Food for thought: the lost generations

I have read about the lost generation in China

during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s it was the young cadres that were in the foremost of the people’s activities, bringing about the political changes that the leaders at the time wanted

after the power struggle was over, having outlived their usefulness, they were sent to the rural areas under pretext of rural development and kept there out of the way

when the economic and social changes occur several decades later, the new urban generation got all the advantages of education, work opportunity and fruits of the changes in economy

the earlier generation of the Cultural Revolution missed the new opportunities, being too old to catch up with the changes in lifestyle

I was 9 in 1962 and grew up under various military governments and the Myanmar’s Way of Socialism, military style

what I remembered of the earlier years was one Independence Day celebrations

there was the BoShu. Thabin on the Prome road where the Thamada viewed the various Armed forces and Civilians parading past

when I returned home and was near the KhaYayPin road on Ahlone road, the Thamada returned in an open car with full dressed guards on horses and entered the Thamada compound through the gate at the KhaYayPin road

my next recollection of the state of affairs was on 2^nd March, 1962, I saw an armored patrol car near the Thamada cinema hall, with an army officer on top, with radio communication facilities

several days later, I heard my parents talking about the fire at the NyaungShwe SawBwar’s Haw at the corner of the Goodliffe and Kabaraye Phayar Lann (now Pearl Condominium, previously PyarGayHar

when I finished my education and began work, I opted to live in Myanmar, thinking it would be best for me

but things were not what I hoped for

when changes came in 1988, I had strong hopes, thinking that my children would now be able to grow up in a changed Myanmar

now, 22 years later, things have not really changed yet

those who were children in 1988 are now adults and another generation has been lost again

and those in my generation are nearly ready for retirement

we, as a nation, have lost 2 generations

the other day, I read news about: Renewed bid to fight forced labour

YANGON, 26 February 2010 (IRIN) – The government of Myanmar and the International Labour Organization (ILO) have for the third time renewed an agreement aimed at tackling forced labour.
“Neither party sought any changes and there were absolutely no issues in terms of its renewal,” Steve Marshall, liaison officer for the ILO in Myanmar, told IRIN in an interview.
The agreement will come into effect on 26 February for another year.
However, Marshall said much work was still required to ensure the proper application of the agreement.
Recently, 17 people – mostly farmers who complained about forced labour, or people helping them to lodge their complaints – were imprisoned because of their involvement in ILO cases, breaching the agreement.
While 13 were subsequently released, four are still in detention.
Under the agreement, first signed in February 2007, anyone who complains about forced labour or facilitates a complaint is protected by law.
Marshall said arrests of this kind raised “serious credibility issues” as far as the implementation of the pact was concerned.
“Although harassment of this nature is reported only in respect of a minority of cases, they of course impact on the confidence of people to complain,” he said.
The agreement will examined by the ILO governing body in Geneva in March, where it will be fully reviewed, he said.

Fears of retaliation
The Myanmar government passed a law in 1999 forbidding the use of forced labour but the phenomenon is still documented in various forms by the UN and international human rights groups.

In a farming village in Kunchangone Township in the southern Ayeyarwady Delta, men are forced to work as night guards at a nearby army post, or hand over the equivalent of US$2 to the military unit

Despite joint awareness-raising by the ILO and the government about the law, most perpetrators are from the military or local authorities.

Child soldiers
Government law states that no one younger than 18 should be in the army, but military units are under pressure to maintain their strength.
“While some kids volunteer to join up, many of the cases we get are not voluntary,” said Marshall. “In either case it is against the law.”
“A kid is walking home from the market, or home from school or at the bus stop or at the railway station, and he is approached by a broker … and either tricked or straight out abducted into the army,” he said.
The average age of child soldiers seen in cases submitted to the ILO is about 15 or 16, but there have been cases of children as young as 11.

why is it that such things occur?

even after our government had passed Laws preventing it?

are we so used to breaking Laws that they do not mean anything until one wants to use them?

even when it was said: no one is above the Law

it looks like everyone is breaking some Law or another

bribery, traffic laws, municipal laws, decency

just name it

you get away free of charge

foc

unless

you need to be charged

like

electronic law, TharThaNar Go HnyoeNwann Say Chinn

even counterfeiting law

when there was no counterfeiting, but only breaking the penal code 420

in the case of the Cameroon footballer

yes, we have lost more than 2 generations

we have lived and grew up in a closed world

usually, a country evolve from feudalism, fascism or communism to democracy

from bad to good

while the people’s communist states went downhill, the social changes in the West made lives of the people better and a far cry from the conditions mentioned in Oliver Twist

now, even in China and Vietnam, although they are still officially communist states, they have developed economically from backward states to modern ones where the people enjoy the economic development, as those in the West enjoyed with the social changes that occurred with the Labour movement

in our case, we changed from 14 years democracy to military rule, now 48 years already with 2 generations lost, and no end in sight

we have economic changes, yes

but crony capitalism is here

and the people are still poor

as seen by recent strikes in garment factory

our people are now working in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore

many illegally and subject to human trafficking in Malaysia, Thailand and China

where torture, rape and abuse is the norm

because there are no good job opportunities here, even 2 decades after economic changes

points to ponder: the koel

all the koel / cuckoos / oake-aws are singing a lot these days near my home they were also singing since my last days off, in Jan 2010 it was still in the cold season at the time but now, it is in the hot season the singing of the oake-aws herald the onset of the hot season hearing them sing brings out different emotions in me usally, it makes me happy but sometimes it makes me very blue I remember the song by ?Sein Lwin a copy song of the popular English song “Gypsy Rose” both were hits during my time “sauung khat than lo cho dae….. sa-garr lay dwe.. hso thu ah-chit yae…. ………….. …………. nway yar thi ah-chain lay ………… pin yan oh..ah-htet kyaw.. tun-tan-cho shwe oke-aw.. oh… lwan bwe……. sar-thin-yet arr… kyaung-ta-garr-peik ein ma-pyan-chin buu….. this song always brings to me, memories of summer holidays the long days at home the idleness of course, during my student days, there was no one specific to be blue about but the song and the oke-aws always made me blue and moody as situations and books make one even if one does not have anyone to “ah-lwan thae” the other day, I saw 2 teachers walking past me while I was taking out Dido for a morning walk the oke-aw was singing on the padauk tree over my head 1 teacher stopped and looked up there were 3 black birds over us he remarked that the one with a double tail is the oke-aw yes, he was right it was an oke-aws while the other 2 were crows I have seen oke-aws before they were larger than crows but very similar but this oke-aw is about the size of a crow and difficult to know the next day, I saw 2 crows going after an oke-aw and realized the oke-aw must have been trying to get near their nest yes, nature is very strange oke-aws do not build nests but lay their eggs in crow’s nests and the hatched oke-aws are fed by the crows, thinking it to be theirs this much I heard from others but I have seen a documentary about oke-aws the oke-aw hatchling become larger than the crow hatchlings up to nearly double their size I saw the oke-aw hatchling pushing the crow hatchlings off the nest by backing and pushing them off it is their instinctive behaviour to get more food not having to share with the crow hatchlings the crow continued feeding the oke-aw the lone survivor until it is much bigger than the crow itself it is a strange relationship between crows and oke-aws instinctive behavior of the oke-aws in Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” it also brings to me our Burmese saying: “Aha Kine Nay Nay, Ah Khet Choe Choe” / “kyay-zuu kann” attitude of the oke-aws. Which is the correct attitude we should aim for? “survival of the fittest”? as with the case of oke-aws or to be correct in one’s behavior and not do anything wrong?

all
I have looked up in: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuckoo
there are different coloured cuckoos mentioned there
including the following:

Breeding

The cuckoos are an extremely diverse group of birds with regards to breeding systems.^[1] The majority of species are monogamous, but there are exceptions. The anis and the Guira Cuckoo lay their eggs in communal nests, although this behaviour is not completely cooperative; a female may remove others’ eggs when laying hers.^[13] Polyandry has been confirmed in the African Black Coucal and is suspected to occur in the other coucals, perhaps explaining the reversed sexual dimorphism in the group.^[14] The majority of cuckoo species, including malkohas, couas, coucals, and roadrunners and most other American cuckoos, build their own nests, although a large minority engage in brood parasitism (see below). Most of these species nest in trees or bushes, but the coucals lay their eggs in nests on the ground or in low shrubs. Though on some occasions non-parasitic cuckoos parasitize other species, the parent still helps feed the chick.

Non-parasitic cuckoos, like most other non-passerines, lay white eggs, but many of the parasitic species lay coloured eggs to match those of their passerine hosts.

The young of all species are altricial. Non-parasitic cuckoos leave the nest before they can fly, and some New World species have the shortest incubation periods among birds.^[13]

[edit] Brood parasitism

About 56 of the Old World species and 3 of the New World species are brood parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of other birds.^[13] These species are obligate brood parasites, meaning that they only reproduce in this fashion. This behavior has led to the entry of the term cuckold into the English language, which describes a man with an unfaithful wife. In addition to the above noted species, yet others sometimes engage in non-obligate brood parasitism, laying their eggs in the nests of members of their own species in addition to raising their own young. The best-known example is the European Common Cuckoo. The shells of the eggs of brood-parasites is usually thick.^[15] They have two distinct layers with an outer chalky layer that is believed to provide resistance to cracking when the eggs are dropped in the host nest.^[16] The cuckoo egg hatches earlier than the host’s, and the cuckoo chick grows faster; in most cases the chick evicts the eggs or young of the host species. The chick has no time to learn this behavior, so it must be an instinct passed on genetically. The chick encourages the host to keep pace with its high growth rate with its rapid begging call ^[17] and the chick’s open mouth which serves as a sign stimulus ^[18].

Female parasitic cuckoos specialize and lay eggs that closely resemble the eggs of their chosen host. This has been produced by natural selection, as some birds are able to distinguish cuckoo eggs from their own, leading to those eggs least like the host’s being thrown out of the nest.^[18] Host species may engage in more direct action to prevent cuckoos laying eggs in their nest in the first place – birds whose nests are at high risk of cuckoo-contamination are known to mob cuckoos to drive them out of the area.^[19] Parasitic cuckoos are grouped into gentes, with each gens specializing in a particular host. There is some evidence that the gentes are genetically different from one another. Host specificity is enhanced by the need to imitate the eggs of the host.
ps
there is much we do not know
and can learn anytime if we have the will and the means to do so
we are never too old to learn

From: U SEIN-HLA-KYAW

Very interesting. Thanks a lot.

In summary ……

Family also includes – roadrunners, koels, malcohas, couas, coucals, anis

Size – Medium (dove size), ranges from Little Bronze Cuckoo – 6” / 17 Gram
Channel-billed Cuckoo – 25” / 630 Gram (1.4 lbs)

Distinguising feature – Feet – 2 inner toes pointed forward / 2 outer backward
– Tail – Long tails (majority) for steering/rudder

Habitat – All continents except Antarctica

Behaviour –  solitary birds, seldom occur in pairs or groups
–   generally shy, more often heard than see, highly secretive

Feeding – insects, insect larva, caterpillars, (lizards, snakes, small rodents, other birds)

Breeding – majority – Monogamous (having only one sexual partnet at any one time)

– majority – build their own nests (trees, bushes, ground, low shrubs)
– lay white eggs

– leave the nest before they can fly

– large minority – brood parasitism
– lay their eggs in other birds’ nests (may  remove others’ eggs when laying hers)
– lay coloured eggs to match those of their hosts
– Female parasitic cuckoos specialize and lay eggs that closely resemble the eggs of their chosen host (natural selection)

– some birds are able to distinguish cuckoo eggs from their own, leading to those eggs least like the host’s being thrown out of the nest.

– some chicks are fed by 3 separate foster-parent species

– cuckoo egg hatches earlier than the host’s

– cuckoo chick grows faster
– in most cases the chick evicts the eggs or young of the host species (instinct)
– the chick encourages the host to keep pace with its high growth rate with its rapid begging call and its open mouth