US revoked Visas of Burmese Junta’s Artists

Moemaka Reporter 002

October 9, 2010.

US Immigration revoked performance visas issued to Ovation Burmese music band before the completion of the USA tour.

(Burmese Protesters against Burmese's Stage Show in SF on 25th Sept 2010)

 Among the 10 Burmese performers was actress Wyne Suu Khine Thein who performed in the Junta’s propaganda film (Lotus at Dawn – Ar Yon Oo Ma Poo Thi Kyar). The film disregarded the Burmese struggle for democracy in Burma and portrayed it as acts of anarchy and violence.

The tour began in August 2010 and encountered numerous protests by the Burmese community in the US. As a result, U Ei Tha Ri ya (the monk who sponsored the visas for the band) filed personally on 7^th October to the US government that he was withdrawing his sponsorship.

Ko Nyi Nyi Aung, an active activist from the Burmese community in Washington DC Metro area, told Moemaka that the United State’s Immigration Service immediately revoked their P1 visas of all of the 10 Burmese from the band because the band had caused controversy among Burmese American Community due to its inclusion of the junta’s propaganda actress, and the its sponsorship by the Burmese monk had been withdrawn.

According to the immigration rules and regulation, all the band members lost their visitors’ status and are considered illegal visitors. It was learnt that not only they were to leave the country effective immediately but also they will be prohibited to enter the US for the foreseeable future. The list of revoked visas include: Soe Moe (Manager), Min Maw Kun (Actor), Ye Lay (Actor), Leonard Maung Maung Lwin (Musician), Petric Maylar (Musician), Ye Phone (Musician), Tutkey (Musician), Wyne Su Khaing Thein (Actress), L. Sai Zee (Singer) and Rebecca Win (Singer).

 

(Burmese Protest Poster at LA on 12th Sept 2010)

“Since from the beginning of  their tour, there were many discussions made within Burmese community to avoid protests but they (the band and the their supporters) never backed down and continued their tour. Due to our political principle and belief, we had to protest them as the instruments of the Burmese junta. However we were not making any personal attacks to the members of the band. Finally it was due to the solidarity of Burmese American community, collective wisdom of the Burmese monks’ community and last but not the least the policy of the US government to impose political sanction on the Burmese regime and its accomplices, the matter came to the end peacefully and lawfully” said Ko Toe Lwin, one of the active activists and dissidents of NLD (LA) (an exile branch of Burmese opposition party of Burma, NLD led by Aung San Suu Kyi) now living in San Francisco Bay Area.

This is first time in 20 years after the Burmese regime bloody coup in Burma that the Burmese American community publicly denounced the Junta’s propaganda activity and its supporters, and resulted in the expulsion of the regime’s artists.

U Ni Mar (74 Year), Father of Mar Mar Oo died of heart attack while she was serving 70 years as woman political prisoner

MoeMaKa Reporter Rangoon

September 28^th, 2010

U Ni Mar, father of Mar Mar Oo, woman political prisoner currently serving 70 years in Burmese regime’s prison, passed away on September 22 at his home in Rangoon. He died of a heart attacked at the age on 74. He had been sentenced for 3 years in prison for participation in the uprising of 8/8/88. Close friends of his daughter told MoeMaKa he was a nice, quiet and strong person.

U Ni Mar spent the last years of his life selling old books on the street for survival. With the money he got from selling books, he visited his daughter in jail and was able to provide food. The prison – Ba Maw Prison was located at the other end of the country very far away from his home, Rangoon. 

(Photo - Ma Mar Mar Oo and her friends - 88 Generation Students)

His daughter, Mar Mar Oo, is now serving 65 years for participating in the uprising of 2007 Saffron Revolution. Like her father, she also took part in 8/8/88 uprising and had been jailed in 1996 for involving in students uprising. She was conditionally released while remaining of her 5 years jail term was in pending. However those “pending” 5 years had been added to 65 years in jail to make her jail term 70 years in total when she was sentenced in 2008.          

 Generally, at the funeral of political and human-rights activists, there used to be a practice of covering the flag of the organization they had worked as a final tribute from their fellow colleagues. However, U Ni Mar was not that well-known and those who knew him well were not available to arrange such funeral. His funeral was made possible by FFSS (Free Funeral Service Society). Although his funeral was not honored as a political activist but as a civilian, his death will not be unnoticed.

(News translated by Pwithphyu Nandar)

Cartoon Maung Yit – To Free from Burmese Dictatorship, Don’t go to the Poll !!!

Cartoon Maung Yit – To Free from Burmese Dictatorship, Don’t go to the Poll !!!

September 16, 2010

Fighting with Writing, Political Activism and Social Work

Reference from - Fighting with Writing, Political Activism and Social Work

Khet Mar: A Delicate Warrior

By Silvia Duarte


Photo ©: Than Htay Maung

Since she was 19-years-old, Khet Mar has been persecuted by the Burmese government. She has been arrested, tortured, incarcerated, and threatened, but she has remained a warrior without guns. She fights with her writing, her political activism, and her social work.

Campaigning in Native by USDP Dr. MyaOo

Dr. Mya Oo's election campaign pamphlet recently distributed in Pegu (Bago) division.
He belongs to Union Solidarity and Development Party.
Professor Mya Oo is Deputy Minister of Health. (Photo: Moemaka)

Burmese Media Revolution: Shouts for freedom from exile ; Maung Yit & MoeMaKa

Articles from - http://www.sampsoniaway.org/bi-monthly/2010/07/27/burmese-media-revolution-shouts-for-freedom-from-exile/

by Silvia Duarte

Maung Yit and MoeMaKa

Maung Yit joined the Burmese democracy movement while studying electrical engineering at Rangoon University. After graduating in 1993, he became a writer and cartoonist for local magazines and journals. During that time he developed his skills as a technology journalist. Five years later, almost totally giving up hope for the struggle for democracy and freedom of the press in Burma, he left to find a job to support his family. In 2002, he arrived in Fairfield, Iowa, to study computer science.

He had wanted move to Silicon Valley and pursue an IT job, but he ended up in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2003, he and his friends founded MoeMaKa Media, an Internet news source, as a way to combine freedom of press and Internet activism and reignite their struggle for democracy.

In 2006 MoeMaKa’s founders decided to diversify their format to get around the government censors inside Burma and started using the blog format to present their content. MoeMaKa’s is one of 800 active Burmese blogs.

According to a survey conducted by the Burma Media Association in August 2009, most of the blogs are hosted by BlogSpot and WordPress. Eighty percent are in Burmese, 8 percent in English, and 10 percent are bilingual. Three-fourths of the bloggers are between the ages 21 and 35 and have a college education.

Over half of these bloggers are living in Burma and began blogging less than two years ago. The majority focus on entertainment-related topics. Only 8 percent discuss news-related subjects—one of those is by Maung Yit.

Burmese Media Revolution: Shouts for freedom from exile ; Kyaw Zaw & Irrawaddy

Articles from - http://www.sampsoniaway.org/bi-monthly/2010/07/27/burmese-media-revolution-shouts-for-freedom-from-exile/

by Silvia Duarte

Kyaw Zwa and the Irrawaddy magazine

When Kyaw Zwa Moe was in high school, it was easy for him to grab a book from his home library of more than two thousand volumes. He was especially attracted to books about Burmese history, politics, and literature. Thanks to that, he said, the idea of democracy was foremost in his mind. When the pro-democracy movement began, he became a leading member of the student union in his school.

On September 18, 1988, the now-ruling junta staged a bloody coup and the military authorities launched a crackdown against all political organizations. Kyaw Zwa’s union went underground. He and his fellows continued their political activities until their arrests in 1991. Kyaw Zwa was sentenced to 10 years in the Insein Prison, notorious for inhumane and dirty conditions, prisoner abuse, and use of mental and physical torture. He was there for eight years.

In prison he improved his English. Prison guards who were sympathetic to jailed activists, smuggled American magazines into his cell. “I unintentionally learned journalistic writing when I read stories published in Time and Newsweek. I never wanted to be a politician; I wanted to be independent, and I thought that writing for a journal or magazine could be my way,” he said via email.