http://inpursuitofhappiness.wordpress.com/2008/03/22/tibet-myth-reality/

Tibet’s isolation and unique religious practices
have made it the focus of many Western myths.

by Foster Stockwell
22nd March 2008

Western concepts of Tibet embrace more myth than reality. The idea that Tibet is an oppressed nation composed of peaceful Buddhists who never did anyone any harm distorts history. In fact the belief that the Dalai Lama is the leader of world Buddhism rather than being just the leader of one sect among more than 1,700 “Living Buddhas” of this unique Tibetan form of the faith displays a parochial view of world religions.The myth, of course, is an outgrowth of Tibet’s former inaccessibility, which has fostered illusions about this mysterious land in the midst of the Himalayan Mountains — illusions that have been skillfully promoted for political purposes by the Dalai Lama’s advocates. The myth will inevitably die, as all myths do, but until this happens, it would be wise to learn a few useful facts about this area of China.

First, Tibet has been a part of China ever since it was merged into that country in 1239, when the Mongols began creating the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). This was before Marco Polo reached China from Europe and more than two centuries before Columbus sailed to the New World. True, China’s hold on this area sometimes appeared somewhat loose, but neither the Chinese nor many Tibetans have ever denied that Tibet has been a part of China from the Yuan Dynasty to this very day.

The early Tibetans evolved into a number of competing nomadic tribes and developed a religion known as Bon that was led by shamans who conducted rituals that involved the sacrifice of many animals and some humans. These tribes fought battles with each other for better grazing lands, battles in which they killed or made slaves of those they conquered. They roamed far beyond the borders of Tibet into areas of China’s Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, Xinjiang, Gansu, and Qinghai. Eventually one of these tribes, the Tubo, became the most powerful and took control of all Tibet. (The name Tibet comes from Tubo.) During China’s Tang Dynasty (618-907), Emperor Taizong improved relations with the Tubo king, Songtsen Gampo, by giving him one of his daughters, Princess Wenzheng, in marriage. The Tubos, in response to this cementing of relations, developed close fraternal ties with the Tang court, and the two ruling powers regularly exchanged gifts.

The princess arrived in Tibet with an entourage of hundreds of servants, skilled craftspeople, and scribes. She was a Buddhist, as were all of the Tang emperors, and so Buddhism entered Tibet mainly through her influence, only to be suppressed later by resentful Bon shamans. Some years later another Tang princess was married to another Tubo king, again to cement relations between the two rulers.

The fact that the Tibetans and the Chinese had united royal families and engaged actively in trade (Tibetan horses for tea of the Central Plain) didn’t mean an absence of conflict between them. Battles occasionally occurred between Tang and Tubo troops, mostly over territorial issues. At one point in the 750s, the Tubos, taking advantage of a rebellion against the Tangs by other armed groups in China, raced on horseback across China to enter the Tang capital of Chang’an. But, they couldn’t hold the city.

In 838, the Tubo king was assassinated by two pro-Bon ministers, and the Bon religion was re-established as the only acceptable religion in Tibet. Buddhists were widely persecuted and forced into hiding.

Trade between Tibet and the interior areas continued during the Five Dynasties (907-960) and the Song Dynasty (960-1279) that followed the collapse of the Tang, although relations between the two ruling powers were limited. During this time Buddhism revived in Tibet as a result of the Buddhists’ willingness to accommodate some Bon practices. The form of Buddhism that resulted from this merging of the two religions was quite different from that of China and other countries in Southeast Asia, as well as from the form that had been practiced previously in Tibet.

Tibetan Buddhism, often called Lamaism, appealed to the Mongols, who conquered most of Russia, parts of Europe, and all of China under the leadership of Genghis Khan. The Mongols, like the Tibetans, were tribal herders who had a religion of animism similar to Bon.

When Kublai Khan, the first Yuan emperor, appointed administrators to Tibet, he elevated the head of the Tibetan Buddhist Sakya sect to the post of leader of all Buddhists in China, thus giving this monk greater power than any Buddhist had ever held before - and probably since. Needless to say, the appointment irritated the leaders of the other Buddhist sects in Tibet and the much larger group of non-Tibetan Buddhists in China. But, they couldn’t do anything to counter the wishes of the emperor.

The Yuan Dynasty divided Tibet into a series of administrative areas and put these areas under the charge of an imperial preceptor. Furthermore, the Yuan court encouraged the growth of feudal estates in Tibet as a way to maintain control there.

When the Yuan Dynasty collapsed, it was replaced by the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), which wasn’t composed of persons of Mongolian heritage. Tibet then became splintered because the Ming court adopted a policy of granting hereditary titles to many nobles and a policy of divide and rule.

Although the Ming court conferred the honorific title of Desi (ruling lama) to the head of one of Tibet’s most powerful families, the Rinpung family, they also bestowed enough official titles to his subordinates to encourage separatist trends within the local Tibetan society. One of these titles was given to the head of the newly founded Gelugpa sect, better known as the Yellow sect. He later took on the title “Dalai Lama.”

Tibet During the Qing Dynasty
The next and last dynasty, the Qing, came to power in 1644 and lasted until 1911. At the time of its founding, the most prominent Tibetan religious and secular leaders were the fifth Dalai Lama, the fourth Panchen Lama, and Gushri Khan. They formed a delegation that arrived at the Chinese capital, Beijing, in 1652.Before they returned to Tibet the following year, the emperor officially conferred upon Lozang Gyatso (the then Dalai Lama), the honorific title “The Dalai Lama, Buddha of Great Compassion in the West, Leader of the Buddhist Faith Beneath the Sky, Holder of the Vajra.” (Dalai is Mongolian for “ocean”; lama is a Tibetan word that means “guru.”)

The fifth Dalai Lama pledged his allegiance to the Qing government and in return, received enough gold and silver to build 13 new monasteries of the Yellow sect in Tibet. All successive reincarnations of the Dalai Lama have been confirmed by the central government in China, and this has become a historical convention practiced to this very day.

A later Qing emperor suspected the intentions of the seventh Dalai Lama, so he increased the power of the Panchen Lama (also of the Yellow sect). In 1713 the Qing court granted the title “Panchen Erdeni” to the fifth Panchen Lama, thus elevating him to a status similar to that given to the Dalai Lama (Panchen means “great scholar” in Sanskrit, and Erdeni means “treasure” in Manchu.)

The largest part of the Tibetan population (more than 90 percent) at that time was composed of serfs, who were treated harshly by the landlords and ruling monks. All monasteries had large tracts of land as well as a great number of serfs under their control. The ruling monks’ exploitation of these serfs was just as severe as that of the aristocratic landlords.

Serfs had no personal freedom from birth to death. They and their children were given freely as gifts or donations, sold or bartered for goods. They were, in fact, viewed by landlords as “livestock that can speak.” As late as 1943, a high-ranking aristocrat named Tsemon Norbu Wangyal sold 100 serfs to a monk in the Drigung area for only four silver dollars per serf.

If serfs lost their ability to work, the lord confiscated all their property, including livestock and farm tools. If they ran away and subsequently were captured, half their personal belongings were given to the captors while the other half went to the lords for whom they worked. The runaways then were flogged or even condemned to death.

The lords used such inhuman tortures as gouging out eyes, cutting off feet or hands, pushing the condemned person over a cliff, drowning and beheading.Numerous rebellions occurred over the years against this harsh treatment, and in 1347 alone (the seventh year of Yuan Emperor Shundi’s reign), more than 200 serf rebellions occurred in Tibet.

Foreign Aggression
Foreign nations made numerous attempts to invade Tibet and take it away from China. These were repulsed by Chinese troops and Tibetan fighters. The first such invasion took place in 1337 when Mohammed Tugluk of Delhi (in what is now India) sent 100,000 troops into the Himalayan area.During the second half of the 18th century, troops from the Kingdom of Nepal invaded Tibet twice in an attempt to expand Nepal’s territory.

During the 19th century, Britain competed with Russia in pouring large sums of money and many spies into a struggle to see which of the two might eventually occupy and control Tibet. When the British finally invaded Tibet, first in 1888 and again in 1903, the Russians were so involved in conflicts at home that they couldn’t stop the British troops from pushing all the way to Lhasa. And the Qing government, having recently lost the Opium War to the British, did nothing either.

The Tibetans, using spears, arrows, catapults and homemade guns, fought valiantly but to no avail against the invading British army and its big cannons and machine guns. The British withdrew after imposing “peace” terms and before the harsh winter began because they feared the Tibetan resistance would prevent supplies from getting through to the occupying troops, thereby causing them to starve to death.

The British signed a Convention with China in 1906, the second article of which stipulated that the British would no longer interfere with the administration of Tibet and that China had sovereignty over Tibet. But, they conveniently forgot the terms of this agreement when, the very next year, they signed a Convention with Russia that specified British “special interests” in Tibet. It would probably fill a book to detail the many ways the British from that point on tried to take over Tibet and make it a part of their colony of India.

Yet, something needs to be said about the conference held at Simla, India, in 1914. Conference participants included representatives of the new Nationalist government of China that had overthrown the Qing Dynasty just two years before, plus Tibetans, and British-Indians. The British had blackmailed the Chinese into attending by threatening to withdraw their recognition of the new nationalist government and by saying they would work out an agreement with the Tibetans alone if the Chinese didn’t participate.

The Simla Conference failed because the Chinese and the 13th Dalai Lama both opposed the British plan to divide Tibet into two parts (Inner and Outer Tibet). The conference, however, did produce one document that since has caused dissension — a map drawn by the British representative Arthur H. McMahon that never was shown to the Chinese, although it was revealed secretly to the Tibetan delegates.

McMahon’s map showed a new boundary line that included three districts of Tibet — Monyul, Loyul, and Lower Zayul — within the territory of British- India. This so-called “McMahon Line” first became public 23 years later when it appeared in a printed set of British documents related to the conference and other diplomatic matters. The McMahon Line became the basis for India’s failed attempt to take over this part of Tibet in 1962. The British, who made a great show of their desire to have “independence for Tibet” at the Simla Conference, in drawing this map were adding 90,000 square kilometers  (an area three times the size of Belgium) from Tibet’s natural territory to their own Indian colony.

During and after World War II and shortly before Britain’s departure from India, the American Office of Strategic Services (O.S.S., the forerunner of the C.I.A.), operating under Cold War guidelines, joined the British Foreign Office as the instigator of the Tibetan “freedom movement.”

Much of what the O.S.S. did in Tibet remains hidden in secret files at C.I.A headquarters near Washington, D.C., but one of their plots has been widely reported. It involved a smear campaign launched against the regent who had been appointed to act for the young 14th Dalai Lama after the 13th Dalai died in 1933. The regent was hostile to U.S.-British intrigues in Tibet, so the O.S.S. spread rumors about his alleged incompetence and criminal activities. Eventually these charges led to the regent’s arrest and murder in a Tibetan prison. The 14th Dalai Lama’s father subsequently was poisoned because he was a friend and supporter of the regent.

Tibetan Buddhism
Before considering Tibet today, some words should be said about Tibetan Buddhism as a religion. The accommodations it made with Bon resulted in its becoming very different from other forms of Buddhism, particularly from the more common and much larger Chan Buddhism of China (called Zen in Japan). Images found in Tibetan Buddhist temples are much fiercer than those found in other Buddhist temples, and some Tibetan ceremonies that once used human skulls, human skin, and fresh human intestines clearly reflect the animistic elements of Bon.Also, Tibetan Buddhists rely a great deal on prayer wheels, which most other Buddhists scorn. These are mechanical devices with prayers written on them that are constantly turned by water or wind so the forces of nature do the work of sending prayers to heaven.

The reincarnation of Living Buddhas, which is unique to this form of Buddhism, began as early as 1294 with the Karma Kagyu sect, a sub-sect of the Kagyu sect (known as the black hats). It then spread to all of Tibetan Buddhism’s other sects and monasteries, but it didn’t reach the Gelugpa sect (the one that includes the Dalai and Panchen Lama lines) until after 1419.

From the beginning, the system of selecting Living Buddhas was open to abuse because it was easy for clever members of the monk selection committee to manipulate the objects presented to potential child candidates in order to make sure a particular child was chosen. In the case of the fourth Dalai Lama, the child selected was the great-grandson of the Mongolian chief Altan Khan. He was chosen at a time when the Gelugpa sect badly needed the protection of the Altan Khan’s followers because the Gelugpa were being persecuted by the older Tibetan sects, who were jealous of the Yellow sect’s rapid growth.

Tibet Since 1949
In 1949, the Chinese Communists won the revolution and overthrew the Nationalist government. But they didn’t send their army into Tibet until October 1951, after they and Tibetan representatives of the 14th Dalai Lama and 10th Panchen Lama had signed an agreement to liberate Tibet peacefully. The Dalai Lama expressed his support for this 17-point agreement in a telegraphed message to Chairman Mao on October 24, 1951. Three years later the Dalai and Panchen Lamas went together to Beijing to attend the first National People’s Congress at which the Dalai Lama was elected vice-chairman of the Standing Committee and the Panchen Lama was elected a member of that committee. After the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) entered Tibet, they took steps to protect the rights of the serfs but didn’t, at first, try to reorganize Tibetan society along socialist or democratic lines. Yet, the landlords and ruling monks knew that in time, their land would be redistributed, just as the landlords’ property in the rest of China had been confiscated and divided among the peasants.The Tibetan landlords did all they could to frighten the serfs away from associating with the PLA. But, as the serfs increasingly ignored their landlords’ wishes and called on the Communists to eliminate the oppressive system of serfdom, some leaders of the “three great monasteries” (Ganden, Sera, and Drepung) issued a statement, in the latter half of 1956, demanding the feudal system be maintained. At this point, the PLA decided the time had come to confiscate the landlords’ property and redistribute it among the serfs. The landlords and top-level monks retaliated by announcing, in March 1959, the founding of a “Tibet Independent State,” and about 7,000 of them assembled in Lhasa to stage a revolt. Included were more than 170 “Khampa guerrillas” who had been trained overseas by the O.S.S. and air-dropped into Tibet, according to a former C.I.A. agent. The O.S.S. also gave them machine guns, mortars, rifles and ammunition.

The PLA put down the revolt in Lhasa within two days, capturing some 4,000 rebels. The rebellion had the support of the Dalai Lama, but not of the Panchen Lama. After it failed, the Dalai Lama, along with a group of rebel leaders, fled to India.

The most disruptive event of recent years was the “cultural revolution,” which lasted from 1966 to 1976. It turned most of Tibet’s farm and herding areas into giant communes and closed or destroyed many monasteries and temples, just as it did elsewhere in China. At its end, the communes were disbanded and the temples and monasteries were repaired and reopened at government expense.

The idea that most Tibetans are unhappy about what has happened in Tibet and want independence from China is a product manufactured in the West and promoted by the dispossessed landlords who fled to India. Indeed, to believe it is true stretches logic to its breaking point. Who really can believe that a million former serfs - more than 90% of the population - are unhappy about having the shackles of serfdom removed? They now care for their own herds and farmland, marry whomever they wish without first getting their landlord’s permission, aren’t punished for disrespecting these same landlords, own their own homes, attend school, and have relatively modern hospitals, paved roads, airports and modern industries.

An objective measure of this progress is found in the population statistics. The Tibetan population has doubled since 1950, and the average Tibetan’s life span has risen from 36 years at that time to 65 years at present.

Of course some Tibetans are unhappy with their lot, but a little investigation soon shows that they are, for the most part, people from families who lost their landlord privileges. There is plenty of evidence that the former serfs tell a quite different story.

You will find some Tibetans who hate the Hans (the majority nationality of China) and some Hans who hate the Tibetans, a matter of ordinary ethnic prejudice ­ something any American should be able to understand. But, this doesn’t represent a desire for an independent Tibet any more than black- white hostilities in Washington, D.C., Detroit, or Boston represent a desire on the part of most African-Americans to form a separate nation.

Tibetan Culture Today
The final part of the Tibetan myth has to do with Tibetan culture, which the Dalai Lama’s supporters say has been crushed by “the Chinese takeover of Tibet.” Culture is an area that requires great care because it is fraught with biases and self-fulfilling judgments. The growth of television in America, for example, is cited as killing American culture by some and as enhancing it by others.Regarding the field of literature, prior to 1950 Tibetans could point with pride to only a few fine epics that had been passed down through the centuries. Now that serfs can become authors, many new writers are producing works of great quality; persons such as the poet Yedam Tsering and the fiction writers Jampel Gyatso, Tashi Dawa, and Dondru Wangbum.

As for art, Tibet for centuries had produced nothing but repetitious religious designs for temples. Now there are many fine artists, such as Bama Tashi, who has been hailed in both France and Canada as a great modern artist who combines Tibetan religious themes with modern pastoral images.

Tibet now has more than 30 professional song and dance ensembles, Tibetan opera groups, and other theatrical troupes where none existed before 1950.

No, Tibetan culture is not dead; it is flourishing as never before.

Foster Stockwell is an American writer who grew up as the son of missionaries in southwestern China (Chengdu) near Tibet, and has visited China many times in recent years. His several books include Religion in China Today (New World Press) and Mount Huashan (Foreign Languages Press)

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The Tampa Tribune

A LOOK BACK

April 19, 2005: Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is elected. He will be known as Pope Benedict XVI.

June 10, 2005: The pope criticizes the use of condoms and says the church is leading the battle against HIV/AIDS by teaching chastity.

Nov. 29, 2005: In his first major ruling, Benedict and the Vatican impose restrictions on homosexuals becoming priests.

Jan. 25, 2006: Benedict releases his first encyclical, “Deus Caritas Est” (God is Love).

Sept. 12, 2006: Benedict quotes a Byzantine emperor to criticize fanaticism in Islam, sparking protests from Muslims.

Sept. 17, 2006: The pope apologizes and says the medieval quotes did not reflect his personal views.

Oct. 11, 2006: Benedict eases restrictions on the Latin Mass.

April 11, 2007: Benedict publishes a new book, “Creation and Evolution,” in which he claims Darwin’s theory of evolution cannot be proved.

May 13, 2007: In Brazil, Benedict says that colonial-era evangelization in the New World did not represent “the imposition of a foreign culture.”

May 23, 2007: Although he does not apologize, Benedict says it is impossible to ignore the “unjustified crimes” that accompanied evangelization in the New World.

Nov. 6, 2007: Benedict becomes the first pope to meet with a reigning Saudi king.

March 22, 2008: Italy’s most prominent Muslim commentator converts to Catholicism and is baptized by Benedict.

Research by MICHAEL

Posted in: Catholic, Religion, Vatican, World News | Comments(0)

By KELLY GREENE

Joseph Coughlin describes his work as “trying to get people to ‘age cool.’ ” More specifically, as director of AgeLab, a research program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he is pushing advances in transportation, health care and housing off drawing boards and into older adults’ lives.

And he can’t do it quickly enough.

“If we don’t hurry,” he says, “the products being designed now aren’t going to be there when the [baby] boomers need them.”

Prof. Coughlin is one of hundreds of people across the country whose work, in effect, is shaping the future of retirement. The motives may vary — educators, entrepreneurs, philanthropists and policy makers are all involved in the effort — but the goals are much the same: to learn about, and improve the quality of, later life.

Demographics, of course, explain the sense of urgency. Each day, on average, almost 8,000 people in the U.S. turn 60. Just last month, the first of 78 million baby boomers reached age 62 and became eligible for Social Security.

Which “change agents” are having the biggest impact on retirement? We put that question to experts in aging nationwide. From dozens of candidates, we selected the following 12 people. If you want to know what your future might look like — how Americans will live, work and play in later life — these individuals are designing some of the answers.

William Bengen
The Numbers Guy

It’s the most frequent question, and biggest concern, for many people approaching retirement: How big a nest egg will I need, and how do I make it last?

William Bengen is working on that.

Mr. Bengen, a certified financial planner in El Cajon, Calif., has already achieved what amounts to rock-star status in the retirement-planning business. His pioneering research in the 1990s gave rise to the “4% rule”: Withdraw no more than about 4% a year from your nest egg, and it’s highly likely that your savings will last 30 years. That finding has already helped to establish budgets and spending patterns for numerous retirees.

Today, Mr. Bengen, age 60, continues to refine his research. In 2006, he introduced a method of withdrawing funds from nest eggs that tailors the 4% rule to individual circumstances. (It’s online at www.fpanet.org/journal. Click on “Past Issues & Articles,” then on “Past Issues,” and go to August 2006.) And now, he is researching, he says, “the possibility that dividend-paying stocks, particularly those that increase dividends over time, might provide a better retirement resource than the S&P 500.” As Mr. Bengen explains: “The thesis is that those have at least as high a total return as S&P 500 stocks, and they have lower volatility…. If you have stocks that don’t go down as much in the bear markets, you’re better off.”

Mr. Bengen doesn’t see himself as shaping baby boomers’ financial future. He says he simply wants to help his 60 or so clients.

“I was starting to get some clients who were planning for retirement,” he recalls, “and they were asking me, ‘How much can I take out, and how should I set up my investments?’ And I couldn’t find a thing substantiated by any research.”

Joseph Coughlin
Harnessing Technology

In the mid-1990s, before joining MIT, Prof. Coughlin was working for a federal contractor, studying the aging population’s potential impact on transportation.

“It was like unwrapping an onion,” he remembers. “We hadn’t thought about housing, [or] the future of work. And we certainly hadn’t thought about transportation.”

That epiphany led to the creation, in 2000, of AgeLab, where Prof. Coughlin and his colleagues are designing — and pushing companies to embrace — technology that will enhance older adults’ daily lives.

One of his favorite breakthroughs is a “personal adviser” that Procter & Gamble Co. has licensed, based on AgeLab research, to help food shoppers identify products that are healthy for them. The device, to be attached by supermarkets to their grocery carts, is like a minicomputer with a scanner. Shoppers insert smart cards that contain their dietary particulars. Then, as they shop, they swipe products past the scanner to get the device’s opinion. Let’s say you’re prehypertensive and scan a box of crackers; after reading the bar code, Prof. Coughlin says, the adviser may suggest trying a different product with a lot less salt.

Eric Dishman
Helping People Stay Home

For no small number of people, aging means losing their independence — and, eventually, leaving their homes.

Someday, technology being developed by Eric Dishman and his staff at Intel Corp. may help people stay in their homes longer.

Mr. Dishman has focused on ways to assist the elderly since he was a teenager helping care for a grandparent with Alzheimer’s disease. Years later, he was working for Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen on a “nursing home of the future,” he says, when someone made an observation that helped alter his approach to the matter completely.

“Someone said, ‘I think we asked the wrong question,’ ” he recalls. “ ’It’s not how can we make the nursing home better through technology, but how can technology keep people independent?’ ”

Mr. Dishman, 39, is general manager in charge of product research and innovation for Intel’s Digital Health Group. Prototypes emerging from his group’s offices and labs have a Jetsons-like feel: a carpet with sensors that may reduce the risk of a fall; a “caller ID on steroids,” which shows and tells you who is at the front door and when you last spoke; a system that helps people with memory problems cook for themselves.

John Erickson
Helping People Leave Home

In contrast to Mr. Dishman, John Erickson sees a future where millions of Americans leave their homes in later life. And he’s preparing your accommodations.

Mr. Erickson, 63, is chairman and chief executive of closely held Erickson Retirement Communities, one of the country’s largest developers of continuing-care retirement communities. In a CCRC, residents are guaranteed access to different levels of long-term care as they age.

Starting in Maryland in 1983 with a single facility (a renovated seminary), Mr. Erickson began developing retirement “campuses,” where residents, among other activities, can produce their own TV shows. Today, the company has 20 CCRCs with 21,000 residents in 11 states. Mr. Erickson hopes to nearly double that number in five years.

Why should we leave our homes in later life? “Accidents, falls, depression, isolation,” Mr. Erickson answers. “That’s not what was meant for the last half of retirement.”

Beyond housing, Mr. Erickson also may have a hand in shaping what older adults watch on television. In the past two years, he has spent an estimated $100 million building Retirement Living TV, a cable network focused on later life. He also donated $5 million in 2004 to start a professional program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, that combines management, policy and aging issues.

Charles Feeney
A Life of Purpose

If you find yourself, in your 60s and 70s, immersed in a new career and a new passion — teaching children to read, for instance, or helping an environmental organization — you may have Charles Feeney to thank.

Mr. Feeney, 76, is the founding chairman of Atlantic Philanthropies, an international foundation that is committed to disbursing its entire $4 billion endowment by 2020. A large chunk will go to help older adults “live healthier, independent lives with dignity, purpose and meaning,” says Brian Hofland, director of Atlantic’s international aging program.

The foundation, for instance, has helped fund the Purpose Prize, awards of $100,000 given each year to five “social entrepreneurs” age 60 or older who are tackling some of society’s biggest challenges. Civic Ventures, the San Francisco nonprofit that created the Purpose Prize, last year received $10 million from Atlantic Philanthropies in part to stimulate development of “encore careers” for people 50 and older.

Mr. Feeney himself is a bit of a recluse. (He declined to be interviewed for this article.) He doesn’t own a house or a car, and when flying, he typically travels coach, says Conor O’Clery, an Irish journalist and biographer of Mr. Feeney. It wasn’t until 1997, after Mr. Feeney sold the company he founded (DFS Group, a chain of airport stores), that his sizable charitable efforts became public.

“A lot of what Chuck likes doing is building buildings at universities and hospitals,” Mr. O’Clery says. “But more and more, he became concerned with health issues, and I think his interest in aging grew out of that.”

Katherine Freund
Staying Mobile

For millions of people, driving at some point will become impractical. How, then, to get to the supermarket, or to friends’ homes?

A near-tragedy 20 years ago in the life of Katherine Freund is yielding some answers.

In 1988, Ms. Freund’s 3-year-old son was hit by a car and nearly killed. The driver was 84 years old. That event sparked an interest in transportation issues that led, in the mid-1990s, to the development of the Independent Transportation Network.

The program offers rides — round the clock, seven days a week — to older adults in the Portland, Maine, area. Fees average $8 a trip. Riders can trade in their cars and get credit for travel; volunteer drivers can bank their hours on the road to use later for themselves or family.

Ms. Freund, 57, serves as president and executive director of ITNAmerica, which has grown into a national organization. While in Portland the program provides nearly 17,000 rides a year to about 1,000 members age 65 and older, ITNAmerica now has nine affiliates, which provided almost 26,000 rides last year, and expects to have 40 affiliates by 2010.

Sheryl Garrett
Spreading Financial Literacy

Sheryl Garrett is on a mission to bring financial planning to the masses.

In the late 1990s, Ms. Garrett, a certified financial planner in Shawnee Mission, Kan., says she came to realize that many middle-class families knew little about managing money and retirement finances — and couldn’t afford to pay for help. Accordingly, instead of tying her fees to commissions or the size of a client’s assets (common practices among financial advisers), she decided to charge by the hour.

“It’s sort of like going to the dentist,” says Ms. Garrett, who is 45. “You don’t pay your dentist a retainer — you pay him for time and expertise.”

She soon found herself profiled in financial publications and fielding requests from consumers as far away as Massachusetts and California who wanted to hire her. In response, in July 2000, she launched Garrett Planning Network Inc., which now has almost 300 advisers across the U.S. The certified financial planners pay $7,500 to license the business model. They are required to offer their services exclusively as fiduciaries (meaning they are legally obligated to put their clients’ interests first) and on a fee-only basis. Hourly rates are about $175.

Ms. Garrett is also seeking ways to raise financial literacy among the wider public, including possibly through electronic games, a nighttime soap opera or a personal-finance makeover TV show.

Michael Merzenich
Keeping Minds in Shape

Michael Merzenich is working to make “brain exercise” as much a part of your routine in retirement as walking or jogging.

As chief scientific officer at Posit Science Corp., a San Francisco software maker, Dr. Merzenich, age 65, is at the forefront of efforts to improve mental health in later life. His interest in the field dates to the mid-1980s, when he was involved in experiments training animals at the University of California, San Francisco.

“We were watching [the animals’] brains change as they acquired skills and abilities,” he remembers. Consequently, he began investigating tools that could promote and measure mental fitness in humans.

His first company, Scientific Learning Corp., started in 1996, created software for children struggling with language problems. Posit Science, which Dr. Merzenich founded in 2003, is focused on older adults. Its first product was designed to improve memory and cognition (thinking and processing speed), mainly through listening exercises; this spring, the company plans to release a new brain-training program focused on vision.

Dr. Merzenich, still a neuroscience professor at UCSF and an inventor with more than 50 patents, is working on exercises that support decision making, fine motor control (playing musical instruments, for example), and gross motor control (to help restore balance).

Bernard Osher
Senior School Master

Returning to school, in some fashion, is high on many people’s to-do lists in retirement. Bernard Osher is helping to build the classrooms and programs you might enter.

Mr. Osher helped his family start Golden West Financial Corp. in the 1960s and created a personal foundation in the 1970s. Today, he is pouring nearly $200 million into what has become known as lifelong learning, or college-based education for older adults.

A native of Biddeford, Maine, Mr. Osher had his first significant exposure to the practice in 2000 during a visit to the Fromm Institute for Lifelong Learning at the University of San Francisco. “I came away very impressed,” he says, particularly with “the joy of learning” that he witnessed.

Several months later, a trip to the Senior College at the University of Southern Maine in Portland sealed his interest. The Bernard Osher Foundation made a $2.2 million gift to the Maine program in 2001, allowing the university to expand its peer-taught courses and workshops to more than 1,000 students ages 50 and older. Since then, the foundation has donated $73 million to nearly 120 lifelong-learning institutes on university campuses from Maine to Hawaii. Future grants will be used primarily to augment those programs.

John Rother
Advocate for the Aging

John Rother, AARP’s policy director, is ultimately responsible for everything that the largest membership group for older Americans advocates at the state and national levels. He is constantly in motion, making about 80 speeches a year around the world and lobbying lawmakers nationwide.

“I’ve got the best job in Washington,” says Mr. Rother, 60, who joined AARP in 1984 after serving as staff director and chief counsel to the Senate Special Committee on Aging.

Health care is his primary focus today. “It’s too expensive, and we aren’t getting our money’s worth,” he says. Fixing it “is going to take everything we know how to do — prevention, better management of chronic care, improving quality, being smarter purchasers as the government and individuals.”

In recent years, Mr. Rother has played a role in helping to pass — or block — some of the most significant legislation in Congress: the Medicare prescription-drug benefit (not “everything we had hoped it would be, but…certainly better than nothing”); Social Security privatization; and the national do-not-call registry.

John P. Stewart
Urban Planner

John P. Stewart is working on a blueprint for making city services receptive to all of the needs of older Americans — whether in health care, transportation, safety, employment or continuing education. To date, 16 cities have joined in the effort, including Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Atlanta.

“I was really struck by the fact that we needed to change the way we look at aging services,” says Mr. Stewart, who for 32 years worked as a Maryland state health and education administrator, and is now executive director of the Commission on Aging and Retirement Education for the city of Baltimore.

More than 25% of the U.S. work force is over 60 and living healthier lives, Mr. Stewart says. “A lot of people are going to have to work longer.”

To focus on the question of what a senior-friendly city should look like, Mr. Stewart helped create a nonprofit think tank, the Baltimore City Center for Urban Aging Services and Policy Development. Issues under study include how to help grandparents who are raising their grandchildren; upgrading community senior centers with fitness equipment and personal trainers; and providing counseling to help cope with poverty and social isolation.

“This ‘declinist’ theory that people get old and should be put away is insane,” says Mr. Stewart, 63. “We can be an asset.”

William Thomas
Reinventing the Nursing Home

The spark for William Thomas’s work came in 1991 while treating a patient in an upstate New York nursing home. “She grabbed my arm, pulled me down over the bed, looked in my eyes and said, ‘I’m so lonely,’ ” he recalls.

To revitalize the place, he opened the doors to children, brought in parakeets, cats and dogs, and plowed up the grounds for a garden. The effort grew into the Eden Alternative, a nonprofit that has helped more than 500 nursing homes across the country shift their focus to their residents’ emotional well-being and away from institutional scheduling.

Today, Dr. Thomas is widely regarded as a leader in efforts nationwide to bring humanity to the end of life. In 1999, while touring the country to promote the Eden Alternative’s work and a novel about aging, “I realized that America’s nursing homes are getting older faster than we are,” he says.

Accordingly, he developed the idea of replacing traditional nursing homes with “Green Houses,” cozier facilities centered on big kitchens with technology-laden bedrooms and nursing aides who also serve as housekeepers and companions. To date, there are 35 Green House projects; the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is helping fund an expansion of the program.

For his next act, Dr. Thomas, 48, wants to become “the Dr. Spock of aging.”

“The boomers are creeping toward elderhood, and I aim to help explain [the] terrain,” he says. “The ‘new’ old age [is] a time of strength and growth and development and engagement.”

–Ms. Greene is a staff reporter for The Wall Street Journal in Atlanta. She can be reached at encore@wsj.com.

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Web posted at: 2/9/2008 8:9:18
Source ::: AFP london • The religious head of the Anglican Church sparked an angry row yesterday after saying the adoption of some parts of Islamic Shariah law alongside Britain’s legal system “seems unavoidable.” Leaders across the political spectrum criticised the call by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams (pictured) for “constructive accommodation.” He was also lambasted by the press.

A senior Church of England clergyman called for the resignation of Williams. A long-standing member of the Church’s governing body, the General Synod, who insisted on remaining anonymous, said: “There have been a lot of calls today for him to resign. I don’t suppose he will take any notice, but yes, he should resign.”

Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s official spokesman had already distanced the premier from the remarks, stressing that “British law should apply in this country, based on British values.” Culture Secretary Andy Burnham went further, telling BBC television Williams was “wrong” and his views were a “recipe for chaos, social chaos.” The main opposition Conservatives described the remarks as “unhelpful.”

The issue of Muslim integration has been particularly sensitive since the July 2005 bombings in London in which four young British Muslims killed themselves and 52 others on the public transport system. Britain is home to nearly 1.6 million Muslims, some 2.7 percent of the total population, according to the 2001 national census.

On Thursday, Williams told BBC radio: “There is a place for finding what would be a constructive accommodation with some aspects of Muslim law as we already do with aspects of other kinds of religious law.” He agreed that if Britain is to achieve social cohesion, people of religious faith had to be accommodated within the law and to this end, “it seems unavoidable” that Shariah should be applied in some circumstances.

Giving an example of how Shariah could come into play, Williams said: “There are ways of looking at marital disputes, for example, which provide an alternative to the divorce courts as we understand them.” But Williams stressed there could be no place for “a kind of inhumanity that sometimes appears to be associated with the practice of the law in some Islamic states-the extreme punishments, the attitudes to women.”

If the law did not take more account of minority communities, there would be “no way of legally monitoring what communities do” and levels of oppression could intensify as “people do what they like in private,” he added. There are already some religious courts in operation in Britain — orthodox Jews can choose to turn to the Beth Din to resolve civil disputes, including divorces, if both sides agree to accept its authority.

But the press laid into Williams, who has long advocated stronger relations with Muslim leaders. The Sun tabloid ran the headline “What A Burkha,” while the Independent broadsheet said he had made as big a mistake as Pope Benedict XVI, who in 2006 triggered worldwide protests after quoting a historic text saying the teachings of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) were “evil and inhuman.”

Williams’ intervention was welcomed by the Ramadhan Foundation, a British-based body which promotes cooperation between Muslims and non-Muslims. Chairman Muhammad Umar said: “I believe that Muslims would take huge comfort from the government allowing civil matters being resolved according to their faith.”

Shaista Gohir, a government advisor on Muslim women, told BBC online that most Muslims in Britain would not welcome Shariah law, adding that polls suggested about 40 percent favoured its introduction.

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Source ::: REUTERS Manila • Contracts with the Philippine government are usually overpriced by at least 20 percent to facilitate kickbacks, a former senior state official told a Senate inquiry into corruption yesterday. In an emotional testimony, Rodolfo Lozada reiterated previous allegations that the Philippines’ top election official had demanded $130 million as his cut for an eventual $329 million telecoms deal with China’s ZTE, double the usual kickback.

But he said he had no evidence that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s husband was involved in the deal. “The whole problem started when Chairman Abalos wanted to protect his $130 million in the project,” said Lozada, an electronics engineer designated to evaluate the ZTE contract. He was head of the state-run Philippine Forest Corp at the time.

“I told him the $130 million was too much and too difficult to cover. Maybe, if it was only $65 million (that would be acceptable).” Benjamin Abalos was forced to resign as election commissioner last year when news of the kickbacks surfaced.

Media reports have said he brokered the deal because of his proximity to powerful officials. Lozada said that a 20 percent overprice in a contract of such magnitude would usually be acceptable.

“It looks like that’s the norm in government,” said Lozada, citing as an example the $1.3 billion Southrail project to improve railway links to and from the capital. Some of the funding has come from China. Lozada said the cost of linking government departments in a broadband network, which is what ZTE had been contracted to do, should only have cost around $132 million.

Arroyo tried to end the controversy over the ZTE agreement last year by cancelling the contract, but the scandal has resurfaced with Lozada’s dramatic appearance before Senate. Lozada said he has no direct evidence or information that would link the president’s husband to the broadband deal, but he did remember having dinner with him, Abalos and representatives from ZTE Corp. at a hotel

in Manila. Before he voluntarily appeared at the Senate inquiry, Lozada said officials tried to prevent him from testifying and even went to the extent of fabricating an official business trip to London to avoid summons by the Senate. “They will not be happy with what you will say there,” Lozada said, quoting his boss, Environment Secretary Lito Atienza. “He told me you’re going to give this administration to the opposition.”

Lozada returned from Hong Kong on Tuesday and went missing for over 24 hours. Police officers picked him up when he disembarked from a plane at Manila’s international airport and drove him for several hours to a province south of Manila, sparking fears that he was abducted. He was later dropped off at a Catholic high school in Manila and a group of nuns from the school has stayed with him throughout his public appearances.

Although deeply unpopular due to a steady stream of corruption allegations, Arroyo’s position is not expected to be threatened from the latest revelations. The Philippine middle-class, instrumental in the overthrow of two former presidents, is fed up with political turbulence and wants stability, political analysts say.

Arroyo, whose final term ends in 2010, has already survived three impeachment bids and would-be opponents are more concerned with preparing themselves for elections in 2010. Only around 100 protesters gathered outside the Senate yesterday chanting “oust Gloria” and carrying placards.

A motorcade of cars driving around the city carried black balloons and posters of a picture of the president and her family labelled “The Arroyos”, in a mock-up of “The Sopranos”, a popular US television show about a mobster and his family. In sometimes tearful testimony yesterday, Lozada said Abalos had threatened to kill him if he went public with his allegations.

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Vatican minister to attend Doha church opening
Web posted at: 2/9/2008 2:23:11
Source ::: The Peninsula Doha • The Vatican Foreign Minister will attend the official opening ceremony of the first Catholic Church in Qatar, an Arabic daily reported yesterday. The opening ceremony will take place in mid-March, the daily said, quoting Jordan Abouna website which is managed by International Catholic Union of the Press in Jordan. The church covers an area of 22,000 sq m and can accommodate 1,800 people at a time.

the peninsula OPEC may switch to euro, but will ‘take time’

dubai • Oil producer group OPEC may abandon the dollar for pricing oil and adopt the euro but any such switch will “take time”, OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah Al Badri was quoted as saying by a weekly magazine. “Maybe we can price the oil in the euro,” the London-based Middle East Economic Digest quoted Badri as saying in an interview. “It can be done, but it will take time.”

“Badri tells MEED … that the producers’ cartel may switch to the euro within a decade to combat the dollar’s decline,” the magazine said without providing a direct quote about the time frame. “It took two world wars and more than 50 years for the dollar to become the dominant currency. Now we are seeing another strong currency coming into the [frame], which is the euro,” he said.

Iran and its anti-U.S. ally Venezuela have pressed for OPEC to abandon the dollar and perhaps price oil in a basket of currencies.

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Friday, February 08, 2008

Uproar As Archbishop Of Canterbury Says Sharia Law Inevitable In UK

The Archbishop of Canterbury drew criticism from across the political spectrum last night after he backed the introduction of sharia law in Britain and argued that adopting some aspects of it seemed “unavoidable”.

Rowan Williams, the most senior figure in the Church of England, said that giving Islamic law official status in the UK would help to achieve social cohesion because some Muslims did not relate to the British legal system.

His comments, in a lecture on civil and religious law given at the Royal Courts of Justice, were swiftly rebutted by the prime minister’s spokesman, who insisted British law would be based on British values and that sharia law would be no justification for acting against national law.

“Our general position is that sharia law cannot be used as a justification for committing breaches of English law, nor should the principles of sharia law be included in a civil court for resolving contractual disputes.

“If there are specific instances like stamp duty, where changes can be made in a way that’s consistent with British law and British values, in a way to accommodate the values of fundamental Muslims, that is something the government would look at.”

The Anglican primate was also criticised by the Tory peer Sayeeda Warsi, shadow minister for community cohesion and social action.

“The archbishop’s comments are unhelpful and may add to the confusion that already exists in our communities … We must ensure that people of all backgrounds and religions are treated equally before the law. Freedom under the law allows respect for some religious practices. But let’s be absolutely clear: all British citizens must be subject to British laws developed through parliament and the courts.”

Sharia law sets out a broad code of conduct for all aspects of life from diet, wearing of the hijab to marriage and divorce.

British courts do not recognise Islamic marriages carried out in this country unless they are registered separately with the civil authorities. The result is that some Muslims think they are protected by family law when they are not, and others can think they are properly divorced, when they are still married. However, Britain recognises Islamic marriages and divorces conducted in Muslim countries such as Pakistan or Bangladesh.

Some Muslim groups supported Williams’ views. The Ramadhan Foundation, an educational and welfare body, said the speech was “testament to his attempts to understand Islam and promote tolerance and respect between our great faiths”.

More than 800 people were in the Great Hall of the Royal Courts of Justice in London for last night’s speech, while another 200 poured into the overspill marquee.

Williams said introducing sharia law would mean Muslims would no longer have to choose between two systems.

“If what we want socially is a pattern of relations in which a plurality of diverse and overlapping affiliations work for a common good, and in which groups of serious and profound conviction are not systematically faced with the stark alternatives of cultural loyalty or state loyalty, it seems unavoidable,” he said.

Earlier, in a BBC interview, he was more succinct. He said it was a “matter of fact” that sharia law was already being practised in Britain. “It’s not as if we’re bringing in an alien and rival system; we already have in this country a number of situations in which the internal law of religious communities is recognised by the law of the land. There is a place for finding what would be a constructive accommodation with some aspects of Muslim law as we already do with some kinds of aspects of other religious law.”

He did not endorse, however, the “kind of inhumanity” that was associated with sharia law in some Islamic states. (Guardian, UK)

***** The Archbishop’s arguments should not be just dismissed but seriously looked into. His opinion on a lot of the issues concerning Syariah law are pertinent and the very fact that it is the Archbishop of Canterbury himself who is proposing this ‘constructive accommodation’ must be taken cognisance of and at least discussed rationally rather than be pushed aside as unworkable or unnecessary.

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Written by Kazi Mahmood

Monday, 28 January 2008

Spratlys, the disputed Island chain claimed by four Asean nations - the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Vietnam - and eyed by China and Taiwan is again in the limelight with Malaysia’s Premier Abdullah Badawi warning of serious problems with military buildup in the region. The issue is however linked to China’s direct involvement in the region and its own buildup as well as its involvement with Vietnam, the accidental source of an impending arms race in the South East Asian region. Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi warned claimant nations to the oil-rich Spratlys in the South China Sea not to assert themselves “militarily,” in the wake of reports that Taiwan had sent a military aircraft to the disputed island chain, reported a Manila based news agency.Badawi made the call at a plenary session of the World Economic Forum (WEF) here Friday evening (past midnight Saturday in Manila) that tackled the potentials of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). China is trying to play a growing role in Vietnam, another country with a Communist regime, in an attempt to diminish the recent increase in U.S.-Vietnam relations. The U.S. on its part is trying to woo Vietnam to join a massive anti-China coalition - at least in the Asean region - and is pressing for more trade and military cooperation with the former Vietcong’s. Undeniably, Vietnam is the latest venue that could stir an arms race in the South East Asian (SEA) region. China plays an important role in Vietnam and has historic differences with the communist leadership while Vietnam is now progressing economically. In Vietnam the rule is to look for new avenues and partners and this has spurred a wave of investment from Japan and the U.S. in Vietnam. The country’s capitalist policies (fiscal policies) has attracted international names from the U.S and Japan generating some US$6 billion in 2006. Taiwan has been directed to play its role in the South China Seas, where China is currently the only super power in control of the region thanks to its close ties with Myanmar and its military bases along the Andaman Seas altogether. By getting Taiwan to attempt at challenging China in Spratlys, Washington is hoping that it would send a shudder to Beijing. It means that Spratlys is not going to be China’s business alone but Taiwan and other nations too. It is salient to note that China has been acting as if Spratlys now belonged to Beijing and has even cut off all talks with the three of the four Asean nations contesting Spratlys and is talking directly to Vietnam. The aim is to bring Vietnam to an agreement on the Spratlys and to prevent the U.S. from having access to the region. This would ease China’s military build up to protect its vital economic routes and defense perimeters altogether. In the future, a total control of the South China Seas by Beijing will allow it to dominate Taiwan, seen as an American lackey in the region. It is also important to note that Vietnam does not want to remain isolated - being a communist country - while China itself has opened its doors to multinationals and others from the capitalist world. Vietnam is thus in competition with the Chinese in grabbing the maximum foreign direct investment, which is already impressive for China. Yet experts tend to agree that Vietnam is playing an economic game, wooing the U.S. into pushing for Vietnam’s entry to the World Trade Organization (WTO). The economic factors aside, Vietnam is not in a position to prevent either the U.S. or the Chinese and even the Russians from showing great interest in military matters in the region. This interest put Vietnam in the limelight since China is not guaranteed a monopoly in the Vietnamese military involvement in the region. The U.S. is negotiating a permanent base in Cam Ranh Bay and this would change the balance of power in the region if it was to happen. Though the idea is still in the making, Vietnam seem to be in competition with China on military issues and on economic matters. The U.S. is lobbying very hard to gain access to Cam Ranh Bay since this would give it an edge against China’s vulnerable - due to its vastness - economic and defense routes. Citing China’s fresh purchases of anti-ship missiles and a buildup of ballistic missiles in its border with Taiwan, the U.S. seem to be bringing the competition right at the doorstep of China with its interest in Vietnam. However, the U.S. may be playing with fire since Vietnam - an arch enemy in the 1960’s and 1970’s - is certainly not totally subdued to the capitalist appeal of the Americans. China is clearly not in the good mood with the recent visits by high U.S. officials to Vietnam and the recent agreements (military and economical) signed between the U.S. and Vietnam. In November last year, Vietnam was visited by U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez who met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. Vietnam, one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, has prompted the U.S. to use aggressive diplomatic representations to help expand its market share - that of U.S. companies indeed - into Vietnam. Both nations have buried the hatchet recently after years of cold shoulder which resulted from the war which Vietnam and the U.S. fought an ended in 1975. The U.S. backed opponents to the communists in Vietnam lost the war, allowing the Communist Party to control the country after the U.S. humiliating pull out from Vietnam. Two-way trade between the United States and Vietnam grew from $1.5 billion in 2001, when the two signed a bilateral trade agreement, to $9.7 billion in 2006. China however is generating about $60 billion worth of FDI annually, the largest amount of any developing country. China is also the world’s manufacturing center while it is undeniably a very lucrative market too with its population of about 1.3 billion, Vietnam’s total FDI currently is roughly a tenth of China’s, at about $6 billion annually. Its per capita gross domestic product (GDP) is still about $480, less than half China’s, which has already exceeded $1,000, an article on Asia Times indicated. China is trying to impose its dominance in the Spratlys Island and the South China Sea with an increased presence of its military warships in the region. China constructed ports and other military facilities on its territory in the South China sea and some disputed hot spots in the area. It is moving forward with attempts to fully control the seas near its border and to expand its military presence further, possibly within the Asean region too. As a matter of fact, they surely want control of the seas. China has intensified dialog with Vietnam and put off talks with Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Beijing is pressuring Vietnam to join forces and it is possible to think of China as a future major investor in Vietnam, if talks between the two nations are successful. On the other hand, the State Secretary of the U.S. visited Vietnam from 3rd to 5th of December 2007. The visit was not highlighted on the front pages of Asean news medias but it is of significant importance in the militarization of the entire Asean region. The U.S. and Vietnam signed some agreements to organize military exercises between U.S. and Vietnamese armies. The former enemies will organize sea and land exercises as soon as 2008, it is said. The problem is an arms race is looming, once again, in the region thus targeting the stability of the member states of the Asean altogether. Some observers believe China’s growing military might in the region is drawing the US and Vietnam closer together. This conclusion was made by Sergei Blagov in the Asia Times website. “Engaging Vietnam is an important part of Washington’s greater strategic realignment in Asia, which has historically relied heavily on military bases in South Korea and Japan to maintain a strategic balance of power favorable to US interests,” wrote Sergei Blagov in Asia Times. Vietnam is thus, after Singapore, the latest in possible military build up in the SEA region and this to the dismay of the member states of the Asean. Perhaps the Asean should impose a unified code of conduct for its members to follow in their military endeavors in order to prevent such a military surge in the region, said an observer to WFOL.

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Written by Kazi Mahmood

What is of greater concern here is that India may soon become a force that Singapore will reckon with to ‘patrol the Straits of Malacca’ and carry joint military exercises on land and in the seas around Malaysia and Indonesia. This could be seen as offensive in the future since neither Malaysia nor Indonesia has military ties with India. An arms race and a potential security problem may arise in South East Asia with the growing involvement of Singapore, a tiny nation state, in military coalitions with super powers in Asia and elsewhere, a defense expert said to WFOL. “Given the sensitivity of the cultural and racial identity of the region, military coalitions with India for example could spark the wrong reactions from neighbor states. Singapore’s deals with India for example could be seen with a different eye in countries that does not have military ties with New Delhi,” he added, on the sideline of the Asean Summit in Singapore. His views are joined by those of leading defense experts, who in emails to WFOL, said they were concerned that Singapore was getting too involved in military coalitions that could destabilize the region rather than make it safer. India and Singapore signed an agreement in October this year, on a long-term arrangement for conducting joint training and exercises between the Indian Air Force and the Republic of Singapore Air Force. The agreement was signed by the Indian Defence Secretary Mr.Vijay Singh and Singapore’s Permanent Secretary of Defence, Mr. Chiang Chie Foo as the two-day 4th India-Singapore Defence Policy Dialogue. During the dialogue, both sides gave an update on India-Singapore defence relations and expressed the need to further intensify cooperation. The regional security aspects, both from Indian and Singaporean perspectives, were discussed and this surely included the Straits of Malacca and the potential conflict ranging from territorial disputes and economic interests between Singapore and its immediate neighbors, Malaysia and Indonesia. Singapore is also known as low level security partner for the Americans in South East Asia. The Americans however enjoy full access to Singapore and may also use it as launching pad for any attacks (future) that would target countries in Asia. “The fact that America is already there to safeguard Singapore in the event of any military conflicts is enough for the Island nation to feel secure in the region,” said the expert, who urged WFOL not to reveal his identity. Furthermore, Singapore signed an agreement with India in October this year, agreement which will allow the air force personnel of the Republic to train at the Indian Air Force base in Kalaikunda, West Bengal, for the next five years. Singapore is one of the world’s smallest countries, with its 704 square km territory scattered across 60 islands. “It will not survive any direct hits by an invading or attacking force but it may be possible for the Republic to fight back with enough fire power against any such attacks. There is no real understanding for this agreement with India,” said our expert.   He also said that the Singaporeans may need a well-trained military with fresh strategies they may learn from the Indians but this actually raises more concerns since it is the Indians that are seen penetrating the region with an agenda. “Singapore is bordered by two large Muslim nations, Indonesia and Malaysia and bringing India in the picture militarily could be seen as a strategic mistake by the Singaporeans,” he said. What is of greater concern here is that Indian may soon become a force that Singapore will reckon with to ‘patrol the Straits of Malacca’ and carry joint military exercises on land and in the seas around Malaysia and Indonesia. This could be seen as offensive in the future since neither Malaysia nor Indonesia has military ties with India. India being a non-Muslim power force could make it harder for the Muslim nations to swallow and this could raise fears of an arms race and a ‘coalitions’ race in the region, which is totally unnecessary. “It is just like Malaysia and Indonesia signing a defense deal with Turkey or Iran and these nations carry out military exercises at the door step of Singapore. This will upset the Singaporeans,” said the expert. Leading regional experts are concerned about Singapore’s growing involvement into joint defensive military coalition, which includes Japan, USA, Australia, and India. According to the new Singapore-India Defensive Agreement for the next 5-years Singapore military forces will get the access to airbases and training grounds in India. Besides training, Singapore is going to use India’s premises for its military forces disposition. First of all, these plans will cross with military intensions of China in the region and as the result will have some negative after-effects for ASEAN countries. China has recently, during the Asean summit in Singapore, suggested that the regional grouping opens up to have more military ties with the Chinese giant nation. The offer was not rejected by the Asean though not all the countries in the organization are willing to accept to deal with China militarily. Singapore’s military deals with India may cause disruptions and strains in the trade and economic relationship with China, the leading partner for the Asean. This is not simple matter and if it was to become a clash of interests between China and India, the region will be the first to suffer. Due to the obvious growing Singapore’s involvement into pro-American coalitions, the whole future of ASEAN defense cooperation is doubtful, since as argued above, it is not safe and sane for every single member states of the Asean to bring their own coalition partners. Any third party involvement in the Delhi-Peking competition in military and defense issues can become provocative for both sides and initiate the arms race in the region, undermining the peace that has been very well maintained in South-East Asia. This may also lead to troubles in the whole Asia-Pacific Region, insist experts in the field in emails to WFOL. Besides the nations mentioned above, Singapore discussed defense ties with Vietnam. Singapore’s Defense Minister Teo Chee Hean met his Vietnamese counter part General Phung Quang Thanh in September to discuss bilateral relations. They discussed various issues, including the fight against terrorism, humanitarian aid, and peace keeping activities, the Vietnam News Agency reported. The US too signaled its intent to enhance its military ties with Singapore, which is a country that is growing too worried of its geographical location, being too close to two largely Muslim nations. It is true that the country’s location gives it a great geo-strategic significance for military powers like India and America; however the Singaporeans are too small militarily to take advantage of this strategic location. It is clear they were talked into the agreement with India, since India is aiming at countering the growing influence of China in the region. India argued that Singapore could take advantage of its strategic location by having a well-trained military, but this arguments did hold sway with military experts who explained to WFOL that it is India that needs the strategic location of Singapore for obvious reasons. They argued that the Singapore-India military deal is part of the efforts by New-Delhi to counter the influence of China in Singapore and within the Asean. Countering China in South East Asia has been the battle plan of the U.S. for decades but China remains the biggest net trader in the region. With the dwindling U.S. dollar, China is bound to become the biggest investor in the Asean member states and this will make it harder for the region to do without China in the long run. Hence the attempt by some parties to put India in the picture, using Singapore as stepping stone, said some experts. They add that it is strange that India would grant Singapore the lease of its military base, something that India has not done before. In the future, it may mean that India would want territorial (surely seas) interests in Singapore, experts said. On the other hand, the situation could be simplified if the Asean as an organization could create a pan-Asean military organization instead and this organization would be responsible for military coalitions in the region. This would then involve all the super powers in the region and in the world rather than individual nations bringing in their own military ‘coalitions’. As an ‘integrated’ region in the future, the Asean will need a military agreement with each member nations and this would have to be sealed with the creation of a military command that would help solve future problems in the region. Related article: Tokyo blew away chance to lead Asia

Kazi Mahmood About the author: Born in the tiny Island of Mauritius, Kazi Mahmood who lives in Malaysia, left behind a few good years of journalism in Africa. His days as a BBC reporter in Mauritius were exciting since he was also contributing to several London based African magazines, including the popular African Business. Read More >>   Related Articles: Anti-Hadith: Rebellion for great deceptions OIC: Bush want permanent seat for U.S. The Economic war planned by Osama Bin Laden America: Seventy million Americans live in poverty Suharto is dead, long live Indonesia Articles by this Author: Malaysia: Abdullah Badawi ‘agenda’ goes beyond Mahathir Washington pushes proxies in terror war Taliban breaking the back of Nato Suharto is dead, long live Indonesia From Hamas to Kenya, roughing up democracy View all articles by this author

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From : Malaysia-Today

Written by Kazi Mahmood

Friday, 08 February 2008

America is now at cross roads, choosing between a Muslim who is not Muslim (confusing), the first lady who want to create history and a derelict who will become a modern crusader in the image of his party buddy, G. W. Bush. This is the U.S.A. today, strange and incredibly volatile.   Is Barak Obama a Muslim? He claims he is not and he asserts that he was never a Muslim despite his Muslim origin. His father was a Muslim (from Kenya), his father in law was a Muslim too (from Indonesia) and he went to Islamic school while living in Indonesia. He is a presidential hopeful (he is still in the race to become the Democrat Party representative in the November 2008 Presidential Elections in the U.S.) however, he is not the only person with a ‘unique’ credential in the road to America’s presidency. Hilary Clinton is the very first woman to challenge the all men fight for U.S. presidency. The former first lady – she is the wife of Bill Clinton the former President of the U.S. – is a serious contender for the presidency. She is leading the Democrat Party race but is still within the target range of Barack Hussein Obama. America is the country that has contributed largely in the liberalization of women worldwide but never had a female candidate before, strange but true. On the Republican Party side, the eyes are on John Mc Cain, the ‘Crusader’ – meaning anti-Islamic warrior – and war hero. He was given a medal for his role in the war in Vietnam, a war America lost. Now he wants to win the war in Iraq by keeping U.S. soldiers in the Muslim country for a hundred years. His mission will be to catch Osama Bin Laden, the Arabian sheikh who is said to be hiding in Afghanistan. There is nothing strange in Mc Cain except that he embodies what George W. Bush represents – that is a war monger and an anti-Islam crusader. Mc Cain was called a crusader by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger during a presentation in California. Bush called his war on terror a crusade. Crusaders started the crusade against Islam in the Middle East after the launch of the First Crusade in 1095 by Pope Urban II with the dual goals of liberating the sacred city of Jerusalem and the Holy Land from Muslims and freeing the Eastern Christians from Muslim rule. What started as an appeal by Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos for western mercenaries to fight the Seljuk Turks in Anatolia quickly turned into a wholesale Western migration and conquest of territory outside of Europe. Mc Cain dreams of liberating the Middle East of Muslim rule, which is the dream of the current Bush administration. The world can expect a rough ride with the foreign policy of the U.S. concentrating on ‘liberating’ nations from Muslim control and with the bible freely flooding Arab lands. While the Democrats are waiting for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama to win the nomination, the Republicans are celebrating the coming of another Bush like mentality boosted candidate in Mc Cain. And they are ready to take on the Democrats with unlimited dollars that are starting to pour in from special interests who will do anything to beat the Democratic nominee. “They’re just waiting for us to decide so they can start smearing,” said Governor Howard Dean from the Democratic Party. Here’s what U.S. News and World Report recently reported about how the Republicans are getting ready to challenge the Democrats in the elections in November. Republican Chairman Mike Duncan and his aides want to be ready to go on the offensive against the Democratic nominee presumptive in an effort to define the opposition candidate on GOP terms.  Opposition (Republican) research is already well along, and the plan is for surrogates to talk to the media around the country while a TV ad campaign in key states and media markets as soon as the Democratic nominee is determined. In other words, the Republicans are ready to hijack and steal the victory that was so far in the hands of the Democrats. It is unsure whether the Democrats will win in November as it is not certain yet who will be the Democratic candidate to face off with Mc Cain. It is safe though to say that the Democrats still has a good chance to chase the Republicans out of the White House but it will all depend on the money, stupid. The awkwardness of the 2008 elections in the U.S. is that it is filled with upsets and with the unknown. What is known though is that Obama is not certain in winning the ticket since the white people are voting for Clinton. The Whites forms a majority of the American population and on Super Tuesday (5th February), Clinton won more votes and more delegates, which is vital for her to become the front runner in the Democratic race for the presidency. The other known fact is that the Americans are now heading towards their own system of dynasty, with the possibility that Hilary Clinton will eventually consecrate the return of the Clintons at the White House 8 years after the end of the Bill Clinton reign as President. This is a true dynasty that we are witnessing in the U.S. and it is worrisome since the great democratic nation is turning into a democratic dynasty. The U.S. had a father and a son, the Bush family indeed, as President. After Bush the dynasts, the Americans are gearing for the Clintons, the new Dynasts. America failed to raise the Kennedy’s in Dynast status but they got their chance to have their new dynasties in place today. The Clintons and the Bushes are filthy rich Americans but they are not the ‘cream’ of the capitalist world in the U.S. Imagine what happens if one day the rich and famous starts to impose their will on the American public to gain access to the highest political seats in the country. Americans may then turn towards the old oligarch of the British colonial time, electing a ‘monarch’ rather than a president in the future. The Christian holy book is already flooding Iraqi cities and villages where U.S. based missionaries are shipping and distributing the bible to the public. They are doing so in the most extreme conditions, similar to that of the western conquest of the North American continent when they flooded the country with missionaries to ‘convert’ the Red Indians. Failing to do so lead the immigrants to massacre the Red Indians and to seize their land and resources to build what is today known as the United States of America. Iraq may not fall the way the Red Indians fell but the Americans are using their military control of the country to push forward their missionary agenda that of converting the most people to other faiths than Islam. What is their success rate? Not much has been achieved since many of the missionari