Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Visit to Luang Prabang University

I had the opportunity to visit the Luang Prabang University some weeks ago. Luang Prabang is in northern Laos, about 400 km away from the capital. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and used to be the royal capital of the country i.e. the king used to stay here before the revolution in 1975. The place is dotted with monks and temples and is a favourite spot for backpackers due to the scenic view. I have been to LB for about 8-9 times so seriously, I am already pretty jaded about the place. Still, this is the first time I am going to the LB University which is a school and home to more than 2500 students which hailed from all the northern provinces of Laos.

Now of course, we shouldn't expect the university to be on the same level as NUS or NTU. By the way, when we think of NUS, what do we think of? Besides the general suckiness of the idiot lecturers and poser students, and also the fact the Engineering canteen is always swamped by Chinese students who bought enough Yong Tau Foo to feed his village of course. We think of the following in relation to NUS:

(a) nice spanking campus and pristine, white marbled halls

(b) awesome arts canteen with beef horfun and chicken chop. Even McDonalds.

(c) state of the art libraries with enough capacity to host an army of scholars

(d) high tech computer labs with PCs all linked to internet via broad band = easy access to porn

(e) spacious studying facilities such as YIH at NUS

(f) enough recreational facilities to make everybody happy. Tennis / squash / badmintion / arcade games - you name it, NUS has it.

(g) Opulent ceremonial hall which nobody use, except twice a year for graduation ceremonies and hosting PM's rally speech

(h) comfy lecture theatres with backdoors which latecomers can sneak in through



Not really nice and spanking with marbled halls, is it?





Not exactly like our lecture theatres.


This is a domitory. Which doesn't look half bad when compared to say, Eusoff Hall, until you see the interior.



In the dormitory, there are two rows of six wooden doubledecker beds making it 24 students in one room. Talk about privacy.

And the kitchen. There are no canteen selling beef horfun or Fong Seng around the place of course. The students also could not afford to eat out anyway. Thus many students form their own groups and do communal cooking to save money. Below is a pic of the university's kitchen.


This group of students was cooking some odd stew in the pot when I walked in. I must say you would never see such stuff in Singapore. Most NUS-lites would just walk to Fong Seng to have a cheese murtabak. I have a Japanese friend who actually studied the Lao language in such conditions for a year. All in all, although the study environment at the LB university is not exactly ideal when compared to NUS, at least no one grows up to be a poser and pussy here.

6 Comments:

Blogger vanilla said...

I am amazed it is called University.

1st pic remians me of Kampong school. This, by the way was the best pic by the time I scrolled down to see the rest.

Dormitary looks like our blagadash living quarter. In comparson, I thot our blagadash got a better deal.

Kitchen? It looks like an abondoned wet market. I see no fire or gas? cook using twigs?

7:40 AM  
Blogger Captain Obvious said...

Yep. Cooked using wood. Amazing, isn't it? It is like a camp site. Sad to say, it is indeed true that Bangladeshi workers may be getting a better deal.

I didn't dare to take picture of the communal toilet which is shared by 2500 students. Not pretty.

6:47 PM  
Blogger vanilla said...

Communal Toilet? Both male and female in one?

Don't tell me there is no flushing system.

In Singapore, we promoting something called Happy Toilets where toilets in schools are decorated by pupils with a theme. I'll try to take pic.

6:25 PM  
Blogger Captain Obvious said...

Well, they have two communal toilets; one for male and the other for female.

I am seriously doubting the effectiveness of the flushing system in these toilets.

Happy toilets sound cool

2:36 AM  
Blogger Lennie said...

Dear Captain Obvious,

Your visit to Souphanouvong University is already a few years back, and I wonder if you remember how you arranged your visit?

I am seeking to contact the university in Luang Prabang, but I cannot find any contact details. Your tips would be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks!
Lennie

7:53 PM  
Blogger Christopher Ryan said...

Hi,

I just read this article and notice you have been to Luang Prabang many times. I am hoping you might can help me out with some information (as it is hard to find). I am an American photographer and will be visiting there on March 15th for two weeks. I am trying to find a local english speaking student that I can hire to help me with my international photography project.

If you happen to know anyone or if you can chat with me a bit, I can be reached easily via FaceBook. https://www.facebook.com/TheChristopherRyan

Thank you,

Chris

7:33 PM  

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