Tuesday, May 13, 2014

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine


Burma Celebrates Buddha’s Birth by Watering Banyans

Posted: 12 May 2014 11:30 PM PDT

Burma, Myanmar, Mandalay, The Irrawaddy, Buddhism, religion, Kasone, Full Moon Day, Buddha, banyan tree, ancient, tradition

Two girls dressed like a king and queen of the Yadana Pone Era carry a silver bowl with water and flowers as they ride a horse cart along a village lane in Mandalay. (Photo: Teza Hlaing / The Irrawaddy)

MANDALAY — Burmese across the country are on Tuesday commemorating the Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death.

Each year on the Kasone Full Moon Day, people in the Buddhist-majority country carry earthen pots filled with water and flowers to offer to banyan trees, in memory of the Buddha.

Legend goes that the holiday falls on the hottest day of the year. Buddhists in Burma use water to cool off and protect the holy tree, under which the Buddha achieved enlightenment.

In Mandalay, at the historical Shwe Kyat Yat Pagoda, the watering ceremony is celebrated with the same traditions used by the ancient kings and queens.

The celebration is compulsory for the 10 villages located around the pagoda. Village elders were said to have missed the ceremony during one year in the 20th century due to war, and that year the villages suffered natural disasters and economic hardship.

During the ceremony, girls and boys wear clothing like the royals once did, carrying flowers and pots filled with water as they walk to the banyan trees planted in the pagoda compound.

Because this celebration is the only one throughout Burma that has maintained the ancient traditions, visitors come from near and far to witness it.

Village elders say the ceremony is different today than it was when they were young, as some participants have opted for hip-hop and modern songs rather than traditional songs played on drums and gongs.

Throughout the country, Buddhists gather at monasteries and precept halls to practice meditation and make charitable donations on the holiday.

The post Burma Celebrates Buddha's Birth by Watering Banyans appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Win Tin’s Foundations to Continue Supporting Political Prisoners

Posted: 12 May 2014 07:00 PM PDT

Burma, Myanmar, Win Tin, Hanthawaddy, political prisoners, The Irrawaddy

The private foundation led by the late democracy activist and journalist will keep its cash donations going, honoring Win Tin's wishes.

RANGOON — A private foundation led by late democracy activist and journalist Win Tin to help political prisoners and their families will continue offering financial support as it did before, despite the founder's death.

"We will keep giving cash donations to political prisoners as well as former ones and their families. We will keep it alive, as this was the late U Win Tin's wish," Tin Oo, patron of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party and chairman of the foundation, said during the 14th cash donation ceremony of the foundation on Monday. It was the first such ceremony to be held without Win Tin, who died on April 21 at the age of 84.

Founded in 2012, the Hanthawaddy U Win Tin Foundation has given cash donations of more than 120 million kyats (US$120,000) to 63 current political prisoners as well as 363 former prisoners of conscience and media professionals who need financial support.

The foundation is mainly financed by Win Tin's admirers at home and abroad. Win Tin also contributed what he could to the foundation, and he channeled the royalties from his books—ranging from his prison memoir to works of journalism and tomes on European art appreciation—to good causes.

During the ceremony on Monday, Aung Thein, the foundation's consulting lawyer, said Win Tin granted all copyright permissions for his books, as well as audio and video recordings, to the foundation in 2012, requiring anyone who wants to use them to first seek permission.

The post Win Tin's Foundations to Continue Supporting Political Prisoners appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Special, and Threatened

Posted: 12 May 2014 06:00 PM PDT

Myanmar, Burma, wildlife, Shan State, Otter, hairy-nosed, Snub-nosed monkey

A drawing of a hairy-nosed otter in "Anatomical and Zoological Researches, Vol. 2," by John Anderson, 1878.

YANGON — Researchers have discovered one of the rarest otters native to Asia at the wildlife market in Mong La in Shan State, suggesting that the species exists in Myanmar and is in need of protection.

Chris R. Shepherd of the wildlife organization Traffic, and Vincent Nijman of the Oxford Wildlife Trade Research Group, reported finding the skin of a single hairy-nosed otter in Mong La in early January.

The finding was released in a note published by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Hairy-nosed otters are generally thought to occupy a range that includes southern Thailand, Cambodia, southern Vietnam, peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, and Sumatra and its nearby islands.

The only previous known record for a hairy-nosed otter in Myanmar is an animal taken at Gam Majaw in Kachin State in 1939, which is now in the Natural History Museum in London.

Myanmar is home to three other otter species. The small-clawed otter and the smooth otter are assessed as vulnerable by the IUCN. The Eurasian otter is assessed as near endangered. All three are listed as protected in Myanmar under a 1994 conservation law. The new find suggests that the hairy-nosed otter should also be listed.

Hairy-nosed otters were once widespread in many parts of Southeast Asia but have become rare due to a loss of habitat and poaching.

In Cambodia, the Wildlife Alliance is taking care of one rescued animal, named Pursat, in its sanctuary at Phnom Tamao.

The otters' sensitivity to stress and pollution means that Pursat has been provided with a secluded pool enclosure. He is said to be "playful and energetic" while living on a diet of live fish to reduce the chance of toxins entering his system.

In the wild, hairy-nosed otters feed on fish and water snakes. They can supplement their diet with frogs, lizards, turtles, crabs, mammals, and insects.

Snub-nosed monkey

In April, a conservation group released video footage of a monkey in Kachin State whose existence was first reported only in 2010, and whose upturned nose hunters say make it prone to sneezing in the rain.

Flora and Fauna International (FFI) released a video showing scores of the animals leaping high in a forest canopy.

The Myanmar snub-nosed monkey lives in the Maw River area in the northern part of the state. There may be just a few hundred of the animals left, and the population is highly vulnerable to hunting, illegal Chinese logging and development.

Other snub-nosed monkey populations are known only in China and Vietnam.

FFI said that under IUCN criteria, the Myanmar snub-nosed monkey qualifies as Critically Endangered and is in need of government protection.

Program director Frank Momberg told The Irrawaddy that FFI has held discussions with the government about creating an approximately 230,000-hectare national park to protect the mountain habitat of the animal from illegal loggers.

The park around Imaw Mountain would also protect other endangered and charismatic species such as the red panda and the takin [a type of goat-antelope], Mr. Momberg said.

This article first appeared in the May 2014 print edition of The Irrawaddy.

The post Special, and Threatened appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Democratic Voice of Burma

Democratic Voice of Burma


Tea industry in steep decline

Posted: 13 May 2014 04:31 AM PDT

Tea-leaf producers in Namhsan, northern Shan State, are struggling to stay in business due to labour shortages and a surge in untaxed tea from neighbouring China.

"Internationally, tea leaf is regarded as a high-value export product, but local producers in Burma are hit hard by imports from China that evade commercial taxes," said Tun Myaing, chairman of the Palaung Tea Growers and Producers Association (PTGPA).

"This hampers local production and the government must take action," he added, calling on the government to impose tax regulations specifically for Chinese teas.

Tun Myaing argued that if Chinese importers are not subject to regulations, local producers "won't stand a chance", because Chinese production methods have a much higher yield than the traditional organic methods still used by many in Burma.

"In the past, there used to be around 100 tea-leaf factories in the region, and now there are only around 20," said Than Zaw, a tea-leaf producer. He said that many are planning to close up shop within a month, and many farmers have already left to find alternative work in neighbouring countries.

"A lot of tea growers have left for China because of the decline in the local industry and security concerns arising from conflict in the region," he said.

Namhsan, the origin of about 60 percent of Burma's tea, is situated in northern Shan State near Hsipaw. The area is largely populated by the Palaung ethnic group, also known as Ta-ang, in a pocket of the state surrounded by conflict between the Burmese military and several ethnic armed groups.

The hilly expanse sits at the crossroads of several of Burma's largest and most controversial development projects, including the Shwe gas and oil pipelines, which run directly through the Namhsan area, and several new highways being built to access southern China and service construction for nearby dams on the Salween River.

Building barriers: Fencing off the Bangladesh border

Posted: 13 May 2014 03:51 AM PDT

The construction of a fence along Burma's border with Bangladesh has resumed in Arakan State.

New checkpoints will also be built to stop people entering Burma illegally.

Lt-Col Thet Naing, coordinator of the construction project, confirmed to DVB that construction is underway.

"We are creating access routes spreading from the road to the fence. And we are planning to build gravel roads on these routes this year so that we can send units to the fence immediately if we have a situation," he said.

Construction of the fence started in 2009 when the then border guard force, known as the Nasaka, built 40 km of barbed wire fence just 13 metres from the Bangladesh border. The Bangladesh government objected to the construction.

Now, as ethnic unrest tears though the Arakan State, security efforts at the border are being stepped up.

More than 800,000 Rohingya-Muslims live in Burma, the majority in Arakan State. Ongoing ethnic and religious violence has left 140,000 Rohingya is displacement camps, where access to food, water and medicine is becoming increasingly difficult.

Those in power believe the stateless group are illegal immigrants who have crossed the border from Bangladesh.

The fence will run along the 210km land border between the two countries and will also stretch along the maritime border of the River Naf passing Maungdaw.

"The first phase of project is building the fence, followed by construction of sentry paths, access routes and large and small gates. We have around 20 billion kyat [US$ 20 million] for each sector of the fence," said Maj-Gen Ko Ko Naing, Regional Commander of the Western Regional Military Command.

Burma's Ministry of Home Affairs is funding the multi-million dollar project, but with desperate people on both sides of the border, the fence project seems to ignore the root causes of conflict and suffering in the region.

 

 

Kachin peace talks proceeding tentatively in Myitkyina

Posted: 13 May 2014 02:07 AM PDT

The Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) met with a Burmese government delegation led by Minister Aung Min on Tuesday in Myitkyina, where they focused on finding a solution to the ongoing conflict in the region, according to Nyo Ohm Myint, a mediator with the Myanmar Peace Centre who attended the talks.

"Negotiations focused on laying down a framework whereby solutions to the conflict may be discussed," he told DVB, adding that each side is so far taking a slow and tentative approach to these peace talks.

Nyo Ohm Myint also said that the Kachin army's deputy commander-in-chief, Maj-Gen Gun Maw, took the opportunity to clarify reports in the media that cited him talking about independence while he was in the USA last month.

"He emphasised that quotes about him speaking to the US government about Kachin independence were false," said the Myanmar Peace Centre official.

Both delegations arrived in the Kachin State capital on Monday morning. The KIO were greeted by thousands of well-wishers who lined the street to welcome the Kachin army.

"A delegation representing the Burmese government's UPWC [Union Peace-making Work Committee] arrived in Myitkyina around 10:30 on Monday morning," said Lamai Gum Ja, a mediator at the peace talks. "The KIO invited representatives of the UNFC [United Nationalities Federal Council], the NCCT [Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team], UN Special Adviser Vijay Nambiar, and China's Southeast Asia Special Envoy Wan Yingfan."

Lamai Gum Ja said that Nambiar was unable to attend the negotiations but that his assistant would sit in on his behalf.

Tuesday's meeting is the first time the groups had held bilateral talks since October when they reached an agreement to: avoid clashes between troops; form a monitoring committee; work towards resettling IDPs; and reopen major transportation routes in Kachin State.

In April, heavy clashes resumed in Mansi and neighbouring northern Shan State between the KIO and government forces, forcing the displacement of hundreds if not thousands more villagers, some of whom were already sheltering in IDP camps from hostilities that began almost three years ago.

Kachinland News reported on Monday that clashes had broken out in recent days in Kuktai Township, a Kachin-populated area in northern Shan State, and north of Lawa Yang in southern Kachin State, with the government forces sustaining several injuries.

South China Sea dispute dominates ASEAN Summit in Naypyidaw

Posted: 12 May 2014 07:05 PM PDT

The 24th ASEAN Summit drew to a close on Sunday, 11 May, with some member countries expressing satisfaction with the outcome of talks regarding the fragile South China Sea dispute.

Tensions ratcheted up last week after China positioned a huge oil rig in an area also claimed by Vietnam, with each country accusing the other of ramming its ships in the region close to the disputed Paracel Islands.

The issue has dominated the discussion among ASEAN members who met in Burma's capital Naypyidaw this weekend.

At the close of the summit, Indonesia's Foreign Minister, Marty Natalegawa, said the consensus amongst ASEAN members on the issue “is an encouraging sign”.

“ASEAN was able to very quickly come to a consensus on a very urgent matter. I think this is an encouraging sign. Once again, as I have said before, ASEAN coming together is not a reflection of animosity towards anyone, because what we are reinforcing is a message of peace, a message of a peaceful settlement of disputes," he said.

Albert del Rosario, Foreign Secretary of the Philippines, which has also staked a claim in the area, projected a similar message of unity as he left the summit.

“Well, I think we are very united and we are projecting centrality,” he said.

Tensions over the sea, which is claimed in part by four ASEAN members – Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei - as well as China and Taiwan, have strained the group’s unity in recent years, resulting in an embarrassing breakdown of a summit in Cambodia in 2012.

Vietnam’s prime minister, Nguyen Tan Dung, had told ASEAN leaders that China was slandering his country and committing dangerous violations in disputed waters, but the 10-nation ASEAN group refrained from criticising Beijing in a summit communique. Neither President Thein Sein’s opening speech nor the final statement of the summit on Sunday touched on the China-Vietnam dispute.

China has begun official talks with ASEAN to establish maritime conduct rules for the South China Sea, but argues that territorial disputes should be discussed on a bilateral basis.

On Sunday, ASEAN Secretary General Le Luong Minh, who is Vietnamese, said that despite holding three rounds of talks since last year, “we have not been able to engage China in substantive consultations."

“We look forward to being able to engage China in the substantive consultations on the COC [Code of Conduct], with a view to early concluding of COC,” Minh continued.

This is the first time Burma is hosting the ASEAN summit, and in his closing remarks Thein Sein promoted unity among the member states.

"To implement our goal to make the ASEAN a peaceful, stable and prosperous community it is important to maintain the strong unity among the member states," he said.

The summit was overshadowed by the South China Sea dispute – but a consensus to the talks is all Burma could have hoped for.