross Society, also arranged by the Queen.
He did not seek to isolate himself, and he was no ascetic, determined to prove that he could do without food, shelter and any luxury.
He had money - later in his life from public donations as well as his savings - and spent it as needed. In the jargon of the day, his was a sustainable life; in fact he left far more behind than he used or took away.
He had a job he liked, which provided enough income, the love of a wife and two daughters, both adopted, his friends and his religion.
He donated his money and his time to helping neighbours when required. When thieves stole 70,000 baht of just-donated money from his boat, he did not even file a police report.
How fortunate the nation has been to have Grandpa Yen, and how unfortunate that there are not more like him.
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