I will tell the real truth (8)

Published on Monday, 26 November 2012 11:39

Written by Than Htut Aung, Eleven Media Groups

(1)
I have not been writing for sometime. During the past three months, I tried to write something, but torn the paper away, and not a single piece of article is completed. I got some ideas to write when US President Obama visited Myanmar.
Our Myanmar people have been waiting for successive American presidents to visit Myanmar since many years. If we counted back the number of US presidents over the years, we had waited senior Bush for four years, Clinton for eight years, junior Bush for eight years, and Obama for another four years. After the long wait of 24 years, we are now in the international community.
The interest of the United States has now shifted from the Middle East to the Asia and the Pacific Region. Whatever the actual situation may be, I think that the visit of Obama at least indicated that we have escaped and overcome from the status of underdog being bullied and undermined among the neighboring countries. It does not matter what the purpose may be, but finally I am glad that the interest of the United States is here.
When Obama mentioned that the national reconciliation is the key factor to reform, my mind rushed towards Saya Ludu U Sein Win. As Ludu U Sein Win already passed away, I tried to keep away his soul from my mind. However, I think about him when I have to tackle issues, problems and find solutions. Sometimes, I involuntarily dialed his residence phone number 375177.

Burma Business Roundup (Saturday, Dec. 8)

IRRAWADDY

Big Thai Cement Firm Plans Major Factory in Burma
Major Thai cement maker Siam Cement Group (SCG) is to move its main manufacturing base to Burma, according to the International Cement Review newspaper.

The Bangkok-based giant plans to build production facilities in southeastern Burma’s Tenasserim Division, it said, quoting a SCG company manager.
“SCG is planning to manufacture its main products in [Burma] and is willing to open four retail stores in Yangon, Mandalay Naypyidaw and one other major city,” said Soontornpol Veerapravati.
World Cement magazine said SCG also wants to build a hydro dam to provide electricity for the factory or factories.

Industry observers expressed surprise that SCG is not considering Dawei for the location of a factory, given the proposals by other Thai firms to develop an industrial port there.
“If it goes ahead Dawei will have transport infrastructure, at least linking into Thailand,” said an industry source in Bangkok speaking on condition of anonymity. “The siting of production facilities in the deep south of Burma is surprising also when the initial demand for cement is likely to come from the greater Rangoon region.”

UN Official Calls for Help for Myanmar's Displaced

YANGON, Myanmar December 7, 2012 (AP)

The head of humanitarian affairs for the United Nations on Friday described conditions as dire in some camps housing refugees from communal violence in western Myanmar.

AP

U.N. Under Secretary General for Humanitarian...

Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos also called on the government to allow the U.N. to travel to areas in northern Myanmar controlled by ethnic Kachin insurgents who are fighting against the army, in order to provide assistance to civilians affected by the strife.
Her remarks at a news conference at the end of a four-day visit underscored concerns about Myanmar's stability even as the country makes strides toward a democratic society under the reformist government of President Thein Sein after almost five decades of military rule.
"There have been a number of very encouraging political developments this year but also a number of humanitarian challenges that need to be addressed where the United Nations and our partners can help and make a difference," she said.
She called on the government to promote reconciliation in Rakhine state, where antagonism between the Buddhist Rakhine and Muslim Rohingya communities burst into deadly violence, killing around 200 people on both sides and displacing about 110,000 people, the vast majority of them Muslims.

National reconciliation vital: Suu Kyi

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, delivering her keynote address at the ASEAN 100 Leadership Forum in Yangon, Myanmar. Picture: BT/ Raul Padernal

The Brunei Times

 BASIC human rights, was the foundation in which Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Laureate and chairperson of the National League for Democracy, built her oration on at the annual ASEAN 100 Leadership Forum.

The Nobel Peace Prize recipient, addressed over 180 ASEAN 100 participants and international ambassadors in Myanmar, including Singapore and Australia.

Her topic was "Resilience in Turbulent Times". She said that Myanmar has faced turbulence in the past, and that there still is turbulence in the country now. "When I first entered politics in 1988, I entered as one of those working for democracy and human rights because I believe in the value of human rights and democratic institutions," she said.

Top UN official Valerie Amos in Burma Kachin plea

BBC 

 

Kachin state remains a conflict-riddled area with thousands of displaced people

Top UN humanitarian official Valerie Amos has called for urgent access to some 40,000 people in northern Burma who have been displaced by fighting between troops and Kachin rebels.

Ms Amos said it was clear that they were in desperate need of assistance.

The Burmese military has allowed only a handful of aid vehicles into the area in the last 18 months.
Fighting flared up between the two sides in June last year when a long-standing ceasefire broke down.
Tens of thousands of people have been displaced by fighting between the Burmese army and the Kachin Independence Army over the last 20 years. There have been many reports of human rights abuses.
The conflict is being seen as one of the biggest tests facing Burma's new civilian government as it attempts to reform the country.

NTT Data eyes ICT potential in Myanmar

By Jamie Yap | December 6, 2012 --ZDNet

Summary: Besides its offshore software development site in Myanmar, Japan's NTT Data also sees opportunities to offer ICT services to build up the country's infrastructure in the near future.

SINGAPORE--NTT Data, the IT services arm of Japan's NTT Group, has pegged its presence and future growth in burgeoning Myanmar to its recently-opened offshore development center, as well as opportunities to provide ICT solutions in the country's "social infrastructure" such as traffic control and monitoring in transportation.

Located in Yangoon, the offshore development center began operations on Nov. 8 and mainly supports software development projects outsourced from Japan. Soon, work from customers in foreign developed economies across Europe and the United States will be added, according to Ryoji Fukaya, Asia-Pacific president and CEO of NTT Data.

Is Reform Stalling In Burma? – Analysis

By Parameswaran Ponnudurai, RFA

Burma’s violent crackdown on protesters against a China-backed copper mine has raised doubts about President Thein Sein’s reform effort as his 21-month-old quasi-civilian administration grapples with a major public backlash over the bloody raid.

The pre-dawn raid last week by security forces aimed at clearing hundreds of peaceful protesters from the mining site in northern Burma has also left some wondering whether the ex-generals at the helm of the administration have actually shed their authoritarian past.

Scores of protesters were injured, including monks campaigning for villagers, who claimed that a joint venture of the Burmese and Chinese militaries had illegally evicted them from farmland to make way for the copper mine blamed for environmental destruction.

Myanmar: A nation rises

 By David Pilling and Gwen Robinson, Financial Times

The impact of the rapid shift to democracy is far-reaching but barriers remain 

A short walk from Yangon’s notorious Insein prison, where Myanmar’s military junta jailed and tortured political prisoners, lies the Eden Centre for Disabled Children. Its little courtyard and few surrounding buildings are among the only facilities in the country for young people with physical and learning difficulties.

On improvised slalom courses made from cushions and wooden benches, those with cerebral palsy, Down’s syndrome and muscular dystrophy are taught to improve their motor skills. Teachers provide basic education for those with learning difficulties. They also counsel parents worried about what will happen when their children grow up, given Myanmar’s lack of social security and scant job prospects for disabled people.

“I am trying to learn more about advanced techniques,” says Lilian Gyi, director of the school, whose training in Germany 35 years ago makes her the country’s only expert in special education.
The Eden Centre is a small reminder of how deprived Myanmar’s people have been left by years of military rule and poor economic management. However, it also stands as a symbol of how the shift towards democracy that began 18 months ago could have a profound impact in unexpected areas of national life.
Since the junta led by Than Shwe ceded power to an elected government last March, the country has changed in remarkable and often unanticipated ways. Initially dismissed as a continuation of military government in disguise, the new administration led by President Thein Sein has unleashed a barrage of changes. Political prisoners have been released, press censorship abolished, free by-elections held and progressive laws passed. The president is regularly compared to F. W. de Klerk, the South African leader who helped to dismantle apartheid.

Convoy shooting spree leaves 1 dead, 3 injured in Kachin state

By NANG MYA NADI, DVB

A truck driver was killed and three other people were injured on 3 December when a Burmese Army convoy passing through Shadusoot village in Kachin state’s Hpakant township opened fire on the area after being ambushed by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA).

According to the chairman of a local charity Win Bo, the Burmese military convoy from Light Infantry Division 88 were transporting supplies from Kachin state’s capital Myitkyina when they were ambushed by the KIA.

The convoy later passed through Shadusoot village around noon on Monday and fired shots hitting and killing 48-year-old truck driver Kun Htet Naw in apparent retaliation for the earlier assault hatched by rebel forces.

Myanmar And Daw Aung Suu Kyi: The Liberal Pragmatic – Analysis

By Rahul Bhonsle, EurasiaReview
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Chairperson of the National League of Democracy (NLD), the principal opposition party in Myanmar was on a visit to India from November 13-18, 2012. It was in many ways on less than a state visit but for the ceremonials of inspection of guards at arms and a banquet. The Noble Laureate demonstrated qualities of a pragmatic liberal balancing needs of real politic while supporting the path of individual and collective freedoms.

This was evident in snippets of her interaction with the Indian political leadership, at the Nehru Memorial Lecture on the occasion of the birth Anniversary of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru that she delivered on November 14, 2012 and the couple of media interviews that she gave during her stay in Delhi. Her overall response to the transformation in her country including the limits, approach towards the military which had kept her in detention for years and India which from having staunchly supported her struggle for democracy and freedom at one time succumbed to the nuances of regional power play to counter China’s rising influence.

Burma accused of pursuing nuclear weapons

Report says intercepted alloy shipment could be used in program

 WND
Japan claims it has confiscated a shipment of aluminum alloy bound for Burma that could be used in a nuclear enrichment program.
The East-Asia Intel report said a cargo ship en route from North Korea was transporting the alloy through Japan, with the intention of transferring it to China, then Burma.

Dictator Watch President and Burma analyst Roland Watson says he isn’t surprised by the report and adds that the seized materials confirm the existence of an ongoing weapons program.
“I wasn’t shocked by the news out of Japan at all,” Watson said. “I have always assumed that the program is ongoing.”

UNODC Executive Director meets Aung San Suu Kyi

Pledges UN support for Myanmar's efforts on national reconciliation, anti-corruption, rule of law, HIV prevention and evidence-based drug treatment

The Nation

In his first-ever official visit to Southeast Asia, UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov met Saturday with Aung San Suu Kyi, Member of Parliament and Nobel laureate, at her residence in Nay Pyi Taw.

Fedotov congratulated Aung San Suu Kyi on her election to Parliament and recent appointment to Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Rule of Law and Tranquility. He pledged UNODC’s assistance and technical expertise in support of Myanmar’s reforms - particularly in anti-corruption and in establishing the rule of law, in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, and in contributing to the development of peace by providing alternative development support in drug-conflict areas and by promoting dialogue between all parties in the conflict.

Protesters against Myanmar copper mine charged with inciting unrest, denied bail

Washington Post

YANGON, Myanmar — Demonstrators who protested peacefully in Yangon against a mining project in northwestern Myanmar have been charged under a law that denies them release on bail, a lawyer said Tuesday.

Aung Thein, the lawyer for two of the six activists arrested last week in Yangon, said they were accused of inciting unrest, a criminal offense that carries a maximum sentence of two years’ imprisonment. Their trial began Monday.

Aung Thein said authorities could have charged them under the peaceful assembly act, which permits bail. That act allows street protests if a permit is obtained.

High level Myanmar ministers to meet Singapore Cabinet

A delegation of senior Government Ministers from Myanmar will meet in Singapore this week with the Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and other top Singaporean Government leaders in a regional knowledge-sharing mission.

Initiated and led by Dr. Noeleen Heyzer, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the five day study visit will provide an opportunity for the Myanmar Ministers to gain first-hand experience of Singapore's industrial development policies and strategies to attract foreign investment, provide decent productive jobs for people, and to do so in an environmentally sustainable way.

Seeking opportunity in Myanmar

Team Group, a professional engineering consulting group, last week hosted a seminar on "Seeking Business Opportunity through Investment in Myanmar", aimed to provide interested businessmen with useful information about investment in Myanmar.

According to Team Group Chairman Prasert Patramai, Myanmar is currently welcoming foreign investment and the country is rich of natural resources.

"Myanmar is a very attractive investment destination for overseas investors. Thanks to their adjacent locations, Thailand and Myanmar has long developed cross-border trade. In 2011, the cross-border trade was over Bt180 billion in value, with Thailand’s exports to Myanmar exceeding Bt85 billion. Thai investors should not overlook their business opportunity in Myanmar. This will also help them prepare for the challenges introduced by the Asean Economic Community in 2015," he said.

Protest crackdown needs quick inquiry

Bangkok Post

The Myanmar government's sudden and brutal crackdown on protesters Thursday at a copper mine in the Letpadaung Mountains in the northwest part of the country which injured dozens of people, including more than 20 Buddhist monks, is rightly drawing condemnation from around the world. As monks marched in Yangon and Mandalay yesterday and rights groups called for an official inquiry, it is not an overstatement to say that what happens next can be viewed as a test of the Myanmar government's commitment to basic mechanisms of democratic governance.

Among those condemning the government's harsh action _ in which incendiary devices were reportedly used that left many with severe burns _ was opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who had been scheduled to meet with the protesters later that day to hear their grievances. After learning of the crackdown Mrs Suu Kyi had strong words of criticism for the action and said the public deserved an explanation for it. However, she stopped short of demanding that the company abandon its plans or expansion, saying instead that a compromise should be reached and that the government must honour its commitments to other countries, which in this case means China. Chinese owned Wanbao Mining Copper Ltd entered into a joint venture with the Myanmar military-owned Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd (UMEHL), to operate the mine, originally a joint venture between a Canadian company and the Myanmar Ministry of Mines. After the Canadian company divested its interests several years ago the mine ''fell into the hands'' of UMEHL and Wanbao was brought in. Shortly after the expansion plans were announced, and, as reported by the The Myanmar Times ''more than 14,000 acres [5,666 hectares] were acquired and villages, monasteries and schools were forced to move''.

Protesters against Myanmar copper mine charged with inciting unrest, denied release on bail

YANGON, Myanmar — Demonstrators who protested peacefully against a mining project in northwestern Myanmar have been charged under a law that denies them release on bail.
Aung Thein, the lawyer for two of six activists arrested last week in Yangon, said Tuesday they were charged for inciting unrest, a criminal offense that carries a maximum sentence of two years’ imprisonment. The activists’ trial began Monday.

Aung Thein said the authorities could have taken action under the peaceful assembly act, which allows street protests if a permit is obtained.
Police last Thursday cracked down on protesters occupying part of the Letpadaung copper mine, which critics claim causes environmental and social damage. Dozens of protesters, including Buddhist monks, suffered burns caused by an incendiary riot-control device.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Blind China dissident urges Xi follow Myanmar path to reform

Beijing, December 3, 2012
(Reuters) - Blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng has urged Communist Party chief and president-in-waiting Xi Jinping to follow Myanmar's model of reform or risk a violent political transition.
Chen also accused the government of breaking a promise to investigate what he says is the persecution of his family, according to a recorded message posted on YouTube by Texas-based Christian advocacy group ChinaAid, which backs him.
The self-taught legal advocate's escape from house arrest in April and subsequent refuge in the U.S. Embassy was deeply embarrassing for China, and led to a diplomatic tussle between the two countries.
Chen was allowed to leave China and is studying in New York.
Chen said in the message released over the weekend that if Myanmar's President Thein Sein was able to release people like Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, then Xi should be able to release Chinese prisoners of conscience.

Two arrested at Myanmar mine rally in Yangon

* Activists say picked out for organising rally without permission

YANGON: At least two people have been arrested at a rally in Yangon held to condemn a violent police crackdown on protesters at a Chinese-backed copper mine, an activist and an AFP reporter said on Sunday.

The arrests come after Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was appointed by the government to lead a probe into the raid on protest camps at the mine, in northern Myanmar, in an apparent bid to assuage public anger over the crackdown, which left scores injured.

An AFP reporter at the Yangon rally witnessed two men, including a protest leader called Moe Thway, being arrested by uniformed police. The reason for their arrests was unclear and police could not immediately be reached for comment, but activists said they were picked out for organising the rally without gaining permission from the authorities.

Myanmar’s investment law: temper applause with caution

Bangkok Post, December 3, 2012

After months of parliamentary debate, Nay Pyi Taw has finally done it: Myanmar’s new Foreign Investment Law was enacted on Nov 2 with a number of protectionist measures struck from the final draft.

While the law clarifies some issues for investors and create new incentives for investment, it also extends the powers and remit of the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC), whose task is to approve and oversee foreign investment.

Investors will need to closely scrutinise the government’s practical interpretation of multiple provisions of the law and remember that MIC approval will be needed to effect an exit or increase in any investment.
Most significantly, the law creates new broad-based categories of restricted investment, which could apply to many businesses and extends investor duties. Additionally, it requires the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development (NPED), which oversees the MIC, to issue implementing rules and procedures by the end of January.

AP Exclusive: Myanmar launches operation to verify citizenship of Muslims in strife-torn west

AP: SIN THET MAW, Myanmar — Guarded by rifle-toting police, immigration authorities in western Myanmar have launched a major operation aimed at settling an explosive question at the heart of the biggest crisis the government has faced since beginning its nascent transition to democracy last year.
It’s a question that has helped fuel two bloody spasms of sectarian unrest between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims since June, and it comes down to one simple thing: Who has the right to be a citizen of Myanmar, and who does not?

A team of Associated Press journalists that traveled recently to the remote island village of Sin Thet Maw, a maze of bamboo huts without electricity in Myanmar’s volatile west, found government immigration officials in the midst of a painstaking, census-like operation aimed at verifying the citizenship of Muslims living there, one family at a time.

Myanmar appoints Suu Kyi to investigate protest crackdown

Yangon - Myanmar appointed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to investigate a police crackdown on protesters at a copper mine that left 50 people injured, reports said Sunday.

Riot police on Thursday used water cannon, tear gas and smoke bombs to disperse hundreds of protesters who had camped outside the mining project near Monywa, 827 kilometres north-west of Yangon.

The protesters alleged that their land had been illegally confiscated and said an environmental impact study had never been conducted.

REVIEW: The Lady and the Peacock: The Life of Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma

 

Reviewed by Sumera S. Naqvi
BURMA, or present day Myanmar, shares a battered colonial history with the subcontinent and is still in the process of resurrection. These countries share common political nuances with a marked political significance of women leaders who suffered either by losing a father or a husband to political struggle. Aung San Suu Kyi is a name in the league of such women leaders.

While Burma still reels from the torments of a dictatorial-cum-military dispensation, Suu Kyi, one of the most powerful pro-democracy politicians in the region today, is an iconic factor in keeping hope alive for a peaceful political transformation that will eventually smooth the way to democratic governance.
Journalist Peter Popham’s book, The Lady and the Peacock: The Life of Aung San Suu Kyi is a well-documented biography of a life devoted to the cause of freedom.