The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Murky Picture Emerges of Kokang Conflict’s Actors
• From the Frontline: On Chinese Border, Kokang Conflict Halts New Year Celebrations
• Chinese New Year at Sacred Rangoon Temple
• Ministry to Launch Environment Protection System Next Month
• 2 Dead, Several Injured During Battle in Kokang Village
• Ethnic NGOs Key to Addressing East Burma’s Large Health Care Issues: Report
• Methamphetamine Precursor Chemicals Seized at Thai Border
• Marching Student Protestors Pause for Exams
• 14 Michaungkan Protestors Get Six-Month Prison Terms
• Govt Says More Ethnic Armed Groups Involved in Kokang Conflict
• Dancing the Sino Shuffle
• Millions at Risk From Rapid Sea Rise in Swampy Sundarbans 
• Beijing’s Glare Deepens Crisis in Macau
• India’s Ailing Air Force at Risk in Tough Neighborhood
• Books ‘Have a Future’

Murky Picture Emerges of Kokang Conflict’s Actors Posted: 19 Feb 2015 05:46 AM PST An aid convoy sits parked along the side of a road in Kokang Special Region after it was ambushed by unknown assailants on Feb. 17, 2015. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Shan State Army-North (SSA-N) have rejected government accusations that they are involved in ongoing clashes between the Burma Army and ethnic Kokang rebels in northern Shan State, where more than a week of fighting has killed dozens and displaced tens of thousands. Via state media, the government on Wednesday night claimed three ethnic armed groups—the KIA, SSA-N and Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA)—in the region had been involved in the fighting, alleging that they had ambushed Burma Army troops at a number of locations since Sunday. Prior to the public indictment, Burma Army commander in chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing warned last week that any ethnic groups supporting the Kokang rebels would be held to account for their actions, though no specific armed organization was named. Both the KIA and the TNLA lack bilateral ceasefire agreements with the government, while the SSA-N (and its political wing, the Shan State Progressive Party) signed a ceasefire in January 2012. Sao Khun Sai, secretary of the SSPP/SSA-N, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that his group "rejects the government's allegation" that the Kokang rebels of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) were benefitting from SSA-N support. The TNLA, on the other hand, confirmed to The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that its troops were in clashes with Burma Army soldiers in the Shan State towns of Kutkai and Theinni this week. The TNLA last week revealed its military ties with the Kokang rebel group, and both groups are also members of an ethnic alliance known as the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC). Sao Khun Sai acknowledged that his group shared the UNFC link as well, but said the ties were purely political. "The Kokang MNDAA is our ally in the UNFC, but it is a political alliance and we have no military ties on the ground, especially in the Kokang self-administered zone," said Sao Khun Sai, referring to the semi-autonomous region where fighting first flared last week. SSA-N troops "have not been in any [hostile] engagement since the last clashes in Tah Pha Hsawng territory in October 2014," he added. Despite the signing of a ceasefire in early 2012, the SSA-N had almost 300 clashes with government troops between July 2012 and October 2014, according to Sao Khun Sai. The Shan rebels blamed the close proximity of a Burma Army camp to the SSA-N headquarters at Wanghai. La Nan, spokesman for the KIA's political wing, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that his group had disavowed itself of any Kokang alliance last week. The government said more than a dozen attacks on Burma Army personnel along main routes in northern Shan State by the Kokang and their three ethnic armed "allies" had killed three Burma Army soldiers and two civilians, while 32 others including an army officer were injured. But KIA troops, according to La Nan, were too busy fighting their own battles in the Kachin rebels' war with the government, which is in its fourth year. That included fighting on Tuesday involving KIA Brigade No. 2, near the Kachin State capital Myitkyina, and KIA Brigade No. 4 in Theinni, northern Shan State, said La Nan. "Ignoring what we have said, the government now tries to confuse the public" by conflating the Kokang conflict with the war in Kachin State, said La Nan. With the Kokang clashes some of the most intense fighting in years, the government's peace talks with ethnic armed groups appear to have been put on the backburner. The next talks, which were set to take place in mid-February, look likely to be pushed into March. Peace negotiators said early this month that almost everything in the draft text of the nationwide ceasefire agreement had been informally agreed to as the government relaxed its stance on remaining points of contention. That did not, however, bring the fulfilment of a goal of President Thein Sein's to sign a nationwide ceasefire on Union Day, Feb. 12. Fighting in Laukkai, administrative capital of Kokang Special Region, first broke out on Feb. 9, and has sent tens of thousands of civilians fleeing across the Sino-Burmese border as well as to Mandalay and Lashio. Htun Myat Lin, an MNDAA spokesperson, said the TNLA and the Arakan Army were fighting alongside them in the Kokang region, while other allies were fighting with them "outside of the region." According to Htun Myat Lin, the 2,000-troop-strong MNDAA was bolstered this week by several dozen soldiers due to the defection of a Kokang Border Guard Force previously loyal to the government. The MNDAA spokesman claimed that an undisclosed number of civilians had also joined the MNDAA. Dr. Min Zaw Oo, director of the Ceasefire Negotiation and Implementation Department at the government-affiliated Myanmar Peace Center (MPC), told The Irrawaddy that "momentous" negotiations with ethnic armed groups to reach a nationwide ceasefire would continue. "Our mandate is to negotiate with the 16 armed groups that the government has recognized to gain momentum in the peace talks," said Min Zaw Oo, while defending Burma Army action against the Kokang rebels as a fulfilment of its duty to maintain security. But, he said, "We worry [about the impact of fighting in Laukkai] as there are names [of ethnic armed groups in the area] appearing in [connection with] the Laukkai fighting, but we will try to keep the talks ongoing." The post Murky Picture Emerges of Kokang Conflict's Actors appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

From the Frontline: On Chinese Border, Kokang Conflict Halts New Year Celebrations Posted: 19 Feb 2015 05:36 AM PST An abandoned amusement park in Laukkai on the weekend. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) CHIN SHWE HAW, Kokang Special Region — Every year, the town of Chin Shwe Haw heralds the Chinese New Year in the customary style. In other circumstances, lanterns and banners would hang from light posts as a dragon dance procession snakes through the streets to the din of gongs and the crack of fireworks. This year, the streets of the Sino-Chinese border town are silent. Sitting 32-kilometers south of Laukkai, where the Burma Army and ethnic Kokang insurgents have been fighting pitched battles since Feb. 9, Chin Shwe Haw is now all but deserted. Only around 20 people are left in town, guarding their homes and businesses from burglars. Soldiers and police guard Chin Shwe Haw's entrances, halting cars, motorcycles and occasional foot traffic to check the identification and belongings of those passing through from the north. On the streets, dogs and chickens roam free, picking through piles of trash scattered around closed shops. "No matter what happens, our safety is foremost," said Xian Xue, a Kokang resident of Chin Shwe Haw who was leaving to cross the Chinese border. "Our safety is more important than celebrating the new year. We're afraid of everyone with weapons." Her elderly mother and her four-year-old daughter are accompanying her, carrying blankets and clothes in plastic bags. Since there were no trishaws, motorcycles or taxis, the trio walked along an empty highway towards China. Most of the residents of Chin Shwe Haw fled out of fears that violence would spread to the area. The family of Thi Thi Cho, a grocery store owner eagerly listening to the news for any word on the fighting, has no choice but to stay. "We have no friends or family in China and we don't have the courage to go all the way back to Rangoon, leaving all our belongings here…I hope nothing happens now that the region has been taken over by the army," she said. "We will welcome the new year with a quiet family dinner. We pray that there will be no more fighting, but peace in the region." According to the few local residents left, China has prohibited using fireworks in this year's celebrations, concerned they will be mistaken for gunfire. While locals keep indoors, refugees from Laukkai stream through the town. A group of 21 young men and women, along with two young boys, reached the town a few minutes after Xian Xue's family passed through the security checkpoint. They said they were workers from Magwe Division who traveled to the border to work in a sugar plantation north of Laukkai town. "Since our boss ran away, we decided to go back empty-handed for our safety. It's been about two and a half days walk to reach the Chinese border. Then we came here," said Aung Naing Oo, one of the workers. From there, the group traveled west to Kunlong with the help of local authorities and NGO workers, where they will rest before proceeding to Lashio. New year celebrations in Kunlong, 55 kilometers (34 miles) from Chin Shwe Haw, have also been subdued, as residents dolefully listened to stories from the Laukkai exodus. "We will only have a quiet family gathering," said Aye Kyin, a Kunlong shopkeeper, of her Chinese New Year plans. "Our children want to play with fireworks but we will not allow them to. There's no restrictions from the government, but we restricted ourselves so as not to frighten the neighbors." Most of the residents of Kunlong say they are alert and prepared to leave the town if the conflict spills further south. "Kunlong is less than 100 miles from Laukkai. We have to leave if the fighting gets closer. Now, we are waiting and always listening to what will happen next," Aye Kyin said. At a refugee center in Lashio, where people had gathered to rest for resuming their journeys back into the Burmese hinterlands, the mood was similarly reserved. Locals there said that the celebrations lacked the usual hallmarks of the Chinese New Year—the dance of the Chinese dragons and the sounds of drums and firecrackers. "If there was no fighting in Laukkai, Lashio would be full of dance groups," Sai Win Min, a resident of Lashio, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday. "We pray on this New Year's Day that the conflict will end, and peace comes back as soon as possible." The post From the Frontline: On Chinese Border, Kokang Conflict Halts New Year Celebrations appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Chinese New Year at Sacred Rangoon Temple Posted: 19 Feb 2015 04:25 AM PST Rangoon's ethnic Chinese residents visit Kheng Hock Keong Temple in Latha Township to celebrate the Chinese lunar New Year on Feb. 19, 2015.(Photo: Timo Jaworr / The Irrawaddy) In celebration of the beginning of a new year in the Chinese lunar calendar, throngs of ethnic Chinese worshippers poured into Kheng Hock Keong Temple on Thursday. Located on Rangoon's Strand Road in Latha Township, Kheng Hock Keong Temple is one of the oldest and most important Chinese temples in the Burma's largest city and commercial capital, Rangoon. Devout worshippers were seen praying inside the temple with incense burners in their hands. Khin Khin Htay, a 73-year-old ethnic Chinese woman, told The Irrawaddy that worshippers believed their wishes were more likely to be fulfilled at this temple than at any other in the city. Chinese New Year celebrations, beginning on Thursday, will last for eight days ending on Feb. 26. A closing ceremony of New Year festivities will be held at the temple on the evening of Feb. 26, and are expected to carry on into the morning hours. The post Chinese New Year at Sacred Rangoon Temple appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Ministry to Launch Environment Protection System Next Month Posted: 19 Feb 2015 04:04 AM PST Works being carried out to control erosion of the Irrawaddy riverbank last year. (Photo: Sai Zaw/The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — After years of delay, the Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry expects to approve a set of environmental quality guidelines by the end of March, officials said on Wednesday. The guidelines will cover the forestry, oil and gas, chemical production, agriculture, mining, energy, infrastructure and food processing sectors, officially establishing a comprehensive set of environmental guidelines for Burma's largest industries. The ministry will seek input from environment experts, NGOs and other government ministries before the draft guidelines are publicly released. "We started drafting the guidelines last February with the assistance of the Environmental Operations Center of the Asian Development Bank," said Deputy Director-General Hla Maung Thein, of the ministry's Department of Environmental Conservation. Burma's parliament passed an Environmental Conservation Law in April 2012 giving the ministry wide-ranging authority monitor pollution, devise environmental education programs and assess the environmental impact of development projects. The law gives the ministry power over many project approvals—although some rejections will need approval from Naypyidaw—and oversight of punitive actions against firms that fall short of environmental standards. Environmentalists have said that the law, amended with subsequent bylaws last year, is too weak, and have called for the ministry to enforce strict regulations on industry activity, noting that Burma is the only country in the region with no comprehensive plans for environmental conservation. U Ohn, chairman of the Forest Resources Environment Development and Conservation Association, told The Irrawaddy he saw room for improvement in the ministry's draft framework. "There are many guidelines. Some are good and some need to be improved," he said. "But, half a loaf is better than no bread. If [Burma] missed this chance, the country would face real trouble in the next 50 to 100 years. We are at a critical point. We have to realize this now, otherwise it will be too late." After the guidelines are approved, the ministry expects to begin enforcement of quality standards by 2017. The post Ministry to Launch Environment Protection System Next Month appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

2 Dead, Several Injured During Battle in Kokang Village Posted: 19 Feb 2015 03:31 AM PST Civilians displaced by fighting between the Burma Army and Kokang rebels in Lashio, Shan State, February 2015. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Clashes between government and rebel troops in Lone Htan village, in Burma's Kokang Special Region, left at least two dead and several others injured on Tuesday night, as hospitals in nearby Kunlong, Hopang and Lashio continue to field civilians that have been displaced or injured by the ongoing conflict. Burma Army Captain Ye Sithu Aung and a young migrant laborer whose name is still unknown died of gunshot wounds in Kunlong and Hopang general hospitals, according to medical officials. Several others remain in treatment for their injuries. Heads of hospitals in both Hopang and Kunlong confirmed on Thursday that they received patients from Lone Htan, who had traveled together to escape the village amid heavy gunfire. Lone Htan is located near Chin Shwe Haw, along the Burma-China border. Dr. Shwe Win, head of Hopang General Hospital, said seven civilians were admitted on Tuesday night, also arriving from Lone Htan. An ethnic Lahu migrant worker, about 26 years old, died of gun-related injuries, one remains in hospital and five were transferred to Lashio for additional care. "We've received seven patients in 17 February night," said Dr. Shwe Win. "These people are believed to be refugees came from Laukkai, but we don't know who they are exactly." In Kunlong, Dr. Thein Myo told The Irrawaddy that four injured Burma Army soldiers arrived at his facility on Tuesday night. One bled out and the remaining three are being treated, while two more were admitted to the hospital on Thursday morning. The soldiers belonged to Light Infantry Division 217, he said. "The captain is only 24 years old… a lot of bullets were found on his body. I heard this battle was really serious," Dr. Thein Myo said. Clashes between the Burma Army and Kokang troops known as the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) erupted on Feb. 9, devastating the region's administrative capital and former rebel stronghold Laukkai. The ensuing conflict has left at least 47 government troops and 18 rebel soldiers dead, according to state figures, while thousands of civilians have been displaced. The number of civilian deaths is still unknown. The displaced include both local civilians, relatives of local officials and migrant laborers from other parts of Burma, many of whom came to the area seeking work on sugar cane farms and in casinos along the border with China. Clashes in Lone Htan occurred on the same day that a convoy of Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS) aid workers came under fire by rebel troops while attempting to transport civilians to safety. The fleet had left Laukkai—which is now believed to be mostly abandoned—for Chin Shwe Haw on Tuesday morning before being struck by gunfire that injured two people. Sources in Lashio said many people had fled across Laukkai's border into China, traveled south to Chin Shwe Haw and crossed back into Burma, with the aim of traveling further inland to Kunlong and then on to Lashio. Following Tuesday's attack, however, most rescue missions have come to a halt due to danger on the road. The post 2 Dead, Several Injured During Battle in Kokang Village appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Ethnic NGOs Key to Addressing East Burma’s Large Health Care Issues: Report Posted: 19 Feb 2015 03:23 AM PST An elderly woman from eastern Burma sits on a bed at the Mae Tao Clinic in Mae Sot, Thailand. (Photo: Yan Naing Hein / The Irrawaddy) A large-scale survey among ethnic minority communities in eastern Burma released on Thursday found that health care in the conflict-affected region has somewhat improved after ceasefires were signed in recent years, although it remains beset by serious health care challenges. This situation, researchers said, is best addressed by further progress towards peace in Burma and by increasing government and international support for decentralized, ethnic health care organizations already working in the region. The 64-page report by the Health Information System Working Group (HISWG), a network of field-based organizations working in eastern Burma, surveyed 6,620 households in 64 townships that are home to some 450,000 people, mostly ethnic Shan, Karen, Mon, and Karenni minorities. The surveyed areas included ethnic rebel-controlled and government-controlled areas, as well as mixed administration zones. The survey's main findings included "decreased rates of malaria and maternal malnutrition, and improved patterns of breastfeeding" in recent years, a press release by HISWG said, adding that the survey "also reveals that infant and child mortality rates in eastern Burma remain higher than the country's official figures, and are similar to other conflict-affected countries such as Somalia." Infant mortality in eastern Burma was 94.2 per 1,000 live births in 2013, as compared to 41 for Burma as a whole in 2012, according Unicef figures cited in the report. Preventable diseases diarrhea, malaria and acute respiratory infections were the leading cause of death among all age groups and accounted for 15.6 percent, 14.8 percent and 11.8 percent, respectively, of all deaths among children under the age of five, the survey found. The survey found that 10 percent of the population had access to government-operated health facilities, while 84 percent of patients, in particular pregnant women, rely on ethnic organization's medial teams and field workers. HISWG said its ethnic and community-based organizations had "developed their own primary health care service structures, outside the central government health system, through a network of rural clinics and mobile medical teams" to help hard-to-reach communities during past decades of ethnic conflict in eastern Burma and were therefore best placed to improve access to health care. "To establish a good and effective health care system in the ethnic regions, it is very necessary that the government reduces its centralized policy as much as they can. They should mandate ethnic health organizations and workers in managing health programs in ethnic regions," Dr. Cynthia Maung, founder of Thai-Burma border-based Mae Tao Clinic and lead author of the report, told The Irrawaddy. "It is necessary to balance the involvement of locally-trained ethnic workers in job recruitment. The government should also promote the role of ethnic health workers in managing funding, writing health policy, planning and administration of ethnic regions," she said. Dr. Maung said ethnic health care workers communicate better with local communities and have gained their trust, and should therefore be empowered by both government policy and international donor support. The international community has reengaged with Burma's government after its transition from military to nominally-civilian rule in recent years and donors have sought to align funding with central government priorities, leading to concerns among ethnic aid and medical organizations that their role is being overlooked after decades of receiving international support. Dr. Maung said a lack of security, ongoing conflict and displacement of people, and difficulties in transportation through militarized areas have hindered ethnic communities seeking access to health care services. Progress towards establishing a nationwide ceasefire and a subsequent peace agreement is therefore key to improving the health care situation in eastern Burma, she said. Ethnic Karen rebels groups operating in eastern Burma have generally had stable ceasefires with the government in recent years, although a nationwide ceasefire process hit deadlock in September last year. The post Ethnic NGOs Key to Addressing East Burma's Large Health Care Issues: Report appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Methamphetamine Precursor Chemicals Seized at Thai Border Posted: 19 Feb 2015 02:57 AM PST Tachilek Township Anti-Drug Squad seizes chemicals used in drug production in Tarlay in eastern Shan State. (Photo: Tachilek Township Anti-Drug Squad) RANGOON — Chemicals used in the production of methamphetamine with a market value of more than 600 million kyats (US$582,000) were seized by authorities at the Shan State border town of Tachilek, the township police anti-drug squad announced on Wednesday. A routine patrol on Monday evening by local police and militia troops uncovered 164 bags of a controlled substance together weighing a total of 8,150 kilograms, hidden in bushes on the banks of the Mekong River near Pala village on the Thai-Burma border. Their owner is still at large. "The seizure is the largest amount so far this year," said Aung Kyaw Soe, a member of the township anti-drug squad. "The chemicals are used in making methamphetamine tablets. For the time being, we still don't know the owner, but we are taking measures to find and arrest him." Authorities have ramped up anti-drug campaigns on the Thai-Burma border in the last year. In July 2014, the Tachileik Township anti-drug squad seized more than US$2.3 million worth of opium along with several automatic weapons during the search of a pickup truck passing through Pankaw village. While there have been frequent seizures of illicit drugs and weapons, observers have criticized a relative lack of arrests and convictions in connection with trafficking seizures. Burma is Southeast Asia's largest producer of synthetic drugs. An Aug. 2014 statement by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) warned that the escalation of drug-related crime in Burma could undermine the country's future development and stability. Despite the Burmese government's commitment to fight illicit drugs in cooperation with international agencies, the UNODC said that drug trafficking remained rife within the Golden Triangle region on the border of Thailand, Laos and Burma. The post Methamphetamine Precursor Chemicals Seized at Thai Border appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Marching Student Protestors Pause for Exams Posted: 19 Feb 2015 01:56 AM PST Student protestors are pictured at a stop in Kyauk Padaung, Mandalay Division, on Jan. 29, 2015. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Burma's main column of student protestors has announced that they will stay in the town of Letpadan in Pegu Division until March 1, with the young activists pausing their march to Rangoon because primary and secondary schools are due to hold exams later this month. The decision was made on Wednesday after a meeting of students involved in the protest against a controversial National Education Law. Nanda Sit Aung, a protest leader, told The Irrawaddy that in addition to the exams, "we want to wait to see how the Parliament handles [amendments to the National Education Law]," referring to a pledge by lawmakers to make key changes to the legislation. The main student protest group began their 400-mile march from Mandalay to the commercial capital on Jan. 20. Letpadan lies some 85 miles northwest of Rangoon. Separate student groups from Dawei, Moulmein and Irrawaddy Division announced on Monday that they would cease their demonstrations and return home in anticipation of a revised education law. Sister protests to the Mandalay-to-Rangoon group, the students had planned to converge on Rangoon in opposition to the legislation. There are about 180 core protestors in Letpadan town. Surrounding towns and villages have pledged to provide meals to the students while they wait out the exams period. "We are allowing time for the government to solve the problems according to a democratic system and if the government takes that chance to perpetrate violence against us, they will have to take responsibility for their behavior," said Nanda Sit Aung, a member of the Action Committee for Democratic Education (ACDE) spearheading the protest movement. A draft revision of the National Education Law was submitted to Parliament on Monday, but lawmakers have yet to begin deliberations on the legislation. Over the weekend lawmakers and the administration of President Thein Sein met with students and other groups pushing for changes to the law. The government agreed in principle to 11 amendments, including decentralizing and expanding access to the education system and native language instruction in ethnic minority regions. On Thursday, state-media put out a call for additional input: "Public advice invited for amendment bill of national education law," read a headline in the Global New Light of Myanmar daily, which provided email addresses and the relevant parliamentary committees to whom suggestions could be directed. The protest students say if the government does not approve the bill by March 1, they will continue their march to Rangoon, potentially setting the stage for a confrontation with the government. The Ministry of Information said last week that "for the sake of the country's security, rule of law and to maintain regional peace," the protesters would not be permitted to enter the city. "Actions in accordance with the law" would be taken if they pushed ahead with their plan to assemble in the commercial capital, the ministry said. But even the legislature's acquiescence to student demands appears unlikely to prevent a showdown with Rangoon authorities. "Most of the protest students live in Rangoon and if Parliament approves [amendments to the law], we will change our march into a celebration march to Rangoon," Phyo Phyo Aung, a member of the ACDE, told The Irrawaddy. The post Marching Student Protestors Pause for Exams appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

14 Michaungkan Protestors Get Six-Month Prison Terms Posted: 19 Feb 2015 01:04 AM PST   Protestors demanding better compensation for the loss of their land in Michaungkan, located on Rangoon's outskirts, blocked an entrance to City Hall on Dec. 12. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — A court in Rangoon's Kyauktada Township sentenced 14 land rights protesters from Michaungkan village to six months in prison on Wednesday, finding them guilty of unlawful assembly and wrongful restraint. The protesters from Michaungkan village in Rangoon's Thingangyun Township had camped out in front of City Hall on Dec. 12 to protest a land seizure by the Burmese military, after the government ignored an ultimatum leveled by the group. The protestors had demanded compensation or alternative land on which to live. Their encampment was dismantled by police less than two weeks later and the 14 defendants were charged on Dec. 23. Each protester was charged with two counts of violating Article 18 of the Peaceful Assembly Law, and Articles 141 and 341 of Burma's Penal Code. The Penal Code charges were filed by the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC), which contended that the encampment blocked part of the sidewalk near the entrance to City Hall. "The court sentenced one month separately for two counts of Article 18 and four months for Article 141 and 341—in total six months," the defendants' lawyer Robert San Aung told The Irrawaddy. "We will file an appeal for all of them to the West District Court next week," he said. The Michaungkan villagers initially set up camp near the disputed property in late 2013, but they left the site within days after authorities promised a speedy settlement. When the Ministry of Defense announced in early 2014 that they would not return the land and would instead turn it into a housing complex for veterans, the villagers took their occupation to the margins of Maha Bandoola Park on March 24. In December the protesters moved their protest staging grounds to the sidewalk in front of City Hall. Maung Maung, a protester who remains camped beside Maha Bandoola Park, said that among the 14 defendants sentenced this week, five are in their 60s and up to a dozen are women. A leader of the protest, Sein Than, was jailed in August last year and is serving a two-year sentence on six separate charges. The activist Wai Lu—known primarily for his involvement in protests against the Letpadaung copper mine—was also arrested and charged with Article 505(b) for giving support to the Michuangkan demonstrations in December. "He is being held in Insein Prison. The next court hearing for him will be on Feb. 24," said Thi Ha, an activist from Generation Youth. Maung Maung said only about 20 people are left at the relocated camp beside Maha Bandoola Park, which sits across from City Hall. "I didn't think they would be so cruel. We are just asking for our lands back and they have taken severe action against us," he said. "Five of them are over 60 years old and we worry for their health during their sentences," he added.   The post 14 Michaungkan Protestors Get Six-Month Prison Terms appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Govt Says More Ethnic Armed Groups Involved in Kokang Conflict Posted: 18 Feb 2015 08:30 PM PST Red Cross workers carry an injured man to safety in Laukkai over the weekend. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Burma's government on Wednesday accused three more ethnic rebel groups of being involved in armed clashes in northeastern Shan state, where more than a week of fighting against Kokang rebels has left dozens of soldiers dead and sent tens of thousands of refugees fleeing to neighboring China. In an evening announcement, state television said Kokang rebel attacks against government troops were continuing near Laukkai, the capital of the Kokang Special Region. It also accused the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the Shan State Army-South and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army of being involved in the fighting. A KIA spokesman denied launching any attacks in the area. The government on Tuesday announced the imposition of a 90-day state of emergency and military administration for Laukkai, where more than 50 government troops have been killed in combat recently. The declaration of military administration gives the army executive and judicial authority in the region. The government had previously accused unnamed other groups of involvement, but Wednesday was the first time they were specifically named. The three accused groups have been loosely allied with the Kokang, and the KIA have been engaged in a sporadic though bitter conflict with the government for several years. The fighting has forced people to flee over the border. Citing government officials, the Chinese state-owned news site Yunnan.cn said Monday that there had been 30,000 border crossings by Burmese nationals over the past week into Yunnan province. Lin Sen, a volunteer helping refugees in Yunnan, said Tuesday that as many as 50,000 refugees may have escaped the Kokang Special Region. Ethnic minorities, especially in Myanmar’s border areas, have been seeking greater autonomy for decades. The government is hoping to sign a comprehensive peace agreement with all of them next month, but the upsurge in fighting is jeopardizing its chances. Also on Wednesday, the Burmese Red Cross condemned an attack on volunteers trying to rescue trapped villagers from the strife, saying they were carrying out humanitarian duties and that their vehicles were clearly marked. A driver and another man were wounded in the ambush Tuesday near Laukkai, an incident the government blamed on the Kokang rebels. The Red Cross did not identify the attackers, but said both of the wounded men had been wearing white vests with the bold Red Cross insignia. The United Nations' resident and humanitarian coordinator in Myanmar, Renata Dessallien, also voiced concern over the ambush, and appealed to all parties involved in the fighting "to ensure that civilians are protected, and to allow civilians who remain in the conflict zone safe passage out of the Kokang area." Kachin Independence Army spokesman La Nan said in an email to The Associated Press that the group did not engage in military operations outside of its home ground in Kachin state. He also said the government’s imposition of military administration in the Kokang region impacts the peace process immensely. "The declaration of military administration clearly demonstrates that the government does not accept the culture of negotiation in resolving the problems," he said. "It also shows that they will totally annihilate ethnic armed groups." The post Govt Says More Ethnic Armed Groups Involved in Kokang Conflict appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Dancing the Sino Shuffle Posted: 18 Feb 2015 04:30 PM PST Costumed troupes brought noise, dancing and good fortune to Rangoon residents on Wednesday. (Photo: Timo Jaworr / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Chinatown is strung with red paper lanterns and the sound of drums echoes through Rangoon's streets, animating the stilted dance movements of troupes of colorful lions. On the eve of the Chinese New Year on Wednesday, about 40 members of the Hang Bao Shi Lion Dance Association went door to door in the commercial capital, visiting homes and dancing for residents in traditional customs that are a symbol of the annual festivities. For ethnic Chinese, traditional has it that if a lion enters their homes they will have luck, prosperity and fewer hardships in the coming year. The Hang Bao Shi Lion Dance Association is one of more than a dozen groups that will compete in the city's annual lion dance competition from Feb. 20-24 on Chinatown's Sinn O Dan Street in downtown Rangoon. The association has won the competition twice, in 2009 and 2010. The post Dancing the Sino Shuffle appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Millions at Risk From Rapid Sea Rise in Swampy Sundarbans  Posted: 18 Feb 2015 09:58 PM PST Villagers queue to receive water aid from a NGO boat after being displaced from their homes by a tidal wave caused by Cyclone Aila in Sundarbans, south-east of the eastern Indian city of Kolkata June 2, 2009. (Photo: Reuters) BALI ISLAND, India — The tiny hut sculpted out of mud at the edge of the sea is barely large enough for Bokul Mondol and his family to lie down. The water has taken everything else from them, and one day it almost certainly will take this, too. Saltwater long ago engulfed the 5 acres where Mondol once grew rice and tended fish ponds, as his ancestors had on Bali Island for some 200 years. His thatch-covered hut, built on public land, is the fifth he has had to build in the last five years as the sea creeps in. "Every year we have to move a little further inland," he said. Seas are rising more than twice as fast as the global average here in the Sundarbans, a low-lying delta region of about 200 islands in the Bay of Bengal where some 13 million impoverished Indians and Bangladeshis live. Tens of thousands like Mondol have already been left homeless, and scientists predict much of the Sundarbans could be underwater in 15 to 25 years. That could force a singularly massive exodus of millions of "climate refugees," creating enormous challenges for India and Bangladesh that neither country has prepared for. "This big-time climate migration is looming on the horizon," said Tapas Paul, a New Delhi-based environmental specialist with the World Bank, which is spending hundreds of millions of dollars assessing and preparing a plan for the Sundarbans region. "If all the people of the Sundarbans have to migrate, this would be the largest-ever migration in the history of mankind," Paul said. The largest to date occurred during the India-Pakistan partition in 1947, when 10 million people or more migrated from one country to the other. Mondol has no idea where he would go. His family of six is now entirely dependent on neighbors who have not lost their land. Some days they simply don’t eat. "For 10 years I was fighting with the sea, until finally everything was gone," he says, staring blankly at the water lapping at the muddy coast. "We live in constant fear of flooding. If the island is lost, we will all die." On their own, the Sundarbans' impoverished residents have little chance of moving before catastrophe hits. Facing constant threats from roving tigers and crocodiles, deadly swarms of giant honeybees and poisonous snakes, they struggle to eke out a living by farming, shrimping, fishing and collecting honey from the forests. Each year, with crude tools and bare hands, they build mud embankments to keep saltwater and wild animals from invading their crops. And each year swollen rivers, monsoon rains and floods wash many of those banks and mud-packed homes back into the sea. Most struggle on far less than $1 a day. With 5 million people on the Indian side and 8 million in Bangladesh, the Sundarbans population is far greater than any of the small island nations that also face dire threats from rising sea levels. Losing the 26,000-square-kilometer (10,000-square-mile) region — an area about the size of Haiti — would also take an environmental toll. The Sundarbans region is teeming with wildlife, including the world’s only population of mangrove forest tigers. The freshwater swamps and their tangles of mangrove forests act as a natural buffer protecting India’s West Bengal state and Bangladesh from cyclones. With rising temperatures melting polar ice and expanding oceans, seas have been rising globally at an average rate of about 3 millimeters a year — a rate scientists say is likely to speed up. The latest projections suggest seas could rise on average up to about 1 meter (3.3 feet) this century. That would be bad enough for the Sundarbans, where the highest point is around 3 meters (9.8 feet) and the mean elevation is less than a meter above sea level. But sea rise occurs unevenly across the globe because of factors like wind, ocean currents, tectonic shift and variations in the Earth’s gravitational pull. The rate of sea rise in the Sundarbans has been measured at twice the global rate or even higher. In addition, dams and irrigation systems upstream are trapping sediments that could have built up the river deltas that make up the Sundarbans. Other human activities such as deforestation encourage erosion. A 2013 study by the Zoological Society of London measured the Sundarbans coastline retreating at about 200 meters (650 feet) a year. The Geological Survey of India says at least 210 square kilometers (81 square miles) of coastline on the Indian side has eroded in the last few decades. At least four islands are underwater and dozens of others have been abandoned due to sea rise and erosion. Many scientists believe the only long-term solution is for most of the Sundarbans population to leave. That may be not only necessary but environmentally beneficial, giving shorn mangrove forests a chance to regrow and capture river sediment in their tangled, saltwater-tolerant roots. "The chance of a mass migration, to my mind, is actually pretty high. India is not recognizing it for whatever reason," said Anurag Danda, who leads the World Wildlife Fund’s climate change adaptation program in the Sundarbans. "It’s a crisis waiting to happen. We are just one event away from seeing large-scale displacement and turning a large number of people into destitutes." West Bengal is no stranger to mass migration. Kolkata, its capital, has been overrun three times by panicked masses fleeing violence or starvation: during a 1943 famine, the 1947 partition and the 1971 war that created today’s Bangladesh. India, however, has no official plan either to help relocate Sundarbans residents or to protect the region from further ecological decline. "We need international help. We need national help. We need the help of the people all over the world. We are very late" in addressing the problem, said West Bengal state’s minister for emergencies and disaster management, Janab Javed Ahmed Khan. He said West Bengal must work urgently with the Indian and Bangladeshi governments to take action. Bangladesh is supporting scientists "trying to find out whether it’s possible to protect the Sundarbans," said Taibur Rahman, of the Bangladesh government’s planning commission. "But we are already experiencing the effects of climate change. The people of the Sundarbans are resilient and have long lived with hardship, but many now are leaving. And we are not yet prepared." A network of concrete dykes and barriers, like those protecting the Netherlands, offers limited protection to some of the islands in Bangladesh’s portion of the Sundarbans. The World Bank is now spending some $200 million to improve those barriers. Experts worry that politicians will ignore the problem or continue to make traditional promises to build roads, schools and hospital clinics. This could entice more people to the region just when everyone should be moving out. "We have 15 years … that’s the rough time frame I give for sea level rise to become very difficult and population pressure to become almost unmanageable," said Jayanta Bandopadhyay, an engineer and science professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi who has studied the region for years. Bandopadhyay and other experts say India and Bangladesh should be creating jobs, offering skills training, freeing lands and making urbanization attractive so people will feel empowered to leave. Even if India musters that kind of political will, planning and funds, persuading people to move will not be easy. Most families have been living here since the early 1800s, when the British East India Company — which then governed India, Pakistan and Bangladesh for the British Empire — removed huge mangrove forests to allow people to live on and profit from the fertile agricultural land. Even those who are aware of the threat of rising seas don’t want to leave. "You cannot fight with water," said Sorojit Majhi, a 36-year-old father of four young girls living in a hut crouched behind a crumbling mud embankment. Majhi’s ancestral land has also been swallowed by the sea. He admits he’s sometimes angry, other times depressed. "We are scared, but where can we go?" he said. "We cannot fly away like a bird." The post Millions at Risk From Rapid Sea Rise in Swampy Sundarbans  appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Beijing’s Glare Deepens Crisis in Macau Posted: 18 Feb 2015 09:29 PM PST Mainland Chinese visitors walk in front of the Casino Lisboa in Macau February 17, 2015. (Photo: Reuters) MACAU/ZHUHAI, China — China's crackdown on corruption and conspicuous consumption is ever more visible in its impact on Macau, the world's biggest gambling hub, which makes most of its money from the high rollers who are staying away to avoid Beijing's scrutiny. During a recent visit to four of the city's glitziest casinos, VIP rooms were mostly desolate, with some shuttered and one boarded up, their tables covered with wood and white cloth. At nearby pawn shops and jewelers, used by many gamblers to evade China's strict currency controls, and at money remittance agents in the Chinese border city of Zhuhai, there are fewer customers about. In February last year, operators of the Chinese-controlled enclave's 35 casinos were riding high, their revenues for the month up 40 percent year on year. This year, February revenues are expected to fall 40 percent, having fallen in each of the previous eight months, too. The trend is set to continue despite increasing numbers of Chinese tourists crossing the border during the Lunar New Year holidays. "This is a very dangerous time," said Johnny Fok, one of over 100 junket operators in Macau that extend credit to wealthy punters and arrange transport and accommodation. "It seems President Xi really doesn't want people to come and gamble any more… Maybe we have to wait seven more years, then, after Xi has left, and only then, we might have a chance for things to go back to the old days." China has beefed up its anti-corruption monitoring network in Macau with staff from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and other agencies now permanently based in the local liaison office, according to a regulatory official and junket operators. Fok's business has slumped 70 percent in the past two months compared with a year earlier. Three of the top 10 junket companies have closed some of their VIP rooms in the last three months as Beijing's anti-graft campaign bites. More closures are expected. "For the next three months China will continue to crack down on Macau," said Lei Kuok Keong, a leader of Macau union Forefront of Macau Gaming, which represents junket workers and casino dealers. "For VIP, it is more serious. Many more VIP rooms will shut." Phone betting, where a gambler in China calls a junket in Macau, and side betting, where gamblers bet several times the table stakes, has also tumbled due to increased scrutiny from Beijing, said Lei. Mass-Market Hopes In an underground mall in Zhuhai, remittance agents, who help punters transfer money in and out of Macau, say banks are imposing tighter monitoring on large transactions, including on China's state-backed debit and credit card UnionPay, with amounts of HK$100,000 (US$12,892) now requiring identity checks and verification. That deters those wanting to remain anonymous. Four shops had their shutters down around the old Lisboa casino, though most pawn and watch shops still offer illegal cash-back services, letting punters swipe their cards for fake jewelry purchases to get hard cash. At the Blessing Watches and Jewelry outlet in the Venetian casino, a store manager said amounts well above permissible limits could still be swiped using UnionPay cards, though some transactions might be split into smaller amounts to reduce the risk of detection. "We had a client who swiped HK$1 million three days ago," he said. Just across the casino floor, an electronic notice states that credit or debit cards issued by mainland China banks are not accepted at the counters where customers buy their chips. Mass-market gamblers are still travelling to Macau, and casino executives hope they will make up for the fall in high rollers, but since VIP business typically makes up 60-70 percent of revenue, it is a big hole to fill. There will also be a lot of extra space to fill, with two new casinos from Galaxy Entertainment and Melco Crown opening this year in Cotai, a strip of reclaimed land joining two of Macau's islands. The strip has more under construction, planned long before the slowdown struck; the base of a half-size Eiffel Tower replica sprouts from the ground of US gambling kingpin Sheldon Adelson's upcoming Parisian resort, and the emerging bronze facade of Steve Wynn's new multi-billion-dollar casino will be fronted by a gondola and lake. Credit Suisse analyst Kenneth Fong says the downside risks, which could include a full smoking ban, are more apparent than the upside. Junket operator Fok scoffs at the idea that mass market gamblers could make up for the absent VIPs. "These small punters," he said, gesturing towards the sparsely filled gaming hall, "what they spend is not even enough to pay the electricity bills." The post Beijing's Glare Deepens Crisis in Macau appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

India’s Ailing Air Force at Risk in Tough Neighborhood Posted: 18 Feb 2015 08:54 PM PST Indian Air Force fighter aircraft jets fly past during the Republic Day parade in New Delhi on Jan. 26, 2015. (Photo: Reuters) BENGALURU, India — India's air force risks a major capability gap opening up with China and Pakistan without new Western warplanes or if local defense contractors can't produce what the military needs in a timely manner. A 2012 agreement to buy 126 Rafale fighters from France's Dassault Aviation has stalled due to a dispute over the assembly of the aircraft in India. India's first homegrown fighter, the Tejas light combat aircraft, will finally be delivered next month, 30 years after it was conceived. But senior air force officers privately said they were unimpressed, with one former officer, an ex-fighter pilot, saying the plane was "so late it is obsolete." While the navy is undergoing an accelerated modernization drive, experts said India was vulnerable in the skies because of its reliance on a disparate fleet of ageing Russian-made MiG and French Mirage fighters, along with more modern Russian Sukhoi Su-30s. Half of India's fighters are due to retire beginning this year until 2024. "It could lead to humiliation at the hands of our neighbors," AK Sachdev, a retired air force officer, wrote last year in the Indian Defense Review journal. A coordinated attack by China and arch-rival Pakistan could stretch the Indian military, he added. It's a scenario defense strategists in New Delhi have been asked to plan for, Indian air force sources say, although experts say such an event is highly unlikely to happen. India's ties with China are still hamstrung by a dispute over their Himalayan border that led to war in 1962. New Delhi is also wary of China's expanding naval presence in the Indian Ocean and its close relations with Pakistan. India's air force has 34 operational squadrons, down from 39 earlier this decade and below the government approved strength of 42, a parliamentary committee said in December. More than half of India's MiGs have crashed in recent decades, the then defense minister said in 2012. At the same time, China is flying locally built fourth-generation J-10 fighters and is testing two fifth-generation stealth fighter jets. Pakistan is upgrading its Lockheed Martin F-16 fighters as well as using JF-17 warplanes developed with China. It is also in talks to buy J-10s, according to Pakistani and Chinese industry sources. India would still win a war against Pakistan because of the sheer size of its air force, but the slow modernization means victory would come with heavy casualties, said Richard Aboulafia, Washington DC-based vice president of analysis at the Teal Group, an aerospace and defense think tank. To keep up, India is buying more Su-30s and upgrading other existing fighters. "We do need to increase our defense preparedness," Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the opening ceremony of the Aero India airshow in the city of Bengaluru on Wednesday. Criticism of the Tejas was unfounded, said K. Tamilmani, a senior official at the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), a defense ministry agency that designed and developed the plane. "The Tejas has a safety record that is unbeaten," Tamilmani told Reuters by telephone, adding it would provide a platform to develop more advanced fighters in the years ahead. The Rafale fighters are expected to replace some of India's MiGs and Mirage jets. But India is insisting Dassault take full responsibility for production of the aircraft at a state-run facility in Bengaluru, Indian defense ministry officials have said. France has said it will help Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. stick to delivery schedules, but that it cannot give guarantees for production of the aircraft made at a facility over which it has no administrative or expert control. India would decide on the fate of the deal only after March, when a defense ministry committee delivers a report on the issue, Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar said at the airshow. Cancellation would be "disastrous," said Deba Mohanty, chairman at Indicia Research & Advisory, a New Delhi-based defense consulting firm. "It's a really tricky situation in which the supplier is unhappy, the bureaucrats are unhappy and the end user is disappointed," said Mohanty. India has successfully introduced Boeing's C-17 cargo plane and P-8 Poseidon anti-submarine aircraft and Lockheed Martin's C-130J transport, all bought directly, over the last few years. That shows off-the-shelf solutions work best, experts said. However, under the Modi administration's "Make in India" program, there is an emphasis on building a domestic defense industrial base to cut dependence on foreign supplies that have made India the world's biggest arms importer. The DRDO, for example, is working on the Tejas Mark II, a slightly larger plane than the original, which will feature more powerful engines, better radars and upgraded avionics. Local trainer jets, light transport aircraft and helicopter programs are also under way. "People who fly planes want the best value for money, which means off-the-shelf," said Aboulafia. "People who want jobs and technology development schemes have different priorities. That's why the two groups don't like each other much." The post India's Ailing Air Force at Risk in Tough Neighborhood appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Books ‘Have a Future’ Posted: 18 Feb 2015 04:00 PM PST San Oo, the owner of Seikku Cho Cho publishing house. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) In a changing media landscape, book publishers in Myanmar are trying to stay ahead of the curve. Although overall book sales in the country have declined in recent years, an appetite for reading remains strong. U San Oo, the owner of Seikku Cho Cho publishing house, spoke with The Irrawaddy's Kyaw Hsu Mon on all things books—from best-sellers to translations and why e-books are a welcome development. Question: When did you start your publishing house and what kind of books did you publish at that time? Answer: Our first book was published in 1999. I came to Yangon a year earlier after I had finished working in my native town. Some of my friends were publishing journals and magazines in Yangon and I contacted them. I first worked as a designer at TetLan sports journal. At that time, there were no designers because there were no computer design systems, so I worked by hand. I was also a member of the editorial team. After saving some money, I decided to start publishing books. The first book published was by the economist Khin Mg Nyo. It was a small book of business quotations. Since then, I have published popular books which make money, as well as literature. Now my publishing house business has grown and found a place in the market. Q: Are you confident in the market for classic books and old authors? A: To be honest, I didn't really understand the book market in the early stages. But I decided to publish classic books, not out of business interest, but because I wanted these books to be available on the market. Some books have made good profits while some have not. Sometimes stock has remained in the warehouse. The Forever Media group contacted me in 2000 and asked me to open bookshops with them. They wanted to create a new e-books market through these bookshops. So I worked as a publisher and at a bookshop at the same time. I got the chance to know what books people like and what I needed to publish for them. After that, I was able to publish many books that people liked and the business grew. Q: Which category of books are best sellers at the moment? Fiction? Political books? A: Many of our published books are not immediately popular on the market. But I always choose titles that will be useful for readers. The recent best-selling categories are political books, about, for example, the experience of political prisoners, as well as books about well-known people—with either a good or bad image—in the political field. Then there is Myanmar literature, for example the author Juu. Her book sales are still strong. But for those kinds of books, most of them are self-published. Q: What percentage of recent book sales are political books? A: It is hard to say exactly as we don't have an accurate survey at the moment. But I think at least 30 percent of total book sales recently [have been political books]. Q: How is Seikku Cho Cho performing at the moment? A: I don't have a market survey to compare with other publishers. But we are well-placed in the market and continue to publish many books. Normally we publish about 20 books per month. Q: What is the current situation for translated books? A: There is a good market for translations, but the number of new translators is not increasing. Therefore it has been hard to introduce new translations to the readers. That's why old translations of books, written by old authors, are still among the best-sellers. This is not only the case in our country, it has happened in other countries also; classics are always on the book shelves. The sales are always good. Authors' associations are considering the issue of a lack of new translators. The main requirement is to nurture new and talented translators here. Q: Who are the best sellers in the classics category? A: The top classic books are by Mya Than Tint, Mg Tun Thu, Dagon Shwe Myar, Shwe Ou Daung, then Mg Moe Thu, Tin New Maung and Soe Thein. Their masterpieces are still performing strongly. Q: How would you assess the publishing market over the last 20 years? A: There are many ways to evaluate the market. Lately, sales are declining. In the past, publishers could publish at least 3,000 to 5,000 copies of a first edition of literature or other books, and all stocks could be sold within one month with nothing left in the warehouse. But now, we start by publishing only 500 to 1,000 copies of new books, and even if they sell out we don't dare to consider publishing them again. We have to seriously consider whether to publish certain books. From this point of view, the market is declining, but on the other hand, there were not so many different categories of books in the past. There are many now, including technical books. In that regard, the situation has improved. Q: How are book sales influenced by the cover design? A: I think 20 percent of sales are due to a good cover design […] That's why in the international book market, you will see various kinds of appealing cover designs available. They are seriously focused on the overall book design as well. That's what the market wants. But locally, we publishers are still facing a lot of difficulties. If we can't get the best quality paper, we can't produce the best quality books. So we haven't been able to produce as many quality books as we would have liked in recent times. Q: How have e-books affected the hardcopy market? A: The number of e-book readers grew after 2013 because more young people are using smart phones, tablets and other electronic devices. They read books on these devices. It is a threat to hardcopy publishers here, but what we believe is that Myanmar people need to read more books, in any way. Though it might become a major threat to us one day, we welcome people reading books in any form. In other countries, people are reading books on their electronic devices on their way to or from the office […] and at the same time, our people are also [starting to] read on e-devices. It's an improvement. Q: How do you see the future of the publishing industry over the next 20 years? A: I can accept whatever happens in the future as a publisher. But as a book lover, I believe the book market will not disappear quickly. If people acquire the taste for reading books, they will not let it go. This interview first appeared in the February 2015 issue of The Irrawaddy magazine. The post Books 'Have a Future' appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

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