SPDC police violently dispersed the monks and nuns demonstration

With three term papers to write, 3 presentations to prepare and lot readings to catch up, i cannot do much to actively participate in condemning the attacks of the SPDC police to the protesting monks. Its deplorable, barbaric and desperate act on the part of the SPDC. I fervently hope that the international community, through the UN will act now rather than later and before it gets too late! Rhetorics should be followed by deeds.

Please check the link below for images from BBC news on the attacks of SPDC police to the ranks of the monks. At least 100 monks and nuns were injured and arrested.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7013852.stm

Let me however share this poem that i wrote yesterday morning to show my respect and solidarity with the monks and people of Burma. (I wrote this before the dispersal on the demonstration happened)

(photo courtesy of BBC news)

The Golden Monks

Shaven heads and bare feet

Petite bodies in Maroon robes

Walking the long miles of road

Chanting let there be peace

Let there be peace on this land of gold

Walking under the sun and rain

With laurels on their ears maintain

Inspiration in this time of desperation

As the chanting echoes on and on

Let there be peace, let there be peace

19 long years of suffering and misery

The robes cannot be silenced in treachery

By a junta that is power-greedy

The chanting will not fade away

Let there be peace, oh let there be peace

Revered and love by everyone

Human chains are created as one

To secure them from harm

As they pray and chant

Let there be peace, yes, let there be peace

In meditation but will not be silenced

Peaceful but can be radical in their own way

Petite but courageous and strong

The monks in maroon keep chanting

Let there be peace and peace shall reign

Show you care, take actions now! and make a difference!

Dear Friends,

Today is a new moon. I hope that it also brings new future for Burma very soon . It has been 19 long years that the people are suffering under the junta government called SPDC (State for Peace and Development Council). Let not this moment pass you by without taking any actions. show your support and solidarity.


Am sharing here with you two very important links to keep you updated on what is happening in Burma on a daily basis. the first link, http://www.ncgub.net/, is the site of the National Coalition of Government Union in Burma and the other one is a media organization called The Irrawaddy, http://www.irrawaddy.org/ which covers Burma and the rest of South East Asia. Please visit them, better yet bookmark them.

So take actions now, big or small, virtual or real time, everything that you do matters to our brothers and sisters in Burma.

Let me share two quotations from two of the people i admire so much. may they inspire you too!

It is not the kings and generals that make history, but the masses of the people.
- Nelson Mandela

When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes a duty.
- ‘Che’ Guevara

Demonstration infront of Myanmar Embassy Seoul

MAINS students gathered together for the demonstration after class; the weather did not cooperate that day .

The demonstrators finally reached the embassy and joined the other Burmese activists who were there waiting for us already.

Our Burmese friend Nay Tun and Badrul from Malaysiawere shielding me from the rain while reading our statement below. The statement was given to the embassy through the police officer who were "protecting" the Myanmar Junta embassy.

Joint Statement of MAINS Programme students of Sungkonghoe University
September 18, 2007
South Korea

The arrest of the members of the 88 generation student leaders from the National League for Democracy (NLD) on August 21 is illegal.

The arrested leaders were protesting against the price hike of fuel imposed by the Junta government. It was ironic that the demand for their basic economic right to rollback the price of fuel to make it affordable for ordinary people was greeted with another violation of their basic political right to air their legitimate grievances.

The decades of sufferings of the Burmese and other ethnic nationals under the Junta government merits our immediate attention to denounce its continued suppression of the fundamental rights of its people. It has been an international knowledge that this regime for the longest time, is trampling on the peoples’ economic, social and cultural rights and civil and political rights. The endless unrest and conflict between and among its people are considered crimes against humanity that has to be addressed promptly.

The right to a peaceful assembly and to be free from arbitrary arrest and detention are guaranteed under articles 3 and 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in other international laws. The State and Peace Development Council (SPDC), as member of the United Nations are duty bound to uphold these rights at all times and should be made accountable for their actions.

The SPDC cannot continue to turn its deaf ears and blind eyes away from the truth anymore. It has to face up to the problems it created and let the people be free of their misery. Enough is enough!

And we demand that it must start now! Free the 88 generation student leaders now!

Listen to the people of Burma. They want freedom and democracy. They want freedom from hunger and deprivation of their land and natural resources. They want peace and development their way. They want to live harmoniously and look forward to a better future. They want to live as human beings.

They want it now and we support their claims.

Free Burma Now!

Photos courtesy of Pinpaka Ngamsom

We Are With You

As i was preparing to write the statement for our demonstrations i was reading the information related to the arrests of the leaders of the 88 students generation. One article had a tremendous effect on me and it prompted me to write a tribute for their bravery. This poem is for them.

We Are With You
(a poem for Nilar Thein and Kyaw Min Yu**)

They jailed him for fifteen years
To break his heart and bones
They locked her up for ten years
To break her bones and heart

A cowardly act, a disgrace in disguise
A soldier of brutality and despise
A killing machine in the waiting
No way, you can’t break them down

They may have fragile bodies
But their spirits are unconquered
They maybe weak physically
But their soul is whole and free

What is it there to be scared of?
Why freedom and democracy
Can’t be as sacred as life?
Why respond with cruelty and brutality?

Like birds they will soar
The walls and bars will roar
Heaven and sky will cry
It will crushed the hell in the eye

No amount of acts can justify
No amount of words can purify
No amount of silence can terrify
Everyone is heeding to fight and defy

Nilar Thein and Kyaw Min Yu
And at least a dozen more of you
Might be in Insein**prison so we construe
Keep those fires burning alive for we are with you!

* The couple Kyaw Min Yu and Nilar Thein were imprisoned for 15 and 10 years respectively. They have not been out of prison for very long but Kyaw Min was arrested again on August 21 along with dozens protester against fuel increases imposed by SPDC without notices. His wife is now in hiding to escape arrest too. They have a four month daughter.
**It is the notorious and infamous prison in Burma

And the protests in Burma continues...

Modeling for a Cause

One Saturday afternoon, MAINS students were invited to participate in an event that promotes fair trade and one of the activities in the program was to "walk in the ramp" wearing the different t-shirt designs of an artist to promote social issues and raising money for their organization at the same time. It was fun doing that with the young Korean students during that one hour fashion show; as you can see activism now comes in many form.

hi

hi everyone,

the subtle light from my lampshade gives a relaxing mood to write this welcome note and the view from where i am sitting while writing is beautiful especially now that the trees are full of green leaves and big Chinese roses are asserting their existence in between those trees. though in the evening you can only just see the shapes and shadows of those trees, it is still a beautiful view.

today is the first day that i finally started to set up my blog spot. i have been thinking about setting up one in the last couple of months but i have to wait for my friend Badrul @ che'GuBard from Malaysia to walk me through in blog spot making. I must say this is too "techie" for me not withstanding the responsibility that comes with it. Will i be able to sustain it? or will it be my first and last posting!!!

anyhow, here i am trying it out and hopefully, i will be a real blogger one day.

for starters let me say that i expect a warm welcome message from you bloggers out there and a little encouragement is not difficult to make this new "project" work.

let me however share with you a poem which i think fits this welcome note. it is from a book of A Flute Player - Poems and Essays by C.D. Pi and translated to English by Lee Jae-ho

THIS MOMENT

What a splendid reality
that this moment
i am looking at the stars!

although sooner or later
my eyes will turn to dust,
what a dazzling reality,
that this moment
i am hearing the Ninth symphony!

although my friends forget me
and fade away in my memory,
what a pleasant reality,
that this moment
i am laughing and talking with them!

someday my brain will cease to function
and my hands go to decay
but even nothingness cannot destroy the reality
that this moment
i am writing as i please.

Regional Summer School

we are in a summer regional school for a week and its now our third day in this beautiful place called "Future in Us" in the country side of Gapyeong, Gyeonggi province.

our summer class is a little bizzare because it has been raining since the night we arrived here, but the whether cooperated yesterday evening during our barbeque party.

this regional school is intensive because we have 6 hours of classes everyday discussing about global democracy, resistance, human rights, alternatives and globalization.

there is simultaneous translation from english to hangul because this regional school is composed of MAINS students and other Korean activists.