The Irrawaddy Magazine |
- Wild Boars Coach ‘Ake’ and Resourceful Young Team Member Emerge as Heroes of Thai Cave Saga
- Charges Against Reporters Meant to Muzzle Press
- All 13 Rescued From Flooded Thai Cave: Navy SEAL Unit
- Myanmar’s Foreign Debt — The Big Picture
- Tatmadaw Attacks RCSS Location in Mong Kung on Eve of Peace Conference
- Doctors Say 8 Tham Luang Survivors in Good Health
- Tenth Person Rescued from Thai Cave on Third Day of Operation
- 50 Dead in Accidents on Yangon-Mandalay Hwy in First Half of 2018
- Ethnic Armed Leaders to Meet State Counselor, Army Chief in Hope of Peace Process Breakthrough
- Artists Reflect on Myanmar Post Independence
- Rescuers Search for Survivors After Japan Floods Kill at Least 126
- Tham Luang Cave Ordeal Puts Spotlight on Thai Media
- Ten Things to Do in Yangon This Week
- Rescuers Gear Up for Final Push to Save Remaining Five from Thai Cave
| Wild Boars Coach ‘Ake’ and Resourceful Young Team Member Emerge as Heroes of Thai Cave Saga Posted: 10 Jul 2018 08:11 AM PDT YANGON — When they were located 10 days after going missing inside a flooded cave in northern Thailand, the young Thai soccer team had one question: What was happening at the World Cup? The young footballers asked one Thai Navy SEAL, who had swam through the cave's flooded chambers to reach them, for an update on the tournament in Russia, The Wall Street Journal reported. "I told them that the high-profile teams had gone home," the SEAL was quoted as saying by The Wall Street Journal. The boys laughed when he told them, "It's only you who are still standing." The 12 boys and their soccer coach went missing on June 23 when they set out to explore the Tham Luang cave in Thailand's Chiang Rai province after soccer practice. After they entered, rains flooded the cave, trapping them for two weeks. The last of the 13 were rescued from the cave on Tuesday. Despite being lost on a small, muddy bank surrounded by floodwaters in darkness deep underground for 10 days, the boys, aged 11 to 16, remained in high spirits and mentally strong enough to still be curious about the World Cup. The only adult in the group of boys, 25-year-old assistant coach Ekkapol Chanthawong, known to his friends as "Ake", has been credited with keeping the boys alive while the cave ordeal riveted the world. According to local media, the boys told their rescuers that Ake had told them not to move around too much to conserve energy, and taught them meditation techniques to stay calm. Ake, a student from Myanmar who had moved to Thailand, spent most of the past decade as a novice in a Buddhist monastery. Orphaned at the age of 10, The Washington Post reported that he left the monastery to care for his ailing grandmother in Mae Sai, northern Thailand, and was later hired by the Wild Boars football team's head coach to train the boys in daily practice sessions. "He loved them more than himself," longtime friend Joy Khampai was quoted as saying in The Washington Post. When the rescue divers found the group, Ake was among the weakest, in part because he gave the boys his share of the limited food and water they had with them in the early days. When they ran out of water, he warned the boys not to drink the muddy floodwaters and instead to sip water dripping from the cave. Each had a flashlight, which Ake had reminded them to bring before they met on July 23 for their trip to the cave. He told the boys not to use their flashlights at the same time, to conserve batteries. "I know him, and I know he will blame himself," Joy said. "To all the parents, all the kids are still fine. I promise to take the very best care of the kids," Ake said in a note given to a diver on Friday, and published on the Thai Navy SEALs' Facebook page on Saturday. "Thank you for all the moral support and I apologize to the parents," he wrote. The younger boys also sent a letter to their families, telling them, "We are strong. We want to go home." While Ake has been praised for helping the boys stay strong and survive in the darkness, others have blamed him for taking the boys on an outing to the caves during the monsoon season, a decision that eventually saw them get trapped inside. But parents of the trapped younger boys refused to criticize him. They urged Ake not to blame himself and thanked him for looking after their boys.  Along with the coach, another member of the group the public has learned something about is 14-year-old Adun Sam-on, a.k.a Aik Lu. He was the one who communicated with the British divers who first discovered the group on July 2. In footage broadcast after the boys were found, he asks the divers, "What day is it?" and tells them they are hungry. U Go Shin Maung of Mae Sai Grace Church, which Aik Lu has called home for most of his life, told The Irrawaddy that he was born in Thailand to ethnic Wa parents from Myanmar's Wa self-administered region. Aik Lu's parents left him in northern Thailand so that he could get a better education. U Go Shin Maung described him as an "ambitious boy" and an all-around athlete who also plays violin, piano and guitar. He said Aik Lu speaks English, Thai, Burmese and Chinese — which he learned at the church. The young Aik Lu helped do chores at the church when he returned from school and would always ask for permission before going out for football training. He said Aik Lu was the boy whose behavior he always held up as a model for the other children at the church. "He is a talented boy. He never wastes his time and is always doing something that's good for him," he said. As of Tuesday evening, all 12 boys and the coach had been safely led out of the cave. Thai authorities confirmed that all 13 were safe. The post Wild Boars Coach ‘Ake’ and Resourceful Young Team Member Emerge as Heroes of Thai Cave Saga appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Charges Against Reporters Meant to Muzzle Press Posted: 10 Jul 2018 07:18 AM PDT The Yangon Northern District Court's decision on Monday to charge two Reuters reporters for breaching the Official Secrets Act for allegedly obtaining secret government documents is a clear sign that press freedom in Myanmar is dangerously on the wane. The reporters were charged with violating Section 3 [1] [c] of the colonial-era law, which carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison. They denied the allegations and told the court that they were simply doing their jobs as reporters. They said they neither collected nor copied the documents as accused. In other words, they were charged because they did what journalists are supposed to do: investigate issues that people should know about. If that is the case, every reporter in Myanmar who takes independent journalism seriously is now vulnerable. If you are digging into something relating to someone in power or involving the military, as Ko Wa Lone and Ko Kyaw Soe Oo were, you are at risk of a prison term. The charge against the two Reuters reporters is a bad omen for other journalists who are dedicating their lives and time to exposing things that some people don't want revealed. Besides the Reuters case, Myanmar saw at least six local journalists detained last year under a government led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy, including one of The Irrawaddy’s own. They were sued for venturing into restive ethnic minority areas to report on drug eradication, writing and publishing a satirical article about a local government, and defaming an ultra-nationalist monk (five of them have had their cases dropped; only Myanmar Now editor Ko Swe Sin is still on trial in a case brought by the monk’s supporters). We journalists condemn this trend, as we see it, as an attempt to muzzle us. Amnesty International said charging the Reuters reporters under the draconian law was a sign that authorities were intent on silencing critical voices. "It also serves notice to other journalists working in the country that speaking out comes with serious consequences," said Tirana Hassan, the rights group’s director of crisis response. From a legal point of view, the prosecution has failed to provide credible evidence of any wrongdoing over six months of hearings. A police lieutenant who was part of the team that arrested the reporters gave a location for the arrest that was contrary to a map of the arrest site previously produced by police and entered into evidence. Another police officer who was part of the arrest team told the court that he had burned the notes he made at the time; he did not say why. More importantly, a police whistleblower who said the arrest was a setup was swiftly convicted and sentenced to a year in prison for having a meeting with the reporters. In short, it was disappointing, as defense lawyer U Than Zaw Aung put it, to see them charged with no solid evidence. It's no wonder the International Commission of Jurists, following Monday’s decision, said the case “significantly undermines the government's stated commitments to reforming and building public confidence in [the] judicial process.” For the country as a whole, it's a shame to see the reporters behind bars for their investigation, especially with a democratically elected government in power. For Ko Wa Lone and Ko Kyaw Soe Oo, the truth will eventually prevail. But for the moment it is painful for all of us, and for their families, to see the reporters in handcuffs — an image that says Myanmar’s democratic government is allergic to the norms of press freedom. The post Charges Against Reporters Meant to Muzzle Press appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| All 13 Rescued From Flooded Thai Cave: Navy SEAL Unit Posted: 10 Jul 2018 05:34 AM PDT CHIANG RAI, Thailand — All 12 boys and their football coach trapped for more than two weeks deep inside a flood Thai cave have been rescued, a Thai navy SEAL unit said on Tuesday, a successful end to a perilous mission that has gripped the world. “The 12 Wild Boars and coach have emerged from the cave and they are safe,” the Thai navy SEAL unit said on its official Facebook page. The Wild Boars football team and their coach got trapped on June 23 while exploring the cave complex in the northern province of Chiang Rai after football practice and a rainy season downpour flooded the tunnels. British divers found the 13, hungry and huddled in darkness on a muddy bank in a partly flooded chamber several kilometers inside the complex, on Monday last week. After pondering for days how to get the 13 out, a rescue operation was launched on Sunday when four of the boys were brought out, tethered to rescue divers. Another four were rescued on Monday and the last four boys and the coach were brought out on Tuesday. Celebrations will be tinged with sadness over the loss of a former Thai navy diver who died last Friday while on a re-supply mission inside the cave in support of the rescue. The post All 13 Rescued From Flooded Thai Cave: Navy SEAL Unit appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Myanmar’s Foreign Debt — The Big Picture Posted: 10 Jul 2018 05:28 AM PDT YANGON — Myanmar has total foreign debts of over USD9.1 billion, and almost half of that is owed to China, according to data from a Union Parliament committee. According to the Joint Bill Committee's Statement No. (1) 2018, almost half of the debt, or USD4.27 billion, was acquired before 1988. The country borrowed a further USD3.3 billion between fiscal 1988-89 and 2010-11, and another $1.5 billion in 2012. Myanmar's debt-to-GDP ratio is about 16 percent. China is the biggest lender; Myanmar owes more than $3.8 billion to China, compared to $2.1 billion to Japan. Under the National League for Democracy in fiscal 2016-17, the government contracted 14 loan agreements with five international organizations with repayment periods of 20 to 40 years and interest rates of 0.01 to 1.5 percent. The government borrowed USD404.809 million from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to implement five projects, USD1,115.761 million from the Japan International Cooperation Agency to implement six projects, and USD193.497 million from the International Development Association (IDA) to implement one project. During that fiscal year, Myanmar received the highest number of loans from Japan. Explore the following Irrawaddy Story Map Infographics to see who Myanmar's top creditors are. Top lenders to Myanmar Major loan recipients According to the Union Parliament's Joint Bill Committee, the Ministry of Electricity and Energy receives 32.53 percent of the loans, followed by the Ministry of Planning and Finance with 23.38 percent. Explore the following chart to see what proportion of total lending the various recipients receive. The post Myanmar's Foreign Debt — The Big Picture appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Tatmadaw Attacks RCSS Location in Mong Kung on Eve of Peace Conference Posted: 10 Jul 2018 04:26 AM PDT MON STATE — The Myanmar Army attacked a base of the RCSS/SSA-South in Shan State's Mong Kung Township on Monday after warning the group to go back to its old base, according to local sources. At noon, the Myanmar Army (or Tatmadaw)'s Light Infantry Battalion 569 launched an hour-long attack on the RCSS base, located in a forested area outside of the town. "They came to attack our base," said Lieutenant-Colonel Sai Oo, a spokesperson from the RCSS. He said he had not yet received a ground report from his troops regarding casualties from yesterday's fighting. The Myanmar Army warned RCSS troops to return to their old bases from new areas in southern Shan that the Tatmadaw claims are not included in the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA). More Myanmar Army troops have been deployed in RCSS areas recently, and the Tatmadaw has engaged in some large troop movements according to the RCSS. Yesterday's attack by the Myanmar Army was related to their warning from last week, according to the spokesperson. The RCSS is among 10 ethnic armed groups that have signed the NCA in an effort to work with the government to establish peace in the country. However, tensions between the Myanmar Army and the RCSS are currently high. According to Lt-Col Sai Oo, however, future developments "depend entirely on the Tatmadaw." He said the RCSS would try its best to resolve armed conflict through political dialogue as part of the ongoing peace process in the country. "We have to fight back against them sometimes, as we cannot avoid their attacks. For our part, we will try our best to resolve political conflict in a peaceful way," said Lt-Col Sai Oo. With regard to the Myanmar Army's warning to the RCSS to go back to its old bases, Lt-Col Sai Oo said that his troops are based solely in Shan State. "Our troops were in the existing places, they were only in Shan State. Our troops did not move into other ethnic states," he said. The Myanmar Army and the RCSS have signed a bilateral agreement to establish a recognized border between their areas of control, but since the signing of the NCA, no action has been take to delineate the border. By warning it to return to its former areas, the Tatmadaw may be referring to Loi Tai Leng, where the RCSS has its headquarters. "The RCSS has not set border line control areas. But they may want all of us to go back to stay at our headquarters," he said. The Myanmar government will begin holding the third 21st Century Panglong Peace Conference in Naypyitaw on Wednesday. The government has invited all ethnic armed groups that signed the NCA, along with some that have not yet signed, to attend the conference. However, ethnic armed groups and political parties will not be able to discuss certain key political issues at the peace conference. Among the topics they will discuss are gender issues, such as how to achieve a 30 percent participation rate for women in politics. Regarding the issue of the right to secede from the Union, the ethnic armed groups and the Myanmar Army are at a disagreement. The Tatmadaw wants ethnic groups to promise they will never seek secession. However, the ethnic armed groups disagree with this, fearing that making this concession will leave them vulnerable to rights abuses by the Myanmar Army. The Tatmadaw has refused to discuss self-determination as a federal issue at the conference if the ethnic armed groups do not make the promise. The post Tatmadaw Attacks RCSS Location in Mong Kung on Eve of Peace Conference appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Doctors Say 8 Tham Luang Survivors in Good Health Posted: 10 Jul 2018 04:20 AM PDT The first eight members of the Moo Pa Academy soccer team who have been brought out of Tham Luang cave in northern Thailand are in good health, though two of them have developed symptoms of lung infections, Public Health Permanent Secretary Jesada Chokdamrongkul said on Tuesday morning. Speaking at a press conference in the presence of a team of doctors at Chiang Rai Prachanukroh Hospital, he said the first four members of the team, aged 14 to 16, were admitted to the hospital at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday. They had low body temperatures and had to be warmed up with warming blankets. A chest X-ray showed that two of them might have lung infections, probably because they had been confined in an area with high moisture and because they had to dive for four to six hours on the way out of the cave. One of them had bruises on his right leg. But by this morning none of them had a fever and they were able to eat normally. On Monday night they were allowed to see their relatives through glass from a sealed room. The four boys in the second group of survivors, aged 12 to 14, who arrived at the hospital on Monday, were also found to have low body temperatures. One of them had a low heartbeat, but it returned to normal after treatment. One of them had scratches in his right foot. By this morning their fevers had disappeared. They appeared fresh and were able to communicate normally. Doctors began to give them some normal food. Jesada said the Chiang Rai Prachanukroh Hospital was prepared to provide treatment in every field because it was well equipped and had a strong team of doctors. He said the boys’ treatment was not hampering the normal medical services of the hospital. The post Doctors Say 8 Tham Luang Survivors in Good Health appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Tenth Person Rescued from Thai Cave on Third Day of Operation Posted: 10 Jul 2018 03:29 AM PDT CHIANG RAI, Thailand — A tenth person was rescued on Tuesday from a flooded Thai cave complex where 12 boys and their soccer coach were trapped for more than two weeks, raising hopes all 13 would be out by the end of the day. A Reuters witness saw two people being carried out of the Tham Luang cave on stretchers. They were the first two to be taken out on Tuesday, the third day of the rescue operation. Eight of the boys were brought out on stretchers over the first two days – four on Sunday and four on Monday. Officials were not immediately available to comment on who had been brought out. The head of the operation, Narongsak Osottanakorn, said earlier the final operation would be “more challenging” because one more survivor would be brought out, along with three Navy SEALs who have been accompanying them. The rescuers have been learning from experience and were two hours faster in bringing the second batch of survivors out on Monday. However, scattered monsoon rains continued to risk percolating through the limestone cave walls to flood the tunnels with fast-flowing water. “I hope today we will be faster or the same speed as yesterday,” Narongsak said. A crack team of foreign divers and Thai Navy SEALS has been guiding the boys out through nearly 4 km (2.5 miles) of sometimes submerged, pitch-dark channels. The “Wild Boars” soccer team and their coach got trapped on June 23 when they set out to explore the vast cave complex after soccer practice, when a rainy season downpour flooded the tunnels. British divers found the 13, huddled on a muddy bank in a partly flooded chamber several kilometers inside the complex, on Monday last week. The eight boys brought out on Sunday and Monday were in good health overall and some asked for chocolate bread for breakfast, officials said. Two of the boys had suspected lung infections but the four boys from the first group rescued were all walking around their hospital beds. They are still being quarantined from their parents because of the risk of infection and would likely be kept in hospital for a week to undergo tests, officials said. Four more of the boys were carried on stretchers out of the labyrinthine Tham Luang cave on the Myanmar border at dusk on Monday, bringing to eight the number brought out after two rescue pushes on successive days. People across Thailand, and the world, have cheered the rescue operation, including at the Mae Sai Prasitsart school where six of the trapped boys are students. Technology billionaire Elon Musk went into the cave on Monday and left the rescue team with a “kid-sized” submarine his company SpaceX had built, Thailand’s interior Minister Anupong Paochinda said. Musk said on Twitter: “Just returned from Cave 3. Mini-sub is ready if needed. It is made of rocket parts & named Wild Boar after kids’ soccer team. Leaving here in case it may be useful in the future.” The post Tenth Person Rescued from Thai Cave on Third Day of Operation appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| 50 Dead in Accidents on Yangon-Mandalay Hwy in First Half of 2018 Posted: 10 Jul 2018 02:30 AM PDT NAYPYITAW — Fifty people died and 490 were injured in traffic accidents on the Yangon-Mandalay Highway from January through June, according to highway traffic police. There were a total of 232 road accidents in the first half of 2018, and as in previous years most involved private cars, traffic police said. Last year, the highway saw a total of 555 road accidents in which 116 people were killed and 863 were injured, a decline from 2016, which saw 774 road accidents in which 170 died and 1,304 were injured. "Speeding remains the main cause of road accidents," officer Soe Win of the highway traffic police told The Irrawaddy. As of June 1, 2017, drivers and passengers traveling the highway in either private vehicles or express buses must wear seat belts. More than 20,000 vehicles ply the roughly 644-km highway daily and there are about seven road accidents a day, said the highway traffic police. The highway connects the country’s commercial hub, Yangon, with its administrative capital, Naypyitaw, and second-largest city, Mandalay. It came into service in 2009 and has been dubbed the “death highway” due to the high number of accidents. In November, Deputy Construction Minister U Kyaw Lin told reporters that the Asian Development Bank had offered to provide a loan of more than $100 million to upgrade the route. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko. The post 50 Dead in Accidents on Yangon-Mandalay Hwy in First Half of 2018 appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Ethnic Armed Leaders to Meet State Counselor, Army Chief in Hope of Peace Process Breakthrough Posted: 10 Jul 2018 02:20 AM PDT NAYPYITAW — Key leaders of seven ethnic armed groups based along Myanmar's northern border will meet State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Myanmar Army Chief Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing, spokesperson of the President's Office U Zaw Htay told reporters on Monday in Naypyitaw. The government is negotiating for decision makers from these groups to come and talk with government leaders in the hope of a breakthrough, he said. Vice Presidents of the United Wa State Army (UWSA) Bao You Xiang and Zhao Guo An, General Say Htin of the Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army(SSPP/SSA), Khu Oo Reh of the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), General Gun Maw of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), and key leaders of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), and Arakan Army (AA) will reportedly come for talks. The Chinese government has brokered the talks and also arranged a flight for the ethnic delegation. The Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC), which comprises the seven ethnic armed groups, will release a statement about the meeting, according to sources close to the groups. "I am sure key leaders will come for talks," said U Maung Maung Soe, an ethnic affairs analyst. According to sources close to the government, the State Counselor is likely to hold two separate talks—one with a delegation from the UWSA, KIO, SSPP and NDAA, and another with the MNDAA, AA and TNLA. The army chief is likely to hold three separate talks—one with the UWSA, NDAA and SSPP, the second with the KIO alone, and the third with the MNDAA, AA and TNLA. "We have requested that decision makers of those groups come because we want to hold direct talks. The State Counselor and Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services will meet them if key leaders come," said U Zaw Htay. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi met leaders of those seven ethnic armed groups in May last year. The meeting, however, focused on building ties rather than the details of the peace process. After a lengthy delay, the third round of the 21st Century Panglong Conference will be held from July 11 to 16 in Naypyitaw. However, there are questions about the sincerity of the conference as topics regarding self-determination and equality are barred from discussion. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko. The post Ethnic Armed Leaders to Meet State Counselor, Army Chief in Hope of Peace Process Breakthrough appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Artists Reflect on Myanmar Post Independence Posted: 10 Jul 2018 01:04 AM PDT An ongoing art exhibition called “Seven Decades” features old and new works of 18 artists reflecting on important moments throughout the 70 years since Myanmar gained independence. The exhibition was curated by the performance artist and former political activist Htein Lin. It opened last Saturday at the historic Secretariat building — where some of the fathers of Myanmar’s independence were assassinated in 1947 — with support from the Pyinsa Rasa art group. Myanmar gained independence in 1948. Htein Lin invited artists to look back on the past seven decades and portray them through their art. Artists have experienced a lot in Myanmar's post-independence period, said Htein Lin. The exhibit features 18 artists: San Minn, Sun Myint, Win Pe, Chaw Ei Thein, Sonny Nyein, Maung Di, Phyu Mon, San Oo, Chan Aye, Wah Nu, Kyi Wynn, Pe Maung Same, Aung Myint, Sandar Khine, MPP Ye Myint, Ma Thanegi, Aye Ko and Ngu Eain Htet Myet. Most of the artwork is political and seeing it in the Secretariat make it even more special. The artists use various mediums including wood installations, paintings, videos, cartoons, mixed media and more. Here are some works featured in the exhibition.  The Unfinished By Aye Ko Aye Ko engraved the names of students who participated in strikes over generations and left space to add future student activists.  "Looking back at the history of Myanmar, it is students who battled to advance democracy and knock down the ruthless military. I created this piece with the belief that students – the fundamental devotees – will continue to fight for true democracy and remember the sacrifices of those who came before them."  The Readers by Sandar Khaing This 3D installation by Sandar Khaing is a mixed media installation using bamboo, newspaper and wood. This is her first 3D piece. The idea came from the 2015 Letpadaung student strike. During the strike, the artist noticed a demand for newspapers and journals to follow what was happening. She began including her naked portrait drawings (which she is known for) in these journals.  Martyrs by Sonny Nyein Metal, Sound, Light and Fan, a mixed media installation by Sonny Nyein, fit perfectly in the space. Sonny Nyein is known for his metal sculpture work, which he has been doing for decades. His piece is a memorial, constructed of nine metal plates resembling Gen Aung San and his fellow martyrs who lost their lives at the Secretariat in 1947. The piece utilizes the sound of footsteps and gunfire. Being transported back to the day of their assassination elicited a very emotional response. In his work, the artist expresses his belief that the bullets that were shot that day still fly over Myanmar and his hope for peace.  In Isolation by San Min This architectural mixed media model by San Min is part of his "Prison Series," which explores how his experiences as a political prisoner showed him the value of freedom. Onlookers can see his detail in the small Insein Prison model and feel how he felt at the same time.  Cancer 1,2,3,4 by M.P.P Ye Myint "Cancer 1,2,3,4" is mixed media on canvas by M.P.P Ye Myint. The artist highlighted these numbers as the lottery became widely popular along with economic decline in 1988. Another piece of his utilizes the socialist flag and old currency, expressing that the withdrawal of the old currency by the socialist government left the people in poverty.  Waiting Together by San Oo This is a piece of San Oo's from 2015. When he created it, he missed a chance at showing it because of the difficulties of bringing it to the 20th floor of Sakura Tower. The satirical piece compares traditional Burmese ceramic toilet bowls to the unfinished struggle for human rights, art, and peace in communities during socialist times.  May All Be Free from Danger by Chaw Ei Thein This installation highlights vases that are made from the cartridges of brass cannon bullets used in a shrine. The artist explores the question, "How do we evaluate and define our value?" The exhibition will run until July 31. It is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and admission is 1,500 kyats per person. The post Artists Reflect on Myanmar Post Independence appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Rescuers Search for Survivors After Japan Floods Kill at Least 126 Posted: 09 Jul 2018 10:32 PM PDT KURASHIKI, Japan — Rescuers in western Japan dug through mud and rubble early on Tuesday, racing to find survivors after torrential rain that began last week unleashed floods and landslides that killed up to 130 people, with dozens missing. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe cancelled an overseas trip to deal with Japan’s worst flood disaster since 1982, with several million people forced from their homes. Officials said the overall economic impact was not clear. Rain tapered off across the western region on Monday to reveal blue skies and a scorching sun that pushed temperatures well above 30 degrees Celsius, fueling fears of heatstroke in areas cut off from power or water. “We cannot take baths, the toilet doesn’t work and our food stockpile is running low,” said Yumeko Matsui, whose home in the city of Mihara, in Hiroshima Prefecture, has been without water since Saturday. “Bottled water and bottled tea are all gone from convenience stores and other shops,” the 23-year-old nursery school worker said at an emergency water supply station. Some 11,200 households had no electricity, power companies said on Monday, while hundreds of thousands had no water. According to NHK public television, the death toll stood at 126 by Tuesday morning, with another six people in a state of cardiopulmonary arrest — a term Japanese authorities often use to describe those who have not been officially pronounced dead by a doctor. It said 63 were missing. While persistent rain had ended, officials warned of sudden showers and thunderstorms as well as more landslides on steep mountainsides saturated over the weekend. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Abe had cancelled his trip to Belgium, France, Saudi Arabia and Egypt because of the disaster. He had been due to leave on Wednesday. Industry operations have also been hit, with Mazda Motor Corp saying it was forced to close its head office in Hiroshima on Monday. The automaker, which suspended operations at several plants last week, said the halt would continue at two plants until Tuesday because it could not receive components, although both units were undamaged. Daihatsu, which suspended production on Friday at up to four plants, said it would run the second evening shift on Monday. Electronics maker Panasonic said operations at one plant remained suspended after the first floor was flooded. Grim Recovery Refineries and oil terminals were not affected but blockages in roads leading to one Showa Shell oil terminal in Hiroshima caused gas and diesel shortages nearby. Shares in some companies fell but losses were modest, with Mazda even gaining as investors bet damage was limited. “If the rainfall affects supply chains, there will be selling of the affected stocks,” said Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities. “Otherwise, the impact will be limited.” Elsewhere, people soldiered on with the grim recovery task. The floodwaters slowly receded in Kurashiki City’s Mabi District, one of the hardest hit areas, leaving a thick coat of brown mud and cars turned over or half-submerged, as residents returned to tackle the mess. “I’ve never experienced anything like this is my life, and I’ve lived for more than 70 years,” said Hitoko Asano, 71. “The washing machine, refrigerator, microwave, toaster, PC — they’re all destroyed,” she said as she cleaned her two-story house. “Clothes in the drawers were all damaged by muddy water; we won’t even bother to wash them. I can’t help wondering how much it’ll cost to repair this.” At one landslide in Hiroshima, shattered piles of lumber marked the sites of former homes, television images showed. Other homes had been tossed upside down. Although evacuation orders were scaled back sharply from the weekend, some 1.7 million people still face orders or advice to keep away from homes, fire and disaster officials said. The economic impact was being assessed. “I’m worried there could be a significant impact on production, consumption and tourism,” Toshiro Miyashita, Bank of Japan’s Fukuoka branch manager, who oversees the Kyushu region, told a news conference. Japan monitors weather conditions and issues warnings early, but its dense population means every bit of usable land is built on in the mostly mountainous country, leaving it prone to disasters. The post Rescuers Search for Survivors After Japan Floods Kill at Least 126 appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Tham Luang Cave Ordeal Puts Spotlight on Thai Media Posted: 09 Jul 2018 10:02 PM PDT Thai media has come under heavy criticism for what is seen as its overzealous competition in covering the Tham Luang rescue operation, with some organizations being accused of breaching ethics and even potentially endangering the safety of a helicopter used to transport the rescued survivors. Media critics also lambasted some of the newspapers and broadcasters for showing pictures and names of the four young Tham Luang cave survivors who were extracted from the cave in a dramatic rescue operation on Sunday. One broadcaster was threatened with legal action for broadcasting a radio communication of officials during the rescue mission. Workpoint News, a leading digital broadcaster, had to issue an apology today for airing the sound clip. Another broadcaster, PPTV, also came under fire for allowing its news team to fly a drone near a helicopter involved in the rescue mission on Sunday evening. The broadcaster today also issued an apology over the incident. The Royal Thai Air Force, however, has asked the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand to investigate PPTV's use of the drone to take pictures of an army's MI-17 helicopter evacuating the first batch of survivors from Tham Luang to Chiang Rai hospital. Air Force spokesman Air Marshal Pongsak Semachai dismissed a claim by PPTV's drone operator that he had permission to fly the aerial vehicle. The incidents underscore the competitiveness of Thai media scrambling to cover a challenging rescue operation that has received worldwide attention. Several media academics have come out to severely criticize what they see as journalists' lack of ethics in their coverage. But the harshest verdict comes from social media users who deplore what they claim to be the mainstream media's poor professional standards. The Thai Broadcast Journalists Association today issued a statement calling on journalists to strictly abide by the code of ethics and to respect the right to privacy of people involved in the Tham Luang cave ordeal. It urged the media to be particularly careful in discussing personal details of the survivors who are mostly teenagers and to refrain from impeding the rescue operation in the course of carrying out their journalistic duty. The National Press Council of Thailand issued a similar statement last week. Officials estimated that there are more than 1,000 journalists, both Thai and international, converging in the Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai to cover the rescue operation. The post Tham Luang Cave Ordeal Puts Spotlight on Thai Media appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Ten Things to Do in Yangon This Week Posted: 09 Jul 2018 10:00 PM PDT
AYA Nuac Orchestra Showcase Celebrated singers including R Zarni, Aung Htet, Ni Ni Khin Zaw and others will perform to the accompaniment of an orchestra. July 13, 7 p.m. National Theater. Tickets are 15,000 kyats to 50,000 kyats. Tel: 09-445151010 or 09-977009157.
Games and Politics This exhibit features 18 politically ambitious video games and other material that will allow visitors to explore the connections between computer games and politics. July 11 to 23, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Goethe-Institut Myanmar, corner of Kabar Aye Pagoda Road and Nat Mauk Street, Bahan Township. Free admission.
Live Music with May Kha Lar May Kha Lar will perform. July 19, 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. 369 Rooftop Dine & Wine, Laydaungkan Road. Tickets are 13,000 kyats and VIP tables are 200,000 kyats. Tel: 01-578101.
Feminism in Myanmar This is a panel discussion on feminism in Myanmar. July 13, 3 p.m. Pyinsa Rasa Art Space, the Secretariat.
DJ Night with Yu KT This is a night of cocktails and live music with DJ Yu KT. July 14, 10 p.m. Gekko Restaurant, No. 535 Merchant St., Kyauktada Township.
Yangon Farmers Market Bread, veggies, eggs, plants, honey, coffee, tea, juice, salad, fruit, spices and other healthy produce, all organic. July 14, 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Rowing and Canoeing Club, No. 132-A Inya Rd.
Study in Japan Educational opportunities in Japan will be presented. July 11. Embassy of Japan, Natmauk Road, Bahan Township. Register at 01-54964448 ex. 412.
Clearance Sale Capital Hypermarket will have a clearance sale. Through July 11, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Capital Hypermarket, Min Nandar Road, Dawbon Township.
Colors and Emotions Solo Exhibit The artist has interviewed people at random and reflected their emotions in colors in her paintings. July 11 to 13. OK Art Gallery, Aung San Stadium (north wing).
The Poetry of Emotion and Color This group art exhibit showcases modern works by 26 artists. July 13 to15. Lawkanat Art Gallery, No. 61, Pansodan St., lower block, 1st floor. The post Ten Things to Do in Yangon This Week appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Rescuers Gear Up for Final Push to Save Remaining Five from Thai Cave Posted: 09 Jul 2018 09:53 PM PDT CHIANG RAI, Thailand — Rescuers resumed preparations on Tuesday for a third rescue operation deep into a cave complex in northern Thailand to free four remaining boys and their soccer coach in a race against time and monsoon weather. Four more of the boys were carried on stretchers out of the labyrinthine Tham Luang cave on the Myanmar border on Monday, bringing to eight the total number brought out so far after two rescue pushes in successive days. The head of the operation, Narongsak Osottanakorn, said rescuers had learned from experience and were two hours faster in bringing the second batch of survivors out as scattered monsoon rains continued to risk flooding the tunnels with water. A crack team of foreign divers and Thai Navy SEALs guided the boys during a nine-hour operation through nearly 4 km (2.5 miles) of sometimes submerged channels from where they have been trapped for more than a fortnight. People across Thailand cheered the rescue operation, including at the Mae Sai Prasitsart school where six of the trapped boys are students. “I am very happy about those who already made it out and I think everyone will be out today,” said Waranchit Karnkaew, 14, who also said the soccer-mad boys had been closely following games at the World Cup in Russia before they were trapped. “I want to take my friends to lunch and we will play soccer together,” he told Reuters. Soccer’s governing body, FIFA, has invited the boys to the World Cup final in Moscow on Sunday if they make it out in time. Replan, Replenish Rescue organizers say they need 20 hours to replan and replenish oxygen supplies, with the next rescue mission expected to come some time on Tuesday afternoon, weather permitting. However, organizers declined to confirm whether they would attempt to bring all five out in the third push, with the plan so far being to bring out four at a time. “It is up to the environment. If the rain god helps us, then we may be able to work fast. But if the rain god doesn’t help, then it could be challenging,” Narongsak said. The plight of the boys and their coach has drawn international attention, with divers, engineers and medics among others flying in from around the world to assist. Technology billionaire Elon Musk went into the cave on Monday and left the rescue team with a “kid-sized” submarine his company SpaceX had built, Thailand’s interior Minister Anupong Paochinda said. Musk said on Twitter: “Just returned from Cave 3. Mini-sub is ready if needed. It is made of rocket parts & named Wild Boar after kids’ soccer team. Leaving here in case it may be useful in the future.” Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha visited the cave to inspect the operation and was quoted by Narongsak as saying he didn’t want to see this kind of incident happen again on Thai soil. The “Wild Boars” team became trapped on June 23 when they set out to explore the cave after soccer practice and rains flooded the tunnels. The post Rescuers Gear Up for Final Push to Save Remaining Five from Thai Cave appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
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