Building a bridge to the future: 62nd Mon National Day

Building a bridge to the future: 62nd Mon National Day
The Main Committee of the 62nd Mon National Day will host the annual celebration in Beelu Kyun Island on February 10, 2009. The MND promises to be another fantastic event with many people anxiously awaiting the grand celebration at the Kamar Moor village ...

The Main Committee of the 62nd Mon National Day will host the annual celebration in Beelu Kyun Island on February 10, 2009. The MND promises to be another fantastic event with many people anxiously awaiting the grand celebration at the Kamar Moor village comprised of over three thousand households on a Mon island.

Mon leaders first conceived the event in 1948 when the future had looked promising after World War II.  After conferences at Kamarwet and Pa-Nga villages during 1947 and 1948, the first celebration kicked off at Ywa Lut Monastery in Moulmein according to the statement by the MND main committee.  Rev. Palita, the well-known Mon Abbot wrote the first Mon National Day gathering was also held at the cinema hall of Kwan
Wai Tut (Ywa Lut Village) in Beelu Kyun in 1948.

As well as around the world where Mon communities have resettled, the 62nd MND will be held in many cities and villages in lower Burma, but the committee will host the main jubilant event at Kamar Moor of Takok Khamine (Beelu Kyun).  "The MND main celebration is held in a different place every year and last year was in Mudon.  We rotate this event to build solidarity among the local communities and other Mons," said Dr. Min Soe Linn, organizer of the MND.

Meanwhile, organizers of Mon National Day committees are preparing for the celebration which will fall on February 10 this year.

In Malaysia, the Mon refugees and migrant communities are preparing to celebrate in Kuala Lumpur, Penang and other locations.  Local talent, such as celebrity Nai Ai Mon and his band will entertain the crowd with a live concert and refugees are rehearsing for their traditional dances for the February 10th event, according to Nai Lawi Mon of Mon Refugee Organization (MRO) based in Kuala Lumpur.

In Thailand, several Mon national day events will be held throughout the kingdom, including Bangkok, Phuket, Phang Nga, Tak, Samut Sakhon, Ratchburi, Prachuap Khiriknan and Kanchanaburi Provinces.  Maharchai, the largest Mon migrant community in Thailand has had to scale down entertainment festivities after recent police crackdowns on the migrant working community there.

In Fort Wayne, Indiana of the U.S.A, Monland Restoration Council (MRC) put on a sparkling show for their American hosts that
featured cultural performances, live concerts, Mon spicy cuisine and speeches from American and Mon community leaders.  About four hundred people joined the event on February 7, according to leader of MRC, Nai Kun Yekha.

In the United Kingdom, the Generation Mon Society (GMS) hosted the national day event on February 7 at Greenford, London which was well attended by solidarity friends and community members.

The Mon community in Akron, Ohio and the Mon Canadian Society in Calgary, Canada  are working hard to put on their event which will feature performances by children dressed in their traditional clothes and Mon women dancing their intricate moves, followed by Mon cuisine and speeches from community leaders on Saturday February 14.