An intercultural observation

Buddhism practice in Thailand vs that in Viet Nam

I went for a backpack trip in Thailand with my sister 2 years ago. When I was walking down a street along a residential area in an early morning in Bangkok, I saw many monks walking around. Moreover, there was always a guy following each monk and carrying a big basket of heavy things. I was surprised because in Viet Nam, the monks are not known for being out of temples at this early hour, and I could not find any temples in the map around this residential area. “What they are up to at this time and this place? Shouldn’t they be at the temples?” I found the answer a few minutes later when I walked in a Thai food store. I saw there were bags of pre-packed cooked food at the food stalls. Surprisingly, people bought those bags of food mostly to offer to the monks walking by.

This is what was happening. Men and women walked toward the monks, gave the food offerings and graciously bowed until their heads touched the ground in front of the monks. The monk received food offerings and handed it to the guy whose main job was to carry the food. Then the monk spoke to that person. The monk seemed to give his blessings for the person.

I sat there, and observed the whole scene in silence. Actually I was shocked because in Viet Nam it is seen as “begging” if the monks walk around with bowls in their hands. Vietnamese usually ignore those monks unless they come to us and specially ask for money or food. It is definitely unusually to see people bowing in front of a monk to offer him food voluntarily. Usually, Buddhist believers would go to the temples to give their offers and donation.

However, apparently, in Thailand, that was the norm for many monks to walk around to receive food offerings. I heard from a friend that in Thailand, monks can only eat food that has been given to them, and they can't eat past noon. So if they don't get an offering in the morning, they have to go all day without eating.

Now, I want to explain why Vietnamese do not have such an offering practice as that in Thailand.

Buddhism is practiced widely in Thailand. In fact, 95% of Thais are Buddhist. Hence, I would argue that Thai society is a homogeneous religious environment; hence giving and receiving offerings are not only done in the temples. They can be easily seen in the streets outside of a temple as well.

In Vietnam, because of the diverse religious background and the large number of non-practising Buddhists, I would argue that the practice of offerings can only be done within the temples. If that is practiced outside of the temples, it could make believers of other religions misunderstand since believers of other religions do not understand the Buddhism purpose and rules.

Personal Statement

Dear friends,

I made a mistake for this blog since I did not read carefully the requirements of this week's blog post. I thought we are going to write a presonal statement to apply for a graduate program. I searched for schools and wrote one to apply for Department of Bioengineering, University of Columbia, as a master student. I am terribly sorry about my mistake. I will write another blog post about my biodata in the next few days.

Anyways, I post my personal statement here since I worked hard for it.

This is the website of the laboratory: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/mechanical/mbl/


Personal Statement to University of Columbia, Department of Biomedical Engineering:

Since I was young, I have had a strong interest in science because it was always fascinating for me to read about new discoveries in science, and scientific theories to explain about nature, and the human body. In fact, the motivation for me to learn English was to read more science books. During high school, I was one of the top students in my math, chemistry and biology classes. Inspired by my biology teacher who encouraged her students to be biomedical researchers whose work could help to solve medical problems, I decided to pursue a career in Bioengineering.

Being an undergraduate student majoring in Bioengineering at the National University of Singapore has offered me tremendous opportunities to further explore many interesting aspects of bioengineering such as Biomaterials, Biomechanics, Tissue Engineering, and Imaging Technique. Among those topics, I have a strong interest in Biomechanics and I always want to study the mechanical properties of the human body by applying principles of biomechanics that I have acquired during the Biomechanics courses taken in NUS and University of Waterloo during my student exchange program.

In my vacation internship at Laboratory of Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering, Zhejiang University, I worked on a project about the regeneration of cartilaginous tissue which gave me a good understanding of the biological properties of cartilage tissue. That was when I started to wonder about the biomechanical function of cartilaginous tissue. During my 4th year in NUS, I really want to get a better understanding of the biomechanical properties of cartilage, which is not possible since my school places more emphasis on other research areas. Hence, I hope to do my master degree in a school which can give me an opportunity to take advanced courses about cartilage tissues and to do research about the mechanical function of those tissues.

After I successfully obtain my master degree I can imagine myself as a biomedical engineer working for a biomedical company to design medical devices to treat and cure human diseases. My strong and broad background in bioengineering and passion for it would help me make a contribution to the field.

During my search for a suitable laboratory for my master degree, I found the Musculoskeletal Biomechanics Laboratory in University of Columbia, working on my research field of interest. University of Columbia is a well-known university located in New York City, which is a very vibrant city that offers many cultural events. It would be an honor for me to live in such a beautiful city, and work hard to satisfy my curiosity in biomechanics in a school which can offer world-class research facilities.

Job Application Letter

September 2, 2009
Dr. Hongyan Wang
Laboratory of Neural Stem Cells
Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School
Singapore

Dear Dr Hongyan Wang,

I am writing to introduce myself and express my interest in working at Laboratory of Neural Stem Cells at Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School as a Research Assistant. My Professor, Micheal Raghunath from the Tissue Modulation Laboratory, has recommended the position as an excellent employment opportunity. I feel I am a good candidate for this position because, as mentioned in my resume, I have a strong background in Cellular Biology, research skills, good communication skills and I have a strong interest in neural stem cells research.

As a Bioengineering student doing an honors project at the National University of Singapore, I believe that I could produce outstanding research work in the field of neural stem cells as a research assistant.

First of all, I have gained a strong background in Cellular Biology through intensive courses about the latest knowledge in stem cell and cellular biology research in National University of Singapore and University of Waterloo, Canada. The acquired knowledge would be very essential for the research assistant position working on neural stem cells.

Moreover, through my summer internship at the Laboratory of Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, China, I have acquired key technical skills for stem cells research such as cell culture, microscope techniques and polymerase reaction chain (real time and reverse transcript). I believe that good technical skills are necessary to produce excellent research work

Also, I mastered how to do a systematical and critical review of the current and latest knowledge in a research field. I gained extensive knowledge about stem cells and research methodology to investigate the molecular mechanisms of differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells. These qualities would help me to thrive in an intensive research environment.

I am fluent in English and I have good writing skills in English. In addition, I have a strong interest in cellular biology and want to work to enhance human understanding. I would also like to devise new cures and treatments of neural diseases. Under your guidance, I look forward to learning more about the molecular mechanisms of self-renewal and differentiation processes in flies and mammals.

Thank you for considering my application.

I look forward to meeting with you to discuss.

Sincerely,

Do Thi Hai Van

29 Prince George’s Park
Blk29 Level 5 Room I
Singapore 118424
Phone: 83464338
Email: u0605620@gmail.com