| Photo of the week 16 Posted: 23 Aug 2013 06:12 AM PDT  a
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| Burma’s Parliament Approves $100 Million Loan From China Posted: 23 Aug 2013 05:56 AM PDT  A man works in a rice field in Dala township, near Rangoon, in 2011. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON—Burma's Parliament has approved the government's decision to borrow US$100 million from China, despite opposition from the National League for Democracy (NLD) and other parties. Lawmakers from the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and military-appointed MPs were among those who agreed on Thursday to approve the loan, which the government says will fund a cooperatives program that support farmers and the urban poor. At a meeting last weekend at the Ministry of Cooperatives (MOC), President Thein Sein informed lawmakers that the government had already borrowed the money. He also set out the loan conditions and planned usage of the funds. But despite Parliament's approval, NLD lawmaker Phyo Min Thein expressed concern about the loan, saying its interest rate was higher than rates offered by other countries. Japan offers an interest rate at about 2 percent and European countries offer rates at about 2-3 percent, lawmakers said. China's interest rate is up to about 4.5 percent. Upper House lawmaker Phone Myint Aung, from the New National Democracy Party, agreed that the interest rate for the Chinese loan was high. "And this loan won't really change the lives of farmers," he added. Lawmaker Tin Nwe Oo also opposed the loan, saying Burma was mired in debt and should not borrow money at such a high interest rate. She added that there had been no clear explanation about where the loan would be used. "If we have to pay a high interest rate, even in the beginning, it's taken for granted that farmers will have to pay higher interests if they borrow the money from the Ministry of Cooperatives.If they can't repay their debts, those farmers will surely lose their land," she said. "The Minister for Cooperatives, Kyaw Hsan, said the ministry would increase its loans to farmers who regularly repay their debt. Tell me, how many times has the cooperatives system succeeded in our country?" Minister Kyaw Hsan previously served as minister of information and was seen as a hardliner during his tenure at that ministry. He told Parliament that although the cooperatives system had failed in the past, he was taking charge with reforms that would move it in the right direction, as the country continues to transition from decades of military rule. "Cooperatives systems are amazingly successful in foreign countries," the minister said. "That's the answer for us." China has reportedly offered to loan $600 million to Burma, but only $100 million has been approved so far. |
| Demanding Her Dignity Posted: 23 Aug 2013 04:57 AM PDT  Soe Soe Khaing (Photo: Facebook Until last week, Soe Soe Khaing was a schoolteacher in Naypyidaw; now she's fighting to get her job back after being fired for attending an event to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Burma's 1988 pro-democracy uprising earlier this month. In this interview with The Irrawaddy, she explains her current situation, and what she is doing to seek redress. Question: Last week you were fired for attending an event commemorating the 1988 pro-democracy uprising. Do you feel that you violated your school's rule against involvement in politics? Answer: No, I don't think I broke any rules by meeting with members of the 88 Generation Students group. I have a right to do this. By firing me, they are trying to suppress support for the 88 Generation group. If they are acting with good will, they won't continue to punish me. A parent shouldn't punish a child for no reason, and an employer shouldn't act this way without justification. I have worked as a teacher for 18 years, and I've never done anything wrong. I've always done my best for my students, and to serve my country. So I believe that I will succeed in overcoming the problems I now face. Q: Why did you decide to attend the meeting of the 88 Generation Students group in Rangoon? A: Actually, it was just a coincidence that I was there at that time. I went to Rangoon to borrow some money for my medical treatment. While I was there, a friend suggested that I join a meeting held to prepare for the '88 uprising Silver Jubilee. I went because it was a historic event. Q: What kind of difficulties are you facing now that you are unemployed? A: I am the eldest daughter in my family. My mother is especially sad that I have been unfairly forced to resign from my job even though I didn't do anything wrong. As I teacher, I didn't make much money, but I had some dignity. Now I have lost this. Q: How will this affect your pension? A: In the letter they sent to me on Aug. 15, they said I am not eligible for a pension because I was "forced to retire". Q: What will you do now? A: I will consult with the 88 Generation Students group and the ABSDF [All Burma Students' Democratic Front] to seek their advice. Then I will decide what to do next. Q: Do you feel that the authorities at your school are behaving as if Burma were still under military rule? A: That's a good question. Yes, I think they are. Q: What would you like them to do? A: I want to get justice because I want to restore my dignity. When they fired me, they robbed me of my dignity. I also want to protect the rights of other teachers who are members of the 88 Generation Students group. We must try to prevent this ever happening to other teachers. |
| Use of Chemicals in Food a Growing Worry for Burmese Consumers Posted: 23 Aug 2013 01:59 AM PDT  A worker scoops fermented fish paste from a container at a wholesale market in Rangoon's Latha Township. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — For decades, Burma's food manufacturers have been using dangerous chemicals to produce food quickly and cheaply, but it is only in the past few years that consumers have become aware of the problem, says the country's only consumer rights group. The latest revelation came earlier this week, when the Myanmar Consumer Protection Association confirmed that urea-based fertilizer is being widely used in the production of fish paste, a staple of the Burmese diet. The association said that it had been unable to find any fish paste produced in Irrawaddy Division that was not contaminated by the fertilizer. "It normally takes six months to ferment fish paste, but by adding the fertilizer, the period is shortened to just two to three weeks," said Ba Oak Khaing, the chairman of the association, explaining why the practice has become so common. After decades of weak government oversight, chemicals banned as food additives in much of the rest of the world routinely appear in Burmese food products, say observers. According to Ba Oak Khaing, Burma has the worst food-safety standards of any member state of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. In a rare display of openness, in March 2009, the Health Ministry of Burma's then military government revealed that Auromine O, a chemical dye normally used to color natural fabrics and paper, had been found in 43 brands of pickled tea leaves. More recently, there have been reports of dyed mushrooms, adulterated chili powder and even fake eggs imported from China. "We regularly hear about cases of food poisoning related to the excessive use of chemicals," said Ba Oak Khaing, whose association was formed in August of last year. Doctors and health activists say that more must be done to raise public awareness of the problem. "The health and education sectors have been weak in our country, so we must have an effective awareness program for health education," said Dr Mya Thaw, the vice-chairman of the NLD Health Network, established by Burma's main opposition party, the National League for Democracy. But education is not enough, says Ba Oak Khaing, noting that Burma still lacks food-safety laws strong enough to adequately protect consumers, though a new bill is now being discussed in Parliament, and the Ministry of Commerce has recently formed a department to deal with consumer affairs. "Our health is being harmed by greedy businesspeople," said Ba Oak Khaing. |
| Rose-Tinted History at Rangoon’s Drugs Elimination Museum Posted: 23 Aug 2013 01:19 AM PDT  A solitary rose in bloom outside the Drugs Elimination Museum in Rangoon. (Photo: Simon Roughneen / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — If you've been to the Ho Chi Minh Museum and nearby mausoleum in Hanoi, Rangoon's Drugs Elimination Museum has a familiar feel during Burma's monsoon season, when a humid grayness hangs over the three-story building—a sweatier Rangoon version of Hanoi's hoary and drizzly December days. From the models of towns and replicas of disused military hardware to the grainy black-and-white archival photos and Panglossian propaganda, the displays inside both buildings are broadly similar. Side by side, what's missing from the Rangoon version is the embalmed corpse of Naw Kham, Lo Hsing Han, Khun Sa or any of the other better-known drug lords to have lived and died in Burma in recent decades There's nowhere to behold Lo, nor indeed seemingly any mention of these men in the entire three story display. Instead, after a US$3 entrance fee and a $5 camera charge, the first thing a visitor sees—after small talking with smiling, inquisitive museum staff and dodging a couple of Rangoon's ubiquitous street dogs loafing around the front door—is a yellow-lit icon of Burma's last military dictator, Snr-Gen Than Shwe, so laden with medals that it's a wonder the picture itself doesn't fall flat on the floor. To the right is a painted rendering of a photo of the now-retired junta head, posing with colleagues while a division commander in 1981, after capturing the Suwinho opium refinery camp during the Burma Army's "Moe Hein" anti-narcotics operations. And to the left is Maung Aye, then the deputy commander-in-chief of the Burma Army, shaking hands and smiling with ethnic Kokang leaders—a rendering of a photo taken in 2000 and, in a mocking way, a perhaps prophetic image to place in this museum. Nine years later, the same army stormed the Kokang stronghold near the Sino-Burmese border, driving tens of thousands of refugees into China's Yunnan province. Upstairs, a bucolic painting of a village in the Kokang region—said to be drug-free—shows children playing and earnest farmers toiling amicably in the fields, planting vegetables where once they grew poppies. Further on, there's a historical segue, where it is made clear that opium growing and drug use are foreign imports long-resisted by Burma's kings. Citing an initial introduction of the plant from India—perhaps by way of European traders knocking around the region—Burma's real drug wars began after Perfidious Albion's 19th century conquest of Burma, the same century as the Opium Wars in China. After the British forced opium onto the Chinese, the story goes, opium cultivation made its way to independent Burma by way of the Kuomintang, who fled China after Mao's takeover. "The habit of eating, drinking and smoking opium is not a Myanmar tradition and was introduced to the country by foreigners from abroad," reads one banner. But didacticisms aside, there are plenty of artifacts, including old opium pipes from Burma's ethnic regions. Weighty tubes with ornate carvings from Kachin State, side by side with thinner, more functional-looking pipes from Shan State that are flute-like and delicate. Hanging from one of the Kachin pipes is a red and green tassel, the Kachin colors, in what must only be an archly federal gesture on the part of the museum's curators. Around the corner, from inside what was moments before a locked darkroom, a guide peers out. "Come and see the display," she says. "It shows the bad health caused by the narcotic drug." An offer not to be refused, and inside the U-shaped tunnel, photos of emaciated and track-marked addicts are introduced by a robotic voiceover, backed by violins that give way to an incongruous and tacky-sounding techno as the display moves on. Next up are mannequins representing young Burmese in what look to be harmless-enough settings—some playing rock music, others drinking, then couples about to be caught in flagrante delicto. But finally, through some nebulous sequencing, the youths transform into addled and grisly looking addicts at death's door. A salutary lesson is meant no doubt, perhaps in non-sequiturs. More history upstairs, where Than Shwe again features, posing stiff-necked and stone-faced beside UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Next, though not quite Vladimir Putin slouching at the back of the class, the former dictator almost cracks a smile, more relaxed with China's Jiang Zemin and Malaysia's Mahathir Mohamed. Onward, and still more photos of international meetings about drug eradication followed by more montage-homages to the Burma Army's counter-narcotics offensives. As is often the case with such museums, the fare at the Drugs Elimination Museum sins more by omission than commission. Burma's Army had a record of appalling human rights abuses in ethnic minority areas where drugs were grown (today mostly in Shan State), and there are known drug lords doubling as parliamentarians in Naypyidaw today. And while the country has long ceded its spot as the world's biggest opium grower to Afghanistan, it remains a clear second, accounting for 23 percent of the land used for illicit poppy cultivation and 10 percent of global opium production, according to the latest World Drug Report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The Drugs Elimination Museum is run by the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC), Burma's anti-narcotics agency, which is part of the Ministry of Home Affairs. CCDAC Deputy Director General Lt-Col Zaw Lin Htun described Burma's drug production as more than just a law enforcement problem. "It involves socioeconomic development in the poppy cultivation areas," he told The Irrawaddy. These days Burma is not just a source of opium, but of methamphetamines—much of which is funneled to an estimated one million users in Thailand. In 2010, the US Congressional Research Service estimated Burma's total drugs export trade to be worth between $1 billion and $2 billion per year, a wide-ranging figure that shows the difficulty in getting a clear picture of the drugs industry in Burma. But the Drugs Elimination Museum—ontological warts and all—is a compelling stopover for a visitor to Rangoon, despite all its quirks and the unintended fun factor. It seems, however, that not many tourists—or locals, for that matter—know of or are interested in visiting the museum. During two hours spent at the complex, not one other visitor showed up, and so apparently unexpected was the visit that museum staff had to throw on the lights inside the hall, an hour after opening time. "Nowadays this place is very quiet sir," a guide on the third floor said with a shrug. "About 50 people come here some days, sometimes not as many." Outside, the first thing a visitor sees after walking in the gate—and the last thing before departing the complex—are precision-arranged rows of shrubs in front of the museum entrance, tended by hatted gardeners. They couldn't be, could they? It would be too much. "No, sir, roses. Red and pink," one of the gardeners said, pulling up the brow of his hat for a moment, before going back to watering the rose bushes, a couple of which had started to bloom. |
| ‘The Momentum Is Still Good’ Posted: 22 Aug 2013 11:37 PM PDT  Chinese Ambassador to Burma Yang Houlan speaks to The Irrawaddy on Aug. 13, 2013. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Since beginning its transition to quasi-civilian rule in 2011, Burma's relations with the outside world have changed dramatically and, for the most part, positively. One notable exception, however, has been the country's ties with China, which have seen a series of setbacks, mostly involving Chinese investment in mega-projects that many Burma citizens see as exploitative. After the suspension of the Chinese-backed Myitsone hydropower dam project in Kachin State in September 2011, Beijing was forced to re-evaluate its approach to dealing with Burma, also known as Myanmar. Providing arms and other support to Burma's generals to win access to resources and other strategically important assets is no longer enough: Popular opinion must now also be taken into consideration. China's new ambassador to Burma, Yang Houlan, has taken pains to show that Beijing is listening. And in this interview with Kyaw Zwa Moe, editor of The Irrawaddy's English-language edition, and senior reporter Saw Yan Naing, he also makes clear that bilateral relations are still on track, despite the challenges they have faced in the wake of recent reforms. Question: In 2011, President U Thein Sein decided to postpone the Chinese-backed Myitsone dam project in Kachin State. Many say that this soured the relationship between Myanmar and China. Do you agree? Answer: From my point of view, it was an isolated case. We understand there was something behind this decision, but I think it will not affect the relationship between the two sides. After assuming the post of president in 2011, U Thein Sein visited China, and both sides have promoted their "comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation" and this year signed an action plan for strategic partnership. The general relationship is still very good. The momentum is still good. Since my arrival here four months ago, I have had many discussions with friends from different fields, such as politics, social organizations and the government. My impression is that all Myanmar people, the government, ministries, social organizations and different parties have a strong desire to further develop relations with China, especially economic ties. [Regarding Myitsone], Myanmar is now entering a period of rampant agricultural and industrial development. If you want to develop industry, the power supply is a basic need. Without electricity, how can you develop the industrial sector? Q: So would you like to see the Myitsone dam project restarted? A: I think if we want to resume this project, we need to do communication and consultation between the two sides. We need to set up some mechanism and have more discussions. But of course, we respect the Myanmar government's decision and we also respect the people's views about the project. Q: As you say, the Chinese embassy is now actively reaching out not only to the authorities, but also to opposition groups, civil society organizations and people on the ground. Why didn't you do this in the past? A: Over the past two years, Myanmar has opened up, and social organizations and the media are more active. This has created so many positive conditions. The social and political atmosphere here has positively changed. Myanmar's stability and development are in China's interests. Now, in a globalized world, no country can develop in isolation. To continue our economic relations, we need strong and solid social bases. So we should get support from different factions and different people. Q: Myanmar now has closer relations with the West and other Asian countries, including Japan. How do you feel about this? A: As I mentioned, in this globalized world, no country can develop without good relations with the outside world. In the past, when some Western countries imposed sanctions against Myanmar, China didn't support it because this kind of isolation is not good for the Myanmar people. Those who suffered from these sanction were not only officials but also ordinary people. It was the people who suffered most, not senior officials. That's why China called on the international community to lift the sanctions. It is good that Myanmar has opened up and developed relations with the whole world, including the Western countries. I hope all nations can join hands to facilitate Myanmar's development process. Q: Some observers say that the United States decided to start engaging with Myanmar because it was worried about China's influence in the country. What is your response to this? A: I've read newspapers and talked to friends here, and they have a similar idea. They talk about the power struggle in Myanmar, especially between China and the US. I think it would be unfortunate if such a thing happens. If there is a power struggle between China and US, it will also not be good for Myanmar. We hope it doesn't happen. China doesn't support the idea of a zero-sum game. We should have a policy of win-win cooperation. Some Myanmar politicians also make it very clear that Myanmar should not become a battlefield of bigger powers. That is not the desire of the Myanmar people. We welcome the US to play a constructive role in Myanmar. Q: Some Chinese companies, such as the China Power Investment Corporation, have been criticized for their lack of transparency. Would you like to comment on that? A: You may have noticed our embassy's website. We have a website to clear rumors, and we also have a Facebook page. The Chinese government also encourages Chinese companies, especially those in foreign countries, to take responsibility for social affairs. Social responsibility is very important for the people. We have learned from the past that we need to communicate more with people. Q: Chinese authorities have also gotten involved in peace talks between ethnic Kachin rebels and the Myanmar government. What are your concerns about border areas? A: China strongly supports peace talks between the two sides. China also wants to play a positive role. Stability in the northern part of Myanmar, which borders China, is of course not just a concern for Myanmar, but also for China. In the past, some bullets have landed on China's side. Also, when there are conflicts on the Myanmar side, hundreds of thousands of people cross over into China. Stability in northern Myanmar is good for China. We hope that the Kachin and the government can talk directly. To sign a ceasefire agreement and realize peace, they first need to build trust. China is confident that they will sign the agreement because it is in the interests of both sides. Q: Many Myanmar people resent the fact that in the past, China seemed to side with the military junta, and not with them. What do you say to this? A: Not only China but also Russia and your neighboring countries supported Myanmar. China supported the military regime, but that doesn’t mean China supported military rule. We thought of Myanmar as a nation with its people. We built roads and made some factories and agricultural projects. That was for the people, not just the military. If every country had isolated Myanmar, the people would have been the first to suffer. So it is not true that China only supported the military regime. Q: You recently donated 1 million kyat (US$1,000) to the National League for Democracy. China didn't support Myanmar's democracy forces in the past, so why now? A: In the past, China just focused on action, not talk. But now we need to have more communication to get understanding from the people. Just action without talking is not good practice for China now. We should change it. We encourage Chinese enterprises here to communicate more with society. Otherwise, people don’t understand what we are doing. [Chinese companies] should also respect the local society and take responsibility for the social impact of their actions. Q: Do you think China now finds itself in a difficult position as Myanmar opens up and more foreign partners approach the country? A: I don't think so. Quick social and economic development in Myanmar is good for China. It will provide more opportunities for our mutual beneficial cooperation. But of course, with new opportunities come new challenges. |
| Monsoon Rains Inundate Rangoon Posted: 22 Aug 2013 11:25 PM PDT  Schoolgirls walk with their father along a flooded street as they return from school, during heavy rainfall in central Rangoon on Aug. 22, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Soe Zeya Tun) Heavy rains inundated several streets in downtown Rangoon and other parts of Burma's commercial capital on Thursday. In some areas, floodwaters at knee and thigh height made life difficult for residents of Rangoon, a city in which thousands of people, from factory workers to bankers, rely on public transportation. Street vendors were also forced to suspend their operations due to flooding of the roads on which they would normally do business, as pedestrians waded through streets and vehicles made slow progress in heavy traffic caused by the waters. Despite Burma's political opening up and reforms on many fronts over the last two years, the municipal department of its largest city remains subject to criticism for its failure to handle flooding, growing traffic congestion, unreliable water and electricity supplies, and waste management. The monsoon season in Burma, which peaks in August, runs from June to September. |
| Burma Poised for Six-Fold Rise in Multi-Millionaires: Report Posted: 22 Aug 2013 11:05 PM PDT  A man plays golf at a floating golf club at Myakyuntha park, owned by the Htoo Group, in Rangoon on March 14, 2012. As the country starts to open up after decades of military misrule, a wave of crony capitalists are repositioning themselves as the fresh new faces of Myanmar Inc. (Photo: Reuters) WASHINGTON — The ranks of Burma's super rich will increase at least six-fold in the coming decade as one of Southeast Asia's poorest countries emerges from military dictatorship and embraces a market-oriented economy, according to a new report. Wealth-X, a firm which gathers intelligence on wealth, estimates in its World Ultra Wealth Report that there are 40 individuals in Burma currently who have assets worth $30 million or more. It sees that number growing by 687 percent to 307 by 2022, the fastest pace of growth anywhere in the world. Burma's hotel industry, commodities especially lumber and finance and banking sectors are growing very rapidly and this will expand the ranks of the country's ultra wealthy over the coming decade, said Mykolas Rambus, CEO of Wealth-X. "When a market opens up to this degree as we are seeing in Myanmar [Burma], when there is a change in leadership, where there is a large population and it is located in Asia, there is immense new opportunity," Rambus told Thomson Reuters Foundation. Burma also has significant problems of inequality. Twenty six percent of its population live in poverty, 75 percent lack access to electricity and the average per capita national income is $800 to $1,000 a year, according to the World Bank. The United Nations lists Myanmar in the bottom ranks for quality of life at 149 out of 186 countries in its 2013 Human Development Report, which measures factors such as inequality, education, healthcare, income and social opportunities. However, the country is one of the most dynamic in Asia. Foreign investors are flocking there to take advantage of its immense natural resource wealth in oil and gas reserves, precious gems, timber, water and farmland as the former military dictatorship begins to privatize assets. The economy is expected to grow by 7 to 8 percent a year over the decade, and the Asia Development Bank estimates Burma could triple per capita income by 2030. The question is whether this growth will benefit the majority of the population, Rambus said. "There is a question: Will this wealth stay in the hands of a few, or will Burma provide opportunities for the wealth to trickle down?" Indonesia, for example, saw rapid economic growth as it democratized but wealth has remained relatively concentrated in a few hands. Russia since the collapse of communism has seen a large wealthy class emerge, but its middle class has not developed as rapidly. Most of Burma's richest people hold their assets in the form of private residences and ownership of private companies, Rambus said. Wealth-X compiles its survey of the world's ultra wealthy, those with at least $30 million in net worth, through in-country intelligence and by reviewing a mixture of public and private records. It assesses the worth of privately held assets by comparing their value against that of publicly traded ones in the same sector and region. In its most recent survey, North America continued to lead the world in the number of ultra wealthy, with 65,295 super rich holding a combined net worth of $8.88 trillion. The number of super rich grew by 3.3 percent between 2012 and 2013, the Ultra Wealth Report found. Africa saw the greatest percentage increase in the ranks of ultra wealthy in the developing world over the past year, up 5.1 percent to 2,535 people with net holdings of $325 billion, it said. |
| In Indonesia, Buzzers Not Heard But Tweet for Money Posted: 22 Aug 2013 10:59 PM PDT  A group of social media strategists chat during a meeting at an advertising agency in Jakarta. Indonesian advertisers pay popular Twitter users to spread their word through social media. (Photo: Reuters) JAKARTA — In Indonesia’s capital Jakarta, a buzzer is not an alarm or a bell, but someone with a Twitter account and more than 2,000 followers who is paid to tweet. Jakarta is the world’s tweet capital and advertisers eager to reach the under-30 crowd are paying popular Twitter users to spread their word through social media, starting at about $21 per tweet. While celebrity endorsements via Twitter are common worldwide, Indonesia is unusual because advertisers are paying the Average Joes too. These Twitter “buzzers” send short messages promoting brands or products to their followers, usually during rush hour, 7 to 10 a.m. and 4 to 8 p.m., when Jakarta’s notorious traffic jams create a captive audience with time to scan their mobile phones. Jakarta has more Twitter users than any other city in the world, according to Semiocast, a social media market researcher, and Indonesia is home to the world’s fourth-largest population, with half the people under 30. All ingredients for a social media marketer’s dream. “Indonesians love to chat. We love to share. We are community driven as a culture. For us it’s very easy to adopt social media because it is a channel through which we can express our opinions,” said Nanda Ivens, chief operating officer at XM Gravity Indonesia, a digital marketing unit of London-listed advertising giant WPP Group. For advertisers, using Twitter buzzers is a way to personalize the pitch, connecting someone who may have a special interest in a product with like-minded potential customers. A local photography buff, for example, would be a good target for a camera company. An effective social media campaign will generate real conversations and genuine endorsements, said Thomas Crampton, Hong Kong-based social media director at advertising firm Ogilvy. But one issue with paid buzzers is that they may be seen as endorsing something only for the money. “It’s not going to be transparent to the people reading the Twitter feed whether they’re being paid, and that’s not very honest,” said Crampton. “The followers will see that this guy is for sale. It’s really like talking to a friend. If your friend is being paid to tell you something then a) you wouldn’t consider that person your friend and b) you’re not going to believe them.” Measuring Success PT Nestle Indonesia, a unit of global food company Nestle SA , counts teenage pop singer Raisa (@raisa6690) and heartthrob actor Nicholas Saputra (@nicsap) among its brand ambassadors. They recently tweeted their experiences at a large Sumatra coffee plantation in a campaign supported by hired buzzers who were retweeting the celebrities’ comments and other sponsored messages from the company. The challenge is measuring success. “We do have quantitative measurement, which is the number of followers, the number of likes and the number of clicks,” said Patrick Stillhart, head of the coffee business at PT Nestle Indonesia. “But how do we relate that to brands and sales? There’s left a question mark.” Stillhart said the company uses social media for more than a dozen brands and about 15 percent of its advertising spending goes to digital media. Apart from Nestle, competitor Unilever Indonesia also followed similar path for their products. Sometimes things go wrong. Prabowo (@bowdat), 33, who quit his day job two years ago to scout for buzzers, recalled one cautionary tale about tweets meant to promote an Android product that were sent through a rival BlackBerry or iPhone device. Followers could see the gaffe because tweets often include an automatic tag indicating how the message was posted. Stand-up comedian Ernest Prakasa (@ernestprakasa) fell afoul of the “twitterverse” last year while promoting the Mini Cooper, a popular car made by BMW Group “There was a viral video. The idea was, I had to pretend to be locked in a container for several hours and then I escaped with the car. I was asked to act as if I was captured,” said the 30-year-old, who charges advertisers 7 million rupiah ($670) for 10 tweets. Some of his friends didn’t realise it was an act, and began retweeting he had been kidnapped. They were furious when told it was an advertising gimmick. “I was cursed at, accused of only trying to create a sensation. I had around 15,000 followers so I didn’t think it could become big. But I also learned that whenever this sort of fiasco happens, stay silent. It won’t last more than two days. Something new will come along and people will forget anyway.” |
| Malaysian Gov’t Wins Right to Appeal ‘Allah’ Case Posted: 22 Aug 2013 10:35 PM PDT  A Muslim demonstrator displays a flag outside Malaysia's Court of Appeal in Putrajaya, outside Kuala Lumpur, on Thursday. (Photo: Reuters) KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia's government on Thursday won the right to appeal a court ruling that allowed the country's non-Muslim minority to use the word "Allah" to refer to God. Appeal hearings are scheduled to start Sept. 10 to resolve the politically sensitive dispute that triggered attacks on Malaysian churches and other places of worship more than three years ago. "Allah" is the Arabic word for God and is commonly used in the Malay language to refer to God. The government, however, insists "Allah" is an Islamic word and that its use by others would confuse Muslims. Roman Catholic representatives say the government's curb on their use of "Allah" is unreasonable because Christians who speak the Malay language had long also used the word to refer to God in their Bibles, literature and songs before authorities sought to enforce the ban in recent years. A nearly 6-year-old court dispute over the issue stems from efforts by the newspaper of the Roman Catholic Church in Malaysia to use "Allah" in its Malay-language publication. Malaysia's Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that the government has the right to challenge a 2009 verdict by a lower court that permitted the newspaper to use "Allah." That earlier verdict sparked a string of arson attacks and vandalism at 11 churches, a Sikh temple, three mosques and two Muslim prayer rooms. The government's ban remains in effect because of a stay order on the verdict until the appeals process is completed. Judge Abu Samah Nordin said Thursday that the dispute "is still a live issue," overruling church officials' contention that an appeal would be unjustified. More than 100 Muslim activists gathered outside the court, with some shouting "Allahu Akbar," or "God is great," after the ruling. The Rev. Lawrence Andrew, editor of the Catholic newspaper, The Herald, voiced disappointment but said his team would accept the ruling and argue its case next month. The ban has become a symbol of grievances in Malaysia among Christian, Buddhist and Hindu minorities, who sometimes complain that their constitutional right to practice religion freely is undermined. The government denies any discrimination. Other disputes over the past decade include the demolition of temples illegally built on state-owned land. |
| Sri Lanka Groups Want UN to Inquire About Killings Posted: 22 Aug 2013 10:28 PM PDT  Sri Lankan Muslims protest in Colombo on April 27, 2012 against a government decision to demolish and relocate a mosque. (Photo: Reuters / Dinuka Liyanawatte) COLOMBO — Sri Lankan human rights activists said on Wednesday they have asked a United Nations official to inquire about the recent killing of unarmed protesters, anti-Muslim violence and alleged army land grabs from victims of the country's civil war. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay arrives on Sunday for a seven-day visit to prepare a report on Sri Lanka to be given to the UN Human Rights Council next month. The council approved a resolution in March calling on Sri Lanka to more thoroughly investigate alleged war crimes committed by government forces and separatist Tamil Tiger rebels during the last phase of a civil war that ended in 2009. It also asked the high commissioner to present an oral report to the council in September and a detailed report next March. The rights activists said in addition to wartime violations like abductions and forced disappearances, they want Pillay to ask about recent incidents such as the killing by the military of three people at a protest this month. Nimalka Fernando, an official with Platform for Freedom, a grouping of 60 organizations, said they have written to Pillay requesting her to visit the former war zone as well as the western town of Weliweriya where the military shot at protesters demanding clean drinking water and the site of a mosque attacked by a Buddhist-led mob. Five people have died in two years in military or police crackdowns on public protests. There have also been a series of attacks on mosques and Muslim-owned shops by Buddhist-led mobs. No one has been punished. Buddhism is the majority and state religion of Sri Lanka. Fernando said the military has seized some 6,400 acres (2,589 hectares) of land from ethnic Tamil civilians displaced since the end of the civil war. "The military is running farms. This is not an answer to the employment problem of the displaced people," she said. The Tamil Tiger rebels were fighting to create an independent state for ethnic minority Tamils. A UN report has said that the ethnic Sinhalese-dominated government may have killed as many as 40,000 Tamil civilians in the final months of the war. The government is also accused of abducting suspected rebels, human rights activists, and critical journalists during and after the conflict. Many of those abducted are feared dead. The rebels are also accused of killing civilians, using them as human shields and recruiting child soldiers. |
| Disgraced Chinese Politician Mounts Feisty Defense Posted: 22 Aug 2013 10:15 PM PDT  Disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai stands trial inside the court in Jinan, Shandong province, on Aug. 22, 2013, in this photo released by the Jinan Intermediate People's Court. (Photo: Reuters) JINAN, China — Fallen Chinese political star Bo Xilai has launched an unexpectedly spirited defense at his corruption trial, fiercely denying he took $3.5 million in bribes from two businessmen and cross-examining one of them with a lawyer's precision. Bo's performance Thursday, the first day of the trial, appeared to be a last-ditch effort by the disgraced politician to repair his carefully cultivated reputation as a man of the people. China's Communist Party mouthpiece blasted Bo's defense in a retort Friday, saying he had "quibbled strongly, was evasive and almost completely denied" his crimes. "No matter how Bo performs, how he lies, it is all only a display of strength to hide the weakness inside," the People's Daily said in a commentary. Bo is accused of corruption and interference in the investigation of his wife's murder of a British businessman. Prosecutors on Thursday ended months of suspense about details of the bribery charges against him, rolling out accusations that featured a villa in France, a hot-air balloon project and a football club and illustrated how colorful corruption can be in China. The trial resumed Friday, and the second day of proceedings was expected to delve further into the bribery allegations before moving on to charges of embezzlement of government funds and abuse of office. Bo's verbal sparring Thursday displayed the media-savvy politician's keen sense of how to portray himself well in tough situations. He thanked the judge for letting him speak, asserted that he was pressured into making a confession and was selectively contrite. "I'm not a perfect man, and not a strong-willed person, I'm willing to take responsibility for that," Bo said. "But as to the basic facts of whether I am guilty or innocent, I must say my piece." Once the powerful party boss in the megacity of Chongqing, the charismatic Bo fell into disgrace early last year following revelations that his wife had killed British businessman Neil Heywood, and that he had allegedly interfered in the probe. The opening day of the trial on Thursday marked the first time he was seen in public in 18 months, since shortly after the scandal emerged. In photos and state TV footage from the court, Bo was shown standing in the dock wearing a white long-sleeved dress shirt and dark slacks. His hair was gray and cut short, and he later slumped in a chair with little expression on his face. The trial is widely presumed to have a predetermined outcome: conviction. But in an unusual display of openness for a major political trial in China, court officials released frequent microblog updates on the testimony, suggesting ruling Communist Party officials are confident of minimizing damage from a scandal that exposed a murder and machinations among China's elite. Prosecutors said Bo used his wife, Gu Kailai, and his son, Bo Guagua, as intermediaries in accepting $3.5 million in the northeast city of Dalian, where Bo Xilai once held key posts. They also alleged that Bo instructed an underling to keep quiet an $800,000 payment to the city, and that Bo diverted the money into personal funds with the help of his wife, according to updates on the microblog site Sina Weibo posted by the Jinan Intermediate People's Court. In response, Bo said he had been pressured into falsely confessing to party investigators that he had taken payments from a general manager of a company owned by the Dalian government, although he also said the investigators had treated him well. "I once admitted this matter against my will," Bo said. "However, at the time, I had absolutely no knowledge of the nature of the matter. My mind was a total blank." Prosecutors also said Bo helped a Dalian businessman, Xu Ming, in efforts to buy a football club and obtain land for a hot-air balloon project without proper procedures. They said Xu helped Bo's family finance the purchase of a villa in Nice, France, and that Xu bought a Segway, an electric stand-up scooter, for Bo's son. Bo denied the accusations and said the two were not even friends. Bo also cross-examined Xu, forcing him to repeatedly concede that he had not directly raised such matters with Bo. Prosecutors presented written testimony from Bo's wife that said the couple kept safes in their various homes across China in which piles of cash were stashed, but Bo raised doubts about her account. Calling her testimony "comical, very funny," Bo also questioned Gu's suitability as a witness, saying she was a convicted killer with a history of mental illness. But in further questions he chose more gentle words in describing his wife as "a person of culture and taste, a woman of modern thinking." The prosecution said the confession obtained from Bo was valid and defended the testimony provided by Gu and Xu. In denying the corruption charges, Bo seemed to be using the trial to make a final stab at ameliorating the damage the scandal has done to his image, which he honed in Chongqing with an anti-crime crackdown that gave him nationwide fame. During Thursday's session, which lasted about eight hours, some of Bo's supporters gathered outside a security perimeter, intermittently yelling, "He served the people!" and "He was a good cadre!" "It's definitely the last performance of Bo Xilai on the platform of history," said Zhang Lifan, a Chinese historian and political analyst. "Bo is a man with no bottom line and for him, if his political life is ruined, it would be equal to killing him." "He knows that he's a banner to many of his fans and it's his last chance to go all out to defend his reputation," Zhang said. Despite Bo's feisty defense, a verdict of guilt against Bo is all but assured because the outcome of trials involving high-profile politicians in China are usually decided in backroom negotiations by politicians and handed down by the court. "It's very much like a martial arts demonstration," said Ding Xueliang, a Chinese politics expert at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. "You hit somebody in the face, he hits you back, but eventually nobody gets badly injured and the result has been previously discussed and managed." |
