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Letter from The
SEACSN Regional Coordinator
Greetings. Welcome to this new edition of the SEACSN
Bulletin. Since the last Bulletin, a few things have
happened in the region. The most significant and tragic
one was the Asian Tsunami of 26 December 2004. Several
areas in the Southeast Asian region was badly hit by
this devastating tsunami, notably Aceh in northern Sumatra,
the Southern Thailand island of Phuket, and also the
northern parts of Malaysia, including Penang, the location
of our regional office. The level of destruction due
to the tsunami was unprecedented and mind-boggling. The
SEACSN family has also been affected by the tsunami.
We have many members of the network in Aceh who lave
lost their lives, family members, and properties. Among
those that have lost their lives was Dr Isa Sulaiman,
a Board Member of the Aceh Institute (AI), which was
affiliated to the REPUSM, and the most significant Acehnese
historian of our times. His knowledge of the history
of Aceh is second to none, and when he would tell us
tales of Aceh history, with dates, names, and places
flowing from his mouth effortlessly, we would all be
totally engrossed, absorbing the stories and lessons.
Pak Isa is totally irreplaceable. Another friend who
lost his life was Arif, a young Acehnese working with
Forum Asia in Bangkok. A very committed activist who
was very passionate about working for peace in Aceh;
a symbol of his generation of Acehnese who was forced
to flee Aceh because of the war there, returning home
for a while to set up a training program for members
of the civil society in Aceh. Arif and his wife of two
months were both killed in the tsunami. Another notable
person who was killed was Dr Sofyan Ibrahim Tiba, the
former academic who became a GAM (Free Aceh Movement)
negotiator. Pak Sofyan was arrested with other negotiators
on their way to the Peace Talks in Tokyo in 2003, and
was subsequently sentenced to jail. Because he was sickly,
he was kept in the Banda Aceh prison, and perished with
other prisoners when the tsunami destroyed the Kampong
Keudah prison building. There are many others like Pak
Isa, Arif, and Pak Sofyan. This edition of the Bulletin
is therefore dedicated to the victims of the tsunami,
those that have lost their lives and the thousand others
that have been affected by it in one way or another.
May their work for peace be continued by those of us
who are still living with the same kind of energy and
commitments showed by all of them.
We have included in this edition three articles about
the tsunami. The first is by Mus, a network member active
in peace education in Aceh,the second by Nor Hafizah,
a lecturer of sociology at Universiti Sains Malaysia,
and the third by Lukman Age of REPUSM.
The REPUSM, the SEACSN head office, joined in the relief
efforts immediately after the tsunami. I had the privilege
to participate in the relief work in Malaysia and Aceh.
The devastations that we saw was heart wrenching, but
the spirits of the people involved in the relief operations
were beyond words. Volunteers were working non-stop,
doing everything that they could to help those affected,
in the midst of all the chaos and madness of a post-disaster
situation. Six months on, the situations have more or
less normalized. In Aceh, the tsunami helped prodded
the armed parties to the long lasting war to negotiate
for peace, this time facilitated by the Conflict Management
Initiative (CMI). The talks have been through several
rounds this year and hopefully will bear some tangible
results soon. This momentum for peace caused in part
by the tsunami should be continued.
In this Bulletin, we also cover the Southern Philippines
with two articles written by Ayesah Abubakar and Soliman
Santos, respectively. Ayesah looks at the peacekeeping
operations involving the International Monitoring Team
(IMT) led by the Malaysians as part of the current peace
talks between the Philippine government and the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), while Soliman looks
at the events behind the clashes between the Philippine
army and a faction of the Moro National Liberation Front
(MNLF) in Sulu.
We also have an article about peacebuilding in the region,
looking at some of the concepts of both peacemaking and
peacebuilding and giving suggestions on how to move forward
and create sustainable and viable peace for Southeast
Asia.
There are also announcements about training workshops
organized by the Network on conflict resolution, a basic
one in September, and an advanced program in October.
These workshops are organized by our Thailand office.
Limited places for support are available, so please make
sure that you put in your application in as soon as possible.
Our readers might have noticed that it has been a while
since the SEACSN came out with a new Bulletin. Because
of financial constraints, we will only be able to publish
the Bulletin now on a biannual basis and not quarterly
as before.
Lastly, the cover of this edition’s Bulletin also
reflects the focus on the tsunami. The photo was of myself
and Saiful Mahdi, the Director of the Aceh Institute,
about two weeks after the tsunami. Saiful is finishing
his PhD in the US and came back to Banda Aceh to help
in the relief operations and find missing relatives and
friends. The photo shows many things, and I would leave
the readers to ponder on your own the meanings and messages
behind the photo. One thing is clear however; it clearly
shows not only the sadness caused by incidents like these,
but it also shows the importance of support and friendship
that we give to each other in times of need.
Salam and God Bless.
Kamarulzaman “Zam” Askandar
Penang, June 2005
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