"We are not so different, you and I"

I received an email from a customer from Australia, Russell, who pointed me to AVAAZ.ORG (did I mention how I love Bloom for putting me in touch with like-minded individuals I would otherwise have never known?). AVAAZ.ORG is an online global people's movement campaigning for the world's most pressing issues, such as global warming and peace in the Middle East. I signed up to this one on Tibet:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/tibet_end_the_violence/98.php/?cl_tf_sign=1

"Petition to Chinese President Hu Jintao:

As citizens around the world, we call on you to show restraint and respect for human rights in your response to the protests in Tibet, and to address the concerns of all Tibetans by opening meaningful dialogue with the Dalai Lama. Only dialogue and reform will bring lasting stability. China's brightest future, and its most positive relationship with the world, lies in harmonious development, dialogue and respect."

AVAAZ needs 2 million signatures by 31st March. To date, 1,270,622 have signed - 1 million target reached in just 7 days! Petition delivery in 4 days, so please if you are reading this - join the global voice for peace.

Although I am ethnic--though not wholly--Chinese (I am third-generation Chinese Singaporean, but also have Thai blood on my mom's side), I despise many of the things the Chinese government is doing, not just in Tibet, but also in Sudan and it's enough for me to boycott the Olympics and to call on friends to do the same. It should be said, though, that what the Chinese are doing in terms of promoting national self-interest is no different or morally more repugnant than what the US does for its self interest, in Nicaragua, Chile and numerous other countries (for further reading, you may want to read Noam Chomsky or John Pilger, two of my heroes). Or indeed, what Singapore does. Among the things done in the name of national self-interest, Singapore sells arms to Burma and was crucial in the military's early days of consolidating and building power.

Here is an except from a 1998 report in Jane's Intelligence Review.

"The SLORC ("State Law and Order Restoration Council", or the name adopted in 1997 by Burma's military junta), faced with the country's economic collapse and fearful of a link-up between ethnic insurgents in the countryside and urban-based dissidents, was desperate to restock its depleted armouries. China and Thailand were quick to step in with offers of support, but the first country to come to the regime's rescue was in fact Singapore.

Traces of a relationship

Details are hard to come by but, according to one regional journal, in October 1988 hundreds of boxes marked 'Allied Ordnance, Singapore' were unloaded from two vessels of Burma's Five Star Shipping Line in Rangoon's port. These shipments reportedly included mortars, ammunition and raw materials for Burma's arms factories. The consignment also contained 84 mm rockets for the Burmese army's Carl Gustav recoilless guns, which were made by Chartered Industries of Singapore under licence from Forenade Fabriksverken in Sweden. The shipment thus violated an agreement under which the original export licence had been negotiated, requiring that any re-exports only be made with the permission of the Swedish Government. No
such clearance was granted.

In August 1989 Singapore was again accused of providing arms to the SLORC when weapons and ammunition originating in Belgium and Israel were trans-shipped to Burma, apparently with the assistance of SKS Marketing, a newly formed Singapore-based joint venture with the Burmese military regime. There have been reports that these latter shipments included second-hand 40 mm RPG-2 grenade launchers and 57 mm anti-tank guns of Eastern Bloc origin. One well-informed Burma -watcher has suggested that this equipment may have come from Palestinian stocks captured in southern Lebanon by Israel in 1982 and re-sold to Burma.

It is highly unlikely that any of these arms shipments to Burma could have been made without the knowledge and support of the Singapore Government."

http://www.burmalibrary.org/reg.burma/archives/199803/msg00280.html


This 1998 article also reported "Singapore is now Burma's largest foreign investor, with over US$1 billion committed to nearly 50 different projects (mainly in hotels, property development and tourism)". For all its support, "Singapore [is] in a category reserved for Burma's special friends, a category currently shared only by the Burmese junta's main financial backer and strategic ally: China."

I am reminded of Dr Evil saying to Austin Powers, "We are not so different, you and I". Yes, but two wrongs don't make a right. Regardless of what country you are from and what your government has done, we still can, as individuals, make our opinions heard. If you had watched this week's HardTalk where Stephen Sackur talks to China's most censored writer, Liao Yiwu, you may have heard how he was locked in solitary confinement for 23 days, with his hands cuffed behind his back all through those 23 days. Liao has been arrested numerous times and imprisoned. The first time was in March 1990 while working on a movie about the government´s persecution of persons involved in the June 4th (Tiananmen) Movement. He tried to commit suicide twice.

In the show he talks about freedom to write and publish being taken for granted in the West but in China it is like opening a door, a little at a time. It was a very depressing half-hour for me, to see this human being, 50 years old, so beaten down, despite his claims that he is now in a "healthy" place and is a "healthy" person. But for me, Liao had an important message: I am among the privileged in this world who have the ability to write and publish. I should not waste this opportunity, so denied to people more talented and brave and deserving than me.

Peaceful vigil for Burmese people

Yesterday, I stood outside the Burmese embassy here in Phnom Penh, with about 40 other people. I had just returned from Siem Reap and read about the week-long event in an email (no such demo in Siem Reap where people are too busy trying to fleece tourists). Most of us wore red (red supposedly symbolises the bloodshed) in a show of solidarity. As far as I know, there was only one Burmese man among us, a teacher here in Phnom Penh. I asked about Khmer monks--where are they? why aren't they supporting their brothers-in-monkhood? One Khmer man told me the monks are under pressure from authorities to behave, although a few did come on the first day of the vigil (Saturday) to chant for peace outside the embassy.

Most of the people there were from international NGOs, and were mostly Khmer. A few held up pictures of Aung San Suu Kyi. I have to say that I found it all of little practical use. I really don't think the group of us made a difference at all. I think what would have made the difference is the numbers. If there were hundreds of us in red, it would make for a good picture, which would get published, which would then bring more, sustained, attention to the issue. As things stood (pun intended), it seemed like a party for most people; a chance to meet up and chitchat with like-minded friends. Still, for all it's impact or lack of, I went because I felt it was the least I could do. I cannot pretend the brutality does not exist and get on with my life. I am reminded of a Singaporean woman who told me, when I brought up the Rwanda genocide at a party back then in 1994, "You should get a job. Then you will stop worrying about these things." I assume she meant stop worrying about impractical things, things that you have no control over. (She was a consultant for the Boston Consulting Group--there's a surprise.)

Anyway, so that is why I turned up. I wanted to do something, anything, just to be involved. For all the good it did. Oh well, maybe I'll take a photo and post it online and hope the Burmese people will see that other people do care about them and are rooting for them. It really is the very least we all can do.


Details are Sketchy

On another note, a friend of mine pointed me to this interesting blog where I got a mention for sharing my troubles with the local police (I think we all need to expose their tricks and stand up to them!)

http://detailsaresketchy.wordpress.com/2007/09/18/cambodia-open-for-business/

I'm not sure who is behind this blog, but it's a really good wrap of Cambodian news. I found this story on the USD250 bounty on three gangster monkeys hilarious:

http://detailsaresketchy.wordpress.com/2007/09/29/monkey-terrorists/

USD250! In a country where the government officials earn around USD40 a month! Let's just say I'm surprised no one's caught the little terrors yet.