MYLAUNCHPAD NEWS | Suu Kyi set to make history as Myanmar votes

MYLAUNCHPAD NEWS | Suu Kyi set to make history as Myanmar votes

by Hla Hla Htay

YANGON, (AFP) - Voters in Myanmar flocked to the polls on Sunday for elections expected to sweep opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi into parliament for the first time as part of dramatic political reforms.

A victory for Suu Kyi would cap a remarkable transformation for the 66-year-old icon of the pro-democracy movement, who spent most of the past 22 years locked up by the junta as a prisoner in her own home.

A crowd of supporters and journalists mobbed Suu Kyi as she visited a polling station in the rural constituency of Kawhmu where she is standing in the by-elections, as voters queued outside, some in traditional dress.

"I'll vote for Mother Suu because I love and cherish her," said 43-year-old labourer San San Win.

"We don't expect anything from her. We're really glad she came to our village," she added.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party swept to a landslide election victory in 1990 but the generals who ruled the country for decades until last year never recognised the result.

The NLD leader, who won the Nobel Peace Prize the following year, was not a candidate herself on that occasion because she was under house arrest.

Her party is contesting 44 of the 45 seats at stake in Sunday's vote -- not enough to threaten the ruling party's majority, but a seat in parliament would give the opposition leader a chance to shape legislation for the first time.

Observers say the new quasi-civilian government wants the pro-democracy leader to win a place in parliament this time to burnish its reform credentials and smooth the way for an easing of Western sanctions.

Polling stations opened at 6:00 am (2330 GMT Saturday) and were due to close at 4:00 pm, with more than six million people eligible to vote. Official results are expected within about a week, according to the election commission.

A 2010 general election, won by the military's political proxies, was marred by widespread complaints of cheating and the exclusion of Suu Kyi, who was released from seven straight years of house arrest shortly afterwards.

In the run-up to this Sunday's by-elections, the NLD complained about irregularities, including alleged intimidation of candidates and the appearance of the names of some dead people on the electoral roll.

"I don't think we can consider it a genuinely free and fair election," Suu Kyi told a news conference on Friday.

She said the irregularities were "really beyond what is acceptable for a democratic election" but stopped short of announcing a boycott.

"We are determined to go forward because we think that this is what our people want," Suu Kyi said.

A gruelling schedule of rallies and speeches has taken its toll on the health of the opposition leader, who cancelled campaigning in the week before the vote after she fell ill and was put on a drip during a visit to the south.

NLD spokesman Nyan Win Saturday said that Suu Kyi was "fine" as she travelled to Kawhmu, about two hours' drive from Yangon, where small groups of jubilant supporters gathered to cheer her arrival.

"She is weak, but we do not need to worry," he said.

Unlike in 2010, the government has invited foreign observers and journalists to witness a vote seen as a major test of its reform credentials.

"This is a crucial moment in Myanmar's history," UN human rights envoy Tomas Ojea Quintana said in a statement ahead of the vote.

"The flawed electoral process of the 2010 national elections, which failed to meet international standards, was a missed opportunity for Myanmar to address its challenges in democratisation. It should not be repeated as Myanmar enters a new and more open era," he added.

After almost half a century of iron-fisted military rule, the junta in March last year handed power to a new government led by President Thein Sein, one of a clutch of former generals who shed their uniforms to contest the 2010 election.

Since then, the reform-minded regime has surprised even its critics with a string of moves such as releasing hundreds of political prisoners and welcoming the NLD back into mainstream politics.

But the continued existence of political detainees, ongoing fighting between government troops and ethnic rebels and alleged human rights abuses remain major concerns for Western nations which have imposed sanctions on the regime.

Threat of Christianisation in Malaysia?

Interfaith group wants heads to roll over ‘inflammatory’ seminar

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal

March 29, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, March 29 — The government must explain why it is allowing a “highly inflammatory” seminar on the “threat of Christianisation” to be held this weekend, the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) has said.

Religious teachers from national schools in Johor will attend an officially-sanctioned seminar this Saturday focusing on the “threat of Christianisation”. The seminar has sparked outrage among Christians.

The seminar, organised by the Johor Education Department and the Johor Mufti Department, is themed “Pemantapan Aqidah, Bahaya Liberalisme dan Pluralism Serta Ancaman Kristianisasi Terhadap Umat Islam. Apa Peranan Guru?” (Strengthening the Faith, the Dangers of Liberalism and Pluralism and the Threat of Christianity towards Muslims. What is the Role of Teachers?).

Two religious teachers from each of the 55 national schools across Johor are required to attend.

“How can the government agree to something which will affect different sensitivities?

“Is this the policy of the Education Ministry? Who has sanctioned this? Highly inflammatory, uncalled for, someone must be held responsible,” MCCBCHST honorary deputy treasurer-general Reverend Dr Hermen Shastri (picture) told The Malaysian Insider.

He said the council will hold a meeting tomorrow to discuss the matter, and will come up with a more thorough response then.

“On behalf of the Council of Churches of Malaysia (CCM) as well, we are extremely disappointed with the government for allowing this to happen,” said Shastri, who is also CCM secretary-general.

“What if we said Islam was a threat towards Malaysians, we can also ask... what happens then?” said the reverend.

A copy of a letter about the seminar from the Johor Education Department to national schools appears on its website.

Hasimah Abdul Hamid, supervisor for the Islamic Education Unit of the Johor Baru Education Office, declined to comment on the programme’s stance towards the apparent threat of Christianity against Muslims.

“The purpose of this programme is of course to strengthen the faith of Muslims,” she told The Malaysian Insider.

“But I can’t say anything about the title, because it was provided by the organisers.”

But the Malaysian Ulama Association (PUM) said yesterday the Johor government should not be apologetic for organising a seminar on the “threat of Christianisation” as it is an “Islamic” administration and has a duty to do so.

“We need to have these kind of seminars,” PUM president Datuk Sheikh Abdul Halim Abdul Kadir told The Malaysian Insider.

“I do not accept the excuse that Christians will be upset or hurt because of this seminar... the problem of Christianisation has been around for a long while, it is real.

“Therefore, any authority or government which is Islamic has a right to do this. You need to educate teachers, especially the young ones who are unaware of this problem.”

Christians form 9.2 per cent of Malaysia’s 28.3 million population.

In recent years, the Christian and Muslim religious communities have been engaged in a tug of war over the word “Allah”, with Muslims arguing that its use should be exclusive to them on the grounds that Islam is monotheistic and the word “Allah” denotes the Muslim God.

Christians have argued that “Allah” is an Arabic word that has been used by those of other religious beliefs, including the Jews, in reference to God in many other parts of the world, notably in Arab nations and Indonesia.

A number of conservative Muslim groups have also accused Christians of attempting to convert Malays, resulting in heightened tension between followers of the two religions.

Adapted from The Malaysian Insider (http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/)

Animals and moral of the society



A recent talkshow in Singapore about animal welfare has recaptured my attention on the issue. One of the talkshow guests has mentioned about how the moral of the society can be seen in its treatment of the animals around. This statement resembled closely of what I remembered that the great Mahatma Gandhi of India once said "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way in which animals are treated"  it followed by "I hold that the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man."

I believe that a moral status and progress of a society can truly be evaluated by its treatment of the animals, and so does how the society treats its senior citizens and the elderly.

Eventhough I don't go as far as everyone must be vegetarians but I do strongly believe that all animals must be treated well and taken good care of whilst they are living under our care and responsibility.

While pet animal welfare is by far getting the most attention and greatest awareness, farm animal welfare and laboratory animal welfare still have a long to go for some developing nations and societies.

I think I have posted an article in my blog somewhere sometime ago about the correlation of statistics between the numbers of domestic violence and animal abuse. The higher the numbers of animal abuse correlated positively with the number of domestic violence.

Anyway, thats all for now. As human created in the image of God, we shouldn't take for granted and abuse all creatures of God whether big or small.

God bless us and all the He has created :)

Joshua

What minimum wage opponents don’t get

Erna Mahyuni blogs at ernamahyuni.com when she's not subbing for TMI. A slave to Bioware, Bethesda and her mini-zoo of two cats and a rabbit.