"Third Letter to My Friend Norzin Wangmo" by Jamyang Kyi

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated Jamyang Kyi's third letter to her friend Norzin Wangmo (Nor ‘dzin dbang mo). The letter was orginally written in Tibetan and posted on Jamyang Kyi's blog on 6th June 2009.

Regular readers of High Peaks Pure Earth will be familiar with the friendship between Jamyang Kyi and Norzin Wangmo. The emotionally written first two letters from last year were translated and published here on 5th January 2009. Norzin Wangmo is currently serving a five year prison sentence for sending emails and making phone calls abroad last year. Jamyang Kyi herself was arrested and detained for some time in 2008 and wrote a blogpost full of emotional anguish about her experience, the tones of this experience can also be detected in her letters.

Jamyang Kyi mentions Phuntsog Wangyal, one of the most important figures in modern Tibetan history who, as she points out, spent eighteen years in prison starting in 1958. Phuntsog Wangyal's autobiography 'A Tibetan Revolutionary' was originally released in English in 2004 and was translated into Tibetan and published by The Tibet Times in Dharamsala in 2006.

"Third Letter to My Friend Norzin Wangmo" by Jamyang Kyi

Today I am trying to finish the third letter. I know that you are waiting for the letter which should be written in Chinese since all letters must be checked by the jailors. When I realised that the letter will not be passed on to you by the jailors, I started to think of composing a letter which would reach you eventually and it took me some time to prepare this letter. This is the reason why this letter is late. When I wrote my first letter to you, I really did not know how to begin the letter and wondered how you would understand the letter.

It was a year after your arrest around 3rd April that I wrote my first letter which contained over a hundred words. The letter was filled with my sadness, the reason is that I could not write all the things I wanted to say and discuss with you, whilst writing the letter I was in tears and could only write some words of encouragement in the letter.

A month after sending the letter, I still had not heard any news from you, so I started to think that you may not have received my letter. Then I called your sister to try to find out about your situation. After some days I heard that you had received my letter and we also learned that you are so busy all the time with heavy physical work and you would be punished if you did not finish your work in time. I heard they deprived you of your right to make a phone call to your son Dhondup Dorje once a month. I also heard that in order to regain the right to call your son, now you have been working double time and this has caused you to lose weight.

The day we learned that you had received our letters, it was delightful news and immediately I wrote the second letter. I went to Karma Mindru Tibetan Restaurant to look for my niece and tell her to post the letter in the morning. She told me that she had finished her letter to you. My niece met you only once and you two do not know each other well. She knows you because I talk about you. She promised to write to you every month. I am so happy to see her doing this.

When I wrote my second letter, I was not as sad as the previous time, yet I was not sure what I should write. It is difficult for me to write something which is artificial in the letter. I know you would not be satisfied if I wrote only a few sentences. At the time I was reading ‘A Tibetan Revolutionary’, a book about Phuntshog Wangyal and wrote to you about the book. The reason why I mentioned the book to you is that Phuntshog Wangyal spent eighteen years in jail and whilst in prison he read many books, as a result he eventually became a famous scholar. You should learn from his courage and perseverance that will bring great benefits for your life in the future.

The punishment given to you by the jailor is an attempt to intimidate you. You should not fall into a deceiving trap and I hope that you will devote yourself to reading books the little time you have. If I were to write a more direct letter, I fear that the jailor would not give you the letter.

It is raining today and the weather brings sadness. I remember one time at the end of the autumn, while all the leaves turned a yellowish colour, you with your son, and three members of my family went hiking, when we reached the forest, a (fire) guard prevented us from going further. The children started to play with stones and built the shape of a house. We three adults played a traditional stone game from Ngapa Khyungchu. Do you remember? I remember telling you that I will write down the rules of the game, recently I have started the project along with a collection of folk music of the Ngapa Kyungchu.

How come we Tibetans are so unfortunate? All the people who love our nation have been wasted one after another. At the beginning of March this year, Sanggya Dundrup passed away. I thought of writing something about him, but I was unable to as it was so painful. When he was alive, Sanggya Dundrup voluntarily taught Tibetan language to a group of children in Xining and he loved his students. He was teaching on the day he passed away, and this demonstrates his affection for his nation and this is also the legacy he left for us to carry forward. His death is a great loss to his family and to all of Tibet.

Palsa la (dPal bzang lags), the place where we played the stone game is exactly located on the hillside which stands behind our office building. From the window of the restroom on the top of the building you can see the mountain range, and every time I recall our meeting my heart pains like a weight of stone pressing on it. The pain in my heart lingers on as this year there are so many sad incidents. In the meantime, I have not found an answer why I always think of you with such deep sorrow. Therefore, it is impossible for me to find a moment of clear mind resembling the pure sky. Since last year I have been taking sleeping pills to calm down my mind and heart. When people ask me to sing a song, I reply to them that I have no reason to sing songs this year.

I wrote in my last letter that four years is not a long time to console and give strength to you, nonetheless, I am counting the years on my fingers. Dear friend, it has been a year and two months since your arrest. There is not a single day that passes by without my missing you.

"Answers to Three Questions" by Jamyang Kyi

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost from Jamyang Kyi that was posted on her blog on 20th May 2009. The post is in reply to questions to Jamyang Kyi that were posed by a student.

There is much discussion in the Tibetan blogosphere about the increasing number of Tibetan women engaged in the sex trade and also larger discussions about gender equality. The debate is conducted largely amongst college students. Jamyang Kyi expresses concern over the situation in the rural community, where male dominance persists. She also raises the issue of rape in Tibetan society where the men are never punished for their crimes.

The post reflects Jamyang Kyi's personal sentiments and advocacy for women’s rights, which she considers as her life’s purpose. As mentioned in our earlier post about Jamyang Kyi, she is the only Tibetan woman either inside Tibet or amongst the diaspora who write advocating the gender issue within Tibetan society.

Earlier blogposts by Jamyang Kyi that have also been translated by High Peaks Pure Earth include the moving letters to her imprisoned friend Norzin Wangmo, a letter to her friend Chakmo-la and a letter to her missing friend Go Sherab Gyatso la.

"Answers to Three Questions" by Jamyang Kyi

Question: What do you think of the increasing number of Tibetan prostitutes in the cities?

Nowadays, there are men writing with a hostile attitude on the net and in journals describing women in general in hurtful words such as “prostitute” (smad ‘tshong ma), harlot (‘phyon ma) and floozy (g.yon ma). Even intellectuals like Sangyal Dondrub, who usually speak out for the rights and equality of woman, are fond of using these words. These words have left a wound in me and my sisters. Today when I am suddenly posed with such a question I feel so sad.

It is a universally accepted fact that if there is a market then products will be sold, whereas without markets, products cannot be sold. It is a pity that all of the men who write [about women] neglect this principle, which actually most of them should be aware of. Furthermore, it is laughable that they still do not realize that everyone who purchases the products is no different from the seller. Who is to say who is better, the seller or the buyer?

The French writer Simone de Beauvoir studied the causes and conditions of prostitution systematically. She pointed out that the causes behind becoming a sex trader are multiple, many of the young women become involved in the sex business because they have broken up with their lovers or when poor women who moved from the countryside to the city and work as a servants are raped by their employers and lose their virginity. It is not without reason why a woman would consider her virginity something extremely precious to her so that it should be protected as her soul. The custom of considering virginity as something sacred can be traced back to when society treated woman as the private property of men. And men are concerned with not mistaking their scion. Therefore, any woman at the time of marriage must be a virgin. This how the tradition of considering virginity as important originated.

According to information provided by my friend Dzamkar who comes from southern Amdo, the cult of virginity has not disappeared in her hometown. Yet, those young girls are raped, in fact someone she knows was recently raped. We have to acknowledge that such criminal activity is committed by men and the ones praising such behavior also are men.

We know that in ancient China, the source of prostitutes were women who were prisoners or mistresses of the criminal men. But where are those Tibetan prostitutes from? We do not know much about their background, the reason and their willingness to engage in such a dangerous business. There must be certain reasons for Tibetan women becoming prostitutes. No matter what reason they have, people look down upon them without hesitation and there is no room for their voices to be heard and taken into consideration.

In Tibet, most of the prostitutes are from the countryside and have not received any education, they are not aware of any epidemic diseases. They do not have knowledge of prevention and protection. Many men from rural areas also bring diseases from the city and carry them to rural areas when they return to their home villages. In her talk on women’s health care and clinics, Doctor Sonam Tso mentioned that there is a young girl from the Kokonor region who has caught syphilis. Every time her wound was bound she cried and did not want to cooperate with the treatment at the hospital. A ridiculous thing was that she caught the disease from her husband who got the disease when he visited a brothel near Xining bus station. When I asked her if the female patient complained about her husband, Doctor Sonam Tso told me that the woman came from the countryside and did not know how to complain about her husband. She could not do anything but just had to accept the reality and the fate of being a woman.

The fact is that some men are bringing suffering and even grave threats to the lives of their wives and children. This is becoming a serious problem in the poor nomadic areas where there is an obvious lack of medical care and treatment. Those men full of libido and without value for money have so much desire to meet women who want to escape hard work but love money. When they meet such a woman they throw away all their money.

We have to think of what we can do about issues like this and what we can do to save the lives of women and children from danger. One of the serious problems is of AIDS spreading worldwide and this disease transfers from one to another through sexual intercourse, blood transfusions and so on. There is no cure yet for this kind of disease.

90% of Tibetans are illiterate and we should be aware that these diseases might eliminate the whole Tibetan nation if we neglect this ongoing problem. We should educate people and make people aware of disease through media such as newspapers, radio and television. The social problem of prostitution is not something that is easy to bring to the surface but this is the reality we have to confront and cannot avoid. Here I want to appeal to all women who cannot turn away from this matter that in order to protect yourself you must please use a condom. This is a desperate appeal from me and I do not know what more I can say than this.

Question: Compared to foreign women, do you think that Tibetan women are too dependent on men?

When I hear men saying that women are dependent creatures, I suddenly imagine it means that women do not have to walk through heavy snow, they stay home with nice clothes and good food, and women do not have to do anything but relax and enjoy themselves. The reality, however, is that all men and women work equally both in the fields and on the nomadic grasslands. In particular, most of the work in the field and in the house is done by women. Due to the ideological tradition of our society, women are usually labeled as dependent on the “trinity” of the father, the husband and son respectively. In my opinion, the only things women do less are the jobs which need strong physical strength. Therefore, the title of dependent creatures is not a suitable description for women and it should be removed from their heads.

In Tibetan households in the urban areas, women work in public office as men do and they have to spend more time taking care of the family such as raising children and maintaining the daily life of the family. This means that the main responsibility is on the shoulder of the women. Therefore, the description dependent creature is not an accurate description of women but it may be more apt to describe men.

Question: Now it has become common amongst university students to say that to attract girls is just a matter of playing with words; in other words, the art of flattery wins the heart of the girl. Do you have any comment on this?

I think there are many reasons which are taken into consideration when a woman chooses a man as her friend. Yes, the skill of language may be one of the reasons. But, it is not as easy as just obtaining a skill of language - there are some other preconditions that should be fulfilled before proclaiming a woman as his lover.

It is natural for men to talk about women. In our villages, men have been talking about women ever since I can remember and at university male friends talked about women all the time. Similarly there are men in our office who chat about women. In a word, this is a topic, which can last a lifetime and never come to an end. Love is not only their precious treasure of the heart but also a thorn of the mind. When I compare the time of the past with that of the present, I find that the way of dealing with love and the attitude towards love has changed dramatically. People in the past were a bit more sincere and purer towards love, more than the people of today. They elevated love before selfish interest. Of course, I am not saying that people of today are only concerned with selfish interests, but it seems to be like this.

As the saying goes, man is a creature of worldly desire and woman is a creature of love. I am a follower of love and I have experienced both the sweetness and bitterness of love. There is evidence that love and regards between the male and female have declined.

My experience and little knowledge I have learned have given me new strength and energy. Since my brain has given me the ability to think, I have totally discarded the old habit of thinking that we need male authority. This is an important wish.

Thank you very much and I hope you will continue to pay attention to this issue of women in Tibet in order make more people aware of the condition of women and promote change.