Tibetans in Australia, NZ and South East Asia

T he Member for Australiasia & Asia (excluding Bhutan, Nepal & India) to the 17 th Tibetan Parliament in Exile, Tenzin Doring finally returns home in Brisbane on Wednesday night last week following more than a month in India that included oath-taking ceremony followed by parliamentary session.  He was received at airport by his wife, son, Tsultrim and Dawoe.  Doring left for India on 28 th September from Brisbane airport and reached Dharamsala, India on 30 th October after transiting through Doha, Qatar which took 27 hours of flight.  He travelled to India for parliamentary business despite being advised and rejected three times for exemption to travel to India owing to ongoing Covid restrictions on the outbound movement. However, after finally securing exemption he left for India for what was known to be the most important session in the history of Tibetan parliament in exile. His return to Australia remained unknown at the time of leaving due to no return flights to Austr

Tibetans in Australia are deeply hurt by the discovery of a food menu titled “Dalai Lama” in the Ballarat city's  restaurant specializing  in Burger. The title “Dalai Lama” is a centuries old and is highly spiritual, cultural, and religiously sensitive to the Tibetans and followers of His Holiness. To see and discover the title being used on the menu is not only considered selfish, but also insulting according to the Tenzin Doring.  The food menu is said to be owned and operated by some restaurant named Griffin Burger located 20 Armstrong Street North, Ballarat Central, Victoria as per their website.   The member to the parliament of Central Tibetan Administration representing Tibetan-Australians in Australiasia is furious and shocked. He immediately emailed to the owner on the issue and awaits reply. In the email, Doring wrote “For the millions of Buddhists and Tibetans, the ‘Dalai Lama’ is referred with His Holiness' that deserves more than a food-name in your menu. We

When the 44 elected members gathered for the secret meeting on 4th October, the only member conspicuous of absence was member for Australiasia, Tenzin Doring, who was in flight en-route to India. Doring was exempted under exceptional circumstances at the eleventh hour by Australian government as the most important meeting and oath ceremony awaited his presence at Dharamsala. Radio Free Asia quoted Doring’s absence for the two-day meet and even questioned on the futility of his branding the certain arrival as post-verdict, while not quoting the sacrifice he made in attending the session under exceptionally difficult and unavoidable circumstances of quarantine requirement and return uncertainty.   Notwithstanding, the 36-year-old managed to take oath on the 8th October from the Pro Tem speaker along with other 43 elected members to the 17th Tibetan Parliament in Exile. Some marked his arrival as bearer of good news as the oath taking ceremony soon followed, whose absence in the June me

Tibetans all over the world, (except inside Tibet where China’s strict and pre-emptive lockdown still looms large), have come out on the streets to commemorate the 62 nd anniversary of Tibetan National Uprising Day. Tibetans cutting in four continents covering more than 25 countries are seen to have made protest march in their own cities, North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. In Australasia and East Asia, Tibetans gathered in huge turn out in Taiwan, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. In Australia, Tibetans and supporters took to street with march in Sydney (New South Wales), Melbourne (Victoria), Perth (Western Australia), Brisbane (Queensland) and other cities.   In the city of Brisbane powerful youth speakers delivered influential and emotional speeches. Greens leader and Councillor for Gabba (Brisbane) Jonathan Sri not only promised his continued support for Tibet cause, but even furthered to urge other political leaders to come out and speak on Tibet issue. Youth icon Drew

The Election Commission that is composed of three election commissioners will be declaring the primary election results for the presidential and parliamentary post which was completed earlier this year. Though the finalist for the final run-off for the presidential post have virtually been confirmed between Penpa Tsering and Kaydor Aukatsang, two of the former North America Representatives, both of whom didn’t serve full term of representative office due to varied reasons. The big two even manage to defeat seasoned politicians such as former ministers who were in the tight race. Despite that, the Tibetans in exile are curiously waiting to learn who are the finalist for the parliament seat that had electorates in four different continents cutting across more than dozen countries. The single seat electorate of Australiasia and East Asia alone compose at least five countries including Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Taiwan, Russia (Inner Mongolia). The 45-seat exile Parliament will have

  A week ago, Tibetan diasporas in exile concluded primary election for the top political leadership, the headquarter of which is based in Dharamsala, f our kilometres away from the residence of His Holiness the 14 th  Dalai Lama known in Tibetan veneration as “Shukgyar”. The primary election had seven aspirants for the Sikyong or Presidency nomination and nearly two hundred aspirants seeking nomination for the parliament seats of 45 that is structured on multiple electoral basis covering Asia, North America, Europe and Australiasia.  The electorate of Australiasia and South East Asia has one seat for the Tibetan Parliament as per the Tibetan Charter. The first election was held in 2015-2016 where the electorate of just over 1000 voters sent Dhongdue Kyizom as the first ever parliamentarian from the region. In this election, the electorate of just one seat for the 45 parliament seats had five aspirants running for the nomination. The partial electoral outcome from Australia-New Zealand

Tibetans in exile scattered in around more than 25 countries will go for election end of this year for President and Parliament. While in the primary people would nominate candidate for both, they will end up voting in the final round should no president wins more than 60% of the vote. However, Parliament election will go on as usual. So far three aspirants have officially and publicly declared their candidacy to run in the primary election for Chithue (Parliament) to the electorate of Australasia and Asia (excluding India, Nepal and Bhutan) in the upcoming election for 17 th Tibetan Parliament in Exile. Though other aspirants are likely to appear in public, some are making rounds of campaigns behind scenes. The three aspirants who have publicly declared their candidacy include DoringTenzin Phuntsok from Queensland, Tenzin Lobsang Khangsar and Thupten Dhondup both from Victoria. Interestingly, two of the candidates are alumina of Madras Christian College in Chennai. All the thre