R
EPA
PE
BUSINESS: MUSE TRADE REMAINS BRIGHT ✪6
First INDEPENDENT English daily
www.elevenmyanmar.com
WEDNESDAY, June 10, 2015
Jailed activist honoured
INSIDE
NATIONAL
Student leader Phyo Phyo Aung wins expat award though she remains locked up
Jailed student activist and
general secretary of the All
Burma Federation of Student
Unions (ABFSU) Phyo Phyo Aung
has been named this year’s
Citizen of Burma.
She joined others who voluntarily contribute to humanitarian
causes for the good of Myanmar
society. The award is given annually by Myanmar people living
abroad. Last year, the winner was
Than Myint Aung, a writer whose
fiction touches on social issues.
The award from Myanmar’s
expat community is now in its
sixth year and was announced at
the Mohawk Valley Community
College, Utica, New York.
Phyo Phyo Aung was denied
entry to her exams due to her
participation in the Saffron
Revolution in 2007, she collected
bodies in the wake of Cyclone
Her father, Nay
Win, said: “I am
extremely happy that
my daughter received
this award given to
social and humanitarian volunteers. I am
very thankful too.
Phyo Phyo Aung
helped those in trouble after Nargis as
well as with the democratic educational
reform movement.
This award is not only
appreciation just for
her but towards all
those volunteers
Student leader Phyo Phyo Aung at one of involved who put the
her court hearings
need of others at the
forefront. It honours
Nargis in 2008 for which she
all of them”.
given four years in prison and
He added that it was disgraceshe is now in prison again after
ful that the government is beatthe crackdown on students at
ing and imprisoning the students
Letpadan in March.
while the international communiEMG
MYANMAR ELEVEN
ty is praising them.
“The protest to ask for educational reform was brutally
quashed instead of peacefully
resolved. There are also many
other people in trouble all over
Myanmar. They need a substantial amount of help. That is why I
am very thankful for those who
appreciate and give out awards
to those who help out society.”
On Sunday afternoon, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
invited students from across the
country to her Yangon home to
discuss reforms to the controversial National Education Law.
Many of the invitees protested
against the law, including representatives of ABFSU.
“I know two students from
Ayeyawady who have been invited along with 17 students from
ABFSU,” said Aung Khant Zaw
from the Ayeyarwady protest
march.
Dengue ravages Yangon
Election chief downplays
US concerns
✪2
BUSINESS
First part of Vietnam’s
HAGL $440m project to
hit market
✪4
ASEAN+
South Korea’s battle
against MERS
✪7
ART&CULTURE
MYANMAR ELEVEN
An outbreak of dengue fever
in Yangon Region from January
to May has caused more than
900 infections with the potential to become catastrophic,
according to Yangon’s
Department of Public Health.
“At present, more than 900
cases have broken out in the
Yangon Region. Compared with
2014, the Yangon outbreak this
year is triple the numbers in the
whole of Myanmar.
In 2013, there was a dengue
epidemic. In 2014, the numbers
declined. Every two or three
years, this disease causes a
catastrophe.
So far this year, the cases
are so high that we are taking
preventive in the region. In
2013, there were 4,700 cases of
the disease,” said Dr Marlar Soe
of the Department of Public
Health.
Preventive measures have
been taken at Yangon’s basic
education schools, which are
cooperating with township-level
health departments. Cases are
recorded in Thanlyin,
EMG
A man wears the mask as he is spraying an anti-mosquito treatment in Yangon.
Hlaingthaya, Insein, South
Dagon, Thaketa, Dala and
Shwepyitha townships.
The 2013 outbreak caused
32 deaths with six times the
infections of 2012.
The disease, according to the
Yangon health department,
most seriously affected children
aged five to nine.
Bagan: a victim of its own
success
✪10
NATIONAL
2
MYANMAR ELEVEN, Wednesday, June 10, 2015
UEC downplays US concerns
THE Union Election
Commission (UEC) chairman
said he did not care if the United
States imposed sanctions if it
was unhappy with the general
election while he rebuffed allegations of blunders in the voter lists
pointed out by the opposition
National League for Democracy
(NLD).
The UEC chairman Tin Aye, at
a press conference at Myanmar
Peace Centre in Yangon, said:
“US Republican Senator Mitch
McConnell said further normalisation of relations between the
US and Myanmar would be
‘much more difficult’ if the election doesn’t reflect the people’s
will. I don’t fear. How can they
measure this?”
“We accept the fact that elections reflect the people’s will
even if our favourite party loses.
Whatever party wins, it must
have come from the public will. If
they want to impose sanctions
just because their favourite party
did not win the election, I don’t
care about that. We don’t care
even if they impose sanctions
100 times.”
To clarify the compilation of
voter lists, he said the lists were
based on household registration
so there could be mistakes if
those lists were incorrect. He
said the aim of announcing the
voter lists beforehand was to find
mistakes and amend them.
He said the reason many people had the same birthday (June
30, for example) listed was that
they mentioned only their birth
year in their household registration lists.
“We take great care if the birth
year is 1997. We see whether the
voter will be 18 year or not. For
other years, we mention June 30,
1984, or June 30, 1992, for example. They ask why it is. We did so
because a complete date of birth
has to be used by the computers.
If dates of birth are wrong, voters
can come to us for amendment.
We have discussed correcting the
voter lists with them [the NLD],”
said Tin Aye.
He said the NLD issued a
statement on June 4 saying it
had cooperated with the commission on this matter after
sending the open letter the day
before. But all details about their
discussions and how the problems were solved were not mentioned in the statement, he
added.
“They should write how mistakes have been mended. We did
not respond to that. But international pressure comes,” he
EMG
MYANMAR ELEVEN
An electoral coordination workshop was held recently in Yangon.
added.
Among challenges UEC is facing is the sporadic fighting in
some areas, including in the
Kokang Self-Administered Zone.
Tin Aye admitted that elections in the region would be possible only when the ceasefire
agreement is signed and fighting
stops.
He said the UEC cannot compile a voter list in the Kokang and
Wa areas because they cannot
establish UEC branches in those
areas. For the same reason, elections were not held in the Wa
region in 2010.
“We made conditions for the
Kokang and Wa areas for the
2015 general election. If the situ-
ation in Kokang area is stable in
one or two month’s time, we will
collect voter lists. Voter lists can
be announced if we can hold
elections in those areas. If stability in Kokang area is restored, we
can hold the election. However, it
will be difficult to hold the election in Wa areas. We will suspend
the election if a natural disaster
or instability occurs, otherwise
the election would not be free
and fair,” said the UEC chairperson.
The UEC is has planned to
hold elections in all townships in
Kachin State, but it will suspend
elections in townships in case of
unrest.
Everyone waits for six-party talks: Aye Maung
MYANMAR ELEVEN
The next round of six-party
talks should be held as soon as
possible if the government has
any desire to change the
Constitution, according to MP
Dr Aye Maung.
“Six-way talks are essential.
It is a must. The Union
Parliament has called for sixparty talks as they need to be
held. Whether the government
wants to amend the charter is
linked with the success of these
talks,” the Rakhine Nationalities
Development Party president
said.
The first six-party talks,
attended by President Thein
Sein, both parliamentary
Speakers, Commander-in-Chief
of the Defence Services General
Min Aung Hlaing, opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Dr
Aye Maung, representing ethnic
groups, were held at the presidential residence on April 10.
He added that amendments
to each section of the
Constitution could only be
made after the talks. The president and the commander-inchief needed to accept and
understand that point, he
added, and only then could the
political crisis be solved.
Aye Maung said: “This is a
political crisis. The activities of
the political parties in and out
of Parliament and all the armed
national groups demonstrate
the same attitude towards charter change.”
But it was questionable
whether the next round of sixparty talks would happen, he
added.
“Some sections of the charter should be amended now.
And the remaining sections
should be amended in the
future. Charter change requires
the signatures of 20 per cent of
MPs. Ethnic minority parties
and the National League for
Democracy will sign it along
with the Union Solidarity and
Development Party. The USDP
alone is not enough. We all
demand it. We will choose the
way of amending the charter. At
the same time, further talks are
still needed. We all agree that
charter change is impossible
without a collective effort.”
An urgent proposal to amend
Tables 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 without a
referendum as described in
Section 436 (b) of the
Constitution has been submitted to the Parliament.
MYANMAR ELEVEN, Wednesday, June 10, 2015
National
3
True peace more important
than election, summit told
NEWS
DIGEST
Police evict 700
‘squatters’
The authorities have evicted
some 700 squatters who claimed the
five-acre land owned by the
Livestock, Fisheries and Rural
Development Ministry in
Mingaladon, Yangon Region.
Ohn Myint, the minister for
livestock and fisheries, watched as
three bulldozers flattened the
homes, a Mingaladon police officer
said. Squatter Mya Thandar said:
“The authorities told us to leave our
homes at about 4am. If we defend
ourselves against eviction, legal
actions will be taken. They held
sticks and knives.”
The police detained three defiant
squatters. The police banned
journalists from covering the
clearance until they had got a media
pass from the minister. The
squatters apparently moved to the
site five days earlier. Most of them
were from Kontalapaung,
Laydaunkkan and Nwekhwe villages
and Pale Myothit. The squatters were
taken to an unnamed monastery.
MYANMAR ELEVEN
Bago villagers alarmed
at mine project
EMG
ACHIEVEMENT of a “real”
national peace through negotiation is more important than having political talks before the 2015
general election, say representatives from armed ethnic groups
attending the Law Khee Lar summit in Kayin State.
The representatives expressed
concern that the next government would have to restart the
whole national peace process if
the current administration did
not lay foundations strong
enough for the process to move
forward.
“We think we should keep discussing [until the peace is
achieved]. If the government
goes the same way with us, we
can move forward,” said Naing
Han Tha, vice-chairman of the
New Mon State Party. He said the
peace process could not be
abandoned whoever won power.
“The government will have
new leaders but Myanmar’s army
may not. And we will have no
change. I think at least a half of
the participating representatives
will take part in future talks.
Everybody knows the nationwide
ceasefire is important,” he said.
He added that the peace deal
would be easier if there was a
strong desire to have mutual
understanding with ethnic
groups.
Khun Myint Tun, chairman of
Pa-O National Liberation
Organisation, said: “Today the
national peace process is at a
very important point as time
goes by. To have our negotiations
achieving a goal is more important. Only successful negotiations will ensure a ‘true’ peace.
The key point is to negotiate successfully regardless of whether
it’s before or after the general
election.”
At the summit which was
wrapped up on June 6, Khun
Myint Tun, the chairman of the
Pa-O National Liberation
Leaders at the Law Khee Lar summit on June 8.
Organisation (PNLO), urged all
leaders to attempt to secure
national reconciliation with the
government now there is a guarantee that political dialogue will
go ahead.
“The national reconciliation is
a basic foundation of the nationwide ceasefire agreement. Ethnic
leaders are required to make a
small number of amendments to
the final draft,” Khun Myint Tun
said. “The ceasefire we are working on today is different from
those in the past. We all know
this. The current process ensured
greater consolidation among our
different ethnic groups. Our tide
of unity is reaching its highest
level. It seems an advantage.
Now is the time all our brethren
living across the nation are looking forward to finding the best
results from the ceasefire. The
United Nations and the international community are constantly
keeping an eye on the peace
moves. The current process cannot be hidden from the people
and the international community.
We are at an excellent point,” he
said.
“Unity is the first point necessary for our groups and we will
stick to it. Only with unity can we
see a win-win situation. If we do
not bring about national reconciliation with the government, a
ceasefire and peace process will
not succeed. So all of us are
responsible for securing national
reconciliation. The ceasefire draft
is the first step towards reconciliation. It is also the first foundation for establishing a federal
union.
“In the past, the military junta
laid down a one-sided political
roadmap. Although we have our
likes and dislikes in the roadmap
prescribed in the current agreement, it captures the correct
political essence,” Khun Myint
Tun said.
Malala calls for end of ‘persecution’
AGENCIES
Nobel Peace Prize winner
Malala Yousafzai on Monday
urged Myanmar leaders to take
“immediate action” to prevent
the persecution of the country’s
Rohingya Muslims, most of
whom are considered by the government to be illegal immigrants.
The 17-year-old, who was shot
by militants in her native
Pakistan for campaigning for
girls’ rights, said that Rohingyas
deserved “equal rights and
opportunities” and called for
them to be integrated into the
country. “I call on the leaders of
Myanmar and the world to take
immediate action to halt the
inhuman persecution of Burma’s
(Myanmar) Muslim minority
Rohingya people,” said Malala.
“The Rohingyas deserve citizenship in the country where
they were born and have lived for
generations,” added the teenager,
who won the Nobel prize last
year for her activism.
“Today and every day, I stand
with the Rohingyas, and I encourage people everywhere to do so.”
Myanmar considers the
Rohingya to be illegal immigrants
from Bangladesh, and places a
raft of restrictions on them, such
as family size, movements and
access to jobs.
Most of the 1.3 million-strong
community have no citizenship
and tens of thousands have fled
the impoverished Myanmar state
of Rakhine after deadly communal violence there in 2012, sparking a migrant crisis.
The collapse of a transnational trafficking route following a
Thai crackdown has made it even
more difficult for the Rohingyas
to escape persecution, with many
ending up in camps in a remote
region near the MyanmarBangladesh border.
On Monday, Bangladesh
repatriated 150 undocumented
migrants found last month off the
Myanmar coast after the traffickers abandoned them in the Bay
of Bengal, officials said.
Troopers from the border
Guard Bangladesh (BGB) picked
the migrants up in six buses from
Gundum village on the border of
Bangladesh and Myanmar’s
Rakhine state, 320 kilometres
southeast of Dhaka, after they
were handed over by the
Myanmar Border Police.
On Sunday, Buddhist hardliners in Rakhine State announced
the plan to stage a day of protest
moves to help desperate
migrants found adrift on boats in
the Bay of Bengal.Local groups
met in the state capital Sittwe on
Saturday. “The meeting decided
to stage a protest on June 14
against keeping Bengalis from
Bangladesh in Rakhine state,”
Soe Naing, a coordinator for
social programmes in Rakhine
who attended the meeting, told
AFP. As this becomes an international matter, Taliban militants in
Pakistan on Monday urged the
beleaguered Rohingya Muslims
to “take up the sword” and
launch a holy war against
Myanmar to stop their persecution in the country.
The Taliban message was
issued by Ehsanullah Ehsan,
spokesman of theJamaat-ulAhrar outfit, which is hiding in
Pakistan’s north-westernborder
region with Afghanistan.”
“I address Burma’s youth:
take up the sword and kill in the
path ofGod. No doubt, God is
with us,” Ehsan said.
Bago Region residents recently
took part in the prayer “protest”
against a mining project in a 70,000acre site near their village of Nawpel
in Kyaukkyi Township, Taungoo
District. About 100 villagers joined
the prayer.
“We learned that two companies
have been permitted to mine near
our village. We heavily rely on
agriculture and are very worried
about the side effects such as
chemical reactions, deforestation
and other environmental problems.
We are saying prayers to prevent any
ill effects coming to us,” said Naw
Tapi Thar, a member of Kyaukkyi
Township Natural Resources
Conservation Committee.
“They’re working with heavy
machinery and 12-wheeled trucks at
night until around 10 or 11pm. This is
dishonest,” said Myint Thaung, a
village activist.
“We applied for official
permission to farm and extract
stones in the area and were denied,
saying the area is a forest reserve.
What now?” said Ko Waing from the
township.
More underage
soldiers released
Myanmar released more children
from the army on June 4. After the
second release of underage child
soldiers this year, the total number
of soldiers released is raised to 91,
according to Unicef. So far, 646
underage soldiers have been
released from the army after the
government signed an Action Plan in
June 2012 to end and prevent the
recruitment and use of children in
army forces and armed groups in the
country.
Since 2007, the Tatmadaw
(Myanmar Army), as well as seven
armed groups, have been listed on
the UN Secretary-General’s list of
parties to conflict who recruit and
use children.
The army has renewed its action
plans in order to speed up efforts to
make the Tatmadaw child-free. In
2014, the army took action against
50 officers and 277 other military
officials who were involved in
recruiting child soldiers.
KYAT EXCHANGE
BUSINESS
Buy
US $
Euro ¤
Sell
1112
1114
1236
1256
808
822
Singpore $
Source: KBZ Bank
4
MYANMAR ELEVEN, Wednesday, June 10, 2015
First part of HAGL’s $440m
investment to hit market
HOANG Anh Gia Lai (HAGL)
Myanmar will launch its residences, the Lake Suites, later
this month, said the firm’s head.
Managing director Cao Duy
Thinh said the Lake Suites were
part of the Myanmar Centre, the
firm’s US$440 million development in Bahan Township.
“The Myanmar Centre is the
largest 100 per cent Vietnaminvested project [in Myanmar]. It
is the first integrated and mixeduse project developed to international standards in Yangon,” said
Cao.
“Our goal is to make the
Myanmar Centre a hub for cosmopolitan living in Yangon. The
retail centre will be spacious,
modern and bright, inspired by
the leading malls and shopping
centres of the world with choices
of domestic and international
cuisine. If it sounds bullish, it is
only our passion for doing something truly unique in the retail
sector.”
Cao said he hoped the
Myanmar Centre would set the
best international example to
Yangon for other developers and
inspire them to care about more
than their bottom line.
“The mission of the
abide by international
Lake Suites is to put
building safety codes
luxury for everything
with central waste disunder one roof and
posal. They have a
offer contemporary,
water filtration and
premium facilities that
purification system,
complement every life24-hour security and
style. We want to give
integrated security
people more than a
surveillance, a swimresidence, but the best
ming pool, tennis
value and lifestyle
court, clubhouse and
experience possible,”
children pools, a playhe said.
ground and barbecue
“The residences are
area. Four types of
not for sale or rent, but
apartment are availalong-term leasing over
ble: one-bedroom,
70 years, which is very
two-bedroom deluxe,
common in other
two-bedroom premier
countries. We are
and three-bedroom.
happy to be seeing
The project is
such a positive
divided into two phasresponse from our cuses. The first consists
tomers, who are lookof two grade-A office
ing forward to their
towers, one retail
move-in day. What
block and the five-star
makes our residences
Melia hotel, a leading
different is that we use
operator from Spain.
the highest internaThe next phase is
Cao Duy Thinh, HAGL Myanmar’s managing
tional standards in
another two blocks of
director
design, safety and
offices and five more
technology.”
residential blocks.
The Lake Suites are one part
Centre Tower and a five-star
According to Cao, the entire
of the four-in-one Myanmar
hotel, the Melia Yangon. The
complex will be fully integrated
Centre. The development will
other three will be launched by
and house a premium supermaralso have shopping opportunities 2017.
ket, international and domestic
at the Myanmar Centre Plaza,
The Lake Suites have an
cuisines and numerous other
office space at the Myanmar
earthquake-resistant design and
opportunities for anyone to purEMG
Khine Kyaw
MYANMAR ELEVEN
sue their passions and lifestyles.
“We know Yangon and its
bright future will always attract
international audiences. We are
confident in the future here. We
strongly believe in the development of a truly unique property
that exceeds the limits of what is
currently being offered in
Yangon,” he said.
“We believe in Myanmar and
HAGL will always act in the best
interest of the country and any
growth must be responsible and
sustainable for the markets in
which we do business … Real
estate is our only investment in
Myanmar at this time. The country has potential everywhere, but
we are focused on real estate.”
Earlier this year, criticism
arose over the project due to the
contract termination with
Singapore’s Rowsley Ltd to build
a US$550-million, mixed-use
development. Cao insisted that it
would not have any negative
development or impacts on the
project and its quality as the firm
still had proper funding to meet
customer demand.
“Our large investment shows
our belief in Myanmar’s bright
prospects and unlimited potential. Myanmar Centre wants to be
a part of your excellent future,”
he said.
Food and drug agency expands
The Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) is going
to open offices in seven
regions, including border
areas, according to the
Ministry of Health.
Branch offices are being
constructed in Bago, Magway
and Ayeyarwady regions and
Shan State.
Extended branch offices will
be built in Kachin and Kayin
states and Kawthaung and
Myeik townships, Tanintharyi
Region.
The FDA has opened laboratories in border towns such
as Muse, Tachileik and
Chinshwehaw in Shan State,
Myawady in Kayin State and
Tamu in Sagaing Region.
The Ministry of Health has
a budget of more than Ks75
billion for this fiscal year, with
more than Ks34 billion due to
be invested in 1,369 construction projects, according to its
report.
FDA agents collect food samples at a Yangon wholesale market
EMG
Ei Thinzar Kyaw
MYANMAR ELEVEN
Yangon
MYANMAR ELEVEN, Wednesday June 10, 2015
5
Business
6
Japan backs
human
resource,
aquaculture
development
MYANMAR ELEVEN, Wednesday, June 10, 2015
YCDC to penalise negligent
construction companies
VIENTIANE TIMES
A construction site in Thingangyun Township in May.
MYANMAR ELEVEN
YANGON City Development
Committee will take severe
action against construction companies and contractors if there
are complaints from neighbors
about the damage to nearby
houses and buildings, according
to the building department under
YCDC. There have been many
complaints recently from homeowners about nearby construction sites that have caused damage to their buildings and houses, and charges have been
brought against construction
companies and contractors.
“Stern actions like the closure
of work sites will be taken
against them if there are such
cases. We have received a number ofcomplaints about such
cases. Even some cases go to the
courts as both sides could not
settle their cases together,” said
an official from the YCDCq building department.
While YCDC plans to institute
a pledge by construction companies and contractors to avoid
damaging surrounding structures
before the construction of new
buildings, this has not been put
into effect yet and does not affect
ongoing projects.
Locals in Yangon said some
construction sites, especially
contract building projects, have
no safety measures. They have
demanded that authorities
supervise these projects and take
EMG
The capacity of Laos to develop
its human and natural resources
will be further strengthened thanks
to two projects valued at 64 billion
kip resulting from funding and
cooperation from Japan and
announced in Vientiane last Friday.
Supporting the country’s
governance is the Japanese Grant
Aid for Human Resource
Development Scholarship (JDS) for
fiscal year 2015, valued at 261
million Japanese Yen (16 billion
kip).
Meanwhile, the vital role played
by fish in providing nutrition across
the nation has been recognised in
the Project for Strengthening
Research and Development on
Fisheries and Aquaculture, valued
at a further 714 million yen (48
billion kip).
The two projects were
announced at a signing ceremony
held at the Ministry of Planning and
Investment last week.
Director General of the
ministry’s International Cooperation
Department, Sisomboun Ounavong
and JICA Laos Chief
Representative, Yusuke Murakami
inked the deal on behalf of their
respective organisations and
nations. Also witnessing were
representatives from the key
implementing ministries.
The JDS programme has been
awarded to promising Lao students
since 1999. In that time the JDS has
greatly contributed to efforts by the
Lao government for the
development of highly capable and
intellectually able public officials,
seen as essential for good
governance.
Under the scheme, some 20 Lao
government officials are selected
each year to join counterparts from
around the developing world to
undertake postgraduate studies at
major universities in Japan. Some
314 scholars have been accepted to
pursue higher studies in Japanese
universities under the JDS
Programme.
Of these, 262 have since
graduated. It has been a great
pleasure to meet former JDS
students in their capacity as
officials taking on important
positions in the government with
great confidence and repute.
Meanwhile, the project for
Strengthening Research and
Development on Fisheries and
Aquaculture is also contributing to
socio-economic development by
supporting the national food
security programme.
Freshwater fish has long been a
key animal protein in Laos and a
very important source of nutrition.
The assistance for the development
of a National Aquaculture
Development Centre and support
for the already-established Living
Aquatic Resource Research Centre
(LARReC) is set to not only enhance
promotion of best-practice
aquaculture techniques at both
centres but also benefit fish
producers and consumers across
the nation.
action against negligence.
A resident of Thingangyun
Township said: “A contact project
is being built near my house.
There is no safety cover. There
may be damage to nearby houses if bricks and cement from the
project fall. If so, who will take
responsibility for that? And who
will deal with this problem?”
In 2015, the YCDC’s building
department has given approved
more than 600 low-rise and
high-rise buildings per month.
Muse trade exceeds expectations
Chan Myae Thu
MYANMAR ELEVEN
The Ministry of Commerce
has reported that the border
trade at Muse is booming,
exceeding the expected performance with goods worth more
than US$704 million passing
through during the last financial
year.
An official at the Muse trading post said: “Muse’s trade is
thriving. The expected trade
value was exceeded in May. The
most traded items are agricultural products such as rice,
beans and corn.”
The value of exports was
more than $423 million during
the last financial year, while
imports were valued at $281
million, making a total of more
than $704 million.
The total trade value in 201314 was $406 million with $228
million in imports and export of
$178 million.
Muse, Lwingyal, Shwehaw
and Kanpaite are the four official trading posts along the
Chinese border. Muse sees
more than 70 per cent of
Myanmar’s legal exports to
China.
According to checkpoint officials, trade flow at the Muse
border hub is thriving, with
large exports of rice and corn to
China.
Between 140 and 180 rice
trucks and between 120 and 170
corn trucks pass through the
border gate at Muse every day.
It was reported that while
Myanmar traders have obtained
official licenses for exporting,
Chinese traders are often
arrested for not having licenses
for such activities.
Myanmar’s natural resources
are being exported to China
through illegal trade routes
along the border.
China-Myanmar border trade
in the previous fiscal year
exceeded $5 billion, up by nearly US$2 billion from a yar earlier. During April and May, the
Yunnan provincial launched a
crackdown on illegal border
trade.
The two-month crackdown
will take place in Honghe,
Dehong, Wenshan and
Xishuangbanna until May 31.
Prospects for Asean economy, exports good for next decade
Sucheers Pinijparakarn
THE NATION
THE ASEAN economy in the
next decade will continue to outperform much of the world, and
could become the second-largest
export region, driven by direct
investment from China and
Japan, which both will see Asean
as the top choice for their production bases.
Speaking at a One Asset
Management seminar on the
region’s growth opportunities,
Usara Wilaipich, senior economist at Standard Chartered Bank
(Thai), said Asean was already
attracting foreign direct investment with its large labour force
and growing numbers of middleincome consumers.
Even though the exports of
Asean countries including
Thailand have been affected by
the global slowdown, looking
ahead in the next decade, export
will be a key growth engine
because of China’s economic
reforms and a new round of economic growth in Japan, Usara
said. She said China could no
longer rely on cheap labour, leading it to look for manufacturing
bases abroad. Wage costs in
China increase by 6.9 per cent
per annum, so the country needs
to shift from labour-intensive to
high-value-added production.
For its part, Japan is entering
a new round of economic growth,
while the depreciation of the yen
has had an impact on the revenue of its manufacturers.
At the same time, it is an ageing society, so Japanese manufacturers have to go outside as
well, she said.Asean is the choice
of China and Japan and Thailand
is a mainstay of Asean, hence the
governments of those two countries in recent months have met
with the Thai government to
voice their interest in investing in
the Kingdom’s infrastructure
development.
Vietnam and Cambodia are
China’s top choices for production bases and Indonesia is the
top choice for manufacturing
bases for Japan, Usara said.
The new wave of Japanese
direct investment in Thailand has
gone into consumer and pharmaceutical products, she said.
However, Asean has a huge
gap in productivity, affecting the
flows of investment. Usara noted
that the GDP per capita in
Singapore was more than 55
times that in Cambodia.
Countries in Asean are
improving their infrastructure
and regulations to deal with the
new wave of investment, so public investment will be a main
theme, because without a complete infrastructure, productivity
will not improve, said the economist.
ASEAN+
7
MYANMAR ELEVEN, Wednesday, June 10, 2015
HK to issue ‘red travel
alert’ to South Korea
Aceh imposes
curfew on
women
DEUTSCHE PRESSE-AGENTUR
Jakarta
HONG KONG said on Tuesday
it would issue a red alert against
non-essential travel to South
Korea where eight new cases of
Middle East Respiratory
Syndrome (MERS) were reported, bringing the total to 95 with
seven fatalities.
The number of new Korean
cases reported on Tuesday was a
sharp drop from 23 on Monday
but the number of schools closed
grew to 2,199, including 19 universities.
Hong Kong’s secretary for
administration, Carrie Lam, told
reporters just ahead of a meeting
of the city’s Executive Council
that the red alert would be
issued. A red alert is defined as a
“significant threat” according to
the Hong Kong government, and
means people should “adjust
travel plans” and “avoid nonessential travel” On Monday,
Hong Kong upgraded its
response to the outbreak in
South Korea to “serious”.
Nam Kyung-pil, governor of
Gyeonggi province, which surrounds the South Korean capital,
Seoul, said the country was fighting two wars. “The war against
the disease and the war against
fear,” he said.
A MERS case was confirmed
at one of the largest hospitals in
South Korea on Tuesday, while
the total number of cases rose to
95 and death toll to seven.
The Health Ministry confirmed
that a 27-year-old man was
infected by the sixth patient
while staying at the emergency
room of the Asan Medical Center
in Seoul on May 26. The sixth
patient, who was diagnosed on
May 28, died on June 1.
With more than 2,700 licensed
beds and a total area of 85,000
square meters, Asan Medical
Center is one of the biggest hospitals in Korea. The hospital officials had previously told media
that the sixth patient only stayed
about 10 minutes at the emergency room on May 26.
The seventh MERS death was
also confirmed on Tuesday morning. The deceased was diagnosed
with the virus on June 6. The
68-year-old had a chronic heart
disease and was admitted to the
Samsung Medical Center’s emergency room for dyspnea on May
27, where she was exposed to the
14th patient. Her condition deteriorated since the diagnosis and
she died on Monday.
In addition, two other hospitals were confirmed as MERSaffected facilities. Two newly confirmed patients, aged 64 and 71,
respectively, were infected at the
Hallym University Medical Center
in Seoul by the 15th confirmed
patient. Meanwhile, a 47-year-old
man was infected by the
deceased sixth patient - his
father-in-law - while caring for
Reuters
REUTERS, THE KOREA HERALD
South Korean visitors arriving from Seoul wearing masks arrive at Hong Kong Airport on June 9.
him at Yeouido St. Mary’s
Hospital on May 28.
South Korea also confirmed
the first case of MERS of a pregnant woman Tuesday.
The woman in her 40s
appeared to have been infected
with the virus while briefly staying at an emergency room at the
Samsung Medical Center, where
the 14th confirmed patient was
staying.
The woman is due to give
birth this month and was staying
at the hospital’s maternity ward.
Her mother and father have also
been confirmed of MERS.
Though, the authorities said
that children are less susceptible
to the disease and, even if they
are infected, tend to show little
or no symptoms with a high
recovery rate.
“When you look at the
research done at Saudi Arabia, 2
percent of the MERS patients are
young children. Nine showed no
symptoms, had no underlying
disease and fully recovered. Two
of them had underlying diseases
and of them one with Cystic
fibrosis died,” said Dr. Kim Woojoo, who is now the leader of the
government’s MERS task force.
“In other words, children do
not tend to be infected with
MERS. Even if they are infected,
there are no symptoms and they
recover completely.”
He, however, added that children with asthma or a lung condition should take extra care.
South Korea confirmed its
first teenage MERS patient, a
16-year-old high schooler who
reportedly received surgery at
one of the affected hospitals.
Park in hot seat
South Korean President Park
Geun-hye is facing growing calls
from National Assembly members to postpone her scheduled
US trip next week, amid escalating fear and resentment over the
government’s response in fighting the Middle East respiratory
syndrome outbreak.
Park plans to visit Washington
and Houston for a six-day trip
which includes a summit with US
President Barack Obama.
Her trip is seen crucial in
seeking to reaffirm alliance with
the US as inter-Korean tension
remains high. The Seoul government has also been receiving
increasing calls to bolster its diplomatic stance in light of the
tightening alliance between the
US and Japan.
Despite Park’s efforts to
appease the angry public over
the government’s bungled early
response to MERS, politicians
are urging her to delay her trip,
citing widespread antipathy
against the government for
neglecting people’s safety.
Rep. Ha Tae-kyung, a ruling
Saenuri Party lawmaker, urged
her to consider deferring the trip,
suggesting that her US counterpart would understand the situation.
“The US president cancelled
his trip to Asean-member countries last October on concerns
over the partial shutdown of the
federal government,” he said. “I
believe that the US can fully
understand the current domestic
situation (of South Korea).”
The capital of Indonesia’s
devoutly Muslim province of
Aceh has imposed restrictions on women working
after 11 pm to prevent other
crimes.
Women who work in places such as sports and entertainment centres as well as
tourism spots should go
home by 11pm, under a
directive that took effect on
June 4, Banda Aceh mayor
Illiza Sa’aduddin Djamal
said.
Children and women are
advised not to be in such
places after 10pm unless
they are accompanied by
male relatives, she said.
“Women in Aceh are vulnerable to sexual harassment so we want to protect
them from untoward incidents,” Illiza said.
A recent study by a parenting and children foundation, Kita dan BuahHati,
cases of sexual harassment
were higher in Aceh than in
any other province in
Indonesia.
Employers could lose
business licences if they
flout the directive, but there
will be no punishment for
women who break the curfew, she said.
“They will be asked to go
home and be given a warning,” she said. Women in
some professions such as
nurses and midwives are
exempted from the curfew,
she said.
Sharia law has been in
force in Aceh since the early
2000s as part of Jakarta’s
attempts to pacify demands
for independence.
Drinking, gambling and
mixing with the opposite sex
while unmarried are punishable by public caning.
In 2005, the government
and separatist rebels of the
Free Aceh Movement signed
a peace deal ending decades of armed conflict,
which claimed an estimated
15,000 lives.
China’s green card threshold lowered
CHINA DAILY
China has lowered the
threshold for permanent residency “green cards” for foreigners serving in some government-affiliated institutes and
scientific and research centres.
According to the Ministry of
Public Security, the newly
added sectors include State
laboratories and engineering
research centres, technology
centres of key companies and
foreign-funded research and
development centres.
Foreigners who are vice-professors and researchers or
above, have worked for at least
four years and lived in China for
three years with good tax
records, will be able to apply for
permanent resident permits at
the local entry and exit management department.
Launched in 2004, China’s
green card policy provides permanent residency for high-end
foreign experts and people with
large investments or for outstanding contributions to the
country.
“Such measures will play an
essential role in attracting more
high-level foreigners, including
many overseas Chinese,” the
ministry said in a statement.
Foreigners who obtain permanent residency have the
same rights as Chinese people
when they invest in businesses,
purchase houses, apply for
driving licenses and admit their
children to Chinese schools.
By 2013, more than 5,000
foreigners had managed to get
green cards, a small number
compared with the more than
600,000 foreigners living in
China.
ASEAN+
8
MYANMAR ELEVEN, Wednesday, June 10, 2015
M’sia, Philippines launch actions
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Kuala Lumpur, Manila
MALAYSIA will lodge a diplomatic protest against an alleged
incursion by a Chinese Coast
Guard ship into its waters off
Borneo island in the disputed
South China Sea, while the
Philippines plans the second
joint naval drills with Japan this
year.
China’s claim over almost the
entire South China Sea overlaps
with those of the Philippines,
Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and
Brunei. China recently aggressively developed islands in disputed waters.
Malaysia Navy Chief Abdul
Aziz Jaafar said that since late
2014, intrusions by Chinese
ships into Malaysian waters have
been a daily affair with Kuala
Lumpur protesting to Beijing
each time. Abdul Aziz told AFP
the Chinese vessel involved in
the latest incident remained in
Malaysian waters.
“We are maintaining our presence there. We are shadowing
the vessel continuously. It is a
case where they want to maintain
their presence there but at the
same time we are there to make
sure and tell them that this is our
waters,” he said.
“We have been submitting
(diplomatic protests). Every time
we detect them... every time we
sight them we challenge them (to
indicate) that they are in our
waters. At the same time we
lodge a diplomatic protest,” he
added.
The latest incident is near the
Luconia Shoals, an area of the
South China Sea just outside the
Spratlys, a reputedly oil-rich
island chain claimed in whole or
in part by Brunei, China,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan
and Vietnam.
Philippine navy spokesman
Colonel Edgard Arevalo said yesterday that the June 22-26 joint
manoeuvres with the Japanese
Maritime Self-Defence Force
would be the second this year,
after a one-day exercise in the
flashpoint South China Sea last
month. He would not say where
the new exercises would be held
or which ships would take part.
On May 12, two Japanese
destroyers and one of the
Philippines’ newest warships
held manoeuvres less than 300
kilometres (168 miles) from the
Philippine-claimed Scarborough
Shoal, which is now under
Chinese control.
“This navy-to-navy engagement envisions to share new tactics, techniques and procedures
as well as best practices to further maritime operations,”
Arevalo said. The drills will
involve “maritime domain awareness”, search and rescue, and
disaster response, he said.
Philippine President Benigno
Aquino and Japanese Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe announced
in Tokyo last week that the two
governments would start negotiations for the transfer of defence
technology and equipment.
The agreement may include
the export of Japanese hardware
to the Philippines, including antisubmarine reconnaissance air-
Hero guides face bleak future
25, who became a hero after a photo
of him carrying an injured teenager
went viral on social media, is uncertain about his future.
Rizuan said he would have to consider looking for other jobs to make
ends meet.
“Some of us have been doing this
most our lives- we don’t know how
else to survive. Some of us have
families to feed.
“Hopefully help will come to us,”
Laos, China agree
to further cement
cooperation
he told The Star.
Malaysian authorities on Monday
arrested a European man for allegedly stripping naked and urinating
on Mount Kinabalu, an act that some
in the country say angered tribal
spirits and caused a deadly earthquake. The 38-year-old was arrested
in Kota Kinabalu, capital of the state
of Sabah on Borneo island, on
charges of causing a public nuisance.
Even as they made the daily 7km
trek up Mount Kinabalu to help in
the search for the remaining victims
of Friday’s earthquake, the mountain
guides couldn’t help but worry about
their future.
Veteran guides like Rahili Supilin
anticipate a substantially longer
period out of work though all mountain activities have been stopped for
three weeks due to the severe
damage of facilities there.
Rahili is among the 250
local folks from villages around
Kundasang and Ranau who
depend on a steady income
from guiding climbers up the
mountain.
For some families, it is a
livelihood that began decades
ago and continued through the
generations - from grandfather
to father and now to son.
Guides can earn from 850
ringgit (US$226) to as much as
1,500 ringgit guiding groups of
climbers, trekking up the
mountain with climbers about
five times a month.
Most of these guides are
men as young as 18 though the
oldest is over 60. About 10 of
them are women.
All 250 of the guides are
registered with the Mt Kinabalu
Guides Assocation and act as
navigators for climbers for a fee
of 175 ringgit per climb. Rahili,
who is the association’s deputy
president, said most guides
solely depended on the mountain to support their families.
“We need the income from
guiding fees to sustain us. It is
something that we thought we
could depend on to cari makan
(earn a living),” said Rahili, a
father of six.
He said the guides were hoping to be involved in the cleanup of the mountain or finding
new trails to replace those
damaged by the avalanche of
boulders and rocks following
the earthquake.
“Perhaps there will be some
income there and we can do
our part to help to normalise
the situation on the mountain,”
Jessica Sikta holds a picture of his fiance Valerian Joannes, a tour guide who
said Rahili.
was among those killed in an earthquake which hit Sabah.
Even Md Rizuan Kauhinin,
VIENTIANE TIMES
EPA
THE STAR
craft and radar technology.
The two leaders also
expressed “serious concern” over
China’s construction of artificial
islands in the South China Sea,
which they said violated a 2002
regional agreement.
Aquino, who was making a
state visit to Tokyo, also drew
parallels between China’s recent
actions and Nazi Germany’s
creeping invasion of Europe just
before World War II.
Aquino is one of China’s most
outspoken critics in the region.
His government has asked a
United Nations-backed tribunal
to rule on its territorial disputes
with China. China and Japan are
separately embroiled in a longstanding dispute over a Japancontrolled island chain in the
East China Sea.
The government offices of Laos and China
have signed a memorandum of understanding to
further strengthen the cooperative relations and
friendship between the two countries based on
mutual benefits.
Under the MOU, the Chinese side will assist
the Government Office of Laos in regards to
human resource development by granting nine
scholarships annually to officials here. The
respective parties also agreed to regularly organise exchange visits by delegations from the government offices of both countries and establish
collaboration centres, aiming to further facilitate
cooperation.
The MOU was signed during a visit to China
last week by a Lao delegation led by Government
Office Head Sonexay Siphandone. The delegation
was welcomed by Deputy Secretary General of
the State Council of China, Wang Zhongwei.
China is committed to providing financial supports to two events in Laos – the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Lao PDR at the end of
this year and Asean Summit next year.
Since Laos and China established a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2009, their
mutual trust has deepened, particularly in political affairs, while economic cooperation has seen
progress as anticipated.
Trade between the two countries exceeded
29,325 billion kip (US$3.61 billion) in 2014, an
increase of 31 per cent on the year before.
China was Laos’ largest export market in
2014, accounting for 46.1 percent of all Lao
exports. The value of Laos’ exports to China
reached US$1.77 billion, an increase of 73 percent on the previous year.
Meanwhile the value of goods imported from
China reached US$1.84 billion in 2014, an
increase of 7 percent compared to the year
before. China represented the second largest
source of Lao imports, accounting for 27.1 percent of the total. As of March 2015, Chinese
companies had invested in 758 projects in Laos
totalling US$6.6 billion, including joint investments with Lao partners.
Of the US$6.6 billion, investments exclusively
by Chinese companies amounted to US$5.3 billion, making China the largest foreign investor in
Laos. During the visit, Sonexay met with business operators, notably those that had invested
in Laos in the areas of mining, hydropower and
real estate.
He asked Chinese companies to further study
investment opportunities in central and southern
Laos, especially the provinces located along the
East-West Economic Corridor.
MYANMAR ELEVEN, Wednesday, June 10, 2015
9
ASEAN+
VN microship plant approved
VIET NAM NEWS
PRIME Minister Nguyen Tan
Dung has agreed in principle to
permit Saigon Industry
Corporation to build a chip making factory worth VND6.6 trillion
(US$309 million).
This will enable it to enjoy policy incentives from the Vietnam
Development Bank loans worth
up to 60 per cent of the total
investment cost.
The project will be exempt
from import tax for five years and probably also from valueadded tax on equipment and
supplies that are not produced
locally. This will help the company’s research and development
activities.
Since it will apply high technology, the project will also enjoy
a preferential tax of 10 per cent
for a period of 30 years, tax
exemption for four years, and a
50 per cent tax reduction for
nine years.
In addition, it will get financial
assistance under Decision 2457/
QD-TTg on the national hi-tech
development programme until
2020. The project will be developed in accordance with the
Government Decision 842/
QD-TTg dated June 1, 2011. The
Prime Minister has told HCM City
government to appraise and
approve the project.
He has also told it to make
sure the investor implements the
project in accordance with regulations and to make sure money
is invested efficiently.
As proposed previously by the
city government and the investor,
a chip plant will be developed at
Saigon Hi-Tech Park (SHTP). The
investor has leased 10 hectares
at the park.
In the middle of 2012, the
HCM City authorities launched
the chip industry development
programme with a vision to
achieve the sector’s annual revenues of $100-150 million by 2017.
The programme will train
about 2,000 engineers and technicians, and serve about 30 companies.
Currently, in addition to the
project of Intel Products
Vietnam, the Saigon Park has
attracted investments from
domestic enterprises, including
an integrated circuit production
project by Saigon Semiconductor Technology Inc worth
more than $257.5 million.
In a separate move, in May,
SamSung Electronics began construction of the $1.4 billion
Samsung Electronics HCM City
Complex (SEHC) inside the
Saigon Park.
The complex, covering 70 hectares, will focus on research and
development and the production
of high-end TV products such as
SUHD TV, Smart TV and LED TV,
besides other consumer electronics products, during its first
phase of operation.
The complex is slated to go
into operation in the second
quarter of next year, and is
expected to generate 15,000
jobs. Its products will mostly be
exported.
The SEHC project received an
investment licence in October
2014.
GLOBAL
BRIEFS
Indonesia to boost
inclusive finances
The Financial Services Authority
(OJK) is targeting that Indonesia’s
inclusive finances, which include
people’s banking and financial
literacy as well as banking
participation, will reach 90 per cent
by 2017.
“We will continue to educate
people and push them to become
banking consumers. We will also
continuously push the related
parties to become bank agents,”
OJK commissioner council
chairman Muliaman D. Hadad said
as quoted by Antara news agency
after he opened a finance literacy
international seminar in Nusa Dua,
Bali, on Tuesday.
OJK survey data shows that in
2013, the level of finance literacy in
Indonesia stood at 21 per cent while
the public’s inclusiveness as
banking consumers reached 59.7
per cent. With such a low level of
inclusive finance, Muliaman said,
the government, local
administrations and the OJK had to
boost banking assistance and
education activities as well as
micro, small and medium
enterprises’ acceptability.
- THE JAKARTA POST
AFP
Online banking gains
traction
A farmer transports lychee fruits from his garden in Thanh Ha district. Vietnam expects to export thousands of tonnes of lychee
this year to new markets abroad including Australia and the USA.
The Bank Islam Brunei
Darussalam (BIBD) survey showed
that 55 per cent of its customers
actively utilise the mobile and online
banking facilities and 42 per cent of
perform financial transactions
through these channels regularly.
Chief Operating Officer at BIBD
Gyorgy Ladics said usage of mobile
and online banking in Brunei is
comparable to that in developed
economies such as Australia and
the USA. There are six times more
transactions made through its
mobile and online banking
transactions than at the bank’s
physical counters.“These statistics
are what you see in major developed
markets, so Brunei has moved to a
level where we see US, Australia and
Europe are,” he said.
“Less than 20 per cent of our
customer base comes regularly to
our counters as opposed to the 55
per cent engaging with us through
online and mobile banking.”
- THE BRUNEI TIMES
VN tax revenue up
Luang Prabang lacks tour guides for Chinese market
VIENTIANE TIMES
The increasing popularity of
Luang Prabang among Chinese
tourists means the World
Heritage Site is facing a shortage
of Chinese-speaking tour guides,
the provincial governor has said.
Even though thousands of
Chinese visit the provincial capital each week, there are only officially five local Chinese-speaking
tour guides currently available in
the province.
The shortage is set to intensify in the coming months when
daily flights from China to Laos
begin. The former capital is wellknown among global tourists for
its well-preserved culture and
traditions, said the governor,
Khampheng Xaysompheng.
He spoke to local media
recently during a working trip to
Vientiane where he attended a
government meeting.
“Remarkable numbers of
Chinese tourists have visited
Luang Prabang this year,” he
said. Over the first six months of
this fiscal year, the province had
welcomed more than 300,000
tourists with one third of the total
being Chinese.
Faced with a shortage of
Chinese-speaking guides, tour
operators have made use of
Chinese people living in the province who are able to speak Lao.
The province now anticipates an
even greater influx of Chinese
visitors with the start, on July 1,
of daily flights from Xieng Houng
in Yunnan province to Luang
Prabang, the governor said.
Officials from the Chinese
National Tourism Administration
and the Lao Ministry of
Information, Culture and Tourism
met in Vientiane earlier this year
to discuss tourism development,
aiming to increase the number of
tourists in the region.
Increasing wealth levels have
seen more Chinese travelling to
countries across the world, giving a boost to global spending
and the economies of individual
countries. Statistics from the
Chinese tourist body showed that
111 million Chinese travelled to
international destinations in
2014, ranking the nation number
one for outbound tourists.
To maximise the benefits from
Chinese visitors, Khampheng
underlined the need to focus on
human resource development to
meet the growing development
needs of his province where the
tourist industry offered remarkable potential.
This year, Luang Prabang will
celebrate the 20th anniversary of
World Heritage Site listing.
Various activities will be planned
to mark the occasion, which officials said would attract more visitors to the province and Laos as
a whole.
Laos has seen a growing number of tourist arrivals in recent
years. Foreign tourist arrivals
exceeded 4.15 million in 2014, an
increase of about 10 percent
compared to 2013 when about
3.75 million people visited the
country.
Vietnam’s tax revenues in the
first five months of this year
continued to grow despite reduction
in tax collection from crude oil,
according to the General
Department of Taxation.
During this period, domestic tax
collections were estimated to total
VND283.2 trillion (US$13 billion),
representing an increase of 16.3 per
cent over the same period last year,
including VND42.4 trillion ($1.94
billion) in May.
Taxes from crude oil, however,
dropped by 34 per cent against the
same period to VND30.3 trillion
($1.39 billion), reaching only 32.6
per cent of the target for the full
year. According to the Ministry of
Finance, the domestic economy has
reacted positively recently, but the
economy is still faced with
difficulties that could affect tax
collections.
- VIET NAM NEWS
ART&CULTURE
10
MYANMAR ELEVEN, Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Bagan: a victim of
its own success
People wait to see
the sunset from the
top of Shwesandaw
Pagoda in the
ancient city of
Bagan.
dispersed layout, the lure of tourists’ hard currency, and relatively
ineffective regulation.
Authorities are now stepping
up their efforts, and close most
pagodas at sunrise or sunset to
limit the damage from crowds.
“Tourists can enjoy sunrise
and sunset in five places,” said
Kyaw Oo Lwin, director general of
the Ministry of Culture’s national
museums department.
“Because we need to preserve
our cultural heritages although
we want to see more tourists visit
Bagan,” he said. Some local people disagree with the limitation,
saying it is not a good idea for
preservation. “Now trees such as
bayan are growing on the wall
and uppermost terrace of some
old pagodas as no one is allowed
to go there,” said Maung Lone
from local activist group “Bagan
Lovers.”
“Some pagodas are like abandoned houses that are going to
decay rapidly,” he said. In the old
city, another challenge is springing up, as hotels expand their
grounds to encompass old pagodas and lay on “temple dinners,”
in violation of regulations. The
Tourism Ministry allowed the
practice three years ago at just
three sites, Shwe Nan Yin Taw
pagoda, Damayan Gyi pagoda
and around Ohtein Gone. It
remains prohibited elsewhere.
“The temples and pagodas are
religious buildings of Buddhism,
and it is inappropriate to have
dinners there, from a religious
point of view,” said Win Zaw Cho.
Temple dinners also threaten
the future of old pagodas, said
the activist group, adding that
some small pagodas were
demolished. “In some hotel compounds, pagodas were removed
to another place or demolished
for landscaping to provide temple dinners there,” activist
Maung Lone said. One hotel
manager defended the events.
“If the visitors request the
temple dinner, we provide it on
grass near the pagoda,” not on or
in the structure, said Aung Soe,
manager of Thazin Hotel, which
has some old pagodas on its
grounds.
In principle, the presence of
any hotels at all in Old Bagan is
questionable. The 1957
Antiquities Act declared any
structure must be at least 120
feet (37 metres) from the nearest
old pagoda. And during the early
1990s, the military regime
declared Old Bagan an archaeological zone and relocated villagers from there to a nearby empty
site, now called New Bagan.
But the restrictions appear
not to have been applied to all,
as well-connected businessmen
developed large hotels including
the Tharabar, Nan Myint, Bagan,
Thazin and Then De, all inside
Old Bagan. Bagan Museum was
built in 1996 inside the protected
zone, as well as the 18-hole
Bagan Golf Resort and a
60-metre glass-and-concrete
viewing tower in the heart of the
zone. “This is the legacy of the
former government whose officials authorised hotel expansions,” Kyaw Oo Lwin said. “What
else could we do at that time?”
The government, which is
pushing for Bagan to be listed as
a World Heritage Site by
UNESCO, is updating the 1957
legislation with a bill published
last month for public review. The
new rules would impose stricter
fines and even prison terms for
violators, and would ban unauthorised commercial exploitation
of heritage sites and artefacts.”
According to these bills, some
22 hotels in Bagan would face
(legal) action for having at least
one old pagoda within the compound,” a senior Culture Ministry
official said.
“But these hotels are owned
by powerful businessmen. So we
will have to wait to see if the
authorities dare touch them.”
Reuters
As Myanmar has opened in
recent years, tourists have
flocked to Bagan to clamber over
its distinctive landscape of thousands of pagodas. But the industry threatens to destroy the heritage on which it depends.
The city of Bagan, one of
Myanmar’s most recognised and
visited historical sites, is under
pressure from growing hordes of
tourists, despite regulation to
conserve the site. At the 11thcentury Shwesantaw pagoda, one
of the taller structures, “you can
see hundreds of visitors at sunset every evening,” said Win Zaw
Cho, chairman of Tourist Guides
Association in Bagan Zone.
“Everyone who visits Bagan
wants to see sunset or sunrise
over the ancient temples and
pagodas. It is a big, big demand
and becomes a threat to old
pagodas,” he said.
About 30 per cent of the more
than two million tourists who visited Myanmar last year went to
Bagan, according to the Culture
Ministry. They are drawn by the
plethora of ancient pagodas, stupas, shrines and ordination halls
that make up the unique landscape of one of the world’s top
travel destinations. It was the
capital of 55 Buddhist kings from
the 11th to 13th century, and saw
more than 13,000 Buddhist temples and other structures built
over its 42 square kilometres, of
which around 2,200 survive
more or less intact, with another
2,000 in ruins.
But the site’s success with
tourists could be its undoing,
with the footfall of hundreds of
thousands of visitors threatening
the structures, and the mushrooming hotels and restaurants
degrading the cultural setting.
Official conservation efforts
have also been condemned by
archaeologists, for rebuilding
over ruins with modern materials, or simply repainting over the
more dilapidated murals. The
site is hard to manage due to its
Reuters
Kyaw Lynn
DEUTSCHE PRESSE-AGENTUR
Bagan
People stand on the Shwesandaw Pagoda as they wait to see
the sunset.
Myo Gyi’s new album just out
Rock artist Myo Gyi wows the audience at a concert with
Iron Cross.
EMG
Lin Lin Khaing
MYANMAR ELEVEN
Rocker Myo Gyi has just
released his new album titled
“Pyaung Lae Chin” (“Changes”).
“There’s a big gap between my
new album and my last album.
It took a long time because I
needed time to select the songs
and prepare them. I’m satisfied
with the outcome anyway,” said
the artist.
“Rather than sticking to a
certain schedule for an album’s
release, I always release one
whenever I’m satisfied with its
quality. The next album will follow the same practice,” he
added. The album features 12
songs composed by Ko Moe,
Jerry, San Pee, Sano, Aung Lar,
Thon Pu, Shein, Shi Mone, and
Myo Gyi. The songs were played
by Iron Cross band and recorded
at Ptl Studio.
Myo Gyi is currently on a concert tour with Iron Cross with
plans to stage a solo concert on
July 4.