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Futurists' weekend



Dear Burmanet Readers,

Greetings from Delft. Last weekend was another remarkable weekend for 
me. A mixture of (a) a loss: one of the best of the early futurists died 
on Saturday the 27th Nov. 1999. Sad but wave/mountain of inspiration 
overwhelmed the sadness and, (b) a hope: responding few serious 
questions concerning the future of Burma directed to me with the 
confidence and expectation that I would not ignore. I therefore named 
it the 'Futurists' weekend'.  

(a) a loss, but an inspiration:
---------------------------
	> Dear Friends and Colleagues,
	> 
	> Yesterday afternoon, Saturday November 27th at 1:41pm, 
	> Robert Theobald's body died and his spirit was set free.
	> [..snip] He was between 70 and 71.
	* He came home from the hospital to his apartment just one week 
	* earlier. While his body continued to fail, his spirits never 
	* did. He was putting things together at an astonishing rate, 
	* frustrated by his diminished ability to give full voice to 
	* what he was coming to understand. He laughed and cried and
	* direct us in his care. And he told us that he loved us -- as 
	* we each told him.
	> 
	* The energy and light and prayer that so many of you have poured
	* into Spokane over the last three weeks has been a marvel.  
	* It held him.  A gentle web which held him while he continued 
	* with his work and his living. It was precious, and I thank 
	* you from the bottom of my heart. 
	> 
	* Robert thanks you as well.  Reach out with your mind's eye and
	* you will feel him smiling. May this web of connection continue,
	* holding each of us in our lives and in our work.
	> 
	> Three items as we transform forward with all our lives:
	> 	
	> 1. Full, current biographical information available.  
	> You can view it on-line at 
        > http://www.transform.org/transform/tlc/rtbio.html. 
	> Bob Stilger, Executive Director	
	> Northwest Regional Facilitators
	> East 525 Mission Avenue
	> Spokane, WA 99202

(b) a hope:
--------------
The following question was asked to me - a direct e-mail.

	#I remembered the story that was told by the famous Burmese 
	#author in Bangkok, 1993. He is now residing in Australia.
	#Once the Chinese Communist Party sent agents aiming to organize
	#to the area where voodoo like religion was dominated. All of 
	#the agents were disappeared and believed to be killed by the
	#native people. They sent agents again and again to try to 
	#organize that area. But every time all the missions were 
	#failed. One time one of the communist agents was alive and 
	#stayed in that area for long time. Leaders were surprised and 
	#sent another agent to contact to him. 
	#When the contact person arrived to that area he saw his fellow
	#agent became voodoo like witch master or Nat sayar. The 
	#ex-communist agent Nat sayar told his contact person that, 
	#"If I not act like this in this region, I could not survive. 
	#Now I am well respected and rich too."
	#The story gave me a sense. If you go to the area of voodoo, you
	#need to act like Nat sayar; otherwise you will be killed. 

Q1:   It is not an easy task to introduce the new ideology or to 
      implement the new system. Getting a lesson from the above story, 
    
A1:   It is not an easy task. Correct. It has yet to prove it if it is
      so. However, what has been proven time and again in the history is
      that 'It is NOT impossible'. Therefore, it is possible and it can 
      be done. One should not be discouraged.

Q2:   we need to ask ourselves, are we Nat sayar in our exile 
      opposition community? 

A2:   Definitely not. Nothing can be nore sure of it.

Q3:   Or can we act like revolutionists to change the bad behavior 
      within self or us? 

A3:   No, not necessarily to be a revolutionists either in order to 
      bring about one's own behavioural change. A clear insight, a bit 
      of wisdom, a strong commitment, great deal of patience, time and 
      energy and, few good friends/companions ('kalayarna mitta' in
      Parli language) will do the work.

Q4:   Have we enough strength to do the difficult task?
A4:   Of course, we do have enough strength. Undoubtedly!!!
      Do you know where you can draw strength from?
      'Virtue'. One who has virtue also has strength.

May you all be happy futurists who could inspire others at all times 
even when you were let down.

With metta and respect,
Dr. Khin Ni Ni Thein
WRTC
 .................................................................
The Water, Research and Training Centre (WRTC) for a new Burma is 
a non-governmental, non-profit, educational foundation, explicitly
apolitical in nature, working for the Burmese peoples by promoting 
and improving their access to research and training opportunities 
and education in the water and rural sector in Burma and abroad.
P.O. Box 118, 2600 AC Delft, The Netherlands. 
http://wrtcburma.org
Tel. +31-15-2151814, Fax +31-15-214 39 22, E-mail nin@xxxxxx
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