Showing 1 - 3 of 3
Andalusian dreams
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 15/02/2024
» Two Middle Eastern tourists looked excited as they held up a phone to an exquisitely carved arabesque in Nasrid Palace at the Alhambra. No, they're not taking photos. They're comparing the Arabic text on their screen with the 8th century stone calligraphy. I hear them mumble in Arabic -- here's the translation:
Marina's soul searching in Bangkok
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 13/10/2023
» Like Dante guided by Virgil, Marina Abramovic drifts through the purgatory that is Bangkok chaperoned by the little monkey prince. After praying at shrines and temples of assorted spiritual inclinations, she is taken to the Monkey King (Pichet Klunchun), whose rhymed, melodic prophecy finally guides Abramovic to the prayer hall of Wat Pho where her salvation awaits clad in a saffron robe.
The purveyors of Islam
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 30/06/2015
» At the age of 12, after finishing Prathom 6, Shakireen Malilee left normal education to study to become a hafiz. Originally from Prachuap Khiri Khan, he moved to an Islamic boarding school in Min Buri, a Bangkok suburb, and devoted himself to the ancient art of memorising the Koran. Every day for eight hours, Shakireen recited from Islamic holy scripture and committed each word, each verse, each page, each chapter into his young brain. After four years, he had memorises the entire book, roughly equivalent of memorising every single word of a 500-page tome. At 16, he achieved the rare honour of being called a hafiz.