The Irrawaddy Magazine |
- Govt Investigates Taungthaman Lake Project, Following Locals’ Complaints
- American Business Lobby to Host Exclusive Dinner with Aung San Suu Kyi
- Ten Things to Do in Rangoon This Week
- ALD Members Give Nod to Part With ANP
- US Training of Burma’s Military Could Help Democratization: David Steinberg
| Govt Investigates Taungthaman Lake Project, Following Locals’ Complaints Posted: 12 Sep 2016 06:57 PM PDT  Aerial view of Taungthaman Thitsar resort and culture park project, located on the east bank of Taungthaman lake, Amarapura Township, Mandalay seen in early September 2016. (Photo: Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy) MANDALAY – The divisional government launched an investigation into a resort and culture park under construction on the eastern bank of the famous Thaungthaman Lake outside the city of Mandalay, after local residents complained about the impact of the project. Some of the initial construction near the famous U Bein Bridge has been suspended after staff from a number of ministries visited the site last Thursday. They gave notice to halt construction after concerns were raised that it could damage the local culture and environment. Representatives from the Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry, the Department of Archaeology under the Ministry of Culture, and Mandalay's Department of Municipal Affairs all visited the site. "The archaeological department has instructed them to suspend their operations near U Bein Bridge and to repair the area," said U Myo Thit, divisional minister of environmental conservation and forestry. According to a spokesperson for construction company Taungthaman Thitsar, the project is approximately halfway finished clearing the area and piling soil for foundations. The process will take at least one year to be completed. The investigation comes after residents of Amarapura Township appealed to the divisional government regarding the impact of the project. Locals blamed the development for abnormal flood levels during the early August monsoon, and complained that the construction has cut off access between villages, the lake, and nearby waterways. Locals said it took around one month for water throughout the surrounding area to recede after flooding, although the level of the lake itself went down after just two days. "This is abnormal and it only happened after the project began building up the eastern bank. Normally, any flooding recedes along with the water level of the lake. We've suffered a lot to clean out our village," said U Chit Thin, an elder of Thaungthaman village. Locals complain that although road conditions have been improved, they have been constructed on raised soil, and the extra sediment in turn blocks waterways. They say that the culture park has blocked access to the lake and other adjoining waterways. Farmers were hoping to grow crops on fields recently drained by government schemes after decades under water. In the past, Taungthaman Lake naturally experienced seasonal shifts in water levels. It filled up with water during monsoons and drained in the winter and summer. Locals worked as fishermen during the monsoon season and grew corn, pulses and vegetables during the winter. The area is known for its beauty, including the world's oldest and longest teakwood bridge, U Bein Bridge. "We are watching closely and will appeal to the government to review the project, though we understand that it is good for regional development," said U Kan Myint, 62, an elder in Taungthaman village. "We are not against the development, but we also want the authorities and the responsible persons to think about locals as well." Taungthaman Thitsar said they are committed to the needs of locals living around Thaungthaman Lake. "In every aspect of the project, we are taking care to make sure not to affect the environment, the region's historical value, or the livelihood of the locals. The local flooding was due to heavy rain and rising water levels, not because of our project," said Khin Maung Tun, spokesperson of Taungthaman Thitsar company. "The locals can tell us openly any disagreements that they have and we are ready to listen to them," he added. The spokesperson said the culture park intends to revive and promote Burmese culture and history. The park will be public and will host traditional seasonal events. "There are plans to employ the locals who have traditional handicraft skills. We believe our project will not only develop the region but also the lives of the locals," Khin Maung Tun said. The post Govt Investigates Taungthaman Lake Project, Following Locals' Complaints appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| American Business Lobby to Host Exclusive Dinner with Aung San Suu Kyi Posted: 12 Sep 2016 06:49 PM PDT  Dinner Diplomacy: On Thursday, a roundtable, reception and dinner will be held in honor of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi at Washington DC's Four Season Hotel. Above, President Barack Obama leaves his seat to come to the end of the head table to greet Daw Aung San Suu Kyi at the Asean Summit gala dinner in Vientiane, Laos on September 7. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — When the US government relaxed sanctions on Burma's state-run companies and banks but stopped short of lifting all sanctions in May this year, the US Chamber of Commerce was not pleased. The American business lobby called for the US to "normalize" relations fully and introduce preferable trade terms to encourage export-led industries in Burma. Now the US Chamber of Commerce is pressing harder—not with the US government this time, but with Burma's State Counselor and Foreign Minister Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. In collaboration with the US-Asean Business Council, the US Chamber of Commerce is hosting a roundtable discussion, reception and dinner with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi at the Four Seasons Hotel on Thursday during her visit to Washington DC this week. The invitation describes the dinner as a "unique opportunity" to learn about Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's priorities in government, the current state of US-Burma economic relations, and "how the US business community can best support Burma's development." The invitation pins participation to sponsorship packages—variously costing US$7,500, $15,000 and $25,000—in which individuals or corporate entities gain an exclusive, "off the record" opportunity to engage the State Counselor and her entourage. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will be in Washington DC on Wednesday and Thursday this week to meet with US President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, members of the US Congress and business leaders. After the idea was floated by US officials at the beginning of the month, Barack Obama is anticipated to announce a further easing of US sanctions on Burma, although human rights groups have objected to further sanctions relief, and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is believed to be in favor of keeping targeted sanctions to maintain pressure on the military. The US sanctions that remain largely target military-run enterprises, or businessmen with close links with Burma's former military junta. A ban on importing Burmese jade and gemstones into the US also remains in place, as well as a ban on arms sales to Burma. In their recent report—"Myanmar's New Dawn: Opportunities for Aung San Suu Kyi and US-Myanmar Relations"—the Washington DC-based Center for Strategic and International Studies recommended that the US ease economic sanctions further. "The US government should set realistic benchmarks that would make it possible for businesspersons who have reformed their business and social practices to graduate from the SDN list," it says, referring to the list of over a hundred Specially Designated Nationals that US individuals and companies are still barred from doing business with, but who control a large chunk of Burma's economy. The post American Business Lobby to Host Exclusive Dinner with Aung San Suu Kyi appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Ten Things to Do in Rangoon This Week Posted: 12 Sep 2016 06:39 PM PDT
The first international tourism fair in Burma will be held at the Sedona Hotel, where dozens of tour companies will sell outbound package tours at special prices. Where: Sedona Hotel, Kabar Aye Pagoda Road When: Saturday September 17 and Sunday September 18 (9.00 pm – 5.00 pm)
The European film festival will be held at the Nay Pyi Taw Cinema and the Yangon Gallery. Screenings will be twice daily, at 3.30 pm and 6.30 pm, and tickets will be available at the Nay Pyi Taw Cinema up to 15 minutes prior to a screening, on a first-come-first-served basis. Movies for children will be screened at the Yangon Gallery on September 24-25 at 2.30 pm and 6.30 pm respectively. Where: Naypyidaw Cinema & Yangon Gallery at People's Square When: Friday September 16 to Tuesday September 27
A fashion show to mark the 60th anniversary of bilateral relations between Philippines and Burma will be held at the downtown Sule Shangri-La Hotel. The proceeds will be donated to the Yangon Children's Hospital. Where: Sule Shangri-La Hotel, Sule Pagoda Road When: Saturday September 17 (7:00 pm-9:00 pm)
Pascal Khoo Thwe (born 1967) is a Burmese author from the Padaung, or Kayan, ethnic minority, who is known for his autobiographic writings about growing up in Burma under military rule. His book "From the Land of Green Ghosts: A Burmese Odyssey" was awarded the Kiriyama Prize. Pascal will read an excerpt from his book, talk about his life growing up in Burma, fighting on the Thai border and his education at Cambridge University, at the British Embassy Club. There will be a chance for questions at the end. Where: British Embassy Club, between Alan Pya Pagoda Road and Gyo Phyu Road, Dagon Tsp. Tel: 01-246 643 When: Thursday September (7:00 pm – 10:00 pm)
Organized by Smart Resources WWE to help students after matriculation (ICGSE/IELTS) choose the right subjects and schools in a desired country. The workshop is free but registration is required and can be made at 09-5438848. Where: Sar J. Poe – No.39, Room 8, Nawaday Street, Dagon Tsp When: Wednesday September 14 (2:00 pm – 5:00 pm)
The group photo exhibition will feature 30 photographic prints from 20 photographers. The exhibition runs until Oct. 15 and is open to the public Tuesday-Sunday. Where: Myanmar Dietta, 3rd Floor, No. 49, 44th Street (lower block) When: Saturday September 17 to Saturday October 15
Artist Lu Maw will stage his first solo at Lokanat Gallery, exhibiting a total of 33 paintings, priced between 150,000 kyats (US$122) and 500,000 kyats ($408). Where: Lokanat Galleries, 62 Pansodan St, 1st Floor, Kyauktada Tsp. Tel. 095-1382-269 When: Wednesday September 14 to Sunday September 18
A group exhibition of eight contemporary artists will be held at the Yangon Gallery, with over 20 works on show Where: Yangon Gallery, People's Square. When: Friday September 16 to Tuesday September 20
A wedding and fashion fair will be held at Tatmadaw Hall, where wedding planners, photo studios, designers and silk cloth shops will present new trends in wedding and modern women's fashion. Where: Tatmadaw Hall, U Wisara Road When: Friday September 16 to Monday September 19
An online poetry fair, the first of its kind in Burma, will held on September 16-19. There will be around 400 poetry books on sale at WE Distribution; those interested should message in their choices and detail their phone numbers and addresses, for delivery. Where: online When: Friday September 16 to Monday September 19 The post Ten Things to Do in Rangoon This Week appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| ALD Members Give Nod to Part With ANP Posted: 12 Sep 2016 06:23 PM PDT  The conference in Thandwe Township, Arakan State, in 2014, when it was decided that the ALD and RNDP would merge to form the ANP. (Photo: ANP / Facebook) RANGOON – Former members of the Arakan League for Democracy (ALD) spoke out at a meeting in Rangoon in support of splitting from the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party (RNDP), two years after the two parties merged to form the Arakan National Party (ANP). Myo Kyaw, once a top leader within the ALD, told The Irrawaddy on Monday that 35 central executive committee members of the ANP convened a meeting at Rangoon's Orchid Hotel, over the weekend. At the meeting, nearly all of the participants supported the move to leave the ANP. However, final approval will be sought in October, when the members decide whether to re-form as a new party or integrate with the less popular Arakan Patriot Party (APP). "Mostly, they encouraged us to form a party because we Arakanese have been named as extremists in both international and local communities," said Myo Kyaw. "[The ANP's] protests harm the image of the Arakanese and our national dignity. We completely dislike that," he added. Most recently the ANP called for demonstrations against former UN chief Kofi Annan's delegation to Arakan State as part of an advisory commission put together by State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to explore solutions to ethnoreligious violence and tension in the region; the protesters, and members of the ANP, said that members of the international community should stay out of Arakan State's "internal issues." The ALD was arguably at its political peak in 1990, when they swept the majority seats in the regional parliament in the general election that same year, but, like other parties—including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD)—winning members of parliament were prevented from taking their place in government by the Burma Army. Citing flaws in the 2008 Constitution, many well-known political parties boycotted Burma's 2010 general election, including the ALD. The RNDP—formed by Arakanese nationalist Aye Maung—was born from within the political dilemma and, in turn, participated in the 2010 election, winning 35 out of 44 seats it contested at the regional and Union levels. In October 2014, the RNDP and ALD convened a meeting in Arakan State's Thandwe Township to form the ANP, in order to avoid vote-splitting in the 2015 election. This, they said, would serve as the most logical way to to compete with the popular NLD. Yet the decision was not without dissent: some ALD members left the Thandwe conference and formed the APP, leaving the new ANP dominated by members of the RNDP. The integrated ANP went on to secure 45 of the 77 seats in the constituencies it contested. It was not, however, able to secure the appointment of the state's chief minister, which went to an NLD member, the party which won the election nationally. Resentment began to build when the NLD nominated former ALD members within the ANP for regional ministerial posts, and Aye Thar Aung—the former ALD chair—as deputy speaker of the Upper House of Parliament. The RNDP-dominated ANP responded by expelling six former ALD members from the party, saying that they were acting against the organization's interests. In January 2016, Aye Thar Aung—also a member of the ANP central committee—told The Irrawaddy that his future with the ANP at the time appeared "uncertain." Tun Aung Kyaw, a former RNDP leader now serving as ANP's secretary, told The Irrawaddy that founding a new party is the right of the former ALD members that the ANP could do nothing about it, but speculated that the Arakanese community would be "unhappy" with the move. Khaing Kaung San, the founder of Wunlark Development Foundation, which works in Arakan State, said he forewarned that this kind of division could happen within the ANP. "Our people don't want the separation of the ANP," he said. The post ALD Members Give Nod to Part With ANP appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| US Training of Burma’s Military Could Help Democratization: David Steinberg Posted: 12 Sep 2016 05:04 PM PDT  David Steinberg gives a talk at the Myanmar Peace Center in Rangoon in October 2013. (Photo: Kyaw Phyo Tha / The Irrawaddy) The Irrawaddy speaks with veteran Burma scholar David Steinberg about burgeoning US-Burma relations, an anticipated easing of US sanctions, and the prospect of military-to-military engagement between the two countries. Some say that policy changes by the United States towards Myanmar in recent years were the result of an expanding Chinese role in the country and the region. What do you think? I think the Obama engagement with Myanmar did not start because of China. The junta sent signals that they were interested in change and the Obama administration recognized that the previous [Clinton–Bush] administrations' policy of regime change through sanctions had essentially failed. So there was a mutuality of interests, but the Obama administration was constrained from going too far by the Congress. So high-level contacts were started but the sanctions remained, essentially because of US internal political considerations. I think China figured into the picture only later… but the US recognized that Myanmar must continue to have good relations with China. Certainly China was worried about too great a role for the US in Myanmar, but I do not think this will happen, and I think that Myanmar will have a balanced foreign policy with China, the US, the European Union, India, Japan, and of course Asean. Myanmar needs good relations with China to solve the ethnic issues in the north, but China needs Myanmar for investments, markets, access to the Indian Ocean, etc. The whole concept of the "pivot" or "rebalancing" of the US in East Asia is nothing new, and came two years after improvements in Myanmar relations. I have been lecturing and writing for years that the US policy in that region has been a constant for about 150 years: to prevent the rise of any hegemonic power in the region, e.g. the open-door policy in China in the 19th century, the Washington Naval Treaty with Japan in the early 1920s, World War II in the Pacific, the Korean and Vietnam wars, the US foreign aid program, etc. I think the US does not want any one power—China at the moment—to dominate the region. There is disagreement over the appropriateness of improved US-Myanmar military relations. What is your view? I would like to see better US relations with the Myanmar military and the reintroduction of the International Military Education & Training (IMET) program for non-lethal training. I think that arms sales should not resume at this time. But training is important and I believe it is wanted by the Myanmar military. Some human rights groups say that it should not resume until true democracy is in evidence. But democracy is a goal that has never completely been achieved (even in the US); and training should be a means to help the process of democratization along. The Myanmar military must feel comfortable in both its internal political and external relations. What is the likelihood of any new US administration changing its policies? I hope any new US administration will continue its positive engagement with Myanmar. One of the few positive elements of the Obama administration's East Asia policy has been relations with Myanmar. Hillary Clinton would continue that. Myanmar is not (yet) on Donald Trump's agenda, but he would have little to gain by changing US policy and engagement. The present US ambassador is a seasoned, careful, and thoughtful representative of the US who is well aware of the dangers of an inappropriate attempt to be domineering. Will Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's US trip result in the removal of remaining sanctions? Sanctions could be removed if she said they were no longer appropriate. Some are congressionally mandated and others imposed by the executive branch. But it seems she wants them as potential leverage against the military, should they stop the reform process. I think it would be wiser to try to reassure the military that the broad goals of the state are mutually shared. The National League for Democracy and the Tatmadaw [Burmese military] need to collaborate to be effective. Mutual trust, including among the ethnic groups, is essential, and is presently lacking. I have never believed that it is appropriate for US foreign policy toward any country to be effectively determined by a person in that country, whether that person is the British prime minister, the president of any state, or in the case of Myanmar—a Burmese. Yet Aung San Suu Kyi effectively determined US policy toward Myanmar until well into President Obama's first term. She still, I believe, exerts a strong influence but no longer plays the only dominant role. But if she told the Congress that sanctions were an impediment both to development and to better governance, they would likely go along. There are cronies and others still on the US sanctions list. Should they remain on it? There is a lot of talk about cronies. The term, in my memory, came about through Philippine President Marcos' buddies, who were ineffective as well as venal. I am sure there are "cronies" in Myanmar and plenty of illegal activities that benefited a few with access to power. But let us remember that President Park Chung Hee's "cronies" in South Korea in the military government period of the 1960s-1970s were the guys who founded Hyundai, Daewoo, LG, etc. I am sure they were given extra-legal opportunities. I am not justifying their past roles, but simply trying to say that the pejorative term "cronies" should be carefully used. In both cases a free press was lacking and civil society censored. That situation no longer applies to Myanmar. I think US firms would partner with the cronies of Myanmar with danger, because public opinion both here and there would complain. That is what a free press is all about. The Myanmar legal system has to come to terms with these people, and it would be a test of the independence of the judiciary (so obviously lacking for more than half a century) to begin to deal with these issues. In other words, the media and civil society in Myanmar have essential roles to play to ensure that justice is done. Foreign intervention in the highly nationalistic environment of Myanmar is both dangerous and likely to be ineffective, and denigrates the capacity of the people of Myanmar to address their own problems. It denies the dignity that the people of Myanmar deserve. David I. Steinberg is Distinguished Professor of Asian Studies Emeritus, Georgetown University. His latest book as editor is "Myanmar: The Dynamics of an Evolving Polity." The post US Training of Burma's Military Could Help Democratization: David Steinberg appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
The Irrawaddy picks 10 interesting events happening in Rangoon this week.
Myanmar International Travel Mart
European Film Festival
Passion for Myanmar Fashion Show 
Reading, talk and Q&A with Pascal Khoo Thwe
Free workshop: Life after Matriculation & the Options
Featured Collectives 
Motion & Emotion 
The Details
Wedding Fair 
Online poetry fair | You are subscribed to email updates from The Irrawaddy. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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