Burma: The Junta's last stand?

From The Irrawaddy:

Rangoon, Morning—About 10 fire trucks took up positions around Rangoon’s City Hall on Friday morning, and about 12 empty military trucks were positioned at Bandoola Park, according to witnesses. Authorities have also blocked a main road with barbed wire leading to Sule Pagoda. Authorities also positioned security forces at Kandawgyi Park and the Livestock and Fisheries office in Kyeemyindaing Township, witnesses said. According to sources in Rangoon, representatives elected in the 1990 election (nullified by authorities) plan to lead a demonstration march on Friday.

Rangoon, Midday—Demonstrators gathered in front of the Trader Hotel around noon on Friday to start a peaceful march, a source told The Irrawaddy. The demonstration will be lead by politicians elected in the 1990 election that was nullified by the junta. A source said they will try to talk to the soldiers and ask them not to shoot at peaceful demonstrators. A large number of soldiers have been positioned around Sule Pagoda.

Burma's Pressure Cooker

Street tension mounting in Rangoon

Ask yourself: How long could you stand living in a country under iron-fisted military rule, with no democracy and in fear of a violent crackdown at any time?

This is the Pressure cooker that is Burma.. and once again we are seeing - if only a glimpse - what happens when a long-suffering people take to the streets.

A Burmese blogger gives a first hand account at Ko Htike’s Prosaic Collection

History shows that eventually, regimes like Burma's military junta can't last. People need their dignity and are resilient enough to hold out for basic human rights.

The last time I was in Burma was 2002.. just as the military junta was planning to release Aung San Suu Kyi. They did - for a short while - and I was privileged to be in Rangoon reporting the event for ABC TV.

I also compiled a report for ABC Radio's The World Today about the quirkiness of reporting in Burma

Cameraman Mark Laban who travelled with me to Burma in 2002

Old Friends

What happens when you receive an email from a friend from your distant past? Of course You read it and discover all manner of surprises.

When I opened an email from a schoolmate Andy A. I was directed to the most amazing MY Space site. I have to share it with you.. http://www.myspace.com/andyatwill

Andy is one of the most accomplished jazz bass players on the planet. (Back in our school band Andy played guitar and I played bass). He certainly has kicked on!!

Do you like it?

Timor under the Microscope

Comment - Get this Alkatiri: you didn't win

Damien Kingsbury from the Masters of International and Community Development School of International and Political Studies Deakin University, writes for Crikey.com:

The troubles currently gripping East Timor following the appointment of Xanana Gusmao as prime minister reflect many of the reasons the country was plunged into political crisis early last year.
In short, former prime minister Mari Alkatiri does not accept the basic principles of parliamentary democracy. It was this authoritarian tendency that directly led to last year's troubles and him being forced to resign as prime minister.

In the period since East Timor's otherwise successful parliamentary elections, Alkatiri has continued to insist that his party, Fretilin, should lead the new government. This is despite Fretilin being overwhelmingly rejected by more than 70 per cent of the population, seeing its vote cut by around half.

Alkatiri has variously insisted that Fretilin be allowed to form a minority government, that it lead a unity government and that it accept a 'neutral' prime minister.

The basis of these assertions was that, as the 'most voted party', Fretilin had the right to determine the shape of the new government. This was in turn claimed to rest on section of section 106:1 of East Timor's constitution. Section 106:1 of the constitution says that the government will be formed either by what is being translated from Portuguese as the 'most voted party' OR 'an alliance of parties that form a majority in parliament'.

There is some dispute about the translation of the first part of this section from the Portuguese, which seems to allow a minority government. But in any case, Alkatiri has consistently neglected the second part of this section. Despite the clear constitutionality and workability - of a majority coalition government, Alkatiri has claimed it is 'illegal', that he will not recognise it and that Fretilin will withdraw from parliament.
Similarly, former Fretilin minister Arsenio Bano has said that Fretilin's supporters believe the party 'won' the elections. Even if explicit instructions were not given to Fretilin supporters to go on the rampage, Alkatiri's language alone would incite such rampage. Fretilin did not 'win' the elections and was unable to form a coalition.

The alternative CNRT-led coalition is, constitutionally and according to parliamentary precedent, a legitimate government reflecting overwhelming majority support. The international community has, conventionally, congratulated Xanana Gusmao on his appointment as prime minister.

It should now condemn Mari Alkatiri for refusing to play by the rules of the democratic game and, in the process, again pushing his country to the brink.

Running Amok in East Timor - When will it End?

Protesters set fire to buildings in anger at
Xanana Gusmao's appointment as PM

Mobs are once again running amok in East Timor's capital Dili.

This time angry youths -supporters of the ex-ruling party Fretilin party - are protesting the naming of independence hero Xanana Gusmao as prime minister, as the former ruling party leader vows to fight the move in court.
Youths have hurled rocks, set up road blockades and torched buildings in the capital and two other towns, with police and international peacekeepers rushing to keep outbreaks of violence under control.
The incidents came a day after President Jose Ramos-Horta named Gusmao to lead a coalition government -- without the ex-ruling Fretilin party -- which broke a deadlock following inconclusive polls in June. Read more

Xanana Gusmao - Former guerrilla leader who led East Timor to independence

• Spent six years in Indonesian prison

• Made first post-independence president

• Stepped down in early 2007 to run for more hands-on role of PM

Profile: Xanana Gusmao

Is it safe to travel to the Indonesian island of Ambon?

Families, once displaced by violence, are returning to their home villages on Indonesia's Ambon Island. Read their story Photo: Kim Johnston/Mercy Corps.

A colleague has come to me with this query:
I am thinking about sailing to the Indonesian island of Ambon as part of the Darwin to Ambon yacht race? Should I go or is it still too dangerous?


Background: Ambon is both an island and a city, and is the main centre in the eastern province of the Moluccas, (once known as the Spice Islands). It was once a easy-going tranquil place off the beaten track - but was well known to sailors - particularly those who competed in the annual Darwin to Ambon yacht race. In 1999 violence broke out.. Ambon became another of Indonesia's flashpoints after the fall of President Suharto, when law and order disintegrated across the archipelago. (You can read about this in my book RUNNING AMOK). Once peaceful Christian and Muslim communities were turned against each other.. and the violence escalated into a bloody civil war which claimed at least 6,000 lives up until 2003. Many parts of Ambon have been destroyed - I have witnessed the fighting, arson and looting and seen the terrible trauma left by those who have been tortured or mutilated.

Suffice to say the Darwin to Ambon Yacht race was halted - but crews are once again ready to sail. So has the violence stopped? Is it safe to travel to Ambon for a yacht race, or even fly in as a tourist?

Generally, calm has returned. However there ARE sporadic acts of violence that should be noted:

• On May 2 this year a grenade exploded as worshippers were gathering outside Ambon's
  Al-Fatah Grand Mosque in preparation for morning prayers. There were no injuries.

• A grenade exploded on April 25 at a bus station, followed the same day by a grenade which was hurled at a house. Six people were injured in the earlier attack. April 25 was the 56thKedaulatan Maluku or FKM. This group is not widely supported.. but it could be growing in strength. anniversary of the founding of a Christian separatist group, the Moluccas Sovereign Front - the Front

The bottom line in considering whether to visit Ambon at this time is that overall the situation is much calmer, however take every travel precaution - don't do anything you wouldn't do at home (travel in seedy neighborhoods, wander alone at night - particularly in central Ambon city, or go partying in loud tourist groups). If you do go - enjoy the wonderful sail!

Travel Adventure - World Journeys that really inspire

Sometime we hear inspiring and adventurous tales. On December 10, 2006 Benji Rodgers-Wilson set off from Federation Square in Melbourne, Australia to embark on a solo expedition to circumnavigate the world by bicycle and sail.

Green Focus

One objective of his journey is to highlight the damage mankind is doing to our fragile planet & to raise awareness of the responsibility we all have to protect it. His aim is to journey using no fuel (other than calories) & emit no greenhouse gasses & he hopes his example will inspire others to think more seriously about living their lives in more sustainable ways.

Benji is currently in Darwin... and says he's always keen to meet the locals ("what better way to learn about the places I visit", he says).

By following his website you'll discover all sorts of wonderful info and stories.

I heard Benji on ABC Radio Darwin today (105.7 FM) and I found him to be a really inspiring bloke. He's headed for Japan on route for Europe, but as he noted during his radio interview.. his travel plans could easily change. Ah the wonders of footloose travel!! On the subject of travel for travels sake it's worth checking out this site too: Vagabonding.

Stars cause a stir at a Darwin cafe - Nicole Kidman, Keith Urban, David Wenham

Nicole Kidman and husband Keith Urban in Darwin

Movie star fever has certainly hit Northern Australia's capital Darwin this week. The famous Roma Bar Cafe managed to elbow its way centre stage as two of Australia's biggest stars (and their spouses) sat down for a hearty TOP END breakfast. ABC News managed to turn the stars meal into a front page story.

Hugh Jackman hits Darwin

Nicole Kidman has been joined by co-star Hugh Jackman as filming of Baz Luhrman's epic "Australia" continues in Australia's northern capital Darwin.

The burly Aussie star has been sighted as shooting continues at Darwin's Stokes Hill Wharf. (see ABC news)

Nicole in Darwin - A Helping Hand Gone Wrong!

Darwin, Australia's northern capital, is on Hollywood watch as shooting for Baz Luhrmann's multi-million dollar epic Australia gets under way.
Hundreds of locals have been trying to get close to Darwin's wharf to catch a glimpse of actress Nicole Kidman and some of them certainly did see her in an embarrassing moment.
Darwin's local newspaper, the NT News caught the moment with the paparazzi shot of the day: an Outback helping hand gone wrong.
Nicole Kidman is starring in the outback adventure "Australia" together with Hugh Jackman and a cast of top-name Australian stars.

Foreign Correspondents on display

The Northern Territory Library in Darwin is hosting an inspiring exhibition showcasing the work of ABC Foreign Correspondents during the past seven decades. The exhibition is open for the next two months, so if you are passing through Australia's TOP END, don't miss it. There are some great photos, anecdotes, and memorabilia reflecting correspondent's experiences - sometimes precarious - reporting from around the world.

There's also an online version of this exhibition. What do you think?

Movie stars, models, yachts and corporate highflyers

The "Aussie Angel" ... Kristy Hinze. Could this person be reason at least one of two superyachts are parked in Darwin Harbour?

Thanks to all those bloggers helping me to solve the mystery connection between the two superyachts - the Athena and the Octopus - newly arrived in Darwin Harbour just as filming is about to start on Baz Luhrman's epic "Australia". The movie features two of Hollywood's hottest Aussies, Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman.

Now.. the Athena (see yesterday's blog) is owned by American billionaire Jim Clark.. and here's the breakthrough to my mystery former Sydney model Kristy Hinze - once dubbed by the US press as the "Aussie Angel" is his girlfriend. Last year she was at the centre of Jim Clark's $US125 million divorce.

Kristy Hinze is also the granddaughter of the late Russ Hinze - Queensland's original "minister for everything". And of course she has a few film credits to her name. (The Extras 2005), and SNAP!! WOW!!, now I get it she must be here for "Australia".. perhaps alongside Nicole, Hugh, and other Aussies like Peter Wenham, David Gulpilil etc.

Jim Clark - owner of the most wonderful yacht I've ever seen visiting Darwin Harbour - is the founder of Netscape, mega-wealthy, and about 36 years older than Kristy Hinze.

Last August Hinze was spotted cruising the South Pacific aboard Clark's $100 million superyacht Athena, taking in the sights of French Polynesia with stops at Tahiti, Bora Bora and Rangiroa. No doubt she felt right at home in the master suite, which features a huge marble bath atop a pedestal.

Hinze has been living in New York for years and was signed to the Ford Models agency there.

So what about the Octopus?? What is it doing in Darwin Harbour?? Can any sleuths join me unravelling this puzzle.

Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman and Darwin's mystery yachts.

The Athena anchored in Darwin Harbour.

Can anyone tell me the connection between two of Hollywood's hottest Aussie stars Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, and their impending arrival in Darwin, capital of Australia's Northern Territory, for filming of Baz Luhrmann's "Australia", and two of the world's most luxurious yachts now anchored in Darwin Harbour? The yachts I'm talking about are the Octopus - measuring almost 130 metres long - the world's fifth largest super yacht. It's owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, the fifth richest man in the world.
The yacht has three helicopters on board and is valued at more than U.S. $200m.
Diners at Darwin's Stokes Hill Wharf can gaze in envy at the huge yacht, while a little further offshore, the world's largest privately owned sailing yacht is anchored not far from where rusty old illegal fishing boats are kept.
The striking Athena is owned by another software developer Jim Clark.
It has three 60 metres masts and is about 90 metres long.

Meanwhile, filming for "Australia" will start at Darwin's Stokes Hill Wharf on July 3 to 5, when Kidman is shot arriving in Australia from England in a Qantas flying boat. The big old wharf will feature prominently in the movie. Nicole Kidman is playing an English woman who comes to Australia inheriting a big property, falling in love with a stockman by the name of Hugh Jackman. Filming in Darwin will resume on July 10 and 11, after the real life working wharf is made to look as it would have a couple of hours after the bombing of Darwin (a real life event that occurred in 1942).
So what's the connection between the yachts and the arrival in Darwin of our beloved movie stars Nicole and Hugh?

Book launch: Singapore, Indonesia, East Timor and Australia

Here's an amazingly original anthology just launched! It's called TERRA - a unique publication for the Austronesian region. Where? I haven't heard of that before!

The work is in English and Bahasa Indonesia - representing the best of prose and poetry from 40-plus-strong list of writers includes some of the leading literary lights from Australia, Indonesia, East Timor and Singapore. Edited by Sandra Thibodeaux and Sitok Srengenge, with Chief Translator Kadek Krishna Adidharma. Check out more and make your order by contacting the NT Writers Centre.

Here's what some of Austronesia's leaders are saying about Terra:
...the powerful works in this collection speak to me with force and passion of matters of huge individual and political relevance to our region: freedom, belonging, fear, insecurity, identity.
Kirsty Sword Gusmao, Timor-Leste

Edgy and vibrant, TERRA...gives us insigts into the multiple aspects of "Territory": possession, dispossession, racial, religious and environmental conflict, personal spaces, love, fear and hope.
Mike Ladd, Australia

Proof that post-20th century world literature is a movement from margin to margin...not something that spreads out from the centre.
Nirwan Dewanto, Indonesia

Nuclear Protest, Nuclear Dump in Northern Australia

APEC energy officials meeting in Northern Australia have stepped from the air-conditioned conference room inside Darwin's Parliament House to the elevated balcony to spy this unusual sight. It's a giant inflatable nuclear power stack erected by protesters who don't want a nuclear power industry in Northern Australia. Currently there is one uranium mine - the Ranger Uranium mine - which operates on a lease inside the World Heritage listed Kakadu National Park and there is pressure on traditional aboriginal owners - the Mirrar people - to agree to a second mine closeby at Jabiluka. The Mirrar's senior custodian, Yvonne Margarula, has for years strongly opposed Jabiluka's development, often explaining that uranium mining at Ranger had upturned aboriginal people's lives, brought access to alcohol and created arguments - mostly about money.


There's another nuclear issue brewing in Northern Australia. Aboriginal elders living on a remote Northern Territory community have agreed to accept $12 million for allowing Australia's first nuclear waste dump to be built on their land.
Under the deal, Canberra would take the land for up to 200 years to store nuclear waste. Up to 150 truckloads of radioactive material would be driven thousands of kilometres from Lucas Heights in Sydney and Woomera in South Australia to the site. Suspend your judgement about what this could all mean and click here for taste of what this same issue has produced elsewhere.


... And back to the APEC meeting in Darwin for one moment. Greenpeace is questioning why no renewable energy representatives were on a key panel at the meeting. Other protesters used the opportunity of visiting nations to voice their anger at human rights abuses in Indonesia's West Papua. The flag on display (right) is "The Morning Star" - the independence flag of the Free Papua Movement.

Portrait of an average Indigenous Australian

This week, Australians are celebrating the 40th anniversary of a national referendum that allowed Aborigines to be counted as members of the Australian population. It seems incredible now, but before that vote, Australia's indigenous people weren't counted as people, they came under the Flora and Fauna Act.
So what's it like 40 years on? Crikey has compiled a revealing snapshot of Aboriginal life today. It's a grim view of untimely death, marginalisation and stunted opportunity.

Aborigines will help "fat" teens survive on TV

Hunters like this boy will help teenagers survive in Northern Australia's Arnhemland.




Opponents say its "voyeuristic television designed to humiliate fat people" - a BBC reality television show which will showcase the hunting prowess of 10 overweight young Britons let loose in the Northern Territory. What do you think?
The British teenagers will have to spear wallabies, trap lizards and skin snakes when they go hunting with Aborigines in Arnhemland as part of the series "Fat Kids Can't Hunt".
Drawing on 40,000 years of knowledge, Aborigines will teach 10 overweight young Britons how to survive on bush tucker in the series Fat Teens Can't Hunt.
The participants will have to swap burgers, chips and pizzas for lizards, mangrove worms and charred kangaroo. If they fail to find food in the wild, they will go hungry.
The programme, due to start filming in the Northern Territory in August, will feature five boys and five girls, aged 16 to 19. The six one-hour episodes are expected to be screened later this year or early next year.
The series is based on an earlier programme, Fat Men Can't Hunt, in which eight obese adults were sent to live with Bushmen in Namibia.
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Between them they lost 106 lbs after being forced to live on nuts and berries and having to kill a pair of porcupines with spears.

The Fourth Estate

As you would know the term Fourth Estate refers to the press, both in its explicit capacity of advocacy and in its implicit ability to frame political issues. The term goes back at least to Thomas Carlyle in the first half of the 19th century.

Novelist Jeffrey Archer in his work The Fourth Estate made this observation: "In May 1789, Louis XVI summoned to Versailles a full meeting of the 'Estate General'. The First Estate consisted of three hundred nobles. The Second Estate, three hundred clergy. The Third Estate, six hundred commoners. Some years later, after the French Revolution, Edmund Burke, looking up at the Press Gallery of the House of Commons, said, 'Yonder sits the Fourth Estate, and they are more important than them all.'" How true.

On this theme, add typewriters, guitar, bass and drums and you have Darwin's 4thEstate which provides a very interesting twist.

East Timor Violence Flares

Today, the day that Jose Ramos-Horta was officially declared East Timor's president, fresh outbreaks of violence were reported in the capital, Dili.
Four homes were burned to the ground as rival gangs clashed in renewed unrest that officials say is unrelated to last week's presidential election.
The UN's spokeswoman Allison Cooper says it's a sign of a resurgence in clashes between gangs.
"We don't believe it was related to the election, although UN police are investigating," Cooper told AFP.
One resident says some of the gang members were carrying guns as they battled in Bairro Pite area, although no injuries were reported.
"They attacked this morning at 10:00 am. They took over the area and burned houses until police came. Some of them were carrying automatic weapons," the resident told AFP, declining to give his name.
The violence today flared just hours before the court of appeal officially declared the results of last week's landmark election.
Ramos-Horta won 69 percent of the vote in the election in a landslide victory many East Timorese hope will bring peace and heal deep divisions after last year's unrest. He'll be sworn in on Sunday.

All peaceful after Horta wins East Timor Presidency.. well almost.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Jose Ramos-Horta has easily won the vote in East Timor's election after the counting of all ballots.
The election for president was the first since East Timor gained independence in 2002 after a bloody separation from neighbouring Indonesia three years earlier. Ramos-Horta will formally take office on May 20, succeeding former guerrilla leader Xanana Gusmao.
A National Election Commission spokeswoman has confirmed Ramos-Horta won 69 pct of the vote and his rival Francisco 'Lu-Olo' Guterres 31 pct.
The election was conducted peacefully.. well almost. Three men were today arrested for destroying the homes of Jose Ramos Horta's supporters.
Police say two houses were burned down and six others badly damaged in the villages in the Viqueque district, according to the local newspaper, Suara Timor Lorosae.
"Two houses owned by fishermen Elio and Hendrikus was burned on May 10," Inspector Jose de Carvalho is quoted as saying.. adding both were supporters of Ramos-Horta and that the arsonists were upset at the election result.