YANGON — Myanmar’s democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi will travel to the United States next Sunday, a spokesman for her party told AFP, in a trip that will see her awarded Washington’s highest honour.

It will be her first visit to the US since she was put under house arrest in 1990.

“The lady will travel on September 16,” said Nyan Win, spokesman for the Nobel laureate’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party, without adding further details.

As part of her visit Suu Kyi, who was elected to parliament this year in a dramatic sign of Myanmar’s reforms, will travel to Washington to receive the Congressional Gold Medal.

The medal is the top honour bestowed by the US Congress, which voted to award it to Suu Kyi in May 2008 when the prospect of her leaving Myanmar looked remote.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton invited the democracy champion to Washington when she paid a landmark visit to Myanmar, also known as Burma, in December.

Suu Kyi, 67, made her first forays outside Myanmar in more than two decades earlier this year, with visits to Thailand, Switzerland, Norway, Ireland, Britain and France, receiving rock star welcomes along the way and being lauded as a model of peaceful resistance to dictatorship.

The trip allowed her to finally give her 1991 Nobel Peace Prize speech in Oslo and to receive awards granted during the almost two decades she spent under house arrest.

Myanmar was for decades ruled by an iron-fisted junta, but a reformist government under ex-general President Thein Sein has freed political prisoners and allowed Suu Kyi’s party back into mainstream politics.

Thein Sein is expected to head to the United States during a UN summit, at roughly the same time as Suu Kyi.

US President Barack Obama last month waived visa restrictions so that Myanmar’s leader could travel freely during the UN General Assembly.

The Obama administration, hoping to encourage further reforms, has sent a US ambassador to Myanmar for the first time in more than two decades and has eased restrictions on investment by US companies.

YANGON, Myanmar – One of Myanmar’s legendary “Thirty Comrades” who spearheaded the struggle against British colonialism has been invited back from exile by President Thein Sein.

The daughter of 92-year-old Kyaw Zaw told U.S.-funded Radio Free Asia in an interview this weekend that the invitation was conveyed by President’s Office Minister Aung Min. She spoke from Kunming in southern China, where she lives with her father. The only other surviving member of the group, Bo Ye Htut, lives in Myanmar.

The Thirty Comrades were led by independence hero Gen. Aung San, father of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. During World War II, they went to Japan for training to fight against the British colonizers of what was then known as Burma. Aung San turned against the Japanese as the war was ending and negotiated independence from Britain, but was assassinated before it took place.

Kyaw Zaw joined the underground Communist Party of Burma in 1976 and fled to China in 1989.

Hla Kyaw Zaw said her father wished to return home but might not be able to make the journey soon because of ill health. She said he also would have to consult with the Communist Party, which maintained a large guerrilla army through the 1970s, but now has no role in the country’s politics.

President Thein Sein has launched a variety of economic and political reforms since taking office last year after almost five decades of military rule.

Posted by Muhammad Iqbal

NAYPYIDAW: For the near half century that they lived under a military junta, the people of Myanmar knew nothing of the power struggles going on within the regime.

But as the country slowly gets used to its new democratic institutions following a wave of political reforms over the past year, these battles are now being played out very much in public.

Gone is the junta, with power apparently concentrated in the hands of one man. Gone too is the era when in-fighting only came to light with the rise of a new strongman or the arrest of a general who had fallen out of favour.

Since March last year, when a new constitution came into force, power has rested with reform-minded former generals whose quasi-civilian regime replaced outright military rule.

A two-tiered parliament has given elected politicians a forum to test their new powers of oversight of the executive.

It has also become the stage for a closely-watched confrontation between President Thein Sein and the speaker of the lower house, Shwe Mann, widely considered the leading candidate for the top job after elections in 2015.

The pair, both senior figures in the previous military regime, “have inherited reflexes of the junta” in their obsession for hierarchy says one foreign diplomat, adding the two are now competing over who will be “the greatest democrat”.

Observers say the relationship between the two men has soured and say it may be traced back to the months leading up to the dissolution of the junta.

Several political sources told AFP both of them were astonished when Thein Sein was appointed as the future president in early 2011 while Shwe Mann, who was more senior under the previous regime, took the lesser role.

They are still locked in competition, but with new tools at their disposal.

While they used to shun the press, the two men now hold interviews and news conferences to get their point across. And when one blocks a proposal by the other, revenge is swift.

On Thursday the lower house voted to impeach nine judges of the Constitutional Court, after a six-month long dispute.

The magistrates had outraged MPs in February by denying parliamentary commissions and committees the opportunity to summon ministers for questioning.

The rift has been seen as the country’s first major political crisis since military rule ended last year, pitting the government against parliament and in particular Thein Sein against Shwe Mann.

“It’s a personal fight,” said Zaw Htet Htwe, a former journalist released from prison in January. But he would not be drawn further.

Shwe Mann “took a lot of risk” by clashing with the court, said an unnamed foreign analyst based in Yangon. “It will set many people back, not just conservatives within the regime, but also Thein Sein and the judges.”

Some observers fear the army, which officially remains out of daily politics in the new regime, could run out of patience if it perceives a severe threat to the executive.

Others warn the spat has left the reform process vulnerable, with the pace of economic reforms still slow as the country struggles to undo half a century of military mismanagement of the economy.

But the most ardent supporters of reforms play down the personal quarrel as an inevitable teething problem in a country taking tentative steps towards democracy.

The court crisis is no reason for alarm, says Aung Tun Htet, a respected Myanmar intellectual.

“We are building the ship as we sail,” he said.

“Everything is new for all of us, the learning curve is very steep,” he said, adding fledgling institutions needed to understand their powers within the new political landscape.

He however also admitted the reformist former generals, who have gradually convinced the West and many of their domestic opponents of their commitment to change, have little room for mistakes and limited time to drive through changes.

They need to bring growth, demonstrably improve the lives of Myanmar’s people and make lasting peace with the nation’s patchwork of ethnic minorities. If not, they face losing credibility.

“We can’t afford any hijacking of the reform agenda,” warns Aung Tun Htet.

“The question is how we get quick results without losing track of our ultimate goals. That’s the paradox

Yangon – Some 1,670 new hotel rooms will become available in Yangon next year, but officials say it will not be enough to meet an expected the surge in demand, reports said Sunday.

Myanmar’s main city and former capital will receive an estimated 600,000 tourists this year, and up to 900,000 in 2013, said Aung Zaw Win, chief of the government’s Directorate of Hotels and Tourism.

“If that happens, we definitely won’t have enough hotel rooms for travelers at the moment,” he told the Myanmar Times. “That is why we are seriously looking at how to encourage hotel investment.”

Yangon currently has 8,319 hotel and guesthouse rooms, sufficient to handle a maximum of 750,000 tourists a year.

Hotel prices have more than doubled this year as tourists pour into the country that shed its former pariah status with reforms by President Thein Sein, who came to power in March 2011.

By: Imran Malik | September 09, 2012 | 9

The rapacious and insatiable global US juggernaut is on the prowl again!Having wreaked death, devastation and misery on the peoples of Greater Middle East Region (GMER-Iraq), South Central Asian Region (SCAR-Afghanistan, Pakistan), North Africa (Tunisia, Libya, Egypt), the Arabian Peninsula (Yemen), the Mediterranean (Syria) and still keeping the Persian Gulf sub-region (Iran) on tenterhooks, it has now set its sights on the Asia Pacific Region (APR).

Its ambitions and intentions to “contain and manage the rise of China” could not have been starker!Leon Panetta has declared USA’s intent to “shift pivot or rebalance” to the APR by deploying 60 percent of its naval assets, thereby 2020 – a major paradigm shift from the GMER/SCAR to the APR – with menacing geopolitical and strategic connotations.

While it indicates its geopolitical orientations for the future, it also questions its capabilities to project power simultaneously in multiple theatres of war. The US was generally expected to fight and win at least two-and-a-half Major Regional Conflicts (MRCs) simultaneously – meaning thereby that it could fight and win two major and one minor conflict in different theatres of war at the same time.

Some analysts now degrade that capability to about one-and-a-half MRC, for a myriad of reasons. Would this mean that the US does not foresee fighting a major war elsewhere (other than the APR) in the world circa 2020 and beyond? Is it by choice or a genuine limitation?

The US sees China’s emerging economic military power as a major threat to its global and national aspirations, and thus feels compelled to “contain and manage its rise.” It has made the preliminary geopolitical and strategic moves to manoeuvre into an advantageous position in the APR. It is reconfirming existing alliances and forging new ones.

It can count upon known old allies such as South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Australia (US troops are to be based in the northern territories), Singapore etc, while hoping to co-opt others like the ASEAN, the South Pacific Islands, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and ominously India!India’s importance lies in not only keeping the Chinese distracted in the Himalayas, but also let the US and its allies exploit the strategic advantages its military assets and facilities at the Nicobar and Andaman Islands provide.

Furthermore, the Indian Peninsula jutting out so prominently into the Indian Ocean allows great strategic oversight on all global East-West trade/SLOCs. The two major likely areas of conflict in the APR (apart from Taiwan) are the South China Sea and the Malacca Straits.

The South China Sea issue is gaining momentum with many regional countries, including China laying claims to the Spratly Islands archipelago and its mineral/fossil riches. The Malacca Straits (as opposed to the Lombok, Makassar and Mindoro Straits and the Sibutu Passage) provide the most economic Sea Lines of Communications (SLOCs).

All the countries or economies of the APR thus have a compulsion to keep it open and navigable at all times. And the only naval power with the wherewithal to decisively control the Malacca Straits and other SLOCs – is the US!Could the South China Sea issue then become the flashpoint to initiate a war with China to stunt its rapid growth into a global rival of the US? Could the blockade of the SLOCs through the Malacca Straits (and others) be the leverage that could force China to submit to US demands or hegemony?

The USA’s strategic moves do indicate an emerging crescent of containment around China. It ranges from Afghanistan in the west to Arunachal Pradesh on the Sino-India border in the Himalayas in the centre and onto the Pacific Ocean in the east where the US and its allies are present with their formidable militaries.China is reacting to counter this ominous and blatant attempt to hem it in and circumscribe its strategic space for manoeuvre.

It seeks credible alternatives.Geopolitically, it must garner succour and support from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), which must be expanded immediately to include Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan and India as full members.

Such a move may deter India from joining the US camp too eagerly!Further, an assertive and proactive SCO in the SCAR/AfPak region could help nullify pressure on the Chinese western flank to a great extent. Its ‘String of Pearls Strategy’ is designed to find viable alternatives to the Malacca Straits and to seek a presence in the Indian Ocean. It must translate its proactive interests in Pakistan (Gwadar), Sri Lanka, Maldives, Myanmar etc into tangible counter moves. It must also launch a massive diplomatic initiative and particularly engage ASEAN, regional countries and India to forestall their joining cause with the US.Geo-economically, Pakistan is indispensable to the Chinese.

Together they could develop the North-South trade corridor linking Xinjiang province in western China to Pakistani ports on the Arabian Sea. China’s presence in Gwadar will bring it close to Iran and the Hormuz Straits. An extension of the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline to China, an oil pipeline running parallel to it and a railway line along the Karakoram Highway (KKH) would provide viable and practical (though partial) alternatives to the SLOCs/Malacca Straits.

The Chinese already have an oil pipeline coming in from Kazakhstan into western China. Geo-strategically, with China sitting at Gwadar/Straits of Hormuz (a strategic vulnerability for the US and its allies), it could project power and gain an even more devastating leverage over the US and its allies than they would have at the Malacca Straits! When push comes to shove, this would give it a priceless and overwhelming bargaining, and negotiating advantage over the US and it hapless allies!

A possible China-Pakistan-Iran nexus (SCO-?) could actually be a geopolitical and strategic game changer in the emerging scenario! Furthermore, Pakistan could keep the bulk of Indian forces tied to its borders and thus obviate meaningful hostilities against China in the Arunachal Pradesh region! It makes for a great game of chess at the global level. One only hopes that the US understands the regional and global ramifications of its shenanigans in the APR.World beware!

The writer is a retired brigadier and a former defence attaché to Australia and New Zealand.Email: im_k@hotmail.com

Sep 09, 2012 – Kishore Singh

Rs. 799

Fratricide was commonplace in the kingdom of Burma, so the bloodshed that marked the ascent of King Thibaw to the Lion Throne in Mandalay in 1878 — 80 princes, queens and princesses killed “in the traditional manner: princes bludgeoned to death by blows on the back of their neck, and queens and princesses by blows on their throat” — was considered so unremarkable that pwes or traditional Burmese dramas were staged “to drown out the bloodcurdling screams and to distract members of the royal family not being executed”.

As unexceptional was his marriage to Supayalat, “a princess of pure royal blood” and his first cousin, who brazenly schemed to marry him but also cared for him obsessively after he was exiled by the British from the Golden Palace to a forlorn bungalow in western India. He was the last king of the Konbaung dynasty, as well as of Burma.

Isolated in his kingship, never venturing out of the Golden Palace precincts “for fear of being overthrown in their absence”, untrusting of advice and protected only by an ill-trained, rag-tag army of soldiers, Mandalay’s descent into chaos seemed destined.

In the Western media, Queen Supayalat was “portrayed as a darkly malevolent force, a “savage”. It was reported that taxes in the kingdom had to be increased due to “her insatiable love for finery”; as increasingly fantastic stories about her circulated, the author of the exhaustively researched and just released The King in Exile observes that “she did no more or less than many Konbaung kings and queens before her.”

The British had already taken Rangoon, and Mandalay appeared increasingly vulnerable, but Thibaw might still have carried the day. The British would have been more than happy to let him be notional monarch, but they felt increasingly threatened by his dalliance and trade agreements with the French, and Supayalat’s ill-advised decision to take on the British in war because “better it were to lose the Golden Kingdom than to listen to orders like slaves”, leading to the dissolution of the monarchy and the exile of the royal family in a part of India that ensured they disappeared from view and were rarely mentioned again.

Amitav Ghosh’s The Glass Palace tells some of the same story in a semi-fictionalised setting, while Daniel Mason’s The Piano Tuner is a love story set in the jungles outside Mandalay, both triggering more-than-passing interest in the gentle culture and looming violence that seemed to be co-existential sides of life in Burma. Against this backdrop, debutant writer Sudha Shah’s narrative is a historical triumph without a single misstep. Having spent seven years researching Thibaw’s trials and tribulations and disappointments in Ratnagiri, she writes the definitive personal history of the last king of Burma and his daughters and grandchildren. Though she trespasses often into personal territory, family squabbles and all — for what else was there once the kingdom had been lost? — never once does she descend to pass judgment, not on the opulence in the Golden Palace, nor indeed on the lonely penury of the half-royal granddaughter Tu Tu and her children in Ratnagiri.

Having sailed from Rangoon, the royal family was sequestered for a while in Madras before its final confinement in Ratnagiri, which Thibaw found “intolerable”, the king and queen often brooding on their “terrible misfortune”, though the loss of revenue — the British doled out resources sparingly — must have aggravated their sense of seclusion and claustrophobia. There was little to occupy Thibaw’s time or mind. Supayalat had lost her son in Burma, and her two daughters born in Mandalay had been joined by two others in India, princesses who grew up segregated from outside companionship, forced to keep their peace and play among themselves.

What misfortune then that the First Princess should choose the gatekeeper, “a strapping, young, good-looking Maratha” to “marry” — in truth, she was only his mistress — while the Second Princess all but eloped to marry Kin Maung Lat, a fortune hunter, and made her home in Kalimpong. The luckless Third Princess had a somewhat settled life, while the ambitious and dominating Fourth Princess would return to Burma to make a thwarted bid for her family’s monarchical rights.

Shah’s remarkable saga maps the journeys of the royal couple, their daughters and grandchildren, and the history of their lives, warts, deprivation and all. In the hundreds of dispatches that flowed between them and the British (and later, the Indian) government, one of the constant refrains was oft-ignored requests for additional money. The income they received was hardly enough; certainly, the princesses socialised little in Ratnagiri because they had few appropriate clothes to wear when out.

What struck the British as extravagance — the organising of festivals and feasts for holy men, the religious ceremonies and gifts — was hardly exceptional to the exiled family who thought royally and chafed at finding their spending tightly reined in. Often borrowing at high interest, they sold their splendid jewels and treasures, mostly for a song. With even that inheritance lost, the stories of the remarkable legacy of a family of fortune now survive only as hearsay handed down to the grandchildren, though “any hope of a royal future died many, many years ago.”

BEIJING, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) — Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, left Beijing Sunday morning for official goodwill visits to Iran, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Fiji.

Wu has been invited by Iran Majlis’ Speaker Ali Larijani, Speaker of the House of Representatives Thura U Shwe Mann of Myanmar, Speaker of Parliament of Sri Lanka Chamal Rajapaksa, and Fiji’s Premier Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama.

By AUNG ZAW / THE IRRAWADDY| September 8, 2012 |

During my last trip to Burma in June, I went up to Lashio, northern Shan State, and decided to stop in en route at Hispaw to visit the residence of famed Shan Prince Sao Kya Seng.

Otherwise known as East Haw, the house is surrounded by a large compound and guarded by tall tamarind trees. Yet when we arrived the place seemed deserted—the gate was locked and all was quiet.

After bellowing for a short time, a young man wearing the region’s traditional loose trousers emerged and met us at the gate. He was flanked by a dozen canine bodyguards and carried a Shan sword.

At first, he was reluctant to allow us in and I appreciated the sensitivity of the situation. As ethnic Bamar, or Burman, we were guests in Shan State. The young boy was polite and smart yet I could feel his innate mistrust of these “foreign” visitors.

He explained that his great uncle was arrested for “tourism charges” and only recently released. I showed him our business cards and was glad to learn that he was familiar with The Irrawaddy and the famous Shan cartoonist Harn Lay who has contributed fantastic work.

But even with our credentials confirmed, he steadfastly refused to open the gate. My driver went back to the car and started the engine so gave one final plea of, “Can we come back tomorrow on our way back from Lashio?”

Then he smiled and I felt the mood change. I dropped the names of a few prominent Shan people I know living in northern Thailand. “Do you want to come in now?” he relented. The gate finally opened.

Sao Kya Seng’s palace is in a sad state but, with a little careful restoration, could be a great place to learn about the history of Hispaw and tragic tale of its royal family. I had read Twilight Over Burma by Sao Kya Hseng’s wife, Inge Eberhard, and so had wanted to visit Hispaw Palace for a long time.

Sao Kya Hseng was last seen in March 1962 being arrested in the state capital Taunggyi while visiting his ailing sister. He was blissfully unaware of what had taken place in Rangoon at the time. Gen Ne Win had staged a coup that placed the military at the head of state power.

The prince was arrested on his way to Heho Airport to catch a flight to Hispaw. He was last seen being taken to an unknown place of detention by armed soldiers.

Born in 1924, Sao Kya Hseng was educated at schools at Darjeeling, India, and went to study engineering at the Colorado School of Mines in Denver, the United States, where he married his Austrian bride.

Eberhard decided to follow her husband to live in Burma—a country she had never visited. It was a fairytale trip as she had no idea that Sao Kya Hseng was a Shan saopha or prince (some Shan spell it chofa while it is sawbwa in Burmese) and the ruler of Hispaw.

Only when their ship arrived Rangoon did Eberhard see the hundreds of people playing music and carrying flowers to welcome their illustrious guests. She wondered who the important passengers on aboard were until her husband then explained about his royal blood. It quickly became apparently that she had married a Shan prince.

Eberhard subsequently took the name Sao Nang Thusandi and became Mahadevi (celestial princess) of Hsipaw

These days, however, the luster has dimmed a little on the royal household. Our young guide took us inside East Haw where Sao Kya Hseng and Sao Thusandi lived with their children and servants. We saw the family tree and living room as well as photos of the prince and his family.

East Haw is in a sorry state of disrepair. Burma is blessed with many historic buildings but too many are neglected and forgotten—indeed, Hispaw Palace has been left overgrown by bushes seemingly for political reasons.

While it would be valuable to restore the palace to reveal the real story of Sao Kya Hseng, and it would certainly receive some tourists, the authorities would no doubt constantly harass the occupants.

Our young guide, a relative of the late prince, was proud to show how his ancestor built the palace and brought in the old tractor still parked by the portico. He also explained how Sao Kya Hseng introduced new ideas regarding the state’s age-old feudal system.

Journalist Bertil Linter wrote in his foreword to Twilight over Burma, “Perhaps the most radical idea was to give all the princely family’s paddy fields to the farmers who cultivated them. In addition, [Sao Kya Hseng] bought tractors and agricultural implements that the farmers used free of charge, cleared land to experiment with new crops, and began mineral exploration in the resource-rich valley.”

Sao Kya Hseng was undoubtedly more than just a privileged landowner. He was an MP for Burma’s House of Nationalities, a member of the Shan State Council and secretary of the Association of Shan Princes. He remained in politics while many Shan saophas gave up their positions. But then in the 1950s, a cloud descended onto Shan State.

In 1958, Burmese government troops arrived to drive out a Chinese Kuomintang incursion and quell a rising resistance movement which wanted Shan State to secede from the Union. Shan rebels and sympathetic villagers were arrested, tortured and disappeared. However, the Shan were not even united amongst themselves.

Amid this turmoil, it is uncertain how Gen Ne Win and his loyal military officers viewed Sao Kya Hseng as they prepared to seize power in a coup.

In her book, Sao Thusandi said that the Shan who desired an independent Shan State wanted Sao Kya Hseng to lead the revolt but he was reluctant. On the other hand, pro-Union advocates suspected him of being a secessionist due to his open criticism of Burmese politics and army misconduct.

Indeed, Ne Win and Sao Kya Hseng certainly did not get along well. When Ne Win, then army chief, was passing through Hispaw, the prince wanted to invite him for lunch at East Haw where Burmese ministers and politicians often visited.

One of Ne Win’s officers declined on his behalf and instead asked the prince to wait by the roadside for the general’s motorcade. Shocked to hear such a disrespectful suggestion, the ruler of Hispaw declined.

Sao Kya Hseng’s supporters insisted that Ne Win and his military intelligence chief Col Lwin—also known as “Moustache Lwin”—must have had knowledge of what became of the prince after his detention.

However, Ne Win’s regime denied taking part and made several contradictory statements regarding the prince’s disappearance. In fact, Sao Thusandi received a short letter from her husband that said he had been detained in Ba Htoo—a garrison town in Shan State—and was still OK. Nevertheless, the Burmese authorities never officially admitted apprehending the prince.

Sao Thusandi went to meet Ne Win’s wife Khin May Than in Austria in 1966 where the general was having medical treatment. The dictator often went to Europe where he would meet Professor Hans Hoff, chairman of the Psychiatric and Neurological University Hospital of Vienna. Some sources close to the general suggested that he suffered from bipolar disorder.

Hans Hoff had earlier written a letter to Sao Thusandi in Rangoon that stated her husband was in detention. Ne Win assured his doctor that the Shan prince was well and two orderlies have been assigned to take care of his every need.

Hans Hoff then wrote, “The physician who looks after Sao [Kya Hseng] was introduced to me, and he testified that Sao is in good shape, both physically and emotionally.” Yet that same day Sao Thusandi received a letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs saying that the government had never detained the Shan prince. Was Ne Win trying to deceive his psychiatrist for some reason?

Meanwhile, several associates of Sao Thusandi told her that the prince was no longer alive. One of them was Bo Setkya—a member of the legendary Thirty Comrades. Bo Setkya, who must have had supporters in the army, came to meet the princess and told her that her husband had died. Sao Kya Hseng was killed near Ba Htoo several weeks after his arrest, he said. Sao Thusandi and her family finally left Burma in 1964.

It is not known what actually happened to the prince, although Ne Win and his top officers must have been well aware of his fate. One theory was that Sao Kya Hseng died during interrogation, while another said that he was killed trying to escape—army officers were given “shoot to kill” orders at the time.

The last theory was that he was caught alive and when young officers asked a superior what to do, they were simply ordered to execute him. Those involved then cowardly remained silent after they realized the magnitude of what had taken place.

We walked towards a wooden building far from East Haw surrounded by spirit houses and were told that this is where the late prince prayed and read books. The building, if restored, would be an elegant addition to Burmese ethnic culture, but unfortunately it has already almost collapsed.

Since the day Ne Win staged a coup, Sao Kya Hseng was prevented from ever seeing East Haw again. However, perhaps his soul somehow managed to return to this royal abode.

By HPYO WAI THA / THE IRRAWADDY| September 7, 2012 |

RANGOON—For nearly three years, the creators of this award-winning documentary would not reveal their true identities and could not screen the film in their own country.

“Nargis—When Time Stopped Breathing” is Burma’s first ever feature-length documentary made by native filmmakers who captured the aftermath of the 2008 Cyclone Nargis disaster in the Irrawaddy delta which killed nearly 140,000 people.

Fearing that their footage of mass destruction and death would be hugely embarrassing to the military junta, which was widely cited for incompetence in handling the post-disaster response, the documentarists chose to maintain a low-profile. They used pseudonyms on the film credits and did not release the film in Burma.

It was, however, screened at 16 international film festivals and won four awards.

Now, encouraged by reformist President Thein Sein’s moves to ease restrictions on media, the film crew has collectively decided to stage a national premiere on Saturday, Sept. 8, in Rangoon—but this time with their true identities run on the credits.

Pe Maung Same, one of the directors of the documentary, told The Irrawaddy that he would use the first public screening of the film as a platform to apologize and ask forgiveness from the cyclone survivors who appear in the 90-minute film.

“I feel ashamed that we had to hide under the cloak of anonymity while those in the delta who suffered so much appeared in the flesh in front of our cameras,” he said.

Film cameraman Thaiddhi is one of the organizers of the Wathan Film Festival which will premiere the Nargis documentary on Saturday. He said that it was a group decision by the film crew to use their real names on the credits this time.

“Even at international film festivals, we went with fake credits,” he said. “But we think it’s time for a public screening in Burma—now that the government seems more flexible.”

German filmmaker Ulrike Schaz tutored several members of the documentary film crew at Yangon Film School (YFS). She said that she felt excited in anticipation of the screening in Rangoon this weekend.

However, she admits it was an anxious time for her when some of her students set off for the Irrawaddy delta just days after the cyclone had made landfall on May 2, 2008.

“At that time, we were sitting and waiting for their return,” she said. “We were worried that they would get arrested because filming the aftermath was strictly forbidden.

“But when they came back with the footage it was a tremendous relief. As their teacher, I’m very proud of what they did.”

Thaiddhi said the crew visited the affected area several times over a three-month period to shoot footage and interview victims of what was one of the world’s worst natural disasters in living memory.

“Our hearts went out to those people, and we wanted to record their suffering so that outsiders could understand,” he said.

Thaiddhi said the team rarely faced harassment from security forces because they always travelled with relief supplies for the people in distress, and the authorities simply ignored them or took them for a “bunch of shutter-happy city-folk taking pictures of their charity trip to the delta.”

At one relief center, he said, the crew met a group of parents who had lost their children to a tidal surge. One of the bereaved mothers told him: “I’d rather my family had died of poisoning than being taken by that cyclone.”

Another grief-stricken father whose baby girl was killed by the storm told them he cried himself to sleep very night, tormenting himself with the memory of his daughter dancing gleefully in the house on that fateful evening.

The disaster took its toll on the crew and many felt despair and trauma after returning from the harrowing experience.

“The more people we interviewed, the more we felt their pain. We were unable to smile for days after,” said Thaiddhi.

Myo Min Khin, one of the editors of the report, told The Irrawaddy that they tried to focus only on the human side of the disaster rather than look for someone to blame or analyze the authorities’ stuttering relief effort.

“We concentrated on the emotional nightmare the survivors bore—what was going on inside their heads. We edited the footage to emphasize their trauma and how they struggled to survive in the wake of the cyclone.”

As the founder of YFS and the co-producer of the film, Lindsey Merrison said she was proud of her students who did an incredible job under difficult circumstances. She said she was deeply affected by the humane dimension of the unedited filmed material her students captured, and was immediately convinced that this footage would be crucial in providing evidence of what happened during and after the May 2, 2008, tragedy.

“I’m honored to have been a part of the whole process—from inception to the final product,” she said.

“None of us can predict how this deeply emotional work will be received, but I would like to think that, given the recent moves towards reform and openness in Myanmar, this film will be judged on its own merit,” she added.

“Nargis—When Time Stopped Breathing” will premiere at the Maha Santi Sukha Buddhist Center in Rangoon on Sept. 8 as part of the Wathan Film Festival 2012.

Violence against Burma’s Rohingya people has prompted Indonesia to delay its efforts to encourage the archipelago’s state enterprises to seek business opportunities in the emerging Southeast Asian nation.

Indonesia earlier this year announced plans to establish an office in Burma [Myanmar] to assist Indonesian state-controlled companies, but State Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan on Wednesday revealed that proposal had been delayed.

“The staff had been prepared and the office was supposed to be opened last month, but we delayed due to the Rohingya situation. Hopefully it will open next month,” Dahlan said.

Burma has in the past two years made apparent progress toward democracy following the two-decade rule of a military junta. But in recent months, an outbreak of violence in the Rakhine region in which the local Muslim minority was apparently targeted by Buddhists, attracted international attention.

Many Indonesian companies have expressed interest in doing business in Burma, which is in the process of liberalizing its investment laws to rejuvenate its stagnant economy.

Among the state-controlled Indonesian companies eyeing opportunities are Bank Negara Indonesia, construction firm Wijaya Karya, cement firm Semen Gresik and energy company Pertamina.

Pertamina is keen to access Burma’s large untapped energy sources. Proven oil reserves stand at 3.2 billion barrels and gas reserves at 11.8 trillion cubic feet.

Salis Aprilian, president director of Pertamina subsidiary Pertamina Hulu Energi, said Burma offers an abundance of opportunities for Indonesian state enterprises because the country has little infrastructure. “Burma reminds me of Indonesia back in the ’60s,” he added, referring to the early period of Indonesia’s economic boom funded by oil and gas exports.

Salis said Indonesia could follow China’s approach to assisting state companies succeed abroad. “China used oil companies first, which were then followed by other sectors like infrastructure,” he added.

Pertamina president director Karen Agustiawan said her company was planning to expand in Burma, but was waiting for the United States to lift its economic sanctions on the Southeast Asia country.

Dahlan, however, stood by Indonesia’s state-enterprises push in Burma, noting that the United States has loosened its sanctions.

The US has left in place some of the sanctions it imposed.

Trade in Burma reached more than US$ 6.6 billion for the period April to August, the Ministry of Commerce reported. Exports amounted to $3.23 billion while imports totaled $3.38 billion.

Natural gas topped exports with more than $1.2 billion, followed by beans and legumes ($463.45 million), and jade.

A ministry official said jade export volume has significantly decreased after China imposed a 38 per cent tax last year.

Auto spare parts and fuel topped imports.

Friday, 07 September 2012 14:47 Ko Ko Aung

Rangoon (Mizzima) – The Publishers and Distributors Association says that the internationally recognized “International Standard Book Number (ISBN)”will be available in Burma starting September 1.

ISBN-barcodeA vice chairman of the association, Myo Aung, said numbers could be received on the same day after submitting an application along with the required documents and a 5,000 kyat (US$ 6) fee.

“Previously our Burmese books could be available only in shops selling Burmese food and provisions. We could not sell our books in big bookshops as we did not have the ISBN number in our books. Now we can sell our Burmese books on the international market,” he said.

Newly published books with an ISBN number can be sold in markets where Burmese migrants work and live abroad such as Thai, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea and Japan, Myo Aung said.

He said he received permission to form an ISBN agency in Burma in April 2012.

ISBN numbers in Burmese books will have a 13-digit number. For instance, 978-99971-60-00-3, which denotes 978 is the ISBN number, 99971 is the code for the Burmese language, 60 denotes the publisher, 00 denotes title and the last digit 3 denotes checking of these numbers.

“ISBN numbers will be very useful in the future. We need this ISBN number if we want to sell our books on online markets like Amazon,” said Myint Tun, the Suu Pye Sone Tun publishing house owner.

The association is also working to obtain ISSN numbers for periodicals and ISML numbers for audio books and music discs and CPI (Cataloging in Publication) numbers.

MOTILAL will distribute Burmese books written in English language after after they receive ISBN number.

Currently, the ISBN number system is used in 166 countries; Burma will be the 167th country.

Friday, 07 September 2012 16:34 Phanida

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Local reports say one person was killed in a looting and vandalizing confrontation in at least five locations in Phakant, Kachin State, involving jade mining company property.

The incidents took place in Hmaw Sizar, Shaw Raw Kha, Myauk Phyu, Moe Byin and Ka Htang Hmaw jade mining areas in Phakant Township where thousands of migrant miners work and live.

On September 3, migrant miners forcibly entered jade mining concessions owned by National Economic Development Company and Kyauk Seinn Taung Company in Hmaw Sizar without permission and began to search the waste earth for jade.

When police arrested some intruders, a mob set a building owned by the company on fire and looted property.

“I saw people carrying jade, tin roof sheets and planks on the road,” pastor Nau Ja of the Roman Catholic Church said.

Also, jade stones and fuel stored by a company in Myauk Phyu Hmaw were looted in the night, he said.

The army indiscriminately fired at the intruders and one person was killed, said pastor Nau Ja.

Meanwhile, the area is experiencing fierce fighting between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and government troops. On May 30, all jade mining work at the mining companies was suspended, but some people continued to work in secret, sources said.

The KIA engaged in clashes with government troops on Wednesday night between Yumar and Sai Taung.

Ten government soldiers from a military column were injured when the explosives they carried exploded on the road near the Daw Tin Hla petrol station at the entrance of Sai Taung Township. Three people were seriously wounded and two NGO staff were also injured in the explosion, said Nay Jar Shang of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party.

On Tuesday morning, Karin Nau Kyan, 27, of Hmaw Wan Ward No. 2, Phakant, was killed by a mortar shell while he was going to work on the Myauk Phyu-Sha Raw Kha road. Karin Nau Kyan is survived by his wife, Daung Nan, and two children.

Since Aug. 19, people from Hmaw Maung Kone, Taung Pyo, Tha Htay Chaung, Sai Jar Buam, Manar Chau, Ba La Kha, Hmaw Wan Gyi, Hmaw Wan Galay, Sha Raw Kha, Zuap Ngai, Myauk Phyu and Hmaw Maung Layan villages have fled and taken refugee in Phakant.

Local residents said increased fighting is expected in the area. They said on Aug. 29 a shell fell on fuel tanks owned by the Wai Aung Kabar contracting company and triggered explosions which left up to 50 government troops dead. The report could not be confirmed.