Yes Ralph, freedom and a potential democratic way of life, a plurality of ways of being Thai aside from loyalty and love for MNR, are at stake in the LM issue.
I highly recommend readers to check out Thai scholar Dave Streckfuss’s work “Truth on Trial” (Routledge) which focuses on defamation and lese majeste and how they are used by the Thai ‘exceptional state’ wherein anything goes in the name of national insecurity.
In fact, while I agree with much of Pavin’s analysis, it seems to me that the nature of journalism has changed. Yes, the long-termers have to bite their lips, but almost all of them know that an important corner has been turned. So while they all routinely refer to “the highly revered” etc., they also report political change. More importantly, there is a new breed of journalists who are prepared to write more directly about politics and the monarchy. These journalists do not necessarily want to stay in Thailand; they use that to their advantage. And, there are now web sites that are prepared to state the facts more clearly. So, yes, there is increased pressure, but the genie is already out of the bottle. It is now up to the monarchy and regime to change in ways that recognize this. In other words, the pressure is not just on the journos.
Plenty of FCCT journalists have been filing “bland, self-censored reports” for quite a while. Arguabaly significant parts of the Bangkok press corps have failed outright to do their jobs. Half of them have only just realised there’s more to Thailand than just their dumb hiso pals, QBar and Sukhumvit Road.
Why no mention at all of ex-journalist, Da Torpedo, who is serving 18years, in terrible conditions? Yes this article is ostensibly about foreign media but you could mention that almost the entire foreign media corps in Bangkok has been collectively and pathetically silent on Da Torpedo’s case – I guess they have their nice lifestyles to protect.
Why no mention of the fact that to get released from an LM prison sentence the victim has to grovel before a representative of the king?
Why no mention of the fact that the PAD-friendly Amnesty International representative, Ben Zawacki, is actually on the record as saying “we can see why” concerning LM charges? AI have done NOTHING to protect anyone charged with LM. This is a disgrace to the 100os of people who worked so hard with AI over the years championing HR causes.
Why no mention of Akbar Khan, the British citizen closely involved in bringing charges against the FCCT?
Infowars – yep, that’s a reputable site. I often frequent it to hear about the brain eating vaccines scientists want to put into our water supply and the “globalist conspiracy” Thaksin S. is involved in along with the secretive Bilderberg club. No doubt they initiated Thaksin so he could show them some dark Khmer magic which would further them in their quest for our minds!
Shame on Andrew Walker for posing as an academic and researcher, trying to fool our kids into his Marxist nonsense. It’s all a front for the Bilderberg guys.
The choice to have a trial or not should come from the victim familes–which means that outsiders like us should probably stay out of this affair altogether. It doesn’t matter if you and I wrote a book, ran a province, or hosted and dined with the diplomatic elite, it doesn’t give us the “right” to tell Cambodians how they should or should not run their affairs. If the victims want a trial, let them have it! What about their voice? Should we just defer human and minority rights to Hun Sen and his crony capitalists? Let them be the final arbiter of the KR atrocities? Who are we to speak for the whole of the Cambodian people, especially since we are not even from there? And it wasn’t just the West who kept the KR alive and running it was your own allies and neighbors in ASEAN for goodness sake, ” Singapore’s former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew said in his memoirs that as much as US$1.3 billion was spent by China, the US, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand in support of the Khmer Rouge and other Cambodian rebels fighting the Vietnamese and allied government forces. American, Singaporean, Malaysian and Thai officials held regular meetings in Bangkok to coordinate the Cambodian aid program, Lee wrote in From Third World to First: The Singapore Story 1965-2000. He said the Singapore representative “estimated that the United States dispensed a total of about $150 million in covert and overt aid to the non-communist groups, Singapore $55 million, Malaysia $10 million and Thailand a few million in training, ammunition, food and operational funds”. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/KB19Ae01.html
‘We “read” revolutionary art & architecture through “theories”, which are nothing short of a projection of the theorists’ dreams. If you want a space of reality, look to market, public library, or a bus in motion. They are living architectures; full of life, free of ideologies, and they even come with sound and scent.’
The said sentences truly are first class. Thank you.
I am respectfully disagree with the Ambassador from Indonesia regarding Crimes Against Humanity for the following reasons:
First, Crimes Against Humanity, as defined by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Explanatory Memorandum, “are particularly odious offences in that they constitute a serious attack on human dignity or grave humiliation or a degradation of one or more human beings. Inhumane acts reach the threshold of crimes against humanity only if they are part of a widespread or systematic practice, it is indisputable that Duch had committed such a crime. In the situation where the perpetrator has all the power while the victims have no power at all, international community must intervene. Acting on it ensures that there will be no more future Neo-Nazi.
Here’s an example. The systematic persecution of one racial group by another, such as occurred during the South Africa apartheid government, was recognized as a crime against humanity by the United Nations General Assembly in 1976.
Second, when you live in the same neighborhood and you know full well that your neighbor is abusing their children. You have a choice to either ignore it or do something. By doing something about it, Asia and the Pacific moves forward as a community that upholds norms of civilization.
Here’s an example. The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE), also known as the Tokyo Trial, was convened to try the leaders of the Empire of Japan for three types of crimes: “Class A” (crimes against peace), “Class B” (war crimes), and “Class C” (crimes against humanity), committed during World War II. The first refers to their joint conspiracy to start and wage the war, and the latter two refer to atrocities including the Nanking Massacre.
Lastly, human nature will continue on with the struggle for power, however, we cannot allow using politics as an excuse for crimes against humanity. The two issues are totally a separate issue. When the domestic law constitutes crimes against humanity, International Law must intervene. In my opinion, the Thai lese majeste law is systematic inhumane acts that reach the threshold of crimes against humanity. By prosecuting Duch, countries in Asia and the Pacific will think twice before abusing their citizens by using the excuse of domestic law or sovereignty reasons.
Here’s an example. The London Charter of the International Military Tribunal was the decree that set down the laws and procedures by which the post-World War II. Nuremberg trials were to be conducted. Crime Against Humanity defined as “Murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, and other inhumane acts committed against any civilian population, before or during the war, or persecutions on political, racial or religious grounds in execution of or in connection with any crime within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal, whether or not in violation of the domestic law of the country where perpetrated”.
Asia and the Pacific cannot continue to be the region of a white crow. When domestic law constitutes Crime Against Humanity, International Law must reign over to maintain peace and stability in the region.
“How to convince someone to commit anything against anyone” 101:
Denigrate and define the subject/object to a level of existence that is incorrigible therefore will justify any imaginable inhumane acts directed.
Who are the numskulls that started, propagated and now still continuing this useless careless approach? Why?
Describing a regime as worst than “a parasite” using false facts even here in New Mandala by Turnell Vicary and their ilk attract zero post on the veracity.
Even after being called a Charlatan with proves yet his assumptions based on lies, well known now. are still repeated by Hanna Beech article here about DAS cadets.
Useless?
Res Ipsa Loquitur #8
Careless?
The sins of USA/west policy compounding to the suffering of the most vulnerable within and outside Myanmar 2┬║ to SPDC will more than illustrate the carelessness.
Why?
I will let NM reader figure that one out.
He’s just been on the wrong road. Try Highway 304. It is almost impossible not to be grabbed by the police on that road, even if you are not breaking the law!
What reconciliation would it be without these trials? The young generation maybe ignores the past or probably wants to move on. But what about people who suffered from the hands of Khmer rougue and now they see many of same people at power? It is a difficult task to decide where to stop the trials.
Interesting that people manage to accuse Thaksin of being both a “pro-globalist” and a Marxist.
This is an article that Tony Waltham (editor at Bangkok Post) recommended to his Twitter followers for a better understanding about the current political crisis a few months ago:
StanG #11 – Robert Amsterdam probably found a willing and eager audience at ANU, because his law firm is a major corporate member of the UK’s Chatham House, which supplies ANU with a steady stream of pro-globalist lecturers, “experts,” and coverage.
Together, they BOTH make “contributions” to the various mainstream media outlets to skew public opinion towards a pro-globalist, (read: pro-corporate membership) slant.
Nothing like calling a lawyer’s ramblings a “guest contributor,” and nothing like having a paid shill spew propaganda on your blog to render it illegitimate, biased, and most importantly, completely compromised and irrelevant. Then again, who had their doubts about “New Mandala’s” lack of journalistic integrity?
And for Amsterdam’s part: though he draws soundly from a historical precedence, UDD already said they were going to wage a violent underground war with the government, including bombings. So while it is possible the government planted the two bombs, it is just as likely UDD is once again making good on their deadly threats.
The only thing the govt is doing that is suspicious, in my opinion, is pining about protecting nationalism and the temple while they secretly rush through the ASEAN AEC – which if you are truly nationalist, would find unacceptable (70% and eventually 100% foreign equity holdings in all industries).
How did it get so out of hand in Myanmar Quagmire?
By the west absolutely ignoring the obvious historic veracity in the result of any sanction!
Not only did it again verify the uselessness of this form of persuasion but also the resulting “defiance and Paranoia”, two of the few that are always inherent.
In Myanmar case a present entity of absolute intransigence and anti west leaning SPDC.
Out of hand?
Having any CEO and celebrities who dare announce publicly :
1)Their support for USA/west policy as a mean to support Daw Aung San Suu kyi,
2)By extension support the people of Myanmar in commercial and speeches while knowing any sanction punish the citizenry more is not an indication of “out of hand” then what is?
There are millions within Myanmar who do not or care to know Daw Aung SAn Suu Kyi and many more who do not or care to support her and yet have to endure the consequences of the self righteously imposed USA/west fallacy.
A quagmire?
Entailing only a full reversal of every policy will thus absolve the complicity of the west in the suffering of Myanmar citizenry, even then calling for a now absolutely intransigent entity to live up o the obligation of good governance will be wanting.
An act no USA/west is willing to even consider let alone convincing SPDC of otherwise. A true quagmire.
These may not be original ideas but I sure have not seen anyone stated clearly in New Mandala.
Thank you, Benny Widyono.
It is hard not to conclude that much of the misery endured in even the remotest parts of the world is due to the foreign policies of the great powers, and that the policies of each are in the grip of their respective arms industries. Wherever potential conflict exists, the salesmen queue up to peddle the instruments of death to those most likely to prosper from the use of them.
Hmm,
A rather literal “flick of the wrist gesture” to dismiss and to trivialize a view well made, that one cannot retort?
Aside from Calling SPDC names as being original
Charles F
How about discussing
1)How did things got so out of hand in this Myanmar QUagmire?
2)Who are the numskulls that started, propagated and now still continuing this useless careless approach? Why?
3)What about the citizenry of Myanmar?
4) They deserve a more careful approach that will harm them less than the present policies, don’t they?(Double downing?)
5)Are these relevant points for discussion if so why has New Mandala not initiated any since USA renewed the policy that admittedly “Not Working”?
Thanks for confirming once again the underlying tone and sentiment of most westerners here.
“I write Tatmadaw and SPDC interchangeably. For all intents and purposes they’re one and the same. Let’s throw the USDA in there as well.”
The sentiment of let’s punish the SPDC anyway possible and damn the suffering of the people of Myanmar , an acceptable collateral damage , “no big deal”.
Unwillingness to see the differences make one blind to pertinent truth therefore make fraudulent callous assumptions as acceptable.
1) Ne Win/BSPP is not the same as Than SHwe/SPDC beyond being “DICTATORS” .
Ne Win was the result of USA/west laissez faire nurture.
Than Shwe is the natural result of USA/West relentless vilification.
2)Smearing a 400k Tamadaw for some rogues ones among them just make the “Circle the wagon” attitude a long term realty. Shown here by Beech article rather well.
A kind of negating your previous agreeing with Litner as well.
But a couple examples that make the present policy of USA/west that embody a self righteousness and arroganance well represented by #5.
I totally agree about revamping the current social order. For that to happen, it will take a change of government. The sooner the better.
Regarding a smooth transfer of power between Kuli and Dr M, I would think that a situation in which Dr M loses in an election is hardly smooth transition in his mind. To him, it is smooth transition if it is done according to his wishes, as it is with the Badawi administration (and even then if he feels that he had made a mistake in transferring power, he could still engineer the toppling of his chosen heir).
Had he transferred power to Anwar as he had with Pak Lah, it would have been a smooth transition and the reformasi might not have been born (although if Dr M decided to topple Anwar, the latter would not have gone away as quietly as Pak Lah and a movement of sorts would still be mobilised). Coming back to the 1987 Umno elections in which Dr M managed to survive by the skin of his teeth, had he lost I strongly feel that he wouldn’t have just conceded defeat. Instead, he would have pulled one of the many tricks up his sleeve to ensure he is back in power, until he is ready to give it up at a date and time of his choosing.
It would be interesting to compare your hypothetical inferences from this version of the “elephant in dark room” story to the very famous teaching of the historical Buddha to the nobles of the Kalamas clan, who he spoke to in Kesaputta on how to recognize “true” teachings, and teachers from “false” ones:
“It is no wonder that a man gets puzzled and confused when he hears teachings contradictory to each other, but I tell you this: don’t accept a thing merely because it is handed down by tradition, don’t accept a thing merely because many people repeat it, don’t accept a thing merely on the authonty of the sage who teaches it, don’t accept a thing merely because it is found in the so-called scriptures, don’t accept a thing merely because probability is in its favour, don’t accept a thing merely because you have imagined it, or that it is inspired by some supernormal agency.
After examination, after testing it for yourself, if you find it reasonable and is in conformity with your well being and the well being of others as well, then accept it and follow it.”
Thanks Eisel for an interesting post. It should be noticed that Buddhism has become an inseparable part of Khmer culture. Such story has been transferred/told from generation to generation without asking for its original source. And the ordinary people normally don’t do this, but the intellectuals might do.
I was told this parable since I was young. In fact, there are various interpretation of this old story in Cambodian context. What you pointed out about how Cambodians reflected on this story to Buddhism is just an aspect. My father told me this story by relating it to the four paradigms of human knowledge, (1) I know, you know; (2) I know, you don’t know; (3) I don’t know, you know; (4) I don’t know, you don’t know. It also shows us the limit of knowledge in the way that we perceive things as what we experience, but not as what they are.
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Thailand’s war with the foreign media
Yes Ralph, freedom and a potential democratic way of life, a plurality of ways of being Thai aside from loyalty and love for MNR, are at stake in the LM issue.
I highly recommend readers to check out Thai scholar Dave Streckfuss’s work “Truth on Trial” (Routledge) which focuses on defamation and lese majeste and how they are used by the Thai ‘exceptional state’ wherein anything goes in the name of national insecurity.
Robert Amsterdam on a “Strategy of Tension” in Bangkok
The infowars article is Tony at 49 and 50 above.
Thailand’s war with the foreign media
In fact, while I agree with much of Pavin’s analysis, it seems to me that the nature of journalism has changed. Yes, the long-termers have to bite their lips, but almost all of them know that an important corner has been turned. So while they all routinely refer to “the highly revered” etc., they also report political change. More importantly, there is a new breed of journalists who are prepared to write more directly about politics and the monarchy. These journalists do not necessarily want to stay in Thailand; they use that to their advantage. And, there are now web sites that are prepared to state the facts more clearly. So, yes, there is increased pressure, but the genie is already out of the bottle. It is now up to the monarchy and regime to change in ways that recognize this. In other words, the pressure is not just on the journos.
Thailand’s war with the foreign media
Plenty of FCCT journalists have been filing “bland, self-censored reports” for quite a while. Arguabaly significant parts of the Bangkok press corps have failed outright to do their jobs. Half of them have only just realised there’s more to Thailand than just their dumb hiso pals, QBar and Sukhumvit Road.
Why no mention at all of ex-journalist, Da Torpedo, who is serving 18years, in terrible conditions? Yes this article is ostensibly about foreign media but you could mention that almost the entire foreign media corps in Bangkok has been collectively and pathetically silent on Da Torpedo’s case – I guess they have their nice lifestyles to protect.
Why no mention of the fact that to get released from an LM prison sentence the victim has to grovel before a representative of the king?
Why no mention of the fact that the PAD-friendly Amnesty International representative, Ben Zawacki, is actually on the record as saying “we can see why” concerning LM charges? AI have done NOTHING to protect anyone charged with LM. This is a disgrace to the 100os of people who worked so hard with AI over the years championing HR causes.
Why no mention of Akbar Khan, the British citizen closely involved in bringing charges against the FCCT?
Robert Amsterdam on a “Strategy of Tension” in Bangkok
Infowars – yep, that’s a reputable site. I often frequent it to hear about the brain eating vaccines scientists want to put into our water supply and the “globalist conspiracy” Thaksin S. is involved in along with the secretive Bilderberg club. No doubt they initiated Thaksin so he could show them some dark Khmer magic which would further them in their quest for our minds!
Shame on Andrew Walker for posing as an academic and researcher, trying to fool our kids into his Marxist nonsense. It’s all a front for the Bilderberg guys.
An alternative view of the Duch verdict in Cambodia
The choice to have a trial or not should come from the victim familes–which means that outsiders like us should probably stay out of this affair altogether. It doesn’t matter if you and I wrote a book, ran a province, or hosted and dined with the diplomatic elite, it doesn’t give us the “right” to tell Cambodians how they should or should not run their affairs. If the victims want a trial, let them have it! What about their voice? Should we just defer human and minority rights to Hun Sen and his crony capitalists? Let them be the final arbiter of the KR atrocities? Who are we to speak for the whole of the Cambodian people, especially since we are not even from there? And it wasn’t just the West who kept the KR alive and running it was your own allies and neighbors in ASEAN for goodness sake, ” Singapore’s former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew said in his memoirs that as much as US$1.3 billion was spent by China, the US, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand in support of the Khmer Rouge and other Cambodian rebels fighting the Vietnamese and allied government forces. American, Singaporean, Malaysian and Thai officials held regular meetings in Bangkok to coordinate the Cambodian aid program, Lee wrote in From Third World to First: The Singapore Story 1965-2000. He said the Singapore representative “estimated that the United States dispensed a total of about $150 million in covert and overt aid to the non-communist groups, Singapore $55 million, Malaysia $10 million and Thailand a few million in training, ammunition, food and operational funds”.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/KB19Ae01.html
Review of The Art and Architecture of the People’s Party
‘We “read” revolutionary art & architecture through “theories”, which are nothing short of a projection of the theorists’ dreams. If you want a space of reality, look to market, public library, or a bus in motion. They are living architectures; full of life, free of ideologies, and they even come with sound and scent.’
The said sentences truly are first class. Thank you.
An alternative view of the Duch verdict in Cambodia
I am respectfully disagree with the Ambassador from Indonesia regarding Crimes Against Humanity for the following reasons:
First, Crimes Against Humanity, as defined by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Explanatory Memorandum, “are particularly odious offences in that they constitute a serious attack on human dignity or grave humiliation or a degradation of one or more human beings. Inhumane acts reach the threshold of crimes against humanity only if they are part of a widespread or systematic practice, it is indisputable that Duch had committed such a crime. In the situation where the perpetrator has all the power while the victims have no power at all, international community must intervene. Acting on it ensures that there will be no more future Neo-Nazi.
Here’s an example. The systematic persecution of one racial group by another, such as occurred during the South Africa apartheid government, was recognized as a crime against humanity by the United Nations General Assembly in 1976.
Second, when you live in the same neighborhood and you know full well that your neighbor is abusing their children. You have a choice to either ignore it or do something. By doing something about it, Asia and the Pacific moves forward as a community that upholds norms of civilization.
Here’s an example. The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE), also known as the Tokyo Trial, was convened to try the leaders of the Empire of Japan for three types of crimes: “Class A” (crimes against peace), “Class B” (war crimes), and “Class C” (crimes against humanity), committed during World War II. The first refers to their joint conspiracy to start and wage the war, and the latter two refer to atrocities including the Nanking Massacre.
Lastly, human nature will continue on with the struggle for power, however, we cannot allow using politics as an excuse for crimes against humanity. The two issues are totally a separate issue. When the domestic law constitutes crimes against humanity, International Law must intervene. In my opinion, the Thai lese majeste law is systematic inhumane acts that reach the threshold of crimes against humanity. By prosecuting Duch, countries in Asia and the Pacific will think twice before abusing their citizens by using the excuse of domestic law or sovereignty reasons.
Here’s an example. The London Charter of the International Military Tribunal was the decree that set down the laws and procedures by which the post-World War II. Nuremberg trials were to be conducted. Crime Against Humanity defined as “Murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, and other inhumane acts committed against any civilian population, before or during the war, or persecutions on political, racial or religious grounds in execution of or in connection with any crime within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal, whether or not in violation of the domestic law of the country where perpetrated”.
Asia and the Pacific cannot continue to be the region of a white crow. When domestic law constitutes Crime Against Humanity, International Law must reign over to maintain peace and stability in the region.
Tatmadaw cadets in conversation
“How to convince someone to commit anything against anyone” 101:
Denigrate and define the subject/object to a level of existence that is incorrigible therefore will justify any imaginable inhumane acts directed.
Who are the numskulls that started, propagated and now still continuing this useless careless approach? Why?
Describing a regime as worst than “a parasite” using false facts even here in New Mandala by Turnell Vicary and their ilk attract zero post on the veracity.
Even after being called a Charlatan with proves yet his assumptions based on lies, well known now. are still repeated by Hanna Beech article here about DAS cadets.
Useless?
Res Ipsa Loquitur #8
Careless?
The sins of USA/west policy compounding to the suffering of the most vulnerable within and outside Myanmar 2┬║ to SPDC will more than illustrate the carelessness.
Why?
I will let NM reader figure that one out.
Small events that escape media attention
He’s just been on the wrong road. Try Highway 304. It is almost impossible not to be grabbed by the police on that road, even if you are not breaking the law!
An alternative view of the Duch verdict in Cambodia
What reconciliation would it be without these trials? The young generation maybe ignores the past or probably wants to move on. But what about people who suffered from the hands of Khmer rougue and now they see many of same people at power? It is a difficult task to decide where to stop the trials.
Robert Amsterdam on a “Strategy of Tension” in Bangkok
@Tony #50
Interesting that people manage to accuse Thaksin of being both a “pro-globalist” and a Marxist.
This is an article that Tony Waltham (editor at Bangkok Post) recommended to his Twitter followers for a better understanding about the current political crisis a few months ago:
http://info-wars.org/2010/05/24/thailand%E2%80%99s-thaksin-shinwatra-marxists-and-the-nwo/
Robert Amsterdam on a “Strategy of Tension” in Bangkok
StanG #11 – Robert Amsterdam probably found a willing and eager audience at ANU, because his law firm is a major corporate member of the UK’s Chatham House, which supplies ANU with a steady stream of pro-globalist lecturers, “experts,” and coverage.
Together, they BOTH make “contributions” to the various mainstream media outlets to skew public opinion towards a pro-globalist, (read: pro-corporate membership) slant.
Robert Amsterdam on a “Strategy of Tension” in Bangkok
Nothing like calling a lawyer’s ramblings a “guest contributor,” and nothing like having a paid shill spew propaganda on your blog to render it illegitimate, biased, and most importantly, completely compromised and irrelevant. Then again, who had their doubts about “New Mandala’s” lack of journalistic integrity?
And for Amsterdam’s part: though he draws soundly from a historical precedence, UDD already said they were going to wage a violent underground war with the government, including bombings. So while it is possible the government planted the two bombs, it is just as likely UDD is once again making good on their deadly threats.
The only thing the govt is doing that is suspicious, in my opinion, is pining about protecting nationalism and the temple while they secretly rush through the ASEAN AEC – which if you are truly nationalist, would find unacceptable (70% and eventually 100% foreign equity holdings in all industries).
Tatmadaw cadets in conversation
How did it get so out of hand in Myanmar Quagmire?
By the west absolutely ignoring the obvious historic veracity in the result of any sanction!
Not only did it again verify the uselessness of this form of persuasion but also the resulting “defiance and Paranoia”, two of the few that are always inherent.
In Myanmar case a present entity of absolute intransigence and anti west leaning SPDC.
Out of hand?
Having any CEO and celebrities who dare announce publicly :
1)Their support for USA/west policy as a mean to support Daw Aung San Suu kyi,
2)By extension support the people of Myanmar in commercial and speeches while knowing any sanction punish the citizenry more is not an indication of “out of hand” then what is?
There are millions within Myanmar who do not or care to know Daw Aung SAn Suu Kyi and many more who do not or care to support her and yet have to endure the consequences of the self righteously imposed USA/west fallacy.
A quagmire?
Entailing only a full reversal of every policy will thus absolve the complicity of the west in the suffering of Myanmar citizenry, even then calling for a now absolutely intransigent entity to live up o the obligation of good governance will be wanting.
An act no USA/west is willing to even consider let alone convincing SPDC of otherwise. A true quagmire.
These may not be original ideas but I sure have not seen anyone stated clearly in New Mandala.
An alternative view of the Duch verdict in Cambodia
Thank you, Benny Widyono.
It is hard not to conclude that much of the misery endured in even the remotest parts of the world is due to the foreign policies of the great powers, and that the policies of each are in the grip of their respective arms industries. Wherever potential conflict exists, the salesmen queue up to peddle the instruments of death to those most likely to prosper from the use of them.
Tatmadaw cadets in conversation
“disagreeable just to be disagreeable”
Hmm,
A rather literal “flick of the wrist gesture” to dismiss and to trivialize a view well made, that one cannot retort?
Aside from Calling SPDC names as being original
Charles F
How about discussing
1)How did things got so out of hand in this Myanmar QUagmire?
2)Who are the numskulls that started, propagated and now still continuing this useless careless approach? Why?
3)What about the citizenry of Myanmar?
4) They deserve a more careful approach that will harm them less than the present policies, don’t they?(Double downing?)
5)Are these relevant points for discussion if so why has New Mandala not initiated any since USA renewed the policy that admittedly “Not Working”?
Thanks for confirming once again the underlying tone and sentiment of most westerners here.
“I write Tatmadaw and SPDC interchangeably. For all intents and purposes they’re one and the same. Let’s throw the USDA in there as well.”
The sentiment of let’s punish the SPDC anyway possible and damn the suffering of the people of Myanmar , an acceptable collateral damage , “no big deal”.
Unwillingness to see the differences make one blind to pertinent truth therefore make fraudulent callous assumptions as acceptable.
1) Ne Win/BSPP is not the same as Than SHwe/SPDC beyond being “DICTATORS” .
Ne Win was the result of USA/west laissez faire nurture.
Than Shwe is the natural result of USA/West relentless vilification.
2)Smearing a 400k Tamadaw for some rogues ones among them just make the “Circle the wagon” attitude a long term realty. Shown here by Beech article rather well.
A kind of negating your previous agreeing with Litner as well.
But a couple examples that make the present policy of USA/west that embody a self righteousness and arroganance well represented by #5.
We were once ‘Malaysians’
Greg @ #6,
I totally agree about revamping the current social order. For that to happen, it will take a change of government. The sooner the better.
Regarding a smooth transfer of power between Kuli and Dr M, I would think that a situation in which Dr M loses in an election is hardly smooth transition in his mind. To him, it is smooth transition if it is done according to his wishes, as it is with the Badawi administration (and even then if he feels that he had made a mistake in transferring power, he could still engineer the toppling of his chosen heir).
Had he transferred power to Anwar as he had with Pak Lah, it would have been a smooth transition and the reformasi might not have been born (although if Dr M decided to topple Anwar, the latter would not have gone away as quietly as Pak Lah and a movement of sorts would still be mobilised). Coming back to the 1987 Umno elections in which Dr M managed to survive by the skin of his teeth, had he lost I strongly feel that he wouldn’t have just conceded defeat. Instead, he would have pulled one of the many tricks up his sleeve to ensure he is back in power, until he is ready to give it up at a date and time of his choosing.
The blind men and the elephant in Cambodia
A very interesting post, thanks, Eisel !
It would be interesting to compare your hypothetical inferences from this version of the “elephant in dark room” story to the very famous teaching of the historical Buddha to the nobles of the Kalamas clan, who he spoke to in Kesaputta on how to recognize “true” teachings, and teachers from “false” ones:
“It is no wonder that a man gets puzzled and confused when he hears teachings contradictory to each other, but I tell you this: don’t accept a thing merely because it is handed down by tradition, don’t accept a thing merely because many people repeat it, don’t accept a thing merely on the authonty of the sage who teaches it, don’t accept a thing merely because it is found in the so-called scriptures, don’t accept a thing merely because probability is in its favour, don’t accept a thing merely because you have imagined it, or that it is inspired by some supernormal agency.
After examination, after testing it for yourself, if you find it reasonable and is in conformity with your well being and the well being of others as well, then accept it and follow it.”
The above quote from: http://www.purifymind.com/BuddhaHisWay.htm
Also see :
http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/kalama1.htm http://oaks.nvg.org/kalama.html
best, wishes, Bill
The blind men and the elephant in Cambodia
Thanks Eisel for an interesting post. It should be noticed that Buddhism has become an inseparable part of Khmer culture. Such story has been transferred/told from generation to generation without asking for its original source. And the ordinary people normally don’t do this, but the intellectuals might do.
I was told this parable since I was young. In fact, there are various interpretation of this old story in Cambodian context. What you pointed out about how Cambodians reflected on this story to Buddhism is just an aspect. My father told me this story by relating it to the four paradigms of human knowledge, (1) I know, you know; (2) I know, you don’t know; (3) I don’t know, you know; (4) I don’t know, you don’t know. It also shows us the limit of knowledge in the way that we perceive things as what we experience, but not as what they are.