Hoping for any sense of credibility is more like hoping that a ninety year old woman might get pregnant without the help of any sort of IVF or any other technological advance in human fertility. Come to think of it right from the start the UEC has shown its bias towards the party of the military turned quasi civilians by not having the voters registration correct (even though country wide census was taken not that long ago). It’s more like an empire showing red card to one side disenfranchising millions of voters were more likely to vote for the NLD and other minor parties rather than the votes going to the incumbent. As for the observers they are more like anthropologists with their role simply to observer with no mandate to intervene even when voting irregularities were to occur right before their eyes. As a country we did not have a good record with the elections, in particular, when the results did not favour the military and its prospect of ruling the country in perpetuity. Pigs might fly but to have a credible vote hope is all we have.
Can’t believe it if the Thai military got caught napping in the cyber world. Their Burmese counterparts are way ahead under the able former psy-ops chief most likely still tapping away having taken lessons from the grandchildren.
Well, those who rule by the sword die by the sword they say. But if the pen is mightier than the sword then the social media is today’s version of so many million pens as the most democratic instrument in the hands of the powerless.
Calm down, Marayu. Given the world’s history of enduring Western domination (some would say we are still in the Vasco da Gama era) how can you accuse people of hypocrisy? You don’t think Westerners criticise and complain about their own country’s socioeconomic order and foreign policy?
What is this obsessive one dimensional take on the global situation? Are you really incapable of allowing some credit to the many facets of people’s lives and outlook?
And there we have it, the problem with this kind of discourse on New Mandala.
The insight of a French high-school student after a couple of hours cruising around two neighborhoods in one city provides “evidence” supporting someone’s sweeping and ignorant statement regarding a whole country and its history and culture.
NM should begin to reconsider its censorship policy to make it less concerned with manners and more with intelligence and relevance.
For some of us, this kind of moronic “free expression” is far more offensive than the use of nasty words.
Let’s hear more from that French high-schooler after she has cruised Bangkok for an hour or two. We might finally solve the democratization problem.
But more likely we will just get more of the same NM drivel, since most of it is essentially that anyway.
Indeed, when I asked my French (Parisian) high school exchange student what he thought of Montreal after we finished a tour of McGill U. and the Latin Quarter in 2001, he remarked, “It is an American city that speaks French.”
The US has shown great expertise in messing up the world by supporting reactionary regimes, amongst them corrupt absolute monarchies like Saudi Arabia and Thailand. Thailand’s constitutional monarchy is and always has been a fraud. In fact the Thai régime is as absolutist as Saudi Arabia. The main difference is Thailand’s much less poisonous religion.
The question that you brought up is an easy question and hence it has a simple answers to it.
is being a Muslim a prerequisite to being an ethical leader?
A simple no would be enough. This is because, being a muslim alone does not guarantee one follows and abide by the teaching of islam itself. It is not the title “muslim” that matters. What malaysia need is, a leader who govern this country by virtue of islamic principles ie. Justice, zero corruption, clean etc. The best is to have a muslim leader who follows the islamic teachings in running his government.
But, having said that, a non muslim leader (as in singapore, japan, new zealand) who believes and leads the country with the same islamic principles (no corruption, justice, charitable) is way far more superior than a muslim who governs the country against the islamic principles. And that is what the country need.
At the end of the day, the virtues of the leaders is the yardstick that should be used to choose leaders rather than his religion. Because a muslim leader who go against the principles that are demanded from a leader will be held accountable before God during Judgment day, and will be punished accordingly.
Admittedly it’s the size of the Burmese diaspora today that is unprecedented. If Tin Aye, chairman of the UEC, has a shred of decency and accountability he should resign, or he should be sacked, but of course he’s too much of an insider and a loyal placeman, a crucial player in this game where the dice are blatantly loaded. It shouldn’t surprise anyone if the local election commissions and the state’s tentacles abroad prove just as integral and loyal to the regime.
Doubt it if they’ll skip pepperoni and sausage when you see KFC taking off. More than likely the native forms of fried chicken and savoury pancake won’t lose their fans. Certainly more opportunities for the middle class Burmese to show off and be snobs, like Rangoon Tea House catering for the tourist trade and expats where the locals are paying through the nose for less than authentic or palatable ‘Burmese cuisine’.
Granted the numbers are far greater this time round given its paramount importance 25 years on, but surely when you recall the 1990 elections and the more recent 2010 elections, advance voting by Burmese citizens abroad is hardly unprecedented notwithstanding the dubious amount of advance votes in 2010 that saw many a USDP candidate into parliament.
People despite their anger and frustration did report that embassy staff by and large, not all, were polite and helpful but had to pass the buck to the UEC as there evidently is no proper mechanism set up to deal with exactly this kind of ‘cock up’ except to say they’d make representations and the disenfranchised voters can put in a complaint with absolutely no idea as to when they will get a reply and whether their ballots will be retrieved/restored to them. The humanity of the majority of the embassy staff was never in doubt even if the Burmese Days portrayal of individual Burmese in a position of power is not unjustified.
Whilst the feelings understandably run high among the potential but disenfranchised voters over a gross injustice done to them, either knowingly or unknowingly through sheer incompetence, for a crucial democratic exercise that came only once in a generation or two, it would hardly be a gross injustice to say that the diplomatic service has been in the main staffed by those with connections especially military ones since Ne Win’s time, and one might even wonder if the author herself moves in the same privileged circles. Interestingly North Korea also runs a number of restaurants abroad, not just embassies, probably staffed in a similar manner.
Why can’t the ballot papers be simply made available and sealed in envelopes to be marked with the designated constituency, all in dispatch boxes marked Singapore or Tokyo as the case may be and sent home to be cross-checked by the votes cast lists and sorted by constituency? Why have voters’ names on the envelopes too (supposed to be a secret vote) when the polling station officers only need a register (not notices with all personal details open to the public – no data confidentiality issue here?) to cross off one by one checking against the passports or voter registration slips of those who ‘bother’ to exercise their democratic right, applauding them for doing so instead of treating them like gatecrashers at best and alien body snatchers at worst?
One would think that line “This is just a taste of what Thailand has in store for the foreseeable future.” refers to “Truth the latest victim in Bangkok blast”.
Speaking of Chinese in Universities, even Jinping Xi sent her daughter Mingze to study at Harvard. Guagua Bo (son of the fallen Xilai) is still studying in the US. Chinese students are ubiquitous in the West.
If you look at the so-called Burmese dissidents/refugees, where do they apply for asylum? Fort Wayne, Indiana or Bergen, Norway, UK, Germany, Canada, hey even in colonial Australia! Rarely did a Burmese expat prefer to live in China (brigadier Kyaw Zaw is an exception), if they can get to some “greener pasture” in the West (many dissidents actually live off funding from Western agencies). This anti-West thing in Burma or even in China or India, is pure hypocrisy
[…] and unscientific “virginity tests.” An increasing number of local governments have enacted discriminatory laws in recent years restricting women’s rights –including regulating how women sit on motorcycles […]
No, darunee, I was referring to the dismal prospects for Thailand under the reactionary yoke of military dictatorship. Sorry I did not make that clear.
But I thought the Bangkok Erawan Shrine bombing case had been fully investigated, the main core bombers arrested and to be tried, and the case, for all intents and purposes, closed. At least that was the impression I am getting from junior Red Shirt leader Oak, Thaksin’s son, after he awarded the Baht 7.0 million award money to the Thai police.
When Jim#2 talks about ‘a taste of …. the foreseeable future’, is he referring to more Shinawatra reward money, for ‘bombing cases’ in the future that could be linked, remotely or otherwise, to the Red/Black shirts?
The preference for English is stating the obvious. However strong nationalist anti-colonial or anti-capitalist sentiment runs in our veins that’s not going to change.
By the same token it goes without saying how important it is to stay on good terms with not only our two giant neighbours but others too, not least Thailand.
It is to our shame and disgrace that our universities still do not have departments for Indian, Chinese, Thai etc. studies, that we know more about England, Europe and America than about our own neighbours. It’s even difficult to imagine any of that starting up given the anti-Indian and anti-Chinese sentiment being whipped up on a regular basis. Time we redressed this weakness. These people are more like the Irish, French and Scandinavians in the UK although it has significant Indian and Chinese communities too.
The military elite for all its past ‘left wing’ rhetoric and more recent anti-West bombast has always been fundamentally capitalist and staunch anti-communist pro-West through and through. The ‘reconciliation’ they desired most has also been with the West (like our friend plan B with his love hate relationship with the West on a smaller and personal level).
The Burmese diaspora can be seen as a blessing in disguise when you think about all ethnic components of Burmese society seeking refuge in safe havens as well as greener pastures far and near have broadened their horizons and made friends all over the globe. Yes, the genie is well and truly out so there’s no way you can put it back in.
As an ANU student who switched from CASS to CAP I think this is a really cool and innovative idea! When I first came to ANU, I wanted to study International Relations, and in my first semester here I studied a course called “International Relations in the Asia-Pacific” that really spiked my interest in how the international relations dynamic works in Asia. But under my International Relations degree, there were very few other Asia-focused classes I could take- I had to scramble to teach myself regional issues so I could focus my generic POLS assignments on topics like the South China Sea or ASEAN. And especially because like most other ANU students I’m in a combined degree program, there’s very scarce room for electives under a CASS degree, so I wouldn’t have been able to really explore Asia further.
Switching to Asian Studies was interesting because I could then do some courses geared towards anthropology and history in the Asian region, but I missed the International Relations/Politics aspect of my degree. Doing the introductory International Relations subjects as my electives left me with very little room to explore specialist subjects tailored towards politics/IR. You have to bear in mind, the average enthusiastic Asian Studies student wants to be well versed in International Relations, domestic politics, anthropology/sociology and also complete a language major. That’s a lot to squeeze into one degree. The introduction of “Domestic politics in Asia” as an optional mandatory for the Asian Studies degree this semester was a great decision- In fact I believe it should be made completely mandatory since you really need a grounding on general regional dynamics if you want to know your stuff
Anyway, I think it would be really cool to see how this develops and I personally would love to see ANU make such an outspoken commitment towards the Asian Studies field. It’s what we’re known for and what we’re great at and we really should capitalise on that more.
I took my hat off to you Ma Sandi for having the courage to speak up. I could imagined the logistical nightmares that people at the Burmese embassies and consulates might have since there have been no such precedent. In the time when officials who handled consular matters had to collect tax it was likely there would be a list (more likely to be accurate than without such a list) of citizens living and working overseas. But since there’s no such functions it might be difficult to tell how many. Citizens do not tends to comply with the instructions that they should report their presence to the embassy concern either. The UEC is the culprit but shamelessly it isn’t bearing the brunt of criticisms but making others the scapegoats. Thank God I’m free from that life.
[…] and unscientific “virginity tests.” An increasing number of local governments have enacted discriminatory laws in recent years restricting women’s rights –including regulating how women sit on motorcycles […]
“ANU is rightly proud of its Asia-Pacific expertise”.
Why?
Australia’s Asia-Pacific policies have generally been predictable failures and its ‘analyses’ of China are embarrassing rehashes of the worst of US foreign policy. Has their China department ever got anything about China right?
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Credibility and the vote
Hoping for any sense of credibility is more like hoping that a ninety year old woman might get pregnant without the help of any sort of IVF or any other technological advance in human fertility. Come to think of it right from the start the UEC has shown its bias towards the party of the military turned quasi civilians by not having the voters registration correct (even though country wide census was taken not that long ago). It’s more like an empire showing red card to one side disenfranchising millions of voters were more likely to vote for the NLD and other minor parties rather than the votes going to the incumbent. As for the observers they are more like anthropologists with their role simply to observer with no mandate to intervene even when voting irregularities were to occur right before their eyes. As a country we did not have a good record with the elections, in particular, when the results did not favour the military and its prospect of ruling the country in perpetuity. Pigs might fly but to have a credible vote hope is all we have.
Southeast Asian snapshots
Can’t believe it if the Thai military got caught napping in the cyber world. Their Burmese counterparts are way ahead under the able former psy-ops chief most likely still tapping away having taken lessons from the grandchildren.
Well, those who rule by the sword die by the sword they say. But if the pen is mightier than the sword then the social media is today’s version of so many million pens as the most democratic instrument in the hands of the powerless.
Who are Myanmar’s friends?
Calm down, Marayu. Given the world’s history of enduring Western domination (some would say we are still in the Vasco da Gama era) how can you accuse people of hypocrisy? You don’t think Westerners criticise and complain about their own country’s socioeconomic order and foreign policy?
What is this obsessive one dimensional take on the global situation? Are you really incapable of allowing some credit to the many facets of people’s lives and outlook?
Why I speak out against the Thai Monarchy
And there we have it, the problem with this kind of discourse on New Mandala.
The insight of a French high-school student after a couple of hours cruising around two neighborhoods in one city provides “evidence” supporting someone’s sweeping and ignorant statement regarding a whole country and its history and culture.
NM should begin to reconsider its censorship policy to make it less concerned with manners and more with intelligence and relevance.
For some of us, this kind of moronic “free expression” is far more offensive than the use of nasty words.
Let’s hear more from that French high-schooler after she has cruised Bangkok for an hour or two. We might finally solve the democratization problem.
But more likely we will just get more of the same NM drivel, since most of it is essentially that anyway.
Why I speak out against the Thai Monarchy
Indeed, when I asked my French (Parisian) high school exchange student what he thought of Montreal after we finished a tour of McGill U. and the Latin Quarter in 2001, he remarked, “It is an American city that speaks French.”
Why I speak out against the Thai Monarchy
The US has shown great expertise in messing up the world by supporting reactionary regimes, amongst them corrupt absolute monarchies like Saudi Arabia and Thailand. Thailand’s constitutional monarchy is and always has been a fraud. In fact the Thai régime is as absolutist as Saudi Arabia. The main difference is Thailand’s much less poisonous religion.
Cara Menghasilkan Uang Dengan Bermain Dominoqq
Greg Lopez,
The question that you brought up is an easy question and hence it has a simple answers to it.
is being a Muslim a prerequisite to being an ethical leader?
A simple no would be enough. This is because, being a muslim alone does not guarantee one follows and abide by the teaching of islam itself. It is not the title “muslim” that matters. What malaysia need is, a leader who govern this country by virtue of islamic principles ie. Justice, zero corruption, clean etc. The best is to have a muslim leader who follows the islamic teachings in running his government.
But, having said that, a non muslim leader (as in singapore, japan, new zealand) who believes and leads the country with the same islamic principles (no corruption, justice, charitable) is way far more superior than a muslim who governs the country against the islamic principles. And that is what the country need.
At the end of the day, the virtues of the leaders is the yardstick that should be used to choose leaders rather than his religion. Because a muslim leader who go against the principles that are demanded from a leader will be held accountable before God during Judgment day, and will be punished accordingly.
Unsung heroes and the vote
Admittedly it’s the size of the Burmese diaspora today that is unprecedented. If Tin Aye, chairman of the UEC, has a shred of decency and accountability he should resign, or he should be sacked, but of course he’s too much of an insider and a loyal placeman, a crucial player in this game where the dice are blatantly loaded. It shouldn’t surprise anyone if the local election commissions and the state’s tentacles abroad prove just as integral and loyal to the regime.
Southeast Asian snapshots
Doubt it if they’ll skip pepperoni and sausage when you see KFC taking off. More than likely the native forms of fried chicken and savoury pancake won’t lose their fans. Certainly more opportunities for the middle class Burmese to show off and be snobs, like Rangoon Tea House catering for the tourist trade and expats where the locals are paying through the nose for less than authentic or palatable ‘Burmese cuisine’.
Unsung heroes and the vote
Granted the numbers are far greater this time round given its paramount importance 25 years on, but surely when you recall the 1990 elections and the more recent 2010 elections, advance voting by Burmese citizens abroad is hardly unprecedented notwithstanding the dubious amount of advance votes in 2010 that saw many a USDP candidate into parliament.
People despite their anger and frustration did report that embassy staff by and large, not all, were polite and helpful but had to pass the buck to the UEC as there evidently is no proper mechanism set up to deal with exactly this kind of ‘cock up’ except to say they’d make representations and the disenfranchised voters can put in a complaint with absolutely no idea as to when they will get a reply and whether their ballots will be retrieved/restored to them. The humanity of the majority of the embassy staff was never in doubt even if the Burmese Days portrayal of individual Burmese in a position of power is not unjustified.
Whilst the feelings understandably run high among the potential but disenfranchised voters over a gross injustice done to them, either knowingly or unknowingly through sheer incompetence, for a crucial democratic exercise that came only once in a generation or two, it would hardly be a gross injustice to say that the diplomatic service has been in the main staffed by those with connections especially military ones since Ne Win’s time, and one might even wonder if the author herself moves in the same privileged circles. Interestingly North Korea also runs a number of restaurants abroad, not just embassies, probably staffed in a similar manner.
Why can’t the ballot papers be simply made available and sealed in envelopes to be marked with the designated constituency, all in dispatch boxes marked Singapore or Tokyo as the case may be and sent home to be cross-checked by the votes cast lists and sorted by constituency? Why have voters’ names on the envelopes too (supposed to be a secret vote) when the polling station officers only need a register (not notices with all personal details open to the public – no data confidentiality issue here?) to cross off one by one checking against the passports or voter registration slips of those who ‘bother’ to exercise their democratic right, applauding them for doing so instead of treating them like gatecrashers at best and alien body snatchers at worst?
Truth the latest victim in Bangkok blast
One would think that line “This is just a taste of what Thailand has in store for the foreseeable future.” refers to “Truth the latest victim in Bangkok blast”.
Who are Myanmar’s friends?
Speaking of Chinese in Universities, even Jinping Xi sent her daughter Mingze to study at Harvard. Guagua Bo (son of the fallen Xilai) is still studying in the US. Chinese students are ubiquitous in the West.
If you look at the so-called Burmese dissidents/refugees, where do they apply for asylum? Fort Wayne, Indiana or Bergen, Norway, UK, Germany, Canada, hey even in colonial Australia! Rarely did a Burmese expat prefer to live in China (brigadier Kyaw Zaw is an exception), if they can get to some “greener pasture” in the West (many dissidents actually live off funding from Western agencies). This anti-West thing in Burma or even in China or India, is pure hypocrisy
Undoing Yudhoyono’s Sectarian Legacy
[…] and unscientific “virginity tests.” An increasing number of local governments have enacted discriminatory laws in recent years restricting women’s rights –including regulating how women sit on motorcycles […]
Truth the latest victim in Bangkok blast
No, darunee, I was referring to the dismal prospects for Thailand under the reactionary yoke of military dictatorship. Sorry I did not make that clear.
Truth the latest victim in Bangkok blast
But I thought the Bangkok Erawan Shrine bombing case had been fully investigated, the main core bombers arrested and to be tried, and the case, for all intents and purposes, closed. At least that was the impression I am getting from junior Red Shirt leader Oak, Thaksin’s son, after he awarded the Baht 7.0 million award money to the Thai police.
When Jim#2 talks about ‘a taste of …. the foreseeable future’, is he referring to more Shinawatra reward money, for ‘bombing cases’ in the future that could be linked, remotely or otherwise, to the Red/Black shirts?
Who are Myanmar’s friends?
The preference for English is stating the obvious. However strong nationalist anti-colonial or anti-capitalist sentiment runs in our veins that’s not going to change.
By the same token it goes without saying how important it is to stay on good terms with not only our two giant neighbours but others too, not least Thailand.
It is to our shame and disgrace that our universities still do not have departments for Indian, Chinese, Thai etc. studies, that we know more about England, Europe and America than about our own neighbours. It’s even difficult to imagine any of that starting up given the anti-Indian and anti-Chinese sentiment being whipped up on a regular basis. Time we redressed this weakness. These people are more like the Irish, French and Scandinavians in the UK although it has significant Indian and Chinese communities too.
The military elite for all its past ‘left wing’ rhetoric and more recent anti-West bombast has always been fundamentally capitalist and staunch anti-communist pro-West through and through. The ‘reconciliation’ they desired most has also been with the West (like our friend plan B with his love hate relationship with the West on a smaller and personal level).
The Burmese diaspora can be seen as a blessing in disguise when you think about all ethnic components of Burmese society seeking refuge in safe havens as well as greener pastures far and near have broadened their horizons and made friends all over the globe. Yes, the genie is well and truly out so there’s no way you can put it back in.
It’s time for a truly Asia-Pacific vision at ANU
As an ANU student who switched from CASS to CAP I think this is a really cool and innovative idea! When I first came to ANU, I wanted to study International Relations, and in my first semester here I studied a course called “International Relations in the Asia-Pacific” that really spiked my interest in how the international relations dynamic works in Asia. But under my International Relations degree, there were very few other Asia-focused classes I could take- I had to scramble to teach myself regional issues so I could focus my generic POLS assignments on topics like the South China Sea or ASEAN. And especially because like most other ANU students I’m in a combined degree program, there’s very scarce room for electives under a CASS degree, so I wouldn’t have been able to really explore Asia further.
Switching to Asian Studies was interesting because I could then do some courses geared towards anthropology and history in the Asian region, but I missed the International Relations/Politics aspect of my degree. Doing the introductory International Relations subjects as my electives left me with very little room to explore specialist subjects tailored towards politics/IR. You have to bear in mind, the average enthusiastic Asian Studies student wants to be well versed in International Relations, domestic politics, anthropology/sociology and also complete a language major. That’s a lot to squeeze into one degree. The introduction of “Domestic politics in Asia” as an optional mandatory for the Asian Studies degree this semester was a great decision- In fact I believe it should be made completely mandatory since you really need a grounding on general regional dynamics if you want to know your stuff
Anyway, I think it would be really cool to see how this develops and I personally would love to see ANU make such an outspoken commitment towards the Asian Studies field. It’s what we’re known for and what we’re great at and we really should capitalise on that more.
Unsung heroes and the vote
I took my hat off to you Ma Sandi for having the courage to speak up. I could imagined the logistical nightmares that people at the Burmese embassies and consulates might have since there have been no such precedent. In the time when officials who handled consular matters had to collect tax it was likely there would be a list (more likely to be accurate than without such a list) of citizens living and working overseas. But since there’s no such functions it might be difficult to tell how many. Citizens do not tends to comply with the instructions that they should report their presence to the embassy concern either. The UEC is the culprit but shamelessly it isn’t bearing the brunt of criticisms but making others the scapegoats. Thank God I’m free from that life.
Undoing Yudhoyono’s Sectarian Legacy
[…] and unscientific “virginity tests.” An increasing number of local governments have enacted discriminatory laws in recent years restricting women’s rights –including regulating how women sit on motorcycles […]
It’s time for a truly Asia-Pacific vision at ANU
“ANU is rightly proud of its Asia-Pacific expertise”.
Why?
Australia’s Asia-Pacific policies have generally been predictable failures and its ‘analyses’ of China are embarrassing rehashes of the worst of US foreign policy. Has their China department ever got anything about China right?