May 2008 Archives

Aung Hla Tun reports for Reuters:

Myanmar's junta lashed out at offers of foreign aid on Thursday, criticizing donors' demands for access to the Irrawaddy delta and saying Cyclone Nargis' 2.4 million victims could "stand by themselves". "The people from Irrawaddy can survive on self-reliance without chocolate bars donated by foreign countries," the Kyemon newspaper said in a Burmese-language editorial.

The Burmese people can always "stand by themselves" according to the junta. It doesn't matter how poor and helpless they are. The government just does not care.

First they came for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up,
because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up,
because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up,
because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me,
and by that time there was no one
left to speak up for me.
by Rev. Martin Niemoller, 1945

Parents Grief Turns to Rage at Chinese Officials

From New York Times:

Bereaved parents whose children were crushed to death in their classrooms during the earthquake in Sichuan Province have turned mourning ceremonies into protests in recent days, forcing officials to address growing political repercussions over shoddy construction of public schools.

The crowd grew more agitated. Some parents said local officials had known for years that the school was unsafe but refused to take action. Others recalled that two hours passed before rescue workers showed up; even then, they stopped working at 10 p.m. on the night of the earthquake and did not resume the search until 9 a.m. the next day.

The Chinese took to the streets now that it was their children who were the victims of the corrupted government system. When the Tibetans protested against the central communist regime, the Chiense nationalists were indifferent to them.

The authorities in Beijing appear to recognize the delicacy of the issue. On Monday, a spokesman for the Education Ministry, Wang Xuming, promised a reassessment of school buildings in quake zones, adding that those responsible for cutting corners on school construction would be severely punished.

My only comment for the Chinese is "too little, too late."

Quote of the day

To be very blunt, Asean is really just a club of generally un-enlightened regimes, headed by autocrats, feudalists, state-paternalists and militarists all sharing the worst strain of pathetic Asian paternalism.

Zarni, a former Burmese activist who founded the Free Burma Campaign in the US

Once, this was Thabyekyaing village, a quiet coastal village in Labutta township, Ayeyawaddy Division. Once, the laughter of children filled the air as they played football or toke-si-do in the fields and yards. Once, men went out on fishing boats or worked in the fields. Women planted rice, fetched water and firewood and kitchen fires burnt brightly.

Once, on Sunday mornings, the church bell would ring and people would gather to sing, praise and worship god and listen to the pastor, Rev. Maung Bay's or his son, Pastor Klo Htoo's sermons. Once, on Lenten days the monastery gong would sound and the Buddhists would go to hear the Sayadaw's sermons while observing a fast. Once, the village was shady with fruit trees, the gardens with vegetables and the fields green with rice plants or yellow during harvest time.

Now, there is an eerie silence over what once was Thabye Gyaung. The sound of laughter, song and raucous shouting is stilled. The trees, the fields, the houses, school, church, monastery, clinic are no more. Now, what remains is death and destruction, bloated bodies, shattered lives.

On the night of May 2, the cyclone Nargis with gale force winds, rain and sea water that rose to 17 feet and higher destroyed the village and all the life that had made up that village.

The pastor, Thra Maung Bay, MIT (Burma Divinity School Certificate) Class of 1969 died in that disaster. Once, in 1992, Thra Maung Bay had faced flood waters, that time of a political nature in what is known as Bogalay Ayay-Akin (Bogalay Affair). Pro-democracy forces had infiltrated the delta region from across the border. Thra Maung Bay was interrogated, tortured and sent to prison. But once released, he went back to his village and people and ministered to them as best he could in spite of his broken health. His son, Saw Klo Htoo, following the steps of his father went to seminary, Karen Baptist Theological Seminary for his Bachelor of Theology and after graduation became a pastor. But on that fateful night, Pastor Saw Klo Htoo also died, never fulfilling his dream of studying at MIT. Mrs. Maung Bay, a KBTS graduate, survived as she was visiting relatives in Rangoon at that time. Now, she is alone, without family, home and village.

This family's, this village's, tragedy is replicated in the areas struck by Nargis Cyclone, Haingyi Island, Labutta, Bogalay, Daydaye, Pyapon, Mawlamyinegyun and Rangoon and nearby towns. The latest government figure of deaths (12 May '08) is 85,000 the final figure will be higher. Relief work is going on but at a slow rate. Relief goods are accepted but not personnel with expertise. Some camps are experiencing medical problems. Some people still in isolated pockets are without food and water. In Bassein, there are over 2000 survivors in Ko Tha Byu Camp with more arriving every day.

In the Myanmar Baptist Convention, the hardest hits are Karen Baptist Convention, Pwo Karen Baptist Conference, and Myanmar Baptist Churches Union and Asho Chin Baptist Convention. Karen Baptist Convention reported over 39 villages totally destroyed in Bassein area alone and 13 pastors dead. The Self-Supporting Kayin Baptist Churches also report destruction of churches, seminary and houses.

The Myanmar Baptist Convention Headquarters suffered damages totaling about kyats 1500 lahks. It was to host the Myanmar Council of Churches Bienniel General Meeting on May 20-24 but now had postponed to middle of June.

Myanmar Council of Churches' main meeting hall is wrecked and some glass windows were blown off. Judson church's roof was also damaged and worship services could not be carried out.

The Myanmar Institute of Theology's buildings' roofs were lifted off and the computer lab with 12 computers totally water logged. Our newly appointed chaplain, Dr. Khin Kyu Kyu has just moved in to the Guest Apartment and she agrees with Neil and Diana Sowards that the apartment should be named "Falling Waters," though very different from Frank Lloyd Wright's model house, "Falling Waters" in America. Trees fell on Alan Po's, Ashee's and U Tha Wah's houses. The roofs are all gone. Alan and Nyunt moved to Maharsaung Dining Hall just in time.

The Rangoon streets are blocked with fallen trees and electric posts. Water and electricity is a problem. BARS classes have been suspended until further notice. Summer School closed for a few days but have re-started. Master of Ministry classes started today but some students from Bassein area are too busy with relief works to attend.

The Myanmar Institute of Christian Theology had pushed back the opening date of 2008-2009 academic year to September because of lack of electricity, water, building repairs and rising costs of rice and other food commodities. The Myanmar Institute of Theology will hold a meeting on May 14 on how best to carry on with limited resources. Dr. Simon and Faculty are determined to begin classes as scheduled. The main costs will be diesel oil to run the generators for light and water and food costs. It's a challenge as we face the ATESEA Accreditation team visit in August.

Say Pa and I had the roofing over one bedroom blown off and water in the bedroom so our computer also is water logged. 23 fell in our compound. Some mango and jackfruit trees planted by my mother but still bearing fruit. Workers were very scarce at this time for repair work and cutting trees and clearing the land. Our loss is minuscule compared to the loss of family, homes and villages suffered by so many people.

You will want to know how to respond to this disaster. We certainly need your prayers. The people also need aid to recover from destruction of this magnitude. Please send donations to MCC, MBC, KBC, PKBC who are directly doing ground level relief work. MCC is coordinating with various NGOs and ecumenical partners to provide immediate relief. Send financial help only to trusted individuals. There are many people profiting from this disaster. The merchants are raising their prices and even some relief goods do not reach the victims but are being sold off. So be careful in your response.

MIT needs help with buying 12 computers for BARS program, roofing and other building materials for staff houses, Mahasaound and Ann Judson Villa, diesel to run generators (for now only water is available for Mahasaung where there are 2 section, for male/female use), funds to buy food commodities for 180 hostel students.

Cry for bleeding, suffering Burma she is so small, her people struggling so long for survival. It seems as if not only political forces but God herself/himself is determined to teach us some sensible lessons. Sermons nowadays sound like platitudes. Our land and our people are being put through the wringer, squeezed dry till there is no more life juice left. Cry with us, cry for us in solidarity in our despair.

Anna May Say Pa
13 May 2008

Photos from our colleagues on the ground

Please join our relief efforts through the various Christian organizations in Burma.

Evacuation

A dead body

The injured

Helping each other out

They need your help

Burma diary - the relief effort

Andrew Kirkwood, Burma director of Save the Children, has been keeping a diary of his life in Rangoon in the days following Cyclone Nargis.

It's a good source coming from someone on the ground.

Read his diary here and here.

Burmese people helping each other out

A few days ago, I wrote about DIY, in which I elaborated how we, the Burmese, have learned to struggle through hardships by being creative and innovative. That spirit is seen in the hard work of volunteers in reaching out to the cyclone victims.

From the Irrawaddy:

"Since I don't have the means to provide cash or kind, I contribute labor by helping distribute relief goods," said Nyi Nyi, a 21-year-old university student. "Whenever we distribute rice and clothing, I can see the faces of the cyclone victims light up. It is very rewarding to see them smile."

"They are true humanitarian heroes," said Bridget Gardner, the International Red Cross representative in Burma, after touring an area where volunteers were giving first aid to the injured.

After enduring decades of poverty and government oppression, Burmese people are known for their resilience, having learned to depend on each other from day to day especially in times of crisis.

The gospel according to the New Light of Myanmar

Here is an excerpt from the New Light of Myanmar, May 8, 2008 issue.

At the relief camp of Kungyangon BEHS No 2, Lt-Gen Myint Swe and the ministers met with the storm-hit victims and presented foodstuff, purified drinking water and tarpaulin to them.

A cultural note for the Burmese: If you have lived in a free and open society (or fake democratic Singapore) long enough, there is something about the above picture that will make you irk.

Today, canned fish, coffeemix packets, instant noodles, biscuits, blankets, tarpaulin, clothes, soap, purified drinking water and pencils weighing 2.5 tons were distributed to the victims of Twantay and Kungyangon townships. Lt-Gen Myint Swe and Minister Maj-Gen Hla Tun left there by helicopter and arrived back here in the afternoon.

The truth on the ground

The disaster response teams in Burma are ill-equipped, and lack material support. Here is an email from Sakhorn Boongullaya, who is in charge of logistics operations for all UN and NGO in mobilizing food and relief supplies to the survivors.

From: Sakhorn Boongullaya [mailto:Sakhorn.Boongullaya@wfp.org]
Sent: Sunday, May 11, 2008 6:47 PM
To: Myanmar Nouveau Company Limited
Dear all,
I need all help from our community. I need trucks, waterway transport, warehouse space up to 10,000 tons capacity. I am in charge of logistics operation for all UN and NGO in mobilizing food, and relief supplies to help those affected people from Cyclone Nargis, one and half million people that we are helping now. If you have any contact of the said pls advise them to come and see me at UN building on the Namuak road, Yangon, or call 09-5007688, 09-8601279.
Contact Sakhorn or my staff, Nyunt Win Htay.
We are not asking for free but we will pay. Please please help.
Many thanks and best regards,
Sakhorn
UN WFP Logistics

A kid who needs warm clothes and better shelter [Photo: Khin Maung Win (AFP)]

AFP photos

http://burmachannel.com/nargis/?path=./&page=0

Photo from LA Times: the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis

LA Times said: MAKING DO: Using basic hand tools, two men in Yangon, like many Myanmar residents, are performing much of the cleanup work themselves for lack of foreign or domestic assistance.

DIY Way of Life

We, the Burmese, are used to solving problems on our own because we all know our government does not care about us. Almost everything in Burma is DIY (Do It Yourself), to borrow a geeky terms.

Electricity

In our town in Southern Burma, the electricity from the government is not reliable at all (We honor Thomas Alva Edison every day by staying in the dark) Guess what the solution of the community is? A well-to-do family would buy a generator and install power line -- only the home-quality one -- to each house in the street, who wants the electricity. The family runs the generator, let's say, from 6:00 PM till 9:00 PM. The family then collects the fees every two weeks, based on the number of fluorescent lamps you have agreed to install in the first place. How democratic and market-oriented our community is! :)

Telecommunication

Burmese migrants in Thailand have been using the family-run telephone exchange in the border area to call their family back home. Here is what you do. You dial a Thailand registered number of the family-owned telephone switch in the border and tell them the number in Burma you are trying to call. The exchange having several phones registered both in Thailand and Burma, can route your call from Thailand's phone system to Burma's. You have just dialed a telephone number in Thailand and yet you are talking to your family in Burma. They collect the fees at the end of the month based on how many minutes you talked (or hours if you talked to your sweethearts :). Well, the Burmese have just installed a home-made telephone switch without any investment from governments or businesses.

Survival of the Fittest

We have learned to survive and live with inefficiencies, thanks to our government. The educated Burmese also acknowledge that this is not good in the long run. But what else can we do, except to live with it? To fight the mighty guns pointing at us is an insurmountable task (at least for me).

Back to Nargis

If the government does not care about the victims, and relief experts cannot get to ground zero in time, we will have to do what it takes to survive. Not a good solution, I agree. But what else can we do? What would you do?

This morning, I talked to one of my former students from the seminary (Myanmar Institute of Theology), who lives in Shwe Pyi Thar, a poor suburb north of Rangoon. He is highly educated, graduated from the best seminary in Burma (Myanmar) with a degree in English, and very bright. He said he and his family were fine. But people in his neighborhood in Shwe Pyi Thar were going hungry. He said he was quite depressed, not knowing what to do next. If a bright and educated person like him is depressed, please think of how poor and uneducated families who have nothing to eat and no shelter will have in their minds right now.

The victims cannot wait for MRTV (Myanmar Radio and Television) crews to come in with some government officials handing out nicely packed rice bags or Mama noodle from Thai army.

So please act with your own network as much as you can to mobilize the people in the ground so the relief aids will get to the victims before they die of diseases and hunger or MRTV get there. :)

Weather Forecast from the Burmese official newspaper (Photo taken from Khin Min Zaw's blog)

The above warning on April 29 in the state-owned newspaper said the storm would not be devastating and the wind would be only 40-45 miles per hour.

Mungpi from Mizzima reported:

Though Burma's Meteorology and Hydrology department posted a warning on its official website on April 27, the information was not widely disseminated. The department said that a cyclone was forming in the Bay of Bengal and was heading towards Burma.

State-run media did not issue a cyclone alert until the afternoon of Friday, May 2. The storm first struck the Irrawaddy Delta in late afternoon Friday and swept into Rangoon early Saturday.

Many Rangoon residents said they missed the announcement, broadcast on state-run TV and radio, which usually runs state propaganda.

If Rangoon residents missed the announcement, the worst hit delta residents would not even get wind of it. Here is Mungpi's report again:

"Though my daughters said they knew about the announcement, I was not aware of the cyclone because I am not interested in watching TV, and there was no public announcement in the locality," said a Rangoon resident whose house was smashed by a falling tree.

A leading Thai meteorological expert said the failure to issue a timely warning may have costs thousands of innocent lives.

Dr. Smith Dharmasaroja, chairman of Thailand's National Disaster Warning Centre, said the Burmese government's response was insufficient.

"The government must issue an early warning and send teams to evacuate villagers in the disaster-prone zones as a preparation for the cyclone," Dr. Smith told Mizzima.

Dr. Smith famously predicted that a tsunami would strike Thailand long before the deadly Indian Ocean waves of December 2004, but was widely ignored.

While it is important for the government to issue an announcement, the warnings must be properly disseminated, Dr. Smith said. The authorities must also take precautionary steps, including relocating villagers in the path of the predicted cyclone to higher ground.

The Burmese officials ignored warnings from Indian Meteorology Department and Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) (McCartan, 2008). On a side note, Thai government also ignores Tsunami warning in 2004. (This shows how ASEAN governments do not give planning and decision-making powers to the officials in the field and do not care about the poor and weak).

As of the latest situations, Burmese government is very slow in issuing visas for relief workers (Denby, 2008). They are working at a snail space while people will be left to struggle on their own in the delta areas in Burma.

Holmes [the emergency relief coordinator of the United Nations and under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs] said that during discussions with Burmese officials, the explanation given for the delay in issuing visas was that it was a question that needed to be decided by higher authorities. (Jha, 2008)

I am sure the officials are covering their asses waiting for the decisions from "higher authorities" at the expense of suffering victims who need help right now.

Source:
Denby, K. (2008, May 7). Burma junta drags its feet over visas for aid workers as cyclone victims suffer. The Times Online. Retrieved May 8, 2008 from http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article3887278.ece
Jha, L.K. (2008, May 8). UN Frustrated over Visa, Custom Delays The Irrawaddy. Retrieved May 8, 2008 from http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=11837
McCartan, B. (2008, May 7). Myanmar courts political disaster The Asia Times Online. Retrieved May 8, 2008 from http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/JE08Ae01.html
Mungpi. (2008, May 6). Burma knew of cyclone nearly a week before it hit. The Mizzima. Retrieved May 7, 2008 from http://www.mizzima.com/nargis-impact/18-nargis-impact/445--burma-knew-of-cyclone-nearly-a-week-before-it-hit

The agency [the UN's World Food Program] now has more than 800 metric tons of food stocks in Rangoon, "and will deliver these food resources to all areas in need," it said. The agency also plans to airlift additional supplies into Burma, such as high-energy biscuits, "as soon as possible." (Higgins, 2008)

I think the response is very slow from authorities concerned regarding the dispatch of rescue teams, experts and food supplies to the most affected areas. Nobody seems to know the exact time when the rescue team will be at ground zero. The locals are left to struggle on their own, which is quite a norm in Asian countries. I hope that food and aids will get there to the locals "as soon as possible", to quote the World Food Program Agency.

According to an email from one of the employees from the World Food Program (WFP), the WFP officials have met with the Burmese Deputy Minister of Social Welfare, Relief and Recovery. The government officials mentioned that the needs for affected areas were:

• Shelters (iron sheets, nails, plastic sheets)
• Medicine
• Water purifying tablets
• Drinking water
• Hand saws and chain saws

They have set up a distribution channel from the Yangon (Rangoon) International airport to Pathein (Bassein). A liaising team at the airport will accept the donated materials and deliver them by helicopters from Yangon (Rangoon) to Pathein (Bassein). The social welfare department will then deliver the donated materials to the Pathein (Bassein) communities.

I didn't see any mentioning of how to get to the affected villages yet.

Source:
Higgins, A.G. (2008, May 7). UN Begins Food Distribution in Cyclone-ravaged Burma. The Irrawaddy. Retrieved May 7, 2008 from http://www.irrawaddy.org/highlight.php?art_id=11807

Emma Lazarus (July 22, 1849 - November 19, 1887) was an American poet. She wrote "The New Colossus" in 1883, that is now engraved on a bronze plaque on a wall in the base of the Statue of Liberty.

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Paul Auster wrote that "Bartholdi's gigantic effigy was originally intended as a monument to the principles of international republicanism, but 'The New Colossus' reinvented the statue's purpose, turning Liberty into a welcoming mother, a symbol of hope to the outcasts and downtrodden of the world".

At the Statue of Liberty in New York

Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein, left, and his Thai counterpart Samak Sundaravej. (Photo: AP)

There is something about this picture that made me want to print it here even though I don't have the permission to do so -- my apology to the AP photographer. Please look at the picture again and draw your own conclusion.

Thai PM jokes that neighbor Myanmar's draft constitution offers a '50 percent democracy'

Thailand's prime minister joked Wednesday that neighboring Myanmar is striving to become a "50 percent democracy" because the ruling junta's draft constitution would keep detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from elected office.

"Myanmar's prime minister said they are holding the referendum on the constitution because they want the world community to know that Myanmar is a democracy lover," Samak said on behalf of Thein Sein, who declined to speak to reporters.

It's beyond me why Thein Sein wouldn't speak to the reporters. He basically let the world know that the prime minister of Burma is a useless puppet, who couldn't speak for himself. Thai prime minister had to speak for him. What a shame!

Source:
Thai PM jokes that neighbor Myanmar's draft constitution offers a '50 percent democracy' (2008, April 30). The International Herald Tribune. Retrieved May 1, 2008 from http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/04/30/asia/AS-GEN-Thailand-Myanmar.php