April 2011

ASEAN’s Pivotal Role in Myanmar

When ASEAN took in Myanmar as a partner, Myanmar’s fate becomes ASEAN’s fate. This review outlines ASEAN’s decisive role, Buddhism in Myanmar, a previous rebellion led by monks and why Than Shwe and his junta must not be overthrown. Buddhist monks holding hostages and then protesting en masse on the streets of Yangon swelling to thousands as other local people joined in was an unprecedented spectacle in recent times that became dubbed as the ‘saffron revolution’. The strong arm tactics by the ruling military junta in crushing dissent was no great surprise; precedents were aplenty, the infamous 1988 crack down is barely forgotten. The number of fatalities, double or three figures and the uncertainty of the numbers that were taken away then and now still remained a mystery. World leaders and general public opinion had appealed for restrained. Almost a deja vu if one recalled Tiannmen of 1989. The generals of Myanmar, like the Communist Party of China, is not going to be bothered with world public opinion or even threats of sanctions. The military leaders in Myanmar are not going to care much whether economic or whatever sanctions are imposed on the country. In fact the more imposition of sanctions the more the ordinary citizen of Myanmar, his wife, children and hand-held baby are going to be the victims and suffer from deprivation. The ‘Saffron revolution’ appeared to be the last resort against recent developments in Myanmar. Ever since the country embraced Buddhism several centuries ago, the religion is pervasive in practically all aspects of daily life. Respect for the sangha, the Buddhist clergy is unquestionable and a fact of life amongst the devout as well as the sundry. Monks are found in every corner of the country, in cities and in remote villages. The daily scene of people […]

The 17 Sectors Of Sustainable Society for our future . . .

  To survive in a world without cheap fossil fuels and with increasingly challenging weather patterns, we will need to have sustainable local sources of 17 things. If you’d like to work towards sustainability in your community, you might want to start by creating Sustainability Circles – small groups of people who care about the topic in question or have special knowledge or resources. Circle members meet regularly at a member’s home, community room or a coffee shop to discuss the local challenges associated with one of the sectors below.Then they explore possible solutions and propose practical local actions that would be appropriate for your unique community. For instance, you might create a “Relocalising Energy” circle, or a “Relocalising Business and Jobs” circle or a “Relocalising Education” circle. Then you could plan a “convocation of Circles” where results are shared with the community at large and elected officials, non-profit organisations, citizen groups and other community entities are encouraged to take the actions recommended by circle participants.