"...One box bore the name of Lt Gen Myint Swe, a rising star in the government hierarchy, in bold letters that overshadowed a smaller label reading: ‘Aid from the Kingdom of Thailand.’
‘We have already seen regional commanders putting their names on the side of aid shipments from Asia, saying this was gift from them and then distributing it in their region,’ said Mr Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK, which campaigns for human rights and democracy in the country.
‘It is not going to areas where it is most in need,’ he said in London.
The first UN aid convoy for victims of last weekend’s devastating cyclone to arrive by land reached Burma without incident on Saturday from Thailand, the UN refugee agency announced..."
My views are also aligned with Meat Pao.
We share the same outlook on international politics.
Originally posted by Poh Ah Pak:My views are also aligned with Meat Pao.
We share the same outlook on international politics.
im sure la.. if singapore kena natural disaster and PAP refuse help frm other countries im sure u will sing the same tune..
Who wants to sabotage and undermine Singapore through aid?
Myanmar is targeted by USA.
Singapore?
frankly, the junta is made up of people who infest the SC ranting against the MIW right or wrong..
they're the same because no matter what, the same ranters feel that they must inflict their views on everyone whether right or wrong...
only with the junta, they have a lot of guns..
You mean like PAP regime?
Originally posted by Poh Ah Pak:Who wants to sabotage and undermine Singapore through aid?
Myanmar is targeted by USA.
Singapore?
myanmar refused all help.. not only usa..
and if u are going to "look at the circumstances" from the myanmar govt perspective just because they are targeted by the US and that its justifiable for them to refuse help from "enemies" for the ppl, what makes u so different from a PAP which "refuses help" from opposition to help the people?
Wow. The latest news suggest that about 200 000 people have died in the disaster and more will die. But lets have a referendum.
Personally, I do not care because I am a cold, callous individual. What I cannot tolerate (because I am a bit of a snob) is a lack of critical thinking and logical thought. That has been demonstrated in spades.
Unless the govt of burma backs down, I cannot see how this can be resolved.
The west could simply invade sovereign territory and distribute aid but that is very messy from am international relations pov. They could donate helicopters temporairily to a country burma trusts and let taht country run things but then I am not sure if the burmese govt allows any government to help directly.
The only way to compel cooperation will be if concerned countries got together and told Burma that they will be treated as pariahs, and forced relevant countries to freeze the assests of the burmese govt. (A point of interest: one of these relevant countries will definitely be singapore. The Son of one of Burmas richest man is living a lovely life in Singapore and some Burmese general had a nice trip to singapore not long ago. Therefore Singaproe must hold alot of their assets)
As I said, from a humanitarian pov, refusal to accept help to distribute aid is wrong. It is almost akin to genocide. That at least, is clear.
Originally posted by Croningfool:
Originally posted by Poh Ah Pak:Who wants to sabotage and undermine Singapore through aid?
Myanmar is targeted by USA.
Singapore?
If Singapore has 200000 dead, and many more dying, then I will gladly shoot whoever is stopping aid from reaching those who need it on the basis of hanging on to power.
There are just too many twisted people in this forum that supports the Burmese Junta. They forget that while they are sitting at home tapping their keyboards in Singapore, there are real human beings out there dying because the Junta is preventing aid from reaching them.
Originally posted by Shotgun:There are just too many twisted people in this forum that supports the Burmese Junta. They forget that while they are sitting at home tapping their keyboards in Singapore, there are real human beings out there dying because the Junta is preventing aid from reaching them.
Nope, I am not a Singaporean. I am a Thai. I am in Bangkok, Thailand.
TV news here are showing His Majesty King Bhumibol, the Royal Thai Government (although I hate this government), the Royal Thai Army, trade associations, Thai people from all walks of life sending all kinds of help to the Burmese officials. Like India and China, Thailand understands what Myanmar is constrained by in terms of their security. Thailand supports 'constructive engagement' with our neighbours.
Their security?
Care to explain what security threats Myanmar is facing now? I understand its being courted by both India and China... but I don't think they've explicitly threatened the country.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080511/107087914.html
The military rulers want the credit of saving the Myanmar commoners to themselves lor.
Heard they confiscated some humanitarian supplies so they can claim that, they are soley responsible for their humanitarian effort to the Myanmese.
Let's look at the issues that make the Myanmar Generals wary over other outsiders? They are wary that they lose power and lose access to the wealth that they get corruptly. They are wary that they will lose power like Saddam Hussein. They are wary that they will be executed when they lose control. They are wary that an open economy will result the people opening their eyes to their poverty compared to the outside world. They are wary that the people will realise that the outside world do care about them and their generals are greedy selfish people. They are wary that they cannot throw lavish weddings for their daughters.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/myanmar_referendum;_ylt=AjkVtCTVQ2qaevIjfOcvZc_9xg8F
GO ON..! SUPPORT WHAT THE MYANMAR GOVT IS DOING! go ahead! here we have ppl toking so much about lee kuan yew go to hell? end up? "we must understand what the myanmar govt is going thru.." WOW..
Originally posted by johntoil:Let's look at the issues that make the Myanmar Generals wary over other outsiders? They are wary that they lose power and lose access to the wealth that they get corruptly. They are wary that they will lose power like Saddam Hussein. They are wary that they will be executed when they lose control. They are wary that an open economy will result the people opening their eyes to their poverty compared to the outside world. They are wary that the people will realise that the outside world do care about them and their generals are greedy selfish people. They are wary that they cannot throw lavish weddings for their daughters.
u noe whats the amazing thing? replace "Myanmar Generals" with something closer to home.. and u get something real familiar.. and some ppl cannot see that..
If only UN has the power to invade Burma and save the people. If only Bush had invaded Burma instead of Iraq. The world gets angry with the Generals but are powerless against heartless dictators. Sanctions do not hurt the Generals, only the people suffer. They just simply remain sheltered. It's sad.. so sad..
If only Bush had invaded Burma instead of Iraq.
Cannot anyhow invade lah.
More chaos.
Want to invade, USA invade Israel, free palestinians.
if only the Burmese enjoy the same privileges as Singaporeans, they could simply vote the Generals out.. if only the Burmese can vote 'no' like Singaporeans and face no repercussions like jail or torture..
if only they have internet access like Singaporeans, they can let the world know their pain and suffering..
???
Why are people so surprised by this?
We are talking about the same bunch of people who decided to shoot up its own citizens for fun a few months back.
Originally posted by Poh Ah Pak:Cannot anyhow invade lah.
More chaos.
Want to invade, USA invade Israel, free palestinians.
In your fantasies.
There's some research going on now, suspecting the anglo-saxons to be one of the lost tribes of Israel.
Those who want to give directly to the victims get into trouble. They have to give to the government or do it secretly.
They follow international aid trucks everywhere. They don't want others to take credit. That's the Myanmar government
continue to support a regime that don't give a hood about ordinary human lives.
If at the end of the day more people die direct result from failure to provide humanitarian aids to people in needs. The international communities should move this issue to the Hague to put the military Junta on the stand and trial on criminal trial against humanities.
The Juntas are crazy. And I vote for any superpower to invade and remove those selfish bastards.
From Yahoo news : http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080512/ap_on_re_as/myanmar_buddha_s_aid_workers
KYI BUI KHAW, Myanmar - The saffron-robed monks who spearheaded a bloody uprising last fall against Myanmar's military rulers are back on the front lines, this time providing food, shelter and spiritual solace to cyclone victims.
The military regime has moved to curb the Buddhist clerics' efforts, even as it fails to deliver adequate aid itself. Authorities have given some monasteries deadlines to clear out refugees, many of whom have no homes to return to, monks and survivors say.
"There is no aid. We haven't seen anyone from the government," said U Pinyatale, the 45-year-old abbot of the Kyi Bui Kha monastery sharing almost depleted rice stocks and precious rainwater with some 100 homeless villagers huddled within its battered compound.
Similar scenes are being repeated in other areas of the Irrawaddy delta and Yangon, the country's largest city, where monasteries became safe havens after Cyclone Nargis struck May 3 — and the regime did little.
"In the past I used to give donations to the monks. But now it's the other way around. It's the monks helping us," said Aung Khaw, a 38-year-old construction worker who took his wife and young daughter to a monastery in the Yangon suburb of Hlaingtharyar after the roof of his flimsy house was blown away and its bamboo walls collapsed.
One of the monastery's senior monks said he tried to argue with military officials who ordered the more than 100 refugees to leave.
"I don't know where they will go. But that was the order," he said, asking for anonymity for fear of reprisals.
The government has not announced such an order, which appeared to be applied selectively. Other monasteries in Yangon have been told to clear out cyclone victims in coming days, the monk said, but in the delta, refugees were being allowed to remain or told they could come to monasteries for supplies but not shelter.
"They don't want too many people gathering in small towns," said Hla Khay, a delta boat operator. The regime "is concerned about security. With lots of frustrated people together, there may be another uprising."
Larger monasteries were being closely watched by troops and plainclothes security men — "invisible spies" as one monk called them.
Such diversion of manpower at a time when some 1.5 million people are at risk from disease and starvation reflects the regime's fear of a replay of last September, when monks led pro-democracy demonstrations that were brutally suppressed.
Monks were shot, beaten and imprisoned, igniting anger among ordinary citizens in this devoutly Buddhist country. An unknown number remain behind bars, and others have yet to return to their monasteries after fleeing for fear of arrest.
"I think after the September protests, the government is afraid that if people live with the monks in the monasteries, the monks might persuade them to participate in demonstrations again," said a dentist in Yangon, who also asked that his name not be used for fear of reprisals.
Newspapers have been ordered not to publish stories about monks aiding the people, and at least one monastery and one nunnery in Yangon were prohibited from accepting any supplies from relief organizations.
"The government is very controlling," said U Pinyatale, the abbot at the Kyi Bui Kha monastery. "Those who want to give directly to the victims get into trouble. They have to give to the government or do it secretly. (The military) follows international aid trucks everywhere. They don't want others to take credit."
It appears unlikely that foreign aid organizations seeking to enter Myanmar will be allowed to use monks as conduits for relief supplies as many had hoped.
"One of the best networks already in place in the country are the monks," said Gary Walker of PLAN, a British-based international children's group, speaking from Bangkok. "So we'll be exploring ways in which we can see whether the monks can start distributing supplies throughout the country."
At the Kyi Bui Kha monastery, located on the banks of the Pyapon River deep in the delta, U Pinyatale glanced anxiously at the remaining 10 bags of rice.
"At most, we have enough for the week. We will have to find a way to get more food," he said as monks and villagers worked together to try to dry the sodden rice, even as rain clouds gathered above the largely roofless monastery.
In Yangon, monks have been able to go out on their traditional morning rounds to accept food donations from the faithful and then share these with refugees at their monasteries. But in devastated areas of the delta that is not an option.
About 90 of the 120 houses in Kyi Bui Kha have been totally destroyed. Gaps in the monastery's storm-riddled wooden walls revealed a 360-degree view of ravaged rice fields.
U Pinyatale said the sanctuary's two dozen monks and nuns were also trying to offer spiritual comfort to the traumatized villagers.
"We pray with them. We pray for the dead to go to the peaceful land of the dead and for the living to rebuild their lives," he said.
"When the cyclone came, all of us hid in the rice warehouse. I saw one person holding tightly onto a tree but he did not make it," the abbot added. "After the storm, there were dead bodies floating everywhere. Some people get nightmares. Some hear voices at night that their dead children are calling for help. Some haven't spoken since."