Well, tomorrow is the voting day for referendum: To check or Not to check (Well, you have to make a cross if you don't agree) for accepting the constitution. The rest of the country had already voted, and got 92.4% percent approval (no.. don't ask me how they did it). Voting was postponed in Ayeyarwaddy Division and in Yangon Division (only to 40 townships in Yangon that were hard-hit by the cyclone) to May 24th, and tomorrow is THE day.
I don't have to go anywhere to vote though... The community heads said they'll come and collect at home. Yeah.. I think they didn't have time (or didn't bother since the result was already out) to build a booth.
Electricity is still out at my house. New electric poles have been planted on our street, but no lines have been connected yet. Plus, the telephone pole was knocked down by a passing car who ran through the temporary bamboo pole that was holding up the phone lines... in daylight. Yeah, maniac drivers ruling on the roads - that's why I will never drive in Yangon.
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Good News!
The government has allowed "ALL" aid-workers in!
NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar (Reuters) - Myanmar's military government agreed on
Friday to allow aid workers into the country "regardless of
nationalities", a breakthrough for delivering assistance to cyclone
survivors, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said.
[Reuters]
Gee! Took them long enough! But I'm glad :) The only thing is are US Military personals also count as aid-workers?
Holy! This news at the top in the Top Stories Google News and what's more, we've got our own tab! (I knew about that since 3 or 4 days ago though, but still) Wow!
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Personal Stuff
Yesterday, I met up with my friend in downtown, and then we went back home together. We lived near each other, and her boyfriend also came along and we got off at Gyar Bus Stop to eat Rakhine moat-te there. The Rakhine moat-te shop there also sells tasty crispy pork meat so we ate there and walked back to my friend's house. Her bf then went home, and I came up to my friend's house and watched TV there for awhile. When I came back from her house, it was 8:00pm, and I caught the bus home, and arrived back home at 8:15pm.
When I got home, I met my mom looking like she wanted to kill me. She said, "Where have you been? Is it the time for a lady to come home?" I said, "I was with my friend's house". She said, "Why didn't you come straight back home? Don't you know that we all get worried?" Hello? It's only 8:15pm, not 12:00am or something! And it's not as if it's the first time I've come home late. When I was teaching, I came home at 8:30pm. I'm 25 now, but my parents still treat me like a kid. What's worse was that day, I wore normal clothings to work, and just changed uniform at the work, and when I came back from work, I changed back into normal clothings. So my mom accused me, "Did you even go to work?"
Honestly, if my parents still do this, I don't know how I'll be able to go out when I'm with my bf :( Maybe they'll even tag alone with me on my date if they knew about it. Nightmare.... don't even want to think about it.
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Something Cheerful
Below are photos of the kitten that was born during Thingyan. So now, he's a month's old. My old cat Mi War had either ran away, or someone killed her :( I didn't see her ever since I came back from Indonesia. Instead, there was a new cat at home. Yeah, we take pity on the strays, and feeds them so they don't leave the house anymore. Anyways, that female cat, I gave her the name "Tigger" but the rest of the house call her "Lat Put Tar" (which is, incidentally, a township in Ayeyarwaddy division that was heavily hit by the cyclone). It's just a Burmese word play, which my brother started calling her because she always curl up and rub her body with our feets (which means the word "put" in Burmese). Anyways, it's hard to explain.
Even though we had Mi War, a female cat, for about 4 years, it never gave birth. So it was a surprise and delight for us when the newly arrived cat gave birth during Thingyan (the Myanmar New Year). There were 2 kittens, but one died because his body was so tiny and he didn't survive. (Survival of the fittest, I guess) The one that one left was a male cat, and we called him Phoe Thingyan (meaning Mr. Thingyan). He's really cute :)
Comments (12)
Your parents will always be parents.Love them for it.
What a cute kitten. Our cat died a month ago, and we are still mourning the loss of him. Every day my daughter goes to his grave (in the backyard) and talks to him about her day, the weather, etc. If she misses a day because we came home late, etc, she cries in her bed. We are cat lovers, and treat them as family members. I am glad that your life has gone back to semi-normalcy. Parents will drive you nuts with their incessant worrying, but you will wish for their protective shelter and nurturing instincts when you are far. Guess that's the way it is. You wish for something you cannot obtain. As for the aid workers being let in, I'm adopting the "wait and see" approach. How many times are our hopes up just to be squashed down again? Junta is good at playing this game and the world is always duped into thinking "Surely this time they will do the right thing" and then find out that they once again are heartless devils. I can't help but wonder this "concession" to let aid workers in so accurately coincides with the donors conference on Sunday where the junta is asking for 11.7 billion dollars in reconstruction aids. Geez...I wonder where would the money go to. Call me a skeptic but the junta has NEVER demonstrated its empathy towards the people they govern. You should see these (in case you haven't seen them):
http://youtube.com/watch?v=_FNknvOK1Rc
http://youtube.com/watch?v=r61N696HeGA
Dawn -
Unfortunately, US military personnel (unless they come out of uniform) will not be considered "aid workers". My nephew is on a US Navy ship right off the delta. They are loaded with helicopters, relief supplies, and a lot of strong young men and women who would be very happy to wade through mud, provide medical care, haul supplies and do whatever is needed. But it looks like they will not even be allowed to come to a dock and unload their supplies because your junta is afraid of them.
Maybe they could paint it pink and call it a cruise ship.
I'm glad that at least some progress is being made. I imagine the government has worked hard at painting a bad picture of the US military - so they can't do anything to tarnish their word.
I'm sort of confused about the "92.4% percent approval" statement. What does that mean for you all?
I agree with what cafengocmy said about your parents. I think it's good to give your parents some idea about your plans if you are living with them (to give them peace, to show them that you respect them, and so it will build their trust.) I know it's hard to do sometimes... but it's better than facing the interrogation too, I suppose. Perhaps they would be willing to sit down & discuss their expectations with you, so that you can talk with them about freedoms you would like to have - and they can let you know of things that they disapprove if (you can express disagreements you might have with their items of disapproval, or compromises you might be willing to make with them, or acknowledge what you're willing to fully comply with.) At least think about it... hopefully it will go better than not talking with them about the issues you all are having.
Mr. Thingyan is a cute
I'm sorry about Mi War disappearing though.
@katie0873 - Thanks for your tips :) Unfortunately, my parents are not very much into negotiations - especially my father. Their way is like "Listen to what I say. Do what I tell you to do. Don't question us back cos we know what we're doing." They think that I'm being disrespectful to talk back to my parents, even to say that you don't agree. But you're right.. When the time comes, I'll talk things out with them. It's just that sometimes I feel that I'm not being understood - afterall, I'm not out clubbing or smoking crack, or sleeping with other men. I just wanted to meet with my friends once in awhile, and talk with them and eat somewhere together... and 8:00pm isn't late. They know that I am doing my very best but sometimes, they tend to forget it - especially my father, who looks at me suspiciously and interrogate when I came home late after doing part-time teaching after work. I come home tired, and I feel like I was being kicked in the chest to be treated that way. So later, I asked my older female cousin (who lives at my house) to come pick me up when I had teaching jobs, and after that, he don't interrogate me anymore. :)
@Tsu Dho Nimh - sorry, but I had to laugh out loud when I read your comment about painting the ship pink. ^_^ But sadly, you're right. I don't think they will be allowed in, and their help would have been great advantages for the rescue work. National interest first, I guess.
@awoolham - I'm also "waiting and seeing" as I have for all this time, but at least, I feel more optimistic now. :)
Well, I hope that it is not a blow to your self esteem that they are not trusting you sometimes. I hope that they will see that they raised a child who has integrity and good character. I hope you are doing good today too
@^@....she is so cute..like you.dawn...
lol.. yeah.. Burmese parents are like that. Been there!
@garlicky - With enough brainwashing and conditioning, my parents could become pretty suitable Myanmar Junta generals.
Sometimes you wonder if it's really just a coincidence that dictatorship parenting is prevalent in a dictatorship nation.
@Ezekiel36_33to36 - "I'm sort of confused about the "92.4% percent approval" statement. What does that mean for you all? "
She means that 92.4% of voters voted yes on the referendum to pass the new constitution. Also, the government media reports a 99% voter turnout.
@Ichirin_no_Hana - Sometimes, I wonder whether Buddha's teaching subjects us to the systematic brainwashing and conditioning and is in favor of a dictatorship ruling.
@garlicky - I don't believe Buddhism in itself is a problem as much as the particular way it is practiced in Burma, where it is often minced with national culture, superstition and outdated customs. In fact, I would say that Buddhism in its true form is one of the most liberal and logic-oriented major religions in the world. Apparently we took Buddhism and dumbed it down to something rigid, dry and lame, pretty much the same thing we did to Hip-Hop.