| Former Burmese Exile Broadcaster DVB Goes Commercial Posted: 03 Oct 2013 06:16 AM PDT  Khin Maung Win, deputy executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma, speaks during a ceremony at the Park Royal Hotel in Rangoon. (Photo: Saw Yan Naing / The Irrawaddy) After more than two decades relying mainly on donors to fund its reporting and broadcasting, the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), a leading Burmese news outlet, has announced that it will turn to a commercial business model as donor funding dries up. During an official announcement event at the Park Royal Hotel in Rangoon on Thursday, Khin Maung Win, deputy executive director of DVB, said "many challenges" would accompany the transformation. "We might have many challenges ahead because we have been running our operations for 21 years with funding from donors, relying mainly on donors in the past. And we are not familiar with the process of how to run the organization commercially," Khin Maung Win said. "But this is the only choice. We have no other option but to turn the organization into a commercial enterprise," he added. "Donors who have been funding us for 21 years think that there are many private media now inside the country [that are run commercially without donors]. They said that we have to survive in the media market. We need to compete. And that is what we can't deny. We have to accept it." The event was held to publicly announce that DVB would be accepting commercial advertising and was willing to partner with suitable companies. Maung Maung Win, a lawyer who serves as a legal consultant for DVB, said he would "try to help the company to be able to stand as a media firm in accordance with existing Burmese law. "Currently, we have already received the company's license. We have also paid tax to the government and provided bank account information." DVB was founded in 1992 by exile Burmese activists in Oslo, Norway, in cooperation with the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), a political organization formed to oppose the ruling military regime of the time. Both organizations were formed in exile, and the NCGUB was dissolved in September 2012. Originally produced as a shortwave radio broadcasting program, DVB launched a satellite TV pilot project in 2004, resulting in the launch of weekly satellite TV programming in May of 2005. Since 2009, DVB has won several international press awards including the Rory Peck Award. In 2012, DVB was among five Nobel Peace Prize finalists, for the news outlet's work providing credible, factual reporting on the situation in Burma in the face of severe repression by the former military regime. DVB moved its base of operations from Norway to Burma and Thailand in 2012. It began the gradual transformation from a donor-funded news outlet to self-reliant media with commercial partnerships in early 2013. An agent from an advertising company who attended the event on Thursday said DVB played a major role in broadcasting what was happening in Burma at a time when press freedom was nonexistent in the country. "Many people like it because there was no television that was broadcasting such critical news against the government at that time. If they can keep that momentum, it will still have a big audience. We are learning and considering putting ads on their TV," said the agent. Many Burmese became fans of DVB in 2007, when military troops brutally cracked down on nationwide demonstrations led by Buddhist monks in the so-called Saffron Revolution, which DVB journalists filmed at great personal risk. Video of the protests and government-sanctioned violence also put Burma in the international spotlight for a time. The post Former Burmese Exile Broadcaster DVB Goes Commercial appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Thandwe Tense But Calm, As Police Detain Arakan Leaders Posted: 03 Oct 2013 06:08 AM PDT  Muslims who lost their homes in recent violence clap as an official brings them food at a temporary refugee camp in Thapyu Kyain village, near Thandwe on Thursday. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — After four days of inter-communal violence in Thandwe Township, southern Arakan State, the situation appeared to have calmed down on Thursday and no further anti-Muslim attacks were reported, local police said, adding that at least 102 homes were destroyed during the unrest. Two local Arakanese Buddhist leaders were detained by the police in relation to the outbreak of the anti-Muslim violence. A Thandwe police officer said 102 houses were destroyed in three Muslim villages of Thapyu Kyain, Pauktaw and Mae Kyun, adding that six people had died there during the unrest, including one elderly man who suffered a heart attack. "Today, things have calmed down. The police is in control of everything now, we are keeping an eye on the situation," said the officer, who declined to be named as he was unauthorized to speak with the media. "We are trying hard to impose rule of law," he said. "Both the armed forces and security forces of Thandwe have been on standby in downtown and also in villages to create peace and stability." The officer said, however, that only 80 policemen and soldiers had been deployed in the area to prevent further outbreaks of violence in the town and surrounding villages. Nyi Lay, a Muslim villager from Thapyu Kyain, said all residents had fled the village after a Buddhist mob attacked the settlement. He said about 40 villagers had fled to a nearby Muslim village called Lin Thee, located about one mile away, while another 30 people escaped to another village called Pyin Yong. "Now, I'm afraid to go back to my home village. Because they are waiting to attack me," he told The Irrawaddy by phone from Lin Thee. Two Irrawaddy reporters travelling through villages in Thandwe Township observed that tensions remained high on Thursday. In Pauktaw village Arakanese villagers armed with knives and sticks were seen walking around amid burned down houses, while several unarmed police and soldiers guarded a dozen or so scared Muslim villagers. Police officers and a local NLD representative told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that five Muslim villages had suffered attacks by Buddhist mobs carrying swords and machetes, and dozens of homes and several mosques were destroyed. Hundreds of Muslim villagers have been forced to flee their homes and some fled to a nearby forest. Five Arakanese Buddhists were reportedly seriously injured when they were attacked by a group of Muslims on Wednesday as they were travelling on the road from Taungup to Thandwe. Rakhine Nationalities Development Party (RNDP) spokesperson Khine Pyi Soe said authorities had detained six local Arakanese Buddhist leaders on Wednesday in order to question them about their possible involvement in the anti-Muslim violence. He said two local RNDP members, including Thandwe RNDP chairman Maung Pu, were being questioned, adding that two members from a Buddhist community organization called Protection of Nationality, Religion and Dhamma, and three other Thandwe residents had also been brought to the police station. "Two policemen took Maung Pu, saying they had to talk to him. We called the state police chief police to ask why they arrested them and also where they are detaining them, but they said that they don't know," Khine Pyi Soe said. "If we don't get any information about them in the next 24 hours, we will take legal action," he said. "Police arrested them because maybe they think that they were linked to the violence that happened in Thandwe." International human rights groups have accused local leaders from the RNDP and community organizations of planning deadly attacks on Rohingya Muslim communities in northern Arakan State last year, with the aim of ethnically cleansing Rohingyas from these areas. In Thandwe, the violence began after a Buddhist motorbike taxi driver became embroiled in an argument with a local Muslim leader in Thandwe town on Sunday. Buddhist mobs later crowded the Muslim leader's his house and pelted it with stones. At night, two Muslim-owned were houses burned down and subsequently the violence spread through villages surrounding the town. The unrest in Thandwe has coincided with President Thein Sein's first official visit to Arakan State since deadly, inter-communal violence broke out in June 2012. The president visited Sittwe, Kyaukphyu and Maungdaw townships on Tuesday and Thandwe on Wednesday, where he met with local Buddhist and Muslim leaders. Thein Sein left Arakan State on Thursday morning. Senior officials accompanied the president and on Wednesday Defense Minister Lt-Gen Hla Min and Chief of general staff Gen Hla Htay, along with Arakan State ministers and state lawmakers, visited some of the affected Muslim villages, where they provided villagers with aid support. A government statement released on Thursday said authorities "will take measures for bringing an end to the conflicts as quick as possible, bringing rioters to trial in accordance with the law and rebuilding the houses which were burnt down." US, UK and UN officials have released statements in the past two days expressing concern about the violence and calling on the Burmese government to intervene to immediately end the violence and protect local communities. More than 100,000 people live in Thandwe, a coastal town in southern Arakan State. The town has an airport that is used by tourists visiting the popular beach resort Ngapali, located nearby. Thandwe has a large Muslim community, which comprises mostly ethnic Kaman and other recognized Muslim minorities. In northern Arakan State, the Muslim population call themselves Rohingyas. The latter group is not recognized as Burmese citizens, and the government refers to the group as "Bengali" immigrants from Bangladesh. Burma's central government and Arakan State authorities have been accused of doing little to prevent Buddhist mob attacks on the Rohingya and other Muslim minorities, and of tacitly supporting the Buddhist perpetrators. Thandwe Township was largely spared from the bloody inter-communal violence that broke out in Sittwe, Maungdaw and other northern townships in June and October 2012 between Arakanese Buddhists and Rohingyas. During last year's violence, 192 people were killed and about 140,000 people were displaced, most of them Muslims. Many continue to live in dirty, crowded camps where they live under numerous government restrictions. The post Thandwe Tense But Calm, As Police Detain Arakan Leaders appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| On Gandhi’s Birthday, India Offers Assistance to Transitioning Burma Posted: 03 Oct 2013 05:44 AM PDT  Indian Ambassador to Burma Gautam Mukhopadhaya speaks at the Myanmar Peace Center in Rangoon on Wednesday. (Photo: Saw Yan Naing / The Irrawaddy) Diplomats and scholars say neighboring India has much to offer Burma as it transitions away from authoritarian rule, with the world's largest democracy also no stranger to the kind of ethnic conflicts that have for decades troubled the Southeast Asian nation. At a ceremony marking Indian national hero Mahatma Gandhi's birthday in Rangoon on Wednesday, Indian Ambassador to Burma Gautam Mukhopadhaya said the Indian Embassy was looking into ways that New Delhi might work together with the Myanmar Peace Center (MPC), a Burmese government-affiliated organization that is helping facilitate peace negotiations between the central government and the nation's ethnic armed groups. He said the Indian Embassy would also work closely with the government and civil society groups as Burma undergoes further democratic reforms and works toward national reconciliation. "We have some plans to invite more speakers, scholars from India [to share experiences]," said Mukhopadhaya. "Beyond that, we also have some other ideas. We can have programs on peace education involving schoolchildren, and have more exhibitions. We will work together with the people and see what we can do. But, we believe that everything [in terms of political change] will come from inside." Thant Myint-U, a US-born Burma historian of Burmese descent, said India would be an ideal nation to help Burma's transition to democracy, given the two countries' similarly diverse ethnic populations—and the inter-communal and political discord that this has sometimes sown. "I think India can help a lot and share its experiences," said Thant Myint-U, who now heads the Yangon Heritage Trust. "India is a democratic country; they have a federal system and have many ethnic groups. So, we can also learn what they do right and what they have done wrong. How it did work and didn't work." Aung Naing Oo, joint director of the MPC's peace dialogue program, said it was time for Burma to open up further after decades of isolation, adding that the process should include efforts to build better relations with all the world's nations, including India and two countries often seen as geopolitical rivals—the United States and China. "It is time that Burma practices a multi-alignment policy. We have to make friends with many and build better relationships. It is always better that we have more friends," Aung Naing Oo said. He said Burma would have to forge better relations with the United States while maintaining friendly ties with China, the northern neighbor that Burma has long relied on in the face of past economic sanctions and condemnation from Western governments. Though the India-Burma border has reportedly led to recent tensions and competing territorial claims by troops stationed in the area, India is moving forward with assistance to Burma, helping to upgrade the country's transportation infrastructure and set up industrial colleges. Asked about the potential peace education program referenced by the Indian ambassador, Aung Naing Oo said there had not yet been detailed discussions between the Indian Embassy and the MPC, but added that the MPC would welcome any peace program put forward. As Burma has transitioned from authoritarian rule to more democratic governance, allowing for a nascent culture of protest among its citizens for the first time in nearly a half century, India and China have found that their formerly opaque dealings with the ex-military regime are increasingly under scrutiny. In response, both China and India have adopted more active public relations campaigns, accepting interview requests from media and releasing public statements on their activities in efforts to cultivate a more transparent image. In addition to a contingent of officials from the Indian diplomatic corps, Derek Mitchell, the US ambassador to Burma, also attended Wednesday's MPC event. Commenting on Burma's reform efforts, Mitchell said the United States was also closely watching the process and was eager to offer its own support. "The Burmese government appears quite serious about bringing peace for the first time in 60 years. But it also really depends on the individual ethnic groups in terms of how they want to respond. … But, peace has to be just and equal for ethnic minorities," Mitchell said. Asked about the Chinese governments apparent charm offense in Burma, Mitchell said, "We think Burma needs to have good relation with all neighbors. We recognize it should have all sorts of friends. They have to be friends with everyone." Indian independence hero Gandhi visited Burma three times—in 1902, 1915 and 1929. During his trips, he traveled extensively across the country, visiting several towns including Rangoon, Mandalay and Moulmein, the capital of Mon State. Aung Naing Oo said India and Burma had a common interest in ending conflict in northeastern India, which shares a mountainous border with Burma's Kachin State, Sagaing Division and Chin State. India has employed a development-based approach to deal with several insurgencies in the country's northeast, which is connected to the country's main land mass by a tiny corridor between Bangladesh and Nepal. Like Burma, the rebel groups in northeast India have variously called for separate states, regional autonomy and complete independence for decades. Though low-level separatist movements still exist, the intensity of their campaigns has decreased in recent years. The post On Gandhi's Birthday, India Offers Assistance to Transitioning Burma appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| The Demise of a Once Powerful Communist Party—Now in Burmese Posted: 03 Oct 2013 05:40 AM PDT  Copies of the Burmese-language translation of Bertil Lintner's book on the Communist Party of Burma are seen at a bookshop in Rangoon. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON— It happened one night in the summer of 1989. Mutineers invaded their party headquarters at a border town near the Burmese-Chinese frontier in northeastern Shan State. In an outburst of anti-party feeling, they took full control on the central armory and smashed the portraits of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Mao Zedong hung on the walls of the office in Panghsang. They destroyed Communist literature and kicked out their aging leaders to China. After more than four decades of armed struggle against Burma's central government, the Communist party of Burma (CPB) fizzled out. Within one month, one of Asia's longest Communist insurrections, a perpetual headache to the Southeast Asian country's government since 1948, came to an end. Now, 24 years later, with the release this week of a Burmese-language translation of veteran journalist Bertil Lintner's "The Rise and Fall of the Communist Party of Burma," Burmese readers can glimpse at why this long-living and highly influential political party now belongs to history. In its heyday, the CPB, which is Burma's oldest political party, was also the most popular. According to the party's brief official history, published in 1964, the party was born out of Burma's nationalist movement during British colonial rule and class struggle. Burmese national hero Aung San was its first elected general secretary when founded in 1939. The party's Peasant Union once had nearly one million members and won the hearts and minds of people by resisting fascism, particularly by fighting the Japanese. At that time, CPB reportedly had nearly 30,000 guerrilla fighters under its control. But in the face of increasing disagreements with the government since in the late 1940s, the party went underground and was outlawed in 1953, finally breaking up after the 1989 mutiny. "The CPB is dead as a political force, and [has] been so since 1989," Lintner told The Irrawaddy by email.
"The party has no organization left inside the country. And, let’s face it, there is no future for 'Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought' or 'the dictatorship of the proletariat' in modern politics anywhere in the world today." Despite the party's demise, the book has some lessons for modern-day Burma, said Kyaw Win, who translated Lintner's text into Burmese. The newly translated book documents how the CPB turned from a party with mass support to an armed resistance group, and how and why the insurgency failed. Kyaw Win said the party's history raises the question of why such an influential political party has completely died out. "The book may not be likely to provide a complete answer to that question, but I think it has, to some extent, something taken into consideration about it," said the translator, who himself fled into jungle for his belief in Communism in his younger days. Kyaw Win, 61—who is also famous for his Burmese translation of Thomas L. Freidman's "The World Is Flat"—explained that even though Lintner is not an historian, the Swedish journalist traveled extensively to the CPB's stronghold areas and conducted sit-down interviews with the people involved. "My translation was based on the author's updates to the book in 2012," Kyaw Win said. Lintner, a veteran journalist who has written six books on Burma, also had his book on the 1988 uprising, "Outrage: Burma's Struggle for Democracy," translated into Burmese and published in the country for the first time in June this year. Lintner said he had added an epilogue to the latest edition, telling readers what has happened since the book's first English edition was published in 1990. "A CPB veteran, now living abroad, also sent me a list of factual errors (very minor, though, mostly to do with the transliteration of Burmese names into English, but also some dates which I had got wrong) and I am thankful to him for being able to correct those," he said. The veteran journalist said he thought it was important for people to know what kind of party the CPB actually was. "I felt it necessary to provide an accurate account of the party, its history and why there was a mutiny in 1989," he said. "Some previous books written by Western academics were not accurate, and contained lots of mistakes and misunderstandings. Some of them had never met and interviewed anyone from the party, and never visited its base area," said the writer who was the only foreign journalist ever to visit the CPB's territory in northeastern Shan State, including party headquarters at Panghsang. He spent six months (from October 1986 to April 1987) inside the CPB controlled-area, and interviewed all the leaders of the party, among them chairman Thakin Ba Thein Tin, general secretary Khin Maung Gyi, Brig Gen Kyaw Zaw and several others. Lwin Oo, the Burmese publisher of the book, said the translation was first serialized in local daily newspaper The Voice. He said that Lintner did much to help make the Burmese translation possible, granting publishing permission, providing pictures and asking for nothing in terms of royalty payments. "I just wanted to publish the book because young people today should know about a now-defunct and long-time influential political party of our country and take political lessons from what happened in the past," Lwin Oo said. Linter points out in his book that the CPB had before the mutiny in effect ceased to function as a properly organized Communist party. He said the party never tried to implement land reform in its stronghold in northeastern Burma—in a sharp contrast to the dramatic land-distribution schemes which the party had carried out in central Burma in the early 1950s. "Communist ideology became a hollow concept without any real meaning to the people in the northeastern base areas," he writes. "It would be an important history lesson for the CPB that it faced mutiny because they had prioritized their ideology rather than ethnic rights (in the region)." The post The Demise of a Once Powerful Communist Party—Now in Burmese appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Muslims Blocked From Hospitals in Western Burma Posted: 03 Oct 2013 05:33 AM PDT  People displaced by violence in Arakan State last year near Sittwe. (Photo: Khin Maung Win / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — On the heels of renewed anti-Muslim violence this week in western Burma, and as President Thein Sein concludes a rare visit to the region, health care providers say discriminatory practices at local government hospitals are preventing Muslim patients with life-threatening conditions from accessing treatment. Since sectarian clashes first broke out in Arakan State last year, Muslims facing state-imposed restrictions on their movement have been forced to rely on doctors with mobile clinics who can reach them in isolated villages or camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs). But in emergency cases that require more specialized treatment, these doctors have struggled to make referrals to public hospitals, which almost invariably refuse to accept Muslim patients. Of 70,000 medical consultations conducted in the state during the first six months of this year, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), an international humanitarian organization, could only make 46 hospital referrals, a number it says is far below the amount needed. "There is a gap between the number of referrals we're able to make and the number of people that need referral, and as a result people are dying," Vickie Hawkins, deputy head of mission in Burma for MSF-Holland, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday. A number of life-threatening conditions cannot be treated at mobile clinics, she said, adding that women with complicated pregnancies were among those who most frequently required hospital referrals. Several factors have prevented referrals, she said. Among the biggest challenges was the fact that Muslim patients are accepted at just one public hospital in the entire state, Sittwe General Hospital in the state capital. Each township in the state has a public hospital, but none will treat Muslims. MSF said township hospitals cite security concerns as a reason for excluding Muslims, saying staff members in the past have been threatened by local community members for admitting the religious minority. Muslims comprise about 5 percent of the 60 million or so population in Buddhist-majority Burma. In Arakan State, a Muslim group known as the Rohingya faces particular discrimination and makes up the majority of those displaced from their homes in clashes last year. They are seen by local Buddhists as illegal immigrants and are largely denied citizenship by the government, although many have lived in the country for generations. Township hospitals deny admission not only to the Rohingya, but also to Muslims of other ethnicities, such as the Kaman, who are recognized by the government as citizens. As a result, Muslim patients must travel far distances to Sittwe. For example, if doctors at a mobile clinic in Mrauk-U Township encounter a Muslim woman experiencing a difficult labor or another medical issue, they cannot drive her about 30 minutes to the nearest township hospital, but must instead refer her to Sittwe General Hospital, about three hours away by car. Once there, she would be confined to a separate ward for Muslims. The roughly 200-bed state-level hospital has about 18 beds for Muslim patients, Hawkins of MSF estimated, adding that an estimated 300,000 Muslims live in Sittwe and surrounding townships. Due to the limited number of beds, the hospital can only accept patients who meet specific referral criteria. The criteria, developed by state health authorities, are stricter for Muslims than for Buddhists, Hawkins said, because fewer beds are available for them. State authorities must also individually authorize referrals for each Muslim patient, a process that takes time and creates a bottleneck. "I've never seen a situation where it has been so difficult to refer patients—never," said Hawkins, who has worked with MSF for 15 years, including stints in Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and Zimbabwe. In Myebon Township, at a camp with about 4,000 Muslims, the humanitarian organization has made only two successful emergency referrals since last November, both when high-profile UN officials were visiting. The referral situation has improved somewhat in recent months, however. Sittwe General Hospital has started accepting a broader selection of patients, including some Muslims who require specialized treatment but are not necessarily in life-threatening situations. MSF has doubled its number of emergency referrals in the last three months to 46, as opposed to the same number in the first six months of the year, and Sittwe General has also started to accept outpatient referrals in the last eight weeks. But Hawkins added: "There's still a long way to go, there's still a big backlog and many more patients out there who still need a referral and simply are not getting it because of all the challenges," including lack of access to township hospitals and limited beds at available facilities. She said the increase in patient numbers at Sittwe General Hospital also placed enormous strains on the staff and resources there, considering the large population served. Once a referral is approved, transportation from remote villages to the state capital is a challenge. Due to the geography of the coastal state, patients in some villages require boat transport, but local boat captains are reluctant to offer their services, fearing threats by community members for helping Muslims. A number of speedboats are deployed, primarily by UN agencies, but these agencies have other work ongoing. With a lack of available boats, MSF teams have been forced in some situations to defer a referral overnight. "Unfortunately, when the teams have returned the next day to transfer the patient, some of those patients have not survived the night," Hawkins said. MSF could not provide definitive concrete data on the number of people who have died due to a lack of access to hospital care in the state, but confirmed that this situation has arisen with its teams on a number of occasions even since establishing an improved referral system in March. When boats arrive at a jetty near Sittwe, patients are driven to the hospital. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) transported about 1,000 patients—mostly Muslims but also Buddhists—to and from Sittwe General Hospital from January through July, in collaboration with the Myanmar Red Cross Society. Patients are driven in a Toyota Land Cruiser that is well identified with a red cross. "It's a basic service but a vital service," said Bart Vermeiren, the ICRC deputy head of delegation in Burma. "For 24-hour [medical transport] service, I think we are the only organization." Sittwe is a sensitive environment, he adds, when asked whether drivers have been threatened for transporting Muslim patients. "A driver would never be alone in a car, always with a team," he said. "Sometimes, and I would not call it regularly, there is a misunderstanding about what we are doing, and we have to explain to people very clearly that we are driving straight to the hospital and driving straight back to the camp or to the boat after discharge. "Up until now we have managed. We have never had physical threats, but it happens that you need to clearly explain, because people might think or perceive that we are bringing people into towns, which is not the case." Sectarian clashes in western Burma broke out in June and October last year, leaving about 200 people dead and more than 140,000 displaced. The majority of victims were Rohingya Muslims. Anti-Muslim riots have spread this year to several other locations across the country. This week in Arakan State, Buddhists and Muslims clashed again near the coastal town of Thandwe, with Buddhist mobs burning dozens of homes, injuring dozens of people and leaving at least five people dead, including a 94-year-old Muslim woman. Authorities increased security in Thandwe on Wednesday, hoping to restore order after four days of violence. The rioting came as Thein Sein traveled to the restive state for the first time since violence broke out last year. The president's three-day trip this week included visits to camps in Sittwe and meetings with community leaders. He also went to Thandwe and to Mrauk-U, where he left instructions on how to promote stability and socioeconomic development, according to state-run media. Anti-Muslim violence has been a major stain on Thein Sein's administration during the country's transition from about five decades of military rule. In a message to religious leaders published in state newspapers on Wednesday, the president said the ongoing conflict between Muslims and Buddhists "harms and delays the state reforms and tarnishes the national image internationally." "We are building a new national identity representing the entire country," he said. "While accepting diversity, it is advised to make collective efforts for ending discrimination." Earlier this week, at the UN General Assembly in New York, Burma's foreign minister called for inclusive socioeconomic development to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. These goals include improvements in health care, with a focus on reducing child mortality rates, promoting maternal health, and combating HIV, malaria and other diseases. "In many developing countries, especially least developed ones, a large proportion of populations are still grappling with poverty, hunger, economic and social disparity, and environmental degradation," Wunna Maung Lwin said, as quoted by state media. "On our part, we have been exerting relentless efforts to raising socioeconomic conditions of the people with poverty alleviation as the core priority of the national economic strategy in commensurate with the MDGs." He added: "We try our best to ensure that no one from communities or our national ethnic groups are left behind and excluded from enjoying the fruits of our reforms and the exciting life of the nation. It includes our extensive efforts, in cooperation with the UN and NGO humanitarian organizations, to improve the living conditions and livelihoods of all affected peoples without discrimination." Arakan State government spokesman Win Myaing was not available on Thursday to comment on efforts to improve health care in the state, according to a staff member at his office, who said nobody else at the office could speak with media. Burma's Ministry of Health, whose budget is equivalent to about 3 percent of the national budget, has made some efforts to provide medical relief in Sittwe. It established a small emergency hospital known as Dar Pai west of Sittwe, where Muslim patients are sent if they need to stay in a hospital but do not require specialized care. Two doctors work for about two hours daily at the hospital, five days a week. The rest of the time, a nurse and health assistant are on duty. The UN Population Fund (UNFPA), which supports reproductive health services, says the hospital is equipped to provide normal and complicated deliveries as well as post-abortion care, but health care providers say more resources are required for emergency care. The post Muslims Blocked From Hospitals in Western Burma appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| SIM Card Revolution Still At Least Eight Months Away, Says Telenor Chief Posted: 03 Oct 2013 05:27 AM PDT  A man in Rangoon shakes a box containing tickets at a lottery for the distribution of SIM cards, which are currently only issued on a limited basis by state-owned companies. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — Mobile phone operator Telenor expects to have its license to operate in Burma by the end of the year, but it will be at least another eight months until long-awaited affordable SIM cards become available, the Norwegian company's local chief said. Following a competitive tender, Telenor was named in June as one of the first two private firms, alongside Qatar's Ooredoo, to be awarded a license to offer mobile phone services in Burma. Years of a state domination of the telecommunications sector have meant the rates of access to mobile phones and the Internet in Burma are among the lowest in the world. Both companies are set to receive 15-year licenses and have pledged to rapidly expand the reach and affordability of telecommunications in Burma. Telenor Myanmar chief executive officer-designate PetterFurberg said Telenor would be ready to launch SIM cards, to be priced at 1,500 kyat, or about US$1.50, about eight months after the Burmese government awards the company an operating license. "We still don't have a license in hand, but we expect it to happen within not too many months," Furberg told The Irrawaddy in an interview in Rangoon on Wednesday. "It should definitely happen this year, sometime in the fourth quarter. And then you can add eight months and we're sometime in next year." Ooredoo has said it will start selling SIM cards next year, but it is also awaiting its license. The government is still in the process of passing a new Telecommunications Law that will set out many of the details of the licenses. The law made it through Burma's Parliament in August but has reportedly been sent back to lawmakers by President Thein Sein with recommended amendments. Furberg said the delay was "nothing worrisome" for Telenor, but said the company is keen to see the final draft in order to know the precise terms under which it will be working. "This is a natural process for any country where you have a law that is proposed from the government and then is being debated in the Parliament, and that might take a little bit of time. I think [that] is fair," he said. As soon as Telenor receives its license, Furberg said, the company will begin working toward its commitment of making both second- and third-generation phone and Internet services available to 80 percent of the country within five years. "It's a challenge. It's not an easy country to operate in. It's not an easy country to build infrastructure in, so we're very humbled by the task," he said. "From the customers' perspective, what they will get is both 2G and 3G coverage, more or less nationwide, and they will be able to use all the types of services that you can use in other parts of the world." Through its network, Telenor will also look to provide mobile information services for farmers, services aiding the delivery of health care over long distances and money transfer services that can be used by people without bank accounts, he said. Only about 10 percent of an estimated 60 million people in Burma currently has a mobile phone, and just 1 percent has access to the Internet. At present, only the state-owned Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) and Yatanarpon Teleport have telecommunications licenses. A highly controlled supply of SIM cards has fueled a black market where prices of more than $200 for a SIM are common. Telenor plans to issue SIM cards at 70,000 places across Burma, largely through small "mom-and-pop stores," said Furberg. Top up vouchers will be available at a total of 165,000 points of sale, he said. Achieving Telenor's ambitious coverage target will require a large number of new transmitters around the country. Furberg said he could not give details of the company's plans or the size of its investment in Burma because the company, while majority owned by the Norwegian government, is also a publicly listed company and therefore must announce such things officially. He did say, however, that Telenor was open to sharing with other parties the transmitter towers that will be used to create the mobile network. At a cost of about $100,000 to build a tower, he said, it made sense for operators to work together. "Particularly here in Myanmar, you have to import all the steel and a lot of concrete, which means a total waste of money at a time when the country needs to spend all its investments on building as efficient as possible infrastructure," he said. "The government is encouraging tower sharing, and we as a company believe in tower sharing because it is good for the environment and it brings down costs." According to Reuters, Jeremy Sell, the chief strategy officer at the Qatari government-owned operator Ooredoo, told a conference in Dubai on Wednesday that Ooredoo and Telenor were actively discussing sharing transmitter towers. "We might even outsource the entire build," Sell was quoted as saying, adding that Ooredoo would probably also cooperate with the state-owned operators on transmitters. Ooredoo did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but the company has previously said it would invest $15 billion in Burma over the course of its license. The post SIM Card Revolution Still At Least Eight Months Away, Says Telenor Chief appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Burma’s First Evening Private Daily on the Way Posted: 03 Oct 2013 04:06 AM PDT 
RANGOON — Burma's first private evening daily newspaper in five decades will be up and running this month, its managing editor says.
The Burmese-language newspaper, People Power, aims to hit the newsstands around 4 pm daily, as soon as it receives a license from the government's press registration board, expected this week or next week. "We have applied for a license, but we need to fulfill some requirements in the proposal," managing editor Nyein Thu told The Irrawaddy on Thursday, saying the press registration board had given a green light to the newspaper but required some additional paperwork. "That's why the publishing date has been delayed—we originally planned to publish by the first week of October." After a decades-long ban, private dailies were allowed to publish in Burma for the first time this year. Since April, about 14 private newspapers—including one English-language daily—have become available, along with four state-run newspapers. The 20-page, tabloid-style People Power newspaper will be the first daily in about five decades to publish in the afternoon, rather than in the morning, with news updates for after-work hours. Its logo will be a fist clenched around a star, and each issue will cost 100 kyats (about 10 cents). "All editorial members are young journalists," Nyein Thu said. A team of seven editors and 30 reporters will operate from the newsroom in Rangoon, targeting readers in the commercial capital initially, with plans to later expand to the country's second-biggest city, Mandalay. "We do believe we can do this. We have been preparing to publish this paper for a year." The editorial team hopes to initially publish 20,000 copies daily. The newspaper has financial support from OK Rice & General Trading, a local rice trading company, along with Rangoon-based goldsmith Golden Fish and a Rangoon-based bean and pulses exporter, Zaw Win Oo. "The publisher—U Maung Maung Zan, an author—is very familiar with the financers, so the financers will offer us loans with very little interest," the managing editor said. "The biggest challenge will be that all editorial members have focused on their reporting [in the past], so we may have some difficulty with newsroom management, because financers won't be involved in this process, but we believe we can handle it." Despite the newfound freedom to publish daily newspapers, industry observers say the unshackling of the Burma's press has not translated into immediate profit for publishers. In some local reports, private newspaper owners say they have lost 3 million kyats daily. Most publications depend on advertisements, but newspaper owners say daily ad rates are too low. Bertil Lintner, an author and veteran Burma watcher, said he expected only four or five dailies would survive in the long term. "Burma must be the only country in the world where new papers are being set up," he told The Irrawaddy. "In the rest of the world, newspapers are a dying breed, so it's amazing. But I don't think all of them can survive. Advertisements will not be enough to sustain all those papers. Distribution is another problem." Private evening newspapers were published in Burma in the years after 1950, following independence from the British, but after a military coup in 1962 private dailies were banned. The post Burma's First Evening Private Daily on the Way appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| ‘It Requires Being Shouted at for Several Years—and Listening’ Posted: 03 Oct 2013 01:18 AM PDT  Vicky Bowman, director of the Myanmar Center for Responsible Business, stands outside the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business in Rangoon. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) Interest in Burma's once moribund economy has never been more intense, with the country's opening to the West and a lifting of economic sanctions beckoning business scouts far and wide. And while that means jobs and development, it also brings concerns in a nation with a long history of human rights abuses and an uncertain legal landscape. Investments around the country have led to ongoing conflicts that have pitted local communities against companies, environmentalists against the government, and in one high-profile clash, police officers against monks. That's where the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business hopes it can help, offering itself as a resource to foreign and local executives, government officials and civil society. Its director, Vicky Bowman, served the better part of a decade among the British diplomatic corps to Burma, including more than three years as ambassador. She most recently worked as the global practice leader for external affairs at mining giant Rio Tinto, where she oversaw initiatives on transparency, human rights and community engagement. Bowman, a fluent Burmese speaker, sat down with The Irrawaddy to discuss the center's plans, the challenges to doing business in Burma, and the importance of companies engaging with local communities. Question: Who does your center serve? Answer: The center sees its primary stakeholders as being Myanmar [Burma] businesses, both large and small, and then secondarily, international businesses of all nationalities. What we're trying to do with the first set of stakeholders is help them understand what international standards and expectations of them are, so that they can be effective partners and effective suppliers to global supply chains. So it may be standards around transparency, it may be anticorruption, it may be standards around workers' rights. For international businesses we are here as a resource to help them understand what the specific social risks, human rights risks, of investing here are, and how they can work with local organizations so they have a better understanding of what they should do in the country to be responsible. And then the third set of stakeholders is Myanmar civil society, both its organized groups but also the communities who are affected by business investment. For them, it's around helping those groups to understand what expectations they should have in terms of behavior, both from Myanmar businesses and international businesses, and how to hold them to account on that. The final stakeholder is government, because obviously without government as a regulator you will not get effective, responsible business. Q: One of your initiatives will be the publication of 'sector-wide' impact assessments. Can you tell me more about these? A: Normally when you do an ESIA [Environmental/Social Impact Assessment], you do it on one project, you often do it for the company, and then the company keeps the findings confidential or shares them with government, and it's very rare that the government publishes them. Whereas the intention here is to not look at a single project or a single company, but to look at the experiences of communities, employees and employers in a particular sector—for example, oil and gas. And from that draw some conclusions which are more generic around recommendations on how to reduce negative impacts and increase positive impacts on communities, employees and so on, so that companies will hopefully not repeat mistakes of the past. Q: When do you hope to have the assessments completed? A: Our aim is to have those two completed [oil and gas, and tourism] by March next year, and in particular what we're seeking to do with the oil and gas one is to have it as a useful report in time for the announcement of the bids in the ongoing offshore and onshore round, because those companies are being told that they will have to fairly rapidly do ESIAs. We hope that by doing a sectoral impact assessment, it will make life easier for those companies because it gives them a starting point, they don't have to reinvent the wheel. Next year we'll start on agriculture and ICT [Information and Communication Technologies]. Q: Is the government gaining a better understanding of what constitutes responsible business? A: I think it is, but there is still a long way to go and part of it is the fact that what may be understood by the central government isn't yet necessarily understood out in the regions or allowed for in the bureaucracy. What we're hearing is yes, we want to have responsible businesses. But what we're also seeing, I think, off the back of Myitsone[a Chinese-backed megadam project now suspended] and Letpadaung [a Chinese-backed copper mine], is that those companies who were here previously understand that the situation is changing and they are starting to change their approaches. What is really important, and the message that we keep saying to all companies that we're talking to, is direct contact between company and community, because that's what you really need in order to establish trust. If you allow, as a company, your contact with the community only to be mediated via government, that's where you start to get problems in any country, and certainly one where distrust of the government is still a major factor. Q: Do you think Chinese companies, some of which have been targets of significant anger from local communities, will seek the counsel of your center? A: We've already had some. The Chinese Embassy has arranged for us to meet with some of the major Chinese companies, so we've started a discussion with Wanbao Mining [which runs the Letpadaung mine] and heard the changes they've made to date. Q: A Wanbao representative described the renegotiated contract as a model for other foreign companies investing in Burma. Do you agree with that? A: I think what's happening, and particularly the renegotiation, will certainly have an impact on future mining contracts. Things like the 2 percent net profit into a fund for communities will also potentially be taken by the government and put into future contracts. What I'd like to see here though is also contract transparency, in other words that this contract should be publicly available, and nowadays that's becoming increasingly the norm. Q: What do you see as the biggest challenges for local businesses as this economy opens up? A: The need to shift away from the old practices of the past, where they kept four different books and didn't pay taxes. I think that whole question of corporate transparency is a big challenge because I know a lot of companies that are coming in from outside are having real problems finding partners who they feel comfortable with. While I don't think that international companies are necessarily going to hold it against companies for behaving in noncompliant ways in the past, they need to be confident that they're going to be compliant in the future, because as an international company, you are responsible for the behavior of your business partners. Q: Coca-Cola is perhaps the most high-profile case of a multinational partnering with a local firm. Have you talked to them about what that process has been like? A: It's quite clear that they're being very active on the whole question of corruption. They've got the Coke Code of Conduct in Burmese, they're developing things like cards for the drivers in the distribution network to handle the police when the police try to extract payoffs. So they're trying to find practical ways to address corruption both at the low level and also being very cautious of the need to avoid it at the high level. Q: Given the reforms of the last two years, and uncertainty about the durability of those changes, have you heard from businesses that they are waiting until after the 2015 elections to get involved here? A: Some are saying that, some not. All of these questions need to be looked at also in the wider context of a business's portfolio. Right now, with the economy in a bit of a downturn, with commodity prices down, companies are not looking to take on risky destinations. For the mining sector, had this been five or six years ago, I think you would already have more companies here. I think that's one of the key issues; that people, when they're looking at 2015, they're not just looking at it in terms of what that will mean for changes to government. They're hoping the market will become a more attractive destination, because right now it's having problems competing with other countries in the region that have more established legal frameworks. Q: The United States has human rights reporting requirements for companies investing here, which some companies have complained about for reasons of competitive disadvantage. Do you think requirements like that should be more widely adopted? A: I think with all of those requirements, the competitive disadvantage question is more a matter of the bureaucratic cost. The act of being transparent about what you're doing, who your partners are, is increasingly becoming one of competitive advantage. It's getting that balance right, requiring companies to be transparent while not requiring them to report the little stuff that doesn't matter. The US reporting requirements have faced criticisms from an NGO coalition who are looking at this, that of the ones who have reported to date, there isn't sufficient detail, and that's a valid criticism and it's a learning process, and we're only at an early stage in terms of US companies here. The way that Coke reports—I think it is planning its first report by the end of the year—could be a benchmark for what good reporting looks like. My parent organization, IHRB [Institute for Human Rights and Business], put in a submission suggesting the EU should introduce similar reporting requirements to encourage scrutiny, and potentially this is going to become part of the wider global push toward transparency by corporates. Although this is a test case, I don't think it's necessarily going to stop with Burma. Q: How should companies handle this new culture of protest in Burma? A: For a company, it comes back to having built that solid relationship with the community, because if you understand community dynamics, you know whether the voices that you're hearing are of the community or are issue protestors who have come in from outside, and if the community has confidence in you then they are more likely to say to activists who they don't see as pursuing their interest, 'It's fine, please go away.' Again, it all comes back to getting that strong relationship with the communities—which takes time, and that is one of the key things to watch out for on Wanbao Letpadaung. You cannot solve community outrage in the space of a year or six months, it requires a lot of going and being shouted at for several years—and listening. Q: What do you tell companies that are concerned about land tenure issues? A: The advice we give to companies is that land and corruption are probably the two biggest challenges they'll face here. In the end it's for them to do their due diligence and to establish, to the extent they can, what the land ownership is, and also to pursue, if appropriate, appropriate compensation practices that will be effective and not lead to the protests that we've seen elsewhere. Q: If you had to sum up a bit of advice for companies considering investing here, what would it be? A: Do your due diligence and extend it beyond anti-bribery into looking at the range of social and human rights issues you're going to encounter. The other thing I would say is work with others in the sector; see them not only as competitors but also as people with whom you can make common cause to address some of these issues. The post 'It Requires Being Shouted at for Several Years—and Listening' appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Victim of Arakan Violence Mourns Mother Left Behind Posted: 03 Oct 2013 04:11 AM PDT  A man walks out from a destroyed mosque that was burnt down in recent violence at Thapyuchai village, outside of Thandwe, in Arakan State, Oct. 3, 2013. (Photo: Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters) THABYUCHAING, Arakan State — Buddhist mobs carrying swords and knives swarmed Zaw Lay Khar's village again and again, clashing with Muslims and burning their homes. When she saw about 40 attackers approaching her home, she fled with her daughter but had to leave behind her 94-year-old mother. "They set the house on fire. There was nothing we could do but run. We didn't have time to help her," she said Thursday near her charred home, in the village of Thabyuchaing in western Burma's Arakan State. The attack had been two days earlier, but smoke still rose from the ruined buildings. Arakan was home to much of the sectarian violence that has killed hundreds of people since June 2012. Violence that began Sunday in Thandwe Township left five people dead, all of them Muslims, and at least 100 homes burned to the ground in three villages there, according to police Sgt. Aung Naing Win. He said at least one person was missing. The dead included Aye Kyi, the elderly mother of Zaw Lay Khar, a 62-year-old woman with sunken eyes. She returned to her destroyed home after the mobs left and found Aye Kyi's body—six cuts on her stomach, neck and head. In the nearby village of Pauktaw, Associated Press journalists visiting the area saw several women weeping near the charred remains of 40 torched houses. The latest bloodshed went on even as President Thein Sein arrived in the region for a visit that wrapped up Thursday, and it has thrown new attention on the government's failure to stop the unrest, which has displaced more than 140,000 people, the majority of them Muslims in this heavily Buddhist country. Thein Sein has been widely praised for overseeing an unprecedented political opening in the Southeast Asian nation since the army ceded power two years ago to a nominally civilian government led by retired military officers. But rights groups also accuse his government of tolerating, or even abetting, what they describe as ethnic cleansing directed against Muslims in Burma. They say authorities have done little to crack down on religious intolerance and failed to bridge a divide that has left hundreds of thousands of Muslims marginalized and segregated, many of them confined by security forces in inadequately equipped camps after fleeing their homes. Thein Sein paid a visit to the region this week for the first time since the unrest began. He visited Thandwe and left Thursday after meeting Muslim and Buddhist religious leaders. State television broadcast a statement Wednesday night from the president expressing sadness over the loss of life and destruction of property. The statement said both communities suffered casualties but it did not give numbers. "At a time the government is striving for stability and rule of law, such violence is not only a loss to Rakhine [Arakan] state but also to the country," the statement said. It added that the government would try its best to end the conflict, to expose and to bring to justice the perpetrators and to rebuild homes that were destroyed. Most of those targeted in Arakan state have been ethnic Rohingya Muslims, considered by many in the country to be illegal migrants from Bangladesh, though many of their families arrived generations ago. But the victims in this week's violence were Kaman, a Muslim minority group whose citizenship is recognized. Hla Sein, a Muslim speaking at a house in Thandwe on Wednesday, blamed ultranationalist Buddhists for sowing divisions between Buddhists and Muslims, who he said had lived together peacefully until recently. He said the president has not done enough to stop it. "It's just a political game," Hla Sein said. "The president is the most responsible person in the country. Up until now, when Muslim people have been killed, their property destroyed, he's been silent." Two of his cousins' houses were burned down a day ahead of Thein Sein's arrival. Witnesses said soldiers and police made no effort to stop the violence. Muslims, who account for about 4 percent of Burma's roughly 60 million people, have been the main victims of the violence, but they have been prosecuted for crimes related to the clashes far more often than members of the Buddhist majority. Associated Press writer Aye Aye Win contributed to this report from Rangoon. The post Victim of Arakan Violence Mourns Mother Left Behind appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Headline Posted: 02 Oct 2013 11:57 PM PDT |
| U Thant Library Project Stalling Due to Lack of Funds Posted: 02 Oct 2013 11:24 PM PDT  Daw Gyi at the doorway of U Thant's former home in Pantanaw, Irrawaddy Division. (Photo: Simon Roughneen / The Irrawaddy) PANTANAW, Irrawaddy Division — Now 81, Daw Gyi still has the receipt from U Thant acknowledging her family's purchase of the former schoolmaster's house in Pantanaw, a flood-prone township in the Irrawaddy Delta. It was 1957, the year that U Thant went to New York to work as Burma's representative at the United Nations. In neat Burmese script, the future UN secretary-general dashed off the amount received for the teak-timbered two-story house that was his birthplace: 1,750 kyats, less than US$2 in today's money, or a quarter of the taxi fare from Rangoon International Airport to the city's downtown. By Pantanaw standards, the house is spacious and airy—and conveniently located just behind the town's main street. It seemed like the perfect abode for anyone wanting to pass their days in this delta town, but Daw Gyi wasn't to know that the house would cause her moments of trouble. Four years after selling the homestead, U Thant was appointed UN secretary-general, the start of a decade-long tenure that coincided, give or take a year, with the first decade of the Gen Ne Win military dictatorship in Burma. "Intelligence officers kept an eye on this house all the time," Daw Gyi recalls. "It was so annoying and disappointing," the 81-year-old says, pausing after the "so" while thinking of the right words to say. By all accounts, Burma's ruler had little time for U Thant, likely due to envy at the renown in which the diplomat was held overseas. U Thant's long friendship and collaboration with U Nu, the prime minister ousted by Ne Win in Burma's 1962 coup, most likely didn't endear U Thant to Burma's dictator either. Notoriously, in 1974, after U Thant died and his body was flown home to Burma for burial, Ne Win refused to give a state funeral and sought to keep the repatriation hush-hush. Word spread, however, and Ne Win's peevish-looking snub of U Thant roused anger in Rangoon, leading to anti-government protests and a tug-of-war over where U Thant should be buried. In Pantanaw, where the former teacher U Thant had been elevated to near-hero status, there was anger too. "People here were furious, and many, me included, went to Rangoon to protest," recalls Saw Naing, speaking of the furor that erupted over how U Thant was treated, posthumously, by the Ne Win regime. Soft-spoken 75-year-old Saw Naing is the prime mover behind the U Thant library, now a half-finished redbrick building site at the edge of Pantanaw. The library will feature a newly-minted 300-pound bronze bust of U Thant—which is for now housed at the town's main Buddhist monastery—as well as sheaves of newspaper clippings, photographs and other memorabilia. There will be no shortage of portrait photos of U Thant, for sure, as in Pantanaw a black-and-white shot of the suited secretary-general hangs in most homes—alongside the ubiquitous, framed photo of Burma's independence leader, Gen Aung San. But such keepsakes notwithstanding, Saw Naing doesn't envisage the library as a mere memorial to Pantanaw's best-known son. "We hope to have Internet, computers, new books and newspapers," he says. "It will be a living building for people to work in and know about the world," he says. For now the library has a floor and walls, but no roof, windows or doors. It's a long way from completion, despite US$60,000 in funding provided to date. Half of that money was given by Padoh Mahn Nyein Maung, a key Karen leader and former political prisoner, with the remainder made up of donations from Pantanaw business people. "We need another US$100,000 to finish the job," says Saw Naing, adding that he already approached both the Irrawaddy regional government and national officials in Naypyidaw, seeking backing, but despite getting verbal support for the library, no money has been forthcoming yet. "At present, no one there is interested," Saw Naing says, a wry smile opening as he finishes the line. Daw Gyi says pilgrims come to her house now and then, about 10 this year so far, and mostly academics and embassy officials. "When people come, I show them the letter," she says, pushing across the table the now-laminated note written by U Thant that, over time, stands as much as a farewell to his homeplace as a bill of receipt. But both Saw Naing and Daw Gyi are optimistic that the house and library—if and when complete—can together attract a wider range of visitors to Pantanaw, a market town just off the main road from Rangoon to Pathein, the regional capital of Irrawaddy Division. "We hope tourists and Burmese can both visit," Saw Naing says. The post U Thant Library Project Stalling Due to Lack of Funds appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| The Mother Who Was Overlooked Posted: 02 Oct 2013 10:54 PM PDT  In this article first appeared in July, 2006 print issue of The Irrawaddy Magazine, Kyaw Zwa Moe, the editor of the magazine (English edition), writes about the true inspiration behind the political ideals and acumen of Aung San Suu Kyi.
People who are acquainted with the name Aung San know of Aung San Suu Kyi. Equally, people for whom Suu Kyi is a famous name also know of Aung San. Aung San and Suu Kyi, father and daughter, share symbolic resemblances when it comes to Burma's politics. While the late Aung San is held as a symbol of the country's independence, Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi, who celebrated her 61st birthday on June 19, is regarded as a symbol of democracy. But this heritage could hardly have come directly from her father—she was just two years old when Gen Aung San, Burma's founding father, was assassinated by political rivals in 1947. "My father died when I was too young to remember him," Suu Kyi wrote in a preface to her biography Aung San of Burma, published in 1984. So, who was Suu Kyi's mentor and who inspired her to become a national leader of her father's stature? The answer can only be her mother, the late Khin Kyi, who was regarded as one of Burma's most influential women of her time, although she never achieved the fame of her husband and daughter. "Daw Khin Kyi made her children, from their earliest years, aware of their father's heritage," wrote M Than E in an article, A Flowering of the Spirit: Memories of Suu and Her Family, which was published in Suu Kyi's book Freedom From Fear. M Than E, once a famous singer and retired senior staff member of the UN's secretariat, is a close friend of Aung San's family. Some other close friends believe as well as being a conscientious mother, Khin Kyi was her daughter's political and cultural mentor. "In front of her mother, Daw Suu looked like an innocent child, not knowing anything, including politics and things like that," said the celebrated poet Tin Moe, who had meetings with Khin Kyi and Suu Kyi in the 1980s. Khin Kyi was very well informed and knew a lot about Burma's politics, although she rarely paraded her knowledge, said the poet. When she talked about politics, she was very diplomatic—Suu Kyi must have learned a great deal about Burma's politics from her mother, he added. Tin Moe was often invited in the early 1980s to visit Khin Kyi at her lakeside home in Rangoon. Suu Kyi would be there, visiting from her home in London, and Khin Kyi would chat with them while gardening or sitting in the kitchen. Although Khin Kyi never shared the fame of her husband and daughter, she was a successful woman in her field. She was a member of parliament from 1947-1952, became chairperson of the Women's Association of Burma in the 1950s and a leading light in other social organizations. In 1960 she became Burma's first and only woman ambassador, representing her country in India and also taking special responsibility for Nepal. Her teenage daughter wasn't neglected in this busy time—Suu Kyi studied diligently, took riding and piano lessons and dallied with such social skills as flower arrangement. Khin Kyi's achievements were rewarded with honors from the US, Yugoslavia and Thailand, while at home the Rangoon government awarded her the Maha Thiri Thudhamma prize, given for services to Burmese social and religious life. Suu Kyi was the child of a happy union. Her father fell deeply in love with the senior staff nurse who treated him during his World War II campaigns and they married in 1942. Khin Kyi was the name of the beautiful young nurse. Suu Kyi wrote of the romance in her biography of her father: "[Khin Kyi] handled Aung San with firmness, tenderness, and good humor. The formidable commander-in-chief was thoroughly captivated. "Aung San had married a woman who had not only the courage and warmth he needed in his life's-companion but also the steadfastness and dignity to uphold his ideals after he was gone." These ideals were clearly instilled in her daughter by Khin Kyi. The respected 87-year-old author and poet Dagon Tayar noted a significant parallel in the thinking of father and daughter—"Whatever Ko Aung San said, he had one condition: 'if Burma restores independence.' Like her father, Daw Suu always has one condition: if Burma restores democracy." In a phone conversation from his home in Shan State, Dagon Tayar summed up Khin Kyi's character in one word: "integrity." Suu Kyi decided to enter Burmese politics in 1988 when students initiated a nationwide pro-democracy movement against the authoritarian regime. She was then living in London but visiting Rangoon to look after her ailing mother. She decided instinctively that not only her mother needed her—so did Burma. Khin Kyi had only months to live—she died in December 1988—but the poet Tin Moe believes Suu Kyi consulted her before taking up politics and obtained her mother's approval. A huge crowd of mourners, estimated to number 200,000, gathered to pay their last respects at Khin Kyi's funeral. One large gap remains in this family story—a biography of Khin Kyi. Tin Moe says the ever-modest Khin Kyi turned down a biography proposal by one of Burma's most popular writers. Perhaps the time has come for Suu Kyi to attempt the task—she is, after all, the person most qualified to profile a woman who so shaped her life and who has been overlooked by posterity. A biography of Khin Kyi by her daughter would not only provide a fascinating version of the Aung San family story but also throw much light on the politics of post-colonial Burma. The post The Mother Who Was Overlooked appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Arakan Muslims Hide Amid Deadly Sectarian Clashes in Thandwe Posted: 02 Oct 2013 10:28 PM PDT  Muslims cry after losing their homes in recent violence in Thapyu Kyain village, outside of Thandwe on Wednesday. (Photo: Reuters / Soe Zeya Tun) THANDWE — Terrified Muslim families hid in forests in western Burma a day after fleeing renewed sectarian violence that killed at least five people even as the president toured the divided region for the first time. The violence underscored the government’s failure to stop the unrest from spreading since it erupted last year, costing hundreds of people their lives and many thousands their homes. Tuesday’s unrest near the coastal town of Thandwe saw Buddhist mobs kill a 94-year-old woman and four other Muslims and burn dozens of homes. Thein Sein arrived in Thandwe on Wednesday, the second day of his visit to Arakan state, and met leaders from both communities. In a message to religious leaders that ran in Burma’s state-run newspapers, Thein Sein said the sectarian unrest threatens the government’s reform process "and tarnishes the national image internationally." State television broadcast a statement Wednesday night from the president expressing sadness over the violence and saying the government would pursue justice. It did not say how many people were injured or killed. Thein Sein has been widely praised for overseeing an unprecedented political opening in the Southeast Asian nation since the army ceded power two years ago to a nominally civilian government led by retired military officers. But rights groups also accuse his government of tolerating, or even abetting, what they describe as ethnic cleansing directed against the Muslim Rohingya minority in Burma. They say authorities have done little to crack down on religious intolerance and failed to bridge a divide that has left hundreds of thousands of Muslims marginalized and segregated, many of them confined by security forces in inadequately equipped camps for those who fled their homes. "It’s just a political game," said Hla Sein, a 54-year-old Muslim man speaking at a house in Thandwe. "The president is the most responsible person in the country. Up until now, when Muslim people have been killed, their property destroyed, he’s been silent," he said, as six men sitting with him nodded in agreement. He blamed ultra-nationalist Buddhists for sowing divisions between Buddhists and Muslims who until now have been living peacefully together. Two of his cousins’ houses were burned down a day ahead of Thein Sein’s arrival. Witnesses said soldiers and police made no efforts to step in to try to stop violence that afflicted several villages. In Thapyu Kyain village, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of Thandwe, more than 700 rioters, some swinging swords, took to the streets Tuesday, police officer Kyaw Naing said. A 94-year-old Muslim woman died from stab wounds in the clashes that followed, the officer said, adding that between 70 and 80 houses were set on fire. Another officer, however, said only 19 homes were burned. Thandwe township police confirmed Wednesday that the bodies of four Muslim men were found in the village. A Muslim resident of Thandwe, Myo Min, said he was concerned about the safety of families who fled Tuesday’s violence. Many families in Thapyu Kyain village, he said, fled into forests when their village was attacked. "Many of them, including women and children, are still hiding, and they are cornered and unable to come out," Myo Min said. "They need food and water, and Muslim elders are discussing with authorities to evacuate them or send food." There was at least one account of a revenge attack. Thaung Shwe, 40, said a group of Muslims including some women attacked him and five other persons who were passing through the village of Shweli on Tuesday. Four managed to escape with injuries but two were missing, he said. An Associated Press reporter saw building smoldering in the village, which is about 32 kilometers (20 miles) from Thandwe. Sectarian clashes that began in Arakan in June 2012 have since morphed into an anti-Muslim campaign that has spread to towns and villages nationwide. So far, hundreds of people have been killed and more than 140,000 have fled their homes, the vast majority of them Muslims. Most of those targeted in Arakan state have been ethnic Rohingya Muslims, considered by many in the country to be illegal migrants from Bangladesh, though many of their families arrived generations ago. But in the latest flare-up this week, the victims were Kaman, another Muslim minority group, whose citizenship is recognized. Muslims, who account for about 4 percent of Burma’s roughly 60 million people, have been the main victims of the violence, but they have been prosecuted for crimes related to the clashes far more often than members of the Buddhist majority. The post Arakan Muslims Hide Amid Deadly Sectarian Clashes in Thandwe appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Floods Worsen in Southeast Asia, Nearly 3 million Affected Posted: 02 Oct 2013 10:24 PM PDT  People make their way through a flooded area near the Mekong river in Phnom Penh on Tuesday. Floods have claimed at least 30 victims, since heavy rains spawned by tropical storms over the past two weeks caused the Mekong river to break its banks and inundate thousands of communities across 10 provinces in Cambodia, according to local media. REUTERS/Samrang Pring (CAMBODIA – Tags: DISASTER ENVIRONMENT) BANGKOK– Flooding in Southeast Asian countries has worsened and has killed nearly 100 people and affected nearly 3 million in Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand, the Red Cross said. The floods, caused by heavy monsoon rains and a succession of storms that have passed over the region, have killed at least 95 people and displaced tens of thousands, according to figures from the Red Cross and the United Nations. The floods in Laos, which began in June, are reported to be the country's worst in 35 years and have killed at least 20 people and affected 350,000, the Red Cross said, adding that food, drinking water and medicines are needed at once. In Cambodia, up to 30 people have died and some 374,000 are affected, the United Nations said. More than 67,500 houses and 500 schools have been flooded, roads, bridges and other infrastructure are damaged and there are concerns Typhoon Wutip could worsen the situation in already flooded areas. In Vietnam, more than 100,000 people in four provinces were evacuated before Typhoon Wutip made landfall on Sept. 30. Over 150,000 houses were damaged or collapsed as the typhoon passed, leaving almost 80,000 households sheltered by friends and neighbors, the Red Cross said. Government figures in Thailand show that nearly 8,000 villages in 29 provinces have been affected by floods since Sept. 17. A total of 2.1 million people live in the affected areas. The post Floods Worsen in Southeast Asia, Nearly 3 million Affected appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Qatar’s Ooredoo Eyes Network Sharing in Burma Posted: 02 Oct 2013 10:13 PM PDT  Men look at the logo of Qatar Telecom Ooredoo, formerly Qatar Telecom Qtel, as they walk past the company’s head office in Doha March 16, 2013. (Photo: Reuters) DUBAI — Ooredoo is in talks with Norway's Telenor to share transmitter towers in Burma, seeking cost savings as they build networks in one of the world's least developed telecom markets, a top executive at the Qatari firm said. Burma awarded the country's first foreign-held mobile licenses to the two companies in June after receiving interest from more than 90 companies and consortiums. At the time, Ooredoo said it planned to spend US$15 billion over the 15-year license period. "It's a green-field launch and we're going to build the network in partnership with Telenor," Jeremy Sell, Ooredoo's chief strategy officer, told a conference in Dubai on Wednesday. "This has never been done before—we're rolling out two green-field networks and anything made of steel or concrete we want to share. There are no towers that are so strategic you
can't share them." Sell said this would enable Ooredoo, majority-owned by Qatar's government, to make "considerable" savings. A spokesman for Telenor did not return calls or email seeking comment. Two state-backed firms—Yatanarpon Teleport (YTP) and Burma Post and Telecommunications (MPT)—already hold mobile licences. YTP functions primarily as an internet service provider, while MPT—a department of the Communications Ministry—acts as both a regulator and operator. But these have made little headway in developing the communications sector. Mobile penetration was just 11 percent in 2012—only Eritrea, Somalia and North Korea had fewer subscriptions per capita—while 1 percent of the country's estimated 60 million people use the Internet, according to the International Telecommunication Union. Sell said discussions with Telenor were continuing, adding Ooredoo would likely also work with the two local operators. "We might even outsource the entire build," he said. Legal Maze Splitting capital costs would make reaching rural areas more economically viable, with Burma posing big challenges. "No one speaks English, we can't get galvanized steel," said Sell. "There aren't enough cranes. The country is covered in jungle. The roads flood. There's no power. It's a bit like Thailand was 30 years ago—it's a pristine and beautiful but undeveloped country." Edwin Vanderbruggen of law firm VDB Loi, which has offices in Burma and neighboring countries, said foreign operators faced a legal maze in securing land for tower sites. "Imagine having to sign up an average of 60 leases in a week, often in areas without land-title paperwork, and getting approvals for each one of them from different ministries," said Vanderbruggen.
"It's the regulatory equivalent of rolling out a network on Mount Everest." A quasi-civilian government came to power in Burma in 2011 after 49 years of military rule, ushering in economic reforms and ending the country's international isolation. "We're launching with a 3G network—for 60 million that will be their first chance to ever go on the Internet," said Sell. "So far, they're letting us do it—[to] open access to the entire world for a whole population that has never really seen anything except state media." The government approved more foreign direct investment in the five months to Sept. 20 than for all of 2012. "Us and Telenor and other investors in the country, we don't want to put a huge amount of money in straight away," said Sell. "We've still got to be a bit cautious and see how it goes." The post Qatar's Ooredoo Eyes Network Sharing in Burma appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| China’s Xi to Give First Speech by Foreign Leader to Indonesia Parliament Posted: 02 Oct 2013 10:08 PM PDT  China's President Xi Jinping walks during a welcoming ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Oct. 2, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Supri) JAKARTA — Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday became the first foreign leader to address Indonesia's parliament, signaling a push by the Asian economic powerhouses to expand relations that were for decades frozen in hostility. Xi said China wants territorial disputes in the South China Sea with Southeast Asian nations to be handled peacefully and through talks, in an address to Indonesian parliamentarians in Jakarta. He also said China aimed for bilateral trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to reach $1 trillion by 2020. Xi arrived in Jakarta on a state visit on Wednesday, his first official visit to Southeast Asia's biggest economy and the world's fourth most populous country. He will oversee the signing of a range of contracts, several of them focused on tapping the huge Indonesian resource sector to help feed the voracious Chinese economy. A day before his arrival, China agreed a currency swap deal for the equivalent of $15 billion, to help Indonesia if its ailing currency comes under any more attacks. It has fallen more than 16 percent this year. The urge to improve ties is in sharp contrast with the mid-1960s, when Indonesia broke off relations with China, accusing it of backing an abortive coup it blamed on Indonesia's communist party, then the third largest in the world. So bitter was the split, that until 1990 when the two resumed diplomatic ties, Indonesia effectively banned anything from China, and its nationals from going to China. "From the Indonesian perspective, we need to welcome them because they're the biggest economy in the region," said Jusuf Wanandi, executive director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "For China, this speech is quite important because they see Indonesia as a leader in Asean," he said. "They realize that if we can't come to a decent resolution on the South China Sea issue, that means future relations with Asean will be at risk." The 10-member Asean has been at odds with China over competing claims for territory in the South China Sea. Though Indonesia is not one of the countries with a claim, it has been openly critical of China's policy, concerned that it is creating tension in the world's fastest growing economic region. After his Jakarta visit, where he will hold talks with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Xi heads to the island of Bali for an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, where the South China Sea is likely to be on the agenda. Trade between China and Indonesia stood at nearly US$33 billion for the first eight months of 2013, making it Indonesia's second-biggest trading partner, after Japan. The two will finalize a raft of deals, mainly in the mining sector, worth more than $30 billion. They include at least seven joint ventures in nickel and alumina smelting projects worth nearly $12 billion. The deals will support Indonesia's bid to develop its domestic resource processing industries. Mining accounts for 12 percent of gross domestic product and China is a top buyer of those resources. Indonesia plans to introduce an ore export ban next year to encourage miners to process the metal domestically and so lift the value of exports. "So far, Indonesia exports raw materials such as coal, nickel ore to China to be processed. [They] become end products which are exported then to many countries, including back to Indonesia," said Industry Minister M.S. Hidayat. Xi took over as president after changes in the Chinese Communist Party leadership last year. A member of Indonesia's parliament said China had been quite aggressive in trying to build closer ties with Indonesia over the past 15 years and Xi's speech in parliament showed that both sides were serious about the relationship. "I'd like to point out the difference between how Obama gave a speech in front of a university during his visit," said the legislator, who declined to be identified, referring to US President Barack Obama's 2010 return to a country where he lived as a child. "The Chinese president is quite different in his approach because he's actually trying to make a gesture toward parliament." Additional reporting by Rieka Rahadiana and Ben Blanchard. The post China's Xi to Give First Speech by Foreign Leader to Indonesia Parliament appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| US Cries Foul as Vietnam Jails Govt Critic for ‘Tax Dodging’ Posted: 02 Oct 2013 10:01 PM PDT  Friends and supporters of lawyer Le Quoc Quan hold posters bearing his image as they protest for his freedom on a street outside a court in Hanoi October 2, 2013. (Photo: Reuters) HANOI — A Vietnam court jailed a prominent human rights activist for two and a half years on Wednesday after finding him guilty on tax evasion charges supporters say were aimed at muzzling critics of the Communist Party. The US Embassy described the ruling against Le Quoc Quan as "disturbing" and called for all prisoners of conscience held in Vietnam to be freed. The sentence comes at a critical time for Vietnam, which is locked in negotiations with Washington over a trade pact that could bring substantial benefits to the Southeast Asian country as it struggles to revive a once thriving economy. Quan, 42, was arrested and detained several times after his return in 2007 from the United States, where he completed a six-month research fellowship about civil society and human rights, funded by Congress. He was found to have avoided paying 437 million dong ($20,700) in tax, according to state-run media. He was also fined 1.2 billion dong. Quan was arrested in December, nine days after he posted a blog critical of the country's Parliament and a Constitution that enshrines the Communist Party of Vietnam's leading role in the state. The sentence is the latest in a slew of arrests and prison terms for Vietnamese who have spoken out against the government, despite free speech being guaranteed under the Constitution. Most of the arrests have been bloggers or activists who post comments on the Internet, which is used by a third of Vietnam's 90 million people. In his final words before the verdict, Quan said the charges were trumped up and should be dropped, according to his lawyer, Ha Huy Son. "I'm a victim of political acts," Son quoted Quan as saying. "I am innocent." The verdict and sentence were announced under tight security, with nearby roads blocked off and no public access to the court. About 300 people held a rare demonstration on surrounding streets, some carried a banner that read "Freedom for Le Quoc Quan". "The use of tax laws by Vietnamese authorities to imprison government critics for peacefully expressing their political views is disturbing," the US Embassy said in a statement. "This conviction appears to be inconsistent with the right to freedom of expression." The ruling could further complicate Washington's efforts to court a new political and military ally in China's back yard and bring Vietnam into its Trans Pacific Partnership, a trade deal that requires congressional approval. Experts say lawmakers need to be convinced Vietnam has improved its human rights record before they can endorse any bilateral pact. The post US Cries Foul as Vietnam Jails Govt Critic for 'Tax Dodging' appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
