Tuesday, July 24, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

With Departure from Rakhine Advisory Panel, Kobsak Sends a ‘Warning Signal’

Posted: 24 Jul 2018 05:35 AM PDT

YANGON — Kobsak Chutikul recently told news media he had quit Surakiart Sathirathai's advisory panel on Rakhine State earlier this month, citing a lack of progress and expressing frustration at the lack of any independent mechanism by which to monitor implementation of the panel's recommendations.

In an exclusive interview with The Irrawaddy, Kobsak, a longtime Thai diplomat and former member of Parliament, discusses his decision to resign, his views on the panel's progress — or lack thereof — and his longtime involvement with Myanmar.

What are the main reasons for your resignation?

The main reason is age. At 68, I am one of the oldest persons in the group, and the field trips and the daily need to keep up with developments on what is a constantly moving chessboard were taking a toll. I decided to step aside and ask a younger colleague, a recently retired ambassador, to take my place.

But as a long-time friend of the Burmese people, when asked to elaborate [on the decision to quit], I tried to leave a small positive contribution, which was, to send out a small warning signal, a distress call. This has been somewhat overblown in some news coverage as an indictment of the board itself and of Myanmar officials.  My intention had merely been to stress the message from many diplomatic and international quarters that the coming three months could be critical and game-changing in terms of Burma's standing in the world. A Burma that I sincerely love and respect.  And so it was a genuine concern for me.

We are coming to the end of the annual budget and reporting cycle of many countries and organizations, and a huge number of reports and assessments will be coming out, such as by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Fortify Rights, the US State Department, US congressional committees, the EU Parliament, the ICC. Some, like Canada, have already announced targeted sanctions. Then we'll have the human rights reports from committees in Geneva winding their way to the [UN] General Assembly in New York, which starts its session at the end of September. Before that, of course, on Aug. 24, will be the one-year anniversary of the Kofi Annan Report and there'll surely be numerous reports and analyses questioning how much has been implemented. Then, on Aug. 25, the one-year anniversary of the ARSA attacks and a worldwide rehashing of what happened can be expected. In addition to that, natural phenomena such as the monsoons have to be borne in mind. If the monsoons were to result in images of women and children at Cox's Bazar being washed to sea, it would grip the world's attention and unleash torrents of condemnation to the detriment of Burma.

Time is of the essence, and we should not be complacent or lulled into thinking that enough has been done or is being done. I thought by resigning, I could in some small way help to draw attention to the need for concrete and timely actions, and to prod for things to be done a little differently.

A new ray of hope is the presence of the UN Special Envoy. Ambassador Christine Burgener seems to be well received and trusted by all stakeholders both within Burma and the international community. The time is auspicious to get seriously into the implementation stage. I feel we need to coalesce behind this mechanism.

As Kofi Annan himself has noted, when too many bodies are set up — committees, commissions, boards — it takes focus away from implementation and time is consumed in coordination, logistics and report writing.

What were your responsibilities as the secretary of the panel? Who appointed you?

I was just a consultant to the board, not the secretary as reported in some news items. I did not wish to be tied down with administrative paperwork, and chose to do consultancy rather than be board secretary. The chairman of the board [Surakiart Sathirathai] appointed me, presumably in prior consultation with the relevant Myanmar officials, and the board members were then informed. I helped the secretariat prepare substantive background papers and talking points, coordinating with board members and setting up board meetings. The most satisfying part was taking field trips to Rakhine State and listening to the communities there as well as UN agencies and CSO workers. The visit to Cox's Bazar, which I undertook alone and not related directly to the board, was both eye-opening and emotionally wrenching.

You spent six months with the panel. Could you share with us your overall analysis of its progress? You told Reuters, "The group had been kept on a short leash and achieved little."

It's difficult to pass judgment at this time on "progress."  Much of it is in the eye of the beholder. As Ambassador Laetitia van den Assum, a member of the Kofi Annan Commission, has noted at several conferences, there is no independent mechanism in place monitoring implementation, and no independent reporting process of the situation on the ground, on the basis of which credible judgments can be formed about progress. We may need to have such mechanisms in place before pronouncing or concluding credibly about what progress has been achieved.

My own observations were made in terms of what the board could and could not do compared to the Kofi Annan Commission. Naypyitaw may well have had valid reasons in wanting to do things differently from their experience with the Kofi Annan Commission, such as wanting to be in control of such things as number of meetings, itinerary, financing. But from my working-level perspective, it has constrained the ability of the board to do more, affecting how much we could achieve relative to the level of ambition of many board members and those who worked for them and the expectations of stakeholders. I could be wrong in my perception, of course. It's just my personal opinion. Only time will tell.

Most importantly, the best judges of whether "progress" has or has not been made are the actual people whose lives are impacted on a daily basis. They deserve to have a voice, they deserve to be asked whether things have changed for the better for them, what they see being done, whether they have more hope now for themselves, for their children and grandchildren. These people are the different communities of Rakhine, and the human beings huddled at Cox's Bazar.

In contrast to your views, Chairman Surakiart Sathirathai said the board is effective and the government has acted on its recommendations. Do you have any response?

There can be many different and equally valid perspectives. As you know, when it comes to Myanmar there are so many different and often competing narratives. And as the saying goes, where you stand often depends on where you sit.

As for recommendations, all I can add is that all pertinent recommendations are already contained in the Kofi Annan Report. In fact, 88 recommendations which, taken together, address all aspects of the Rakhine situation at root cause and in a comprehensive manner. When I drafted background notes for the board, I drew on the 88 recommendations, since we had no mechanism of our own on the ground, and it was pointless to reinvent the wheel. All the recommendations are there in the report, whether it be citizenship, inter-communal harmony, media access, cooperation with UN agencies, repatriation, enquiry commission, security, IDPs, health-education-agriculture in model townships; the studies have been made, the solutions are available. What is required now is will power and practical implementation. And it is for the purpose of implementation that the current Advisory Board was set up; to work with the Implementation Committee of Dr. Win Myat Aye.

I do not know what factors go into influencing a particular decision of the government in Naypyitaw. I only know that according to an ancient Burmese saying, all of us must be careful not to be like the rooster that crows every morning and thinks it is responsible for the sun coming up.

You said the panel tried to reach out to the military but in vain. How many times did you try, and to whom? What were their reasons for avoiding the meetings?

Before each board meeting, the secretariat would request our counterparts in Naypyitaw to put a courtesy call to Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing on the program. Even when the senior general visited Thailand twice over the past six months, requests were made to call on him. There was no response. I do not know the reason why, or even whether our requests were passed on to the senior-general.

As a consultant, I naturally came to the conclusion that the inability, for whatever reason, to have access to the supreme head of the military — which is in direct control of the ministries and services absolutely essential for implementation of measures and policies in Rakhine State — seriously constrains the ability of the board to fulfill its mandate. I can only hope the situation will change in future.                       

Were there any disagreements among the panel members that contributed to your resignation?

I don't believe so. Only at the beginning, with the Governor Bill Richardson incident. Most board members have proven records of integrity and commitment. The three international members, for example, had ideas about pursuing their own areas of expertise such as on citizenship, inter-communal dialogue, and access to public health. Those are complementary and not competing areas. As for my relationship with the chairman, it was formal and correct. With hindsight, I should have raised some of my concerns in a more straightforward manner, and not erred on the side of Asian deference.

Overall, I think one abiding lesson is that decision-makers at all levels must be given frank views and factual advice at all times. We all must be able to look ourselves in the mirror without cringing. We must all abide by our principles. Otherwise, we could become part of the problem, not part of the solution.

You have a longtime connection with Myanmar. Does your resignation mean the end of your involvement in Burmese affairs?

My involvement with Burma has spanned 50 years.  My first friend in university, in Australia, was a lady from Burma. I was in my first year, she was doing her Ph.D. She became my mentor, cooked Burmese food for me over the weekends when the student canteen was closed, bought sweaters for me when it got cold. It is a debt of gratitude to her and the people of Burma that I will never be able to fully repay.

At some personal risk to myself, I have consistently championed over many decades, like many colleagues, in many capacities and many cities around the world the restoration of democracy in Burma, and the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, at times being blacklisted for doing so. I was ambassador in Prague when President Vaclav Havel decided to nominate the Lady for the Nobel Peace Prize.

I have stepped aside, but will not walk away. In my small capacity as a friend and neighbor, I will try to do whatever I can, health willing, perhaps through civil society and NGO forums, to continue to stand beside the people of Burma. I have every confidence that the proud people of Burma will one day emerge from the complex challenges, stronger, more united and widely admired, as they deserve to be.

The post With Departure from Rakhine Advisory Panel, Kobsak Sends a 'Warning Signal' appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

USDP Warns of Instability Over Ban on Nationalist Group

Posted: 24 Jul 2018 05:26 AM PDT

YANGON — The opposition Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) raised concerns about national stability following a decision by the government and senior monks to outlaw the country's largest nationalist group, the Buddha Dhamma Prahita Foundation, formerly known as Ma Ba Tha.

The state’s Buddhist clerics authority, Ma Ha Na, issued a five-point proclamation against the group on Friday that included a ban on the use of the foundation’s name, an order to take down its signposts across the country within 45 days, and a threat to take legal action against those who fail to comply.

In response to the proclamation, the foundation said it would ask its members across the country whether it should submit, adding that it was not a sangha association but a non-governmental organization comprising monks and laymen in support of state, race and religion.

On Tuesday, the USDP, the country’s main opposition party, issued an announcement warning that the dispute between the foundation and the government and Ma Ha Na could lead to disunity of the Buddhist clergy, public discontent and political instability.

Ma Ba Tha, the Myanmar acronym for the Association for the Protection of Race and Religion, was founded in 2014 while the USDP was in power. With chapters across the country, it has become virtually synonymous with Buddhist-led nationalism.

Despite being accused of inciting hatred of Muslims, the USDP did little to curb its activities. Under then-President U Thein Sein, the government approved a controversial law on race and religion proposed by the association. During the 2015 election campaign, Ma Ba Tha lobbied for the USDP. The party and association are critical of how the new government, led by the National League for Democracy, has been handling the Rohingya crisis and rejected the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, which was led by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

The post USDP Warns of Instability Over Ban on Nationalist Group appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Assam’s NRC Update: A Fix or a Crisis in the Making?

Posted: 24 Jul 2018 05:04 AM PDT

It has taken more than three decades since the end of the Assam agitation for this state in India's northeastern frontier to finally have a complete register of citizens, a dream and a demand of many local denizens. The National Register of Citizens (NRC), a draft list to be published on July 30, is expected to contain names of genuine Indian citizens residing in Assam and, in the process, find a solution to the problematic citizenship issue in Assam that has plunged the state into various phases of violent social unrest since the 60s and the 70s.

The process has been undoubtedly hailed by many, particularly the Assamese speaking populace, as a panacea for Assam that will free it from illegal infiltrators. But it has also invited serve criticism and insults from various organizations, individuals and intellectuals that have expressed fear that the process will render a number of people stateless. The latest to hit the headlines is a social media campaign accompanied by the caption "India stop deleting Muslims," linking the process of verification of citizenship in Assam to the exodus of the Rohingya in Myanmar.

The campaign was initiated by Avaaz, a US-based social media platform that was launched in January 2007 that claims to promote global activism on issues such as climate change, human rights, animal rights, corruption, poverty, and conflict. Its statement reads: "India will delete as many as 7 million Muslims in Assam State from its master list of "citizens" because they speak the wrong language and worship the wrong God." It goes on to claim "this is how genocide begins-how the nightmare of the Rohingya began," and that a similar situation is "unfolding quietly," in Assam that calls for "raising a massive alarm and calling for the UN Secretary General and "key governments" to "intervene."

However, to say that the process was "deleting out Bengali Muslims" and to use the analogy of the Rohingya crisis was strange to say the least, given the fact that those that have been affected by the process includes people from all religions, predominantly Bengali Hindus and Muslims. In fact, it has become an everyday story now of people who claim to be genuine citizens in the Barak valley, Barpeta, Nalbari, Goalpara, Kokrajhar and other districts of Assam, but have had their applications for verification rejected.

The NRC office in Guwahati has launched a counter campaign under the hashtag  (#Stop_Fake_Propaganda_Against_NRC_Assam) on its official Twitter handle NRCAssam. In comparison to the Avaaz campaign, which has almost 800,000 signatories, the NRC's counter campaign has managed to garner near about 3,000 signatures to date. But more than finding the winners and losers in this social media battle, what perhaps is of great significance is that the masses in Assam have refused to be distracted by social media or allow it to cause civil unrest.

After all, the NRC, however controversial it may be, is part of both an emotive and an extremely complex issue that is meshed in various shades of grey when it comes to identifying genuine citizens, based on historical facts, demarcation of boundaries and post-partition India and the creation of Bangladesh in 1971. It is a process that is perhaps inalienable to the history of the state and its people and it does, at least in principle, promise to find a solution to the issue of illegal migration of people from across Bangladesh. Assam shares a 284km border with Bangladesh of which about 224km is fenced. There is also a 60km porous stretch that is mostly riverine.

Why Use the NRC in Assam: The Background

The objective behind updating and publishing the 1951 NRC is to compile a list of the names of genuine Indian citizens residing in Assam and, in the process, detect foreigners – mostly Bangladeshis – who may have illegally entered the state after March 24, 1971. Citizenship has always been a thorny issue in Assam, plunging it into several phases of the anti-foreigner's movement since the early 60s and culminating in the Assam agitation in 1979 led by the All Assam Students Union (ASSU). The anti-foreigner's movement reached its crescendo with the massacre of 2,191 Bengali Muslims, mostly women and children in Nellie in Assam, Nagaon district in February 1983, and ended with the signing of the tripartite Assam Accord in 1985 with the then Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi, the Assam State government and the ASSU leaders. March 24, 1971, was set as the "cut-off date" after which anyone entering Assam from Bangladesh would be identified as a foreigner.

Publication of the NRC has been long overdue. The process is certainly important, as it has been a long-standing demand of the Assamese people to detect and deport illegal Bangladeshi migrants from their state. The massive exercise aimed at identifying illegal immigrants in the state follows a decision in 2005 after a series of meetings between the central, state government and the AASU.

However, various governments that ruled Assam were reluctant to update the NRC of 1951 either owing to various political considerations or perhaps fear that it would lead to a breakdown of law and order in the state. The apex court of India – the Supreme Court – stepped in and responded encouragingly to petitions that were brought before it, including those that asked for the deletion of illegal voters from the voters' list of Assam and sought an update of the NRC, and ordered the Indian government to begin the process of updating the NRC in Assam. Accordingly, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a notification for starting the work of updating the NRC on January 28, 2014. An Indian Administrative Service (IAS) bureaucrat Prateek Hajela, was appointed as the coordinator.

Mr. Prateek Hajela

The NRC Updating Process to Date

An important milestone was reached on December 31, 2017, when the first draft of the NRC with names of 1.9 crore or 10.9 million (of the 3.29 crore or 30.29 million people that applied) was published. Those that were included were mostly added on the basis of legacy documents (the NRC of 1951 and the Electoral Roll of 1971 through midnight of March 24, 1971, are together called Legacy Data. Persons whose names appear in these documents and their descendants are certified as Indian citizens). After the publication of the second draft on July 30, a final list is expected to be published by December 2018 after the disposal of all claims and objections in final registers at various levels

On July 5, NRC coordinator Hajela said that names of around 1.5 lakh or 150,000 people featured in the first draft of the NRC would not be included in the final draft to be published on July 30, as discrepancies were found during the verification process. Also, after the publication of its first draft on December 31 last year, the names of 65,694 persons featured in it were found to be inadmissible during the family tree verification process. A family tree verification process is a two-part system (manual and computerized) of checking the legacy data of applicants

The NRC coordinator also stated that the names of another 19,783 persons were included by mistake, adding that more such cases might come up during the final quality control checks. The names of 48,456 married women, who had provided certificates from panchayats (village councils) to prove their citizenship, were also found to be inadmissible.

The Campaign Against the NRC

The online campaign against the NRC on Avaaz has gone viral. Thousands of people from across the world signed the petition minutes after it was shared on Twitter and Facebook on July 12. “We urge you to issue an early warning about the publication of the NRC in Assam state in India – which will lead to mass violence, ethnic cleansing and the transfer of minority Muslims to prison camps for life. As global citizens, we ask the UN and other concerned governments to work with India and Bangladesh to ensure there is scrutiny over the NRC process, that it complies with human rights standards and that no one is left stateless,” the statement said in its message to the "UN Secretary General and the whole International Community."

The campaign also carried NRC coordinator Hajela's picture along with the statement: "One bureaucrat in India currently holds the fate of millions in his hands! Prateek Hajela is responsible for the list of "citizens" and he's carrying on the work of a dangerous state machinery, that's destroying lives."

Public outreach and community awareness by the NRC office in Barpeta district, Assam. / NRC Assam

The NRC Coordinator's Counterpoint

The NRC coordinator took the challenge head-on. He told this writer that he is "not much worried about who's saying what in this world regarding the NRC." "We are concerned with our own laws, so the NRC is fine. But because of, this my state and my country should not be slandered across the world. People should not defame me. We are not a banana republic where anyone can get away with saying that we are carrying out illegal acts. It's a constitutional process with all of the safeguards for everyone and it cuts across religions," Hajela asserted.

He seemed certain that the online campaigns against the NRC were aimed at creating a law and order situation and inciting communal passions, as "the very use of the word Rohingya and genocide is an indication of that." In his opinion, he is only "carrying out a task," which the Supreme Court of India has assigned him to do. He dismisses the campaign against the process by Avvaz and other groups like "Newsclick," "SabrangIndia" and a civil society initiated "fact-finding report" under the banner of "United Against Hate," as "absolutely absurd statements."

"Some of these groups have come out with a fact-finding report without any facts. They interviewed me and my officer but chose not to write about what we told them," Hajela claimed.

The 12-member United Against Hate fact-finding team, which visited Assam recently to assess the NRC update, released its findings on July 14, questioning the procedure of citizenship enumeration, categorically stating that "injustices (are being) meted out to Bangla-speaking Muslims and Hindus on the basis of language and religion" and if not checked and stopped on time, "a volcano can erupt" in the state. However, this claim has been dismissed by many Guwahati-based intellectuals and activists.

The fact-finding mission's claim that suicide rates have increased owing to the NRC with people taking their lives for fear of being left off of the citizen's register had Hajela asking, "How many suicides have happened earlier and how many now? Do they have the data? How can you make such a sweeping statement?"

Ground Zero

However, it is not that there are no problems. There are almost daily reports in the news of people that are either being made to run from pillar to post to get "more documents," many from poor families in which the daily wage earner then has to run all over. Others end up in detention centers (jails) after being marked "doubtful voters" (D-voters) – flawed confinements of people and many others left at the mercy of the Assam border police to prove their identity as Indian citizens.

Not a day goes by without reading stories of suffering of those that are marked D-voters, running around with a bag full of documents (16 documents are needed to prove one's nationality claim), doing the rounds of the Foreigners Tribunal and the one-judge bench of the Gauhati High Court with an appeal after spending all of their hard-earned income. The story of the inhumane detention (since March 31) of the 102-year-old Chandradhar Das, a resident of Borai Basti in the Silchar jail in Assam's Cachar's district, is a sad reminder of the cases that violate human dignity and rights.

Many organizations both in the Bhramaputra and the Barak valley of Assam – The Citizens Rights Protection Coordination Committee, an umbrella organization of 43 different groups in south Assam’s Barak Valley, the All Cachar Karimganj Hailakandi Students Association, the All BTAD Minority Students Union (ABMSU) and the All Koch-Rajbongshi Students’ Union (Pradip Ray faction), to name a few – have risen in protest and said "harassment in the name of illegal migrants is not acceptable."

Notably, a special monitor for minorities and communal violence of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Harsh Mander, recently resigned after claiming that the commission's refusal to act on his report on the status of the people declared as foreigners in the detention centers in Assam was one of the reasons. A former IAS officer, Mander was assigned by the NHRC to visit the detention centers in Assam.

Such has been the intensity of the problems in many parts of the state that the main opposition party in the state and the country—the Congress party—has decided to move the Supreme Court against what it called "bias in the NRC process." The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee President Ripun Bora on July 19 also urged Union home affairs minister Rajnath Singh to intervene in the NRC updating process. In a letter to Singh, he alleged that the NRC Authority was “acting in a partisan manner" to drop the names of thousands of Indian citizens from the draft NRC.

Bora, who is also a member of the Upper House in the Indian Parliament, claimed that merely on the basis of "misleading police complaints" filed by some local residents against laborers from a minority community that move around the state for work,  "the NRC state coordinator has forwarded all cases registered in different police stations against these Indian citizens to the verification officers of the concerned NRC Seva Kendra (a local government office) with instruction to delete these names from the draft list without any verification of their records."

In his letter to the Indian home affairs minister, Bora also claimed that apart from keeping on hold the names of 1.25 lakh D-Voters and their descendants, the names of approximately 90,000 declared foreigners and their descendants would not appear in the draft NRC to be published by July 30. In his words, “there is panic on this issue everywhere in Assam and if names of several lakhs of genuine Indian citizens are left out, it will not only be an injustice but abuse of Constitutional powers.”

Response from India's Home Affairs Minister

The Indian home affairs minister responded with a series of tweets last Sunday. He said, “There is no reason for panic or fear. No person will be allowed to be harassed. We will ensure that every individual gets justice and is treated in a humane manner,” while assuring that the NRC exercise is being carried out in a totally impartial, transparent and meticulous manner and will continue to be so.

His statements read: All individuals will have sufficient opportunity for all remedies available under the law.  At every stage of the process, adequate opportunity is given to all persons to be heard. Government wants to make it clear that the NRC, to be published on July 30, is only a draft and after draft publication, adequate opportunity for claims and objections will be available. All claims and objections will be duly examined. Only thereafter, final NRC will be published. The 'Citizenship Rules' provide that any person who is not satisfied with the outcome of claims and objections can appeal in the Foreigner’s Tribunal. Thus, there is no question of anyone being put in a detention centre after the publication of NRC.

NRC coordinator Hajela, however, smashed the Assam Congress party leader's claims of bias, calling it "absolutely irresponsible" and "a lie." He wonders if they have realized the issue of omitting some applicants, which was taken up for hearing in the Supreme Court on July 2, only now. "If they realized it earlier, why did they not go to the Supreme Court earlier, and why now are they issuing such absurd statements. I strongly contradict their statements."

Public outreach and community awareness by the NRC office in Barpeta district, Assam. / NRC Assam

The Way Forward

Questions on the future of those declared as foreigners are expected to rise. Will millions of people be incarcerated? Will they be deported to Bangladesh? Is that possible at all? The Assam Accord (clause 5.8) specifies, "Foreigners who came to Assam on or after March 25, 1971, shall continue to be detected, deleted and expelled in accordance with law. Immediate and practical steps shall be taken to expel such foreigners."

Surely in the absence of any bilateral (repatriation) treaty between India and Bangladesh and also because most of the cases are highly contentious, the road ahead is going to be extremely complex.

The other issue of concern that has perhaps been the trigger of an international outcry, is the handling of those that have been declared D-voters by the Foreigners Tribunal—literally throwing them into jails (there are six detention centers in the state attached to jails and more than 800 people are still under confinement) and treated as undertrials.

Hajela is of the view that his office has "nothing to do with D-voters," and that it's an Election Commission of India exercise. He believes that his office has no role in the detention of people that are declared foreigner's, as once a person has been declared a D-voter, the process comes under the ambit of the Foreigner's Tribunal. "The foreigner's tribunal is an appellate authority and judicially speaking is superior to the NRC, and thus we have no control on such cases," he said.

Many would still question that and argue that the process of identity starts with the NRC and that it is inter-related with all the other parts of the system. What perhaps is noteworthy to consider is this – what appears on July 30 is only a draft list.

In the words of NRC coordinator Hajela, "No point in making such aggressive statements, as some organizations have done so far. Wait for the draft to come out."

The post Assam's NRC Update: A Fix or a Crisis in the Making? appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

At Least 9 Missing in Hpakant Landslide

Posted: 24 Jul 2018 04:16 AM PDT

MANDALAY — At least nine people are missing after a mining waste pile collapsed in the Hpakant jade mining region of Kachin State on Tuesday.

A waste pile of the Ayar Yadana jade mining company collapsed early Tuesday morning, while at least 40 prospectors where at the site searching for jade residue.

"Witnesses said about 40 people were there, but the missing persons list we received had nine names," said a police officer from the Hpakant police station.

The police said search and rescue efforts were ongoing.

"Due to rain and the waste pile being deep and steep, it is very difficult for rescuers to do their job," said the police officer. "We aren't sure when they'll be able to do so."

Locals blame heavy rain in the region for the incident; however, they call on authorities to enact strict rules and regulations to stop disasters like this from repeatedly happening at waste pile sites.

The incident on Tuesday is the second tragic incident in one week. On July 16, a collapsed pile of mining waste in the Lone Khin region claimed 20 lives and injured dozens.

After the incident in Lone Khin, the regional minister of natural resources and environmental conservation reportedly visited the region and investigated the mining companies and the waste piles.

"We want these tragic accidents to stop. We hope that the minister will find a way as soon as possible, and that both the companies and the prospectors will follow whatever regulations the authorities put in place," said U Khin Myint, a local miner in the Hpakant jade mining region who witnessed the incident on Tuesday.

The post At Least 9 Missing in Hpakant Landslide appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Hundreds Protest in Mon State Against Polluting Factories

Posted: 24 Jul 2018 04:10 AM PDT

Mon State — About 300 residents of Moulmein Township in Mon State protested on Sunday against three coal-fired antimony factories accused of polluting the local air with their emissions, according to the organizer.

The protesters brandished signs and chanted “We don’t want the antimony factories to use coal” to urge the state government to shut them down.

Zaw Naing Oo, who organized protest and lives near the factories, told The Irrawaddy that residents were suffering.

"We have to breath the polluted air every day. We are going to die from it," he said.

He claimed that some residents had headaches and have developed respiratory problems because of the factory emissions and that some of their livestock have died from eating grass contaminated by their runoff.

He works at a textile factory about 200 feet from the factories and said employees have to wear masks on windy days to cope with the fumes blown their way or even exit the building when it’s too much.

The factories were built in 2014 and are owned by a company called Myanma San Zaw, a joint Myanmar-China venture that processes antimony shipped in from Karen State.

The facilities were shut down by the previous government following earlier community complaints but allowed to reopen in January by the government that followed, with instructions to upgrade their equipment and fall in line with government guidelines. But locals say the problem persists and have continued to complain.

U Min Kyin Win, the state’s minister of natural resources and environmental conservation, told The Irrawaddy that he and his staff have investigated the factories several times.

"We noticed that sometimes a bad smell comes out. We checked emission levels and they were high. We told them to reduce them as much as they could," he said.

He said one of the factories has since installed new equipment and that his staff would investigate again when the other two followed suit. He added that they would be shut down if they continued to operate in breach of government guidelines but did not say how much time they were given to comply.

“If they cannot follow our guidelines, they have to shut down their factories," the minister said.

The post Hundreds Protest in Mon State Against Polluting Factories appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

‘A Man Without a Head Can Run Burma’

Posted: 24 Jul 2018 02:42 AM PDT

The Irrawaddy revisits this article from February 2008 in commemoration of its 25th anniversary.

An American without legs can climb Mount Everest," the American president said proudly at a gathering of statesmen. Immediately, the Russian president said, "A Russian without arms can swim across the Atlantic."

The other world leaders were stunned by the two statements. But the leader of Burma came to the rescue:

"In my country, a man without a head can run the country for 20 years."

That's a joke by a well-known comedian known as Godzilla, and it drew loud applause from hundreds of Burmese in Bangkok in January.

Cracking such a joke irks Burma's rulers and can lead to imprisonment for comedians.

However, the five comedians of Say Yaung Sone & Thee Lay Thee, a Burmese traditional a-nyient performance troupe, go about cracking such jokes, ignoring the fact that the ruling generals wouldn't like them.

The troupe of Say Yaung Sone (colorful) and Thee Lay Thee (referring to the four comedians: Sein Thee, Pan Thee, Kye Thee and Zee Thee) appeared in Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore in January and has been invited to perform in Western countries.

Godzilla, in his 40s, and the Thee Lay Thee members, in their early 30s, mainly tell jokes about the Burmese regime's harsh crackdown on the monk-led demonstrations last September, the regime's corruption, the lack of electricity and the possibility of change in the country in 2008. The jokes are more than enough for the comedians to be put in jail with long sentences.

Even so, Godzilla quips on stage, "After this performance in Bangkok, we're going to perform in other countries, including Singapore, [South] Korea, the United States, Canada and Germany. After that, we're going to perform in Moscow."

A big laugh sweeps over the audience. In Burma, prison is referred to as "Moscow."

Actually, Godzilla and Thee Lay Thee were brave enough to crack such political jokes, defying the ruling junta, in a powerful and surprising performance in Rangoon in November, just one month after the demonstrations were brutally put down by the military government.

The well-known comedians, including Godzilla, King Kong, Kyaw Htoo and Thee Lay Thee, performed their political satire on Myaw Zin Gyun, an islet in Rangoon's Kan Daw Gyi lake. They had been asked by authorities to sign a document saying they would not make political jokes on stage. No such luck.

Their jokes focused on the crackdowns against the demonstrations and the arrests of demonstrating monks. The public performance was unprecedented in the 20 years since the current military regime took power in 1988.

Their performance VCD immediately became popular and was banned by the authorities. The VCD soon traveled beyond the country's borders, and the comedian troupe was invited to perform by Burmese communities in several foreign countries.

Apart from the political stalemate and national reconciliation, their jokes also focus on rampant corruption, religion and UN Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari.

The latter sketch was among the most popular. Two comedians, Sein Thee and Pan Thee, portray Gambari and Kyaw Hsan, Burma's information minister.

During their meeting, Kyaw Hsan and Gambari talk about how to negotiate constructively with each other. Because of his worldwide travels, Gambari says he knows what Kyaw Hsan's up to. Kyaw Hsan says to himself, "This man doesn't know about Myanmar [Burma]."

Then Kyaw Hsan points to the floor, shouting, "Oh! Look! Dollars! Dollars!" Gambari quickly bends over and picks up the money, saying "I love dollars."

Kyaw Hsan then swiftly kicks Gambari in the rear, laughing, "This is Myanmar!"

Off stage, Sein Thee, who portrays Gambari, told The Irrawaddy: "That is the joke I like the most. That joke is a reality. I don't believe in his mission. His trips haven't brought any results yet."

Godzilla said, "We comedians are just representatives of the people. We are cracking jokes on behalf of the people."

Throughout Burma's history, comedians have told jokes in front of kings and royalty who wanted to know what was really going in their kingdom, especially in remote areas. It was a form of reporting on the public mood.

Comedians are aware of people's feelings because they travel the country, Godzilla said. Ancient kings liked jokes, and, if they were willing to reform wrongdoings, they could take action based on the jokes.

"Like before, we gather jokes from people from all walks of life," Godzilla said.

"They sometimes come out with ideas for us to crack jokes in the performance."

An a-nyeint troupe, he said, is a form of entertainment that tries to relieve people's suffering, and the jokes can enlighten leaders.

However, the Burmese generals view comedians who tell political jokes as enemies. Since the current regime took power, comedians Zarganar and Par Par Lay have both been detained in jail several times and during the September demonstrations, they were jailed again for about a month each.

Previously, both were imprisoned for several years. Zarganar is internationally respected for his politically biting satire. He received the Lillian Hellman and Dashiel Hammett Award given by the Fund for Free Expression, a committee organized by New York- based Human Rights Watch.

Godzilla said, "Zarganar paved a new road for young comedians in the early 1980s" under the then authoritarian government.

Godzilla and the Thee Lay Thee comedians are determined to keep spreading political satire despite the fact that they will probably face severe prison sentences like their mentors, Zarganar and Par Par Lay.

Sein Thee said, "Even if we are arrested at Rangoon's airport on the way back home and put in jail, we will continue cracking jokes because we are comedians, and we want to be comedians forever."

"Not only in this life but also the next life," he said. "I want to tell jokes to make people happy."

The post 'A Man Without a Head Can Run Burma' appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Army Slaps Down Karenni State Chief over Threat to Use Troops Against Statue Riots

Posted: 24 Jul 2018 02:23 AM PDT

YANGON — The Myanmar military (Tatmadaw) on Monday admonished the Karenni State chief minister over his warning that he would call in troops to quell disturbances related to an unpopular plan to put up a statue of General Aung San in the state's capital.

The chief minister does not have the authority to take such action, the Tatmadaw said.

The response followed Chief Minister L Phaung Sho's warning to demonstrators last week during a meeting about the government's plan to erect a statue of the independence hero in Loikaw, which had drawn a public outcry. Ethnic Karenni youths took to the streets to protest the plan early this month, and the demonstration turned violent when security forces tried to stop them.

A number of young activists involved in the protest are now facing legal proceedings initiated by the government.

During the meeting between the Karenni State officials and representatives of local political parties and CSOs, the chief minister said that if needed, he would personally deploy army troops to curb the violence, adding that, "It's my duty."

His comments attracted serious criticism from the public, with critics saying it was unacceptable for a representative of the democratically elected National League for Democracy-led state government to threaten protesters with the use of state force.

But on Monday evening, the military released a statement saying that under the country's Constitution, chief ministers of states and regions have no authority to order military intervention in case of emergency.

"Only the National Defense and Security Council has the authority to declare a state of emergency," the military said in the statement. It cited a Constitutional provision under which, in a situation where a local administrative body claims it cannot carry out its administrative function in accordance with the Constitution, the president can coordinate with the National Defense and Security Council (NDSC) to promulgate an ordinance declaring a state of emergency and requesting assistance from the Army. The NDSC is an 11-member council including the president and military chief that is responsible for security and defense affairs in Myanmar.

"The chief minister has misinterpreted the Constitution, and what he said was based on his point of view. The military will act according to the charter," the statement reads.

Karenni State Chief Minister L Phaung Sho was not available for comment on Monday.

NLD spokesperson Dr. Myo Nyunt told The Irrawaddy that the party has no plan to warn the chief minister over his action, as this is not a party matter.

"Only the administration can do it. We can't intervene in the administrative sector," he said.

President's Office spokesperson U Zaw Htay said the Union government has instructed the Karenni State government to work with local people on the statue issue.

On Monday, hours before the military's response, the Karenni state chief minister held a press conference at the state government office and said a new statue committee would be established by community-based organizations, with the state government playing an assistance role.

He announced that a state government committee tasked with commissioning a statue of Gen Aung San would be disbanded following public objections to the plan

The Irrawaddy reporter Htet Naing Zaw contributed to this report from Naypyitaw. 

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District Election Body in Rakhine Rejects Objection to Candidate

Posted: 24 Jul 2018 02:17 AM PDT

SITTWE, Rakhine State — The Sittwe District Election Commission in Rakhine State has dismissed objections by the Arakan National Party (ANP) to a candidate from a rival party for the by-elections set for November.

The ANP objected to candidate U Thein Maung, who has switched to the Arakan League for Democracy (ALD), on the grounds that it has not yet accepted his resignation.

A total of four candidates — one each from the ANP, ALD, National League for Democracy and an independent — will contest a seat in the Rakhine State legislature representing Rathedaung Township Constituency 2.

The district election commission launched an investigation following the ANP's complaint and ruled last week that U Thein Maung’s candidacy with the ALD did not violate any election laws or bylaws, said district election officer U Khin Maung Oo.

"U Thein Maung submitted his resignation to the ANP twice, but the party has not accepted it yet. The election law does not include provisions regarding this. So we told them to solve the problem between themselves. The candidate does not violate election laws," U Khin Maung Oo told The Irrawaddy.

The ANP’s U Hla Myint, who lodged the complaint against U Thein Maung, said his argument was not based on whether or not U Thein Maung was qualified as a candidate but on the fact that an individual cannot be a member of two political parties at the same time, according to the law of political party registration.

"I raised the objection not because he does not meet candidate criteria, but because he can't be a member of two political parties at the same time," he told The Irrawaddy.

U Hla Myint said he would appeal the district decision to the Rakhine State Election Commission.

U Thein Maung, a retired school principal, was chairman of the ALD's Rathedaung Township chapter before it merger in 2013 with the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party (RNDP) to form the ANP. After the merger, he served as township chapter vice chairman for the ANP.

The merger of the ALD and RNDP lasted less than four years, however. In January 2017, former leaders of the ALD announced that they were splitting from the ANP and re-registering the ALD with the Union Election Commission for the 2020 elections, citing problems with the merger.

The Sittwe District Election Commission is set to release the list of qualified candidates on Aug. 6.

According to the commission, there are 50,000 voters in Rathedaung Constituency 2. The seat was left vacant after the death of ANP lawmaker U Poe Min, who won in the 2015 general elections.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Govt Releases Regulations for New Companies Law

Posted: 24 Jul 2018 01:28 AM PDT

YANGON — The government issued new regulations on Monday to help firms navigate the Myanmar Companies Law, which takes effect on Aug. 1, with instructions on online registration, corporate constitutions, capital structures and more.

Prepared by the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA), the regulations also instruct existing firms on how to re-register, provide a model constitution and include rules on maintaining registers and records and regulations for resident directors.

Passed by the Parliament in November, the Companies Law is seen to be one of the major legislative achievements of the current government, replacing and adopting elements of the 1914 Companies Act and the 1950 Special Companies Act.

Once it takes effect, all existing companies will have to re-register electronically with Myanmar Companies Online within six months.

According to the new regulations, companies must ensure that all forms and documents filed electronically are properly executed and also kept in hard copy together with the company's registers and indexes at its registered office.

A company may be refused registration if it fails to complete the required forms in line with the instructions, fails to attach additional documents asked for, or fails to pay the requisite fees.

If an existing company does not re-register online within the six months, it will be struck from the register and dissolved.

Companies and corporations that choose to reregister must provide their registered office address and the full name, date of birth, gender, nationality and address of every director and secretary.

DICA Director U Myo Min told The Irrawaddy earlier this month that companies also need to update their lists of members, directors, mortgages and charges and review the new duties and liabilities for directors.

According to DICA, there are more than 50,000 local companies and 7,000 foreign companies currently registered in Myanmar.

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Prolific Artist Showcases ‘Printed Painting’

Posted: 23 Jul 2018 11:55 PM PDT

Despite his slight build, Soe Naing's appetite for art is quite grand. While art fans are still enjoying his oil lamp installation at "Seven Decades" art exhibition in Yangon's Secretariat, he is showcasing another exhibition. His oil lamp installation, which has neither burner nor wick, has fascinated many exhibition-goers as it reflects the country's irregular electricity supply.

The prolific artist has rolled out "Printed Painting," which will be on display through Thursday at OK Art Gallery in Aung San Stadium.

Paintings at this exhibition reflect nothing. Soe Naing did not even use canvas or brushes to make them. He only used turpentine and oils, and sketched figures on glass. He then pressed colored paper onto the glass to create what he calls "printed paintings."

"I've exhibited this type of work at exhibitions since 1994. I lectured on this technique at a private school last month. Then I had the urge to make more, so I did. But this is the first time I've showcased this type of painting at a solo exhibition," said Soe Naing.

The artist is known for his abstract depictions of humans, dogs, cats, horses and such. As he used colored paper instead of paint, viewers will get a fresh taste of his work.

"Because glass is smoother (than canvas), I could sketch more quickly. On regular canvas, brushwork can't be that swift. Drawing these paintings refreshed my mind; it was so much fun, so satisfying," said Soe Naing.

More than 100 paintings are on display at the exhibition and are available for prices from 10,000 to 15,000 kyats.

Regarding the printed paintings of Soe Naing, veteran modernist Maung Di said, "I like everything he creates—paintings, sculptures and anything else."

Soe Naing has held more than 20 solo art exhibitions and is also a regular participant in modernist group art exhibitions.

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Reuters Reporter Says Myanmar Police Planted ‘Secret’ Papers

Posted: 23 Jul 2018 09:48 PM PDT

YANGON — A jailed Reuters reporter told a court in Myanmar on Monday that documents he is accused of breaking state secrets laws to obtain were planted by a police officer, who handed him papers he had not sought in order to entrap him. The officer had then lied to the court about what happened, he said.

Wa Lone, 32, who began giving evidence last week at the court in northern Yangon, also said under questioning by prosecutors that he had followed journalistic ethics in his reporting of a massacre of Rohingya Muslims last year.

Wa Lone and Reuters colleague Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, are on trial on charges brought under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, in a case seen as a test of press freedom in Myanmar. Both have pleaded not guilty. If convicted, they face up to 14 years in prison.

As his hours-long cross-examination continued on Monday, Wa Lone repeatedly stated that the reporters were framed by police who handed them papers “without asking” minutes before they were arrested on Dec. 12.

Lead prosecutor Kyaw Min Aung questioned Wa Lone about the documents, asking whether the reporter believed their contents could be damaging to the state if given to insurgents, and why he was arrested with the documents.

Wa Lone said he had not reviewed the documents properly before he was arrested, so could not speak about their contents. He repeatedly said he had not violated Myanmar media law.

“The documents found in my hands were given by Police Lance Corporal Naing Lin to set us up and arrest us,” Wa Lone told the court.

Naing Lin testified during pre-trial hearings that he met the reporters at a restaurant on Dec. 12, but said that he did not hand them anything. Wa Lone told the court on Monday that Naing Lin had given false testimony.

Prosecutor Kyaw Min Aung declined to comment at the end of the day’s proceedings.

Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay has declined to answer questions on the proceedings, saying Myanmar’s courts are independent and the case would be conducted according to the law. He did not answer calls seeking comment on Monday.

Kyaw Soe Oo began testifying on Monday afternoon shortly before Judge Ye Lwin adjourned proceedings for the day. The trial continues today.

“Dutiful Reporters”

At the time of their arrest, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo had been working on an investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys in the village of Inn Din in western Myanmar’s Rakhine State.

The killings took place during a military crackdown that United Nations officials have said constituted ethnic cleansing. More than 700,000 Rohingya fled to neighboring Bangladesh last year, according to UN agencies.

Wa Lone testified last week that police deprived him of sleep and transported him hooded to an interrogation site after his arrest. Police questioning centered on the reporting of the massacre, not on the allegedly secret state documents, he said.

After Monday’s hearing Wa Lone told reporters that he felt duty-bound to report the killings and other violations by security forces that he and Kyaw Soe Oo had uncovered in Inn Din.

“We wouldn’t be dutiful as reporters if we ignored these violations of the law. We covered the Rakhine issue, and because of that we have been facing trial for months and facing these troubles,” he said.

Prosecutor Kyaw Min Aung also questioned Wa Lone on Monday about his ties to Police Captain Moe Yan Naing, who in April testified that a senior police officer had ordered subordinates, including Lance Corporal Naing Lin, to trap Wa Lone. The reporter said he had only come to know the police captain in the course of his reporting on Inn Din, where Moe Yan Naing served in a position of responsibility.

Diplomats from several Western countries attended Monday’s hearing, alongside friends and family of the accused, including Wa Lone’s pregnant wife, Pan Ei Mon, and Kyaw Soe Oo’s daughter Moe Thin Wai Zan, who turned three on Sunday. As her father was being bundled into a police truck after the hearing, Moe Thin Wai Zan cried “papa, papa!”

The embassy of Denmark called for the two reporters to be released immediately. “Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo are brave men who deserve praise and admiration for their brave work,” the embassy said in a statement.

The post Reuters Reporter Says Myanmar Police Planted ‘Secret’ Papers appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

China Vaccine Maker Changsheng Plunges Again after Police Launch Probe

Posted: 23 Jul 2018 09:42 PM PDT

SHANGHAI — Chinese vaccine maker Changsheng Biotechnology plunged by its daily limit of 10 percent in early Tuesday trade, after police launched a probe into illegal behavior by the firm and China’s President Xi Jinping called for swift action.

China’s drug regulator has accused Changsheng of fabricating production and inspection records related to a rabies vaccine regularly given to infants, sparking public outrage.

While there have been no known reports of people being harmed by the vaccine, Chinese regulators ordered Changsheng to halt production and recall the product.

Changsheng apologized in a regulatory filing on Monday. The firm was also found to have sold 252,600 substandard DPT vaccines, a mandatory vaccine in China to inoculate children against diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus.

Changsheng is now being investigated by multiple authorities in China, including the securities regulator and the country’s top graft watchdog. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said on Tuesday it had begun an investigation into possible corruption at the firm.

The scandal, which dragged down healthcare stocks across the board on Monday, has now wiped around $1.8 billion from Changsheng’s Shenzhen-listed shares since mid-July, over half their value.

Chinese citizens have been quick to express their fury online with one discussion hashtag on the Sina Weibo microblog gathering over 600 million views. The state-run Global Times newspaper said in an editorial late on Monday the case had created a “tsunami” on the internet.

The scandal has prompted speculation that mainland Chinese would take their children outside mainland China for vaccines as has happened during previous scandals, which could lead to a shortage in Chinese-controlled regions like Hong Kong or Macau.

The Hong Kong Department of Health told Reuters local supply of the vaccines remained stable and it would closely monitor the situation. Macau’s health bureau said current supply was sufficient for residents and there was no need for concern.

The post China Vaccine Maker Changsheng Plunges Again after Police Launch Probe appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Bikes Out, Trees In: Hanoi Tackles Air Pollution Woes

Posted: 23 Jul 2018 09:37 PM PDT

HANOI — Famed for ancient pagodas, colonial architecture and delicious pho noodle soup, Vietnam’s capital of Hanoi has another, albeit dubious, distinction: air pollution.

The city of 7.7 million, where pollution last year was four times higher than the World Health Organization (WHO) considers acceptable, is one of several Asian cities battling emissions from vehicles and industrial activity.

About 7 million people die globally each year from exposure to pollution that brings diseases such as stroke and heart diseases, the WHO said in May.

Pollution is a political risk for Communist-ruled Vietnam, which has witnessed environmental protests to save trees or demonstrate against a steel firm accused of polluting the sea.

Concern about air quality can even be a lucrative business opportunity.

“I usually joke with my friends, the more polluted the air is, the more prosperous I get,” said Cao Xuan Trung, a Hanoi dealer in air purifiers, who expects monthly revenue to double by 2020, from 3 billion dong ($131,199) now, a value that is already 75 times higher than when he started in 2013.

Hanoi’s air quality was the second worst among Southeast Asia’s major cities in 2016, after Thailand’s industrial heartland city of Saraburi.

Vietnam’s commercial capital Ho Chi Minh City ranked fourth, environmental group Green Innovation and Development Center (GreenID) said in a report.

“Recent developments benefit economic growth, but issues related to sustainable development, and consequences on the environment, increased,” said Nguy Thi Khanh, the head of the Hanoi-based group, which analyzed WHO data.

She blamed factors such as a surge in construction projects, expanding fleets of cars and motorcycles and heavy industry ringing the city, from steel works and cement factories to coal-fired power plants.

Coal provides the bulk of electricity for Vietnam’s fast-growing economy, expected to grow more than 6 percent this year for the fourth time.

In its pollution fight, the Hanoi city council this month approved a ban on motorcycles by 2030, hoping to boost public transport, including a new train system.

Hanoi has also planted more than 80 percent of a target of a million trees and wants to add 70 air-monitoring stations over the next few years to the 10 that exist now.

It is pushing people to switch to cleaner-burning heaters from polluting honeycomb charcoal stoves and replacing petrol with cleaner biofuel, said environment official Luu Thi Thanh Chi.

Hanoi recorded 10 clean air days in the second quarter of this year, higher than the corresponding period 2016 and 2017 periods, GreenID said, but warned the improvement may not mean Vietnam is turning the corner.

“As we see new coal-fired plants, new industry clusters, more traffic and other sources of air pollution emerging around Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, it seems too early to say Vietnam has reached its air pollution peak,” said its technical adviser Lars Blume.

Clean air advocates are also promoting alternatives.

“I wanted to create a garden where any house owner can enjoy clean air after a long working day,” said 27-year-old architect Nguyen Manh Hung, who made space on the roof of his home for 15 types of plants that help clean the air, from snake plant to windmill palm.

The post Bikes Out, Trees In: Hanoi Tackles Air Pollution Woes appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Ten Things to Do in Yangon This Week

Posted: 23 Jul 2018 09:28 PM PDT

 

Fullmoon Rock & Roll Night

A show for rock music fanatics.

July 27, 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Yangon Yangon Bar, Bogyoke Aung San Road, Kyauktada Tsp. Tickets 10,000 kyats at 01-255 131

Anyeint

The Tin Maung Hsan Min Win troupe will perform this traditional Burmese entertainment form mixing dance, music, song, comedy and theater.

July 28, 6 p.m. Kandawgyi Hmaw Sin Kyun. Tickets 5,000 to 10,000 kyats, available at the door.

European Food Festival

The best European restaurants in Yangon will present a selection of 28 mouthwatering dishes.

July 28, 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Rose Garden Hotel, No. 171, Upper Pansodan Street, Mingalar Taung Nyunt Tsp. Tickets 5,000 kyats at 01-371 992

Kids Fair

Fun and games for kids.

July 27-29, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tatmadaw Exhibition Hall.

Myanmar Career Expo

Recent graduates can look for their dream jobs with international and local firms.

July 28, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Yangon Technological University. Free Entry

FAB #73

A club night for lesbians, gays & friends

July 28, 9 p.m. Pyrite Bar, No. 37, Kabar Aye Pagoda Road, near Inya Lake Hotel.

Art Exhibition

Works on a wide variety of subjects relating to urban and rural life, women, landscapes and so on will be displayed.

July 21-31, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. No. J 204, Manawhari Yeiktha, Baho Road, Ahlon Township.

If I Say It's True Seven Times

Moe Satt recalls growing up in the last days of the socialist government and under the State Law and Order Restoration Council.

July 20-Aug. 8. Myanm/art, No. 98, 3rd Floor, Bogale Zay Street.

Printed Painting

An exhibition of Soe Naing's rebellious works.

July 24-26, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. OK Art Gallery, Aung San Stadium (North Wing).

From Inle to Irrawaddy

Myint Soe's landscape paintings depict Shan State's Inle Lake and Irrawaddy Delta.

July 27-29, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. OK Art Gallery, Aung San Stadium (North Wing).

The post Ten Things to Do in Yangon This Week appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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