Burma EXPO 2008

Tevin MalcolmLanguage Arts (EXPO 2008)Block: G Country: Burma Title of text: Burmese Storm Toll Tops 10,000 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7384041.stm            The structure of this text is an online newspaper. The article is an informational text. The person who wrote the article is a journalist from BBC. I think the journalist sounds like he/she is out of the country. This might not have a lot of significance. Everyone is intended to read the article. The text was written to inform people about cyclone. The writer was trying to be objective because he tried to bring other incidences of cyclones and tried to compare it. The article was written May 6^th, 2008. This was right after the cyclone hit Burma. The significance of the date is that it was very recent.        

The UN has sharply increased its estimate of those severely affected by Burma’s cyclone to 2.5m people.

The figure was revised up from the 1.5m previously thought to be in need, following the storm 12 days ago.

Since Cyclone Nargis struck, hardly any foreign aid workers have been allowed into Burma to hand out relief supplies.

Latest Burmese official figures put the death toll at almost 38,500 with 27,838 more missing but the Red Cross warned as many as 128,000 could be dead.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he “regretted” the UN had spent more time arranging rather than delivering help, amid claims of stonewalling by the junta.

click here for the site.

The death toll from Burma’s devastating cyclone has now risen to more than 22,000, state media have said.

Another 41,000 are missing three days after Cyclone Nargis hit the country, causing a huge tidal surge to sweep inland, according to state radio.

The report came as aid agencies begin what they expect to be a major relief operation to help hundreds of thousands left without clean water and shelter.

Burma’s government has been criticised over its handling of the crisis.

A number of Burmese nationals and some foreigners have said they had not been properly warned by the country’s military leaders about the approaching storm.

Some witnesses have also said the government’s response to the disaster has so far been slow and inadequate.

US President George W Bush has urged the military leadership to give access to American disaster assessment teams, saying his country was ready to use its navy “to help find the missing, to help stabilise the situation”.

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Fact book page for P.E.

Country: Myanmar/Burma
Group Members: Tevin, Kai, So Hyun, Stanzin
Practical Sport / Activity: Chinlone
P.E. Block: F

Introduction / brief History: Our assigned EXPO country is Myanmar. We have chosen the national and traditional sport of Myanmar, Chinlone. The sport became an official sport in 1908. It is a 1,500 years old tradition which was performed for Burmese Royalties. It is performed mostly during the annual Buddhist Festivals. Many teams participate in one of the largest festivals of the year. Another interesting fact is that the players follow a rhythm/beat as the orchestra performs during the festivals.

The origin of chinlone could be traced to the oldest form of soccer, the ancient Chinese game, cuju/tsu chu. The modern day hacky sack and foot bag is thought to derive from the game of chinlone, as well as other games of soccer played over the centuries. This particular game of football is related to other football games in South East Asian countries such as the takraw in Thailand; speak rage in Malaysia and Singapore. In addition, the Philippines mini-football game, sipa.

Chinlone is a diverse sport with about 200 ways of kicking the rattan ball. Most of the moves are similar to dance and martial arts movements. The player should be in a correct form to execute a good move (positioning of hands, arms, torso, and head). The team should also be focused or attentive to passes, for a successful game of chinlone. It can be played in different styles, the team style-circle kick (wein kat) or the solo (tapandaing) performed by women.

The “cane-ball” (Chinlone) is played with a 12 cm woven ball of rattan (cane), which makes a distinctive sound of clicking when kicked. The game can be played on any flat surface. The total number of players that can play Chinlone is six in a group. However, one can choose to play it individually. It is for all ages and genders, therefore attracting the general audience. As chilone is a combination of dance and team sport with no opposition; it is not competitive at all. Yet, many competitions are held annually at the Mandalay Waso Chinlone Festival.

The main goal is not to win or lose, but how one truly plays the game of Chinlone skillfully. There are six basic contact points: your knees, heels, inner and outer sides of the foot, top of the toes, and the sole. During a game, a player cannot use his/her hands as he/she must pass the ball with their feet or knees, while walking around a circle. A typical playing circle is about 6.7 meters (22 ft) in diameters. A solo then moves in the center performing a variety of dance movements. The rattan ball then must be passed back and forth to the soloist through one kick. When the ball drops to the ground, the play commences once more (a rotation).

(*Demonstration of a game*):-

Skill 1: The first skill would be to practice juggling (as in soccer) the rattan ball individually in an empty space. (10 minutes).

Skill 2: For the second skill pair up with peers/classmates, and practice passing the rattan ball using the six main contact points. (10 minutes)

So Hyun Park
Language Art G
May 9, 2008

Analyzing Informational Text: Burma

The article Myanmar: Death toll more than 15,000 is about the cyclone that happened in Myanmar. About 1,500 people have been found dead after three days. Now, foreign countries and international organizations are helping Myanmar with no hesitation. They are sending food supplies, clean water, donations and other forms of help. However, there were some delays in the government made due distractions such as Election Day coming. People are still suffering for basic necessities after the cyclone and more people are still unaccounted for. The country is in great crisis.
The article was written on May 5, 2008. Information is still updating and so the information mentioned in this article might change after some time. It doesn’t have the reporter’s name. Nonetheless, I can rely on the authenticity of this article because it is from CNN; a well-known and respected news channel all over the world.

[The death toll from the Myanmar cyclone is more than 15,000 people, Myanmar's government has said, with at least 10,000 killed in the township of Bogalay alone, according to the Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua.]

This shows that the reporter is from another country. If the reporter was from Burma, he or she wouldn’t have to go around to China and ask for information. The writer’s intention in writing this article was for the foreigners to read. The article contains basic facts about what happened and alters them. The writer wanted the foreigners to read and think about the situation and may be help Burma. Although articles are supposed to be objective, some writers can be persuasive without putting their opinions directly. The bias of this article is shown in it being persuasive. It may seem objective at first but looking closely at, might want to think again.

[United Nations secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said in a statement he was “deeply saddened by the loss of life and the destruction suffered by the people of Myanmar” and pledged to mobilize international aid and assistance as needed.

U.S. first lady Laura Bush blasted the military government, saying the lack of warning before the deadly cyclone hit was the latest example of "the junta's failure to meet its people's basic needs."

"People are very angry with the slow response coming from the military government," said Aung Zaw of Irrawaddy news magazine.

"They would be very stupid to go ahead with it," said Khin Maung Win with Democratic Voice of Burma, a broadcast media group run by opposition expatriates. "Thousands of people are dying or missing. It is very difficult to get around or get food and water. How can people vote?"]

These quotes from the article clearly shows that after mentioning the effects of the cyclone, the writer highlights the response around the world, the slow response from the government and how the outsiders think about Myanmar.. There was no explanation taken from the side of the government which somehow appears to be the weakness of this article. Objective writing means showing both sides of the story, but this article clearly wants to inform the reader not only about the disaster but also about the political situation in the country that is partly blamed for the situation. By showing how world leaders or personalities reacted, and how some ordinary people think about the country without any comment from the government, the article indirectly persuades the reader to think negatively about the country and its political leaders.

Link: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/05/myanmar.cyclone/index.html#cnnSTCText

Stanzin Namgyal
9/05/’08
Language Arts- Block G
Informational Text Analysis: Myanmar

Mass monk protests put Myanmar junta in a Dilemma
By: Ed Cropley

The informational text I analyzed about Myanmar revolved around the web article, written by the reporter, Ed Cropley called “Mass monk protests put Myanmar junta in a dilemma” from Thomson Reuters. Since the author is objective by using facts and quotes from exiled dissidents, especially political exiles, this proves to us/the audience that he is outside the country. It is very important to know if the author is inside or outside the country. In our case, since Ed Cropley is outside the country he might not truly know the current situation in Myanmar as he has not yet experienced the protests, or the harsh enforced Military Junta policies. The web article of Thomson Reuters is accessible on the Internet; this signifies that the article is meant for the general audience. Furthermore, the format and style of the article is such that it is open to all ages, especially adults. The author has a clear view on the situation, and included strong quotations as well as enlisted facts that outline his purpose in the web article. His main intention is to discuss, and contemplate on the mass monk protest as well as the difference in both the protests of ’07 and ’88. He also mentioned about the Military Junta or SPDC (State Peace and Development Council), and how they have dealt with the monk protest in Yangon, the former capital of Myanmar.

Throughout the article, the author was not bias and persuasive as he aimed for solely revolving the article on factual information of the protests from different sources over the past weeks. In my opinion, the author has not included a specific part in the article of where he displays strong emotions on the topic. In addition, you can also see the author has chosen to use quotations and facts from the protest that occurred; ignoring his point of view, desiring to include the thoughts of those who have faced the Military Junta’s hardships. An example of the author using a factual information.(Example): “Hunkered down in their new capital, far removed from the largest anti-government movement since 1988, Myanmar’s ruling generals are caught in a rare dilemma.”, and “They can either come down hard on the Buddhist monks leading the protests—and risk turning pockets of dissent into nationwide outrage as reports and grainy mobile phone images of revered, maroon-robed men and boys being beaten up leak out.”

Examples: “They are getting braver every day and their demands are getting greater every day, and it’s much more overtly political”, “It’s now about Aung San Suu Kyi, it’s about reform”. V.S. (or against) “That’s their traditional way of dealing with this sort of thing. They never compromise and they have no deal how to negotiate. ”, and “I don’t see how the military is going to improve and I’m just worried that they will crack down,”

Although the author is objective, this passage portrayed the author’s point of view regarding both the protests, and the Military Junta. The author has a strong view on the mass monk/public protest against the Military Junta in Myanmar through the factual information and quotes. I felt the author was trying to be bias in the first two quotations; as he tried to convey the message that the mass protest in Myanmar mainly revolves around change/reform, and people power. In addition, how it differed from the previous protests of ’88. The protests are now larger, and are backed by the Burmese monks. However, on the other hand the author also referred to the Military Junta as they ruled the country for 45 years with an iron fist. The Junta through Military dictatorship succeeded in repressing or cracking down on the protest’s, and opposition forces/political parties. Moreover, the author felt that due to the Military Junta’s previous success in clamping down on protests, they might once again prove the mass monk protest to be futile and worthless against their armed forces.

The web article was published on Monday, September 24th, 2007 at 2:28 pm. This article was published during the mass protest in Myanmar, after the student-led protest against the sharp fuel prices. However, this was before the Military Junta crack down on the protest, in the process detaining and killing many. Another crucial date, the article relates to is 1988, which was the student-led pro democratic protest also against the Military Junta. Unfortunately, thousands were killed as the Military Junta clamped down, exiling many students and opposition political leaders outside Myanmar. In general, I thought the web article proved to be useful as it once again made me contemplate on Myanmar’s issues, and gave good factual information as well as quotations on the 2007 protests in Myanmar.

URL Sources:
http://in.reuters.com/article/southAsiaNews/idINIndia- 29690520070924?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0

Kai Maekawa
Language Art C
May 9, 2008

Issue (EXPO)

A terrorism news article went out on BBC, involving hundreds of member around Burma. This news article is written by a well educated journalist with fluent knowledge on Burma. It seems like this author is from inside of the country because the news article is well detailed and has information’s related on the specific issue. In order to get this much detailed information in Burma, since the government does not allow foreigners in the country, it is most possibly that the author of this article is from inside of the country. Well educated people, people wanting to know about current events happening in Burma and the United Nations (UN) might also want to read this article because the main goal of the UN is to help world peace, especially in Burma. Therefore, UN will be able to gather information on Burma by reading this article. This text was written to inform people about what is happening in Burma and about the topic. The author of this news article is trying to be objective and has a strong emotion about the content because he/she is expressing the article with strong vocabulary and well detailed information’s on the article. The evidence I can find from the author’s point of view is that he/she is disagreeing in what had happened in this article. This text was written in September 28, 2007, which signifies that even though this article happened a year ago, it is still an problem going on in Burma (killing people).

To access the site, click here: here.

The Burmese military junta might come to an end soon as they give the Burmese citizens a chance to participate in  constitutional referendum. They will give them a chance to participate in the political process.

 For more on this article, click here.

 The military junta which runs Burma is taking new steps to tighten its already fearful grip on the country. About a month or two ago, the Burmese military junta made an announcement. (to be continued)

To see this article, click here.