The Billiken's Bluff

Traveling in Southeast Asia I've seen numerous examples of East meeting West, comically poor English translations, and cultural anachronisms.

For instance, in Bangkok in front of McDonalds there is a statue of Ronald McDonald with his hands clasped together in the traditional Thai prayer-like greeting called a wai.



While in Saigon I visited The War Remnants Museum, which documented atrocities committed by both sides during the Vietnam War. Particularly chilling were the photographs of people with deformities resulting from exposure to Agent Orange.



After seeing these photographs of shrunken gumby-like limbs and caved-in heads, I walked out of the museum and was immediately approached by beggars, who much like the photographs inside, displayed some gruesome deformities. The most shocking part though was that one man with a misformed head, covered his scalp with a Texas bandana, complete with red, white, blue, stars, and stripes.



The irony of the situation was certainly not lost on me, and perhaps not lost on him either.

In Krabi, Thailand there is a Muslim population, and they are fasting for Ramadan. They "break fast" at sundown. So today I opened a local paper and saw that the good folks at Kentucky Fried Chicken had provided a listing of the sunrise and sunset times in various local provinces, presumably so that Muslims would know when they can buka puasa with a 10 piece bucket of chicken legs at KFC.



I'm not sure if this should surprise me or not. Details like these hardly even seem strange or incongruous anymore. Maybe we're moving towards a world beyond irony.