AIDS: The Scourge of Humanity! Homosexuality opposed the way of Yin and Yang

I purposely set the title so that it will attract attention.

I have been contemplating about posting this for a very long time, but recently debates on Buddhist view of sexual misconduct gave me the resolve to type all these out from the little booklet that I have.  What I want to tell people is that Buddhists and even so-call well known masters can also suffers from bigotry, discrimination, pseudo-science and blind faith believe in scriptures as much as any other religions that we criticize.

I had originally read this talk on the Gold Wheel Sagely Monastery website quite a few years ago, but it was taken down after a while. A few years later, we found this same talk printed on free to distribute Buddhist booklets that are being distributed in Singapore. Being the cheeky Buddhist, I had asked anyone who saw this booklet to take all of them and send them to the recycles bins. Those rubbish have at least some values in the recycling center.

Homosexuality and the original meaning of Pandaka

Here is a letter I wrote to Buddhist Channel regarding an article posted in 2005

Homosexuality and the original meaning of Pandaka
by Kelvin Wong, Singapore, August 3, 2005

I am writing in reply to the article “Religion and same-sex marriage” by Mettanando Bhikkhu, Bangkok Post, July 13, 2005. The article rightly points out that the Buddha or Buddhism as a religion sees marriage as a social event and not a religious obligation. It is not seen as sacred nor a necessity. As such there are no grounds for buddhists to approve or disapprove gay marriage or any form of consenting marriage or arrangements.

However, the author seemed to have conflicted himself in the article when he said: “Also, from the Tipitaka, it is clear that the Buddha acknowledged the difference between hermaphrodites and homosexual practitioners. Hermaphrodites and eunuchs are not allowed to be ordained, but there is no sanction against homosexuality”

Then he goes on to say “…the Buddha was alerted to the problem and he issued a rule for the community not to give any ordination to a homosexual, and those ordained gays are to be expelled. (Vin.I, 86).”

Firstly he said that only hermaphrodites and eunuchs are not allowed to be ordained, but no sanctions against homosexuals, then he goes on to cite on of the rules and stated that there is sanctions against homosexuals.

In the case of the so-call “gay” monk who was overcome by sexual desire and could no longer restrain himself, the original word used is “pandaka”.

Hence the story goes of a pandaka who was ordained and went around trying to seduce other monks and lay persons to “enter” him. After some lays persons did so, they chided the Sangha for allowing such a person to be part of the community. This reach Buddha’s ears and he forbide pandakas from being ordained and order for the pandaka to be defrocked.

The origins of the term pandaka is still debated by Buddhist academics and yet unknown and what and who it meant during Buddha’s time is also up for debate. Some commented that it meant a enunch and yet another list 5 types of pandaka of which eunuch is one of them and only the last 3 was deemed to be prevented from being ordinated.

(1) asittakapandaka: A man who gains satisfaction from performing oral sex on another man and from ingesting his semen, or who only becomes sexually aroused after ingesting another man’s semen.

(2) ussuyapandaka: A voyeur, a man who gains sexual satisfaction from watching a man and a woman having sex.

(3) opakkamikapandaka: Eunuchs, that is, castrated men lacking complete sexual organs. Unlike the other four types of pandaka Bunmi describes, these men attain their condition after birth and are not born as pandaka.

Leonard Zwilling (1992:204) does not call this type of pandaka a eunuch but rather says the term describes a man who “attains ejaculation through some special effort or artifice”.

Bunmi’s description of opakkamika as eunuchs appears to follow a sixth type of pandaka that Zwilling says is identified by Yas’omitra, the lunapandaka, which denotes a man who has been intentionally castrated.

(4) pakkhapandaka: People who become sexually aroused in parallel with the phases of the moon, either becoming aroused during the fortnight of the waning moon (Pali: kalapakkha) and ceasing to be aroused during the fortnight of the waxing moon (Pali: junhapakkha) or, conversely, becoming sexually aroused during the period of the waxing moon and ceasing to be aroused during the period of the waning moon.

Zwilling cites the early commentator, Buddhaghosa, as saying that a pakkhapandaka “becomes t emporarily impotent for fourteen ‘black days’ of the month but regains his potency during the fourteen ‘white days’, that is, from the new to the full moon”.

(5) napumsakapandaka (also sometimes called simply napumsaka): A person with no clearly defined genitals, whether male or female, having only a urinary tract. Another definition of a napumsaka given by Bunmi (1986:239) is ‘a [>male] person who i s not able to engage in activities like a man’. Elsewhere, Bunmi adds that napumsakapandaka are born without any genital organs as punishment for having

Unless we have done a thorough study of India sexual behaviours and attitudes during Buddha’s time, it will be quite difficult to ascertain what the term pandaka really meant.

Unfortunately, in the Thai language, the author used to word “kathoey”, in which they lump cross-dressers, gay people and transvestite and almost everyone else whom they view in the same light together. And the term “kathoey” is then associated with “gay” as a contemporary term.

This as we can see is a total inadequate and unfair translation. Its like calling all animals in the sea “fishes”, without any distinction for whales, dolphins, sharks, shirmps, etc. When the original term could mean a shark and a specific species of shark for that matter.

On the issue of bad karma/sexual misconduct and being gay, the explanation provided by the author is too simplistic an answer about karma or causal effect.

While it could be possible for some gay people, for example, did commit sexual misconduct like adultury in their previous life, but this does not make it necessary true that all who have committed sexual misconduct will become gay or transvestite. This simplistic view accords a linear view of karma, that is, if you do this, you will get that and its always its like that. However, karmic effects should be seen more as a web of causes which works as a whole to determine various outcomes a person receives.

The rise of such a view is mainly due to wrongly assuming that all homosexuals everywhere are treated badly. However, any keen observer could tell you that not all homosexuals have a bad or difficult life, especially in countries where they are not discriminated against. This is as good as saying that poor and disabled people are this way because of their bad karma in their previous life and hence must except society’s treatment of them.

Can we also say that in societies where women are discriminated and treated badly are because of their bad karma or misdeeds in their previous life and that they should accept their treatment in silence?

We know very well that the bad treatment of homosexuals and disabled or poor people in the society is due to ignorance, fear, aversion and lack of social gracious and equality in the society.

Also Buddhism does not teach us to accept our conditions and treatment just like that. The Buddhist is encouraged to constantly improve his/her condition and develop virtue from their difficult lives. They should accept the idea that things are fated and hence cannot be changed.

It will be sad if the Sangha would continue to encourage a view that is discriminating, based on ignorance and fear to its lay fellowers instead of helping them remove those dusts from their eyes.

Note: references regarding the five types of pandaka is take from an article by Peter A. Jackson.

Self-Burning Tibetan Monks

There is never short of news about monks burning themselves for various causes in Tibet. One of the latest on is by a senior Tibetan monk calling for the return of the Dalai Lama (Monk who self-immolated ‘called for Dalai Lama return’).

For my own view of Buddhism, it is a wasteful effort clouded with incorrect view and overly attachment to worldly wants and needs.

Firstly, the position of the Dalai Lama, is something artificial and a position created for political reasons in old Tibet. I don’t mean artificial as in the Dalai Lama is fake, I meant that the idea of the Dalai Lama position is a human construct and not part of any Buddhist teachings or is it necessary in order to understand and practice Buddhism.Whether or not the Dalai Lama or that position exists or not has no bearings on Buddhist teachings or anyone’s path to enlightenment. Unless of course, that person is attached to the idea that only the Dalai Lama could lead them to enlightenment or happiness.

And thus, we are all asked in Buddhist teachings not to attach ourselves too strongly to any idea or expectations least they lead to suffering or dissatisfaction. In this case, I believe that the monk(s) believe that their happiness is tied to the Dalai Lama issue. Buddhist teachings warns against grasping to external ideas, things and persons to fulfill our happiness. These are what lead to suffering, the very first noble truth!

 

Porn’s Thai Cafe @ Mt Faber SAFRA

Not sure why, but I have been to Porn’s Thai cafe at Mt Faber 3 times. Perhaps, I really want to try a dish that blows me out since the cafe in town is known to be very popular. Honestly speaking despite going there 3 times, I could not find any “whoa!” moments. Dishes were palatable but really nothing exciting. But I still wonder if the dishes are indeed better in town.

One of the worst thing about the cafe is the service. I am not here to critic about all Filipinos waiters and waitress but to me they are really bad at what they do here. Actually even the main person in charge was not as good as I thought he/she should. My main grip is that nobody seem to know how the dishes sounds like in Thai. Even worst the most common Thai dishes like Som Tum (Papaya salad) or Nam Takai (lemon grass drink), they know what the order is, but still need to refer to the menu to see what number they are and this is one of the guy captain running the cafe!

Still on service, while I was eating, they were chatting away in Tagalog… across the cafe! I have not problems with service persons talking amongst themselves, but they should do it quietly and away from customers. No, the 3 of them were almost shouting across the cafe to chatting and giggling with each other while the customer is eating. Worst still, the 3rd time I was there, they bought out the main dish first (Phad Thai) instead of the vermicelli salad and the lemon grass drink. So what I told the waiter why the main dish came out first instead when I was still waiting for my drink and salad, he asked me what my order was, which I retorted “Don’t you know what my order is?” Mind you, there are only 3 table of customers in the cafe at that time.

My pet hate about their service? Despite having a ice water jug in plain sight, nobody served me water while I waited for my food and drinks.

Okay, back to the food. I was trying to find out what makes the cafe so popular and try to flip through the menu for some clues. I looked at the menu for quite a while but could not decide what to order. I was wondering why and then I realized that its because there is nothing extra-ordinary about the food they offer. The menu is simplified to few dishes (which I do agree to keep inventory down), but they did not have out outstanding dishes that would make you want to try the first time you open the menu. All the dishes are just the same as what the other 100 other Thai restaurant serves. In fact, other restaurants have more exciting dishes!

However, that is not a death sentence. If one brings down to the menu to serve dishes that are common, then one would need to produce really good common dishes for it to stand out and be worth the money paid for. There are hits and misses and unfortunately I feel that there are more misses than hits. The misses are mediocre and relatively bland and even one dimensional. I went back there 3 times in hope to see what makes it ticks but still not convinced about its success.

Som Tum (raw papaya salad):

Its  a general notice that most Singaporeans order mango salad instead of papaya salad when going Thai. However, the papaya salad is ubiquitous with Thai food and it the most defining dish of any Thai restaurant. Screw that up, you can forget about the rest of the food. The most important point about the papaya salad is that the raw papaya is rather tasteless by itself (unlike raw mango which is sour).

The dressing is coated around the papaya and hence its becomes very important to have well-balanced dressing. The salad dressing has a good balance of sourness from the lime juice, just spicy enough (this is not an Isaan restaurant so its okay not to be so spicy), sweetness from the palm sugar and saltiness and fragrance from the fish sauce. My only complain is that the papaya was a bit soggy. This is because it was machine cut rather than hand cut with all the uneven size. The hand cut papaya tends to stay crunchy longer. However, I wished that they had added some dried shrimps to perk up the dish.

Tom Kha Gai (Chicken in coconut galangal soup):

Even in Bangkok, it is not very easy to get a good Tom Kha Gai, let alone in Singapore. This is the reason that I ordered this dish, instead of Tom Yum Goong. Unknown to most people the herbs used are actually similar, except there is coconut milk and more galangal in Tom Kha Gai. Few people do a good Tom Kha Gai and I am glad to say that this restaurant does a good one.

The coconut milk was rich and just thick enough and not too watery. The soup has a good blend of sweetness (absolutely important), spiciness, sourness (very important) and fragrance from the herbs. You can drink the soup by itself without filling too bloated and sick of the coconut milk. My only complain is that I wished they had used fresh straw mushrooms because I could taste the “can-ness” of the straw mushroom they used in the soup. Other than that, its a dish that I recommend (ask them not to put straw mushrooms).

Pek Gai Yat Sai (Stuff chicken wings):

I just love fried chicken wings, what’s more stuff fried chicken wings. The filling is pretty tasty, but it was spoilt by the chicken meat being too bland and dry. The saving grace is that they were stuff with chestnut which was a surprise. However, it a dish that you cannot eat without dipping into the sweet chilli sauce only because the chicken mean is too bland and dry.

Yum Woon Sen (Vermicelli Salad):

This dish was bland. Period. Thai salad must be exciting, but I felt like eating vermicelli with a bit of souping soy sauce or salt. It tries very hard to be spicy, sour or whatever, but none of those taste emerged. There is nothing much for me to say about this dish.

Phad Thai:

Personally, I don’t eat too much Phad Thai so I cannot say which is good or bad. But I know that for me Phad Thai must not be overwhelmed with sweetness or coconut milk such that it feel gerluck (nauseating) after eating. Good thing to know, this dish was not like that. I like that they provide peanuts as a condiment so that I could put as much as I like on top. However, I thought that the noodles was a under-cooked; it was a bit hard and chewy and took me quite a while to chew them down. Other than that, taste was nice albeit there could do with some more wok-hey (wok heat).

Poj Spa Karn, Tanao Road, Bangkok

Okay, phonetically, Poj Spa Karn should be “Pot Sapaa Kaarn”. From what I read from the internet, this is an 82 year old restaurant, situated along Tanao Road in Bangkok. Interestingly, as we walk along Tanao Road, we find many stalls which review cuttings. This is an old part of town and I am not surprise if that it host such a variety of good food with food shop owners been around for some time.

Now just like an 82 year old restaurant, when San tried to call for reservation on a Sunday, we were informed that the Auntie (I think she is in charge) has gone to the hospital for some checkout and the restaurant will only open after she comes back, without giving any further timing. Well, we took a bet that she will be back in time for us and sure enough when we reached there, it was opened and we are the first customers.

Cafe Chilli at Paragon, Bangkok

Cafe Chilli is a north-eastern Thai food restaurant situated at the basement of Paragon in Bangkok, where most of the restaurants are. Although it says north-eastern, it really a fusion high class north-eastern food. In all honesty, most of us probably don’t really like authentic north-eastern or Issan food, because they can be really spicy and salty. However, despite this fusion stuff going on, its true to Thai tastes and flavors. The portions are pretty small, so for two of us, we actually ended order quite a number of dishes.

Suntawa Restaurant at Soi Piphat, Bangkok

Update: I have learned that the restarant has moved. Some say Rama III some say Rama IV, I still have no idea where. If you know, ping me. Thanks!

Now, Silom Road in Bangkok is not well known to have good Thai restaurants. Most of the Thai cafes and even restaurant have adjusted their food taste to cater to the mainly white tourists visiting there, which tastes like sweet crap. One of my criteria to even enter a restaurant is whether its full of foreigners or gay men or if its mostly locals. I am digressing…

Anyway, Suntawa restaurant is a rare gem fine along Silom road. Actually another good restaurant is Banana Leaf at the basement of Silom Complex. According to San, it is a pretty old restaurant, at least 20+ years.  you can even see that the restaurant’s decor is still the same since its open.

Now, its pretty hard to notice the restaurant, even if you walked pass it. Also the name is not in English, so you have to learn to recognize the sign board in the picture above!

Fahrenheit Suites, Kuala Lumpur

I decided to stay one night at Fahrenheit Suites at Kuala Lumpur as there was a 50% discount off, being newly launched at SGD $120. This is the same building where KL Plaza was, now refurbished as Fahrenheit 88 (opposite Pavilion) at Bt Bintang in KL. I thought it would be a suite like those of Dorsett, but it was more like an apartment suite. It is actually a convert apartment used to be called KL Courts. There are still some renovation going on, so don’t expect a pose entrance to a “suite”. It more like visiting your mom apartment in KL.

Actually for one person, the place is pretty huge! So if you are one of those who afraid of big empty houses at night, I don’t recommend trying to stay there. Its a bit weird because they had to turn a normal 2 bedroom apartment into a one bedroom suite, so you will notice that another bathroom and bedroom is locked. For those with wilder imagination by oneself, you will start wonder what lies behind those doors!

Really Random Thoughts on Elections 2011

Many people would think that given the size of the people attending the opposition rallies and online chatter against PAP and for the opposition, this coming election will be a big win for them. On the contrary, as we have seen in the previous elections, this may not be true. The good news this year is that there are probably even more people who may be supporting the opposition and even more people willing to voice their opposition. The opposition may not win big this year, but given the trend and giving it 10 to 20 years, we will surely see even more qualified candidates joining opposition parties and even more voters swinging their votes over to the opposition. Things may not happen this year, but wheel are set in motion and change will come if we are patience enough.

The problem with PAP dominance is that barriers to entry are made very high for the opposition. Election boundaries are constantly redrawn to shift voting patterns in favor of the PAP. Community centers under the People’s Association are used to ferry uncles and aunties with free food to attend PAP rallies and I thought they are supposed to be non-partisan? Broadcast and print media are servants to the PAP, not to investigate what is facts, but to tell Singaporeans want PAP wants them to know. The police, security forces and judiciary, by virtue of the laws bulldozed by PAP in the parliament, are but loyalists of the PAP, used by them to spread fear and to control and maintain power. Civil servants, whether they like PAP or not, will probably have to vote for PAP, mostly really out of fear.

Then there are votes who vote out of fear and lack of empathy and indifference.

Fear because they fear voting in the opposition will make things more difficult for them in the estate. Their estate prices may drop subsequently and new amenities for their estate will take a back seat in favor of PAP wards. Some fear that if they voted for the opposition and if the PAP won, their names will be noted and getting any help from the PAP after that may prove to be difficult. This is the reasons why the PAP is playing the fear and regret card in the news media. They know a lot of citizens responds to these messages well and will not dare to make the wrong move. The same fear card was used by Vivian on the gay issue, in order to secure votes from the anti-gay voters in his constituency, probably right wing fundamentalist religious people.

For those who are indifferent or lacks empathy, its probably harder to convince them otherwise. These people have a good quality of life for themselves and their families. They want everything to remain the same after the elections so that they can continue to have their maids and occasional holidays. To them, as long as their life have no major upsets, there are no causes to fight for. They don’t care to know about civil rights or don’t have any idea or don’t care why people are jailed by ISA. They think that over time PAP will make those changes or accommodations and there is no need to fight against PAP for it.

The same mentality gets some gay people over the call to abolish the penal code 377a. Some, have their partners, build their little nest and go about their usual daily routines. Others are happy to have their parties, sex and drugs. They don’t want anyone upsetting their way of life by calling for the repeal and upsetting the government with a backlash. They believe that the government will abolish that in time to come. Upsetting them too early will compromise their current contented way of life. And so they prefer that nobody fights for gay equality and upsets the government and leave it to them to work on it as a when they pleases.

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Many people harp on the Mas Selamat incident, with the focus on the toilet escape. It makes sense, of course, but for me this is missed by a mile.  For me, the incident should be more about the accountability of the Internal Security Acts.  Whether Mas Selamat is a terrorist or not, I strongly believe that he should be given a fair trial in an unbiased hearing. Being in ISA custody, was he given a fair trial and hearing, was he tortured? Could he be a political dissenter rather than a would-be terrorist? We are all already aware of how ISA has been used by the government to subvert challenges to their power, even the average person on the street have an irrational fear that if they talk too loud against the government, they may need to have a kopi session the next day. Mind you this is not the PAP tea session. I constantly hear gay people talk about how they worry about their jobs being compromised or being monitored if they speak too loud for gay rights because of the fear of ISA. This is precisely why ISA needs to be abolished to be replaced by a structure more accountable to the people and not subject to the abuse of power by the PAP. The ISA just gives PAP too much leeway to abuse their power without proper checks and balances and it must go.

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Coming to the gay issue, its a good thing to know that in general most people don’t really care if an MP is gay or not. Does that mean a gay MP will take about nothing but a gay cause? Does that mean a Muslim or Buddhist MP will talk about just their own religious cause? Or a woman MP will focus only on women’s issues? This is truly really fear mongering at its peak. But this does show to us how strongly the PAP team regarded the SDP team. Every time we see smear campaign coming from PAP, we know that its because they fear those that they smear. Already, we hear talks and rumors about potential drastic steps PAP are prepared to conjure up in order to destroy the SDP chances or credibility in contesting for the GRC. I have no idea what that maybe or if they will indeed carry that out, we can only wait and see.  Given that PAP have full control of the police forces and security forces, i.e. spying on citizen, it is not hard to think of the kind of information they can gather to make this possible.

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I know we are all frustrated by the sight of so many foreigners in Singapore and about job security, however, please don’t use them as the bogeyman or make a joke out of them. They are flesh and blood people who works hard for their own livelihood and family and don’t deserves us screaming for them to get out or us joking about them. The focus should be on the issues of our policies and how it impacted Singaporeans and what we can do improve the situation.

Also, one thing we must remember is that these so called foreign talents are really a huge and diverse group. The frustration are not necessary the same and they are not all necessary taking away jobs from Singaporeans. I suspect the most visible groups and those that some of us are frustrated about are the lower skills foreigners. However, we sometimes need to ask ourselves, how many Singaporeans want to do those jobs that they are doing? I wonder even if with a minimal wage scheme and with policies to encourage employers to hire Singaporeans first for those jobs, how many really want to be a house maid, road sweeper, rubbish collector or construction worker? If anything, we should thank them for building the houses we live in, keep our estate clean and taking care of your children or old folks when you are too busy earning for a living.

As for jobs that so-called went the way of the foreigners, honestly I have no idea what people are talking about. Not that it is non-existence, but for people in different industry, this may be either a perceived or actual problem.  Taking my own experience in the IT industry interviewing people for some IT positions. I found that the general quality of Singaporean candidates to be not as good as compare to their foreign counterparts interviewing for the same jobs. Some could not articulate their thoughts properly or show enthusiasm or passion for the the industry that they are in and worst of all the one-question-one-answer interviewee. It can be quite frustrating having to face such candidates and so don’t blame me for not recommended any Singaporeans for those positions and giving them away to better foreign candidates.

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Whether or not, this is a watershed election, in the future, I want a Singapore where gay and transgender people are free from fear of being themselves,  where they get equal opportunities to work and social help without having to hide or be ashamed of themselves and where the media are allow to portrait positive images, movies and articles of gay and transgender folks.

I want a Singapore where citizens are free from fear of speaking out in public, where lawyers can comment on the law, where news media actually carry real news about Singapore, where ISA and 377a are abolished, where all detainees of the ISA and those exiled are given a fair hearing and fair compensation if they were wrongly accused, where the RCs and CCs are not beholden to the PAP but to its citizens and where those we really need our help or have fallen into the cracks are help by the government to bring their lives back in order, where population is not increase just to catch up with GDP growth and finally, a Singapore where I can truly be able to say it is my country and not one that PAP allowed me to be in.

The (watch)men in white

Among those of us who were more active in gay rights in Singapore in the earlier days, we used to joke about how we could always ask the internal security dept (ISD) for our emails if they ever got lost or deleted. It was somehow a known assumption then that the government has been monitoring our activities and correspondences. Moles and attempted infiltration to keep the government aware of what is going on is probably a common theme. We, of course, know that whenever that is a large gathering, clueless plainclothes polices were sent to spy on us, often being singled out very quickly or having to endure long talks about gay sex (perhaps) or relationship or worst still gay poetry and art!

One of the joke in the gay email list SiGNeL was that we should all sign off our postings with “LKY”. The purpose was so that every posting gets captured by the ISD and the poor intelligence people have to read through all of our postings to find out that it has nothing to do with “LKY” other than the signature. This will certain keep them very busy!