Dear Readers
Please sign petition for the country's most prominent political prisoner,
professor Dr. Salai Tun Than
http://www.petitiononline.com/Burma362/petition.html
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BURMA RELATED NEWS - May 03, 2003.
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HEADLINES
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AFP - Prominent
Asia rights "champion" dies
Channel NewsAsia -
7 foreigners arrested for immigration offences in raid on HDB
flat
Channel NewsAsia -
91% of foreign nurses in hospitals renew contracts despite SARS
threat
StockHouse -
Agreement for Property Acquisition in Myanmar
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Saturday May 3,
11:16 AM
Prominent Asia rights "champion"
dies
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The cause of human rights in Asia has lost
a "champion" activist in Mike Jendrzejczyk, who colleagues left an unfillable
"void" after his death at the age of 53.
Human Rights Watch, his employer
for 13 years, said Friday he died in Washington on Thursday of natural causes
and there were no suspicious circumstances.
Jendrzejczyk, an incessantly
nagging presence in the corridors of power, was Washington director for the Asia
division of the group and campaigned on behalf of countless Asian dissidents and
persecuted peoples.
The State Department, often the target of
Jendrzejczyk's lobbying campaigns, said it learned of his sudden death with
"shock and sorrow."
"Mike was a deeply respected, valued friend and
colleague in many enterprises over the years," said State Department deputy
spokesman Philip Reeker.
"Many of us in the Department frequently reached
out to Mike for his insights and perspectives on human rights conditions around
the world, and for a quiet helping hand in efforts to get many imprisoned
dissidents out of harm's way and resettled in the United States."
"In
everything he did, Mike adhered to his vision, to his ideals, and to his
word.
"He was a person of absolute integrity. He will be very sorely
missed."
Jendrzejczyk's colleagues struggled to comprehend his
loss.
"Mike has left a void that simply cannot be filled -- not only as a
powerful advocate for human rights, but also as a colleague and friend whose
infectious energy and passion for social justice inspired us all," Human Rights
Watch (HRW) said in a statement.
John Ackerly, President of the
International Campaign for Tibet, paid tribute to a man he described as a
"stalwart" of the human rights scene.
"He always took a leadership role
that wasn't overbearing, he always had his eye on the prize.
"A lot of
the battles he took on were big ones, a lot of them weren't ones the human
rights community won, but he didn't shirk from big goals."
Jendrzejczyk
was a renowed expert on many human rights concerns, but was particulary
respected for his knowledge of China, the World Bank, US foreign policy in Asia,
Myanmar, North Korean refugees and Tibet.
To the dissident community in
Asia he was sometimes anonymous as he sheltered behind the HRW banner but proved
an ever present ally, with his pithy summations of human rights violations, the
last of which, on Cambodia, appeared this week.
"Colleagues joked that if
you could harness Mike's energy, it would power a small city," the HRW statement
said of a man known by sight by every US lawmaker or official with a modicum of
sympathy to human rights.
"There's no one in DC who didn't know him, and
no one in military fatigues in Asia who didn't have reason to fear him," said
HRW.
"He was late for every meeting, but only because he was saving the
world on the other line. No email went unanswered, no phone call went
unreturned, and no opportunity to make a difference was ever passed up. He has
changed and saved the lives of so many."
Jendrzejczyk became involved in
human rights as a Vietnam war protestor in the 1970s and as an anti-nuclear
demonstrator in the 1980s. He worked for Amnesty International in the
1980s.
Amnesty paid tribute to its old campaigner after learning of his
death.
"An irreplaceable force for human rights," Amnesty said of its
former employee, whom it termed a "human rights champion."
HRW said
"though most of us are unable still to correctly spell his last name, we simply
could not have gotten through each day without him."
"It is hard to
imagine how we will."
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Saturday May 3, 10:17 PM
7 foreigners arrested for
immigration offences in raid on HDB flat
Channel NewsAsia - Officers from the Immigration
and Checkpoints Authority have arrested seven immigration offenders.
All
are Myanmar nationals who were in an HDB flat in Ang Mo Kio when officers
conducted a raid.
The raid was carried early Friday.
Six of
those arrested had entered Singapore illegally and one is an overstayer.
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Saturday May 3, 8:17 PM
91% of foreign nurses in
hospitals renew contracts despite SARS
threat
Channel
NewsAsia - Despite the SARS outbreak, 9 in 10 foreign nurses
have said yes to continue working here.
Their contracts at the National
Healthcare Group of hospitals were up for renewal recently
At the
frontline of the SARS battle in Tan Tock Seng Hospital, foreign nurses are
fighting shoulder to shoulder with their Singaporean counterparts.
30%
or 400 of Tan Tock Seng's nursing workforce are foreigners, mainly from
Philippines, China, Myanmar and India.
Nursing Director of Tan Tock Seng
Hospital, Kwek Puay Ee said: "They have been a tremendous help to the healthcare
profession especially to nursing. They have helped me fill out many vacancies in
inpatient care area, mainly general wards, ICU (and) our CDC where we run wards,
rehab centre and Operating Theatres . So it has been a significant input from
these foreign nurses."
28-year-old Nenita Cueto renewed her contract
with the National University Hospital last week.
This is despite knowing
she will be deployed to Tan Tock Seng if help is needed.
"I believe
nurses play a vital role in delivering care for sick people. Since I know
Singapore is in need of strong nurses, brave nurses to help in fighting SARS,
that's why I decided to renew my contract," she said.
As for Staff Nurse
Lourdes, it was not an easy choice coming back to Singapore.
When she
went home to the Philippines recently, her family had pleaded for her to stay.
"Actually they don't want me to come back anymore but I explained to
them that it is really part of my job and whatever risk, I have to take it. It
is part of my career. I mean nursing is a devotion to patients," she said.
And to boost the morale of these devoted staff, hospitals have been
springing little surprises on them.
At Alexandra Hospital, the nurses
get goodies like ice-cream, herbal tea and even fruit baskets.
The
hospital is even providing free accommodation for those foreign nurses who were
evicted by their landlords after the SARS outbreak.
National Healthcare
Group manages Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Alexandra Hospital and the National
University Hospital.
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StockHouse
Leeward Capital
Corp.
Agreement for Property Acquisition in
Myanmar
5/2/03
Leeward is pleased to announce that on
April 25 it has initialled an agreement with the Department of Geological Survey
and Mineral Exploration ('DGSE') for the acquisition of a 700 square kilometre
exploration block encompassing the Set Ga Done gold property in the northern
Shan State of Myanmar.
Signing of the final agreement is expected in
early July.
This block is centered around the Set Ga Done gold prospect,
which is a drill-ready gold zone extending for a minimum strike length of 700
metres. Once the formal agreement is completed, the Corporation will begin
planning an exploration drilling program with its 50:50 partner In-Sync
Industries Inc.
Incentive Stock Options granted
Leeward
announces it has granted 1,450,000 incentive stock options to its directors,
officers, and corporate communications consultant, effective April 1, 2003,
under the terms of the Corporation's Stock Option Plan approved by shareholders
effective July 6, 1998. Each option is exercisable for $0.15 per share until
April 1, 2005.
All statements, other than statements of historical fact,
in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve various risks
and uncertainties, including, without limitation, statements regarding the
potential extent of mineralization and reserves, exploration results and future
plans and objectives of Leeward Capital Corp.
These risks and
uncertainties include, but are not restricted to, the amount of geological data
available, the uncertain reliability of drilling results and geophysical and
geological data and the interpretation thereof and the need for adequate
financing for future exploration and development efforts. There can be no
assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate. Actual results and
future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.
These and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements are
based on the estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and
are expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. The Corporation
assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements should circumstances
or management's estimates or opinions change.
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