Malka e Shan

(28 July, 2012) Currently in Burma:

The UN has called for independent inquiries on the Rohingya.
Burmese refugees “find new hope and work in the west”, that is, they’re going to be exploited for cheap labour and told to be happy about it.
Burma’s state-run newspaper propagates homecoming of the exiles, but “it did not mention the environmental damages made by the military and its cronies. It says that the devastating disasters worldwide is stemming from over-exploitation of the environment. On the other hand, it fails to spotlight the lessons from the Cyclone Nargis in 2008. Moreover, there is a faction in the government of Burma which still aimed to exploit the Myit-sone dam project on the Irrawaddy River although the people have said no.” They don’t mention the Rohingya either, or how the government has a responsibility to those people because yes, they are Burmese.
But then, we also know that Burma has an irresponsible new media that very rarely speaks out against the atrocities committed against the Rohingya and usually just perpetuates the prejudice.
So although I think it’s awesome that Burmese filmmakers tell stories of a country in transition because it’s important to raise awareness and point out the cruelty of the current regime (from the Burmese perspective, and we don’t need to have people speaking for us), I’m questioning if they’re going to include the voices of people like the Rohingya.
Burma’s monks call for Muslim community to be shunned.
Three Burmese migrants were gunned down in Southern Thailand by two unknown gunmen while “having a chat in front of their living quarters after getting back from working a night shift”. One was wounded and hospitalised, the other two died.
But Thailand-Burma economic relations are strengthening.
And with Singapore and Australia and the US, and Burma seriously is risking falling into the Oligarch Culture.
Burma to privatize declining oil refineries
‎And Burma has abundant resources to fuel electricity, but “74 percent of its 60 million people have no access to electricity”.
Myanmar’s ethnic Kachin fear China may restart dam project
‎And while we’re at it, Burma’s internal conflict isn’t just with the Rohingya. And it’s doing them a disservice to ignore everyone else and focus only on the conflict with the Rohingya. Who, by the way, aren’t all Muslim, even if most of them are.
And people keep oversimplifying the issue or portraying it in such a dehumanizing way. The people deserve better than to be shown at their worst, when they’re dead and burned and mangled up. And kindly stop using images that aren’t real or relevant to the conflict. Or horrible political cartoons.
This is a good article on the Arakan Conflict and the history behind it.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s facing a backlash for not speaking out against the abuses.
Oh, and, Myanmar is converting to the metric system.
That’s all for now. A good suggestion would be to actually read those articles.

Saturday, 28 July, 2012 at 4:08 PM with 11 notes

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