Read 'n Thinking...in NEW MEDIA

CD Duplication Or Replication

2007-12-26T01:17:00.000-08:00

To do cd and dvd duplication, one usually first creates a disk image with a full file system designed for the optical disc, and then burns the image to the disc. The disc image is a single file, built and stored on the hard drive, which contains the entire information to be contained on the disc. Many programs create the disc image and burn in one bundled operation, so that end-users often do not know the distinction. However, a useful motivation for learning this distinction is that creating the disc image is an "expensive" (time-consuming) process. Most disc writing applications will silently delete this image from the "temporary directory" in which it was built unless users instruct the disc burning application to preserve the image, which can then be used for creating further copies of the same image without the need to rebuild the image each time.

There are also packet-writing applications that do not require writing the entire disc at once, but allow writing parts at a time, allowing the disc to be used in the same way as rewritable media such as floppy disk. There exist many optical disc authoring technologies for optimizing the authoring process and preventing errors. Discs writeable only once whose burn failed are colloquially termed coasters since that is almost all they are good for, as well being primitive frisbees. Some operating systems are aware of disc images as a filesystem type, and can mount these images so that they appear as actual mounted discs. This feature can be useful for testing a disc image after authoring but before writing to the disc media.

However, cd replication is different and doing it involves different tasks. To do so, a glass master from a client original master need to be created, a nickel stamper also need to be created from that glass master. Afterwards, the molding of clear optical-grade polycarbonate substrates (clear discs) is injected from that stamper. Finally, the metallizing and lacquering of those substrates is done in order to produce compact discs and DVDs.

DVD Duplication - What You Should Know

2007-12-19T22:04:00.000-08:00

Have you been trying to get a grasp of DBD duplication and just what it is really all about? Well, you're not alone as many people have to same questions. While it is most often thought of as simply copying a DVD, in actuality duplication is more involved. Here is a look at some of the basics of DVD duplication.When you go about duplicating a CD or DVD you are actually copying the optical media from the master onto the new disk.Most people only want to copy or duplicate a new movie from a master disk, but others use duplication in business proposals or other means.There are several different types of DVD disks available and not all are suitable for every case. You'll need to know the differences before planning any DVD duplication.One good thing about duplicating a DVD is that the quality of the new copy will be as good as the master. Unlike cassette tapes from years past, DVD's are designed in a way to optimize quality. It's kind of like sending a forwarded email from one computer to another.There are also DVD duplication companies available to help do the process for you if you wish. They have the equipment and software to do a professional job in any situation.Finding a duplicating company is as simple as doing a search online. Just be sure to check them out a bit and how long they have been in business. Not all companies are the same. A DVD duplication company is ideal for business proposals and marketing materials. Whether it is 10 DVD's or 1,000, you can find companies that will provide you with top quality work at very reasonable rates.DVD duplication is a great way to save time and preserves quality for your project. By understanding the facts and educating yourself you will be able to make your best decision on what route to take.

The Evolution of the Adult Content Genre

2007-12-14T07:56:00.000-08:00

The adult industry has been losing the stigma that has been attached to it for so long. It has become a mode of general entertainment. Porn has been existent and is probably as old as civilization itself, starting from the early erotic art of the Roman Empire.

Base reliefs on buildings and on various artifacts depicting images of copulation and other sexual acts have been excavated and serve as proof that the concept of porn is not something new. Though it is difficult to pinpoint an exact period as to when it all started, the modern understanding of porn started during the early nineteenth century, when the Victorians unearthed erotic artifacts from the ruins of Pompeii and suppressed them from being exhibited in public.

This was done in order to not allow the 'obscenities to deprave and corrupt those whose minds are open to particular immoral influences.' The established nature of the porn industry is the not the result of an unimpeded journey. However, the adult industry has battled many odds and emerged strong. The estimated net value of all forms of adult material, including those which are available online, was somewhere between $2.6 billion and $3.9 billion in the United States alone in 2001.

This industry has also been a major deciding factor in establishing the video format wars in the early 70's between Betamax and VHS, and has consequently staked its part in the Blu-ray and HD-DVD format debates.

Of course, in such a strong industry, an underground offshoot is bound to develop. As a result, we are now seeing the rise of a lot of amateur porn. Besides the usual print and video formats, the Internet has played a major role in serving this end, since practically everything is leaked and posted on the Internet and is available to almost anyone with basic browsing knowledge.

The adult industry has broken cultural taboo barriers and is challenging well established norms of the current status quo by crossing over to media which has only recently become accessible to almost any willing individual.

Nowadays, there is a movement towards various niches in the genre for adult content. Thus, there is a tendency to catering to varying audience tastes now. You may type a search word related to porn on a search website and get an exhaustive list of links featuring every variation of the sexual act, whether it is concerned with fetishes, interracial sex, sex between all combinations of sexual orientation, and various other subtypes which defy labeling.

A lot of porn has become increasingly mainstream. Now a lot of soft-porn content is available which caters to a wider variety of audiences. These depictions usually are successful in straddling legal boundaries and restrictions, provided that they comply with regulated requirements, such as keeping material which are too explicit from being obtained by minors.

Probably the best indicator that the adult industry has fully matured has been the legalization of the sex industry in countries such as Holland. Similar measures have been observed elsewhere, particularly in the United States and Europe in the form of red light districts. Even though various factions have been opposing the industry of adult content, this industry has been growing in leaps and bounds.

Teeja Hivsbob

Violence In Media

2007-12-13T01:05:00.000-08:00

In the news, we hear and see an increasing number of reports about violence among children. This goes from rude fights on the playground to armed incidents in schools that result in injuries or even casualties.

Now asking ourselves where this behaviour is originated, we quickly come to media as a scapegoat: TV violence, computer games and the Internet. Often we lack overview of what our children experience while dealing with these influences.

And there lies the root problem. Various scientist groups have tried to prove the influence of visual violence on children's behaviour. There has been proof and counter-proof - so what we can conclude from this is that the connection between observed violence and violent behaviour depends on more circumstances than can be applied in a experimental environment. (links)

An observation that we can make ourselves is that children tend to imitate behaviour. Aside from what's experienced in media, they're influenced by their parents, their friends and idols.

If we are realistic, we have to admit that as soon as our children start going to school, we lose overview on their experiences and are often astonished or shocked about the new ideas they're coming up with. Now here comes the parent's part. The fact that our children are going to school doesn't mean they're grown-up and their character is stabilized. Trend and group force are strong against the learned attitudes and behaviour patterns from childhood, so we need to stay in touch with our children and try to understand what's on their minds.

It's far too easy to say that a child's violent behaviour is caused by media. That's only an excuse, because this way parents don't have to blame themselves for neglecting their duty of education.

For sure there is a negative influence of visually explicit violence to a child's mind. But what influence it is, if our child is considering it "cool", following possibly their friends' attitude towards it, or if it's scared or even repelled, that's up to us to teach. Parents have to guide their children with their experiences, and that includes violence, no matter where experienced.

So take your time to share the experience, show real interest and add your opinion. Avoid prohibition as much as possible, because that will just make it much more interesting. For example, if you ban your child from seeing a popular, violent cartoon series, it will probably see it anyway - with a friend or when you're not there. But with simply banning it, you stripped yourself of the chance to influence the conclusions your child will draw - surely it won't consult you afterwards regarding the forbidden.

And, as with all other things, be a paradigm - if you present verbal or even physical violence in your family, then you don't have to be surprised if your child copies that behaviour.

Brigitte Meier

Reposition on New Media Article

2007-12-11T23:37:00.000-08:00

Old media and new media

from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_media

Old media are, for example, typewriters, vinyl record albums and eight-track magnetic tapes.analog processes - ones which directly sample a continuous recording onto a physical medium, as opposed to new media which sample media as a numerical representation in binary code. These media involve

The distinction between "new media" and old media is often indistinct due to the homogeneity of the term, which can conflate media where computers are the transmission medium and media where digitisation occurs to facilitate a new way of distributing a pre-existing medium. Whereas the Internet clearly marks a departure in terms of user experience and possibility, transferring a betamax tape onto DVD involves a far less dramatic change as the content of the media remains either identical, or slightly enhanced through digital manipulation of - for example - colour.

The term 'new media' gained popular currency in the mid 1990s as part of a marketing pitch for the proliferation of interactive educational and entertainment CD-ROMs. One of the key features of this early new media was the implication that corporations, not individual creators, would control copyright. The term then became far more widely used as the mass consumer internet began to emerge from 1995 onwards. The term 'new media' can be traced back to the 70s when it was described more as an impact on cultural studies of different aspects such as economic as well as social, it is only within the last 25 years that the term has taken on a more advanced meaning.

Top Ways of Backing Up Business Data

2007-12-06T20:04:00.000-08:00

business data is one of the most crucial forms of data that can reside on a computer. Loss of data can destroy a business completely especially when businesses are completely reliant on this data. It is for this reason that all business owners should carry out frequent backups of their data. These backups may take place on a daily or weekly basis depending on their schedules and what they feel comfortable with. With all the backup options that are available a business owner may easily feel very confused about which choice to make. Certain backup options function better than others but some are much easier to use than those that are usually referred to as convenient. If you own a business you would normally prefer a backup solution that offers you reliability as well as convenience. The rest of the article explores various data and backup options that are available to you and how you can implement them properly.

The primary option that can be used to back up data is hard disk imaging otherwise referred to as cloning which can easily be carried out with disk imaging software. Most people usually think of it as the best backup solution because its saves every little bit of data that you have stored on your hard drive. This is great because if you should have any need of restoring your data from scratch due to data loss you can get everything back. Furthermore it is also the quickest and easiest means of backing up your data especially for a person who doesn't really know that much about computers and can't spend a whole day just trying to back up their data.

Another solution for data backup is the remote online backup. What this means is that your data can easily be saved on a server that is quite secure and in a place that is far away from your current location. This is a great idea for so many reasons; the most important of these reasons is that it protects you from losing out in case a disaster occurs which may affect where you work or where you live. If you back up your files online you also achieve what you intend to achieve cheaply and affordably. Online backup companies also make use of various forms of professional hardware and software in order to ensure that you data is stored securely in a digital vault that is very secure.

One other business backup method you can use to secure business data are external storage devices. These devices are rather simple to use and are very useful too. External devices which are capable of data storage come in many different forms. Most of them are usually external hard drives and memory devices called memory sticks. Most people prefer to use memory sticks because they hold a lot more data and can plug into your USB port very easily. They also tend to hold larger amounts of data which is usually sufficient space for whatever it is that you have which requires backup and storage.

by Kelly Hunter

Maps of Cyberspace

2007-12-05T04:04:00.000-08:00

by Sam Vaknin

"Cyberspace. A consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate operators, in every nation, by children being taught mathematical concepts...A graphical representation of data abstracted from the banks of every computer in the human system. Unthinkablecomplexity. Lines of light ranged in the non-space of the mind, clusters and constellations of data. Like city lights, receding..." (William Gibson, "Neuromancer", 1984, page 51) At first sight, it appears to be a static, cluttered diagram with multicoloured, overlapping squares. Really, it is an extremely powerfulway of presenting the dynamics of the emerging e-publishing industry. R2 Consulting has constructed these eBook Industry Maps to "reflect the evolving business models among publishers, conversion houses, digital distribution companies, eBook vendors, online retailers, libraries, library vendors, authors, and many others. These maps are 3-dimensionaloffering viewers both a high-level orientation to the eBook landscape and an in-depth look at multiple eBook models and the partnerships that have formed within each one." Pass your mouse over any of the squares and a virtual floodgate opens - a universe of interconnected and hyperlinked names, a detailed atlas of who does what to whom. eBookMap.net is one example of a relatively novel approach to databases and web indexing. The metaphor of cyber-space comes alive in spatial, two and three dimensional map-like representations of the world of knowledge in Cybergeography's online "Atlas". Instead of endless, static and bi-chromatic lists of links - Cybergeography catalogues visual,recombinant vistas with a stunning palette, internal dynamics and an intuitively conveyed sense of inter-relatedness. Hyperlinks are incorporated in the topography and topology of these almost-neural maps. "These maps of Cyberspaces - cybermaps - help us visualise and comprehend the new digital landscapes beyond our computer screen, in the wires of the global communications networks and vast online information resources. The cybermaps, like maps of the real-world, help us navigate the new information landscapes, as well being objects of aesthetic interest. They have been created by 'cyber-explorers' of many different disciplines, and from all corners of the world. Some of the maps ... in the Atlas of Cyberspaces ... appear familiar, using the cartographicconventions of real-world maps, however, many of the maps are much more abstract representations of electronic spaces, using new metrics and grids." Navigating these maps is like navigating an inner, familiar, territory. They come in all shapes and modes: flow charts, quasi-geographical maps, 3-d simulator-like terrains and many others. The "web Stalker" is an experimental web browser which is equipped with mapping functions. The range of applicability is mind boggling. A (very) partial list: The Internet Genome Project - "open-source map of the major conceptual components of the Internet and how they relate to each other" Anatomy of a Linux System - Aimed to "...give viewers a concise and comprehensive look at the Linux universe' and at the heart of the poster is a gravity well graphic showing the core software components,surrounded by explanatory text" NewMedia 500 - The financial, strategic, and other inter-relationshipsand interactions between the leading 500 new (web) media firms Internet Industry Map - Ownership and alliances determine status, control, and access in the Internet industry. A revealing organizational chart. The Internet Weather Report measures Internet performance, latency periods and downtime based on a sample of 4000 domains. Real Time Geographic Visualization of WWW Traffic - a stunning, 3-d representation of web usage and traffic statistics the world over. WebBrain and Map.net provide a graphic rendition of the Open Directory Project. The thematic structure of the ODP is instantly discernible. The WebMap is a visual, multi-category directory which contains 2,000,000 web sites. The user can zoom in and out of sub-categories and "unlock" their contents. Maps help write fiction, trace a user's clickpath (replete with clickable web sites), capture Usenet and chat interactions (threads), plot search results (though Alta Vista discontinued its mapping service and Yahoo!3D is no more), bookmark web destinations, and navigate through complex sites. Different metaphors are used as interface. Web sites are represented as plots of land, stars (whose brightness corresponds to the web site's popularity ranking), amino-acids in DNA-like constellations,topographical maps of the ocean depths, buildings in an urban landscape, or other objects in a pastoral setting. Virtual Reality (VR) maps allow information to be simultaneously browsed by teams of collaborators, sometimes represented as avatars in a fully immersive environment. In many applications, the user is expected to fly amongst the data items in virtual landscapes. With the advent of sophisticated GUI's (Graphic UserInterfaces) and VRML (Virtual Reality Markup Language) - these maps may well show us the way to a more colourful and user-friendly future.

About the Author

Sam Vaknin is the author of Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited and After the Rain - How the West Lost the East. He is a columnist for Central Europe Review, United Press International (UPI) and eBookWeb and the editor of mental health and Central East Europe categories in The Open Directory, Suite101 and searcheurope.com.

Dusit Declaration

2007-12-03T11:36:00.000-08:00

A Buddhist-Muslim Dialogue on the theme 'Buddhists and Muslims in Southeast Asia working towards justice and peace' was held at the Suan Dusit Place of Suan Dusit Rajabhat University, Bangkok from June 26-28, 2006. It was organised jointly by the Santi Pracha Dhamma Institute (SPDI), International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB) and International Movement for a Just World (JUST).

A total of 35 participants from eight countries attended the three-day Dialogue. Most of the participants were Buddhists and Muslims from Southeast Asia. A number of them were socially-engaged scholars and grassroots activists.

The Dialogue was part of a continuous process of interaction and engagement among individuals from the two communities that had begun ten years ago. Since Buddhists and Muslims constitute the overwhelming majority of Southeast Asia's 550 million people, dialogue aimed at enhancing understanding and empathy between the two communities is vital for peace and harmony in the region. In view of the critical situation in Southern Thailand, the Dialogue on this occasion assumed special significance. Apart from Southern Thailand, the Dialogue also reflected upon issues of concern pertaining to the two communities in a number of other Southeast Asian countries.

The Dialogue observed that for most of history relations between Buddhists and Muslims have been relatively harmonious. This has been due largely to a certain degree of mutual respect and a willingness to accommodate differences. This historical backdrop should provide the two communities with the strength and resilience to overcome the challenges that confront them today.

In order to overcome these challenges, the Dialogue made the following proposals:

- Civil society groups should utilise to the fullest various information and communication channels with the aim of increasing knowledge and understanding among Buddhists and Muslims of the principal teachings of their respective religions. Towards this end, SPDI, INEB and JUST undertake to produce a series of monographs in all the Southeast Asian languages which will emphasise the fundamental values and principles in Buddhism and Islam that give meaning to justice and peace. An attempt will also be made to disseminate documentaries on inter-religious harmony that embody real life episodes through various local communication channels as well as via webcasting, podcasting and broadcasting.

- The mainstream print and electronic media should highlight those moral values and ethical standards that Buddhism and Islam share in common, and at the same time explain differences in doctrines and rituals with sensitivity. It should also regard it as a duty to eradicate stereotypes and prejudices about the two religions. The media should not aggravate inter-religious ties by distorting and sensationalising events that have implications for religious harmony. In this regard, the media should not allow itself to be manipulated by opportunistic politicians and public personalities who abuse religion and nationalism for their own agendas. Civil society groups should establish 'media watches' to monitor media reporting on matters pertaining to inter-religious ties.

- Schools and universities should introduce and expand courses that seek to promote better understanding between Buddhists and Muslims. Since both religions are committed to justice and peace, it would be worthwhile to increase peace studies programmes at all levels of formal education which focus on non-violence in conflict resolution. School and university curricula should not contain materials which create animosity and perpetuate prejudice between religious and ethnic communities. Civil society groups can help to initiate the development of curricula that reflect Buddhism's and Islam's concern for justice and peace. At the same time, they should monitor school and university curricula to ensure that they do not have a negative impact on inter-religious ties.

- Buddhist and Muslim religious leaders should within the context of their respective faiths emphasise those ideas and values which conduce towards inter-religious harmony and the celebration of our common humanity. They should discard the tendency to be exclusive in their outlook and consciously cultivate a more inclusive and universal orientation towards religion. Differences between the two religions should not be allowed to create cleavages between their followers. Buddhist monks and the ulama should work together to eliminate prejudices, hatreds and misconceptions that sometimes tend to separate the two communities. Both should adopt a principled position against violence, especially the killing of civilians, and the destruction of places of worship regardless of who or what the target is. In this connection, civil society groups should engage with religious leaders in order to encourage them to become more inclusive and universal in outlook and more positively orientated towards justice and peace.

- Government leaders and politicians should consciously nurture harmonious relations between Buddhists and Muslims and among people of other faiths through both their public pronouncements and policies. It would be utterly irresponsible of government leaders and politicians to exploit religious sentiments for narrow political gain. They should instead initiate meaningful reforms to existing political structures which would protect and strengthen the rights and dignity of the different religious communities. In certain situations it may even be necessary to devolve political authority through the empowerment of disenfranchised religious communities. To endow substance to the empowerment of the community, government and political leaders should adhere to moral principles such as transparency and accountability. Civil society and the media should not hesitate to expose irresponsible leaders who divide the followers of different religions in pursuit of their self-serving political agendas.

Apart from looking at the challenges facing Buddhists and Muslims in Southeast Asia as a whole, the Dialogue also addressed immediate and urgent issues obtaining in specific country situations. The focus was of course on Southern Thailand.

- In the case of Myanmar, there was concern over attempts by the government to control religious activities to the detriment of the communities in question. The state itself appears to be a purveyor of prejudice against certain religious communities. In Indonesia, the adverse socio-economic and socio-political situation has had a negative impact upon inter-religious relations. Unethical methods of proselytisation by groups within a particular religious community allegedly supported by foreign elements have led to a further deterioration in majority-minority ties. There is also a need for the Malaysian state to be more sensitive to some of the legitimate interests of its non-Muslim minorities. -

- The Dialogue was of the view that the recommendations of the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) established to study the situation in Southern Thailand deserve the wholehearted support of the nation. It is significant that the NRC declared in unambiguous terms that religion is not the cause of the violence in the South. Injustices arising from the existing judicial process and administrative system and poverty and deprivation are more important contributory factors. Historical and cultural conditions have also played a role in prodding militants to resort to violence which has been met with excessive force by the state. The NRC recommends a whole gamut of measures to overcome the violence. Among them is the establishment of a Peaceful Strategic Administrative Center for Southern Border Provinces (PSAC) which inter alia would seek to promote understanding of the situation and methods to solve the problem in all government agencies among people in the region in Thai society at large and in the international community. There is also a proposal for the state to engage in dialogue with the militants and to act decisively against state officials who abuse their power. There are also other recommendations for solving the unemployment problem, building confidence in the judicial process and improving the education system.

- The Dialogue also proposed that civil society undertake to ascertain the sentiments of the people in the three troubled provinces of Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala about the form of local governance that they prefer. A petition with at least 50,000 signatures on the form of governance they opt for should then be presented to Parliament for deliberation. This would be in accordance with the Thai Constitution and would reflect the democratic will of the people of the three provinces.

- Monks and the ulama and Buddhist and Muslim religious leaders in general in the three provinces should make a concerted effort to break down barriers that have created a wide chasm between Buddhists and Muslims and instead build bridges of understanding between the two communities. This process would require honest and sincere introspection on the part of the religious leaders and others about their own flaws and foibles. Critical self analysis should go hand-in-hand with Buddhist-Muslim dialogue in the three Southern provinces.

- INEB and other NGOs should initiate efforts to form a "People's Watch" comprising both Buddhists and Muslims drawn from various sectors of society whose primary purpose would be to protect and safeguard places of worship, institutions of learning and hospitals among other public institutions. A "People's Watch" would not only ensure the safety and security of these institutions but more significantly, it would also help foster a spirit of togetherness among Buddhists and Muslims.

- Both Buddhists and Muslims from neighbouring countries especially those representing the influential strata in religion, politics and the media should assist in whatever way possible in the process of dialogue and reconciliation in southern Thailand. More specifically they should try to strengthen a more inclusive and universal approach to both religions informed by values of justice, compassion and forgiveness.

Enhancing understanding and empathy between Buddhists and Muslims in Southeast Asia has become imperative in view of the overwhelming power and influence of contemporary global capitalism rooted in global hegemony. The hegemonic power of global capitalism is the new 'religion' which threatens to undermine the universal, spiritual and moral values and world views embodied in Buddhism, Islam and other religions. This is why Buddhists, Muslims and others should forge a more profound unity and solidarity which will be able to offer another vision of a just, compassionate and humane universal civilization.

It is with this mission in mind that we hereby announce the launch of a permanent Buddhist-Muslim Citizens' Commission for Southeast Asia.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR)

2007-12-01T20:33:00.000-08:00

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

orporate social responsibility (CSR) is an expression used to describe what some see as a company's obligation to be sensitive to the needs of all of the stakeholders in its business operations.
A company's stakeholders are all those who are influenced by, or can influence, a company's decisions and actions. These can include (but are not limited to): employees, customers, suppliers, community organizations, subsidiaries and affiliates, joint venture partners, local neighborhoods, investors, and shareholders (or a sole owner).

CSR is closely linked with the principles of "Sustainable Development" in proposing that enterprises should be obliged to make decisions based not only on the financial/economic factors but also on the social and environmental consequences of their activities.

Development and analysis
Today's heightened interest in the proper role of businesses in society has been promoted by increased sensitivity to environmental and ethical issues. Issues like environmental damage, improper treatment of workers, and faulty production leading to customers inconvenience or danger, are highlighted in the media. In some countries Government regulation regarding environmental and social issues has increased, and standards and laws are also often set at a supranational level (e.g. by the European Union). Some investors and investment fund managers have begun to take account of a corporation's CSR policy in making investment decisions. Some consumers have become increasingly sensitive to the CSR performance of the companies from which they buy their goods and services. These trends have contributed to the pressure on companies to operate in an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable way.

It is important to distinguish CSR from charitable donations and "good works" (i.e. philanthrophy, e.g. Habitat for Humanity or Ronald McDonald House). Corporations have often, in the past, spent money on community projects, the endowment of scholarships, and the establishment of Foundations. They have also often encouraged their employees to volunteer to take part in community work thereby create goodwill in the community which will directly enhance the reputation of the company and strengthen its brand. CSR goes beyond charity and requires that a responsible company will take into full account the impact on all stakeholders and on the environment when making decisions. This requires them to balance the needs of all stakeholders with their need to make a profit and reward their shareholders adequately.

A widely quoted definition by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development states that "Corporate social responsibility is the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large". (CSR: Meeting Changing Expectations, 1999). This holistic approach to business regards organisations as (for example) being full partners in their communities, rather than seeing them more narrowly as being primarily in business to make profits and serve the needs of their shareholders.

Corporate social responsibility reporting
The application of the principles of Sustainable Development through the introduction of a CSR policy is often accompanied by what is called triple bottom line reporting which declares not only financial results but also the social and environmental impact of the business. Some countries (e.g. France) have made such reporting mandatory. However the measurement of social and environmental performance is difficult and new measurement techniques need to be developed.

Many large companies now produce annual reports that cover Sustainable Development and CSR issues, and these reports are often externally audited. But there is no common template for the reporting and the style and the evaluation methodology varies between companies (even within the same industry). Critics often comment that some of these reports are little more than spin and as an example note that Enron produced a glossy "Corporate Responsibility Annual Report" every year and that tobacco corporations such as BAT also produce social reports.

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is an attempt to standardize sustainability reporting and the AA1000 standard is an attempt to improve their legitimacy.

The history of CSR reporting (an example in Germany) goes back to environmental and sustainability reporting.

The business case for CSR
The benefits of CSR to businesses vary depending on the nature of the enterprise, and are typically very difficult to quantify. A major meta-analysis has been conducted seeking to draw a correlation between social/environmental performance and financial performance. This is Orlizty, Schmidt, Rynes 2002which found that corporate virtue is likely to pay off in this sense. The business may not be looking at short-run financial returns when developing its CSR strategy, however.

The definition of CSR used within business can vary from the strict 'stakeholder impacts' definition used in this article and will often include charitable efforts and volunteering. CSR may be based within the human resources, business development or PR departments of a company, or may be given a separate unit reporting to the CEO or in some cases directly to the board.

The business case for CSR within a company will likely rest on one or more of these arguments:

Human Resources
Corporate Social Responsibility can be an important aid to recruitment and retention, particularly within the competitive graduate market. Potential recruits are increasingly likely to ask about a firm's CSR policy during an interview and having a comprehensive policy can give an advantage. CSR can also help to build a 'feel good' atmosphere among existing staff, particularly when they can become involved through payroll giving, fundraising activities or community volunteering.

Risk Management
Managing risk is a central part of many corporate strategies. Reputations that take decades to build up can be ruined in hours through incidents such as corruption scandals or environmental accidents. These events can also draw unwanted attention from regulators, courts, governments and media. Building a genuine culture of 'doing the right thing' within a corporation can offset these risks.

Brand Differentiation
In crowded marketplaces companies strive for 'X Factors' which can separate them from the competition in the minds of consumers. Several major brands, such as The Co-operative Group and The Body Shop are built on ethical values. Business service organisations can benefit too from building a reputation for integrity and best practice.

License to operate
Corporations are keen to avoid interference in their business through taxation or regulations. By taking substantive voluntary steps they can persuade governments and the wider public that they are taking current issues like health and safety, diversity or the environment seriously and so avoid intervention. This also applies to firms seeking to justify eye-catching profits and high levels of boardroom pay. Those operating away from their home country can make sure they stay welcome by being good corporate citizens with respect to labour standards and impacts on the environment.

Diverting Attention
Major corporations which have existing reputational problems due to their core business activities may engage in high-profile CSR programmes to draw attention away from their perceived negative impacts. Thus British American Tobacco (BAT) will take part in health initiatives and the petroleum giant BP has installed very visible wind-turbines on the roofs of some petrol stations in the UK.

Critical points of view
Some critics of CSR, such as the economist Milton Friedman, argue that a corporation's principal purpose is to maximize returns to its shareholders, while obeying the laws of the countries within which it works. Others argue that the only reason corporations put in place social projects is utilitarian; that they see a commercial benefit in raising their reputation with the public or with government. Proponents of CSR, however, would suggest a number of reasons why self-interested corporations, solely seeking to maximise profits are unable to advance the interests of society as a whole.

Key challenges to the idea of CSR include: - the rule of corporate law that a corporation's directors are prohibited from any activity that would reduce profits - other mechanisms established to manage the principal-agent problem, such as accounting oversight, stock options, performance evaluations, deferred compensation and other mechanisms to increase accountability to shareholders.

Because of this, it has become clear that a CSR activity generally can only be effective at achieving social or environmental outcomes to the extent that it maximizes profits: hence the CSR slogan - "doing well by doing good". Note that this requires that the resources applied to CSR activities must have a higher return than those resources could obtain if applied anywhere else, e.g. capital or productivity investment, lobbying for tax relief, outsourcing, offshoring, fighting against unionization, taking regulatory risks, or taking market risks - all of which are frequently-pursued strategies. This means that the possible scope of CSR activities is drastically narrowed. And corporations, with their constant incentive to maximize profits, often have identified all areas where profits could be increased, including those that have positive external social and environmental outcomes. The scope for CSR is thus narrowed to situations in which:

1. resources are available for investment
2. the CSR activity will yield higher profits than any other potential investment or activity
3. the corporation has been remiss in identifying this profit opportunity

A conflict can arise when a corporation espouses CSR and its commitment to Sustainable Development on the one hand, whilst damaging revelations about its business practices emerge on the other. For example the McDonald's Corporation has been criticised by CSR campaigners for unethical business practices, and was the subject of a decision by Justice Roger Bell in the McLibel case (which upheld some of these claims, regarding mistreatment of workers, misleading advertising, and unnecessary cruelty to animals). Similarly Shell has a much publicised CSR policy and was a pioneer in triple bottom line reporting, but was involved in 2004 in a scandal over the misreporting of its oil reserves which seriously damaged its reputation and led to charges of hypocrisy.

Universities and business schools, many of them with keen advocates of CSR amongst their teaching staffs, have themselves come in for criticism concerning their dealings with corporations (note the different stances taken by ESADE and Wheeling Jesuit University with regard to Aramark).

Critics of the role of business in society argue that:
- Corporations care little for the welfare of workers, and given the opportunity will move production to sweatshops in less well regulated countries.

- Unchecked, companies will squander scarce resources.

- Companies do not pay the full costs of their impact. For example the costs of cleaning pollution often fall on society in general. As a result profits of corporations are enhanced at the expense of social or ecological welfare.

- Regulation is the best way to ensure that companies remain socially responsible.

Supporters of a more market based approach argue that:
- By and large, free markets and capitalism have been at the centre of economic and social development over the past two hundred years and that improvements in health, longevity or infant mortality (for example) have only been possible because economies (driven by free enterprise) have progressed.

- In order to attract quality workers, it is necessary for companies to offer better pay and conditions which leads to an overall rise in standards and to wealth creation.

- Investment in less developed countries contributes to the welfare of those societies, notwithstanding that these countries have fewer protections in place for workers. Failure to invest in these countries decreases the opportunity to increase social welfare.

- Free markets contribute to the effective management of scarce resources. The prices of many commodities have fallen in recent years. This contradicts the notion of scarcity, and may be attributed to improvements in technology leading to the more efficient use of resources.

- There are indeed occasions when externalities, such as the costs of pollution are not built into normal market prices in a free market. In these circumstances, regulatory intervention is important to redress the balance, to ensure that costs and benefits are correctly aligned.

- Whilst regulation is necessary in certain circumstances, over regulation creates barriers to entry into a market. These barriers increase the opportunities for excess profits, to the delight of the market participants, but do little to serve the interests of society as a whole.

Views Regarding CSR
Some would argue that it is self-evidently "good" that businesses should seek to minimise any negative social and environmental impact resulting from their economic activity. It can also be beneficial for a company's reputation to publicise (for example) any environmentally beneficial business activities. A company which develops new engine technology to reduce fuel consumption will be able (if it chooses) to promote its CSR credentials as well as increase profits.

Some commentators are cynical about the true level of commitment of corporations to ideas like CSR and Sustainable Development, and their actual motivations for responsible behaviour. (Corporations that create the appearance of acting responsibly just for its public relations value are said to be "greenwashing.")

Such commentators also say, citing Friedman's dictum, that the idea of an "ethical company" is an oxymoron, since the corporation is by its nature compelled to maximize its own interest, whatever the external price. Corporate executives and employees in turn have strong incentives to internalize the corporation's statutory obligations to maximize profits, sometimes to the extent that they abdicate their individual moral and ethical obligations as human beings. This tendency is, of course, encouraged by the desire to keep one's job, and by a system that judges and rewards performance strictly by bottom-line returns. The results of this tendency were clearly seen in the many corporate scandals of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.

So the CSR movement may perhaps be understood as an attempt not so much to regulate the activities of corporations per se, as to remind the people who constitute these corporations that they nonetheless have other responsibilities beyond the corporate ones.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank: www.midnightuniv.org

Boundaries, Nation States and the Path of Displaced Women's Struggle

2007-11-30T21:54:00.000-08:00

Pinkaew Laungaramsri
Faculty of Social Science, Chiang Mai University
(Translated by Urisara Kowitdamrong and Pipob Udomittipong)

Introduction
The world community is now celebrating the 21st century's new dimension, the dynamic force and cross-border activities that have united the world. It has crossed over the boundaries, which used to divide states from states not long ago. In this now-familiar "borderless world", nation states have relaxed their guard. Nationalist sentiment has subsided. Networking is prized over obstruction, cooperation over division, and diversity as well as multi-pluralism over tyranny.

Still, some old-style nation states have persisted and survived to exert nationalism. They have incessantly subjugated others, endorsed discrimination and sanctioned oppression. They have also alienated their own citizens unrelentingly.

One of these states, no doubt, is Burma.

Few Thais are aware of or are interested to know that the continued influx of people from Burma to Thailand is a direct result of Burmanization by the Burmese military junta. Burmanization is used to exert Burmese dominance over other ethnic groups, and to oppress both citizens of Burmaes ethnicity and citizens from other ethnic groups. Thailand's indifference to this fact and its profit-oriented policies only serve to strengthen Burma's military force. Worse still, while Thailand has pursued "borderless world" concept in welcoming foreign tourists, investors, business and power groups, it has treated the people fleeing from Burma much differently. The Thai government has discriminated against, oppressed, and restricted the rights of these refugees. They have been pushed outside Thailand's social structure. Consequently, Thais know about the lives and struggles of displaced persons only through illiberal phases such as "alien workers" who know only to "cause problems" or to "steal jobs" from Thais.

Naked Lives, Alienation and the Use of Violence by an Old-style State Nation

"While in Burma, as a Shan, I was looked down upon like a second-class citizen in the eyes of Burmese government. But when I am in Thailand, I am given a refugee-card for Burmese people. Nowhere has the existence of Shan people been recognized. I now start thinking of how we can have our own nation, and our dignity".

- A Shan woman at a village near the Thai-Burmese border

Civil war in Burma has given Burmese troops license to practice sexual violence against local ethnic women with impunity...The sexual violence is systematically used for various purposes from terrorizing local communities to demand total submission, to (the use of women's bodies) declare (Burmese) military force on ethnic women's bodies so as to humiliate opposition force and reward Burmese troops during the time of war

- License to Rape, SWAN and SHRF

We no longer have farms. Burmese troops took away all our assets. There, we could not earn enough to survive. There was no job year-round. It is better here than in Burma. Wages here have allowed our subsistence lives. We have been here for nearly one year. We will not go back. We don't know how to earn a living back there.

- "Quoted in" Krittaya Archawanichkul, Tris Coett and Nin Nin Pine ??(2000: 84) [3 people say the same thing in unison...]

If the boundaries are historical records of human crossings over borders of nation states, the displaced women who crossed the border from Burma have their records full of violence against civilian women and bitter conflicts. On the relationship between nation state and its people, a warm nation is reserved for "national insiders" only. The "outsiders", on the other hand, have been constantly abused by the nation. The worst experiences, women have borne.

The migration of displaced women from Burma is therefore not just about women's hope to find jobs in a country with more economic opportunities. In fact, these women have shouldered all the harsh memories along their path. From the interviews with 173 displaced women from Burma between January 2001 and March 2002 by groups working for the displaced from Burma, Shan Women's Action Network (SWAN) and Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF), it was revealed that Burmese troops in documented cases had committed sexual violence against 625 Shan women and girls from 1996 to 2002. In most cases, the victims were raped in front of Burmese troops. As they were brutal rapes, more than 25 percent of victims died. Up to 61 percent of victims were gang-raped, and many of them were detained for purpose of repeated rapes. In some cases, the victims had been detained and raped for more than four months. Most rapes had been committed in the central Shan State, where more than 300,000 local people were forced to leave since 1996 to areas earmarked for relocations. Many rapes took place when girls and women went out from relocation sites to find food. Many other rapes happened during the time when the victims were forced to serve as porters without pay for Burmese troops, or happened at checkpoints manned by the troops (SHRF and SWAN 2002). These findings were the basis of License to Rape report.

Using women's bodies has become an integral part of the Burmanization, which has been sanctioned by the government. The practice has been used by the Burmese military in opposing the ethnic groups since Burma gained independence from Britain, according to Betsy Apple, author of "School for Rape: the Burmese Military and Sexual Violence". She remarked that widespread rapes were systematic as Burmese troops used rapes as a weapon for ethnic cleansing. Rapes of women from other ethnic groups, in addition to Shan, were also widespread even in areas where ceasefire agreements have been reached. In this context, the women's bodies have become battlefields for power, and powerful communications tools the Burmese nation state used to declare its dominance and victories over other ethnic groups. In this symbolic battlefield, the ethnic alienation has been imagined with ethnic groups being subjugated, humiliated, devastated and crushed to defeat.

Ethnic women in Burma suffer not only from sexual violence and memories of what happened to them, but also from their incomprehension as to why their bodies have been abused and become topography of state's violence. In an interview published in The Nation newspaper on August 23, 2002, a rape victim who survived brutal rapes and migrated to Thailand said, "I have heard about the fight between Shan army and Burmese army for many years. At that time, Shan soldiers killed six Burmese troops and I heard that the Burmese troops wanted to take revenge." She was speaking to a reporter who asked what she thought Burmese troops tortured her, her family and other Shan women. But she was clueless as to why the revenge was directed at civilian women like her, their bodies that are not related to any political conflict and much far away from battle stage.

Sadly, the violence against the displaced women has not ended at the borderline. Today, their torture is ongoing but in different forms and different locations. The scenes of torture have changed from villages in Thai-Burmese border to orange farms, factories, houses, construction sites and police stations on Thai soil. Their abusers have changed from troops to employers and Thai government officials. The displaced women, rejected by both their homeland and country they have sought refuge in, still have naked lives without any protection, solace, or rights as civilians should have. They have lived their hidden lives with worries and vulnerability to abuses, intimidation and tortures. They cannot ask for help from anyone.

In the course of struggle

"My only plea is for Thailand to allow Shan people to take refuge here and to set up their settlement with support from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees"

- A member of Shan Women's Network

"The original Shan people who live here do not want to return to Shan state. They are tool aged and are already taken as Thais. We know that the "Tai Nok" people are struggling for independence in order that they can freely communicate with us again. They used to live there in peace."

- Sunanta, Baan Mae Ai Luang, quoted in Aranya Siriphon in 2005

For migrant women, it is very hard to fight for social acceptance. The narrow vision concerning nationality of both Thailand and Burma with the emphasis on cultural and ethnic unity makes the existence of plural society almost impossible. Under this circumstance, migrant women have to choose various ways to bargain and fight for the wider notion of citizenship beyond the realm of nationality and statehood.

Mobilization and advocacy among organizations of migrant people since 2002 to expose human rights abuse in Burma including the release of License to Rape by SWAN and SHRF is an example of their attempts to educate public to come to term with sufferings of these ethnic women and how the junta in Burma has built their power on extreme brutalization. These women are marginalized in two respects. On one hand, they belong to ethnic minority, and on the other hand they are women. Therefore, they have to take up all risks to fight to make their voices heard. The brave actions of these women bear fruit in a growing awareness across the border. People the world over are aware of brutalization and exploitations waged by the outdated regime of Burma against its own people and many have become involved with efforts for major changes in the country. In Thailand, the state and society in general often lack understanding or hold on to narrow views toward the plights of these migrant people from Burma. They are perceived of being illegal migrant labors who have come over here to evade economic hardships in their own countries. However, the continuous campaign of these brave migrant Shan women sheds light on the fact that a growing number of migrants has been directly attributed to the use of sexual violence and the perpetuation of traditional powers in Burma, which over the years have become more violent. The migrant labor registration policy of Thai state has done little to increase understanding and led to no solutions for the issues.

The ongoing brutalization of Shan people by the Burmese junta over several decades has caused great influx of migrants across the Thai border. Yet, the Thai state still refuses to allow these migrants to set up their own refugee camps here. As a result, many Shan migrant women have to struggle for their survival in Thai society through available options including relying on mutual help among their relatives, their association with the existing Shan communities in Thailand or even setting up their own settlements. These women do not perceive themselves merely as "alien labors" as defined by the Thai state, but as members who are instrumental in the growth of society. Many of them have fled from Burma long enough to have their children grown up here. However close their relationships with the country, they are still not counted as "Thai" and are subject to "statelessness".

The long road ahead

An activist woman gave an interesting remark that relationships between the nation and women are weird. Although theoretically, women can fully become members of a nation, but in actuality, they are often discriminated against by the nation (or the nation state). As a result, they are sometimes treated as being part of the nation, and sometimes not. The experience of migrant women from Burma perfectly attests to this inconsistency. They are brutalized by the nation state and are marginalized in their own society, the act of which becomes a basis for interaction between them and the nation. Their being non-Burman ethnic group in Burma justifies brutality unleashed by the nation state against them. Meanwhile, their non-Thai ethnic characteristics differentiate them as being alien labors and thus have no access to due welfares and social acceptance.

Despite such pressure, many marginalized migrant women do not succumb to their fate. They attempt to challenge the narrow perception and the archaistic state mechanisms. On one hand, they fight to broaden perception toward citizenship beyond the existing criteria based on territory, sovereignty or cultural unity. They claim that these criteria not only outdated, but justify brutal treatment by the state against its own people. They promote the notion of cultural citizenship that embraces ethnic and cultural diversity and differences and should be essential part of the definition of citizenship. Against the Burmese junta, the fight will take a long way to go. But in Thai society, social democracy here should be a key factor that leads to reflection and change of concepts and attitude from inflicting on migrants "otherness", to a more understanding and acceptance of migrants as being part of Thai society.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

References

Krtittiya Artwanichkul, Tris Coett, Nin Nin Pine (2000) Gender, Reproductive Health and Violence: Life Experience of Migrant Labors from Burma, Nakhon Pathom, Demographic and Social Research Institute, Mahidol University

Aranya Siriphol (2005), In the course of migration: Experience of Shan communities and labor trade along Thailand-Burma border from social and cultural perspectives, part of the research project "Power, Space and Ethnic Identity: Cultural politics of the Nation State in Northern Thai Society", Faculty of Sociology, Chiang Mai University, with support from the Thailand Research Fund

Apple, Betsy. 1998. School for Rape: The Burmese Military and Sexual Violence.

Shan Human Rights Foundation (2002) Charting the Exodus from Shan State: Patterns of Shan refugees flow into northern Chiang Mai province of Thailand (1997-2002).

Shan Human Rights Foundation and Shan Women's Action Network (2002) Licence to Rape. Chiang Mai: SHRF

The Nation 8/23/2002

Aung San Suu Kyi : 60 Years of Struggling Behind the Cloud (2)

2007-11-30T21:50:00.000-08:00

Mother and Wife, and The Price to be Paid

Suu Kyi wrote in her book "Letters from Burma" that: "I was not the only woman detainee in Burma: there have been - and their still remain - a number of other women imprisoned for their political beliefs. Some of these women had young children who suddenly found themselves in the care of fathers worried sick for their wives and totally unused to running a household. Most of the children, except for those who were too young to understand what was going on, suffered from varying degrees of stress."

On many occasions she was asked about her relationship with her family which lives half a world apart and she would say this of her children: "Of course, there were my own children who had to cope without a mother, but they lived in England, so I was not worries for them." (from an interview with Michele Manceaux, Marie Claire - Singapore edition, May 1996)

From 1996 onward, the junta refuses to allow her husband and children to visit Burma and by the beginning of 1999, Michael became terminally ill and realised that his time was running out. He applied for a visa to visit his wife but the request was turned down by the junta.

The junta wanted to pressure Suu Kyi into exile but she refused the offer to let her leave for London to visit her ailing husband. This came amidst criticism by others that Suu Kyi is failing in her duty as a wife and a mother. Michael eventually passed away on March 27, 1999 at Oxford. The couple's last reunion was during Christmas of 1995.

Michael recorded the happy time they shared in the preface of Suu Kyi's book "Freedom from Fear" that: "The days I spent alone with her that last time, completely isolated from the world, are among my happiest memories of our many years of marriage. It was wonderfully peaceful. Suu had established a strict regime of exercise, study and piano which I managed to disrupt. She was memorizing a number of Buddhist sutras. I produced Christmas presents I had brought one by one to spread them out over several days. We had all the time in the world to talk about many things. I did not suspect this would be the last time we would be together for the foreseeable future."

Michael often told his friends that while Suu Kyi's struggle is known to the world he remains the person who love and understand her most, as Michael wrote in that same preface. "Recently I read again the 187 letters she sent to me in Bhutan from New York in the eight months before we married in London on January 1972… She constantly reminded me that one day she would have to return to Burma, that she counted on my support at that time, not as her due, but as a favour."

As for Suu Kyi, she talked about her relationship with Michael that:
"We don't interfere with each other's beliefs and priorities. For example, my husband is an orientalist and a Tibetologist. I have never tried to stop him from pursuing his interest, although sometimes it was quite exhausting following him around the Himalayas. I did what I could to help him and I think he adopts the same attitude." (from the same interview on Marie Claire Magazine).

When asked about the choice she made as a woman dedicated to the public cause instead or her family, Suu Kyi said: "… I think tradition has always dictated that men are more free to do public work. Women are expected to do both but it's not so in my case because I live apart from my family, so in a sense, I don't have a private life." (ibid).

Life Under Detention

Aung San Suu Kyi was first placed under house arrest on July 20, 1989 by the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) which eventually confined her without charge for six years.

Her first taste of freedom came in July 1995.
Life under house arrest in her own home saw Suu Kyi refusing to accept all kinds of deals offered by the junta. She has to sell her household belongings and valuable to survive, leaving only a piano and a dining table. She told a journalist how she passes her days in confinement.

"I refused to accept anything from the military… Sometimes I didn't even have enough money to eat. I became so weak from malnourishment that my hair fell out, and I couldn't get out of bed. I was afraid that I had damaged my heart. Every time I moved, my heart went thump-thump-thump, and it was hard to breath. I fell to nearly 90 pounds from my normal 106. I thought to myself that I'd die of heart failure, not starvation at all." (ibid).

The military junta did not prevented her from corresponding with her family through letters but they read all the letters trafficking in and fro. "They also emphasized that they were doing me a great favour by allowing me to write to my children. But I said I would not accept any favours from them and stopped writing. Then, two-and-a-half years later, they asked my husbands and sons to visit me." (ibid).

Lost Freedom and Road to Democracy

Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest for second time on September 21, 2000 for 18 months and gained a brief period of freedom of mobility in 2002.

Aung San Suu Kyi was put under house arrest for the third time by the same junta which by then have changed its name to The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) from June 2003 after a clash between Suu Kyi supporters and government's mob on May 30 while Suu Kyi was visiting local people at Depayin City in northern Burma.

June 19, 2005 marked the 60th birth anniversary of Aung San Suu Kyi who remains under house arrest at her home along Inya Lake, University Avenue, an address that has become symbolic since her father Aung San fought for independence and now her daughter for democracy.

Today, no one knows how she leads her life in confinement but over the past 17 years, Suu Kyi sacrificed her personal freedom and happiness for peace and democracy in Burma. This commitment was reiterated in her very own writings in the book "Letters from Burma" that: "Prison walls affect those on the outside, too"

---------------------------------
Compiled by "The Organising Committee for the 60th Birthday of Aung San Suu Kyi",
translated by Pravit Rojanaphruk

Footnote:
1.Brochure from "One Decade of Aung San Suu Kyi and the Nobel Peace Prize" organised by the Thai Action Committee for Democracy in Burma (TACDB) on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Nobel Peace Prize, December 8, 2001.

2."Letters from Burma" written by Aung San Suu Kyi

3. Aris, Michael in preface of Aung San Suu Kyi's book, 'Freedom from Fear'

4. www.dassk.org

5.http://nobelprize.org

6. Manceaux, Michele, Marie Claire Magazine, May 1996, Singapore Edition.

7. Klein, Edward, Vanity Fair, October 1995.

Aung San Suu Kyi : 60 Years of Struggling Behind the Cloud (1)

2007-11-30T21:35:00.000-08:00

The name Aung San Suu Kyi became known to the wider world after
the 8-8-88 incident in Burma on August 8,1988 when hundreds of thousands Burmese students and citizens rose up to demand democracy from the military dictatorship that has been ruling Burma for 26 years.

That political incident propelled Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of Burma's independence movement leader, General Aung San, to follow a similar political path to her father. She abandoned her academic career and lovely family behind in order to dedicate herself to the struggle for peace and democracy of her motherland by fighting against dictators amidst doubt expressed by the public about her other responsibility as a wife and a mother.

Aung San Suu Kyi returned to her homeland to eventually carry out the fight in March 1988. She would not have a chance to step out of Burma again because of her realization that if she chose to leave Burma, the military junta would never allow for her return again as long as they are in their illegitimate power. Suu Kyi chose to sacrifice her personal freedom in order to remind the world of Burma people's continued sufferings under the harsh military rule and she does it in a non-violent manner.

She told the power that be that: "Love and truth can move people more than coercion."
She said to the Burmese people: " I think many people in Burma will recognize the instinct that makes us look up toward the heavens and the confident inner voice that tells us that behind the deeply banked clouds there is still the sun waiting to shed its light and warmth at the given hour."
Then she conveyed this message to the world community: "Prison may break the body but not the spirit."

Seventeen years of Struggle Against Dictatorship

In the end of March 1988, the 43-year-old Aung San Suu Kyi returned to her home in Rangoon from abroad to care for her ailing mother, Daw Khin Kyi. This coincided with the economic crisis and political turmoil in Burma which led to the resignation of General Ne Win from the chairmanship of The Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) which has seized political control over Burma for the past 26 years.

The dissatisfaction of people towards Ne Win's rule, especially his
economic policy, has been building up continuously and became more intense by September of 1987 when the 25 kyats, 35 kyats and 75 kyats banknotes have been discontinued without allowing people to convert it with the government. This led to the sudden loss of about 75 per cent of the money circulated at that time and Rangoon University students protested by ransacking many shops.

The first major violent incident occured in March 1988 after a feud
between students at a tea house occured. Police arrested those engaged in the brawl but students pressured the authority to release them. This demand was met with brute force unleashed by the authority as many were shot to deaths. Thousands were subsequently arrested and the incident led to massive dissatisfaction among students and citizens. As protests spread nationwide, it became one of the reason behind Ne Win's eventual resignation.

The resignation of Gen. Ne Win on July 23 was followed by a demonstration and call for democracy by hundreds of thousands of people and students in Rangoon. The rally spread nationwide by August 8, 1988 and reached a turning point when millions of Burmese people, including Suu Kyi, took to the street.

Though the duty to her mother ended with Daw Khin Kyi's death on December 27 of that year, the duty to her motherland remains. It's been 17 years since, now that she's turning 60 this year on June 19, 2005.

Over the past 17 years of struggle, Suu Kyi traded her personal freedom in order to remind the world of the on-going suffering of the Burmese people under the junta's iron-fist rule. Her non-violent struggle has not only tarnish the reputation of the junta but also foreign governments which directly or indirectly supported the junta.

As Suu Kyi herself said: "When we ask for democracy, all we are asking is that our people should be allowed to live in tranquility under the rule of law, protected by institutions which will guarantee our rights, the rights that will enable us to maintain our human dignity, to heal long festering wounds and to allow love and courage to flourish. Is that such a very unreasonable demand?"

From Hometown to the Wider World: Building a Loving Family

Aung San Suu Kyi was only two when her father Gen. Aung San, the man Burmese regarded as their "hero of independence" was assassinated in July 1947.

Gen. Aung San led the struggle against the British and Japanese, finally gain independence for Burma on January 4, 1948. After he was assassinated, Daw Khin Kyi, his wife, had to shoulder the responsibility of looking after their three children alone, Suu Kyi being the youngest and the only daughter.

Soon after her father's death, the second son died in a drowning accident while Suu Kyi and her eldest brother, Aung San Oo, grew up under the care of his mother and friends of his late father.

In 1960, Daw Khin Kyi was appointed Burmese Ambassador to New Delhi and Suu Kyi was enrolled at Lady Shri Ram College in that city. Suu Kyi later went up to Oxford to read Philosphy, Politics and Economics (PPE) at St Hugh's College. It was at that ancient university that she met her love and future husband Michael Aris who was reading Tibetan civilisation at the same university.

The year when Aung San Suu Kyi graduated was the same year that her mother completed her term in New Delhi and return to Rangoon. Suu Kyi left for New York to work as assistant secretary to the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions at the United Nations. During those three years, Suu Kyi devoted her evenings and weekends as hospital volunteer reading and consoling financially-deprived patients.

In January of 1972, Suu Kyi married Michael Aris and they both left for Bhutan. Suu Kyi got a job as a researcher for the Bhutanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs while Michael headed the translation Department and tutored members of the Royal Family.

They both return to London in 1973 and stayed there for five years. Michael got a lectureship at Oxford in Himalayan and Tibetan Studies while Suu Kyi gave birth to her first son, Alexander, in 1973 and followed by the second son Kim in 1977. Beside spending time looking after the two children, Suu Kyi became involved in writing and doing research on her late father's life as well as helping Michael with his work.

They both went their own ways between 1985 and 1986 when Suu Kyi received a research grant from the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Kyoto University to work on the lives of her father while Michael received a scholarship from the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies in Simla, Northern India. Suu Kyi took Kim with her to Kyoto while Michael was joined by Alexander. Suu Kyi later received a scholarship from Indian Institute of Advanced Studies and went to join the family in Simla. It was around this time when Suu Kyi has to fly back to London to care for her mother who was under going an eye surgery.

By 1987, both Suu Kyi and her family returned to Oxfordshire. Suu Kyi enrolled at London University's School of Oriental and African Studies and was working on her doctoral dissertation on Burmese Literature when fate would thrust her into politics and world-wide fame.

Returning Home to Fight for Her Father's Unfulfilled Mission

Towards the end of March 1988, Suu Kyi learnt of her mother's severe illness. She left for Rangoon at once to be near her mother. In her mind was also a plan to set up a chain of libraries but things would soon take a drastic turn.

"When I returned to Burma in 1988 to nurse my sick mother, I was planning on starting a chain of libraries in my father's name. A life of politics held no attraction to me. But the people of my country were demanding for democracy, and as my father's daughter, I felt I had a duty to get involved," Suu Kyi told Edward Klein on Vanity Fair (Oct, 1995).

Her first foray into political activism began on August 15, 1988. It was a week after the Burmese military junta resorted to the use of force to crackdown and kill scores of demonstrators who were calling for democracy on August 8. The incident, which became known internationally as "the 8-8-88 incident" led Suu Kyi to write an open letter to the military junta, calling for the setting up of an independent commission to carry out a general election.

Suu Kyi gave her first political speech on August 26 in front of hundred of thousands who gathered outside the sacred Shwedagong Pagoda with both her sons and her husband at her side providing moral supports.

During that speech, Suu Kyi called for the restoration of democracy and peaceful coexistence among various ethnic groups in Burma which was her father's unfulfilled dream when it was denied by the military and later with the setting up of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) on September 18, 1988.

On Sept 24 of that year, Suu Kyi and her late father's friends along with a group of young students with similar ideology retaliated by forming the National League for Democracy (NLD) in which Suu Kyi was elected as the secretary general of the Party. The NLD then declared the commence of their struggle against dictatorship through peaceful resistance.

The Birth of a Legend of Non-Violent Struggle

The legend began on April 5, 1989 when Suu Kyi, facing with harassment by the ruling military junta during NLD political campaign decided to confront the might of the guns.

Amidst hundreds of watchful eyes, Suu Kyi walked calmly but steadily towards the military barricade with rifles pointing at her in order to prevent her from continuing her journey.

In the end, the military commander on the spot relented and ordered his troops to put the guns down and instead of confronting Suu Kyi, provide her with protection from possible assassination attempt.

Honour and House Arrest

Although the dictatorial regime did not dare using outright violence against Suu Kyi, it resorted to invoking martial law to place her under house arrest for three years beginning July 20, 1989.

Many key party members were also arrested and sent to Insein Prison, notorious for torture of its inmates. Suu Kyi started a hunger strike and demanded that she be sent to the prison to join others as well. Alexander and Kim was with Suu Kyi at that time and Michael flew in from London. Suu Kyi ended her hunger strike only when the junta promised to humanely treat jailed NDL party members.

On May, 1990, despite Suu Kyi being still under house arrest, the NLD Party won a landslide victory in the general election. However, the junta refused to hand over power and demanded that Suu Kyi ended her political career and leave for abroad at once. When Suu Kyi refused, her house arrest order was extended to five and eventually six years.

On October 14, 1991, Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Being under house arrest, her two sons instead flew to Oslo to receive the award on her behalf. The two children carried their mother's photograph to the ceremony amidst thunderous rounds of applause.

Alexander told the Nobel Committee and guests that: "I know that if she is free today my mother would, in thanking you, also ask you to pray that the oppressors and the oppressed should throw down their weapons and join together to build a nation founded on humanity in the spirit of peace."

Suu Kyi soon announced that the monetary prize of 1.3 US million dollars would go to the setting up of a fund towards health and education for Burmese people.

By July 10, 1995, Suu Kyi tasted freedom from house arrest for the first time.