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http://www.petitiononline.com/soe123/petition.html -------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------- HEADLINES -------------------------------------------------------------- Reuters - China to join S.E. Asia at SARS summit in Bangkok Reuters - Myanmar junta doesn't want change, Suu Kyi says BBC News - Burma's Suu Kyi attacks junta The Nation - All 10 leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian VOA News - Opposition Leader Criticizes Burmese Government for Stalling Reforms The Star - Buddhist temple turns 200 this year Asian Tribune - -------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday April 23,
5:59 PM -------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar junta doesn't want change, Suu Kyi says
-------------------------------------------------------------- Burma's Suu Kyi attacks junta -------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation All 10 leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian
Supalak
Ganjanakhundee Published
on Nations (Asean) have confirmed
their participation in the upcoming special meeting on Sars in
The meeting, to be chaired by
current Asean chairman and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, will take place at
the Foreign Ministry on April 29 to lay out collective moves to fight the deadly
disease. Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra, as the host, and Singaporean premier Goh Chok Tong, who initiated
the meeting, together with Hun Sen, will announce the results of the scheduled
twoandahalfhour meeting. Foreign Minister Surakiart
Sathirathai told reporters that the group might agree to extend the talks if the
Chinese leader, whose country is at the epicentre of the flulike illness, agreed
to attend. The group hopes to have a
meeting with
Health ministers of the group
will have a chance to discuss the matter with Chinese officials at a meeting in
-------------------------------------------------------------- VOA News Opposition Leader Criticizes Burmese Government for
Stalling Reforms Nancy -Amelia
Collins Burmese democracy leader Aung
San Suu Kyi has criticized the military government for stalling democratic
reforms. Aung San Suu Kyi says her
party, the National League for Democracy, or NLD, is concerned about the lack of
progress in national reconciliation talks with
Speaking to reporters
Wednesday, the Nobel laureate said if the government is interested in the
welfare of the country, it will pursue talks with her party. Aung San Suu Kyi says the
government has no desire for progress or national reconciliation because it
would mean change, and change would mean democracy. She questioned its sincerity
in its dealing with the NLD. Talks between the opposition
leader and the government, which the United Nations helped start two years ago,
have virtually ground to a halt. The U.N. special envoy to
Aung San Suu Kyi called on the
government to allow Mr. Razali to visit the country again. The NLD won national elections
in 1990 but was never allowed to rule. Its charismatic leader has been under
house arrest off and on since then. The military has ruled
Aung San Suu Kyi said Wednesday the sanctions should remain in place until progress has been made on political reforms. -------------------------------------------------------------- The Star - Buddhist temple turns 200 this year
BY NG SU-ANN
THE
A magnificent bicentenary
commemorative pavilion costing RM60,000 will be built near the temple's main
shrine hall. Poised to be a thing of beauty
and a source of pride for the temple and devotees, the pavilion will have a
multi-tiered roof with niches to install Buddha images and provision to deck the
edges with bells. The
The existing asbestos roofing
of the 36.6m covered walkway and main shrine hall is in a dilapidated condition.
Some of the wooden rafters are also rotting and in dire need for replacement.
Some RM200,000 will be spent
to build a three-tiered roof for the walkway (which connects the entrance to the
hall) and another RM100,000 to replace the hall's roof with cement tiles and to
change the rotting rafters. Upgrading the main entrance
with traditional
A 10-member team of
Sited in the heart of busy
Pulau Tikus, the temple still exudes ethereal charm and serenity albeit the
frequent busloads of visitors thronging the temple during weekends.
Its tranquillity and greenery
are pleasing to the senses especially for those seeking solace from worldly
cares. Feasting the eyes are splendid
exhibits in the temple's garden. Among them are the Arahant Upagutta Shrine in a
fish pond, the 230-year-old well, a Bodhi tree and sculptures of the Burmese
Garuda (mythical bird), Panca-Rupa world protector and Burmese Naga (dragon).
A favourite among the visitors
is the colourful wall mural illustrating the Great Renunciation of Prince
Sid-dhattha. The mural provides a colourful backdrop for the mechanical statue
of a Dewi (Goddess) flanked by nine rotating coin bowls. The bowls symbolise different
types of blessings such as happiness, good health, bon voyage, good luck,
prosperity and success. For example, visitors who manage to throw a coin into
the prosperity bowl are believed to receive that blessing. The gardens are also
beautifully and neatly landscaped ? thanks to the creative ideas of chief
From that humble beginning ?
an attap hut ? which housed the Buddha statue and monk's quarters in 1803, the
temple has undergone many beautification and restoration programmes.
According to the temple's
committee president Yeap Theam Kwee, the only known picture of this attap hut
was painted in 1805 and is currently hanging in the
He said although the temple at
?This is because the birthday
falls on the three-month Vassa period when all monks have to join their
respective retreats,? he explained. However, there will be a soft
opening of the new pavilion on Aug 1 where commemorative souvenirs will be on
sale. A fund-raising drive has
recently started to seek donors to sponsor 19 Buddha images at RM1,500 each or a
bell at RM300 each. The Buddha images and bells will then be installed in the
pavilion. Other fund-raising efforts
include the sale of bicentennial car stickers, charity dinner, food fair and
sponsorship of monks. The bicentennial anniversary
celebration will commence on Dec 28 for five days. Among the activities are an
exhibition of the temple's artefacts and publications, charity dinner, cultural
shows, Buddhist quiz, art competitions, presentation of hampers to welfare home
and special chanting sessions. Donations by cheque should be
addressed to ? -------------------------------------------------------------- Asian Tribune Date :
2003-04-23 By Zin Linn
It's quite an amazing and
unbelievable change of tune presently played by the Burmese generals. The
military junta or State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) released a
statement on 15 April and stating that it had complete trust in pro-democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi's pursuit of development of the country, and was
encouraging her to travel throughout the country. The junta?s statement came as
it sought to downplay reports that the Nobel peace laureate had been harassed
during her recent political trip to the Chin state by the army-backed Union
Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), an anti-democratic organization
created by the junta in 1993. "The government has complete
trust in Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's commitment to ensuring the smooth and stable
development of the nation," the junta said in the statement faxed to Reuters?s
news agency. "It is only by working together and discussing problems in a
constructive way, that the people of
The statement declined
allegations security personnel had harassed Daw Aung San Suu Kyi during her
travels outside The junta's statement also
said it has been encouraging Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who heads the National League
for Democracy (NLD), to travel widely within the country "so that she may talk
with people and familiarize herself with the reality of conditions throughout
the country." As a clear indication of
breaking the country's political deadlock, it is said that the junta has entered
into some form of a reconciliation talks with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi .
Unfortunately, there has been no significant progress since the so-call talks
began on It seems that the Senior
General Gen Than Shwe, the man who call the shots for and behalf of the junta,
has no intention of starting concrete political dialogue with the opposition
leader. Military sources close to the Senior General say that he has developed a
strong dislike to the Nobel laureate, and even not allow to mention her name in
his presence. That caused most of the people to be despondent regarding the
subject of the political dialogue. According to some analysts, there has been a
growing rift between the Senior General and other key members of the military
regime. Meanwhile, Mr. Paulo Sergio
Pinheiro, Special Rapporteur on human rights in
Recently, the Bureau of East
Asian and Pacific Affairs, U.S. Department of State has also released a report -
'' Conditions in Burma and U.S. Policy Toward Burma for the Period March 28,
2002 - September 27, 2002 ''- and a clause in the report adds, '' Despite the
steps the government has taken to rebuild confidence with the NLD, it has not
yet responded to the NLD's calls for a serious dialogue on constitutional
issues, nor has it sketched out a roadmap for reform or a timetable for
elections. As a result, doubts remain regarding the government's commitment to
dialogue ''. On April 14 ,in
The ministers also decided to
extend the list of people subject to a visa black list and freezing of assets.
?The Council of European Union
foreign ministers can find no credible reason to account for the failure of
political will on behalf of the Burmese authorities to agree to a definite time
table for the return democracy,? the Council of ministers said and the ministers
also agreed to strengthen the arms embargo, on or before October 29, unless it
is decided otherwise at a later date. As such, an international
political climate towards the junta became gloomy, and the April 15 SPDC?s
statement - titled ''Government of Myanmar Continued to Encourage Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi's Travels''- a surprising anecdote. One paragraph of the SPDC's
statement pointed out,'' The Government welcomes constructive advice from all
citizens of
Although the ruling junta has
said that it wishes to resolve the country's issues through constructive
consultation, National League for Democracy (NLD) Spokesperson U Lwin told in an
interview that nothing out of the ordinary has happened so far. U Lwin said that
despite the importance of such a development, neither the NLD nor Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi has received any word about it and that he had to ask some news agencies
for a copy of the SPDC?s so called press statement to read about
it. But later, it was learnt that
the statement was faxed only to the Reuters News Agency in
Consequentially, on April 21,
according to Reuter?s news from "I am concerned that I have
not gone back there for more than five and a half months," Razali told Reuters
in an interview. "It's going to the point where it's negative. The international
community must draw its own conclusions," he said. However, the military always
insists it is committed to bring democracy to the nation, but says that moving
too fast would risk the disintegration of the multi-ethnic country. That's why
diplomats and analysts often say sanctions on
In conclusion, every Burmese
citizen is convinced that the SPDC will never consider to come straight to the
point in accordance with the 1990 general election result or the United Nations'
resolution. Using various dilly-dallying tactics, the generals are dreaming to
nullify the democratic inspiration of the Burmese people. One editor from
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