The Irrawaddy Magazine |
- Police Investigate 5 Facebook Accounts for Falsely Reporting Academy Raid
- AA Says 2 Members Killed, At Least 4 Wounded in Latest Round of Fighting
- US Senators Urge Rakhine Communities to Coexist
- Nationalist Monk Sentenced to 1 Month in Prison Over 2016 US Embassy Protest
- Health Ministry Investigates Student Death Possible Tied to Vaccine
- FACT CHECK: AP Report Badly Distorts Aung San Suu Kyi’s Comments
- Myanmar Army Chief Travels to China
- China Supports Cambodia’s Crackdown on Political Opposition
- ‘Profound Sympathy with the Oppressed Urges Me to Write’
- Ten Things to Do in Yangon This Week
- ‘Poetry is Me. It’s Inside Me. So, as Long as I exist, Poetry Will Exist.’
| Police Investigate 5 Facebook Accounts for Falsely Reporting Academy Raid Posted: 21 Nov 2017 04:55 AM PST YANGON — Police are investigating five Facebook accounts allegedly used to spread false reports that authorities had raided a well-known Buddhist academy and discovered firearms at the site. Police named the accounts as Rohingya Hajee Ismail, Faisal Thar Thakhin, Burma Muslims, Aung Kyaw Oo and Myanmar News page. Police earlier said the five Facebook pages had been used to post fabricated reports on Oct. 23 claiming that weapons and ammunition had been discovered at Sitagu International Buddhist Academy's Yangon campus in North Dagon Township. The false reports also claimed the academy's leading monks had been detained for questioning, and urged the public to report suspicious monasteries. The reports were widely shared, with many users quick to dismiss them as fake. The academy—respected in Myanmar and abroad as a hub for Theravada Buddhism—reported the stories to North Dagon Township Police Station, complaining they were defamatory and damaged the image of the academy. North Dagon Township Police Station chief Than Zaw Min told The Irrawaddy that police were investigating with assistance from the Criminal Investigation Department, but declined to give further information. The accounts have remained active. Most have several thousand friends, including some known Rohingya rights activists based in Myanmar and Thailand. "We will announce any arrests," Than Zaw Min added. The accounts are being investigated for possible violations of Article 66(d) of Myanmar's Telecommunications Law. The Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture said the reports were spread with the intention "to incite racial and religious conflict in the country". The post Police Investigate 5 Facebook Accounts for Falsely Reporting Academy Raid appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| AA Says 2 Members Killed, At Least 4 Wounded in Latest Round of Fighting Posted: 21 Nov 2017 04:49 AM PST Two Arakan Army members have been killed and at least four wounded in three weeks of clashes with the Myanmar Army in Paletwa and Buthidaung townships, the armed ethnic group said. The fighting has forced at least 600 local people to flee, as the Myanmar Army, or Tatmadaw, has used helicopters and artillery to conduct operations in villages and mountains in the area. Khine Thu Kha, a spokesperson for AA based in India, told The Irrawaddy that fighting continued today in Buthidaung Township near the border with Bangladesh. Two AA members had been killed since fighting broke out on Nov. 1, he said. One of the fatalities occurred in Paletwa, in Chin State, and the other in Rakhine State's Buthidaung Township on the border with Bangladesh, he said. The Tatmadaw has sustained heavy casualties in the fighting. Yesterday its Infantry Battalion 542 based in Kyaukphyu Township, Rakhine State, used two helicopters to attack AA positions, Khine Thu Kha said. On Nov. 19, the AA complained that the Myanmar Army's use of helicopters against it was illegal, but President's Office director U Zaw Htay told The Irrawaddy that the Tatmadaw had the right to use air power under the military-drafted 2008 Constitution. Furthermore, the Tatmadaw was not required to seek authorization from the President's Office to use air power, he added. In a statement issued today, the AA claimed to have killed at least six Myanmar Army troops on Nov. 20 and seized ammunition and military equipment. The Defense Ministry made no mention of any such clash involving the Myanmar Army, however. The Myanmar Army suffered heavy casualties in fighting near the border with Arakan on Nov. 8, as reported by the AA. The Tatmadaw vowed a thorough response to the AA attack after the Ministry of Defense reported that one civilian had been killed and another wounded in the Nov. 8 attack. That report did not state how many troops were killed, however. AA troops are based in Laiza, at the headquarters of the Kachin Independence Army. However, since 2014 they have been operating in the border area at Paletwa. The AA has continued to operate out of parts of Arakan near Bangladesh despite the Myanmar Army's efforts to oust it from these areas. "As an army we have the support of our people. It should not be surprising that we are returning to our land. The question is why the Myanmar Army remained on our land when our people don't support them," Khine Thu Kha said. The post AA Says 2 Members Killed, At Least 4 Wounded in Latest Round of Fighting appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| US Senators Urge Rakhine Communities to Coexist Posted: 21 Nov 2017 04:42 AM PST YANGON – Rakhine civil society and state cabinet members told The Irrawaddy that visiting US delegates asked about the local perspective on the repatriation of Rohingya Muslim refugees who fled to neighboring Bangladesh following Myanmar Army security clearance operations in August. According to UN estimates, more than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have sought refuge in Bangladesh since the end of August. The US delegates visited Bangladesh prior to Myanmar. During their meeting with Rakhine cabinet members, the delegates encouraged state cabinet members to break the ice between Muslim and Rakhine communities by setting up informal meetings in which participants could discuss views and initiate trade and technical support for monitoring projects," said Minister U Kyaw Lwin. "They [the delegates] have expressed that they are not interfering in the internal affairs of Myanmar and that the purpose of visit was to observe the reality on the ground," said Minister Kyaw Lwin. The senators and officials also conducted an hour-long meeting with Rakhine civil society organizations (CSOs) in Sittwe on the same day. Rakhine Ethnic Congress (REC) secretary Zaw Zaw Tun who attended the meeting on Monday told The Irrawaddy that the discussion focused on the humanitarian crisis. The US officials and legislators asked the opinion of CSO representatives regarding refugee repatriation. The Rakhine CSOs said they had heard the reasons for the massive numbers of refugees was fear of future trouble in Maungdaw, difficulty receiving food supplies, the ability to receive international aid more easily in Bangladesh, and the opportunity to reach a third country under refugee status. Zaw Zaw Tun said the delegates encouraged stakeholders to sympathize and accept repatriation, but that they understood there would be numerous challenges. He added that locals fear future attacks by Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army insurgents. The senators also met with Arakan National Party (ANP) leaders in Sittwe. The US delegation highlighted the need to uphold human rights, as Myanmar is now a democracy. The post US Senators Urge Rakhine Communities to Coexist appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Nationalist Monk Sentenced to 1 Month in Prison Over 2016 US Embassy Protest Posted: 21 Nov 2017 04:34 AM PST MANDALAY – A court in Yangon's Kamayut Township on Tuesday sentenced nationalist monk U Parmaukkha to one month in prison for violating the Peaceful Assembly Act last year. U Parmaukkha, the former abbot of Magwe Kyaung Dike Monastery, was arrested last week and charged with violating the Peaceful Assembly Act for staging an unauthorized protest in front of the US Embassy in Yangon in 2016. "Sayadaw [U Parmaukkha] told the court that while he feels no guilt for protesting in front of the embassy, he accepted the court's decision," said U Sithu Myint, a disciple of the monk. In August last year, authorities granted permission to a nationalist group to hold a protest at the Bo Sein Hman ground, but they rallied in front of the embassy instead. Four nationalists were arrested a few weeks after the protest and sentenced to seven-month prison terms by the same court. Arrest warrants for U Parmaukkha and two other monks were issued over the same incident. U Parmaukkha was arrested last week and brought before the court on Monday. U Parmaukkha is scheduled to be charged on a related violation on Nov. 28. If convicted, he faces a further jail term of between six months and two years. The monk came to prominence as a supporter of pro-democracy activists under the military regime. Since 2013, however, he has increasingly been identified with nationalist groups, including the former Ma Ba Tha. The post Nationalist Monk Sentenced to 1 Month in Prison Over 2016 US Embassy Protest appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Health Ministry Investigates Student Death Possible Tied to Vaccine Posted: 21 Nov 2017 03:53 AM PST YANGON — Myanmar's Ministry of Health and Sports is investigating the death of a 13-year-old female student who died after being vaccinated against Japanese encephalitis. "We are still investigating. As we vaccinated so many people at the same time, it might have been a coincidence. We have continued immunizing and there have been no adverse events so far. We will announce when we find out the cause of her death," said deputy director-general of Public Health Department Dr. Than Tun Aung. The 13-year-old eighth grader from Shan State's Pinlaung died after receiving a Japanese encephalitis vaccine at her school last week, raising concerns over its safety. Following her death, the ministry released a statement on Nov. 18, saying that two other children also had serious conditions after immunization, but recovered after first aid treatment. Funded by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the nationwide vaccination campaign against Japanese encephalitis was launched on Nov. 15, targeting 14 million children aged between nine months and 15 years old. Until Nov. 17, more than 5 million children were immunized against Japanese encephalitis, and some 5,000 children reported having a fever and headache after vaccination, according to the Public Health Department. A 7-year-old child in Irrawaddy's Thabaung also died three days after getting vaccinated, but his death was due to other health problems, said Dr. Htar Htar Lin, deputy director of the vaccination project. According to the Ministry of Health and Sports, 393 cases of Japanese encephalitis were recorded last year and the number of cases was 306 through the end of October this year. Thirty percent of the infected persons died, and most of those who survived suffer from permanent paralysis and brain damage. The mortality rate for Japanese encephalitis varies—the average is 20 to 30 percent—but it is generally much higher in children, according to the WHO. The Japanese encephalitis virus is maintained in a cycle involving mosquitoes and vertebrate hosts, mainly pigs and birds. Humans can be infected when bitten by an infected mosquito. Initial symptoms of Japanese encephalitis often include fever, headache, and vomiting. Mental status changes, neurologic symptoms, weakness, and movement disorders might develop within two weeks after infection. Twenty-four countries in Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific regions have Japanese encephalitis transmission risk, according to the WHO. Currently, the health ministry immunizes babies against several common diseases including polio, measles, and Japanese encephalitis. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko. The post Health Ministry Investigates Student Death Possible Tied to Vaccine appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| FACT CHECK: AP Report Badly Distorts Aung San Suu Kyi’s Comments Posted: 21 Nov 2017 03:37 AM PST YANGON — The Associated Press on Monday misquoted and seriously misrepresented comments made by State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in her speech to the ASEM Foreign Ministers Meeting in Naypyitaw. The misleading report immediately drew the ire of the Myanmar Press Council, which condemned the news agency's "purposeful 'misinterpretation' with an ulterior motive to hurt her image, and that of Myanmar." In her opening remarks to the meeting, the State Counselor said that the world "has never been free from crises arising from multiple causes." "Conflicts around the world are giving rise to new threats and emergencies; illegal migration, spread of terrorism and violent extremism, social disharmony and even the threat of nuclear war," she said, according to both an official transcript of the speech made available to the media on the same day, and a live broadcast of the event on Myanmar Radio and Television's Facebook page.  But in its report on the speech, AP's paraphrasing of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's comments badly distorts the meaning of her actual words. Summarizing the State Counselor's comments in the story's lead paragraph, the AP reported her as telling the meeting that "……the world is facing instability and conflict in part because illegal immigration spreads terrorism, as her country faces accusations of violently pushing out hundreds of thousands of unwanted Rohingya Muslims." Departing drastically from the original meaning, the report suggests the State Counselor was blaming illegal immigrants for the spread of terrorism. This is quite at odds with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's actual comment that "Conflicts around the world are giving rise to new threats and emergencies; illegal migration, spread of terrorism and violent extremism…."  In a direct quote in the fourth paragraph, the wire story misquotes the State Counselor as citing "Illegal immigration's spread of terrorism and violent extremism, social disharmony and even the threat of nuclear war." To set the record straight, here is an explanation: Daw Aung San Suu Kyi didn't blame "illegal immigration" for the "spread of terrorism" in her speech. "Illegal immigration" and "spread of terrorism and violent extremism" are mentioned as discrete problems, not linked by cause and effect. Even listening to the speech, there are audible pauses between the two phrases. This is even clearer in the written transcript, in which "illegal immigration, spread of terrorism and violent extremism, social disharmony" are explicitly separated by commas. U Aung Hla Tun, vice chairman of the Myanmar Press Council, told The Irrawaddy that the AP's account is clearly at odds with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's actual words. "It must be a purposeful 'misinterpretation' with an ulterior motive to hurt her image, and that of our country among the international country," said the seasoned journalist who worked for Reuters for more than two decades. AP's account of the speech rapidly went viral, being picked up by more than 20 international media outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post and Time, all of whom republished the story. It was widely shared on social media as well.  Mark Farmaner of Burma Campaign UK tweeted that "Aung San Suu Kyi echoing some dodgy people by equating illegal immigration and terrorism to try to deflect criticism over human rights violations," re-tweeting the following post from the Syrian Presidency's Twitter account: "President al-Assad: Terrorism will not stop here, it will export itself through illegal immigration into Europe." U Aung Hla Tun said the AP should have stuck to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's original speech, as this is a fundamental tenet of professional ethics for journalists. "AP must correct it as soon as possible and make a public apology to her and our country too," the council vice chairman said. The story ran uncorrected until late afternoon on Tuesday Myanmar time and the AP did not respond to requests for comment. U Aung Hla Tun said this was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to biased reporting by international media about sensitive issues like the Rohingya in Myanmar. He accused the international media of sensationalizing and misinterpreting the issue. "There're many other international media outlets that have been tarnishing our image by deliberately publishing unethical reports." Discussing the international media coverage of the Rakhine issue, Bertil Lintner, a longtime observer of Myanmar, told The Irrawaddy weeks ago that Aung San Suu Kyi-bashing had become the name of the game in the international media these days. As an example, he cited a New York Times op-ed in which Nicholas Kristof claimed that "Aung San Suu Kyi, a beloved Nobel Peace Prize winner, is presiding over an ethnic cleansing in which villages are burned, women raped and children butchered." The Swedish journalist said: "This kind of misrepresentation of the situation, and ignorance of realities on the ground, is very damaging to any attempt to widen the civilian space in Burma's current military-dominated power structure." In September, Al Jazeera, Channel News Asia and Reuters also published inaccurate information and misleading pictures on the Rohingya issue. Only CNA corrected its reporting. The post FACT CHECK: AP Report Badly Distorts Aung San Suu Kyi's Comments appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Myanmar Army Chief Travels to China Posted: 21 Nov 2017 01:05 AM PST YANGON — Myanmar Commander-in-Chief Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaing left Naypyitaw for China on Tuesday, at the invitation of Gen Li Zuocheng, chief of the joint staff department of the central military commission. He plans to meet with senior officials from the People's Liberation Army (PLA) while visiting China's military training institutions, said a report issued by the office of the Commander-in-Chief on Tuesday. The delegation led by the army chief includes senior military officials from the office of the armed forces. On Sunday, Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi who was in Naypyitaw for an Asia-Europe Meeting for foreign ministers. The Chinese minister also met with President U Htin Kyaw and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi separately on the same day. During the meetings, Wang Yi suggested a three-stage path for Myanmar and Bangladesh to work out the Rohingya crisis—ensuring a ceasefire and restoring stability, talks between the two countries to create a workable solution for repatriation, and poverty alleviation as a sustainable solution. In the past three months, more than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh after the Myanmar military began clearance operations following an insurgent attack on 30 security posts and an army base in Rakhine State on Aug. 25. But the Myanmar government has denied those figures. According to Xinhua Myanmar's report, Wang Yi said during the meeting with the commander-in-chief that China prioritizes Myanmar in its foreign policy and that the Myanmar military plays a crucial role in China-Myanmar ties. Myanmar's commander-in-chief said he supported China's three-stage path for resolving the Rohingya crisis, Xinhua Myanmar reported. Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing expressed his gratitude to China for "its stance on and support for Myanmar" regarding the conflict in Rakhine, the office of the commander-in-chief said in the statement. The Office of the Commander-in-Chief did not state how long the visit would be. The armed forces chief has visited China twice; in November 2016 and in 2013. The post Myanmar Army Chief Travels to China appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| China Supports Cambodia’s Crackdown on Political Opposition Posted: 20 Nov 2017 08:35 PM PST BEIJING — China supports Cambodia's efforts to protect political stability and believes it will smoothly hold elections next year, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Cambodian counterpart, after the country's main opposition party was dissolved. The Supreme Court banned the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) last week at the request of Prime Minister Hun Sen's government in a move that prompted the United States to cut election funding and threaten more punitive steps. The European Union has also threatened action. The CNRP was banned after its leader, Kem Sokha, was arrested for alleged treason. The government says he sought to take power with American help. He rejects that allegation as politically motivated, to allow Hun Sen to extend his more than three decades in power in next year’s general election. The United States has said that Cambodia’s 2018 election "will not be legitimate, free or fair." Meeting on Monday on the sides of an Asia-Europe foreign ministers meeting in Myanmar, Wang told his Cambodian counterpart Prak Sokhon that China supported the government’s actions. "China supports the Cambodian side's efforts to protect political stability and achieve economic development, and believes the Cambodian government can lead the people to deal with domestic and foreign challenges, and will smoothly hold elections next year," China's Foreign Ministry said in a Tuesday statement. China has repeatedly expressed its support for Cambodia, making no criticism of the government led by Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge commander, who is one of Beijing's most important allies in Southeast Asia after more than three decades in power. The post China Supports Cambodia's Crackdown on Political Opposition appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| ‘Profound Sympathy with the Oppressed Urges Me to Write’ Posted: 20 Nov 2017 08:27 PM PST Maung Pyiyt Minn (b. 1953) lives in a middle-class house in a Yangon suburb. His living room is stacked high with boxes of pharmaceutical supplies from the small business he runs. In his garage, the bumper sticker on his car reads "Proud to be a poet." When did you start writing poems? I have been writing poems since high school. When I started out, we wrote in a style called 'four syllables.' We composed segments made up of four syllables each. We'd then submit to magazines. The magazines would pick the 'safe' ones that would pass censorship. The magazines took poetry seriously and didn't neglect young writers. These old-time editors were very respectable people who knew literature. If they selected your work, it meant your work was good. What do you do for a living? I've had a lot of different jobs. I've been a fruit vendor, merchant, taxi driver, a black market dealer, a traditional medicine pharmacist. I've dealt with so many kinds of people. They affect your poems. The way people talk and behave affects your work. They may not be necessarily inspirational. But they give you raw material. You have said that "poetry is the noblest profession" – why? You cannot make a living by writing poetry in Burma. Impossible. We write poems out of sheer love, without any material expectation. According to Eastern philosophy, if you devote yourself to something out of love alone, without any other expectations, your mind will be serene, free of jealousy or greed. Our mind becomes pure in this way, without sin. Therefore, a Burmese poet's mind is like a saint's mind when he is writing poetry. That is why I think poetry is the noblest profession. How do you get your inspiration? Our country is a strange one. When we were starting out as poets, people were under repressive dictatorship. We felt what are bad habits, what is unfair, what is bullying. So we sympathized with the oppressed. And we developed a habit to take the point of view of the oppressed when we wrote. As I became older, I became even more aware that injustice and oppression are everywhere in the world. With this newfound knowledge, even if I am not getting any inspiration, that profound sympathy with the oppressed urges me to write. On creativity? In any art form, as the artist becomes more mature and more knowledgeable, his creative power becomes stronger. You always start out by imitating others. Later, you try to outdo others by thinking of better words and expressions. That is how your creative power becomes stronger. How about craftsmanship? When I write, I want to put voices, colors, and views that are not used by others. In attempting that, I may end up using some expressions, dictions, tones that have not been seen by others. In Burmese poems, diction is the key. The poet must decide where the sentence will end, where the sentence will pause, etc. You must devise a system in which you decide with which word the sentence should end or make a transition to another sentence. The stronger your creative power is, the better you will get at this. Your editing technique? When we were young, we just wanted to send our poems to a magazine right away. Later you realize that yours will be compared to the others. That's when I paid more attention to editing. I no longer wanted to rush it. It's like a cat catching a mouse. Instead of getting done with it straight away, it has fun by tossing the mouse around, pouncing on it again and again. For poets, that process is a joyous process. We have fun by switching around words, adding or subtracting here and there. To get a good poem, editing is vital. Do you have any foreign influences in your poetry? When we moved from traditional rhyming poetry to a modern style that did not require rhyme, our bible was Pine Shadow, a thick anthology of poetry, with poetry by Shelly, Goethe and others. It was compiled and translated by our famous translator Maung Tha Noe. It included not just translated poems, but also analyses of them and biographies of the poets as well. For us who were fed up with four-syllable rhymes, which was the orthodoxy of Burmese poetry at the time, that fat book became our bible. You had to live through censorship under the dictatorship. And now? Dictators were not our elected leaders. There was so much unhappiness. It showed in our poetry. The readers, too, feel these things. Even if my poem is not that good, if they find the discontented voice, people will like it because it reflects their feelings. So a poet just had to express these feelings and his poems would already be half-successful among the people. Now, in this liberalized time, many of these poets don't know what, and how, to write. They will need time to adjust to the changing sentiment. Even younger generation poets now write totally differently from what we write. I think we will get something really new very soon in our poetry. Can you tell us about the censorship? To avoid the censor, we had to write obliquely. You developed skills to write things that would outsmart and outwit the censor. The censor was so paranoid that they would even ban the words 'mother' and 'red'. What did 'mother' and 'red' mean? The censors generally assumed these words stood for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Similarly, expressions like "dark, gloomy sky" and "nebulous course/path" were not allowed. At first, you merely had to cover the censored lines with ink. Later, they demanded that all the censored materials must not be on the page at all, covered or not. So the magazines had to rip out the offending pages. If a reader found a missing page, they would automatically realize what had happened. That made the poets even more skillful. How does this time of transition affect the poet? You must write what you feel is right. We may not have to write obliquely. But you write the way you feel. Even without political motivation, a good poem will be a good poem. A beautiful poem describing the rain has no political motivation. It's about rain and it's just simply beautiful. If a poem reaches inside people's minds and resonates with them, with or without politics, it's a successful and good poem. Authors’ Note: These interviews are excerpted from Burma Storybook, a poetry and photography book inspired by the documentary film of the same name, produced by Corinne van Egeraat and directed by Petr Lom. The English language hardcover edition of the book is for sale at Hla Day, Innwa Bookstore, Myanmar Book Center and the Strand Hotel. A Burmese language-only paperback edition of the book is for sale through Yangon Book Plaza. There will be a Free Open Air Screening of the Burma Storybook documentary film (82 min.) in Mahabandoola Park in Yangon on November 25 at 6 p.m. From Nov. 25 to Dec. 4, you can visit the interactive Burma Storybook Photo Exhibit at the Tourism Burma Building. For more information: www.burmastorybook.com The post 'Profound Sympathy with the Oppressed Urges Me to Write' appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Ten Things to Do in Yangon This Week Posted: 20 Nov 2017 08:00 PM PST
Women in Business and Leadership Development Conference | Nov. 25 This is an opportunity to listen to leading women and men share their stories, life skills and business expertise. Nov. 25, 9 am to 6 pm. Rose Garden Hotel, Upper Pansodan Street. Tickets at shop.com.mm for 15,000 kyats, which includes lunch, tea, coffee and refreshments throughout the day. Melody World Grand Final | Nov. 25 The Melody World singing contest 2017 finale. Nov. 25, 7 pm. The One Entertainment Park, Paw San Hmwe Street, Thingangyun Tsp. Free Admission. Free Talks on the Role of HR | Nov. 26 Professor Dr. Aung Tun Thet and other HR practitioners will give talks on the role of HR managers in employee relations. Nov. 26, 1:30 pm to 5:30 pm. UMFCCI Building, Min Ye Kyaw Zwa Road. 31st Japanese Culture Festival | Nov. 25-26 This event will feature Japanese cultural exhibits, dances, Karate demonstrations, piano performances and more. No. 25-26, 10 am to 6 pm. Meliá Yangon Hotel, Kaba Aye Pagoda Road. Free Admission.
FAB #60 – Club Night for Lesbians, Gays and Friends | Nov. 25 The event features Lip Sync battles for the LGBT community and friends. Nov. 25, 10 pm till late. Muse Bar, No.330, Yangon International Hotel, Ahlone Road, Dagon Tsp. Automobile Show | Nov. 25-26 This is the Myanmar's biggest auto show for car enthusiasts, potential buyers and businesses. Nov. 25-26. Thuwunnabhumi Event Park, Thanthumar Road. Free Admission.
Ghetto Superstars Night | Nov. 24 Ghetto Pillz and friends and DJ Zaw Gyi perform. Nov. 24, 8:30 pm till late. Club Pyrite, No. 37, Kaba Aye Pagoda Road near Inya Lake Hotel. Ticket 5,000 kyats at 09-595156769.
Renaissance of Myanmar Art Centenary Celebration | Nov. 22 to Dec. 4 This art exhibition will showcase creations by artists from across Myanmar. Nov. 22 to Dec. 4, Myanmar Artist and Artisan Association, Bogyoke Market. IWS Myanmar | Nov. 25 to Dec. 2 The second annual exhibition of International Watercolor Society will showcase hundreds of watercolor paintings by local and international artists. Nov. 25 to Dec.2. New Treasure Art Gallery, No. 84/A, Thanlwin Street, Golden Hill Avenue, Bahan Tsp. Myanmar 2050 | Nov. 25 to Dec. 3 This is a group art exhibition of 35 artists foreseeing Myanmar in 2050. Nov. 25 to Dec. 3. River Gallery, 37th Street, Kyauktada Tsp. The post Ten Things to Do in Yangon This Week appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| ‘Poetry is Me. It’s Inside Me. So, as Long as I exist, Poetry Will Exist.’ Posted: 20 Nov 2017 07:09 PM PST Mae Yway (b. 1991) grew up in Myeik, a coastal city on the Andaman Sea, in Myanmar's far south. Myeik is a sleepy fishing town, dominated by an enormous reclining Buddha in the bay that curves around the town. Mae Yway's family migrated to Yangon when she was nine years old: I had culture shock when I moved to Yangon. We were laughed at for how we spoke and our Myeik accent. I didn't dare talk to people except for two or three friends. I didn't dare speak in public: a feeling I have to this day. I'm afraid and shake all over when I recite my poetry in public. Mae Yway started writing poetry as a teenager: When I read a poem in a magazine, I wanted to write one on my own. I didn't know you needed to study how to write a poem. I just wrote down my emotions. But you can't just write something down. You need to create it. Poetry has to be composed, so it will be beautiful, artistic. Not just poetry. You know, cooking is also an art. When cooking and combining ingredients, this is also creation. It's also art. Creativity is essential. You should study every part of it. How does an onion taste if you add it to another ingredient? So, when you create a poem, you have to know other poems. Art, however, was not valued by the military dictatorship. At school, we were taught art is something useless, what losers do: if you are inclined to art, you will starve. That was the message to young students. I wanted to write poetry, but none of my friends were interested in poetry. We studied poems at school, but no one respected poetry. The military government also made young people indifferent to politics. Most of my friends, and most young people of our time, are still not interested in politics at all. Now with the new democratic government, the word 'politics' has become popular, heard everywhere. Now some care about politics, some don't. It's a chaotic time. Myanmar's political landscape is changing, but the country remains a deeply conservative society. Mae Yway wears her resistance to it on her skin – covered in tattoos, which are highly unusual for a woman in Myanmar. It's what I wanted to do very much since childhood – I liked tattoos since I was four or five years old. But I only had the courage to start tattooing in my twenties. Most people look badly on those who have tattoos. They look at me and think: what kind of girl am I? But I don't care about those who stare. Some people think I got my tattoos – and do other things – like drinking and smoking – to show I can do whatever men are allowed to do. But I don't have gender differentiation in mind. I do it because I want to and like it. I will tattoo my entire body. She seeks a similar freedom from gender roles in her relationships: I'm neither lesbian nor straight: I'm human. I will have a relationship with whoever is okay with me, whether man or woman. Right now, I prefer girls. They are better at relationships. People around me say it's disgusting that I hang out with girls, telling me not to reverse nature. I ask them: what is nature? There is no nature. It is nonsense that men must like women because they are men; and women must like men because they are women. These are only man-made issues. You have the right to choose. If you are just following what others do, your life has no meaning. You have your own life, your own existence. You have to go with your own thinking. If not, go back to the military government. Myanmar's democratic transition has also been accompanied by an opening to the global market: it now has the fastest growing economy in the world. Mae Yway joined this economic wave, working as an airline customer service agent for the last two years. I had a lot of responsibility, work pressure, taking care of passengers. When I came home, work was still in my head, dissatisfaction and anger too. During those two years, I couldn't read and write. I became depressed. The only thing I could save during those two years was money. And blank paper. No poems. No thinking. I can't make a living from writing poetry. But I want to live with poetry, and improve my skills in writing. With no time and energy for poetry, it was worth it to give up my job. So I quit. I will find something else. When I ask her about the place of poetry in her life, she replies: Poetry is not the most important thing. But it's congruent with me. If I can't write poetry I will be depressed and lose hope to live. Poetry is me. It's inside me. So, as long as I exist, poetry will exist. If there is no me, there is no poetry. Authors’ Note: These interviews are excerpted from Burma Storybook, a poetry and photography book inspired by the documentary film of the same name, produced by Corinne van Egeraat and directed by Petr Lom. The English language hardcover edition of the book is for sale at Hla Day, Innwa Bookstore, Myanmar Book Center and the Strand Hotel. A Burmese language-only paperback edition of the book is for sale through Yangon Book Plaza. There will be a Free Open Air Screening of the Burma Storybook documentary film (82 min.) in Mahabandoola Park in Yangon on November 25 at 6 p.m. From Nov. 25 to Dec. 4, you can visit the interactive Burma Storybook Photo Exhibit at the Tourism Burma Building. For more information: www.burmastorybook.com The post 'Poetry is Me. It's Inside Me. So, as Long as I exist, Poetry Will Exist.' appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
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