Myanmar 'looks like the ancient times: No civilization'

[Mid]

Myanmar 'looks like the ancient times: No civilization'
Mon, Jun. 9, 2008
By DAMON C. WILLIAMS

MORE THAN FIVE weeks after a catastrophic cyclone hit the southeast Asian country of Myanmar - also known as Burma - the sorrow is heavy among Burmese natives living a world away in Philadelphia.

"Because of the storm, people don't have a house, and it's the raining season," said a distraught Chiu Sin Mae, 49, seated in a booth at the Rangoon Burmese Restaurant, on 9th Street near Arch, in Chinatown.

"The government moved people from the delta, but the military told them they were not welcome in city. But they have nowhere to go back to, because their houses are still under water. Where is home? On the street with an umbrella?

"The government is taking its time, killing its own people. It's a genocide."

Tens of thousands of people may never be identified because their bodies have decomposed so badly and many ended up far from home, the International Committee of the Red Cross said yesterday.

The task of burying an estimated 78,000 bodies has been overshadowed by efforts to assist Cyclone Nargis' 2.4 million survivors, many of whom are still without adequate food, water and shelter, the Red Cross said. As a result, bloated bodies still litter the hard-hit Irrawaddy delta, while other bodies have been dumped in canals or unmarked mass graves.

In interviews yesterday and last week at the Philadelphia restaurant, several Burmese natives accused Myanmar's ruling junta not only of mishandling the disaster, but also of turning its police force against its own people.

"Malaria, cholera and HIV are breaking out in Burma," said Mya S. Solomon, 27, who migrated to Philadelphia at age 9. "This is a human-rights issue, and all people should just go in and help," bypassing the military to deliver aid directly to the people.

Solomon, who still has family in Myanmar, said a cousin there had told her of widespread looting, and of people who tried to help being imprisoned or killed.

"The soldiers only clean up their neighborhoods and pathways," an angry Solomon said, calling junta leader Senior Gen. Than Shwe "the next Stalin."

Mae agreed: "Burma looks like the ancient times: no civilization, naked children praying in the street for help."

snip

philly.com


................................................


meanwhile .......................


DotA: Myanmar's game of choice
By Nilar

Gamers take part in a Defense of the Ancients competition at Yangon's IBC earlier this year.

Pic: Hein Latt Aung

DEFENSE of the Ancients (DotA) is now the most popular game among Myanmar gamers – a group that is growing in numbers every year. In 2006 the local gaming scene had a watershed moment; the Myanmar Gamers Club organised the inaugural DotA e-sport championship to show off their passion (and, of course, decide who is the best gamer).

snip

mmtimes.com

.................................................. ...

[Texpat]

"Malaria, cholera and HIV are breaking out in Burma,"

Obviously a Thai-Burmese.

[BugginOut]

Yeah, I hate when cyclones come along and spread all that HIV.

Maybe Iran will get a reprieve and Burma can move up a notch on the list of nations to get attacked?