The Irrawaddy Magazine |
- Colorful People
- The Irrawaddy Business Roundup (Apr. 11, 2015)
- ‘The Problem of Child Labor Originates in Rural Areas’
| Posted: 10 Apr 2015 06:00 PM PDT Click to view slideshow. Writers seek inspiration where they can, but rarely do strategies that don't involve just buckling down at a desk actually work. So it was when renowned writer Khin Myo Chit sought to meet with ghosts of times past to help her write the book "Anawrahta of Burma." Alas, no ghosts appeared during Khin Myo Chit's meditation sessions under a tree, says her grand-daughter Junior Win, who tried a similar gambit while rummaging about in history herself. Researching the 100-year-old story of Daw Khin Myo Chit and her husband U Khin Maung Latt, Junior Win closed her eyes and tried "meeting them in a dream" to find out what they would like to say. The ghost-summons attempt didn't work for her either. So now she just has to hope that the couple, whose lives crossed many significant events in Myanmar in the previous century, would be satisfied with her efforts at "digging through their rubbish and memories, not knowing which should be disclosed and which kept secret." Junior Win's self-published book, "A Memory of My Grandparents," to be released by mid-April, opens in 1915, the year the couple was born within a few months of each other. They met and married during the Second World War period, when times were exceedingly difficult. At one point during the Japanese occupation the cash-strapped couple tried their hand at selling slippers on the streets of Yangon. But they were also close to many of the most significant figures of the day, including Bogyoke Aung San and other leading political figures, as well as many writers, poets and journalists. Khin Maung Latt was a tall, bookish-looking man whose "smiling lips showed kindness and sympathy," says his granddaughter. He was a teacher most of his life, and a chief editor of the Working People's Daily from 1963 to 1968. Khin Myo Chit, whose birth name was Khin Mya, had a "tall, slim and rather weak body," Junior Win writes. "But her stern face, sharp eyes, and firm voice showed her strong mind and her stubborn spirit." She was a resolute nationalist and a longtime contributor from the late 1930s to publications such as Dagon magazine, The Burma Journal, Oway, The Working People's Daily and The Guardian. In her fifties, when she began publishing books in English, Khin Myo Chit started to make a wider mark. There were shades of Agatha Christie in the title of the book "The 13 Carat Diamond and Other Stories" that came out in 1969. Later books such as "Colourful Burma" (1976), "Burmese Scenes and Sketches" (1977) and "A Wonderland of Burmese Legends" (1984) went on to find avid local and international audiences at a time when Myanmar was sinking deeper into isolation and censorship was curtailing the topics writers could tackle. As writers and educators in difficult times, life was rarely simple or carefree for the couple, but their airy wooden house in a tree-filled compound on Pyay Road was always a rich site of teaching, talking and writing among family, friends and visitors. Khin Maung Latt died in 1996 and Khin Myo Chit passed away three years later. Their home remains almost as they left it; its legacy of ideas and intellectual life spanning much of modern Myanmar's history is kept quietly alive today by family members who work as writers, editors and translators and who all took part in this memory-filled work of research headed by a proud granddaughter. "A Memory of My Grandparents" by Junior Win will be in local bookshops before the Thingyan holiday in mid-April. This article originally appeared in the April 2015 issue of The Irrawaddy magazine. The post Colorful People appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| The Irrawaddy Business Roundup (Apr. 11, 2015) Posted: 10 Apr 2015 05:30 PM PDT  A worker at the Thilawa Special Economic Zone project outside Yangon. (Photo: Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters) Vietnam's HAGL Looks for New Investor After Rangoon Property Deal Falls Through Vietnamese conglomerate Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) is reportedly targeting Hong Kong and Singapore firms as it seeks a new investor for a massive real estate development going up on the eastern shore of Rangoon's Inya Lake. A deal for Singapore-based Rowsley Ltd to buy a 50 percent stake in the project fell apart last week, with blame placed on Burma's high levels of tax. The companies in February announced the deal, which would have seen the Singapore company invest $275 million in the mixed-use project. But, in an announcement to investors on Apr. 3, Rowsley company secretary Kannan Malini said, "The Company will not enter into the proposed joint venture as the conditions precedent under the Heads of Terms Agreement have not been satisfied," without going into details. In an announcement the same day, HAGL claimed that the deal had broken down because Rowsley wanted to invest directly in HAGL's local subsidiary Hoang Anh Gia Lai Myanmar Company Ltd, rather than investing indirectly by buying shares in the group's Vietnamese joint stock company. "Since the current tax rate applied to the profit from capital transfer in Myanmar is so high (40%), Hoang Anh Gia Lai could not accept the suggestion of Rowsley," said the HAGL statement, signed by HAGL acting general director Vo Truong Son. According to a report in the state-run Viet Nam News on Wednesday, Son said that the company is now "in talks with a number of foreign real estate companies, including firms in Hong Kong and Singapore. "As the negotiations are going on, Son refused to disclose more information about potential investors." The report said the failure to reach an agreement with Rowsley would not impact upon the project. "The office building and hotel are still slated to open this June," it said, "while the shopping centre will likely open in September." Thai Construction Firm Looks for Burma Infrastructure Projects Thai construction giant Ch Karnchang may soon enter into infrastructure developments in neighboring Burma, a senior executive at the firm told the Bangkok Post newspaper. A report published by the English-language daily on Tuesday said that the Stock Exchange of Thailand-listed firm was conducting a feasibility study on possible investments in Burma, citing Vorapote Uchupaiboonvong, Ch Karnchang's executive vice-president for accounting and finance. "There are many opportunities in Myanmar, and we're ready to take the initiative, but the study must be completed before we enter the country," Vorapote told the Bangkok Post. "We conducted thorough studies in Laos before investing in that country. We're adopting a similar approach for Myanmar." Ch Karnchang is the developer of the controversial Xayaburi hydropower dam on the Mekong River in Laos. According to the Bangkok Post, the director said the company was likely to focus its investment in Burma on the Rangoon area, while most opportunities for hydropower investment are in Burma's border states. The company, which has developed mass transit train and highway projects in Bangkok, has repeatedly announced it is interested in investments in Burma. A subsidiary of Ch Karnchang, TTW Public Company, is conducting a study on a tap water project in the Mon State capital, Moulmein, the report said. Suzuki to Assemble Cars in Thilawa SEZ Japanese automaker Suzuki will build an assembly plant in the Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ), according to Japanese media. A report from Japanese media group Nikkei said that the company had secured a 20-hectare plot of land inside the zone, which is situation just outside Rangoon. The factory would be Suzuki's second in Burma. In 2013, the company restarted its Rangoon factory, which assembles a small number of light trucks, declaring at the time that it would look to expand its operations in the country. According to Nikkei, Suzuki's new plant could begin production in 2017, employing about 300 people. "Suzuki will assemble imported parts at the plant," the report said. "Initial output is seen at roughly 10,000 cars a year. It could produce the Ertiga, a seven-seat compact, among other models there." The report said Suzuki would invest "several billion yen" in the project. One billion yen is equal to more than $8 million. Thilawa is the furthest progressed of three SEZs the Burmese government is planning in an attempt to kickstart the manufacturing sector. Three large Japanese conglomerates are investing in the SEZ project itself. However, with the slated opening of the zone in a matter of months, few other companies have so far announced that they will open factories at Thilawa. A group of Hong Kong-based garment manufacturers announced interest in setting up at Thilawa, but eventually pulled out. However, Japanese underwear-maker Wacoal announced last month that it would set up a factory in the SEZ. Toyo-Thai Signs Memorandum for Coal-Fired Power Plant The Burmese government has signed a memorandum allowing Thai construction company Toyo-Thai Corp PCL to go ahead with a plan to build a coal-fired power plant in Mon State, according to Reuters, despite opposition to the project among local residents. Reuters said a statement from the firm on Thursday said that the agreement was worth a total of $2.8 billion. The agreement will see Toyo-Thai build a 1,280 megawatt plant in Ye Township and operate the plant, selling power to Burma's grid. "Under the 30-year concession, it is expected to import about 4 million tonnes of coal a year to supply the power plant. Construction is expected to take about four to six years," the report said. The construction part of the deal was worth $2.3 billion, which the company would fund largely through borrowing, it said. Toyo-Thai already operates a natural gas-fired power plant in Rangoon. Last year, the company held a consultation meeting with locals in Inn Din village—the planned site of the project in Ye Township. But local residents have said they will oppose the development, citing concerns over environmental and social impacts. Rangoon Visitor Numbers Up as New Hotels Open Doors A report this week said that tourist numbers in Burma's biggest city continue to grow as two major hotel chains opened new properties in Rangoon. Travel website TTG Asia this week reported figures from the Myanmar Tourism Federation saying that 193,891 tourists visited the city in January and February this year. The report said the figures represented a rise of 7.2 percent on the same period last year, a record year for tourism in Burma., The majority of the visitors to the former capital—63 percent—came from other Asian countries, including Thailand, China, Japan and South Korea, the report said. Burma has seen a surge of new visitors since the country began political and economic reforms four years ago—when fewer than 1 million people entered the country each year. Last year, the official figure for visitors topped 3 million, and the government is expecting the trend to continue this year. The influx of visitors caught Rangoon unprepared, with a chronic shortage of hotel rooms pushing up room rates. Now, hotel projects are beginning to come to completion, potentially easing the shortage. French firm Accor's tie-up with local tycoon Zaw Zaw's Max Myanmar—known as Novotel Yangon Max—opened this week. The hotel, Accor's third in Burma, has 366 rooms, two ballrooms and seven food and beverage outlets, according to regional travel site TTR Weekly. United States-based hotel chain Best Western also just opened its second Rangoon property. The group's 91-room hotel is situated in the city's Chinatown area. The post The Irrawaddy Business Roundup (Apr. 11, 2015) appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| ‘The Problem of Child Labor Originates in Rural Areas’ Posted: 10 Apr 2015 05:00 PM PDT  Aung Zaw, founding editor of The Irrawaddy, is joined by Tin Maung Maung Aye of the Myanmar Mobile Education Project for this week's edition of Dateline Irrawaddy. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) On this week's edition of Dateline Irrawaddy, Tin Maung Maung Aye discusses his efforts to educate Burma's child laborers through his Myanmar Mobile Education Project. This is a transcript of the second part of the discussions; the first part was published last week. Aung Zaw: This week we will continue the discussion with Ko Tin Maung Maung Aye about his Myanmar Mobile Education Project, which we discussed last week. I am Irrawaddy Magazine Editor Aung Zaw. AZ: Would you explain to me what the situation is regarding child labor laws in Myanmar? Tin Maung Maung Aye: As far as I know, we only have the 1951 Factories Act in Myanmar. Under that law, children under 13 are not allowed to work. And children above 13 can work only for limited hours. As far as I know, they are not allowed to work for more than four hours. Even so, they might need doctor's recommendation to do certain kind of jobs. When it comes to child labor, the problem goes beyond their education. There are many causes leading to child labor—especially financial hardship and lack of job opportunities and schools at rural areas. Children therefore have to come to towns and do odd-jobs at teashops and restaurants to support their parents. It is not that problem of child labor begins in Yangon and Mandalay, but it originates in rural areas. It is important that rural villages get developed and there are schools there and their parents make a comfortable living. The situation is worse now because of confiscation of land and fishing lakes by companies. Previously, locals could do farming at those lands and catch fish at those lakes freely at any time. Now, those places are gone and their livelihood is taken away. So, families have to send their children to towns [to find work]. So, these are the root causes of child labor. AZ: So, forced confiscation of land by the government, cronies and the army is one of the main factors driving child labor? TMMA: Regardless of the reasons that are driving farmland confiscation, no matter if they are confiscated directly or indirectly, those lands have been a source of livelihood for rural people. And when this source of livelihood is taken away, they have to think about how to sustain their lives. And when they think about sustaining their lives, the question of how to fill their stomachs will come first anyway. They won't think about sending their children to school. AZ: So, how many child laborers are involved in such internal migration? Is there any figure on the number of child laborers? TMMA: I am sure there is no exact figure. We can perhaps estimate the number of children working at restaurants and teashops since they are working under our eyes. But then, there are many children working inside homes. There may be between 1 million to 2 million of them in total. AZ: I am talking about Myanmar alone. There are many children who have left for Thailand and the border. TMMA: I remember that Myanmar is ranked 9th or 10th in the number of child laborers in the world. AZ: Do you see anything that the government has done, like law enforcement or adoption of a policy, that is working for the future and education of those children? TMMA: I've met with the International Labor Organization (ILO) officials two times. As far as I know, ILO and the Labor Ministry are working together to set a minimum age of child workers in accordance with ILO conventions. AZ: So, what is the minimum age for a child to work? TMMA: In developed countries, those under 16 are not allowed to work. But ILO relaxed the restriction in developing countries like Myanmar, for example the minimum age may be 14 or 15. The convention sets the age at which children complete primary education as the minimum age of child workers. The problem in Myanmar is that the age at which children complete primary education is one year younger than the minimum age. So, there is one year's gap. ILO is trying to fix this in coordination with the government. I hear that Parliament is also trying to enact a law in accordance with ILO conventions. My view is that such a law is important. But how to enforce existing laws is more important. If the 1951 Factories Act is to be enforced, children would not have to work long hours. Then if we take a look from the point of view of shop owners, it is not their fault that there is child labor. It is neither the fault of the parents. This problem needs to be addressed by all the concerned parties in collaboration; otherwise it will not be solved. TMMA: As far as I know, it has not been debated in Parliament yet. I have talked with two or three lawmakers about the issue. We discussed how to lobby against child labor at the parliament. We are trying to highlight this issue. AZ: Here, I'd like you discuss a related issue—the trafficking of children. Apart from internal migration, how many trafficked children are there? Because there are many cases of children trafficking in Cambodia and Vietnam; what about Myanmar? TMMA: In Myanmar, data has never been collected specifically on this issue. ILO may have statistics, but it is just an estimate. Talking of internal migration, it is a subtle problem. Looking at the child labor issue, some children are brought to towns by middlemen. We have yet to discuss if this can be labeled as trafficking or not. Especially, most of the children laborers are from villages and ethnic regions in Mon State and Karen State near Thailand. Rural villages in Mon and Karen states have very limited opportunities. And our country still does not have an education system that is of practical use and can guarantee decent living later in life. So, it is very difficult to improve their livelihood through education. So most of them cross the border into Thailand and do odd-jobs at factories, and roadside stalls. There are many children who left for Thailand, thinking it is much better to earn just 100,000 or 200,000 kyats (US$100-200) a month there than sitting doing nothing at their rural homes. There are many cases of external trafficking in which children are brought outside the country by middlemen. I don't know the exact number. AZ: What is the role of middlemen? How they are involved in profiting from child labor? TMMA: Many people will do it if they have the chance, get money, and won't be punished legally. Most of the middlemen are fair, they just take the fees they charge and leave the children at shops, or somewhere else or at houses. Then, the children do their jobs. But in some cases, middleman brings the child and takes the fees they charge. For example, if a six-month contract is signed, he may get the one month's salary as the fee. Then before the contract expires, the middleman takes back the child and sends him to another shop. He might give some excuses like "the child's mother is ill or his grandmother has died or his mother is at hospital" to bring the child from the shop owner. The child does not know and neither does the shop owner. The middleman takes the child and sends him to another shop and he gets money again. But only a minority of middlemen is doing so. We need to prevent such thing from happening. AZ: And what about the role of the shop owners? You said they have philanthropic spirit and support their workers. Is there any shop owner who does not like what you did to develop the skills of their workers and support their education? TMMA: All the shop owners who cooperate with me enthusiastically support our project. The owner of Shwe Lin Yone Teashop in downtown Yangon even closed his shop half an hour ahead of normal closing time because he is afraid that the children might be late. Morning Star Teashop provided anything we needed. We turned the teashop into classroom while the teashop was close. Owners of shops like Lucky 7 and Thamada also gave good support. They cooperate with as they want the child workers of their shops to gain knowledge. Most of the shop owners have philanthropic spirit and are willing to offer help. They want child workers to gain experience and knowledge. But then, they also have to take care of their businesses and they can only support as much as they can afford to. But overall, I'm satisfied with the current achievements of the project. AZ: My last question is what is the response of the children to the project? How do you feel as a project director? Are you satisfied? What are the challenges? TMMA: I come back to Myanmar mainly because of children. When I recall the time when I launched the project, I still can see a child. I went to a shop and asked the permission of the shop owner. The shop owner nodded and I told the children that they would be able to learn. Then tears welled up in the eyes of that child. I asked him if something was wrong with him or his parents were in trouble, he replied that he had thought that he would never had the chance to go to school again. He was 13 years old and just quit from school a few days earlier. His schooling was subjugated to the schooling of his younger brothers and sisters. Then, I felt tears well up in my eyes. There are children like him. At 6.30 pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, you would see a green bus in front of Thamada teashop. I found that there has been team spirit between those children. Their manners have improved and polite. They dare to talk to people and have greater confidence. Then they have new friends. Sometimes, they would call me and ask me why I don't come, when I shall come and when shall they leave the shop. They get back the atmosphere of school and a circle of schoolmates. This really makes me feel. Whatever our long-term objective is, it is very pleasing and encouraging to see the things that happen in the short run, both for the shop owners, donors and the children. The feeling is so overwhelming that it is very difficult for me to go back to New York now. That feeling can't be bought with money. It is delight and joy. AZ: Joy and delight that can't be bought with money. Many have returned to Myanmar since the political opening in 2012. And there are also many who have not come back. Some returnees work together with the government, some run their own projects and some join NGOs. Some have come back to share their skills, some run media like us, and some do business. Some went back annoyed. You said you don't even want to go back to New York. Thank you for talking about the Myanmar Mobile Education Project. The post 'The Problem of Child Labor Originates in Rural Areas' appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
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