Is There Justice?

A few days ago I visited the Human Development Foundation (HDF) which is a non-profit organization, helping poor, abused and sick (HIV/AIDS) children.


The organization is lead by a catholic priest but there is no proselytization of the children. Beside this they have Christian, Jews, Buddhist and Muslim supporting the organization.

While I was there I was wondering, if we can expect justice from life in general. If you see a two year old child, already infected with HIV/AIDS, somehow this question comes up, if you like it or not. I think we can't and more important we don't have to. The thought of expecting justice from life is childish and has nothing to do with nature. Nature don't have to and isn't righteous - for what?

I think the problem starts with the expectation. We don't have to expect anything, because through the expectation we will attach feelings and if our expectations aren't fulfilled, we are disappointed. Although I know, I won't be able to live with no expectations at all, I think I should try.

If we believe in justice and if we believe in the right thing - what ever this might be - we can only achieve that by doing it ourselves. There is no justice in general but everyone of us, can do the right think in the very moment.

If we can understand why we are doing certain things, if we understand the motivation behind our actions, we can be righteous. But this is probably a theoretical approach, since we won't be able to understand our actions completely, hence our self-influence is very limited.

Bangkok Buildings

A few days ago I made a trip through Bangkok mainly for photographing some buildings. I created an album of the pictures on my personal website, you can see the album here.

I made the trip with one of the motorbike taxi drivers, below you can see a picture of him


I added you a few picutres from the collection :) enojoy!

River Cruise in Bangkok

I made a river cruise lately with a colleague and it was very nice. Below you can see a typical impression, while making a river cruise.


I made a few pictures available on my personal website, have a look here!

While cruising the river, there are many different impressions and some of them make you think a lot. The water of the river is very dirty and than you'll see many people swimming, bathing and even brushing there teeth in there. Surely it's not the most healthy thing to do, but I guess, if you don't have somewhere else to go, you won't think about that.

If you stay in Bangkok and you have a look at non-typical tourist places, you'll find out, that one of the main properties of Bangkok, are the contrasts. For me it's still very surprising, that it is possible to have so big contrasts in such a small place. The difference between the very poor and the very rich is huge and they just live one beside the other.

I don't understand, how this is possible and why there is no kind of "revolution", but maybe this is Buddhism...

No work, no food

In Thailand people often use the phrase: no work, now food (mai mee ngaan, mai mee gin - ไม่มีงาน ไม่มีกิน). This phrase reflects a lot of the attitude of the people and there point of view about there daily work and life.

In Thailand people appreciate it, when they have work and they proud about it. For most people, work still means, that they'll be able to feed there family and buy the most important things they need for there daily life.

What is the purpose of work anyway? I think most people in the west forgot, why they work. I believe the main purpose of work is, that we are able to exist. If we don't eat and drink, we can't exist. Our body is (from a very simple point of view) like an engine, if there is no energy for the engine, it'll stop working. If we work, we are able to afford our life. This might sound strange, but isn't it like this?

I consider myself a very lucky person, since I grew up in a loving family and in a very well developed and rich country. But growing up in a very well developed and rich country can be a handicap too. In Switzerland many people don't learn to appriciate the most basic things and they think everything they have, is how it has to be. Most people in Switzerland don't have to deal with the question, if all there children will go to bed with a meal. Since people don't face this situations, there daily life reflects on there attitude in a different way.

So basically in Thailand it's not important if someone works for McDonald's, cooks in a street kitchen or is a taxi driver. The fact, that someone is working and is able to take care of him or herself and the family pays the tribute to the community.

I think most of the people in Switzerland would be able to learn a lot about attitude, if they would come here and spend some time with open eyes. I'm not talking about vacation, so there won't be a misunderstanding ;)

If you read so far, I'm very interested in your point of view... Thanks!