The Irrawaddy Magazine |
- Suu Kyi Forgives After Fake Photo Depicts Her in Islamic Headscarf
- ‘We Asked Them Not to Arrest Burmese Workers With Valid Documents’
- A Contest to the Death in Indonesia
- The Irrawaddy Business Roundup (June 21, 2014)
| Suu Kyi Forgives After Fake Photo Depicts Her in Islamic Headscarf Posted: 21 Jun 2014 03:25 AM PDT  Presidential spokesman Ye Htut talks with Aung San Suu Kyi at the Lower House of Parliament on Friday. (Photo: Ye Htut / Facebook) RANGOON — Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has decided to forgive and forget after the wife of Burma's presidential spokesman shared a Photoshopped image on Facebook that depicted her in an Islamic headscarf, the presidential spokesman says. Ye Htut, who is also deputy minister of information, said he personally apologized to Suu Kyi for his wife's behavior when they met at the Lower House of Parliament on Friday. "Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said 'no problem' when I apologized for her for the Facebook post," Ye Htut announced in a statement on his own Facebook page later on Friday. "I thank her for her forgiveness and understanding." The presidential spokesman's followers on the social media site left comments, praising him for apologizing and Suu Kyi for letting the issue drop. The Photoshopped image depicted Suu Kyi wearing an Islamic headscarf and being crowned with a tiara as "Woman of the Week. It criticized her for pushing to amend the Constitution and was shared widely on Facebook, including by the deputy minister's wife, Khin Sandar Tun, about two weeks ago. The altered image was particularly sensitive in Burma because the country's political reforms have been accompanied by rising anti-Islamic sentiment and violence. Ye Htut himself has blamed Facebook users for fanning the flames of interreligious tensions by spreading false rumors and hate speech. His wife's post of the altered photo drew much criticism from social media users, prompting Ye Htut to write an apology note on his own Facebook page on June 6. "There are ethics to using Facebook. We have to take care with the posts that we 'like' and share, for there may be hateful posts and defamation. The posts we write on our own should not be those that spread hate speech or personal attacks. "As a responsible person of the government and as the head of the house, I have the responsibility to teach my family members to behave accordingly, to the standard that the majority of the people are upholding," he continued. "Apologies to those who respect and support Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and to those who visit my Facebook for my failure." The post Suu Kyi Forgives After Fake Photo Depicts Her in Islamic Headscarf appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| ‘We Asked Them Not to Arrest Burmese Workers With Valid Documents’ Posted: 20 Jun 2014 06:00 PM PDT  The newly appointed Burmese Ambassador to Thailand Win Maung. (Photo: Win Maung) In recent weeks, the Thai military junta has launched a massive crackdown on illegal migrants that has caused 200,000 Cambodians to flee the country. Although Burmese migrants have escaped the brunt of the crackdown so far, hundreds who lack proper legal paperwork have been arrested and many live in fear of arrest. The Burmese Embassy in Bangkok has been criticized by migrant rights groups for being silent during the crackdown and doing little to help those who have been arrested, while also failing to protect Burmese migrants from human trafficking rings. The newly appointed Burmese Ambassador Win Maung, who was a military attaché at the embassy until last year, spoke to Irrawaddy reporter May Kha about the crackdown and said the embassy was taking steps to help Burmese migrants in Thailand. Rights groups say that between 2 million and 3 million Burmese are employed as cheap, unskilled labor in Thailand, where many often work under difficult conditions and face the risk of arrest and expulsion because they lack Burmese passports and Thai work permits. Question: We learned that Burmese diplomats met with their Thai counterparts to discuss the crackdown's effect on illegal Burmese migrant workers. What did you discuss? Answer: We officially met with the Thai military commander-in-chief and other officials on June 6. I told them we have opened one-stop service passport centers for Burmese migrant workers at [the border crossings] Mae Sot, Mae Sai and Ranong. We asked them not to arrest the Burmese workers who have invalid visas. They replied that they will extend the visa and there will be no more arrest. They urge workers to make sure that they have all legal documents. Q: There are also reports that even Burmese workers with passports were arrested. Is that true? A: We reacted as soon as we heard about this. We distributed the phone numbers of our labor attaché and other officials to Burmese workers to call officials in case they were arrested, even though they have legal documents. We gave them the phone numbers of our one-stop service passport centers. I asked the labor attaché to keep an eye on Mahachai [a Thai sea port]. So far, there have been no arrests in Bangkok. In Chiang Mai, all those arrested have been released. Q: What is your response to critics who say that the Burmese Embassy has been largely silent and failed to help workers during the crackdown? A: After the June 6 meeting, we learned there had been more arrests, so we met with relevant [Thai] authorities and complained about it and told them: 'Don't arrest our people.' They replied that they were not, and that if we heard about any arrest they would accept our complaints. I also didn't hear about any mass arrests of Burmese migrant workers. Q: But recently, around 50 or 60 Burmese workers in Mae Sot were rounded up and arrested, and the same happened in Chiang Mai. It's been reported in the Thai media. A: In Mae Sot, there are [Burmese] squatters who are doing illegal trade near the Thaung Yin River. There was a raid and around 70 or 80 people were detained and investigated. Those who have legal documents were released. The rest who don't have documents were sent back to Burma. In Chiang Mai, the same thing happened. Q: After you met with the Thai authorities on June 6, the embassy failed to inform the worried Burmese migrants that they are not being targeted by the Thai authorities. Why are you late in releasing this information? A: No, I don't think we are slow in releasing this news. Our labor attaché released a notice saying that if anyone with a passport is arrested, they can call to the embassy. We released warnings advising not to go out and if you do, do not forget to bring relevant documents when you go out. Q: There are also complaints about the process of obtaining a Burmese passport for migrant workers at the one-stop service centers. They are required to have national ID cards and household registration card to apply for the document, but many come from ethnic conflict areas, where they could not obtain the required documents or they lost them because their homes were burned down. What will you do to help them get a passport? A: We have a particular plan for them. We will use an online registration system where they can fill the forms, and then we send these back to the immigration department in Burma for review. If the applicants get the approval, they will do the rest of the process at any one-stop passport service in their vicinity, and it would take only day. We are just waiting to go ahead [with this plan] because of the current situation in Thailand. Q: Burmese workers' rights groups in Thailand have complained that the embassy is not collaborating with them when it comes to rescuing workers trafficked on to Thai fishing boats or into the sex industry. What is your response to this complaint? A: The labor attaché reports to me every morning. We have groups like the Myanmar Association Thailand to protect Burmese workers here. If something bad happens [to migrants], we send official letters to seek help from relevant district police or immigration officials. In some cases, some workers are taken to fishing boats as soon as they arrive in Thailand. When they make a phone call for help, they don't know their whereabouts and the name of the fishing boats they are on. In that case, it's quite difficult for us to point out where they are and ask help from relevant authorities. The post 'We Asked Them Not to Arrest Burmese Workers With Valid Documents' appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| A Contest to the Death in Indonesia Posted: 20 Jun 2014 05:30 PM PDT  The warriers launch their horses at full gallop. (Photo: Jacques Maudy & Julie Andre / The Irrawaddy) SUMBA, Indonesia — The Pasola festival on the Indonesian island of Sumba is a ritual confrontation of spear-wielding warriors on horseback that occurs annually. Two clans line up some 20 horsemen, who each attempt to prove their bravery by attacking members of the opposing clan on a sacred field. Sumba is located south of Komodo and Flores islands in the eastern part of the Indonesian archipelago. Dubbed the "forgotten island," it has kept alive its original traditions and customs. The houses here are particular. With pitched, thatched roofs, they are made of bamboo and have three levels. The lower level is allocated to farm animals, while the middle level is where people live. At the base of the tower and above the living quarter is the domain of the ancestors. The higher the roof, the better and more powerful the owner. The chief of Ratteggaro village, for example, is very proud of his 16-meter-high house. The people of Sumba are Christians, but they also have Marapu animist beliefs. A Festival for Revenge The Pasola tradition is truly alive in the western part of Sumba, where Arab traders brought beautiful Arabian horses in the 11th century. The horses are not only essential for these warriors, but also the preferred mode of transportation in the countryside, a sign of wealth, and a trading tool for marriages, funerals or when compensation must be offered. The Pasola festival is held in February or March, but the exact date is only known two weeks in advance. The day before, in Wanukaka and in Lamboya regions, clans from the hills and the shore line up face to face and shout abuses at each other. Once the adrenaline rises to an acceptable level, they organize a boxing match. Each contender brings a chicken to the priest, who kills the animal, opens it and reads the omen in its guts. He will tell each man if he can participate or not On the day of the festival, the two teams gather on the sacred Pasola field. The fight can lead to wounds and death. The Sumbanese believe their blood will fertilize the soil. The contest is designed to allow people to take revenge for wrongs done during the past year. No one is supposed to interfere if a contender is wounded. It is assumed that they are the victims of the anger of the Marapu for wrongs they committed. No revenge can be taken by any clan after the Pasola is finished. They must wait for the next year's Pasola to do so. I saw a very skilled Wanukaka rider throw his spear and catch a spear aimed at him nearly simultaneously. But spectators are not immune from accidents. During the two Pasolas I witnessed this year, a lady got a spear in the head in Wanukaka and a warrior was speared in the chest in Kodi. On several occasions, spectators had to duck down to avoid the flying spears and the horses ended up running into the crowd. The post A Contest to the Death in Indonesia appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| The Irrawaddy Business Roundup (June 21, 2014) Posted: 20 Jun 2014 05:00 PM PDT Burma's Inflation Forecast to Stay Up at 9% in the Medium Term Inflation in Burma is likely to remain as high as 9 percent in the medium term, an economic forecasting company specializing in frontier markets said. "We expect overall inflation to continue speeding up throughout this year on account of the 2013 depreciation of the kyat, a recent electricity price hike, and increased wages for public employees," said the assessment by Mantis, based in the Netherlands. "Inflation will stabilize around 9 percent in the medium term." It said inflation began to accelerate in the first quarter of this year due to food shortages triggered by a weather-affected harvest. Mantis said foreign investment grew to about 9 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter of the calendar year, "just in time to help finance the country's highest merchandise deficit ever, which reached 7.3 percent of GDP in 2014 Q1." Exports fell to only 12.5 percent of GDP in the first quarter of 2014, down from their peak of 21 percent in the previous quarter and below their five-year average of 15.5 percent, said Mantis. Assuming that economic reforms stay on course, both foreign direct investment and aid inflows will remain high, allowing the country to accumulate an international reserves buffer and contributing to broad-based growth of about 7 percent in the next five years, Mantis said. However, Mantis warned that Burma's economic transition "entails large uncertainties." Foreign Bank Licences Need Careful Monitoring, Says IMF The Burmese government needs to firmly control bank licences when it gives the final go ahead for some foreign banks to open for regular banking business, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recommended. Tight control will be necessary to allow banking capacity to develop in an orderly way, IMF mission head in Burma Matt Davies was quoted by Eleven Media as saying. Naypyidaw is in the process of choosing which foreign banks will receive operating permits and is expected to initially issue between five and 10 licences. More than 40 foreign banks have already opened representative offices in the country, but they can only provide consultation and advisory services. Strong contenders include Thailand, which has four banks with offices already in Burma, including the large Bangkok Bank, said The Nation newspaper in Bangkok. Mobile US Power Plant Brings New Electricity Supply to Mandalay A 100 megawatt temporary gas-fueled power plant has begun operating in Mandalay Division less than four months after an agreement was signed between the US installer and the Naypyidaw government. The plant, at Kyaukse, has been built by APR Energy, which says electricity generated will serve hundreds of thousands of people. Its rapid development is due to the use of 68 mobile gas power modules, APR Energy said. However, the plant is not a long-term solution to Burma's massive energy shortages. The APR contract to supply electricity is for two years only, after which the equipment would be removed unless the contract is extended. "We expect to be able to demonstrate to the Ministry [of Energy] that we can operate more efficiently and more reliably than anybody else on the grid. And I hope that if we can demonstrate that they'd be happy to keep our plant longer term," APR Energy managing director Clive Turton said in a statement. Rangoon and Mandalay Are Major Destinations for AirAsia Airline Burma is set to become a major market for regional budget airline AirAsia, especially with advent of the Asean economic community in 2015, a senior company manager said. "[Burma] and the entire Mekong region are main markets for Air Asia where we will focus growth activities and add destinations to increase flight frequencies," Thai AirAsia chief executive Nadda Buranasiri told travel industry newspaper TTR Weekly. AirAsia, one of the biggest budget airlines flying to Burma, said that in the first five months of this year passenger traffic on its Bangkok-Rangoon route increased 15 percent and the Bangkok-Mandalay route by 30 percent, compared with the same period of 2013. The airline flies between Rangoon and Bangkok twice daily. Flights from Mandalay to Bangkok are once a day, as is the Rangoon-Kuala Lumpur service. The Asean economic community is supposed to open up the 10-nation group to easier movement of people and business, although the Naypyidaw government has not yet signed visa-free travel agreements with all the member countries. Rent Rangoon's Ex-State Buildings to Wealthy NGOs, Says Economist Vacant old buildings in Rangoon abandoned by the government when it moved the capital to Naypyidaw could be rented out cheaply to foreign agencies and NGOs as a way of curbing the huge rent inflation in the city, an American economist said. The proposal follows reports of exorbitant rents being paid by large international agencies and charities to private property owners in Rangoon. "[A] sensible solution is to lease vacant properties still owned by the government, especially after the move to Naypyidaw, to these prime tenants for a heavily discounted monthly payment and leaving it to the tenant to improve the property to their standards," said the prominent economist, speaking on condition of anonymity to The Irrawaddy. Another option could be for the government to "purchase prime properties from the former generals or their families at some negotiated price that represents a decent profit for the owners but is far below the market price and then lease the properties to the official agencies and NGOs," the economist said. "What I see is the government shutting its eyes to a problem and the international agencies playing dumb. The situation looks like a colossal failure of the imagination." The post The Irrawaddy Business Roundup (June 21, 2014) appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
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