Thursday, June 12, 2014

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Shan Cuisine Wins New Fans From Japan

Posted: 12 Jun 2014 05:30 PM PDT

Shan food Japanese

A Shan traditional food spread at the Shan Yoe Yar restaurant in Rangoon. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — All of the dishes are native to Burma's eastern highlands. Some are nationally famous, while others are little-known outside of the country's largest state. But here in Rangoon, traditional Shan cuisine attracts an unlikely fan base: the Japanese.

With the aim of bringing authentic, traditional flavors of local cuisines from Shan State to Burma's commercial capital, Shan Yoe Yar restaurant in Rangoon has been setting out its menu to both local and international visitors since 2013. A year later, the two-story wooden house-turned-restaurant is serving a disproportionately skewed clientele.

"I noticed that 30 percent of our customers come from Japan," says Sai Htun Myo Thant, the restaurant's manager.

"One of the reasons they come here is because traditional Shan food is not oily and dishes are low in fat," he posits. "Plus, they enjoy the fresh vegetables we provide here."

Phat tee tawt, a common soup from Shan State, is one of the popular soups among customers at the restaurant in Rangoon's Lanmadaw Township. Traditionally, it is a soup abundant in various types of homegrown vegetables, prepared right before a meal. For more flavor, dried soybean (pal pote) powder is added before serving.

"That's what the Japanese are surprised to learn: We use nattō [Japanese for fermented soybean] in our food because they use it too. In Shan food, pal pote is cooked in many different ways as used in phat tee tawt," Sai Htun Myo Thant says. "The similarities between the two culinary traditions make them more interested in our food."

Akihiko Hosada, a Japanese professional boxer who has been living in Rangoon for the last six months, said he "frequently" visited Shan Yoe Yar.

"I like Shan food as it is like Japanese food, especially the taste and smell. I like noodle, tofu and soybean. I eat the food two or three times a week," he told The Irrawaddy.

Apart from soybean, to the delight of Japanese consumers, Shan people usually use tofu and sticky rice in their dishes—both are Japanese culinary mainstays.

The Japanese are also right at home tasting kaunt poat, a deep-fried, pounded black sticky rice cake that resembles the Japanese glutinous rice cake mochi.

"The difference between Shan and the Japanese tofu is the ingredients. We use chickpeas but they use soybean. They enjoy kaunt poat and fried tofu as snacks," the manager says.

Another type of food in high demand is "pounded" dishes. Mainly based on vegetables or meats, some of these Shan traditional dishes are suited to breakfast, too. For example, "pounded eggplant," which is served with a plate of white sticky rice.

"Pounded chicken" is also a favorite, especially with those who want to wash it down with Shan traditional liquor. With an alcohol content of 55 percent, the spirit is fermented with black sticky rice and rarely disappoints customers from a nation whose rice wine sake is internationally famous.

"Originally, the pounded chicken is a bit hot," says Sai Htun Myo Thant. "But for them [the Japanese] we prepare the dish with little or no chili in it. So it becomes one of the best appetizers for them to go with the Shan liquor."

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A Legendary Artist, an Austere Life: ‘Less is More’ for Kin Maung Yin

Posted: 12 Jun 2014 05:00 PM PDT

culture

The late Burmese painter Kin Maung Yin. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy)

Kin Maung Yin, one of Burma's leading contemporary artists, lost his battle with throat cancer on Tuesday and passed away at the age of 76. In this story first published on August 31, 2013, The Irrawaddy spoke with the veteran artist, who is credited with leading the first generation of Burma's modern art movement, at his home in Rangoon.RANGOON — In a one-room wooden house in the northern part of Burma's former capital, happy the man is Kin Maung Yin whose only wish and care is to paint.

Recognized as a leader in the first generation of Burma's modern art movement, Kin Maung Yin is a living legend in Burmese contemporary art today, but he leads an austere lifestyle. He does not own a refrigerator or a washing machine at his home in Rangoon. Blank canvases are piled high where a television might otherwise stand, and he sleeps on the floor, not far from the spot where he paints. He has no family.

"Less is more," says the 75-year-old. "I have everything I need here."

With no easel, the old painter sits on a floor littered with brushes and Winsor & Newton acrylic paint tubes, brushing vibrant colors onto a canvas that leans against a wooden shelf. He spends the day listening to his favorite European classical music, and when the power cuts, he shakes his head, wailing out in a trademark shrill crescendo and then uttering, "This is Burma, this is Burma."

When he tires of working, he drags himself across the floor with his arms, unable to stand without assistance, He reaches his favorite chair, near the door, and pulls himself up onto the worn-out cushion, reading for a while or gazing outside to his overgrown garden.

"These knees trouble me," he complains. "I can no longer move as freely as I did before. And I have some memory loss. Doctors blame that on the stroke I suffered in 2000.

"I want to survive for another five years. That's enough, as I have been through so many years."

As a younger artist, Kin Maung Yin used to say that his paintings were not so popular in Burma. But he was a poor prophet, because collectors today are on hot on his trail. At his latest show, earlier this month in Rangoon, nearly all of his 50 paintings on display sold out. "Maybe they like it, I'm not sure," he says.

But he's being modest.

"He is a very rare artist," says Aung Soe Min, an art collector who co-founded Pansodan Gallery in Rangoon. "He's famous not only for his style—his personality and lifestyle have also become artistic. You cannot leave him out if you're talking about Burmese modern art.

His paintings, Aung Soe Min says, feature unexpected colors. "His unique style and lifelong creations have become an inspiration for younger artists. … He is leading a solitary life, devoting himself only to art, paying no attention to popularity or making money."

Kin Maung Yin started painting in the 1960s but trained earlier as an architect, gaining an appreciation for form and color that would later influence his art, according to his friend and fellow artist Sun Myint.

As an architect, he devoured books about art and tried his hand at portraits, abstracts and any other form he learned through reading. "I'm a self-taught painter," he says. "All I know about art is that simplicity is perfection."

Indeed, many of his paintings are almost child-like in their simplicity, according to Sun Myint, who wrote a forward in a biography about his friend and noted, "He thinks and paints freely."

Anyone familiar with Kin Maung Yin's style would agree. His abstracts include riots of vivid colors and bold brushstrokes. He says the Italian modernist Amedeo Modigliani inspired him to paint portraits with mask-like faces and elongated forms.

"I even prefer him to Picasso," Kin Maung Yin says of Modigliani, primarily a figurative artist. "So I painted in his style for nearly 10 years."

He adhered to that style in his famous portrait series "Seated Dancers," as well as another series six years ago depicting democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi. The Suu Kyi series was especially renowned among collectors because it was created when the former military regime was still in power, Suu Kyi was being held under house arrest, and the police could arrest anyone in the country who possessed a photo or painting of her.

These days, now that a quasi-civilian government is in power and Suu Kyi has won a seat in Parliament, the old Burmese artist continues to spend his hours simply, painting. He wakes up every morning at 6 and spends half an hour keeping still, thinking about the good old days and his parents. Sometimes he tries to visualize what he will create later in the day. "The result always turns out different," he says.

He opens his house to anyone who visits, warmly welcoming strangers and friends alike to a seat on the floor and offering a cup of coffee or tea.

If asked to name the most important thing in life for an artist, he answers frankly: food.

"It would be nonsense for me to name something 'big'" he says. "We all need food to survive, whether you are an artist or not. That's all."

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Abbot Lashes out at Govt-Backed Clergy Over Monastery Raid

Posted: 12 Jun 2014 04:17 AM PDT

Buddhism Myanmar monastery, Maha Thanti Thukha Monastery, State Sangha

Buddhist monks walk in front of the Myanmar Port Authority building as they cross a road in Yangon March 5, 2013. (Photo: Reuters)

Abbot Penang Sayadaw U Pyinnya Wuntha has lashed out at the government-backed Buddhist clergy council, the State Sangha Maha Nayaka, over the forced eviction of his followers from Rangoon's Maha Thanti Thukha Buddhist monastery on Tuesday.

The monastery has been at the center of an ownership row between the abbot and the State Sangha since the early 2000s.

On Tuesday night, State Sangha monks with the support of the Ministry of Religious Affairs raided the monastery and seven monks and 32 laymen—all followers of U Pyinnya Wuntha—were detained.

State-owned newspaper The New Light of Myanmar reported that the laymen were released on Wednesday morning and that the monks are being held "for further questioning."

"I was told that they stormed inside the monastery as if they raided a terrorist base and took away [my] monks," U Pyinnya Wuntha, 86, told The Irrawaddy by phone from Japan, where he is on a visit.

The abbot said the former military government built the monastery and granted the building and land to him in 1999, complete with legal ownership papers.

Following an overseas visit by the abbot in 2002, U Pyinnya Wuntha said, he fell out of favor with the government and the State Sangha claimed ownership of the large monastery.

He said that in 2004 "Gen. Khin Nyunt sent a letter and explained that they handed over the monastery to the [State Sangha] council because they found some administrative problems at the monastery while I was away."

The State Sangha took control over large parts of the monastery and a small number of the abbot's followers were allowed to reside in part of the building.

U Pyinnya Wuntha subsequently spent a decade living in Japan. Following the reforms, he returned and set to resolve the ownership issue. He said he contacted the State Sangha, adding, "But they said 'no' as it was donated to them."

"So, I made a plea to the president, saying that we have every legal document on the ownership of the monastery. He responded that the property should go to someone who has legal ownership. But the State Sangha Maha Nayaka still insisted that they own it. Now it leads to an eviction, while I am away," the abbot said.

Religious Affairs officials, quoted in state media, said at a press conference Tuesday that the government and individual donors paid about US$8 million for the monastery's construction and that the abbot "has no right to privately own the property as the government already handed it over to the Sangha Maha Nayaka committee."

U Pyinnya Wuntha insisted he has full ownership and he criticized the State Sangha over the way it conducted the raid and its activities at the monastery in the past decade.

"[State Sangha] monks with walkie-talkies raided a monastery, and their action was akin to people committing violence," he said.

"My followers reported to me that during my absence the State Sangha Maha Nayaka put some parts of the monastery on hire for business use. They offered the venue for weddings and even for dancing classes!"

"We are the guardians of Buddhism who are against of any unjust action. Now we are mistreated. So people should be aware how bad the situation is," the abbot said.

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Burma Jails Another Kachin on Explosives Charges

Posted: 12 Jun 2014 04:13 AM PDT

A 2012 demonstration in Myitkyina in support of Brang Shawng, one of a number of Kachin civilians arrested and accused of working with the Kachin Independence Army. (Photo: Jinghpaw Kasa Blog)

RANGOON — A 55-year-old ethnic Kachin man was given 22 years in prison on explosives charges Tuesday, in another case of a court in Kachin State handing down a lengthy jail term to an apparent civilian amid accusations of mistreatment in military custody.

Just last week, three Kachin men who were allegedly tortured by the Burmese troops—and have denied any link to ethnic rebels fighting the government in northern Burma—were given prison sentences of as long as 14 years, also for explosives offenses.

According to lawyer Khun Naung, the Shwequ Township Court sentenced Mali Tang, a village leader in Matgyikon village, to 22 years for planning a bomb attack against the Burmese army.

The lawyer, who is representing Mali Tang and is also the chairman of the Kachin Legal Aid Network, told The Irrawaddy that the 55-year-old was taken from his village by Burmese troops from Light Infantry Battalion 212 in June 2013.

The soldiers forced the village head to guide them, but a bomb went off when they were about 2 miles down the road, Khun Naung said.

"Firstly, they [the army] let him go along with them. But, after the blast, they tied rope on his hands and beat him. They accused him of planning the bomb, despite him insisting that he did not," the lawyer said. "Then, they took a photo of him with explosives in front of him."

Khun Naung said his client was tortured during his detention, resulting in hearing problems in one ear and a wound on his right eyebrow.

After he was handed over by the army, police initially charged Mali Tang with Article 17(1) of the controversial Unlawful Associations Law, alleging that he was in contact with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), a charge he denies. He was sentenced last year to two years in jail for that offense.

Mali Tang was granted an amnesty on that charge during one of President Thein Sein's wide-ranging amnesties, but Bhamo Township police added the explosives charge, keeping him in detention.

Khun Naung complained that during the trial, the Shwequ Township Court did not consider the evidence fairly.

"He was head of the village, and the army should not charge him like this as he served the community," he said. "He did not get fair justice. The judicial system needs to be reformed."

On June 5, three Kachin men were sentenced to between 13 and 14 years by the Myitkyina Township Court in a similar case. The three men had also been charged for their alleged association with the KIA and were later convicted on explosives charges, and have alleged that they were subjected to torture and humiliating treatment in the custody of the Burma Army.

Another Kachin man arrested and accused of working with the KIA, Brang Shawng—whose case drew protests from ethnic Kachin people—was released last year in a presidential pardon after he was charged only with the Unlawful Associations Law.

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Parliament Committee Deals Blow to Suu Kyi’s Presidential Hopes

Posted: 12 Jun 2014 03:43 AM PDT

constitution

Aung San Suu Kyi looks out on the crowd during a constitutional reform rally in Sagaing Division in January. (Photo: Zarni Mann / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — The parliamentary committee guiding Burma's constitutional amendment process has voted not to endorse changes to a controversial article that bars opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from the presidency, a committee member says.

The Constitutional Amendment Implementation Committee voted overwhelmingly to recommend retaining Article 59(F), the committee member from the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday.

In a committee meeting on June 6, "only five members voted to amend it," the USDP lawmaker said, adding that committee members from the military and the USDP persuaded others to reject any changes. "Since the majority of members voted not to amend it, the amendment of that article will not happen in this Parliament."

Of the 31-member committee, seven members are unelected military representatives, while 14 represent the USDP. Only two members are from Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party, while eight represent other political parties.

The committee will submit its final recommendations to the Union Parliament, where votes will be cast on the proposed constitutional changes.

A controversial article

Article 59 (F) is one of the more controversial articles of the military-drafted 2008 Constitution. It states that the president may not be married to or have children who are foreign nationals. Suu Kyi's sons from her marriage to the late academic Michael Aris are British.

In her push to change this article, the NLD chairwoman has received support not only from the public, but also from one of the most powerful people in Parliament, Lower House Speaker Shwe Mann, who leads the USDP and has himself expressed ambitions to become president.

"To have a free and fair election in 2015, I have to say we should amend Section 59F of the Constitution," he told The Irrawaddy at a press conference in Naypyidaw last year.

The USDP's central committee in December proposed an amendment that would make Suu Kyi eligible for the presidency if her sons adopted Burmese citizenship. Her sons have indicated they are not willing to give up British citizenship, and Suu Kyi has not pressed them to do so.

In addition to Article 59(F), Suu Kyi has focused increasingly in recent months on amending Article 436, which effectively gives the military a veto over amendments.

A member of the Constitutional Amendment Implementation Committee told The Irrawaddy last month that the committee had agreed to recommend amendments to this Article 436.

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Suu Kyi Meets Critics of ‘Protection of Race and Religion’ Bills

Posted: 12 Jun 2014 01:58 AM PDT

religious conversion

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who leads Parliament's Rule of Law Committee, speaks during a rally for constitutional reform in May. (Photo: Sai Zaw / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has met with members of civil society groups in Naypyidaw to discuss their concerns with a package of four bills to "protect race and religion."

Lawmakers from Parliament's Rule of Law Committee, chaired by Suu Kyi, met on Wednesday for more than two and half hours with 10 civil society representatives who are lobbying against the bills, according to Zin Mar Aung, a human rights activist from the Rainfall Gender Studies Group, who attended the meeting.

The bills to "protect race and religion" are highly controversial in Buddhist-majority Burma. If enacted, they would restrict interfaith marriage and religious conversions, ban polygamy and put forward measures to curb population growth. Activists have received death threats in recent weeks after publicly criticizing the interfaith marriage bill as discriminatory against women and religious minorities.

"We explained our opinions, especially about the interfaith marriage bill and the [religious] conversion bill. Some of us have been threatened by extremist groups, which is totally outside the rule of law. So we discussed how to take steps to promote rule of law," Zin Mar Aung told The Irrawaddy on Thursday.

"She also sees problems—she mostly agreed with us," the activist said of Suu Kyi's response to their concerns about the bills, adding that the opposition leader emphasized the need to ensure that lawmakers consider only proposed legislation that would benefit communities.

Suu Kyi said the Rule of Law Committee only had the authority to make suggestions to Parliament, and would likely follow up after the meeting by submitting a report with recommendations.

On Thursday, 81 civil society groups also urged the Burmese government to scrap one of the four bills that restricts religious conversions. They said the bill, if enacted, would "violate fundamental human rights and could lead to further violence against Muslims and other religious minorities."

"This new piece of draft legislation appears to legitimize the views of those promoting hate-speech and inciting violence against Muslims and other minorities, and if adopted, will further institutionalize discrimination against religious and ethnic minorities," the groups wrote in a statement, one day after a US government body said "such a law has no place in the 21st century."

Drafted by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and published in state media last month, the religious conversion bill requires government authorities to approve applications for religious conversions, including by questioning applicants to ensure that they truly believe in the new faith. Anyone deemed to be converting "with the intent of insulting or destroying religion" could face up to two years in prison. Those found to have pressured others to convert could be imprisoned for one year.

Burma's 2008 Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, and the Ministry of Religious Affairs says the bill is intended to protect this freedom by preventing forced conversions.

But the proposed legislation follows a surge of anti-Muslim violence in recent years, and comes amid calls by nationalist Buddhist monks to shun Muslim businesses. The monks, part of a movement known as 969, have warned that the Muslim population is increasing and threatens to destroy the country's Buddhist culture.

Some critics worry the bills to protect race and religion, which were first proposed by the monks, are specifically intended to prevent Buddhists from converting to Islam.

Religious Affairs Minister Hsan Sint declined to comment on Thursday when asked by The Irrawaddy about the meeting with Suu Kyi and calls to drop the religious conversion bill.

In a list of objectives on its official website, his ministry says it aims to "allow freedom of faith," but also to promote the "purification, perpetuation, promotion and propagation of the Theravada Buddhist Sasana [teachings]."

The ministry says it supports religious minorities by settling disputes between faiths, making arrangements for non-Buddhists to travel abroad for pilgrimages or religious seminars, and allowing national radio broadcasts of Christian, Islamic and Hindu talks on religious holidays.

The 81 civil society groups—a mix of local groups including the Chin Human Rights Organization and the Kachin Peace Network, as well as international rights groups including Fortify Rights and Physicians for Human Rights—urged the Burmese government to not only scrap the religious conversion bill, but also to abolish the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

"Replace it with an independent and impartial religious affairs commission with a mandate to eliminate all forms of religious discrimination," they said in the statement.

Lawi Weng contributed to this report.

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More Than 86,000 Have Fled Arakan State by Boat: UN

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 11:28 PM PDT

Boat people

Rohingya people walk away from boats near one of many camps for displaced Rohingya on Sittwe's outskirts. (Photo: Reuters)

RANGOON — The United Nations estimates that more than 86,000 people have attempted the perilous journey to leave western Burma's Arakan State by boat since the outbreak of inter-communal violence in mid-2012.

The boat people—mostly Muslim Rohingya who are not granted citizenship by the Burmese government—take to the deep waters of the Bay of Bengal, normally in unsafe and overcrowded boats, in hope of reaching another country, usually Malaysia.

According to a transcript posted online, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) spokesman Adrian Edwards told a press briefing in Geneva on Tuesday that 615 people were reported to have died making the journey in 2013. The death toll last year compares with 730 people reported dead in the second half of 2012, which Edwards said could be put down to "the use of larger, more stable cargo boats by smuggling networks."

However, he said, people who successfully made the journey "told UNHCR staff about overcrowded boats that sometimes lost their way or developed engine problems.

"Some ran out of food and water due to the long periods at sea. Some who died on the boats are said to have been thrown overboard."

Violence between ethnic Arakanese Buddhists and Rohingya broke out in June 2012 and has reignited sporadically ever since. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs' most recent figures say 137,000 people are living in camps for the internally displaced in the state, the majority of whom are Rohingya.

With tensions still high in the state, and limited access to humanitarian assistance, health care, education and work, many appear willing to take the risk of leaving by sea.

"The UNHCR estimates more than 86,000 people have left on boats since June 2012. This includes more than 16,000 people in the second half of 2012, 55,000 in 2013 and nearly 15,000 from January to April this year," Edwards said. "The majority are Rohingya, although anecdotally the proportion of Bangladeshis has grown this year."

Edwards also outlined the problems faced by boat people at their destinations. In southern Thailand and increasingly in northern Malaysia as well, many fall into the hands of human traffickers.

"There they were kept for months in overcrowded camps and sometimes even in cages until their families could pay for their release," Edwards said, adding that detainees were beaten, subjected to harsh conditions and fed meager rations in the camps in the jungles of the Thai-Malaysian border.

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US Agency Urges Burma to Scrap Proposed Religion Laws

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 10:38 PM PDT

religious conversion

A banner promoting the new Upper Burma chapter of the Group to Protect Nationality, Religion and the Buddhist Mission is seen at a monastery in Mandalay. (Photo: Teza Hlaing / The Irrawaddy)

WASHINGTON — Draft laws in Burma aimed at protecting the country's majority Buddhist identity by regulating religious conversions and marriages between people of different faiths have "no place in the 21st century" and should be withdrawn, a US government agency said on Wednesday.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom said the laws risked stoking violence against Muslims and other religious minorities, including Christians. If the laws are passed, it said, Washington "should factor these negative developments into its evolving relationship with Burma [Myanmar]."

The US State Department said it had serious concerns about the pending legislation and had expressed them to the government of Burma.

State Department spokeswoman Jan Psaki told a regular news briefing that any measure that would criminalize interfaith marriages "would be inconsistent with the government's efforts to promote tolerance and respect for human rights."

The chairman of the commission, Robert George, called the proposed law against religious conversions "irreparably flawed" and said it would contravene Burma's international commitments to protect freedom of religion or belief.

"Such a law has no place in the 21st century, and we urge that it be withdrawn," he said.

The law as published in draft form last month would require those seeking to change their religion to obtain permission from panels of government officials.

The government has yet to publish drafts of the other three bills, which deal with population control measures, a ban on polygamy and curbs on interfaith marriage.

George said the commission recently recommended that Washington continue to designate Burma a "country of particular concern" for severe religious freedom violations.

Late last month, Burma began a parliamentary session that will debate the proposed legislation. The government has said it will accept comments on the religious conversion law until June 20.

Rising sectarian tension in Burma has exploded into violent clashes between Buddhists and Muslims.

At least 237 people have been killed and more than 140,000 displaced by the violence since June 2012. The vast majority of victims have been Muslims, who make up about 5 percent of Burma's population of 60 million.

Burma's quasi-civilian government has adopted sweeping political and economic reforms since taking over from a military junta in March 2011 and has been encouraged in this by the United States, which is competing for influence in Asia with an increasingly assertive China.

However, the religious tension in Burma, which has grown alongside a movement led by nationalist Buddhist monks known by the numerals "969," has been viewed in Washington with growing concern.

A bipartisan group of prominent US senators has introduced a bill in the US Congress that would limit military cooperation with Burma if rights abuses are not addressed.

Recommendations of the bipartisan commission are non-binding. US law allows for the imposition of sanctions on countries the commission terms "of particular concern," but they are not automatically imposed.

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Japanese Experts Aid Fight to Save At-Risk Wooden Buildings in Burma

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 06:00 PM PDT

Heritage

The 180-year-old Bagaya Monastery in Mandalay Division is currently being surveyed by Japanese and Burmese experts. (Photo: Teza Hlaing / The Irrawaddy)

MANDALAY — Japanese experts are training Burmese archeology officials in using high-tech techniques to maintain the country's many aging wooden buildings, officials said.

A group from both countries is currently surveying the Bagaya Monastery, a structure at Ava, Mandalay Division, that was built from teak in 1834 and is thought to be one of Burma's oldest surviving wooden structures. It is hoped skills passed on by Japanese experts will help Burma to preserve many similar buildings that are at risk from the elements and termites.

The work is part of a three-year Japanese assistance project with Burma's Ministry of Culture. Twelve Burmese engineers and architects are being trained by experts from the National Research Institute for Culture Properties in Tokyo and the Japanese Association for Conservation of Architectural Monuments, with the collaboration of Burma's Department of Archaeology, National Museum and Library.

Katsura Sato, an architect from the Tokyo-based institute, said the survey this month was the second phase of work on the Bagaya Monastery, and involved collecting data on decaying teak wood pillars. The first phase involved collecting data on the main structure and wooden decorations, and was finished in May.

"Our mission is to train Burmese architects and engineers in data collection, how to

maintain the building without harming the original structure and how to prevent weathering and damage from insects, not only to this building but many other ancient wooden structures across the country," she explained.

Lwin Mar Oo, assistant director of Burma's Department of Archaeology, National Museum and Library, said the group had learned advanced techniques from the Japanese experts.

"We've been working in traditional ways to maintain the ancient buildings for many years," she said. "The ancient structures are not a substitutable heritage. We now can learn the technology and how to use chemicals to prolong conservation, which the Japanese have used to maintain their own century-old wooden structures."

Built during the reign of King Bagyidaw in the former Burmese capital of Ava (or Inwa), the monastery, which stands atop 267 teak wood pillars, is now 180 years old. The Japanese experts estimate that one third of the Bagaya Monastery is badly damaged.

"One-third of the pillars are decaying due to termites and weather. There are many hollow pillars and some are out of position. Only a quarter of the floor outside of the main building is in good shape," said Kimura Kazuo, a senior conservation architect and head of the planning division at the Japanese Association for Conservation of Architectural Monuments.

He said that while the building would remain standing for some years, the Burmese government would have to conduct major restoration work.

Also important to the conservation of the Bagaya Monastery is to prevent exposure to the rain, which damages the wood, he said.

"The road is higher than the base of the monastery. All the water flows under the monastery and affects the wooden pillars. Too much exposure to water is the main cause that allows termites and other insect to destroy the wood," he said.

"If we can't prevent this, the restoration work will be in vain."

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Japan to Fund New Rangoon Bridge

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 05:00 PM PDT

A bridge connecting Pazuntaung Township and Thaketa Township. (Photo: Kyaw Phyo Tha / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — Construction of a new bridge to connect downtown Rangoon with Thaketa Township will begin in April next year, according to the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which is funding the project.

The Japanese aid body is providing a maximum grant of about US$4.1 million for the four-lane bridge, with an "extradosed" architectural style that is known to be elegant but relatively expensive. Once completed, the bridge will be the first extradosed bridge in Burma, stretching 253 meters across.

The grant agreement was signed between JICA and Burma's Ministry of Construction on Tuesday in Naypyidaw.

JICA says it hopes the new bridge will improve transportation in Greater Rangoon, to cope with an increase in economic activities and rapid traffic growth.

Two other bridges currently connect Thaketa Township, in eastern Rangoon, with Pazuntaung and Dawbon townships, both in southeastern Rangoon. The bridges are moveable and were constructed in 1996, but residents say they require upgrades and are sometimes closed.

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Outcry Continues Over UN Office Rents in Rangoon

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 05:30 PM PDT

Unicef rent

The gate of Unicef's office in Golden Valley, Bahan Township, one of the most expensive neighborhoods in Rangoon. (Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy)

Public outcry continues after news broke last month that Unicef pays US$87,000 per month for its Rangoon office, which is owned by the relative of a former general. The World Health Organization (WHO) also admitted to paying $79,000 per month for its office in the country's biggest city, while unconfirmed reports suggest that the EU ambassador's residence belongs to a relative of the late dictator Gen. Ne Win. Burmese activists and politicians have responded with concern.

Min Ko Naing, a leader of the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society:

"People have been questioning the international aid agencies' use of funding, including the UN, as their spending doesn't reach those who really need it. They spend exorbitantly on expensive cars and real estate rents. The result is they rarely earn respect from the people, who only rely on them as a last resort. The UN needs to review this.

"Secondly, it doesn't make sense for some people to earn such an enormous amount of money in this country. The government has to investigate how they came to own these kinds of properties—what did they do to get it?"

Khon Ja, activist with the Kachin Peace Network, a humanitarian group

"I tried to help Unicef find its office, and I learned that nearly all decent properties are in the hands of ex-military men. It was quite rare for them to be owned by ordinary people. The Unicef case is something that shouldn't happen, but we don't have enough properties or office spaces. If we have enough, they are rarely free from generals and drug lords. As far as I'm concerned, nearly all big buildings are in their hands.

"Unicef took a long time to find a property that was not owned by someone on a blacklist, but they didn't have many options. I have to blame corruption and the system in the country that somewhat keeps corruption alive. The government should intervene to create options for those who are looking for properties."

Moe Thee Zun, ex-president of the Democratic Party for a New Society and former president of the All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF)

"Unief is a UN agency funded by international donor money, and the agency's spending on property is a waste of that funding. Instead of fighting poverty in Burma, they are fueling crony capitalism in the country. Plus, spending a lot on rent is somewhat putting the local property market into ruin. We have vacant rooms and buildings in Burma. When I was in Rangoon, I found vacant buildings standing on land that had been confiscated by the army—for example, the USDP [Union Solidarity and Development Party] office or the military headquarters in Rangoon. If they are put on lease, the government could even earn money."

Phyu Phyu Thin, a lawmaker from the National League for Democracy (NLD) and an HIV/AIDS activist

"In my opinion, humanitarian aid is based on what donors give. If you give aid effectively to those who need it, your mission will succeed. If you spend a lot on [renting] a building for your project, the people who need assistance will not get as much aid as they need. If so, the project is a failure. International agencies and businesses that want to work in Burma should be mindful to ensure that their activities don't help the dictatorship or anyone connected to it."

Khin Ohnmar, a human rights and women's affairs activist

"When they look for an office space that would suit their needs in Rangoon, it is hard for international organizations and diplomats to stay away from cronies and families of former generals, who monopolize the best of the city's property market. But their exorbitant spending on [renting] an office is questionable if the money used comes from the budget aimed for development of Burma and its people.

"Ethically, it's quite ugly because it's like the international community is helping to enrich a group of people who have a bad human rights record by paying them with funding that is supposed to help the people…

"We used to think transparency and accountability were lost in Burma, where corruption is rampant in the government and among cronies. Now it's more than that. International programs for development, poverty elimination and the peace process are rushing to Burma. With no transparency, we have no idea what they are doing and how much they are spending. It is a headache for us."

The post Outcry Continues Over UN Office Rents in Rangoon appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Thai Army Delegation Visits China Amid Western Reproach of Coup

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 10:26 PM PDT

Thailand China coup

Thai Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha speaks during a meeting with Thai ambassadors at the Royal Thai Army Headquarters in Bangkok on June 11, 2014. (Photo: Reuters / Chanat Katanyu)

BANGKOK — A delegation of Thai military commanders traveled to China on Wednesday for talks on regional security and joint training amid Western reproach of the army's seizure of power in a coup last month.

Gen. Surasak Kanjanarat, Thailand's de facto defense minister, said the meeting was aimed at mapping out "future plans of action" with the Chinese army, one of its oldest regional allies. He did not elaborate on the plans.

The bid by Thailand's military rulers to strengthen ties with China comes after Western powers, including old ally the United States, criticized the May 22 coup and called for a speedy return to democracy.

The junta has said it has China's support.

"This meeting will be to talk about ties … and future plans of action and exchange views on regional security," Surasak, the head of the delegation, told reporters.

"We will discuss in which areas we could increase military training. We will not talk about the situation in Thailand because it is not relevant."

Surasak was due to meet the deputy chief-of-staff of China's army, Lt-Gen Wang Guanzhong.

The coup was the latest convulsion in a decade-long conflict between the Bangkok-based royalist establishment and former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his allies. The ousted government had been headed by the self-exiled, former telecommunications tycoon's sister, Yingluck Shinawatra.

Several foreign governments have voiced disapproval of the coup, including the United States, which scrapped joint military programs days after the generals took power.

In contrast, the ambassadors of China and Vietnam in Bangkok met Thailand's armed forces chief last week in what the junta said was a show of support.

On Monday, in the first major corporate deal since the coup, state-owned China Mobile Ltd agreed to buy a 19 percent stake in Thai telecoms group True Corp for US$881 million.

The regime's engagement with China comes at a critical time for the United States, which is shoring up ties with Asian allies and building stronger relationships with countries like Vietnam and Burma to counter China's growing assertiveness.

Perhaps with that in mind, the US response to Thailand's coup has, for now anyway, been limited to the suspension of about $3.5 million in military aid and the cancellation of some training exercises and visits by commanders.

While likely to find sympathy in China, Thailand's military is also concerned about perceptions elsewhere. Junta leader Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha called on 23 Thai ambassadors on Wednesday to make the case for the coup.

"Thailand is not able to be alone in this world and a great part of our income comes from exports, which relies on international relationships," Prayuth said.

"We can't make everyone agree with our actions but our duty is to create understanding."

Malaysia's defense minister is due next week to make the first visit by a foreign government minister since the coup. His trip showed "a good understanding of the Thai situation," the Thai military said in a statement.

The army stepped in after more than six months of debilitating and at times violent protests against Yingluck's government, saying it had to act to prevent more bloodshed.

China's top newspaper on Monday warned against aping Western-style democracy, pointing to Thailand as an example of the kind of chaos the system can bring.

For a decade Thailand has been caught up in a political tug of war between mostly poor supporters of Thaksin and middle-class Bangkok residents aligned with the royalist establishment. Thaksin was ousted in a 2006 coup and has lived abroad since 2008 to avoid a corruption sentence.

He remains hugely popular among rural voters.

As part of the junta's reforms, it has moved to sideline civil servants and senior police officers seen as loyal to Thaksin in what his supporters see as part of a bid by the establishment to permanently exclude him from politics.

The junta has imposed draconian controls since taking control. More than 300 academics, journalists, activists and politicians, a disproportionate number of them aligned to Thaksin, have been rounded up by the military.

The junta has also banned political gatherings of more than five people and imposed a nationwide curfew, now running from midnight to 4 a.m.

However, over the past week, it has lifted the curfew in 10 holiday destinations to help boost tourism, which accounts for about 10 percent of the economy. On Tuesday, it lifted it in a further 20 provinces but kept it in Bangkok.

Chinese tourists have flocked to Thailand in recent years, overtaking the numbers of visitors from the United States and Europe, though the recent turmoil has frightened many off.

In the first five months of 2014, the number of tourists from China plunged 54.9 percent from the same period a year earlier to 307,637, according to the Association of Thai Travel Agents.

Chinese tourists, including visitors for business meetings and conferences, accounted for 26 percent of total passenger arrivals in those months.

Additional reporting by Pracha Hariraksapitak.

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Isolated North Korea a Visitor Draw, But Sometimes Literally a Tourist Trap

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 10:21 PM PDT

North Korea

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (front) visits the construction site of a ski resort on Masik Pass, in this undated photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang on November 3, 2013. (Credit: Reuters)

SEOUL — "Taking you to places where your mother would rather you stayed away from." That's how one Western travel agency advertises its tours to North Korea.

The US government doesn't want you to go there either. Three of its citizens have been detained in the last eight months while on tourist trips to North Korea, including Jeffrey Fowle, a visitor from Miamisburg, Ohio, who was arrested in May.

Despite the risks, tour operators say business to North Korea is booming, albeit from a low base for one of the most isolated countries in the world. For Pyongyang, tourism is one of the few sources of the foreign currency it relies on to overcome US sanctions related to its nuclear and missile programs.

While the country does not publish tourist numbers, travel agencies estimate as many as 6,000 Westerners visit the country every year, compared to just 700 a decade ago. Most are adventure-seekers curious about life behind the last slither of the iron curtain, and ignore critics who say their dollars are propping up a repressive regime.

The vast majority of tourists to North Korea are from neighboring China, North Korea's main ally.

"People are people," said Keith Ballard, an American tourist currently in North Korea. "I can take politics out of it.

"Did anyone have any ethical concerns about me travelling here? Yes they did, some people said why would you even go there to support that government," he said by telephone. "I said, hey it's basically just tourism."

Last month, the US Department of State said it now "strongly recommends" against all travel to North Korea, citing the risk of "arbitrary arrest."

Joshua Stanton, a Washington DC-based lawyer who served with the US military in South Korea and writes a blog on North Korea, says the tourist dollars prop up the government of Kim Jong Un, the third of his family to rule the country.

"The companies selling these overpriced tours need customers gullible enough to believe that they'll be safe there, and that their visits will somehow change North Korea for the better," he said in an e-mail. "The first claim is false, and the second claim is dubious."

Bookings Rise Tenfold in 10 Years

The warnings do not appear to be having much effect.

Beijing-based Koryo Tours, one of the biggest operators sending Westerners into North Korea, has seen a tenfold rise in business in the past decade, peaking at about 2,100 visitors in 2012, according to Simon Cockerell, its general manager.

Around a quarter of those, Cockerell said, were American.

Troy Collings of Young Pioneer Tours, another China-based foreign travel agency specializing in trips to North Korea, says his company is seeing business double annually, and had nearly 1,000 clients in the past year.

Travel agents and others say those who have been detained in North Korea have usually been held for a specific reason, such as attempting to proselytize or independently contacting locals—which the US travel advisory specifically warns against.

"I realized that if you are going there strictly as a tourist with no other agenda, then the DPRK is a very safe place to travel," Dusty Mapson, a recent tourist to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the official name for North Korea, said by e-mail.

"I was a little worried about my military background being an issue during my trip," said Mapson, who served in the US Navy. But he faced no problems.

"It should be reasonably assumed that should you choose to travel to DPRK you know the potential dangers and understand that you are a guest in their country and there are certain rules you are going to have to follow while you are there," he said.

String of Arrests

Korean-American missionary Kenneth Bae has been in custody in North Korea for 18 months. Merrill Newman, an elderly US citizen, was detained in Pyongyang when he told his North Korean guides he trained anti-communist guerrillas during the 1950-53 Korean War. He was released shortly afterwards.

Matthew Todd Miller, 24, was taken into custody by North Korean officials after entering the country on April 10, ripping up his tourist visa and demanding asylum, according to North Korea's state-run KCNA news agency.

Shortly before North Korea said last week that it was holding Fowle, Japan's Kyodo news agency cited unidentified diplomatic sources as saying an American had been detained for having allegedly left a Bible in his hotel.

Fowle's lawyer has said he was not on a church mission, and that Fowle "loves to travel and loves the adventure of experiencing different cultures and seeing new places." A 2010 profile of Fowle and his wife in the Dayton Daily News said he always had a "particular interest" in the former Soviet Union.

Before they visit North Korea, foreign travel agencies brief their clients about the dangers of travelling in the country. Visitors are told to respect local laws that prohibit the distribution of foreign literature, or doing anything that might defame the North Korean leadership.

Foreign travel companies also have to sign a contract with North Korean state tourism agencies stating that both sides "shall make the visitors obey and respect voluntarily the laws, regulations and public orders of DPR, Korea," according to a copy seen by Reuters.

The contract also says all nationalities are permitted to enter the country as tourists, except for South Koreans and Israelis. Journalists are also barred.

Visitors travel from Beijing to the capital Pyongyang on one of Air Koryo's Soviet-era passenger jets, or cross the border from China by train. Once inside North Korea, tourists are led on closely-chaperoned tours.

All expenses, including hotel and food, are paid for up front, although tourists can carry euros, dollars or Chinese yuan for out of pocket expenses.

Costs for a four-day visit range from US$500 to $1,800, some of which goes to state-owned tourism companies in North Korea, travel agents said.

Despite North Korea's fear of exposing its citizens to outside influences, it continues to invest in projects to attract more visitors.

Last year, North Korea opened a brand new ski resort near the eastern port city of Wonsan. It aims to make $43.75 million in annual profit from the resort, documents prepared for potential foreign investors and obtained by Reuters show.

"The most interesting part of this case is the growing contradiction between North Korea's ambitions to earn revenue from tourism and the regime's paranoia about outside influences," said Stephan Haggard, a North Korea expert at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington.

"The DPRK desperately needs trade and investment, but appears incapable of accepting the marginal loss of control such opening would entail," said Haggard.

The post Isolated North Korea a Visitor Draw, But Sometimes Literally a Tourist Trap appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Cambodia’s Strongman Affirms Pre-eminence as Opposition Challenge Falters

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 10:11 PM PDT

Hun Sen

Policemen stand guard as protesters gather to mark the International Workers' Day rally at Freedom Park in Phnom Penh May 1, 2014. (Photo: Reuters)

PHNOM PENH — Riot police with assault rifles stand guard near high metal walls. Lines of parked trucks and coiled razor wire mark the perimeter of a site in Cambodia's capital that's strictly off limits to the public.

What appears at first like a fortified military base is symbolic of the struggle facing Cambodians riled by incessant land grabs, official corruption and labor disputes in a country tightly controlled by one man for nearly three decades.

The venue under guard is Freedom Park, the only place in Cambodia where anti-government protests are allowed. At least they used to be—until an opposition-led movement to topple Prime Minister Hun Sen gathered steam, and the authorities closed it indefinitely.

"They created Freedom Park so people could express their opinions, but now they've shut it down, so what does this mean?" said Chhairith Chhom, 32, a supporter of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).

It means the chance of the CNRP rebuilding its once formidable campaign of rallies calling for an annulment and re-run of last year's election, which it says was rigged to favor the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP), is extremely slim.

After decades in control through party and business networks and with influence over the judiciary and media, the CPP and Hun Sen were stunned by the once feeble opposition's electoral challenge last July, when it carved off a chunk of their parliamentary majority, according to results the CNRP disputes.

The CNRP won the votes of Cambodians yearning for change and tired of the CPP's monopoly of power. It also won over unions representing half a million textiles workers who complain of paltry earnings and resent a government that's allowed only marginal pay rises.

From September last year, the CNRP led some of the biggest protests ever in Cambodia, but they fizzled out after a crackdown on factory strikes in January that killed at least four people and alarmed major clothing brands with interests in Cambodia, like Adidas, Nike and Gap.

Since then, anti-government protests intended to draw hundreds of thousands of people attracted just a few hundred. Freedom Park was shut down in April, denying the opposition a haven and lawful staging ground to renew their offensive.

"In general, people I've seen and talked to in villages, just want change of national leadership," said Kem Ley, an independent political analyst.

"But what the CNRP has been doing is the same thing, again and again," Ley said, referring to the calls for protests. "People are just tired and afraid because of the government's shameless use of violence."

The CNRP has been forced to scale back its demands after months of fruitless negotiations and failed attempts to win international support.

Rare Concessions

On Tuesday, Hun Sen made concessions that are likely to deflate even further the faltering opposition campaign.

In the longer run, Hun Sen, 61, might have to contend with brooding unions and social-media-savvy younger voters hankering for change but for now, it looks as if the former Khmer Rouge guerrilla and self-styled "strongman" of Cambodian politics, will rule comfortably until the next election.

The concessions included a television broadcast license for the CNRP, a promise of reform of a politicized election commission, and the next polls in February 2018, five months earlier than scheduled and much later than CNRP's softened demand for a new poll in 2016.

The CNRP appears to have little choice but to accept what is on the table and end an almost year-long parliamentary boycott that experts warn is playing into the CPP's hands and risks making the opposition party irrelevant.

"It's positive," said Nhem Ponhearith, CNRP spokesman, referring to Hun Sen's offer. "These go along with what the CNRP has been demanding."

Hun Sen also derided the CNRP, accusing it of starting a rumor at the weekend that he had died of a stroke. He said Cambodia needed him and the opposition was no threat.

"Don't pray for Hun Sen to die, they need Hun Sen to control the situation," he said, with his customary reference to himself in the third person.

"My biggest problem is nothing, only whether our people are all right and have water for their farms."

But his problems, at least in the longer-term, are perhaps bigger than he is letting on.

Workers are still demanding a sharp rise in the US$100 monthly minimum wage and could at any time hold hostage the $5.3 billion garment sector, Cambodia's biggest employer and economic driver, which suffered reduced orders and a 17 percent drop in first-quarter exports from political and labor unrest.

Some analysts say the CNRP's challenge was not fruitless because it sent Hun Sen a message that Cambodia's population, 70 percent of whom were born after the 1970s and 1980s years of war, is no longer willing to put up with venal, authoritarian rule in the name of peace.

"Hun Sen understands it, the CPP understands it, that there's no way Hun Sen can go back to the old days of the strongman," said political analyst Ou Virak.

"Times are changing. There's a younger population that's demanding more than the old generation, which pretty much wanted peace and nothing else."

The post Cambodia's Strongman Affirms Pre-eminence as Opposition Challenge Falters appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.
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