Myanmar tourism!

Internet and Myanmar

In 2001 we did not have internet in Myanmar. Whenever I travelled outside Myanmar I envied the kids of my neighboring countries enjoying internet in their own languages.

" I will ask for internet in my country," I said.

" No way , your government will not give you internet," one of my expat friend told me.

" Why not, we need it for business and education , I think the world does not know how much we are deprived, " I said.

At a small business symposia in Yangon, I put up a presentation about the need and usage of internet for business and sent the whole presentation to Myanmar Times which they wrote an article in their publication. " Business community of Myanmar asks for internet ," was the title.

I left Yangon for a long holiday vowing that I would not stay in my country if there was no internet and no access to the world.

When I came back from my six months holiday I was pleasantly surprised to see Bagan Cybertech and internet services available. 

There were internet cafes sprung up later but we found that the kids were doing games instead of learning anything on internet. They are still weak in English and all the sites are in English. I always wanted to write educational articles in Burmese but I am weak in Burmese typing. Now I can use burmese fonts to type in Burmese and I am still practicing it.

I am surprised to see many Myanmar bloggers on the internet today and there is a community now enjoyed by Burmese all over the world and all of us can feel connected to our main land.

I am sad to see that there are now censorships and slow connections because of political blogs and the events that happened lately. May be we are not ready for the open society, I do not know.

There are also Myanmar women and model girls promotional videos and pictures , even a phuket tourism site advertising them and some Burmese in California are promoting them. 

It is all up to the user whether they want to use it for educational , business , politics or they use it for gambling , pleasure or for instigating riots and instability ,wasting our precious privilege to use internet.

I have done my duty to demand but I cannot be responsible for the results.

Internet is booming in China as well but they have hopes and they have employments.

They even are patriotic and nationalistic about their Tibet affairs and Olympics.

Is it the difference between us and China?

Fed up with Myanmar!

I remember after visiting Myanmar Mr Lee Hsien Loong from Singapore went back quite fed up with the regime.

He is from different generation of Singapore.

Our military leaders are from ancient generation even more ancient than Mr Lee Kwan Yew his father.

Today it looks like they are communicating better with the new PM of Thailand.

Finally Myanmar finds a friend in ASEAN!

Congratulations!

I'm an eremite, why don't you leave me alone?

I'm an eremite, why don't you leave me alone?, originally uploaded by CVDias.

I'm an eremite, why don't you leave me alone?

Shwedagon Pagoda's eremite - Yangoon - Myanmar (Burma)

Uploaded by CVDias on 15 Mar 08, 8.53AM PDT.

Hunting season...

တိုုးရစ္တေယာက္ ပုုဂံမွာ ရိုုက္ထားတဲ့ဓါတ္ပုုံပါ..

တိရာစၦာန္ရုုံမွာ ေမ်ာက္ေတြသန္းရွာတာျမင္ဘူးသလား

ဗမာေတြလဲ ေတာ္ေတာ္ ေမ်ာက္နဲ ့တူတယ္ေနာ္။

၇ွမ္းျပည္တိုု ့မြန္ျပည္တိုု ့က အမိ်ဳးသမီးေတြက ပိုုသန္ ့ရွင္းတာေတြ ့ရတယ္။

မိန္းမေတြ ေခါင္းမွာ သန္း၇ွိတာ

ခေလးေတြ ေျခေထာက္မွာ ဝဲေတြေပါက္တာ ေတာ္ေတာ္ေတြ ့ရတယ္

ေယာကၤ်ားေတြက ေပြးေတြ ဒက္ေတြေပါက္တယ္။ ဘုုန္းႀကီးေတြ ပိုုဆိုုးတယ္။

သကၤန္းေတြရုုံရတာရယ္။ စုုေပါင္းေနရတာရယ္ေၾကာင့္ပါ။

ဒီလူေတြကိုု ဒီမိုုကေရစီထက္ ပညာေရးစီးပြားေရး က်န္းမာေရး အဆင္ေျပဘိုု ့

ရပ္ရြာ သန္ ့၇ွင္းေရး အက္တစ္ဗစ္ဇင္.. တကိုုယ္ရည္သန္ ့ရွင္းေရးအက္တစ္ဗစ္ဇင္

လုုပ္ၾကဘိုု ့အေရးႀကီးေနပါတယ္ ေရာင္းရင္းတိုု ့။

Hunting season..., originally uploaded by CVDias.

Hunting season...

street market - Bagan - Myanmar - Burma

Uploaded by CVDias on 16 Mar 08, 8.57AM PDT.

Real Hero

Hero for peace

Hero for anti narcotics

He worked hard and negotiate

with drug lords and insurgents to come clean

He deserves an award internationally!

burmese military intelligence, originally uploaded by tap tap tap.

burmese military intelligence

Col. Kyaw Thein, front, negotiated virtually all of the cease-fire agreeements reached between Yangon and fifteen insurgent groups in Myanmar in the 1980's and 1990's. Well-regarded by the international community, he was also a top official in the anti-narcotics effort. Position unknown since the October 2004 downfall of Prime Minister Khin Nyunt, with whom he was associated. Photo taken in Shan State, on the Burma-China border, 1998

Uploaded by tap tap tap on 16 May 05, 2.02PM PDT.

Valentines Day in Burma

Before we did not celebrate Valentines day in Burma. Nowadays teenagers love to celebrate it and there is a market for valentine gifts and cards.

An international NGO in Yangon, promoting condoms to fight against AIDS made a Valentine card with a condom inside and with a message which said, " Be my valentine!".

So gross!!!!! , me and my husband said at the sight of that valentine card. 

I do not think these NGOs know our culture.

Oh Yeah! Like Thyda comment here, things have changed, kids have more freedom than before. Still we cannot openly encourage it in the traditionally conservative society!

Union Day

The Union of Myanmar ( Burma ) with major ethic races, Shan Myanmar Kachin, Karen, Chin, Mon , Yakhine shall live and prosper together as a big family. There has been no discrimination to them in our country and it will always stay the same.

We do not discriminate like the ugly history in the WEST.

WE shall be together as brothers and sisters and shall not listen to the westerners who like to see us fall apart.

UNITY For ALL

Market

Market
Originally uploaded by cjp4610

Tiger Prawn a favorite for all. 

I miss tiger prawn. The prawns are fresh if they look like this color, green.  They are always expensive.

I can buy frozen shrimp in US now imported from Thailand but I believe they are from our waters.

Ancient Temples in Burma

The ancient pagodas seen naturally. The locals just need to clean the path and weed the overgrowth. It is important to keep the ruins as it is to keep the romance of it for tourism. 

To answer Thyda's Q, this is not in Pagan. Bagan the most famous land of pagoda in this world got too much attention by the generals unfortunately.  Khin Nyunt and Khin Shwe started raising the funds for repairing of bagan temples and they paid 3 Lks per pagoda to repair the broken tips of all the pagodas. The foreigners were broken heart to see the new red brick tips of the ancient pagodas.  

U Than Shwe in every summer went to DSA graduation in Maymyo and stopped at Mandalay and Bagan. He did ceremonies of putting umbrella on top of pagodas like old Kings did thinking he has absolute power like a King and his grandson is the reincarnation of Anawratha. They got too much carried away. 

Tay Za built a looking tower to make money out of world tourist in competition of a ballon over Bagan company.  Bagan suddenly became like a mini disney land. It is still not so much over populated with tourists yet.

The government  cleaned up the historical site, moving the squatters and small businesses out of the site and set them up at a new place.

 

Ancient Temples in Burma
Originally uploaded by mandalaybus

Hand Built Roads.

Hand Built Roads.
Originally uploaded by Robin Thom

This is the usual sight you see on Burmese highways as soon as you get out of the city to the North.

Always made me wonder what a slow and ancient way to repair roads.

Why can't they afford to use the modern machineries in building and repairing roads in Burma.

We are that poor and backward.

Nets with Bamboo Floats.

Nets with Bamboo Floats.
Originally uploaded by Robin Thom

Shan tribes in Northern Myanmar

Marchande avec son bébé emmailloté (Myanmar)
Originally uploaded by roger.blum

Poor but contented peaceful simple innocent.

Ignorant yet cultured with Buddhism.

These are the people you should develop, serve, provide health care, education and infrastructure.

The Yangonites today, the spoilt brats of the rich generals and merchants, the sleazy Chinese and Indian traders do not care about these people.

They are looking outside and to the West, aspiring to become Hollywood rappers and millionaires. They look down upon their own people who are real jewels of the culture.

Arriving to the West the refugees look like little displaced rats , loosing their culture hoping to become Westerners. They are smiled at artificially but are looked down as savages who do not know the civic rules of the world.

pagoda

DSCN0586
Originally uploaded by ovuigner

This pagoda built on a rock is famous for a hiking trip for pilgrims to reach the top of a mountain.
It is in Karen state a day trip from Yangon.

It is always a challenge to visit this pagoda which you have to reach after a long full day hike if you start from the base.

It is better to start in the evening and spend the night in the middle and started early the next day.

Today the military has made a road up to the top and you can drive your car to the top if you  have a VIP pass.

Or you have to hike the top part of the hill to reach. It is steep near to the top so it is not an easy hike either.

Urgency!

Request to SPDC

reconciliation with urgency

things not like before

cannot prolong your lies like Khin Nyunt

People are fed up of military regime

they have seen enough of business

where soldiers and Chinese

take away their lands

people who are not Buddhists

people who will not support sarsanar ( religion )

Mandalay is now a Chinese city

Burmese men and women

in brothels or laborers in Thailand and Malaysia

pensioners cannot retire peacefully

soldiers remain slaves for you forever

only your sons prosper

only Chinese prosper

you spend your cash in Singapore and Bangkok

instead of helping poor at home

whats the point?

try your best to show your real cetanar

love to your people

reconciliation as soon as possible

to appease the people and international

your seat is getting too hot to sit

your kingdom has trembled

about to tumble

be careful and leave before its too late

Our cause!

McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) address the people of Myanmar

Capitol Hill Broadcasting

blah blah blah you live so far

tell China and India

1988 - 2007 ----19 years wasted - 5 terms of election and practice of democracy

Congratulations for Myanmar and UN

After reading the New Light of Myanmar news, there is hope for future of Myanmar.

Remember that Myanmar officials work for SPDC-- their head of state who is SG Than Shwe.

Gambari works for UN whose major donor is --US, president is Mr.Bush.

All officials are working hard,

looking for solutions

whilst they are getting attention from the West and East part of the world,

acting diplomatic to bring these heads together.

This is a big major step for the country that they are expressing their points.

Congratulations for both sides.

UN and the world clearly understand our situation and all are on the same page.

We all step together from today, one step a day

Better than before when we were forgotten and left with the opportunists for 15 years

bring our beloved country and a nation to a proper way to greet the world.

Poverty is not we Burmese are afraid of ,

we only need two meals a day to survive,

we have Buddhist monastic system for sharing

People are not totally neglected

people take care of their neighbors

Ignorance and unfairness is what this blog is fighting for !

Prepare for future and protect our rights on our own land.

Burmese shall never give up their land to foreigners.

Stay home and take part in developments of their nation

do not look west nor east

stay home and try your best to survive

Help each other

stay united as ever

persuasion rather then by force

Quotes from this link :Asoka the Buddhist King

The use of military force by the state was renouncedby Aśoka after he become a Buddhist, and there have been many Buddhist emperors since his time who have tried to govern by persuasion rather then by force.

Buddhist Attitudes Towards Non-Buddhists.

Tolerance has been an outstanding moral characteristic of Buddhism from earliest times. Buddhism has attempted to arrive at the truth, not by excluding its opposites as falsehood, but by including them as another form of the same truth.

Buddhists are generally noted for their liberal attitude toward other religions,whether polytheistic, monotheistic, or atheistic.

Lessons to learn and Autopsy of events

Myanmar people who want changes in the government will resort to terrorism if there is no peaceful dialogue.

They want freedom and equality.

They do not want the old socialist days style party controlled and participated by people who nod their heads without any opposition when they came to Rangoon for their meetings.

Recent events had made the military so ugly and inhumane and it is a victory for its enemies.

They are just waiting for the spark patiently and gas price height had been their spark and the beating of the monks by the authorities had made the event more serious.

Damage is done and nothing much left for the regime to do except for reconciliation. I pray that will be done soon to avoid more pain and sacrifice of people.



Quotes from this link paper about terrorism in Philippines:

One strategic advantage of terrorists is that they operate in the underground and attack with surprise

Typically, terrorists perceive themselves as being an elite or and avant-garde fighting for the liberation etc. of the people or a section of the people. It is typical that they haven’t a democratic mandate in any form. They do what they do in a consciousness of moral supremacy. They need this perception of moral supremacy (and superiority) in order to justify the immorality of their terrorist deeds. The terrorist strategy is basically an indirect strategy. Terrorists don’t reach or promote their objectives by their primary attacks, but much more through the responses and reactions of their foes. The strategy of the terrorist is to provoke a reaction by the opponent which will also affect innocent civilians and – in consequence – lead to estrangement and loss of legitimacy. The tougher and more brutal the reaction of the state, the more successful the terrorist strategy may be called. In this strategy of provoking a reaction by a well planned action, the media play a central role. There are those who argue that terrorism is basically a communications strategy. While that may be too one sided, I believe that terrorism as we know it today, would be inconceivable without the power of the global media, and particularly the global television networks.

3. Variants of terrorism National (or internal) terrorism may be defined as politically motivated violence by terrorists inside the confines of one state, where victims and perpetrators have the same nationality. This is the common variant of terrorism if we consider the context of various anti-colonial struggles and separatist movements.

4. Strategies for Confronting Terrorism

five D's

Dissuade disaffected groups from choosing terrorism to achieve their goals

Deny terrorists the means to carry out their attacks

Deter states from supporting terrorists

Develop state capacity to prevent terrorism

Defend human rights in the struggle against terrorism

From a liberal view point, we should never sacrifice or infringe on human rights, for if we do that, we would hand victory to the terrorists and the enemies of freedom. Add to this the drama of what may easily be perceived as an escalating “clash of civilizations”, and you get a situation in which also individuals with a college education get involved in terrorist activities.

Myanmar News!

My way
Myanmar's military has brushed off international punishment for its crackdown on anti-government protests last month, vowing to "march on" as Japan cut aid and European nations widened sanctions.

UN and ASEAN
Analysts believe only Myanmar's closest allies and trading partners -- such as China, India and Thailand -- have any chance of convincing its reclusive generals to change course.

Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont proposed to Gambari that the United Nations organise multi-party talks modelled on the North Korean nuclear disarmament process to defuse the crisis in Myanmar.

ASEAN chief Ong Keng Yong said in Singapore that the best outcome would be to thrash out a consensus between the military and Aung San Suu Kyi, using the example of Iraq to warn against the dire consequences of sudden regime change.

Reformist general from Indonesia

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has sent Lt. Gen. (ret) Agus Widjojo, known for his role in reforming the Indonesian Military, to Yangon to represent him at the funeral of Myanmar's Prime Minister Soe Win.

No aid for your people for killing our Japanese journalist.
Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said Japan was cancelling aid of up to 552 million yen (4.7 million dollars), equivalent to around 18 percent of the total grants and technical assistance Tokyo gave Myanmar last year.
"The Japanese government needs to show our stance. We cannot take action that would effectively support the military regime at this moment," Komura told reporters.

No shopping trips for your wives and college for your kids
LUXEMBOURG, Oct 15 (Reuters) - EU foreign ministers agreed on Monday to strengthen sanctions against Myanmar's military rulers in response to a crackdown on protests last month and warned they could go further and ban all new investment.The ministers agreed to broaden sanctions that include visa bans and asset freezes on generals, government officials and their relatives, and to take new steps targeting the country's key timber, metals and gemstone sectors.

US says more sanctions:

"But sanctions don't mean anything if we're the only sanctioner," he said.