pictures paint a thousand words.
Grandma, I love you. I always do.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
CYCLONE VCDS ARE SELLING FASTER THAN...
THE VCDs have gruesome images of battered and bloated dead bodies left behind by Cyclone Nargis. Seen in newspapers and on TV programmes around the world, these are visuals which are not so easily accessible in Myanmar.
A man buying VCDs of footage recorded during the passage of cyclone Nargis. -- Picture: AFP
Ordinary citizens have turned to their usual underground sources of information: Overseas satellite broadcasts, along with websites blocked by the Myanmar government but available with some minor technicaltricks.
So it is not much of a surprise that when evidence of the cyclone was suppressed, it would emerge on the black-market video circuit there.
Hidden behind a stack of pornographic video discs, Yangon street vendor Mg Zaw has even more sought-after contraband: Footage of the destruction caused by the cyclone, which cut a deadly path through Myanmar's heartland two weeks ago.
People are generally barred from travelling to the area and the state television monopoly mostly has shown more upbeat scenes of the country's military leaders handing out aid.
Mr Mg Zaw, who runs a video disc stall in central Yangon, said he started hawking the storm videos just two days after Nargis struck.
'People buy them because they are interested in seeing what happened out there,' he said, eyes warily scanning for police conducting checks.
The discs are packaged in slim plastic holders with paper covers featuring grainy montages of bloated corpses floating in flood waters.
In one video, stray dogs sniff the ground near the corpse of a woman.
The videos are being bought either out of curiosity or, some say, as a way of coping with the tragedy, which left about 78,000 people dead and another 55,000 missing, according to the official government count. The Red Cross and the UN expect the death toll to soar well above 100,000.
Mr Khin Soe, 28, who has been told that his parents and three siblings died in the disaster, bought one of the videos Saturday afternoon.
'I want to know what happened, that's why I am buying this,' he said.
Each disc is priced at 500 kyat (about 70cents). Mr Mg Zaw said he makes 100kyat per disc. Some hawkers said they have been selling about 100 copies a day. -AP.
A man buying VCDs of footage recorded during the passage of cyclone Nargis. -- Picture: AFP
Ordinary citizens have turned to their usual underground sources of information: Overseas satellite broadcasts, along with websites blocked by the Myanmar government but available with some minor technicaltricks.
So it is not much of a surprise that when evidence of the cyclone was suppressed, it would emerge on the black-market video circuit there.
Hidden behind a stack of pornographic video discs, Yangon street vendor Mg Zaw has even more sought-after contraband: Footage of the destruction caused by the cyclone, which cut a deadly path through Myanmar's heartland two weeks ago.
People are generally barred from travelling to the area and the state television monopoly mostly has shown more upbeat scenes of the country's military leaders handing out aid.
Mr Mg Zaw, who runs a video disc stall in central Yangon, said he started hawking the storm videos just two days after Nargis struck.
'People buy them because they are interested in seeing what happened out there,' he said, eyes warily scanning for police conducting checks.
The discs are packaged in slim plastic holders with paper covers featuring grainy montages of bloated corpses floating in flood waters.
In one video, stray dogs sniff the ground near the corpse of a woman.
The videos are being bought either out of curiosity or, some say, as a way of coping with the tragedy, which left about 78,000 people dead and another 55,000 missing, according to the official government count. The Red Cross and the UN expect the death toll to soar well above 100,000.
Mr Khin Soe, 28, who has been told that his parents and three siblings died in the disaster, bought one of the videos Saturday afternoon.
'I want to know what happened, that's why I am buying this,' he said.
Each disc is priced at 500 kyat (about 70cents). Mr Mg Zaw said he makes 100kyat per disc. Some hawkers said they have been selling about 100 copies a day. -AP.
Interesting news from AsiaOne.
Body parts in different parts of Klang Valley .
Happened in malaysia not myanmar. Nothing to do with Myanmar i just post this randomly.
PETALING JAYA, MALAYSIA: First, it was the discovery of a leg cut off at the knee on Sunday, yesterday it was the headless torso of a woman.
Police here now fear that they may be on the hunt for more body parts.
The torso was discovered near a monsoon drain in Sunway Mentari along the Federal Highway.
It was found by a motorcyclist, who stopped to rest at the motorcycle lane leading towards Subang Jaya at 2.40pm yesterday.
Police are now trying to determine if the torso and the right leg discovered in Salak South on Sunday belonged to the same person.
OCPD Asst Comm Arjunaidi Mohd said police found several shirts, a skirt and blouse piled on top of the torso, believed to have been dumped there less than 24 hours before. "We believe the victim, aged between 20 and 30, was murdered elsewhere and dumped in the bushes near the monsoon drain. The victim has yet to be identified as no personal documents were found.
"The head, arms and legs were cleanly cut off and there is no other injury mark on the body," he said, adding that the remains were sent to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital for a DNA test.
ACP Arjunaidi said police were also waiting for test results to establish if the victim was raped.
The right leg was found in a rubbish bin in Taman Salak South by Alam Flora workers at a shoplot area.
This piece-by-piece discovery of body parts is reminiscent of the sensational Lily Chua murder case in the early 1990s where her spurned lover Gan Wei Seng cut her up into 11 pieces.
Gan, a music teacher and lay preacher, wrapped them in newspapers, placed them in plastic bags and dumped them in Jalan Langgak Tunku in Kuala Lumpur.
He was jailed 12 years in 1994 after pleading guilty to manslaughter but was released after eight years for good behaviour. -The Star, ANN
*disgusting right!! how could a human being do this?
Happened in malaysia not myanmar. Nothing to do with Myanmar i just post this randomly.
PETALING JAYA, MALAYSIA: First, it was the discovery of a leg cut off at the knee on Sunday, yesterday it was the headless torso of a woman.
Police here now fear that they may be on the hunt for more body parts.
The torso was discovered near a monsoon drain in Sunway Mentari along the Federal Highway.
It was found by a motorcyclist, who stopped to rest at the motorcycle lane leading towards Subang Jaya at 2.40pm yesterday.
Police are now trying to determine if the torso and the right leg discovered in Salak South on Sunday belonged to the same person.
OCPD Asst Comm Arjunaidi Mohd said police found several shirts, a skirt and blouse piled on top of the torso, believed to have been dumped there less than 24 hours before. "We believe the victim, aged between 20 and 30, was murdered elsewhere and dumped in the bushes near the monsoon drain. The victim has yet to be identified as no personal documents were found.
"The head, arms and legs were cleanly cut off and there is no other injury mark on the body," he said, adding that the remains were sent to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital for a DNA test.
ACP Arjunaidi said police were also waiting for test results to establish if the victim was raped.
The right leg was found in a rubbish bin in Taman Salak South by Alam Flora workers at a shoplot area.
This piece-by-piece discovery of body parts is reminiscent of the sensational Lily Chua murder case in the early 1990s where her spurned lover Gan Wei Seng cut her up into 11 pieces.
Gan, a music teacher and lay preacher, wrapped them in newspapers, placed them in plastic bags and dumped them in Jalan Langgak Tunku in Kuala Lumpur.
He was jailed 12 years in 1994 after pleading guilty to manslaughter but was released after eight years for good behaviour. -The Star, ANN
*disgusting right!! how could a human being do this?
Aids allow.
Ok, i am back.
Very busy with Vesak day and what so ever.
Myanmar agrees to aid effort led by ASEAN
*good news lay, everybody smile please.
MYANMAR agreed at an emergency regional meeting here Monday to let its Southeast Asian neighbours coordinate foreign assistance for cyclone victims, Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo said.
The Myanmar government estimates losses from the disaster at more than 10 billion US dollars (S$13.66 billion), Mr Yeo told journalists after meeting counterparts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), including Myanmar's Nyan Win.
'The foreign ministers have agreed to establish an Asean-led coordinating mechanism' for the assistance effort, Mr Yeo said.
Asean will work with the United Nations to hold an 'international pledging conference' in Myanmar's main city Yangon on May 25 to pool aid for victims of the disaster, the Singapore minister said.
Myanmar also agreed to accept medical teams from all Asean countries to take part in the relief efforts, he added.
Want to see pictures of the cyclone?
www.burmachannel.com (contain a lot of dead people pictures. beware)
Very busy with Vesak day and what so ever.
Myanmar agrees to aid effort led by ASEAN
*good news lay, everybody smile please.
MYANMAR agreed at an emergency regional meeting here Monday to let its Southeast Asian neighbours coordinate foreign assistance for cyclone victims, Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo said.
The Myanmar government estimates losses from the disaster at more than 10 billion US dollars (S$13.66 billion), Mr Yeo told journalists after meeting counterparts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), including Myanmar's Nyan Win.
'The foreign ministers have agreed to establish an Asean-led coordinating mechanism' for the assistance effort, Mr Yeo said.
Asean will work with the United Nations to hold an 'international pledging conference' in Myanmar's main city Yangon on May 25 to pool aid for victims of the disaster, the Singapore minister said.
Myanmar also agreed to accept medical teams from all Asean countries to take part in the relief efforts, he added.
*finally!! tsk tsk tsk.
On the other hand,
Myanmar begins three days of mourning
YANGON - MYANMAR launched three days of official mourning on Tuesday for more than 133,000 people left dead or missing by Cyclone Nargis, lowering national flags to half mast at 9.00am (10.30am Singapore time).
The mourning period is one of the first demonstrations of public grief since the tropical storm ravaged swathes of this impoverished nation 18 days ago, leaving about 2.4 million survivors desperately in need of aid.
The reclusive junta leader Than Shwe spent a second consecutive day on Monday touring the disaster zone, venturing into the hardest-hit regions of the Irrawaddy Delta for the first time.
Until Sunday, the senior general had not made a public appearance or remark about the disaster
Want to see pictures of the cyclone?
www.burmachannel.com (contain a lot of dead people pictures. beware)
Friday, May 16, 2008
Quote
"The scariest thing is not seeing a dead body, its seeing how an alive person slowly dies and wither away."
A little happy news.
When devastating disaster happens, everybody true colour will be shown.
The good people, the bad people.
True colour, true nature of everybody.
Whose the good ones and whose the bad one.
A little good news.
Local heroes step in to help cyclone victims
* I am very proud of all these myanmar people. In times of need they stand up for their own people.
YANGON, Myanmar - From shopkeepers handing out free rice porridge to medical students caring for the sick, ordinary people in Myanmar are stepping in to help cyclone victims as the military regime severely restricts international aid.
Taxi drivers, factory owners, college students, teachers and other Yangon residents — many of whom lost their own homes — are among those organizing grueling trips into the Irrawaddy delta, the hardest-hit region.
"They are true humanitarian heroes," said Bridget Gardner, International Red Cross representative in Myanmar, after touring an area where volunteers were giving first aid to the injured.
"We feel sympathetic to the cyclone victims and want to help them in our own way," said Daw Mya Win, who runs a small grocery in a northern Yangon suburb where many bamboo shanty houses were destroyed.
She cooks for victims daily The 49-year-old woman cooks rice porridge every day to feed anyone who comes. She also sends pots of the thick viscous mixture of rice, water and seasonings to some of the thousands of homeless who have sought shelter in the country's Buddhist monasteries.
Others have taken refuge in Catholic churches where priests and nuns are caring for the hungry and homeless.
"We totally depend on private donations every day for our daily meals," said Aung Min, a 53-year-old man who has been staying at the Thaung Gyi monastery with his wife and three children since Cyclone Nargis struck.
The military junta has restricted most foreign aid workers from entering Myanmar, formerly called Burma. And most Westerners lucky enough to get visas have been confined to Yangon — hours away from the most devastated areas deep in the Irrawaddy delta.
Even the efforts by Myanmar volunteers face obstacles. Many are stopped at military checkpoints and told to leave their supplies for soldiers to distribute.
Rather than risking the aid never reaching the people who need it, some turn back. Others try to negotiate by offering a portion of the goods in exchange for passage.
'I am so angry'Zaw Htin, one of many volunteer medical students, returned from a frustrating trip Wednesday to one of the government refugee centers in the devastated delta town of Bogalay.
"I am so angry. They don't want us to stay and talk to people. (The authorities) want us to leave the supplies with them for distribution," she said.
"But how can I treat the injured if I can't talk to them? How do we administer medical care if we can't touch them, feel their pulse or give them advice?"
"Their courage is moving," said Tim Costello, president of World Vision-Australia, who was stuck in Yangon after the government denied him permission to visit the delta. "There's no doubt (the volunteers) have responded magnificently.
Burmese-run aid groups also are playing an integral role in organizing and distributing supplies to survivors, as are businessmen. Some have offered diesel at subsidized prices to volunteers traveling to the delta, while others donate rice, water and water purification equipment. One shipping company offered to hand over two boats for floating clinics.
'We're just gonna do this'Some Burmese volunteers unable to find cars or fuel were visiting hard-hit slums on the outskirts of Yangon. College students went door-to-door handing out a few pennies to families for rice and gave sweets to impoverished children. Members of a hiking team from Yangon University gathered donations to take to the delta.
"Since I don't have the means to provide cash or kind, I contribute labor by helping distribute relief goods," said Nyi Nyi, a 21-year-old university student. "Whenever we distribute rice and clothing, I can see the faces of the cyclone victims light up. It is very rewarding to see them smile."
After enduring decades of poverty and government oppression, Myanmar's people are known for their resilience, having learned to depend on each other from day to day — especially in times of crisis.
"There's no question, people here are of Buddhist and Christian ethic and they have decided, 'We're just gonna do this,'" Costello said.
The good people, the bad people.
True colour, true nature of everybody.
Whose the good ones and whose the bad one.
A little good news.
Local heroes step in to help cyclone victims
* I am very proud of all these myanmar people. In times of need they stand up for their own people.
YANGON, Myanmar - From shopkeepers handing out free rice porridge to medical students caring for the sick, ordinary people in Myanmar are stepping in to help cyclone victims as the military regime severely restricts international aid.
* I am really touched by their actions. I wish everbody would do the same.
Taxi drivers, factory owners, college students, teachers and other Yangon residents — many of whom lost their own homes — are among those organizing grueling trips into the Irrawaddy delta, the hardest-hit region.
"They are true humanitarian heroes," said Bridget Gardner, International Red Cross representative in Myanmar, after touring an area where volunteers were giving first aid to the injured.
*Yes yes yes i strongly agree. All these humans are angels!!!
Even their homes are gone, they still stand up to help others!!!!!!
There are really is great people alive.
I really saluate to them.
Hero.
They are taking up collections at businesses and donating food, clothes and water. Some who are too poor to give money or supplies are offering their labor to help clear debris and rebuild villages leveled by the May 3 cyclone.
"We feel sympathetic to the cyclone victims and want to help them in our own way," said Daw Mya Win, who runs a small grocery in a northern Yangon suburb where many bamboo shanty houses were destroyed.
She cooks for victims daily The 49-year-old woman cooks rice porridge every day to feed anyone who comes. She also sends pots of the thick viscous mixture of rice, water and seasonings to some of the thousands of homeless who have sought shelter in the country's Buddhist monasteries.
Others have taken refuge in Catholic churches where priests and nuns are caring for the hungry and homeless.
"We totally depend on private donations every day for our daily meals," said Aung Min, a 53-year-old man who has been staying at the Thaung Gyi monastery with his wife and three children since Cyclone Nargis struck.
Junta restricts aidMore than 66,000 people are dead or missing, according to government figures, with fears the death toll will surpass 100,000, according to U.N. and Red Cross estimates. The U.N. says up to 2 million survivors are still in need of emergency aid. Many victims continue to struggle daily for food and clean water amid drenching rains and threats of disease.
The military junta has restricted most foreign aid workers from entering Myanmar, formerly called Burma. And most Westerners lucky enough to get visas have been confined to Yangon — hours away from the most devastated areas deep in the Irrawaddy delta.
* See the differences??
Even the efforts by Myanmar volunteers face obstacles. Many are stopped at military checkpoints and told to leave their supplies for soldiers to distribute.
Rather than risking the aid never reaching the people who need it, some turn back. Others try to negotiate by offering a portion of the goods in exchange for passage.
'I am so angry'Zaw Htin, one of many volunteer medical students, returned from a frustrating trip Wednesday to one of the government refugee centers in the devastated delta town of Bogalay.
"I am so angry. They don't want us to stay and talk to people. (The authorities) want us to leave the supplies with them for distribution," she said.
"But how can I treat the injured if I can't talk to them? How do we administer medical care if we can't touch them, feel their pulse or give them advice?"
"Their courage is moving," said Tim Costello, president of World Vision-Australia, who was stuck in Yangon after the government denied him permission to visit the delta. "There's no doubt (the volunteers) have responded magnificently.
There's effectively no help from the military."
Some international aid agencies are working through these webs themselves to keep their supplies moving and carrying out basic relief work, quickly training volunteers before dispatching them to the delta.
Some international aid agencies are working through these webs themselves to keep their supplies moving and carrying out basic relief work, quickly training volunteers before dispatching them to the delta.
Burmese-run aid groups also are playing an integral role in organizing and distributing supplies to survivors, as are businessmen. Some have offered diesel at subsidized prices to volunteers traveling to the delta, while others donate rice, water and water purification equipment. One shipping company offered to hand over two boats for floating clinics.
'We're just gonna do this'Some Burmese volunteers unable to find cars or fuel were visiting hard-hit slums on the outskirts of Yangon. College students went door-to-door handing out a few pennies to families for rice and gave sweets to impoverished children. Members of a hiking team from Yangon University gathered donations to take to the delta.
"Since I don't have the means to provide cash or kind, I contribute labor by helping distribute relief goods," said Nyi Nyi, a 21-year-old university student. "Whenever we distribute rice and clothing, I can see the faces of the cyclone victims light up. It is very rewarding to see them smile."
After enduring decades of poverty and government oppression, Myanmar's people are known for their resilience, having learned to depend on each other from day to day — especially in times of crisis.
"There's no question, people here are of Buddhist and Christian ethic and they have decided, 'We're just gonna do this,'" Costello said.
I LOVE ALL THESE PEOPLE !!! THEY ARE REALLY THE ANGELS.
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*P.S. I am collecting old clothes for the myanmar cyclone. If anyone has it please let me know! thanks.
strawberry.shops@gmail.com
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