Tibetian uprise...and two personal mail

Dear friends,

Once again the target is the Muslims. If the Tibetians are fighting for their freedom what did they target the Muslim communitiy. Does this not indicate that there is some othe sinister motive and hands behind this uprise for the so called Tibetian freedom. Who are behind this. It is worth for us to come out and express - WHAT THE HELL OF A CRIME DOES THE MUSLIM ARE COMMITTING THAT THE WORLD IS AGAINST THE MUSLIMS.

Look at Palestine, Look at Iraq, Look at Afganistan, Look at the cold develpments in India, even in Sri Lanka, the Eastern Block. Who is making the Muslims to take upto arms and then call them terrorist.????????????????????????

Have we got a plan, a strategy and action?????

With best wishes,
Z

*****************************************************

Dear friend,

Why to say "if", when it is plain for all that such violence did occur. The point I was trying to make - irrespective of which good cause you may feel strongly about (in this case systematic Chinese repressions against ethnic Tibetans) - it does not give anyone the right to negate or distort the truth.

On the website of the Tibetan government in exile which you supplied to us it is written that Chinese government reacted brutally to the "peaceful demonstration which took place in Lhasa". The first part is true, but the second is obviously not. The original protests were not peaceful - over 20 innocent bystanders were beaten and killed, shops were burned, mosques were burnt down. Tell me, in any country, how would the authorities react to such indiscriminate & senseless violence?

Neither on any pro-Tibetan website, nor in your mails, did I find any apology for this. All I can read is that the Dalai Lama is a peaceful person and had no control or influence over what happened - not guilty. Blame is all to be put at the feet of the Chinese for their policy in Tibet.

Is this explanation satisfactory?

Personally I would believe that it would add credibility to the Tibetan cause if the government in exile would apologize to the families of the loved ones who had been killed. But who - also in many other conflicts in the world - ever cares about the victims? Is a Chinese life less worth than that of an ethnic Tibetan?

No, I am not a sympathizer of the Chinese government! China has made some amazing achievements during the past decades, but at a huge cost and based on exploitation of millions of workers and destruction of the environment. There are many well-known things in the field of human rights (like death penalty or persecution of opposition) that are entirely unacceptable by any human standards. But at the same time, it is also obvious that China is changing its attitudes and is becoming open to dialogue, also because it wants to be recognized and respected by the international community.

It is a very delicate issue and I fear that by simply pointing the finger at China & accusing them from the outside will send them back into a shell. It will strengthen the hardliners & make constructive dialogue impossible. So an end to discrimination & persecution of ethnic Tibetans, full support & solidarity for peaceful resistance, support for peaceful dialogue yes, in all this I can agree with you, but not at the cost of denying the truth, even if as in this case it is harmful truth.

(This is) the original point I was trying to make.

Amities,
N

Time to Act as Statesmen

By AZMI SHAROM, The Star, 20 March 2008

It's a whole new type of politics out there and the new state governments and the country too need time to adjust to this change.

After the excitement of the election results (yes, I’m still writing about the election, apologies to those of you with insatiable appetites for the new and the “now”), certain unease seems to be creeping into the collective consciousness.

Headlines scream about cracks in the loose coalition of the Opposition, constitutional crises hang over the horizon of at least two states. Are things going to go tumbling down?

Well, a week is a long time in politics as they say, and by the time this article comes out five days would have passed since I wrote it, so I could end up with egg on my face.

However, I just want to say; cool it, chill out, relax, it's early days and the poor little politicians have no idea what hit them.

Some of them have never been out of power and some of them have never tasted it.

They are still stuck in their old mindsets. We, the people seem to have leaped forward but they are still trying to wrap their heads around this new world; poor dears.

For example, the Opposition leader in Selangor; after days of petulant silence he comes out with this grand plan to watch the new state government with beady eagle eyes.

They are going to register the old folks and the young ones and make sure they all get what the ex-Opposition promised them (healthcare and child care respectively). Well, good on you Khir!

I always said a strong opposition is what we need.

But, a word of advice to the handsome ex-Mentri Besar.

Accusing the new state government of being likely to be racially insensitive is rather rich coming from you.

If I am not mistaken, and I am not, some of the most publicised temple destruction that caused such anger and uproar in the Hindu community, and which was one of the impetuses to the heavy setback suffered by the Barisan, happened in Selangor; when you were in charge.

Besides, Khalid and co have not even managed to settle in their new offices. It’s going to take some time to clean up all those shredded documents.

Give them a while to settle in before you threaten to “take action.”

Meanwhile in Penang, Lim Guan Eng had barely sat down when he had to jump up again and put out a fire that is the NEP.

I watched the interview he gave on the NEP and he said that he wanted to weed out the corrupt, inefficient and wasteful aspects of the policy.

Nothing was said about marginalising the poor, of whatever race. Surely this is a good thing. Surely the NEP was meant to help the poor and not meant to be corrupt, inefficient and wasteful.

The NEP’s time is over. For the Malay professional classes, they should be able to stand on their own feet, and if they can’t, then they should not be in that position in the first place.

For the Malay poor, and there are many of them, making up as they do the vast majority of low income families, it would appear that a new approach is needed.

If a policy has been implemented for nearly 40 years and the main group it is aiming to help is still in the same position, it is high time to look at new policies.

The trouble with the NEP and the way it has been enforced is that it promotes Malay interest over national interest. Let’s take a look at public institutions for example; Malay people staff them overwhelmingly.

This is because non-Malays feel they don’t have a fair shot at promotions in the civil service. A worry that is quite valid.

We are too small a nation to shut out talent based on race. The country has to be run by the best people or we will all suffer and the Malay supremacists will then be the supreme masters of rubble.

Obviously not all Malays feel like me. Some were so angry at Guan Eng’s misquoted statement that they have taken to the streets of Penang and Shah Alam. I think this is super.

A democracy needs dissent as long as it is peaceful. The sight of Umno members thronging around Komtar warmed the cockles of my heart.

Umno members have shown the Barisan government that protesting really is part of our culture.

They made a mistake condemning the Bersih and Hindraf rallies. Malaysians do take to the streets when they want to express their feelings.

The country is on the cusp of a new type of politics. It is perhaps no accident that amongst the Opposition in Parliament, the one with the largest number of seats is a multi-racial party that calls for a non-racial method of affirmative action.

And the other two Opposition parties, although more mono racial in their make up are also making similar overtures.

It is odd therefore that the response to the election results by the Barisan component parties has been to reinforce the racial based policies and politics that a very large proportion of the citizens appear to have rejected.

It is also odd to see the old warhorses of the Opposition act like they are still in the Opposition. People, you are in charge of five states now. This is the time to act like statesmen and not like rabble-rousers.

Yes, there is a degree of uncertainty in our country after the elections, but at the end of the day we are going to need to give it some time before we press the panic button; time to see how the new state governments work; time to see how the Barisan reacts; and time most of all to let the old dinosaurs rant and rave using the language of race until they come to the realisation that for the future to be bright, outdated and outmoded politics must be discarded.

The country needs time to settle, let’s just hope the politicians do not take too long in doing so.

P/S: Also read Roger Tan, On Shaky Ground, The Star, 16 March 2008

ASIA EUROPE DIALOGUE - A Proposal

(or something else?)

Project Backgroud

Following the successful Asian Summer University (ASU) 2006 in Nepal , a call on ASU-II Prepteam and hosting branch was made by 20th Dec 2008 . Subsequently on 17th Jan 2008 , a team consists of 5 prepteam members and 5 supporting members we selected to lead and fundraise for the said project.

Discussions thereon bring us to wider perspective as we now target to apply for EU Youth in Programmed: Action 3.2 funding (EACEA/31/07)*, both Asian and European branches can benefit from this fund.

Based on this, in early February 2008 a Proposal Brief* was shared and prepteam requires more input from the movement, especially the targeted branch: Asian branch. (Note: * data was given in earlier communication. Please contact us should you need another copy!)

This paper, co-written by Tsujimoto Hanae (SCI-Japan) and Low Kok-Chang (SCI Malaysia) aimed at sharing our perspective and detailed project outline for the movement?s comments. Also Low is in the supporting team, so chances are he gets some idea from prepteam and other supporting members too :p

Our proposal is based on these points of departure:

- There is a need to understand local condition of Asian or other inactive branches (target branch) in order for replicability to work better. We may need to restore and reactivate them.
- There is a need to foster stronger brotherhood, cohesion and ownership in SCI, thus ASU and other regional projects should also aim to make branches and/or individual activist are more motivated and eager to contribute
- Project period should spread mainly in target branches for better effect

In a nutshell, we propose to have regional and/or international programmes together, with the venue priority located at target branches.

Objective

General Objective
- To promote dialogue and mutual understanding between Asia and Europe and between participating SCI branches in particular;
Programme Objectives
- To built and enhance the capacity of SCI
- To spread and stimulate SCI pro-active peace work
- To foster ownership and togetherness of SCI
- To contribute to the growth and upbringing of SCI and their partners
- To expose participants with various localize condition / situation of voluntary movement
- To establish regional comradeship and further as a global citizen
- To network and co-operate with other like minded organization



Participants

There is an estimated of 30 core participants involved fully throughout the project, where most fund will be utilized here, on them.

Participant from Programme Countries (Member States of European Union, et al)
10 M/LTV will be selected by SCI International aged between 18 ? 35 years old.

Participant from Partner Countries (Asia)
10 Change Agents will be selected by SCI Asian branches ( Bangladesh , India , Malaysia , Nepal ) aged between 18 ? 35 years old.

A Change Agent carries more responsibilities compare to normal M/LTV. It?s a term used in many grass-root development ? we have not found another phase carries the exact same meaning and function.

Secretariat
Project will engage 5 SCI members to take charge of Secretariat and lead the project

Facilitators / Traniers
Project will engage 5 facilitators and trainers from within SCI resources to contribute in designated programmes.

Other participants
Hundreds other active international and local activist/volunteer/local youth development worker would join us under various programmes, which is explained in ?Project Methodology? section.

We also plan to communicate with local Youth and Sport Ministry/Agency and also NGO/NPO. In brief is up to the resources, network and the creativity of the said branch.

Project Methodology

This project will encompass various programmes of both study and learning by theory plus assessment on its practicality. Participants will be exposed to local social condition/situation and global perspective. Exchange of experience and social culture will take place as participants, possibly with local community, will benefit through reflective learning in an interactive and enjoyable manner.

After the start of planning and preparation stage (as early as September 2008) in our own backyard, we will kick-start our project in January/February 2008 hosted by European branches. Change Agents will be given a comprehensive exposure and training of technical skills for a period of one month.

Then the scene would shift to the main stage - Different programmes held separately at India , Nepal , Bangladesh , Korea , Malaysia or Australia and USA . We should look at other ways to include Japan, Mauritius, Pakistan and Sri Lanka , as they are not eligible under this fund.

Programmes of the project should and can include: -

- Seminar (Youth Development, etc.)
- Training (Fundraising, marketing strategy, etc.)
- Peace Studies (Conflict betweein Muslim and Hindu in Nepal , Maoist Movement in Nepal , DMZ Korea, etc.)
- Feasibility Study (Reactivate & Restore inactive movement/branches in general and Asia ?s movement in particular, analysis of new potential project)
- Workcamps (Interaction with locals, sent volunteers to industrialize/countries not included in both Programme and Partner Countries)
- Conference/Dialogue (local Ministry, NGOs, academician, researches)
- Awareness Campaigns

Ideally programme in that particular branch should be decided prior to the arrival of change agents, which is why planning stage start ealier than kick-start meeting. Therefore branches are required to do some ground works and coordination, tailored to their needs / social condition / situation.

Depending on the available fund and final level of commitments from everybody, Change Agents should go around these programmes in each branch. It is stressed that Secretariat is doing mainly supervising works while most organizing and coordinating works will be done by each organizing local branch, together with Change Agent and M/LTV.

It will be also good practice to organize programmes in different social background, thus enriched interaction among branches, Change Agents, various NGOs etc is ensured.

Finally we would like to stress on: All programmes should be designed and organized, in a way, tailored to meet local branch?s need. This could only mean more commitments from Change Agents, organizing branch in particular and everyone, in general.

Tentative Programme

September/October 2008
- Confirmation of grant
- Unofficially all detailed preparation starts

December 2008 / January 2009 (official start as required by said EU fund)
- Recruiting participants and confirming related personals
- Preparation stage for sending and receiving branches
- Preparation stage for seminar/training/campaign/etc. for branches in-charged

February 2009
- Kick-off meeting in Europe of all 20 Change Agents, 10 M/LTV with 10 other secretariats / facilitators
- Necessary briefing and fine tuning of programmes in coming months

March 2009
- Programme start in India

April 2009
- Programme start in Nepal/Bangladesh

May 2009
- Programme start in Korea


June 2009
- Programme start in Malaysia

July 2009
- Programme start in Australia/USA


Financial Planning

From what we know, EU Youth in Action 3.2 can fund maximum of 100.000 Euros.

We spent about 3200 Euros for 5-days ASU-I 2006, Nepal ? so assuming we spend about 6000 Euros in each programme (country) with the remaining budget for management, trainiers, special workcamps etc., we looks pretty healthy.

Healthy, in the eyes of layman ? of course we need to judge and estimate based on more technical ground/data.

Closing in (or out): Final Note for beloved SCI friends

As you can see, this is not even close to final proposal. But we thought that this is the most basic proposal before we can ask SCI branches and activists to consider quantum of their contribution and commitments.

Many role and responsibilities are not clearly defined, like can how different M/LTV and Change Agent, can be? Why age limit? How long should a programme last in that particular country? Can we get the full fund ? since our aim is more like strengthening SCI in particular? Can participating branches have extra energy and manpower to sustain such project, came out of nowhere? Why Nepal/Bangladesh and not Malaysia/Australia?

We are pretty sure you guys can bury us with more questions?

Therefore we would like to urge SCI activist, especially those experienced one to help us out here. We thought for the sake of SCI?s future, this is worth discussing, even if in the end we failed to come to agreement or unable to secure the fund.

At this point and thanks to TEM prepteam, Pietro and Gina (ASU II prepteam ? experienced in trainings and getting funds, hehe) have given space in TEM to discuss about this initiative. Catherine, Neelam and other team members are actively (or desperately, haha) formulating more ideas, discussion, getting feedback and finally make decision on final proposal ? in time for April 2008 deadline.

On the other hand we (Hanae and Low ;p) has been in discussion about Asia?s development since ICM 2007 ? at the same we are looking at how we can help each other, even to the smallest effort of replying email or have regional monthly update.

Thank you already for your time, and thoughts, or even better, penned it down and share with us later.

No commitment, no change ? we know it is not going to be easy, either.

Again, thank you, and hope to hear from you guys soon! :)

Kuala Lumpur
11.00pm , 20th February, 2008