Thousands of Thais are not celebrating Songkran, or the water festival today, and instead are taking to the streets of Bangkok. Read this little exerpt:

Thai protesters and government forces clashed early Monday in the capital Bangkok, with numerous injures reported as violence intensified in public demonstrations that forced the cancellation of a major regional summit, according to news media accounts from the region.

Source: Market Watch

People with travel plans are warned to stay away from Bangkok and those who are in Bangkok should exercise precaution to stay away from the streets. Looking at the rate it is going, it does not seem to be easing and tension is getting greater as the ousted Prime Minister is strongly backing the red shirts in going all the way with their call for Abhisit to step down.

It is indeed a pity to see a country in such a state. Already the economy is going downhill, and to be saddled with a political issue and social unrest is totally unthinkable. What will happen to Thailand after all this mess is over, whether a new government is installed or not? Nobody knows the future anymore.

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I read with amusement about how the Chinese community in Hong Kong, Taiwan and China can now offer prayers online to the dead during Tombs Sweeping Day or Qing Ming. Apparently, this online prayer service to the deceased is currently being looked into to be offered to fellow Malaysians in a couple of years too. You can read the full story of the news article here.

The convenience it offers also includes things that people would normally bring along as offerings like flowers and food stuff to the deceased. With this online prayer in place, people no longer need to visit the grave site to offer their prayers and other love offerings.

But is this truly what people want to do? For some people, perhaps out of convenience or maybe even due to geographical constraints, this could be an alternative to show their respects. But for those who do not have to travel thousands of miles across the globe, would you resort to offering prayers virtually? Will it be the same?

If you think offering such prayers online is the same and a good substitute to doing the real thing at a physical location, does this mean that you will also agree to do your prayers online to God instead of going to the temples, churches or mosques?

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Apparently, such punishments don’t work in today’s society. Nowadays, for petty crimes, the way to punish people and make them feel it is by embarrassing them. It looks like in today’s world, punishments are linked to a person’s emotions. We all have our pride and self esteem, and I suppose being publicly humiliated is something we find unacceptable. While some may take them lightly and pass them on as jokes, others may find it an emotional scar to be publicly humiliated.

What do you think of such punishments? Or would you rather prefer the old school punishment of a fine and doing time behind the bars?

Some examples of shameful punishments around the world are these:

It is widely known that in Singapore, if you are caught littering, you will be issued with Corrective Work Orders (CWO) and made to pick up litter in public places.

Even law enforcers themselves are not spared shameful punishments when caught not following the rules (this move should be applauded for no one should be above the law). In Thailand, some 2 years back, it was enforced that police officers who broke rules would have to wear a hot pink Hello Kitty arm band for the day. Apparently, the cute Hello Kitty is severe punishment to a macho guy! View picture below. Can you imagine any man feeling proud wearing this?!

And then there’s also the more severe punishments like death by hanging in public in some countries. This public punishment, I feel, is not just shameful for the person being punished, it is also for the family of the person being hung. After all, the person will no longer have to face the world and the people in it, it’s the family who has to bear the shame of the crime.

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