Saturday, April 26, 2014

Democratic Voice of Burma

Democratic Voice of Burma

Motion picture association chairman steps down

Posted: 26 Apr 2014 03:34 AM PDT

Lu Min, actor and chairman of Myanmar [Burma] Motion Picture Association (MMPA), told DVB that he will not seek reappointment for the coming year.

The popular movie star said he wants to spend more time working as an actor, and that leaving his position as chairman has nothing to do with complaints or personal grievances.

The MMPA has not yet announced a date to elect his successor.

The association's chairperson is selected by majority vote among a commission comprising various film industry representatives, elected by the association's general membership.

MMPA Director Kyi Soe Htun said that they would ideally find a committed candidate that can spend considerable time on steering the group.

The MMPA is an independent oversight body formed in April 2012 by Burma's leading film industry professionals. The association seeks to support and regulate Burma's film industry as the nation's media is slowly weaned from government control.

Burma had a rich and lively early cinematic tradition, which suffered under the rule of Ne Win. Strict censorship and production of propaganda altered the country's cinematic identity, which continued to deteriorate under the State Peace and Development Council.

Lu Min was the second chairman of the MMPA, preceded by Zin Wyne, another leading man in Burma's movie starscape.

 

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Journalists rally to free jailed colleague

Posted: 26 Apr 2014 01:47 AM PDT

Burma's reporters took to the streets of two cities on Friday to rally support for greater press freedom. About 100 demonstrators amassed in Prome, Pegu Division, while dozens gathered in Mon State capital Moulmein.

Demonstrators demanded the immediate release of DVB video journalist Zaw Pe, who was recently sentenced to one year in prison on charges of trespassing and disturbing a civil servant. The protestors emphasised that the right to report on issues of public concern, especially in public spaces, must be protected to allow Burma to develop a robust media landscape.

The larger rally was held without an assembly permit, but no one has yet been arrested for participation. DVB's Prome correspondent, Thank Htike Aung, said that demonstrators were warned by local police but refused to dissipate.

"We marched along the main road… and we were stopped by the superintendent of Prome Police Station," he said, "but we refused to follow his order to desist. We told him he can press any charges on us that he wished."

Burma's controversial Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Processions Law requires prior approval for all public gathering, where the intention is to publicly express opinion. The law has been widely admonished, with critics claiming that authorities frequently abuse it by targeting certain outspoken activists.

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In Moulmein, where a permit was granted, local reporters were joined by members of the Southern-Burma Journalists Network , the Myanmar Journalists Association and correspondents from neighbouring Karen state.

One demonstrator, Hmu Eain Zaw, plainly explained the group's agenda: "We call for the release of all reporters unfairly imprisoned, and for the freedom to allow reporters to cover the news in public spaces."

Zaw Pe, DVB's Magwe Division correspondent, was sentenced on 7 April and is currently incarcerated in Magwe Division's Thayet prison. In August 2012, he and another civilian were arrested for investigating a Japanese scholarship programme in Magwe's schools.

This is the second time Zaw Pe has been jailed for his journalistic work; In 2010, he was jailed for two years because he shot video without a licence while covering a water shortage in central Burma.

Five journalists still await a verdict on charges of disclosing state secrets after publishing an investigative report about an alleged chemical weapons facility in late January.

Yet another journalist, Ma Khine of Eleven Media, spent more than two months in jail for charges of trespassing, using abusive language, and defamation. The charges were brought against her following a scheduled interview with a lawyer for a report about corruption.

The dissolution of Burma's notorious censorship board in 2012 prompted a wave of optimism for press freedom in the country, though the subsequent arrest of several journalists, discretionary warnings for foreign press and a heated debacle over new regulations have raised a few flags.

Burma is currently ranked 145th of 180 nations monitored in the latest World Press Freedom Index, a yearly appraisal by France-based Reporters Without Borders.

 

Hundreds commemorate Hellfire Pass

Posted: 25 Apr 2014 10:46 PM PDT

Hundreds walked the notorious Hellfire Pass on Friday to commemorate Australian soldiers conscripted to build Japan's "Death Railway" from Bangkok to Rangoon during WWII.

The crowd of mostly Australian war veterans and their relatives marched to a memorial site in Kanchanaburi, Thailand, where they held a candlelit ceremony for fallen servicemen.

Japanese forces enlisted Asian labourers and Allied prisoners of war (POWs) to build the route, often forcing them to work 18-hour days and subjecting them to beatings and starvation. About 100,000 people died in the process, either as a result of brutality or disease.

Approximately 12,000 of those deaths were POWs. Nearly 3,000 were from Australia and New Zealand.

The Hellfire Pass, which cut through the treacherous Tenasserim Hills, was one of the most deadly and difficult stretches of the project. The cutting was named for the hellish image of labourers seen working by torchlight into the night.

Jonathan Kenna, Deputy Head of Mission for the Australian Embassy in Thailand, was among the attendees.

The event was also attended by 97-year-old Harold Martin, a POW forced to work on the railway.

Other veterans at the ceremony remarked upon their burning memories of war and enslavement. One former POW, Milton Fairclough, said that he still sees the images when he closes his eyes.

The march marked one of Australia's most important national holidays, ANZAC Day, originally established to honour members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli during WWI. The holiday is now observed annually in honour of all Australians and New Zealanders who fought and died in in service.

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The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Pleas for Maintenance of Ornate Teak Monastery in Magwe Division

Posted: 25 Apr 2014 10:43 PM PDT

Kyaung Daw Gyi Monastery at Pakhan Gyi in Magwe Division. (Photo: Zarni Mann / The Irrawaddy)

A large teakwood monastery in the ancient city of Pakhan Gyi in Magwe Division needs urgent maintenance to rescue its wooden floors from weathering, officials said, urging Burma's Parliament to make funding available for the repairs.

Kyaung Daw Gyi monastery in Pakhan Gyi, Yayzagyo Township, stands upon 254 teak pillars and its walls and ceiling are adorned with magnificent hand-crafted wooden sculptures. However, the floors outside the main building are exposed to the elements and have deteriorated badly. The floors are breaking apart in some places, creating a hazard for visitors.

An official from the Department of Archeology, National Museum and Library, who looks after Kyaung Daw Gyi monastery, told The Irrawaddy that maintenance work should start this year, and that the department had begun taking stock of the damage.

"We are currently researching the damage, calculating how much [money] we will need and will submit the proposal to Parliament. Once the
Parliament approves, we will maintain it and strengthen the structure without damaging the original structure," said Kyaw Oo Lwin, the department's director general.

Kyaung Daw Gyi monastery was built in 1868 by Minister Phoe Tote during the reign of King Mindon.

Its pillars include one sandalwood pillar and another pillar of scented wood. According to legend, the two pillars possess powers of love and affection, and they have therefore been subjected to attempts to split off pieces of their wood. Although such acts are now strictly prohibited, the pillars remain badly scarred.

The monastery received a major renovation in 1992, ordered by the military regime's former spy chief Khin Nyunt, with the floors and the roof replaced. The Department of Archeology, National Museum and Library has been responsible for minor repairs since then.

The monastery is said to be the largest wooden monastery in the
country, and remains mostly in good condition, compared to the Bargayar monasteries in Ava, the Salay monastery and Shwenandaw monastery in Mandalay. Renovation work on the Shwenandaw monastery is about to begin with the support of the New York-based World Monuments Fund.

The department is also considering maintenance work on another wooden monastery located in Pakhan Nge, a few miles from Pakhan Gyi, which is also in urgent need of care. That monastery is built on 332 teak pillars, and dates back to 1864.

However, government researchers say the monastery repairs will be time consuming and expensive, since the pillars are decayed and the structure may need to be completely rebuilt.

Although Pakhan Gyi is located just 10 miles north of Pakokku, where tourist cruises stop over night, visitors rarely take time to see the teak monasteries.

However, the department and the Ministry of Culture are hoping to receive the green light from Parliament to maintain of these ancient wooden monasteries before their condition worsens, and before the peak tourist season begins again in September.

"If the maintenance work could finish quickly it would be better. And if the work could finish before travel season, it would be much appreciated for the safety of the visitors," Deputy Minister of Culture Than Swe told The Irrawaddy.

However, Than Swe said that the proposals to repair the ancient buildings can take a year to be approved by Parliament.

"We want to maintain every ancient building and archeological site across the country, but the limitations of budgets limit our enthusiasm. If Parliament does not agree, we can do nothing. And if the budget is too low, we can't do as much as we wish to do," he said.

"For these reasons, we have to request foreign countries' help, as we did with Shwenandaw Monastery in Mandalay. We have to make priority lists and have to maintain them one by one within the limitations of our budget."

The post Pleas for Maintenance of Ornate Teak Monastery in Magwe Division appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

A Look Inside Win Tin’s Home

Posted: 25 Apr 2014 08:31 PM PDT

Win Tin, Burma, Myanmar, Yangon, Rangoon, democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi, The Irrawaddy

Artifacts collected by Win Tin. (Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — Unlike my last visit months ago, the shack at No. 10 Ariaya Maggin Street is locked when I arrive. Outside the door, a plastic flowerpot hangs from the gutter, as it did before. Two purple orchids are in full bloom.

"They were his favorite," says Ohn Than, the owner of the two-room shack in Rangoon, while unlocking the door for me. Inside, the living room is silent. The man who once lived here—a man with wavy white hair and a blue shirt, a man known for greeting all visitors and inviting them to sit down—is no longer around.

I am standing alone, camera in hand, in the former home of the veteran journalist who became one of Burma's most prominent democracy activists, Win Tin. This is where he lived until March 12, when he was admitted to a hospital for health problems. Six weeks later, on Monday this week, he was pronounced dead due to multiple organ failure. He was 84 years old. I have come to take photographs of the place where he once spent his days.

Win Tin first moved into this wooden shack in 2008, after he was released from his 19-year prison term. In 1989, when he was first thrown behind bars due to his opposition to the military regime, the government confiscated his room in a government housing facility near Rangoon General Hospital. When he was finally freed, he had nowhere to live, so he moved into a shack in the garden of his lifelong friend Ohn Tun's home.

In the shack, Win Tin's belongings appear to have been left alone since he was admitted to the hospital. At the basin in the far corner of the living room, a toothbrush and tube of toothpaste are covered with dust. So, too, are his walking sticks. His study table is partially covered with local weeklies and writing papers. His dark blue vests, which he wore over his blue shirt, hang on clothes hangers. The television set that he regularly used to watch late-night Champions League football matches is turned off. Shelves are lined with books, despite his generosity to allow friends to take any titles they wanted to read.

While taking photographs, I cannot help but imagine how Win Tin may have passed his days here. I can picture him reading books and receiving guests, from diplomats to journalists and activists, and always speaking out with sharp criticism. "I don't trust this government at all," he would say.

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who co-founded the National League for Democracy (NLD) party with Win Tin under the military regime, also came to this shack on Tuesday. After her 45-minute visit, she told Ohn Tun and his family members to keep Win Tin's belongings as they were. "Please make sure no one takes anything," she said.

"She said, 'I wish I could take away the whole shack,'" Ohn Tun recounts. Perhaps she meant that she would like to convert it into Win Tin's memorial museum.

Additional reporting by Kyaw Phyo Tha.

The post A Look Inside Win Tin's Home appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

The Irrawaddy Business Roundup (April 26, 2014)

Posted: 25 Apr 2014 08:10 PM PDT

Burma on Course to Regain Top Garment Exporter Status, Says Study

The economic re-opening of Burma is creating "immense potential" for the country's return to its former glory as a leading global garment producer and exporter, a business study said.

Despite exports plummeting in the last 20 years due to isolation, renewed access to Western and Japanese markets should enable the industry to regain some of its former status, said the study by Business Monitor International (BMI).

"The US, EU, and Japan combined account for nearly 80 percent of the world's garment demand. In light of [Burma's] enormous wealth of human capital, with a population of approximately 53.3 million and a young median age of just 29, as well as its extremely low economic base, we believe that potential for growth is immense," BMI said.

The revival will be from a low base, however. By 2010 the value of Burma's garment exports had slumped to just one twentieth of Vietnam's industry. Burmese exports began to recover in 2012 but with a value of US$909 million they represented only 1.5 percent of GDP, said BMI.

The biggest challenge facing the industry's revival will be attracting sufficient foreign investment, it said.

Reforms Bring Risk of 'Poor Jobs, Bad Housing' in Rangoon and Mandalay

Naypyidaw's reforms threaten to push people into low-paid jobs and overcrowded housing in Rangoon and Mandalay, said a report on Burma's economic rebirth and foreign investment.

"The government's agricultural reforms—designed to drive people towards the 'poles of growth' of Mandalay and [Rangoon]—pose enormous risk in a country with an already strained infrastructure," said the report "Trade, Development, and the Smokescreen of Corporate Social Responsibility," published by the Burma Campaign UK.

"It is not difficult to imagine swelling urban populations, competing for poor quality jobs, living in squalid conditions as the scarcity of affordable property is exacerbated by 'responsible' businesses directing investment to places with a reliable electricity supply. The specter of inequality that must accompany this economic transformation will only exacerbate already existing social cleavages," author David Baulk said.

His study alleges that while courting Western governments and transnational corporations with notions of putting in place fair practices, or corporate social responsibility, the Naypyidaw government has enabled military-owned or -linked businesses to thrive.

"To the relief of those who feared that 'development' might imperil the base upon which their superstructure of consolidated power rests, the international community has made an unequivocal commitment to prioritize trade and investment over human rights—under the name of corporate social responsibility," Baulk said.

Burma 'Ripe for Investment' in Southeast Asia Coal-Power Boom

Burma is one of the emerging economies of Southeast Asia that look set to offer Japanese businesses a market for technology to keep the region's electricity flowing, an industry report said.

"With demand for coal-fueled power generation forecast to grow more than six-fold in Southeast Asia alone the focus of much technology will be aimed at cleaner coal burning systems," said Asia Power Monitor.

Most of the new coal-fired power plants are expected to be built in Burma, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, it said.

The industry magazine said the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation is preparing a $2.5 billion loan to fund a 1,280 megawatt coal-fueled power station using ultra super-critical (USC) technology.

USC technology burns coal more efficiently than other systems and reduces air pollution, it said.

The plant is planned to be built in the Thilawa Special Economic Zone by the Toyo-Thai Corporation, a partnership between Japan's Toyo Engineering Corporation and the Thai construction company Italian-Thai Development.

"This would be the biggest single power project, as well as the most expensive, in [Burma]," the Monitor said.

Meanwhile, another major Japanese business, Mitsui, has won a multibillion dollar contract to supply USC technology and oversee construction of a 2,000-megawatt coal-powered plant at Jimah, south of Kuala Lumpur, which is expected to cost $3.5 billion.

Russians Tap New Source of Natural Gas in Bangladesh

As Burma hopes for more natural gas and oil discoveries from the government's recent award of exploration licenses, an explorer in neighboring Bangladesh has reported a significant find.

Gazprom of Russia said its onshore drilling at Semutang in southeast Bangladesh had discovered sufficient gas to deliver more than 10,000 million cubic feet per day, industry analysts Platts reported.

To tap the gas, however, Gazprom said it was drilling down to depth between 2,900 meters to over 4,000 meters [9,500 feet to 13,100 feet].

Bangladesh suffers from industry-crippling electricity shortages like Burma and struggles to produce enough domestic natural gas to meet demand.

Both Bangladesh and Burma have begun issuing exploration licenses for offshore blocks in their respective territorial sectors of the Bay of Bengal.

Hotel Numbers Mushroom as Burma Prepares for 3 Million Visitors

The Mandalay region leads the way in new hotels development to cater for the surge in foreign visitors to Burma, an industry magazine said.

Between last July and February this year, 302 hotels or approved guest accommodation opened in the Mandalay area, said TTR Weekly, the Bangkok-based travel publication, citing Ministry of Hotels and Tourism figures.

In Rangoon, the number of new hotels totaled 238 for the same period, it said.

"Over 2 million tourists visited Myanmar in 2013, a performance that has been consistently doubling every year since the government initiated a series of political and economic reforms in 2011," said TTR Weekly. "This [calendar] year the country expects to attract 3 million visitors."

Singapore remains the leading investor in Burma's hotels sector, followed by Vietnam, Thailand and Japan, said the magazine.

US Fellowships on Offer for Budding Burmese Economists

American business consultancy Nathan Associates is offering two US fellowships for Burmese economists to "better contribute to [Burma's] future development."

The Virginia firm, which has links with Burma going back to the 1950s before the Ne Win regime, first offered fellowships last year after all US legal sanctions were lifted.
One of the 2013 Nathan fellows is now working for the Myanmar Development Resource Institute, helping the Naypyidaw government improve the management of Burma's developing oil and gas industry in readiness to join the international Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).

EITI is a Norway-based non-government organization dedicated to promoting "revenue transparency at the local level."

Applicants for the 2014 fellowships must be Burmese citizens with an existing qualification in economics. The deadline for submitting a bid is May 31. A fellowship includes a grant to cover living expenses, housing, and travel costs.

The post The Irrawaddy Business Roundup (April 26, 2014) appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.
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