My Longkang

Imagine a procession of hundreds of monks in saffron robes with their supporters and marching along streets with nine elephants. A tourist spectacle? No, it is for a higher purpose. To attract attention to their cause: Buddhism to be declared the national religion for Thailand in the new post-coup constitution. They might just get what they want from last September’s coup leaders. Perhaps they might have already got it and this procession is just window-dressing for the people.

But I fear if the wish is granted, it could inflame tensions in the Muslim-majority deep south. The three-year Islamic insurgency down south has killed more than 2,000 people. The divide will be even deeper as the people down south seethe with resentment the ‘heavy muscling’ of their Buddhist brothers.

As long as everything is still fuzzy in the constitution, there is still hope to salvage peace for the kingdom. Now is not the right time to amend the constitution.

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Bangkok Post

I got this from mrdefinite.com

33 people were killed including a lone gunman in Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg (Va). 15 others were wounded. It occurred two hours apart . The students had no chance against the weapon used. It is in the picturesque Blue Ridge Mountains where incidents of this sort are least expected. The lone gunman committed suicide.
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Thailand’s king has pardoned a Swiss man who was sentenced to 10 years in jail for defacing images of him. Oliver Jufer was sentenced last month, after he admitted spray-painting images of the revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej in the city of Chiang Mai. Mr Jufer has been ordered to leave the country and was due to be deported by the end of the day, according to the news agency AFP.
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Royal period of mourning to be broken soon.

Just finished your education and pondering which direction to take? Pack your bags and head to paradise Tonga and become an undertaker. There is a future there.

Pic courtesy of http://www.nettyroyal.nl/images/kingtonga.jpg

For King Tupou lV, his funeral required forty undertakers or nima tapu or sacred hands . Because they had prepared his body for burial, their hands were sacred and thus they were forbidden from using their hands and confined for one hundred days of mourning pampered in a specially designated house. Read more »

Iraq’s uncompromising leader for more than two decades, Saddam Hussein forced his reluctant country onto the world stage. Read more »

The meaning of Christmas

Chinese cities have not been left behind in the global craze over Christmas celebrations. Why not? It makes sense to highlight Christmas as it is a season of giving. For the retailers this means business and business means survival. Many shopping complexes and malls have all been spruced for the occasion. Read more »

Indonesia’s parliament has passed a controversial law requiring citizens to state their faith on official documents despite objections from a major political party, news reports said yesterday.

Kompas newspaper said the civil registration bill required citizens to declare one of the six official religions on their identity cards.

The state recognizes only Islam, Catholicism, Hinduism, Protestanism, Buddhism and Confucianism.

Permadi, a parliamentarian from the Indonesian Democratic Party Struggle ( PDI-P) party who practices a traditional Javanese faith, reportedly said that ” endorsing the bill” would go against the constitution which guaranteed all Indonesians the right to worship.

At Sakura Higashi Junior High School on the outskirts of Tokyo, the face of a 15-year-old girl who killed herself after she was bullied fills the large screen on the stage in the school hall. Every single pupil has been brought into the hall to hear from Kasumi Komori’s mother.

As they are shown images from Kasumi Komori’s life, the children watch in silence. Some of the girls are clearly upset. More so when Kasumi’s mother stands up to address them. Midori Komori travels around Japan trying to raise awareness of bullying and what can happen if it is ignored. Read more »

The editor of Playboy magazine in Indonesia has gone on trial on charges of publishing indecent material.

Erwin Arnada, 42, oversaw photo shoots and selected revealing pictures for the magazine, prosecutors said. Mr Arnada has argued that the magazine, which went on sale earlier this year, contained no nudity and was tamer than other Western-style magazines on sale.

Meanwhile, activists have filed a lawsuit against parliament over a controversial anti-pornography bill. They say the legislation - which would make kissing in public and erotic dancing illegal - would impose strict Islamic values and threaten the country’s reputation for tolerance.

The Indonesian version of Playboy went on sale for the first time last April, featuring several scantily-clad models but no nudity. The magazine drew weeks of protests, despite the fact that pornography is widely available in Indonesia. Muslim groups in particular were worried about its effect on local morals.

The trial has been adjourned until 14 December when witnesses will be called.

Cmdr Bainimarama seized power in a bloodless coup on Tuesday.
The Commonwealth has suspended Fiji’s membership in protest at its recent military coup. This is the third time that Fiji has been suspended from the Commonwealth following coups.

The decision followed a meeting of foreign ministers from Commonwealth countries in London.

The coup, in which military chief Cmdr Bainimarama ousted PM Laisenia Qarase, has already been condemned by the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

It has also failed to win the backing of Fiji’s influential Council of Chiefs and religious groups.