Blog Reactions to Bhutto's Assassination

It did not take long for blogs and online comment forums to erupt with reaction to the attack on Benazir Bhutto at a rally in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Ms. Bhutto died in the attack, either of gunshot wounds or injuries from a suicide bombing or both, and more than 20 others at the scene were also killed.

Though there have been a number of attacks on Ms. Bhutto’s life in recent months, along with other political violence in the country, and she has said often that her life was in danger, the common initial reaction to the assassination is naturally one of shock.

On the All Things Pakistan blog, Adil Najam writes:

I, like most Pakistanis, am still too numb with shock and grief to think coherently about what has happened or what the implications of this are for the country and for the world. But this I know, whether you agreed with her political positions or not, you cannot but be in shock. Even as I type these lines I am literally shaking. Hers was a tragic life story.

A poster using the name “Quote” on Sepia Mutiny, a blog for the South Asian diaspora, writes:

Benazir has been in public life for 30 years, and in politics for 20 years and by now you either loved her or hated her. I’m not a real Pakistani, but I remember the euphoria of 1988 pretty well, and the crashing disappointment of the her second term in the 90s, when only dedicated PPP partisans still believed in her. Reading the news this morning was like a punch in the gut.

(PPP is the Pakistan People’s Party, which Ms. Bhutto led.)

Many bloggers and commenters are noting that the Bhutto family is regarded in Pakistan almost as a royal family, and that it has been touched repeatedly by political violence and tragic death — comparisons with the Kennedys are common.

Adil Najam again:

At a human level this is a tragedy like no other. Only a few days ago I was mentioning to someone that the single most tragic person in all of Pakistan - maybe all the world - is Nusrat Bhutto. Benazir’s mother. Think about it. Her husband, killed. One son poisoned. Another son assassinated. One daughter dead possibly of drug overdose. Another daughter rises to be Prime Minister twice, but jailed, exiled, and finally gunned down.

Today, in shock, I can think only of Benazir Bhutto the human being. Tomorrow, maybe, I will think of politics.

Read on about Bhutto's assassination.

To be humans, we need Rights

Today marks the United Nations’ International Human Rights Day. There has been a plethora of human rights issues in the world over the years ranging from outright discriminations, child labour, slavery to abuses such as torture and inhumane treatments or punishments. As UN’s Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has mentioned:

It is our duty to ensure that these rights are a living reality -- that they are known, understood and enjoyed by everyone, everywhere. It is often those who most need their human rights protected, who also need to be informed that the Declaration exists -- and that it exists for them.

The term “human rights” seemed like something very abstract and difficult to be understood by common people and nothing beats having a video and some pictures to persuade people that protecting and promoting human rights is necessary.

Above: Jim Carrey spoke about the human rights violations in Burma. Children being forced to become soldiers in Burma as a result of continued military expansion, high desertion rates and a lack of volunteers. There has been a clear violation of minimum age for military recruitment. Aung San Suu Kyi has been wrongfully put under house arrest even though she had earned the right to set up a democratic government.

Right: Sudan - Civilians under attack in scramble for Darfur. Relief organisations are still facing problems reaching people in need, due to insecurity, poor road infrastructure, the size of the territory affected (roughly equivalent to France), and the ongoing rainy season. Therefore, according to the United Nations, needs in most sectors (food, shelter, clean water, primary health care) are only being partially met.

Left: Mass graves in Iraq graphically testifies to the brutality of Saddam Hussein’s regime and the challenges of building a more pluralistic and law-based state.

While we may count ourselves lucky to live in a peaceful and affluent society like Singapore, there is still a need for a platform to address several human rights issues such as maid abuses, child abuses, and discriminations against other races, women and homosexuals etc. Thus, I fully support the petition calling for the setting up of a national human rights commission in Singapore led by SG Human Rights’ founding member and lawyer Chia Ti Lik.

The following article was obtained from AsiaOne:

Group of human rights activists on Sunday launched a petition calling for the setting up of a national human rights commission.

The call comes from SG Human Rights, a nine-member informal group set up in October following the July decision by Asean leaders to include a provision for a human rights body in the Asean Charter.

Its petition launch took place at the Speakers' Corner in Hong Lim Park and was one of several activities held around the island at the weekend to commemorate Human Rights day on Monday.

The day marks the anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly's adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on Dec 10, 1948.

Founding member Chia Ti Lik, a lawyer and former Workers' Party member, said the group felt that more attention needed to be paid to human rights if Singapore was to become a truly first-world nation.

He hopes for an independent panel that would check human rights abuses and educate the public on human rights issues.

World AIDS Day Means Little in Burma

December 1 was the 20th World AIDS Day and people around the word celebrated and commemorated the occasion. However, in Burma, HIV/AIDS activists and volunteers are being arrested and hunted down daily by the military authorities.

Phyu Phyu Thin, a well-known HIV/AIDS activist and member of the National League for Democracy, who was active in the recent demonstrations, is now in hiding from the security forces while several youth members of the NLD who were working with her group of nationwide volunteers have either been arrested or are in hiding too.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy by telephone from her hiding place on Friday, Phyu Phyu Thin said that since 2002 the volunteer group has taken care of more than 1,800 persons living with HIV/AIDS throughout the country.

This year alone, they have taken in about 600 new persons living with HIV/AIDS. Of those, about 200 patients are now directly under their care, while another 40 patients are receiving antiretroviral (ARV) drugs from their group.

“The hunting down and arresting of HIV/AIDS workers is not only disturbing for us, but is also disappointing and discouraging for the patients,” she said, adding that the group now has to recruit new volunteers to replace those who have been arrested or have had to go into hiding. The volunteers take on several duties, including buying medicine for the patients and helping to arrange treatment with various NGOs.

According to Yazar, a colleague of Phyu Phyu Thin, many of the HIV/AIDS patients are wives and children of bus drivers and fishermen who often have contact with sex workers.

This year, he said, the group has taken in many pregnant women who have been infected with the HIV/AIDS virus, while about 18 persons, including one child, had died while under their care.

He claimed that the patients usually died because they did not recognize their symptoms in time, were misdiagnosed or received poor treatment.

Yarzar added that since July 2006, when HIV/AIDS clinics stopped supplying ARV drugs to new patients, many victims of the disease have come directly to the volunteer group.

ARV treatment is available in Rangoon through the AZG clinic run by French-based Médecins Sans Frontières and the Rangoon Infectious Diseases Hospital [Wai Bar Gi].

However, limited funds are available and several patients must be referred to local NGOs, such as Yankin Yate Mon, who specifically treat patients who have contracted the virus from drug usage.

Singapore's Pump Prices Up Again

Pump prices went up again. There are more cars and drivers than there used to be. The uprising China and India demand more energy. The world is also experiencing more and more extreme weather conditions which require more energy to cool down or heat up the homes and offices but the world's oil supply is following an opposite trend. Can our government bring down the price of oil?

*You can purchase the informative "The Oil Age" poster online. It describes the world oil production and depletion problem, shows a detailed map of the current world oil reserves and explains the important use of oil in various industries like food and plastic production.

The following article titled Oil Prices: It Gets Worse was obtained from Time.com

This gloomy assessment comes from the International Energy Agency, the Paris-based organization representing the 26 rich, gas-guzzling member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The agency is not known for alarmist warnings, and its World Energy Outlook is typically viewed by policy wonks as a solid indicator of global energy supplies. In a marked change from its traditionally bland, measured tones, the IEA's 2007 report says governments need to make urgent, bold decisions on energy policy, or risk massive environmental and energy-supply crises within two decades — crises and shortages that could spark serious global conflicts.

"I am sorry to say this, but we are headed toward really bad days," IEA chief economist Fatih Birol told TIME this week. "Lots of targets have been set but very little has been done. There is a lot of talk and no action."

The reason for the IEA's alarm is its expectation that economic development will raise global energy demands by about 50% in a generation, from today's 85 million barrels a day to about 116 million barrels a day in 2030. Nearly half that increase in demand will come from just two countries — China and India, which are electrifying hundreds of cities and putting millions of new cars on their roads, most driven by people who once walked, or rode bicycles and buses. By 2030, those two countries will be responsible for two-thirds of the world's carbon gas emissions, which are the primary human activity causing global warming.

India and China have argued against enforcing strict emission controls in their countries, on the grounds that these could hinder their economic growth and prompt a global economic slowdown. But the new IEA report says working with China and India on alternative energy sources and curbing emissions is a matter of global urgency.

The bad news is not only environmental. As the world scrambles to boost energy supplies over the next two decades, an ever-greater percentage of its supplies of oil and gas will come from a dwindling number of countries, largely arrayed around the Persian Gulf, as the massive North Sea and Gulf of Mexico deposits are finally exhausted. That will leave the industrialized countries far more dependent on the volatile Middle East in 2030 than they are today, and the likes of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iran will dictate terms to companies like ExxonMobil and Chevron, which increasingly operate as contractors to state-run oil companies in many producer nations.

"Most of the oil companies are going to be in an identity crisis, and need to redefine their business strategies," Birol says. The soul-searching may have already begun, as oil executives begin sounding the alarm about the supply crunch that lies ahead. Last week, Christophe de Margerie, CEO of the French oil giant Total, told the Financial Times that even the target of 100 million barrels a day is an optimistic one for an industry that currently produces 85 million — far short of the 116 million barrels a day the IEA projects will be needed by 2030 to fuel the global economy.

And in a sharp departure from the usually reassuring comments offered by Big Oil executives, De Margerie said companies and governments now realize that they have overestimated the amount of oil that could be extracted from places difficult to reach and costly to explore. "It is not my view, it is the industry view," he said. In other words, the message is that the current sky-high oil prices may not be a temporary burden on the world economy.

Forecasting prices, however, has become an increasingly inexact science for analysts, as prices in recent months have galloped ahead of their worst predictions. Says Oswald Clint, a London-based analyst for Sanford Bernstein: "A year ago, our predictions for November 2007 were about $50 to $62 dollars a barrel" — at least $35 short of Tuesday's price. The oil-research firm predicts that expanded production will bring oil prices back to $70 a barrel by 2010. But to Birol, that sounds optimistic.

"If you want to lower prices you have to slow down oil demand growth in China and India, use cars more efficiently, use biofuels, and also convince producing countries to pump more oil," says Birol. But he is uncertain any of that will happen. "I don't see the political will." Then again, nothing fuels political will like a soaring price at the gas pump.

Activists attack ASEAN on lack of Burma pressure

HONG KONG (Reuters) - A leading Myanmar(Burma) dissident slammed ASEAN's failure to pressure the junta over its crackdown on pro-democracy protests, as the 10-member group unveiled a charter on Tuesday that enshrined human rights and democracy.

"It's a historical moment for them to sign the charter, which is supposed to be the charter for the protection and promotion of human rights, and now they let the (Myanmar) regime take over their agenda," said Khin Ohmar, a former student leader of Myanmar's 1988 uprising, in which up to 3,000 people died.

"Now they're taking sides with the regime it seems. I think it's a bad step and backtracking," she said at the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents Club.

The ASEAN charter, unveiled at a summit marking the grouping's 40th anniversary, aims to integrate the economies of its 10 member-nations and to "strengthen democracy, enhance good governance and the rule of law, and to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms".

"Burma has been a major shame for ASEAN," Khin Omar said. "The social, economic and security aspects that it's looking to resolve and promote in the region, will not happen if they don't resolve Burma's situation." (Also read "US says ASEAN reputation at stake over handling of Myanmar")

DEMOCRACY THROUGH DEVELOPMENT

Myanmar's Foreign Minister U Nyan Win told his Japanese counterpart on Tuesday in Singapore that Western sanctions had hurt ordinary citizens the most and the way toward democratization was through economic development.

"The West has imposed economic sanctions, which directly harm the lives of ordinary citizens," a Japanese official quoted U Nyan Win as telling Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura.

"I am not aware of a case in which sanctions resulted in the progress of democratization. Rather, economic development leads to democratization."

Nyan Win also criticized the West for only listening to the opposition.

"Not everything that the opposition, which stands up to the government, says is correct. Only when one realizes that there are mistakes among the opposition, can we come closer to each other."

Small demonstrations around the region were staged to protest what critics say is ASEAN's soft approach to the junta's iron-fisted rule.

In Singapore, four Singaporeans defied a ban on both Myanmar protests and a general law on group protests with a march towards the ASEAN summit venue, while in Bangkok about 20 activists protested in front of the stock exchange.

In Kuala Lumpur, some 200 people from Myanmar living in Malaysia staged a skit mocking Myanmar's crackdown on the recent monk-led protests in the country.

ASEAN diplomats say the group is grappling with a dilemma. On the one hand, Myanmar's membership is complicating its efforts to create a powerful and influential bloc in a globalize world. But shoving the junta beyond the pale would drive Myanmar further into China's embrace and to ASEAN's disadvantage.

ASEAN has instead opted for "engagement" with Myanmar, calling on the junta to work with the United Nations towards democracy and to release political detainees.

"It's been a buffer state between China and India," said Tony Regan at energy consultancy Nexant. "The ASEAN policy was to take on Myanmar as a friend and therefore make it less vulnerable and less paranoid. Now they have a credibility problem."

Khin Omar said ASEAN was setting itself up for more pressure. "If they don't get some kind of resolution toward Burma during this summit, I think the whole international community and governments will put more pressure on ASEAN.

By James Pomfret

(Additional reporting by George Nishiyama and Koh Gui Qing in Singapore, Jalil Hamid in Kuala Lumpur, and Nopporn Wong-Anan in Bangkok; Writing by Bill Tarrant; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)

Climate Change: Global Warming is for real

The planet is warming, from North Pole to South Pole, and everywhere in between. Globally, the mercury is already up more than 0.8 degree Celsius, and even more in sensitive polar regions.

MAP OF GLOBAL WARMING IMPACTS

And the effects of rising temperatures aren’t waiting for some far-flung future. They’re happening right now. Signs are appearing all over, and some of them are surprising. The heat is not only melting glaciers and sea ice, it’s also shifting precipitation patterns and setting animals on the move.

Some impacts from increasing temperatures are already happening.

• Ice is melting worldwide, especially at the Earth’s poles. This includes mountain glaciers, ice sheets covering West Antarctica and Greenland, and Arctic sea ice.
• Researcher Bill Fraser has tracked the decline of the Adélie penguins on Antarctica, where their numbers have fallen from 32,000 breeding pairs to 11,000 in 30 years.
• Sea level rise became faster over the last century.
• Some butterflies, foxes, and alpine plants have moved farther north or to higher, cooler areas.
• Precipitation (rain and snowfall) has increased across the globe, on average.
• Spruce bark beetles have boomed in Alaska thanks to 20 years of warm summers. The insects have chewed up 4 million acres of spruce trees.

Other effects could happen later this century, if warming continues.

• Sea levels are expected to rise between 7 and 23 inches (18 and 59 centimeters) by the end of the century, and continued melting at the poles could add between 4 and 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters).
• Hurricanes and other storms are likely to become stronger.
• Species that depend on one another may become out of sync. For example, plants could bloom earlier than their pollinating insects become active.
• Floods and droughts will become more common. Rainfall in Ethiopia, where droughts are already common, could decline by 10 percent over the next 50 years.
• Less fresh water will be available. If the Quelccaya ice cap in Peru continues to melt at its current rate, it will be gone by 2100, leaving thousands of people who rely on it for drinking water and electricity without a source of either.
• Some diseases will spread, such as malaria carried by mosquitoes.
• Ecosystems will change—some species will move farther north or become more successful; others won’t be able to move and could become extinct. Wildlife research scientist Martyn Obbard has found that since the mid-1980s, with less ice on which to live and fish for food, polar bears have gotten considerably skinnier. Polar bear biologist Ian Stirling has found a similar pattern in Hudson Bay. He fears that if sea ice disappears, the polar bears will as well.

Source for the article: IPCC, 2007

Movie Review – Tom Cruise’s Lions for Lambs

I watched the movie last weekend. “Lions for Lambs” is a 90-minute movie of intense and rather intellectual dialogues between the different characters – Senator Irving (Tom Cruise) and a journalist named Janine (Meryl Streep), the same actor in the movie “The Devil Wears Prada”.

“Lions For Lambs” is really a movie of more talk than action. It attempts to expose the truth that is nothing new to many people: The politicians who defend their ideals with plastic faces, the media companies that work with the government on the war of propaganda, the soldiers (lions) who fight for the country that does not even take care of them in the first place and also activists who try to motivate the politically apathetic citizens(lambs) like the “ace” student Todd.

In my opinion, it’s not that the scripts are so poorly-written but dialogues are too loaded. It tries to explain the US foreign policy on war on terrorism but too much conversations are presented at one go in such a short period of time without allowing the audience to absorb and internalise them. I suspect a good portion of the audience probably found the movie quite boring and they were probably stunned by the abrupt ending. I would grade it a 2.5 stars out of 5. Watch the trailer below to decide if you want to watch it this weekend.

Update: One of the six US presidential candidates, Democrat Mr Barack Obama mentioned that the Iraq war "should have never been authorised and should have never been waged", contrary to this US foreign policy which the Republicans are in support of.

Democracy's Root: Diversity

I have found this interesting article on Diversity and Democracy. The article named Democracy's Root: Diversity was written by Thomas L. Friedman on New York Times:

Last Tuesday, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia met Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican — the first audience ever by the head of the Catholic Church with a Saudi monarch. The Saudi king gave the pope two gifts: a golden sword studded with jewels, and a gold and silver statue depicting a palm tree and a man riding a camel.

The BBC reported that the pope “admired the statue but merely touched the sword.” I think it is a great thing these two men met, and that King Abdullah came bearing gifts. But what would have really caught my attention — and the world’s — would have been if King Abdullah had presented the pope with something truly daring: a visa.

You see, the king of Saudi Arabia, also known as the Keeper of the Two Holy Mosques of Mecca and Medina, can visit the pope in the Vatican. But the pope can’t visit the king of Saudi Arabia in the Vatican of Islam — Mecca. Non-Muslims are not allowed there. Moreover, it is illegal to build a church, a synagogue or a Hindu or Buddhist temple in Saudi Arabia, or to practice any of these religions publicly.

As BBCnews.com noted, “some Christian worship services are held secretly, but the government has been known to crack down on them, or deport Filipino workers if they hold even private services. ... The Saudi authorities cite a tradition of the Prophet Muhammad that only Islam can be practiced in the Arabian Peninsula.”

I raise this point because the issue of diversity — how and under what conditions should “the other” be tolerated — is roiling the Muslim world today, from Lebanon to Iraq to Pakistan. More churches and mosques have been blown up in the past few years than any time I can remember.

A senior French official suggested to me that maybe we in the West, rather than trying to promote democracy in the Middle East — a notion tainted by its association with the very Western powers that once colonized the region — should be focusing on promoting diversity, which has historical roots in the area.

It’s a valid point. The very essence of democracy is peaceful rotations of power, no matter whose party or tribe is in or out. But that ethic does not apply in most of the Arab-Muslim world today, where the political ethos remains “Rule or Die.” Either my group is in power or I’m dead, in prison, in exile or lying very low. But democracy is not about majority rule; it is about minority rights. If there is no culture of not simply tolerating minorities, but actually treating them with equal rights, real democracy can’t take root.

But respect for diversity is something that has to emerge from within a culture. We can hold a free and fair election in Iraq, but we can’t inject a culture of diversity. America and Europe had to go through the most awful civil wars to give birth to their cultures of diversity. The Arab-Muslim world will have to go through the same internal war of ideas.

I just returned from India, which just celebrated 60 years of democracy. Pakistan, right next door, is melting down. Yet, they are basically the same people — they look alike, they eat the same food, they dress alike. But there is one overriding difference: India has a culture of diversity. India is now celebrating 60 years of democracy precisely because it is also celebrating millennia of diversity, including centuries of Muslim rule.

Nayan Chanda, author of a delightful new book on globalization titled “Bound Together: How Traders, Preachers, Adventurers, and Warriors Shaped Globalization,” recounts the role of all these characters in connecting our world. He notes: “The Muslim Emperor Akbar, who ruled India in the 16th century at the pinnacle of the Mughal Empire, had Christians, Hindus, Jain and Zoroastrians in his court. Many of his senior officials were Hindus. On his deathbed, Jesuit priests tried to convert him, but he refused. Here was a man who knew who he was, yet he had respect for all religions. Nehru, a Hindu and India’s first prime minister, was a great admirer of Akbar.”

Akbar wasn’t just tolerant. He was embracing of other faiths and ideas, which is why his empire was probably the most powerful in Indian history. Pakistan, which has as much human talent as India, could use an Akbar. Ditto the Arab world.

I give King Abdullah credit, though. His path-breaking meeting with the pope surely gave many Saudi clerics heartburn. But as historic as it was, it left no trace. I wished the pope had publicly expressed a desire to visit Saudi Arabia, and that the king would now declare: “Someone has to chart a new path for our region. If I can meet the pope in the Vatican, I can host Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Shiite and Buddhist religious leaders for a dialogue in our sacred house. Why not? We are secure in our own faith. Let us all meet as equals.”

Why not?

Repression has not stopped a single moment in Burma

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations expert on human rights in Myanmar vowed on Wednesday he would not be constrained by the military junta when he visits the country next month to report on the recent crisis. U.N. special rapporteur Paulo Sergio Pinheiro said he believed detentions continued after last month's suppression of demonstrations, which were led by Buddhist monks in several major cities in the impoverished southeast Asian state.

"What annoys me is that the repression has not stopped a single moment -- this is what annoys me -- despite all the universal appeals," he told reporters at the United Nations.

In a letter to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday, which was made public on Monday, Foreign Minister Nyan Win said Pinheiro could visit Myanmar before a summit of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) opening on November 17. It will be his first visit to the country in four years. "I will ask free access, the secretary general will ask free access," Pinheiro said, adding that visiting prison cells to speak to detainees was "a requirement."

"Today the ambassador (of Myanmar) assured me that they will give full cooperation," he added. "If they don't give me full cooperation, I go to the plane." Asked if he was concerned that his movements might be restricted, Pinheiro said: "Usually I go where I want." Pinheiro has said he believes the crackdown last month killed many more than the 10 deaths officially acknowledged. Pinheiro, a Geneva-based Brazilian law professor who reports to the U.N. Human Rights Council, has visited Myanmar six times since 2000. But he has not been allowed back since November 2003, despite repeated requests. He said he now intended to visit for around five days immediately after U.N. Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari, who expects to go in the first week of November on a mission to facilitate dialogue with the opposition.

"SITUATION OF FEAR PREVAILS"

Pinheiro said his mission was different and more restricted -- to investigate detentions and human rights abuses during and since the crackdown that drew international condemnation. He said Myanmar's U.N. ambassador had informed him that 2,675 of those detained during the protests had since been released. "I don't know how many people continue to be detained," he said. "I think that the situation of fear prevails, I don't think that the repression...has finished." Pinheiro said that as the protests gathered steam in Myanmar last month, there were plenty of warnings that the government would crack down harshly if the international community did not act.

"The international community was not very fast and then you had this terrible repression. But it was a foretold repression," he said. "The government waits for a few days just to observe who was being engaged and then the crackdown comes." The protests were the biggest challenge to 45 years of unbroken military rule in the former Burma since 1988, when some 3,000 protesters were believed killed by soldiers. Myanmar's ruling military junta has faced international pressure, including from its main ally China, to make concessions to democracy activists led by Nobel prize-winner Aung San Suu Kyi.

Is it time to scrap the United Nations Security Council?

Burma is truly a human rights disaster. The violence and brutality meted out routinely to dissidents show the military leaders do not treat their people with any decent respect. Now even children and pregnant women are chained up and heavily guarded by soldiers. No reconciliation talks with the junta will work.

So what’s the point of sending Gambari for the second time in November, when the United Nations and Gambari know more Burmese people are still going to be tortured and killed during the meantime. Is it not time to scrap the United Nations Security Council for its inability to resolve the situation with a harder stance?

The following article was obtained from The Age:

AN AMERICAN tourist has told of seeing children and pregnant women among the families of pro-democracy supporters, chained together and under heavy guard on a river ferry deep inside Burma.

The encounter indicates for the first time that a crackdown on dissidents now probably extends to their relatives and is being carried out in a thorough and ruthless fashion by the ruling military junta, even in remote parts of the country.

Tourist Scott Herbstman, 41, from New York, said: "These were the families of people who had been arrested during the protests in Yangon. They were in fear for their lives. From the look on their faces and their frequent tears, it was clear that they believed they were travelling to almost certain death."

One of the shackled women was nine months pregnant, he said. Another prisoner indicated through hand signals that she, too, was pregnant. Four children were among those chained, he added. A two-year-old child and the wife of one young prisoner, whom he believed to be a democracy activist, accompanied the group, free of handcuffs.

Mr Herbstman, who travels extensively in Asia, Africa and South America for six months each year, said: "It was a nightmarish encounter. We couldn't help but feel sorry for these people." He and his Thai girlfriend, Jitnah Jintanaporn, were making a journey down the Irrawaddy, having begun their trip in the remote north, close to the river's source. Over three days and nights, sitting on a slow, crowded ferry, Mr Herbstman managed to ascertain details from the prisoners, in spite of the constant presence of guards armed with machine guns.

"There were 10 men, 10 women and four boys in chains," he said. "The youngest was about eight. Because there was no room on the boat, they were placed next to us and we had to walk through the group whenever we went to the toilet. The prisoners were kept in pairs, handcuffed together. "They would be taken to the toilet in pairs, escorted each time by three guys carrying machine guns. There were about 15 armed guards all told."

Mr Herbstman said that because the Irrawaddy ferries are so slow and unreliable, tourists seldom used them. The encounter took place on a stretch of the river between Pyay and Yangon. The prisoners boarded at Magwe and Mr Herbstman learned that the prisoners were bound for a detention centre in Tayet.

In Rangoon, the military-run Government freed the country's top comedian, Zaganar, and an actor who had been arrested for supporting Buddhist monks in anti-Government protests. Zaganar, actor Kyaw Thu and his wife were freed on Wednesday, one of their colleagues said.

Bush: Threat of World War III if Iran goes nuclear

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush warned on Wednesday a nuclear-armed Iran could lead to World War III as he tried to shore up international opposition to Tehran amid Russian skepticism over its nuclear ambitions.

Bush was speaking a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has resisted Western pressure to toughen his stance over Iran's nuclear program, made clear on a visit to Tehran that Russia would not accept any military action against Iran. At a White House news conference, Bush expressed hope Putin would brief him on his talks in Tehran and said he would ask him to clarify recent remarks on Iran's nuclear activities.

Putin said last week that Russia, which is building Iran's first atomic power plant, would "proceed from the position" that Tehran had no plans to develop nuclear weapons but he shared international concerns that its nuclear programs "should be as transparent as possible."

"The thing I'm interested in is whether or not he continues to harbor the same concerns that I do," Bush said. "When we were in Australia (in September), he reconfirmed to me that he recognizes it's not in the world's interest for Iran to have the capacity to make a nuclear weapon." Bush, who has insisted he wants a diplomatic solution to the Iranian issue, is pushing for a third round of U.N. sanctions against Iran.

Russia, a veto-holding member of the Security Council, backed two sets of limited U.N. sanctions against Iran but has resisted any tough new measures.

Stepping up his rhetoric, Bush said a nuclear-armed Iran would pose a "dangerous threat to world peace." "We've got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel," he said. "So I've told people that, if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."

PUTIN'S "SPECIAL MESSAGE"

Iran rejects accusations it is seeking to develop a nuclear bomb, saying it wants nuclear technology for peaceful civilian purposes such as power generation, and has refused to heed U.N. Security Council demands to halt sensitive uranium enrichment.

Chief Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani was quoted by Iran's official IRNA news agency on Wednesday as saying that Putin had delivered a "special message" on its atomic program and other issues. No other details were given.

Putin's visit on Tuesday was watched closely because of Moscow's possible leverage in the Islamic Republic's nuclear standoff with the West. It was the first time a Kremlin chief went to Iran since Josef Stalin in 1943. Asked about Putin's "special message," U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said he was not aware of any deal or offer put forward by Moscow to Tehran over the nuclear program.

On Russian opposition to Caspian Sea states being used to launch attacks against Iran, Casey reiterated that Bush kept all his options on the table but that the United States was committed to the diplomatic path with Tehran.

(Additional reporting by Frederick Dahl in Tehran and Sue Pleming in Washington)

Can You Survive On $1 A Day? Support The World Food Day. Make Poverty History

It is unimaginable in Singapore that anyone can possibly survive on $1 for a day as a meal at the foodcourt does not come cheaper than $3 and a bus ride from home to work place would have cost more than $1. But according to statistics, it is a fact that almost 1 billion live in poverty, with a daily income of less than $1. Even in a country where the living standards are low, I think it is still not possible to maintain basic needs such as adequate daily nutritional intake, safe drinking water, basic sanitation, a livelihood that can support survival, that can give a chance for a child to make his or her way through school, access to essential health services in a health emergency or a disease spell.

When those conditions are not met, I think that is considered as extreme poverty. We always talk about education being one of the most effective keys to overcome poverty but for the poorest, education is more like a luxury. Parents cannot afford books, uniforms, stationery etc for their children whose ability to succeed at studies might be hindered by poor living conditions and extreme hunger.

In one of the documentaries I have watched, it reported that 1 in 5 people in the world cannot read or write at all. They do not even know anything outside their hometown or the name of their country’s president. All their efforts are focused on the daily struggle to find food to survive. No overseas holiday trips. No entertainment like movies and clubbings. No McDonald’s(Their children probably do not even know the restaurant exisited). No TV. No tuition, no toys, no computer games for the children like what we have here in Singapore.

In my opinion, poverty and the lack of education together forms a vicious cycle where the poor cannot afford education, and the illiterate cannot hope to earn enough to overcome poverty. Those caught in the cycle tend to remain poor throughout their life.

But do we even need to bother about how others are suffering outside the cosy homes of ours? Our religions have taught us a lot about empathy for fellow human beings and it is time to put our learnings in humanitarianism in practice. Support The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations as it celebrates World Food Day on 16 Oct 2007. Themed “The Right to Food”, the organisation aims to bring awareness of the importance of human rights in eradicating hunger and poverty and hastening and deepening the sustainable development process. Back at home, Singapore is also having an event "Stand Up and Speak Out" to demand world leaders to keep their promises to end extreme poverty.

Any little amount of donation can make a difference. I have made my donation to the World Food Programme. Have you?

Burmese Sanction Unnecessary?

CNN's interview with PM Lee was aired on Friday evening but I was unhappy with PM Lee's answers to the questions on whether Singapore is a money laundering centre for members of Burmese junta and on whether Singapore should have more concrete actions other than just issuing statements. I will quote the interview reported by Reuters and Channelnewsasia.

If you have read through the whole article on both news providers, you might notice quotes by PM Lee like "dirty money and money laundering" were not published in the CNA article. I feel it might be an intentional effort by our news provider to prevent Singaporeans from questioning the government on this aspect probably because recently Singapore has had some hard time with Indonesia and the international media on the allegations of corrupt Indonesians running off to Singapore and parking their illegal money into our banks because of Singapore's strict bank secrecy laws which could make it convenient for money laundering activities to take place.

"Secondly, if you want to have sanctions, it cannot just be Singapore or even ASEAN, but all of the countries in the world have to do that, and that includes the Western countries, investors in Myanmar and its neighbours like China with big stake in Myanmar."

It is, of course, wonderful if all countries with economic ties with the regime could come together and agree on a trade sanction. Although calling for a total trade sanction against Burma may indeed be counter-productive, PM Lee does not seem to understand that, in the current situation, the junta leaders and their cronies seemed to be benefitting themselves more rather than benefitting the general population. Why, then should these countries continue to enrich the Burma dictators and help them to strengthen their grip on power? Cripple the military government by restricting exports of critical supplies (such as arms and telecommunication devices) necessary for the survival of their army and their stranglehold on the Burmese society. So it is wrong for PM Lee to say trade sanctions are useless but he should, instead, initiate talks with China and India for more real actions as suggested.

And I wonder if he would still say the same thing if there were Singaporeans killed during the crackdown? Is he still going to ignore the atrocities by the junta?

International Day of Non-Violence

The International Day of Non-Violence is observed on 2 October, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi. This day is referred to in India as Gandhi Jayanti.

On 15 June 2007 the United Nations General Assembly voted to establish 2 October as the International Day of Non-Violence. The resolution by the General Assembly asks all members of the UN system to commemorate 2 October in "an appropriate manner and disseminate the message of non-violence, including through education and public awareness."

For more information on Mahatma Gandhi's life and works, please refer to Wikipedia.org

Words of the Lionheart: What to Do About Myanmar

The following blog post is a well-written article on why and how Singapore should take a stronger stance against the junta:

Words of the Lionheart: What to Do About Myanmar

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Speaks About ASEAN

Burma in ASEAN

Burma has been with ASEAN for a full ten years. How much has this repressive state contributed to the common good of ASEAN? The nation has been under repression for the past 40 years under the first generation of military dictators. When ASEAN opened the door for Burma in 1997, its members did not specifically hope to act as "agents of change" in the Burmese political stalemate.

Logically speaking, ASEAN itself was vulnerable and plagued by slow progress, with more "don'ts" than "do's," with its notorious non-interference principle, and questions of legitimacy of each member government.

While piggybacking Burma and with no real will to push for political change in Burma, ASEAN kept turning a blind eye to the worsening situation there. ASEAN members' private interests ruled over efforts to bring transformation to Yangon.

For Burma, ASEAN has been a fancy dress to put on so it could look normal. In reality, conditions in Burma do not seem good, with an ongoing civil war, a power struggle between the government and the opposition, and prolonged ethnic insurgencies.

With their leader, Senior General Than Shwe, 73 and few of the other generals aging, it is interesting to note if the next generation of military rulers would be milder and more humane or would they continue the hard stance? Can ASEAN finally get rid of its “dog that does not bark” tag? And one finally question: Would Daw Aung San Suu Kyi be finally released under external pressure?

Burma Junta's Hired Thugs Target Peaceful Protest

Since August 19, 88 Generation and others have been protesting peacefully, yet bravely across Burma in response to the "massive rise in fuel and transportation fees". The junta has been using hired thugs instead of the army to crack down on dissent, even recruiting children,

"On August 25 in Shan State, near the town of Muse, five young Kachin school boys aged 14, 15, and 16, were "recruited" with the use of force by the Burmese army. "

"The military junta then emptied jails in anticipation of arresting dissenters and mobilized the USDA and Swan Aah Shin, a group essentially of junta-backed thugs. Arrests of activists, including 88 Generation students and dissidents, began on Aug. 22."

Reuters has said "paid gangs" are preventing journalists from covering the protest. The junta annouced 88 Generation protesters would be prosecuted and and face up to 20 years in prison. A small group of protesters "eluded several junta thugs" and marched in Kyaukse, Than Shwe's home town. Arrest are said to have reached over 100 and photographs of protesters are being circulated to track them down.

Burma, Saffron Revolution, and ASEAN

BBC did a report on the clumsy show of force by the military government during their confrontations with the monks and civilians. You can read the report on BBC’s website.

Though there has been few deaths since the start of the anti-government protest sometime last week, I was disgusted by the way the junta treated the citizens, in particular the monks, who are highly reputed in the Buddhist nation. The people were severely beaten with rifle butts by the soldiers but despite the use of force on them, the Burmeses seemed resolute to fight for democracy this time round and to free their democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi (They were brutally crushed by the junta in 1988 and many thousands died).

The political event has resulted in US and European Union calling for economic sanctions but these were rejected by Burma’s ally, China, stating the sanctions would not be helpful.

In my opinion, Singapore Government, the current Chairman of the ASEAN, should be more pro-active in forcing the Burmese junta to back down and accept the wish of all the Burmeses to restore democracy, and not just paying lip services by issuing statements through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stating:

”Singapore is deeply concerned by reports of clashes between protestors and security forces in Yangon. We urge the Myanmar authorities to exercise utmost restraint. We call upon all parties to avoid provocative actions and to work towards reconciliation and a peaceful resolution of the situation."

If you check up ASEAN’s website, you would see no description on the latest development in Burma. Is the association not interested in what is actually happening in the military state, that it sees no need to address the situation other than just giving official statements? What the association really needs to do now is to threaten Burma’s junta with total economic sanctions and expulsion from the association. ASEAN is not simply an organisation set up to sign FTAs with this and that country, it has to get rid of its ‘paper tiger’ reputation and pay more attention to the human rights and other issues in the region.

Update: Singapore's Foreign Minister, Mr George Yeo, who is also the current Chairman of ASEAN has made an official statement on 27 Sep 2007 in New York. It was, however, not available on its website when this post was published.

Myanmar's (Burma) Secret War

After reading the latest developments on the major news providers like Reuters and CNN, I became more interested in what happened in this secret state in Southeast Asia. So I went Youtube and found this documentary. The totalitarian rulers are really ruthless to do anything just to stay in power.