1. law, govt and politics
2. law enforcement
3. police

R
EPA
PE
BUSINESS: FOREIGN INVESTMENT NEARLY HITS US$7 BN ✪5
First INDEPENDENT English daily
www.elevenmyanmar.com
FRIDAY, March 6, 2015
‘Lower the temperature’
INSIDE
NATIONAL
China urges Myanmar to ease tension along the border
MYANMAR ELEVEN, AGENCIES
MYANMAR must help “lower
the temperature” along its border
with China, a senior Chinese official told a Myanmar envoy, urging all parties to exercise
restraint after clashes with rebels
that have pushed refugees into
China.
Myanmar has accused
Chinese mercenaries of fighting
with ethnic Chinese rebels
against the government in the
northern region of Kokang and
has sought China’s cooperation
to prevent “terrorist attacks”
launched from its territory.
Fighting broke out last
month between Myanmar’s army
and the Myanmar National
Democratic Alliance Army
(MNDAA), which groups remnants of the Communist Party of
Burma, a powerful Chinesebacked guerrilla force that battled Myanmar’s government
before splintering in 1989.
Thousands of refugees have
entered China’s southwestern
province of Yunnan, to the government’s displeasure.
This followed a series of
undesirable events that China
has faced in recent months.
Police crackdown on protesters
against the Letpaduangtuang
copper-mine led to a series of
protest in front the Chinese
Embassy in Yangon since
December, which led to the
arrests and court trial of some
protesters. It also led to suspicion if other Chinese companies,
aside from Wanbao Mining,
would uphold environmental and
social standards when doing
business in Myanmar. China has
by far been the biggest foreign
investor in the country by country.
In a positive development,
V-Power, a Chinese high speed
generator-set system integrator
and distributor in February
started supplying power through
its latest gas-fired interim power
plant.
In a negative development, a
20-member delegation of the
National League for Democracy
has cancelled a trip to China.
In Beijing, Deputy Foreign
Minister Liu Zhenmin told the
Myanmar envoy that China had
“consistently respected
Myanmar’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”, China’s
Foreign Ministry said in a statement late on Wednesday.
China “hopes that the relevant parties can exercise
restraint and lower the temperature as soon as possible
on the present situation in
northern Myanmar, and earnestly maintain the stability of
the China-Myanmar border
region”, Liu added.
It was not immediately clear
from the Chinese-language
statement how the Myanmar
envoy’s name is translated in
English. China’s Foreign Ministry
said the envoy was a former
ambassador to China who was
visiting Beijing as a special representative.
“The Myanmar side thanks
China for its help in appropriately handling the situation in
northern Myanmar and is willing
to keep in close touch with
China,” the statement quoted
the envoy as saying.
Chinese Foreign Ministry
spokeswoman Hua Chunying
told a daily news briefing on
Thursday the government was
willing to help with peace talks if
Myanmar asked, as it has done
in the past.
On Wednesday, Kokang rebel
spokesman Htut Myat Lin said
the group wants China to help
negotiate an end to their fight
against government troops after
weeks of deadly clashes.
“We suggested to the government to hold discussions as we
want to end the fighting and
solve the conflict by political
means. It’s betterif China is
involved as a negotiator,” he said.
The government has not
responded to the request for
China to become involved, but
said on Monday that it would
not open talks with the rebels.
The Kokang rebels, formally
known as the Myanmar National
Democratic Alliance Army
(MNDAA), say they are backed
by an alliance of 16 ethnic
armed groups. “We are hoping
to solve the problems along with
other member groups,” Htut
Myat Lin said.
The MNDAA is trying to
retake the Kokang self-administered zone, which they controlled between 1989 and 2009,
before being driven out by the
Myanmar military after a peace
deal with the government failed.
The government has signed
ceasefire agreements with a
dozen of Myanmar’s myriad
rebel groups over the past three
years in an attempt to end decades of ethnic conflict.
Led by ethnic Chinese commander, the MNDAA struck a
truce with the government that
lasted until 2009, when government troops took over the
Kokang region in a conflict that
pushed tens of thousands of refugees into China.
Peng’s recent return is seen
at the root of the new fighting.
In an interview with a
Chinese newspaper last week,
Peng denied he had been receiving help from Chinese citizens
or mercenaries.
Students boycott hearing
amid police blockade
✪4
BUSINESS
One Myanmar among 50
powerful Asian
businesswomen
✪5
ASEAN+
Australia PM suggests
MH370 search could be
scaled back
✪7
LIFESTYLE
EMG
Keeping up
appearances
✪10
Pagodas across Myanmar were crowded with Buddhist devotees as they marked the Tabaung full moon festival on Wednesday,
known in Thailand as Maka Bucha Day. At Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, many were seen to fetch the holy water blessed by over
100 monks.
2
NATIONAL
MYANMAR ELEVEN, Friday, March 6, 2015
NLD members cancel trip to China
MYANMAR ELEVEN
A voter checks her name
on the list of eligible
voters in 2012.
the US, UK and European countries since President Thein Sein’s
government took office.
Some NLD members have
paid several visits to China at the
invitation of the ruling Chinese
Communist Party.
The NLD is expected to win a
landslide victory in the upcoming
election this year.
The leading opposition party
in Myanmar, formed in 1988, won
EMG
OPPOSITION party members
have postponed their planned
visit to the People’s Republic of
China, citing their tight schedule
as the reason for the postponement, party spokesperson Nyan
Win confirmed on Tuesday.
At the invitation of China,
some representatives from the
National League for Democracy
were planning to visit China for
nine days this month.
“We have cancelled the trip.
The reason is that we don’t have
time. But we mean the visit has
been postponed. We will consider it later,” said Nyan Win.
Phyo Zeyar Thaw, a parliamentarian and parliamentary
affairs spokesperson for NLD
leader Suu Kyi, also confirmed
that she would not make a China
trip this month.
Member of the NLD’s central
committee for election victory
Sharmee, who was selected to be
a member of the delegation,
said: “The trip has been called
off. We planned a 20-member
delegation.”
China always defended the
former military junta on the
world stage, taking more economic opportunities than any
other country in Myanmar.
The Chinese government now
has come into contact with other
political parities including the
NLD and civic organisations as
Myanmar has improved ties with
the 1990 election in 392 out of
492 constituencies across the
country, but the elections results
were denied by the then military
government.
The NLD boycotted the 2010
election and joined the 2012 byelection.The party won the byelection in 43 out 45 constituencies.
Union Election Commission
chairman Tin Aye said the elec-
tion date would be announced
before August.
The NLD also said its election
declaration would be issued after
the election date announcement.
■ Election education
Programmes to educate voters in Yangon Region will commence in the middle of March
under the guidance of election
monitoring organisations.
Local civic organisations in
Yangon Region met for the first
time on March 3 to discuss the
implementation of the programmes in ten townships.
“The authorities in Yangon
Region and in 10 townships that
collected data for voting said they
are ready to announce the voter
lists. They informed civic and
social organizations like us. We
will work from March 16 to 29.
From March 30, before water festival, the lists of eligible voters will
be displayed. Then, we will discuss
how to educate the people in
cooperation with the authorities,”
said Chan Lyan from the Horn Bill
organisation, an election monitoring group.
The nationwide survey of eligible votersbegan in September
2014. The government aims to finish compiling the nationwide voter
listby August 2015, according to
the Union Election Commission.
The first stage of compiling
the eligible voter list for Yangon
Region was completed in ten
townships. The second stage will
cover 14 townships and surveys
of the remaining townships will
begin at the end of March.
The ten townships that will
host voter education programmes are Dagon Seikkan,
Dagon, Latha, Botahtaung, lanmadaw, Dawbon, SeikgyiKhanaungto, Kamayut,
Kyauktada and
Pazuntaungtowhsips.
Trial of Chinese embassy protesters continues
Myint Thu
MYANMAR ELEVEN
The eighth trial session of six
activists who led a protest at the
Chinese embassy in December
against a probe into the death of
female protestor Khin Win, who
was killed in the December
clashes with police, took place
at the court in Dagon Township
on March 3.
One of the protest leaders on
trial, Nay Myo Zin from the
Myanmar Social Development
Association, was wounded in the
back at the protest. He appeared
in court and was then brought to
Kyimyindain Orthopedic
Specialist Hospital for a checkup.
“We sent Nay Myo Zin to
Kyimyindain Orthopedic
Specialist Hospital under the
instruction of a neurologist. An
investigation into whether he
should receive medical treatment or not at the hospital
will be made,” said a Police
Officer from the Dagon
Township court.
Moreover, a police sergeant and an official from a
ward were investigated as
plaintiff witnesses at the tail.
“Yesterday, a police sergeant and a ward official were
investigated as plaintiff witnesses. The court will decide
whether plaintiff witnesses
will be charged or not at the
ninth trial to be held on
March 10. All the lawsuits
already being filed will be
framed for a charge. The
plaintiff cancelled other
remaining plaintiff witnesses.
I think the case will not last.
On March 3, Nay Myo Zin was
brought to the court. The EU
diplomat met with him, and
they remarked that Nay Myo
EU diplomat meets with Democracy activist Nay Myo Zin, who was
wounded in the back, at the triall held in Dagon Township, on March 3.
Zin should receive medical
treatment. However, we need
the statements made in a court
from a prison doctor to grant
him medical treatment. The
prison doctor has been summoned by the court to make a
medical statement at the court.
But he didn’t come to the court.
That’s why we told the judge to
issue a warrant for [the doctor’s] arrest. However, the judge
didn’t accept our suggestion,”
said Robert San Aung, Nay Myo
Zin’s lawyer.
“I’m not feeling well. I was
detained for over two months. I
have no chance to receive medical treatment. The authorities
from the prison requested permission from their [superior
officers] to give me medical
treatment. They replied that it
was not allowed. I have lost the
rights of a prisoner,” said Nay
Myo Zin.
MYANMAR ELEVEN, Friday, March 6, 2015
3
4
National
MYANMAR ELEVEN, Friday, March 6, 2015
Students boycott hearing
amid police blockade
EPA
Protester shouts
slogans during a
protest march
supporting the
student protests
demanding an
amendment to the
education law in
Yangon on
Wednesday
STUDENT leaders have
refused to join a parliamentary
hearing on a controversial education bill on Thursday, vowing to
continue with their protest until
police allow they march to
Yangon.
About 200 students forming
the main protest column have
been locked in a standoff with
police outside a Buddhist monastery in the town of Letpadan,
about 140 km (90 miles) from
Yangon.
The Upper House’s Bill
Committee invited those concerned to attend the hearing,
scheduled for March 5-15. The
invitation was sent to the Action
Committee for Democratic
Education, political parties, the
National Network for Education
Reform, activists, registered civil
societies.
According to Phyo Phyo Aung,
a student activist, students who
were selected to attend the hearing represent the All Burma
Federation of Student Unions,
known as Ba-Ka-Tha.
However, on March 3, the
police formed a police human
chain around student protesters
staging a sit-in near
Aungmyaybeikman monastery.
On Wednesday, about 300 police
members placed barricades on
the road. Phyo Phyo Aung con-
have a pen or pencil, not a
coordination with students and
sidered that the authorities don’t
people. Under the directives from weapon,” student marcher Phyo
want students’ participation.
Dana said. “We denounce the
the above, we are still making
“As the main column is
government as a bad governcoordination with students,”
blocked, the students from the
ment if they use force to crack
Deputy Police Colonel Nanda
Ba-Ka-Tha will not attend the
down or threaten students with
Win Aung told the media.
hearing,” said Phyo Phyo Aung.
weapons.”
On Wednesday, some stuHe also said that they already
Later, the Kyauktada
dents in Yangon also marched
informed Thein Lwin from the
Township’s administrator asked
to Yangon City Hall, demanding
National Network for Education
participants to break up their
police not use force to crack
Reform (NNER) who visited the
march once they reached City
down the students in Letpadan.
main column on Wednesday of
Hall. About 100 police officers
“What could happen when
the decision.
surrounded City Hall.
the student protesters reach
On Wednesday, students and
Police from Oakkan
Yangon? They probably would
political organisations from
Mandalay Region
staged a protest in
Mandalay, calling the
authorities not to use
force against students.
A small tussle was
reported as the
authorities told them
to stop the unauthorised protest which
blocked traffic.
Police so far have
insisted that they
would no resort to
force.
“Under a democratic system, we will
deal with a problem
by a peaceful mean.
And we have no plan
to use violent methods. So we hold no
any weapon in our
hands. We will seek a
solution to the problem after making
Villagers in Letpadan have shown strong support to the student protesters.
Township, Bago Region have
detained eight people including
two parents who came to meet
their children taking part in the
student demonstration at
Aungmyay Beikman Monastery
in Letpadan on Tuesday.
“We have no knowledge why
they were detained. They just
came to see and cheer their
children. We’ve asked the police
around here but they didn’t tell
us anything,” said Myat Thu, one
of the student representatives.
Student Myo Ko
whose mother was
detained said: “We
couldn’t reach their
cell phones until a
police colonel
allowed me to call my
mother. She is not so
well.”
The officials promised that the mother
of Myo Ko and the
father of the another
girl will be released
soon. But the other
detained persons will
be released only
when the officials of
National League for
Democracy come and
collect them.
Reporters were
barred from entering
the police station
that night due to
security concerns.
EMG
MYANMAR ELEVEN
KYAT EXCHANGE
BUSINESS
Buy
Sell
US $
1,033
1,042
Euro ¤
1,128
1,146
746
758
Singapore $
5
MYANMAR ELEVEN, Friday, March 6, 2015
Source: KBZ Bank
Foreign investment
nearly hits US$7 billion
More
hydropower
projects in
the pipeline
MYANMAR ELEVEN
MYANMAR ELEVEN
A place in Kyaukphyu Port,
Maday Island was seen.
MYANMAR ELEVEN
FOREIGN investment in
Myanmar nearly reached US$7
billion in the first 10 months of the
2014-2015 fiscal year , according
to Directorate of Investment and
Company Administration (DICA).
From April 2014 to the end of
January 2015, foreign investment
in Myanmar amounted to over
US$6.955 billion.
This amount well exceeds the
foreign investment volume in the
2013-2014 fiscal year, when the
volume was $4.107 billion.
Most foreign investment in
Myanmar went into the energy
sector. The smallest amount went
into the construction sector.
The government of Myanmar is
currently trying to attract investment into its most labour-intensive sectors, according to
Myanmar Investment Commission
(MIC).
Foreign investment has
increased since the government
allowed investors to rent privately
owned land instead of just stateowned land, permitted them to
operate as independent foreign
investment firms without local
partners and eased the process of
transferring foreign currency for
investment.
The countries that have invested in Myanmar include China,
Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore,
the UK, South Korea, Malaysia,
Vietnam, France, Japan, India, the
Netherlands, the US, Indonesia,
Australia, Russia, Austria,
Panama, the UAE, Canada,
Germany, Sweden, Denmark,
Brunei, Cyprus, Luxemburg,
Switzerland, Bangladesh, Sri
Lanka and others.
Foreign investors are allowed to
operate in Myanmar independently or form joint ventures with local
firms.
One Myanmar among 50 powerful Asian businesswomen
Win Win Tint is the only
Myanmar businesswoman who
has made her way on to Forbes
Asia’s “Power Businesswomen
2015” list, which consists of 50
women representing a wide
range of industries in the region.
Win Win Tint, 39, is the managing director of City Mart
Holding, a business unit of
Pahtama Group, the leading and
fastest growing distributor for
consumer products in Myanmar
and the exclusive distributor for
many multinational companies
in Myanmar.
The list was unveiled last
week, ahead of the celebration
of International Women’s Day on
Sunday.
The list covers several sectors in 16 countries in this
region. To prepare this year’s
list, Forbes applied the criteria
of company sales, the
positions of the candidates in their companies, and the level of
their participation at
work.
Win Win Tint was
named one of World
Economic Forum’s
Young Global Leaders,
as “Pahtama Group’s
wide and reliable distribution network enables
it to deliver quality
products nationwide
and improve the living
standards of people in
Myanmar”.
Forbes said that City
Win Win Tint at her office.
Mart has become a
Ocean Supercentres and 45 City
leading supplier to Myanmar’s
Express Convenience stores, as
stirring consumer market. From
well as bakeries, pharmacies,
a single grocery store in 1996,
baby clubs and bookstores.
the company has burgeoned to
A member of the founding
over 100 outlets, including 18
family, the executive holds an
City Mart supermarkets, 7 huge
accounting and business administration
diploma from
Singapore’s Thames
Business School. She
now oversees 5,500
workers and says sales
have grown 25-35 per
cent annually for the
past 5 years, to near
US$200 million.
“Not that building the
business has been easy,
with sanctions and
Myanmar’s long isolation: City Mart struggled
for years just to find
supplies. Now it plans to
launch house brands
and expand luxury
items. Initially the family hired a
professional manager for the
business, but Win took over
after 3 months and has steered
the company for 18 years,” the
magazine said.
FORBES.COM
MYANMAR ELEVEN
Forty-three new hydropower projects with a total
power generation capacity of
42,000 megawatt (MW) will
be implemented by several
joint ventures and buildoperate-transfer (BOT)
arrangements involving foreign and local companies
and the Ministry of Electric
Power, according to the
National Energy Policy drafted by National Energy
Management Committee.
The electric power ministry has been planning 11
hydropower projects with a
total power capacity of 2,132
MW, seven of which will be
operated using government
funds.
Meanwhile, private companies will spearhead another four hydropower projects
with a total capacity of 379
MW with the approval of the
Ministry of Electric Power
under the energy policy.
Myanmar has 92 potential
sources of hydropower,
which could generate a total
of 46,099 MW.
Seventeen other projects
are being studied by companies from China, India, South
Korea and Thailand.
Win Myo Thu of the environmentalist group Green
Motherland commented:
“When it comes to hydropower projects, we need to
have five factors in mind:
economic stability, technology, environmental and social
impacts and political affairs.
The last thing is the most
important.”
Most of the new projects
will be implemented in Shan
State, with others in
Mandalay Region and Kachin
State.
The Asian Development
Bank and Japan
International Cooperation
Agency pledged to implement 58 hydropower projects, each with a 45-MW
capacity, in Myanmar within
the next five to ten years.
Four hydropower plants –
Baluchaung 1 and 2,
Kyaintaung and Shweli – to
provide base load are in
position and 16 hydropower
projects with water tanks to
supply peak load are underway.
Currently there are seven
hydropower mills with
attached with dams in
Myanmar.
Business
6
Tenants flee
to suburbs as
rents rise
MYANMAR ELEVEN, Friday, March 6, 2015
Osotspa, Myanmar’s Loi Hein
set up beverage joint venture
MYANMAR ELEVEN
Many tenants are moving
to suburban areas due to
soaring rents in central
Yangon, according to residents.
The average monthly rent
in Hledan Township has
rocketed to Ks180,000 this
year from Ks120,000 last
year and Ks60,000 in 2011.
“I cannot afford to pay the
rent. I have to spend all of
my salary on it. So I plan to
move to Hlegu,” said Aye Aye
Thin of Hledan.
“Rents are being driven
up by an influx of tenants. I
have to pay Ks150,000 a
month for a ground floor
apartment,” said Than Than
Aye of Thaketa Township.
The government’s lowcost housing schemes are
also luring people to the
suburbs.
Soaring rents mean landlords raise charges at the
end of annual contracts.
“Monthly rent for a twostorey detached house in
North Dagon is about
Ks250,000,” said Than Oo.
THE NATION
OSOTSPA Co, a Thai manufacturer of pharmaceutical and consumer products, and Myanmarbased Loi Hein Co have established a joint venture, Osotspa Loi
Hein, to strengthen the competency and penetration of Osotspa
beverages in Asean.
Osotspa Loi Hein will take full
charge of marketing, sales and
distribution for all Osotspa beverages in Myanmar, especially the
M-150 and Shark energy drinks,
Ratch Osathanugrah, chairman of
Osotspa, said after signing the
agreement on Tuesday with Sai
Sam Htun, chairman of Loi Hein.
Myanmar has one of the largest
populations in Southeast Asia. Its
energy-drink market has shown
remarkable growth to surpass Bt5
billion per year, of which Bt3 billion is in the form of imports.
Both companies will expand
M-150 and Shark into the Asean
market.
Loi Hein is the leading beverage
manufacturer and distributor in
Myanmar. It is a strong performer
with in-depth knowledge of markets, customers and trade.
Osotspa’s chairman Ratch Osathanugrah, second left, shakes hand with Sai Sam Htun, chairmand
of Loi Hein, second right, at a contract signing ceremony.
It offers purified bottled water,
carbonated and non-carbonated
soft drinks and energy drinks.
Osotspa is the brand leader in
certain beverage segments in
Thailand. It has expertise in marketing and manufacturing.
Combining the strengths and
capabilities of both companies, the
new firm aims to be the leader of
the beverage market in Myanmar
and Asean.
Patkol rides growth in regional food industry
Patkol, a manufacturer of ice
and food-processing machines,
will enjoy 7-per-cent growth in
turnover this year from Bt2 billion last year thanks to the fastgrowing food industry in the
region.
“The regional market, with a
population of 700 million, or
more than 10 times Thailand’s,
has huge potential. The implementation of the AEC by the end
of this year will further benefit
businesses when tariffs are
eliminated,” managing director
Sangchai
Chotechuangchutchaval said
yesterday.
About 80 per cent of Patkol’s
sales are from the domestic
market and 20 per cent from
overseas, including the Asean
Economic Community. “But in
seven years, our turnover will be
50:50 local and foreign,” he
said.
To stay competitive when
Asean becomes an economic
community, Patkol has set up
offices in Indonesia, the
Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam
and Myanmar. While Indonesia,
the Philippines and Malaysia are
the major income generators
thanks to their size, Myanmar is
tipped to become a very significant market.
“The tourism boom in
Myanmar has increased
demand for ice dramatically. Its
manufacturing, especially food
processing, will be next and we
will grow our business along
with our customers,” Sangchai
said.
Inside Red Horse Dairy production plant where the
machines are imported from Thailand’s Patkol Plc.
The company’s brand PEP is the market leader in
sterilised milk market in Myanmar.
PHOTO COURTESY PATKOL PLC
Veena Thoopkrajae
THE NATION
The company has installed
its dairy machines for two customers in Yangon - Red Horse
Dairy Industries, which is
Myanmar’s market leader in
sterilised milk, and ThaiMyanmar Dutch Mill Myanmar
Co, the producer of pasteurised
milk under the Dutch Mill
brand.
Patkol has an advantage in
expanding in the AEC as it
receives business from old customers - both local and foreign
firms in Thailand like Dutch Mill
- that expand into Myanmar or
other Asean countries. It also
wins new clients in the new
markets.
“Our business in Myanmar
alone totalled Bt100 million last
year and we believe that it will
show double-digit growth this
year,” he said.
Patkol provides machines
and services for the liquidbased food industry, drawing on
more than 50 years of experience in liquid-food processing
machines and refrigeration. In
Thailand, it is the market leader
in ice-making machines.
“Our strength, besides expertise, is that we provide solutions
to suit our customers’ demands
and budgets. More important,
we provide Western-standard
equipment at more affordable
prices, which comes with good
customer service,” he said.
ASEAN+
7
MYANMAR ELEVEN, Friday, March 6, 2015
MH370’S ANNIVERSARY
Australia PM suggests MH370
search could be scaled back
AUSTRALIAN Prime Minister
Tony Abbott on Thursday suggested the search for missing
Flight MH370 may be scaled
back, while expressing hope the
jet would be found a year after it
vanished.
The Malaysia Airlines plane
disappeared en route from Kuala
Lumpur to Beijing on March 8,
2014 with 239 people on board.
No trace has been found despite
a massive surface and underwater hunt.
“I do reassure the families of
our hope and expectation that
the ongoing search will succeed,”
Abbott told parliament in
Canberra.
“I can’t promise that the
search will go on at this intensity
forever, but we will continue our
very best efforts to resolve this
mystery and provide some
answers.” His comments came
as a group representing the families of MH370 passengers - the
majority of which were Chinese released a statement insisting
that the search “must continue”.
Australia is leading the hunt in
the Indian Ocean some 1,600 kilAgence France-Presse
KUALA LUMPUR
A year on, there remains no
evidence to indicate what
caused Malaysia Airlines Flight
MH370 to vanish or where it
ended up, despite the most
expensive search operation in
history.
Here are answers to some
key questions still swirling
around MH370:
What is the status of the
search?
Vessels scanning the sea
floor for wreckage using sophisticated sonar have covered
about 40 per cent of a “priority
search area” in the remote
southern Indian Ocean spanning
60,000 square kilometres
(23,000 square miles).
Nothing has been found yet
apart from several shipping containers in the Australian-led
operation, which is due to be
completed in May. Authorities
have not yet decided what will
happen if nothing turns up by
then. The stormy southern hemisphere winter is expected to
begin affecting any future operations within months.
What happens if wreckage is
spotted?
An immensely challenging
recovery phase would begin in
pitch-black depths of up to
4,000 metres (13,100 feet)
below the surface, potentially
hampered by volcano clusters,
A candle burns as
relatives of Chinese
passengers from the
missing Malaysia
Airlines flight MH370
attend prayers in Kuala
Lumpur on March 1.
ometres (1,000 miles) off its
west coast, with four ships using
sophisticated sonar systems to
scour a huge underwater area.
The vessels are focusing on a
60,000 square kilometre (23,000
square mile) priority zone, with
the search scheduled to end in
May. More than 40 per cent of
the ocean floor has been
explored to date.
The intensive search - jointly
funded by Australia and Malaysia
with a budget of Aus$120 million
(US$93 million) -- has so far only
turned up a few shipping containers.
The ships, Fugro Supporter,
Fugro Equator, Fugro Discovery
and GO Phoenix, are working in
one of the world’s most isolated
Q&A on the MH370 mystery
undersea mountains, ridges and
valleys.
Search coordinators, however, can draw on lessons learnt
during the quest for the data
recorders from the 2009 crash
of Air France Flight 447 in the
Atlantic Ocean.
Its black boxes were located
after a difficult two-year search
using submersible drones and
other means. A remotely operated vehicle was eventually sent
down to pluck them from the
seabed nearly 4,000 metres
below.
Are they looking in the right
place?
That remains unclear,
although search coordinators
insist they are.
The crash zone was determined through analysis of signals from MH370 that were
detected by a satellite, which
indicated the plane’s last known
location as being along one of
two arcs: one stretching north
into Central Asia, one south into
the Indian Ocean.
The northern corridor has
been discounted in the belief
the plane would have been spotted and most experts concur
that, while the satellite data
analysis is imprecise, the Indian
Ocean is the best bet.
But the failure to find any-
thing has sustained nagging
doubts -- particularly among the
families of passengers -- about
whether the search is on the
right track.
What are the main theories
today on what happened?
Speculation remains focused
primarily on a possible mechanical or structural failure, a
hijacking or terror plot, or rogue
pilot action, but still nothing has
emerged to substantiate any of
these scenarios.
The lack of solid information
has sustained a cottage industry
of conspiracy theories, with
books, documentaries and a
thriving online debate positing a
range of possibilities.
These include suggestions
that the plane was commandeered to be used as a “flying
bomb” headed for US military
installations on the Diego Garcia
atoll, and was shot down by the
Americans. The United States
has dismissed this.
A few months after MH370
vanished, former Malaysian
prime minister Mahathir
Mohamad was among those
subscribing to online speculation that the CIA took remote
control of the US-made plane
after it was commandeered by
terrorists.
He added that it was possible
“the plane is somewhere, maybe
without (Malaysia Airlines)
markings”.
Writing in New York magazine last month, US aviation
expert Jeff Wise sparked an
online debate by suggesting
MH370 was commandeered to a
Russian facility in Kazakhstan,
possibly an effort by President
Vladimir Putin to intimidate the
West during the Ukraine crisis,
or to gain access to a certain
passenger or item in the hold.
“There’s no way to know.
That’s the thing about MH370
theory-making: It’s hard to come
up with a plausible motive for
an act that has no apparent beneficiaries,” he wrote.
Do we know everything the
authorities know?
Malaysia’s government and
the airline have continually
insisted they are hiding nothing.
But angry next of kin have
railed at contradictory early
statements by authorities and
the carrier, and accused them of
being slow to share facts or of
divulging only partial information.
Tim Clark, the chief executive
of Gulf airline Emirates, said in
media interviews last year he
also doubted there had been full
disclosure.
“I do not believe that the
EPA
Agence France-Presse
SYDNEY
locations in treacherous conditions similar to the “Roaring
Forties” north of Antarctica notorious among mariners for its
hostile seas.
Weather conditions in the
remote region are expected to
worsen after May.
The agency coordinating the
search, the Australian Transport
Safety Bureau, has previously
said a decision on continuing
after the current hunt was completed was up to the Australian
and Malaysian governments.
The high stakes meant the
ships’ crews were highly focused,
Fugro’s MH370 search head Paul
Kennedy said Thursday.
“It’s a very expensive search.
We want to make sure that when
we run over (a possible debris
field), we know we don’t miss it
by accident,” he said. “Because
we’ll never go back there again.
It’s a one-shot deal.”
The families of some of the
Australian victims were in parliament when Abbott made his
statement, as was Malaysian
High Commissioner Zainal
Abidin Ahmad, Chinese ambassador Ma Zhaoxu and representatives of other nations that lost
citizens.
information held by some is on
the table,” he was quoted as
saying.
How rare are cases like this?
According to the
Netherlands-based Aviation
Safety Network, which tracks air
incidents, there has been only
one other recorded instance in
which a plane carrying more
than 100 people has disappeared without a trace.
That was in 1962, when a turbo-prop operated by US-based
Flying Tiger Line and chartered
by the US military disappeared
en route from Guam to the
Philippines with 107 people
aboard. Its fate remains
unknown.
What will be MH370’s aviation legacy?
Unless MH370’s black box or
other telling wreckage is recovered, the aviation industry will
be unable to determine what
went wrong and consider implementing appropriate safeguards.
But MH370 has also spurred
efforts to reduce the chance of
planes disappearing.
A global aviation summit in
Montreal last month backed
plans to require real-time tracking of any airliner in distress
starting in 2016.
Last Sunday, Australia also
said it was conducting trials,
with Malaysia and Indonesia, of
a system that increases the frequency with which planes are
tracked over remote oceans.
ASEAN+
8
MYANMAR ELEVEN, Friday, March 6, 2015
GLOBAL
BRIEFS
Indonesia’s security minister
said Thursday that Jakarta would
press ahead with the execution of
two Australian drug smugglers and
other foreign convicts, ruling out an
offer of a prisoner swap put forward
by Canberra.
“In accordance with the
president’s order, the death penalty
handed to the convicts will still be
conducted,” Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno
told reporters in Jakarta.
Attorney-General Muhammad
Prasetyo was also cited in local
media rejecting the offer.
“The offer is not balanced and
relevant to what we are going to
do,” he told the Tempo news
website.
He said that the foreign minister
had told him about the offer,
adding: “I said the offer was hard to
fulfil and need not be considered.”
Australian Foreign Minister Julie
Bishop proposed the swap in an
11th-hour bid to save Andrew Chan
and Myuran Sukumaran, the
ringleaders of the so-called “Bali
Nine” drug smuggling gang, who
were sentenced to death for trying
to traffick heroin out of Indonesia.
The pair are due to be executed
and could face a firing squad within
days.
- AFP
VN plans to extend
health cover to 75%
The Vietnamese Government
hopes to achieve 75 per cent health
insurance coverage this year and
80 per cent by 2020, Prime
Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said.
The Ministry of Health reported
that in 2014, health insurance
covered 71.6 per cent of the
population, realising the target of
more than over 70 per cent set in
the blueprint, but falling short of
the 75 per cent mandated by the
National Assembly.
Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim
Tien attributed the low coverage to
high premiums, the low quality of
medical services and bottlenecks in
insurance payments.
She said it would be difficult to
reach the other 30 per cent of the
population without co-operation
and initiative from the entire
political system.
- VIET NAM NEWS
Lao premier visits
Japan
Lao Prime Minister Thongsing
Thammavong on Wednesday
started a four-day visit to Japan to
commemorate the 60th
anniversary of diplomatic relations
between the two countries.
Thongsing is scheduled to meet
with Emperor Akihito and hold talks
with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on
Friday, the Foreign Ministry said. He
will address a business seminar
Thursday in the Japanese capital.
The two countries have stepped
up economic ties in recent years,
with the number of Japanese
investors in Laos doubling to about
120 in late 2014 from 2012, Tokyo
said.
The government-backed Japan
External Trade Organisation opened
an office in Vientiane in April to
enhance data gathering and help
Japanese investors in Laos.
- DPA
Reuters
Indonesia rules out
Australian offer
A team led by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen found the sunken Japanese warship Musashi, one of the largest battleships ever
built, off the coast of the Philippines. US aircraft sunk the ship during a World War Two battle on October 24, 1944, and more
than 1,000 Japanese crew members on board lost their lives. In this photo is what researchers believe to be an inverted type 89,
12.7 centimetregun turret.
ISIS has eye on Southeast Asia
The Straits Times, The Star
THE Islamic State in Iraq and
Syria (ISIS) militant group is
beefing up its external operations
wing and courting support in
Southeast Asia, a security expert
said at a counter-terrorism meeting in Singapore.
Professor Rohan Gunaratna,
who heads Singapore’s
International Centre for Political
Violence and Terrorism Research
(ICPVTR), told the Global
Security Asia conference on
Wednesday that 22 terrorist
groups in Southeast Asia have
pledged allegiance to ISIS and its
leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,
and are disseminating propaganda in the region in local languages, largely online.
Fighters returning from Syria
and Iraq could also link up with
terror groups such as Mujahidin
Indonesia Timur and Jemaah
Islamiah offshoot Jemaah
Ansharut Tauhid (JAT), and pose
a continuing threat to the region,
he added.
In a speech, Prof Rohan highlighted JAT as a group capable of
committing suicide attacks and
one that has been active beyond
Indonesia’s borders, with operatives purchasing weapons from
Thailand and transiting through
Malaysia, and whose propaganda
has even spread to Singapore.
His comments come amid an
ongoing effort by a multinational
coalition to defeat ISIS by recapturing territory it holds in Iraq.
“As ISIS loses territory, it will
become more insurgent, hit-andrun and terrorist in nature, and
its influence will spread overseas,” Prof Rohan told The
Straits Times separately.
“The world must brace itself
for a new wave of terrorist
strikes, both on the scale we
have witnessed in Sydney,
Copenhagen, Paris and Ottawa
recently, and also ISIS-directed
attacks that may even mirror the
scale of 9/11.”
His warning came after the
release of a 30-second video
showing a man in a black-andgrey striped shirt sprawled on
the ground with his head severed. It was confirmed for the
first time that Malaysians were
present during IS killings in
Syria.
The two Malaysians seen in
the video have been identified as
20-year-old Mohd Faris Anuar
from Gurun in Kedah and
25-year-old Muhamad Wanndy
Mohamad Jedi from Durian
Tunggal in Malacca.
“Eh, take one picture,” says
Muhamad Wanndy in Bahasa
Malaysia as he crouched over the
body. “Ah. Video, video. Video!
Ah. Want picture, wait for a
while,” says Mohd Faris who is
handling the camera.
Muhamad Wanndy then poses
and flashes his right index finger,
smiling into the camera.
The Special Branch Counter
Terrorism Division principal
assistant director Senior Asst
Comm Datuk Ayob Khan
released their photographs and
that of Muhamad Wanndy’s
26-year-old wife, Nor Mahmudah
Ahmad from Baling, Kedah at a
press conference on Wednesday.
Muhamad Wanndy, who is
unemployed, is in Syria with his
wife Nor Mahmudah.
“Intelligence revealed that
they travelled from Kuala
Lumpur. They took a flight to
Moscow and then travelled by
land via a train to Istanbul before
heading to Syria,” he said.
Mohd Faris made it to Syria
on September 22.
Banding of M’sian,
Indonesian militants
Malaysia’s Special Branch
Counter Terrorism Division principal assistant director Senior
Asst Comm Ayob Khan revealed
that the intelligence agencies last
year detected that Malaysian and
Indonesian militants have formed
a 100-strong unit called
Majmu’ah al Arkhabiliy under the
command of IS.
“They have about 100 members and we are still identifying
the number of Malaysians in the
group,” he told a press conference. He said police knew of 61
Malaysians in Syria, 10 of them
women. The youngest was a
14-year-old boy who followed his
parents there.
Prior to calling themselves
Majmu’ah al Arkhabiliy, SAC
Ayob said, the unit went by the
name of Katibah Nusantara Lid
Daulah Islamiah in Syria and
Iraq.
He said that about 30
Malaysians were detected in
Syria before June and the number had since risen to 61, which
is worrying.
Singapore named most Muslim-friendly
destination among non-Muslim countries
The Straits Times
Singapore has been named
the friendliest destination for
Muslim travellers among nonMuslim countries for the third
successive year.
The Global Muslim Travel
Index, released on Wednesday,
gave Singapore high scores for
its safe travel environment, ease
of access to prayer spaces and
number of halal dining options.
The index ranked 100 destinations based on nine criteria,
such as family friendliness and
accommodation options.
Singapore, which welcomed
3.2 million Muslim visitors last
year, placed ninth on the overall
list.
The top five spots were dom-
inated by members of the
Organisation of Islamic
Cooperation - Malaysia came in
first, followed by Turkey, United
Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia
and Qatar.
According to the study, there
were 108 million Muslim travellers last year, who spent S$145
billion (US$105.96 billion).
This represents 10 per cent
of the global travel economy.
By 2020, the number of
Muslim travellers is expected to
reach 150 million and have a
S$200 ($146.15 billion) market
value.
The Index was developed by
payment company MasterCard
and Muslim travel industry consultancy CrescentRating.
MYANMAR ELEVEN, Friday, March 6, 2015
9
ASEAN+
Foreign firms optimistic
about Vietnam’s outlook
GLOBAL
BRIEFS
EPA
3 regional bourses to
review cross-border
stock offering
mechanism
Former British prime minister Tony Blair, left, talks, as Vietnamese Minister for planning and investments Bui Quang Vinh listens,
at a workshop in Hanoi on Wednesday. Blair expressed his hope that the Vietnamese government will make it easier for British
enterprises to intensify investments in Vietnam.
Viet Nam News
FOREIGN business groups
hailed Vietnam and HCM City’s
success in attracting foreign
direct investment (FDI) and
boosting trade at a meeting with
the city People’s Committee yesterday.
Just eight years after its WTO
accession, Vietnam is the top
Asean exporter to the US with a
20 per cent market share, Herb
Cochran, executive director of
AmCham, said.
“If present trends continue,
Vietnam will have a 30 per cent
market share by 2020. This is
an outstanding success.”
Vietnam-US trade exceeded
US$36 billion in 2014, a 24 per
cent increase over 2013.
Vietnam exported about $10 billion worth of textiles and apparel
to the US, and that key sector
continued to account for about
one-third of Vietnam’s total
exports to the US.
“With the TPP and the AEC
2015 both to be finalised this
year, and maybe the EU-Vietnam
FTA, prospects are bright for
continued improvement in
Vietnam’s business environment, additional FDI and growth
in Vietnam’s international trade,”
Cochran said.
Yasuzumi Hirotaka, vice
chairman of the Japanese
Business Association in Ho Chi
Minh City (JBAH), said 2014 was
the year in which the
Vietnamese Government had
announced various reforms.
From amendments to the Law
on Investment and Corporate
Law, transparency and simplification of administrative procedures can be expected, while
measures like reductions in time
taken for taxation procedures
and customs clearance have
also been taken, he said.
However, a survey by JETRO
found “underdeveloped legislation” and “opaque operation of
the legal system” to be the biggest “investment risks” in
Vietnam followed by “complexity
of administrative procedures”,
“complexity of tax system, tax
procedures” and so on, he pointed out.
“Therefore, continuous efforts
to improve transparency in the
operational aspects of the legal
system are required,” Hirotaka
said. In addition, the rate of use
of local materials is increasing
gradually, reaching 33.2 per cent
now though procurement from
Vietnamese companies remains
at just 14.4 per cent compared
with 21-23 per cent in Thailand
and Indonesia, he said.
Strong support for local private companies is more important than attracting foreign companies, he added.
The EuroCham quarterly
business climate index showed a
strong upward trend in 2014,
demonstrating optimism among
the European business community in Vietnam, especially in
HCM City, according to Vo
Quang Hue, a member of
EuroCham’s executive committee. He said the challenges that
HCM City has to overcome
include in areas of infrastructure, sustainability, education,
and legal framework.
Referring to “sustainability”,
he said traffic congestion, power
and internet supply and sustainable buildings are some of the
many issues that the city faces.
As for education, he said,
with the city continuing to grow,
the business sector constantly
searches for workers with adequate educational and technical
qualifications.
“There are cases where
European businesses have chosen to locate educational facilities and institutions in this market to specifically address this
need.”
Thai Van Re, director of the
city Department of Planning and
Investment, said the city economy grew by 9.6 per cent in 2014
to VND853.5 trillion (about
US$39.7 billion), accounting for
21.6 per cent of the nation’s
GDP.
Its foreign trade amounted to
$57.4 billion, accounting for 19.3
per cent of the country’s total.
The city last year licensed
457 FDI projects with total registered capital of $2.88 billion,
while 138 existing projects
brought in a further $383.4 million. The manufacturing sector
accounted for $1.65 billion and
property for $635 million.
Hurdles
However, foreign investors
faced difficulties caused by
lengthy and tortuous procedures
and immigration, taxation and
customs issues, Re admitted.
That would be addressed
starting in July when the revised
Investment Law and Corporate
Law takes effect, reducing the
time to get a business licence to
three days and an investment
licence to 15 days, he promised.
Le Thanh Hai, Secretary of
the city Party Committee, said
HCM City has over 5,300 FDI
projects with an investment of
over $36 billion that employ 22
per cent of the city’s workforce.
FDI has helped develop many
hotels, buildings, offices, malls,
apartment buildings, and urban
areas, giving HCM City a new
look, he said.
Foreign investors have
brought in advanced new technologies and new business models, all very important factors
that help the city’s efforts to
restructure its economy and
economic development model,
he said.
“We will try our best to
improve the investment environment.
“Enterprises’ difficulties are
ours too. We will make efforts to
resolve the difficulties to better
satisfy demand for socio-economic infrastructure and human
resources and to create a fair
and transparent business environment for investors and enterprises.”
The city would speed up
administrative reforms, he
added.
Some 200 delegates from
foreign groups and companies
based in industrial parks,
export-processing zones, hi-tech
agricultural parks and the Sai
Gon Hi-tech Park in HCM City
attended the meeting.
Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand
have proposed to develop a review
framework to facilitate cross-border
equity and stock offerings in the region.
Capital market regulators from the
three countries, namely, the Securities
Commission of Malaysia (SC),
Monetary Authority of Singapore
(MAS), Securities and Exchange
Commission of Thailand (SEC) and the
Singapore Exchange (SGX) had signed
entered into memorandum of
understanding (MoU) to establish a
streamlined review framework for the
Asean common prospectus.
The framework is part of an
initiative under the Asean Capital
Markets Forum (ACMF) implementation
plan endorsed by the Asean finance
ministers to enhance the region’s
attractiveness as a fund-raising centre.
“With the signing of this MoU, the
review of offer or listing applications
and the registration of prospectuses
will be synchronised among the ACMF
signatories, such that approvals for
offers or listings and registration of
prospectuses will be granted
simultaneously,” SC chairman Ranjit
Ajit Singh, who is also the ACMF
chairman, said.
“The key objective of this initiative is
to ensure a more seamless process for
an issuer seeking listing in more than
one ACMF signatory jurisdiction and
ensure savings in time to market and
faster access to capital. “In short, it will
reduce the time required currently for
issuers preparing for a multijurisdictional offering of equity or plain
debt securities in Asean,” he explained
in his speech during the MoU signing
ceremony here yesterday.
The MoU signatories had targeted to
implement the streamlined review
framework by the third quarter of 2015.
Meanwhile, the ACMF meeting had also
approved the proposal to develop a fiveyear Action Plan from 2016-2020 that
would focus on ensuring seamless
access to capital and investments
within a connected regional market.
“We expect to launch the ACMF
Action Plan 2016-2020 by the end of
the year,” Ranjit said.
- THE STAR
Laos, Vietnam eliminate
tariffs on 95 per cent of
goods
The governments of Laos and
Vietnam have agreed to eliminate tariffs
on more than 95 per cent of goods
moved between the two countries.
A document to this effect was
signed by Minister of Industry and
Commerce Khemmani Pholsena and
her Vietnamese counterpart Vu Huy
Hoang on March 3 in Vientiane.
The 2015 trade agreement replaces
the 1998 trade agreement.
More than 9,000 lists of goods from
the two neighbours will enjoy zero
tariffs under the agreement, which will
be put into implementation after two
months following its signing.
Laos and Vietnam have set an
ambitious target to increase
Vietnamese investment in Laos to
US$5.8 billion in 2015, an increase on
the current total value of about US$5
billion. Laos has granted investment
licences to 413 Vietnamese projects
with a combined capitalisation of
around US$5 billion.
- VIENTIANE TIMES
LIFESTYLE
10
MYANMAR ELEVEN, Friday, March 6, 2015
Keeping up
appearances
Aye Moet Moet Aung Thu
MYANMAR ELEVEN
We are narcissists at heart. Our obsession with physical beauty and constant
craving for admiration are no doubt the
very thing that’s fuelling the multi-billiondollar cosmetics industry. Yet while those
anti-aging creams and rejuvenating
serums work wonders for some, many
can’t wait and instead are willing to shell
out for some quick-fix solutions. Enter
plastic surgery. Ma Htet, a much-soughtafter transsexual make-up artist, told
Myanmar Eleven in an exclusive interview
recently why she had no qualms about
going under the surgeon’s knife to
achieve her own vision of beauty.
Tell us when and why you needed
plastic surgery.
I first got a nose job. I decided to do it
because I’ve noticed that most of the
people who look great in photos are the
ones with straight noses. That’s why I
decided to do a nose job. I wanted to look
beautiful in photos. That’s the reasoning
behind it.
What about other jobs that you did
and where?
After a nose job, I got a botox injection to make my chin slimmer. I also got
an injection to make my cheeks slimmer.
Then, I did a boob job too.
Are you satisfied with the results?
Following these operations, I felt very
satisfied with myself. I’d like to thank the
inventors of these medical innovations.
I’ve got more self-confidence.
hurt even more if I did it. But after
the pain was gone, I wanted to go
back to the clinic again. (Laughing)
You paid for cosmetic surgery to turn
yourself from a man to a woman. What’s
the reaction from your family and
friends?
I don’t really know the real feedback
from those around me. I made the decision to do this as I’m ready to accept the
good and bad [feedback]. I started with
changing my facial appearance before
getting a boob job.
Any other parts of your body
that you want to improve/change?
I’m planning to change my voice
next month. I’ve been planning this
for over three months, but I’ve been
too busy to do it until now.
Was it hard – mentally and physically
– to cope with these operations?
There weren’t any difficulties with the
nose and chin jobs, but I was feeling a little scared before getting a boob job. I
knew the process but I was just being
scared. I didn’t know how badly it would
hurt. They [people who have done a boob
job] told me that it hurts a lot. I thought
they were exaggerating. But later I found
that it really hurt after the surgery. I even
thought about not doing anymore cosmetic surgery after that.
Which one was the most difficult?
It was the boob job.
Any bad feelings after that?
I felt that way during the first three or
four months after that operation. I was
planning to go for a sex-change operation
after the boob job, but I felt so scared
after thinking about how much it would
What advice do you have for
people who want to go for plastic
surgery?
I’ve been asked about this topic
by many people. Some of them can
afford these services and really
need cosmetic surgery. I want
them to go for it as fast as possible because it takes a year for the
results to show. You don’t look
pretty immediately. So they
should start as early as they can.
Many people in South Korea,
China and Japan have gone
under the knife. So the process is not all that scary.
How would you define
beauty as enhanced by
cosmetic surgery?
I want to become a
woman so doing these
jobs has helped fulfil my
dream and given me selfconfidence. If you can
change your weaknesses with
these services, you should do it.
EMG
EMG
‘Skydiving’ landscape paintings meet fibreglass art in Yangon
Masterpieces by Chan Nyein Kyaw (left) and Thar Gyi (right).
MYANMAR ELEVEN
Two solo art exhibitions by prominent artists Chan Nyein Kyaw and Thar
Gyi are currently underway in Yangon.
Running at Gallery 65 until next
Tuesday, the former’s exhibition features 71 paintings.
“This is my 10th solo art exhibition.
On display are landscape paintings
that resemble ‘skydiving’ and abstract
paintings that are different from my
usual subjects,” said Chan Nyein Kyaw.
Chan Nyein Kyaw studied art under
respected artists Ko Ko Lay
(Mandalay) and Ki Maung (Bank).
Since staging his first solo exhibition
in 2000, he has participated in over
90 exhibitions.
Artist Thar Gyi’s 9th exhibition
titled “My Past My Self” is on view at
River Gallery until this Sunday, featuring 28 masterpieces.
“My exhibition is a combination of
oil, acrylic and fibreglass. The aim of
creating the human-shaped paintings
with fibreglass is for the visitors to feel
as if they are part of the paintings,”
said Thar Gyi.