As the curtain comes down on another Mon National Day I sit here in Canada where the rivers freeze over in the middle of winter. The temperature outside has plummeted and the bitterly cold arctic air is bearing down on the western prairies once again. I have participated in Mon National Day at different stages in my life: as a young boy in my village; as a lover while a student in the university; as a soldier in a military uniform; as a revolutionary in the deep jungles; and now as a Mon activist in exile in a western country. Each stage provides a vastly different perspective of a place in time and space.

The past 10 years has been an amazing journey for me and I am able to reflect on my good fortune living in a free country. At this time of the year, I enjoy rediscovering the long ancient history of the Mon and their contributions to humanity and learn of a people who had once been at the forefront of technology and civilization in Southeast Asia. Our people in the past and present have been regarded as a 'people of high culture and peace', who formed strong communities that 'fostered social order and prosperity' as acknowledged in The Mons: A Civilization of Southeast Asia, a book by Mon scholar, Dr. Emmanuel Guillon.

Hongsawatoi was one such kingdom founded in 573 A.D. It was a prosperous, independent city, famous throughout its history in lower Burma and was once known as Pegu. It was for many centuries a regional hub of cultural and religious activity and was a major trading port for princes and merchants alike. The Mon invested a lot of energy and time learning the ancient Pali and Sanskrit text of Buddhism and it is in this famous city that skilled scribes developed our writing system within the monastic community. Mon farmers developed irrigation in the Salween delta, trades people refined metallurgy and other groups in the region eagerly sought after these skills. Through the centuries this city was transformed over time and established diplomatic relations with all nations near and far, conducted free and fair world trade with Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, China, France, England, Portugal, Spain and the Middle East. We had long enjoyed a peaceful and cordial relationship in trade and foreign affairs with other countries in the world.

In school in Mon State we are taught of the great deeds of kings and queens that ruled over lower Burma and how they promoted such Buddhist concepts of anatta, the non-Ego, the absence of self, or anicca, impermanence. One can glimpse this way of thinking in the building of stupas, monasteries and temples that attest to peaceful coexistence of our relations with other peoples.

I close my eyes and imagine what life must have been like for our people who lived with peace, dignity and prosperity, a stark contrast to our way of life now living under the repressive Burmese regime. Hongsawatoi was brutally attacked and occupied by the Burmans in 1757 AD. Thousands were driven away to escape certain death, while others constrained by poverty or other obstacles endured the persecution.

We have enjoyed freedom at most points in our history and we will again. I am sure of it.  While our far-sighted Mon rulers were determined to develop our Mon kingdom in terms of economic, social and political conditions, we did not fail to pay attention to mutual and peaceful co-existence with other nations and countries in the world.

Unity is the most important precondition for us to regain our dignity and sovereignty. We have a well-established historical background, a well-developed civilization, our resources both in terms of human and natural resources and our state's infrastructures will support a strong civil society, local governance and an administrative system. We urgently and desperately have to unite to reach our ultimate goal of national liberation.