This Wednesday’s Rose Cafe about the state and torture is probably the most thought-provoking as well as rewarding talk I have attended this academic year. The combination of human rights activist, Ms. Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, and scholar, Dr. Nick Cheesman, is very interesting; as I was able to understand torture both from academic and political perspectives.

Dr. Cheesman shared some of his academic researches on torture. He suggested that the debate of whether torture is an effective way to extract information and whether its gains outweigh the harms the victims bear, is like the famous trolley problem. There is no absolutely right decision as whether to push down the person on the bridge or let the five people lying on the rail die. Likewise, one should not expect a definitive answer in regards to the dilemma of torture. Furthermore, Dr. Cheesman stated that this kind of debate prevents people from looking at the bigger picture–torture is not simply a tool for information extraction, but a part of state ideology that has symbolic meanings. Moreover, I really appreciate Dr. Cheesman’s candor, when he acknowledged that even though he is a scholar, he is not neutral on his research subject–torture.

While Dr. Cheesman’s research has more emphasis on Myanmar, Ms. Pornpen Khongkachonkiet is a human rights activist in Thailand. I have admiration for activists, for they have little financial incentives for their works, and are often times under threat, both from the state and private parties. In other words, activism is kind of work that requires both courage and expertise. Although Ms. Khongkachonkiet’s did not discuss her live as an activist in the talk, her presence was very inspiring in the sense that it encouraged me to do similar works in the near future.

This talk is the last Rose Scholar event of the semester, and I am so glad it ended on such a high note.