Cafe Momo and the Competition Results

Here are results of the photographic competition

First Prize of the Cafe Momo hamper goes to Terry
Photo taken at Tharpaling Monastery Bhutan not far from the Tibetan border.
Caption:  "They see themselves as Brothers with the future in their hands."



The following runners up get Tibetan wind horse flags
Grace



Ben



Lyra and Furface



Di + Robert


Lammins

The Last Cafe Momo

Church House was packed with people spending an afternoon eating soup and cake while drinking tea and coffee.  The results of the photographic competition were also announced where first prize went home with a Cafe Momo Hamper which is presented below

 You can view the full results here

Tsering Passang who is the sponsorship Programme co-ordinator for Tibet Relief Fund showed a short film and gave a talk on the Fund's work in Nepal and India.  lots of questions were asked and Tsering had a lot to say.  We gave him a traditional send off

  

Double self immolation protest marks crackdown anniversary

Phayul[Monday, March 17, 2014 22:59]

DHARAMSHALA, MARCH 17: Another Tibetan monk has immolated himself outside his monastery in Tsekhog County, Malho Prefecture, on Sunday, that saw double self immolation protests in Tibet. A monk whose name is not yet known carried out the protest around 7.30 AM (local time) on Sunday. He was a monk of Sonag monastery in Jhador township in Tsekhog. As of now, it is not known if he is alive or dead. Sources say that the authorities immediately cut down all communication lines including all micro-messaging apps to ensure that the news and pictures if any were not sent out. Lobsang Palden, another Tibetan monk immolated himself at the 'Pawoe Sanglam' (Martyr's Street) in Ngaba town on Sunday, which marked six years since a brutal crackdown by armed Chinese forces on Tibetan protesters leading to the death of at least ten Tibetans including a monk in Ngaba. March 16, 2014 marks the sixth year since protests by Tibetans in Ngaba in 2008 when several Tibetans died, were tortured or imprisoned in the run up to the Beijing Olympics. Three monks of Kirti monastery had died since 2011 by setting their bodies on fire on the same date (March 16) at the same spot which began to be known as 'Pawoe Sanglam' (Martyr's Street). They were Lobsang Phuntsok (2011), Lobsang Tsuiltrim (2012), and Lobsang Thokmay (2013).

A Tibetan monk self immolates in Ngaba

Phayul[Sunday, March 16, 2014 20:37]

By Phuntsok Yangchen DHARAMSHALA, March 16: A Tibetan monk today set himself on fire in protest against China’s occupation of Tibet and its hard-line policies in the restive Ngaba region, said Kanyag Tsering, a Tibetan monk of Kirti monastery here. Lobsang Palden, a monk of Kirti monastery in his early twenties, set himself ablaze in protest against China’s hard-line policies at the ‘Pawoe Sanglam’ (Martyr’s Street) in Ngaba town around 11.30AM (local time). Chinese police immediately arrived at the protest site, doused the flame and took him away in a vehicle. It is not known if he is still alive or has succumbed to his burns. March 16, 2014 marks the sixth year since protests by Tibetans in Ngaba in 2008 when several Tibetans died, were tortured or imprisoned in the run up to the Beijing Olympics. Three monks of Kirti monastery had died since 2011 by setting their bodies on fire on the same date (March 16) at the same spot. They were Lobsang Phuntsok (2011), Lobsang Tsuiltrim (2012), and Lobsang Thokmay (2013). photo/provided by source Before setting himself on fire, Palden had reportedly left a text message in his phone in which he prayed for his parents, family members, teachers and relatives. He also called for unity among Tibetans. “We should maintain cordial relations with others, particularly with Chinese because if we are united and have love for each other, no matter what our thoughts are, it will enable us to communicate with each other better,” the message says (translated from Tibetan by phayul) Following his self-immolation protest, situation in the region remains tense with the local Chinese authorities deploying large number of armed security forces in Ngaba town. This is the third Tibetan self immolation protest of 2014. Lobsang's younger brother is also a monk in the same monastery. His family 'Ashertsang' consisting of mother Namkho and step father Sherab lives in Meruma village in Ngaba. Lobsang had been in the monastery since his childhood. Lobsang Palden became the 128th Tibetan to self immolate in Tibet protesting against China’s occupation of Tibet and its hard-line policies since 2009. Meanwhile, there are unconfirmed reports about another self immolation by a Tibetan monk in Tibet's Tsekhog County earlier today. However, its authenticity could not be verified at this time.

China bans TXTing and Tweeting in Parliament

The Register
Delegates at China’s largely ceremonial parliament, the National People’s Congress, have been warned to keep their smartmobes firmly in their pockets during the annual ten-day snoozefest meeting.
Such is the temptation to relieve the boredom at the Congress, which does little more than rubber-stamp decisions already made by the executive, that attendees are increasingly fiddling with their handsets.

However, according to a report in state-run Beijing Youth Daily, the organisers have given this year’s bunch the following strict instructions (tr Quartz):

Do not use your phones to send text messages or make phone calls during meeting; do not use your computer or phone to play games. Representatives are not allowed to use means such as Weibo and WeChat to live broadcast the conference.

The warning should come as no great surprise, given the Party's paranoid compulsion to strictly stage manage every element of China's appearance to the outside world.
As such, it wants to dominate the media narrative by allowing only its own official tweets of the event and not giving outsiders the chance to poke fun at pics of snoozing – or even worse, Candy Crush-playing - delegates.
As Quartz says, pics taken by delegates have also given bloggers the opportunity in the past to identify lawmakers wearing expensive jewellery or clothes which they shouldn’t be able to afford.
In a bid to prevent too much snoozing at the event, officials are also limiting speeches to ten minutes this year and have urged delegates to speak without a script in a “refreshing” tone. Good luck with that.
China is, of course, not the only place where public figures have been caught doing something they shouldn’t have with their smartphones.
In 2012, three ministers in Indian state of Karnataka were forced to resign after apparently watching porn on a mobile phone during a debate in the House.
Meanwhile, in Hong Kong this week pan-democrat lawmaker Albert Ho was fined by his party after being caught browsing pics of underwear models while finance minister John Tsang delivered his 90 minute budget speech.

SMOG

This sums up the smog situation in China

Chairman Mao - It's the capitalist roaders that create the SMOG

Some pictures from the last Cafe Momo 23rd Feb 2014

Everyone enjoying their soup and tea.

A selection of cakes

The Tibet Stall

Ben Powell on Guitar