Shan Herald Agency for News |
- Amid ongoing clashes, RCSS announces it will sign Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement
- MaePaySoh (Let's Vote) Mobile Apps Available
- Former Prince of Hsipaw Honored in Colorado
| Amid ongoing clashes, RCSS announces it will sign Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement Posted: 08 Oct 2015 03:57 AM PDT The Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army-South (RCSS/SSA-S) will sign Burma's Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) on October 15, Lt. Gen. Yawd Serk announced today. "We believe the NCA is a bridge to solve the [country's] political problems and become a genuine federal state," the armed group's leader said.
"I encourage all groups to join," he added, explaining that widespread participation would make the ceasefire more "meaningful." S.H.A.N reported on Tuesday that the RCSS/SSA-S had been deliberating at its headquarters on whether to sign the controversial agreement. The decision comes as another major Shan armed group, the Shan State Political Party/Shan State Army-North (SSPP/SSA-N), faces renewed clashes with the Burma Army after announcing withdrawal from the NCA. "For us, we are not going to sign if all armed groups are not included," said SSPP representative, Lt. Col. Sai La, in a phone interview with S.H.A.N. "If any group is left out, the fighting will happen." Today, three government battalions faced off with SSPP/SSA-N troops in central Shan State. "They have ordered SSPP/SSA-N to withdraw from the area, otherwise they will attack our headquarters," Sai La said. Lt. Gen. Yawd Serk also commented on the ongoing fighting between the Burma Army and ethnic armies. "I will not agree if the government supports those who sign the NCA, but attacks the other groups who do not sign," he said. The RCSS/SSA-S leader echoed earlier statements by Myanmar Peace Center senior adviser U Hla Maung Shwe, who told S.H.A.N. last month that, even with a ceasefire, "no one can guarantee" that fighting would not take place. An end to active armed conflict will not happen immediately, acknowledged Yawd Serk, who hopes it will "gradually reduce." As a peacebuilding measure, the RCSS/SSA-S has requested the establishment of more liaison offices through which problems can be discussed in lieu of fighting. They also called for government efforts to demilitarize its presence in 24 of Shan State's 50-plus townships. Providing a list of locations where the RCSS/SSA is active, the group advised that "the government should not deploy their troops by any means" to these areas, in order to avoid clashes. Despite the presence of a previously signed ceasefire enacted in late 2011, the RCSS/SSA-S noted that the Burma Army has "not complied with" the agreement, and that the years since have been punctuated by armed clashes, of which, the Myanmar Peace Monitor reports, there have been over 70. Eight groups have now committed to signing the NCA next week, out of 20 organizations who originally requested inclusion in the process, and 15 who were invited by the government. The signatories will include the RCSS/SSA-S, the Karen National Union (KNU), Democratic Karen Benevolent Party (DKBA), Karen National Liberation Party-Peace Council (KNLA-PC), Chin National Front (CNF), All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF), Pa-O National Liberation Party (PNLA) and Arakan Liberation Party (ALP). By SAI AW / Shan Herald Agency for News (S.H.A.N.) (Edited in English by Simma Francis) | ||||||
| MaePaySoh (Let's Vote) Mobile Apps Available Posted: 07 Oct 2015 08:33 PM PDT Dear colleagues, Myanmar's 2015 general elections are rapidly approaching, and voters still have many questions: Who are the candidates? What are the party platforms? How do I vote? MPS_Apps_Poster_Emails_Eng  MaePaySoh (Let's Vote) is a voter education initiative aimed at providing answers to these essential questions through engaging the developer community in Myanmar to generate useful voter education mobile and web apps for the 2015 elections. We are proud to let you know that these elections mobile and web apps can now be downloaded for free at www.maepaysoh.org (Click HERE) We would like to distribute these apps as widely as possible to the public in the critical weeks remaining before the elections on November 8. Please help us to do so by circulating this email and attached posters within your organization and among your networks. Best regards, Susan Lee Susan Lee | Program Manager No. 21, Bo Yar Zar Street | 14 Ward, Kyauk Kone Yankin Township | Yangon, Myanmar Tel: +95 (1) 570 619 | Mob: +95 (0) 9254 228 255 | susan.lee@asiafoundation.org www.asiafoundation.org --- If you feel you received this message in error please contact postmaster@asiafoundation.org. | ||||||
| Former Prince of Hsipaw Honored in Colorado Posted: 08 Oct 2015 03:58 AM PDT Last Thursday the Colorado School of Mines posthumously conferred on Sao Kya Seng, the last Saophalong (ruling prince) of the Shan State of Hsipaw, the Distinguished Achievement Medal in recognition of his outstanding professional achievementsas an alumnus of the institution. The President of the university, Dr. Paul Johnson, presented the award to Inge Sargent, Sao Kya Seng's widow and the former Mahadevi (Celestial Princess) of Hsipaw, accompanied by their two daughters, Sao Mayari and Sao Kennari. The ceremony was held in Golden, Colorado and attended by over 300 guests.
Sao Kya Seng attended the university from 1949-1953, graduating with a degree in mining engineering. It was while studying there that the prince met and fell in love with a fellow international student, Inge Eberhard, from Austria, who had won a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Colorado in 1951. The couple married in 1953 and soon thereafter, moved back to Burma. She became Sao Thusandi, the Mahadevi of Hsipaw, and quickly learned the Shan language and customs, earning the title Sao Mae or royal mother, from her adopted family.
"The two of us were like a Little Peace Corps," recalled Sao Mae, whose story is immortalized in her book Twilight Over Burma: My Life as a Shan Princess, published in 1994. The book has also been adapted into a film, which will premiere in German on October 26, 2015. "[Sao Kya Seng] had planned to develop [Hsipaw's mineral wealth] in a responsible and safe way so that the Shan people could reap the benefits of development," she said in her award acceptance speech. However, what should have been a fairy tale came to an abrupt halt with Ne Win's coup in 1962, a political shift that would usher in almost five decades of brutal military rule. "Unfortunately, the military coup occurred as some of the equipment arrived from overseas," Sao Mae explained. "All Shan people who believe in education will be proud of what the last Saopha of Hsipaw, Sao Kya Seng, was able to achieve in spite of the Burmese military and those Shans who conspired with them. He not only tried to reform the political system but worked for the economic improvement of all people living in the Shan States." Most of the Shan princes were arrested and imprisoned. The ruling prince of the Shan State of Yawnghwe, Sao Shwe Thaike, who was also the first President of Burma, died in prison under suspicious circumstances. "We were all staying at the house [Sao Kya Zone's residence in Taunggyi] and that morning [of the coup], army officers showed up and called my father away for a 'meeting' with the local military commander," recalled Hkun Htun Oo, the leader of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) and himself also a former political prisoner. His adoptive father was Sao Kya Zone, Sao Kya Seng's older brother. "They did not explain any further but told him to bring his toothbrush, any regular medicines, and warm clothing, so it was clear that he was going to be detained," he said. "That 'meeting' lasted five years in Insein [Prison]. I was about to leave for school and warned my uncle [Sao Kya Seng] to be careful, I suspected a coup. After the car dropped me off at school, he took the same car to Heho. Along the way, he was detained and taken away to the Eastern Command."
Sao Kya Seng was last seen at the army checkpoint near Taunggyi. He was never heard from again. Sao Mae was initially placed under house arrest before fleeing to Austria in 1964 with their two daughters. She would return to Colorado, remarry, and work as a high school teacher until her retirement, when she and her husband, Howard Sargent, established the Burma Lifeline charity to provide aid to the peoples of Burma, particularly ethnic populations living along the country's border areas. Although over five decades have passed since Ne Win's military coup and Sao Kya Seng's arrest, the former Mahadevi of Hsipaw and her two daughters continue to write letters every year to the Burmese government, including the current quasi-civilian Thein Sein administration, asking about the fate of Sao Kya Seng. Their inquiries continue to be met with silence. By SAI AWN MURNG / Special Contributor to Shan Herald Agency for News (S.H.A.N.) |
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