Forum: Elections in Burma

Twenty years ago, Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won the national election in Burma winning80% of the parliamentary seats. However, the military junta prevented the NLD from taking power and arrested its leaders. Since then the junta has continued to inflict horrific human rights abuses on its own people.

Another election has been promised by the junta for 2010 but repression, intimidation and new election laws effectively prevent anyone who opposes them from standing in this year's election. Restrictions on freedom of expression, association and assembly are severe and likely to escalate as the vote draws near.

Given the political situation in Burma, it’s expected that this election will be somewhat of a farce. It’s important for people in the international community speak out against what is happening in Burma and push for the junta to be held to account. Likewise, it’s important for people to be aware of what is happening and speak out within their circles of influence. For these reasons, Amnesty International held a forum last night to talk about the issues in Burma in the lead up to the election.

One of the speakers, Dr Myint Cho, was forced to flee Burma after participating in the 1988 student protests. Before fleeing, he taught fellow students of the importance of democracy and human rights. He has continued to do this along the Thai-Burma border when possible, and more recently has spent time campaigning for democracy in Burma overseas. His name is on the junta’s wanted list and he’s not able to return to his home country. Dr Cho’s positivity and hope for change is inspiring however dire the situation in Burma is.

Benjamin Zawacki, the other speaker, is Amnesty International’s Burma and Thailand specialist having begun his work with them after the ‘Saffron Revolution’ in 2007. His knowledge of the situation in Burma, both in terms of the law and how it has affected the Burmese, was very insightful. Apparently people were forced to vote in favour of the new constitution in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis and states that the current government cannot be tried for crimes against humanity.

There are over 2,200 political prisoners in Burma; a figure which has doubled since the Saffron Revolution. There is a great desire for democracy among the people of Burma, and I hope that the junta won’t be able to silence these voices for much longer.

Sydney Film Festival: Turtle: The Incredible Journey

After watching Turtle: The Incredible Journey, my respect for turtles, nature and the circle of life went up notch. These little guys are seriously amazing! The documentary followed the life of a loggerhead turtle, from birth to giving birth. It was filmed as if from the perspective of the turtle; you saw what she saw and felt what she felt. There were scary moments (crabs stalking and eating the baby turtles as they were scrambling for the ocean), funny moments (when the adult turtle got her ultimate revenge by eating a crab with her strong adult jaws) and heartbreaking moments (seeing the baby turtle wade through oceans of oil spills and plastic bags which it tried to eat).


I learnt some pretty amazing things about turtles during the movie. Apparently they have something like an in-built compass which means they always know where they are and where they need to be. They are solitary animals, drifting through the ocean alone for their entire lives. Only one in 10,000 loggerhead turtles make it to the point of mating, with the other 9,999 getting lost along the way, becoming victim to the life-cycle or suffering from human impact on the environment.

The thing that struck me most was the fact that from the minute the turtle hatched, she knew what she had to do and where she had to go. She knew she had to battle the waves to get out into the ocean, and once there that she had to find a seaweed raft to guide her along the Gulf Stream. When she got lost, she knew how to get back. Over thousands of years, loggerhead turtles have worked out the safest route through the ocean, and somehow each one is born with this route programmed into them.

Another thing I’ve taken away from this movie is the effect humankind has had on the lives of loggerhead turtles. Global warming, over-development of our coasts, oil slicks from ships and discarding plastic bags and helium balloons. All of these things narrow the chances of a turtle’s survival even further.

All in all this was an incredible film about an incredible animal on an incredible journey!

Sydney Film Festival: Last Train Home

Yesterday afternoon I saw Last Train Home. The documentary shows the experiences of a family in China torn apart by materialism, consumerism, and plenty of other bad isms. The mother and father live and work in a sweatshop in Guangzhou, while their children live 2,100km away in rural Sichuan with their grandmother. The parents have sacrificed a lot for their children’s education and hope for a brighter future; they left their children when the eldest was only one.


While they’ve acted out of love, the parents missed the mark in some regards. The children feel abandoned by their parents, who are only able to visit annually during the Chinese New Year break. The parents push the kids to do well at school so that they succeed academically and don’t end up working in a factory. The children show little gratitude for their parents’ sacrifice and Qin, the eldest at 17, drops out of school to work in a factory in the city.

The strangest thing for me to realise is that this is just one family; the parents are two out of the 150million migrant workers in China’s industrial areas. Life is hard for everyone, and everyone is struggling to make life better for them and their families. When there is a limit on jobs and opportunities, chances are most people won’t succeed.

While discovering the ‘freedom’ of working as opposed to studying, Qin says, “after all, freedom is happiness”. There’s something within all of us that is searching for freedom, but freedom means different things to each of us at different points in our lives. For Qin, freedom was initially being free from the expectations of her parents to succeed at school. After developing a fear of the factory supervisor she says to her friend, “maybe we could just roam around the world”.

They also spoke of suffering and bitterness. The grandma encourages the kids to eat bitter melon at dinner. “Eat the bitter melon first, then sweetness will follow.” The parents have tasted the bitterness, but the hopelessness of their situation makes me wonder if the sweetness is ever going to follow. The father points out to Qin that she hasn’t tasted bitterness; so far, life has been easy for her.

Do we have to taste bitterness before we can truly appreciate the sweetness in life? What is my definition of freedom, and will I ever achieve it? Is success more important than freedom, and is there more to success than money?

Axis of Awesome

I missed out on seeing Axis of Awesome when they performed for the Sydney Comedy Festival, so I was pretty stoked when I found out they were doing just one show in Sydney to film a DVD.

So last night I trekked out to the Metro in the cold to finally see these guys live. And it was so worth the wait!

I'd seen a few of their songs on YouTube, but most of the show was new for me. They played pretty much everything they'd ever written, and they all had me laughing authentically (unlike the fake laughs they got on camera before the show). It seems that the most popular song is the Four Chord Song; everyone cheered when they introduced it. If you don’t know the song, have a look: www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt3p5lCARfs

If I was musical and funny, I’m pretty sure being in a comedy-band would be my dream career! But since neither of those are the case, I’ll just have to buy the DVD to see if I made it into the audience shots.

Sydney Film Festival: Lola and Exit Through the Gift Shop

Last night I was able to see two films which were a part of the Sydney Film Festival; Lola and Exit Through the Gift Shop.


Lola told the story of two older women, both named Lola, whose lives intertwine after an incident involving their grandsons in Manila; Lola Sepa is coping with the loss of her grandson at the hands of Lola Puring's grandson. While their journeys are unique, both women are struggling emotionally, financially and physically.

The film looks at the Philippine justice system through the eyes of these two women. Lola Sepa is seeking retribution, and Lola Puring is seeking mercy. At the end of the day, the peso wins and Lola Puring refinances her home to pay Lola Sepa to drop the charges and ensure the freedom of her grandson.

While the movie was a little slow at times, with plenty of shots of old ladies pottering around and struggling up numerous flights of stairs, it offered a rare insight into life in Manila and the continuous struggle to survive.


I was really looking forward to seeing the Banksy movie, Exit Through the Gift Shop, and it didn't disappoint. It was engaging, hilarious, witty and oh-so-clever! It followed the story of Frenchman Thiery Guetta and his encounter with the world of street art. From humble beginnings of filming his street artist cousin, he delved deeper into the world of street art meeting and filming some of the most elusive and prominent street artists from all over the world. The most elusive and prominent of these was Banksy.

The film offered an amazing insight into street art and its creators; what it's all about, and what it's not about. Like most things and art forms, street art has been corrupted by commerce and copycats with the dim-witted Thiery, aka Mr Brainwash, partaking in the corruption.

I walked away from the film with an even greater interest in street art and art in general, as well as a deeper respect for artists, like Banksy, who use their art to comment on society and pull us into line when need be.