At the Burma Protest in Seoul
8th
October 2007
An alphabetic list of the ideas that I hold most dear:
Democracy.
Justice.
Life.
Love.
Truth.
These are ideas worth fighting for, worth dying for and worth living
for.
A world without Democracy - where people fear the government and not
the other way around; a world without Justice - where unspeakable acts
like rape, the stoning of an adulteress and murder go unpunished; a
world where Life is not valued - where people are treated like
things with no intrinsic value; a world without Love -
where hands do not reach out to the poor and downtrodden; and a world
without Truth - where lies and dogma are pushed for selfish ends - is
not the type of world I want to live in.
I look at the brave people in Burma - those who have said No to a
violent military regime. Those who have risked their lives for an
idea. I look at their heroes. People like
Aung San Suu Kyi - a prisoner of conscience for the best part of
seventeen years. And I wonder.
I wonder if I have the courage to lay down this life - this one
precious life that I have - for an idea? For democracy, for
justice, for life itself, for love or for truth? I don't know.
I'd like to think that I would, but I don't know.
 Being
at the protest in Seoul was good. I might even go so far as to
say I enjoyed it. The riot police were
interesting, but by no means scary. One of them actually said that
if he wasn't on duty he would of joined us! The police chief was
nice enough. He asked us to take the signs down but never looked
as if his heart was really in it. I shook his hand at the end of the day.
Meeting other liked minded people was great. Some of us shared
a meal after the protest. I even managed to sell all of the thirty
or so
GrassRootsUganda.com necklaces I had on me! We even formed out
our little group - the Dogudas - which like all good group names is
based on an in joke. We have other events planned here in Korea:
Further Burma protests and pushing GrassRootsUganda.com necklaces at
various public events. I've craved this sort of company since I've
been here.
So, I undoubtedly benefited personally from attending this protest.
But did the protest make a difference to the people of Burma?
If nothing else, it sent a message of solidarity and that is not to be
underestimated. I received this message from a Burmese
person not long after I posted my
YouTube video:
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As a burmese, I would like
to thank you all people around the world to support us for
justice and freedom . Thank you all..really, we will keep on
fighting this junta. and may peace and democracy prevail
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One can't help but think if it was enough? Might more be done?
I think the oft-quoted Granny Weatherwax has the right idea:
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Sacrificin’ your own life, one day at a time, to the flame,
declarin’ the truth of it, working’ for it, breathin’ the
soul of it. That’s
religion. Anything else is just … is just bein’ nice.
Granny Weatherwax
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Well, almost the right idea. Replace the word
"religion" with "living your life as if ideas matters" and it is spot
on.
Yes, go to protests - make a sound, be heard.
But more importantly live your life so that governments fear people
and not the other way around; ensure victims of unspeakable acts get
justice; ensure people are people and not some
commodity; ensure that a hand -
your own is best - is helping the poor and downtrodden; and that the
truth is told no matter how painful it may be.
Do as Granny Weatherwax suggests: Make them the First Things, not the
Second Things. Sacrifice yourself to the flames, one day at a
time.
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2005, 2006 and 2007 Malcolm Trevena.
All the stuff on this site is written by me, Malcolm Trevena. Feel free to
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