The Irrawaddy Magazine (Mar. 2013, Vol.20 No.2)

When Will the War in Kachin End?

MANAGER

The Irrawaddy magazine covers Myanmar, its neighbors and Southeast Asia. The magazine is published by Irrawaddy Publishing Group (IPG) which was established by Myanmar journalists living in exile in 1993. The IPG is an independent, non-profit organization providing in-depth news and information.

EDITOR (English Edition): Kyaw Zwa Moe

COPY DESK: Neil Lawrence; Paul Vrieze; Samantha Michaels

CONTRIBUTORS to this issue: Aung Zaw; Gustaaf Houtman; Kyaw Phyo Tha; Kyaw Zwa Moe; Lawi Weng; Myint Thin; Paul Vrieze; Saw Yan Naing; Simon Roughneen; Steve Tickner; William Boot; Zarni Mann

PHOTOGRAPHERS : JPaing; Steve Tickner

LAYOUT DESIGNER: Banjong Banriankit

MAILING ADDRESS: The Irrawaddy, P.O. Box 242, CMU Post Office, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand.

YANGON OFFICE : No. 197, 2nd Floor, 32nd Street (Upper Block), Pabedan Township, Yangon, Myanmar. TEL: 01 388251, 01 389762

EMAIL: editors@irrawaddy.org

SALES&ADVERTISING: adversiting@irrawaddy.org

PRINTER: Chotana Printing (Chiang Mai, Thailand)

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6

Look East, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

| Guest

Column

Travel

▪ The Road Less Traveled 56

| Food

| Books

Land of Winds and Shadows 60

| Q&A

Miss Myanmar Opens Up

When

FEATURES

14 | heritage: The Secretariat’s Second Chance

Some of Myanmar’s defining political moments played out here, but this old Victorian building now lies in shambles. With a little help in Yangon, it may soon get a new lease on life

20 | regional: Southeast Asia at the Heart of Footbal Match-fixing Scandal

The region’s gambling houses help organized crime gangs to generate huge profits from international match-fixing

22

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COver The Battle for Laiza

From January until early February, The Irrawaddy’s Steve Tickner covered the escalating battle between the Myanmar government and Kachin rebels around the town of Laiza. He recounts how key events unfolded.

31 | COver ‘We Do Not Have Any Plans to Fight’

The Irrawaddy speaks to Deputy Information Minister U Ye Htut about the conflict in Kachin State

32

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COver Women at War

Female rebel soldiers, nurses and mothers share their stories as a long-running conflict continues in Myanmar’s northernmost state

34 | analysis: Meeting the Spymaster

The Irrawaddy’s founding editor finds himself face to face with one of the former regime’s most powerful and feared men

38 | Profile: Standing Up for Kayin State

She’s building an international reputation and has already scored a meeting with US President Barack Obama, but for Kayin activist Naw Susanna Hla Hla Soe, the focus is local

40 |

business:

Western Oil Caught in Army Regime’s Web Analysts say the military-linked Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise still has a grasp on foreign firms

42

|

business: Japan’s Rush into Myanmar Snags on Land Ownership Issues

Land-grabbing by Myanmar’s former rulers could complicate efforts to develop the Thilawa special economic zone near Yangon that lie ahead as Myanmar moves to reform its economy this issue of theirrawaddy was produced with the support of the prince Claus fund in the netherlands.

The Americans Have Arrived A

s Myanmar opens its doors to the world, the United States is making moves to strengthen ties with its government, military and civil society. The Irrawaddy’s founding editor, Aung Zaw, recently sat down with America’s top diplomat in Myanmar to discuss the superpower’s changing role. In this interview, US Ambassador Derek Mitchell tells us how he sees his country’s relationship with Myanmar, also known as Burma, while explaining his take on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s influence, sectarian violence in Rakhine State, US-Myanmar military ties and more.

Mr. Ambassador, how would you describe the US-Myanmar relationship?

We’re at a stage of rediscovering each other. We were isolated for a while from each other, for various reasons, but I think we’re at a very good place now, where we have open and candid discussions. I think we’re building up trust not just at the official level but at a people-to-people level. ... It should be very clear: American policy is not about radical approaches to change here. We’re about the peaceful evolution of a society to be more open, to be more fair and just, and to encourage the national reconciliation process so that this country becomes a developed, stable, peaceful contributor to international affairs. And we’re very encouraged by the progress so far, but there’s obviously a long way to go. And as we go, the United States, of course, will not be silent about the things we’re concerned about, and I expect the [Myanmar] government will be candid as well about the things they’re concerned about related to us, and that’s the measure, I think, of an ever-stronger and more mature relationship.

How important is pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in shaping US policy toward Myanmar?

She’s a very important voice, obviously. She has embodied the values of human rights, democracy, and justice that US policy has sought to promote here over the past 25 years. She inspires great respect and loyalty among a great many Americans. And no one

else here has inspired such veneration and respect from the Burmese people since her father. For those reasons, she is quite unique.

So of course we should listen to her. But US policy will be based on our own calculations of national interests and values. And we understand she’s not the only voice in this country we should be listening to. I think she’d agree that no single person in a democracy speaks for everyone else, particularly in a country as diverse as this one. Democracy means there will be many voices that emerge, in the government, in the military and within civil society and population at large. We have enormous respect for what Daw Suu has done and what she continues to represent in this country. What she says will continue to have great resonance with us even as we engage many different people going forward inside and outside the government.

How closely does the United States work with Myanmar’s ethnic leaders?

We have regular engagement with ethnic communities—I consider that a critical component of our engagement [in Myanmar]. The ethnic question, national reconciliation among all ethnic groups here, is the defining challenge of the country. National reconciliation arguably has never happened in the history of the country—post-independence, or even pre-independence you could say. Military means have failed and of course cannot be the basis of a lasting solution to hold this place

together. But neither has there been a peaceful Burma held together through political means, and in the end that will be the only way this country will be truly stable. So we [the United States] recognize the fundamental and critical importance of the ethnic question, and I’m personally committed to understanding better their [ethnic nationality] perspectives and learning more about their cultures. It’s one of my priorities.

Is US engagement in Myanmar about China?

It’s about Burma. It’s always been about Burma. There’s a misunderstanding among some in China, and among some international commentators, that everything we do in Asia is somehow about China, but that’s simply not the case. Our policy toward Burma over the past 20 years, 25 years, has been about Burma. Our policy toward Burma is evolving because Burma itself is evolving.

But isn’t a stable Myanmar in both superpowers’ interest?

It’s a common interest for the United States and China, as it is for Thailand and the rest of the region, that this place [Myanmar] be stable and open … It [Myanmar] has been an outlier—it’s been an outlier in Asean [the Association of Southeast Asian Nations], it has affected our ability to work with Asean, it’s been a missing piece in the connectivity of growing economies of South Asia and Southeast Asia. There’s so much possibility here, and it means a tremendous amount that Burma develops in the interests of regional growth, in the interests of regional stability.

Do you think sectarian violence last year between Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State has undermined the national government’s reform process?

So far it doesn’t seem to have done so. But the kind of communal violence that began several months ago was a very bad sign, and it was of great concern to the international community. What was most concerning was how the violence seemed to resonate within the population at large, even among some who represented the

kind of political and spiritual values we had supported for years. We saw intolerance among citizens who felt that the Rohingya were subhuman, that they didn’t deserve any support or assistance, that they needed to be thrown out of the country. This popular attitude toward these people who have suffered greatly seems to run counter to the values that many of these same individuals fought so long to achieve for themselves. I’m not saying everyone here feels that way—I think there’s a silent majority who feel differently, frankly.

There needs to be a process by which the human rights and dignity of these individuals can be addressed. There needs to be a process for dealing with these issues effectively and fairly. … But there’s a long way to go, starting with getting them humanitarian assistance, allowing them to have a semblance of normality in their lives, education, health care, getting them out of the IDP [internally displaced persons] camps, and hopefully on a path to citizenship.

Do you think it’s still important for the United States to maintain economic sanctions on Burma?

Our sanctions policy has obviously evolved greatly in the past year. We’ve taken it from a broad, blunt instrument that hits everyone equally, and now we’re trying to target the policy against those with close ties to the previous regime who continue to stand in the way of reform, including the so-called cronies and military entities. When it comes to those folks, our policy hasn’t changed.

And when it comes to entities like MOGE [Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise], whose revenues have been opaque or at least have raised questions as to whether they actually contribute to national development or go into other hands, we now require American businesses to report on any financial transactions with these or other companies to ensure we model the type of

transparency that is in the interest of Burmese citizens.

In the end, sanctions are only one tool to support change. They played an important role, I believe, in American policy, a constructive role in the evolution here, in my view. But there comes a time when you should consider other tools. And we think that targeted sanctions against certain entities and individuals who we think have not been helpful to reform, while stepping up our engagement—whether business engagement or other types of engagement with Burmese society—is the best way to promote reform. So we’re in a new era.

responsibility activities. Contribute to a more open, transparent society. Do things in ways that offer jobs, opportunity and development to people in the local communities. Give back. Invest, don’t just extract. And frankly, that’s what American businesses do anyway, so I’m really not telling them something they don’t already know. So yes, I encourage that.

When you meet with top-brass leaders in Naypyitaw, what do you talk about?

I talk about our interest to build greater mutual understanding, our interest to reestablish military-to-military contact step by step, the importance of getting to know each other better after so long without contact. I also address very frankly issues of concern that constrain our ability to normalize the military-to-military relationship, things like the situation in Kachin State, child soldiers, accountability for abuses. We continue to talk to them about the [lack of] humanitarian access to innocent civilians, citizens who the international community can assist but are not able to. … We talk to them about continuing concerns when it comes to non-transparency in the country’s military relationship with North Korea. But the fact is, the military is an important and proud institution that we don’t know as well as we’d like. It’s important to have regular contact to build relationships, and to discuss not just issues of concern but also potential for partnership in its reform process over time.

Are you encouraging US companies to invest in Myanmar now?

What I encourage is that they go in with eyes wide open, that they understand the local environment, that they be very careful to understand clearly the opportunities and challenges here, and if they decide to [invest], to do so consistent with our values. Consult with local populations. Do corporate social

What do you foresee for the future state of military ties between Myanmar and the United States?

I hope, over time, to reestablish the type of relationship that we had back in the ‘80s, where they [Myanmar’s military leaders] would come to our military institutes or academies, and they could learn from us, we can learn from them. But there’s a lot that needs to happen between now and that point.

US Ambassador to Myanmar Derek Mitchell speaks to journalists during a press conference at the US embassy in Yangon.

Photo: the IRRawaddy

quotes

—Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, speaking at the Irrawaddy Literary Festival in Yangon

—Myanmar Agriculture and Irrigation Minister Myint Hlaing during a meeting with farmers

—Lt-Gen Yawd Serk, the head of the Restoration Council of Shan State during Shan State National Day

—Vijay Nambiar, the UN secretary general’s special adviser on Myanmar, during a visit to Kachin State

“I’m from China, and I really wish the changes happening in Myanmar would happen in China too.”

—Jung Chang, author of “Wild Swans,” during the opening ceremony of the Irrawaddy Literary Festival in Yangon

“Fictional characters inspired me politically.”

“Skip a meal everyday to save money to pay back the government’s agricultural subsidies.”

“You can’t have reconciliation when you stop fighting with one group, but continue fighting with another.”

“I think there is an opportunity now for the situation of peace to be stabilized here, and everybody must take the opportunity.”

Shadows of doubt loom over Kachin peace talks

How to cross the chasm to a new Myanmar?

Myanmar’s Former Supremo Still ‘Interested in Politics’

Myanmar’s retired military leader U Than Shwe still follows domestic politics with interest but he no longer seeks any influence, said Union Solidarity and Development Party Vice-chairman U Htay

Phosphorus Used in Protest Raid, Investigation Finds

Oo. The former senior-general continues to follow Myanmar’s political transition, as he had personally planned the roadmap from military rule to quasi-civilian government and the 2015 elections, according to U Htay Oo. “Of course, he is interested in politics as he was the leader of the country. It is certain that he wants the [political] system that he established to be successful,” the USDP official said recently. Snr-Gen Than Shwe was the leader of Myanmar’s military junta from 1992 to 2011.

highly flammable chemical is often used for military purposes to illuminate areas or to create smoke. The findings sparked outrage among activists and injured protesters.

Myanmar Hosts First Intl Literary Festival

An independent investigation into a raid that injured dozens of protesters who opposed a copper mine in northwest Myanmar in November found that police shot canisters containing white phosphorus into the crowd. “Our team went to Bangkok after collecting materials from the crackdown and laboratory tests found phosphorus on it,” said U Thein Than Oo, the head of the legal committee of the Upper Myanmar Lawyers Network. The

Renowned writers from around the world met with local authors and readers in Yangon in the first week of February for Myanmar’s first-ever international literary festival. Organized under the patronage of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the English-language Irrawaddy Literary Festival brought together at least 120 local authors and about 25 international writers, including Chinese-born British author Jung Chang, Indian novelists Vikram Seth and Sudha Shah, and Irish writer and former

BBC correspondent Fergal Keane. Historian Thant Myint-U and best-selling author Pascal Khoo Thwe were among the local authors in attendance.

Myanmar, Foreign Donors Sign Aid Accord

Representatives of the international community met with President U Thein Sein in Naypyitaw on Jan. 20 to sign an agreement that outlines how hundreds of millions of dollars in donor aid will flow into Myanmar in coming years. The government and donor countries, aid agencies and international development banks signed the so-called Naypyitaw Accord, a non-binding agreement that sets out guidelines on governmentdonor cooperation. The government, for instance, agreed to maintain a

high-level dialogue with the donors about its development policies. Donors for their part agreed to “align assistance” projects with government policies in fields such as education, health and poverty reduction.

Myanmar Gets Huge Debt Relief

Foreign creditor countries in January slashed more than US $6 billion from Myanmar’s outstanding loans. Japan, Norway and several other countries cut the debt in response to the ongoing political and socio-economic reforms under President U Thein Sein. Japan cut $3.6 billion of the debt to support “democratization, national reconciliation, and economic reforms” in the country. It also provided Myanmar with bridge loans so that it could pay its arrears to the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank. In response, the banks offered Myanmar $900 million in fresh loans.

Aid to Rohingya Camps in Rakhine Blocked: Relief Group

Medical aid group Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said government forces and local leaders in Rakhine State in western Myanmar continue to block access to Rohingya Muslim camps. As a result, the displaced are suffering and at times dying from preventable diseases. MSF said in February that the villagers were being confined to sites without access to health care, clean water or sanitation. Meanwhile, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva said that thousands of people fled Rakhine State and neighboring Bangladesh in January. Since June 2012,

Photo: Reute

Photo:

Former Myanmar dictator U Than Shwe pays his respects to a Buddhist relic during a visit to Sri Lanka in 2009.

inter-communal violence between Rakhine Buddhist groups and Rohingya Muslims has flared up repeatedly, killing scores of people and displacing 110,000 villagers.

Bans on Public Gathering, Critical Speeches Lifted

President U Thein Sein in January repealed two repressive laws that were introduced during Myanmar’s previous military regime. He revoked Order No. 5/96 that was used to stifle public speeches and sentence dissidents to long terms in prison. Introduced in 1996, it provided for up to 20 years imprisonment for anyone who criticized the government in speeches or written statements. U Thein Sein also abolished Order No. 2/88, which banned

public gatherings of more than five people. This order was first promulgated on the day the military junta seized power in 1988.

New Committee to ‘Grant Liberty’ to Political Prisoners

In its first public use of the term “political prisoner,” Myanmar’s state media announced on Feb. 7 that a new committee would be formed by the President’s Office to identify political detainees “so as to grant them liberty.” The new committee, to be headed by President’s Office Minister U Soe Thane, will include government officials and representatives from civil society groups and some political parties. Since taking power nearly two years ago, President U Thein Sein

has ordered the release of thousands of prisoners, including many political detainees. According to rights groups, a total of around 236 political prisoners remain behind bars in Myanmar.

Philippines Hope Their Cardinal Could Be Pope

With attention turning from Europe to the “new” world, worshippers in the Philippines prayed

North Korea’s Nuclear Test Draws Condemnation

North Korea conducted its third nuclear test on Feb. 12 in defiance of UN resolutions, drawing condemnation from around the world. Pyongyang said the test was an act of self-defense against “US hostility” and threatened stronger steps if necessary. Its KCNA news agency said it had used a “miniaturized” and lighter nuclear device, indicating it had again used plutonium, which is suitable for use as a missile warhead. The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting at which its members, including China,

“strongly condemned” the test. US President Barack Obama said the nuclear test was a threat and a provocation. He said the US would lead the world in responding.—Reuters

quietly and took to social media in the hope their Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle might be chosen as the next leader of the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Benedict shocked the world by resigning on Feb. 11. Tagle’s close alignment to Pope Benedict could work in his favor, with the Philippines a bulwark of Catholicism in a mainly Hindu, Muslim and Buddhist region. “The Filipino cardinal, Luis Antonio Tagle, will be a long-shot but he could be considered because he is also known as a Vatican insider and a former adviser of the Pope,” said Joselito Zulueta, a Filipino journalist and analyst of church affairs. —Reuters.

Thai Marines Kill 16 Islamic Insurgents

Marines fending off a major militant assault on their base in Thailand’s violent south killed 16 insurgents in an overnight shootout on Feb. 13. It was believed to be the deadliest toll the Muslim guerrillas suffered since more than 100 died in a single day nearly a decade ago. About 50 militants wearing militarylike uniforms raided the marine corps base in Bacho district in Narathiwat Province. The marines had been tipped off by the locals and suffered no casualties. More than 5,000 people have been killed after an Islamic insurgency erupted in 2004 in Thailand’s three southernmost provinces, a Muslim-majority region in the Buddhist-dominated country.—AP

A North Korean soldier stands guard in front of the Unha-3 rocket.

Photo: R eute Rs

Traditional Oil Drilling

In the scorching midday heat of central Myanmar, dozens of families are hard at work. In the shade of tarpaulins and thatched-roof huts, workers operate old engine blocks and makeshift wooden drills in order to bring up that most coveted of energy sources: oil. The workers and their children collect the sticky crude oil in order to sell it to local refineries that use it to produce petrol and diesel. For some 250 impoverished families at Bandua Pen village in Thayet Township, Magway Region, a hilly site located on the banks of the Ayeyarwady River, this dirty, backbreaking work is a key source of income.

Photo: VIncenzo FloRamo

Myanmar’s Wild

During the last monsoon, my colleague and I were sitting in a dilapidated taxi in Yangon. Our driver was controlling the steering wheel with one hand while clearing moisture from the windshield with the other. It was raining cats and dogs but his wipers were not working, just like the vehicle’s air-conditioning.

A thick fog on the glass obscured traffic on all sides of the taxi. When we reached a roundabout, the driver handed my colleague a piece of grimy cloth to clean the glass on his side so approaching cars could be spotted. Naturally, we were terrified!

Crammed in the back, we squeezed ourselves in the middle as the windows could not be fully closed and the roof was also leaking. I came to realize that this rundown taxi driving in torrential rain with fraught passengers was the perfect metaphor for the country’s current predicament.

By KYAW ZWA MOE

In the two years since a new quasi-civilian took over the reins of power, we have seen both positive and negative events in Myanmar, causing a mix of emotions— ranging from excitement and encouragement to anger and despair—for all those who live in the country or are involved in its issues.

After a slow and uncertain start in 2011, things really started to move last year. The year began with the release in January of many prominent political activists, journalists and monks who were serving lengthy prison sentences. Former student leaders, including Ko Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi, who led the nationwide popular uprising in 1988, have since become actively engaged in social and political affairs.

A little over a year later, the government still holds some members of opposition and ethnic armed groups captive, according to human rights organizations. Only now has the government of President U Thein Sein even acknowledged the existence of political detainees in the country, with the creation of a new committee to “grant liberty to remaining political prisoners,” as the New Light of Myanmar described it on Feb. 7. It’s a welcome step, but one that should have come much earlier.

A year ago, it was still far from clear whether U Thein Sein’s tentative moves toward reform would gain momentum or falter. Opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi herself emphasized this when she made her first overseas trip in over 20 years to attend the World Economic Forum in Bangkok at the end of May. “Our success will depend on how irreversible the reform

After decades of waiting for much-needed change, it’s becoming increasingly obvious that the way forward will be far from easy

Ride to Reform

process is—on national commitment,” she said.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was not the only one voicing caution regarding the reform process, with “reform is reversible” seeming like a constant refrain. These days, however, such doubts are heard less and less.

But even as the government’s efforts to overhaul the political and economic system of the country picked up speed, a sudden obstacle very nearly threw us off the road completely. The outbreak of deadly communal violence in Rakhine State in June threatened to revive the ugly image of Myanmar as a nation of endemic strife. At least 90 people were killed in the first wave of clashes between ethnic Rakhines and Rohingya Muslims, and in October, nearly 100 more lost their lives in a cycle of violence that also left tens of thousands homeless.

Ironically, perhaps, this episode won U Thein Sein praise from many Myanmar people—the very same people who spent decades loathing all generals—when he came out on the side of the Rakhines, who regard the Rohingyas as illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh. By contrast, international rights groups condemned his government’s stance of refusing to recognize the Rohingyas as an official minority.

As for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, she received some unprecedented criticism last year for not speaking out on the Rakhine conflict or the fighting between government troops and Kachin rebels in the country’s far north. Human rights groups have condemned her silence, while others lament that she has now become a pragmatic politician.

Of course, her current role is undoubtedly different compared with when she was previously detained

under house arrest. She is now an elected MP, despite both former and current military officials maintaining their dominance in the legislature. Myanmar’s reform process is just taking off and she might want to be sure that this current trend does not reverse. Perhaps that is the “bigger picture” of her present political strategy, but is seems to have cost her international credibility to some degree.

More positively, last year saw the passing in Parliament of several bills, including a long-awaited law on foreign direct investment, that could help to revive the country’s long-term prospects. Even sensitive issues seem to have been actively debated, which is more than was originally expected from the military-dominated legislature.

But the main goal of opposition and ethnic parties—to amend the undemocratic 2008 Constitution—has been conspicuously absent from the discussion. All parliamentarians seem to understand that to raise this topic would be premature as the nominally civilian government is still, in effect, run by the powerful ex-generals.

As Myanmar’s leaders try to weave their way around all of these issues without colliding, there is a growing sense that the world’s eyes are very much upon us. It’s not just the international media that has begun to pay greater attention: other foreigners—tourists, investors and dignitaries—are also lining up to get a glimpse of this long-closed country and assess what it has to offer.

Meanwhile, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other prominent dissidents are also spending more time abroad, while many exiled activists and journalists who were once persona non grata are returning. Myanmar’s interaction with the outside world is fast accelerating

after decades of isolation, making it more difficult to retreat into its shell, or to backslide into the repressive habits of its not-so-distant past.

Nonetheless, there have been a number of disturbing incidents that have served as a reminder that the bad old days are not completely over yet. The heavy-handed crackdown on protests against the Letpadaung copper mine in Sagaing Region late last November was tragically reminiscent of the brutal crushing of the 2007 Saffron Revolution: in both cases, Buddhist monks were the chief victims of the state-sponsored violence.

The war in Kachin State is also doing enormous harm to the government’s efforts to distance itself from the practices of Myanmar’s former dictators. The use of fighter jets and attack helicopters against Kachin rebels in late December and early January represented an extremely dangerous escalation of the conflict. The indiscriminate shelling of targets near the Kachin Independence Army’s headquarters of Laiza, in some cases claiming the lives of civilians, also demonstrated a shocking disregard for the rights of ordinary citizens.

What do such offensives mean for the ceasefire attempts initiated by U Thein Sein’s peace committee? Critics wonder if the government can really control its military, or if it is in fact engaging in a “good cop, bad cop” strategy to subdue ethnic armed groups.

What is certain is that there are still many challenges on the road ahead for Myanmar, and that only real leadership and a commitment to national reconciliation will pave the way for nationwide peace and prosperity. There is undoubtedly a long way to go.

The Secretariat’s Second Chance

Some of Myanmar’s defining political moments played out here, but this old Victorian building now lies in shambles. With a little help in Yangon, it may soon get a new lease on life

By KYAW PHYO THA

A portrait of Myanmar independence leader Gen Aung San on the wall of his office at the Secretariat

all Photos: JPaIng / the IRRawaddy

Of all the colonial structures in Myanmar, few are as historically important as the Secretariat, an imposing Victorian complex beyond a barbed wire fence in downtown Yangon.

The red brick building at No. 300 Theinbyu Road served as the headquarters for the BritishBurma administration during colonial times and later for Myanmar’s independent government. It was here that independence hero Bogyoke Aung San and his colleagues were assassinated in 1947, shortly before the country became a free republic, and where many of Myanmar’s most important Parliament officials worked in the coming years.

“The Secretariat is a building of immense importance to Burmese history,” said renowned historian U Thant Myint-U, founder of the Yangon Heritage Trust, an NGO working to preserve some of the country’s century-old architecture. “It’s also one of the most beautiful buildings in Asia.”

But despite its historical significance, the 120-year-old Secretariat, like many buildings of the former capital’s colonial era, now stands in a terrible state. The complex sprawls across 16 acres of land, but foliage creeps up its crumbling domes, weather has worn down the ornate turrets and boards now cover up the windows.

With a broken clock tower at the main entrance, the Secretariat’s edifice takes the appearance of a giant one-eyed Cyclops, gazing out idly at a city that has rushed quickly into the future—at newly minted cars driving down the road and foreign businesses rushing in—as Myanmar opens up to the world after nearly 50 years of isolation.

A second lease on life

A lack of development under the military regime left entire streets of old buildings untouched in Yangon, creating one of the world’s best preserved colonial cityscapes today. In need of renovation, however, this architectural legacy has come under threat of demolishment recently, after a nominally civilian government took power in 2011 and more tourists began flooding into the country.

For a time, Myanmar’s Tourism Promotion Board weighed the option of turning the derelict Secretariat into a hotel, but the idea was met with public outcry.

The buildings of the Secretariat stand out against the background of Yangon’s modern urban skyline.

Now, as its façade continues to crumble, the Secretariat may soon see a second lease on life. Last year, an organization of artists and art collectors won rights from the Myanmar Investment Commission to restore the building’s architecture and preserve it in the long term as a historical museum and cultural center.

The art organization, Anawmar Group, first became interested in the old colonial building for its historical significance and rich architectural value. Daw Le Yee Soe, the group’s director, said the organization planned to open a new art and history museum along with an art library, and to organize other activities related to Myanmar’s traditional arts.

Through the decades

After the 1962 military coup, the former Secretariat became the Ministers’ Office, a function it served until the military regime suddenly moved its administrative capital in 2005 to Naypyidaw, a city built on shrubland about 200 miles north of Yangon.

The complex has been neglected ever since, despite its placement on the Yangon City Heritage List for more than 15 years. Until the handover to Anawmar Group last year, the building was used as a temporary camp for security troops that were occasionally deployed downtown.

Inside the western wing of the complex, a wooden stairway near the main entrance leads to a room upstairs where assassins gunned down Bogyoke Aung San, the independence leader and father of democracy icon Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, during a meeting in 1947.

The room has changed much over the past six decades. Once filled with meeting tables and chairs for politicians, the space has been transformed into a prayer hall with a Buddhist shrine on the far east wall. The only reminder of the tragic day 66 years ago is a portrait of the national hero hanging above a cupboard.

“Maybe the room was converted into a prayer hall to wipe away the

bad luck here,” a visitor said when The Irrawaddy toured the site last month.

Walking beneath the collapsed ceiling, the reek of crumbled brick and rotting wood assaults the senses. Pigeon droppings are scattered along a corridor.

Outside, the old Parliament building stands in a weed-choked courtyard near the north wing of the complex. In stark contrast to the Parliament’s current headquarters in Naypyidaw, this small one-story brick building has the appearance of a country cottage.

Daw Le Yee Soe said Anawmar Group plans to begin the restoration project on the southern wing, though it is currently waiting for approval from the Yangon municipality. The project’s first phase, on the southern wing, the former Parliament building and two other wings, will take about a year and a half to complete, she said.

The art group collaborated with the Yangon Heritage Trust to conduct a detailed technical study of possible renovation methods and options for the building’s use.

“We brought in top international experts, drew on excellent existing work by Burmese officials and scholars, and closely consulted with Anawmar Group and others,” U Thant Myint-U said in late January. “The study is now complete and will be publicly shared within a week or two.”

Daw Le Yee Soe said she could not yet provide an exact opening date for the museum and cultural center, saying the project would continue step by step.

“Our first priority is to open the historical museum, which will include Gen Aung San’s office and the room where he was assassinated,” she said. “We’re going to restore the office and the room to their former status. We hope to open the museum next year, as soon as possible.”

Interior

that this historic site remains a striking feature of Yangon’s urban landscape despite decades of neglect.

and exterior views of the Secretariat show

Southeast Asia at the Heart of Football Matchfixing Scandal

The region’s gambling houses help organized crime gangs to generate huge profits from international match-fixing

By PAul CArSTEn / rEuTErS

Gambling houses in Southeast Asia form the foundation for organized crime gangs to generate huge profits from sports matchfixing, according to Chris Eaton, exFIFA head of security and director of Qatar’s International Centre for Sport Security.

European police shone a spotlight on the region on Feb. 3 when they announced a Singapore-based syndicate had directed match-fixing for at least 380 soccer games in Europe alone, making at least US $11 million.

The number paled in comparison to the gang’s profiteering in Asia, Eaton told Reuters in a telephone interview.

“It’s infinitesimal compared to what was made in the Asian market. You can probably multiply that by a hundred,” he said.

The known cases of match-fixing occurred mostly in the West, but the real profits for the syndicates were in Southeast Asia, where the size of the gambling market completely dwarfed that of Europe.

The region’s lax regulation coupled with the sheer scale of the betting

market made it far more attractive to people wanting to manipulate it, such as those accused of match-fixing by Europol.

Gone were the movie images of people entering smoke-filled rooms with bags of money and betting slips. Today’s gambling institutions most closely resembled international finance, with its banking, derivative trading and commodities trading, according to Eaton, a former Interpol operations manager.

“It’s all done with algorithms and machines, almost like any commodity house in the U.S. or London. The three largest houses each transact $2 billion a week - a hell of a lot of money.”

To put this into perspective, Eaton said this sum could purchase four international-standard hospitals or pay for a thousand police officers for a year.

Although recent matchfixing scandals have struck South Korea , China and Italy , corruption in football has long been a global problem.

Eaton believes the real facilitator of this is the opportunity it provides

to commit betting fraud and the susceptibility of the Southeast Asian betting market, where most betting fraud is committed.

“If you don’t focus on betting fraud, then you won’t be able to properly address sport corruption. Sport corruption is borne of betting fraud - it’s a cycle” he said.

“It could just as well be betting on tiddlywinks, or on flies crawling up a wall.”

Eaton said that, instead of governments and agencies targeting betting, they targeted corruption in the sport itself, which was simply a means to an end.

“There’s no will to regulate gambling houses in Southeast Asia. There’s a lack of commitment. Their responsibility isn’t just to attract business but to properly regulate business,” said Eaton.

“This is bigger than Coca-Cola, which is a trillion a year. This is a global economy, a growing global economy, and it needs to be regulated and supervised, and governments aren’t doing this.”

Italy was one of the major targets of the match-fixers identified by European police forces, despite having what Eaton considers to be one of the best gambling regulators in Europe

The international nature of the betting frauds meant the Italian authorities’ supervision ultimately amounted to little when deterring corruption in sport.

Eaton estimates that 30 percent of all gambling on sports in Italy goes through registered Italian bookmakers. The other 70 percent is unregistered, often channeled through Southeast Asian websites.

“If they focused on transparency in gambling houses in Southeast Asia, being able to see who did what, when and how, this alone would have a major effect on addressing the issues of sport corruption,” he said.

“You have under-regulated, greyarea gambling where the regulators are not really serious, transparency rules are not to best practice and government oversight is almost nonexistent.”

This “grey area” gambling lies between legal betting and “black area” gambling, which Eaton identifies as illegal, cash-based betting with a trusted clientele known to the bookmakers.

The grey gambling market’s lack of oversight undermined the efforts of countries such as South Korea, where 41 players from its K-League were banned for life by FIFA for match-

fixing, and authorities have allied with sports agencies and police to combat the corruption.

“The grey-area betting businesses, particularly out of Manila , are the biggest concern to us. We don’t know enough about them and the government has an under-regulated environment,” said Eaton.

“It’s almost impossible to measure how they do business and what weaknesses they have that allow organized crime to take advantage of them.”

The three largest gambling houses in Asia, IBCBET, SBOBET and 188BET, are all in Manila in the Philippines . Eaton describes their operations as “very opaque” and said what was known of them came purely from talking to people familiar with their workings, as there was no government record.

Their huge profits made them ideal for exploitation by organized crime syndicates. These online businesses operated as an exchange, rather than a traditional risk-taking bookmakers which would bet against the gambler themselves.

Instead they took a commission and farmed out the bets to bookmakers around the world, seeking to make slightly more than a one percent turnover, according to Eaton.

“They’re turning over so much money the organized crime is almost invisible to them,” he said.

Because the bookmakers were the ones taking on the risk, there was little incentive for the Manila-based exchanges to work against matchfixing.

The match-fixers were also able to exploit the gambling house system by writing computer programs to place hundreds of bets at the house’s maximum limit in a matter of seconds, mostly while the rigged matches were still being played.

Typically this occurred late in the game, to lessen the odds of alerting the gambling house to the fraud.

“These are very sophisticated frauds. They’re not very easy to disguise, so the fixers have to time it in such a way as to get it past the houses,” said Eaton.

Eaton believes that until governments and authorities work to close these lucrative channels of profit for organized crime, match-fixing will continue to be a global problem for all sports.

A view of local and foreign casinos in Macau

The Battle for

for Laiza

Left: Two young KIA soldiers defend Hkaya Bum outpost on Jan. 20, 2013

Top: A KIA soldier uses a scope to view Tatmadaw forces. Middle: KIA troops ride a pickup truck to the front line. Bottom: A KIA soldier smokes while keeping an eye on Tatmadaw troop movements.

all Photos: steVe tIckneR / the IRRawaddy

LAIZA, Kachin State — Nestled in a narrow river valley in northern Myanmar, Laiza looks like any other sleepy rural town at first. A small stream divides the Kachin settlement in two and demarcates the Myanmar-China border. On the other side, China’s red national flag flies over many of the buildings.

In mid-January, shops here were open and people calmly went about their daily business; some warmed themselves in the sun after a cold night in the mountain town. But closer inspection quickly revealed that it was the center of a conflict zone; many inhabitants carried weapons, schools were closed and some families were packing up and leaving.

Laiza is home to the headquarters of the Kachin Independence Army

By STEvE TiCKnEr

(KIA) and its political wing the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO). It was developed as an administrative and commercial center for rebel-controlled parts of Kachin State following the KIO’s 1994 ceasefire with Myanmar’s central government.

The Kachin, a largely Christian minority of around 1.3 million people, have fought a decades-long rebellion against the government over their demands for political autonomy within a federal system and better protection of ethnic groups’ rights in the Constitution. Naypyitaw has rejected these demands and seeks full control over economic interests, such as jade mining and hydropower dams, in the state.

The festering disagreements led to growing tensions that were further exacerbated by the KIA’s refusal in 2010

COver StOry

From January until early February, The Irrawaddy’s Steve Tickner covered the escalating battle between the Myanmar government and Kachin rebels around the town of Laiza. He recounts how key events unfolded

to join a Border Guard Force under government command. In June 2011, the ceasefire collapsed and the KIA and Myanmar’s military— also called the Tatmadaw—went to war.

In mid-December 2012 the war escalated and the Tatmadaw began deploying helicopter gunships and jet fighters to attack Kachin rebel positions in the forested, low-lying mountains. The military made significant advances and by mid-January its forces made a concerted push to encircle Laiza and bring its artillery within firing range of the town.

This was the situation when I arrived in Laiza. Yet, the townspeople remained calm in the face of the looming threat. But as I sat down for a bowl of noodles at around 8 am on a sunny but cool morning on Jan. 14, a heavy thud suddenly rocked central Laiza, followed by another one about one minute later.

The Tatmadaw had fired two artillery shells into a central Laiza’s Hka Chyang quarter. The first round struck several civilians warming themselves around a fire. As I rushed to the nearby scene, I could

Above: A KIA soldier at Hkaya Bum outpost fires down the mountain at attacking Tatmadaw forces.

Far left: A KIA soldier holds a captured Tatmadaw assault rifle during fighting at the Hkaya Bum outpost.

Left: Three KIA soldiers carry the body of a soldier in the trenches of the Hkaya Bum outpost.

see that the victims were only meters from a recently dug bunker when the shell exploded.

Nhkum Bawk Naw, a man his 50s, who was standing around the fire at the time of the explosion, was fatally injured. His wife Nang Zing Roi Ji sustained severe shrapnel wounds to her back. Sau Nam, 38, and her twoyear-old son Jang Ma Bawk San, were less seriously injured.

“I heard a whooshing sound of an incoming shell, grabbed my child and threw myself to the ground. Then there was a large explosion and a lot of smoke and dust,” Sau Nam recalled later at Laiza’s small hospital.

The second shell exploded near a wooden house, killing elderly church deacon Malang Yaw Htung and a 15-year-old boy named Hpauyu La.

A 10-year-old girl Langjaw Nu Ja was seriously injured in her lower body.

The incident drew reactions from international rights groups and Western countries, but the Tatmadaw remained silent on the events. President U Thein Sein’s spokesman U Ye Htut denied that the military was involved in the incident.

In spite of such unsettling events, the people of Laiza remained remarkably calm. There was no panic or mass evacuation, although business was

clearly muted. Mayor Naw Awn showed a stoic confidence in an interview following the first-ever direct attack on his town.

“We were prepared because the Myanmar side had warned they would do this,” he said. “We have educated the townspeople how to behave and stay safe.” After two years, we are used to war so really there isn’t too much effect or fear,” the mayor added.

Despite this composed reaction among the besieged Kachin in Laiza, I later learned how deep such incidents cut into their lives.

The killed teenager Hpauyu La was a student at Laiza High School and his two close friends in class 9A, Nkhum Tu Shan, 18, and Hpauyam Doi Bu, 15, described him as a popular, enthusiastic student.

“He loved listening to music, and he enjoyed singing and playing his guitar,” Tu Shan said during an interview on Feb.1. “He was a good, kind person who would always support his friends when they had troubles,” added Doi Bu.

“When Hpauy La died I and his other friends felt very bad as we were all close,” said Doi Bu, adding that Hpauy La’s father had died from illness last year and his mother and sister had now fled to China.

After a while Tu Shan revealed that he not only lost his best friend that week, but also a family member. “My father was killed in an air attack by the

Myanmar army on [the KIA’s] Hkaya Bum outpost on Jan. 16,” he said with great sadness.

After the incident, Laiza sustained no more attacks. But continuous government air and artillery assaults on rebel posts less than 6 miles (10 km) away created a rumbling sound in the town, like a distant thunder, providing the civilians with a constant reminder of the nearby war.

While the fighting terrified Laiza’s civilians, violence also engulfed other parts of Kachin. Across the state at least 75,000 villagers were displaced by the war and live in camps, according to UN estimates.

On Jan. 15, I made the first of several visits to the frontline in the Lajayang area and to the strategically important Hkaya Bum mountain top. Both areas were key defense positions for the KIA, a lightly-armed force of several thousand fighters.

On my visit to Naw Hpyu post that day jet aircraft could be seen pounding Hkaya Bum outpost just a few miles away, while an occasional artillery shell would fall on the range we occupied and sporadic gunfire drifted up from the valley below.

In the following days the Myanmar government would attack—and eventually conquer—several KIA posts guarding Lajayang, a hilly area at the end of a narrow river valley that forms a southern gateway to Laiza.

Above left: A KIA soldier returns to a trench after close fighting with the Tatmadaw. Above right: A KIA soldier throws a hand grenade at attacking forces at Hkaya Bum outpost. Left: KIA troops use motorcycles to travel between Laiza and the front line.

COver StOry

During a visit to these positions on Jan. 16 and 17, there was an air of expectancy amongst the dug-in KIA soldiers since there had been no government attack for days. As they waited smoke rose up in the distance, where Tatmadaw soldiers were reportedly torching Nalung village.

The rebels—a mix of young and older men, equipped with plastic helmets, KIA-made automatic assault rifles and captured Tatmadaw guns—were calm. They seemed accustomed to the brutal attack methods that the Myanmar military had deployed since late December.

“Artillery is used first, then ground forces, and occasionally air support in the form of jet fighters and helicopter strafing,” Lt La Din told me. “It was difficult during the first two weeks because the KIA was not used to air attacks.”

In the late afternoon of Jan. 17, the Tatmadaw began its attacks on the Lajayang area with a prolonged artillery barrage. I dropped back behind the frontline at Upper Lajayang village and heard up to six 105-mm and 120-mm shells explode per minute for several hours.

The next morning on Jan. 18, after a sustained overnight attack, these outposts had fallen to the Tatmadaw and the KIA soldiers had retreated a few miles down the road to Laiza. The southern ground approach to the town was now difficult to defend for the rebels.

While the Tatmadaw attacked the Lajayang area it had also launched

ferocious air, artillery and ground assaults on the Hkaya Bum mountain top outposts. But despite the heavy bombardments the KIA held out.

The government nonetheless announced on the evening of Friday Jan. 18 that all military operations had ceased as its strategic targets had been conquered.

The fact that the KIA had held Hkaya Bum perhaps surprised the government, which appeared to have planned the ceasefire announcement ahead of an important meeting with international donor countries on Jan. 19-20. Despite the government’s public promises, Tatmadaw assaults on Hkaya Bum would not end, although air attacks ceased.

A visit to the mountaintop position on Jan. 19 revealed that sporadic gunfire and mortar shelling continued that day. KIA soldiers made use of the relative calm to uncover three of their comrades, who had been buried alive when their bunker sustained a direct hit from an airstrike a day before.

The next day, Jan. 20, a large number of Tatmadaw ground forces launched a frontal assault on KIA positions on the mountaintop.

In the trenches there, I witnessed the Kachin soldiers taking regular casualties and two injured rebels were dragged to the safety of a dug-out bunker.

Yet, in the heat of the conflict they seemed almost casual. Some threw hand

grenades, while another admonished his fellow fighter for shooting without aiming properly, saying “You should shoot better; otherwise they will laugh at us.”

Despite the KIA’s apparent resilience, the continuous attacks— from early Jan. 20 throughout the night until the afternoon the next day— proved too much for the rebels. “We relinquished our Hkaya Bum positions to avoid further loss of soldiers,” Col Zaw Tawng told me on Jan. 21.

Now, the Myanmar military held full control over the mountains around Laiza as well as the southern ground approach to the town. The KIA head-

quarters and the Kachin town—where some 20,000 residents and another 15,000 displaced civilians had sought refuge—were vulnerable to Tatmadaw attacks.

It was only then that the heavy fighting ceased. Sporadic clashes continued but the KIA began to consolidate their last remaining defense positions on the outskirts of Laiza, the town that had been its stronghold since 1994.

With the government’s negotiating position strengthened and the KIA’s defense situation weakened, government peace negotiator U Aung Min and

Above: The body of a KIA soldier lies on the edge of a crater after an aerial bomb struck the bunker he was sheltering in on Jan. 17.

Far left: A nurse treats a soldier’s shrapnel wounds at the KIA Military Hospital Left: A young woman comforts Malang Yaw Htung, a mortally injured church deacon, as he is taken to Laiza General Hospital.

COver StOry

senior KIO leaders agreed to meet on Feb. 4 in the Chinese border town of Ruili in Yunnan Province.

In the presence of Chinese observers, the parties agreed to schedule more ceasefire talks before the end of February. The KIO insisted that further

political dialogue with the government should include all 11 ethnic militias in Myanmar, who are allied in the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC).

It was also decided that the UN and international relief agencies would be allowed to provide aid to all displaced

Kachin civilians, including to the approximately 45,000 displaced in rebelcontrolled areas. The government had so far prevented international aid from reaching these areas.

President U Thein Sein’s spokesman U Ye Htut said the long-standing demands of the KIO and the UNFC— political autonomy for minority regions and amending the 2008 Constitution— would be discussed at the upcoming meeting, but he added that political issues would ultimately have to be resolved at a later stage.

“We also have to discuss these issues with other ethnic armed groups. As the President [U Thein Sein] said, inclusive meetings will be held with the Parliament, the political parties and the civil society groups in the future,” he said when pressed about a political solution to the Kachin conflict. (See the next page for more on the government’s position on the conflict.)

Neither the government or the KIO have revealed how many casualties they sustained during the conflict.

If a ceasefire agreement is reached, the Kachin would join Myanmar’s 10 other major rebel militias, which already have such agreements with Naypyitaw. Yet, the recent conflict has done much to undermine the other groups’ trust in the government’s commitment to peace with Burma’s minorities.

The Kachin conflict, nonetheless, seems far from over, as it remains unclear how a political solution can be reached, while the KIA—despite their recent losses—remain a confident fighting force.

During the fighting around Laiza the rebels frequently stated with calm defiance that if they lost their base, KIA units would simply escape through the forested mountains that they know so well, in order to regroup and fight another day.

“Even if we lose Laiza we would continue to fight for the Kachin people. We don’t choose only one strategy in our revolutionary journey,” KIO joint secretary La Nan said on Jan. 22, shortly after the loss of key Kachin defense posts.

As I left Laiza on Feb. 5 it indeed seemed as if the Kachin rebels were quietly adapting to a new phase in the long-running conflict with government, raising the question whether anyone gained anything from the bloody battle for Laiza.

Top: A young boy washes in a small stream at Je Yeng IDP camp, where children struggle with dysentery and skin conditions.

Center: Central Laiza

Bottom: Residents make their way through the Je Yeng IDP camp outside Laiza.

‘We Do Not Have Any Plans to Fight’

Myanmar Deputy Information Minister U Ye Htut serves as spokesperson for President U Thein Sein. In an interview with The Irrawaddy’s reporter Nyein Nyein on Feb. 11 he explained the government’s position on the Kachin conflict, current ceasefire talks and the accusations of rights abuses by the Myanmar military.

What is the current status of the ceasefire talks, and what are the key issues?

As stated on the joint-statement between the KIO [Kachin Independence Organization] and the government, we will meet again before the end of February. And we are also having talks with UNFC [United Nationalities Federal Council, an alliance of ethnic groups]. ... The meetings will focus on the political dialogue, but the ceasefire talks will be included as these issues are all related.

The KIO demands political autonomy within a federal system and amending the Constitution so that it specifies ethnic groups’ rights. Will the government consider these demands?

We have said that these matters will be on our agenda when we hold political talks. Not only with the KIO, but we also have to discuss these issues with other ethnic armed groups. As the President [U Thein Sein] said, inclusive meetings will be held with the Parliament, the political parties and the civil society groups in the future. … The government and the Tatmadaw are ready to work together with all the groups to achieve genuine peace

The government said it would allow the UN to help all displaced Kachin civilians, including those staying in KIO-controlled areas.

When can they start distributing aid there?

They are now discussing which places to go, the ways to those areas and the security situation on the ground. I am just aware that they are still negotiating it, but not in detail.

The fighting has largely ceased near Laiza but the Myanmar military controls key positions around it. What will happen now to the town, will it remain under KIO administration?

Laiza is currently under the KIO administration and we do not have plans to take control of it. We do not have any plans to fight. Now the situation is stable there.

Will the government reveal how many casualties the military sustained during the Kachin conflict?

No. At the moment, we would rather publicize information related to the peace-building process than mention the number of causalities. We do not intend to cast blame for, or bring up past incidents.

What do you say to accusations that Tatmadaw soldiers have committed human rights abuses in Kachin State, such as raping Kachin women?

I am also a military man. There are sections in the [Military] Act to take effective and strong actions against those perpetrators in the Tatmadaw, who commit such abuses against women. Such abuses are not acceptable in our Tatmadaw and neither for the government. If the victim complains about a case we will investigate at all times, and if the cases are found to be genuine we will take action against them [soldiers]. So, it is wrong to state that such rape against women is used as a [military] policy. We do not have such policy.

Concerns have been raised about civilian casualties in the Kachin conflict, in some cases involving the Myanmar military. Is this something you are concerned about?

I think it is unfair to say this. We’re not targeting civilians. There have also been civilian casualties caused by bomb explosions. Many civilians, including engineers returning home from the hydropower plant on the Myitkyina-Sumprabum-Putao Road, and on the Hpakant Road, have died this way. Everybody knows that these attacks were carried out by the [Kachin Independence Army]. In another bomb blast, orphans were killed. But such news is not widely discussed. In the case of the casualties [of the Laiza shelling], we have said that we did not shell them. It’s not clear who did. There are also armed soldiers going around in Laiza. It needs to be confirmed whether this was caused by an accident, a bomb, or artillery. Without knowing this for sure, it’s not fair to rush to accuse us.

By SiMOn rOuGHnEEn

Women

KACHIN STATE—At a Kachin Independence Army (KIA) checkpoint, 13 women take turns keeping watch as traffic winds up and down the road to Laiza, the town below where the rebel armed group makes its headquarters.

Seng Mai, a 20-year-old from the government-controlled Kachin State capital, Myitkyina, joined the KIA’s quartermaster department three years ago before moving to this checkpoint.

“It’s better here; I have more friends,” she says, laughing and waving off the banter from nearby colleagues in the cramped two-room quarters.

Tensions have been high recently in these hills, where the Myanmar Army started deploying fighter jets and helicopter gunships to attack KIA positions after Christmas, 18 months into the renewed war in the northern region.

Although President U Thein Sein called for a ceasefire in January and both sides have agreed to deescalate military tensions, clashes have continued on the ground as the KIA calls for political talks to discuss its goals: greater autonomy from the national government and an end to alleged rights abuses.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy in late December, Seng Mai motioned toward where Myanmar Army forces had recently shelled KIA outposts several miles away, and where they launched helicopter gunship strikes days earlier as fighter jets flew over Laiza and nearby refugee camps.

The Myanmar Army, the KIA and other ethnic minority militias have been accused in the past of recruiting child soldiers. The KIA says it takes in children who are younger than 18 from troubled families, educates them and trains them, but, as with female KIA members, does not send them to fight.

“When we hear the explosions, we head for the bunkers,” Seng Mai said, pointing to a rock face behind the checkpoint.

Lu Tawng’s story is somewhat different. Also 20 years old and from Putao, in the northern reaches of this northernmost region of Myanmar, she joined the KIA six years ago. After working in the militia’s propaganda unit, she moved to this all-female checkpoint, which looks out across a valley to mountains in China.

“Sometimes the soldiers are stubborn,” she says of the male

Female rebel soldiers, nurses and mothers share their stories as a long-running conflict continues in Myanmar’s northernmost state

all Photos aboVe: sImon Roughneen

at War

KIA troops who pass through the checkpoint.

For Kachin women who encounter the Myanmar Army, the outcome can be much worse.

In October 2011, Sumlut Roi Ja was arrested by government soldiers while farming near her village at Hkai Bang, close to the China border. Last spotted through binoculars by the KIA and family members inside a Myanmar Army camp soon after the abduction, she is now presumed dead.

Other women are victims of sexual violence. In May last year, a 48-year-old Kachin woman was gang raped inside a church by government soldiers near the fighting flashpoint around the town of Pangwa, also near the China border.

And this December, two women were injured—one severely—by Myanmar Army shelling near the strategically important region of Lajayang.

Caring for the wounded is a job for Mwi Hpu Lubu, a 20-year-old student nurse at Laiza’s hospital.

“I have treated several people injured by shooting and bombing, people blown up by mines, soldiers all covered in blood,” she says.

Also at the hospital, 28-year-old

Kaw Mai looks tired but happy while cradling her day-old baby.

cradling her day-old baby.

“We don’t have a name for her yet,” she says, looking down at the infant.

Kaw Mai has spent more than 18 months in Wai Chyai camp for internally displaced persons, after fleeing a Myanmar Army advance on her home village, Mai Sat Pa.

It will be tough to nurse a baby back at the camp, she says, after she leaves the hospital in four to five days. “Life has to go on as best we can,” she says with a shrug.

But for some women, personal lives are secondary to the Kachin cause.

“I want to spend at least three more years with the KIA before I try to get married,” says soldier Seng Mai.

she says, looking down at the infant. Kaw Mai has spent more than sacrifices: She

As for Lu Tawng, there are other sacrifices: She misses her family.

“In the six years since I joined the KIA, I have never gone back home once,” she says, smiling.

During my most recent visit to Myanmar in November, I finally had an opportunity to do something I had tried and failed to do during my four previous trips last year: meet the man who once inspired fear in both ordinary people and members of the former junta alike.

I met U Khin Nyunt at a religious ceremony, of all places. The encounter was arranged through a mutual

Meeting the

The Irrawaddy’s founding editor of the former regime’s most

By AunG

acquaintance who hadn’t told the former spymaster that I would be there. When he saw me, he looked as if he had just spotted a ghost. Right away, he said: “I am not a butcher. I didn’t kill anyone. I didn’t put anyone in prison.”

His words were a reaction to an episode of “Dateline Irrawaddy,” a weekly program produced by The Irrawaddy for broadcast by the Democratic Voice of Burma. In the episode, we had discussed his past role as head of the dreaded military intelligence unit, along with his subsequent ouster from power in 2004, and his recent remarks about wanting to return to national politics after more than seven years under house arrest.

When he saw me in November, he quickly denied any intention of going back into politics. “I will devote my time to religious and humanitarian missions,” the 73-year-old said repeatedly, waving his hand as if to dispel a nasty rumor.

Regarding his days as one of the most feared men in Myanmar, he also repeated himself. “I didn’t torture people or put people in prison,” he said. “But in the military, we have to follow orders.”

I found this last statement interesting, as he seemed to be implying that he had merely acted as an obedient soldier taking orders from superiors during his years as the third-most powerful member of the regime that seized power in 1988. At the height of his influence, only two other generals were more powerful: junta strongman Snr-Gen Than Shwe and his deputy, Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye. Both still hold considerable sway over the military and politics, despite retiring in 2011.

It was no secret, however, that U Khin Nyunt once coveted the top spot in the junta that ruled Myanmar for more than two decades. As a protégé of the late dictator U Ne Win, U Khin Nyunt quickly assumed a prominent role in the military council that seized

power in September 1988 after crushing nationwide pro-democracy protests. His appointment as secretary of the State Law and Order Restoration Council, which later became the State Peace and Development Council, displeased its other members, however, due to his background as an intelligence officer. Rivalry between infantry and intelligence factions remained a source of tension throughout his tenure.

There was no questioning his ambition to become the eyes and ears of the regime. He seemed intent on knowing everything about everybody—something I experienced firsthand.

In the early 1990s, I was added to the list of those deemed a threat to state stability because of my regular columns for the Bangkok-based daily The Nation and my “underground” journal, The Irrawaddy. In 1994, I learned from a Thai journalist colleague that U Khin Nyunt’s intelligence unit had asked a visiting Thai army chief to arrest me. I went into hiding for several months.

Eventually, the Thais caught up with me—or at least they thought they did. When a Burmese intelligence officer flew to the Thai capital to examine the Aung Zaw detained there, however, he went away disappointed: The person in custody was another Burmese man who happened to share my name. He was charged with illegal entry and deported.

But in November, finally face to face with me, U Khin Nyunt spoke only of his devotion to Buddhism and his desire to see his former subordinates released from prison, something that seems unlikely to happen anytime soon, at least judging from conversations I’ve had with former senior army officers in Naypyidaw. Many of these officers have told me it’s “not the time yet” to free former military intelligence agents who kept extensive dossiers on all the ruling generals. Some of them even believe that U Khin Nyunt should still be under lock and key.

Spymaster

finds himself face to face with one most powerful and feared men

AunG ZAW G ZAW

One retired major general gave me a sense of how deeply the infantry officers distrusted U Khin Nyunt and his underlings. The general said he always carried two pistols, even while working in the war office, when the spy chief was still a member of the ruling junta. When I asked why, he replied: “To defend myself,” leaving me to guess whom he felt threatened by.

During our meeting, U Khin Nyunt barely touched the food in front of him as he spoke about his time as a prisoner of the repressive regime he helped create. It was October 2004 when his elaborate intelligence apparatus was dismantled, shortly after he was removed from power and detained on charges of insubordination and corruption. “I was just a prisoner. We had nothing,” he told me of his years under house arrest. His wife, Daw Khin Win Shwe, sat next to him, nodding.

He said the family’s only regular source of income under house arrest was from selling orchids. When that wasn’t enough, they also sold personal belongings—mostly expensive items acquired during trips abroad.

Even at his lowest point, however, he never lost his wry sense of humor. When he and his wife were taken to Insein Prison in 2005 and a kangaroo court gave him a 44-year suspended sentence, he sarcastically said: “Thank you very much.”

But he didn’t take his new status as a victim of the regime lightly. Speaking in a rising voice, he told me about being cut off from the outside world, with only state-run media to keep him informed. “We had no telephone, no satellite TV, no Internet,” he said. Only after four years was he allowed to receive a visitor, his former mentor U Tint Swe, who had served as a minister under U Ne Win.

In keeping with his new, more spiritual outlook, U Khin Nyunt blamed his misfortune on bad karma from a past life, although most people in Myanmar

would probably say he hasn’t even gotten what he deserved for his crimes in this life.

When I asked him if he thought he was the victim of a power struggle between the army and intelligence factions in the former regime, he waved the suggestion away, saying there was no such division. Before he could say more, his wife told him to be quiet.

During our more than hour-long conversation, he never criticized those who reduced him to his current humble circumstances. Others, however, are not so forgiving toward the generals who ruled Myanmar with an iron fist for so many years, destroying countless lives and dragging the country into poverty and international disgrace. Some of the innocent victims of military rule say that U Khin Nyunt and his former boss U Than Shwe should both apologize for the enormous harm they’ve done to the country—but nobody really expects that to ever happen, since Burma’s rulers have no tradition of showing contrition for their abuses of power.

Far from showing concern for the effects of his own misdeeds, U Khin Nyunt seemed, despite his apparent equanimity in the face of his fall from grace, more preoccupied with the injustices done to him. I felt that he still seethed with anger at the man who orchestrated this fall, who now enjoys a comfortable retirement in Naypyidaw, where he peacefully passes his time reading his favorite books. But he would never express this anger because U Than Shwe is, by all accounts, still very keenly aware of what is going on in the country since he handed power over to President U Thein Sein, who, like many others, still regularly pays obeisance to him. As U Htay Oo, the vice chairman of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party, told me of the man who founded the party: “He was always a very strategic think, and still is.”

After spending a year trying to talk with U Khin Nyunt, I realized after our meeting that he was still as elusive as ever—and with good reason. For I knew that if he had opened up and said everything on his mind, there would have been hell to pay—not just for him, but also for those who have yet to atone for what they have done to Myanmar and its people.

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look East, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

Has Myanmar’s opposition leader given up on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations?

By MYinT THin

It’s rather odd that Myanmar’s democracy icon Daw Aung Sang Suu Kyi is not remotely connected to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). Over the past few months, the only thing she has said about the bloc was that she wished to see her country “overtaking” it. But she has not elaborated on this remark, which raises questions about her understanding of Asean and its significance.

Since becoming a politician by winning big in last April’s by-elections, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has spent a great deal of time traveling the world, particularly the Western half of it. Although she also made some stops in India, Thailand and South Korea, she has yet to tour the Asean countries. In this connection, it will be interesting to watch her role next year when Myanmar becomes chair of the bloc.

Looking back, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi did show some interest in engaging with Asean at one time. She agreed in mid-July 1995 to meet Yangon-based Asean diplomats, but that meeting was canceled after Myanmar’s ruling junta complained to the host, Brunei. And so she experienced her first disappointment with Asean.

Subsequently, she wrote a letter to the Asean foreign ministers asking them not to support the totalitarian regime by granting it membership in the bloc. Unfortunately, her letter was sidelined because it had not been submitted through a proper diplomatic channel.

Just months earlier, in June 1995, Myanmar had expressed interest in

joining Asean and signing the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, while also becoming an observer as the first step to joining the bloc. The international community, like Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, called on Asean to forbid Myanmar from joining due political oppression and human rights violations under the military regime, but Asean went ahead anyway, admitting Myanmar in 1997 along with Laos.

This decision strained relations between Asean and its dialogue partners from the West, and overall cooperation was hampered. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s freedom and democracy in Myanmar became a focal point of Asean relations with the West. Economic sanctions were imposed on Myanmar throughout its membership, including some affecting privileges from Asean’s economic agreements with the West. Myanmar also shied away from hosting the Asean chair in 2005, citing domestic conditions and unpreparedness.

Over the past two years, these nightmares have passed. Myanmar has been active within the bloc, trying hard to catch up in all three pillars of the Asean Community, including economic, political/security and social/cultural pillars. The country’s government agencies and officials are acquainting themselves with the bloc’s various protocols, procedures and key issues, while also receiving training from Asean experts to become the chair next year. But somehow, the opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), still doesn’t

know where to begin. As its leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi should have led the way, but she hasn’t yet shown any eagerness to connect with Asean.

Her supporters in Asean, including several close friends who previously campaigned tirelessly for her freedom, are asking why this is so. They all wish to see her reconciled with Asean, promoting the grouping’s democratic space and engagement with civil society. As a legislator, she could make a difference as Asean becomes a single community in the next few years. She could link to the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus, which has fought for her freedom and continues to speak out on human rights violations inside the country.

Her informal region-wide networks would also be useful in drumming up support to ensure that Asean becomes a truly people-driven community. It is interesting to note that during her incarceration, whenever Aseanbased civil society organizations held meetings, they would ask Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to speak a few words, gracing their meetings with insight and inspiration. Numerous videos were made in secret and smuggled out to these meetings. Those days are gone, as are these once cherished relations.

Asean member countries need a charismatic leader with moral authority to engage with each other and with the international community. As a Nobel Peace laureate and a symbol of democracy throughout the world, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi could easily fulfill this role. If she so desires, she can also help strengthen democratic institutions within Asean. All she needs to do now is turn her attention to the East.

Myint Thin is a Myanmar pseudonym for a veteran Thai journalist residing in Yangon. His regular column, “Across Irrawaddy,” appears every Wednesday on www. irrawaddy.org.

Standing Up for Kayin State

She’s building an international reputation and has already scored a meeting with US President Barack Obama, but for Kayin activist Naw Susanna Hla Hla Soe, the focus is local

By ZArni MAnn

As the terrifying scent of gunpowder continues to fade, Kayin State is beginning to rebuild after decades of civil war.

A global spotlight has fallen on Myanmar as the international community watches to see how President Thein Sein’s political and economic reforms unfold after decades of military rule. But in southeastern Kayin State, one humanitarian activist is calling for a greater emphasis on local development, specifically with efforts to educate and empower women.

“If a woman is educated, she can improve her family’s well-being,” said Naw Susanna Hla Hla Soe, director of the Karen Women’s Action Network (KWAG). “We believe we can promote development by empowering women, who can then better help their families, which will improve the community, and then the city, the whole region and even the country.”

The ethnic Kayin leader told The Irrawaddy that after decades of rights abuses during a civil war between ethnic Kayin rebels and the national government, her state had been shut out from development.

“Kayin people, especially in remote areas of Kayin State, have fallen behind in every sector, including education, health and the economy, due to the civil war here and longtime oppression,” she said. “That’s why we’ve decided to focus

on educating women about health and on training them for job opportunities, so they can actively participate in civil society.”

Growing up in a Christian family, Susanna Hla Hla Soe was inspired to become a humanitarian activist after participating in her church’s youth programs and charity activities. She said her mother and father also encouraged her activism.

“When we were young, my parents would take in children from remote areas, like at a foster home, to give them an education,” she said. “At the time, when I was younger, I didn’t understand why we needed to do this. But as the children grew up, some of them became teachers and some of them became immigration officers, and they were giving back to their region. That made me realize that education is such an important aspect of development, both at the regional and national levels.”

After earning both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in zoology at Yangon University, Susanna Hla Hla Soe started working for World Vision Myanmar, an international Christian relief organization.

“Back then, working for a development organization or an NGO wasn’t very popular in our country,” she said. “There were only a few international NGOs, like World Vision, working in Myanmar.”

After starting with administrative work, she later became a project manager and the head of a department at the NGO. She also took advantage of opportunities to attend training workshops and to earn a master’s degree in NGO leadership from Eastern University in the United States.

In 2003, still working at World Vision, she started volunteering for the newly founded KWAG, the women’s group, which was created by Kayin women activists to empower other women in the war-torn state and delta region.

“When we started KWAG, we were just working with our bare hands, without any funding or assistance from other organizations, which was a challenge,” she said. “We used the money from our own pockets.”

After some tough years, the group’s financial challenges eased. With help from interested partners in the local and international communities, it organized training sessions to promote child protection and education, as well as microfinance programs for local families.

When Cyclone Nargis hit the Ayeyarwady Delta region in 2008, Susanna Hla Hla Soe also led an emergency relief team to resettle displaced families and rebuild their homes.

During those efforts, she learned about the trafficking of local girls to other cities and countries, including China and Thailand. With assistance from Myanmar and Chinese authorities, she started following some of the human traffickers, eventually bringing three girls back to Myanmar who had been taken across the Chinese border. This experience inspired her to start an anti-human trafficking project with the government.

In 2010, she decided to dedicate herself full time to KWAG by becoming the group’s executive director.

“As our work grew and the needs [of the community] increased, I realized I needed to do more than volunteering,” she said. “The 12 years of experience I got at World Vision helped me in my work with the local people.”

She also became involved with the Women’s Organizations Network of Myanmar (WON), an umbrella group of 27 local women’s organizations, as well as the Women’s Protection Technical Working Group, a network of 50 organizations in Myanmar that

collaborates with UN agencies and international NGOs on advocacy for women’s protection.

In 2012, she became the first woman from Myanmar to win a humanitarian award from InterAction, a US-based international NGO that focuses on disaster relief and sustainable development.

“The humanitarian award from InterAction makes our organization, the Kayin people and our country better known among the international community,” she said. “I was so proud, on behalf of the Kayin people and the country, to receive this award.”

But despite these successes, Susanna Hla Hla Soe, like many NGO workers in Myanmar, has struggled to receive national recognition by registering her organization with the government.

After Cyclone Nargis, she attempted to register KWAG as an emergency relief group, but years went by with no result. Now she is trying to register again as a local NGO for development projects, though recent changes in registration rules have complicated the process.

“We’re very confused because we have tried to register but we can’t get [national] approval yet, even though the township and district levels have already passed us,” she said. “For us, it’s about more than registration. We want approval and acknowledgment from the government.”

“We’re not alone; many other organizations face similar registration difficulties,” she added. “Still, the process has gotten somewhat smoother because laws for registering local NGOs have been enacted.”

Years ago, humanitarian work was even more challenging, she said.

“For example, we couldn’t get direct access to the cyclone victims right after the disaster,” she said. “And back then, locals were even afraid to speak with us. It was hard to build trust with them. We were also afraid to speak to the media and share our experiences.”

These days, things are looking up.

In November, Susanna Hla Hla Soe had an opportunity to discuss her views about social activism when she and other activists met US President Barack Obama during his visit to Myanmar.

As the country opens up to the world after decades of military rule, she said she hopes local activists can better help the Kayin people.

“Our work is going better than before,” she said. “The authorities now understand what we’re doing, and the locals understand we’re trying to help them, so they trust us. We can now communicate freely with the media to report our knowledge.

“I hope we can continue working to develop our society and our country more freely, and effectively, going forward.”

Naw Susanna Hla Hla Soe

Photo: JPaIng / the IRRawaddy

Western Oil Caught in Army Regime’s Web

Analysts say the military-linked Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise still has a grasp on foreign firms

By WilliAM BOOT

The resolve of major Western oil companies not to have dealings with the militarylinked Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) may have weakened with the confirmation that Norway’s government-owned company Statoil is seeking an entry into Myanmar.

Plans by Myanmar’s Ministry of Energy to offer potentially lucrative offshore exploration blocks in the second half of last year were postponed after leading Western firms expressed concerns about MOGE’s continued involvement.

President U Thein Sein’s government said it would take steps in the meantime to open up its oil and gas sector, but this does not appear to have happened as the international oil industry anticipates announcements of a new bidding process.

“Elements of the former military junta still use the Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise as a vehicle to exercise substantial control over the economy and, by extension, the government,” Arvind Ramakrishnan, the principal Asia analyst at Maplecroft, told The Irrawaddy.

“Leaving the military’s substantial influence over MOGE unchanged was

a likely compromise agreed to by the government when it was revising its investment law in late 2012.”

Maplecroft is a UK-based firm producing investment risk assessments for international business. In a country risk report on Jan. 29, it said: “A lack of clarity over investment regulations is the biggest risk that investors, particularly in the energy sector, face in [Myanmar].”

Concerns about MOGE were expressed at an industry promotion conference organized by the Ministry of Energy in Yangon last September. The conference was attended by major Western global oil giants Royal Dutch Shell, ConocoPhillips, Total and Chevron’s Unocal, as well as China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), Nippon Oil of Japan and Essar Oil of India.

Energy Minister U Than Htay postponed plans for bidding for up to 20 offshore exploration blocks. The delay was supposed to allow time for a cleanup of MOGE and to prepare a more transparent bidding process.

Efforts by the Ministry of Energy to sell licences for land-based exploration have not been highly successful. For the most part, only small foreign firms have shown interest.

The big oil companies are interested in the offshore sector, and that’s the area Statoil is pursuing in talks with both the authorities and a potential partner, according to reports by Norwegian business newspaper Dagens Naeringsliv.

The BP global statistical review for 2011 estimated Myanmar’s natural gas reserves at over 11 trillion cubic feet. U Than Htay has claimed reserves are 22 trillion cubic feet, but there have been no conclusive surveys to substantiate this statistic.

Norwegian newspapers have named one of Myanmar’s most respected private oil firms as Statoil’s potential partner.

“Statoil has been here several times and they are making very thorough surveys of my company, both technically and economically,” U Michael Moe Myint, the chief executive of oil firm MPRL E&P, was quoted by the Norwegian news agency NTB as saying at the end of January.

Who will be next among the big Western oil giants to step out of the shadows and show their hand? Less particular enterprises such as the CNOOC and Russia’s Gazprom are understood to have made approaches, perhaps forcing the likes of Shell and Chevron to also make moves.

Big Asian industry leaders are also less squeamish about industry ethics. Malaysia’s Petronas has taken onshore licences and Japan’s Nippon Oil has bought into an existing offshore gas development licence held by Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production.

“The outlook for more regulatory certainty is gradually improving, although MOGE will continue to remain a mandatory joint venture partner for international oil companies in the coming licensing round,” Mr Ramakrishnan said.

“This will continue to pose extreme risks to international oil companies, given the substantial levels of corruption, poor administration and human rights violations associated with MOGE.”

The government of U Thein Sein has previously said it would open the country’s oil and gas industry to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), an international monitoring body established in 2002 to watch over underdeveloped but resource-rich countries.

Run by retired Western diplomats, EITI seeks to increase public transparency on payments by oil and mining companies to governments and government-linked agencies.

“MOGE remains a black box of unknowing, yet clearly it will be the indispensable partner for any big deals,” Myanmar economy specialist Sean Turnell told The Irrawaddy. “So for foreign energy companies, the hope will be for certain amnesia to set in.

“[The hope is] that amid the ‘good news narrative’ embraced by the world with respect to Myanmar, MOGE will be seen as just another national oil company with which to do business,” said Mr Turnell, co-editor of the Burma Economic Watch, a bulletin published at Australia’s Macquarie University, where he is a professor.

“The Myanmar government has given public commitments with respect to EITI. Maybe new deals reached will be somewhat more open and transparent than before. It would be nice if other governments brought along the discipline of ensuring their own companies acted in a transparent and responsible way. In the case of US companies, they will be pushed in this direction.”

Ironically, perhaps, EITI is based in Norway’s capital, Oslo.

A boy somersaults on a beach as ships involved in the construction of the Yadana-Yangon underwater gas pipeline project are moored in the background.

Japan’s rush into Myanmar Snags on Land Ownership Issues

Land-grabbing by Myanmar’s former rulers could complicate efforts to develop the Thilawa special economic zone near Yangon

By AnTOni SlODKOWSKi / rEuTErS

If Japan’s plans to develop a massive industrial complex in Myanmar push ahead, Win Aung’s village will be cut in half, his cottage and rice fields razed.

The 39-year-old is one of hundreds of farmers who make their living off rice paddies earmarked for the Thilawa economic zone, a project that has become the centerpiece of Japanese investment in Myanmar.

Win Aung, who supports a family of 12 by farming 30 acres, says he was forced to sell his land at US $20 per acre to Myanmar’s military junta in the 1990s. The government did not take over the land, but is now demanding the villagers vacate to make way for the Japanese.

That puts the matter in a gray area—the villagers are asking for extra compensation but the government has refused, although prices around Thilawa are between $10,000 and $20,000 per acre.

“There’s no way we can afford a single acre here now,” said Win Aung. He and other villagers said they were hoping the quasi-civilian government, which took over almost two years ago, would negotiate.

After decades of military dictatorship, issues like land rights are a minefield for foreign companies looking to take advantage of the opening-up of the Southeast Asian nation. Japan, seeking to fend off Asian rival China from getting entrenched in Myanmar, is one of the biggest investors.

But there are signs that Japan may tread cautiously now, although it is not clear what action it can take in cases like that of Win Aung and the Thilawa villagers.

Land rights matters have become an inflammatory issue in Myanmar after riot police raided residents protesting against expansion of a copper mine onto farm land last year, unleashing nationwide outrage.

“I have never seen anything like Thilawa before,” said Takeharu Kojima, a Myanmar expert at the Japan International Cooperation Agency. “It will be very difficult to resolve, as land issues are always hotly debated when we help build infrastructure abroad.”

Behind the scenes, local officials have pushed Japan to help settle the land rights issue by putting up money for compensation for farmers like Win

Aung, but the Japanese have been reluctant to get involved.

“As a private Japanese company, we have nothing to do with it. It’s up to the government of Myanmar to clear the land,” said Takayoshi Nakao, who runs Marubeni Corp’s operations in Yangon.

Less than three years before the planned opening of the Thilawa zone, a fifth of the 2,400 hectares earmarked for Japanese factories is still occupied by farmers like Win Aung, a source familiar with the plans said.

Japanese trading houses Marubeni, Mitsubishi Corp and Sumitomo Corp are completing preparations for the first 440 hectares of development of the Thilawa zone. The Japanese government has pledged to provide cheap loans to pay for the infrastructure around the zone, an investment estimated at more than $11 billion.

But after the investment fell through, it left them undisturbed, they said.

“We didn’t hear from anyone for nearly two decades,” said Win Aung, as he rested in his field.

“People didn’t really know what they were signing and even if they had known, they wouldn’t dare to protest because they were talking to the government with guns,” he said, his teeth rust-red from chewing betel nut.

Win Aung and other villagers from Phalan, a settlement of 350 households, sent a letter to the government demanding fair compensation. They say they have not been consulted about the timing of Japan’s investment or informed about when to move out.

“I don’t think they would be this bold under the previous government. It’s because we have democracy now why they were brave enough to write

the petition,” said Myint Thu, the Phalan village chief.

Meanwhile, rich Burmese speculators have bought up land around Thilawa, a development that could delay the opening, initially planned for 2015, people involved in the project and local residents say.

Land around Thilawa has been quoted at between $10,000 and $20,000 per acre, said a Myanmar government source involved in the development of Thilawa. Japanese officials and business executives worry that will make it more difficult to build roads and bridges and other infrastructure.

The Thilawa project is being coordinated by one of the wealthiest men in the country—also called Win Aung and nicknamed Dagon after the name of his company—who is also on the US sanctions list because of his

close ties to the repressive military junta that ruled Myanmar for nearly 50 years.

“Dagon” Win Aung, no relation to the Thilawa farmer, made his fortune exporting timber and running construction projects including the development of Myanmar’s capital, Naypyitaw. He said he is confident the Thilawa project will press ahead as planned.

“Thilawa will be a great success. I’ll organize the consortium and make sure that the project is beneficial for the people,” he said.

The villagers are hoping they can replicate their life elsewhere, but not too far away from where they live now.

“I understand I have to leave my land here—I only want to be able to buy a similar plot somewhere close,” said Win Aung, the farmer. “Farming is the only thing I know in life.”

A boy stands in a field that his family owned in the Thilawa economic zone, outside Yangon.

China’s Burma Border Trade Thrives despite Problems Elsewhere

Some of China’s biggest business activities in Myanmar may have been halted or put in doubt due to public protests, such as the Myitsone hydroelectric dam and the Letpadaung copper mine, but Chinese border trade is busier than ever.

New government figures show that trade across China’s Yunnan Province border with Kachin and Shan states is the biggest of all among Myanmar’s border neighbors.

The value of official trade across the Yunnan border over the last four fiscal years to 2012 has totaled US $7.8 billion, according to Myanmar’s Department of Border Trade. This is far greater than the US $1.5 billion logged across the border with Thailand; the US$117 million with Bangladesh; and the mere US $66 million in border trade with giant India.

However, it’s widely suspected that illegal cross-border trade, for which there are no statistics, would greatly inflate all the official figures, with the possible exception of Bangladesh.

The Department of Border Trade last November moved to crack down on illegal trade across the Myanmar-Thailand border—action that businesspeople at the Myawaddy-Mae Sot crossing complained was damaging legitimate trade.

“The border towns in Yunnan thrive on trade with [Myanmar]. You see everywhere markets selling polished jade or jade rock. You see logs piled up, timber brought in from [Myanmar],” said The Economist’s Beijing correspondent James Miles in a special report from Yunnan. “This is not a very wealthy part of China but it is one which in recent years has flourished.”

opened a bank branch in Yangon in 1862.

Dams Revival in China

Threatens Burma’s Salween Communities

The livelihoods of thousands of people dependent on the Salween River flowing through eastern Myanmar could be undermined by revived plans to build a string of hydro dams upstream in China’s Yunnan Province.

The State Council in Beijing has decided to allow 13 dams on the upper Salween, known in China as the Nu River. Construction of the dams was stopped a few years ago by Premier Wen Jiabao on environmental grounds, but he retires in March and a new leadership is in favor of more hydroelectric projects to help solve China’s energy shortages.

The 2,400-km Salween is one of the longest in East Asia and the last freeflowing major waterway, starting in Tibet and spilling into the Andaman Sea.

parties at the local, regional, national and international levels must be able to openly communicate and play a role in the future and protection of the river and its surrounding environment.”

Tents for Tourists: Novel Way to Beat Rooms Shortage

An up-market regional tourism company is overcoming Myanmar’s accommodation shortage by opening a “tent lodge” in Bagan.

Vietnam-based Apple Tree Group is offering luxury air-conditioned tents in a new complex including a restaurant, spa and swimming pool, due to open in April.

Standard Chartered ‘First for a Foreign Bank License’ in Myanmar

The Standard Chartered Bank, which has been associated with Myanmar since the 19th century, could be the first Western financial business to open a bank in the post-military regime era.

“Standard Chartered has a strong presence in Southeast Asia and its regional headquarters in Singapore has been keeping a close eye on Myanmar’s reforms, so it could be first in line for any joint venture licenses,” said the US Forbes business magazine in an assessment of Myanmar’s financial liberalization.

It’s anticipated that foreign banks will be allowed majority ownership in any new bank joint ventures in Myanmar following new legislation now being prepared. A new law could be approved by Parliament by April.

Thailand’s Siam Commercial Bank and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China are among a number of Asian financial businesses to have opened representative offices in Yangon, but Standard Chartered is the first Western bank to do so.

It’s expected to reestablish a base in Myanmar in February after an absence of nine years. Standard Chartered first

Plans to build five large hydroelectric dams along the Myanmar stretch of the river in Shan, Karen and Mon states involving Chinese and Thai companies are still on the table. Tens of thousands of people have been forcibly moved from around the site of one, at Tasang, says the environment NGO Salween Watch.

The Myanmar dams were meant to provide electricity mainly for Thailand and China. It’s not clear if they will now go ahead if China builds upstream.

“It is urgent that the future of the Salween River is responsibly planned and equitably managed to protect the environment and the inhabitants of the watershed,” Salween Watch says. “All affected

Foreign tourists are flocking to Myanmar in the wake of liberalization but there is a dearth of quality hotel rooms and even simple guest house accommodation is limited. Myanmar had about 1 million visitors in 2012, according to Minister of Hotels and Tourism Htay Aung, with arrivals at Yangon’s international airport up 50 percent over 2011 as the number of foreign airlines flying to the country grew.

“Bagan is the hottest travel destination in Southeast Asia,” Apple Tree general manager Kurt Walter said in a statement. “Myanmar is on every traveler’s radar screen, and Bagan is going to emerge as the hottest attraction in the country.”

The tent hotel near the Irrawaddy River will have 85 “rooms” and suites.

Apple Tree also owns the Exotissimo Travel brand which has been operating in Myanmar since before the military regime ended.

By WILLIAM BOOT

Impressive growth—some statistics

The Irrawaddy website receives more than 80 million hits each month. In 2010 we had more than 5.2 million website visits—averaging 650,000 visits and 2.2 million pageviews per month. More than 180,000 unique visitors from 200 countries worldwide access our website every month. Visits from readers inside Myanmar have tripled since the early 2012.

Foreign visitors—both men and women— wearing traditional Myanmar longyis have become an increasingly common sight.

all Photos: the IRRawaddy

Liberated in

Myanmar’s traditional skirt-like garment

By PAUL VRIEZE

in Longyis

garment catches on with foreign visitors and LAWI WENG

While Myanmar opens up to ideas and fashion from abroad, foreigners are increasingly taking an interest in the country’s culture, and the longyi clothing style seems to enjoy particular popularity.

At Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, many foreign visitors can be seen donning the country’s national dress, a piece of cylindrical cloth that is worn around the waist and runs down to the feet.

One such visitor is Dutch tourist Thorsten Roobeck, who praised the longyi’s practicality in the tropical climate.

“I was in shorts when I came here [to Shwedagon], but I thought it was more appropriate to wear this,” said the student, who was traveling with his sister. “It’s comfortable and has good air circulation for this hot weather.”

“I do have problems with the knot; in the beginning it fell off but some people helped me. The only thing is that it lacks pockets.”

Asked if it felt unusual for a Western male to wear a dress-like garment, Roobeck said: “It depends on how you look at it. The Scottish, they wear a similar type of dress [a kilt].

“In Holland I would prefer shorts because people might look at me strange [if I wore a longyi], but they would accept it. They might think you’re a hipster or something.”

Souvenir and clothing sellers at Shwedagon Pagoda said the longyi was very popular among the growing number of foreign tourists.

“Usually I sell about seven longyis per week” to foreigners, said Ko Zaw Myo Htet, 29, who owns a stall at the pagoda’s eastern entrance. “But sometimes when I have a good day I

sell 10 or 15. They come in a group and then they all buy one.”

He said most customers came from Australia, Italy and France.

“I teach them how to wear it. First fold it left and then right, and tie it,” he said. “They like [longyis] because it’s very easy during walking, the air can also move freely. When they visit Myanmar they want to experience Myanmar styles. It’s unusual for them, so they are interested.”

He said his Mandalay-made longyis cost about US $3.

“It looks very good,” his business partner added. “They [foreigners] wear their longyi villager style, up around

The current style Myanmar longyi came from India during colonial times, but was preceded by a similar Burmese garment called the paso for men and htamein for women.

James George Scott, a 19th-century colonial administrator and journalist, was among the first to describe Myanmar’s traditional wear in his classic 1882 book, “The Burman: His Life and Notions.”

“The dress is very simple and picturesque. The paso is a long silk cloth... [that] is wound round the body, kilt fashion, tucked in with a twist in front, and the portion which remains gathered up and allowed to hang in folds from the waist, or thrown jauntily over the shoulder,” wrote Scott, who on occasion wore a paso himself.

Another foreigner who has come to appreciate the comforts—and stylishness—of the longyi is David Stout, website editor for the Democratic Voice of Burma.

“It’s comfortable, it’s cool … It’s practical with the weather, stylish and very classy,” he told The Irrawaddy, adding that wearing a longyi on vacation in Yangon three years ago felt like “liberation of the man.”

“I come from a culture where if a man wears a skirt everyone thinks there’s something a little wrong with him. Maybe it’s a little right— maybe Burma is onto something,” he said.

the knee—most people in the city wear it long,” all the way down to their feet.

Among local men and women, the traditional longyi is popular throughout the country, including in ethnic areas, while silk longyis are favored on official occasions.

In June 2010, the generals in Myanmar’s military government swapped their uniforms for silk longyis and traditional white jackets to signify the change to quasi-civilian rule, and they have worn it in Parliament and during official occasions since.

He also recalled the positive reactions he received from local people after a monk at Shwedagon Pagoda got him and his friend fitted with longyis.

“I got a blue one and my buddy got a maroon one—and the response was spectacular,” he said. “Walking down the street, I have this vivid memory of this guy coming to his balcony and yelling ‘chaw tae’ at me, which I believe means ‘handsome.’”

Additional reporting by Charlie Campbell

A foreign visitor and a Myanmar local pose in their longyis.

Yangon in Flux

By GuSTAAF HOuTMAn

After navigating chaotic lines for a visa at Myanmar’s embassy in Bangkok, I finally caught my AirAsia flight to Yangon. I’m an anthropologist who has observed the former pariah state for more than three decades but hadn’t been back to its biggest city since 2005, and when I landed at the airport recently I was struck by certain novelties: I saw ATMs, a central organization of taxis from a private company, and mobile phones renting for US $4 per day. On the short ride to my hotel, I spotted new supermarkets, building projects and condominiums.

Still, there was something disconcerting about returning to Yangon after all these years. Many of my acquaintances had long ago left the country, some had died, and at least one who went abroad as child had told me he had no desire to ever go back.

Walking around the city, I noticed my favorite restaurants had been forced to move because of increased rents. Pavement was frequently broken up, ostensibly to improve infrastructure. Youngsters with dyed hair huddled together around their ubiquitous mobile phones, and at night everyone watched football matches in restaurants and bars.

Beauty shops encouraged a model of femininity like what you would see in Bangkok or London. Puppies were for sale, which caught me by surprise because I had never seen anyone taking a dog for a walk in Myanmar until this visit. Large cinema displays were visible on public streets, broadcasting

advertising and the latest news, which was mostly in the old style. Other TV programs featured music, dancing and competitions at local malls or studios. Nobody played the Myanmar game of chinlone, or cane ball, on the streets anymore.

On many evenings, sessions of monastic preaching took place all over the city, including some that were televised on giant screens with audiences of several thousand. In the wake of the 2007 Saffron Revolution, the monastic order has clearly kept close to the hearts of Yangon residents.

What struck me most was the lack of fear. Photos of pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her father, Bogyoke Aung San, were everywhere, from book covers to calendars and posters. And now that pre-censorship has been lifted, formerly exiled media agencies have set up offices in Yangon and are printing issues inside the country. Barely six months ago, these journalists would have been arrested.

Almost everyone I met seemed happy that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was engaging with President U Thein Sein, though they expressed concern that the relationship might not last and reforms could be scuppered by the military at any time.

Most households have struggled to cope with Myanmar’s inflationary environment over the past decade. Driven by poverty, prostitution has grown proportionately. I witnessed police raids along Anawrahta Street on small-scale vendors whose livelihoods have been criminalized while shopping malls have been built with

ill-gained profits. Hopefully, reforms will mean more well-paying jobs for ordinary people and a more equitable distribution of wealth.

Many formerly exiled Myanmars have made their way back to the country recently, including some friends who contacted me through Facebook to say they had arrived shortly before me. A highlight of my trip was the reception held for former exile Ko Min Zin and the donation of a library in his honor.

I met university academics who seemed completely left behind by Myanmar’s reforms. Long underpaid and lacking resources, they do not have access to the journals and books necessary for cutting-edge research and teaching. It was disappointing, although I also discovered a group of philosophers, artists and writers who had gathered to talk at a tea shop on 37th Street, hungry for intellectual conversation. If universities aren’t yet a natural home for academic visitors, at least there are tea shop alternatives.

It’s too early to say if the relaxation I saw during my visit will be permanent. There will surely be ups and downs, and local media will have to work hard to keep politicians, soldiers and businesspeople on the straight and narrow. All I know is this: In my 35 years of observing the country, I have seen no time quite like this.

Gustaaf Houtman is an anthropologist who was in Myanmar for three-month periods in 1978 and 1979, for a year in 1982-83 and for short visits in 1997, 1998 and 2005.

After years away, an anthropologist notes changes in Myanmar’s biggest city, from the sudden emergence of dog walkers to the seeming disappearance of fear

Gustaaf Houtman

A Buddhist monk sticks a piece of gold leaf on the Golden Rock of Kyaiktiyo

all Photos: JPaIng / the IRRawaddy

Golden rock Gives Hope

As more tourists flood a popular religious site in Mon State, locals hope for a brighter future

By SAW YAn nAinG

Mon State—A fourhour drive south from Myanmar’s commercial center of Yangon leads to Kyaikto Township in Mon State, home of the famous Golden Rock.

Celebrated for its mysterious history and beautiful scenery, Kyaiktiyo is not only a destination for Buddhist pilgrims but also for tourists of many faiths from Europe and all over the world. As Myanmar opens up, local residents say visitor numbers have skyrocketed since the start of last year.

At least 1,500 people, including about 200 foreigners, are arriving at the site daily, said Ko Zaw Myo Oo, a shopkeeper in Kin Mone camp at the bottom of the hill where Kyaiktiyo is located. Before 2012, he said only 300 to 400 visitors came by every day.

Kyaiktiyo Pagoda is a well-known Buddhist pilgrimage site and the iconic Golden Rock is a popular attraction for tourists. The small chedi was built on top of a granite boulder covered with gold leaf by male devotees. Women are not allowed to perform this act of reverence but can still view the temple.

Mya Maung, an aging caretaker who looks after the pagoda, said that every time a woman entered the restricted area intending to touch the rock, the sky became cloudy and heavy rain followed. Therefore, female visitors were not allowed to go within four meters of the shrine.

Mya Maung said that according to legend, the Golden Rock did not touch the ground when the pagoda was built.

Some visitors brave the three-hour climb up to Kyaiktiyo Pagoda on foot,

while others take the one-hour bus journey instead. The elderly or infirm can be carried on stretchers by porters who charge about 20,000 kyats (US $25) per trip. Donations are collected along the road.

Around the site are shops selling traditional handmade clothes and other handicrafts. There are also local restaurants, teashops, guest houses, hotels and sightseeing binoculars nearby. Worshippers light candles or meditate with offerings of food presented to the Buddha throughout the night.

“I think [Kyaiktiyo Pagoda] is very beautiful, interesting and impressive,” said Sabine, a German tourist making her second trip to the area after first visiting 10 years ago, adding that she had not seen

such an amazing pagoda in any other Buddhist-majority nation.

“It is very impressive to see the Golden Rock, even though I’m a Christian,” said her husband, Karsten. “It’s very special.”

Tourist accommodations are springing up around the area, catering to the glut of new arrivals. Several residents told The Irrawaddy that they were happy Myanmar was opening up and more visitors were coming, allowing them to earn more money than in the past. They said they hoped Kyaiktiyo would be flooded with more people in the future and become one of the country’s best-known tourist attractions.

Despite the region’s undisputed potential, the livelihoods of most ordinary people remain unchanged.

Many survive as street vendors and shopkeepers. Children serve as waiters at restaurants or work as porters. Women still bathe in streams and many live without electricity.

Daw Tin Myint, a street vendor, said she had three children to feed and rarely met her daily needs, earning about 5,000 kyat ($6) per day by selling hats.

“After my husband died, I had to borrow money from other people every month in order to feed my three children. Now I need to pay interest on the loan,” said the 50-year-old.

Ma Pue Pwint Thu, an 11-year-old schoolgirl in Kin Mone Sakar, told The Irrawaddy that she had no idea about the Internet or other modern technology such as iPods and iPads.

“My teacher has never talked about

[the Internet],” she said, adding that her school owned one computer but she did not have a chance to use it.

Similarly, a motorbike taxi driver said he welcomed the government’s reforms but added that different authorities controlled business so there was still a long way to go.

“Ordinary people like me do not expect much from the reform,” he said. “But perhaps the next generation might see the benefits.”

Kyaiktiyo, a sacred site in Mon State that has become a magnet for local and foreign vistors alike, has many attractions for those seeking a glimpse of Myanmar’s charms.

The Road Less Traveled

Myanmar makes the cut for a popular list of the top 10 destinations ‘off the beaten path’

By THE irrAWADDY and rEuTErS

As Myanmar opens up to the world, its appeal among foreign tourists also seems to be rising. With visitor restrictions lifted and the country firmly in the international spotlight, tourism is taking off. One million people visited Myanmar last year, and a 15 percent increase in visits is expected in 2013.

In a further sign of the country’s growing tourist appeal, a popular travel website recently chose Myanmar as one of its “Top 10 Places Off the Beaten Path” for 2013.

The travel website, VirtualTourist.com (www.virtualtourist.com), features free user-contributed travel guides. Of Myanmar, it wrote:

“Myanmar has been added to many travelers’ wish lists in the last year after the nation held elections and U.S. political leaders visited the Southeast Asian country.

“While the destination just recently appeared on the general public’s radar, VirtualTourist members have been traveling and enjoying the country for years.

“In Yangon, visitors will find the Shwedagon Paya, known to be the most sacred of all Burmese temples with a golden stupa that can be seen from miles away.

“Members did note that the complex is filled with things to do and see, and it can be a bit overwhelming so make sure to allow at least half a day to explore the site.

“Farther north, the Mandalay division showcases some of the country’s other types of structures such as the teak temple and also hosts great views from atop Mandalay Hill.

“Members frequently visited the temples and pagodas of Bagan, noting that the Shwesandaw Paya is the best viewpoint of the temples and sunsets in Bagan.”

The Irrawaddy’s photographers recently visited Bagan, an ancient city that flourished between the 9th and 13th centuries. Some 2,000 temples remain scattered among the arid hills of central Myanmar today.

The other nine destinations selected for VirtualTourist’s list were Chile, Norway, Romania, and Ecuador’s Galapagos Island, along with the Chinese city of Shanghai, Sri Lanka, Iceland, Zambia’s Victoria Falls and Antarctica.

These views of Bagan, Myanmar’s ancient capital, are among the many sights that are likely to draw a growing number of visitors to the country as it becomes one of the world’s new tourism hotspots. all Photos: the IRRawaddy

Yangon Foodies, You’re in Luck

For tasty local fare or a cup of sweet tea in Myanmar’s biggest city, Lucky Seven teashop is a solid bet

By KYAW PHYO THA

Yangon Locations: Outlet 1: no-115, lower Kyimyindaing road, Ahlone Township; Tel: 01- 223379 | Outlet 2: no-138/140, 49th Street (upper Block), Pazundaung Township; Tel: 01-292382 | Outlet 3: no-1/ A, Pyi road (near Salmyaung road), 8th Mile, Mayangone Township; Tel: 01-661300 | Outlet 4: Corner of u Chit Maung and West Horserace Court road, Tamwe Township; Tel: 095169572 | Outlet 5: no-15/B Thudhamma road, north Okkalapa Township; Tel: 0973035285 | All outlets are closed on Sunday after 11 am.

Whether you’re looking for a good breakfast spot or somewhere to sample traditional treats on idle afternoons, Lucky Seven is the best choice among Yangon’s omnipresent teashops.

With several outlets throughout the city, the teashop chain offers fresh meals and an attentive staff, making it a rare refuge for health-conscious foodies.

“We take a lot of care with our ingredients and the way we serve our food,” said U Aung Thura, who owns Lucky Seven Outlet 2 on 49th Street, within walking distance of the city center. “Our customers’ health is our priority, so even for ingredients like cooking oil, we only use imported cholesterol-free sunflower oil.”

With a quick flip through the teashop’s English menu, foreign visitors can easily order a traditional breakfast set: a plate of rice with boiled peas and meat curry, washed down with a cup of tea or any seasonal juice.

For a more signature local flavor, try a bowl of mohinga—fish soup with thin rice noodles—or a rice noodle salad. If you’re watching your weight, opt for a bowl of evaporated milk noodles, a fat-free take on coconut cream noodles that tastes similar to khao soi, the popular coconut milk-andcurry noodle soup in northern Thailand.

Apart from local offerings, Lucky Seven’s menu also offers Indian and Chinese delicacies. Popular dishes include paratha flatbread with meat curry, fresh samosas, meat and vegetable dumplings, steamed pork ribs and chicken spring rolls.

Business hours are from 6:00 am to 5:30 pm, but it can be tough to find an open table, especially at breakfast time.

Deli Delicacies

Gourmet sandwiches, homemade gelato and foreign wine please the palette at Sharky’s in Yangon

By KYAW PHYO THA

if you’re craving some good deli food, the offerings at Sharky’s in Yangon won’t disappoint.

The 10-year-old eatery sells groceries on the ground floor, with a range of deli meats, French bread, fresh salads, yogurt, cheese, jam and ice cream.

At a relaxed dining space upstairs with wooden seats, large windows and plenty of paintings, you can order signature dishes such as golden beef tenderloin, slow cooked butterfish or thincrust pizza.

Many of the ingredients are locally grown.

“That distinguishes us from our counterparts in neighboring countries,” said U Thaw Tar, the eatery’s director of operations.

For gelato buffs, Sharky’s also serves more than 10 varieties of homemade, premium flavors that earn high praise from the shop’s patrons, of which more than 60 percent are foreigners.

Sharky’s also sells more than 20 types of wine, including red, white and dessert varieties from France, Italy, Australia, Chile, Argentina, South Africa and New Zealand.

Location : Dhamazedi r oad, Kamayut Township, Yangon.

Tel: 524677, 373009, sharkys.yangon@gmail.com

Open Daily from 9 am to 10 pm

land of Winds and

Two new books hold up a mirror tragedy

By THE irrAWADDY

You could be forgiven these days for believing that the world has only just realized that Myanmar exists. After decades of isolation, the number of visitors to the country—both tourists and would-be investors—has shot up dramatically. Hotels are packed and international airlines are eagerly adding Yangon and other Myanmar cities to their list of destinations. The mass market has, for better or worse, finally found us.

It may be that this wave of newcomers is merely seeking the latest “new thing” to add to their investment portfolio or album of holiday snapshots. But there’s good reason to believe that even once the novelty has worn off, Myanmar will continue to exercise a powerful fascination for foreigners who come to experience the country for themselves.

Two recent books, by photographers from two very different parts of the world, attest to Myanmar’s hold on the imagination of outsiders. “Myanmar (Burma): Peoples in the Winds of Change,” by Japanese photographer Yuzo Uda, and “Burmese Shadows,” by Thierry Falise of Belgium, are both the product of more than two decades worth of work.

Both men have dedicated much of their careers as seasoned photojournalists to exploring Myanmar and documenting life in every corner of this country. Indeed, it is possible that they are more familiar with many aspects of life here than most Myanmar citizens. Uda seems particularly intrepid— imagining himself as being like the wind, he describes how he managed to visit many off-limits areas undetected, despite the presence of military personnel almost everywhere in the police state that is only now beginning to give way

Winds Shadows

to Myanmar’s beauty and

to a more open, less paranoid political system.

Falise, too, faced many challenges in his tireless efforts to give the outside world a glimpse of “life behind the Bamboo Curtain,” as he puts it in the subtitle of his book. His subjects are mostly those whose lives have been shaped by the harsh realities of poverty, conflict and repression that for half a century or more have been the dominant forces in Myanmar society. As his title suggests, they live in the shadows—not as mere victims, but as dignified human beings struggling to find their way through the darkness.

Uda’s image of wind—to describe not only himself, but also the forces of change at work in Myanmar—evokes a less claustrophobic space. And indeed, his photographs, which are organized geographically rather than thematically, like Falise’s, also capture the beauty of Myanmar’s landscapes, which somehow helps the viewer to understand the stoic strength of those who must endure the often tragic circumstances of their lives.

Both wind and shadows are transient, and like them, the country depicted in these two books is likely to change immeasurably in the years to come as influences, both good and bad, flood in from the rest of the world. Perhaps these books, which are above all studies in resilience, give us the best guide we could hope for to decide what is worth preserving of the country as it now exists.

LEFT: Photos from “Burmese Shadows: Twenty-five years reporting on life behind the Bamboo Curtain,” by Thierry Falise

RIGHT: Photos from “Myanmar (Burma): Peoples in the Winds of Change,” by Yuzo Uda

Miss Myanmar Opens Up

For five decades, nobody from Myanmar ever competed at the Miss International beauty competition, until Nang Khin Zay Yar stepped onto the stage. Representing her country as Miss Myanmar at the international pageant in Japan last year, the 23-year-old took home the Miss Internet Award with 20 million online votes and the People’s Choice Award from Missosology, a news portal for beauty pageants. Back in Myanmar now, the ethnic Pa-O from Shan State has a law degree but works as a tour guide and an active volunteer. She caught up recently with The Irrawaddy’s correspondent Zarni Mann about her life as a beauty queen.

What was your most memorable moment at the Miss International pageant?

I was nervous about wearing a bikini, since I had never worn one before. We were told to take a photo in our bathing suits for the voting website, and I was trying to get ready but wasn’t sure how to present myself. I was too shy to walk into the studio room, so I covered myself with a scarf. In my group, I was the last person still standing in the fitting room—I was so shy to stand in front of the photographer, and to expose myself to criticism from fans for wearing the bikini. Later I reassured myself that I had to wear the bathing suit for the contest, that I wasn’t doing anything bad because the contest required it. Standing up there in front of the photographer, I tried to forget what I was wearing, pretending I was just in my normal casual clothes, and he was very impressed. “You’re very active,” he told me. “You’re very sweet.”

themselves. I think we need more practice answering questions and we need to build confidence in public speaking. I’m planning to cooperate with Ma Tin Moe Lwin [a successful model in Myanmar] to share my experience and provide some counseling for the upcoming Miss Myanmar contest this year.

Since returning home, you have been actively involved in social work. Can you tell us why you started volunteering at the Free Funeral Service Society (FFSS)?

How does the Miss Myanmar contest compare to international

Standing up there in front of the phowearing, pretending I was just in my normal casual clothes, and he was very pageants?

There’s a huge difference. International beauty contests and pageants aren’t only about beauty, but also about intelligence, confidence, cleverness and proficiency. They choose a winner who’s really talented in a wide range of activities. The future Miss Myanmar contestants shouldn’t only care about their beauty; they should also try to enrich

I wanted to send a message that we’re all connected. Rich or poor, we’re all human beings and we’ll all die one day. Most people would rather go to a wedding than a funeral, and here in Myanmar, many people are superstitious about funerals; some believe it’s important to wash off after returning from the ceremony, while others refuse to rewear any clothes they wore to the cemetery. I just want to get rid of these superstitions. That’s why I decided to volunteer for the FFSS.

I understand you’re currently filming commercials. Will you be an actress as well?

contestants

I want to be an actress but I still have a lot to learn about acting and no time, given my tight schedule with tour guide work, social work and other responsibilities. But U Kyaw Thu [an actor and director who founded FFS] told me that he wanted me to act in his new film, and all profits will go to charities. So I’ve accepted a role in that film but don’t know yet what character I’ll play or when we’ll start filming.

Photo: couRtesy oF nang khIn zay yaR