Tuesday, October 2, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Analysis: Military Immunity Forgotten Amid Corruption Crackdown

Posted: 02 Oct 2018 08:12 AM PDT

CHIANG MAI, Thailand—Drafted by the former military regime, Myanmar's 2008 Constitution has been criticized as posing an obstacle to the country's democratic transition. It guarantees the military 25 percent of seats in Parliament and grants the military leadership control of three security-related ministries. What is less well known is that the charter also hinders the fight against one of Myanmar's most challenging issues: corruption.

While the country's Anti-Corruption Law states that "anyone found guilty of corruption" is subject to punishment, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) would be toothless in the event of a complaint against the military, as the charter gives it immunity from prosecution by the ACC, which was formed in 2014.

According to anti-graft czar U Aung Kyi, corruption cases related to the military are beyond the mandate of the commission, because the Constitution grants the military the right to tackle corruption within its ranks using internal mechanisms.

The military, as an institution, not only takes part in politics, but also runs key businesses under its own companies, including the Myanmar Economics Cooperation (MEC) and the Union of Myanmar Economics Holding Limited (UMEHL). The public wants to know what can be done in cases where corruption complaints are filed against the military, and whether justice will prevail.

"When it comes to the military, they are constitutionally allowed to manage [corruption investigations] by themselves. We can't do it," he said during a recent interview with Radio Free Asia.

U Aung Kyi was referring to Article 293 (b) of the Constitution, which refers to the formation of Courts-Martial, and Article 319, under which "the Courts-Marital shall be constituted in accord with the Constitution and the other laws, and shall adjudicate Defense Services personnel."

Article 319 is one of the constitutional clauses whose amendment requires "prior approval of more than 75 percent of all the representatives of the Union parliament" and approval in a nationwide referendum by half of all eligible voters.

Myanmar has recently seen an increase in the number of investigations of graft charges, especially against civil servants, by the Anti-Corruption Commission.

Since its new chairman U Aung Kyi was appointed in November 2017, it has acted on more complaints. The most prominent so far has been a corruption charge against the former Yangon Attorney General involving a murder case.

The ACC accepts any kind of complaint, and follows up by either referring the case to the respective ministry, accepting it for further investigation, or rejecting it due to a lack of substantiating documents, said U Kyaw Soe, the agency's deputy director.

Most of the complaints involve land disputes, or judicial and administrative officers taking bribes to deliver services on time.

But he confirmed to The Irrawaddy that the ACC "has not yet received any complaints against defense services personnel."

In May, two high-ranking military officers were transferred to the military's auxiliary force for taking bribes from a jade mine operator without a license in Kachin State's Hpakant Township. It was the only case made public so far in which the military has taken action against its servicemen for corruption.

The military immunity has raised questions among the public about the need for constitutional amendment and why military and Defense Ministry officials are beyond the control of existing laws and regulations, while the 21 other ministries and Union administrative bodies are not exempt.

The Constitution and existing laws "are unjust", as the defense services personnel are excluded from the legal system's jurisdiction in cases where crimes are committed, said U Thein Than Oo, a prominent advocate and a co-founder of the Myanmar Lawyers Network.

"From a legal perspective, we have zero options and no hope of amending the Constitution within the Union Parliament, as described in Article 436. Even if all the elected MPs, who represent 75 percent of the total seats, unanimously agreed [considered an impossibility given the many parties they represent], and we got one vote from a military appointee who was either courageous or insane, it would only have passed half of the process," he explained—the other half being a referendum in which more than half of all eligible voters agreed with the change.

The National League for Democracy (NLD)-led government is approaching charter amendment cautiously, as it doesn't want to upset Myanmar's military (or Tatmadaw). It has continually said, however, that it stands by its policy to seek charter amendment; NLD government minister U Kyaw Tint Swe reiterated last month that negotiations on charter amendment are ongoing.

"The key player in amending the Constitution is the Tatmadaw. We all know that it needs at least one military appointee in the Parliament to approve the amendment of articles in the Constitution. That one military personnel is not a mere officer. It must be the commander-in-chief or one of his fellow top leaders," said U Myo Nyunt, a spokesman for the NLD.

The NLD spokesman said that only when the Tatmadaw's top generals are willing to change the Constitution would there be an opportunity "to move forward Myanmar's development" and "end the current civil war."

"Thus we need their voluntary changes," U Myo Nyunt said.

The NLD sees the 21st Century Panglong Union peace conferences as a second option, involving peace negotiations conducted among the government, Tatmadaw, the Ethnic Armed Organizations and the public. Dialogues are ongoing with the aim of reaching a Union accord, in order to ensure a democratic federal constitution.

"If we use this approach for changing [the Constitution], it could be better, quicker and more effective," added U Myo Nyunt.

Although it is hard to predict whether the military chief and his fellow generals have the political will to do so, U Myo Nyunt believes that the approach needs to be maintained.

The NLD pushed for charter change with a public signature campaign in 2014, in which over 6 million signatures were gathered calling for amendments to the Constitution, including of Article 59 (f), which prohibits State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming president.

But since it took power after the 2015 general election, it has switched its approach and tried to avoid publicly criticizing the Tatmadaw.

U Myo Nyunt said, they "don't want the Tatmadaw to feel that it is being pushed into a corner" while the NLD already has the public's support with 6 million signatures and its majority in Parliament.

The post Analysis: Military Immunity Forgotten Amid Corruption Crackdown appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Yangon Government Borrowed Money Without Parliamentary Approval

Posted: 02 Oct 2018 08:09 AM PDT

YANGON—The Yangon government violated the Constitution by borrowing money from two private banks to provide bus services and by using public funds for its own companies without seeking the Union parliament's approval, lawmakers said on Tuesday.

In the Yangon Parliament, 11 regional lawmakers discussed the findings of the Yangon Region Auditor General's Office regarding the 2016-17 fiscal year. Lawmaker Daw Sandar Min said the city government borrowed 8 billion kyats from Ayeyarwady Bank to buy public buses and 5.5 billion kyats from Kanbawza Bank to buy 200 school buses. The government did not seek parliamentary approval, however.

Daw Sandar Min said, "If they want to take loans from others, they need Parliament's approval according to the Constitution."

According to the military-drafted 2008 Constitution, project budgets, including loans, to be spent by regional or state governments must be approved by the Union parliament.

She stressed that the Yangon bus companies are not responsible for repaying the loans, adding that the state and Union parliaments cannot guarantee loans borrowed on a personal basis.

However, she didn't say who had taken the loans from the banks.

In 2017, the Yangon government invested 70 billion kyats ($45 million) in two public-private partnership bus companies—Yangon Bus Public Co. Ltd. (YBPC) and Yangon Urban Public Transport Co. Ltd. (YUPT)—which are majority owned by the Yangon Region government. The government bought 1,000 new buses to upgrade the city's public transportation system.

In September, the Yangon Region Auditor General's Office revealed in the parliament that bus companies lost 3.5 billion kyats ($2.3 million) during fiscal 2017-18.

Lawmaker U Yan Shin pointed out that even though the government borrowed 5.5 billion kyats to buy 200 school buses, few of the city's schools could afford to buy one of the expensive vehicles.

The Yangon government should have taken the socioeconomic conditions into account, U Yan Shin said.

According to lawmakers, the Yangon Parliament approved a budget allocation of 64 billion kyats to Yangon Metropolitan Development Public Co. Ltd., which is 51-percent-owned by the state government.

The government then transferred 10 billion kyats of the 64 billion kyats to New Yangon Development Company—which is fully owned by the Yangon government—but did not seek the government's approval.

An audit found that New Yangon Development Company misused the budget for basic expenses – 53 million kyats for ceremonies and other costs, 195 million kyats for social events, 33 million kyats for an audit team — before major investment had even begun.

Daw Sandar Min requested the audit office investigate the details of the government's alleged misuse of public funds.

U Yan Shin said the Yangon Auditor General's Office also revealed that the government violated the Constitution by transferring two projects—one each from the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism.

"According to the Constitution, only Parliament has the authority to transfer or sell government-owned properties. The government must follow the Constitution," U Yan Shin said.

The lawmaker also pointed out that the government used 192.36 million kyats from Yangon Metropolitan Development Public Co. Ltd to renovate a historic building downtown.

"The government didn't follow the Constitution or the government budget's rules and regulations that they use the money from their company. It might lead to confusion over ownership in the future. I'd like to suggest the government follow the Constitution," U Yan Shin said.

"The Parliament isn't responsible for what they did because they didn't seek our approval," U Yan Shin said.

Lawmakers asked the government to take responsibility for mismanagement and spending public funds in a way that doesn't benefit the public.

Lawmaker U Nay Phone Latt said the lawmakers will check whether the government followed the audit's finding.

According to the audit, the government also lost billions of kyats due to mismanagement of land leases. A company leasing the old courthouse in downtown Yangon was supposed to pay the regional government 400 million kyats ($250,000) a year but has not paid since October.

The audit also revealed that the company that successfully bid for the Yangon Traffic Control Center failed to pay a penalty for not finishing the project. In Dagon Seikkan Township, a residential development company failed to pay its annual lease of more than 3 billion kyats ($1.87 million).

The Auditor General's Office revealed its findings in September. According to lawmakers, it included a total of 363 pages, two chapters, 28 cases and 52 tables.

The post Yangon Government Borrowed Money Without Parliamentary Approval appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

First Tourists Arrive on New Free-Visa System, 21 Western Countries to be Added

Posted: 02 Oct 2018 06:19 AM PDT

YANGON—As an initial phase of implementing its new tourism strategy, the tourism ministry launched a free-visa system for tourists from Japan, South Korean and China’s Hong Kong and Macau on Monday. The move is likely to be followed in the coming years by the lifting of visa requirements for citizens of another 21 countries—especially western countries—in an effort to counter the fall in tourist arrivals to the country since the 2017 Rohingya crisis.

Last year, the Myanmar army conducted months-long clearance operations in northern Rakhine State, a response to the Aug. 25 coordinated attacks perpetrated by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), which caused 700,000 Rohingya to flee to neighboring Bangladesh. A United Nations Fact-Finding Mission since declared that the mass devastation was committed with “genocidal intent” and urged for the army leaders to be referred to the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity.

As a consequence of the resulting boycott campaigns, Myanmar received 1.8 million visitors between January and June this year—a drop of roughly 38,000 tourists from the same period last year. Combined with an underdeveloped infrastructure system and a lack of proper guidance for tourist destination development, as well as visa restrictions, a majority of rooms in more than 16,000 hotels were empty for months.

To raise the number of foreign traveler arrivals, the tourism industry is targeting Asian tourists rather than westerners by offering these visa exemptions, as well as introducing a simplified visa-on-arrival process for mainland Chinese visitors to Myanmar. Most of the aforementioned nations also feature in the top-ten list of international investors in Myanmar. On Monday, a welcoming ceremony for the first visitors under the new scheme was held by members of the tourism ministry at Yangon International Airport. Ambassadors from the Japanese and South Korean embassies and officials from the Chinese embassy in Yangon also joined the event.

Yesterday alone, about 400 tourists from Japan, South Korea and China entered Myanmar. Tourists from South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Macau can now fly into Myanmar without filling any kind of online application form or going to the Myanmar embassies in their countries. They can now apply for tourist visas at the airport. However, visitors from mainland China have not yet been included in the exemption list.

Tourist visa fees for citizens from all other Asian countries are $50 per person and allow a stay of a maximum one month. Tourists who enter Myanmar on any type of visa are not allowed to over stay. This promotion period will last for one year, concluding next year on Sept. 30. Deputy director in the ministry of tourism U Myint Htwe who attended the welcoming ceremony on Monday told reporters that Myanmar's government expected to see an influx of Chinese tourists as approximately 125 million Chinese make trips around the world each year.

The relaxing of visa stipulations for visitors from western countries has been lobbied by the Myanmar Tourism Federation (MTF) to the National League for Democracy (NLD) government since early this year. MTF’s vice chairman U Khin Aung Tun told The Irrawaddy that included those from France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Australia, UK and US, Russia and India as well as a few Scandinavian countries. He said that as Myanmar is one of the least developed countries in the world, the government could not spend much money on digital advertisements on international broadcasting channels and so opted to offer this free visa system instead.

Daw Sabe Aung, managing director of Nature Dream Travels & Tours, pointed out that the government should have added Russia and India to the current visa-on-arrival list too, as Russia already has strong connections with Myanmar. Although Myanmar has adopted this new visa scheme, tourist arrival numbers are not likely meet last year's number.

“Tourists travel schedules don't just form within weeks; they normally plan a trip about six months in advance. It’s too late to recover the numbers for the 2018-19 fiscal year.”

U Khin Aung Tun said that his association has urged the government to shift visa application barriers for the aforementioned 21 countries starting from early 2019 and the new approach is under consideration at the Union government.

The government aims for 7 million annual tourist arrivals by 2020 but travel agencies speculate that this figure is very unlikely to be reached in such a short timeframe.

The post First Tourists Arrive on New Free-Visa System, 21 Western Countries to be Added appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Modernist Painter Juxtaposes Sublime With the Scary

Posted: 02 Oct 2018 06:06 AM PDT

YANGON — For his latest solo exhibition, painter Ne Tun, who is known for combining traditional Myanmar art with modernist aesthetics, has brought together an unlikely pair of subjects — love and horror.

"I am showcasing what I have always wanted to create in this exhibition. People like the paintings I created before. Whether my latest works will be successful is completely out of my control," he said.

While Ne Tun was creating the paintings for the exhibit, his recalled, his family asked him, "Are you sure about showcasing these paintings?" He said his answer was a resounding "Yes."

The result, “Inner Mind,” showing at Yangon’s Lokanat Gallery through Sunday, is a collection of horrifyingly surrealist paintings and minimalist nudes in stark contrast to depictions of parental love.

Paintings entitled “Family,” “Affection,” “Womb” and “Cultivation” and the like hang next to others depicting horrifying figures rendered in bright, bold colors.

"Those paintings perfectly match the title of the exhibition. I grasped the images that popped into my mind, and they became horrifying figures. To the eyes of most Myanmar people, [the paintings] do not have pleasant colors or subjects. I am satisfied and glad that I could do what I wanted to do," said Ne Tun.

"An artist has to search and take risks. And Ne Tun has searched his unique style. He has Myanmar sensibilities. If he can combine them with a modernist style, the painting will be good. He is passionate about his work, and if he searches he will find," said veteran modernist artist Pe Nyunt Wai, who visited the exhibition.

The exhibition showcases more than 40 works in watercolor and acrylic priced from $200 to $600.

Ne Tun is a 1976 graduate of the Yangon School of Fine Arts and has participated in more than 100 exhibitions.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post Modernist Painter Juxtaposes Sublime With the Scary appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Bangladesh Delays Plans to Move Rohingya Refugees to Flood-Prone Island

Posted: 02 Oct 2018 05:59 AM PDT

DHAKA — Bangladesh has indefinitely postponed plans to relocate Rohingya refugees from Cox’s Bazar to a flood-prone island fronting the Bay of Bengal starting November after cancelling a visit by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The premier was scheduled to visit Bhasanchar Island and inaugurate the camp, whose construction is being led by the navy, on Wednesday. But Inter-Services spokesman Rashedul Alam said the trip was put off.

"The program is postponed. We will let you know the new date when it is fixed," he told The Irrawaddy.

Photos of the camp seen by The Irrawaddy show a two-story building and several single-story structures.

A construction worker on the project told The Irrawaddy that work was still in progress.

Bangladesh formed a joint 10-member inspection team with the UN earlier this year to advise the government on whether the island and camp are suitable for settlement, headed by Muhammad Mohsin, an additional secretary at the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief.

The team is preparing a report for the government and visited the island, located in the estuary of the Meghna River where it meets the Bay of Bengal, on Sept. 23.

Mohsin and Mohammed Abul Kalam Azad, Bangladesh's Rohingya relief and repatriation commissioner in Cox's Bazar, declined to comment on the issue.

A spokesman for the UN’s resident coordinator in Bangladesh did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

In August, the resident coordinator, Mia Seppo, told The Irrawaddy that discussions with the government about the UN’s concerns with the island’s safety, sustainability and vulnerability to extreme weather were ongoing.

In June, a report by the Special Branch of the Bangladesh police force said that only 13 percent of surveyed Rohingya refugees wanted to move to the island from Cox's Bazar. Among their main concerns were the island's isolation, which they worry will limit their access to medicine and other relief supplies, and being separated from relatives.

Bangladeshi officials have said they plan to show the island facilities to Rohingya camp leaders in Cox’s Bazar before any relocations begin in hopes of winning them over.

Authorities first proposed resettling Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar to the island in 2015 to cope with a recent influx from Myanmar.

Bangladesh asked the UN to help fund the plan after the sudden arrival of another 700,000 refugees in late 2017 pushed the population of the Cox's Bazar camps past 1 million.

The post Bangladesh Delays Plans to Move Rohingya Refugees to Flood-Prone Island appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Yangon Gov’t Abused Its Power by Investing in Controversial New City Project: Lawmaker

Posted: 02 Oct 2018 05:53 AM PDT

YANGON—The Yangon Regional government was accused of abusing its power by investing 10 billion kyats ($6.5 million) in a controversial new city project on the western bank of the Yangon River without the parliament's prior approval.

In March, the Yangon government launched New Yangon Development Company (NYDC) which is to be the developer of the New Yangon City project to be built on 20,000 acres of farmland across the Yangon River from downtown Yangon. At the launching ceremony in Yangon in March, Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein said "it is expected that the new city will create two million jobs" while claiming that NYDC is fully owned by the government.

NYDC is headed by the Yangon government's Electricity, Industry, and Roads and Communications Minister Daw Nilar Kyaw, along with property mogul Serge Pun of Yoma Strategic Holdings, a Singapore-listed outfit with real estate holdings in Myanmar. Former Singaporean Foreign Minister George Yoe is "Independent International Director" of the NYDC.

So far, the project remains in its planning phase.

It was revealed in the auditor general's report on the Yangon government's budget for the 2016-17 fiscal year that the government transferred 10 billion kyats to NYDC from Yangon Metropolitan Development Public Company Limited's 64-billion-kyat ($41.6 million)fund without the parliament's knowledge. The public company was founded by the Yangon government last year to promote development in the region. The Yangon government owns 51 percent of shares in the company and the 64-billion-kyats spent in shares was approved by the parliament. The company's board of directors includes Daw Nilar Kyaw and Yangon's Planning and Finance Minister U Myint Thaung.

During a discussion among lawmakers about the auditor general's report at the Yangon parliament on Tuesday, an NLD lawmaker Daw Sandar Min pointed out that the parliament had no idea about the 10 billion kyats transfer to NYDC and it has never been discussed in the parliament.

Constitutionally, projects to be carried out by regional or state governments have to be approved by the relevant parliament.

She also highlighted that the company has already spent 93 million kyats out of  the 10 billion kyats fund: 50 million kyats has been spent on staff salaries, 32 million on city design planning, seven million on general expenses, three million on the company's launch ceremony and one million on the signing of a framework agreement in April with Hong Kong-listed China Communications Construction Co. Ltd. (CCCC) to provide infrastructure for the first phase of the development.

"They have spent 93 million kyats. It is an act of spending state money as if it is their own and the regional government is acting beyond the authority it has been granted," said the lawmaker.

Daw Sandar Min also warned during the discussion at the parliament that the Yangon government's improper use of money from capital investment through the Yangon Metropolitan Development Public Co. Ltd. could be a waste of state money coming from public taxes.

"If there is a loss, the board of directors of Yangon Metropolitan Development has to take responsibility on behalf of the Yangon government," she added.

NYDC plans to develop 20,000 acres of land in the first phase of the project. This will include five village townships, two bridges, power plants, water and wastewater treatment plants and a 10-square-kilometer industrial estate. The company says the cost of initial infrastructure work in the first phase is expected to exceed $1.5 billion.

The project's location has come under criticism due to the low-lying topography of the area, which is prone to flooding as it has a maximum elevation of just 5 meters above sea level. The company said it has kick-started a flood-risk assessment (FRA) for the New Yangon City project area in coordination with Royal HaskoningDHV, a Dutch FRA consultant.

Last month, the company released a socio-economic master plan for New Yangon City. The master plan was drafted by US management firm McKinsey & Company. Serge Pun said during a technical roundtable discussion about the development last month that the NYDC didn't need to pay for the drafting of the master plan as it was financed by the British government.

"Luckily, we didn't have to pay for it. It would have cost us nearly seven or eight hundred thousand dollars," he said.

The post Yangon Gov't Abused Its Power by Investing in Controversial New City Project: Lawmaker appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Female Officers Now Make Up 20 Percent of Police Force

Posted: 02 Oct 2018 01:10 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW — The Myanmar Police Force (MPF) has increased its gender ratio of women to men, with female police officers now making up 20 percent of the entire police force, said the director of the MPF Headquarters Police Colonel Aung Myint Naing.

"We have been able to increase the percentage of policewomen in the existing force to 20 percent," said Police Colonel Aung Myint Naing in response to media questions during an event to mark Myanmar Police Force Day on Monday in Naypyitaw.

According to him, female police officers are not just serving in low positions, but many hold high-level positions with some even holding colonel positions. The drive to recruit more policewomen began in 2012, and they are performing not only office work but also policing activities like crime prevention and detection shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts, said Police Colonel Zaw Khin Aung of the Shan State Police Force.

"They perform a variety of duties including arresting suspects and investigations. There is also a principle that women can only be searched by women [police] in security issues. They also do office work and are assigned to respective special task forces," said Police Colonel Zaw Khin Aung.

Female police officers can perform their duties on par with their male counterparts, and have no difficulty in performing their duties because of their gender, said a female police officer working at the Naypyitaw Police Headquarters.

"There are no challenges or difficulties. We underwent training together with policemen and did the same training as them. Women can work as well as men," she said.

Female police officers are necessary as the Article 1,364 of the Myanmar Police Force handbook states that only women can search the body of female suspects in order not to harm their modesty, said advocate U Khin Maung Zaw.

"According to Article 1,368, female suspects must be held separate [from men] in police cells. And if there is only one female suspect in the cell, two older and respected women must keep her company," said U Khin Maung Zaw.

According to strict criteria recently developed by the MPF, women aged between 18 and 25, with a minimum height of 5 feet 2 inches, who have passed the first year examination of a bachelor degree course are eligible to apply. They will have to undergo six months' police training and receive a starting salary of 190,000 kyats per month.

Myanmar has a population of over 51 million people, and according to the data as of December 30, 2016, the police-people ratio was 10 to 650.

According to international norms, the standard ratio should be 10 to 400. Based on that ratio, Myanmar should have 127,500 police, said deputy home affairs minister Maj-Gen Aung Soe.

The existing police force can only cover the 61.5 percent of the national population, said the deputy minister.

The deputy minister added that the MPF is working to recruit new members for the police force across all regions and states.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post Female Officers Now Make Up 20 Percent of Police Force appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Marred by General, Myanmar’s Famed Dome-Shaped Pagoda to be Restored to Former Glory 

Posted: 02 Oct 2018 12:06 AM PDT

MANDALAY — Sagaing is planning to repaint the famed Kaunghmudaw Pagoda white, a dome-shaped stupa once marred by a former military leader with gold paint, as the pagoda trustee committee in the upcountry town received the green light from the regional government.

The trustee committee told The Irrawaddy that it had a preliminary meeting with influential abbot Sitatu Sayadaw and that it will receive support from experts.

"With the guidance of Sayadaw, we will collaborate with experts to repaint the pagoda, making sure the original structure is not affected," said U Tin Myo Lwin, the chairman of the Kaunghmudaw Pagoda Trustee Committee.

According to the trustee committee, the permission from the regional government was dated Sept. 18 and received on Sunday.

"We are targeting to finish repainting by the end of this year, however, it will depend on how we have to strip the gold paint in order to not damage the structure," explained U Tin Myo Lwin.

"If there is damage after removing the gold paint, it will take more time. We will have to make sure that we repaint safely and effectively after getting suggestions from experts," he added.

Since January, Sagaing city elders, along with local religious affairs and civil society groups, held a signature campaign to raise the issue of repainting the pagoda.

The previous pagoda trustee committee had been told that the pagoda would be repainted white once the gold began to fade. Later reports that it would be repainted gold sparked the signature campaign.

After the current pagoda trustee committee was elected in June, the uncertainty faded when the regional government granted permission to repaint it white.

"We are very glad to receive permission so that we can see Kaunghmudaw Pagoda painted white again. We are happy to restore Sagaing's heritage," said U Tin Myo Lwin.

Kaunghmudaw Pagoda, more than 380 years old, was originally painted white. In December 2010, after a visit by former Snr-Gen Than Shwe, the pagoda was painted gold. Rumors spread during that time that the senior-general ordered it painted gold according to an astrologist's suggestion in order to bring prosperity.

At that time, about 7 billion kyats were received in donation for gold paint. Only about 350 billion kyats were used. The remaining donations were used for repair, maintenance and gold plating.

Locals, historians and visitors criticized the gold paint, but no efforts to repaint it white were taken under former President Thein Sein's administration.

When the National League for Democracy party was elected, local lawmakers from the party took the issue to the Sagaing regional Parliament.

The 46-meter high pagoda is a major tourist attraction in Sagaing, located on the outskirts of the town. It was built by King Thalun in 1636. It was originally painted white and surrounded by greenery.

Buddhists believe that golden pagodas are a sign of prosperity and that donating for gold paint or gold plates will bring good merit and prosperity.

But experts believe the pagoda should be returned to its original color to restore the heritage value.

"There are those who believe in painting pagodas gold, but preserving the original color will not curse people. I am glad to see Kaunghmudaw Pagoda returned to white, which was glamorous and grand," said Tampawaddy U Win Maung, a famed historian and Myanmar traditional art expert, who will be on the team to restore the original paint color to Kaunghmudaw Pagoda.

"It should be easy to scrape the paint and repaint. I hope there will not be a delay," he added.

The post Marred by General, Myanmar’s Famed Dome-Shaped Pagoda to be Restored to Former Glory  appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Thailand Struggles to Win Back Chinese Tourists During Golden Week Holiday

Posted: 01 Oct 2018 09:34 PM PDT

BANGKOK — As China kicked off its “Golden Week” holiday on Monday, Thailand said it was struggling to lure back visitors from its biggest source of tourists, after a boat accident in July that killed dozens.

Lured by Thailand’s proximity and plentiful attractions, visitors from China accounted for nearly a third of last year’s record 35.38 million arrivals in the Southeast Asian nation.

But a Thai tourism official said he expected arrivals during the Chinese holiday to dip 1 percent this year.

“The decrease is because the boat incident has affected our safety image,” said Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

The agency has rounded down its forecast of Chinese arrivals for the year to 10.5 million from 11 million, he added.

Thailand has tried to lure back Chinese tourists by offering special immigration lanes at key airports and is also considering offering them a double-entry visa.

In July, Chinese arrivals fell 0.9 percent from a year earlier for their first drop since the start of 2017, when the government cracked down on cheap tour packages.

Tourism experts blamed a July boat disaster off the coast of Phuket that killed 47 Chinese in Thailand’s worst tourist-related disaster in years, underscoring concerns over the kingdom’s lax attitude to safety.

Chinese tourist arrivals continued to fall in August, plunging 11.77 percent from a year earlier, tourism ministry data showed.

Industry experts had hoped that Golden Week, which runs from Oct. 1 to Oct. 7 this year and is one of China’s most popular holidays, would bring back its tourists, but that appears not to be the case.

The government said it had cut by 11.5 percent its forecast for the number of Chinese arrivals for the six months from July to 5.1 million.

The post Thailand Struggles to Win Back Chinese Tourists During Golden Week Holiday appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

America’s Image Worsens Under Trump

Posted: 01 Oct 2018 09:29 PM PDT

BERLIN — The image of the United States has deteriorated further among its traditional allies after a year in which President Donald Trump ratcheted up his verbal attacks on countries like Canada and Germany, a leading survey showed.

The survey of 25 nations by the Pew Research Center also showed that respondents from across the globe have less confidence in Trump’s ability to lead than they do in Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping.

Since taking office in January 2017, Trump has pulled the United States out of international agreements like the Paris climate accord and Iran nuclear deal, cozied up to authoritarian leaders like Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, and criticized his neighbors and NATO allies.

In June, after a G7 summit in Canada, Trump refused to sign a joint statement with America’s allies, deriding his host, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as “very dishonest and weak”. He has repeatedly attacked Germany for its trade surplus, low defense spending and reliance on Russian gas.

Last week, when giving a speech at the UN General Assembly in New York, Trump drew laughter from world leaders when he claimed to have achieved more in his two years in the White House than almost any other US administration in history.

The survey showed that America’s image, which took a big hit in 2017, Trump’s first year in office, continued to deteriorate in many countries in 2018, particularly in Europe.

Just 30 percent of Germans have a favorable view of the United States, down five points from last year and the lowest score in the entire survey after Russia, on 26 percent.

Only 38 percent of French and 39 percent of Canadians said they had a positive view of the United States, both down from last year. Mexico inched up slightly to 32 percent.

Faith in Merkel Highest

The countries with the most positive views of the United States were Israel, the Philippines and South Korea, all at 80 percent or above. Across all countries, the US got positive marks, with 50 percent saying they had a positive view, compared to 43 percent who were negative.

Just 7 percent of Spanish, 9 percent of French and 10 percent of Germans said they had confidence in Trump’s leadership. In 20 of the 25 countries surveyed, a majority said they had no confidence in Trump.

Across all countries, an average of 27 percent of respondents said they had confidence in Trump. That compared unfavorably to Putin, on 30 percent, and Xi, on 34 percent.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was the only leader in which a majority of those surveyed, 52 percent, expressed confidence. French President Emmanuel Macron was just behind at 46 percent.

Despite Trump’s low ratings, 63 percent of respondents said the world was better off with the United States as the leading power, compared to 19 percent who preferred China in that role.

Allies took a dim view of the Trump administration’s position on civil liberties, with majorities in Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia and Mexico saying the government did not respect the personal freedoms of its people.

Reflecting Trump’s “America First” stance, substantial majorities in 19 of the 25 countries surveyed said the United States did not take their interests into account when making international policy.

The survey was conducted between May and August, and based on interviews with over 900 people in each of the surveyed countries.

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UN Rights Expert Urges Malaysia to End Child Marriage

Posted: 01 Oct 2018 09:24 PM PDT

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia should ban child marriage immediately, a United Nations human rights expert said on Monday, stepping into a controversy that has raged since reports in July that a 44-year-old Malaysian man had married an 11-year-old Thai girl.

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s government, in power since May, has promised to raise the legal age of marriage to 18, provoking a backlash from some conservative Islamic leaders who argue that early marriage provides an answer to social ills like premarital sex and pregnancies out of wedlock.

Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, the UN special rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, urged Malaysian authorities to protect the rights of minors, particularly young girls.

Married underage girls were at higher risk of domestic violence, and are often denied the chance to pursue an education, she told reporters.

"By marrying them, you are denying these girls their basic human rights," said de Boer-Buquicchio, who was on an eight-day visit to mostly-Muslim Malaysia.

In Malaysia, the legal minimum age for marriage under civil law for both genders is 18. However, girls can marry at 16 with the permission of their state's chief minister, while Islamic law sets a 16-year minimum age for girls and allows even earlier marriages with the permission of the sharia court.

The UN official called on Malaysia to remove exemptions that allowed underage children to marry, saying “there can be no exceptions.”

More than 5,000 applications for marriages involving minors were made at the sharia court between 2013 and 2017, government statistics show.

But many child marriages remained unreported, particularly among indigenous groups on Borneo, in Malaysia’s east, de Boer-Buquicchio said.

“It is time to be firm,” she said, adding that Malaysia’s government should engage religious and customary leaders on the issue.

“The political will is there, but the question is how you can reach out to all the different entities."

Last year, Malaysia passed a law on sexual offences against children but did not criminalize child marriage.

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Ten Things to Do in Yangon This Week

Posted: 01 Oct 2018 07:51 PM PDT

Takhaga Photo Exhibition

The popular photography exhibition continues until October 4 at 43 Art Gallery.

Sept. 29 to Oct. 4, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 43 Art Gallery, 43rd Street, Bohtataung Tsp.

 

Inner Mind

The 8th solo show of artist Nay Tun will open at Lawkanat Gallery this week.

Oct. 1 to 7, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Lawkanat Gallery, Corner of Pansodan St. and Merchant Rd.

 

Duo Art Exhibition

Sculptures and works on paper by Merete Sejersted Bodtker and Sonny Nyein will be displayed at the Beikthano Art Gallery.

Oct. 4 to 5. Beikthano Art Gallery, 113/3 Kaba Aye Pagoda Rd., Bahan Tsp.

Solo Art Exhibition 2018

This is an exhibition by Artist Tin Maung Oo.

Oct. 5 to 9, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. OK Art Gallery, Gyoe Phyu Rd., Dagon Tsp.

Affliction3

This is the third solo exhibition by artist Nyi Tun.

Oct. 6 to 8, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 43 Art Gallery, 43rd Street, Bohtataung Tsp.

Orange College Music Night

This music concert is being held to raise funds for healthcare and a homage-paying ceremony for former teachers of No. 2 Regional College and Yangon University (Hlaing campus).

Famous music bands Success and Emperor will perform with vocalists Bo Bo Han, Victor Khin Nyo, Sein Win Tun, Kaizer, Zaw Win Htut, J Maung Maung, Tu Tu, Chit Kaung, Aung Naing, S Kenneth, Mon Aung, San Lin, Sithu Lwin, Zaw Paing, May Sweet, Corney, She, Yadana Oo and Chaw Su Khin.

Oct. 6, 12 p.m. Thuwunna Stadium (1), Thingangyun Tsp.

Employment Fair Q3 2018

MyJobs.com.mm Myanmar will organize an employment fair to connect job seekers with top employers directly.

Oct. 6, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Rose Garden Hotel, Upper Pansodan Rd.

NITAR Pop and Rock Night

Nitar will perform at Yangon Yangon rooftop bar with special guests including Yadana My, Chan Chan, Athen Cho Swe and Chaw Nge will join Nitar.

Oct. 6, 8 p.m. Yangon Yangon, Sakura Tower rooftop, Bogyoke Aung San Rd. 

TEDxYangon

This local version of the international TED Talks, will feature talks and group discussions with inspirational figures from varying backgrounds in a day-long event at Strand Hotel.

Oct. 6, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The Strand Ballroom, The Strand Hotel, Strand Rd.

The Taste of Kachin

This is a fund-raising event organized by Kachin youth and sponsored by The Envoy featuring traditional Kachin dishes, music and crafts.

Oct. 6, 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. The Envoy Restaurant & Bar, Bo Aung Kyaw St. Tickets: 30,000 kyats.

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Monday, October 1, 2018

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Five Traders Arrested in Currency Manipulation Crackdown

Posted: 01 Oct 2018 08:51 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW – The Bureau of Special Investigation (BSI) has detained five currency and gold dealers in Yangon as part of its ongoing investigation into alleged currency manipulation, the agency said Monday.

The suspects will face legal action, according to officials at the bureau, which is under the supervision of the Home Affairs Ministry.

The BSI has been investigating the detainees and will open legal cases against them soon, its director-general, U Maung Maung Kyaw, told The Irrawaddy on Monday.

"They were trying to manipulate the market by making 'hollow' transactions [making verbal agreements to buy without actually paying] at their shops in Shwe Bon Thar [Street in Yangon]," U Maung Maung Kyaw said. "They were following orders from their superiors."

Lawsuits will be filed against the detainees under Article 38 (currency trading without a license) of the Foreign Exchange Management Law at the Pabedan, Kyauktada and Pazuntaung township police stations in Yangon, he said.

"Initially, one person was at large, but he surrendered himself to authorities on Monday afternoon," said U Aung Myo, director of the BSI's Naypyitaw office. He declined to reveal the detainees' names, saying they would be identified once formal prosecution had begun.

The bureau is investigating more than 10 people who allegedly manipulated the gold and dollar markets, and has so far fingered five as having violated the regulations. The investigation is ongoing, U Aung Myo told The Irrawaddy.

Conviction under Article 38 of the Foreign Exchange Management Law carries a maximum sentence of three years' imprisonment, a fine and confiscation of assets.

The prices of the dollar and gold skyrocketed in kyat terms in September, surpassing 1,600 kyats in the third week of the month. As a result, consumers have also seen prices of necessities such as food, petrol, medicines and transportation climb sharply.

President's Office spokesperson U Zaw Htay said at a press conference in Naypyitaw on Sept. 24 that a handful of currency dealers were manipulating the market through "hollow greenback transactions" and that the government was investigating and would take action. Because they involve verbal agreements without payment, financial authorities view such deals as being similar in nature to no-interest credit transactions.

The day after U Zaw Htay's announcement, the BSI arrested the five suspects and the illegal "hollow" trading in dollars and gold stopped.

U Win Myint, the secretary of Yangon Region's Myanmar Gold Entrepreneurs Association, said, "The gold price has fallen to 976,500 kyats per tical, and the market has revived since the dollar manipulators were arrested. We have been able to allow the gold market to remain open."

On Monday, the kyat rose slightly, trading at over 1,500 per USD, compared to 1,600 last month.

Market observers predict the currency will continue to strengthen as the illegal currency trading has been stamped out and legal moneychangers and banks are trading the foreign currency at the rate set by the Central Bank of Myanmar.

Nyein Nyein contributed to this report. 

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TNLA, Tatmadaw Engage in Two Days of Clashes Near Muse

Posted: 01 Oct 2018 06:16 AM PDT

Fighting broke out between the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Myanmar Army (or Tatmadaw) in Muse and Kukai townships in northern Shan State over the weekend, displacing around 200 people, according to local sources.

The fighting erupted after Tatmadaw troops tried to apprehend TNLA soldiers who were reportedly demanding money from drivers on the Muse-Lashio highway.

The TNLA reported multiple clashes on Sept. 29 in the Kung Hka, Nam Paw, Man Peng and Num Um areas of Muse Township.

The longest clash, in an area between Kung Hka and Num Um villages, lasted from 8:30 a.m. to 2:10 p.m. on Sept. 29.

According to the TNLA's Brigadier-General Tar Phone Kyaw, both sides suffered causalities. "Some of our men were wounded; I do not have detailed information about the death toll on either side."

The TNLA seized some military equipment from the Myanmar Army, including M60 rifles and Army uniforms.

Another clash broke out on Sept. 30 in the Tar Moe Nyar area of Kukai Township as the Tatmadaw continued to hunt members of the TNLA.

The TNLA's demanding of money from drivers came to light after travelers on the road from Muse to Lashio posted video online showing members of the armed group stopping vehicles.

Upon learning of the activity, Myanmar Army troops set out in pursuit of the TNLA units, triggering the clashes. "The highway has been improved, making it easy for [the Tatmadaw] to reach the place where we were taxing drivers," Brig-Gen. Tar Phone Kyaw said.

About 200 residents of Man Peng village fled as the clashes neared their homes.

The IDPs took refuge in a church in Hsenwi Township. "They arrived at our church in the evening," said Hkun Gam, a religious leader.

Township authorities met the IDPs yesterday evening and told them to return as the fighting in the village had ceased. The IDPs went back to their village on Monday morning, Hkun Gam said.

The TNLA is active in northern Shan. It has not signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement with the Myanmar Army, though peace negotiations between the government and the ethnic armed group are ongoing.

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Local Weekly Newspaper Charged for Satirical Article

Posted: 01 Oct 2018 06:09 AM PDT

YANGON—The Dawei Township Court charged the regional weekly Tanintharyi Journal on Monday under the Media Law for a satirical article published last year.

Daw Aye Mon Thu, the advocate representing the defendant told The Irrawaddy that the judge read out the decision, "As the [satirical] piece is believed to be aiming to undermine the dignity of the Tenasserim Regional government and thus it is charged and we have to give an explanation."

The next trial will take place on Oct. 15 and the plaintiff's witnesses will testify again.

The journal is charged under Article 25 (b) of the Media Law.

If found guilty, the charge carries a minimum fine of 300,000 kyats to a maximum 1,000,000 kyat for news stories that deliberately affect the reputation of a specific person or an organization, if not concerned with public interests and human rights.

The complaint was filed in December over a satirical piece "Electioneering Smile," which appeared under the byline "Mu Say Ooh" in the journal's Nov. 20 issue. The headline referred to an incumbent female administrator who planned to contest the election for ward and village administrators.

Following publication of the article, the regional government office deputy director filed the complaint in November last year, saying it deemed to satirize the regional chief minister Daw Lei Lei Maw and thus damaging the government's dignity.

U Myo Aung, executive director of the Tanintharyi Journal said the respective administrations and many other pillars do not thoroughly understand the nature of satirical literature, media operations or media ethics.

He added, there is a lack of mutual understanding between sectors and that has attributed to the filing of the complaint and the court case.

Although he does not want to comment on whether the court's decision is just or unjust, he said, he is concerned that the acceptance of the charge affects media freedom as well as intimidating the media.

"We believe this case does not even warrant getting sued, therefore, we will do our best to defend our [actions] within our legal rights," said U Myo Aung.

The Tanintharyi Journal appealed to the Tenasserim Regional High Court to dismiss the case on June 21, but their appeal was rejected on July 31.

The journal also sought the appeal at Naypyitaw's Supreme Court on Aug. 14 and is awaiting the decision of the court on whether they would accept the appeal or not.

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Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to Join Mekong-Japan Summit in Tokyo

Posted: 01 Oct 2018 04:33 AM PDT

YANGON — State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will leave for Japan on Friday to take part in the 10th Mekong-Japan Summit to discuss ways to connect industries and improve infrastructure in the Mekong region, according to Japan Today.

The state counselor will also visit a farm in Fukushima Prefecture during the six-days trip to learn how Japan’s agriculture sector was coping with a labor shortage, a problem Myanmar is also facing.

The summit itself will take place on Oct. 8 and 9 in Tokyo, where delegates will discuss a number of regional initiatives, including the Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy — led by Japan as a way to counterbalance China’s Belt and Road Initiative — and the 2019-2023 Ayeyarwady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy, according to the website of Japan’s mission to ASEAN.

A statement on the site said the leaders of Cambodia, Laos, Japan, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam will focus on making “connectivity, people and the environment” three new “pillars” of cooperation as ways to promote peace, stability and prosperity across the Mekong region.

The leaders are also expected to endorse Japan’s efforts on the Indo-Pacific Strategy, affirm the need for freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, and share their views on the Mekong Region’s role as a link between the Indian and Pacific oceans.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi accepted the invitation to the summit from Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono during his visit to Myanmar in August to discuss the Rohingya crisis. During a joint press conference in Naypyitaw, the state counselor said the meeting in Tokyo would strengthen relations between the two countries. Kono said Japan would continue to help Myanmar solve its problems.

In 2013, while leader of Myanmar’s opposition, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi visited Japan for the first time in 27 years. She conducted research at Kyoto University from 1985 to 1986.

She last visited Japan in 2016 as state counselor. During that trip she met with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to discuss economic assistance for Myanmar and the country’s peace process.

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China Facilitates Informal Meeting at UN to Expedite Refugee Repatriation Process

Posted: 01 Oct 2018 04:07 AM PDT

YANGON—During a China-facilitated informal meeting with the United Nations, Myanmar and Bangladesh, plans were made for a joint working group meeting which is to have a focus on creating a roadmap and timetable for the repatriation of the Rohingya people and to implement repatriation of the first batch of refugees as soon as possible.

The agreement was one of three made during the trilateral meeting at the UN headquarters in New York on Thursday. The meeting was attended by the Minister for the Office of the Myanmar State Counselor U Kyaw Tint Swe, Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was also present, according to a statement about the meeting released by China's ministry of foreign affairs.

Nearly 700,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh since August last year following clearance operations by Myanmar security forces in the wake of Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army's serial attacks on police outposts in northern Rakhine State. The Myanmar government denounced the group as a terrorist organization.

Myanmar and Bangladesh signed three bilateral agreements on the repatriation. Myanmar President's Office spokesperson U Zaw Htay said last month that more than 3,000 Rohingya would be repatriated to Myanmar soon. It would be the first batch under the bilateral repatriation program.

During the meeting, the Bangladeshi side said it is prepared to repatriate the first group of displaced persons who fled from Myanmar’s Rakhine State into Bangladesh, while the Myanmar side said it is prepared to receive them. However, neither side said when it would happen.

China has encouraged both Myanmar and Bangladesh to resolve the issue properly. In June, the Chinese foreign minister had an informal meeting with the two ministers in Beijing.

Wang Yi said, according to the statement, the Chinese side is not in support of approaches that tend to complicate, worsen, or internationalize the Rakhine issue.

"The priority is to achieve the first repatriation of the people who fled from Rakhine State in Myanmar to Bangladesh. The Chinese side, as a friendly neighboring country of Myanmar and Bangladesh, is willing to continue setting up platforms for communication and consultations between Myanmar and Bangladesh, and continue providing humanitarian aid for refugees from Rakhine State for the return to their homeland," he said.

China has close relations with Myanmar, and backs what Myanmar officials called a legitimate counter-insurgency operation in Rakhine. Beijing has helped to block a resolution on the crisis at the UN Security Council. The middle kingdom is the largest foreign investor in Myanmar, which is part of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative.  China has also committed to $31bn worth of projects in Bangladesh, making it the second-biggest recipient of money in south Asia behind Pakistan. They include roads, railways, coal power plants and water treatment facilities.

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Long Road Ahead For Asian Drivers Revving Up to Go Electric

Posted: 30 Sep 2018 09:51 PM PDT

KUALA LUMPUR — When Benjamin Jacob stops his new scooter at traffic lights in Malaysia’s capital, fellow drivers sometimes flash their lights or honk their horns at him, though he has done nothing wrong.

With his silent electric motorcycle, other users of Kuala Lumpur’s congested roads wrongfully assume the 29-year-old has turned off his engine or fallen asleep at the wheel.

But the delivery driver is always alert — especially since he was picked to take part in a new electric-vehicle pilot project run by logistics giant DHL eCommerce.

When drivers beep at him or wind down their windows, Jacob lets them know he rides an electric bike that makes no sound.

Parcel delivery firm DHL eCommerce is testing electric vehicles in Malaysia and Vietnam for a year as it works towards a goal of cutting its logistics-related greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050.

As well as helping companies boost their green credentials, electric vehicles ease air pollution and can reduce a country’s costly oil imports.

If the electricity that powers them is from renewable sources, they can also help meet the emissions reduction targets submitted by governments for the 2015 Paris Agreement to curb climate change.

Cities in the Asia-Pacific region have seen unprecedented growth over the last two decades. Many face air pollution crises, crippling congestion and other challenges related to mobility and infrastructure.

Tackling noise pollution is also becoming increasingly important to improve the wellbeing of residents.

The DHL project is rare in Asia, which experts say lags other regions in creating the right incentives, regulatory frameworks and infrastructure needed to make electric vehicles more attractive to both drivers and businesses.

At first, DHL wanted to pilot the project in three countries, but regulatory issues and limited availability of e-bikes in Thailand prevented it from launching there, it said.

Globally, the group hopes to replace 70 percent of all the vehicles it uses for “first and last-mile” delivery services with cleaner energy versions by 2025.

“After one year, we will see which bike does the best and how practical it is to scale up and look at more fleet joining us,” Anil Gautam, managing director for DHL eCommerce Malaysia, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Right signals

Around the world, electric and plug-in hybrid cars topped 3 million in 2017, a 54 percent jump from 2016, according to a 2018 report by the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA).

China was the largest electric car market, accounting for half sold last year — about 580,000 cars.

Facing public health risks from increasingly polluted cities, the Chinese government has put in place clear targets for electric vehicle sales, said Nick Twork, general manager for innovation and technology communications at the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance in Paris.

China has also invested in technology and mass production to bring down costs and make electric vehicles more affordable, he added.

The United States had the second-highest number of plug-in vehicles, with about 280,000 cars sold last year, although Nordic countries lead on market share, the IEA said.

Norway was in the top slot, with electric cars making up 39 percent of new car sales.

China and Japan aside, experts said Asian governments should consult more with industry and consumers to improve policies on electric vehicles, especially as the economic advantages of switching to electric from fossil fuel vehicles are slim.

There is a need to expand infrastructure for electric vehicle charging beyond homes and work places — a key barrier to take-up of electric vehicles in the region, said Dominic Patella, a transport specialist with the World Bank in Brussels.

Governments can also provide incentives or subsidies for electric vehicle buyers — including low-cost registration — and tax breaks for sellers, experts said.

“Where this generally works is when you have close cooperation between industry and government, and there are economic incentives for both infrastructure and the purchase of vehicles,” said Twork of Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi.

Preferential parking and lane access are other options for cities, many of which already ban diesel vehicles from the center at busy times of day or have late-night curfews to reduce noise pollution.

Governments, meanwhile, can make it easier to import electric vehicles, and play a role in persuading public and private transport providers to go electric.

“Sometimes it takes government intervention to enable the uptake of electric mobility — and that’s where you need good policy, good programs, good investments to enable good things to take place in the transport sector,” said Patella.

Sea-change

Businesses like parcel delivery and taxi companies have an easier route to switching to electric fleets because they can track routes and busy times, and recharge during quiet periods.

Charging time for the DHL scooters is between 60 to 90 minutes for a range of about 140 km, but this differs depending on the make of motorcycle tested, weight of the load and driver, battery age and the type of charger used.

Most privately owned electric vehicles take hours to charge up, a process usually done overnight, but experts said the cost of batteries and charge times are falling fast.

Between 2016 and 2022, Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi aims to cut the cost of its batteries by 30 percent, with a 15-minute charge time and an overall range of 600 km.

While electrified delivery fleets are expected to take off in other parts of the world first, Asia is a “fast follower,” given the rise in parcel delivery and freight across the region, especially from China, said Andrew Campbell, who provides technical support for the Philippines’ e-Trike Project.

The government-backed program aims to electrify and replace all the country’s rickshaw-style tuk tuks, and has rolled out about 3,000 e-trikes so far.

“Somewhere between the five and 10-year mark, we are going to see a sea-change,” said Campbell.

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Powerful Typhoon Kills Two, Snarls Transport For Thousands in Japan

Posted: 30 Sep 2018 09:16 PM PDT

TOKYO — A powerful typhoon brought down trees onto railroad tracks and kicked up debris across Tokyo as it brushed past the Japanese capital early on Monday, killing two people and stranding thousands as train lines were closed or severely delayed.

Typhoon Trami made landfall in western Japan on Sunday evening and threatened heavy rains, strong winds and landslides on the northern-most main island of Hokkaido, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The island was hit by a deadly earthquake last month.

The typhoon, rated by Tropical Storm Risk as a category 1, the lowest on a five-point scale, killed two people and injured almost 130, public broadcaster NHK said.

Another two people were missing, it said, and almost 400,000 households were without power.

Aerial footage on NHK showed hundreds of people waiting outside train stations, with several major commuter lines closed since Sunday. More than 230 flights were cancelled, mainly in northern Japan, NHK said.

Kansai International Airport in Osaka in western Japan said it had opened its runways as scheduled at 6 a.m., after being closed since 11 a.m. on Sunday.

The airport had only fully reopened on Sept. 21 after being heavily flooded earlier that month by Typhoon Jebi, the most powerful storm to hit Japan in 25 years.

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Bangladesh’s Opposition Group Says ‘Strongly’ Wants to Contest Elections

Posted: 30 Sep 2018 09:14 PM PDT

DHAKA — Bangladesh’s main opposition political group, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), “strongly” wants to take part in national elections due in three months, the party’s secretary general told Reuters on Saturday.

The BNP will hold a public meeting in the capital Dhaka on Sunday and present demands that include the release of its jailed leader Khaleda Zia, installing a neutral caretaker government, and involving the army to oversee the December elections, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said.

“As a large party, we have all the preparations for participating in (a) coming election, but for that we need a level playing field, which is not there,” he said.

“We are demanding a neutral government as it is our experience that with the ruling party there cannot be a free and fair election.”

The interview marks the first time the BNP has explicitly stated its plans for the national election, during which Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League – accused of increasingly authoritarian rule – is expected to face a tough fight.

Elections in Bangladesh, which won independence in 1971, are usually marked by violence and protests, and the national polls in December are expected to be no different, as several members of the BNP including its leader are in jail.

The BNP boycotted the 2014 polls after Hasina’s governing Awami League, which has been in power since 2009, declined demands to put in place a nonpartisan caretaker government.

Bitter Rivalry

Khaleda, a two-term prime minister with whom Hasina has a long and bitter rivalry, was jailed in February for five years on corruption charges that she alleged were part of a plot to hamper her political career. Her son Tarique Rahman was also convicted and sentenced to a 10-year prison term, though he now lives in exile in London.

Dozens of other BNP members have also been sent to prison in recent years on what the party alleges were false charges.

Alamgir said a decision on who would run for Prime Minister would be taken in consultation with Khaleda and Rahman.

While Hasina has been lauded internationally for providing shelter for nearly a million Rohingya Muslims who have fled violence and persecution in Myanmar, she is facing increasing criticism over free speech.

Security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets at students who took to the streets last month to demand better road safety. Several people, including students and a senior photographer Shahidul Alam, were put behind bars following the protests, sparking calls from international rights activists for their release.

Security forces have also been accused of extrajudicial killings in a war on drugs declared by Hasina, under which more than 200 people have been killed since July. Most recently, a new digital security law passed by parliament last week has come under intense criticism from journalists who say it would cripple media freedom.

The government has said its crackdown during the student protests was aimed at BNP workers who tried to provoke the students, and has denied allegations of extrajudicial killings.

It also dismisses accusations of jailing BNP workers on false charges, and Hasina has said there are no plans to modify the new digital security law.

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Indonesia Mourns as Death Toll from Quake Jumps to 832

Posted: 30 Sep 2018 09:06 PM PDT

PALU, Indonesia — The toll from an earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia soared to 832 confirmed dead on Sunday, with authorities fearing the numbers will climb as rescuers grappled to get aid to outlying communities cut off from communications and help.

Dozens of people were reported to be trapped in the rubble of several hotels and a mall in the city of Palu, on Sulawesi island, which was hit by waves as high as six meters (20 feet) following the 7.5 magnitude earthquake on Friday.

A woman was pulled alive from the debris of the city’s Roa Roa Hotel, where up to 60 people were believed trapped. Hundreds of people gathered at the wrecked eight-story Tatura Mall searching for loved ones.

“Grieve for the people of Central Sulawesi, we all grieve together,” President Joko Widodo tweeted late on Sunday.

Most of the confirmed deaths were in Palu itself, and authorities are bracing for the toll to climb as connections with outlying areas are restored.

Of particular concern is Donggala, a region of 300,000 people north of Palu and close to the epicenter of the quake, and two other districts, which has been cut off from communications since Friday.

“We haven’t received reports from the three other areas. Communication is still down,; power is still out. We don’t know for sure what is the impact,” Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, told a news conference.

Along with Palu, 1,500 km (930 miles) northeast of Jakarta, these districts have a combined population of about 1.4 million.

A video of the outskirts of Donggala shot on Sunday afternoon by the Indonesian Red Cross showed scenes of devastation, with houses flattened into piles of rubble and broken furniture.

Smaller aftershocks from Friday’s quake continued to rumble through the area.

Social worker Lian Gogali tweeted from the area that several villages on the west coast of Sulawesi were in desperate need of food, medicine and shelter and that road access was still limited.

Pledge to Rebuild

Five foreigners – three French, one South Korean and one Malaysian – were among the missing, Nugroho said. The 832 dead included people crushed in the quake and swept away by the tsunami.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla said the death toll could rise into the thousands.

Earlier President Widodo visited a housing complex flattened when the quake liquefied the soil it stood on, and called for patience.

“I know there are many problems that need to be solved in a short time, including communications,” he said. The ruins would be rebuilt, he said, as aftershocks rattled the region 48 hours after the quake.

Footage of the ruined city show a crumpled mess of houses, cars and trees mashed together by the quake, with rooftops and roads split and left at all angles.

“There are estimated to be many victims in this area. Evacuation is difficult because many collapsed houses are buried in soil,” the National Disaster Mitigation Agency’s Nugroho said on Sunday evening.

Internal Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo, asked about reports of looting on social media, said he had ordered authorities to help people get food and drink and businesses would be compensated. One video posted on YouTube showed people grabbing boxes of supplies from a truck.

Television pictures showed scores of residents shouting “we’re hungry, we need food” as soldiers distributed rations from a truck in one neighborhood, while footage from elsewhere showed people making off with clothes and other items from a wrecked mall.

State logistics agency chief Budi Waseso said it was preparing to send hundreds of tons of government rice stocks to Central Sulawesi areas affected by the disaster.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said the government had allocated 560 billion rupiah ($37.58 million) for disaster recovery, media reported.

Questions About Warnings

Indonesia, which sits on the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire, is all too familiar with deadly earthquakes and tsunamis. In 2004, a quake off Sumatra island triggered a tsunami across the Indian Ocean, killing 226,000 people in 13 countries, including more than 120,000 in Indonesia.

Questions are sure to be asked why warning systems set up after that disaster appear to have failed on Friday. Nugroho, bemoaning a fall in funding, said no tsunami buoys, one type of instrument used to detect the waves, in Indonesia had been operating since 2012.

The meteorological and geophysics agency BMKG issued a tsunami warning after the quake but lifted it 34 minutes later, drawing criticism it had been too hasty. But officials estimated the waves had hit while the warning was in force.

Hundreds of people had gathered for a festival on Palu’s beach when the water surged. A disaster official said the tsunami travelled across the sea at speeds of 800 kph (500 mph).

Video on social media showed water-bearing whirls of debris rushing in as people shouted in alarm and scattered.

Palu is at the head of a bay, about 10 km long and 2 km wide, which had “amplified” the wave as it was funneled towards the city, a geophysics agency official said.

The BMKG said its closest tidal gauge sensor, about 200 km (125 miles) from Palu, had only recorded an “insignificant” 6 cm (2.5 inches) wave.

Palu’s airport was damaged in the quake, but had reopened for limited commercial flights, authorities said.

Neighbors including Australia, Thailand and China offered help and Pope Francis, speaking to thousands in St. Peter’s Square, said he was praying for the victims.

The European Union has announced 1.5 million euros ($1.74 million) in immediate aid.

Indonesia has the world’s largest Muslim population but also significant pockets of Christians, including on Sulawesi, which is one of the archipelago nation’s five main islands.

The post Indonesia Mourns as Death Toll from Quake Jumps to 832 appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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Saturday, September 29, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Kokkoya Organics: Community-Supported Agriculture Takes Root in Yangon

Posted: 28 Sep 2018 08:18 PM PDT

YANGON—Travelling north from downtown Yangon, the urban landscape gradually grows a greener buffer, buildings become more modest and the pace of life seems slower. On one tree-lined street in North Dagon Township, we enter a small green plot with a pretty, two-story building looking onto rows of green leaves, small crops, polytunnels and a smattering of marigolds.

A Kokkoya farmer stands among the crops. / Aung Kyaw Htet / The Irrawaddy

Caity, the Australian lady who co-founded Kokkoya Organics, emerges from behind a laptop on the ground floor of the "treehouse" as voices of workshop participants emanate from upstairs.

Kokkoya is an urban farm on a quarter of an acre operating as a social enterprise training a staff of young women and growing organic vegetables for sale to the local market through a community supported agriculture (CSA) system. Caity co-founded the farm with Mandalay-native Sophia, in September 2017.

Community-supported agriculture means subscribers pay a monthly, seasonal or annual fee which supports the farm and both reaps the benefits of a strong harvest and bears the brunt of a bad harvest while allowing the farmers a stable income and a reliable market.

"We find members who subscribe for a month of vegetables. People are very understanding and are part of the community that really understands the farm. Even if something bad happens, we'd still have money coming in that month," said Caity.

Through experimentation and adaptation, the farm has been able to grow organic vegetables, fruit, herbs and microgreens year-round, focusing on fast-growing organic crops with good market prices. Currently there are pumpkins, eggplant, okra, ginger, rocket and roselle as well as some microgreens which are bagged and delivered to or picked up by around 30 subscribers weekly.

Subscribers' understanding is imperative for the success of the project: most consumers are used to getting any produce they want, year round, but as Caity says, "this actually how we are meant to eat—with the seasons." The community is growing as we approach winter, the peak growing season, with 30 subscribers in September, 40 in October and a projected 50 monthly from November.

An example of the contents of a subscriber’s weekly veggie box. / Aung Kyaw Htet / The Irrawaddy

"It is challenging [for subscribers]: instead of shopping for whatever you want, you are given the best that we have that week, all on one day. People need to be a bit flexible and creative in how they plan meals. But the reward is you get the most beneficial vegetables."

Kokkoya also works to support other small organic farmers by incorporating their produce in veggie boxes. They can use their brand and membership plan to connect the farmers with the right market.

The process of establishing an organic farm has taken a lot of physical effort, patience and trial and error. Unlike many farms, Kokkoya produces crops year-round, dealing with new challenges every season: during the monsoon season, the soil was washed out so they had to build polytunnels. Fungus grew on crops that couldn't dry out. Pest attacks can ruin crops at any time of the year. But Caity isn't fazed.

"It's a process of researching, trying things out, testing and adapting and sometimes it works. We are constantly learning and getting better at it, slowly," Caity said. "We've done a lot of experimenting!"

From country to country and person to person, standards for 'organic' vary vastly and Myanmar is no different. While the government does have definitions for organic certification, it largely applies to crops grown in bulk for export. Kokkoya produce is organic because Caity and her female farmers don't use any chemicals, pesticides, fertilizers, even organically-certified ones on the crops. In fact, the only thing sprayed at Kokkoya is water.

"We're not really interested in being certified and this is why we are in the city—we want people to connect with the farm and the farmer who grows their food. We feel we are certified because we know our consumers, we sell directly and there is a trust. They can come and check our farm at any time."

The farm has received criticism from some of their more purist observers: their use of plastic tunnels to defend the crops from monsoon downpours was once a source of criticism; someone else said that the farm couldn't be organic because it is located in an urban area; while another person said wearing rubber boots on the farm is an un-organic practice. But Caity is unwilling to take advice from anyone who has not tried organic farming here for themselves.

Crops grow inside temporary polytunnels providing protection from the harsh monsoon rains. / Aung Kyaw Htet / The Irrawaddy

The soil on the farm is essential for the success of Kokkoya's crops and is treated like a living ecosystem. It is not dug up or exposed in order to keep the worms and microorganisms and preserve a balance in the ecosystem.

"Plants come and go quickly but the soil will always be there," Caity said. "We treat soil as a living, breathing city and we protect it as best we can and give it what it needs."

Meanwhile, indoors, such a project replies hugely on non-farming elements like marketing, business development and, to Caity's distaste, a huge amount of administrative work.

"You can't just grow beautiful radishes. You need to have a market and people who buy them."

As a social enterprise, Kokkoya is not only about farming, but also training and educating people on organics. Workshops and events held on the farm are an important source of income for the project. The 'Monsoon Workshops' series brought people to the farm to learn about aquaponics, permaculture, healthy meal planning, hygiene and apartment gardening. The ongoing 'Good Supper' series has brought award-winning chefs and experts in veganism, superfoods and organic poultry to those gathered in the treehouse.

Youths from Ayeyarwaddy Region attend a workshop at the Kokkoya Organics farm on Thursday. / Aung Kyaw Htet / The Irrawaddy

When not in the vegetable beds, farmers Nilar, Catherine and Khu Pawe get training to help develop a wide range of skills like marketing, business development and English. In fact, the end goal is for these three farmers to be able to develop their own program or a farm similar to Kokkoya in their own communities.

Currently, organic farmers in Myanmar lack good advice and technical support, and good organic seeds are difficult to find. An added challenge is that farming practices vary hugely from region to region. Part of the objective of the project to use the results of the team's tireless research, experimentation and trails and errors to create a database of information to make it easier for others in the future.

Challenges aside, however, Caity feels grateful to be able to work on a beautiful farm on a project she and the others are passionate about. At the end of the day, the rewards of running an organic urban farm in Yangon are simple: it's that first sign of a sprouting green.

"One of the most rewarding things is growing food and every time a new seed comes up, it makes all the failures and tests worth it," said Caity.

She recalls the highlight of the project which came late last year after just a few months of growing when the team was able to deliver the first veggie boxes:

"That was after two months of pushing, and hoping and not knowing if it would work. Sending out those first veggies was the biggest high."

Another example of a subscriber’s weekly veggie box. / Aung Kyaw Htet / The Irrawaddy

Community members can sign up to a subscription to receive deliciously natural vegetables weekly and support the farm through the Kokkoya Organics website. The organic goods can also be bought at Yangon Farmers Market which takes place on Saturday mornings in Karaweik Garden at Kandawgyi Lake.

An exciting schedule of workshops and other events at the farm is updated regularly on the website and the Kokkoya Organics Facebook page. The Farm Tour and Farm to Brewery Tour, which finishes with craft beer tasting at nearby Burbrit Brewery, are fantastic, alternative activities to experience in a green slice of Yangon. However you get involved, you're helping Kokkoya to promote healthy growing practices and spreading the organic love.

"Our main aim and goal is to have more organic farming in Myanmar and so we will always try to help others grow organically and help educate customers to buy organic, and support the farmers."

The post Kokkoya Organics: Community-Supported Agriculture Takes Root in Yangon appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Dateline Irrawaddy: Myanmar’s Multi-Level Marketing Scourge

Posted: 28 Sep 2018 07:43 PM PDT

Kyaw Kha: Welcome to Dateline Irrawaddy! This week we'll discuss whether it is time to end multi-level marketing (MLM), which the government recently banned. I'm The Irrawaddy chief reporter Kyaw Kha and I'm joined by Lower House MP U Aung Kyaw Kyaw Oo, the first lawmaker to have urged Parliament to abolish MLM, and Ko Zin Zin Lwin, who has been educating the public about the disadvantages of MLM.

The government has banned MLM, saying it is not appropriate for the public. U Aung Kyaw Kyaw Oo, you were the first lawmaker to urge Parliament to abolish MLM. Can you tell us briefly why you submitted the proposal?

Aung Kyaw Kyaw Oo: I often received complaints from the people about MLM. So I asked a question about it in Parliament. A complaint letter from a Bago resident made me raise the question in Parliament. She said MLM had almost ruined her life. So it aroused my interest and I studied MLM.

As I live in Yangon, I studied MLM products sold to Yangon residents. Most of them are herbal supplements. One of the things I noticed was a pendant that is said to be good for health if worn. I asked the Customs Department about its price. They are $6 each, and [suppliers] officially import them by paying tariffs on the $6. But when it reaches the end user, the selling price is 8000,000 to 850,000 kyats ($502 to $533).

I studied the way MLM products are sold and bought, and I found that the government doesn't get tax from the transactions and the consumers have to pay exorbitant prices for things of little value. Though some pharmaceutical products are certified by the FDA [Food and Drug Administration of Myanmar], many are not. MLM companies import and sell things, and exchange the earnings for US dollar, which flow out of the country. So there is nothing good for the people, the government or the country. I thought it should be curbed, and I asked a question in Parliament.

KK: Ko Zin Zin Lwin, the Commerce Ministry announced an official ban on MLM on Sept. 18. What is your view as an opponent of MLM?

Zin Zin Lwin: MLM companies have existed in the country for more than 20 years. The first MLM companies opened in 1995, 1996. So it has been a long time. Many people have suffered from MLM in various ways. Some suffer financially. They are convinced by the incentives MLM marketers offer and buy large amounts of MLM products. Some suffer only slight financial losses. They only buy as much as they can sell to others. Other costs they have to bear are [transportation] the costs of going to [potential] buyers to sell the products, and the costs to attend [MLM] training classes. But those costs are relatively small.

When [MLM companies] apply for approval from the FDA, they describe their products as herbal supplement. Lately, the FDA released an official statement that [MLM companies] are not allowed to advertise that their products can heal or mitigate particular diseases. But then, along the way, 95 percent of MLM products have advertised that their products can heal or mitigate this or that disease. It is not bad if MLM marketers have legitimately studied human health for years. But the problem is that they sell after they have attended a few training sessions. As a result, many have suffered health problems. For example, some are allergic to particular substances. And we even saw some deaths as a result.

In order to sell their products, some MLM marketers say Western medicine has many side effects. So some patients stop using Western medicine and rely solely on MLM products. Their health deteriorates over time. Those who are on medication for high blood pressures and diabetes suffer most. So they suffer in terms of their health. And MLM has negative impacts on the education of youths.

[MLM companies] give the message to many youths that they don't need to complete their education and can become rich and successful even if they do not graduate. This message is very dangerous, and it should only be given carefully. There is a huge difference between saying "You can be successful if you have such or such qualifications even if you don't have a degree" and "You can be successful even if you don't have a degree." So this distracts youths from education. And they join a community that apparently is very enjoyable. On the surface, it is very enjoyable and exciting, and youths are therefore persuaded by it.

As my profession is teaching, I have more intense feelings about it. After many people have suffered from MLM, I think the government has taken about two years [to handle MLM] cases. Previously, it took action against two or three MLM companies. After you asked about MLM in Parliament in 2016, concerned departments have been investigating MLM. It imposed the ban two years after the anti-MLM campaign was launched. So we believe the government thought a lot before making the decision. I feel that it is the right decision for now.

KK: There are reports that MLM companies will be allowed back by the government to sell directly to customers. Do you think it is likely? We don't even have laws in place to control MLM. There is speculation that MLM may come back officially as a direct selling system despite the ban. What is your assessment of it?

AKKO: There was a call to allow direct selling after MLM was banned.The best thing the government could do is totally ban MLM while the education level of people is still low and information flow is still weak in the country. The time is not yet ripe to allow MLM. It should be allowed back only when the education level of people has improved, there is good flow of information, the FDA can properly examine [MLM products], and there are adequate rules and regulations. It should be allowed only when the government has laws and regulations to can prevent direct selling from reverting to MLM.

KK: Ko Zin Zin Win, many might have bought MLM products. The government banned it abruptly. Those in different levels of MLM might have bought many products. But companies said nothing about whether they will compensate them. What should be done to be fair to them?

ZZW: Companies should be responsible and accountable. They have reaped profits from their work for several years and some companies have reaped profits for more than 10 years. It is reasonable for them to spend from their own pockets and do something for them. They should release official statements and say that they will take back all the [unused] products. In so doing, they should place announcements in newspapers and make sure every member knows about it. Some companies only inform a few people perfunctorily just to defend themselves and make sure we can't complain.

They should make announcements on a wide scale that they will take back the products and also provide the rewards they promised. Some companies reportedly told their members that they don't need to provide rewards because the business is banned by the government. They shouldn't do that. They must provide the appropriate rewards. A few company unexpectedly said they would also compensate their members. It is a big local MLM company. It said so in order to protect its image as it is also engaged in other business. It said it would give three months' worth of bonuses as compensation to its members. So that company is being accountable and responsible.

We have stressed that people suffer [financial losses] not because the government has banned MLM, but because of MLM itself. So MLM companies should take responsibility. In fact they have already got a lot of money from their members. If they are considerate toward their members, they will be less impacted financially.

By nature, Myanmar people are shy and not willing to offend others. Especially those who are overwhelmingly influenced [by the incentives of MLM] may think that those products are great value for money. Such people will not return the products and ask for their money back. But a small number of people may finally see the light, and I hope they will boldly ask for their money back. But it is not easy for them to ask the companies directly. Companies will put pressure on them and hamper the recall process as much as they can. The members will not be able to bear it. They have asked us what they should do, and we tell them to talk directly to those companies. But they dare not. Most of them are concerned that the companies will hold grudges against them. I think the government will soon set up complaint centers regarding MLM. So it would be best for them to file complaints with those centers. The complaint centers will deal with the companies directly, so members need not worry about offending their companies.

KK: Do you think MLM should come back as it is or in a different form, or should it come to an end?

AKKO: Considering the current situation in Myanmar, MLM businesses should cease now. The rule of law is still weak and the judicial branch is paralyzed in the country. And laws are not being properly enforced. Under such conditions, it is impossible to properly regulate MLM businesses. It would be better to completely ban it.

KK: What is your take on this, Ko Zin Zin Lwin?

ZZL: I share the same view. It would be best to ban it given the current conditions. Let's take a look at the top MLM companies in the United States. Amway is the No.1 MLM company in the world and Herbalife is No. 3. They have to release official figures on their total number of members, the number of high-ranking members who have reached particular positions and their average incomes annually.

Taking a look at those figures, we found that at least 80 percent of members fail to cover the costs. In some companies, up to 99 percent of members can't break even. So you can see it is very bad even if it is allowed by law. Though the amount of loss is not that significant for people in [developed] countries like the United States, it is quit huge, I think, in the case of our country.

My point is MLM is a business disadvantageous to people even in countries where laws are effectively enforced. I would compare it to gambling. Legitimizing gambling might have the advantage of creating job opportunities, but its disadvantages outweigh the advantages. So while gambling is not yet legitimized, it is a good idea to ban MLM businesses for the time being.

If the products are really good, they can sell the products as they are, without giving false promises of their health benefits. I want them to clearly state the ingredients of the products on the label to make sure they don’t promise too much. People will notice if the products have labels in Burmese saying they are only intended as health supplements and cannot cure any medical condition. If companies promise too much of their products, they might face complaints later on. So it would be best to cease MLM in Myanmar right know.

AKKO: While the country is being rebuilt and undergoing a democratic transition, the resources of the country should be used only where necessary. Money should be spent only on procurement of technologies and building infrastructure. You will see at the markets and City Mart that there are hardly any locally manufactured products. The only locally manufactured product might be the plastic bag [used to pack imports]. Even fruits and flowers at the markets are imported from Thailand. Beauty products are also imported. If we always have to rely on imports, we will never be able to recover from the current situation. We should not waste our resources on unnecessary and unimportant things. I don't want US dollars to be spent on MLM products.

ZZL: MLM companies claim that there is a market that can't help using herbal supplements. I want health experts to discuss in public whether something can really happen to them if they stop using those herbal supplements, or if their health problems can be solved with Western medicine and scientific methods. Only health experts can convince them. We have locally produced herbal supplements produced by the FAME pharmaceutical company. But the prices of MLM herbal supplements are five times higher than those sold by FAME. So those who say they can't help using herbal supplements have two options. First, they can buy them from the [defunct MLM] companies, though I think the prices will still be high. Or they can use FAME products, whose prices and quality are reasonable. Or they should consult with health experts. They have been overwhelmingly swayed by MLM marketers. I would like to ask the health experts to come and talk for those who can't help using lingzhi, pollen, [weight-loss] coffee and so on. What they say would be much more effective.

KK: Thank you for your contributions!

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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