Who in China Is Happy?

In an increasingly diverse and divided China, experts cite a new key distinction: those who are burdened by the expectations of others, and those who follow their own paths.

HONG KONG—Two decades of breakneck economic growth have left Chinese society divided against itself, into rich and poor, urban and rural, old and young, with implications for the happiness of individuals and the country as a whole.

She Jixiang of the Yunnan Mental Health Center was one of the earliest Chinese psychoanalysts and psychotherapists, as China under the late reformer Deng Xiaoping emerged from Maoist isolationism and the chaos of the Cultural Revolution (1966-76).

He said that while he saw no particular reason why having more money should necessarily lead to greater happiness and satisfaction, his many years of clinical experience have shown that richer people do feel happier than poor people in China.

"I think there's a difference between rich and poor, and countryside and city. If we are talking about what sort of people we get as patients, I think there are more poor people, actually," She said.

"They are naturally going to have more worries and anxieties as a result of the requirements that life puts upon them."

High property prices, healthcare costs, and school and university fees are all economic factors that increase the amount of pressure on the individual and affect overall happiness, She added.

Impatience cited

A Beijing-based psychologist surnamed Ning said Chinese people's overall happiness has been affected in recent years by widespread impatience, an approach to goal-setting entirely geared to material wealth, and a need to compete and compare well with others.

"Most Chinese people today are focused on money, wealth, material gain," Ning said. "They think that as long as they can achieve that then everything will be fine. They get their entire sense of life satisfaction from economic success right now."

"If that goes, they have nothing to fall back on," he said.

Rural-urban divide

A major schism in Chinese society now exists between the booming high-tech cities of China's eastern seaboard and the underdeveloped rural hinterland.

Recent studies of depression and suicide in China have revealed a unique social pattern: China is the only country in which the suicide rate for females is higher than for males.

Around 90 percent of Chinese women who end their own lives live in the countryside, where they have ready access to poisonous pesticides, and where, says She, they are oppressed under traditional family structures.

"I think one of the best indicators of happiness levels in the countryside as compared with the city is in the suicide rate, which is much higher in the countryside than it is in urban areas," She said.

But he added that if people are able to break out of rural life and venture into the big cities in search of work, further psychological problems await them.

"Someone who has grown up in the country and who has never been to the big city will, I believe, actually be a bit happier than their urban counterpart," he said. "There are not so many requirements attached to rural life. You don't need much to get by. They are more satisfied because there is less of a gap between what they desire and what they have."

"But when those same people go to the cities, they see rich people everywhere, and this boosts their expectations and desire for material gain and enjoyment of life. But someone from the countryside is unlikely to be able to realize such desires, which is a very painful state, and after that happiness becomes very elusive for them," he added.

Officials are satisfied

If rural women are the least happy people in China, then a series of recent surveys has shown government officials—the most empowered people in Chinese society—at the top of surveys of life satisfaction and well-being.

A poll in September 2007 for the Chinese-language Health magazine found that civil servants make up the happiest sector of Chinese society, followed by teachers and independent professionals.

And a recent Chinese Academy of Social Sciences survey found that government officials are the happiest, followed by intellectuals and upwardly mobile professionals including private entrepreneurs, independent professionals, and management-grade workers in foreign-invested companies.

Why are Chinese officials so happy?

"Well, political power is certainly a factor," She said. "But there are a lot of other benefits to the position, including opportunities for their children and access to resources that other people don't have."

In Western countries, doctors and lawyers are highly paid, he said. In China, this is also true, but professional standards are still struggling to meet the social challenges of the market economy.

"There is now a crisis of trust in Chinese society," She said. "The basic trust between people has been eroded. There is something of a crisis too between doctors and their patients...Sure, the salary is quite high, but doctors are not a very happy bunch of people."

Generation gap

Another major form of stress and social division, according to a number of interviewees, is China's generation gap: the difference in attitude between people born and raised in an era of cradle-to-grave socialism, and their children, who must make their way in today's highly competitive labor market.

While parents said they often struggled to find enough money to educate their children to give them the best possible start in life, in keeping with traditional Chinese values, children are increasingly at odds with their parents' world view.

China's young people, according to Ning, pursue goals of greater freedom, while their parents' generation is still influenced by traditional mores that dictate what direction they think their sons and daughters should take in life.

Ms. Wu, a white-collar worker in Beijing, said she rarely discussed career matters with her parents because of a gap in understanding between the generations. "I don't tend to talk to my parents about a problem at work because they are very unlikely to know how to handle it. I find it is better to sort it out by myself," she said.

Pressure on children

Meanwhile, the obsession with competition and success is already taking a psychological toll on the young and straining family relationships, She said.

"There are a lot of middle-income families putting too much pressure on their children, who go off the rails," he said.

"We are talking about the families of teachers, workers, policemen. Especially teachers. All the way through the kids' high-school years, the parents are pushing them to work harder and achieve more, and finally the kids can't take it any more and they start to have psychological problems."

Guo Xue'an, a laid-off worker from Yichun in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang, waved goodbye to his young son, who can't find a job in his hometown and is off to the booming south to find work.

"We don't ask much in order to be happy," Guo said. "We want to be able to support ourselves in life. We want our kids to get a bit of education. That's enough...if our children can't get an education, then how can they live?" he said.

Yang Yushu, the proprietor of a privately owned restaurant in Beijing, agreed. "The two biggest problems faced by ordinary people in China these days is what to do if they get sick, and where to send their kids to school," he said.

Dreams of others

Meanwhile, psychologist Ning said the Chinese tendency to live one's entire life according to the goals and expectations of other people doesn't always lead to happiness.

"There are many aspects to happiness. One shouldn't impose too many fixed expectations on life. That way, if things aren't going very well for you in one area, often there is an opportunity to compensate in another area," he said, urging young people to resist sacrificing too much of themselves to conform to collective demands.

"Or you can take the chance to broaden your direction in life, and to deepen your understanding of what it means to be human. This is a much more complete realization of one's needs as an individual. Life is not just about material success, nor even just about feeling happy. There are many more aspects to it than that," he said.

Original reporting in Mandarin by Bai Fan. Mandarin service director: Jennifer Chou. Translated and written for the Web in English by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Sarah Jackson-Han.

Radio Free Asia

Editor aiding cyclone victims arrested by Junta

By Wai Sann - Mizzima News
15 June 2008

The Burmese military junta continues to harass and detain people and despite odds have gone out of their way to help victims of Cyclone Nargis. In its latest instance of intolerance it arrested a journalist on Friday, who had been helping survivors.

Zaw Thet Htwe, the former editor of a weekly sports journal was arrested in his home town, Minbu, according to a close relative according to a close relative who refused to be quoted by his name.

"They [local authorities] came and arrested him and blocked mobile phone connection," he said.

Zaw Thet Htwe was visiting his native town after delivering some kitchen utensils for cyclone victims in the Irrawaddy Delta.

No official reason has been given by the authorities. Nevertheless, Zaw Thet Htwe's arrest is thought to have a link with Zarganar's arrest last week.

The well-known outspoken comedian was arrested after his team was caught supplying food and shelter to cyclone victims. The authorities confiscated relief money along with the VCDs of records of his team's activities in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis.

It is not the first time that Zaw Thet Htwe has been arrested on November 2003 . He was charged with sending reports to the International Labour Organization and sentenced to life imprisonment. However, the Supreme Court quashed the sentence later against him due to pressure from the ILO.

Till date, it is not known where he has been taken. His home in Rangoon was reportedly stormed by the special police and his phone connection was also cut off.

Some reports said he was being detained in an interrogation camp in Rangoon after being transferred from Minbu Township.

Red Cross welcomes special cyclone support

Australian Red Cross CEO Robert Tickner today warmly welcomed a special contribution by the Government of South Australia to aid victims of Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar(Burma).

Mr Tickner also acknowledged the generous support of the Australian community while recognising the South Australian government's special donation of $200,000 to aid victims of the disaster cyclone.

'We sincerely appreciate this strong financial contribution from South Australian Premier Mike Rann,' Mr Tickner said.

Mr Tickner said the Government of South Australia showed 'very timely humanitarian spirit' in helping meet the massive needs in the recovery efforts for families and communities affected by the cyclone.

'This special contribution will help extend a hand to people who survived the original cyclone trauma but are now extremely vulnerable. It recognises that, as neighbours, we are able to help in times of dire need.'

Mr Tickner said there was a desperate requirement for basic shelter as well as access to clean water and first aid in the country.

Over the last few days, Red Cross flights have managed to reach the Yangon region carrying over 35 tonnes of shelter materials and supplies.

Red Cross officials estimate that by Friday (16 May) a total of 180 tonnes of Red Cross aid will have arrived in Myanmar.

Mr Tickner praised the work of Myanmar Red Cross aid workers and volunteers currently distributing life-saving relief items to affected families including drinking water, clothing, food and emergency shelter.

The Myanmar Red Cross network covers the country with key branches in the most affected areas with more than 19,000 staff and volunteers able to help in areas including first aid and relief activities.

To donate to the Myanmar Cyclone Nargis Appeal 2008:

- make an online donation
- phone 1800 811 700
- send a cheque or money order to PO Box 2957, Melbourne, 8060
- at any branch of the Commonwealth bank

Donations to the Myanmar Cyclone Nargis Appeal 2008 will:

- support the relief and recovery needs of households and communities affected by Cyclone Nargis, including clean water, emergency shelter and household items
- send specialist aid workers to assist in the Red Cross response
- assist Myanmar Red Cross in preparing and responding to this and future emergencies

Australian Red Cross will deduct no more than 10% of any donation for an international Appeal to cover its appeal costs.

Should the funds raised exceed the amount required to meet the immediate and longer term needs of the people in the affected areas, Australian Red Cross will direct the excess funds to other emergency preparedness and response initiatives in the Asia Pacific region.

Available for interview:
Or for further information:
Lachlan Quick, National media coordinator
m: 0412 912 378

Relief Web

Damage from dams

Editor - Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle aptly illustrated the problems inherent in large dam projects with its coverage of the planned Salween dams in Burma and the Xalalá Dam in Guatemala ("Villagers fear dams are bid to grab control of land," June 8).

The problems in Burma and Guatemala are sadly emblematic of most, if not all, of the large dam projects now being undertaken around the world.

While expanding their authority, government officials and dam builders invariably pay little heed to the future of the people to be displaced from their homelands. The benefits of leaving rivers undammed - such as preserving traditional livelihoods and cultures, aquatic ecosystems and maintaining free-flowing rivers - are rarely considered.

The real beneficiaries of these dams are not the displaced or even the general population of the nations involved. In Burma, the profits are likely to go to the military junta rather than to the local people. In Guatemala, the real beneficiaries of the Xalalá Dam will be the U.S. corporation AES (if it wins the project contract) and other foreign companies, as well as the banks whose loans generate revenue in interest payments.

The Chronicle is to be congratulated for pointing out the risks and dangers of rampant dam building. The United States has learned painful lessons from damming our own rivers and today far more dams are being decommissioned than built in this country. Perhaps the United States, for once, can set a good international example by encouraging dam decommissioning and discouraging the development of destructive large dam projects.

TIM KINGSTON, International Rivers, Berkeley
San Francisco Gate

NDPCC member inspects rehabilitation tasks in Ngapudaw Township

Yangon, 13 June - Member of the National Disaster Preparedness Central Committee Minister for Mines Brig-Gen Ohn Myint met with commanding officer of local battalion and those in-charge of construction companies, officials and USDA members at the control office of Pyinkhayein village, Ayeyawady Division in Ngapudaw Township on 9 June and gave instructions on rehabilitation tasks of storm-hit villages, progress in repairing schools, arrival of power-tillers and agricultural equipment and health matter.

Source: Relief Web

Dodging the Junta

by Suzy Khimm

An ad hoc grassroots aid network in Burma
has had some success working
around the country's repressive leaders.

(TNR) - Over a month after Cyclone Nargis devastated Burma's southern coast, the country's ruling junta continues to restrict international efforts to assist the disaster's victims, so domestic ad-hoc groups are taking the lead in funneling aid through back channels. The organization of these impromptu relief efforts speaks to the surprising resilience of civil society in a brutally repressive environment, showing how, despite the junta's stranglehold on Burmese society, grassroots networks and alliances have emerged within the country.

Though the junta has attempted to commandeer every level of the relief effort--backed by its legions of foot soldiers in the army and police--some local groups have found detours around the blockades, helped by ground-level officials willing to look the other way. On a Wednesday afternoon last month, a group of volunteers visited a makeshift shelter in Shwebaukan, an area in the outlying districts of Rangoon. Inside a government school--the only concrete building in the neighborhood--500 homeless cyclone victims were huddled, "being threatened by the local army guy [who was saying] that they could not stay there for long," according to a Western expatriate who accompanied the group. The military man turned out to be a member of Suan Aa Shin, the local "brute force" contingent. Two days later, the victims were evicted from the school, left to patch together lean-to shacks from the wreckage of ruined huts.

Despite the clampdown, no one stopped volunteers from returning to the area the next weekend to pass out rice, beans, and oral rehydration solution to the evicted residents. The volunteers were able to do their work because they had an established history with area leaders. Before the cyclone, they had worked on educational activities in the neighborhood, building local ties. "Local authorities are in many ways our biggest allies," said Beth Jones, program director of the Foundation for the People of Burma (FPB), a U.S.-based humanitarian group funding some of these grassroots relief efforts. "They sit on these [township] councils, participate in military activities on occasion. But there are people who have hearts and minds, concern for their fellow citizens. They're the smokescreens between the small civic groups and the higher-ups who don't want any of this going on, on the ground."

Since coming to power in 1962, Burma's junta has maintained an unyielding grip on the country's politics, media outlets, schools, public gatherings, and commercial industries. Over the past decade, however, it has conceded limited opportunities for humanitarian and educational activities to take place. Alongside a small number of international NGOs, a loose network of local advocates and community leaders has conducted public health campaigns, cultural programs, and religious activities. The regime has maintained a harsh and capricious attitude toward these civic groups, frequently cutting off access and closely monitoring their members. But their work has been provisionally tolerated, if not openly embraced, so long as the groups steer clear of politics.

Burma's monks have frequently served as the first point of contact for any grassroots-level initiative (along with their Christian and Muslim counterparts in ethnic minority communities). Among the first to be seen clearing trees after the cyclone, the monks have joined in supporting the ad-hoc relief effort. Despite the crackdown on monasteries following last year's mass demonstrations, a number of powerful local abbots have leveraged their ties with government officials to pave the way for distributions of food, clean water, and medicine, one volunteer in Rangoon reported.

Within a week of the cyclone, a coalition of local religious leaders, ethnic minority groups, student unions, labor organizers, and artists distributed aid to some 4,000 victims and quickly expanded ongoing relief to over 70,000 people. The volunteers described the junta's attempt to intensify its control of aid handouts, confiscating supplies and cutting off access to the devastated southern Delta region. International aid groups may be easy marks, but local volunteers and civic groups have also been targeted. FPB has received ongoing reports of interference by military personnel and police. Outside one of the makeshift refugee camps in Rangoon's satellite communities, "a soldier informed us that we could not give supplies to the shelter, and should instead give the money and food to a local government official," a local volunteer said in a statement released last month by the FPB. In another instance, an armed official confiscated the notebooks of local volunteers who were trying to create a census of the dead, Jones says.

In response, the ad hoc coalition has continued aid delivery under the cover of night--at times quite literally. On Saturday, May 10, one team attempted to bring clean water and medical supplies to a small hospital in one of the devastated towns beyond Rangoon. (The organizers declined to specify the exact location.) The hospital, one of the few operating in the region, had victims with broken bones and gangrenous-looking wounds waiting in a line that stretched past the doors. None had received treatment within in a week's time. The medical director tried to hurry the volunteers away, saying "You can't do it right now, you can't do it right now or they will take it away--please come back after dark," the group reported. Later that evening, the volunteers snuck back into the hospital to drop off the supplies.

Burma's civic groups and community leaders have spent years learning how to maneuver around such crushing restraints. "They have faced controls on their movements, on goods and money, on their general freedom for so long, they have learned how to rely on some of these backdoor and relationship systems," said Jones. "They know how to get things done in this environment." Because most foreign aid workers still face visa blockades and are prohibited from entering the hardest-hit regions, the coalition has recruited local doctors and nurses to tend to victims. Only a modest flow of aid from abroad has been allowed into the country, so the volunteers rely on well-connected businessmen to procure chlorine tablets and temporary toilets from local suppliers. Low-level military officers helped secure access to the Irrawaddy Delta, the epicenter of the disaster. And the civic groups have turned to blogs and fundraising newsletters to convince potential donors that their contributions won't go straight into the hands of the junta.

Given the magnitude of the devastation, however, even the most enterprising and resourceful grassroots efforts can only go so far. By the government's count, 134,000 people have died or are missing, and the U.N. says that 2.5 million are still in need of aid. The logistical hurdles of reaching the entire Delta region are beyond the scope of any small-scale operation. But though their reach may be limited, the ability of civic groups to persist with their work is evidence that the junta's control is less than total, according to Bridget Welsh, a Southeast Asia expert at Johns Hopkins University. "The fact that they let them have a space, that they have let people act, shows that [officials] on the ground believe the military is not capable of addressing the issues," She says. Such cooperation between local officials and organizers "serves to build trust and networks that bridge divides in the community that the military foster to hold onto power."

In the long run, these kinds of internal networks and linkages are key to any hope for a more open society. As Joshua Kurlantzick argued on this site, neither popular revolt nor international condemnation has led the junta to budge in the past. Over the past month, the generals have acted true to form, limiting foreign aid for fear that "destructive elements" will undermine their grip on the state. By working outside of official channels to deliver humanitarian relief, domestic civic groups have created unlikely alliances within Burma's highly militarized and stratified society: between monks and low-level officials, Delta villagers and city residents, community organizers and military cronies. However precarious these relationships, their potential impact should not be discounted. For ultimately, some analysts say, the catalyst for long-term reform will have to come from within the regime's ruling cadre itself--prompted not only by internal discontent among officers, but also by sympathy for other factions of Burmese society. "The military's mid-level officers would need to see that people are all are suffering, the same as them," says U Win Min, a Burmese exile and political analyst based in Thailand.

In the meantime, the recent disaster has created some small opportunities for Burma's fragile civil society to reconcile with the army. In the cyclone's aftermath, "[the military] even neglect their own," an expatriate in Rangoon said by email last month. "As I passed some soldiers cutting trees yesterday, I asked if they'd eaten breakfast. Of course not! So, I went back home to get them some bread."

Suzy Khimm is a writer based in New York.

Obstacles to EU-Asean FTA

By Supalak Ganjanakhundee
The Nation
June 13, 2008

A free-trade agreement between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the European Union is unlikely to take shape soon because of the big discrepancies between Asean members and political problems in Burma, said visiting Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht.

The blocs announced their vision for a free-trade agreement in 2005 but negotiations could not be concluded easily, he said. The Asean ministerial meeting in Singapore next month, which the EU will join as a dialogue partner, would not reach any common ground, he added.

De Gucht said there were big discrepancies between the economies of the 10 Asean members. Burma, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam lag behind more advanced economies such as Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. "Therefore you cannot argue that there is a homogenous bloc of Asean countries, which means you need many rules and provisions adapted to meet various national conditions," he told a gathering of the business community in Bangkok on Wednesday.

Another major obstacle for the pact is political problems in military-ruled Burma, he added.

A political stalemate arose two decades ago in Burma due to suppression of democratic movements and human rights. The most recent suppression occurred last September when the junta launched a military crackdown on street protests led by Buddhist monks that left at least 31 dead.

The EU is foremost in imposing economic sanctions against the junta.

"There are many EU member states that doubt they can come to an agreement with Asean unless there are some signs of evolution in Burma and political change there," De Gucht said.

A report on Asean-EU economic relations by Britain's Glyn Ford, submitted to the European Parliament last month, suggested that the EU human rights in the partnership and cooperation agreement prior to the conclusion of a free-trade agreement. To that extent, Burma could not be included in any deal.

OPINION: There’s a Little Bit of the Burmese General in All of Us

Lita Davidson; May 23, 2008

While the western world looks with disgust at Burma’s military, who pride themselves more on their self imposed isolation than on saving the lives of their people, the response of citizens and governments in Asia to the crisis unfolding in their region has been modest. There is very little in the way of a sense of urgency in the Asian media or in regional political bodies responding to the cyclone, nor of comment on Burma’s intransigence. Compared to reactions in the west, by Asian standards, the cyclone is a small matter indeed.

On the surface, Asia’s citizens do not appear to exhibit the same intensity of compassion on what approach to take in their media as we do in the west. In the west there is an outpouring of discourse on Burma; in Asia, this subject is fleeting. With the exception of the Burmese in exile, Thai English language news and anomalies, such as an unidentified Singaporean millionaire who on a whim donated 50,000 then quickly donated another 50,000 to the cyclone relief effort, comments from the Asian international community and general interest about the situation in Burma is meek. Stories which are printed about the situation tend to be only descriptive and come across as an everyday occurrence.

In Asia, any Asian nation that undergoes conflict, human tragedy, poverty, war or humanitarian crisis, such as the ongoing civil war in Sri Lanka and the murderous political transition in Nepal and East Timor among others, does not garner much attention or bring on much collective spirit as would be expected from among the most powerful players, including the more advanced countries of South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, and Japan, who potentially could change the dire situation given their massive economic clout.

With the exception of the Thai English language newspapers that generate lively debate among mostly ‘farang’ or western foreigners in Thailand, protests or critical analysis on situations or even knowledge about what is going on in other countries are mostly submissive and inward looking, rarely directed outward at the international level toward other countries. With the exception of individual scholars, such as, among others, Korea’s Kim Dae Jung and Basil Fernando from the Asian Human Rights Commission in Hong Kong, people within Asia, don’t really care or even know about what is going on.

Upon closer scrutiny however, individual people in Asia do feel deep compassion when they see starving and dead children just as we do in the west, but tend to keep their thoughts private and are rarely given the chance to take action or voice their opinions in a robust way on international affairs. This writer has witnessed intense debate on how to tackle poverty and conflict, but like us, feel powerless to do anything about it. Generally, people in Asia come under close scrutiny by their governments and society; group and worker meetings take place every week in most Asian societies, their behavior is monitored by coworkers and their superiors and they are exhausted after working long hours. On average, most people in Asia work longer hours than people in the west. Freedom to do as you please is not encouraged in Asia; they are socialized to succeed at all costs.

One is also humbled on learning how Asia’s political scene for many decades was shaped by western influence in which leaders were advised to do away with agitators wanting equal rights and higher wages during the Cold War, a situation repeating itself with respect to China who wants to keep their doors open to western and Asian companies and who are reluctant to reform their exploitative wage labour system so as to suit the business interests of foreign investment.

In truth, the mild response in Asian media is due to the propensity of Asian leaders to refrain from judging each other too closely, fearing that each will be held accountable for their own weaknesses, which is inconceivable, if not an uncomfortable situation for most Asian leaders. Democratic will is further weakened by the educational system in which children are brought up to not question their instructor or an authority figure, they are taught to obey, listen and produce, and applying critical thinking or a different point of view on a subject is not part of their culture, not yet anyway.

A student expressing his or her opinion may be punished severely, although this situation may be changing as governments realize that critical and imaginative analysis are the basics of innovation needed to further develop their economies. While opening up and building relationships based on cooperation with neigbhours, as demonstrated recently when China visited Japan last week, is a step in the right direction to working collectively as a group, rather than against each other.

Burma and other similar countries might as well be on another planet or in a different part of the world. People in Asia may comment they have undergone much worse catastrophes. Why should we help them? We pulled ourselves out of poverty, why should we go to their aid? Even though many have achieved a modern standard of living, there is still a great fear that one day they will fall back on hard times and staying ahead of the game is foremost on their minds.

Most are concerned about their own country’s economy and compete with each other fiercely to maintain an edge over the other, being second place to another Asian country is unthinkable, like losing a soccer match. In South Korea the outbreak of Avian bird flu has been on the front page for over 3 weeks amid rising inflation and fuel prices, and the slowing down of the economy is more of a concern. Scant mention is made of Burma and the damage inflicted by the cyclone is not as vigorously pursued in the press as it is in the west.
The Association of Southeast Nations does not appear to take as seriously the massive operation that is needed to deal with the catastrophe and shows little sign of collective will on the implication of thousands of Burmese facing starvation and disease due to the Burmese generals’ paranoia to let in foreign workers. The cyclone is mentioned briefly in small paragraphs on their website, whereas in the west, it is seen on all government and regional websites with explicit detail and moral analysis; in most Asian newspapers, very little detail about the situation is reported.

The western press and many western citizens learn about Burma including its people, the environment, and the ongoing aid effort through their local newspapers that generates a lot of public opinion among the editorial boards. It’s a shame that Asian governments do not promote more moral discourse on what goes on in other Asian countries and compete more on democratic and humanitarian principles, not just economic ones; perhaps it is their history and their leaders, but their educational system can also explain some of their silence.

As commented by a Korean in the Korean Times, “Why should we criticize Burma when we fail to even criticize atrocities committed in North Korea?” Asian media is vigorously censored and does not encourage moral discourse; however, people can wholeheartedly think and are very opinionated about their governments and what happens in other parts of the world, surprisingly even more so than us in the west, but the term ‘constructive criticism’ is a concept not quite accepted by Asian governments who do not encourage it in any positive way.

Are Asian people morally inferior? Disasters and large scale humanitarian crises have occurred in recent living memory over local and international wars in Asia in which people were powerless against dictators and roving bands of invading armies bent on rape, pillage and murder. Each Asian country has endured untold miseries while the slaughter of millions across Asia such as in South Korea, China, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Vietnam; for much of the 20th century these countries faced enormous upheaval which occurred right under our noses for many years while we in turn remained silent and culpable in their destruction.

In comparing the west and the east as most Asian and Western diplomats tend to do nowadays when it comes to the rapid pace of economic modernization in Asia, in particular, Singaporean and Malaysia diplomats, one can cite western atrocities committed in the name of religion, progress and nation. There are several horrific examples, many of which are untold; much of the 20th century was a nightmare for people in Asia, crimes and wars committed by western nations, no one is innocent.

In a recent BBC interview, Singaporean diplomat Kishore Mahbubani commented that the west can learn a lot from the east in competing, as being a model for growth. Yes, that’s true, but the east can learn from the west in promoting discourse on moral values in ensuring protection of people who can also contribute. Governments in Asia, especially from the more developed countries, need to exercise more leadership and to work collectively to address serious problems that affect the economic performance of Asian countries. Have not these diplomats realized the potential of Burma’s people who can contribute to Asia?

Kaowao News

Deep South Referendum Bombing Suspects Resurface

Asohn Vi / Kaowao; June 9, 2008

Two men suspected of setting and exploding a bomb previously believed to have been tortured to death, have resurfaced in a southern town in Mon state. According to their relatives, they now remain detained at the town’s police station.

Nai Cheem Mon (Show Tun), a former New Mon State Party (NMSP) medic and Nai Kyaw Tun were arrested after being forced to admit to the bombing during the May 10th referendum in Yin Dein (Yan Dein) village, southern Ye and were allegedly tortured with electric shock by the Army troops of Infantry Battalion (IB) No.31 based in Khaw Zar subtown. Most villagers believed they had died as a result of torture as nothing had been seen or heard from them since that time. Death as a result of torture is not uncommon in Mon state.

When the Burmese regime heard that most people in Yin Dein village planned to register a vote against the constitutional referendum, they positioned themselves in the area on May 10th; on the same day a bomb exploded near the school where the vote took place. After the explosion the military called all people suspected of planting the bomb to plead their case and eventually arrested two villagers after finding they possessed a VCD about the Saffron Revolution.

According to his wife, Mi San Aye, although Nai Cheem Mon insisted he wasn’t involved in the bombing, authorities ignored all pleas and instead detained him and subjected him to torture. Rather than hope for exemption, Mi San Aye had also assumed her husband had died as a result of torture, and so was surprised when she was recently able to meet with him. After seeing her husband for the first time in almost one month she stated that although there were no bruises evident, his speech was slurred and at times incoherent, possibly as a result of repeated electric shocks.

In a similar case the head villager of Yin Ye village, a neighboring village of Yin Dein, together with his three partners were arrested on May 28th and 30th and tortured until close to death by the town authority Infantry Battalion (IB) No.30. Their alleged crime was supporting Mon rebel groups in fundraising. All four men were given an internment on June 3rd after prominent people in their village acted as guarantors for them. The condition of their release is similar to parole; “They have to report and sign into the IB No.31 every week, confirming that they are at the village and registering their activities over the past week,” said a Yin Ye villager.

These cases are widely known throughout the Mon community around the world and have led to a strong call for both the Mon ceasefire groups and Mon rebel groups to work on a resolution.

Banya Htaw Weang, an overseas Mon community leader from America, urged and encouraged overseas Mon using the e-communication tool of Monnet, commenting, “I would like to urge the NMSP and the Hongsawatoi Restoration Party to find a solution on how to get along with each other and protect our people instead of going in different directions and allowing personal problems to become the priority. This is the time to work together.”

Many Mon believe a combined approach is required, as cases of unexplained detention and significant use of torture on Mon people increases.

Burmese force collects paddy seeds for cyclone victims

(Kaladan Press) 14 June 2008 - Maungdaw, Arakan State:

Burma's border security force, Nasaka, collected paddy seeds for seedlings for the cyclone victims, from Maungdaw and Buthidaung Townships last week, according to villagers.

The Nasaka has collected 3 kgs of paddy seeds per acre from the farmers of Maungdaw and Buthidaung Townships, in Arakan State.

They have also collected Kyat 5,000 to Kyat 10,000 per family from Buthidaung and Maungdaw Townships according to the economic standing of the family.

The Nasaka has also collected 6 to 10 cattle from one village across Maungdaw Buthidaung Townships for the cyclone victims, a village elder said on condition of anonymity.

For farmers of the Irrawaddy Delta, it is necessary to sow seeds by the end of June or else, the country's rice production would decline. Farmers have to replant their seedlings and care for them with fertilizers before the end of August, according to sources.

The cyclone could probably turn Burma-- a rice exporting nation into an importer of rice. Stocks of food have been destroyed; seeds have been damaged, while all other assets have been swept away.

Planting the next rice crop on time is very important. Farmers do not have the capital to replace the seeds, livestock and tools needed to start replanting rice in the next few months.

The Irrawaddy Delta produces almost two-thirds of Burma's rice output.

Earlier, on May 25, the Nasaka collected one kg of rice per acre, two cattle per village and 5,500 Tan (one Tan= 40.91 litre) of paddy per village for cyclone Nargis victims from villagers of Maungdaw Township.

Rohingya hides to evade arrest for dead cow

(Kaladan Press) - 14 June 2008, Buthidaung, Arakan State

A Rohingya had to go into hiding to evade arrest for he was to be fined for his dead cow, said a relative of the victim on condition of anonymity.

The victim was identified as Zar Mulluk (30), son of Amir Hussain, from Maungyi Daung (Maggbill) village-tract of Buthidaung Township, Arakan State, Burma.

On June 3 morning some cattle of the victim went to the nearby mountain to graze. The cows were returning home after grazing in the evening when a cow slipped in the heavy rain and hurtled to its death in the mountain.

On receiving information, the police of Buthidaung town summoned the owner of the cows, Zar Mulluk to the police camp, but he went into hiding for fear of arrest and being fined.

According to villagers, a cattle owner would be fined by the authorities if any cow goes missing from the lists they maintain. Earlier, Nasaka Burma's border security force made lists of cattle (domestic animals---cows, buffaloes, and goats) belonging to villagers. If any villager wanted to sell cattle Naska had to be informed and paid. If a cow died that needs to be informed too and again they have to pay money for deletion from the list.

Nevertheless, after three days, on June 7, the victim's wife settled the problem paying Kyat 70,000 to the police officer of Buthidaung town through the Village Peace and Development council (VPDC) Chairman.

The victim, Zar Mulluk, however, returned home after eight days from hiding.

UN Report Finds Corruption Hits Poor Hardest

By Chad Bouchard
Jakarta (VOA)
12 June 2008

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U.N. officials say small-scale corruption hits poor people hardest and strangles economic growth across Asia. Chad Bouchard reports from Jakarta.

Poor people in countries around the Asia-Pacific region are bombarded with illegal charges and bribes in their daily lives.

A new report released by the U.N. Development Program indicates that petty corruption perpetuates poverty and increases child mortality rates.

UNDP Assistant Secretary-General Olav Kjørven says high-profile cases of corruption at the top levels of government should not take attention away from small-scale graft.

"Poor people are the ones who can least afford to pay bribes, but they find themselves that they have no other choice in order to protect what little they have or to get access to at least some minimum social service, whether it's education or health," he said. "And so in addition to the resource transfer away from productive services for the public good at the macro-level, at the micro-level, it hurts individuals and families directly."

Kjørven says at police check points, government offices, and even schools and hospitals the poverty stricken pay extra for the services they need to sustain everyday life.

"Those are the areas where regular people need the government the most in their day-to-day lives," he said. "If the majority of the people see the government as just one big corrupt beast that is just there as a problem not as a catalyst or a facilitator for development, for progress, then the sustainability of the state itself becomes questionable."

The report recommends rooting out corruption in the justice system as a top priority, and supports public access to financial information to keep governments honest.

As much as 40 percent of the funds for infrastructure projects across the region are lost due to bid rigging and other corruption, the UNDP said.

The report was released in Indonesia, where the country's president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono says his country could be destroyed if corruption continues to grow. He has called for "shock therapy" to help root it out.

Junta shuts down pro-opposition monastery

Mizzima News, 14 June 2008 - The Burmese military junta authorities sealed a pro-opposition Buddhist monastery in Rangoon yesterday.

The township chairman and security forces arrived at the Sasana Theikpan monastery compound of Chauk Htut Gyi pagoda, Bahan Township on Friday morning and told monks they would close the monastery until an official announcement by the new head of monastery was made.

Security forces told the monks that they had come with an order from the Rangoon military commander Brigadier General Hla Htay Win.

"They locked the door of the monastery with a lock they brought with them at 5 p.m. yesterday," a monk from Sasana Theikpan told Mizzima.

The monk believed that it was a ruse and he did not expect the monastery to be reopened. Three monks of Sansana Theikpan are taking temporary shelter in two nearby monasteries.

The former head of the Sasana Theikpan monastery died recently and dozens of pro-democracy opposition activists attended the funeral service on June 7 even as the authorities monitored the funeral service.

About a hundred pro-government civil militia of the Swan Arr Shin and members of Union Solidarity Development Association were standing by to crackdown, activists told Mizzima.

Buddhist monasteries were raided and some were sealed during and after monks led a mass uprising against the government in September 2007.

Sasana Theikpan and Sasana Gonye were among the monasteries raided by security forces in Bahan Township. The latter has been shut down since the raid.

Transporting goods on two wheelers in Bhamo at great risk

A Bhamo resident was carring teak to the China border near Joi Je in Kachin State, Northern Burma.

Kachin News - Residents around Bhamo town transport Chinese made goods on their motorcycles through Loi Je city close to the Sino-Burma border to Bhamo, said a local in Bhamo.

A Bhamo resident was carring teak to the China border near Joi Je in Kachin State, Northern Burma.

“There are many risks. People carry Chinese made motor engines, food and clothes on their motorcycles along the rugged jungle terrain,” said a local.

According to residents, a Kachin transporting goods died recently on his way back to Bhamo from Loi Je after being hit by a big truck. In another instance goods being carried by three men from lower Burma were seized on the way by Burmese junta authorities.

Carriers also transport timber and sometimes face dangerous situations on the jungle route even though they get paid little for their effort. Sometimes they receive only kyat 10,000 (US $ 9) and sometimes 40,000 (US $ 36), a resident added.

Burmese Army confiscates cattle in the name of cyclone funds

Kachin News, 14 June 2008 - An artillery battalion of the Burmese army confiscated a herd of cattle from local merchants in the name of collecting funds for the cyclone-hit Irrawaddy Delta in Kachin State in Northern Burma, local sources said.

A herd of 27 cattle were being driven through the Chinese border in Kachin State for sale on May 28, 2008. The cattle owners were stopped near the Mogaung River and the herd was seized by second warrant officer Myint Thein of the No. 372 Artillery Battalion led by Major Ye Yint Twe, sources close to the merchants said.

The cattle were owned by three cattle merchants in Namma city --- Maung Shwe, Shan Ko and Thet Oo and they were driving the herd themselves, when the incident occurred, sources said.

The current price for 27 cattle is over 10 million Kyat (over US $ 8,889), a businessman in Myitkyina told KNG today.

In the hope of getting petty cash as compensation for the cattle confiscation, the owners appealed twice to Burmese junta's Northern Command Headquarters in Myitkyina Township, the capital of Kachin State. However, the military officials reasoned that "the cattle were confiscated for the fund for cyclone victims," sources said.

According to merchants in Sarhmaw (Samaw) city on the Myitkyina-Mandalay railway division, city-based Burmese Army's No. 105 Infantry Battalion (Kha La Ya) also confiscated cattle more than twice from local merchants. But interestingly the seizure was made before the cyclone hit Irrawaddy Delta.

Local cattle merchants have to bribe officers in the Burmese Army bases and regional military authorities to sell cattle near the Chinese border in eastern Kachin State, local merchants said.

Currently, rumours are doing the rounds in Kachin State that the military authorities are embezzling the funds collected in the name of cyclone victims, the residents said.

Mon News - 12-13 Jun'08

Major and two soldiers of MRP killed, guns seized

Two Burmese soldiers killed in TPP barrack

Gambling common in Burma

Police take valuables off bodies of cyclone victims in Mon state

DVB News 11-13 June'08

Labutta families commemorate cyclone victims

Bogalay schools told to reopen despite setbacks

Farmers charged admin fees to receive loans

Junta lays out guidelines for relief workers

Daw Suu awarded the freedom of Dundee

USDA joins cyclone efforts to boost image

NLD members made to sign agreement

Dalai Lama donates money for cyclone victims

Local troops evict cyclone victims in Bogalay

Commentary: Constitution and the role of citizens

Remote villagers lacking proper medical treatment - 11th

Mogok ruby city landslide kills 22, eight missing

Heavy rain caused landslide in Mogok, the land of ruby in Burma which killed at least 22 and missing 8 people this morning.

Mizzima-New Delhi: Incessant heavy rain since early morning of Thursday triggered landslides in Burma's ruby city killing 22 people. Eight people are missing, according to residents.

The heavy downpour started in the wee hours of 1 a.m. yesterday and over flowing water smashed the water bunker along the Yayni creek flooding the city which is known to produce the finest rubies, about 400 miles north or Rangoon. Several houses were destroyed; roads were inundated while landslides were triggered in some places.

Twenty two people were hospitalized, said a medical staff from Mogok Hospital on condition of anonymity. The eastern part of the town such as Laypay, Taungni, Thephyuwine, Ohnkine, Laioo quarters are the worst effected.

A resident who is helping in relief and rescue operations said eight people are still missing. The downpour continues in the land of the ruby and residents and volunteers recalled bitter experiences of landslides in the past.

The New Light of Myanmar, the official mouthpiece published a brief news on the disaster without even a mention of the death toll and destruction.

The ground where people gather to sell rubies and gems is strewn with debris. Residents said it will take time for things to normalise.

Floods are not unusual in Mogok town, which is prohibited for foreigners without special permission from the junta. The last flood occurred in August last year.

Well-informed residents complained of massive environmental damage due to mechanized gem mining by business companies.

"Gem miners are using machines which throw out all residuals into Yayni creek which causes floods easily. Despite building bunkers along the creek more and more debris from the mines are being heaped," a school teacher told Mizzima.

Cyclone Nargis hits Burmese economy

Phanida-Mizzima

13 June 2008, Chiang Mai – Economists and merchants feel that devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis will slow down Burma's economy.

The cyclone caused unprecedented damage in major rice and fishery producing Irrawaddy Division and Rangoon the economic hub of the country, resulting in Burma's economy being severely affected.

"The monsoons and the stagnating economy marks a drastic fall in demand. Farmland and roads are severely damaged. The most important factor is the soaring price of staple food, rice. These affect the demand side. This is the season for growing and planting rice, banana, and tapioca in lower Burma. But the farmers cannot grow these crops as their fields and even the ponds are inundated with saline water," Rangoon based economist U Khin Maung Nyo told Mizzima.

Soaring commodity prices and economic stagnation are usual phenomena of disasters or drastic and sudden change of situation in a country, U Khin Maung Nyo said. There will be fall and rise in prices as the situation is exploited by the merchants at such times," he added.

The price of rice rose by over 15% in Rangoon. 'Pawsanhmwe' rice rose from Kyat 36,000 per bag (about 110 lbs) to 42,000, 'Zeyar' rice rose from Kyat 24,000 per bag to 28,000. Even the wet rice, which were damaged rice with the colour turned yellow fetches Kyat 17,000 per bag.

The price of cooking oil rose by over 40%, from Kyat. 4,200 per viss (approximately 1.5 Kg) to 4,700.

Fuel price also rose by over 30% from Kyat 4,500 to 6,000 per gallon of petrol while diesel rose from Kyat 4,200 per gallon to Kyat 4,700.

A leading merchant of the 'Myanmar Chamber of Commerce and Industry' (MCCI) conceded that Burma's economy is on a downward slide.

"The cyclone made the sale sluggish. A lot of money has to be spent on relief, reconstruction and rehabilitation. The cyclone left about 2.5 million people homeless. We have to arrange all the necessary things for the survivors, food, clothing and shelter. It has hit the economy hard," he said on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal by the authorities.

The downfall of the economy affects everybody, both in retail and wholesale trade and also odd job workers according to economists.

The brokerage firms (wholesale trade) in Theinzaygyi vegetable market are getting only Kyat 30-40,000, compared to the previous usual sale of Kyat 200-300,000 per day, according to the 'MYO Family' vegetable brokerage firm.

"Business is not good these days. We rely on our customers from rural areas. They have suffered a lot in the cyclone and it hit our business hard. A few customers come and buy from our firms these days. The business was brisk earlier. Rural people cannot buy when they are in trouble," a shop owner said.

All the vegetables in this market come mainly from townships in Irrawaddy Division, mainly Labutta, Bogale and Pathein.

"The number of customers has gone down drastically. Sometimes only one or two come and buy. We do not know what to do next. Yesterday someone came and supplied readymade Rakhine Vermicelli but I did not buy as the sale is sluggish these days. The clothing and apparel shops are worst-hit. Many shop owners want to sell their shops as the sale is sluggish," a grocer from Hledan market said.

Apart from soaring essential commodity prices, most of the ordinary people cannot make ends meet with their meagre income. They have to save while shopping for food as they want to donate some money for the cyclone survivors, a housewife from Rangoon said.

"We cannot make both ends meet with our small income. We have to pay tuition fees and admission fees in schools. My daughters are government employees and can barely survive. We have stopped buying fish, pork and chicken after the cyclone. Many people have tried to donate for the cyclone victims as much as they could. We must share what we have with those who have lost everything in the cyclone," the housewife from Rangoon said.

"There are many sale and sale promotions in this monsoon season. But the customers cannot buy because they have to buy essential commodities first with their small income. So they must desist from buying unnecessary goods. Government employees and poor people have to suffer more. They cannot buy most goods," a housewife in Tamwe Township said.

The school uniform and stationery shop in Latha Township also had poor sales figures. Sales fell by 50% in the school re-opening season. This shop usually does brisk sale in this season.

"We must take some time to recover from the economic stagnation and sluggishness. This is some sort of recession. We must take give at least six months. We cannot expect foreign aid to help us recover from the current situation. We need good economic management and good leadership to recover from the current crisis. We must rely on ourselves. The economy will improve a little bit when we have such a leadership and management," U Khin Maung Nyo said.

Junta close down relief camps

Bangkok (IOL)- Foreign doctors have started leaving cyclone-hit Myanmar as the junta has closed down many relief camps in the affected areas, a senior Thai health ministry official said on Friday.

The military government had told Thailand not to send a third batch of medics, meant to leave for Yangon on Monday, as most of the camps in the Irrawaddy delta town of Myaungmya had been closed, Surachet Satitniramai, a co-ordinator for the Thai team, said.

"Doctors from India, Japan and the Philippines have already left Myanmar as many camps have been closed down," he said, adding that the only doctors left at the few camps remaining in the area were all Myanmar locals.

"They said they had enough doctors to deal with the situation now and will call out for help if they need more," he said.

Cyclone Nargis hit the densely populated delta in May, killing up to 134 000 people and leaving 2,4 million destitute. Despite the magnitude of the disaster, the junta has been reluctant to admit outside aid operations.

The United Nations called Myanmar's neighbours in south-east Asia and other donors to give more than one million gallons of emergency diesel supplies to help farmers in the devastated delta replant rice crops before the end of July.

"The window of opportunity is very short, and the need is of the utmost urgency," UN official Noeleen Heyzer said.

"The planting season in the Delta is June to July, after which it will be too late - with disastrous consequences for food security in Myanmar and the region."

(Reporting by Nopporn Wong-Anan; Editing by Ed Cropley)