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Tibetans embrace changes, development

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-03-26 15:40

However, the access to the Internet may put young Tibetans at risk of exposure to "negative information".

The No. 1 High School of Qamdo Prefecture on Tuesday held a ceremony to warn students to avoid "negative influences" on the Internet, following a central government campaign to teach the young to avoid obscene content.

Students of Tibetan ethnic group perform in celebration of the Tibetan New Year at Tibetan School in Jinan, capital of east China's Shandong Province, Feb. 25, 2009. [Agencies]

More than a hundred Tibetan students pledged: "I swear to be a good learner on the Internet, not to browse harmful information.. to improve self-protection awareness, safeguard Internet security.. and not to indulge myself in a virtual cyberworld."

Full Coverage:  Tibet In 50 Years Related readings:  Tibetan peasants resume spring ploughing  Tibetan mastiff exhibition in Shandong  Tibetan legislator calls for balanced view of Tibet  Living Buddha: Tibetan culture well preserved

Embracing Development

Tsering Drolma recalls, "When I was a little girl, it took about 12 hours to travel from my hometown Mangkam to Qamdo, and now it takes seven to eight hours after a asphalt road was built."

She has heard the elderly people in her neighborhood talk about life before the Democratic Reform launched by the Chinese government in 1959. "Compared with them, I have a much better life."

However, Tsering Drolma sees her generation as different to her parents, who wear traditional Tibetan clothing more than she does.

"I wear Tibetan clothes during festivals and on important occasions. In school, I wear the uniform, and the rest of the time, I dress casually because it's convenient, not because of I don't like Tibetan clothes."

Padma Tsewang,vice chairman of Tibet Autonomous Region, said Wednesday, "The development of Tibet cannot be achieved without opening up and without the support of people of all ethnic minorities in China."

He would like more capital and skills coming in to foster development. "Tibet needs development as it is still economically backward."

The new generation of Tibetans, such as Tsering Drolma, might have those skills, but who knows where they will go after higher education?

Tsering Drolma's decision to take Chinese language-only classes was opposed by her parents, and more harshly by her grandmother. They feared she would lose her Tibetan language as the Mandarin classes are more competitive and require more energy.

But she won them over with a persuasive speech in Tibetan.

She says higher education will allow her to see how other places develop.

"I will at least bring some ideas home for my fellow Tibetans."

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