Sunday, 27 January 2008
Maha Ghosananda
Maha Ghosananda was always my Living Inspiration!
Maha Ghosananda Funeral Services: His Holy Body Arrived
The First Extraordinary Memorial Anniversary of His Holiness Samdech Maha Ghosananda
His Holiness Samdech Maha Ghosananda
Triratanaram Buddhist Temple
21-25 Quigley AvenueNorth Chelmsford, MA 01863
978-251-2587
The First Extraordinary Memorial Anniversary
of
His Holiness Samdech Maha Ghosananda
We, the disciples and members of the Khmer Buddhist Monks Community in the United States including Khmer refugees, as faithfuls of Buddhism unanimously organize the first extraordinary memorial anniversary to remember and honor His Holiness Samdech Maha Ghosananda, Father of Peace in Cambodia and the world.The historic ceremony includes a renewed remembrance and honor of His Holiness Samdech Jotannano Chuon Nath, circa B.E.2427-2513, and the Most Venerable Sumedhavong Candavanno Oung Mean, circa C.E.1927-1993.
PROGRAM SCHEDULES
PLACE
The Triratanaram Buddhist Temple21-25 Quigley Avenue, North Chelmsford, MA 01863Phone: 978-251-2587, E-mail: Templenewscast@yahoo.comwebsite: http://www.templenews.info/
DATE
Saturday March 8, 2008 at 5:00pm
Saturday March 8, 2008 at 5:00pm
Faithfuls assembly, Triple Gems Homage, observe precepts, paritta and dharma talk.
Sunday March 9, 2008 at 9:00am
Faithfuls assembly, Triple Gems Homage, observe precepts, lunch and alms offering to Buddhist clergy, and honor our three heroic Buddhist clergies.
We honor our deceased parents, living parents and all beings, that are born, grown old, sick and deceased in everyone corner of the universe.This is a media advisory and an extended cordial invitation to the Buddhist clergy, members, laypeople, community, and press.
Kindly be informed.
Disgraced and vilified, Indonesia's ex-dictator Suharto dies
Jan 27, 2008By ASSOCIATED PRESS
JAKARTA, Indonesia
Former dictator Suharto, an army general who crushed Indonesia's communist movement and pushed aside the country's founding father to usher in 32 years of tough rule that saw up to a million political opponents killed, died Sunday.
He was 86. "He has died," Dr Christian Johannes told The Associated Press, adding that he died at 1.10 p.m. Suharto's death was later confirmed in a statement from chief presidential physician Dr. Marjo Subiandono.
Finally toppled by mass street protests in 1998, the US Cold War ally's departure opened the way for democracy in this predominantly Muslim nation of 235 million people and he withdrew from public life, rarely venturing from his comfortable villa on a leafy lane in the capital.
Suharto had ruled with a totalitarian dominance that saw soldiers stationed in every village, instilling a deep fear of authority across this Southeast Asian nation of some 6,000 inhabited islands that stretch across more than (4,825 kilometers) 3,000 miles.
Since being forced from power, he had been in and out of hospitals after strokes caused brain damage and impaired his speech. Blood transfusions and a pacemaker prolonged his life, but he suffered from lung, kidney, liver and heart problems.
Suharto was vilified as one of the world's most brutal rulers and was accused of overseeing a graft-ridden reign. But poor health - and continuing corruption, critics charge - kept him from court after he was chased from office by widespread unrest at the peak of the Asian financial crisis.
The bulk of political killings blamed on Suharto occurred in the 1960s, soon after he seized power. In later years, some 300,000 people were slain, disappeared or jailed in the independence-minded regions of East Timor, Aceh and Papua, human rights groups and the United Nations say.
Suharto's successors as head of state - B.J.Habibie, Abdurrahman Wahid, Megawati Sukarnoputri and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono - vowed to end corruption that took root under Suharto, yet it remains endemic at all levels of Indonesian society.
With the court system paralyzed by corruption, the country has not confronted its bloody past. Rather than put on trial those accused of mass murder and multi-billion-dollar (euro) theft, some members of the political elite consistently called for charges against Suharto to be dropped on humanitarian grounds.
Some noted Suharto also oversaw decades of economic expansion that made Indonesia the envy of the developing world. Today, nearly a quarter of Indonesians live in poverty, and many long for the Suharto era's stability, when fuel and rice were affordable.
But critics say Suharto squandered Indonesia's vast natural resources of oil, timber and gold, siphoning the nation's wealth to benefit his cronies and family like a mafia don.
Jeffrey Winters, associate professor of political economy at Northwestern University, said the graft effectively robbed "Indonesia of some of the most golden decades, and its best opportunity to move from a poor to a middle class country."
"When Indonesia does finally go back and redo history, (its people) will realize that Suharto is responsible for some of the worst crimes against humanity in the 20th century," Winters added.
Those who profited from Suharto's rule made sure he was never portrayed in a harsh light at home, Winters said, so even though he was an "iron-fisted, brutal, cold-blooded dictator," he was able to stay in his native country.
Like many Indonesians, Suharto used only one name. He was born Mohammad Suharto on June 8, 1921, to a family of rice farmers in the village of Godean, in the dominant Indonesian province of Central Java.
When Indonesia gained independence from the Dutch in 1949, Suharto quickly rose through the ranks of the military to become a staff officer.His career nearly foundered in the late 1950s, when the army's then-commander, Gen. Abdul Haris Nasution, accused him of corruption in awarding army contracts.
Absolute power came in September 1965 when the army's six top generals were murdered under mysterious circumstances, and their bodies dumped in an abandoned well in an apparent coup attempt. Suharto, next in line for command, quickly asserted authority over the armed forces and promoted himself to four-star general.
Suharto then oversaw a nationwide purge of suspected communists and trade unionists, a campaign that stood as the region's bloodiest event since World War II until the Khmer Rouge established its gruesome regime in Cambodia a decade later. Experts put the number of deaths during the purge at between 500,000 and 1 million.
Over the next year, Suharto eased out of office Indonesia's first post-independence president, Sukarno, who died under house arrest in 1970.
The legislature rubber-stamped Suharto's presidency and he was re-elected unopposed six times.
During the Cold War, Suharto was considered a reliable friend of Washington, which didn't oppose his violent occupation of Papua in 1969 and the bloody 1974 invasion of East Timor. The latter, a former Portuguese colony, became Asia's youngest country with a UN-sponsored plebiscite in 1999.
Even Suharto's critics agree his hard-line policies kept a lid on Indonesia's extremists. He locked up hundreds of suspected Islamic militants without trial, some of whom later carried out deadly suicide bombings with the al-Qaida-linked terror network Jemaah Islamiyah after the Sept. 11 attack on the USMeanwhile, the ruling clique that formed around Suharto - nicknamed the "Berkeley mafia" after their American university, the University of California, Berkeley - transformed Indonesia's economy and attracted billions of dollars in foreign investment.
By the late 1980s, Suharto was describing himself as Indonesia's "father of development," taking credit for slowly reducing the number of abjectly poor and modernizing parts of the nation.
But the government also became notorious for unfettered nepotism, and Indonesia was regularly ranked as one of the world's most corrupt nations as Suharto's inner circle amassed fabulous wealth. The World Bank estimates 20 percent to 30 percent of Indonesia's development budget was embezzled during his rule.
Even today, Suharto's children and aging associates have considerable sway over the country's business, politics and courts. Efforts to recover the money have been fruitless.
Suharto's youngest son, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, was released from prison in 2006 after serving a third of a 15-year sentence for ordering the assassination of a Supreme Court judge. Another son, Bambang Trihatmodjo, joined the Forbes list of wealthiest Indonesians in 2007, with $200 million from his stake in the conglomerate Mediacom.
Suharto's economic policies, based on unsecured borrowing by his cronies, dramatically unraveled shortly before he was toppled in May 1998. Indonesia is still recovering from what economists called the worst economic meltdown anywhere in 50 years.
State prosecutors accused Suharto of embezzling about $600 million via a complex web of foundations under his control, but he never saw the inside of a courtroom. In September 2000, judges ruled he was too ill to stand trial, though many people believed the decision really stemmed from the lingering influence of the former dictator and his family.
In 2007, Suharto won a $106 million defamation lawsuit against Time magazine for accusing the family of acquiring $15 billion in stolen state funds.
The former dictator told the news magazine Gatra in a rare interview in November 2007 that he would donate the bulk of any legal windfall to the needy, while he dismissed corruption accusations as "empty talk."
Suharto's wife of 49 years, Indonesian royal Siti Hartinah, died in 1996. The couple had three sons and three daughters.
Cambodian People’s Party Invited to Participate in a Conference of the Centrist Democrat International in Indonesia
Posted on 27 January 2008.
The Mirror, Vol. 12, No. 544
“Phnom Penh: Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Sok An, Minister of the Council of Minsters, leads a delegation of the Cambodian People’s Party [CPP] to attend the second conference of the Centrist Democrat International Asia Pacific (CDI-AP), which is held in Jakarta, Indonesia, 25-27 January 2008 [as the Centrist Democrat Internaional web site http://www.cdi-idc.org is not accessible, secondary information about the background of the CDI, until 2001 called the Christian Democrat International, is referenced].
“Mr. Suos Yara [Secretary General of the Cambodia Golf Association], who accompanied Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Sok An, said that this trip of Mr. Sok An is responding to an invitation from the vice-president of Indonesia who is also the president of the Golkar Party, Indonesia’s biggest party, in order to participate in the second conference of the Centrist Democrat International Asia Pacific, on 25-27 January 2008.
“Mr. Suos Yara said that 17 ruling parties [the President of Indonesia is the head of the Democratic Party, the fourth largest party, ruling with a coalition] in the Asia-Pacific and 8 new parties participate in the conference. The conference will discuss the topic “All Together at the Center” - that means joining together for peace, freedom, security, and long-term political stability; this topic is very important for ruling parties.
“Mr. Suos Yara added that Mr. Sok An, as a representative of the CPP, will make a speech to share the experience of the CPP, which has ruled the country for more than 20 years. In Cambodia, the international community notices that the CPP is a centrist party; therefore it could hold power for more than 20 years. If it had not been centrist, it would not have held power for such a long time until now. It is believed that the CPP can definitely maintain a centrist democracy, which is not too leftist and not too rightist. According to Mr. Suos Yara, all countries which participate in the conference encourage Cambodia to host the third conference of the Centrist Democrat International Asia Pacific in Cambodia in 2009.
“It should be stated that at present there are 28 parties which are members of the Centrist Democrat International in Europe that create political stability, and maintain peace and security among neighboring countries. This ideology was brought to the Asia-Pacific region first through the Philippines. The first conference was held in Manila, in the Philippines, in 2006.”
Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.16, #4499, 26.1.2008
The Mirror, Vol. 12, No. 544
“Phnom Penh: Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Sok An, Minister of the Council of Minsters, leads a delegation of the Cambodian People’s Party [CPP] to attend the second conference of the Centrist Democrat International Asia Pacific (CDI-AP), which is held in Jakarta, Indonesia, 25-27 January 2008 [as the Centrist Democrat Internaional web site http://www.cdi-idc.org is not accessible, secondary information about the background of the CDI, until 2001 called the Christian Democrat International, is referenced].
“Mr. Suos Yara [Secretary General of the Cambodia Golf Association], who accompanied Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Sok An, said that this trip of Mr. Sok An is responding to an invitation from the vice-president of Indonesia who is also the president of the Golkar Party, Indonesia’s biggest party, in order to participate in the second conference of the Centrist Democrat International Asia Pacific, on 25-27 January 2008.
“Mr. Suos Yara said that 17 ruling parties [the President of Indonesia is the head of the Democratic Party, the fourth largest party, ruling with a coalition] in the Asia-Pacific and 8 new parties participate in the conference. The conference will discuss the topic “All Together at the Center” - that means joining together for peace, freedom, security, and long-term political stability; this topic is very important for ruling parties.
“Mr. Suos Yara added that Mr. Sok An, as a representative of the CPP, will make a speech to share the experience of the CPP, which has ruled the country for more than 20 years. In Cambodia, the international community notices that the CPP is a centrist party; therefore it could hold power for more than 20 years. If it had not been centrist, it would not have held power for such a long time until now. It is believed that the CPP can definitely maintain a centrist democracy, which is not too leftist and not too rightist. According to Mr. Suos Yara, all countries which participate in the conference encourage Cambodia to host the third conference of the Centrist Democrat International Asia Pacific in Cambodia in 2009.
“It should be stated that at present there are 28 parties which are members of the Centrist Democrat International in Europe that create political stability, and maintain peace and security among neighboring countries. This ideology was brought to the Asia-Pacific region first through the Philippines. The first conference was held in Manila, in the Philippines, in 2006.”
Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.16, #4499, 26.1.2008
Cambodian deputy premier visits ailing Soeharto
Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister Sok An speaks to journalists after visiting Indonesia's former president Suharto at Pertamina hospital in Jakarta January 26, 2008. Suharto has been in the hospital since suffering from multiple organ failure on January 4.REUTERS/Crack Palinggi (INDONESIA) 01/27/08
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An presented flowers to and prayed for the recovery of former President Soeharto when he visited ailing former president Soeharto at Pertamina hospital here Saturday.
Sok An came to the hospital at about 18:00 local time in a Mercedes Benz car in the company of Cambodian Ambassador to Indonesia Khem Buneang.
The visit only lasted 30 minutes.To the press, Sok An said he was in Jakarta to lead a Cambodian delegation to attend a Centris Democration International (CDI) meeting but had taken the opportunity to visit Soeharto.
Sok An and Khem Buneang said they had also met Soeharto`s children.Asked about Soeharto`s condition, Sok An said there was an improvement in Soeharto`s health. "Soeharto`s face was quite bright."Khem Buneang said they had also conveyed a message from Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.(*)
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An presented flowers to and prayed for the recovery of former President Soeharto when he visited ailing former president Soeharto at Pertamina hospital here Saturday.
Sok An came to the hospital at about 18:00 local time in a Mercedes Benz car in the company of Cambodian Ambassador to Indonesia Khem Buneang.
The visit only lasted 30 minutes.To the press, Sok An said he was in Jakarta to lead a Cambodian delegation to attend a Centris Democration International (CDI) meeting but had taken the opportunity to visit Soeharto.
Sok An and Khem Buneang said they had also met Soeharto`s children.Asked about Soeharto`s condition, Sok An said there was an improvement in Soeharto`s health. "Soeharto`s face was quite bright."Khem Buneang said they had also conveyed a message from Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.(*)
Cambodian People’s Party Invited to Participate in a Conference of the Centrist Democrat International in Indonesia
Posted on 27 January 2008.
The Mirror, Vol. 12, No. 544
“Phnom Penh: Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Sok An, Minister of the Council of Minsters, leads a delegation of the Cambodian People’s Party [CPP] to attend the second conference of the Centrist Democrat International Asia Pacific (CDI-AP), which is held in Jakarta, Indonesia, 25-27 January 2008 [as the Centrist Democrat Internaional web site http://www.cdi-idc.org is not accessible, secondary information about the background of the CDI, until 2001 called the Christian Democrat International, is referenced].
“Mr. Suos Yara [Secretary General of the Cambodia Golf Association], who accompanied Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Sok An, said that this trip of Mr. Sok An is responding to an invitation from the vice-president of Indonesia who is also the president of the Golkar Party, Indonesia’s biggest party, in order to participate in the second conference of the Centrist Democrat International Asia Pacific, on 25-27 January 2008.
“Mr. Suos Yara said that 17 ruling parties [the President of Indonesia is the head of the Democratic Party, the fourth largest party, ruling with a coalition] in the Asia-Pacific and 8 new parties participate in the conference. The conference will discuss the topic “All Together at the Center” - that means joining together for peace, freedom, security, and long-term political stability; this topic is very important for ruling parties.
“Mr. Suos Yara added that Mr. Sok An, as a representative of the CPP, will make a speech to share the experience of the CPP, which has ruled the country for more than 20 years. In Cambodia, the international community notices that the CPP is a centrist party; therefore it could hold power for more than 20 years. If it had not been centrist, it would not have held power for such a long time until now. It is believed that the CPP can definitely maintain a centrist democracy, which is not too leftist and not too rightist. According to Mr. Suos Yara, all countries which participate in the conference encourage Cambodia to host the third conference of the Centrist Democrat International Asia Pacific in Cambodia in 2009.
“It should be stated that at present there are 28 parties which are members of the Centrist Democrat International in Europe that create political stability, and maintain peace and security among neighboring countries. This ideology was brought to the Asia-Pacific region first through the Philippines. The first conference was held in Manila, in the Philippines, in 2006.”
Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.16, #4499, 26.1.2008
The Mirror, Vol. 12, No. 544
“Phnom Penh: Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Sok An, Minister of the Council of Minsters, leads a delegation of the Cambodian People’s Party [CPP] to attend the second conference of the Centrist Democrat International Asia Pacific (CDI-AP), which is held in Jakarta, Indonesia, 25-27 January 2008 [as the Centrist Democrat Internaional web site http://www.cdi-idc.org is not accessible, secondary information about the background of the CDI, until 2001 called the Christian Democrat International, is referenced].
“Mr. Suos Yara [Secretary General of the Cambodia Golf Association], who accompanied Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Sok An, said that this trip of Mr. Sok An is responding to an invitation from the vice-president of Indonesia who is also the president of the Golkar Party, Indonesia’s biggest party, in order to participate in the second conference of the Centrist Democrat International Asia Pacific, on 25-27 January 2008.
“Mr. Suos Yara said that 17 ruling parties [the President of Indonesia is the head of the Democratic Party, the fourth largest party, ruling with a coalition] in the Asia-Pacific and 8 new parties participate in the conference. The conference will discuss the topic “All Together at the Center” - that means joining together for peace, freedom, security, and long-term political stability; this topic is very important for ruling parties.
“Mr. Suos Yara added that Mr. Sok An, as a representative of the CPP, will make a speech to share the experience of the CPP, which has ruled the country for more than 20 years. In Cambodia, the international community notices that the CPP is a centrist party; therefore it could hold power for more than 20 years. If it had not been centrist, it would not have held power for such a long time until now. It is believed that the CPP can definitely maintain a centrist democracy, which is not too leftist and not too rightist. According to Mr. Suos Yara, all countries which participate in the conference encourage Cambodia to host the third conference of the Centrist Democrat International Asia Pacific in Cambodia in 2009.
“It should be stated that at present there are 28 parties which are members of the Centrist Democrat International in Europe that create political stability, and maintain peace and security among neighboring countries. This ideology was brought to the Asia-Pacific region first through the Philippines. The first conference was held in Manila, in the Philippines, in 2006.”
Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.16, #4499, 26.1.2008
Main Reason Why the US Ambassador Did Not Participate in the Ceremony at Tuol Sleng
January 25, 2008
The Mirror, Vol. 12, No. 544
“Phnom Penh: Mr. Joseph Mussomeli, the US Ambassador to Cambodia, told journalists in Kratie on 22 January that the reason why he did not participate in the march to Tuol Sleng with the Hollywood actress is that the march was political.
“The ambassador said that at first, he thought that the ceremony was peaceful and it was to recall the genocidal tragedy; therefore, he decided to register on the participants’ list in order to participate in the march, but later the march became political, criticizing a third country - then he decided to withdraw himself so as not to participate.
“The march of civil society organizations in Cambodia and of organizations from Darfur had asked for permission from the government to hold a ceremony on 22 January at [former] Tuol Sleng prison and at the Choeung Ek Genocide Memorial, but this was prevented by government authorities, because it was considered to be an initial step to criticize China.
“If the ceremony had been in line with what the permission had been asked for, it would not have been prevented.
“Mr. Joseph Mussomeli said that he would not support any activity which is unjust and uses an opportunity to criticize a third country. If the march had been humanitarian and had not criticized another country, he would not have refused to participate. Firstly, he was told that the civil society group from Darfur, which was led by Hollywood actress Mia Farrow, would conduct an Olympic-style torch march at Tuol Sleng prison against genocide worldwide. On the day when they started, the march became political and criticized a third country. The ambassador regretted what contradicted the purpose for which the permission had been asked.
“However, the ambassador praised the government authorities for not causing any injuries in preventing the march.
“Besides the Darfur issue, the ambassador referred also to the anti-corruption law in Cambodia, that it must be pushed forward in order to be applied in the country, so that it contributes to the reduction of corruption in the society, so that the development of the country can move ahead. The Royal Government has already vowed that the anti-corruption will be sped up, not delayed.
“Mr. Joseph mentioned a figure of approximately $320 million that is lost to corruption each year, to have a reference to compare to. Thus, if such a great amount would be prevented from being lost, it could be used to construct many school buildings, hospitals, and other elements of the infrastructure.
“A report from the US Embassy stated also that more than 500,000 citizens have given their thumbprints, supporting that the National Assembly should adopt the anti-corruption law soon. In Kratie alone, more than 20,000 citizens have given their thumbprints to support the adoption of such a law.”
Kampuchea Thmey, Vol.7, #1554, 25.1.2008
The Mirror, Vol. 12, No. 544
“Phnom Penh: Mr. Joseph Mussomeli, the US Ambassador to Cambodia, told journalists in Kratie on 22 January that the reason why he did not participate in the march to Tuol Sleng with the Hollywood actress is that the march was political.
“The ambassador said that at first, he thought that the ceremony was peaceful and it was to recall the genocidal tragedy; therefore, he decided to register on the participants’ list in order to participate in the march, but later the march became political, criticizing a third country - then he decided to withdraw himself so as not to participate.
“The march of civil society organizations in Cambodia and of organizations from Darfur had asked for permission from the government to hold a ceremony on 22 January at [former] Tuol Sleng prison and at the Choeung Ek Genocide Memorial, but this was prevented by government authorities, because it was considered to be an initial step to criticize China.
“If the ceremony had been in line with what the permission had been asked for, it would not have been prevented.
“Mr. Joseph Mussomeli said that he would not support any activity which is unjust and uses an opportunity to criticize a third country. If the march had been humanitarian and had not criticized another country, he would not have refused to participate. Firstly, he was told that the civil society group from Darfur, which was led by Hollywood actress Mia Farrow, would conduct an Olympic-style torch march at Tuol Sleng prison against genocide worldwide. On the day when they started, the march became political and criticized a third country. The ambassador regretted what contradicted the purpose for which the permission had been asked.
“However, the ambassador praised the government authorities for not causing any injuries in preventing the march.
“Besides the Darfur issue, the ambassador referred also to the anti-corruption law in Cambodia, that it must be pushed forward in order to be applied in the country, so that it contributes to the reduction of corruption in the society, so that the development of the country can move ahead. The Royal Government has already vowed that the anti-corruption will be sped up, not delayed.
“Mr. Joseph mentioned a figure of approximately $320 million that is lost to corruption each year, to have a reference to compare to. Thus, if such a great amount would be prevented from being lost, it could be used to construct many school buildings, hospitals, and other elements of the infrastructure.
“A report from the US Embassy stated also that more than 500,000 citizens have given their thumbprints, supporting that the National Assembly should adopt the anti-corruption law soon. In Kratie alone, more than 20,000 citizens have given their thumbprints to support the adoption of such a law.”
Kampuchea Thmey, Vol.7, #1554, 25.1.2008
Korean People's Greatest Holidays to Be Observed in Cambodia
Pyongyang, January 25 (KCNA) -- A Cambodian preparatory committee to commemorate the Day of the Sun and February 16 was inaugurated in Phnom Penh on Jan. 18.
Deputy Prime Minister in charge of the Royal Palace Kong Sam Ol was elected chairman of the preparatory committee.
The preparatory committee set the periods from March 20 to April 20 and from Jan. 20 to Feb. 20 as commemoration periods and decided to widely introduce through media the immortal feats performed by President Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il in the human cause of independence and organize diverse events.
Deputy Prime Minister in charge of the Royal Palace Kong Sam Ol was elected chairman of the preparatory committee.
The preparatory committee set the periods from March 20 to April 20 and from Jan. 20 to Feb. 20 as commemoration periods and decided to widely introduce through media the immortal feats performed by President Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il in the human cause of independence and organize diverse events.
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