The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Winner of Mobile Phone Ringtone Competition Announced in Burma
• ‘Political Prisoners Are Like Plaster’
• Arakanese Leaders to Propose Detention Camps for Undocumented Rohingya
• Suspected Ebola Patient Diagnosed With Malaria: Burmese Health Ministry
• Thein Sein Admits Corruption, Bribery Are ‘Chronic’ in Burma
• Getting the Word Out
• Phantoms of Flight
• Noodles: Friend or Foe? South Koreans Defend Diet
• Indonesia Court Upholds Widodo’s Presidential Victory
• Protesters Attack Police as India’s Assam, Nagaland Fight Over Territory

Winner of Mobile Phone Ringtone Competition Announced in Burma Posted: 22 Aug 2014 04:55 AM PDT Telenor Myanmar Tune Star winner Lin Myat Aung performs at a ceremony in Rangoon on Friday. (Photo: Thaw Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Norway's Telenor, one of two foreign companies granted telecommunications licenses in Burma, on Friday announced the winner of a national contest to compose a mobile phone ringtone. More than 8,500 people entered the Telenor Myanmar Tune Star competition, submitting recordings of their ringtones between June 28 and July 25 this year. During a ceremony at Rangoon's ParkRoyal hotel, Lin Myat Aung, 21, from Pazundaung Township was named the winner, and his tune will be used in promotions of the phone company, which expected launch services in Burma next month. "I am so happy right now. I don't have any words how to express that," Lin Myat Aung told The Irrawaddy. "I couldn't find the idea for the melody after I decided to enter this contest. So I stopped trying, but then I hummed a melody unexpectedly the next day while I was playing the guitar in the evening and created this tune." The famous musicians Lin Lin, D Yar Mo and Khin Myat Mon were the judges, choosing Lin Myat Aung and two other finalists—Thaw Zin Hein from Hlaing Township in Rangoon and Nay Htoo from Hpa-an, Karen State. The public then voted in a poll conducted earlier this month by text message, Facebook and on the competition's website. D Yar Mo told The Irrawaddy that 500 contestants were chosen first a team included experts and audience members, then the judges picked the three finalists. "The tune must be simple, attractive, ingenious and have its own identity. The winner's tune is simple but attractive and active and full of energy," he said. The winner was awarded 10 million kyat (just over $10,000), and the runners up got 2 million kyat each. The post Winner of Mobile Phone Ringtone Competition Announced in Burma appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

‘Political Prisoners Are Like Plaster’ Posted: 22 Aug 2014 03:43 AM PDT Tin Oo, patron of the National League for Democracy, has a plaster cast of his arm made by the artist Htein Lin. (Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy) Artist Htein Lin is trying to visualize the extent to which Burma's political prisoners have sacrificed for their country. To that end, he has become something of an expert when it comes to plaster of Paris, as he has set out to mold casts of the hands of hundreds of former political prisoners who were put behind bars under Burma's former military regime. An ex-political prisoner himself, Htein Lin is planning an exhibition, "A Show of Hands," that will feature the dismembered white plaster remnants of the activists, writers and comedians whose hands he has case, molding their likeness and all the while recording their stories on video. The Irrawaddy sat down with Htein Lin this week to discuss his project. Question: When did you start collecting casts of former political prisoners' hands? Answer: It began in August of last year, after I returned from England. It's already been one year. Before I moved back to Burma, I took some plaster hands of ex-political prisoners who are living in England. Q: How did you get this idea? What was the motivation? A: When I was in England, I broke my hand in a bicycle accident. My hand was healed back to its normal condition through a plaster mold, but it took a long time. My hand was in terrible condition at that time; bones were broken into many pieces. But after [the cast], everything was fine. I got this idea from that. Burmese society was shattered under the military government, so I believe that political prisoners are like plaster. They can heal our society, return it to a normal, strong condition. Former political prisoners will put Burma back on the right track, that's what I feel. I wanted to create art for them. Our next generation will know what their history was via my art. Q: How many molds have you collected so far? Can you tell me who some of them are from? A: It's up to almost 400 hands at this point. There are many kinds people in various segments of society. In literature, Daw Theingi, author Ma Thida [Sanchaung], Myo Myint Nyein, U Moe Thu; from film, Zaganar, U Aung Lwin; then Ko Jimmy and Ma Nilar Thein [of the 88 Generation students]; blogger Nay Phone Latt. And lesser known people will also be included. Such people sacrificed everything, but people don't know about them. I found one man in the town of Bago whose family were government employees—in 1988, he was a university student, but now he drives a trishaw. After he got involved in the uprising, his entire family was evicted from the civil servants' quarters, all family members were fired. His mother passed away due to this. He has nothing, sacrificed everything. I just recorded his life. And also Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and U Tin Oo's hands will be included. I lost the chance for U Win Tin—I tried to take a mold of his hand while he was in the hospital but it wasn't a success. I thought he would recover soon, but he passed away. Q: How many hands are you intending to collect? A: I've been targeting 1,000 hands for this show. After I get 1,000 hands, I will start planning for a public exhibition. I expect that it will show late this year. Q: How do you define a political prisoner? A: A political prisoner, as I define it, is someone who has sacrificed for democratic reform in our country. The people who were arrested while they were protesting against the military government after the 1988 uprising in Burma are political prisoners, for example. Q: How much will the project cost? Where is the funding coming from? A: I have been using my own money, but I will need money when I display them. It costs 1,000 kyats [US$1] for a plaster hand mold. I haven't had any [financial] support from anyone up to this point. Q: Do you plan to show these hands in a museum or donate them elsewhere? A: I don't plan to sell this installation art. I will offer it for showing if there is an invitation from another country, but it will be based permanently in Burma. The post 'Political Prisoners Are Like Plaster' appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Arakanese Leaders to Propose Detention Camps for Undocumented Rohingya Posted: 22 Aug 2014 03:11 AM PDT Rohingya women are pictured at the Thae Chaung camp for internally displaced people in Sittwe, Arakan State, on April 22, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — Buddhist Arakanese leaders are considering a proposal that would see Rohingya Muslims without documentation proving their right to citizenship detained in camps. The plan will be discussed publicly in the Arakan State capital, Sittwe, in the coming days, said Than Tun, an Arakanese leader and a member of the state's Emergency Coordination Committee, and comes as a citizenship verification project is restarted for Muslims in Arakan State. Clashes between ethnic Arakanese and Rohingya broke out in mid-2012 and about 140,000 people, mostly Muslims, still live in temporary camps after fleeing their homes. Arakanese Buddhists see the Rohingya, who are not a recognized ethnic group under Burmese law, as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and refer to them as Bengalis. The nascent verification process—currently only underway in earnest in Myabon Township—is being conducted by the Ministry of Immigration to find out who is entitled to citizenship, based on how long their families have been settled in Burma. Than Tun said a proposal would be sent to President Thein Sein asking that those who are not able to provide documentation be rounded up into camps. "This is just our draft proposal. We will have a public meeting this week. After that, we will send the draft to the president. At the public meeting we will ask for [the public's] agreement," Than Tun told The Irrawaddy. "This proposal refers to all Bengalis who stay in Arakan, including both those who stay in villages and those in refugee camps. This proposal comes from Sittwe, but it will be presented from all Arakanese." With Arakan State already dotted with large makeshift camps full of those displaced in earlier rounds of violence, the Burmese government may have to put undocumented Muslims elsewhere in Burma, Than Tun said. "We will tell him [Thein Sein] if there is a problem to set up a camp for the people in Arakan, he can set up a camp in a suitable area in the union [Burma]," said Than Tun, who predicted that many people without documentation would be found in Sittwe, Maungdaw Township and Buthidaung Township. "Firstly, they migrated to our land and they were illegal migrants. But they had children, and those children are born in our land, so we cannot say their children are illegal. But, their children are still illegal settlers." An estimated 1 million Rohingya live in Arakan State, many tracing their roots in the area back generations. Only a handful of people—who must first agree to identify themselves as Bengali—have so far taken part in the citizenship verification process. A Rohingya activist said that many displaced people would not have possession of their documents, since they fled their homes to escape Buddhist mobs. "They killed us and burned our houses. We did not have time to bring documents with us. If the government asks us for documents, we don't have them," said Aung Win from Sittwe, arguing that such lost documents should be replaced by the government. "They should not say that those who do not have documents are stateless. If the government does this in Sittwe, our people will not go to the verification center." The post Arakanese Leaders to Propose Detention Camps for Undocumented Rohingya appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Suspected Ebola Patient Diagnosed With Malaria: Burmese Health Ministry Posted: 22 Aug 2014 02:42 AM PDT The Ministry of Health's rapid response team conducts thermal-imaging checks on passengers arriving at Rangoon International Airport. (Photo: Myanmar Center for Disease Control and Prevention) RANGOON — The 22-year-old Burmese man who was tested for the Ebola virus earlier this week has been diagnosed with malaria, the Ministry of Health announced Friday. Zin Min Oo, a sailor, was tested for Ebola after returning to Burma from West Africa, where he had worked for three months amid an outbreak of the deadly disease that has killed more than 1,350 people there. He was placed in an isolation ward at Rangoon's Waibagi Hospital on Tuesday after arriving at the city's international airport with "Ebola-like symptoms," including a fever and malaise, according to Dr. Than Than Htay, the hospital's medical superintendent. The hospital, which specializes in infectious diseases, lacked equipment to test him for Ebola, so a sample of his blood was sent to a laboratory in India. Results are still pending. In the meantime, separate tests conducted by the National Health Laboratory in Rangoon have shown that he was infected with two types of malaria parasites. "The health condition of the suspected Ebola patient improved by Thursday morning after he was given appropriate malaria treatment the night before," Dr. Tun Tin, deputy director of the central epidemiology unit, told the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper on Friday. Four other sailors who were traveling with Zin Min Oo and were also placed under surveillance at the hospital were found to be healthy, the newspaper reported, citing the Ministry of Health. Members of the ministry's rapid response team—who have been conducting thermal-imaging checks on passengers arriving at the Rangoon airport—are "working day and night shifts on high alert following the arrival of the suspected patient two days ago," the newspaper added. Zin Min OO had a fever higher than 38 degrees Celsius when he landed at the airport on a Myanmar Airways International (MAI) transit flight from Thailand. He was sent to the hospital after temporarily losing consciousness. He had worked for a Chinese shipping line for three months in Guinea and Liberia. The World Health Organization has called the latest Ebola outbreak the deadliest in four decades. The Ebola virus is contracted by direct contact with bodily fluids from an infected person, and it manifests early on with symptom similar to the common cold, including fever and malaise. As the disease progresses, an infected person can experience internal bleeding. The post Suspected Ebola Patient Diagnosed With Malaria: Burmese Health Ministry appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Thein Sein Admits Corruption, Bribery Are ‘Chronic’ in Burma Posted: 22 Aug 2014 12:55 AM PDT Burmese President Thein Sein (left) speaks during a quarterly meeting of senior government officials in Naypyidaw. (Photo: President's Office website) RANGOON — Burmese President Thein Sein has said that corruption and bribery are still "chronic" in the country and must be addressed by a change in attitude among government officials. The remarks were made during a speech at the Presidential Palace in Naypyidaw during a quarterly meeting of senior government officials on Wednesday, according to a transcript published on the official website of the President's Office. "Chronic bribery and corruption are still happening in the civil service," the president said, according to the account of the meeting. "Civil service officers need to change their morality and spirit to call for an end to corruption. I would like to urge to speed up the anti-corruption processes in the remaining period [of the current administration]." Burma is ranked among the countries in the world where the perception of corruption is highest, and businesses say corruption poses a serious obstacle to their operations here. Tackling graft is seen as a major challenge for Thein Sein's quasi-civilian government, which in 2011 took over from the military regime under which cronyism and bribery flourished at all levels of government. An Anti-Corruption Law was passed in September 2013 and an Anti-Corruption Commission was formed this year. But questions have been raised over how effective the commission will be since it is headed and largely staffed by former military officials or ruling-party members. Since Thein Sein's government began opening up the economy—including by holding competitive tenders for telecommunications licenses and oil and gas exploration deals—the country has risen in corruption rankings. In its most recent global corruption perceptions index last year, Transparency International ranked Burma 157 out of 177 countries, compared with a ranking of 172 out of 176 in 2012. The post Thein Sein Admits Corruption, Bribery Are 'Chronic' in Burma appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Getting the Word Out Posted: 21 Aug 2014 05:30 PM PDT   The Tetseo Sisters meet fans after delivering a marvelous performance. (Photo: Jerry Peerson) YANGON — Today in Yangon, an increasing number of events and venues are providing vital platforms for artists of all backgrounds to showcase their talents, and consequently inspire the artistic passions of others in the community. Thanks to this growing frequency, artists have something to look forward to, and therefore are encouraged to continue creating and refining their material. Sometimes a feeling of "arts in the air" even wafts so far as to embolden those who are less likely to take the stage to consider unlocking their own latent or forgotten artistic potential. In early July, TS.1 Yangon hosted its inaugural My Word Open Mic. TS.1, or Transit Shed No.1, was designed as a space to nurture the arts and celebrate culture. With the help of My Word founder Nikita West, they succeeded in bringing a diverse community together to hatch their inclusive open mic concept. "I started My Word because I know there are artists in Yangon who want a safe and supportive space to share their talents or side projects," Ms. West explained. "More open mics will encourage people to keep going." Adding that "A person's day job may be totally unrelated to their artistic side," she said she hopes that open mics "provide a platform to express that other side." Ms. West plans to make My Word a monthly happening, and would like to bring in spoken-word artists, poets, and comedians for a genre-crossing evening of artistic expression. Ja Som Laban, the quirky and explosive singer of Yangon band The Myth, delivered the standout performance of the night. Weaving strong, catchy melodies with indie-pop tendencies, her songs and stage-presence, while unique, contain the same energy that fills clubs in cities like Seattle, London, and Tokyo. Naga Nights Just days after the gathering at TS.1, the National Theatre in Yangon hosted a grand and harmonious Handshake Concert, which brought together world-class musicians and dancers from across Myanmar and India, with strong representation from India's northeastern state of Nagaland, bordering Myanmar's Sagaing Region. The event, presented by the embassy of India in Yangon and the Rattle & Hum Music Society of Nagaland, in cooperation with Myanmar's Ministry of Culture, showcased acts transcending the historic, cultural, and linguistic ties of the two countries. A sizeable audience, including a large group of school children, watched in awe as Myanmar drummer Thandar Lin never dropped a beat while incrementally adorning her body with drums hung from straps and held over her shoulders. In the following act, the Tetseo Sisters, beloved cultural ambassadors of Nagaland, donned traditional Naga dress and sang in Chokri to deliver a mesmerizing triad of traditional, ethereal songs. Dedicated to preserving the music from their Chakhesang tribe, the sisters' voices (and grunts) swirled and reverberated around the hall in a ghostly echo. The classically trained singers of Nagaland's first show choir, Voices of Hope, also belted out ballads and drew audible excitement from the crowd during their rendition of the song "Jai Ho," from the award-winning film, Slumdog Millionaire. In a rounding out of musical styles, Grammy Award winner and world charmer PanditVishwa Mohan Bhatt from Jaipur headlined the night with a hypnotic performance on the mohanveena (slide guitar) accompanied by entrancing tabla tapping. As these two events show, truly inspiring and extraordinary artists from the local and international community are gaining increasing exposure in Yangon, strengthening a sense of optimism for the future of the city's arts scene. This article first appeared in the August 2014 issue of The Irrawaddy magazine. The post Getting the Word Out appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Phantoms of Flight Posted: 21 Aug 2014 05:00 PM PDT In Myanmar and elsewhere in Southeast Asia, ghosts are said to haunt airports, popping up everywhere from cockpits to arrivals halls. (Illustration: A.M. Two / The Irrawaddy) YANGON — Myanmar's grim air safety record can be blamed on many causes: an undeveloped air traffic management system, antiquated aircraft and poor pilot training, to name a few. But sometimes, officials at the country's airports point their fingers to more spiritual—even supernatural—culprits. Local ground crews, baggage handlers and tower communications workers have been known to cite ghosts and spirits as occasionally interfering with aviation logistics, while linking fatal accidents to the poor karma of airline owners, according to Southeast Asia scholar and anthropologist Jane M. Ferguson, who wrote a report titled "Terminally Haunted: Aviation Ghosts, Hybrid Buddhist Practices, and Disaster Aversion Strategies Amongst Airport Workers in Myanmar and Thailand." Ghosts have reportedly been spotted everywhere from immigration halls to aircraft cockpits. "On two separate occasions, Myanmar Airways pilots reported that the auto-start was already engaged, even though they had just entered the cockpit and hadn't touched the instruments," Dr. Ferguson cited as an example of ghostlore in her report, published earlier this year in The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology. "This was very disturbing for the Myanmar Airways pilots, but they were not allowed to leave the cockpit, or abort the flights. In both cases, the flights went as planned and without incident." In Myanmar and elsewhere in Southeast Asia, ghosts are a common theme in travel stories. Many Buddhists believe they have the best chance of being reborn to a higher status if they die at home, surrounded by caring family members. If they suffer a violent death while traveling outside the home, they miss out on the proper send-off. Along roadsides in Myanmar, shrines can be found, often at particularly dangerous curves, to appease the lingering spirits of those who have been killed in car crashes. On the so-called Death Highway, a hastily built road stretching from Mandalay to Yangon that has seen more than 430 accidents over the past four years, Buddhist monks and activists have even organized spiritual interventions, including merit-making ceremonies to prevent more crashes. Similar stories carry over to air travel, in a country whose air accident rate is reportedly nine times higher than the global average, according to an official with the Department of Civil Aviation. At Mandalay International Airport, an official for a regional airline recounted to Dr. Ferguson the time she came upon a phantom in the immigration hall. "I saw a man standing next to me at the counter, not doing anything but looking at me. …It must have been a thayay [ghost] because nobody else saw him but me," the official was quoted as saying. Sometimes airport workers point to karmic explanations for accidents, such as on Christmas in 2012, when a 24-ton Air Bagan aircraft crashed into and killed a motorbike driver while approaching Heho Airport in Shan State. "Air Bagan is unlucky from the beginning. Tay Za has done so many bad deals to become the richest man in Myanmar," an official was quoted as saying by Dr. Ferguson. U Tay Za is a crony who owns the airline and made much of his wealth through deals with the former military regime. Of course, Myanmar is not the only source of supernatural aviation tales. Before Thailand's Suvarnabhumi Airport opened in 2006, the director of the state-owned airport enterprise saw a large cobra slither in front of his car in a parking garage, which he took as an omen, according to Dr. Ferguson. Before the airport's launch, at a merit-making ritual attended by monks and hundreds of airport staff, a parcel inspector was then said to have become possessed by a guardian spirit that warned of future problems if shrines were not erected in his honor. His warning was heeded and shrines were promptly built, with statues of snake deities placed inside them for good measure. The airport's construction also led to ghost stories, Dr. Ferguson says. According to one local legend, a female airport worker from Myanmar fell into the molding of a column being built in the customs hall, and she died a gruesome death as concrete was poured inside. Today, airport workers still visit the column—distinguished by its uneven surface—and they bring offerings such as snacks to appease the woman's ghost. "Different cultures offer a different set of symbolic tools to understand danger and uncertainty," Dr. Ferguson told The Irrawaddy, adding that folklore or spiritual beliefs were not symptoms of irrationality. Most people understand that car crashes are due to driver error, bad weather or poor road construction, she said, but they turn to ghost stories in a bid to explain why these unfortunate happenings occurred exactly when they did, or how they did, to harm somebody. Even in the United States, where the average person is perhaps less likely to link mishaps with the workings of spirits, alleged supernatural sightings do crop up from time to time. After an Eastern Air Lines flight crashed during its approach to Miami International Airport in 1972, killing 101 people, airline officials claimed to see the ghosts of flight crew members that had died in the accident. In another incident at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport in 2006, about a dozen United Airlines employees said they saw a metallic saucer-shaped object hovering over a concourse, prompting speculation of UFOs. The story was picked up by major news networks, though the Federal Aviation Administration dismissed the sightings as a weather phenomenon. Whether or not phantoms are actually haunting roads and airports is beside the point, said Dr. Ferguson. More important, she said, is studying how people talk about ghosts and what these stories say about their culture. "Ghost stories come across as strange to international eyes, but there's very much a logic to them," she said. In Myanmar, airport officials "can successfully operate all the machines, and they know the culture of international civil aeronautics. The tower operators know the NATO alphabet and can operate all the radar successfully. "But just because they are operating international machinery doesn't mean they have abandoned their local cultures. And that's true everywhere, it's not unique to Southeast Asia." A version of this story first appeared in the August 2014 print edition of The Irrawaddy magazine. The post Phantoms of Flight appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Noodles: Friend or Foe? South Koreans Defend Diet Posted: 21 Aug 2014 09:46 PM PDT A mother feeds her son instant noodles as they wait for their train at Zhengzhou Railway Station in Zhengzhou, Henan province, China, Feb. 19, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) SEOUL — Kim Min-koo has an easy reply to new American research that hits South Korea where it hurts—in the noodles. Drunk and hungry just after dawn, he rips the lid off a bowl of his beloved fast food, wobbling on his feet but still defiant over a report that links instant noodles to health hazards. "There's no way any study is going to stop me from eating this," says Kim, his red face beaded with sweat as he adds hot water to his noodles in a Seoul convenience store. His mouth waters, wooden chopsticks poised above the softening strands, his glasses fogged by steam. At last, he spears a slippery heap, lets forth a mighty, noodle-cooling blast of air and starts slurping. "This is the best moment—the first bite," Kim, a freelance film editor who indulges about five times a week, says between gulps. "The taste, the smell, the chewiness—it's just perfect." Instant noodles carry a broke college student aura in America, but they are an essential, even passionate, part of life for many in South Korea and across Asia. Hence the emotional heartburn caused by a Baylor Heart and Vascular Hospital study in the United States that linked instant noodles consumption by South Koreans to some risks for heart disease. The study has provoked feelings of wounded pride, mild guilt, stubborn resistance, even nationalism among South Koreans, who eat more instant noodles per capita than anyone in the world. Many of those interviewed vowed, like Kim, not to quit. Other noodle lovers offered up techniques they swore kept them healthy: taking Omega-3, adding vegetables, using less seasoning, avoiding the soup. Some dismissed the study because the hospital involved is based in cheeseburger-gobbling America. The heated reaction is partly explained by the omnipresence here of instant noodles, which, for South Koreans, usually mean the spicy, salty "ramyeon" that costs less than a dollar a package. Individually-wrapped disposable bowls and cups are everywhere: Internet cafes, libraries, trains, ice-skating rinks. Even at the halfway point of a trail snaking up South Korea's highest mountain, hikers can refresh themselves with cup noodles. Elderly South Koreans often feel deep nostalgia for instant noodles, which entered the local market in the 1960s as the country began clawing its way out of the poverty and destruction of the Korean War into what's now Asia's fourth-biggest economy. Many vividly remember their first taste of the once-exotic treat, and hard-drinking South Koreans consider instant noodles an ideal remedy for aching, alcohol-laden bellies and subsequent hangovers. Some people won't leave the country without them, worried they'll have to eat inferior noodles abroad. What could be better at relieving homesickness than a salty shot of ramyeon? "Ramyeon is like kimchi to Koreans," says Ko Dong-ryun, 36, an engineer from Seoul, referring to the spicy, fermented vegetable dish that graces most Korean meals. "The smell and taste create an instant sense of home." Ko fills half his luggage with instant noodles for his international business travels, a lesson he learned after assuming on his first trip that three packages would suffice for six days. "Man, was I wrong. Since then, I always make sure I pack enough." The US study was based on South Korean surveys from 2007-2009 of more than 10,700 adults aged 19-64, about half of them women. It found that people who ate a diet rich in meat, soda and fried and fast foods, including instant noodles, were associated with an increase in abdominal obesity and LDL, or "bad," cholesterol. Eating instant noodles more than twice a week was associated with a higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome, another heart risk factor, in women but not in men. The study raises important questions, but can't prove that instant noodles are to blame rather than the overall diets of people who eat lots of them, cautions Alice Lichtenstein, director of the cardiovascular nutrition lab at Tufts University in Boston. "What's jumping out is the sodium [intake] is higher in those who are consuming ramen noodles," she says. "What we don't know is whether it's coming from the ramen noodles or what they are consuming with the ramen noodles." There's certainly a lot of sodium in those little cups. A serving of the top-selling instant ramyeon provides more than 90 percent of South Korea's recommended daily sodium intake. Still, it's tough to expect much nutrition from a meal that costs around 80 cents, says Choi Yong-min, 44, marketing director for Paldo, a South Korean food company. "I can't say it's good for your health, but it is produced safely." By value, instant noodles were the top-selling manufactured food in South Korea in 2012, the most recent year figures are available, with about 1.85 trillion won ($1.8 billion) worth sold, according to South Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. China is the world's largest instant noodle market, according to the World Instant Noodles Association, although its per capita consumption pales next to South Korea's. The food is often a low-end option for Chinese people short of money, time or cooking facilities. Japan, considered the spiritual home of instant noodles, boasts a dazzling array. Masaya "Instant" Oyama, 55, who says he eats more than 400 packages of instant noodles a year, rattles off a sampling: Hello Kitty instant noodles, polar bear instant noodles developed by a zoo, black squid ink instant noodles. In Tokyo, 33-year-old Miyuki Ogata considers instant noodles a godsend because of her busy schedule and contempt for cooking. They also bring her back to the days when she was a poor student learning to become a filmmaker, and would buy two cup noodles at the 100 yen shop. Every time she eats a cup now, she is celebrating what she calls "that eternal hungry spirit." In South Korea, it's all about speed, cost and flavor. Thousands of convenience stores have corners devoted to noodles: Tear off the top, add hot water from a dispenser, wait a couple minutes and it's ready to eat, often at a nearby counter. Some even skip the water, pounding on the package to break up the dry noodles, adding the seasoning, then shaking everything up. "It's toasty, chewy, much better than most other snacks out there," Byon Sarah, 28, who owns a consulting company, says of a technique she discovered in middle school. "And the seasoning is so addictive—sweet, salty and spicy." Cheap electric pots that boil water for instant noodles in one minute are popular with single people. Making an "instant" meal even faster, however, isn't always appreciated. At the comic book store she runs in Seoul, Lim Eun-jung, 42, says she noticed a lot more belly fat about six months after she installed a fast-cooking instant noodle machine for customers. "It's obvious that it's not good for my body," Lim says. "But I'm lazy, and ramyeon is the perfect fast food for lazy people." The post Noodles: Friend or Foe? South Koreans Defend Diet appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Indonesia Court Upholds Widodo’s Presidential Victory Posted: 21 Aug 2014 09:28 PM PDT Supporters of losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto rally in front of a police blockade outside the Constitutional Court in Jakarta August 21, 2014. JAKARTA — Indonesia's highest court on Thursday unanimously upheld last month's presidential election result, paving the way for Joko Widodo to take over as leader of the world's third largest democracy. The Constitutional Court, as expected, rejected a last-ditch attempt by losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto to overturn the election result that he believed was tainted by widespread cheating. The verdict cannot be appealed. "The court rejects … all applications from the applicant by all nine judges," said Constitutional Court Chief Hamdan Zoelva at the conclusion of the verdict, which took about four and a half hours to read. With the legal hurdles out of the way, president-elect Widodo will be able to speed up his preparations ahead of taking office on Oct. 20. He is expected to soon resign as Jakarta governor to focus on the transition. "The next step is to get things ready. We will meet with the current president to get to know the problems," Widodo told reporters after the verdict. The administration of outgoing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had delayed meeting with Widodo's transition team about pressing economic issues, such as ballooning fuel subsidy costs and a widening current account deficit, until after the verdict. "The most pressing and urgent that [Widodo] will want to deal with is making room in the budget. He's going to start moving fast in talks about a fuel subsidy cut," said Eric Sugandi, economist at Standard Chartered in Jakarta. A senior member of Widodo's transition team told Reuters they would hold more advanced talks with the outgoing government about the possibility of a fuel subsidy cut before October. Indonesian stocks closed at a 15-month high, up 0.31 percent at 5,206.14 and near a record high. The rupiah also strengthened against the dollar. Prabowo had alleged "massive" fraud in the election and deployed a team of nearly 100 lawyers to bring a lawsuit against the Elections Commission, which was responsible for conducting the election across the vast archipelago. Teargas Thousands of Prabowo supporters gathered near the court and police fired teargas and water cannons to disperse some of them as they tried to break through security barriers shortly after the court began its session. Witnesses said protesters rammed four trucks into the barriers, sparking the police response. A few people were injured and four were arrested. The crowds later dispersed. About 50,000 police and military personnel were on standby around the capital city in case of violence, authorities said. Some businesses and schools closed early as a precaution. A spokesman for Prabowo urged his supporters to refrain from violence and said he respected the court's ruling. "We intend to be a healthy, positive balancing force to the government of (Widodo), not a destructive force like many think we will be," Tantowi Yahya told reporters after the verdict. Prabowo was not immediately available for comment after the ruling because he was visiting supporters who were injured in the protests earlier, Yahya said. The Elections Commission, which has been commended by international observers for its transparency, declared last month Widodo the winner by nearly 8.5 million votes, or more than 53 percent of the vote. The case was widely seen as a face-saving gesture and has been a common course of action in previous elections. The court has never overturned the result of a presidential election. After two weeks of testimony from 25 witnesses for each side, the court found Prabowo's team lacking substantial evidence to prove allegations of fraud. Prabowo's coalition, which currently controls 60 percent of parliament, is expected to crumble after the court decision as parties like Golkar, the country's second biggest, will jump ship to join the Widodo government. Additional reporting by Reuters reporters Kanupriya Kapoor, Fergus Jensen and Eveline Danubrata. The post Indonesia Court Upholds Widodo's Presidential Victory appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Protesters Attack Police as India’s Assam, Nagaland Fight Over Territory Posted: 21 Aug 2014 09:19 PM PDT Demonstrators with their weapons shout slogans during a protest at Golaghat district in the northeastern Indian state of Assam Aug. 20, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) GUWAHATI, India — Thousands of protesters in the far-flung Indian state of Assam defied a curfew and attacked police in a fifth day of unrest over a territorial dispute with a neighboring state. Assam and the tiny state of Nagaland in northeastern India have been claiming tracts of land along the state limits since the creation of Nagaland more than four decades ago. Clashes have periodically erupted between people living in villages straddling the two states. The latest wave of violence has left at least 20 dead and forced thousands to flee their homes, officials said. On Thursday, residents of Assam's worst-affected Golaghat district turned on the state police, saying it had failed to protect them from attacks by Naga tribesmen coming over the state borders. Armed with stones and sticks, and even bows and arrows, demonstrators attacked policemen and vehicles, ignoring a dusk-to-dawn curfew imposed by the authorities in the district, about 300 km (180 miles) from Assam's main commercial city Guwahati. "The situation in Assam is volatile and emotions are high among the people against the government for its failure to protect its people from Nagas," said Akhil Gogoi, a protest leader in Guwahati. India's mountainous northeast is home to dozens of ethnic groups, many of whom are campaigning for greater autonomy, statehood or even secession. New Delhi has deployed troops for decades in the area which shares borders with China, Burma and Bangladesh. But critics say the northeast is a neglected corner of the country, and that federal politicians only turn their attention to it when there is an outbreak of violence. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, elected by a landslide in May, has appointed a former army chief as his minister for northeast affairs to help build border infrastructure and ramp up economic activity. Police said the latest trouble began when Naga tribesmen attacked a village inside Assam last week, killing 15 people and burning their homes. Five people were later killed in police firing to quell angry mobs, an official said. The federal government has rushed about 1,000 paramilitaries to the troubled border areas. The chief ministers of the two states were expected to meet later on Thursday to try and find ways to end the unrest. The post Protesters Attack Police as India's Assam, Nagaland Fight Over Territory appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

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