Our exhibit Uh is all about … the freedom of expression and a vibrant youth culture in present day Vietnam.

Our biggest challenge when making music videos is … convincing the likes of Hoang Thuy Linh (Vietnamese pop singer) that we can’t mimic the tacky aesthetics of American manufactured pop videos.

Working with Danish arts collective Supeflux … was a dream come true. The trio are so clever, inspiring, meticulous and patient.

We always play with … the stereotypes and conventional approaches to our mediums, kind of a mindf**k but that’s our way of being truly creative.

We respect Vietnamese culture because … it’s one of the richest visual cultures in the world.

Check out Uh at Video, An Art, a History 1965-2010.

How would you describe the music you create?
Our music is like a sweet, sour, bitter, spicy, salty dish; there is something for everyone to connect to.

You often wear animal masks for your gigs. Why?
Just for a laugh. Anyway it also stops the crowd from knowing if we’re falling asleep behind the mask.

Describe the creative process behind your music.
I write the music, then Edo adds the drums. Mary and Yunyun chip in with the vocals.

Which albums do you love right now?
Gang Gang Dance’s Saint Dymphna. Recently, I came across a Hangzhou-based British band, Party Horse. Their song “Lazer Beam” is awesome. Also, there is a French group called We Are Not Invited. I’m helping them produce their album and I quite like their sound.

If you could only perform at one festival anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
Definitely an intergalactic music festival. Mars would be perfect!

Catch the wild sounds of Pet Conspiracy on Aug 20 at Baybeats 2011. Log on to www.baybeats.com for more details.

So a lot has happened since your performance here last year. Can you describe the shape of your music after the departure of Josh and Zac?
The couple of songs we’ve written since they left the band are in line with what we’ve been doing for some time now but I have a feeling in my bones that the next album will have a bit of a new sound for us and that’s really exciting to me.

If you weren’t a musician what do you think you’d be doing?
Even if I wasn’t making money, Paramore has become something that is so much bigger than us and we’re blessed to be a part of it. I’d rather be in Paramore than working any job.

Best tour story you’ve got?
We nearly burned a building down in downtown Tokyo a couple of years ago. It was one of those Korean barbecue restaurants where you cook your own food at the table and one of the flames caught a lampshade on fire. Nine fire trucks showed up as well as a couple of news teams. We felt so embarrassed and so rock and roll at the same time!

Last record you bought?
The Dangerous Summer’s War Paint, I love the vocals and there’s something so nostalgic and soulful about the songs. And I’m waiting patiently for the new Bjork album (Biophilia) to come out. Her new single, “Crystalline” is incredible!

What’s going to be different about your performance this time around that we can look forward to?
I feel like the set list we’re going to play this time is a little more dynamic. And of course, we have a new song to play for you guys ... so stoked.

Don’t miss Paramore’s return to Singapore on Aug 21.

I believe in showing respect to the people you deal with and the situations you find yourself in by dressing with care.

I also appreciate the craftsmanship that goes into clothes that have been tailor-made for you. It's an act of resistance against industrial conformity.

My fondest childhood memory happened when I was four, refusing to try mangoes, and my father insisting that they were nice. He was right.

My education at Princeton taught me to try to appear to not be working very hard. It just wasn't cool. You had to do the work, and you had to perform really well, but it had to look effortless.

For sheer reading pleasure nothing compares to the Tintin and Asterix series, as well as the full-length works of Malaysian cartoonist Lat.

As an only child, I was always an observer. I liked to watch people, decode a situation from the body language of the participants, eavesdrop on their conversations and absorb the rhythms of their speech.

I suppose I built up a mental journal of the human condition, and at a certain point I needed to start telling stories.

Our duty as artists is to be more creative than the censors, to let the limitations inspire us. You can't let them win.

Writing is equal parts therapy and trauma, man.

Very early in my career I got a love letter from a young lady who had watched a play of mine and decided she liked me, or at least the idea she had of me. It was flattering, I guess, but I was attached, so there was no way anything was going to happen.

I create playlists for each project I’m working on, with music to match the mood, usually instrumental or in a language other than English, so that there are no lyrics to interfere with creating sentences in my mind. Anything that takes me out of myself without leading me too firmly to any one place.

It's better to listen than to speak.

I unwind like any other dude on the street; I swim and read magazines but things get interesting when I plot world domination.

It's a huge blessing to have Claire (Wong) as both my professional and life partner. It’s always a joy to depend on someone you share your life goals and work ethic with.

The trick is to make sure you can stop talking about work once in a while and carve out time to just be a couple.

My family keeps me sane and grounded, so even if I don't always know where I'm going, I always know where I came from.

My epitaph should read like this: "He was compassionate and kind, and good at his job."

What did you do before becoming a policewoman?
I lived in Nakhon Phanom with my parents who are both public servants. I went to Khon Kaen University and applied for work and travel programs in the United States, where I worked for a year. I just wanted to explore the world. I chose Florida because I fell in love with a picture of Miami on a postcard. I also love Winnie the Pooh, so I applied to work at Disneyworld in Orlando. It was really fun. I could go to any theme park for free.

How did you end up being a police corporal?
My mom wanted me to come back to Thailand, so she applied for this job for me, and called me to come back and take the entrance exam. I didn’t expect to get in, but I did.

Has it been a big change?
Absolutely! I’ve had to wake up at 5:30am to go running and do training drills. I had to train in the jungle, where I had to carry a five-kg machine gun and an eight-kg backpack on my shoulders. I went from being in the kitchen to making bombs and hanging from helicopters.

How do you feel now?
I love it. It’s really fun. It’s not an experience that many people get to have. I used to hate cops because I was arrested once, and the cop would only release me if I gave him my phone number. It was so terrible. I even told my friends at school that if they had a cop for a boyfriend, I wouldn’t talk to them anymore. But now I am a cop myself. I also realized that there are good cops and bad cops. I just do my best.

How does your family feel about all this?
My mom seems very satisfied by all my training and by the fact that I’ve lost 18 kg. Seriously, though, I know that they are relieved that I have a stable job which is good for my future. It doesn’t pay a lot of money but if you’re not greedy, you will have a good life.

What sorts of missions will you undertake?
It will vary according to our orders. We’re anti-riot police, so our job is mostly dealing with people. I was once pelted with pla ra [fermented fish] when I was trying to disperse a protest in Bangkok. It’s even my job to put my finger in the vagina or anus of female criminals to search for drugs. We have more and more female criminals these days, and male cops can’t do those searches as it violates the rights of the suspect.

What does your boyfriend say about your job?
He’s actually in a S.W.A.T. team so we understand each other’s duty.

How do you feel about our new female prime minister who you might have to protect?
I think she’s smart and has the stregnth to be a leader. The rights of women in society may be better now that we have a female leader.

What’s your next dream?
I want to open a coffee shop next to Mekong River in my home town. But I have to save money first.

Dr. Polapat Udomphol is a business developer and a partner of ITWorks, the company behind Ookbee, which digitally publishes the vast majority of Thai magazines on your iPad. They also developed the hugely successful AIS bookstore app. We asked him what he thought of Thailand’s IT preparedness and the one tablet per child scheme.

Are textbooks on their way out?
Definitely. This trend has already started happening in the United States. College students normally carry an average of five kgs of textbooks. Now, they only need one tablet. The textbook is also evolving into interactive textbooks: why read about music when you can listen to it?

But does this mean that the whole curriculum has to change?
Well, the curriculum remains the same, but each student will be able to learn at a different pace. Also the interactive textbook can help facilitate learning in many ways.

What sort of products do you develop for public learning institutions?
We’re talking to several Thai and English textbook publishers now. In the beginning, most digital textbooks will be basic [a bit like PDFs] but, gradually, interactive digital versions of textbooks will be developed. The cost of converting a paper textbook isn’t high, but for interactivity, it depends on how interactive you want the book to be. There will be production costs associated with making video, animation, sound and so on. The interactive textbook can make learning easier. It can incorporate video and audio. If the course requires a lot of memorization, it can hide some passages on the tablet, for instance.

As an employer, is it hard or easy to find students from Thai universities that are trained well enough to work in the IT field?
Most Thai students need at least six months training after we hire them. There are more IT people now than 10 years ago, but the quality is still not so good. They don’t have the practical skills, and it’s not because of their IQ; it’s because of the curriculum.

What do you think the curriculum needs to change to better prepare IT students?
IT should teach the ability to work as a team, programming skills for popular platforms, such as mobile platforms, and project management skills.

Do you think that teachers in the primary and secondary level are ready for the shift to digital learning?
The teachers who already use computers to prepare for courses and to teach are ready, but older school teachers will require a lot of training.

What about places where schools are underfunded? Is it possible to give this kind of training to teachers in underfunded areas?
The training can be done, but that’s not the problem. The real problem is the implementation. In some rural areas there’s no internet connectivity and not very much electricity. The tablets are no use for these places. First the government has to work on the infrastructure in these areas. The government can only roll out the tablets to these areas when they are ready.

Dr. Worraporn Tantichanon, a pediatrician from the Thonburi Hospital, sheds some light on the seriousness of iodine deficiency and the effects nutrition has on IQ.

How serious is iodine deficiency?
In Thailand, iodine deficiency is quite high. A large percentage of women who come in for health exams have low iodine levels. Because of this, the government has released a new supplement [that combines iron, folate and iodine].

Why is iodine intake important for kids?
The most important time for a child’s development is the first three years of their life. This is when the thyroid hormones start to develop. The thyroid hormone is one of the most important factors in brain development, and iodine is important in nurturing the thyroid hormones.

What happens if thyroid glands aren’t developed properly?
If they don’t develop properly, the child will get hypothyroidism. It will affect the development of the brain and the IQ. It affects their metabolism, and their capacity to learn. Some kids will not be alert and have problems focusing in class.

What else determines IQ?
Getting properly developed really depends on whether you were given proper nutrition as a child, but it also depends on your genes. There’s no way to redevelop an underdeveloped brain. You can do brain training exercises to keep your mind fresh and active, but there’s not really a way to raise your IQ to a much higher level. With practice, you might be able to raise it a little bit, but it wouldn’t be a huge change. But IQ isn’t everything; like, if a child has a good IQ and isn’t raised properly, or is not properly disciplined, they probably wouldn’t excel in their studies.

Does it matter if you have a low IQ?
Success in life depends on each person. It’s what success means to you that is important. Even if some people aren’t good at school, it doesn’t mean they won’t be good at other things.

Thailand’s education system is going through a major shift. From digital tablets to talks of whether or not the smaller schools in rural areas should be shut down, Permanent Secretary for Education of Thailand Dr. Chinnapat Bhumirat has been a large part of mediating the arguments surrounding these issues.

Why was there such a disparity between IQs in different regions of Thailand? Students in the Northeast and South regions scored a 95.99 and 96.85, respectively, whereas students in the Bangkok region scored over 104 and Nonthaburi scored as high as over 108.
The problem is impossible to put in simple terms, but it may stem from the Northeast and the South’s financial situation. Their lack of funding could be behind a lack of iodine in their diets, which according to our information has an impact on student IQs. Also, the quality of education is affected. Schools in the North and along the border lack qualified and experienced teachers. There’s not enough of them to fill the high number of small schools.
What are the small schools like?
Small schools with less than 60 students represent more than 50% of Thai primary and secondary schools. These small schools are why we lack experienced teachers. In some schools, one teacher has to teach classes from kindergarten to grade six, where there should be seven or eight teachers in that school. We can’t provide that luxury because it would be a big burden on the budget to fill those schools with teachers. Instead, we have to use teachers more efficiently.
What’s the solution?
The simplest solution is to cut down the number of small schools to increase efficiency. There have to be fewer students per teacher, but the problem is not that straightforward. When we look at the social dimension, schools represent a social institution in the village. There’s a close tie between the school, people and the village. Shutting down schools may improve efficiency, but it might break up the harmony of the village.
How do you move forward?
We cannot move forward immediately. Our office, the Basic Education Commission, is stuck in the middle: on one side we are forced by committees responsible for personnel management to close down small schools because of their inefficiency; on the other side, we have to face the pressure of NGOs and villages to maintain the small schools.
With tablets in the mix, will teachers be able to keep up digital learning?
The conventional textbook is getting less important, and perhaps in three or four years it will seldom be used. Right now, this is a transition period. We first have to judge the capability of our teachers. How can teachers cope with this technology? Will the roll of teachers change?
What does the future hold for education?
We have to make the most out of technological advancements. Technology is moving very fast, IT equipment is widely available and costs are going down. Some of the things we are trying to achieve are to promote self-learning, where students can find and analyze information, then reach their own conclusions. Teachers would be facilitators of this process. This is a new chapter for education.

Samantha Gray-Proyrunthong, 32, business owner

While I was window shopping, I grabbed my boyfriend by the balls to get his attention, but turned out it was a stranger.

Nikki Pichaya Piyassapan, 29, curator

I tried 95-degree Russian vodka in an underground pub in London and swam in my own puke 15 minutes after that. I definitely don’t advocate it, especially after beers, whisky and some cocktails. It felt like someone hit my neck with a baseball bat.

Jojo Tichakorn, 25, co-creative director

I took someone’s motorcycle back home because I thought it was mine. It turned out to be a pregnant woman’s motorcycle. When I went back, the women came with the police. Apparently my key works with every motorcycle.

Waranya Tieammuang, 26, program acquisitions officer

Does trying to lick my elbow count? It’s pretty dumb, especially because I was doing that to impress a guy I liked. Why didn’t anyone tell me that trying to lick your elbow isn’t attractive at all?

Bandit Kaewanna, 31, music programmer

I drank my own cigarette ash, once. I was talking to a guy I liked and was a bit nervous so I took a drink of my beer, not remembering that I had been ashing my cigarette in it. I had two options: spit it out in front of him or play it cool. So I swallowed it.

Mike Wong, 25, VJ

I missed my plane back to California because I was stuck in jail in Brooklyn. [BK asked what he was in for, but he wouldn’t say.]

Mental Breakdown

NUMEROLOGY: Tablets in Class

HOW TO Get Smarter

I have been singing for nine years. My parents both did likay and I dreamed of being like them since I was young. But when I grew up, I realized that I wanted to be a singer, after I was in a singing competition at school.

My mom really supports me being a singer.

I moved from Angthong to Supanburi to study at Rajamangala University of Technology Suvarnabhumi Suphanburi Campus. I am a second-year student of management.

At first, I didn’t sing in a sexy way. I started doing it after seeing another female singer do it. I really liked her style, so I asked a dancer to teach me to dance like that. My performances have been more sexy since then.

I got a call from Pai Turbo [JirapatKoohapattanakul, head of Turbo Music]. His friend suggested me for his band because Pai wanted a singer who could be fun, bold and sexy. We got along well, so I now play with him.

I am trying to balance my job and studies. I go to work after finishing class at around 3pm. No matter where I perform, I have to go back to my next class on time. I avoid going to places that are too far because I don’t want to be exhausted for class.

I know singing is a fleeting career. It’s better to have a degree for the future.

My normal life is really different from the stage. No one recognizes me on the street. I recently visited Samchuk Market and no one recognized me, even though they were playing my music.

All my friends and professors at university know who I am. Some like what I do and some don’t. People who know me in real life have posted comments on YouTube saying how different I am from my videos. When I’m in class, I dress neat—no make-up or hairdo.

Many people don’t understand that it’s my work to be sexy on stage. They criticize me with harsh words, saying, “She’s a prostitute,” and even abusing my parents. I feel so bad that my parents are attacked by these people. They judge me even though they don’t even know me. Now I’m trying not to read all the bad comments on YouTube.

I want those who have written nasty comments to meet me face to face and see how I really am. I’ve never written anything bad about anyone. If you don’t like my videos, don’t watch them. No one is forcing you to watch them or post comments. Some people really have too much time on their hands.

I stopped using my parents’ money after I could make my own. All my money goes towards living expenses and my studies. I’ve taken out an education loan, but getting a degree still requires lots of money.

I’m now saving up to buy a car. My family has never had one. We are a poor family, so I try to take care of myself and finish university as soon as I can. I want to help my family to live well. They are now doing basket weaving at Angthong.

I used to cry when I saw other families driving their cars and dropping their kids off at the campus. I wondered why I didn’t have a life like that. I didn’t blame my parents for being poor; I just wondered about my destiny.

Being rich is better. The rich are always right—they have money and friends. Even when girls are discussing boys who are flirting with them, they ask, “What car does he drive?”

I don’t feel shy about dressing sexy. I used to be a shy girl. But after I realized that I loved my job, I’m not shy anymore. I love crowds.

I always encounter bad people during shows and even online. At a recent show, a guy out front tried to grope my bits. I jumped back and kicked in the air to show that I was pissed.

My rule is that I don’t let anyone touch me during the show. I also don’t like guys who call me to come sit with them or who try to hug or touch me. I am not easy.

I don’t like guys approaching me. If I like someone, I will go to talk to them. I like tall guys who spoil me. I am independent.

I was frightened when I found out that the Ministry of Culture was considering banning me from performing. But Pai calmed me down. I personally feel that I haven’t done anything wrong. It’s just performance. Others have done much more nudity and no one says anything.

My parents didn’t say anything about the controversy. They just want me to finish my education.

I dream about opening a clothing shop somewhere in Ayutthaya. I want to own a business.

And for those who haven't yet seen the video...