The Irrawaddy Burma Election 2010

One thousand VCDs produced by Shan community leaders opposed to the Nov. 7 election have been distributed in Shan State since early September. Thousands of additional copies have also been secretly made.

The VCD features interviews interspersed with modern and traditional songs performed by Shan artists and an animation by Shan cartoonist Harn Lay.
The popular Shan singer Sa Ka Ha of the band Freedom's Way performs the VCD's theme song, "Choice for 2010," which he composed.

Participants in the VCD interviews discuss Shan issues and reach the conclusion that the Nov. 7 election will bring no improvements to Shan State.
Shan activists in Northern Thailand launched the VCD at a concert in Chiang Mai on Sunday, during which Harn Lay talked about his profession and said: “Cartoons can be understood by anyone. It doesn’t matter about age and language. That’s why people like them.”

Kham Harn Fah of the Shan Human Rights Foundation told the concert audience he expected the flow of refugees into Thailand to increase after the election.  

“Human rights abuses will even increase after the election because the regime gets legitimized," he said. "They [the military] become a legal government and they can do everything they want.”

The VCD can be viewed on YouTube at "Shan communities oppose 2010 election in Burma Part 1 to 14," on Facebook at "Shan communities oppose 2010 election in Burma" and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/@shancommunities.

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