Blessed are the kids

re: "Society must keep kids safe" (BP, Editorial, September 23, 2023)

Dear editor,

In attributing a fair share of blame for the horrendous crimes committed in the heart of a Thai family against innocent children, the Post rightly admits that "A community that remains silent and does nothing emboldens such perpetrators." This reminds us yet again that merely being a venerable tradition is no guarantee of moral worth. In this case, the hoary custom of not respecting the voice of the weak in deference to social status led to the vilest of abuse being continued for many years. Exactly the same toxic habit of blindly respecting saffron robes enabled child abuse to thrive in monasteries, as it did in Western Christian churches until respect was tempered by healthy critical questioning and respect for voices raised against traditional abuses blessed by social custom.

In Thailand, it is the law itself that too often sets the example of nurturing such ugly traditions with grievously harmful consequences for the innocent. What else is law that brutishly intimidates into silence by imprisoning children and other morally courageous citizens merely for the peaceful expression of honest opinion? Their voices, too, deserve to be heard, no matter that they offend against some tradition every bit as ancient and respected as that embodied in the silence blessed by custom that enabled the most recently unveiled evils to be committed for years on end against children in the bosom of their very own family, by their father and mother. 

Unless all voices are heard and respected, how can deeply entrenched moral corruption even be discovered, let alone healed? 

 Felix Qui 

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The above letter to the editor is the text as submitted by Felix Qui to the Bangkok Post.

The text as edited was published in PostBag on September 25, 2023, under the title "Blessed are the kids" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/2652283/lack-of-interest