June 2007 Archives
The refugees, many of whom were sick children and women, travelled on Wednesday in two boats along the Salween river, which forms the border between the two southeast Asian nations, but Thai border officials denied them entry.
"Police security watching Su Su Nway were removed today and she was told that she was not under detention. She is still taking treatment at the hospital according to the doctor's advice," Myint Thein said.
I'm really into photography. Or rather, I'm into visual arts. Images move me. I like to create little stories in my head about the things and people in the images. I don't pretend to know anything about it, never having taken a class or owned a proper SLR camera but I guess that's why I love Flickr. I get to see what real photographers can do.
This photographer caught my eyes and managed to WOW me with every single photograph. Visit her flickr site for a visual feast. Bárbara Piuma - Keep it simple.'s photos
Guy in the sky - Bournemouth, England
I was thinking the other day about how the Chinese have standardized writing. I mean, China is made of several ethnic groups with different languages and writing systems but the emperor who put up the Great Wall (Qin Shi Huangdi) also standardized Chinese writing; meaning that the people in Yunnan can communicate with the people in Guangzhou.
I thought it might be kind of nice, if we had something similar in Burma. No, I don't mean an emperor who is vicious and kill everyone who disagreed with him (we already have the military government who does that) but a system that will unify all the different ethnic groups in Burma and make the communication between different ethnic cultures fluid. I don't think that we can actually unify writing now as the different ethnic groups probably are used to writing their own languages but I have other ideas.
Imagine, if we introduced a system in school where each child is taught not only Burmese and English, but also allowed to choose 1 other ethnic language to study. This could be made mandatory for students till, perhaps the 8th standard - after which they can choose to continue to study the language or not, depending on their course load.
This way, I believe the ethnic Burmese will learn about the other cultures and the other ethnicities (for example, Shan, Kachin) can learn about other ethnicities. I even envision exchange programs that the schools in each state can hold - perhaps for 1 month, or a semester, or half a year where the students can choose to study in another state, immersing in their ways of life.
Hopefully because of such cultural immersion, understanding and respect for each other cultures, religions and ways of lives will be understood and even loved.
I mean, let's face it, the ruling military junta's way of ruling isn't very good or nice. All they want to do is make everyone the same, unthinking robotic followers of the regime. It's time to change their bigoted ways.
In an ideal Burma - we would have running electricity (24 hours a day! imagine! without independent generators!), running water, a good waste disposal system, health care, and unified cultures proud to be part of a country that encourages freedom of thought, respect, freedom of religion, equality for all, and more.
Also in the schools that I speak of, will encourage learning in a way that does not only involve memorizing everything without understanding, but will foster intellectual dialogs and discussions between teachers and students and parents even as they should be more involved (not only to buy test scores for the children) but to encourage them to take part in extracurricular activities such as sports (I hated physical education but it is good for you, man), arts (very much lacking while I was growing up and stared of), and music.
The schools will have teachers who are well paid and who actually teach in school, instead of making their students attend their tuition classes to learn anything. The science classes will have labs where the students can learn what an explosion feels like, what biology is like, what physics mean. The children will be taught sex education at an appropriate age (I know sex is still taboo in Burma but can you honestly tell me the 15 and 16 year olds in Burma right now aren't thinking about it or doing it? Keeping sex safe needs to be taught.)
The schools will also not be closed as and when the government feels like it. The children will not be told that politics is "none of their business" (something repeatedly hammered into my brain in 1990 when the schools reopened after 1 year) as students are the future, people! The students should discuss what is going on in the country politically, economically and socially, without any fears that they or their families will be tortured, bankrupted or killed.
And soldiers and tanks will not be allowed to be on the school campuses. Thank you for listening - let's all keep envisioning a better future - for Burma and the world and work towards it.
