“Since its reversion in 1972, Okinawa has tried hard to assimilate into mainstream Japanese society, including by discarding its own language, which many see as inferior. As a result, only a relatively small number of people, mainly the aged, can speak the Okinawan language fluently.

As an indicator that Uchinaguchi is more than a dialect, UNESCO in 2009 designated it as one of the six endangered languages spoken on the Okinawan and neighboring Amami islands. But as yet Okinawa Prefecture and the central government do not have any concrete measures in place to protect the language, and they have yet to establish that Uchinaguchi is really an independent language.”

“To preserve the language and raise its profile among the local population, experts say Uchinaguchi should be mandatory at schools, and they cited the successful case in Hawaii where the native language was introduced in schools in an attempt to save it. The state also designated Hawaiian as its official language.

As a step toward adding Uchinaguchi to the curriculum, Okinawa Prefecture in 2007 set up a commission to create a publication to help teach the language in public schools. But for the last five years the complexity and diverse nature of Uchinaguchi have kept scholars from deciding exactly how to codify the language and compile the publication.

Even within the language, there are several dialects spoken within the southern half of Okinawa Island. Such differences exist for all the six different languages — including forms spoken on Amami-Oshima, Yaeyama, Miyako and other islands in the southwest — designated as endangered by UNESCO. This is why experts say even linguists and government officials cannot determine which dialect of Uchinaguchi will be codified as the standard form.”

“But Uchinaguchi teacher Fija said it’s time for Okinawans to embrace the most fundamental source of their identity.

‘As long as we keep labeling Uchinaguchi as a dialect or an inferior form of language, we are treating ourselves like second-class citizens,’ he said.”

From here.

I think I’m going to have to read at least enough of Jonathan Haidt’s The Righteous Mind to be able to talk about it professionally, but it sounds flawed in its conception (judging by bits of reviews I’ve seen, nothing more). Perhaps it’s the reviewers who are getting it wrong. And perhaps I’ve said this before, although a quick search of this blog suggests I haven’t.

Here’s the stuff I have in mind. Nicholas D. Kristof writes that:

“The Righteous Mind,” by Jonathan Haidt, a University of Virginia psychology professor, argues that, for liberals, morality is largely a matter of three values: caring for the weak, fairness and liberty. Conservatives share those concerns (although they think of fairness and liberty differently) and add three others: loyalty, respect for authority and sanctity.

And:

Another way of putting it is this: Americans speak about values in six languages, from care to sanctity. Conservatives speak all six, but liberals are fluent in only three.

This makes conservatives sound better than liberals. William Saletan produces a similar kind of sound:

Social conservatives see welfare and feminism as threats to responsibility and family stability. The Tea Party hates redistribution because it interferes with letting people reap what they earn. Faith, patriotism, valor, chastity, law and order — these Republican themes touch all six moral foundations, whereas Democrats, in Haidt’s analysis, focus almost entirely on care and fighting oppression. This is Haidt’s startling message to the left: When it comes to morality, conservatives are more broad-minded than liberals. They serve a more varied diet.

There is a basic mistake here which I think is easy to see if we substitute racial purity for any of the listed themes or values: having more values is not necessarily better (although I agree that it might be), in the way that having a more varied diet or speaking more languages is undoubtedly better. I’m guessing that the common source of this error is Haidt himself, although I’ll have to read his book to find out.

A second problem is the apparent use of charity in interpreting people’s political beliefs. Perhaps the Tea Party hates redistribution because its members believe in reaping what you earn. But perhaps these people oppose redistribution for purely self-interested reasons (they expect to do badly from it), or because they are racist and think of the poor as likely to be members of ethnic minorities that they regard as lazy. I imagine that individual members of the Tea Party vary, and that some are influenced by two or more of these and other considerations.

Saletan also says:

Haidt has read ethnographies, traveled the world and surveyed tens of thousands of people online. He and his colleagues have compiled a catalog of six fundamental ideas that commonly undergird moral systems: care, fairness, liberty, loyalty, authority and sanctity. Alongside these principles, he has found related themes that carry moral weight: divinity, community, hierarchy, tradition, sin and degradation.

The concern he attributes to the Tea Party seems to have to do with fairness. But it’s worth asking whether people actually do reap what they earn. Some do, some don’t, surely. Some people get rich by working hard or being very talented, or both. But luck usually comes into it somewhere, and not every talented, hard-working person has good luck. Similarly, some poor people are lazy. Some lack talent (but is that their fault?). And some are simply unlucky. If anyone denies that luck is involved (and thoughtful conservatives such as Hayek do not do so) then they aren’t necessarily showing sensitivity to some value to which others are blind. They might be in denial of the truth. And the more values we have to attribute to them in order to try to make charitable sense of their beliefs, the less coherent their belief-system might be.

Another question concerns the idea that liberals don’t care about all six “themes.” Trades union members care about loyalty, for instance. Religious people, many of whom are politically liberal, believe in and value authority. And supporters of women’s rights often refer to women’s bodies as things that the government should not touch. Isn’t that a kind of sanctity? Perhaps it is better counted as a concern with freedom. Still, Haidt’s views seem problematic in a variety of ways. They do address an important issue though. Which is why I need to read his book.

International university, what does that mean? In the Thai context, this term is used to describe an institute of higher education where English is the language of instruction. In most cases, it would be more politically correct to talk about international colleges, faculties, or programs, which are parts of existing Thai universities. But the question is: “why English”? The answer is quite simple. It is because English is the lingua franca of the modern globalized world. It is a common language used in the publication of scientific research. It is also prevalently used in conducting international business. People who know and speak English well have great advantages compared to those who don’t. In Thailand, English is a de facto second language. Even though the law does not recognize it as such, but it is indisputable that numerous Thai companies require their employees to speak English, let alone foreign companies and corporations. Even street vendors in Bangkok are able to speak English, however minimal, to communicate with their customers of various national backgrounds.

Given numerous opportunities that are the by-products of the ability to speak English, many students seek various means to improve their English skills. Thus emerged the strong demand for post-secondary education in English. In order to meet with this demand, top universities in Thailand began developing English programs, and later on they established themselves as international universities. This allows for a broader range of education as most books and countless forms of educational publication are available in English. Most of these international universities are located in Bangkok and its metropolitan peripheries. The following list is comprised of some well-known universities in Thailand where English is the language of instruction (in alphabetical order).

Chulalongkorn UniversityChulalongkorn University, or simply Chula amongst Thai speakers, is located in downtown Bangkok, right in the centre of commerce known to all Thais and foreigners as Siam. It is within a walking distance from the BTS SkyTrain, which enables easy accessibility to the campus. Many Thais believe in the prestige of this institute as it was established by one of the Chakri kings of the past. The university offers a variety of undergraduate programs in English. These programs are categorized according to the faculties to which they belong. It is notable that fees between Thai citizens and foreigners differ substantially. The university requires varying scores from one of these examinations IELTS, TOEFL, SAT, or CU-TEP. These are the courses offered by Chula at the undergraduate level:

Faculty of Commerce and AccountingAccountingInternational Business Management

Faculty of EconomicsEconomics

Faculty of ScienceApplied Chemistry

Faculty of EngineeringNano EngineeringAutomotive Design and Manufacturing EngineeringInformation and Communication EngineeringAerospace Engineering

Faculty of ArchitectureArchitectural DesignCommunication Design

Faculty of Communication ArtsCommunication Management

Faculty of ArtsLanguage and Culture

Faculty of PsychologyPsychological Science

Mahidol University International CollegeMahidol University International College or MUIC is a part of Mahidol University, a renowned institute of higher education named after Prince Mahidol, the father of King Rama IX. Its main campus is located in Salaya, but it is easily accessible via the Salaya Link, a shuttle bus system between Wongwian Yai BTS station and Salaya provided by the university. The International College is well known for its high English standard of admission. It has a reputation of being the first public university to offer an international degree program. The aim of MUIC is to provide its students with a liberal arts education to promote the culture of learning so that the students are well-rounded. It accepts tests scores from one of the following tests in addition to its own admission examination: IELTS, TOEFL, and SAT. Currently, MUIC offers the following undergraduate degree programs:

Bachelor of ArtsSocial ScienceCommunication DesignEntertainment Media Production

Bachelor Business AdministrationBusiness EconomicsFinanceInformation SystemsInternational BusinessMarketingTourism & Hospitality Management

Bachelor of ScienceApplied MathematicsBiological ScienceChemistryComputer ScienceEnvironmentFood Science and TechnologyPhysics

Bachelor of Nursing ScienceNursing Science

Thammasat UniversityThammasat is known for its involvement in the politics of Thailand. Its international programs are organized on the two campuses: the Prachan campus downtown and the Rangsit campus in the outskirts of Bangkok. Even though Thammasat’s international programs do not have the longest history in Thailand, it has a great reputation which it has upheld. Similar to other universities, Thammasat accepts IELTS, TOEFL, and SAT test scores as part of its admission criteria. These are the programs offered:

The Combined Bachelor and Master of Political Science Program in Politics and International RelationBachelor of Business AdministrationBachelor of EconomicsBachelor’s Degree in British and American StudiesBachelor of Arts in Business English CommunicationBachelor’s Degree in Engineering, Science and TechnologyDouble Degree of Engineering – Twinning Engineering ProgrammmeBachelor Degree of Engineering – Thammasat English Programme of EngineeringBachelor’s Degree in Journalism (Mass Media Studies)Bachelor’s of Arts in Chinese Studies

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