“He is the well-known son of fabulously wealthy former Customs Department chief Somjainuek Engtrakul”
There are a lot of rumors around regarding how he obtained this wealth, which I won’t go into. Suffice it to say, that he would appear an odd ally to an anti-Thaksin anti-corruption movement.
Completely agree. I’ve seen some fantastic studi banding take place, both domestically and internationally, and the impact has been significant. The vast majority of trips, however? Utterly useless.
@Sean
There 1re 227 precepts that Theravada Buddhist monks have to follow: http://en.dhammadana.org/sangha/vinaya/227.htm
Some people believe that “politically active” monks, such as Wirathu, are perhaps not strictly following all the precepts.
Gautama Buddha actually predicted that his religion will begin to decline 2500 years after his death and will completely disappear 5000 years after his death (until the next Buddha, Maitreya, appears on earth, tens of thousands of years from now). Buddha died about 2560 years ago. Decline and death are unavoidable characteristics of this mundane imperfect existence, according to Buddhism.
Great article with interesting comparisons. Certainly whets the appetite for more information on these programs that ensure safety for women and also hard data on actual safety such as sexual assaults. I work for a newspaper in Bangkok and it seems surprising that these issues are not covered more in the media.
What about learning the languages of the maids, cooks and other migrant laborers of Singapore’s economy as a way for Singaporeans to “find their soul” ?
These groups are part of the Singaporean multicultural/multiethnic society and there does seem to be a longstanding and continual stream of news stories indicating deep-rooted racism and discrimination against them.
If the Asean Economic Community (AEC) is ever to become a reality, this would certainly have to be a big item on the preparation checklist. 🙂
Singapore has a soul with Chinese characteristics. Even young “white” students from politically correct Western countries who spent some time in Singaporean Universities notice the strict “racial/social pecking order” in Singapore. White people are ok, I was told.
Actual impostors used as agent provocateur (one shaven guy stripped to the waist, in jeans holding a rolled up robe and a cell phone, walking down by the moat captured on camera during the Mandalay riots went viral on social media) just like they used prison inmates either released by an amnesty or at large after a ‘jail break’ as in 1988.
The term was used by the regime to smear the protesting monks in the violent crackdown during the Saffron Revolution.
Wirathu and his ilk are not strictly speaking bogus but he’s a wayward monk and regime stooge preaching hate instead of metta (loving kindness) to all sentient beings, not just humans.
This election isn’t fare for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi ( NLD ),cause there are 91 parties in voting list and half of parties are secondary parties of these bullshit Pyi-Khaig-Phyo Party and they already planned to split vote to those parties instead of voting NLD. Some of their parties flag are as same as NLD party flag.
But, we must try to win NLD this coming election!
May I ask, what do you mean by “bogus monks”? I’ve heard that claim made in various places against Wirathu and other members of the Ma Ba Tha hierarchy but I’ve never seen it explained. I mean, he was a monk for a long time before he went to prison, right?
Lots of words there, Reynard, but little meaning. I’m not sure what “repressive rules that favor an emerging establishment faction of self-proclaimed modern-thinkers” you believe Pavin is advocating. I’ve read one of his books and many of his columns and not seen any advocacy of this sort. Certainly, not in this report of his meeting with Chomsky. Maybe you could quote them. What I am sure that Pavin is advocating is his right not to be arbitrarily detained (“attitude adjustment”) by a non-elected junta and his right to ignore a summons for such detention. And his right to criticize such a regime. I don’t think this is a stance defined by “repressive rules”.
All credit to Chomsky for always seeing things a bit differently from the controlling consensus. But, I’m not at all sure about the Pavins of this World. They seem hellbent on replacing one over-interfering ideology (a rather grandiose title for something cobbled together by some rather thuggish establishment elements) with their own set of repressive rules that favor an emerging establishment faction of self-proclaimed modern-thinkers. So much so, that I’m glad that it’s not my home country that is being wracked by such competing paternalists. But then again, my own post-colonialist post industrial country has long been wracked by almost exactly the same sinister forces at work. Neo-liberalism = the ideology that makes loads of unkeepable promises about ‘liberating’ the World purely as a means to put its clubbish advocates in an unassailed position of hegemony – neo-feudalism, to all intents & purposes. And it seems like a great deal of the silence on this site is because of its aspiring ‘superman’ intellectuals, who have long equated individual economic success with dumbing down politics to the point that it serves just a few ‘smarts’. That narrowing outlook seems to lie behind a great deal of the ‘intelligent’ comment here – which probably explains its rather think-tankish demeanor. It isn’t too hard to figure that Chomsky is essentially old hat for a lot of the posters here – to be respected, and then ultimately to be ignored as a has-been irrelevancy to the very serious business of making money out of politics in a World that is visibly shrinking in so many ways.
Sao Shwe Thaik was not the President that Ne Win toppled in 1962. It was Mahn Win Maung, a Karen, who was President on March 2nd 1962 (I was finishing my last year of high school in Rangoon that year) Shwe Thaik was the first President of Burma (1948-52) right after Independence.
Ne Win (aka Shu Maung) got a taste of power in 1958 when U Nu, who was fighting Ba Swe and Kyaw Nyein, asked him to take over the government (caretaker government) and oversee the election in 1960 which U Nu (and his clean faction of the AFPFL) won, although Ne Win would have preferred a Swe-Nyein (stable AFPFL) victory.Giving someone like Ne Win the reins of power without any democratic legitimation was an unforgivable mistake that U Nu made which lead to the the military era in Burma.
Granted U Nu was the legitimate and elected PM (Sao Shwe Thaik was the President) that Ne Win toppled in 1962.
It’s ASSK who regarded U Nu as power mad and I concur. He had already staged an unsuccessful armed rebellion from the Thai border before he made his final bid for power at age 80 nearly 20 years later, riding the crest of the 1988 uprising just like the young interloper, fellow opportunist and rival ASSK. if today she is a power mad and desperate septuagenarian, he was a similar octogenarian who just couldn’t give up and let go as a self-proclaimed devout Buddhist would have done.
To her he should have struck as the lesser of two evils, just as she now is to her detractors. And within seven years he was dead, so to paraphrase U Nu, if ‘the people had won through’ in 1988 she would have become the premier in the next parliament at age 50.
I agree with ONE point you made Moe Aung. DASSK should have accepted U Nu’s offer immediately and it was a tactical mistake by Suu Kyi not to accept. Moe Aung, to call U Nu “power mad” even by Burmese standards is not correct and not fair. So what ? U Nu still thought he was the legitimate President for all those years. You think Ne Win, who screwed U Nu, and the Tatmadaw are merely the greater of two evils ? That is nonsense. U Nu was no dictator and I remind you Burma had its peak in 1960-1962, when it had the highest literacy (especially for women) and highest rice production in Southeast Asia, under U Nu. Do Ne Win made a coup de grace. If U Nu’s greatest fault is naivete, Moe Aung you will have to do a lot better than “power mad” without providing examples or citations. U Nu was the only NON power mad politician Burma has had, and that includes DASSK, who is power mad. Let it alone, U Nu is gone, and yes, DASSK is the best of the not so best. We can agree, for different reasons perhaps, that all Burmese should vote NLD, with little doubt.
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A conversation with Chomsky
I will have to let someone with a better VPN than me discuss more of the background of this ironic story:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/728544/pacc-to-probe-assault-claim
I will make the following minor amendment
“He is the well-known son of fabulously wealthy former Customs Department chief Somjainuek Engtrakul”
There are a lot of rumors around regarding how he obtained this wealth, which I won’t go into. Suffice it to say, that he would appear an odd ally to an anti-Thaksin anti-corruption movement.
Jakarta’s junkets cost the nation
Completely agree. I’ve seen some fantastic studi banding take place, both domestically and internationally, and the impact has been significant. The vast majority of trips, however? Utterly useless.
Vietnam’s rising repression
[…] b├аi “Vietnam’s rising repression”, ─Сăng tr├кn tс╗Э New Mandala mới ─С├вy, gi├бo s╞░ Zachary Abuza, mс╗Щt nh├а ─Р├┤ng Nam ├Б […]
NLD needs to lift the standard
And the Buddha said his sons, meaning the sangha, would be the ruin of his sasana (religion).
NLD needs to lift the standard
#1.2.2.1.1
You are right about Wirathu. You will now get a lot of answers from knowledgeable sources to your question.
NLD needs to lift the standard
@Sean
There 1re 227 precepts that Theravada Buddhist monks have to follow:
http://en.dhammadana.org/sangha/vinaya/227.htm
Some people believe that “politically active” monks, such as Wirathu, are perhaps not strictly following all the precepts.
Gautama Buddha actually predicted that his religion will begin to decline 2500 years after his death and will completely disappear 5000 years after his death (until the next Buddha, Maitreya, appears on earth, tens of thousands of years from now). Buddha died about 2560 years ago. Decline and death are unavoidable characteristics of this mundane imperfect existence, according to Buddhism.
Treading the night in Thailand
Great article with interesting comparisons. Certainly whets the appetite for more information on these programs that ensure safety for women and also hard data on actual safety such as sexual assaults. I work for a newspaper in Bangkok and it seems surprising that these issues are not covered more in the media.
Searching for Singapore’s soul
What about learning the languages of the maids, cooks and other migrant laborers of Singapore’s economy as a way for Singaporeans to “find their soul” ?
These groups are part of the Singaporean multicultural/multiethnic society and there does seem to be a longstanding and continual stream of news stories indicating deep-rooted racism and discrimination against them.
If the Asean Economic Community (AEC) is ever to become a reality, this would certainly have to be a big item on the preparation checklist. 🙂
Searching for Singapore’s soul
Singapore has a soul with Chinese characteristics. Even young “white” students from politically correct Western countries who spent some time in Singaporean Universities notice the strict “racial/social pecking order” in Singapore. White people are ok, I was told.
NLD needs to lift the standard
Actual impostors used as agent provocateur (one shaven guy stripped to the waist, in jeans holding a rolled up robe and a cell phone, walking down by the moat captured on camera during the Mandalay riots went viral on social media) just like they used prison inmates either released by an amnesty or at large after a ‘jail break’ as in 1988.
The term was used by the regime to smear the protesting monks in the violent crackdown during the Saffron Revolution.
Wirathu and his ilk are not strictly speaking bogus but he’s a wayward monk and regime stooge preaching hate instead of metta (loving kindness) to all sentient beings, not just humans.
Astrology, prediction and postponement
This election isn’t fare for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi ( NLD ),cause there are 91 parties in voting list and half of parties are secondary parties of these bullshit Pyi-Khaig-Phyo Party and they already planned to split vote to those parties instead of voting NLD. Some of their parties flag are as same as NLD party flag.
But, we must try to win NLD this coming election!
NLD needs to lift the standard
May I ask, what do you mean by “bogus monks”? I’ve heard that claim made in various places against Wirathu and other members of the Ma Ba Tha hierarchy but I’ve never seen it explained. I mean, he was a monk for a long time before he went to prison, right?
A conversation with Chomsky
Lots of words there, Reynard, but little meaning. I’m not sure what “repressive rules that favor an emerging establishment faction of self-proclaimed modern-thinkers” you believe Pavin is advocating. I’ve read one of his books and many of his columns and not seen any advocacy of this sort. Certainly, not in this report of his meeting with Chomsky. Maybe you could quote them. What I am sure that Pavin is advocating is his right not to be arbitrarily detained (“attitude adjustment”) by a non-elected junta and his right to ignore a summons for such detention. And his right to criticize such a regime. I don’t think this is a stance defined by “repressive rules”.
NLD needs to lift the standard
Thanks, Marayu. I stand corrected. The one prominent fatality of the coup, Sao Shwe Thaik’s young son, got me to make that error.
Yes, history will remember U Nu’s weaknesses that led to this overly protracted nightmare of military misrule more than his merits. Sorry, Peter.
Searching for Singapore’s soul
The more angst Singaporeans waste their time dispensing, the LESS likely they are to attain a cohesive, unitary and unique identity.
A conversation with Chomsky
All credit to Chomsky for always seeing things a bit differently from the controlling consensus. But, I’m not at all sure about the Pavins of this World. They seem hellbent on replacing one over-interfering ideology (a rather grandiose title for something cobbled together by some rather thuggish establishment elements) with their own set of repressive rules that favor an emerging establishment faction of self-proclaimed modern-thinkers. So much so, that I’m glad that it’s not my home country that is being wracked by such competing paternalists. But then again, my own post-colonialist post industrial country has long been wracked by almost exactly the same sinister forces at work. Neo-liberalism = the ideology that makes loads of unkeepable promises about ‘liberating’ the World purely as a means to put its clubbish advocates in an unassailed position of hegemony – neo-feudalism, to all intents & purposes. And it seems like a great deal of the silence on this site is because of its aspiring ‘superman’ intellectuals, who have long equated individual economic success with dumbing down politics to the point that it serves just a few ‘smarts’. That narrowing outlook seems to lie behind a great deal of the ‘intelligent’ comment here – which probably explains its rather think-tankish demeanor. It isn’t too hard to figure that Chomsky is essentially old hat for a lot of the posters here – to be respected, and then ultimately to be ignored as a has-been irrelevancy to the very serious business of making money out of politics in a World that is visibly shrinking in so many ways.
NLD needs to lift the standard
Sao Shwe Thaik was not the President that Ne Win toppled in 1962. It was Mahn Win Maung, a Karen, who was President on March 2nd 1962 (I was finishing my last year of high school in Rangoon that year) Shwe Thaik was the first President of Burma (1948-52) right after Independence.
Ne Win (aka Shu Maung) got a taste of power in 1958 when U Nu, who was fighting Ba Swe and Kyaw Nyein, asked him to take over the government (caretaker government) and oversee the election in 1960 which U Nu (and his clean faction of the AFPFL) won, although Ne Win would have preferred a Swe-Nyein (stable AFPFL) victory.Giving someone like Ne Win the reins of power without any democratic legitimation was an unforgivable mistake that U Nu made which lead to the the military era in Burma.
Dissent and dictatorship in Thailand
[…] Dissent and dictatorship in Thailand – New […]
NLD needs to lift the standard
Granted U Nu was the legitimate and elected PM (Sao Shwe Thaik was the President) that Ne Win toppled in 1962.
It’s ASSK who regarded U Nu as power mad and I concur. He had already staged an unsuccessful armed rebellion from the Thai border before he made his final bid for power at age 80 nearly 20 years later, riding the crest of the 1988 uprising just like the young interloper, fellow opportunist and rival ASSK. if today she is a power mad and desperate septuagenarian, he was a similar octogenarian who just couldn’t give up and let go as a self-proclaimed devout Buddhist would have done.
To her he should have struck as the lesser of two evils, just as she now is to her detractors. And within seven years he was dead, so to paraphrase U Nu, if ‘the people had won through’ in 1988 she would have become the premier in the next parliament at age 50.
NLD needs to lift the standard
I agree with ONE point you made Moe Aung. DASSK should have accepted U Nu’s offer immediately and it was a tactical mistake by Suu Kyi not to accept. Moe Aung, to call U Nu “power mad” even by Burmese standards is not correct and not fair. So what ? U Nu still thought he was the legitimate President for all those years. You think Ne Win, who screwed U Nu, and the Tatmadaw are merely the greater of two evils ? That is nonsense. U Nu was no dictator and I remind you Burma had its peak in 1960-1962, when it had the highest literacy (especially for women) and highest rice production in Southeast Asia, under U Nu. Do Ne Win made a coup de grace. If U Nu’s greatest fault is naivete, Moe Aung you will have to do a lot better than “power mad” without providing examples or citations. U Nu was the only NON power mad politician Burma has had, and that includes DASSK, who is power mad. Let it alone, U Nu is gone, and yes, DASSK is the best of the not so best. We can agree, for different reasons perhaps, that all Burmese should vote NLD, with little doubt.