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"PETRONAS PASSAGE TO TIBET" (VIA BU (r)



WHAT A JOLLY JAUNT!

NB. PETRONAS IS THE MAJORITY SHAREHOLDER IN THE YETAGUN GAS FIELD (IT
BOUGHT UP TEXACO'S SHARES). ISN'T DOCKERS A SPORTS/SHOE MANUFACTURES WITH
OUTLETS IN THE US AND OTHER COUNTRIES WITH BURMA SUPPORT GROUPS?  IT'S
REASSURING TO LEARN THAT "In Myanmar, the military would escort the convoy
while in its territory".  

Perhaps someone might like to forward this to some of the Tibet support groups.

DNA

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

New Straits Times (Malaysia) 
August 25, 1999 

Malaysians on National Day expedition to Tibet 

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 24 - As the country celebrates National Day this year, 46
Malaysians will begin their 15,000km overland journey to the foot of Mount
Everest in Tibet in a convoy of 14 four-wheel drive vehicles. 

Called the "Petronas Passage to Tibet", the team, including six women, will
drive through Thailand, Myanmar and four provinces of China to get to the
Mount Everest Base Camp, 160km from Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. 

It has also been selected as one of the contingents for the National Day
parade, the event organiser Teng Choon Kwang told a Press conference at the
Petronas Twin Towers today. 

The expedition, which Teng said was the first convoy driven by foreigners
to be permitted to enter Tibet, was expected to take 40 days and would be
flagged off at Dataran Merdeka during the National Day 
celebrations. 

The event is organised by the Kwang Hwa High School Ex-Pupil Association of
Klang and Adventure Sports Management Sdn Bhd, which will be providing
technical support and handling the promotion. 

Petronas is the title sponsor of the event, while Dockers will provide
apparel for the expedition to be led by Steven Sim, who is both convoy
leader and technical director. 

Teng said the expedition would be more challenging than the one to Inner
Mongolia in 1996. 

He said the journey would be 60 per cent off-road, but felt the main
challenge would be the extreme temperature change from about 33 degrees
Celsius here to about 33 degrees Celsius below zero in Tibet. 

The main concern would be the lack of oxygen at such high altitudes, he added. 

On security, Teng said he received permission from the Chinese Defence
Ministry to bring the convoy into Tibet last night, after trying for one year. 

In Myanmar, the military would escort the convoy while in its territory. 

Among the places of interest the the team would visit are Bangkok, Ayuthaya
and Chiengmai in Thailand; Kengtung in Myanmar; Lhasa, Chengdu and Kunming
in China. 

Teng said the team members would help distribute donations to schools for
Project Hope, an organisation created by China to receive and distribute
aid from international donors to Chinese children for 
education. 

"A school construction project in Tibet will receive Renminbi 70,000
(RM26,000) while another school in Yunan will receive Renminbi 30,000," he
said. 

In Malaysia, they would be donating money to Sekolah Kebangsaan Bandar
Bukit Kayu Hitam and Kwang Hua High School in Klang. 
                               

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