Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Myanmar's Sorrows

Just felt a lot of sadness when I read about the protests - and the suppression of the protests. Felt my spirit soar with hope for them, and sink with disappointment for them too. All so often, there are cries of injustice that rises to heaven, and they do not seem answered yet, while the wicked still rule the city.

I've been thinking of writing in to suggest that Singapore exercises sanctions against Myanmar, but I'm not sure whether that these sanctions would be a good idea. But I'm glad that BG George Yeo spoke out bluntly regarding the human-rights abuses that the Myanmarese rulers has committed against their people.

Think my fellow Singaporeans have been angrily protesting on The Online Citizen that Singapore hasn't done enough. I think yes, it's true, we could do so much more.

I guess it comes closer to home when you actually get to know people personally from there. I remember chatting with a student from Myanmar when I was back in JC in 1998, and I curiously asked him whether what I'd heard about the Myanmarese government was true.

A look of anger and disgust swept across his face immediately. In simple but clear English, he frowned, "They are bad people. Very bad, bad people."

"And what about Aung Sun Suu Kyi?"

His face immediately brightened up, and he smiled. "Oh! She is a good lady. We like her very much."

He wasn't being simplistic when he said that (since his English was limited), but rather, sharp and astute in his assessment. Especially so, since he was a very bright student, one of the top scholars in his country.

So I wonder if he was there that day during the protests when the security forces opened fire on them.

(pause)



And love is not the easy thing
The only baggage you can bring...
And love is not the easy thing...
The only baggage you can bring
Is all that you can't leave behind

And if the darkness is to keep us apart
And if the daylight feels like it's a long way off
And if your glass heart should crack
And for a second you turn back
Oh no, be strong

Walk on, walk on
What you got, they can't steal it
No they can't even feel it
Walk on, walk on
Stay safe tonight...

You're packing a suitcase for a place none of us has been
A place that has to be believed to be seen
You could have flown away
A singing bird in an open cage
Who will only fly, only fly for freedom

Walk on, walk on
What you got they can't deny it
Can't sell it or buy it
Walk on, walk on
Stay safe tonight

And I know it aches
And your heart it breaks
And you can only take so much
Walk on, walk on

Home...hard to know what it is if you never had one
Home...I can't say where it is but I know I'm going home
That's where the heart is

I know it aches
How your heart it breaks
And you can only take so much
Walk on, walk on

Leave it behind
You've got to leave it behind
All that you fashion
All that you make
All that you build
All that you break
All that you measure
All that you steal
All this you can leave behind
All that you reason
All that you sense
All that you speak
All you dress up
All that you scheme...
(From U2's "Walk On")

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm a U2 fan! "Walk On" was dedicated and written for Aung San Suu Kyi. Beautiful song of hope and solidarity.

Yes, let's pray that God intervenes in that country. Democracy is not the answer, God is.

Anonymous said...

Cool! :D And yes and amen, democracy is not the answer - only Jesus Christ is.

That reminds me of what I read sometime ago. One major reason for the fall of Communism in many parts of the Iron Curtain was because of the Church's role in the non-violent resistance movement.

Decades before, the Soviet Union had quickly and ruthlessly suppressed with tanks and bullets protests very much like Myanmar's current protests. And these protests were headed by intellectuals, poets, artists and the like... but not the Church. But decades later, the Church was pivotal in encouraging and mobilizing the huddled masses in not merely peaceful, but prayerful protests.

One stunning protest march was when thousands of people, whether Christian or not, marched by an infamous secret police headquarters, and for hours and hours, they chanted, "We forgive you! We forgive you!"

And I read with fascination the People Power movement in the Philippines - how the Church was with the people, and how tanks rolled up to protesters kneeling in prayer and suddenly stopped in front of them, as if stopped by some unseen force.

Same for Martin Luther King's Peace Marches...

I'm not saying the Buddhist monks are in the wrong. On the contrary, my heart really goes out to them... I think they are extremely courageous, willing to die for the sake of their people... but the sad thing is, as some of their own people have sadly said, "The army has more bullets than us."

If this is of men, it will fail, but if it is of God, it will not...

Oh! I read also that one Myanmarese Christian bishop was injured in the crackdown. I'm praying that the Church in Myanmar will comfort and encourage the oppressed... and to pray for freedom and deliverance for their people. To speak and rise up to comfort the suffering and grieving and to fight the satanic injustices that are so horribly ruining this beautiful land.

Mmm... personally, have this impression that there are very dark forces at work in Myanmar - especially so given the top leadership seeks occultic astrologers. What else could make soldiers shoot automatic weapons into unarmed civilians?

Thanks for giving me the idea to pray, bro! :) Let's whisper a prayer for them whenever we read about these protests... and for the UN envoy too!