| Fear Rises in Rangoon After Bomb Blasts Posted: 15 Oct 2013 06:15 AM PDT  Spectators stand on Sula Pagoda Road to get a view of Traders Hotel after a small bomb exploded in a hotel room late on Monday night. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Tin Hla, a taxi driver in Burma's biggest city, felt uneasy driving through the streets on Tuesday morning, following a bomb blast at an upscale hotel the night before. "We're not secure living in Rangoon right now," he says. "We've heard about bomb blasts every day." In the latest explosion to hit the commercial capital, an American woman was injured after a small bomb went off late on Monday night in her room at Traders Hotel, an upscale hotel in the downtown area that is popular among tourists and foreign business travelers. "There are a lot of police in Rangoon's townships," the taxi driver said, noting an increase in security checkpoints on the roads. "We were checked by them last night, township by township. Now people in the outskirt townships are reluctant to go downtown." Several homemade bombs have been planted in and around Rangoon in recent days. A small bomb exploded at a bus station in Insein Township in the early hours of Sunday morning, while a bomb attached to the underside of a truck exploded later that day in Thaketa Township, leaving two people injured. A homemade bomb was also found Sunday near the bus station in Insein, according to state media, while a small undetonated explosive was discovered Monday at an expensive Chinese restaurant in west Rangoon. Elsewhere in Burma, in nearby Pegu Division, an explosive device was found and defused by army officials last week on Wednesday, while a bomb blast at a guesthouse on Friday killed two people and injured one. In Mandalay, the country's second-biggest city, police found and detonated a bomb at a restaurant this week on Monday afternoon. In Sagaing Division, neighboring Mandalay Division, two bombs went off in the early hours of Tuesday morning, with no injuries reported. At least four people were detained by the police on Tuesday, including three people in Rangoon and one person in Mon State. On Tuesday mid-morning in Rangoon, a suspicious package on a downtown street corner raised concern. "At the corner of Seikkan Thar Street and 38th Street, the police came and checked with their dogs, but no bomb was found," said Chit Htike, who lives on the street in Kyauktada Township. "Vendors have stopped selling things—older vendors seem scared to work today." He said he believed others in the city would hesitate to visit shopping malls, cinemas or even bus stations. "Even Traders had a bomb blast—how can people dare to go to crowded areas in this situation? I'm worried about my parents and my relatives, I don't want them to go outside," he said. The bombings have also raised concerns for tourists. Rangoon-based travel and tour agencies said foreigners started canceling reservations on Tuesday, following the bomb blast at Traders. In a meeting with the deputy minister of hotels and tourism, they said they worried business would plummet in the coming months. Aye Kyaw, chairman of Ruby Land travel and tour company, said guests had made reservations with a deposit one month in advance but were now trying to cancel their bookings. "The problem is, hotels are not giving back their deposits," he said. "It's really ugly for our country. The government—respective ministries—should give us some support. "Foreign visitors are getting worried about visiting. This will impact all related sectors in the hotel and tourism industry." The Ministry of Hotels and Tourism earlier this year said it expected foreign visitor arrivals to reach 2 million by the end of this year, up from 1.6 million in 2011. Aung Zaw Win, director general of hotels and tourism, urged hotels to take responsibility for additional security. "The front office should run security checks on visitors' belongings as well as housekeepers," he said. "They should check seriously after every visitor checks out." The Yangon Hotelier Association will inspect 33 hotels in Rangoon next week for security, the association's spokesperson said. The series of bombings comes ahead of two public holidays in Burma. On Wednesday the country's Muslim minority will observe the Islamic holiday of Eid Mubarak. On Saturday, the Buddhist majority will celebrate the Buddhist festival of lights, known as Thadingyut. More municipal security officers were posted on Tuesday in downtown Rangoon around Sule Pagoda and neighboring City Hall. Extra security has also been deployed at shopping malls. "We're increasing security at every Junction mall," said a spokeswoman for the upscale Junction shopping centers, at four locations in Rangoon and one in Naypyidaw. "We are checking rubbish bins, the corner of escalators, inside elevators and in toilets," said the spokeswoman. In 2005, nearly simultaneous bomb blasts rocked two supermarkets in Rangoon, at Junction 8 mall and a City Mart store. Nineteen people were killed, according to the official death toll, while 162 people were injured. In 2010, three bombs exploded at a pavilion in Rangoon during a celebration of the Burmese New year, killing at least eight people. Small bomb blasts occurred frequently under Burma's military regime, and were normally blamed on armed ethnic groups, although many believed the authorities were behind the explosions. Such incidents have become more rare in recent years, and security at borders has been heightened this year in anticipation of December's Southeast Asian Games. Burma's national police chief, Win Khaung, said in August that official intelligence had identified a terrorist movement in the country. At the time he called for heightened security to protect increasing numbers of foreign visitors to Burma. The post Fear Rises in Rangoon After Bomb Blasts appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Walk a Mile in a Burmese Midwife’s Shoes Posted: 15 Oct 2013 06:02 AM PDT  Midwives wade through water toward the shore in western Burma's Arakan State. (Photo: Myanmar Nurse and Midwives Association) RANGOON — The mornings were full of walking, says Khin Mar Shwe, a nurse near Burma's biggest city, recalling her days as a midwife under the former military regime. She was a young woman then, and would begin a few days every week walking from village to village in Taikkyi Township, knocking on doors to find expectant mothers who required assistance. "Early, at 8 am, I would start my journey, and I would return at 4 pm, depending on the distance between villages," she tells The Irrawaddy. "In the evening if a mother was about to go into labor, I would stay overnight." The midwife, who has since become a nurse, was responsible for covering six villages, some about four kilometers apart. Sometimes she would ride by bicycle, and she almost always traveled alone. Now 66 years old and a leading member of the Myanmar Nurse and Midwife Association, an independent professional group with more than 18,000 members, she laughs when asked whether she ever considered self-defense training. "Maybe it would help. And swimming training, too," she says, reaching for a photo album of midwives at work over the past year. In several photos from Arakan State, a western coastal area, women are seen wading through knee-deep water. "They have to swim because they go by boat," says Dr. Nang Htawn Hla, president of the nurse and midwife association. "Sometimes the boat cannot reach the shore, so they go into the river. They change into their uniforms, with the red skirts, onshore." "It's not only for maternal and child health," she adds. "Because the villages have quite few health personnel, they rely on midwives to treat minor ailments, too." 'Red Angels' Midwives have long played a crucial role in Burma, where more than 70 percent of the nation's 60 million or so population lives in rural areas, often without access to hospitals. The country's public health spending is among the lowest in the world, with only about 3 percent of the government's annual budget allocated for health care. A shortage of doctors and nurses, who are posted at hospitals in cities and major towns, has meant that midwives, known as "red angels" in some villages, are often responsible for much more than maternal health. "They're expected to do everything: primary health care, ante- and postnatal care, pediatrics, delivering babies, collecting health data. Rural health care providers joke that the midwife does everything except have the baby," said Dr. Vit Suwanvanichkij, a public health researcher who has worked with Burmese patients on the Thai-Burma border for more than a decade, and who has recently visited health care professionals in the country. "They are so incredibly busy, underappreciated and underpaid for the essential services they are tasked with providing." There are about 20,000 midwives in Burma, up from about 8,000 in 1988 under the military regime, according to statistics from the Ministry of Health. While availability varies across states and divisions, each midwife is responsible for about 3,000 people on average. With such a large pool of patients, they are struggling to reach everyone who needs help. Complicated pregnancies are among the leading causes of morbidity in Burma, while the World Health Organization puts the country's maternal mortality rate at 200 deaths per 100,000 live births. In eastern Burma, the rate is more than triple that, according to a 2010 survey by the Burma Medical Association and ethnic health organizations. In neighboring Thailand, the maternal mortality rate is 48 deaths per 100,000 live births, according to the WHO. Calls for Manpower In addition to political reforms, Burma's government, transitioning from nearly half a century of military rule, is attempting to improve its long-neglected health care system. Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has prioritized health care reform since joining Parliament last year, with plans under way to renovate one of the best-known public hospitals in Rangoon, while the government last week removed more than 1,000 doctors from an official blacklist that had prevented them from practicing in the country. Over the past two years, more midwives have also been appointed to rural areas, and they have received a larger provision of medicine and equipment, says Dr. Nang Htawn Hla. But even so, they are overloaded. "They go far distances, to hard-to-reach areas, but sometimes they can't get to where they need to go," she says.
"Everybody knows the problem. The government knows, too. But even if you could provide a motorbike, it wouldn't always be able to reach the villages. In some areas you can ride a bicycle, in some areas a car cannot get access. Sometimes you can only get to villages by walking, so it's like that, walking all the time. The only solution is to increase manpower."
This year in May, officials from the Ministry of Health commemorated for the first time the International Day of the Midwife with the UN Population Fund (UNFPA). "I would urge all stakeholders to cooperate in ensuring that every pregnancy is wanted, all births are safe and to meet the need for skilled midwives to provide quality services for the people," Dr. Thein Thein Htay, deputy minister of health, reportedly said at a ceremony in Naypyidaw to mark the occasion.
Certificate training is available at 23 midwifery schools around the country, and the Myanmar Nurse and Midwife Association says about 1,000 new midwives are licensed each year. However, according to statistics from the Ministry of Health, the number of maternal and child health centers has remained the same for 25 years, at less than 350 centers.
In rural areas, most births take place at home, typically overseen by a midwife or a traditional birth attendant, with the latter lacking formal training. Traditional birth attendants learn skills from their elders, but government-trained midwives and nurses say that sometimes they perform the deliveries incorrectly, potentially harming the mother or the baby.
The government also trains "auxiliary midwives" who assist with maternal health care but do not work in an official capacity or receive pay. These volunteers receive six months of medical training, while government-service midwives earn a certificate after two years of training and are paid about 80,000 kyats (US$80) monthly, says Dr. Nang Htawn Hla.
"They [auxiliary midwives] are mostly recruited from the village, and after training they go back and work there," she says. "But this system does not work well, in my opinion. Because they are not paid, they also need to work for their living, so sometimes they are not able to perform as many deliveries. If they only worked as midwives, they might need to charge the mothers a fee."
Poor education about maternal health care is also a problem for pregnant women in Burma. In hard-to-reach areas, communities often do not understand the importance of antenatal care, says Dr. Khin Aye Myint of the UNFPA in Rangoon.
"And usually they deliver with help from a traditional birth attendant, or in some areas with assistance from a grandma or mother or relatives. Faced with any complications—for example, high blood pressure or bleeding during pregnancy—they are not aware that they should go to other service delivery points," such as hospitals.
Community members themselves lack transportation options to reach doctors. "They don't have enough money to go there," she says.
While hospitals are limited to cities and major towns, rural health centers are available, typically staffed with two health assistants and between two and five midwives, depending on the local population. Sub-centers in more remote areas are usually overseen by one midwife. The UNFPA has allocated $300,000 to upgrade maternity wards and delivery rooms in 10 locations across the country, including Shan State and the divisions of Rangoon, Magway and Irrawaddy. In addition to providing medical equipment and training in reproductive health services, the UN agency—with support from the Ministry of Health and the Myanmar Nurse and Midwife Association—helped train 40 pre-service midwives last year and deployed them to several states and divisions to assist official midwives. They reportedly received a warm welcome. "The communities have built houses for them, arranged for water supply and supported our pre-service midwives," says Dr. Khin Aye Myint. "And the existing midwives also support each other." The post Walk a Mile in a Burmese Midwife's Shoes appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Rangoon Traffic Cop’s Dedication Steers Public Love His Way Posted: 15 Oct 2013 05:49 AM PDT  Khin Myint Maung, a traffic police officer in Rangoon, directs vehicles at the intersection of Dhammazedi and Link roads. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) In Burma's increasingly congested commercial capital, winning the affections of the public as a traffic cop is not easy, with widespread perceptions of the typical police officer as lazy, unfriendly and likely to demand "tea money" from motorists. For his part, Khin Myint Maung is doing his best to better his profession's image, working at the junction of Dhammazedi and Link roads in Rangoon's Bahan Township, where he is cultivating a growing fan base. "We, passengers, car owners and bus drivers, love him," Thu Thu, an office worker who passes through the Dhammazedi junction every day on her commute to work. "He is an extraordinary traffic policeman. He is always doing his duty actively at that junction, rain or shine, and he is very friendly. Some people offer him food, cold drinks and cash, not as a bribe but because they love him." That public love has gotten the attention of Khin Myint Maung's colleagues and superiors as well, with the 25-year-old wining the Best Private Award for 2013, which was conferred by the Rangoon Traffic Police. Khin Myint Maung beat out 37 other privates among the 945 traffic policemen at 38 traffic offices in Rangoon, with the 38 finalists voting among themselves for the best of Rangoon's best. The national police promoted him to corporal on Oct. 1, the 49th anniversary of the country's police force. "We are really proud of Khin Myint Maung. We train to produce traffic policemen like Khin Myint Maung, who performs his duties very well and also receives the appreciation of public," Police Major Thar Htay of Rangoon's traffic police force said. The Irrawaddy caught up with Khin Myint Maung on his lunch break last week, where he talked about his dedication to the job and the public admiration that it has brought. Question: When did you start policing traffic? Answer: I joined in 2009, when I was 20 years old. Q: When did members of the public start showing their appreciation for the job that you do? A: They started to recognize me after one year of traffic policing experience. Q: Why do you think you have so many admirers? A: I always clear the road of traffic patiently and also work hard to fulfill this public service obligation. Q: Many people say you are different from your colleagues. Do you want to comment on this? A: We can see in every department and job that while some work actively with enthusiasm, others do not. But they all are doing their duty. I only want to say that. Q: How many awards have you received? A: I received the 'Role Model Private Award' by the Yangon Police Force in 2011 and the Best Private Award 2013 by the Yangon Traffic Police in 2013. Q: Any theories on why you won the Best Private Award for 2013? A: I think because I work hard and I never evade any duty. Q: Do you think the public's appreciation had anything to do with it? A: Yes, I think so. Q: How did you feel when you received the award? A: I was happy because I sacrificed a lot. I work with great effort. Q: Have you received any other awards? A: Yes, I got the '7Day Hero Award' from 7Days News journal in 2012. Q: Some people dislike other traffic policemen. What do you think about that? A: It is not only the traffic police. This happens everywhere. People will like those who do their jobs with good intentions and dislike those who work without good intentions. Q: Why did you decide to become a traffic cop? A: I am an Arakanese from Sittwe and when I came to Yangon, I lived with my uncle, who is a traffic police officer. I followed him. Q: There is a perception that government employees often abuse their authority when it comes to serving the public. What do you have to say to that? A: That may have been the case in the past but now Burma is changing and it is really rare now. The post Rangoon Traffic Cop's Dedication Steers Public Love His Way appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Mon State Arrest Linked to Traders Hotel Bombing Posted: 15 Oct 2013 03:10 AM PDT  A trishaw driver stops to pick up broken glass in front of Traders Hotel in Rangoon on Monday night. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Police in Mon State's Thaton Township detained a man on Tuesday morning who was allegedly involved in the planting of a bomb at Traders Hotel in Rangoon that detonated late Monday night, injuring an American woman. In a statement issued by the township police station on Tuesday, authorities said they arrested Saw Myint Lwin on a road in Belin Township at a barricade police had set up to apprehend the man, who was riding a motorbike. "We found him and arrested him while we were following his tracks at guest houses in Thaton," said the statement.  A map showing bomb incidents in Burma since Oct. 9. (Image: The Irrawaddy) Police had been tracking Saw Myint Lwin on suspicions that the man also had a role in the planting of another explosive device discovered earlier on Monday at a restaurant in Rangoon. A bomb squad was able to defuse that homemade device. The suspect's ID card was later discovered in a taxi, and CCTV footage from Traders Hotel was able to match his identity, according to the statement. The statement said police in Thaton Township handed the suspect over to a special police unit from Rangoon tasked with investigating a series of explosions in Burma over the last few days. "There were some police from Rangoon who came and waited for us to arrest him this morning. We cooperated with them in the arrest," said Than Oo, a police inspector in Thaton Township, who added that the 26-year-old suspect failed to heed authorities' road blockade and a chase ensued. The Associated Press on Tuesday reported that three people were detained in connection with the bomb blast at Traders Hotel, though the news agency did not provide any names. "We have not charged anyone yet, but we are interrogating three people regarding the blast at Traders Hotel," Win Kyi, a police chief in Rangoon, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday. The Burmese government has been quick to blame armed ethnic insurgent groups following similar bombings in the past, when various rebel groups have been at war with the central government. Since the nominally civilian administration of President Thein Sein took power in 2011, the government has embarked on an ambitious peace effort and has since reached ceasefire agreements with more than a dozen armed ethnic groups. Min Aung, a police chief from the Home Affairs Ministry in Rangoon, told The Irrawaddy that the government's improved relations with ethnic rebels made determining the bombings' culprit "difficult." "It is difficult to point out who is doing it this time even though we have pointed to the ethnic armed groups in the past," he said. Since Friday, a series of bombs have exploded across Burma. The explosion at Traders was the third in Rangoon since Sunday, when one bomb went off at a bus stop in Insein Township and another, attached to the underside of a truck, exploded in Thaketa Township. Another device, which was reportedly wired with C-4, was discovered near the scene of the bus stop explosion but did not detonate. A bomb first went off at a guest house in Pegu Division on Friday, killing two people and injuring one other. Prior to Friday's fatal explosion, army officials in Pegu Division's Pyu Township found and defused an explosive device in front of the local post office, according to The Voice Daily, a Burmese-language newspaper. Two more undetonated explosive devices were found at restaurants in Rangoon and Mandalay on Monday. Police in Sagaing Division confirmed to The Irrawaddy that two more explosions were reported in Burma's northwest in the early hours of Tuesday, though no one was injured. Those bombs were set off at the Shwe Pyint Sone hotel and near the Son Oo Pon Nya Shin Pagoda, though no one was harmed in either incident, Sagaing police said. Parliamentarian Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party, spoke to reporters about the incidents following a legislative session on Tuesday. "The government needs to investigate as soon as possible who is doing this," Suu Kyi said, urging the public to remain calm. The bombings come as Burma prepares to host the 2013 Southeast Asia Games in early December and next year will take over the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). Police in Burma have warned the public to be on the lookout for suspicious packages in public places. The post Mon State Arrest Linked to Traders Hotel Bombing appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Six Suspects Confess to Thandwe Murders: Home Affairs Ministry Posted: 15 Oct 2013 03:08 AM PDT  Muslim women react to the loss of their homes which were burnt down in recent violence in Pauktaw village, outside of Thandwe, on Thursday. (Photo: Reuters) Six suspects detained in Thandwe Township have confessed to the murder of seven Muslims and 28 suspects are being charged with setting fire dozens of Muslim-owned homes during recent inter-communal violence in southern Arakan State, the Ministry of Home Affairs said. A total of 78 people were detained following the recent outburst of anti-Muslim violence by Arakanese Buddhists, state-owned newspaper The New Light of Myanmar quoted the ministry as saying on Tuesday. A local Muslim villager said 21 of the detained were Muslims. On Sept. 29-Oct. 3, Buddhist mobs attacked seven ethnic Kaman Muslim villages, killing seven villagers, destroying 112 homes and forcing almost 500 Kaman villagers to flee. "According to the investigations, four suspects confessed to killing two people in Linthi village, two admitted to killing five in [Thapyu Kyain] village and 28 were found guilty of setting fire to houses," the newspaper wrote. "Plans are underway to take actions against the 34 suspects in accordance with the law and remaining suspects are under investigation," the ministry was quoted as saying, adding that it was investigating the identity of "the mastermind" behind the violence. Five suspects were released this week due to a "lack of evidence," the ministry also said. Thandwe Township police Lt-Col Kyaw Tint from Thandwe told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that the five were released as "they are not needed in these cases… Regarding the remaining suspects, the Special Cases investigation team is working on it, and I have no authority to talk about it." He added that "the security situation on the ground is stable." The five released suspects are Arakanese Thandwe residents Win Ko Lay, Htay Aung, Soe Soe, Kyi Naing and unnamed one youth, said a family member of Win Ko Lay, adding that they were detained for about 12 days. "We did not know under which charges [Win Ko Lay] was detained, there was no explanation," said the woman, who asked not to be named. "We were able to provide him with food and medicine when he was in Thandwe Prison as he is under medication for high blood pressure." The violence coincided with President Thein Sein's first visit to the troubled Arakan State since inter-communal erupted in June last year, killing almost 200 people and displacing 140,000 civilians, mostly Rohingya Muslims. Since the visit, the Home Affairs Ministry's Special Cases team has become involved in the investigation into the unrest in Thandwe. Shortly after the first violence, two Rakhine National Development Party (RNDP) members were arrested, along with two members of a local nationalist Buddhist civil society organization. The RNDP and local Buddhist leaders in northern Arakan State have been accused by the US-based Human Rights Watch of organizing the anti-Muslim violence last year, with tacit support from government forces who are viewed as being sympathetic to Buddhist perpetrators. Kaman Muslim villagers have complained that security forces did little to protect them and stop the recent mob attacks in Thandwe Township. Kyaw Zwa Oo, a Kaman man from Pauktaw village told the Irrawaddy on Tuesday, that villagers were given safety assurances by the high-level officials following Thein Sein's visit. He said the Kaman, nonetheless, were feared returning to their villages, where they were attacked. "The authorities, including the ministers, told us not to worry and that they will take care of those who committed the crimes," Kyaw Zaw Oo said. "But, there are still rumors going around and we are living in fear." In Pauktaw village, he said, 36 houses where about 150 people lived were burned down, adding that authorities had provided about US$100 per family to support the reconstruction of their homes. According to Kyaw Zwa Oo, several Kaman villagers were also arrested for their suspected role in the violence. "As far as I know 21 Kaman are among the suspects, and heard that their trail will begin in October 18," he said, adding that one suspect had been arrested in Pauktaw, 12 Linthi and eight in Thapyu Kyain village. The post Six Suspects Confess to Thandwe Murders: Home Affairs Ministry appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| UWSA: Signing Nationwide Ceasefire Accord Is 50-50 Posted: 15 Oct 2013 02:32 AM PDT  Sai Sam, deputy commander-in-chief of the UWSA, observes peace talks between the government and Kachin rebels in Myitkyina last week. (Photo: Saw Yan Naing / The Irrawaddy) MYITKYINA, Kachin State — The chances of Burma's strongest ethnic armed group signing an upcoming nationwide ceasefire accord are 50-50, according to a senior United Wa State Army (UWSA) official. The Burma government is pushing to secure a nationwide agreement with all armed groups soon, and government-led negotiators met with the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) last week to try to reach a deal with one of the only armed groups left in the country without a ceasefire agreement. But Sai Sam, deputy commander-in-chief of the UWSA, who attended the talks in the Kachin capital, told The Irrawaddy there was only an even chance the Wa group would sign the nationwide agreement. "We will see it [the accord] first. If it matches what we want, we will sign it. If it is not in line with what we want, we cannot sign it," said Sai Sam. "We will need to discuss what we disagree about. We want our region and people to benefit [from the peace process]." The well-armed UWSA—which reached a new ceasefire in September 2011 to replace a 1989 agreement with Burma's military regime—has demanded its own autonomous region in eastern Shan State, eastern Burma. Its representatives, including Sai Sam, observed peace talks in Myitkyina from Oct. 8 to 10—where the KIO and the government did not reach a ceasefire, but agreed to work toward one. The UWSA will also likely send its representatives to a meeting of ethnic leaders to be hosted by the KIO next month at its headquarters at Laiza, on the Burma-China border. Sai Sam said the UWSA leadership still had to decide whether to join the KIO-organized meeting. "We will maintain our current position. We will move forward depending on what we will face in the future. So far, we see no threat. We don’t have any problem with government after we signed the ceasefire agreement," said Sai Sam. However, tension mounted between government troops and Wa rebels in July this year, with both sides saying they were waiting for orders to open fire. At that time, both the Burma Army and the UWSA deployed troops to possible confrontation areas such as Mongton, Mong Hsat and Pongpakhem in southern Shan State. "We had a little problem in the past [in July], but we have already solved it," Sai Sam said. "They pulled out their troops in some areas and we also pulled out our troops. We are in normal conditions now." The UWSA, which has been linked to the production and trafficking of heroin and methamphetamine in Shan State, has an estimated 25,000 well-equipped fighters. It is reportedly armed with modern weapons such as air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles. Intelligence monitor Jane's Information Group reported recently that China has sold five helicopters to ethnic the UWSA in late February and early March this year. The helicopters can be armed with TY-90 air-to-air missiles, said the report. The UWSA's Sai Sam, however, denied the report. "We don't have such helicopters," he said. "But, we do have one helicopter and a small aircraft without engine in a public park for show. We only have its body. It can’t fly. We keep it there for visitors to see or photograph it." The post UWSA: Signing Nationwide Ceasefire Accord Is 50-50 appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Dogs in Vietnam: Not Just For Dinner Anymore Posted: 14 Oct 2013 11:04 PM PDT  Le Quang Vinh transports his dog to a dog show in Hanoi October 5, 2013. (Photo: Reuters) HANOI — Relatives offered words of comfort to a teary-eyed woman paying her last respects as an undertaker slammed shut the door of the cremation chamber and flames engulfed the small coffin of a cherished family member. The hastily arranged prayers, cremation and scattering of ashes in Vietnam’s capital was for Capi, a 13-year-old dog that died that day after a battle with diabetes. Capi’s owner had called Bao Sinh Dog-Cat Resort, a one-stop shop with services rivaling anything on offer to humans. "I’m so glad this place exists. Otherwise I wouldn’t know what to do with Capi’s body," said Nguyen Thanh Huyen, a teacher. The pet resort – with a spa, hotel, clinic and crematorium – is testament to changing times in Vietnam, where a love for dogs goes beyond the soups and barbecues that have earned the country an unsavory reputation as the global hub of canine cuisine. Capi, a Japanese Chin, was a family member, Huyen said. Like many Vietnamese who buy fashionable breeds such as Chihuahuas and poodles, they draw a clear distinction between the dogs they give homes to and the ones they eat in restaurants. Expensive breeds are becoming popular among the wealthy as status symbols or as guard dogs for grand homes. Dog dealer Nguyen Duy Hiep said German Shepherds can fetch US $14,000 to $40,000 each, sometimes more. He owns three himself and would not dream of eating them. "Eating dogs is one thing, raising them is another," he said. The 300 pampered pooches at a recent dog show in Hanoi would certainly agree. The number of participants has risen by seven times since the inaugural contest in 2009 and fashionable foreign breeds are not always guaranteed victory. The judges this year were most impressed with Ven, a 19-month-old local Phu Quoc ridgeback. With 50 well-trained and immaculately groomed foreign breeds in the competition, Ven’s victory came as a big shock to his owner. "I signed Ven in just for fun," he said. "I did not expect him to win." Man's Best Friend? Nguyen Bao Sinh, the owner of the pet resort, has expanded the services on offer to meet the demand from people who want to treat their dogs not only like champions, but like humans. He started up as a hostel in 1992 and even has a breeding center – with private rooms. Eating dogs was understandable in the days of poverty and food shortages, he said, but not now. "Vietnamese have enough food and higher living standards, so eating dog meat should be considered brutal," Sinh said. Not everyone feels the same and it might take quite a bit to convince many Vietnamese that dogs really are man’s best friend. A dealer in Cao Xa, a supply hub on the outskirts of Hanoi, told Reuters his village receives a two-ton truck of live dogs every three days for sale as meat. It is the kind of delivery that French actress and animal rights campaigner Brigitte Bardot has taken issue with, calling it "appalling". Criticizing Thailand for its role, Bardot wrote an open letter in April urging Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to end a trade in which 100,000 dogs were slaughtered annually and even more transported "in terrible conditions … before being brutally killed and eaten in Vietnam". But old habits die hard. Dog meat is still popular in Vietnam – whether sautéed, skewered or barbecued – in large part because of the belief that eating it brings good fortune. "I want to gain some luck," said a high school student at a dog meat restaurant in Hanoi. "Soon I’ll be taking my university entrance exam." The post Dogs in Vietnam: Not Just For Dinner Anymore appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Major Quake Shakes Central Philippines, Kills 20 Posted: 14 Oct 2013 10:50 PM PDT  A security guard walks past the bell tower church of historic Basilica Minore of Sto Nino that fell down after an earthquake hit Cebu city in the central Philippines on Oct. 15, 2013. (Photo: Reuters) MANILA — A 7.2-magnitude earthquake collapsed buildings, cracked roads and toppled the bell tower of the Philippines' oldest church Tuesday morning, killing at least 20 people across the central region. The quake sent people rushing out of homes and buildings, including hospitals, as aftershocks continued. At least five died in a stampede in Cebu, said Neil Sanchez, provincial disaster management officer. Offices and schools were closed for a national holiday, which may have saved lives. The temblor, which struck at 8:12 am, was centered about 33 kilometers (20 miles) below Carmen town on Bohol Island and did not cause a tsunami. Four people were killed in Bohol and 15 died in Cebu province, a more urban and densely populated region across the strait from the earthquake's epicenter, said Civil defense spokesman Maj. Reynaldo Balido. Another person died on Siquijor Island, southwest of Bohol. A total of 33 were injured. In Cebu, a boat ride from Bohol, five were killed when a fishing port collapsed. Two more people died and 19 were injured when the roof of a market in Mandaue in Cebu province fell on them. Elsewhere in the city, a woman died after being hit on the head when the quake toppled a building. Photos from Cebu broadcast on TV stations showed a fallen concrete 2-story building, and reports said an 8-month-old baby and a second person were pulled out alive. "It's fortunate that many offices and schools are closed due to the holiday," said Jade Ponce, the Cebu mayor's assistant. He said patients at the city's hospitals were evacuated to basketball courts and other open spaces "but we'll move them back as soon as the buildings are declared safe." Historic churches suffered the most damage, including the country's oldest, the Basilica of the Holy Child in Cebu, which lost its bell tower. A 17th-century limestone church in Loboc town, southwest of Carmen, crumbled to pieces, with nearly half of it reduced to rubble. Other old churches dating from the Spanish colonial period, which are common in the central region, also reported damage. Cebu province, about 570 kilometers (350 miles) south of Manila, has a population of more than 2.6 million people. Nearby Bohol has 1.2 million people and is popular among foreigners because of its beach and island resorts and the Chocolate Hills. Vilma Yorong, a Bohol provincial government employee, said she was in a village hall in Maribojoc town when "the lights suddenly went out and we felt the earthquake." "We ran out of the building, and outside, we hugged trees because the tremors were so strong," she told The Associated Press by phone. "When the shaking stopped, I ran to the street and there I saw several injured people. Some were saying their church has collapsed." She said that she and the others ran up a mountain fearing a tsunami would follow the quake. "Minutes after the earthquake, people were pushing each other to go up the hill," she said. Tuesday is a national holiday for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, and that may have reduced casualties. The earthquake also was deeper below the surface than the 6.9-magnitude temblor last year in waters near Negros Island, also in the central Philippines, that killed nearly 100 people. Regional military commander Lt-Gen Roy Deveraturda said that he recalled soldiers from the holiday furlough to respond to the quake. He said it damaged the pier in Tagbilaran and caused some cracks at Cebu's international airport but that navy ships and air force planes could use alternative ports to help out. Passenger flights were put on hold until officials check runways and buildings for damage. Earthquakes are common in the Philippines, which lies along the Pacific "Ring of Fire." Associated Press writers Hrvoje Hranjski, Teresa Cerojano and Jim Gomez contributed to this report. The post Major Quake Shakes Central Philippines, Kills 20 appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Thai Bar Owner Arrested Following Rihanna’s Tweets Posted: 14 Oct 2013 10:34 PM PDT  The American singer Rihanna poses with a slow loris in Thailand. (Photo: Instagram) BANGKOK — Thai authorities have arrested a bar owner in connection with a lewd sex show mentioned in racy tweets by pop star Rihanna during her recent trip to Thailand, officials said Monday, two weeks after an Instagram photo of Rihanna with a protected primate led to the arrest of two other men. Officials on the island of Phuket, 680 kilometers (420 miles) south of Bangkok, said Monday the bar owner faced charges of obscenity and operating an entertainment venue without a permit. Local district chief Weera Kerdsirimongkon said the man was arrested Saturday as part of a crackdown on shows featuring naked dancers. "Authorities found out about this bar the morning after Rihanna tweeted about it, but we were not able to catch them violating the law until Saturday night," Weera said. "We had been waiting for them and finally caught them red-handed." Weera said the bar owner could face up to one month's imprisonment and a fine of up to 60,000 baht ($1,900). This isn't the first arrest triggered by Rihanna's postings on social media. A photo of her with a slow loris, a squirrel-like animal with big eyes, on Instagram led local police to arrest a 20-year-old man and a 16-year-old boy, who could face charges of possession of protected animals. The charge carries a penalty of up to four years in prison and a 40,000 baht ($1,300) fine. The post Thai Bar Owner Arrested Following Rihanna's Tweets appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| China Denounces Spanish Court’s Tibet Case Against Ex-President Posted: 14 Oct 2013 10:30 PM PDT  A Tibetan monk prays at Labrang Monastery during Tibetan new year, in Xiahe County, Gansu Province, on Feb. 11, 2013. (Photo: Reuters) BEIJING — China denounced on Monday a decision by a Spanish criminal court to indict former Chinese president Hu Jintao for genocide as part of an investigation into whether his government committed abuses in Tibet. The Spanish National Court last week accepted a Tibetan advocacy group’s appeal in a case asserting that Hu had supported genocidal policies when he was Communist Party secretary in the Himalayan region from 1988-1992 and after he took over as China’s head of state in 2003. The ruling could lead to moves to seek Hu’s arrest in Spain or other countries with which it shares an extradition treaty, though in practice he is unlikely to ever face a Spanish court. "We firmly oppose any country or person attempting to use this issue to interfere with China’s internal affairs," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular briefing. Communist Chinese troops took control of Tibet in 1950. China says it "peacefully liberated" the remote mountainous region that it says was mired in poverty, exploitation and economic stagnation. Tibet’s Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama, fled to India in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule. Exiled Tibetan groups are campaigning for the return of the Dalai Lama and self-rule for their region. Hua said the group that launched the legal case was trying to damage the "extremely friendly" relations between China and Spain. "The Tibetan group’s purpose is extremely obvious and its political motives are sinister – to destroy the relations between China and the relevant country and to attack China’s government," Hua said. Hu was succeeded as president in March by Xi Jinping. China’s human rights policy comes up for scrutiny at the Universal Periodic Review by the United Nations in Geneva on Oct. 22, when groups and governments will be given the chance to press China on issues ranging from the death penalty to the treatment of dissidents. The Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet called the ruling "ground-breaking". It says China’s policies in Tibet have led to "a climate of terror", in which people face torture and pressure to denounce the Dalai Lama. More than 120 Tibetans have set themselves alight in protest against Chinese rule since 2009, mainly in heavily ethnic Tibetan areas of Sichuan, Gansu and Qinghai provinces rather than in what China terms the Tibet Autonomous Region. Most of those who set themselves on fire have died. The post China Denounces Spanish Court’s Tibet Case Against Ex-President appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Time Bomb Caused Traders Hotel Blast, Say Police Posted: 14 Oct 2013 09:30 PM PDT  Rangoon police and an army bomb disposal unit were deployed to Traders Hotel after the bomb blast on Monday night. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — An explosion that struck one of the most prestigious hotels in Burma's main city was caused by a small, homemade time bomb, police said Tuesday. Police officer Myint Htwe said three suspects have been detained in relation to the blast, which went off just before midnight Monday at the Traders Hotel in Rangoon, ripping apart a guest's room and wounding one American. It was one in a series of unexplained blasts to hit the country in recent days. The hotel blast was followed by two small explosions before dawn Tuesday in the Mandalay region, police said, adding that there were no reports of injuries. The blast at the 22-story Trader's Hotel, located in the heart of the country's commercial capital, blew out a window in the guest's 9th floor room, shooting shards of thick glass more than 30 meters into the street, but there were no other visible signs of damage to the exterior of the building. The device apparently went off in the guest's bathroom, scattering towels, toiletries and a red purse across the entrance way floor. A chair was overturned and part of the wooden wardrobe lifted off its hinges and lying on the ground. A 43-year-old American woman was slightly injured and taken to a Rangoon hospital, police and hotel staff said. Her husband and their two children, aged 5 and 7, were unhurt. "Our consular officers in Rangoon have visited the US citizen and are providing appropriate consular assistance," said Sarah Hutchison, the US Embassy press officer, refusing further comment due to privacy considerations. A dozen police and heavily armed soldiers with a sniffer dog entered the glitzy hotel soon after the explosion. Later, many of them crowded into the destroyed room, blocked off with yellow security tape, to inspect the damage. Others carrying assault rifles and wearing bullet proof vests strolled through the main lobby. Traders' general manager Phillip Couvaras said in a statement that the hotel, part of the Shangri-La group, was working with authorities to investigate what happened. But "because this is an active police investigation we cannot comment further at this time," he said. "The safety of our guests and staff are our highest priority and we are obviously monitoring the situation." Small explosions occurred frequently when Burma was under 50 years of military rule, most often blamed on anti-government student activists or armed ethnic insurgent groups. But such incidents have become rare in recent years. The country has undergone rapid change since 2011, when the former army junta ceded power to a quasi-civilian government led by retired military officers. Since then, President Thein Sein has embarked upon a series of major reforms, liberalizing the economy and the political sphere, easing censorship and freeing political prisoners. But many activists and rights groups have complained that the country is still far from free, and dissent is frequently stifled. Thein Sein's government has also struggled both to end a civil war with ethnic Kachin rebels in the north, and curb a rising wave of anti-Muslim violence that has killed hundreds of minority Muslims and displaced nearly 150,000 more in the predominantly Buddhist country since last year. No one claimed responsibility for the recent blasts, which came as the country prepares to take over the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. It will also host the Southeast Asian games in December, considered a showcase event by the government. Unidentified assailants have planted several homemade bombs in and around Rangoon in recent days, reportedly killing two people and injuring three others. The first bomb reportedly went off Friday at a guesthouse in Taungoo, a town 200 kilometers (125 miles) from Rangoon, according to the independent media outlet, the Democratic Voice of Burma. It said two people were killed, but those casualties could not immediately be confirmed. On Sunday, two other homemade bombs went off in Rangoon. One of the bombs, attached to the bottom of a truck parked outside a market on Rangoon's eastern side, wounded three civilians, according to a statement posted on Burma's police Facebook page. Another homemade bomb exploded one at a bus stop in the west of the city, but no casualties were reported in that blast, police said. The explosions Tuesday occurred at 3 am and 5 a.m. in Sagain, in Mandalay Division. No further details were available. Police called on the public to be vigilant and report any suspicious packages found at bus or train stations, or at the seaport. The post Time Bomb Caused Traders Hotel Blast, Say Police appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
