TELL IT AS IT IS
Thailand's 'SMART LADY' has emerged
Pornpimol Kanchanalak

BANGKOK: -- And her name is Aum Neko. She is an undergraduate at Thammasat University. She once posed in a mini skirt with the statue of Dr Pridi Banomyong, founder of the university, wrapping one hand around the neck of the statue, partly sat on the base with one leg lifted high.

The message she wanted to send was to tell her peers and the public that the statue was not for worshiping. Dr Pridi, she said, established the university with the objective of teaching students to "love and cherish democracy". Thus, it was a betrayal to treat his statue as a sacred object where students came to light incense sticks and ask for better grades, all the while forgetting the raison d'etre of the university itself.

So far, so good.

Then last week, she gave a shock to people who support the policy of a mandatory student uniform. She put up posters around the campus that made the front pages of many newspapers, as well as social media - four photographs showing students in uniform having sex, man with man, man with woman, in several positions. Her reason, again in her own words, was to say that a uniform that everybody thinks is "proper and sacrosanct" cannot stop students who wear it from engaging in sacrilegious conduct.

I thought at that point, "Voila, our very own Lady Gaga is born."

In interviews thereafter, she repeatedly said our freedom must not, cannot, be curtailed; everybody has the right to do what they want - and that, she said, is the heart of democracy. Uniforms, according to her, are nothing but the symbol of Big Brother's attempt to infringe upon students' rights.

She looked smart and sounded extremely articulate. Her arguments were syllogistically sound, as long as one could agree with all her contentions. She could be the winner of the government's "Smart Lady Project". She could be appointed "Smart Lady" ambassador who dares to think, and dares to act, no-holds-barred. To her, nothing and no one is sacred; they all can be trashed. That, in her view, is democracy.

She has almost 10,000 followers on Facebook. It won't be a surprise if, sooner or later, she decides to enter politics.

However, upon closer examination, the Aum Neko phenomenon epitomises the sickness that plagues our society.

First, while she doesn't hesitate to tear apart any institution, or anything whatsoever, she guards everything about herself religiously. She refuses to reveal her real name, saying that the pseudonym she uses is enough. If such a boundary must be observed and respected, especially when it comes to "trash-all Neko", then the assumption in her argument that nothing and no one can be held sacred and nothing is off-limits, is false.

More important, and most dangerous, is her flawed and blind belief that freedom is boundless and total. She does not recognise that there is no such thing as unlimited freedom, if we are to remain social animals. Even the "father of the modern liberal democracy", Baruch Spinoza, would say that we are bound, and hence our freedom is to be confined by the rule of law. Otherwise, what follows is anarchy.

Absolute freedom is not the same thing as human rights and protection of civil liberties for all citizens under a liberal democracy. And freedom and rights, as stipulated and exercised under the rule of law, written or uncodified, is not incompatible with the concept of an open and free society. That is Political Science 101, in which Aum Neko must have failed.

To look at and beyond Aum Neko, we can see the sickness of our failed society. In the latest Global Competitiveness Report for 2010-2013 compiled by the World Economic Forum, we have flunked in almost all categories. Starting from our primary education, we rank 82nd among 144 countries, with 3.5 points, while the median score is 3.8. In this category, we fare worse than Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Cameroon. When it comes to the quality of our education, we rank 78th, while Cambodia and Vietnam rank 58th and 72nd, respectively.

In the category of public trust in the ethical standards of our politicians, we fail miserably. We score 2.2 while the median is 3, and rank 107th.

As to the enforcement of law and order, we score 3.6, well below the 4.3 median, and rank 101st, below Ethiopia, Gabon and Columbia.

In the Thai language we have an equivalent of the term "disgrace" - it is ngam na, or literally "beautiful face". We cannot totally condemn Aum Neko for her fallacious thinking and reasoning. She and her warped ideas are only the product of a failed society like ours. All she knows is how to tear everything apart, not how to build something better for society. The dimwit narrowness of her focus is the accepted and prevalent behaviour and practice in our land.

While Aum Neko repeats her senseless mantra of absolute freedom, our leaders fall asleep at the wheel and are incapable of feeling disgrace at all our national failings. Like Neko, we are running in circles, thinking we are going somewhere, while in fact, we are going nowhere.

In a nation where one TV channel put up a picture of Meryl Streep from the film "The Iron Lady" when announcing the passing of Margaret Thatcher, Aum Neko is qualified to win the Smart Lady Project because we, collectively and sadly, "Ain't got no game."


-- The Nation 2013-09-19

She is smart, no arguments there. Slight technicality though, isn't Aum Neko a transgender? Can she legally/technically be called a "lady"?

Oh my word. Removing school uniforms represents a complete and utter movement to irresponsible freedom?

The nation needs to come up with some better arguments than this...

The Nations attempt at morality....what hope is there!

The Nations attempt at morality....what hope is there!

It's almost as though neko is responsible for dragging Thailand down in the education rankings too.

I await her being found responsible for global warming and being part of the ASEAN conspiracy to ruin Thailand. Maybe the rice escapade was her problem too?

She and her warped ideas? All she said was that school uniforms were already optional and inappropriate for university students. The sky is falling.....

Edited September 19, 201312 yr by Thai at Heart

I don't recall her saying she wanted total freedom. I think I see a straw man.

I don't recall her saying she wanted total freedom. I think I see a straw man.

Worse than that. Apparently she had morphed into a threat to the entirety of Thai culture and society......

Apparently he/she has more problems to deal with..

http://www.khaosod.co.th/en/view_newsonline.php?newsid=TVRNM09UTXpNakV3TUE9PQ==&sectionid=TURVd01BPT0=

They will shut her down with lese majeste charges

Edited September 19, 201312 yr by canman

Make her PM,

regards Worgeordie

Apparently he/she has more problems to deal with..

http://www.khaosod.co.th/en/view_newsonline.php?newsid=TVRNM09UTXpNakV3TUE9PQ==&sectionid=TURVd01BPT0=

If what was said was so shocking why did Khun Pontipa keep this LM in her possession?

I can only think of two reasons. Either she is a secret fan or she was waiting for an opportunity to cash in.

Not sure I agree with "her" but its nice to see young Thai's thinking outside the box.

"Running in circles." as this article illustrates. What a preposterous, meandering piece of tripe. Sorry to have wasted the time to struggle through it.

Another fairly typical useless Nation article, as someone else has said - "Sorry to have wasted the time to struggle through it."

Yes a smart person indeed

but her mistake is thinking Thailand is a democratic country

awesome, thailands first smart lady, all we need now is to find thailands first smart man, the beginning of thailands smart face race

She is smart, no arguments there. Slight technicality though, isn't Aum Neko a transgender? Can she legally/technically be called a "lady"?

It just means to be a lady in Thailand you need balls!

The Nations attempt at morality....what hope is there!

She sounds like she has more morality than those running the country! And the nation is sounding hypocritical. So much for letting students think for themselves as opposed to think what they are told!

"She and her warped ideas are only the product of a failed society like ours. All she knows is how to tear everything apart, not how to build something better for society. The dimwit narrowness of her focus is the accepted and prevalent behaviour and practice in our land.

While Aum Neko repeats her senseless mantra of absolute freedom, our leaders fall asleep at the wheel and are incapable of feeling disgrace at all our national failings. Like Neko, we are running in circles, thinking we are going somewhere, while in fact, we are going nowhere."

Really "The Nation"?

Hey, it's the go against the grain kind of people that make this world unique and interesting. The bounds of freedom are expanded by some. While they can be obnoxious and annoying , so can everyone else.

She looked smart and sounded extremely articulate. Her arguments were syllogistically sound, as long as one could agree with all her contentions. She could be the winner of the government's "Smart Lady Project".

Never in a million years, they wouldn't let it happen.

The Nations attempt at morality....what hope is there!

It's almost as though neko is responsible for dragging Thailand down in the education rankings too.

I await her being found responsible for global warming and being part of the ASEAN conspiracy to ruin Thailand. Maybe the rice escapade was her problem too?

She and her warped ideas? All she said was that school uniforms were already optional and inappropriate for university students. The sky is falling.....

Sooner or later someone will call her a ghost or a witch dealing with evil spirits to bring the country down

This guy that won the smart lady contest may very well be arrested for lèse majesté if a certain person gets her way.

He definitely look like a guy, duped the judges into thinking he was woman so definitely smarter than them.

Anyway if you want to see his other pics you can find them here. http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Aum+Neko.&id=4D70FC2DBABCA4DB6AEA52A02A37553F4DC1CDCA&FORM=IQFRBA#a

Edited September 19, 201312 yr by chooka

Bravo to this fine individual.

Going against the status quo is a tough gig and this person will be just the first of many, as the youngsters see a rebel, not against Thailand, but against the misconcieved ideals and corruption that they are born into. The article goes to great lengths to spout facts and figures about how bad Thailand compares to the world, which in a way is commendable, then suddenly sink into "slagging"... Pity, it ruined what is a great article.

Thailand does not have to worry about its "managers" offering up stupid solutions to combat "easily managed" problems. Thailand now has its youth to worry about, that can see and read the truth about the world and can come to the conclussions that their own country is not all that great.(Viva La Internet)

These kids will mature and their thinking will mature as well and lets hope that they find their way into "manager" roles and make positive changes for the betterment of their people.

For me personally, I think this is exactly what Thailand needs. A voice... not exactly of reason, but of exposing issues and making people think for themselves.

GO GIRL !!!!

you have to be joking, this is a thais idea of good looking and smart, if my dog looked like that I would shave its arse and teach it to walk backwards and she would have to take off her shoes to count past 10, what a load of crap.

Make her PM,

regards Worgeordie

Totally agree!

We will probably soon see her making a public apology and making merit at some temple.

Rather than attack Aum Neko, the Nation, why not slam the utterly amoral and corrupt incompetents responsible for 'running' Thailand now and in the past?

Is it because she is a soft target - especially now she has a lese majeste charge hanging over her - and - oh I nearly forgot - isn't unusually wealthy, very influential and doesn't have a gang of thugs on hand to silence her critics.

The Nations attempt at morality....what hope is there!

It's almost as though neko is responsible for dragging Thailand down in the education rankings too.

I await her being found responsible for global warming and being part of the ASEAN conspiracy to ruin Thailand. Maybe the rice escapade was her problem too?

She and her warped ideas? All she said was that school uniforms were already optional and inappropriate for university students. The sky is falling.....

Sooner or later someone will call her a ghost or a witch dealing with evil spirits to bring the country down

It's so 1984 you can't really believe it's not intentional.

I think this article misses her point completely.