Mass. Burma Evening Very Successful

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MASSACHUSETTS BURMA EVENING - A GREAT SUCCESS

July 21 - Over 150 people attended the July 20 "Evening For Burma And 
Aung San Suu Kyi" at the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church 
in Cambridge. The turnout was three times the attendance of a similar 
event last year and was evidence of a growing interest in Burma and 
support for the Burmese democracy movement in Massachusetts.

The evening was sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Service 
Committee, Massachusetts Burma Roundtable, Franklin Research & 
Development Corporation, Stewartship, Cambridge Peace Commission, and 
Citizens for Participation in Political Action (CPPAX). The event 
also featured a table staffed by Amnesty International and food 
provided by Yadanapon, the only Burmese restaurant in Boston.

The evening started with a welcome by Cambridge City Mayor Ken 
Reeves. Clearly delighted by the warm and large turnout, Mayor Reeves 
read a proclamation, which had recently been adopted unanimously by 
the Cambridge City Council, declaring July 20 "Aung San Suu Kyi Day" 
in Cambridge. The attendees then were shown the British Man Alive 
documentary "The Prisoner" which focuses on the life and work of Aung 
San Suu Kyi.

The main speaker was Cambridge City Councillor Kathleen Born. 
Councillor Born expressed her long-held admiration for Aung San Suu 
Kyi and pledged to introduce legislation in Cambridge that would bar 
the City from buying goods or services from companies such as Texaco, 
Unocal and PepsiCo that do business in Burma. The next speaker was 
Anne Bassuk, a Cambridge resident who recently returned from working 
with refugees from Burma in Thailand. Ms. Bassuk urged the attendees 
to write to the new Prime Minister of Thailand to ask him not to 
force the refugees back into Burma. Finally, a Burmese exile told the 
audience of his treatment by the SLORC and urged people to comtinue 
putting pressure on the Burmese military junta.

Before leaving for a candlelight vigil, the audience was urged to 
write to Massachusetts Senators Edward Kennedy and John Kerry to ask 
them to support and co-sponsor Senator Mitch McConnell's tough Burma 
sanctions bill that is scheduled to be introduced on July 27. The 
attendees were also asked to contact their Massachusetts State 
Senator regarding H2833, Massachusetts State Representative Byron 
Rushing's selective purchasing bill that would effectively bar the 
Commonwealth of Massachusetts from buying goods or services from 
companies doing business in Burma.  Finally, in response to an 
appeal, $163 was raised for the Burmese Refugee Care Project, a Bay 
Area organization that provides assistance to Dr. Cynthia Maung's 
clinic for refugees in Thailand.

Simon Billenness
Franklin Research & Development Corp.
(617) 423 6655 x225
(617) 482 6179 fax
frdc@xxxxxxxxxxx