“Tibet As I Knew It” – New publication by my Late Uncle Dr. Tsewang Y. Pemba

At the end of 2022, a tweet of mine about the publication of my late Uncle’s book “Tibet As I Knew It” unexpectedly drew a lot of attention. At the last count, the tweet below had over 20,000 views, so I thought I’d take that as a sign that there might be interest in knowing a bit more about the book!

https://twitter.com/_DechenP/status/1608528650495791109

As is already quite well known, my late Uncle Dr. Tsewang Yishey Pemba was the first Tibetan to be trained as a western medical doctor. He was born on June 5, 1932 in Gyantse, Tibet and passed away on November 26, 2011 in Siliguri, India. 

“Tibet as I Knew It: The Memoir of Dr. Tsewang Yishey Pemba” is therefore a combination of his memories of his formative years growing up in Tibet and school in India, along with an overview of Tibetan history and society from his perspective. He wrote this book in the 1990s after he had formally retired as a surgeon and my cousin Acha Lhamo Pemba la discovered his unpublished manuscripts in their Darjeeling house several years after his passing. There is a short foreword to the book written by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Publications by Dr. Pemba: Young Days in Tibet (1957), Idols on the Path (1966), White Crane, Lend Me Your Wings (2017) and Tibet As I Knew It (2022)

Much credit has to go to Lhamo Pemba la and all the family members who have helped on the journey from getting the original typewritten manuscripts digitised, to seeing the project through to publication by Lexington Books. Special thanks must also go from my whole family to Shelly Bhoil, without whose help, guidance and advice, this publication would not have seen the light. Shelly has put in a countless number of hours working on both this and also “White Crane, Lend Me Your Wings”, so we are extremely grateful.

On a personal note, my father Tsewang Norbu Pemba and I made our contributions by helping to choose the family photographs published in the book. It was amazing to go through photographs of Tibet taken in the 1930s and 1940s and then the fun started identifying people and places. My father also was tasked with proofreading and made helpful suggestions for light edits. Included at the end of “Tibet as I Knew It” is a biographical note on my late Uncle which I put together.

Finally, another publication by my late Uncle to look forward to is “Journal of a Doctor to Tibetan Mystics and Masters” from Blackneck Books. It will be launched in Dharamsala on March 7, 2023 and my cousin Acha Lhamo Pemba la will be representing the family in person. 

The Tibet Film Festival Returns to London!

We’re back! After a two year Covid-induced break, the Tibet Film Festival’s London edition is back on 22nd and 23rd November, 2022.

We are excited to have found a new home with the Genesis Cinema and would like to thank them for their incredible help and support.

Despite a small programme this year, we are happy nonetheless to offer two stunning UK premieres. The first showing of 2018 feature film from Tibet “Ala Changso” by Sonthar Gyal and likewise the premiere of “Amala: The Life and Struggle of the Dalai Lama’s Sister”, a new documentary by Geleck Palsang.

Additionally, we are showing a selection of the entries from this year’s Tibet Film Festival Short Film Competition, a core part of the Tibet Film Festival that supports and unveils new Tibetan filmmaking talent.

Hope to see many of you this week, do come and say hi!

Tickets and info: https://genesiscinema.co.uk/GenesisCinema.dll/WhatsOn?pg=4&sp=7

Notes for the UK Release of “Balloon”, Directed by Pema Tseden

I’m really excited that Pema Tseden’s film Balloon is (finally) receiving a UK wide release starting from TODAY! I’d heard so much about it and managed to somehow miss the one London screening that took place at the London East Asian Film Festival in November 2019 – almost two years ago!!

So I was thrilled to be asked to write the programme notes for the marketing pack that accompanies the film’s release via the BFI Film Audience Network (FAN) initiative. Not only was I able to watch the film courtesy of the distributor Day for Night, I was able to, for the first time, really think about the themes and formulate some thoughts about a Pema Tseden film.

Here is the link to the Marketing Pack, including my Notes. And if you are in the UK you can look for a screening of this powerful film here: https://www.day-for-night.org/balloon

I haven’t managed to go to the cinema since Covid so I can’t wait to see this on the BIG SCREEN!

Growing Up Tibetan in 1980’s England

This article was written for the booklet celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan Community in Britain. It was wonderful to see it in print, thank you to Pema Yoko and the whole TCB Council for all your work surrounding the anniversary.

(Photo Caption: My brother Jigme and I at Woking Fairground in 1982)

There are not many people who could write about growing up in a Tibetan family in Woking, Surrey, in the 1980’s. There were so few Tibetans in the UK at that time in general and in Woking we were two or three Tibetan households at the most! My older brother Jigme and I were both born in St Peter’s Hospital in Chertsey, Surrey and many years later, my cousin Riga was born there too. Although it has been a long time since we moved from Woking, I look back on my childhood with very happy memories, it was both very ordinary and at the same time, unique.

In some ways, it was a typical English upbringing that many will recognise, our green school uniforms, our Friday afternoon trips to the sweet shop with 10p at the ready and holidays involving camping in the rain and stopping at Happy Eater. Entwined with those memories however are the many times we boarded the train to Waterloo to attend 10th March demonstrations, Losar parties, Tibetan language Sunday school lessons and also those exciting days we were taken out of school when His Holiness might be in the UK giving an audience to the tiny Tibetan community.

Being Tibetan wasn’t something we actively discussed or talked about, but it was embedded within our everyday lives. It was just natural that we would speak Tibetan at home, eat Tibetan food at home, and be involved in Tibet related activities that were happening, usually in London. During the summer holidays we could catch up with our relatives in Germany and extended family in Switzerland that had much larger Tibetan communities. During those days it wasn’t so easy to travel to India and Nepal but we were able to go on family trips there in the 90s and be exposed to the exile communities there.

My parents told me that when I started going to school, I didn’t speak any English at all but I soon caught up. My brother and I were the only Tibetans in the school and I would regularly be asked if I knew how to meditate to which my answer would be, no. I think the first time that people seemed to have heard of Tibet was when it began to make some early appearances in pop culture. When “The Golden Child” starring Eddie Murphy came out in 1987 we went on a family outing to the cinema to watch it just because we had heard that it had a Tibetan theme. Prior to that the only cinematic claim to fame we had was that we could understand what the Ewoks in “Return of the Jedi” were saying!

Ever since I was little, I loved books and I loved reading. Woking Library kept me stocked with all the Enid Blytons and Roald Dahls that filled my free time. I can’t say that I remember reading much in the way of Tibetan stories apart from perhaps a Milarepa comic book that had somehow made its way from India. I’m fortunate that my family supported my interests in literature and language from an early age. I went on to read English and German at University College London and am now the founder and editor of a translations website called High Peaks Pure Earth which translates essays, poetry and music videos from Tibet into English. The website was started at the end of 2008 primarily to give an English language forum for Tibetan writer and poet Tsering Woeser, one of our most important contemporary Tibetan voices. 

Included below is one of my favourite poems by Tsering Woeser that she wrote in 2018, inspired by a surveillance camera she saw in Lhasa that was disguised as a Tibetan prayer wheel.

Image by Tsering Woeser

“Eye of the Empire”
By Tsering Woeser
Translation by Palden Gyal

What kind of eye is that?
Yet, it must be an eye of utmost desires:
An eye of greed, anger, ignorance, jealousy, and pride –filled with wisps of blood.
Among the Six Paths, this eye of all beings neither save itself nor saved by,
And such is then accordant with the image of a powerful empire!
That day, he arrived without any invitation, the pale-faced scholar.
Keeping an overtly chastened smile
Yet his movements are not at all that modest,
As he quickly occupied the seat in the center
Exposed his fangs like the glittering of frost and snow,
Revealed his claws like that of an eagle’s sharp claws.
I dare not look into his eyes anymore,
His eyes are blazing with the five poisons
And it can easily control and capture souls.

January 19, 2018, Beijing

Translation published on High Peaks Pure Earth

Online Panel: Tashi Wangchuk and How We Can Protect Tibetan Language

In anticipation of the release of Tashi Wangchuk from 5 years in prison for advocating for Tibetan language rights, I took part in this online panel discussion on 18 January 2021. For some reason you can’t see it on the video but Rinzin Choedon la and I had written our names in Tibetan on the screen – it’s showing as squares!

Thank you to International Tibet Network for inviting me to speak as well as to the fellow panelists.

Tashi Wangchuk was released from prison in China. He served a five-year sentence that came after he told The New York Times that Tibetan language education was being repressed. https://t.co/Lyjrn7t6Cd

— New York Times World (@nytimesworld) January 31, 2021

Fortunately Tashi Wangchuk was released on 28 January but now faces 5 years of deprivation of political rights, the harshest length possible. Here is the link to the video of the panel: https://fb.watch/3sQd1sytrk/

Update 24 February 2021: I took part in an online discussion hosted by Tibet Action Institute last Friday on the topic of how we can protect Tibetan language rights, it was also International Mother Language Day this past Sunday so it was a good occasion for this event. Here is the link to the video: https://fb.watch/3QDc0DTsT1/

 

RFA Interview on smartvote Tibet

This year I’ve greatly enjoyed being part of a small group of committed Tibetans involved in the project smartvote Tibet.

Even though the Tibetan election details have only been announced relatively recently, our group has been busy getting ready for many months.

smartvote Tibet is a user-friendly online platform designed to help Tibetan voters to make an informed decision on election day. We’ve been collecting questions from the general public and will next enter the phase of launching the online platform – Chithue and Sikyong candidates will be asked to create their profiles so that they can answer 30 questions. The idea is that we will all then be able to create our own profiles and answer the same questions to get a match. I’m excited to see how this will go!

Another aspect of the project has been to gain feedback from the amazing Advisory Board members about the questions so that we have a representative selection in the final 30. I’ve participated in several calls and there’s always so much to discuss and think about.

On 1 September, my colleague Wangpo Tethong la and I were interviewed by Palden Gyal la of Radio Free Asia to talk about the smartvote Tibet project. I’m linking to the interview below. In the meantime please keep an eye on https://www.smartvote-tibet.org/english/ for exciting updates!

Facebook Live Discussion: The Politics of the Pandemic: China, Tibet, and the Future

On 17 April, 2020, while in lockdown, I participated in an SFT Facebook Live Discussion titled “The Politics of the Pandemic: China, Tibet, and the Future”. It was a long session but I was happy to speak alongside Dhondup Wangchen, Tenzin Tsundue and Tendor. Thank you Dorjee Tseten and SFT for the invitation!

Here is the link to the video (in Tibetan): https://www.facebook.com/StudentsforaFreeTibet/videos/580915299440830/?v=580915299440830

Support Tibetan Artists While Staying Home

For so many of us around the world, now is the time stay in but it doesn’t have to be boring or unproductive. We can all experience amazing culture and support Tibetan artists in the process!

I was recently refunded a bunch of theatre and events tickets and now that we’re facing weeks/months of isolation, it’s a good time to remind ourselves how much great art is being produced by Tibetans. I’m more than happy to re-direct the money to supporting Tibetan artists at this difficult time for them.

A lot of people forget that Tibetan artists are, more often than not, doing everything by themselves. How many Tibetan filmmakers, musicians, artists have agents, managers, assistants, producers or any kind of professional body of support? Very very few. How many Tibetan artists generously put their work online for free? Too many. This post is about how we can place value on our artistic community by GIVING THEM OUR MONEY.

So let’s start by watching the incredible Royal Café on demand and I’ll keep adding to this post as I come across other ways of giving Tibetan artists our money.

FILM

1. ROYAL CAFE – £9.99 to buy, £4.99 to rent

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/royalcafe

MUSIC

1. “Heartstrings” by Tenzin Choegyal – Album price is AUD 8
   https://tenzinchoegyal.bandcamp.com/releases

2. Tracks by Yesh – USD 0.99 each
https://yesh.bandcamp.com/
Amala: https://yesh.bandcamp.com/track/amala
Glass: https://yesh.bandcamp.com/track/glass
Surface: https://yesh.bandcamp.com/track/surface

3. Support “Drung” – A collective of Tibetan filmmakers based in Dharamsala

Donate to them here: http://drung.in/donate/

Join Us! Continuation of Writing Workshops for the UK Tibetan Community

Following on from the playwriting workshops held at the Royal Court Theatre last Autumn, our writers group have decided to carry on with writing workshops this spring. We’re excited to keep going with what we’ve started and are looking to expand the group. If you are a UK based Tibetan please join us, no previous writing experience necessary! All details in the announcement below, deadline for applications is 3rd February, 2020.

Stop Apple Censorship Online Press Conference

Exactly a year after taking part in an online press conference about getting Google to drop Project Dragonfly (update: it was dropped!), several of us got together again yesterday, Human Rights Day, to tackle another tech giant, Apple.

Apple has blocked over 1000 VPNs from its App Store, delisted HKmap.live and banned the use of ‘sensitive’ terms – such as Tibet, Tiananmen and the Dalai Lama – that are blacklisted by the Chinese government from device engravings in its Apple stores in China.

Far from promoting the web as a tool for communication, Apple is facilitating it being used as a tool for incarceration. For details on what Apple has been doing, I recommend reading this report put together by TibCert: https://blog.tibcert.org/apple-app-censorship/

Our panel was made up of myself plus:

World Uyghur Congress Advocate, Zumretay Arkin
GreatFire.org Community Director, Karen Reilly
SumOfUs Senior Campaigner, Sondhya Gupta
Andy Li from Fight for Freedom; Stand with Hong Kong
Tibet Action Institute Digital Security Director, Lobsang Gyatso

Moderated by Free Tibet Campaign Director, John Jones and convened by Mandie Mckeown, International Tibet Network.

Here is the link to the full video, thank you to Mandie and the whole team for having me. Follow the campaign here: https://stopapplecensorship.online/