february 12 - 18 | 2014
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circulating in wangaratta, myrtleford, bright, mt beauty, beechworth, yackandandah, rutherglen, chiltern and districts
Australia our home By KYLIE WILSON
ALL TOGETHER:
The Kinta family have made their home in Bright. Pictured are (from left) Samantha, Gei Lin Thang, Injala, Deborah and Kee Om Pa. PHOTO: Vanessa Burgess
WITH
DAVID
RSPCA
WITH
NIKITA
FILM
ARE WE OFFICIALLY
DATING?
WINE TALK WITH
ANITA
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Simple,
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GARDENING
FOR those of us who doubt Australia still being a lucky country, spend a few minutes talking with Gei Lin Thang Kinta. The life he, wife Kee Om Paw, and their three daughters now enjoy in Bright is a far cry from that which he fled from his native Chin State in Burma/ Myanmar. “The majority of Chin people live in villages in the hills, where there is no electricity or running water, and people live a simple, though hard life,” he said. “Forced labor, persecution against Christians and ethnicity, and discrimination are part of everyday life in Chin State. “Produce grown by families is routinely taken by the military for their own needs. “I had to flee from Chin State and Burma in 2004.” His fortunes didn’t improve greatly when he fled either, initially in Thailand but then became a refugee in Malaysia, ending up in an immigration detention prison. “As a result of malnutrition and living in a cramped cell with other inmates, I lost the use of my legs,” he said. “I was cared for at a Catholic hospital in Batu Arung until I could walk again.” His health slowly improved and things began to look up when he was eventually issued a humanitarian visa by the Australian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, and he arrived in Australia with his wife and oldest daughter in June 2008.