Removing the thorn from her heart:about Inner Mongolian poetess

Much of Taiwan poet Hsi Mu-jung's work is about the loss and rediscovery of her homeland.Yang Guang reports.

It was 1949, and the ship was about to sail from the mainland to Hong Kong. Hsi Mu-jung, 5,was given a gold ring and a black cotton-padded coat with her name sewn on the inside by hermother. All of her siblings were given the same, and they compared their rings to see whosewas bigger. "Only years later, did we learn from mother that we were given the rings and coatsin case we got lost on the journey," the 67-year-old Taiwan poet recalls at the launch of herlatest anthology, In the Name of Poetry, in Beijing.

"The coats were to identify us, and the rings were financial assistance to help bring us up," sheexplains, tears welling in her eyes.

Hsi was born in Chongqing to a Mongolian family. They moved to Hong Kong in 1949 and toTaiwan five years later.

A trained painter, she began to compose poems at 13. Her first poetry anthology - mostly lovepoems - was published in 1981. It became an instant success both in Taiwan and on themainland.

"Writing poems was spontaneous for me," Hsi says. "In that turbulent age, I was alwaysadapting to new classes and it was difficult to become accepted. I started writing poems in mydiary to ease my loneliness and frustration."

She went to college in Belgium in the 1960s andreturned to teach painting at a college in Hsinchu.

"The homeland is a place I have never seen/ All myknowledge of it is a name / The name is a thorn in myheart."

She wrote these lines in 1979 but was not able to setfoot on the mainland until 10 years later, whenrestrictions relaxed.

In 1989, she went to the Inner Mongolia autonomous region for the first time and has sincevisited the Mongolian Plateau several times a year.

"On the plateau, I do nothing but walk," Hsi says. "The sweet grass is broken by my steps andits fragrance permeates the air. Grasshoppers jump around and eagles hover in the sky, while Ijust walk, thinking of nothing."

Two essay collections, Mongolian Lessons and In Pursuit of My Homeland, were published in2009 to record her explorations of Inner Mongolia's land and culture.

"Since my first visit to the Plateau in 1989, the idea of making nomadic culture known to morepeople has smoldered and grown into a fire," she says.

"By constantly walking and writing, I was finally able to find my homeland in my heart and in mypoems."

In the Name of Poetry is her seventh poetry anthology and includes about 50 pieces, mostlywritten after 2005. Three of them, each about 200 lines, retell Mongolian heroic narrativepoems, drawn from stories in the Mongolian epic Jangar.

Jangar is one of the world's three mega-epics, together with Kyrgyzstan's Manas and the Tibetautonomous region's Gesar. It deals with King Jangar's battle with the evil Mongolian warlordMangus, a threat to Mongolia.

"The Chinese translation of Jangar was the first book I obtained when I returned to theMongolian Plateau," she says. "Stories in Jangar and The Secret History of the Mongols havebeen a constant temptation to write about."

Hsi says her greatest regret is she can't speak Mongolian. Before 5, she talked with familymembers in Mongolian, but she gradually forgot how to speak the language as she movedaround. She started taking Mongolian lessons, on and off, several years ago and can now spellher name in Mongolian.

On her website, she writes regularly to a fictional Inner Mongolian boy, about her observationsof their national culture. She has finished 10 letters, and a collection will be published when there are 21.

Source:China Daily 11/11/2011 page19

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Philadelphia scientist is named 'Best Scientist in Nature and Environment' by Mongolian Government

A Philadelphia scientist who is leading a multinational effort to improve water quality monitoring and standards in Mongolia has received an award for his work from the central Asian nation.

Dr. Jon Gelhaus, an evolutionary biologist at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, recently received the "Best Scientist in Nature and Environment" medal for his "significant contribution in Mongolian Environmental Science." The award was issued by the Mongolian Ministry of Nature, Environment and Tourism through the Mongolian Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Gelhaus, who is a curator in the Academy's Entomology Department, has been conducting research in Mongolia for 15 years. He is the lead principal investigator for the Mongolian Aquatic Insect Survey, a multiyear project to document the diversity of insects that live in or near freshwater and to relate that diversity to patterns in evolution, ecology and water quality. The project is funded by the National Science Foundation. Currently, scientists are probing the waterways of the Altai Mountains and southern Hangai Mountains in western Mongolia. Previous surveys were conducted in the Lake Hovsgol Basin and the Selenge River Basin, both in northcentral Mongolia.

Gelhaus, in collaboration with researchers at universities in the U.S., Europe and Mongolia, is working to improve scientific facilities for identification and analysis of biological samples; enhance water quality monitoring standards, and train young Mongolian scientists and students to carry on the work of the initiative.

Source: Academy of Natural Sciences

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His Holiness The Dalai Lama Arrives In Mongolia For A Three-Day Tour

Ulan Batar, Mongolia: After successfully concluding nearly two week series of Buddhist teachings in Japan, the spiritual leader of Tibet, His Holiness the Dalai Lama arrived in the Mongolian capital on Monday (7th November) for a three-day lecture and teaching tour at a invitation of a Buddhist followers.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama was received at the airport by the chief abbot of the Gaden Theckchen Choeling monastery and other officials of the monastery. Mongolia is a majority Buddhist country with strong traditional ties to Tibet. Thousands of people have turned out to greet His Holiness the Dalai Lama on his every visit to Mongolia since 2006.

Gaden Theckchen Choeling monastery houses more than 1000 monks and it has many smaller branches all across Mongolia. More than 400 monks from the monastery is currently studying at the Drepung Gomang and Sera Jey monastery in South India.

The chief administrator of the Kalmyk Buddhist Association, Telo Rinpoche, stated that the main purpose of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's visit to Mongolia this time is to give a teaching on "In Praise of Dependent Origination"(Tendrel- Toepa) and "the three principles paths of liberation" (Lam-tso nam sum). He also stated that His Holiness will addressing a group of university students at Ulan Batar.

China on Tuesday expressed its routine disappointment at Mongolia for allowing His Holiness the Dalai Lama's visit. "We have always opposed any country providing a platform for the Dalai Lama to engage in activities to split China in any form," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a regular press briefing on Tuesday.

However, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate's planned talk on Tuesday at the Mongolian capital's Buyant-Ukhaa sports complex. Ven. Choijamtsa, the head monk at Mongolia's Gandan-Tegchilen monastery, which is organising the visit, told Reuters that organisers remained determined to go ahead with the planned lectures. "This is Mongolian territory and Mongolian property and we are going to do it even if others oppose it," he said.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama had recently made his views toward China clear as well. His Holiness criticized China's "ruthless policy" for the recent crisis in eastern regions of Tibet, where at least 11 Tibetans, including two Buddhist nuns set themselves on fire in protest of Chinese repression.

Later Tuesday, the Buddhist followers touched the chair on which he sat to deliver his speech, which focused on education of the new generations of Mongolia. His Holiness spoke in Tibetan as the faithful thousands listened quietly to the Mongolian translation. At one point, His Holiness raised his hand and hundreds of others shot up to wave in response.

"I am really happy that I came here because if I can see him, everything will be good. Because he is the compassion Buddha, my wishes will come true. I came to see him last time that he came in 2006," said one elderly woman straining to catch a glimpse. "I am so happy he has come. People have come to receive blessings from His Holiness. They have come even from the countryside. This is a great occasion for us," said another onlooker. "Because we are Buddhists, we believe that when we see His Holiness the Dalai Lama, we have seen a living Buddha. That brings peace and joy in our minds," said Munkhochir, 21, a monk at a monastery in Ulaanbaatar.

Last Updated ( Thursday, 10 November 2011 11:59 )
Source:http://www.thetibetpost.com

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Exiled Tibetan Sources: Dalai Lama to meet with Mongolian President

Dalai Lama arrives in Mongolia

Phayul[Tuesday, November 08, 2011 21:37] By Tendar Tsering DHARAMSHALA, November 8: The Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama arrived in Mongolian capital Ulan Bator Monday on a three day visit, that has been kept confidential by the organisers until the last minute to avoid angering China. The Dalai Lama is expected to hold several public lectures and meet with Buddhist leaders of Mongolia. During the Tibetan leader’s last trip to Mongolia in 2002, China cut off all train links to the country for two days in an apparent retaliation for inviting the Dalai Lama, reviled by Beijing as “a splittist”. "This morning, an Air China flight bound for the Mongolian capital was delayed. Officials in Beijing said weather conditions were poor, despite sunshine in Ulan Bator," reported the BBC news service on Tuesday. The Mongolian government has said that the visit is neither political nor official but a religious visit on the invitation of the Dalai Lama’s devotees in Mongolia. However, according to government sources, the president of Mongolia is likely to meet the Tibetan spiritual leader. Historically, Tibetans and Mongolians share a long history of priest – patron relationship. In 1578 the Mongol ruler Altan Khan bestowed the title Dalai Lama meaning ‘Ocean of Wisdom’ on Sonam Gyatso, the third in the lineage of the Dalai Lamas.  Source:http://www.phayul.com

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Mongolia: where motherhood merits a medal

Analysis: Mongolia may be modernizing but it's still fighting to keep its numbers up.

Rahul Jayaram

NEW YORK — In Mongolia, people are so scarce that the government has been paying them to procreate.

In a manner of speaking, that is.

Mongolia is one of the largest and most sparsely populated countries on the planet. It's almost as large as Alaska, and yet only has 3 million people (the population of Chicago).

On top of the fact that there aren't tons of people, the people that are there don't have as many kids as they used to.

Insufficient fertility rates have, for some time, prompted the state to offer serious incentives for having children.

Women who have six or more children, for instance, receive a medal called the "First Order of Glorious Motherhood," along with 200,000 tugriks (about $154), which corresponds to the monthly wage of an industrial worker in the large, landlocked country.

Four children bring mothers the honor of "Second Order of Glorious Motherhood," and 100,000 tugriks ($77). In some cases the payment is annual, otherwise it is given each quarter of the year.

Since these incentives started in the 1950s, more than 129,000 Mongolian mothers have won such awards — though the policy has been start-and-stop since it began.

So, the question is, does it work?

Between 1970 and 1975, the average Mongolian's childbearing rate was estimated to be 7.33 per woman. That rate fell to 4.6 by 1989, the year the Berlin Wall came down.

And then Mongolia’s fertility rate took a sharp turn for the worse in 1991. That's when the Soviet Union collapsed. When that happened, — down the drain went its contribution of nearly one-third of Mongolia's GDP.

More: Russia's shrinking population mars Putin's superpower ambitions

Mongolia began its rocky journey from Soviet socialism toward democracy and a free-market economy.

“After 70 years of socialist development, Mongolians found their life-world turned upside down in 1991,” said Thomas Spoorenberg, a demographer with the United Nations who specializes in Mongolia.

“When such large-scale changes take place and life is uncertain, people are wary of having many children. Mongolia followed that pattern.”

The numbers speak for themselves. By the time 2005 rolled around, Mongolaia's fertility rate crashed to an all-time Mongolian low of 1.95 in 2005, while the world average hovered around 2.3.

But since then — largely thanks to the government upping its incentives in 2006 — the rate has started to rise. Mongolia's National statistics office reported an overall fertility rate of 2.69 children per woman in 2009. (World average for the period 2005 to 2010 is 2.5.)

Mongolia's always been a bit population-obsessed.

Like many former socialist countries, especially ones where labor is scarce and winters severe, population was a constant focal point. During the years when Mongolia got assistance from the USSR, the country spared no efforts to bolster population growth.

More: Rwanda tackles population growth

During a period of Sino-Soviet friction in the 1960s, resident Chinese workers were expelled from Mongolia, which caused a labor crisis. Among their crimes, as per Mongolian law, was the possession and distribution of condoms and contraceptives. Preventing procreation was a criminal offense.

Over the years Mongolia's population policy became the mirror image of neighboring China, with its "one-child" rule. In fact, Mongolia told its citizens that “childbearing was the patriotic duty of every Mongolian woman.”

So much so that the legitimacy of the offspring was immaterial. By the late '80s, nearly 20 percent of Mongolia’s children were born out of wedlock. A Mongolian newspaper reported in March 1989 that 45,000 of the 870,000 children aged 15 and younger were born out of wedlock.

Working Mongolian women were given a maternity leave of 101 days, and Mongolian labor laws forbade dismissal of pregnant women and of those with children younger than one year. Parents got family allowances in cash from the government. Mothers could be granted all-expenses-paid, two-week holidays at the hot springs spa of their choice.

More: World population reaches 7 billion

Mothers had it pretty good in Mongolia. On the other hand, if you were young and married but had no kids, you had to pay a special tax.

Then came birth control.

Spoorenberg, the UN demographer, says that legalizing certain birth-control methods, such as intrauterine devices, or IUDs, in 1976 changed things for Mongolia.

By 1985, abortion became legal for women over 35 or women with five or more children, widows and those who had husbands with disabilities. By 1989, all restrictions on abortion and contraceptives had been removed.

Dr. Oyun Lkhagvasuren, director of health promotion at the department of health in the capital, Ulan Bator, says that Mongolia has made a “moral and economic” investment in women since 1991. “Mongolia is a society where women traditionally are accorded a lot of importance. This clearly reflects in government policy,” she said.

And in modern Mongolia, more empowered females mean more educated females. Most men still do the traditional farming and herding tasks in the countryside, while women are now encouraged to complete degrees and pursue careers in the city.

In 2005, for every 100 men, there were 162 women pursuing higher studies in Mongolia, according to a UN study — the largest such discrepancy among countries in Asia.

The rise in female education, according to experts, has correlated to Mongolian women choosing to have fewer children than before — despite institutional rewards.

While Mongolians may have “postponed fertility” in the years of upheaval during the 1990s, they are now delaying marriage and delaying having children. And if they have the first child, they are taking more time to have the second.

So, if not cash rewards, what will make people have more children?

Perhaps there's a lesson in astrology.  The last Year of the Golden Pig, according to the Asian lunar calendar, was 2007. It was considered an auspicious time to have children.

And, indeed, the figures do show a blip on the country's childbearing radar.

Source:http://www.globalpost.com

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Dalai Lama makes low-key visit to Mongolia

ULAN BATOR, Mongolia (AP) — The Dalai Lama began a series of lectures to Buddhists in Mongolia on Tuesday in a low-key visit which nonetheless drew a protest from neighboring China.

The Tibetan spiritual leader spoke at a Chinese-built sports stadium on the outskirts of Ulan Bator that underscored the economic sway that Beijing exercises over landlocked and largely poor Mongolia.

In an attempt to allay Chinese concerns about the Buddhist leader, senior Mongolian lamas repeatedly said the visit was purely religious.

In Beijing, however, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said China had made "a solemn representation" to Mongolia and was opposed to any country giving a platform to the Dalai Lama. China accuses the Dalai Lama of wanting to split Tibet from China, a charge the Nobel Peace Prize laureate denies.

Mongolia's people traditionally follow the Tibetan school of Buddhism, and the Dalai Lama has visited at least a half dozen times.

"This is a purely religious visit made at the request of Mongolian Buddhist lay-believers and monks," said Choijamts Demberel, head of the Mongolian Buddhist center and head abbot of Ganden Thekchen Choeling monastery.

The Dalai Lama's visit comes at time of renewed unrest in Tibetan areas of China, where at least 11 people have set themselves on fire since March to protest Chinese rule. At least five have died.

The Dalai Lama has said that China's "ruthless policy" was behind the self-immolations. China accuses the Dalai Lama and his supporters of stirring up trouble in ethnic Tibetan areas and encouraging followers to set themselves on fire.

Many Tibetans consider the Dalai Lama to be their rightful leader. He fled from Tibet to India in 1959 during an unsuccessful anti-Beijing uprising and is reviled by China's Communist government.

When the Dalai Lama visited Mongolia in 2002, China held up trains at the border. There were no reports of that on Tuesday.

China is Mongolia's biggest trading partner. The two signed a strategic partnership deal in June during a visit by Premier Wen Jiabao.

___

Associated Press writer Christopher Bodeen in Beijing contributed to this report.

Source:AP news wire

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Mongolian wife a voice for multicultural families in South Korea

First Mongolian native employed by central government ministry


Jeong Su-rim is an exceptional housewife, mother and public servant who still finds time to pursue further education. 

The 36-year-old mother cares for her two sons, who are nine and 11-years-old, while working a nine-to-six job at the Ministry of Gender Equality & Family, in the Multicultural Family Division.

At night Jeong also attends graduate school courses at Seoul Women’s University to get her master’s in social welfare.

Jeong might sound like an ambitious Korean woman but “Jeong Su-rim” is the Korean name she took after moving here more than 11 years ago from Mongolia. Her Mongolian name is Jadamba Lkhagvasuren and she is the first migrant wife to be hired by any central government branch.

Hired by the ministry in April, this year, Lkhagvasuren liaises between multicultural families and the 200 centers throughout the nation.

Lkhagvasuren is rarely in the office because she is visiting centers all over the country from metropolitan cities to country back roads. 

“Two to three times a week I go to different centers and meet migrant wives, collect their opinions and listen to things that the ministry or center might need to develop,” Lkhagvasuren told The Korea Herald.

And she has an upper hand in the field when compared to her Korean counterparts.

“I think they are absolutely more open with me because I am a migrant wife myself,” she said in fluent Korean.

But juggling between consuming work and her family, it is a wonder that the university graduate finds time to squeeze in night classes at SWU three times a week, till 10.

“It is really hard, but I have the habit of studying and it is a great cultural experience for me as well, as I meet North Korean defectors, senior citizens and other people I would not have normally met.”

The Mongolian native from Ulaanbaatar was able to get her position because she is always one to further herself through challenges.

After a multicultural resource center opened near where she lived in Namyangju city, Gyeonggi Province, in 2007, she decided to take Korean classes.

Already more fluent than most immigrant spouses, through self-education, she studied at the center until 2009 when a translation service started at the center and offered her a position.

Then when the announcement came from the Ministry of Gender Equality & Family of a job opening directed towards migrant wives, Lkhagvasuren tossed in an application without expectation.

A university graduate in Economic Management at Khan Uul Institute, Lkhagvasuren had worked as an accountant for a year before coming to Korea in 2000, where she met her husband.

But things were not always smooth sailing.

Alongside the typical slew of racism that foreigners and more specifically Southeast Asians experience in the largely homogeneous country, most of her difficulties stemmed from adjustment issues.

Those same issues were made even more challenging as even the term “multicultural,” often used by the government, did not exist in 2000, let alone resources.

“I had a hard time with my children because I was unable to educate them at home, so I had to take them to preschools and ask the teachers to show extra care towards my sons,” said Lkhagvasuren.

The mother also said that because resources for immigrants were non-existent, she felt akin to migrant blue-collar workers, who shared most of the same experiences of not knowing the language in another country.

“There were so many little differences that I felt like I spent a lot of time just trying to acclimatize to things,” she said.

But Lkhagvasuren has perservered despite the lack of resources and hopes to ease the adjustment issues that newly incoming migrant wives have.

“There are a lot of good programs that the government provides and migrant wives need to really utilize them, rather than going just once or twice,” said Lkhagvasuren.

“This is all free and I hope that they aggressively take advantage of those things and also take Korean classes,” she said, adding that it was because of those same programs that she was able to thrive in Korea.

By Robert Lee (robert@heraldm.com)

Jadamba Lkhagvasuren poses for a photo Friday at the Ministry of Gender Equality & Family, where she was the first migrant wife to be hired by the central government. (Kim Myung-sub/The Korea Herald)

Source:http://www.koreaherald.com

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Centerra eyes 1Moz/y gold output by 2012

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Centerra Gold, which operates the biggest gold mine in Central Asia, plans to boost production by 50% by around 2014 to just under one-million ounces yearly, CEO Steve Lang said in an interview on Friday.

The TSX-listed company forecast output of between 640 000 to 660 000 oz this year from its Boroo operation in Mongolia and the Kumtor mine in the Kyrgyz Republic.

At Boroo, the company is producing at around 50 000 oz/y using stockpiled ore, but Centerra wants to increase the mill’s output to between 150 000 oz/y and 200 000 oz/y by feeding it with ore from the Gatsuurt deposit 35 km away.

Permitting has delayed this, though Lang remains confident Centerra will ultimately win approval from the Mongolian government.

The problems began in 2009 when the government introduced a new law that blocked any mining development in forested areas or at headwaters, and Gatsuurt falls in this catagory. The legislation said that miners that lost previously held licences would get compensated.

Then, about a year ago the government completed a study of how many permits were affected by the law and what levels of compensation the government would have to dish out.

The numbers it came up with were more than $5-billion required to compensate the holders of around 1 700 licences that would be revoked.

The Mongolian parliament decided it would implement the law despite the scale of compensation, but would do so in stages.

The first victims were around 500 alluvial miners, mainly local companies.

The compensation they were to receive still totalled a hefty $500-million, which Lang said the state would have struggled to pay, so the companies that got their licences revoked decided to collectively sue the government.

As a result of this, Prime Minister Sukhbaatar Batbold decided to suspend the enforcement of the law, and the group of miners dropped their court case.

He formed a parliamentary committee that came up with amendments to the legislation to make it more practical. Lang said the result would have allowed Gatsuurt to progress.

Parliament soon after broke off for the summer recess, before the amendments had gone to vote.

Upon its return, a group of 20 parliamentarians opened up a hornets’ nest in demanding that Batbold renegotiate an investment agreement with the owners of the country’s biggest mining project, the giant Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine.

Canada’s Ivanhoe Mines refused to budge on the agreement, which took more than six years to draw up, as did its biggest shareholder, Rio Tinto, with the government ultimately backing down.

How the affair impacted Centerra, was that it distracted Parliament’s from the amendments to the environmental legislation, which Lang said fell somewhat on its priority list.

Where does this leave the Toronto-based firm?

“Although it’s frustrating not to see progress being made, it’s best at this point that we step back from it,” Lang said of what he perceived to be “an internal Mongolian matter”.

The country is set for general elections in June next year, which could further delay Gatsuurt’s approval if it does arrive before the ballot.

Centerra’s other growth will come from its flagship Kumtor mine, where it is adding underground production to the existing pit, starting from 2013, said Lang.

“It will probably take two years to get up to the regular run rate there,” he added.

That project, combined with Gatsuurt, would lift Centerra’s output by about 50% to just under one-million ounces annually “in the next three years or so”, said Lang.

Source:http://www.miningweekly.com

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Czechs say more wild horses headed to Mongolia

PRAGUE (AP) — The Prague Zoo says it will transport more rare wild horses to Mongolia next year as part of its efforts to reintroduce the endangered species to its native habitat.

The zoo moved four of its Przewalski horses to the western Mongolian reserve of Khomiin Tal in June.

Zoo spokeswoman Jana Ptacinska Jiratova says the transport has been successful and the horses are doing well in their new environment. She said Thursday the zoo will continue with the effort and at least four more will be flown to Mongolia in June.

The Przewalski horse is native to the steppes of Central Asia and became extinct in the wild in the late 1960s.

It is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and considered wild because it has never been successfully domesticated,

Source:AP

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