INTRODUCTION
Learning from Sompit
This week there is no need for an introduction. Instead, you can begin right away with the story, Sompit digs in for her family. Here is some vocabulary to help you:
| manual work | work that uses the hands, often requiring a lot of physical effort (frequently contrasted with office work which is known as "white collar" work. Manual labour is known as "blue collar" work, probably because many manual labourers originally wore blue-coloured shirts or uniforms.) |
| made redundant | to cause to lose a job; to be "laid off" from a job |
| calloused | having an area of thick hardened skin |
| blister | a painful swelling on the skin, often caused by burning or rubbing |
As you read the story, here are some things to consider:
- What is unusual about Sompit, i.e., why was her story on the front page of the Bangkok Post?
- What do you think about the work she is doing? Is it appropriate for someone with her background?
- How does she seem to feel about her job?
- Is it something she wants to do as a career?
- Now consider the writer, Anjira Assavanonda. (Note: She wrote the story, but probably did not write the headline and the subheadline. That is usually done by another writer.) Do you think she has a positive or a negative feeling towards Sompit and the work she is doing?
- How does she feel about this kind of manual work? Is there anything in the story that tells you she thinks it is an inferior (low-class) type of work?
STORY
Sompit digs in for her family
Ex-student bears the shame of bricklaying
![[Sompit]](sompit.jpg)
Anjira Assavanonda
Digging pavements and laying bricks under a fierce sky are usually seen as jobs only for uneducated workers.
But for 20-year-old Sompit Sorot, a senior at a Bangkok vocational college, this work is her only means of survival given the present economic crisis.
Sompit, or Muay, was studying electronics at Technic Vithaya College in Huay Kwang district last semester when she was forced to think about taking the job when the country's economic problems plunged her family into trouble.
Sompit will receive her higher vocational education certificate in November but despite this has already been forced into manual work after it proved impossible to find a job in her field.
She is now living with her mother, Pornpit. Mrs Pornpit used to work for the government-owned Textile Organisation in Dusit district but along with hundreds of others was recently made redundant by its closure. Sompit's father owns a barber shop in Pathum Thani but his income has been dropping.
Her mother and some co-workers now have temporary jobs with the Dusit district office improving pavements. The jobs are harder than the textile factory work they were doing.
Sompit has now joined her mother. She digs, lays bricks and mixes cement but never complains about the conditions; in fact she enjoys her work even though her hands are becoming calloused with blisters.
"The way people look at us sometimes embarrasses me. It was as if I were a poor, low-educated labourer. I even told some of my friends about this and they were shocked that I could do such a thing," she said.
"That doesn't matter. The most important thing is that the job gives me money. Though only a little, it helps a lot with my daily expenses. At least I don't have to bother my mother while she does not have a secure job."
Sompit started work in September and earns 170 baht a day. She labours on Taharn Road near Kiak Kai intersection, working six days a week Monday to Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Every Tuesday evening she goes to college in Huay Kwang.
Sompit has sent job applications to various government agencies. She says she prefers computer work, but does not know if she will get such a job.
Jarin Dokkratinsod, chief of the construction and maintenance project in Dusit district, said the work Sompit was doing was part of a job creation scheme initiated by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to create jobs for up to 200,000 people.
About five million baht has been given to Dusit district to improve the pavements. Five main streets, including Pichai, Phitsanulok, Amnuay Songkram, Luk Luang and Nakhon Chaisri roads will be improved.
Mr Jarin said of the 200 people applying for jobs in the district, Sompit was the only one with a vocational education certificate.
September 13, 1998 |
FOLLOW-UP
As you might remember from last term, the Bangkok Post has a section devoted to letters from readers. It is called Postbag and it is found in the Opinion and Analysis section (between the news and the sports sections).
Many of the letters in this section are written to comment on stories in previous issues of the Bangkok Post. Some of the letters contain praise, but as you might expect, many others contain strong criticisms. People are more likely to write when they are dissatisfied or angry than when they are contented.
Khun Anjira's story on Sompit very quickly generated three letters to Postbag, two of them the very next day. You can read them below. Quickly decide if they were praising or criticising the story. Notice that the third letter also refers to the first two letters. Does the writer agree with them or disagree with them?
When you read the story about Sompit, did you consider any of the points raised by the letter writers or were they a surprise to you? What do you think about the ideas they raised? Which ones do you agree with and which do you disagree with?
We'll live without bigoted journalists
I was dismayed to read the arrogant, ignorant article on vocational student Sompit Sorot on the front page on September 13.
Arrogant, because the journalist who wrote this article appears to think it shameful to be a bricklayer. Where is the shame in doing skilled outdoor work? In most countries, bricklaying is a skilled craft in its own right and commands pay considerably higher than a lot of so-called journalists.
Ignorant, because Sompit is working as a paver not a bricklayer -- whether the material of the pavement is brick, slabs or tiles is irrelevant. Good pavers are hard to find and, like bricklayers, enjoy high wages (but not as a learner and, of course, not in Thailand).
Anjira would do well to remember that while we can well live without bigoted newspaper writers, it would be considerably harder to live without the roads, railways, houses, food, water, energy, transport, etc., that are made possible only because of her shameful, "uneducated" manual workers.
Roger Aslin
September 14, 1998
| arrogant | behaving as if you are more important than someone else |
| ignorant | lacking knowledge |
| craft | a job requiring skill and experience |
| so-called | (negative) not suitable or deserving the name or position |
| bigoted | having strong, unreasonable beliefs and feelings that people who do not share these beliefs are wrong; prejudiced |
........................
Apologise
Your Page 1 subhead, "Ex-student bears the shame of bricklaying", of Sept 13 is shameful in itself.
In most countries there is nothing "shameful" or "uneducated" about bricklaying - it is considered an honest day's work. While this may not be the case in Thailand, it is unnecessary and inappropriate for your newspaper to reinforce such stereotypes and prejudices. How does this kind of social prejudice you cultivate on Page 1 differ from the social prejudice of Pauline Hanson you so readily (and correctly) condemn in your editorial of the same edition?
Your readers deserve an apology.
C. Clark
September 14, 1998
| reinforce | strengthen |
| stereotype | a fixed set of beliefs about people, religions, etc. |
| prejudices | unfair and unreasonable opinions |
| cultivate | develop |
| Pauline Hanson | an Australian politician who has become famous for her racist comments about Asians |
| readily | easily and willingly |
| condemn | to criticise strongly |
........................
Why say sorry?
I was amazed to see how Roger Aslin and C. Clark (Postbag, Sept 14) characterised an article written by Anjira Assavanonda with the subhead "Ex-student bears the shame of bricklaying" as arrogant, ignorant and inappropriate.
It is obvious to me that it was not Anjira who, as Mr Aslin put it, "thinks it shameful to be a bricklayer". The article reflects the mentality of Thais in general when it comes to manual work. The first sentence of the article reads: "Digging pavements and laying bricks under a fierce sky are usually seen as jobs only for uneducated workers." This is not Anjira's personal opinion no matter how you read it.
Contrary to how Roger Aslin and C. Clark viewed this article, I see a positive note in it. Sompit enjoys her work and takes pride in helping her family financially. Who knows, Anjira's article may help change the attitude of Thais towards labouring work. If that is the case, I for one will be grateful for it.
Anjira Assavanonda and Bangkok Post do not need to apologise to anybody. And I look forward to reading more constructive articles like this one.
Anjira, keep up the good work.
Kultida Dunagin
South Carolina
September 16, 1998
| mentality | way of thinking about things |
TEACHER'S NOTE
I must admit that I am very happy with this lesson - not because it is skilfully written, but because it is a very good example of what you can do with a newspaper to teach English. First of all, the story is very relevant to your students, especially during these harsh economic times. The story is also quite easy to read, giving you time to go more deeply into its ideas than you might have with a more difficult story.
More importantly, from my standpoint, it gives you a chance to integrate thought-provoking information from another section of the newspaper. This, of course, is the letters to the editors section known as Postbag. If you read this section regularly, I am sure you have noticed that many of the letters comment on stories in the Bangkok Post, so you can easily duplicate my lesson in the future with other stories and other letters.
I strongly suggest that you begin by focusing on the story itself without reference to the three letters from Postbag. See if your students have the prejudices against manual labour that all three letter writers are against.
And what about the Bangkok Post? Is it cultivating a prejudice against manual labour too? It is not easy to find evidence that Khun Anjira herself felt that way, but it is easy to understand why the first two writers seem to think so. The problem lies in a rather unfortunate choice of words in the subheading - Ex-student bears the shame of bricklaying.
Incidentally, this was almost certainly not written by Khun Anjira but by a different writer who might not have thought carefully enough that night under the pressure of a newspaper deadline. You might want to see if your students can write a more appropriate subheading themselves. As usual, you might want to have your students work in groups, especially when they read the letters to Postbag.
•This lesson was prepared by Acharn Terry Fredrickson, BA Stanford, MA (TESL) University of Minnesota, Manager of the Educational Services Department at the Bangkok Post and general editor of this programme. |
Winner
of PANPA Award for Excellence
