Wednesday, January 17, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Pa-O Group Picks New Chairman, Promises Continuity

Posted: 17 Jan 2018 04:16 AM PST

CHIANG MAI, Thailand — The Pa-O National Liberation Organization (PNLO) elected a new chairman during its second conference last week in a remote area in Shan State's Mawkmai Township.

Colonel Khun Thu Rein was elected to replace Khun Myint Tu, who was elected vice chairman.

The PNLO and its armed wing, the Pa-O National Liberation Army, agreed to both a bilateral ceasefire and the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) with the previous government.

The PNLO conference convened for four days, from Jan. 11 to 14, at the organization's headquarters in Mawkmai and was joined by more than 220 participants. They included monks and civil society representatives from Shan, Karen and Mon states and Bago Region. The ethnic minority Pa-O live scattered across the country's east and southeast regions.

Despite the latest leadership change, a PNLO secretary said, the organization would not be changing its delegates to NCA implementation bodies including the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee and the Joint Ceasefire Monitoring Committee. It will also keep in place its current delegate to the Peace Process Steering Team, made up of the eight ethnic armed groups that have signed the NCA.

"The PNLO will continue following the NCA path," said Khun Tun Tin, the organization's first joint general secretary.

At a meeting in Thailand last week, the steering team agreed that the third session of the 21st Century Panglong Union Peace Conference should be postponed until the signatories were able to carry out the mandated national-level political dialogues. Myanmar's military, or Tatmadaw, recently obstructed public consultations taking place prior to national-level dialogues in Shan, claiming the consultations were not allowed under the terms of the NCA.

The PNLO's representative on the steering team did not join its meeting in Thailand because he was attending the PNLO conference.

The Tatmadaw is reluctant to allow the NCA signatories to hold public consultations in other states and regions as well. It has not allowed consultations in Rakhine State citing security concerns. The Karen National Union had to postpone its consultations, too, while the All Burma Students' Democratic Front cancelled its own public consultation in Irrawaddy Region on Saturday and temporarily in Bago on Friday under military pressure.

Khun Tin Tun said the PNLO's conference also included discussion of the organization's activities and policies, amendments to its Constitution, and the national-level dialogues.

Regard to the current difficulties with the dialogues, the secretary said: "We hope the [steering team] can sort out those problems and move the peace process forward."

The post Pa-O Group Picks New Chairman, Promises Continuity appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

The Evolution of Yangon’s New Bus Service

Posted: 17 Jan 2018 04:08 AM PST

The Yangon Bus Service (YBS) marked its first-year anniversary on Tuesday facing the same hopes and apprehensions as at its birth. But the Yangon government seems committed to making it a success, vowing during Tuesday's celebrations to "make it happen." Here are some of The Irrawaddy's previous stories on the bus service to help readers understand how the YBS became what it is today.

Yangon Transport Authority Declares YBS a 'Success' on Its 1st Birthday

Authority says plans for this year include launch of cashless payment system

 

Hopes and Troubles Mark YBS' First Anniversary

Despite optimism, unlicensed buses and illegal drivers raise fears for public safety.

 

The Yangon Bus Service in Numbers

Check a snapshot of the Yangon Bus Service’s operations based on the latest available data, from December in infographics.

 

Acer, Excel Myanmar to Bring Cashless Fares to Yangon Bus System

A joint venture between the Burmese and Taiwanese firms was selected to fit the commercial capital's public transit system with a card payment platform.

Despite High Operating Costs, CEO of Yangon's New Bus System Remains Optimistic

With bumpy start behind it, transit system chief focuses on boosting fleet size, reaching breakeven in 4-5 years

 

Commuters wait for buses near Sule Pagoda in downtown Yangon on Jan. 19, 2017.

Rangoon Bus Rollout Gets Mixed Reviews

For residents of Rangoon, this week was full of excitement, dissatisfaction, and frustration as the city embraced a new bus network.

 

Rangoon Regional Minister Reveals Ambassador's Role in Bus Purchases from China

The planning and finance minister says the purchase of 1,000 new buses for US$56 million was arranged with the help of the Chinese ambassador.

 

Rangoon Launches New Bus System

Early problems including long waits and overcrowding blamed on a lack of vehicles on first day of operation.

 

Can Rangoon's Traffic Woes be Solved?

Through an improved bus network and a new computerized traffic control system, the government hopes to cut congestion by 40 percent.

 

Volunteers Jump on Board Regional Govt Launch of New Rangoon Bus System

Hundreds of volunteers are signing up to work with philanthropic groups, the student union, and lawmakers to ease the transition to a new bus service.

 

New Bus Service for Rangoon Commuters to Launch Next Week 

Eight companies to operate 59 bus lines under a new bus service to tackle badly maintained buses, dangerous driving, and unprofessional staff.

The post The Evolution of Yangon's New Bus Service appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Locals Upset Over IFC Meeting Regarding Salween Hydropower Project

Posted: 17 Jan 2018 03:03 AM PST

MANDALAY — Action for Shan State Rivers (ASSR) said on Monday that locals were saddened by the meeting of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) concerning the controversial hydropower projects on the Salween River in Shan State.

"Despite disagreements, the IFC held a stakeholder discussion in Taunggyi on Monday, without representatives of impacted locals or local civil society organizations (CSOs) present," said Sai Khur Hseng, an ASSR spokesperson.

The ASSR said the discussion was part of a series of meetings to finalize a countrywide strategic environmental assessment (SEA) for hydropower development projects on the Salween River, including Naung Pha dam, which alarms the locals.

The Naung Pha dam, located between Lashio and Hopong townships, is similar to other planned hydropower dams in the region, an armed conflict zone.

"Locals, including us, and many other local CSOs, have been against the hydropower projects and the dam building on the Salween River for many years. We were angered and saddened by the ignorance of responsible organizations like the IFC," said Sai Khur Hseng.

Six large hydropower dams are planned to be built along the river in Shan, Karenni and Karen states, which would collectively generate 10,000 megawatts of electricity. Most of the electricity produced from these hydropower dams will be exported to neighboring countries, mainly China.

"Since these projects will not benefit the local communities, we do not want them. For developing our region, there are many things to do other than building hydropower dams and selling the powers to other countries," he added.

The locals have been against hydropower development on Salween River for many years, urging for transparency, and concern for natural disasters, as well as environmental and social impacts. Since the dams and hydropower plants projects are located within armed conflict zones, another concern is stability and peace in the region.

"The IFC should have called off its assessment as soon as possible, for it is just for the benefit of the Naypyitaw government and hydropower corporations, against the wishes of local communities," said Sai Khur Hseng.

"In addition, we want full transparency on these projects. And also, we would like to tell them to think about the armed conflicts and peace in the region," he added.

Earlier this month, the Myanmar Alliance for Transparency and Accountability (MATA) issued a statement and called for transparency regarding the building of hydropower dams on the Salween River and in the Irrawaddy's Myitsone hydropower projects.

The MATA statement suggested the government develop solar and bio-fuel power instead of planning hydropower and coal power projects, which could impact the environment and social stability in the respective regions.

The post Locals Upset Over IFC Meeting Regarding Salween Hydropower Project appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Defense Ministry Asks For Budget Increase

Posted: 17 Jan 2018 01:02 AM PST

NAYPYITAW — The Defense Ministry on Tuesday asked for a budget of more than 1.3 trillion kyats (US$1 billion) for a six-month period—an amount higher than the combined total of the health and education budgets—as Parliament discussed the budget for a transitional period ahead of the 2018-19 fiscal year, which will start on Oct. 1.

The defense ministry's proposed budget includes more than 2 billion kyats for military operations.

Lawmakers of the National League for Democracy (NLD) said that the budget requested by the Ministry of Defense made up 12.56 percent of the total budget proposal, while the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health and Sports asked for 7.56 percent and 3.93 percent respectively, adding up to only 11.46 percent of the total budget.

"During the term of the previous government, student activists demanded that the education budget be increased to 20 percent of the national budget. It seemed as though the education budget increased under the current government, but in reality, it didn't because the budget was for two ministries – the Education Ministry and the Ministry of Science and Technology," he explained, as the NLD government had incorporated the Ministry of Science and Technology into the education ministry.

The budget proposed by the Health and Sports Ministry was only 400 billion kyats for a six months period, and that amount is not sufficient to spend both on the health and sports sectors, he added.

Deputy Minister for Defense Maj-Gen Myint Nwe told Parliament that the Defense Ministry is expected to earn 31.761 billion kyats in normal revenue; its capital expenditure is expected to be 611.087 billion kyats; its normal expenditure, 723.107 billion kyats; and total expenditure is, therefore, 1.33 trillion kyats for the six-month transitional period.

He told Parliament, "The money is used to implement plans to strengthen the structure of soldiers, weapons, equipment for perpetuity of sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Union."

Lower House lawmaker U Tun Tun of Pwintbyu Township, who was on the budget scrutinizing committee, said that the defense budget is rarely cut, but when the Defense Ministry asked for an additional budgetary top-up for the 2017-18 fiscal year, the committee cut around 280 million kyats because government agencies are restricted by law from obtaining an extra budget of more than 10 percent of their main budget.

"The defense budget has never been trimmed. However, we will check whether the army asked for its budget in accordance with financial rules and regulations. If we find that the budget was increased unnecessarily, we will scrutinize and cut it," he said.

To compare the defense budgets for normal expenditures, the Defense Ministry asked for 609.627 billion kyats for the first half of 2016-17 FY, 827.149 billion kyats for the first half of 2017-18 FY, and 723.107 billion kyats for the six-month period in 2018.

And to compare the defense budgets for capital expenditures, it asked for 168.498 billion kyats for the first half of 2016-17 FY, 622.440 billion kyats for the first half of 2017-18 FY, and 618.017 billion kyats for the six-month period.

Translated from Burmese by Myint Win Thein.

The post Defense Ministry Asks For Budget Increase appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Audit Finds Unlawful Spending by States, Regions Under Prior Govt

Posted: 17 Jan 2018 12:54 AM PST

NAYPYITAW — The Auditor-General's Office says it has found unlawful expenditures of the development funds of the country's regions and states after reviewing the use of those funds under the previous U Thein Sein administration.

The office sent the results of its audit to the President's Office late last year, Auditor-General U Maw Than told reporters in Naypyitaw on Tuesday.

"We are just responsible for reporting what we have found, and it is up to the President's Office whether or not to take action," he said.

The Auditor-General's Office examined the development funds of all regions and states and of the Naypyitaw Union Territory. It found that missing funds were modest, except in Magwe and Irrawaddy regions, as well as violations of procedures and regulations.

"The way some regional governments spent the funds didn't comply with procedures and regulations. For example, there were miscalculations in spending, and some spent without drawing up budgets," said U Maw Than.

He added that the President's Office had yet to issue any instruction in response to the report.

U Maw Than declined to disclose the detailed financial accounts of the regional governments.

The Auditor-General's Office was assigned by the President's Office in June to examine the financial accounts of the previous government following revelations of embezzlement of regional development funds by the former Magwe Region chief minister U Phone Maw Shwe.

U Khin Maung Win, chairman of the Lower House Judicial and Legal Affairs Committee, suggested that the Auditor-General's Office be more open with the public about the missing funds, citing the example of U Phone Maw Shwe, who returned some of the misappropriated money after the investigation.

He also cited the example of the Mandalay Region government, which revoked permits for more than 100 plots of land that were dubiously granted or leased by the previous regional government during the transfer of power in 2016.

"Those cases show that misappropriation exists. In any case, action should be taken against those who are responsible," he said.

The President's Office has previously said it would not take action against the former Magwe chief minister in order to stick to its policy of 'no retrospection.'

The officials who ran the Irrawaddy Region government under the previous administration had to explain their spending of regional development funds in May after allegations that they embezzled up to 7 billion kyats ($5.2 million at current exchange rates). The region's former ministers claimed that they donated large portions of the fund to a regional development foundation that they were heading.

"We are not finding fault with them. We just want to ensure proper public financial management and put them on the right track," said U Maw Than.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post Audit Finds Unlawful Spending by States, Regions Under Prior Govt appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

China Infrastructure Plan Can Help Asia’s Growing Cities: Expert

Posted: 16 Jan 2018 08:51 PM PST

KUALA LUMPUR — China's landmark "Belt and Road" scheme, which is ploughing billions of dollars into global infrastructure projects, could work hand-in-hand with efforts to help Asian cities meet the needs of their exploding populations, a regional resilience expert said.

Many Asia-Pacific cities, including the 23 that are part of the 100 Resilient Cities (100RC) network backed by The Rockefeller Foundation, have been held back by a deficit in infrastructure.

But that could change with China's new drive to invest, said Lauren Sorkin, regional director for Asia Pacific at 100RC.

"The proposed investments in port and rail infrastructure are staggering – what is done in connection with those investments is terribly important," she said, highlighting the need to consider issues beyond economic growth, such as the environment.

"We have to look at what are going to be the benefits to the communities and cities around them," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation, which partners with The Rockefeller Foundation on resilience coverage.

A failure by many Asia-Pacific cities to plan well and invest in the infrastructure required to keep pace with rapid urbanization has had a detrimental impact on millions of people, experts say.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) forecasts that the region needs to spend $1.7 trillion per year from now until 2030 to meet its infrastructure needs.

Beijing's so-called "Belt and Road" initiative aims to recreate the old "Silk Road" with massive infrastructure projects to connect China by land and sea to Southeast, South and Central Asia, and beyond to the Middle East, Europe and Africa.

Four Chinese cities are taking part in the 100RC initiative to bolster cities to deal with modern-day shocks and stresses: Deyang, Haiyan, Huangshi and Yiwu.

They have spent the past year selecting and training senior officials to fill the role of chief resilience officer.

Deyang is set to become the first 100RC member in China to publish its resilience strategy in May, coinciding with the tenth anniversary of a devastating earthquake that hit the city.

While there is still far to go to raise adequate finance for infrastructure in Asian cities, Sorkin said money was available for those in the 100RC group to "get the work done."

Sorkin, who previously worked at the ADB, said 100RC's Asia-Pacific members aimed to switch from planning to implementing their resilience strategies in 2018.

"This year is about action," she added in a telephone interview.

Since 100RC – backed by $164 million from The Rockefeller Foundation – was established in 2013, its member cities have set priorities to build their resilience in consultation with academics, urban planners, business leaders, civil society and government agencies.

Sorkin pinpointed mobility and water management as the top two issues facing Asian cities.

Bangkok and Jakarta, for example, struggle with regular flooding and traffic gridlock that can make even the shortest journeys last for hours.

"Changing the paradigm in terms of how our cities live and build with water – as they're also facing a changing climate – is the number one challenge," Sorkin said.

"Providing adequate transport in rapidly growing cities is the biggest challenge next to water," she added.

The post China Infrastructure Plan Can Help Asia's Growing Cities: Expert appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Philippine Province Declares ‘Calamity’ as Volcano Lava Spreads

Posted: 16 Jan 2018 08:41 PM PST

MANILA — A central Philippine province declared a state of calamity on Tuesday as a volcano spewed lava that reached the limits of a six-km radius no-go zone and spread ash on nearby farming villages.

Mount Mayon, a volcano in Albay province in the coconut-growing central Bicol region, has been erupting since Saturday and the number of people fleeing their homes had more than doubled on Tuesday to about 25,000, said Albay Governor Al Francis Bichara.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council gave a smaller estimate, saying there were close to 22,000 evacuees.

Placing the province under a state of calamity will give the province access to extra funds.

"This kind of eruption, it will take about weeks, so we have to sustain the operations in the evacuation centers," Bichara told ANC news channel.
"We need to use the calamity funds."

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said it had recorded nine more tremors, four of which accompanied lava fountains, as pressure leads to lava flows and ash plumes.

It reiterated that the activity signified a possible hazardous eruption within weeks or even days from the near perfectly cone-shaped volcano.

The provincial government has also expanded its suspension of school classes to more towns around the 2,462-metre (8,077-foot) volcano, about 340 km (210 miles) southeast of Manila.

Class suspensions have allowed the government to use schools as temporary shelters.

The post Philippine Province Declares 'Calamity' as Volcano Lava Spreads appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

9 People Reported Dead After Police Crackdown on Protest in Mrauk-U

Posted: 16 Jan 2018 07:33 PM PST

YANGON — A police crackdown on a protest in northern Rakhine State's ancient city of Mrauk-U on Tuesday night left at least nine people dead and 12 severely wounded by gunfire, according to a local lawmaker.

U Tun Thar Sein, who represents Mrauk-U (1) in the state Parliament, spoke with The Irrawaddy over the phone at 2:45 a.m. on Wednesday after returning home from Mrauk-U's general hospital. He said some of the 12 patients had been transferred to the state capital, Sittwe, about 141 km away.

"I saw that the victims were shot at least twice, mostly in the abdomen and legs", he said.

He said several thousand people were protesting on Tuesday evening against a decision by authorities to ban celebration of the 233rd anniversary of the end of the Arakan dynasty. Locals commemorate the event each year on Dec. 15 and 16 with traditional wrestling matches and talks on literature by activists and influential politicians.

The protestors who gathered on the roads were few in number at first, but their ranks swelled to a few thousand within hours. The crowd then marched to the district administration office at about 9:30 p.m., approximately 2 km northeast of downtown.

A high school teacher in Mrauk-U said many 11th grade students preparing to sit their matriculation exams in the next few months also joined the rally.

"The roads in Mrauk-U were taken over by the protesters within a few hours," he said.

U Tun Thar Sein, the lawmaker, said tensions between the protestors and police quickly escalated at about 10 p.m. Many of the protestors started hurling stones and bricks at the administration office. When some of them entered the office compound and started destroying police trucks, the police opened fire to quell the attack.

Though local authorities said the protestors confronted the police, U Tun Thar Sein said he did not see any police as patients at the hospital, only dead and wounded civilians.

"This mass killing would not have happened if they had used rubber bullets to crack down on the gathering," he said. "I think the protestors only gathered bricks and stones and did not have any other weapons."

The high school teacher said he did not participate in the protest but followed the rally in order to pull out his students. He said he heard a series of gunshots while heading toward the administration office and then saw thousands of people running back toward downtown.

"Police used real bullets, not rubber rounds. I saw a boy's abdomen hollowed out," the teacher said.

The teacher said he went to the Mrauk-U general hospital and saw nine people severely wounded. He recalled the accounts of his students, who told him they saw police firing at the crowd.

"My students recounted to me that they laid down on the ground when they saw the flying burning bullets. They were very lucky," he said.

The Irrawaddy called township police chief Major Kyaw Mya Win and administration official Bo Bo Myint Thein, but they declined to comment. A junior staff member of the district administration office said that "a protest group destabilized the situation" but refused to answer further questions.

Two military truckloads of armed soldiers arrived at the scene of the violence at about 11:30 p.m.

The post 9 People Reported Dead After Police Crackdown on Protest in Mrauk-U appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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Tuesday, January 16, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Myanmar Says Over 1,200 Refugees to Return from Bangladesh Next Week

Posted: 16 Jan 2018 06:20 AM PST

YANGON — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday announced that more than 1,200 refugees in Bangladesh are set to return to Myanmar next week, the first batch to be repatriated since a military crackdown in Rakhine State drove hundred of thousands of mostly Rohingya out of the country.

It announced the news in a statement at the end of a two-day meeting of a joint working group of government officials from both countries. The statement says Bangladesh will establish five transit camps along its border with Myanmar for the returnees.

The working group also signed off on "physical arrangements," referring to the transportation and shelter to be provided the refugees making the journey home.

It working group has reviewed and approved repatriation applications from 750 Rohingya and 508 Hindus. Authorities will transport the refugees across the border both by river and over land to a reception center in northern Maungdaw's Nga Khu Ya village.

The statement says Myanmar will set up its own transit camp in Hla Phoe Khaung village, also in northern Maungdaw, to receive returnees five days per week. Bangladesh has agreed to provide a list of returnees in advance to help Myanmar review their backgrounds.

Myanmar has also provided Bangladesh's border guard force with the names of more than 1,000 suspected members of the militant Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) and asked for their extradition in line with the 1980 Agreement on Border Arrangements and Cooperation. The working group officials also discussed the possibility of further ARSA attacks, which could undermine the repatriation process.

More than 650,000 Rohingya fled northern Rakhine in the wake of a sweeping counteroffensive Myanmar army's launched in response to ARSA's attack on police and military outposts in the area in late August.

The UN has called the military's response "a textbook example of ethnic cleansing" and repeatedly urged Myanmar's authorities to allow a fact-finding mission to visit the area. Myanmar's military has denied the allegation, and the government has refused to accept the mission. The government has also refused to let UN human rights envoy Yanghee Lee back into the country, claiming she was not impartial.

The post Myanmar Says Over 1,200 Refugees to Return from Bangladesh Next Week appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Yangon Transport Authority Declares YBS a ‘Success’ on Its 1st Birthday

Posted: 16 Jan 2018 05:38 AM PST

YANGON— Yangon transport officials declared the city's revamped a bus system a "success" on its first anniversary on Tuesday, downplaying what has generally been regarded as a bumpy start.

"The Yangon Bus Service has achieved 70 percent of the goals we set," Dr. Maung Aung, secretary of the Yangon Region Transport Authority (YRTA), the body that oversees all of the city's transport, told The Irrawaddy at a ceremony marking the anniversary.

The phasing in of the Yangon Bus Service, the new bus system better known by its acronym YBS, to replace the city's decades-old bus system has encountered a few potholes along the way. Some bus owners who had been operating under the old system failed to register under the new one, while others are still not ready to operate buses for the YBS. And with 70 percent of city commuters — an estimated 2.6 million people — relying on buses, the YBS' inadequate fleet has caused overcrowding and delays, especially in rush hours and late in the evenings.

To aid consumers in the face of the bus shortage, city residents and police have even started providing free transportation to commuters during rush hours using private vehicles and police trucks. Some offices in the commercial capital temporarily delayed their morning start times to give employees time to navigate the new public transport routes.

Yangon Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein acknowledged that there were challenges during the transition, but he insisted that significant improvements had been seen over the past year.

He pointed out that the YBS has consolidated overlapping bus lines, bringing the total number down to 92 from more than 300, partly to deter bus drivers from racing each other as they compete for passengers. The system also replaced conductors with fare boxes.

"With the public's help we have reformed the bus system within a year," the chief minister told the audience at the ceremony.

YRTA officials used the occasion to lay out their plans for this year.

The city's minister for electricity, industry and transportation, Daw Nilar Kyaw, who also chairs the YRTA, said the authority's priorities for 2018 were to build bus terminals in which to park YBS buses overnight and to introduce a cashless payment system, Yangon Payment Service (YPS).

On Jan. 11, Excel KC Myanmar, a partnership between Excel Myanmar and Taiwan's Acer Inc., was named the winner of a tender to operate YPS. A total of 14 companies tendered bids.

Mini-buses carry passengers in Yangon. (Photo Thet Tun Naing/ The Irrawaddy)

YRTA secretary Dr. Maung Aung told The Irrawaddy that over 2, 000 mini buses currently running under the YBS will this year be replaced by new buses equipped the card-payment system, which is expected to be introduced within next three months.

"We have new vehicles in hand. They will replace mini-buses and old buses," he said. He said the old vehicles would be phased out this year.

The YRTA also plans to merge all bus operators into public companies this year.

Currently, there are 16 bus companies including two public-private partnership companies — YUPT and YBPC — and six individual operators. "Two thirds of all buses running now are operated by public companies," Dr. Maung Aung said.

The post Yangon Transport Authority Declares YBS a 'Success' on Its 1st Birthday appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

NLD Cabinet Begins Reshuffle

Posted: 16 Jan 2018 03:39 AM PST

The first of the Union government's cabinet reshuffle this year came on Monday, following regional and state minister resignations earlier this month.

On Tuesday, President U Htin Kyaw proposed U Han Zaw as the minister of construction at the Union Parliament and lawmakers will have to accept or reject the proposal within a week.

U Han Zaw, 72, a professional engineer, was a central executive committee member of the Myanmar Engineering Council (MEC), a Union-level regulatory and statutory authority, formed in 2014.  From 2014-17, he was chairman of the committee of accreditation and scrutinizing of company quality, under the MEC.

He served as the president of the Myanmar Engineering Society from 2008-10. Prior to that, he was the managing director of the Ministry of Construction under the military regime.

U Win Naing, a chairman of the Naypyitaw chapter of the Myanmar Engineering Society, told The Irrawaddy that the presidential appointee U Han Zaw was best suited to the ministerial position, as he is "an honest and respectable man in engineering society."

"He is a good man and the position fits him," commented U Win Naing.

After 22 months in power to date, the NLD administration currently runs 23 ministries with 21 ministers and 15 deputy ministers. It now awaits the approval of the new Ministry of Construction appointee.

A Presidential Order on Monday stated that U Win Khaing, the Union minister for Construction, and for Electricity and Energy, was transferred to take responsibility solely for the Ministry of Electricity and Energy.

On the same day, the president appointed former journalist U Aung Hla Tun as a deputy minister of information.

Nine of the government's 23 ministries do not have a deputy minister, while the Ministry of Planning and Finance hosts two.

The National League for Democracy-led cabinet started with 19 ministers for 21 ministries in the beginning of its administration in order to reduce government expenditure. It had only one deputy minister, for the Ministry of Defense. There were 96 ministers and deputy ministers for a total of 36 ministries under former President Thein Sein's administration.

In May 2016, the State Counselor Office's was created and then there were 20 ministers for 22 ministerial institutions. At that time, there were eight deputy ministers: Commerce, the State Counselor's Office, Border Affairs, Finance and Planning, Foreign Affairs, Home Affairs, the President's Office, and Transport and Communication.

The last extension of the cabinet happened in November 2017, when the NLD created the Ministry of the Office of the Union Government.

The post NLD Cabinet Begins Reshuffle appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Hopes and Troubles Mark YBS’ First Anniversary

Posted: 15 Jan 2018 09:38 PM PST

YANGON — One year ago today, more than two million Yangon commuters excitedly welcomed a major overhaul of the city bus system, which had become notorious for its worn-out fleets, unruly drivers, and conductors known for aggressively confronting passengers who dared complain about poor services.

Then came the Yangon Bus Service, mostly known by its acronym YBS, an attempt by Yangon Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein to replace the former capital's old bus service—the Rangoon Motor Vehicles Supervisory Committee, also known as Ma Hta Tha.

On the launch day of the new bus system, Jan. 16, commuters who had grown weary of Ma Hta Tha's poor services had high hopes for the YBS despite an insufficient number of buses traversing the routes, resulting in overcrowding at bus stops, as some buses scheduled to start on the first day of the service were not ready due to poor planning. Volunteers stationed themselves at bus stops to introduce commuters to new bus lines and their routes while car-owning well-wishers offered free rides to help tackle the shortage of buses.

The Yangon regional government seems committed to making the YBS a success. It placed the new bus system under the Yangon Region Transport Authority (YRTA) — an umbrella supervisory body for all types of transportation in the city — and invested 70 billion kyats via two public companies: Yangon Bus Public Co., Ltd (YBPC) and Yangon Urban Public Transport Co., Ltd (YUPT). YBPC used a large portion of the money to order 1,000 new city buses for US$56 million from China last year.U Zaw Zaw of Max Myanmar and Omni Focus company run by a grandson of former dictator Ne Win have bought another 1,000 new city buses.

Now, 12 months later, some of the newly imported yellow and red city buses are plying the busy roads of Yangon along with buses from other private operators.

"Commuters have more convenience than before as there are new vehicles on the roads," said Ko Tayoke Lay of Power Eleven, a private company that runs four bus lines across Yangon. "And there are more to come," he added.

The Irrawaddy randomly asked some commuters about what they thought of the new bus service. Most of them stated that the YBS was not yet perfect but was better than Ma Hta Tha. The majority said they were delighted to see an absence of rude and aggressive conductors onboard, as before. Many of the bus lines in the YBS no longer employ conductors, but some still do.

A conductor stands at the landing of a YBS bus after collecting bus fare. ( Chanson / The Irrawaddy)

"It's just been one year now. I hope the YBS will get better and better soon by fixing mistakes. I hope that they want to do so," said U Soe Win, a YBS passenger.

Despite the optimism, the YBS's operation has not been without its faults.

A bus accident in July killed 11 people and a YBS bus prompted a series of accidents involving 11 cars in front of the Yangon government offices in November. Complaints about unruly drivers and an absence of buses late in the evening still persist.

Apart from these problems, The Irrawaddy has learned of other major troubles that have arisen with the new bus system over the course of the previous 12 months. They are:

Lack of Operational Licenses

An internal YBS document viewed by The Irrawaddy reveals that as of late December fewer than half of the more than 5,400 buses operating on nearly all of the YBS's 96 lines had operational licenses, making it difficult to impose discipline on the operators, and to follow up if a driver caused an accident. In addition, the authority has lost millions of kyat in unpaid revenue.

More than 3,500 buses have yet to officially register, a problem the bus operators blame on government red tape for causing delays in issuing the required licenses for their buses, as it takes several months to get the document.

"Most of the operators don't worry about getting the license," said one of the operators who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.

"Some operators imported new buses with the help of car dealers to run on their lines. They rarely register those vehicles with the government," he added.

As a result, the number of buses now operating on YBS lines exceeds the system's actual needs, contributing to traffic congestion across the city. Furthermore, the swollen number of buses affects the daily revenue of operators as more buses compete for passengers.

The buses without operational licenses also cause problems for the YRTA as well, according to a member of the YBS disciplinary committee. He said all buses registered with the YRTA have to officially pay the authority 4,000 kyats per day as a management fee.

"For the buses that don't have operational licenses [those not registered with the YRTA], they are somewhat exempt from the fee," he explained, meaning that the YRTA is losing more than 14 million kyats(over US$ 10,000) a day in earnings while being exposed to possible corruption at the management level of the bus lines.

YBS buses overtaking each other in downtown Yangon (Photo: Thet Tun Naing / The Irrawaddy)

Drivers Without Licenses

Of the more than 5,400 drivers, only a few more than 2,000 are qualified to drive commercial vehicles, including buses. The rest are 'B' license holders who are eligible to drive private vehicles with a capacity of less than 3 tons, according to a YBS disciplinary committee member. Myanmar's Motor Vehicle Law requires anyone who drives buses to have an E license.

The YRTA provides two weeks of training to those who have B licenses to upgrade their skills to ensure they are fit to drive city buses but fewer than 500 candidates joined the course last year.

"It's dangerous for passengers as driving a bus is not the same as driving a private car," the source said. Worse, if any accident happens, the insurance will not cover the bus, the victims or the passengers if the driver has only a B license even though most of the YBS buses are insured, he added.

One of the operators confirmed that 60 to 70 percent of the drivers in the service are B license holders.

"Yes, it's against the law. But you also need to take the demand for drivers into consideration," he said.

YRTA Law

Sources from the YRTA and the YBS said the lack of regulation of the Yangon Region Transport Authority put the two in disarray. Currently, the YRTA is led by Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein and the YBS is under its authority. Yangon's Electricity, Industry and Transport Minister Daw Nilar Kyaw told the Yangon Parliament in April last year that the government was drafting a new regulatory law. Since then, there have not been updates on the draft.

According to a senior official, the draft was rarely discussed at YRTA meetings.

"There should be a proper structure legally endorsed regarding who will take which responsibilities. What we are facing now is that people don't know clearly who should do what and how," said the source.

Despite JICA and Asia Development Bank's offers to help draft the law, the sources agreed that it has to be compatible with Myanmar and invite public consultations.

"The draft prepared by JICA and ADB should be debated in Parliament while open for public feedback. It should not be done as something that only the government thinks is right."

Don't Talk to the Media

For this story, The Irrawaddy talked to bus operators, YBS disciplinary committee members and others close to the YBS and YRTA. They requested anonymity as the YRTA imposed restrictions on operators in December not to talk to the media or write on their Facebook accounts about the YBS meetings they attended.

A bus operator was forced to sign a pledge because of his outspokenness and media friendliness. Despite an official from YRTA being appointed as media spokesperson for the YBS in the past, he has not been available for months. Dr. Maung Aung, the secretary of the YRTA, refused to take The Irrawaddy's questions last week. U Saw Bo Bo, the YBS CEO, was not available for comments as well.

Traffic Control Center

YRTA Secretary Dr. Maung Aung told The Irrawaddy in October 2016 that the body expected to ease traffic congestion by 40 percent through an improved bus network and a new computerized traffic control system by November 2016. But the Traffic Control Center in Yangon's People's Park did not even function until now. Drivers in Yangon still have to rely on old traffic lights instead of the new ones installed by the Traffic Control Center because they don't work properly. Sources said traffic number counts made by the center's CCTV cameras were wrong 50 percent of the time. They said a Chinese company hired by the government didn't hand over the technology, as it didn't receive a full payment. Currently, a new brick building designed for the Traffic Control Center is now deserted most of the time.

The post Hopes and Troubles Mark YBS' First Anniversary appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Myanmar Says Temporary Camp Will House 30,000 Rohingya Targeted for Repatriation

Posted: 15 Jan 2018 08:55 PM PST

YANGON — Myanmar is building a camp to temporarily house 30,000 Rohingya Muslims targeted for repatriation after fleeing violence in Rakhine State, state media reported on Monday, as Myanmar and Bangladesh met to discuss how to implement a repatriation deal.

More than 650,000 Rohingya have headed across the border to Bangladesh after a sweeping Myanmar Army counteroffensive in response to Rohingya militant attacks on Aug. 25.

The crackdown has been described by the United States and UN as ethnic cleansing, which Myanmar rejects.

Officials from Myanmar and Bangladesh met on Monday to discuss a repatriation deal signed on Nov. 23. The meeting in Myanmar’s capital, Naypyitaw, is the first for a joint working group set up to hammer out the details of the agreement.

The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said a camp in Hla Po Khaung in northern Rakhine will be a temporary transition camp for people who are to be “accepted systematically” for repatriation.

"The 124-acre Hla Po Khaung will accommodate about 30,000 people in its 625 buildings," the newspaper said, adding that some 100 buildings will be completed by the end of January.

Aung Tun Thet, chief coordinator of Myanmar's Union Enterprises for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development, told Reuters that the camp in Hla Po Khaung will be a "transition place" for Rohingya refugees before they are repatriated to their "place of origin" or the nearest settlement to their place of origin.

"We will try to accept all of those who are coming back to Myanmar," he said, adding that to verify returnees' residency, they will be sent to assessment camps in Taungpyoletwei or Ngakhuya before they are moved to the Hla Po Khaung camp.

Soe Aung, permanent secretary of Myanmar's Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, said returnees will spend "at least one or two months" in Hla Po Khaung before their new homes are built.

It is unclear, however, how many returnees would qualify for citizenship in Myanmar. The authorities have said Rohingya Muslims could apply for citizenship if they can show their forebears lived in Myanmar. But the latest deal — like the one in 1992 — does not guarantee citizenship.

Myanmar government officials have said the 1992-1993 repatriation deal, which followed a previous spasm of violence in Myanmar, would accept those who could present identity documents issued to the Rohingya by governments in the past.

Buddhist-majority Myanmar has for years denied Rohingya citizenship, freedom of movement and access to basic services such as healthcare and education. They are considered illegal immigrants from mainly Muslim Bangladesh.

Bangladesh officials have said it was unclear when the first refugees could actually return as the two countries need to work out how to jointly verify the identities of returnees.

United Nations agencies and human rights watchers have voiced skepticism about the resettlement plans and demanded a more transparent process to safeguard the Rohingya's voluntary return.

The post Myanmar Says Temporary Camp Will House 30,000 Rohingya Targeted for Repatriation appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Southeast Asian Plastic Recyclers Hope to Clean up After China Ban

Posted: 15 Jan 2018 08:36 PM PST

KUALA LUMPUR — When Seah Kian Hoe was just 10 years old, he would jump on the back of his parent's small truck during school holidays and help them collect scrap, going door-to-door around neighborhoods in Malaysia's southern state of Johor.

Taking their haul back to the family yard, they would spend hours separating the glass bottles, aluminum cans, discarded newspapers and metal.

Seah now employs 350 people to help him run Heng Hiap Industries, one of Malaysia's top five plastic recycling businesses, which processes about 40,000 tons of waste per year from both domestic and overseas suppliers.

"Thirty-five years ago, it was just scavenging – a very different era compared to now," Seah told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "I wanted to get into the recycling business and do it differently."

Heng Hiap Industries is just one of the Southeast Asian plastics recycling companies gearing up to benefit from China's decision to ban imports of plastic waste from the start of 2018.

Before the ban, which shocked many in the industry, China was the world's dominant importer of such waste. In 2016, it imported 7.3 million tons of waste plastics, valued at $3.7 billion, accounting for 56 percent of world imports.

Over the past two decades, China was keen to suck in as much plastic waste as possible, helping feed its manufacturing expansion. But policy makers took action after a string of scandals involving unscrupulous players in the waste market.

Misdemeanors included stuffing containers with mixed or toxic rubbish rather than the specific types labeled for recycling, and illegal smuggling of waste that was simply dumped in landfill.

"Plastic China," an award-winning documentary released in late 2016, ignited further public outrage by highlighting the human and environmental costs of the under-regulated, Wild West-style recycling industry.

As part of efforts to clean up China's environment, including promoting electric cars and cutting coal use, Beijing launched a campaign against harmful "foreign garbage" last year.

Some of the worst-hit exporters of plastic waste are based in the United States and Britain – leaving those two countries scrambling to find alternative places to take their rubbish.

"The industry was not prepared for it," said Surendra Patawari Borad, a businessman who runs a recycling company in Belgium and the United States and chairs the plastics committee at the Brussels-based Bureau of International Recycling (BIR).

"I used to say about Europe and the U.S., if China gets a cold, we get a fever, and if China gets a fever, we get pneumonia," he added.

"No Complaining"

Unable to send their plastic waste to China, Britain and the United States are now likely to increase their domestic recycling capacities in an effort to reduce exports.

But industry officials say this could take years and may still not be enough.

"If anyone has a problem selling their scrap plastic right now, they should not be complaining – they should be looking at themselves because this … has been on the cards for quite a while," said Damien van Leuven, founder of Vanden Global, an international plastics recycling company based in Hong Kong.

Faced with growing stockpiles of plastic waste, many British and US companies are either burning some plastics for energy recovery or sending the materials to landfill, several industry researchers told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Both of these methods will have a catastrophic impact on the environment, they warned.

"Do they [China] care about the global environment or only their own environment because we are land-filling perfectly good materials now because of the actions that they’re taking," said Adina Renee Adler, senior director for international relations at the Institute for Scrap Recycling Industries in Washington.

The labor-intensive job of taking bales of plastic waste to be broken down, cleaned, separated into different plastic resins and finally made into pellets ready to be reshaped into new products is now expected to fall to Southeast Asian countries.

Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand are among the Southeast Asian countries that have attracted Chinese investors in the plastics recycling sector over the past year, keen to fill the void left in China, industry officials said.

Most have yet to develop their own domestic recycling collection and public awareness about the issue, but their access to cheap labor and close proximity to China's manufacturing industries work in their favor.

Time to Regulate

Preliminary data from the BIR, shared with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, showed imports of plastic waste into Southeast Asia are already rising fast.

Due partly to a ramp-up in shipments in the final quarter of last year, the BIR estimates that annual imports of plastic scrap into Malaysia jumped to 450,000-500,000 tons in 2017 from 288,000 tons in 2016.

Vietnam's imports rose by 62 percent to 500,000-550,000 tons for 2017, while Thailand and Indonesia showed increases of up to 117 percent and 65 percent respectively.

The industry fears, however, that a flood of unregulated plastic waste to these countries could lead to similar problems as those experienced in China, resulting in copy-cat bans.

To avoid this, industry officials urged Southeast Asian nations to tighten health and safety regulations, so that they can properly monitor what plastics enter their countries, and stop illegal practices.

Greenpeace East Asia plastics campaigner Liu Hua wants to see companies use less plastic packaging in the longer-term, but for now, Southeast Asian governments should strengthen environmental controls to limit the spread of hazardous chemical waste and any negative impact on human health, he said.

Steve Wong, executive president of the China Scrap Plastics Association, called for stronger controls on imports, license issuance and environmental inspections of factories.

To date, the world has produced more than 8 billion tons of plastic, said Borad at the BIR. Only 9 percent has been recycled, while just under 80 percent has been treated as waste – sent to landfill sites or dumped in the oceans.

As awareness rises over the dangers of allowing plastic waste to end up in the sea where it poisons fish and can enter the human food chain, recycling capacity will need to grow considerably worldwide.

In Malaysia, Seah remembers how his parents were once ashamed they made a living from collecting and reusing scrap, believing it to be a profession that was not respected.

But when his recycling company received an international award for environmental leadership in 2013, it helped change their minds. Southeast Asian nations now face a similar battle to shift perceptions of the recycling industry.

"I don’t believe there is a global plastics pollution problem – there is a global plastics ignorance problem," said Seah. "It is a substance with a lot of hidden values."

The post Southeast Asian Plastic Recyclers Hope to Clean up After China Ban appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Ten Things to Do in Yangon This Week

Posted: 15 Jan 2018 06:54 PM PST

Rock and Roll Travelers | Jan. 20

Myanmar's pioneer rock star Zaw Win Htut will perform.

Jan. 20, 5:30 pm. Rose Garden Hotel, Upper Pansodan Street. Tickets 50,000 kyats (standing), 80,000 kyats (seated), and VIP tickets at 09-964255150, Emperor Fan Club and Mann Thiri Recording.

Hninzi Anyeint | Jan. 19-20

Star actors perform satirical comedy routines. Proceeds will be donated for Rakhine State.

Jan. 19-20, 7 pm. National Museum. Tickets 10,000 to 100,000 kyats at Taw Win Center, Mann Thiri Recording, Nobody Fashion (Yankin Center).

AFC Champions League 2018 Preliminary Stage | Jan. 16

Myanmar's Shan United FC will host Philippines' Cres Negros FC.

Jan. 16, 4 pm. Thuwunna Stadium, Tickets 1,000-2,000 kyats.

Artisans Handmade Craft Fair | Jan. 19-21

Fifteen artists will showcase theirs arts and crafts at this exhibition along with body painting.

Jan. 19-21, 10 am to 10 pm. Sule Square, Sule Pagoda Road.

Japanese Film Festival | Jan. 19-28

Sixteen Japanese films will be screened at this film festival.

Jan. 19-28, two shows at 3:30 pm and 6:30 pm, respectively, Naypyitaw Cinema, Free tickets an hour before each show at the cinema.

Shwe Property Affordable Housing Expo | Jan. 19-21

Affordable apartments in Hlaing, Kamayut, Sanchaung and South Okkalapa townships will be up for grabs. Prices start from 20 million kyats.

Jan. 19-21, 9 am-6 pm. Hledan Center.

Kitchen Utensil Sale | Jan. 9-22

Cooking utensil are on sale at discounted prices.

Jan. 9-22, Capital Hyper Market, Thaketa Township.  

Inner Art | Jan. 20-24

A group art exhibition of five artists will feature modernist paintings and installation art.

Jan. 20-24. Bo Aung Kyaw Street Art Gallery, Bo Aung Kyaw Street.

Stains and Me | Jan. 13-19

This is a modernist art exhibition by Aung Zaw.

Jan. 13-19. Nawaday Tharlar Art Gallery, Yaw Min Gyi Street.

A Journey through Modern Art | Jan. 19-25

A group art exhibition of five artists will showcase modernist paintings on different subjects.

Jan. 19-25. OK Art Gallery, Aung San Stadium (North Wing)

The post Ten Things to Do in Yangon This Week appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Myanmar’s Van Gogh Taken Too Soon, Leaves Legacy of Indomitable Beauty

Posted: 15 Jan 2018 06:00 PM PST

While San Zaw Htway was in Insein prison, serving a 36-year sentence, he would gather the inedible, raw grains that were mixed in with his daily bowl of rice and throw them a few yards in order to feed the sparrows that gathered along a prison fence. At first, he had to throw the grains down three flights of stairs, but he disliked having the little birds so far away. He threw the grains closer and closer. By the end of the third week, the sparrows learned to hop inside the area directly in front of his cell. The following day, he was forced to part with his new friends when he was transferred to another prison. "It was such a pity! I felt so sad to leave them behind," he recounted to me last August at his home in Taung Dagon, a suburb of Yangon.

In Taunggyi prison, he similarly befriended a small owl. A gecko with a missing front leg became a daily companion. "I would put down a little ball of rice, he would eat it and then looked up at me," he laughed. The gecko stayed in his cell for several months until, one day, a worker from the prison stepped on it.

"Oh, my friend died! I could not sleep that night!"

As with most of the stories he would tell me, there was almost always a lesson at the end of it. "When one has encountered loss like this…one has to keep renewing hope again and again to find happiness," he told me. San Zaw Htway's loved ones will have to renew their own sense of hope and learn to find happiness again, after losing the beloved artist, activist, teacher, poet and former political prisoner to cancer in the early morning hours of December 31st, 2017.

San Zaw Htway was born on June 30, 1974, in Ye Township, Mon State. The youngest of six siblings and partly of Mon, Dawei, and Burmese descent, his parents separated when he was an infant and his mother left her six children in the care of their grandmother while she went to work in Yangon, selling blankets. He saw Yangon for the first time as a child when he attended his eldest sister's wedding. "At that time, the way from our village was still difficult. If you travelled by highway, you got robbed," he said. "People only travelled by water. It lasted two nights and three days to ride a boat on the ocean to get to the town of Ye."

When he returned to Yangon, this time to live, San Zaw Htway was an adolescent. He eventually enrolled at the University of Yangon. His time as a university student was short-lived. Like many other creative and idealistic souls, he found kindred spirits among the network of democracy activists. In 1999 someone he thought was a fellow dissident turned out to be an informant. He was arrested and sentenced to 36 years in prison.

Pink Moonlight by San Zaw Htway, collage from recycled materials, undated.

For all the darkness that prison life brought, it never extinguished San Zaw Htway's inner light. Ironically, it delivered him to a form of sublimation that he had not yet discovered as a young boy growing up in a small village, nor at the university, which had been decimated and dismantled by the junta after they re-seized power in a violent coup in 1988. He found a mentor in an older prisoner who taught him art. Thereafter, he began exchanging food with the guards in order to obtain scissors and glue. They allowed him to rummage through the prison's garbage. He salvaged scraps of plastic and foil and transformed them into mesmerizing works of art, saturated with color, revealing landscapes he had no access to in prison but that offered a window into his mind and soul.

San Zaw Htway's inner world of color, light and passion became accessible to the outside world when he was finally released in 2012. By then he had created dozens of collages. His imaginings are distinctly Burmese — houses on stilts, pagodas dotting a fertile mountainside — yet the emotions they convey are universal. Perhaps his most moving depictions are his scenes of nature, which resemble brushstrokes from afar and channel the works of other artists whose works he had likely never seen before entering prison. The natural environment depicted in San Zaw Htway's collages transports one into a dream where Hiroshige's mountains, fields, and seas exist underneath what feels like a Chagellian sky.

While there are elements in his collages that resemble the renderings of artists from distant cultures, the intensity of his color palette and the emotions it induces is most similar to the works of Vincent van Gogh. Like van Gogh, who was committed to an asylum before he created some of his most well-known works, San Zaw Htway labored to produce his art while he had no access to the outside world. In Mountain in the Sea, an iridescent sea of turquoise, streaked by yellow rays of light that spiral outward from a partially hidden sun, engulfs a gleaming stretch of land and a magnificent green mountain, overtaken by streaks of red and gold. One imagines him conjuring the colors and light from his childhood in Dawei — perhaps his first journey into the Gulf of Martaban.

San Zaw Htway often paid homage to the democracy movement through his art. A longtime supporter of Aung San Suu Kyi, he used gold foil to render portraits of her, both in prison and after his release. He remained an admirer of her up until his death. To her critics, he had this message: "She’s doing as much as she can, as much as she can do. She tries to go over the limit too. So, I respect that. I admire it and am satisfied. We, ourselves, will have to live likewise, individually," he told me in 2017.

Mountain in the Sea by San Zaw Htway, collage from recycled materials, undated.

"[Those who criticize] are not taking into consideration the perspective of the people who need to change the whole thing here. So, people who are criticizing now, they don't keep these ideas in mind: How could what I am fixing, on my own, help others? How can we collaborate?" he said. "Everyone has that opportunity. If you do not [help] and just utter profanities without doing anything, your life will not become better. The country will not become better either."

A survivor of torture, San Zaw Htway directed compassion toward his perpetrators. He described to me how one of his first political acts after regaining his freedom was to advocate for the release of a fellow prisoner who had conspired with the wardens to harm him. He knew that forgiveness did not mean an erasure of past actions. His many artistic performances, regularly enacted in public spaces, were meant to jolt the public's consciousness and to give testimony to injustice.

Known as Nyi Htway to close friends and family, San Zaw Htway spent what little he earned and most of his free time helping others. When a friend took ill last year, he nursed him back to health, taking it upon himself to do his daily cooking and spoon-feeding him when he refused to eat. A wise, gentle soul, San Zaw Htway also had a stubborn willfulness, an inner strength that allowed him to remain idealistic in the face of unthinkable brutality and oppression. Friends also remember him as a fun mate, always happy to be a co-conspirator and accessory to a good time.

After his release from prison, San Zaw Htway used the collage methods he innovated to teach art to Kachin refugees, orphans infected with HIV, and underprivileged youth in Yangon. Before he passed away, we were collaborating on a series of children's books about the democracy movement and jointly developing educational programs for children of former political prisoners. In 2014, while I was helping him write his fellowship application to qualify for the Artraker Award, he wrote to me that he thought his art gave testimony to the fact that "torture and oppression can break a man's body but cannot take away the spirit within."

While his spirit endured, his body finally surrendered. San Zaw Htway was diagnosed with advanced liver cancer in early November. The cancer was a result of infections acquired during his time in prison. His family, beset by decades of hardship that began when he was first imprisoned, struggled to find adequate medical treatment for him. With no reparations yet for former political prisoners, few programs to help them, and little sympathy for them from the international community, his friends resorted to auctioning his art in order to fund his cancer treatment.

Untitled, by San Zaw Htway, collage from recycled materials, undated.

San Zaw Htway spent his life bridging disparate worlds. Through his art, he brought his inner world of childhood memories and unbroken idealism to an external world of suffering and injustice. He moved effortlessly between children with HIV, Kachin refugees, underprivileged urban youth and former political prisoners because he understood that the deep chasm thought to exist between the suffering of democracy activists and of other communities in Myanmar is illusory. After his death, his family and close friends, including myself, are left wondering how we can realize the ideals — and dreams — we shared with him.

In the days before he finally succumbed to cancer, I thought often about how San Zaw Htway had given me so much beauty, shared so much of his light with me, and how I had returned so little. I know one of the best ways I can repay his gifts to me is to try to bridge that illusory chasm and do what I can to place his suffering not in a bounded space, but under a broader canopy where hope can be continually renewed and true beauty can remain as it was for San Zaw Htway — indomitable.

Seinenu Thein-Lemelson, Ph.D., is a Burmese-American psychological anthropologist. She is currently a visiting scholar in the Anthropology Department at the University of California, Berkeley and the founder of the Institute for Democratic Education and Leadership (IDEAL). Her private collection of San Zaw Htway's art will be displayed this year in Yangon in order to honor his life. Please contact her at seinenu@berkeley.edu to set up appointments for viewing.  

The post Myanmar's Van Gogh Taken Too Soon, Leaves Legacy of Indomitable Beauty appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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