The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Suu Kyi, Shwe Mann Want to Discuss Constitution With President, Army Chief
• Burma Awards Offshore Oil and Gas Deals to Foreign Firms
• Four Detained, Charged at Burma Constitutional Amendment Rally
• $5.7Bln in Timber Smuggled Out of Burma, Illegal Logging Rampant: Report
• Joint Thai-Burmese Study Slated for Siamese King’s Mandalay Tomb
• Life Goes On in Kachin Camps, But the Future Is Bleak
• Candle Protest Planned Against Impending Electricity Rate Hike
• Will Armed Forces Day Bring Burma’s ‘Big Four’ Together at Last?
• Thein Sein Lauds Reforms, Backs ‘Gentle’ Constitutional Change
• US Congressional Panel: End Persecution of Muslims in Burma
• Yoma’s Serge Pun Sees Long Road to ASEAN Integration
• Asia’s Hottest Property Market Is Also Its Most Unlikely – North Korea
• Space Travel
• Arsenal Have to Look Over Their Shoulders, Says Wenger
• Satellite Clue Ends Wild Theories, Hope for Flight MH370
• North Korea Fires 2 Missiles as Its Rivals Meet

Suu Kyi, Shwe Mann Want to Discuss Constitution With President, Army Chief Posted: 26 Mar 2014 07:20 AM PDT NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi and USDP chair and Union Parliament Speaker Shwe Mann hold a joint press conference in Naypyidaw on Wednesday. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) NAYPYIDAW — Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi held a joint press conference with Burma's Union Parliament Speaker Shwe Mann on Wednesday in which she said they were waiting for President Thein Sein to respond to a request to discuss constitutional reforms with him and Commander-in-Chief Minh Aung Hlaing. Suu Kyi, the National League for Democracy (NLD) chairperson, suggested in November that such a four-party meeting could help resolve the political stalemate over constitutional reforms. "Only the president could make it possible. It's beyond my ability to bring those three together," said she in response to the Irrawaddy's question about the possibility of a meeting. "I proposed the meeting as I don't want to see any political deadlocks," Suu Kyi added. "Only having dialogue helps achieve success," said Shwe Mann, who recently indicated that he was ready to join such a meeting. The 2008 Constitution was drafted by the then-military regime and is widely viewed as undemocratic. The charter gives the military direct control over a quarter of the legislative and gives the army effective veto power over key constitutional reforms, while Article 59 (f) prevents Suu Kyi from becoming president because her sons are British citizens. Suu Kyi has frequently raised the need for reforming the charter, but most members of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), a political incarnation of the former junta, seem reluctant to support the changes. In recent months, the NLD leader has become increasingly vocal on the issue and in February she announced she would work with the 88 Generation Students to demand reforms through 'people's power' demonstrations. USDP chairman Shwe Mann, who also eyes the presidency after the 2015 elections, has moved closer towards Suu Kyi in the past year, while both have drifted away from President Thein Sein and his government. Suu Kyi said she and the speaker frequently met to discuss the interests of country. "We are rivals but not enemies. Even in our discussions, there are disagreements between us, but by negotiating we reached common ground," she said. "Yes, we met each other as colleagues for the Parliament and country," Shwe Mann added, without elaborating. He said the USDP would support changes to the Constitution, before adding, "But we also need to be careful, any amendments should not lead to bad consequences." On Wednesday morning, Thein Sein gave a speech to mark the third year anniversary of his reformist government, in which he stated that he would support "gentle" changes to Constitution. He said the military still has a political role to play in Burma during the democratic transition and completion of the peace process. Asked about the president's remarks about the military, Suu Kyi said the military's role is to support a political system that the Burmese people prefer. "I'd rather see the army as professionals who the people love. [And] the peace process can be solved with political means," she said. The potential presidential contenders were also asked about their expectations about the forthcoming by-elections, which will be held in a few months' time. Both said they want to win. "But even if you won, how you did win is important," Suu Kyi said, perhaps referring to the USDP's victory in the rigged 2010 elections. Shwe Mann responded, "I promise that USDP will try to win in free and fair way." The post Suu Kyi, Shwe Mann Want to Discuss Constitution With President, Army Chief appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Burma Awards Offshore Oil and Gas Deals to Foreign Firms Posted: 26 Mar 2014 07:11 AM PDT Anglo-Dutch oil company Royal Dutch Shell was among the foreign companies awarded offshore oil and gas exploration deals by Burma's Ministry of Energy. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — Burma's Ministry of Energy on Wednesday announced that it has awarded international firms, mostly from Western nations, 20 areas in its waters to explore for oil and gas. The government has invited international firms to come in and help bolster state revenues by tapping into Burma's oil and gas reserves, and large multinationals were among the winners in the latest tender. Following the announcement, watchdog groups called for heightened transparency from companies and the government as the search for energy resources in Burma is set to accelerate. The latest announcement means that companies including Anglo-Dutch firm Royal Dutch Shell, France's Total, Italy's Eni, Norway's Statoil and Conocophillips from the United States will explore Burma's deep waters in the Bay of Bengal, where large quantities of energy-producing hydrocarbons may be held. Shallower waters will be explored by a number of Indian companies and Western firms including US oil giant Chevron. An announcement posted on the Ministry of Energy's Facebook page named the winning companies from a shortlist of 61. The winners will now enter into negotiations with the government over the terms of their exploration contracts, in which they must partner with state-owned firm Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise. The ministry's brief statement said contracts will be "awarded after the agreement upon the detailed verification with Ministry of Energy on their proposed terms and conditions in accordance with the Ministry of Energy's preferable terms and conditions as well as other factors relating to the Production Sharing Contract for relevant offshore blocks." The tendering round was expected to award 30 blocks in total, but only 20 winners were named Wednesday, for reasons unknown. In 10 of the blocks, companies will be exploring, and later potentially drilling, at depths of more than 2,000 feet, an undertaking that carries high environmental and safety risks and is mainly done by large companies. A consortium of Shell and Japan's Mitsui Oil Exploration Company was awarded three deepwater blocks; Eni and a grouping of Australia's Woodside Energy and Singapore's BG Asia Pacific have two blocks each and Statoil and Conocophillips have one block together. The remaining deepwater blocks went to Total—which already operates the Yadana offshore natural gas field and pipeline—and London-based Ophir Energy Plc. While there were few Asian winners in the tender, Indian firms took four of the onshore blocks, with Woodside Energy and BG Asia Pacific also picking up two blocks. Chevron, Dutch firm Berlanga Holding B.V, and two Australian bids—from Transcontinental Group and from ROC Oil Co Ltd and Tap Oil Ltd combined—were also successful in the shallow-water blocks. Economist and Burma-watcher Sean Turnell said the large number of Western firms named among the winners was "a sign of how far Myanmar has come in terms of international engagement." Turnell noted the absence of state-owned Thai and Chinese firms that, until the reformist government of President Thein Sein took power in 2011, secured favorable deals with the military government to extract and export hydrocarbons to their domestic markets. Burma government officials have pledged that domestic need will be met before the products of future oil and gas projects are exported. The offshore tender followed another competitive tender for 13 onshore blocks, awarded in October. Contracts to explore those blocks have not yet been signed, and the modest staff of the Energy Ministry now faces the task of coming to individual agreements for all 33 blocks. Vicky Bowman, director of the Myanmar Center for Responsible Business, called on the winning companies to go above and beyond the demands of Burma's nascent regulatory environment for the oil and gas sector. Bowman told The Irrawaddy that the large international winners should show leadership in demanding transparency and thorough social and environmental checks as the process goes on. "Given that there is a risk of overload on the Ministries and that they have limited capacity in this area or familiarity with international best practice, it would be good if the companies who have experience of this come together collectively with the relevant ministries at an early stage to establish how to do these most effectively and bring in the advice of environmental and social experts," she said by email. Bowman said the companies should also work closely with local authorities in Arakan State, Mon State, Irrawaddy Division and Tenasserim Division—coastal regions that could be set for an influx of international companies launching exploration operations. Companies should "foresee and manage the cumulative regional and local impacts their operations will have on the environment, infrastructure, services, labor markets and local populations," she said. Juman Kubba, an oil, gas and mining specialist at London-based campaign group Global Witness, said the awarding of exploration rights would be a test of whether the Burma government's "rhetoric of transparency will translate to reality." The government is attempting to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, an international scheme to make public governments' takings from mining or oil and gas projects. Kubba said the Ministry of Energy had begun to show a willingness to be transparent by publishing standard terms of the oil and gas contracts, but called for the final drafts of contracts to be published. She also said Global Witness, which focuses on issues related to natural resource extraction, was beginning a project to contact all the winning companies and to ask "who pulls the strings and pockets the profits from your company." "If Myanmar is really to break from the secrecy and murky deal-making of its military past, getting this information out into the open is crucial," Kubba said. "If the international companies now moving in want their engagement in the country to be positive, they need to make this information public from the outset." The post Burma Awards Offshore Oil and Gas Deals to Foreign Firms appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Four Detained, Charged at Burma Constitutional Amendment Rally Posted: 26 Mar 2014 06:42 AM PDT A protest in support of amending Burma's Constitution in Pakokku Township, Magwe Division, on Wednesday. (Photo: Thandar Khine / 88 Generation Peace and Open Society) RANGOON — Four prominent right activists from the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society group were briefly detained in central Burma on Wednesday and charged with a controversial law that prohibits protesting without permission. The activists said they were taken to a police station in Pakokku Township, Magwe Division, after leading a demonstration—one of many currently taking place across Burma—in support of amending Burma's military-drafted 2008 Constitution before elections in 2015. Activist Than Naing said that he and three others who gave speeches at the rally—Pyone Cho, Mee Mee and Nilar Thein—were charged under Article 18 of the Peaceful Assembly Law. Than Naing told The Irrawaddy that his group asked authorities for permission to protest on March 17, but were rejected. The group also told the police again on Monday that they would be protesting. "They charged us with Article 18 for violating the law," he said. "They threatened us and told us we have to sign paper saying that we violated the law, but we refused to do it and told them to put us in jail. "We told them we informed them already that we would protest. Then, they released us." He said police told protesters that demonstrations were not allowed in the town because a proposed legal change to soften the rules around informing the authorities of a gathering was still being considered in Burma's Parliament. Mya Aye, an 88 Generation leader, said the police's explanation was unacceptable, and only went to show that they had no good reason to disallow the demonstration. "Protests were allowed in different townships. But we only had a problem in Pakokku," he said. "It is sad to see such charges against our members, and to see them [the authorities] using their power to threaten the people, just as Parliament is preparing to amend Article 18," said Mya Aye. "By charging our members, this could tarnish the image of the reforms in our country. It is sad to see it." Members of the main opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) and the 88 Generation group have announced a joint effort to try to amend the Constitution. The charter includes measures that ensure the military's place in national politics, and in Parliament, and a clause that means NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi cannot become president, among numerous other unpopular clauses. But the coalition of campaigners has decided to first target Article 436, in Chapter 12 of the Constitution. The article gives the Burmese military an effective veto over constitutional amendments as it requires more than 75 percent of lawmakers—in a house where a quarter of seats are automatically filled by soldiers—to approve amendments. The post Four Detained, Charged at Burma Constitutional Amendment Rally appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

$5.7Bln in Timber Smuggled Out of Burma, Illegal Logging Rampant: Report Posted: 26 Mar 2014 06:29 AM PDT Three trucks loaded with Burmese timber wait to cross a river on the Burma-China border. (Photo: EIA) RANGOON — Between 2000 and 2013, Burma's rich forests were decimated through authorized logging as well as a massive illegal timber trade that saw 22.8 million cubic meters of wood with an estimated total value of US$8 billion leave the country, a new report says. Of this enormous quantity of exported timber, 48 percent was felled illegally, without any government permission, while $5.7 billion worth of logs—or 72 percent of the trade—was smuggled across the border through illicit export deals, according to the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA). A Forestry Department official and a Burmese timber merchant rejected the report on Wednesday and insisted that the regulation of Burma's forestry sector is improving. EIA, a UK-based environmental watchdog, said its findings, which were released in a briefing paper on Tuesday, indicate "rampant criminality and corruption" in Burma's timber sector and raise questions over who has benefitted from the $5.7 billion in timber exports missing from the government's books. EIA said it had calculated the figures after comparing timber import data from India, China, Thailand and Bangladesh, collected from international trade registers, with Burma government timber trade figures for the period 2000-2013, which were recently published in local media. The research results "demonstrate fundamental governance failures in Myanmar's timber sector," EIA said. "Wide-ranging reform is required to sustain forest resources and enable access to the increasing number of high-value markets sensitive to legality issues, including the EU, US, Australia and others." Poor Regulations, Insurgency and Timber Smuggling International environmental researchers have long raised concerns over the legality and environmental sustainability of Burma's timber extraction policies. During past decades of military rule, deforestation was fueled by mismanagement and corruption, while crony businessmen were allowed to plunder the forests on a massive scale. Long-running ethnic conflicts also caused insurgents and illegal traders to raid the forests. The state-owned Myanmar Timber Enterprise (MTE) is supposed to regulate the timber trade and license any wood export. Since the mid-2000s, timber can only be exported via Rangoon Port. EIA said it found that 72 percent of all exported timber left without MTE approval, adding, "This [data] reveals chronic levels of unlicensed logging and timber smuggling throughout Myanmar." Government officials have said that the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and other groups in northern Burma are colluding with Chinese traders to raid the country's northern forests. The ongoing insurgency there has left the area beyond government control and vulnerable to large-scale illegal logging, which sees huge quantities of timber flow across the border into China unregulated and untaxed. EIA noted, however, that illegal logging and illicit cross-border trade is "a problem which is by no means confined to ethnic areas, as the government claims." "When excluding the [overland China] trade, which the government deems illegal, unauthorized exports during the period [2000-2013] amounted to US$2.8 billion," the group said. EIA said its findings represent a gross government failure to stop a huge loss of valuable natural resources, and it estimated that if all missing timber export, totaling 16.4 million cubic meters, "was loaded into freight containers laid end to end, it would stretch 2.3 times the length of the Irrawaddy River." The Ministry of Environment's Forest Department deputy director general Nyi Nyi Kyaw dismissed the findings of the EIA report on Wednesday. "The government always carries out official, legal timber trade, we have records. The Forest Department, the Customs Department and the Ministry of Commerce, we record all trade together," he said. Nyi Nyi Kyaw said the insurgency in northern Burma was the main driver of the illegal timber trade, adding that the government was in the process of requesting China's help in stemming the illicit flow of logs. "We are trying to find a solution to solve this problem," he told The Irrawaddy. "We are trying to address this problem through diplomacy with the Chinese government, high-level [officials] are discussing this." In other parts of Burma, he insisted, the situation was much better and illegal logging was being brought under control with the help of a new Forest Police Department set up by the Home Affairs Ministry in recent months. "Now we are catching illegal loggers, recently the illegal timber trade has been on the rise. From December 2013 until now, we caught more than 10,000 illegal loggers," he claimed. President Thein Sein's quasi-civilian government, which took over in 2011, has indicated that it is willing to reform the extraction, revenue-raising and contract-awarding policies for Burma's rich natural resources. In an effort to reduce deforestation and regulate the timber industry, the government decided to ban the export of raw logs per April 1, after which only sawn wood is allowed to be exported. Burma's government has also expressed interest in reforming its timber supply chain with the help of the European Union. "The government is pushing the businessmen to move to processing of wood, in this way they can earn more money. We also invite international companies to invest in this timber-processing sector," Nyi Nyi Kyaw said. Ba Ba Chor, head of the Myanmar Timber Merchants Association, said the EIA report had applied rigorous international timber trade standards to Burma's outdated timber policy. "Their definition of legal timber, for us it's not easy to attain," he said. "They are watching the situation from a very negative point of view, they do not recognize that we are going to reform," he told The Irrawaddy. Ba Ba Chor also defended his association's production methods, saying, "From forest to factory production, we have a good system. We have some bad cases, but they say we are doing things 100 percent wrong—I don't agree with that." The post $5.7Bln in Timber Smuggled Out of Burma, Illegal Logging Rampant: Report appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Joint Thai-Burmese Study Slated for Siamese King’s Mandalay Tomb Posted: 26 Mar 2014 04:36 AM PDT A tomb at Linzin Hill in Mandalay Division is believed to belong to the Siamese King Uthumphon. (Photo: Teza Hlaing / The Irrawaddy) The Burmese and Thai cultural ministries are likely to jointly carry out a formal study of Siamese King Uthumphon's tomb, located near the city of Mandalay in upper Burma, according to a source involved in excavation work at the site. Excavation of the former Thai king's final resting place began in February 2013 at Linzin Hill, a site situated on the edge of the famous Taungthaman Lake in Mandalay Division's Amarapura Township. But in late February of this year, a delegation from the Thai Ministry of Culture (TMC) traveled to the worksite to inspect the excavation efforts. Following the visit, the ministry held a press conference in Bangkok, where officials indicated they could not support the ongoing research of the excavation team, saying the TMC's blessing was contingent on a crosscheck of the site's historical records with its Burmese counterpart. The TMC decided on Monday that it would take part in a study of King Uthumphon's tomb. "The TMC said they will also cooperate with us in their endeavor," Mickey Heart, a Thai historian who is leading the current "Fig Flower" excavation team, told The Irrawaddy. "It said it did not mean to imply that evidence we had found was not authentic, but had just been misunderstood." In July 2012, The Irrawaddy reported that the historic tomb of Uthumphon was set to be destroyed to make way for an urban development project. Consequently, a handful of Thai archaeology enthusiasts, with the help of their country's foreign ministry, initiated contact with the Burmese Ministry of Culture in order to determine whether the grave really belonged to their former king, and to preserve it if it was found to be legitimate. The "Fig Flower" team was formed thereafter, cofounded by freelance Thai and Burmese history and archaeology enthusiasts. It was named after the late King Uthumphon, who was better known as King Dok Madua, or "Fig Flower," in Siamese history. Mickey Heart said his team is being backed financially by the Thai royal treasury and has been provided with an initial budget of 40 million baht (US$1.3 million). "Historical evidence relating to King Uthumphon, especially after he was taken to Burma, is very rare in Thailand but exists in Burma, so Thai historians' studies must be based on what their Burmese counterparts have already found," he added. According to Burmese historical records, King Hsinbyushin (1736-1776), the third king of Burma's Konbaung Dynasty, invaded the ancient Thai capital of Ayutthaya in 1767 and brought as many subjects as he could back to his capital Ava, including Uthumphon. About two weeks ago, the Mandalay Division Development Committee (MDDC) directed the "Fig Flower" team to halt its operations at the excavation site, saying that it had not submitted specific evidence nor consulted with responsible bodies. At the time, Mickey Heart stressed that his team would try to find a way to maintain its role in the excavation and research project. The Bangkok Post, an English-language daily newspaper in Thailand, reported on Tuesday that the TMC planned to conduct a search for traces of ancient Thai cultural heritage dating back to the country's Ayutthaya Kingdom in Burma's Mandalay and Sagaing divisions. Related Articles: Siamese King’s Tomb to be Destroyed Thais to Investigate King’s Tomb in Mandalay $3 Million Set for Thai Tomb, Cultural Village Project in Burma In Myanmar, Ancient Monastery Buried Beneath Thai King’s Tomb Excavation Work at Thai King's Tomb in Mandalay Hits Snag The post Joint Thai-Burmese Study Slated for Siamese King's Mandalay Tomb appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Life Goes On in Kachin Camps, But the Future Is Bleak Posted: 26 Mar 2014 03:51 AM PDT Marang Kok chops banana skins to feed to pigs. The 79-year-old has been living at Hpun Lun Yang, a camp for people displaced by fighting in Kachin State and northern Shan State, for two-and-a-half years. (Photo: Sai Zaw / The Irrawaddy) LAIZA, Kachin State — "I really want to go back. But I cannot," says the 70-year-old woman as she chops up banana skins to feed to pigs. "I miss my village," she says in the Kachin language, smiling as she sits in front of her temporary shelter in Hpun Lun Yang camp near Laiza. It has been two years and six months to be exact since Marang Kok left Pann Taung village in northern Shan State, together with a family with whom she lives. Since a long-standing ceasefire broke down in mid-2011, more than 100,000 people have been displaced, and more than half of those are estimated to be living in camps, like Hpun Lun Yang, inside areas administered by the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) on the Burmese-Chinese border. For many, going home is looking less and less likely. "There is no hope for my home. It's already decayed," says the mother of the family, feeding her 3-year-old son. He was just five months old when they were forced to run from her village and hide in the forest. Hpun Lun Yang camp houses more than 2,000 people from 47 separate villages that now lie empty. There has rarely been work of any kind for these internally displaced persons (IDPs)to do since they fled renewed fighting between ethnic rebels and the government army, said Tang Gun, chairman of the camp's administrative committee. "IDPs really want to go home, but because of the political situation and the war, they don't dare to. We have our responsibility to look after them," Tan Gun said. "We have difficulties with food and medicine. When NGOs don't come, we have nothing to eat." But some have opened small grocery shops in front of their shelters. Some have small pools from which they sell live fish. The camps have become villages in their own right. "I make about one or two thousand [kyat] per day," said a lady who has opened a shop selling salads and groceries. The amount is equivalent to US$1-2, but provides useful cash in the camp. "They are really keen to work," said Sinwa Naw, a staffer for the KIO's IDPs and Refugees Relief Committee, who showed Irrawaddy reporters around the camp on a recent visit. Many don't want the settlement to become permanent, or for a new generation to grow up with the camps as their home, as many others displaced by ethnic conflicts have all along Burma's border with Thailand. There are 278 children in Hpun Lun Yang, about 95 of who were born in the camp. With family planning services lacking, birth rates are reportedly high among the IDPs. However, due to malnutrition during pregnancy, most infants born inside the camps are underweight at birth. Newborn and 1-year-old children also have nutritional problems. Other health problems at the camps are many—including diarrhea, skin problems and malaria—and medicine is often in shortage. There are also shortages of decent housing to protect internal refugees from the cold winter, the heat in summer, and the pounding rain in the wet season. Zaw Mai, head of the Woi Chyai camp, which houses about 4,500 people, said that 675 families need new houses, at an estimated cost of $420,000. "The shelters built when the camp was established are not good anymore, since they were only built with bamboo and tarpaulin," said Bum Wai, the head of another camp of more than 8,000 people near Laiza named Je Yang, where about 600 of houses need repairs. When The Irrawaddy arrived at Je Yang, the biggest camp in the area, people were lined up to collect aid boxes—some of 4,200 such packages, containing rice, cooking oil, blankets and other essentials, donated by the Chinese Red Cross. The recent Chinese aid was worth about $800,000, but most aid for the IDPs is provided by the KIO, or through local NGOs like Karuna Myanmar Social Services and Wunpawng Ninghtoi, who channel international aid to the camps. To supplement their meager rations, and as a distraction from their trauma, families grow vegetables in small plots of land beside their shelters or raise pigs. In four camps around Laiza—all of which are within a 30 minute journey of the KIO's nominal headquarters—there were few men present during the day. Locals say some have been recruited by the rebel army, while others travel for work nearby, often in China. Neat banana plantations cover large swathes of the hills around Laiza. Plantations on both sides of the border are reportedly owned by Chinese businessmen, and take on laborers from the camps. "IDPs from here go to work there for daily wages when they are free. Women are employed by the hour or paid for the number of times [they carry banana branches]," said Bum Wai. "If they work for eight or nine hours a day, they get 30 yuan [about $5]." The KIO does not allow the IDPs to return to their villages, but some attempt to check on their homes or farmland. They may be interrogated by Burmese authorities if they do not have identification—as many do not since they fled the fighting without their belongings. For 34-year-old Ral Din, life in Je Yang camp is getting harder. She lost her husband last year, when he left the camp to try to earn some money. Instead, he stepped on a landmine in the forest and was killed, a fate that is said to have met a number of IDPs who have ventured into conflict areas, often trying to go home. The mother of five says she regrets that she did not get a chance to see her husband's remains. Her youngest is just one year and four months old. "There is no one to earn money and find wood for the family," she said while busy washing clothes. Her 6,000 kyat ($6) per month allowance for food is not enough to feed her family, she said. As she is the only adult in the family, Ral Din does not have time to plant crops in an empty plot next to her shelter. Through tears, she said she doubts she will remarry. "I don't know what to do next," she said. The post Life Goes On in Kachin Camps, But the Future Is Bleak appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Candle Protest Planned Against Impending Electricity Rate Hike Posted: 26 Mar 2014 03:39 AM PDT Protestors against a previous plan to raise the price of electricity light candles outside the office of the Yangon City Electricity Supply Board. (Photo: Sai Zaw / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Activists in Burma's commercial capital plan to hold a candle-lit protest against an electricity price increase due to take effect April 1, with demonstrators planning to stage the action in front of City Hall on Wednesday night. Last week, Parliament approved a government proposal to implement a long-expected hike in electricity prices on April 1. Under the plan, for households using under 100 kilowatt hours, or units, per month, the price will remain at 35 kyats (less than 4 US cents) per unit. The price will rise to 40 kyats per unit for those using between 101 and 200 units in a month, and to 50 kyats for those using more than 200 units. For businesses, the basic charge for those using less than 500 units per month will remain at the current level of 75 kyats. But large consumers using over 500 units will pay 150 kyats per unit above the 500 threshold. Tin Htut Paing, a member of the activist Generation Youth, said about 100 Rangoon-based activists planned to stage the protest on Wednesday at 6pm, without having received permission to do so from relevant local authorities, as is required by law. "Some people have said that the amount of the hike in electricity prices is not that much, but for us, increased prices are still more than the current prices. We protested this last year, and they stopped the plan. Now, it's back again," he said. "We feel like the government is insulting the people. They don't care about what people want," he added. Candle-wielding protestors will gather at City Hall before marching to nearby Sule Pagoda, much like protestors demonstrating against a proposed electricity rate hike last November. About 100 activists in Rangoon took to the streets on Nov. 6 to protest the government plan to increase electricity rates. "We didn't seek permission from the government for this protest, we know what will happen," said Tin Htut Paing, who declined to say which groups would be involved in the protest. Tin Htut Paing has run afoul of the law in previous candle protests, charged with violating Section 18 of the Peaceful Assembly Law, which requires prior permission from local authorities for any planned protest. Tin Htut Paing, who has been charged 22 times under Section 18, said he had faced legal action from authorities in Kyauktada, Sanchaung, Kyimyindaing and Ahlone townships for the November candle protest. However, violators of Section 18 were cleared of the charges in an amnesty by President Thein Sein in late December. According to government data, the new electricity regime would reportedly save about US$272 million from the government's annual spending on supplying power. Figures from the Ministry of Electric Power indicate that 56.6 percent of households do not use more than 100 units per month, and 55.6 percent of businesses use less than 500 units. The post Candle Protest Planned Against Impending Electricity Rate Hike appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Will Armed Forces Day Bring Burma’s ‘Big Four’ Together at Last? Posted: 26 Mar 2014 03:16 AM PDT Until the recent past, the Burmese opposition had repeatedly called for a tripartite dialogue involving Aung San Suu Kyi, the military regime and ethnic leaders. Since reforms in Burma began in 2011, this demand been dropped, seemingly replaced by a new call from some quarters for a meeting among the "big four"—Suu Kyi, President Thein Sein, military Commander-in-Chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing and the powerful Union Parliament Speaker Shwe Mann. On the eve of Armed Forces Day, political analysts and local media have speculated that the joining of these powerful figures—and a dialogue among them—may finally be at hand, as all four are expected to attend a reception to commemorate the national holiday on Thursday. The so-called "four-way dialogue," which Suu Kyi has called for since November of last year, has yet to take place, with the unrealized prospect apparently thus far the victim of unwillingness by some of the parties involved. Suu Kyi has also expressed her desire to hold a meeting with Min Aung Hlaing, who is expected to retire in July of next year and is widely believed to be planning to enter politics thereafter. The National League for Democracy chairwoman attended Armed Forces Day in Naypyidaw for the first time last year, and this year she has been invited again, but Suu Kyi has yet to have the opportunity to meet the senior general. Since last year, the Nobel peace laureate has reportedly sought to arrange a meeting with Min Aung Hlaing via Western governments and powerful tycoons in Rangoon, who she enlisted to serve as go-betweens. Informed sources say Min Aung Hlaing initially sent a positive signal back, suggesting that he would like to sit down with her, but ultimately reneged on the offer. Rebuffed on the bilateral proposition, it appears Suu Kyi then changed tack. Since November of last year, the opposition leader has called for talks to be held involving the big four, to discuss amendments to Burma's Constitution. This time it was Thein Sein who reportedly turned down the suggestion. Aung Zaw is founder and editor of the Irrawaddy magazine. He can be reached at aungzaw@irrawaddy.org. Other well-informed sources say Thein Sein has been courting Min Aung Hlaing, and if their presence together in Kachin State this month is any indication, the duo seem to get along well, at least on the surface. For Burma, Min Aung Hlaing's post-retirement plans remain a major question mark hanging over the country's reform process. Signs point to a future in politics. These days Min Aung Hlaing can be seen attending public functions, and the senior general even held a press conference for the first time earlier this month. (His media debut was hardly a smashing success, with many journalists shut out of the event and questions submitted in advance—and all posed by state-run media outlets.) Businessmen close to Min Aung Hlaing say he recently told them that he wanted to be a politician. He has held several meetings with leaders from the Karen National Union (KNU), seemingly suggesting that the government is looking to pick an ethnic Karen leader for vice president, following the precedent set by its selection of the little-known civilian Shan leader Sai Mauk Kham, who was appointed to be one of the country's two vice presidents in February 2011. In November, Brig-Gen Wai Lin, a Lower House MP who leads military lawmakers in Parliament, told The Irrawaddy that he expected Min Aung Hlaing to be a leading candidate for the presidency. Wai Lin said military parliamentarians were keen to nominate Min Aung Hlaing following national elections in 2015. The plan is plausible because the country's president is elected by Parliament, where military officers hold a quarter of the seats. Suu Kyi and Shwe Mann have also both expressed a desire to become president, but have avoided an antagonistic dynamic over their potentially clashing ambitions. In fact, their effective working relationship has been one of the biggest surprises out of Naypyidaw since the NLD contested, and dominated, by-elections in 2012. So for all the talk of a four-way dialogue, it appears any such gathering would be "four-way" in name only. Four faces, two sides. Sources in Naypyidaw have suggested that if the meeting takes place, it would be an informal happening at some state-sponsored function or reception. This also suggests that, as in previous meetings between Suu Kyi and former regime leaders like Snr-Gen Than Shwe and Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, it will be little more than a stage-managed affair—no sound bites, no fundamental agreement, no breakthroughs. In any case, the groundwork may have been laid earlier this month, when Thein Sein met Suu Kyi at his cottage in Naypyidaw, their fourth meeting in total since the historic first face-to-face in 2011. Though both sides kept mum about the content of their discussions, Suu Kyi is likely to have brought up the four-party proposition at the March 9 meeting. Suu Kyi has been rallying people in support of amending the Constitution, which currently bars her from presidential eligibility, and she remains wildly popular among ordinary Burmese citizens. Even so, she knows she needs support from the armed forces' leadership. It's just not clear that she'll get it. If forces more potent than people power have pegged Min Aung Hlaing as next in line to lead the nation, a Suu Kyi presidency, which many feel is the rightful conclusion to the long-time democracy icon's political saga, may never come to fruition. The post Will Armed Forces Day Bring Burma's 'Big Four' Together at Last? appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Thein Sein Lauds Reforms, Backs ‘Gentle’ Constitutional Change Posted: 26 Mar 2014 12:50 AM PDT Burma President Thein Sein delivers a speech to the Union Parliament in Naypyidaw, three years after he took office. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) NAYPYIDAW — Four days prior to the third anniversary of his taking office, Burma President Thein Sein on Wednesday morning credited the military-drafted 2008 Constitution for the political shift in the country under his administration. During a nearly 45-minute-long speech at Naypyidaw's Union Parliament, the president also noted, however, that in order to meet democratic standards, the current content of the charter—approved in a widely criticized referendum—must be amended. The Constitution guarantees the Burmese military a place in national politics and a quarter of seats in Parliament; makes opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi ineligible to become president; and is opposed by ethnic minorities who demand more autonomy in their regions. "I would like to urge you to do it [constitutional reform] softly and gently, depending on the experience, long-sightedness and sincerity of all stakeholders involved," he told lawmakers. "[If approached in this way] it will not lead to a political deadlock." The general-turned-civilian president also said that the army will retain a role in politics. "The army still needs to be present at the political roundtable talks where political problems are solved by political means," he said. "Reducing the army's role gradually depends on internal peace and development as well as the maturity of the democracy." He also said the Constitution must be reformed bearing in mind political dialogue between the government and Burma's ethnic armed groups, which is expected to take place after a long-awaited nationwide ceasefire agreement is signed. "Every amendment has both negative and positive possible consequences, not only at this time but also in the future," Thein Sein said. "So it's important to think about [the peace process], too." He said he firmly believes that Burma's more than six-decades-long civil war will come to an end in the near future. "But, taking a long time on the peace process could make ethnic people feel hopeless," he warned. In what amounted to a State of the Union address, the president reviewed his first three years in power. Since his quasi-civilian administration took over from the military junta in 2011, Burma has seen unprecedented political and economic reforms and has reengaged with Western nations after years of isolation. He trumpeted Burma's apparent transformation into a constitutionally governed nation that is embraced by countries that once labeled it a backward dictatorship. Plus, he said, his government has worked toward national reconciliation, efforts he described as "satisfactory." "It's very evident that now, three years on, the collaboration from the international community is gaining momentum. We have reached the best and most important time in our country's history, so we have to value it," he said. "Today, everybody can see where the current situation of Burma's transition to democracy is. We don't even need to verbally mention it!" He did admit there had been some failures during his administration, but did not elaborate on these. Thein Sein thanked the Burmese people as well as the international community for participating in the reform process that he initiated. He said the results could be seen in sectors including education and health, foreign investment, the release of political prisoners, the resolution of land disputes and the peace process. "We all are responsible for not ruining people's hope. What we have done for the country during our time in power will be recorded in history," he said. The post Thein Sein Lauds Reforms, Backs 'Gentle' Constitutional Change appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

US Congressional Panel: End Persecution of Muslims in Burma Posted: 25 Mar 2014 10:48 PM PDT Rohingya Muslims, displaced by communal violence in Arakan State, carry wood on a road outside Sittwe. (Photo: Reuters) WASHINGTON — The House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday called for an end to persecution of Burma's minority Rohingya Muslims in one of the strongest US congressional criticisms yet of Burma's reformist government. The committee is charged with overseeing US foreign policy, and the resolution, which was passed unanimously, also urges the United States and the wider international community to press Burma to protect ethnic and religious minorities. Burma's ambassador to Washington rejected allegations of mistreatment against minorities and said the government won't tolerate incitement to religious hatred. The prospects of the full House taking up the resolution remain uncertain, but it reflects concern in Congress over the outbreaks of communal violence in the country as it shifts toward democracy after decades of direct military rule. It also underscores growing congressional skepticism over the Obama administration's engagement policy. Since mid-2012, close to 280 people, mostly Rohingya, have died in Buddhist-Muslim clashes in western Arakan State. Some 140,000 Rohingya have been forced into overcrowded camps, and tens of thousands have fled by boat. Republican committee chairman Ed Royce said Burma can't claim progress on reforms if it does not improve treatment of the stateless Rohingya. He said the US State Department should "take off the rose-colored glasses." "We cannot embrace diplomatic reconciliation with the government of Burma while human rights conditions in that country have deteriorated," Royce said. Burma has earned an end to its diplomatic isolation and sanctions relief by undertaking its most significant political and economic reforms in 50 years. Over the past two years, Burma has released hundreds of political prisoners and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been elected to Parliament. There's been bipartisan support for the US administration's engagement with Burma, but the goodwill is starting to ebb. The quasi-civilian government of President Thein Sein faces growing criticism, most recently over its expulsion from Arakan State of the aid agency Doctors Without Borders, which provides health services for 700,000 people there, including camp inmates. On Monday, a US-based activist group led by a former Democratic congressman, Tom Andrews, reported after visiting the camps that Rohingya face a life-threatening lack of medical care and live in fear of attack. Andrews contended that combined with a climate of rising Buddhist nationalism, there are warning signs of genocide in Burma. Burma Ambassador Kyaw Myo Htut rejected that report, saying the allegations in it were "completely groundless." He said the government is "rendering necessary assistance and protection to ensure religious freedom in the nation." He also pushed back against criticism over the aid group's expulsion. "Termination of the activities of Doctors Without Borders was made in accordance with the desire of the people in Rakhine [Arakan] State," the ambassador said in a statement to Associated Press. The post US Congressional Panel: End Persecution of Muslims in Burma appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Yoma’s Serge Pun Sees Long Road to ASEAN Integration Posted: 25 Mar 2014 10:40 PM PDT Serge Pun speaks at the World Economic forum on East Asia in Naypyitaw in June. (Photo: Simon Roughneen / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Burma-focused conglomerate Yoma Strategic Holdings Ltd said Southeast Asia needs to work exceptionally hard to realize a balanced, European Union-style integration of such disparate economies. Yoma is listed in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member Singapore whose advanced island-state economy contrasts with that of fellow member Burma, rich in gems and natural gas but paralyzed by decades of military rule and isolating sanctions. Elsewhere in ASEAN, communist Laos has an economy that is less than 3 percent the size of that of monarchist neighbor Thailand, according to The World Bank. The population difference would suggest a size of 10 percent. "That we will all share the benefits of integration is beyond dispute," Yoma Chairman Serge Pun said at the Reuters ASEAN Summit. But a "lopsided" result where some members benefit more than others "is not sustainable." "I think we will make it happen," Pun said. But "I feel that there has been…over expectation of what ASEAN integration will do for all of us." Burma Potential The ASEAN chairmanship this year resides with Pun’s native Burma, which has been looking to attract foreign investment since a quasi-civilian government took office in 2011. Asia’s second-poorest country after Afghanistan has no functioning stock market from which companies can raise funds, and foreign banks cannot open branches, just maintain representative offices from where they can offer companies nothing beyond advice. "I think we have a fairly long way to go to develop our financial sector, which always is the most important sector to support the growth of an economy," Pun said. The government plans to permit limited foreign bank activity this year – good news for Singapore’s Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd which has had a representative office in Burma for around 20 years. "When it opens up we are quite interested to establish a business presence there," Chief Executive Samuel Tsien said at the summit, at the Reuters office in Singapore. "We think that’s a market in which many Singaporean companies have engaged with for quite some time. There are quite a lot of Myanmar businessmen in Singapore who are already doing business with us," Tsein said. Sectors in Burma offering investors the highest growth include infrastructure, transportation, tourism and agriculture, Pun said. His Yoma conglomerate earns almost all of its revenue in Burma from property. It also leases vehicles and runs balloon tours as it aims to diversify by raising non-property revenue to 50 percent. Earlier this month, Yoma said it would spend $20 million to set up what could become Burma’s biggest coffee plantation. It also said it would diversify by investing $46 million in dairy, $12 million in cold storage and $1.3 million in vehicle rental. "I think we are very focused on Myanmar," Pun said. "For the moment, I don’t think we have any plans to do anything outside of Myanmar." "We think this is a once-in-a-life-time opportunity and we intend to fully capitalize on the major reforms that have been going on, fully capitalize on the good prospects of the economy," Pun said Shares of Yoma have fallen 5.3 percent so far this year compared with a 2.0 percent decline in the benchmark stock index. The post Yoma's Serge Pun Sees Long Road to ASEAN Integration appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Asia’s Hottest Property Market Is Also Its Most Unlikely – North Korea Posted: 25 Mar 2014 10:32 PM PDT North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspects the construction site of the apartment houses in this undated photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). (Photo: Reuters) SEOUL — One of the world’s fastest developing property markets is also in one of its least likely places—North Korea. Even though the buying and selling of houses and apartments is illegal, it is becoming more widespread and sophisticated, said defectors as well as experts who study the ruined economy. On paper, the socialist state owns all property. But the percentage of North Koreans who are buying their own home—as opposed to waiting for the government to assign one—is growing rapidly, surveys of defectors show. Brokers can be found with lists of property for sale in private markets selling food and cheap consumer goods that are tolerated by the government in cities and towns around North Korea, the defectors and experts said. "You can find a house you want by asking brokers," said Kim Young-il, a defector and activist in Seoul. Deals are done in U.S. dollars in the capital Pyongyang and in Chinese yuan along the border with China, where most of the North’s trade with the outside world takes place. The buyers and sellers then bribe housing officials to effectively approve the transaction by issuing or modifying residency documents, the defectors and experts said. It’s another example of how the regime of leader Kim Jong Un is turning a blind eye to a black market that is offering North Koreans a chance to upgrade their living conditions, move from one location to another or to simply make some money, especially given that house prices have been rising steadily. It is common for defectors to send money to the North so their families can buy better homes. Activist Kim and two other defectors say they have also heard of some people buying property as an investment ahead of what they hope will be the eventual reunification of their impoverished homeland and the wealthy South. Reuters could not confirm those accounts. Defectors send an estimated $10 million each year to help their families in the North, according to the Organization for One Korea, a South Korean support group for defectors. The money is routed through agents on China’s side of the land border. "Money talks in North Korea. If you have money, send it to somebody you trust. You can buy a decent house in the border region with China," said Kim, the defector, who runs a non-governmental organization called People for Successful Korean Reunification, which uses the ancient spelling of Korea. Kim told Reuters he had a friend who needed to raise money last winter to fund his escape to the South, so the friend sold his apartment in the North Korean border city of Hyesan for 40,000 Chinese yuan ($6,600). He declined to identify his friend, who he said was at a re-settlement center south of Seoul that helps defectors try to get to grips with life in South Korea. Missiles Instead of Housing Under the socialist system erected by Kim Il Sung, the young leader’s grandfather, the government built and allocated housing to its citizens. Then famine killed an estimated one million people in the mid-1990s, causing the collapse of the state food distribution system. That opened the door to private markets selling food in the late 1990s. Trading in property soon followed, especially since the increasingly cash-starved state spent money on its 1.2-million strong military instead of public housing. Under North Korean law, anyone who sells, buys or rents a house can be sentenced to hard labor. But a survey last year of 133 defectors by the Seoul National University’s (SNU) Institute for Peace and Unification Studies found 67 percent of them had bought their own homes, compared to 14 percent who had been given accommodation. The defectors left North Korea in 2012. A similar survey of 126 defectors who left in 2011 showed 46 percent bought their own home. "With market forces spreading, North Koreans are becoming able to dream of moving into a better house," said Jeong Eun-mee, an SNU research professor involved in the survey. "Homes, one of the few resources North Koreans have, are now extensively traded unofficially. The regime has no option but to tolerate this … because officials are involved as well." Cigarettes or Food Will Do In a 2013 report, the Korea Institute for National Unification, a South Korean state-run think tank, said housing officials were usually bribed with cigarettes or food to approve a property transaction in one of the world’s most corrupt countries. While it is impossible to independently confirm anything in North Korea, similar studies support the suggestion of growing property ownership. Defectors are also among the best sources of information since better communications have opened the way for regular contact with their families. Defector groups in Seoul estimate 3,000 phone calls are made each day to the North, routed through Chinese mobile networks along the border. There is no hard data, but apartment prices have risen in the last decade in Pyongyang and small cities on the Chinese border, defectors said. Housing now acts as a store of value for North Koreans looking for ways to earn money outside the poorly paid government sector, they added. Lee Yun-keol, a biologist who came to Seoul in 2005, said he had heard that an apartment he used to own in Pyongyang was worth $100,000, nearly 15 times what he paid more than a decade ago. Properties close to statues of Kim Il Sung or his son Kim Jong Il in the centre of Pyongyang command a higher price thanks to constant water and electricity supplies, defectors said. They added that the property market revolved around the brokers, who keep a low profile in private markets but can be found by asking around. Once a buyer and seller agree the price, they bribe housing authorities to alter names on mandatory residence permits that give an address. North Korea only allows one house to be registered against one name, so people use the names of relatives if they want to buy more. Private Contractors Outside Pyongyang, where there is more scope for private commerce because state scrutiny is less intense, the property market has also created a new class of businessmen who employ workers outside the broken state system and raise funds to buy building materials, defectors and experts said. Kim Joo-sung, a North Korean scientific researcher who defected in 2008, said he had a friend in his home city who became a construction contractor as far back as 2002. The friend worked with brokers who promoted unit sales by phone before they were even built, the researcher said, adding he paid off officials by giving them new homes. "He became one of the richest men in my community," said Kim, who declined to name his home city for fear of reprisals against his family in North Korea. He also declined to reveal his friend’s identity, saying he had lost contact with him when he fled North Korea. The North Korean state has also been getting in on the property trade. Since taking office more than two years ago, Kim Jong Un has presided over a construction boom with the aid of funds from China, the North’s major backer, and Russia, a former Cold War ally. The state-run KCNA news agency, for example, reported in January that the government had built apartments for 1,000 families of scientists in Pyongyang. For some newly built flats in Pyongyang, government firms sell the units, keeping the money as profit to stay viable, experts and defectors said. "With the government’s knowledge, state agencies and institutions are selling houses they have built," said an ex-senior intelligence official, who came to Seoul in 2008 but declined to be identified because of concerns for his safety. The post Asia’s Hottest Property Market Is Also Its Most Unlikely – North Korea appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Space Travel Posted: 25 Mar 2014 08:35 PM PDT Miles of wide open beach make Ngwe Saung a great place to play and unwind. (Photo: Nyein Nyein / The Irrawaddy) NGWE SAUNG, Ayeyarwady Region — A five-hour drive from Yangon, the west coast's Ngwe Saung beach is not exactly a quick getaway, but the reward at journey's end is still miles of unspoiled sands, wonderful views and crystal waters. Ngwe Saung remains much more low-key than Chaung Tha to the north. It is not a place for nightlife, except that which you invent yourself; this is a place where quiet continues to reign. For sustenance, visitors generally rely on hotel food, much of it in beachfront restaurants. There are no independent restaurants on the beach yet. Or you can try the local eateries at nearby Ngwe Saung town, about a five- or 10-minute drive from most hotels. Thida San restaurant on Myoma Road serves a variety of seafood and Myanmar and Chinese cuisine. I also enjoyed the other alternative—getting to know the area's informal vendors, and the fresh fare they provide. You can meet enterprising villagers and sellers who visit the beach and hotel-side areas with their wares mainly in the mornings and evenings, offering a wide range of seriously tasty local cuisine, including the soups, ngapi, (spicy fish paste) and tosaya (boiled vegetables) that Myanmar people like to have with virtually every meal. Fresh from the sea, there's cooked shrimp, octopus, crab and mussels as well as seaweed salads on offer. The vendors think of everything. Some have business cards, so you can phone in your order, and some, like Ko Soe Naing and Ma Aye Aye San (tel: 09 2505 98733) will help you with everything you need for an evening campfire meal under the stars, including the food, plates and utensils, and even setting up the fire. As Ko Soe Naing helped our group with our dinner on the sands, I found out that he began traveling to survive and work after losing his restaurant business during Cyclone Nargis in 2008. For a time he was in Meiktila, and then Chaung Tha, before he came to try his luck at this spot about two years ago. Ngwe Saung beach has around 18 hotels with a wide range of standards and prices. The cheapest go for around 35,000-50,000 kyats (US$35-50), while the most expensive are 100,000 kyats ($100) and up, per standard room. High-end choices include The Bay of Bengal Resort, the Myanmar Treasure Resort and Sunny Paradise Resort. For those on a budget, the Yamonar Oo has garnered good reviews. The Yuzana Resort Hotel, once said to have been the area's top hotel, has lost much of its sheen. But it's still clean, has superb views, and friendly staff, some of whom speak good English. Rooms come with air-con, a slightly old TVs, and Western-style bathrooms. But Myanmar visitors be warned: Should you ask for "foreigner food"—i.e., bread—you may be charged an extra 1,000 kyats. Also on the downside, the electricity generator is only turned on from between 6pm and 6am and there is no swimming pool. But the ocean at Ngwe Saung is lovely for swimming, and hotels post safety signs indicating where it is advisable to take care in the sea. Other activities for visitors include renting a bicycle (about 1,000 kyats an hour) or a motorbike (fees vary according to the distance you expect to travel). Or you could go for a gentle horse ride, costing about 2,000 kyats for a kilometer or so. Souvenir hunters can find stalls selling simple items such as T-shirts, key chains made from shells, purses and photo albums made from bamboo in Ngwe Saung beach and along the coastline near Lovers' Island. The little island is very close to the seashore and has great views. Just south of it is the Ngwe Saung Yacht Club, where Myanmar hosted part of the Southeast Asia Games in December last year. Getting there: Ngwe Saung is about a five-hour drive from Yangon via Pathein, the capital of Ayeyarwady Division. The 30-mile last stretch from Pathein is a twisty mountain road with a peaceful rural feel and views of rubber plantations. Yangon bus companies offer coach trips for around 9,000 kyats. This article was first published in the March 2014 print issue of The Irrawaddy magazine. The post Space Travel appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Arsenal Have to Look Over Their Shoulders, Says Wenger Posted: 25 Mar 2014 10:15 PM PDT Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger watches play during their English Premier League soccer match against Swansea City at the Emirates stadium in London March 25, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) LONDON — Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger all but conceded that their title bid is over and warned that his side had to focus on finishing in the top four after a 2-2 home draw with Swansea City in the Premier League on Tuesday. Wenger's men started the week as title contenders but they have faltered in a 6-0 thrashing at league leaders Chelsea in his 1,000th game in charge on Saturday and a disappointing draw with Swansea after a last-minute Mathieu Flamini own goal. Arsenal are now six points ahead of fifth-placed Everton, who won 3-0 at Newcastle United on Tuesday and have a game in hand, with a place in next season's Champions League at stake. "Winning the title isn't the biggest worry we have at the moment," Wenger told a news conference. "We have to be realistic. We must look behind us. Everton won and, of course, now we have to focus and play the next game [at home to Manchester City]. "Manchester City had a good result tonight [a 3-0 win at Manchester United]. They look a bit unstoppable. Them and Chelsea are the favorites now for the title. We don't have too much room to come back into it." Chelsea have 69 points from 31 games ahead of City on 66 from 29, with Liverpool in third on 65 from 30, Arsenal are fourth with 63 from 31 while Everton have 57 from 30. Arsenal's Champions League qualification spot looks all the more precarious with Manchester City coming to The Emirates on Saturday before Wenger's side visit Everton on April 6. Instant Response Wenger had hoped for an instant response to the miserable Chelsea result but Swansea took an unlikely lead after 11 minutes when Neil Taylor crossed from deep and Wilfred Bony out-jumped the defense to plant a header just inside the near post. Arsenal dominated possession as the visitors protected their lead but the nerves from the crowd permeated into the players, and the home side failed to turn domination into chances. Lucas Podolski's introduction after the break signalled a greater attacking intent by the hosts and in the 73rd minute he converted a Kieran Gibbs pull back before setting up Olivier Giroud to score a minute later with a cross from the left. But Wenger's disastrous week was summed up when his defence allowed Leon Britton to surge into the box in the last minute. Arsenal central defender Per Mertesacker stretched to stop the Swansea player but his tackle only deflected the ball against diving foalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, with the rebound hitting Flamini and trickling over the line. "The result is very disappointing," said Wenger. "At 2-1 we were maybe too conservative because our confidence level had been affected by Saturday and we just wanted to win the game without pushing any more forward. "A mistake happened and it created the result we didn't want tonight." Arsenal Reprieve Wenger's miserable week could have been worse as Jonathan de Guzman ran clear on Arsenal's goal in the fourth minute of added time only for the referee to blow his whistle to end the game. Swansea manager Garry Monk was baffled by the decision and believed his side were unjustly denied a chance for a vital win as they fight to avoid getting dragged into a relegation battle. "It was a poor decision," Monk told reporters. "They told us it was going to be four minutes at the end of the game, we scored in that period so they added an extra minute on the clock. So it's five minutes minimum, we're clean through on goal and they blow up 30 seconds short. "It would have definitely been a shot on goal. It's going to be a goalscoring opportunity for sure. "In all the games I've ever played in I've never had the whistle blown in those circumstances." Swansea are 15th but only five points above the drop zone, having played three games more than Sunderland who are in 18th position and occupy the last relegation place. They host fellow strugglers Norwich City on Saturday knowing a win is vital to help secure Premier League safety. The post Arsenal Have to Look Over Their Shoulders, Says Wenger appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Satellite Clue Ends Wild Theories, Hope for Flight MH370 Posted: 25 Mar 2014 10:05 PM PDT Family members of passengers onboard Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 protest as they head to the Malaysian Embassy from Lido hotel in Beijing on March 25, 2014. (Photo: Reuters / Kim Kyung-Hoon) Over an extraordinary 17 days and nights, until the moment Malaysia's prime minister stepped to a lectern to deliver investigators' sobering new findings, the fate of vanished Flight 370 hung on morbid conjecture and fragile hope. Many previous tragedies have transfixed us by revealing their power in cruel detail. But the disappearance of the Beijing-bound Boeing 777 without warning or explanation captivated imaginations around the world in no small part because of the near vacuum of firm information or solid leads. Nothing solid, that is, until late Monday night, when Prime Minister Najib Razak announced that an analysis of the plane's last-known signals to a satellite showed that it went down somewhere in the desolate waters of the southern Indian Ocean—and that all on board perished. It was a turning point of sorts in one of the most perplexing mysteries of modern times. Najib's statement offered some resolution—the plane has surely crashed—but little else. No one has found the plane, or the passengers, or the answer to why all this happened in the first place. And solving those riddles involves a search that looms dauntingly across a vast expanse of unforgiving ocean at the bottom of the earth. The puzzle of Flight 370 has been complicated by a frustrating lack of hard facts since it vanished on a night flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8. Who could say what might have happened in the cockpit or the cabin—or who or what was responsible? Who knew where the plane had gone — up or down, north or south—or what had become of its 239 passengers and crew? Hungry for answers, officials and investigators, relatives and reporters focused their questions fruitlessly on the two Iranian passengers who boarded the plane with stolen passports; then on the oil slicks in the Gulf of Thailand; then on the rumors that a Uighur passenger might have harbored anti-Chinese motives; then on the pilot's home flight simulator. The reluctance of Malaysian officials to reveal what they knew and sometimes to offer conflicting information only seemed to feed the doubts, even after many of the nefarious scenarios suggested early on were dismissed. And with limited evidence and not even a bit of confirmed wreckage, everyone from experts on aviation and terrorism to armchair travelers was left to speculate. It may have been hard to take rocker Courtney Love seriously when she posted a photo on Facebook showing an oil slick off the coast of Malaysia and suggested that it revealed the location of the missing plane. But when a fake news story showed up online supposedly quoting Sarah Palin as saying she believed the plane had flown directly to heaven, its plausibility hinged not on the former Alaska governor, but on the fact that just about anybody could and seemingly did have an opinion on the flight's fate. That's probably because most people felt connected to it and, therefore, invested in it. As Australia's opposition leader Bill Shorten put it, "There is something about a plane disappearing which links all the citizens of the globe. These people who disappeared on this flight could be any of us." While many of the theories presented were well-informed speculation based on deep experience and thoughtful analysis, they all had one flaw or another, and could not dispel the void. With so little to go on, families of those aboard grasped at the clouds of uncertainty, which allowed them to maintain a sense, however shaky, that that the plane might possibly be found intact, their relatives found alive. "Dearest love, I hope you are able to get some rest where you are, and that they are feeding you," Sarah Bajc wrote last week in a Facebook post to her boyfriend, Philip Wood, a native of Texas who was on board. "Any chance they include a glass of wine with dinner?" It was one of a heartbreaking string of love notes she sent out into the electronic ether, as she clung to the hope that her partner was still alive. A few days later: "Hi baby, It has been a lazy Sunday here. I cannot imagine what you must be going through." Later still: "Good morning baby, how are you holding up? I'm doing my best to bring you hope and courage to continue the fight." And fight the families did—for any scrap of information that might reveal their loved ones' fate. Gut-wrenching grief, frustration and, eventually, rage bubbled over among some of the family members, who accused the Malaysian government of withholding information. Before a news briefing in Kuala Lumpur, two Chinese relatives of passengers held up a banner demanding the truth. "I want to see my son!" one of the women cried, before being carried away by security as she wept and screamed. And then, at last, came a break—or at least, what seemed like one. On March 20, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott stunned the world when he stood up during what had been a routine session of parliament, slipped on his glasses and began to read from a statement: "New and credible information has come to light in relation to the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean," he began. "The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has received information based on satellite imagery of objects possibly related to the search." The objects—two blurry, whitish blobs captured in a satellite image—were located in a patch of the Indian Ocean, near absolutely nothing. The closest major body of land was Australia's west coast, 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles) away. The hunt was on in earnest. Military planes from Australia, the United States and New Zealand had already been searching the area and more planes from China and Japan were sent to help, while an Australian navy supply ship, the HMAS Success, scoured the waters, some of the roughest and remotest in the world. More potential clues began popping up: A civil aircraft taking part in the search on Saturday spotted several small objects floating in the water, including a wooden pallet surrounded by straps. Could it have been from the aircraft? Malaysia Airlines confirmed the flight did, indeed, have wooden pallets on board. But pallets are also commonly used in the shipping industry. A New Zealand military aircraft tried to find the objects for closer inspection, but found only clumps of seaweed. The sense that searchers were getting close grew when more satellite data emerged; China announced it had captured a large object within the search zone on one of its satellites, and France said it had satellite data that may have identified debris from the missing plane. More objects of potential interest were spotted by the search planes crisscrossing the skies: a grey or green circular object and an orange rectangular object. A white, square object glimpsed through a break in the clouds. The United States sent a Towed Pinger Locator to the region in case a debris field was found, in the hopes it could locate the plane's so-called black box. An Australian navy support vessel, the Ocean Shield, equipped with acoustic detection equipment, was also moving into the search zone. But except for analysts' fresh conclusion based on satellite data that the flight had gone down, there are still no hard answers. And finding the jet remains far from a certainty. For Bajc, the woman who has all along refused to give up hope that her boyfriend is still alive, Malaysia's fatalist announcement offered little resolution. "I need closure to be certain but cannot keep on with public efforts against all odds," she wrote in an email. "I STILL feel his presence, so perhaps it was his soul all along." Associated Press writer Aritz Parra in Beijing contributed to this report. The post Satellite Clue Ends Wild Theories, Hope for Flight MH370 appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

North Korea Fires 2 Missiles as Its Rivals Meet Posted: 25 Mar 2014 09:57 PM PDT North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) visits the Ryugyong Dental Hospital and Okryu Children's Hospital in Pyongyang in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) March 22, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) SEOUL — North Korea test-fired two medium-range ballistic missiles on Wednesday, South Korea and the US said, a defiant challenge to a rare three-way summit of its rivals Seoul, Tokyo and Washington that focused on the North's security threat. The launch of the Rodong missiles—for the first time since 2009—violates UN Security Council resolutions and marks a big escalation from a series of shorter-range rocket launches the North has staged in recent weeks to protest ongoing annual military drills by the US and South Korea that Pyongyang claims are invasion preparation. The missiles flew about 650 kilometers (400 miles) off North Korea's east coast early Wednesday morning, South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said. It wasn't immediately clear where the missiles splashed down. Kim said the missiles were likely fired from a mobile launcher. The North's arsenal of an estimated 300 Rodong missiles could in theory be fitted with nuclear warheads—once Pyongyang masters the ability to miniaturize atomic bombs—and, with a range of up to 1,300 kilometers (800 miles), could reach Tokyo and key US military bases in Japan. The US State Department later confirmed the launch of Rodong missiles and said North Korea apparently didn't issue any maritime warning. The launch comes on the fourth anniversary of the sinking of a South Korean warship that Seoul and other nations blame on a North Korean torpedo. Pyongyang denies involvement in the attack, which killed 46 sailors. It also poses a big challenge to what had been recently improving relations between Pyongyang and Seoul. A year after threatening each other with war, the bitter rivals had restored some trust and held reunions of families divided by the Korean War of the early 1950s. The Korean Peninsula remains officially at war because that war ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. North Korean state media made no immediate comment on the launch. Joel Wit, a former State Department official and editor of the 38 North website, said the launch could be a serious setback to recent efforts by North Korea to improve relations with South Korea and Japan. It also could put China, the North's only major ally, in an awkward position if and when the US seeks further sanctions at the United Nations. China has shown increasing annoyance with North Korean provocations, but Beijing also wants to avoid shaking Pyongyang and possibly jeopardizing stability along its borders. North Korea and Japan are also to restart high-level government-to-government talks on Sunday after a 16-month hiatus. An analyst said the missile launch could be a way to test Tokyo's commitment to negotiating a deal that would provide aid to Pyongyang in return for returning any surviving Japanese abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s. "If Japan goes ahead with talks despite the missile launches, that would be a strong signal to Pyongyang of Japan's commitment to the talks," said Narushige Michishita, director of the Security and International Studies Program at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo. North Korea is thought to have a handful of rudimentary nuclear bombs, but most analysts don't believe Pyongyang has yet mastered the ability to build warheads small enough to mount on a missile that could threaten the United States. To achieve that goal, Pyongyang has staged several long-range rocket tests in recent years and, a year ago, its third nuclear test. Talks aimed at ending the North's nuclear program have been stalled since 2009. The most recent launch came as US President Barack Obama, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-hye met Tuesday in the Netherlands to discuss North Korea's security threat. It was Park and Abe's first face-to-face meeting since they both took office more than a year ago. Last year, North Korea responded to international condemnation of its third nuclear test and the annual springtime U.S.-South Korean military drills by threatening nuclear strikes on Washington and Seoul. Analysts say the impoverished North chafes against the drills, which Washington and Seoul call routine and defensive in nature, because it has to spend precious resources responding with its own exercises. The post North Korea Fires 2 Missiles as Its Rivals Meet appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

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