The Irrawaddy Magazine |
- Dozens of Reporters to Face Charges After Silent Protest
- Helping Burma’s Women Entrepreneurs to Take Risks
- Prison Sentences for Journalists ‘Very Excessive’: Suu Kyi
- Burma’s Election Commission Approves Campaign Rules
- Mandalay Residents Fear Unrest but Grow Frustrated With Curfew
- Photo of the Week (14 July, 2014)
- Thai Junta’s Pledge to Send Back Burmese Refugees Sparks Concern
- Off the Leash, But Still Muzzled
- Hidden Worlds
- In Contested Election, Indonesia’s Democracy on the Line
- Four Bodies Found in India’s Volatile Northeast, Army Deployed
- In Vietnam, a World Cup Loss Is a Whole Different Ball Game
- Germany’s World Cup Party Gets Underway at Home
- A Power-Sharing Alternative for Burma’s Political Elites
| Dozens of Reporters to Face Charges After Silent Protest Posted: 14 Jul 2014 05:47 AM PDT  Journalists protest outside the Myanmar Peace Center on Saturday. (Photo: Sai Zaw / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — About two dozen journalists who staged a silent demonstration in Burma's former capital will be charged with violating the Peaceful Assembly Act, as will dozens of other journalists who were not participating in the demonstration but attempted to report on it, according to the police. The protesters were demonstrating on Saturday against the recent harsh imprisonment of their fellow reporters in the country. An officer from a police station in Rangoon's Kamayut Township, where the demonstration took place, confirmed on Monday that several dozen journalists would face charges because they did not receive permission from authorities to hold the demonstration. "The chief of the station will charge them as a plaintiff. The number of journalists on the list is about 50," the officer told The Irrawaddy. That number has raised eyebrows among journalists who did not participate in the demonstration but were present to report on it. "Given the number of people on the list, it seems the police have included other journalists who did not join the protest. There were many reporters like me out there on that day to cover it," said a local journalist who declined to be named. The police declined to comment on the decision to take legal action against journalists who did not participate in the demonstration, but said they were still reviewing their list before pressing charges. The protest was unplanned. About two dozen journalists wearing T-shirts that read, "Stop Killing Press," decided to stage the demonstration after they were prevented from covering a meeting at the Myanmar Peace Center (MPC) between President Thein Sein and local celebrities. The journalists, including several from The Irrawaddy, had worn the T-shirts into the meeting to show their opposition to the sentencing last week of four reporters and the chief executive of Unity journal to 10 years in prison with hard labor. Authorities required the journalists in T-shirts to leave the president's meeting because of their attire, so they gathered outside and waited silently. Some covered their mouths with black tape to suggest that freedom of expression has been curtailed. The Unity journal reporters were convicted last week on Thursday in a lawsuit filed by the President's Office after they published an article about an alleged chemical weapons factory in Magwe Division. They were found guilty of violating the State Secrets Act, and their sentence was criticized as excessive by human rights activists and press watchdogs. Burma's Interim Press Council has requested a meeting with Thein Sein to discuss the situation, according to council member Zaw Thet Htwe. "If we don't have that chance, the council will call an urgent meeting to review the role of the council. If we can't do anything to protect press freedom and journalists' rights, the role of the press council is questionable," he told The Irrawaddy. If the 50 or so journalists are convicted of violating the Peaceful Assembly Act, they will face a maximum of six months' imprisonment, according to Robert San Aung, a lawyer who would defend them in court. He said he believed the government was attempting to intimidate the media. "They didn't shout slogans. They held no placards. They just stood on the pavement like any other people. I see no point in taking action against them," he told The Irrawaddy. Journalists who joined the silent demonstration said they had not received any notification from the police as of Monday afternoon. "No call, no letter from the police so far," said Ei Mon Kyaw, an executive editor at Our Farmer weekly. She said if the lawsuit proceeded, the case would make history in Burma because so many journalists have never before been charged in the same incident. "If it happens, it would only make me believe more strongly in the importance of journalism," she said. Irrawaddy reporters May Sitt Paing and Htet Naing Zaw contributed to this report. The post Dozens of Reporters to Face Charges After Silent Protest appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Helping Burma’s Women Entrepreneurs to Take Risks Posted: 14 Jul 2014 05:37 AM PDT  Project-W's women entrepreneurs and program manager Josep M. Saura at a workshop in Rangoon. (Photo: Project Hub Yangon) RANGOON — A small group of Burmese women who want to start businesses of their own is being helped by Project-W, part of a so-called start-up incubator in Rangoon. Eleven women were chosen for their business ideas, which range from starting an online shop selling longyis, to a travel agency. The women are currently involved in the six-month project, in which they are being taught business skills and market knowledge, and being advised by local mentors. The Irrawaddy's reporter Nyein Nyein talked to Allison Morris—the co-founder of Project Hub Yangon, which is running Project-W—about the program, its successes and its challenges. Question: What is Project-W? Answer: Project-W is a start-up incubator for women entrepreneurs, run by the Project Hub Yangon. After competitive selection, we provide resources and space for them for six months. Once a week they come in for a workshop. We have network of local business leaders that meet with our entrepreneurs once a month to also provide advice and guidance. We also provide exposure, try to promote their businesses on our Facebook and get media coverage. During the program, they cannot just come to the workshop and sit back and learn. They have to come to the workshop and actually start a business. By November, they should have either launched a business entirely or started to test their products in the market. The way we work is everything that she does is at very little cost. All the resources we are providing her are free. The only cost right now is her time, starting the business. Our idea is that starting the business with as little money as possible, we don't go first and find office, rent office, or hire employee. You start very small; you try to get one customer, and you learn and get another customer and learn and you grow. We are really pushing them to start small and with very little capital. We expect by the end of program, the woman will have customers for her business. We will introduce them to funders and investors with the ideas by them. They would have tested the products, analyzed the business model and practiced the business a bit. By the time they present to the funders, they will have a very strong presentation and very strong pitch. Hopefully some of them will get investment. Q: Who benefits from Project-W? A: Many of them are very new to the business sector. Some of them are currently employed in another sector. One woman is working with an INGO, she wants to now start a social business. Although she has a strong background as an employee, she does not have a business background yet. Basically, we are helping them to make a shift. We help them to reduce risk; many are very concerned about the risk of starting a business. We make sure they are comfortable with the potential risks. Q: How are the new women entrepreneurs different from those in your program last year, which did not focus on women? A: In this year's group, a lot of women are very tentative. They want to see their business model and their plan entirely, and say, "This looks good, I am going to make money and I will do it." That's fine, but they need to act a bit, not just planning. I see many differences between last year's and this year's groups. The main difference is risk. Women are very cautious; they don't want to start something if it is going to fail. The men we worked with last year, they were a bit more ready to try something out. They worked here for all day. They had this mindset, that the entrepreneurs' skills are acceptable for them. In last year's program, we did not have a focus [on gender]. Men or women could apply. We had only three women who applied out of 45 applications. So mostly men and only one woman were [in last year's program] in the end, which went really well. What we did not anticipate is the group became their own support network, became group of entrepreneurs that still meet and support each other with business advises. It happens naturally. But for the woman in last year's program, she was obviously friendly with everyone. But she was not as in the group as she cannot go out for beers with six guys. At the end of program, there is a great group supporting each other but the woman in last year's program did not really get that benefit. I have been in Myanmar for two years working in the start-up scene. When I go to the events such as Bar Camp, Tech Incubator, they are all guys. We were thinking: 'Let's do a program that focuses on bringing out the women, supporting them to do business.' I know that there are many women with great ideas. Women here have a lot of opportunities, but I feel like it's much more difficult for women, younger women especially, to start a business because she does not have a network, it is harder to make network than a guy. When we invite women to come to our event, they usually will only come if they have friends to come. We wanted to create an environment where women feel supported to do business, comfortable to speak out and ask questions. We create little network of women entrepreneurs that will go on and support each other over the next few years. Q: How are the women coping with the program? I understand one woman has a young child. A: They are very sharp and motivated women, working very hard in their jobs. They kind of recognize they are capable to do something more, so they applied to our program. They are really hard working, usually doing a million things: got their jobs full-time, doing our program, which is quite demanding, sometimes at school, or teaching on the weekends. We have one woman with a child. Q: What are the successes of your start-up incubator program? And the challenges? A: We are running the project for almost two years, but providing space and the first incubator program started only last year. We are quite happy with the response from the entrepreneurs that our program is very tailored to their needs. Last year, two out of the five businesses that we launched got foreign investment, which I think really impressive. We hope that this year's women-led businesses also can also get funded. In term of challenges, it has been tough; growing our team, finding appropriate people who can teach entrepreneurs skills, and everything is expensive. Office rental and getting Internet are expensive. So, we have all the challenges as of everyone else starting the business. Q: What are the two businesses that got foreign investment? A: One is the Myanmar online search engine Bindez, which got some investment, and PR Company called Blink agency, which does social media management in Myanmar. The third agency is the distribution of top-up cards, but it joined with the PR company. The post Helping Burma's Women Entrepreneurs to Take Risks appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Prison Sentences for Journalists ‘Very Excessive’: Suu Kyi Posted: 14 Jul 2014 05:24 AM PDT  Unity journalist Lu Maw Naing (R) and the paper's CEO Tint San on their way to Pakkoku Township Court. (Photo: Citizen Journalist) RANGOON — Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has condemned the 10-year prison sentences handed down to four local journalists and their boss on Thursday, saying the punishments were disproportionate and that she doubted the government's commitment to media freedom. Suu Kyi addressed a National League for Democracy (NLD) rally in Magwe Division's Pakkoku town on Saturday as part of her nationwide constitutional reform campaign, when she was asked by journalists in the crowd what she thought of the verdict. "In a journalist's case, 10 years' imprisonment is very excessive in my opinion. This will have to be reviewed by the judiciary," the NLD chair said. "While there are claims of democratic reform [in Burma], this is questionable when the rights of journalists [to report] are being controlled." "The case is said to be concerned with national security. It's not that I don't accept a concern over national security, but in a democratic system, security should be in balance with freedom," Suu Kyi said. The rally was reportedly the largest constitutional reform rally held in Mandalay Division since Suu Kyi's campaign began in May and many tens of thousands of people joined the event. The NLD chair told the crowd that her party wants a free and fair referendum on reforms to the military-drafted 2008 Constitution, while she also reaffirmed that her party opposes a change to the proportional representation voting system that is being considered by Parliament. On Thursday, a Pakokku Township Court sentenced Unity journal's CEO, Tin Hsan, 52, and journalists Lu Maw Naing, 28, Sithu Soe, 22, The Yazar Oo, 28, and Aung Thura, 25, to 10 years' imprisonment with hard labor for trespassing and violating the colonial-era State Secrets Act. The five had been held since Jan. 25 after their newspaper published a report and photos of a Burma Army facility in Pakokku Township, which the journalists alleged was a chemical weapons factory being constructed with the help of Chinese engineers. The President's Office subsequently filed a lawsuit against the journalists and their CEO. Recently, Unity journal shut down because of financial problems. The harsh sentences have drawn widespread condemnation, both locally and internationally, and campaigners have pointed out that they are contradictory to the recently passed Press Law, which rules out prison sentences for journalists found to have broken the law in their work. Presidential spokesman Ye Htut defended the verdict in media interviews this weekend, telling 7 Days Daily News via email that "journalists should sympathize with national security issues that are important for a country." Ye Htut went on to state that the imprisoned journalists had been charged with trespassing because they supposedly snuck into a restricted area around the Pakokku military facility—a charge that the reporters have denied in court. The spokesman said he believed the US government would hand down a similar punishment to journalists in these supposed circumstances. "Try going into an American weapons factory [in this way] and see what happens," he added. The US Embassy said on Friday, however, that it was concerned over the prison sentences and questioned the Burmese government's commitment to upholding certain freedoms. "10 years hard labor for journalists sends a deeply troubling message on [Burma's] commitment to freedom of press and expression," it said on Twitter. On Saturday, two dozen journalists were barred from covering an event at the Myanmar Peace Center, in which President Thein Sein was supposed to meet with celebrities, because they wore t-shirts on which were printed the words "Stop Killing Press." Local and international media and human rights groups issued statements of concern in recent days, labelling the prison terms as serious backsliding on media freedom in Burma. Since assuming office in 2011, Thein Sein's nominally civilian government introduced sweeping political reforms, including lifting draconian restrictions on the media. PEN Myanmar called for a revision of the Unity case verdict and said the journalists had only "attempted to fulfill the public's right to know." The case, the media group said, "not only interferes with the free flow of news, it also directly threaten the right to freedom of expression and freedom to news reporting. It's a strong reminder that such action can be taken in similar cases against journalists." The Myanmar Press Council said the Unity journal case, along with the recent detention of three editors of Bi-Mon Tae Nay Journal on charges of defamation, represented a serious setback for Burma's media freedom. "The Myanmar Press Council does not agree and rejects the investigating, arrest and imprisonment of editors and journalists from an official media group," it said, adding that the council was the first body under the Press Law that should be contacted to mediate in any dispute related to media reports. The recent cases against journalists, the council said, "are threatening democratic transition of the government and the media's freedom of press." Amnesty International said on Friday that the Unity Journal verdict was "a very dark day for freedom of expression" in Burma, adding that it "considers all five men to be prisoners of conscience and calls for their immediate and unconditional release." The post Prison Sentences for Journalists 'Very Excessive': Suu Kyi appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Burma’s Election Commission Approves Campaign Rules Posted: 14 Jul 2014 05:14 AM PDT  Members of Burma's ruling Union Solitarily and Development Party hand out flyers during a campaign rally near a market outside Rangoon ahead of elections in 2010. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — Burma's Union Election Commission (UEC) has approved rules that will govern campaigning for the 2015 elections, despite claims from opposition parties that the regulations will restrict their ability to get their message out to voters. The UEC stated in a directive dated July 1 that it had settled upon the rules, which it said would ensure a free and fair election. The rules were subject to a consultation with political parties, but measures seen as overly restrictive remain—notably a limited period during which campaigning is permitted and the obligation to seek permission before holding rallies. Parties can start campaigning from 30 days before the election, and are not allowed to canvass on the day before the election, according to the rules, which the UEC has distributed to political parties. In order to give a speech or hold a public rally, candidates must submit an application to the local constituency election commission office within 15 days of the candidates' names for that constituency being announced. For public speeches and rallies held at political parties' own offices, two days advance notice must be given. Applications to hold rallies must include the place, date, time and duration of the event, and details of any speakers, information about the applicant and whether vehicles will be used in the rally, the rules state. The commission said it will always grant permission after scrutinizing the applications. But opposition parties have said the rules will make it difficult to freely campaign. "It is not a free election. We can't give speeches at the place where we want, we need to get permission. It was the same with previous elections," said Thu Wai, the chairman of Democratic Party (Myanmar). Hla Maung Cho, director of the UEC, insisted that applications for permission were needed in order to avoid problems with campaign events being planned at the same places. "The candidate, or a party member who is given the authority by the candidate, can submit the application. They must submit the application so that we can make sure not to overlap the venues where parties want to hold the rallies or give public speeches," Hla Maung Cho told The Irrawaddy, adding that the commission would negotiate to ensure competing parties' rallies do not overlap. Banya Aung Moe from the All Mon Regions Democracy Party said the campaign rules were similar to the 2010 election, and complained that calls for a longer campaign period had been ignored. "Thirty days is not enough time to campaign. It is too short to travel around and to educate voters," he said, explaining that in remote regions like Mon State in particular, a longer period was needed for parties to reach out to all voters. Thaung Hlaing, another UEC director, said the commission had made significant concessions to the political parties during the consultation period. "We acceded to almost all requests of parties about the election campaign rules. Internationally, they give two weeks, but we will give one month," Thaung Hlaing told The Irrawaddy. The post Burma's Election Commission Approves Campaign Rules appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Mandalay Residents Fear Unrest but Grow Frustrated With Curfew Posted: 14 Jul 2014 04:25 AM PDT  Two foreign tourists cycle down 26th (B) street on the afternoon of July 4. The normally busy street in central Mandalay was deserted because of inter-communal unrest that began on July 1. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) MANDALAY— Residents in Burma's second-biggest city are worried about the possibility of a resurgence of violence following the controversial detainment of nine young Muslim men over the weekend. The men were detained on suspicion of involvement in clashes between Muslims and Buddhists in Mandalay earlier this month. Dozens of people have been questioned by the police since the rioting first broke out on July 1, leaving two people dead, while hundreds have been detained at least briefly for violating a nighttime curfew that has since been imposed in the city. On Saturday, the police apprehended the nine Muslim men in a predominately Muslim neighborhood of Chan Aye Thar San Township, after receiving a tip that they had been involved in the violence. "Parents of the detainees rushed to the police station and asked the police to release their sons, because they believed their sons had done nothing wrong. A crowd formed and quarreled with the police," said a witness who lives in the neighborhood, asking not to be named for safety reasons. "We were frightened by the incident and worried that something terrible might break out again. Who knows what will happen next? I just hope that no more problems occur." The divisional police announced on Monday that five of the men were sent home to their parents because they were not involved in the riots. The four others are still undergoing questioning. "They are suspected of hurting people, being involved in the violence, and helping others to hurt people," an officer from the divisional police said. He said 34 people had been detained since July 1 for questioning over their involvement in the riots that left at least 14 people injured. Of these, three people were detained last week on suspicions of murder, while 10 people are being questioned over alleged arson, six people over alleged assault, and 10 people for allegedly creating unrest. The others are suspected of having held illegal weapons or committing other crimes. Meanwhile, about 720 people have been taken into custody for violating the curfew that was imposed on July 3. Residents are required to remain indoors from 9 pm until 5 am. "Most of them were going back home late," said the police officer. "Some were released after questioning, while some were released on bail after promising not to go out intentionally. A few were found guilty and received one week in detention." Mandalay residents say they continue to worry about the outbreak of more violence but are also eager for an end to the curfew, especially during Buddhist Lent. Normally during the months of lent, streets in Mandalay come alive before dawn, as people prepare to make donations to Buddhist monks. Under the curfew, people say they cannot prepare for alms before the monks arrive at 5 am. "Usually, we gather early in the morning to prepare offerings and alms for the monks, but now it is difficult because we can move around only after 5 am," said Naing Aung, a member of a volunteer youth group. "The timing is so tight for us and we are not ready when the monks arrive. It would be better if the curfew was reduced by one or two hours." Businesspeople say the curfew has affected their work. "Since the authorities said the situation has become stable, it would be better to reduce the curfew. We now have to close our shops early to rush back home, and we can't send our kids to the cinema because they start closing at 4 pm. We can't go out early if we want to travel to another city before dawn," said Maw Maw Win, a textile shop owner. Muslims say the curfew has prevented them from attending prayer services during the fasting month of Ramadan. "Since we do our devotion according to the time of sunset and sunrise, the curfew bars us from going to the mosque for prayer services that usually start at 8:30 in the evening and 4 in the morning. Now we have no choice but to pray at home," said a Muslim elder, requesting anonymity for safety reasons. "But at the mosque, the religious leaders and some laymen never fail to perform the prayer services on time." He added, "We don't want to abolish the curfew because we are afraid violence might break out again. We feel the situation is not totally stable yet. It would be great if the timing of the curfew could be reduced by one hour on each end so as to be more convenient for everybody." The post Mandalay Residents Fear Unrest but Grow Frustrated With Curfew appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Photo of the Week (14 July, 2014) Posted: 14 Jul 2014 02:54 AM PDT The post Photo of the Week (14 July, 2014) appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Thai Junta’s Pledge to Send Back Burmese Refugees Sparks Concern Posted: 14 Jul 2014 01:13 AM PDT  A Karen refugee child waits patiently for Burmese democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi to visit the Mae La refugee Camp north of Mae Sot, Thailand. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) BANGKOK — Thailand's military government said on Monday it would send home 100,000 refugees who have been living in camps for two decades and more along the border with Burma, a move rights groups say would create chaos at a tense time for both nations. Thailand's military overthrew the remnants of an elected government in May after months of sometimes violent street protests. Its National Council for Peace and Order has rolled out a raft of tough measures it says are needed to restore order and has promised a return to democracy next year. Burma, also known as Myanmar, is emerging from nearly five decades of isolation under repressive military rule. Its nominally civilian government has talked about repatriating the refugees, but non-governmental organizations say they are concerned by a lack of infrastructure to help returnees rebuild their lives. "We are not at the stage where we will deport people because we must first verify the nationality of those in the camps," army deputy spokesman Veerachon Sukhontapatipak told Reuters. "Once that is done we will find ways to send them back. There are around 100,000 people who have been living in the camps for many years without freedom. Thailand and Myanmar will help facilitate their smooth return." Last month, comments made by a junta spokeswoman threatening to arrest and deport undocumented migrant workers sparked the departure of more than 200,000 Cambodians, a key component of the workforce in fishing, construction and other sectors. Thailand scrambled to reverse that exodus by opening service centers to help migrant workers secure work permits. There are also an estimated 2 million Burmese migrant workers, the largest contingent of such laborers in the country. But without any legal status or marketable skills, the refugees have long been seen as a burden by the Thai state. An estimated 120,000 Burmese refugees live in 10 camps along the Thailand-Burmese border, according to The Border Consortium, which coordinates NGO activity in the camps. Many fled persecution and ethnic wars as well as poverty and have lived in the camps with no legal means of making an income. Military Pressing for Repatriation An aid worker who has been helping the refugees said the Thai army appeared serious about its repatriation push. "The authorities said this time they are going to be very strict. It seems like they're really pushing for repatriation," said the aid worker, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the issue. "The situation in the camps is very tense because people don't know what's going to happen." The refugees fear economic and logistical difficulties in returning as well as sporadic fighting in parts of north and northeast Burma. In his weekly televised speech last Friday, junta leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha said Burmaand Thailand would oversee a smooth return home of refugees. "Thailand and Myanmar will facilitate the safe return to their homeland in accordance with human rights principles," he said. But rights groups say a lack of transparency surrounds any plan to send refugees back. "When Prayuth spoke on Friday he left out what the conditions for the return would be," Sunai Phasuk of Human Rights Watch told Reuters. "The National Council for Peace and Order can only do this under the conditions expected by the international community." Additional reporting by Reuters reporters Aukkarapon Niyomyat and Thin Lei Win. The post Thai Junta's Pledge to Send Back Burmese Refugees Sparks Concern appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Off the Leash, But Still Muzzled Posted: 13 Jul 2014 11:38 PM PDT The post Off the Leash, But Still Muzzled appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Posted: 13 Jul 2014 06:00 PM PDT  Rev. Tang Mang of the Chin Association of Christian Communication leads a workshop session. (Photo: Lucas Stewart) HAKHA, Chin State — The road from Kalaymyo to Hakha is lined with grave markers. With little flat ground in the northern Chin Hills, cemeteries are exchanged for solitary memorials overlooking the knuckled mountain ranges. Some—usually those of the young—have photographs embedded into them; the elders are left faceless. All are etched with a name, an age, and a date of death. Yet in Chin State, as in the other six states of Myanmar, the lives of those who lived and passed away here are not recorded and remembered in the Myanmar language, but in an ethnic-minority language and literature. I was in Chin State accompanying former political prisoner and writer Letyar Tun as part of "Hidden Words, Hidden Worlds," a project funded by the British Council that assists in the development of creative expression in ethnic-minority languages. Twenty people—pastors, farmers, journalists and business owners, from Hakha, Kalaymyo, Thantlang, Kanggaw and Matupi townships—had gathered in Hakha to spend five days learning how to write short stories. Among them was Sara Simon Thang, a lecturer at the Zion Baptist College in Matupi Township. Short with a wide smile, he travelled more than two days on a motorbike over mountain tracks to get to the "Our youth cannot write their own words, only Myanmar," he said. "This is what they are taught in schools now." "You mean Lai Hakha?" I asked, referring to the language that our workshop was focusing on. "No," he answered, with a small shake of his head. "I am from Matupi. I can read and write Lai Hakha, but I mean they cannot write in Matu language." Silenced for over 50 years by government policies forbidding the teaching of ethnic-minority languages and the publication or distribution of literature in those languages, these literatures are among the least accessible forms of creative expression in Myanmar. That they survive at all is largely thanks to the perseverance of monastic schools in Shan and Mon states and church-based committees in Kayin, Kachin, Kayah and Chin states, where the mother tongue is taught as part of instruction in the religious literature. Secular cultural groups, often unregistered, have also played a role. Some, such as the Kachin Culture and Literature Co-operation, run annual summer camps teaching junior- and middle-school students their own language and literature. It is these groups that the British Council collaborates with to identify ethnic-language writers to co-lead with a respected Yangon writer the seven ethnic state workshops, such as our Chin writer, Rev. Tang Mang, the literature secretary of the Chin Association for Christian Communication. Often these writers are at the frontline of efforts to preserve their oral-storytelling traditions, publishing—despite the lack of resources and, until recently, the threat of imprisonment—texts that record their proverbs, sayings and origin myths, such as Rev. Tang Mang's "Lai Tuanphung, Chin Folktales Vol. 1." However, narratives that reflect contemporary conditions are almost unheard of. And yet, it is these narratives that allow for scope and depth to raise awareness of critical social and cultural issues relevant to communities ignored for so long. So while the "Hidden Words, Hidden Worlds" workshops focus on the technical structure of a short story—narrator, plot movement and dialogue—the instructors also guide the participants on content, on exploring emotive connections to the landscape they live in and how to interweave these themes into a literary form. In our Kayin workshop, led by San Lin Tun and Saw Chit Than, one of the stories we discussed centered on a young man who leaves his village to work illegally on a construction site in Thailand. Separated from his family, he descends into a spiral of alcohol and drug abuse, eventually contracting AIDS. Leaving Thailand to return to his village, he is exiled by his elders. It is only after the arrival of a doctor, who educates the villagers about AIDS and teaches them that the young man is no threat to them, that he is allowed to finally return home. In the Kachin workshop, environmental concerns, the threat of Chinese influence in the local economy and, of course, the continuing war were dominant motifs. In Hakha, poverty, exiled Chin communities and sustainable farming practices were important points of discussion. With workshops in Kayin, Mon, Kachin, northern Shan, Chin and Kayah states already completed, and only Rakhine State left to go, the next step will be to translate the stories into Myanmar, which the participants will do themselves, and publish them in Yangon as the first collection of short stories in ethnic-minority languages. But there is still so much more that needs to be done. Back in Hakha, as the participants were preparing for the end-of-workshop Live Literature Night, one of them, Rev. Lang Uk, a retired pastor also from Matupi Township, but from a smaller ethnic group named the Zo Tung, pulled an unbound folio of papers out of his bag. Already an author of four Zo Tung-language hymn books, the manuscript contained his unpublished collection of writing about Zo Tung customs, rights, rituals, proverbs, sayings and legendary myths. "Our stories haven't been published yet," he said, handing me the papers. "This is the first time they have been written down. Can you help me to publish?" I looked down at the 100 pages and I really didn't know what to say. This story first appeared in the July 2014 edition of The Irrawaddy magazine. The post Hidden Worlds appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| In Contested Election, Indonesia’s Democracy on the Line Posted: 13 Jul 2014 10:34 PM PDT  An Indonesian woman holds her ballot as she walks to vote at Bojong Koneng polling station in Bogor July 9, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) JAKARTA — Indonesia's young democracy faces its biggest challenge since emerging from decades of autocratic rule 16 years ago after both candidates claimed victory in last week's presidential election. It will be up to two key institutions, both with bruised reputations, to decide which of the two men who contested the July 9 poll has the right to move into the white-pillared presidential palace in central Jakarta and lead the world's third biggest democracy for the next five years. The first will be the Elections Commission, hit by graft charges in the past, and which is now in the process of checking the vote count before it announces the final result by July 22. The camps of the rival candidates—Jakarta Governor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and former general Prabowo Subianto—have made none-too-subtle suggestions that the other might cheat in the time it takes to declare the official result. Despite the tensions, there has been no violence, although that is a worry. Hundreds of people were killed in violence that swept the vast archipelago when ironman ruler Suharto was ousted in 1998 after over three decades in office and a shaky but functioning democracy put in his place. No presidential election, and this is only the third through direct voting, has been so close, or so bitter, since Indonesia declared independence in 1945. But officials and poll observers say it is not easy to cheat, given the institutional safeguards that have been built in. "At the [village] level, that is the place where you can exercise the most effective fraud. It's not easy because you have prominent pollsters saying what the result is," one international election observer said, noting that there are five levels of vote tabulation from the village to national level. He declined to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Quick vote counts by private groups, which have proven very accurate in the past, put Jokowi ahead by around five points against Prabowo, although the former special forces general has rejected the tallies. "What's clear is that seven credible pollsters have released their quick count results. That can be [used]…Even though it's not official," Jokowi told Reuters. Prabowo's camp says those pollsters deliberately skewed the quick count in favor of Jokowi and that its own counts put Prabowo just ahead. Based on the counts, which provide a sampling of the roughly 130 million votes cast, analysts estimated the losing side would need to fraudulently reverse 6.5 million or more votes to come out on top. "You would have to mass manufacture votes at the village level which is hard because of the amount of scrutiny there is," the election observer said. Votes are counted on election day in public and in daylight. Elections Commission Overseeing that process is the Elections Commission (KPU), which has had brushes with graft scandals in the past but which is now see as clean enough to come up with a valid result. "The KPU is the best we've had," said Asia Foundation's Indonesia head, Sandra Hamid, adding that the openness of voting data made it very hard to fiddle with the result. Transparency International Indonesia too doubted the KPU result would be subject to fraud. "A lot of the mistakes of the Elections Commission has been related to capacity and administrative work that has been sloppy rather than by design wanting to subvert the system. I don't think anyone in the commission would want to do that." the group's chairwoman, Natalia Soebagjo, said. Outgoing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has told both candidates to keep their supporters off the streets. Calm has been encouraged by placing about 250,000 police on alert across the archipelago and by the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan in a country that is home to the world's largest Muslim population. Constitutional Court Once the result is out, the losing side is likely to launch a challenge in the Constitutional Court which has final say over contested elections and is the other key institution that is in the spotlight. But the court's reputation is in tatters after its last head was sentenced this month to life in jail for corruption which some analysts said was probably enough to ensure that this time it would go out of its way to look squeaky clean. "If it wants to restore its credibility, it must ensure that once a dispute does arise it handles it properly and [judges] … forget their political affiliations because many of those in the court right now have past political affiliations," said Transparency's Soebagjo. Asked if Prabowo might appeal to the Court, his brother told Reuters: "Yes, we're keeping that option open. Potentially this could go on…for several weeks anyway." The court's new chief justice, Hamdan Zoelva, said it was ready for any challenges. "I hope there will be no need to bring the election result to the Constitutional Court," he told Reuters. "If it is brought to us…the court will aim for a unanimous decision. But if that is impossible to reach, then they will have to settle with a majority ruling. "We will, to our utmost, independently and professionally treat every party equally. We will carefully and thoroughly resolve the case. That is all we can do." The candidates have 72 hours after the official result to lodge a complaint with the Court. A decision, which cannot be appealed, much be reached by a panel of nine judges within 14 days. Zoelva's appointment has come under criticism over his past as a politician. The party he belonged to supports Prabowo. An earlier and popular head of the Court, Mahfud MD, is a prominent member of Prabowo's team. But the lawyer who would represent the Jokowi camp in any election case in the Constitutional Court, called the MK, said he was confident its verdicts would be neutral. "This is the time for the MK to prove to the people that they are a credible court. I don't think they will disappoint. [Former chief justice] Mahfud MD may have influence but the future of the nation, the accountability to the people, the due process of law is far more important than loyalty to the former chief justice," said Todung Mulya Lubis. "The stakes are too high." Additional reporting by Reuters reporters Dennys Kapa, Randy Fabi and Jonathan Thatcher. The post In Contested Election, Indonesia's Democracy on the Line appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Four Bodies Found in India’s Volatile Northeast, Army Deployed Posted: 13 Jul 2014 10:22 PM PDT  Security personnel patrol a deserted road during a curfew in Baksa district in the northeastern Indian state of Assam May 4, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) GUWAHATI, India — The bodies of four men have been recovered from a river in a remote part of northeastern India that saw sectarian violence in the run-up to the national election in May, police said on Sunday, raising fears of a fresh round of clashes. Any new flare-up would be an early test of whether new Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a Hindu nationalist who swept to power in late May, can manage the tensions that sporadically erupt among India's diverse population of 1.2 billion people. One body was found on Saturday in the Beki river, which flows through Assam state's Baksa district, and three were found on Sunday, a senior police official told Reuters. Assam has a history of clashes between militants from the Bodo ethnic group and Muslims, whom the militants accuse of being illegal immigrants from nearby Bangladesh. Bodo people follow the local Bathouist religion. Forty-one Muslims were killed by suspected Bodo militants two months ago in and around Baksa, during the five-week general election that brought Modi to power. The then prime minister, Manmohan Singh, condemned the violence but Modi did not comment upon it during his daily rallies. The dead man found on Saturday was identified as one of four lemon traders who went missing on Friday on their way to a wholesale market, said L.R. Bishnoi, an inspector general of police responsible for Baksa. The other three bodies were yet to be identified. All four had injuries but did not have bullet wounds, Bishnoi said. The names of the four men who had been reported missing indicated that they were of Muslim heritage. Police suspect that Bodo militants are behind this weekend's violence but no arrests have yet been made, Bishnoi said. The army has been deployed to Baksa and a curfew is in place. Modi left India on Sunday for Brazil, where he will be attending a summit of the BRICS grouping of emerging economies on Tuesday and Wednesday. The post Four Bodies Found in India's Volatile Northeast, Army Deployed appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| In Vietnam, a World Cup Loss Is a Whole Different Ball Game Posted: 13 Jul 2014 10:13 PM PDT  Residents place money during an illegal gambling activity at a village outside Hanoi in February. Vietnamese are known to gamble on almost anything, but football is the nation's sport of choice. (Photo: Reuters) HANOI — Sitting alone in the corner of bar in Vietnam's capital, Doan Minh Tuan buries his head in his hands as he watches the penalty shootout save that fires the Netherlands into soccer's World Cup semi-finals. He wasn't mourning the shattered World Cup dream of entertaining underdogs Costa Rica. Tuan, 32, is a compulsive gambler, and his loss was about as big as they come. "I sold everything in my home—television, motorbike, fridge—and now I've lost my house. I have nothing now. This is all I have left," he said, pointing to the 250,000 dong (US$12) on the table in front of him. "I bet on all games since the World Cup started. Damn my life, I always lose. The bookmaker took my house this evening, my wife had to carry our daughter to her mother's home. I've nothing to lose now and I'll sleep on the street tonight." Tuan's case is the tip of the iceberg in a country where gambling is rampant and strictly illegal. Vietnamese are known for flutters on almost anything, from card games and lotteries to online poker and back-street cock fights. Legal gambling is confined to the state lottery and dog and horse racing in some regions. But soccer is the nation's firm favorite, especially when the World Cup comes around. Betting values range from a dollar among colleagues to tens of thousands for high-rollers, but losses can mean repossession of property or trading-in of smartphones, motorcycles, watches and jewelry in return for money to pay debts. In the most extreme cases, some gamblers have taken their own lives, with media reporting as many as three suicides related to betting during this World Cup. That included a man in the central city of Hue, who drank a bottle of pesticide after Italy's 2-1 win over England on June 14. There's no official estimate of the value of Vietnam's clandestine gambling scene, but the real figure is assumed to be huge. The size of the networks, often mafia-linked, is unknown. Anticipating a surge in wagering in a country that already bets big on European leagues, police intensified their crackdown during the World Cup and have so far made busts of underground gangs that have handled a combined 6.5 trillion dong ($307 million) since the tournament started on June 12. Losing Battle But it's an uphill struggle to counter a practice entrenched in society and where bookmakers seem always ahead of the game. The Internet has proved difficult to police, with gangs taking bets surreptitiously at street level and gambling large sums online on legitimate websites hosted overseas. "After a few raids by police over the years, dealers have changed their tactics. They've became more sophisticated," said an official with knowledge of the crackdown, who requested anonymity. The problem goes beyond individuals and underground gambling has been blamed for a chronic match-fixing problem that has seen dozens of players arrested. One national team coach banned his squad from using cellphones during tournaments to stop them falling prey to bookies. Soccer bosses have pushed to legalize sports betting to stifle match-fixing, cut crime and boost tax revenues, capping bets at 1 million dong (nearly $50), but after 14 years, they've got nowhere. The issue is highly sensitive in Vietnam, whose communist rulers remain deeply conservative and consider it a social evil that fuels indiscipline and wrecks families. One bright spot for Vietnam's gambling problem could be the sluggish economy and some businesses in Hanoi believe betting may have eased off, in line with weak retail and credit growth. Pawn shops and second-hand motorcycle dealers—the usual sources of quick cash to repay gambling debts—say they have been less busy during this World Cup. For some, the only solution is lessons learned, like 25-year-old Dung from northern Haiphong province, who talked of a thriving, four-year "betting career" that went badly wrong when he had to sell his parents' house to pay gambling debts. "The more I bet, the more I lost. I gambled all over the place," said Dung, who declined to reveal his full name. "I don't think I can ever earn back what I've lost. It's the bookies who always win." The post In Vietnam, a World Cup Loss Is a Whole Different Ball Game appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Germany’s World Cup Party Gets Underway at Home Posted: 13 Jul 2014 09:58 PM PDT  Germany's players lift the World Cup trophy as they celebrate their 2014 World Cup final win against Argentina at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro July 13, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) BERLIN — A quarter of a million German football fans reacted with unbridled joy, mixed with shock, on Sunday when Mario Goetze struck late in extra-time for Germany to win the World Cup with a 1-0 victory over Argentina. The supporters, packed into the "fan mile" in front of the German capital's famous Brandenburg Gate, screamed as one when Goetze took the ball on his chest and let fly inside the far post from a narrow angle. Fans cheered, clapped and shouted, with groups of fans hugging and jumping into the air together, making so much noise the commentary on the large screens could no longer be heard. Flares illuminated the stage and sent plumes of smoke into the sky. "We're going to be world champions! We're going to be world champions!" yelled the compere of the public viewing event, even before the second period of extra-time was over in Brazil. The party was already underway in Berlin, though there were a couple of nervous moments before the revelers could really let themselves go. Cars drivers blasted their horns, whooped and yelled, before captain Philipp Lahm had even lifted the trophy at Rio de Janeiro's Maracana Stadium. Once he did, a massive fireworks display took place around the Brandenburg Gate, where fans had begun gathering six hours before kick-off. Not even the rain or ominous thunder rumbling overhead could put them off. Police closed a number of entrances to the fan mile at least four hours before kickoff due to the sheer volume of fans attending. With three hours to go, police said it was full. Other public viewing venues also filled up, despite forecasts of heavy rain across the country. Showers and summer storms were due to move in from the southwest. Some 50,000 fans attended the Fan-Arena at St. Pauli's stadium in Hamburg, while supporters brought their sofas to watch the World Cup games at Union Berlin's Alte Foersterei stadium. News agency dpa reported that a man was stabbed and later died from his injuries at a public viewing event in a cinema in the northern city of Bremen. Standing amid thousands of discarded plastic beer cups, the fans at the Brandenburg Gate cheered loudly before kickoff came when the clouds gave way and the sun briefly broke through. The long wait took its toll on some overindulgent supporters, however, keeping the Red Cross busy throughout the match. There was a solitary scream, followed by stunned silence, when Gonzalo Higuain thought he'd scored for Argentina in the first half, only for wild cheering to erupt when the effort was disallowed for offside. The fans applauded record World Cup goalscorer Miroslav Klose when he went off after possibly his last game for Germany, but otherwise there were few opportunities for fans to let loose until Goetze finally broke the deadlock. "They made it exciting," Leon Tober of Fuerstenwalde, east of Berlin, told The Associated Press. "It was a long wait, especially after twice coming third (in previous World Cups). It's great for the young generation. They're a super troupe of players. They can go on now and win even more." It was Germany's fourth World Cup, but its first as a unified country. West Germany's triumph in 1990 came several months after the fall of the Berlin Wall, which passed in front of the Brandenburg Gate where more celebrations will be held Tuesday when coach Joachim Loew's team is scheduled to display the World Cup trophy to fans. Not everyone had been supporting Germany. A Berlin taxi-driver with an Argentina flag flying from his window riled fans on Kastanienallee Street in Prenzlauer Berg by beeping at them as he passed. "I've been cursed at and spat upon," said Cihan Goz, laughing as he relayed the story. He said he was a fan of Maradona, revered among Argentines as the world's best ever player. Coz was still picking up passengers despite the flag. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who watched the game in Berlin with Argentina's ambassador in Germany, said: "We dreamed of becoming world champions and that dream came true." The post Germany's World Cup Party Gets Underway at Home appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| A Power-Sharing Alternative for Burma’s Political Elites Posted: 13 Jul 2014 05:00 PM PDT  Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, left, meets with President Thein Sein at the presidential palace in Naypyidaw on August 19, 2011. (Photo: Reuters) In 1974, there were only 35 democracies in the world, among them the United States, Canada, western and northern European countries, India, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. That was less than 30 percent of the world's countries. A lot has changed since that time. By 2013, the number of democracies had expanded to about 120 countries, or more than 60 percent of the total. But if we look at what has happened more recently, we will find a pretty discouraging picture. In many non-free countries, we have witnessed numerous, sometimes quite exciting popular uprisings—such as the Orange and Maidan revolutions in Ukraine and the Tahrir Square revolution in Egypt. In different continents and cultures, people have risen up against corrupt governments and have shown strong aspirations for freedom, their rights, and life with dignity. However, these mass uprisings have yielded a "modest harvest" (in reference to a paper written by political scientists Jason Brownlee, Tarek Masoud and Andrew Reynolds). In the last 10 to 15 years, transitions to democracy have more often failed than succeeded. There are several factors that have undermined democratization efforts. In some countries, stubborn regimes were ready to use extreme repression while enjoying the loyalty of the army (think Iran, Syria, Bahrain, Belarus and Venezuela). Many countries were deeply divided along identity lines, so after the removal of the previous authoritarian, repressive regime, they slipped into fragmentation, destabilization, civil war and state failure (Iraq, Afghanistan, Georgia, Ukraine, Libya and Syria). As we have long known, oil and natural resources are more often than not a curse, rather than a blessing. In many countries where democratization failed, we find disunited, fragmented opposition (Libya, Syria, Ukraine and Egypt). In a bad neighborhood, active external spoilers can be pretty detrimental. Just look at the extent to which Vladimir Putin' s Russia played an active role in undermining democratization efforts in Georgia, Ukraine and Belarus, or the role of Saudi Arabia in Bahrain and Egypt, or the Iranian and Russian role in Syria. We also know that it is harder to consolidate democracy in poor countries, and in countries lacking historic experience with political pluralism. If we now compare these negative spoilers of successful democratization with the situation in Burma, we see that Burma has all the spoilers and obstacles. Burma is a poor, undeveloped country that lacks historic experience with political pluralism. Its military has internal command cohesion and is most likely still ready to use harsh measures to protect its own interests. Burma is a deeply divided society, abundant with natural resources and with more non-democratic neighbors than democratic neighbors. So without wishing to be doom prophets, we can conclude that Burma's transition will be rocky. Elections in 2015 will create a high-risk situation. High stakes, high emotions and heated competition can easily lead to violence. In Burma, many factors are already instigating mistrust, hate, tensions and violence today. One more insight is important. Whoever wins the 2015 elections will have a very hard task. He or she will be squeezed between many inherited and deep problems, with huge pressure from the public for quick changes and improvements in welfare. Many problems are not easy to fix, even if the best government in the world were to come to power. After decades of predatory military rule, any elected government will need to run a largely dysfunctional state that is incapable of collecting taxes or controlling natural resources revenues, has a low level of capital in domestic banks, poor roads and railways, a chronic lack of electricity, and broken education and health care systems. None of these problems can be solved in a short time, but people will not be patient, so any government will be under huge popular pressure. If that government is additionally engaged in constant competition with political opponents, it will not be able to focus on problem solving. For these reasons, the best scenario for Burma will be "cooperative competition" between key political players and a pre-election deal about a power-sharing government for after the election. A power-sharing government focused on national reconciliation and unity would include the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), the military and key ethnic parties—depending on the results of the free and fair election. According to a power-sharing deal, the winner of the parliamentary election could nominate the president and 50 percent of ministries, including the Home Affairs Ministry. The second best in the election (the de facto "loser") could, according to the power-sharing deal, take the post of Lower House speaker and 25 percent of the ministries. Ethnic parties that were successful in the election could nominate one vice-president, the Upper House speaker and 25 percent of ministries, including the Border Affairs Ministry. The military could keep 25 percent of the reserved seats in Parliament and the post of the defense minister. With such an arrangement, there would still be much room for competition in the 2015 election, but all key players would be included in the future government. The government would be legitimate, popular, inclusive and with a strong mandate to focus on problem solving—and on deepening reforms, kicking off economic growth and undertaking major developmental reconstruction in the country. On the other side, Parliament would be legitimate, representative and inclusive enough to start serious discussions and consultations about amending or re-writing the Constitution. It is also important that Parliament has enough time and is not pressured by the impending election to discuss constitutional changes. Unfortunately, things are not developing in that direction because the military, the USDP and President Thein Sein's government are, according to events in the last six months, not ready for genuine negotiations and a deal. It seems that they believe in the possibility of electoral victory that would keep post-military junta elites in position of dominance. It seems the strategic goal is to keep the executive power for five more years so that post-junta elites can finish the job of concentrating even more economic power in their hands, and keeping the army in the role of supervisor and arbiter (as in Pakistan and Thailand). It seems more and more obvious that the post-military pseudo-civilian "reformist" regime does not want to bring democracy, but rather a hybrid, semi-authoritarian regime (like in Cambodia). Behind the friendly face of the reformist government, we have the Iron Triangle (from a political theory known as the "iron law of oligarchy") of military, economic elites and an ultra-religious movement. The Iron Triangle can easily capture and control all changes so that the underlying interests of keeping privilege and dominance are not endangered by opening, liberalization and elections. The strategic intention of the Iron Triangle is not democracy, but a stable, pro-business hybrid, semi-authoritarian regime ("disciplined democracy"). This choice is putting the country on a highly risky path. Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her NLD party are activating their own support base and mass politics. On the other side, the government and military are allowing (and probably also instigating, through intelligence services networks) the development of an ultra-nationalist and ultra-religious movement. Mass politics has been activated on both sides, and now two bulls are running straight at each other. They are not running at full speed and full strength, but that might happen if there is no compromise between competing political elites. If the two bulls crash into each other in 2015, in an election year when stakes are high, this country can go to hell. I hope that will not happen. As somebody who has personally experienced democratization going wrong in many places, starting with my own former Yugoslavia and Bosnia, I hope Burma's political leaders on all sides will understand the risks and dangers of further escalation of political confrontation. I hope they will return to the elites' negotiations and reconnect in some sort of minimum consensus before we enter the highly emotional and inevitably highly competitive year of 2015. A zero-sum attitude—"I win, you lose"—can easily create in Burma a "lose-lose" situation for everybody. Just ask ex-Yugoslavs, Syrians or Egyptians. Compromise seeking and a power-sharing deal before the election can lead all players, and the country as a whole, into a win-win situation. Ask the Poles, the South Africans and the Tunisians. Igor Blazevic is the head teacher at the Rangoon-based Educational Initiatives, a training program for Burmese activists. The post A Power-Sharing Alternative for Burma's Political Elites appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
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