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May 28 - June 3, 2012 Myanmar’s first international weekly Volume 32, No. 628 1200 Kyats

H U N D R E D S of people took to the s t ree ts o f d o w n t o w n Yangon last week for candel ight demonstrations over electricity

shortages, as protests that began in Mandalay on May 20 spread to other regional centres.

On May 22, about 150 people gathered at Sule Pagoda at 7pm for a 30-minute demonstration that was watched by about 1000 more. The demonstrators lit candles and entered the pagoda’s southern entrance before walking around the 2500-year-old landmark before dispersing peacefully at the request of police.

“The people have showed their needs and demands. How is [the government] going to solve this? We want an explanation,” said Ko Wailu, who took part in the first day of the protest.

“The government that accedes to the demands of the public will be loved. If they don’t accede, they will be judged by the public,” he added.

The demonstration was repeated on May 23, 24 and 25 with larger numbers of participants, prompting the government to warn protesters to stay within the law.

“It is usual in a democratic country that people express their desire by protesting. But they need to be lawful,” presidential adviser U Ko Ko Hlaing told a press briefing on May 24.

“They can protest to the extent that the law permits. According to the law, if they want to protest they need to inform the police station and get permission.”

Demonstrations also occurred in Bago and Monywa, residents said. On May 21, about 100 people protested in Monywa, with almost 500 demonstrators gathering the following evening, watched on by several thousand people.

The demonstrations were sparked by power shortages that began on May 19 after transmission cables from the Shweli hydropower project were damaged. The government said last week that Kachin Independent Army insurgents were responsible for the May 18 attack.

Ko Kyaw Kyaw, a 35-year-old Mingalar Taung Nyunt resident who joined the demonstration on May 23, said the poor electricity supply made life extremely unpleasant. “If the electricity doesn’t come, it is hard to get the water we need to wash, cook and drink. I will only stop the campaign when electricity comes,” he said.

Electricityshortages spark wave of protests

‘Give the whole nation electricity’Demonstrators arrange candles into the shape of Myanmar near Sule Pagoda in downtown Yangon on May 23, around a handwritten message that reads, ‘Give the whole nation of Myanmar electricity’. Demonstrators began gathering in Yangon to call for 24-hour electricity on May 22 and continued the rest of the week. Related stories pages 2, 3 and 11. Pic: Ko Taik

By Thomas Kean

EXPERTS from across Asia and the world will arrive in Yangon this week for a conference on preserving Yangon’s unique cityscape.

Organised by the Yangon Heritage Trust, participants at the June 1 conference, Towards a Conservation Strategy for Yangon in the 21st Century, will seek to “find creative ways” forward for a city preservation strategy, founder Dr Thant Myint-U told The Myanmar Times last week.

“We will have more than 100 participants, including Myanmar and international urban planners, architects, historians, businessmen, NGOs, as well as Myanmar government officials and the United Nations,” he said.

Yangon Region Chief Minister U Myint Swe and Yangon Mayor U Hla Myint are scheduled to address the gathering, while Union Minister for Industry U Soe Thein – a “big supporter” of the trust – is also expected to attend.

The main conference will be preceded by a smaller experts-only session the day before, he said. “The entire week, not just the conference, will be an opportunity for Myanmar and international experts to meet and discuss the challenges we face in protecting Yangon’s unique heritage, to learn lessons from experiences overseas and seek practical solutions,” he said.

“We’ve done a lot of thinking, not only on the sorts of regulatory reforms that might be necessary, but also on ways of attracting the needed financial resources, which will be very substantial, and at the same time not only protecting local communities, but also generating new jobs in downtown Yangon.

“We hope the conference will help to highlight the urgency of the issue and move us towards very concrete recommendations for the Myanmar government.”

Yangon boasts the largest stock of colonial-era buildings in Southeast Asia but many have suffered as a result of years of neglect. Population pressures have resulted in many buildings being demolished to make way for condominiums and other developments.

Experts to discuss future of Yangon cityscape

More page 4

US human rights report hails reform in Myanmar Page 23Inside

By Htoo Aung

with AFP

Newsthe MyanMar tiMes

2May 28 - June 3, 2012

By Aung Shin

THE government last week responded to growing unrest over electricity shortages by outlining its strategy to improve generation capacity in the medium to long term,

“We know that electricity is a major challenge for our country. We have to consider five essential needs – land, electricity, roads, telecommunications and water – when foreign investors are coming. We are trying to find ways to have 24-hour electricity supply to develop our country,” Deputy Minister for Electric Power 2 U Aung Than Oo said at a press conference on May 21, a day after protests began in Mandalay.

U Aung Than Oo said the government was inviting foreign investment in the power sector and two foreign-backed power plant construction projects that would significantly boost electricity generation were already underway.

“We are going to build a 600 megawatt (MW) coal-fired plant with Japanese J Power Company and another 500MW gas-fired power plant with DKB Company of [South Korea]. These plants will be built near Yangon,” said U Aung Than Oo.

The coal plant would take three or four years to complete, while the gas-fired plant would be finished in a little over a year, he said.

Meanwhile, US companies will invest in power plant projects that will be able to provide electricity during the hot season when the nation’s hydropower dams run low, he said, without giving further details.

But U Myint Aung, managing director of the Ministry of Electric Power 2, which is responsible for generation and distribution of electricity, said that few foreign companies were interested in investing

in power generation in Myanmar while residential retail prices were only K35 a unit.

“Many local and foreign companies approached the government about investing in power supply installation and privatisation of electricity generation but so far they have only offered to loan the government money,” he said.

The Ministry of Electric Power 2 buys electricity from Ministry of Electric Power 1 for K20 a unit and sells it to residential customers for K35. The K15 a unit markup, however, is not enough to cover the ministry’s operating costs.

The Ministry of Electric Power 1 is responsible for electricity production and managing hydropower projects, Ministry of Electric Power 2 is responsible for electricity generation, distribution and sales, while Ministry of Energy sells natural gas to foreign countries.

Myanmar currently has 18 hydropower plants, one coal-fired power plant and 10 gas-fired plants. The hydropower plants have a maximum generation capacity of 1270MW but only 1000MW in summer because of the low water level of their dams. The gas-fired plants can generate an additional 340MW.

However, this is as much as 500MW below demand, which has increased 15 percent this year, U Aung Than Oo said.

Peak usage during rainy season averages 1450MW, rising to 1850MW during hot season, according to ministry figures, although large swathes of the country remain off the national grid.

Last week’s protests were sparked by cuts to electricity supply after insurgents allegedly bombed transmission lines linking the Shweli hydropower station to the national grid, reducing generation capacity by about 200MW.

Govt outlines power plans

By Soe Sandar Oo

THE government last week refused to say when i t expec t s r epa i r s t o damaged electricity supply cables in Shan State to be completed, as protests against electricity cuts spread from Mandalay to Yangon and other cities.

Insurgents have been blamed for a May 18 attack on 230-kilovolt cables transmitting electricity from the Shweli hydropower project in northern Shan State into the national grid. The damage to the transmission cables has cut generation capacity by 200 megawatts and forced the

Ministry of Electric Power 2 to introduce rationing in most areas, sparking large protests.

The head of the Yangon City Electricity Supply Board (YESB), U Aung Khaing, said in a press release on May 23 that about 10 percent of the repair work had been completed.

At a press conference two days earlier, he said the weather and unstable political situation made r e p a i r i n g t h e l i n e s difficult.

“It is difficult to estimate when the tower will be rebuilt because it’s in a conflict zone and the surrounding area needs to be cleared first. Rebuilding the tower

depends on establishing peace,” he said.

To relieve the shortages, American firm Caterpillar is working with YESB to bring six 2MW generators from Singapore by the end of this week, while General Electric is to provide two gas turbines, each capable of generating 25MW, U Aung Khaing said on May 23.

“We will supply more electricity after all the generators have arrived,” he said.

He said YESB had also placed eight generators in certain areas to improve safety for the public.

“The generators have been placed in some areas to power roadside lights

and traffic lights. We have another 10 to use in other locations if they are needed,” he added.

A May 20 report in the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper said the attack destroyed four transmission towers on the Shweli-Mansan line, in Nankham township, was the work of the Kachin Independence Army.

U Aung Khaing said nobody was hurt or injured in the attack but he added that Yangon’s electricity supply would return to rationing that would see industrial zones receive no electricity.

Transmission line repairs underway: govt

More page 4

News3the MyanMar tiMes May 28 - June 3, 2012

By Aung Shin

ITS stock price may be plummeting but Facebook has again showed its value as an organisational tool, with protests in Mandalay last week over electricity shortages instigated through the social network.

The nighttime protests, which began on May 20 and ran for three days, saw hundreds of Mandalay residents gather peacefully for several hours to hold candles and placards calling for improved electricity supply, as thousands more people watched on. The placards carried messages such as “Myanmar energy is only for Myanmar citizens” and “Give us electricity”.

The series of demonstrations was sparked by electricity shortages that the government said were the result of insurgents damaging transmission cables from the Shweli hydropower project in Kachin State on May 19. However, the city normally receives just six hours of electricity a day.

Shortly after the bombing, an anonymous group named “24 Hours Electricity Supply” used its wall to announce the launch of the candle campaign and encouraged other people to join in. Hundred of people “liked” the group and shared the link on their own walls.

Participants said it was the first time in Myanmar that Facebook had successfully been used to organise a demonstration.

“It was instigated on Facebook, someone started a campaign and people sent it to each other, it just started like that. It would have to be the first time people have protested in Myanmar with the help of Facebook,” said cartoonist Hajule (Katha), who took part in the protests.

“The protests were not led by anyone. All kinds of people participated. People are suffering due to the inadequate electricity supply since long before the Shweli transmission line was destroyed. Everybody really wanted to show their feelings about this issue,” he said.

Ko Aung Gyi, a resident of Aungmyaythasan township who joined the demonstration on May 20, said he didn’t know who was

leading the protest but participated by holding a lit candle.

“In our quarter, the electricity is out more than ever before. We get less than six hours. The electricity goes out very often as well. I don’t understand why the government is selling our natural gas to other countries instead of supporting its own people. It is unacceptable,” Ko Aung Gyi said.

The protests took place outside the Mandalay City Electricity Supply Board office in Chanayetharzan township, beginning at about 6pm and ending – in the dark – at 9:30pm.

The regional government responded to the first demonstration by calling an urgent press briefing at 9:30pm on May 20 to explain the reasons for the shortages.

Daw Aye Aye Min, chief engineer of Mandalay Region Electricity Office, said the city, which has a population of more than one million, was receiving just 65 megawatts (MW), well below demand of 150MW.

“We want to give enough [electricity] but we just don’t have it. I was almost crying when I heard about the protest. I just want you to pray for rain to get a lot of water so that we can get electricity from the hydropower plants,” she said.

The Mandalay Region government also requested Nay Pyi Taw to provide generators to alleviate the crisis. The 24 units provided are being used to power water pumping stations to help solve the electricity-related water shortages that have afflicted the city.

The government also pledged that no action would be taken against the demonstrators, despite taking several people into custody on May 22.

“They were not arrested. It was just for a discussion with them to find out what they want and to find out how [the protest] happened. The protest is technically against the law because detailed codes are not formed yet [for the peaceful protest law]. But I ... was guaranteed earlier that no action would be taken against any of the protesters,” Dr Myint Kyu, regional minister for electricity and industry, told The Myanmar Times by phone on May 22.

Facebook brings power to people

in Mandalay

Protesters take to Yangon streetsYangon residents gather at Sule Pagoda (top left) to peacefully demonstrate against power shortages on May 22, the first of four consecutive nights of protests at the central Yangon landmark. Watched on by thousands of people, the demonstrators carried candles and walked around the pagoda for about 30 minutes before dispersing at the request of police. Top right: Demonstrators at Sule Pagoda on May 23. Above: Demonstrators join together in solidarity against power shortages. Pics (clockwise from top left): Kaung Htet, Ko Taik, Boothee

the MyanMar tiMes

4NewsMay 28 - June 3, 2012

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From page 1 From page 2

Four political objectives«Stability of the State, community peace and

tranquillity, prevalence of law and order«Strengthening of national solidarity«Building and strengthening of discipline-

flourishing democracy system«Building of a new modern developed nation

in accord with the Constitution

Four social objectives«Uplift of the morale and morality of the entire nation«Uplift of national prestige and integrity and preservation

and safeguarding of cultural heritage and national character

«Flourishing of Union Spirit, the true patriotism«Uplift of health, fitness and education standards of

the entire nation

Four economic objectives«Building of modern industrialized nation through the agricultural development,

and all-round development of other sectors of the economy«Proper evolution of the market-oriented economic system«Development of the economy inviting participation in terms of technical

know-how and investment from sources inside the country and abroad«The initiative to shape the national economy must be kept in the hands

of the State and the national peoples

ConferenceAs The Myanmar Times reported in March, the Yangon Heritage Trust has been given a window of opportunity to come up with a viable private-sector led preservation plan for the city. The government has reportedly put in place a moratorium on demolition of buildings over 50 years of age.

Volunteers are helping the trust, which was established earlier this year, to undertake a survey of the downtown area. It is hoped that surveys of most of the major buildings will be completed soon.

But Dr Thant Myint-U said there was a misperception that the trust was “focused on just the public colonial-era buildings”.

“It’s important that this effort not be seen as just about saving the old buildings, but also about protecting Yangon’s historic cityscape. There is nothing like it left in Asia. It’s an incredible asset and we need to have a robust conservation strategy as part of a more general urban plan to modernise Yangon,” he said.

He said there had been an “amazing” level of public interest in the preservation campaign but “people sometimes don’t realise the enormity of the task”.

“Properly renovating the

Secretariat for example may take US$100 million or more. Just the operating costs could be over $1 million a year. Again, we have to find creative ways forward that bring together government, business, and local communities. It could be a model for many of the other challenges” the country faces, he said.

Dr Thant Myint -U sa id the trust’s next move would “depend on the outcome of the conference and on the other discussions we will be having around that time, and on the reaction of the government to our recommendations”.

“I think people have a sense that Yangon is at inflection point. It could easily go the way of other Asian cities – heavily polluted, with terrible traffic congestion, big concrete towers and little or nothing to distinguish it from any other Asian city. Or we could plan properly and protect what we have – not just the Shwedagon [Pagoda] but the sublime views of Shwedagon from all around the city, the lakes and the many green spaces, the old homes and buildings, the historic tree-lined avenues and downtown areas, the university campus and so on and build a modern 21st century city around that. It would make Yangon the most liveable and beautiful city in the region.”

“Shweli-Mansan electricity tower carries about 200 megawatts of power [to the national grid] and there will be shortages in Yangon’s industrial zones,” he said during a press conference at Ahlone township.

“Yangon Region would not longer get 24-hour power from May 19 onward. Instead, people will receive six-hour cuts from May 21,” he said.

In residential areas, three groups have been established for electricity provision, with households receiving 12 hours of electricity followed by six hours of blackout, he said.

However, he said small businesses within Yangon city have been informed not to use electricity from 5pm to 11pm.

“We will check to ensure that people follow the rules and take action against businesses that are using electricity when we have forbidden it,” he said.

U Aung Khaing said YESB would fine businesses K2000 for each horsepower of machinery in use on the

first instance, K3000 on the second occasion, K5000 on the third, with further infractions punished by removal from the grid.

Hosp i ta l s , s choo l s , police stations, jai ls , communications offices and others important offices would receive 24-hour electricity.

U Hnin Oo, vice chairman of the Myanmar Fisheries Federat ion , sa id the shortages were pushing some industries to the brink.

“The industrial sector is facing great difficulties and if it continues like this for long I think nearly all companies that need to run freezers will have to stop,” he said.

He added that production costs had increased by up to 500 percent as a result of the electricity shortages because factories had to run costly generators.

“All the factory owners at industrial zones are arranging to meet [the government] to see if they can negotiate to get at least a few hours of electricity a day,” he said.

Transmission line repairs underway: govt

By Win Ko Ko Latt in Kengtung

SENIOR government and Shan State Army-South officials expressed hope last week that a new 12-point agreement would end simmering conflict between the two sides.

The union-level peacemaking team and a delegation from the Rehabilitation Council of Shan State (RCSS), the political wing of the SSA-South, signed the deal at the Triangle Regional Command Centre in Kengtung, eastern Shan State, on May 19, after about 12 hours of talks.

As well as a reaffirmation of an earlier ceasefire, it included provisions on drug eradication, removing the Shan group from a list of “illegal organisations” and issuing National Registration Cards to its members.

The agreement was the first reached between the government and an armed ethnic group since the reorganisation of union-level peacemaking team earlier this month. Last week’s talks were also the first to feature a senior Tatmadaw official, namely Deputy Commander-in-Chief General Soe Win.

Gen Soe Win said he knew the horrors of war, having served in Shan State for half

of his military career, and had a strong desire to ensure the peace agreement held firm.

“We have to end the long-standing doubt and mistrust between us. For that, confidence is very important. I’d like to say that there are no ulterior motives for [signing the agreement],” said Gen Soe Win, who is also deputy leader of the government peace-making team.

“I’ll cooperate with all of you [who signed the peace agreement] until we get a situation where

[ethnic minority groups] can stand on their own two feet with dignity,” he added.

The Tatmadaw and RCSS signed an 11-point deal in Taunggyi in January. However, since then there have been 17 skirmishes between “low-ranking” troops from both sides, the officials said.

M i n i s t e r f o r R a i l Transportation U Aung Min said the two delegations had discussed the situation “in detail” so as to ensure that their

soldiers did not exchange fire in the future.

“There will be no more fighting between both groups after this dialogue,” U Aung Min said. “Gen Soe Win himself participated in the dialogue because we have to talk about the army. Because of that, the negotiating time was very long.”

The RCSS was represented by a 13-member team led by its president, Lieutenant General Yawd Serk.

“We must try to get more

progress in political dialogue. I have come to meet [the government] today because of my belief that we can solve the problem of confrontation between our forces,” Lt Gen Yawd Serk said.

“We can solve all our problems through dialogue. There is no advantage for both sides from the fighting that has taken place for more than 50 years. All that has come from it is that our country has degenerated,” he said.

During the talks, the RCSS presented its six-year plan for the elimination of narcotics, which Lt Gen Yawd Serk said would only be successful if all sides worked together.

U Aung Min said that the government had set an earlier target for drug eradication but he agreed on the need for close cooperation.

“We have a big plan to eradicate drugs by 2015. I believe that it will be successful if the government, people, and armed ethnic groups consult and cooperate with each other on this plan,” he said.

The 12-point peace agreement i n c l u d e d p r o v i s i o n s o n eliminating the production and trade of illicit drugs, supporting the RCSS/SSA in nurturing and maintaining ethnic customs, granting permission to the RCSS/SSA to establish a news agency, discussing the cases of RCSS/SSA members who are in prison, getting permission to form a peace supervisory team, removing the RCSS/SSA from the government’s list of illegal groups, issuing National Registration Cards to its members, and holding discussion between the RCSS/SSA and other armed ethnic groups. – Translated by Thiri Min Htun

Govt peace team, SSA-South reach new 12-point agreement

‘We have to end the long-standing doubt and mistrust ... I’d like to say that there

are no ulterior motives for this.’

Leaders pledge to end fighting that has continued despite signing of ceasefire in January


By Yamon Phu Thit

STANDARDS for pesticide residue in drinking water have been developed as part of a larger safe drinking water policy that will be adopted soon, a Ministry of Health official said at a workshop last week.

Government officials from various ministries and departments agreed on the standards for 14 commonly used pesticides were agreed on at the May 17-18 workshop held at Inya Lake Hotel in Yangon.

“We have set the guideline values for 14 pesticides that are commonly used in Myanmar and can harm human’s health. If the amount of pesticide is higher than the standard, it will be regarded as unsafe,” Dr Kyi Lwin Oo, deputy director of Department of Health’s Occupational Health Division told The Myanmar Times on May 18.

“We based [our standards] on the WHO’s guideline values. But we have to set the values based on what is suitable for our country,” he said.

Organised by the Ministry of Health with funding from the United Nations

Children’s Funds (UNICEF), the workshop brought together officials from the Department of Agriculture, Department o f Water Resources and Utilization, Department of Science and Technology Development, Yangon City Development Committee and state-run Myanmar Fishery Enterprise as well as representatives from domestic agrochemical companies.

The guideline values on pesticides will be applied in the Myanmar National Drinking Water Quality Standard, which is to be adopted soon.

The policy sets standards for acceptable levels of bacteria,

organic and inorganic matter and arsenic in drinking water. “With our own standards, we can screen which drinking water is safe or unsafe. This will help to improve public health and awareness for safe drinking water,” Dr Kyi Lwin Oo said.

Last week’s workshop also recommended that the Pesticide Analytical Lab, operated by the Department of Agriculture’s Plant Protection Division, be used as reference laboratory. The Occupational Health Division will also conduct tests of drinking water sources throughout the country to check for pesticide contamination, Dr Kyi Lwin Oo said.

“We will provide education programs and [take action] if we find usage of pesticides is too high or incorrect. In doing so, we can reduce the amount of pesticide in drinking water and then reduce the negative impact of pesticides,” he said.

He said it was important that drinking water was screened for pesticides given their prevalence in Myanmar and the possible health effects.

Long-term consumption of pesticide-contaminated drinking water can result in brain, breast, prostate, pancreatic and liver cancer, leukemia, neurological disorders, and problems in reproductive organs.

A c c o r d i n g t o t h e Department of Agriculture’s Plant Protection Division, 1460 pesticides have been approved for use in Myanmar and staff officer Daw Khin Lay Zan said use was increasing rapidly.

“Pesticide use was 2874.69 metric tonnes in 2002-03 but it reached 11101.41 metric tonnes in 2011-12,” she said.

UN Food and Agriculture Organisation data shows that use of pesticides is highest in Bago, Magwe and Yangon regions.

Myanmar to adopt pesticide residue standard in drinking water

By Sandar Lwin

A YANGON court ruled last week that it did not have the authority to order The Voice to reveal the name of a reporter who wrote an artic le on a corruption investigation into government ministries.

The Union Ministry of Mines had requested Dagon Township Court to force U Kyaw Min Swe, the editor-in-chief of The Voice, to reveal the author of the article, which was published in the journal’s March 12-18 issue.

In making her ruling, judge Daw Khin Thant Zin cited media ethics and previous rulings.

T h e d e c i s i o n h a s scuppered the Ministry of Mines’ efforts to file a defamation suit against the reporter and is considered

a significant victory for the private media sector.

However, The Voice ’s publisher and editor-in-chief will both still face defamation allegations over the article, which was based on a report from the Union Auditor General’s Office delivered to the Pyithu Hluttaw Public Accounts Committee.

The article said the Auditor General’s Office had found cases of misappropriation of funds and graft in the ministries of information, mines, agriculture and irrigation, and industry 1 and 2.

The remaining two suits will continue on June 6.

Under Myanmar law, if the ministry can confirm the identity of the reporter of its own accord it is able to proceed with defamation action.

‘The Voice’ wins the first round in ministry suit

Workers load bottles of purified water for villages in rural Yangon Region affected by water shortages in April.

Pic: Kaung Htet


6May 28 - June 3, 2012

By Zon Pann Pwint

A NEW political and news journal titled The Myanmar Independence wi l l hit newsstands on June 7, headed by U Myo Myint Nyein, editor-in-charge of Ray of Light journal, Teen and Shwe Amyutay literary magazine.

The Myanmar-language journal, which will officially launch on May 30, will be published every Thursday and will contain stories on politics, social issues, economics, education and ethnic affairs.

“Many reforms in politics have occurred in 2012, and related economic and social reforms have also been made. Politics is linked to economics and social changes,” U Myo Myint Nyein said.

“It is said that a housewife cooking at home is politics. No one is free from it. Before, there was no political news in journals because of limitations, but I don’t agree that the media should avoid politics,” he said.

“There are now journals with extensive coverage of politics, not just because they want to highlight politics but because they want to take responsibility as the fourth pillar of democracy.”

He said he started making preparations three months ago to publish The Myanmar Independence, although he has wanted to launch a news journal for 20 years.

“Twenty years ago, I worked with writer and journalist A Htaut Taw Hla Aung to run Tha Tin Hlwar and Tha Tin news magazine. I learned the way he operated the journals, especially the way he gave journalism training to inexperienced staff members,” he said.

U Myo Myint Nyein said that in preparation for the launch of The Myanmar Independence, he chose 37

“raw recruits” and provided two months of journalism t r a i n i n g s t a r t i n g i n February.

He then sent them out to report on the April 1 by-election, and has since then produced a weekly in-house edition of the journal for additional training.

“I prefer to train new staff who are inexperienced in journalism. People think that if they have money, they can publish a journal. They employ experienced editors and journalists from other famous publications by paying higher salaries. So the houses where they worked previously suffer from a lack of staff,” he said.

“It is also common to see local publications where those who don’t know how to write news work as editors, so they can’t control the reporters. They can’t decide whether the news is fair or comprehensive. They have to accept what the reporters tell them.”

“Therefore, I train reporters

to be able to write news and to judge whether their articles have the necessary features.”

He said that although more than 200 journals are published locally each week, only a few are in high demand.

“I will attract readers with quality news. I don’t use other ways. I will try my best with our talent and by using honest means because I have no doubts about my ability and knowledge,” U Myo Myint Nyein said.

M a u n g W u n t h a , consultant editor of Pyithu Khit (The People’s Age) journal, said The Myanmar Independence was setting a “good example” by providing intensive training to teach its journalists the basics of Myanmar political affairs before publication.

“The journalists are well-trained; we should try to copy their preparation,” he said.

He said there were fewer than a dozen political journals on the local market,

even though public interest in political affairs was growing.

“I know the new journal will survive with the support of the growing number of devotees of politics. … Compared with when we launched The People’s Age in July 2010, the situation has changed and control of the press has become less severe,” he said.

Maung Wuntha said that although journalists are now able to express themselves more freely than before the 2010 election, there were still questions about the extent of press freedom, including the effects of the recently announced plan to end pre-press censorship of news stories at the end of June.

Whatever the approach, Maung Wuntha said, the public simply “want to read opinions, criticism and predictions about the possibilities resulting from the economic and political changes”.

‘Shwe Amyutay’ mag owner preparing political journal

U Myo Myint Nyein (centre) speaks to reporters at the office of ‘The Myanmar Independence’ last week. The first edition of the Myanmar-language politics and news journal is scheduled to hit newsstands on June 7. Pic: Boothee

By Geoffrey Goddard

DR Marilyn Waring is Professor of Public Policy at AUT University in Auckland, a board member of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and a firm believer that economic growth must not be at the expense of social equity and the environment.

But it wasn’t her academic role or her position with New Zealand’s central bank that enabled her to share a special bond with about 30 hluttaw members from throughout the country whom she met in Yangon on May 17.

In 1975, at the age of 23, the then Ms Waring became the youngest member of New Zealand’s parliament and in 1978 she became chairperson of its public expenditures committee, a position she held until she resigned as an MP in 1984.

Dr Waring clearly enjoyed m e e t i n g t h e h l u t t a w members and being able to respond to their questions about best practice in public finance management from the perspective of a member of parliament.

It was an issue about which the hluttaw members were extremely curious.

“The questioning went on for more than an hour after we were all supposed to finish and go for lunch,” said Dr Waring, who visited Myanmar from May 13 to 20 as a guest of the British-based non-government organisation, ActionAid.

“They wanted to know how we had done it [public finance management] in New Zealand, how we did it now, what were the range of opportunities and activities in terms of procedure in the house that backbench MPs could be involved in, how our select committee process worked for management of the budget after the minister of finance had delivered the budget speech in the house,” Dr Waring told The Myanmar Times in an interview on May 19.

There was also interest in the role and function of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, including how there was a “feedback loop” to members of parliament, she said.

“But probably the most raucous part of the discussion was the treatment of state-owned enterprises: it got quite loud and the loudest voices seemed to be saying privatise them all,” said Dr Waring.

D e s p i t e c o n c e r n s expressed by hluttaw members about the country’s state-owned enterprises, Dr Waring said she told them that it wasn’t necessarily the SOEs that are the problem.

There are good models and good reasons for mixed market approaches involving SOEs, she said.

Based on the questions she was asked, Dr Waring said the hluttaw members showed a keen interest in

the issue of transparency in public funds management, for which she is a passionate advocate , a l ong w i th environmental issues and women’s rights.

She said it was essential, in terms of parliamentary procedures, that supplemen-tary questions were allowed of ministers in question time, that there was real scrutiny of the past year’s expenditures and of the estimates for appropriations for following years and that any expenditure instructions from the ministries outside the budget be tabled in parliament.

Procedures must be transparent and there must be a good public finance act, she said.

“There’s loads of best practice; you can look at other ASEAN legislation – Singapore is usually pretty good – or you can look to Australia, Canada or New Zealand.”

Based on the feedback she had received, Dr Waring said there was a clear need to eliminate “a great deal of obfuscating red tape in the situation here”.

On economic manage-ment, she said Myanmar “is going to have to go through what we’ve all had to go through; around protection, around tariffs, around quotas.”

Dr Waring said she had not “been preaching free markets; that’s not my standpoint” and she had made clear “whenever I’ve been asked questions, the ways in which New Zealand, Australia, the EU, Japan, Britain don’t have a free market economy either.”

Another subject raised in the meeting focused on the regulatory systems that should apply to investors in natural resources, including good environmental practice for such investments.

O n f o r e i g n d i r e c t investment, Dr Waring said she had mentioned that most major Western countries have some form of foreign investment commission that sets standards in their countries for environmental protection and health and safety in employment for workers.

“I have also been saying that one of the reasons the investors are coming here is because this will be one of the lowest wage rates in the world, so let’s not be blind to that and let’s not give them a free lunch; they are interested in generating profits for their shareholders, most of whom won’t live here,” she said.

Dr Waring said her meeting with hluttaw members was a “great” experience.

“ T h e y a p p r e c i a t e d hearing from someone who had been an MP,” she said, adding that the hluttaw members had indicated they would welcome more such meetings.

“Many of them remarked that that kind of briefing hadn’t been available to them.”

MPs get advice on budgeting issues

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By Soe Than Lynn

THE head of the Union Election Commission conceded last week there were “shortcomings” in the April 1 by-elections but said polling was relatively fair compared to previous elections.

Commission chairman U Tin Aye said a successful general election in 2015 would require cooperation between the commission, political parties and the public, particularly to ensure electoral rolls were accurate.

“The last election was relatively successful and fair compared to previous ones, although there were a few difficulties in certain places,” U Tin Aye said.

“After reviewing shortcomings we experienced in the last election, we have come to meet the political parties that contested to ensure the success of future elections.

“Future elections will be held freely and fairly after reviewing the advantages and disadvantages of the last election. The commission would like the political parties to tell us the positives and weaknesses they experienced during the whole by-election period, from campaigning to announcing the results.”

He was speaking at a meeting in Nay Pyi Taw on May 22 attended by two representatives from 15 parties that contested the poll, along with one independent candidate, U Khin Hlaing. Representatives were given the chance to air grievances about the

holding of the April 1 by-elections – most of which concerned inaccurate electoral rolls.

“All 15 political parties discussed various difficulties during today’s meeting,” Lahu National Development Party chairman U Yaw Thart told The Myanmar Times.

“My discussion focused on the incomplete electoral rolls … the other 14 parties talked extensively about the electoral rolls too.

“In my constituency, some voters did not find their names in the roll and many of those on the roll didn’t turn up to vote. In one case, five members of a family came to vote and only the children could vote – the parents were not on the roll.

“Another issue was that nine villages with more than 500 eligible voters located between Tantyang and Mineshu in northern Shan State were unable to vote. They were told to go and vote in other villages on the day of the by-election for security reasons but because it was short notice and they were far from where they were told to go, they couldn’t vote. The voting system was changed abruptly on the day of the election.”

U Tin Aye pledged to try to avoid electoral roll problems in future elections but “did not guarantee it”, U Yaw Thart said.

Meanwhile, U Tin Aye said rival candidates had submitted objections against four victorious National League for Democracy candidates and the cases were “being examined”.

– Translated by Thit Lwin

UEC boss concedes by-election ‘shortcomings’

By May Sandy

EXILE news agency Mizzima is set to launch an English language weekly magazine focusing on business developments in Myanmar.

m-zine+ began as in-house publication in October and from 2012 was available to subscribers online at www.mzineplus.com. On May 17, the first hard copy editions were made available in Myanmar through Innwa Bookstore and an official launch ceremony will be held at Sedona Hotel on June 2. Subsequent editions will be available each Thursday.

U Soe Myint, editor-in-chief of m-zine+, said the magazine was targeted at foreign investors looking for reliable information on developments in the country’s economy, business sector and political situation.

“There is international interest in Myanmar whenever changes occur here, especially in [the] business sector. Therefore we would like to provide information to cater to that demand, such as which sector is strong and which is weak and which businesses are successful,” he said in an interview on May 22.

“We are focusing on investment perspectives. When foreign companies are interested in Myanmar, we want to give them data or analysis … and in the editorial section, we are writing

political features according to the current political situation.

“At the same time, we want to highlight the importance of corporate [social] responsibility. W h e n m o r e c o r p o r a t i o n s are coming into the country, problems can occur in terms of the environment and livelihoods so we want to point out these issues.”

U Soe Myint said the decision to publish a hard copy inside Myanmar had been made because of Myanmar’s poor internet connection speeds, which made it difficult to read the online version.

Only 310 copies have been printed initially and U Soe Myint said pricing was a challenge

because of the high production costs and limited market.

“The magazine costs US$6 to produce but we are selling it for K3000 in Myanmar. But I believe we will get more advertisers and readers in the future. We will also try to send copies on the airlines.”

He said there was also a “political risk” for Mizzima, which is attempting to shift its operations inside the country.

“Some people say that these changes happening in Myanmar will make [the country’s situation worse] but I don’t believe that, I am very optimistic and I will try to manage these risks while operating my media business in Myanmar.”

While m-zine+ is not yet officially licensed, U Soe Myint said Mizzima was waiting for the ministry and in the meantime would publish the magazine from India, with printing to take place in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

He said Mizzima harboured ambitions to expand into other media sectors.

“When there is an opportunity, we want to do anything we can, whether it is a television program or a radio program. We have already proposed to publish a Myanmar-language journal. At the same time, we want to contribute to media development. This is not-for-profit. We regard the Ministry of Information and other media companies as our stakeholders.”

m-zine+ hits the streets

Mizzima editor-in-chief U Soe Myint. Pic: Ko Taik


8May 28 - June 3, 2012

By Cherry Thein

INCLUDING women in the peacemaking process could bring about a speedier and more durable resolution to Myanmar’s ethnic conflicts, activists say.

D a w J a N a n , v i c e president of non-govern-ment organisation Nyein (Shalom) Foundation, said sustainable peace required the involvement of all citizens but women were normally excluded from the process, both formally and informally.

“We can’t say there is progress towards peace unless we see participation of women in the process. Conflict not only impacts and concerns the two groups but also the public, especially women, children and the elderly,” she said at

a recent workshop. “Despite the fact women

are affected by war or conflict, they have very few chances to express their experiences and feelings, which can be a very effective and important mechanism to encourage decision-makers to construct a sustainable peace agreement,” she said.

She was speaking at an April 24-25 civil society workshop on women, peace and security that was jointly organised by the Women Organisation Network of Myanmar (WON) and Nyein Foundation.

The workshop brought together a range of gender experts, who discussed strategies for advocating women to participate in the current peace process.

I t a l s o n o t e d s o m e successes, such as the

inclusion of women in region-level peace negotiations and parliamentary peace-making teams.

Daw Susana Hla Hla Soe from Karen Women’s Action Group, a member of WON, said these set important examples for other women but there was still much opposition when they sought leadership or decision-making roles.

“We first encouraged Karen women to join the peace process telling how they could be very effective for bringing about peace. But sometimes they were ignored because it was breaking with a longstanding cultural practice,” she said.

“No one gave them a chance willingly, including the male Karen leaders. We were even told, ‘You women don’t know about war, we have been fighting for 60 years’,” she said. “But we need to push for our rights and not wait for anyone to do it for us.”

Daw Ja Seng Khon said resistance to efforts to empower women was encountered not only among the upper echelons of power.

“When I worked for [a women’s] education and capacity building program in Kachin State, I was told that I was ‘arousing domestic violence in households’. I am not provoking women to go against or fight with their husbands but to get an education and build their capacity, and to escape their ignorance so that they can move forwards,” she said.

U Than Htike Aung, a member of the Karuna Charity Group based in M a u b i n , A y e y a r w a d y Region, said it was essential that invariably male leaders were made aware of women’s views.

“As a man, I can feel empathy but can’t imagine how miserable a pregnant woman must feel when she is running for her life in a conflict area, sometimes

holding her young child,” he said. “No one can really comprehend her feelings, how much she must long for peace.

“We need to encourage more women, especially at the grassroots level, to share their experiences, feelings, ideas and needs. They are effective tools in ensuring equality and justice in the peacemaking process.”

U Than Htike Aung said women should also be given a greater role in public life, including formal positions of power.

“In my opinion, [women] are effective at negotiating … they are more patient,” he said.

Speakers also discussed the need to lobby lawmakers to reconsider a provision in the Ward and Village-tract Administration Bill that grants power only to the heads of groups of 10 households so as to give women a greater to participate in local decision-making.

Research on the issue conducted by NGOs in 2010-11 in seven states and regions found that l e a d e r s h i p r o l e s a r e overwhelmingly associated with and held by men, from the household level to community development and local authorities.

I n s u r v e y a r e a s , less than 3 percent of members of village general administration departments were women and the highest position accorded to a woman was that of a clerk. Local administration groups comprise the heads of 10-household groups and in larger villages, the heads of every 100 households.

I n i t s m o s t r e c e n t observations to the govern-ment, the Committee for the Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) noted that Myanmar had low levels of

women’s participation on decision-making and public life and it said this was “a matter of great concern”.

To rectify the imbalance, the Myanmar National Strategic Plan for the Advancement of Women is being drafted and will “place a high priority on acce lerat ing women ’ s meaningful participation in decision-making and public life”, according to the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement.

In terms of peacebuilding efforts, Ms Rachel Gasser from Swiss Peace said UN Security Council resolution 1325 underlined the need for addressing the impact of war on women and representing women’s experience of conflict for the maintenance

of international peace and security.

Another speaker , a female member of the 88 Generation, said she planned to lobby for amendments to the constitution that would make it more inclusive for women. But she said the capacity for change rested in the hands of women themselves.

“If we want to amend the constitution to represent all people, women first need to learn about it,” she said.

“In my experience, women only have equal rights in one respect. Our brothers were sentenced to 65 years in prison and so were we – the only equal opportunities for women under the previous government was in terms of punishment.”

WASHINGTON – The United States has vowed to keep broad sanctions against Myanmar as an “insurance policy” against “backsliding” on democratic reforms even as it seeks to open up certain types of investment.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on May 20 to discuss steps to promote investment and the need for progress in resolving ethnic conflicts.

“They agreed that the important progress of the past several months remains fragile and that the international community needs to help protect against backsliding,” the State Department said in a statement.

“In this regard, the secretary assured Aung San Suu Kyi that the United States is keeping its sanctions authorities in place as an insurance policy.”

President Barack Obama’s announced on May 17 that the United States was easing investment restrictions on Myanmar while maintaining wider US sanctions on the government and figures linked to the former junta.

Ms Clinton and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi “talked about the need for specific steps to promote responsible, transparent investment, empower reformers, and target abusers”, the State Department said.

“ F i n a l l y , t h e y a l s o discussed the urgent need for progress in resolving the ethnic conflicts and ending human rights abuses in the ethnic areas. They agreed to remain in close touch.”

On May 17, Ms Clinton sa id Washington was determined to help end the ethnic conflicts in the country as she expressed concern about recent violence in Kachin State. – AFP

Sanctions are ‘insurance policy’ for US: Clinton

Peace process needs women: activists

A Kachin woman with a child waits for a ferry at Myitsone near Myitkyina in Kachin State. Pic: AFP

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By Aung Kyi

A PROGRAM that allows owners of old cars to substitute them for import permits will be expanded, a Directorate of Road Transport official said last week, despite diminishing demand for the permits because of recent changes to car import rules.

“We will continue with the overage car substitution program until all cars over 20 years of age have been included. And old model cars that have new number plates because they were auctioned by the government will also be included in the program,” U Tun Aung Kyaw, chief director for the Directorate of Road Transport, said at a workshop on vehicle production and importing held at Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Yangon on May 21.

Under the program, which began in September 2011, 51,322 vehicles, including 46,871 saloons, 3156 trucks and 1295 buses, had been submitted to the Ministry of Road Transport to May 18, U Tun Aung Kyaw said.

The Ministry of Commerce has issued 42,448 substitution import permits as well as 2496 permits to purchase vehicles at domestic car sales centres, said U Kyaw Soe, general manager of the Ministry of Commerce.

The program has been implemented in two phases: permits acquired from September and December 2011 allow the importation of a car manufactured between 1995 and 2002, while those issued from December can be used to import a car made from 1996 to 2006.

But changes to car import rules announced by Minister for Commerce U Win Myint on May 7 sent prices of both newly imported vehicles and import permits plummeting, with the latter falling from K15 million to K8 million almost overnight.

The changes allow any Myanmar citizen with a foreign currency bank account at selected state-run banks to import a vehicle made since 2007, with some limitations. The announcement sparked a rush to open accounts at the eligible banks and 54 import permits had already been issued under the program to May 17, U Kyaw Soe said.

A senior official from the Directorate of Road Transport said the number of overage vehicles being submitted had dropped by half since the May 7 announcement.

“There have been less overage cars coming to the departments of the Directorate of Road Transport throughout the country. In the third week of May, there were about 100 to 200 units submitted each day,” down from 300 to 400 a day before May 7, he said.

Car prices have also

declined dramatically as a result of the announcement, with most vehicles losing K5-10 million, including those eligible for the overage substitution program.

U Chit Swe, a car broker in Ahlone township, said ’86- and ’87-model 1.5-litre Nissan Super Saloons, which were previously K13-14 million, have dropped to K7.5-8 million, while a 1.3-litre 1993-model Daewoo Racer 1993 that was K10 million is valued now at just K5.5 million. A 1.5-litre ’84-model Toyota Corolla can be bought for K7 million, down from about K12 million a month ago, U Chit Swe said.

Owners of cars eligible for substitution said last week the changes to the import rules meant they were unsure whether they would be better off holding on to their vehicles, selling them or exchanging them for an import permit. Overage cars that meet road safety standards can still be driven but must undergo a safety check each year when owners renew the car registration. However, with a flood of newer vehicles expected to enter the country in the coming months, it seems likely that the value of overage cars will decline further.

Daw Aye Aye Win, an overage car owner from Mayangone township, said incentives should be given to overage car owners to encourage them to give up their cars.

“Even while the overage car substitution program is continuing, the Ministry of Commerce is allowing anyone with a foreign currency exchange account to import a car. So the [import] taxes imposed on the owners of overage cars owners [who import a newer vehicle] should be reduced to persuade them to submit their cars,” she said.

However, there is still some demand for overage car import

permits, car brokers said last week. Newly opened car sales centres that have ordered and imported cars from Japan on consignment with permission of the Ministry of Commerce need permits to sell their cars to the public and any unsold cars must be sent back to Japan.

For some overage car owners, the taxes levied under the substitution program still make it attractive.

“If my car is included in the next substitution program to get a permit to import a car made in 1996 or later, I plan to submit it and import a newer one made around 2000 with an engine over 2000 [cubic centimetres]. The Ministry of Commerce’s taxes and CIF values on imported cars with bigger engines made in 1996 to 2006 are much less than the taxes levied on cars with bigger engines” imported under the new program for foreign currency account holders, said Mayangone township resident Daw Aye Thida, who owns a 1984-model Toyota Corolla.

“I need a car with a bigger engine to use while travelling on the highway to Nay Pyi Taw or other cities,” she said.

U Thein Win, the owner of a Mazda B600 that is likely to soon be eligible for substitution, said he hoped to sell his car – colloquially known as a leiq bein – for K5-6 million as soon as possible.

“I can’t know for sure how much I’ll be able to get for my old car when the government officially announces the new program. I might get less than K5 million,” he said.

“I don’t have enough money to import a car by myself so I’ll just have to sell it, whatever the price is.”

U Thein Win said he was hoping for measures that would raise the value of import permits and consequently the value of his car.

“The only thing I can do now is just to pray to God, as I have no idea what announcements the government will make next.”

‘Overage’ car substitution program set for expansion

An ‘overage’ car is taken to a Directorate of Road Transport office in Yangon. More than 50,000 older vehicles have been scrapped under the scheme. Pic: Yadanar

By Soe Than Lynn

SENIOR officials from the Karen National Union last week began a series of public discussions to explain the outcome of their peace talks with the government to Kayin nationals.

Held at Shwe Nyaung Bin village in Thandaunggyi township, the May 22 discussion attracted about 800 people from 160 villages, while more than 500 people from about 200 villages participated the following day.

KNU representatives, including Taungoo District cha i rman Phado Saw Awe Wa and Brigade 2 commander Phado Saw De Pho, and government representatives, such as Kayin State Minister for Agriculture and Irrigation U C h r i s t o p h e r a n d Thandaunggyi township administrator U Thein Win, attended the meetings and replied to the questions from the public.

At the discussion, Phado Saw Hla Tun, secretary of the KNU’s organising centre, explained the 13 resolutions agreed on by both sides during discussions at Yangon’s Sedona Hotel on April 6.

Most queries raised at the discussions were about land issues related to resolutions nine, 10 and 11 of the agreement, Phado Saw Hla Tun said.

“ W e e x p l a i n e d t h i s agreement to the public so they can participate in a strong peace-making process knowing in detail the points that both sides recently agreed on, including the troops of both sides,” he said. “Only if the public are aware of the discussions and are able to participate in the peace-making process will it be a sensible process that brings peace.

“The main thing I would like to tell the people is that we would like to make the outcome of the peace talks public. We would like to make the peace-making process public. We won’t lie to the people. The government also should not [lie].

“We plan to hold similar public rallies in other districts. We intend to clarify to the public in other places under KNU jurisdiction. We expect a round of union-level peace talks to be held at the end of May and if that happens we will also report the outcome to the public,” Phado Saw Hla Tun said.


KNU holds public talk on peace plans

But dwindling demand sees car import permits slump to just K7 million

CommeNtthe MyanMar tiMes

10May 28 - June 3, 2012

By U Soe Thein and Yoshimi Nishino

I T m i g h t h a v e b e e n l e s s dramatic than other changes in Myanmar over the past year but the transformation of the budget is a topic worthy of closer attention. Starting from the 2011-12 financial year, a national budget system with parliamentary oversight has been introduced as stipulated in the 2008 constitution.

While there are high expectations f o r t h i s n e w a p p r o a c h , t h e transition period is unlikely to be smooth. The current budgetary method is rooted in the centralised political and economic system that endured for a l m o s t f o u r d e c a d e s . T o date, we are yet to see effective a d j u s t m e n t s t h a t i m p r o v e the de l i ve ry o f government services in accord with the public’s needs and the rights stated in the constitution.

But incremental adjustments will not be enough to cope with modern and decentralised p o l i t i c a l a n d e c o n o m i c structures. A new model for budgeting needs to be introduced to adjust to the changed political a n d e c o n o m i c environment.

One development has been the increase in government revenue as a result of exchange rate unification and the abolition of the fixed exchange rate, which was about K6 to US$1. The 2012-13 budget has been formulated using an exchange rate of K800 to $1. By using the market rate, export earnings from natural gas can become a key contributor to the improvement of the government’s fiscal position in the long term and give some relief immediately.

However, expenditures need to be watched closely because of the

persistent budget deficit, which in 2012-13 is almost K2 trillion (about $2.5 billion), or more than 4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Although not overly high by international standards, deficits of this level constitute a high and unsustainable debt for Myanmar. This level of deficit has been a regular feature of Myanmar budgets for many years and, without an adequate budget financing mechanism

and further reform (including but not limited to new revenue measures), may continue to be so for years to come.

A major constraint on the government’s financial position is the needs of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), which absorb nearly 70pc of expenditures. There is a critical question over the future of these SOEs, which many see as financial liabilities because of their low efficiency and economic viability. There is a near universal consensus on the need to wean these enterprises off government support in a way that

benefits the public at large rather than only narrow special interests. However, developing appropriate policies and strategies remains a daunting challenge and there is no viable solution in sight.

Of the many public finance issues on the government’s “to-do list”, tax reform should be the top priority. Revenue remains low, amounting to only 3pc of GDP this year – the lowest in the region. To increase revenue, tax reform is required but this should be done in a way that acts as a redistribution mechanism from rich to poor without compromising economic growth. The reduction of export taxes in 2011 was one welcome step and a subsequent measure could be a value-added tax, with revenues to go towards social spending. But with a huge informal economic sector and a lack of governmental capacity and public finance accountability, it might take several years for reform measures to begin working effectively.

What is clear from the challenges outlined above is that there are constraints

t o o v e r c o m e i n improving governmental fiscal space in the foreseeable future. Many stakeholders, including the business community – and especially those businesspeople in the parliament – are likely to advocate a conservative fiscal policy with balanced budgets in the future. Such fiscal conservatism will not mean that every sector of the economy will face spending cuts. Some areas, particularly social sectors like health and education, should instead receive budget increases in order to reflect the government’s policy that investment in human resources

is essential for inclusive economic growth and social stability.

We have already seen some encouraging signs in this year’s budget in regards to social spending, with s igni f icant increases relative to previous years. Education spending in 2012-13 doubled on the previous year, while education-related capital expenditures jumped more than five times. As a result, total government spending on education increased from 0.7pc to 1.5pc of GDP.

Allocations to the health sector increased 250pc on the previous year, while capital expenditures increased more than four-fold, raising government health spending to 0.8pc of GDP from just 0.2pc. While this marks an improvement, health and education spending is sti l l insufficient in both relative and absolute terms. Myanmar needs to strengthen the quality of and access to education and health services in order to catch up with neighbouring countries, which recognised the importance of

investment in the social sector a few decades ago.

It should also be noted that a contributing factor in the spending increases in health and education

is substantial salary increases for civil servants in 2012. A second factor in the increases for both current and capital expenses relates to the valuation of foreign currency expenditures at K800 to the dollar. As many projects under the education and especially health ministries have been financed by foreign grants, exchange rate unification has increased the valuation of these items without any actual change to outputs. However, it is clear that the increases cannot be attributed to these two factors alone. The increased spending should be seen as a reflection of

a government policy to invest in the social sector.

The next important question related to this encouraging trend is how efficiently and effectively the increased budget allocations can be used to improve outputs and outcomes. Efficient use of these allocations may convince decision-makers to award further budget increases, while wasteful or inefficient spending could lead to lawmakers questioning the wisdom of increasing ministry budgets next fiscal year.

It is also important that social budget allocations target vulnerable groups through, for example, increasing the number of midwives in rural areas and improving basic education in rural areas.

However, we do not have enough details about the budget and expenditures to make concrete recommendations for improvements in allocation and expenditure. This raises the question of transparency, particularly given the tradition of secrecy surrounding the budget. In the past, only limited financial information was made available to both the public and decision-makers. Government agencies are still reluctant to provide information to anyone considered outsiders to the institution. As a result, the present processes

and structures of the budget and expend-iture systems remain d i f f i c u l t t o understand and analyse.

Even where t h e r e e x i s t s a w i l l ingness

t o i n c r e a s e t r a n s p a r e n c y , agency accounting data may not be

c o m p r e h e n s i v e or detailed enough to allow for an understanding of activities implemented. We expect that the government will soon respond to this need to improve transparency, which will be a welcome step forward but one of just many that the government and hluttaw need to take.

(U Soe Thein is a retired deputy director general o f the Ministry of Finance and Revenue’s Budget Department and Ms Yoshimi Nishino is head of UNICEF Myanmar’s social policy, monitoring and evaluation section.)

Budgeting for the nation’s future

IT may seem that chaos in Europe is about to bring down the global financial order and that r is ing tensions in the South China Sea presage warfare in our backyard.

But set aside the offshore a g g r o a n d E u r o z o n e turmoil for a moment and focus instead on the more intriguing Eroszone, which has suddenly become a focus of attention, particularly in the Philippines and Indonesia. Although these are green and pleasant lands of largely tolerant, friendly people, they both harbour a minority of religious extremists who routinely take umbrage at any display of sexuality, visual or vocal.

Over the past few weeks, these divinely blessed folks have been raising a stink at the prospect of the bisexual singer and provocateur, Lady Gaga, staging her “Born this Way” concert in their capital cities. Why the objections and raucous protests? Because Gaga, an Italian-American w h o s e a c t u a l n a m e is Stefani Germanotta, and her promoters have choreographed her stage show to stimulate precisely this kind of outrage.

She’s no dumb broad. She’s loud. She’s in your face. She’s like a triple espresso laced with flaming cognac. As a chart-topping singer who writes most of her own material, Gaga has garnered global fame by the well-worn path of being as crudely provocative as is legally possible.

In the Philippines, which is 80 percent Catholic, and Indonesia, 86pc Muslim, Gaga’s sexually brazen and religiously insensitive lyrics and outfits have ruffled feathers, just as they are intended to do.

Authorities allowed her show in Manila to go ahead last week provided it did “not exhibit any nudity or lewd conduct, which

may be offensive to morals and good customs” in the Philippines.

If you wish to check on these morals and good customs, pop into any of the bars along Burgos Street in Makati near the concert location in the Mall of Asia, or perhaps take a short journey to Fields Avenue in Angeles. There you will discover conduct of such an extreme lewdness that it might even make Lady Gaga revise her routine.

And your visit will also reveal that most patrons are Filipino males, all of good Catholic stock, of course.

M e a n t i m e , o v e r i n Jakarta, the city police have refused to issue a permit for Gaga’s concert due,

they claim, to objections from community leaders, inc lud ing the august National Ulema Council. As well, but more regrettably, activists belonging to the Front for the Defence of Islam, have said they are “ready to be thrown in jail and be killed” if that’s what it takes to stop Gaga.

They assert that she is the “devil’s messenger” and that she appears on stage wearing only “a bra and panties” – a vision far worse to them than a video of Daniel Pearl having his head cut off.

Well, it seems the force is with them – or at least, the fear.

Truth to t e l l , most Indonesians almost certainly

couldn’t care less one way or the other, although, like their Filipino counterparts, they would like more action taken against religious and political leaders who transgress.

As revelations in recent times have shown, far too many Catholic bishops and Muslim mullahs have been getting away with the most appalling kind of lewd behaviour, often involving the sexual abuse of minors.

What is galling is the hypocrisy of these people and their followers, who express bogus horror at any hint of sexual permissiveness, including Lady Gaga’s concert, yet engage it in themselves.

Lady Gaga gets pulses racing in Indonesia, the Philippines


By Noe Noe Aung

A GROUP of farmers from Mingalardon township embroiled in a land dispute with construction company Zaykabar have applied to form an agribusiness company, a pol i t ic ian helping the farmers said.

The farmers from Shwe Nanthar village in rural M i n g a l a d o n a p p l i e d to the Directorate o f Investment and Company Administrat ion under the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development in Nay Pyi Taw for permission to establish Shwe Wah Su Paung Nyi Nyar Co Ltd on May 17.

“We are very willing to establish a company ourselves. I believe we can do it well and also form

a union,” a farmer from Shwenanthar village told The Myanmar Times in the second week of May.

They filed the application because they felt it would give them a better chance of being granted permission to farm the land for the coming monsoon season, said U Nay Myo Wai, head of the Peace and Diversity Party.

“There are 85 farmers who want to establish a company on their own and they have already collected K83 million to do so,” Nay Myo Wai said.

“Instead of other firms taking the farmland and doing a business, we believe that it’ll be better if the farmers run a business on their farmland as a kind of industrial farming,” he said.

“The farm land … is still very productive. If we miss this rainy season, we will

lose about K200 million.”The land – approximately

800 acres – was allegedly acquired by Zaykabar in early 2010 with the assistance of local government officials. Farmers say that the officials tricked them into believing it was being acquired for a government project.

Zaykabar initially said it would build an industrial zone on the site and began destroying embankments in the area in early May, against the orders of the government.

But the company also applied to the government on April 25 for permission to contract farm the fields for 2012-13 and its plans for the land are unclear. The farmers have also applied for permission to farm the land and the government is yet to give either side the green light.

Farmers apply to establish company to challenge Zaykabar

Farmers from Shwenanthar village in Mingalardon township hold a meeting on May 10 over a land ownership dispute with Zaykabar company. Pic: Ko Taik

PARIS – More than a third of malaria drugs examined by scientists in Southeast Asia were fake, and a similar proportion analysed in Africa were below standard, doctors warned last week.

“These findings are a wake-up call demanding a series of interventions to better define and eliminate both criminal production and poor manufacturing of antimalarial drugs,” Joel Breman of the Fogarty International Center at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) said on May 22.

Trawling through surveys and published literature, the researchers found that in seven Southeast Asian countries, 36 percent of 1437 samples from five categories of drugs were counterfeit.

Additionally, 30pc of the samples failed a test of their pharmaceutical ingredients.

I n 2 1 s u b - S a h a r a n countries, 20pc of more than 2500 samples tested in six drug classes turned out to be falsified, and 35pc were below pharmaceutical norms.

Sub-standard medications are a major problem in the fight against malaria, a disease which killed 655,000 people in 2010, according to the UN’s World Health Organisation (WHO).

Many of the drugs that are being faked or poorly manufactured are artemisin derivatives, the study said.

T h i s i s e s p e c i a l l y worrying as artemisinins are the frontline treatment for malaria, replacing drugs to which the malaria

p a r a s i t e h a s b e c o m e resistant.

The study says there are many causes for the problem, ranging from widespread self-prescription of drugs to shoddy controls to monitor drug quality and prosecute counterfeiters.

“Poor-quality antimalarial drugs are very likely to jeopardise the unprecedented progress and investments in control and elimination of malaria made in the past decade,” said Mr Breman.

Last month, studies published in The Lancet and Science journals reported that artemisin-resistant malaria, which was first spotted in Cambodia in 2006, has since been detected 800 kilometres (500 miles) westward on the Thailand-Myanmar border.

– AFP

One-third of malaria drugs in SE Asia are fake

YANGON – The government aims to restore a stretch of the infamous “Death Railway” to Thailand, a line that was initially built by Japanese-held prisoners of war, Minister for Rail Transportation U Aung Min said last week.

T h e r a i l w a y w a s i m m o r t a l i s e d i n t h e Oscar-winning film The Bridge on the River Kwai, which showed the dreadful working conditions endured by tens of the thousands of POWs who built the track during World War II.

A feasibility study on the 105-kilometre (65-mile) stretch running from Myanmar’s “Three Pagodas Pass” area to Thailand is scheduled to begin in October, U Aung Min said on May 19.

“We will reopen this [rail]road. The other countries said they would also help us and we will continue

working for it,” U Aung Min said after peace talks with ethnic Shan rebels.

“We will do a survey and try to start working after the rainy season with the help of the international community.”

Long isolated under decades of army-rule , Myanmar has embarked on a rapid series of political and economic reforms under President U Thein Sein, including moves to better relations with its neighbours.

T h e r a i l w a y w o u l d provide a much-needed economic shot in the arm for the impoverished area, which is home to the Kayin ethnic group, by boosting trade with Thailand and attracting tourists.

Kayin rebels s igned a c e a s e f i r e w i t h t h e government in January, a major breakthrough towards ending the long-

running insurgency.Built by the Japanese

between 1942 and 1943 to shuttle supplies from Thailand into Myanmar, then called Burma, along a route that engineers had long considered impossible, the rail link was destroyed by Al l i ed bombers in 1945.

S o m e 1 3 , 0 0 0 P O W s s u c c u m b e d t o a b u s e , malnutrition and disease during the 14 months it took to carve the 424-k i l o m e t r e ( 2 6 3 - m i l e ) railway through dense jungles and mountains, under orders from their Japanese captors.

It is also estimated that 80,000 to 100,000 Asian civilians, who were also used as forced labour, perished in the railway’s construction but most of their remains have no known markers or graves.

– AFP

Government to reopen ‘Death Railway’: minister


12May 28 - June 3, 2012

By Zaw Win Than INDIAN Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will this week make a three-day visit to Myanmar, the first by an Indian leader in 25 years.

The visit will include a meeting with U Thein Sein in Nay Pyi Taw and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon during the May 27-29 visit.

A spokesperson for the National League for Democracy said Mr Singh would meet the Nobel laureate on May 29 at Sedona Hotel in Yangon. He is expected to extend an invitation to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to visit India, where her mother was once Myanmar’s ambassador.

India has faced international criticism in the past for its engagement with Myanmar’s former military government, and Mr Singh’s meeting with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is seen as a sign that Delhi wants to reaffirm ties with the democracy activist.

Media reports in India said Mr Singh would offer assistance to the Myanmar government in a number of areas, including capacity building, infrastructure development, agriculture and strengthening the countries’ defence partnership.

India Today Group reported that a defence memorandum of understanding was also “in the pipeline”, while the prime minister would seek to “further India’s interests by tapping Myanmar’s rich hydrocarbon reserves”.

Mr Singh and his wife will be joined by External Affairs Minister SM Krishna and senior officials.

On May 28 He will hold talks with President U Thein Sein on measures to boost bilateral trade and expand connectivity, including increasing the number of direct flights between the two countries, are likely to figure in the discussions, according to reports. India’s proposal to open a bus route from Imphal to Mandalay is also likely to be raised, Press Trust of India reported.

During his visit, Mr Singh will also deliver a public address on the theme “India and Myanmar: A Partnership for Progress and Regional Development” at a function in Yangon organised by the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Myanmar Development Resource Institute. Business delegations from the two sides will also hold sideline meetings. While in Yangon, Mr Singh will visit Shwedagon Pagoda and the tomb of the last Mughal Emperor of India, Bahadur Shah Zafar.

Indian PM to visit this week

By Victoria Bruce

SOCIAL entrepreneurs from Asia and Europe descended on Yangon last week to meet leaders of businesses and non-government organisations operating in the education, public health and environment sectors.

About 30 representatives from the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF), the Myanmar Business Executives group and the British Council attended the May 21-23 workshop, which was held for the first time in Myanmar.

ASEF’s director of intellectual exchange Sol Iglesias said social entrepreneurs aim to improve the social and living conditions of people and communities.

“Just as business entrepreneurs create and transform whole industries, social entrepreneurs and enterprises act as the change agents for society,” Ms Iglesias said.

“When states are weak in terms of being able to provide basic services to their populace, that’s where community service-oriented NGOs have filled the gap.”

Ms Iglesias said ASEF, which was developed to promote understanding and relationships between Asia and Europe, was very excited to be able to hold its first social entrepreneur workshop with the British Council in Myanmar.

“There’s a growing business community here that has really prioritised societal needs over profit.”

One businessman helping his community is U Myat Thu Win, the director of Shwe Minn Tha Enterprises, a group of media, real estate and printing companies.

U Myat Thu Win, who was born with cerebral palsy, started a foundation in 2008 and uses money from his businesses to support people with disabilities by creating education, training and employment opportunities.

He said physically disabled peop le o f t en fa ced so c ia l exclusion.

“People’s attitudes towards physically disabled people have changed a lot but it is still the most difficult barrier for us to cross,” he said.

“In the past, parents used to hide physically disabled children

at home, but now it is very rare as the community’s attitude has changed.”

The British Council’s director for Burma Alan Smart said social enterprises were important for the country’s future development.

“As chance gather pace in Myanmar the British Council believes social enterprise has a crucial role to play in empowering organisations that are working to meet social and environmental needs (amongst others) to make a positive impact in their communities,’ Mr Smart said.

One of the workshop participants, Danish social entrepreneur Kathrine Rasmussen, said she hoped to work in Myanmar helping farmers develop an organic agricultural industry.

Ms Rasmussen said encouraging people to start small businesses was a great way for them to financially support themselves, their families and their communities.

“In Europe right now there’s a really big conversation around social entrepreneurship, whether it should come from businesses or from non-governmental organisations,” she said.

“There’s this tendency you need to get rid of the NGOs and bring in businesses so people can sustain themselves financially.

“ I th ink that ’ s a rea l ly good init iat ive which wil l make financially sustainable businesses.”

The three-day workshop was funded by the British embassy in Myanmar and the Japanese government.

A girl learns how to weave in a textile factory. Pic: Supplied/Asia-Europe Foundation

Small business can make big impact


By Noe Noe Aung and Myat May Zin

E I G H T E E N s t r i k e s have occurred in Yangon industrial zones in the first four weeks of May, with several still active, a labour rights activist said last week.

“According to our survey, since May 1 there have been at least 18 strikes by factory workers” to May 26, U Tun Tun Naing, a spokesperson for the Committee for the Establishment of Independent Workers Unions, told The Myanmar Times.

“ W o r k e r s f r o m f i v e factories – Nay Min Aung, Sabei Pwint, Myanmar Pearl, YJ and Hi-Mo – are holding long term strikes. [On May 22] , we got news that workers from a knitwear factory – Toe Mya

Aung – had gone on strike,” he said.

Strikes have also occurred at Grand Royal distillery in Shwe Pyi Thar Industrial Zone, and Tycoon, Nay Min Aung and Yes One garment factories, he said.

Workers from Nay Min Aung, Sabei Pwint and Myanmar Pearl had been on strike for 13 days as of May 26, but the longest strike has been at wig manufacturer Hi-Mo.

“YJ has a long strike too. It has been seven days, as they started their strike on May 18. Hi-Mo, the wig factory, went on strike for some days initially. When the owner complied with their requests, they went back to work. But after they found out the owner had lied, they went on strike again on May 17,” said U Tun Tun Naing.

On May 24 and 25 , w o r k e r s f r o m H i - M o demonstrated all day and night, he added.

“The strike was very serious last night. Workers were upset but no one considered going back to work until our demands have been met. We held the strike all through the day and night and finally went home at 7:30am on May 25,” said Ma Phyo Wai Wai Win, a spokesperson for the Hi-Mo workers, adding that the strike was continuing.

Workers from the Brilliant Sky factory, which produces shoes, went on strike on May 23, while employees from two shoe factories – Brilliant Star and Lucky Shoe – and more than 1200 workers from two garment factories – Ngwe Kant Kaw and Asia Hnin Si – stopped work on May 24.

By the evening of May 25, the owners of Asia Hnin Si, Brilliant Star and Brilliant Sky had acceded to the striking workers’ demands and production quickly resumed.

But at Lucky Shoe, even the supervisors joined the picket lines after the owner failed to respond.

“Workers went on strike yesterday,” a supervisor f rom the Lucky Shoe factory told The Myanmar Times on May 25. “They requested some changes, such as increased daily pay and an extra K200 for transportation. But our owner has not yet responded. We can’t stand and watch while the other workers are striking for the rights of all of us so all 30 supervisors, including myself, went out to participate in the strike today.”

The Lucky Shoe workers also requested that the workers be given Sunday off without any financial penalty.

U Tun Tun Naing said that while low pay was the major reason behind all of the 18 strikes, the complicated payment system was also an issue.

“ F a c t o r y o w n e r s deliberately pay a very low basic salary to workers and then they add many kinds of bonus, like a gate pass bonus, overtime bonus and bonus for regularity. Owners use these bonuses to control the workers. For example, they have to work overtime whether they want to or not because their basic salary is not enough to survive,” he said.

“ In many fac tor ies , security staff close the gate as soon as all the workers

arr ived . Workers are trapped like they are in a prison. When they want to go out, they have to sign into a gate pass book and then their salary is cut. The average salary for a factory worker is only K52 an hour. That’s why they are striking,” U Tun Tun Naing said, adding that the figure was based on surveys of striking workers that his group had conducted.

Most of the factories are owned by Chinese, Taiwanese and South Koreans, he added.

“The government issued a law concerning basic pay but it is only for government staff. I think they really need to make a basic pay law for working class people to solve these problems and ensure that owners cannot just cut workers’ salaries for any reason.”

Eighteen strikes Yangon in May: activist

By Shwe Yin Mar Oo

YANGON – Silenced for decades under military rule, the country’s workers are daring to speak out to demand better pay and conditions after a new law gave them the right to strike.

Workers in Myanmar are already testing their new-found power with a string of walkouts, emboldened by legislation that is considered among the most progressive in the region.

H u n d r e d s o f e m p l o y e e s from three garment factories at Yangon’s Hlaing Tharyar Industrial Zone went on strike last week demanding improved working conditions, picketing outside the plants.

Clapping and chanting, they showed none of the fear that would have accompanied such open defiance in the past, when businesses held all the cards in a system defined by cronyism and intolerance of opposition.

“If they want to sack us, they will have to fire all 800 workers,” said one 26-year-old employee who said she was not afraid of losing her job but was reluctant to give her name.

“If they don’t increase the money, we will continue protesting,” she added, saying she was paid about US$60 a month.

The new legislation, approved by parliament and promulgated by President U Thein Sein to replace the repressive 1962 Trade Unions Act, was prepared with the help of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

It gives workers the right to strike when employers have been given advance notice, and to form unions with a minimum of 30 members.

The new rules represent a challenge to both workers and employers in the country.

“It’s the very early days of a new industrial environment.

People are coming to grips with it, understanding new rights and responsibilities,” said Steve Marshall, the ILO’s liaison officer in Myanmar.

He said people may become aware that they now have the right to strike but have little understanding of how to negotiate with employers, who are also adjusting to the new rules.

“We will likely see some industrial d i s r u p t i o n a n d that is part of the learning process,” Mr Marshall said.

A foreign diplomat s a i d t h e n e w legislation was considered as possibly “the best such law in Asia”.

But he added: “The question is how to implement it in the current state of Myanmar society, which is not quite ready yet.”

Despite hopes of an economic

revival as it opens up to foreign investment, job opportunities can be scarce in Myanmar and consumer prices are rising.

The protester at Hlaing Tharyar said workers wanted a cost of living allowance of K30,000 a month, which would bring her total monthly salary to about

$100, including overtime.Her employer had agreed to a

$12 allowance, but “we are not satisfied with that”, she said.

The firm said in a statement that workers who had not agreed to its offer by May 18 would be considered to have “resigned

by their own will” – a deadline ignored by the strikers.

It is just one in a number of recent cases of labour unrest at factories in Myanmar, whose low-cost workforce is a major attraction for foreign manufacturers hoping to set up operations there.

Earlier this month around 300 workers at a wig factory in the same industrial zone went on strike, demanding that their basic salaries be raised from about $12 a month to roughly $38.

“We have faced this problem for a

long time but we couldn’t stand it any longer,” said 23-year-old Thingyan Moe. The South Korean employer granted all of the staff requests.

“Many protests are occurring in factories at industrial zones these days,” said lawyer U Htay,

who has been helping the striking workers.

The reforms have not yet filtered through to employers or rank-and-file labour ministry bureaucrats, he added, so that “workers have no other option than to protest to get what they want”.

“If these issues are not solved, it might cause instability. It might become the beginning of a labour uprising. We can’t guess how far it will go.”

But most recent disputes have been small in scale, with workers opting to walk out in the early stage of negotiations and agreeing a resolution within days.

U Ye Naing Win, o f the Committee for Establishing Independent Labour Unions, a local activist group, said there had been more than 20 strikes this year and more were expected.

“The protests are occurring because the basic salary they get is so poor and their lives get harder,” he said. – AFP

Workers embrace power to strike

‘It’s the very early days of a new industrial environment. People are

coming to grips with it, understanding new rights and responsibilities.’

Workers from the Asia Hnin Si garment factory in Hlaing Tharyar township hold a discussion during a strike on May 25. Pic: Boothee

TiMESbusinessthe MyanMar tiMes

15May 28 - June 3, 2012

TOKYO – Japan said May 21 it is in talks with Myanmar on an investment treaty, with Tokyo eyeing terms to help its companies establish themselves in the isolated nation as it embraces democratic reforms.

A s e c o n d r o u n d o f t h e negotiations, which began in February, started in Nay Pyi Taw on May 23 between officials from the countries’ foreign and trade ministries, a Japanese trade ministry official said.

“We hope to support Japanese firms’ investment in Myanmar” by preparing investment terms that are non-discriminatory to foreign firms, he told AFP.

“We hope to seal a deal by later this year, hopefully by the ASEAN summit in November,” he added.

The move comes as Myanmar prepares f o r an e conomic resurgence following the end of decades of military rule, which in turn is attracting attention from firms all over Asia seeking a piece of the potentially lucrative market.

Investment rules for foreign firms are hazy in Myanmar, said Yoshihiro Araki, a researcher at the Japan External Trade Organisation.

“I don’t know of any laws

that clearly stipulate rules such as domestic procurement and technological transfer, so it is difficult for companies to pour in a huge amount of money without an investment treaty,” he added.

However, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp said on May 22 it will lend technical support to Myanmar’s biggest commercial bank as it looks to tap the country as it embarks on reforms that ended decades of isolation.

SMBC, the retail banking u n i t o f S u m i t o m o M i t s u i Financial Group, said it signed an agreement on May 21 with Kanbawza Bank, Myanmar’s largest commercial bank, with an eye to expanding its presence in the country.

The Japanese firm said it will advise the Myanmar lender on banking operations and help train its employees, a Sumitomo spokesman said.

“The [agreement] is the first of its kind signed between a Japanese bank and a private bank in Myanmar since the recent progress in democratisation in Myanmar,” the Japanese lender said in a statement on May 22.

“While considering possibilities, including a future business tie-up between the two banks, we aim

to build our supporting system for our clients entering into the country,” it said.

Ministop, one of Japan’s convenience store chains, has also struck a deal with Myanmar’s largest retailer, City Mart, “on a possible business tie-up to open convenience stores in Myanmar”, a company spokesman said on May 21.

Tokyo has said it would forgive about US$3.7 billion of Myanmar’s debt and resume suspended aid as Japanese firms continue a push into the country.

Myanmar has largely untapped natural resources, including minerals, metals and fossil fuels, and a potentially huge tourism sector, although challenges abound with the rule of law weakly enforced and a major infrastructure deficit.

The United States on May 17 eased investment sanctions on Myanmar and named the first US ambassador to the country in more than two decades.

Group of Eight leaders gathered for talks in the United States at the weekend praised the “remarkable efforts” of President U Thein Sein and pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in delivering democratic reforms.

– AFP

Minister for Industry U Soe Thein delivers a speech during the 18th International Conference on the Future of Asia in Tokyo on May 25.

Pic: AFP

Japan, Myanmar start investment talks

By Aung Kyi

MYANMAR’S domestic investment law will be amended to level the playing field between incoming international companies and local firms, a government official said last week.

U Kyaw Tun, director of the Directorate of Myanmar Investment Companies, said the law would give domestic companies tax exemptions for income tax and customs duty for at least three years. He made the comments during a workshop on vehicle imports at the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Yangon on May 21.

“The investment law for Myanmar citizens is being amended by the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) [but] citizens will get better opportunities than the new investment law to be approved for foreign companies,” said U Kyaw Tun.

“The tax exemption period will be at least three years and during that time the company will be able to import raw materials and machinery to be used in their enterprises with no tax or custom’s duties,” he said.

H o w e v e r , e x i s t i n g companies that wish to benefit from the amended law would need to start new enterprises, he said.

The new investment law is to be included in the legislation covering joint

venture companies. Under that law, Myanmar citizens will be required to invest at least 10 percent in the joint venture within the first year, 20pc in the second year and 30pc in the third year, U Kyaw Htun said.

“MIC has received 43 joint venture proposals, one of which was submitted b y S u z u k i M o t o r s t o i m p l e m e n t a p r o j e c t with a Myanmar private company,” he said.

The new investment laws for Myanmar and foreign companies will also allow cutting, manufacturing and packing (CMP) operations to import raw materials, process them and then export the finished goods, he said.

The amended Foreign Investment Law would also no longer require f o re ign companies t o establish partnerships with Myanmar firms and would grant them a five-year tax exemption.

As The Myanmar Times reported last week, the bill was expected to be passed into law during the most recent session of parliament, which ended on May 2, but lawmakers did not have enough time, it will be re-examined when the fourth session begins in July.

According to a widely circulated draft of that law, foreign companies would be allowed to set up in Myanmar on their own or establish joint ventures with local firms or government departments.

Amended domestic investment law aims for level playing field

BusiNessthe MyanMar tiMes

16May 28 - June 3, 2012

Job watch

By Jason Szep and Aung Hla Tun

NAY PYI TAW – Myanmar’s Central Bank wants to weaken its newly floated currency and prevent further rises that could derail reforms to its economy, a deputy Central Bank governor said.

U Nay Aye, one of two deputy governors, added that foreign banks will be able to form joint ventures in Myanmar by 2014, a year earlier than expected, as foreign investors begin to size up one of Asia’s most promising frontier markets following the suspension of US and European sanctions.

April’s float of the kyat was the biggest economic policy step in a year of dramatic change. Managing the kyat poses an extraordinary challenge for reformers struggling to rebuild an economy blighted by decades of mismanagement and hurt by trade-crippling sanctions.

The International Monetary Fund cautioned in a report this month that the kyat had been overvalued by as much as 40 percent this year, and that any further rise could hurt the economy.

Asked if he would like to bring down the currency’s value, U Nay Aye said “yes”, noting the Central Bank was developing a fund for carrying out open-market operations and stabilising the currency.

“In the near future there will be a massive inflow of foreign direct investment, and as a result Myanmar’s kyat is expected to appreciate. We will do our best to prevent this,” he told Reuters.

President U Thein Sein,

a reformist former general, has urged parliament and his cabinet to pursue the most breathtaking reforms in the former British colony since a 1962 military coup when it was known as Burma.

These include the freeing of hundreds of political prisoners, an easing in media controls and peace deals with groups of armed ethnic minorities.

U Nay Aye said a new foreign currency management law that would further lift trading restrictions on the currency had been approved by parliament and would be enacted soon, making it more freely traded and further curbing the black market.

The managed float of the kyat was intended to unify a chaotic array of informal exchange rates that had surged in value from more than K1000 a dollar in 2009 as money flowed into the timber, energy and gem industries, mostly from China.

The Central Bank now sets a reference rate after a daily currency auction involving 17 dealer banks, a first step towards developing a formal inter-bank market. The reference rate was K840 a dollar on May 25, compared with K818 on April 2, the first day of the managed float.

Exporters say the current leve ls make the ir goods uncompetitive.

Minister for Industry U Soe Thein said he personally would like to see the kyat at about K1000 to the dollar.

“For our farmers, fishermen and manufacturers, this would be a help to them,” he said.

Speaking at the Central Bank’s headquarters in Nay Pyi Taw, U Nay Aye added that foreign banks would be allowed to form joint ventures in Myanmar from 2014, a year before Southeast Asian countries are expected to formally integrate their economies.

Despite a year of wide-ranging political reforms, Myanmar’s government has been slow to revise laws on the growing

number of foreign banks clamouring to tap the country of 60 million people, whose natural gas, minerals and other resources make it one of Asia’s most tantalising new markets.

As the United States and European Union suspend economic sanctions, foreign banks remain l imited to representative offices that can do little more than conduct research.

U Nay Aye said in 2014, banks from countries in the 10-member ASEAN bloc would be allowed in, with banks from other countries following afterwards. But the central bank is seeking to change regulations to allow foreign banks from elsewhere to form joint ventures in 2014.

“The ASEAN integration process requires allowing qualified banks from ASEAN to open branches in the country with effect from 2014. We are doing our best to be able to fulfil this requirement,” U Nay Aye said. “Especially we are thinking of allowing joint-ventures with foreign banks and branches of foreign banks.”

“This is something we have to carry out after laying down firm rules, regulations and procedures,” he added. “At the first stage, ASEAN banks will be allowed under ASEAN financial integration process and at the second stage banks from other regions beyond ASEAN.”

In its report this month, the IMF said accelerating the modernisation of the financial sector was essential to prepare for economic integration in 2015.

B u t i t a l s o n o t e d t h e authorities’ worries about capac i ty constra ints , in particular a lack of experienced local bankers: “They preferred a gradual l iberal isat ion, indicating that many domestic banks are not ready for price competition, notwithstanding the need to prepare for ASEAN integration.”

Dozens of local and foreign banks thrived in the 1950s. But the industry withered after a 1962 coup introduced a disastrous “Burmese Way to Socialism” and sweeping nationalisation.

In 1988, the country’s former military rulers reintroduced a market economy. Soon after, in 1992, private banks were allowed and foreign banks began opening representative offices. There were over 40 at one point but only 18 are open now. – Reuters

The Central Bank of Myanmar says it wants to weaken the national currency to combat an expected inflow of foreign currency.Pic: Kaung Htet

Central Bank aims for weak kyat

‘In the near future there will be a massive inflow of foreign direct investment, and …

[the] kyat is expected to appreciate. We will do our best to prevent this.’

Save the Children is serving as Principal Recip- ient (PR) of Global Fund Program for AIDS, TB, Mal- aria (GFATM) for three separate large grants in Myanmar (with a total budget of approximately USD 120 million over 5 years), which are performance-based, and will oversee 16 Sub-Recipients (SRs) - all International NGOs. Currently we are recruiting the following two positions.1. The Compliance Manager-GFATM, a Myanmar national position, will bear the responsibility for, but not limited to, assessment and verif- ication of PR’s and SRs’ financial reports, gen-eral ledgers, transactions, documentations, inv- oices, other reports.

Required Qualifications:Minimum three year experience in external audit or internal audit for international organizations (required). Good written and spoken English skills (required). Professional Certification (CPA, chartered acc- ountancy) or post-graduate degree (preferred). Sub- stantial experience working with INGOs (preferr-ed). Ability to analyze and make decisions. Self-starter, pro-active, problem solving, analytical skills, ability to work independently and as part of a team. Ability to link budget and actual expenditures, to work plan. Representational and sensitivity awareness skills. Excellent communication and interp-ersonal skills. Good IT skills, including Microsoft Excel and Word, and good understanding of automated accounting software. Commitment to understa-nding of Save the Children’s aims, values and principles.2. The Sub-Grant Manager-GFATM, a Myanmar national position, will be responsible for SR contractual oversight financial report review and analysis.Required Qualifications:Minimum five year experience in grants/sub-grants management for international organizations. University degree in finance, accounting, manag-ement, economics, or related fields (required). Good written and spoken English skills (required). Sub- stantial experience working with INGOs (prefer-red). Ability to analyze and make decisions. Self-starter, pro-active, problem solving, analytical skills, ability to work independently and as part of a team. Ability to link budget and actual expenditures, to work plan. Representational and sensitivity awareness skills. Excellent communication and inter-personal skills. Good IT skills, including Microsoft Excel and Word, and good understanding of automated accounting software. Commitment to under-standing of Save the Children’s aims, values and principles.Detailed job descriptions for this position will be available at the Save the Children office or www.themimu.info/jobs/index.php.Interested and qualified candidates are requested to send an Application Letter and Curriculum Vitae to Human Resources Department, Save the Child-ren, Wizaya Plaza-First Floor, 226 U Wisara Road, Bahan Township, Yangon, Myanmar (or) [email protected] | [email protected] | not later than 5 P.M., 11 June 2012 (Monday)Note: Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENTEmbassy of the Republic of Korea in Yangon is seeking applicants for the posts Admin Assistant/ Secretary. The applicants must be -

- Fluent in both written and spoken English, self–motivator

- University degree holder, Minimum 2 years of experience in Admin field and/or experience in support service is required

- Excellent in using Microsoft office packages especially in Microsoft Excel.

Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. Interested candidates should send updated CV, recently taken photographs, educational documents with cover letter to No. 97, University Avenue, Bahan Tsp no later than 6 June 2012. For more information, please feel free to contact 01-527142~144 during office hours.

BusiNess17the MyanMar tiMes May 28 - June 3, 2012

By Moe Thu

M Y A N M A R r e c e n t l y announced that 23 offshore oil and gas blocks were available to international oil companies interested in working in the potentially lucrative sector.

The announcement was made by U Aung Kyaw Htoo, assistant director of the Ministry of Energy’s Energy Planning Department, during the 5th Myanmar Business Conference 2012, held in the second week of May.

U Aung Kyaw Htoo said the blocks were located in Rakhine, Mottama and Tanintharyi offshore areas and had not been exploited by multinational oil companies yet.

The conference, which was jointly organised by S i n g a p o r e ’ s F o r e i g n Recruitment Centre and FBC Services Co in Myanmar, was aimed at attracting foreign investment in the energy sector.

Myanmar’s oil and gas sector is mostly dominated by oil companies from China, Thailand, India and Malaysia. However, the easing of economic sanction by Western nations could encourage energy companies to attempt to tap into the country’s oil and gas reserves.

U Htin Aung, director general of the Energy Planning Department, told The Myanmar Times at an oil and gas conference in March that all new ventures would require foreign companies to work with at least one local partner when developing blocks.

The government’s call for foreign investment comes as relations with the United States have dramatically improved.

During a meeting with Foreign Minister U Wanna Maung Lwin on May 17,

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that US was encouraging business to invest in Myanmar.

“The United States will issue a general license that will enable American businesses to invest across the economy, allow citizens access to international credit markets and dollar-based transactions,” she said.

U Soe Myint, a retired director general from the Ministry of Energy was quoted in the Bangkok Post in April as saying that Western oil companies would lose out to Asian competitors if they did not act quickly.

“If you keep staying in wait-and-see mode, I can tell you that you will be too late [to invest],” U Soe Myint told the Bangkok Post.

US oil firms had a presence in Myanmar’s energy sector before the imposition of economic and investment sanction on Myanmar in 1997.

However, US oil giant Chevron was able to buy Unocal – and its Myanmar stakes – in 2005 through an exemption granted on existing assets.

In July 2011, Myanmar called for tenders for exploration of 18 onshore blocks, which resulted in seven companies being awarded nine onshore blocks.

The companies that won tenders included Thailand’s P T T E P I , M a l a y s i a ’ s Petronas , Swiss f i rm GeoPetrol, CIS Nobel Oil from Russia, EPI Holding Ltd from Hong Kong and Jubilant Oil from India.

Meanwhile, U Aung Kyaw Htoo said the country could not meet its demand for crude oil because domestic consumption outweighed production.

Myanmar consumes about 60,000 barrels a day (bpd) but produces 20,000bpd, about 33 percent of the total crude oil consumption, an Energy

Planning Department presentation at the summit showed.

U Aung Kyaw Htoo also called for help in building a new refinery capable of processing 56,000bpd, a new liquefied petroleum gas factory and liquefied natural gas facilities on Made Island in Rakhine State.

D e s p i t e M y a n m a r ’ s wealth of hydroelectric and hydrocarbon sources, many parts of the country are not connected to the national electricity grid, while even Yangon suffers frequent blackouts towards the end of the hot months when water levels of hydropower dams run low.

Recent blackouts in Yangon and Mandalay have sparked non-violent protests in those cities, with residents upset over the large-scale export of natural gas to Thailand that could instead be used to generate electricity for

Myanmar. Dr Thant My int -U ,

a renowned writer and grandson o f la te UN Secretary General U Thant, said Myanmar needed investment in its power generating network.

In a post on Dr Thant Myint-U’s Facebook account on May 23, he said Myanmar

needs massive investment in power generation to solve chronic power shortages.

“It’s not just a matter of selling or not selling natural gas to Thailand and China. All the natural gas in the world won’t make a difference if there is no investment in the infrastructure needed to get electricity to homes and

businesses. “And this sort of big

investment is much less likely to come whilst sanctions are only ‘suspended’,” he wrote.

The Energy Planning Department showed that 61 percent of Myanmar’s natural gas supply is sent to gas turbines in Yangon for electricity generation.

Govt calls for offshore block investment

A young girl holds a candle at a peaceful protest against electricity shortages in Yangon last week. Pic: Kaung Htet

EXPORT credits have been falling in value as rumours have spread that they will gradually be withdrawn from the market, traders and officials said last week.

The fall was precipitated by the government’s announcement on May 7 that all citizens would be allowed to open foreign currency accounts with state-run banks to import cars.

The credits, widely called “export earnings”, are earned through the export of goods and services. Instituted as part of the nation’s export first, import later trade policy, export credits are required to import goods into the country.

They have typically traded at a 10 percent premium to US dollars or Foreign Exchange Certificates because tax has already been paid on them, but last week they were trading at about the same price.

On May 23 FECs were trading in the K835-842 bracket, while dollars and export credits were changing hands for K830-835 and an export credit is K830-835. Official foreign currency exchange counters in Yangon were trading dollars for K834-845 on the same day, while the Central Bank of Myanmar’s daily rate was K840 to the dollar.

A fortnight ago, the dollar traded for about K826, while FEC and export credits were valued at about K835 on the black market.

U Min Ko Oo, a secretary of the Myanmar Pulses, Beans and Sesame Seeds Merchants Association, said export credits should be valued higher than dollars or FEC to avoid

negative effects on exports.“I think the export credit value needs to be

boosted in the long-term because it’s safer for importers than buying dollars or FEC,” he said, adding that the Central Bank needed to find a balance that was fair to both exporters and importers.

But U Win Aung, a beans and pulses exporter, said: “We should not think export credits will be worth much more than dollars because export tax is no longer 10pc and it’s in the government’s interest to see stable values.”

He added that the demand for export credits had been reduced because the government announced on May 7 that traders could also use FEC in their bank accounts as export credits. However, this measure was only available to car importers.

Minister for Industry and Myanmar Investment Commission chairman U Soe Thein told The Myanmar Times earlier this month that the government would act to raise or lower exchange rates if it saw the need.

M y a n m a r S h r i m p A s s o c i a t i o n chairman U Hnin Oo said he believed the International Monetary Fund had advised the government to drop export credits before 2015 and expected that they would slowly disappear.

“The foreign currency exchange market works by supply and demand and is not easy control – there are many factors that affect it. We just surf the waves as best we can,” he said. – Aye Thidar Kyaw

Export credits losing value: traders

BusiNessthe MyanMar tiMes

18May 28 - June 3, 2012

By Aye Thidar Kyaw

CAR companies last week vented their complaints at a workshop in Yangon to discuss the government’s May 7 decision to alter vehicle import procedures, with many reporting significant losses as a result of the unexpected action.

The workshop was held at the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry headquarters in Lanmadaw township on May 21.

U Aung Win, a spokesperson for Yaung Ni Oo Auto Services Company, called for car service companies to be allowed to import and sell 2007 and newer car models exclusively to compensate for losses incurred by the May 7 changes, which greatly devalued vehicles brought in under the previous overage car import substitution program.

He said that when the government first announced the overage car import policy in September 2011, the price of cars eligible for import at auction lots in Japan, where most vehicles have been sourced, skyrocketed by more than 300 percent, especially for popular models such as Toyota Mark II sedans, Hilux Surfs, Harriers, Crowns and

Caldinas and Mitsubishi Pajeros.

The May 7 changes a n n o u n c e d b y t h e government mean anybody with US$10,000 in a bank account at a state-run bank can import a 2007 or newer vehicle.

“This time people will also rush to buy cars through websites … and prices for eligible cars will likely increase by 200pc or 300pc,” he said.

Deputy Commerce Minister Dr Pwint San admitted that the government had not spent long considering the

changes but had succeeded in its aim of lowering prices.

“We’re trying to ensure that the market can no longer be manipulated by a small group of people,” he said.

An off icial from the Directorate of Trade said the Ministry of Commerce had not made any decision to favour service companies but was trying to reduce restrictions step-by-step.

“We have not heard any announcement yet but we know that some car sales centres that held many import permits have faced losses because they were

unable to buy consignments through other companies,” he said.

He added that some car dealers had been forced to pay money in advance to Japanese companies to send them vehicles to sell in Myanmar and had been unable to secure consignments on trust because they had no prior business relationships.

Car company representa-tives also complained that when the 2007-and-above cars began arriving in the market, nobody would want to buy the older vehicles.

“Cars sales centres are not attracting customers because sales centres don’t repair the import car condition, but dealers repaired their cars properly, so people are happy to buy from dealers, even though it costs K1 to K2 million more,” said one businessman who attended the workshop.

Participants at the work-shop were also informed that the government would allow buses and taxis to be imported in either left- or right-hand drive and commerce officials said public companies needed to be formed to organise these imports. This move would help to modernise Yangon’s fleet of old and decrepit buses and taxis.

Car service firms call for help

By Aung Kyi

M O R E p r o p o s a l s t o import taxis and buses from companies that have agreements or approvals f rom their respect ive administrative government will be allowed, a senior official from the Ministry of Commerce said during a workshop in Yangon on May 21.

The workshop was held at the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry headquarters and focused on vehicle imports.

“By May 18, the Ministry of Commerce had allowed Fisheries and Marine Ptd Ltd to import 50 new Hyundai Sonata sedans, while Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd had been granted approval to import 100 Toyota Corolla sedans,” said U Kyaw Soe, the general manager of the Ministry of Commerce.

“The Yangon Region government has also allowed nine companies to import taxi cabs that are 2007 or newer sedans in either left- or right-hand drive,” he added.

The nine companies a r e : O c e a n & O r i o n , Apex Greatest Industrial S e r v i c e s , H i g h T e c h Princess Services, Capital Auto Motive, U Thamardi International, Doh Shwe Myanmar, Triple Two Trading, First Royal Family and Asia Master.

“Although the Yangon Region government has approved nine companies, the Ministry of Commerce has only received one

proposal from the nine companies concerned,” said U Min Min, a Ministry of Commerce director.

“According to the rules set for taxis, entities will be set up as public companies to provide the services,” he said. “These should include on-call systems and the vehicles should be the same colour and be operated by meter charges,” he added.

U K y a w S o e s a i d passenger buses should be allowed to be imported by companies that have export earnings and should be left-hand drive and made no earlier than 2007.

“By May 18, the Ministry of Commerce had allowed Thinkhaypya Co Ltd to import 30 CNG-powered buses and Aung Thein Than Service and Agency Ltd had permits to import 40 as well,” he said.

Taxi owner and Yankin res ident U Aung Min said the system unfairly benefited companies.

“Companies are allowed to import taxi cabs and buses without submitting overage cars but individual car owners only receive permits when they hand over their old car. That’s not fair,” he said.

“ I t w o u l d b e m o r e reasonable if the Ministry of Commerce or the Directorate of Road Transport could reduce the taxes for car owners.”

U n d e r t h e o v e r a g e car import substitution p r o g r a m , w h i c h w a s unveiled in September 2011, the Directorate of Road Transport is able to grant tax exemptions of between 10 percent and 30pc to importers depending on the condition of the vehicle.

More taxis, buses on the way

Port authorities oversee the unloading of newly imported cars in Yangon. Pic: Myanmar Times Archive

JAPANESE car companies have expressed interest in setting up factories in Myanmar, several car showroom owners said last week at car importing and production workshop in Yangon.

“Importing used cars is not the right way for Japanese companies, like Toyota, Nissan and Mitsubishi, in the long term,” said U Htay Aung, chairman of Sakura Auto Auction Centre and owner of Sakura car showroom.

“But if they set up here properly then buyers can get vehicles and services from the companies direct,” he added.

“We [car showroom owners] have invested thousand of lakhs to set up our showrooms … But we have no guarantees for the future. People are buying cars from us, instead of on the open market, because we supply cars with licences.

“But if they buy from a car showroom, they have to wait for up to three weeks to get licences and registrations,” he said.

“We will cooperate with foreign car companies to help them set up factories here,” he added.

M i t s u b i s h i H e a v y Industries (MHI) and Japan

Heavy Industries Ltd are two of the companies interested in setting up in Myanmar, said U Mg Mg Tin, deputy general manager of Mitsubishi’s Yangon branch office.

He said the company was looking at the opportunities available in Myanmar, as well as the challenges posed by its regulations and the delaying of amendments to the foreign investment law.

“MHI is interested in investing in Myanmar and

has already started doing surveys and market research, a process that will take about one year,” he said.

U Aye Min, a car dealer, said Myanmar car buyers trusted Japanese vehicles long before September, when the government announced the overage car import substitution program.

“We are used to Japanese cars and buyers prefer them,” he said. – Myat May Zin

Japan eyes car market: sources

An old bus drives along a street in Yangon. Pic: Myanmar Times Archive

‘Importing used cars is not the right way for Japanese companies.’

BusiNess19the MyanMar tiMes May 28 - June 3, 2012

CAEXPO focuses on science and tech

THE 9 th Ch ina-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) will be held in Nanning, China on September 21-25, with this year’s focus on cooperation in science and technology.

CAEXPO’s Secretariat said the preparations for the upcoming event are in full swing. The 2012 edit ion of the CAEXPO marks the 10th year after the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Coopera t i on be tween ASEAN and China was concluded, and also marks the Year of China-ASEAN Science and Technology Cooperation.

The 9 th CAEXPO wi l l be another diverse and colourful event that will f ea tu re f i ve pav i l i ons showcasing commodity t r a d i n g , i n v e s t m e n t cooperation, advanced technology, trade in services and the cities of charm.

H o w e v e r, C A E X P O w i l l a l s o f e a t u r e t h e China-ASEAN Science & Technology Ministers

Conference to celebrate the theme of this year’s event, while there will also be a series of high-end conferences, forums and activities.

Many ASEAN and Chinese leaders will personally visit the grand event.

CAEXPO, co-sponsored b y t h e g o v e r n m e n t s o f M y a n m a r, C h i n a and the o ther ASEAN member states, has been successfully held every year since 2004. It has shaped as an important platform for fr iendly exchanges, business promotion and bilateral cooperation in var ious f ie lds between ASEAN and China.

T h e p r e v i o u s e i g h t CAEXPOs attracted 42 A S E A N a n d C h i n e s e leaders, more than 1500 ministerial level VIPs and 316,000 participants. The event has also hosted more than 200 high-level conferences, forums and activities.

– ADVERTORIAL

By Georgina Prodhan

LONDON – WPP has become the first foreign advertising group to invest in Myanmar since Western sanctions were suspended, betting on a flood of demand from multinational companies wanting to market their goods and services.

New York-based Ogilvy & Mather, part of the global WPP group, said on May 21 it had agreed to buy a stake in Myanmar’s leading ad agency Today Advertising, staking out an early position in one of Asia’s last frontier markets.

T h e U n i t e d S t a t e s suspended sanctions on May 18 in response to political reforms in Myanmar.

Europe had suspended

sanctions a month earlier. After years of detention and house arrest, opposition leader and Nobel laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi took her seat in parliament on May 2, ushering in a new political era.

Ogilvy & Mather was also the first international ad agency to set up in Vietnam when US sanctions were lifted there in 1994. Vietnam is now one of WPP’s fastest-growing markets.

“It’s not often that a market of this size opens up, with this history and infrastructure and capability, so it’s very, very exciting,” WPP chief executive Martin Sorrell told Reuters.

Myanmar has a population of about 60 million, who live on an average income of about US$4 a day – far less than

that in rural communities. It has an average age of 27 and is rich in resources but has little provision for business or banking.

Myanmar’s advertising market was worth just $33 million in 2011, according to leading media buyer ZenithOptimedia, compared with $600 mill ion for Vietnam.

John Goodman, who led the Myanmar negotiations for Ogilvy & Mather, said current advertisers were mostly Japanese or South Korean companies selling electronics, and Chinese, Indian and Vietnamese firms selling consumer goods or fast food.

“Who’s taking an interest now? Everyone. We’ve just been barraged,” he told Reuters. “Initially it will be

low entry goods, small pack sizes ... but we think there will be a fairly rapidly developing middle class. People are well educated.”

With 60 employees, Today Advertising is Myanmar’s top ad agency, according to Ogilvy & Mather, which has a long-standing partnership with the company.

Advertising in Myanmar today is almost exclusively via television and outdoor billboards, Goodman said.

Internet advertising is almost non-existent with only about 100,000 people or 0.2 percent of the population, online, while Goodman said print quality was so poor it did not lend itself to newspaper advertising.

“The ink comes off on your fingers,” he said. – Reuters

Ad firm WPP enters Myanmar

By Htoo Aung

THREE industrial zones wil l be established in Ayeyarwady Region, its chief minister said last week.

U Thein Aung said the zones will be established a t P a t h e i n , M a u b i n and Wakema and the A y e y a r w a d y R e g i o n government was working out how to supply the zones with electricity.

“For the time being, the [national] government is building a 230-kilovolt line,” he said.

“For the Pathein zone

the government is going to build a transformer at Maubin,” he added.

He said Thai energy firm PTTEPI had discovered commercial gas reserves at its offshore M-3 oil and gas block that could be piped to Pathein.

“After building a pipeline, we will also need to build a gas turbine ... After that we can distribute electricity to all three industrial zones and surplus power can be distributed to nearby towns and villages,” he said.

Pathein already has a 78-acre industrial zone that opened in 1992.

Three industrial zones set for Ayeyarwady

Region: chief minister

Trade Mark CauTionidemitsu kosan Co., Ltd., a Company incorporated in Japan, of 1-1, Marunouchi 3-chome, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan, is the Owner of the following Trade Mark:-

reg. no. 4329/2009in respect of “Industrial Oils; lubricating oils; lubricants”.

Fraudulent imitation or unauthorised use of the said Trade Mark will be dealt with according to law.

Win Mu Tin, M.A., H.G.P., D.B.Lfor idemitsu kosan Co., Ltd.P. O. Box 60, YangonE-mail: [email protected]: 28th May, 2012

ProPertythe MyanMar tiMes

20May 28 - June 3, 2012

STRUCTURAL weakness and poor awareness have been blamed for the partial collapse of a two-storey residential house in Pazundaung township on May 9.

Nobody was hurt in the partial collapse on Myaung Gyi Street that affected the back right-hand side of the building, including the toilet and bathroom.

Developers say the collapse of the 30-year-old building highlights a widespread lack of understanding about structural safety as well as the inherent weaknesses of buildings constructed in that era.

Residents said the problems started about two years ago when construction of a building alongside started.

“One factor behind the collapse is the age of the building but there were no problems until a company started building a six-storey building next door,” said Ma Ei Pyae Phyo, a resident of the building.

“Soon after we noticed the floor started to sink a little and huge cracks appeared in the walls. But I’m sure there were other structural problems that we could not see,” she said.

“The problems were at their worst closest to the construction site,” she added.

U Lazarus, the managing director of Yadanar Shwe Htun Construction, said 30-year-old “brick knocking” buildings had a well-deserved reputation for poor quality.

“People need to warn the Yangon City Development Committee in a timely manner about these kinds of problems because that type of building is

prone to collapse,” he said. “It’s quite rare to see or

hear of 100-year-old buildings collapsing but 30-year-old brick knocking buildings do so quite frequently,” U Lazarus said.

He added that construction sites in the vicinity of brick knocking buildings doubled the risk of collapse.

“Many brick knocking buildings were constructed with swallow foundations that can be upset if a high-rise project starts next door. Developers need to double their precautions when working alongside brick knocking buildings,” U Lazarus said.

H e s a i d d e v e l o p e r s contemplating a project next to a brick knocking building needed to carefully assess its structural condition before starting work, and keep a 4-foot gap from the foundation during work.

U Ko Ko Lay, a director of Three Friends Construction in Mingalar Taung Nyunt township, said past collapses highlighted the importance of good planning.

“Our firm is now building a project alongside a two-storey brick knocking building in Tarmwe township,” he said.

“We have been very careful about this issue from the planning stage and ensure that the footprint of our building does not touch the site alongside. We’ve also left a gap to prevent contact later.

“The construction techniques in brick knocking-type buildings were poor and their foundations are typically shallow, which is a major structural flaw,” he added.

He added: “I think there should be a housing board committee lead by the YCDC to assess the structural safety of all kinds of high-rises in Yangon. This is essential to prevent further collapses and issues in future,” he said.

A Yangon City Development Committee notice on show at the partially collapsed house in Pazundaung township last week. Pic: Ko Taik

Structural flaw blamed for building collapseIn Depth

with Htar Htar Khin

teChNologythe MyanMar tiMes

22May 28 - June 3, 2012

By Jean-Louis Santini

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida – Opening a new era in private space flight, the US company SpaceX on May 22 became the first commercial outfit to launch its own craft toward the International Space Station.

The test flight of the Dragon space capsule, which launched atop SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket at 3:44am, aims to show that industry can restore US access to the ISS after NASA retired its space shuttle fleet last year.

The mission is set to include a fly-by and berthing with the station in the next three days, before the capsule returns to Earth at the end of this month.

Shortly after lift-off, the cargo-carrying spacecraft entered orbit and live video images showed mission control staff at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California jumping from their seats, hugging and clapping.

SpaceX chief executive officer and internet entrepreneur Elon Musk said watching the rocket rise from the launch pad was an “extremely intense moment”.

“Every bit of adrenaline in my body released at that point,” he told reporters after the flawless launch, which followed an attempt on May 19 that was scrubbed at the last second when computers detected high pressure in the central engine of the Falcon 9.

SpaceX engineers discovered the root cause was a faulty check valve and repaired it the same day.

No humans are travelling aboard the Dragon, but six astronauts are already at the US$100-billion space lab to help the capsule latch on, to unload supplies and then restock the capsule with cargo to take back to Earth.

Also aboard were the ashes of hundreds of space enthusiasts including James Doohan who played “Scotty” on Star Trek, according to TrekNews.net, a go-to source for fans of the cult series.

“Dad, may the stars rise to meet you,” tweeted Doohan’s son Chris. “May the solar wind always be at your back.”

On May 24, the spacecraft’s sensors and flight systems are to undergo a series of tests to see if it is ready to berth, including a complicated fly-under at a distance of about 2.5 kilometres (1.5 miles).

If NASA gives the green light, the Dragon will then approach the ISS on May 25 in an attempt to berth with the station.

The astronauts on board the ISS will manoeuvre the station’s robotic arm to help capture the capsule and attach it to the orbiting research outpost.

The hatch of the Dragon is set to open on May 26 for unloading 521 kilograms (1148 pounds) of cargo for the space lab and restocking it with a 660-kilogram (1455-pound) load to return to Earth.

On May 31, the Dragon is to detach from the station and make a safe landing in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of southern California.

SpaceX, owned by 40-year-old Musk, a billionaire who also co-founded PayPal, is the first of several US competitors to try sending spacecraft to the ISS with the goal of restoring US access to space for human travellers by 2015.

“We are really at the dawn of a new era of space exploration, one where there is a much bigger role for commercial space companies,” Musk said, likening the space effort to the expansion of the internet in the mid 1990s.

The company successfully test-launched its Falcon 9 rocket in June 2010, then made history with its Dragon launch in December of that year, becoming the first commercial outfit to send a spacecraft into orbit and back.

Its reusable Dragon capsule has been built to carry both cargo and up to seven

crew members.“Every launch into space is a thrilling

event, but this one is especially exciting,” said John Holdren, President Barack Obama’s assistant for science and technology.

NASA administrator Charles Bolden congratulated SpaceX for opening “a new era in exploration”.

“We’re handing off to the private sector our transportation to the International Space Station so that NASA can focus on what we do best – exploring even deeper into our solar system, with missions to an asteroid and Mars on the horizon.”

Until now, only the space agencies of Russia, Japan and Europe have been able to send supply ships to the ISS.

The three-decade US shuttle program, which ferried astronauts and cargo to the research outpost, ended in 2011, leaving Russia as the sole taxi to the ISS until private industry comes up with a replacement.

SpaceX and a handful of other companies are being helped in their endeavours with seed money from NASA to build cargo and crew capability.

SpaceX has a $1.6 billion contract with NASA to supply the ISS with cargo in the coming years. Orbital Sciences has a $1.9 billion contract and is scheduled for its first launch attempt later this year. – AFP

SAN FRANCISCO – Cyber criminals are cranking out new weapons at a brisk pace, tailoring malicious software for a spectrum of gadgets including smartphones, tablets, and Macintosh computers, a security firm said.

A “threats report” released late on May 21 by McAfee showed that the number of new pieces of malicious code, or “malware”, targeting Windows machines in the first three months of this year was the highest in four years.

There was also a rise in malware aimed at mobile gadgets running on Google-backed Android software and at Macintosh computers based on Apple operating systems, according to the report.

“In the first quarter of 2012, we have already detected eight million new malware samples, showing that malware authors are continuing their unrelenting development,” said McAfee Labs senior vice president Vincent Weafer.

“The same skills and techniques that were sharpened on the PC platform are increasingly being extended to other platforms, such as mobile and Mac.”

For a long time cyber criminals concentrated their attention on getting into Windows-powered personal computers (PCs) because the popularity of the operating system meant a wealth of potential victims.

But as Apple and Android devices have caught on around the world, they have emerged as a new target.

“As more homes and bus inesses use these platforms, the attacks will spread,” Weafer said.

While Mac malware has been steadily proliferating, it is still a small fraction of what has been developed for PCs, according to McAfee.

The amount of spam in the quarter dropped to slightly more than a trillion trash messages monthly, with significant decreases in Brazil, Russia, and Indonesia and increases in China, Britain, Germany, Poland, and Spain.

The number of networks of virus-infected computers, referred to as “botnets”, rose to nearly five million, with Colombia, Japan, Poland, Spain and the United States seeing the biggest increases.

Hackers use ploys such as booby-trapped emails or links to secretly infect machines with malware that can let them not only steal data or track keystrokes but use the infected machines to launch further attacks.

The United States was the primary address for botnets and cyber attacks in the quarter, McAfee reported.

Cyber crooks sell malware software kits and rent out use of botnets, according to internet security specialists and law enforcement.

– AFP

Cyber crooks step up weapons production: report

Historic SpaceX blasts off

By Charlotte Raab

NEW YORK – With internet users increasingly going mobile, a major challenge for Facebook will be trying to make money from its massive global presence in a more complex mobile space.

Facebook, which makes most of its money from advertising, says more than half – 488 million – of its 901 million members access the service from a mobile phone or tablet. Of these, 83 million use only mobile devices instead of computers.

But while 82 percent of Facebook revenue comes from ads, the company acknowledges that it gets little income from the mobile space.

“We have historically not shown ads to users accessing Facebook through mobile apps or our mobile website,” the California firm said in

a filing for its initial public offering.

“In March 2012, we began to include sponsored stories in users’ mobile news feeds. However, we do not currently directly generate any meaningful revenue from the use of Facebook mobile products, and our ability to do so successfully is unproven.”

Facebook says a big issue looking ahead is being able to get mobile revenue and that its revenue “may be negatively affected unless and until we are successful with monetisation strategies for mobile usage of Facebook”.

Most analysts note that advertising has not yet become adapted to mobile devices in the same way it has on computers.

“Last time I checked, mobile phones had really small screens,” said Michael P a c h t e r o f W e d b u s h Securities.

Van Baker, an analyst with

the Gartner consultancy, said so-called monetisation will be critical for Facebook, which has “some catching up to do” with firms like Google and Apple.

Baker said Facebook needs to find mobile ads that are “not intrusive” and pointed to Google and Apple as using a type of mobile banner ad that “takes up a very small amount of screen real estate”.

Google is seen as having a strong mobile platform, and recently decided to integrate its mobile, search and other services in an effort to offer more targeted ads, a move that drew criticism from privacy advocates.

London-based Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers said in a client note that converting Facebook’s mobile traffic into income “is perhaps one of the company’s largest – and currently perplexing – challenges”.

“ F a c e b o o k w a s n o t conceived in the smartphone era and therefore did not have it in mind as a platform. It has catching up to do and, if possible, without cannibalising its own current income from the PC space,” the brokerage said.

The company could address the issue by purchasing apps that may offer other revenue sources such as the photo app Instagram, Tagtile – for tracking customer loyalty – and Glancee, an app for locating nearby friends.

F o r r e s t e r R e s e a r c h analyst Melissa Parrish said, however, that the solution for Facebook in the mobile space “is probably something that we all haven’t been thinking of yet”.

“What’s really compelling is the possibility that they will either figure out a way to monetise mobile that is not sponsored or advertising-based.” – AFP

Drift to mobile a new challenge for Facebook

The Siam Cement Public Company Limited, a company incorporated in Thailand, of 1 Siam Cement Road, Bangsue, Bangkok 10800, Thailand, is the Owner of the following Trade Marks:-

(elephant Brand)reg. no. 3988/1994

(Tiger Cement Brand)reg. no. 3989/1994

in respect of “cement”.

Fraudulent imitation or unauthorised use of the said Trade Marks will be dealt with according to law.

Win Mu Tin, M.A., H.G.P., D.B.Lfor The Siam Cement Public Company LimitedP. O. Box 60, YangonE-mail: [email protected]: 28th May, 2012

Trade Mark CauTion

TiMESWORLDthe MyanMar tiMes

23May 28 - June 3, 2012

WASHINGTON – A US report released on May 24 hailed the “yearning for change” in Arab nations and moves toward openness in Myanmar, saying they may inspire a push for freedom in other dark reaches of the world.

But the State Department said in its 2011 human rights report that the situation in China was “deteriorating” and highlighted alleged abuses in other countries, including Sudan, Iran, Eritrea, Russia, Syria and Pakistan.

In presenting the annual report, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said “this has been an especially tumultuous and momentous year for everyone involved in the cause of human rights.

“Many of the events that have dominated recent headlines from the revolutions in the Middle East to reforms in Burma (Myanmar) began with human rights, with the clear call of men and women demanding the i r un iversa l rights.”

The report said “the yearning for change we have witnessed in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, and Syria is inspirational, and yet

change often creates instability before it leads to greater respect for democracy and human rights.”

It recalled the high cost to demonstrators in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and Syria, where thousands have been killed and many others abused by security forces.

“But the images of demonstrators who had seemingly lost all fear, risking their lives to oppose

g o v e r n m e n t s t h e y d e e m e d illegitimate, inspired people around the world,” it said.

The report then turned to the changes in Myanmar, where the military-backed regime of President Thein Sein has surprised many observers with a spate of reforms designed to break decades of isolation.

“Burma offers an example of a government moving towards a model of greater openness, democracy, and liberty, attributes that can lead to greater innovation,

prosperity, and inclusion,” it said. “Much remains to be done to

implement reforms and especially to address the legacy of decades of violence against ethnic minorities,” the report said.

“But the size of the task ahead does not diminish the excitement of these first steps, or the sense of possibility they may inspire in other closed societies, such as Iran, North Korea, Uzbekistan, Eritrea,

or Sudan,” it added.The report said that China’s

h u m a n r i g h t s r e c o r d w a s “deteriorating,” with authorities stepping up efforts to silence activists and stifle public debate.

The report said that Chinese forces “reportedly committed arbitrary or unlawful killings” and has held activists in unknown circumstances including human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng and ethnic Mongolian campaigner, Hada.

The report was also particularly

critical of Syria, and Clinton herself singled out President Bashar al-Assad’s regime for staging an assault not just on basic freedoms like that of expression but on “the very lives of citizens.”

Also coming under fire was Eritrea, where it said “widespread” human rights abuses continued.

In Sudan, government forces staged air raids on civilian areas on the border with South Sudan, while

human rights abuses “went unpunished,” the report said.

T h e I r a n i a n government “continued to deny its citizens human rights, including t h e f r e e d o m s o f

expression, assembly, association, movement, and religion,” it said.

In Pakistan, security forces, extremists and separatists were implicated in “extrajudicial killings, torture, and forced disappearances,” it said. “These affected thousands of citizens in nearly all areas of the country.”

In Russia, “attacks on and killings of journalists and activists continued,” while there were reports of “significant irregularities and fraud” during parliamentary elections in December. – AFP

US hails ‘yearning for change’ inArab states, reforms in Myanmar

Myanmar ‘offers an example of a government moving towards a model of greater openness, democracy, and liberty…’

CAIRO – Egypt wrapped up two days of polling on May 24 in a landmark presidential election that pitted stability against the ideals of the upris-ing that ended Hosni Mubarak’s rule with pre-dictions that the hard-fought contest would go to a runoff.

BAGHDAD – Iran and six world powers ended two days of “very intense” nuclear talks on May 24 with little to show except a decision to meet again next month in Moscow af-ter sharp disagreements over the way forward.

GENEVA – The Syrian army and security forces have been responsible for most of the serious rights abuses committed since March this year as they hunt down defectors and opponents, UN-appoint-ed investigators said on May 24.

KABUL – French Presi-dent Francois Hollande arrived in Kabul on May 25 on a previously un-announced visit to meet French soldiers he has vowed to pull out of the war-torn country by the end of the year. – AFP

• Earlier report, P. 17.

Briefly

worldthe MyanMar tiMes

24May 28 - June 3, 2012

BRUSSELS – European Union leaders pledged support for Greece on May 24, vowing to keep the debt-wracked country in the eurozone as officials prepared behind the scenes for a possible doomsday scenario of exit.

After an EU summit dominated by fears of a “Grexit” that went into the early hours of the morning, E U p r e s i d e n t Herman Van Rompuy told journalists: “We want Greece to remain in the euro area while respecting its commitments.”

The EU chief hailed the “significant efforts already made by the Greek citizens” but appealed to Athens to continue to implement reforms that he said were

the “best guarantee for a more prosperous future in the euro area”.

European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso summed up the leaders’ view by saying: “The message that we send today is clear: we will stand by Greece while Greece stands

by its commitments.”Nevertheless, diplomats

said on the sidelines of the summit that officials had been tasked to make contingency plans in the event of Greece exiting the eurozone, sending European stocks and the euro sharply down on the markets.

A diplomat told AFP that

officials from the other 16 eurozone member states were instructed to “reflect” on what an exit would mean for their economies.

This was not a political message to Greece, insisted the diplomat, but was a “normal” thing to do.

“It does not mean that we

think the situation will get that far,” he said, adding that “you would have said we were dreaming” otherwise.

In Athens, a government statement said the finance ministry “categorically denies” such plans.

Greece’s caretaker leader Panayotis Pikrammenos

s a i d t h a t G e r m a n Chancellor Angela Merkel was “surprised and upset” about the issue of Greece’s exit from the eurozone being raised.

For his part, French P r e s i d e n t F r a n c o i s Hollande said: “I can’t say that there has not been

work done” on simulating a Greek exit.

“But i f I s tarted to talk publicly about the hypothes i s o f Greece leaving, that would mean sending a signal to Greece and to the markets.

“I prefer to address the Greeks and say: France and Europe want you to

stay in the eurozone,” the president said.

Greece’s election on June 17 is shaping up to be a referendum on whether the country stays in the euro, as parties opposed to austerity measures needed for future bailouts gain significantly in the polls.

European leaders have warned that if the next government reneges on promised r e f o r m s G r e e c e

cannot hope to continue drawing international loans, which would likely lead to it leaving the eurozone.

Van Rompuy said that after the elections, EU leaders expected the new Greek government to choose the path of reform and staying in the euro.

– AFP

WASHINGTON – When pregnant rats are exposed to a common crop chemical, their descendants three generations later show more anxiety and stress than the offspring of unexposed peers, US researchers said last week.

The study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that the animal model may provide an explanation for the mounting number of cases of anxiety disorders, autism and obesity among humans in recent years.

“We are now in the third human generation since the start of the chemical revolution, since humans have been exposed to these kinds of toxins,” lead author David Crews of the University of Texas said on May 21.

“There is no doubt that we have been seeing real increases in mental disorders like autism and bipolar disorder,” he added.

“It’s more than just a change in diagnostics. The question is why? Is it because we are living in a more frantic world, or because we are

living in a more frantic world and are responding to that in a different way because we have been exposed? I favour the latter.”

For the study, researchers exposed pregnant rats to vinclozolin, a common fungicide used in fruits and vegetables and which is known to disrupt hormones and have effects across generations of animals.

Co-author Michael Skinner at Washington State University said the purpose of the study was not to assess risk for humans to but to examine potential phenomena

caused by exposure.He and colleagues tested the third

generation of male rats and their reactions to a stressful situation of physical restraint during adolescence, comparing those that had elders with chemical exposure and those that did not.

The rats with the family history of fungicide exposure were more anxious, more sensitive to stress, and showed greater activity in stress-related regions of the brain than descendants of unexposed rats, said the study. – AFP

US study links farm chemical to mental disorders

EU leaders vow to back Greece

‘We will stand by Greece while Greece stands by its commitments.’

An annular solar eclipse, as seen in Tokyo on May 21, where the phenomenon was visible for the first time in 173 years. Millions of sky-gazers viewed the spectacle of a lifetime when the eclipse crossed from northern Asia to the United States, in a 13,600 kilometre (8500 mile) arc across the Pacific. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes in front of the sun. Pic: AFP

Briefs

New minister backed deal, inquiry told

LONDON – British Prime Minister David Cameron appointed a minister to de-cide on Rupert Murdoch’s bid for control of pay-TV gi-ant BSkyB, despite know-ing that the official backed the deal, an inquiry heard on May 24.

An inquiry into press eth-ics set up in the wake of the hacking scandal heard that Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt privately wrote to Cameron in November 2010 to warn that blocking the bid would harm Britain’s media sector.

A month later, Cameron gave Hunt the job of decid-ing on the bid, after the pre-vious minister in charge of it, Business Secretary Vince Cable, was removed from the brief for showing bias against Murdoch in a news-paper sting.

US sends aid for injured Yemenis

WASHINGTON – The US Air Force delivered nearly six tonnes of emergency medical supplies to Sanaa on May 23 to help treat Ye-meni soldiers wounded in a suicide bombing that left 96 killed, officials said.

Al-Qaeda’s Yemen branch claimed responsibility for the attack on May 21, when a suicide bomber wearing a soldier’s uniform detonated explosives as troops were rehearsing for a parade.

The bombing injured about 300 soldiers and was quickly condemned by Western governments, with President Barack Obama vowing to help the Yemeni government fight al-Qaeda militants.

Daring stuntman sets a risky record

LONDON – A British stunt-man became the world’s first skydiver to land with-out a parachute on May 23, falling 731 metres (2400 feet) to land safely a crash-pad of cardboard boxes.

Wearing a specially-made “wing suit”, Gary Connery, 41, leapt from a helicopter over Henley-on-Thames in southern England, aim-ing at a “runway” of 18,000 cardboard boxes.

He landed successfully onto the boxes, but the anxious crowd had to wait several minutes before he emerged from the pile.

– AFP

Trade Mark CauTionNOTICE is hereby given that Continental reifen deutschland GmbH a company incorporated in the Germany and having its principal office at Vahrenwalder Str. 9, 30165 Hannover, Germany is the Owner and Sole Proprietor of the following trademarks:-

in respect of:-“tyres, inner tubes for tyres” – Class: 12

the above two trademarks are in respect of:-“tyres, complete wheels, solid tires; inner tubes for tyres” – Class: 12

CONTIContiPremiumContact

AIRFIX

(reg: nos. iV/2369/2004 & iV/11765/2011)

(reg: nos. i V/7204/2004 & iV/11766/2011)

(reg: nos. iV /544/1999 & iV/11764/2011)

in respect of:-“Solid tires, vehicle tyres and tubes therefore, complete wheels” – Class: 12

Any fraudulent imitation or unauthorized use of the said trademarks or other infringements whatsoever will be dealt with according to law.

U Kyi Win Associatesfor Continental reifen deutschland GmbH P.O. Box No. 26, Yangon.Phone: 372416Dated: 28th May, 2012

(reg: nos. iV/7919/2005 & iV/11763/2011)

Trade Mark CauTionn.V. organon, a company incorporated in The Netherlands, of Kloosterstraat 6, 5349 AB OSS, The Netherlands, is the Owner of the following Trade Mark:-

andrioLreg. no. 1915/1996

in respect of “Medicines and pharmaceutical preparations for human use”.

Fraudulent imitation or unauthorised use of the said Trade Mark will be dealt with according to law.

Win Mu Tin, M.A., H.G.P., D.B.Lfor n.V. organonP. O. Box 60, YangonE-mail: [email protected]: 28th May, 2012

world25the MyanMar tiMes May 28 - June 3, 2012

NEW YORK – Blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng began his new life in the United States on May 20 after a warm welcome but in Beijing he leaves behind a diplomatic mess that may prevent him ever returning home.

Chen, a se l f - taught lawyer, landed in New York with his wife and two young children on May 19 to a rapturous reception from his hosts and he quickly praised the “restraint and calm,” shown by the Chinese government in his case.

Chen, 40, who is to become a research fellow at New York University’s School of Law, has repeatedly said he is not seeking exile in the United States and may one day want to go back to China.

B u t t h e C h i n e s e government’s decision to allow a convicted citizen to leave its territory weeks after he managed to flee house arrest and caused them huge international embarrassment is unlikely to be forgotten, analysts said.

“It will be very difficult,” retired Shandong University professor Sun Wenguang told AFP. “The authorities will not welcome him back.

“He brought on diplomatic turmoil and became a focus of the international press.”

After arriving in New York, Chen, his wife, Yuan Weijing, and their two young children were greeted with cheers on arrival at the university apartment block in Manhattan that becomes their home.

Other leading activists

who have trod Chen’s path include the dissident Wei Jingsheng, who left China in 1997 on medical parole in a deal brokered by the United States, and Christian activist Bob Fu, a close friend and supporter of Chen who lives in Texas.

P a s t c a s e s s u g g e s t Chinese leaders will be reluctant to allow a man like Chen whose activism created diplomatic and domestic hurdles, to come home.

China’s communist rulers remain perturbed that civil unrest could blight its rise as a political and economic power and has barred the return of numerous activists linked to the 1989 Tiananmen democracy protests and the Falungong spiritual group that Beijing outlawed in 1999.

“ G e t t i n g C h e n Guangcheng and his family

on a plane is the easiest part of this saga,” said Phelim Kine, Asia researcher for the New York-based Human Rights Watch.

“The harder, longer term part is ensuring his right under international law to return to China when he sees fit.”

C h i n a ’ s o f f i c i a l explanation for agreeing to allow Chen to go abroad was so that he could study in accordance with his rights as a Chinese citizen.

But Beijing-based rights lawyer Jiang Tianyong said the authorities would think twice about letting Chen return – even though the government is obliged under international law to allow its citizens back into the country.

“Under the current political climate, I doubt the government will allow him to return,” he said. – AFP

CHICAGO – NATO leaders last week mapped a path out of the unpopular war in Afghanistan, backing plans to hand Afghans the combat lead from mid-2013 while vowing to stand by them as they seize their own destiny.

In a Chicago summit declaration on May 21, US Pres ident Barack Obama and his NATO military allies ratified an “irreversible” roadmap to “gradually and responsibly” withdraw 130,000 combat troops by the end of 2014.

But they also ordered military officers to begin p lanning a post -2014 mission to focus on training, advising and assisting Afghan troops to ensure the government can ward off a stubborn Taliban insurgency.

“As Afghans stand up, they will not stand alone,” Obama told the gathering of more than 50 world leaders, focused on ending a decade of war that has left over 3000 coalition soldiers and tens of thousands of Afghans dead.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who attended the talks, sought to reassure nervous allies that the sacrifices made on all sides would not have been vain, maintaining Taliban

Islamic militants could not recapture power.

“The Taliban may have the ability to launch attacks, to explode IEDs (improvised explosive devices), to send suicide bombers. But for them to come and take over the country and take it backwards, no,” Karzai told CNN.

“Afghanistan has moved forward and Afghanistan will defend itself. And the progress that we have achieved, the Afghan people will not allow it to be put back or reversed.”

But in a sign of growing f rustrat ions with the dragging conflict, France’s new President Francois Hollande said his country had done “more than its duty” since the 2001 US-led invasion ousted the hardline Taliban leadership.

And a row over re -opening Pakistan supply routes into Afghanistan to NATO convoys also lingered, although Obama and NATO chief Anders

Fogh Rasmussen seemed optimistic the issue would be resolved.

French officials said a calendar for withdrawing

French troops by the end of 2012 – a year early – would be drawn up within the next 10 days, as Hollande signalled reluctance to allocate more cash for

Afghan security forces.The 28 NATO leaders

and their 22 partners in the war, as far afield as Australia, Georgia and

South Korea, issued a final statement saying Afghans will be in “lead for security nationwide” by mid-2013.

Though NATO troops will gradually shift focus

to training and support, alliance officials stressed foreign soldiers would still participate in combat operations when needed

until late 2014.The summit gave Obama

a platform to show a war-weary American public that he has global support for plans to end the war

ahead o f a tough re -election campaign against Republican Mitt Romney in November.

NATO leaders also sought

to reassure Karzai that the international community would not abandon his country after the combat troops are gone.

The 50 nations involved in the war endorsed a US plan to provide US$4.1 billion in annual security aid to Afghanistan and reduce the size of Afghan forces from a peak of 352,000 to 228,500.

The United States has offered to pay half the bill while the international community is expected to fund the rest. But the summit declaration makes clear that the security aid will not last forever.

The declaration says the Afghan government’s share of the bill will increase progressively from $500 million in 2015, “with the aim that it can assume, no later than 2024, full financial responsibility for its own security forces.”

Canada agreed to continue funding Afghan forces until 2017, officials said, contributing some $108 million annually for three years beyond 2014.

“Canada will honor its commitment and complete its current training mission but our country will not have any military mission in Afghanistan after March 2014,” Prime Minister Stephen Harper said. – AFP

Major contributors to NATO’s International Security Assistance Force

Afghanistan

Foreign troops in Afghanistan

Source: ISAF/icasualties.org

90,000USA

9,500UK

4,900

3,308

3,816

1,481

1,843

2,475Germany

Romania

Poland

2001

Italy

France

1,845 1,550Turkey Australia

Spain

Coalition deaths

200

400

600

232295

521

711

566

160

2012

NATO maps a way out of Afghanistan

‘Afghanistan has moved forward and Afghanistan will defend itself.’

Chen Guangcheng and his wife, Yuan Weijing, arrive at the New York University apartments in Manhattan on May 19. Pic: AFP

Chen begins new life in US

worldthe MyanMar tiMes

28May 28 - June 3, 2012

By Louise Arbour

WHEN NATO leaders met in Chicago on May 20 and 21, they unveiled a series of new projects, among them, apparently, a program to develop and expand the use of unmanned aerial vehicles – or “drones” – so as to confront the security threats of the future and make better use of tighter budgets.

Used first for surveillance, and increasingly for strikes, drones have considerable operational attraction. But killing with these stealth weapons stretches legal boundaries to the breaking point, and alienates people in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen, countries in which neither NATO nor the United States, its most powerful member, are actually fighting wars – unless we count the “war on terror” has having opened the entire world as a battlefield.

NATO’s attraction to drones, almost exclusively US-built at the moment, is understandable. They are relatively cheap, can be deployed quickly in inhospitable terrain over vast distances, and help keep troops and airmen out of harm’s way. But this push-button solution to warfare poses real risks to civilians, especially as targeting criteria deteriorate to the point where a special rapporteur to the United Nations has described them as a “vaguely defined licence to kill.” The rules for using strike drones should be clarified and the tests that determine who is a legitimate target should be explicit. The standards that NATO sets and its respect for

international law will stand as a powerful example to all, especially as many other governments seek to expand their production and use of drones.

The dangers of slippage are clear. Already under the cover of the war on terror, some states have challenged the fundamental premises of the protection of civilians in the Geneva Conventions, by including more civilians in their definition of combatants, and pushing the boundaries of acceptable “collateral damage.”

After two long and costly wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the United States is set to double its spending on

drones over the next decade to more than US$11 billion. This is an understandable choice.

Senior defence officials say that remotely piloted aircraft can be flown for hours over treacherous terrain and great distances waiting to surgically shoot Hellfire missiles at enemies visible perhaps only for just a few minutes. The danger to soldiers – and the financial and political costs of deploying them – they argue, is massively diminished. Moreover, it’s a more surgical enterprise: on-board cameras give “pilots” hundreds or thousands of miles away a clear picture of the target and any civilians who might

be in the way. But beyond being of dubious legitimacy under international law, the use of such technologies may be counter-productive.

In Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen, unmanned planes are being flown by the CIA – an organisation that clearly lacks the military’s culture and training in international humanitarian law.

Meanwhile, Washington interprets within its rights under the war on terror the use of lethal force against enemies in a foreign country when that state “consents or is unable or unwilling” to act. While Pakistan’s position in the past has been ambiguous, the government said publicly

in May that drone attacks are illegal and violate its sovereignty and territorial integrity. But even this clear expression has not stopped the Obama administration’s use of this tool.

Accountability has also declined as the use of drones has expanded. Top al-Qaeda suspects were once carefully vetted for assassination, but the list for these killings has grown; targets now include, for example, drug lords in Afghanistan and militants in Somalia. Operations are conducted in isolated areas under the utmost secrecy, making it virtually impossible to determine who has been killed or injured, and whether the strike complied with the laws of war. Recent studies estimate that one civilian dies for every four to five suspects killed.

Many modern armies claim to be increasingly attentive to their legal obligations. But at the same time, they seem ever

more reluctant to account for their actions publicly and transparently. This may be an unintended consequence of their perceived expanded exposure to prosecutions, w h e t h e r b e f o r e t h e International Criminal Court or elsewhere.

For instance, as much as the NATO leadership might be satisfied with its campaign in Libya, there has still been no transparent assessment of the number of civilians who were killed in the UN-authorised airstrikes there, which included the use of drones, and of the circumstances of their deaths.

Whi le these str ikes are described as clinical and surgical, there is no independent way for the public in NATO countries to evaluate the extent of their impact on civilians. It may well be that the requirement of proportionality in the laws of war – that civilian casualties not be disproportionate to the legitimate military objective of the operation – is satisfied in a given operation. But this cannot be taken for granted, particularly if these supposedly precision operations result in one civilian killed for every five combatants.

As NATO countries prepare to withdraw thousands of troops from Afghanistan and expand their drone programs commensurately, they must carefully weigh the policies and practices for using a weapon that distances them from the human, political, legal, and moral costs of war.

The leaders of NATO member nations must clarify under what conditions these hi-tech weapons should be used, who might constitute a legitimate target, and ultimately ensure that their use respects international law. – Foreign Policy

(Louise Arbour is president and CEO of the International Crisis Group).

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan – A US drone strike on a militant compound early on May 24 killed five insurgents in northwest Pakistan’s lawless tribal region near the Afghan border, officials said.

The May 24 drone strike, which came a day after another killed four

militants in the same region, was the fourth such strike reported in Pakistan since parliament in March demanded an end to the attacks on Pakistani territory, as part of new guidelines for Islamabad’s often stormy relationship with Washington.

Pakistan says the missile attacks

are counter productive, violate its sovereignty, kill civilians and fuel anti-US sentiment.

The New America Foundation think-tank in Washington says drone strikes have killed between 1715 and 2680 people in Pakistan in the past eight years. – AFP

Drone strikes kill nine militants in Pakistan

The case for caution with dronesA missile-armed US Predator drone taking off from Bagram air base in Afghanistan, in a file photo taken on November 27, 2009. Pic: AFP

Trade Mark CauTionNOTICE is hereby given that Hisamitsu PHarmaceutical co., inc a joint stock company duly organized under the laws of Japan, manufacturers and merchants of 408, Tashiro Daikancho, Tosu, Saga, Japan is the Owner and Sole Proprietor of the following trademark: -

(reg: no. iV/3246/2003) in respect of:- “Pharmaceutical and veterinary preparations; sanitary preparations for medical purposes; dietetic substances adapted for medical use, food for babies; plasters, materials for dressings; material for stopping teeth, dental wax; disinfectants; preparations for destroying vermin; fungicides, herbicides”.


U Kyi Win Associates for Hisamitsu PHarmaceutical co., inc

P.O. Box No. 26, Yangon.Phone: 372416Dated: 28th May, 2012

world29the MyanMar tiMes May 28 - June 3, 2012

W A S H I N G T O N – Republican White House hopefu l Mit t Romney vowed on May 23 to cut unemployment to six percent if elected, saying he has the right business acumen and policies and warned US President Barack Obama not to “attack success.”

I t w a s a d a y o f counterattack by Romney after the president hit out at his corporate record, with the challenger insisting he’d be a better steward of the economy and charging that Obama “just doesn’t have a clue” about how to turn things around.

Romney told Time magazine that he’d have greater success a t r educ ing the jobless rate, a crucial US economic barometer that Democrats and Republicans alike insist needs to be brought down from its stubbornly high perch of 8.1 percent.

A Romney presidency, he said, would preside over “very dramatic change” t o t h e U S b u s i n e s s environment and would “get the unemployment rate down to six percent or perhaps a little lower” after four years.

O b a m a c a m p a i g n spokesman Ben LaBolt argued that government

e c o n o m i s t s h a d already projected that unemployment would reach six percent by that point.

“What is interesting about this is that Romney moved the goal posts in just a matter of weeks,” LaBolt told reporters.

“He said he was going to get it down to four percent several weeks ago. Now he says six percent.”

Romney’s message to a crowd of Hispanic American business leaders on May 23 was that the incumbent has not done nearly enough

to help right the economic ship.

“This is a time when e v e r y b o d y i n t h i s administration should be doing everything in their power to support you,” he told the group.

“Instead, sadly, President Obama has decided to attack success. It’s no wonder so many of his own supporters are calling on him to stop this war on job creators.”

The remarks were the strongest by Romney since Obama opened a bitter front in the election battle by

declaring on May 21 that his rival’s record at the helm of private investment firm Bain Capital was fair game.

O b a m a ’ s r e e l e c t i o n campaign had the previous week rolled out new ads attacking Romney as a heartless corporate raider, but the spots triggered a backlash among some Democrats , inc lud ing Newark Mayor Cory Booker who called the attacks on Bain “nauseating.”

R e p u b l i c a n l e a d e r s pounced on the denunciations as proof that Obama was out

of step with American support for the free market and Romney pressed the point.

“Make no mistake. When I am president, you won’t wake up

every day and wonder if the president is on your side,” Romney said.

T h e c a n d i d a t e w a s speaking to an audience of some 250 Hispanic Americans, a voting bloc Romney has struggled to win over.

A new national survey showed Romney and Obama locked in a tight contest, but among Latino voters Romney trails badly.

Obama holds a 61-27pc lead among Latinos, showed the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. – AFP

ROME – The Italian government declared a state of emergency in northeastern Italy on May 22, where 5000 people were camped out in temporary shelters amid fears of aftershocks after an earthquake hit the region.

The government declared a 60-day state of emergency for the area around Bologna, Modena and Ferrara and promised 50 million euros (US$63 million) in aid to help rebuild houses and family-owned factories destroyed in the May 20 earthquake.

Prime Minister Mario Monti visited several of the quake-struck towns on May 22 and met the families of victims the 6.0-magnitude quake, which killed six people and reduced homes and historic buildings to rubble.

The region’s priceless architectural

treasures were worst hit, with churches, chapels and castles wrecked and famous frescoes destroyed.

The earthquake rattled the cities of Ferrara – a UNESCO World Heritage site – as well as Bologna, Verona and Mantua and several smaller towns.

Monti, who cut short a trip to the United States where he was attending a NATO summit, slept in the nearby city of Ferrara on May 21 before heading to Sant’Agostino, where the clock was stuck at 4:05am – the hour the quake hit.

The disaster struck just over three years after a 6.3-magnitude quake devastated the city of L’Aquila in central Italy in March 2009, killing some 300 people and leaving tens of thousands homeless. – AFP

M O S C O W – R u s s i a n President Vladimir Putin defied calls on May 22 to bring fresh faces into top jobs by shifting his old ministers into the Kremlin and putting a key lieutenant in charge of the giant state oil firm.

The swift reassignment of officials to the Kremlin one day after they formally left the cabinet further cements Putin’s command of Russia and limits the sway of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

Top Putin ally Igor Sechin will run Rosneft after using his cabinet seat to engineer three global tie-ups to help the firm exploit vast reserves in the Arctic, from which it can grow into one of the world’s top firms.

The move highlights an understanding by Putin

that Russia’s economic fate still revolves closely around its biggest energy companies despite repeated attempts to diversify into other sectors of growth during his 12-year rule.

But the appointments also underscored Putin’s continued refusal to look outside his team of most t rus ted adv i sors and amplified concerns that his old guard was not prepared to fully embrace much-needed economic reform.

“It is obvious that the presidential administration intends to run everything,” former Kremlin advisor Gleb Pavlovsky told AFP.

“Any talk of modernisation now is laughable,” said Higher School of Economics professor Yuly Nisnevich.

Putin’s election in March was preceded by months of

protests on the streets of Moscow over the prospect of the former KGB spy extending his domination of Russia until at least 2018 with the same clique of top officials.

H i s a i d e s s e e m e d sensitive to the criticism and had promised in the two weeks since Putin’s May 7 inauguration a complete government overhaul design to shed the ruling party’s image of bureaucracy and waste.

But Putin issued a decree on May 22 announcing that he was appointing to the Kremlin administration seven top former ministers who were not included in Medvedev’s new government.

They included former interior minister Rashid Nurgaliyev – despised by the opposition over harsh

crackdowns on protests and cases of police torture and other abuse – who was given the job of deputy head of the national security council.

T h e r u l i n g p a r t y meanwhile rammed a bill through parliament that increases fines for joining illegal protests to more than three times the annual wage.

There has been a marked similarity between the lightning pace at which Putin’s third term was starting and his quick imposition of authority more than a decade ago.

P u t i n ’ s 2 0 0 0 - 2 0 0 8 presidency witnessed an unprecedented centralisation of power that saw huge companies come under state control and the regions lose the right to elect their own top officials. – AFP

BERLIN – Europe faces a new wave of extremism and nationalism if the eurozone fails to resolve its problems, Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has warned in a German news magazine.

“ I f t h e e u r o z o n e doesn’t come up with a comprehensive vision of its own future, you’ll have a whole range of nationalist, xenophobic and extreme movements increasing across the European Union,” he told the May 21 edition of news weekly Der Spiegel.

Asked whether he believed German Chancellor Angela Merkel was “not active enough” on leading eurozone crisis-fighting efforts, he replied: “everybody should be more active” and that the current situation of e m e r g e n c y s u m m i t s , bailouts and governments being voted out of office could not continue.

“We know this much

from our continent: The combination of economic insecurity and political paralysis is the ideal recipe for an increase in extremism and xenophobia,” he said, according to an English transcript of the interview.

“And I, as a passionate liberal and pro-European, think it would be a disaster if a lack of grip and a lack of a comprehensive solution were to lead to a push to the extreme right or extreme left.

“But that’s where we are heading,” said the former member of the European Parliament.

Clegg also said that the 17-member eurozone “cannot thrive through fiscal discipline alone” adding that fiscal transfers – taxes from one eurozone member being directed to help another member – were unavoidable and could take different forms, including joint eurobonds. – AFP

Clegg issues warningover eurozone crisis

Putin bolsters grip on powerwith Kremlin appointments

Romney attacks Obama onjobs, economic management

The shattered remains of a church in the northeastern Italy city of San Carlo on May 21, the day after the region was hit by an earthquake. Pic: AFP

Earthquake rattles northeastern Italy

LONDON – Queen Elizabeth II told her grandson Prince William to rip up the guest list he was given for his wedding and do it again himself to include his friends, he said in an interview.

The Duke of Cambridge also said he got just half an hour’s sleep before last year’s wedding to Catherine Middleton, which was watched by billions around the world.

In extracts released on May 22

from a forthcoming ITV television documentary to mark the queen’s jubilee, William, 29, said he went to his grandmother with his concerns about the guest list drawn up by royal officials.

“There was very much a subdued moment when I was handed a list with 777 names on – not one person I knew or Catherine knew,” he said.

“I went to her (the Queen) and said, ‘Listen, I’ve got this list, not

one person I know –what do I do?’ and she went, ‘Get rid of it. Start from your friends and then we’ll add those we need to in due course. It’s your day’.”

The April 29 wedding at Westminster Abbey in London was attended by about 2000 people and more than one million people lined the processional route to see the happy couple.

William, the second in line to the throne after his father

Prince Charles, admitted that his grandmother was a tough act to follow.

“There’s not much wriggle room left for me to try and find my own path but I will do,” said the search-and-rescue helicopter pilot in the extracts published in the Radio Times magazine.

“It’s just a matter of learning what’s gone before me. She’s an incredible role model. I would like to take all of her experiences,

all of her knowledge and put it in a small box and to be able to constantly refer to it.”

William said he was much closer to his grandmother now than he was as a child.

“We’re definitely a lot closer than we used to be,” he said.

“Being a small boy it’s very daunting seeing the Queen around and not really quite knowing what to talk about.”

– AFP

Queen said it’s your day so ditch the list, William reveals

‘President Obama has decided to attack success.’

AsiAthe MyanMar tiMes

30May 28 - June 3, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was charged on May 22 for his part in an election reform rally, a case he denounced as another government attempt to remove him from politics.

Anwar and two party colleagues were charged with violating a controversial new law governing public gatherings and a court order that banned the April 28 rally from the centre of the capital Kuala Lumpur.

The charge came four months after Anwar was acquitted of sodomy in a long-running trial that the charismatic leader has said was engineered by the government of Prime Minister Najib Razak to remove him as a political threat.

“We will fight. This is political intimidation,” Anwar, 64, told reporters as he left the court in Kuala Lumpur after pleading not guilty.

“Najib is afraid to face me in elections. I want to tell Najib not to use the courts and the flawed (assembly) law passed in parliament to intimidate political opponents.”

The judge scheduled a July 2 hearing to set a trial date, with the United States urging Malaysia to ensure “due process”.

A Malaysian government spokesman rejected Anwar’s allegations of meddling.

“The public prosecutor decides

whether to press charges against an individual based solely on the strength of the evidence against them,” he said in a statement.

Anwar’s lawyers and a top Election Commission official have confirmed

that a conviction would strip the opposition leader of his eligibility to stand for election, although he could run on appeal.

The charge of participating in an illegal protest carries a fine of 10,000 ringgit (US$3100) under the new law. In Malaysia, anyone fined more than 2000 ringgit for a crime is barred from contesting elections for five years.

Najib must call national elections by early next year and many observers expect a tight contest after the Anwar-led opposition handed the ruling coalition its worst poll showing in 2008.

Tens of thousands of Malaysians marched in last month’s rally organised by electoral-reform group Bersih 2.0, demanding changes to an election system that they say is rigged in the ruling coalition’s favour.

Protesters breached barricades, touching off clashes in which police used tear gas and water cannon. The police were filmed beating protesters as other marchers fought back.

The government has accused Anwar of inciting the violence, which he denies.

The new charges have triggered fresh criticism of the new law on public assemblies, passed late last year amid strong criticism from the opposition and human rights groups. – AFP

JAKARTA – Indonesian prosecutors on May 21 asked for a life sentence rather than the death penalty for Bali bomb m a k e r U m a r P a t e k , arguing that his remorse in the dock should spare him from a firing squad.

Patek, 45, is accused of masterminding attacks on two nightclubs on the resort island in October 2002 which killed 202 people , inc luding 88 Austra l ians , and on churches in Jakarta on Christmas Eve 2000.

When the trial started in February, prosecutors had said they would seek capital punishment for Patek, who was held last year in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad, four months before al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was killed there.

Dubbed “Demolition Man” by local media for his bomb making prowess, Patek is charged with premeditated murder. The West Jakarta District Court is expected to deliver its verdict on June 21.

Prosecutor Bambang Suharyadi told the court that the case against Patek, the final key Bali suspect to stand trial, for premeditated murder had been shown without doubt. But he said they were seeking a lighter sentence because the defendant had been remorseful and cooperative.

“We the prosecutors recommend... the defendant Umar Patek be given a life sentence,” Suharyadi said. “He has been polite and cooperative during the trial and regretted what he has done.”

The prosecutor added that Patek “will remain in prison until he dies”.

P a t e k o n M a y 2 1 repeated an apology he made to the relatives of those killed in the Bali and church attacks.

“I regret what I have done... (and) I apologise to the families of victims who died – Indonesians and foreigners,” said Patek.

Terrorism expert Noor Huda Ismail said it was important that Patek remain alive because of the information he could still yield.

“Patek is an encyclopedia of information on the who’s who of al-Qaeda i n S o u t h e a s t A s i a , ” said Ismail, executive director of the Institute for International Peace Building in Jakarta.

Three JI members were executed by firing squad in November 2008 for their roles in the attacks.

Patek denies he led the bomb making team for the Bali attacks, confessing only to playing a minor role. He admitted to mixing the chemicals for the explosives, but said that he did not know how the bombs would be used. – AFP

Prosecutorsseek life injail for Balibomb maker

WASHINGTON – Angry US lawmakers on May 24 threatened to freeze millions of dollars in vital aid to Islamabad after a Pakistani doctor who helped hunt down Osama bin Laden was jailed for 33 years.

As the case of Shakeel Afridi, also fined 320,000 rupees (US$3500) after being found guilty of treason, stunned Capitol Hill, US Secretary of State Hillary C l i n t o n denounced h i s treatment as “unjust and unwarranted.”

“We regret both the fact that he was convicted and the severity of his sentence,” Clinton told reporters.

Troubled ties between the United States and Pakistan have not recovered since they sank to all-time lows after the killing of bin Laden by US commandos in a raid on his compound in the garrison town of Abbottabad in May 2011.

Relations frayed further

when US air strikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November, causing Pakistan to shut its Afghan border to NATO supply trucks.

The Afridi sentencing on May 23 was announced just two days after US President Barack Obama appeared to snub Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari at a NATO summit over Islamabad’s refusal to lift the blockade on the vital transit routes.

The action of Afridi – who had run a fake vaccination program designed to collect the DNA of the Al-Qaeda leader’s family – to “bring about the end of the reign of terror designed and executed by bin Laden was not, in any way, a betrayal of Pakistan,” Clinton said.

A f r i d i h a d b e e n “instrumental in taking down one of the world’s most wanted murderers. That was clearly in Pakistan’s interest,

as well as ours and the rest of the world’s,” Clinton said.

US lawmakers threatened to suspend the aid to Islamabad until Afridi is freed, the Pakistani government ends support for terror groups and re-opens Afghan supply routes.

The United States has given Pakistan more than $18 billion in assistance since al-Qaeda orchestrated the September 11, 2001

attacks, but US officials have persistent concerns that some elements of the establishment have maintained support for extremists.

“All of us are outraged at the imprisonment and sentence of some 33 years, virtually a death sentence, to the doctor in Pakistan,” Senator John McCain told reporters.

A Pakistani official told AFP that Afridi, who worked for years as a government

surgeon in the lawless tribal district of Khyber, seemed to be “weak” and “depressed” at the central prison in the northwestern city of Peshawar where he is being held.

In a sign of mounting anger, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted 30-0 to freeze a symbolic $33 million in foreign aid to Pakistan, or $1 million for each year of the sentence, in an amendment

to the $52 bil l ion US foreign aid budget.

“We need Pakistan, Pakistan needs us, but we don’t need Pakistan double-dealing and not seeing the justice in bringing Osama bin Laden to an end,” said Republican Senator Lindsey Graham.

The appropriations bill, which includes a total of $1 billion in assistance for Pakistan, will go now to the Senate floor. It represents a 58 percent cut in the amount of aid Obama had requested for Pakistan. – AFP

Doctor’s 33-year sentencebrings US aid cut threat

‘All of us are outraged at the imprisonment and sentence…’

COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s former army chief said on May 22 he was prepared to face a war crimes investigation, but rejected allegations that tens of thousands of civilians were killed by troops under his command.

Sarath Fonseka, who was released from jail the previous day after more than two years in detention, led security forces to victory over Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009 but then fell out with President Mahinda Rajapakse.

“There are certain allegations, but I don’t agree that 40,000 civilians

died. All that is nonsense,” Fonseka told reporters on his first full day of freedom.

“I am ready to clarify and answer these allegations,” he added.

Fonseka, who was jailed two weeks after he failed to unseat Rajapakse in January 2010 presidential elections, has repeatedly vowed to testify before any international tribunal despite Colombo’s opposition to foreign scrutiny.

The Sri Lankan military defeated the Tamil Tigers in May 2009 after a

massive offensive in the northeast that ended decades of separatist warfare.

Fonseka said he agreed with part of a US-led resolution against Sri Lanka in March at the United Nations Human Rights Council urging Sri Lanka to ensure reconciliation and accountability for war crimes.

“There are major areas in the reso lut ion l ike human r ights violations which are true,” Fonseka said at his home outside Colombo. “This government has failed in reconciliation.” – AFP

Fonseka freed, ready to face war probe

Anwar Ibrahim says he is a victim of “political intimidation”. Pic: AFP

Anwar vows to fight new charge

Briefs

Indian PM admits govt can ‘do better’

NEW DELHI – Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has acknowledged the “large unfinished agen-da” facing his government after three years in power, and vowed to tackle corrup-tion and fiscal mismanage-ment.

“I will be the first to say we need to do better,” Singh said on May 22 as he pre-sented his graft-tainted co-alition’s annual report card at a function in New Delhi.

Singh’s second term in office has been marked by slowing economic growth, accusations of policy pa-ralysis and a series of cor-ruption scandals that have combined to undermine op-timism about India’s future development.

Hundreds arrested in telecom scam

BEIJING – Nearly 500 people were seized by po-lice throughout Asia over an US$11.5-million tele-com scam targeting people in China, state media said on May 24.

Most of the 482 suspects were from China and Tai-wan. They were arrested there and in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cam-bodia, Sri Lanka and Fiji, state-run Xinhua news agency said.

The accused were arrest-ed on May 23, and police in China said the ringleaders of the scam were from Tai-wan.

Sri Lanka seizes 1.5 tonnes of ivory

COLOMBO – Sri Lankan authorities have seized 1.5 tonnes of African ivory marked as plastic waste and addressed to a buyer in Dubai, a customs official in Colombo said on May 23.

The container carrying 359 pieces of ivory had origi-nated from Kenya and was going through the main sea port of Colombo when cus-toms agents found it after a tip-off, director Udayanath Liyanage said.

The illegal trade in ivory from African elephants is driven by Asian and Middle Eastern demand for the tusks used in ornaments.

Penguin back home after 82 days on run

TOKYO – A penguin on the run from a Tokyo aquarium for 82 days was recaptured alive and well on May 24, a report said.

The Humboldt, one of 135 penguins kept at Tokyo Sea Life Park, was recaptured on a riverbank about eight kilometres (five miles) from its home, Kyodo news agen-cy said. “We’re relieved to see the penguin come back alive,” Kazuhiro Sakamoto, vice head of the aquarium, was quoted as saying by Kyodo. – AFP

AsiA31the MyanMar tiMes May 28 - June 3, 2012

BEIJING – The brother of a blind Chinese activist who triggered a diplomatic row between Beijing and Washington arrived in the capital on May 24 after escaping his heavily guarded home, a rights lawyer said.

C h e n G u a n g f u , t h e elder brother of Chen Guangcheng, fled his home village of Dongshigu in eastern China’s Shandong province under cover of darkness and travelled to Beijing, where he met a rights lawyer to discuss his son’s case.

His son is in pol ice custody, charged with attempted murder over an attack on a local official who

broke into the family home after discovering that Chen Guangcheng had escaped following nearly two years under illegal house arrest.

“ H e e s c a p e d f r o m Dongshigu village in the middle of the night,” lawyer Ding Xikui said of Chen Guangfu, adding that the activist’s brother had also been effectively held under house arrest in the village.

“There were peop le m o n i t o r i n g h i m a n d controlling his movements. They were not allowing him to leave the village, he had been confined to the village,” Ding told AFP by telephone.

Ding refused to reveal how

Chen Guangfu got away, but his daring flight appeared similar to his brother’s escape from Dongshigu to the US embassy in Beijing last month.

Police in Shandong said on May 10 that Chen Kegui had been charged with murder and he remains in custody there.

Ding refused to reveal where Chen Guangfu was in Beijing.

“I’m concerned about his safety,” Ding said, adding that Chen Guangfu feared that police from Shandong could come looking for him and arrest him even though he has not committed any crime. – AFP

BEIJING – A well-known state television presenter’s call for China to kick out “foreign trash” and two highly publicised incidents of bad behaviour by visitors have set off a heated debate on foreigners in China.

The vitriolic comments posted online by Yang Rui, who presents a daily talk show in English on the state-run China Central Television network, have channelled into a growing controversy on China’s popular microblogs.

“The Public Security Bureau needs to clean out the foreign trash,” wrote Yang on his microblog, accusing expatriates of “engaging in human trafficking” and “spreading lies” about China.

He made his comments after Beijing police the previous week launched a 100-day crackdown on foreigners working illegally in the capital, with posters showing a clenched fist and a phone line for residents to inform on visa violators.

Yang urged police to focus on areas popular with expatriates in Beijing, and also welcomed the recent expulsion of Al Jazeera journalist Melissa Chan, which has been strongly condemned by rights organisations and by Washington.

“We kicked out that foreign harpy and closed Al Jazeera’s Beijing bureau. We should shut up those who denigrate China and send them packing,” wrote Yang, whose comments have been widely criticised in the foreign media –

though his employer, CCTV, has remained silent.

In a statement on May 22, Yang said he intended his comments to be a “wake-up call” for foreigners who violated China’s laws, citing the recent example of a British tourist accused of sexually assaulting a Chinese woman.

The man, who is believed to be in custody, was caught on camera and the footage went viral after it was posted online, sparking a barrage of anti-foreigner sentiment.

Days later, footage showing a Russian cellist verbally abusing a female passenger on a train in China was posted online, adding to the growing controversy.

The cellist has since been fired from his position with the Beijing Symphony Orchestra, which said its reputation had been “badly damaged” by the actions of Oleg Vedernikov, a move welcomed by many Chinese bloggers.

Vedernikov has apologised over the May 14 incident. – AFP

A panda dozes in the Olympic Games Panda Bear enclosure at the Beijing Zoo on May 22. The zoo, in the grounds of a Ming dynasty imperial palace, opened to the public in 1908. Pic: AFP

BEIJING – China accused the Philippines on May 24 of not being sincere in seeking a peaceful end to a standoff over disputed waters, escalating the rhetoric a day after confirming the deployment of more ships.

The Chinese foreign ministry made the remark as tension lingered over the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, a vast body of water which stretches almost to the Equator and is claimed in its entirety by China.

“During the whole process, China has been appealing for diplomatic consultations to resolve the situation there,” foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a regular briefing.

“But the actions of the Philippine side cannot but raise our doubt over the sincerity of the Philippines to properly resolve the current situation.”

As of early last week, there were five Chinese government vessels – up from three – and 16 fishing boats at the shoal, the Philippine foreign department said on May 23.

Chinese state media later confirmed a “strengthened” presence, and Hong on May 24 also suggested that China had boosted the number of vessels.

“From the beginning of the incidents, China had launched solemn and immediate representations, demanding the Philippines to withdraw their vessels,” he said.

“Now the Philippines is still taking some provocative actions there and China has to strengthen control and raise alert there.”

Both countries have had ships posted around the shoal since early April, when Chinese vessels prevented a Philippine

Navy ship from arresting Chinese fishermen.

“We urge the Philippine side to respect China’s territorial sovereignty in earnest and stop all provocations and show sincerity and carry out serious and earnest diplomatic dialogue with China,” Hong said.

In a separate development, China said on May 23 it had cancelled a high-level military trip to Japan, as the two neighbours bicker over a disputed island chain and a recent Uighur symposium in Tokyo that angered Beijing.

Guo Boxiong, vice chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission and China’s highest ranking military officer, will not visit Japan due to “work commitments” at home, the defence ministry said in a statement.

The China Daily said the visit had been due to begin on May 24, with Guo scheduled to meet Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda.

The cancellation came after China condemned Japan for allowing the World Uyghur Congress, which Beijing considers an exiled “anti-China” separatist grouping, to meet in Tokyo in mid-May.

In April, Beijing also angrily condemned remarks by Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara, who re-ignited a long-simmering maritime territorial dispute by vowing to buy the disputed group of uninhabited islands.

The Tokyo city government said on May 24 members of the public had pledged almost one billion yen (US$12.5 million) to buy the islands. – AFP

AVAZA, Turkmenistan – Turkmenistan last week signed agreements with India and Pakistan to deliver gas through a new pipeline that will transit Afghanistan, the f irst contracts in the ambitious project.

The 1700-kilometre (1050-mile) TAPI pipeline aims to transport more than 30 billion cubic metres of gas a year from Turkmenistan to energy-hungry consumers in Pakistan and India as well as relieving shortages in Afghanistan.

T h e s a l e - p u r c h a s e agreements for the yet-to-be-built pipeline were signed on May 23 at a ceremony on the sidelines of the annual Turkmenistan oil and gas congress in its Caspian Sea resort of Avaza.

They were inked by the head of the state gas company Turkmengaz Sakhatmurad Mamedov w i t h r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s of India’s Gail Ltd and Pakistan’s Inter State Gas System.

“Today we are witnesses of a historic event, not just of regional but o f w o r l d s c a l e , ” said Turkmenistan D e p u t y P r i m e Minister Baimurat Khodzhamukhamedov.

T u r k m e n i s t a n a n d A f g h a n i s t a n s i g n e d a m e m o r a n d u m o f u n d e r s t a n d i n g f o r cooperation in the gas sector but no contract. Khodzhamukhamedov said negotiations were continuing with Afghanistan on the price of deliveries.

The TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) natural gas pipeline, which is backed by the Asian Development Bank, is regarded with suspicion as a wildly ambitious pipedream by some analysts.

Much of the pipeline will go through Afghanistan

which neighbours both Turkmenistan and Pakistan but remains wracked by violence and instability.

The pipeline’s route would take it straight through the region’s most turbulent areas, including conflict-torn Helmand and Kandahar provinces in Afghanistan as well as Quetta in Pakistan,

where tribal unrest is common.

But India’s Oil Minister S. Jaipal Reddy said that his fast-growing nation was waiting impatiently for the pipeline to be ready, noting that India’s energy demands would quadruple by 2017.

Afghanistan’s Mining

M i n i s t e r W a h i d u l l a h S h a h r a n i s a i d t h a t the project will “spread peace and help our region flourish.”

Financial details and precise volume details of the contracts were not disclosed but according to the ADB, the contracts will lead to the supply of up to 90 million

cubic metres of natural gas a day through the pipeline.

Turkmenistan is also being courted by the West and China for its immense gas reserves which, according to British auditors Gaffney, Cline and Associates, are the second largest in the world.

The country is also keen on diversifying its export routes which remain dependent on its former Soviet

master Russia with whom it has had occasionally prickly relations.

It has already begun exporting gas to China through a pipeline opened by China’s President Hu Jintao in December 2009.

The ADB says the TAPI in 2008 was estimated to cost at least US$7.6 billion

(6.0 billion euros) and the partners now face the task of attracting commercial partners to build, finance, and operate the pipeline.

The project enjoys the support of the United States, which is keen to deter subcontinent states from dependency on energy supplies from its arch foe, Iran.

Crucially, the pipeline project also signals a further warming of economic ties between the traditional rivals India and Pakistan.

“Each country stands to gain, making this not only the ‘Peace Pipeline,’ but a pipeline to prosperity a s w e l l , ” s a i d K l a u s Gerhaeusser , d irector general of the central and west Asia department at the ADB. – AFP

Activist’s brother in capital: lawyer

TV presenter in China launches attack on ‘foreign trash’

First contracts signed for ambitious pipeline project

‘Today we are witnesses of a historic event…’

Territorial dispute:Beijing says RP

is lacking sincerity

Time out 33The Myanmar Times May 28 - June 3, 2012

Art Exhibition

Artist Pyae Phyoe Aung will hold his first solo exhibition of sketches of Myanmar women as reflections on the nature of beauty. The exhibition is at the Lokanat Gallery from 28-30 May, 9am to 5pm.

Nine Planets Concert

A rock concert featuring S.I.R, Drive, Fever 109, Nightmare, Side Effect

and many other rock/punk music bands, will be held at Kandawgyi, Myawsinkyun from 4pm on May 29.

Tickets cost K5999.99, available at a l l C i ty Mart Supermarket branches.

Thukha Yeikmyone Chil-dren’s Painting Exhibi-tion

New Zero Art Space will hold an exhibition presenting sketches of children who received free art training by New Zero. The exhibition will start on May 28 and run until June 3, from 9.30am to 5pm at No. 54 (1-E), Bo Yar Nyunt Street, 1st Floor, Dagon Township.

Chit Soe Collection 2012

U Chit Soe will hold a solo photo exhibition of around a hundred photos of natural landscapes and ancient arts in Myanmar. The show will run on June 2-3 at No 8, Komin Kochin Road, Bahan Township from 9am to 4pm.

Rock-On Concert

Iron Cross will perform at Myawsinkyun, Kandawgyi on June 9 from 6pm until 11pm. Tickets cost K6500 and are available at Bo Bo Music Production, Orange Supermarket, Blazon, Nobody, Fashion Star, Conqueror and Capital Hypermarket.

Events Flashwith ...Nuam Bawi

LONDON — The Stone Roses, one of the seminal bands to emerge from the Manchester indie rock scene in the 1980s, on May 24 played their first show since bitterly disbanding in 1996.

Singer Ian Brown, guitarist John Squire, bassist Gary “Mani” Mounf ie ld and drummer Alan “Reni” Wren opened the secret free gig in Warrington, northwest England, with the classic hit “I Wanna Be Adored” in front of 1500 guests.

It is the first time Wren has performed with the band since his departure in 1995, a year before the band fell apart after the acrimonious departure of Squire.

The band was resurrected last year after Brown and Squire patched up their differences at the funeral of Mounfield’s mother.

The 225,000 tickets for the three official comeback shows at Heaton Park in Manchester on June 29, 30 and July 1 sold out in an hour, a British record.

Brown ’s no to r i ou s l y unpredictable voice, which plumbed the depths during the band’s disastrous final show at the 1996 Reading Festival, held up throughout

the show on May 24, despite pre-show anxiety.

“I’ve never seen Ian nervous before,” Stone Roses biographer John Robb told the NME. “But he was, just as they came on. They sounded great. But how could they not with the world’s best drummer?”

Oasis singer Liam Gallagher watched from one of the balconies and took to microblogging website Twitter during the show to declare: “The Stone Roses are back!”

Spiky frontman Brown mocked audience members who were filming on their mobile phones, while Wren recalled the spirit of 1989 – Britain’s “second summer of love” – by emblazoning the group’s iconic lemon motif on his bass drum.

The band recorded just two albums and their 1989 self-titled debut is regarded as a seminal work, fusing psychedelic pop with dance music.

With t racks such as “Fool’s Gold” and “I Am The Resurrection”, they were one of the leading lights of the “Madchester” indie scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s, alongside acts like “Happy Mondays” and “The Charlatans”. — AFP

Resurrected Stone Roses play first show in 16 years

By Zon Pann Pwint

ORGANISERS of the Wathann Film Festival are calling on directors to submit work for the 2012 edition of the event, scheduled to be held at Maha Thandi Thukha Monastery in Tarmwe township, Yangon, from September 6 to 8.

Submissions are being accepted in three categories: S h o r t F i c t i o n F i l m , Documentary Film and Other (animation, experimental film and video art).

The event’s director, Ma Thu Thu Shein, said the first annual Wathann festival, held last September, was the first step in introducing the concept of film festivals to Myanmar.

“Visitors to the festival had the chance to talk directly with local directors. We also held workshops and seminars during the festival. I found a lot of young visitors showed great interest in short films and documentary films,” she said.

Ma Thu Thu Shein said that ever since she visited an overseas film festival in 2008, she has dreamed of organising a similar event in Myanmar.

“My dream came true in September 2011 when I organised the first Wathann Film Festival. It’s less a competition than a chance for artists to share their creations. It’s intended to improve the standards of local films and inspire directors to produce higher-quality and more artistic films. At the same time, it aims to increase the popularity of documentary and short films in our country,” she said.

Ma Thu Thu Shein added that there will be no theme for entries into this year’s festival.

“Directors have the freedom to make films about whatever they like,” she said.

The festival will also include the first screening of the feature-length documentary Nargis: When Time Stopped Breathing, directed by Pe Maung Same and The Maung Naing.

“The f i lm has never been shown locally but it has received international film awards. It is a poetic documentary film,” Ma Thu Thu Shein said.

Among the retrospective movies to be shown will be the 1973 film Chay Phawar Taw Nu Nu (Delicate Sole), directed by Maung Wunna.

Entries can be submitted to No 15 (3B), Obo Road (near Shwe Phone Pwint Pagoda), Ye Kyaw, Pazundaung township, Yangon, from June 10 to 30. For further information about submission guidelines, visit www.wathannfilmfest.net .

The winner in each of the three categories will receive K300,000 and an artwork.

A writing contest will also be held as part of the film festival, on the theme of “Myanmar Beyond the Travel Brochure”.

Short fiction and non-fiction stories about non-touristic travel in Myanmar can be submitted via email to [email protected]. Submissions can be in English or Myanmar languages.

More information on the writing contest can be found at www.ecoburma.com/contest. The submission deadline is July 31.

Wathann Film Festival invites entries

By May Sandy

THE collage art of Ko San Zaw Htway might fall short of qualifying as masterpieces of the genre, but the melancholic story behind the images helps bring them alive with a power that is rare in contemporary art.

The collages, made using plastic packaging and exhibited at Lokanat Gallery in Yangon from May 21 to 26, were created by ex-prisoner Ko San Zaw Htway while he was serving a 12-year sentence at Insein and other prisons.

“After living in prison for a long time, some people start writing short stories and poems to escape from the distress of incarceration. For me, I used collage art to free my anger and prevent myself from dwelling on painful thoughts,” the artist said.

Ko San Zaw Htway, now 38, was sentenced in 1999 to 36 years in prison for his involvement in the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) and the 9/9/99 movement.

He was arrested at a tea shop in Ahlone township shortly after his first year examination at Bohtataung University, where he was majoring in history.

The lack of proper art material in prison prompted him to experiment with cardboard and plastic packaging,

which he recycled from food containers given to him by the families of other prisoners.

“When I discovered the colours from the plastic packaging, I realised that I could turn it into artwork. So I collected packaging from my friends and sorted it into separate bags according to the colour,” he said.

As would be expected, as a prisoner Ko San Zaw Htway lacked the freedom to create whatever images he desired, with prison staff often showing their disapproval.

“Prison staff were very concerned when I made images of someone important like General Aung San or Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Some of them put pressure on me to stop, so I made landscape images when others were around, and I made the images I wanted when everyone else was asleep,” he said.

He said some of his collage pieces were confiscated or even destroyed by prison staff when he tried to send them outside.

“I had to hide my artwork under my bed and in my pillow,” he said.

Last week’s exhibition included 70 of the 100 or so artworks he brought from prison when he was released on January 13. The collages mostly depicted landscapes and portraits, but he also managed to make some watercolour paintings depicting prison life.

“ I tr ied to create something pleasant, not showing too much hatred or anger because I was eager to escape from unhappy thoughts. For example, when I created images with monks or pagodas, I felt peaceful as if I was really there,” Ko San Zaw Htway said.

“Even in the watercolour paintings I made about the prison, I didn’t include any human figures because I believe people do not belong in prison.”

The Lokanat Gallery exhibition also featured an installation piece consisting of a tree surrounded by iron bars and hung with candy and snacks, and with empty medicine packaging and bottles piled around the trunk.

Ko San Zaw Htway told The Myanmar Times that the packaging and bottles were from medicine that his mother took while he was in prison. He said that in his next exhibition he would use the packaging to create new artwork.

“When I was in prison, I created a piece of art using packages of used medicine from fellow prisoners who had HIV. At that time I told my mother to save her empty medicine packaging because I would use them to create art someday after I was released from prison,” he said.

“If these packages from my mother aren’t enough for my needs, I will ask for more packaging from HIV and other medical clinics,” he added.

Prisoner used collage art as a means of survival

Pic

: K

o Tai

k

timeout 2the MyanMar tiMes

34May 28 - June 3, 2012

By Nuam Bawi

LOCAL alternative rockers Side Effect finally released their debut album on May 5, just months after the group’s efforts to raise funds on the internet fell prey to international sanctions.

At the beginning of the year the band raised nearly US$3000 from supporters through US website IndieGoGo, with plans to use the money to release their first album and buy new equipment.

However, I nd ieGoGo informed Side Effect on January 13 that it had cancelled the band’s campaign over fears that transferring donations to the designated offshore bank account might contravene US sanctions, which prohibit Myanmar citizens from accessing the US banking system.

Despite this setback, the band managed to scrounge up enough cash to release the 10-song album, titled Mo Nya Eain Met Mya (Rainy Night Dreams), in early May.

“This is our first album, so we would like to introduce our style to music fans and let them know that this is our music,” said Darko, the band’s vocalist and guitarist.

The other band members are bassist and guitarist Jozeff K and drummer Tser Htoo, with Hein Lwin playing bass for live performances.

Since its founding in 2004, the band has cultivated an alt-rock sound that combines punk, power pop and other genres in a manner similar to bands like The Strokes, Franz Ferdinand and The Pixies.

“We don’t focus on one music genre. Instead we focus on our own style,” Darko said, adding that primary influences include Nirvana, Placebo and The Strokes.

He admitted, however, that fans who prefer the sort of melodic, sing-along pop tunes that dominate Myanmar’s music scene might not enjoy listening to Side Effect’s songs.

“In our country most people enjoy listening to pop vocals and melodic music, so they might not like our songs. We’re not a melodic band, and we don’t write many ‘sweet’ songs aimed at attracting a lot of fans,” he said.

“I think it’s much better that we’re doing what we want to do with honesty. We’ve created the songs that we wanted to create, rather than catering to what fans might want. So fans are free to decide whether they like us or not,” he said.

Tser Htoo said the fact that the band has had the same members since the beginning has helped them develop their distinct sound.

“I knew Darko even before we were band mates. Our personalities and our ideas about music were the same so we became close friends, and after a while we often knew what each other was thinking without even talking,” Tser Htoo said.

He said the band members also agreed that they did not want to take the same path to fame followed by other musicians in Myanmar.

“Even underground bands strive to release albums and play a lot of live concerts. But we never really tried to do that because we all had the same idea that we didn’t want to be influenced by producers. That’s why we took so long to release an album, even though we’ve been playing together for a long time,” he said.

Side Effect marked the release of the album with a free concert in Kandawgyi Park on May 12, along with guest performers Big Bag, No U Turn and Nov 24.

Darko said he considered the show, which was attended by about 200 people, to be the band’s best-ever performance.

“We were happy because some of the fans were singing along with songs while we were playing. This had never happened at any of our previous concerts,” he said.

Darko said that the cover of Rainy Night Dreams, designed by Yangon-based Swedish artist Cap, was intended to convey the excitement of a live performance by Side Effect.

“This photo was taken when we performed in Bali, Indonesia, last November as part of ASEAN Fair 2011. It shows concert staff hanging a banner behind the stage before we started playing, so it gives the sense that Side Effect is coming to perform now. We are starting now,” he said.

The Bali concert, along with wide press coverage of the IndieGoGo debacle, has helped Side Effect gain international attention. The next logical step, once the album was completed, was to arrange for the songs to be available for download on sites such as iTunes, Amazon and Spotify.

“There are many people from overseas who know about our band from the news about the freezing of our funds by IndieGoGo. So they are interested in our band even though they haven’t heard our music. That’s why we’ve put our songs on iTunes, Amazon and Spotify, so they can be downloaded and heard,” Darko said.

The price on Amazon is US$0.89 per song, or $5.99 for the entire album.

At long last, Side Effect release theirdebut album

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Patent Attorneys and Trade Mark Attorneys,Hong Kong.

Dated. 28th May, 2012

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timeout 3the MyanMar tiMes

35May 28 - June 3, 2012

By Mira Oberman

CHICAGO — The colourful, comic dots of Pop art icon Roy Lichtenstein burst off the walls at the first retrospective since his death in 1997.

Scenes of war and romance lifted from comics and recast onto massive canvases lead seamlessly into his more abstract explosions and brushstrokes, his reworking of classics like Monet’s Haystacks, and the luminous Chinese landscapes Lichtenstein painted near the end of his life.

More than 160 works — including never-before-seen sculptures, drawings and paintings from private collections — are bunched in a major exhibit that opened in Chicago on May 22 before heading to Washington, London and Paris.

“Lichtenstein is rightly recognised

for being a foundational Pop artist who created some of the most iconic works of the 20th century,” said co-curator James Rondeau of the Art Institute of Chicago.

“Our aim with this exhibition is to explore the full range of absorbing contradictions at the heart of Lichtenstein’s work — starting with the paradox that Lichtenstein systematical ly dismantled the history of modern art while becoming a fixture in that canon.”

Born in New York in 1923, Lichtenstein began painting seriously after his service in World War II.

But he did not find fame until he abandoned cubist and abstract styles and challenged the art world with his ‘artless’ cartoons beginning in 1961.

Lichtenstein’s Look Mickey — which opens the exhibit — is

considered to be the first Pop art painting.

Its simplistic subject — an illustration from a book he read to his sons of Donald Duck hooking a fishing line on his shirt while Mickey covers his laughing mouth — was seen as heretical, pedestrian or banal.

“It was an incredibly radical gesture,” said co-curator Sheena Wagsta f f o f London’s Tate Modern.

“When he came up with these images, he was fairly derided, as many artists have been in the avant garde. Nobody really understood what he was doing.”

Hand-painted Ben-Day dots that mimicked commercial printing processes became Lichtenstein’s signature as he blurred the lines between ‘low’ and ‘high’ art.

By embracing and elevating the commonplace, Lichtenstein and

other Pop artists like Andy Warhol helped redefine art and beauty at a time of major social and cultural upheaval.

His comic book panels of damsels in distress and blonde heroines of domesticity came at a time when feminists were challenging traditional gender roles.

His dramatic depictions of daring war heroes captured sentimental and idealised ideas of masculinity at the height of the Cold War.

The cheerful, tongue-in-cheek playfulness of his work has also contributed to Lichtenstein’s lasting popularity — as has his capacity to capture a moment of intensely engaging narrative.

“It’s part of a story and I’m taking a part out, which implies that something happened before and after, and you don’t know what it is,” Lichtenstein once said.

“I pick them to be disturbing in

that way, or humorous in that way or evocative in some way.”

The aim of the exhibit is to help artists and the general public understand Lichtenstein’s work in a fresh and new way “rather than as a historical figure locked into 1964 when it was high pop art”, said Jack Cowart, director of the Lichtenstein Foundation.

“We hope it will be a ‘Wow! I never knew he did that’ kind of thing,” Cowart said.

The exhib i t runs through September 3 at the Art Institute of Chicago.

It will then travel to the National Galley of Art in Washington from October 14 until January 13, 2013.

It opens at London’s Tate Modern on February 21, 2013 and runs through May 27, 2013. The retrospective will appear at the Centre Pompidou in Paris from July 3 to November 4, 2013. — AFP

Whaam! Lichtenstein retrospective opens in Chicago

By Susan Svrluga

WASHINGTON — The US secretary of defence had to end his 11:30am meeting abruptly when he was called to the White House. His guests didn’t mind — they liked seeing all the men with walkie-talkies swoop in to usher Leon Panetta out. Awesome! Besides, they wanted to play with the coins he had given them.

It’s not every nine-year-old who gets invited to talk with some of the world’s most powerful people. But this class of Charlottesville, Virginia, fourth-graders has read Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, learned to avoid battles by outthinking their opponents and negotiated simulated crises involving arms dealers, oil spills and insurgents.

They also solved global warming. In a week.

The class is led by a char i smat ic long- t ime teacher whose past led him to think in unexpected ways. He was one of a handful of children chosen to integrate an all-white Virginia school, then wandered through Asia studying religion and philosophy before devising a game to teach kids how to solve problems. “They are learning to decrease suffering in the world,” John Hunter said, “and increase

compassion.”Suddenly, people from

Harvard to the United Nations are listening. And that includes Panetta, who said recently that the United States was within an inch of war almost every day in the area around North Korea.

Whether the Pentagon invitation was an innovative way to bring inspiration to a stolid institution or an odd play by officials mired in endless warfare, the kids in the class are pretty sure of one thing: The class got the officials thinking.

“The impact was really profound on us here at the Pentagon,” said Beth Flores, director of the Leadership and Organisational Development Office of the undersecretary of defence for policy.

This odd partnership — military leaders and young kids learning from one another — started with a game that Hunter’s Agnor-Hurt Elementary School students play: the World Peace Game. The children work to solve thorny problems erupting around the map. Everyone has to win for the game to be won.

Inspired by Gandhian principles, the game aims to get players to build harmony while accepting the reality of violence, Hunter said. He talks about fostering the Buddhist concept of “emptiness”, the space and

serenity to think deeply about complex issues.

Plus, he wants it to be fun.

The game has four countries with made-up names but real-world problems: cyber-attacks, ballooning debt, ethnic tensions.

Hunter tells the students that he doesn’t know how to solve the problems, so they will have to figure out a way. Their collective wisdom, he said, is much greater than his.

Over eight weeks, they play the game, small people carrying dossiers, negotiating deals, starting wars. When Hunter rings the bell to start the game, something between a hum and a roar fills the classroom as they argue and barter, pout, form alliances, cut deals and, sometimes, have a little temper tantrum.

Sarah Schmidt, who is nine, was chief financial officer of a large country, a diplomat and, secretly, a saboteur chosen by Hunter to undermine everything. No one suspected, she said, for the longest time. “Then I went quick. They got vicious when I tried to coup d’etat my prime minister.”

Some kids just want to blow everything up. But as they see the consequences ripple out after each battle, Hunter said, they begin to look for other options.

Recen t l y, t he game has been getting a lot of attention. Chris Farina, an independent filmmaker in Charlottesville, produced a documentary that led to screenings and speeches by Hunter at universities. Flores invited Hunter and Farina to the Pentagon this past fall.

“They didn’t invite us to talk about war,” Hunter said, surprised. “They’re the greatest military machine in history. They wanted to seriously have a discussion about peace and how we do that.”

Hunter said Pentagon officials told the two: “We’ve been at war 10 years. We’re tired. We’re worn out. We’ve

been through this with no end in sight.”

So one morning last month, the ministers of defence, the ethnic leaders, the arms dealers, the saboteur and all their friends took a bus to the Washington area to tell the Pentagon how they brought peace to the world.

The event was closed to the news media, a spokeswoman said at the time. But as with so many high-powered gatherings,

firsthand accounts leaked out afterward.

The students were wowed by the size of the building, by the September 11 memorial and by their tour guide, who not only walked backward while leading them down long hallways, but also walked backward down the escalator. They loved a story about the Soviets concluding from satellite surveillance that a small building at the

centre of the Pentagon was the site of a bunker full of nuclear missiles. It was actually a hot-dog stand.

Shortly before noon, the children sat down with Panetta for about half an hour. He asked them about the crises they had solved, they said, and how they had done it — especially climate change.

Pa n e t t a g a v e t h e m commemorative coins, a military tradition to honour someone. When he was called to the White House, they devoured pizzas, tossed the coins and stuck them in their eyes like monocles.

They had a mock news conference with Pentagon press secretary George Little, drilling him with questions such as whether America is ready to protect Taiwan at all costs against Chinese aggression.

They ended the day with a “hot wash”, the typical deb r i e f i ng t o d i s cu s s important take-aways.

Samuel Knotts, a 10-year-old prime minister, said they were invited “to help get a whole new perspective of the world and how to solve problems. If somebody steals your lunchbox, you don’t go up and punch him in the face to get it back — you want to reason with them, find out why they took it or talk to a teacher. The teacher in that case would be the United Nations.”

Albemarle County Schools Superintendent Pamela Moran said officials seemed struck by the students’ insistence that they couldn’t solve problems in isolation and how “fierce” the students were when asking tough questions.

Flores said she thinks Pentagon officials learned “the value of stepping back from the constant rush of the inbox to think with a fresh perspective about world problems. I think they were reminded of their own personal commitment to public service.”

The visit was part of a transformation in the policy department to encourage continual learning, strategic thinking, new perspectives and inspiration through things such as talks by scholars or working in another agency for a year.

Flores said she and Hunter have talked about an ongoing partnership between his class and the Pentagon.

“Can we go back? Please?” Sarah and Aimee Straka, the nine-year-old head of the United Nations, asked Hunter recently. “It’s a really fun place that we could explore more,” Sarah said.

“Long time, no see, Mr Panetta!” Aimee called out, giggling.

“They may save us all,” Hunter said later. “I hope so.” — The Washington Post

Pentagon invites kids to share peace game

Kaitlyn Gallaway (left), Samuel Knotts and Sarah Schmidt, fourth-grade students at Agnor-Hurt Elementary School in Charlottesville, Virginia, are shown with the World Peace Game. Pic: The Washington Post/Norm Shafer

Teacher John Hunter (left) and his students from Agnor-Hurt Elementary School in Charlottesville, Virginia, listen to Defence Secretary Leon Panetta explain some world clocks at the Pentagon. Pic: US Defence Department

‘The students are learning to decrease suffering in the world

and increase compassion.’

May 28 - June 3, 2012

soCiAlite 36the MyanMar tiMes

Rose Mary Collection Gems & Jewellery shop opening

Traders Hotel dinner with new General Manager

EnavoseSkin Care Launch

Healthy Shop 5th Anniversary and Healthy Plus 3rd

Anniversary

This week socialite started with Rose Mary Collection Gems &

Jewellery shop opening at Junction Squate on May 16. On the following day she showed up at the opening of Shayi Fashion new location in

Bahan township before she went to Traders Hotel dinner with their new General Manager, Mr Phillip Couvaras. On May 18, she attended the Ikon Mart t Electrolux Demonstration event in

the morning and Pond’s Flawless White event at Sedona hotel in the evening. The next day she went to Healthy Shop 5th anniversary and Healthy Plus 3rd anniversary event at the National Theatre. She ended her week on May 20 at

Enavorse skin care event at Sedona hotel in the morning.

May Phyu Phyu

Ma Moe, Ma Thandar Aye Aungand Ma Phyu Thant Paing

Khin Sandar Myint, Ye Min Thu and May Myint Mo

Mya Hnin Yee Lwin and Phyu Nwe Khine

Nan Su Yati Soe

Khine Thazin Yu War

Model

Kayzin Myo Nyunt and Nay Lin OoMa Aye Aye Su

Daw Tin Tin Win

SOCIALITE W I T H M A Y S A N D Y

Ma Hinn Moe Aung, MaTheint and Ma Khine Wai Thwe

Thanda Hlaing

Ma Khine

Moh Moh

Thida Aye

Ma Winnie, Major Selva Kumar and Zaw Win Than

Guests

General ManagerMr Phillip Couvaras

Mr Craig Powell & Mrs Powell, Ma KhinMarlar

Ko Phyoe Wai Yar Zar

U Myo Thwin

Ms Felicia Chang and Ms Adrina Kay

Ms. Florine Eipe and Ma Khin Marlar

May 28 - June 3, 2012

soCiAlite37the MyanMar tiMes

Pond’s Flawless White

IKON Mart Electrolux Demonstration EventOpening of Shayi Fashion at new location

Ms. Wachirapan Soponkij- Bobby Soxer

Ma Su Thar and Noemi Almo

Ma Khin Thaik Htay and Ma Khin Thaik Htwe

Varun Bajaj, Miki and William

Ko Than Naing Zaw and Steven Ma Marlar Win andU Maung Maung Myint

Thida Shayi Staff

Ariel Thuta

San Bauk Ra

Thinzar Nwe Win

Chan Chan

William & SteveDaw Mya Sandar Min, U Aung Than Htay,U Thant Zin Htun, Varun Bajaj and Miki

Nay Toe

Ms. Karat Roonpraphun

Model

Tin Moe Lwin

Daw Tin Tin Win

Eddie

trAvelthe MyanMar tiMes

38May 28 - June 3, 2012

AIRLINE OFFICES

Domestic Airlines

Myanmar Airways International(8M) 08-02, Sakura Tower,339, Bogyoke Aung San Rd, Kyauktada Tsp, Ygn.Tel : 255260, Fax: 255305

Thai Airways (TG)#11-01, Sakura Tower, 339, Bogyoke Aung San Rd, Kyauktada Tsp, Ygn.Tel : 255499 Fax : 255490

Malaysia Airlines (MH)335/357, Bogyoke Aung San Rd, Pabe-dan Tsp, Yangon. Tel : 387648, 241007 ext : 120, 121, 122 Fax : 241124

Air India75, Shwe Bon Thar St, Pabedan Tsp, Yangon. Tel : 253597~98, 254758. Fax: 248175

BangkokAirways (PG)#0305, 3rd Fl, Sakura Tower, 339, Bogyoke Aung San Rd, Kyauktada Tsp,

Yangon. Tel: 255122, 255 265, Fax: 255119

Air China (CA)Building (2), corner of Pyay Rd and Kaba Aye Pagoda Rd, Hotel Yangon,8 miles, Yangon, Myanmar.Tel : 666112, 655882.

Vietnam Airlines (VN)#1702, Sakura Tower 339, Bogyoke Aung San Rd, Kyauktada Tsp, Yangon. Fax 255086. Tel 255066/ 255088/ 255068.

Silk Air(MI)339, Bogyoke Aung San Rd, 2nd Floor, Sakura Tower,

Kyauktada Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar. Tel: 255 287~9 , Fax: 255 290

Air Asia (FD) 33, Alan Pya Pagoda Rd, Ground Flr, Parkroyal Hotel,

Yangon. Tel: 251 885, 251 886.

Air Bagan Ltd.(W9)56, Shwe Taung Gyar Street, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. Tel : 513322, 513422, 504888, Fax : 515102

Air Mandalay (6T)146, Dhamazedi Road, Bahan Tsp, Yangon Tel : 501520, 525488(Head Office) 720309, 652753, 652754 (Airport Office), Fax: 525 937

Air Bagan Ltd.(W9)56, Shwe Taung Gyar Street, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. Tel : 513322, 513422, 504888, Fax : 515102

AIR KBZ (K7)33-49,Corner of Bank Street & Maha Bandoola Garden Street, Kyauktada Tsp,Yangon, MyanmarTel: 372977~80, 533030~39 (Airport)Fax: 372983

Asian Wings (AW)No.34(A-1), Shwe Taung Gyar Street, Bahan Township,Yangon.Myanmar.Tel: 951 516654, 532253, 09-731-35991~3.Fax: 951 532333

Yangon Airways(YH)166, MMB Tower, Level 5, Upper Pansodan Rd, Mingalar Taungnyunt Tsp, Yangon. Tel: (+95-1) 383 100, 383 107, 700 264, Fax: 652 533.

By David Montgomery

E U S E B I O L e a l , a diminutive, silver-haired man in a dark suit, sips sweet Cuban coffee in an elegant salon of the Cuban Interests Section mansion on 16 th Street NW in Washington DC and recalls the day they began calling him crazy in Havana.

The year was 1967, in a country not known for rewarding dissent, and Leal, then 25, was relatively new on the job as a city preservationist. He was leading a project to skin the asphalt off a historic street, revealing the original wooden surface, and he had a special load of vintage wood to restore the centuries-old grandeur.

But government officials told him the street would have to be paved over immediately so it could be used for an important diplomatic visit.

The next morning, crews came to do the work – and Leal lay in front of the trucks to save the street.

“The mayor had to come to persuade me,” Leal recalls in his deep voice, through an official interpreter.

“I didn’t get up until he guaranteed that we could complete our work. He kept his word. It was a very tense moment. Then they started saying I was a madman – but in that kind of aspect in which being a madman is a good thing.”

All these years later, at 69, Leal’s mad passion has made him a beloved figure in Cuba and a globally admired hero of the historic preservation movement.

W i t h t h e u n l i k e l y title of city historian, he has rescued hundreds of landmark buildings in Old Havana (Habana Vieja), the colonial section of the city founded in 1519. He devised a mechanism to use tourist dollars to fund preservation, making the city more attractive to visitors — thus begetting more tourist dollars and more preservation.

He did it while taking a stand against gentrification, and against the theme-parking of history, by insisting that real people must continue to live, work, study and retire amid the historic plazas, palaces, museums and boutique hotels.

Leal filled lecture halls in the Washington and New York earlier this month, sharing the human drama and professional secrets of his work with kindred spirits for whom standing in front of demolition bulldozers is utterly sane.

“He had a vision, and he made i t happen , ” s a y s R i c h a r d M o e , former president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, introducing a talk by Leal at the trust.

“The restored Plaza Vieja [Old Plaza] … is now one of the great public spaces not just in Cuba, not just in this hemisphere, but in the world.”

One reason the licensed cultural tours to Cuba by

groups such as the trust and National Geographic are all the rage among the cosmopolitan set is they offer a glimpse of Leal’s work. The United States government permits few other opportunities to visit the island.

Back home, Leal likes to walk the streets of Old Havana. He started a radio and television show called Andar la Habana (Walking Havana).

“I’ve walked with him in Havana, and people come up to him to ask him favours, and, more than favours, people come to him to thank him,” says Gustavo Araoz, president of the International Council on Monuments and Sites. “He has immense popular support.”

Leal’s quiet pride in his accomplishments is tinged with melancholy at how much is yet to be done. Landmark structures are collapsing before he can get to them. He has always said restoring Old Havana, and the rest of the city, would take more than one lifetime, and now, it is late in his career.

“To some extent we have succeeded,” Leal says. “I wish I had been more successful.”

Even before the 1959 revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power, Old Havana was ailing. The nearly four square kilometres had been abandoned by well-to-do residents in favour of tonier neighbourhoods. After the revolution, the government focused on developing the countryside.

Preserving the old city was not a priority, according to American preservationists who watched from afar.

“There was what we think was a purposeful abandonment of Havana by the revolution, and it was through the will of people who refused to let this happen in Cuba that they actually forced the conservation movement to be accepted. So it’s truly heroic,” says Araoz, whose family left Cuba when he was a boy in 1960. “Eusebio i s probably the most emblematic.”

The day Leal lay in front of the pavers, he had just been given his first big restoration assignment – the Palace of the Captains General. The work took 11 years, and in the

late 1970s, the palace became the City Museum, with Leal as the first director.

By 1981, he had won Castro’s support, and the work began in earnest with a master plan and US$11 million to renovate 30 buildings. Leal hired dozens, then hundreds of architects, archaeologists, p r e s e r v a t i o n i s t s , craftspeople and labourers.

But after the break-up of the Soviet Union, Cuba hit an economic crisis. Fixing buildings seemed less important when people were going hungry.

“During the very hard period of the [early] 1990s, he made sure all his workers had enough food,” Araoz says. “He just figured out where to find it. He has performed miracles.”

One night in 1993, during

a meeting about Old Havana, Castro asked Leal, “What can we do?” Leal recalls.

Leal proposed that his office be given unprecedented authority to generate its own revenue. Castro liked the idea.

Starting with a budget from the state of just $1 million, “we bet on rescuing a small hotel … three small restaurants and a set of houses in ruins”, Leal says.

The hotel happened to be the Ambos Mundos, where Ernest Hemingway is said to have written part of For Whom the Bell Tolls.

Since then, Leal’s operation has grown to operating 16 hotels, a tour company, restaurants, museums, a radio station and more. Last year, revenues were $119

million, profits $23 million.About 74,000 people live

in Old Havana, and the border between the restored and the ruined is starkly visible. On the ruined side remains “a complex problem of housing, water, sanitation, communication, promiscuity”, Leal says.

“What people criticise sometimes is that renovation doesn’t get to them quickly enough.”

When a historic dwelling sheltering six families in slum conditions is properly restored, there might only be room for one or two families. Leal is building new housing in Old Havana, but some families are given new housing outside the area. Leal says most who leave prefer modern construction.

But, over the years,

foreign correspondents have been able to find former Old Havana residents who echo Carmen Garcia, quoted in the Boston Globe in 2001: “Yes, it’s a nice home we have and better than all four of us living in one room with one light-bulb. But I miss Old Havana.”

He is keenly aware of a paradox at the centre of his life’s work: The tourism that is saving Old Havana could destroy it. A familiar pattern in tourist Meccas around the world is for waves of comparatively rich visitors to overwhelm and distort local culture.

Leal ’s solution is to preserve people as much as buildings; he is trying to create an infrastructure for daily life to continue.

“It would be easier to make a movie set,” he says. “The city must live essentially around its people. The restoration is not only a historiographical project but a project trying to recover quality of life. … Tourists will overwhelm the place. That’s why it’s important for people to work there and live there, to create spaces of silence where there aren’t tourist installations but are real neighbourhoods. And even in the most visited places, put schools, little hospitals. We are trying to put up curtains in the path of the wave.”

American preservationists marvel at Leal’s evident political and bureaucratic skills to have pursued his professional passion so successfully within the Cuban system. Maybe he is crazy like a fox.

“In my country,” he says, “there is a first act of forgiveness for madness, when it is accompanied by these other words: ‘He’s a madman, but he’s a very hard worker.’”

– The Washington Post

Preserving ‘daily life’ in Old Havana

Old Havana includes many buildings still in need of restoration. Pic: Paul Edmondson/National Trust For Historic Preservation

‘They started saying I was a madman – but in that kind of aspect in which being a madman is a good thing.’

39the MyanMar tiMes

trAvelMay 28 - June 3, 2012

Domestic International6T = Air Mandalay

W9 = Air Bagan

AW = Asian Wings

K7 = AIR KBZ

YH = Yangon Airways

FD & AK = Air Asia

TG = Thai Airways

8M = Myanmar Airways International

PG = Bangkok Airways

MI = Silk Air

VN = Vietnam Airline

MH = Malaysia Airlines

CZ = China Southern

CI = China Airlines

CA = Air China

IC = Indian Airlines Limited

W9 = Air Bagan

3K = Jet Star

Subject to change without notice

DOMESTIC FLIGHT SCHEDULES DAYS Flight Dep Arr DAYS Flight Dep Arr DAYS Flight Dep Arr DAYS Flight Dep Arr

INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT SCHEDULESDAYS Flight Dep Arr DAYS Flight Dep Arr DAYS Flight Dep Arr DAYS Flight Dep Arr

YANGON TO BANGKOK

MON FD 3771 08:30 10:158M 335 08:50 10:35TG 304 09:50 11:45PG 702 10:55 12:508M 331 16:30 18:15PG 704 16:40 18:35FD 3773 17:40 19:25TG 306 19:45 21:40

TUE FD 3771 08:30 10:158M 335 08:50 10:35TG 304 09:50 11:45PG 702 10:55 12:508M 331 16:30 18:15PG 704 16:40 18:35FD 3773 17:40 19:25TG 306 19:45 21:40

WED FD 3771 08:30 10:158M 335 08:50 10:35TG 304 09:50 11:45PG 702 10:55 12:508M 331 16:30 18:15PG 704 16:40 18:35FD 3773 17:40 19:25TG 306 19:45 21:40

THUR FD 3771 08:30 10:158M 335 08:50 10:35TG 304 09:50 11:45PG 702 10:55 12:508M 331 16:30 18:15PG 704 16:40 18:35FD 3773 17:40 19:25TG 306 19:45 21:40

FRI FD 3771 08:30 10:158M 335 08:50 10:35TG 304 09:50 11:45PG 702 10:55 12:508M 331 16:30 18:15PG 704 16:40 18:35FD 3773 17:40 19:25TG 306 19:45 21:40

SAT FD 3771 08:30 10:158M 335 08:50 10:35TG 304 09:50 11:45PG 702 10:55 12:508M 331 16:30 18:15PG 704 16:40 18:35FD 3773 17:40 19:25TG 306 19:45 21:40

SUN FD 3771 08:30 10:158M 335 08:50 10:35TG 304 09:50 11:45PG 702 10:55 12:508M 331 16:30 18:15PG 704 16:40 18:35FD 3773 17:40 19:25TG 306 19:45 21:40

YANGON TO SINGAPORE

MON 8M 231 08:40 13:05MI 511 10:10 14:458M 233 14:15 18:40MI 517 16:40 21:15

TUE 8M 231 08:00 12:25MI 511 10:10 14:458M 233 14:15 18:40MI 517 16:40 21:15

WED 8M 231 08:00 12:25MI 511 10:10 14:458M 6232 11:25 15:50MI 517 16:40 21:15

THUR 8M 231 08:00 12:25MI 511 10:10 14:458M 233 14:15 18:40MI 517 16:40 21:15

FRI 8M 231 08:00 12:25MI 511 10:10 14:458M 6232 11:25 15:50MI 517 16:40 21:15

SAT 8M 231 08:00 12:25

MI 511 10:10 14:45

8M 6232 11:25 15:50

MI 517 16:40 21:15

SUN 8M 231 08:00 12:25

MI 511 10:10 14:45

8M 233 14:15 18:40MI 517 16:40 21:15

YANGON TO SIEM REAP

WED 8M 401 08:50 11:25

SAT 8M 401 08:50 11:25

YANGON TO KUALA LUMPUR

MON 8M 501 09:00 13:00

MH 741 12:15 16:30

AK 851 18:50 23:05

TUE 8M 501 09:00 13:00

MH 741 12:15 16:30

AK 851 18:50 23:05

WED MH 741 12:15 16:30

AK 851 18:50 23:05

THU 8M 501 09:00 13:00MH 741 12:15 16:30AK 851 18:50 23:05

FRI 8M 501 09:00 13:00MH 741 12:15 16:30AK 851 18:50 23:05

SAT MH 741 12:15 16:30AK 851 18:50 23:05

SUN 8M 501 09:00 13:00MH 741 12:15 16:30AK 851 18:50 23:05

YANGON TO GAUNGZHOU

WED CZ 3056 11:20 15:50

THUR 8M 711 08:45 13:15

SAT CZ 3056 11:20 15:50

SUN 8M 711 08:45 13:15

YANGON TO TAIPEI

MON CI 7916 14:00 19:25

WED CI 7916 14:00 19:25

FRI CI 7916 14:00 19:25

YANGON TO KUNMING

TUE CA 906 14:15 17:35

WED CA 906 14:15 17:35

THUR CA 906 14:15 17:35

SAT CA 906 14:15 17:35

SUN CA 906 14:15 17:35

YANGON TO KOLKATA

Mon IC734 13:30 16:40

FRI IC734 13:30 16:40

YANGON TO CHIANG MAI

THUR W9 9607 12:00 13:30

SUN W9 9607 12:00 13:30

YANGON TO HANOI

MON VN 956 19:10 21:30

WED VN 956 19:10 21:30

FRI VN 956 19:10 21:30

SAT VN 956 19:10 21:30

YANGON TO CHI MINH

TUE VN 942 14:25 17:10

THUR VN 942 14:25 17:10

SUN VN 942 14:25 17:10

YANGON TO PHNOM PENH

WED 8M 401 08:50 12:50

SAT 8M 401 08:50 12:50

YANGON TO GAYA

WED 8M 601 09:00 10:30

SAT 8M 601 09:00 10:30

BANGKOK TO YANGON

MON 8M 336 07:10 07:55FD 3770 07:10 07:55TG 303 07:55 08:50PG 701 09:15 10:05PG 703 15:00 15:50FD 3772 16:25 17:10TG 305 17:50 18:458M 332 19:25 20:10

TUE 8M 336 07:10 07:55FD 3770 07:10 07:55TG 303 07:55 08:50PG 701 09:15 10:05PG 703 15:00 15:50FD 3772 16:25 17:10TG 305 17:50 18:458M 332 19:25 20:10

WED 8M 336 07:10 07:55FD 3770 07:10 07:55TG 303 07:55 08:50PG 701 09:15 10:05PG 703 15:00 15:50FD 3772 16:25 17:10TG 305 17:50 18:458M 332 19:25 20:10

THUR 8M 336 07:10 07:55FD 3770 07:10 07:55TG 303 07:55 08:50PG 701 09:15 10:05PG 703 15:00 15:50FD 3772 16:25 17:10TG 305 17:50 18:458M 332 19:25 20:10

FRI 8M 336 07:10 07:55FD 3770 07:10 07:55TG 303 07:55 08:50PG 701 09:15 10:05FD 3772 16:25 17:10PG 703 15:00 15:50TG 305 17:50 18:458M 332 19:25 20:10

SAT 8M 336 07:10 07:55FD 3770 07:10 07:55TG 303 07:55 08:50PG 701 09:15 10:05PG 703 15:00 15:50FD 3772 16:25 17:10TG 305 17:50 18:458M 332 19:25 20:10

SUN 8M 336 07:10 07:55FD 3770 07:10 07:55TG 303 07:55 08:50PG 701 09:15 10:05PG 703 15:00 15:50FD 3772 16:25 17:10TG 305 17:50 18:45 8M 332 19:25 20:10

SINGAPORE TO YANGON

MON MI 512 07:55 09:208M 232 14:10 15:35MI 518 14:20 15:458M 234 19:40 21:05

TUE MI 512 07:55 09:208M 232 14:10 15:35MI 518 14:20 15:458M 234 19:40 21:05

WED MI 512 07:55 09:208M 6231 09:10 10:358M 232 14:10 15:35MI 518 14:20 15:45

THUR MI 512 07:55 09:208M 232 14:10 15:35MI 518 14:20 15:45MI 520 15:20 16:408M 234 19:40 21:05

FRI MI 512 07:55 09:208M 6231 09:10 10:358M 232 14:10 15:35MI 518 14:20 15:45MI 520 15:20 16:40

SAT MI 512 07:55 09:20

8M 6231 09:10 10:35

8M 232 14:10 15:35

MI 518 14:20 15:45

MI 520 15:20 16:40

SUN MI 512 07:55 09:20

8M 232 14:10 15:35

MI 518 14:20 15:45

MI 520 15:20 16:40

8M 234 19:40 21:05

KAULA LUMPUR TO YANGON

MON MH 740 10:05 11:15

8M 502 14:00 15:00

AK 850 15:40 16:45

TUE MH 740 10:05 11:15

8M 502 14:00 15:00

AK 850 15:40 16:45

WED MH 740 10:05 11:15

AK 850 15:40 16:45

THU MH 740 10:05 11:15

8M 502 14:00 15:00

AK 850 15:40 16:45

FRI MH 740 10:05 11:15

8M 502 14:00 15:00

AK 850 15:40 16:45

SAT MH 740 10:05 11:15

AK 850 15:40 16:45

SUN MH 740 10:05 11:15

8M 502 14:00 15:00

AK 850 15:40 16:45

GUANGZHOU TO YANGON

WED CZ 3055 08:50 10:30

THUR 8M 712 14:15 15:45

SAT CZ 3055 08:50 10:30

SUN 8M 712 14:15 15:45

TAIPEI TO YANGON

MON CI 7915 09:55 12:45

WED CI 7915 09:55 12:45

FRI CI 7915 09:55 12:45

KUNMING TO YANGON

TUE CA 905 12:35 13:15

WED CA 905 12:35 13:15

THUR CA 905 12:35 13:15

SAT CA 905 12:35 13:15

SUN CA 905 12:35 13:15

KOLKATA TO YANGON

Mon IC733 10:00 14:55

FRI IC728 15:50 16:40

CHIANG MAI TO YANGON

THUR W9 9608 14:30 15:00

SUN W9 9608 14:30 15:00

HANOI TO YANGON

MON VN 957 16:35 18:10

WED VN 957 16:35 18:10

FRI VN 957 16:35 18:10

SAT VN 957 16:35 18:10

HO CHI MINH TO YANGON

TUE VN 943 11:40 13:25

THUR VN 943 11:40 13:25

SUN VN 943 11:40 13:25

PHNOM PENH TO YANGON

WED 8M 402 13:50 15:15

SAT 8M 402 13:50 15:15

GAYA TO YANGON

WED 8M 602 11:30 15:00

SAT 8M 602 11:30 15:00

WED W9 009 08:30 09:30AW 892 08:35 10:306T 332 08:45 10:106T 402 08:55 10:55K7 223 09:35 11:45W9 021 14:10 15:106T 802 15:35 17:00AW 792 16:40 18:45YH 738 17:10 18:35AW 752 17:50 19:156T 502 17:20 19:25K7 825 18:20 19:45

THUR W9 009 08:30 09:30AW 892 08:35 10:306T 332 08:45 10:10AW 902 08:50 10:156T 402 08:55 10:55YH 812 13:10 14:35W9 021 14:10 15:10AW 202 16:00 17:25K7 224 16:45 20:00YH 730 17:15 18:456T 502 17:20 19:25

FRI W9 009 08:30 09:30AW 892 08:35 10:306T 332 08:45 10:10YH 918 08:50 10:456T 402 08:55 10:55K7 223 09:35 11:45W9 251 13:35 15:00AW 212 16:30 17:55YH 731 17:10 19:256T 502 17:20 19:25W9 232 17:35 19:00YH 728 17:45 19:10K7 825 18:20 19:45

SAT 6T 404 08:00 10:05AW 892 08:35 10:306T 402 08:55 10:55W9 011 09:25 11:10W9 262 10:50 12:15YH 812 13:10 14:356T 802 15:35 17:00AW 602 16:40 18:05K7 224 16:45 20:00YH 730 17:15 18:456T 502 17:20 19:25

SUN W9 009 08:30 09:30YH 910 08:35 10:00AW 892 08:35 10:306T 402 08:55 10:55W9 011 09:25 11:10K7 223 09:35 11:45W9 256 11:20 12:45YH 812 13:10 14:356T 802 13:30 14:55AW 212 16:00 17:25YH 738 17:10 18:356T 502 17:20 19:25

YANGON TO NYAUNG UMON W9 143 06:00 07:20

AW 891 06:15 07:35YH 633 06:15 07:506T 401 06:30 07:50YH 917 06:30 08:05K7 222 07:00 08:20K7 224 15:00 18:20

TUE W9 143 06:00 07:20AW 901 06:15 07:35AW 891 06:15 07:356T 401 06:30 07:50YH 917 06:30 08:05K7 224 15:00 18:20

WED W9 143 06:00 07:20AW 891 06:15 07:356T 401 06:30 07:50K7 222 07:00 08:20YH 917 06:30 08:05AW 781 15:00 17:10

THUR AW 891 06:15 07:35W9 009 06:30 07:25AW 901 06:30 07:506T 401 06:30 07:50YH 917 06:30 08:05K7 224 15:00 18:20

FRI AW 891 06:15 07:35W9 009 06:30 07:256T 401 06:30 07:50YH 917 06:30 08:05K7 222 07:00 08:20

SAT AW 891 06:15 07:356T 403 06:15 08:30W9 009 06:30 07:256T 401 06:30 07:50YH 917 06:30 08:056T 801 10:30 11:50K7 224 15:00 18:20

SUN W9 143 06:00 07:20AW 891 06:15 07:35YH 909 06:15 07:50W9 009 06:30 07:256T 401 06:30 07:50YH 917 06:30 08:05K7 222 07:00 08:20

NYAUNG U TO YANGONMON K7 222 08:40 11:45

AW 792 17:50 19:10W9 109 17:25 18:20YH 732 17:55 19:156T 502 18:05 19:25K7 225 18:40 20:00

TUE YH 910 08:40 10:00AW 762 17:20 18:40W9 109 17:25 18:20AW 792 17:25 18:456T 502 18:05 19:25YH 732 18:10 19:30K7 225 18:40 20:00

WED K7 222 08:40 11:45W9 109 17:25 18:20AW 792 17:25 18:45YH 732 17:55 19:156T 502 18:05 19:25

THUR YH 910 08:40 10:00W9 109 17:25 18:20YH 732 17:55 19:156T 502 18:05 19:25K7 225 18:40 20:00

FRI K7 222 08:40 11:45W9 109 17:25 18:20YH 732 17:55 19:156T 502 18:05 19:25

SAT YH 910 08:40 10:006T 404 08:45 10:05W9 109 17:25 18:20YH 732 17:55 19:156T 502 18:05 19:25K7 225 18:40 20:00

SUN K7 222 08:40 11:45YH 910 08:40 10:00W9 109 17:25 18:20YH 732 17:55 19:156T 502 18:05 19:25

YANGON TO MYITKYINAMON W9 255 06:30 09:25

TUE W9 251 06:30 09:25K7 622 13:30 16:30

WED K7 622 13:30 16:30

THUR AW 201 06:30 09:20W9 255 06:30 09:25

FRI W9 251 06:30 09:25

SAT K7 622 13:30 16:30

SUN AW 211 06:00 08:50W9 255 06:30 09:25K7 622 13:30 16:30

MYITKYINA TO YANGONMON W9 256 09:45 12:40

TUE W9 252 12:05 15:00K7 623 16:50 19:50

WED K7 623 16:50 19:50

THUR AW 202 09:35 12:25W9 256 09:45 12:40

FRI W9 252 12:05 15:00

SAT K7 623 16:50 19:50

SUN W9 256 09:45 12:40K7 623 16:50 19:50

YANGON TO HEHOMON K7 222 07:00 10:10

W9 119 11:00 12:10AW 761 11:00 12:10YH 727 11:00 12:256T 501 15:00 16:10YH 731 15:00 16:25K7 224 15:00 17:20

TUE K7 826 07:00 08:156T 801 08:00 10:20W9 115 11:00 12:10AW 761 11:00 12:10YH 811 11:15 12:406T 501 15:00 16:10YH 731 15:00 16:25K7 224 15:00 17:20

WED AW 911 06:30 08:40K7 222 07:00 10:10W9 119 11:00 12:10YH 737 11:00 12:25AW 791 14:30 15:406T 501 15:00 16:10YH 731 15:00 16:25

THUR K7 826 07:00 08:15AW 761 11:00 12:10AW 201 11:00 12:10YH 811 11:00 12:25W9 109 14:30 15:256T 501 15:00 16:10YH 731 15:00 16:25K7 224 15:00 17:20

FRI K7 222 07:00 10:10AW 211 11:00 12:10W9 109 14:30 15:256T 501 15:00 16:10YH 731 15:00 16:25

SAT K7 826 07:00 08:15AW 751 11:00 12:10W9 119 11:00 12:10YH 811 11:00 12:256T 501 15:00 16:10YH 731 15:00 16:25K7 224 15:00 17:20

SUN K7 222 07:00 10:10AW SPL 07:30 08:40AW 751 10:30 11:40W9 115 11:00 12:10YH 811 11:00 12:256T 501 15:00 16:10YH 731 15:00 16:25YH 737 11:00 12:25

YANGON TO MANDALAYMON AW 891 06:15 08:20

6T 405 06:15 08:20AW 911 06:30 07:556T 401 06:30 08:35K7 222 07:00 09:15W9 011 07:30 08:306T 801 08:30 09:55AW 761 11:00 12:556T 351 11:30 12:55K7 824 12:30 13:55AW 791 14:30 15:55K7 224 15:00 16:256T 501 15:00 17:00

TUE K7 228 06:00 07:25YH 909 06:15 07:556T 405 06:15 08:20AW 891 06:15 08:20AW 901 06:15 08:20W9 251 06:30 07:556T 401 06:30 08:356T 801 08:00 09:25YH 729 11:00 12:40AW 761 11:00 12:55K7 622 13:30 14:55K7 224 15:00 16:256T 501 15:00 17:00

WED AW 891 06:15 08:20AW 911 06:30 07:506T 401 06:30 08:356T 331 07:00 08:25K7 222 07:00 09:156T 801 10:45 12:10AW 751 11:00 12:10YH 737 11:00 13:10K7 824 12:30 13:55K7 622 13:30 14:55W9 261 13:30 14:55AW 791 14:30 16:25YH 731 15:00 17:106T 501 15:00 17:00

THUR YH 909 06:15 07:55AW 891 06:15 08:20AW 901 06:30 08:356T 401 06:30 08:35W9 255 06:30 08:556T 331 07:00 08:25YH 729 10:30 13:30AW 201 11:00 12:55K7 226 13:30 14:55K7 224 15:00 16:256T 501 15:00 17:00YH 731 15:00 17:10

FRI AW 891 06:15 08:20W9 251 06:30 07:556T 401 06:30 08:35YH 917 06:30 08:506T 331 07:00 08:25K7 222 07:00 09:15AW 751 11:00 12:25AW 211 11:00 12:55K7 824 12:30 13:556T 501 15:00 17:00YH 731 15:00 17:10

SAT W9 271 06:00 07:256T 403 06:15 07:40YH 909 06:15 07:55AW 891 06:15 08:20AW 911 06:30 07:506T 401 06:30 07:50YH 729 10:30 13:306T 801 10:45 12:10AW 601 11:30 12:55K7 622 13:30 14:55K7 224 15:00 16:256T 501 15:00 17:00AW 891 16:15 08:20

SUN YH 909 06:15 08:30AW 891 06:15 08:206T 401 06:30 08:35W9 255 06:30 08:55K7 222 07:00 09:156T 801 08:00 09:25AW 211 11:00 12:25AW 751 11:00 12:25K7 622 13:30 14:556T 501 15:00 17:00

MANDALAY TO YANGONMON YH 634 08:35 10:00

AW 892 08:35 10:306T 402 08:55 10:55K7 223 09:35 11:45W9 262 10:50 12:156T 802 13:20 14:45W9 021 14:10 15:10YH 728 16:30 17:55AW 762 16:35 18:00K7 224 16:45 20:006T 502 17:20 19:25K7 825 18:20 19:45

TUE W9 009 08:30 09:30AW 902 08:35 10:00AW 892 08:35 10:306T 402 08:55 10:55YH 910 09:25 10:50W9 011 09:25 11:10YH 812 13:25 14:506T 802 13:30 14:55W9 251 13:35 15:00W9 150 16:20 17:45AW 762 16:35 18:40K7 224 16:45 20:00YH 730 17:20 18:456T 502 17:20 19:25

HEHO TO YANGONMON W9 143 09:05 10:15

AW 892 09:20 10:30YH 918 09:35 10:45W9 011 09:40 10:356T 402 09:45 10:55K7 223 10:30 11:45AW 792 16:55 19:10K7 225 17:40 20:00

TUE AW 892 09:20 10:30YH 918 09:35 10:45W9 011 09:40 10:356T 402 09:45 10:55W9 116 16:45 17:55K7 827 11:15 12:30K7 225 17:40 20:00

WED W9 143 09:05 10:15AW 892 09:20 10:30YH 918 09:35 10:456T 402 09:45 10:55K7 223 10:30 11:45

THUR W9 143 09:05 10:15AW 892 09:20 10:30YH 918 09:35 10:456T 402 09:45 10:55K7 827 11:15 12:30K7 225 17:40 20:00

FRI W9 143 09:05 10:15AW 892 09:20 10:30YH 918 09:35 10:456T 402 09:45 10:55K7 223 10:30 11:45

SAT AW 911 08:55 11:05W9 143 09:05 10:15AW 892 09:20 10:30YH 918 09:35 10:456T 402 09:45 10:55K7 827 11:15 12:30AW 752 17:15 18:25K7 225 17:40 20:00

SUN AW SPL 08:55 10:05AW 892 09:20 10:30YH 918 09:35 10:45W9 011 09:40 10:356T 402 09:45 10:55K7 223 10:30 11:45AW 752 16:45 17:55W9 116 16:45 17:55YH 738 17:20 18:35

YANGON TO SITTWEMON 6T 611 11:15 12:40

W9 309 13:00 14:45

TUE 6T 611 11:15 12:40W9 309 13:00 14:45

WED 6T 611 09:00 10:25W9 309 13:00 14:45

THUR 6T 611 11:15 12:40W9 309 13:00 14:45

FRI 6T 607 11:15 12:40W9 309 13:00 14:45K7 426 15:00 16:20

SAT 6T 611 11:15 12:40W9 309 13:00 14:45

SUN 6T 611 11:15 12:40W9 309 13:00 14:45K7 426 15:00 16:20

SITTWE TO YANGONMON 6T 612 12:55 14:20

W9 310 15:00 16:45

TUE 6T 612 12:55 14:20W9 310 15:00 16:45

WED 6T 612 10:40 12:05W9 310 15:00 16:45

THUR 6T 612 12:55 14:20W9 310 15:00 16:45

FRI 6T 608 12:55 14:55W9 310 15:00 16:45K7 427 16:40 18:00

SAT 6T 612 12:55 14:20W9 310 15:00 16:45

SUN 6T 612 12:55 14:20K7 427 16:40 18:00

YANGON TO MYEIKMON K7 319 07:00 09:10

6T 707 11:30 13:30

TUE AW 301 07:00 09:05K7 313 07:00 09:106T 707 11:30 13:30

WED K7 313 07:00 09:106T 707 11:30 13:30

THUR K7 319 07:00 09:106T 707 11:30 13:30AW 301 12:45 14:50

FRI AW 301 07:00 09:05K7 319 07:00 09:106T 707 11:30 13:30

SAT K7 319 07:00 09:106T 707 08:00 10:00

SUN K7 319 07:00 09:106T 707 11:30 13:30AW 301 12:45 14:50

MYEIK TO YANGONMON K7 320 11:50 14:00

6T 708 15:55 17:55

TUE K7 314 09:30 11:406T 708 15:55 17:55AW 302 17:15 19:20

WED K7 314 09:30 11:406T 708 15:55 17:55

THUR AW 302 11:30 13:35K7 320 11:50 14:006T 708 15:55 17:55

FRI K7 320 11:50 14:006T 708 15:55 17:55

SAT K7 320 11:50 14:006T 708 12:25 14:25

SUN K7 320 11:50 14:006T 708 15:55 17:55AW 302 17:15 19:20

teA BreAkthe MyanMar tiMes

40May 28 - June 3, 2012

Aquarius Jan 20 - Feb 18Problems with relatives will disturb you slightly, but you will soon be able to provide for the needs of your family. Detach yourself from close friends who might be preventing you from attaining positive spiritual change. With the right effort, based on wise decisions, you can discover opportunities that had previously been hidden. You won’t find love without making the effort to search for it.

Pisces Feb 19 - Mar 20Attitudes are more important than facts. Discover truths about yourself that will make your life happier and more interesting, both to you and your loved ones. Disappointments in friendship will take a long time to heal, and you must make a point of learning more about the value of your social relationships.

Aries March 21 - April 19Showing respect and love for one another among family and friends will help create emotional and spiritual values that are fundamental to building trust in society. You should strive to cultivate this approach as well. Self-confidence without an action plan gains nothing — it is time to apply your skills more intelligently. You will find a compatible partner by chance, when and where you least expect it.

Taurus April 20 - May 20Never feel disappointed to feel empathy towards other people’s feelings. You should also learn to curb your tendency to evaluate people according to their material wealth. Demonstrative emotion will play a key role in your quest for love. Cultivate the ability to share your deep thoughts with others in your social circle. Encourage yourself to work for the common good.

Gemini May 21 - June 20You can move toward your goals faster if you suppress your tendency to ask a lot of meaningless questions and flit from one subject to another like a graceful and beautiful, but depthless, butterfly. One of your biggest weaknesses is your inability to accept the ideas and thoughts of others; in fact, it’s a bit like a psychological disease that, once cured, will vastly improve your outlook on life. Love matters are clear and fine this week.

Cancer June 22 - July 22Don’t indulge in the game of trying to “own” your lover, or you will surely risk losing those who need the space to live their own lives. Let rational judgment enter into any situation that might develop between you and the one you love. Making the right decisions, and taking on the right challenges, will open up new opportunities in your life. Learn to make the best of any given situation.

Leo July 23 - Aug 22Your self-promotion ardently requires positive attention, and you must learn that others have their own needs and motivations. Take advantage of your tremendous capacity to use your own energy to arouse the enthusiasm of others. Your creative talent and leadership skills will make you great. You will soon experience a wonderful love.

Virgo Aug 23 - Sept 22Avoid accepting anything that lacks tangible evidence, and display no feeling that can reveal vulnerability. Be courageous enough to face any challenges that lie waiting along your path. Perform good deeds that will help support changes toward making your life more meaningful and valuable. True love will enter your life before long.

Libra Sept 23 - Oct 22Dedicate more time to cultivating balance, harmony and justice in social exchanges and other forms of human contact. Enhance your social function by your presence and articulate manner in conversation. Avoid taking sides in any personal dispute. You are likely to face indecision and uncertainty this week due to rejection, particularly in the realm of love.

Scorpio Oct 23 - Nov 21Your tendency to regard people as specimens for examination will do you no favours. You need to learn to value the skills of others, and to work towards understanding human motivations and failings in ways that will benefit society. Pay attention to situations requiring high visibility, and observe your surroundings carefully before taking on new challenges. Don’t feel obligated to be repentant about love lost because of incompatibility.

Sagittarius Nov 22 - Dec 21Prepare yourself to face new social risks and challenges. Psychological interference will disturb you, but no one can make you feel disappointed or force you to change. Share your ideas and thoughts with friends and colleagues, and don’t be afraid to use your talent for instilling others with the courage to rise up and improve themselves. Don’t be too quick to take action. For now, make an extra effort to manage your emotional desires.

Capricorn Dec 22 - Jan 19Love requires free thinking and sociable qualities that you have not quite learned to cultivate. Organise yourself to accept realistic and balanced judgments concerning future developments. Increasing your fortune will require reconciliation and self-indulgent decisions that, in the short term, will seem to reduce happiness and personal security. Love is a form of giving that opens the heart.

YOUR STARSBy Astrologer

Aung Myin Kyaw

For a personal reading contact Aung Myin Kyaw, 4th Floor,113 Thamain Bayan Road, Tamwe Township, Yangon.

Tel: 0973135632, Email: [email protected]

HONG KONG — A French glassmaker is hoping to revolutionise the experience of drinking wine with a new design that promises to settle the age-old argument between alcohol and the grape.

The tulip-shaped glass, with a wide flat base and a vertical “chimney”, will prevent the alcohol from overpowering the aroma of wine when the glass is swirled, according to Baccarat, a maker of luxury crystal glassware.

The design prevents the usual large-scale swirling movement which oxidises the wine and burns off the delicate aromas, and retains the subtlety in the vintages, the firm said.

“This is revolutionary. This is a design that is geared towards revealing the wine,” said Francois Mainetti, Baccarat general manager for Greater China.

He sa id the balance between the alcohol and the aroma in wine is as important as yin and yang in Chinese philosophy.

“It’s just like a balance between fire and water,

the glass balances the fire that comes from the alcohol and the aroma in the water component,” Mainetti said.

The glasses went on sale in France earlier this year and were launched in China and Hong Kong last month.

China has seen an explosive growth in wine sales in recent years, linked to the Hong Kong government’s decision in 2008 to drop wine import duties.

China displaced Britain to become the fifth largest wine consuming country last year, according to trade show Vinexpo and International Wine and Spirit Research.

“There is large consumption in China, so it is a legitimate territory for us to launch the glass,” said Mainetti, who was confident Chinese customers would be happy to pay the asking price of HK$900 (US$116).

“You always hear about the impressive [auction] prices and investment, but the reality is there is a sincere group of wine lovers and there is a growing passion for wine [in China].” — AFP

New glass to revolutionise wine?

A wine glass from the new line by French luxury crystal glassmaker Baccarat is seen at the company showroom in Hong Kong on May 18. Pic: AFP

By Michael Thurston

SANTA MONICA, California — A simmering row between animal rights campaigners and a handful of California’s top chefs is coming to the boil, ahead of a looming ban on foie gras in the western US state.

Protestors took their message to the streets last week as a series of high-end restaurants staged events — with menus including foie gras ice cream — to celebrate the gastronomic delicacy, made from force-fed ducks.

“Helpless ducks are force fed, eat somewhere else instead,” chanted some 30 protestors outside the Michelin two-starred Melisse restaurant in Santa Monica.

“We were out there being the voice for the ducks, who obviously don’t have a voice,” said Amber Coon of the Animal Protection and Rescue League, adding that famously liberal California is leading the way for other states.

California’s foie gras ban comes into force July 1, and a group of chefs have formed the Coalition for Human and Ethical Farming Standards (CHEFS) to combat the perception they don’t care how animals are treated.

Inside Melisse, owner and chef Josiah Citrin offered guests at the ticket-only event a mouth-watering six-course menu including foie gras — French for fatty liver — in every dish, from entrees to desserts.

Prepared by a team of eight top chefs, the US$200-a-head meal included pressed foie gras terrine, duck and foie gras parfait, foie gras tortelloni, and pistachio crusted foie gras.

There was also Maine lobster with foie gras and salsify, and wild king salmon prepared with foie gras, bloomsdale spinach, french radish and jus au vin rouge, while the

roasted liberty farms duck came with artisan foie gras.

For dessert there was foie gras butter kuchen with local cherries and foie gras ice cream.

Citrin is even selling T-shirts emblazoned with “Touche Pas a Mon Foie Gras” (“Keep Your Hands Off my Foie Gras”), with a picture of a duck in a little white chef’s hat.

The event aimed to “raise money and awareness about this legislation, which single-handedly attacks foie gras but fails to address the lack of humane or ethical standards and treatment for other items in our food chain”, he said.

“Our guests have been extremely supportive of our restaurant,” Citrin said.

“All the ingredients that I try to use, that I use in my restaurant, I really work hard to find humanely raised animals by farmers who really care about it.”

The CHEFS lobby group presented a petition to lawmakers in Sacramento a few weeks ago, and at

least four Los Angeles-area restaurants held events last week to highlight the cause.

But even more directly in the firing line is California’s only farm producing the delicacy, the target of animal rights protests in various countries in recent years.

Artisan Sonoma Foie Gras Farm was founded more than 20 years ago by Guillermo and Junny Gonzalez from El Salvador who studied i n F r a n c e ’s Pe r i g o r d region before establishing themselves in Sonoma, north of San Francisco.

They insist their production methods adhere to the highest standards, and are not cruel — and that their family business was closing down as a result, with the loss of jobs and tax revenues for California.

“Our farm is being forced to shut down at the end of June, and the most unfortunate fact is that science has not been given a chance to play a role in this debate,” Guillermo Gonzalez said.

“The l a r ge r impac t however, is that a powerful special interest group with an anti-meat agenda was able to impose its morals on us all,” he added.

He cited a study published in the World’s Poultry Science Journal in 2004, which he said concluded that “based on the extra physiological use of a natural fattening phenomenon, foie gras has been recognised as a non-pathological and non-harmful product”.

“We do not believe that foie gras farming, when done correctly, is harmful or hurtful to a duck,” he added.

The anti-foie gras protestors are not convinced, and showed photos and an iPad video to passers-by and diners arriving at the Santa Monica restaurant, a few blocks back from the Pacific Ocean.

“We were just letting them know that they can’t get away with [presenting] foie gras in a humane sustainable farming practice,” said Coon.

“Most of them tried to ignore us … they obviously knew that they were going to a fundraiser by a lobbyist to repeal an animal welfare law, so that’s the type of crowd you’re going to get anyway,” she said.

She noted that the ban was agreed eight years ago, but enforcement was put off to allow the Sonoma farm and restaurateurs to prepare. More than 100 restaurants have removed foie gras from their menus, before the upcoming deadline.

“Obviously this is not a surprise to all these chefs who are suddenly whining about it … they’re all of a sudden upset about it. But this has been in the works for years,” she said.

“There’s really just a few, very well connected wealthy hold-outs such as Melisse who are making a big fuss about this,” she said. — AFP

Chefs stew over foie gras

Chef Mark Dommen (left) and a sous chef put the finishing touches on orders of artisan foie gras and liberty farms duck at Melisse restaurant in Santa Monica, California, on May 14 as animal-rights activists protest outside. Pic: AFP

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ZTE C-R 750 (CDMA 800 + GSM) Handset

ph : 09-428-125107NEW IPAD (white) 16gb, Razer Starcraft 2 Headphone, Apple superdrive new Ph: 09-730-48374

TAIWAN use Generator Sale : 60 KVA 400V Mitsubishi 7500 US$ 60 KVA 400V Iveco 7500 US$ 60 KVA 400V johndeere 8100 US$ 30 KVA 400V Mitsubishi 5500 US$ 25 KVA 400V Mitsubishi/Nissan 4200 US$ contact number 09-510-3439

GeneralCLARION International - Sandar@Sonia : Managing Partner : Ph: 09-43122557. ISO 9001-2008 certification Event Management, Travel & Tourism, Matrimony Services, Training & Placement, Education.

TrainingLAND Survey Training: Course Contents, Types of survey, Basic Trigonometry. Angles, bearings, azimuths and coordinates. Leveling, Traversing, Topographic surveying. Setting out survey, Introduction to GPS. Terra Myanmar: 42/B, Rm-4B, New University Avenue, Bahan, Yangon, Tel: 553875,400599 Email: [email protected] Website: www. terramyanmar.com

KO ZAW NGE : Guitor Shop & Training. Add : Aung Zaya 1 St, Thuwunna Zay, Yangon Thit Quarter, Thingan-gyun. Ph: 09-421-072045.

PC MUSIC Creation & Sound Design (Teach To Home) Ph: 09-731-94925

TravelCHAUNG THA vacation stay at a wooden house for a family for a very cheap price. 3 nigths, 4 days - 30,000 kyats per night Maximum 5 people. Need to bring your own beddings and kitchen wares. Contact - 561899 ext-119. Additional fee of 5000 - 10,000 kyats involved for cleaning fee. Only house and compound with a fence offered.

Want To BuySECOND HAND Laptop, Notebook , Netbook, MacbookPro, Macbook Air, Samsung Galaxy Tablet, External Hardisk, External R/W,Used Phone Nokia Blackberry Motorola LG HTC Sony Ericsson Samsung Galaxy S2 Galaxy Note, Galaxy Nexus Huawei Ipod Touch 4G Iphone 3gs iphone 4, 4s handset Ipad Ph: 09-517-8391, 01-376420

PROPERTY HousingforRent

NORTH DAGON, Shwe Pin lone Housing,Good Estate, Located in 80' x 80', 2 MB, 2SB, Without Furniture,Fully Furnished Good neighborhood, near Pinlone Hospital, Foreigner Welcome 4.5 Lakhs, Ph: 09-432-00669 or email : nicerealproperty@gmail. com

VIRTUAL OFFICE Have your office at the prestigious Central Towers for only 39,000 kyats a month. Pls call 09-516-6859, 09-492-47013, 01-377151 Ext: 80643 for more details about the facilities and services offered.

HOTEL in new Bagan Spacious compound good locality reason-able price 3 star standards. Ph: 09-512-3186.

KAMAYUT, Attia Rd, Big compound, 2 Storey, 4MB, 2 Living room, .027 acre land, Foreigners welcome, call. Ph: 389706, 09-200-4467.

BAHAN, Apartment along New University Ave Rd, Good electricity & water essential. Fully furnished with 2-3 rooms with attached toilet. Rent Rate - USD500 to USD700 per month. (6 month advance rental). Rental period 1 to 3 years. Pls contact : 09-512-8095 - Ma Thinzar Oo

Housing for SaleNAYPYIDAW, 15 acres of land near Naypyidaw Highway 20 miles. Ph: 09-512-3186.

NGaPaLi: Land and

Building in Ngapali near beach 2 plots of land near Sandaway main road to Mazin airport. Ph: 09-430-65789.

HLAING THAR YAR, Large sewing factory ideally located in Hlaing Thar Yar industrial zone one is available for rental ,the factory is well equipped with boilers, generator, large cutting, packing and material storage areas, plus 500 sewing machines all ready and set to run, well suited for someone who is interested in starting a garment factory. Pls contact Bill on 525746, 09-550-5220 or email g t h r e d s 3 3 @ g m a i l .com,all inquiries are welcome.

BAHAN, (1) Pho Sein Rd, 100' x 80' Land (2) Shwegondine Rd, 30 x 90' Land, Kabaaye Pagoda Rd, 30 x 90' Land. Ph: 09-731-05296, 09-540-5482.

HLAING, Aye Yeik Mon Sakawar St, 74' x 96', RC 2 storey, 4 MB, Ph, AC, Ph; 684936, 09-512-0747.

PWIN OO LWIN, 170' x 70', 1 RC, price : 2300 Lakhs. Ph: 09-505-5522

MAYANGONE, 9 mile, 50' x 60', 2 RC, 3 MBR, 4500 Lakhs. Ph: 09-505-5522

Rent / SaleBAHAN, Moe Myint San Condo, 2400 sqft, 2 MB, 1 BR, newly apartment f.f or no furn. 3 A/C, Lift, 15 Lakhs for rent, 3000 Lakhs for sale. Owner Maureen : 09- 518-8320. No agents pls.

EmploymentINGO Position

WELTHUNGERHILFE is looking for Agronomist 1 post : Myanmar National. Adequate university education in relevant technical field (agriculture), or relevant long term professional experience. 3 years of NGO experience, 3 years of experience as an agricultural advisor. Good knowledge in computer use (office package). Qualified women are encourag-ed to apply! Pls send your electronic appli-cation including English cover letter, CV, copies of relevant certificates, referees & a passport photo to E-mail: U w e . H e r m a n n @ wel thungerh i l fe .de ; g a a . d e l t a . a d m i n @gmail. com Closing date: 5 June, 2012.

COMMUNITY -Based Disaster Risk Reduct-ion Manager Duty Station: Sittwe with frequent travel to targeted villages in Rathedaung, Sittwe, Pauk Taw & Myebon, Rakhine State : Degree in Science, Social Science, Humanity etc. or equivalent qualifi-cation with at least 1 year experience in DRR programme. Should be a Myanmar national; Ability to develop written reports in English & Myanmar . Pls submit application incl: Cover letter, CV, photo, references to nearest Malteser Int'l Office; Sittwe Programme Office: 85, U Uttama St, Kyaung Tat Lanne, Sittwe, Rakhine State (or)Email: hlamyintzu. malteser.nrs02.gmail.com Malteser Int'l Country Office: 14/15 -6F Pyae

Taw yeik Tha St, Yankin, Yangon (or) Email: hr.co.malteser@gmail. com Closing date: 4th June’2012

SOLIDARITES Int'l (SI) is seeking (1)HR officer :Humanitarian values & strong motivation to gain experience with Int'l Humanitarian organization. Last years of University degree (preferably in Int'l relations, Publics relations, Diplomatic career, Public admini-stration, Business administration,accoun-tancy or related area) or related experience in similar area. (2) Interim Logistics Support for Yangon (Country Office): Preferable experience in Logistics field with INGO/ NGO. University Degree or Diploma (preferably in Logistics or related area). Or related proven experience in similar area. Knowledge of IT management and MS office (excel, word, power point & network-ing). Demonstrated team management and planning abilities. For 1 & 2 : Good spoken & written English. Good writing & communicat-ion skills. Pls submit application (CV, cover letter, references) by email to ygn. adm. coordo@ solidarites-international.org, hr. solidarites.mm@gmail. com. Closing date: 31.5.2012.

MALTESER Int'l is seeking (1) Medical Coordinator- in Maung-daw, Northern Rakhine State: Myanmar National Medical Doctor or related field with post graduate degree in Public Health. Excellent know-ledge & strong experien ce regarding

communi-ty based health programme & activities. Good oral & written presentation skills (analysis, synthesis, clarity) in English. Good computer skills (Microsoft Office) (2) Nurse in Maungdaw & Buthidaung, Northern Rakhine State : Diploma of Nurse, preferably with 1 year experience, Ability to work independently in remote area; Ability to live & work with minimum available basic facilities (working schedule of 10 days fieldwork and 4 days compensation); Pls submit application incl. CV, photo, copy of educational certificates and references to the nearest Malteser Int'l Office; Maungdaw Programme Office: : Myo Thit, Ward 4, Maungdaw, Northern Rakhine State Email: hr.mal teser.nrs01@gmail. com (or) Sittwe Office: 85, U Uttama St, Kyaung Tatlann Quar-ter, Sittwe, Rakhine State, Maynmar (or) Malteser Int'l Buthi-daung Office: Oogar Pyan St, Ward (4), Buthidaung, Northern Rakhine State, Myanmar (or) Malteser Int'l Country office: 14-15 (6F), Pyi Taw Aye Yeik Thar St, Yankin, Yangon. Email: hr. co.mal teser@gmai l . com Closing date: 30th May 2012

MALTESER Int'l is looking for (1) Medical officer in Pang Kham, Northern Shan State Qualified medical doctor with 2 years in public health, preferab-ly with clinical / management expe-rience in HIV / AIDS & STIs programmes; Ability to ensure supportive

supervision, data collection & report-ing; Good communicat-ion skills & ability to facilitate training (2) Logistic officer in Pang Kham & Mong Lar, Shan State : Age above 25, Degree/Diploma in Accountan-cy, financial manage-ment/ Administration or equivalent education. 3~5 years experience. Good knowledge (read-ing, speaking skills) in English, Myanmar & Chinese. Good writing, communication and reporting skills. Good computer literate in MS office suite. Pls submit application incl. CV, photo, copy of educatio-nal certificates & references to the nearest Malteser Int'l Office; Kyaing Tong Programme Office: 159 Airport St, Myo Thit, Kyaing Tong Email: adfi. malteser.ess@ gmail.com (or) Malteser Int'l Tachileike Office: 193 Par Lain 3 St, Taw Kawt, Tachileike Email :adfi. malteser. sr @ gmail. com (or) Malteser Int'l Country Office: 14-15 (6F), Pyi Taw Aye Yeik Thar St, Yankin, Yangon Email: hr. co. [email protected] Closing Date: 30th May 2012

EmbassyWE ARE seeking for a personal driver for diplomat, who can drive very well and non-drinker. It’s preferable who live in near Pun Hlaing Golf Estate. For more detail informat-ion, please feel free to call 527142~4 in office hour.

Local PositionSUMMIT PARKVIEW Hotel is seeking (1). Account Executive - F 1 Post : B.Com, LCCI Level III, Graduated in any disciplin. 2 years experience in hotel field. Must have good leadership skills . Profi-ciency in English. Experience in (ACE Payroll software & ACCPAC software) is preferable. (2) Night Auditor - M 1 Post : Graduate in any discipline. 1 year experience in hotel field. Proficiency in English. (3). Security officer - M 1 post : Graduate in any discip-line. 3 years experien-ce, knowledge & skill. Can speak English. Must have necessary physical fitness & strength (4). Recep-tionist - M/F 2 Posts : Age under 25, Good personality. Proficiency in English. For 1, 2 & 4 : Computer literate. (5). Porter/Driver - M 2 Posts : 1 year experien-ce in related field is more preferable. Good ability to speak in English (6). Waiter/ Waitress - M/F 2 Posts : Proficiency in English. (7). Linen Attendants - F 2 Posts : Linen services experience in hotel is more preferable (8). Room Attendants - M/F 2 Posts : Room

services experience in Hotel is more preferable (9). PA Attendants/General Worker - M/F 2 Posts : PA services experience in Hotel is more preferable. Pls submit an application letter, C.V with a recent photo, copies of NRC & Labour Registration card, Educational certificate and others testimonials to HR Department not later than 16 June, 2012.

New Property Company with strong internatio-nal connections wishes to employ staff in administration and property rentals/sales. Must speak and read English. Ability to communicate with foreign investors essential, as well as Word and Excel proficiency. CV and covering letter to CIMyanmar@gmai l .com. Please let me know the price with discount and i can visit and pay in cash today. My mobile is 09-4210-34026.

OUR COMPANY is Foreign base Freight forwarding company. We are urgently seeking for a Chines Interpreter, any graduate , proficient in Chinese and Myanmar, good communication skills and personality, male or female. Pls send your update CV, photo & other data reference to nicerealproperty@gmail. com or contact Ko Shein Bo:09-516-7085.

MEKONG ECONOMICS :Are you a bright, confident & organized person with good English and computer skills? If so, we would be interested in talk to you about full-time employ-ment as an admini-strative staff member in our office. Pls send CV to bart. robertson@ mekongec onomics. comInterviews will begin after June 16th.”

(1) GM - M 1 Post : MBA (or) BE (Mechanical) or Any Master Degree. 5 year experiences in Corporate Manage-ment, Sales & Distribut-ion. Age 40 ~ 45 . (2) Sales & Marketing - M 1 Post : Any Graduate with Marketing Diploma /cerfificate. 3 years experience in sales & marketing manage-ment. Age 30 ~ 40 . For 1 & 2 : Pleasant perso-nality & effective com-munication skill. Be able to speak & write English. (3) Technical Service Manager M 1 Post : BE (Mechanical). 5 years exeperiences in Engineering field. Experiences in Farm Machinery is priority. Be able to speak and write English. Pls send detailed up-to-date CV with relevant docu-ments, copy of labour registration card, copy of NRC card, recom-mendation from police force, non-returnable photograph & contact ph to Alligator Industry Co., Ltd : 9, Lion City Bldg, Shwe Marlar

Avenue, Bayint Naung Rd, Kamayut. Ph: 512239 ~ 59. Closing Date 30-05-2012.

BUSINESS Manager /Analyst This is a fantastic opportunity for a business manager/analyst with two to ten years experience to step up into a career with a leading invest-ment management and holding company. We are a key player in several industries in Asia and have an opening in our business development team for a technical-minded individual to assist in all aspects of deal execut-ion. Your respon-sibilities will include: Performing Research on Companies. Liaising with Companies. Finan-cial Modeling. Recog-nizing business problems and growth opportunities.Requirements: Any graduate. 2 to 10 years experience. Proficient in, or can quickly grasp applica-ble business processes & functions. Effective verbal & written communication skills in English & Myanmar. Proficiency with Micro-soft Suite (Word, Excel, & Power Point) If you have what we are looking for pls contact Cynthia on +95-942-105-3104 or send CV to [email protected]

DOORA Cargo Services Co., Ltd (1)Manager - M or F 1 Post : Age 25 ~ 35, Any University graduate, Good personality, Fluent in English & good computer skill, 3 + years in forwarding environ-ment preferably. (2) Assistant - F 1 Post : Age : 20 ~ 30, Any graduate, Good personality, Accounting knowledge & Good computer skill preferab-ly (3) Driver - M 1 Post : Age under 35, Good driving skills and willing to work. (Base on working experience and qualification).Interested candidates are required to submit a comprehen-sive resume and expected salary together with a recent color photo to below address (or) send E-mail not later than 16 June, 2012. No. 310 (F), Paukzaydi St, 8mile, Mayangone Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar. Email. doorargn1@ gmail.com. doorargn@ gmail.com. Ph: 01-667505, 09-731-66017, 09-541-8798.

MYANMAR Wonders Travel Ltd (Yangon) is seeking (1) Travel Manager - 3 years experience, in prepar-ing and creating tour programs, in managing quotation, being able to manage the team assisting with all areas of booking, able to work under pressure with good time manage-ment skill, good computer knowledge (excel & words), fluent in English & French (written & spoken) . (2) Tour Operation - must have experience in the related filed, being able to handle all areas of bookings

such as reservation for hotels, restaurants, guides, transportations, meals, work closely with suppliers on all reservations to ensure the smooth operation of travel programs, good computer knowledge (excel & words), good knowledge in English . French is an advantage. Pls apply with updated resume to Rm 907, FMI Center, Bogyoke Aung San Rd, Pebedan, Tel : 248060

AN INT'L company is looking for an assistant accountant / admin. Graduate from university level or equivalent in account-ing. Experienced and good knowledge of computer, accounting softwares, fluent in English. Email to: [email protected] by end May.

ASSISTANT Teacher - F 1 Post : At an English Language Centre Ph : 01-221677, 09-507-9896.

NANNY, 26, experienc-ed with expat children, best references, seeks employment. Call Stella on 543315 or email : stella.win11@ gmail.com

FOREIGN company will establish a milk dairy production in Myanmar & is looking for a young dynamic marketing sales manager. Also a executive secretary both fluent English speaking with good knowledge and skills in computers lady or gents,who is willing to work hard and grow with the company. The benefits will be satisfactory Forward your C.V Attention Chris Karageorges with a photo & contact phone number. email : asiadairies@ yahoo. com, SKYPEdoncristo6

KELVIN CHIA Yangon Ltd., a foreign legal consultancy firm based in Yangon, is looking for (1)lawyers who will work on a variety of corporate & commer-cial matters & transact-ions in Myanmar. If you are a Myanmar-qualifi-ed lawyer with strong English language skills, you are invited to apply to join our Myanmar practice group. Myanmar nationals admitted to int'l bars are also welcome to apply. Training will be provid-ed. Applicants may email csg@ kcyangon. com & submit their curriculum vitae. (2) Corporate Affairs Managers: you will be involved with business development, network-ing, market research & liaison work. Applicants should be proficient in English, energetic and selfmoitvated. All nationalities are welcome (Myanmar, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese, etcetera). pls email application & curriculum vitae to [email protected].

INT'L TRAVEL Agency : The ICS Travel Group is looking for new colleagues to support our operations & reser-vation departments in our office in Yangon (Sanchaung): Good communication & inter-personal skills. Fluent in spoken & written English. Travel busi-ness experience. Excellent computer skills (Microsoft Office, Internet & Email). Must possess ability to work under pressure. Highly motivated & outgoing personality. Pls submit CV with photo & other certificates personally or per e-mail. 11(A), Maharmyaing St, San-chaung, Tel: 511658, 511701 Email: zinzin @is-myanmar. com.

VACANCY for Local Air Cargo Staff <Operation Staff-Myanmar.doc> < A c c o u n t a n t . d o c >

<Cargo Sales Manager- Myanmar.doc> Please log below to the websites for further information & applicat-ion. Alternatively, you can email your resumes to info@ bewelllimited. com or call 377151, 389524 ext:80643

ANNAM Myanmar Co.,Ltd is seeking Accountant, B r a n d / S a l e s / Marketing Manager - French Cosmetic, Senior Sales Manager - Beverage, Logistic (Import) Manager, Sales & Marketing Executive - Beverage, Sales & Marketing Executive - Cosmetic, Email: maythu. annam @ gmail. com Ph: 09 504 3929

ESTABLISHED Multi-national Co is seeking qualified candidate for the below position; (1).Business develop-ment Manager - Imports ( Food Stuff & correlated areas ) - M/F 1 post (2).Business develop-ment Manager -Imports (construction,metals & correlated areas ) - M/F 1 post key requirements for (1) & (2) : Experien-ced, self starter, market knowledge, motivated, willing to travel, Qualification : Graduate or M.B.A. Should be able to communicate well in English.Good pay. Pls submit the resume along with relevant documents to [email protected] or call 095124850.

WE ARE an Internatio-nal School in Yangon urgently looking for : (1) admin officer- F 1 post: Any graduate or higher, preferably with education back-ground, Age 40 ~ 50, excellent knowledge in English 4 skills (2) Admin assistants - F 2 posts : Any graduate, age 23 ~ 30, good command in English, previous experience in administration required (3) Receptionist - F 1 post : Age 20 ~ 30, good command in English and have good oral communication skills. All the candidates must have a good knowledge to use Microsoft office applications (word, excel & power point). Pls submit C.V together with a covering letter and scanned copies of academic certificates by e-mail to gkl1950 @gmail.com

COMPANY Dealing in Foreign Brand Product is looking for Sales & Marketing Manager & staff - M/F 3 posts: Graduate. 2 years experience. Age 25 ~ 30 . Experience preferr-ed. Pls, send applicat-ion together with update CV, Photo & other data reference to gimperial @ myanmar. com.mm, Ph: 523536, 09-730-08077

(1)BUSINESS Develop-ment Manager - M 1 post : 7 years direct experience in a business development fields & activities, Knowledge in tender project (2) Logistics Manager - M 1 post : Knowledge in timber business, More than 10 yrs experiences and Ex-government official are encourage to apply. (3) Chief Accountant - F 1 Post : B.Com (CPA), LCCI (Diploma), At least 5 years experiences with manufacturing. (4) Business Develop-ment Executive - M/F 3 post : 3 years direct experience,Knowledge in tender project, Can travel to Nay Pyi Daw, domestic and aboard. (5) Business Analyst - M/F 4 posts : Market analysis & establishing market trends, Strong presentation, documen tation & reporting skills, Must be able to travel local / Abroad hr.ayar [email protected]

The Essentials

Emergency Numbers Ambulance tel: 295133. Fire tel: 191, 252011, 252022. Police emergency tel: 199. Police headquarters tel: 282541, 284764. Red Cross tel:682600, 682368Traffic Control Branch tel:298651Department of Post & Telecommunication tel: 591384, 591387.Immigration tel: 286434.Ministry of Education tel:545500m 562390Ministry of Sports tel: 370604, 370605Ministry of Communications tel: 067-407037.Myanma Post & Telecommunication (MPT) tel: 067-407007.Myanma Post & Tele-communication (Accountant Dept) tel: 254563, 370768.Ministry of Foreign Affairs tel: 067-412009, 067-412344.Ministry of Health tel: 067-411358-9.Yangon City Development Committee tel: 248112.

HOSPITALSCentral Women’s Hospital tel: 221013, 222811.Children Hospital tel: 221421, 222807Ear, Nose & Throat Hospital tel: 543888.Naypyitaw Hospital (emergency) tel: 420096.Worker’s Hospital tel: 554444, 554455, 554811.

Yangon Children Hospital tel: 222807, 222808, 222809.Yangon General Hospital (East) tel: 292835, 292836, 292837.Yangon General Hospital (New) tel: 384493, 384494, 384495, 379109.Yangon General Hospital (West) tel: 222860, 222861, 220416.Yangon General Hospital (YGH) tel: 256112, 256123, 281443, 256131.

ELECTRICITYPower Station tel:414235

POST OFFICEGeneral Post Office 39, Bo Aung Kyaw St. (near British Council Library). tel: 285499.

INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTYangon International Airport tel: 662811.

YANGON PORTShipping (Coastal vessels) tel: 382722

RAILWAYSRailways information tel: 274027, 202175-8.

UNITED NATIONSILO Liaison Officer Rm (M1212~1220), 12 Fl-A, Traders Hotel. 223, tel: 242 393, 242811. fax: 242594.IOM 12th Flr, Traders Hotel, 223, tel: 252560 ext. 5002UNAIDS Rm: (1223~1231), 12 Fl, Traders Hotel. tel: 252361, 252362, 252498. fax: 252364.UNDCP 11-A, Malikha St, Mayangone tsp. tel: 666903, 664539. fax: 651334.UNDP 6, Natmauk Rd, Bahan tel: 542910-19. fax: 292739.UNFPA 6, Natmauk Rd, Bahan tsp. tel: 546029.UNHCR 287, Pyay Rd, Sanchaung tsp. tel: 524022, 524024. fax 524031.UNIAP Rm: 1202, 12 Fl, Traders Hotel.tel: 254852, 254853.UNIC 6, Natmauk St., BHN tel: 52910~19UNICEF 14~15 Flr, Traders Hotel. P.O. Box 1435, KTDA. tel: 375527~32, fax: 375552 email: unicef.yangon@unicef. org, www.unicef.org/myanmar.UNODC 11-A, Malikha Rd., Ward 7, MYGN. tel: 666903, 660556, 660538, 660398, 664539, fax: 651334. email: [email protected] www.unodc.org./myanmar/UNOPS Inya Lake Hotel, 3rd

floor, 37, Kaba Aye Pagoda Rd, Mayangone Tsp. tel: 951-657281~7. Fax: 657279.UNRC 6, Natmauk Rd, P.O. Box 650, TMWE tel: 542911~19, 292637 (Resident Coordinator), fax: 292739, 544531.WFP 3rd-flr, Inya Lake Hotel, 37, Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd. tel: 657011~6 (6-lines) Ext: 2000.WHO 12A Fl, Traders Hotel. tel:250583.ASEAN Coordinating Of. for the ASEAN Humanitarian Task Force, 79, Taw Win st, Dagon Township. Ph: 225258.FAO Myanma Agriculture Service Insein Rd, Insein. tel: 641672, 641673. fax: 641561.

EMBASSIESAustralia 88, Strand Road, Yangon. tel : 251810, 251797, 251798, 251809, 246462, 246463, fax: 246159Bangladesh 11-B, Than Lwin Road, Yangon. tel: 515275, 526144, fax: 515273, email: [email protected] 56, Pyay Road, 6th mile, Hlaing Tsp, Yangon. tel: 507225, 507251, 507482. fax: 507483. email: [email protected] 317/319, U Wizara Road, Sanchaung Tsp, Yangon. tel: 526985, 524285, fax: 512854 email: bruneiemb@ bruneiemb.com.mmCambodia 25 (3B/4B), New University Avenue Road, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. tel: 549609, 540964, fax: 541462, email: RECYANGON @mptmail.net.mmChina 1, Pyidaungsu Yeiktha Road, Yangon. tel: 221280, 221281, 224025, 224097, 221926, fax: 227019, 228319Egypt 81, Pyidaungsu Yeiktha Road, Yangon. tel: 222886, 222887, fax: 222865, email: egye mbyangon@mptmail. net.mmFrance 102, Pyidaungsu Yeiktha Road, Yangon. tel: 212178, 212520, 212523, 212528, 212532, fax: 212527, email: ambaf rance. rangoun@ diplomatie.frGermany 9, Bogyoke Aung San Museum Road, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. tel: 548951, 548952, fax: 548899 email: info@rangun. diplo.deIndia 545-547, Merchant Street, Yangon. tel: 391219, 388412, 243972, fax: 254086, 250164, 388414, email: indiaembassy @mptmail.net.mm

Indonesia 100, Pyidaungsu Yeiktha Road, Yangon. tel: 254465, 254469, 229750, fax: 254468, email: kukygn @indonesia.com.mmIsrael 15, Khabaung Street, Hlaing Tsp, Yangon. tel: 515115, fax: 515116, email: [email protected] 3, Inya Myaing Road, Golden Valley, Yangon. tel: 527100, 527101, fax: 514565, email: ambyang.mail@ esteri.itJapan 100, Natmauk Road, Yangon. tel: 549644-8, 540399, 540400, 540411, 545988, fax: 549643Embassy of the State of Kuwait Chatrium Hotel, Rm: No.416, 418, 420, 422, 40 Natmauk Rd, Tarmwe Tsp, Tel: 544500.North Korea 77C, Shin Saw Pu Road, Sanchaung Tsp, Yangon. tel: 512642, 510205, fax: 510206South Korea 97 University Avenue, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. tel: 527142-4, 515190, fax: 513286, email: [email protected] A-1, Diplomatic Quarters, Tawwin Road, Dagon Tsp, Yangon. tel: 222482, fax: 227446, email: Laoembcab@mptmail. net.mmMalaysia 82, Pyidaungsu Yeiktha Road, Yangon. tel: 220248, 220249, 220251, 220230, fax: 221840, email: [email protected] 16, Natmauk Yeiktha, Yangon. tel: 545880, 557168, fax: 549803, email: nepemb @mptmail.net.mmPakistan A-4, diplomatic Quarters, Pyay Road, Yangon. tel: 222881 (Chancery Exchange) fax: 221147, email: pakistan@ myanmar.com.mm

Philippines 50, Sayasan Road, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. tel: 558149-151, fax: 558154, email: p.e. [email protected] 38, Sagawa Road, Yangon. tel: 241955, 254161, fax: 241953, email: rusinmyan@mptmail .net.mmSerbia No. 114-A, Inya Road, P.O.Box No. 943-Yangon. tel: 515282, 515283, fax: 504274, email: serbemb@ yangon.net.mmSingapore 238, Dhamazedi Road, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. tel: 559001, fax: 559002, 559922, email: singemb_ ygn@_sgmfa. gov.sgSri Lanka 34 Taw Win Road, Yangon. tel: 222812, fax: 221509, email: [email protected], [email protected], www.slembyangon.orgThailand 94 Pyay Road, Dagon Township, Yangon. tel: 226721, 226728, 226824, fax: 221713United Kingdom 80 Kan-na Road, Yangon. tel: 370867, 380322, 371852, 371853, 256438, 370863, 370864, 370865, fax: 370866United States of America 110, University Avenue, Kamayut Township, Yangon. tel: 536509, 535756, 538038, fax: 650306Vietnam Building No. 72, Thanlwin Road, Bahan Township, Yangon. tel: 511305, fax: 514897, email: vnemb [email protected] Embassy of Saudi Arabia No.287/289, U Wisara Rd, Sanchaung Tsp. tel : 01-536153, 516952, fax : 01-516951

General Listing

Chatrium Hotel Royal Lake Yangon 40 Natmauk Rd, Tarmwe. tel: 544500. fax: 544400.

Saya Min Thoun Dara Astrologer No(2), Maha Wizaya Pagoda North Stairway, Dagon Tsp. tel: 296184

Chigo No. 216, 38 Street (Upper), Kyauktada Tsp, tel : 373472

Strand Bar 92, Strand Rd, Yangon, Myanmar. tel: 243377.fax: 243393, [email protected] www.ghmhotels.com

Lobby BarPARKROYAL Yangon, Myanmar. 33, Alan Pya Phaya Road, Dagon Tsp. tel: 250388.

The First Air conditioning systems designed to keep you fresh all day GUNKUL Engineer supply Co., Ltd. No.437 (A), Pyay Road, Kamayut. P., O 11041 Yangon, Tel: +(95-1) 502016-18, Mandalay- Tel: 02-60933. Nay Pyi Taw- Tel: 067-420778, E-mail : [email protected]. URL: http://www.freshaircon.com

General 83-91, G-F, Bo Aung Kyaw St, Kyauktada Tsp, tel : 706223, 371906

Green GardenBeer Gallery Mini Zoo, Karaweik Oo-Yin Kabar.

ASTROLOGER

BARS

ACCOMMODATION-HOTELS

AIR CONDITION

50th Street 9/13, 50th street-lower, Botataung Tsp. Tel-397160.No. 205, Corner of Wadan

Street & Min Ye Kyaw Swa Road, Lanmadaw Tsp, Yangon. Myanmar. Tel: (95-1) 212850 ~ 3, 229358 ~ 61, Fax: (95-1) 212854.info@myanmarpandahotel .com http://www.myanmarpandahotel.com

No.7A, Wingabar Road,Bahan Tsp, Yangon.Tel : (951) 546313, 430245. 09-731-77781~4. Fax : (01) 546313. www.cloverhotel.asia. [email protected]

Confort Inn 4, Shweli Rd, Bet: Inya Rd & U Wisara Rd, Kamaryut, tel: 525781, 526872Golden Aye Yeik Mon Hotel 4, Padauk Lane, 4th Word, Aye Yeik Mon Housing, Hlaing. tel: 681706.Hotel Yangon No. 91/93, 8th Mile Junction, Mayangone. tel : 01-667708, 667688.Inya Lake Resort Hotel 37 Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd. tel: 662866. fax: 665537.Orchid Hotel 91, Anawrahta street, Pazundaung Township, Yangon, . Tel: 399930, 704740, 293261. E-mail: [email protected]. mm.

Panorama Hotel 294-300, Pansodan Street, Kyauktada Tsp. tel: 253077. PARKROYAL Yangon, Myanmar 33, Alan Pya Pagoda Rd, Dagon tsp. tel: 250388. fax: 252478. email: [email protected] Website: parkroyalhotels. com.Savoy Hotel 129, Damazedi Rd, Kamayut tsp. tel: 526289, 526298, Seasons of Yangon Yangon Int’l Airport Compound. tel: 666699.Sweet Hotel 73, Damazedi Road, San Chaung Tsp, Ph: 539152Sedona Hotel Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd, Yankin. tel: 666900.Strand Hotel 92 Strand Rd. tel: 243377. fax: 289880.

Easy Expat Accommodation Specialist in Yangon. Tel: 09-730-33776.Eco-ApartmentFully Furnished Ga 21, Pearl Centre (Pearl Condo), Bahan Tsp. Tel: 557488.Espace Avenir No 523, Pyay Rd, Kamaryut Tsp. tel: 505213-222.Golden Hill Towers 24-26, Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd, Bahan Tsp. tel: 558556. [email protected] Residence 8, Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd, Mayangone Tsp. tel: 6506 51~4. fax: 650630.MiCasa Hotel Apartments 17, Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd, Yankin Tsp. tel: 650933. fax: 650960.Sakura Residence 9, Inya Rd, Kamaryut Tsp. tel: 525001. fax: 525002.The Grand Mee Ya Hta Executive Residence 372, Bogyoke Aung San Rd, Pabedan Tsp. tel 951-256355 (25 lines). fax: 951-256360. email: [email protected], www.grandmeeyahta.comYangon City Villa (Residence) Pyay Rd, 8 Mile Junction, MYGN, tel: 513101

Charted Certified, Certified Public Accountants. tel: 09-501-0563. [email protected]

ACCOMMODATIONLONG TERM

ACCOMMODATION-HOTELS (NAy PyI TAw)

ACCOUNTANTS AND CONSULTANTS

Reservation Office (Yangon)262-264, Pyay Road, Dagon Centre, A# 03-01, Sanchaung Tsp, Yangon.Tel: 95-1-501937, 536255, 09-520-0926.The Oasis Hotel (Nay Pyi Taw)Tel: 95-67-422088, 422099

Summit Parkview Hotel 350, Ahlone Rd, Dagon Tsp. tel: 211888, 211966. fax: 227995.Thamada Hotel 5, Alan Pya Phaya Rd, Dagon. tel: 243639, 243640, 243641. Traders Hotel 223 Sule Pagoda Rd. tel: 242828. fax: 242838.Winner Inn 42, Than Lwin Rd, Bahan Tsp. tel: 535205, 524387. email: winnerinnmyanmar @gmail.comYangon YMCA 263, Mahabandoola Rd, Botataung Tsp. tel: 294128,Yuzana Hotel 130, Shwegondaing Rd, Bahan Tsp, tel : 01-549600, 543367Yuzana Garden Hotel 44, Alanpya Pagoda Rd, Mingalar Taung Nyunt Tsp, tel : 01-248944

INYA1 Resturant & BarNo.(1), Inya Road, Kamayut Tsp.Tel: 01-527506email: [email protected] www.inya1.com

the MyanMar tiMes

mt QuiCk guideMay 28 - June 3, 2012

44

Traders Café Traders Hotel, Yangon. #223, Sule Pagoda Rd. Tel: 242828 ext: 6519

The Uranium Dance Studio Pearl condo Bldg (C), 2nd flr, Bahan Tsp. Tel: 09-731-42624, 09-514-0404.

BEAUTY & MASSAGE

ARCHITECH

Innwa Book StoreNo. 246, Rm.201/301, GF, Pansodan Street (Upper Block), Kyauktada Tsp. Tel. 389838, 243216, 374324, 514387

La Brasserie (International)PARKROYAL Yangon. 33, Alan Pya Phaya Road, Dagon Tsp. tel : 250388.

MYANMAR BOOK CENTRENandawun Compound, No. 55, Baho Road, Corner of Baho Road and Ahlone Road, (near Eugenia Restaurant), Ahlone Township. tel: 212 409, 221 271. 214708 fax: 524580. email: [email protected]

BOOK STORES

CAFÈS

ADvERTISING

DOMAIN

CHOCOLATE

Floral Service & GiftCentre 102(A), Dhamazaydi Rd, Yangon.tel: 500142 Summit Parkview Hotel, tel: 211888, 211966 ext. 173 fax: 535376.email: [email protected].

Espace Avenir 523, Pyay Rd, Kamayut Tsp, Tel : 505214, 505222FIT Club - Rm 101~3, Marina Residence, 8, Kaba Aye Pagoda Rd, Mayangone Tsp, Tel : 650634, 650651 Ext:102Parkroyal Fitness & Spa Parkroyal Yangon. 33, Alan Pya Phaya Road, Dagon Tsp. Tel: 250388.

Mr. BetchangNo.(272), Pyay Rd, DNH Tower, Rm No.(503), 5th flr, Sanchaung Tsp, Tel: 095041216

FITNESS CENTRE

FLORAL SERvICES

ENTERTAINMENT

MHR Business & Management Institute 905, 9th floor, Modern Iron Market(Thanzay Condo) Lanmadaw St. Tel: 707822.NLEC 82 Anawrahta Rd, Corner of 39 St, Kyauktada Tsp. Tel: 250225.

DUTY FREE

CONSTRUCTION

COLD STORAGE

EDUCATION CENTRE

Traders Hotel, 5th Floor Tel: 242828,Ext: Coreana. Sedona Hotel, Mandalay Ground Fl. Tel: 02-36488, Ext: Coreana

BATTERY

Proven Technology Industry Co., Ltd.No. FS 14, Bayintnaung Rd, Shwe Sabai Yeik Mon, Kamayut Tsp, Yangon. Tel: 951-951-701719~20, 527667, 531030, 531041, 530694. Fax: 527667, 531030. http//www.toyobatterymyanmar.com.

ISO 9001:2008 (QMS)

G-A, Ground Floor, Pearl Center, Kabaraye Pagoda Road, Yangon. Tel: 09 500 6880 Email: [email protected]

Floral Service & Gift ShopNo. 449, New University Avenue, Bahan Tsp. YGN. Tel: 541217, 559011, 09-860-2292.Market Place By City MartTel: 523840~43, 523845~46, Ext: 205.Junction Nay Pyi TawTel: 067-421617~18 422012~15, Ext: 235.Res: 067-414813, 09-492-09039. Email : [email protected]

24 hours Medical centreNo. 330, Ground Flr, Yangon Int’l Hotel,Ahlone Road, Dagon Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar.24 hour Call Centre : (951) 218 445Clinic : (959) 4921 8159Office : (951) 218 446Fax : (951) 218 389www.leomedicare.com

Piyavate Hospital (Bangkok) Myanmar Represent ative (Head office)Grand Mee Yahta Executive Residences. No.372, Bogyoke Aung San Rd, PBDN. Ph: 256355, Ext: 3206. Hotline: 09-7377-7799. Email: [email protected], [email protected], Website: www.piyavate.com

U Min Sein, BSc, RA, CPA.,RL Advocate of the Supreme Court 83/14 Pansodan St, Yangon. tel: 253 273. [email protected]

Media & Advertising

LEGAL SERvICE

VEJTHANI MYANMAR REPRESENTATIVE OFFICENo.125(C), West Shwe Gon Dine Road, Bahan Township, Yangon, Myanmar. 01-3449977. Hot Line: 09-507-1111, 01-555448, 555998. [email protected]

Shimmering Gold Services Co., Ltd.VICTORY FOR LIFE

BANGKOK, THAILAND

Intuitive Design, Advertising, Interior DecorationCorporate logo/Identity/ Branding, Brochure/ Profile Booklet/ Catalogue/ Billboard, Corporate diary/ email newsletter/ annual reports, Magazine, journal advertisement and 3D presentation and detailed planning for any interior decoration works. Talk to us: (951) 430-897, 553-918 www.medialane.com.au 58B Myanma Gon Yaung Housing, Than Thu Mar Road, Tamwe, Yangon.

PHIH-Specialist Clinic FMI Centre (4th Floor) #380, Bogyoke Aung San Road, Pabedan Tsp. tel: 243 010, 243 012, 243 013

NatRay Co., Ltd. Rm 807, La Pyayt Wun Plaza. tel : 01-370833, 370836

FURNITURE

HOME FURNISHING

GAS COOKER & COOKER HOODS

HEALTH SERvICES

GENERATORS

GEMS & JEWELLERIES

Yangon : A-3, Aung San Stadium (North East Wing), Mingalartaungnyunt Tsp. Tel : 245543, 09-730-37772.Mandalay : Room No.(B,C) (National Gas), 35th St, Btw 80th & 81st, Chanaye-tharzan Tsp. Tel : 09-680-3505, 02 34455, 36748, 71878.

81, Kaba Aye Pagoda Road, Bahan Township, Yangon. Tel: 548022, 542979, 553783, 09-803-0847, 09-730-56079. Email: [email protected].

22, Pyay Rd, 9 mile, Mayangone Tsp. tel: 660769, 664363.

Acupuncture, Medicine Massage, Foot SpaAdd:No,27(A),Ywa Ma Kyaung Street, Hlaing Township, Yangon. Tel: 01-511122, 526765.

Room - 4021, 3rd Floor, Taw Win Centre.Ph: 8600111 (Ext:4021), 09-803-2581.

Foral Service & Gifts shopNo.2, Corner of Khay Mar St & Baho Rd (Near Asia Royal Hospital), Sanchaung Tsp, Yangon. email: yangonflorist@ myanmar.com.mm. Tel: 01-510406, 09-731-84714.

Agent Office, 5th Floor, Junction Centre (Maw Tin), Lanmadaw Township, Yangon. Myanmar. Ph: 09-731-56770, 09-511- 7584, Fax: 01-516313, [email protected]

Dance LessonsMon-Fri 12:00 to 23:00. Sat-Sun 10 am to 8 pmFun dancing Friday nights with Filipino musicians4, U Tun Myat St, Tamwe. Tel: 01-541 550

A Little DayspaNo. 475 C, Pyi Road, Kamayut, Yangon. Tel: 09-431-28831.

Lemon Day SpaNo. 96 F, Inya Road, Kamaryut Tsp, Yangon. Tel: 514848, 09-732-08476.E.mail: lemondayspa.2011 @gmail.com

My Way Diamond Condo, Bldg(A), Rm (G-02), Pyay Rd, Kamayut Tsp, Yangon. Tel: 52717, 09 51 70528

La Source Beauty Spa80(A), Inya Rd, Kamayut.tel: 512 380, 511 252.Sedona Hotel, Kabar AyePagoda Rd. tel: 666 900

MARINE COMMUNICATION &

NAvIGATION

Top Marine Show RoomNo-385, Ground Floor, Lower Pazundaung Road, Pazundaung Tsp, Yangon.Ph: 01-202782, 09-851-5597

FOAM SPRAY INSULATION

Foam Spray InsulationNo-410, Ground Floor, Lower Pazuntaung Road, Pazuntaung Tsp, Yangon.Telefax : 01-203743, 09-730-26245, 09-500-7681. Hot Line-09-730-30825.

Est. 1992 in MyanmarCold Storage Specialist, Solar Hot Water Storage Solutions.Tel: 09-504-2196, 09-731-94828. E-mail: [email protected], glover2812@ gmail.com

The Yangon GYM Summit Parkview Hotel 350, Ahlone Rd, Dagon Tsp. tel: 211888, 211966.Traders Health Club. Level 5, Traders Hotel Yangon#223 Sule Pagoda Rd, Tel: 951 242828 Ext: 6561

ELECTRICAL

Est. 1992 in MyanmarElectrical & Mechanical Contractors, Designers, Consultants.Tel: 09-504-2196, 09-731-94828. E-mail: [email protected], glover2812@ gmail.com

24 hours Cancer centreNo. 330, Yangon International Hotel, Ahlone Road, Dagon Tsp,Yangon, Myanmar. Tel: (951) 218388, 218292 Fax: (951) 218389

24 hours Laboratory & X-rayNo. 330, Ground Flr, Yangon Int’l Hotel, Ahlone Road, Dagon Tsp,Yangon, Myanmar. Tel: (951) 218388, (951) 218292 Fax: (951) 218389

INYA1 Resturant & BarNo.(1), Inya Road, Kamayut Tsp.Tel: 01-527506email: [email protected] www.inya1.com Winning Way

No. 589-592, Bo Aung Kyaw St, Yangon-Pathein highway Road. Hlaing Thayar Tsp. Tel: 951-645178-182, 685199, Fax: 951-645211, 545278. e-mail: mkt-mti@ winstrategic.com.mm

Heavy Equipments & Genset

Cafe de Angel Always Pure & Fresh No.24, Baho Rd, Ahlone Tsp. tel : 703449 Opening Hour: 9 am to 11 pm

Duty Free Airport Shopping Yangon International AirportArrival/Departure Tel: 662676 (Airport)Office: 17, 2nd street, Hlaing Yadanarmon Housing, Hlaing Township, Yangon. Tel: 500143, 500144, 500145.

Qi Foot Spa At Inya Lake Hotel, Yangon. Tel: +951-662866, 662857 Ext: 1725Zen Wellness Care No.62 (A), Rm-3, Yaw Min Gyi St, Dagon Tsp, Yangon. Tel: +951-252939.

Inya Day Spa 16/2, Inya Rd, Kamayut Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar. Tel: 537907, 503375.

SAIL Marketing & CommunicationsSuite 403, Danathiha Center 790, Corner of Bogyoke Rd & Wadan Rd, Lanmadaw Township, Yangon, Myanmar. Tel: (951) 211870, 224820, 2301195. Email: [email protected]. com

WE STARTED THE ADVERTISINGINDUSTRY IN MYANMAR SINCE 1991

.biz.mm .per.mm

.com.mm .org.mmNo. (8), Panchan Tower, Sanchaung Tsp, Yangon. Tel: [email protected], www.mtg.biz.mm, www.mmnic.biz.mm.

Zamil SteelNo-5, Pyay Road, 7½ miles, Mayangone Tsp, Yangon. Tel: (95-1) 652502~04. Fax: (95-1) 650306.Email: [email protected]

Natural Gems of MyanmarNo. 30 (A), Pyay Road (7 mile), Mayangone Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar.Tel: 01-660397, 654398, 654399.

HOTEL MANAGEMENT

Hotel Management-Consultants (Singapore)Yangon Office Tel. : 09-516-6400 Email: [email protected]

Architecture 3 Construction Co, Ltd.No. 154, 39th Street, Between Maha Bandoola & Anawratha Road,Kyauktada Tsp, Yangon.Contact: Ma Khaing TunBusiness Development09-502-5782

mt QuiCk guide45the MyanMar tiMes May 28 - June 3, 2012

OFFICE FURNITURE

Htoo Travels 209/c, first flr, Shwe Gonedaing Rd, Bahan. Tel: 548554, 548039.

Sun Far Travels & Tours 27, Ground flr, 38th st, Kyauktada Tsp. Tel: 380888.

WEB SERvICES

WATER HEATERS

The Global leader in Water HeatersA/1, Aung San Stadium East Wing, Upper Pansodan Road. Tel: 251033, 09-730-25281.

Crown WorldwideMovers Ltd 790, Rm 702, 7th Flr Danathiha Centre, Bogyoke Aung San Rd, Lanmadaw. Tel: 223288, 210 670, 227650. ext: 702. Fax: 229212. email: crown [email protected]

Road to MandalayMyanmar Hotels & Cruises Ltd. Governor’s Residence 39C, Taw Win Rd, Dagon Tsp, Yangon. Tel: (951) 229860fax: (951) 217361. email: [email protected] www.orient-express.com

REMOvALISTS

PLEASURE CRUISES

Water HeaterSame as Rinnai Gas cooker and cooker Hood Showroom Address

Myanmar. Tel: 95-1-535-783, 527705, 501429. Fax: 95-1-527705. Email: [email protected] Mawtin Bogyoke Aung San Rd, Cor of Wadan St. Lanmadaw Tsp. Tel:Junction Square Pyay Rd, Kamayut Tsp. Tel:Ocean Supercentre (North Point ), 9th Mile, Mayangone Tsp. Tel: 651 200, 652963.Pick ‘n’ Pay Hyper Market Bldg (A,B,C), (14~16), Shwe Mya Yar Housing, Mya Yar Gone St, Mingalartaungnyunt Tsp. Tel: 206001~3, Fax: 9000199Sein Gay Har 44, Pyay Rd, Dagon Tsp. Tel: 383812, 379823.Super 1 (Kyaikkasan) 65, Lay Daunt Kan St, Tel: 545871~73Super 1 (Shwe Bonthar) 397, Bogyoke Aung San St, Pabedan. Tel: 250268~29Victoria Shwe Pone Nyet Yeik Mon, Bayint Naung Rd, Kamaryut Tsp. Tel : 515136.

TRAvEL AGENTS

Asian Trails Tour Ltd73 Pyay Rd, Dagon tsp. tel: 211212, 223262. fax: 211670. email: [email protected]

Asia Light 106, Set Yone Rd.tel: 294074, 294083.Capital Hyper Mart 14(E), Min Nandar Road, Dawbon Tsp. Ph: 553136.City Mart (Aung San Branch) tel: 253022, 294765. (9:00 am to 9:00 pm)City Mart (47th St Branch) tel: 200026, 298746. (9:00 am to 9:00 pm)City Mart (Junction 8 Branch) tel: 650778. (9:00 am to 9:00 pm)City Mart (FMI City Branch) tel: 682323.City Mart (Yankin Center Branch) tel: 400284. (9:00 am to 9:00 pm)City Mart (Myaynigone Branch) tel: 510697. (9:00 am to 10:00 pm)City Mart (Zawana Branch) tel:564532. (9:00 am to 9:00 pm)City Mart (Shwe Mya Yar Branch) tel: 294063. (9:00 am to 9:00 pm)City Mart (Chinatown Point Branch) tel: 215560~63. (9:00 am to 10:00 pm)City Mart (Junction Maw Tin Branch) tel: 218159. (9:00 am to 9:00 pm)City Mart (Marketplace) tel: 523840~43. (9:00 am to 10:00 pm)City Mart (78th Brahch-Mandalay) tel: 02-71467~9. (9:00 am to 10:00 pm)IKON Mart IKON Trading Co., Ltd. No.332, Pyay Rd, San Chaung P.O (11111), Yangon,

SUPERMARKETS

STEEL CONSTRUCTION

SOLAR SYSTEM

No.35(b), Tatkatho Yeik Mon Housing,New University Avenue, Bahan Township, Yangon. Tel: 951-549451, 557219, 540730. www.yangon-academy.org

World-class Web ServicesTailor-made design, Professional research & writing for Brochure/ Catalogue/e-Commerce website, Customised business web apps, online advertisement and anything online. Talk to us: (951) 430-897, 553-918 www.medialane.com.au 58B Myanma Gon Yaung Housing. Than Thu Mar Road, Tamwe, Yangon.

Yangon International SchoolFully Accredited K-12 International Curriculum with ESL support No.117,Thumingalar Housing, Thingangyun Township, Yangon. Tel: 578171, 573149 www.yismyanmar.netYangon International School New Early Childhood Center Pan Hlaing Golf Estate Housing & U Tun Nyo Street, Hlaing Thar Yar Township, Yangon. Tel: 687701, 687702

95, Anawrahta Rd. Tel:296552, 293754. 336, Pyay Rd, Sanchaung Tsp. Tel: 526456.New University Avenue, 551521, 551951, 553896. U Wisara Rd, Tel: 524599, 501976.

Admissions Office:No. 44, Than Lwin Road, Bahan Township, Yangon. Tel: 535433, 09-850-3073.Email: [email protected]

ISM Int’l School W 22/24, Mya Kan Thar Housing, Hlaing Tsp. tel:530082, 530083.International School Yangon 20, Shwe Taung Kyar St, Bahan Tsp. Tel: 512793.

ILBC IGCSE SCHOOLNo.(34), LaydauntkanRoad, Tamwe Tsp, Yangon.Tel: 542982, 545720,549106,545736,400156Fax: 541040Email: [email protected]

ILBC 180, Thunandar 9th Lane, Thumingalar Housing, Thingungyung.tel: 562401.

Horizon Int’l School25, Po Sein Road, Bahan Tsp, tel : 541085, 551795, 551796, 450396~7. fax : 543926, email : [email protected], www.horizon.com

SCHOOLS

PAINT

TOP MARINE PAINT No-410, Ground Floor, Lower Pazundaung Road, Pazundaung Tsp, Yangon.Ph: 09-851-5202

MMRD Research BLDG C, New Mingalar Market, 10-story BLDG, 8 & 9 flr, Coner of Mill St & Banyardala Rd, Mingalar Taungnyunt Tsp. Tel: 200326, 200846, 201350. Fax: 202425.

MARKET RESEARCH

Moby Dick Tours Co., Ltd.Islands Safari in the Mergui Archipelago4 Days, 6 Days, 8 Days TripsTel: 95 1 202063, 202064E-mail: [email protected]. Website: www.moby-dick-adventures.com

Phoenix Court (Chinese)PARKROYAL Yangon. 33, Alan Pya Phaya Road, Dagon Tsp. tel: 250388.

Kohaku Japanese RestaurantChatrium Hotel Royal Lake Yangon40, Natmauk Road, Tamwe Tsp, Lobby Level, Tel: 544500 Ext 6231

Traders Gourmet CornerLevel 1, Traders Hotel, #223 Sule Pagoda Road, Kyauktada Tsp. Tel : 242828 ext : 6503Traders Gallery BarLevel 2, Traders Hotel, #223 Sule Pagoda Road. tel: 242 828. ext: 6433Traders Lobby LoungeLevel 1, Traders Hotel, #223 Sule Pagoda Road. tel: 242 828. ext: 6456

Tiger Hill Chinese RestaurantChatrium Hotel Royal Lake Yangon40, Natmauk Road, Tamwe Tsp, Lobby Level, Tel: 544500 Ext 6253

The Ritz Exclusive LoungeChatrium Hotel Royal Lake Yangon40, Natmauk Road, Tamwe Tsp, Ground Floor, Tel: 544500 Ext 6243, 6244

1. WASABI : No.20-B,Kaba Aye Pagoda Rd,Yankin Tsp,(Near MiCasa),Tel; 666781,09-503-91392. WASABI SUSHI : MarketPlace by City Mart (1st Floor). Tel; 09-430-67440Myaynigone (City Mart)Yankin Center (City Mart)Junction Mawtin (City Mart)

No. 105/107, Kha-Yae-Bin Road. between Pyi Daung Su Yeik Tha (Halpin) and Manawhari Road/Ahlone Road, Dagon Tsp. Tel/Fax: 538895, Tel: 09-730-29973, 09-540-9469. [email protected]. www.myanmar-restaurantpadonmar.com

22, Kaba Aye Pagoda Rd, Bahan Tsp. tel 541997. email: [email protected]://leplanteur.net

Enchanting and Romantic, a Bliss on the Lake 62 D, U Tun Nyein Road, Mayangon Tsp, YangonTel. 01 665 516, 660976 Mob. [email protected]

House of MemoriesPiano Bar & Restaurant Myanmar Cuisine & International Food 290, U Wizara Rd, Kamaryut Tsp, Yangon. tel: 525 195, 534 242. e-mail: houseofmemories [email protected]

Italian delicatesse & Ice-creamNo.150, Dhamazadi Rd, Bahan Tsp. (Monunent Book Shop) Open Daily 9:00am to 7:00pm. Italian Ice-cream, Pasta, Pizza & Bar(2) G/F, City Mart, Myayni-gone Centre. tel : 508469, 508470 ext. 113 Open Daily 9:00am to 10:00pm.

Lunch/Dinner/Catering 555539, 536174

RESTAURANTS

RELOCATION

Bo Sun Pat Tower, Bldg 608, Rm 6(B), Cor of Merchant Rd & Bo Sun Pat St, PBDN Tsp. Tel: 377263, 250582, 250032, 09-511-7876, 09-862-4563.

24 hours open.5, Alan Pya Phaya Rd, Dagon Tsp, inside Thamada Hotel. tel - 243640, 243047, Ext: 32.

INYA1 Resturant & BarNo.(1), Inya Road, Kamayut Tsp.Tel: 01-527506email: [email protected] www.inya1.com

No.430(A), Corner of Dhamazedi Rd & Golden Valley Rd, Building(2) Market Place (City Mart), Bahan Tsp, Yangon.Tel : 01-523840(Ext-309), 09-73208079.

Black Canyon Coffee & International Thai Cuisine 330, Ahlone Rd, Dagon Tsp. Tel: 0980 21691, 395052. email: blackcanyon@yangon. net.mm.

Monday to Saturday (9am to 6pm)No. 797, MAC Tower II, Rm -4, Ground Flr, Bogyoke Aung San Rd,Lamadaw Tsp, Yangon.Tel: (951) 212944 Ext: [email protected]

Legendary Myanmar Int’l Shipping & Logistics Co., Ltd.No-9, Rm (A-4), 3rd Flr, Kyaung St, Myaynigone, Sanchaung Tsp, Yangon.Tel: 516827, 523653, 516795. Mobile. 09-512-3049. Email: [email protected] .mmwww.LMSL-shipping.com

PEB Steel Buildings60 (A), Halpin Road, Yangon. Tel: 01-218223, 218224. Fax: 218224. [email protected] www.pebsteel.com.mm

The Brightest AC CFL Bulb 21, 9th St, Lanmadaw Tsp. Ph: 212243, 216861, 216864. [email protected]. www.spsolarstation.com

Streamline Education 24, Myasabai Rd, Parami, Myangone Tsp. tel: 662304, 09-500-6916.Schenker (Thai) Ltd.

Yangon 59 A, U Lun Maung Street. 7 Mile Pyay Road, MYGN. tel: 667686, 666646.fax: 651250. email: sche [email protected].

Kan Yeik Tha RoadMingalar Taung Nyunt Tsp.

Yangon, Myamar.

Tel: 299255~9, Ext: 7801, 7802

Fax: 382917reception@

kandawgyipalace-hotel.com

www.kandawgyipalace-hotel.com


Yangon, Myamar.

Taste ParadiseChinese Restaurant

Tel: 299255~9, Ext: 7778 Fax: 382917reception@



Relocation SpecialistRm 504, M.M.G Tower, #44/56, Kannar Rd, Botahtaung Tsp. Tel: 250290, 252313. Mail : [email protected]


Yangon, Myamar.

French RestaurantTel: 299255~9, Ext: 7776

Fax: 382917reception@



KSSSetyone Rd, Mingalar Taung Nyunt. tel: 203320.

Royal GardenNat Mauk Road, Kandaw Gyi Natural Park, Bahan Tsp. tel: 546202

sPortthe MyanMar tiMes

46May 28 - June 3, 2012

By Shahid Hashmi

KARACHI – Karachi ’s National Stadium was once a dusty, sweaty hell for visiting cricketers, a cauldron of heat and noise where Pakistan went unbeaten in tests for more than 45 years.

But now, three years after international sides stopped coming to the country in the wake of a deadly militant attack on a Sri Lankan team bus, the stands are silent, deserted and rusting with disuse.

It is a scene repeated in stadiums across Pakistan. Since the gun attack in Lahore, the country has not hosted a full international in any sport, barring a short series of hockey friendlies against lowly China.

Last month it organised a visit by the Bangladesh cricket team, only to have it postponed a week later over security fears, to the dismay of Pakistani officials.

A n d P a k i s t a n ’ s announcement on May 10 that Canada may visit this year was quickly played down by Cricket Canada chief Doug Hannum, who called it a “potential tour” and said no formal talks had taken place.

Pakistan’s 180 million people are well known for being cricket-mad but the nation also boasts a proud history in field hockey – three Olympic gold medals, four World Cups and three Champions Trophies – and squash, where the Khans, Jansher and Jahangir, ruled the world in the 1980s and 1990s.

I n 1 9 9 4 P a k i s t a n even boasted the unique distinction of being world champions in cricket, hockey and squash at the same time.

Even the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US did not deter foreign teams: Pakistan hosted arch-rivals India – considered the biggest target for militants – for cricket tours in 2004 and 2006, and staged the World Open squash tournament in 2003 and Champions Trophy hockey in 2004.

B u t w h e n g u n m e n attacked the Sri Lankan team bus during the third cricket Test in Lahore in March 2009, killing eight people and wounding seven players, Pakistan was cast into sporting purdah.

It was no longer true that sports were not a target for militants and ever since, teams have been unwilling to come.

For three years, Pakistan have held their “home” cricket series in neutral countr ies , most ly the United Arab Emirates. All their Davis Cup tennis m a t c h e s a n d h o c k e y fixtures have been played

away from home.Ehsan Mani, former

president of the International Cricket Council (ICC), believes the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) are going the wrong way about seeking to end their isolation.

“The Bangladesh team not coming to Pakistan is a setback,” Mani said. “But I would say that the PCB’s strategy is totally wrong as they are, like, begging teams to come, which is wrong.”

Mani said Pakistan needs to get the ICC to set security guidelines. But he added that even if Bangladesh had come, others were not likely to follow.

“I can’t speculate whether Bangladesh Cricket Board wanted to send the team or not, but Bangladesh’s visit would not have convinced England or Australia,” he said.

The situation means talented young players like Umar Akmal, Azhar Ali, Wahab Riaz and Asad Shafiq – who between them have 50 test caps, 95 one-day and 39 Twenty20 internationals – have yet to play before their home crowds.

But most dangerous are the financial implications.

“PCB would feel the financial pinch soon,” Tauqir Zia, a former PCB chairman, said. “Their expenses per year are 1.6 billion rupees (US$17.6 million) and this cannot be borne until you earn by hosting cricket. Otherwise you have to go to the ICC and ask for funds.”

Hockey survives on millions of rupees in government grants, while football is supported by international body FIFA through the Goal development scheme.

For former Pakistani Test fast bowler Jalal-ud-Din, the key to Pakistan coming in from the cold is wooing the old enemy next door: India.

“Cricket revival, I believe, is related to India because they are the super powers,” he said. “PCB must form a team of players and diplomats and send it to various countries in order to convince them to tour.”

Jalal also blamed poor governance in the PCB, saying that under former chairman Ijaz Butt “our relationship with other countries worsened and we are paying for that”.

When a spot-fixing scandal broke during Pakistan’s disastrous 2010 tour of England, Butt incensed the hosts by accusing them of throwing a one-day international at the Oval. He later apologised and retracted the allegation.

With Pakistan’s security situation still unstable, it seems the wait for top-level international competition will go on, both for the country’s sports fans and its under-used stadiums.

– AFP

Stadiums in Pakistan lie abandoned

Trade Mark CauTion

SAMPOERNA X-TRA Label (Color)

(reg. no. iV/3188/2001)

DJI SAM SOE Label (Color)

(reg. no. iV/ 764/2004)

SAMPOERNA A Device (Color)

(reg. no. iV/669/2004)

SAMPOERNA A (Dv.) (w/Underlined OE) (Color)

(reg. no. iV/3058/1995)(reg. no. iV/4272/1998) (reg. no. iV/1073/2001)

used in respect of – “All goods in International Class 34, namely, cigarette, tobacco products”

(reg. no. iV/5320/1996)

EAGLE

(reg. no. iV/5321/1996)

GOLDEN EAGLE

used in respect of – “All goods in International Class 34, namely, cigarette, tobacco, tobacco products”

used in respect of – “All goods in International Class 34, namely, cigarette, tobacco, tobacco products, etc.”

PreSCoTT(reg. no. iV/5238/2003)

PT HanJaYa MandaLa SaMPoerna TBk (HMS), and having its registered office at Jalan Rungkut Industri Raya No.18, Surabaya 60293, Indonesia, is the sole and exclusive owner and proprietor of the following trademarks:-

EAGLE Label

(reg. no. iV/ 2497/1997)

GOLDEN EAGLE Label(Open Pack 2/White background) (Color)

(reg. no. iV/ 2498/1997)

GOLDEN EAGLE (Open Pack) (Color)

(reg. no. iV/ 2499/1997)

used in respect of – “Cigarettes, tobacco products”

DJI SAM SOE(reg. no. iV/6888/2008)

SAMPOERNA(reg. no. iV/6897/2008)

used in respect of – “Tobacco, raw or manufactured; tobacco products, including cigars, cigarettes, cigarillos, tobacco for roll your own cigarettes, pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, snuff tobacco, kretek; tobacco substitutes (not for medical purposes); smokers’ articles, including cigarette paper and tubes, cigarette filters, tobacco tins, cigarette cases and ashtrays, pipes, pocket apparatus for rolling cigarettes, lighters; matches”

Any unauthorized use, infringement or fraudulent imitation of the said trademarks will be dealt with according to law.

Thein Aung B.Sc., R.L., D.B.L AdvocateMYanMar TradeMark and PaTenT LaW FirM

E-mail: [email protected]

for eCCLeS & LeeSolicitors

Patent Attorneys and Trade Mark Attorneys,Hong Kong.

Dated. 28th May, 2012

sPortthe MyanMar tiMes

47May 28 - June 3, 2012

LONDON – Ivory Coast str iker Didier Drogba confirmed on May 22 he will leave newly-crowned E u r o p e a n c h a m p i o n s Chelsea when his contract expires at the end o f June.

The 34-year-old leaves the London c lub on a high after scoring a late equaliser against Bayern Munich in the Champions League final on May 19 and then converting the dec is ive penal ty in a dramatic shoot-out after extra-time.

“I wanted to put an end to the speculation and confirm that I am leaving Chelsea,” he told Chelsea’s website.

“ I t has been a very difficult decision for me to make and I am very proud of what we have achieved, but the time is right for a new challenge for me.”

Drogba has been at the Premier League club since 2004, joining from French side Marseille, and has scored 157 goals in 341 appearances helping the Blues win 10 trophies.

Drogba is the club ’s fourth highest scorer and his 34 goals in European competition is a Chelsea record by 10 goals.

During his eight seasons he won three Premier League titles, four FA Cups, two League Cups, and the Champions League title.

“As a team we have accomplished so much

a n d h a v e w o n e v e r y single trophy possible,” said Drogba, who won the Premier League Golden Boot twice.

“Saturday was a very s p e c i a l m o m e n t f o r everyone at the club and for all the fans, and I am very proud to have played my part in bringing many trophies to this club, which has been my home for the last eight years.

“I wish the club all the best and continued success for the future – you will always be in my heart.”

Chelsea Chief Executive Ron Gourlay added: “Didier is undoubtedly a Chelsea legend and will always be part of the Chelsea family. He is certainly leaving on a high after Saturday night but he feels the time is right for a new challenge.

“We have known for some time that this outcome was likely but Didier and the club only made a final decision on that in the last couple of days, because for obvious reasons neither Didier nor the club wanted to distract focus away from the Champions League Final.”

Engl ish media have linked the Ivorian target man – scorer of 55 goals in his 84 international a p p e a r a n c e s – w i t h Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua, where his former Chelsea team-mate Nicolas Anelka is player-coach.

– AFP

By Lawrence Bartlett

KABUL – “Welcome to the most extreme golf in the world,” says the European Union ambassador to Afghanistan, as half-a-dozen heavily armed bodyguards fan out around him and scan the Kabul Golf Club course.

But Vygaudas Usackas is not talking about security threats facing golfers in a war zone – he’s talking about the course.

It is one big hazard, with unfair fairways of rock and thistles, sand-and-oil “greens” and the chance of falling into a ditch making even the most wicked of traditional sand traps and water hazards seem benign.

But in a country where guns far outnumber golf clubs and diplomats live in compounds set deep behind blast walls and razor wire, Usackas revels in the chance to “get out and get some fresh air”.

The air at Afghanistan’s only golf course – a half-hour drive out of Kabul – is certainly easier to breathe than the dust and pollution of the chaotic capital, but gol fers accustomed to the eye-soothing sight of immaculate lawns would be in for a shock.

And they can leave the fancy two-tone spiked shoes behind, being well-advised to

don army style boots to cope with the terrain.

As for clubs, forget about the state-of-the-art Titanium driver that cost a few hundred dollars and choose, like anybody else, from a dusty collection of bags containing ancient woods and irons in the spartan, single-room “clubhouse”.

Then, equipped with two caddies, one to carry the bag, the other to stake out the likely landing area of your – perfect – shot so that he can maybe see the ball ricochet off a rock into a pile of rubble, you are ready to play.

The fore -caddy wi l l also warn picnickers and cricketers and the riders of passing donkeys that balls may soon be coming their way.

They tend to be most accommodating, shifting temporarily from the direct line of fire and applauding any good shot in this bizarre game, in which Usackas and his party of one reporter and Afghanistan’s only golf pro were the sole players.

The pro, Mohammad Afzal Abdul, 52, has been the manager and coach at the club for 35 years – apart from war-forced closures and a couple of stints in jail under Soviet invaders and hardline Taliban Islamists “for associating with foreigners”.

A photograph of him with Tiger Woods in Dubai

recently takes pride of place on the walls of the club’s office.

“I invited Tiger to visit Kabul. He said okay, but no plans have been made,” says Afzal. “I like him, I like all golfers – he’s a good man.”

Also on the wall is a large poster of the rules of the course.

“Tip #1: Play aggressively. There are no gimmes [a shot that players agree can count

automatically]. Don’t even ask for the stroke index because this is Afghanistan and they’re all tough.”

The tee boxes seem invisible in the scruffy terrain, except to Afzal, who has a scratch handicap and plays the course like the pro that he is.

The fairways can barely be distinguished from the rough and are scarred by ditches every 20 yards or so

in preparation for a sprinkler system and dreams of covering the course in grass – but it has been like that for a year.

The greens are grey, made from sand and waste oil in an effort to provide a smooth surface. And the holes are, as Usackas says, “like everything here – relative”. Some have cups, others are just scratched depressions in the sand.

The course was built some 60 years ago during the rule of the then-king, Zahir Shah, but has been destroyed by 30 years of war: a line of rusting Soviet tanks from the 1980s can still be seen on a nearby hill.

T h e R u s s i a n s w e r e followed by civil war and rule by the hardline Islamist Taliban, who were ousted by a US-led invasion in 2001 for sheltering Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden after the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington.

When the Western-backed President Hamid Karzai came to power, Afzal returned to his beloved course. “I didn’t even recognise it,” he says now.

Deminers cleared the course, but as an extra precaution Afzal set several thousand sheep roaming over it for five days – they set off no mines and all survived.

But war still plagues Afghanistan, with the Taliban waging a 10-year insurgency against Karzai’s government and 130,000 US-led NATO troops.

On the golf course, if you’re playing with the ambassador, that means the age-old instruction for playing a shot – “Don’t lift your head” – takes on a new meaning.

If you do, you are likely to spot a man with an automatic rifle kneeling a few yards away – which could put you off your stroke. – AFP

Drogba confirms Chelsea departure

Welcome to Afghanistan, home of ‘world’s most extreme golf’

By Cameron Wilson

SHANGHAI – When Marcello Lippi announced that he was ready to get back into football, few imagined the celebrated Italian coach would find a home in China.

Now Lippi, one of the world’s most successful managers, is facing one of his trickiest tests in the trigger-happy Chinese Super League (CSL) with his new club, Guangzhou Evergrande.

On May 20, the white-haired Lippi, 64, whose last assignment was leading defending champions Italy at the 2010 World Cup, started his new life with a narrow 1-0 home win over basement club Qingdao Joonon.

Around 40,000 fans flocked to Guangzhou’s Tianhe stadium to see Lippi, the most famous coach to join a Chinese team, with many wearing the shirts of Juventus, his former team, and one banner reading “Forza Li Pi”.

Supporters chanted Lippi’s name constantly in a hero’s welcome for the man who won the 2006 World Cup with Italy – and who is now expected to deliver the Asian club title for the vastly ambitious Guangzhou.

With the reigning Chinese champions already top of the league, Lippi’s task begins in earnest on May 30, when he will attempt to steer Guangzhou past FC Tokyo and into the AFC Champions League quarter-finals.

It’s a daunting challenge: a one-off game, just two weeks into the job, with an unfamiliar group of players. And in China, as other coaches have learned, the price of failure can be high.

Last month Jean Tigana, then the Super League’s highest profile coach, departed Shanghai Shenhua after just

a handful of games, and was replaced by a makeshift coaching line-up including French striker Nicolas Anelka.

And Guangzhou showed no emotion with Lippi’s predecessor Lee Jang-Soo, who won promotion and then the Chinese title in consecutive seasons, and was sacked with the club leading the league and qualified for the continental knock-outs.

Lee had squabbled with star player Dario Conca, who received a nine-match ban for publicly criticising the coach – a ban that was quietly shelved as he played in last week’s Champions League game, and again on May 20.

Lippi has experience in dealing with assertive players at Juventus, with whom he won five Serie A titles and the European Champions League, as well as expectant team bosses.

But a cautionary tale comes from

Scots-born Australian manager Lawrie McKinna, who left China’s Chengdu Blades last year over boardroom interference and quickly found a similar situation at his next club, Chongqing Lifan.

“I got called into the boss’s room and he started to tell me a few of the older players I had not been playing had to come back in to the team,” McKinna wrote on an Australian football blog.

“I could not agree with what he was saying and so decided to hand in my resignation as I had been through this at Chengdu last year and was not going to go through it again.”

Lippi’s last job ended badly, when reigning champions Italy were knocked out of the 2010 World Cup at the group stage, and it was nearly a year before he said he was ready to coach again. He will hope for happier times in China. – AFP

Lippi faces rollercoaster ride in China comeback

Italian coach Marcello Lippi reacts during his first match as head coach of Guangzhou Evergrande against Qingdao Junoon at the Tianhe stadium in Guangzhou on May 20. Pic: AFP

EU ambassador Vygaudas Usackas (centre left) and Afghan pro golfer Mohammad Afzal Abdul stand beside a signboard at the Kabul golf course on May 11. Pic: AFP

May 28 - June 3, 2012

tImESsPORt

MADRID – Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has extended his contract until June 2016 after taking the Spanish giants to victory in La Liga, the team said on May 22.

The 49-year-old, who joined Real in May 2010 on a four-year deal, said early in May he had no ambition to coach in new countries.

But media reports had continued to speculate on his returning to England, with some linking him to a move back to his former side Chelsea.

“Real Madrid and Jose Mourinho have reached an agreement to extend the latter’s contract with the club until June 30, 2016,” the club said in a statement published online.

The self-appointed “Special One” took Real Madrid to their 32nd league title last month, ending

a run of three successive league crowns for bitter rivals Barcelona.

That made him only the fourth coach to have won four different league titles after taking the English, Italian and Portuguese crowns, along with Austria’s Ernst Happel, the late Croat Tomislav Ivic and Italian veteran Giovanni Trapattoni.

“At this mature level of my career, I need big challenges which force me to still try to be the best,” said Mourinho.

To remain with Real “seems to me to be the perfect challenge for the coming four years”.

“We must improve as a team and also as individuals, and we must play a football that aims not only at winning matches but also winning over lovers of the game.”

Mourinho added in typically

brash style: “We have played the best football in the world even if we didn’t win the Champions League.

“But we did win La Liga, which is more difficult, by playing a fantastic style of football, something which I think is the most important.”

Mourinho hinted at a couple of off-season transfers for a squad he deemed remained “young”.

“It’s not a team on the way to extinction,” he said. “It’s not a team that’s playing its last high-level footballing years, quite the opposite. It’s a team that has everything to go for.

“With a couple of transfers to improve the squad we have, the team of 100 points [in the league], which I think will remain in the history of Real Madrid, deserves all our trust for next season.”

During his first season at the

club, critics said the Portuguese coach’s approach was too aggressive both on the field and in comments at press conferences about rivals and referees.

In one infamous incident in August last year when Barcelona won the domestic Super Cup against Real, a brawl broke out after Marcelo was red carded for a reckless challenge on Cesc Fabregas.

During the melee, Mourinho was shown on public television poking his finger into the eye of Barca assistant coach Tito Vilanova – who has since been promoted to the top to replace departing Pep Guardiola after a four-year reign, saying he felt “drained”.

Asked about the incident at the time, which earned him a two-match ban, Mourinho famously asked journalists at a post-match

news conference: “Pito Vilanova? I don’t know who this Pito is.”

Mourinho has been supported through thick and thin by Real president Florentino Perez.

Former Real director general Jorge Valdano had unsuccessfully argued against Mourinho’s appointment, but then found himself out of a job.

In May 2011 Perez terminated the position of director general occupied by Valdano to give Mourinho more autonomy, in what was seen as a victory for the Portuguese coach.

Real striker Cristiano Ronaldo praised Mourinho in an interview published on May 22 in Spanish sports daily AS, calling him “the best coach in the world”.

“It’s great to work with him because, right now, he is the number one manager.” – AFP

Mourinho extends contract with Real

By Philip Lim

SINGAPORE – Singapore has cleared the sale of Formula One shares for more than US$2.5 billion in one of the world’s biggest flotations this year, reports said on May 22, with pre-marketing to begin immediately.

Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, which has a majority stake in the glitzy motor sport’s holding company, will gauge interest among investors and fund managers with a view to selling part of its stake at the end of June.

Dow Jones Newswires said the Singapore Exchange had approved a listing by Formula One, which has been rumoured for the past two months.

A spokesman for the bourse, citing standard policy, said: “It is not our practice to publicly comment on our dealings with listing aspirants.”

Reports of the initial public offering (IPO), which could raise as much as $3 billion, would be the biggest

IPO this year in Singapore, that also approved a float by Manchester United in September, according to sources. The English Premier League football club is said to be awaiting better market conditions.

Some companies are looking at Asia’s cash-rich markets to raise funds as Europe grapples with a debt crisis and the United States pursues a fragile recovery.

Singapore also hosts a popular Formula One night race, one of 20 stops on its global tour this year, and has a strong fanbase for the sport.

Dow Jones said order-t a k i n g i n t e r n a t i o n a l roadshows would begin in the second week of next month. But the suggested timing of the IPO is brave after turbulence returned to global financial markets last week.

“Look at the muted first-day response to Facebook’s $18.4 bill ion IPO last Friday. The F1 listing is not nearly as attractive and long-awaited as that,” an unnamed investment banker

told the Straits Times.Reports of a possible

share float broke in March and received a generally cool response among team principals in the sport, many of whom are battling financial problems.

But Caterham boss Tony Fernandes, the man behind

successful budget airline AirAsia, backed the plan spearheaded by Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

“As a businessman I think if public money can improve the sport, and accountability and transparency, then we should go for it,” Fernandes said in March.

“I saw some comments where the team bosses said they were against it. I think until we know more about it, it’s silly to be against it. Let’s hear about it in the open.”

CVC took majority control in 2006 of Ecclestone’s Formula One Group, which

has the right to commercially develop the sport, stage and promote events, sell broadcast footage and offer sponsorship and hospitality packages.

Accord ing to CVC’s website, Formula One Group has turnover of 1.17 billion euros ($1.49 billion). – AFP

Singapore approves $2.5 billion F1 float

An overview of the lighted circuit for the Formula One Singapore Grand Prix night race on September 19, 2011. Pic: AFP

2

UNICEF country representative in Yangon, Ramesh Shrestha, discusses the current situation of Myanmar’s education sector with The Myanmar Times Editor of Special Publications, Myo Lwin.

Myanmar 'just needs a roadmap'Q: How would you assess current situation of state school education here?A: The government of Myan-mar invested substantially in expanding primary school infrastructure during the past 20 years, extending access to almost all primary school age children. As a result the net primary enrolment has reached 84 percent, but completion rate remains low compared to the other coun-tries in the region. The key question is who are the 16pc who are not in school and how they can be reached?

Q: What can be done to make Myanmar primary education universal and improve quality? A: There needs to be a focus on two main areas. First there is a need to extend the networks of post primary infrastructure all the way up to high schools so that every child has an equal opportu-nity to complete high school. Second, there must be equal emphasis in improving qual-ity of teaching – learning so that the internal efficiency of investment in education is improved. This will directly contribute to retention of pupils in the schools as well as prepare school leavers to enter into vocational training or university education as they wish. The current government policy on free and compulsory primary education where free textbooks are distributed to schools is a good starting point.

The Ministry of Education started ground work for imple-mentation of comprehensive education sector review which will review all aspects of education starting from early childhood education to higher education. The review will take into account all aspects of the sector that will influence policy, legislation, quality and access in education.

This initiative is the product of the recently held ‘develop-ment policy options’ seminar which recommended educa-

tion sector review as one of the national priorities keeping in pace with the progressive changes in Myanmar’s politi-cal scenario.

Q: What are the major challenges and your recommendations to overcome them?A: The investments in educa-tion do not have immediate re-turn. As a result education has to compete with other sectors where returns are immediate and ‘substantial’. The recent decision by the government to substantially increase the education budget is a refresh-ing breakaway from the past budget allocation procedure. Even with this increase a large proportion would be spent on recurrent costs such as teacher salary. There are four key challenges in the education sector. First, there is a need to improve the quality of teachers to improve the quality of teaching-learning environment. The child friendly methodology implemented by the Ministry of Education is contributing to improvement in primary education through in-service training of thousands of teach-ers annually. But we need to

address this at the source by targeting teacher education colleges so that all newly trained teachers will gradu-ate with new methodologies of child friendly interac-tive teaching as opposed to didactic teaching. Teacher development and manage-ment requires major reform in Myanmar. The Ministry of Education is beginning to address this. Second, there is a need to produce a wide range of reference materi-als for all grades of students to help critical thinking and learning processes. Children have enormous capacity to learn but children need to be exposed to new opportunities that would challenge them to think creatively and analyti-cally. They also need to be sur-rounded by books and have access to developmentally appropriate reading materials. The MoE’s Let’s Read Initiative with the Box Library supported by UNICEF should be ex-panded and a new “book flood” initiative needs to get started in Myanmar. Third, the current rate of transition from early childhood to primary to post primary to lower secondary to high school should be im-proved and access increased.

This would require large scale investments in school infrastructure together with expansion of teacher training and recruitment. This is not an easy task but it has to be done. This is more than a financing issue as it needs medium to long term planning to ensure that infrastructure is matched by teacher production and employment and student intake. Fourth is a review of the job market. As the Govern-ment decides to diversify its economy through creation of industrial zones, expansion of industries, manufacturing, etc. it will require a diverse range of semi-skilled to highly skilled human resources. In addi-tion Myanmar has enormous potentials in its agro industry and hydropower. These two areas call for speedy atten-tion for immediate to medium term plans as these are also the areas that would gener-ate substantial immediate economic returns.

Q: Is Myanmar on track to meet the Millennium Development Goals?A: While the global goals and targets provide broad guide-lines and benchmarks Myan-mar should set its own goals.

Myanmar has made much progress in reducing infant, child and maternal mortal-ity. Polio and measles which are serious and debilitating childhood diseases are under control. Primary school enrol-ment is at an all time high with gender parity. What is essential is to close the wide gaps between the rural urban divide in terms of quality and access of basic services.

Q: The South Korean president emphasied the importance of HRD when he met with the Myanmar president recently. What is your comment on that?A: Indeed, human resource development is key to na-tional success. Three coun-tries in this region - South Korea, Japan, and Singapore have achieved their economic success through investments in building human resource capacity. None of these coun-tries have natural resources of any significance. Their economic success is purely attributable to their invest-ments in human capital. Tai-wan and Hong Kong are two other success stories of in-vestments in human resourc-es. To cite another example,

Ghana and Malaysia gained independence in the same year. At the time of indepen-dence both these countries had similar per capita income but Ghana had already a well-developed palm oil industry. Malaysia imported palm oil trees from Ghana. Today these two countries are not comparable in any indicators. The difference is investments in human resource capital. As Myanmar opens up politically and economically it needs hu-man resources with the best possible calibre. There is no alternative to investment in human resource for Myan-mar's future, and investment in education is a good starting point.

Myanmar is blessed with huge natural resources such as the largest arable land in the Southeast Asian region together with large water resources essential for agricul-ture; a wide range of minerals and mines; huge energy in the form of oil and gas and large rivers for hydropower and a young working age population base. Myanmar has what it needs to explode economically as a regional economic power-house. The destination is clear. It just needs a roadmap.

Ramesh Shrestha. The Myanmar TimesChildren pay attention at their lessons at a monastic school in Yangon . Cherry Thein

3

MyANMAR couldn’t be busier this year, hosting many foreign

dignitaries of whom the most recent one was South Korean president Lee Myung-bak.

During his meeting with president U Thein Sein on May 14, Mr Lee Myung-bak discussed strengthening of friendly relations, technical assistance for development of Myanmar.

The statement highlighted human resource development among other general areas of cooperation.

It proves the saying ‘making people before making prod-ucts’ continues to be a univer-sal truth whatever industry or career you are involved in.

Here, we can not make peo-ple overnight. It is a long term plan that needs commitment, investment and most important of all the professionalism.

Among the changes to be made here, the government has rightly placed high priori-ties to two sectors- education and health.

The Government has increased its educational budget to K310,020 million for the financial year ending last March from K266,906m the previous year.

Of the total budget for the Ministry of Education, the majority of the allotment is to be spent on basic educa-tion which in my opinion is a prudent decision.

It cannot be disputed that education starts with basic education particularly at state schools.

Thinking about some num-bers, we have 41,000 schools in basic education employing 276,000 teachers who are guiding 8.2 million students from primary to high school levels in a country of nearly 60 million people, according to the Ministry of Education figures released last year.

It means the government must spend a certain amount for each student at the basic education and higher levels while each teacher is handling 32 students on average.

A state school accommo-dates 200 students on average.

Numerically, the ratios are not bad. But the question is the quality of education or in other words the ability, oppor-tunity and motivation of those involved in the industry.

There have been repeated complaints about the quality of education and the quality of teachers which stands out as an alarming issue to look into.

In other words, we need a change in that particular area if we really are to implement president U Thein Sein’s stated vision of a knowledge-based

society.The country representa-

tive of the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), Ramesh Shrestha, mentioned a wide gap in transition from primary to secondary to higher education as one of the basic issues that need to be addressed urgently.

“Myanmar needs to prepare a human resources development plan that realistically complements the president U Thein Sein’s knowledge-based society,” said Mr Shrestha in an article published last month.

Basic infrastructure exists for primary education but massive investment is needed to improve the quality of sec-ondary and tertiary education, he said, adding that similar investment will be needed in the health sector.

To develop and maintain democratic governance a strong and skilled middle class will be required, and it can only be built through high-quality education, he said in the article contributed to the Myanmar Times.

THE gap in the quality of education between urban and rural areas remains a worry, according to parents.

These days the sound of a whole class of students read-ing out loud, carried across the neighbourhood, is hardly heard compared to a decade ago. However, most parents agree that the style of their children’s learning in schools is still based on formulaic rote learning.

“There is a lot of homework for the kids. Because rote learning is forced, children are not really thinking, which makes them weaker,” Ma Zin Mar, a mother of a daughter in middle school in Pyinmana who moved from yangon, said to The Myanmar Times.

Much of this rests on the differences in the qualifica-tions of teachers between ru-ral and urban areas. She said it was important to raise the skills level of teachers working outside of yangon.

“Just as the meaning of Myanmar literature is scarcely explained in depth, the teach-ers themselves cannot pro-nounce English words properly.

“Simply hammering every-thing into the head of the child should be stopped,” Ma Zin Mar said.

The emphasis on repetitive learning determining what sort of studies are taught is also criticized by parents.

“Homework is given for improving handwriting. Even if parents push them to do homework, this would fare badly because they lose their enthusiasm when doing it,” Daw Thin Thin, mother of a second grader from Pyin-mana, said.

“They are given frequent but ineffective weekly tests. They

have to take these tests after being given what they need to answer. I don’t think it helps for real qualifications.”

This leads to only a handful of students who understand the textbooks thoroughly and are classed for further out-standing students’ tests.

A 45-year old mother Daw Thandar said the really qualified students are those who are already chosen as outstanding students. The majority of children end up being unconcerned about the tests at all.

“Only the students who get a good position work harder for a better one. There is no concern about what is asked in the exam as most of the students are made to sit down and write out the answer they learn by heart,” Daw Thandar said.

“Due to this way of teaching, with the lessons simply about rote learning and the exams simply repeating the lesson, students make less effort. There is almost no intention to think or imagine, and instead just learn the given lesson by heart,” she said.

When many parents are already struggling to provide their children with the oppor-tunity to study and improve their life, the quality of teach-ing becomes a further barrier.

Ma Lai was forced to pay her children’s school expenses by borrowing money with interest due to her lowly income.

“I am always worried about the school expenses when the school is set to reopen. As I see other parents enrol their children in school, I

envy them. I am in a situation where I must try hard to earn money to feed my family. My relatives support my daughter and son’s schooling and even some neighbours help out a little. But now I can send only the two younger siblings to school.”

Ma Lai has four children.“I try to make sure our

children do not lead the same life as I do. My children do not misbehave at school. But it is frustrating that I am not in the position to support them adequately. I really want them to have good edu-cation."

Despite the many problems, teachers say levels are getting better. Daw Soe Soe, a primary school teacher from Thit Seint Pin village near Pyinama, said her students are improving.

“We cannot compare with the children from schools in towns. The children there have better knowledge experience. But the way teachers teach is also important.”

To this end, the government provides two refresher courses each year focusing on alterna-tive teaching methods where the children are seen as the priority.

But beyond the skill levels of teachers, Daw Soe Soe said the teachers at her primary school have to teach all subjects due to the lack of teachers.

“The problems would end if there were enough teachers in the village schools like ours.”

However, she said it was en-couraging that parents realise the need for their children to have good education to not miss out on at least tenth standard level of education.

“Parents are really encour-aging their children,” she said.


Making people before making products

Rural-urban disparities a concern for parents

By Myo Lwin By Su Hlaing Htun

A high school teacher checks her students' homeworks . The Myanmar Times

4

THE performance and quality of teachers in state schools depends

not only on their commit-ment and the incentives they receive but also their career development aims, according to educational analysts.

“Teachers shouldn’t be content with their current educational achievements such as bachelor degrees in either science or education or master degrees in the same subjects,” said Dr Than Htaik Soe, the principal of No 26 Basic Education High School in Mandalay, which has nearly 4000 students.

“They should have in mind the need to upgrade their educational standard at all times. They should be aiming high. But there must be incen-tives for them. Only then the education sector will improve,” he said.

While teachers are required to have the willingness and ability to learn more, there should be opportunities for them to continue to learn so that teaching quality will improve. More important is to provide incentives depending on their improvement in their studies, he said.

“There should be differ-ent salaries and positions commensurate with their qualifications,” Dr Than Htaik Soe said.

The government has initi-ated some refresher or crash courses and capacity building training programs for teachers in the last few years.In the re-fresher courses, faculties from universities skilled in relevant subjects such as chemistry, physics, mathematics and biology are giving training to teachers from state schools.

A course takes one month, and has a notable effect on teaching quality and perfor-mance of the teachers, say teachers in Mandalay.

But, the number of such training courses are few and far between. The education system is still reliant on the initial training of teachers at teacher training colleges.

As some people decide to pursue a teaching a career

even after graduating with different degrees, prospec-tive teachers are required to undertake basic education level training at the teacher training colleges and then go on to work as primary teach-ers, ensuring they come into the education sector with a diploma in teaching.

However, a weak point in the Myanmar education system is an understanding of student focus, according to several

private tuition teachers. There is little research done on students themselves; which line of profession students can choose when they pass their exams; how many students deviate from the education route; and do they study the

subjects they are really inter-ested in.

It was pointed out that stu-dents could be outstanding if given the chance to study the subject they like.

Moreover, English proficien-cy is a key quality in educa-tion, according to education experts.

The ability to use English in Myanmar and Thailand is not so different. Thailand ranks teachers by testing their

English proficiency and they lay the onus on teachers if the students are poor in English.

“The method of teaching in Myanmar isn’t wrong but there are not many chances to use the language. We need to create more environments

where we can interact more in the English language. In other words, we need to speak more and interact more with native speakers,” said Dr Than Htaik Soe.

“For example, in India which is a lot much more populated than Myanmar and much poorer in some areas, the proficiency in English and standard of education is better than Myanmar. There are schools in every corner of

every ward in India that links with each other to inform about opportunities to gain better language skills. The schools also inform each other how much they can upgrade their living standard if their English is better,” the head-master said.

This is exemplified in the success of the Indian IT sector for Western countries due to the good command of English.

With more private schools in Myanmar, the challenge for teachers and students in public schools may increase, say several teachers.

Social class may end up being divided between two ex-tremes, with moneyed classes who can spend more on edu-cation on one side, and poorer classes who can’t even afford to provide their children with basic education on the other, said U Kyaw Thura, a private school teacher in Mandalay.

Translated by Thiri Min Htun

yOUNG people should practice a spirit of assist-ing, self-discipline and goodwill to achieve suc-cess, according to U Chit Naing, author of a series of self help books for the young.

The method is based on his experience as a young soldier posted in Shan State in a battalion in need of some discipline.

“When I was 22, I was posted to a light infantry battalion in Lashio. At the time I was senior officer and the battalion com-mander was Abel [later becoming Minister for Na-tional Planning Economic Development Brigadier General (retired) David Abel],” he said.

“When they didn’t follow procedure, the soldiers were hated by the vil-lagers who were afraid of the soldiers. When Abel arrived to lead the battalion, he trained the soldiers to follow a spirit of assisting others, to be self-disciplined and to have goodwill,” he said.

“When the rain was heavy in the village and the river was flooded, teach-ers were unable to come to schools so we taught the children. you could see there was a close bond between the soldiers and villagers after we assisted them,” he said.

“The soldiers no longer stole hens and pigs. We practiced what Abel trained. The battalion succeeded in organising locals. Later our battalion received a reputation for high standards of disci-pline,” he said.

“That’s why I train young people to practice these things,” he said.

Military method of

success

By Zon Pann PwintBy Phyo Wai Kyaw

Performance is a multiplication of ability, motivation and opportunity

“[Teachers] should have in mind the need to upgrade their educational standard at all times. They should be aiming high.

But there must be incentives for them.

Children participate in a closing ceremony of a summer course at Horizon International school in Mandalay earlier this year. Phyo Wai Kyaw

5

My daughter will at-tend medical univer-sity this year,” U Win

Htay, a farmer from Hlaing Tharyar township said.

Such a chance is rare for someone coming from a poor background in

Myanmar. Given the high scores required, as well as the costs of attending university, most are dissuaded from go-ing.

Although the fees for enter-ing university prohibits many, parents will often struggle to send their children for the potential it has, as well as the pride it bestows.

“Education is the light out of poverty. Although I will have to struggle to pay for her tuition fees and other costs, I am proud of her. I am just a farmer and don’t have an edu-cation. That lack of education makes my life more difficult,” U Win Htay said.

“I don’t wish her to have the same poverty and ignorance I had. I want her to become a doctor not just a daughter of a farmer,” he said.

U Win Htay knows nothing besides farming, being the son of a long line of farmers. He inherited expansive farmland but in the last decade has seen much of it requisitioned for road construction projects with-out receiving compensation.

Making ends meet from his reduced livelihood, and paying for two daughters to attend middle school and now his third aspiring to university, is a con-stant struggle for U Win Htay.

“What should I do, I have no idea. It seems life is bitter-sweet for me. I am so happy when I see my hard-working daughters, but so indignant when my land is taken away,” he said.

Attaining an education at all levels is a problem for children of lower income families. Offi-cially the government provides free primary education to ensure all children receive a basic education. While the of-ficial cost for attending middle and high school is about 10,000 a year but this varies between schools as the repu-tation all too often determines the cost of a child attending.

Daw Hla Than Oo, a teacher at a high school in Kamaryut township said that most well-off parents exaggerate how many necessities are needed for schooling while others struggle to provide their child with a school lunch.

“The Ministry of Education officially recommends not asking for any extra fees from parents but many find they have to pay additional fees depending on the reputation of the school, especially in yangon,” she said.

With the cost of attending a popular school making such an option unaffordable for most, there are cheaper options and also charitable institutions such as monastic schools that provide education services.

However, the problem extends beyond financial con-cerns, with a lack of awareness

of the benefits of education prevalent among families who have themselves received little education.

“Some schools are too expensive to attend and some schools are irresponsible but there are many children who do not attend school because their parents are unable to appreciate the value in educa-tion,” Daw Hla Than Oo said.

As the cost of education is not the sole issue, the value of getting an education should be promoted among poor families, said Daw Theingi Myint, a private teacher from Sanchaung township.

“It is harder for poor chil-dren to get an education, or finish school. And then such a lack of education makes it hard to improve their op-portunities to get a job. It is cause and effect and becomes a vicious circle,” she said.

But attitudes towards edu-cation can all too easily cross a fine line and become detri-mental and unconstructive when attempting to under-stand the result of poverty on lack of education.

“It is essential to get out from the cycle of ignorance. We need to provide more awareness of the value of edu-cation by targeting the grass-

roots level. It is not the point that education is out of their reach but they themselves dismiss education because they prefer an easy life. What a pity, they are content in their muddy cottages as though it was paradise,” she said.

If the government would officially offer part-time job opportunities for those chil-dren who are not interested in formal education, or work for a meagre income at a tea shop or home industries, it would be helpful in preventing or protecting street kids from abuse, she said.

A news editor from a local journal, Daw May Win Mon, said she felt it was sad that children beg or do cheap labouring rather than attend school.

“Not all struggling children

or parents desire an educa-tion, they have different needs. They become used to an easy-going-life, with no will to gain knowledge or an education. It is enough to get a daily meal by begging or selling water,” Daw May Win Mon said.

A potential improvement would be for the Ministry of Education to cooperate with the Ministry of Social Wel-fare, Relief and Resettlement to solve the wider problems stymieing children from lower income families to get an edu-cation, said Daw May Win Mon.

However, talking with fami-lies and children unable to at-tend school, the problem is not as simple as a lack of aware-ness of the value of education. Too often the awareness is there but the lack of support means priorities lie elsewhere.

Daw Cho Cho Mar, 35, living in Insein township, earns her living as a housemaid and washing clothes from house to house. Her husband works as a trishaw driver and cannot rely on him financially as he is too old to work hard.

“It is my fate. I remarried because I thought I could rely on him. I have two children at present.” She has a ten-year-old boy and a one-year-old girl.

“Before I dreamt of my son getting an education but as my income is not enough, and with my husband no longer healthy, I can’t pay for his schooling,” she said.

Her son, Mg Than Phyo

Aung, reached grade four but decided not to go to school when he could no longer pay for all the additional costs.

“I couldn’t counsel him because I have so many things to do. For us, the priority is not education but to get a daily meal,” Daw Cho Cho Mar said.

She said she and her son decided to go to Dawei in Thanintaryi region to work for a trading business, leaving her daughter and husband with well-meaning neighbours.

Mg Aye Chan, 12, from South Dagon township earns money on the street by singing songs and playing bamboo pipes.

He has seven siblings. His mother earns about K3000 to K5000 a day but her income is barely enough to feed seven hungry mouths. All her chil-dren have to work depending on their strength, of course it also depends on their job luck.

He said he is begging for charity but is working to help his family. He has a brother taking his matriculation exams, sisters attending grade eight and seven and another brother in grade one.

Mg Aye Chan said that he aims to attend grade-four this year, and he works so that he can do that.

“I sing only in the holidays with my younger brother. I am not afraid because there are many children like us. My grandmother asked me to earn money so we can help the family,” Mg Aye Chan said.

Changing attitudes to education

Children of Yankin State High School (1) smile at the camera. The Myanmar Times

By Cherry Thein

6

By Marian Wilde , GreatSchools Staff

ARE we unwittingly lowering the qual-ity of life for those

we mean to nurture? Are we degrading childhood by demanding ever more of our children? Many parents wor-ry about these questions, as students report that they’re feeling stressed out.

“I have been really stressed because of the homework that is being assigned,” a middle-school student from Utah recently wrote in an email to GreatSchools. “In pre-algebra, we get at least three pages of homework. In English, we get at least one page and a read-ing assignment, at least 30-50 pages in our books. Then there is science, five-six pages are assigned all days except Friday. In Utah studies, we get one page with the option of extra credit, which is another page. In French, we have to do two to three pages of verbs in the French dictionaries. In Span-ish, 80 flashcards are assigned two days before the test. As you can see, I don’t take any extra activities because I don’t have time!”

Stress on the rise“Everyone has their own way of measuring stress, depres-sion being one measure,” says Denise Clark Pope, author of “Doing School” How We Are Creating a Generation of Stressed-Out, Materialistic, and Miseducated Students. “But the consensus is that there are more stressed-out kids.”

One recent study from the

Stanford School of Medicine indicates that the number of children, ages 7-17, treated for depression more than doubled between 1995 and 2001.

What’s causing the stress?From kindergarten through high school, the causes of childhood stress are numer-ous. One of the most com-monly cited is standardized-test stress, which starts in first-grade in many states.

High-stakes tests, such as the TAKS in Texas and the FCAT in Florida, are particu-larly stressful, for students and teachers alike. Students in certain grades must pass these tests to advance to the next grade. In Florida, children as young as 8 years old face the prospect of be-ing held back if they fail the test. Whether you are for them or against them, high-stakes test create consider-able stress.

And while experts are de-bating whether homework loads are in fact heavier now than in the past, many agree that it is being as-signed at an earlier age than before.

Another source of school-related stress occurs in high school where more students are taking more rigorous classes, such as Advanced Placement (AP) classes of-fered by the College Board. In the past 25 years, there has been explosive growth in the number of students taking AP classes, with one-quarter of all high-school graduates having taken at least one in 2004. In ad-dition, more high-school students are now taking the PSAT twice and the SAT and ACT at least once, if not multiple times.

www.greatschools.org

DESPITE being one of the country’s central business regions,

Mandalay is not seeing much uptake on long term academic style vocational and career training courses as students favour quick fix crash courses, according to owners of train-ing schools.

Computer and vocational training courses have become popular among young people in Mandalay rather than more academic courses such as busi-ness management and human resources management.

“It’s only crowded in courses that support getting a job in the short-term. So we have to run jade or diamond cutting and appraisal short-term training courses at two-week intervals,” said U Zaw Min Tun who founded Tip Top educa-tion agency in 1997.

Most teaching centres in Mandalay run computer and accounting courses as well as special day classes. Early child care and development classes are also regularly full, whereas academic based courses usu-ally have a smaller number of trainees, he said.

"Many young people attend only career courses because they want to get a job as soon as their course ends,” said U Zaw Min Tun.

“I operate marketing courses once every three months but there are only a small number of students. Similarly, journal-ism and capacity building courses are usually empty. Capacity building is generally taught within NGOs but the number of NGOs in this area is small,” U Zaw Min Tun said.

“I also plan to train civic education without any fee because I want to educate the younger generation to know the rights and duties of every citizen,” he said.

U Zaw Min Tun runs training courses in both Mandalay and yangon and said there are dif-ferent attitudes to the teaching methods between the cities.

“I run entrepreneurial courses once every two months there [yangon] and it’s normally attended by an adequate number of students. But there has been no interest from students in Mandalay so there is rarely one class every six months there,” he said.

“We noticed a weak point that shows many economists do not become businessmen while businessmen are weak in theoretical economic knowl-edge. Business management courses taught in Mandalay are not in harmony with practical methods. The teach-ing methods seem to be of a higher standard [in longer term courses,” said U Zaw Min Tun.

“A young person will be-come either an employee or employer who runs his own business. That’s why I did this course but there are no stu-dents in the class,” he said.

However, other analysts say there will be more academic training courses as Manda-lay opens up allowing many more business opportunities to come.

A decisive factor for growth in academic courses in Man-dalay will rest on the increase in business opportunities once the Kyaun-phyu Port Special Economic Zone in Rakhine State is completed, opening an economic corridor to China.

A lecturer of the private-owned Chindwin College in Mandalay, U Khin Maung Soe said like language centres,

private business schools are now becoming a popular and lucrative market.

“The best example to show that trend is not too far away is Chindwin College Myanmar recently adding a business school to its services at both its Mandalay and yangon cam-puses,” said U Khin Maung Soe, who is also doing an MBA.

”Myanmar is opening up to the outside world for the inte-gration of the regional market as well as the global market. Therefore, there will be more demand for people with good business and management knowledge,” he said to The Myanmar Times in an email.

Cost also remains a fac-tor for students in deciding whether to choose longer term business courses.

“Personally, I’d like to do a Master of Business Admin-istration here. But I can’t afford to do that as it would be expensive,” said Ma Zar Chi Lin, a 34-year old woman from Mandalay.

However, UNDP consultant, Dr Aung Htun Thet, said a Myanmar MBA is relatively cheap compared to others in the region. The government is providing subsidies as it is the first course of its kind to come to Mandalay.

”To pursue an MBA is really challenging and difficult. My professor says ‘success comes with pain but that pain is also enjoyable when you succeed.’”

Translated by Zar Zar Soe

Vocational training courses grow in Mandalay

Editors: Myo Lwin, Ben White

Writers: Zon Pan Pwint, Su Hlaing Htun,

Khin Su Wai, Cherry Thein,

Phyo Wai Kyaw, Shwe Yi Saw Myint,

Design and DTP: Tin Zaw Htway, Khin Zaw,

Photographers: Kaung Htet, Ko Taik,

Lwin Maung Maung

Contact: [email protected]

Back to School Special Feature

By Khin Su Wai

Signs of distress ina student

In young children:Thumb sucking•Hair twirling•Difficulty leaving parents•

In children of all ages:Changes in eating habits•Changes in sleeping habits•Feelings of sadness on a •daily basis for more than two weeks at a timeSigns of self-mutilation, such •as wearing long sleeves all the timeTalk of suicide, even in a •joking wayStomachaches•Trouble breathing•Headaches•Insomnia•Reluctance to go to school or •to scheduled activitiesPersistent fatigue•Trouble completing home-•work on a regular basisBehavioral changes, such as •mood swings or acting outTrouble concentrating•Withdrawal•Lying•Defying authority•Nightmares•

In adolescents:Marijuana, alcohol or pre-•scription drug use

Are we stressing out our kids? Stressed out, over-scheduled, hurried: These words are often used to describe children these days.

A representative of a private education instituion explains about the courses to a Myanmar parent in Yangon . The Myanmar Times

8

MOST children say they want to do well in school, yet many still

fail to complete the level of work necessary to succeed academi-cally. The reason is often motiva-tion. Tapping into your child’s interests is a great way to get him geared to do well in school.

It takes a combination of skills — organization, time manage-ment, prioritization, concen-tration and motivation — to achieve academic success. Here are some tips to help get your child on the right track.

Talk to your child.To find out which of these skills your child has and which he can develop further, start a simple conversation that focuses on his goals.

Identify problem areas.Start here to help your child identify which of the five skill areas are trouble spots.

1. OrganizationWhether it’s keeping track of re-search materials or remember-ing to bring home a lunch box, children need to be organized to succeed in school. Tips to help your child get organized:

Make a checklist of things •your child needs to bring to and from school every day. Put a copy by the door at home and one in his backpack. Try to check with him each day to see if he remembers the items on the list.Find out how your child keeps •track of his homework and how he organizes his note-books. Then work together to develop a system he will want to use.Shop with your child for tools •that will help him stay orga-nized, such as binders, folders or an assignment book.

2. Time ManagementLearning to schedule enough time to complete an assignment may be difficult for your stu-dent. Even when students have a week to do a project, many won’t start until the night before it’s due. Tips to help your child manage time:

Track assignments on a •monthly calendar. Work back-ward from the due date of larger assignments and break them into nightly tasks.Help your child record how •much time she spends on homework each week so she can figure out how to divide this time into manageable chunks.Together, designate a time •for nightly homework and help your child stick to this schedule.

3. PrioritizationSometimes children fall behind in school and fail to hand in assignments because they simply don’t know where to begin. Prioritizing tasks is a skill your child will need throughout life, so it’s never too soon to get started.Tips to help your child prioritize:

Ask your child to write down •all the things he needs to do, including non-school-related activities.Ask him to label each task •from 1 to 3, with 1 being most important.Ask about each task, so that •you understand your child’s priorities. If he labels all his social activities as 1, then you know where his attention is focused.Help your child change some •of the labels to better pri-oritize for academic success. Then suggest he rewrite the list so all the 1s are at the top.Check in frequently to see •how the list is evolving and

how your child is prioritizing new tasks.

4. ConcentrationWhether your child is practicing her second-grade spelling words or studying for a trigonometry test, it’s important that she works on schoolwork in an area with limited distractions and interruptions.Tips to help your child concentrate:

Turn off access to email and •games when your child works on the computer.Declare the phone and TV off-•limits during homework time.Find space that fits the assign-•ment. .Help your child concentrate •during homework time by separating her from her siblings.

5. MotivationMost children say they want to do well in school, yet many still fail to complete the level of work nec-essary to succeed academically. The reason is often motivation.

Tips to help motivate :Link school lessons to your •child’s life. If he’s learning percentages, ask him to figure out the price of a discounted item next time you shop.Link your child’s interests to •academics. If he’s passionate about music, give him books about musicians and show how music and foreign lan-guages are connected.Give your child control and •choices. With guidance, let him determine his study hours, organizing system or school project topics.Encourage your child to share •his expertise. Regularly ask him about what he’s learning in school.Congratulate your child, en-•courage him and celebrate all his successes.Often what holds children

back from trying is the fear of failure or the memory of a time they didn’t do well. you can help break this cycle by celebrating your child’s successes.

-GreatSchools

Five key skills for academic successIt’s never too early or too late to help your child develop the skills for academic success. Learn how to build these skills and stay on track all year long.

Lack of sleep is a national epidemic for today’s children, and the consequences are serious.

IS your child having behavior problems and trouble in school? Making sure she gets enough sleep may be the solution.

Sleep deprivation can affect cognitive skills and aca-demic achievement. A continuing lack of sleep is linked to serious health problems including diabetes, obesity, heart disease, depression and a shortened life span.

Why aren’t kids getting enough sleep?Children ages five to 12 need 10 to 11 hours of sleep,

according to the National Sleep Foundation. yet studies show that most kids are getting about an hour less sleep each night than they did 30 years ago.

Why? Extracurricular activities, such as sports teams and arts programs, may schedule events at night. Work-ing parents who get home late may feel guilty and want to spend time with their children in the evening. Too much homework and the many distractions of televi-sion, video games and computers all play a role. In addition, all the pressures and stresses of today’s frenetic lifestyles may make it difficult for kids to calm down so they can fall asleep.

Catching up on sleep is not a good optionParents may think they’ll let their children catch up on sleep on the weekend. But sleep experts at the Mayo Clinic advice against this practice as irregular sleep schedules can affect the biological clock, hurt the qual-ity of sleep and cause greater irritability. Children who sleep in on the weekend may have an even harder time getting up for school on Monday morning, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. It’s better, the experts say, to keep similar schedules during the week and on the weekends.

Make sleep a priorityMary Sheedy Kurcinka, teacher, parent educator and author of Sleepless in America, says parents can play a key role by placing a high value on their children’s sleep. She says the first step for parents is to “make sleep a priority.”

“Scientific research links heart disease, type 2 diabetes and obesity with lack of sleep. There’s also a study out of the University of Michigan,” adds Kurcinka, “that shows that 20 to 25 per cent of kids with ADHD have sleep disorders. Sleep is not a luxury. This is about health and well being.”

Some parents may think that their child isn’t sleeping much because he just doesn’t need as much sleep as other children. But Kurcinka doesn’t buy that argument. She says, “When I hear a parent say, ‘He is a kid who doesn’t need sleep,’ generally this means he is a kid who can’t sleep. He needs help learning to calm himself to get to sleep. If I see a child who has behavior problems, can’t focus or pay attention, a child who’s getting sick a lot, craving carbohydrates, I’ll want to look at how much sleep he’s getting. Maybe the child is just exhausted.”

-GreatSchools

Sleep: The secret weapon for school success

Students from Yankin State High School No 1 in Yangon Lwin Maung Maung

201232628

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