Letter to Kawekalu Editor

click here to read in Karen - http://kwekalu.net/opinio/kapi.html

Dear Kwekalu Editors,

Since you and Violet Cho recently wrote an article about Karen Gay issue in general and its implications to the Klo & Kweh Music Team in particular on Kwekalu Web Site, I would like to let you know my thoughts.

Personally, and this is strictly personally, I do not have any problem with someone's sexual orientation unless his or her individual right infringes upon mine.

However, I reserve the right to choose who I will associate or dissociate myself with in accordance with my value, belief and/or character. I will respect the reverse as well - that is, I have no problem if someone does not want to associate himself or herself with me because of his or her value, belief and/or character.

Just as I will not compel upon others my belief, value and/or characters, I will not allow others to compel upon me to embrace his or her value, belief and/or character.

Hopefully this clarifies some confusion.

As one of the founders of Klo & Kweh Foundation, I have to let you know that Klo & Kweh has its very specific objectives and is not funded by any tax-payer's money, so it reserves - as it has - the right to choose who it wants to associate or dissociate with based not only on its core objectives but on the values, belief and characteristics it subscribes to.

That said, during the last Klo & Kweh trip, we did not invite any previous Klo & Kweh singers who had left Rangoon and are currently living in Thailand. For example, Naw Eh Wah, Saw Eh Ler Tha, and Naw Merday Say were not invited to participate in this trip either simply because the trip was designed to bring those Klo & Kweh members out of the country and have much needed fellowship with their fellow Karens and fans in Thailand.

No other Klo & Kweh member made any complaint about not being invited to this trip, but the one who complained happen to be a homosexual Karen man, and yet we cannot treat him differently than we treat others.

We have many important tasks ahead, and there are many human rights abuses that are taking place on daily basis inside Burma and I have not heard a single Karen homosexual man stands up and fights against those human rights abuses.

Klo & Kweh has done great things in relief works after Cyclone Nargis, and to date, we have managed to provide scholarships to more than 800 young Karen high school students in Burma. People don't write or complain anything about it. My only point is that we are very busy doing many other important things that impact thousands of Karen people's lives. Like we have stated before, the Klo & Kweh has to operate in a very sensitive and restricted social and political environment inside the country. We simply did not have enough resources or time to respond to any undue attention repeatedly “demanded” by a Karen homosexual man.

Allow me to repeat this: we have no problem whatsoever with anyone’s sexual orientation; all we want is our right to do our own things to accomplish our stated objectives in accordance with our own principles and values.

Thank you.

Saw Kapi
Founding Member
The Klo & Kweh Foundation

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The Klo & Kweh Foundation

Announcement: Klo & Kweh Music Team

Founded in 2001 under the auspicious of the Klo & Kweh Foundation, the Klo & Kweh Music Team is one of the best known musical groups in the country, especially among the seven millions Karen people living in Burma and the world over. Its main objective is to preserve Karen culture and literature and promote intercultural exchange through music. It is closely affiliated with the Karen Baptist Convention and primarily founded on Baptist Christian root and yet it aims to serve audience of all kinds without any religious bias or discrimination.

The Klo & Kweh Music Team remains dedicated to its original mission – to preserve and promote Karen culture and literature through music. We believe in human dignity, individual liberty and personal right to pursuit of happiness. We will not officially condone or condemn any individual’s moral character and/or behavior. Nor will we let ourselves be distracted or our collective mission disrupted by any individual’s self-interest.

The Klo & Kweh Music Team has very limited resources and has to operate in a very restricted environment. Therefore, it will only respond, in the order of their importance, to issues that bear reasonable relevance to its core mission. The Klo & Kweh Foundation has no plan or desire to respond to every criticism leveled against it.

The Klo & Kweh Foundation Read more...