I have no objection to UMNO Youth deputy leader Khairy Jamaluddin “hijacking” the NGO protests at the Myanmar Embassy yesterday, particularly the Malaysian Youth Coalition for Peace and Freedom in Burma, provided this represents a genuine change of heart and radical policy alteration on democracy and human rights in Burma by UMNO Youth.
The question is whether what happened yesterday was a cynical hogging of the publicity limelight by Khairy with no meaningful commitment by Umno Youth to the cause of democracy and human rights in Burma or whether it signaled that UMNO Youth is now prepared to join forces with all pro-democracy and pro-human rights activists to mobilize greater Malaysian and ASEAN support to end the long night of savage and bloody dictatorship of the military junta in Burma.
What is most disturbing is the latest claim in the international media that thousands of protestors are dead and that bodies of hundreds of executed monks have been dumped in the jungle.
Hla Win, 42, a former chief of military intelligence in Rangoon’s northern region and who fled when ordered to help massacre monks who had led last week’s mass protests, said the toll of deaths in Burma was in the region of several thousand.
The international media also reported accounts from other exiles along the Thai-Burma border confirming that hundreds of monks had simply “disappeared”.
Dissidents hiding along the Burma border said thousands of monks had been locked up and were being beaten inside blood-stained temples.
A Swedish diplomat told the Daily Mail of reports that monks had been tortured and killed in large numbers.
“We were informed from one of the largest embassies in Burma that 40 monks in the Insein prison were beaten to death today and subsequently burned,” the diplomat said.
UMNO Youth leader and Education Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein should play a leading role in the Cabinet meeting tomorrow in keeping with the new UMNO Youth policy stance yesterday to secure a two-point Cabinet decision on the latest Burmese crisis,viz: to
- Launch an ASEAN initiative to send a high-level mission to Myanmar on the disturbing reports of massacre of thousands of monks and protestors by the Mynmar military junta in Burma last week; and
- Convene an emergency meeting of Malaysian Parliament to set an example for emergency meetings by all other ASEAN Parliaments to express “revulsion” at another 1988 massacre in Myanmar and to call on China, Russia, India, the United States and the European Union to support an United Nations Security initiative to restore democracy and human rights and to effect national reconciliation in Burma.
If Umno Youth has truly adopted a new policy supporting democracy and human rights in Burma, I welcome Umno Youth MPs to fully participate in the work of the Malaysian Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus and the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) to promote national reconciliation and democratization in Burma, the immediate release of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners and the ending of the reign of repression in Burma with the cessation of all human rights violations and violent suppression of peaceful protests and the re-opening of Burma to communications with the outside world including the restoration of Internet and telephonic communications.
#1 by smeagroo on Tuesday, 2 October 2007 - 6:20 pm
BUt why was KJ silent on the Batu BUruk incident when the police used live bullets against demonstrators? WAs that acceptable instead?
Still to me KJ is a hypocrite. ONly riding on Myanmar’s misfortune for his own polictical mileage.
#2 by greatstuff on Tuesday, 2 October 2007 - 6:21 pm
This might cause shrieks of horror and accusations of colonialism, dictatorial mentality or whatever other verbal assault might fly in this direction, but, I sincerely believe that only an invasion force by the United Nations or whatever liberating army available, would be the only real hope to liberate the Burmese people from the cruel oppression of Military Junta. What a shame, if only George Bush was not so tied down in Iraq and Afganistan, for he would likely be the only strongly principled leader available and willing to take on the challenge! Must we wait for thousands more monks and tens of thousands of civilians to die further in their quest for democracy and an end to brutal dictatorship- come on ASAEN, neighbours of China, India, Thailand- just do the right thing for once, stop bumbling along and show the world what you are made of!
#3 by rukunegara on Tuesday, 2 October 2007 - 6:27 pm
When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn’t a Jew.
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.
-A poem attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller
#4 by izrafeil on Tuesday, 2 October 2007 - 8:24 pm
lets sent asean peace keeping force to myanmar
#5 by k1980 on Tuesday, 2 October 2007 - 9:43 pm
Pak (Ti)Dur has been away overseas for almost the entire fasting month!
http://malaysia-today.net/blog2006/letters.php?itemid=8733
This is Islam Hadhari – you just have to be civilised. Maybe this is a new trend that the Prime Minister is setting. Maybe all future Prime Ministers will be travelling overseas for three weeks or four weeks during the fasting month….
The recent ‘leak’ in the media that elections may be held as late as 2009 could be a ruse. The elections could be held in less than six weeks time – while some say it could be on 25 November 2007, three weeks after the Umno General Assembly which ends on 9 November.
The more time passes, the more unstable the Government becomes. The Ministers are incapable of functioning well or of moving the country forward. Almost all the mega-projects announced by the Prime Minister are not moving at all. It is a fact that none of them have even started. The Penang Bridge has not started, the East-West Gas Pipeline has stalled, the IDR has not started, the Eastern Corridor and Northern Corridor have also not started.
The Prime Minister has postponed Vision 2020 by another 50 years to 2057. Therefore the PGCC project in Penang is also scheduled for completion by 2027. This means that the country is not going to move forward. They have no clue how to get the economy going.
#6 by HJ Angus on Tuesday, 2 October 2007 - 10:30 pm
Sending Malaysian forces to Myanmar is not really a good idea.
Our Nuri helicopters will probably crash there and our naval vessels are not sea-worthy.
Even they get there in one piece, enemy fire will probably decimate the rest.
#7 by ablastine on Tuesday, 2 October 2007 - 11:11 pm
What is the point of chanting so much scriptures and praying to Buddha. Obviously neither Buddha nor their futile prayers can save them. Buddha teaches people to be tolerant and submissive. Just nice for the Mynamar army. So easy to group the non-violent pesty monks in their monastery and put a bullet into each of their brain. End of stroy.
Strange that suicide bombing has not caught on in Mynamar. Just see how the muslim do it to the Thai army in sourthern Thailand. I am sure the Thai army is as formidable as the Mynamar army. If southern Thailand independent fighters have as much of support from the people as Mynamar has, it would have long attained its own sovernity.
If Burma is islamic instead of Buddhist, I am pretty sure Osama and gang would have screwed the Generals by now. This is the first and only time I wish Myanmar is Islamic. They can then get a free supply of suicide bombers to bomb the shit out of the armies there. To the Burmist citizen who read this I strongly recommend that they learn a thing or two from their muslim friends as to how the start a revolution! People power in Burma does not work. You need guns and plenty of it. What is the point of marching on the streets and face the inevitable-get slaughtered. If you have to die anyway may as well pull along a few of those army bastards with you.
#8 by ablastine on Tuesday, 2 October 2007 - 11:26 pm
The best thing the EU , Americans and the rest of the world can do for Burma is to help train large number of Burmist revolutionary guards (perhaps 100 000) in their own countries to prepare them to take on the present Generals. When they are fully trained supply them with state of the art weapons and coincide that with peoples march on the streets. Give them air support by bombing all barracks and General residence. The Junta will fall in a matter of days.
#9 by raven77 on Tuesday, 2 October 2007 - 11:56 pm
Mana ini Bush….Burma????……no oil
#10 by dawsheng on Wednesday, 3 October 2007 - 2:01 am
Khairy Jamaludin is a flop. Hishamudin is a sissy and both of them are racist from UMNO so, everthing also they can “hijack”. But it is meaningless because what can they do about Myanmar when under their leaderships we will soon become another Myanmar? So vote wisely!
#11 by undergrad2 on Wednesday, 3 October 2007 - 3:41 am
U.S. Congress (Democrats and Republicans united) today condemns in the strongest of terms the regime (referred to as gangsters in uniform) in Burma for the massacres and the continued incarceration of its leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Congress threatens that should anything happen to Aung San Suu Kyi who has been taken from house arrest to prison, appropriate actions will be taken against the gangsters responsible anywhere in the world they could be found.
U.S. Congress condemns the role played by China which provided more than a billion USDLS in military hardware.
In the same breath, the U.S. Congress expressed its disappointment that nothing has been done by ASEAN to stop what was happening in Burma.
#12 by Counterpoint on Wednesday, 3 October 2007 - 8:40 am
As was Saddam, short of a war how can this ruthless Junta be removed? Let’s just see how far ASEAN can go with their diplomacy on this one. This General murdered the completely defenceless monks and ASEAN lets him get away with it.
If they can’t do the job, plead for the US to come in to do the dirty work.
#13 by Bigjoe on Wednesday, 3 October 2007 - 8:58 am
KJ is committed to himself and little to anything else – a yuppie in the new millenium when we should have god rid of them after the 1980s..
What is most sad and pathetic about ASEAN countries is their inability to see what an opportunity a pro-active solution in Myanmar as being suggested by Sdr. Lim here can be. If the Junta is not forced into democractic changes this time, they are likely not to change for decades to come and worst is yet to come. This is the best opportunity to force changes in a long time in Myanmar.
ASEAN refusal to intervene is founded on one thing – their own fear of democractic movement in their own countries. Their reliance and need for autocratic rule. If ASEAN countries proactive take action, it will provide a basis for criticism of their own undemocratic practises.
But what these ASEAN existing ruling party don’t see is that if they fail to act and if the monks, with help from other parties, succeed in making democratic changes in Myanmar, they themselves lose legitimacy in the eye of their own citizens.
For that, all Malaysians and Asian should do whatever it can to help the Myanmar people. I am all for Sdr. Lim leading an ASEAN delegation, make up of any group, political, ngos to convey ASEAN people demand that junta implement democratic reform.
#14 by Jimm on Wednesday, 3 October 2007 - 10:05 am
We cannot do anything for Myanmar as this country is among one of those poorer in ASEAN. The fact that they would have certain form of backups from rich countries or individuals over their JUNTA.
There is sign of PEACE movement that will shock this region and the world. The raising of this movement to bring about democratic reform will also bring about new generation of political environment changes.
It’s going to be a rapid spread among ASEAN and ASIA region too.
It’s the beginning of the end of an old democratic practices which lasted a few centuries.
We have to prepare ourselves to the coming of the new era.
#15 by RealWorld on Wednesday, 3 October 2007 - 10:17 am
“KJ is committed to himself and little to anything else – a yuppie in the new millenium when we should have god rid of them after the 1980s..” – Bigjoe
There is indiscriminate killings in Burma and here you are ranting about KJ. It was a public protest, cant the lad go and show his support to the Burmese people??
It is very sad to see gimps taking advantage of the Burma’s situation to attack certain political leaders they are not affiliated with.
#16 by megaman on Wednesday, 3 October 2007 - 10:21 am
First of all, I am horrified by ablastine’s posts. I hope you are not serious.
Secondly, let’s forget about KJ and the other BN goons. It is so obvious that he’s just in it for the cheap publicity. Sickens me to the bone so less mentions of him would do my health a lot more.
Thirdly, let’s forget about ASEAN or any external countries making any impact on Myanmar. Not even superpower USA or neighboring China. Changes have to come from the local population themselves. You may say that the military junta has arms and weapons but how many can you kill before the ordinary soldiers themselves revolt against the generals ? I am sorry but there may need to be a lot more bloodbath before the military junta can toppled by people power in Myanmar. They should have done earlier before the military junta managed to create such a stranglehold on the country. Now, the only possible way out would a path similar to how the Cambodians removed the Khmer Rouge regime.
Sad but this is how I foresee things will happen. I pray I would be proven wrong.
#17 by Bigfoot on Wednesday, 3 October 2007 - 11:34 am
It looks like ASEAN is a weak paper tiger when it comes to dealing with Burma. It’s policy of constructive engagement has clearly failed. To make matters worse, many ASEAN nations have vested interests in Burma. And it is clearly not using whatever leverage it has on Burma.
One thing ASEAN can do, is to take a carrot & stick approach.
The carrot would be to offer safe haven for the Burmese military dictatorship (in otherwords, a life of exile), if they were to step down, and let a civilan government take over in its place. This may be palatable to ASEAN, given that they are so reluctant to act otherwise.
The stick would be to take military action, if they fail to give up power. Increasingly, this looks to be the only recourse. And it is better that ASEAN do it, rather than anyone else.
#18 by ablastine on Thursday, 4 October 2007 - 1:00 am
I do not know whether Megaman is horrified because what I wrote reverberate the truth or that he is horrified because I painted too gory and extreme a picture for public consumption. Naturally the part about Islamic militant suicide bombers and Osama and gang coming to the rescue are just crap. The military government in Pakistan is as dominant as ever despite the country being Islamic with her fair share of suicide bombers. It was just made out to suggest that the Buddhist faith does not prepare its disciples to go to war or revolution because they are really teachings to live life. The Islamic faith has more militancy in it and as such will be in a better position to protect themselves against reckless force.
As I can see, there is no particular reason why the Generals will want to make any concessions on the country. They are firmly in charge and know full well that external pressure are at most perfunctory and just irirtating. They are in the most previlege position and nobody can do anything about it. Those who can will not although those who can’t want to. Nobody is going to fight the war for a democratic Burma except the Burmist themselves.
Having a government in exile preparing for an overpowering army with the assistance of the world with the latest and best hardware in warfare is the only way out. The Generals will have no alternative but to stand down when surrounded by hundreds of thousands of well trained troops from the army in exile. Power comes from the barrel of the gun. Overwhelming superiority is the only option that can avoid bloodshed because to resist is to be annihilated. When the Gangsters Generals get the idea they will again shit their guts out begging for mercy and return the country to Ang SSY.
#19 by undergrad2 on Thursday, 4 October 2007 - 2:32 am
Why should China want to interfere? Myanmar is a large market for Chinese military hardware and technology – which has run into the billions of US dollars.
#20 by undergrad2 on Thursday, 4 October 2007 - 2:46 am
“The stick would be to take military action, if they fail to give up power. Increasingly, this looks to be the only recourse. And it is better that ASEAN do it, rather than anyone else.”
Yes, I can just imagine our Armed Forces with obsolete military hardware like 20 year old Belgium and French armored personnel carriers, Russian supplied second hand malfunctioning AK47s and second hand US supplied M16s, cannons and obsolete and malfunctioning aircraft purchased from Pakistan Air Force and ill trained soldiers and pilots and half-completed French submarines making their way to Myanmar – only to be stopped by a defying monk lying prostrate in their path!
It would be cheaper to unleash the ‘little red dragons’ to the generals. That should keep them occupied for a while.
#21 by Loyal Malaysian on Friday, 5 October 2007 - 6:14 pm
“What I am saying is that, no matter the regime’s physical power, in the end they can’t stop the people; they can’t stop freedom. We shall have our time.”
-extract of a conversation between John Pilger and Suu Yi about 10 years ago
I can only hope the sufferings of the Burmese people and monks at the hands of this ruthless regime will end soon. Not much else seems to be happening other than calls & exhortations for the army to cease and decease.