| Photo of the Week 06 Posted: 07 Jun 2013 05:32 AM PDT  A group of teenagers sit at dusk along Botahtaung Jetty, a popular hangout for young people in Rangoon. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) |
| House Speaker Shwe Mann Airs Presidential Ambitions Posted: 07 Jun 2013 05:30 AM PDT  Opposition leader Aung Sun Suu Kyi, left, sits next to Lower House Speaker Shwe Mann during lunch at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Naypyidaw on Friday. (Photo: Simon Roughneen / The Irrawaddy) NAYPYIDAW — Burma's Lower House Speaker Shwe Mann told The Irrawaddy on Friday that he is interested in succeeding President Thein Sein in 2015. "Yes, I would like to," Shwe Mann said when asked about the position. However, the chairman of the governing Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) cautioned that any prospective president must first win the backing of Burma's voters and his or her own party. "That depends first on our party and our people," he added, referring to his own presidential prospects. Burma's president is elected by the country's parliamentarians and therefore will likely come from whichever party wins the next national elections, also scheduled for 2015. It looks increasingly likely that either Shwe Mann or opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi will be Burma's next president, after the Nobel laureate Suu Kyi reiterated on Thursday that she too wants the job. Current President Thein Sein, Shwe Mann's USDP party colleague, has not ruled out running, however. Though previously Burma's prime minister, Thein Sein was subordinate to Shwe Mann prior to the formation of Burma's military-backed civilian government in early 2011. Both are former high-ranking military men, with Shwe Mann previously serving as the army's joint chief of staff and ranked number three in the former military junta's hierarchy, behind Than Shwe, Burma's military dictator until 2010, and Maung Aye, formerly the deputy senior-general. The USDP won in a landslide in Burma's widely derided 2010 elections, but will start second favorite to Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) in 2015. In April 2012 by-elections, the NLD won all but one of the 44 seats contested, hinting that in a free and fair election, it could win a landslide in 2015. Currently Suu Kyi, however, cannot become president due to her two sons being British citizens. The NLD is pushing to have the country's Constitution changed to allow Suu Kyi to take the position, the possible outcome if her party wins in 2015. On March 15, USDP parliamentarians called for a commission to propose changes to the Constitution, which was adopted after a 2008 referendum held under controversial circumstances, with the Irrawaddy delta region reeling from the deadly Cyclone Nargis, which left an estimated 140,000 people dead and 3 million homeless. Suu Kyi said on Thursday that she wants the Constitution changed not only to allow her the chance to be president, but to do away with the military's guaranteed 25 percent bloc of seats in the country's Parliament, seen by many as hindering the transition from army rule to parliamentary democracy. Asked on Thursday about reducing the army's presence in the legislature, during a televised debate at a World Economic Forum (WEF) event in Naypyidaw, Shwe Mann gave a similar answer to that proferred when asked about his possible presidential run. "The desire of the people is the most important thing for change," he said. And though an amended Constitution could facilitate Suu Kyi becoming president, a proposed legislative amendment favored by some of Burma's smaller parties could diminish her prospects to an extent. Several parties, including the one-time military-backed National Unity Party (NUP), want the country's voting system changed from the current first-past-the-post system to a proportional format—a change opposed by the NLD. The current system could result in a big win for the NLD in 2015, while a proportional system would likely see more smaller parties win seats and could raise the prospect of a coalition government in Burma. |
| Suu Kyi Needs a Band of ‘Bold Soldiers’ Posted: 07 Jun 2013 04:46 AM PDT Aung San Suu Kyi wants to be president. She says it's not impossible, and that's true, but it will certainly be an uphill battle. The democracy icon publicly confirmed her desire this week. "I want to run for president," she said on Thursday at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Naypyidaw, Burma's administrative capital. "It's natural that a leader of a political party says he or she is ready to lead the country and the government," she said. But the 67-year-old Nobel Peace laureate will never be president without approval from the ex-military leaders who now sit in Parliament, as well as the current military lawmakers who are guaranteed 25 percent of Parliament seats. That will be no easy task. As the well-known elected lawmaker Thein Nyunt told The Irrawaddy this week, "The question is, how can she overcome the mountain of difficulties that lies ahead?"  Kyaw Zwa Moe is editor (English Edition) of the Irrawaddy magazine. He can be reached at kyawzwa@irrawaddy.org. Thein Nyunt, chairman of the New National Democracy Party, said members of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) had proposed a committee to review the undemocratic 2008 Constitution during the upcoming session of Parliament, which is set to resume later this month. But, he added, "I don't want people to expect a lot out of it." The Constitution is a major concern for Suu Ky because it lays out the requirements for presidential bidders—and, as it currently stands, bans her from the job. According to Article 59, the democracy icon cannot seek a presidential nomination because her late husband was British and her children hold foreign citizenship. More than 75 percent of the lawmakers must agree to amend any article in the Constitution. After that, a referendum is required, with more than half of voters supporting the amendment. "Without overcoming that huge hurdle, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's desire to become president will never happen in reality," Thein Nyunt said, referring to the opposition leader with a title of respect. Suu Kyi was always a problem for the former military regime, which put her under house arrest for 15 years. Since her release in 2010, it is believed that current and former military leaders in government and Parliament continue to see her as a threat to their power. But politics is personal, and there are some who feel differently. Some ex-military leaders, including Shwe Mann, speaker of Parliament's lower house, have managed to find common ground with Suu Kyi since she started attending parliamentary sessions in Naypyidaw last year. Shwe Mann has reportedly met frequently with the opposition leader to discuss many issues, including amendments to the Constitution. It is not known how open these discussions have been or whether they have reached any informal agreements, according to Thein Nyunt. The alliance with Shwe Mann is a possible risk for Suu Kyi's reputation, as the house speaker is seen as less reputable than President Thein Sein in the eyes of the Burmese public. But the opposition leader has likely calculated that risk. Suu Kyi is acutely aware of the hurdles to her presidential bid which Thein Nyunt mentioned. Speaking this week at the WEF, in front of Shwe Mann, she said the 2008 Constitution was among the world's most difficult constitutions to amend. And she understands that without collaboration from the military, and support from the 25 percent of military-appointed lawmakers, her goal will remain out of reach. To secure the necessary amendment, she said, "at least one bold soldier needs to stand out." |
| Philips to Help Light, Preserve Rangoon’s Historical Architecture Posted: 07 Jun 2013 04:42 AM PDT  Rangoon's iconic High Court building. (Photo: Hpyo Wai Tha / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — One of the world's largest multinational electronics companies is looking to help enhance the nighttime appeal of Rangoon by illuminating the city's colonial-era buildings with light-emitting diode (LED) lights. The Amsterdam-based Philips has proposed that the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC) oversee the project, which would include lighting City Hall and other historical buildings located around Maha Bandoola Park in the downtown area, according to the Yangon Heritage Trust (YHT). YHT's mission is to promote and protect Rangoon's architectural heritage as part of a comprehensive urban planning process. "Philips has proposed the YDC for lights decoration and we have supported it," said Moe Moe Lwin, director of the YHT. "The plan, however, depends on how Philips can carry out the project with minimum cost and whether the YDC can afford it." Details have yet to be made available on how the Dutch company will illuminate those structures in a country where blackouts are frequent. In the meantime, state-run newspapers on Thursday quoted Thant Myint-U, the founder and chairman of the YHT board, saying Philips and the YHT had agreed, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum gathering in Naypyidaw, to preserve historical buildings in Rangoon. In accordance with the agreement, Philips will initially provide US$75,000 to create and affix plaques to some of these buildings, with inscriptions offering brief histories of the aging structures, the newspapers said. Philips once exported an array of electronics to Burma, such as radios, light bulbs, irons, fans and televisions. It left the country, however, following the imposition of economic sanctions on the previous military regime by the European Union. The Dutch company recently returned to the Southeast Asia nation's market, according the Wall Street Journal, after EU sanctions were lifted in April, with Philips opening its first electronics shop in Rangoon last month. There are reportedly about 200 colonial-era buildings in downtown Rangoon and surrounding townships such as Kyauktada, Botahtaung and Latha, which are considered heritage sites. In the past, many more of these buildings, most of which were privately owned, were reportedly demolished by businessmen and replaced with apartments. However, since the formation of the YHT, the YCDC has made a concerted effort to prevent developers from destroying them. Historical buildings in downtown Rangoon including the Ministers' Office, formerly known as the Secretariat, the High Court building and the main Rangoon Railway Station are currently undergoing renovations carried out by private companies. The YHT is compiling a list of buildings in Rangoon that are more than 50 years old and has so far documented about 1,000 in downtown and nearby areas alone. |
| Don’t be fooled. Posted: 07 Jun 2013 04:39 AM PDT |
| Second Anniversary of Kachin Onslaught Marked Abroad Posted: 07 Jun 2013 04:32 AM PDT  Kachin communities and their supporters in Sydney joined a Global Day of Action on Friday. (Photo: Kachin Association Australia) Some sixty ethnic Kachin and Burmese rights advocacy groups from 21 countries across the world took part in a Global Day of Action on Friday in order to mark the second anniversary of armed conflicts in Kachin State that displaced about 100,000 people. The refugees were caught in the crossfire that broke out in Kachin State, northern Burma, in June, 2011, between the Burmese government army and ethnic Kachin rebels, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO). Human rights abuses in Kachin areas, including widespread sexual violence against ethnic women used as a weapon of war with impunity were also highlighted on the occasion of the Global Day of Action. A joint statement released by the rights advocates, stated that the two-year-old conflicts resulted in human rights abuses against civilians. The displaced civilians have suffered from abuses including the rape of women and children, arbitrary execution, torture, forced labour, mortar bombing and the burning and looting of villages, according to the statement. "During the military attacks, the Burmese army targeted civilians. This constitutes a war crime. Human rights abuses committed by the Burmese army documented by the United Nations could also qualify as crimes against humanity," the statement read. The Kachin and Burmese participants also called for the establishment of a federal democratic Burma to guarantee a durable peace. Gawlu La Awng of the KIO’s Foreign Department said in the statement, "The root cause of the conflict in Kachin State is the lack of national equality based on the current constitution." "Without a political solution which is the formation of a federal democratic Burma that guarantees self-determination for the Kachin and all ethnic nationalities, there can never be a durable peace in the country," he added. On Thursday, Minister Soe Thane told journalists gathered in Naypyidaw at the World Economic Forum that the government was considering a federal political system to end the conflicts in ethnic areas. In Sydney, Australia, Kachins and their supporters joined the Global Day of Action on Friday, wearing t-shirts emblazoned with the Kachin national flag, holding the national flag and placards calling for justice for the victims of abuses in Kachin State. Some placards also read: "No Defence Ties with Burma," referring to Australia's recent decision to open military-to-military links with Burma. In Britain, members of the Kachin community and London-based rights group Burma Campaign UK also held a protest outside the British Foreign Office, urging William Hague, UK Foreign Secretary, to highlight the issue of rape and sexual violence committed by the Burmese government's troops, and press for federal constitutional reform in Burma. Despite several rounds of peace talks between the government and the KIO leaders—the most recent of which concluded late last month in Myitkyina—there has been very little progress on a genuine, said the rights advocates. They said while the Kachin and other ethnic minorities and ordinary Burmese citizens suffer under the military-backed government, the international community continues turn a blind eye and rewarded the government by lifting key sanctions instead. |
| Burmese Tycoon Gives Back After Land Grabs Posted: 07 Jun 2013 04:23 AM PDT  Zaw Zaw, one of Burma's youngest but best-connected tycoons, in his Rangoon office on March 8. (Photo: Reuters) CHAUNG THA, Irrawaddy Division—More than 50 acres of paddy fields confiscated by the Max Myanmar Group for shrimp farming will be given back to farmers in southwest Burma, according to a director of the conglomerate. Max Myanmar, owned by one of Burma's most notorious business tycoons, has finished the shrimp farming project and already notified the Irrawaddy divisional government that it will return the land, according to Max Myanmar director San Oo, who said the group had also notified a parliamentary commission that investigates land grabs. Zaw Zaw, the 45-year-old owner of Max Myanmar, made a fortune thanks in part to his connections under the former military regime. Now, as the country opens economically to the international community, he is revamping his image in a bid to attract more global investment, with revenue at his group of companies reportedly set to double. Max Myanmar will return about 54 acres of farmland that it confiscated from 21 farmers in 2002, according to a letter dated in April that it sent to the divisional administration. Zaw Zaw, who is originally from Irrawaddy Division, said he felt sympathy for the former owners because they had struggled to earn a living and wanted to return to their land. "Some owners want compensation, while others want to have their farmland back. So we decided that transferring the land back was the best option," said San Oo. "We will do so via governmental departments." Max Myanmar has reportedly already provided compensation of 44,000 kyats ($46) per acre for the confiscated land. The group of companies said it had also given an additional 70 million kyats to 13 local residents who lost 106 acres of farmland near Ngwe Saung Beach. There are a total of 166 cases of confiscated farmland in Irrawaddy Division, including more than 60 cases in the division capital of Bassein. The land-grab cases in Chaung Than Province and Shwe Thaung Yan region are being heard in court, according to the parliamentary investigation commission looking into the cases. Irrawaddy Division has seen more land grabs than any other division in the country, with hundreds of thousands of acres seized, according to the commission. This week, farmers from eight townships in the division tried to claim back paddy fields they had lost in a land grab. Zaw Zaw's business interests span a range of industries, including hotels, construction, jade mining, coal mining, cement factories, banking, fuel and consumer goods. Last year he was among the investors for the Dawei deep seaport project in south Burma, a joint-venture between Burma and Thailand. After leaving that project, he created the Ayeyarwady Foundation for philanthropy and began offering loans to farmers. |
| Rangoon’s Railway Posted: 07 Jun 2013 04:16 AM PDT  TRAIN A man walks the platform at the Yangon Central Railway Station on June 2, 2013. Yangon Central Railway Station is the largest train station in the country and serves over three thousand commuters every day. (Photo: Sean Havey / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The patina looks as though it had eroded slowly revealing subtle layers of aquamarine paint that appear much like the aerial view of a strip mine. "You can't paint that. It would ruin it," said Ye Lwin, Station Master of Yangon Central Railway Station as he points to a 40-year old coach car that has just pulled into the station. Like some of the trains that pull into it, Yangon Central Railway Station, by western standards, is a vestige from the past. The original station was a wooden structure built in 1877 and later destroyed by the British during the Second World War as the Japanese forces advanced. After the war the Burmese government built the current brick structure with a stucco façade in a traditional Burmese aesthetic. Wrought iron gates separate the main waiting area from Platform One where the train to Mandalay sets out six times a day. Cars are divided by class: Upperclass, Sleeper Class and Ordinary Class. Myanmar Railways is owned by a Japanese company that plans to modernize some of the lines to decrease commute times. The other five platforms lead to trains going to various destinations around Burma. The "circular train," as the name suggests, follows a circular path through 39 stations. For one dollar the train takes about three hours to finish one round trip. The microcosmic city at the Central Station includes a living quarters for many of the 800 employees of the station as well as their families. While their husbands unload freight and perform other duties needed to keep the station operating, women gather to wash clothing under a leaky water tower that feeds the nearby bathrooms. They wring out the clothing by beating it on the concrete platform and then hang their family's clothing on nearby fences. Vendors, mostly women, sell fruit and prepare food dishes as people line up to snack before taking off on their journeys. In a quieter area far from the stairwell and pathways that lead to the platforms, young men between shifts play soccer. The cheers from the young fans sitting on the rails below are periodically interrupted as trains roll in and the players pause in fear that a wild kick might lose the ball under a train. Above a lookout from the Control Station keeps an eye on the trains coming and going as a large green map of the rails conveys train information to the track controllers who casually smoke cigarettes as they control passengers' destinations by pulling and pushing shiny metal levers back and forth to switch tracks. Small red and green lights on the map denote which switches have been shunted as a clock looms above while the Control Master sits behind a pile of papers in the center of the room keeping an eye on the action. Just past the main lines a maintenance worker walks the roof of a train with hose in hand to wash the cars and fill the water tanks onboard. Water trickles down the sides of the antique cars built in India prior to World War Two as men work in access ditches below the trains repairing the giant iron and steel underbelly and greasing the couplings. Commuters hop on and off as some of their brethren onboard read newspapers. Some lounge on the slatted wooden seats and invariably other passengers gaze out from the large unglazed rectangular windows watching the platform they left behind and the railways ahead. |
| Tourism Surge Tests Mandalay’s Endurance Posted: 07 Jun 2013 01:52 AM PDT  Fishermen at Taungthaman Lake in Mandalay Division cast their fishing lines. (Photo: Teza Hlaing / The Irrawaddy) MANDALAY — Tourists have been flocking to Burma's ancient former capital Mandalay. But so many have come that it is putting a strain on a local service sector not yet developed to cope with the influx. During the last high season—from October to April—there were not enough tourist guides to meet demand as the city of kings saw the highest tourism figures on record, Sithu, secretary of the Mandalay Tour Guide Society, said on Thursday. Sithu said tourist arrivals began to increase following US President Barack Obama's visit to the country last year where he praised the changes happening in Burma. "We had to struggle to survive in the early 2000s as we had fewer visitors and we had to wait our turn to work as a guide," recalled Sithu. "But the situation has now changed." Mandalay is littered with cultural wonders: the Mahamuni Buddha image, U Bein Bridge in Amarapura, the Sagaing hills and the capital of the ancient kingdom of Ava to name a few. But poor or non-existent conservation policies are worrying some locals, who fear the traditional culture of Mandalay will be lost in the tourist boom. Mandalay is unique in that enough sites of historical value remain intact that both young Burmese and visiting tourists can imagine how the old kings of Burma lived, said Hsu Hnget, a prominent writer and resident of Mandalay. "It is a rare place where you can learn about Burmese architecture," Hsu Hnget said. "But the uniqueness of Mandalay has been gradually eroded." The writer recalled the gentrification of the downtown area in the 1980s, and the influx of Chinese money which built the modern district the visitor can see today. Since then, beggars have become more visible, rubbish litters the streets and the smell of animal waste hangs in the air. A combination of rapid urbanization and a lack of knowledge about cultural preservation on the part of the authorities have contributed to the destruction of Mandalay's archeological sites. Taung Thaman Inn, a large lake spanned by U Bein Bridge, is a case in point, said Hsu Hnget. In the hot season, crops would sprout in the lake, followed by flooding in the rainy season and plentiful fishing during the winter months. But since the 1980s the lake has been constantly flooded, causing damage to the nearly 200-year-old bridge's supports. "It is because the coordination between the Archeological Department, Hotel and Tourism Department and the local authorities has been really weak," Hsu Hgnet said. Slum communities displaced during the modernization of downtown have settled near the lake, reshaping the scenery as they struggle to find new ways to live "Begging is the immediate problem we need to solve," Sithu argued. "I just got a call from one of our guides complaining that a young novice monk is asking for money from the foreigners." As well as being worried about catering to the growing numbers of tourists, locals also expressed concerns about a coming clash of cultures between locals and Chinese business owners. The wave of mainland Chinese entering the country in the 1990s has changed the relationship between locals and the Chinese community. More than a million travelers visited Burma last year, compared with approximately 816,000 visitors in 2011, government figures released in January show. On Thursday Burma announced a US $500 million plan sponsored by the Norwegian government to boost tourism facilities to cope with the estimated 7.5 million tourists expected to come to Burma annually by 2020. |
| Burma’s Tech Sector Not Yet Up to Speed for Foreign Investment: Intel Posted: 07 Jun 2013 01:50 AM PDT  A man surfs the Web at an Internet cafe in Rangoon. Intel's venture capital wing suggested on Friday that Burma would need to improve its communications infrastructure to attract foreign investment for the country's tech sector. (Photo: Reuters) NAYPYIDAW — Burma’s small but growing coterie of tech entrepreneurs will likely have to wait some time before attracting significant seed money from abroad, according to the head of Intel’s venture capital wing. "Myanmar does not yet have a venture capital ecosystem," said Intel Capital president Arvind Sodhani, after announcing US$16 million worth of investments in India and Singapore at the World Economic Forum (WEF) gathering of chief executives and regional political leaders, which finishes today in Burma’s grandiloquent capital, Naypyidaw. Sodhani added that Burma’s legal framework was not up to speed with what investors required when considering putting money into promising local start-ups. Echoing concerns made elsewhere about the need to improve Burma's energy and communications infrastructure, he said poor Internet connectivity in the country made it difficult for tech-based companies to function. "We need to see fast Internet access," he said. Despite having some of Asia's lowest labor costs, Burma's winnowed-out education system and lack of skills and training are often cited as obstacles by prospective investors. Those are challenges for the country's technology sector, as well, according to Intel Capital. "Companies need access to people who know programming, good system developers," said Sodhani. Companies also need customers, Sodhani said. However, Burma is one of Asia’s poorest countries, and only 4 percent of Burmese can currently be considered "consumers," with money to spend on non-essential items on a regular basis, according to a recent report by consultancy McKinsey. The global management consultancy projected that Burma's population could potentially have the same disposable income level by 2030 as the Philippines and Malaysia had in 2010. And while money counts for a lot in the venture capital world, the benefits for companies that get Intel’s cash injection are not just financial. "We help them with technology, introduce them to customers and partners," said Sodhani. Intel Capital is the investment wing of US-based computer parts giant Intel, and has put $10.8 billion dollars into 1,258 such businesses since 1991. Of that total investment, $2 billion has been spent in Asia since 1998, and looking back over the history of tech start-ups in the region, Sodhani said Burma could, in time, hold promise for the tech sector. "It usually takes several years to get to know the country," said Sodhani, detailing that Intel Capital waited two years after opening an office in South Africa before funding a company in the country. "When we started investing in India and China, this was to some extent the same, but things changed over time." Expressing confidence that Burma could emerge as place for potential Intel investment, Sodhani said, "We will be looking continually at developments in Myanmar over the coming years." Shane Thu Aung, founder of private Burmese broadband provider Redlink, told The Irrawaddy that though in its infancy, Burma’s tech sector is finding its feet. "Though there are only maybe 40 to 50 mostly small tech companies here, things have changed dramatically in the last two years,” he said. Pointing out that Burma now has about 10 mobile application makers, he said that “local tech people are awaiting the new telecoms system and are hoping otherwise that there will be big investment in backbone infrastructure, such as fiber-optics.” One possible way to jumpstart Burma's tech sector would be to "leapfrog" into high-speed Internet and mobile telephone communications, skipping the landline and dial-up travails that longer-established tech-reliant economies have faced, according to a scenario sketched out in the recent McKinsey report, "Myanmar's moment: Unique opportunities, major challenges." Sodhani cautioned, however, that even in advanced economies, venture capital is generally precarious, with no guarantee of success. Of the 1,285 start-ups funded by Intel Capital since its inception, 920 are still operating. "Venture capital is high risk, with a high mortality rate," Sodhani said. |
| Microsoft Launches Distribution Network in Burma Posted: 06 Jun 2013 10:32 PM PDT Computers giant Microsoft launched its products in Burma on Thursday for the first time, forming a partnership with local electronics firm Myanmar Information Technology, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. Microsoft said the move was the "first step" in the company's plans for expanding its business in Burma, which has long been closed off to the huge Western companies that dominate so much of the global computers market. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Naypyidaw, the president for new markets in Southeast Asia at Microsoft, Jamie Harper, told the paper Microsoft would focus on distribution in Burma. |
| Radical Monk Wirathu Praises Far-Right British Group Posted: 06 Jun 2013 10:32 PM PDT Leading 969 Buddhist radical monk Wirathu told The Times of London on Thursday he wants the movement to imitate Britain's militant English Defence League in its quest to boycott Muslim businesses and limit Islam's influence in Burma. Wirathu, who was jailed for nine years for inciting anti-Muslim hatred in 2003, applauded the EDL for "protecting the public." The comments come a week after clashes between the EDL and anti-fascist protesters in London. "We would like to be like the EDL," he said. "Not carrying out violence, but protecting the public." |
| Regional ‘Smart Visa’ System Planned at WEF Posted: 06 Jun 2013 10:32 PM PDT Top-ranking officials from Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia and the Philippines announced on Thursday they were looking at developing a "smart visa" system for the countries to facilitate travel and tourism between the countries. "Ministers and tourism authorities agree to work hand-in-hand for the implementation of this system, whose objective will be that of eliminating those barriers to the movement of tourists which are currently creating disincentives to travel," Htay Aung, Union Minister of Hotels and Tourism of Myanmar, told Mizzima on Thursday. |
| Thousands Rally to Support Anti-Muslim Two-Child Policy Posted: 06 Jun 2013 10:31 PM PDT Thousands of Sittwe residents took to the streets on Thursday to show their support for a controversial law limiting Muslim couples in two townships in Arakan State from having more than two children. The rally, organized by groups of monks, social media users and local politicians, passed off peacefully, Najinjara news reported on Thursday. The two-child rule has not been enforced in the state for years. Tensions have remained high in Arakan State in southwest Burma, where last year two waves of violence targeted Muslims in the state, leaving at least 100 people dead and tens of thousands displaced. |
| Thousands rally to support anti-Muslim two-child policy Posted: 06 Jun 2013 10:31 PM PDT |
| Regional ‘Smart Visa’ system planned at WEF Posted: 06 Jun 2013 10:30 PM PDT |
| Radical monk Wirathu praises far-right British group Posted: 06 Jun 2013 10:30 PM PDT |
| Microsoft launches distribution network in Burma Posted: 06 Jun 2013 10:30 PM PDT |
| No New Cash for Garment Industry Safety in Bangladesh Budget Posted: 06 Jun 2013 09:29 PM PDT  Rescue workers carry a woman from the rubble of the Rana Plaza building 17 days after the building collapsed in Savar May 10, 2013. (Photo: Reuters) DHAKA — Bangladesh’s finance minister pledged on Thursday to improve safety in the garment industry after a factory collapse killed more than 1,100 people, but he unveiled no new money in his annual budget to relocate dangerous buildings. Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith’s 2013/14 budget aims to bolster faltering economic growth to 7.2 percent after political unrest and strikes for better pay and conditions in the key garment industry dragged this year. The government will raise spending 16 percent to US $28 billion for the coming year, he said. The collapse of the Rana Plaza factory complex killed 1,129 people in April. A fire in another factory last year killed 112. “In order to prevent recurrence of such incidents in future, we pledge to take all possible measures for improvement of working conditions and safety standards in factories in conjunction with all stakeholders,” Muhith told parliament. But he announced no new spending for factory safety. A senior finance ministry official this week had suggested that the budget was likely to include provisions to address a critical shortage of building inspectors and buy land to relocate dangerous factories to a planned industrial park. Instead, he pledged a 20 percent reduction in import duties on woven fabrics, a significant boost to the garment sector. Clashes between anti-government and Islamist activists and police have also claimed dozens of lives this year. The combination of opposition-led political protests and worker strikes have hurt the garment industry, the main driver of the economy. GDP growth was about 6 percent in the current financial year which ends on June 30, the lowest since 2009/10. Bangladesh is to elect a new government by next January and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina needs to keep the economy growing to offset the rising anger at safety in the sector that employs four million workers. PRESSURE The government and industrialists, along with the global brands that use their factories, have come under pressure to reform an industry that generates 80 percent of export earnings. The April 24 collapse of Rana Plaza, a factory built on swampy ground outside Dhaka with several illegal floors, ranks amongst the world’s worst industrial accidents and has galvanized brands to look more closely at their suppliers. Very low labor costs and, critics say, shortcuts on safety, makes the country of 160 million the cheapest place to make large quantities of clothing. Companies are split over how to improve conditions. Big European names signed an accord that would make them legally responsible for safety. U.S. firms like Wal-Mart Stores Inc have broken ties with non-compliant factories. Inspections of about 150 buildings housing garment factories since the disaster found many with serious faults, such as cracks and floors built without permits, said Mujibur Rahman, who leads a team of 30 civil engineers at the Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology. “There are buildings that have approval for six floors, but then they built one or two more, this is an overload problem,” Rahman said, adding that some factories were in buildings designed for shops or homes. “We are recommending that they should immediately relocate their industries, especially the ones that are in residential buildings.” Plans to move factories crammed along Dhaka’s teeming streets to an industrial park to the south have foundered as suitable land is scarce in low-lying and flood prone Bangladesh. The garment industry has risen from almost nothing 30 years ago to become the second largest global supplier after China. Thousands of factories have sprung up in the past decade, overwhelming the capacity of a handful of inspectors. Other initiatives to improve conditions include a rise in the monthly minimum wage for garment workers, now set at $38. A panel formed on Thursday is to set a new wage within months. A revised labor law is also in the works to make it easier to form trade unions. Workers can now form a union only with permission of the factory owner. |
| China Bear Bile Company Quits IPO Bid After Outcry Posted: 06 Jun 2013 09:26 PM PDT  A handout picture released by Animals Asia Foundation shows an endangered black bear inside a cage at a bile farm in Weihai, Shandong province April 19, 2010. (Photo: Reuters) BEIJING — Animal-rights activists in China are claiming a rare victory after a company that raises bears to extract bile from their gall bladders withdrew its application for a public listing, although the company hasn't said why it pulled back. The plan for an initial public offering by Fujian Guizhentang Pharmaceutical, which uses the bile for traditional medicines, had caused outrage on social media and sparked online petitions from activists who say the practice is cruel and painful for the bears, and that the tonics produced are of debatable medicinal validity. The farming typically involves the daily extraction of bile from live, caged bears via catheters or holes in their bodies. The uproar reflected both a growing environmental awareness and the increasing affluence of ordinary Chinese, who keep pets, travel overseas and are changing attitudes toward traditions they may not have questioned in the past. When the company announced its IPO plans in February last year, dozens of Chinese entertainers, writers and other celebrities signed a petition delivered to the China Securities Regulatory Commission urging it to withhold approval for a share listing in Shenzhen. Last week, the China Securities Regulatory Commission listed Guizhentang as one of 269 companies that had withdrawn its application for an IPO this year. It was not immediately clear why the company withdrew. The move came amid increased scrutiny of IPOs by authorities. In October, China suspended IPOs because of a lack of investor appetite for them and general equity market declines, and they have not yet resumed. When called for comment on Thursday, the company repeatedly hung up. Cai Jing, an analyst at Shanghai-based Yintai Securities, said he believed Guizhentang had withdrawn its IPO because of public pressure. "It is true that many more companies have withdrawn their IPO applications this year than normal, but I read its financial reports at the time and didn't find any financial problem that would impede an IPO," Cai said. "The only big problem is the pressure from the public to protect the animals." The bears used for the bile are Asiatic black bears, also known as moon bears because of a yellow crescent moon shape on their chests. Guizhentang's website says it has more than 400 of the bears and in 2009 started to invest in a base that would hold more than 1,200 bears and eventually become "the biggest bear site in the world." The site also says the company has become "the industry standard" in breeding and feeding bears, draining their bile and preventing disease among the captive animals. It says bear bile helps prevent hepatitis and liver diseases in humans, improves vision and detoxifies the body, citing a famous doctor born 500 years ago and other old Chinese medicine books. Hong Kong-based Animals Asia welcomed the news of the withdrawal. Toby Zhang, its China external affairs director, said public pressure played an important role and that any future IPO application by Guizhentang would bring even more opposition. "It is true that more and more people know about this issue," Zhang said. "Before, bear farming was such a small issue compared with other hot topics in society." China stopped issuing licenses for new bear farms in 1992 to protect the welfare of wild bears, but it also said bear bile is an important raw material in traditional Chinese medicine. While the number of bear farms has dropped from a few hundred to less than 100, the industry's production is increasing because farms are breeding more bears and illegally taking them from the wild, Zhang said. The China Association of Traditional Chinese Medicines said last year that China had more than 10,000 bears farmed for their bile, which can cost up to 4,000 yuan per kilogram ($295 per pound). |
