Thousands of Dollars Raised For Chin Famine Victims

Melbourne: Australia: Almost $16,300 was raised by the Chin community in Australia for famine victims in Chin State, Chinland Guardian has learned.

Facilitated by the Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO), the Chin community around Australia has been raising fund by donating cash to a fund established by the famine concert organizing committee, as well as organizing the famine live aid concerts in Adelaide, Perth and Melbourne.

Crowds gathered under the banner of the special fund raising events for the victims of the Chin Famine held in Adelaide and Perth to hear celebrity singers from Mizoram and Chin State, Burma.

The famine concerts, parts of the Australian series, were performed by Mimi Lalzamliani of Mizoram State of India, who teamed up with Cung Lian Thawng from Burma, while local vocal talents living in Australia sometimes aided them on the stage.

“The Concerts in Adelaide and Perth had been very successful in terms of turnouts and raising money for the famine victims,” said Victor Biak Lian of the Chin Human Rights Organization.

“It’s the first time that the Chin community in Adelaide have a chance to gather together and held the combined events of the Chin National Day and Famine Live Aid Concert,” said Tha Peng Ling, member of community living in Adelaide.

A series of Chin Famine Live Aid concerts were successfully held in Australian three cities; Melbourne on February 14, Adelaide on February 21 and Perth on February 28.

According to the United Nations Foods and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) and the World Food Program (WFP), the famine in Chin State in north-west Burma will last at least another two to three years.

Lian Ding Hmung

7 March, 2009