Reportage – 2007

Australia impressions

The Dalai Lama greeting over 20,000 Melbournites before his speech on: Universal responsibility, at the MC Labour football stadium. [ click here for print size   2.3M ]

Over 20,000 Melbournites attended the Dalai Lama's talk on: Univeral responsibility, at the MC Labour football stadium. [ click here for print size   2.9M ]

Melbournite Tibetans waiting for the Dalai Lama speak to them. [ click here for print size   3.6M ]

Yellow Book — identifies me this way
Qantas (an abbreviation of Queensland and Northern territory air service) is Australia's national air carrier. In India, it flies only to Bombay, not to the capital Delhi, and then back to Sydney.

Landing at the Sydney International Airport after 14 hours of direct flight — not something anybody would be fond of talking about, although Qantas' does provide good service — I knew what was waiting for me at the immigration. My travel document, a miserable yellow-covered scrappy booklet with a few pages of gratuitous conditions, was beyond the comprehension of the immigration officers.

The officers couldn't sort out under which nationality they could register me, as Tibet or Tibetan is not a nation or nationality for their system. After the end of their search on the system and much discussion among three officials, one official finally put the approval stamp. When I enquired under which nationality I was registered for entry, I vaguely heard "xyz".

Australians love the Dalai Lama
As my hostess, Diane Drysdale, drove me in to Melbourne city, there were huge signboards advertising the Dalai Lama's Australia tour along the road. I could see, "It’s the Dalai Lama coming on a tour!" As I later saw the actual numbers and enthusiasm of the fans following the Dalai Lama, my initial feelings about the Australians love and respect for this man were corroborated.

The Dalai Lama paid his fifth visit to Australia from 5 to 16 June. He first visited the country in 1982.

The tour, tagged "Open arms, Embracing kindness", was planned with an estimated cost of three million Australian dollars. Without corporate support and government funding, I little wonder if the organisers, led by Dr Alan Molloy, managed to pay off the expenses.

At the Rod Laver Arena, a tennis stadium, where the three-day teachings in Melbourne were held, shows by the Guns and Roses, Bob Dylan and Gwen Stafani, the 37-year-old pop singer who owns the L.A.M.B. clothing label, were lined up. The Dalai Lama's tour poster was prominently displayed among these superstars.

Speech at the Monash University
The Australia Tibet Council and the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law organised an occasion for the Dalai Lama to speak about the political issue of Tibet. It was one of the few such occasions when the Dalai Lama was asked explicitly to talk about the political issue of Tibet in his tours.

He categorically stated that he is adamant about his middle way policy to resolve the Tibetan issue with China.

"Tibet is a small country. It is better to be a part of a bigger nation for its own benefit," he said.

He acknowledged that he receives criticism from some Tibetans for forsaking independence for Tibet, but since the dissenters do not have a proposal in a systematic and reasonable manner, he said a new or an alternative policy could not be adopted.

"Settling the Tibetan issue can also send a positive message to Taiwan and Hong Kong towards reunification."

The Dalai Lama revealed that he had planned to reconcile with the Chinese in 1983 after he expressed his wish to return to Tibet. However, the Chinese government rejected this plan after they refused to receive his emissaries two years later.

One of the questions from the panel, by Professor Colin Mackerras, was: "What is Tibet? There are two Tibets in a way. One is the political Tibet, which is the same as the Tibet Autonomous Region, and the other is Amdo and Kham included, the three provinces of what you regard as Tibet, but which are now parts of Chinese provinces, especially Qinghai and quite a bit of Sichuan, Yunnan and Gansu. In talking about negotiations with China, which Tibet have you in mind, because I think the Chinese will have a very, very different attitude towards granting the kind of autonomy you are talking about in Qinghai and those provinces, than they will have in Tibet itself. And I think that that's an important question. That's all I have to say for the time being."

The Dalai Lama said, "If we are seeking independence or separation, then of course, before 1950, today's Autonomous Region of Tibet is according to international legal experts, such as the International Commission of Jurists and others, the area that at that time was a Tibet with de facto independence. The Government of India also recognised that. If we are seeking independence, then we have to talk about only that part of Tibet."

"Strictly speaking, I am not a Tibetan! I come from Amdo."

However, the point is, as the Dalai Lama says, the entire six million Tibetans are very much concerned about their own culture and ecology. Since all these three provinces share a common culture and heritage, it would be logical to have a common entity for all the ethnic Tibetans.

"The Chinese constitution provides different kinds of autonomy status. So instead of a variety of autonomy for every ethnic Tibetan community, such as autonomous prefecture or district or county, it would be more practical and easier to make one autonomous entity of all the Tibetan areas. That is our thinking. That is the best way to preserve Tibetan culture, language and ecology. That is the best way to give satisfaction to six million Tibetan people."

The game John Howard played
For some people politics is a way of life. Such things as ethics, love, and joy are all forgotten over it. For over a month John Howard, the Australian Prime Minister, kept checking his diary to find time to meet with the Dalai Lama. After weeks of political to-ing and frow-ing, Howard finally found the time, but still tried to keep it a low profile for fear of offending the largest trading partner — China — together conducting transactions worth billions of dollars.

Howard met the Dalai Lama for about 30 minutes on 15 June at his Sydney office. In an attempt to keep the meeting a low-key affair, only a couple of photographers and a cameraman were allowed in for a couple of minutes for coverage. The meeting occurred more out of compulsion than out of Howard's respect for the Dalai Lama or empathy for the Tibetan cause. The meeting took place due to the Australian public's accusation of Howard kowtowing to the Chinese. To simply demonstrate Howard's astute mathematics: Kevin Rudd, the leader of the opposition, who didn't have any obligation and was not answerable for anything, met the Dalai Lama.

Secondly, after the Dalai Lama's fans turned out to be a massive number (over 20,000 people, mostly young, both in Melbourne and Sydney), who came to listen to the Dalai Lama, Howard realised that ignoring him would cost him dearly in the upcoming elections in November.

The people's mandate and the votes became more powerful than the Chinese pressure. After all, Howard cannot insult the intelligence and psyche of the Australian public and infuriate them by having their Prime Minister seen giving in to the Chinese.

Interacting with the media persons, the Dalai Lama said he briefed Mr Howard about the on-going dialogue between his envoys and the Chinese officials, and requested resettlement of more Tibetans in Australia so that Tibetans could practice their culture and spirituality.

Tibetans in Australia
There are about 500 Tibetans in Australia today; too small a number for such a big country (7,617,930 sq km). About 300 of them are Sydneysiders, about 150 are in Melbourne and about 30 in Brisbane. The remaining are in Adelaide, Perth and Canberra, the capital, where the Office of Tibet Australia, headed by Tenzin Phuntsok Atisha, is based.

I didn't meet the first Tibetan who moved to Australia, but I gathered that it was in 1972 that the first Tibetan landed there.

Although the number is small, Tibetans there are strong and active in working for the Tibetan cause. Despite the pressures of coping with their new environment, their zeal can be seen through some examples: They have founded the Tibetan Community of Australia. A group of young Tibetans and their Australian friends have published the premier Tibetan magazine in English 'Tibetan Voice'. Tenzin Choegyal has created a unique way of presenting and introducing Tibetan cause and culture through his music. Choegyal also invites Tibetan monks from India for presentations and performances. Karma Phuntsok, a traditional thangka painter by training since 1973, has been surprising the art world with his contemporary paintings.

Travelling ends for a year
My hosts: Diane Drysdale, Debra and Victor (Ven. Lobsang Thabkhe), were typical of Australians — hospitable, cheerful and outgoing. Bouncing back and forth between my hosts and the cities of Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney, and also following the Dalai Lama's programmes, my month-long trip flickered by like a few days. With the end of my short sojourn, the 10-year validity of my yellow book (travel document for Tibetans issued by the government of India) also came to an end.

To obtain a new one will take one year because of the unavoidable long procedure it has to follow in different central and state government offices of India. Everything that is involved with the yellow book — long procedure to acquire, the low quality, the "what-the-heck-is-that" attitude at the immigrations — truly insures that I do not forget my identity and where I belong. It is subtly infusing in me the strength to rise up and fight for my rights. (Had I some slush fund for bribes, that would be a way to make things move along faster — but I don’t.)

After a one-year wait ... if the procedure goes smoothly ... I will be handed a yellow book that will have only a few pages — not enough for any extended travel. The homelessness signified by the yellow book is one thing, but the unwarranted long procedure is another thing that renders me ... wordless!

The only thing I can think of is to shout aloud: Rinpoche! India is great! Free Tibet!