Wednesday, August 8, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

State Counselor’s Tourism Plan Promising but Hard to Implement

Posted: 08 Aug 2018 07:47 AM PDT

YANGON—While giving State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi high marks for her strategies to reform the tourism sector, tour operators point out that conditions on the ground make her suggestions hard to implement.

Speaking at a National Tourism Industry Development Central Committee meeting in Naypyitaw on Friday, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi put forward more than 10 key tourism-promotion strategies, from extending the railways, promoting community-based tourism and building small, livable hotels and hostels, to planning new destinations and natural adventure tours.

Myanmar has a rich natural environment and remains one of the last remaining countries in Southeast Asia with undiscovered tourist destinations. From January to June, the country received about 1.8 million visitors, a drop of roughly 38,000 compared with last year. The government targets 7 million annual tourist arrivals by 2020. By comparison, neighboring Thailand received 35.38 million tourists in 2017, equivalent to more than half its population.

"We must have new, innovative ideas if we want to attract more tourists," the State Counselor said.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said she was aware that neighboring countries Thailand, Cambodia and Laos were already several steps ahead of Myanmar in terms of developing their tourism sectors.

"If we can modernize our transportation system, we could attract more tourists," she said.

She suggested that rather than investing more in airport facilities, investors should consider developing the nation's railways and waterways, which offer tourists more convenient ways to travel.

Most tourists enter Myanmar by airplane, but to get around inside the country, they normally choose other modes of transport such as bus and rail. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said that personally, she preferred traveling by train, as it allowed travelers to take in the scenery and afforded them many opportunities to learn the local culture, such as by buying local food and souvenirs whenever the train stopped at stations along the route.

"I want the transportation sector to consider extending the railways to attract more tourists," she said, adding that rail travel could be enhanced by selling local products and souvenirs at train stations.

Turning the State Counselor's words into action is made difficult by the fact that Myanmar's railway network is one of the most outdated in Asia. With the exception of the Yangon-Mandalay route, levels of rail infrastructure quality, train cleanliness and passenger comfort are all relatively low. In particular, bathrooms are basic and the ride itself is rarely smooth. Additionally, some sections of the network become impassable during the monsoon season.

Freight trains, for example, travel at an average speed of 40 kilometers an hour. The trip from Yangon to Mandalay takes 14 hours, versus three hours for a trip of the same distance in neighboring countries.

The further one gets from Yangon, the less predictable the rail system becomes, particularly in terms of arrival and departure times.

Operators agree most tourists would be interested in taking a train to Shan State, but few towns offer daily rail connections. Some routes are plagued by cancellations and standards of cleanliness that are inadequate for tourist services.

"The train system is poor in many tourist destinations. Normally, train schedules are unpredictable. Levels of trust have declined. Tourists don't have time to waste, and won't choose train travel," said U Nyunt Win Naing, chairman of the Myanmar Responsible Tourism Institute.

"We need to increase the train speeds. Our trains are really slow. It is a waste of time for tourists. Also, train tickets can't be purchased with visa or other credit cards, and we need a website that can display train schedules and specific routes for tourists," U Nyunt Win Naing said.

Community-based tourism involving adventure tours such as trekking and river trips is one of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's strategies to support local community development. She also wants to find new destinations and unexplored tour spots. She warned the tourism industry, however, to create an environmentally sustainable plan that preserves the country's natural surroundings and keeps them free of trash. She urged people to learn from other countries' examples.

The State Counselor also suggested creating special elephant-care camps that could be visited by tourists, and recommended the creation of tours for observing wild animals such as Irrawaddy dolphins. Her strategy for tourist accommodation is to promote small businesses that operate small, "livable" hotels and hostels that prioritize cleanliness and hygiene to guarantee tourists' health.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi also said tourists are keen to try street food. She cited the example of Thailand's roadside food vendors, who are famous for safe, delicious food prepared in hygienic conditions. She urged the tourism sector to consider promoting roadside vendors offering food at reasonable prices. The idea is in line with her strategy of promoting small enterprises in local areas.

Currently, the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism is promoting community-based tourism in 15 places in Shan, Kachin, Kayah and Chin states, and Magway, Tanintharyi, Yangon and Mandalay regions. These include traditional activities and cultural tours.

The Ministry of Hotels and Tourism and other international organizations are collaborating on drafting a CBT [?] code of conduct. It is expected to be published this year.

However, tour operators on the ground say they face many challenges such as the difficulty of obtaining loans from banks, expensive license fees and weak enforcement of laws against illegal tours.

"We are more expensive than Thailand, though we offer inferior services. We must have a company license, even a car license, if we run CBT. But many people are doing business without licenses; there is no law enforcement for that," said U Nay Moe Aung, managing director of 9 Generation Force Travels and Tours and secretary of Kayah Zone Travel based in Loikaw, Kayah State.

Illegal tour operators are able to offer cut-rate prices because they don't pay license fees and other expenses such as staff salaries. Unable to attract as many customers, legal operators find it hard to survive, he said.

Despite Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's eagerness to promote small enterprises in local areas, operators in local ethnic areas said it was hard to get bank loans to develop travel attractions and tours.

The government recognizes Kayah State as a CBT area. It has become a destination for tourists looking to explore caves in eastern Myanmar next to Shan State. Local operators say that if the government can operate a well-run rail service from Shan to Kayah, the majority of tourists will choose to travel by train in those areas.

"The train doesn't run daily in Loikaw. If we can run daily, both locals and foreigners will take the train," U Nay Moe Aung said.

Local operators have urged the government to establish a daily train service in Loikaw, but the idea was rejected due to a lack of travelers.

"They should take the risk if they want long-term benefits," U Nay Moe Aung said.

Local CBT operators said the Hotels and Tourism Ministry had been working with regional officials to improve the local tourism infrastructure. However, regional authorities did not listen to advice from operators, they said.

Recently, the ministry launched the first overland trip from Kayah State to Mae Hong Son, Thailand, and discussed opening a direct border crossing between Kayah and Thailand. But there is hesitation on the Thai side, as Myanmar has not suggested specific potential new destinations that would attract tourists to Kayah State.

"When we met with officials from both sides, local tour operators wanted to present lists of attractive destinations in Kayah State. But the regional government did not allow it, and they rejected it. So, the Thais think we don't have many places to visit; that's one reason for their hesitation on the border gate opening," said U Maung Maung Kyaw, director of Myanmar Land Travel based in Yangon.

"We also need to figure out why we are more expensive than other countries," U Maung Maung Kyaw said.

According to the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, there are 1,676 hotels and 67,350 rooms across the country for tourists, but the industry's income has fallen since the humanitarian crisis erupted in northern Rakhine State in August last year. Overall visitor numbers from the U.S., Canada, the Middle East and Europe have declined significantly in 2018 because the country's image has been tarnished in the eyes of many Western and European travelers.

But the tourism industry expects more tourists from Asia, provided the country implements realistic policies.

Daw Aung Suu Kyi's key strategies received praise from the industry, but operators cautioned that a continued lack of stability in the country and some unrealistic policies kept them from achieving her goals.

Recently, the Hotels and Tourism Ministry announced that citizens of Japan, South Korea and China will be able to request visas on arrival in Myanmar provided they show 1,000 USD in cash at the airport.

U Myint Htwe, deputy director of the ministry, told The Irrawaddy that the ministry was trying to attract more tourists from those countries. However, criticisms were raised among operators that the requirement to show such a large amount of cash was not realistic, as few tourists carry so much cash while traveling. They said it was an outdated policy that would ultimately discourage visitors.

The ministry later announced it was suspending the requirement.

"We should have a chance to sit down together with officials. They need to listen to our challenges and advice from the ground. Otherwise, they will never know why the tourist numbers are declining," U Nay Moe Aung said.

The post State Counselor's Tourism Plan Promising but Hard to Implement appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

On Anniversary of ’88 Uprising, Student Leaders Say the Struggle Continues

Posted: 08 Aug 2018 05:48 AM PDT

YANGON — Prominent student leaders of the 1988 uprising stressed that Myanmar's political achievements to date were only a partial victory and called for more democratic reforms on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the mass protests on Wednesday.

During a commemoration ceremony at Yangon University to remember the popular nationwide uprising against one-party dictatorship, U Min Ko Naing, a member of the '88 Generation Students group, said the progress Myanmar was experiencing now was not the ultimate goal of the uprising that he joined as a university student.

"We have been asked if our demands have been met after 30 years. Having a parliament and elections was not our goal. We will have to work hard for a parliament filled entirely with elected members and for a government made up entirely of civilians," he told the hundreds of attendees, mostly former students who had taken part in the uprising.

Named after the nationwide protest on Aug. 8, 1988, the 8888 — or '88 — uprising was a major shift in Myanmar's modern history. Political analysts at home and abroad agree that, despite ending in a bloody military coup, the uprising raised the public's political awareness, which in turn paved the way for changes that brought Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) to power 28 years later. Despite the civilian government now in power, Myanmar today is coping with a guided democracy based on a military-drafted constitution and is still accused of being undemocratic.

U Min Ko Naing praised the unsung heroes of the uprising, saying 'they served better than us,” and suggested that the country's policymakers be aware of the people's concerns and suffering.

"If they know what people need, a better nation is on its way," he said.

For another student leader, U Ko Ko Gyi, the 30th anniversary commemoration at Yangon University was a surreal experience, as many students were arrested there in 1988 not only for protesting, but merely for hoisting a fighting-peacock flag or holding pictures of independence hero General Aung San.

"I see today, event here, as a metamorphosis of a 30-year-long journey," he told the audience, admitting that he was still haunted by memories of fellow students being arrested or killed or going insane in jail.

"We are saying this not because we feel bad. We are just sharing that people who were involved in this had suffered like that to have change like this today. It would be an honor for those who are gone and a consolation for those still alive," he said, adding that he did not want today’s youth to have to go through what they did.

He also said the government needed to listen to the voiceless, the discontented and disenfranchised who cannot or do not dare to speak out.

"The government in 1988 failed to listen to them and all hell broke loose," he said.

To mark the 30th anniversary of the uprising, Myanmar's Lower House and Upper House speakers sent formal messages to the event on Wednesday. There was no message from State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

The anniversary’s organizing committee personally delivered an invitation to her in Naypyitaw before events began on Monday. She did attend and gave a speech in 2013, on the occasion of the uprising’s 25th anniversary.

When The Irrawaddy asked U Min Ko Naing, U Ko Ko Gyi and U Mya Aye, a committee member who invited the state counselor, why she had failed to attend this year, they all refused to comment.

However, other members from the NLD’s Central Executive Committee did attend, along with some international diplomats.

Yangon-based political analyst U Yan Myo Thein said the lack of a message from Daw Aung San Suu Kyi could prove a black mark on the country’s history.

"She is supposed to send it. It's the uprising that has made her a politician and turned her into a popular leader," he said.

The post On Anniversary of ’88 Uprising, Student Leaders Say the Struggle Continues appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Group of 1990 Election Winners to Form Party with Eye on 2020 Vote

Posted: 08 Aug 2018 04:18 AM PDT

YANGON—A group of former successful electoral candidates who were denied parliamentary seats after the 1990 general election will join with their political partners to set up a new party in order to contest the 2020 general elections.

The then-ruling military regime refused to recognize the results of the 1990 election.

The announcement was made at Yangon University's Judson Hall on Wednesday during an event to mark the 30th anniversary of the pro-democracy uprising in 1988.

The decision was reached at a preliminary meeting on July 15. Though its name has not been finalized, immediate steps will be taken to register the party with the Union Election Commission, said United National Democracy Organization (UNDO) general secretary U Aung Thura.

UNDO was formed by former members of the National League for Democracy (NLD), which leads the current government. It has been engaged in protecting and promoting human rights and the rights of various specific groups, including farmers.

"We have had difficulties in undertaking those activities. Our legitimacy has been questioned time and again. People have urged us to stand by them in an official capacity. So, we decided to set up a political party together with our partners and run for Parliament," U Aung Thura said.

The main objective of the party is to rewrite the undemocratic 2008 Constitution, he said, adding that he and his colleagues are not satisfied with the performance of the NLD, which contested the 2015 elections on a promise to change the Constitution.

"I believe we will be able to reform the Constitution if we have the same number of seats as the NLD in Parliament. Our strategies are different. Their policy is to change [parts of] the Constitution. But our policy is that the 2008 Constitution is illegitimate," U Aung Thura said.

The group of elected representatives denied seats in the 1990 elections filed a lawsuit against the government at the Dekkhinathiri District Court in Naypyitaw calling for the 2008 Constitution to be scrapped.

The court dismissed the case, saying the group had no authority to sue the government.

The party will be led by the 1990 election winners, but only younger, able members will be fielded as candidates in 2020, U Aung Thura said.

Khun Tun Oo, a Shan ethnic leader who serves as chairman of the group of election winners, believes the party will be become a third force in Myanmar's politics.

The group was formed in 2014 and joined later by the UNDO and other political partners.

The post Group of 1990 Election Winners to Form Party with Eye on 2020 Vote appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Secrets of Commune 4828

Posted: 08 Aug 2018 03:00 AM PDT

To mark the 30th anniversary of the 1988 uprising this week, The Irrawaddy is revisiting some of its past articles about the event. In this article from The Irrawaddy magazine’s August 2008 edition, the author recalls his memories of the communist current that ran through the early days of the pro-democracy movement.

"First, you must be faithful to the party," said my colleague softly and in the kind of tone adopted in a "State of the Union" address.

"Second, you have to swear on oath never to betray the proletariat and poor peasantry." I gasped, he paused—and then went on: "Third, you must believe in armed struggle."

I was 19 and astonished to hear these words from somebody I had known for three years. He was one of a group of writers and intellectuals, in his 50s, and he ran a small shop selling secondhand books, where I regularly hung out. He and others in his group represented Burma's world of letters and were widely respected and well known. They were poor—but rich in intellectual thought.

I was in his shop on this occasion not to buy books but to ask for a copy of the first edition of Aryoon-Oo (or Dawn), an underground newsletter published by the Communist Party of Burma (CPB).

He parted with the copy only after I had agreed to the three conditions. I hesitated at first, but I was dying to read the newsletter and finally nodded to his conditions.

I stowed the newsletter away in my bag and stole nervously out of the shop, well aware that if I were caught with it I could be charged with high treason. Safely at home, I unfolded the publication and found it full of "battle news," anti-government pronouncements and communist propaganda.

It was my first contact with an underground communist cell. But I never became a Communist Party member—nor did I stick to the three conditions I had assented to in the bookshop.

The year was 1988, and Burma was heading rapidly towards crisis. The 26-year regime of Ne Win's nominally socialist government was in a shambles, and the people were looking desperately for an alternative.

Public dissent had already surfaced in 1987, with Ne Win's unpopular demonetization of the Burmese currency.

Many thought the time was ripe for revolution. The communists, who had established an underground network of cells throughout the country, foresaw trouble—but also opportunity. The launch of Aryoon-Oo was among the first offensives of their anti-government campaign.

Long before the uprising in 1988, communists had decided to regroup in Burma's heartland even after losing their headquarters in the Burmese army assault on Pegu Yoma, near Rangoon, in 1973-74. At the third party congress, held in Panghsang, at that time the CPB headquarters on the Sino-Burmese border, it was decided to step up underground activities inside Burma.

I belonged at the time to a small literary group, later known as "Insein Sarpay Wine," which had been established in the Rangoon suburb of Insein.

Many respected literary gurus were invited to address weekly discussions on Burmese and international literature. Although we carefully avoided political topics, the gatherings were illegal and we were worried about the possibility of regime agents monitoring our activities.

I remember an energetic young writer and physician, Dr Zaw Min, who took part in our weekly meetings. He loved the writings of Franz Kafka and had translated some of the Czech author's short stories into Burmese, which were then published.

The last time I met him was at Rangoon General Hospital in September 1988 during the daily street protests. He was no longer the Kafka-reading intellectual but clearly a leading activist in the uprising. As soon as he saw me, he gave me instructions to take to leaders of the protests. "Go and see them, tell them I sent you."

The following year, on August 5, 1989, Zaw Min's name cropped up at a marathon press conference given by the then intelligence chief, Maj-Gen Khin Nyunt.

He was described there as a leading underground communist.

The article “Secrets of Commune 4828” as it appeared in The Irrawaddy magazine’s August 2008 edition.

Zaw Min worked for the CPB's student section and was a member of the 4828 underground network—a coded number referring to the start of the communist uprising on March 28, 1948.

In his six-hour speech at the press conference in August 1989, Khin Nyunt charged that communist cells and underground networks intended to destabilize the government. Communists were behind the 1988 pro-democracy uprising, he claimed.

Twenty years later, many opposition sources admitted there was some truth in what Khin Nyunt had to say.

Zaw Min was answerable to four leaders of 4828, who were known simply as A.1, A.2, A.3 and A.4. All four were arrested following the 1988 uprising, and A.1, identified as Maung Ko, aka U Lay Gyi, died under torture in Mandalay interrogation center. He was reportedly determined to die a martyr, and is said to have told his interrogators: "I was in the business of revolution but not to cooperate with you."

The remaining three leaders were each sentenced to 20 years imprisonment, and one, Kyaw Mya, the group's A.3, remains in jail after his sentence, which expired in 2005, was extended after a riot involving political prisoners.

A.2's name—Thet Khaing, aka Ko Latt—featured prominently at the Khin Nyunt press conference.

He was married to the daughter of Maj-Gen Kyaw Zaw, one of the "Thirty Comrades" who fought for independence alongside Gen Aung San. Kyaw Zaw joined the CPB in the 1970s after serving in the Burmese army and now lives in China.

A.4 was Tin Aung, aka Uncle Gyi, who worked with Thet Khaing on editing Aryoon-Oo newsletters.

Thet Khaing moved freely in and out of Rangoon for several years, even helping to arrange for Kyaw Zaw's wife and family members, who had remained in the capital, to join the general at CPB headquarters in the late 1970s.

After his arrest in July 1989, Thet Khaing's colleagues suspected that he had disclosed details of the network to his captors, basing their fears on a series of raids launched simultaneously the same month against more than 200 activists, mainly in Rangoon, the Irrawaddy delta and Mandalay.

The four "As" came under the command of CPB central committee member Kyin Maung, aka Yebaw Htay, who lived on the Sino-Burmese border after moving in 1985 from Panghsang to Mongko, an area closer to Upper Burma and convenient for communicating with underground members operating inside the country.

In the 1980s, the CPB was expecting political upheaval because of deteriorating economic conditions, and at the third party congress it urged Gen Ne Win to hold multiparty democratic elections.

According to former political prisoners who worked with 4828 members, the CPB cells began to operate inside Burma as early as 1986, targeting Mandalay and Rangoon, cities with many communist sympathizers and former party members.

Tin Aye, aka Khin Maung Yi, Burma's top chess player, who was imprisoned from 1989 until 2005, told me: "They (communists) were not looking for me. I was looking for them. I knew that they were around."

He was not alone. Many students and civil servants who were dissatisfied with the way Ne Win was running the country were searching for opposition forces and assistance to overthrow the regime, no matter whether they were communists or capitalists.

Ne Win himself, in a speech to the UN in 1987, confirmed that Burma was in trouble, admitting that his regime had made mistakes.

With resistance to the regime on the rise, Ne Win's intelligence service stepped up its activities, monitoring the movements of communist sympathizers and their popular hangouts.

Leftwing activists and former communists were known to have opened bookshops, tuition centers and teashops, regarded by the regime as breeding grounds for new recruits, places where they could establish study groups and plot an anti-government campaign.

It was a cat and mouse game in which the regime spooks often suffered embarrassing setbacks.

Aye Win, publisher of Aryoon-Oo and a former member of the 4828 research department, who now lives in the US, told me: "They (intelligence officers) thought Thet Khaing was selling secondhand books, so they monitored old book shops in downtown Rangoon, but we acted 'bourgeois' and opened a grocery store in Bogyoke market."

In this way, dodging the attentions of the secret police, Aye Win and Thet Khaing increased the circulation of Aryoon-Oo and other underground papers and leaflets.

The 4828 group also grew stronger and even infiltrated the inner circles of government.

Min Zin, a prominent former student activist and a regular contributor to The Irrawaddy, said "The communists had a big network [inside Burma] and could reach many of society's intellectuals and educated people."

Recruits were also drawn from the armed forces and the police, and they provided classified information and logistical support to the hardcore 4828 members.

Htay Nyunt, a sub-inspector in the special branch of the police, was one such sympathizer, providing the party not only with information about the armed forces and the defense ministry but also passing on the monthly reports of the police department.

There were many others who were able to pass on important information to the party.

Dr Maw Zin, who held a major position in one of the army's two Rangoon hospitals, was a key activist in 1988.

Win Kyi, the nephew of then deputy prime minister Thura Tun Tin, provided the CPB with classified materials while serving in the Industrial Planning Department and then as Minister of Industry 1.

When the crackdown intensified in 1989, Aye Win moved his offset printing machine to the premises of the government-owned Mazda jeep factory, owned by a friend of his— "So no one would suspect us."

Looking back at those years, many former activists who worked with the 4828 network now say grave mistakes were made in 1988 and 1989. By forming political parties to contest the 1990 general election, several veteran communists exposed themselves and their networks to the regime.

The 4828 group targeted mainly idealistic students who were angry with the regime, and Tin Aye claimed that the student union set up in August 1988 was, in fact, controlled by 4828.

Prominent student leaders such as Ko Ko Gyi, Moe Thee Zun and Nyo Tun—but not Min Ko Naing—knew Thet Khaing and Zaw Min. But not all were communists. Thet Khaing met Ko Ko Gyi several times in 1988 but failed to persuade him to join the communist movement, some activists have now revealed.

Apart from recruiting students, 4828 also returned to its roots, establishing contacts with former CPB members and their sympathizers.

Among prominent activists was Kyi Kyi, wife of Thakin Zin, who led the CPB in the 1970s after the death of Thakin Than Tun. Thakin Zin was killed in the government attack on Pegu Yoma in 1973-74, while Kyi Kyi was captured.

Kyi Kyi eventually returned to Rangoon to live with her family, but she remained under surveillance and in 1989 she was arrested on suspicion of supporting the CPB financially.

The CPB also targeted some prominent veteran politicians and their family members, including Khin Kyi, the widow of independence hero Gen Aung San and mother of detained Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. The CPB chairman at that time, Ba Thein Tin, corresponded with both Khin Kyi and Suu Kyi.

Khin Kyi suffered a stroke and took no part in the pro-democracy movement. Her daughter Suu Kyi nursed her and then turned to politics. Although Suu Kyi carefully avoided any connection with the CPB, the regime accused her of being a communist.

Anyone who opposed the regime could be accused of communist sympathies, of course, and this became a convenient political tool of the present junta.

Although many hardcore former communists are free today, Suu Kyi's close party colleague, Win Tin, 79, formerly chief editor of the Hanthawaddy newspaper, remains behind bars.

Win Tin helped edit several underground student newsletters in 1988. Ironically, in the years prior to 1988, Ne Win called on Win Tin for political consultations whenever he visited Mandalay and even allowed him to produce a newspaper—prompting Tin Aye to ask facetiously: "Was Ne Win a part of 4828?"

Kyaw Zaw's son Aung Kyaw Zaw, who lives on the Sino-Burmese border, has acknowledged the role that 4828 played in the 1988 uprising, although he says it was limited. "The party could do little," he has said.

Aung Kyaw Zaw is critical of the CPB's political stand in those years, saying that although it called for multiparty democracy in Burma, its true aim was absolute power.

Min Zin has said: "They [the communists] were not ready to embrace liberal thought and [were not] open for change. They themselves are radical, very commanding and afraid of compromise."

Tin Aye agrees. "They are very dogmatic," says the man who spent time in prison with some leading 4828 members.

Behind prison walls, the debate over communist ideals continued, fuelled by world-shaking events, such as Soviet Communist Party leader Mikhail Gorbachev's "glasnost" policy, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet empire and the end of Marxist and Maoist doctrines.

Tough prison conditions also took their toll. Thet Khaing reportedly attempted suicide in 1994 because of depression. He was subsequently released but did not return to the CPB fold and now lives in Mandalay. Tin Aung was released in 2005 and returned to his family.

Zaw Min, also freed in 2005, still suffers from psychological trauma. He once applied for CPB membership but no longer believes in communism, according to Tin Aye.

Zaw Min's former comrade, Htay Thein, a 31-year-old Rangoon University tutor in 1988, is free, but reportedly suffers from mental illness.

The big irony in the story of Burmese communism is that many of those CPB leaders who hoped to overthrow the Ne Win regime, and who faced serious mutiny in 1989, fled to China, the country that now nurtures good neighborly relations with the junta in Burma.

Nearly 20 years later, the original longing for a democratic Burma remains unchanged. Communists might have played a role in pushing for change, but by and large the uprising in 1988 was a genuinely all-inclusive event—the Burmese people as a whole wanted change.

They financed the campaign and many parted with more than money—dying for the cause. To describe them sweepingly as communists would insult their memory.

Communism as such certainly served a purpose. As Zay Latt, a former political prisoner now living in exile, put it: "We had to find a stick to beat [the enemy], so we found it [the CPB]."

The post Secrets of Commune 4828 appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

China Considers Buying Myanmar Cattle After Export Ban Lifted

Posted: 08 Aug 2018 02:49 AM PDT

YANGON — China has proposed buying about 800,000 cattle annually from Myanmar, said U Yan Naing Tun, director general of the Trade Department at the Ministry of Commerce.

The proposal came from the autonomous prefectures of Xishuangbanna and Dehong in China's Yunnan Province, he told The Irrawaddy.

"Combined, their demand is for around one million cattle per year, though they won't buy all from us; they will also buy from their other neighbors," he said.

"Xishuangbanna has proposed buying about 300,000 cattle and Dehong about 500,000 from us," he added.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation conducted a census of cattle in February, finding that Myanmar has about 11.5 million cattle. The country therefore has the capacity to export to China, said U Yan Naing Tun.

"We could only cover 57 percent of the land in the cattle census. There are places where we could not count, so the actual number should be higher. Officially, we will be able to export over 700,000 cattle a year excluding domestic consumption, deaths, calves and those used for farming," he said.

Those wishing to export cattle have to apply for a license at the Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department, which will determine if the herd is suitable for export.

Only with an animal health certificate from the department will the Commerce Ministry issue an export license, said U Yan Naing Tun.

Several foreign companies have proposed investments in Myanmar’s livestock breeding sector, he added.

A cow can fetch anywhere from1.7 million kyats ($1,160) to 2.1 million kyats ($1,430) depending on its size, according to the Commerce Ministry.

"Cattle have been exported illegally for many years. We will be able to export the proposed amount. If some procedures regarding cattle exports are relaxed, then many smugglers will be able to start exporting legally, I believe," U Kyaw Htin, vice chairman of the Myanmar Livestock Federation, told The Irrawaddy.

The government can also earn more tax if smuggling is reduced, he said.

He also suggested that the government should grant licenses for slaughterhouses so that finished meat products can be exported as a new business model for Myanmar businessmen.

"This will also create job opportunities," he added.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, over 70,000 cattle have been exported from Myanmar since January.

The government lifted a ban on the export of live cattle in October last year. Exporters are now allowed to ship 100 cattle overseas per batch.

In the first week of August, the Lower House of Parliament voted down a proposal by a lawmaker from Maubin Township, Irrawaddy Region, to impose a ban on the export of live cattle.

The post China Considers Buying Myanmar Cattle After Export Ban Lifted appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Another Black August

Posted: 08 Aug 2018 02:06 AM PDT

On Aug. 8, 2000, The Irrawaddy marked the twelfth anniversary of the 8888 uprising with an appeal for a full recounting of the bloodshed. Without coming to terms with its past, it would never be able to move forward, it argued.

August is the cruelest month. For every person who experienced Burma's democracy summer of 1988, August will always be remembered as a month of bloodshed and crushed hopes. For it was in August 1988 that literally millions of Burmese from every walk of life joined to demand an end to more than a quarter-century of unenlightened despotism, only to be gunned down in untold numbers throughout the country.

Horrifying images crowd the mind of every person who witnessed this deadly massacre: endless gunfire and the relentless advance of soldiers bearing down on unarmed crowds; bullet-riddled corpses in the streets; the innocent faces and blood-stained uniforms of murdered schoolchildren; smoke billowing non-stop for days from the crematoria of city cemeteries.

Resurrecting these memories might almost seem to compound this unmitigated cruelty; but properly understood, the impulse to revisit this traumatic episode in Burmese history can be seen as an act of resistance.

In the pages that follow, we offer our own small contribution to the on-going struggle to understand what really happened in August 1988, in an effort to confront and correct willful distortions of history.

Establishing the culpability of the perpetrators of the Black August atrocities would, of course, require immeasurably more than the contents of these few pages. But it is not our purpose here to assign blame for these events: Our goal now is simply to add a few more facts to the bulwark of historical research, as a defense against a rising tide of lies that would portray the massive popular uprising of 1988 as merely a series of “disturbances” instigated by hooligans and political opportunists.

But if Burma is ever to achieve a genuine reconciliation, the question of who bears responsibility for the innumerable deaths recorded here and elsewhere must one day be answered. History will not be kind to those who turned the once-respected Tatmadaw against the very people it was intended to defend; but the people of Burma could surely forgive, if only they were given a chance to know the whole truth so that they might finally be able to put the past to rest.

As the Burmese people, at home or in exile, mark their twelfth Black August in silent remembrance or in angry protest, the world is watching for signs of reconciliation, ready to assist in the task of rebuilding the country.

A full disclosure of the truth about the past would move Burma much closer to its goal of realizing its tremendous potential as a nation. Without it, Burma will remain a pariah state, deeply divided and incapable of functioning as a member of the world community. It is up to the country's rulers to decide whether denying the past is worth sacrificing the future.

The post Another Black August appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

The Women of 1988

Posted: 07 Aug 2018 11:57 PM PDT

To mark the 30th anniversary of the 1988 uprising this week, The Irrawaddy is revisiting some of its past articles about the event. This article from a year ago highlights the important contributions of seven women to the uprising and the pro-democracy movement it helped inspire.

Of all the social and political upheavals that Myanmar has experienced since 1962, the popular uprising of 1988 is seen by many as the most prominent in the country's modern history. Over a period of six months—reaching a peak on the auspicious day of August 8, 1988—people across Myanmar took to the streets to defy the dictatorship that had oppressed them for 26 years.

Despite an end to the struggle in a bloody military coup, young people kept the spirit of the '88 pro-democracy movement alive—in prisons, in exile, and on borders— by defying the regime using whatever means possible. It is believed that their efforts, power and commitment made way for the elected National League for Democracy (NLD) government today.

When Myanmar marks the 29th anniversary of the uprising on Tuesday, we will honor those who dared to sacrifice their lives for the good of the country and their fellow citizens. In commemoration, The Irrawaddy chose to profile seven women who were involved in or inspired by the events of 1988, so as to represent the many more who fought alongside their male counterparts at the forefront of the democracy movement. Most of those featured below continue to be politically active in different sectors, fighting against injustice or serving people in need, and fulfilling legacies 29 years in the making.

 

Ma Win Maw Oo: The Martyr

When Myanmar Army soldiers indiscriminately opened fire on protesters on September 19, 1988 in downtown Yangon, Ma Win Maw Oo was at the forefront of the column. Witnesses recalled that despite her bullet wounds, the high school student did not drop the picture she held of Gen Aung San until she fell to the ground. Later, her blood-soaked body was carried away by two doctors for emergency treatment, captured in an iconic photograph taken by a foreign journalist. The picture appeared in the Oct. 3, 1988 issue of Newsweek's Asia edition, and 16-year-old Ma Win Maw Oo soon became an icon of the brutality of the crackdown, which cost her her life.

Apart from her sacrifice, Ma Win Maw Oo's last words reflected the unbowed spirit of the participants of the '88 uprising. In Myanmar, a deeply rooted traditional belief has it that a person's soul cannot rest in peace until his or her name is called out by the family so that the merit of the living can be shared with the deceased. Her final request was to her father, whom she told not to perform these last rites until her country had become a democracy.

Twenty-eight years later, in May 2016, one month after the Daw Aung San Suu Kyi-led democratically elected government came to power, the last Buddhist funerary rites for Ma Win Maw Oo were performed by her family, to put her wandering soul to rest. Despite her untimely death, she will be remembered along with the other young students who put their lives before the barrels of loaded guns when they took to the streets to defy the dictatorship 29 years ago.

– By Kyaw Phyo Tha

 

Ma Thandar: The Lawmaker

Twenty-nine years after she took the streets to protest against the authoritarian regime, Ma Thandar finds herself sitting in the Lower House of Parliament, making laws and participating in Myanmar's democratic transition.

In 1988, she was a leading student activist in Irrawaddy Division's Einme Township. After a bloody military coup on Sept. 18, 1988, a warrant was issued for her arrest because of her participation in demonstrations. Ma Thandar had to flee her home and go into hiding. Later, she joined the NLD.

In 2007, she was arrested for her pro-democracy work. She was tortured during interrogations and jailed for six years in Insein Prison.

The long-time activist co-founded the Democracy and Peace Women's Network with other female former political prisoners as a mechanism to fight for justice, women's rights and speak out against land grabs.

Three years ago, Ma Thandar lost her husband Aung Kyaw Naing, a journalist who wrote under the name Par Gyi and who had once served as Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's bodyguard. She was in Bangkok to receive a United Nations award for her work when she learned that he had been killed by the Myanmar Army during an interrogation.

Though two soldiers initially implicated in her husband's death were acquitted by a military tribunal, Ma Thandar's call for answers prompted the army to make an unprecedented statement admitting the journalist had been shot in custody.

Following the 2015 election, the 48-year-old became the representative for her home region, Irrawaddy's Einme Township, and a member of the Lower House's Citizens' Fundamental Rights Committee.

"We faced human rights violations and justice has never been done. But if we can protect the next generations from suffering as we did, I would see it as a success. That's what I want," she said.

– By San Yamin Aung

 

Hnin Pan Eain(center) pictured with her family. (Hnin Pan Eain/Facebook)

Hnin Pan Eain: The Supporter

It would have been unimaginably more difficult to survive in Myanmar's prisons under the military regime without the moral and physical support of people like Hnin Pan Eain.

Like many other family members of political prisoners who struggled to care for their jailed loved ones, she long supported her husband, Nay Oo, who was imprisoned for eight years for his role in Myanmar's pro-democracy movement of 1988.

Hnin Pan Eain's preparation for this role unknowingly began in 1969, when she was just three years old, and she first visited her father in jail. He was a journalist and peace activist who was arrested by Gen Ne Win's regime in 1966. It marked the first of hundreds of prison visits that she would make in her lifetime.

Between 1998 and 2005, the years during which her husband was jailed, she made more than 200 visits to the remote Kalay prison where he was held. The journey there was long and arduous, and allowed for just a 15-minute visitation period. She traveled 400 miles by train from Yangon to Mandalay with her five-year-old son. From there, they continued by bus for another 160 miles, through dense jungle to Kalay. Along the way, they had to cross the wild Chindwin River by boat.

After seeing her husband incarcerated in deplorable conditions, Hnin Pan Eain decided to stay in Kalay so that she would be able to make regular visits to the prison and bring him and others food, medicine and necessities every fortnight. She sold fish paste in the town market in order to survive.

She considered family visits a form of physical and mental sustenance for the political prisoners, who she saw as freedom fighters on the front line. In addition to visiting her own husband regularly, she helped family members of other political prisoners make trips to remote prisons.

In 1999, she transformed the hardship of her visits into a series of stories based on her experiences and those relayed to her by other prisoners. Originally called Daw Thandar, she wrote under a pen name—Hnin Pan Eain—under which she continues to be known.

Now a well-known 52-year-old writer, she continues helping former political prisoners and their families.

She has facilitated counseling for former political prisoners, their family members, and women in vocational schools, under the outreach programs of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, in order to heal the trauma, depression, and anxiety that haunts the past of so many who survived this era.

– By San Yamin Aung

Nan Khin Htwe Myint: The Legacy

In the same office building once run by her father, Dr. Saw Hla Tun, former head of the Karen State Council under the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL), Nan Khin Htwe Myint serves as the Karen State chief minister under the NLD civilian government.

The 63-year-old has made many sacrifices due to her activism and family history of opposing military rule.

A participant in the political movement since an early age, she was detained for the first time in 1975 for taking part in the student movement. She continued to be imprisoned multiple times throughout the 1990s, including in Insein and Moulmein prisons.

She became a dedicated member of the NLD upon its formation in 1988, following the 1988 uprising. She contested and won a seat in the 1990 general election, in Hpa-an Constituency, the same constituency she represented in the 2015 general election.

Being the daughter of a politician, Nan Khin Htwe Myint fostered a homegrown knowledge of federalism, politics, and ethnic history, and fully committed herself to the movement for a democratic Union.

Her father was a supporter of the federal movements of the 1960s, in which Myanmar's ethnic minority representatives suggested amendments to the 1947 Constitution. Later, in the 1962 military coup, AFPFL ministers and active ethnic leaders from the Shan, Kachin, Karenni, Karen and Chin communities were, among others, arrested.

Nan Khin Htwe Myint's own family became targets for persecution under the military regime.

A strong believer that women are highly capable of coping with challenges, she has urged other women to increase their participation in politics and current affairs.

"We, as women, should never feel nor think that we are weak and cannot do things like others can. I want every woman to think that we can keep abreast of everything," she told The Irrawaddy earlier this year.

– By Nyein Nyein 

Dr. Cynthia Maung and Daw Aye Aye Mar: Those Who Bridged the Border

Often referred to as Myanmar's own Mother Teresa, Dr. Cynthia Maung has served as a source of strength for vulnerable communities on the Thai-Myanmar border, including migrant workers and ethnic minorities displaced by civil war.

In the aftermath of the 1988 pro-democracy demonstrations, Dr. Cynthia Maung left Karen State and opened a clinic in a dirt-floor building on the outskirts of Mae Sot, on the Thai side of the border. Today the Mae Tao Clinic she founded boasts a staff of about 700 and sees between 400-500 patients each day, according to its website, treating a range of issues, from landmine injuries to facilitating safe childbirths to providing HIV counseling.

Today, Dr. Cynthia, as she is widely known, has been honored with dozens of humanitarian awards, and remains a powerful advocate for decentralized and community-based healthcare in Myanmar's ethnic states.

The renowned ethnic Karen physician has inspired many, including Daw Aye Aye Mar, the director of the Social Action for Women (SAW) Foundation, also based in Mae Sot. Following Dr. Cynthia's suggestion, she started with a safe house, in order to provide shelter to some of Mae Tao's patients and orphans, and then co-founded SAW in 2001, along with other 88-generation women, including Dr. Cynthia.

Daw Aye Aye Mar (Photo: SAW)

The organization provides shelter and 24-hour support to orphans, domestic violence and rape survivors, as well as trafficked women and their families. SAW has helped provide in-house care to nearly 300 women and children, runs a learning center, and facilitates health awareness trainings. Some 90 orphans from SAW's shelters receive formal education at Thai schools.

Daw Aye Aye Mar, now 48, had been involved in Myanmar's democracy movement since 1988, and was detained in the notorious Insein Prison for one month in 1989. She left her home in March 1990 and joined the once-outlawed student army, known as the All Burma Students' Democratic Front.

She also has had a career as a radio broadcast reporter for 19 years, with the Democratic Voice of Burma, then Radio Free Asia, and Voice of America's Burmese service. She became particularly involved in documenting the plight of female migrant workers.

The political transition over the past five years has contributed to major funding cuts in cross-border aid and has forced many community-based groups on the Thai border to return to Myanmar. Despite financial difficulties and security challenges, migration patterns persist, and Daw Aye Aye Mar continues to provide social services to women and children, just as Mae Tao Clinic founder Dr. Cynthia continues to offer lifesaving healthcare support.

– By Nyein Nyein 

 

Ma Phyoe Phyoe Aung with student protesters at the standoff in front of a monastery in Letpadan March 3. 2015. ( Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy)

Ma Phyoe Phyoe Aung: The Next Generation

Having been born in August 1988 at the height of student-led democracy movement, Ma Phyoe Phyoe Aung said she feels "close" to the struggle.

"It can't be separated from me," she told The Irrawaddy earlier this month, adding that it is important to remember the people's power, unity, and struggle for democracy associated with that era. These events, she explained, helped to create her own political commitment a generation later.

Ma Phyoe Phyoe Aung was an active leader of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) organizing committee from 2007 and until November 2016.

She was detained in June 2008 with her father U Nay Win for helping to bury the dead who were scattered after Cyclone Nargis hit the Irrawaddy Delta region in May, killing more than 140,000 people. She was imprisoned for four years after a closed trial in 2009, in which she was charged under sections 6, 7 and 505(b) of the country's Penal Code, accused of forming an illegal organization, contacting unlawful groups and "intent to commit an offense against the State."

Ma Phyoe Phyoe Aung faced a trial and another jail term of 13-months for her involvement in nationwide protests against the national education law in March 2015. She was released in April 2016. She remained a member of the National Network for Education Reform (NNER) and said she would continue pursuing change in the sector.

She is also a 2014 alumnus of the George W. Bush Institute's Liberty and Leadership Forum in the United States.

As the ABFSU elected new leadership in Nov. 2016, she no longer possesses official responsibilities with the organization.

Now a mother of a five-month-old son, she is dedicating her time to her family while contributing to a youth capacity building school called the "Wings Institute," cofounded by ABFSU colleagues. Her work focuses on peace building and reconciliation, and discussions of federalism and transitional justice.

– By Nyein Nyein 

The post The Women of 1988 appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

‘We Can Bring about Both–Justice and Reconciliation’

Posted: 07 Aug 2018 09:44 PM PDT

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the nationwide protests in 1988 that launched Myanmar's pro-democracy movement. As one of the most prominent leaders of that uprising against military rule, Min Ko Naing was forced to spend most of the next two and a half decades in prison.

Released in early 2012 along with many other fellow political prisoners, he has since returned to public life as a founding member of the 88 Generation Peace & Open Society, a group dedicated to restoring democracy and human rights in Myanmar. The Irrawaddy interviewed him in 2013 on Myanmar's struggle for independence.

Min Ko Naing is a nom de guerre meaning "Conqueror of Kings," and it has become synonymous with the determination of the people of Myanmar to end unjust and autocratic rule. But these days Min Ko Naing is also actively seeking national reconciliation, even as he continues to push for accountability for human rights abuses committed in the country. However, as he says in this interview with The Irrawaddy's Kyaw Zwa Moe, his quest to uncover the truth about the past is not about seeking revenge.

Min Ko Naing has won numerous international awards for his activism. These include the 2009 Gwangju Prize for Human Rights; the 2005 Civil Courage Prize; the 2001 Student Peace Prize; the 2000 Homo Homini Award of People In Need; and the 1999 John Humphrey Freedom Award. His most recent honor was an award from the US National Endowment for Democracy, which he received in 2012.

Twenty-five years after the 1988 pro-democracy uprising, what do you think the movement has achieved so far?

Certainly, they [the authorities] now have to shout louder than we do about democracy. Whether they are really practicing it or not is another matter. The situation today is that they now have to admit that the banner of democracy that we raised is righteous and noble. Here, I think we need to examine what kind of political reform is taking place in this country—is it for all of the people, or just for a group of people? The important question is: who is this current change for?

Back in 1988, many democracy activists, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, called the pro-democracy movement the country's second struggle for independence. Is it still the same struggle today?

Unlike the past, the other side is no longer denying democracy. But things are not moving smoothly, so we still have to struggle. Sometimes, we have to compete with them and sometimes we have to negotiate with them. After all, it is still a struggle.

It will be very difficult to achieve reconciliation in Myanmar without compromising on the issue of justice. How will the 88 Generation Peace & Open Society seek justice for those who have suffered for their role in the struggle?

I think we can bring about both—justice and reconciliation. Of course, it is essential to reveal the truth. We can learn lessons from the past only if we uncover the truth. But this doesn't mean seeking revenge. So first we have to disclose the truth, and then we have to take responsibility together to ensure that injustices don't happen again.

These days, we can see many media reports about human rights violations in the past. So far, I haven't seen any actions taken by the authorities against those publications. I think it's all part of disclosing the truth, although we still can't pursue it as a nationwide mission.

Your group has decided to make peace and reconciliation the theme of its commemoration of the 1988 uprising. Why did you choose that topic?

Peace and reconciliation are essential if we want to move forward. At the same time, however, we will also organize exhibitions about what happened in the past, to continue to disclose the truth.

Myanmar's opposition groups always had trouble dealing with the political games of the former regime, and they are still lagging behind the current government in terms of strategy. Why are the opposition groups so weak at formulating and following strategies?

I don't see politics as a game. Eventually, politics [in Myanmar] will become a game in which there are players. But right now we are freedom fighters, not players in a political game. I don't know the rules of that game. Dhamma [justice] will prevail over Adhamma [injustice] in the end. But it also depends on our might and unity. Unity is not a problem in a dictatorship because it is always a top-down system. But in a democracy, everybody is allowed to be different. That is the nature of democracy.

The people of Myanmar are looking to the 88 Generation for leadership at this critical time. What is the political agenda of the group?

I don't want people to depend on an individual person or group. I think we need collaborative leadership. We are now trying to empower civil society, which is different from forming political parties. I think the civil society groups are getting stronger and stronger. What we are doing today is building a network. You can't see a single tree standing out in a field. Our work is horizontal, not vertical.

Will you form a political party to contest the 2015 national election?

Personally, I have no plan to form a political party. But in our group, there are some who are keen to do so and capable of making it work, so they might form a party at some point. I understand why they want to do it, but as for me, I don't have any enthusiasm or aptitude for it.

Let me say a few words about party politics and people's politics. Those two ideologies always divide us into two groups. Look at Bogyoke Aung San: He formed a party, but he wasn't really doing party politics. Instead, he engaged in people's politics for the good of the whole nation.

I won't form a political party, but I will keep working at the grassroots level. Look at people like Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. We don't criticize them for not taking part in party politics. Their work was hugely influential. So I don't think that that forming a political party and running in an election is the only way to achieve things in politics.

How do you propose to change the current political situation in Myanmar, in which former military leaders still dominate in both the government and the Parliament?

It would be best if power was in hands of the people. To reach our goal, I am more interested in influence than power. After 50 years of being ruled with an iron fist, our people tend to think of power as something used to oppress them. It was power that intimidated and enslaved them. The way governments took or seized power wasn't right, either. That's why I want to apply influence rather than power. By building influence, we will be able to put power into hands of the people.

What is the difference between the struggle you started in 1988 and the challenges you face today?

In the past, our struggle faced total denial and a closed door. So we had to put all our energy into opening that door. Now the door is open and we've received promises [from the authorities] that they will walk together with us on this road [to political reform]. We have to admit that we now enjoy more freedom. The media, for example, is much freer than before. We couldn't even dream of such freedom in the past. These are changes we can't deny, but that doesn't mean that those changes are complete.

What I am concerned about now is whether these initial changes will be able to continue to grow. We now have basic rights to form and run associations, organize activities, and so on. But if these rights can't grow and develop, they will be like bonsai trees in a living room—just for show.

There are traps and obstacles that we have to overcome. There are still restrictive laws in force, such as the draconian Electronics Act, under which we were given 60-year prison sentences for sending out four emails—that's 15 years for each email. Those laws are still instruments that they can use to throw you into jail anytime they choose.

You said earlier that you are not satisfied with the current political reforms. What kind of political transition would satisfy you?

Let's talk about what should be done in this situation. One of the most critical issues in our country is the ethnic problem. Unless that issue is tackled seriously and immediately, any political reform will be a sham, and we won't be able to build up a new nation. If we really want to continue this political reform, we need to solve the ethnic issue right away.

The post 'We Can Bring about Both–Justice and Reconciliation' appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

The Day a New Burma was Born

Posted: 07 Aug 2018 08:50 PM PDT

Exactly 30 years ago, on Aug 8, 1988, a popular democratic uprising took off in Rangoon that would sweep the country but end with a bloody crackdown by the Burma Army. In this article, which first appeared on Aug 8, 2012, participants in the uprising recall the heady days of revolt and its tragic ending.

RANGOON — When he woke up early on a drizzling Monday morning in August 24 years ago, Sanny, then 21 years old, probably had no idea that the day would end in tragedy. He was in high spirits when he left home at 7:30 to attend a downtown demonstration. He wasn't worried about a thing—just very excited.

It was August 8, 1988, or "8-8-88" as it's widely known, when hundreds of thousands of Burmese from all walks of life joined a popular protest in the former capital Rangoon to topple the dictator Ne Win's single party rule that had oppressed them for 26 years.

"Even today I have no regrets about joining the demonstration at that time. I was doing something I felt I had to do," said the then third-year physics student at Rangoon University, who later received a long prison sentence for his participation.

Twenty-four years later, the day still stands as an important milestone in modern Burmese history—a day that marked the emergence of a full-fledged democracy movement that managed to topple Ne Win's regime, only to see a new junta seize power and spend the ensuing decades relentlessly suppressing its leaders, including Burma's newfound democracy icon, Aung San Suu Kyi.

It was a day of hope, bullets, blood and tears.

Whenever he thinks about that day, the first thing that comes to Sanny's mind is the huge column of demonstrators shouting anti-Ne Win slogans and the people on both sides of the road who expressed their full support for the protesters.

"The road was packed with people as far as the eye could see. There were countless people lining the sides of the roads, giving us food, drinking water and cigarettes. They said 'May your cause succeed,'" he recalled.

"It made me cry, and what I learned on that day was that people are always ready to be with you when you stand on their side. With that much popular support, I was convinced that we would easily win," he added.

But the military crackdown on thousands of protesters at Rangoon City Hall that night proved he was wrong.

Pyone Cho, a leading member of the 88 Generation Students group, was among the demonstrators near the City Hall a few minutes before the army opened fire.  He was 22 years old at that time, doing his masters degree in geology at Rangoon University.

"Around 11 pm, someone informed us that we were surrounded. The army gave us three warnings to disperse. Then came a sudden blackout and the bullets started to fly in. I was lucky to narrowly escape," he recounted.

Pandavunsa, 55, has a vivid memory of how bloody the crackdown was.

"When they began shooting, I was in total shock. Then two guys near me fell down. So I grabbed them and started to run for my life," remembered the Buddhist monk, who took part in the protest as a member of the Rangoon Young Monk's Organization and was later a leading figure in the monk-led Saffron Revolution in 2007.

"A few minutes later I stopped to find out that the head of the man I carried away was open. His brains were like smashed tofu. The other one, a monk, had been shot in the stomach. I could see his intestines. He was already dead, too," he said.

The next morning, an eerie silence descended on the whole of Rangoon and there was no trace of the previous night's mass killing in front of the City Hall. The number of casualties still remains unknown.

Dr Tin Myo Win, the family doctor of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, was a surgeon at that time at Rangoon General Hospital, where he treated many wounded protesters.

Although he also has vivid memories of that day and its aftermath, he said he is reluctant to recount them, lest he reignite public resentment over the crackdown and cause any obstacle to the national reconciliation process that Suu Kyi is now working on. He acknowledges, however, that the 8-8-88 uprising has had an indelible impact on the country.

"Nobody can deny that it brought out leaders and players for today's Burmese politics. The uprising opened our eyes to the need for national reconciliation and unity, which are the essential forces to complete our mission that originated 24 years ago," he said.

Pyone Cho said the 88 movement was the mother of all subsequent uprisings, all of which have had only one strong message that still echoes today: People want democratic changes.

"After our repeated demands for change, the government is now doing some reforms. But I have to say, there's a long road to the change we want. Take the Constitution, for example. If we all take part in the reform process, as we did in 1988, we will win," said the 46-year-old ex-political prisoner who has spent nearly 20 years behind bars.

For Pandavunsa, Burmese democracy begins with the 88 movement.

"It was the very first time we Burmese collectively fought against the dictatorship. It was the first time we talked about democracy. Anyone in their right mind knows today's changes are the long awaited results of the 88 uprising," the monk commented.

Tin Myo Win said it was the "88 spirit"—working for the people's interests and having comradeship among protesters—that toppled single party rule 24 years ago.

"If we were able to work together even at that time when the doors to change were closed, why can't we reapply that spirit now, when changes are visible and our goal is in sight?" he said, adding that "the goal is a long way to go."

Meanwhile, the 24th anniversary of the 8-8-88 uprising has revived Pandavunsa's memories of that fateful day.

"I still remember the faces of people on that night. Even in their death, I felt hope for change was written on their faces," said the monk.

"We have sacrificed a lot. I saw comrades die young. I pray for no repetition of that day."

The post The Day a New Burma was Born appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Memories of 8.8.88

Posted: 07 Aug 2018 06:30 PM PDT

To mark the 30th anniversary of the '88 uprising this month, we revisit a foreign journalist's recollection of clandestine visits to Myanmar to report on the country during an historic period of upheaval. It was originally published in the August 2008 issue of The Irrawaddy Magazine.

WORD reached Bangkok in late August 1987 that the Burmese economy was grinding to a standstill, and that the rice harvest could be compromised by weak rainfalls in some areas. As a reporter who liked to operate alone, I was assigned by Asiaweek, the Hong Kong-based newsweekly, to slip into the country. I would get no byline, no credit, not much pay, but a lot of satisfaction.

It was a memorable week. I made it up to Mandalay on my own, just in time for what some believed was the heaviest rainfall since the end of World War II. These things are hard to gauge, of course, but there was no mistaking the joy the people felt at the suddenly rain-swollen paddy fields. I returned to Rangoon and the care of my wonderful Burmese translator and fixer.

He graciously introduced me to his family, fed me in his home, took me everywhere, persuaded an unwitting former minister of education to buy me a beer and even smuggled me to the ancient capital of Pegu for an audience with His Holiness Eindhasara, or Sayadawgyi, as he was addressed with both affection and respect.

At 91, as head of the Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee, he was the most senior monk in the land and had been abbot of the same temple since 1941. He had never met a foreign journalist before, but even so, for him the encounter was a minor curiosity. For me it was an unexpected honor—a kind of benediction.

My fixer's father suddenly took ill. He was reduced to chasing around Rangoon in a desperate search for medicine that could only be found on the black market, if at all. I had already witnessed scuffles that week near a train that was carrying rice into the countryside. When I returned to Bangkok, I knew that even with a few beneficent cloud bursts, times were tougher than ever for ordinary Burmese people and something was brewing behind the scenes.

As it turned out, I had missed one of the country's biggest stories in decades by one day. Student-led demonstrations unexpectedly broke out on September 5 when the government demonetized large denomination bank notes without warning. There was no hint of the demonetization from anyone during my week inside the country. It was nothing more than state-sanctioned theft. Many people lost their meager savings in one swift stroke.

In the intervening 20 years, the authorities seem to have learned almost nothing about public relations and financial management. In August 2007—again without warning—they suddenly laid down huge increases in diesel and petrol prices, driving the long-suffering populace to the edge once more. There were massive demonstrations again, spearheaded by columns of monks, particularly in Rangoon where up to 100,000 people took to the streets.

Back in 1988, the pressure for much larger nationwide demonstrations had been building through a succession of incidents in Rangoon teashops and outlying areas. Stoking the popular discontent among even the most tolerant of people was a growing realization: Breathtaking economic mismanagement during General Ne Win's years following the 1962 coup had reduced a fundamentally wealthy nation to pauper status. The UN had classified Burma as a least developed country. Aung Gyi, a disillusioned former member of General Ne Win's Revolutionary Council, added to the discontent through a series of public, widely disseminated, critical letters.

Average people yearned for democracy, freedom and the other benefits of more politically advanced countries. But first they wanted to eat and dress better, to educate their children, read newspapers, travel, look after their sick and put a proper roof over their heads. In 1988, the demands were uncomplicated and entirely reasonable. Yet in 2008, they still remain unmet.

By July 1988, the discontent was starting to boil over. There was no question that major demonstrations would erupt. Towards the end of the month, Ne Win finally resigned as chairman of the inept Burma Socialist Programme Party. His strange parting words were a call for multi-party democracy followed with a dire warning that the Burmese Army would never hesitate to shoot demonstrators. Ne Win was always bigger on sticks than carrots.

Foreign journalists and photographers had been entering Burma all through the month from Bangkok, trying to figure out when the volcano would blow. With only a seven-day visa available, timing was everything. Nobody was there officially and filing stories was a nightmare. Much of the underground student activity was carried out on campuses and in the pavilions around the magnificent Shwedagon Pagoda in the center of the city. Just like today, small groups would rally, and then people would post revolutionary messages around the city. Everybody knew it was coming.

Although the harshest, anti-government sentiment was passed on by word of mouth, it was the BBC that finally communicated one of the most crucial pieces of information: the demonstrations would begin on the morning of August 8, in other words on 8/8/88.

Rangoon passengers scramble for seats on a train loaded with rice for the hinterland. (Photo: Dominic Faulder)

The report came from a young correspondent, Christopher Gunness. Though it was a first-rate piece of news reporting precisely reflecting the word on the street, the Burmese authorities have since attempted to misrepresent it as evidence of some kind of international conspiracy. The BBC did not call for demonstrations. It merely announced the date they were due to begin. That did, of course, make it pretty official. Nobody believed a word in the state media—everybody listened to the BBC. Indeed, the Burmese Service's postbag was reputed to receive as much mail as the rest of the corporation's broadcast services put together.

Later, I often filed freelance reports for the BBC's Burmese Service. However, I lost count of the number of Burmese I disappointed by confessing that I was not the legendary Gunness. Being anonymous was everything in those days. Journalists in the country at that time usually had as little to do with each other as possible.

The first serious demonstration in Rangoon actually occurred early on the afternoon of August 3. It took me completely by surprise as it swept down Shwedagon Pagoda Road towards the city center and then turned east going past Sule Pagoda and City Hall, before sweeping around to roar back past the Indian and US embassies—the world's largest and most powerful democracies, respectively.

As a display of raw courage it was spine-tingling, but pretty difficult to photograph. Demonstrators were initially not keen about having their pictures taken. They covered their faces and sometimes pushed my camera away. An Australian diplomat with a camera was threatened with having his car set on fire, and some Burmese photographers suspected of working for military intelligence were beaten up. Even so, there were no security forces in sight and no attempt was made to stop the demonstration, which faded into the wet afternoon with astonishing speed.

That night, however, the junta declared martial law. The next day troops with colored bandanas, fixed bayonets and shotguns were out on the streets in force. I had no idea what would actually transpire on 8/8/88, but I suspected that if there was to be confrontation it would be in the vicinity of Sule Pagoda and City Hall.

I was staying at my favorite haunt, The Strand Hotel, and I began making arrangements to move to a guesthouse near the old Burma Tourist office. It was incredibly dingy, but it had a grand view over the road encircling the pagoda, Maha Bandoola Park and City Hall.

It was indeed in this area that the first shootings on 8/8/88 took place. A crowd that had been allowed to demonstrate peacefully all day refused to disperse, and troops opened fire.

However, I was not there to see it. I had already been ordered out of the country by my editors who were fearful that they would have no first-hand material to print from the first week of August if I remained. I very reluctantly left on August 6, but not without an official inquisition at Mingaladon Airport about the quantity of film and cameras I was carrying. As I left, I spotted my replacement and two other friends pushing their way through the blue cheroot fumes and chaos in the arrival area. The photographer in the group was arrested on August 9 and deported.

I spent a frustrating time back in Bangkok, gathering photos and accounts of the drama unfolding in Burma without any obvious sign of a resolution. An estimated 3,000 civilians were killed and many more wounded in the aftermath of 8/8/88.

Outraged diplomats had dispensed what little medicine they could find, while hospitals were left virtually empty, particularly upcountry. Many injured people believed it was safer to stay out of sight at home, even with life-threatening wounds.

Opposition leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi, Tin Oo, Aung Gyi, U Nu and student leader Min Ko Naing, had emerged but they were not a cohesive group. There was nothing remotely credible to replace the lame-duck, temporary government of Dr. Maung Maung, a once respected lawyer and intellectual who had become Ne Win's hagiographer.

By the second week of September, it was clear that the unending demonstrations were going nowhere. The military was biding its time, waiting to strike back decisively. One of the very few foreign journalists in the country departed on September 17 completely unaware of the imminent coup that was to follow.

When I finally managed to fly back to Rangoon a few days after the bloody September 18 coup, the city was in shock.

I spent the next fortnight getting to know as many of the key players as possible. I tried to piece together the incomplete political jigsaw puzzle. The city was broken and dark, with a curfew still in place. There were military roadblocks everywhere and rebellious suburbs such as North and South Okkalapa were locked down and unreachable.

On October 1, I was back at Sule Pagoda. A dozen or so Hino army trucks had pulled up near City Hall and disgorged troops from the 22nd Light Infantry Division. They had been standing at attention all morning in the blazing sun with bayonets locked. An officer with a large bowie knife strapped to his thigh sat on a park wall behind them. The show of implied force was intended to signal the end of the lingering general strike—and it succeeded.

An Asiaweek correspondent, left, interviews coup leader Snr-Gen. Saw Maung, center, in January 1989. Seated to the right are deputy Snr-Gen. Than Shwe, Lt-Gen. Khin Nyunt and Lt-Gen. Tin Oo.

Nothing moved on the streets, and it was impossible not to be seen. I had a good view of the scene from inside the pagoda's portico. In the background, a Christian church was pockmarked with bullet holes. I remember reaching into my bag for my camera. Immediately, figures darted from the shadows and challenged me. Burma's ubiquitous spy network had resurrected itself. I gathered up my bag and walked out behind the ranks of troops in their baking steel helmets and past the officer sitting silently in the shade. Something told me that a chat and a smoke weren't in the cards.

I overstayed my visa by a full week. Being one of the few foreigners in the country at the time, it was reasonable to assume I had been identified as a journalist but no one made a move against me. I was even able to meet and interview the elusive student leader Min Ko Naing in a suburban safe house on my last day. At the airport, I received a token fine, tipped the immigration officer US $10 for his civility and left.

The overstay was well worth it. I had filed a constant stream of reports to Asiaweek—which ran an astonishing 12 consecutive Burma covers during this tumultuous period. Once outside the country, I continued filing exclusive reports and interviews with all the key opposition figures.

In my last days, I had also made contact with the newly formed Election Commission. It was that first, tentative encounter with a government organization that encouraged me to apply for an interview with Sen-Gen Saw Maung, the chairman of the State Law and Order Restoration Council.

The interview was eventually granted in January 1989, and it was a strange experience indeed. I returned with an official visa. I was met by a military intelligence officer, whisked through formalities, assigned a 24-hour minder and chauffeured off to The Strand.

Ohn Gyaw, the de facto foreign minister, was waiting to greet me in the lobby, which had just been repainted but still showed considerable signs of dilapidation. He briefed me on the senior general's sense of humor and strong sense of family. Upstairs, Col Thein Swe, a senior aide to intelligence chief Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, was waiting to continue my briefing. He had evidently been reading my secret file.

"You seem to like our country," he said. "Is this your second or third visit?"

"Thirteenth, actually," I said.

He looked stunned. In the land of numerology, it turned out to be my lucky number.

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Spirit of 8888 Continues to Drive The Irrawaddy

Posted: 07 Aug 2018 06:56 AM PDT

As the train pulled into La Mine station, we rushed to help our fellow passengers with their goods and vegetables. We wanted to assist these new friends we had just made on our trip — and we wanted to look a little less conspicuous.

As we climbed down off the top of the carriage — it was the first time I had ridden on the roof of a train — we descended into a chaotic situation. "Stay away from police and soldiers," a colleague warned.

The country was sinking into a black hole. The military had staged a coup just three days before, on Sept. 18, 1988.

The police and soldiers who guarded the railway station, however, didn't recognize us as fleeing students and activists.

I saw many familiar faces on the train. They were making the same journey — to Mon State in southern Myanmar. I nodded to acknowledge them, but we didn't talk.

There were perhaps hundreds of such people on the train, all heading to the jungle and the legendary Three Pagoda Pass on the Thai border where Mon insurgents had their headquarters.

In my group, there were 10 of us, and we quickly separated as we took horse carts to a nearby village where Mon rebels were waiting to take us to their base.

We were now in a grey zone that was controlled interchangeably by government soldiers and rebels. As night fell we had simple dishes and tried to sleep without blankets as a Mon village headman looked on.

The train ride was the last mechanized transportation we would experience in Burma.

The next day we were on foot and starting on our trek through the jungle.

Our guide was a senior Mon officer. With his AK-47 he often pointed out landmines and places where Burmese troops could ambush us as he led us into the dense forest, over mountains, and across rivers.

Left behind in Yangon were the wounded and the deserted streets where millions had marched just a week before to denounce the socialist regime and were many had been gunned down. Also, still in Yangon was the unwavering spirit of 8888, as well as fearful family members and our friends in the underground movement.

I had naively thought my journey would be a short one and I imagined I would return home soon.

I didn't know that I would not be able to come back for 24 years. Was it worth it? I would say yes.

The jungle jaunt ended up taking 10 days. It was exhausting but also eye-opening for all of us as we had never been to the ethnic areas where a civil war had raged for decades. We saw deserted villages along the way but also many smiles and abundant hospitality. The Mon villagers had learned about us on BBC Radio and they knew we were coming. How much do you know about our struggle, was a question the Mon rebel leaders asked us repeatedly, They wanted to know how much urban activists and students understood about the long fight of the ethnic minorities.

Jungle life was harsh but in the ethnic rebels who were fighting to gain autonomy we found true friends. Some of the rebel leaders were no strangers to us as they had studied in Yangon University before joining the cause. So they knew our professors and our well-read dissident colleagues who taught us history, politics, literature and about the underground movement.

We also learned some unpleasant things. As we arrived in Three Pagodas Pass the once bursting border trading town was deserted as Mon and Karen rebels had engaged in a fierce battle at the same time as we were marching on the streets of Yangon in August and September. The huts and houses abandoned by villagers became our shelters.

At this point, some of our colleagues were forced to go back to Yangon after becoming caught in a life and death battle with malaria on the Thai-Myanmar border or just because of the harsh life. From our original group of 10, only three of us remained.

After leaving Three Pagodas Pass and doing odd jobs along the border, I decided to set up a publication to inform the international community about what was happening in my country and along the border. Some colleagues joined the armed struggle, went to resettle in third countries to further their studies or continued to fight in the exile movement and became campaign activists or Burma scholars. I wanted to do something to help the cause.

The Irrawaddy Vol: 1, No: 1 was published in September 1993.

Established in 1993, it is safe to say The Irrawaddy had a direct connection to the 1988 upheaval — its aim was to keep news about Burma alive, and to inform the international community, under the leadership of someone who was in the movement.

But as an independent publication we had to be impartial and to adhere to journalistic standards and not to be a mouthpiece of anyone. We wanted to make sure Burma, and later "Myanmar", stayed on the international agenda. But we ourselves were in a hideout somewhere in Bangkok. Somehow, we managed to do it.

There were many important world events, milestones and catastrophes including 9/11 in those early years, and the Myanmar issue was often pushed to the backburner. It thus became even more important to remind the world about those under house arrest or in prison or the plight of refugees along the border. We managed to highlight these stories and to tell the busy world of powerful leaders to take note of Myanmar. Top of our minds was to maintain the momentum, and we did it.

Aung Zaw (left) during an interview with the late KNU leader Gen. Bo Mya on the Thai-Myanmar border in 1998.

One thing I found about my 1988 friends was many were truly willing to make deep sacrifices rather than take advantage of an opportunity either in prison or in exile.

It's true that we worship those who made sacrifices but we also despise the opportunists.

Aside from the spirit of 8888, there was no shortage of able and competent friends who were always ready to provide assistance. It was in exile that I found my old mate and a 1988 student activist Ko Win Thu, who joined the publication in 1994 and who helped me with the management side of the magazine. Not surprisingly, he is still working with us today.

Ko Win Thu in 2000.

Established in 1993 we eventually became one of the most recognized publications on Myanmar. Dodging spies and informers in Bangkok – we also became an enemy of the regime.

I still remembered one time the now-defunct Hong Kong-based publication Far Eastern Economic Review referred to us as an "underground dissident publication". It was true.

At the time, we were always under budget and when we began the mission, all of us were volunteers and we shared a tiny stipend.

The publication was always under the watchful eye of the junta via its agents at the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok and its shady allies. Yes, we have had friends and foes — as always, it is the nature of media. But being an exiled media was tough.

Yet that did not stop us scoring many prominent interviews and publishing opinion pieces from major figures.

Among the many people we interviewed was the late Czech president Vaclav Havel, a staunch Burma supporter, US President Barack Obama, Aung San Suu Kyi, Desmond Tutu and leaders of the ethnic groups, while many more prominent politicians in Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, and the Philippines spoke to us, lending us their voices to keep the pressure on the regime. Like other exiled media groups DVB and Mizzima, we served as a window on Burma in the 25 years that followed our founding. Our news, interviews, quotes and comments have been published in the New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian and many other renowned newspapers and magazines from around the world. It was all about Burma and the continuation of an unfinished struggle.

An editorial meeting at The Irrawaddy’s Chiang Mai office 2005.

Last week when I glimpsed at old files and Irrawaddy issues I noted the long list of veteran regional journalists such as Bertil Lintner, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Don Pathan, Dominic Faulder, and John McBeth who have contributed numerous op-ed pieces and analyses. Young Burma researchers who penned articles in our publications have now become recognized voices and independent analysts on the country. After all, we were one of the few credible and reliable, independent voices covering Myanmar.

When I decided to leave Burma I did so with no hesitation, thinking I would be back soon. But it took 24 years, or over 8,000 days, before I could return to my home country. Without resilience, determination and support it would have been difficult to keep that walk going for 30 years.

It was naïve to think and imagine that when we finally got the chance to return we would find a free and perfect Burma. To be sure, it is not the case. Indeed, it is more like the opposite. Even bringing our institution back to the country was tough and the last six years we have gone through a mountain of challenges and uncertainty, similar to what's faced by many in the country. It is true to say that the uprising failed, was exploited, and the dream of 1988 remains elusive. The intense search to find hope and justice is not getting any easier but we, along with many others, are not giving in. It is clear we will have to navigate large waves in our journey.

We will not give up on reporting about Myanmar and will not give up spreading hope to millions of people who deserve more than they have received, and we are continuing to hold our place as an important part of Myanmar's besieged fourth pillar.

This means the old spirits of 8888 and their voices are needed more than ever.

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Unseen Photos From 8888 Uprising to Go on Display

Posted: 07 Aug 2018 06:30 AM PDT

Of the many local photographers who documented the popular protests against the Ne Win regime in 1988, only Htein Win was able to keep his negatives. Out of the hundreds of pictures he took at the time, 100 will be on exhibition starting from Wednesday, coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the uprising. You may have seen some of the shots online before but others – such as those of artists and movie stars who joined the protests to call for democracy and an end to single-party dictatorship – have never been seen before. The photo exhibition will run from Aug 8-12 at Beikthano Art Gallery in Yangon.

Read a related story here: Historic '88 Uprising Photos on Display 30 Years Later

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USDP-Led Alliance Protests Rakhine Investigation Commission

Posted: 07 Aug 2018 05:31 AM PDT

YANGON—The formerly ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which is backed by the military, and its allies have protested against the newly formed commission of inquiry into rights abuses in Rakhine, citing fears of "foreign intervention."

In a joint statement released on Monday, the parties said they opposed the inclusion and leading role of foreigners in the commission, adding that they "wouldn't allow any organization or action that could harm either directly or indirectly the country's sovereignty, territorial integrity, security and rule of law."

The statement was issued by the USDP and 21 other political parties, the majority of which are currently unrepresented in Parliament, including the Peace for Diversity Party, National Development Party and New National Democracy Party, along with other small ethnic parties.

The independent commission comprising two local and two international members was formed on July 30 by the government to investigate allegations of human rights violations in Rakhine State following attacks on police posts there by the militant Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) in late August 2017.

The commission is to be led by Rosario Manalo, a former deputy foreign minister of the Philippines. She is also a former chair and a current representative of the Philippines to the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women.

The commission also includes Kenzo Oshima, a former permanent representative to the UN for Japan.

The President's Office announcement said the commission was "part of the government's national initiative to address reconciliation, peace, stability and development in Rakhine."

The USDP-led alliance said that despite the government's claim, its findings and report will become a new mechanism for the UN to put pressure on the country on the world stage, and would be tantamount to accepting the recommendations of the Kofi Annan-led advisory commission as a road map for solving the Rakhine State crisis.

They also called for the investigation to begin with the ARSA attacks, and not be limited to what happened after that.

Previously, the parties raised similar objections against the Kofi Annan–led advisory commission on Rakhine State and its reports, as well as the advisory team to the implementation committee, as "foreign intervention".

During a joint press conference with the Japanese foreign affairs minister following their meeting in Naypyitaw on Monday, State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said the independent investigation commission would be allowed to carry out its work unobstructed, adding that the members of the commission are qualified.

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Lawmakers Rebuke Construction Ministry Over Handling of Road Contracts

Posted: 07 Aug 2018 05:30 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW — The Lower House of Parliament on Tuesday passed a proposal to urge the government to keep companies true to their contracts after accusing the Construction Ministry of failing to adequately monitor firms it hires to build and maintain roads using the BOT — build, operate, transfer — system.

Though the companies collect the agreed tolls from road users, they fail to properly maintain the roads and the ministry is negligent in regulating them, lawmakers said.

"The stance of the focal ministry responsible for BOT contracts is questionable," Daw Yin Min Hlaing, a lawmaker representing Magwe Region's Gangaw Township, told the Lower House.

She called the terms and conditions of the contract between the Ministry of Construction and Zaykabar Co. Ltd. for the construction of the road between Yangon Region's Hlaing Tharyar Township and Irrawaddy Region's Dedaye Township "unbelievable."

"If it is impossible to carry out certain works according to the contract, terms and conditions can be changed as necessary," she quoted from the contract.

"Standards are not something that can be adjusted. We are quite taken aback by it," said Daw Yin Min Hlaing.

Lawmaker U Sai Kyaw Aung, of Shan State's Kyeethe Township, also complained that the road between Hopong and Taunggyi townships is in bad condition despite all small vehicles being charged 3,000 kyats ($2.05) to travel the route.

Many fatal traffic accidents could be avoided in southern Shan State if the roads were wide enough and the Ministry of Construction carefully monitored the private companies, he added.

"Only road sections close to the toll gates are broadened, and repair work carried out on dangerous roads along the mountains is quite disappointing," said U Sai Kyaw Aung, a lawmaker from the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD).

The BOT system was first introduced to Myanmar in 1996, according to the the Ministry of Construction.

Diamond Palace Co. and Asia World Co. were the first to operate using the BOT system when they constructed the Mandalay-Lashio-Muse-Namkham road in 1996 under the military regime of the time, it said.

More than 4,800 kilometers of road have been built and maintained using the BOT system, it added.

Between 2006 and 2016, the ministry cancelled contracts with 23 companies for upgrading 32 road sections for their failure to comply with contracts.

But according to the Myanmar Investment Law, Chapter 14, Section 52, the Construction Ministry cannot take direct action against companies if they complete their work within the scheduled timeframe.

Deputy Construction Minister U Kyaw Lin said his ministry would redesign rules and regulations regarding the BOT system and sign new BOT contracts with private companies.

Seventeen lawmakers, including some from the ruling National League for Democracy, Arakan National Party, SNLD and military representatives debated the proposal, but the opposition Union Solidarity and Development Party shunned the debate.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Singapore Pledges Continued Support for Myanmar

Posted: 07 Aug 2018 04:09 AM PDT

SINGAPORE — Singapore’s foreign minister said the city-state and current ASEAN chair would continue to support Myanmar’s economic development and peace process through its many challenges.

Speaking with journalists from across the regional bloc on Monday, Vivian Balakrishnan said Singapore stood with Myanmar as it tackled economic challenges, civil war and the Rohingya crisis.

Balakrishnan has met Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who also serves as the country’s foreign minister, several times in the past two years, both in Myanmar and Singapore.

Balakrishnan acknowledged that Myanmar’s de facto leader was facing many hurdles, including unmet expectations about the pace of economic reform.

"I think she is facing enormous challenges," he said. "And you have to deal with all the historical challenges and ethnic problems, including armed conflicts in other parts of the country, and not just in Rakhine State. That's why ASEAN stands with [the] Myanmar government, and Daw Aung San Sui Kyi deserves the support."

He said the state counselor was trying "very hard" for end Myanmar’s decades-long civil war through meetings of the 21st Century Panglong Peace Conference and to gain the trust of the country’s many ethnic armed groups.

Balakrishnan said ASEAN would continue to fully support Myanmar with humanitarian aid as well.

The crisis in Rakhine State was discussed last week during an ASEAN meeting in Singapore. ASEAN "encouraged" the Myanmar government to continue implementing the recommendations of the Kofi Annan-led Advisory Commission on Rakhine State and welcomed its efforts to date.

Myanmar recently said it would accept an offer of help from the ASEAN Coordination Center for Humanitarian Assistance following recent severe flooding in several parts of the country.

At the 19th ASEAN Plus Three foreign ministers meeting on Saturday, the ministers welcomed an agreement to establish a regional catastrophe risk insurance pool for Laos and Myanmar as the first program of the Southeast Asia Disaster Risk Insurance Facility, supported by Japan, Singapore and the World Bank. The program, to be run out of Singapore, aims to provide climate and disaster risk management insurance solutions to ASEAN member states to narrow the natural catastrophe protection gap.

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