gives an interview to Time magazine about the monks of Burma:
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1670911,00.html
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Friday, October 12, 2007
Voice of the Cape (Capetown, S Africa) radio
called me this morning for a live interview.
As they were talking to me as a poet, we spoke about the words "Burma" and "Myanmar," about optimism and pessimism and the junta's macho "culture."
As they were talking to me as a poet, we spoke about the words "Burma" and "Myanmar," about optimism and pessimism and the junta's macho "culture."
Saffron Through the Firewall by Roby Alampay
see Mizzima.com
Quote:
"Burma's slippered, bloodied citizens could not have been more eloquent with the silent, choppy videos they smuggled and posted online. Even as it is abused by the unscrupulous and the perverse, the Internet is a sanctuary and weapon for freedom fighters and humanitarians. It is also potentially a refuge and archive for justice."
Now Ministry of Defence!!! will handle communications.
Quote:
"Burma's slippered, bloodied citizens could not have been more eloquent with the silent, choppy videos they smuggled and posted online. Even as it is abused by the unscrupulous and the perverse, the Internet is a sanctuary and weapon for freedom fighters and humanitarians. It is also potentially a refuge and archive for justice."
Now Ministry of Defence!!! will handle communications.
Clampdown in Burma --
Watching Monk -- Copyright Burmese Citizen Journalist.Video filmed by Al Jazeera under cover --
c/o Burmese Muslim Network.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Fergal Keane from Rangoon --
Best written piece so far:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7038051.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7038051.stm
Burma -- Hidden Repression Worse --
Full horror of Burmese junta's repression of monks revealed
ANI Thursday 11th October, 2007
London, Oct.11 : The military junta in Myanmar is pursuing a systematic campaign of physical punishment and psychological terror with the objective of crushing the pro-democracy movement irrevocably. According to The Independent, this repression comes out clearly when you hear reports of monks being confined in a room with their own excrement for days, people beaten just for being bystanders at a demonstration, a young woman too traumatised to speak, and screams in the night in Rangoon, the centre of the protests against the regime. The first-hand accounts describe a campaign hidden from view, but even more sinister and terrifying than the open crackdown in which the regime's soldiers turned their bullets and batons on unarmed demonstrators in the streets of Rangoon, killing at least 13. According to the paper, the hidden crackdown is as methodical as it is brutal.One 24-year-old monk said that about 400 of them were placed in one room. They had no access to toilets, no buckets, no water for washing. No beds, no blankets, no soap. The young man, too frightened to be named, was one of 185 monks taken in a raid on a monastery in the Yankin district of Rangoon on 28 September, two days after government soldiers began attacking street protesters. On his release, the monk spoke to a Western aid worker in Rangoon, who smuggled his testimony and those of other prisoners and witnesses out of Burma on a small memory stick.Most of the detained monks, the low-level clergy, were eventually freed without charge as were the children among them. Another Rangoon resident told the aid worker: "We all hear screams at night as they [the police] arrive to drag off a neighbour. We are torn between going to help them and hiding behind our doors. We hide behind our doors. We are ashamed. We are frightened." Meanwhile, the United States yesterday threatened unspecified new sanctions against Burma and called for an investigation into the death of Win Shwe. At the weekend, the Myanmarese Government said it has released more than half of the 2,171 people arrested, but exile groups estimate the number of detentions between 6,000 and 10,000. In Rangoon, people say they are more frightened now than when soldiers were shooting on the streets.
Note: I don't know what ANI stands for --
ANI Thursday 11th October, 2007
London, Oct.11 : The military junta in Myanmar is pursuing a systematic campaign of physical punishment and psychological terror with the objective of crushing the pro-democracy movement irrevocably. According to The Independent, this repression comes out clearly when you hear reports of monks being confined in a room with their own excrement for days, people beaten just for being bystanders at a demonstration, a young woman too traumatised to speak, and screams in the night in Rangoon, the centre of the protests against the regime. The first-hand accounts describe a campaign hidden from view, but even more sinister and terrifying than the open crackdown in which the regime's soldiers turned their bullets and batons on unarmed demonstrators in the streets of Rangoon, killing at least 13. According to the paper, the hidden crackdown is as methodical as it is brutal.One 24-year-old monk said that about 400 of them were placed in one room. They had no access to toilets, no buckets, no water for washing. No beds, no blankets, no soap. The young man, too frightened to be named, was one of 185 monks taken in a raid on a monastery in the Yankin district of Rangoon on 28 September, two days after government soldiers began attacking street protesters. On his release, the monk spoke to a Western aid worker in Rangoon, who smuggled his testimony and those of other prisoners and witnesses out of Burma on a small memory stick.Most of the detained monks, the low-level clergy, were eventually freed without charge as were the children among them. Another Rangoon resident told the aid worker: "We all hear screams at night as they [the police] arrive to drag off a neighbour. We are torn between going to help them and hiding behind our doors. We hide behind our doors. We are ashamed. We are frightened." Meanwhile, the United States yesterday threatened unspecified new sanctions against Burma and called for an investigation into the death of Win Shwe. At the weekend, the Myanmarese Government said it has released more than half of the 2,171 people arrested, but exile groups estimate the number of detentions between 6,000 and 10,000. In Rangoon, people say they are more frightened now than when soldiers were shooting on the streets.
Note: I don't know what ANI stands for --
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Aung Kyaw Htet's paintings of monks --
http://www.thavibu.com/burma/aung_kyaw_htet/BUR9070.htm
In the last decade, paintings of monks seen from the back, painted by master Burmese painter Min Wae Aung, have been all the rage. Min Wae Aung is one of the most successful artistically and commercially of a dozen or so modern Burmese painters.
His work spawned a whole coterie of imitators, some good, some bad. I am including Aung Kyaw Htet's paintings here because I feel he has a particular artistic and humanistic sensitivity of his own. Here he transcends his role of "copyist." In fact, of course, he is not "copying," he is painting the same subject matter but in his own distinctive way.
It is ironic and sad now that news pictures of monks from the back, so they can't be identified by the Burmese military intelligence, have begun to "ape" paintings of monks from the back.
On Aung Kyaw Htet's website, I would like you to note especially the monks in white. Thai novices wear white, as do Thai nuns.
And I believe Aung Kyaw Htet was depicting monks in white to also appeal to a Thai audience and for purposes of conveying mood in color.
Everyone, please note the Burmese artists were painting monks long before the monks demonstrated en mass last month. It was before then a safe subject and the monasteries were safe places. But this is no longer true.
For the superstitious military and other persons, I'd like to say -- white has traditionally been the color of mourning for Thai and Burmese royalty. Everyone knows the present Burmese junta leaders like to see themselves as royalty. So when the senior general's daughter dressed herself in white last year at her wedding, according to "Burmese military logic" she was 1. being westernized, 2. in mourning, for an event yet to be?
Copyright KMK 10-9-2007
In the last decade, paintings of monks seen from the back, painted by master Burmese painter Min Wae Aung, have been all the rage. Min Wae Aung is one of the most successful artistically and commercially of a dozen or so modern Burmese painters.
His work spawned a whole coterie of imitators, some good, some bad. I am including Aung Kyaw Htet's paintings here because I feel he has a particular artistic and humanistic sensitivity of his own. Here he transcends his role of "copyist." In fact, of course, he is not "copying," he is painting the same subject matter but in his own distinctive way.
It is ironic and sad now that news pictures of monks from the back, so they can't be identified by the Burmese military intelligence, have begun to "ape" paintings of monks from the back.
On Aung Kyaw Htet's website, I would like you to note especially the monks in white. Thai novices wear white, as do Thai nuns.
And I believe Aung Kyaw Htet was depicting monks in white to also appeal to a Thai audience and for purposes of conveying mood in color.
Everyone, please note the Burmese artists were painting monks long before the monks demonstrated en mass last month. It was before then a safe subject and the monasteries were safe places. But this is no longer true.
For the superstitious military and other persons, I'd like to say -- white has traditionally been the color of mourning for Thai and Burmese royalty. Everyone knows the present Burmese junta leaders like to see themselves as royalty. So when the senior general's daughter dressed herself in white last year at her wedding, according to "Burmese military logic" she was 1. being westernized, 2. in mourning, for an event yet to be?
Copyright KMK 10-9-2007
Monday, October 08, 2007
Photojournalist Kenji Nagai, killed
in Burmese military junta's on going crackdown on the monks and civilians peacefully demonstrating in Rangoon, has been laid to rest.
For Mr. Nagai's family and the families of hundreds of Burmese killed in recent days -- we extend our Condolences.
The world has to see to it that no one died in vain --
http://uk.youtube.com/profile?user=kyawnaing1119
Watch also BBC World's on going coverage of Burma which begins today.
For Mr. Nagai's family and the families of hundreds of Burmese killed in recent days -- we extend our Condolences.
The world has to see to it that no one died in vain --
http://uk.youtube.com/profile?user=kyawnaing1119
Watch also BBC World's on going coverage of Burma which begins today.
Saturday, October 06, 2007
My favorite version of Ave Maria --
in English, sung by (the late) Burl Ives --
Lyrics, I only found out 5 mins. ago, based on
Sir Walter Scott's The Lady of the Lake --
"Safe may we sleep within thy care
Though banished, outcast and reviled
Oh Maiden hear my humble prayer
Oh Mother, hear a suppliant child --"
Something I am sure all exiles can relate to --
Lyrics, I only found out 5 mins. ago, based on
Sir Walter Scott's The Lady of the Lake --
"Safe may we sleep within thy care
Though banished, outcast and reviled
Oh Maiden hear my humble prayer
Oh Mother, hear a suppliant child --"
Something I am sure all exiles can relate to --
Schubert's Ave Maria
Sung by the late Luciano Pavarotti, conducted by Zubin Mehta.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uYrmYXsujI
I offer this in prayer for the people who died last week in Burma and are continuing to die for Freedom.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uYrmYXsujI
I offer this in prayer for the people who died last week in Burma and are continuing to die for Freedom.
Nessun Dorma or None Shall Sleep --
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VATmgtmR5o4
The late Luciano Pavarotti singing Nessun Dorma or None Shall Sleep from Giacamo Puccini's opera Turandot.
What a genius can do with only 3 minutes.
The late Luciano Pavarotti singing Nessun Dorma or None Shall Sleep from Giacamo Puccini's opera Turandot.
What a genius can do with only 3 minutes.
Rest, Roses --
The Last Rose of Summer -- photo copyright Kyi May KaungI took this photograph in DeKalb IL. in the Fall of 2004. During a tea break in the late afternoon, while I was attending the Burma Studies Conference, I took my camera and went for a walk, and was taken by this lone rose left alone in the bare bed, and the way the evening light fell on it.
The Burma Studies Center of Northern Illinois University is based in DeKalb, IL. You can take a taxi or limo from Chicago's O'Hare Airport to get there. I have stories from the limo ride, but they belong in fiction.
"Rest, rest is not a word of free peoples
Rest is a monarchical word."
Carl Sandburg
The Burmese military junta now admits that it still has 1000 people (Monks) under arrest.
Previously, it said only 10 people died -- but then Rangoon residents said they saw 35 corpses piled up there, eight in another place.
The dead are now estimated at 200.
To move away from all this -- for just a moment, I typed in "antique roses" into Google, which brought up rose grower David Austin's site, where I saw a China Rose, which has been identified as the The Last Rose of Summer of Thomas Moore's poem --
Here is the rendition of the song which I like best --
Two hundred monks who escaped the clampdown in Burma by making their way through many hazards to Thailand, vow they will return as change can only be effected from inside, they said.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Burma, but for now, "rest" if you can --
Kyi May Kaung
Friday, October 05, 2007
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
I was interviewed by BBC (World) HardTalk program --
In a HardTalk programme first broadcast on Tuesday 3rd October 2007, Stephen Sackur talks to Derek Tonkin and Dr Kyi May Kaung.
The protestors in Burma have grown impatient with the international community to do anything much about the military junta that cruelly suppressed the recent demonstrations.
It's feared many have been detained, beaten or killed.
What are the chances of success of the UN's special envoy's mission to Burma with China, India and Russia blocking a tougher stand?
Dr Kyi May Kaung is a representative of the Burmese government in exile and Derek Tonkin is a former senior British diplomat.
HARDtalk can be seen on BBC World at 03:30h GMT (not Asia), 08:30h GMT, 14:30h GMT, 20:30h GMT, 23:30h GMT (not Asia)
It can also be seen on BBC News 24 at 0430 and 2330.
Click here to watch the interview
http://news. bbc.co.uk/ 2/hi/programmes/ hardtalk/ 7026645.stm
The protestors in Burma have grown impatient with the international community to do anything much about the military junta that cruelly suppressed the recent demonstrations.
It's feared many have been detained, beaten or killed.
What are the chances of success of the UN's special envoy's mission to Burma with China, India and Russia blocking a tougher stand?
Dr Kyi May Kaung is a representative of the Burmese government in exile and Derek Tonkin is a former senior British diplomat.
HARDtalk can be seen on BBC World at 03:30h GMT (not Asia), 08:30h GMT, 14:30h GMT, 20:30h GMT, 23:30h GMT (not Asia)
It can also be seen on BBC News 24 at 0430 and 2330.
Click here to watch the interview
http://news. bbc.co.uk/ 2/hi/programmes/ hardtalk/ 7026645.stm
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Beatings in Burma --
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2007/10/02/rivers.myanamar.beatings.cnn
This morning and afternoon, I was interviewed by BBC's Hard Talk program (look on BBC World site tomorrow for link)
and VOA Chinese language section on Burma and China etc and Sanctions.
This morning and afternoon, I was interviewed by BBC's Hard Talk program (look on BBC World site tomorrow for link)
and VOA Chinese language section on Burma and China etc and Sanctions.
Monday, October 01, 2007
Rambo film crew saw evidence of atrocities
http://www.ksby.com/Global/story.asp?S=7152534
All "holocaust deniers" please also see picture of dead monk in river on
mizzima.com
All "holocaust deniers" please also see picture of dead monk in river on
mizzima.com
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Fifty Viss -- Burma Blog
http://viss.wordpress.com/2007/09/28/speechless/
I don't know why I can't put these 2 Burma blogs on my link list.
Help!
I don't know why I can't put these 2 Burma blogs on my link list.
Help!
Ko Htike's Blog
http://ko-htike.blogspot.com/
Correction -- Ko Htike is based in London, his blogsite is getting very famous --
the picture of the human brain has been authenticated by a medical doctor.
Correction -- Ko Htike is based in London, his blogsite is getting very famous --
the picture of the human brain has been authenticated by a medical doctor.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Japanese photojournalist Kenji Nagai -- killed in Rangoon, Thursday
At first, the Burmese junta said he was hit by a stray bullet, but video frames obtained by the Oslo based Democratic Voice of Burma showed a soldier throwing him to the ground and shooting him point blank. A loud shot was heard on the video tape as he was flung backwards and fell on his back.
A Japanese embassy physician ascertained that a bullet entered Nagai's chest, traveled through his heart and exited via his back.
Nagai is pronounced "Nar Gi Yee" -- Gi rhyming with "I"
Earlier reports said he "died later" and was still alive in first video frame which shows his right arm up still holding a camera. It was not certain where his remains were, or what happened to his camera.
Read more about his life, work and family:
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070929TDY02006.htm
For we are all human -- Please send Metta (Loving Kindness) for all who died in Burma and those still suffering.
A Japanese embassy physician ascertained that a bullet entered Nagai's chest, traveled through his heart and exited via his back.
Nagai is pronounced "Nar Gi Yee" -- Gi rhyming with "I"
Earlier reports said he "died later" and was still alive in first video frame which shows his right arm up still holding a camera. It was not certain where his remains were, or what happened to his camera.
Read more about his life, work and family:
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070929TDY02006.htm
For we are all human -- Please send Metta (Loving Kindness) for all who died in Burma and those still suffering.
Floral Tribute for Monks and People of Burma
Tripitaka Roses -- Photo copyright Kyi May KaungTripitaka-- The Three Baskets of the Law-
Hpaya (The Buddha), Taya (The Dharma), Thanga (The Sangha or Clergy)
"The Three 'Thar' or Sons"
1. Students
2. Monks
3. Soldiers
The best Burmese language radio station based overseas.
I always knew this from having worked both sides of the mike --
but now it is confirmed:
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/ACA4D11F-9E95-4054-AD04-F7009EBE9B2C.htm
Thank you DVB and your brave Citizen Journalists -- take care and be safe.
but now it is confirmed:
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/ACA4D11F-9E95-4054-AD04-F7009EBE9B2C.htm
Thank you DVB and your brave Citizen Journalists -- take care and be safe.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Worser and Worser in Burma -- Sept. 27, 2007.
The latest news is the military junta's forces are showing no mercy and using live ammo.
A Japanese photo-journalist was reported shot in chest and killed and photos are circulating on the Burmese dissident and blog sites.
Here is link to my article on The Wild River Review Blog -- on the cultural and historical context of it all --
written on the 24th -- before the crackdown on the 26th.
http://blogs.targetx.com/wildriverreview/penworldvoices/
A Japanese photo-journalist was reported shot in chest and killed and photos are circulating on the Burmese dissident and blog sites.
Here is link to my article on The Wild River Review Blog -- on the cultural and historical context of it all --
written on the 24th -- before the crackdown on the 26th.
http://blogs.targetx.com/wildriverreview/penworldvoices/
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
It's happened, dreaded crackdown on monks in Burma
Wed, 26 Sep 2007
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/09/26/myanmar.crackdown/index.html
Very sad to find out I was right after all when I said on air yesterday "Crackdown will come in 24 hours."
I bought red roses yesterday on my way back from Canadian Broadcasting Corporation office, and prayed and painted for the monks and the people of Burma.
This morning as I opened my eyes, I imagined the ghosts of protestors crowded into my shrine room.
Two different articles I wrote about recent events in Burma will be on line in a few hours.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/09/26/myanmar.crackdown/index.html
Very sad to find out I was right after all when I said on air yesterday "Crackdown will come in 24 hours."
I bought red roses yesterday on my way back from Canadian Broadcasting Corporation office, and prayed and painted for the monks and the people of Burma.
This morning as I opened my eyes, I imagined the ghosts of protestors crowded into my shrine room.
Two different articles I wrote about recent events in Burma will be on line in a few hours.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Burma: From Shadow International Development Secretary
See statement below which went out today from Andrew Mitchell MP, Shadow International Development Secretary
Mitchell: Key moment for Burma
Commenting on the protests in Burma, Conservative International Development spokesman Andrew Mitchell MP, who earlier this year became the first senior elected British politician in over a decade to hold a face-to-face meeting with the country's military regime, said:
"This is a key moment for Burma. There must be meaningful negotiation between the vile, illegitimate military regime which has stolen Burma's democracy and members of the democratic movement. There must be no repeat of the bloody crackdowns of 1988 and 1996.
Clearly arrangements must be agreed for the military to transition to a proper place in Burmese society. As I saw in Rangoon earlier this year, there are elements within the regime that, however grudgingly, understand that the present position is untenable. These less intransigent elements of the regime must ensure that this opportunity to bring peace and an end to ethnic cleansing to Burma is seized.
I call for the immediate release, unconditionally, of Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi as the first move in this process.
The British Government should now use every lever at its disposal to help promote a peaceful transition to democracy.
We look to the international community and especially China and India (the world's largest democracy) to ensure that at last some meaningful progress can be made.
The world should present the regime with a common, clear set of benchmarks and deadlines for real progress towards peace and meaningful dialogue with the legitimate representatives of the Burmese people.
We look to the British Foreign Secretary to pursue vigorously this agenda in New York next week."
Notes to Editors
In March 2007 Andrew Mitchell visited Burma and held the first face-to-face meeting in a decade between a senior member of the brutal military junta and an elected British politician.
He told U Kyaw Thu, the Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister and a former brigadier general, that the regime running Burma is wicked and illegitimate. He said: "People in the West regard your Government as a pariah state. You spend only a dollar a year per head on health and education and people are suffering terribly up and down the land."
He also held meetings with senior members of the National League for Democracy and other opposition figures including the leaders of the 1988 student revolt.
After leaving Rangoon he travelled to Karen State on the Thai-Burma border. He visited the Ei Tu Hta camp for internally displaced people, where he heard fresh evidence of renewed ethnic cleansing and human rights abuses perpetrated by the Burmese Army as part of their 50-year-old war against rebel groups. He heard shocking first-hand accounts of the torture and violence used by the Burmese army in their attempts to suppress the uprising.
Video diary
During his visit Andrew Mitchell made a video diary, which can be seen here:
http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=kqnK4ta1Xgo&mode=related&search=
The film contains rare footage from inside the closed and oppressive regime and shocking first-hand accounts of torture and ethnic cleansing in the conflict-stricken Karen state on the Thai/Burma border.
Andrew visited Burma between 1st-3rd March 2007.
Mitchell: Key moment for Burma
Commenting on the protests in Burma, Conservative International Development spokesman Andrew Mitchell MP, who earlier this year became the first senior elected British politician in over a decade to hold a face-to-face meeting with the country's military regime, said:
"This is a key moment for Burma. There must be meaningful negotiation between the vile, illegitimate military regime which has stolen Burma's democracy and members of the democratic movement. There must be no repeat of the bloody crackdowns of 1988 and 1996.
Clearly arrangements must be agreed for the military to transition to a proper place in Burmese society. As I saw in Rangoon earlier this year, there are elements within the regime that, however grudgingly, understand that the present position is untenable. These less intransigent elements of the regime must ensure that this opportunity to bring peace and an end to ethnic cleansing to Burma is seized.
I call for the immediate release, unconditionally, of Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi as the first move in this process.
The British Government should now use every lever at its disposal to help promote a peaceful transition to democracy.
We look to the international community and especially China and India (the world's largest democracy) to ensure that at last some meaningful progress can be made.
The world should present the regime with a common, clear set of benchmarks and deadlines for real progress towards peace and meaningful dialogue with the legitimate representatives of the Burmese people.
We look to the British Foreign Secretary to pursue vigorously this agenda in New York next week."
Notes to Editors
In March 2007 Andrew Mitchell visited Burma and held the first face-to-face meeting in a decade between a senior member of the brutal military junta and an elected British politician.
He told U Kyaw Thu, the Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister and a former brigadier general, that the regime running Burma is wicked and illegitimate. He said: "People in the West regard your Government as a pariah state. You spend only a dollar a year per head on health and education and people are suffering terribly up and down the land."
He also held meetings with senior members of the National League for Democracy and other opposition figures including the leaders of the 1988 student revolt.
After leaving Rangoon he travelled to Karen State on the Thai-Burma border. He visited the Ei Tu Hta camp for internally displaced people, where he heard fresh evidence of renewed ethnic cleansing and human rights abuses perpetrated by the Burmese Army as part of their 50-year-old war against rebel groups. He heard shocking first-hand accounts of the torture and violence used by the Burmese army in their attempts to suppress the uprising.
Video diary
During his visit Andrew Mitchell made a video diary, which can be seen here:
http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=kqnK4ta1Xgo&mode=related&search=
The film contains rare footage from inside the closed and oppressive regime and shocking first-hand accounts of torture and ethnic cleansing in the conflict-stricken Karen state on the Thai/Burma border.
Andrew visited Burma between 1st-3rd March 2007.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Friday, September 21, 2007
A Beautiful Monolog
Dead Bird in Bangkok -- photograph copyright Kyi May KaungOn PBS -- Bill Moyers' Journal, actress Kiaulani Lee -- recreating Rachel Carson talking about her book Silent Spring --
also interview of Lee by Moyers and documentary material --
If you watch it, note how well Lee understands Carson and how clearly she articulates her words, how she uses silences and body language to bring Carson and her thoughts back to life --
Truly beautiful monolog and a great tribute to Rachel Carson.
Copyright Kyi May Kaung
also interview of Lee by Moyers and documentary material --
If you watch it, note how well Lee understands Carson and how clearly she articulates her words, how she uses silences and body language to bring Carson and her thoughts back to life --
Truly beautiful monolog and a great tribute to Rachel Carson.
Copyright Kyi May Kaung
Haiku from Basho care of DC Poets Against the War
Summer Grasses - Photograph -copyright Kyi May KaungSummer grasses: all that remains of great soldiers' imperial dreams
-Basho
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Great interview of Orhan Pamuk
by Charlie Rose on PBS --
Some quotes, not from verbatim notes: “I don’t want to interpret (Turkish) culture, I just want to write a decent novel –
My job is to explain the character (in my novel) not to explain the culture or my country –
That is too big.”
“I may use the analogy of the bridge. From my window I see the Bosporus”
Charlie Rose: The bridge is neutral.
Pamuk: From the bridge I can see both sides.
Pamuk: Now I am working on my next book -- most of it is cut and paste. I may edit. There is craft -- but there also needs to be the creative fire. . . I come from the tradition of looking to the west -- but there is also tremendous anxiety, about authenticity --
It all started when Harold Pinter and Arthur Miller came to Turkey and I was their guide.
Reading used to be more important to me, but now I read (to see what others are doing) -- to steal ideas.
I write for a certain sect of people who read literary fiction all over the world. I don't write for people who watch TV -- I can say I don't even write for the Turk who doesn't read books. After TV, books have become high brow."
Some quotes, not from verbatim notes: “I don’t want to interpret (Turkish) culture, I just want to write a decent novel –
My job is to explain the character (in my novel) not to explain the culture or my country –
That is too big.”
“I may use the analogy of the bridge. From my window I see the Bosporus”
Charlie Rose: The bridge is neutral.
Pamuk: From the bridge I can see both sides.
Pamuk: Now I am working on my next book -- most of it is cut and paste. I may edit. There is craft -- but there also needs to be the creative fire. . . I come from the tradition of looking to the west -- but there is also tremendous anxiety, about authenticity --
It all started when Harold Pinter and Arthur Miller came to Turkey and I was their guide.
Reading used to be more important to me, but now I read (to see what others are doing) -- to steal ideas.
I write for a certain sect of people who read literary fiction all over the world. I don't write for people who watch TV -- I can say I don't even write for the Turk who doesn't read books. After TV, books have become high brow."
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Monday, September 17, 2007
For those still not free --
"Japanese anemone" Photo copyright Kyi May KaungToday is the anniversary of the 18th September 1988 clampdown by the Burmese military government of the pro-democracy demonstrations 19 years ago.
An estimated 3000 people died a year before Tienanmen.
Hundreds more were arrested and continue to be arrested.
Here is a music video made by the Art Institute of Illinois:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=yu8b4ua4XKU
As Aung San Suu Kyi said: Use your freedom to promote ours.
kmk
An estimated 3000 people died a year before Tienanmen.
Hundreds more were arrested and continue to be arrested.
Here is a music video made by the Art Institute of Illinois:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=yu8b4ua4XKU
As Aung San Suu Kyi said: Use your freedom to promote ours.
kmk
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Look at Bangladesh, see Burma --
Contents of Trash Can in Singapore -- Photo copyright Kyi May Kaung9-16-07
What Burma could become with military’s “guided democracy.”
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=37757
What Burma could become with military’s “guided democracy.”
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=37757
Saturday, September 15, 2007
What are you really worth?
It's all in the gestalt image -- Photo "Star Fruit" Copyright Kyi May Kaung.This on line quiz is guaranteed to make your day. Have fun!
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Crackdown in Burma
Dead Bought Chicken -- photo copyright Kyi May KaungFrom Washington Post --
So it goes -- to quote the late Kurt Vonnegut, in Slaughter House-Five
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Burma -- Growing Darker Daily -
My article in Foreign Policy in Focus
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4532
Thank you for publishing this on the anniversary of 9/11
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4532
Thank you for publishing this on the anniversary of 9/11
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Saturday, September 08, 2007
Robin Hood coming to my Dr. Kaung's Salon
Friday, Sept 14th, 7.10 PM to 8.30 PM -- Space 710, Kefa Cafe, 963 Bonifant St., Silver Spring, MD.
http://space710atkefa.blogspot.com/
http://space710atkefa.blogspot.com/
"You May Believe in Stones, but Don't Throw Them at Me!"
From a friend of a friend by email
"This lady is very outspoken.
Be prepared to wait a bit for the download, it's well worth it! Must read the caption in English... audio is Arabic. Here is a powerful and amazing statement on Al Jazeera television. The woman is Wafa Sultan, an Arab-American psychologist from Los Angeles. I would suggest watching it ASAP because I don't know how long the link will be active. This film clip should be shown around the world repeatedly!!! "
http://switch3.castup.net/cunet/gm.asp?ai=214&ar=1050wmv&ak=nul
"This lady is very outspoken.
Be prepared to wait a bit for the download, it's well worth it! Must read the caption in English... audio is Arabic. Here is a powerful and amazing statement on Al Jazeera television. The woman is Wafa Sultan, an Arab-American psychologist from Los Angeles. I would suggest watching it ASAP because I don't know how long the link will be active. This film clip should be shown around the world repeatedly!!! "
http://switch3.castup.net/cunet/gm.asp?ai=214&ar=1050wmv&ak=nul
Friday, September 07, 2007
My Granddog --
Photo copyright Kyi May KaungMy grand dog was euthanized by the vet this afternoon.
He was the equivalent of a human about 100 years old.
I want to memorialize his lovely stubborn nature on my blog.
Animals do not judge you, they do no evil, they don't gossip or form coalitions against you.
---- had trouble walking at the end and could not go more than a few steps, he was breathless all the time.
I house sat with him one summer and baby sat when he was young and afraid of stairs.
Copyright KMK
Joseph Stiglitz: The World is Getting Less Flat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzhD7KVs-R4
2001 Economics Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz says “the world is getting less flat,” a reference to Thomas Friedman's book The World is Flat, about globalization.
Inequality is increasing not just between rich and poor countries but also within countries. China has managed globalization reasonably well, but other countries have not.
Stiglitz talks of de-development in Moldovia (which just like Burma is sliding backwards) and about global warming and intellectual property agreements.
This talk was given at Google when Stiglitz was doing his book tour for his book Making Globalization Work.
Highly recommended.
2001 Economics Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz says “the world is getting less flat,” a reference to Thomas Friedman's book The World is Flat, about globalization.
Inequality is increasing not just between rich and poor countries but also within countries. China has managed globalization reasonably well, but other countries have not.
Stiglitz talks of de-development in Moldovia (which just like Burma is sliding backwards) and about global warming and intellectual property agreements.
This talk was given at Google when Stiglitz was doing his book tour for his book Making Globalization Work.
Highly recommended.
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Video of Su Su Nway Demonstration in Rangoon.
All Burmese outside Burma are likely to have seen this already, but it is still worth posting here.
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=16956884
The pale woman behind the men with linked arms is Su Su Nway. She is shouting "We're doing this for everyone!" and the attackers are saying --
"Pull! Pull!" (swair, swair) -- "swair" can also mean "(pull to) arrest."
It looks confusing because everyone is in civilian clothes.
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=16956884
The pale woman behind the men with linked arms is Su Su Nway. She is shouting "We're doing this for everyone!" and the attackers are saying --
"Pull! Pull!" (swair, swair) -- "swair" can also mean "(pull to) arrest."
It looks confusing because everyone is in civilian clothes.
Singing like a God: Tenor Luciano Pavarotti --
White and green caladiums -- photo copyright Kyi May KaungFamed opera tenor Luciano Pavarotti died of pancreatic cancer in his hometown of Modena, Italy at 5 AM today.
So many memorable performances, especially as Rudolfo opposite Mirella Freni as Mimi in Puccini's La Boheme.
Mentoring younger singers in competitions he set up, in cameo performances on TV.
In Verdi's I Lombardi, playing an Arab ruler who falls for a Christian girl.
Singing Santa Lucia.
Singing Nessun Dorma (None Shall Sleep) from Turandot.
Arriving in America in 1982 on a Fulbright, my entire opera education was based on CDs and TV, and Pavarotti singing handkerchief in hand formed a lage part of it. He reminded me of my writer cousin who died of drinking related problems.
Singers have a great love of life, of food. Pavarotti was as large a personality as he was in his physical being, and he had an expansive heart to match.
Coincidentally, in clearing out my paper clutter yesterday, I just found an 8-2000 interview of Pavarotti in the New York Times Magazine, by David Rakoff, in which he told Rakoff,
"If someone comes out who is chubby like me, he must sing like a god."
[blog text copyright Kyi May Kaung]
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
The recent fuel price crisis in Burma: The Structural Bones
"Burmese Scene" Acryllic painting and photo copyright Kyi May KaungPrivate collection.
For the past three weeks, demonstrations on the streets of Rangoon protesting fuel price hikes of 500% have been rocking Yangon (as the regime calls its former capital city) and spreading to other towns and cities. As one prominent Burma watcher says, “Poor Burma, where are these crooks (the State Peace and Development Council) going to go?”
Dr. Alfred Oehlers, a security analyst based in Hawaii, asked these crucial questions in an article Behind Burma’s Fuel Price Rise, on Augest 22 in The Irrawaddy Online Edition.
He asks the disturbing questions:
"How can a country so rich in gas and oil be unable to provide its own citizens with affordable supplies? How can government raise prices (to) such a huge extent, especially when it must be selling gas for what must be an incredible profit?
So far, various explanations have been put forward by analysts. Some have suggested the economic mismanagement of the regime is largely to blame, while others have pointed to an emerging foreign exchange and budgetary crisis as reasons behind the move."
Just about ten days ago, dissident newsletters on line reported the discovery of “huge gas (reserves)” in Burma.
So far, various explanations have been put forward by analysts. Some have suggested the economic mismanagement of the regime is largely to blame, while others have pointed to an emerging foreign exchange and budgetary crisis as reasons behind the move."
Just about ten days ago, dissident newsletters on line reported the discovery of “huge gas (reserves)” in Burma.
As an explanation, the “economic mismanagement” explanation is too glib and has been overused since the late Dr. Mya Maung happened to talk about it, but not in detail, in the mid-90s. As I remember it, he did not define it precisely, nor say what he meant, before it was picked up by many journalists, who batted it about like the proverbial volley ball. We need to go much deeper than that, as Dr. Oehlers is doing. The by now clichéd phrase, “economic mismanagement” begs the question – is any complex economy manageable or micro-manageable at all? Clearly not, not even a relatively simply structured one such as the Burmese economy.
Burma has a few major exports, largely natural resources. In management structure too it is “simple” but in this case “simple” does not mean it is either efficient economically, nor good for its citizens, who deserve the right to better their lives and live in security and creating better lives for themselves and their children. Right now, they don’t even have the right to survive.
The mass outflows of refugees and economic migrants from Burma over decades already attests to this. There are one million internally displaced people. There is high infant mortality and low life expectancy, not to mention the AIDs pandemic and avian flu etc. Just over a month ago, The Fund for Peace rated Burma as the 14th most failed state in the world, after Iraq and Afghanistan. That means the government that does the least for its people.
More than that the Burmese government treats its people as cannon fodder, slave labor and its arch enemies. At a Burma Studies Conference in Gottenberg, Sweden in 2002, the late Dr. Chao Tzang Yawngwe described how the Burmese military junta treats all strata of society and all ethnic groups as its enemies.
When I speak of the Burmese economy or the Burmese polity or administrative system (and in large measure they coincide), as “simple,” I mean, the simple structures as Henry Minzberg classified in his book, The Structuring of Organizations. This is a pyramidal structure with all decision making done at the top. There is a "log jam” of information, that does not flow well along the single channel running between the top and bottom layers. This structural design was also the one the traditional Burmese kings used. They were heads of their own army as well as heads of the country, they were all powerful - “Lords of Head and Hair” as we say in Burmese.
It is not surprising that the present military regime in Burma has chosen traditional Burmese kingship as its model, even naming its new capital Pyinmana – Naypyidaw (The King’s Royal Capital). Megalomaniac ideas aside, slavery, apart from being inhumane, is not an economically efficient way to organize things. In the slave plantations in the South, in the United States before the Civil War, everything had to be chained down so as not to be stolen. Anyone who is laboring under slave-like conditions thinks only of escape, if things cannot be made better within the system.
We have to pay the highest tribute to the Burmese people, who, led by a few committed leaders, are trying so hard to make things better. In a disturbing video that was smuggled out and can now be seen on My Space, dissident Daw Su Su Nway is “protected” behind a “body guard” of a few men with linked arms. They all look shockingly vulnerable. She keeps shouting “(We’re) doing it for everyone!” Then there are close ups of demonstrators being pulled away. She is now reported to be in hiding. Her heart medication has run out.
Watching this video brought back disturbing memories of 1988. Then they were shooting people on the street, using phalanxes of armed soldiers, with real weapons and real bullets, not rubber ones. In 1992, they used fire hoses. In 2003, in the May 30th attack on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, which is now known as the Depayin Massacre, they started using hired thugs in civilian clothes, wielding clubs. In this latest incident, a cartoon in the Irrawaddy, which I assume is accurate, depicts the clubs as “armed” with nails, pointed sides out. VOA broadcasts and witness interviews state that drifters on the street were given a square meal of dhanbauk rice (North Indian rice with spices and chicken) and liquor and ordered to rough up the peaceful demonstrators. They may also have been given drugs in a country notorious for being a major producer of drugs. A woman interviewed by VOA correspondent Thar Nyunt Oo, described how un-Burmese the thugs were in literally man-handling the demonstrators, who were mostly women. As in Depayin and the earlier White Bridge incident in 1988, women had their clothes torn from their bodies and lost their sarongs. This is deplorable, brutal behavior in the minions of a government that is always paying lip service to “Burmese culture,” as they define it, of course.
In his purely economic analysis, Alfred Oehlers points out that Burma is a diesel powered country, and as the demand for diesel oil has grown, the amount spent on subsidies to keep the diesel prices artificially low has also increased. He reasons that SPDC’s gas sales were probably negotiated some time ago and are probably locked in at low levels, while it has to import diesel at prevailing spot prices. He also says that some gas “revenues” are in fact not cash sales, but were barter arrangements without any money being exchanged. Burma is having to buy diesel, in spite of having “huge natural gas reserves” because it has inadequate refining capacity. Oehlers also points to “at least one nefarious motive.” It is rumored that the tycoon (Burmese oligarch) Tay Za and his Htoo Group of companies would be major beneficiaries of privatizing fuel products. Revenues would spill into their own back pocket (ko aik htair ko hpaik te) as the Burmese proverb goes, from state ownership to the hands of “pariah capitalists” as they are often termed.
Dr. Oehlers does assume though, that subsidies for diesel must come only from the energy sector. The junta is getting revenues illegal and legal from many different sources, and no one even knows how much has been leaking into the generals’ private bank accounts since the time of the arch kleptomaniac, Gen., later U Ne Win, the father of them all. Now of course he is the late U Ne Win.
The current price hike of 500% shows how large the subsidies were in the past. How far the fixed, that is, subsidized price was below the real price or the price set by demand and supply. The authorities clearly thought this new price would clear the market, that is, it was about what the market could bear, in economic terms, but they did not count on it creating political unrest. When it did, their only “solution” was to clamp down, as they have been doing repeatedly since 1962.
This does not solve any of Burma’s problems which by now are dyed into its structural, systemic bones. The price hike shows that the policy the World Bank favored, especially in Indonesia, of allowing prices to float to their real market level, will inevitably lead to political unrest unless accompanied by widespread political and economic reforms of a structural nature.
We can’t expect the junta to comprehend this, or try to do something about it even if they did understand the mechanics of the thing. In Zaire, years ago, an IMF report suggested that the government could not reduce its money supply because it had to pay off its cronies and buy loyalty from its supporters. Present day Burma is in a similar bind of the junta’s own making.
In conclusion, all this shows that micro-economic “solutions” will not work. It will only make the Burmese economy more contorted and bizarre, with reflected, reactive contortions in people’s lives. Micro-economic measures are like trying to do major surgery for a serious cancer with nail clippers and band aid.
What is needed in Burma are widespread economic and political reforms of a structural nature. On that front, there is a dim ray of hope on the horizon. While all our attentions were deflected by the troubles on the streets of Rangoon and other cities inside Burma, the Canadian Friends of Burma, a group which in the mid 90s started Burma activism, hosted a seminar on how India and China might pressure Burma to reform.
Kyi May Kaung (Ph.D.) is an analyst based in Washington, DC.
Copyright Kyi May Kaung
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Yikes! First Tourist Photos from Naypyidaw -- New Burmese Capital City
http://www.sequential-one.com/blog/?p=895
Boing Boing says the pics are "strikingly beautiful."
Maybe so, but what of the people forced to live and work there, forced to help build it, the totally unnecessary cost vs. Burma's current fuel price hike and countrywide demonstrations and clampdown???
Burma has been known as a photographer's paradise -- also known as a "Fascist Disneyland" -- term first used by travel writer Ian Buruma in early 90s.
One blogger wrote he was glad the tourists could go in and come out again with their cameras.
Ha Ha (Very Black Humor)
Boing Boing says the pics are "strikingly beautiful."
Maybe so, but what of the people forced to live and work there, forced to help build it, the totally unnecessary cost vs. Burma's current fuel price hike and countrywide demonstrations and clampdown???
Burma has been known as a photographer's paradise -- also known as a "Fascist Disneyland" -- term first used by travel writer Ian Buruma in early 90s.
One blogger wrote he was glad the tourists could go in and come out again with their cameras.
Ha Ha (Very Black Humor)
Sunday, September 02, 2007
Non-existent "mentoring" in USA --
Shadows of My Clothes - Copyright Kyi May Kaung- Here is my reply to an organization which was querying me about mentoring experiences in play writing.
- Read: Mentoring in Creative Writing.
- I have never been mentored in play writing and taught myself to write a play by writing it. Shaman was a Pew finalist script and praised by Edward Albee. I have considered taking a play writing course but it was withdrawn at the time it was convenient for me to take it. Not enough people registered.
I don't mind answering your questionaire.
In general I think the writing community, if there is such a thing in America, is very closed and only "interested in its own thing." We all get to thinking we may do better striking out alone. Often it is necessary to focus (on ourselves) to survive.
As someone who is mainly interested in writing in different genres, I think the current trend towards specialization is very damaging, creating in-groups which an outsider cannot easily enter. One must be a card carrying something or the other, or one can't "enter."
As Peters and Waterman said in In Search of Excellence, "groups are groupy."
Therefore I don't wish to say I envision a career in play writing -- one cannot envision anything unless a small measure of encouragement comes from somewhere, like it came for me via a small note from Albee.
The only place I can say where I was mentored was in a few writing classes, but most effectively, when I was a teenager in Burma by Burmese writer "K" -- U Khin Zaw, who was a musician and a writer and wrote in English.
I am very sorry to sound negative, but American competitiveness, and may I say "essential selfishness," (everything is in classes and for money,) breeds neither good mentors nor good mentored persons.
"K", my father U Kaung, my father's mentor Gordon H. Luce (a member of the Bloomsbury Group,) my cousin Min Shin all mentored me better than anything I received in America, with the exception of a few friends, a few classes, of intellectual freedom and safety to write what I wish, and of course, bookstores and museums.
People just don't have time to mentor or be friends; a first reader for a novel etc. I've had people lose my scripts (twice), lose my tapes, act cavalier about my intellectual property.
Some actively tried to sabotage my writing.
They outweigh the few who helped or tried to help, but could only do so to a certain extent.
So I wish your organization the greatest luck in your endeavor.
Might I also say the minorities need mentoring the most, especially the most minor of the minorities, where there is no critical mass that might make numbers count.
Copyright Kyi May Kaung
Monday, August 27, 2007
Three Upcoming Dr. Kaung's Salon Dates
My Salon in March 2007, "Who am I?" Painting "Lady Scorpion" and photo copyright Kyi May Kaung.
Friday, August 31, 6:30 to 8:30pm Dr. Kaung's Salon: Kyi May Kaung reads from her new dramatic monologue, "With or Without Womb," based on an interview of a Burmese woman.- Dr. Kaung's Salon: Robin Hood in History, Legend, and Ballad. A discussion of Robin Hood interspersed with several songs led by Stephen D. Winick, a writer and editor at the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress. Friday, September 28, 6:30 to 8:30pm
- Dr. Kaung's Salon: A discussion with Elaine Kessler about the work of Women's Education Project in Uganda.
Space 7:10 at Kefa Cafe. An organic art space exhibiting an evolving mix of contemporary, outsider, visionary, and world cultural artwork. Located at 963 Bonifant Street (near the corner of Georgia Ave., in downtown Silver Spring). A small gallery, a salon series, an intimate performance space. Coffee, gelato, quiche, soup, sandwiches, pastries.
Walking distance from Silver Spring Metro -- Red Line -- Free Parking on Wayne Av. and Bonifant Sts.
Hindu Temple in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Always enjoyed visiting Edison, NJ also, where largest Indian community said to reside in USA. Wonderful Indian sweets, festivals and dances.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2007/08/26/iyer.georgia.hindu.temple.cnn
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2007/08/26/iyer.georgia.hindu.temple.cnn
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Friday, August 24, 2007
Reading my Monolog "With or Without Womb" on Aug 31st, 2007
Photograph copyright Kyi May KaungWith or Without Womb
Playwright, poet and painter Kyi May Kaung reads from her new dramatic monologue, based on her interview of a Burmese woman.
Friday, 31 August, 6.30 PM to 8.30 PM
Space 7-10, Kefa Cafe, 963 Bonifant St., Silver Spring, MD 20910
Free and open to the public. Walking distance from Silver Spring Metro, free parking on Wayne Av. and Bonifant St.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Burmese Artist Kyee Myintt Saw
http://www.kyeemyinttsaw.com/creations/?p=3&viewArt=kmts034
He was at same Economics Institute as I was --
a master of pinks and purples, moody blue light at night -- sunlight shining through cloth or canvas.
He was at same Economics Institute as I was --
a master of pinks and purples, moody blue light at night -- sunlight shining through cloth or canvas.
Shift your Paradigm to Suit the Time(s).
http://www.educause.edu/pub/er/review/reviewArticles/32218.html
I highly recommend this article -- learned as much from it as from Tom Peter's In Search of Excellence.
Quote: "Obviously, it is useless to be best in the wrong thing." Lewis Perelman.
Note also Perelman's contrasting "the logic of pyramids and the logic of seagulls."
Seagulls have adapted and will be around longer than the pyramids.
Or in a S.E. Asian context, the silk cotton tree will be around longer than the Angkor monuments.
I highly recommend this article -- learned as much from it as from Tom Peter's In Search of Excellence.
Quote: "Obviously, it is useless to be best in the wrong thing." Lewis Perelman.
Note also Perelman's contrasting "the logic of pyramids and the logic of seagulls."
Seagulls have adapted and will be around longer than the pyramids.
Or in a S.E. Asian context, the silk cotton tree will be around longer than the Angkor monuments.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Four Mighty Good Reads
I am not sure if you will like these, but I do -- :)
1. White Mughuls by William Darymple -- true story of a British Resident in Hyderabad, who "went native" and married a Mughul Princess.
2. Twilight over Burma: My Life as a Shan Princess -- by Inge Sargent -- Memoir -- written by my friend Mrs Sargent, who was previously married to a Shan prince, who disappeared in 1962 while under detention at a Burmese military base. Univ. of Hawaii Press, paperback.
3. Beasts of No Nation, A Novel, by Uzodinma Iweala. Paperback. This author credits Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, with inspiring his own writing, about a child soldier in an unnamed African country. Winner of LA Times Award for First Fiction, Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction and NY Public Library, Young Lions Award.
4. Mark Bojanowski, The Dog Fighter. A Novel. Finalist for NY Public Library Young Lions Award.
1. White Mughuls by William Darymple -- true story of a British Resident in Hyderabad, who "went native" and married a Mughul Princess.
2. Twilight over Burma: My Life as a Shan Princess -- by Inge Sargent -- Memoir -- written by my friend Mrs Sargent, who was previously married to a Shan prince, who disappeared in 1962 while under detention at a Burmese military base. Univ. of Hawaii Press, paperback.
3. Beasts of No Nation, A Novel, by Uzodinma Iweala. Paperback. This author credits Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, with inspiring his own writing, about a child soldier in an unnamed African country. Winner of LA Times Award for First Fiction, Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction and NY Public Library, Young Lions Award.
4. Mark Bojanowski, The Dog Fighter. A Novel. Finalist for NY Public Library Young Lions Award.
Here comes my (updated) bio --
Self Portrait, copyright Kyi May KaungØ Ph.D. 1994, University of Pennsylvania, in Political Economy. Created my own theory of why totalitarian countries fail to develop.
Ø Freelance writer, former staff writer/senior research analyst/international broadcaster, Radio Free Asia, and senior research associate, The Burma Fund (affiliated with the Burmese Democratic Government in Exile), Washington DC.
Ø Lots of publication credits including: a. WHO Country Report (commissioned, c. 1971); Coffey Brothers, Sydney Australia – Burma Dry Zone Water Usage Survey, joint quetionaire designer.
Ø Non-fiction and academic articles in Foreign Policy in Focus, Asian Survey, Burma Debate; Lotus Leaf (Asian Art – upcoming Spring 2008), Asian Fortune, The Irrawaddy, Mizzima.com
Ø Short stories in Philadelphia Inquirer Sunday Magazine Special Fiction Issue, August, 1997; Wild River Review, vol1, #2, Northern VA Review, Spring 2007, The Salween (in Burmese) 2002, Shoptalk (RFA Newsletter), Panamowa (upcoming, Fall 2007)
Ø Poetry in Norton Anthology of S.E. Asian Poetry (upcoming), Poet Lore, Wild River Review, Poet’s Attic, Rattapallax, Poetic Invention, Passport Magazine, CrossConnect.
Ø Poetry and fiction readings: Borders Book Stores, Philadelphia and Marlton, N.J., Robin’s Book Store, Philadelphia, White Dog Café, Philadelphia, universities and colleges in USA and Canada, including, University of PA, Universities of Toronto and Alberta, Canada; University of Boulder, CO; UCLA; Ann Arbor Michigan, Kalamazoo College, with Washington Musica Viva; at Kefa Café, MD; at Suvannabhumi Art Gallery, Chiangmai, Thailand.
Ø Interviewed by NPR (Wisconsin, Jean Ferrera), VOA, Dr. Micheal Hurd Show, Pacifica Radio, Asian Fortune, Boulder Current, Colorado Daily, Wild River Review, Bethesda Gazette.
Ø Hundreds of radio scripts, 1997-2001. Name recognition for my weekly features- Reading between the Lines (Political and Economic Analysis of Burma and S.E. Asia) and Poems of Those who Love Their Country, (international dissident poetry).
Ø Received writing awards including – Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Grant, William Carlos Williams Award of Academy of American Poets, Pew Finalist – for my play Shaman and my allegory in poetry and prose, She-Monkey goes West.
Ø Words of praise for my play from Edward Albee.
Ø Grants: Fulbright Fellowship 1982-1988, Polish Government Scholarship, 1969-70, Burmese Government Scholarship in college in Rangoon University.
Ø Edited: Ph.D. dissertation of my mentor, the late Dr. Aye Hlaing, for London School of Economics while I was still in Burma in late 60s. The Burma Fund occasional papers 2001-2004.
Ø International Conferences: Berlin – House of World Culture, Oct, 2005, as one of 6 invited panelists (S.E. Asian Writers); Cornell University, Spring 2005, invited Speaker; Conference on World Affairs, Boulder, CO – annually – panelist/invitee – 1997-2001; Democracy Coalition, Seoul, S. Korea; Burma Studies Conference, keynote panelist, Gottenberg, 2002 and DeKalb, IL, 2004; Research and Intelligence, State Department, Chair, Panel on Future Scenarios in Burma, 1998; E-W Center, Conflict Resolution in Burma, Singapore, July 2006 etc.
Ø Board member – Burma Refugee Project; Burma Economic Watch
Ø Specialization – S.E. Asia and Burma, International Literature in Translation. Human Rights, Women and Children’s Rights. Social Science topics. Creative writing. Art. Travel writing.
Ø Subject Matter Expertise: Given a chance to do my research, I can write confidently about anything (except sports).
Ø Preferred work – book doctoring and copy-editing – of novels, memoirs, non-fiction about Asia or in fields of social science, human rights.
Ø Years in field – writing professionally since 1997, academically since 1960s, short stories since I was a teenager.
Ø Short stories in Philadelphia Inquirer Sunday Magazine Special Fiction Issue, August, 1997; Wild River Review, vol1, #2, Northern VA Review, Spring 2007, The Salween (in Burmese) 2002, Shoptalk (RFA Newsletter), Panamowa (upcoming, Fall 2007)
Ø Poetry in Norton Anthology of S.E. Asian Poetry (upcoming), Poet Lore, Wild River Review, Poet’s Attic, Rattapallax, Poetic Invention, Passport Magazine, CrossConnect.
Ø Poetry and fiction readings: Borders Book Stores, Philadelphia and Marlton, N.J., Robin’s Book Store, Philadelphia, White Dog Café, Philadelphia, universities and colleges in USA and Canada, including, University of PA, Universities of Toronto and Alberta, Canada; University of Boulder, CO; UCLA; Ann Arbor Michigan, Kalamazoo College, with Washington Musica Viva; at Kefa Café, MD; at Suvannabhumi Art Gallery, Chiangmai, Thailand.
Ø Interviewed by NPR (Wisconsin, Jean Ferrera), VOA, Dr. Micheal Hurd Show, Pacifica Radio, Asian Fortune, Boulder Current, Colorado Daily, Wild River Review, Bethesda Gazette.
Ø Hundreds of radio scripts, 1997-2001. Name recognition for my weekly features- Reading between the Lines (Political and Economic Analysis of Burma and S.E. Asia) and Poems of Those who Love Their Country, (international dissident poetry).
Ø Received writing awards including – Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Grant, William Carlos Williams Award of Academy of American Poets, Pew Finalist – for my play Shaman and my allegory in poetry and prose, She-Monkey goes West.
Ø Words of praise for my play from Edward Albee.
Ø Grants: Fulbright Fellowship 1982-1988, Polish Government Scholarship, 1969-70, Burmese Government Scholarship in college in Rangoon University.
Ø Edited: Ph.D. dissertation of my mentor, the late Dr. Aye Hlaing, for London School of Economics while I was still in Burma in late 60s. The Burma Fund occasional papers 2001-2004.
Ø International Conferences: Berlin – House of World Culture, Oct, 2005, as one of 6 invited panelists (S.E. Asian Writers); Cornell University, Spring 2005, invited Speaker; Conference on World Affairs, Boulder, CO – annually – panelist/invitee – 1997-2001; Democracy Coalition, Seoul, S. Korea; Burma Studies Conference, keynote panelist, Gottenberg, 2002 and DeKalb, IL, 2004; Research and Intelligence, State Department, Chair, Panel on Future Scenarios in Burma, 1998; E-W Center, Conflict Resolution in Burma, Singapore, July 2006 etc.
Ø Board member – Burma Refugee Project; Burma Economic Watch
Ø Specialization – S.E. Asia and Burma, International Literature in Translation. Human Rights, Women and Children’s Rights. Social Science topics. Creative writing. Art. Travel writing.
Ø Subject Matter Expertise: Given a chance to do my research, I can write confidently about anything (except sports).
Ø Preferred work – book doctoring and copy-editing – of novels, memoirs, non-fiction about Asia or in fields of social science, human rights.
Ø Years in field – writing professionally since 1997, academically since 1960s, short stories since I was a teenager.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Kalon or Red-Whiskered Bulbul may become extinct
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulbul
Kalon or red-whiskered Bulbul may become extinct
Independent Mon News Agency
August 17, 2007
Mon community leaders in Tenasserim Division in southern Burma are worried about the red-whiskered Bulbul or Kalon bird, in local parlance, becoming extinct with local people trapping the birds for export to Thailand .
Local people in Yebyu and Tavoy Township Tenasserim Division use nets and traps to catch the red-whiskered Bulbuls or Kalons. Groups of people are engaged in this activity in the Yebyu and Tavoy forest.
The Kalon birds are dark blue, yellow and green in colour. It has a sweet voice and some Thai people keep it as pets at home.
"Most of the trappers are Muslims, some Mon and some Burmese people," said a Yebyu resident.
"A Kalon bird is worth 3,000 Baht. That is why people catch the bird," he added.
According to a bird catcher they sell it as pets in Suwanabumi Airport Garden .
With more and more people bent on catching the Kalon, local community leaders have asked the New Mon State Party's (NMSP) Tavoy district administrator to stop the practice.
According to the NMSP Tavoy district officer, they had released an order banning the trapping of Kalon birds because it would lead to the bird's extinction.
Currently, the Kalon bird sells for 3,000 Baht on the Thai Burma border and Thai tourists buy it for their home because of its sweet voice and coloured feathers.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
For further information please contact to imna_news@yahoo.com ,
www.monnews.com, www.monnews-imna.com
Contact Editor : 66 (0) 81 3659140 (or) 66 (0) 892 072 825,
Please visit Burma News International Web-site: www.bnionline.net, in which IMNA is a member.
Kalon or red-whiskered Bulbul may become extinct
Independent Mon News Agency
August 17, 2007
Mon community leaders in Tenasserim Division in southern Burma are worried about the red-whiskered Bulbul or Kalon bird, in local parlance, becoming extinct with local people trapping the birds for export to Thailand .
Local people in Yebyu and Tavoy Township Tenasserim Division use nets and traps to catch the red-whiskered Bulbuls or Kalons. Groups of people are engaged in this activity in the Yebyu and Tavoy forest.
The Kalon birds are dark blue, yellow and green in colour. It has a sweet voice and some Thai people keep it as pets at home.
"Most of the trappers are Muslims, some Mon and some Burmese people," said a Yebyu resident.
"A Kalon bird is worth 3,000 Baht. That is why people catch the bird," he added.
According to a bird catcher they sell it as pets in Suwanabumi Airport Garden .
With more and more people bent on catching the Kalon, local community leaders have asked the New Mon State Party's (NMSP) Tavoy district administrator to stop the practice.
According to the NMSP Tavoy district officer, they had released an order banning the trapping of Kalon birds because it would lead to the bird's extinction.
Currently, the Kalon bird sells for 3,000 Baht on the Thai Burma border and Thai tourists buy it for their home because of its sweet voice and coloured feathers.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
For further information please contact to imna_news@yahoo.com ,
www.monnews.com, www.monnews-imna.com
Contact Editor : 66 (0) 81 3659140 (or) 66 (0) 892 072 825,
Please visit Burma News International Web-site: www.bnionline.net, in which IMNA is a member.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Quote of the Day --
from writer Elizabeth Null, in talking about nice group we are in,
"Not little prune-faced judges of your every spoken sentence!"
I could do a whole riff on prunes, who are usually prudish.
When I was growing up, one ate prunes to be "regular" and avoid constipation.
Exercise before you go to bed: Try making a prune face in the mirror.
"Not little prune-faced judges of your every spoken sentence!"
I could do a whole riff on prunes, who are usually prudish.
When I was growing up, one ate prunes to be "regular" and avoid constipation.
Exercise before you go to bed: Try making a prune face in the mirror.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Angkor Art in Musee Guimet Collection
http://www.museeguimet.fr/-Asie-du-Sud-Est-
Some of these fine pieces were brought to Washington DC National Gallery Exhibit in 1997, e.g. Kneeling Tara.
Some of these fine pieces were brought to Washington DC National Gallery Exhibit in 1997, e.g. Kneeling Tara.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Angkor Photos from 1994 Endeavor Space Shuttle
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/radar/sircxsar/angkor.html
Western Baray and Eastern Baray clearly visible, as are Angkor Wat, in center and Angkor Thom, larger and N. of Angkor Wat, and straight lines of ancient and modern roads and canals.
Amazing.
Western Baray and Eastern Baray clearly visible, as are Angkor Wat, in center and Angkor Thom, larger and N. of Angkor Wat, and straight lines of ancient and modern roads and canals.
Amazing.
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
My upcoming Dr. Kaung's Salon events at Space 7-10
Heated discussions at Space 710, photo Kyi May KaungAugust 10th, Friday, 6.30-8.30 PM. Karen Hanscom (Ph.D.) Exec. Director, and Essence Pierce, Case Manager from Advocates for Survivors of Torture and Trauma, featured in Feb. issue of O: The Oprah Magazine.
August 24, 6.30P to 8.30P -- Meena Nayak, author of Endless Rain (Penguin) a novel set in Kashmir.
August 31, 6.30 P to 8.30P, I will read from my monolog With or Without Womb, based on intverview of a Burmese woman.
All at Kefa Cafe, 963 Bonifant St. Silver Spring, MD
Do come.
Sunday, August 05, 2007
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