Chin and Mizo Singers Banded Together To Raise Fund For Famine Victims In Burma
Talented singers from Burma and Mizoram, India are set to perform at Chin Famine Live Aid Concert in an effort to raise fund for famine-hit Chin victims in Chin State, sources confirmed. The concert will be held at Payap University in Thailand on August 27, 2008.
Famous Chin singers from Burma, Sung Tin Par, Zam Nu and San Pi will team up with well-known Mizo singers from Mizoram State of India, Mimi Lalzamliani and Malsawm Tluangi (SP). Chiang Mai-based singers and musical guests are also to perform at the concert.
Tickets can be purchased at the entrance for 500 Thai Baht which includes free chair, light snacks and soft drinks while the regular ones cost only 150 Baht with no freebies. All proceeds, a source confirmed, will go towards famine relief efforts in Chin State, Burma.
More fund-raising concerts for famine-stricken Chin victims are scheduled to be held in Malaysia and Singapore in August and September respectively. Pu Chan Thawnga of CFERC (Chin Famine Emergency Relief Committee) said earlier of the purpose as to raise fund from Chin migrant workers in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.
Chin communities, churches and individuals across the world have also made efforts in reaching their fellow Chins in famine-hit areas, and call on international communities and SPDC to address the devastating situation faced by the Chin people.
Chinrelief.org, a website dedicated to providing famine-related activities and information, has been launched with the help of a British volunteer and photographer, Benny Manser, who slipped across the Indian-Burma border into famine-affected areas in Chin State early this year.
A food crisis has been imminent in Chin State since the flowering and dying of a certain type of bamboos in Chin State began in 2006. When the bamboos flower, they produce a fruit, which attracts rats. The infestation of rats further results in the widespread destruction of crops, leading to severe shortages for local communities who are primarily dependent on subsistence farming. This year, food shortages have reached a critical point. No less than 100, 000 people or 20 percent of the entire population of Chin State, according to a report by Chin Human Rights Organization, may be in need of immediate food aid. As this natural disaster unfolds in western Burma, thousands of Chin people will face potential economic devastation, starvation, and even death, unless immediate action is taken.
