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<font size=5><b>EDITORIAL: Sympathy grows for the exiled Burmese <br>
</font></b><font size=3>The United Nations High Commission for Refugees
(UNHCR) has reassured Thailand that it will help expedite the relocation
of Burmese students to third countries willing to take them. The UNHCR
will open registration early next month in order to identify those
refugees who want to be resettled. <br>
The students, who have been in border camps since 1993, are eligible to
be resettled overseas. They will be asked to give information on their
education and employment background, relatives overseas and resettlement
preference and have their photos taken for identification purposes. Those
who stay outside the centre will not be considered as the UNHCR will not
recognise them. <br>
This is an important step to allow those who have been left behind in the
previous screening process to be considered. The Foreign Ministry has
been trying hard to find third countries who are willing to take the
students and provide them with an education. Spokesman Don Pramudwinai
said that at least 16 countries have expressed readiness to accept them.
<br>
This is welcome news. Such a high number of resettlement countries is
indicative of the sympathy towards Thailand and the Burmese students in
exile who are stranded inside the student centre and along the porous
Thai-Burmese border. The resettlement countries in the West have suffered
from refugee fatigue and have restricted their intake for quite sometime.
However, by accepting these students now, they will be helping to build
up a new Burmese generation who one day will take charge of their
country's destiny. The students will be able to attend schools and take
care of their families, unlike at home where universities and other
higher education centres have been shut down because the junta fears they
will become cauldrons of student anti-government activism. <br>
Followed the Burmese embassy siege on Oct 1 and the Oct 18 incident at
the centre in which five UNHCR officials were locked in their office,
there has been growing sympathy worldwide about the fate of the young
Burmese students. They have fought for democracy within their country but
their future appears limited to that of exile in Thailand For those
students who have been using peaceful means to remind the world of the
political oppression in Burma, the past 10 years have been a great
disappointment. It may not be that way from now on. <br>
Since 1988, the lack of strong coordinated pressure among the West, Asean
and concerned countries have allowed the military junta leaders to rule
Burma with terror and get away scot-free. But the trend is shifting. It
is evident that more and more countries want to help Thailand to
successfully deal with the Burmese students in exile, especially after
the latest economic fallout caused by Thailand's firmness towards Burma.
Western donor countries are contemplating additional financial assistance
to the most affected Thais as a result of the border closure and the
fishing ban by Burma. To them, essentially, it is a struggle between an
open society and a closed one. There is no doubt which side will prevail.
<br>
But for the time being, there is a need for closer cooperation between
officials of the Interior Ministry and UNHCR staff. All too often some
Thai camp officials have worked in collusion with trouble-making students
to create confusion and problems within the centre and among the
students. More stringent enforcement of camp procedures and regulations,
therefore, is required. Camp procedures have not been fully explained,
and officials with dubious intent manipulate the system to their own
advantage, much to the detriment of the students. <br>
But while the relocation of the students to a third country is welcome
news, the best situation of all would be for them to be able to go home.
A democratic Burma is really the only suitable solution to their plight.
Let's hope that those countries taking the students, and all
freedom-loving countries around the world, will continue to put pressure
on the junta to honour the result of the 1990 election. <br>
The Nation<br>
<br>
</font><font size=4><b>Feature</font></b><font size=3> <br>
</font><font size=5><b>How artifacts have defined Asia<br>
</font></b><font size=3>How did an Indian Buddhist shrine influence a
Japanese pagoda? How are Italian pigs and cowry shells related to
porcelain? Why did the ferocious warriors of Mongolia wear silk
underwear? And, how did spices become such a critical part of most Asian
diets? <br>
These intriguing questions are investigated in Artifacts, a new series
being launched by Discovery Channel Asia that explores the origins and
hidden connections among art and artifacts of the great cultures and
belief systems across Asia -- from India to Thailand, Indonesia and
Japan. <br>
The first three episodes will take viewers on a journey through time and
across continents to understand the impact of calligraphy, porcelain and
architecture in China. <br>
Each episode uses vivid graphics, historical re-creations, and rare
historical footage to reveal the fascinating stories behind the rich
cultural heritage of Asian civilisation. <br>
The first programme Mystery of Porcelain, (7 pm on Nov 14), traces the
history of China and the impact Chinese pottery had on societies from
Beijing to London. Porcelain, born in the earthenware kilns of
prehistoric China, captured the imagination of the greatest emperors and
bewitched Western civilisations. One of the strongest, most heat
resistant materials ever made, ceramics are at the cutting edge of
technology and engineering and are used in artificial limbs, computer
chips and tiles to protect the space shuttle. <br>
The development of calligraphy and Chinese painting is explored in A
Brush with Wisdom (7 pm on Nov 21). This episode examines in detail the
tools, techniques, beauty and symbolism of calligraphy and discovers the
philosophies that inspired artists in Taoist and Confucian temples to
create works of art. <br>
Visit the world's oldest bookstore, the mist-covered craggy peaks of
Mount Hua which inspired the masterpiece of Chinese landscape painting
and the Orchid Pavilion where a famous calligrapher sat down 1,700 years
ago to write his magnum opus. <br>
The third episode Sacred Spaces (7 pm Nov 28), focuses on China's
architectural tradition of beauty and flexibility. Structures are
dictates of feng shui or Chinese geomancy, a technique for aligning
man-made structures harmoniously with natural currents. From the ruins of
the first emperor's palace, now just a grass covered mound, to the oldest
pagoda in China, discover how China built its history, culture and genius
into its sacred spaces. <br>
Production on the next episode is expected to begin at the end of this
year. For more information visit Discovery Channel's website at
<a href="http://www.asia.discovery/"; eudora="autourl">http://www.asia.discovery</a></font>
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