East Timor

Today Thun began his Exam Week. Jason had his "exam" too.

I came rushing home to ask Thun: "How was your exam?"

"Easy."

"YES!" I threw my hands into the air. Jason was watching carefully.

"Jason, how was your exam?" I asked.

"Easy!" Jason knows how to please his Dad -- wait 'til he gets 24th place out of 25.

I continued, "Thun, which subjects did you do today?"

"Mathematics, easy, Science, easy, History, I'm not sure."

I interrogated him: "What was the topic -- Thai History???" I was ready to quiz him about the kings of Thailand.

"No," he said, "ASEAN."

"Well, that's easy," I said, "name the eleven countries of ASEAN."

"No, Dad! -- only ten."

"OK, name the ten."

"Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Burma," he said correctly.

"Good!" I said . . . . . "WAIT A MINUTE!!" I had a brainstorm, "what about East Timor? I think East Timor is part of ASEAN, too."

"No, Dad," responded Thun, "They are not ready yet. They are too small and too poor. Brunei is small, but they are rich, so they are part of ASEAN, but East Timor is not ready to be part of ASEAN yet."

"Thun," I concluded, "you are so smart and I love you so much. You are such a good student and you can even teach your Dad about ASEAN -- that's why I'm so proud of you . . . . but, still, I think East Timor should be part of ASEAN."

"Yeah," said Thun, "me, too."