So it all takes is for someone to snoop around to look for another destination. A place where people lead an idyllic life living in symbiosis with the elements of Nature with the divine forces as their guiding light.
Venture capitalists move in. They show them the carrot and the lure of what money can do to enrich their 'impoverished' lives. They influence the elders who steamroll all oppositions who want to maintain the status quo. The general public thinks the opposers are just spoiled sports, reminiscing the old times, living in the past and naysayers who do not move with the times. The time to live is now, and they do not want to be left behind. So builds a frenzy to join the bandwagon to draw sightseers to see what they had to offer. They were willing to play dance monkey to the tune of the first world revellers.
Slowly, the native's lives change. Their age-old tradition of caring for humanity rather than worldly materialistic things is but a thing of the past. Rituals and prayers are only for display which they do like zoo-caged animals or museum artefacts. Hey, it draws the crowd, and it pays for 'modernity' and 'development'. They all want to move forward in life, want to go one step ahead of what their forefathers left them. The world is changing, and they must catch up, they thought! They want modern education, modern amenities, industrialisation, and avert their fathers' brutally unproductive ways. They want to do catching up with the rest of the world. For how long are they going to be cocooned on their so-called glorious past?
Like that modernity embraced them.
Fast forward. What they see is their people in the same helplessness. The only difference is that it had become worse with the introduction of greed as the primary armamentarium to prosper. The leaders have cherished this introduction of modernity. Gone are the community spirits and the need to live for the continuity of the clan. They, instead, have become chess pieces in the game of the rich. Their way of life has become a hedonistic indulgence of affluence to spread the foreigners' beliefs as if the natives are too stupid to understand Nature and live to respect it. They give the jungle dwellers things under the pretext of bringing them out of the yoke of ignorance, but time has only shown the invaders' cluelessness. See how many of theirs are disillusioned with their 'progress' and joined the simple way of living that the natives have been practising for aeons?
There must be some wisdom in the words of the forefathers!
Venture capitalists move in. They show them the carrot and the lure of what money can do to enrich their 'impoverished' lives. They influence the elders who steamroll all oppositions who want to maintain the status quo. The general public thinks the opposers are just spoiled sports, reminiscing the old times, living in the past and naysayers who do not move with the times. The time to live is now, and they do not want to be left behind. So builds a frenzy to join the bandwagon to draw sightseers to see what they had to offer. They were willing to play dance monkey to the tune of the first world revellers.
Slowly, the native's lives change. Their age-old tradition of caring for humanity rather than worldly materialistic things is but a thing of the past. Rituals and prayers are only for display which they do like zoo-caged animals or museum artefacts. Hey, it draws the crowd, and it pays for 'modernity' and 'development'. They all want to move forward in life, want to go one step ahead of what their forefathers left them. The world is changing, and they must catch up, they thought! They want modern education, modern amenities, industrialisation, and avert their fathers' brutally unproductive ways. They want to do catching up with the rest of the world. For how long are they going to be cocooned on their so-called glorious past?
Like that modernity embraced them.
Fast forward. What they see is their people in the same helplessness. The only difference is that it had become worse with the introduction of greed as the primary armamentarium to prosper. The leaders have cherished this introduction of modernity. Gone are the community spirits and the need to live for the continuity of the clan. They, instead, have become chess pieces in the game of the rich. Their way of life has become a hedonistic indulgence of affluence to spread the foreigners' beliefs as if the natives are too stupid to understand Nature and live to respect it. They give the jungle dwellers things under the pretext of bringing them out of the yoke of ignorance, but time has only shown the invaders' cluelessness. See how many of theirs are disillusioned with their 'progress' and joined the simple way of living that the natives have been practising for aeons?
There must be some wisdom in the words of the forefathers!
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Alms ceremony. Daily ritual ~6 am. Monks and trainee monks will parade in saffron robes
to receive rice and other food for sustenance. In return, donors would receive blessings.
Many boys from unprivileged backgrounds would join the monastery as an outlet for poverty,
hunger and lack of opportunities.
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FYI That is not lipstick she is wearing. It is due to a natural gum that she chews to give an
alluring pinkish hue to her lips!
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| In a Hmong village near Luang Prabang. A wife can be bought at the price of two buffalos (around USD 2000) |
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| Children in a village in Muang Ngoi, along the Nam Ou River. |
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| Hmong Village |
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| Hmong Market |
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| Ning Ning Guest House in Muang Ngoi. |
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| Hmong Village |
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| A cast of a bomb, a reminder of the turbulent times |
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| Buffaloes |
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| View from Peak Point Muang Ngoi |
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Nam Oo River. Flows from China. 4 dams to be built along its path to generate electricity for
self-sustenance and for export, soon to cause irreparable damage to its natural fauna and flora.
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| Bliss |
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| Idyllic |
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| Picture perfect |
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| Sunset at Phui See Hill, Luang Prabang. |
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| Kwang Si Waterfalls |
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| Kwang Si Waterfalls |
