Dr. Su-Ed at Bangkadee (Kun Yekha, October 17, 2004)

“I’m really happy to see Mons from Monland and Thailand working together and showing solidarity, unity, and cooperation,” remarked Dr. Su-ed in his welcoming speech on October 16th.

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION IN HONOR FOR DR. SU-ED AT BANGKADEE

The Mons from two countries held an honoring ceremony for Dr. Su-ed on his 80th birthday at the Headquarters of the Thai-Ramarn Association, Bangkadee Mon village of Bangkhunthian .

Dr. Su-ed Gajaseni, the professor of Faculty of Medicine at Siriraj Hospital and Mahidol University , is a well-known figure among Mon communities in Burma and Thailand, referred to as “Mor Su-ed”, designated as the sixth generation of the great Commander Banyae Join ancestors.

Both the Mons from Burma and Thailand gathered together to celebrate Dr. Su-ed’s 80th birthday. “I’m really happy to see Mons from Monland and Thailand working together and showing solidarity, unity, and cooperation,” remarked Dr. Su-ed in his welcoming speech on the first of a two-day celebration on October 16th.

Mon and Thai Mon communities in the thousands gathered inside the 17 Rai (about 10 acres) association campus. The area was bustling with activity as people queued up and down along the perimeter of the campus flanked by Thai security police patrolling the area. Long lines of taxis, motorbikes and mostly old and new Toyota vehicles inched along while those on foot entered the main gate with two statues of the Golden Sheldrake, the Mon guardian bird set atop each column, looking over the procession, reminiscent of past celebrations when teams of bullock carts was the customary mode of transportation during the biggest traditional gatherings like the “Takok Khamaing Buddhist Festivals” held annually after Songkran in Monland.

Today though the Mon have modernized, their communication amplified within a modern world of technology and rituals, people talking on their cell phones trying to locate their missing friends, others with digital and video cameras circulating among the various activities. The area was vibrant with color, mostly dominated with red and white, like the portable canvas tents of Coca Cola set up to provide shade for cooking, washing and a meeting area, including group photos—the soft drink white lettering of the Coca Cola logo with a red background, matched or color coordinated it seems with the Mon traditional red sarong and white shirts worn by the men. The grounds in turn were decorated with carnival, tube light structures set high above the audience, which were shaped like the Buddha nimbus, blinking blue, orange, and white in intervals, several surrounding the grounds. A stage for dancing and speech making was decorated with portraits of Dr. Su-ed and flanked by two Golden Sheldrakes, beside a red gravel road that led from the main gate to the hall.

Three hundred and fifty tables were arranged with blue and red chairs in two groups, with ten persons per table. “Before, we arranged only three hundred tables, and three hundred tickets, but they were gone after a three day announcement,” said Nai Saha, the convening committee who worked hard bringing everything together for the occasion. Many people without tickets were happy to stand during the festivities in the hall beside the stage. Advanced table tickets were not enough since many Mons were anxious to join in the festivities of the great ancestor of Banyae Join, Dr. Su-ed.

To mark the beginning, two Thai-Mon ladies announced the agenda in the honoring the event in Thai and Mon. About (50) performers opened the ceremony with “Krak Jalon” song, followed by the opening ceremony in which Dr. Su-ed was carefully brought onto the stage in a wheelchair and who cheerfully welcomed the people. He commented on everyone’s enthusiasm in honoring him and was moved in seeing such a show of strength and unity among the Mons from both Thailand and Monland. He urged the younger generation to work hard in improving Mon literature and culture. Even though he grew up in Thailand he spoke Mon fluently and vividly, his conversation made all the more livelier with plenty of old Mon vocabulary and grammar thrown in.

Mons from both countries gave dramatic and colorful performances with traditional dances followed by a popular vocalist show. The children danced in unison with “Rehmonya”, the most popular classic song, farmers danced (Leh Samar Bangae) and two Mon merchants (Ta Pao & Ta Bo) were appreciably applauded by people. Saik Zarn, the Thai-Mon vocalist, entertained the people supported by a group of line-dancers. Every segment of the community was recognized, after the entertainment the convening committee announced their home villages and those from the working factories supported awards to the popular players of football, volleyball and basketball.

More than half the audience, mostly made up of teens and migrant workers, stood up and shouted praise when popular vocalist Hong Chan took to the stage. Not far away from their motherland, they enjoy such entertainment venues, taking a break from their long days at work to spend some free time in Thailand . “It’s a great opportunity to see Hong Chan singing live and honoring Dr. Su-ed,” said a Kawt Saik villager from Mahachai. Many migrant workers here are legal, registered with work permits,” he added.

When Hong Chan sang “Chan Mon Chan Nai”, his most popular song, the people lined in front of the stage to sing along him. Ong Marn, the announcer for the show, frequently had to request the people not to shove each other or get too excited, which may cause problems and shut down the show. The people calmed down when Ong Marn announced no jumping on the chairs and tables.

Ramarn, another popular singer kept the beat going, singing romantic songs full of harmony, he also entertained people with pleasing melody song. Nai Sunthorn, secretary of Mon Unity League commented that, “it’s the biggest ceremony of Thai-Mon I have ever seen.”

Even though the entertainment was to close down after midnight, the audience shouted encore asking the singers for more songs, convening committee members requested them to end their show for the sake of security. “We’ll see you all again somewhere else,” said Hong Chan to his beloved fans.

Mon Youth Community in Bangkok (Thai-Mon) and The Light of Mon Youth Organization ( Mons from Monland, based in Mahachai) worked together for both honoring the birthday ceremony of Dr. Su-ed. This occasion was the second time the two organizations worked together, MYC and LMYO. “We want more cooperation among the Mons in Thailand and Monland for the sake of maintaining Mon literature, culture and some social matters of migrant workers,” said by Nai Sahamon Rajanon, the chairman of LMYO. For this special occasion, both sides eagerly spent a couple months working hard to prepare for the ceremony while working full time at their factory jobs. Thai-Mons were joined together wearing the Mon dresses of red and white colors with scholars remarking that the Mon community is getting stronger, more Mons in Thailand are proud to be Mon,” said Nai Oong Bangjung, the secretary general of Mon Youth Community in Bangkok.

On the second day, October 17, the ceremony was held in the community hall accompanied with religious donations. Long lines of people were waiting their turn to donate honey and sticky rice. There were about (15) food booths with many kinds of traditional Mon foods. As well, others donated desks, a small temporary clinic for administrating first aid, a Mon table for selling dresses and a publications’ distribution desk, as well as a place for selling honey, which was abuzz with people wanting to buy it. A book on the historical background of the Thai-Ramarn Association and a brief biography of Dr. Su-ed was also distributed. The book outlined a brief history of the Mon Association and the ancestral line of Dr. Su-ed, which was translated into the Mon language by Nai Sunthorn.

The Mons from Ratchburi, Phetburi, Ayudhaya, Lopburi, Bang Poon, Putram, Pathumthani, Monland, Bangkradee, Weanka and Phra Padeang all provided a helping hand serving people traditional foods. “I miss my native village when I served others in this kind of ceremony,” said a “Kaw Zoa” villager. Some were busy with serving cold drinks, including Pepsi and Coke while others were content washing and preparing dishes for the large crowd.

The place in which Dr. Su-ed sat to accept visitors paying their respect was decorated with a variety of flowers and two big golden Sheldrakes, Dr. Su-ed himself wearing a garland of yellow flowers around his neck. In the community hall, others donated lunch alms donation for about 140 monks with an abundance of food. Beside the hall, Mon traditional music was played, the musicians were from Ayudhaya, labeling their residents “Kwan Prasat”.

When Dr. Su-ed accepted the pouring of water for traditional protection, the people eagerly queued up in a long line. Others paid their respects pouring water on Dr. Su-ed, while others were happily talking to his younger brother Supher Gajaseni, the former supreme commander of Thailand .

Dr. Su-ed was born on October 17 of Buddhist year 2467, is from a family of six siblings. After studying at Siriraj, he accepted the position of house and senior house officer at Siriraj Medical Department. Later he was chosen as a state scholar and sought out further education at Graduate School of Medicine and Episcopal Hospital of Pennsylvania, USA. He received a Diploma of Advance Hindi at Baranasi University in India and got his Doctorate of Medicine at Mahidol University , Bangkok . Currently, he is the Chairman of Thai-Ramarn Association.

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