- KMK-- Never pretend, and if you are a dictator, don't fool yourself you are loved - I wonder why he went back to Pakistan - amazing.
Dana Tusaw He probably tempting fate, hoping that he could salvage what's left of his power and perhaps rise again like the Phoenix.
Kyi May Kaung Amazing - as one of charges against him was complicity in the death of Benazir Bhutto, and only he knows what he did/commanded. Strange he would go back where Benazir's widower is in power, when FBI? had already said it was an accident caused by the door hatch of the SUV- Dana Tusaw Musharraf's an interesting figure like many other dictators around the world who have fallen off the power pedestal one by one. In a way, I wonder if the countries they ruled were not better with them in charge, as terrible as they were. Now these countries are in such chaos.
- Kyi May Kaung Ah - that's what they want to "prove" -- that people can't rule themselves - But since dictatorships are like pressure cookers, all held together by the top, then when it blows, it blows - you would not say "it was better" under Stalin if your parents were sent to the concentration camps and you/we were never born - No one can say it is "better" in N. Korea as opposed to S. Korea. Democracy just seems chaotic, that's all. But better chaos than the quiet of the grave.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Continuation of Musharraf and dictators, from my Facebook page -
Monday, April 22, 2013
On so-called reforms - continuation - comment by K.M. Kaung -
They need to change the system - not pretend to change the system - the army needs to return to the barracks - Now they foment "ethnic strife" so that the thankless people will know what anarchy is and be begging for the army to restore order. Their 2008 "Nargis constitution" clearly specifies they can step in in an emergency.
Follow up comments on so-called reforms by Anonymous - from my Facebook page -
Poe Lah Hsa I like your statement and it is true therefore I want to share it to my facebook friends...
Peter Popham Ok, so if they don't start by stabilising the currency, releasing political prisoners, removing intrusive surveillance, freeing up the media and opening the door to non-Chinese foreign investment that will bring jobs for educated and uneducated alike - where should they start? I'm dying to know!- Dana Tusaw Peter, a proper start would be to clean up the rotted foundation properly first before building new structures on top of it. Now we're about to compound old flaws with new ones in this crazy rush. This is not good for Burma. The government's actions so far, including the ones you mentioned, are gestures, let's realize, and ones which they can afford to manage or reverse if they wish at any time. It's not much of a concession or change.
- Kyi May Kaung It's a good start - but needs A LOT of follow through - remember, I did not write the original comment, Anonymous did.
Burma - so-called reforms - update by Anonymous
I like what you wrote and I totally agree that she should remove herself from politics before tarnishing herself. At present, it seems like Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been cleverly hoodwinked by foxes wearing sheepskins. . . . It is so clear that the reforms are good for the privileged people. I can't even think about how the poor people are going to manage. Everyone keeps saying that the democratic reforms are still young and we ought to be patient. Strangely, the reforms are moving pretty fast for the business people . . . who are the cronies of the cronies of the cronies of the cronies of the ex-Generals. In short, corruption is now legally practiced.
Anonymous is referring to the article which I wrote in International Gallerie. This quote is published with specific permission from Anonymous.
Anonymous is referring to the article which I wrote in International Gallerie. This quote is published with specific permission from Anonymous.
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Meikhtila unrest in Burma - BBC has obtained footage taken by Burmese police of police standing and watching, doing nothing -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22243676
but still EU sanctions are expected to be lifted except for weapons - anyway, they can kill very well with locally made sticks and swords -
In movie Hotel Rwanda, Rwandian authorities imported a lot of Chinese-made machetes -
but still EU sanctions are expected to be lifted except for weapons - anyway, they can kill very well with locally made sticks and swords -
In movie Hotel Rwanda, Rwandian authorities imported a lot of Chinese-made machetes -
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Friday, April 19, 2013
Had a great reunion with my Write On friend whose daughter escaped Boston blast by 20 minutes -
We caught up over Indian food, and R. told me all her triumphs in the interrim of about six years when we did not meet.
Write On was a writing group we formed in 2006. I wrote the middle parts of my novel Wolf in this group.
Thanks for the feedback, Writers.
Write On was a writing group we formed in 2006. I wrote the middle parts of my novel Wolf in this group.
Thanks for the feedback, Writers.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
On Burma and the environment - from my Facebook page -
A must see - I once saw a well-known Burmese
woman, very rich, (actually I saw 2, one in Rangoon) - thoughtlessly
throw a bit of tissue into the Balinese farmers' canal - this canal was
right beside the B & B, and the farmers were so good at water rights, it flowed in two different directions at different times of the day -
The first thing Burma needs is good garbage collection and control -
There was a movie from the 60s, called Mondo Cane (It's a Dog's World)
look for it - the world is so much more polluted now.
Rachel Carson's Silent Spring first raised awareness, but I did not read it (had no books in Burma) till I got to Penn. In Rangoon we were still using DDT and asbestos, because we did not know.
Even the building where I live in USA did not separate its trash till late 90s.
It will all come back to haunt us.
Kyi May Kaung.
In ref. to a video about an uninhabited island in the Pacific where all the birds are dying of the plastic etc they have ingested. Very moving.
The first thing Burma needs is good garbage collection and control -
There was a movie from the 60s, called Mondo Cane (It's a Dog's World)
look for it - the world is so much more polluted now.
Rachel Carson's Silent Spring first raised awareness, but I did not read it (had no books in Burma) till I got to Penn. In Rangoon we were still using DDT and asbestos, because we did not know.
Even the building where I live in USA did not separate its trash till late 90s.
It will all come back to haunt us.
Kyi May Kaung.
In ref. to a video about an uninhabited island in the Pacific where all the birds are dying of the plastic etc they have ingested. Very moving.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Cherry blossoms DC have become for victims of Boston Marathon bombs - Summer 2013
Daniel Heyman - artist who went to Iraq -
Artist Daniel Heyman - The Detainee Project - etc.
http://www.detaineeproject.org/#/Detainee%20Portraits/Chris%20Bartlett/1
I knew Daniel briefly in Philadelphia, when we both worked at Annenberg Center - I wanted him to illustrate my book length poem/novel She-Monkey goes West, but that did not work out, as I moved to DC. Since the 90s, Daniel had produced this amazing body of work, as you see here, including prints made of a trip to Iraq.
I post this here as a response to the young lady who said, "But Aunty, your work is full of dead bodies!"
Is art mean to make us feel happy? Is it meant to me (merely) pretty?
Or is is meant to jolt us and make us think?
She-Monkey was a Pew Finalist Script in 1995.
http://www.detaineeproject.org/#/Detainee%20Portraits/Chris%20Bartlett/1
I knew Daniel briefly in Philadelphia, when we both worked at Annenberg Center - I wanted him to illustrate my book length poem/novel She-Monkey goes West, but that did not work out, as I moved to DC. Since the 90s, Daniel had produced this amazing body of work, as you see here, including prints made of a trip to Iraq.
I post this here as a response to the young lady who said, "But Aunty, your work is full of dead bodies!"
Is art mean to make us feel happy? Is it meant to me (merely) pretty?
Or is is meant to jolt us and make us think?
She-Monkey was a Pew Finalist Script in 1995.
Monday, April 15, 2013
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Interesting interview of Paul Gigot of the Wall Street Journal talking about the belligerent N. Korea -
http://live.wsj.com/video/opinion-kim-jong-crazy/40E1B5B7-43B6-4679-84CD-A655F836F7C0.html?mod=WSJ_article_outbrain&obref=obnetwork#!40E1B5B7-43B6-4679-84CD-A655F836F7C0
This is an interesting interview of Paul Gigot of the Wall Street Journal, and points at the economic link between N and S Korea in the industrial zone in the DMZ - Gigot says that "if they do anything like that," it will be the end of their regime and he suggests regime change policies.
This is an interesting interview of Paul Gigot of the Wall Street Journal, and points at the economic link between N and S Korea in the industrial zone in the DMZ - Gigot says that "if they do anything like that," it will be the end of their regime and he suggests regime change policies.
The conversation continues - Who is she? Who am I? - Kyi May Kaung - talks to U Myo Nyunt -
- Myo Nyunt Kyi May The p[otamac I prsume. The lady in the middle can be either of Asian descent but American. Thats great in the USA, not like other countries-- you know.
- Kyi May Kaung Yes, every time I come home, I appreciate how lucky I am to live in America. It is the Tidal Basin at Cherry Blossom time, peaked last week - lovely lady in middle is our own Khin Phyu Htway who works at VOA - I am happy you said, "it could be anyone...See More
Myo Nyunt Well Kyi May, we all are in (or either trapped) liminal or better still Liquid States-- formations -- ala Bauman, You know, i do not know what I am anymore. Having seen - experienced to an extent, the evil and good together.. Having lived-crossed into different worlds, languages/tongues spoken , religeon, places. To me, while walking , this morning to the small shopping centre ( 15 mins brisk walk) to buy the Sunday newspaper, hoping to read wether war has started in the Korean Peninsular , just read that Us and China would see to it that it wont happen. SAVED.. I am serious for my old seniile curiosity wether anything about DAw Sus US will be in The Australian newspaper. On the face book. Branden Brazil photos keep my wild emotions satiated for the time being, knowing that he will say what is a reflection of the "reality" and not of the "human frailities" and the circus we always have to watch and live with. Meeting-departing, in my years of living , I am nowadays reconciled to to the fact that-- there are tears of sadness as there are also tears of joy. Hope lives on. A young friend, he 57 told me he would pick me up to go to a Buddhist Monastry this afternoon, for tet kyee kadaw pwe, but as usual I could not. Anyway I am quite comfortable to accompany Khin Myo to the Myanmar Baptist Church, listen to the sermons in Myanmar and the hyms in Burmese all written by Anglo- Saxon Chritians of yore. Being born in Burma of a two half castes or mixed breeds, one a Buddhist and another a Zaroastan, I do really like to think and perhaps live as a Sufi or a Nomad ( Kyi may you being a scholar, poet, artist is one-- smile) . Maybe I was one in my past lives roaming with the camel caravns with merchants, mercenaries, missionariies and the militants, in The Middle Crescent, Tigris and Nile Valley and the wide Arabian Desert.. Will pour water on The Buddha and light canles now. With Metta
Saturday, April 13, 2013
A conversation on race and nationality - from my Facebook page -
- Myo Nyunt Kyi May The p[otamac I prsume. The lady in the middle can be either of Asian descent but American. Thats great in the USA, not like other countries-- you know.
- Kyi May Kaung Yes, every time I come home, I appreciate how lucky I am to live in America. It is the Tidal Basin at Cherry Blossom time, peaked last week - lovely lady in middle is our own Khin Phyu Htway who works at VOA - I am happy you said, "it could be anyone" --- I have been mistaken for a Korean in S. Korea, a Mongolian at a Mongolian Conference, a Thai etc - now I do not even think about it and few ask - except when I get to Thailand - One asked "Aunty, what is your religion" five minutes after we first met, which annoyed me a lot, so I said "Buddhist-Christian." Maybe I should have said Liberal Democrat or Artist/Writer. Am reading Salman Rushdie's memoir "Joseph Anton" in which he describes his secular family (originally).
Expat views - on line Facebook dialogue with Peter Popham - biographer of Aung San Suu Kyi -
- Kyi May Kaung, I would like to take a stroll through Burma with you
- Kyi May Kaung Hi Peter, I am not in Burma - these are shares. Do you mean you wish to interview me about Burma?
- Peter Popham No I just like your selection, and your comments - the views of the country of people born and raised there but long absent are valuable and fascinating. Let's talk when I am back in London in a week or two - I'm currently in Tokyo, where I lived decades back but had not visited for many years, so am enjoying my own Rip van Winkle moment here
- Kyi May Kaung I see -- well, I am glad you take the view that exiles have something to contribute - I was always very aggravated when I was on the international seminar circuit between 2001 and 2010 and "experts" would say "I just came from Burma" or "I was there on Wednesday" -- and I lived there 30 years ago - There is a saying in Burmese "The wise person thinking from afar, is more accurate than running to take a look." I first found this out when I was taking a diploma course in Warsaw, Poland in 1969 - the distance gives much better perspective than when you are literally sunk right in the middle - I look fwd to chatting with you. I can't remember the Dhammayangyi story very well, but I think built by king who murdered his father. Or he smothered his father to death in there.
Friday, April 12, 2013
Left on Irrawaddy site ref "rule of law" in Burma -
Going in circles - the laws now are made by the military regime with no input from the people - same old same old Burmese kings and dictators - what use will taking it to the pseudo "parliament" do - and what if the instigators are the regime's undercover agents themselves - would be better for media to ask the generals, but then they will just say something - tired of the blither blather - might be more reliable to trust the citizen journalists.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Thank you, Facebook fans and friends -
Thank you Facebook friends and guests - It is
only about a month since I started, and I feel so much better with a
Community - even if (only) electronic - but some of you I know
personally and professionally too, some of you I know through your good & excellent reputation as activists.
Thank you all whose lovely photos I shared. Some are of places I have never been and things I have never seen, especially the friends in USA and Burma.
I am so happy to have such talented and committed friends.
I am going to take the leap and go to Twitter soon, so I hope you will follow me there too.
Kyi May Kaung - sometimes writing as K.M.Kaung.
Thank you all whose lovely photos I shared. Some are of places I have never been and things I have never seen, especially the friends in USA and Burma.
I am so happy to have such talented and committed friends.
I am going to take the leap and go to Twitter soon, so I hope you will follow me there too.
Kyi May Kaung - sometimes writing as K.M.Kaung.
Democracy icon, veteran journalist and former political prisoner U Win Tin asked to return his prison uniform -
or pay $2.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/32011
He's more stubborn than the government, that's why his name is U Win Tin.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/32011
He's more stubborn than the government, that's why his name is U Win Tin.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Tuesday, April 09, 2013
Monday, April 08, 2013
My latest comment on George R. R. Martin - A Game of Thrones - also left in Kanlaon Blog -
Whoa - Game of Thrones - I have read books 1 through 5 - I guess the scenes you describe are in HBO version - the poor girl in armor is Brienne - the boy who fell is Bran Stark, yes, Joffrey and the Margeary gal are one dimensional - Tywin Lannister "shits gold."
In the books, the characters are quite multidimensional - books 1-3 are the best - I read my eyes out too. But #4 is padded and #5 too - George R.R. Martin has a penchant for killing off your faves, so be warned.
I am correct in that I decided not to watch the TV - one reason, I have no TV :) and the other, I have already formed an image of the characters in my head, and I can't relate to their too real !! TV representations - in the fiction, the books, they are more real to me -
Great argument for reading rather than watching (TV)
The dragons, I guess the TV version has not got to them yet? -- They are overused in Western fantasies. GRRM uses all the tricks in the book to make them real, but they only get real when they get uncontrollable - I think they are best viewed as a metaphor for the arms race.
In the books, the characters are quite multidimensional - books 1-3 are the best - I read my eyes out too. But #4 is padded and #5 too - George R.R. Martin has a penchant for killing off your faves, so be warned.
I am correct in that I decided not to watch the TV - one reason, I have no TV :) and the other, I have already formed an image of the characters in my head, and I can't relate to their too real !! TV representations - in the fiction, the books, they are more real to me -
Great argument for reading rather than watching (TV)
The dragons, I guess the TV version has not got to them yet? -- They are overused in Western fantasies. GRRM uses all the tricks in the book to make them real, but they only get real when they get uncontrollable - I think they are best viewed as a metaphor for the arms race.
Friday, April 05, 2013
Electronic resource for Burma Studies Group
H-ASIA
Apr 5 2013
Electronic Resource for Burma/Myanmar Studies
****************************************************
From: DC Lammerts <dc.lammerts@rutgers.edu>
Dear Colleagues,
We are pleased to announce the launch of a new e-list, the Burma Studies
Group electronic discussion forum (BSGF). The Burma Studies Group (
www.burmastudiesgroup.org) is a subcommittee of the Southeast Asia Council
of the Association for Asian Studies. The BSGF was created in March 2013
for the purpose of facilitating communication within the community of
international scholars active in Burma/Myanmar-related studies.
Membership in the forum is open to active members of the Burma Studies
Group, scholars working and publishing in Burma/Myanmar-related studies,
and graduate students pursuing an advanced degree in Burma/Myanmar-related
studies.
To request subscription to the BSGF:
1) Visit http://groups.google.com/group/burmastudies
2) Click the link “sign in to view this group.”
3) Sign in with a Google account. This will require that you create a
Google account if you do not already have one.
4) Click “apply for membership.”
5) Choose the type of access you prefer (web, digest, email).
5) Enter your real name in the field that asks you to chose a nickname.
Subscriptions under aliases or pseudonyms will not be approved.
6) In the text box below your name please provide a brief biographical
statement attesting to your institutional affiliation, academic
credentials, publication record, and/or additional bona fides as a scholar
or student in Burma/Myanmar Studies. Requests for membership unaccompanied
by such information will not be approved.
7) Click “apply to this group”
8) Your request for subscription will be evaluated and acted on by the
moderators.
Best regards,
Christian Lammerts, Rutgers University
Alexey Kirichenko, Moscow State University
D. Christian Lammerts
Assistant Professor
Department of Religion
Rutgers University
Apr 5 2013
Electronic Resource for Burma/Myanmar Studies
****************************************************
From: DC Lammerts <dc.lammerts@rutgers.edu>
Dear Colleagues,
We are pleased to announce the launch of a new e-list, the Burma Studies
Group electronic discussion forum (BSGF). The Burma Studies Group (
www.burmastudiesgroup.org) is a subcommittee of the Southeast Asia Council
of the Association for Asian Studies. The BSGF was created in March 2013
for the purpose of facilitating communication within the community of
international scholars active in Burma/Myanmar-related studies.
Membership in the forum is open to active members of the Burma Studies
Group, scholars working and publishing in Burma/Myanmar-related studies,
and graduate students pursuing an advanced degree in Burma/Myanmar-related
studies.
To request subscription to the BSGF:
1) Visit http://groups.google.com/group/burmastudies
2) Click the link “sign in to view this group.”
3) Sign in with a Google account. This will require that you create a
Google account if you do not already have one.
4) Click “apply for membership.”
5) Choose the type of access you prefer (web, digest, email).
5) Enter your real name in the field that asks you to chose a nickname.
Subscriptions under aliases or pseudonyms will not be approved.
6) In the text box below your name please provide a brief biographical
statement attesting to your institutional affiliation, academic
credentials, publication record, and/or additional bona fides as a scholar
or student in Burma/Myanmar Studies. Requests for membership unaccompanied
by such information will not be approved.
7) Click “apply to this group”
8) Your request for subscription will be evaluated and acted on by the
moderators.
Best regards,
Christian Lammerts, Rutgers University
Alexey Kirichenko, Moscow State University
D. Christian Lammerts
Assistant Professor
Department of Religion
Rutgers University
Thursday, April 04, 2013
Wednesday, April 03, 2013
Anal editors redux -
God save me from anal editors - like the woman in Burma who had a list of what to capitalize (written out for her by Saya Zawgyi) and argued with me that World War II should not be in caps.
Finally, I got a book in English and showed it to her --
"But wars are not on this list."
Me -- "Then Saya Zawgyi must have forgotten when he wrote the list."
I truly think editors edit because they can't live solely from their earnings from writing.
Finally, I got a book in English and showed it to her --
"But wars are not on this list."
Me -- "Then Saya Zawgyi must have forgotten when he wrote the list."
I truly think editors edit because they can't live solely from their earnings from writing.
Happy happy joy joy - new ISBN numbers ;)
Happy happy joy joy - as my friend Kanlaon would say - Just got ISBN numbers for my upcoming novella Black Rice - Wow!
Crochet motifs that I made from leftover wool + needle - given me by my neighbor - From scraps we build something.
Crochet motifs that I made from leftover wool + needle - given me by my neighbor - From scraps we build something.
C'mon - Grandmother is Dead - sighted on Facebook
Sighted on Facebook:
"C'mon - Grandmother is dead - and she doesn't have a Facebook page!" - Maybe that's why we write (blog, face off? on FB - twitter) - to prove we are not yet dead.
Kyi May Kaung
Please visit my Facebook page -
Photo of Green Banana in USA - copyright Kyi M. Kaung.
"C'mon - Grandmother is dead - and she doesn't have a Facebook page!" - Maybe that's why we write (blog, face off? on FB - twitter) - to prove we are not yet dead.
Kyi May Kaung
Please visit my Facebook page -
Tuesday, April 02, 2013
Monday, April 01, 2013
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