Category: Main Blog Page 5 of 6

New Year, and new ideas. The break was good – blogging also needs a rest. Gives you time to reflect as to how you position what you have in your mind.
A lot has happened in the world and yet everything stays the same. The struggles get a bit harder and the middle class is really not heard in spite of all stripes of politicians shouting out how they are for them and how they hear them. The structures of our institutions – oh how we lack true leadership.

Yesterday I was at a political candidate selection. An old friend asked me to come out to support him. Well, I found the speeches jarring and so full of ‘we are the good guys’ and ‘they are the bad guys.’ Really, if we in society buy this old type of BS then we do get the politicians and policies we deserve. Since not voting is not an option for me – then the question becomes how do I vote? The leader of one party is a tin head/ear and the representative in my area who is from the other party is a tin head/ear. So which tin  one is worse? I will have to think this one through. New ideas, I really hoped I had some.

The US history does not give us all a safe place. The Europeans came, settled and wiped out Indigenous peoples, killed Africans as they kidnapped  them and stole their children to help build their capitalist society. Then they bombed Japan, the only country who used WMD. Then the lies to help the world support the Bush war in Iraq.
Obama told the world that he was different, and we felt great to hear his verbiage about war, race and progressive values. IF he does not believe in war what a way to go.  He wants to tell others what to do, yet he cannot stop the guns in the US that kills much more. The Americans should wake up as they have been always viewed as Ugly Americans. The good they do is lost by how they like to play the bully using weapons.
I am not happy with Assad in Syria but when I look at the mess in Iraq, Libya and not to forget Afghanistan; the Americans cannot be trusted. The Arab world was not always Muslim. Egypt was a Christian society until the conversion which leaves the Christians in danger from time to time.   The US armed the jihad in Afghanistan then they looked away when women were abused in this system. Stoned to death and not a word of reproof. The same can be said when their Iraq sent chemicals to Iran. Then they went in to Iraq and killed many and currently Obama’s drones kill innocent people. Not a word. From where I stand, this is true hypocrisy. All countries do practice unjust behaviours. Some more than others. But the US is the most weaponized nation with the mad hatter at the tea party. Wait till those Bible thumping religious zealots get power.

Use power to bring peace, stop selling weapons – yell it from the top. No one is listening. Feed your poor and give them health care. They are still buying arms instead.
We have a world that is a mess because of NATO a group that should be disbanded. We have a UN that is a joke. History is filled with the powerful using their might to get their way.
Every country who was #1 wanted to continue to be on the top or fighting yo acquire that position. Colonialism gives way to Imperialism.

We have no one to advocate for the poor and the weak. All religions say to us to feed the poor and to love our sister/brother as ourselves.

All the US will do with this BOMB/strike  will be to kill civilians, a lot more children.  And to think I was a fan of Obama. The US wants to keep the world for their children and grandchildren; but what about the arming the jihadist and killing of other peoples’ children and grandchildren.

The Americans never pay a price for their actions in terms of action on their soil by another nation. Yet they do suffer. In poverty and in health. How they suffer!

Thank you Canada, I love living in this wonderful yet flawed country

Where is out Prime Minister? He does not attend Premiers meetings! Grade: F
The RCMP is looking into his staffs’ behaviour with Duffy, yet he does not feel he must  improve in how he leads, comes across as   more inclusive and not viewed as tin ear leader. We hired him. Most politicians think they own us and that business is their mentor. They work for big business and we know that. We fool ourselves every election thinking this time the leader will be ‘for us.’

Why does he not respond to issues requested by our elected provincial leaders.  His disdain for the provinces can be seen in his behaviour over the years. The PM needs to meet with the Premiers in order to get things done in the best interest of all Canadians.

The job program was not accepted by the Premiers. Just being negative is not the answer. Will the Ontario PCs agree with the Premiers or will they just keep harping on Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne? I am glad that the Premiers are acting strong around the Jobs Program.  “My way or the High way” is not the best way to make programs work. How did the Federal government come to this change without consultation with the provinces? Working together is not a strong suit of this Federal government. The Provincial Premiers did the right thing in rejecting this program as it interferes with provincial powers.

Gender of  Premiers – more women, perhaps the agenda looked more like a people’s agenda and not a big business agenda in this meeting because of them?.  Dialogue is important between the PM and Premiers. Our Federal government rejected the call for an  inquiry on missing Aboriginal women that was requested by the Premiers. I am not surprised – look at the Federal government’s history with First Nations.  I wonder if it were white women if the  the government would have acted differently? The answer is yes. A spokeswoman for Justice Minister Peter MacKay says the government has already taken concrete action, including passing legislation that gives women living on First Nations reserves access to emergency protection orders. Peter MacKay wake up, your emergency protection orders are not worth the paper it is written on.

Working as a team with our Premiers who are closer to their citizens would be a healthy change for the Harper government.

(Picture insert is my brother Richard with Odi)

If Quintana wants to resolve the Rohingyas plight in the Rakhine state he cannot use his current approach. As the UN, and Tomás Ojea Quintana cannot ask China to respect their Muslim community or Human Rights, the USA to give status to the 11 million living there, or Australia to take in Muslim refugees, nor Canada or the UK to change their citizenship laws, or Saudi Arabia to let Christians worship in public; so why does he think he can impose himself into current Myanmar?
In the past the peoples of Myanmar needed advocacy from the UN as there was a lack of free press and social media. Today, the news comes from within and there are political leaders speaking out. Let them resolve their issues. They will include the Rohingya community in some form of citizenship, perhaps not as an ethic group which may be a stretch for many within the country. The issue will be resolved by the people within Myanmar not by Quintana and his current approach.

 Added to the above historical facts,
Daw Aung San Su Kyi and other political leaders, even ex-generals, exist and can speak out for political rights, and human rights. Let them do their job as they understand the many voices within their own country. It is time that they are allowed to be the voice for Myanmar like Western politicians who are allowed the same right at the UN.

Western news agencies such as AP and Time (like Hannah Beech) using only certain local media, engaged in deliberate distortion while slanting their feeds in the West to TV outlets like Fox News, CNN to name a few. The news helps provide bias understandings towards Burma to readers. Their slanting of news also creates tensions in the region and within the country. There is a Western imperial agenda. Since the 1950s, the United States has secretly struck up alliances with the Brotherhood or its offshoots to control Communism – their rivals in the world for political control. (check Eisenhower and Said Ramadan). U.S. support of the Muslim Brotherhood, is not lost on Egyptians who just threw them out of power.

In 1986, within a period of eight months 54 Buddhist temples have been destroyed and 22 Hindu temples were burnt down by the Bangladesh military. Where was the outcry?
The world is surprised when Buddhist shrines, Christian churches get destroyed yet the Western media is silent.

The Western powers have an agenda to divide the Middle East letting women and minorities be abused by laws against rights, and killed by Islamist who do not respect the rights of others. Why should the peoples of Burma trust their meddling via the UN and Western media +NGOs.
My advice: Muslims and Rohingya within Burma work with Buddhist, Hindus and Christians within Burma/Myanmar to achieve your goals. Civil society is getting stronger there. Do not let the outsiders exploit you for their own interest.

Burma’s history goes back to at least the 2nd century B.C.
(Insert picture is of our Aunts)

What Tomás Ojea Quintana has said lately:

16 July 2013 “I have no doubt that the violations committed over the years with complete impunity have undermined the rule of law in Rakhine state, and had serious consequences for the peaceful coexistence of communities there.” the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar, Tomás Ojea Quintana. He continues, “Reform of discriminatory laws needs to accompany institutional reform, in line with the country’s national reform efforts,” he said. “How the Government deals with the situation in Rakhine state is a good indicator of the depth and commitment of its efforts at the national level to bring democracy, respect for human rights and national reconciliation to the people of Myanmar.”

In his report to the Human Rights Council in March 2013 the Special Rapporteur said he had received consistent and credible allegations of a wide range of human rights violations being committed against the Rohingya and wider Muslim population in Rakhine State. These include “sweeps” against Muslim villages, arbitrary detentions, sexual assault and torture.

Is he an independent expert? He does not even recognize issues relating to the Rakhine people and their land claims. With social media, the UN and Western NGOs are losing their grip on Rights and Justice. To have real Justice, Quintana must be balanced.

For Tomás Ojea Quintana to be heard, he must add these understandings to his report.

1) Burma was annexed to India in 1886 and then created a separate colony in 1937 with the Burma Act.

2) It was the Britishthat brought Muslims as labor from India (Bangladesh) to Burma. It flooded Burma with foreign labour, and changed the demographics of the country(and then Arakan). This requires that Britain take sole responsibility for what is happening there today.

3) Before 1823 no reference to Rohingyas in the census can be found, as well not all Muslims in Burma are Rohingya. The Rohingya have a right to self name themselves. AND Burma has a right to not view them as an ethnic group. The Rohingyas are linguistically related to the Indo-Aryan as opposed to the mainly Sino-Tibetan languages of Burma.

4) Help get the Rohingya like other non ethnic groups living in Burma who have citizenship achieve the same status.

5) Saudi Arabia, needs to be told that they are a major problem. Their large financial support for Rohingya organizations and academics speaking on the topic outside Burma makes Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State more vulnerable – due to belief that Al-Rabita, a Saudi government funded NGO, the main Islamic missionary organisation rooted in Wahhbism which is active in the region, it is entrusted with the Islamisation of the region. (look at the plight of the African Christians). Buddhists monks are weary of them.

6) Speak to the Rakhine people as well of their world view that a land grab took place during WWll killing and displaced them. That the British gave their land to non Rakhine people.

My family and I (link) loved living in Burma but left because of political reasons. Some of us live in England, some in the US, some in Australia. I live in Canada. That was the disruptive part of our lives. (Insert picture is of my mother)
We knew our history of how the British took our forefathers, Anglo Indians, to  Burma, and as an Anglo Burman I grew up with Burmese citizenship. We communicated in English and Burmses as did most everyone at that time in Rangoon.
We lived in a multi-ethnic and multi-religious community enjoying all religious holidays. There is also a book on the Jews of Burma.
This is not about Racism, or skin colour. We were of mixed race, there are also pure ethnics, and of every colour. Ask my family. My mother has light skin, I am darker. My younger brother is pure Burmese.
Women are treated as equals and I learned math and boxing like my brothers. Egalitarianism came with me to Canada and feminism was learned in Burma. I speak as a Christian raised in Rangoon.
The oppression over the past 50 years has been terrible and has taken its toll. Yet, the people survived. My mother visited Burma in the late 1990s and came back to Canada refreshed after visiting family. Some are still there and do not intend to leave.
Politics and ethnic violence does not  explain the fabric of this country and most of the people that live there. The UN paints a very negative picture of the Buddhist religion, as does the Western press and Eurocentric NGOs who make their wages from disruption and become experts of that space.

Living in Canada, I am aware of our history in Canada and the discrimination that occurs because of race, class, gender, sexuality and abilities. The Trayvon Martin case in the US and brought out discussions of 30,000 Americans killed by guns in the USA. The UN does not even mention these deaths which occurs because of political non action. So why target Burma?

The Time magazine and AP which is then used by media outlets in the US such as Fox and ABC discuss a lopsided view of what is going on in Myanmar.
An example is a U Wirathu, 46, from Mandalay’s Masoeyein Monastery.
“I told their reporter when they came and met me that it was the Muslims who gave me this name. I didn’t refer to myself this way, but [Time] used this name in the story,” he said.

Reading the article which was sent to me by my Buddhist friends in Canada, I read “His face as still and serene as a statue’s, the Buddhist monk who has taken the title “the Burmese bin Laden” begins his sermon. Hundreds of worshippers sit before him, palms pressed together, sweat trickling silently down their sticky backs. On cue, the crowd chants with the man in burgundy robes, the mantras drifting through the sultry air of a temple in Mandalay, Burma’s second biggest city after Rangoon. It seems a peaceful scene, but Wirathu’s message crackles with hate. “Now is not the time for calm,” the 46-year-old monk intones, as he spends 90 minutes describing the many…”
Is this about Human Rights or is it about now finding a new cause in Burma selling abuse there when using terms such as Burmese thugs and Burmese Buddhist mobs? No longer having the army or police to call monsters these pushers of ideas have now turned their gaze on the religious conflicts/and ethnic conflicts that is taking place in this fledgling “free” Myanmar.

The peoples of Myanmar/Burma must question Western media outlets that had been working on as to why the extreme verbal language when describing the sectarian/religious violence. Perhaps they no longer have  to champion DASSK’s release and stopping the abusive behaviour of the army. I know it is to sell their papers and support getting media dollars for their organizations – But then ethics is not involved. Many do not have a campaign to champion for or to write about in Burma as most of the issues are economic and the coming together of the Developed governments to stop sanctions against the state. This is no longer filled with blood and terror. The same media no longer has images of the Boston Bombing and since they have a nine day attention span, journalist in their decision making have a new agenda – the Buddhist mobs in Myanmar. I am not discounting the violence that has taken place; it is an area that many within the country and around the world are trying to solve. This part of the story is underreported as it is not as sexy as putting “bin Laden” tag that their viewers understand.

Time and other Western media need to stop inflaming the situation. They view the Burmese Buddhist as the dominant group and will slant media coverage against them. The new found freedom of speech has not taught the peoples of Myanmar to push back and speak out. I did not hear anything about Somalia and the killing of 14 UN workers, or Malaysia and the killings and deportations from that country. I think pointing out the lack of coverage of how Christians are treated by the Saudi Arabians as well as the lack of coverage of Imams that speak hate speech against others while living in the UK, USA is left to the side – no story there. Therefore, there has to be a push back by those expats living in the USA, CANADA, UK and Australia to name a few areas.
Many reporters and human rights groups in the Western world want another human rights issue to champion in Myanmar so they like to push the idea that there are thugs and Buddhist mobs and mass genocide like Germany. Blinded by this worship of rights they cannot find information of the good will among people on all sides in the country who are coming together to live and stop the violence in Myanmar. My standard have been for the last decade to work with like minded people and advocate for rights with peace using love as the motivation and not the self centered ‘I know best ‘ attitudes.

Time and many journalists have to sell news. It is the people who have to sell ideas about communal living and solving religious/ethnic tensions like the article naming  Kyaw Min Swe, Chief Editor of the Voice Daily Dr. Ashin Dhamma Piyaka

28 June, 2013 ( Friday ) 5 PM : : Welcome Party , Concert and Reception
Cecil Community Center ,58 Cecil Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5T 1N6
(College St & Spadina Avenue)

29 & 30 June, 2013 ( Saturday , Sunday ) at 9 A.M : : 88 generation Conference at Toronto City Hall
100 Queen St W Toronto, Ontario, M5H 2N2

I will let my readers know after I attend this conference what I learned from the discussions.

My Burmese is now limited to listening but speech is harder.

With the two large projects such as the Thilawa Special Economic Zone with three private Japanese companies – Mitsubishi, Marubeni and Sumitomo, and the $214 million Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project it is understandable that Advocacy groups are speaking out about rights in the new period of democracy in Myanmar. This is an old country with customs, values that have eroded. With modernization and new economic growth comes new social dislocations as well as a lack of sustenance that was once a way of life such as farming.
Apart from Environmental reviews and certifications and social considerations that look at diverse impacts on indigenous peoples, there must be government accountability for economic improvement for those who are at the bottom of Muanmar’s financial structure. The promise of jobs and trade is exciting – but who gets and who gets left out is a major concern. Looking at the five area of an individual and community life; we must investigate and implement  finances (jobs), health and social services, social and community engagement, housing, and education becomes available to those whose land, livelihood and homes get displaced as well as to the current unemployed/underemployed. Everyone in Myanmar needs to be lifted up and encouraged. Those who are ill and who cannot work must also be part of this new beginning.

Workers in Burma generally receive wages ranging from 300 to 1000 Burmese Kyat a day – 1.15 US dollars a day. Workers only receive this wage if they complete 100% attendance which means seven days a week, 30-31 days a month, public employees are paid a minimum of Kyat 50,000 (US$56.8) per month, whilst day laborers are required to be compensated at least Kyat 2000 (US$2.3) per day of labor. A new law that grants workers the right to unionize and stage protests took effect on March 9, 2012 See more at: http://www.aseanbriefing.com/news/2013/04/16/minimum-wage-levels-across-asean.html#sthash.CaBP5BsU.dpuf.
The payment schemes does not allow those at the bottom to benefit from this new economic growth when elected members seem to be speaking more about development and less about education and job growth.

Daw Aung San Su Kyi voiced her fears around unemployment at World Economic Forum (WEF) in Naypyidaw and called for job creation. Her view that foreign investment can create jobs is not new. Growth helps to create jobs. With education come higher paid and better jobs. Trade schools and universities must be upgraded. In the Burma I left, all children went to school. University and hospitals were there for all. Schooling must be reinstated with new schools and new books. Women need to be able to feed, educated and clothe their children; not a new idea but one that new wealth in Myanmar must be a commitment to. As well, it is important to educate the country around the rule of law, reading and writing, and social responsibility. With new investments, foreign countries in Myanmar must be reminded that a higher standard of living must be made a propriety while they extract resources of this rich country.
Democracy is only a word if we do not attach to it physical, mental and social health. In the developed countries we know how some are left behind living in poverty and violence. Myanmar can take a different path as it develops using Buddhist principles for including others, sharing resources, stopping ethnic wars and developing a non violent society. The developed countries missed this opportunity  with capitalism and greed.