Letters
to PM Tony Blair (by Sunflower Chong)
Reply from PM Tony Blair's office
_________________________________
ATT: Prime Minister Tony Blair
1-10-2002
Dear Prime Minister Blair,
On behalf of the world communities, I beg of you to
help us stop the "War on Iraq". Only the innocence
will suffer and not Saddam Hussien. Please convince
President George Bush to lift the sanction in Iraq in
order for the ordinary people to have a decent life.
I have written to President George Bush and share with
him my feeling about the "War on Iraq".
Thank you very much for your understanding and
support.
Yours truly,
Sunflower Chong
_________________________________
8-10-2002
Dear Prime Minister Blair,
Please listen to the voices of the world. You got
nothing to lose by being patient as patience is a
great virtue.
I pray constantly to God that you will change your
mind in regards to the "War on Iraq".
In President George Bush's horoscope reading, 2004 he
will be in deep trouble and could sink like a stone. I
don't want him to drag you along with him.
England must focus on its economies for the sake of
the people. That's the job you are elected for, to
give job to the people and not to start a war so far
away. If Bush wants to do it, then let him do it alone
without Tony Blair.
Yours truly,
Sunflower Chong
_________________________________
ATTN: Prime Minister Tony Blair
3-11-2002
Dear Prime Minister Blair,
Thank you very much for your reply dated on 23-10-2002.
I am so glad no decision has been made about the military
action being taken against Iraq because if any action is
taken without the approval of the UN, I swear to God Almighty,
I will offer my life to you and President Bush to appease
both your desire to see blood.
After reading my concept proposal for the Millennium Dome
and the letter dated on 17-5-2002 (which I did not sent
to you) you must know that I held you in high esteem. I
prayed for you to be the Prime Minister for Britain because
I knew deep in my heart you would give a lot of yourself
to uplift your people welfares. But I was so disappointed
in you when you joint hands with President Bush to bomb
Iraq. I will not forgive you if ever Iraq will be bomb not
because I love Saddam Hussein but because I care for the
innocence that are caught in between all these total madness.
Just put yourself in their shoes and you will know what
I am talking about. By the way, these wise words are from
the west, “To kill a mocking bird”.
Britain will excel to greater heights depend on your immediate
action on the “War on Iraq”. What kind of a leader you going
to be will not be determined by the people at large but
by the way you see the New World and how you envisage the
future world should evolve. If you see the future world
will be rule with love, then your immediate action is to
convince President Bush to change his mind in regards to
the “War on Iraq”.
In order to have a breakthrough, you must ask yourself
these very important questions. How are you going to help
the natives to accept a New Britain? How are you going to
implement this ideology that “Tolerance of World Culture
Diversity Equals Harmony “or even taking a step further,
idealistically integrates World Cultures? I believed it
is through education, by promoting awareness and the need
to have an open mind by accepting one another for who they
are.
By integrating the nation's various ethnic groups through
the awareness that “Tolerance of World Culture Diversity
Equals Harmony” is your very first and important step in
the direction of achieving peace and harmony not only for
Britain but the whole world as well. Britain is already
an example for the world as it showcases how various ethnic
groups can live together side by side in peace and harmony
for so many decades. Therefore the creation of the Millennium
Dome was a unique opportunity for Britain to lead Europe
by instilling the ideology that there was a need to integrate
World Culture. As long as the seed is sown in the heart,
even without the Dome you could achieve this objective by
creating a special department or Ministry to look into this
area - cultures developments.
I have no right to give you my views or opinions as an
outsider how Europe should evolve under the “New World Order”.
I am writing to you to share my concern about the growing
fear of the western world that other cultures are eroding
the native culture. In Germany, Britain, and Austria and
of course, France, there is legitimate concern that their
culture will be swamped or the politics fundamentally altered
by unfettered immigration. It would be difficult for you
to reject these immigrants as they have already planted
their roots on your land they call 'home'.
The Straits Times (dated 29-7-2000, Saturday) reported
that according to a document drawn up for discussion by
the group's ministers, "Europe will need 75 million
immigrants over the next 50 years and to become a racially
hybrid society". This simply means single ethnicity
will rapidly disappear and every country will eventually
be multi ethnic, thus multi cultural. I do not need to elaborate,
as you know this is already a reality in Britain and many
parts of Europe. For this reason, difficulties in governing
the country may arise if the people refuse to acknowledge
this growing trend as a fact of life.
"Where there is genuine vision, people excel and learn,
not because they are told to, but because they want to"
- Peter M. Senge.
I strongly believe true success come from the people besides
the government taking the lead. By inviting the people to
participate in the future development of the country, you
are building a bond and trust with the people. Isn’t this
what great leadership is all about - caring for humanity
and not just for your people?
Yours truly,
Sunflower Chong
______________________________
ATTN: Prime Minister Tony Blair
17-5-2002
Dear Prime Minister Blair,
On the 10-5-2002 I had sent a letter of congratulation
to President Jacques Chirac for winning the presidency
of France. Attached was a proposal I had sent to Mr.
Mandelson in 1998. The subject was the Millennium
Dome, and at those times was quite a controversy due
to it high cost and objective in building the Dome.
I hope that after going through my Millennium Dome
concept proposal you understand my concern in this
area of identity. There is a great need to elevate
architecture to a higher level whereby it can play the
role of nation building. I thought it would be ideal
to turn the Millennium Dome into a center for World
Culture Development. The New Europe needs this Center
badly after what had happened in Holland. The death of
Mr. Pim Fortuyn was a tragic event that should not be
repeated again. In fact, it should be a great
awakening for the whole world that human relationship
developments should not be allowed to run on its own
course but needed a helping hand from the world
communities to constantly monitoring it as we progress
with time.
I shivered when I read what Mr. Pim Fortuyn had said
about Islam. He said that Islam separates people and
more frightening is that I believe there are silent
majorities agreed with him. How are we going to
address this issue that Islam is not an enemy to the
modern world but people perception of what Islam is,
is the real culprit? His view is that Islam is an
anti-secular and backward culture. How are we going to
convince the native that's not what Islam is all about
because Islam is about Peace? It is human nature that
they felt threatened by what they do not know or
understand. The book he had written entitled "Against
The Islamisation Of Our Culture" is not very helpful
too, especially when we need the community of
different groups to live in peace and harmony.
Against the darkness that is in the world, we must
retaliate with light and bring out the unbiased
picture of multi-ethnicity and Islam as a religion,
instead of going back into the boxes. Being converts
to a religion is a choice of will that you can
translate to the world. With the atrocities of
terrorism it has only served to tarnished the name of
Islam. Changing minds and attitudes and educating the
public about the true Islamic spirit is one of the
goals. To promote racial peace and harmony between all
the citizens of the world, Europe and the world cannot
sit and watch and wait for another Sept 11 before they
take action as a whole to address this so important
issue of identity?
I do not really have a solid solution to this major
problem of how to keep one identity as we progress,
but all I know there must be dialogue to keep people
talking and later work on it to bring a better
understanding among all the races in the country.
I see you as the great leader who will leave behind a
legacy that everyone will thank you for many
generations to come. You are the driving force for the
world by maintaining a balance between America and
Europe. Without your great leadership to balance the
world power, many will suffer including the people
like me, at this end of the world, because the world
is smaller and smaller but unfortunately, we are
further and further apart in ideology and belief of
how this world should evolved. (I do not need to
elaborate you know what I am talking about)
So please don't under estimate your importance in this
trouble world. We in the Far East do need your great
leadership to steer the world to the right direction
of peace and prosperity for everyone. And peace and
prosperity need the World Culture to be integrated.
How are we going to achieve this great and yet seem
impossible goal?
I hope you will be the catalytic to bring a new
thinking to all your European partners by creating an
open forum in Europe to touch on the topic of
Tolerance of World Culture Diversity Equals Harmony.
Make this the priority of the European Union for
stability for the region. If this can be achieved, it
will create awareness besides showing your great
leadership for the New Europe. This action I believe
will stir the ground and might create a lot of
interaction among the European countries and the world
at large. Education is the key to bring better
understanding to the hearts and minds of the people.
I am just an ordinary person and I felt I don't have
the cloud or right to speak on matter so huge like
integrating World Cultures but my conscience as a
human being compel me to bring out my inner thoughts
with the hope that it will contribute constructively
to society. Thank you for allowing me to give my views
and opinions and if in any way I cross the line please
forgive me for my ignorance.
Yours truly,
Sunflower Chong
_________________________________
The Millennium Dome
9-3-1998
The design represents a Circus Tent - This means the design
is not powerful as the circus tent represents "temporary".
Dear Mr. Mandelson,
When I read Time Magazine dated 9th March 1998 on page
31- "Doubts about the Dome", many prominent people
just openly condemned the Millennium Dome without really
understanding the essence of architecture, had made me picked
up my courage to write to you. This American born art critic
Richard Dormant called for a boycott, I believed that was
not call for instead he should give ideas to enhance the
planning of the Dome if he was sincere about it. He said
that he had developed an almost pathological hatred of the
Dome and the whole phony marketing culture it stands for.
In regard to the whole "phony marketing" strategy,
I do agreed with him without any reservation.
Time magazine had also written "for Labour, the Dome
has a significant deeper than a mere celebration of the
Millennium. There you are, the answer is right in front
of you. You all know something is missing in the design
now ask yourself what is missing in this whole project that
can make or break you? What does Labour really want the
Millennium Dome to represent? Do they wish the Millennium
Dome to play a bigger role instead of just entertainment
and economic? Do they want the Millennium Dome to carry
out this great responsibility of Nation Building?
I believed the architect chosen to undertake this enormous
task must first understands that he is an instrument of
God, to integrate the people and to create a harmonious
society. In short architecture must strive to harmonious
society in order to unite the people. A true and honest
architect is only a servant of society, therefore when he
designs and creates he does it for the pleasure of people.
Architecture must be created for people to enjoy in it,
by understanding the basic needs of the different races
and their aspirations, especially in Britain; it is now
a multi racial society.
1) Are the people's aspirations to build "A People
Dome"?
2) When you called it the "People Dome" what do
you mean by it?
3) What does "People Dome" mean to the majority
and minority?
4) Will economic be the guiding force in its total design
and planning?
5) Are the people's needs more important then that of the
Government?
6) Are the people's needs just to have fun in the Dome,
or they expect more out of the Dome development?
7) Building a Nation is to build the hearts and minds of
its people; can the "People Dome" foster this
role as an Educator in the new Millennium?
8) What kind of identity is needed to instill confidence
in the future generation?
9) What are the people hope and aspiration as a nation for
the future?
10)Most importantly, the Millennium Dome must have ever
changing ideas to keep it alive and relevant, where do the
ideas come from?
If you can answer all these questions candidly, the architect
entrusted to do this job will be able to forge the best
in the people and as a result the building and surroundings
will reflect the needs and aspirations of the people. In
short, the Millennium Dome would need no words to describe
it, by looking at it, its will speak for itself what it
stands for and what it hope to achieve.
Before the 1996 election and after the election and especially
after the death of Princess Diana, changes were in the air.
These feelings were expressed by the world not only by the
British people. Most importantly, I believed strongly that
PM Tony Blair represented a man of Change. His bright sincere
personality and vitality is difficult to ignore. His aura
is a powerful influence; you can feel his honesty.
Change is in the air is not enough; changes on the ground
will be symbolic. Therefore, it is ideal and timely to make
the Millennium Dome a landmark of belonging and unity where
all races hearts and minds can meet to enrich each other's
lives and souls to create beautiful things admist much complexity
in our confuse world. As Sir Roy Strong, former director
of London's Victoria and Albert Museum complained of the
failure to celebrate "things which set us apart and
are dear to us". Do ask him what things that separate
the British people? He said that the things that are dear
to the people are Dickens and the love of gardens; all you
have to do is to incorporate his ideals in the total planning
of the Millennium Dome.
So the problems of the Millennium Dome got nothing to do
with its existence, but only with ideas as Mr. Frank Lloyd
Wright said, "Nations have run out of ideas because
the individuals composing them have none". Architect
Richard Roger said that all you need is a ringmaster, which
is not true. What this project needs is a powerful visionary
who understand the complexity of the British society as
a whole and understand its constant struggle to move forward
in a positive direction where all its people will live in
harmony and unity in the new Millennium.
At present the people are not happy because they cannot
identify themselves with the Dome. For them it is not real
because it does not relate with the place and the people.
Therefore in my conclusion, the Millennium Dome total design
lacks meaning and substance.
In the art of life - emulation is cowardice. (Maybe this
is why the people are not happy that the government is spending
$1.25 billion to emulate others) Why should Britain, which
is a world power in the past and at present still is very
influential need to copy Disneyland. The people can say,
if we want Disneyland and Fantasyland we can go to America,
France or even Tokyo. It will cost them less and make them
less ridiculous. I have more confidence in Britain than
Britain has confidence in themselves. I believe Britain
could come out with ideas that will relate to their history
and people.
Architecture is a necessary interpretation of such human
life. It must become the most human of all expression of
the human nature. Architecture is life, or at least it is
life itself taking forms and therefore is the truest record
of life as it was lived in the world yesterday, as it is
being lived today or ever will be lived. So architecture
is in fact a Great Spirit that great living creative spirit
which from generation according to the nature of man and
his circumstances as they both change. In short the roots
of creativity come from freedom of the mind, which belong
to a free soul which is the spirit of God. This means if
you know how to free your mind, only then can you free your
soul.
If I were the Architect
The Millennium Dome will be the Cultural Development Centre
that will have a touch of spiritual creativity through its
total planning. The 21st century represents change and this
is the only time where the Sun and Moon will meet to create
wonder for humanity - Tolerance to World Culture Diversity
Equal Harmony.
Architecture can become an ally in regaining wholeness
in mind, body and environment. Architecture can play a key
role in renewing the spirit by alleviating their morale
and pride as British.
The Millennium Dome must not only be fun and entertaining;
it must also be educational, learning life especially the
different culture, history and oneself through the fun way.
This special experience can be felt when you journey along
and discover its mystery, by remembering the past, thinking
positive of the present and most important imagining the
future with an open mind.
As for the design of the Dome, I quite like it because
I don't just see it as a Circus Tent or Dome. In my eyes
it represents half of the World. We all know that in Britain
past glory it was a powerful empire, which conquered almost
half of the world. Almost the whole world loves the Royal
Family including myself, and I believe Britain would be
a monarchy for a very long time. Therefore, in the total
design of the Dome we should bring out such an aspiration
by skillfully with great imagination transform the 12 poles
into the crown jewel of Britain. This will be the biggest
crown in the world (we must get it register in the Guinness
Book of Record) glowing brightly throughout the night.
To enhance it overall design, we simply apply the principle
of Yin and Yang - Heaven and Earth. The Dome represents
Heaven, instead of a round base we create a square base
to represent Earth and raise it to three storeys high to
represent the fortress to symbolism the need to protect
the Crown because it is the pride and heritage of its people.
At one's first impression of this building it is majestic,
powerful and proud of its history and shinning with a bright
future of a New Britain, with spiritual ideology and creativity
to hold the different races together to foster a better
tomorrow for the people.
What is most interesting about the Millennium Dome is that
it is thoughts provoking because inside the Dome lies mystery,
discovery hope and answer of the aspirations of its people.
Another important point I like to mention is about the number
of the poles. There are 12 poles holding the Dome. This
means it is time for Britain to change its old mindset of
what Britain is all about. They cannot afford to remain
stagnant in their thinking towards which they are in the
new century.
The total design speaks with great volume as the millennium
Dome will be the "soul of the new generation"
and people from all walks of life will be attracted here
to develop their artistic, creative and innovative skills
and cultivate their inner souls through the love of arts
and life. At the same time, they will be contributing back
to the Millennium Dome with their creations and ideas. There
must be a communication, dialogue and relationship between
the Dome and people. This connection will make everyone
feel welcome and when people leave the place they are happier
people, enriched in their mind and heart having gained a
better understanding of themselves as a person as well as
appreciating their roots as British.
Instead at the present, the Dome give them the impression
it is just a big bang of excitement and the people walk
away empty and feeling stupid. Most probably they will ask,
"Why are we building the Dome for?" Gradually
the people will lose interest and the interest of the Dome
will fade away. If this is the case, who is going to bear
the cost of maintaining this huge white elephant? I am really
concern and worry for its future if the concept and planning
is not right?
If the Millennium Dome is what the people expect it to
be than it is a different story altogether. Beaming with
a new found pride and belonging they will be inspired to
draw from their inner resources to be more conscious about
the welfare's of their fellow citizens and actively contribution
to others' well being. (Just like how the Sydney Opera House
had inspired all Australians to be proud of their heritage)
But they will also delve into themselves to re-evaluate
their values and search for who they are as individuals
in the context of society. Who know this Dome can be their
salvation!
The development of the Millennium Dome can be one of the
greatest influences in social and cultural reconstruction.
The true spirit of the nation will emerge from all races
to be united as one through arts and their share experiences
in the Millennium Dome. Therefore, the Millennium Dome above
all will be a hallmark of British achievements in establishing
their new identity as British.
Britain is building for their children's children, therefore
is Britain ready to make a big change mentally besides physically
and be ambitious and courageous to venture into the new
era of spiritual creativity to connect the souls besides
the mind of the people?
Yours Truly,
Sunflower Chong
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