Sunday, December 30, 2012
New peaks on this my KyiMayKaung Blog
12-29-2012
total page views in one day - 538 - previous highs in 300-400 range.
Hits on New Dehli gang rape victim dies - 101
Previous high (new Rangoon Silk Shop) - 92
Blog hits in USA - 1288 yesterday.
What these blog stats have told me is that my primary audience is outside Burma and mostly in N. America and that the number of blog hits from Burma is very low - 36 last week.
So much for the much asked Q in writing groups: Who is your primary audience?
BTW - being read by women is no mean joke - as any politician knows.
Kyi May Kaung
My comment ref. Matt Damon and fracking movie - on Kanlaon's blog
What a coincidence - I am still mulling over whether I want to see movie Les Miz - quite obvious even in trailer that AH cannot really sing up to Broadway standards - and what would be the point of a musical if the music fails?
Paul Simon talking about something else: "Beyond a certain point it isn't even musical."
BTW - there's an excellent interview of Matt Damon and the movie about fracking on NPR by Terry Gross.
ref. the point about how natural he is on screen, this interview included a quote from the movie and his accent and intonation were just the same as in the interview, only way you knew it was a movie clip was in the different quality of the overall sound.
No fancy theatrics for Matt Damon.
Kyi May Kaung
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Chinese poet Fang Xianghai - "aiming his cock"
http://www.poetryinternationalweb.net/pi/site/poet/item/15379/Fang-Xianhai
I aim myself at the urinal/
holding my breath/
but my prostate suddenly refuses to function/
they stand there behind me sizing things up/
leaning against a dirty white wall puffing away/
and in the buzz of the nicotine/
they're probably getting to grips with all the ins and outs of a teacher's cock/
that done, they signal their common knowledge with furtive laughter/
Friday, December 28, 2012
New Dehli rape victim battling for her life in Singapore Hospital
http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/28/world/asia/india-rape-victim/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
Her vital signs are shutting down and there may be severe organ failure.
Rape is not a jeering or leering crime.
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
All male ballet company Trocks tackles Russian ballet Laurencia
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/25/arts/dance/ballets-trockadero-de-monte-carlo-take-on-laurencia.html?ref=arts
It makes sense that men would dance ballet well because of their physical strength.
Conflicting reports about Burma plane crash
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/22142
RFA is also saying "emergency landing"
Two killed in Burma passenger jet crash
http://www.voanews.com/content/passenger-jet-crashes-in-burma/1571675.html
Not clear what air safety measures are in place in Burma, if any, or if anything is enforced.
Air Bagan is owned by military government crony Tay Za.
Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol - complete text-
http://www.stormfax.com/1dickens.htm
I've seen an Alley Theater production about 2002 and was watching the Disney version, when The Child said he'd drive me home - so looked on line, and here it is --
read it in the daytime - it is very atmospheric.
The Disney version tried to keep up with Dickens by emphasizing every line in the characters' faces and with the zooming perspectives and for as much as I saw (the first scene) was quite successful.
kmk
Monday, December 24, 2012
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Comment from Dr Maung Zarni on Ai Wei Wei - on Facebook -
"Here is a man beyond forms and boundaries.
He is about essence, the essence of human freedom and indomitable spirit.
He is an inspiring figure who gives, literally through his photographic work, one of the most feared imperial powers, a middle finger."
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Ai Wei Wei -- Chinese zodiac heads -
http://www.designboom.com/art/ai-weiwei-circle-of-animals-zodiac-heads-world-tour/
I saw them at the Hirshhorn Museum in DC, but these images show the fabulous detail better.
Ai Wei Wei - Rooster - photo copyright Kyi May Kaung
First post from the Dog Hair Nation - on Kalaon's book catalog and dog pee tip - -
Thanks for saying my comment motivated you - R.K. Narayan is a fave of mine too - do you know he was India's president and his wife Usha Narayan is originally from Mandalay, Burma and she has translated some major Burmese writers.
BTW, your list shows that in spite of our maybe similar tastes and preferences, the books on your shelves and mine have no duplication so far, which is great.
I get to hear of many new writers (i.e. new to me) and books here, so I am PRETTY pleased too to see your list.
Plus the newspaper tip for dog pee is likely to come in handy soon.
Any idea how to get dog hair off of sofas and blankets - not to mention one's own hair -:) without vacuuming (hate it and so does my dog) loads and loads of laundry and frequent showers.
Kyi
Readers - see Kanlaon's Blog.
Friday, December 21, 2012
On Kanlaon's catalog of her personal library --
Great job!
I would do this too, if I weren't away from my bookshelves right now, and didn't need also to catalog how many paintings, poems, radio pieces etc. I have produced.
Kyi
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Burma- Human Rights Development Project's U Myint Aye - recently released - says he considers himself "Obama's present"
http://www.rfa.org/burmese/
RFA TV - see links on RHS of their web page.
"Just like that, whenever there was a big event they were going to stage,such as the referendum or their 2010 election,they would arrest us as hostages --
now when US Presdt. Obama came and he was going to see Presdt. Thein Sein, as well as Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, we were released -
it was a present for Obama - I consider myself just that -- "Obama's present" -
but although on the surface things look like they have changed, in essence they have not - there are still human rights abuses."
Informal transcript and translation - kmk -
for formal,contact RFA directly.
Daughter of Kachin Independence Association general saved from Chinese traffickers -
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/21690
Unfortunately this happens frequently, linked to Chinese one child policy and infanticide of girl children (the Chinese preference for boys).
The article did not mention what kind of help and counseling the victims are receiving -
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Clearing the book shelf - comment left on Kanlaon blog
You sound like my policy of clearing the floor one square foot at a time - but what is "too much" -
I go this way -
1. books I will not part with till the day I die.
2. books to consult now and then -
3. Books I hate and would never touch - don't know why I am keeping them.
Start from 3 - ha ha -
as we say in Burmese "If it's no good, give it to the monastery"
Like chipped plates or mismatched China, like some of the things friends gave me when I came to the USA - But this particular friend, Scallion Shoot, also gave me TWO Coach Bags (new) - a full set of stoneware dishes, and an heirloom piece with bamboo hand-painted on 3 bowls, set in a bamboo container.
Kyi
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Monday, December 17, 2012
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Comment left on Irrawaddy website ref - activist Hla Shwe 75, who spent a total of 24 years in Burmese jails since 1962
More than apologies are required. I agree with Hla Shwe that these so-called reforms are going nowhere.
Khin Ohmar recently said that some things are even worse, and she spoke with about 200 individuals on her trip inside Burma, she said on air with VOA.
A system based on injustice is doomed to fail, but who will or can compensate the Victims for their lost lives?
Kyi May Kaung
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Hot pink & photo of the week - from The Sartorialist
http://www.thesartorialist.com/photos/on-the-scene-the-art-institute-chicaco/
The Sartorialist is all about freedom of the individual and the right not to conform.
kmk
Kachin delegate describes helicopter gunship attacks by junta and says responsibilty lies with Burmese government.
From VOA - about 27 minutes into the broadcast -
Kachin were attacked with helicopter gunships and rockets, despite Presdt. Thein Sein having said there should be a ceasefire.
If fighting continues a peace agreement is far off.
Unofficial summary and translation - kmk
Friday, December 14, 2012
My - "Are you listening Mrs Clinton" post hits weekly high of 95 hits per post
http://kyimaykaung.blogspot.com/2009/03/are-you-listening-mrs-clinton-sanctions.html
As you see it is Robert Karniol's article from the Straits Times and it must be because people are starting to question US-Burma policy.
Kyi May Kaung
Monks all over Burma and DKBA demonstrating to protest firebomb clampdown on copper mine demonstrators on Nov 29
http://www.rfa.org/burmese/
For official transcripts and English translations, write to
burmese@rfa.org
DKBA = Democratic Karen Buddhist Association.
Sandy Hook Connecticut elementary school shootings
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/14/shooting-reported-at-connecticut-elementary-school/?hpt=hp_t1
In USA please work for better gun control -
pl work with your school age child or college age offspring and their schools/colleges/universities for better security and teacher/students emergency training.
--
CNN review of The Hobbit - "sluggish"
http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/13/showbiz/movies/the-hobbit-review-charity/index.html?hpt=hp_c2
Sharp review - of course The Hobbit is the first story (for the film, back story)
in which Tolkien was building up his primary characters and setting the stage -
this review makes a lot of sense.
kmk
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Kyi May Kaung's five "Next Big Thing" nominations and the Q and A.
Burmese TV update - 12-12-12 - Ken Kesey's One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest dramatized in Bucharest by prisoners
http://www.youtube.com/user/voaclips
Man with almost full body tattoo in real life killed his girl friend in a swimming pool.
He said during the time he is acting in the play and rehearsing, he gets to escape prison life.
Aung San Suu Kyi goes to her Kawhmu constituency and looks at bridges and roads, tells constutuents how to separate their trash
http://www.rfa.org/burmese/
Daw Suu in light mauve jacket with black buttons.
12/12/12 superstitions
http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/11/living/12-12-12/index.html?hpt=hp_c1
Nothing can beat what happened in Burma on 8-8-1988.
Kyi May Kaung
Kyi May Kaung has been nominated The Next Big Thing in Writing - on Kanlaon's blog
http://anthropologist.wordpress.com/2012/12/12/meme-the-next-big-thing-courtesy-of-luisa-igloria-part-i/#respond
Sidewalk bookseller in Rangoon, Burma - frame grab.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Climate change denier, a British Lord, thrown out of Doha UN Conference for impersonating Burmese delegate
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/20936
Very funny - he dressed as an Arab to get in, then rose to speak when it was the Burmese delegate's turn.
Ha ha.
Monday, December 10, 2012
In Kyaukpadaung, Upper Burma, Aung San Suu Kyi says she is encouraged by young people's interest in politics
http://www.rfa.org/burmese/
12-10-2012 news cast TV.
She also stressed that naing gnan yay or politics, literally "the nation's business" concerns everyone and everything.
Kyaukpadaung is region where the recent copper mine workers' demonstrations were brutally quelled with fire bombs by the junta.
New York Times obit (1941) of James Joyce
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0202.html
excerpt -
Judge Woolsey's Decision/
"'Ulysses' is not an easy book to read or understand," Judge Woolsey wrote. "But there has been much written about it, and in order properly to approach the consideration of it it is advisable to read a number of other books which have now become its satellites. The study of "Ulysses" is therefore a heavy task./
"The reputation of 'Ulysses' in the literary world, however, warranted my taking such time as was necessary to enable me to satisfy myself as to the intent with which the book was written, for, of course, in any case where a book is claimed to be obscene it must first be determined whether the intent with which it was written was what is called, according to the usual phrase, pornographic, that is, written for the purpose of exploiting obscenity./
"If the conclusion is that the book is pornographic that is the end of the inquiry... But in 'Ulysses," in spite of its unusual frankness, I do not detect anywhere the leer of the sensualist. I hold, therefore, that it is not pornographic."/
A brief encounter with former Burma spy chief Khin Nyunt - by Aung Zaw, founder, editor of The Irrawaddy
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/20830
Reminds me of time in 70s when I met Sein Lwin and the then railways minister at 2 different soon kyways.
SL impossibly seemed afraid of me!
And the other man seemed on the verge of saying something, his lips moved as if he was nervous or preparing to say something - but his wife put her hand on his arm and stopped him.
I could not imagine how these powerful people would fear an ordinary university lecturer like me.
kmk
Chinese investers acquire 80% of AIG aircraft leasing firm
http://money.cnn.com/2012/12/09/news/china-aig-planes/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
They also recently bought a Canadian energy company a few days ago.
Sunday, December 09, 2012
IMF's Cristine Lagarde says US may have zerio economic growth if no deal reached on fiscal cliff
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/09/lagarde-zero-u-s-growth-without-a-deal/?hpt=hp_t1
She was being diplomatic - likely to be worse, with negative growth, rather than zero growth rate - i.e. Recession.
Saturday, December 08, 2012
From Al Jazeera - The Stream - The Plight of the Rohingya
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/08/201288114724103607.html
From a little while back, but still very cogent -
AJ Stream interview of Rohingya advocate Dr Wakar ud Din and John Swifton of Human Rights Watch.
They both agree that US sanctions were relaxed too soon and that the 1982 Burma Citizenship law is not right, and that the Rohingya deserve full citizenship.
12-8-2012 VOA - US Broadcasting Board of Governors reps. in Naypyitaw in Burma
http://www.youtube.com/user/voaclips
As VOA's David Ensor signs with Burmese Skye Net TV for cultural programming broadcasts within Burma,
RFA's Libby Lui's feet are profiled by the rival service.
Friday, December 07, 2012
Thursday, December 06, 2012
From Dr Maung Zarni - (Gen) Thein Sein "hell of a sincere liar"
This afternoon I saw President Thein Sein 2 feet away from me today./
A hell of a liar, I would say./
Remember how he lied with a perfectly straight face on BBC Hard Talk recorded in his hotel suite in New York in September about the Tatmadaw troops NOT committing any rape against ethnic minority women?/
I shared my conclusion, that Thein Sein is Naypyidaw's best-ever liar, with a close colleague who does negotiations with the generals. Here is what my friend wrote back:/
"I met a few generals, ex and current, quite up-close and personal. Listening to them make me sick in my stomach. But, I don't understand how others see them believable. Not only are they wicked, they are also so stupid (and this is understatement to describe their stupidity). They do not even pretend to change in front of us. I don't know where people see changes. They do what they have to do, all for themselves."/
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi judging Thein Sein to be the general she can do business with is a misjudgement of historic proportions./
That is not dissimilar to George W. looking into this KGB field agent Putin's eyes and proclaimed to have found a KGB's soul./
For the Lady's mis-judgement and miscalculation the people and the country will soon be paying a very heavy price. For the regime has incorporated her into their strategic game plan and calculations./
Here is Naypyidaw's division of labour:/
one group went to negotiate: ex-Major General Aung Min and crony Hla Maung Shwe/
another group was tasked to 'take care of the monks': Home Affairs/
yet another group was ordered to offer monks public apology - a performance/
then enter the Lady: she is being assigned to investigate the industrial dispute between the Chinese mining company and the local population./
President Thein Sein's job: to externalize any responsibility to anything that is bad - genocide, war against the Kachin, deliberately localized "police incompetence" "brutality" etc. and to normalize the regime's genocidal rule of Burma/
Posted with permission.
"Their Oil Smiles, Burmese People's Cries"
Photo courtesy of Dr Maung Zarni -
Wednesday, December 05, 2012
Quote of the Day - from H. Masud Taj in International Gallerie
Song of the Besieged
by H. Masud Taj
What can the door exclude When it stands without walls? Hinged on a displaced Axis of rotation, How shall the door turn?
Thanksgiving cranberries waiting to be jammed. Photo copyright Kyi May Kaung.
Photo - a Rohingya genocide victim fleeing on a boat from Western Burma begs for mercy -
VOA interview in Burmese of former Ashin Gambira's - now in lay clothes for health reasons - brother --
http://www.youtube.com/user/voaclips
His brother told VOA's Thein Htike Oo that they don't know exactly where he is right now, he suffered many mental health problems due to 5 years of torture in prison, he is not guilty of any of the charges of breaking and entering to reside in the sealed Maggin Monastery -- /
the brother says it was very difficult to find doctors to treat his brother, and now the specialist says he needs 6 months more at least of treatment - in spite of that he was arrested, the family thinks it is because in the wake of the military regime's brutal crackdown on the Letpadaung Taung copper mine demonstrators, since so many monks were injured,the military government probably fears another monks uprising of the proportions of the 2007 Saffron Revolution, and have thus arrested his brother (who was one of the leaders in 2007) -/
Informal translation and summary,/
kmk
Saturday, December 01, 2012
Summary of translation on weapon used by security forces: Interview with an ex-major of Burmese Army
Burma: Fear of unconventional weapon used in latest raid/
Interview by Ko Nyo and Burma-Newselite (M)/
Security forces may have used incendiary in raiding protest's camps on 29th November, at 3 am local time in Monywa, said Sai Thein Win, a former major./
The crackdown was the largest since the civilian government of President Thein Sein came to power almost two years ago. Over one thousand combined of monks and villagers stayed on strike near the copper mine for 9 days, in order to give pressure the coppermine project to halt, a joint venture run by Chinese company and Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited, Military itself./
The raid came just hours before Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate and leader of the NLD (National League for Democracy), an opposition in Parliament, was scheduled to visit the city of Monywa./
Over 100 monks and people were injured from burning. Government announced on state TV that it broke into the campsite of protesters using water cannon and tear gas, but injuries are caused by fire and chemical, witness said. Strangely enough, the official announcement by the government is taken out after a few hours, although alternative announcement was not made./
So far neither authorities nor civil group release official report on any finding on what causes the burning./
This is an interview with former major in the Burmese army, Sai Thein Win, now lives in Norway. He was the deputy commander of a military factory at Myaing which was built to support a regiment near Thabeikkyin. Maj Sai Thein Win is a mechanical engineer who worked on machining parts. (Interviewer: Ko Nyo, member of Burma-Newselite media group)/
**********************
Q: Government media announced it tried to disperse the protester with water cannon and teargas, but according to the witnesses there, people believe the security forces used fire grenade. As someone who used to work for military factory, and based on your experiences, how will you evaluate?/
A: Tear gas is kind of smoke bomb. It releases smoke and causes tear when contact with eyes. Tear gas doesn't produce fire./
Since there was fire coming out from bomb, this can't be smoke bomb. News we heard mention of white liquid splits out of the bomb causes fire on skin and got worse when it come into contact with water./
That does sound like fire bomb. We differentiate bomb as it works, so we call fire bomb when it produces fire. Smoke bomb if it produces smoke. In this case we have to call fire bomb exactly because fire comes out of the bomb./
Q: When does the military use this kind of bomb? Was there any incident that the military gives order to use it in protest?/
A: A kind of bomb with chemical content was used in Vietnam war by the US troop. It causes fire and burns until the liquid is burned out. Primarily to burn and clear the forest. But since the effect of the bomb found out to have horrible consequences, bombs like Flame Thrower that can shoot fire as far as 20 feet , are banned to be used on the ground, with the exception for the tunnel battle. Weapon prohibited in the battle is used to disperse the protester? This is absolutely crime. We can see the injuries caused by fire bomb, and these injuries can't be hidden./
Q: In what kind of situation does Burmese army use fire grenade?/
A: In our military factory we produced 200 lbs fire bomb. We also produced tear gas to use in case of riot. But we did so only when ordered. I remember one incident. When [the government] creaked down on student demonstration in 1996, our factory got order to produce tear gas just for that riot, but with special modification./
Like putting clear liquid into bullet, adding lead top under the rubber bullet, and when hit by that bullet, flesh cut off badly. It didn't kill though. That order came directly from General Maung Aye (formerly the deputy senior-general under Than Shwe’s military junta and No. 2 in the hierarchy of the ruling State Peace and Development Council)./
He said "Let them die. Produce with higher power." Modified version was tested, one who worked there told me. Some soldier got injured while shooting to test, I heard. I wasn't there yet when it happened./
Q: Is it possible that smoke grenade [tear gas] were modified with higher power than the usual one?/
A: Military factory produces smoke grenade regularly. But it is possible a high ranking officer orders to produces with higher power of smoke grenade. Or it is also possible the tear gas produced by the factory didn't meet the standard. Remember, during 2007 in Saffron revolution, I notice a video clip. Fire sprang out of a smoke grenade; it was near the entrance of Shwedagon Pagoda./
Q: There were accusations of using chemical weapons by the military in Wankha clash in Karen state before and now in Kachin state. Victims don't die but their skin got burned, blood came out of their ears, got dizzy, bodies become paralyze, and so on. Did military use chemical weapon with ethnic armies?/
A: Sometime. It was before my time there [at the military factory]. In our military engineering course, we had a subject on chemical weapon./
When many soldiers died in Wankha battle, the army produced Incendiary devices for a test. They also test Pressure Bomb to clear landmine. Both are not allowed by Geneva Convention. So if the military uses it, they made it secret./
For example, defense factory officers have to go the field to shoot if they use chemical weapons, and regular army officer are not informed, and no soldier allow being nearby./
Q: According to our experience, police forces give warning first to the protesters. Second, they block the protesters not to across the barrier line. Thirdly, they would use water cannon. Only if these don't work, tear gas will be used. Last option is beating and arresting of course./
These measures are used only when protesters become violent. If protesters are peaceful, police even have to guard for their safety and for their health. We have seen these steps in democratic countries./
But now the police forces were throwing grenade towards Buddhist monks who were just sitting in the camps peacefully and praying. How do you see this action as an ex-military officer?/
A: This is absolutely not in line with international standard. Even in the real battle, use of weapons that cause burning is limited internationally. What has done in Burma now is just too much./
Posted with permission.
Burmese monks demonstrate against violent clampdown on copper mine protestors -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4eWtlrrJJA&list=UUv-YbGueeYCp8_CdjgXQD3A&index=2&feature=plcp
Say they will escalate this to Saffron Revolution proportions.
*
Friday, November 30, 2012
White (or yellow) phosphorus
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/833585-overview
Yellow phosphorus bursts into flames when exposed to air.
Burma- coverage of crackdown on copper mine workers and monks in Central Burma -
http://www.rfa.org/burmese/
Thein Sein's office website put out a statement and then retracted/removed it.
Injured monks lying in one bed - see images.
Brutal crackdown on monks and workers/miners protesting Chinese-owned copper mines in central Burma
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/20111
(Foreign) commentators on the Irrawaddy site don't seem to understand there are thousands of monks in Burma, and these are different from the neo-Nazi skin heads who spout racist sentiments in Arakan against the Rohingya.
Comment on "white phosphorus used by Burmese junta" - from a physician -
Dr Nora Rowley has lived and worked in Arakan with Doctors without Borders.
She says --
As an experienced emergency room physician trained in forensic evaluation I question the knee jerk assertion that
the chemical substance was white or any phosphorous. I have looked at about 15-20 photographs of victims burns from
this attack. All the burns are superficial, even the many larger burnt patches of skin. Phosphorous is a chemical
that keeps penetrating to deeper layers of tissue causing deep burns. Look at images of white phosphorous burns,
these are deep burns.
Hopefully the victims or those close to them will save their clothing for forensic evaluation outside the country.
Nora E. Rowley MD MPH
Comment posted with permission.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Uproar - outrage - Burmese junta fire bombs Letpadaung Taung Chinese copper mine demonstrators
http://www.youtube.com/user/voaclips
in Burmese.
Correspondent VOA Thein Htike Oo.
Government denies use of fire bombs,
Survivor monks say they were sleeping at 3 AM when the main gates of Wanpau Co. were opened, and monks struck with water cannon, and beaten -
and the fire bombs fell on them - These are rumored to be white phosphorus - stay posted, I will post the White Phosphorus wiki in a few minutes.
Please consider donating to Wikipedia.
If you are near the scene, take video and post on line.
Burmese junta stages 1962 etc old style pre-dawn raid on Chinese copper mine protestors
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/20145
Aung San Suu Kyi declines to condemn.
One commentator says she is now in zone of half-truths and once she says what the junta says, they will have bagged her.
A leading critic's wife was denied an M. visa -
*
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
A bit on the light side - after so many distressing posts on Myanmar/Burma - a Garden Design site to drool over --
http://www.gardendesign.com/places/my-garden-color-massachusetts?pnid=121625#gallery-content
I recommend - "portraits" like Fantin Latour paintings - of David Austin Roses,
floral crowns -
and decorating with succulents.
kmk
Stress among greatest killers of Chinese intellectuals -
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/19826
Engineer in charge of aircraft carrier program dies after
witnessing successful launch.
Hey you, goat's balls helping you know who, take note.
--
Monday, November 26, 2012
Cancer patient who posted his medical data on line
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/25/opinion/iaconesi-cure-open-source/index.html?hpt=hp_c1
and received an overwhelming response.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Friday, November 23, 2012
Quote of the Day - in memory of my Aunty A -
When you set out on your journey to Ithaca,
pray that the road is long, full of adventure, full of knowledge.
– Constantine P. Cavafy
My Aunty A. said, when I stopped one or two nights in Bangkok to buy warm clothing for the USA - "And Kyi Kyi, when you get there,go around everywhere."
Capital Rotundra, Washington DC and tour groups. Photo copyright Kyi May Kaung
The Dawn of Freedom by renowned Pakistani poet - Faiz Ahmed Faiz -
THE DAWN OF FREEDOM:/
From ‘A Song for this Day’/
By Faiz Ahmed Faiz. Translated by Shoaib Hashmi/
This leprous brightness, this dawn which reeks of night/
This is not the one –– the long awaited morn/
This is not the shining light which beckoned/
Beckoned men ever onwards,/
To go on Seeking/
The final starry destination in the heavens/
The final edge where ends the endless night/
The final rest for the anguished heart/
When first we set out, urged on by young blood/
What temptations were there by the wayside/
From the restless abode of love and beauty/
The beckoning gestures of hands, the call of young bodies/
And above all else, the call of beauteous dawn./
From International Gallerie -/
just been invited to write an article for them./
"Met" FAF - as quoted in a novel by Salman Rushdie - I forget which one - either Shame - probably Shame - or Satanic Verses./
Faiz was so renowned he read poetry to thousands in football stadiums./
Kyi May Kaung/
Institute of International Education to work with nine US Universities in Burma
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/19434
As a beneficiary of a Fulbright Fellowship which enabled me to pursue a Ph.D. in Political Economy at the University of Pennsylvania, I am very happy with this.
The Institute of International Education did a great job at the time, of placing us in our respective universities and administering the Awards.
I have many stories of that time, mostly about the blocking activities of the then BSPP (Burma Socialist Program Party) government in Burma.
And we were only SIX students for the whole of Burma.
Imagine that!
I am saving the details for a future memoir.
It is incredible,for instance, how the then military attache! - at the Burmese embassy at 2300 California Street in Washington DC was so paranoid about "the US government finding out things from your dissertations" that he took part after 1988 in harassing us by refusing to renew our Burmese "special passports" annually.
This at a time, really, when for instance the state of the airstrip surface in Myitkyina was available to all from satellite imagery at Fort Brag, North Carolina.
This same attache, memorialized in one of my poems, also infamously said:
"Why is it taking you so long to write your dissertation? Why don't you write it from Cliff Notes"
These are the yellow notes that are sold in super marts for students (up to about 10th grade) to memorize while prepping for exams.
I was so horrified my mouth opened in shock.
These are the people who rule Burma today - think about it.
The only difference is now they have learned to talk the talk.
I doubt though that they will ever walk the walk.
Kyi May Kaung.
Light fixture at US Capital Porch - photo copyright Kyi May Kaung
Monday, November 19, 2012
Airport poem by the inimitable W. S. Merwin - thanks Kanlaon -
Neither Here Nor There/
An airport is nowhere/
which is not something/
generally noticed/
yet some unnamed person in the past/
deliberately planned it/
to be there/
and you have spent time there/
again/
and are spending time there again/
Obama lauds Aung San Suu Kyi - Jessica Yellin, CNN from Rangoon
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/19/politics/obama-asia-trip/index.html
That's the inside of Rangoon University's Convocation Hall where Yellin is standing.
What's Sanchaung Ma Thida talking about? Presdt Obama's speech at Rangoon University's Convocation Hall is Excellent -
http://www.youtube.com/user/voaclips
Dear U Than Lwin Htun and Daw Hla Hla Than (at VOA - Voice of America, Burmese)
Thank you for posting President Obama's entire speech.
It is Excellent and touches on all of Burma's problems - while giving a mini-lecture on why the same kind of diversity works in the USA.
Please could you have it translated in its entirety and have someone like Thar Nyunt Oo do the voice over.
I am very pleased with all your voice overs, which carefully match the voices, the ages etc. :)
kmk
Note: Sanchaung Ma Thida, a writer and medical doctor, who was a close associate of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and was imprisoned, told an Irrawaddy correspondent that Presdt. Obama's speech "was not as good as some of his" that she has heard. Maybe she did not understand him fully.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
ASEAN signs first human rights treaty -
http://www.youtube.com/user/voaclips
In Burmese, from VOA.
Correspondent Thein Htike Oo --"But there is still reason to doubt whether the AESAN members will follow the terms set out in the treaty."
U Aung Naing Oo of VAHU is on Burmese government Arakan Inquiry Commission -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHJ-75ZlSJE&list=UUv-YbGueeYCp8_CdjgXQD3A&index=3&feature=plcp
Interview of U Aung Naing Oo, author of book "Dialogue" in Burmese.
Interview in Burmese.
He says he has been to Arakan twice, their final report will be out soon and they don't use the word "Rohingya" as they wish to be neutral.
Informal translation and summary kmk
Death be not proud, by John Donne
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15836
This is an excellent site from Academy of American Poets, which gave me a prize for my first five poems.
The William Carlos Williams Prize. The judge that year was Danny Abse.
Kyi May Kaung
Why we love short stories -
http://www.guardian.co.uk/childrens-books-site/2012/nov/16/booksforchildrenandteenagers-childrens-books-8-12-years
Michael Morpango is the author of War Horse, which is excellent.
Comment left on Kanlaon blog ref. "Argo being shown on so few screens at local movie theater"
Most Americans do not like movies which show American foreign policy errors.
That must be it.
It's a pity as Argo is an excellent movie.
Thanks for your analysis of screenings.
K
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Excerpt from Kyi May Kaung's She-Monkey goes West - The Golden Time -
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/xconnect/volume1/issue2/word/kmkgol.html
This was a book length poem, still unpublished, which I should publish.
Based on the Chinese folk novel Monkey.
kmk
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's Reith Lectures, BBC 4, from 2011
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00htkm3
These are very good, but quite sad.
It can be argued she has changed.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and National Endowment for Democracy Awardees, Sept 20, 2012, photo copyright Kyi May Kaung
Reply to reader ref. Spam -
I did not post your question as it contains a link.
I get a lot of spam, but my spam blocker works well.
Once I label something spam - then it automatically goes to my spam file where it can be automatically deleted or not, depending on how you set it up.
I do not like prolonged "discussions" about Burmese or other politics or anything else with unknown people. Sometimes there are flaky people who will argue all sorts of hair-brained things.
So my blog is set up so I cannot reply directly to a comment even if I wish to.
Regards,
kmk
In India, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi spoke with head of Infosys in Bangalore, India's Silicon Valley - etc
http://www.mizzima.com/news/56-live-update/8387-mizzima-live-coverage-on-aung-san-suu-kyi-visit-to-india.html
Panel at Lady Shri Ram College included writer Sashi Tharoor -
--
Obama must see the dark side of Burma's "reforms"
Excellent interview of Nobel Laureate in Literature, Orhan Pamuk
http://rasanaatreya.wordpress.com/2011/04/17/talk-by-orhan-pamuk/
Interviewer is unappealing, and don't think he read all the books.
I like My Name is Red and Snow.
But Pamuk ranges over a wide range of issues - only others who might talk like this are Hemingway, maybe Dickens, and Salman Rushdie -
kmk
Friday, November 16, 2012
Even as US Presdt Obama is on the plane to Asia, the Burmese junta is busy taking farm land -
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/19074
They must think the US and other western governments are the greatest fools in the world.
And Hello, there were no political prisoners among those released.
O'Burma images -
https://www.google.com/search?q=obama+burma&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=y1f&tbo=u&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ei=siKmUM3wNcmn0AHmlYDoBg&ved=0CE4QsAQ&biw=1366&bih=605
There are a gazillion links here - what you should do is use the images as thumbnails and then click on what you want - they are organized by how long ago they were posted.
Quote of the Day - found on The Guardian (comments) site - on Burma so-called reforms etc
it won't matter, everyone knows the eu and usa are just desperate to grab a slice of a pie china's been hogging all to itself, someone persuaded the lady to nod and that's it, as far as everyone else is concerned. The burmese will have to sacrifice themselves again and again in another saffron revolution before they succeed, they must expect no outside help as long as their dictatorship obeys both east and west, and an invasion and puppet regime installment if it doesn't
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/15/burma-frees-prisoners-barack-obama
Ten most affordable US cities
http://money.cnn.com/gallery/real_estate/2012/11/15/affordable-housing-markets/10.html
Bottom line of course is jobs jobs jobs.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
From Tuesday - second quake near Burmese capital of Naypyitaw
http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/burma-quake-death-toll-hits-26-tremor-capital-5214959
Kyi May Kaung's painting - Burma & Laura Bush - 2009
Paula Broadwell - Petraeus biographer, mistress and reservist - loses security clearance -
http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/11/14/the-relevance-of-paula-broadwells-classified-clearance/?hpt=hp_t2
I don't know how she could be an army reservist and also be writing about him.
"All the way in, my novel about Petraeus" by Saideh Pakravan -
http://thecounterargument.wordpress.com/2012/11/15/all-the-way-in-my-novel-about-petraeus/
Biting satire, enjoy and think about it.
Also about the book industry.
Human Rights, Rohingya etc Activists/advocates - here is FBI genocide tip line
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/terrorism/genocide-and-war-crimes-program
Please only send specific cases with evidence such as photos, personal testimony etc.
Pl don't clutter the line with rants and hate mail or abuse it in other ways.
For that use Facebook, whatever.
I only just found this site, and have nothing to do with it.
It's a resource I am posting here for Activists.
kmk
Re-posting - Pragmatism new in-word in US-Burma Policy
http://kyimaykaung.blogspot.com/2009/11/pragmatism-new-in-word-for-us-burma.html
re-posting from 2009 - from my friend James O'Brien.
Thank you blog readers for finding it and reading it.
--
BP to pay record fine for Gulf oil spill - "gross negligence" not yet criminal negligence -
http://money.cnn.com/2012/11/15/news/bp-oil-spill-settlement/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
World lights up for Diwali - The Festival of Lights -
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/12/world/gallery/diwali/index.html?hpt=hp_t3
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Rabbit confit and seeing the movie Lincoln -
http://leitesculinaria.com/73052/recipes-rabbit-confit.html
I had it at Jaleo and it was delicious.
If you are nervous about the shape of the rabbit, buy cut portions or use chicken or duck -
I doubt it will taste much different.
At Jaleo the 3 small pieces for $10 were served on a bed of mashed squash or pumpkin.
In my opinion, it was worth every bite.
I had my dinner after seeing Lincoln, the movie, and after dinner I had a flan - (custard pudding)./
The only part maybe too expensive was the "small" popcorn bag and the soft drink, esp. as I spilled half the popcorn on the floor - was the fault of the shop, as the bag was piled too full./
It was $8 = the cost of the movie ticket at the senior rate. That's a little steep./
Still beats seeing a movie in Burma with piles of sunflower seed-shells on the floor, rats running over your feet, and thieves who hook your slippers away if you have your bare feet up, to protect from above rats./
Plus the heat, the broken air con, and the iron railing with roof over the ticket line, where you could get the life literally squished out of you in a stampede./
kmk
NPR will record all of August Wilson's plays
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/14/new-york-public-radio-to-record-august-wilsons-plays/?ref=arts
Herculaneum as good model of conservation practices vs Pompeii
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/15/arts/design/herculaneums-ruins-are-revived-by-philanthropy.html?ref=arts&_r=0
Lesson for Burma - just get rid of that corrupt government.
Mizzima live coverage of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in India - TV, photos etc
http://www.mizzima.com/news/56-live-update/8387-mizzima-live-coverage-on-aung-san-suu-kyi-visit-to-india.html
Different take - Aung San Suu Kyi allegedly said she was saddened by India's ties to Burmese junta
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Suu-Kyi-saddened-by-Indias-ties-to-junta/articleshow/17222871.cms
James M. Cain's Double Indemnity
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0679723226/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&seller=#reader_B004G606NA
You can read the hook opening in the Amazon sample
James M. Cain and The Postman Always Rings Twice
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Postman_Always_Rings_Twice
James M. Cain's lost novel about a conniving cocktail waitress -
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/23/books/review/the-cocktail-waitress-by-james-m-cain.html?pagewanted=all
UN urges Bangladesh to keep borders open as "sailing season" starts -
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/18839
The monsoon is now ending.
Last "sailing season" saw a large outflux of people seeking employment overseas and political asylum and safe harbor.
--
In India, Aung San Suu Kyi says she was saddened when India pulled way (from Burma) two decades ago
http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/was-saddened-when-india-pulled-away-aung-san-suu-kyi-292548
In India, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi speaks of inspiration from Nehru -
http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/14/in-india-daw-aung-san-suu-kyi-speaks-of-inspiration-from-nehru/
Myanmar reforms: Challenges and Prospects by Dr Maung Zarni -
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/11/20121114102511809369.html
Mideast situation escalates with rocket attacks from Isreal and death of head of Hamas' military wing -
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/14/world/meast/gaza-israel-strike/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Petraeus affair and time line - widening and deepening -
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/11/13/the-petraeus-scandal-what-we-know/?hpt=hp_t2
PLO leader Yasser Arafat's body is being exhumed
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/13/world/meast/west-bank-arafat/index.html?hpt=hp_t3
Sunday, November 11, 2012
TV interview with Burmese song writer Saung Oo Hlaing, dinosaur footprints in Greater DC area - in Burmese
http://www.youtube.com/user/voaclips
VOA TV magazine Nov 2nd week.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
General David Petraeus resigns as head of CIA - due to extramarital affair
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/09/politics/petraeus-cia-resignation/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
Friday, November 09, 2012
Quote of the day - Corndogs and Bombers - from poet Linh Dinh -
from -
http://wwwwsonneteighteencom.blogspot.com/
quote:
According to the corporate shill that’s the US President, America is well on its way towards energy independence, though gas is up, up and up, and we’re wringing oil from rocks and brewing it from maize, neither one a cheap or energy efficient proposition, but don’t worry, just keep driving those SUVs and pack the NASCAR grandstands as the sea rises to your neck./
As we enter de yo mama of all depressions, partly caused by the job outsourcing started by the Democratic Clinton, the corporate shill du epoque is also promising more jobs, but where will these be found in this deliberately de-industrialized nation? We make nothing anymore except guns, corndogs, bombers and pornography, so well endowed guys and gals with strip mall implants can still go down, strut or pole dance for a few years, before they get on food stamps like a record number of their fellow citizens. That or joining the “services.”
Alas, the funnies are not so funny.
Thursday, November 08, 2012
Quote of the Day - poetry -
In the transition,/
Someone’s corpse has been/
Replaced by another’s./
Khin Maung Aye - as translated into English by Ko Ko Thett
Inside the Hirschorn Museum - photo copyright Kyi May Kaung
Diamonds still a girl's best friend - at least among military big brass families and cronies, it seems -
http://www.mmtimes.com/2010/business/540/biz010.html
2010 from Myanmar Times -
Presdt Obama will go to Burma, interviews of Medicins Sans Frontieres staff and a mobile clinic in California
http://www.youtube.com/user/voaclips
In Burmese.
Lincoln - the movie - interview of Steven Spielberg and Daniel Day Lewis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BERKF9rnBcQ
Lincoln ads. and quotes in DC metro - photos copyright Kyi May Kaung
Page views on this, my Kyi May Kaung blog - have hit new highs
A new peak of 591 yesterday and total over 112,800.
THANK YOU READERS.
A view of the hills, Chiangmai, Thailand.
Photo copyright Kyi May Kaung
Burma - a new theory of a Pyu homeland in the Samon Valley - by Bob Hudson
http://acl.arts.usyd.edu.au/~hudson/BH2005Jan.pdf
Educate yourself on line - A History of Burma - Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Burma
Wednesday, November 07, 2012
Quote of the day - "Listen up, Cuz:" from Kanlaon blog
Listen up, Cuz: Writers love truth more than money. That’s what makes them such a subversive force.
Major land-grabbing in Burma - bad examples from other countries in transition
http://www.dvb.no/interview/scott-leckie-%E2%80%98burma-could-very-easily-become-the-displacement-capital-of-asia%E2%80%99/24607
Meet the Obamas- from CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/07/politics/photos-meet-the-obamas/index.html
What a difference from racist Burmese in Burma -
America the Beautiful - from sea to shining sea- election day pics
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/06/politics/gallery/election-best/index.html?hpt=hp_t2_6
Major human rights abuses along Burmese-Chinese Shwe Gas pipeline
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/18259
Twisted Internet behavior - extremist nationalism and hate speech by Burmese -
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/18176
Burma's so-called reformer pressed on Rohingya citizenship at ASEM in Laos
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/18151
Burma - Generation 1988 activist U Mya Aye (a Muslim, he says) has good first impresssions of Thailand, but says reforms not yet substantial in Burma-
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/18144
We need to scream louder - Myanmar Govt starts to check 5 villages in Arakan
for compliance with notorious 1982 Citizenship Law - all must prove they were in Burma before 1824 and first Anglo-British War.
http://www.rfa.org/burmese/
In Burmese - see news summary in Burmese text on LHS - item with photo of soldiers coming out of truck.
Praise from my personal Artist - for Kyi May Kaung's idea for cover of her novella - Black Rice
Pretty cool cover! Artsy-fartsy noir. Very unique idea. Simple, but big statement. People will ask what is this black rice with the gun danger element.
Made my day - thanks Artist!
Tuesday, November 06, 2012
from Wiki - in Rwanda, the genocide was well organized by the government -
The killing was well organized by the government. When it started, the Rwandan militia numbered around 30,000, or one militia member for every ten families. It was organized nationwide, with representatives in every neighborhood. Some militia members were able to acquire AK-47 assault rifles by completing requisition forms. Other weapons, such as grenades, required no paperwork and were widely distributed by the government. Many members of the Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi were armed only with machetes. Even after the 1993 peace agreement signed in Arusha, businessmen close to General Habyarimana imported 581,000 machetes from China for Hutu use in killing Tutsi, because machetes were cheaper than guns. In a 2000 news story, The Guardian reported, "The former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, played a leading role in supplying weapons to the Hutu regime which carried out a campaign of genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994. As Minister of Foreign Affairs in Egypt, Boutros-Ghali facilitated an arms deal in 1990, which was to result in $26 million (£18m) of mortar bombs, rocket launchers, grenades and ammunition being flown from Cairo to Rwanda. The arms were used by Hutus in attacks which led to up to a million deaths."
Rwandan Prime Minister Jean Kambanda revealed in his testimony before the International Criminal Tribunal that the genocide was openly discussed in cabinet meetings and that "...one cabinet minister said she was personally in favor of getting rid of all Tutsi; without the Tutsi, she told ministers, all of Rwanda's problems would be over."
More quotes from Wiki on Rwandan Genocide
The assassination of Habyarimana in April 1994 set off a violent reaction, during which Hutu groups conducted mass killings of Tutsis (and also pro-peace Hutus, who were portrayed as "traitors" and "collaborators"). This genocide had been planned by members of the Hutu power group known as the Akazu, many of whom occupied positions at top levels of the national government; the genocide was supported and coordinated by the national government as well as by local military and civil officials and mass media. Alongside the military, primary responsibility for the killings themselves rests with two Hutu militias that had been organized for this purpose by political parties: the Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi, although once the genocide was underway a great number of Hutu civilians took part in the murders.
Wikipedia cited below, accessed 11-6-2012
Population density as a factor in Rwandan, Burmese genocides --
At 408 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,060 /sq mi), Rwanda's population density is amongst the highest in Africa. Rwanda's population had increased from 1.6 million people in 1934 to 7.1 million in 1989, leading to competition for land. Historians such as Gérard Prunier believe that the 1994 genocide can be partly attributed to the population density.- - from Wiki cited.
-- the Arakan Coastal Strip in Burma is also extremely narrow. We don't know the population density as we don't know the population, but it can I suppose be estimated from houses/huts and an average per household number, usually stated as 5, from satellite photos.
kmk
A nightmare that could happen anywhere, including Burma - The Rwandan Genocide -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwandan_Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the East African state of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days (from the assassination of Juvénal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira on April 6 through mid-July) over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate. Estimates of the death toll have ranged from 500,000–1,000,000, or as much as 20% of the country's total population. It was the culmination of longstanding ethnic competition and tensions between the minority Tutsi, who had controlled power for centuries, and the majority Hutu peoples, who had come to power in the rebellion of 1959–62. . . . Belgian colonialism played a role in maintaining the divide between the Tutsi and Hutu peoples.
From Wikipedia article above.
Quote of the day - "Darfur will end when --
Dirk Moses: "Darfur will end when it suits the great powers that have a stake in the region".
From Wikipedia below.
The place where we are right -- a poem
The Place Where We Are Right/
by Yehuda Amichai/
From the place where we are right/
Flowers will never grow/
In the spring./
The place where we are right/
Is hard and trampled/
Like a yard./
But doubts and loves/
Dig up the world/
Like a mole, a plow./
And a whisper will be heard in the place/
Where the ruined/
House once stood./
Again, thank you, you who sent this.
Now in the time of genocide - re-posting - Kyi May Kaung's poem War on Roaches
http://www.fpif.org/articles/war_on_roaches
from Foreign Policy in Focus
Monday, November 05, 2012
Did the (Myanmar) government incite the racial violence targeting the Rohingya - by Dr. Maung Zarni
http://www.dvb.no/analysis/did-the-govt-incite-the-racial-violence-targeting-the-rohingya/24116
The ancient Buddhist university Nalanda in present-day Bihar, India -
Sacked by the Muslim Turks in 13th century.
What would you save if your house were on fire? A manton de Manila -
http://www.stylebubble.co.uk/style_bubble/2012/03/mesmerised-by-a-mant%C3%B3n-.html?cid=6a00e5508e95a988330163031c7322970d
It makes me think what the poor Rohingya families were able to save last week.
31 stunning sci fi illustrations -
http://www.designzzz.com/stunning-futurisitc-scifi-illustrations/
Making Thai khon masks
http://avaxnews.com/appealing/Manufacture_Of_Traditional_Thai_Khon_Masks.html
Burma walks the lambast walk again - derided at ASEM summit in Laos
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/18069
Sunday, November 04, 2012
Burma - Presdt Thein Sein's assistant was one who first posted the photos of alleged rape victim in June -
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/17968
There's reason to believe this is all an elaborate set up by regime.
A few days ago - one of Arakanese monks when speaking to reporters, pulled out a whole stack of color photos of the alleged rape victim of June, and other photos. How did he get them and why is a monk keeping them?
--***
Satellite images of burned areas in Kyaukhpyu, Arakan in Burma & eyewitness account
http://observers.france24.com/content/20121029-muslim-burmese-refugee-killed-wife-burned-down-house-kyaukphyu-rakhine-rohingya-sittwe-arakan-camp
Saturday, November 03, 2012
Wat Chaiwatthanaram in Ayuthia, a city much battered and burned by the Burmese in ancient times -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:WatChaiwatthanaram_2295b.JPG
Along the klongs or canals of Bangkok
http://www.bangkokpost.com/travel/travel-feature/319030/a-route-less-travelled
Photos from Rangoon University, including the famed Thit Poke Pin tree
http://juniorwin-english.blogspot.com/2011_08_01_archive.html
USA-Post-Hurricane Sandy warning - looters etc posing as meter checkers, relief workers etc -
http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_t2#/video/us/2012/11/03/todd-sandy-looters.cnn
Russ Wellen - What explains Aung San Suu Kyi's silence --
http://www.fpif.org/blog/what_explains_aung_san_suu_kyis_silence_about_the_persecution_of_burmas_minorities
Important - Burmese Border Minister Thein Htay says -will stick to 1982 law
"to resolve Arakan Conflict"
http://www.rfa.org/burmese/
in Burmese - in text, news summaries on left.
1982 law says you must prove your ancestors were in Burma before the first Anglo-Burmese War of 1924.
Since few records exist in Burma, this is going to lead to threats by authorities, graft and more corruption.
Increasingly, it looks like this "fire in the eves" in the Arakan region, will spread to the main house, and derail the so-far phony "reforms".
kmk
Quote of the day - ref. genocide in W. Burma -
Danger abounds and I hold up the ethnic card as the litmus test in Burma to see how real these so-far phony reforms will turn out to be...
Anonymous
Israel acknowledges killing Arafat's deputy in 1988
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/israel-acknowledges-killing-arafats-deputy-in-1988/article4058982.ece
Search for the motive, as they say.
Quote of the Day: Ashin Gambira, Saffron Revolution leader, from 2007
“What will it take for the world to realize that Burma’s generals are a menace and that because of their misrule, drugs, diseases and refugees from Burma spill across borders and wash through other societies, ruining lives?”
U Gambira to Washington Post, 2007.
Verdi's Aida - complete opera - 1989 Metropolitan Opera NY production - Placido Domingo et al --
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99c7zlVgqfI
1 hour 36 minutes.
Educational use only.
Friday, November 02, 2012
Triumphal March from Verdi's Aida
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNEu09pVD8E
Notice the beautiful perfumed music when the princess, beautiful but cruel comes in.
*
Dance of the Princesses from Verdi's opera Aida - Nile scenes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnjY6nl7_zg
Vivien Leigh from Cleopatra, Shakespeare's play.
*
Flash fiction - The Shit-Eating Witch, by Kyi May Kaung
"Selling Bacolod."
I am so touched, as this is really my way of "going home."
I used to go to Thailand every year, about two times a year, but now it has stopped.
My beloved aunt has died.
I don't think relatives, or unimaginative people, understand writers, or the peripatetic need for taking trains, planes, hiring drivers etc. Because they can't read our facile and brilliant minds, and they certainly don't read our blogs.
So, forget them, till your next trip. Fair enough.
As for ghosts, I don't believe in the Halloween type - but do believe in ghosts when I am in Bali,
and no one can beat our Burmese village ghosts.
Case in point - the chee sarr sone or shit- eating witch, literally.
At night she leaves her husband snoring by her side, and roams the outhouses eating shit.
One night her husband awakes and finds his wife headless, as the wife's head is out eating - appearing to the unschooled eye as great rolling balls of fire in the distance.
So next time she does that he smears the sap of the shampoo vine, which is slimy, on the headless neck, and low and behold, when she gets home she can't re-attach her head - and is shut down for good.
Bwa ha haa - I knew you'd love that.
In fact I had trouble re-attaching my own head when I came home to Burma after 8 months studying for a diploma in economic planning in Warsaw, Poland.
Kyi.
left on my friend Kanlaon's blog.
David Hammons - Untitled - Hirschorn Museum, DC.
Photo copyright Kyi May Kaung
From Wall Street Journal - Glory days of Rangoon Univ & F for Myanmar Schools.
http://blogs.wsj.com/searealtime/2012/11/02/glory-days-at-myanmar-school-clouded/
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052970203937004578076751448524708-lMyQjAxMTAyMDAwMjEwNDIyWj.html?mod=wsj_valetleft_email
Ne Win did not get to univ. only 5th grade in school or so.
Aung San Suu Kyi recently said
"Our people are barely educated"
stressed need for primary education, while stress now is on post-grad education
and
even said "If my (deputies) were better educated, they could write some of my speeches for me."
--
Who and what gains from Myanmar strife - Maung Zarni
http://www.maungzarni.com/2012/10/the-virtues-of-myanmars-genocide-of.html
Burmese military may be behind anti-Rohingya violence -
http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/31/as-violence-continues-rohingya-find-few-defenders-in-myanmar/
Scores of Rohingya refugees feared dead at sea -
http://www.dw.de/scores-of-rohingya-refugees-feared-dead-at-sea/a-16349011
3,000 reportedly missing
Burma clashes leave 100 dead -
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57541090/burma-clashes-leave-100-dead-as-muslim-rohingya-minority-clashes-with-buddhists-testing-govt-reforms/
Telegraph - Burma considers citizenship for Rohingyas
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/burmamyanmar/9648329/Burma-considers-citizenship-for-Rohingya-Muslims.html
Clashes or ethnic cleansing - by Tun Khin - Burmese Rohingya Organisation - UK
http://www.dvb.no/analysis/clashes-or-ethnic-cleansing/24559
Anonymous comment:
This same journalist (sic) wrote recently about this issue in the Independent as well, below. It is indeed true: there are many who would benefit from riding a cheap wave of nationalism into power. 2015 is so close and it would be difficult to win support through concrete reforms that bring tangible results. Far easier to stoke ethnic conflict, draw upon stupid nationalism, and invoke a scary bogeyman (the Muslims). This is exactly the script dictators used in other failed transitions: Milosevic did this, as did Putin.
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/the-persecution-of-the-rohingya-how-a-benighted-minority-in-burma-suffer-at-the-hands-of-despots-8259990.html
British, US and Australian Ambassadors visit strife torn Arakan region - in Burmese
http://www.youtube.com/user/voaclips
Thursday, November 01, 2012
Answer to comment - how to download
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/09/30/aung-san-suu-kyi-meets-her-peers.html
Here is link to the article.
I don't know that you can download from e publications - but you can save the link by cutting and pasting in your file, with date you accessed it for future reference or citation -
and you can open it to read.
You can go to Print and print out on paper, or you can go to Print and copy and paste for your own reference.
It makes sense downloads are not enabled as they are copyrighted items.
I no longer print on paper but "keep" by posting link in relevant file or folder - hard to find the paper in stacked up piles on the floor anyway.
Consider taking a course in library cataloging or filing
-- there is something called cross-referencing - where this article for instance would be under "Daily Beast"
"Aung San Suu Kyi" or "Peers" or the author's name - which by the way is not the name you mentioned.
My blog is designed so I can't respond to comments - as I don't like prolonged "debates" with people I don't know.
I am not a techie and this is all I know from my personal experience.
Thanks for reading my blog - do visit again.
kmk
We could have told you so - economy dips drastically in W Burma due to anti-Rohingya violence
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/17851
latest video - must see - graphic warning - Violence against Rohingya in W Burma
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2012/oct/31/burma-muslims-buddhists-clashes-video
Literally caught between the devil and the dark sea -
while the junta says violence was wrought by "terrorists"
"extremists" and Presdt Thein Sein's office says it has confiscated arms
(may have been planted, for all we know).
See VOA TV 10-31-2012
In Burma, SNLD (Shan National League for Democracy) resists junta's plans to change names of states to "neutral names"
as it destroys their sense of identity.
In Burmese
http://www.rfa.org/burmese/
video clip on RHS
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Diasporas, Identities, Nationalities - "Going Home to a Landscape"
http://anthropologist.wordpress.com/my-books/review-going-home-to-a-landscape/
Horse who paints beautiful abstracts -
http://us.mc1249.mail.yahoo.com/mc/welcome?.gx=1&.tm=1351693901&.rand=2riraeu7ecl8g
While filing "asst labor minister" I found this again - Kim IL Sung walked at 3 weeks.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1112/19/acd.01.html
Poem found by Kyi May Kaung on Anderson Copper 360
Interview of Laura Ling and Lisa Ling on death of Kim Jung Il of N. Korea by Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
Accessed 12-21-2011
The late dear departed.
. . . The grieving, as you'd imagine, is intense for a leader they had been told first walked at three weeks of age, talked at two months and authored -- not read, but authored 1500 books while in college.
. . .
They, like most North Koreans, not likely aware their fallen ruler scarfed lobster and swilled fine cognac while an estimated million ordinary North Koreans starved to death during the famine his economic policies created.
. . .
When Kim Il-Sung died, North Koreans were told -- and they apparently believe this -- that a thousand white cranes tried to carry him off to heaven but were prevented from doing so by the pull of his devoted followers.
Added by KMK:
What do these 3 little dots mean?
They mean that there’s something in between.
End found poem.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Partially in Burmese -- Is Assistant Burmese Labor Minister mad to say Burma's unemployment rate is (only) 4%
Tun Khin - Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK - "People are dying. They need help now."
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/the-persecution-of-the-rohingya-how-a-benighted-minority-in-burma-suffer-at-the-hands-of-despots-8259990.html
The world must act to protect Burma's Rohingya
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/the-world-must-act-to-protect-burmas-rohingya-from-starvation-and-slaughter-8262073.html
Kyi May Kaung - updated Arts cv - apologies for format run on - have not figured it out
KYI MAY KAUNG (Ph.D.)
Curriculum Vitae
blog -- http://kyimaykaung.blogspot.com
Objective: Seeking writing/editing/research, advocacy or teaching position. Available for international conferences, seminars and private consultancy. Book doctoring, fiction and non-fiction.
• Passionately interested in Burma and democracy/social justice, human rights, women’s and children’s issues.
• Fifteen years of non-profit experience in the Washington, DC area.
• Able to strategize and set up new organizations.
• Able to speak and write persuasively so people listen.
• Excellent oral and written presentations. Convincing, engaging and experienced public speaker. Fluent English and Burmese. Reading knowledge of French. Willing to learn Mandarin.
• Extensive contacts in academia, politics and the arts.
• Strengths: Very fast and efficient researcher – Lexus-Nexus etc. on line.
• Fast and accurate boil down of important issues to easily understandable points.
• Political Economy of Asia: Asean countries, India and China, Burma specialist.
• Able to travel internationally up to 25% of the year.
• Able to formulate strategy and analyze organizational structure and goals.
• Able to formulate and carry out P.R. initiatives.
EDUCATION
Ph.D. City and Regional Planning and Political Science, University of Pennsylvania, May 1994.
M.A. City and Regional Planning, University of Pennsylvania, 1987.
M.A. Economics, University of Rangoon, 1967.
B.A. Honors, Economics, University of Rangoon, 1964.
DISSERTATION
"Modernization, Breakdown and Structural Configurations: Retrogression in Burma (1962-1992)."
Chairman: Henry Teune, Political Science, University of Pennsylvania.
Members: Josef Silverstein, Professor Emeritus, Rutgers University.
Donald E. Smith, Political Science, University of Pennsylvania.
Seymour Mandelbaum, City Planning, University of Pennsylvania
HAVE BEEN INTERVIEWED BY:
Patrick Barta of Wall Street Journal – Oct 2012, about Rangoon University before the 1962 coup.
Michelle Chen of Asia Pacific Forum interviewed me about change in Burma, is it real. Dec 13th, 2011
http://www.asiapacificforum.org/show-detail.php?show_id=250
October 2011 Kyaw Aung Lwin of VOA interviewed me about poetry reading in front of Burmese embassy DC – 10,000 poets for change.
Kyaw Aung Lwin, VOA on my participation in Poetry Walk of Shame.
White Dove Women’s Journal, Chiangmai, Thailand, 2009 on 2010 election in Burma.
September 2009, interviewed for video of my art show Mostly Burmese Monks, by VOA Burmese section.
RFA Feb. 14, 2009 Kyaw Min Htun – Beacon Art Show in honor of Aung San Suu Kyi, panelist.
Jan 1, 2008 RFA, “Burma’s Economic Prospects in 2008.”
September 2007 Burmese Monks’ Crisis
1. BBC (World) HardTalk --
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/hardtalk/7026645.stm
2. KALW San Francisco Radio – Your Call with Rose Aguiler
http://yourcallradio.blogspot.com/
3. CBC – with Suhana Meharchand in Toronto –
Sept. 24th, 2007 – in which I correctly predicted that the clampdown would happen in the next 24 hours.
October 4, 2007 – post-clampdown analysis –
4. Ask Hugh (Williamson) – radio out of Berkeley, CA.
5. CapeTown Voice – Jihad Omar – On Burmese Monks’ Saffron Revolution.
2001- 2007:
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation; National Public Radio; Voice of America Burmese Service and Talk to America; Pacifica Radio; Radio Free Asia; Asian Fortune (Ying Ju Lai); Dr. Michael Hurd Show; Montgomery County TV, Art Scene Channel 16 Lila Snow, Artist; Gazette Newspaper (Audrey Dutton); Silver Spring MD Impact Awards; Boulder Alternative Radio; Kalamazoo Gazette; Boulder Current; Wild River Review; Anil Mundra; Eliot Pfanstiehl.
CITED IN:
“We are on the rebound with Obama” by Mulindwa Edwards, Foreign Policy in Focus. Web accessed 4-109
http://www.mail-archive.com/ugandanet@kym.net/msg26224.html
LATEST PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS
Member, Round Table on Ethnic Conflict in Burma and “Change”
Low Library, Columbia Univ. NY – A. K. Sen was the keynote speaker.
I suggested and helped invite four round table participants.
Himal Southasia – 2012, short story Black Belt.
Dec 2011, special Burma issue, Himal Southasia, Potemkin Politics: Are Burmese reforms for real.
http://himalmag.com/component/authors/articles/Kyi-May-Kaung.html
Oct 24, 2011. Poetry reading in front of Burmese embassy DC on PeacexPeace.
Oct 14, 2011 – on Asian Correspondent –
http://asiancorrespondent.com/67276/zarganar-or-pincers-great-burmese-comic-among-few-released/
Mentioned in Sarah Browning’s article on Poetry Walk of Shame in Foreign Policy in Focus.
http://www.fpif.org/articles/poets_stand_up
Oct 12, 2011. Poem War Against Roaches in Foreign Policy in Focus.
http://www.fpif.org/articles/war_on_roaches
Sept 24, 2011. Featured poet – reading in front of Burmese embassy DC etc. Poetry Walk of Shame, sponsored by Institute of Policy Studies and Spilt This Rock.
Interviewed by VOA etc. VOA interview broadcast to Burma.
Sept. 9. 2011 Poem - War on Roaches, in Counterpunch
http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/09/09/jared-carter-and-kyi-may-kaung/
Oct 28, 2010. How the Burmese junta tried to fool the world with sham elections.
Payap University, Chiangmai, Thailand, co-presenter with Win Min.
Oct 16, 2010, 7-10 PM, on SULU DC Asian American poets – the Dome at the Artisphere, Rosslyn, VA.
September 2010, Open Salon, book reviews of JoAnne Growney, Red has no Reason, poetry collection,
Mischa Berlinski’s novel Fieldwork, and
William Dalrymple’s The last Mughul, history. Book reviews.
Napalm Health Spa, Summer 2010. My poem Loss.
https://www.poetspath.com/napalm/nhs10/index.html
Praised by Native American poet Susan Deer Cloud.
Book review of Win Tin, What’s That? A Human Hell, in Foreign Policy in Focus and Truthout, Eurasian Review etc.
http://www.truth-out.org/a-review-u-win-tin-whats-that-a-human-hell-in-burmese58707
http://www.ips-dc.org/articles/review_whats_that_a_human_hell
Summer 2009, short story No Crib for a Bed, in anthology of DC women writers, Gravity Dancers, edited by Richard Peabody –
http://www.amazon.com/Gravity-Dancers-Fiction-Washington-Women/dp/0931181305
The Northern Virginia Review. March 26, 2009. Reception launch of Issue 23, which includes my short story, “53 Red Roses.” David Baldacci, guest speaker.
National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma. A Plan for Demoracy and Development - “A Democratic Vision for Burma: How to turn Burma Around.” Dec. 08-March 30, 2009.
Comments in Irrawaddy on line on “Burmese democracy movement has no vision”
http://www.irrawaddymedia.com/opinion_story.php?art_id=15229
Art display – “Burmese Mugs” Portraits and “Memory Rolls.” American University Library/US Campaign for Burma, Washington DC, March 2009.
Short Story – 53 Red Roses, in The Northern Virginia Review, #23, March 2009.
http://www.nvcc.edu/depts/nvreview/nvr-latest.htm
International Art Awareness Drive for Aung San Suu Kyi. Mirca/Beacon Art, panelist, Feb. 14, 2009. Interviewed by RFA.
http://www.mizzima.com/news/world/1689-international-artists-launch-awareness-drive-for-aung-san-suu-kyi.html
Institute of Policy Studies, Panelist – War, Memory and Representation in Art, Georgetown, Washington DC. Dec. 2008. http://www.ips-dc.org/events/1008
Foreign Policy in Focus – “War and Peace” article on Vietnamese artist Huong.
FPIF, Book review of Joseph Stigltiz and Linda Bilmes’ The Three Trillion Dollar War.
Counterpunch – poem “Burma at a Critical Juncture.” Dec. 12, 2008.
http://www.counterpunch.org/poems12262008.html
Panel discussions: Burma and India, 60 years after Independence. April 2, 2008
Prospects for Peace and Democracy in Burma, April 3, 2008 – NEIU, Chicago, 13th Annual Asian American Festival.
“All about Cambodia” A literature survey type discussion on books about Cambodia. Dr. Kaung’s Bookshelf, March 28, 2008, Silver Spring, MD.
Burma: Post Clampdown, What should be done? Presentation at Payap University, Chiangmai, Thailand, Feb. 25, 2008.
Burma: Monks and Democracy, Jan. 24, 2008. Woman’s National Democratic Club, Washington DC. (Oral presentation)
War and Peace, an epic mural – The art of Vietnamese arits Huong.
http://www.art2all.net/tranh/huong/huong_peacemural.html
Special three-part program on Economic Prospects for Burma, China and India in 2008. Jan 2008. Interviewed by Khin May Zaw of RFA. (This program was praised by economists inside Burma)
Burma: Post Clampdown – What Should be Done? The American Prospect, on line. October 2007.
Burma: Prospects for Social Activism, Oct. 17, 2007. American University, SIS Lounge. With Steven Hansch and Mike Haack.
United States Senate Hearing of Oct. 2, 2007. New Mandala, a publication of Australian National University.
Also on my blog – http://kyimaykaung.blogspot.com
(Oral presentation – International Development Program Student Association, American University – Oct 19, 2007)
In house policy briefs for VAHU Development Institute.
How to Find out the Truth about Burma, paper on primary sources with respect to current crisis. New Mandala ( A Publication of Australian National University), Nov. 2007.
October http://kyimaykaung.blogspot.com
Foreign Policy in Focus, Monks vs The Military, Sept. 26, 2007, http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4582
Foreign Policy in Focus, Burma, Growing Darker Daily, 9-11-2007 – on current crisis in Burma.
FPIF, “Out of Burma” (on Burmese literature) July 13, 2007.
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4374
NEIU – Chicago, In Honor of Aung San Suu Kyi, panelist, April 2007.
http://www.afsc.org/ht/display/EventDetails/i/54289/pid/16705
Foreign Policy in Focus, Out of Burma- on dissident literature in Burma.
Asian Fortune, Obit of U Kyaw Htun, Washington Times Editor.
Asian Fortune, on Vineeta Gupta, Indian AIDS activist.
Asian Fortune Newspaper. May 2007. Articles on Bob James’ Jazz and Angels of Shanghai,
On Hla Ohn Mae, Burmese dissident. www.asianfortune.com
Foreign Policy in Focus. Debate on Sanctions in Burma. Jan. 2007
Wild River Review Blog, Reflections on a Begging Bowl: Monks Demonstrate in Burma. Sept 26, 2007.
Wild River Review – Burmese Migrant Workers and Shrimp Shelling and Tuna Canning in Mahachai, Thailand – March14, 2007.
Also in Burma Economic Watch, on line.
OpenDemocracy articles. 2006-2007
“Bank Crisis Reeks of a Ponzi Scheme, Feb. 2003, Irrawaddy on line.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/opinion_story.php?art_id=342
The Irrawaddy (Burmese dissident magazine – read by members of Congress)
Sept 2001 “Ms Ma Thanegi’s Rules of Good Political Etiquette” http://216.104.44.206/opinion_story.php?art_id=251&page=1
Launched Nov. 2, 2007 – Dr. Kaung’s Book Shelf – a series of book discussions – at Space 710, Silver Spring, MD. Currently on leave.
Wild River Review- fiction – short story The Lovers
http://www.wildriverreview.com/2/2-shortstories_lovers.html
Co-founded – VAHU Development Institute, a think tank without walls, for Burma, 2005. Over the recent Burma crisis, VAHU analysts were interviewed a total of 120 times. We have trained 60 monks and 90 civilian non-profit workers in batches.
Musica Viva poetry performance – writeup. Oct 23, 2005.
http://www.dcmusicaviva.org/documents/alenier_102305.pdf
Jan. 6th 2003, Chiangmai, Thailand, International Association for the Study of Forced Migration. Forced migration on the Burma-Thai border: Why they are here and the search for humane solutions.
Sept. 2002. Gothenburg, Sweden. Burma Studies.
Diplomacy: the Nature of Dialogue and Reconciliation. Coordinator with David Steinberg. Panelists, Dr Zarni, Zaw Oo, Dr. Chao Tzang Yawngwe, Aung Zaw of Irrawaddy (Steinberg did not allow him on panel), U Thet Tun (statistician and former diplomat, from inside Burma), Morton Pedersen.
Theories, Paradigms or Models in Burma Studies, Asian Survey, 1995.
Excerpt from my allegory, She-Monkey goes West, The Golden Time, in CrossConnect, 1995
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/xconnect/volume1/issue2/word/fiction.html
AWARDS AND HONORS
April 2012, Northeastern Illinois University, Award for my contributions to Asian-American Festival, Chicago.
Since 2009, contributing member, Free Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma website.
Northeastern Illinois University, Distinguished Service Award, for Outstanding Dedication and Work promoting Peace and Democracy in Burma, April 3, 2008.
IMPACTSilverSpring Award, won by Space 7-10 where my Dr. Kaung’s Salon is located. 2007
Short List – Earth Rights International PR position 2005 based in Chiangmai, Thailand.
Best short story “Black Rice” and best art entry – Painting Mars Ranger – March 2007, The Northern Virginia Review.
William Carlos Williams Award, Academy of American Poets, 1995.
Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Award, for concept for play FLASHBACK (now titled Shaman.)
Pew Finalist, 1996 and 1994, for play SHAMAN and allegory She-Monkey respectively.
Fulbright Scholar, 1982-89. University of Pennsylvania.
Polish-Burma Exchange Scholar, 1969-70. Central School of Economics and Statistics, Warsaw, Poland. First place winner.
M.A. with distinction, first in class, Rangoon, 1967.
B.A. first division, first place winner, 1964.
VOLUNTEER POSITIONS
Supporter – U.S. Campaign for Burma.
Co-founder, founding board member – VAHU. A think tank without walls for Burma.
Founder/facilitator/presenter: Dr. Kaung’s Salon and Dr. Kaung’s Bookshelf, 963 Bonifant St. Silver Spring, MD.
Dr. Kaung’s Salon from Oct 2005-present – some selected topics: Pakistan and the Benazir Bhutto. Monologue as a hysterectomy victim. Book discussion -- Beasts of No Nation, by Uzodinma Iweala. Robin Hood Ballads by Dr. Stephen Winick, Discussion of Nobel prize winning writer Orhan Pamuk, James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces, book launches by artist Lila Snow, journalist Melissa Robinson, architect Werner Krebs on stage design, Eniko Basa on The 1956 Hungarian Revolution, dancers Martha Wittman and Elizabeth Johnson choreographing immigrant stories, Elizabeth Null folk sing, Christmas Carol Sing, Bijan C. Bayne and Tomiko Anders on “Who am I?” My wearable art show, dancer Gretchen Dunn performing placeDISplace, , Meena Nayak Endless Rain, book launch.
Member, FBB – Friday Brunch Group – networking for writers with Nita Congress, August 2007-
Co-founder, Member, Writing Group, WRITE ON, DC. August 2005 – Sept. 2006
Co-founder, Writing Group, The East-West Group, MD, April 2005 - Oct. 2005
Member, Washington Independent Writers, Travel Writers’ Group, 2006-
Board member, Burma Refugee Project, (medical aid to refugees), Jan 2005- present
Board Member, Burma Economic Watch, An Electronic Magazine, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. 2004 to present.
Member, Technical Advisory Network, Burmese Government in Exile, 2000-present.
Art Exhibitions:
Flux - Foundry Gallery, Dupont Circle, DC, 2001
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/articles/23599/henry-callahan-kyi-may-kaung
Mostly Burmese Blotches, Space 7-10, Silver Spring, MD 2005
Yo Franz, Yo Jackson, abstract expressionist paintings, Suvarnabhuni Gallerr, Chiangmai, Thailand, 2006.
http://www.goldentriangleart.com/2007/06/art-exhibitions.html
Mostly Burmese Mugs, Space 7-10, Silver Spring, MD 2007.
http://ww2.gazette.net/stories/032107/bethnew231523_32328.shtml
Mostly Burmese Monks, Ubud, Bali, March 2008.
Human Rights portraits, American University, 2008.
Human Rights Portraits, Hotel Arthur, Helsinki, Finland, 2008.
Abstracts, Payap University, Chiangmai, Thailand, 2008.
Mostly Burmese Monks, Space 7-10, MD 2009
http://pinklineproject.com/event/167
Cut and Paste, Collages, Friendship Heights Village Center, 2009.
Cut and Paste, Collages, Suiriya Gallery, Chiangmai, Thailand, 2008.
WORK
International Diplomat, Program Officer, December 2008- May 2009.
Private Consultant – 2004-
2006- VAHU co-founder and Sr. Analyst.
2005- Consultant and Free Lance Writer. Professional artist.
Senior Research Associate. The Burma Fund, Washington DC, Sept 2001-Dec 31, 2004
Senior Research Analyst. Radio Free Asia, Washington DC, May 1998-Sept 2001.
International Radio Broadcaster, RFA Burmese Service, Washington DC, March 1997-April 1998.
1982-1994. Ph.D. candidate, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
1978-1988. Assoc. Professor, Economics Department, University of Rangoon, Burma.
RESEARCH INTERESTS/WORK IN PROGRESS
The Rohingya Issue and Race in Burma.
Burma, the sham elections of 2010.
Burma – Transition to Democracy, A Strategic Action Plan, commissioned paper for The Burmese Democratic Government in Exile, Dec.1 2008 - June30, 2009.
China, India, Thailand and Burma and ASEAN, USA.
United States Political Economy
Effects of Global Warming.
Greater Mekong Region, environmental problems.
Yangtze Dams.
Dissertation to Book --- completed August 2004. Nordic Institute of Asian Studies Press, Copenhagen.
Economic Transitions in Burma: Strategies and Scenarios. Book length project, co-authored with Zaw Oo, The Burma Fund, 2002.
• About possible scenarios should there be democratic change and the World Bank and IMF enter Burma. I intensively studied Joseph Stiglitz’ points of criticism.
Migration on Thai-Burma Border, Thai policies and SPDC Roadmap.
SPDC Roadmap and Problems.
2004 – Second Wholesale Sell Off of Natural Resources in Burma.
2004 –2007 Sanctions vs. No Sanctions: United States’ Burma Policy.
• Human rights, especially women's and children's rights.
• Closed vs. open systems.
• Command economies vs. open markets.
• IMF and World Bank packages and shortcomings.
• US policy and Burma, the Burmese democracy movement,
• System change and democratic, market reforms in China and Russia etc.
• Causes and effects of out-migration and search for humane solutions.
• Burma and Asean, community of democracies.
• Alternative models and their application to Burma.
• Problems of transition in Burma, Vietnam, Russia, Poland.
• Chinese Economic Reforms 1978-present, N and S Korea.
• Exploring humane solutions to Thai-Burma refugee problem.
Economic History. J.S. Furnivall and Economic Planning, the Plural Society in Burma during the U Nu (democratic) period in Burma 1948-62.
Novel in Progress, about a Burmese dissident.
Collection of Short Stories.
Play development -- Shaman
Painting – abstracts and iconic figures – 3 one woman shows in greater DC area since 2001, shows in Chiangmai, Thailand, July 2007 and Feb. 2008.
SEMINARS/CONFERENCES, STRATEGIZING SESSIONS 2001 –
Jan. 24, 2008. Strategizing meeting for Burma activism. Woman’s National Demcratic Club, D.C.
Oct 19, 2007. Panelist. Burma- Post Clampdown, What is to be Done? American University, School of International Studies.
April 27, 2007. Panelist on Education and Generational Change. Burma Youth Project, American University, Washington, DC.
April 22, 2007 my arts and craft show at Mayorga Coffee Factory, sponsored by American University, International Rescue Committee.
April 5, 2007, Northeastern Illinois University, Focus on Burma and Aung San Suu Kyi – On the keynote panel.
Dec. 2006, Chiangmai University, Community Development Project. Read course attendees project paper proposals and chose winning team.
November 2006, Refugee Conference – American University – one of invited speakers.
October- Dec., 2006. Refugee art exhibit, one of invited painters. Helped plan the exhibition, Gateway Heliport Gallery, Silver Spring, MD.
July 2006, E-W Center DC sponsored a closed door conference on Conflict Resolution in Burma in Bangkok. I was one of a dozen invited commentators/rapporteurs.
July 2006, Burma Studies Group – Singapore.
2005- Co-founder, founding board member (with Zaw Oo) of VAHU which trains non-profit workers from Burma.
October 2005, The Politics of Voices, House of World Culture, Berlin. Invited with 5 other S.E. Asian writers “who dare to confront.”
October 2004. Panel on Burma, “The Latest Purge in Burma,” Burma Studies Center, DeKalb IL. Keynote Panelist.
September 2004, Bank Information Center, Open Society Institute. Washington DC
• Helped plan seminar on World Bank and IMF, Lessons from Bosnia, suggested Joseph Stiglitz be invited, worked on my mentor Ronald Findlay of Columbia University Economics department being there to introduce Stiglitz, liaised with and introduced three economists from Burma. OSI funding.
March 2004. Closed door strategizing session on Burma, SAIS Johns Hopkins, Washington DC.
March 2004, The Burma Fund, Young Scholars Forum at American University, Washington DC. Paper proposals of Burma scholars in USA and discussions on research methodology
August-September 2003, Research on G.H. Luce and Furnivall Archives.
July 2003, helped formulate interview questions for Migrant Workers Survey on Thai-Burma Border (collaborative project with Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
Jan 2003 International Association for Study of Forced Migration, paper on Burmese refugees, Thailand and SPDC “roadmap.”
March 2002 Technical Advisory Network, NCGUB, Bangkok, Thailand. Role of Advisors of Burmese Government in Exile.
Nov. 2002. SAIS, Johns Hopkins, Washington DC. Participant. Strategizing for Burmese democracy movement in exile.
Sept, 2002. Burma Studies Conference, Gottenberg, Sweden, co-chaired panel on Diplomacy and Dialog in Burma.
Jan 2003, Conference on Forced Migration and Burma, Chiengmai, Thailand.
July 2003, Canberra, Australia, Australian National University, Peer Reviewed book on Economic Transitions in Burma. Peers from Burmese Democratic Government in Exile,
July 2003, Sydney, Australia, Australia Burmese Students Conference.
March 2003, Globalization and Human Trafficking, Denver CO.
Aug. 2002, International IDEA Stockholm, Democratic Capacity Building for Burma.
August 2002, Asean People's Assembly, “Globalisation and ASEAN,” Bali, Indonesia.
April 2001 Conference on World Affairs, Boulder CO. “World without Borders.”
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