The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Extremist Monks Hold Talks Throughout Strife-Torn Arakan State
• In Township Development, Civil Society Seeks a Voice
• Burma Gas Exports to Slow as Pipeline Closes for Work
• A New Burma in Old Hands
• DKBA Leader Hospitalized in Rangoon, Seeks Overseas Treatment
• Aung Min Insists Car Licenses Are Not Import ‘Permits’
• Violence in Kachin State Continues Christmas Eve
• Minister, Ethnic Leaders to Hold Ceasefire Talks in Chiang Mai
• Ethnic Traditions Vanishing as Burma Opens Up
• Can Myanmar Be a Game Changer in Asean?
• Thai Police Fire Teargas at Anti-Govt Protesters
• China to Celebrate Mao’s Birthday, But Events Scaled Back
• Remittances Throw Lifeline to Philippines’ Typhoon Survivors
• Where are Myanmar’s Strongmen?

Extremist Monks Hold Talks Throughout Strife-Torn Arakan State Posted: 26 Dec 2013 04:57 AM PST Radical monk Myanan Sayadaw U Thaddhamma at his monastery in Moulmein. (Photo – JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Leading Buddhist monks of the nationalist 969 movement said they have been holding sermons in several townships in northern Arakan State, which has been wracked by bloody violence between Arakanese Buddhists and the Rohingya Muslim minority. The activities raise concerns that the monks, who have been accused spreading hate speech against Islam, will inflame tensions and cause new outbreaks of anti-Muslim violence in the volatile state. Myanan Sayadaw U Thaddhamma said he and six monks from the Mon State capital Moulmein arrived in Arakan State in mid-December and have since visited Arakanese Buddhist communities to give Dhamma sermons—talks that are supposed to explain Buddhist teachings. "The main intention of our talks is that we want to share a religious experience with our Buddhist people. We also wanted to show our sympathy to the people who are suffering and we will tell them that the [Burmese] heartland people did not abandon them," U Thaddhamma told The Irrawaddy in a phone call. "We recognize that Rakhine [Arakan] people and monks protected their state and religion very well. This is why we went to go and meet people from town to town," he said. U Thaddhama claimed that Arakan State, on Burma's border with Muslim-majority Bangladesh, was the "Western Gate" that is being "protected" by Arakanese Buddhists. U Thaddhamma said his monks had visited Thandwe and Myebon townships and were currently holding three days of talks in Sittwe, adding that they also planned to visit Buddhist communities in the mostly Muslim townships of Buthidaung and Maungdaw. The 969 movement, led by the Mandalay-based monk U Wirathu, has become extremely controversial in the past year after it began a nationwide campaign that claims that Burma's Muslim are threatening the Buddhist majority. The monks, who are deeply revered in Burma, have called on Buddhists to shun Muslim communities and buy only goods from Buddhist-owned shops. The sermons are considered hate speech and have been linked to outbreaks of Buddhist mob violence against Muslim communities throughout Burma. Since 2012, such violence has left more than 200 people dead and displaced about 150,000 people, most of them Muslim. Northern Arakan State has been the worst-affected after long-standing tensions between Arakanese Buddhists and the Rohingya Muslim minority exploded and mob attacks led to the death of 192 people in June and October last year. The most recent outbreak of deadly inter-communal violence occurred in Thandwe Township in October and the Buddist mob attacks there were preceded by sermons organized by the 969 movement. U Thaddhamma denied the movement's activities in the region would contribute to rising tensions, adding that local authorities had allowed the monks to travel and spread their message. "We did not hold talks to create any problem," he said, before claiming that the Muslims had initiated the inter-communal violence in Burma in the past year. "They were first people who started the violence. Then, when they were suffered, they blamed our 969 monks," he said. Arakan State spokesperson Win Myaing said the authorities saw no problem with the 969 events planned in their volatile region. "It is a normal Dhamma talk. The people here do it yearly. There will be no problem because they did not hold talks in the Muslim community," he said. Tens of thousands of displaced Rohingyas languish in poorly-run camps and tensions between the communities in Arakan State remain high. The central government and state authorities have been accused of siding with the Buddhist communities in the conflict and are said to have done little to promote inter-communal harmony and dialogue. The government denies the roughly 800,000 Rohingyas citizenship and claims that the minority in northern Arakan are "Bengalis" who entered the country illegally from neighboring Bangladesh. Aung Win, a Rohingya human rights activist and community leader in Sittwe, said he did not oppose the holding of Buddhist ceremonies, but expressed concern over the fact that 969 monks were spreading their message throughout the strife-torn state. "They have the right to hold talks. But, it is better not to insult the other religion when they are speaking," he said. "These monks speak about how [Buddhists] should not accept Bengali people and that Islam is organizing a migration of Muslims into Arakan State." "We mostly need interfaith dialogue here. This is very important. But, I do not see it," Aung Win said. The post Extremist Monks Hold Talks Throughout Strife-Torn Arakan State appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

In Township Development, Civil Society Seeks a Voice Posted: 26 Dec 2013 04:14 AM PST Farmers in remote areas have asked for better transportation, which could be possible through projects to pave roads. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Community-based organizations in Burma are trying to get a greater say in how lawmakers use the US$100,000 in funds they have been allotted for development projects in each township. A total of 33 billion kyats ($33 million) was allotted for the first time earlier this year time for annual development work in 330 townships, for projects to improve health care, education, transportation, water and electricity. Townships each receive $100,000 but can spend no more than $5,000 on any one project. Lawmakers have said that $5,000 is not enough to accomplish most projects and have reportedly asked communities to also contribute their own private funds. Hoping to ensure that limited funds are most efficiently spent, community-based organizations (CBOs) in Bassein, Irrawaddy Division, have sought a greater role in the process of designing projects by forming a special committee focused on regional development. "CBOs will implement the projects managed by the MPs," Zaw Win, a member of the CBO committee, told The Irrawaddy. He said the committee would focus on issues that were most important to the public when collaborating with lawmakers. "They [MPs] accept what we present in terms of the needs of the community, and they tell us to implement it." In other townships around the country, individual CBOs say they have had a smaller voice in the process of proposing development projects. They say lawmakers work almost exclusively with Township Development Supporting Committees, which were formed by the government in 2011 to foster greater collaboration between townships and state or divisional governments. These committees are made up of elected members of the community—sometimes including CBO leaders, but more often dominated by village heads. "We have discussed with Development Supporting Committees, city development committees and township administrative committees to prioritize and confirm the needs requested by the villages and townships," said Aung Naing Oo, a lawmaker in the Mon State Parliament. Tun Myint Kyaw, chairman of the city development committee in Thanbyuzayat, Mon State, said the process of development would unfold differently in each township. "How it works in one township and how it works in another will not be the same," he said. "It will depend on cooperation, and how closely the MPs are to the civil society organizations." In Arakan State, lawmakers say collaboration is limited with civil society because few CBOs have formed. Burma's civil society sector is reviving after decades of being stifled by a repressive military junta law. "If the CBOs can assist us, it would be helpful to us," Khin Saw Wai, a lawmaker in Union Parliament representing the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party (RNDP), told The Irrawaddy. Among proposed development efforts are projects to pave or repave roads, or to build bridges, allowing greater transportation for farmers in remote areas. Some townships are asking for more wells to be constructed. The plan to establish a separate budget for lawmakers to spend on development in their constituencies was approved by Parliament in April this year. Funding for the development projects was reportedly taken out of the government's annual budget. The post In Township Development, Civil Society Seeks a Voice appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Burma Gas Exports to Slow as Pipeline Closes for Work Posted: 26 Dec 2013 04:10 AM PST A platform in Burma’s Yetagun Offshore Field in the Andaman Sea that produces natural gas exported to Thailand. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — The Thai government is reportedly taking measures to avoid a shortage of energy after Burma announced a half-month stoppage of the Yetagun natural gas project. An official at the Burmese Ministry of Energy told The Irrawaddy that the pipeline, which takes gas from the Yetagon offshore gas field in the Andaman Sea to be processed in Karen State, will be out of operation from Jan. 1 to Jan. 15. The official, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to talk with the media, said a pipeline was being constructed between the platform where gas is brought up from the seabed and a pressure machine platform, also offshore. Therefore, Burma will temporarily reduce its exports of natural gas, he said. Gas will stop flowing through the Kanpauk-Myaing Kalay pipeline, from Tenasserim Division to Karen State, the official said. Gas is processed at a factory in Myaing Kalay in Karen State before being sent to Thailand or to a turbine in Rangoon. The official said the flow of gas from the Yandana offshore field to Rangoon would also be affected. "We will fill the Yangon gas turbine ahead [of the closure] so that it can rotate normally while we cut off natural gas distribution to the Kanpauk-Myaing Kalay pipeline for 24 hours, and Yadana-Yangon for four hours [a day]," he said. The Yetagun field project—which reportedly began producing 200 million cubic feet of gas per day in 2000—is run by Malaysia's Petronas, Thailand's PTTEP, Nippon Oil and the Burmese state-owned Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise. The Yadana pipeline takes gas from the Yadana field, operated by France's Total and Chevron of the United States. The Shwe gas field, off the Arakan State coast, began operating this year and is connected by a pipeline through Burma to China's Yunnan Province. According to a Thai-language media report, the country's Energy Ministry Secretary Suthep Liumsirijarern said Thailand is preparing extra generators to fill the lack of power next month. "I hope we will be fine, because normally in winter, the consumption of electricity is usually less," he was quoted saying. When the Yadana pipeline was suspended for maintenance in April 2013, Thailand voiced strong concerns over the stoppage. Observers said Thai officials used that outage as an opportunity to remind the Thai public of their reliance on overseas energy, since domestic projects usually face strong opposition. Currently, only 13 percent of househ­­olds in Burma are connected to the electricity grid, compared with roughly 100 percent of Thai households. Average energy consumption is just 117 kilowatt hours in Burma, compared with more than 2,100 kilowatt hours in neighboring Thailand. Burma began negotiating with Thailand to sell gas over the border in 1990, and the countries have a 30-year sale agreement for gas from the Yadana and Yetagun fields. The post Burma Gas Exports to Slow as Pipeline Closes for Work appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

A New Burma in Old Hands Posted: 26 Dec 2013 04:06 AM PST Today Burma is a country reborn, transitioning to a new system of governance after about half a century of military rule, but it remains in old hands. We are marching toward democracy, but in a rather unusual way—let's call it the Burmese way to democracy. Many Burmese remember the "Burmese Way to Socialism," introduced in the 1960s by then-dictator Gen Ne Win, who pioneered the first military coup in 1962 and ruled for 26 years with his authoritarian regime. Under his vision, the country went from one of the region's most prosperous nations to one of its poorest. When the people took to the streets to protest against the human rights abuses and chronic mismanagement that had crippled the economy, he allowed his military subordinates to assume power, and they crushed the pro-democracy movement. The new junta ruled the country for the next 23 years, until early 2011, when another government, the current administration which is widely known as "nominally civilian," stepped up to the plate. It is true that Thein Sein is no longer a general, but he was one of the highest ranking members of the former junta, and his allegiances have not changed. Along with most of his cabinet members, the majority of parliamentary members and the leaders of the armed forces, he is part of a third generation of dictatorship in Burma. Kyaw Zwa Moe is editor (English Edition) of the Irrawaddy magazine. He can be reached at kyawzwa@irrawaddy.org. Collectively, Thein Sein and other old masters from the former junta, including ex-supremo Snr-Gen Than Shwe, are calling the shots from Naypyidaw, the administrative capital. They designed the roadmap to reform years ago, saying they wanted to achieve a "disciplined democracy." With this in mind, they held unfair elections in 2010 and pushed through a military-drafted Constitution that continues to be seen as an undemocratic sham. Three years into Thein Sein's administration, the Burmese people are enjoying more liberties, but the same rhetoric is being used, and disciplined democracy remains the main goal of all leading members of government, as well as lawmakers representing the military and the ruling party. "We want to have real, disciplined democracy. This is the first time I've told the public," Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, recently told the public in Arakan State, as quoted by Radio Free Asia's Burmese service. "We really want to become a democratic country. We want to have similar [system of governance] as other countries that have enjoyed peaceful and stable development. We are working to attain it." Disciplined democracy is not the kind of democracy that activists had in mind as they fought against dictatorship for so many decades. That is why the real pro-democracy forces in the country, including ethnic minority groups and opposition parties, are desperate to change the 2008 Constitution, or to completely rewrite it. But the president and his men do not seem interested in following through. In mid-December, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi expressed her frustration, threatening to boycott the 2015 election unless the charter is changed. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate is a lawmaker with her eyes on the presidency, but the Constitution makes her ineligible because her late husband and children are foreign citizens. "There is a lot at risk in joining the elections. If we join the elections, we will have no dignity in the eyes of the people. That's why I urge you not to join these elections unless the Constitution is amended," the leader of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party told thousands of supporters at a rally in Pegu Division. Suu Kyi has the influence in Burma to shake up the current political situation if she wants. If she chooses not to contest the upcoming election, the reform process initiated by Thein Sein will face its biggest challenge yet: The international community will put pressure on the administration to change the Constitution. Changes to the main undemocratic sections of the charter will be necessary if we want to see an election in 2015 that is more free and fair than the election in 2010, which the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) won by a landslide, ushering in a so-called nominally civilian government that was neither by nor for the people. Without constitutional change, the new Burma will remain a faux democracy in the hands of old military rulers. The post A New Burma in Old Hands appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

DKBA Leader Hospitalized in Rangoon, Seeks Overseas Treatment Posted: 26 Dec 2013 03:11 AM PST Minister Aung Min and Hla Maung Shwe (left) visit Gen Saw Lah Pwe, leader of the DKBA, in Panglong Hospital in Rangoon on Wednesday. (Photo: Facebook / Nyo Ohn Myint) Gen Saw Lah Pwe, leader of the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) who is wanted in Thailand on drug-trafficking allegations, has been hospitalized in Rangoon, according to Burmese officials, who said that the government will grant him a passport so can receive medical treatment overseas. The President Office's minister and chief peace negotiator Aung Min paid a visit to Saw Lah Pwe at Rangoon's Panglong Hospital on Wednesday, said Hla Maung Shwe, a special advisor of the government-affiliated Myanmar Peace Center, who participated in the visit to the DKBA leader. Hla Maung Shwe said the government would issue a passport to Saw Lah Pwe so he can travel and undergo medical treatment overseas. "They [the DKBA leader and his officers] prepare to travel on abroad. But, they haven’t received passports yet. Minister Aung Min is trying to help them," he told The Irrawaddy by phone. Maj Maung Lay, liaison officer of the DKBA, confirmed that Saw Lah Pwe is waiting for a passport issued by the Burmese government in order to travel onward to an undisclosed overseas hospital. Saw Lah Pwe, who is also known as Nam Kham Mwe, is unable to travel to Bangkok for medical treatment as he is wanted in Thailand. The DKBA leader is said to be suffering from a serious throat condition, although interviewees declined to provide details on the leader's state. His likely destination is a hospital in Singapore. In 2009, Saw Lah Pwe and his approximately 1,500 troops from DKBA Brigade 5 denied to accept government demands that they integrate their units into the Burma Army-controlled Border Guard Force, although a minority of the DKBA accepted the government’s proposal. Tension between the DKBA and the government flared up in October 2010 when Saw Lah Pwe ordered his troop to launch a bloody attack on government troop in Burmese border town of Myawaddy, located across from Thailand’s Mae Sot town, forcing thousands to briefly flee into Thailand for safety. In 2012, Saw Lah Pwe signed a ceasefire agreement with the government, reducing tensions in the area. Myawaddy is again government control, but DKBA Brigade 5 troops remain posted at a base nearby the border crossing. In April 2012, Thailand’s Office of Narcotics Control Board included Saw Lah Pwe in its top five of Thailand’s most-wanted drug traffickers and offered a reward of 1 million baht (US $32,000) for information leading to his arrest. At the time, the DKBA leader said he was willing to face the charges in a court of law if Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung, who made the decision to include Saw Lah Pwe on the most-wanted list, could offer evidence to support the claims. He invited journalists and made press briefings, denying the allegations. He also called on international anti-narcotics bodies including the US Drug Enforcement Administration to investigate the accusations against him. The post DKBA Leader Hospitalized in Rangoon, Seeks Overseas Treatment appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Aung Min Insists Car Licenses Are Not Import ‘Permits’ Posted: 26 Dec 2013 02:45 AM PST A meeting between the government's negotiators and ethnic armed group leaders in the Kachin State capital, Myitkyina, in November. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The government's chief peace negotiator, Minister Aung Min, has insisted that so-called car permits handed to ethnic armed groups are not intended to be used to import cars. Aung Min spoke to The Irrawaddy on Thursday at the Myanmar Peace Center (MPC), the government-aligned body that has in recent years worked to get ceasefires between the government 14 ethnic armed groups signed. The MPC is still confident that peace negotiations are progressing, despite repeated delays getting a nationwide ceasefire agreement signed. But the center has come in for criticism from activists and in the media for "buying peace" with licenses that can be used to register imported vehicles for sale, or sold to commercial car importers. Ethnic sources say some groups have sold on most of their "permits," which can reportedly fetch as much as US$100,000 each. Aung Min dismissed the criticism, saying the licenses were simply for ethnic armed groups to register vehicles used by their organizations that have been brought into Burma unofficially. "They are not permits, as others are saying. It is just allowing their [ethnic groups'] unlicensed vehicles to be registered as they have vehicles without licenses," he told The Irrawaddy. "The decision did not come from me or the president [Thein Sein]. It was the decision of the relevant government meeting." He also claimed unlicensed cars were also licensed in this way before Thein Sein's nominally civilian government came into power in 2011. "Under the military regimes, we used to do that way. We allowed the unlicensed vehicles by levying tax and allowed them to register by paying tax. The idea is the same here." Aung Min said that while ethnic group leader were allowed completely tax free vehicle registration, other members of armed groups were only given a 40 percent discount on the normal tax rate. Normally, a tax of 100 percent is levied on car imports. Hla Maung Shwe, an MPC special adviser, said permission had been granted to register 800 cars in total—270 of which were completely tax free. He said only three out of the 17 ethnic armed groups remaining in the country were yet to be given any registration licenses. Hla Maung Shwe said Burma's Road Transport Department has put aside a total of 3,000 number plates—beginning with "9E/"—for ethnic armed groups. But he insisted that most had not been distributed to any group. The post Aung Min Insists Car Licenses Are Not Import 'Permits' appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Violence in Kachin State Continues Christmas Eve Posted: 26 Dec 2013 02:12 AM PST A Kachin Independence Army (KIA) soldier stationed on a truck for security in Laiza, the headquarters of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO). (Photo: Saw Yan Naing / The Irrawaddy) A renewed offensive against ethnic Kachin rebels in north Burma this week could prolong ceasefire negotiations, Kachin activists and rebel leaders say. Sources in Kachin State say government troops attacked the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) with heavy weapons and artillery shelling over the weekend at a frontline outpost near Nam Lim Pa village in Mansi Township, in southern Kachin State. Clashes also continued on Tuesday, as the Kachin people, who are mostly Christian, prepared to celebrate Christmas Eve. "It is not accidental fighting," Seng Aung, a Kachin activist who works with the Kachin Peace Creation Group, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday. "We know they came deliberately and attacked the KIA troops using heavy weapons. Because it is a serious offensive, it could slow the pace of trust-building and the peace process." In previous fighting in mid-November, also near Nam Lim Pa, thousands of civilians were displaced. Government troops reportedly launched attacks on Nov. 16, with about 2,000 Kachin civilians fleeing from their homes and hiding in the surrounding jungle. "We used to ask them not to attack our troops, but they have not listened to us," James Lum Dau, the KIO deputy chief of foreign affairs, told The Irrawaddy. He said the KIA's Brigade 3 and Brigade 4 had been attacked over the past week. "This offensive has a major impact on the peace talks," he added, saying his organization did not yet know whether it would sign a nationwide ceasefire deal that the government hopes to secure soon with ethnic armed groups around the country. An estimated 100,000 people have been displaced by fighting since clashes first broke out in 2011, when a 17-year ceasefire fell apart. Since then, the KIA and the government army have both launched offensive against each other. Over Christmas last year violence also escalated, with the government army conducting air raids against Lajayang, a strategically coveted outpost. Starting in February, the government and the KIA's political wing, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), have met for peace talks and have signed an agreement to de-escalate hostilities, but a ceasefire remains elusive. Khon Ja of the Kachin Peace Network, a Rangoon-based relief organization that provides aid to displaced Kachin people, said Nam Lim Pa has been deserted amid fighting over the past week. "No villagers have stayed in Nam Lim Pa village," she told The Irrawaddy. "All of them fled their homes, and the village is now occupied by the government army." She agreed that on-and-off fighting launched by government troops could delay the peace process, not only with the KIO but perhaps also with other ethnic rebel groups. "It does not only affect the peace deal between the government and the KIO," she said. "It also affects peace deals with other ethnic armed groups, because the fighting has broken out not only in Kachin State, but also in Shan State and ethnic Ta'aung rebel areas." She added, "They may not sign the national ceasefire agreement if they cannot build trust." Burma's government has signed ceasefire agreements with all major ethnic armed groups other than the KIA and the Ta'aung army, and the government says it hopes to consolidate these agreements into a nationwide ceasefire deal soon, potentially during meetings early next year in the Karen State capital of Pa-an. The ethnic groups' working committee, known as the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT), also plans to meet in the next week with the Myanmar Peace Center (MPC), a government-affiliated organization that has facilitated peace talks between the government peace negotiation team and rebel leaders. It is expected that they will discuss the nationwide ceasefire agreement during this meeting in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai. The post Violence in Kachin State Continues Christmas Eve appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Minister, Ethnic Leaders to Hold Ceasefire Talks in Chiang Mai Posted: 26 Dec 2013 02:07 AM PST The government's chief peace negotiator Aung Min during an interview at the MPC in Rangoon. (Photo: Nyein Nyein / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Burmese government peace negotiator Aung Min said he will meet with ethnic rebel leaders in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, from Friday to Sunday to hold further talks on drafting a nationwide ceasefire agreement. President Office's Minister Aung Min said he would meet with the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT), comprising 14 ethnic leaders, in order to discuss the draft nationwide ceasefire accord, adding that both sides would compare their proposals for such an agreement. "Our drafts of the [nationwide ceasefire accord], both by the NCCT and government, are in about 80 percent agreement. But we still need to discuss the remaining issues," Aung Min told The Irrawaddy during an interview at the Myanmar Peace Centre (MPC), a government body which the minister oversees. Aung Min, Immigration Minister Khin Ye and the MPC technical team will travel to Chiang Mai on Thursday. The minister said the results of this week's negotiations will be discussed in the cabinet in order to prepare for a January meeting to finalize the nationwide accord with the armed groups. Following such an agreement, the minister said, a nationwide ceasefire could be signed at an official ceremony in the capital Naypyidaw in February. "This [nationwide ceasefire accord] will be a historic agreement like the Panglong agreement," Aung Min said. "It would be an agreement with greater inclusiveness than Panglong, so we try to make sure we have as few mistakes as possible." The ethnic leaders and Burma's independence hero, Gen Aung San, signed the so-called Panglong agreement in February 1947. The agreement ensured equal rights and political autonomy for Burma's ethnic minorities. Soon after signing, however, Burma descended into civil war and the Burma Army has sought to control the ethnic regions since. President Thein Sein's reformist government is keen to sign a nationwide ceasefire in order to show the international community that it is ending Burma's long-festering ethnic conflicts. It has repeatedly announced that an agreement is near, but so far an agreement has remained elusive. Long-time observers of Burma's ethnic conflict, such as veteran journalist Bertil Lintner, have said that the government and ethnic armed groups are still far apart on numerous issues. Aung Min held high-level talks with ethnic leaders in early November in Myitkyina, Kachin State, but the sides failed to reach agreement over a nationwide ceasefire. Ethnic armed groups met among themselves in the Kachin rebel stronghold of Laiza in October to take a unified position in the peace talks and the groups formed the NCCT. Aung Min had planned to hold further high-level talks with the NCCT in December in the Karen State capital Hpa-an, but the negotiations were repeatedly postponed and will now take place on Jan. 24, 2014 according to Hla Maung Shwe, a special adviser to the MPC. The armed ethnic leaders planned to meet in Karen National Union-controlled territory of Lay Wah on Jan. 20 to again take a joint position on the nationwide ceasefire. The NCCT led by Nai Hong Sar, who is also vice chairman of the New Mon State Party and secretary of the United Nationalities Federal Council, already held several smaller meetings with its members in November and December to discuss the draft nationwide ceasefire. The post Minister, Ethnic Leaders to Hold Ceasefire Talks in Chiang Mai appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Ethnic Traditions Vanishing as Burma Opens Up Posted: 26 Dec 2013 12:18 AM PST An ethnic Chin woman stands outside a church in Chin State. (Photo: CHRO) KAMPALET — High in the hills of Burma’s Chin state, Shwe Mana plays a gentle song on a bamboo flute using only her nostrils – one of the last of her tribe to preserve this ancient skill. A dark, intricate web of tattoos covers her face, harking back to a time, it is said, when women disfigured themselves to dampen the lust of lowland marauders. Her university-educated daughter, resting a hand gently on the 53-year-old’s shoulder, makes it clear she won’t be getting similar tattoos in what she calls "this Internet age." Her illiterate mother, like many from the Chin ethnic group, explains that the outside world has imparted a new sense of what is beautiful. "My daughter thought it would be too painful and she would not look pretty," says Shwe Mana, whose house hugs a 4,500-foot (1,370-meter) ridgeline in the pleasant town of Kampalet. "Sometimes I also feel that the tattoos don’t make me pretty – but just sometimes." Their story is becoming a common one in a country not long ago described as a place where time stood still. Tribal ways – dress, festivals, even languages – passed down countless generations are vanishing in the course of one as the long-isolated country opens its doors wider to the outside world. The end of military rule three years ago and the launch of economic and political reforms are accelerating change. That is bringing opportunity and hope for a long impoverished country, but also increasing pressure on tradition in one of the most ethnically diverse nations, home to more than 140 groups and numerous sub-groupings, from sea-roaming "gypsies" in the south to a tribe of pygmies living in the shadows of the Himalayas. Across Burma, where ethnic minorities make up about a third of the 60 million people and inhabit half the country, barely a village remains cocooned in the past. Witness Kyar Do in southern Chin state, inhabited by the Maun sub-tribe. Reached by a precarious trail plunging down a mile- (1,500-meter-) deep valley and often cut off during the monsoon rains, the community acquired three inexpensive Chinese motorcycles last year and a mobile phone owned by the chief. Three television sets, powered by solar panels, allow the 500 villagers to keep up with the latest doings of soccer squads Manchester United and Real Madrid. "The world they are in contact with is in constant change and they want to be part of it," says F.K. Lehman, professor emeritus at the University of Illinois and one of the few anthropologists to have done field work among the Chin. "The change among the ethnic groups is very rapid and striking and it will accelerate." Wedged between northeast India and the heartland of the Burmans, the majority ethnic group in Burma, Chin state is home to six Chin tribes and 69 sub-tribes. It is a stunningly beautiful, rugged region rising to the 10,200-foot (3,100-meter) Mt. Victoria. But it is plagued by periodic famines, threadbare infrastructure and an insurgency, now at least temporarily halted, aimed at greater autonomy from the central government. Driven by poverty and politics, a Chin diaspora – there are some 20,000 in Malaysia alone – has created economic disparities as relatives send money home to once generally egalitarian communities. The family of Yen Htan recently built a new house in Kyar Do thanks to a son working in Malaysia who sends home about $2,000 a year, a princely sum given the $2-a-day income of most other families. Brightly painted and tiled, the house is built of wood, in contrast to the traditional bamboo and thatch. There’s also a generational disconnect: Older people are mostly illiterate, while the young attend a village primary school, and a few of them go on to higher education in the district capital, Mindat. With previous restrictions on foreigners traveling to Chin state now mostly lifted, a trickle of tourists make the heart-pounding trek to Kyar Do. Some offer candy and medicine, or donations to rebuild a bridge demolished by floods. Others try to buy heirloom jewelry – expressions of pride, status and artistry – from households. Some of the tattooed, bejeweled women expect cash for photographs. "Our village must be developed, and some tourists come to help," says villager Phey Htan, attributing some economic betterment to the replacement of a half-century-long military rule by a government elected in 2010. "Tourism is proof that our village is developing." British colonials, who seized the Chin Hills in 1896, and American missionaries were earlier agents of change. The indigenous groups were able to meld some of their animist religion with Christianity, and the missionaries strengthened the concept of "Chin-ness" by creating the first Chin written alphabet and other unifying measures. "The English and missionaries offered a connection to a larger, interesting world which did not depend on the Burmans, who had always been rather unkind to them," Lehman says. Kyar Do, like other Chin villages, seems to have feet planted in both animism and Christianity, in the past and the present. Down the slope from a Christian church, the ashes of the deceased lie beneath clusters of flat, table-like stones, according to ancient custom. Phey Htan, an avowed Baptist, proudly presents his tattooed wives – two of them. "Tattooing is good. It’s our tradition. I would like to see it continue. I am very proud to be a Maun," he says, reflecting a deeply rooted sense of identity despite changes in what anthropologists call showcase culture: dress, ornaments, dances and other visible elements. One wall of his house is decorated with the skulls of "mithuns," domesticated forest oxen sacrificed to ensure bountiful harvests in a five-day ceremony also involving the slaughter of chickens, pigs and goats and plenty of liquor. Such traditions are challenged by continuing efforts to assimilate the minorities into the Burman mainstream. Lian Sakhong, a Chin activist and anthropologist, fled Burma after the brutal 1988 military suppression of a pro-democracy movement. On returning home in 2001 from asylum in Sweden, he noticed changes. Buddhist pagodas stood on hilltops where there were once only Christian churches. Students were pressured to convert to Buddhism, the religion of most Burmans, at special, well-endowed schools run under the government’s Border Area Development Program. His generation studied in Chin languages through primary school, but now children can do so only at Sunday school. Christianity, which once so transformed Chin society, now is saving it, says Lian Sakhong, also the son of a tribal chief. "Chin identity and Christianity are fully blended," he says. "We have only one institution which is not controlled by the government: our church. When you sing a hymn and read the Bible in Chin on Sunday, and you know that others across the state are doing the same, it makes for a kind of community, a unifying force." But as in other ethnic areas, languages are disappearing as once isolated valleys are connected by roads and modern communication. In his grandfather’s time, everyone in a cluster of 27 villages where Lian Sakhong grew up spoke Zophei, a distinct dialect of the Laimi tribe. Today, it is spoken in four or five villages while the rest use only the primary Laimi language. Long-running insurgencies and political struggles by the Chin and other ethnic groups for greater autonomy also forged a sense of identity. Now, most have agreed to cease-fires that could lead to peace. "Strong identity is being kept alive by the armed resistance. It’s become an identity-keeping force," Lian Sakhong says. "I tell my friends, `If there is peace, we have to find other ways to protect our language, our essential culture.’" The post Ethnic Traditions Vanishing as Burma Opens Up appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Can Myanmar Be a Game Changer in Asean? Posted: 25 Dec 2013 09:43 PM PST Myanmar's President U Thein Sein, left, raises the Asean gavel after receiving it from Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah during the closing ceremony of the 23rd Asean Summit in Bandar Seri Begawan in October 2013. (Photo: Reuters) BANGKOK — As the new chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), Myanmar has to face challenges emanating both from home and from the grouping's agenda. How the chair handles these issues—both in terms of agenda-setting and narratives—will determine the status of Myanmar within the region and broader international community in the future. Myanmar can draw best practices from Asean to maximize the benefit it derives from its long-awaited chairmanship, skipped in 2005. To see what is possible, it need only look at the example of Indonesia. Before it democratized in 1998, Indonesia represented the lowest denominator within the grouping. No Asean agreements or measures could move ahead without a nod from its largest member. Now, 15 years later, Indonesia has taken the lead in pushing for changes to bring Asean to new heights. Jakarta has successfully raised the grouping's international profile and energized overall engagement with major powers. New ideas and frameworks proposed by Indonesia have already strengthened the rule-based organization to ensure compliance by its members. Indonesia's efforts have been possible because of the country's steady democratic development and openness—with vibrant media and civil society groups—as well as its willingness to discuss its own internal issues, something long considered taboo by Asean norms. During the East Timor crisis of 2000, for instance, Jakarta asked Asean to contribute to the formation of an international peace-keeping force. Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia responded to the request as individual members. It was the first time that Asean had washed its dirty linen in public. Similarly, Myanmar's ethnic issues and its religious and communal conflicts are no longer hidden from outside scrutiny. Over the past two years, local and international media have reported directly from affected areas inside the country. Therefore, these problems feature high on the Asean agenda due to their repercussions on neighboring countries and Asean as a whole. But as the current chair, Naypyitaw could choose to suppress discussion of these issues, as one of the prerogatives of its new position is the power to determine the agendas of all Asean meetings from now until December 2014. If the past is any indicator, the new chair may choose to avoid mentioning, much less discussing, these issues completely. However, it could also use this unique opportunity to address them in constructive ways. For example, instead of shying away from the Rohingya refugee crisis, which has both domestic and regional dimensions, Myanmar could voluntarily report on it to its colleagues. It could also provide an update on the progress of the country's national dialogue and reconciliation efforts with various ethnic minorities. At the Asean ministerial meeting in Bandar Seri Begawan in July, Indonesia won praise for unilaterally reporting on its human rights situation. Thailand and the Philippines will do the same at the meeting next year. By openly raising sensitive issues, the chair could establish new best practices in a way that would have regional implications. Such updates and dialogues would help increase confidence among Asean members in their ability to discuss sensitive issues. While this wouldn't necessarily lead to regional solutions to all problems, as there are still constraints on how Asean members can work together on certain issues, such courage would engender goodwill toward Myanmar and result in a better understanding of the country's domestic dynamics. In the past, the Asean chair has called for special meetings to deal with particular crises, such as outbreaks of avian flu and SARS or the aftermath of Japan's tsunami and nuclear dilemma. These actions normally came about when Asean faced a terrible crisis and wanted to respond collectively and quickly. But even in the absence of immediate threats, Myanmar could work toward enhancing interactions among Asean members in a way that would enable them to contemplate preventive and forward-looking measures. Doing so would complement the substantive progress on economic and political reforms that have taken place inside Myanmar over the past two years. Democratic reforms and broader public and media participation in debates on national policy have had positive outcomes on Myanmar's integration with the global community. Increased engagement between the Asean decision makers and civil society groups would raise the status of the new Asean chair. Myanmar can become the region's game changer due to the greater interests paid to Asean by major dialogue partners, including the US, China, Japan and India. These powers are wooing individual Asean members to join their spheres of influence. As the chair, Naypyitaw has to make sure that Asean stays united and focused. A divided Asean would weaken the grouping, which is something it cannot afford. Any discord at this juncture would undermine the grouping's bargaining power in the global arena. Besides domestic issues with regional implications, issues related to traditional and non-traditional security would also be high on the chair's agenda. Nuclear non-proliferation is certainly one of them. After long-standing condemnation of its nuclear ambitions and its relations with North Korea over missile technology, Myanmar could come clean and subsequently inform Asean that it will lobby the nuclear powers (the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France and China) to sign the Southeast Asian Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Treaty during its chairmanship. If Myanmar succeeded in doing this, its legacy as Asean chair would be a long-lasting and positive one. Kavi Chongkittavorn is a Thai journalist. This story first appeared in the December 2013 print issue of The Irrawaddy magazine. The post Can Myanmar Be a Game Changer in Asean? appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Thai Police Fire Teargas at Anti-Govt Protesters Posted: 25 Dec 2013 09:37 PM PST Riot policemen launch a tear gas canister toward anti-government protesters (not pictured) during clashes at the Thai-Japan youth stadium in central Bangkok on Thursday. (Photo: Reuters) BANGKOK — Thai police fired teargas at anti-government protesters in the capital Bangkok on Thursday after demonstrators tried to disrupt planning for a February election, the first such incident in nearly two weeks. While only a small confrontation between police and protesters angry with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, the incident came a day after the government extended a special security law for another two months. Yingluck remains caretaker prime minister after calling a snap election for Feb. 2 in an attempt to deflate weeks of mainly peaceful protests that, at their peak, have drawn 200,000 people onto the streets of Bangkok. The protesters draw their strength from Bangkok’s middle class and elite who dismiss Yingluck as a puppet of her self-exiled elder brother, former premier and telecommunications billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra. Thaksin and Yingluck have their power base in the rural north and northeast. Their opponents accuse Thaksin of manipulating the poor in those areas with populist policies such as cheap health care and easy credit. About 500 protesters gathered outside a Bangkok gymnasium early on Thursday where Thailand's Election Commission is working through the process of registering candidates for the February election. Thai media reported that representatives of a number of parties planning to contest the election were inside the building at the time. Calls by Reuters reporters to officials inside could not be connected. Police warned the protesters not to try to enter the building and then fired several rounds of teargas when demonstrators tried to break down a fence. Reuters reporters at the scene said police also fired rubber bullets. The protesters, some of whom had been throwing rocks, soon withdrew from the front of the compound. Several protesters were affected by teargas but no one was seriously hurt, Reuters witnesses said. The protesters are well prepared for such clashes, the last of which happened about two weeks ago. Many carry goggles and masks to cover their faces and water bottles to wash out their eyes. The clash came a day after the Thai cabinet voted to extend the Internal Security Act by another two months. The law, widened last month to cover all of the capital and nearby areas, allows police to ban gatherings, block routes, impose curfews and carry out searches, although such actions have been used sparingly. Protesters, led by fiery former deputy premier Suthep Thaugsuban, have vowed to disrupt the election and hound Yingluck from office. They want an unelected “people’s council” to rule before elections are called. The election has been made more uncertain by a boycott by the main opposition Democrat Party, which draws its support from Bangkok and the south, the same base as Suthep’s group. Also on Wednesday, Yingluck proposed the creation of an independent reform council to run alongside the elected government, an apparent attempt at compromise that was immediately rejected by the protesters. Yingluck has not been in the capital for most of the past week, choosing instead to shore up her support in her power base to the north, and will not return to Bangkok until the New Year. Her Puea Thai Party is almost certain to win the election, just as Thaksin’s populist political juggernaut has won every vote since 2001. That run of success has come despite violent street protests and judicial and military intervention around previous polls. Thaksin was overthrown in a 2006 coup and has lived in self-imposed exile since 2008, when he was sentenced to two years in jail for graft charges he says were politically motivated. The first two years of Yingluck's government had been relatively smooth, until her party miscalculated in November and tried to push an amnesty bill through parliament that would have allowed her brother to return home a free man. Additional reporting by Reuters reporter Aukkarapon Niyonyat. The post Thai Police Fire Teargas at Anti-Govt Protesters appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

China to Celebrate Mao’s Birthday, But Events Scaled Back Posted: 25 Dec 2013 09:03 PM PST Students hold portraits of China’s late Chairman Mao Zedong during a commemorative event ahead of the 120th anniversary of Mao’s birth, at a university campus in Taiyuan, Shanxi province. (Reuters) BEIJING — China celebrates the 120th birthday of Mao Zedong, the founder of modern China, on Thursday, but will be scaling back festivities as President Xi Jinping embarks on broad economic reforms which have unsettled leftists. Mao has become a potent symbol for leftists within the ruling Communist Party who feel that three decades of market-based reform have gone too far, creating social inequalities like a yawning rich-poor gap and pervasive corruption. In venerating Mao, they sometimes seek to put pressure on the current leadership and its market-oriented policies while managing to avoid expressing open dissent. While members of the party’s elite inner core, the Politburo Standing Committee, are likely to attend a high-profile event in Beijing to mark the anniversary, activities nationwide have been toned down, two sources with ties to the leadership told Reuters. "The level will be high, but the number of events will be scaled back," one of the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid repercussions for talking to a foreign reporter without permission. "The attendance of Standing Committee members is to placate leftists after reforms at the third plenum," the source added. China last month unwrapped its boldest set of economic and social reforms in nearly three decades, relaxing its one-child policy and further freeing up markets in order to put the world’s second-largest economy on a more stable footing. Still, Xi and his team gave themselves until 2020 to achieve "decisive" results – a tacit acknowledgement of the difficulty of the task when the state-run sector championed during Mao’s heyday remains strong and when many are unhappy with growing social problems bought by the party’s economic reforms. "The celebrations have to be grand or people will not be happy," said another source, who has ties to the party’s traditional leftists. Mao, who died in 1976, remains a divisive figure. His image adorns banknotes and his embalmed body attracts hundreds if not thousands of visitors a day to Beijing. While the party has acknowledged he made mistakes, there has yet to be an official accounting for the chaos of the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution or the millions of deaths from starvation during the 1958-61 Great Leap Forward. No Side Satisfied? Xi suffered personally during the Cultural Revolution when his father was imprisoned. Xi was sent down to the countryside to live with peasants, like millions of other urban Chinese youth. While visiting Hunan, the southern province where Mao was born, in early November, Xi said the celebrations for the anniversary should be "solemn, simple and pragmatic", according to state media. That did not stop Xi from lauding Maoism in several speeches this year, as he sought to appeal to leftists in the wake of a scandal involving Bo Xilai, a former contender for top leadership who pushed an egalitarian, quasi-Maoist agenda until he was felled and jailed for corruption. "In the end, probably no side will be very satisfied," said Zhang Lifan, a Beijing-based political commentator and historian, referring to how China will mark the birthday. "The reformers don’t think Mao should be commemorated, because he committed crimes, but his supporters think the commemorations aren’t enough." Chinese newspapers have reported that several events originally planned for Thursday have been adjusted or changed completely, including a concert which was supposed to celebrate Mao but which has been relabeled a New Year gala. "The authorities don’t want the commemorations for Mao to be high-profile," influential tabloid the Global Times, published by the party’s official People’s Daily, quoted Wang Zhanyang, director of the Political Science Department at the Central Institute of Socialism, as saying. "Some regional conservative people and officials with vested interests want to restrain reform by falsely promoting some of Mao’s most conservative thoughts, which is not what the party follows," Wang added. Still, the message appears not to have totally seeped through to Hunan, where many still venerate Mao as a demigod. The town of Shaoshan, where Mao was born on Dec. 26, 1893, has spent about 2 billion yuan ($329 million) on 12 projects for the anniversary celebration, the official Xiangtan Daily reported. The post China to Celebrate Mao’s Birthday, But Events Scaled Back appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Remittances Throw Lifeline to Philippines’ Typhoon Survivors Posted: 25 Dec 2013 08:58 PM PST Ravaged coconut trees are seen as workers stand on the new corrugated iron roofing on the reconstructed house of Roberto Retanal in Palo, Leyte province, central Philippines Dec. 20, 2013. (Photo: Reuters) PALO, Philippines — A sister living on the other side of the world gave Roberto Retanal what he needed most to piece his humble home back together after the devastating typhoon that tore through his village in the central Philippines last month. She sent him 40,000 pesos (US$900) to replace the roof ripped off his house by the strongest winds ever recorded in a country where typhoons are all too common. Retanal's sister live and works in Britain. There are some 10 million Filipinos living and working abroad, sending regular remittances to help their families get by. Between January and October, they had sent back around $18.5 billion, six percent more than last year and running at a rate equivalent to around 10 percent of the gross domestic product. When disaster struck on November 8 the telegraphic transfers went into overdrive. "Filipinos dug even deeper," said Pia de Lima, spokeswoman for Western Union in Asia-Pacific, which canceled transaction fees for three weeks after the typhoon for money coming in from 43 countries. The typhoon Haiyan killed nearly 6,100 people, with around 1,800 still listed missing. But more than 16 million people have been affected by the calamity. Aside from the ruined infrastructure and housing, the coconut groves that provided livelihoods for families in rural areas were uprooted. The worst-hit eastern and central Visayas region accounts for around 9 percent of the Philippines' GDP. Economic growth is expected to be 7 percent this year, slightly slower than China. As a result of the typhoon, analysts expect growth to slow to between 4.1 and 5.9 percent in the fourth quarter, but officials are sticking with a 6.5-7.5 percent growth target for next year. "Merry Christmas" Whatever the rate, the survivors in the central Philippines will struggle, but they can at least count on support from relatives abroad, as 1.7 million of the Filipino diaspora hail from the stricken region. Retanal is jobless and, with a wife in a low-income government job and two grown up children both earning pittances in far-off Manila, he is lucky to have a sister working as an accountant in Britain. "If not for my sister and her mother-in-law in London, who also donated cash, it would take me another 10 years to complete this roof," the 59-year-old told Reuters in her living room that a few weeks ago was left completely submerged after the storm surge inundated his one-storey concrete house. The windows have still to be replaced, and aside from a silvery "Merry Christmas" sign hung from a pole, there was little else in the room other than a broken television set and four plastic chairs. All the other houses in this tiny, lower-middle class community were covered by temporary roofing, either blue tarpaulin or metal sheets twisted by the storm and salvaged after the flood waters receded. "Making a Difference" The Philippines, along with Mexico, is the world's third largest recipient of remittances, with India in top spot followed by China, according to the World Bank. The country's central bank governor expected the higher level of remittances seen post-Haiyan to stretch into the early months of next year, based on what he saw in 2009 when two typhoons inundated large parts of the main island of Luzon. "Understanding Filipino values, it would not be unreasonable to expect an increase in monies that overseas Filipinos would send their families for rebuilding," Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco told Reuters. "We might even see that trend continue to the first quarter of 2014." Analysts do not expect the extra inflows to have a big effect on the peso currency, as it will be offset by the need to import more goods for the post-disaster reconstruction. Only few families are as fortunate as the Dacatimbangs of Tacloban City. A daughter works as a nurse in Indiana and has sent around $1,000 twice a month since the typhoon struck to help her parents repair their home and replace essential items. For the less well paid, like maids and laborers, the margins to help are far slimmer. "How much more can they send back over and above what they are sending now?" said Jun Trinidad, economist at Citigroup in Manila. "These are mostly fixed-income wage earners in the Middle East, Singapore, I don't think they have that tremendous flexibility to augment their remittances." But for some, even small amounts received make a big difference. Divina Codilan, a 44-year-old woman with 11 children and two grandchildren, said a single remittance of 5,000 pesos ($113) from her brother working as a laborer in Saudi Arabia allowed her to restart her vegetable and fresh chicken stall on the main highway in Tacloban City. "Life is difficult at the moment, money is hard to come by, what I earn everyday is enough to feed us and buy milk for my grandchild," Codilan said. "My brother cannot send us more money, he has his own family to feed." The post Remittances Throw Lifeline to Philippines' Typhoon Survivors appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Where are Myanmar’s Strongmen? Posted: 25 Dec 2013 06:30 PM PST From left to right: Former Snr-Gen Than Shwe reportedly spends his retirement immersed in books, while former Vice President U Tin Aung Myint Oo still likes to play golf. (Illustration: Sai So Kyi / The Irrawaddy) Until recently, the country's khaki-clad leaders roamed the country, "inspected" state projects and offered instructions on how to build a "peaceful and modern nation." But where are they now? Ex-Snr-Gen Than Shwe and former Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye now live in secluded compounds in Naypyitaw and Yangon. They receive regular visitors, including high-ranking military and government officials. In November, as Myanmar marked the Kathein festival, the country's richest tycoons, as well as politicians including President U Thein Sein and Union Parliament Speaker U Shwe Mann, paid their respects to ex-Snr-Gen Than Shwe. The former head of the regime is praised within the powerful military establishment as the man who formulated the road map for the transfer of power and a "bloodless transition." The former dictator, who is still very much regarded as Myanmar's central authority figure by the generals and ex-generals now in power, is said to be "worried" about the country's future, but passes his time at home largely by reading books. Ex-Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye, meanwhile, has suffered a stroke and is paralyzed. Informed sources say the no-nonsense general, who was once based in northern Shan State, has completely retired from politics and administering the armed forces. "He is in a wheelchair and is no longer interested in politics—he's waiting for his day to come," said a source close to the family of the former junta's No. 2. Former Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye is confined to a wheelchair. (Illustration: Sai So Kyi / The Irrawaddy) The general, who was a renowned whiskey drinker, is said to have stopped taking alcohol and to have become more religious. Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, the current commander-in-chief, recently paid a visit to the retired general's residence, where he held a Kathein ceremony and offered robes to Buddhist monks. Former spy chief U Khin Nyunt, now free from house arrest after being purged from the regime, recently opened an art gallery in Yangon. The former general, long known as Myanmar's "Prince of Evil" for his role in torturing dissidents following the crackdown on the 1988 pro-democracy uprising, showed up to his gallery's opening in a white tunic, and is also reportedly funding the building of a pagoda. In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, he lamented that no one has sought his advice as a political strategist or consultant. But what of U Tin Aung Myint Oo, the former vice president, who abruptly left his post with little explanation last year? The formidable former general, who won several titles for bravery in the 1970s and went on to control the country's powerful trade council (and who is considered to be one of the richest men in Myanmar), is no longer in the news. One-time spy chief and Prime Minister U Khin Nyunt now surrounds himself with art. (Illustration: Sai So Kyi / The Irrawaddy) U Tin Aung Myint Oo's departure was put down to health reasons, and he was said to suffer from throat cancer. However, the general once dubbed a hardliner is often spotted on the golf courses of Yangon and appears to be in good health. The former general remains tight-lipped about why he left the post, but he is said to be unhappy with—and to have questioned the "sincerity" of—President U Thein Sein. Aside from playing golf, he is said to be building a bell in the Ayeyarwady delta, in the manner of Myanmar's former monarchs, who often made merit by building pagodas and bells and donating to religious institutions. U Tin Aung Myint Oo's bell is reportedly going to overshadow the Mingun Bell in Sagaing Region, which weighs 199,999 pounds (90,718 kg). The buying up of vast amounts of bronze to make the bell is said to have driven up local prices of the metal. Although they are absent from public life, it seems the ex-generals' large egos remain intact. This story first appeared in the December 2013 print issue of The Irrawaddy magazine. The post Where are Myanmar's Strongmen? appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

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