On 27 July 2020, UN-aligned sent a letter to the Burmese Buddhist monk Ashin Wirathu asking him, amongst other things, how he could reconcile his hostility to the Rohingya with his Buddhist creed. The letter was sent registered.
Three months later, the letter is still sitting in a post office in Myanmar and the status of the letter is described as “in transit.” The address was of course correct; in fact, the monastery he resides in is the well-known and accessible New Masoyein Monastery in Mandalay. So why on earth is the letter still stuck in Nowhere Land?
It would be nice to be able to blame the ridiculous delay on the incompetence of the Burmese regime, but sadly the condition of postal services has become a disgrace in so many places around the world now, that such incompetence is becoming the norm rather than the exception. I could write a lament of epic proportions of the disasters my acquaintances and I have had to put up with regarding lost, stolen, damaged and undelivered mail.
This month, NASA landed a probe on an asteroid: no address; no fixed abode… and yet our postal services cannot even get a simple letter or parcel from A to B, when that is precisely what they are there to do.
I am not that old and yet when I was younger, I could always depend on the post. In fact, as a stamp collector I can see how mail was successfully delivered before the invention of the aeroplane and during world wars and other disasters. And yet taking something from A to B seems too much for the 21st century postal services!
Guaranteeing a decent infrastructure, including efficient postal services, is one of the articles of UN-aligned. The importance of postal services is also highlighted by the United Nations, which has a branch dedicated to it: the Universal Postal Union (UPU), headquartered in Berne, Switzerland. Sadly, however, many governments do not seem willing to take the responsibility seriously.
Well, back to the campaign. We will not give up and we are currently looking at alternative ways to ensure that the message to the Bhante is delivered. As our network of members increases, we should be better placed to overcome these problems.
We already have members from several countries around the world… we need more! Spread the word and help us increase our members’ pool so that we will be able to campaign more easily and effectively! In the meantime, we will keep you updated on developments regarding this campaign.
