Friday, April 30, 2010
The Best Friend, Burmese monks of Saffron Revolution, work to free leader U Gambira
http://www.thebestfriend.org/2010/04/30/ashin-gambira/
Burma -- Emperor's New Clothes -- Irrawaddy cartoon --
http://www.irrawaddy.org/cartoon.php?art_id=18351
The junta generals are changing into civilian clothes to contest in new election which international community calls a sham.
They have barred Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD from participating, still have her and nearly 2200 political prisoners under house arrest and trapped her into withdrawing from the process.
She is barred from ever being head of state in Burma because she was "once married to a foreigner (Dr Micheal Aris, who died March 27, 1999 of prostate cancer) and is mother of "half-breed children" according to spdc's so-called "constitution" ratified in so-called "referendum" a few days after Cyclone Nargis in May 2008.
This cartoon says it all.
The junta generals are changing into civilian clothes to contest in new election which international community calls a sham.
They have barred Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD from participating, still have her and nearly 2200 political prisoners under house arrest and trapped her into withdrawing from the process.
She is barred from ever being head of state in Burma because she was "once married to a foreigner (Dr Micheal Aris, who died March 27, 1999 of prostate cancer) and is mother of "half-breed children" according to spdc's so-called "constitution" ratified in so-called "referendum" a few days after Cyclone Nargis in May 2008.
This cartoon says it all.
Joel Berger paints a picture of Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma
as part of the Amnesty International Human Rights Festival.
http://picasaweb.google.com/PainterlyVisions/AmnestyInternationalHumanRightsArtFestival?feat=email#5463905499156600930
http://picasaweb.google.com/PainterlyVisions/AmnestyInternationalHumanRightsArtFestival?feat=email#5463905499156600930
Christian Solidarity Worldwide calls for medical treatment for Burmese political prisoner in Burma
30 April 2010
CSW CALLS FOR URGENT ACTION TO PROVIDE MEDICAL TREATMENT FOR BURMESE POLITICAL PRISONER KO MYA AYE
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) today called on the military regime in Burma to provide proper medical treatment to political prisoners, including Ko Mya Aye, one of the leaders of 88 Generation Students Group, who led protests in 1988 and again in 2007. CSW has also urged the international community to intervene in his case.
Ko Mya Aye is currently serving a 65 year prison sentence for his involvement in leading peaceful pro-democracy protests in 2007. On 9 April he was moved from Loikaw Prison in Karenni State to Taungyi Prison in Shan State. He has reportedly been placed in a cell on death row, with no toilet or running water, and is denied exercise. According to sources, Ko Mya Aye has suffered heart failure caused by angina, and requires urgent medical treatment. He is also suffering from hypertension and gastric problems.
Taungyi prison is 450 miles away from Rangoon and 16 miles away from Taungyi City. Ko Mya Aye needs proper medical tests that can only be carried out in Rangoon. It is believed he may require an angioplasty operation or coronary artery bypass graft. Prison authorities have so far not permitted access to any medical tests or any treatment at all, leaving him very vulnerable to another angina attack which could be extremely serious.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), at least 137 political prisoners are in poor health due to inhumane prison conditions, and are denied proper medical care. CSW has written to several governments today urging the international community to put pressure on the regime to provide proper medical treatment to political prisoners.
CSW’s East Asia Team Leader Benedict Rogers said: “The situation for Ko Mya Aye is critical, and we urge the Burmese regime to release him, or at least to move him to Rangoon and provide the medical treatment he desperately requires. We urge the international community, including the United Nations Secretary-General, to intervene to put pressure on the Burmese regime to provide proper medical treatment for Ko Mya Aye and all political prisoners. Continued denial of medical treatment will have extremely serious consequences and should be regarded as a serious crime.”
For further information please visit www.csw.org. uk.
CSW is a human rights organisation which specialises in religious freedom, works on behalf of those persecuted for their Christian beliefs and promotes religious liberty for all.
CSW CALLS FOR URGENT ACTION TO PROVIDE MEDICAL TREATMENT FOR BURMESE POLITICAL PRISONER KO MYA AYE
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) today called on the military regime in Burma to provide proper medical treatment to political prisoners, including Ko Mya Aye, one of the leaders of 88 Generation Students Group, who led protests in 1988 and again in 2007. CSW has also urged the international community to intervene in his case.
Ko Mya Aye is currently serving a 65 year prison sentence for his involvement in leading peaceful pro-democracy protests in 2007. On 9 April he was moved from Loikaw Prison in Karenni State to Taungyi Prison in Shan State. He has reportedly been placed in a cell on death row, with no toilet or running water, and is denied exercise. According to sources, Ko Mya Aye has suffered heart failure caused by angina, and requires urgent medical treatment. He is also suffering from hypertension and gastric problems.
Taungyi prison is 450 miles away from Rangoon and 16 miles away from Taungyi City. Ko Mya Aye needs proper medical tests that can only be carried out in Rangoon. It is believed he may require an angioplasty operation or coronary artery bypass graft. Prison authorities have so far not permitted access to any medical tests or any treatment at all, leaving him very vulnerable to another angina attack which could be extremely serious.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), at least 137 political prisoners are in poor health due to inhumane prison conditions, and are denied proper medical care. CSW has written to several governments today urging the international community to put pressure on the regime to provide proper medical treatment to political prisoners.
CSW’s East Asia Team Leader Benedict Rogers said: “The situation for Ko Mya Aye is critical, and we urge the Burmese regime to release him, or at least to move him to Rangoon and provide the medical treatment he desperately requires. We urge the international community, including the United Nations Secretary-General, to intervene to put pressure on the Burmese regime to provide proper medical treatment for Ko Mya Aye and all political prisoners. Continued denial of medical treatment will have extremely serious consequences and should be regarded as a serious crime.”
For further information please visit www.csw.org. uk.
CSW is a human rights organisation which specialises in religious freedom, works on behalf of those persecuted for their Christian beliefs and promotes religious liberty for all.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
The Oxus or Amu Darya River in Matthew Arnold's words
But the majestic River floated on,
Out of the mist and hum of that low land,
Into the frosty starlight, and there moved,
Rejoicing, through the hushed Chorasmian waste,
Under the solitary moon: — he flowed
Right for the polar star, past Orgunjè,
Brimming, and bright, and large: then sands begin
To hem his watery march, and dam his streams,
And split his currents; that for many a league
The shorn and parcelled Oxus strains along
Through beds of sand and matted rushy isles —
Oxus, forgetting the bright speed he had
In his high mountain-cradle in Pamere,
A foiled circuitous wanderer: — till at last
The longed-for dash of waves is heard, and wide
His luminous home of waters opens, bright
And tranquil, from whose floor the new-bathed stars
Emerge, and shine upon the Aral Sea.
– Matthew Arnold, Sohrab and Rustum
from Wikipedia
Out of the mist and hum of that low land,
Into the frosty starlight, and there moved,
Rejoicing, through the hushed Chorasmian waste,
Under the solitary moon: — he flowed
Right for the polar star, past Orgunjè,
Brimming, and bright, and large: then sands begin
To hem his watery march, and dam his streams,
And split his currents; that for many a league
The shorn and parcelled Oxus strains along
Through beds of sand and matted rushy isles —
Oxus, forgetting the bright speed he had
In his high mountain-cradle in Pamere,
A foiled circuitous wanderer: — till at last
The longed-for dash of waves is heard, and wide
His luminous home of waters opens, bright
And tranquil, from whose floor the new-bathed stars
Emerge, and shine upon the Aral Sea.
– Matthew Arnold, Sohrab and Rustum
from Wikipedia
dendrobium thein sein -- poem by Ko Ko Thett with Kyi May Kaung
dendrobium thein sein
as I suspected,
it's overwhelmingly olive-green,
the color of the Burmese tatmadaw
i might be prejudiced to think that way.
after all, aren't all orchid stems and leaves green?
then again
what do those twisted
petals have to say?
what do other orchids have to say?
no doubt
this honors the ungainly bald general
but insults the whole of
flowerkind.
you don't deserve it.
i grieve for you
dendrobium thein sein.
*
This poem was written by Ko Ko Thett with some input from Kyi May Kaung.
Posted with permission.
Copyright Ko Ko Thett and Kyi May Kaung
Recently, Singapore named a new dendrobium orchid hybrid after Myanmar general Thein Sein.
http://singaporenewsalternative.blogspot.com/2009/03/dendrobium-thein-sein-spore-orchid.html
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
June Rose Bellamy (Yadana Nat Mai), once married to Gen. Ne Win, in 1981 --
http://i-p-o.org/yadana.htm
Hamish McDonald on meeting June Rose Bellamy in Florence.
http://www.griffithreview.com/current-edition/240-reportage/821.html
Hamish McDonald on meeting June Rose Bellamy in Florence.
http://www.griffithreview.com/current-edition/240-reportage/821.html
Orchid article from Burma 1952 --
featuring the Bellamys, parents of June-Rose Bellamy,once married to General Ne Win.
http://tacomaorchidsociety.com/burmaorchids.html
http://tacomaorchidsociety.com/burmaorchids.html
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