Last September I convened a meeting of Buddhist leaders in Kuala Lumpur to discuss and respond to the situation in Myanmar. The meeting under the coordination of the Malaysian Buddhist Solidarity Group decided to submit an appeal to Government of Myanmar via their embassy in Kuala Lumpur. The appeal urged the Myanmar government to adopt the path of compassion and wisdom for a peaceful and non-violent solution to the problem in Myanmar.
What is significant on the stand of the Malaysian Buddhist Solidarity Group is that we seek the Myanmar Government to act in accordance with the teachings of the Buddha.
There was no suggestion or proposal for the boycott of the Olympics in Beijing as others had demanded due to China's influence in Myanmar. I for one will not agree to link the situation in Myanmar to the Olympics.
In recent days, the movement to link the Beijing Olympics with the riots and protest in Tibet began to gain ground. The Olympic Torch relay runs were met with protests along multiple cities route including London, Paris, San Francisco and so on. Based on press reports, more protests by pro-Tibet activists are expected in the remaining Olympic Torch relay cities. And the European Union planned to boycott the opening ceremony of the Games.
Most people would agreed to differentiate between sports and politics but when incidents like those in Tibet and Myanmar are linked to Beijing Olympics, those who took issue with China grabbed the opportunity to highlight the needs of the monks and people in Tibet and Myanmar. These actions unintentionally derailed the hopes and aspiration of the people of China whom eagerly looking forward to the largest sporting event on earth.
Recently I was asked on my response to the incidents in Tibet.
For this time around, as a Buddhist, I was very clear that I am not going to convene any meeting to response to this matter as this are to be shouldered by Buddhist-based NGO. Secondly, as in the Myanmar issue, I totally not in favour of any intention or action to drag in the Beijing Olympics.
When did the Olympics adopted a new event by the name of Politics and Sports?
The USA and his allies had boycotted the Moscow Olympics in 1980 in protests of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and the former USSR and her Eastern Block allies revenged with boycotting of the Los Angeles Olympics four years later.
The victims at the end of the day was the sportsmen and women. They won gold medals without stiff contests and the sports enthusiasts lost out in seeing top of the line competition amongst the best competitors.
So protest if you may but please leave the Beijing Olympics aside. There is no event for Hu Jintao and H.H. Dalai Lama to compete and the only medals for grabs are for the best sportsmen and sportswomen of the world.
