The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Rangoon Plans Installation of Traffic Lights To Curb Congestion
• In Rangoon, USDP Seeks to Boost Popularity Through Road Repairs
• Election Commission Begins National Voter List Preparation
• Activists to Run in Controversial YCDC Elections
• Kachin Civil Society Groups Rally for Two Jailed IDPs
• Err…Um
• India Plans to Step Up Safety on World’s Most Dangerous Roads
• British Banker Charged With Murder of Two Women in Hong Kong
• Thai Junta Promises Peace ‘Within a Year’ in Insurgency-Hit South
• Festival of Joy and Loss
• ‘If We Don’t Defend Our People They Will Disappear’ 

Rangoon Plans Installation of Traffic Lights To Curb Congestion Posted: 04 Nov 2014 06:43 AM PST Traffic jams in Rangoon are becoming a major downside of the rapidly expanding car market. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — The Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC) plans to install about 200 of state-of-the-art traffic lights in the congested former capital, a committee official said. The plan, which the committee hopes to implement within three to six months, is to be carried out in two phases and would cost about US$40 million. Tin Maung Kyi, head of YCDC's Department of Engineering (Roads and Bridges), told The Irrawaddy that the plan was established to counter Rangoon's "critical" traffic problem. Rangoon Division Chief Minister Myint Swe recently told reporters that the regional and municipal governments are currently holding discussions with the YCDC regarding details of implementation. The first phase of the project would include installation of 75 traffic lights and construction of a command station to control traffic flows. Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has donated 10 traffic lights to be used in the initial phase. The cost of implementing phase one has been estimated at $20 million in light of the gift. Those lights will be installed within one month on two major roadways: Kaba Aye and Parami roads. Tin Maung Kyi said that he doesn't know exactly when the other 65 units will be installed as the YCDC still has to carry out a tender process to fund the project, but he was confident that phase one would be complete by mid-2015. The official said that the timeframe for bidders will be announced "within the next two weeks." The YCDC is also making efforts to reduce bus traffic, Tin Maung Kyi said. The committee has recommended new regulations that would require buses to drive in a designated yellow lane, adding that if drivers do not comply, the city will install concrete roadblocks that separate the buses from other vehicles. Installing such barricades on the city's roads would cost about $2 million, he said. Another major expense of the project is a proposal to install CCTV control cameras that measure traffic density and automatically open up the most heavily trafficked lanes. The YCDC has already begun testing the system at Rangoon's 8-mile junction. Urban planning expert Kyaw Latt told The Irrawaddy that the system is used by nearly all modernized metropolitan areas and could reduce congestion by 15-20 percent. "This is a must-have system," he said. Myint Swe estimated that about 80 percent of Burma's registered cars are used in Rangoon. Many are registered in other divisions at a lower cost and brought into the financial capital, making the number of vehicles difficult to calculate. While the city's drivers agree that there is a growing traffic problem, some said that the expensive and currently unfinanced traffic light plan might not be the silver bullet that the committee made it out to be. "I don't think upgrading the traffic lights is the proper solution to this problem," said Aung Gyi, a Rangoon city taxi driver. He said that the number of cars on the road is rapidly increasing, and what the city needs is more roads and flyovers to accommodate the influx of vehicles. Tin Maung Kyi said in response that the traffic light plan is a "short term" solution, and that a more long term plan is being drawn up with JICA to build a network of new roadways and flyovers throughout the city. The Japanese government aid agency has already drawn up an urban transport development master plan, as it did for Lao capital Vientiane. The post Rangoon Plans Installation of Traffic Lights To Curb Congestion appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

In Rangoon, USDP Seeks to Boost Popularity Through Road Repairs Posted: 04 Nov 2014 05:22 AM PST A road in Rangoon's Tamwe Township was upgraded in 2012 when the USDP offer support to residents seeking its improvement. As with many roads repairs in Rangoon since the 2010 election campaign, it lets residents know who to thank: the ruling USDP. (Photos: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — In 2010, several months before the then-military junta held the first general elections in Burma in 20 years, Kyaw Thura, a resident of Rangoon's Panzudaung Township, noticed there was a sudden flurry of activity on the main road in his neighborhood. The potholed Ye Gyaw Road between the crumbling buildings of downtown Rangoon was being repaired at a rapid pace after many years of neglect by authorities. When it was completed to a concrete surface road several weeks later a sign went up to let residents know who to thank for the improvement: the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), the political party of the junta. "I couldn't help wondering at that time why the USDP urgently repaired the road so soon before the elections, and why not before. I really questioned their intentions," said Kyaw Thura, 39. Since 2007, green signs bearing a sitting lion—the logo of the USDP and its predecessor, the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA)—had been springing up next to repaired roads in Rangoon. In 2010, the USDP initiative was ramped up across Burma's biggest city, which had been neglected at the expense of the junta's gleaming new capital Naypyidaw for years. Le Le Win Swe, a USDP lawmaker from Tamwe Township, where some 60 roads were repaired between 2008 and 2010, insisted, however, that the activities had not been an attempt to influence voters during the polls at the time. "The party paid for the cost of building roads in other areas, especially in 2010, and the money came from party funds. We just built them as people need better roads," she said. Perhaps not confident of a good result based on the popularity of its road projects in Rangoon alone, the junta rigged the 2010 elections, which were boycotted by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) and condemned by the international community as flawed. Only a few smal opposition parties, such as the National Democratic Force, and a number of ethnic parties contested the elections alongside the USDP. The results gave the USDP, which was formed by ex-junta members shortly before the 2010 elections, a clear victory and put it firmly in power as it began the political reform process under President Thein Sein a year later under the junta's seven-step "roadmap to discipline-flourishing democracy." It's unclear how widespread the road repairs projects were ahead of the 2010 vote and contacted USDP members were tightlipped when asked whether the party is deploying similar tactics ahead of the 2015 elections, which are supposed to be Burma's first free and fair vote since 1990. That year, the NLD won in a landslide, but the result was ignored by the military regime. Yan Myo Thein, an independent political commentator, said the USDP had been trying to take a more "public-centered approach" since the 2010 campaign, such as providing free health care services in some townships in Rangoon and continuing to support road repairs. "In 2010, the road-building could be regarded as part of their campaign, as everybody knows, to boost public support," he said. "That kind of public-centered approaches will become more intense [ahead of the 2015 elections]. They are likely to prepare for it more systematically than in 2010 as they now they have to face their rival, the NLD." In recent years, Rangoon residents trying to improve the dilapidated infrastructure in their neighborhoods have been provided support by local USDP branches, which have offered to fill funding shortfalls if residents also make an effort to collect money for the improvement they desire. Yan Myo Thein said, however, that the one-off public projects would do little to significantly boost the popularity of the USDP, which is still widely viewed as the party of the detested former regime. "It's true that the USDP has been trying to get closer to the people, but in terms of public support they still cannot match the NLD," he said. Even during the flawed 2010 elections the road-building program failed to impress residents in Panzudaung Township, according to Kyaw Thura. Asked whether USDP representative and former Myanmar Times co-owner Tin Tun Oo won the seat he was contesting there, Kyaw Thura laughed and said: "No, he lost to his rival from the National Democratic Force!" The post In Rangoon, USDP Seeks to Boost Popularity Through Road Repairs appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Election Commission Begins National Voter List Preparation Posted: 04 Nov 2014 04:42 AM PST A man looks at election material posted outside a polling station in central Rangoon during the 2010 general elections. The Union Election Commission is preparing to compile a national voter list after a trial run earlier this year. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON— Burma's Union Election Commission (UEC) today announced that it is beginning to compile a list of eligible voters for next year's general election. "We will start the compilation of national voter list with 10 townships in Rangoon in the first phase, and we will continue to the other townships over four phases," said UEC member Win Kyi. Staff from 10 township election commissions in Rangoon have spent the past two days training in the data computerization process used to compile voter lists, according to state-run paper The Mirror Daily. "[In the second phase] we will continue to 41 townships in Rangoon, Taunggyi, southern Shan State and Mandalay," said Thaung Hlaing, director of the UEC. "From there, the process will continue to other townships across the country." Any citizen at least 18 years of age whose name appears on ward-level population lists and household registration lists would be included in voter lists, Thaung Hlaing said. Voter lists in all 330 townships across the country will be finished by next July. Once the lists are complete, members of the public will have 14 days to check the township voter lists for any wrongful inclusions or exclusions. "If people believe they have been wrongfully excluded or any persons are wrongfully included, they can file an appeal to the township commission," he said, adding that voter lists will be open to the public for appeal from seven days after the election date is officially announced next year. The 2010 elections were widely criticized for reported instances of irregularities and fraud. In addition to reports of coercion and inducements to vote for the incumbent Union Solidarity and Development Party, many eligible voters reported that they were prevented from casting ballots after being excluded from electoral rolls. Thaung Hlaing said that anomalies in the voter lists prepared for the 2010 elections were the result of the rushed two-month preparation period. With more time to finalize electoral rolls and computerization of voter records, he expects that there will be no wrongful inclusions or exclusions ahead of the 2015 poll. "Transparency is improved for voter registration now," he said. "We also have more civil society organizations collaborating in voter registration, whereas in the past, the commission carried out its duties alone." At present, 25 civil society groups are collaborating with the UEC on the voter list project, with more expected to join in the coming months. The UEC made lists of voters in Ahlone Township in Rangoon, Tiddim Township in Chin State, and the Myitkyina constituency in Kachin State in July and August as a trial run for the nationwide voter list preparations now underway. Than Htay, director of The Serenity Initiative, a civil society group that is assisting with educating the public about the voter list project, said that the pilot project revealed some problems with the compilation process. "In some lists, deceased people and people who moved to other locations were included on lists, and those who were on the verge of turning 18 years old soon were not included," he said. Than Htay stressed the importance of raising public awareness of the voter registration process, so that eligible voters would check to see if they were included on township lists. "We will educate the public to check their names on the voter list, and how to file an appeal if their name does not appear on the list," he said. Echoing comments made to The Irrawaddy at the start of the pilot voter list program in July, Than Htay said that ensuring voter list accuracy was a paramount concern. "Inclusion on the list of voters is the most important thing for an election. If a person is not included, he or she cannot vote and unfair things can happen," he said. The UEC chairman Tin Aye announced on October 20 that the election is scheduled to be held in either the last week of October or the first week of November next year. The post Election Commission Begins National Voter List Preparation appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Activists to Run in Controversial YCDC Elections Posted: 04 Nov 2014 04:02 AM PST City Hall, which hosts the offices of the Yangon City Development Committee, is pictured in downtown Rangoon. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — A pair of rights activists are among those who will contest the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC) elections next month, in a poll that has courted controversy even as it offers voters the chance to choose some of Rangoon's leaders for the first time. The two activists—Susanna Hla Hla Soe, a women's rights advocate, and Win Cho, a land rights champion—have applied to run in the Dec. 27 election, vowing to improve Rangoon residents' quality of life if elected. Hla Hla Soe, director of the Karen Women's Action Group (KWAG), told The Irrawaddy that she would work to strengthen civil society and focus on daily problems faced by constituents in the commercial capital. "In particular, I found a lot of people in Rangoon face flooding problems," she said. "I think they need to reform the system in order to solve this problem. I am not an academic on this, but if we cooperate with academics, work together on this, we can successfully solve the problem." The 40-year-old women's rights activist said she would run for election in the northern constituency of Rangoon's Insein Township. Win Cho decided to contest the election just days after he was released from prison for staging an unauthorized protest. "I have done a lot for my people even though I have never held any position in government. I feel this is right time to work for the people, this is why I wanted to join this election," said Win Cho, who has been jailed several times for his activism. "If I win, I have many plans for the people of Yangon. Mainly, the important thing is to take responsibility. This is very important. I have found that accountability to the people is often lacking." The YCDC election commission has put forward more than a dozen restrictions on who is eligible to run for office and who can vote for candidates. Among them is one—a prohibition on any would-be candidate previously convicted of a crime—that would appear to disqualify Win Cho. "I feel they [YCDC] may allow me to run in this election," he said. "They will exempt me from their restriction." YCDC has said that it will hold a free and fair election amid criticism that the poll will be anything but, with the restrictions in place including a limit of one vote per household. Candidates will contest more than 100 seats across four districts comprised of 33 townships in Rangoon. Most coveted will be four seats on the nine-member YCDC. The other five seats on the committee are appointed by the municipal government. Nyo Nyo Tin, a lawmaker from the Rangoon divisional parliament, said she disapproved of the restrictions in place, including one that would prevent civil servants and "blacklisted" individuals from running. "Persons on the blacklist, they came back to the country intending to work for the country," Nyo Nyo Tin said, adding that a requirement that candidates be between the ages of 35 and 65 was also unnecessary. "Young people cannot participate in the election, according to the age restriction. But look at parliament, there are MPs who are 25 years old. Another point is retirees; they cannot participate as they are over the age limit." The YCDC election commission, appointed by a municipal government that was installed by Burma's former military regime, has also come in for criticism. "I asked Parliament to form a commission and give power to that commission to administer the election," said U Kyaw, a lawmaker from the Rangoon divisional parliament. "This was to become the official election commission. But parliament did not do it. I have to ask why they did not do it. I even have to question whether they are working for democracy." Despite the criticisms, some 200 candidates have applied to run in the elections, according to the commission. "We are practicing a democratic system. We listen and have taken the advice of the Yangon parliament," said a member of the commission who did not want to be named. In addition to the four YCDC seats, 12 district development committee seats (three from each of Rangoon's four districts) are up for grabs, as are 99 seats on township development committees (three from each of the city's 33 townships). The deputy mayor will also be popularly elected, but not the mayor, who is appointed by the president. Under the voting system put forward by the YCDC election commission, only one person will be allowed to vote per household, putting the voter roll at about 800,000 people. Still, that marks a dramatic increase from an initial proposal that would only have allowed about 30,000 people to vote. "Everyone who is at least 18 years of age should have a chance to vote based on our Constitution, but they only allow one person to vote [per family]," said U Kyaw. "This will not be a free and fair election." The post Activists to Run in Controversial YCDC Elections appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Kachin Civil Society Groups Rally for Two Jailed IDPs Posted: 04 Nov 2014 12:51 AM PST Ethnic Kachin people protest in Myitkyina in July 2012 for the release of another Kachin farmer, Brang Shawng, who was freed last year as part of a presidential amnesty. (Photo: KDNG) Kachin civil society groups held a public gathering in Shwezet church in the Kachin State capital Myitkyina on Tuesday to show their support for two Kachin IDPs, Brang Yung and Lahpai Gam, who were arrested by Burma Army soldiers in mid-2012 and allegedly severely tortured. Participants at the gathering, organized by the Committee of Brang Yung and Lahpai Gam Case (CBLC)—a group formed by concerned Kachin civil society organizations (CSOs)—prayed for the release of the two IDPs. "The rally is meant to create awareness about the two innocent IDPs, who were arbitrarily arrested, imprisoned, tortured and sexually abused," said Zai, a member of the committee. The Kachin CSOs submitted a petition to President Thein Sein on Oct. 13 calling on the government to release the two men, investigate allegations of torture and to hold perpetrators to account. Zai, who is also a member of the Myitkyina-based Sha-it Social Development Foundation, said no response had yet been received. Brang Yung and Lahpai Gam sought shelter at Shwezet IDP camp near Myitkyina after fighting broke out between the Burma Army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in June 2011. Originally from Kachin State's Waingmaw Township, the two men, along with their families, lived in the IDP camp for around one year. The two Kachin men were arrested by the Burma Army's Infantry Battalion 37 in June 2012 while driving cattle outside the camp. They were allegedly severely tortured during two weeks in detention and forced to make false confessions about their links to the KIA. In November 2013, the two men were sentenced to two years jail under the Unlawful Associations Act and the following month, their sentences were increased by five years. In June this year, Myitkyina District Court sentenced the pair to additional lengthy prison terms under articles 3 and 4 of Burma's 1908 Explosive Substances Act. According to the CBLC, Brang Yung is serving a 21-year sentence and Lahpai Gam a 20-year sentence. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention separately considered the cases of Lahpai Gam and Brang Yung in November 2013 and April-May 2014 respectively. In both cases, the UN rights body found that their detention was arbitrary and called on the government to immediately release each of the men and provide adequate reparations. In Kachin and northern Shan State, dozens of ordinary Kachin have been arrested and falsely accused of having links to the KIA—one of two ethnic armed groups that have not agreed to a ceasefire with the government since late 2011. The post Kachin Civil Society Groups Rally for Two Jailed IDPs appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

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India Plans to Step Up Safety on World’s Most Dangerous Roads Posted: 03 Nov 2014 10:10 PM PST Heavy traffic moves along a busy road during the evening in New Delhi October 20, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) NEW DELHI — This year, the family of Rakesh Pillai, a bank employee, achieved a long-held aspiration. After hauling themselves around on bicycles and scooters all their lives, they bought a white Suzuki Wagon R, one of India's best-selling compact cars. It didn't matter that no family member knew how to drive. Pillai immediately took the car for a spin around his neighborhood in New Delhi. He almost knocked down a couple of pedestrians, scratched a car door on a gate when making a turn, and bumped a wall while trying to reverse. "In India, the main rule for most drivers is that you don't stop for anyone," said Pillai, 31, who wears frameless glasses and sports a neatly trimmed moustache. "Cars don't stop for walkers, and walkers don't stop for cars." India has the world's deadliest roads, the result of a flood of untrained drivers, inadequate law enforcement, badly maintained highways and cars that fail modern crash tests. Alarmed by the increasing fatalities, the new government has begun a five-year project to cut road deaths by a fifth every year, part of the most ambitious overhaul of highway laws since independence in 1947. About 1.2 million Indians were killed in car accidents over the past decade, on average one every four minutes, while 5.5 million were seriously injured. While road deaths in many emerging markets have dipped even as vehicle sales rose, Indian fatalities have shot up by half in the last 10 years. The government is proposing a drastic increase in fines and prison sentences for dangerous driving. It will create an authority with a sole focus on road safety, impose stricter regulations on car manufacturers, and employ technology, such as automated driving tests, to cut down on corruption. Drivers caught speeding or who drink and drive will face a fine of $800—10 times the average monthly salary—and the threat of jail. The current maximum fine for speeding is $16 and for drunk driving $50. "It is not going to change road habits overnight, and any success will depend on a lot of work from the government to ensure these laws are implemented," said Piyush Tewari, who founded the SaveLIFE Foundation to reduce accidents after his teenage cousin was killed in a crash. The new law was inspired by the death of Rural Development Minister Gopinath Munde in a crash in June. Munde, a close ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was the third senior politician to die in a car accident since 2000. The legislation, to be introduced in a parliament session starting this month, will be a test of Modi's ability to win cross-party consensus because he lacks an upper-house majority. Ten At a Time At a test centre in Delhi last week, Pillai stood in a queue that snaked outside into the autumn sunshine, where touts told candidates they could skip the line and the test for a fee of about $30. After an hour, Pillai was called for his test on a busy road near a shopping mall. It involved driving in a straight line, pulling into a right-hand lane, making a U-turn and then another, before arriving back at the start. It took all of 90 seconds. The examiner, standing under an umbrella, didn't get into the car and tried to keep track of more than 10 vehicles and motorbikes taking the test at the same time. India has one the world's fastest-growing car markets, with two million sold every year. In a nation of new drivers, much of the road etiquette has come from how people walk. Drivers seize any space in front of them and tailgate whenever possible. On the highway, if drivers miss a turn, they stop, back up and try again. Adding to the danger, drivers share roads with camels, elephants, bullock carts, trucks, tractors and cyclists. Roads are pot-holed and pedestrians dart out into traffic. It is common to see broken glass, overturned trucks and crumpled cars by the roadside. Cutting road deaths and injuries could add three percentage points to India's economic output, the World Health Organization estimates. India has few drivers relative to its population, with just 41 automobiles for every 1,000 people. That is roughly equivalent to the figure for the United States in 1917. But the numbers promise to keep soaring. "Sadly, I predict we are going to keep seeing a spiral in road deaths," said Harman Singh, of safety campaign group Arrive Safe. "It is easier to pass a law than to change the mindset." The post India Plans to Step Up Safety on World's Most Dangerous Roads appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

British Banker Charged With Murder of Two Women in Hong Kong Posted: 03 Nov 2014 10:06 PM PST Government workers remove the body of a female found dead at a residential flat at Hong Kong’s Wan chai district November 1, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) HONG KONG — A 29-year-old British banker appeared in a Hong Kong court on Monday charged with two counts of murder after police found the bodies of two women in his apartment, including one inside a suitcase on a balcony. A court document said Rurik George Caton Jutting worked for Bank of America Corp. The U.S. bank said that it had, until recently, an employee with the same name, but it declined to give further details. Looking stony-faced and unshaven and wearing a black T-shirt and dark-rimmed glasses, Jutting told the court he understood both charges. The brief hearing was adjourned until Nov. 10, without Jutting entering a plea. Jutting was arrested in the early hours of Saturday at his apartment in Wan Chai, a central city district known for its vibrant night life. The charge sheet identified the woman in the suitcase as Sumarti Ningsih and said she had been killed on Oct. 27. The second woman, who was not identified, was killed on Nov. 1, the document said. It did not say how they were killed. Local media described the two victims as prostitutes and said both had neck injuries, adding one was nearly decapitated. One of the women was Indonesian, the South China Morning Post newspaper reported. The grisly murders have shocked Hong Kong, a city with a low homicide rate. One of the victims was found in the suitcase, the other lying inside the apartment with wounds to her neck and buttocks, police have said. Jutting had called police and asked them to investigate the case, police have also said. Martyn Richmond, Jutting’s duty lawyer, said his client had been denied contact with the British consulate and access to a solicitor of his choice prior to being interviewed. Jutting had done up to seven police interviews over many hours, Richmond added. Police declined to comment on Richmond’s accusations. The British consulate did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Britain’s Foreign Office in London said on Saturday a British national had been arrested in Hong Kong, without specifying the nature of any suspected crime. Shock in Hong Kong A Linkedin account under Jutting’s name said he had worked in structured equity finance and trading at Bank of America in Hong Kong since July 2013. Before that, he had worked in the same department but in London. The profile also said Jutting had worked in structured capital markets at Barclays between June 2008 and July 2010 and had studied at Cambridge University. A spokesman for Barclays in Hong Kong said the bank was not immediately able to confirm if Jutting had worked for them. According to people who were at Cambridge at the same time, Jutting attended Peterhouse, the oldest college, and was president of the Cambridge University History society. He was also a cross-country runner and a rower. Prior to Cambridge he went to Winchester College, one of Britain’s most famous and oldest private schools. His Facebook account showed pictures of Jutting including one with a young Asian woman. He was wearing a navy and white striped rugby shirt. Jutting’s most recent posts were on Oct. 31 to articles titled "Money does buy Happiness" and "Is 29 the perfect age." The apartment where the bodies were found is on the 31st floor of a building popular with financial professionals, where average rents are about HK$30,000 (nearly $4,000) a month. "It’s very shocking because we never expected something like this to happen in Hong Kong, especially in the same building that I’m living in," said banker Mina Liu. Another woman who lives down the corridor from the flat where the bodies were found said she had seldom seen anyone come and go from the apartment. Residents were woken up in the early hours of Saturday to loud banging and scores of police. Wan Chai has been a popular haunt for foreign navies on rest and recreation over the decades. There were 14 homicides in Hong Kong, a city of seven million people, between January and June, down from 56 in the same period last year, according to government crime statistics. In one of Hong Kong’s most talked-about killings, the so-called "milkshake murder", a Merrill Lynch banker was clubbed to death in 2003 by his wife, who drugged him beforehand by serving him a milkshake full of sleeping pills. The post British Banker Charged With Murder of Two Women in Hong Kong appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Thai Junta Promises Peace ‘Within a Year’ in Insurgency-Hit South Posted: 03 Nov 2014 08:55 PM PST Villagers looks at the site of a bomb attack, in the southern Narathiwat province May 12, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) BANGKOK — Thailand’s military government vowed on Monday to bring peace to the Muslim-dominated south within a year, despite stalled peace talks aimed at ending an insurgency that has cost thousands of lives in the past decade. Sporadic violence has killed more than 5,700 people in Thailand’s Muslim-majority provinces bordering Malaysia, where resistance to Buddhist rule has existed for decades and resurfaced violently in January 2004. In the latest violence last Friday, one woman was killed and at least two injured in separate bomb attacks launched by suspected militants at three restaurants in Pattani province, police said. "We are doing all that we can. We will try to bring peace within a year," Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan told reporters. He blamed the attacks on insurgents retaliating for recent arrests by the authorities. "The attacks happened because we managed to catch many people, including leaders, of groups involved in instigating acts of violence," Prawit added. The violence comes as Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha seeks to present an image of greater effectiveness in containing the insurgency, based in Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat provinces in Thailand’s so-called "Deep South". It has occasionally spilled into nearby Songkhla province, thronged by tourists from neighboring Malaysia. The provinces were once part of a Malay Muslim sultanate until being annexed by Thailand in 1902. Successive governments have tried, with little success, to stem the violence. Responses to the insurgency have drawn criticism, including accusations of widespread rights violations against suspected militants and their supporters. The government of ousted Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawtra formally agreed to start peace talks with a militant group operating in the southern provinces in 2013. The talks were lauded by some rights groups and academics but stalled months before Yingluck’s government became embroiled late last year in a political crisis that climaxed with a court ordering Yingluck to step down on May 7. The army seized power weeks later in a coup on May 22. Prayuth, who took power after the coup, has promised investigations into allegations of rights abuses by some troops. Rights groups say he has failed to act on that promise. In August, a 14-year-old Muslim boy was shot dead by an army-trained volunteer unit in Narathiwat. A police investigation found a member of the unit planted a pistol in the boy’s hand after the shooting to make him appear to be an insurgent. "The military needs to wake up to the reality that they have their share of responsibility to improve the situation in southern Thailand," Sunai Phasuk, a senior researcher on Thailand at Human Rights Watch, told Reuters. "They must start by disciplining and prosecuting their own troops who violate human rights." The post Thai Junta Promises Peace 'Within a Year' in Insurgency-Hit South appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Festival of Joy and Loss Posted: 03 Nov 2014 04:30 PM PST A balloon floats to the sky at night above the festival. (Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy) TAUNGGYI, Shan State — Floating fire balloons and colorful fireworks will light up the skies of the Shan State capital Taunggyi this month during the annual eight-day Tazaungdaing festival which runs from Oct. 30 to Nov. 6. Tens of thousands of spectators will flood into the town from near and far to see the fire balloon competition, the main attraction of this unique event, also known as the Festival of Lights. Each year, more than one hundred fire balloons of various shapes, sizes and designs are floated up into the sky to mark the end of Kahtein, where robes are offered to Buddhist monks. The wonderful spectacle is not without its critics, who cite the millions of kyat spent on homemade fire balloons and fireworks as wasteful. It can also be seriously dangerous, with falling balloons and stray fireworks often causing fires that send onlookers scrambling for safety. Most accidents occur, however, during the making of the fireworks. In one tragic incident two years ago, four people lost their lives. A few days before the 2012 festival, Sai Aung Myo and five of his friends gathered at his home to prepare fireworks using gun powder, sulfur, magnesium, paper and bamboo sticks. Most of the fireworks were to be installed on the bamboo frame at the base of the fire balloons. Another friend was testing a small rocket, their homemade creation, outside the house. When the rocket was lit, instead of heading skyward, it veered directly into a room where Sai Aung Myo's five friends were working, igniting the gun powder and other incendiary materials. "It was so fast. No one knows how the rocket entered the room through a very narrow opening of the door. The fire broke out after a small blast and the house was burned down. All five of our friends were rushed to hospital with serious burns," 26-year-old Sai Aung Myo recalled. Four of his friends died, day after day, one by one, after several days in hospital. The only survivor, who suffered burns to almost 80 percent of his body, is still receiving medical treatment. Sai Aung Myo, who was a balloon master and leader of the HninThauk team, faced trial over the deaths but was spared from imprisonment. He remains grateful for the kindness and understanding of the families of the deceased, the fire balloon festival committee and local authorities. "I have to thank them all for understanding that the incident was just an accident and not intentional," Sai Aung Myo said. "We were so saddened after losing our friends in this tragedy that we decided not to do another balloon," he added, his eyes wet with tears. However, the former team leader who, like many other Taunggyi residents, remains passionate about fire balloons, returned to the festival in 2013 as a jury member, assessing the designs of competing balloons. "I have no energy to build a fire balloon without my friends. I still feel bad for [them] and still remember their suffering faces. In the meantime, the jury committee invited me to participate… Since I still can't break [from my passion for] fire balloons, I decided to be part of the jury team," he said. Accidental fires often occur before the festival, when teams are preparing homemade fireworks. About seven years ago, balloon master Sai Kyi Thein's garage caught fire while some of his team members were preparing fireworks. "Suddenly there was an explosion and the person who was mixing chemicals was lifted off the ground due to the force of the explosion. His brother and others who were close to him received serious burns. The brother survived but two others sadly died after a few days. The house was left intact but the garage remains a pile of ashes," said Sai Kyi Thein, now a balloon master on the Nga Pyin team. "Ko Naing, whose arms and chest were burned, gave up fire balloons because they reminded him of his younger brother. However, he does visit the festival ground, enjoys the fireworks and always encourages us to be careful," he added. Ko Nyan Lin, a balloon master with the Ozone, Thudanu and Sidawgyi teams, lost a child due to a fire balloon-related accident. His second child, who was just a few days old, died two years ago due to lead poisoning. "We used lead to create silver colored fireworks. My wife was heavily pregnant when we prepared those fireworks and when my son was born, he died after a few days. The blood test showed a high content of lead in his blood," Ko Nyan Lin said. A lack of research and knowledge about the making of fireworks is partly to blame for a string of deadly accidents. Young people, who are practicing the traditional way of mixing chemicals to create homemade fireworks, primarily rely on information passed down to them or obtained from the Internet. "If we are allowed, we would like to have a small lab in which we could test and research the [different] chemical reactions. Then we would be able to prevent accidents and the traditional techniques for creating fireworks would be improved in the future," Ko Nyan Lin said. The fire balloon competition has three categories in which balloons are launched both during the day and night. During the day, huge balloons called 'Ayoke' adorned with colorful animal figures are released. At night, balloons are decorated with fireworks (Nya MeeGyi) and with candlelit lanterns (Sein Na Pan). The latter are a favorite among spectators and earn the highest rewards. This year, first prize for the Nya MeeGyi balloons category is 45 million kyat (roughly US$45,380). But when the cost of making one of these balloons varies from at least 30-80 million kyat, it's not about the money, but the beauty of their creation and design. "Since the festival is all about offering the light to Buddha and the Sularmani Pagoda, which is said to be built in heaven, we made these balloons to offer the best we have [with our] skills, time and money," Ko Nyan Lin explained. These days, the fire balloons of Taunggyi have become increasingly popular and some other towns and cities across the country hire the teams from Taunggyi to make the Nya Mee Gyi fire balloons for certain Buddhist religious festivals. Some teams from Taunggyi have travelled to Pyin Oo Lwin, a hill station town near Mandalay, to participate in the town's famous pagoda festival, which falls at the same time as Taunggyi'sTazaungdaing. However, the teams complained that the atmosphere of the town was lacking and the festival less lively than in Taunggyi. "It was all about winning the prize and the money," said Ko Nyan Lin, who once competed at the festival in Pyin Oo Lwin. "In Taunggyi, where the festival committee is completely under the control of the town's elders… the competition is all about unity, friendship, love and peace. We never fight but always help the other teams since we are preparing the fire balloons three months before the festival." For the fire balloon lovers of Taunggyi, nothing can overcome their passion for the making and viewing of these homemade balloons. "Sometimes, we feel sad after the accidents and health problems. But our minds are so focused on the fire balloons that the sorrows in losing our homes and loved ones spectacularly fade away. The passion over the fire balloon is deeply rooted in us like a virus," said U Than Zaw, a veteran fire balloon master and a jury member whose home was burned down in 2010. "This virus, the love virus over the fire balloons festival, the Tazaungdaing virus, will die only after we die." This article first appeared in the November 2014 print edition of The Irrawaddy Magazine. The post Festival of Joy and Loss appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

‘If We Don’t Defend Our People They Will Disappear’  Posted: 03 Nov 2014 04:00 PM PST Col. Saw Tun Tun, tactical commander of the DKBA, October, 2014. (Photo: Lawi Weng) Tensions remain high in southeastern Burma's Karen State, where multiple ethnic armed groups sorely seek unity after recent clashes with the Burma Army. A road blockade, several attempted bombings and a mysterious death left many on edge in the militarized area along the border with Thailand.  In late September, the Burma Army issued an order prohibiting several Karen armed groups from wearing uniforms or carrying arms in the border town of Myawaddy. Tensions rose and conflict soon broke out between government troops and two ethnic armed groups—the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) and the KNU/KNLA Peace Council—giving rise to fears that the country's delicate peace negotiations could be faltering.  Col. Saw Tun Tun, tactical commander of the DKBA in its headquarters at Sone Seen Myaing, Karen State, recently spoke with The Irrawaddy's Lawi Weng about ethnic politics, trust-building and the future of Burma's peace process. Question: Since the recent fighting broke out, have you had any negotiations with the Burma Army? Answer: Our top officials haven't met with them yet. I heard that the Burma Army has requested a meeting, and we may meet in the future. Our officers on the ground have spoken with them, which helps to rebuild some trust. Q: What do you think of the Burma Army's order banning DKBA soldiers from wearing uniforms or carrying arms in Myawaddy? A: We rejected that order because it is meant to destroy the morale of our troops. As soldiers, they are proud to wear their uniforms when they travel in public areas. It gives them pride and satisfaction. The Burma Army wanted to break their spirits by taking that away from them. Hundreds of Burma Army troops have traveled into areas under our control as their battalions changed rotation. How would they feel if we told all of them to wear civilian clothes? This is what I'd like to ask them: How would you feel if we did that to you? Is wearing a uniform truly a threat to the public? They [the Burma Army] said that ethnic armed groups wear uniforms to threaten civilians, but how about their troops? Haven't they threatened the public? It's not fair for them to act like the Tatmadaw [Burma Army] is a good army, and all of the others are bad, like the ethnic groups. Q: The ongoing peace negotiations between the Union Peace-making Work Committee (UPWC) and the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT) seem to stagnate whenever the issue of federalism comes up. Why has this presented such a problem for peace negotiators?  A: We need peace, which was why we [the DKBA] signed a ceasefire agreement. Some people think that only civilians want peace. Personally, I think that soldiers are the ones who want peace the most because they are the first people to suffer when there is conflict. And I don't mean only ethnic soldiers; government troops want peace, as well. Sincerity is important in the trust-building process. You cannot build trust if you are not genuine. If they [the Burma Army] really want peace, the negotiations will be fruitful. The current situation is a bit of a standoff, but [the government] doesn't want to admit this. When negotiations hit a roadblock, it means we have reached a political problem. It's a political standoff. Q: Do you think that the Burmese government will allow for a federalist system, which ethnic people have demanded for decades?   A: I don't think so, but ethnic people will keep asking until we get. We have been fighting for this for many decades, demanding federalism for the whole country. We feel that it is a system that would protect the interests of ethnic minorities and keep them secure. We will never disarm, even though they have told us to. Our arms are meant for the protection of our people, and if we do not have them, our people will disappear under the oppressive system of the Burmese military. Q: Will the DKBA sign a nationwide ceasefire agreement if it is approved by the NCCT? A: If we get what we want from the agreement, then yes, we will sign it. We won't reject the agreement if it promotes peace and is good for the country. We have guns, but we don't expect to be fighting a long civil war. Our troops are defensive, not offensive, and if we don't defend our people they will disappear. Q: What is your analysis of Burma's parliamentary politics?  A: There are unequal forces in Parliament, between the ruling party and the opposition groups. The army is also a strong force in Parliament. The opposition can't really do very much for the country. If the Parliament is functional and serves the interests of the people, why can't they amend Article 436 [which reserves 25 percent of parliamentary seats for the military]? The post 'If We Don't Defend Our People They Will Disappear'  appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

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