Burma savvy Scott Marciel named as top US diplomat to Asean --

Burma Savvy Diplomat Named US Envoy to Asean

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By WAI MOE

Friday, April 11, 2008

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The US government has named a top diplomat who is familiar with Burma as its first envoy to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

Scot Marciel, currently deputy assistant secretary to the East Asia and Pacific Bureau, said on Wednesday one of his first tasks will be to work with Asean to establish a more effective Burma policy, according to a report by Agence France-Presse.

Scot Marciel at the Washington Foreign Press Center Briefing

“One of my highest priorities, if confirmed, will be to work with Asean and its member nations—to convince Burma’s rulers to end their brutal repression and begin a genuine dialogue leading to a democratic transition,” Marciel said.

Surin Pitsuwan, the Asean secretary-general, said in a press release that Asean welcomed the appointment of Marciel “as a significant gesture of the US in recognizing the importance of Asean.”

He added, “We will be ready to work with the United States on a broad list of issues of mutual interest for the well-being, stability and security of the region.”

The US State Department Web site says Marciel, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, joined the State Department in 1985. His most recent assignments were director of the Office of Maritime Southeast Asia, director of the Office of
Mainland Southeast Asia and director of the Office of Southeastern Europe.

He has also served in Vietnam, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Brazil and Turkey, as well as in the Economic Bureau’s Office of Monetary Affairs. He grew up in Fremont, California. He graduated from the University of California at Davis and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

After the Burma junta’s crackdown on the 2007 mass demonstrations, Marciel gave a briefing to the US Senate and House foreign affairs committees on the civil uprising.

He was also one of main speakers for a seminar “The Crisis in Burma: In Search of a Unified International Response,” which was organized by the Open Society Institute in New York on March 25.

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The Failure of (the) Gambari Mission in Burma By: Ahmedur Rahman Farooq

Asian Tribune - Fri, 2008-04-11 01:31

Turning a deaf ear to international outcries, Burma's military rulers are going to perpetuate military domination in running the state forever through unilaterally holding a referendum on May 10.2008 on a pro-military constitution which will not be possible to amend without the consent of the military representatives in the parliament, while the UN especial (sic) envoy Ibrahim Gambari who was appointed on a mission to restore peace, democracy and human rights in Burma through a meaningful participation of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other democratic and ethnic minority leaders in the process of drafting a national constitution, has virtually reached a position where the people of Burma cannot see any ray of hope from his mission.

In the draft constitution, the constitutional power has been given to the commander in chief to run the country, instead of vesting it in the people under the basic tenets of a democratic system. The commander in chief has been given the power to appoint 25 percent of the seats in both the upper and lower houses of parliament, with hand picked military officials who will not be accountable to the people, but fully loyal to the commander in chief. It also stipulates that no amendments to the charter can be made without the consent of more than 75 percent of lawmakers, making changes impossible without the support of the military representatives in Parliament who occupy 110 seats out of the 440-seat lower house which is called Pyithu Hluttaw (House of Representatives) and 56 seats out of the 224-seat upper house which is called Amyotha Hluttaw (House of Nationalities) .

Moreover, in the event of a "state of emergency," which the tatmadaw (armed forces) is given the authority to declare at any time, the commander in chief would assume full legislative, executive and judicial powers.

However, after returning from his third visit to Burma on March 6-10.2008, Ibrahim Gambari has briefed on Burma with the 15-member UN Security Council (UNSC) on March 18.2008 where he admitted his efforts had yielded "no immediate tangible outcome." But he could not ask the Council to do something effective or to strengthen the mandate of the Secretary General in pressuring the military regime for an all party-inclusive national reconciliation process in Burma. Of course, he said that he had reason to believe that the Burmese government attaches importance to his mission and "continues to value the Secretary-General’ s good offices as the best prospect for further cooperation through mutual trust and confidence, and constructive suggestions. " But the people of Burma cannot find grounds for such optimism of the UN envoy.

Most unfortunately, Gambari failed even to persuade the UN Security Council members to release a Presidential Statement after his briefing. The draft Security Council presidential statement which was prepared by three Security Council members—the United States, Britain and France, on the Burmese constitutional referendum reflecting the views of the people of Burma, was opposed by the Russian ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin. The draft UN statement called on the military regime to allow full participation of all political actors, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, in the referendum process in order for it "to be inclusive and credible" through the guarantee of freedom of expression, association and assembly in the political process leading to the referendum, as well as independent monitoring of the referendum.

Opposing the draft statement, the Russian ambassador said, "Responding off the top of my head, I said to the members of the Council that the way I heard this idea, to me it is somewhat improper for the Security Council to go into describing modalities for a referendum or an election because we are not an election board." He also said, "We are the Security Council; we are dealing with issues of threats to international peace and security." Sadly, the lack of peace of 57.6 million people of Burma who have been groaning under the military for the last 46 years and now (are) going to be enslaved generation after generation through the sham referendum, is not a matter to dealt with by the UN Security Council according to the Russian ambassador.

Despite being purely rebuffed by the Burmese regime during his last visit, which was widely reported by the official media and which made it clear to Gambari that his approach of accommodating the generals in an effort to engage them in a dialogue has not worked, the UN envoy failed to give a frank assessment of the current situation in Burma to the UN Security Council as well as the international community. All his proposals to the regime to amend the draft constitution, to allow a UN role in the May referendum and to include input from the country's pro-democracy movement and other political parties, were rejected outright by the junta. He failed to make minimum visible progress towards achieving the goals set by the UN Security Council through its presidential statement in October 2007.

Mr Gambari is a veteran diplomat who holds the record of being the longest serving Ambassador/Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the UN and has served as President of the Security Council on two occasions and chaired the UN Special Committee Against Apartheid, which has successfully seen the demise of the long-standing social injustice in South Africa and the establishment of democratic rule there.

He also chaired the UN Special Committee on Peace Keeping Operations from 1990-1999. But despite his several rounds of discussions with the junta leaders during his three visits to Burma and also his countless trips to the capitals around the world over the past few months, he has been unable to accomplish any of the goals set by himself, by the UN Secretary-General, or by the Security Council towards a meaningful national reconciliation in Burma, even though there are reasons to consider broader factors for his ineffectiveness.

In fact, time is running out as the farcical referendum which is aimed at trampling the people of Burma for generations under the military boot, is going to take place on May 10 on the junta-drafted constitution. And in an effort to show some level of "eye-wash success," the local authorities have already started ordering the people to support the constitutional referendum, with threats on those who may say "No" to the draft. People of pro-military organs like (the) Township Peace and Development Council(TPDC), the Union Solidarity and Development Association(USDA) and the National Unity Party(NUP), are holding meetings at the village level, making known to the people of the consequences of voting "No" in the referendum.

They are explaining to the villagers how to vote in the referendum and how the local authorities will observe the people -saying that the local authorities will check the ballots after the polling station is closed and if they find out who is against the draft constitution they will detain him/ her to be interrogated immediately (as regards)why he/she is opposing it. Now, many people have started to think that at least for the sake of one's own safety, it will not be wise to vote "No" in the referendum, as it will be like inviting the wolf by a lamb to attack him.

The pro-military people are also cautioning that the situation will be disastrous in the States or Townships where the ethnic minorities live. If the authority finds poor turnout or (a) no-vote majority, the minorities who are purely defenseless and powerless, will have to be ready to face the worst. At the same time, in order to spread panic among the common people, the pro-military gangs are attacking the pro-democracy and human rights activists as the authorities tighten control on opposition groups ahead of the referendum.

There is no denying the fact that the Burmese military rulers are pushing the country to a dangerous road for the future. They are also trying to deceive the international community through the referendum in order to divert international attention away from last September's brutal crackdown.

Now it is time for Gambari to frankly concede that he was unable to get things moving in his approach of "dialogue and accommodation" in Burma, so that the international community can re-evaluate its approach to Burma's ruling generals and also the UN can review its Burma policy.

It is also the expectation of the international community from Ibrahim Gambari to clearly outline what his mission or the international community can do to ensure that the junta addresses the demands of the international community.

Nevertheless, in the wake of the failure and frustration of Ibrahim Gambari, now it is important to strengthen the direct involvement of the UN Secretary General through a separate mandate of the UN Security Council in order to help maximize the international efforts to resolve the political impasse in Burma

Ahmedur Rahman Farooq (is) Chairman of the Rohingya Human Rights Council (RHRC).

Burmese activist Nyunt Than of BADA makes an impact at San Francisco Olympic Torch Demonstrations --

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/04/10/torch/index.html

U Nyunt Than and I were interviewed by Rose Aguiler in Sept. 2007.

Legendary acting teacher Stella Adler --

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/09/theater/09adler.html?th&emc=th

My Dearest Aunt passed away in Bangkok --

Lotus I photographed on my way to see Aunty -- photo copyright Kyi May Kaung


Mrs. Aimee Shwe Shane --

She was the loveliest person imaginable, able to related to people of all ages and nationalities.

She lived in Bangkok, Thailand for the last 40 years, and spoke Thai fluently.

Uncle worked at Escap and before that worked for the Burma Railways. Uncle's dream was that Burma be linked up with the trans-Asian railway lines, but it has never happened.

I saw Aunty last on March 10 and she seemed more quiet and lost in thought than she usually is.

I shall miss her sorely.

Kyi May Kaung

Pulitzers in Journalism --

Japanese photo journalist Kenji Nagai as he lay dying -- Sept 25, 2007.

"The prize for breaking news photography went to Adrees Latif of Reuters for his photograph of a Japanese videographer who was fatally wounded in a street protest in Myanmar."

from -- Washington Post wins 6 Pulitzers, by Deepti Hajela.


How about a Pulitzer and other prizes for the monks of Burma and the citizen journalists?

Kyi May Kaung

Fabulous blog -- Nuns buying bras and other fun things from Thai-Burma Border

http://whatdoino-steve.blogspot.com/search/label/Burma

India and Burma and --- Former Defence Minister George Fernandez about only friend we have left in India --

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20080405/main8.htm

Asian American -- wikipedia article --

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_American

Eating road kill raccoon -- with Monica Eng

of Chicago Tribune --

who was just at the NEIU Asian American Heritage Festival in Chicago.

http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/thestew/monica_eng/index.html

Didn't seem extra chewy.

Cherry blossom in DC

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/03/cherry.blossoms.irpt/index.html

Booming Indonesian art --

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/02/world/asia/02indo.html?ref=asia

Malayalam Poetry -- if you have the guts, have your poetry slam streetside !

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Culture_Cauldron/Malayalam_poetry_and_its_mass_connection/articleshow/2927001.cms

Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) gives me a Distinguished Service Award, by Kyi May Kaung

Dean Murrell Duster -- announcing the award.
A session on the Philippines --
Nobel Prize winning economist -- A.K. Sen's Development as Freedom -- BTW, A. K. Sen was born and brought up in Mandalay, Burma.

4-5-08

For two years now, I have been going to NEIU in Chicago for conferences and seminars related to Burma, sponsored by the Mohammad Mossadegh Fund. http://www.mohammadmossadegh.com/

Mohammad Mossadegh was the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran until 1953 when he was deposed in a CIA engineered plot, which placed the Shah back into power. Before Aug. 1953, the Shah was briefly overseas. Mossadegh had worked for a constitutional monarchy and for Iran to receive more of its oil revenues. The CIA role in the plot was eventually revealed publicly. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Mossadegh

Last year, I was on a panel with Barbara Victor, keynote speaker, author of The Lady, a biography of Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Other panelists last year were Prof. Emeritus Clark Neher and Burma activist Maura Stevens.

This year, I was at NEIU April 2-3 as part of their 13^th Annual Asian American Heritage Conference. The events spanned a broad range of topics including Asian Values and Globalization, Contemporary Asian Cinema, Two Decades Since Dictatorship in the Philippines and The Role of the Ethnic Media in the Asian Community. There was also a broad range of cultural and artistic events, but I was not able to catch them all. The one I most regret having missed was Now Ruz – A Celebration of the Iranian New Year.

I was on two panels this year, one on National Autonomy: Examining the 60^th Anniversary of India’s and Burma’s Independence, with the Honorable Ashok Kumar Attri, Consul General of India in Chicago, and chaired by Dr. Hamid Akbari, Chair and Assoc. Professor, Management and Marketing, NEIU. Dr. Akbari and his wife Azar are of Iranian descent, and I find many things in common between all of us at the Conference and at NEIU, in our foreign-born backgrounds and American shared values and abiding belief in democracy.

The India and Burma panel caused me to look more closely at the last 60 years in Burma and India. I also added my interest in Chinese economic reforms. My Ph.D. field exams at the University of Pennsylvania were in the Russian, Chinese, Indian and hopefully Burmese economic reforms and problems of communism and transitions to market economies. I have kept up my interests since.

Also on April 2, Girish Rishi, VP and General Manager, Motorola Corporation, Chicago, spoke about market reforms and miracle economic growth in India in the last 15 years. According to Rishi, China is ten years ahead of India, economically speaking.

I concluded my session on India, Burma and China by saying that though spliced between two of the fastest growing economies in the world, India and China, Burma is a basket case. India to our west is not only the world’s 12^th largest economy, but also the third largest in purchasing power and the world’s largest democracy, http://www.beyondbooks.com/wcu91/3p.asp -- but I described how troubled I felt by the present Indian government’s seemingly purely commercial and trade approach towards Burma. Even as the monks were marching in Burma last September, Indian companies were busy buying natural gas from Burma and now there is a dispute, with Bangladesh saying that Burma is claiming the offshore plots that belong to it, belong to them.

For Indian economic reforms, see Arvind Panagariya, India’s Economic Reforms: What has been accomplished? What remains to be done? On http://www.adb.org

The Chinese government already has a “natural gas from western to eastern provinces program” in its 16^th Five Year Plan and my fear is that, this combined with the Indian and Thai hungers also for (Burmese) natural gas will cause the pipelines to flow out of Burma or through Burma, leaving the Burmese people in the dark.

The other panel I was on at NEIU, was Peace and Democracy in Burma. My co-panelists were -- medical doctor, Dr. Nora Rowley who has worked with Doctors without Borders in the Rohingya (Burmese Muslim) areas in western Burma, and Stacie Freudenberg, Photo Journalist, and was also chaired by Dr. Akbari.

After lunch Stacie gave a “personal tour” of her photographs of Burmese refugees in the Mae Hla camp and migrant workers in Mae Hong Son, near the Burma border in western Thailand. I was struck by Nora Rowley’s deep commitment to Rohingya and human rights in Burma, and by Stacie Freudenberg’s artistic eye as well as her human heart. In a few minutes, she was able to describe for us the fear that the Burmese migrant workers feel. Nora spoke about the Rohingya requiring special permission to marry. A woman who married without permission was stripped naked and paraded in her village. Stacie showed us the thin bar of light below a door in the daytime. The migrant family whose life she documented, lock themselves in, in the daytime, for fear of forced deportation back to Burma. Children are sometimes deported back without their parents and not heard from again.

At the luncheon on the 3^rd, I also met Ernest from Burma, who is the son of a famous Burmese movie director. His health has been affected by the struggle, but he is planning a demonstration with Burmese monks soon.

The award came as a complete surprise for me as I have been doing this sort of literary activism for at least a decade now, and few places are as welcoming and supportive as NEIU. It reminds me of a smaller scale Conference on World Affairs, which is also going on right now, and is based at the University of Colorado, Boulder, CO.

The Distinguished Service Award I received was inscribed “In recognition of your Outstanding Dedication and Work in promoting Peace and Democracy in Burma” and was signed by Dean Murrell J.H. Duster, Dean, Academic Development, Diversity and Multicultural Programs, NEIU.

I would like to thank Dean Duster, Asst. Dean Yasmin Ranney, Dr. and Mrs. Hamid Akbari and all the staff at NEIU and the students and Burma activist community, especially Nora Rowley and Stacie Freudenberg and Ernest, for this chance to share ideas and concerns in a supportive environment.

Kyi May Kaung

April 5, 2008

Language for a New Century -- I have two poems here -- Kyi May Kaung

Language for a New Century:
Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia , & Beyond

Edited by Tina Chang, Nathalie Handal and Ravi Shankar
Foreword by Carolyn Forché.

Come celebrate with us on Friday, April 25th, 2008, 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm
at The Rubin Museum , New York City

Rubin Museum of Art · 150 West 17th Street , New York , NY 10011 · 212.620.5000
http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/428980/
http://www.rmanyc.org/index.xml?context=/

Buy your copy now and spread the word:
AMAZON: http://www.amazon.com/Language-New-Century-Contemporary-Poetry/dp/0393332381/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204142667&sr=8-1

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A landmark anthology, providing the most ambitious, far-reaching collection of contemporary Asian and Middle Easter poetry available.

"This extraordinary, library-in-one-volume: what a resource! Those to whom poetry is essential as the supreme use of language will find the work of many poets they have never before come to, and those readers who have limited themselves to prose have the opportunity to discover how the poet outreaches everything prose can illuminate in who and what we are, no matter where, on the map. Nine thematic groupings of the work bring us wonderfully, almost perilously close to ultimate experience in childhood, love, war, exile, the inextricable relations between politics and the personal, the tragic and the ironic, the wisdom in sorrow and humor, that only the most intense imagination can plumb. That of the poet. The realm of imagination is one. This anthology gives entry to its vast expression in the Middle East and Asia , including the changing sensibilities of poets in the ever-growing world of immigration. Assembled here not the Tower of Babel , but the astonishment and subtlety inherent in many languages and their experimental modes to expand the power of words. The introductions to each section offer perceptions engagingly, against which to place one's own readings. The editors have boldly envisaged and compiled a beautiful achievement for world literature."
—Nobel Laureate, Nadine Gordimer

"Language for a New Century is a symphonic sweep of beckoning cries, praises, prayers, curses, ruminations and revelations. An ensemble rich with diverse voices, here the old and the new converge, and something wholly human and futuristic emerges—something that possesses a robust lyricism—shining its light, its illuminated certainty into the twenty-first century. This marvelous anthology assembles a multitude of voices intent on a purposeful, deep singing."
—Pulitzer Prize Winner, Yusef Komunyakaa

"This rich collection of poetry from Asia, the Middle East , and other parts of the world, fills a huge gap in our cultural heritage. It is a formidable achievement, and an important contribution to our education."
—Howard Zinn, People's History of the United States

"Read Language for a New Century as you would a field guide to the human condition in our time, a poetic survival manual. . . . If, as Milosz wrote, "posterity will read us in an attempt to comprehend what the twentieth century was like," then this collection will be read to know the beginning of the twenty-first."
—Carolyn Forché

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Language for a New Century celebrates the artistic and cultural forces flourishing today in the East, bringing together an unprecedented selection of works by South Asian, East Asian, Middle Eastern, and Central Asian poets as well as poets living in the Diaspora. Some poets, such as Mahmoud Darwish and Bei Dao, are acclaimed worldwide, but many more will be new to the reader. The collection includes 400 unique voices from 55 countries writing in 40 different languages—political and apolitical, monastic and erotic—that represent a wider artistic movement that challenges thousand-year-old traditions, broadening our notion of contemporary literature.

Each section of the anthology—organized by theme rather than national affiliation—is preceded by a personal essay from the editors that introduces the poetry and invokes the readers to examine their own identities in light of these powerful poems. In an age of violence and terrorism—often predicated by cultural ignorance—this anthology is a bold declaration of shared humanness and devotion to the transformative power of art.

Latest issue of The Northern Virginia Review --

http://www.nvcc.edu/depts/nvreview/nvr-latest.htm

includes Kyi May Kaung's short story Beast and

her painting Lady Vanda.

Cambodian survivor of Killing Fields fame, Dith Pran, dies of pancreatic cancer --

Offerings -- Bali -- photo copyright Kyi May Kaung (The ephemeral art of Bali)

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/30/dith.pran.obit.ap/index.html

I was just speaking of Sidney Schanberg's biography of Dith Pran, The Death and Life of Dith Pran, and of Haing S. Ngor's autobiography, among other things, at my Bookshelf (Dr. Kaung's Salon) discussions in Silver Spring on Friday.

I am very saddened to hear of Dith Pran's death at this comparatively young age.

I would like to dedicate this talk I gave about Cambodia to the Cambodian survivors and all those 2-3 million who were killed by the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1978, when Cambodia was liberated from the Khmer Rouge by Vietnamese forces.

My talk went well and was attended by a number of people including three who had been recently to Cambodia.

I will post the book list shortly.

Kyi May Kaung

Sort of Nyepi -- for the whole world -- from Sophie Lwin --

Hey, I just found out about this event where millions of people around the world are joining together to make a statement about climate change by turning their lights off for an hour. It's called Earth Hour and I just signed-up to participate-I thought it might be something you'd want to sign up for too. Earth Hour is on March 29 from 8 - 9 p.m. local time, and it looks like it's going to be really big. So far 25 cities around the world are taking part, including Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix and San Francisco in the U.S.Sign up for Earth Hour by visiting www.earthhour.org/sign-up and join the movement with me.And remember - Lights Out on March 29! *IF 2 MILLION PEOPLE NOT USE ANY SORT OF ELECTRICITY FOR 1 HOUR THE EQUIVALENT EFFECT IS TAKING 48,000 CARS OFF THE ROAD FOR A YEAR*

Please do this everyone....and forward this email to everyone you know!!

Sophie

Note: During Nyepi (Balinese New Year) -- there is no fire (no cooking!) and at night, no light.

kmk

From the incomparable Howard Zinn --

"One of the things we can learn from history is that history is not only a history of things inflicted on us by the powers that be. History is also a history of resistance. It's a history of people who endure tyranny for decades, but who ultimately rise up and overthrow the dictator. We've seen this in country after country, surprise after surprise. Rulers who seem to have total control, they suddenly wake up one day, and there are a million people in the streets, and they pack up and leave. This has happened in the Philippines, in Yemen, all over, in Nepal. Million people in the streets, and then the ruler has to get out of the way. So, this is what we're aiming for in this country.

"Everything we do is important. Every little thing we do, every picket line we walk on, every letter we write, every act of civil disobedience we engage in, any recruiter that we talk to, any parent that we talk to, any GI that we talk to, any young person that we talk to, anything we do in class, outside of class, everything we do in the direction of a different world is important, even though at the moment they seem futile, because that's how change comes about. Change comes about when millions of people do little things, which at certain points in history come together, and then something good and something important happens.

Thank you."

Howard Zinn

Dr. Kaung's Book Shelf -- "All about Cambodia" night --

BOOK CLUB. March 28, 2008,
7:10pm to 8:30pm

Dr. Kaung's Book Shelf: All About Cambodia.

Books to be discussed include Francois Bizot's memoir The Gate, First They Killed my Father by Loung Ung, The Killing Fields (the movie), The Death and Life of Dith Pran by Sydney Schanberg, and Dr. Haing S. Ngor's autobiography co-written with Roland Jaffe.

963 Bonifant St. Silver Spring MD

One block from Silver Spring Metro -- free parking on Wayne Av. and Bonifant St.

Within walking distance of many ethnic and other restaurants. Great cappuccino and desserts at Kefa.

ABC: Rhetoric or Revolution: Obama Rev's Fiery Language --

http://abcnews.go.com/US/Story?id=4490869&page=3

Guest column: Obama and His Church by Elisabeth Null

Every now and then, I invite friends who have sent me

serious, thought provoking, fair-minded pieces to allow

me to post their articles on my blog.

Here is one by Elisabeth Null.

FYI -- Lisa, I and a group of friends are working on a

panel discussion to be held at Kefa Cafe, Silver Spring

on this topic.

Watch for the date!  KMK

                       *

In the spirit of Obama's wish to have us think honestly
about race and to search for greater common understanding,
I offer these thoughts. Many of my own observation about
black church experience come out of the research and
collecting I did 20 years ago as part of
the Waterbury Ethnic Music Project.
Feedback welcome.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
My Jewish partner Charlie has been reading the sermons
of Obama's pastor, Jeremiah Wright, comparing him to
the peace activist Rev.William Sloane Coffin, for whom he
served as a chaplain's assistantat Yale. Charlie finds much
to admire in Wright's words and actions,whatever his shortcomings.
Wright has turned his church, Chicago's Trinity United Church of
Christ, into a leading exponent of "thesocial gospel" and
"black liberation theology." What this means,is that God's kingdom
is best reflected by struggling for justice, compassion,and human
betterment in this world whatever one does in preparation for the next.
The person who developed black liberation theology, basically an
American adaptation of "liberation theology," was James Cone
(http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/11232007/profile.html). Cone further
argued that black Americans, long cowed into submission by white owners
and enforcers of white supremacy, need to interpret theology for themselves
and take fuller control of their religious development.

While Wright's sermon was over the top, it is not quite as nutsy as
it sounds. Many people, including me, subscribe to the idea that our
government made an indirect pact, when combating anti-American forces
in Central America, to allow America's inner-cities to be flooded
with crack cocaine. This was chronicled by Gary Webb in the San Jose
Mercury News (1996), and I followed his three-part series of articles
with some interest. When I moved to DC in 1991, the black radio
stations frequently discussed the problem and its international
aspects . Sometimes this agenda was known as "the Plan."

I cannot imagine why Wright bought into the idea of aids as a
conspiracy against blacks, but if our government collaborated in
infecting blacks with syphilis, which it did in the Tuskegee
Experiment (http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0762136.html) without
telling them, it is not too hard to imagine why even an educated man
might get conspiratorial about this.

I don't mind a bit that Wright damned America, this seems to fall
within the prophetic tradition so important in black (and Puritan!)
church history. As long as it is not taken in vain, it seems a
perfectly reasonable thing to say from time to time. One of my
favorite Nina Simone tunes is "Mississippi God Damn!" To roundly
condemn one's country while working hard to redeem it does not seem
to be an unpatriotic contradiction.

I do not mind Wright's assumption that Clinton cannot understand
certain things because she has not experienced them -- the
biographies I have read about her show that her approach to poverty
issues, even as a girl, was well-meaning but rather like a young Lady
Bountiful.

I do feel that in some sense we were partially responsible through
our dreadful foreign policy for what happened during 9/11 -- of
course we didn't deserve it, but NOT to examine more carefully how we
got into this situation was a xenophobic reaction on our part. Hate
is not an answer; it is a symptom.

Any anti-semitic or stereotypically anti-white comments in any of
Wright's sermons are inexcusable and not worthy of defense though, as
Obama says, it is important to explore what lies at the base of hatred.

I confess though, I often have a hard time sitting in many churches
because whenever the Sadducees and Pharisees are taken on in the New
Testament. I wonder if it is a veiled attack against the Jews. As for
Jews, I live comfortably with Charlie who believes Jews are A chosen
people, not The chosen people, but how do I feel among Jews when I
am thought of as a spiritually second-class citizen not even worthy
of "conversion?" Coercive conversion is a human rights violation but,
when I am not even included in the compact because I lack a genetic
pedigree, I also feel humiliated. I know how bitter Charlie's mother
felt at death not to have been educated, as a woman, in the meanings
and traditions of Jewish prayer and torah study. Exclusion hurts. It
is not the same as hatred, but there is sometimes implicit contempt
or condescension there too.

I spent one summer doing field work in black churches for my degree
in folklore at Penn and have to admit that after immersing myself in
the prayer meetings and praise services of black churches, mainline
Christian churches seemed tepid and uninteresting by comparison!

First of all, many of the black churches have great, all-engulfing
music.

Second, there is a lot of attention given to praising and thanking
God as opposed to just asking him for forgiveness or asking for the
things one desires.

Third, the sermons are central and are designed to be a sort of
ritual catharsis -- which is why they address things that are not
expressed elsewhere -- just like the blues. They are interactive.
People get up and testify -- deliver narratives with a positive
outcome about how they were lost, or down, or broken-hearted, or
desperate. The sense of collective understanding and acceptance is
overwhelming.

On one level these churches seem very much like white Christian
evangelical churches but differ in subtle ways -- most black
churches, as I have seen them, are more allegorical than
fundamentalist in a literal sense, and there is a typological or
metaphoric sensibility that allows the poetic and the mundane, the
spiritual and the worldly to come together and coexist. Another
lovely thing about the black churches, at least the more charismatic
ones, is an emphasis on healing that, at the very least, fortifies
people with a positive spirit for survival.

If you haven't been to a prayer meeting full of old dying people
swooping you into a shared embrace as they wheel about the room
praising God for one new day of breath in their body, you haven't
lived! That's how powerful the spirit engendered in black churches
can be.

The Congregational Church (The United Church of Christ these days),
is heir to the old puritanical churches. It has a special role in
black church history in that it was the spiritual home of many
abolitionists and a place where blacks and whites interacted before
the civil war. It had little presence in the South but did reach out
to establish black colleges such as Howard and Fisk Universities. As
such, it drew many black intellectuals and members of the black
middle class within urban areas. It has an inter-racial
denominational membership and there are white members in Obama's
congregation, but the United Church of Christ is also sufficiently
decentralized for black congregants to bring their own devotional
traditions (several of African origin) into worship. Swooning, big
hats, a frequent emphasis on white dress, charismatic traditions,
call-and-response gospel singing are just a few African-American
religious practices with strong analogues in Africa and elsewhere
within the black diaspora. Other churches within the United Church of
Christ, which was formed when the Congregational, German Evangelical
and Reformed Churches merged in 1957, also maintain their own ethnic
traditions if their individual congregations wish to do so. In many
churches, for instance, Christmas Eve is associated with sausage and
sauerkraut dinners or the singing of "Stille Nacht" in German.

The United Church of Christ's congregations were critical to the
civil rights movement and remain an important node of connection
between black and white communities within the denomination as a
whole. Black and white congregations often work together to continue
a shared heritage of social reform.

Obama must have found this church a natural link to his childhood in
Hawaii as the Punahou School (a prep school he attended on
scholarship), was founded by Congregational missionaries. Joining
Trinity would have allowed him to embrace black culture without
having to divest himself of the familiar.

Why don't blacks go to inter-racial churches more frequently? Until
recently, blacks were not welcome in "white churches" though
initially, during the First Great Awakening, they were contributing
partners in shaping American worship. Even during my childhood,
blacks at the New York Episcopalian church I attended were directed
to other congregations "where they'd feel more comfortable." This is
one reason why I left it after confirmation. Antebellum blacks were
not choosing racial separatism when forming their own congregations
but were responding to circumstances that forced them into their own
spiritual gatherings. Their own religious worship sustained them
through slavery and helped them create the great religious,
oratorical traditions and community-organizing skills instrumental to
the civil rights movement.

When blacks go to inter-racial churches, they generally must abide by
the devotional practices already established by those congregations--
this leaves little space for their own traditions. Sometimes this
forces a rupture: George Augustus Stallings, an African-American
priest in Washington DC, was excommunicated by the Catholic Church
after founding the Imani Temple to practice an Afrocentric version of
Catholicism. While his form of worship differed theologically in
time, the dispute started initially over incompatible styles of
ritual and worship.

Congregational Ministers, white and black, have spoken in defense of
Wright's ministry and its practice of the social gospel. One cannot
fault Obama, married to an African-American woman and raising two
African-American children, for finding an anchor in the church he
discovered and which discovered him as a community organizer. I'm
glad he rejected the racist and hateful language of his pastor; I
hope he did take issue with that pastor's biased ideas face-to-face;
but I completely understand why he did not reject either his church
or the flawed man who nevertheless provided him with so much
spiritual instruction.


Lisa

(Posted with the author's permission. Opinions and
comments are those of Lisa Null and may or may not
coincide with those of Kyi May Kaung)

America's role in the Burmese democracy struggle --

http://www.irrawaddy.org/print_article.php?art_id=11084

Pics from "the king's capital city" -- Burma-

http://dorseyland.blogsome.com/2008/03/23/buyin-me-an-abode-in-burma/

Split This Rock was indeed smashing --

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/21/AR2008032103319_pf.html

Ernest Hemingway's (5) Rules for Writing Well --

http://www.copyblogger.com/ernest-hemingway-top-5-tips-for-writing-well/

Kyi May Kaung's short story Beast wins award --

Editor in Chief Dorothy Seyler, TNVR.

My short story Beast, based on the Thiha Bahu legend in Burma, won an award at The Northern Virginia Review, published by Northern Virginia Community College, in Annandale, VA.

TNVR also published my painting, Lady Vanda. Copies are available from NVCC Bookstore.

The award ceremony was on Thursday, March 20, 2008.

I also enjoyed the keynote speech, which was about the healthy (and commercial as well as artistic) rivalry between Marlowe and Shakespeare.

Burmese orchid species now extinct --

http://www.irrawaddy.org/print_article.php?art_id=11034

Very soon we will have nothing left but blaring purple Thai hybrids.

"Wardii" are those orchid and other species discovered by famous botanist Frank Kingdom (sp?) Ward.

Among his most famous discoveries were the beautiful tree Amhearstia (one used to grow near the Convocation Hall in Rangoon University), a rhododendron from the north and the famous blue poppy Meconopsis.

"For in the end, we will save only what we love, we will love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught." Senegal.

Burmese-Chin refugees receive strategic help from volunteers in Princeton, N.J.

Kindness of strangers eases refugees' arrival in United States
Date: 18 Mar 2008 | UNHCR News Stories

PRINCETON, United States, March 18 (UNHCR) – The schedule for the week ahead
runs to five pages, with each day broken down into near hourly tasks
assigned to different volunteers. At the dining room table in a house in
Princeton, New Jersey, the creator of this plan of action runs through each
item with the couple at the centre of the activity.

Za Bik Thang, his wife Par Tha, and their three children arrived in
Princeton in mid-2007 from Malaysia, where they had lived as refugees for
several years after fleeing persecution in their native Myanmar. Tom Charles
and other members of the Nassau Presbyterian Church were on hand to meet the
family when they arrived in the United States and have been providing
support ever since.

"We were a little scared of coming to the US," recalls Za Bik from the
family's rented home, which was arranged for them by the Nassau
congregation. A pending move to an apartment in an affordable housing
complex closer to downtown will reduce the couple's commute to their jobs.
For now, Charles continues in his role as traffic controller, ensuring the
smooth movement of the five Thang family members to and from school, work,
English lessons, choir practice, dental appointments, chess club meetings
and church services.

"We have around one hundred volunteers from our church working in refugee
resettlement," says Charles. "A core group of between 15 and 20 are involved
in the day-to-day assistance, so the errands are spread around. Morning pick
ups to get Za Bik to work are done by the early risers, while getting the
kids home from school is done by people who have the afternoons free."

The Thangs are the eighth family the Nassau congregation has sponsored as
part of a programme that goes back nearly 25 years. Among those assisting
the family are individuals who a few years ago were on the receiving end of
the community's efforts. Dental care is provided by a former refugee from
Bosnia; the pool of drivers includes a Somalian refugee who arrived in
Princeton several years ago.

The church is one of many religious groups in the north-eastern state of New
Jersey involved in refugee resettlement. Referrals come from agencies such
as Lutheran Social Ministries, based in the New Jersey capital, Trenton.

The director of its immigration and refugee programme, Rev. Stacy Martin,
says voluntary groups can provide a level of attention which surpasses what
agencies dealing with hundreds of cases a year can offer. "The sponsors and
the refugee families can create genuine relationships that go well beyond
the 12 to 18 months we would typically be in contact with a family," she
says.

Resettlement in the United States is largely handled by faith-based
organizations, which turn to their communities for volunteers when
additional assistance is needed. According to a US Department of Labour
survey published in 2007, more than one quarter of the population – around
60 million people – had volunteered for an organization in the previous 12
months.

"Volunteers offer a distinctly personal touch that builds on the support
offered by local resettlement affiliates," says Ralston H. Deffenbaugh Jr.,
president of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, a national
resettlement agency.

Even with assistance, establishing new lives in a foreign country is not
without challenges. Unable to speak English, the Thang children initially
found the classroom a frightening and lonely place. Everyday costs such as
rent, groceries and visits to the doctor can seem overwhelming. Here, too,
the Nassau congregation has stepped in, helping Za Bik to land a job at a
supermarket chain while Par Tha does alterations at an exclusive menswear
store.

The couple have also been given financial planning advice. "When we first
arrived we couldn't do anything for ourselves. Today we can live our lives,
though we still rely on rides," says Za Bik, who has begun the process of
getting a driver's licence.

For the Nassau congregation a commitment that began nearly 12 months ago is
nearing its end, and it is apparent that not just the Thangs have
benefitted. For Charles, working with resettled refugees "has been one of
the great joys of my life." Former strangers are now friends, foreign
cultures are understood and accepted and the often abstract concept of
helping those less fortunate has taken the tangible form of an embrace.

By Tim Irwin
in Princeton, United States

Recent Bangkok Post Editorials on new Thai government and Burma policy --

Bangkok Post - Wednesday March 19, 2008

EDITORIAL

Burma policy needs rethink

Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's remarks last Sunday on his weekly television talk show were ill-considered, even for one who has made it something of a trademark to leave his listeners scratching their heads.

In justifying expanding economic ties with Burma, Mr Samak dismissed that country's horrible record on human rights by saying: "Burma is a Buddhist country. Burma's leaders meditate. They say the country lives in peace." Coming just six months after the ruling junta ordered the brutal suppression of peacefully protesting Buddhist monks and their followers, Mr Samak's statement is an affront not only to Buddhists but to all people of conscience.

The remarks came after a courtesy visit last Friday by Mr Samak to top Burmese generals including Senior General Than Shwe in Naypidaw, the new Burmese administrative capital, in which several development projects were discussed.

Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama said on Saturday that Thailand will push ahead with construction of the Tasang hydropower dam on the Salween River in Burma's Shan State, about 130km from the Thai-Burmese border. According to Salween Watch, the reservoir will flood hundreds of square kilometres of land. Also discussed were the Tavoy deep-sea port on Burma's Andaman coast to open trade and investment links with western Thailand.

While Mr Samak's words on the talk show may not have been well thought out, clearly that is not the case with this government's policy on Burma, which is pretty much a resumption of the one under deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, although Mr Thaksin at least had the good sense to keep it very low profile. The new out-in-the-open relationship will put the country squarely at odds with the European Union and United States, two of Thailand's most important strategic and trading partners. Japan also has begun to take a tougher stance on Burma since the September crackdown, which left a 50-year-old Japanese journalist dead.

Meanwhile, the International Labour Organisation office in Burma has reported an upsurge in the military conscription of children, some as young as 10 years old. It can be argued that constructive engagement would be more productive than a total blacklisting of Burma. Yet there is no indication that any concessions to human rights or democracy were sought by Mr Samak, or that the junta would honour such concessions if they were given.

With the mission of the UN special envoy to Burma having ended in failure, the international community is wondering what can be done to pressure the junta to pay more heed to the plight of its own citizens. One possibility would be a high-profile visit by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The generals have shown they are sensitive to international pressure if the spotlight is bright enough.

In that regard, human rights activists are of the view that rather than boycott the Beijing Games, it would be better to turn the Olympic Village into a globally televised free speech zone on issues like Tibet, Darfur and Burma. Mr Samak's comments may have earned Thailand a centre-stage position at that very dramatic venue.

http://www.bangkokp ost.com/News/ 19Mar2008_ news21.php

............ ...

Bangkok Post - Wednesday March 19, 2008

ASEAN SECRETARY-GENERAL

Surin advises Samak on Burma attitude

Asean secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan has advised Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to be prudent before commenting on issues involving Burma. Mr Surin stressed the need to approach the political situation in Burma with an in-depth understanding and respect for its sensitivity.

The government should gauge its readiness to explain Burma to the world, he said.

His comments followed Mr Samak's offer on his Sunday television programme to mediate with the international community.

Mr Samak said Westerners are overly critical of Burma and he has new-found respect for the junta following his visit to the country last Friday.

Mr Surin, who was foreign minister during the Democrat-led coalition government from mid-1997 to 2001, said Asean _ the Association of Southeast Asian Nations _ supports reconciliation in Burma, the role the United Nations is handling until Asean member countries find solutions and the Burmese junta opens itself to Asean's help.

The junta has been condemned by the international community for its crackdown on peaceful street protests against the military regime in September.

In a related development, Burmese police raided an island underneath the Thai-Burmese Friendship Bridge in Tak's Mae Sot district yesterday and arrested seven suspected Burmese gang members.

Around 100 armed Burmese police and volunteers burned down the shelters and took away the suspects, while Thai authorities were told to stand guard on the Thai side.

Burma moved at the request of Tak governor Chumporn Polarak who said Burmese gangs on the island in the Moei river wielded much influence.

They trafficked speed pills and attacked Thai and foreign tourists at the Thai border market.

A gang of Burmese illegals occupying the island is believed to have been behind the attack on Pol Sgt Ake-kachai Biewnoi. The Thai policeman was shot in the torso on the island on March 3.

http://www.bangkokp ost.com/News/ 19Mar2008_ news11.php

---

Letter from Nyunt Than of Burmese American Democratic Association and All to UN Secretary General Mr Ban Ki-moon --

Dear All,

Following is a sample letter to UNSG Ban Ki-moon. It is immensely important that UNSG is stepping up to help the people of Burma. Please personalize and send it out to the Secretary-General to voice the grassroots' concerns. Our letter is posted here: www.badasf.org.

Thanks,
Nyunt Than
------------ -----

An Open Letter to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Mr. Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General
The United Nations
S-3800, United Nations,
New York, N.Y. 10017, USA

March 18, 2008

Your Excellency,

I would like to acknowledge your efforts to overcome the political stalemate and bring about a speedy political transition to democracy in Burma. The dictatorship is wrong, harmful, and has no place in Burma, and your efforts to reject this regime are appreciated.

You and your predecessors have sent various envoys trips to Burma to address this matter. Unfortunately, however, your efforts have failed to secure even the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, nor to broker truthful and meaningful dialog. Your efforts have also failed to realize any progress towards establishing democracy in Burma.

In recent history, the people of Burma have repeatedly rejected dictatorship through various means, including uprisings and an historic election. In 1988 they rose up, only to be brutally crushed. In 1990, the people overwhelmingly voted for the National League for Democracy and its representatives in Burma's historic Election, but the results were put aside. The people rose up against the brutal regime yet again last year in September and October. As always, the regime responded with ruthless force and brutal crackdowns while the world watched.

The people of Burma have endured so much hardship and suffering in the past 46 years due to successive brutal and dictatorial regimes. Charles Petrie, top UN officer in the Myanmar Country Team, has released very grim data on the plight of the Burmese people on the occasion of UN Day on Oct 24, 2007. In fact, during all these years of UN involvement and visits by the UN envoys, the country has sunken even deeper into poverty. The people continue to suffer greatly and our opposition has been crushed ever more fiercely, while the regime's grip on power has flourished and its officials and their cronies have thrived more than ever.

The world was on edge during the protests and crackdowns in late 2007, hoping the UN would help bring about progress, but now the regime is again strengthening its authority and legalizing military rule through the one-sided and sham process called the Roadmap to Democracy. The historic results of the 1990 election will be erased forever in Burma through this fake referendum to be held in May 2008, and people will be forced to accept a constitution with which they do not agree.

Your envoy's last visit to Burma from March 6 to March 10 has failed yet again. The regime has not only openly denied Aung San Suu Kyi, her party, and her elected representatives any role in the process they are working toward, but it has also clearly rejected any international interference.

Therefore, it is clear that your powerless and low-level envoy's visits to Burma have in effect helped the regime buy time and quell the world's outrage and anger over various crackdowns, while allowing them to elude the international community. Your envoy's meager efforts have allowed the regime to realize their true ambition of holding on to power at any cost.

It has been clear to us for many years, and should be clear to you by now, that there is no more room for low-level and powerless envoy visits to Burma. They will not bring about change, as we have already seen. Any more attempts of such ineffective diplomacy will only waste our precious time, and give more time to the dictatorship to bury its roots even deeper in Burma. The time has come for you and the United Nations Security Council to step up and get tough on the regime. As proven by the already-demonstrate d facts, anything short of powerful diplomacy backed by the measures outlined by the Security Council will be more harmful than helpful to Burma and her people. The Regime does not understand diplomacy; it understands the voice of power. In fulfilling your priority of building a stronger United Nations for a better world, you must make sure Burma issues are resolved in a speedy and peaceful manner. It is time for you to get involved as the General Secretary of the world's body.

Furthermore, the time has arrived for the United Nations Security Council to start taking concrete measures through binding resolution calling for the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners; establishing a comprehensive arms embargo; and enforcing strong collective and comprehensive economic and financial sanctions. Only forceful measures will change the regime's attitude and their continued refusal to release their grip on power, through a peaceful and truly democratic process.
Therefore we call upon you to:

1. Visit Burma with due respect to help break the political stalemate as the world's most powerful diplomat.
2. Start providing leadership in establishing, through binding resolutions, the concrete actions outlined above by the Security Council.
   

Sincerely

May Sweet's "death" was another bogus "news story."

http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=10947

I feel May Sweet and her PR people should put out a notice that this was not true, try and find the source of the rumors and sue them in court.

Maybe "failed asylum seeker" was cue that it's wasn't a real AP news dispatch.

Australia sets up fund to promote Human Rights.

http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=38619

China Terrorises Tibet --

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/opinion/18tue3.html?th&emc=th

Includes comment on Burma.

This week beginning Thursday -- Split This Rock Poetry Festival in DC

will be smashing.

Nita of FBB says this is a neat pun. I think it may be part of a neat metaphor -- anyway --

http://www.splitthisrock.org/

March 20-23, 2008.

Sponsored by DC Poets Against War, Busboys and Poets, Institute of Policy Studies.

A must for people who think politics and words matter.

Upcoming -- Asian-American Heritage Week at North Eastern Illinois University, Chicago.

April 1-7, 2008.

http://www.neiu.edu/~acdevelo/Asian%20Program%2008.pdf

The program includes photo exhibits and panels on Burma, as well as many other topics on many other Asian countries.

If you are in the Chicago area, mark this on your calendar.

You will need to copy the link and paste it into a search engine like Google.

Blogspot has not allowed direct opening of links in text for some time now.

This turned out not to be true: "Famous Burmese Singer May Sweet dies in car accident in UK"

THIS IS ENTIRELY DISPUTED: "Myanmar's famous singer and actress May Sweet dead" -- SEE LATER IRRAWADDY NEWS ITEM.

Maybe that's why post says "AP?" with a question mark. I did wonder if AP might care about a Burmese singer. Is it a plant by the junta?

See comments. Fishy that in last few weeks we have seen one very real assassination and two fake "deaths," one of Kyemon U Thaung. Where is all this disinfo coming from? I found it on a Burma list sent to dissidents.

"reharsals" another typo -- for now I am keeping this post for reference.

kmk 3-18-08

10 hours ago

London, United Kingdom (AP) ?Myanmar's famous actress and singer May Sweet died in head on collision car accident near M4 Motorway in London, United Kingdom. Details of the accident are sketchy at the moment, however, according to sources at West Ealing Hospital, Sweet was travelling with 3 other passengers in an old Ford Escort. The driver has been identified as Mr. Pauk Sa, a failed asylum seeker with no fixed address and have no driving license. The Ford Escort car, which Sweet and party were travelling was said not to be in a road worthy condition and that the car was travelling well above national speed limit.

Sweet body has been taken to West Ealing Hospital and a detail post morten will be carrying out on Monday evening to determine the cause of death. A spoke person from Myanmar community in United Kingdom said Sweet was in London for pre-gig reharsals for her upcoming Myanmar New Year festival concert with fellow Myanmar singer, Thein Dan.

Hosted by

Copyright ?2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Great foodie blog - apparently based in Singapore --

http://superfinefeline.blogspot.com/search/label/S%27pore%20Hawker%20Food

Hope she's not fat.

Maybe she's a thin girl who can eat.

Anyway, this is good for feasting one's eyes.

Travel advisory for women tourists in Kuta, Bali.

http://www.littlespeck.com/region/CForeign-Ind-040102.htm

Be careful of what's lost or added in translation.

Very funny --

http://www.maddogproductions.com/bali10.htm

Balinese women in their beautiful clothes --

http://colloidfarl.blogspot.com/2007/12/portraits-in-temple.html

Burma -- "Don't Blame Gambari." by Nehginpao Kipgen --

http://www.irrawaddy.org/print_article.php?art_id=10871

This article is very sound, but should also mention Mr. Gambari's controversial background in Nigeria.

I don't believe there should be another election to make Daw Suu and the NLD "go through it all again" and a former diplomat said this time the military junta is likely to cheat. It did not last time because it believed its own polls that it would win.

International Press Coverage of the Assassination of KNU's Pado Mahn Sha in Feb 08

http://antidictatorship.wordpress.com/2008/02/17/assassination-of-pado-mahn-shar-lar-phan/

During my trip I met an analyst often quoted in the international media.

He said, "As Mahn Sha was the brains of the KNU, for the SPDC, that would be a great coup."

This man went to the memorial service, and mentioned how sad it was, "Lots of crying. The family did not come due to security reasons. I did not get to talk to Saw Hse Hse (Pado Mahn Sha's son.

"The KNU is moving its HQ back to (the Liberated Areas) where it can have armed guards. He stayed in Mae Sot took long in one place and was too open and accepting. Anybody could just walk in the house, so it made it just easier for the assassins."

I also met a woman who used to work for a well known Human Rights organization. She was in Mae Sot when the assassination took place, and "only came back the morning of the memorial service." She said there was a lot of panic, and very real fear. Then she added ironically, "All it did though was increase the bribe that Burmese (dissidents) have to pay for 'traffic violations' when they are intentionally stopped by the local (Thai) authorities."

Since then the Bangkok press has suggested Mahn Sha might have been killed because he refused to allow access for a damn to be built in KNU controlled areas by Thai companies and called for more complete probes into the motivation behind the killing.

The Dark Underbelly of Bali -- Prostitution, HIV/AIDS and all the rest --

http://www.balibs.org/mission.html

Sounds like Burma!

I hope this never happens to the people in the village I visited.

Review of Kyi May Kaung's art and Henry Callahan's in Washington City Paper, March 2002

---

Henry Callahan, Kyi May Kaung

Posted: October 29, 2007

TO APRIL 28

Henry Callahan

Kyi May Kaung

Unlike even the most experimental artists who preceded them, the abstract expressionists of the mid-20th century prided themselves on ignoring cues from the tangible world. For them, art was predominantly a way to express their deepest emotions. On first inspection, Henry Callahan's acrylics on canvas--now showing at the Foundry Gallery along with works by Kyi May Kaung--call to mind the works of Barnett Newman and Mark Rothko. But where those ab-ex giants would channel their emotions, the Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Callahan unabashedly channels nature when making his abstractions: Before the Storm (pictured) calls to mind a sea-and-sky horizon, complete with piscine forms roiling in the ocean. Similarly, Titanium Crescent features cresting waves and vertical strips that approximate undersea vegetation; the dark-hued upper half of Concrete Jungle suggests a deep forest. Kaung's palette is much lighter, though not always cheerier. Her works are a mix of watercolors and monotypes, influenced almost equally by Asian calligraphy and Western action painting: Several of her calligraphic pieces suggest a cacophony of street signs in an urban business district, whereas a number of her inkblot-filled works spin propulsively beyond the matte in the spirit of Jackson Pollock or Franz Kline. But her simplest works are her most pleasing; Courage and Haiku (for DG), feature balletic brushstrokes that cohere in near-perfect harmony. Both artists' works are on view from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday; and from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, to Sunday, April 28, at Foundry Gallery, 9 Hillyer Court NW. Free. (202) 387-0203. (Louis Jacobson)

Kyi May Kaung's Art Shows in Bali and Chiangmai --

Snacks provided by Liz and Dragonfly Restaurant at my art show opening reception in Ubud, Bali, on March 4, 2008 -- that I was too nervous to eat. Photo -- Kyi May Kaung


Yellow Sails -- copyright Kyi May Kaung

Musicians playing at Opening Reception -- "Splash, Drip, Pour" Show -- Dragonfly Restaurant, Ubud, Bali. March 4, 2008.


Waiter with poster that Liz of Dragonfly Restaurant made for me --

My poetry books and art on display at Payap University, Chiangmai, Thailand.

My art on display at Payap University, Chiangmai, Thailand. February 28, 2008.

Food! --Delicious dishes at Mandala Desa in Bali, and in "Little Burma" Bangkok --

Chicken betutu and prawns among other fabulous dishes, Liz' dinner, day after Nyepi (Balinese New Year), March 8, 2008 - served by Made (pronounced "Mar Day") by candlelight, Mandala Desa, Bali.

Burmese family meal in Bangkok -- by Daw K.S. Photo copyright Kyi May Kaung

Fruit plate and Nasi Goreng breakfast -- real pepper and sea salt in small square dishes - Photo Kyi May Kaung

Ayam Taliwang -- or Sundanese chicken -- photo - Kyi May Kaung

Asian Art Museum appoints Jay Xu as Director --

http://www.usasianwire.com/release.php?id=1863782501

Balinese kecak dancing -- based on the Ramayana --

Rama (in green) and Lekhana (in yellow) -- the brothers dejected after Sita is abducted by Ravana -- surrounded by kecak dancers -- Dance at Mandala Desa, Bali, photo copyright Kyi May Kaung --

The dance was beautiful and perfect, danced by Liz' neighbor villagers -- It was amazing.

See Mandaladesa.com as well as

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kecak

March 7 was Nyepi, or Day of Silence in Bali --

for the Balinese New Year -- see --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyepi

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Lunar-New-Year-Kuta2C-Bali-Bali/ss/events/lf/020208lunarnewyear/im:/080306/ids_photos_en/r1558036127.jpg/

After a long absence, I'm back!

My new bio as of March 11, 2008.

Bio:

Kyi May Kaung is a Burma-born literary activist with a doctorate in Political Economy from the University of Pennsylvania. She has worked in international radio, broadcasting to Burma, and with the Burmese democratic government in exile. Her poetry collections are Pelted with Petals: The Burmese Poems, and Tibetan Tanka. Her poetry has been included in the Norton Anthology of S.E. Asian Poetry. She has just returned from exhibiting her art in Ubud, Bali and in Chiangmai, Thailand.