Are Out Memorials Taken Seriously

[nyeinchan@xxxxxxxxxxx]

(From Bangkok Post's Postbag - July 3rd, 1997)

Are our memorials taken seriously?

Last week my wife and I visited the Hellfire Pass "death railway" 
memorial west of Kanchanaburi. During World War II, the Japanese Army 
was allowed to build a railroad through Thailand at the cost of 
thousands of lives of Allied PoWs and Asian slave labourers. This 
infamous "death railroad" was the scene of some of the most brutal acts 
against human beings seen in World War II.

Today there are numerous memorials to those who died building the 
railroad. One such memorial is at Hellfire Pass. Here prisoners slaved 
to cut and blast the railway through steep mountains. Hundreds died and 
there are now plaques and a walkway to help remind us in the present of 
the horrors and brutality of the past.

Ironically, next to the entrance of the memorial runs another line. This 
time it is a pipeline. It, like the railway, runs from Burma into 
Thailand. Like the railway, it has been build on the backs of unwilling 
people, this time Karen, Mon and Burman. Also, like the railway, it is 
being built by a military government that justifies oppression in the 
name of economic prosperity. During World War II, Thailand found it 
expedient to allow the Japanese to build the "death railway". Today, it 
has also been found expedient to assist in this gas pipeline from Burma.

But Thailand is not alone in assisting Slorc, as businesses from the 
United States (Unocal) and France (Total) have put profit before people. 
Have we learned nothing from history? Are memorials like that at 
Hellfire Pass taken seriously? What will we do?

Whether we are Asian or Western, we are responsible for what we and our 
government, businesses and fellow citizens do. Each one of us has the 
right and the ability to stand up for those who cannot stand up for 
themselves. One memorial is enough at Hellfire Pass.

Chiang Mai

"THERE WILL BE NO REAL DEMOCRACY IF WE CAN'T GURANTEE THE RIGHTS OF THE 
MINORITY ETHNIC PEOPLE.  ONLY UNDERSTANDING THEIR SUFFERING AND HELPING 
THEM TO EXERCISE THEIR RIGHTS WILL ASSIST PREVENTING FROM THE 
DISINTEGRATION AND THE SESESSION."  "WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING THEIR 
STRENGTH, WE CAN'T TOPPLE THE SLORC AND BURMA WILL NEVER BE IN PEACE."


_______________________________________________________
Get Private Web-Based Email Free http://www.hotmail.com