The Irrawaddy Magazine |
- Han Tin Swe’s First Solo Exhibition to Open Friday in Rangoon
- Lucky Numbers in the Quest for Peace
- Tour Operator Claims Wings Clipped by Burma Govt
- Burma Signs Trade Finance Agreement with ADB
- Battle for Singapore’s ‘Sandwich Class’ Vote Offers Underdog a Chance
- Two Pakistani Media Workers Shot Dead in Karachi in 24 Hours
- A Loose Cannon in the Indonesian Cabinet
- Almost $20b in Dirty Money Left Burma in Five Decades: Researchers
| Han Tin Swe’s First Solo Exhibition to Open Friday in Rangoon Posted: 10 Sep 2015 06:01 AM PDT Click to view slideshow. RANGOON — Han Tin Swe's first solo exhibition features over fifty works spanning more than thirty productive years on the Burmese art scene. Now in his mid-fifties, Han Tin Swe's large acrylic and water color paintings on canvas exhibit vibrant primary colors combined with strong design elements. Featuring the artist's early and more recent work, the exhibition showcases his artistic development and shifting style. Some works exhibit poster-like qualities whilst broader nontraditional landscapes bring together many of his favourite Burmese motifs: rivers, buffaloes, trees, a clear love of elephants and occasional Burmese traditional figures. His strong sense of balance, composition and design take the eye in creative and original directions, whilst invoking his own distinctive interpretations of Burmese culture and everyday life. The exhibition opens on Friday, Sept. 11 and runs until Sept. 16 at Pansodan Scene Gallery, 144 Pansodan Street, Rangoon. The post Han Tin Swe's First Solo Exhibition to Open Friday in Rangoon appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Lucky Numbers in the Quest for Peace Posted: 10 Sep 2015 05:32 AM PDT  Karen National Union chairman Mutu Sae Poe addresses a high-level meeting in Naypyidaw on Wednesday as President Thein Sein looks on. (Photo: Reuters) The latest high-level meeting on an elusive nationwide ceasefire began in Naypyidaw at 9 am on September 9. In attendance were nine government representatives and nine ethnic leaders. For a country where generals' edicts were often intimately tied to numerology and astrology, such numerical alignment is seldom dismissed as a mere triviality. The number nine, or Konawin in Burmese, and eleven, are important figures for those coveting success in their endeavors. A pertinent example is former dictator Gen Ne Win, who in 1987 abruptly ordered the introduction of 45 and 90 kyat banknotes—both amounts divisible by nine. "Nine is a lucky number," said well-known Burmese astrologist San Zarni Bo. "Anything done relating to the number nine would bring success," he said, explaining that the digit could signal something that was "everlasting." Number 11 was equally significant, the astrologist said, and known as the "master number." Is Burma's long and winding peace process itself influenced by the pull of superstition in numbers? Initially, only eight ethnic leaders were scheduled to represent ethnic armed groups at the meeting with the President in Burma's capital on Wednesday. But the ethnics' spokesperson Pu Zing Cung said an additional member was added from the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team, the ethnics' original negotiating bloc, in case any reviews to the ceasefire text were discussed or implemented. Any revisions to the text seemed unlikely, however, as the government had stated it would not countenance further changes to the document provisionally agreed on in March. During the negotiations on Wednesday, President Thein Sein proposed the date of September 29 to sign the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA). Seen through a numerologists' lens, the numbers two and nine add up to the portentous total of 11. Looking back to the beginning of the peace process, President Thein Sein first called for ethnic armed groups to take part in a national-level dialogue on August 18, 2011. This was followed by the formation of the government's "Union Peacemaking Central Committee," comprised of 11 members. While this may all be unintentional, the peace process has certainly not been without more obvious references to symbolism—a past signing date pushed by the president was Burma's Union Day on February 12. Hardheaded reality may now be more the order of the day, however, with the government desperate to officially conclude the agreement before the country's general election in November. Will They or Won't They? According to negotiators on both sides, Wednesday's meeting was a "success" and a deal is close. President Thein Sein pledged political and military guarantees for those groups outside the 15 accepted by Naypyidaw as signatories. Even one of the so-called hardline groups, the Kachin Independence Organization, has reportedly signaled its approval of the agreement. The group's vice-chairman, General N'Ban La, who is also chair of the United Nationalities Federal Council, attended the high-level dialogue for the first time. Since KIO leaders first became actively involved in the talks, the tardy process took on a more significant edge—particularly since the group's own 17-year ceasefire had broken down in June 2011, leading to serious fighting with government troops which remains ongoing. However, as prominent Kachin peace advocate Ja Nan points out, the peace process actually dates back to the 1980s, where various deals were struck with ethnic armed groups, some successful, others not. "Looking back at Burma's peace process, we should not just look at the period of this government," said Ja Nan, who is also a consultant to the ethnic groups, in a recent interview. The current process has deep roots and equally deeply-rooted ethnic grievances at its core. President's Office Director Zaw Htay wrote in an article for Burmese language newspaper "Democracy Today" on Thursday that to conclude the ceasefire is to guarantee political dialogue and the silencing of the guns. But the same government interlocutors who call for the signing of a ceasefire as soon as possible are simultaneously reluctant to accede to the ethnics' demand for an all-inclusive NCA—the key stumbling block remaining. Three groups outside the ceasefire process, the Ta'ang National Liberation Army, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and the Arakan Army issued a joint-statement on Thursday condemning ongoing army offensives, but maintaining their backing for an all-inclusive agreement. Even as negotiators met in Naypyidaw Wednesday, reports emerged of separate clashes this week in Shan and Kachin States involving the Shan State Army-South, the Ta'ang National Liberation Army and the Kachin Independence Army. Fighting is also recurrent in the Kokang Special Region involving the Burma Army and the Kokang group Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army. But in the peace negotiators' parlance, the process is always "moving forward" and talks "will continue," just as San Zarni Bo predicted last year. If negotiators listen to their superstitious side, perhaps a nationwide ceasefire may be signed on October 9. Provided it is signed at all. The post Lucky Numbers in the Quest for Peace appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Tour Operator Claims Wings Clipped by Burma Govt Posted: 10 Sep 2015 05:23 AM PDT  Aye Kyaw, managing director of Rubyland Tourism Services, at his office in Rangoon. (Photo: Kyaw Hsu Mon / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Aye Kyaw continues to do his job, facilitating clients' travel to, from and around Burma. The irony, for the managing director of Rubyland Tourism Services, is that last week he learned that he's been barred by the government from leaving the country himself. Tension is mounting between Aye Kyaw, the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism and other industry leaders, with the Rangoon-based tour operator saying he's being "made an example of," after he criticized the poor state of Burma's education system at a tourism forum overseas. In May, Aye Kyaw attended a training in Indonesia on tourism management and hospitality. The event was joined by one other member of the Union of Myanmar Travel Association (UMTA) and Ministry of Hotels and Tourism personnel. Aye Kyaw, attending in his capacity as a UMTA member, told The Irrawaddy that the two ministry officials on hand apparently did not take kindly to his negative remarks on Burma's education system, setting in motion his precipitous fall from grace within the country's booming tourism industry. A letter from the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism dated June 16 accuses Aye Kyaw of acting "selfishly" at the May training, in a manner unbecoming of a UMTA representative. Aye Kyaw's remarks "harmed the dignity of the country," the ministry said in the letter, which was headed with a call to action for its recipients, the UMTA and Myanmar Tourism Federation (MTF), urging them to "make an example" of him. The UMTA abided on July 16, removing Aye Kyaw from its executive committee. The MTF followed suit in a notification obtained by The Irrawaddy and dated Aug. 3, stating that Aye Kyaw had been placed on a "black list" four days earlier. The notification cited his behavior in Indonesia and noted his unceremonious exit from the UMTA executive committee, but did not elaborate on the implications of the blacklisting. And while he has known for more than a month of his dismissal from the UMTA, it was not until last Saturday that he discovered he has been banned from traveling outside the country, with immigration officials at Rangoon International Airport putting the kibosh on his planned trip to India. Aye Kyaw stands by his comments. "It's true that I've spoken critically about our country's education system and how it's been in a bad state since the Ne Win government came to power. But now the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism has reported me to the Ministry of Immigration, and I've been barred from traveling," he said. "What I said in Indonesia is true: Our education system is still bad. But the ministry has blamed me for this and has also convinced the MTF to blacklist me." But Aung Myat Kyaw, chairman of UMTA, told reporters on Wednesday that Aye Kyaw was terminated from his position for failing to abide by the association's rules. "We've received complaints from the Ministry of Tourism that U Aye Kyaw has not been performing up to standards, and so it [UMTA] decided to take action against U Aye Kyaw and to use him as an example," he said. Aung Myat Kyaw added that the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism had sent Aye Kyaw a voice recording of what he said during the training session, as well as a report by the ministry officials who were in attendance. The UMTA chairman said the association had also Aye Kyaw a letter in an attempt to resolve the problem before terminating Aye Kyaw's executive committee membership, but he allegedly did not respond. Attempts to reach a spokesperson from the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism were unsuccessful. While the blacklisting appears to have grounded the 65-year-old tourism industry veteran for now, Aye Kyaw said his company continues to operate without impediment, and according to Aung Myat Kyaw, his former executive committee seat has been left open for a replacement from Rubyland. "We told Aye Kyaw to submit another name for the position of board of directors for his company in order for it to remain a member of the UMTA," Aung Myat Kyaw said. The spat looks likely to escalate further, however, with Aye Kyaw filing a criminal complaint against the UMTA, which he has accused of embezzling some 14 million kyats in connection with an Asean tourism forum in Naypyidaw earlier this year. The UMTA denies any wrongdoing, with association secretary Tin Tun Aung saying it can provide evidence disproving the allegations. In the meantime, Aye Kyaw said he has another reason for needing to travel, this time reflective of the sorry state of Burma's health care system: "Because I've had a heart attack in the past, I go to Thailand to check up on my health. But I can't even look out for my health now because I've been banned from leaving Burma." The post Tour Operator Claims Wings Clipped by Burma Govt appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Burma Signs Trade Finance Agreement with ADB Posted: 10 Sep 2015 02:16 AM PDT  A CB Bank ATM in downtown Rangoon. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON – Burma's government signed a framework agreement with the Asian Development Bank on Wednesday that will allow the latter to introduce its Trade Finance Program (TFP) to the country. In a statement issued by the Manila-based institution on Wednesday, Maung Maung Thein, Burma's deputy finance minister, welcomed the program which he said will enhance "the capacity of partner banks to provide trade finance to Myanmar's importing and exporting clients." The agreement was signed by Maung Maung Thein and James Nugent, Director General of the Southeast Asia Department in the Asian Development Bank (ADB), on Wednesday in Naypyidaw. According to the ADB statement, under the agreement the group will assist local banks by providing credit facilities and technical assistance and guaranteeing "trade finance instruments, such as letters of credit" issued by the banks. The agreement also aims to assist local banks in developing relationships with their international counterparts and better utilizing trade finance tools. "Trade finance promotes trade and investment, and assists domestic Myanmar businesses to enter and compete in international markets," James Nugent said in the statement. Maung Maung Lay, vice-chairman of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, welcomed the agreement on Thursday, saying it could provide a welcome boost to many of the country's struggling small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). "Trade finance is very important for SMEs here. Even when they have plans and projects, without finance they have problems starting work. If banks and international institutions can support them, it will encourage their development," he said. In June, ADB organized a workshop in Rangoon in collaboration with the Myanmar Banks Association to address what it said was a lack of finance directed to SMEs, inhibiting their growth. "The sector has been hampered by a lack of access to finance, partly because of restrictive collateral requirements, but also because of a lack of capacity among local banks to assess and manage operational and credit risks for smaller businesses," it said in a statement at the time. SMEs still struggle to obtain loans from private banks in Burma, said Maung Maung Lay. "That's why trade finance is very important for this sector's development." In 2014, ADB approved US$246.4 million worth of loans, grants and technical assistance to Burma, according to a factsheet released by the group in April. The post Burma Signs Trade Finance Agreement with ADB appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Battle for Singapore’s ‘Sandwich Class’ Vote Offers Underdog a Chance Posted: 09 Sep 2015 09:05 PM PDT  Singaporeans attend an election campaign rally by the opposition Workers’ Party on Sunday. (Photo: Edgar Su / Reuters) SINGAPORE — The Workers’ Party of Singapore was once written off as too left wing for a country that had built its success on unabashed capitalism: to many, even its symbol of a bright yellow hammer on a red background looked just a sickle short of communism. But now, as this wealthy city-state heads into an election on Friday, the “WP” could be about to give the People’s Action Party (PAP) its stiffest competition yet in 50 years of uninterrupted and virtually unchallenged rule. That could put pressure on the newly elected government to focus more on social welfare and to restrict the flow of foreign workers, who it says are needed to underpin growth as the population greys and the workforce shrinks. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s party will win the lion’s share of parliament’s 89 seats, no one doubts that. For one thing, the WP is only fielding candidates for 28 seats. Still, the Workers’ Party is hoping that its parliament tally will jump into double figures from just seven now after a shift to the centre, where it appeals to a “sandwich class” of swing voters feeling squeezed by high prices and competition for jobs as growth slows. A WP campaign rally on a field beside public housing blocks this week had the air of a genteel evening get-together rather than a meeting of opposition hotheads. Grey-haired men and women on foldable chairs chatted as young office workers munched on snacks, college students huddled and giggled, and mothers chased toddlers running amok. The PAP itself has inched to the left to avoid losing the support of such people, dishing out more on healthcare, the elderly and low paid since its share of the popular vote tumbled to a record low of 60.1 percent in the 2011 election. It is under Secretary-General Low Thia Khiang that the Workers’ Party has picked on the PAP’s most exposed flank. “The Workers’ Party will represent you in a manner befitting a rational, responsible and respectable political party,” Low told the rally in a measured speech that might have made his more combative predecessors blanche. “We believe that parliament is not a place for MPs to roar at one another, it is a platform for dignified and civilised discussions.” The WP says its stronger voice in parliament—in 2011 six of its members were elected and one more won in a by-election two years later—has already forced the government to become more welfarist and curb the flow of foreign workers, whom many blame for taking jobs, depressing wages and pushing up prices. “It is impossible for a party to do checks on itself,” said a man in his 50s at the rally who gave his family name as Goh. “The changes in policies in the past few years took place largely due to the presence of opposition. We can’t put all the eggs in one basket, and we need to send more blue eggs into parliament,” he said, referring to the Workers’ Party signature blue-collar colour. Besides calling for a more diverse legislature, the Workers’ Party campaigns for minimum wages and making healthcare and public housing more affordable. That resonates with the “sandwich class”, which sprang up as Singapore’s growth-at-all-costs narrative wore thin. “Singapore is still a good place to live, but the cost of living is very high and it is hard for us in the sandwich class to catch up,” said 37-year-old Elena Foo, who joined the Workers’ Party rally but was still undecided on her vote. Founded in 1957, the WP has seen a string of illustrious leaders, including J.B. Jeyaretnam, the first opposition politician in post-independence Singapore to win a parliament seat and a fierce critic of its steely co-founder, Lee Kuan Yew. In the 1980s and 1990s, its leaders faced crippling legal challenges from the ruling party, including one that led to Jeyaretnam’s bankruptcy. Under Low, however, the party has moved away from its combustible old days and now woos a middle ground where voters are more worried about bread-and-butter issues than principles such as freedom of speech and right of assembly. “The WP has astutely stayed focused on the swing voters: the middle 50 percent who used to vote PAP still want the PAP in government, but also want more opposition as a check and balance,” said Cherian George, author of “Singapore: The Air-Conditioned Nation” and an associate professor at the department of journalism at Hong Kong Baptist University. “This has clearly paid off. Opposition parties that are more strident may appeal to hardcore anti-PAP segments, but come across to crucial swing voters as too extreme.” The post Battle for Singapore’s 'Sandwich Class' Vote Offers Underdog a Chance appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Two Pakistani Media Workers Shot Dead in Karachi in 24 Hours Posted: 09 Sep 2015 08:50 PM PDT  Relatives mourn the death of Pakistani journalist Aftab Alam, who was killed by unidentified gunmen, outside a hospital morgue in Karachi on Wednesday. (Photo: Akhtar Soomro / Reuters) KARACHI — Gunmen in Pakistan shot dead a journalist on Wednesday, police said, less than 24 hours after a technician working for the country’s most popular news channel was killed in a similar attack. It was unclear who was behind the shootings in the southern port city of Karachi, or if they were linked. Police said bullet casings in the attack on the technician matched those from the recent murders of four policemen. “Journalists are being continuously targeted,” said Amin Yousaf of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists. “It’s time authorities do something instead of just giving lip-service to the issue.” Pakistan ranks among the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists, with 14 recorded deaths in 2014, the International Federation of Journalists has said. Militant violence and crime are common in the financial hub of Karachi, which is home to 20 million people, the country’s stock exchange and central bank. The military launched a crackdown two years ago on armed gangs and suspected militants in Karachi, but a recent spate of attacks has raised questions about its effectiveness. Police said Aftab Alam, the journalist killed on Wednesday, was on his way to pick up his children from school when he was attacked. “As Aftab Alam came out of his house, two men on motorbikes fired shots at him and escaped from the scene,” Feroz Shah, a senior police officer told Reuters. A former business reporter at news channel Geo News, Alam was unemployed at the time of his death. Last year, Hamid Mir, the anchor of a top Geo political talk show, was shot and injured in Karachi, just weeks after television anchor Raza Rumi survived an attack in the eastern city of Lahore in which his driver died. The Taliban, holed up in mountains on the Afghan border, have made repeated threats against reporters for portraying the insurgency in a negative light. But the security forces and political parties have also been linked to the murders of some journalists. The post Two Pakistani Media Workers Shot Dead in Karachi in 24 Hours appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| A Loose Cannon in the Indonesian Cabinet Posted: 09 Sep 2015 08:41 PM PDT  Indonesia's President Joko Widodo listens to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's speech at the 17th ASEAN-Japan Summit in Naypyidaw, November 12, 2014. (Photo: Damir Sagolj / Reuters) JAKARTA — As Indonesian President Joko Widodo was preparing on Wednesday to present a grand package of measures aimed at restoring investors' faith in the competence of his government, one of his ministers stepped in and spoilt it all. Rizal Ramli, who told Reuters this week that perhaps he is too outspoken, suddenly announced in parliament that fuel pipeline and storage projects worth US$7.4 billion had been dropped because they were no longer a priority. Within hours, the cabinet secretary had contradicted him, reinforcing an impression that Widodo's ministers are out of tune with each other and unable to sound united on policy. Ramli, 60, is no faint-heart: as a student, he was jailed for leading a rally against authoritarian leader Suharto. "Wherever I go I change the system. I'm a transformer," he said in an interview on Sunday at his house in South Jakarta, where a large bust of Albert Einstein sits at the entrance. "But there are so many people who don't like me because I'm too candid. I say what is on my mind," he said. Widodo brought Ramli in as one of six new cabinet ministers last month, hoping to streamline a muddled policymaking process after disappointing many who saw his election last year as a chance to break from a succession of feckless governments. But Ramli has only caused more confusion since he took the portfolios of maritime affairs and resources. First, he drew a rare rebuke from Widodo, who told him to voice his concerns privately after he had openly criticized Vice President Jusuf Kalla. He also denounced plans by national airline PT Garuda Indonesia Tbk to buy 30 Airbus jets with $44.5 billion in loans: the state-owned enterprises minister told him to back off. Then, this week, he threw into doubt the president's signature $73 billion plan to give the country an additional 35,000 megawatts of power capacity within five years, saying that less than half of the target could be achieved by 2019. The oil minister, who reports to Ramli, subsequently said there would be no change to the programme. Again, on this issue, he locked horns with the vice president. Warfare Within "Ramli likes making a racket," vice presidential spokesman Husain Abdullah said. "Rather than helping the government, he makes things more complicated." Ramli, who holds a doctorate from Boston University and was twice a minister under a former president, is known for strident and often nationalistic views on the economy—though he insists that he is no enemy of the financial markets. Seen as close to Luhut Pandjaitan, one of Widodo's key advisers, he was handed one of the most powerful positions in the cabinet that bundled under him the ministries of energy, transport and tourism. Explaining himself in parliament on Wednesday, Ramli said that his "noise" was not intended to unsettle investors, who in fact prefer openness to a pretence of harmony that disguises corruption, collusion and nepotism. However, the Jakarta-based Concord Consulting Group said the outspoken minister had brought open warfare into the heart of Widodo's administration that may be difficult to root out. "Unless he is prepared to lose a great deal of face, the president is unlikely to dump a senior minister he appointed only a few weeks ago," it said. The post A Loose Cannon in the Indonesian Cabinet appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Almost $20b in Dirty Money Left Burma in Five Decades: Researchers Posted: 09 Sep 2015 08:30 PM PDT  A man counts US dollars and Burmese kyats at a money changer in Rangoon on March 21, 2012. (Photo: Reuters) KUALA LUMPUR — Almost US$20 billion in dirty money linked to corruption, crime and tax evasion has left Burma in the past five decades, slashing government revenue and driving a thriving underground economy, a money-laundering watchdog said on Wednesday. Fraudulent invoicing of trade deals and physical smuggling of drugs, timber, gems and other goods pose big challenges to Burma, which will hold its first general election next month since the end of military rule, US-based Global Financial Integrity said in a report. Illicit financial inflows have accelerated in the past few years as the economy has opened up, and over the past five decades were four times as big as outflows, it said. "Myanmar [Burma] must be one of the most porous countries in the world," GFI economist Joseph Spanjers, the report's co-author, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "It is a serious challenge for the country as tax losses due to illicit flows are robbing it of crucial public funds." Long isolation and trade restrictions during the nearly 50-year-long reign of a military government until 2011 and attempts to regulate currency exchange rates have combined to drive a substantial part of Burma's economy underground, GFI said. The Southeast Asian country, one of the poorest in the region, is not alone in grappling with the negative impacts of illicit financial flows. GFI estimates almost $1 trillion in dirty money leaves poor nations each year, an outflow that has grabbed the attention of anti-poverty groups and world leaders because, by cutting tax revenue needed to fund areas such as health and education, it has a corrosive impact on development. Illicit financial flows from Burma totaled $18.7 billion from 1960 to 2013, averaging 6.5 percent of the country's annual economic output, GFI said. In the same period $77.7 billion of illicit money entered Burma, an inflow typical of countries where smuggling is a major part of the economy. Total illicit financial flows were the equivalent of up to 172 percent of health expenditure and up to 73 percent of education spending, the researchers found, showing how both movements of money deprive the government of crucial tax revenue. Burma's tax collection rates are among the lowest in the world at 7 percent of economic output. GFI said its figures for illicit flows of money are likely to underestimate the amounts relating to drug trafficking and trade in goods subject to international sanctions. The underground economy accounted for an average of about 55 percent of economic output during the period covered in the report, one of the highest in the world, GFI said. Spanjers said the fact that about 30 percent of the tax loss happened in the last four years of the study was troubling. In 2013 alone, unregulated financial inflows totaled some $10 billion, more than 20 percent of GDP. "It indicates that some individuals have been taking advantage of increased economic openness for personal gain, at the expense of the rest of the country," he said. GFI said it was crucial that Burma improve its financial transparency, as well as data collection and quality, including moving toward real-time world market pricing to curtail trade mis-invoicing. The government was unavailable for comment. The post Almost $20b in Dirty Money Left Burma in Five Decades: Researchers appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
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