The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Rangoon Bus Lines to Be Dramatically Reduced
• Prison Term ‘Like From the Old Days,’ Says Burmese ‘Penis Poet’
• Anti-Muslim Agitator To Stay In Jail
• At Least a Dozen Die in Latest Hpakant Landslide
• At a Southern Plantation, Laments for Lost Land
• Doctor Wins ‘Citizen of Burma’ Award
• Ten Things to Do in Rangoon This Week (May 23)
• India Drought Hurts Women, Low-Caste Dalits More
• 18 Girls Killed in Fire at School Dorm in Northern Thailand

Rangoon Bus Lines to Be Dramatically Reduced Posted: 24 May 2016 07:45 AM PDT Bus stops in Rangoon provide insufficient space for the many buses plying the same route, forcing passengers to disembark on the congested roads. (Photo: Moe Myint / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Bus lines in Rangoon Division are to be reduced from 357 to only 50, according to Hla Aung, chairman of the Rangoon Division Motor Vehicles Supervisory Committee (known by the Burmese-language acronym "Ma Hta Tha"). The volume of buses that would ply the reduced number of routes has not been specified. The move was announced in a meeting between Hla Aung and the Rangoon Division Chief Minister Phyo Min Thein on Sunday. The goals discussed were: reducing traffic congestion, which has reached chronic levels in Rangoon in recent years as an unintended consequence of economic reforms; reducing the financial burden faced by bus travelers; and providing an all-around higher quality service for the public. Although over 7,600 buses are registered with Ma Hta Tha, currently between 4,500 and 4,800 city buses are plying 357 bus lines across Rangoon Division's 33 townships, according to Hla Aung. A regular criticism from Rangoon's residents is that public bus routes regularly overlap. This is believed to heighten congestion and greatly reduce efficiency in the service. Hla Aung confessed that Ma Hta Tha has issued "many" permits for private bus lines operating on the same route, which had deflated profits. Ma Hta Tha would not comment on the effect this has had on congestion, but noted that up to 20 bus lines are plying the same route on certain stretches. "At the very least, we can resolve this disarray by re-routing these bloated bus lines", said Hla Aung. Myo Win, owner of the private Hlaing Dagon bus line, who was present for the Sunday meeting at the office of the Rangoon divisional government, praised the initiative but made a formal recommendation that the divisional government renew the Ma Hta Tha committee and invite bus line owners to participate, so that they could raise any issues directly with the government. "There is a stubborn 'old man' mindset [at Ma Hta Tha]. We must change it," said Myo Win. Myo Win also recommended support for the use of CNG (compressed natural gas) fuel in buses, raising passenger fees, and switching to an electronic iPay card payment system. He explained that, by changing the payment method in this way, bus owners could guard against cheating by drivers and bus conductors, who may overcharge passengers or skim money off of fees paid in cash. Hla Aung declined to comment on whether the number of vehicles would be decreased under the new plan, or when implementation would start. He said the project would be led by the Rangoon divisional government. He claimed that Ma Hta Tha had no authority to determine bus lines, since they are not an executive agency and merely oversee the operations of private bus lines. Ma Hta Tha was founded in 1962 by retired military generals, but has collaborated closely with the government at each stage of its history. Ma Hta Tha collects 2 percent of the daily revenue of bus lines in Rangoon; five percent of this amount is spent on Ma Hta Tha's administrative costs, according to Hla Aung. However, the Parami, Shwe Than Lwin and Shwe Ae Thay bus lines are not overseen by Ma Hta Tha. Parami comes under the military-owned conglomerate Union Of Myanmar Economic Holdings. It is widely speculated in Rangoon that overly long bus routes also contribute to congestion in downtown areas of the city, with buses from many different lines culminating in too narrow a space. In order to ease traffic further, it follows that Ma Hta Tha should designate shorter bus routes, with multiple transit points across the different townships of Rangoon. Hla Aung said he personally agreed with this view, but he added that the implementation of such changes were up to the new government. The post Rangoon Bus Lines to Be Dramatically Reduced appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Prison Term ‘Like From the Old Days,’ Says Burmese ‘Penis Poet’ Posted: 24 May 2016 04:57 AM PDT Maung Saunghka laughs outside the courthouse in Rangoon's Shwepyithar Township on Tuesday. (Photo: Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — A court in Burma sentenced a young poet to six months in jail on Tuesday for defaming former President Thein Sein, making him one of the first political activists sentenced since Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi took power in April. Maung Saunghka, 23, used his Facebook account to publish a poem featuring a tattoo of a president on his penis. He was charged for defaming Thein Sein under Burma's Telecommunications Law, used to curb free speech in several other recent cases. Because Maung Saunghka has spent more than six months in jail since being arrested, he will be freed on Tuesday. But the case highlights the limits of control that Suu Kyi's government, elected in November on pledges of democratization, has over the government where the military plays an outsized political role. It also draws attention to a continued use of the Telecommunications Law to stifle dissent. The act, enacted as part of an opening up of the telecoms sector in 2013, bans use of a telecoms network to "extort, threaten, obstruct, defame, disturb, inappropriately influence or intimidate." "I'm glad I can go home freely, but I'm disappointed about the verdict," said Maung Saunghka after leaving the court. "Even though we have a democratically elected government, the verdict was like from the old days." The judiciary in Burma has for decades been an instrument of oppression by the junta against democratic opposition activists, many from Suu Kyi's party, jailing them for long terms on show trials. Despite Suu Kyi's victory in November, the military-drafted Constitution guarantees it control over the Home Affairs Ministry, which oversees the courts. It also controls two other security ministries and controls 25 percent of seats in the Parliament. Last year, NGO worker Patrick Kum Jaa Lee was sentenced to six months in jail for commenting on a picture showing a foot standing on a photo of army chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing. Several more people were charged under the same law this year. Suu Kyi's government released scores of political prisoners shortly after taking power, but 64 people remain behind bars and 138 are awaiting trial for political actions, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a watchdog. It is unclear whether the NLD plans to reform the Telecommunications Law or how far it intends to change other oppressive laws from the military era. Human rights advocates raised alarm that its draft of a revised law regulating public demonstrations keeps many military-era curbs on free speech. The post Prison Term 'Like From the Old Days,' Says Burmese 'Penis Poet' appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Anti-Muslim Agitator To Stay In Jail Posted: 24 May 2016 04:52 AM PDT Nay Myo Wai at Kangyidaunt Court on Monday. (The Irrawaddy) PATHEIN, Irrawaddy Division — A court in the Irrawaddy Division's Kangyidaunt Township on Monday refused a bail request from the ultra-nationalist politician Nay Myo Wai, who has been accused of defaming the president, the army commander-in-chief and the state counselor on Facebook. The court accepted a lawsuit filed against him last week by Wai Yan Aung, an executive member of the Burma Teachers' Federation, under Article 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law and accused him of defaming President Htin Kyaw, Commander-in-Chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing and State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi. Article 66(d) carries a punishment of up to three years' imprisonment for using a telecommunications network to commit defamation. "We applied for bail because my brother [Nay Myo Wai] has a breathing problem. But our application was rejected since he has not had medical treatment recently. We will try again at the next court hearing," said Sandar Oo, Nay Myo Wai's sister who is also acting as his lawyer. Nay Myo Wai is a supporter of the Buddhist nationalist group Ma Ba Tha and serves as chairman of the Peace and Diversity Party. In recent years he has earned a reputation as a frequent propagator of anti-Muslim sentiment online. Nay Myo Wai was arrested on May 4 and has remained in custody since then in Irrawaddy Division's Pathein Prison. During the first court hearing yesterday, the plaintiff Wai Yan Aung testified but the printouts of screenshots of Nay Myo Wai's allegedly defamatory Facebook posts were not admitted into evidence. "I submitted 11 printouts from U Nay Myo Wai's accounts defaming the heads of the state. But they were rejected at the request of his lawyer, saying, 'the evidence was not strong.' I will submit stronger evidence," Wai Yan Aung said. The next hearing will be on May 24 when the plaintiff will testify again. The post Anti-Muslim Agitator To Stay In Jail appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

At Least a Dozen Die in Latest Hpakant Landslide Posted: 24 May 2016 04:31 AM PDT Rescue workers on Nov. 24, 2015, look for bodies of miners killed by a landslide at a Hpakant jade mine in Kachin State three days earlier. (Photo: Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters) MANDALAY — More than a dozen gem prospectors died when piles of mining waste collapsed in Kachin State's Hpakant jade mining area, according to local authorities. Local police told The Irrawaddy that the collapse happened Monday night at a Yadanar Kyel company excavation site, where at least 100 prospectors searched for leftover gem deposits. "We've exhumed 13 bodies and sent 10 people who suffered injuries to receive medical care," said a senior police officer from the Hpakant Township police station, adding that he believed the number would increase. He said police were trying to identify the deceased in order to inform their families. Police said heavy rains had forced them to stop rescue efforts temporarily, but would resume when circumstances allowed. Weather and soil conditions could trigger another collapse, making the situation unsafe for rescuers. According to locals, the waste pile collapsed suddenly after heavy rains, and gem collectors did not have time to run to safety. "The soil was so soft and because it was dark, most of the gem collectors couldn't run," said La Taung, a local Hpakant miner. Deadly landslides are not uncommon at mining sites in Hpakant Township, where a massive collapse in November killed over 100 people. Hpakant Township residents staged protests in February, blocking dump trucks from depositing waste and calling for mining companies to improve safety in the area. Protestors called off the demonstrations after a week, when they participated in negotiations with local authorities and mining companies. Mining companies agreed to follow waste piling rules and regulations and local authorities agreed to increase oversight and take stronger action. However, after the collapse on Monday, locals said they doubted that the mining companies had followed existing regulations. "The authorities must take strict action to prevent further deadly incidents, because the upcoming monsoon season will naturally cause more collapses," said local miner Aung Moe. "They need to check up on mining companies and warn prospectors before the situation worsens." The post At Least a Dozen Die in Latest Hpakant Landslide appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

At a Southern Plantation, Laments for Lost Land Posted: 24 May 2016 03:30 AM PDT Residents of Shwe Yaung Pya village ride a motorbike on a road next to the rubber plantation operated by Max Myanmar. (Photo: Saw Yan Naing / The Irrawaddy) SHWE YAUNG PYA, Mon State — Some four hours' drive from Rangoon off the main road to Moulmein in Mon State, the Shwe Yaung Pya Agro rubber plantation is well on its way to full commercial operations. Orderly rows of young, deep-green rubber trees stretch for miles across Bilin and Thaton townships, the most mature plants yielding milky white sap for the rubber industry long seen by previous governments as a potential driver of national economic growth. It is a tranquil view, revealing little of the plantation's origins some 11 years ago in a former conflict zone, or the smoldering discontent that recently came to light among residents in the area. About 20 former farm owners challenged the basis on which their lands moved into the hands of plantation owner Max Myanmar, during a recent visit to the vicinity by The Irrawaddy. They had no choice but to relinquish their holdings in territory that had been earmarked by the then military government for the commercial rubber venture, these residents said. They had accepted compensation payments only under pressure, they insisted, and had suffered ever since. "To this day, I feel that since losing my land, my life has been tough. I no longer feel mentally strong; it's as if I have lost a hand, or a leg," said septuagenarian former farm owner Maung Win in a complaint over land loss echoed in thousands of other legacy cases sitting on the desk of Burma's new National League for Democracy (NLD) government, which has vowed to make resolving land issues a priority. At the Max Myanmar headquarters in Rangoon, chief operating officer Dr. Thaung Han did not accept the allegations. The fact that the company had only planted on a part of the 5,000-acre area allocated showed that it had not taken land that owners did not want to sell, he said. Compensation payments had been fair, he added. The plantation's Managing Director Maung Maung Htet, who has worked at the site since its early years, took a similar view: ''It is not possible that people who accepted compensation did not want to sell,'' he claimed. Making a Plantation Max Myanmar is no stranger to the hot-button issue of land ownership. Of Burma's "crony" conglomerates, it has been among the most active in recent years in engaging with controversies around lands acquired during the period of military rule that ended in 2011. An aerial view of the Shwe Yaung Pya rubber plantation in February of this year. (Photo supplied by Max Myanmar). It has been extensively involved with local and international initiatives promoting ethical land policies, and adopted an anti-land grabbing policy itself. It was praised for returning land outright to farmers near Chaung Tha village and Ngwe Saung sub-district in Irrawaddy Division, and it negotiated several improved compensation deals with farmers and others in various other locations. But in a new era under a new government, it and other private companies face fresh scrutiny over land acquisitions that took place in another time. Bilin Township today has a bucolic air, with local people including ethnic Karen, Mon and Burmans engaged mainly in small-scale farming, fishing and running family businesses like shops. There is little development, and migration to Thailand for jobs is still common. Modest tourism has been tested in the area, which is only about an hour and a half's drive from the famous "Golden Rock" pilgrimage site known as Kyaiktiyo. In 2005, however, Bilin and neighboring Thaton townships were on the outer reaches of a bitter conflict zone. Villagers suffered the brunt as the Burma Army launched a major offensive against the armed wing of the Karen National Union (KNU) throughout much of the southeast. Forced labor, forced portering, extortion and other human rights abuses around that time by the Burma Army, and to a lesser extent by the Karen armed group, pushed some 3,000 people from Bilin and Thaton into refugee camps in Thailand, where they were reported to still be living in 2013. In that context and with the country under military rule, human rights groups say, it was unthinkable for locals to speak out when 5,000 acres of their land was earmarked by the former junta, first for a sugar plantation that soon failed, and then later for commercial rubber. In May 2005, Max Myanmar chief Zaw Zaw, then just 38 and engaged in helping to construct the then new capital Naypyidaw as well as a range of other business ventures, turned up in the area with Lt-Gen Maung Bo, at the time commander of the Burma Army's Southern Command and chief of the Bureau of Special Operations–4, who died in 2009. The men had arrived to inaugurate the plantation that Max Myanmar would operate under the government's plan to turn huge swaths of the south over to private commercial agriculture, growing mainly palm oil and rubber. By 2013, an estimated 5.2 million acres of land had been similarly earmarked or appropriated for commercial agriculture throughout the country. ''U Zaw Zaw, chairman of the company [Max Myanmar] briefed Lt-Gen Maung Bo and party on cultivation of rubber. Lt-Gen Maung Bo urged officials concerned to extend cultivation of rubber in the interests of the State, the region and in their own [sic],'' reported the state-owned New Light of Myanmar newspaper on May 9, 2005. Max Myanmar had no prior experience in the rubber business at the time, and an assessment of the plantation operation carried out at the firm's behest in 2013 suggested that the idea to do so wasn't necessarily its own. ''While still unclear, it appears that starting and successfully running the rubber plantation was a requirement for Max Myanmar to receive other more profitable lands or opportunities, such as hotel concessions,'' stated the report produced for the company by the international law firm BSR. Little is known still about the exact nature of the deals made by some of the country's largest firms with close links to the military during a period that saw vast parcels of land, much of it in ethnic areas, turned over to private interests. Farmers from Kachin State recently visited Rangoon to protest over the granting of huge concessions to the Yuzana Company, owned by Htay Myint, which left them dispossessed. By 2013, the area of land handed over was equivalent to the size of the nation of Israel, based on information in government statistics. Paying Compensation Max Myanmar insists that it made efforts to ensure fair compensation for landowners from the beginning of the rubber operation, and to engage with all key local stakeholders, including local KNU and NLD representatives in the then tense conflict zone. A primary school built by the Max Myanmar Group in Thone Eiam Su village in Thaton Township, Mon State, in February 2014. (Photo supplied by Max Myanmar Group) Some of the land had been abandoned for years due to the armed conflict between the KNU and the Burma Army, according to Maung Maung Htet, the plantation's managing director. Parts of the territory were scrubland, hilly or pocked with holes. "We paid low for virgin land and higher for cultivated areas. We paid for places where we couldn't plant anything. We even paid for a graveyard,'' he said. "We wanted to settle everything peacefully," he added. In some cases, KNU officials helped negotiate prices per acre downward by as much as half, Maung Maung Htet said, suggesting that this was related to the company's pledge to build a school, roads and health clinics for the impoverished local community. It has since carried out a range of such projects in local villages, though Aung Moe Tun, head of Shwe Yaung Pya village tract, said that some locals were disappointed that the level of assistance has not matched promises made. Group chief operating officer Thaung Han was adamant that the fact that the company had not planted rubber on the whole allocated 5,000 acres was an indication of its good intentions. "We didn't take land that holders didn't want to sell. That's why we have only used over 3,000 acres,'' he said. A company website provides some information on the process of compensation paid out yearly as the Shwe Yaung Pya plantation expanded. In the first year, 2005-06, the plantation paid out 182,900,000 kyats (about US$205,000 at the then exchange rate) for 914.5 acres, or around $225 per acre. More payments followed in subsequent years and by the end of 2013, according to the information, a total of 698,400,000 kyats (roughly $600,000, using current exchange rates) was paid out. The number of individuals who received payments is not provided. Max Myanmar may have expected final closure on the matter of compensation after 2013, when it made additional  payments to an unspecified number of farmers who thought they were "not properly compensated to the fullest,'' according to the website. Some land had also been returned to farmers who "wanted to work and retain their ownership rights.'' Unhappy Yet in the village of Zee Won, the residents who gathered to meet this reporter insisted that they remained deeply unhappy about the entire basis upon which they settled with the company. Lt-Gen Maung Bo and Zaw Zaw of Max Myanmar appeared in state-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar when they inspected Shwe Yaung Pya rubber plantation in Bilin Township in May 2005. People were afraid to speak their minds under military rule and the previous government, said Way Lay, a representative of the Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG), who was present at the meeting. In a survey conducted by the group three years ago of 94 household representatives from close-by Zee Won and Shwe Yaung Pya villages who had accepted land compensation, just eight were recorded as saying they ''agreed'' with the deal they had made. Former farm owners from other nearby villages were not surveyed. Villager Aye Kyi told The Irrawaddy in Zee Won that she felt she had no choice but to accept a 2,850,000 kyats (around $2,400) compensation payment in 2013 for her seven-acre farm. ''I was afraid, because the local authorities threatened that if I didn't accept the compensation, I could end up with nothing,'' said the former landowner, who now has two daughters working on the plantation. In 2013 it employed more than 600 workers, according to the BSR report. Maung Win said that in order to cope psychologically with the loss of his land, he turned on himself. "We were told that the government owns the land, the water, and the natural resources. I knew I was just going to feel pain if I didn't forgive my loss. So I told myself I didn't deserve the land anyway. We're all just made of soil. It was the only way I could console myself and reconcile my feelings.'' Villager Hnin Kyi said: "I had five acres of paddy, which they took and planted rubber on. Then they asked me to take 200,000 kyats an acre in compensation for it, so I got 1 million kyat [about $1,000]. I couldn't complain, but I was not satisfied with the money and I am still thinking of my paddy field. "Of course, I want my land back, because that land is all I had. This wish has lingered in my mind until now. I raised my children on paddy I grew on that land,'' she said. Kyin Oo of Shwe Yaung Pya village tract said: ''We are like stupid people. We are uneducated. So they [business people and local authorities] can do anything to us. They threatened that we could lose our land and get nothing if we didn't accept the compensation. So we couldn't do anything except take it.'' Other villagers expressed similar sentiments. Some complained that the gradual expansion of the plantation, which is surrounded by barbed wire, was cutting into land they use for grazing animals and collecting firewood, making their lives increasingly difficult. Saw Min Thein, a KNU district officer at nearby Dawzangyi village, said he lacked detailed knowledge of the Shwe Yaung Pya case, but added that land disputes were a growing problem in the wider area due to a lack of clear land policy. Villagers were often afraid, and felt unable to complain when private businesses arrived and declared they had government backing for land claims, he said. Human rights groups have alleged in general terms that in remote areas, local KNU officials have sometimes been susceptible to pressure or bribes from business interests over land, to the detriment of villagers' rights. Open for Talks Thaung Han said that if a sizeable number of villagers wished to raise concerns, the company was willing to give the matter consideration. "But it would be difficult for the company to do something if a few people come and knock on the door for additional compensation every now and then," he added. Kyin Oo, a resident of Zee Won village, smokes a cheroot while talking to The Irrawaddy. (Photo: Saw Yan Naing / The Irrawaddy) The chief operating officer expressed concern that ''agendas'' might have been at work as the recent compensation claims surfaced in the run-up to the annual update of the US Treasury Department's Burma sanctions list, which was announced last week. "Our chairman wants to be removed from the sanctions [list]. Some people are aware of that. So it's a very good opportunity for them to make a new claim,'' he said in an interview at the company offices earlier this month. "And if, for the benefit of local people, he [Zaw Zaw] might be willing to open negotiations about returning compensated land and adopting a business model similar to small-holder farms, it's also convenient for some people to exploit that situation,'' said Thaung Han. Zaw Zaw was placed on the US blacklist in 2009. A leaked US diplomatic cable two years earlier described him as an ''up and coming crony'' who ''actively seeks favor with the senior generals" who ruled the country at the time. 'Trying to Be a Role Model' Disputes arising from past land appropriations for commercial agriculture as well as other projects including industrial zones, special economic zones, hotel zones, pipelines and ports look set to present the new government with one of its thorniest problems in the years to come. Maung Win, a former farmer who claims he was dispossessed of his land to make way for the rubber plantation, walks out of his home in Zee Won village. (Photo: Saw Yan Naing / The Irrawaddy) It is due to set up a commission to investigate thousands of complaints, many involving land appropriated by the military, government ministries and private firms, according to Ba Myo Thein of the Upper House's Farmers' Affairs Committee. At least 80 new complaints have been received since the new government took office, he said. "Information about land-grabbing under the former military regime is growing, along with people's awareness of the problem and willingness to speak out about it,'' said Vicky Bowman of the Myanmar Center for Responsible Business. Companies will continue to be exposed to legal action and community protests until national land policy is improved, she said. It was significant that Max Myanmar had negotiated and settled with landowners in Chaung Tha, she said, adding that to her knowledge it was the "only one'' to have done this. Meanwhile, in brief comments earlier this month, Max Myanmar's chairman, Zaw Zaw, struck a conciliatory note on the dispute at the rubber plantation that he said still hasn't become profitable. "We will try our best to be transparent and responsible to the villagers,'' he said. "We care very much about transparent and responsible business, as we are now trying to be trusted by the international community and the public. We are trying hard to be a role model." The post At a Southern Plantation, Laments for Lost Land appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Doctor Wins ‘Citizen of Burma’ Award Posted: 24 May 2016 01:55 AM PDT Dr. Than Min Htut is the 2016 Citizen of Burma Award winner. (Photo: Than Min Htut / Facebook) RANGOON — Dr. Than Min Htut, a medical doctor who provides health care and promotes reproductive health access in villages in rural Shan State, has been announced as the recipient of the 2016 Citizen of Burma Award. The award, given by members of the Burmese diaspora, has been bestowed since 2010 to those deemed to have done exceptional work for the good of Burmese society. This year, additional awards were given to a political science educator, a musical group and an educational storytelling group. In addition to using his background as a medical doctor to treat patients in need, Than Min Htut also has been working on building schools, digging wells and setting up homes for senior citizens. "I am happy to receive this award, but I feel like more work needs to be done," he told The Irrawaddy. The US-based Citizen of Burma Award organization also honored Khin Ma Ma Myo, the founder of the Myanmar Institute of Peace and Security Studies and the director of the Women, Peace and Security Initiative. Khin Ma Ma Myo, a Japan- and UK-educated academic, participated in the Union Peace Conference in January representing women's issues, and she is an expert on government institutions, politics and gender issues. Another awardee, The Storyteller Group, was founded by a group of young people who go to schools, orphanages and community centers to tell educational and entertaining stories. The final award recipient was Pan Ye Lan, which means "Flower Lane" in Burmese. A musical group, Pan Ye Lan busks around the country to collect donations for the poor and drum up support for National League for Democracy (NLD) campaigns. A formal award ceremony will be held on Saturday in Rangoon. The Citizen of Burma Award recipient will receive US$10,000, and the three additional awardees will be given $1,000 each. The post Doctor Wins 'Citizen of Burma' Award appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Ten Things to Do in Rangoon This Week (May 23) Posted: 24 May 2016 12:43 AM PDT The Irrawaddy picks 10 interesting events happening in Rangoon this week. Literature Translation Festival & Book Fair Now in its second edition, this translation festival aims to encourage the development of literary translation in Burma. Featured are seminars, translation workshops, a book fair and the display of old translated books. The festival was organized by the Burmese chapter of PEN International, a worldwide association of writers, which promotes freedom of expression and the role of literature in global society. Where: Taw Win Garden Hotel & Taw Win Garden Center, No. 45, Pyay Road When: Tuesday, May 24 to Sunday, May 29 Dance Autarcie (…) Dance Performance Rangoon's French Institute (Institut Francais) is hosting an original performance of break dancing—with an experimental twist—as part of its French May festival of dance and circus performances. Autarcie (…) is a "game of strategy" in which the breakdancing genres of "popping" and "waacking" meld to form an "abstract vocabulary," according to the organizers. Tickets are 5,000 kyats (3,000 kyats for under-16s). Where: National Theater, Ywar Ma Kyaung Street, Dagon Tsp. (Tel: 01 536900) When: Tuesday, May 27 (starts 7 pm) Commerce Korea Expo An exposition of South Korean commercial products staged annually by the Myanmar Korean Association. The event aims to publicize the "world-class competitiveness" of Korea's products and brands. Where: Tatmadaw Hall, U Wisara Road When: Thursday, May 26 to Sunday, May 29 Music Yangon EDM Festival An evening line-up of Electronic Dance Music (EDM) featuring DJ Wine, DJ Lu Lu, DJ Mickey, DJ Naung Naung, DJ Dynamite, Kendrick, Terror Bass and hip-hop musicians Hlwan Paing, Ar-T, Yair Yint Aung, Shwe Htoo, X-Box, Lil' Z and Bobby Soxer. Tickets are 8,000 kyats and can be bought at City Mart, Orange and call centers 1876 and 1212 (hotline: 09425557666, 018619029). Where: Kandawgyi Myaw Sin Island, Nat Mauk Street, Mingalar Taung Nyunt Tsp. When: Saturday, May 28 (starts 6 pm) Art The Art of Survival Exhibition Kachin Children Overcoming Conflicts And Displacement Through The Arts: An exhibition of 100 paintings and wood cuts by ethnic Kachin children in Burma and China who have experienced displacement from armed conflict and land confiscation. The works stem from a project by anthropologist Kaw Seng—born in Yunnan province, China, into a Jinghpaw family (as the Kachin people in China are known)—who from 2014 taught art in camps on both sides of the border, encouraging them to creatively express their feelings. Where: Goethe Villa – No. 8, Koh Min Koh Chin Road, Bahan Tsp. (Next to the Golden Butterfly Hotel) (Tel: 01 230 6142) When: Tuesday, May 24 to Monday, May 30 (daily, 10:00—6.00 pm) True Image Exhibition                                                                         Eighty works from 12 different artists will be on display in this exhibition at Lokanat Gallery. Prices are between US$50 and $1,500 (57,000 kyats  to 1,761,000 kyats). Where: Lokanat Galleries, 62 Pansodan Street, 1st Floor, Kyauktada Tsp. (Tel. 095-1382-269) When: Wednesday, May 25 to Tuesday, May 31 New Treasure Second Group Art Show 2016 An exhibition featuring hundreds of art works in different mediums. Prices range between $100 and $3,000 (117,000 kyats to 3,521,000 kyats). Where: New Treasure Art Gallery, No. 84/A, Thanlwin Street, Golden Hill Avenue, Bahan Tsp. (Tel: 01 526776, 503712) When: From Saturday, May 28 till August end 3 Rivers Exhibition Thirty watercolor works by three different artists. Prices are between 300,000 and 1,000,000 kyats. Where: Gallery 65, No. 65, Yaw Min Gyi Road, Dagon Tsp               When: Saturday, May 28 to Tuesday, May 31 Talks Seminar: How Music Helps Create a More Sustainable and Inclusive Society for All In this seminar, a series of speakers will discuss positive contributions music can make to society at large. The organizers argue that music can play a role in reaching some of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, by helping promote a culture of peace, inclusion and global citizenship, and fostering innovative job opportunities and quality education for all. Where: Monument Books & Toys,No. 150, Dhammazedi Road, Bahan Tsp. When: Saturday, May 28 (10:30 am to 12:30 pm) Nostalgia Back Down Memory Lane, 1990s Exhibition Clothes, games and cartoons popular in the 1990s will be displayed in this exhibit. Eighty percent of profits will be donated to monastery schools. For tickets, call 09-420703987, 09-252959449 or 09795271984. Where: Kandawgyi Myaw Sin Island, Nat Mauk Street, Mingalar Taung Nyunt Tsp. When: Sunday, May 29 (starts 4 pm)   The post Ten Things to Do in Rangoon This Week (May 23) appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

India Drought Hurts Women, Low-Caste Dalits More Posted: 23 May 2016 11:45 PM PDT People are caught in a dust storm in New Delhi, India, on May 23, 2016. (Photo: Reuters) MUMBAI — India's worst drought in decades is hurting women and lower-caste Dalits disproportionately, with impacts ranging from malnutrition to early marriage to prostitution, activists say. The government estimates the drought has affected more than 330 million people—almost a quarter of India's population—across 13 of the country's 29 states. "Women are the most vulnerable during drought because it is their duty to fetch water and provide food for the family," said Varsha Deshpande, a lawyer and women's rights activist in Maharashtra state, one of the worst hit by the drought. "She is the first to wake up, she walks the farthest to fetch water, she eats last—and probably the least, and she sleeps last. This takes a toll on her health, her menstrual cycle, and affects her reproductive cycle," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. As crops wither and livestock perish, tens of thousands of people are migrating in search of food, water and jobs, leaving behind women, children and older family members who are vulnerable to human traffickers. Girls are being pulled from school to help fetch water or to take care of younger siblings while the mother gets water. Men are abandoning their families to search for jobs, and some men are marrying multiple times just so there is someone who can fetch water. Polygamy is illegal in India, and these "water wives"—or paaniwaali bai in the local language— have few rights. "Abuses against women increase during drought—women forced to become prostitutes, men demanding more dowry to compensate for lower farm incomes, and more dowry deaths if the women cannot conceive because they are malnourished," said Deshpande. "We are also seeing an increase in child marriage, as parents try to ensure the safety of girls. And a big increase in child labor because they need the extra money," she said. Marginal Spaces Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to declare the drought a national emergency, saying that the lives of more than 160 million children are at stake. India's top court recently criticized authorities for delays in responding to the drought, saying that some states had an "ostrich-like attitude" toward the calamity. State Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has urged banks to lend to small farmers, and asked state officials to step up relief measures to ensure no one is left out. However, relief measures are not reaching some of the most marginalized people in the country: landless low-caste Dalits. Dalits are more vulnerable to disasters because of their marginal social standing and discrimination. They also tend to live in settlements segregated from mainstream society, according to National Dalit Watch. "Most Dalits are sharecroppers whose names are not in the records of the landowners, so they miss out on government relief," said Rajesh Singh of National Dalit Watch. The lobby group has tracked discrimination against low-caste villagers after disasters since the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, and including the December floods in Chennai. "They are neglected by default and by design, as they are not counted in the census and they are denied coping mechanisms such as government jobs and subsidized rations by high-caste villagers and local officials," Singh said. The post India Drought Hurts Women, Low-Caste Dalits More appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

18 Girls Killed in Fire at School Dorm in Northern Thailand Posted: 23 May 2016 11:02 PM PDT Forensic experts inspect a burnt building at the Pitakkiat Wittaya School in the northern province of Chiang Rai, Thailand, on May 23, 2016. (Photo: Reuters) BANGKOK — A nighttime fire at a dormitory of a primary school in northern Thailand killed 18 girls, many of whom had been roused by a dorm-mate but went back to sleep, thinking it was a prank, officials and the girl who sounded the alarm said Monday. The victims were between 5 and 12 years old. Five girls were injured in the Sunday night fire. Many survived by rappelling down from a second-floor window using sheets tied together to form a rope. The two-story wooden structure that caught fire housed 38 girls, most of them belonging to the area's ethnic minorities. Fifteen girls escaped without injuries. The cause of the fire was not immediately known. Some of the students were still not asleep when the fire broke out and were able to raise the alarm, said Rewat Wassana, manager of the Pithakkaiat Witthaya School, to which the dorm is attached. The kindergarten and primary school in Wiang Pa Pao district, just outside the city of Chiang Rai, has about 400 day students and boarders. It is about 500 miles north of Bangkok. Rewat said the fire broke out in the dorm's lower level, which is used for activities. The upper level housed the sleeping quarters. It is one of the two dorms on the 20-acre school grounds. The other dorm, which is located nearby and is for boys, was untouched, Rewat said. "We have a teacher who sleeps with the girls in the dorm. She tried to help the students escape," Rewat told reporters at a news conference broadcast on local television. An 11-year-old girl identified only as Suchada said at the same news conference that she had gotten up to go to the bathroom when she noticed the fire downstairs, and ran to tell her friends in various rooms. But some of them didn't believe her and closed the door on her to go back to sleep, she said. "We remembered some lessons from Girl Scouts to tie cloth together to make a long rope and we climbed out of the window," the fifth-grade student said. "The teacher helped us. While the teacher was climbing down, the rope tore and she hurt her leg and waist." A police official told The Associated Press by phone that besides the 18 dead, another five girls were injured, including two in serious condition. He said two of the bodies were so badly burned they were unidentifiable. The official did not wish to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Firefighters took three hours to extinguish the fire, and pulled survivors and bodies from the second-story window of the wooden building. The post 18 Girls Killed in Fire at School Dorm in Northern Thailand appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

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