201438759

Heartbeat of the nation
1200
Ks.
www.mmtimes.com
Issue 759 | December 15 - 21, 2014
A police officer escorts students off the

Rangoon Arts and Sciences University
campus on December 11, 1974. Photo: Htein Win
PAGE
6-7
New images offer fresh perspective on U Thant uprising, 40 years on

Photographer Htein Win relives the events of early December 1974, when, as a young student, he documented the
U Thant uprising at Rangoon Arts and Sciences University and surreptitiously took photos of the student leaders who
whisked away the former secretary-generals body for burial near the site of the old Student Union building.
IN DEPTH 3
Govt avoids talks plan

Despite proposal for 12-way talks, the
government seems determined to avoid
substantive dialogue on constitution.
EXCLUSIVE 34
Behind the gems and

jewellery shine
Head of Myanmar Gems and
Jewellery Entrepreneurs Association
on the need to move the industry from
raw exports to finished jade and gems.
PR policy freezes out

exiled political activists
Permanent residency policys ban on PR-holders taking part in political activities
for five years prompts accusations that reconciliation with exiles is a mirage. news 10
2 THE MYANMAR TIMES DECEMBER 15 - 21, 2014
Page 2
online editor Kayleigh Long |

kayleighelong@gmail.com
THE INSIDER: The local lowdown & best of the web

Unhappy ending
Yangon authorities have been hard

at work, Eleven reported last week,
with action being taken against some
43 illegal massage parlours so far
this year. Addressing the matter in
parliament, regional Border and
Security Affairs Minister Colonel Tin
Win said local police have been given
the authority to clamp down on any
such establishment, before offering
the following shock revelation:
We learnt that certain illegal
massage parlours are operating
as KTVs [karaoke bars] or beauty
parlours.
The minister said illegal massage
parlours, when found to be providing

sex services, are closed down for
one year and six months; while those
only providing massage are closed
for one year, Eleven reported. This
comes as Yangon police announce
a citywide crackdown on day clubs
and (the scourge of the city) sexy
parties, with Colonel Win Naing of
Yangon Region police telling Eleven
that institutions such as GTR2 Inya
Lake Hotel, Brave Bar, Royal Rose,
Sky Way and Utopia Tower KTV had
been given a stern warning.
We warned them because these
kinds of day-clubs and sexy dance
parties do not match our Myanmar
Once was Burma ...

From the Pansodan Gallery archives
culture and there have been many

complaints. Young people go to these
parties and clubs. They become
spoilt. Girls come to wear improper
clothes. This should not happen.
Moreover, drugs are easily available,
harming young people. We call on
the management to stop it happening
again. If it continues, we will charge
them, seize and close the whole hotel
and bar. This is just a warning, he
said.
Lost in translation
Google debuted the Myanmar

language option on its Translate
service last week, and was met with
remarkably little fanfare considering
what a major gamechanger this is.
Googles Eric Schmidt had
announced Myanmar was being
made a priority, in order to improve
access to information, search
engines and maps as well as
combating hate speech.
The answer to bad speech is
more speech. More communication.
More voices. If you are a political
leader you get a much better idea
of what your citizens are thinking
about, Schmidt said last year.
While the translation is not 100
percent accurate, being able to paste
in chunks of text and get the gist
of what its about is a major boon
for internet users. For example,
Wikipedia content that has not yet
been translated from English into
Myanmar (something that is done
by a small but committed team of
volunteers) is now accessible thats
a whole lot more information nonEnglish speakers will now be able to
access, even if it is rife with errors.
The dynamic, poetic nature and
nuance of language is something that
no computer algorithm is capable
of interpreting (yet), so Google
Translate is probably best deployed
on subject matter that steers clear of
metaphor something demonstrated
below by this translation of the first
few sentences of one of U Wirathus
recent Facebook posts.
Want to buy a mole snake pipe.
Mothers already enormous. Since
little mole snake belly and easy
learned to know. snakes inject
children born out of my mothers
womb, and pierce punch. All of their
birth mother
The Face of Buddhist Error

Perspective Magazine, space edition. 60s or 70s, exact date unknown.
Myanmar made headlines around

the world last week when three
staff from VGastro bar were taken
to Insein Prison after it was deemed

that their nightclub promotion poster
was an affront to Buddhism. The
poster depicted the Buddha wearing
headphones, with the words VGastro
Bar and Buddha Bar either side.
The poster also advertised shisha and
Bottomless Frozen Mararita (sic)
for K15000. A complaint was lodged
and a protest took place outside
the bar, before the police raid that
resulted in the arrests. DVB reported
VGastro general manager Phil
Blackwood, a New Zealand citizen and
former manager of 50th Street, was
struggling to find legal representation
as several lawyers his friends had
tried to engage considered the case
too controversial.
The image from the event went
viral on social media, with the below
post being widely shared. (Please
note this is a Google Translation):
Music Bar Design Phillips drafted
FB Phillips atheist, Share FB openly
advertising (shareholders) to spread
by the following Photo art, There
was no sign at camp. V.Gastro bar
name and nightclub opened three
months Syndromes, but have been
unsuccessful because interested
Buddha bar the name change to one of
its clear when a Phillips admits it. The
other countries The same goes done
problem was not also sin even go out.
Many expressed outrage that
the image of Buddha was used to
promote a boozy club night. Others
took to the Facebook page of DJ
Jay, who goes by the questionable
moniker of DhammaPunk, to
express their disgust. Bangalore
depth China China China without
even through the steep .. dj stage it is
not anything I want to be famous just
insult us like dogs, said one man, via
Google Translate.
Vilifying act of ordering
something Burmas Music vilifying
the entire organization when the
same .... There is a lot I can invent,
said another.
While the use of Buddhas image
on a poster for a club night in
Myanmar, in 2014, to tout cut-price
Mararitas was almost certainly
not the brightest idea anyones ever
had, it does raise a number of valid
questions. What possible implications
does this have on freedom of
expression for Myanmars artists
who regularly put a modern twist on
traditional images? Is this the best
use of the legal system at the present
juncture? Does Ma Ba Tha know
about the Buddha Bars on Koh Tao,
Though 85% of respondents

could at least name their villagetract or ward administrator, only
4% could name their member of
Parliament.
From the Asia Foundations

nationwide public opinion survey
Myanmar 2014: Civil Knowledge
and Values in a Changing Society
Koh Chang and in Kanchanaburi?
More than anything, this whole
debacle serves to highlight that the
legal framework for fairly arbitrary
arrests has not been dismantled, and
vocal public outrage can influence
the implementation of the law. That,
and that no one really knows where
the line is any more.
One expat reportedly changed his
Facebook profile picture to that of the
controversial poster, in a one-man
rebellion guaranteed to either make
no impact whatsoever or facilitate his
swift deportation its hard to say.
In brief:
Two men who share the same name

negotiate a mutually acceptable
compromise to a disagreement in
an outcome observers are calling a
Win-Win situation
UK celebrates Great Day, a paredback celebration compared with last
years Great Week. Embassy staff
already really looking forward to
Great Hour in 2015
Next week:
Retired cane juice vendor plagued

nightly by auditory hallucinations
Backpacker announces hell
probably just hitchhike to India
from Myanmar, sources say theyre
unclear as to whether or not he has
strong enough links with Manipuri
militia groups to make it happen
63
Estimated total population of Irrawaddy

dolphins between Mandalay and
Bhamo, according to 2014 WCS figures
www.mmtimes.com
News editor: Thomas Kean | tdkean@gmail.com
Divisions in Yangon hluttaw over 12-way talks

Ye Mon
yeemontun2013@gmail.com
Noe Noe Aung
noenoeag@gmail.com
YANGON Region parliamentarians
are divided on the question of how
many ethnic groups should be represented in talks between national political leaders. The talks are supposed to
deal with major questions of national
reconciliation, including possible revisions to the 2008 constitution.
Last month the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw approved a proposal to hold sixway talks (see related article below).
However, at a special session of the
regional parliament last week, some
Yangon Region representatives said
all seven major ethnic groups should
be represented in the talks, effectively
changing the six-way talks to 12-way
talks. The proposal was submitted by U
Saw Tun Aung Myint, the Yangon Region minister for Kayin ethnic affairs.
Yangon Region Hluttaw representatives confer on December 10. Photo: Thiri
In the debate that followed, some

Yangon MPs said representatives from
the Chin, Kachin, Kayah, Kayin, Mon,
Rakhine and Shan groups should also
take part in the talks.
U Mya Ngwe from Kamaryut
township said that as a Rakhine U Aye

Maung was unfamiliar with the positions of other ethnic minorities.
U Saw Tun Aung Myint agreed,
saying that while U Aye Maung is
a clever man, he cant decide on the
affairs of other ethnic minorities and

he doesnt know what they need.
Some MPs spoke up in favour of
keeping the numbers down, however. Union Solidarity and Development Party member U Win Ko Hla
of Pabedan township said all ethnic
minorities shared the same goals, and
12-way talks were not necessary. We
shouldnt see U Aye Maung as the representative of a single ethnic minority.
He can speak for what all the minorities need. The main thing is to reach
agreement, he said.
Bahan township representative
Daw Nyo Nyo Thin said the Yangon
Region Hluttaw did not have the authority to intervene in the decision
of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, the countrys highest legislative body.
U Ye Htun, the Pyithu Hluttaw
representative for Hsipaw, said the regional parliament must follow the decision made in Nay Pyi Taw. I think we
should start with six-way talks, he said.
Decision makers steer clear

of a seat at negotiating table
Four-, six-, 12-way whichever form negotiations are proposed, the government remains reluctant to enter talks
Ei Ei Toe
Lwin
eieitoelwin@gmail.com
AS politicians manoeuvre in advance

of the 2015 general election, wheels are
silently turning over the central issue
of constitutional reform. For whatever
government emerges from the elections, it is the constitution that could
decide who actually governs.
The 2008 constitution, drawn up
by the former military regime, is a
locked box. The constitution allocates
25 percent of the seats in both houses
of parliament to the military. but also
requires a 75pc parliamentary majority,
accompanied in some cases by a referendum, for any amendment. In effect,
the military can stall the amendment
process as long as they remain united.
The military can also block the
NLDs attempt to change the provision
that would deny the presidency to anyone with a foreign spouse or children.
It is this clause that would prevent Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming president even if, as is widely anticipated,
her party secures a majority next year.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the
NLD, with help from the 88 Generation
student group, have striven mightily to

overcome this obstacle. A nationwide
campaign earlier this year resulted in
a petition with 5 million signatures
favouring constitutional change. Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi has requested President U Thein Sein for four-way talks
with army Commander-in-Chief Senior
General Min Aung Hlaing and powerful Pyidaungsu Hluttaw speaker Thura
U Shwe Mann to resolve the issue, a
request the president denied.
What did happen instead, on October 31, was a meeting the president convened with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and
a dozen other leaders that concluded
without a final statement. Critics said
the hastily organised event was held
just for show, and further discussions
are needed. Why are they delaying to
meet and to find the best solution for
the country? asked Ko Mya Aye of the
88 Generation. If they really wanted
to see the country develop, they would
meet and openly discuss constitutional
change.
Now the Union parliament has
come out in favour of six-way talks that
would include the president, Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi, the senior general and
speaker Thura U Shwe Mann, plus the
Amyotha Hluttaw speaker U Khin Aung
Myint, and a parliamentarian who represents an ethnic group. Rakhine State
representative Dr Aye Maung was sub-
IN DEPTH
sequently selected for that role. But the
president has not responded to parliaments November 27 initiative, and both
he and the senior general have indicated to Voice of America their preference
for an all-inclusive approach.
Enter the Yangon Region Hluttaw
which, on December 10 approved a
proposal from U Saw Tun Aung Myint
(Kayin Peoples Party), requesting the
Union government to hold 12-way talks.
Brushing aside questions about why the
regional parliament should discuss a
proposal already approved by the Union parliament in Nay Pyi Taw, Yangon
regional MPs decided that a single ethnic representative could not adequately
convey the full range of ethnic opinion,
and that all seven major ethnic groups
should be consulted, hence the six additional participants in the proposed
talks.
I hope this option is closer to the
presidents desire for all-inclusive talks,
said proposer U Saw Tun Aung Myint.

Denied her favoured option of fourway talks, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has
seized on the six-way option as the next
best thing. But from the presidents
point of view, 12-way talks may be better
still. Even the USDP member who proposed six-way talks in hluttaw seems to
think so. I heard that Yangon Region
parliament has approved 12-way talks. I
think that would be better than my proposal. Its possible the president might
well accept it, MP U Myint Tun said last
week.
He might well. And many would
agree with the assessment by National
Democratic Force Amyotha Hluttaw
MP U Phone Myint Aung, who said last
week, I dont believe any meeting, no
matter how many people are involved,
will result in an amendment to the 2008
constitution. If they met, they would
shake hands, talk about their families
and their health, and there would be no
effective result. If the military wanted
change, it would be easy to make the
change in parliament. All we need to
make the change is one military vote.
News 3
Manager
held over
Buddha
bar promo
BAHAN Township Court last
week denied a New Zealand bar
manager bail over accusations he
insulted religion by using an image of the Buddha wearing headphones in a promotion for his
nightspot.
The
promotional
poster,
which appeared on the Facebook page for the bar in Yangon,
sparked outrage on social media
in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar, which has seen a surge
in religious nationalism in recent
months.
General manager Philip Blackwood, 32, owner U Tun Thurein,
40, and manager U Htut Ko Ko
Lwin, 26, were detained by police
late on December 10 and their bar
was shuttered after a complaint
by an official from the Ministry of
Religious Affairs.
On December 11 a Yangon
court remanded the trio in custody until the next hearing on
December 18 over two charges of
breaching the Religion Act.
According to the act, anyone
who attempts to insult, destroy or
damage any religion can be punished by a maximum of two years
in jail, with another two-year penalty for those who try to insult religion through the written word.
Around 30 monks, backed
by 20 laypeople, gathered at the
court.
The whole public was insulted by the posting of the improper Buddha photograph, said
a monk called Thusita of the Burmese Patriot Monks Union. We
will wait and see what action the
authorities take. We will do what
we need to, if the authorities do
not take action.
The posting for the newly
opened VGastro bar, a tapas
restaurant and nightclub in the
Golden Valley area of Bahan,
showed a psychedelic mock-up
of the Buddha wearing DJ headphones to trail a cheap drinks
night.
But the publicity stunt spectacularly unravelled, with criticism snowballing on social media, followed by the complaint
and the police action to arrest the
three men and close the bar.
AFP
4 News
THE MYANMAR TIMES December 15 - 21, 2014
IN PICTUREs
Photo: AFP
South Koreas
President Park GeunHye (right) ushers in
President U Thein
Sein during their
bilateral meeting
at the ASEANRepublic of Korea
Commemorative
Summit in Busan
on December 11.
Leaders from all 10
ASEAN members are
in Busan to attend
a two-day summit
hosted by Ms Park.
Accusations fly over rights

commission investigation
Lun Min Mang
lunmin.lm@gmail.com
IN an open letter to President U
Thein Sein, the widow of the journalist shot by the army has denounced
the report of the official investigation
into his death. Her lawyer has called
for a top-to-bottom review of the investigation with the inclusion of an
international human rights specialist, but the head of the investigation
team has rejected accusations of bias.
The letter from Daw Thandar
dated December 10, International Human Rights Day told the president
she has no confidence in the report
of the investigation into the death
of Ko Par Gyi, her late husband. The
Myanmar National Human Rights
Commission set up a team to investigate the case on instructions from the
president last October.
The team submitted its final report to the president on December 1
but Daw Thandar said it contains inaccuracies and inconsistencies.
The original military report
said Ko Par Gyi was shot dead after
he grabbed the guards gun and ran
away. But, the commissions report
says my husband was shot dead as
he wrestled with the guard, trying to
snatch his gun, she said. These two
sentences have different meanings.
She also criticises the report for
failing to give clear conclusions about
the conduct of the police and military.
[The report] just refers to the weaknesses of police and military personnel in managing [my husbands]
custody. It doesnt say they are guilty.
What the report calls weakness in
obeying existing rules and laws was
in fact a crime, she said.
However, the commissions investigative team leader U Sit Myaing has
rejected accusations of bias. We had
no authority to say whether a crime
was committed or not. Our role was
to point out the weaknesses. Its for
the authorities and courts concerned
to take steps to bring the case to justice, the former military officer said
last week.
Daw Thandar also complains that
when she was summoned to the commissions office, she was denied permission to bring her lawyer plus two
female companions.
According to the commissions
December 5 report on persons who
had not cooperated with its investigation, Daw Thandars complaint was
received after the report was sent to
the Presidents Office.
We waited for her, which delayed
our report by five days. We offered [to
allow] her to come with a partner,
said U Sit Myaing. Under international norms, interrogations concerning human rights issues require
only the presence of the people concerned to help ensure the security of
the information provided.
Daw Thandars lawyer, U Robert
San Aung, said he also doubts that

the commission and its report are free
from bias. Their report described
me as a so-called lawyer, he complained, adding that one commission
member was a former military officer
who had pressed for stronger penalties against Daw Thandar while she
was in prison. He still sees her as a
prisoner, he said.
What the report

calls weakness in
obeying existing
rules and laws was
in fact a crime.
Daw Thandar
Wife of Ko Par Gyi
Commission members are appointed by the president and despite

the body being independent under the Myanmar National Human
Rights Commission Law, critics say it
has failed to use this independence to
investigate any serious human rights
violations.
The commission was formed neither by parliament nor the people.
It was formed by the president, or, I
would say, the government. Its members are retired military personnel or
civil servants. They have a loyalty to
the president or the government that
appointed them. This creates concerns or uncertainty as to their real
independence, U Robert San Aung
said.
U Sit Myaing responded by accusing U Robert San Aung and Daw
Thandar of failing to show sufficient
respect for the commission.
Our investigation mainly focused
on how Ko Par Gyi died, and what
happened after his death. These are
the parts that Daw Thandar does not
know, he said.
The report to the president by
the MNHRC suggests that the case
should rather go to a civil court than
a military court, and transparency
should be taken in order to show the
judgement is just.
However, U Robert San Aung said
he has heard nothing from police in
Kyaikmayaw, who are supposed to be
investigating whether to lay charges.
I will go to Kyaikmayaw in the first
week of January, he said.
Daw Thandar insists that all she
wants is recognition that crimes took
place.
What I want is justice. I dont
have any intention of those responsible being jailed for many years, she
said. I shall forgive to anyone who
committed the crime if they apologise
to me publicly.
Domestic
violence
victims
afraid to
speak out
Cherry Thein
t.cherry6@gmail.com
WOMEN beaten by their husbands
in their own home have nowhere to
turn, a womens advocacy organisation
says. Akhaya Women bases its claim
on a survey of intimate partner violence and sexual violence survivors in
Yangon.
The research aimed to identify
barriers that prevented victims from
seeking support, as well as prevention strategies and response services.
Researchers also conducted 25 interviews with civil society organisations,
INGOs, NGOs related to womens organisations and survivors.
Intimate partner violence means
behaviour by an intimate partner or
ex-partner that causes physical, sexual or psychological harm, including
physical aggression, sexual coercion,
psychological abuse and controlling
behaviour.
Few services are available, and
survivors are afraid to speak out, the
findings said. There is no medical care,
psycho-social support, standard operating procedures or effective training.
There is no crisis accommodation, or
24-hour support hotline.
Akhaya Womens director Daw
Htar Htar said the findings would be
shared with government and NGOs to
improve collaboration in responding
to the issue. We want to raise awareness about the untold stories of women survivors, she said, adding that
social attitudes tended to discriminate
against women. When a woman is
raped people criticise her clothing or
conduct, so that the woman herself is
blamed, she said. The discrimination
was often deeply rooted in culture,
family and interpersonal relations,
and was difficult to remove.
One survivor, a mother of two who
asked not to be named, said she had
managed to get a divorce after her
husband found another lover. He
didnt speak to me even though I was
a dutiful wife. I tried to negotiate but
nothing helped. I suffered psychological trauma, but I am free now, she
said, urging women in a similar position to strive for a new life.
A 10-year plan to improve the condition of women was released last
May, listing 12 priority areas to achieve
gender equality under international
treaties to combat violence against
and empower women and girls.
Daw Htar Htar said the government and media had a responsibility
to improve awareness of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), to which Myanmar acceded in
1997. We have many laws on preventing violence and protecting women,
but they need to be enforced, she said.
6 News
Forty years o
emerge of U
A prominent photographer recounts his dangerous mis

Htein Win (Photo)
newsroom@mmtimes.com
IN November 1974, my teacher invited me to work as a photographer at
Rangoon Arts and Sciences University (RASU). I had been studying at the
Institute of Medicine 1, Rangoon, for
eight years but was not particularly
interested in medicine.
While at the institute, however, I
had gained some practical photography experience from my teacher, who
let me use his camera, lenses and
photographic enlarger. We became
like family after I helped him take
photos of the Golden Jubilee of Rangoon University in 1970.
After joining RASU, I didnt have
much work to do at first. But then U
Thant, former secretary-general of
the United Nations from 1961 to 1971,
died of cancer in a hospital in New
York on November 25. News soon
arrived that his remains were to be
buried in Myanmar, as per the instructions he gave his family shortly
before he died.
December 5, 1974
The authorities carried U Thants
body from Rangoons Mingaladon
Airport to Kyaikkasan Racecourse on
December 1, 1974. U Ne Wins government said it planned to bury U Thant
at Kyandaw cemetery. This news was
received badly by university students,
including those from RASU. Their
main criticism was that the government was not showing sufficient respect to a statesman a global icon
of peace, even who had won respect
the world over.
On the morning of December 5,
university students assembled in
front of the RASU Convocation Hall
and Adipati Road. Funeral wreaths
in their hands, they marched sorrowfully to Kyaikkasan Racecourse.
Deciding that I should document

this historic event, I started taking
photos of students on campus and
at the main gate of RASU. I was conscious of both saving film and not
having my intentions misunderstood,
so I just took a few quick shots. By the
time we arrived at Kyaikkasan a large
crowd had already gathered.
After a few moments, as the body
was about to be carried to the cemetery, a university student took to the
stage and said, It is not suitable to
bury the body of global peace icon U
Thant in Kyandaw cemetery and we
will bury him at a deserved place with
a ceremony. This proposal drew approval from the students, monks and
other people in attendance. The students then took the body in a jeep to
the university campus.
I managed to take photos of those
moments but unfortunately they were
on a film that I later lost.
After that, I did not get a chance
to take more photos, as no one was allowed to do so. There were fears that
if the photos fell into the wrong hands
they could be used as evidence against
whoever was pictured in them.
On our return to the university,
the students noticed a suspiciouslooking man in a nearby restaurant
on University Avenue and pursued
him hotly. My friend Kalargyi Thein
Win (Dr Thein Win) took away my
camera out of fear for my safety and
gave it back to me when we arrived
at the campus. I then kept it in a safe
place.
U Thants body had been placed on
a temporary stage at the front of the
Convocation Hall. One after another,
students took to the stage and railed
against the military governments unfairness, oppression and cruelty. The
audience began to grow. I was itching
to take photos but could not for my
safety.
News 7
www.mmtimes.com
on, fresh images

U Thants funeral
ssion to document student efforts to honour the former UN secretary-general in 1974

That evening, I told one of my student colleagues that they should take
photos of the ceremony to ensure
there was a factual historical record.
He responded that nobody dared to
do so, so I was forced to give up.
December 6 and 7, 1974
On December 6 I was told that placards were hanging on the main gate of
RASU. I decided I had to take photos,
but it was no easy task because there
was a group at the main gate checking
everybody who passed through.
However, I found a way to sneak
my camera out of the campus by
accompanying my teacher in his car
when he went to the market. No one
There were fears

that if the photos
fell into the wrong
hands they could
be used as evidence
against whoever was
pictured in them.
checked the car and I then took photos of the placards from a secluded
spot. I had made arrangements with
the driver to be picked up and taken
back to my teachers home on the
campus grounds.
There were lots of activities taking
place on campus. The number of people coming to see U Thants body was
increasing day by day.
As I watched the scene, I began
to wish that I had the skills to paint
or draw a cartoon. But, sensing the
importance of documenting the

event, I decided to take more photos
as surreptitiously as possible.
I looked for locations from which
I could do so without being spotted.
There were no completely safe spots
but I decided I had to take the risk.
I took as many photos as possible
from the upper floor of my teachers
house. From here I could see people
entering and exiting the campus. Students were carrying bricks, sand and
cement from a worksite on campus
to the site of the old Student Union
building, where they planned to build
a tomb for U Thant.
December 8, 1974
Students, monks and other people
carried the body from the Convocation Hall to Adipati Road in a jeep.
My teacher and I waited in position in his house in a position to take
photos. My teachers camera had colour slide film, while mine had black
and white film. The vehicle with the
body moved slowly and I took as
many photos as possible. Unfortunately, my view was partly obscured
by a tree, so it was difficult to get a
clear shot.
While we were taking photos,
some students in the funeral procession began shouting, People from
upstairs in the houses, come down to
the roadside. They believed it was
not suitable for people who respect
U Thant to stay indoors. Within little
time people began to comply.
This was an understandable request but it put us in a difficult position. We had been shocked when we
initially heard their demand because
we thought they had seen us taking
photos. We didnt know what to do
if they saw our photos, we were done.
We were sure they would not believe
our explanation.
After a few seconds, we heard
the students demanding people in

the house next door come down. We
abandoned our mission.
I eventually made my way to the
Student Union building, where the
tomb was to be built. I had only my
eyes to record what happened.
The following day, we heard that
the authorities planned to arrest
anyone they saw on campus. This
prompted some people to return
home but others remained. I wanted
to stay and take more photos from my
teachers house. However, he and his
wife forced me to leave they knew
that anybody in their house would
be arrested. If you dont leave my
house, he said, Ill kick you out.
To this day I thank my teacher and
his wife for their insistence. If not for
them I would have ended up in Insein
Prison.
The authorities raided the RASU
campus at 2am on December 11 in
large numbers, arresting everyone
they could lay their hands on.
Just four or five years ago, one
of my friends told me that they had
found the black and white photo that
I took at U Thants funeral. I was extremely happy to hear this, but this
feeling was tinged with sadness when
I learned that the colour photos taken
by my teacher had been destroyed.
Of all the shots he took, only 11 rare
photos were found. Those were taken
on December 11 when police were arresting everyone on the campus.
When I look back today, I see that
most of the photos are not good when
you consider the lighting, resolution and composition. However, they
stand up as documents of an important historical event, and speak not
only of the students actions during
those days in December 1974, but also
the fear and danger the events posed
for an aspiring photographer.
Translated by Thiri Min Htun
8 News
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B&Bs to shake up tourism
A planned bed and breakfast policy would spread tourism income more equitably but advocates most overcome vested
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Thomas Kean
Ei Ei Thu
MOST visitors to Pindaya arrive by

tour or pilgrimage bus, disembark at
the Shwe Oo Min cave pagoda and depart after a quick lunch at a restaurant
around the towns picturesque lake. A
smaller number stay overnight; even
fewer spend several days exploring this
region of rolling hills rich with agricultural produce and ethnically diverse
villages home to Danu, Pa-O and Shan,
among others.
Daw Yin Myo Su hopes to change
that. Together with her business partner, a Pindaya local, her vision is of a
farm-stay: a five-room farmhouse for
no more than 10 guests, who would
explore the area on bike or foot, visiting villages and sampling the rich local
produce honey, fruit and vegetables.
I love the Pindaya area. I always
say its like the Tuscany of Burma, said
the lifelong hotelier, who also runs the
successful Inle Princess and Mrauk Oo
Princess properties. The apple trees
look like olives, and the colour of the
earth is just stunning, so beautiful.
Last week I rode from Heho to Pindaya and we went through fields of
white, yellow, green and red, all under
a bright blue sky. I just think its very
unique.
Shes even built the farmhouse in
the area, a two-storey structure amid
fields of crab apple, mango, banana
and coffee plantation.
The only problem? She cant legally
get a licence. Under Myanmar law, only
a hotel can accept foreign guests but a
property must have at least 10 guest
rooms to be eligible for a hotel licence.
Shes gambling that this will soon
change. In 2013, the Ministry of Hotels
and Tourism introduced the Community Involvement in Tourism (CIT) policy based on consultations with publicand private-sector representatives and
community leaders at eight workshops
across the country.
The policy aims to ensure that the
benefits of tourism remain in communities and the sectors growth support

national development objectives, particularly poverty reduction.
While the policy is not, in the words
of the authors, cast in stone, it broadly
commits the ministry to introducing a
bed and breakfast policy, which would
enable communities or individuals to
run B&Bs of up to nine rooms that can
accept foreign visitors.
Draft B&B standards were included
as an appendix in the CIT policy, which
notes that while Myanmar signed the
ASEAN homestay standards in 2010,
B&Bs are preferred over homestays
due to local customs and for religious
reasons.
If Myanmar really
wants to have more
tourists, they are not
going to get them by
offering the same
style of hotel all
over the country.
Nicole Haeusler
Myanmar Tourism Federation adviser
B&Bs would be a compromise,

enabling communities to gain firsthand experiences ... which may enable
them to run homestay programs in the
longterm, it says.
The main difference between a
homestay and B&B is that the guest
rooms must be in a separate building
from where the B&B owner or staff
live.
The policy would represent a major break from current practice and,
according to advocates, lay the foundations for a more equitable industry.
By requiring a minimum of 10 rooms
and having licensing based in Nay Pyi
Taw, the government has created a
barrier to entering the industry that is
insurmountable for the majority of people. Aside from the setup cost, in most
areas an establishment of 10 rooms
would simply not be cost-effective.
Nicole Haeusler, who works on
behalf of German government as an
adviser to the Myanmar Tourism Federation, said the policy would not only
create income opportunities for communities but also give them more ownership over tourism development.
What is important for me with
this B&B [policy] is that its a business
model it teaches people how to become an entrepreneur, she said.
She said the policy has generated
strong interest in communities that are
only now being opened up to tourism,
particularly in ethnic minority areas.
For example, when we ran workshops on the CIT [policy] in Kayin
State, participants said they really
wanted to start these B&Bs in the future. For them its an economic income
opportunity but they are also really
worried that tourism will open up and
[outside businesspeople] will come,
she said.
Definitely what the people have
expressed [is that] they do not want
the registration to be handled in Nay
Pyi Taw by the Ministry [of Hotels
and Tourism] because it is too far
away. They said it should be at the
regional or ideally the [township]
level.
But while the standards are in
place, the licensing is yet to be approved by the Ministry of Hotels and
Tourism and there is no clear timeframe for introduction.
It is clear that not everybody is in
favour of liberalising accommodation
for foreign visitors. The policy cuts
across two of the common barriers to
reform in Myanmar: vested economic
interests and security concerns.
There are fears that opposition
to the policy could result in it being
significantly watered down, or even
scrapped altogether.
Ministry of Hotels and Tourism director U Myo Win Nyunt insisted last
week that the government was committed to the B&B policy but wanted
them primarily in areas where it is
difficult to build hotels, such as rural
and border areas.

He said the ministry believes that
allowing B&Bs will not only create income and employment opportunities
but also help to meet growing demand
for lower-cost accommodation.
However, he said it is concerned
about security and protecting locals
from culture shock.
We need to protect local people
from culture shock when they stay together [with foreigners]. We need to
protect our people and make sure [allowing B&Bs] doesnt impact our culture, he said.
Representatives of the Myanmar
Hoteliers Association have also voiced
concern in workshops that the policy
could lead to a drop in standards that
would negatively affect the countrys
image.
MILLION US$
905
Estimated income from tourism this

year, according to figures from the
Ministry of Hotels and Tourism
However, The Myanmar Times has

learned that hoteliers have also been
privately lobbying against the policy
on the basis that it will undermine
the significant investments they have
made in their properties.
In an apparent acknowledgement
of these concerns, draft licensing procedures seen by The Myanmar Times
only allow B&Bs in rural areas, away
from most of the countrys existing hotel stock.
But U Zaw Weik, secretary of the
MHAs Bagan branch, said he didnt believe allowing B&Bs would hurt hotel
businesses, as they would be competing for different markets.
This system is good for customers
as they can stay with cheaper prices ...
News 9
www.mmtimes.com
Parents polled on school bus proposal

Aye Nyein Win
ayenyeinwin.mcm@gmail.com
sector
d interests and security fears

Customers will have more choice, he
said.
Those resisting change could even
be potentially harming their economic
interests in the long run. Ms Haeusler said the B&B policy is needed to
maintain tourism growth because
unless Myanmar starts to offer more
accommodation options at lower
prices, it runs the risk of potential
visitors instead opting for better-value
destinations.
This could lead to the boom of
recent years slowing down or even
reversing.
If Myanmar really wants to have
more tourists, they are not going to
get them by offering the same style of
hotel all over the country, she said.
What we need is a diversity of accommodation products.
Daw Yin Myo Su agreed that hoteliers concerns about losing business
were misplaced. She said many destinations are already struggling to cater
to existing visitor numbers and a liberalisation of hotel registration would
help to meet future demand.
Im a hotel owner as well, but I
dont feel threatened by the policy, she
said.
I know there are certain people in
our business who think it will be out
of control if we give a chance also to
smaller people without having the
proper rules and regulations ... but
its important to give space and voice
to local entrepreneurs. I loved playing
Monopoly when I was a little girl but
I dont think it is appropriate [in the
tourism industry].
Daw Yin Myo Su does not need to
look abroad for examples of successful
B&Bs to guide her Pindaya project. She
draws inspiration far closer to home
from the five-bedroom guesthouse her
parents set up in Nyaungshwe in 1976
to cater to the trickle of foreign tourists
who were taking advantage of Myanmars newly introduced seven-day visa.
My mum would have them in the
kitchen, showing them how to cook our
food, and then I would dance for them
at night, because there was nothing else
for them to do, she said. If we could
do that in those dark days, shouldnt we
be able to do it again now?
SCHOOL buses could be a major factor in reducing Yangons traffic congestion, transport officials suggest. The
introduction of a safe and reliable system for getting children to school and
back home again could relieve parents
of the need to do it themselves with
huge effects on gridlock.
A workshop on public transport
held last month identified 22 factors
in the congestion problem, and a number of possible solutions. One solution
could be the use of an internationalstandard school bus system, said the
Yangon regional government representative at the meeting.
Because of the lack of school buses,
most children who are not driven in a
private car take a ferry normally a
privately operated light truck to get
to school. Experts estimate that up to
3000 vehicles stop at the most popular
schools each morning and evening.
The regional government has now
asked the Yangon Supervisory Committee for Traffic Rules Enforcement to
raise the issue with parents. However,
it has ruled out imposing any change
by force.
Were asking parents who drive
their children to school how they
would feel about a school bus service
of higher quality than at present, said
subcommittee chair U Hla Thaung
Myint.
Thuwanna resident Ma Nandar
major problem in Yangon since the

relaxation of car ownership rules,
not least because of the school run
practised by parents. Taxi drivers are
said to avoid the most popular schools
downtown at peak hours because of
the crush of vehicles.
Last year, there were 1500 school
ferries, increasing to 2300 this year.
More than 5000 private cars are used
to drop and pick up children daily at
the schools of No 3 Basic Education
Department, according to the Yangon
Cars stop on the road in front of BEHS 1 Dagon. Photo: Yu Yu
said she had received a letter from her

sons high school last week asking if
she supported the proposal.
I wrote that I agreed with the program. I think it can reduce the traffic
jams, she said. But I have also heard
some parents do not agree because
they are worried about the fee. If the
owners use minibuses instead of light
trucks, it will be more expensive.
U Mg Aung, an adviser to the Ministry of Commerce, said the current
system was unsafe and creating traffic
chaos near schools.
If there is one car for every school
student, this causes jams. And many
school ferries arent safe because they

use light trucks. If school ferry owners
used a minibus controlled by one company or association, it would be safer.
But parents and the current school
ferry owners would need to agree to
cooperate with us, he said.
Subcommittee chair U Hla Thaung
Myint agreed that transporting the
children in light trucks was unsafe.
Minibuses are safer, and can carry
about 40 children. This can also reduce
congestion. If the ferry owners agree,
we can arrange to buy a minibus on
hire purchase.
Traffic congestion has become a
1500
Estimated number of privately run
school ferries in 2013
Supervisory Committee for Traffic

Rules and Enforcement.
The schools that attract the heaviest
traffic are Yankin TTC, Thingangyun
BEHS 1, Botahtaung BEHS 1 and 5, Pazundaung BEHS 4, Kamaryut TTC and
BEHS 2, Ahlone BEHS 4 and Dagon
BEHS 1. Since some schools have split
shifts, congestion occurs there at midday as well as morning and evening.
Related story news 12
10 News
IN DEPTH
PR rules freeze out exiled politicians

Political activists who fled Myanmar since 1988 likely to snub permanent residence offer because of ban on political activities
Sandar
Lwin
sdlsandar@gmail.com
A NEW permanent residence policy

that would stop returnees from engaging in politics has been described as
a propaganda tool for government
efforts toward national reconciliation,
with observers saying exiled politicians are unlikely to accept the policys
terms.
The Ministry of Immigration and
Population announced earlier this
month that the PR system, which was
first announced more than a year ago,
would launch on December 29.
While it will be open to foreign
experts, a major aim is to encourage
former Myanmar citizens including
political exiles who fled the country after 1988 to take up an offer President
U Thein Sein first extended in August
2011 to return and contribute to national development.
Under the PR program, former
citizens who complete the five-year PR
period will be allowed to apply to get
back their Myanmar citizenship if they
adhere to rules for PR holders.
However, the new rules have
dashed the hopes of those who wanted
to meaningfully engage in politics in
coming years and observers said they
believed many exiled activists may
snub the governments offer.
Rules announced on November 18
prohibit a PR holder from contesting
or voting in elections, organising political events or even visiting rural
areas. Those who have been granted
political asylum or refugee status in
foreign countries are also not eligible
to return.
While there are no exact figures,
up to 10,000 political activists are
thought to have fled Myanmar since
student-led protests in 1988. Many
were granted political asylum or took
up citizenship in other countries, automatically invalidating their Myanmar
citizenship.
U Naing Aung, a former chair of
the All Burma Students Democratic
Front an armed group formed after
the 1988 protests who came back to
Myanmar in 2012, said the government had misled those who had already returned.
We were told a PR system would
be developed for us when we came
back. But when it was released, we can
see that it is only intended for those
who would come and do business and
not the politicians who have been dispersed to foreign countries and been
granted asylum or refugee status, he
said.
Domestically based political figures have been similarly critical. U Ye
Aung, a member of the Former Political Prisoners Society, said he accepted
restrictions on standing for election
Former All Burma Students Democratic Front leader Moe Thee Zun hugs a former associate at Shwedagon Pagoda on September 1, 2012. Photo: Kaung Htet
but not an outright ban on all political activities. While he remains a Myanmar citizen, many of his colleagues
have gone into exile over the years.
[The PR policy]
is only intended
for those who
would come and do
business and not the
politicians who have
been dispersed to
foreign countries.
U Naing Aung
Former All Burma Students
Democratic Front leader
It is like a mirage. For a politician,

politics is his life. This PR system is of
no practical use for our colleagues but
just a propaganda tool for the government saying [the exiles] are now allowed to come back [because] there is
a PR system, he said.
U Tin Maung Win, a central executive committee member of the Yangon
Region Union Solidarity and Development Party branch, said while it was
reasonable to impose some restrictions, five years was too long.
It is acceptable to watch returnee politicians to see how much they
match with the countrys political
situation but about three years is
enough, he said.
While it is unclear how stringently
the government will enforce the provisions on political activity, the Ministry
of Immigration has previously shown
that it is willing to stop former citizens
from returning to Myanmar if they are
deemed a political threat.
In June, the government issued a
notice to airlines instructing them not
to allow U Moe Hein, publisher of The
Sun Rays journal, and Moe Thee Zun,
a former leader of the All Burma Students Democratic Front, from boarding flights to Myanmar.
The two activists, who are both US
citizens, had previously been granted
visas on several occasions.
U Tin Maung Than, a returnee who
works as a research coordinator at
the Myanmar Development Resource
Institute, said the policy was not
very bad for those who had already
returned but agreed that exiled politicians were not likely to accept the
terms of the PR policy.
For those who left for foreign
countries for political reasons and
are in politics, [the PR policy] will
not be enough to bring about national
reconciliation. [It will require] them
being allowed to enter the political
arena, and get political and individual
rights, U Tin Maung Than said.
He pointed out returnees would
be unable to immediately stand for
parliament even without the restrictions in the PR policy. Under the
2008 constitution, a person can only
become a member of parliament if
they have lived in Myanmar for at
least 10 consecutive years, rising to
20 years for the president and vice
presidents.
Despite the extensive debate of constitutional change, no political group
has suggested amending this clause
in the constitution. It is sorrowful
that everybody, even the democratic
groups, ignored the constitutional
provisions such as 10 or 20 consecutive [years living in country], U Tin
Maung Than said.
There are also concerns that the
programs high application and annual fees, as well as criteria for who
is eligible, may prevent some exiles
returning.
The application fee is US$500
and those accepted will have to pay a
$500 annual fee. While this is half the
amount foreigners who are not former
citizens will be charged, it will still result in returnees paying at least $3000
before they are able to get their citizenship back. Many have family members who are also foreign citizens,
meaning the cost could be well over
$10,000. To be eligible, returnees and
foreigners will also have to show proof
that they can cover their living costs
in Myanmar.
It is not even clear whether political activists will qualify for PR status.
Another rule states that only those
who can assist the development of the
countrys business, education or social
sectors will be eligible for PR. It makes
no mention of whether political activists would meet this criteria but activists were scathing of the clause.
Prohibiting politicians from doing
politics is nonsense. We should have
an equal space in the political arena as
locally based politicians, said U Sonny
Mahindra, the general secretary of the
ABSDF.
If it really wants to achieve national reconciliation and improve unity,
the government should put forward a
more welcoming policy.
News 11
www.mmtimes.com
Politician promises
transparency at YCDC
Candidate slams
election law ban
on party members
Kyaw Phone Kyaw
k.phonekyaw@gmail.com
Kyaw
Phone
Kyaw
k.phonekyaw@gmail.com
A PROMINENT activist has promised

to usher in an era of transparency at
the Yangon City Development Committee if he is elected later this month.
U Win Cho has registered to stand
as a candidate for YCDC in the December 27 vote. While initially ruled ineligible for failing to disclose multiple convictions for staging illegal protests, he
was later reinstated on appeal.
YCDC is not a defence or security
organisation it is a provider of public
services. So there is no need to cover up
its activities, he said.
He promised to reveal all of the
Even if I have to
break the national
security act, I will
do it if I think it is
important.
U Win Cho
YCDC election candidate
A man pushes a trishaw in front of a sign promoting the YCDC election in Dala
township last week. Photo: Aung Htay Hlaing
committees activities to the public if

elected by forming a public relations
team and holding press conferences at
least once a month.
Even if I have to break the national
security act, I will do it if I think it is
important for the people, he said.
He said he hoped to develop a culture within YCDC of authorities taking
responsibility for their actions and being accountable to the public.
YCDC comprises five members appointed by the Union government,
including the chair, who also acts as
the mayor. The December 27 vote will

add four elected members one from
each of Yangons four districts to the
committee.
Residents will also elect candidates
for 16 district-level and 99 townshiplevel positions in the municipal body.
The Myanmar Times asked two
YCDC departments for their response
to U Win Chos comments but was
told to instead submit an inquiry letter. YCDC departments typically take
three days to one week to respond to
such letters.
A CANDIDATE in Yangons upcoming municipal elections has written

to the president protesting against
electoral rules that bar political
party members from participating.
U Khin Hlaing, who will stand
for one of four positions available
on Yangon City Development Committee in the December 27 vote,
also sent the December 2 letter to
the Constitutional Tribunal, Yangon
Region Hluttaw and Yangon Region
Chief Minister U Myint Swe.
He said there was no justification for the election laws, which
were drafted by YCDC and enacted
three months ago, to ban political
party members from registering as
candidates.
Even the chair of YCDC, the
mayor [U Hla Myint], is a member
of the Union Solidarity and Development Party. So, [the mayor] can
do political activities in his party,
but we cannot. Why not? said U
Khin Hlaing, who will stand for
election in Yangons west district.
He also questioned why candidates were required when registering to sign a pledge to follow the
civil servant law if elected.
Im not applying to Mr Mayor
for a job, he said. Im just competing as a candidate in the election.
The head of the YCDC election
commission, U Tin Aye, declined to

comment on U Khin Hlaings concerns. The commission will work
according to the existing law, he said.
U Khin Hlaing, who competed
in both the 2010 general election
and 2012 by-elections as an independent, said last week he had not
received any response to his letter.
293
Candidates who will contest the

YCDC elections on December 27
However, he is far from the

only critic of the law. Yangon Region Hluttaw MP Daw Nyo Nyo
Thin previously threatened to
ask the Constitutional Tribunal
to review the law when an earlier version stated that only 1.5
percent of households would be
able to vote. YCDC said it had reduced the scale of the election to
save money but later agreed to let
each household vote once, a move
that it estimated would increase
the number of voters from about
30,000 to 800,000.
12 News
Crime in BRIEF
Eight monks disrobed for begging
Sayadaw U Nyarna Dasa from

Mingalar Taung Nyunt township has
disrobed and handed over to the police
eight monks who were found allegedly
breaking the discipline code for Buddhist monks.
The sayadaw and members of a
religious discipline team detained
the men, who they said were eating
after hours, sleeping on the roadside
and collecting donations near Yangon
Central Railway Station.
The men, who are from Paung
township in Mon State, Shwe Pyi
Thar and Taikkyi townships in Yangon
Region, and Bago in Bago Region,
were disrobed at Dhamma Yakhitha
Monastery in Mingalar Taung Nyunt on
December 9. They face charges under
Myanmars religious laws.
Teenage boy stabs girl in his class
A boy, 13, has been charged by police

in Hlaing Tharyar township with causing hurt with a dangerous weapon
after he allegedly stabbed a girl in his
class.
The grade 7 student at Basic Education High School 3 Hlaing Tharyar
stabbed the girl in the chest, stomach
and on her back on December 8,
police said. She is recovering in Insein
Hospital.
Police said the boy launched the
attack after the girl slapped him for
touching her cheek.
Man dies in rice thresher accident
A 34-year-old farmer from Yangons

Thanlyin township died on December 7
after being caught in a rice thresher.
U Than Htike from Winkhanee
village was pulled onto the thresher
when his longyi got trapped in the
devices blades, police said.
Human rights activist

charged over protest
Kyauktada police say they plan to

charge veteran human rights activist
Naw Ohn Hla with holding an unauthorised demonstration after she led
30 protesters around Yangons Sule
Pagoda on December 4.
The marchers held banners urging
an end to the Letpadaung copper mine
and protesting the use of excessive
force by police against anti-mine
demonstrators. They also urged the
release of farmers jailed in relation
to land confiscations. Toe Wai Aung,
translation by Khant Lin Oo
Major bus network reforms

to begin within three months
Plan will see a single entity jointly owned by the government and private investors operate all vehicles
aye
nyein
win
ayenyeinwin.mcm@gmail.com
THE Ministry of Commerce is betting

on a public-private partnership with
bus owners to help alleviate Yangons
transport woes. Under the plan, the
ministry will partner with owners to
form a single association or company
to manage the sector, ending competition between owners and effectively
bringing it under state control.
The plan would see old buses
removed from the roads and staff
paid a salary rather than incentives. Each bus owner would receive
a dividend based on the number of
vehicles they owned that were used
by the new entity, which advocates
say will improve service on less
profitable routes.
Ministry adviser U Mg Aung said
the first steps toward establishing
the program would begin within
three months. Other strategies include introducing school buses for
downtown Yangon high schools and
improved access to car parking.
The three programs were developed at Convenience for Public
Transportation workshops held on
November 1 and December 2.
More than 80 percent of Yangons
population of 5.2 million relies on
buses for transportation. However,
the system is poorly coordinated,
with 6500 buses owned by more than
5000 individuals servicing about 360
routes.
The Ministry of Commerce will
offer incentives to owners to replace
their second-hand buses with new
vehicles, U Mg Aung said, while
those not already in the sector will
also be invited to invest with the new
entity.
The PPP will require parliamentary approval of a law laying out
a framework for the program and
the allocation of necessary funding,
Passengers crowd onto a light truck bus in Yangon. Photo: Boothee
he said, adding that the government may cover some of the cost of
replacing old vehicles.
We will not use old cars. We estimate each new bus will cost about
US$150,000 but will hold discussions
with owners to identify the best way
to implement the system so that everyone benefits.
5000
Bus owners in Yangon, who collectively

control more than 6500 vehicles
U Mg Aung said participants

at the workshops agreed that the
bus systems main problem was
the financial incentives for workers to take as many passengers as
possible.
Rather than receive a salary, the
driver and conductor pay a set fee to
the owner and they keep the profit
made after the fee is recouped.
The buses compete with and bully each other. If the PPP system is established and the bus workers get a
guaranteed income, the problem will
be solved. The buses can run on time
and there will be fewer traffic jams,
U Mg Aung added.
U Hla Aung, chair of the Yangon
Region Supervisory Committee for
Motor Vehicles, said he supported
the move toward greater government
involvement in the public transport

system.
We want the government to cooperate so that we can carry it out as
soon as possible, he said.
He added that the PPP model
would encourage owners to cooperate rather than compete.
All buses will be owned by all
owners and they will get a fair income, he said.
U Myo Win, who owns seven
buses on the No 31 line, said he also
welcomed the system.
But to be successful there needs
to be a law and bus workers need to
get paid enough, he said. The government must make sure both of
these needs are met.
Related story news 9
News 13
www.mmtimes.com
Peace players question

federal army formation
Unification of armed groups could derail the peace process, observers warn
Wa Lone
walone14@gmail.com
THE reactivation of a federal army
by 12 ethnic armed groups has raised
questions among players in the peace
process about whether the grouping
might prove itself to be counterproductive and raise tensions between the
government and ethnic groups.
The Federal Union Army (FUA) operates under the United Nationalities
Federal Council (UNFC), an alliance of
ethnic armed groups that has played a
major role in efforts to negotiate a nationwide ceasefire between ethnic minorities and Myanmars military.
Although it was formed in February
2011, the FUA maintained a low profile
until last month, when a Tatmadaw attack on a Kachin Independence Army
training camp near Laiza killed 23 cadets and injured dozens more.
The FUA condemned the attack
and called a meeting of military leaders from each of the 12 UNFC member
groups. The meeting, held at an undisclosed location on November 28 and
29, resulted in the FUA designating
northern and southern military territories for the ethnic armies.
U Hla Maung Shwe, the senior adviser at the Myanmar Peace Center,
said the formation of the army was
unnecessary as the government had assured armed groups it was committed
to a federal political system, which is
the groups primary demand.
The Federal Union Army disturbs
the whole peace process, he said.
Minister for the Presidents Office U
Aung Min, the governments lead peace
negotiators, also said at a press conference in Bago Region on November 30
that the formation of a federal armed
force was unnecessary because the
government has already agreed to give
rights to ethnic groups under a federal
system.
Freelance journalist and political
analyst Sithu Aung Myint said he was
worried that the federal army would increase tension between the Tatmadaw
and ethnic armed groups.
The Federal Union

Army disturbs the
whole peace process.
U Hla Maung Shwe
Myanmar Peace Center
They should work with the people

to solve the problems. If we return to
armed conflict, the people will be the
victims again, he said.
Khun Okkar, co-secretary of the
UNFC, told The Myanmar Times that
the FUA was proof that our groups are
united. The FUA is an organisation
under the UNFC that can support politics as well as military affairs, he said.
The reactivation of the FUA is expected to be one of the main topics of
debate at the next meeting of the governments Union Peace-making Work
Committee led by U Aung Min and
the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination
Team, which is negotiating on behalf of
16 armed ethnic groups. The government has proposed that the talks be
held on December 18 but ethnic armed
groups have not yet confirmed their attendance on that date.
The talks were originally scheduled
for late November but were delayed because of the attack in Kachin State.
However, sources said the FUA issue
was not likely to be discussed at informal talks between the Myanmar Peace
Center and the NCCT in Chiang Mai on
December 14.
Members of the All Burma Students Democratic Front rest after a ceremony
marking the groups 25th anniversary in November 2013. Photo: Boothee
Calls for bilateral

talks over Kachin
Wa Lone
walone14@gmail.com
URGENT bilateral talks are required to resolve the conflict in
Kachin State, where fighting has
flared up despite moves toward a
national ceasefire agreement, a senior peace negotiator says.
U Hla Maung Shwe, the senior
adviser with the Myanmar Peace
Center, says the talks between the
Kachin Independence Organisation
and Union government are needed
in addition to long-running nationwide ceasefire discussions.
We should get around the table
because fighting is continuing on
the ground, he said last week.
The MPC was responding to a
decision by the KIO to postpone nationwide ceasefire talks as a result
of a November 19 Tatmadaw artillery attack on a Kachin Independence Army base that left 23 people
dead and 20 wounded.
The KIO says the attack was deliberate, and has demanded that
the Tatmadaw withdraw troops and
artillery from the vicinity of their
Laiza headquarters.
La Maing Guan Jar, a member
of the Peace-talk Creation Group,
said that the KIA also wanted to
discuss the conflict directly with
the Union government.

The Tatmadaw continues to
fight even as we continue to discuss
[peace], he said.
Conflict resolution teams representing the Kachin State government and the KIO have been working since August to resolve disputes
and to tackle the narcotics trade in
the state.
A government team led by Minister for Border Affairs and Security
Colonel Than Aung and a KIO team
led by Colonel Zaw Taung have
agreed to meet twice a month.
Despite media reports to the
contrary, U Hla Maung Shwe said
that chief government peace negotiator U Aung Min had already
replied to the KIA, but declined
to divulge the contents of the response. He added that the government had proposed holding talks
in Yangon on December 18 with the
Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination
Team (NCCT), which is negotiating
the ceasefire on behalf of 16 armed
groups.
The NCCT has not yet confirmed
its availability but remains committed to peace, leader Naing Hantha
said last week. We have the right to
protect ourselves from Tatmadaw
attack, he said, but we will try for
reconciliation.
TRADE MARK CAUTION
14 News
NOTICE is hereby given that Asahi Group Holdings, Ltd. a joint stock
company organized under the laws of Japan, Group holding Company
with subsidiaries involved in the manufacturing and sale of various
goods of 23-1, Azumabashi 1-chome, Sumida-ku, Tokyo, Japan is the
Owner and proprietor of the following trademarks: -
(Reg: Nos. IV/2718/2003 & IV/13891/2014)
(Reg: Nos. IV/2719/2003 & IV/13892/2014)

The above two trademarks are in respect of:Beer - Intl Class: 32
Any fraudulent imitation or unauthorized use of the said trademarks
or other infringements whatsoever will be dealt with according to law.
U Kyi Win Associates
for Asahi Group Holdings, Ltd.
P.O. Box No. 26, Yangon.
Phone: 372416
Dated: 15th December, 2014
TRADE MARK CAUTION

Notice is given that Federal-Mogul Limited, of Manchester
International Office Centre, Styal Road, Manchester, M22 5TN,
England, United Kingdom is the Owner and Sole Proprietor of
the following Trade Mark:-
A police officer walks past impounded sports cars stored at the Yangon Region Hluttaw complex last week. Photo: Thiri
Police seize sports cars amid crackdown

toe wai aung
in respect of Class 06: Metal gaskets. Class 07: Piston rings,

pistons, valves, valve guides, valve springs, valve seat inserts, cam
shafts, cam followers, cylinder heads, cylinder liners; half-cast
bearings; all for use in machines, motors, vehicle engines and
transmissions. Class 17: Gaskets and seals; gasket and sealing
materials.
A Declaration of Ownership of the said Mark has been registered
in the Office of the Sub-Registrar of Deeds and Assurances, Yangon
being No. 11144/2011.
Any person who copies, imitates, or in any other way whatsoever
infringes the rights of the said Federal-Mogul Limited in the Trade
Mark will be proceeded against in accordance with the laws in force
to prevent the imposition of fraudulent marks on merchandise.
Win Mu Tin, M.A., H.G.P., D.B.L
for Federal-Mogul Limited
P. O. Box 60, Yangon
E-mail: makhinkyi.law@mptmail.net.mm
Dated: 15 December 2014
TRADE MARK CAUTION

Soremartec S.A., a company organised under the laws of
Luxembourg, of Findel Business Center, Complexe B, Rue de
Treves, L-2632 Findel, Luxembourg, is the Owner of the following
Trade Marks:-
KINDER JOY
Reg. No. 14364/2014

in respect of Pastry and confectionery, chocolate products, filled
wafers, cocoa spread cream, ice creams.
Reg. No. 14365/2014

in respect of Bread, breadsticks, filled and/or coated wafers, filled
and/or coated sponge cakes, biscuits, cakes, chocolate, chocolate
bars, chocolate candies, chocolate tablets, chocolate mousses, cocoa
or chocolate spread cream, cocoa and hazelnuts spread cream;
preparations made from cereals; edible ice.
Fraudulent imitation or unauthorised use of the said Trade Marks
will be dealt with according to law.
for Soremartec S.A.
YANGON Region police seized 52

sports cars between December 5 and
7 as part of a crackdown on reckless
driving and the use of noisy power
exhausts.
On December 5 and 6, police
seized 34 sports cars that had been

equipped with illegal exhaust systems. Another 18 cars were seized
on December 7, including five
that police said were being driven
recklessly.
The vehicles will be impounded for
a month, according to police.
A spokesperson for the police force
said the owners of some of the cars

seized had also been caught driving
without a valid licence.
Under this campaign we will take
action against [sports] cars which are
found to be driving without discipline
and any cars with power exhausts, the
spokesperson said.
Translation by Khant Lin Oo
Residents evicted for visit

of royals face fresh threat
Maung
Zaw
mgzaw.mmtimes@gmail.com
RESIDENTS whose illegally built

shanties were demolished to beautify
Mandalays riverside for the visit of
Norways royal couple have returned
to the site of their former homes but
are likely to soon be evicted again, this
time permanently.
Last week, marine department officials informed families in the area
they would have to leave again if their
homes were inside the boundary of a
planned shipyard. On December 11,
workers began marking out the boundaries of the shipyard on the riverbank.
We dont know the date we have to
move yet. They havent announced anything else yet, one of the residents told
The Myanmar Times.
Mandalay City Development Committee forced about 200 residents to demolish their homes and shift from the
bank of the Ayeyarwady River on December 2, three days before the arrival
of King Harald V and his queen, Sonja.
Labourer Ko Min Min Oo told The
Myanmar Times last week that he and
his five family members had returned
on December 7 because they had no
other place to live.
We are just workers who can barely
earn a living. We came back because we
cant afford to move anywhere else no
one would want to live in this place if
they had the choice, he said.
MCDC officials took the drastic step
out of embarrassment at the grinding
poverty on show along the citys riverfront. Their actions backfired dramatically, however, with King Harald telling
Norwegian Broadcasting that he was
very sorry about the forced evictions.
The Norwegian royals were greeted
Workers survey for a shipyard the government plans to build on the banks of the
Ayeyarwady River in Mandalay on December 11. Photo: Maung Zaw
by local officials and schoolchildren in

traditional dress at the beautified riverfront but King Harald said he had not
wanted a public ceremony.
I think we have to accept that [the
Myanmar authorities] are in a period of
democratisation, and that perhaps this
is evidence that they still have a long
way to go, King Harald said.
MCDC officials have defended their
actions, with one telling reporters that it
was necessary to remove the illegal residents to turn the river into a pleasant
and beautiful place for the kings visit.
We were in big
trouble when we
were removed ... We
lived by the roadside
on a tarpaulin.
Ko Yan Myo Kyaw
Illegal resident
We just didnt want it to look awful

when they visited, the official said.
Another returning riverfront resident, Ko Yan Myo Kyaw, said he was
scared that more VIPs would visit the
area in the future.
We were in big trouble when we
were removed from here. We didnt
know where to go. Some people went
to their relatives homes but we have no
relatives so we lived by the roadside on
a tarpaulin, said Ko Yan Myo Kyaw, who
also works as a labourer, loading and
unloading goods from ships on the river.
Despite doubt over whether they
will be allowed to stay, residents said
they are focusing on making back the
money they lost as a result of their
homes being destroyed.
When we were evicted we had to
move to another place so we couldnt
work, said another resident, Ko Min
Naung, who has a wife and two children. Now we are busy rebuilding our
houses so we have to borrow money
from people to pay our living expenses.
Well have to repay it when we can get
work again.
Translation by Thiri Min Htun
News 15
www.mmtimes.com
Civil society group releases guide

to elections for voters, politicians
Lun Min Mang
lunmin.lm@gmail.com
A CIVIL society organisation plans
to introduce an education guide for
voting this month aimed at improving public participation in politics, a
spokesperson said. The New Myanmar Foundation publication will explore the practical aspects of voting,
the pros and cons of voting, and how
the electoral process works.
We hope that the manual will help
to expand voters electoral knowledge.
There are lot of groups educating voters but there is no book or guide to
refer to so it will also be useful for
educators, said U Thant Sin.
The New Myanmar Foundation plans to send the manuals to
There are lots of

groups educating
voters ... but there
is no book or guide
to refer to.
U Thant Sin
New Myanmar Foundation
ABSDF to
discuss KIA
shelling
with union
peace team
MEMBERS of the government peace
team and the All Burma Students
Democratic Front are expected to meet
this week to review ceasefire implementation and discuss a recent Tatmadaw attack that killed two ABSDF
members training with the KIA.
ABSDF general secretary U Sonny
Mahindra said the meeting would likely be on December 17 or 22.
The meeting will focus mainly
on reviewing implementation of our
ceasefire over the past year, he said.
The ABSDF was formed in late 1988
by students who fled to Myanmars
border areas to escape a government
crackdown. The group signed a ceasefire with the government in August
2013 but is not a member of the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team
(NCCT), which is negotiating a nationwide ceasefire on behalf of 16 armed
ethnic groups.
According to Myanmar Peace Monitor, the ABSDF has more than 600
members, including 200 based in areas
occupied by the Kachin Independence
Army and the rest along the ThaiMyanmar border.
Its members fight alongside the
KIA. Two ABSDF recruits were among
the 23 killed on November 19 when the
Tatmadaw shelled a KIA military academy near Laiza.
U Sonny Mahindra said the ABSDF
delegation will make a formal complaint about the Tatmadaws conduct at
the meeting.
We will ask the government to
show greater accountability for future
activities. We will express our objection
to that type of action and urge the government side, the Tatmadaw which is
the stronger side [in the conflict] to
show more patience and restraint, he
said. Sandar Lwin
Voter overhaul
nears phase two
Lun Min
Mang
lunmin.lm@gmail.com
A potential voter reads a copy of the electoral guide. Photo: Yu Yu
Pyidaungsu Hluttaw representatives

and distribute them to the public
through civil society organisations.
U Thant Sin said the manual
makes comparisons with a range
of countries, including those that
share a similar background and
political history to Myanmar and
those where democracy stretches
back hundreds of years.
Another intention is to enhance

the knowledge of people who want
to get more actively involved in the
countrys electoral process and politics generally, U Thant Sin said.
The 14-chapter publication includes a brief history of electoral
processes, information on the electoral system and things that voters
should know.
VOTER registration will soon enter its second stage in 14 townships

of Yangon Region, an electoral official told The Myanmar Times last
week. The Union Election Commission launched the first stage of the
program to overhaul electoral rolls
in 10 of the least-populated Yangon
townships in the second week of
November.
Registration has been completed
in one of the 10 townships included
in stage one and work is expected to
finish in the remainder by the end of
December.
Once completed, the second stage
focusing on South Dagon, North
Dagon, East Dagon, North Okkalapa,
Thingangyun, Thanlyin, Kyauktan,
Thongwa, Kayan, Insein, Mingalardon, Shwe Pyi Thar, Hlaing Tharyar
and Htantabin townships will be
launched, said U Ko Ko, the head of
the Yangon Region sub-commission.
If not, we will have to finish it in
January. Up to now, registration has

ended only in Seikkan township, he
said.
One issue that is likely to prove
controversial is the status of those
without a legal residence. Only those
with a household list - known as form
66/6 - will be allowed to register to
vote, according to the commission.
One ward administrator in Hlaing
Tharyar township told The Myanmar
Times last week that township officials had been collecting the data of
illegal residents in Hlaing Tharyar
township in order to register them
for the election.
However, U Ko Ko said the election commission had not issued any
instruction to register illegal residents.
The township level officials may
be doing this in preparation for conducting the voter registration program
in the township, he said.
Meanwhile, the UEC has invited
civil society groups to a meeting in
Yangon this week, an official has
confirmed.
U Chan Lian of the group Horn Bill
said the stakeholder meeting has
been scheduled for December 16. He
added that he planned to raise the issue of migrant workers voting rights at
the discussion.
News 19
www.mmtimes.com
Two rare Irrawaddy

dolphins found dead
Human trafficking
cases rise in 2014
KHIN SU WAI
jasminekhin@gmail.com
POLICE made 216 arrests in a total

of 108 human trafficking cases between January and the end of November this year, as Myanmar seeks
to avoid being downgraded and
potentially hit with sanctions on a
US watch list for trafficking
The figures, released by the AntiTrafficking in Persons Division in
Nay Pyi Taw, show 67 cases of forced
marriage, 21 of forced labour, 19 of
sexual slavery and one of forced
adoption.
Division official Police Captain
Min Naing said the increase on 2013,
when 102 cases were uncovered,
showed police were working harder
to combat the problem.
We have also increased efforts
to educate the public about trafficking, he said, adding that he expected at least a further 10 cases to be
uncovered by the end of December.
Most cases related to trafficking
to China for forced marriage (69),
followed by forced marriage in Myanmar (19) and Thailand (17 cases).
Three cases involved trafficking to
Malaysia.
Cases are classified in three categories: recruiting, transporting and
transferring people; persuading and
ONLY 22 Irrawaddy dolphins are

thought to remain in a 74-kilometre
(46-mile) protected zone of the Ayeyarwady River after the remains of two
dolphins were found on December 4.
One appeared to have been killed
by fishermen and has prompted fresh
warnings about the impact of illegal
fishing techniques, particularly battery fishing, on the Irrawaddy dolphin
population.
Both were found in the protected
zone set up in 2005 that runs from
Mingun to Kyaukmyaung in Mandalay
and Sagaing regions.
One of the dolphins, a female about
one year of age, was found near Myint
Kan Gyi village in Singgu township. It
appeared to have been electrocuted by
fishermen using a battery.
The other individual, a male, was
found in the river in Mingun area,
with a 25-centimetre (10-inch) wound
in its abdomen and entrails missing.
The cause of death remains unclear.
In August dolphin specialist U Han
Win told The Myanmar Times that
only 63 of the dolphin species were
left in the wild, down from 72 in 2005.
in BRIEF
MRTV to broadcast UNICEF
films on child rights
MRTV will in January begin broadcasting a year-long series of short

films aimed at promoting childrens
rights. Created by the United Nations
Childrens Fund, the films will teach
viewers about important health and
education that affect children.
Its necessary for the community
to understand the right information
in time to effectively prevent child
abuse and diseases, especially those
living in rural and remote areas, said
UNICEFs Myanmar representative,
Bertrand Bainvel.
UNICEF information officer Ko Ye
Lwin said the films will also focus on
areas such as hygiene, nutrition, birth
registration and preventing mother-tochild HIV infection.
Deputy Minister for Health Daw
Thein Thein Htay said the TV series
would build on the success of a similar
radio program launched on MRTV
and FM radio stations in March. The
program, which included more than 40
health-related segments totalling 21
hours, focused on sharing knowledge
to support the health of children in
rural areas.
We can see [from this example]
that such kind of collaboration is very
successful, Daw Thein Thein Htay
said. Thiri Htin Zaw, translation by
Thiri Min Htun
Work begins on University of Sport
A new sports university is being built in

Nay Pyi Taw and will open in December
2015, Sports and Fitness Department
administrator U Htay Aung said last
week. Construction started in November on a four-storey building near
the Wunna Theikdi Sports Centre in
Zabuthiri township. The centre hosted
the 27th Southeast Asian Games in
December 2013.
The university will offer a master of
science in sport degree. About 1200
students will attend the university
after they have passed through the
undergraduate programs at Taunggyi,
Mandalay, Mawlamyine and Yangon
sports schools.
U Htay Aung said the university
would offer athletes a pathway into
coaching. Htoo Thant, translation by
Khant Lin Oo
Staff from the Department of Fisheries hold a dead Irrawaddy dolphin found near
Myit Kan Gyi village in Singgu township on December 4. Photo: Supplied
The dolphin is currently listed as vulnerable on the International Union for

Conservation of Natures red list of
threatened species, and if numbers fall
further it will be listed as endangered.
Environmental activists said the
death of the female highlights the need
to take stronger steps to stop illegal
fishing, particularly battery fishing.
Battery fishing is a threat, [particularly] for the young dolphins, said U
Mg Mg Oo from the Sein Yaung So environmental group. They dont know

how to avoid the danger.
U Nyunt Wai from Kyee Ta Pa Linn
Wae fisheries in Mandalays Singgu
township said battery fishing first became a problem about 15 years ago.
Officials say they are ill-equipped to
control the illegal fishing problem, as
the fishermen travel in large groups and
are armed with homemade weapons.
Pyae Thet Phyo

pyaethetphyo87@gmail.com
using force; and exploitation for

sex, money or labour. Most cases
concerned sexual exploitation and
prostitution.
Forty-nine of the cases occurred
in Shan State, while Yangon and
Mandalay regions were the next
highest, with 13 and 10 respectively. Tanintharyi, Bago, Ayeyarwady,
Magwe and Sagaing regions and
Kachin, Mon and Kayin states all
had fewer than 10 cases, while Nay
Pyi Taw had three.
Police say 108 suspects are still at
large, but of the 222 alleged victims
167 adults, 27 youths and 28 children authorities have rescued 162.
Myanmar is included on the
Tier 2 Watch List established by the
United States under the Trafficking
Victims Protection Act in 2000. Myanmar has been listed as Tier 2 since
2012 and police are working to avoid
being listed for a fourth year, which
could make the country liable to relegation to Tier Three and thus US
sanctions, said Pol Cap Min Naing.
However, Police Major General
Zaw Win, the director general of
the police force, said at a meeting of
the Mekong Region Anti-Trafficking
in Persons Working Committee on
December 9 that Myanmar would
remain on the Tier 2 Watch List next
year. Translation by Khant Lin Oo
20 News
Ward, village
election voting
unfair: survey
Sandar Lwin
sdlsandar@gmail.com
A SURVEY has found that two-thirds
of people believe every eligible adult
should be allowed to vote in ward
and village-tract administrator elections, rather than the current system
of one vote per household.
The Action Committee for Democratic Development (ACDD) conducted the survey of 1634 people in
72 townships across two states and
six regions in August.
Our people havent got the complete right to choose any administrator, from the president down to the
village head, said ACDD coordinator U Naing Aung, a former leader of
the All Burma Students Democratic
Front, an armed group formed after
the 1988 protests.
We made this survey because we
want to see a more democratic administration introduced at the lowest levels [of government], he said.
While two-thirds said the system
was unfair, the other one-third said
the system was effective because of
its simplicity. They also said that
the input of household leaders was
enough to select ward and villagetract administrators.
Under a law passed in 2011,

households are divided into groups
of 10. Each household votes to select
a single person to represent their
10-household group.
These 10-household representatives then meet to elect their ward
or
village-tract
administrator,
who works beneath the township
administrator.
The one-household-one-vote system will also be used in the Yangon
City Development Committee elections scheduled for December 27.
Those surveyed who opposed the
system said the household heads did
not consult with their households
before voting and that giving everybody a vote would improve their
sense of belonging in the community.
According to the report, the 14
10-household leaders and ward administrators who were surveyed
said that equal voting rights would
result in better relations between
community members and administrators. They said it would also encourage more public participation in
administrative activities.
The ACDD was founded by 18
community-based networks in 2013
with support from former exiled political activists.
The steam train on a recent test

run through central Myanmar.
Photo: Supplied
Steam train returns to rails

for weekly Bagan tourist jaunt
Ei Ei Thu
91.eieithu@gmail.com
FERROEQUINOLOGISTS are being
lured to Myanmar with a vintage steam
train that will begin puffing its way
along a 55-kilometre (34-mile) stretch
of track between Bagan and Kyaukpadaung in Mandalay Region this week.
The return journey, which is organised by Steam Locomotive Tours, costs
US$199 and will take place each Tuesday with up to 110 passengers.
The locomotive built in England
in 1948 and first operated in Yangon in 1950 will chug out of Bagan
station at 8am, with breakfast and
lunch served on board. After passing
through six stations and arriving at

Kyaukpadaung, passengers will tour a
village and visit nearby Mt Popa. The
train will return to Bagan at around
6pm.
The train will include three passenger coaches and a luggage coach. An
English-speaking guide will also travel
with passengers.
Steam Locomotive Tour general
manager U Khin Maung Htwe said the
service could add a new dimension to
Myanmars tourism industry.
There have often been tours that
include regular trains, but we think its
the first time using steam trains. Tourists will have the chance to see wonderful scenery, he said.
The company has signed a threeyear agreement with Myanma Railways to run the service, with at least
four departures scheduled each
month.
We are not sure whether we can
make money but we hope to be able to
expand it to include other destinations
in the future, he said, adding that the
price for locals has not yet been set.
Bagan station transportation manager U Shwe Yin said he hoped the
tours were successful and services
could be expanded to Mandalay and
other destinations.
We completed the test runs successfully and are really excited to run
this old train again, he said.
ICRC to build physical rehab centres in Kachin, Shan states

Cherry Thein
t.cherry6@gmail.com
THE International Committee of the
Red Cross (ICRC) announced last
week that it will build physical rehabilitation centres in Myitkyina township in Kachin State and Kengtung
township in eastern Shan State next
year to support people living with disabilities, including land-mine victims.
ICRC signed an agreement with
the Ministry of Health to build and

equip the centres, at a cost of US$1.5
million each, with construction work
to start early next year.
An ICRC spokesperson said that
the committee hopes to transfer skills
to Myanmar staff and organisations
so they can eventually take over the
running of the centres.
Every country should consider
providing physical rehabilitation for
the long term because people can be
disabled accidentally, especially in

conflict, Michael OBrien said.
In addition to the physical difficulties in everyday life, disabled
people find it harder to earn a living
and can face significant discrimination within their communities, he
added.
According to World Health Organization estimates, there are 300,000
people across Myanmar in need of
physical rehabilitation of some kind.
But just a fraction about 8000

receive treatment at rehabilitation
centres each year, with about half in
need of a prosthetic device.
Myanmar also has just 10 orthoprosthetists, the medical staff who fit
prosthetics. They each conduct about
400 consultations a year, but this is
thought to be just 10 percent of what
is required.
We suggested to the government
to include physiotherapy and physical
rehabilitation subjects in the education curriculum offering a medical

university level or diploma program
to encourage producing more technicians to fill the gaps, Mr OBrien said.
From 2015, medical universities in Myanmar plan to conduct
four-year ortho-prosthetist training courses, while the ICRC is offering scholarships for Myanmar
citizens who want to study physical
rehabilitation.
Ethnic media forced to

register publications
Lun Min Mang
lunmin.lm@gmail.com
ETHNIC minority-language publications that do not register with the
Ministry of Information under the
News Media Law could face possible
closure, an official said last week.
In September and October, the
Chin State government banned several papers for not being registered with
the ministry, including The Hakha
Post, The Falam Post, The Tedim Post
and Zo Lengthe.
Every news journal or printed
media needs to be registered with
the ministry. It is better and safer
for them. The registration fee is only
K50,000 and is valid for five years, the
official said.
One of the shuttered newspapers
from Chin State resumed publishing
on December 9 after receiving its registration permit from the ministry.
We were informed that our registration was approved on December 9
Now we have restarted our regular
circulation, said U Lalawmpuia, the
editor-in-chief of The Hakha Post.
The official said 14 news journals
in ethnic minority languages had registered with the ministry, while others
were still being processed, such as the

Chinland Herald.
However, the editor in chief of Chin
World news journal, Ko Salai Mang,
said registration was a means of controlling press freedom and the Chin
State governments orders to unregistered publications to close was simply
an effort to stop negative reporting.
14
Ethnic minority-language
publications registered with the
Ministry of Information
If it is really free, you shouldnt

have a registration process, he said.
Because local newspapers are effective at scrutinising activities of the
state government, and people are getting to know more about their local
governments, the press is being controlled. Thats how I see it.
News 21
www.mmtimes.com
Myanmar jails still hold 70

political prisoners: AAPP
Wa Lone
walone14@gmail.com
DEMOCRATISATION has stalled

and human rights have been undermined because of the governments
failure to keep its promise to release political prisoners, an activist
group has claimed. The Assistance
Association for Political Prisoners
(AAPP) said in its annual report on
December 10 that 72 political activists remained in prison, more than
1000 are awaiting trial, and political activists, human rights workers,
farmers and journalists continued
to be oppressed, said the groups
secretary, U Tate Naing.
Though eight political prisoners were released last month, the
government charged 17 activists
and sentenced seven more. According to the report, 12 activists
engaged in protests have been
charged under section 18 of the
public assembly laws. The report
also mentions freelance journalist
Aung Kyaw Naing, also known as
Ko Par Gyi, whose shooting death
in army custody is the subject of an
investigation.
In a sign of government action
against protests over the National
Political activists celebrate their release from prison under a presidential

amnesty on December 11, 2013. Photo: Zarni Phyo
Farmers are
still at risk from
land grabs and
imprisonment.
Ko Myo Thant
88 Generation
Education Law, six student leaders

were charged under section 18, the
first of such charges to be brought
against the demonstrators.
U Tate Naing said the government had never changed its policy
of repression against protesters and
opponents.
Thousands of farmers around
the country have been charged in
cases of land confiscation by the
authorities as the country emerges

from decades of military rule.
I see no improvement in farmers affairs. Farmers are still at risk
from land grabs and imprisonment,
said Ko Myo Thant, an activist in
rural affairs with 88 Generation student group.
President U Thein Sein promised
during his visit to the United Kingdom last year to release all political
prisoners by the end of 2013. But the
Remaining Political Prisoner Scrutiny Committee has determined that
27 political prisoners remained behind bars. According to state media,
those prisoners are serving time not
for political acts but for crimes they
also committed, including murder,
dealing in or possession of narcotics, and involvement in explosivesrelated crimes.
AAPP and the Former Political
Prisoner Society (FPPS) maintain
that the 27 are in fact political prisoners and that their ongoing imprisonment is arbitrary, and have called
for their immediate release. The 27
are included in the total of 72 reported by AAPP.
The government says the Remaining Political Prisoner Scrutiny
Committee held 12 coordination
meetings, leading to the release of
354 prisoners, and a total of 404
prisoners, and 12 detainees were
freed in an amnesty declared by the
president last year.
Govt to
open more
vocational
institutes
Htoo Thant
thanhtoo.npt@gmail.com
THE Ministry of Science and Technology plans to open more technical and
vocational training schools across Myanmar, minister U Ko Ko Oo said last
week, with the number of Government
Technical Institutes to triple between
2013 and 2015.
The minister said Myanmar had 10
GTIs in 2013 but was expected to have
around 20 by the end of this year and
30 by the end of 2015.
It has also opened 36 Technical High Schools aimed at students
who would otherwise drop out of the
mainstream high-school system. In
the coming academic year, age limits
for students will be relaxed so that
more people can attend the technical schools, the minister said. Only
students aged under 18 can attend at
present.
U Ko Ko Oo said at the December
9 meeting that the ministry hoped to
attract people who are already in the
workforce to the technical schools so
they can complete their high-school
education.
Minister for the Presidents Office
U Tin Naing Thein said more technical and vocational schools are urgently needed to equip students with
the skills needed by private-sector
employers.
22 News
Views
Go on, ask me
about Myanmar
Kyi
Thant
kyizarthant@gmail.com
SO, is Myanmar a small island?

a friend asked me from across the
table while we were having dinner
in our communal dining hall.
My inner patriot kicked him
a little. I used to think such situations occurred only occasionally, when one encountered an
incredibly ignorant person. But
after three years of college in
the United States, during which
I have had to answer these questions again and again, Ive taken
it as a fact that people outside of
Myanmar know very little about
the country.
No, Myanmar is not an island.
In fact, we are the second-largest
country in Southeast Asia and
have a landmass about the size of
Texas, I responded.
For an outsider
who has access
to Myanmar only
through Western
media institutions,
it would be easy to
develop a mostly
negative image
of the country.
It should not be surprising,
though, that there is such little
knowledge about Myanmar, particularly in the West. For five decades, the exchange of information
between Myanmar and the rest
of the world was highly filtered,
sometimes blocked.
But recently it seems like we
no longer live in such an opaque
bubble. It seems every time I open
the New York Times or Wall Street
Journal, Myanmar is somewhere
in the headlines. Google Trends
show that since 2008 the number
of Google searches this year that
include the word Myanmar are,
on average, at least 10 percent
higher than prior to 2008.
This growing interest in the
country is certainly a breakthrough for our people, and
should be welcomed.
Unfortunately, however, much
of the spotlight focuses on our
darkest and gravest flaws. Headlines flaunting vivid stories of
misery and struggle sell very well
with readers. For an outsider
who has access to Myanmar only
through Western media institutions, it would be easy to develop
a mostly negative image of the
country.
One friend who was considering visiting Myanmar asked me
whether she would be safe. She
had seen Luc Bessons Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi biopic The Lady and
was concerned at the violence and
political turmoil that was so vividly portrayed in the movie.
I admit that safety is a concern
when travelling to any country
for the first time. But the medias

narrow portrayal of Myanmar will
only heighten these concerns, and
generally gives little opportunity
for a comprehensive and nuanced
version of events.
Determined to do something
about this problem, I started a
campaign called Ask Me About
Myanmar. The goal of the campaign is to encourage learning
about Myanmar through local
sources whether it is media
based in Myanmar, people who
have lived there, or foreigners
who have travelled and experienced the country first-hand.
The campaign is not a proclamation of expertise. An academic
who writes about corruption
in Myanmar will have a better
understanding of inefficiencies
in the economy than I do. But I
have lived in Myanmar for 18
years and people like me can tell
a story that is real and unique. If
you ask me about Myanmar, I will
tell you it takes about half an hour
to load a YouTube video, my parents paid for a house with bags of
cash transported on the back of a
pick-up truck, I survived a bomb
explosion in Yangon when I was
in Grade 6 and Bagan is the most
beautiful place Ive ever been.
The phrase Ask Me About
Myanmar does not only refer to
me. The goal is for many people
who have experience and knowledge about Myanmar to use this
phrase. If you are someone who is
living, has lived, or has travelled
to Myanmar, use it to share the
good, bad, and the ugly.
To promote the campaign, a
group of students and I organised an event at the Harvard
campus on November 9. We had
an exhibition of photos taken by
a photographer who had visited
Myanmar and attendees who had
travelled to or lived in the country wearing stickers that said
Ask Me About Myanmar.
After four trays of la phet
thoke and a thoke sone, the room
was packed and conversations
started to flow between those
who knew more about Myanmar
and those who wanted to know
more. Im confident every person who walked out of that room
left with a better understanding
of what Myanmar is. Over three
hours, we made a difference
and you can do the same.
In his book Here Comes Everybody, Clay Shirky discusses
how the internet and technology
have given us the ability to organise collective actions without the
need for institutions. With more
Myanmar people having access to
computers and the internet, we
can make better use of social media platforms to show others what
our country means to us. We have
voices that can give balance to
how our country is perceived. As
we have lived the complicated history of Myanmar, we can proudly
say, Ask us about Myanmar.
Kyi Zar Thant is a senior at Harvard
University, studying economics with
a minor in psychology. Born and
raised in Yangon, she is also the
founder and president of Harvard
Undergraduate Students for Myanmar.
For more information about the Ask
Me About Myanmar campaign, visit
www.askmeaboutmyanmar.com or
follow @HarvardMyanmar on Twitter.
New rules another step

Myanmars crippled mo
OU might not have heard

about it, but film censorship was reintroduced in
Myanmar on December 1.
The move raises
many questions, the most pertinent of which is: Why did U Thein
Seins government, which says it is
transitioning to democracy and has
promised to grant greater rights and
freedoms, re-impose restrictions?
But there are other important
issues. Who is on the censorship
board? Why does censorship continue in the film industry when there
are no restrictions on the press?
What do those in the industry think?
The government guaranteed freedom to the filmmaking industry after
abolishing the former censorship
body known as the Motion Picture
and Video Censor Board. However,
this has resulted in a rise in obscene
language and behaviour, particularly
from gay characters. Most observers
agree that, on balance, the standard
of Myanmar movies has declined.
As a result, the government is attempting to put in place restrictions
on the industry again. It has reestablished a censorship team, although
under a more palatable name: the
Movie Standards Evaluation Group.
This group was actually formed
two years ago and comprises officials
from the Ministry of Informations
Myanmar Motion Picture Promotion
Department, the Myanmar Motion
Picture Organization, the Ministry of
Home Affairs, the Attorney Generals
Office, the Myanmar Music Association and the Myanmar Writers
Association.
But a recent statement released
by this censorship team said moviemakers are now required to have
their scripts evaluated before films
are shot. If the groups members
object to any part of the movie then
no approval to shoot the film will be
granted.
It added that the team has the
right to modify parts of the script
and those who do not agree to the
changes will not receive approval to
make the film.
Actually, the Ministry of Information tried a similar trick to suppress
the press media industry. Thankfully,
it failed.
There will never be

a great movie made
while government
officials are given the
job of censoring
film scripts.
On that occasion, in 2013, thenMinister for Information U Aung Kyi
quietly submitted the Printing and
Publishing Enterprise Bill to parliament without informing anyone in
the journalism industry.
He told parliament that journals,
magazines and newspapers were out
of control and had misused press
freedom to publish photos that
were not appropriate for Myanmar
culture. He implored MPs to approve
the bill on the basis that the industry
was now dominated by yellow
journalism.
Director Myo Myint Swe reviews footage in a monitor while filming a movie in Yangon.
The bill stipulated that the Ministry of Information had the authority
to evaluate journals and hand down
penalties for inappropriate content.
In effect ministry officials would be
judges.
But journalists and writers bitterly opposed the bill. They held
meetings and released statements
even taking to the streets to protest
against the bill.
Eventually they defeated the governments efforts to reintroduce censorship in the print media industry.
But its important to acknowledge that in any field people who
have only recently been freed from
extreme oppression often find it hard
to apply their newfound freedom.
After the government abolished
the press scrutiny board, Myanmars
journalism industry faced challenges.
Near-nude as well as graphically violent photos were published in most
journals. There was even a sexually
explicit novel by author Aung Yin
Nyein.
But press freedom didnt only
have negative results. The journalism mainstream has reached
unprecedented heights, to the point
where it can genuinely hold to account officials from the government,
parliament and judiciary. There is
no reason not to expect this positive
trajectory to continue.
In the case of film censorship,
most in the industry have spoken
out against it. These include former
Myanmar Motion Picture Organization chair Zin Wyne, famous director
Sithu Aung
Myint
Wyne, script writer Nay Naw and

young director Kyi Phyu Shin.
The unfortunate thing is that this
could perhaps should be a time
when the film industry blossoms.
Myanmars dark modern history
offers up rich source material for
filmmakers and this could be mined
for ideas and inspiration. There are
myriad films to be made about the
worlds longest-running civil war,
the opium and poppy trade, student
movements, the deeply rooted culture of corruption, the mistreatment
of political prisoners and so on.
If Myanmars filmmakers aim
high, they could make wonderful
movies that win recognition at home
and abroad.
However, none of those stories
Ive just mentioned will ever be told
in fact, there will never be a great
movie made while government
officials are given the job of censoring film scripts. All that will happen
is that there will be a further decline
in standards in the industry. Any
momentum that has been built up in
News 23
www.mmtimes.com
ep backward for
movie industry
And now for somewhere

completely different...
Roger
mitton
rogermitton@gmail.com
Photo: Aung Htay Hlaing
the few years since censorship was

removed will be lost.
Like writers and journalists, those
in the filmmaking business have
to fight back against this oppres-
sion, and push for their rights and

freedoms so they can finally make
high-quality films that Myanmar can
be proud of.
Translation by Zar Zar Soe
EARLIER this year, when seeking to

unshackle myself from political and
economic analyses, I filled this space
with potted descriptions of places
where one could escape the madding
world. Curiously, none of my columns has ever elicited such a flood
of uniformly positive comments as
that one did.
Those responses almost certainly
owed less to my compositional prowess than to peoples hankering to
break free and head off on the road
less travelled.
Not only does it make all the
difference, but it is tremendously
liberating to find yourself in a place
unlike any you have previously
experienced.
So, please indulge me, because
I am about to tell you about such a
place: East Timor.
In May, after flying to Bali for the
70th birthday of a fellow journalist, I
had an urge to explore somewhere
else nearby, rather than going
straight back home.
When my eye caught on the two
daily flights from Denpasar to Dili,
East Timors capital, I did not hestitate, for that only breeds trepidation
and concern about unpotable water
and scorpions in the bathroom.
I promptly bought a ticket on the
Indonesian carrier, Srijiwaja Air. Id
not heard of the airline before but it
turned out to be fine, although I was
bumped off the early flight and put
on one two hours later for no clear
reason, except perhaps because both
flights were jam-packed.
But it left and arrived on time
and I was seated next to Johan, the
lead singer in one of Dilis betterknown bands, and I was invited to
his next gig three days later. Thats

how it goes when you escape.
The first task on entering Dilis
tiny terminal is to fork out US$30
for a visa on arrival. No need to
change money: The American dollar
is the currency of East Timor and
they happily accept dirty and crumpled notes.
After exiting, I popped in the
nearby Timor Plaza, a spiffy new
shopping mall that would not be out
of place in Singapore, and picked
up a SIM card for $5. Connectivity
turned out to be good, as it was for
internet.
Then it was straight off along the
corniche that hugs the long crescentshaped bay and leads into the town.
Dili is like a cross between a South
American pueblo and a mediumsized town in Myanmar, like Pathein.
Ringed by jagged mountains and
facing an opaline sea with an island
on the horizon, it has a location to
die for and its got that laidback,
slightly seamy, Hispanic-cum-Asiatic
flavour of somewhere thats going to
be edgy and fun to discover.
Where to stay? I decided on
the centrally located Discovery
Inn, which includes return airport
transfer, unlimited internet usage,
loads of eateries nearby notably the
renowned Kebab Club, plus its own
restaurant, the Diya, which is arguably Dilis classiest.
Aside from the splendid staff, including father-and-daughter owners,
Sakib and Zeenat, resident manager
Ryan, and the incomparable driver
Honorio, another of the Discoverys
assets is the complimentary happy
hour every evening that includes a
plate of zesty tapas and two drinks.
Although East Timor is somewhat off the map, it immediately felt
as if Id been welcomed to a magical
house party. I met locals and visitors
alike and the conversation ranged
far and wide and covered trenchant
appraisals of the regions leaders and
their policies.
Next day, what to see? Dili has a
list of standard sights, but Id focus
on four of them: the Cristo Rei
Statue, the Resistance Museum, the
Santa Cruz Cemetery, and best of all:
Chega!
At the far end of the bay, the hill

top Cristo Rei, a rather naff copy of
Rio de Janeiros Christ the Redeemer, was ironically built by Indonesia
in 1996 to mark the 20th anniversary
of its occupation of East Timor.
While that may leave a sour
taste, its still nice to climb up to the
statue at dusk and take in the gorgeous view of Dili and the bay and
surrounding mountains.
The vast and rather garish Santa
Cruz Cemetery is where Indonesian troops massacred a peaceful
procession of Timorese in 1991 an
incident that galvanised the proindependence movement.
Dilis elegant new Resistance
Museum commemorates the guerrilla war against the Indonesians,
but more evocative of this victorious struggle is Chega! (Portuguese
for Stop, enough!) a former
Guantanamo-type torture centre
run by the Portuguese and later the
Indonesians.
It contains some incredibly moving murals and etchings scratched
into the walls by detainees and some
heart-stopping dark cells where
prisoners were essentially left to rot.
After that, light respite was
needed so I cut along to La Esquina
on Rua Berlamino Lobo, and ordered caldo verde soup, followed
by cured ham, cheese, olives and
red wine, and finished off with an
espresso and an aniseed-flavoured
Liquor Beirao.
Next day, it was time to venture
further afield and take a minibus
some 130 kilometres (81 kilometres)
eastward along the coast to lovely
Baucau, where a typical Portuguese
pousada offers excellent rooms and
meals.
It also affords access to a
garden area with a large springfed swimming pool, and there is a
steep winding road down to one of
those untouched beaches that you
thought were extinct.
Not this one. It reminded me
of Barbados and Ngapali in years
gone by. I was the only person on it
and I called Bangkok to let others
hear the gentle sussuration of waves
breaking on the white sand.
Some things you cant buy.
24 THE MYANMAR TIMES December 15 - 21, 2014
Business
EU chamber pledges to
build commercial ties
ayE ThiDaR
KyaW
ayethidarkyaw@gmail.com
THE European Chamber of Commerce in Myanmar officially opened

on December 12, providing a forum
for EU businesses to engage with
their Myanmar counterparts and
government officials.
The chamber launches as trade
between the 28-member bloc and
Myanmar reached 570 million euros
(US$710 million) in 2013, a 44 percent increase on the year previous.
The two markets complement
each other well, with Myanmar
specialising in goods that are in demand in Europe such as resources,
while the EU can support Myanmar
through its technology, know-how
and equipment, according to EU
ambassador to Myanmar Roland
Kobia.
Still, challenges remain in building stronger bilateral trade and investment ties.
As of July 2013, Myanmar-made
products receive preferential market access to the EU, meaning lower
tariffs, but often the quality of these
goods is not high enough to meet
European standards.
This is one reason why the EU
had a trade surplus of 122 million
euros with Myanmar in 2013.
Trade has grown significantly,
but more needs to be done, Mr Kobia said during a press briefing in
Yangon on December 12.
We will do two things [for Myanmar]. One is to open the market,
and thats already done, and second

thing is to give technical assistance
[in areas like] like sanitary standards, he said.
With Malaysia having graduated
from qualifying for preferential
market access to Europe and Thailand set to graduate in 2015, it will
reduce the competitive pressure on
Myanmars exports and make the
goods more attractive to the EU importers, a press statement said.
A total of 36 countries provide
preferential market access to Myanmar, allowing most products in
duty-free, though the US and Turkey are currently two of the larger
exceptions.
However, Ministry of Commerce
adviser U Maung Aung said the conditions attached to the EUs program
EU ambassador to Myanmar Roland

Kobia. Photo: Aung Htay Hlaing
are particularly favourable for Myanmar businesses.

As the EU is a big opportunity,
our traders need to change from
doing business the traditional way,
he said in a telephone interview.
The European market is not like
the other markets in the [Southeast
Asia] region they are familiar with.
From Myanmars perspective,
more could be done to capture benefit from this trade.
U Maung Aung said much of
Myanmars exports to the EU come
from foreign-owned garment factories that have set up shop in the
country. Much of the inputs for the
factories, such as textiles and machinery, are sourced from outside
of Myanmar, meaning the country
doesnt receive the entire benefit of
selling these products abroad.
Myanmar is able to claim more
revenue from other sectors like rice
and beans, where most of the value
is added locally, though these products have been slower gaining market share in Europe, he said.
The European Chamber is set up
by a consortium led by the French
Myanmar Chamber of Commerce
and Industry. It will receive 2.7 million euros in seed money from the
EU, though it is expected to eventually become self-sufficient without
the need for EU funds.
The president of the French Myanmar Chamber of Commerce and
Industry Julien Esch said the new
chamber is likely to benefit both
parties.
Myanmar and Europe benefit
indeed from large complementarities, which would certainly bring
jobs creation and increase exports,
he said in the statement.
in PiCTUreS
Photo: Staff
A woman inspects her jade hand

and Jewellery Entrepreneurs Ass
products is crucial to generate mo
Exclusive interview page 34.
Petronas executive keen on an Andaman Sea future

AUng Shin
koshumgtha@gmail.com
MALAYSIAS state-owned energy firm
Petronas is looking at new opportunities in Myanmar as part of a regional
push, according to company senior
executives.
The firm has won four onshore
blocks and intends to participate in
future bidding rounds for offshore
blocks, said Encik Sharbini Suhaili,
vice president of Petronas Upstream
International.
We are still looking at opportunities, he said at a Kuala Lumpur press

conference during week following the
8th International Petroleum Technology Conference (IPTC).
Myanmar is always a focus country
for us. It is one of the first countries that
we went into overseas, so there is sentimental value for us. We would like to
see Myanmar as one of our headliners
with steady growth, he said.
Petronas first signed a production sharing contract for the offshore
Yetagun gas field project in 1990, with
Encik Sharbini Suhaili. Photo: Supplied
production starting in 2003. The company was awarded rights to explore and
produce another four onshore blocks in
2012 and 2014.
However, world oil prices have been
in freefall this year, and all petroleum
firms including Petronas feel the pinch.
Mr Suhali said that while some Petronas projects may be delayed, he doesnt
foresee cancelling any altogether.
Petronas has made new investments
in projects in Gabon, China, Angola and
Ireland this year, and also announced a
US$550 million deal with Argentinas
state-owned oil company YPT last week.

The firm generated profits of US$105
billion by the end of 2013, standing as
the 69th largest firm in the Fortune 500
and in sixth position among oil and gas
business.
The issue of falling oil prices dominated discussions at the IPTC meeting.
Co-hosted by Shell and Schlumberger
and sponsored by four professional associations, the event in Kuala Lumpur
saw 7000 oil and gas attendees from
62 countries, including 800 oil and gas
business organisations.
25
bUSINeSS eDITOr: Jeremy Mullins | jeremymullins7@gmail.com
Name change, new

plans for state-owned
myanma Airways
Loan terms too short

for lower-income
people to buy homes
BUSineSS 26
ProPerTy 36
dicraft work. The new head of the Myanmar Gems

sociation U Yone Mu said producing more finished
more revenue from the sector.
Exchange Rates (December 12 close)

Currency
Euro
Malaysia Ringitt
Singapore Dollar
Thai Baht
US Dollar
Buying
K1277
K305
K788
K31
K1039
Selling
K1287
K307
K795
K32
K1043
Rubber producers optimistic

about future despite price freefall
SU Phyo
Win
suphyo1990@gmail.com
RUBBER exports are on pace to

double by 2016 even as plunging
prices hit the international market,
according to experts.
Prices for sheet rubber fetched
120 baht (US$3.66) a kilogram in
Thailand in 2011, but by last week
had dropped to 51 baht a kilogram
the lowest in five years, according to
Bangkoks Rubber Research Center.
Yet Myanmars producers say
that while prices are currently falling, fundamentally the crop has a
strong future in the country.
Although the local rubber industry is in the shadow of the worlds
largest exporter, Thailand, it has
been growing rapidly since 2005,
according to U Khaing Myint, secretary general of Myanmar Rubber
Planters and Producers Association.
Rubber production is increasing, and I think volumes can double
by 2016 compared to now, he said.
But to compete with Thailand,
the worlds top producer and exporter of rubber, that we still cant do.
While RSS3 rubber sold for about
$1600 a tonne on most international
exchanges last week, it fetched only
$1300 on local Myanmar markets
due partly to lower quality.

Myanmar exported about 170,000
tonnes last year while Thailand exported 3.4 million tonnes. About 70
percent of Myanmars exports headed to China in 2012-13, with the rest
to other regional economies and 8pc
was used internally.
Meanwhile, Thailand has faced
public protests after the rubber price
plunge left the industry reeling.
Dozens of farmers gathered in
bAHT
51
Price of sheet rubber per kilogram in

Thailand last week, less than half the
highs reached in 2011
the southern towns of Surat Thani

and Krabi last week to urge Thailands new military rulers to do
more to arrest tumbling prices that
have left many facing financial ruin.
The protests are a significant
test for the generals now running
the country. They vowed an end to
Thailands history of populist subsidies as part of their justification for
seizing power in May.
Myanmar, however, faces significant limitations within the industry.

While Thailand produces a range
of different rubber grades, much
of Myanmars production is lower
quality, which generates less revenue for firms.
Experts say it is important to
look at improving quality to build a
more successful industry.
The sector has been growing
rapidly, so we are looking at how
we can do upgrades and transform
to more value-added with his quality, because Myanmar is currently
exporting very low grade [rubber],
said Paul Baker, chief executive of
International Economics Ltd.
Not only quantity and quality ought to rise, but Myanmar also
needs to diversify the markets it exports to.
Myanmar rubber experts also receive preferential market access to
the European Union, but quality is
too low to take advantage of this,
said U Khaing Myint.
So far only one test shipment of
20 tonnes has been sent to Europe.
Mon State is the main centre for
Myanmars rubber industry, though
a number of other states and regions have plantations, including
Tanintharyi and Kayin. Indeed,
apart from possibly Mandalay and
Magwe Regions, there is potential
to grow rubber across the entire
country.
Additional reporting by AFP
TRADE MARK CAUTION

Johnson & Johnson, a Company incorporated in the United States
of America, of One Johnson & Johnson Plaza, New Brunswick,
New Jersey, 08933, U.S.A., is the Owner of the following Trade
Mark:-
KAZELIS
Reg. No. 3865/2011
26 Business
Myanma Airways name

and structure changes
in respect of Intl Class 5: Human pharmaceuticals.

Fraudulent imitation or unauthorised use of the said Trade Mark
for Johnson & Johnson
TRADE MARK CAUTION

NOTICE is hereby given that Hyundai Motor Company a company
organized under the laws of South Korea and having its registered
office at 12, Heolleung-ro, Seocho-gu, Seoul, Korea - South (formally
at 231, Yangjae-Dong, Seocho-Gu, 137-938 Seoul, Korea-South) is
the Owner and Sole Proprietor of the following trademark:-
COUNTY
(Reg: Nos. IV/6304/2011 & IV/16924/2014)
in respect of : - Apparatus for locomotion by land; vehicles,
including passenger cars, trucks, buses, trailers, tractors, vehicle
wheels, tires; parts and fittings for all aforesaid goods included
in Intl Class:12
Any fraudulent imitation or unauthorized use of the said trademark
or other infringements whatsoever will be dealt with according
to law.
for Hyundai Motor Company
Phone: 372416
TRADE MARK CAUTION

NOTICE is hereby given that REINS international inc. a
joint-stock company duly organized under the laws of Japan,
Manufacturers and Merchants of 2-2-1, Minatomirai, Nishi-ku,
Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa-ken, Japan is the Owner and Sole
Proprietor of the following trademarks:
(Reg: Nos. IV/1938/2010 &

(Reg: Nos. IV/1936/2010 &
IV/13897/2014)
IV/13898/2014)
The above two trademarks are in respect of: - Providing foods and
beverages; providing temporary accommodation; Accommodation
bureaux [brokering reservations for hotels, boarding houses or the
like]. - Class: 43
(Reg: Nos. IV/1937/2010 & IV13899/2014)

in respect of :- Advertising and publicity services; Business
management analysis or business consultancy, Marketing research,
Providing information on commodity sales, Business management
of hotels; Rental of typewriters and copying machines; Importexport agencies. - Class: 35
Any fraudulent imitation or unauthorized use of the said trademarks
or other infringements whatsoever will be dealt with according to law.
for REINS international inc.
Phone: 372416
CaThERinE
TRaUTWEin
newrooms@mmtimes.com.mm
STATE-OWNED carrier Myanma Airways will re-christen as Myanmar National Airways as it looks to once again
take to international skies, officials said
on December 10.
The airline has also embarked on a
corporatisation process that will see it
operate at arms length from the Ministry of Transport, and has been updating
services such as introducing a website
allowing online bookings.
State ownership will continue at
the airline, though it will be operated
separately from the government, said
Myanmar National Airlines managing
director Captain U Than Tun in prepared remarks on December 10.
This enables us to set up the airline in a very different way than in the
past with our own board of directors,
he said.
The initiative which according to
the firm will cut down on bureaucracy
and allow for the airline to operate at
the same level of efficiency as a private
business could cost the government
US$500 million over 7 to 8 years, said
Cronan Enright, principal consultant at
MNA partner Avia Solutions.
The corporatisation ... is to make
[MNA] a semi-state company that can
really forge ahead independently still
government-owned, but with the ability to make its own decisions, Mr Enright said.
The makeover means not just a
fresh face for the company but new
planes and plans. Myanmar National
Airlines will boost its fleet tally from
10 to 26 aircraft with the arrival of 10
Boeing 737 aircraft and 6 ATR72-600
aircraft starting mid-2015. Beginning
early next year the airline will also resume flying internationally for the first
time in more than two decades.
The initiative to broaden Myanmar
National Airways operations to include
cross-border flights might not be a cash
cow for the airline. Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation analyst Brendan Sobie
said the Myanmar airline industry is
challenging and unprofitable, though
added it is expanding and offers massive opportunities. Too many domestic
carriers squeeze the small home mar-
ket, a situation that will inevitably end

in consolidation, he added. But the international market isnt much better,
according to Mr Sobie. Intense competition and overambitious expansion by
foreign carriers that rule the market
have saturated it, crowding Myanmar
carriers out.
Myanmar
National
Airways
will face huge challenges as it expands
into the international market given
the intense competition in this market
from both foreign carriers and Myanmars privately owned airlines, which
are also expanding and are understandably frustrated that the government-backed carrier is assuming a role
in the international market, he said.
All state-owned companies, not just
Myanma Airways, are coming under
government pressure to professionalise and become more profit-oriented.
In February the firm inked a deal with
General Electrics aviation consultancy
to assist it with modernising.
Myanma Airways had flown outside
of Myanmar until 1993, when it participated in setting up Myanmar Airways
International. The new airline then
The airline has also taken pains to

modernise its customer operations,
from ticket buying to taking off. U Than
Tun said the airline will implement a
fully computerised reservations and
booking system and, at the airport, a
fully mechanized check-in and boarding process. MNAs website where
customers can purchase and pick out
seats on planes has also gone live.
The company said its check-in system would roll out from Yangon to
Mandalay, Nay Pyi Taw and Nyaung U
over the next few weeks.
Meanwhile, Myanmar Airways International chair U Tin Maung Tun
said local airlines will face serious challenges with ASEAN integration. Many
foreign countries protect their airlines
through measures like providing fuel
and cheaper aircraft, though Myanmar
provides no such support.
The government needs to protect
local companies with the processes and
systems while it is conducting economic reform, said U Tin Maung Tun.
Local airlines need work in many
areas, such as infrastructure, technology, partners, market access and capital
Myanma Airways is getting an

r plus National. Photo: Staff
began international flights, while Myanma Airways focused on the domestic

market. The airline traces its routes to
1948, when it opened as Union of Burma Airways. It soon changed its named
to Burma Airways Corporation and
then to Myanma Airways in 1989.
The firm will also update its offices
on Strand Road near the British Embassy, turning its 150-year-old office
building into a travel centre.
Captain U Than Tun said the nowrenamed Myanmar National Airways
will debut a new, fixed domestic flight
schedule on December 15.
to compete against the larger international airlines in the region. Currently,

many domestic flights within Myanmar
are more expensive than international
flights. Unless there is support to infrastructure and technology, it will be
a great effort to compete with international investment when it comes,
he said. Foreign airlines are currently
prohibited from flying within Myanmar, though there are hints this could
change at least for other ASEAN
countries airlines in the years ahead.
Additional reporting by Nyan
Lynn Aung and Jeremy Mullins
28 Business
fEATuRE
Rapid rise in store for convenience outlets

Changing consumer preferences and growing incomes means the 24-hour convenience store is an increasingly common sight in Yangon
JEREMy
MULLinS
jeremymullins7@gmail.com
CHANGE is coming fast to local shopping culture. And few things demonstrate the shift more than the rapid
expansion of convenience stores.
Shoppers have long relied on momand-pop shops or local markets for
their soap, soda and cigarettes, but the
air-conditioned, glass-fronted convenience store is an increasingly common
sight on the streets of Yangon.
Yet there is still a long way to go
before the convenience store industry
resembles that in some neighbouring
countries. Thailand, for instance, has
about 12,000 convenience stores, many
of them foreign brands like 7-Eleven,
while Myanmar hosts about 200 stores,
all local brand names.
Although the numbers are small,
competition is heating up, and three
main firms are rapidly adding stores
in Yangon. ABC is the largest by number of outlets, followed closely by
City Express and Grab and Go. There
are also some one- or two-location
outlets, usually mom-and-pop shops
that have invested in upgrading their
business.
Convenience outlets are also starting to open further afield, in places like
Nay Pyi Taw and Mandalay, and foreign retailers who are currently kept
out by legal restrictions are keen on
entering the domestic market.
Chief operating officer of the retail cluster at Capital Diamond Star
Group, owner of Grab and Go convenience stores, Abdul Latip Isnin, says
convenience stores are a nimble form
of retail. While it can take months or
years to open a supermarket or a hypermart, a new convenience store is
usually up and running in as little as
two or three weeks. This is one major
reason behind their rapid growth in
the last few years.
The Yangon market is still in its infancy, there is a lot of potential growth
in the next few years. But we will also
look at other opportunities, he said.
The company already has one store
in Nay Pyi Taw and is planning to add
three to five outlets in Mandalay by the
end of the year.
While convenience stores operate
in the same retail space as mom-andpop shops, they use different business
models on different scales. Grab and
Go, for instance, has 38 stores, while
its parent company Capital Diamond
Star also runs supermarket and hypermarkets, allowing it to take advantage
of the economies of scale in ordering
larger amounts from distributors.
Noodles, cigarettes and cold drinks
are the main products at Grab and Go,
said Mr Isnin, just as in Thailand or
Singapore. However, Grab and Go also
carries cooking oil and other ingredients, which is not always the international norm.
Grab and Go is also working with
the other food and beverage companies
in Capital Diamond Stars portfolio to
increase the range of goods available.
All its outlets sell Oven Fresh bakery
products, and Mr Isnin said its K300
steamed buns are particularly popular.
This enables Grab and Go to offer
a wider variety of products, like baked
goods, said Mr Isnin, adding, We are
looking at ways to improve ourselves
all the time.
Daw Pyae Phyo Han, marketing executive at City Express, said sales are
influenced by the weather. In the cold
season, hot drinks and ready-made
snacks like noodles are in demand,
while in the hot season cold drinks and
ice cream are among the most popular
items.
SU
Phyo
Win
suphyo1990@gmail.com
Location is vital. A heavily trafficked

area, with little nearby competition
and of course low rent is ideal.
One concern the three chains have
is that if the leases are only a year long,
landlords often try to increase the rent
or involve other convenience stores in
a small-scale bidding war for the location when the lease expires. Lease
terms can be longer in foreign markets,
and convenience stores are likewise
looking for ways to extend leases, such
as including annual stepped increases
in return for a longer lease period.
Since location is so important to a
stores success, there is relatively little
brand loyalty among the different convenience stores. But they keep a watchful eye on each other.
They are doing things their way,
we are doing things our way. We are
focusing on the best way to attract
customers, said Daw Pyae Phyo Han.
Our promotions must be attractive,
our convenience must save time.
Mom-and-pop shops often sell
many of the same products as convenience stores, with a few exceptions such
as fast-food products, said U Lin Htike,
ABCs business development manager.
But convenience stores look smarter. They sell at the roadside. We sell in
well-lit spaces with air conditioning,
he said.
Shopping at the convenience store
may be slightly more expensive, but it
is often a more pleasant shopping experience, and also an indication of status to be able to afford the marginally
higher prices. ABC, like its two main
competitors, owns all its branded ABC
shops. However, some mom-and-pop
owners have contacted the company
enquiring about opening franchises,
and ABC has put together a list in case
it decides to begin franchising in the
future.
There are very few franchises
operating in Myanmar at present,
and those that do exist are essentially
experiments though the practice
will be more widespread in the future,
according to Eric Rose, lead director
at Herzfeld Rubin Meyer and Rose
legal firm.
[Franchises] will create a whole
new category of employers, with relatively little capital. Franchises are an
explosive area for creating jobs,
he said. Most franchises also
offer significant know-how
to the franchisee as part of
the package of opening a
new outlet.
Youre getting a
turnkey operation
where you can
learn how to
do business as a
trader in
Myanmar,
said Mr
Rose.
Getting a
university degree
cant be any
better than that
for entrepreneurs.
Internationally, most convenience store
operations are a
mixture of direct
ownership and
franchising
Grab and Gos Mr Isnin puts the mix

usually at 30 or 40 percent ownership,
60 or 70pc franchising and over time
this is likely to happen in Myanmar.
Mr Rose said that while there are
some legal protections for franchising
at present, there ought to be a franchise law to help expand the practice,
particularly to protect the franchisee
and ensure they are simply not left
holding the bag if a franchiser decides
to withdraw.
Foreign retails are also hovering in
the background, even as local convenience stores undergo rapid expansions.
Brands such as 7-Eleven and Family
Mart are thought to be eyeing Myanmar, and may be entering in the next
few years.
Our promotions
must be attractive,
our convenience
must save time.
daw Pyae Phyo han
city express
Currently, foreign companies, as

well as Myanmar companies with a
foreign shareholder, are prevented
from both retail and wholesale activities, with the singular exception
of Dutch brewer Heineken, which has
permission to operate on a wholesale
level along with its large investment in
a Myanmar brewery.
Mr Rose said it was likely these restrictions would be relaxed over time.
Opening up the market in a regulated fashion to foreigners will result
in efficiencies that enlarge the market, not reduce it, he said. It will
make it both more efficient and more
competitive.
Representatives from all three convenience store chains told The Myanmar Times they anticipate foreign
convenience retailers being allowed to
enter during the next few years. They
are all building and strengthening in
anticipation of this change.
The foreign chains have extensive
experience in a business which is still
in its infancy in Myanmar, and also
possess large operations that could be
geared toward rapidly opening stores.
We are not unduly worried, but
we must plan our
strategy
carefully,
so by the time
7-Eleven or another foreign
retailers comes
in, we are ready
to meet the
challenges, said
Grab and Gos Mr
Isnin.
While Yangon offers
plenty more
potential for convenience business,

it is also likely to be the first target
for foreign firms. The big three local
chains are also tentatively beginning to expand outside Yangon. Last
month, ABC opened its first outlets
outside of Yangon and it now has
five in Mandalay.
U Lin Htike said that while Yangon has become a 24-hour city, with
young men buying goods late into
the evening, in Mandalay there are
only one or two shops that are open
all night.
In Mandalay by 9pm the streets
are empty, he said.
Yet ABCs five Mandalay outlets will be open 24 hours and if
the concept is successful, it may be
spread to other large cities like Mawlamyine and Monywa. Even within
Yangon there is dramatic variation
from neighbourhood to neighbourhood, and Grab and Go tailors its local business to suit.
Mr Isnin said the firm breaks
down its stores into five demographic clusters, as a typical customer in
a residential neighbourhood is different from its customers near locations in office buildings, who are
also different buyers from one in the
firms Sedona Hotel location.
We are very competitive very
mindful of the demographic we are
operating in, he said.
Mr Isnin said one constraint is
the short lease terms building a
store requires capital expenditure,
and it can get expensive if a shop is
forced to change locations every year
due to expiring leases.
The businesses themselves are
also likely to change. In the next
five years convenience stores will
provide real convenience, he said.
Grab and Go is looking to add services like paying bills and fines, buying Electronic top up cards and mobile phone accessories, and offering
postal services.
Whats clear is the convenience
retail landscape is at the fore of a
dramatic shift.
If you look at it currently, the
fastest-growing retail business in Myanmar is the
convenience business, said
Mr Isnin.
Convenient
facts on
convenience
stores
ABC
Shares ownership with TMW Group
Founded in 2006
About 50 stores at present
Outside of Yangon it has 5 stores
in Mandalay
City Express
Sister company of City Mart, which
is owned by City Mart Holdings
Founded in 2011, first store in 2012
Outside of Yangon it has 1 store at
115 Mile
Grab and Go
Part of diversified Myanmar conglomerate Capital Diamond Star
Group
Outside of Yangon it has 1 store
in Nay Pyi Taw and has plans for
Mandalay expansion
A customer makes a purchase at a Grab

and Go convenience store in Yankin
township. Photo: Aung Htay Hlaing
Business 29
www.mmtimes.com
Mom-and-pops flourish as tastes shift

MyaT
noE oo
myatnoe.mcm@gmail.com
IN the age of the 24/7 convenience

stores, the live-above-the-store momand-pop shop still flourishes.
Selling snacks for as little as K50,
they are a common sight in Myanmars neighbourhoods, usually with
a proprietor tending store and a
handful of goods like soft drinks and
snacks on display.
They are simple stores require
little investment or dcor, and are
called kone sone saing in Myanmar
language. However, mom-and-pop
shops are beginning to feel the pinch
as convenience stores are expanding
across Yangon and increasingly the
rest of Myanmar (see related article
page 28).
There are three main convenience
store chains presently in Myanmar
ABC, City Express and Grab and Go
and also a number of mom-and-pop
shops that have improved their shops
and expanded their opening hours
like a convenience store.
While some small shop owners
are envious of the buying power
and capital behind the big convenience chains, others say there is no
mAndAlAy
Sesame
harvests
rise while
price falls
KyAw Ko Ko
MANDALAY Regions sesame crop
had a bumper year and generated
increased interest from buyers,
though not enough interest to prevent a fall in prices.
A bag of high-quality white sesame cost about K150,000 wholesale
at this time last year, though it has
fallen to about K130,000 this year at
the Commodity Exchange Centre in
Mandalay.
U Hla Myint, a wholesaler in
Mandalay, said that the only buyers
are Chinese traders, so prices are in
their hands.
Chinese traders can manipulate
the price to what they wish, he said.
The whole sesame market depends
on Chinese traders.
Another trader Ko Soe Win Myint said there was formerly a robust
local milling industry for sesame,
but increased Chinese interest in
the products caused prices to rise,
resulting in less room for local buyers and millers of the product.
Instead of consuming locally produced sesame oil, Myanmar people
usually import other cooking oils
made from goods like palm oil from
abroad.
Ko So Win Myint said he would
like to see more attention given to
promoting locally grown sesame oil
inside the country, instead of seeing
crops being routinely sold to foreign
markets.
This may require more government support to the sesame industry or other measures to build up local processing capacity, preventing
the need for exports.
reason to expand their simple shops

at present.
Ive got no interest transforming into a convenience store. All my
customers live in my street, said
entrepreneur Ma War, who has just
opened a mom-and-pop in South Okkalapa township. She says she can get
on with her housework while serving
customers.
Some customers find brightly-lit
convenience stores intimidating, and
perhaps likely to be overpriced.
Yet convenience stores are catching on, and some shop owners say
they are looking at ways to compete
with their modern competitors.
Daw Aye Aye, who has a momand-pop in Pabedan township, says
outlets like hers on a main road
face competition from convenience
stores, with their larger stock and
A convenience store
would represent
more investment,
which Im not ready
to make.
daw Sandar Khin
Thanlyin township shop owner
greater variety. We are undergoing a

slight decline, she said. People like
convenience stores better than our
shop, though they still come to us for
snacks.
Later opening hours and no requirements to have to bargain a price
are also drawing customers to convenience stores.
I always buy snacks from the
convenience store near our bus stop,
said Ma Khin Wai Than from Mingalar market.
Its cleaner, and you dont have to
ask the price, she said.
However, convenience stores can
be a bit more pricy, while mom-andpops are welcoming and inexpensive,
says Ma Tharphee, a 21-year-old consumer.
In my area there is no convenience store, so I buy from the momand-pop shop, she said. You just
walk in. Its more flexible and you can
get a snack for K50.
Daw Sandar Khin, who owns a
store in Thanlyin township, says
most of her customers are students
or schoolchildren.
The parents buy potato snacks
and juice for their children when
they go to school. A convenience
store would represent more investment, which Im not ready to make.
And my customers dont want to shop
in convenience stores, so my current
business is just fine for me, she said.
The low prices and personal touch of mom-and -pop shops continue luring
customers. Photo: Aung Htay Hlaing
30 Business
mandalay
IP protection for a better mango

Kyay
Mohn
Win
Aye Thidar Kyaw

ayethidarkyaw@gmail.com
kyaymonewin@gmail.com
TRADEMARK protection is in the

works for Myanmars famous sein
ta lone [diamond] mangos, according to Mandalay Mango Association
chair Daw Than Than Swe.
The fruit has been exported since
2006, but only began catching on in
foreign markets around 2011. Sein ta
lone mangos are growing in popularity overseas one food reviewer from
The Straits Times said they seem to
be all the rage in Singapore earlier
this year, while they are also exported in increasingly large quantities to
China.
Growing international awareness
of the fruit is boosting local exports,
but also increasing the risk that a foreign competitor could claim Sein ta
lone mangos as their own.
There is an urgent need to register Myanmar Sein ta lone mangos,
said one trader. If not, other countries with more money will seek to
register it as their own mango.
The Korea Invention Promotion
Agency and Myanmars Ministry of
Science and Technology and the Myanmar Fruits, Flowers and Vegetables
Association will assist with the process. It will be expensive, but South
Korea is covering some of the costs
and also suggesting how to establish
the trademark and promote the fruit.
It is necessary to take the time
to register Myanmars mangos, and
there are many things we have to
do, said Daw Than Than Swe, chair
of the Mandalay Mango Association.
The mango association is working
to boost mango exports and generate
FDI to top
$5 billion
this year
Sein Ta Lone mangos piled up at a Mandalay night market. Photo: Kaung Htet
more revenue through adding value

to products. There are more than 200
mango species in Myanmar, with 50 to
60 species grown in Mandalay Region.
A number of other mangos are
also being considered for trademark
protection, including shwe hin thar,
padamyar nga mauk, yin kwe and
ma chit su fruits.
In most countries, mangos would
likely be protected by geographical indication status. This status for
instance requires wine using the
champagne label to be from certain
areas of France or Scotch whisky
from Scotland. However, Myanmars
trademark laws widely considered
to be outdated do not provide for
geographical indication protection,
meaning the mangos are likely to be
TRADEMARK CAUTION NOTICE

NBA Properties, Inc., a corporation organized under the
laws of the State of New York and having its principal
office at 645 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10022,
U.S.A is the owner and sole proprietor of the following
Trademark:-
Myanmar Registration Numbers.

4/3658/2010 for Intl Class 25, 4/3659/2010 for Intl
Class 28 & 4/3660/2010 for Intl Class 41
Used in respect of :Clothing, namely hosiery, footwear, basketball shoes,
basketball sneakers, T-shirts, shirts, polo shirts, sweatshirts,
sweatpants, pants, tank tops, jerseys, shorts, pajamas, sport
shirts, rugby shirts, sweaters, belts, ties, nightshirts, hats,
caps, visors, warm-up suits, warm-up pants, warm-up tops/
shooting shirts, jackets, wind resistant jackets, parkas,
coats, baby bibs not of paper, head bands, wrist bands,
aprons, undergarments, boxer shorts, slacks, ear muffs,
gloves, mittens, scarves, woven and knit shirts, jersey
dresses, dresses, cheerleading dresses and uniforms, swim
wear, bathing suits, swimsuits, bikinis, tankinis, swim
trunks, bathing trunks, board shorts, wet suits, beach coverups, bathing suit cover-ups, bathing suit wraps, sandals,
beach sandals, beach hats, sun visors, swim caps, bathing
caps, novelty headwear with attached wigs.
(International Class 25)
protected under the existing trademark protections.

U Aung Soe Oo, councillor at
the Asean Intellectual Property
Association, said the government
should implement a system to protect goods such as the mangos, oth-
It is necessary to
take the time to
register Myanmars
mangos.
Daw Than Than Swe
Mandalay Mango Association
erwise risk losing its intellectual

property to other countries.
However, protecting Sein ta lone
mangos through trademark will likely
not provide the comprehensive protection that could be afforded by geographical indicator status, he added.
There have been ongoing discussions to update the existing intellectual property laws, though so far no
law has been passed. The 1908 Registration Act allows companies to register trademarks through evidentiary
assertion of the rights of ownership,
though there is no trademark law at
present, according to the World Intellectual Property Organisation.
Translation by Thiri Min Htun,
additional reporting by Nyan Lynn
Aung
Toys, games and sporting goods, namely basketballs,

golf balls, playground balls, sports balls, rubber action
balls and foam action balls, plush balls for games, plastic
balls for games, basketball nets, basketball backboards,
miniature basketball backboards, pumps for inflating
basketballs and needles therefore; golf clubs, golf bags,
golf putters, golf accessories, namely, divot repair tools,
tees, ball markers, golf bag covers, club head covers,
golf gloves, golf ball sleeves, electronic basketball table
top games, basketball table top games, basketball board
games, action skill games, adults and childrens party
games, trivia information games and electronic video
arcade game machines, basketball kit comprised of a
net and whistle, dolls, decorative dolls, collectible dolls,
toy action figures, bobblehead action figures, stuffed
toys, novelty plush toys with wigs, jigsaw puzzles, toy
building blocks, Christmas tree ornaments and Christmas
stockings; toy vehicles in the nature of cars, trucks, trains
and vans, all containing basketball themes, novelty foam
toys in the shapes of fingers and trophies, toy trophies,
playing cards, card games, noisemakers, pet toys; beach
toys, namely, beach balls, inflatable balls, toy pails, toy
shovels, sand toys, sand box toys, water squirting toys;
pool accessories, namely swim floats, pool floats, toy
water rafts, foam floats, swim rings, pool rings, foam
rings, body boards, surf boards, swim fins, surf fins, arm
floats and water wing swim aids for recreational use;
volleyball game kits comprised of ball, net, sidelines and
whistle, and water polo game kits comprised of ball, net
and whistle; decorative cloth wind socks. (International
Class 28)
Entertainment and educational services in the nature
of ongoing television and radio programs in the field
of basketball and rendering live basketball games and
basketball exhibitions; the production and distribution of
radio and television shows featuring basketball games,
THE manufacturing sector will receive

the lions share of over US$5 billion in
contracted foreign direct investment
this fiscal year, according to Myanmar
Investment Commission secretary U
Aung Naing Oo.
The volume of foreign investment
is satisfactory, he said at a press
briefing on December 2. The statistics for Myanmar are closely following Vietnam in the CLMV countries.
This pace will provide for economic
development.
About $4.2 billion in contracted foreign direct investment was approved in
the first seven months of 2014-15, more
than the total $4.1 billion for the whole
2013-14 fiscal year, he said. The fiscal
year in Myanmar begins on April 1.
As of October 31 this year, MIC has
approved a total of $50 billion in investments for 812 enterprises. Manufacturing, telecoms, hotels and property are rapidly increasing, though
energy is still the main attraction for
foreign investment.
The MIC is responsible for approving large-scale projects, though many
smaller foreign investments do not require MIC approval to set up shop.
U Aung Naing Oo said the government is keen to develop port infrastructure and electricity at first, and will promote labour-intensive industry as well
as heavy and high-tech industries as
the next step.
U Aung Naing Oo added that a longanticipated Myanmar Companies Act
has reached a final draft with support
from the Asian Development Bank. He
said that the draft legislation will be
publically unveiled shortly.
basketball events and programs in the field of basketball;

conducting and arranging basketball clinics and camps,
coaches clinics and camps, dance team clinics and camps
and basketball games; entertainment services in the
nature of personal appearances by a costumed mascot
or dance team at basketball games and exhibitions,
clinics, camps, promotions, and other basketball-related
events, special events and parties; fan club services;
entertainment services, namely providing a website
featuring multimedia material in the nature of television
highlights, interactive television highlights, video
recordings, video stream recordings, interactive video
highlight selections, radio programs, radio highlights, and
audio recording in the field of basketball; providing news
and information in the nature of statistics and trivia in
the field of basketball; on-line non-downloadable games,
namely, computer games, video games, interactive
video games, action skill games, arcade games, adults
and childrens party games, board games, puzzles, and
trivia games; electronic publishing services, namely,
publication of magazines, guides, newsletters, coloring
books, and game schedules of others on-line through
the Internet, all in the field of basketball; providing and
online computer database in the field of basketball.
(International Class 41)
Any unauthorized use, imitation, infringements or
fraudulent intentions of the above marks will be dealt
with according to law.
Tin Ohnmar Tun, Tin Thiri Aung &
The Law Chambers
Ph: 0973150632
Email: law_chambers@seasiren.com.mm
(For. Domnern Somgiat & Boonma,
Attorneys at Law, Thailand)
Dated. 15th December, 2014
Business 31
www.mmtimes.com
MIC plans action on improper registration

ZaW
hTiKE
zawhtikemjn1981@gmail.com
A CRACKDOWN is coming on foreign

investment circumventing rules by registering under the names of Myanmar
citizens, according to Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) secretary U
Aung Naing Oo.
The commission first announced in
early 2012 there would be a grace period for foreign investment to re-register
properly and promised future action
against offenders which did not reregister. The action never materialised,
though about 30 businesses have properly re-registered as foreign investment
in the intervening period.
Many of the offending businesses
are thought to be in the garment sector,
according to U Aung Naing Oo.
When we [the MIC] inspected, as
far as we know about 50 percent of
companies [in the garment industry]
were foreign investments registered
under the names of Myanmar citizens,
he said.
Some foreign companies registered
as local firms to skirt regulations on
foreign investment. Under existing
rules, any foreign ownership, including foreigners owning one share of an
IFC eyes
US$1b in
investments
ZAw hTiKe
zawhtikemjn1981@gmail.com
THE International Finance Corporation expects its investments in
Myanmar to total US$1 billion in
three years time, aiming to support the backbone for the countrys
economic growth and job creation
efforts, according to Vivek Pathak,
IFC East Asia and Pacific department director.
The IFC, a part of the World
Bank Group, aims to invest in three
pillars in Myanmar infrastructure, financial sector and working competency in areas like skills
and tourism. It anticipates its
portfolio in the country to reach
$400 million by the end of June
2015.
The organisation has disbursed
about $92 million since setting up a
year ago, and we hope this can go
up to $1 billion in the next two to
three years, said Mr Pathak. A lot
of this is obviously contingent on
continuing reform thats happening, and we hope it will continue
and get faster.
The IFC is also advising the Myanmar government on a competitive selection process for an independent power producer for a 250
megawatt plant and is to support
Central Bank of Myanmar in developing at least one credit bureau by
June 2016. It is also working with
Yoma Bank and Myanmar Oriental
Bank on business reform, as well as
establishing the Myanmar Business
Forum to discuss challenges plaguing private business.
What we are seeing currently is
that many investors are eying the
Myanmar market, but too many remain on the sidelines amid unclear
rules and regulations, said Vikram
Kumar, IFC resident representative
for Myanmar. Improving the ease
of doing business will help attract
more domestic and foreign investment which Myanmar very much
needs to develop.
Garment factories are often foreign investments improperly registered locally, according to U Aung Naing Oo. Photo: Staff
otherwise Myanmar-owned company,

makes the company foreign-owned.
Foreign companies are prevented
from doing business in several industries and also face restrictions in areas
like land ownership that do not apply
to local firms.
An updated Companies Act is in the
works which could change these rules,
but for now many foreigners have chosen to register their companies through
Myanmar citizens, such as spouses, to
avoid being declared a foreign company
and facing these constraints.

MIC has not taken action against
these foreign companies using Myanmar names to register because they employ many local citizens, said U Aung
Naing Oo. However, MICs patience is
wearing thin, and it plans to take actions such as withdrawing tax relief and
placing companies on lists preventing
activities.
We have kept our door open for
companies to change their registration,
he said. We are going to take action
against offending businesses soon in

the future there will not be any forgiveness for them. Theyve had over two
years.
In March 2012, MIC officials held a
press conference, where U Aung Naing
Oo announced that if a company is registered under the name of a Myanmar
wife, changing to foreign investment
will require giving the wife a 50pc share.
He also announced a stipulation that
foreigners hiding investments behind
Myanmar heirs would be required to
give them a stake.

However, if the foreigner has registered the business under a Myanmar
citizens name who is not his spouse or
heir, the registration could be changed
to 100pc FDI without giving up a share
in the business, he said in 2012.
Lower house member Thura U Aung
Ko said in parliament earlier this year
that its not only garments but also
gems and metal mining, tourism, real
estate, agriculture, fisheries and food
manufacturing that attract foreigners,
often from nearby Asian countries, registering their businesses often through
their Myanmar spouses.
Although there are many areas of
businesses still closed to foreigners,
observers say restrictions have been relaxed over time.
Economist U Hla Maung said restrictions were much more onerous under the former military regime.
With that situation, how could foreigners do business without registering
their business through a local person?
he said.
U Hla Maung said that foreigners often do not exploit the situation, adding
they are at the mercy of the Myanmar
person the company is registered under.
Many Myanmar people have also
lived abroad and taken foreign citizenship, meaning they also must register
through a friend or relative who is a
Myanmar citizen for the business to be
declared local.
TRADE MARK CAUTION

Mark:-
ABIRIBA
Reg. No. 3861/2011
32 Business
World Bank lends for

Ayeyarwady basin
MyaT
noE oo

TRADE MARK CAUTION

Mark:-
ABIVEON
Reg. No. 3862/2011

TRADE MARK CAUTION

Mark:-
ABIZYME
Reg. No. 3863/2011

TRADE MARK CAUTION

Mark:-
FEXALTA
Reg. No. 3864/2011

THE World Bank has approved

US$100 million in loans to support
the Ayeyarwady river basin, according to a press release.
The basin is crucial for millions
of poor people whose livelihood depends on sectors like agriculture.
World Bank country manager
Abdoulaye Seck said Myanmar has
set out to manage its water resources more sustainably and efficiently.
We are pleased to help finance

this project, which will help improve water usage, river transport,
and disaster risk management. We
expect the project will raise agricultural productivity and incomes and
significantly improve the lives of
families along the river, he said in
the press release.
Noting the poor are often the
most are risk from aquatic disasters, the World Bank said in the release the loan is partly earmarked to
providing early warning and monitoring systems.
Directorate of Water Resources
and Improvements of River Systems
director general U Htun Lwin Oo
said the project will also assist with
UN to support
Myanmars graduation
from LDC status
nyAn lynn AUng
29.nyanlynnaung@gmail.com
THE United Nations will support
Myanmars efforts to graduate from
Least Developed Country (LDC) status, though it may take some time,
according to officials.
There are currently 48 Least
Developed Countries around the
world, also including Bangladesh,
Bhutan, Cambodia and Laos in the
It is impossible to
say when Myanmar
would be eligible to
graduate from LDC
status because some
countries have their
own goal.
gyan Chandra Acharya
UN representative
region. Myanmar was added to the

list in 1987.
Gyan Chandra Acharya, UN high
representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island
Developing States, said during a
visit to Myanmar this month that
assisting the country with graduating is a primary objective for our
mission.
However, it is impossible to say
when Myanmar would be eligible to
graduate from LDC status because
some countries have their own
goal, he said.
Works is particularly needed in
key industries like agriculture, he
added.
Some experts say it ought to be
possible to progress past LDC status within a decade.
Economist U Khin Maung Nyo
said it is possible Myanmar could
graduate from LDC status by 2020,
if it puts into place the necessary
measures over the next three years.
However, there are still significant barriers that need to be addressed to move Myanmar past LDC
status.
the quantity, quality and reliability

of water, including potable water, in
the statement.
While officials from the directorate have so far declined to comment on the program, experts say
water is crucial to much of the rural
economy.
Myanmar Rice Federation senior
adviser U Ming Aung said that while
he is not aware of the specific loan,
there is lots to be done improving
agriculture, particularly rice farming which often relies heavily on the
Ayeyarwady River.
U Ming Aung also said there are
other areas that need to be improve,
adding he would like to see more
lending to support rice farmers.
Ford adds three more

models to showroom
Ford motor company and its local distributor capital Automotive
launched three models in myanmar
on December 12.
The Fiesta, Focus and eco Sport
models are part of the firms efforts
to provide a wider range of vehicles to
connect with consumers.
capital Automotive Limited
managing director U Khin Htun said
that Ford models have a number of
strengths, such as safety and fuel
economy.
customers can drive Fords on
every road and feel very comfortable
Fords can drive in 2 feet of water,
he said. U Khin Htun said the ranger
pickup truck has been particularly
popular in the country.
The Fiesta is a smaller vehicle
available as a hatchback or four-door,
while the Focus is a little larger and
the eco Sport is a compact SUV.
Ford Asia Pacific emerging
markets managing director David
Westerman said the firm looks to
bring automobiles to people from all
walks of life.
It also supports our promise to
continue bringing the best global Ford
cars, trucks and SUV to myanmar, he
said in a statement.
The Fiesta will retail for about K32
million, the Focus around K35 million
and the eco Sport at K36 million.
Aye Nyein Win
Business 33
www.mmtimes.com
IN BRIEF
Huge Chinese ship sets sail
The worlds largest container vessel,

the CSCL Globe, set off on its maiden
voyage to Europe from Shanghai, ship
owner China Shipping Container Lines
(CSCL) said.
The giant 400-metre long, 60-metre
wide vessel sailed from the eastern
Chinese citys Yangshan port.
The vessel is the first of five 19,100TEU (20foot equivalent unit) container
ships that CSCL ordered in 2013 from
South Koreas Hyundai Heavy Industries and was delivered in November.
It is the worlds biggest and most
advanced container ship, outstripping
international shipping firm Maersk
Lines 18,000-TEU ship in terms of
capacity, the firm said.
AFP
Too-low fares for Australians to be

honoured by Singapore Airlines
Singapore Airlines said it would honour
hundreds of businessclass tickets
sold wrongly at economy fares to ensure travellers plans are not disrupted.
The airline said in a statement it
was investigating the cause of the
erroneous sales which saw businessclass booking able to be made at an
outdated economyclass fare level.
The tickets involved 900 ticketed
segments or journeys between two
airports sold by Australian travel
agents. AFP
Uber partially banned in Thailand
Thailand has partially banned services

by ride-sharing application Uber,
authorities said December 10 as the
US-based car hire business continues
to grapple with regulators across the
world.
The head of the kingdoms Department of Land Transport said it has
banned Ubers use of unlicensed
black plate vehicles, which link
customers with private drivers, citing
safety concerns and a lack of regulation. We are not banning the use of the
Uber application, but we are banning
the use of black plate vehicles, because they are illegal, said Teerapong
Rodpraert, director general of the Land
Transport Department.
AFP
Nut removed from Korean Air
Heather Cho, daughter of Korean Air

Lines chair Cho Yang Ho, has resigned
after her decision to remove an employee from a plane over the service
of macadamia nuts created a public
backlash.
Ms Cho, 40, had been the vice
president for cabin service and catering
at the Seoulbased airline. Her father
presided over the meeting of directors
that accepted her resignation, the carrier said on December 9.
Her actions were criticised by South
Koreas DongA Ilbo newspaper in an
editorial December 9 saying they were
an example of the sense of privilege
felt by families running the countrys
chaebols, or business conglomerates.
Bloomberg
Yuan may be added to IMF basket
For the first time, China has a real shot

at getting the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) to endorse the yuan as a
global reserve currency alongside the
dollar and euro.
In late 2015, the IMF will conduct
its next twice-a-decade review of the
basket of currencies its members can
count toward their official reserves.
Including the yuan in this socalled
Special Drawing Rights system would
allow the IMF to recognise the ascent
of the worlds secondbiggest economy
while aiding Chinas attempts to diminish the dollars dominance in global
trade and finance.
China would need to satisfy the
Washington-based lenders economic
benchmarks and get the support of
most of the other 187 member countries. The Asian nation is likely to pass
both tests, said Eswar Prasad, who
until 2006 worked at the IMF, including
spells as head of its financial studies
and China divisions. Bloomberg
London
US extends StanChart watch

US authorities will monitor Britains
Standard Chartered bank for another
three years, following the large fines
paid in 2012 for violating sanctions
in countries including Myanmar, the
lender said on December 10.
Standard Chartered said in a statement that it has agreed to extend the
Deferred Prosecution Agreements
(DPAs) entered into in December
2012 with the US Department of Justice and the New York County District
Attorneys Office.
The lender added that the authorities have agreed a further three
year extension of the DPAs until 10
December 2017, and the retention of
a monitor to evaluate and make recommendations regarding the groups
sanctions compliance program.
Back in 2012, the bank had paid
US$667 million to settle charges it violated US sanctions by handling thousands of money transactions involving Iran, Myanmar, Libya and Sudan.
Standard Chartered said it had
already taken a number of steps to
comply with the requirements of the
original DPAs and to enhance and optimise its sanctions compliance.
Those measures included the
implementation of more rigorous
US sanctions policies and procedures, certified staff training, hiring
of senior legal and financial crime
Peter Sands, CEO of Standard Chartered (left), speaks at a Yangon press conference last year. Photo: Boothee
compliance staff and recently implementing additional measures

to block payment instructions for
countries subject to US sanctions
laws and regulations.
The Britishbased emerging
markets bank also revealed it is
cooperating with an ongoing US
sanctions-related investigation.
It added, Additional time is needed to complete the investigation and

determine whether any violations
have occurred.
The group remains committed to
full cooperation with the authorities
during this investigation, alongside
an extensive program of compliance
improvements.
The group will provide a further

update in the event of relevant future
developments.
In August earlier this year, Standard Chartered was hit by US regulators with a $300 million fine and
restrictions on its dollar-clearing
business for failing to detect possible
money-laundering. AFP
34 Business
EXCLuSIVE
Behind the gems and jewellery shine

ShWEGU
ThiTSaR
khaingsabainyein@gmail.com
THE gems and jade industry attracts

its share of interest and controversy.
Given Myanmars endowment of the
precious jewels, its a huge revenuegenerator a Harvard report issued in
2013 estimated it brought in US$8 billion in 2011. Yet most of that revenue
comes from exporting unprocessed
jade and gems, and industry body the
Myanmar Gems and Jewellery Enterprise Association would like to add
more value to local jade by not just
mining it but finishing it as well.
The Myanmar Times reporter
Shwegu Thitsar sat down with U Yone
Mu, to discuss the industrys prospects
on the road ahead. U Yone Mu took
over as rotating chair from the Myanmar Gems and Jewellery Enterprise
Association from U Tay Za, after the
latter stepped down. U Yone Mu, who
was previously first vice chair, won an
association-wide election on August
25 with 302 of the 585 total votes. He
is also owner of Sane Lin Yadanar Jewellery Company, and is keen to see Myanmar transition to exporting finished
jewels instead of raw gems and jade.
I know I will face enormous pressure as a chairperson. I will work to
develop the finished-products market
for the benefit of members then we
will generate more profits, said U
Yone Mu.
First off, could you tell me about
the activities the association will
be conducting now that you have
taken the role of rotating chair?
Its been business as usual but weve
added some rules and regulations. We
are seeking to make sure every member gets their opportunities in full. Last
week we formed a committee with the
intention to be more transparent. We
also opened gems and jewellery stalls
in Myanmar Gems Showroom under
the aegis of the association.
How many members are in the association, and where are they located in the country?
Jewellery-shop owners, gem-mining
investors and gems and jewellery traders have all joined the association.
There are more than 8000 members
to date.
Can you contrast the past and present as far as jade mining permits
are concerned? I have heard some
jade mines have been closed. Can
you discuss why this is, and which
mines are allowed to run?
Because of instability in some areas,
the process of granting new permits
for mining in Hpakant [in Kachin
State] and Mongshu [in Shan State]
have halted, though current investors can extend their mining permits and are allowed to keep on
excavating. The current level of
excavation is enough to satisfy the
market. New licences havent been
granted at the moment in order to
preserve natural resources for future generations.
Companies are sometimes added to
a blacklist kept by the Ministry of
Mines forbidding them from mining or exhibiting gems for a variety
of reasons. Which companies are
on the blacklist?
Companies on the blacklist are not
allowed to conduct jade mining in
Myanmar. But the list isnt publically
available, so I dont know how many
companies are blacklisted and which
ones they are.
Companies that break the rules
on exhibiting gems can be prevented
from exhibiting for 10 subsequent exhibitions, while firms conducting unlicensed mining can have their permission to mine gems and jade revoked
permanently. The Ministry of Mines
also sends out inspectors to mining
sites to check up on them.
A lack of transparency has been a
concern for the jade and gems market. Could you tell me what the association is doing to be transparent?
Weve formed a committee to issue
news and information in real time,
and we also have a website that everyone can visit. We are
also thinking
of publishing a
journal.
There
are
challenges
for businesspeople
in the
mining sector at present. Could

you explain the situation? In particular, some mines were forced
to halt last year due to the political
situation. Is there consequently a
shortage in the jewel market?
The cost for excavating jewels is getting higher and higher because investors now also have to take part in environment conservation. But the market
overall is cool because the economy
particularly in Western countries is
weak. However, the best quality jewels
and jade are earning high prices even
though the market is cool. I want to
say that the price of the best quality
jewels never goes down even when the
economy is in a downturn.
In current market conditions,
what kinds of jewels are popular in
international markets and what is
popular for Myanmar buyers?
Jade is the most popular jewel sold in
Myanmar and it supports the export
sector. In the past its been the third
or fourth most important item on Myanmars export list. Subsequently it
was not at the top of the list because
of the global economic downturn and
cutbacks in selling jewels to preserve
this resource for future generations.
The excavation process is also difficult. Basically, the deeper the mine,
the more difficult to excavate.
China buys 80 percent of our
jewels, and is by far the biggest buyer. Hong Kong and Thailand follow
respectively.
The second-best sellers are rubies and sapphires. Thailand
buys most of them and so do
Western countries.
As you say, the most
in-demand Myanmar jewels are
jade, rubies and
sapphires.
Where are
they extracted?
Jade is mostly found in Hpakant in

Kachin State and also some at Hkamti
in Sagaing Region, whereas rubies are
found in Mogok in Mandalay Region.
Some jewel exporters have complained they face a double tax,
having to pay tax locally and again
when they export their products.
What is your stance on the issue?
Can we say these taxes cause the
black market? And do you have
any views on whether the tax rate
is fair compared to international
standards?
Its better for businesspeople in the
jewel sector to do business while paying official taxes. Particularly if they
are conducting an auction [which is
difficult with black-market jade and
gems] they might get an unexpectedly
high price.
Selling openly after paying taxes
generates a higher price. When a
jewel is sold on the black market, the
seller wont get the price it is really
worth. So I would
like to urge
everyone to
do business
officially.
All businesspeople selling products

locally have to pay a 10pc tax. And they
have to pay a 10pc tax when exporting
their products. So they have to pay tax
the two times.
The tax rate in Myanmar is at an international level, but I will give suggestions so the tax rate is not a burden for
traders. We are discussing it, and have
given suggestions to the Internal Revenue Department. Our association is
just an NGO; our action is just to build
bridges between jewel traders and the
government.
As new chair of the Myanmar Gems
and Jewellery Entrepreneurs Association, is there anything else you
would like to talk about regarding
development of the jewel sector?
In China there are more than 90,000
workers depending on the jade market.
I would like to focus on creating job
opportunities for millions of Myanmar
people by boosting production of finished goods [rather than exporting raw
jade and gems].
For ages we have done business in
the raw materials market. We should
move toward a value-added market as
quickly as possible.
JOB WATCH
FHI 360 is seeking the following positions for the Civil Society and Media Project, a USAID supported initiative. The
Project aims to respond to civil society needs by:
improving civil society capacity to engage in democratic processes
and policy dialogue;
increasing the availability of and access to information on democratic governance and reform
issues; and
expanding inclusive public dialogue and political space.
1. Advocacy & Policy Director
5. Capacity Building Mentors (4)
2. Advocacy Ofcer
6. Disabilities Advisor
3. Finance & Operations Director
7. Operations Manager
4. Capacity Building Advisor

Please read the detailed job descriptions and requirements at
http://www.themimu.info/jobs-for-myanmar-nationals before applying.
If you are interested in this position please submit a c.v. (resume) with your salary requirement and a covering letter
explaining why you are suitable for the position to hr.myanmar@fhi360.org as soon as possible.
Positions open until lled. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. FHI 360 oers a competitive compensation
package.
FHI 360 is seeking to ll two senior positions for the Civil Society and Media Project, a USAID supported initiative.
The Project aims to respond to civil society needs by: 1) improving civil society capacity to engage in democratic
processes and policy dialogue; 2) increasing the availability of and access to information on democratic governance and
reform issues; and 3) expanding inclusive public dialogue and political space.
Advocacy & Policy Director
Finance & Operations Director
Both positions offer stimulating and rewarding work for the right people interested in helping the development of civil
society in Myanmar. The Advocacy and Policy Director will work with CSOs (civil society organizations), supporting them
in their efforts to promote policy change nationally and regionally. The Finance and Operations Director will oversee the
Project's nancial and administrative affairs, and also ensure the effective management of Project grants.
Please read detailed job descriptions and requirements at
http://www.themimu.info/jobs-for-myanmar-nationals.
PTTEP INTERNATIONAL LIMITED (Yangon Branch)

Vacancies Announcement
PTTEP International Limited (Yangon Branch), one of the Leading
Oil and Gas Companies in Myanmar, is seeking young, energetic,
and well qualied Myanmar individuals for several positions in the
following areas:
Accounting
Finance
Cost Control
Logistics
Procurement
Legal
Human Resources
Secretary
Administration
All positions require a minimum of Bachelors Degree with skills in

MS Ofce Applications and very good command of written and spoken
English. Working experiences in related elds or any international
exposure experiences are advantage.
Interested applicants can send their updated CV with recent photo
and necessary relevant documents: Degree of Education Certicate;
Transcript & GPA; IELTS score minimum 5.0 or any other equivalent
level of standard English test result; and working certicate (if any)
relevant to the positions to:
Human Resources Section, PTTEP International Limited (Yangon
Branch) at No.2, Sei Myaung Yeiktha Lane, 8 mile, Mayangone
Township, Yangon, Myanmar or email to JobApp@pttep.com
no later than 02 January 2015.
NEW VACANCIES APPLY NOW!
If you want to apply for one of these positions please send a c.v. (resume) with a covering letter explaining why you are
suitable and giving your salary requirement to hr.myanmar@fhi360.org as soon as possible. Positions open until lled.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. FHI 360 offers a competitive compensation package.
Business Development manager

Marketing manager
Sales and distribution manager
Brand manager
Logistic officer
Medical doctor
Project manager
Sales engineer
Site engineer
Chief Accountant
Accountant
HR Manager
HR Executive
Legal executive
Secretary
Passenger service agent ( airline)
Receptionist
Customer service
No. 851/853 (A/B), 3rd Floor, Room (7/8), Bogyoke Aung San
Road, Lanmadaw Township, Yangon, Myanmar.
Tel: (951) 229 437, 09 49 227 773, 09 730 94007
Email: esearch@yangon.net.mm, esearch.myanmar@gmail.com
www.esearchmyanmar.com
www.facebook.com/esearchmyanmar
Property
bUSINeSS eDITOr: Jeremy Mullins | jeremymullins7@gmail.com
Longer loans key for affo
HouSE of THE wEEk
MyaT
nyEin ayE
myatnyeinaye11092@gmail.com
waterside living near

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The home is on a street coming
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The two-storey house has 3200
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The price at $8500 a month isnt
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Tin Yadanar Htun
Location : Off Kabaraye Pagoda rd,
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ALTHOUGH there are a slew of highrise buildings under construction in

Yangon, relatively few are being built
for the middle and lower class.
While a number of high-end projects mean there are more choices
than ever for luxury buyers, runaway
property prices have made it more
difficult than ever for the majority of
people in Myanmars largest city to
own their own home.
Industry players and government
officials are keen to solve the challenges of improving access to homes,
but even the low-cost housing projects they are building are getting
expensive. Low and middle-income
buyers may be able to absorb these
rising costs if they had longer-term
leases, but so far its been nearly impossible to get a mortgage over more
than a few years.
Daw Nyo Nyo Thin, a member of
the Yangon Region parliament, said
there should be ways for the lesswell-off to become home owners,
which likely includes government
support so banks can offer longer
loan terms.
Shorter loan terms mean higher
installments to be paid, often putting housing beyond the reach of
middle and low-income people. The
government ought to aid people in
receiving loans from local or foreign
banks, because the price of houses or
apartments is so high, she said.
Yet her proposal received a muted
reception in regional parliament on
December 5, and there are few signs
of new initiatives to change the way
loans for property work.
Officials say they are already
Construction is underway at the Bo Ba Htoo low-cost housing project in July. Photo
working to make home ownership

easier.
The Ministry of Construction
opened the Construction and Hous-
Developers need
to be practical, and
decide whether or
not the project is
practical.
U Sai Khon naung
real estate business chair
ing Development Bank (CHBD) in

January 2014 specifically aimed at
helping low and middle-income people own their own house or apartment. The intention was to begin offering mortgages as long as 30 years
at relatively low interest rates.
However, these ambitions have
yet to materialise, and poorer people
have few ways to obtain longer mortgages when purchasing homes.
CHDB bank is trying to give
loans at lower interest rates to lower-income people to help them with
home ownership, though the process
has been difficult, according to bank
managing director U Win Zaw.
We hope to give long-term, lowinterest loans, as we have been nego-
37
Quote of the week
For ages we have done business in the raw materials market.

We should move toward a value-added market as quickly as possible..
U Yone Mu, chair of the Myanmar Gems and Jewellery Entrepreneurs Association
ordable homes
: Aung Htay Hlaing
tiating with international banks for

capital. But now we have to negotiate over low interest, he said in an
interview.
If we can get loans from international banks with interest rates
below 8 percent, we can lend to
people for long terms at low interest.
At present it is difficult particularly for lower and middle-income
people to afford the short-term
loans usually given out for property,
even though the government has
built some low cost housing.
Yangon City Development Committee aims to build more low-cost
housing as soon as it has the necessary budget, said U Nay Win,
deputy director of the Department

of Engineering (Building) at YCDC.
Now we cooperate with private companies for construction,
and companies cant sell units [using long-term financing], he said.
They give at most four years for
mortgages because they need returns on their investment.
U Nay Win said he would prefer
to see low-income housing financed
entirely by the government, which
might alleviate some of the problems. In particular, they may be
able to provide longer-term loans.
YCDC for instance has begun
two low-cost housing projects in
North Dagon township. Called Bo
Ba Htoo and Bo Min Yaung, the average price per apartment was from
K20 to K40 million. They were sold
by requiring buyers to pay in four
installments, the first three for 30pc
of the total and the final installment for 10pc.
Although advertised as lowincome housing, some still say it is
out of their reach.
One office worker who earns
about K300,000 a month said the
pricetag is still simply too high.
If they gave a longer-term payment schedule of 10 years, we might
be able to buy a unit, he said.
Developers say it may be possible to build low-cost housing while
offering long-term mortgages.
U Sai Khon Naung, chair of a
real estate firm along with several
other businesses, said that while
its a possibility, its also important
that developers and construction
companies make practical decisions
about whether a project is feasible
or not.
Developers need to be practical,
and decide whether or not the project is practical, he said.
However, systems of mortgages
lasting for over 20 years are common in other countries, and could
also work here, he added.
Protesters vow to continue as

dust settles in Hong Kong
WORLD 43
Yangon residents key for first

Taunggyi high rise condo
tin yadanar tun
yadanar.mcm@gmail.com
myat noe oo
CONDO fever may have spread all
the way to remote Taunggyi, but
residents of the Shan State capital
seem resistant most of the interest in the 16-storey high-rise is
coming from Yangon residents, says
the sites developer.
Nan Htike Shwe Sin Condo,
claiming to be the first international-standard apartment block
in Taunggyi, is being built by Nan
Htike Shwe Sin Construction.
Yangon residents are much more
interested than locals, says developer U San Lin.
Taunggyi people live in their
houses, and arent attuned to condo
culture. This condo is selling for less
than half the Yangon price, so Yangon buyers are interested, he said.
The price per square foot ranges
from K110,000 to K125,000, with 30
percent payable in the first three
months, and the remaining 65pc
in instalments by December 2015.
Buyers will receive the key to the
door after a final 5pc payment on
December 31.
The development is located at
the corner of Mahabandoola and
Thida roads, Nyaungshwe Hawkone
township, on a 10,000 square-foot
freehold plot.
Eight floors have already been
built, and units will soon be put
on sale by instalment in Taunggyi,
Yangon, Mandalay and other cities,
said Ko Kyaw Min Zin, director of
the Min Zin Agency responsible for
marketing.
So far weve sold only 12 units.
We launched in Taunggyi, and will
launch in Yangon at the Second
Housing and Living expo in Tat-
The Taunggyi condo is under construction. Photo: Supplied
madaw Hall from December 13 to

16, he said. Launching the sales
process once the building is half
completed reduces the waiting period for the customer, he said.
Taunggyi people
live in their houses,
and arent attuned to
condo culture.
U San Lin
Nan Htike Shwe Sin developer
Once the proposed condo law

is enacted, owners will receive the
grant because the developer and
the landowner is the same, said Ko
Kyaw Min Zin.

The 48 units in the development
range from 1770 to 2170sqft, with
four units to each floor.
Developer U San Lin said, I built
this condo so Shan people living in
Yangon could buy a place in their
home town, and to raise standards
in Taunggyi.
The condo complex features two
swimming pools, gym, sauna, golf
driving range, barbecue site, spaces
for private parties and sky garden.
It was designed by Singapore architects Vista to resist earthquakes
up to level 8 on the Richter scale,
incorporating systems for power
emergencies and fires, and with
basement parking.
The ground and first floors will
house offices, a bank and showrooms. One investor will open a
minimarket, said Ko Kyaw Min
Zin.
38
Science & Technology
All Greek no more

Google adds Myanmar
catherine Trautwein
newroom@mmtimes.com
IN an historic move, Google Translate
has added Burmese to its portfolio, enabling the easy online translation of Myanmar language into other
tongues and back.
Google Translate upped its number of supported languages to 90
on December 12 by incorporating 10
new languages, four of which were
Asian: Myanmar, Malayalam, Sinhala, and Sudanese, said a Google Asia
Pacific blog post.
The initiative has been simmering for some time, and comes more
than a year after Google executive
chair Eric Schmidt visited Myanmar
and promised the company would
develop services for the country that
included translation.
We believe it will truly help open up
the web for a new community of users
who rely on Google Translate as a key
tool for accessing the web in their language, said Amy Kunrojpanya, Google
Asia Pacifics new emerging markets
head of communications and public

affairs. Google counts 33 million people
as native Myanmar speakers and highlights the particular obstacles to the
languages translation namely, those
around structure and font.
The Myanmar language also doesnt
use spaces to separate words, which is
common in English, Ms Kunrojpaynya
said. To translate these phrases into
English, we need to make sure that we
break them or segment them correctly,
so that its easier for the translation system to find the right translations.
The site also seemed to choose sides
MILLION
33
Native Myanmar speakers

according to Google .
TRADE MARK CAUTION

Acino Pharma AG. a company incorporated in Switzerland and
having its office at Birsweg 2, 4253 Liesberg, Switzerland, is
the Owner and Sole Proprietor of the following Trade Marks:-
METRACIN
Reg.No. IV/17303/2014
(Swiss Trademark Registration CH 624049 dated. 9. 11.2011)
ITRACIM
Reg.No. IV/17304/2014
AMLOCIM
Reg.No. IV/17305/2014

Used in respect of Class 5: Pharmaceutical and veterinary
preparations.
Fraudulent imitation or unauthorized used of the said Trade Marks
to law.
Khine Khine U, Advocate
LL.B, D.B.L, LL.M (UK)
For Acino Pharma AG
#205/5, Thirimingalar Housing, Strand Rd., Yangon.
Dated. December 15, 2014
in a major, long-running Myanmar

debate over font use. Translations will
only come out in Unicode, and Google
advocates for open-standard fonts, the
company said.
Since our translation system learns
from text it finds on the web, we need to
make sure that we understand the different variants of writing in the Myanmar script, Ms Kunrojpanya said.
The platform also incorporated
Chichewa, Malagasy and Sesotho from Africa and Central Asian
tongues Kazakh, Tajik and Uzbek, the
Google post noted.
The company also showed its appreciate for and appealed to the
Translate Community, which can
help users hone in on definitions in
the future. While our translation system learns from translated data found
on the web, sometimes we need support from humans to improve our algorithms, the post said.
Whether youre teaching yourself a
new language or trying to make a new
friend, Google Translate can be a powerful tool for crossing language barriers.
Rural areas eager

for telecoms rollout
aung kyaw nyunt
aungkyawnyunt28@gmail.com
WHILE Myanmars major cities
have seen network rollouts from
international telcos, mobile users
in rural areas still rely on Myanma
Posts and Telecommunications for
coverage.
As some say these regions experience network issues with legacy
solutions, nationwide rollouts could
infuse far-flung corners of the country with the services they need.
If the rural public

wants to connect
to hospitals in
emergencies, they
need to do it easily.
U Myo Myint Nyunt
Redlink
MPTs long history means it

has the jump on rural coverage
over Ooredoo and Telenor. But
the state-owned telcos network
across Myanmars less developed
areas regions 67 percent of the
population calls home, according
to The World Bank has been
sometimes overcrowded, according to one user.
MPTs phone link is so busy in
my state because there are so many
MPT SIM card users here, said Ma
Ei Thazin Phyo from Kyar Inn Seik
Gyi township of Kayin State. The
internet connection is so slow.
The company also has gaps in
coverage for GSM SIMs, according

to U Myo Myint Nyunt, Redlinks
assistant general manager of sales
and marketing, which breeds use
of CDMA SIMs instead.
MPT has revealed plans to double its 3G network by the end of
March, 2015.
Currently, its towers outnumber
competitors in rural Myanmar. Ma
Ei Thazin Phyo notes Kayin State
hasnt seen Ooredoo or Telenor
sites go up.
But the situation is likely to
shift. Ooredoo shoots to boost its
network to 40 percent of the population by the end of December, said
Ooredoo senior public relations
manager Ma Thiri Kyar Nyo. And
as previously reported, Telenor recently revealed plans to move into
eight regions and states Ayeyarwady, Bago, Magwe, Sagaing, Mandalay regions and Mon, Kayin and
Shan states this month.
Ooredoo and Telenor are also
heading into less-developed Myanmar territories such as Bago. One
resident said the foreign entrants
SIMs sold there for K1500 while
MPTs went for K4000 on the black
market.
Ooredoo first launched services
in August. Meanwhile, Telenor
debuted in September, launching
its network in Mandalay first and
then rolling out Nay Pyi Taw and
Yangon.
Coverage in Myanmars rural
areas could prove crucial across
sectors, according to U Myo Myint
Nyunt.
If the rural public wants to
connect to hospitals in emergencies, they need to do it easily, he
said. And if farmers want to know
about the downtown market, they
need to be able to call.
Science & Technology

Here comes
Santech Claus
Myo Satt
New app store to

bridge payment gap
CaThERinE
TRaUTWEin
Bluetooth Telescopic Game Controller

One controller, tons of adventures. This device can support both Bluetooth Android and iOS products. A variety of keys let users pump up or
turn down the volume, play or pause action, navigate games and more.
Fits devices of different sizes.
K45,000
Bluetooth Peel PayQi

This present turns a dumb device into a smartphone. With the Peel
PayQi, you can connect two SIM cards to a 5th generation iPod (version
iOS 7 required). A rechargeable, full battery gives you more than three
hours of usage.
K70,000
39
newroom@mmtimes.com
YANGON tech company Technomation

will launch a new app store that prioritises resolving big payment problems
for apps developers.
The store called Dinga after an
antique word for money will address
issues around buying apps in a market
yet to fully take on mobile payment, and
differentiate on digital rights management, according to Technomation CEO
Ko Htoo Myint Naung. It will official
join competitors in the field next year.
Technomation carried the flag for
applications makers in Myanmar, according to Ko Htoo Myint Naung. And
while the early bird gets the worm, it
also faces challenges that latecomers
dont. The company created and sold
apps before some users could connect
to the internet on their phones, complicating the business of selling products
and making money.
Technomation solved its own payment problem with tailor-made, encrypted USB sticks that worked like
a credit card for apps, Ko Htoo Myint
Naung said. About 200 to 300 mobile shops roughly 80 percent of the
Myanmars mobile ecosystem at that
time signed up to shift the sticks, he
continued.
But government reforms that have

lead to a renovated telecoms industry
complete with three major players,
two of them international telcos, have
also changed the resale landscape. The
number of stores selling mobile goods
has exploded, Ko Htoo Myint Naung
observed. In the beginning we can still
count these shops and we tried to expand our retail chain, he said. Then
comes the point when we cant count
the shops anymore so we began to
see this current system that is making
money is going to collapse in the near
future.
Technomation needed a new way to
sell products, but Ko Htoo Myint Naung
knew the worlds app stores most notably, Google Play Store and Apples
App Store wouldnt be rushing into
Myanmar in the meantime. There is
a big gap, like two to three years, that
nobody could sell their apps, he said.
So we decided to give up our currently
money-making systems and start with a
new thing a year and a half ago.
Ko Htoo Myint Aung characterised payment today as a waiting game
played with some makeshift pieces.
Knowing that mobile money and credit
card solutions could come, he said, You
... have to open all the options for upcoming payment systems, but still have
to build something for customers in the
here and now.
Technomation settled on scratch
cards as a way to sell apps. Like topups, they will be available everywhere,
Ko Htoo Myint Naung said. His com-
pany will leverage its web of resellers

to get the cards to customers. We can
expand our network exponentially, he
said, noting theyre inexpensive buys for
retailers.
Technomations office sits downtown
between Bogyoke and Anawratha on
45th Street. The Yangon company sees
its new app store, Dinga, as having a
local advantage over others like Google
Play, which some users cant even access
in Myanmar. Technomation, which also
makes navigation technology, can point
customers to nearby scratch card resale
locations when credit runs dry, said Ko
Htoo Myint Naung.
He also noted Dingas digital rights
management policies leave the heavy
lifting to the company.
You can totally forget about the app
store and all the complicated money
collection things. Well do it, he said.
Well do it at a price that is internationally accepted ... the same share [as] Play
Store and Apple.
As a customer of his own app store,
Ko Htoo Myint Naung said Technomation will generate revenues from app
sales rather than the store for a while.
The company has several polished and
ready for sequential launch, waiting for
the app store to go live, he said. In time,
the app store could monetise through
advertisements.
Dinga has already debuted in limited beta. Ko Htoo Myint Naung shoots
for a wider beta rollout this month and
a grand launch in two months if everything [is] stable, he said.
Expensive round trip for Nobel prize
Telephoto Lens For iPhone 6 Plus

Apples latest for the iPhone 6 Plus might be the perfect present for photo
buffs. This aluminum-body lens lets shot-takers zoom in on subjects up to
12x. Compatible with iPhone 6 Plus only. Cleaning cloth, universal holder,
mini tripod and case come included.
K70,000
Electric Balancing Unicycle

It might not be the most practical way to get around, but its more fun
than taxis. This one-wheeled wonder is designed for beginners as it
comes with training wheels. To hit the road for more than 15 hours,
youll need to charge the battery for longer than three hours.
K380,000
Available : Beno Sony Game Enterprise Ltd.
No. 259, Barr Street (Upper Block), Kyauktada Township, Yangon.
Phone : 01-256417, 09-8622744
RUSSIAS richest man says he is returning a Nobel prize he bought at

auction for $4.7 million just days ago
to the man who put it on the block:
controversial American geneticist
James Watson.
Mining, steel and telecom magnate
Alisher Usmanov revealed December
9 he was the anonymous buyer of the
1962 Nobel Prize for Psychology for
Medicine that Christies auctioned at
Watsons request on December 4 in
New York.
But in the same statement, Mr
Usmanovs USM holding company said

the oligarch whose net worth is estimated by Forbes at $17.6 billion will
be returning the award to Watson.
In my opinion, a situation in which
an outstanding scientist sells a medal
recognising his achievements is unacceptable, Mr Usmanov said, voicing
his satisfaction that the medal will
stay with the person who deserved it.
Mr Watson has been a controversial figure since a 2007 interview with
Londons Sunday Times newspaper in
which he suggested the intelligence of
Africans was lower than that of other

people.
The New York Times reported Mr
Watson saying the sale sought to restore his tarnished reputation.
USM said Mr Watson planned to
donate proceeds from the sale of his
Nobel to research institutions hed
worked with.
Mr Usmanov described the outcome
of his purchase as win-win all around.
I wouldnt like the medal of the
distinguished scientist to be an object
on sale. AFP
World
World editor: Fiona MacGregor
KABUL
IN PICTUREs
Photo: AFP
Afghan security personnel stand guard near the site where a bomber blew himself up at the Istiqlal High School by the
French cultural centre in Kabul on December 11. Photo: AFP
UN fears over new Taliban attacks

THE UN voiced serious concern
about the Talibans persistent threat
after the group killed seven people in
two suicide attacks in Kabul on December 12, including one targeting a
play at a French-financed high school.
The warning comes with the Afghan capital having been hit by a series of deadly attacks in recent weeks,
highlighting the fragility of security
as foreign combat troops leave after
more than a decade of war.
The late afternoon bombing at the
Istiqlal High School, attached to the
citys long-established French cultural
centre, killed a foreign national and
came just hours after another suicide
attack on a bus carrying Afghan troops
in the capitals suburbs killed six
soldiers.
The bomber killed a foreign national and wounded at least seven people,
according to Kabul police official General Farid Afzail, who added that the
perpetrator is thought to have been a
teenager.
French Foreign Minister Laurent
Fabius said the barbaric attack had
left several people dead.
The United Nations Security Council issued a unanimous statement condemning the attacks which also voiced
serious concern at the threats posed

by the Taliban, al-Qaeda and other terrorist and extremist groups, and illegal armed groups.
The blast struck during a musical
theatre production entitled Heartbeat:
The Silence After the Explosion, which
was a condemnation of suicide attacks, the BBC reported.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah
Mujahid claimed both bombings in
separate email statements, saying the
theatre show was desecrating Islamic values and propaganda against
jihad.
Witnesses described scenes of panic after the blast, with audience members screaming for help in the theatre
hall filled with smoke.
The cultural centre is in the centre
of Kabul, not far from the presidential
palace and shares its grounds with the
Istiqlal school, a French-financed institution that has taught generations
of Afghan children.
Originally opened in 1970, the cultural centre was forced to close between 1983 and 2002 as Afghanistan
was torn apart by a series of wars. It
reopened in 2003 and was revamped
in 2010.
French President Francois Hol-
lande condemned the bombing as

heinous and said it was an assault
on culture and creativity.
In the earlier attack, the bomber
who was on foot targeted a bus carrying Afghan troops in Tangi Tarakhil on
the outskirts of the capital, Mr Afzail
said.
As a result of the [first] attack, six
Afghan army staff were martyred and
10 others were wounded, the general
said.
A statement from the defence ministry confirmed the death toll, but said
11 people were wounded.
A recent spate of attacks in Kabul
has seen militants target foreign guest
houses, embassy vehicles, US troops
and Afghan army buses over the past
month.
The bloodshed has undermined
claims that the insurgency is weakening as NATOs 13-year war ends, and
heightened concerns Afghanistan
could trip into a spiral of violence
when the US-led military presence declines.
NATOs force in Afghanistan will
change on December 31 from a combat
mission to a support role, with troop
numbers cut to about 12,500, down
from a peak of 130,000 in 2010.
US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel
said on a visit to Kabul at the weekend
that the upsurge showed that the international community must not waver in its support for a stable, secure,
and prosperous Afghanistan.
Mr Hagel insisted Afghanistan
would not go the way of Iraq, where
another US-trained army virtually collapsed in the face of an onslaught by
Islamic State jihadists after American
troops left the country in 2011.
But a day later, Afghanistans chief
executive Abdullah Abdullah told Britains Sunday Times newspaper that
Western forces were leaving prematurely.
The attacks came as Washington announced it no longer held any
prisoners in Afghanistan, a day after
a damning US Senate report on the
brutal treatment of war on terror
detainees.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani
gave a stern condemnation of the CIA
torture detailed in the report, saying it
violated all accepted norms of human
rights and was part of a vicious cycle
of violence. AFP
Pakistani students
pose for a photograph
holding posters
bearing the image
of Nobel Peace
Prize winner Malala
Yousafzai at a
ceremony in Islamabad
on December 10.
Schoolgirl activist
Malala Yousafzais
courageous fightback
from being shot
by the Taliban has
transformed her
into a symbol for
human rights and a
campaigner in global
demand.
LANGLEY
CIA patriots de
US spymaster John Brennan last
week staunchly defended CIA officers as patriots, but admitted some
interrogators had used abhorrent
tactics in the past decade.
In an extraordinary news conference, broadcast live from the
agencys Langley headquarters
in a first in CIA history, Mr Brennan sought on December 11 to play
down a damning Senate report on
CIA torture of al-Qaeda suspects
that sparked a global furor.
Mr Brennan insisted the vast
majority of CIA officers performed
admirably but he confirmed some
had strayed outside of bounds
of approved rules and abused
prisoners.
Mr Brennan said the torture
came amid fear of another wave
of violence from al-Qaeda after the
September 11, 2001 attacks, as the
Central Intelligence Agency scrambled to take on the role of jailers, a
task it had virtually no experience
with.
We were not prepared, he said,
describing how then-president
George W Bush had approved the
so-called enhanced interrogation
techniques now denounced as
torture.
President Barack Obama halted
the program upon taking office in
2009 and has since described the
Bush-era use of torture by the CIA
as counterproductive and an affront to American values.
In a limited number of cases,
agency officers used interrogation
techniques that had not been authorized, were abhorrent and rightly should be repudiated by all, Mr
Brennan said.
Amid a political row about
whether Mr Bush was right to order tough tactics in the wake of
the attacks, Brennan said it was
unknowable
whether
harsh
interrogations had won useful
intelligence.
When asked about his public condemnation of the methods
five years ago, Mr Brennan said
he stood by his remarks and that
torture often produced unreliable
intelligence.
I tend to believe that the use of
coercive methods has a strong prospect for resulting in false information, he said.
Mr Brennan said answers from
detainees were indeed useful in the
hunt for Osama bin Laden, but it
was impossible to say whether the
enhanced interrogation had been
necessary.
Theres no way to know if information obtained from an individual
who had been subjected at some
point during his confinement could
have been obtained through other
means, he said.
Mr Brennan refused to say
whether the methods amounted
to torture, but said the CIA was no
longer involved in interrogating
suspects and has adopted reforms
to prevent such abuses from happening again.
As the program had been abandoned, it was time to move forward, he said.
But Mr Brennan blasted last
weeks Senate intelligence committee report that accused the CIA of
misleading the US government and
public for years about the scale and
effect of its torture methods.
Committee chair Senator Dianne Feinstein, who released the
report after a long wrangle with
the CIA over what should be made
public, mostly praised the directors
comments.
I am pleased that Director Brennan is attempting to
41
Economic reform
sees Japans Abe set
for another term
Hong Kong activists

vow to carry on as
street camps cleared
Laos case
highlights SE Asias
disappeared
world 42
world 43
World 45
SYDNEY
Poroshenko: ceasefire
in Ukraine is now real
despite torture tactics

acknowledge past mistakes by the
agency in order to focus on current
and future missions and make sure
that a program like this is never considered again, she said in a statement.
But she disputed the idea that it
was impossible to determine whether
torture had led the CIA to its targets.
The report shows that such
information in fact was obtained
through other means, both traditional CIA human intelligence and
from other agencies, Ms Feinstein
said.
The inquiry into the spy agencys abuse of al-Qaeda suspects in
a network of secret prisons around
the world between 2002 and 2009
triggered global outrage and demands for justice.

Rights groups renewed calls for
prosecutors to charge officials who
approved the torture.
If we dont hold officials accountable for ordering that conduct, our
government will adopt these methods again in the future, said Anthony
Romero, executive director of the
American Civil Liberties Union.
Mr Obama has condemned
the torture, but has refused to say
whether he thinks it can be effective.
According to the report, Mr Bush
only learned details of the interrogations in 2006, four years after
it started in the wake of the 9/11
attacks.
But, speaking to Fox News,

former vice president Dick Cheney
denied Mr Bush was kept out of
the loop. He said the then president
was in fact an integral part of the
program and he had to approve it.
Detainees were beaten, threatened, waterboarded, some of them
dozens of times, and humiliated
through the painful use of medically
unnecessary rectal feeding and
rectal rehydration.
At one secret prison in Afghanistan dubbed the Salt Pit, a detainee
died of hypothermia after being
doused with water and left chained
and half-naked on a cold, concrete
floor, according to the Senate report.
AFP
Director of Central Intelligence Agency John Brennan takes questions from reporters during a press conference at
CIA headquarters in McLean, Virginia, December 11. Photo: AFP
PRESIDENT Petro Poroshenko on December 11 said a real ceasefire was

in place in Ukraine after the first 24
hours in seven months without a military casualty, although he admitted
the truce was fragile.
I have positive news. Today is
the first 24 hours for seven months
... when we have a real ceasefire in
Ukraine, he said in a speech during a
trip to Australia.
You simply cant imagine how important it is for me. This is the first
night when I dont have either a lost
or wounded Ukrainian soldier.
The ceasefire with pro-Russian rebels was introduced on December 9 in
the hope of ending an eight-month conflict that has claimed at least 4300 lives
and displaced close to 1 million people,
according to United Nations figures.
A Ukrainian military spokesperson
said on December 11 that three soldiers were killed and eight injured in
the day preceding his comments.
But Mr Poroshenko said the previous 24 hours had passed without incident and that if the ceasefire held it
would be a great step for peace and
stability in Ukraine.
But he warned it had only been a
day.
Everything is so fragile. But I pray
that we should continue this process,
he said.
And if we will be united we will
win, no doubt. Not win by military
means, but we will launch political
dialogue, bring peace, bring stability
to my nation, to the continent and to
the whole world.
The process is being closely
watched in Europe, where concerns
over Russias support for the rebels
has plunged East-West relations to
their lowest ebb since the end of the
Cold War.
The two sides, along with Russian
and European monitors, are still trying

to organise comprehensive peace talks.
Mr Poroshenko added that the
conflict in his homeland was not just
about Ukraines independence and
territorial integrity.
This is a war for freedom, global
freedom. This is a war for democracy,
global democracy and this is the war
for security, global security, he said.
And I think that the tragic events
which happened in July in Ukraines
sky, the terrorist attack against MH17,
demonstrated how close and how
small is the world.
Some 298 people died, including
38 Australian citizens and residents,
when Malaysia Airlines MH17 was
downed in rebel-held eastern Ukraine.
The West has claimed the plane
was blown out of the sky with a missile supplied by Russia, an allegation
Moscow denies.
When asked about Moscows annexation of Crimea in March, the
Ukrainian leader said he was confident the territory would eventually be
returned to his country.
I have no doubt on that. Crimea
is Ukrainian. Im absolutely sure that
well win the battle for the Crimea.
This is a brutal violation of international law. And there should be a responsibility for this violation.
Mr Poroshenko added that he believed the Ukrainian conflict was a
very emotional matter for Russian
President Vladimir Putin, but that
peace was possible.
I think that the Ukrainian matter
for him is very emotional. I avoid the
term we will win war. But I can use
the term we will win peace, he said.
Mr Poroshenko was greeted by dozens of Ukrainian supporters following
his speech in Sydney, snapping photographs with them and joining in a rendition of the national anthem. AFP
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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (left) and his party candidate Hideki Makihara (right) fistpump during their campaign
in Tokyo on December 9 ahead of the countrys general election. Photo: AFP
Abenomics put PM on
track for election win
JAPAN was set to hold a general election last weekend that looked likely
to return Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
to power and might even give him
the momentum to press ahead with
badly needed structural changes.
Billed by the premier as a referendum on Abenomics, his signature
plan to fix the economy, observers
predicted he would barely break a
sweat in an easy victory on December 14 for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior
partner Komeito.
Abes expected victory is the result of the self-destruction of the opposition, said Shinichi Nishikawa,
professor of politics at Meiji University in Tokyo.
For many voters, there is no alternative but the LDP, Mr Nishikawa said.
According to a poll published by
the Asahi Shimbun on December 11,
the coalition was on track to secure
317 of the 475 seats, giving them the
super-majority they need in the powerful lower house to force through
legislation.
Mr Abe, 62, still had more than
two years left on the clock when he
called the vote last month.
His two years in power have been
characterised by a bid to reinvigorate
Japans sagging economy with what
he has called the three arrows of
Abenomics: monetary easing, fiscal
stimulus and structural changes.
The first two arrows have largely
hit their target. The once-painfully
high yen has plunged, sending stocks
higher.
Prices have begun rising after
years of standing still, proof, say Mr
Abes supporters, that this is the beginning of a virtuous circle of economic growth, with higher wages
soon to follow.
But the reform arrow remains in
the quiver. Critics say Mr Abe has
not been bold enough to take on the

vested interests that are the real key
to reversing nearly two decades of
economic underperformance.
A victory by the LDP will be
regarded as a positive factor for
the Japanese economy in the short
term, said Takahiro Sekido, Japan
economist at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
But painful reforms are still
ahead, including efforts to achieve
sound public finance and handle
strong opposition from farm lobbies
that have stalled talks on a huge Pacific-wide free trade deal, Mr Sekido
said.
A new mandate from the
A victory for
the LDP will be
regarded as a
positive factor
for the Japanese
economy in the
short term.
Takahiro Sekido
Economist
electorate is set to give Mr Abe a

straight four years run at some of
the more difficult reforms.
But ahead of the vote, analysts
warned that if voters were to hand
him too much of a majority, Mr Abe
might take his eye off the economic
ball and press his less-popular pet
projects.
While relations with China are
finally starting to thaw Mr Abe
met President Xi Jinping last month

for the first time - his nationalist
instincts, including a visit to a war
shrine and equivocations on Japans
wartime record of enslaving women
for sex, unsettle the region.
The best outcome would be a
Goldilocks victory by the LDP, said
James Schoff of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace referring to a parliamentary majority that
was not too big and not too small.
That kind of win will buy him
some extra time to move forward
on the tougher economic forums
that will be talked about, to be able
to make a deal on [the Trans-Pacific
Partnership], to go toe-to-toe with
the farm lobby and maybe allow
some multinational or big Japanese
corporations to invest in agricultural
production.
If Mr Abes win is too big, he
could actually get distracted, I think,
by some other constitutional reforms
and other bigger historical things
that he wants to do ... [which] could
rile up the region, slow Japan down,
said Mr Schoff.
With only days to go, candidates
wearing white gloves and sashes emblazoned with their names were putting in the hours at train stations,
greeting voters and repeating their
names through megaphones.
But even in a country used to unspectacular politics, harried salarymen appear more uninterested than
usual.
Only two-thirds of voters expressed any interest in the vote, a
poll found, down from 80 percent in
December 2012.
This is an election with no wind
as non-partisan voters cant find
where to go, said Koji Nakakita, a
politics professor at Tokyos Hitotsubashi University.
Its going to be a victory for the
LDP without enthusiasm. AFP
World 43
www.mmtimes.com
HONG KONG
Protests cleared but campaign

will continue, activists vow
RUSH-HOUR
traffic
streamed
through the heart of Hong Kong
for the first time in more than two
months on December 12 after police
cleared the citys main pro-democracy protest camp with mass arrests,
but activists vowed that their struggle would go on.
The east-west artery through
the citys business district had
been blocked since September
by the sprawling protest site in a
campaign that demonstrators say
has changed the citys vexed relationship with Beijing forever, and
which has polarised public opinion
in the city.
Police swept through the Admiralty site on December 11, clearing
the multi-lane highway and arresting
more than 200 protesters.
The demonstrators are calling
for fully free elections for the citys
leader in 2017, but Beijing has insisted a loyalist committee vet the candidates, which protesters say would
ensure the selection of a pro-China
stooge.
Demonstrators feel their lengthy
occupation has put the democracy
movement on the map with Beijing
and the local administration, after it
brought parts of the city to a standstill and saw tens of thousands on
the street at its height.
If we win the
support of young
people ... there is a
greater chance to
achieve universal
suffrage.
Joshua Wong
Student leader
A police officer clears a tent from a road at the main pro-democracy protest site in the Admiralty district in Hong Kong
on December 11. Photo: AFP
But it has achieved no political

concessions from either Hong Kongs
leaders or Beijing, who both branded
the protests illegal.
Despite that, protest leaders said
they would continue to push for
reform.
If we fight a long war we definitely do not have the ... resources
the government has, said teenage
student leader Joshua Wong on December 11.
Instead the movement needed to
galvanise the support of young voters, many of whom engaged with
politics for the first time during the
mass protests, he said.
If we win the support of the
young people regarding democracy
... there is a greater chance to achieve
universal suffrage.
Leader of the Occupy Central
campaign group, Benny Tai, warned
of more action to come.
If the problem of political reform
is not handled appropriately I believe the next phase there will be new
resistance actions. Would it be longterm occupation of streets? Maybe
not, he said.
Mr Tai handed himself in to police
the previous week in a symbolic bid
to get the protests off the street in the
wake of violent clashes, only to be
turned away without being charged
or arrested.
Analysts said the pro-democracy
movement, from students to legislators, would have to become more coherent if it were to achieve any political concessions.
They need to pull together to
create a viable coalition of stakeholders, said political analyst Willy Lam
of the Chinese University of Hong
Kong.
They need to act together to
lobby and negotiate with the [Hong
Kong] administration and Beijing.
That would also give the Hong Kong
people the impression that they

speak with one voice and are much
more organised, said Mr Lam.
Public support for the movement
waned as the weeks of protests wore
on and the campaign splintered in
different directions.
Some in Admiralty on December
12 expressed their support for the police clearance action.
I think it was correct because
they broke the law, said one 46-yearold civil servant who gave his name
as George.
But others expressed disappointment and the need for the movement
to continue.
I am so depressed its gone, said
Kim Lo, 34, who works in property.
I think now we have to sit down
and think what we want. We need to
spread the message, to help the seed
grow. I dont think we should go back
on the streets yet.
AFP
SEOUL
Air chief
sorry for
foolish
daughter
KOREAN Air CEO Cho Yang-Ho publicly apologised on December 12 after
his daughter triggered public anger
and ridicule by kicking the head of
cabin crew off a flight because of the
way she had been served some nuts.
Addressing a televised press conference, Mr Cho apologised for his
daughter Cho Hyun-Ahs foolish act
and suggested he should share some
of the blame for not bringing her up
correctly.
I am making this apology as a father and as the head of Korean Air,
Mr Cho said.
As well as being the bosss daughter, Cho Hyun-Ah was a vice president
of the family-run airline, but her father confirmed that she was being relieved of all her official posts.
Ms Cho has been front-page fodder
in the South Korean media since forcing a New York-Seoul Korean Air flight
to return to its gate the previous week
to remove the chief purser, the most
senior member of the crew.
Ms Cho, sitting in first class, took
exception to the arrival of some macadamia nuts she had not asked for, and
to the fact that they were served in a
packet rather than a bowl.
She summoned the chief purser
who, according to an earlier Korean
Air statement, replied with lies and
excuses when challenged over his
crews knowledge of in-flight service
procedures. Ms Cho then decided the
chief purser was incapable and the
plane returned to the gate where he
disembarked, causing an 11-minute
delay in arrival.
Her behaviour attracted heavy criticism in South Korea, where she was
accused of being petty and arrogant,
and prompted a state probe over a
possible breach of aviation safety laws.
Ms Cho bowed deeply before TV
cameras as she appeared at the transport ministry to be questioned over
the incident. I sincerely apologise,
she said. AFP
44 World
BEIJING
IN PICTUREs
Photo: AFP
A resident salvages
materials from his house
destroyed at the height
of Typhoon Hagupit at a
village along a highway
in Eastern Samar
province, the Philippines,
on December 9. Hagupit,
the strongest storm to
hit the disaster-ravaged
country this year, has
claimed at least 23 lives
since smashing into the
archipelago, bringing
winds of 210 kilometres
(130 miles) an hour.
BANGKOK
Thailand denies CIA black site

A SENIOR Thai official last week
flatly rejected longstanding claims
the kingdom hosted a secret CIA
prison after the publication of a US
Senate report this week reignited
controversy over Washingtons
black site network.
Thailand has long been accused
by human rights groups of being
one of a number of countries who
hosted secret prisons run by the CIA
to interrogate al-Qaeda suspects in
the years after the 9/11 attacks on
New York.
But Suwaphan Tanyuvardhan, a
minister in the Prime Ministers Office, rejected any suggestions that
the Thai government had been complicit in running any black sites.
There has been no such thing as
a secret prison or torture facilities

in Thailand. Thai officials do not
do these kind of actions, he told
reporters.
Rights groups have repeatedly
said black sites were located in
the kingdom as well as in Afghanistan, Lithuania, Poland and Romania, though the Senate report made
no reference to Thailand hosting
any prisons.
The long-awaited and heavily
redacted Senate report, released on
December 9, said the CIAs interrogation program was far more brutal
than previously acknowledged.
On December 9, Polands former
president publicly acknowledged
for the first time that his country
did host a secret CIA prison.
The Senate report offered a

damning indictment of the CIAs
secret program, saying torture did
not produce substantially useful
intelligence.
The findings are a source of
embarrassment for many of Washingtons allies who cooperated with
the US in their hunt for Al-Qaeda
operatives.
Lt Gen Nantadej Meksawat, a retired intelligence officer, said Thailand cooperated with US officials
but denied running prisons.
Since the World Trade Center
attacks, the US made several operations to arrest al-Qaeda operatives in several countries including
Indonesia and Thailand, he told
reporters.
The Senate report did refer to

senior al-Qaeda operative Hanbali,
an Indonesian-born militant, who
was seized in a US-Thai operation
in 2003. He remains incarcerated in
Guantanamo Bay.
Libyan national Abdul-Hakim
Belhaj also claims he was detained
by US intelligence officers at Bangkok airport in Thailand in 2004 and
returned to his homeland which
was run by Moamer Kadhafi at the
time.
Mr Belhaj was a member of the
the anti-Kadhafi Libyan Islamic
Fighting Group and says he was tortured and imprisoned on his return.
He is now a prominent Libyan
politician.
AFP
Castro wins
Chinas Nobel
FIDEL Castro has been awarded Chinas version of the Nobel Peace Prize,
reports said last week, with a paper
close to the ruling Communist Party
hailing the former Cuban leaders important contributions to world peace.
Mr Castro bested more than 20
nominees including South Korean
President Park Geun-Hye, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, and the
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation,
a regional group led by Moscow and
Beijing, to win this years Confucius
Peace Prize, the state-run Global Times
reported.
The Cuban revolutionary icon was
selected by nine judges out of a group
of 16 experts and scholars, the paper
said.
The shadowy Confucius prize
emerged in 2010, when it was suddenly announced by the panel two
days before jailed Chinese dissident
Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel to
Beijings anger, sparking speculation
it was set up with the governments
guidance.
A Cuban exchange student received
this years award on Mr Castros behalf
at a ceremony on December 9, one day
before Malala Yousafzai and Kailash
Satyarthi accepted their Nobel Peace
Prize in Oslo.
While in office, Mr Castro didnt
resort to violence or force to settle
disputes in international relations,
especially with the United States, the
Global Times wrote.
After his retirement, he has been
actively meeting with leaders and
groups from all over the world and
has made important contributions to
emphasising the need to eliminate nuclear war, it added.
Since leaving office in 2006 during
a nearly fatal health crisis, Mr Castro, 88, has spent his free time writing books and articles for the official
press in Cuba, which now is led by his
younger brother Raul.
In 2010, the first Confucius Peace
Prize winner was awarded to Taiwans
Lien Chan at a chaotic press conference, although the former vice presidents office denied all knowledge of it.
Mr Castro did
not resort to
violence or force
to settle disputes
in international
relations.
The Global Times
Organisers of the prize denied links

to the government, but the awards
executive chairman Liu Haofeng said
later that it had been set up by an association overseen by Chinas culture
ministry.
In a move that added to the confusion surrounding the prize, the following year the ministry ordered organisers to scrap it, but the academics
pressed ahead with their plans and
gave it to Russian President Vladimir
Putin.
Former UN Secretary General Kofi
Annan and Chinese agricultural scientist Yuan Longping shared the award
in 2012, and Yi Cheng, a Zen master
who is the honorary head of the Buddhist Association of China, was awarded it last year.
Chinas foreign ministry on December 11 denied any government connection to the prize.
The award was organised by a civil
organisation in China, which showcases their aspirations for world peace,
spokesperson Hong Lei said at a regular briefing.
AFP
World 45
www.mmtimes.com
BANGKOK
Laos case highlights misery of

Southeast Asias disappeared
TWO years after Sombath Somphone
vanished, the Laotian activists wife
says his abductors enjoy impunity
an ugly reality across a region where
powerful business interests and
murky state actors stand accused of
routinely disappearing opponents.
Mr Sombath disappeared from
the streets of the capital of Laos,
Vientiane, after he was pulled over at
a police checkpoint.
The disappearances continue in
the region: from a Cambodian teenager last seen covered in blood during a labour protest, to an ethnic
minority activist who vanished in
Thailand after confronting national
park officials.
The case of Mr Sombath, an
award-winning champion of sustainable development but one who
avoided direct confrontation, horrified civil society in Laos, a one-party
communist state slowing emerging
from decades of isolation.
His disappearance on December
15, 2012 stood out partly because the
evidence pointing to abduction was so
compelling and also because a stream
of international figures called for his
safe return including Hillary Clinton,
John Kerry and Desmond Tutu.
The crime of disappearance is
particularly cruel, Mr Sombaths
wife Ng Shui-Meng, a Singaporean
who lived in Laos with him, said in
Bangkok last week.
Its very difficult to live with the
unknown.
There are no hard numbers. But
dozens, and likely hundreds, of people have vanished across Southeast
Asia in the past two decades, often
after coming up against local business, criminal or political interests.
In Thailand alone, there are at
least 81 open cases of enforced disappearance dating back as far the mid1990s, according to Angkhana Neelapaijit from the Asian Federation
Against Involuntary Disappearances.
Others
have
been
killed,
Ng Shui-Meng, the wife of

missing Laotian activist
Sombath Somphone,
speaks during an interview
with AFP in Bangkok on
December 10. Photo: AFP
apparently silenced in retribution for

their work to raise community grievances, including two activists shot
dead last week in Thailand.
In the Philippines, relatives of 58
people killed five years ago in the
countrys worst political massacre
are still waiting for justice. No one
has yet been convicted and witnesses
have been murdered.
Ms Angkhanas husband Somchai,
a human rights lawyer, was last seen
being taken into custody by police in
Bangkok in March 2004. His fate remains unknown.
There are many others in the
Asia region who have disappeared
but their mishaps were never mentioned or received any attention, she
said this week at a news conference
in Bangkok.
One case that has largely flown
under the international radar is that
of Por Cha Lee Rakcharoen, a Karen
rights activist also known as Billy,
who was apprehended by national
park officials in Thailand on April
17, ostensibly for illegal honey gathering.

He was en route to meet fellow
ethnic minority Karen villagers to
help them file a lawsuit accusing authorities of torching the homes of 20
families in Kaeng Krachan National
Park in 2011.
The local park chief says he was
the last person to see Billy alive, but
a police probe has yet to declare a
suspect.
In Cambodia, 16-year-old Khem
Sophath has been missing since
January 2014, when security forces
opened fire on striking garment
workers near an industrial park in
southwest Phnom Penh, killing four.
Rights groups say Mr Khem, a factory worker, was last seen by friends
lying on the ground, conscious, but
with blood streaming from what they
believed to be a gunshot wound to
his chest.
Diplomats and rights groups in
Laos told AFP the last time the authorities gave an update on their in-
vestigation into Mr Sombaths disappearance was June 2013.

CCTV cameras in Vientiane captured the moment his battered jeep
stopped at the police checkpoint.
But Sam Zarifi, from the International Commission of Jurists,
describes the investigation from
the Laotian authorities as wholly
inadequate.
The official apathy has had a chilling effect on activist groups and civil
society, rights groups say.
Many now steer clear from controversial subjects such as land
seizures or environmental damage
caused by companies, local officials
or powerful individuals.
Phil Robertson from Human
Rights Watch said the silence from
the Laotian government is a tactic
favoured by an increasing number
of governments in the region.
They are using disappearances to
instil fear in communities wanting to
raise grievances against the authorities, he said. AFP
KUALA LUMPUR
Pirates kill
Vietnamese
crewman
A MEMBER of a Vietnamese tanker
crew was shot dead by pirates off the
eastern coast of Malaysia, maritime
officials said on December 8, the latest in a spate of attacks in Southeast
Asian waters.
The 16-crew tanker was carrying
asphalt from Singapore to Vietnam
when pirates stormed the vessel on
December 7 near Aur island off southern Johor state, according to the International Maritime Bureau.
Armed robbers had boarded a tanker. They shot a crew member on the
head and killed him. Pirates also stole
crew properties before escaping, Noel
Choong, head of IMBs Kuala Lumpurbased Piracy Reporting Center, said.
Mr Choong said the shot crew
member was flown to a Singapore hospital but died from his injuries.
While the deadly incident was the
first in almost two years in Malaysian
waters, the IMB in October warned of
an increase in Southeast Asian pirate
attacks, saying they made up the bulk
of incidents reported globally.
There were 103 pirate attacks in
Southeast Asian waters in the first
three quarters of this year, out of 178
globally, according to IMB, far ahead
of the notorious waters off Somalia.
The organisation warned that
gangs of thieves armed with knives
and guns were increasingly attacking
small tankers carrying oil or diesel and
stealing the cargo in Southeast Asia.
The region is home to vital shipping lanes such as the South China Sea
and the Malacca Strait separating Malaysia and Indonesia, through which
one-third of global trade passes. AFP
103
Pirate attacks in Southeast Asian

waters in the first three quarter of 2014
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NOTICE is hereby given that Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. a
company organized under the laws of South Korean and having
its registered office at 129, Samsung-ro, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si,
Gyeonggi-do, Korea (South) is the Owner and Sole Proprietor of
the following trademarks: -
(Reg: Nos. IV/10135/2011 & IV/16922/2014)
(Reg: Nos. IV/10134/2011 & IV/16923/2014)

The above two trademarks are respect of : Batteries for use with mobile phones and tablet computers;
camcorders; computer game software; computer network hubs,
switches and routers; computer software for instant messaging,
sending and receiving emails and contact information, schedule
sharing and contents sharing service; computer software for
managing and organizing various digital reading contents,
namely, e-book, e-newspaper, thesis, and e-magazine; computer
software for personal information management; computer software
for purchasing, downloading, playing or listening to music;
computer software for purchasing, subscribing, downloading,
playing or listening to digital reading contents, namely, e-books,
e-newspapers, thesis and e-magazines; computer software for
use in recording, organizing, transmitting, manipulating, and
reviewing text, data, audio files, video files and electronic games
in connection with TV, computers, music players, video players,
media players, mobile phones, and portable and handheld digital
electronic devices; computer software for use with satellite and
GPS navigation systems for navigation, route and trip planning,
and electronic mapping; computer software for travel information
systems for the provision or rendering of travel advice and for
information concerning hotels, landmarks, museums, public
transportation, restaurants and other information regarding travel
and transport; computer software to be used for viewing and
downloading electronic maps; embedded computer software used
as an electronic feature found on cellular or mobile phones that
allows users to play and download electronic games, listen to and
download ring tones and music, and view and download screen
savers and wallpapers; computer software to enable authoring,
posting, uploading, downloading, transmitting, receiving, editing,
extracting, encoding, decoding, playing, storing, organizing,
showing, displaying, tagging, blogging, sharing or otherwise
providing electronic media or information over the internet or
other communications network; computer software to enable
users to program and distribute audio, video, text and other
multimedia content, namely, music, concerts, videos, radio,
television, news, sports, games, cultural events, and entertainmentrelated and educational programs via communication network;
computers; data communication cables for use with mobile phones
and tablet computers; digital cameras; digital set-top boxes;
downloadable digital images, namely, photographic or video
images; downloadable ring tones; DVD players; ear phones for
mobile telephones and tablet computers; electric battery chargers
for mobile phones and tablet computers; facsimile machines; hard
disk drives; internet protocol (IP) PBX (private branch exchange)
switchboards; IP internet protocol phones; key phone terminals;
LAN switches; mobile phone and tablet computer operating
system software; mobile telephones; monitors for computers; MP3
players; network access server hardware and operating software;
PDA (Personal Digital Assistants); portable computers; portable
multimedia players; printers for computers; semiconductors; smart
phones; computer software for network management system;
switch routers; tablet computers; telephones; television receivers;
USB flash memory; wide area network (WAN) routers Intl
Class - 9
Any fraudulent imitation or unauthorized use of the said
trademarks or other infringements whatsoever will be dealt with
according to law.
for Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Phone: 372416
46 World
DHAKA
Tanker spill catastrophe

for rare river dolphins
BANGLADESH officials warned last
week that an oil spill from a crashed
tanker is threatening endangered dolphins and other wildlife in the massive
Sundarbans mangrove region, branding the leak an ecological catastrophe.
The tanker carrying an estimated
350,000 litres (75,000 gallons) of oil
collided on December 9 with another
vessel and partly sank in the Sundarbans Shela river, home to rare Irrawaddy and Ganges dolphins.
Although officials are unsure how
much oil has spilled, they warned the
slick has spread to another river as
well as a network of canals in the vast
Sundarbans delta.
The oil spill has spread over a
60-kilometre-long [37-mile] area in the
Shela and Passur rivers, Amir Hossain,
chief forest official of the Sundarbans,
said.
Its a catastrophe for the delicate
ecology of the Sundarbans. The oil spill
has already blackened the shoreline,
threatening trees, plankton, vast populations of small fishes and dolphins.
The symptoms of environmental
damage will be visible soon as the water quality has already been damaged,
he added.
Authorities have launched a smallscale clean-up, but warned they lack the
hardware and experience for a major effort. Navy boats and government officials
were en route to salvage the tanker.
Weve not started any major cleanup efforts yet. In fact, the forest department doesnt have the technology to
deal with this kind of disaster, said Mr
Hossain.
Bangladeshs state-run petroleum
corporation was using buoys to restrict
the slick, while local fishermen have
been ordered to use nets to try to stop
The forest
department doesnt
have the technology
to deal with his kind
of disaster.
Amir Hossain
Chief forest official
the oil entering small canals.

Spread over 10,000 square kilometres (3900 square miles), the Sundarbans is a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site and home to hundreds of
Bengal tigers. The delta comprises a
network of rivers and canals straddling
Bangladesh and India.
The accident occurred inside one
of three sanctuaries set up for the dolphins, said Rubayat Mansur, Bangladesh head of the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society.
The three areas were declared dolphin sanctuaries in 2011 after studies
found they are home to some 6000 of
the animals. Fishermen are banned
from making catches there, but tankers and other boats are allowed to pass
through.
Speaking from the accident site, Mr
Mansur labelled the spill a national
disaster and accused authorities of not
doing enough to contain the damage.
There are no coordinated efforts to
tackle the disaster. The air has become
toxic and we got news from fishermen
theyve seen dead fishes. Dolphins will
find it very difficult to breathe this foul
air, he added. AFP
JAKARTA
Editor facing blasphemy charge

THE chief editor of a leading English-language newspaper in Muslimmajority Indonesia has been named
a suspect in a blasphemy case after
the publication of a cartoon about the
Islamic State group, police said on December 12.
The Jakarta Posts Meidyatama
Suryodiningrat could be jailed for up
to five years if found guilty, and is the
latest person to face action under the
countrys tough blasphemy laws that
have been criticised by rights groups
as overly harsh and outdated.
The cartoon, published in the paper
on July 3, shows a man raising a flag
emblazoned with the Arabic phrase
There is no God but Allah over a
picture of a skull and crossbones, with
armed fighters in the background.
Following an outcry from Islamic
groups, the Jakarta Post issued a front-
page apology and retracted the cartoon

five days later, insisting it was meant to
critique the use of religious symbols
and as a reproach to IS, a brutal Islamist group which holds vast swathes of
territory across Syria and Iraq.
A group called the Jakarta Muslim
Preachers Corps filed a complaint to
the police and on December 12, Jakarta police spokesperson Rikwanto, who
goes by one name, said that Mr Suryodiningrat had been officially named a
suspect the previous day.
The status of MS has been upgraded to suspect, said the spokesperson, using the editors initials, the
usual practice in criminal cases in
Indonesia.
Local media reported that he will
be summoned for questioning this
week. In some criminal cases in Indonesia, people are first named a suspect
and only detained at a later date.

In a statement published on the
Jakarta Posts website, Mr Suryodiningrat said that the paper was amazed
by the move.
What we produced was a journalistic piece that criticised the ISIS [IS]
movement, which has carried out violence in the name of religion, he said.
Rights group Amnesty International last month called on new President
Joko Widodo to abolish the blasphemy
laws, saying that cases of people being jailed for infringing the regulations had skyrocketed under his
predecessor.
The editor of Indonesias version of
Playboy magazine, Erwin Arnada, was
jailed for two years in 2010 for indecency but walked free in 2011 after the
Supreme Court accepted his appeal.
AFP
World 47
www.mmtimes.com
BEIJING
IN PICTUREs
Photo: AFP
A human
rights group
burns an effigy
of Philippine
President
Benigno
Aquino to mark
International
Human Rights
Day in a rally
staged near the
presidential
palace in Manila
on December
10. The group
accuse Mr
Aquino, whose
government
is battling
communist
and Muslim
insurgencies, of
abetting rights
abuses.
Uighars face
new burqa ban
AUTHORITIES in the capital of the
mainly Muslim Uighur homeland of
Xinjiang voted to ban the wearing
of burqas in public, media said last
week as China confronts unrest with
tough measures that critics have labelled discriminatory.
Hundreds have died in ethnic
clashes across the restive far western region in recent months, with
Beijing vowing to strike hard
against violence.
The local legislature of Urumqi
on December 10 considered and
adopted Regulations for the banning of wearing of burqas in public areas in Urumqi, the Sina web
news portal said.
The measure will next go to
the regional legislature to examine and then to implement it, the
report added.
China has previously launched
drives to discourage women from
covering their faces, and security
officials often log details of those
wearing burqas, an Islamic garment that covers the eyes as well
as the whole face and body.
A Project Beauty campaign in
the predominantly Uighur city of
Kashgar saw a publicity offensive
encouraging women not to wear
traditional Islamic clothing.
Authorities in another Xinjiang
city, Karamay, in August banned
people wearing hijabs, niqabs,
burqas, or clothing with the Islamic star and crescent symbol from
local buses.
Rights groups say that harsh
police treatment of Uighurs and
campaigns against some religious
practices has stoked violence.
Beijing has blamed separatists from Xinjiang for a wave of
deadly incidents in and beyond the
region, which have been labelled
terrorism by Beijing.
Several hundred people have died
this year, and Xinjiang witnessed its
bloodiest incident since 2009 when
56
Recognised ethnic groups in China.
37 civilians and 59 terrorists were

killed in an attack on a police station
and government offices in Shache
county, also known as Yarkand, in
July. Five years ago, rioting involving Uighurs and members of Chinas
Han majority left around 200 people
dead in Urumqi.
China defends its policies in
Xinjiang, arguing it boosts economic development and upholds
minority and religious rights in a
country with 56 recognised ethnic
groups. AFP
48 World
GENEVA
Ebola crisis highlights

W African health costs
WEAKNESSES in west African healthcare systems exposed by the Ebola
outbreak will require hundreds of
millions of US dollars to rectify if they
are to withstand future shocks, health
chiefs said last week.
Even as Sierra Leone, Guinea and
Liberia continue to battle the virus
that has killed almost 6400 people, focus is turning to how to rebuild shattered health services in the worst affected countries.
After talks with donors and NGOs
in Geneva on how to plan for the future, Guineas health minister Remy
Lamah said the virus had laid bare
our weaknesses.
He said he hoped that the Ebola
epidemic in his country could be over
by the end of April. But he warned,
It will take at least five years to have
a health system strong enough to respond to another similar outbreak. It
will require about $300 million.
Sierra Leones health minister Abu
Bakarr Fofanah declined to give a figure but said he was drawing up a five,
six, seven, eight-year plan to rebuild
and strengthen health services for after Ebola was defeated.
The World Health Organization
has warned that deaths from the outbreak will surpass those directly killed
because of its crippling effect on already patchy health services.
The two-day discussions hosted
by the WHO aimed to find practical
actions, including how to boost the
number of local health workers in the
worst affected countries.
Before the outbreak, the impoverished nations counted just between
one and two doctors per 100,000 inhabitants and many of these have
since died themselves from the virus.
Mr Fofanah said he could count
with my fingers the number of
I can count with my

fingers the number
of ambulances
we had before the
outbreak.
Abu Bakarr Fofanah
Sierra Leone health minister
TRADE MARK CAUTION

Kabushiki Kaisha NTT Data (NTT Data Corporation),
a company incorporated in Japan, of 3-3, Toyosu
3-Chome, Koto-ku, Tokyo, Japan, is the Owner of the
following Trade Mark:-
PANADES
Reg. No. 17399/2014
in respect of Class 09: Telecommunication devices
and apparatus; Recording media, such as IC Cards,
magnetic tapes, magnetic data media, and optical data
media stored with computer programs downloadable
by communication networks; Recording media, such
as IC Cards, magnetic tapes, magnetic data media, and
optical data media stored with other computer programs;
Recording media, such as magnetic data media, optical
data media, magnetic tapes and IC cards, not recorded;
Magnetic data carriers, recording discs; Compact discs,
DVDs and other digital recording; Computer programs;
Computer software; Integrated software package for
Flight Procedure Design; Other electronic machines,
apparatus and their parts; Computer hardware; Data
processing equipment and computers; Downloadable
music files recorded with sound or music through
communication network or the Internet; Downloadable
image files through communication network or the
Internet; Electronic publications downloadable by
communication networks; Other electronic publications;
Recording media, such as magnetic data media, optical
data media and optical magnetic data media, recorded
with text and image information of maps and photographs.
Class 42: Computer software design, computer
programming, or maintenance of computer software;
Computer software design, computer programming, or
maintenance of computer software for Flight Procedure
Design; Updating of computer software; Consultancy,
instruction and providing information relating to
computer software design, computer programming, or
maintenance of computer software; Installation and
maintenance of computer software systems and providing
information relating to the same; Consultancy, instruction
and providing information relating to computer software
design, computer programming, or maintenance
ambulances we had before the outbreak in Sierra Leone, adding that

it also had no burial vehicles and just
one laboratory capable of identifying
Ebola.
Liberias chief medical officer, Bernice Dahn, said that at one point in
the outbreak 65 percent of health facilities were closed by default because
health workers fell ill.
Routine healthcare services went
down. Pregnant women did not have
access to healthcare, children were not
getting their immunisation, people
with hypertension were not getting
care, she said.
Ms Dahn said that immediate costs
included $70 million for supplies
for infection prevention and control
alone, and another $56 million for
basic services. Liberia had long been
the hardest-hit country but has seen a
clear decrease in transmission of Ebola over the past month, and now has
fewer cases than Sierra Leone.
There are still areas of intense
transmission in the country, particularly in the western area where unfortunately the capital is located, and also
in the northern province, Mr Fofanah
said. AFP
SEOUL
N Korea airs footage of

returned teen defectors
NORTH Korea released a fresh
video on December 11 purportedly
showing nine young defectors controversially repatriated from Laos,
in an apparent bid to refute claims
that they had been executed or
imprisoned.
The nine refugees, then aged 15
to 19, were arrested in Laos in May
2013 and eventually returned to
the North via China, despite pleas
by Seoul and the UN against their
repatriation.
It was not clear exactly when
they had escaped from North Korea.
The case attracted global attention because of their age and reports
suggesting they were all orphans.
Earlier this month, a former
Seoul lawmaker said that the two
eldest refugees, Moon Chol and Paik
Yong-Won, had been executed on
their return and the others sent to a
prison camp.
The latest video, the second released this week on the Norths official website, Uriminzokkiri apparently featured all nine defectors and
included footage of them studying
in school and praising leader Kim
Jong-Un.
An earlier video, posted on December 9 had only shown four.
We are studying in comfort under the loving care of our leader who
of computer software for Flight Procedure Design;

Computer system design, creating or maintenance of
computer systems; Computer system integration services;
Computer system analysis; Consultation, instruction
and providing information relating to computer system
design, creating or maintaining of computer systems;
Providing technical information relating to computer
software design, computer programming, or maintenance
of computer software using the Internet, mobile telephone
communication or other communication means;
Creating or maintaining home pages for others on the
Internet; Creation and development of websites and
Internet portals (search engines); Designing, creating
and maintaining of home pages for advertising on the
Internet; Hosting of digital content and web sites on the
Internet; Providing information relating to designing,
creating and maintaining of computer programs
against computer virus; Providing information relating
to designing, creating and maintaining of computer
programs for computer network security; Consulting
services relating to security on communication network
by the Internet, mobile telephone communication
or other communication means; Identification of
electronic commerce users; Inspection, verification and
authentication of existence of falsification of contents of
electronic information; Encryption of data for computers;
On-line identification of registered users; Identification
and collation with personal data of communication
network users; Providing information relating to
designing, creating and maintaining of computer
programs used for personal identification system using
fingerprint; Rental of access time to computer databases;
Providing search engines by the Internet, mobile
telephone communication or other communication
means; Conversion of sound, image and text information
to sound, image and text signals by computers; Data
conversion to computer databases; Electronic interchange
of photo image in data form; information processing by
computers; Remote monitoring of computer systems;
Expansion and addition of functions and configuration
of computer programs and computers (including central
processing units and electronic circuits, magnetic discs
and magnetic tapes storing computer programs and
other peripheral equipment); Verification of connection
between computers; Confirmatory verification of
computer program behavior; Computer consulting and
saved us from the grip of death,

Moon Chol said in the latest post.
We heard about the rumours in
the South about our death ... but we
are alive and well, Mr Moon said.
North Koreans caught after fleeing the country usually face severe
punishment on their return, and
there was no way to determine to
what extent the video represented
the reality of the young defectors
situation.
Defectors who voluntarily return
to North Korea, sometimes because
the lives of family members there
have been threatened, are often
paraded in front of TV cameras to
denounce the horrors of life in the
South.
In the latest video, Paik YongWon said he had been kidnapped
by South Korean agents and was
now studying hard to return the
mercy shown by our respected
leader.
South Koreas Unification Ministry said it could not judge the veracity of the video or even confirm if
the children shown were indeed the
ones repatriated from Laos.
One Seoul official said North Korea was desperate to avoid any fresh
criticism of its human rights record
ahead of a key UN vote scheduled
for December 18. AFP
instruction concerning maintenance and installation

of computer programs to apparatuses using computer
programs or apparatuses used by computer systems;
Rental of computers (including central processing units
and electronic circuits, magnetic discs and magnetic
tapes storing computer programs and other peripheral
equipment); Providing computer programs and providing
information relating thereto; Application service
provider (ASP), including, providing, hosting, managing,
developing, and maintaining applications, software, web
sites and databases, and software as a service (SaaS)
services; Providing computer programs for Flight
Procedure Design and providing information relating
thereto; PaaS (Platform as a Service); IaaS (Infrastructure
as a Service); Cloud computing services; Consulting
services in the field of cloud computing; Providing
general information technology support services,
including, troubleshooting in the nature of diagnosing
computer hardware and software problems and repair
of computer software problems via internet, telephone,
email and in person; Rental of servers; Rental of memory
areas of servers for communication networks; Preparation
of manuals relating to computer programs and computers
(including central processing units and electronic circuits,
magnetic discs and magnetic tapes storing computer
programs and other peripheral equipment); Technical
advice relating to performance, operation of computers
and other machines that require high level of personal
knowledge, skill or experience of the operators to meet
the required accuracy in operating them; Quality control;
Enterprise resource planning implementation services,
including the definition, acquisition and implementation
of management information systems; Data migration
services; Services of computer software design relating
to Flight Procedure; Computer software design relating
to Flight Procedure.
Fraudulent imitation or unauthorised use of the said Trade
Mark will be dealt with according to law.
Win Mu Tin, M.A.,H.G.P.,D.B.L.
for Kabushiki Kaisha NTT Data
(NTT Data Corporation)
P.O. Box 60, Yangon
ge
t
yo
gers o
fin
n
the pulse editor: CHARLOTTE ROSE charlottelola.rose@gmail.com
THE MYANMAR TIMES december 15 - 21, 2014
it
As mountains of
rubbish pile up on
Yangons streets,
residents and
environmentalists take
it upon themselves
to get the problem
cleaned up
TrashTalk
Zon Pann Pwint

zonpann08@gmail.com
the pulse 51
www.mmtimes.com
S darkness falls, a loud crashing noise is heard from

the alley behind Daw Khin Aye Wins eight-storey
apartment building. It is the sound of a garbage bag
falling from an upper-floor apartment. For Daw Khin
Aye Win, who lives on the first floor, this is a familiar
sound at this time in the evening.
The people have very poor discipline. They drop waste during
the hours of darkness when they think their neighbours wont
notice. The waste is being dumped in the alley, said Daw Khin Aye
Win, a resident of 53rd Street in Botataung township.
There is no doubt about it Yangon is filthy. Once a clean city,
it has been spoiled by mountains of rubbish piled up in its streets,
sewers and alleyways. According to a 2012 survey conducted by the
Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC), the average Yangon
resident produces 0.4 kilograms (0.8 pounds) of rubbish a day.
Yangon alone produces 1690 tonnes of litter every day, most
of which is kitchen waste. The number of garbage trucks needed
to clear this amount of waste far exceeds the number currently in
operation. More than 280 garbage trucks operate in the city, but 500
trucks would be required to dispose of all the waste.
The government fines individuals K10,000 for dropping litter
in the street and K30,000 for throwing rubbish into rivers. But
as these policies are rarely enforced, the piles of rubbish that line
Yangons streets continue to grow.
There are two orange wheelie bins on either side of Daw Khin
Aye Wins street. Every morning, a garbage collector from the YCDC
pushes a handcart down the street to empty the bins and collect
garbage bags from the nearby apartment buildings. But only a few
residents come down to throw their rubbish into the cart. Many
residents living on the upper floors continue to throw their rubbish
into the alley behind the buildings.
They even leave waste on the pavement in the daytime that they
imagine the garbage collector will pick up, said Daw Khin Aye Win.
When cars are parked on the pavement in front of the building,
hiding the trash, the collectors fail to pick it up and the street is
always littered with rubbish.
Daw Khin Aye Win and some of her neighbours became so
frustrated by the mountains of rubbish surrounding their home that
they put up a notice on the wall of the building reading, Please do
not throw rubbish into the alley. It blocks the gutter and the dirty
water flows into the ground floor. The notice worked for a few days,
after which people started throwing garbage into the alley again.
People know they should throw their rubbish into the bin, but
few people keep discipline, said U Aung Myint Maw, assistant head
of the Pollution Control and Cleaning Department at YCDC.
From an aesthetic point of view, these plastic bags, old tissue
papers and cigarette ends strewn around everywhere create
unpleasant scenery, he said. Worst of all, if kitchen remains are
left on the streets for several days, larvae will come out of the
remains that can damage peoples health.
It is this that Daw Khin Aye Win, who has a child, fears most.
She and her neighbours are afraid that their children will contract
dengue fever from the mosquitoes that swarm into the house from
the rubbish piles. They collect money from each apartment owner
each month and hire a garbage truck to remove the piles of rubbish.
At the beginning of this month, YCDC placed 7055 orange
wheelie bins on the streets of Yangon, and more 5000 bins are
currently being distributed around the city. But few residents use
the bins to dispose of their rubbish.
People have a deep-rooted habit of throwing rubbish

everywhere, said Ma Thandar Hlaing, a garbage collector from
YCDC. Even if we set new wheelie bins of a size and colour which
are obvious to see, people drop rubbish beside the bins and they
dont open the bin lid and throw it inside.
The department collects K600 a month from each household in
Yangon for rubbish collection. The fee is reduced for households
in satellite townships such as Hlaing Tharyar, where residents pay
K450 a month.
The amount of money is not that much, but people are never
satisfied with our service. They are always complaining, saying their
streets are always dirty, said U Aung Myint.
We dont have enough budget or facilities like garbage trucks.
To become a clean city, the residents need discipline. I saw a luxury
Cygnus car stopping in the middle of the road and dropping a
handful of husks of sunflower seeds onto the road. If every resident
is disciplined and throws rubbish in the bins we provide, our 3850
litter pickers can make Yangon a clean city.
In 2012, YCDC developed a new strategy. The department
enforced new regulations that required households to separate their
kitchen waste and dry rubbish into different-coloured bags and tie
their rubbish bags tightly before disposing of them in the bins, but
many people failed to abide by these rules and continued to dump
open rubbish bags on the side of the road.
Some street people scavenged through the trash bags for
something to use. They made a mess again on the street and
garbage collectors had to clear it up, said U Aung Myint.
Last May, the Free Funeral Service Society (FFSS), founded
by Academy Award-winning actor Kyaw Thu, initiated a garbage
collection service to clear rubbish from the streets of North Dagon.
The society, which was founded in 2001 to provide free funerals
for poor families, began a campaign to educate the public on the
importance of disposing waste properly. However, they were later
forbidden from collecting rubbish by YCDC on the grounds that
garbage collection is the departments responsibility.
The FFSS resumed the collection service earlier this year,
distributing 60 bins in the area. The organisation educates people
on how to separate their garbage into recyclable and non-recyclable
waste, cutting down the amount of waste that goes to landfill. The
initiative has been a huge success with local residents.
At first, the residents were afraid when we placed the rubbish
bins in their streets because they thought we were similar to the
YCDCs rubbish collectors who hardly ever came and cleared the
bins, so they were always full, said Daw Myint Myint Khin Pe, the
wife of Kyaw Thu.
As the society continued to collect the rubbish regularly,
optimism about the service increased. The area in North Dagon,
which was once littered with rubbish, is now clean and residents
are using the bins to dispose of their rubbish. The FFSS has started
getting requests from residents of surrounding townships to expand
the service to other areas.
People have never been educated to throw rubbish in the bin.
Thats why they dont feel uncomfortable about dropping litter
everywhere, said Daw Myint Myint Khin Pe.
YCDC should collect the rubbish from the bins every day and
people must throw their rubbish in the bins. If the rubbish bins
are always clean and empty, people will throw trash in the bin, she
said.
Last March, YCDC announced that it will privatise garbage
collection in 2015. In April, cleaning and transportation services
were put out to tender, and four private companies and three local
firms applied to supply the services.
From next April onward, cleaning and transportation services
will be operated by chosen private companies. They will have new
garbage trucks and garbage bins. They might raise the rubbish
collecting fees but they might do better than YCDC, said U Aung
Myint Maw.
I hope Yangon will become a clean city when the private
companies operate.
Photo: Kaung Htet
52 the pulse
Explaining the West to Asia, and Asia

In the second partof a two-part account, Cambridge professor Alan Macfarlane calls for faster
tells The Myanmar Times why China is not a threat to the West
Stuart Alan Becker
stuart.becker@gmail.com
T is a familiar sound in
offices and universities across
the country: the persistent
grumbling of internet users
punctuated by the occasional,
exasperated sigh as a connection
is lost.
Over dinner at a Mandalay
restaurant, Professor Alan
Macfarlane explained how faster
internet speeds would transform
Myanmars education system.
Internet speeds will make
a vast difference here. There is
currently an educational explosion
in distributed education with
Massive Open Online Courses
[MOOCs] and you can reach
hundreds of thousands of people.
You cant do this until you have
high-speed internet, he said.
With a large ramshackle
education system, you havent got
the time or energy to set up all the
resources and lectures, and yet they
are available on the web.
In 30 years
China will be
well ahead in
most spheres of
activity
Alan Macfarlane
Professor
Macfarlane, a Cambridge don,

is extremely well-known in China.
His bestselling book Letters to Lily:
On How the World Works is listed
on a survey of the 300 books that
have most influenced China since it
began to open in the late 1970s.
The book explains the nature of
modernity, what the modern world
is about and how young Chinese
can adapt to the world, including
family, friendship, modern
technology, terrorism, democracy,
civil society and all the things
young Chinese dont know and
arent usually told about. Teachers
never tell you about these things,
Macfarlane said.
Macfarlane says the book
imagines his own granddaughter
aged 17, which provides a means for
him to explain lifes big questions
how the world works and where
she fits in it in a way that is
simple and understandable.
Macfarlanes responses span
history and cultures, and draw
from his life as a professor
of anthropology and history.
Interestingly, Macfarlane says
Letters to Lily is absolutely not
successful in the United States,
only fairly successful in Europe
and very successful in South Korea,
Japan and China.
On the basis of knowledge
of cultures, having worked in
Nepal, India, Japan, China and
Europe, I can put China into some
kind of international perspective
and the readers like that, said
Macfarlane, who donates all of the
royalties from the book to Chinese
universities.
Known in the Chinese
blogosphere as Cutie Grandfather,
Macfarlane told of dining at a
restaurant on the edges of the
Yangtze gorges in China when
suddenly he heard someone say
his name and a copy of one of his
books was brought out.
As an anthropologist and historian, professor Alan Macfarlane has worked on

England, Nepal, Japan and China. Photo: Stuart Alan Becker
At Cambridge, Macfarlane is
the keeper of the Xu Zhimo stone,
which commemorates one of the
most famous 20th-century Chinese
poets, whose poem Second
Goodbye to Cambridge, Macfarlane
says, symbolises everything
beautiful, sad and romantic for
modern Chinese people.
Xu wrote the most famous

poem in the world. More than 1
billion people know this poem by
heart, Macfarlane said.
The white Beijing marble was
installed at The Backs at Kings
College in Cambridge in 2008. On
it, the first and last two lines of Xus
poem are inscribed in Chinese.
During the course of the

Mandalay dinner with Macfarlane,
his wife Sarah Harrison and his
Chinese graduate associate Ma Xiao,
it became evident that Macfarlane
has a profound sense of Chinas
place in history and seems to feel
protective of China at a time when
the worlds most populous country
faces international criticism for
its policies in places like the South
China Sea and Myanmar.
Macfarlane stops short of
predicting that China will overtake
the rest of the world because, he
says, he agrees with Karl Poppers
principle that individual human
action or reaction can never be
predicted with certainty, therefore
neither can the future, as
articulated in Poppers 1957 book
The Poverty of Historicism.
All prediction is about to be
wrong: We cannot know whats
going to happen, Macfarlane said.
Instead, he focuses on tendencies.
If you look at tendencies
operating in the world now, the
first question is whether China will
overtake America seriously in the
spheres of everything including
arts, culture and science. On
present tendencies, in 30 years
China will be well ahead in most
spheres of activity, he said.
So what do these tendencies
mean for the future of geopolitics?
According to Macfarlane, Chinas
increasing influence should not be
regarded as a threat.
On the whole, having looked
at the history of China, arguably
because of Confucian philosophy,
China has been the only civilization
in history which has not had
a military caste, which is why
it fell to the Manchus and the
Mongols, he said. Indo-European
civilisations have a warrior caste,
[and] India and Japan do, but
China does not. China has been
extraordinarily peaceful and
the pulse 53
www.mmtimes.com
to the West
internet speeds in Myanmar and
has not gone in for dramatic
overseas imperial expansion.
Macfarlane says China has
had historic opportunities to
become an imperial power with
overseas colonies but has chosen
not to.
The Chinese are interested
in money and trade. [They] have
little interest in conquering other
countries by land or other means,
he said. Given the last 1000 years,
Korea could have been taken, but
China is not interested.
Macfarlane spent late
October and most of November
giving lectures in China,
starting in Beijing. During the
trip, he was awarded honorary
professorships at both Sichuan
and Wuhan universities.
Britain has one of the highest
surveillance rates in the world
but Ive had absolutely no trace of
surveillance in China. They didnt
check on anything I did, he said.
Macfarlanes book The
Invention of the Modern World
was selected at the Shenzhen
Book Month as one of the 10
most important books in China
last year.
He guesses that any success
he has in China is not only
because he shows respect for
the country, but also because
Cambridge University is revered
in China largely because of
poet Xu Zhimo.
Macfarlanes historical and
anthropological studies have also
taken him to Japan, the subject
of his book Japan through the
Looking-Glass (2007).
Each time these great
civilisations tried bringing
in philosophies the Japanese
rejected them. The Japanese
dont have an economy. They
dont have a religion. They dont

have a society. They have them
all mixed up.
Macfarlane says the idea
of one Japanese people is a
myth, as the country is actually
composed of three different
peoples.
A friend of mine who is
one of the greatest Japanese
demographers did a study
of various aspects, customs,
marriage systems, DNA [and]
language systems, and he found
that the Japanese are totally
different sets of people. One set
in the north is from Korea; the
middle group is from China, and
the Okinawa people are from
Indonesia and Polynesia, he said.
After he finished his
doctorate degree at Oxford
on witchcraft and published
his book Witchcraft in Tudor
and Stuart England in 1970,
Macfarlane wanted to return to
his birthplace in Assam, India.
However, as it was the time of
the Naga insurrection, on the
recommendation of a professor
he went to Nepal instead.
Today, after 40 years of
periodic visits to a village in
central Nepals Annapurna
Mountains, Macfarlane has
decumented four decades of
changes in the village using
ethnographic film footage.
I saw two things: incredible
changes, from a shamanic,
pre-wheel, pre-electricity world
to one which now has mobile
phones, roads and electricity.
It has moved 1000 years in 40,
he said. On the other hand:
a lot of continuity. The people
themselves remain wonderful
people. I used to say they were
the nicest people Id ever met.
STOCKHOLM
Malala stars in Nobel ceremony

Tom Sullivan
ALALA Yousafzai picked

up her Nobel Peace
Prize last week, but the
youngest-ever laureate
already has an even more
startling memento from her young life:
the blood-soaked school uniform she
wore when shot by the Taliban.
The 17-year-old Pakistani known
everywhere as Malala shares the peace
prize with the Indian campaigner
Kailash Satyarthi, 60, who has fought
for 35 years to free thousands of
children from virtual slave labour.
Their pairing has the extra
symbolism of linking neighbouring
countries that have been in conflict
for decades. After being named,
Malala said she hoped both states
prime ministers would attend the
prize-giving ceremony in Oslo.
Malala was the star of the annual
Nobel extravaganza, also featuring
Patrick Modiano of France with the
literature prize and his compatriot Jean
Tirole with the economics award.
But visitors to the Nobel Peace
Center in Oslo can catch a reminder
of the very different circumstances
that led to Malalas rise in the
international spotlight.
The center has on loan the
uniform the then-15-year-old Malala
was wearing in 2012 when a Taliban
gunman shot her on a school bus in
response to her campaign for girls
education.
My school uniform is very
important to me. The day I was
attacked I was wearing this uniform.
I was fighting for my right to go to
school, she said in a statement as
the uniform was handed over to the
centre on December 5.
Wearing a uniform made me feel
that yes, I am a student, she said. It
is an important part of my life. Now I
want to show it to children, to people
all around the world. This is my right.
It is the right of every child to go to
school.
Although Malalas head wound
was almost fatal, she recovered after
being flown for extensive surgery in
Birmingham and she has remained
Malala Yousafzai speaks to the press

in Sweden on October 29 ahead of the
award ceremony for the 2014 Worlds
Children Prize for the Rights of the
Child. Photo: AFP/Jonathan Nackstrand
in England with her family since,

continuing both her education and
activism.
Malala travelled to Norway with
five other teenage activists from
Pakistan, Syria and Nigeria, including
Shazia Ramzan, 16, and Kainat Riaz,
17 also shot during the Taliban
attack on Malala and 17-year-old
Amina Yusuf, a girls education
activist from northern Nigeria
where the terror group Boko Haram
abducted more than 200 schoolgirls
during a raid in April 2014.
Though I will be one girl receiving
this award, I know I am not a lone
voice, Malala said in a statement
on December 8. These courageous
girls are not just my friends, they are
now my sisters in our campaign for
education for every child.
Malalas co-winner Satyarthi is far
less well known and said on arrival in
Norway that being awarded the Nobel
had hugely boosted awareness of
millions of children in bonded labour.
These issues of child slavery,
child marriages, child labour, child
trafficking were largely neglected,
but now they have gained tremendous
attention, he said.
I strongly feel that this is an

honour for all the children in the
world and the children who are most
deprived of their childhood, their
education, their health, their rights
and their dignity.
Meanwhile, the Nobel prizes for
literature, economics and science were
handed out in neighbouring Stockholm.
French author Patrick Modiano,
notoriously ill at ease with the media,
has described winning the literature
award for his novels set in Nazioccupied France as a surreal experience.
I was surprised. It was like I was
split in two and was observing what
was happening to me, the 69-yearold told reporters in Stockholm on
December 7, adding that he was
gradually getting used to these
astounding events.
Fellow Frenchman, 61-year-old
economist Jean Tirole, from the
Toulouse School of Economics, is
being honoured for his work on
reining in corporate giants.
The announcement in October gave
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls a
chance to hit back at critics of Frances
sluggish economy, tweeting, talk about
thumbing your nose at French bashing.
The science prizes are traditionally
dominated by US researchers, but
this year saw non-US-based winners
on top.
Japanese researchers Isamu
Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano, along
with US-based but Japanese-born
Shuji Nakamura, won the physics
prize for inventing blue light-emitting
diodes (LEDs).
British-American researcher John
OKeefe picked up the medicine prize
with Norwegian couple May-Britt
and Edvard Moser for discovering
an inner GPS that helps the brain
navigate.
Eric Betzig and William Moerner
of the United States and Germanbased Stefan Hell were awarded
the chemistry prize for laying the
foundations of ultra-powerful
microscopes.
Nobel winners take home 8
million Swedish kronor (US$1.1
million), which is shared in the case
of joint wins. AFP
54 the pulse
Boats
replace cars
on Inle Lake
For the waterborne inhabitants of
Inle Lake, boat builders perform
an essential community service
Stuart Deed
stuart.deed@gmail.com
HE indigenous inhabitants
of Inle Lake, the Intha, face
up to a unique challenge
every day water because
many villages are built on
the lake or on small islands.
The only means of transport is by
boat, meaning everyday tasks such
as shopping, dropping children off
at school or visiting friends take on
a whole new level of difficulty. Each
family must have its own boat
possibly with an engine and usually
a handful of smaller one- or twoperson canoes.

Boat builders like 67-year-old U
Khin Maung at Mine Thout Inn village
perform an essential community
service and are busy making and
repairing vessels year-round. The wood
of choice is teak (kyun in Myanmar
language), which is not surprising given
Myanmars reputation as the home of
the finest teak on earth. Craftsmen say
they use teak because its tough enough
to survive many years of constant
service on the lake and is resistant to
pests.
Boatbuilding remains largely a
A boat builder carves a boat from teak. Photo: Stuart Deed
family business with fathers passing

on their knowledge and expertise
to their sons and U Khin Maungs
operation is no exception: On the day
we visited, father and son were busy
constructing a 7-metre (23-foot) boat.
Boats and canoes vary in length
from about 2 metres up to and
sometimes beyond 10 metres,
depending on the intended usage.
However, boats are uniformly narrow
wide enough to allow only one
person to sit down to facilitate
smooth passage through narrow
canals and the villages on the lake,
and to slice through gaps in the
floating hyacinth, gardens and other

greenery close to the edge of the lake.
Other common features are low
sills and shallow drafts. The weather
at Inle Lake is generally calm, and
waves rarely threaten to overwhelm
boats. The shallow drafts allow boats
to navigate waterways even in the
middle of hot season when water
levels are at their lowest. Boats can
skim over the top of foliage.
Boat builders begin by cutting and
planing plants to the approximate
length and width required for a
vessel. The planks are then joined
with wooden spikes, bent around an
internal frame, with metals screws

used to hold the two in place.
Gaps between planks are filled
using a mix of shredded teak and tar,
which is pressed and then hammered
into place to make the vessel
watertight. Builders say that with
good maintenance a boat can survive
more than 20 years, which is a good
thing because even the cheapest
canoe costs about K170,000 (US$170).
Larger boats capable of supporting
a diesel-powered engine start at about
K500,000 ($500), with the 7-metre
vessels used in the tourist trade
costing about K2 million ($2000).
the pulse 55
www.mmtimes.com
WEEKLY predictions
AUNG MYIN KYAW

4th Floor, 113, Thamain Bayan Road, Tarmwe township, Yangon.
Tel: 09-731-35632, Email: williameaste@gmail.com
december 15 - 22, 2014

Aquarius | Jan 20 Feb 18
Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. A lack of planning will

lead to anxiety this week. The best way to manage social
relationships is to keep in mind that everyone is dealing
with their own problems, so try to leave people better than
you found them. Be tactful in your dealings with others.
Gemini | May 21 June 20

Confidence is the key to succeeding in a difficult challenge
this week. Know that the world is run by people who have
never done it before and that if you do not venture, you will
not gain. Your fear of the unknown is disproportionate to
the reality of the consequences. The good news is that you
need not wait for a crisis in order to make changes.
Libra | Sept 23 Oct 22

Career opportunities will be at the front of your mind this
week. Do not allow your decisions to be driven purely by
matters of income, and recognise that real success can
come only from learning and growing. Keep your
professional relationships in mind and proceed carefully.
Pisces | Feb 19 March 20
Cancer | June 21 July 22
Scorpio | Oct 23 Nov 21
Self-worth cannot be verified by others. You may be

suffering from low esteem this week, for which the only
prescription is a healthy dose of self-love. You are in
control of who you are. Apply the expectations you have of
others to yourself. Dont expect results from excuses, and
transform Ill do it tomorrow into positive changes today.
Inertia is the result of the downward pull of habit. Only

you can change the patterns in your life. Root out old,
unproductive or counterproductive habits and establish
new ones. Remember that although change may not be
fast and is not always easy, changes made this week may
shape the course of your life.
The love you give to others is directly proportional to the

love you receive yourself. The entire focus of your career
strategy must be people-oriented, not process-oriented.
Know that mental health is just as important as physical
health in times of stress and that positive motivation is the
only path to emotional stability.
Aries | Mar 21 Apr 19
Leo | July 23 Aug 22
Sagittarius | Nov 22 Dec 21
Intelligence is not knowledge but the acceptance of what

is with the imagination to achieve what can be. Use the
power of visualisation to guide your thoughts, actions,
feelings and attitudes. Attaining clarity about your own
desires and goals is the greatest form of intelligence.
Recognise self-defeating behaviours, and repeat patterns of behaviour
that lead to positive results.
There is no limit to where your dreams can take you if you

are committed to the importance of what you are doing.
Engage yourself in self-discovery this week. Know that
self-discipline is a condition of personal growth and the
attainment of excellence. Remember that a dead fish
floats downstream but a live one swims upstream.
Taurus | Apr 20 May 20
Virgo | Aug 23 Sept 22
Capricorn | Dec 22 Jan 19
The propensity to trust others is an innate human

condition. Do not feel guilty about having warm human
feelings toward anyone. Recognise that time spent
worrying about matters you cannot control is wasted, as is
time spent worrying about those that you can. It is the
nature of every person to make mistakes, but only a fool perseveres in
error.
Your emotions may fluctuate rapidly between happiness

and sadness this week. Know that life is a continuing
allegory. It is said, Life is a play. It is not its length, but its
performance that counts all the time. Seize every
opportunity to learn, and take time to reflect on your
learning. Remember that the setbacks you endure will only help you to
march forward.
One of lifes many ironies is that selfishness is selfdestructive. Know that the love and care we devote to
ourselves can teach us how to love and care for others. A
meaningful life is one that is not lived solely for oneself.
Think about the impact of your actions before acting, and
remind yourself that good character is of greater value than material
success.
Your expectations of social relationships may not be

met this week, but know that trying to change the
minds of others is futile. Do not concern yourself
with looking for reasons, as this is what keeps you
from new and exciting experiences. Do what is right
for you, but keep in mind the feelings of others.
56 the pulse
THE MYANMAR TIMES deCember 15 - 21, 2014
DECEMBER 15 - 21
Got an event?
List it in Whats On!
whatsonmt@gmail.com
Dec 17 Music by DJ Thaw Thaw and Stars
& Models Intl Dancer Group, 50th Street
Bar, 9/13 50th St, Botahtaung, 8pm
Dec 18 Folk on Fire with LNR Band. Mojo,
135 Inya road, Bahan 9.30pm
Dec 19 Jazz and Blues night. Gekko, 535,
Merchant St, Kyauktada 7.00pm
Dec 20 Christmas concert. French Institute,
340 Pyay Road. Entrance K3000 4.30-8pm
ART
Dec 13-19 The Art of Textile and Crafts.

Sun Flower Art Gallerys 20th Anniversary
event. River Gallery, 134, 35th Street
(middle block), Kyauktada 9am-6pm
Dec 16 Gallery conversation and drinks.
Pansodan Gallery, 289 Pansodan Street,
Kyaukada 7pm- late
Dec 18 Creators Images Art Exhibition.
Artwork by Win Pe Myint, Bogalay Htay
Lwin and others. The Yangon Gallery,
Peoples Park, Ahlone Road 9am-9pm
FILM
Start times at Mingalar (1, 2), Top Royal,

Shae Shaung (1,2) and Nay Pyi Taw
cinemas are 10am, noon, 2pm, 4pm, 6pm
and 8pm.
Start times at Junction Square and Maw
Tin are 10am, 1pm and 4pm daily and 7pm
and 9:30pm on Friday and Saturday.
Start times at Mingalar San Pya are 10am,
12:30pm, 3:30pm, 6:30pm and 9:30pm.
Nay PyiTaw Cinema, near Sule Pagoda
Penguins of Madagascar. Directed by
Simon J.Smith and Erin Darnell. 2014,
3D computer animated, science-fiction
comedy.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part
1. Directed by Francis Lawrence. 2014
American science-fiction adventure film.
Rise of the Legend. Directed by Chow
Hin Yeung Roy. 2014, Hong Kong-Chinese
martial arts film. See our review of the
movie on page 53.
Mingalar Cinema 2, Dagon Center 2,
Myaynigone
MISC
Salsa night at Salud
Rise of the Legend.

Shae Shaung Cinema, Sule Pagoda Road,
Kyauktada
Ouija. Directed by Stiles White. American
supernatural horror.
Jessabelle. Directed by Kevin Greutert.
American horror film.
Junction Square Cineplex, Kamaryut
Interstellar. Directed by Christopher Nolan.
2014 science fiction film.
Junction Mawtin, Lanmadaw
Interstellar.
Mingalar San Pya Cineplex, Phone Gyi
Street and Anawrahta, Lanmadaw
Jessabelle.
Penguins of Madagascar.
MUSIC
Sept 5-Dec 31 Live Music. Thiripyitsaya

Sky Bistro, 20th Floor, Sakura Tower, 7-10pm
Dec 15 Monday Blues, Mojo Bar, 135 Inya
Road, Bahan, 9:30-11:30pm
Dec 16 Stones by the Israeli Orto-Da

Theatre Group. Performance about passion
for life, heroic myths and the victory of the
spirit. Kokine Bar & Restaurant, 34 Kokkine
Swimming Club Lane, Saya San Road,
Bahan 6pm
Dec 16 International comedy showcase
featuring Brian Aylward from Canada. 50th
Street Bar, 9/13 50th St, Botahtaung, 8pm
Dec 17 Salsa night. Salud Restaurant,
7(C) ground floor, Wingabar Road, Bahan
8-10.30pm.
Dec 17 Korea Cultural Night, including
performances of Korean Taekwondo and a
percussion show. Free entrance. National
Theatre, Myoma Kyaung Street, Dagon
6:30pm
Dec 20 Grand Royal Pre-New Year party.
Kandawgyi Natural Park, Mingalar Taung
Nyunt, Bahan. Tickets are K5000 and can
be purchased from ABC Mart and City
Mart.
Dec 25-26 Christmas book sale. A
stunning collection of over 200 different
Christmas books. Bookworm Books,
2nd floor, Waizayantar Orange Shopping
Centre, Waizayantar Road, Thingangyun
9am-7:30pm
The Global Gossip

WASHINGTON
world cup, ebola top Facebook
sharing list
Footballs World Cup and the ebola

outbreak topped the list of topics most
shared by Facebook users around the
globe in 2014, the social networking
giant said last week.
the World Cup was the most
shared item globally, followed by the
ebola crisis, brazilian elections, the
death of actor robin Williams and the
ice bucket Challenge to raise funds
for research on lou Gehrigs disease.
rounding out the top 10 were the
conflict in Gaza, malaysia Airlines
which lost two aircraft during the year
American footballs super bowl, the
Ferguson, missouri, protests over the
police shooting death of an unarmed
black man, and the sochi Winter
olympics.
Actress Meryl Streep attends

the Into The Woods World
Premiere at Ziegfeld Theater on
December 8 in New York City.
Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty
Images/AFP
LONDON
Geldof hits back after Band aid song
branded cringeworthy
Catherine, Duchess of
Cambridge, visits the
National September
11 Memorial Museum
with her husband
Prince William, Duke of
Cambridge in New York
on December 9. This is
the Duke and Duchess
first official visit to New
York City. Photo: AFP
bob Geldof hit back on december 9 at critics of

his band Aid 30 charity single after the british
nurse who survived ebola said the songs lyrics
were embarrassing and ignorant.
William pooley, who made a full recovery
after contracting the virus in sierra leone,
branded the hit ebola fundraising track
cringeworthy, echoing criticism from several
musicians.
the track, produced to raise funds to fight
ebola in West Africa, marks the 30th anniversary
of the original do they Know its Christmas?
written by Geldof in 1984 to raise money for
ethiopia.
the new version became the fastest selling
single of 2014 in britain, with more than 312,000
downloads sold in its first week last month, the
official Charts Company said.
pooley, 29, has returned to the west African
country to resume his work treating sufferers in
an isolation unit and said the single is definitely
being talked about here among my colleagues.
but stuff about do they Know its
Christmas? its just like, actually people live
normal lives here and do normal things,
pooley told radio times magazine.
its Africa, not another planet. that sort of
cultural ignorance is a bit cringeworthy.
reacting to the comments, Geldof told
britains telegraph newspaper, please. its a
pop song. relax.
LOS ANGELES
Hobbit director Jackson gets
Hollywood star
oscar-winning lord of the rings and the

hobbit director peter Jackson received a star
on hollywoods Walk of Fame on december
8, joined by key cast members from his
blockbuster Jrr tolkien films.
Welcome to middle earth. otherwise
known as hollywood, California, said los
Angeles city councillor mitch oFarrell at
the ceremony, attended by hundreds of
screaming fans on hollywood boulevard.
he was honored nine days before the
us release of the final movie in the hobbit
trilogy: the hobbit: the battle of the Five
Armies. A red-carpet premiere is to be held
Jackson joins Hollywoods
in hollywood on december 16.
Walk of Fame. Photo: AFP
Jacksons star is on the sidewalk directly
outside the dolby theatre, the venue for
the Academy Awards at the climax of
tinseltowns annual awards season, which is just getting into gear.
Jackson won best director oscar and shared best adapted screenplay in
2004 for the lord of the rings: the return of the King, after securing two
oscar nominations in 2002 for the lord of the rings: the Fellowship of the
ring. AFp
British scientist
Stephen Hawking
attends the UK
premiere of the
film The Theory
of Everything
in London on
December 9. The
film is based on the
memoir Travelling to
Infinity: My Life with
Stephen, by Jane
Hawking. Photo:
AFP/Justin Tallis
the pulse 57
www.mmtimes.com
Film Review
RISE OF THE LEGEND | director: Roy Chow Hin Yeung | 131 minutes, 2014
Director Roy Chow reinvents iconic martial arts hero

nanDar aunG
nandaraung.mcm@gmail.com
OR film-makers, Chinese
folk heroes have provided
an endless source of
material. The mythical
exploits of legends such as
General Yue Fei, Monk Ji and Mulan,
along with hundreds of others, have
been immortalised countless times
through martial arts films and movie
series.
Now, in Rise of the Legend, Hong
Kong director Roy Nin Yeung Chow
reinvents iconic kung fu master Wong
Fei Hung, the legendary acupuncturist
and martial arts teacher of 19th century
China, bringing a modern twist to a
familiar story.
The story started in 1991 with
Once Upon a Time In China, starring
Jet Li as Wong, which was praised by
kung fu fans and immediately won
itself a place in the martial arts film
hall of fame. In Myanmar, the movie
remains a favourite among Chinese
martial arts devotees.
Taiwanese Canadian lead actor
Eddie Peng was never going to live
up to Jet Lis defining performance,
but in casting Peng, Chow succeeds
in reinventing Wong as a modern,
sexier hero complete with six-pack
and rippling muscles. In this respect,
Rise of the Legend does a good
job of giving a well-known hero a
contemporary edge that is likely to be
a hit with modern audiences.
The film is set in the mid-19th
century Quing Dynasty in Guangzhou,
a region marred by crime, murder
and corruption. The Black Tiger
gang, led by the ruthless Master Lei
(Sammo Hung) and his three adopted
sons, is at war with the rival North
Sea gang. Wong Fei Hung (Peng, Cold
War, Doze Nius Love) infiltrates the
North Sea gang and becomes Master
Leis forth adopted son. But the
Chinese hero has an ulterior motive,

and is out to wipe out both gangs in
order to get justice for Guangzhou.
The adrenaline-filled opening
fight scene, made even more
impressive by the use of 3D, is sure
to wow audiences. The movies
production outshines most modern
martial arts movies and its creative
cinematography brings something
refreshingly new to what has become
a monotonous genre.
Unfortunately, this is a legend
that is all too familiar. The movies
narrative, which does not stray far
from Once Upon a Time, contains few
surprises and is unlikely to satisfy
Myanmar beauty queen

brings home two awards
lwin Mar Htun
lwinmarhtun.mcm@gmail.com
MISS Supranational Asia Myanmar
2014, Han Thi, returned home on
December 8 with two awards after
competing in the 6th edition of the
Miss Supranational beauty pageant
in Poland.
The 17-year-old travelled to
Poland in November to compete
in the pageant, where she won
the Miss Internet award
and was crowned Miss
Oceania 2014.
I won these
awards because of
my fans, said Han Thi.
People had to pay to vote
for the Miss Internet Award, it
was not free. But our Myanmar
people supported me by using
their money and time to vote
for me. So, Im so proud for this
award and really thankful to
each person.
As for the Miss Oceania
award, I promise Ill live
with the best way as a
representative of Asia, she
said.
Han Thi competed
against 70 pageant
hopefuls from around
Han Thi was crowned
Miss Oceania at the
Miss Supranational 2014
pageant.
Photo: Zarni Phyo
the world at the contest. The final,

held on December 5, was won by
Miss India who was crowned Miss
Supranational 2014.
Han Thi went to Poland alone
and did all of her makeup and
hair by herself.
I wasnt scared being alone
because the other Misses were
also alone. Always I thought,
I can do it. I will be the
best. This is for me and my
country, she said.
When I was first
saw her, I knew she was
talented, said designer
Ma Pont, who designed
one of Han This dresses
for the pageant.
I love her mind and
created a kinnari dress
for her. The kinnari is
a mythical bird with a
human head and torso,
and the dress represents
a young girl ready to fly
high and grab success in
the future, she said.
Han Thi intends
to continue with her
education now that
she has returned to
Myanmar.
I love art seriously
and I will choose art
and culture for my
education. So, I can
do the things I love
without losing my
education, she
said.
A refreshing and
contemporary
take on a wellknown story
movie goers looking for a fresh plot.

Despite the appeal of Chows
sexed-up hero, Pengs unconvincing
portrayal of Wong will also give
martial arts buffs pause. Comparisons
with Jet Li are inevitable, and Peng
simply lacks the poise and nuance
of his predecessor. His fight scenes
in particular, directed by veteran
choreographer Corey Yuen, will fail
to convince kung fu fans; Peng, who
was mooted to become the martial
arts hero of tomorrow, lacks the
physicality of a practiced martial
artist and appears more like a model
posing and posturing for the camera
than a kung fu legend.
Despite an uncompelling
performance by Peng, Rise of the
Legend serves as great entertainment
with its impressive production,
numerous plot twists, stellar
performances by a well-renowned
cast and impossibly catchy theme
song. A refreshing and contemporary
take on a well-known story, Rise of
the Legend is a definite must-see for
martial arts movie fans.
Rise of the Legend (3D) is currently
showing at Nay Pyi Taw Cinema,
Mingalar Cinema (2), Dagon Center 2 and
MyayniGone Cinema.
58 the pulse
LOS ANGELES
Birdman tops Globe nominations

Michael Thurston
ark comedy Birdman

won the most
nominations for the
Golden Globes on
December 11, securing
another boost for its awardsseason hopes leading up to the
all-important Oscars in February.
The film which stars Michael
Keaton as a washed-up superhero
film star trying to revive his
career on the stage earned seven
nods for the Globes, one day after
topping the list for the key Screen
Actors Guild awards.
Tied for second in the Globes
nominations tally were comingof-age drama Boyhood and
Nazi code-breaking thriller The
Imitation Game with five each.
Among the acting highlights,
veterans Julianne Moore and
Bill Murray both won two
nominations.
On the small screen, Fargo
took the most nominations with
five for the 72nd Golden Globes
show, the second-most highprofile awards show after the
Oscars.
The best motion picture drama
nominees for the Globes which
will be handed out on January 11
in Beverly Hills are Boyhood,
Foxcatcher, The Imitation
Game, Selma and The Theory of
Everything.
In the race for best comedy or
musical film are Birdman, The
Grand Budapest Hotel, Into the
Woods, Pride and St. Vincent.
Birdman had already
topped the nominees list for
the Independent Spirit awards
announced last month, also seen
as a key pre-Oscars indicator.
On December 11, the movie
scooped Globes nominations
for best comedy/musical, best
actor for Keaton, best director
Actresses Greer Grammer, Kate Beckinsale and Paula Patton attend the 2015
Golden Globe Awards nominations announcement on December 11 in Beverly
Hills. Photo: AFP/Robyn Beck
for Mexicos Alejandro Gonzalez

Inarritu, as well as best
supporting actor nods for Emma
Stone and Edward Norton.
It is also shortlisted for best
original score and best screenplay.
The five nominations for

Boyhood included best director
for Richard Linklater, best drama
film, best supporting actor and
actress for Ethan Hawke and
Patricia Arquette, and best
screenplay.
The Imitation Game won nods
for best drama film, best actor for
Britains Benedict Cumberbatch,
best supporting actress for his
compatriot Keira Knightley, as
well as best original score and
screenplay.
In the best comedy/musical
actor category, former Batman
star Keaton will take on Ralph
Fiennes (The Grand Budapest
Hotel), Murray (St. Vincent),
Joaquin Phoenix (Inherent Vice)
and Christoph Waltz for Tim
Burtons Big Eyes.
Best comedy/musical actress
nominees are Amy Adams for
Big Eyes, Emily Blunt (Into
the Woods), Helen Mirren (The
Hundred-Foot Journey), Moore for
Maps to the Stars and 11-year-old
Quvenzhane Wallis for Annie.
In the drama categories, best
actor nominees are Cumberbatch,
Steve Carell (Foxcatcher), Jake
Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler),
David Oyelowo (Selma) and
Eddie Redmayne for the Stephen
Hawking biopic The Theory of
Everything.
Jennifer Aniston is up for best
drama actress for Cake against
Felicity Jones (The Theory of
Everything), Moore (Still Alice),
Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl) and
Reese Witherspoon in Wild.
The Globes nominations were
announced a day after the SAG
award contenders. Birdman
topped that list with four nods,
including best ensemble cast and
best actor for Keaton.
Although more high-profile
than the SAGs, the Golden Globes
are seen as less of an indicator
of Oscars glory, as a relatively
small group of non-US journalists
chooses the winners, rather than
the industry itself.
The Academy Awards will be
held on February 22. AFP
AUSTRALIA
Whisky lovers
discover
Tasmanias
liquid gold
Glenda Kwek
Tucked away between rolling
hills dotted with sheep and
winding roads taking wine lovers
to vineyards is a nondescript, white
warehouse with small, square
windows.
The modest-looking building
gives no hint about what lies within
its four walls, except for a small sign
hanging on a fence Sullivans Cove
signalling the home of the makers
of the recently anointed worlds best
single malt whisky.
Made with barley and fresh
water and matured in barrels in
Tasmania off Australias southern
coast, Sullivans Cove is among a
new breed of whisky makers in
the countrys smallest state that is
making waves on the international
stage.
Its an old-fashioned style of
whisky and I think when the judges
tasted it, it appealed to them,
owner Patrick Maguire said about
the 13-year-old single malt he and
several colleagues distilled, which
won the top accolade at the World
Whisky Awards in March.
Its got all the structure there,
the mouth-fill, the creaminess, all
these things that arent in so many
whiskies these days because they
are mass-produced. And thats the
difference I think.
Influential international whisky
expert Jim Murray, who rates the
Tasmanian tipples highly, has also
praised the casks all second-hand
and previously used to keep other
wines and spirits as being key
ingredients in their success.
Scotland has long been known as
the spiritual home of whisky, while
Ireland, the United States, Canada,
and more recently Japan are viewed
as established markets. AFP
Sullivans Cove is among a new breed

of Australian whisky makers making
waves on the international stage.
Photo: AFP
the pulse food and drink 59
www.mmtimes.com
Flavours
of the
Philippines
food
Photos: Phyo
PHYo arBiDanS
phyo.arbidans@gmail.com
SHRIMP PASTE RELISH
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4-5 cloves garlic
cup shrimp paste
1 teaspoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons apple cider
vinegar
3 chillies
Coriander to garnish
1 lime to serve
Crush the garlic. Slice the
chilli. Next, add the oil to a
pan and saut the garlic.
When the aroma of
garlic is out, add the
shrimp paste and fry for 1
minute.
Add the sugar and mix
well. Take the pan off the
heat. Garnish the relish
with coriander and serve
with lime wedges.
Enjoy with rice and
curry.
Photo: Phyo
WILL continue my foray into

Filipino cooking this week with
one of my favourite new recipes.
Adobo, the national dish of the
Philippines, is made using both
chicken and pork. However, my
Filipino cooking teacher, Olive, has
taught me this simple recipe using
only chicken.
We have a similar dish here in
Myanmar, but the main difference in
the Filipino version is the addition
of coconut vinegar. Of course, I could
not buy coconut vinegar in Myanmar
so Olive suggested I use apple cider
vinegar instead. It works.
The cooking method is very
simple. The secret to getting this
recipe right is to not open the lid of

the pot during cooking, so I suggest
using a heavy-bottomed pot.
ADOBO
Serves 6
4 chicken thighs
4 chicken drumsticks
4 chicken wings
cup vegetable oil
5 cloves garlic
2 medium onions
4 bay leaves
2 teaspoons brown sugar
100 ml light soy sauce
cup apple cider
2 teaspoons black peppercorns
Crush the garlic. Marinate the chicken

with the garlic and soy sauce for at
least 1-3 hours. Dice the onions finely.
Next, roast the black peppercorns (if
required).
Fill a big pot with the chicken
it should fill half of the pot. Add the
oil to the pot and heat to seal the
chicken for 4-5 minutes, starting
with the skin side down and then
turning. When the chicken is
completely sealed, transfer it onto a
plate and set aside.
Next, saut the onion with the
bay leaves in the same pot. Bring the
chicken back to the pot and pour the
marinating sauce over it. Cover the lid
and heat until the sauce boils. As soon
A new dining venue with a view

DouGlaS lonG
dlong125@gmail.com
AS the name suggests, the View
Restaurant and Bar is a restaurant
and bar with a view. Perched on
a hilltop in the sleepy town of
Anisakhan, just outside of Pyin
Oo Lwin, the venue provides a
spectacular vista of Dat Taw Gyaint
Waterfall on the far side of a deep,
forested valley.
Opened in September, the
restaurant is housed inside a new
building designed to look like an
Edwardian mansion. The spacious
downstairs dining room is equipped
with a pool table and a fully stocked
bar, but the most sought-after tables
are, of course, on the long balcony
facing the valley. More seating is
available upstairs and at an outdoor
gazebo.
The menu offers an eclectic
mix of Western soups, sandwiches,
burgers, grilled meats, pizzas and
pastas, as well as Myanmar, Chinese
and Thai salads, noodles and ricebased dishes.
the View
restaurant and Bar
Taung Gyun, Anisakhan (next to
Chan Myae Meditation Centre),
Pyin Oo Lwin
Tel: 09-73086871, 085-50262,
085-50263, 085-22881
Email: theview.pol@gmail.com
Such gastronomic schizophrenia

always sets off the warning buzzer in
my brain: Restaurants that try to be
everything to everyone often end up
not doing anything particularly well.
Still, every new restaurant
deserves a chance, so we took our
seats at the breezy gazebo and tucked
in.
We had been eating Shan and
Burmese food for the past few days,
so we decided to adopt a look west
policy in our food choices. Among our
party of four, we ordered the chicken
burger (K8000), grilled butter fish
(K10,000), grilled pork loin (K10,000)
and curry chicken pizza (K8000).
The tender, melt-in-your pork
turned out to be the best option, with
the flaky and flavourful butterfish
running a close second. The burger
and pizza were quite good compared
with what is available elsewhere in
Pyin Oo Lwin, but they might have
trouble standing out among their
Yangon brethren.
The View is equipped with its
own bakery, so we saved room for
tiramisu (K5000) and a brownie
Restaurant Rating
Food
Beverage
Service
Value
X-Factor
7
8
9
8
10
(K5000), each of which was big

enough to share between two
people. They stand among the finest
Western-style desserts available in
Pyin Oo Lwin.
For those not interested in eating
a meal, the View is an excellent place
to relax with a drink and soak in the
natural surroundings. For beverages,
we skipped the fruit juice, soft drinks
and cocktails for some Sundayafternoon Chilean merlot (house wine
is K7000 a glass).
The alcohol derailed any thoughts
we might have entertained about
following the dirt trail leading from
the restaurant down into the valley
and to the base of the falls normally
a 30-minute hike (one-way) for the
fit and sober. A desperate round of
classic lattes (K2200) did absolutely
nothing to rouse us from our merlotinduced stupor.
Instead, we contented ourselves
with walking a paved, switch-backed
path the short way down to a patio
providing (you guessed it) great views
of the waterfall. This is a popular
attraction for locals, even those who
do not necessarily plan on eating at
the restaurant.
The View was fairly busy during
our visit most of the balcony tables
were occupied and it is sure to gain
more attention with the planned
opening next year of Dat Taw Gyaint
Waterfall Resort, a collection of eight
bungalows built into the hillside
below the restaurant.
Each bungalow, readers will not
be surprised to learn, is designed
with its own private veranda with an
unobstructed view of the waterfall.
as it starts bubbling, turn the heat

down. Add the black peppercorns and
simmer for 30 minutes. Do not open
the lid of the pot again.
Add the apple cider vinegar and
sugar to the pot and stir well. Cover
the lid again and simmer for 10
minutes. Add salt to taste.
Serve the Adobo hot with plain
rice.
Note: The curry may stick to the
bottom during cooking, so adjust the
cooking time according to the heat
and thickness of the pot.
What is great about this recipe is
that you can keep the leftover sauce
and use it to cook fried rice the next
day.
Restaurant Review
Photos: Douglas Long
Socialite
Fujifilm Instax
Mini launch
Fujifilm celebrated the
launch of its new Instax
Mini camera in Myanmar
on December 4. Guests
gave the brightly coloured
cameras a whirl and had
fun printing the mini
photos.
Neng Sandar Hla Htun

and Thet Lone Pone
Ma Htet Htet, Yusuke Tsuchiya, Ryuraro Iwaki and Thet Lone Pone
Rahul and Khine Wint Phyu
Chatrium Hotel Christmas

lighting party
Chatrium Hotel staff
Wit Ye Zaw, Kyaw Phyo and U Ko Aung
Staff and guests at the Chatrium celebrated the

hotels Christmas lights switch-on in style on
December 10. Christmas hats and Santa Claus
costumes got everyone into the holiday spirit.
Daw Khin Malar, Myanmarpyi Thein

Tan and guests
Casabella end-ofyear sale

Guests enjoyed a
Christmas tea party at the
Casabella home furnishing
centre on December 5.
Zin Zin and Friends
Khin Wai Phyo Han
Socialite
www.mmtimes.com
OxyBAC
product
launch
UK company DEB
Group launched
its OxyBAC hand
sanitizer in Yangon
on December 9.
Daw Cynthia and Dr Khin Mg Win
U Henry Nyan Htun
Ma Nwe Ni Win, Ma Lin Zar Ni Zaw, Ma Nyein Nyein
Sule Shangri-La
Christmas
lighting party
Guests sipped on wine
as they celebrated the
Christmas lights being
switched on at Sule
Shangri-Las glamorous
Christmas lighting
party.
International
Volunteer Day
party
Guests celebrated
International
Volunteers Day on
December 5 at the
Australian Embassy
in Golden Valley.
Kandawgyi Palace
lighting party
Santa helped guests get into
the Christmas spirit as they
celebrated the Christmas
lights being switched on at
Kandawgyi Palace Hotel.
Bert, Khristina, Peter, Daniel and Ohnma
U Ko Ko, The Su Myat, Jenny Lao, Symphony, Pristine and Christine
62 the pulse travel
DOMESTIC FLIGHT SCHEDULES

Yangon to Nay Pyi Taw
Nay Pyi Taw To Yangon
Flight
FMI A1
FMI B1
FMI C1
FMI A1
FMI A1
Flight
FMI A2
FMI B2
FMI C2
FMI A2
FMI A2
Days
1,2,3,4,5
1,2,3,4,5
1,2,3,4,5
6
7
Dep
7:15
10:45
17:00
8:00
15:30
Arr
8:15
11:45
18:00
9:00
16:30
Yangon to Mandalay
Flight
YH 909
Y5 775
YJ 891
K7 282
YH 917
W9 201
YJ 811
YH 835
YH 826
YH 831
YH 829
7Y 131
K7 266
8M 6603
YH 729
YJ 751
YJ 601
YJ 211
YJ 601
YJ 233
YJ 201
YJ 761
YH 911
YH 737
YH 727
YH 729
W9 251
7Y 941
7Y 841
7Y 943
K7 822
K7 622
K7 226
7Y 241
YH 731
Y5 234
W9 211
Days
1,2,3,4,5,7
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
3
7
3
6,4
5
Daily
Daily
4
2
7,5
6
7,5
4
6
1,2,4
1,2,4
2
3,5,7
1
4,6
2,5
1,3,4,6
2,5
7
4,7
1,3,5,7
2,4,6
Daily
1,2,3,4,6,7
Daily
4
Dep
6:00
6:00
6:00
6:00
6:10
7:00
7:00
7:00
7:00
7:00
7:00
7:15
8:00
9:00
10:00
10:45
11:00
11:00
11:00
11:00
11:00
11:00
11:15
11:15
11:15
11:15
11:30
11:45
11:45
11:45
12:30
13:00
13:30
14:30
15:00
15:20
15:30
Arr
7:40
7:10
8:05
8:10
8:30
8:25
8:25
8:40
8:40
8:40
11:05
9:20
10:05
10:10
13:00
12:40
12:25
12:25
12:25
12:55
12:55
12:55
12:55
13:25
13:25
14:15
12:55
13:10
13:10
13:10
16:55
14:25
14:55
16:25
16:25
16:30
16:55
Yangon to Nyaung U
Flight
K7 282
YJ 891
YH 909
YH 917
YJ 881
K7 242
YJ 801
YH 909
7Y 131
7Y 121
Y5 649
K7 264
7Y 241
YH 731
W9 129
W9 211
Days
Daily
Daily
1,2,3,4,5,7
Daily
1,2,4,5,7
Daily
6
6
Daily
1
Daily
Daily
Daily
1,2,3,4,6,7
1,3,6
4
Dep
6:00
6:00
6:00
6:10
6:45
7:00
7:00
7:00
7:15
8:20
10:30
14:30
14:30
15:00
15:30
15:30
Days
1
3
4,6
1,2,4
7,5
5
6
2,5
5
1,3,5,7
Dep
7:00
7:00
7:00
11:00
11:00
7:00
11:00
11:30
11:45
13:00
Dep
8:35
13:30
18:20
10:00
17:00
Arr
9:35
14:30
19:20
11:00
18:00
Mandalay to Yangon
Flight
YH 910
K7 283
YH 918
W9 201
YJ 811
7Y 132
K7 267
YH 836
YH 827
YH 832
YH 738
YJ 202
YJ 602
YJ 602
YH 912
YJ 212
YJ 762
7Y 242
YH 728
YH 730
Y5 776
W9 211
K7 823
YH 732
8M 6604
K7 227
8M 903
YH 738
K7 623
YJ 234
YH 730
W9 252
Days
1,2,3,4,5,7
Daily
Daily
Daily
3
Daily
Daily
1,7
3
4,6
7
1,2,4
4
6
2
7,5
1,2,4
Daily
1
2
Daily
4
2,4,7
1,2,3,4,6,7
4
2,4,6
1,2,4,5,7
3,5
1,3,5,7
4
4,6
2,5
Dep
7:40
8:25
8:30
8:40
8:40
9:35
10:20
13:20
13:20
13:20
13:25
15:30
15:40
15:40
15:45
15:55
16:35
16:40
16:45
16:45
17:10
17:10
17:10
17:10
17:20
17:20
17:20
17:25
17:40
17:45
18:00
18:15
Arr
9:45
11:30
10:45
10:35
10:05
11:30
12:25
14:45
14:45
14:45
17:50
16:55
17:05
17:35
17:40
17:20
18:00
18:45
18:10
18:10
18:20
19:15
18:35
19:15
18:30
18:45
18:30
18:50
19:05
19:10
19:25
19:40
Nyaung U to Yangon
Arr
7:20
7:20
8:25
7:45
8:15
8:20
8:20
8:35
8:35
9:40
11:50
16:40
17:10
17:55
17:35
17:40
Yangon to Myitkyina
Flight
YH 835
YH 826
YH 831
YJ 201
YJ 211
YH 829
YJ 233
W9 251
7Y 841
K7 622
Days
1,2,3,4,5
1,2,3,4,5
1,2,3,4,5
6
7
Arr
10:05
10:05
10:05
13:50
13:50
9:40
16:05
14:25
14:35
15:55
Flight
YJ 891
YH 910
YH 918
YJ 881
YH 910
K7 242
YJ 801
7Y 131
7Y 121
K7 283
Y5 650
K7 265
7Y 242
W9 129
YH 732
Days
Daily
4,5,7
Daily
1,2,4,5,7
1,2,3,4
Daily
6
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
1,3,6
1,2,3,4,6,7
Dep
7:35
7:40
7:45
8:20
8:25
8:35
8:35
8:50
9:55
10:10
13:55
16:55
17:25
17:50
17:55
Arr
10:15
9:45
10:45
10:25
9:45
11:45
9:55
11:30
14:10
11:30
15:15
18:15
18:45
19:10
19:15
Myitkyina to Yangon
Flight
YJ 202
YJ 211
YH 836
YH 832
YH 830
K7 623
YJ 234
YH 827
W9 252
Days
1,2,4
7,5
1,7
4,6
5
1,3,5,7
4
3
2,5
Dep
14:05
14:05
11:55
11:55
12:30
16:10
16:20
11:55
16:45
Arr
16:55
17:20
14:45
14:45
14:55
19:05
19:10
14:45
19:40
Yangon to Heho
Flight
YJ 891
K7 282
YH 917
YJ 881
K7 242
W9 201
7Y 131
K7 266
7Y 121
Y5 649
YH 505
YJ 751
YJ 751
YJ 233
YJ 761
YH 727
YH 737
7Y 941
K7 828
K7 822
K7 264
7Y 241
YH 731
W9 129
Days
Daily
Daily
Daily
1,2,4,5,7
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
1,2,3,4,5,6
7,5
3
6
1,2,4
1
3,5,7
1,2,4,6
1,3,5
2,4,7
Daily
Daily
1,2,3,4,5,6
1,3,6
Dep
6:00
6:00
6:10
6:45
7:00
7:00
7:15
8:00
8:20
10:30
10:30
10:40
11:00
11:00
11:00
11:15
11:15
11:45
12:30
12:30
14:30
14:30
15:00
15:30
Heho to Yangon
Arr
8:50
9:00
9:35
9:00
9:15
9:10
10:05
9:15
10:35
12:45
11:55
11:55
12:10
12:10
12:10
12:40
12:40
13:55
13:45
13:45
15:45
15:40
16:25
16:40
Flight
YJ 891
YJ 881
K7 283
W9 201
K7 243
YH 918
7Y 132
7Y 121
K7 267
YH 506
Y5 650
YJ 762
7Y 241
K7 829
YH 728
YH 732
K7 264
YH 912
YH 738
YH 738
W9 129
YJ 752
YJ 752
Arr
8:15
8:38
9:05
17:00
Flight
Y5 326
7Y 532
K7 320
Y5 326
Yangon to Myeik
Flight
Y5 325
7Y 531
K7 319
Y5 325
Days
1,5
1,5
2,4,6
2
Dep
6:45
7:00
7:00
15:30
Days
1,3,6
Daily
Dep
11:30
13:00
Days
Daily
1,2,3,4,5,6
1,3,6
Daily
Daily
1,3,4,6
Dep
7:00
10:30
11:30
12:15
13:00
15:45
Arr
12:55
14:55
Flight
W9 309
K7 423
Arr
10:35
13:10
13:50
13:05
13:35
16:40
Flight
K7 243
YH 506
7Y 122
W9 309
K7 422
Y5 422
Days
2,4,6
1,5
Dep
7:00
7:00
Days
7,5
2
3
4
1,5
1,3,5
Dep
10:45
10:00
11:00
11:15
11:30
12:30
Arr
8:10
7:48
Days
3
1
4
2,5
Dep
7:00
7:00
7:00
11:30
Dep
8:35
10:45
11:30
17:15
Arr
10:05
12:18
13:35
18:45
Days
1,3,6
Daily
Dep
13:10
15:10
Arr
14:55
16:30
Days
Daily
1,2,3,4,5,6
Daily
1,3,6
Daily
1,3,4,6
Dep
10:50
13:10
13:20
14:05
14:10
16:55
Arr
11:45
14:00
14:10
14:55
16:30
17:50
Flight
K7 320
7Y 532
Days
2,4,6
1,5
Dep
12:25
11:30
Arr
13:35
12:18
Arr
13:40
12:00
13:15
13:15
13:18
14:50
Flight
K7 829
K7 829
YH 730
7Y 742
YJ 752
YJ 752
YH 730
Arr
11:00
11:00
11:00
15:25
Flight
YH 836
YH 827
YH 832
W9 252
Days
1,3
5
2
1,5
3
7,5
4
Dep
15:05
15:05
15:45
16:00
16:10
16:35
17:00
Arr
15:55
17:25
18:10
17:48
18:25
19:05
19:25
putao to yangon
Days
1
3
6
2,5
Dep
11:00
11:00
11:00
15:45
Arr
14:45
14:45
14:45
19:40
chiang mai to yangon
Flight
Y5 251
7Y 305
W9 9607
Flight
Y5 252
7Y 306
W9 9608
Dep
6:15
11:00
14:30
Tel: 513322, 513422, 504888. Fax: 515102
Air KBZ (K7)

Tel: 372977~80, 533030~39 (airport), 373766
(hotline). Fax: 372983
Asian Wings (YJ)

Tel: 515261~264, 512140, 512473, 512640
Fax: 532333, 516654
FMI Air Charter

Tel: 240363, 240373, 09421146545
Golden Myanmar Airlines (Y5)

Tel: 09400446999, 09400447999
Fax: 8604051
Mann Yadanarpon Airlines (7Y)

Tel: 656969
Fax: 656998, 651020
Tel: 383100, 383107, 700264

Fax: 652 533
Arr
8:05
12:50
16:20
Days
2,4,6
1,5
4,7
Dep
9:25
13:45
17:20
Airline Codes
7Y = Mann Yadanarpon Airlines
FMI = FMI Air Charter
K7 = Air KBZ
W9 = Air Bagan
yangon to chiang mai

Days
2,4,6
1,5
4,7
Air Bagan (W9)
Yangon Airways (YH)
lashio to Yangon
yangon to putao
Flight
YH 826
YH 835
YH 831
W9 251
Days
1,5
1,5
2,4,6
2
dawei to Yangon
yangon to lashio
Flight
YJ 751
YH 729
YJ 891
YH 729
7Y 741
K7 828
Domestic Airlines
thandwe to Yangon
yangon to dawei
Flight
K7 319
7Y 531
Arr
10:15
10:25
11:30
10:35
11:45
10:45
11:30
14:10
12:25
14:00
15:15
18:00
18:45
17:25
18:10
19:15
18:15
17:40
17:50
18:50
19:10
18:25
19:05
sittwe to Yangon
Yangon to thandwe
Flight
K7 242
YH 505
W9 309
7Y 122
K7 422
Y5 421
Dep
9:05
9:15
9:15
9:25
9:30
9:35
10:20
10:50
11:10
11:55
13:00
15:50
15:55
16:10
16:00
16:25
16:30
16:30
16:40
16:40
16:55
17:15
17:40
Myeik to Yangon
Yangon to sittwe
Flight
W9 309
K7 422
Days
Daily
1,2,4,5,7
Daily
Daily
Daily
1,2,3,4,5,6
Daily
Daily
Daily
1,2,3,4,5,6
Daily
1,2,4
Daily
1,3,5
1
1,2,3,4,6,7
Daily
2
7
3,5
1,3,6
3
7,5
Arr
10:15
14:35
18:10
Y5 = Golden Myanmar Airlines

YH = Yangon Airways
YJ = Asian Wings
Subject to change
without notice
Day
1 = Monday
2 = Tuesday
3 = Wednesday
4 = Thursday
5 = Friday
6 = Saturday
7 = Sunday
the pulse travel 63
www.mmtimes.com
NAMIB DESERT
International FLIGHT SCHEDULES

YANGON TO BANGKOK
Flights
PG 706
8M 335
TG 304
PG 702
TG 302
PG 708
8M 331
PG 704
Y5 237
TG 306
Days
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
BANGKOK TO YANGON
Dep
6:05
8:40
9:50
10:30
14:50
15:20
16:30
18:20
19:00
19:50
Arr
8:20
10:25
11:45
12:25
16:45
17:15
18:15
20:15
20:50
21:45
YANGON TO DON MUEANG

Flights
DD 4231
FD 252
FD 256
FD 254
FD 258
DD 4239
Days
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Days
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
2,4,6
1,3
Daily
2,3,5
Dep
8:00
8:30
12:50
17:35
21:30
21:00
Arr
9:45
10:20
14:40
19:25
23:15
22:55
Flights
DD 4230
FD 251
FD 255
FD 253
FD 257
DD 4238
Days
Daily
Daily
1,2,3,5,6
Daily
Daily
Arr
12:25
14:15
14:35
15:10
15:50
20:50
18:20
21:15
0:10
Flights
TR 2822
Y5 2234
SQ 998
3K 5
MI 533
8M 232
MI 518
MI 516
Days
3,5,7
Days
2,4,7
3,6
1,5
Dep
8:30
12:15
14:00
16:00
19:05
Arr
12:45
16:30
18:00
20:15
23:20
Flights
AK 504
MH 740
8M 502
MH 742
AK 502
Days
Daily
Daily
1,2,3,5,6
Daily
Daily
Dep
23:50
Arr
0550+1
Flights
CA 905
Days
3,5,7
Days
Daily
Arr
13:15
15:55
22:10
Flights
CZ 3055
CZ 3055
8M 712
Days
3,6
1,5
2,4,7
Dep
10:50
Arr
16:10
Flights
CI 7915
Days
Daily
3
1,2,4,5,6,7
Days
Daily
Arr
15:55
18:50
18:15
Flights
MU 2011
CA 905
MU 2031
Arr
21:25
Flights
VN 957
Arr
17:05
Flights
VN 943
Arr
11:40
Flights
QR 918
YANGON TO HANOI
Flights
VN 956
Days
1,3,5,6,7
Days
2,4,7
Dep
14:25
Days
1,4,6
Days
4,7
Daily
Days
Daily
Dep
0:50
23:35
Arr
8:50
7:45
Flights
KE 471
0Z 769
Days
Daily
Dep
01:10
Arr
05:25
Flights
KA 250
Days
2
5
Dep
22:10
Arr
6:45
Flights
NH 913
Days
4,7
1,2,4,5,7
Daily
Dep
11:45
19:45
Dep
14:30
1:35
23:55
Arr
13:00
21:00
Flights
BG 060
BG 060
Days
3,5,6
Arr
16:20
9:10
07:45+1
Days
Daily
Daily
Dep
10:30
Arr
11:50
Days
2,4,7
1,2,4,5,6
Dep
14:15
12:50
Flights
W9 608
8M 7701
Dep
15:45
7:50
Days
Daily
Dep
12:50
Flights
PG 709
FD 244
Arr
20:50
14:15
Flights
Y5 2234
MI 533
Days
Daily
Dep
13:50
Days
1,2,3,4,5
Dep
19:45
Dep
16:40
Arr
18:10
Dep
11:45
Arr
13:25
Days
3,5,7
Dep
19:45
Days
Daily
3,6
Dep
18:30
19:30
Days
Daily
Dep
21:45
Days
Daily
Dep
11:45
Days
2
5
Dep
8:30
16:30
Days
4,7
Daily
Dep
17:20
18:30
Days
3,5,6
Dep
12:50
Days
Daily
Daily
Dep
12:05
10:55
Days
Daily
2,4,7
Dep
7:20
11:30
Arr
15:15
Flights
FD 244
Arr
16:40
Flights
MU 2029
Days
Daily
Dep
10:55
Dep
12:55
Arr
22:40
23:40
Arr
21:30
Arr
17:15
Arr
10:45
18:45
Arr
18:10
22:30
Flights
PG 721
Days
1,2,3,4,5
Dep
17:15
Bangkok Airways (PG)
Tel: 255122, 255265. Fax: 255119
Tel: 371867~68. Fax: 371869
Condor (DE)
Tel: 370836~39 (ext: 303)
Dragonair (KA)
Tel: 255320, 255321. Fax: 255329
Golden Myanmar Airlines (Y5)
Malaysia Airlines (MH)
Tel: 387648, 241007 (ext: 120, 121, 122)

Fax: 241124
Myanmar Airways International (8M)

Nok Airline (DD)
Tel: 255050, 255021. Fax: 255051
Qatar Airways (QR)
Tel: 379845, 379843, 379831. Fax: 379730
Singapore Airlines (SQ) / Silk Air (MI)

Tel: 255287~9. Fax: 255290
Thai Airways (TG)

Tiger Airline (TR)
Tel: 371383, 370836~39 (ext: 303)
Vietnam Airlines (VN)
Tel: 255066, 255088, 255068. Fax: 255086
Airline Codes
8M = Myanmar Airways International
BG = Biman Bangladesh Airlines

CA = Air China
CI = China Airlines
CZ = China Southern
DD = Nok Airline
FD = Air Asia
KA = Dragonair
KE = Korea Airlines
MH = Malaysia Airlines
MI = Silk Air
MU = China Eastern Airlines
NH = All Nippon Airways
Arr
16:00
PG = Bangkok Airways
Arr
13:25
12:20
SQ = Singapore Airways
Star gazers
flock to Africas
darkest place
Andrew Beatty
OT many tourist spots

boast of being dark and
difficult to get to, but the
Namib Desert is one of a
number of remote Dark
Sky Reserves drawing in stargazers
for a celestial safari.
In the cool night air, an urbane
Austrian tourist climbs rocky steps
behind a chic hotel lodge and peers
into a matte-black metal cylinder
containing a spine of mirrors and
lenses that reveal the universe.
Not everyone is ready to face the
enormity of the universe laid out so
starkly by powerful magnification and
the crisp desert sky.
My mum wanted to set him on fire
yesterday when he said, We are looking
10 million years in the past! the
tourist joked, pointing at the resident
astronomer.
But across the beautiful Namib,
hotels and lodges are betting that the
stars will lead to more business rather
than a spike in Galileo-esque witch
hunts.
Many lodges have bought researchgrade or prosumer telescopes and
hired live-in astronomers as they
try to lure tourists who want to gaze
deeper into space and time.
According to consultancy
Euromonitor, astro-tourism holidays
are growing in line with increased
urbanisation, with Africa in particular
taking off.
Most people come here for the
other activities: visiting the dunes or
the nature reserve where you see all
the wildlife. This is kind of a bonus,
said Misha Vickas, formerly a guide
at a public observatory in Sydney,
but now resident at the AndBeyond
Sossusvlei Desert Lodge.
Most people have never looked
through a telescope, and a lot of them
have just never looked up.
Vickas operates a go-to telescope,
a device that, once calibrated, pivots on
demand to any star or planet with little
more than a mechanical hum and whir.
Not that a telescope is really
needed in the Namib.
Across as much as 50 percent
of the Earth the starry firmament
is obscured by an orange glow of
human-made light pollution.
During the day, the Namibs sea of
copper-red and ecru-yellow dunes and
mountains glow blindingly, befitting
the worlds oldest desert.
But in the inky night sky, the
Milky Way seems much closer than
Windhoek, a half-days drive away

across dirt track and sun-rippled
single-lane carriageway.
Marss red glow, Magellanic Clouds
dwarf galaxies outside our own
and assorted gaseous nebulae are all
visible with the naked eye.
The sky is particularly good to look
at here because the Milky Way, which is
the main part of our galaxy, is usually
very high overhead meaning light
refraction is at a minimum, Vickas said.
There is a lot to look at.
In 2012, a sliver of the central
Namib the size of Mauritius the
NamibRand was named Africas
first Dark Sky Reserve in recognition
of the skys special allure here.
A handful of similar sites exist
across the world, including Aoraki
Mackenzie on New Zealands South
Island and the Iveragh Peninsula on
Irelands southwest coast.
Hawaii and Chile have also become
renowned as astro-tourism hot spots.
The darkest places are almost
inevitably distant from populated
places, said John Barentine of the
Arizona-based International DarkSky Association, which awards the
designation.
The glow of cities can often be
seen several hundred kilometres away
under good conditions.
To rank sky quality, scientists use
measurements like the Bortle Scale.
An inner city is level nine,
meaning you can see very little.
Bright constellations like Orion may
be faint or even invisible.
At the other end of the scale, in a
first-class sky like the Namib, Venus
and Jupiter shine bright, and a white
swathe of zodiacal light smears the sky.
Like parts of Chile, the Namibs
good weather and ultra-dry
atmosphere make for clear nights and
particularly transparent air all the
way to the horizon.
A visitor to NamibRand has
a statistically high probability of
experiencing that exceptionally dark
sky on any given night, Barentine
said.
Namibia has just over 2 million
people spread over an area roughly
the size of Pakistan or Nigeria,
making it one of the most sparsely
populated countries in the world.
NamibRand is located in one of
the darkest accessible places that
remain on Earth, said Barentine.
It is as close as you get to the way
the world was long ago, before
the invention and proliferation of
artificial lights. AFP
QR = Qatar Airways
TG = Thai Airways
TR = Tiger Airline
Arr
16:30
14:50
Arr
12:20
Arr
12:50
BANGKOK TO NAY PYI TAW

Arr
22:45
Tel: 253597~98, 254758. Fax 248175
AK = Air Asia
KUNMING TO MANDALAY
Days
Daily
Air India
3K = Jet Star
Arr
0459+1
DON MUEANG TO MANDALAY
NAY PYI TAW TO BANGKOK

Flights
PG 722
Arr
11:50
11:30
14:00
singapore to mandalay
MANDALAY TO KUNMING
Flights
MU 2030
Flights
8M 602
Arr
16:40
15:15
MANDALAY TO DON MUEANG

Flights
FD 245
Days
2,4,7
Air China (CA)
Tel: 255491~6. Fax: 255223
Dep
8:25
11:10
13:30
BANGKOK TO MANDALAY
MANDALAY TO singapore
Flights
MI 533
Y5 2233
Arr
9:50
gaya TO YANGON
MANDALAY TO BANGKOK
Flights
PG 710
FD 245
Dep
7:00
INCHEON TO YANGON
YANGON TO gaya
Flights
8M 601
Arr
10:35
16:40
15:50
DHAKA TO YANGON
YANGON TO INCHEON
Flights
W9 607
8M 902
8M 7702
Dep
8:35
14:40
14:15
TOKYO TO YANGON
YANGON TO DHAKA
Flights
BG 061
BG 061
Arr
22:50
HONG KONG TO YANGON
YANGON TO TOKYO
Flights
NH 914
Days
1,3,5,6,7
Air Bagan Ltd.(W9)
Tel: 513322, 513422, 504888. Fax: 515102
Tel: 255260. Fax: 255305
Dep
19:30
SEOUL TO YANGON
YANGON TO HONG KONG

Flights
KA 251
Arr
8:00
11:15
13:50
15:00
18:25
DOHA TO YANGON
Dep
7:55
YANGON TO SEOUL
Flights
0Z 770
KE 472
Dep
6:55
10:05
12:50
13:50
17:20
HO CHI MINH CITY TO YANGON
YANGON TO DOHA
Flights
QR 919
Days
3
Daily
1,2,4,5,6,7
Tel: 09254049991~3
Tel: 09400446999, 09400447999

Fax: 8604051
HANOI TO YANGON
Dep
19:10
YANGON TO HO CHI MINH CITY

Flights
VN 942
Arr
8:45
8:50
9:20
15:50
12:45
14:50
15:45
12:55
KUNMING TO YANGON
Dep
12:30
12:40
14:50
Air Asia (FD)
Biman Bangladesh Airlines (BG)
Dep
7:20
7:20
7:55
11:20
11:30
13:25
14:20
11:30
TAIPEI TO YANGON
YANGON TO KUNMING
Flights
CA 416
MU 2012
MU 2032
Arr
7:15
8:00
12:20
17:05
20:55
20:15
GUANGZHOU TO YANGON
Dep
8:40
11:35
17:40
International Airlines
Tel: 666112, 655882
Dep
6:30
7:15
11:35
16:20
20:15
19:25
BEIJING TO YANGON
YANGON TO TAIPEI
Flights
CI 7916
Arr
8:45
9:40
22:20
12:40
13:50
14:30
17:35
18:50
20:05
21:25
KUALA LUMPUR TO YANGON
YANGON TO GUANGZHOU
Flights
8M 711
CZ 3056
CZ 3056
Days
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Days
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
2,4,7
Daily
Daily
1,3
YANGON TO BEIJING
Flights
CA 906
Dep
8:00
8:45
21:30
11:55
13:05
13:40
17:05
18:05
19:20
20:10
SINGAPORE TO YANGON
Dep
8:00
9:45
9:45
10:25
11:20
13:35
13:50
16:40
19:30
YANGON TO KUALA LUMPUR

Flights
AK 505
MH 741
8M 501
MH 743
AK 503
Days
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
DON MUEANG TO YANGON
YANGON TO SINGAPORE
Flights
8M 231
Y5 2233
TR 2823
SQ 997
3K 582
MI 533
MI 515
MI 519
3K 584
Flights
TG 303
PG 701
Y5 238
8M 336
TG 301
PG 707
PG 703
TG 305
8M 332
PG 705
Arr
19:15
VN = Vietnam Airline
Y5 = Golden Myanmar Airlines
Subject to change
without notice
Day
1 = Monday
2 = Tuesday
3 = Wednesday
4 = Thursday
5 = Friday
6 = Saturday
7 = Sunday
The Milky Way shines over Balgowan, South Africa, on June 14, 2010. Photo: AFP
64 the pulse tea break
SUDOKU PACIFIC
Universal Crossword
Edited by Timothy E. Parker
SOIL CONSERVATION ACT By Mary Jersey

ACROSS
1 Back to the Future
bully
5 Unenviable
position?
9 1,000 make a kilo
14 Seeds outer
covering
15 Lotion ingredient
16 One spelling for an
Indian queen
17 Prefix meaning
trillion
18 Worlds longest
river
19 Dress style
20 Fuddy-duddy
23 Rat-a-___
25 Blue Angels
formation
26 Desert paradises
27 The Bathers painter
29 Campus building
31 Grammar book
topic
32 My mistake
33 Bigmouth fish?
37 What happy
astronauts do
40 Sword with a bellshaped guard
41 Not only that ...
42 Finger-pointer
43 Goods superlative
44 Queuing for tickets,
e.g.
45 Daisys look-alike
48 Last poker bet,
sometimes
49 Chunk of lawn
50 More than a
bargain
54 Nestlings noise
55 Wrinkly fruit
56 Emerald Isle
59 Not relaxed
60 Dignified manner
61 Pimples on pupils
62 Look with a curled lip
63 Start the pot
64 Long flight feature,
often
5 Cavalry member
6 Of the same
stripe
7 Music showcases
8 Many a college
applicant
9 Alexander Bells
middle?
10 Abnormal breath
sounds
11 Japanese cartoon
art genre
12 Diner offerings
13 Flower starter
21 Like Princetons
walls
22 Common
sculpture
23 Cessation of
hostilities
24 Fabled tale-teller
28 ___ arch (molding
type)
29 Stereotypical snack
for cops
30 Decides on (with for)
32 Hooters in the
night
33 False god mentioned
in Judges
34 Military truce
35 Member of a pool,
once
36 Destroy, as
documents
38 Aida or Carmen
39 Existential
fatigue
43 Belt clip-on of old
44 Cut application
45 Having chalky
cheeks
46 Public to-do
47 What we have
here
48 Archipelago dot
50 Macbeth quintet
51 Large tawny feline
52 Opposed,
in oaters
53 516 sheets of paper
57 Some strands
in a cell
58 Conger
DOWN
1 Yankees find it
offensive
2 Infuriation
3 Bob, Tom, Carol or
Janet
4 Fixed, as a rate
DILBERT
BY SCOTT ADAMS
PEANUTS
BY CHARLES SCHULZ
CALVIN AND HOBBES
BY BILL WATTERSON
PUZZLE SOLUTIONS
General Listing
The Essentials
EMBASSIES
Australia 88, Strand Road,
Yangon. Tel : 251810,
251797, 251798.
Bangladesh 11-B, Than
Lwin Road, Yangon.
Tel: 515275, 526144, email:
bdootygn@mptmail.net.mm
Brazil 56, Pyay Road,
6th mile, Hlaing Tsp,
Yangon. Tel: 507225,
507251. email: Administ.
yangon@itamaraty.gov.br.
Brunei 17, Kanbawza
Avenue, Golden Velly (1),
Bahan Tsp, Yangon. Tel:
566985, 503978.
email: bruneiemb@
bruneiemb.com.mm
Cambodia 25 (3B/4B),
New University Avenue
Road, Bahan Tsp, Yangon.
Tel: 549609, 540964.
email: RECYANGON @
mptmail.net.mm
Canada
9th Floor, Centerpoint
Towers, 65 Sule Pagoda
Road, Yangon, Tel :
01-384805 , Fax :01
384806, Email : yngon@
international.gc.ca
China 1, Pyidaungsu
Yeiktha Road, Yangon. Tel:
221280, 221281.
Denmark, No.7, Pyi Thu
St, Pyay Rd, 7 Miles,
Mayangone Tsp, Yangon.
Tel: 01 9669520 - 17.
Egypt 81, Pyidaungsu
222886, 222887,
Egyptembassy86@gmail.
com
France 102, Pyidaungsu
212178, 212520, email:
ambaf rance. rangoun@
diplomatie.fr
Germany 9, Bogyoke Aung
San Museum Road, Bahan
Tsp, Yangon.
Tel: 548951, 548952, email:
info@rangun. diplo.de
India 545-547, Merchant
St, Yangon. Tel: 391219,
388412,
email:indiaembassy
@mptmail.net.mm
Indonesia 100, Pyidaungsu

Yeiktha Rd, Yangon. Tel:
254465, 254469, email:
kukygn @indonesia.com.
mm
Israel 15, Khabaung
Street, Hlaing Tsp, Yangon.
Tel: 515115, fax: 515116,
email: info@yangon.mfa.
gov.il
Italy 3, Inya Myaing Road,
Golden Valley, Yangon.
Tel: 527100, 527101, fax:
514565, email: ambyang.
mail@ esteri.it
Japan 100, Natmauk Rd,
Yangon. Tel: 549644-8,
540399, 540400, 540411,
545988, fax: 549643
Kuwait
62-B, Shwe Taung Kyar St,
Bahan Tsp.
Tel : 01-230-9542, 2309543. Fax : 01-230-5836.
Laos A-1, Diplomatic
Quarters, Tawwin Road,
Dagon Tsp, Yangon.
Tel: 222482, Fax: 227446,
email: Laoembcab@
mptmail. net.mm
Malaysia 82, Pyidaungsu
220248, 220249,
email: mwkyangon@
mptmail.net.mm
Nepal 16, Natmauk
Yeiktha, Yangon. Tel:
545880, 557168, fax:
549803, email: nepemb @
mptmail.net.mm
Norway, No.7, Pyi Thu
St, Pyay Rd, 7 Miles,
Mayangone Tsp,Yangon.
Tel: 01 9669520 - 17 Fax
01- 9669516
New Zealand No. 43/C,
Inya Myaing Rd, Bahan Tsp,
Yangon.
Tel : 01-2306046-9
Fax : 01-2305805
Netherlands No. 43/C, Inya
Myaing Rd, Bahan Tsp,
Yangon. Tel : 01-2305805
North Korea 77C, Shin
Saw Pu Rd, Sanchaung
Tsp, Yangon.
Tel: 512642, 510205
Pakistan A-4, diplomatic

Quarters, Pyay Rd, Yangon.
Tel: 222881 (Chancery
Exchange)
Philippines 50, Sayasan
Rd, Bahan Tsp, Yangon.
Tel: 558149-151,Email: p.e.
yangon@gmail.com
Saudi Arabia No.6/S,
Inya Yeiktha St, 10th Qtr,
Mayangone Tsp, Yangon,
Tel: (951) 652-344, 652-344,
Fax: (951) 657-983
Russia 38, Sagawa Rd,
Yangon.
Tel: 241955, 254161,
Serbia No. 114-A, Inya
Rd, P.O.Box No. 943,
515283, email: serbemb @
yangon.net.mm
Singapore 238, Dhamazedi
Road, Bahan Tsp, Yangon.
Tel: 559001, email:
singemb_ ygn@_sgmfa.
gov.sg
South Korea 97 University
Avenue, Bahan Tsp,
Yangon. Tel: 527142-4,
515190, fax: 513286, email:
myanmar@mofat.go.kr
Sri Lanka 34 Taw Win Rd,
Switzerland
No 11, Kabaung Lane, 5
mile, Pyay Rd, Hlaing Tsp,
Yangon.
Tel: 534754, 507089.
Thailand 94 Pyay Rd,
Dagon Tsp, Yangon. Tel:
226721, 226728, 226824
Turkey
19AB, Kan Yeik Thar St,
Mayangone Tsp,Yangon.
Tel : 662992, Fax : 661365
United Kingdom 80 Strand
Rd, Yangon.
Tel: 370867, 380322,
371852, 371853, 256438,
United States of America
110, University Avenue,
Kamayut Tsp, Yangon.
Tel: 536509, 535756, Fax:
650306
Vietnam Bldg-72, Thanlwin
Rd, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. Tel:
511305
UNITED NATIONS
ILO Liaison 1-A, Kanbae
(Thitsar Rd), Yankin Tsp,
Tel : 01-566538, 566539
IOM 318 (A) Ahlone Rd, Dagon
Tsp, Yangon.Tel 01-210588,
09 73236679, 0973236680,
Email- iomyangon@iom.int
UNAIDS 137/1, Thaw Wun Rd,
Kamayut Tsp.
Tel : 534498, 504832
UNDCP 11-A, Malikha St,
Mayangone tsp.
Tel: 666903, 664539.
UNDP 6, Natmauk Rd, Bahan
tel: 542910-19. fax: 292739.
UNFPA 6, Natmauk Rd,
Bahan tsp. tel: 546029.
UNHCR 287, Pyay Rd,
Sanchaung tsp.
Tel: 524022, 524024.
UNIAP Rm: 1202, 12 Fl,
Traders Hotel.
Tel: 254852, 254853.
UNIC 6, Natmauk St., Bahan,
tel: 52910~19
UNICEF 14~15 Flr, Traders
Hotel. P.O. Box 1435,
Kyauktada. Tel: 375527~32,
unicef.yangon@unicef. org,
UNODC 11-A, Malikha Rd., Ward
7, Mayangone. tel: 01-9666903,
9660556, 9660538, 9660398.
email: fo.myanmar@unodc.org
UNOPS 120/0, Pyi Thu Lane,
7 Miles, Mayangone Tsp.
Tel: 951-657281~7.
Fax: 657279.
UNRC 6, Natmauk Rd, P.O.
Box 650, TMWE Tel: 542911~19,
292637 (Resident Coordinator),
WFP 5 Kan Baw Za St, Shwe
Taung Kyar, (Golden Valley),
Bahan Tsp. Tel : 2305971~6
WHO No. 2, Pyay Rd, 7 Mile,
Mayangone Tsp, Tel : 6504056, 650416, 654386-90.
ASEAN Coordinating Of. for
the ASEAN Humanitarian
Task Force, 79, Taw Win st,
Dagon Tsp. Tel: 225258.
FAO Myanma Agriculture
Service Insein Rd, Insein. tel:
641672, 641673.
For more information about these listings, Please Contact - classied.mcm@gmail.com
Emergency Numbers
Ambulance tel: 295133.
Fire tel: 191, 252011, 252022.
Police emergency tel: 199.
Police headquarters tel: 282541, 284764.
Red Cross tel:682600, 682368
Traffic Control Branch tel:298651
Department of Post & Telecommunication tel: 591384,
591387.
Immigration tel: 286434.
Ministry of Education tel:545500m 562390
Ministry of Sports tel: 370604, 370605
Ministry of Communications tel: 067-407037.
Myanma Post & Telecommunication (MPT) tel: 067407007.
Myanma Post & Tele-communication (Accountant Dept)
tel: 254563, 370768.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs tel: 067-412009, 067-412344.
Ministry of Health tel: 067-411358-9.
Yangon City Development Committee tel: 248112.
HOSPITALS
Central Womens Hospital tel: 221013, 222811.
Children Hospital tel: 221421, 222807
Ear, Nose & Throat Hospital tel: 543888.
Naypyitaw Hospital (emergency) tel: 420096.
Workers Hospital tel: 554444, 554455, 554811.
Yangon Children Hospital tel: 222807, 222808, 222809.

Yangon General Hospital (East) tel: 292835, 292836, 292837.
Yangon General Hospital (New) tel: 384493, 384494,
384495, 379109.
Yangon General Hospital (West) tel: 222860, 222861,
220416.
Yangon General Hospital (YGH) tel: 256112, 256123,
281443, 256131.
ELECTRICITY
Power Station tel:414235
POST OFFICE
General Post Office
39, Bo Aung Kyaw St. (near British Council Library). tel:
285499.
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Yangon International Airport tel: 662811.
YANGON PORT
Shipping (Coastal vessels) tel: 382722
RAILWAYS
Railways information
tel: 274027, 202175-8.
ACCOMMODATIONHOTELS
ASIA PLAZA HOTEL
YANGON
No. 277, Bogyoke Aung
San Road, Corner of
38th Street, Kyauktada
Township, Yangon,
Myanmar.
Tel : (951) 391070, 391071.
Reservation@391070
(Ext) 1910, 106.
Fax : (951) 391375. Email :
hotelasiaplaza@gmail.com
Avenue 64 Hotel
No. 64 (G), Kyitewine
Pagoda Rd, Mayangone Tsp,
Yangon. Tel : 09-8631392,
01 656913-9
No. 12, Pho Sein Road,

Tamwe Township, Yangon
Tel : (95-1) 209299, 209300,
209343 Fax : (95-1) 209344
bestwestern.com/
greenhillhotelyangon.com
Chatrium Hotel
40 Natmauk Rd, Tarmwe.
tel: 544500. fax: 544400.
No.7A, Wingabar Road,

Bahan Tsp, Yangon.
Tel : (951) 546313,
430245. 09-731-77781~4.
Fax : (01) 546313.
www.cloverhotel.asia.
info@cloverhotel.asia
Clover Hotel City Center
No. 217, 32nd Street
(Upper Block), Pabedan Tsp,
Yangon, Myanmar.
Tel : 377720, Fax : 377722
www.clovercitycenter.asia
Clover Hotel City Center Plus
No. 229, 32nd Street
(Upper Block), Pabedan Tsp,
Yangon, Myanmar.
Tel : 377975, Fax : 377974
www.clovercitycenterplus.asia
Confort Inn
4, Shweli Rd, Bet: Inya Rd
& U Wisara Rd, Kamaryut,
tel: 525781, 526872
No. (356/366), Kyaikkasan

Rd, Tamwe Township,
Yangon, Myanmar.
Ph: 542826, Fax: 545650
Email: reservation@
edenpalacehotel.com
M-22, Shwe Htee Housing,

Thamine Station St., Near
the Bayint Naung Point,
Mayangone Tsp., Yangon
Tel : 522763, 522744,
667557. Fax : (95-1) 652174
E-mail : grandpalace@
myanmar.com.mm
Hotel Grand United

(Chinatown)
621, Maharbandoola Rd,
Latha Tsp, Yangon.
Tel: (95-1) 372256-58
(21st Downtown)
66-70, 21st Street (Enter
from Strand Rd), Latha
Tsp, Yangon. Tel: (95-1)
378201
(Ahlone Branch)
35, Min Ye Kyaw Swar
Rd, Ahlone Tsp, Yangon.
Tel: (95-1) 218061-64;
Email: grandunited.
head@gmail.com, www.
hotelgrandunited.com
Hotel Yangon
91/93, 8th Mile Junction,
Tel : 01-667708, 667688.
186, Lu Nge Thitsar

Street, on Thitsar Road,
Yankin Township, Yangon,
Myanmar. Ph: +951-8550
283, +951-8550 284,
+959-2540 63632, E-mail:
enquiry@hotelyankin.com,
www.hotelyankin.com
Inya Lake Resort Hotel
37 Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd.
tel: 662866. fax: 665537.
Windsor Hotel No.31, Shin

Saw Pu Street, Sanchaung.
Yangon, Myanmar.
Ph: 95-1-511216~8, www.
hotelwindsoryangon.com
Winner Inn
42, Than Lwin Rd, Bahan
Tsp. Tel: 503734, 524387.
email: reservation@winner
innmyanmar.com
No.183, 35th St; Bet; 77th

&78th Street, Mahar Aung
Myae Tsp, Mandalay. Ph: 02
67 404, 67 405, 67 406, 67
407, 67 408, website:www.
yuanshenghotel.com,
Email: sale.yuanshenghotel
@gmail.com
ACCOMMODATION
LONG TERM
Real Estate Service

Selling, Buying, Renting,
Tel: 09 2500 08127, 09 2541
46420, 09 2541 46421.
happy homes
No.1, Wut Kyaung St,
Yay Kyaw, Pazundaung Tsp,
Yangon, Myanmar.
Ph: 01-8610640, 01-202187,
www.mkhotelyangon.com
REAL ESTATE & PROPERTY

MANAGEMENT
Tel: 09-7349-4483,
09-4200-56994.
E-mail: aahappyhomes@
gmail.com, http://www.
happyhomesyangon.com
MGM Hotel No (160), Warden

Street, Lanmadaw Tsp, Yangon,
Myanmar. +95-1-212454~9.
www. hotel-mgm.com
No. 205, Corner of Wadan

Street & Min Ye Kyaw
Swa Road, Lanmadaw
Tsp, Yangon. Myanmar.
Tel: (95-1) 212850 ~ 3,
229358 ~ 61,
Fax: (95-1) 212854.
info@myanmarpandahotel
.com http://www.
myanmarpandahotel.com
PARKROYAL Yangon,
Myanmar
33, Alan Pya Pagoda Rd,
Dagon tsp.
tel: 250388. fax: 252478.
email: enquiry.prygn@
parkroyalhotels.com.
Royal White Elephant Hotel

No-11, Kan Street, Hlaing
Tsp. Yangon, Myanmar.
(+95-1) 500822, 503986.
www.rwehotel.com
17, Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd,

Yankin Tsp.
Tel: 650933. Fax: 650960.
Email : micprm@
myanmar.com.mmwww.
myanmar micasahotel.com
Marina Residence
8, Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd,
Mayangone Tsp.
tel: 6506 51~4. fax: 650630.
Sakura Residence
9, Inya Rd, Kamaryut Tsp.
tel: 525001. fax: 525002.
ACCOMMODATIONHOTELS (NAY PYI TAW)
Reservation Ofce (Yangon)

123, Alanpya Pagoda Rd,
Dagon Township
Tel
: 951- 255 819~838
Hotel Max, (Nay Pyi Taw)
Tel
: 067- 414 177,
067- 4141 88
E-Mail: reservation@
maxhotelsgroup.com

ADVERTISING & MEDIA
ARCHITECTS &
MODULAR BUILDINGS
we staRteD the aDveRtising

inDustRy in MyanMaR since 1991
M A R K E T I N G & C O M M U N I C AT I O N S
A D V E R T I S I N G
SAIL Marketing &

Communications
Suite 403, Danathiha Center
790, Corner of Bogyoke Rd
& Wadan Rd, Lanmadaw
Township, Yangon, Myanmar.
Tel: (951) 211870, 224820,
2301195. Email: admin@
advertising-myanmar.com
www.advertising-myanmar.
com
AGRICULTURAL
TRACTOR
MYANMAR BOOK CENTRE

Nandawun Compound,
No. 55, Baho Road,
Corner of Baho Road
and Ahlone Road, (near
Eugenia Restaurant),
Ahlone Township. tel:
212 409, 221 271. 214708
fax: 524580. email: info@
myanmarbook.com
CAR RENTAL
BEAUTY & MASSAGE
Marina Residence, Yangon

Ph: 650651~4, Ext: 109
Beauty Plan, Corner of
77th St & 31st St, Mandalay
Ph: 02 72506
The First Air conditioning

systems designed to keep
you fresh all day
Zeya & Associates Co., Ltd.
No.437 (A), Pyay Road,
Kamayut. P., O 11041
Yangon, Tel: +(95-1)
502016-18,
Mandalay- Tel: 02-60933.
Nay Pyi Taw- Tel:
067-420778, E-mail :
sales.ac@freshaircon.
com. URL: http://www.
freshaircon.com
BOOK STORES
150 Dhamazedi Rd.,

Bahan Tsp, Yangon.
Tel: (01) 536306, 537805.
Email: mbt.marketing.
mgr@gmail.com
15(B), Departure Lounge,
Yangon Intl Airport.
# 87/2, Crn of 26th & 27th
St, 77th St, Chan Aye Thar
Zan Tsp, Mandalay.
Tel: (02) 24880
ELT Showroom:
# 43, 165 St, Tarmwe Tsp,
Yangon.
Tel: (09) 5116687
Business Consulting
info@firstrangoon.com
www.firstrangoon.com
COMPUTER
Shwe Hinthar B 307, 6 1/2
Miles, Pyay Rd., Yangon.
Tel: +95 (0)1 654 730
info@thuraswiss.com
www.thuraswiss.com
English I Wi-Fi I Insured I

Concierge I Refreshment
Tel: 571586, 09-250188232,
www.centurionauto.com
MyanMaR eXecutive
liMousine seRvice
YANGON
La Source Beauty Spa
80-A, Inya Rd, Kamayut Tsp.
Tel: 512380, 511252
Beauty Bar by La Source
Room (1004), Sedona Hotel,
Tel : 666 900 Ext : 7167
MANDALAY
La Source Beauty Spa
13/13, Mya Sandar St,
bet: 26_27, bet: 62_63,
Chanaye Tharzan Tsp.
Tel : 09-4440-24496.
www.lasourcebeautyspa.com
CONSULTING
Myanmar Research | Consulting

Capital Markets
AIR CONDITION
illy, Francis Francis, VBM,

Brasilia, Rossi, De Longhi
Nwe Ta Pin Trading Co., Ltd.
Shop C, Building 459 B
New University Avenue
01- 555-879, 09-4210-81705
nwetapintrading@gmail.com
contactus@greenarc.net.au
Tel : 09-730-22820
The Worlds Best Selling

Tractor
Bldg No. F/S (2),
ShweMarlar Housing,
Bayintnaung Rd.,
Kamaryut Tsp., YGN
Tel: +95 9 4302 4615
(English Speaking)
+95 9 508 5217
(Myanmar Speaking)
Email : utsales@
universaltractormyanmar.
com
COFFEE MACHINE
HOT LINE:
09 - 402 510 003
01-646 330
First class VIp
Limousine car rental.
professional english
Speaking Drivers.
Full Insurance for
your Safety and
comfortable journey
call us Now for your
best choice
www.mmels.com
Car Rental Service

No. 56, Bo Ywe St,
Latha Tsp, Yangon.
Tel : 01-246551, 375283,
09-2132778, 09-31119195.
Gmail:nyanmyintthu1983@
gmail.com,
Royal Ayeyarwaddy
Co.,Ltd.
No.(7) , 87th St, Mingalar
Taung Nyunt Tsp, Yangon.
Tel : 09-254249628, 09254296248, 09 254249629.
(Mdy Ph: 09 73103051,
73103052) www.pqi-group.
com, www.royalayeyarwaddy. com
Royal Ayeyarwaddy
Co.,Ltd.
No.(7) , 87th St, Mingalar
Taung Nyunt Tsp, Yangon.
Tel : 384850, 389366,
394494 , 09-421132002,
Fax : 384850 (Mdy Ph: 0973103051, 09-73103052)
www.viewsonic.com, www.
royal-ayeyarwaddy.com
Crockery
No.27-B, Kabaaye
Pagoda Rd, Teak Villa,
Mayangone Tsp,
Tel: 09-4200-49459.
Express Courier & Cargo

One Stop Logistic Solution
Ygn, Hot Line: 011224270
DUTY FREE
SUPER
Duty Free Shops
Yangon International
Airport, Arrival/Departure
Mandalay International
Airport, Departure
Office: 17, 2nd street,
Hlaing Yadanarmon Housing,
Hlaing Township, Yangon.
Tel: 500143, 500144, 500145.
CO WORKING SPACE
ENTERTAINMENT
Vehicle Operating Leases:
Trucks
Semi trailers
Vans and Minibuses
Tractors
Pickups
aung@yomafleet.com
www.yomafleet.com
No. (6), Lane 2

Botahtaung Pagoda St,
Yangon.
01-9010003, 291897.
info@venturaoffice.com,
www.venturaoffice.com
No. 589-592, Bo Aung

Kyaw St, Yangon-Pathein
highway Road. Hlaing
Tharyar tsp. Tel: 951645178-182, 685199, Fax:
951-645211, 545278.
e-mail: mkt-mti@
winstrategic.com.mm
FOAM SPRAY
INSULATION
Foam Spray Insulation

No-410, Ground Fl,Lower
Pazuntaung Rd, Pazun
taung Tsp, Yangon.Telefax
: 01-203743, 09-5007681.
Hot Line-09-730-30825.
FORKLIFT
DELIVERY SERVICE
CONSTRUCTION
Zamil Steel
No-5, Pyay Road,
7 miles,
Mayangone Tsp, Yangon.
Tel: (95-1) 652502~04.
Fax: (95-1) 650306.
Email: zamilsteel@
zamilsteel.com.mm
Floral Service & Gift Shop

No. 449, New University
Avenue, Bahan Tsp. YGN.
Tel: 541217, 559011,
09-860-2292.
Market Place By City Mart
Tel: 523840~43,
523845~46, Ext: 205.
Junction Nay Pyi Taw
Tel: 067-421617~18
422012~15, Ext: 235.
Res: 067-414813, 09-49209039. Email : eternal@
mptmail.net.mm
CROCKERY
Car Rental
Super Car Rental

21, G Flr, Phyoe Myay St,
Mingalar Taung Nyunt Tsp.
Tel: 09-730-08848
09-2520-92244
GENERATORS
Learn to dance with

social dancing
94, Bogalay Zay St,
Botataung T/S,
Yangon.
Tel : 01-392526,
01-1221738
FITNESS CENTRE
Life Fitness
Bldg A1, Rm No. 001,
Shwekabar Housing,
Mindhamma Rd,
Mayangone Tsp. Yangon.
Ph: 01-656511,
Fax: 01-656522,
Hot line: 0973194684,
natraysports@gmail.com
No. 20, Ground Floor, Pearl

Street, Golden Valley Ward,
Bahan Township, Yangon.
Tel : 09-509 7057, 01220881, 549478 (Ext : 103)
Email : realfitnessmyanmar
@gmail.com
www.realfitnessmyanmar.com
Made in Taiwan
Bldg No. F/S (2),
ShweMarlar Housing,
Bayintnaung Rd.,
Kamaryut Tsp., YGN
Tel: +95 9 4302 4615
(English Speaking)
+95 9 502 1312
(Myanmar Speaking)
Email : utsales@
com
Your Lifting Solution
GAS COOKER &

COOKER HOODS
Made in Spain
Bldg No. F/S (2),
ShweMarlar Housing,
Bayintnaung Rd.,
Kamaryut Tsp., YGN
Tel: +95 9 4302 4615
(English Speaking)
+95 9 502 1312
(Myanmar Speaking)
Email : utsales@
com
Your Power Solution
GLASS
International
Construction
Material Co., Ltd.
No. 60, G-Fl, Sint-Oh-Dan St,
Lower Block, Latha Tsp,
Yangon, Myanmar.
Tel : 01-245112,
09-730-22820
Email : intconstruction
material@gmail.com
HEALTH SERVICES
Worlds leader in
Kitchen Hoods & Hobs
Same as Ariston Water
Heater. Tel: 251033,
379671, 256622, 647813
Yangon : A-3, Aung San

Stadium (North East Wing),
Mingalartaungnyunt Tsp.
Tel : 245543, 09-73903736,
09-73037772.
Mandalay : No.(4) 73rd St,
Btw 30th & 31st St, Chan
Aye Thar Zan Tsp. Tel : 096803505, 09-449004631.
Naypyitaw : Level (2),
Capital Hyper Mart,
Yazathingaha Street,
Outarathiri Tsp. Tel : 0933503202, 09-73050337
GEMS & JEWELLERIES
Ruby & Rare Gems

of Myanamar
No. 527, New University
Ave., Bahan Tsp. Yangon.
sales@manawmaya.com.mm
www.manawmayagems.com
Tel: 549612, Fax : 545770.
98(A), Kaba Aye Pagoda

Road, Bahan Township,
553783, 09-732-16940.
Fax: 542979
Email: asiapacific.
myanmar@gmail.com.
Japan-Myanmar
Physiotherapy Clinic.
Body Massage - 7000 Ks
Foot Massage - 6000 Ks
Body & Foot Massage 12,000 Ks
No.285, Bo Aung Kyaw Rd,
Kyauktada Tsp, Yangon.
09:00 AM - 09:00 PM
Tel : 09-8615036
24 Hours Laboratory
& X-ray, CT, MRI, USG
Mammogram, Bone DXA
@ Victoria Hospital
No. 68, Tawwin Rd, 9 Mile,
Mayangon Township,
Yangon, Myanmar.
Tel: (951) 9 666141
Fax: (951) 9 666135
Your Most Reliable Jeweller
FLORAL SERVICES
Floral Service & Gift

Centre 102(A), Dhamazaydi
Rd, Yangon.tel: 500142
Summit Parkview Hotel,
tel: 211888, 211966 ext. 173
fax: 535376.email: sandy@
sandymyanmar.com.mm.
The Natural Gems of

Myanmar & Fine Jewellery.
No. 30(A), Pyay Road,
(7 mile), Mayangone Tsp,
Yangon, Myanmar.
Tel : 01-660397, 654398
spgems.myanmar@
gmail.com
24 Hrs International Clinic

Medical and Security
Assistance Service
@ Victoria Hospital
No.68, Tawwin Rd, 9 Mile,
Mayangon Township,
Yangon, Myanmar.
Tel: +951 651 238
+959 495 85 955
Fax: +959 651 398
www.leomedicare.com

MARINE
COMMUNICATION &
NAVIGATION
No.(68), Tawwin Street,
9 Mile, Mayangone Tsp,
Yangon.
Hunt line: +95 1 9666 141,
Booking Ext : 7080, 7084.
Fax: +95 1 9666 135
Email:
info@witoriya hospital.com
www.victoriahospital
myanmar.com,
Facebook :
https://www.facebook.com/
WitoriyaGeneralHospital
HOME FURNITURE
22, Pyay Rd, 9 mile,

Mayangone Tsp.
tel: 660769, 664363.
Home Outdoor Ofce

99 Condo, Ground Floor,
Room (A), Damazedi Rd,
Kamayut Township,
Yangon, Myanmar.
Tel : 09-2504-28700
info@decorum.mm.com
Republic of Fritz Hansen

Store Myanmar
No.99, Ground Floor,
Room (A), Damazedi
Rd, Kamayut Township,
Yangon, Myanmar,
Tel: 09 250423700,
info@decorum-mm.net
HOTEL SUPPLY
Premium Chef Uniform
Building B-1, Room 001,

Myittar Street, TamweLay,
TamweTsp, Yangon.
Tel: 01-556703, 095408885, 09-5067816
Email:
theworkwearmyanmar@
gmail.com
HOUSING
Pun Hlaing Golf Estate

Gated Golf Community
HOUSE RENTAL
APARTMENT RENTALS
SERVICED APARTMENTS
Available Immediately
RENTAL OFFICE
OPEN DAILY 9-5
PHGE Sales & Marketing,
Hlaing Tharyar Tsp, Yangon.
Tel : 951-687 800, 684 013
phgemarketing@gmail.com
www.punhlainggolfestate.com
150 Brand NEW

International Standard
Rental Apartments
Hotline : 09 43 200 845
09 250 516 616
email : rental.starcity@
gmail.com
www.starcityyangon.com
INSURANCE
Fire, Motor and Life

Insurance
44, TheinPhyu Road,
Tel : 01- 8610656
Mob : 09-5055216
Email: maythet@gwinsurance.com
www.gw-insurance.com
Top Marine Show Room

No-385, Ground Floor,
Lower Pazundaung Road,
Pazundaung Tsp, Yangon.
Ph: 01-202782, 09-851-5597
LANGUAGE
Master Burmese Faster!

Professional Burmese
Language Course for All
Levels
436, Top flr, Thein Phyu Rd,
Mingalar Taung Nyut Tsp,
Yangon.
Tel : 09-4316 8422
www.moemyanmar.com
Email: register.mmlc@
moemyanmar.com
OFFICE FURNITURE
Home Outdoor Ofce
Kamayut Township,
Yangon, Myanmar.
Tel : 09-2504-28700
info@decorum.mm.com
Tel : 01-9000712~13 Ext : 330

09-4200-77039.
direct2u@mmrdrs.com
Bldg-A2, G-Flr, Shwe

Gabar Housing, Mindama
Rd, Mayangone Tsp,
Yangon. email: eko-nr@
myanmar.com.mm
Ph: 652391, 09-73108896
Bld-A2, Gr-Fl, Shwe

Gabar Housing, Mindama
Rd, Mayangone Tsp,
Yangon. email: eko-nr@
myanmar.com.mm
Ph: 652391, 09-73108896
01 9000 712~3, Ext 330/332,

Email: enquiries.HM@
mmrdrs.com, www.
hermanmillerasia.com
Room No. 1101, 16th Flr,

Tower B, Maw Tin Tower,
Corner of Anawrahta Rd
& Lanthit St, Lanmadaw
Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar.
Tel : (95-1) 218489. 218490
218491
Fax : (95-1) 218492
Email : marketing @
kaytumadi.com, contact@
kaytumadi.com,
kaytumadi@gmail.com.
web : www.rockworth.com
European Quality
& Designs Indoor/
Outdoor Furniture, Hotel
Furniture & All kinds of
woodworks
Office Tel: 01-380382,
09-509-1673, Show Room:
No. 123-124, Shwe Yin Aye
(2) Street, Industrial Zone
5 (Extension), Hlaing Thar
Yar Township, Yangon,
Myanmar. E-mail: contact@
smartdesignstrading.com,
www.royalbotania.com,
www.alexander-rose.co.uk,
Please call for any enquiry.
LIGHTING
Home Outdoor Ofce

Kamayut Township,
Yangon, Myanmar.
Tel : 09-2504-28700
info@decorum.mm.com
SUPERMARKETS
Golden Land Real Estate
21, G Flr, Phyoe Myay St,
Mingalar Taung Nyunt Tsp.
Tel: 09-730-08848
01-242370
Coffee & Snack Bar

Shop: No.150, Dhamazedi
Road, Bahan Township,
Yangon, Myanmar,
09-3621-4523, gustocafe.
yangon@gmail.com
Real Estate Agent

N o Fe e s fo r C l i e n t s ,
Contact Us : 09 2050107,
robin@prontorealtor.com
Heaven Pizza
38/40, Bo Yar Nyunt St.
Yaw Min Gyi Quarter,
Dagon Township.
Tel: 09-855-1383
For House-Seekers
with Expert Services

In all kinds of Estate Fields
yomaestatemm@gmail.com
09-332 87270 (Fees Free)
09-2541 26615 (Thai Language)
REMOVALISTS
World famous Kobe Beef

Near Thuka Kabar
Hospital on Pyay Rd,
Marlar st, Hlaing Tsp.
Tel: +95-1-535072
Worlds No.1 Paints &

Coatings Company
Sole Distributor
For the Union of
Myanmar Since 1995
Myanmar Golden Rock
International Co.,Ltd.
#06-01, Bldg (8), Myanmar
ICT Park, University Hlaing
Campus, Hlaing Tsp,
Yangon. Tel: 654810~17.
Relocation Specialist
Rm 504, M.M.G Tower,
#44/56, Kannar Rd,
Botahtaung Tsp.
Tel: 250290, 252313.
Mail : info@asiantigersmyanmar.com
Crown Worldwide
Movers Ltd 790, Rm 702,
7th Flr Danathiha Centre,
Bogyoke Aung San Rd,
Lanmadaw. Tel: 223288,
210 670, 227650. ext: 702.
Fax: 229212. email: crown
worldwide@mptmail.net.mm
TOP MARINE PAINT

No-385, Ground Floor,
Lower Pazundaung Road,
Pazundaung Tsp, Yangon.
Ph: 09-851-5202
International
Construction
Material Co., Ltd.
Yangon, Myanmar.
Tel : 01-245112,
09-730-22820
material@gmail.com
PLEASURE CRUISES
Legendary Myanmar Intl

Shipping & Logistics Co.,
Ltd.
No-9, Rm (A-4), 3rd Flr,
Kyaung St, Myaynigone,
Sanchaung Tsp, Yangon.
Tel: 516827, 523653,
516795.
Mobile. 09-512-3049.
Email: legandarymyr@
mptmail.net .mm
www.LMSL-shipping.com
No. 5, U Tun Nyein

Street, Mayangone T/S,
Yangon.
Tel : 01-660 612, 657928,
01-122 1014, 09 508 9441
Email : lalchimiste.
restaurant@gmail.com
Enchanting and Romantic,

a Bliss on the Lake
62 D, U Tun Nyein Road,
Mayangon Tsp, Yangon
Tel. 01 665 516, 660976
Mob. 09-730-30755
operayangon@gmail.com
www.operayangon.com
22, Kaba Aye Pagoda Rd,

Bahan Tsp. tel 541997.
email: leplanteur@
mptmail.net.mm.
http://leplanteur.net
Reservation Ofce (Yangon)

123, Alanpya Pagoda Rd,
Dagon Township
Tel
: 951- 255 819~838
Max Resort (Chaung Tha)
Tel
: 042 42346~9
E-Mail: reservation@
maxhotelsgroup.com
TRAVEL AGENTS
Schenker (Thai) Ltd.

Yangon 59 A, U Lun
Maung Street. 7 Mile
Pyay Road, MYGN. tel:
667686, 666646.fax:
651250. email: sche
nker@mptmail.net.mm.
Bo Sun Pat Tower, Bldg

608, Rm 6(B), Cor of
Merchant Rd & Bo Sun
Pat St, PBDN Tsp. Tel:
377263, 250582, 250032,
09-511-7876, 09-862-4563.
REAL ESTATE
RESTAURANTS
Quality Chinese Dishes

with Resonable Price
@Marketplace by City Mart.
Tel: 01-523840 Ext.109
Shan Yoma Tours Co.,Ltd

Ph: 01-9010378, 9010382,
www.exploremyanmar.com
www.exploreglobaltravel.
com
WATER HEATERS
Horizon Intl School

235, Shukhinthar Myo Pat
Rd, Thaketa Tsp, Yangon,
Ph: 450396~7, 25, Po Sein
Rd, Bahan Tsp, Yangon,
Ph: 543926, Fax: 543926,
email: contact@
horizonmyanmar.com
I nternational
M ontessori
M yanmar
English Education Centre
Nursery - Primary
(15 months - 12 years)
55 (B), Po Sein Road,
Bahan Township.
Tel : (951) 546097, 546761.
The Global leader in

Water Heaters
A/1, Aung San Stadium
East Wing, Upper
Pansodan Road.
Tel: 01-256705, 399464,
394409, 647812.
Water Heater
Made in Japan
Same as Rinnai Gas Cooker
and Cooker Hood
Showroom Address
WATER PROOFING
Email: imm.myn@gmail.com
No.695, Mahabandoola
Road, (Between 19th &
Sint Oh Dan Street), Latha
Township, Yangon.
Ph: 01-395816, 396817
International
Construction
Material Co., Ltd.
Yangon, Myanmar.
Tel : 01-245112,
09-730-22820
material@gmail.com
SERVICE OFFICE
WATER TREATMENT
G-05, Marketplace by
City Mart.
Tel: 01-523840 Ext: 105
Executive Serviced Offices
www.hinthabusinesscentres.com
G-01, City Mart

(Myay Ni Gone Center).
Tel: 01-508467-70 Ext: 106
Monsoon Restaurant
& Bar 85/87, Thein Byu
Road, Botahtaung Tsp.
Tel: 295224, 09-501 5653.
Good taste & resonable

price
@Thamada Hotel
Tel: 01-243047, 243639-41
Ext: 32
Asian Trails Tour Ltd

73 Pyay Rd, Dagon tsp.
tel: 211212, 223262.
fax: 211670. email: res@
asiantrails.com.mm
SCHOOLS
Tel : 01-4413410
Moby Dick Tours Co., Ltd.

Islands Safari in the Mergui
Archipelago
No.89-91, Rm No.2, Gr Fr,
32nd St (between Maha
Bandoola Rd and Merchant
Rd), Pabedan Tsp, Yangon.
Tel / Fax: 01-380382
E-mail: info@islandsafari
mergui.com. Website: www.
islandsafarimergui.com
Residence rooms for

rent. Fully furnished,
(long term). Convenient,
pleasant environment to
stay.
No.12/B 43, Shwe Kainnayi
Housing Complex, Nanataw
Street, Kamayut Tsp,
Yangon.
Tel: (959) 731 46086, (959)
5040247,
E-mail: chitsu.win@gmail.
com
City Mart (Aung San) tel:

253022, 294765.
RESORT
PAINT
SUPPLIER of Quality Paints

DECORATIVE COATINGS
PROTECTIVE COATINGS
MARINE COATINGS
POWDER COATINGS
Jotun Myanmar (Services)
Co. Ltd.
G-7, May Kha Housing,
Lay Doung Kan Road,
Thingangyun Township,
Yangon-Myanmar
Tel: +95 1 566716, 566843
jotun.com
Faucets | Showers |
Sanitarywares | Bathroom
Accessories, Ph: 379671,
256622, 399464, 09 9771
09852. Address: Same
as ARISTON
Capital Hyper Mart

14(E), Min Nandar Road,
Dawbon Tsp. Ph: 553136.
Delicious Hong Kong Style

Food Restaurant
G-09, City Mart (Myay Ni
Gone Center).
Tel: 01-508467-70 Ext: 114
The Rih Lake

No. 67B, Dhama Yone St.,
near (Blazon) U Wisara Rd.,
Myaynigone, Sanchaung
Tsp. Tel: 01-502761
UnionBarAndGrill
42 Strand Road,
Botahtaung, Yangon.
Tel: 95 9420 180 214, 95
9420 101 854
www.unionyangon.com,
info@unionyangon.com
Executive Serviced
Ofce, Registered
and Virtual Ofce, Hot
Desking, Meeting Rooms
Tel: +(95) 1 387947
www.officehubservices,com
Water & Wastewater

Treatment (Since 1997)
Amd Supply Package
Fiberglass Wastewater
System for Offices,
Condominiums & Hotels
Project. Can Design for
YCDC Permit Application.
39-B, Thazin Lane, Ahlone.
09-5161431, 09-43126571,
01-218437~8
WATER SOLUTION
aekar
company limited
STEEL STRUCTURE
Water Treatement Solution

Block (A), Room (G-12),
Pearl Condo, Kabar Aye
Pagoda Rd, Bahan Tsp.
Hot Line : 09-4500-59000
Design, Fabrication,
Supply & Erection of Steel
Structures
Tel : (+95-1) 122 1673
Email : Sales@WECMyanmar.com
www.WEC-Myanmar.com
WEB SERVICE
STORAGE
SC STORAGE YANGON
SC STORAGE YANGON
Monthly storage available
Transportation of goods
provided,
Mobile: 09-253 559 848,
Email: YangonStorage@
gmail.com
Web Services
All the way from Australia
world-class websites/
web apps for desktop,
smartphone & tablets,
online shopping with
real-time transaction,
news/magazine site,
forum, email campaign
and all essential online
services. Domain
registration & cloud
hosting. Talk to us: (01)
430-897, (0) 942-000-4554.
www.medialane.com.au
FREE
HOW TO GET A FREE AD
HOW TO GET MORE BUSINESS FROM

AS LITTLE AS K.5,000.
By Fax : 01-254158
By Email : classified.mcm@gmail.com
By Mail : 379/383, Bo Aung Kyaw St, Kyauktada Township, Yangon.
Buy space ON THESE PAGES

Call: Khin Mon Mon Yi - 01-392676, 392928
General
Business
COMPANIES who are
looking for investor or
offering OTC shares.
Please drop me an email
or contact me. Chris
Wong, Ph: +65-81202496. email:YgnSing@
hotmail.com
Education
STUDY GUIDE, Need
help with your studies?
I can ensure that you
have that extra time and
attention you need to
succeed. I am a qualified
tutor, with stright A's in
GCE A levels and four
gears of experience,
tutring students of Grade
5 ~ 12, GCE O and A
levels, Sat and IELTS.
Ph: 01-253543, 09-5190543.
Mathematics
Teaching : Students
(Grade 1 to 9 from
YIS, ISM, ISY, Yangon
Academy,
MIS
&
MISY) who are weak
in Mathsand dont
know how to solve the
problems. Guide : only
Maths for IGCSE O
Level students who will
sit for the exam in 2015.
DawNaingNaingAung,
B.Com (Q), No. (6),
Thuketa St, Baukhtaw,
Yankin. Ph : 544594,
09-500-4993.
guide for 2nd M.B.,B.S,
Students, Ph: 09-32121352, 09-517-3808.
PRIMARY - International
school, Private school:
Kg to Primary 4 Home
guide. Ph: 09-420033613.
IGCSE, GCE, SAT,
PHYSICS. Saya U M
T (since 1984). Ph: 09730- 52859
English for international
school students who
want to practice or
improve their English
including literature and
language art (principle of
written English) for SAT .
If you had tried as much
as you can to follow the
lesson and you will get
good experiences and
skill. .This program will
help you capability and fill

your luck of knowledge..
Middle school students
can study in a small
class. U Thant Zin, 283B, Thati Pahtan St,
Tamwe, Ph:01- 5035350,
09-3102-1314, 09-31924423.
Teaching and guide,
KG to Primary 6. For Int'l
school (MIS . YIS. MISY.
ILBC. CISM. ISM. PISM.
TOTAL. Horizon.) Ph:094200-87050.
LCCI Level I,II & III,
Teaching, Study guide
& Old questions. Ph:
09-4211-34427.
English (home tuition)
speaking,
grammar,
issue. letter, academic
writing. SAT. TOEFL.
IELT. GCE, IGCSE.
GMAT 4 skills. local &
international
school
English. English
for
Japaneses
children
and adult. Home tuition,
courses are avail e now.
you can contact to Saya
U Kyi Sin (Mumyint Thar)
Ph:
09-4210-67375.
www.kyisinplb.blogspot.
com
Expert Services
Translating
&
Interpreting Service: Part
time service for English to
Burmese to English. For
business Correspond
ing, Emails, Faxs &
letters. Conferences &
business communities
for Local companies and
offices. Service offered
in person, by phone and
fax, mobile and emails.
Phone: 09-2540-43372
Myanmar
Access
International
Co.,
Ltd
provides
the
following
services.
ISO
Implementation
Programme,
Human
Resource Development
P r o g r a m m e ,
Hospitality
Manage
ment
Programme,
Project Management
Programme, English
Training Programme.
If you are interested,
please contact us at Ph:
09-731-18749, 09-73240764 or email us at ;
zinminpon@gmail.com,
kaungsanthu1994@
gmail.com
foc Rental Services of
condos, landed houses,
offices and commercial
properties. Our listings
can be checked in http://
goo.gl/tyCuoe, Email:
dr.thihathit@icloud.com,
09-430-83781.
ZCL(Y.U.F.L) Translation
Service.
Ph:
092506-66325.
email:
atar1990@gmail.com
COrporate Banking,
Finance,
Advisory,
Capital Raising Services
& help with foreign
investment,
private
equity for Myanmar
companies; pls contact
info@firstrangoon.com
For Rent
We have Cars for
rent. (Expert use only).
Mid size wagon. Now
only350.000kyats per
month with deposit for
long term. company ID
required. Call 09 730
33776.
Cold Storage 100
M/T capacity situated at
Hlaing Thar Yar Industrial
area at reasonable rate.
Please Contact: 682011,
685846, 09-500-8845,
09-500-8843.
For Sale
Toyota Prado, 2006

Model / White Colour,
Left hand drive / 4
doors very good driving
Condition ( maintenance
check frequently) Only
Property
serious buyer. Ph: 09515-0751
Language
WITHIN 24 hours can
make you confident in
Burmese
Language
speaking
scripts!
Teacher Phyu Phyu
Khin : 09-4200-52527,
phyuporcupine@gmail.
com, Add : 56/I, Thiri
Marlar Lane, 7.5 mile,
Pyay Rd, Yangon.
HLC, High language
centre, Hindi, English
& Myanmar, (Writing,
Reading & Speaking)
by an expert teacher.
Ph: 09-4210-98790.
myanmar Language
Tuition:
Foreigners
wishing
to
learn
Myanmar
language,
with a small group, may
please contact by phone:
09-301-99028.
LANGUAGE Proficiency,
Effective & Scientific
way Tutor, Translator,
Interpretor,
(Such
languages:
Hindi,
Sanskrit, Bengali, Nepali,
English & Myanmar)
R.S. Verma, B.Sc, (Bot),
Yangon, (UFL-English),
Yangon. Email: rsverma.
myanmar@gmail
Training
Mandalay Computer:
Computer for Kids,
Basic Accounting for
Job I-Office , Advanced
Excel Course, DTP
Course MYOB Software,
Peach Tree Software,
Window
Shortcut
Course, Email & Internet
Course Mp3, Mp4, Video
Editing,
Multimedia
Course. Ph:09-444011279(MDY)
T e rr a M ya n m a r Land Survey Training
Course Contents (Basic)
Trigonometry, Angles,
bearings, azimuths &
coordinates, Leveling,
Topographic
survey:
field procedures, data
format, data download,
upload, data processing,
Construction survey,
GPS Course Contents
(Advance) Coordinate
geometry,
data
processing & map
compilation Coordinate
transformation, GIS data
collection & mapping,
Differential correction,
Static survey for GCP,
Network
design
&
Logistic plan, Baseline
processing & network
adjustment, PPK/Stop
& Go survey for GCP
& topo data collection,
GPS site calibration,
RTK Survey for setting
out & topo data collection
No.A1, Shwe Ingyin
Housing,
Thuwana
Juction, Thingungyun,
Tel: 01- 569944, 094308-3273.
Myanmar
Access
International provides
the following services.
ISO
Implementation
Programme.
Human
Resource Development
Programme. Hospitality
Management Program
me. Project Management
Programme. English
Training Programme.
If you are interested,
please contact us at
09-731-18749,
09732-40764 or email :
zinminpon@gmail.com,
kaungsanthu1994@
gmail.com
ROYAL JOURNEYS,
Learn English for life :
How to make English
part of your lifestyle,
English communication
skills,
Business
English, Hospitality &
tourism Management,
Management leadership
& superior training. 61, 1A
Flr, 13 St, Bet : Anawrahta
Rd & Mahabandoola Rd,
Landmadaw tsp. Ph: 094316-6443.
We provide the following

Training, CISCO, CCNA,
CCNP,
MICROSOFT,
MCSA, MCSE, LAB,
EC-COUNCIL
CEH,
SECURITY
ADMIN.
w w w. f a c e b o o k . c o m /
imcscompany, 09-450016040.
Travel
TESUAN Co., Ltd (Travel
& Tour) Local Special Trip
: Bagan ~ Popa ~Pyin Oo
Lwins Flowers Festival
(5 N/6 days) Dec -17.
Program : Bagan to
Mandalay by luxury
boat with complimentary
Breakfast & Lunch.
Taung Gyi ~ Inn Lay
~ Pintaya ~ Kalaw ~
Konelon ~ Htan san
cave (4N/5days) Dec25. Beauty of Shan State
& International Deluxe
Hotel Service with
complimentary breakfast
So this trip is Happly to
you. Hot Line 09-30285183, 01-511-298, 09732-38306
Public Notics
The Royal Embassy of
Saudi Arabia is pleased
to invite pre-qualified
companies to tender for
supply and installation
of Physical Security
System at Embassy
Building. All interested
Tenders are required in
advance to purchase
the Documents for
specification and General
Contractual terms, which
will be obtained from:
The Royal Embassy of
Saudi Arabia : No.6S,
InyaYeiktha
Street,
Ward 10, Mayangone,
Yangon, Myanmar
Rent/Sale
Pent house new condo.
3500 sqft, 2 master room.
2 single room, parquet
floor, big surrounded
balcony, nice view, 6
aircons, semi-furnished.
24 electricity with backup generator. For rent:
4500US Dollar per month
= (nego:) for sale 7500
Lakh = (nego:) Ph:09597-95413742
Housing for Rent

Mawlamyine,
2RC
(water + electricity
included), 60'x80', on
Bogyote Aung San
Rd, near Mawlamyine
University.
Price:
negotiable. Ph: 09-5158738.
Room
for rent on
Bargayar
Rd
in
Sanchaung Township.
Suitable for commercial,
1 floor inside. 20 x 80,
Ground Floor. Contact:
09-513-6589.
MODERN
HOUSE
For Office/Residential
Use:
Convenient
place in Bahan (near
Shwegondine Junction).
Land: 7,000Sqft. House:
3,750Sqft (2RC / 4 years
old). 5 car parking spaces.
3MBR, 1BR, study and
maid rooms. 7A/C,
Generator, hot water,
etc.. Fully furnished. Fully
equipped with electrical
appliances. High-speed
internet ready (both
RedLink Wi-max and fiber
cable). Now being used
as office + residence.
Available in mid-Jan
2015. Rent: USD 5,800
(negotiable).
Myaynigone, Newly
decorated apartment,
good lighting & ventilation
<http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Ventilation_%28arc
hitecture%29>, high floor,
clear view to Shwe Dagon
Pagoda at quiet location,
walking distance to Myay
Ni Gone City Mart, Dagon
Centre, close to Uwizara
Road.Rental fee $900/
month. Ph: 09-250084265
Available
Service
apartments : (1)At Shwe
Gone Dine (2)At Tamwe
(3)At Ka Bar Aye (4,At
Nar Nat Taw (5)At strand
(6)At Thamine, Ni Wah
Residences. Ph : +9595019648, +95-1430306.
Email : Bff1983@gmail.
com HL
Office Suites for
Lease : Pearl Centre,
Bahan Township, Kabar
Aye Pagoda Road. 50010,000 sq-ft available at
affordable rates. Contact:
09-4303-0288 slee888@
gmail.com
Large Clean Room
to rent in share house.
Fully furnished. Kitchen
and utensils. Aircon.
Free Wifi. Sky Net, TV,
10 min walk to Junction
square shopping mall,
KBZ band downstairs with
ATM, Restaunts around
inclluding Fuji. Add: A-4-
7, Highway Complex,
Kamayut tsp, $ 550 p/m,
Available 22nd Dec.
Contract takeover until
late April. Call or text to
Dale t : +959-253558607.
(1)Golden Valley,
Land 9000 sqft, house
3000 sqft, 4MBR, fully
furniture, USD 15000.
(2)Near Inyar Rd, land
8000 sqft, house 4000
sqft, 3MBR, 2SR, fully
(3)7 Mile, 6500 sqft, 2
RC, 2MBR, 2SR, fully
(4)8 Mile, 5600 sqft, 2
RC, 2MBR, 1SR, fully
furniture, USD 4000. (5)
Near Parame Rd, 2 RC,
5000 sqft, 4 MBR, fully
Ph:09-4921- 4276, (no
need agent).
(1)Near Kandaw gyi
park, 900 sqft, no lift,
5 Floor, 2 bed room,
some of furniture USD
600. (2) Near Embassy
location, codominum,
2800 sqft, 2MBR, 1SR,
fully furniture, 5000 USD
per month. (3)Nnear Park
royal hotel, 1500 sqft, no
lift, 4 Floor, 1MBR, 2SR,
some of furniture, USD
1500. Ph:09-252 70 3331.
bahan, Near Chatrium
Hotel, Po Sein Road,
2 RC house, 3 Rooms
with Toilet, 3AC, Cable
Ph: 09-4921 4276.

Prime Hill Business
Square: Well-equipped
OFFICE
SPACE for
LEASE. PRIME HILL
BUSINESS SQUARE,
developed by Chiyoda
& Public Works Co.,Ltd.,
No. 60, Shwe Dagon
Pagoda Road. Ph: 01382710 (#20109), 092500-65905, 09-420112473, phbscare@cpw.
com.mm
On Pyay Rd, 7 mile,
single house, land (60 x
90), teak wood ceiling &
flooring, 2MB, 3AC, near
Norwegian Embassy &
UNOPS, quiet residential
area, suitable for expats
living alone or couple,
USD 2,000 (nego). No
agent. Ph: 09-515-6769."
myanmar's Pioneer
Personalised Service
Apartment (s), Live in
maid (s) on request Ni
Wah Residences 01430306
09-5019648
bff1983@gmail.com
office space to let
3100 sqm available over
5 floors in a 12-storey
building with car park,
restaurant, multi function
hall and apartments.
Please contact - Ph: 09431-34381.Email : officemm@uniteammarine.
com,web:www.facebook.
com/officespaceyangon
phone, wide car parking.

USD 2500/- per month,
Please contact 09-250026350, 09-7958-84155.
(1)kamayut, Inya Rd,
3 storey new house, 6
rooms. 4 bathrooms,
toilets, generator, furnish
ed house, internet,
CCTV camera system,
10 aircons, hot water
system, maid room.
ph line, cable TV, nice
balcony & lawn. US
8000 per month (nego:)
(2) Bahan, Thanlwin Rd,
new & modern furnished
house, 2 storey, 9 aircons,
stove and oven, big new
fridge, garden, furnished,
4 rooms, hot water
system, generator set,
maidroom, office room,
for rent, US Dollar 5700
per month (nego:) Ph:097954-13742
(1)Near Park Royal
hotel, pent house, 3000
Sqft, 1 MBR, 2SR , fully
furniture USD 4500.
(2) Near Park Royal
hotel, 1 Floor, 900 Sqft,
part of furniture, 1MBR,
1SR, USD1500. (3)Near
Kandawgyi park, near
UNDP, 1500 Sqft, 1MBR,
2SR, part of furniture
USD2000.
(4)Near
Kabaraye Gamonpyint,
2000 Sqft, 1MBR 2SR
fully furniture USD 3600.
Ph: 09-4921 4276.
(1)Back side of Sedona
Hotel, 2 RC, good for
office, USD 4500. (2)
Golden valley, 3 RC,
7800 Sqft, only good for
office, USD 5500. (3)Near
Parami Rd, 2RC, 4MBR,
no furniture, USD 3000.
"Chaungtha Village,
behind the bus terminal
we sell a beautiful wooden
house, 3 rooms+kitchen &
European bathroom and
a large veranda. Situated
in a gorgeous garden
(4080) where we run
a restaurant business.
Provided by solar system
for lights inside and
outside we also have
a fridge running for 24
hours and pump for water
tank . Price 1500 lakhs
completely furnished and
equiped. If interested
call to Ko Thein Win 09
422445138 or write to
magdaguer2@gmail.
com, we can send photos"
Mawlamyine,
2RC
(water+electricity
included), 60'x80', on
Bogyote Aung San
Rd, near Mawlamyine
University.
Price:
negotiable. Ph: 09-5158738
Kandawgyi condo,
nice view with all big
glass window around, 2
rooms, 2 bathrooms and
toilets, hot water system.,
decorated with european
style and standard quality,
eighth floor, 2200 sqft,
4000 Lakh. (nego:) Ph:
09-7954-13742
(1)Pearl Condo, 1750
sqft, New building,Good
water for 3500 Lakhs.
(4) Pyay Rd, Diamond
Condo, 1650 sqft, Nice
View, Newly Rm, Nobody
Stay there. 4500 Lakhs.
Call Maureen: 09-5188320.
Housing for Sale
FREE
Employment
Ingo Position
(1)PRogRaM officeR
(CBHFA) (NayPyiTaw)
1 Post. Please send
application letter, CV
& related documents
to
Myanmar
Red
Cross Society (Head
Office)
Yazatingaha
Rd,
Dekkhinathiri,
Nay
Pyi
Taw.
Ormrcshrrecruitment@
g m a i l . c o m .
www.
myanmar
redcrosssociety.org
MyanMaR Red Cross
Society is seeking
Program Manager - 1
post in Nay Pyi Taw :
7 years experience.
(2)livelihood
field
Ofcer - 1 post in Sittwe:
Universitydegree.2 yeras
experience. (3)Finance
& Admin Ofcer - 1
post in Taunggyi: B
Com/ B Accounting (or)
equivalent accounting
degree.
3
years
professional experience.
For all posts : Proven
computer skills in both
Myanmar & English.
Red Cross experience
is an advantage. Please
send application letter,
CV & related documents
to mrcshrrecruitment@
gmail.com, Closing date:
23-12-2014.
the int'l Rescue
Committee (IRC) is
seeking
(1)health
coordinator (MCH) 1
post in Loikaw-Kayah:
M.B.,B.S or MD or RN,
with post graduate
degree in Public Health.
5 ~ 7 years experience.
(2)Health
Service
Quality Ofcer in Chin
State: B.NSc/ B.CommH/
Diploma in Nursing.
2 years experience.
Good command of
English & Myanmar.
Chin (Khumee) Ethic
language(s) written &
verbal skill is favourable.
(3)PRoject
Officer
Agriculture - 1 post in
Myebon Tsp, Rakhine
State: Bachelor's degree.
2 years experience.
Skilled in Excel, Word
software. Very good
command of English &
Myanmar. Please send
a Cover letter, CV & all
relevant documents to
the HR Department by
email at WaiMar.Naing@
rescue.org Closing date:
22, December, 2014.
gooD Neighbors Int'l
(GNI) is seeking (1)
Monitoring & evaluat
ion coordinator :
Myanmar
National.
Bachelor
degree,
statistics, social or
development related
studies, 3 years of
community development
project.
(2)Project
coordinator 2 posts
in (Sinbaung Wae Tsp,
Magway Region), Sun Ta
Nee Office- Nyaung Done
Tsp : Myanmar National.
Degree in management,
business, or equivalent
in development field
& 3 years experience.
Please full up GNI's
Application
Form.
Certificate of College/
University. Copy of NRC.
Copy of Father's NRC.
Recommendation letters
from Previous or Current
organization to 21, Ywar
Ma Kyaung St, (1) Ward,
Hlaing, Yangon. Email:
gnmmrho.hr@gmail.
com.
(1)PRogRaM Manager
(CBHD-MNCH)
(NayPyiTaw) 1 Post
(2)Finance & Admin
Ofcer (Taunggyi) 1
Post
(3)livelihood
Field Ofcer (Sittwe)
1 Post. (4)aDMin &
finance assistant
(Matupi) 1 Post (5)
admin assistant (Hpaan) 1 Post (6)consultant
for sbDRR 1 Post
(7) Driver (Yangon)
1 Post (8)Finance
assistant (Hpa-an) 1
Post (9)csR Program
Ofcer 1 Post (10)
engineer (Consultant
for Renovation)(Mindat/
Matupi) 2 Posts. Please
to
Myanmar
Red
Cross Society (Head
Office)
Yazatingaha
Rd,
Dekkhinathiri,
Nay
Pyi
Taw.
gmail.com
www.
myanmarredcross
society.org
the int'l Rescue
Committee (IRC) is
seeking
(1)Finance
Ofcer 4 posts in
(Loikaw, Demawsoe,
Hprusoe, Hpasaung),
Kayah State : Bachelor's
degree in Accounting,
Business Administration,
Commerce or Finance.
3 years of accounting
experience. (2)senior
Ofcer 1 Post in
Kayin State: 3 years of
professional experience
in related work. Some
knowledge of English
would be an asset.
Skilled in Excel, Word
software. Please send
a Cover letter, CV & all
relevant documents to
WaiMar.Naing@rescue.
org, Closing date for
(1):17-12-2014.
for
(2)31.12.2014.
(1)DRiveR (Sittwe) 2 Posts (2)Finance
Ofcer (Yangon) - 1 Post
(3)Logistics Ofcer
- (Sittwe) - 1 Post (4)
Medical Doctor (Sittwe)
- 3 Posts (5)nurse
(Sittwe) 4 Posts. Please
to
Myanmar
Red
Cross Society (Head
Office)
Yazatingaha
Rd,
Dekkhinathiri,
Nay
Pyi
Taw.
gmail.com
www.
myanmarredcross
society. org
the
association
of Medical Doctors
of Asia is seeking
Project Coordinator
for 'Healthy Village
Project' at Western part
of Pakokku, Magwe
Region:
University
degree (Health/ Public
health/ Social science
will be preferable). More
than 3 years professional
experiences.
Strong
computer skill. Excellent
in English & Myanmar
communication. Please
enclose a C.V., copies of
testimonials (references)
& passport photo to
Email: sr.afo.amda@
gmail.com Closing date:
16th December 2014.
the int'l Rescue
Committee (IRC) is
seeking
(1)senior
Health Ofcer (M&E)
- 1 post in Paletwa Chin State: M.B.,B.S/
B.NSc/
B.CommH.
3 years experience.
Good command of
English & Myanmar. (2)
Reproductive Health
Project Manager in
Paletwa, Chin State:
Medical
degree
with
public
health
background/ Master of
public health or post
graduate diploma in
public health is an asset.
5 years of professional
experience, sexual &
reproductive health care
services. Operational
skilled on Microsoft
office.
Fluency
in
English/ Chin (Khumee)
(3)Resource Ofcer 1 Post in Hpa-an, Kayin
State: University degree
in Law, Journalism,
Education or other
relevant sector. 3 years
of experience. Fluency
in English. (4)senior
M&E Ofcer 1 post in
Hpa-an, Kayin State:
University degree in data
management & analysis,
project management,
statics or relevant sector.
3 years
experience.
Fluency in English.
Please submit a Cover
letter & CV to the HR
Department by email at:
WaiMar.Naing@rescue.
org Closing date for 1 &
2 : 16 December, for 3
& 4 : 19 December 2014
leaDing
online
recruitment & employ
ment service company
in Yangon since 2012.
We provide online
recuritment
solution
(huge CV detabase
and job offers posting
opportunities) for any
employer in Myanmar.
We preselect short
list of candidates or
search for executive
functions positions as
well. Contact our staff
to help you to choose
the right service or
package for you. Tel: 012306103, Email: info@
jobsinyangon.com,
www.jobless.com.mm,
www.jobinyangon.com,
https:// www.facebook.
com/ Jobinyangon.com
Local Positions
asian
ResouRce
Foundation-Myanmar
(ARFMyanmar)
is seeking Program
coordinator in Yangon
with frequent visit to
project areas 1 post :
University graduate in
relative field experiences,
3 years experience,
Good communication,
monitoring & planning
skill, Previous experien
ces in NGO activities
& government service,
Skill in Microsoft Office,
Good language skill in
Myanmar & English,
Strong organizational
skill and ability to prioritize
task, Ability to discreetly
handle high confidential
information, Ability to
relate and coordinate
with the people from
diverse
cultural
&
religious background,
Age under 40. Please
submit an application
letter, detail CV with
supporting documents, a
passport photo & contact
details to by xrubyz@
gmail.com (or) Program
Coordinator;
Asia
Resource FoundationMyanmar,
No.45/47,
5th Level, 53rd St,
Pazundaung, Yangon.
Closing date : 24th
December 2014.
PaRKway canceR
Centre
is
seeking
Medical Doctor - F 1
post : M.B.B.S Graduate
with SA MA registration,
2 years experience in
medical field, Good in
English, Able to use
computer, internet and
Microsoft application
with excellent skills,
We
welcome
the
candidates who are trust
worthy, self-motivated
with positive working
attitude.
Interested
persons are invited to
submit: CV with relevant
certificates, documents,
recommendation letter
attach & documents &
expected salary to Rm
(G-07), G Flr, Diamond
Center,
Pyay
Rd,
Kamayut. Tel : 532 438,
532-447, 09-513- 6584,
uRgent wanted (1)
waitress - 1 post (2)
chef - M/F 1 post (3)
Kitchen Assistant - 3
posts. Contact ph: 094253-13406, 09-420283170.
we aRe seeking (1)ce 2 posts : Contact person
between client & supplier,
Has updated knowledge
of current status of al
media in Myanmar, Must
know how the Myanmar
media industru works,
Manage
deadlines,
Control
production
quality & timelines. (2)
Graphic Designer - 1
post : Graduated, 2 years
experience, Professional
in graphic design,
Be able to creat nice
looking graphic content.
(3)Media buyer - F 2
Posts: Graduated, Age
20 ~ 35, (4)operation
staff - M/F 5 Posts:
Graduated, Age 25 ~
40, 3 years experience,
(5)Activation Planner
- 1Post : Graduated,
Age 25 ~ 40, 3 years
experience, (6)PR staff
- F 1 posts: graduated,
Age 20 ~ 35,
(7)
english translator - F
1post : Graduated, Age
20 ~ 45, For all posts :
Fluent in English, Can
use Microsoft office &
email, internet. Please
submit to 8, NguWar (3)
St, Ward (5), Myakanthar
Villa, Hlaing, Yangon.
Tel: 01-505724, 01538552
caPital
Diamond
Star Group Co., Ltd is
seeking (1)area sales
Manager - M/F 5 Posts
: Any graduate, Age 20 ~
30. Ability to use of MS
Office 2000 Internet and
email. (2)admin/ hR
Manager - M/F 5 Posts
: Any graduate. Age 30
~ 40 years. Ability to use
of MS Office 2000 or
Internet and email. (3)
Secretary - F 3 Posts :
Any graduate with dip in
secretary cretificate. Age
25 ~ 35 years. Able to use
Microsoft office & Internet
Email effectively. Must
have Excellent in English
both written and oral.
Please submit to email:
capital.srhr@gmail.com
MyanMaR
access
Int'l Co., Ltd is seeking
Marketing Executive : At
least 2 year experience in
the Marketing Field, Age
above 25 years & above,
Must be able to speak and

write English, Must be
able to use Ms& Power
point, Well organized and
result-oriented, Contact
us- zinminpon@gmail.
com, sunandar91072@
gmail.com. Ph:09-253062042, 09-7324-0764
Dutch Mill (Thailand) is
seeking sales Manager
(Based in Yangon)
:
Determines annual
unit and gross-profit
plans by implementing
marketing
strategies;
analyzing trends and
results. Establishes sales
objectives by forecasting
and developing annual
sales quotas for regions
and territories; projecting
expected sales volume
and profit for existing
& new products. Imple
ments sales programs
by developing field sales
action plans. Maintains
sales volume, product
mix, and selling price
by keeping current with
supply and demand,
changing
trends,
economic indicators, and
competitors. Completes
sales operational require
ments by scheduling &
assigning employees;
following up on work
results. Maintains sales
staff
by
recruiting,
selecting, orienting, and
training
employees.
Maintains sales staff job
results by counseling &
disciplining employees;
planning, monitoring, &
appraising job results.
Contributes to team
effort by accomplishing
related results as needed.
Able to travel to other
province in Myanmar
(5-7 days/month) Mail
to:shardy077@gmail.
com, mk.trading.mm@
gmail.com Closing date:

15.12.2014. First Flr, left,
Old Thirimingalar Market,
Strand Rd, Thidad
Quarter, Kyee Myin
Daing, Yangon. Ph: 094210-45183, 01-508476,
508477
new
fast
fooD
Restaurant opening in
JunctionSquareShopping
Center require food
counter attendants
& food Preparation
workers (Cook), need
to apply people ages
from 16 to 23 years old.
Basic speaking english
skills required, must
work weekends. Email
Resume to: caribbean
ontheandaman@gmail.
com
golDen hill Tower
is seeking bell Driver M 1 post : Proficient in
English conversational
skills, Skillful at driving
& must be valid Driving
License
in
hand,
Matriculation passed &
HR Department (Golden
Hill Tower) is seeking The
following job vacancy is
available & the qualified
applicant may submit an
application to HR Dept of
Golden Hill Tower No. 2426, Kaba Aye Pagoda Rd,
Bahan, Closing date: 16th
December 2014.
Kh hotel Yangon is
currently seeking (1)
Receptionists - M/F 5
Posts : Any graduated,
English language skill,
Computer literate, 1
year experience, (2)
Reservation - F 1
Post : Any graduated,
English language skill,
Computer literate, 1 year
experience. (2) bell boy F 2 Posts : Any graduate,
2 years experience, (3)
Accountant - F 3 Posts:
Any degree or diploma
in accountancy, 1 year
experience in accounting.
(4) Purchaser - M 1 Post:
2 years experience, (6)
housekeeping - M/F 5
Posts : 1 year experience.
(7)F&B Service Mnager M 1 Post : Any graduate,
3 years experience,
Must work shift duty, (8)
(F&B Service) waitress
- F 3 Posts : Can speak
English conversational, 1
year experience. Please
submit CV with relevant
documents to 28, 7Miles,
Pyay Rd, Mayangone,
Yangon. 01-652989, 01653358,
sKylaRK Co., Ltd. (IT
Solutions and Managed
Services) : As a fast
growing IT Company,
we are on the lookout for
talented people fill in the
following positions. Please
drop us a detailed CV at
hr@skylarkmyanmar.
com highlighting the
position below that you
are interested in. (1)
senior Java Developer
<http://skylarkmyanmar.
com/careers.php> (2)
Oracle pl/sql Developer
senior test engineer
senior c Developer
com/careers.php> 106,
Ground Flr, Yadana
Housing
Complex,
Pyay Rd, 9 Miles,
Mayangone, Yangon,
Myanmar. (95) 1652947,
1652948,
Email:hr@
skylarkmyanmar.com,
nfEo@skylarkmyanmar.
com
asia PoweR Quality
Electric Co., Ltd is
seeking (1)Marketing
Manager - M/F 1 Post
: Any degree holder, 3
~ 5 years experience.
Age 30 ~ 35. Good
command of English. (2)
sales engineers - M/F
4 Post : B.E (EP/ EC/
MC) degree holder. Age
under 27. (3Application
engineers - M/F 2 Posts :
B.E (EP/ EC/ MC) degree
holder. Age under 27.
(4)Assistance Service
engineer- M/F 4 Posts :
B.E (EP / EC / MC) degree
holder. Age under 27. (5)
autocaD Drafter - M/F 1
Post : Any degree holder,
AutoCAD 2D & 3D. Age
under 27. All posts must
have Computer literate.
Please submit resumes to
138/142-C, White Cloud
Condo, Thein Phyu Rd,
Botahtaung, Yangon.
Closing date : 19th Dec
2014.
sKylaRK Co., Ltd. (IT
Solutions & Managed
Services) is urgently
seeking
(1).general
Manager - 1 post: (2).
business
Develop
ment Manager - 1 post
:For 1 & 2 : Experience
to lead Business and have
Strategic Management
Skill, 3 years experience in
IT experience in Banking
or Telco & other industry.
(3) Ofce Staff - 3 posts
(4). Executive Secretary
/ assistant - 1 post. For 3
& 4 : Over 2 years relevant
experience.
Please
submit CV with necessary
documents to 106 (GF),
Ya n a d a n a r m y a i n g
Housing Qr., 9 Miles (A-1
Busstop) Mayangone.
Ph.01-652947, 652948
(Ext-103),
09-250088750, 09-2503-69975.
Golden Myanmar Airlines Public Co., Ltd. (GMA)

Vacancy Announcement
Finance Department
Senior Financial Advisor
Male / Female
(1) Post
GMAs preferred low-cost airline, delivering the lowest air fares with the highest consumer value, to price sensitive consumers looking to recruit Senior Financial Advisor based in Yangon,
Myanmar.
Responsibilities
Responsible for overseeing day to day Financial Mechanism, Controlling Cost, Preparing Segment Profitability Analysis, over viewing Vendor Bidding procedure, Audit reviewing, overseeing
Budgeting, variance analysis, financial trends and forecasts, monitoring the flow of cash or
Financial instruments, prepare Financial or regulatory reports required by laws, regulations, or
boards of directors, ensuring credibility of the Finance group by assembling and providing timely
& accurate monthly management reporting.
Qualications and Requirements
play an important role in the overall success of the company; therefore the following qualifications and experiences are required:
University Degree
A minimum of 7 years of progressive hands-on experience preferably in the airline industry,
preferably few years with Low Cost Carriers.
A minimum of 10 years management experience
In-depth knowledge of the various functional aspects of running an airline Accounting and
Finance Department
caRRieR oPPoRtunities
Ikon Trading Company Limited.
No. 328/A, Pyay Road, Sanchaung Township, Yangon. (Near MaharMyaing Hospital)
Ph: 01 534216, 527705, 501429, 503914, 011222498
Email: hr.ikonmart@gmail.com
hR Manager (M/f) 1 Post
Any graduate, Diploma in HRM is preferred

Good personality and communication skills
Minimum 5 years experiences at Manager level in related field
Age over 35 years old
Fluent in English & Myanmar (both written and spoken)
Able to motivate individuals in achieving goals and objectives
Able to make training and manage to develop the people at work
Ability to research, evaluate and analyse new recruitment techniques, methods and procedures
Able to establish and maintain healthy working relationships with
people at work
Knowledge about Labor Laws & Social Welfare is an asset
Basic knowledge in Accounting
While all applicants required :Application together with update CV and

related documents, Labour registration card and police force.
POSITION OPEN UNTIL WITHIN TWO WEEKS.
base: yangon, Myanmar

Requirement
Ideal candidate should be familiar with Regional, Myanmar Aviation and Knowledge of designing and improving relevant airline-related financial processes,
Previous experience in Low Cost Carrier would be of advantage but not mandatory.
Requested foreign Languages:
English: prociency level
Personal and relationship competences: Effective interpersonal, coaching, consulting, Financial Analysis skills and project and people management skills and Strong organizational skills.
Line of Communication: Directly Report to CEO
All interested and qualified candidates are invited to submit applications with
Cover Letter explaining how education, skills and experience meet the requirement for the
applied position
Detailed and complete curriculum vitae with two passport size photos
Copy of NRC card, Passport and Labor Registration copy
Certificate of graduation, copy of License, census copy, recommendation from Township
& Police
Kindly indicate on the back of the envelope: sender's name, address and contact telephone number, and at the bottom left hand corner on the front of the envelope, mark
youre applying position. All application must be received not later than 31st December 2014 at
5:00 PM at GMA office address below;-3th floor, saya san Plaza, corner of new university
Avenue and Saya San Road, Bahan Township, Yangon. Phone: 95 1 401484, 95 1 8604035
37~38 (Ext: 123, 128).
70 Sport
SEOUL
S Korea rules out sharing

Winter Games with Japan
South Korea formally ruled out last
week any possibility of sharing events
at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter
Olympics with Japan.
The option of moving some sliding
events such as bobsleigh and luge
to Nagano had been mooted when
the International Olympic Committee (IOC) adopted a series of reforms
last week allowing future Games hosts
more flexibility in the sports they stage
and where they stage them.
It is our stance
that holding some
competitions in
[Japan] will be
very difficult, given
public sentiment
here.
Shin Moo-Chul
Games organising committee
The reforms are aimed at making

the Games more cost-effective and
sustainable for bidding cities.
Although Pyeongchang has run
into financial difficulties in its preparations for 2018, the president of the
Games organising committee, Cho
Yang-Ho, said the IOC reforms had

come too late.
It would be difficult to apply those
recommendations to our plans at this
stage, given that construction for all
competition venues is already in progress, Cho said, confirming that all
events for both the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games would be held
in South Korea.
With test events due to begin in
February 2016, Cho said there was no
time to draw up new plans, and he
vowed that the Pyeongchang event
would meet its challenges.
We are developing solid legacy
plans for post-Games use of the venues, as well as measures to control
costs, he said.
The organising committee has
asked the South Korean government
to pay more toward the price of a new
main stadium.
Cho did not specifically mention
Japan, but a spokesperson for the
Pyeongchang organising committee,
Shin Moo-Chul, had earlier suggested
that any proposal to share events with
Japan would receive a backlash in
South Korea.
Relations between the two countries are at their lowest ebb for years,
with their respective governments at
loggerheads over a number of territorial and historical disputes.
It is our stance that holding some
competitions in [Japan] will be very
difficult, given the public sentiment
here, Shin told the KBS TV station
earlier last week. AFP
Trademark Caution
Our client, Edwin Co., Ltd. situated at 3-27-6 Higashi-Nippori,
Arakawa-ku, Tokyo, Japan is the Owner and Sole Proprietor of
the following trademark:
EDWIN
Registration No. 4/968/2012

The above mark is used in respect of Clothing, footwear, headgear
in International Class 25.Any imitation, any deceptive-similar
trademark or any fraudulent action shall be dealt with the existing
laws of Myanmar.
On behalf of
Edwin Co.,Ltd.
TMI Associates Services Co.,Ltd.
#105, Prime Hill Business Square, No.60, Shwe Dagon Pagoda
Road, Dagon Township,
Yangon, Myanmar. Tel: 255 047, 381 101 http://www.tmi.gr.jp
TRADEMARK CAUTION
SUN SWEET CO., LTD., a company incorporated in Thailand
and having its registered office at 9 Moo1, T. Toongsatok, A.
Sanpatong, Chiang Mai, 50120 Thailand, is the owner and
proprietor of the following Trademark:
Reg. No. 4/8015/2014 (24.6.2014)

In respect of Canned whole kernel sweet corn; Canned cream
style corn; Frozen whole kernel sweet corn; Vegetable oil in
Class 29; and Pouch sweet corn on cob; Pouch whole kernel
sweet corn in Class 31.
Fraudulent or unauthorised use or actual or colourable imitation
of the Mark shall be dealt with according to law.
U Than Maung, Advocate
For SUN SWEET CO., LTD.,
C/o Kelvin Chia Yangon Ltd.,
#1505-1508-1509, 15th Floor, Sakura Tower, Yangon,
The Republic of the Union of Myanmar.
Dated 15 December 2014
utm@kcyangon.com
Wivine Tshidibi strikes a pose at her local gym. Photo: AFP
DR Congo boxer
becomes nations
first female ref
he first and only woman

referee of professional
boxing in the Democratic Republic of Congo,
Wivine Tshidibi says she
battled her way to renown in a mans
world thanks to a fit of jealousy.
It was a way to keep an eye on
her husband, recalls the 40-year-old
mother of four who once practised
the noble art herself but now sees
the sport as a strictly male affair.
Thats the real fight, Tshidibi
says, clenching her fists and calling
boxing matches between women
childs play in comparison.
Stubborn and generously built,
Tshidibi came to boxing after practicing several other sports, including
handball, basketball and judo, but
she readily concedes that jealousy
pushed her into the ring in 2002.
Tshidibi was then married to
renowned Congolese boxer Mbuyi
Tshibangu, alias Mbuyi-Champion
to his fans. Each time he finished
one of his boxing matches, he went
off with other women, she says with
an amused smile.
Thats why I decided to take
up boxing, so that he couldnt get
away from me any more, she adds,
though times have since moved on
and Mbuyi-Champion has emigrated to Canada.
Only about 30 women boxers are
active in the DRC on both the professional and amateur circuits, as compared with some 100 men. Sponsors
are not interested in women and the
matches can be difficult to arrange.
For lack of finding opponents in
her own category, Tshidibi decided
to take a course in becoming a professional referee.

Since the first fight she adjudged
in 2009, Tshidibi has served as referee for 15 professional matches and
more than 80 amateur contests, every one of them between men.
She deserves it, says Ling Shang
Kieselo, head of the Congolese
League of Boxing Referees, who has
watched over fights himself for 36
years.
Kieselo adds that relatively few
matches take place in the DRC,
though the sport is widely followed,
so that some of Tshidibis male colleagues have not seen a single fight
since they became qualified.
You can place Mrs Tshidibi in
charge of any fight there is and be
certain that there will be no mistakes on the part of the referee,
Kieselo says.
During
a
commemoration
of the 40th anniversary of Kinshasas Rumble in the Jungle
in 1974, when US heavyweight
Muhammad Ali beat then-world
champion George Foreman, Tshidibi refereed two of the six matches
staged in the capital.
The sport of boxing gained
ground in the former Belgian Congo
after independence in 1960, but has
not become widespread despite the
worldwide news coverage of the
Ali-Foreman contest which the
late dictator Mobutu Sese Seko had
pushed for to bring publicity to his
country.
Kieselo believes that Tshidibi
has carved out her place in such a
masculine preserve because of the
qualities he admires. In the ring,

shes very watchful, objective in her
decisions, knows when its the right
moment to end the fight [and] can
distinguish whats right from what
is not.
Boxer Dady Bola, who has fought
under Tshidibis vigilant eye, respects her skills. In the ring, shes
strict, she says, but shes also very
hot-tempered and gets angry fast.
Tshidibi herself accepts these assessments, saying that she won her
status because of her personality,
which she describes as stern, tough,
choleric ... And nothing scares me!
Her task as a referee is her passion, she adds, noting that she oversees matches only in Kinshasa, but
this does not enable her to make a
living for her family. We dont earn
much, she says, a little flustered to
talk about money.
To serve as a referee during amateur matches is a purely volunteer
job, while the pay for adjudging professional fights varies between $30
and $80, Tshidibi finally discloses.
She raises the extra cash to feed
her children by braiding the hair of
women living in her district, who are
prepared to pay between $5 and $10
a head for her expertise.
Proud of her career, Tshidibi
keeps her old photos as a trainee
boxer and of matches she fought on
display.
Her professional referees certificate has suffered from the humidity
but she keeps it carefully, along with
a medal awarded to her in 2013 by
the Congolese Boxing Federation.
AFP
Sport
SpOrT eDITOr: Bill OToole | botoole12@gmail.com
s korea wont share 2018

olympics with Japan
SPORT 70
US athletes join
protest against
police brutality
lOS ANGElES
GAINST a backdrop of
anger over killings of
black suspects by white
police officers, NBA star
LeBron James and other
US athletes are making their opinions known in an arena sometimes
hostile to activism.
Deference to sponsors, fans and
sports bosses has long been the norm
in US sports, with athletes expected
to do their stuff on court or field but
stay out of the issues of the day particularly when it comes to something
as sensitive as race.
Tommie Smith and John Carlos,
the US athletes famed for their blackgloved protest at the 1968 Olympics,
are now honoured for their gesture of
solidarity, but at the time it sparked
outrage in the Olympic movement
and they were sent home from the
Games.
In the 1960s, Bill Russell and others used their stature in the NBA to
promote civil rights, but Muhammad
Ali was vilified not only for refusing to
serve in the Vietnam War but also for
changing his name from Cassius Clay.
The murky, unwritten rules arent
always enforced from above.
Whether Michael Jordan ever really said Republicans buy sneakers,
too, in declining to back a Democratic political candidate, the NBA
icon certainly maintains a reputation
Photo: AFP
of shying away from discussing contentious issues.

So does Tiger Woods, another
marketing juggernaut who came of
age in an era when sports and politics rarely seemed to mix.
But four-time NBA Most Valuable
Player James and other 21st-century
US sportsstars are slowly breaking
that mold, and the arrival of the 24-7
news cycle and social media only
makes it easier to get their views
across.
Obviously, as a society we have
to do better, James said of his decision to support the current protests
by donning a T-shirt reading I cant
breathe for warm-ups prior to a
game in Brooklyn on December 7.
The words were the last uttered
by Eric Garner, the black father of six
who died after he was put in a chokehold by a New York police officer.
James, toeing a fine line, said his
gesture was mainly a shout-out to
Garners family.
Cleveland teammate Kyrie Irving
was among the players who wore
similar shirts prior to December 8s
game, which received special scrutiny thanks to the attendance of
Britains Prince William and his wife
Kate.
Its really important to us that we
stand up for a cause, especially this
one, Irving said of wearing the shirt
first sported on December 5 by Chicagos Derrick Rose.

NBA players arent the only US
athletes to express their opinions on
the race issue.
In the NFL, which like the NBA
has a large number of African-American players, Lions running back
Reggie Bush wore a top with I cant
breathe written on it prior to a game
on December 6, as did the Browns
Johnson Bademosi.
Davin Joseph, a St. Louis Rams
guard, wrote the same words on his
cleats and tweeted it, along with the
caption RIP Eric Garner.
A week earlier, five Rams players
angered a St. Louis police organization when they entered the field with
the same hands up, dont shoot gesture adopted by protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, where a white police
officer shot dead an unarmed black
teenager.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver
issued a measured response, saying
in a statement that the league respects Derrick Rose and all of our
players for voicing their personal
views on important issues, but my
preference would be for players to
abide by our on-court attire rules.
In less than a year on the job, Silver has already negotiated rough waters of racism much closer to home,
successfully steering the league
through the saga of former Clippers

owner Donald Sterling.
James was a vocal critic of Sterling when his racially charged comments became public, and James
showed in 2012 that he wasnt afraid
to act on his conscience when he
tweeted a picture of himself, Dwyane
Wade and other Miami Heat teammates with their heads bowed under
black hoodies in a team picture protesting the shooting death of Florida
teenager Trayvon Martin.
If it feels important to me, then I
respond, James said. Theres a lot of
issues I havent talked about. For me
its about knowledge, its about the
gut feeling.
Bob Dorfman, an endorsement
expert and executive creative director of Baker Street Advertising, told
CNN that in the age of the internet,
players probably couldnt be as apolitical as Jordan managed to be.
Just having a presence in social
media, its virtually impossible not to
share an opinion, Dorfman said.
In James case, team-mate Jarrett
Jack believes its just a question of a
man very comfortable with his voice.
As you get older, you understand
youre a citizen of the world, and
its not just what you say about basketball that counts, Jack told USA
Today. Its what you say about the
world and your environment. AFP
Long-awaited
national sports
tournament
begins
KyAw ZIN HlAING
kyawzinhlaing.mcm@gmail.com
AFTER a nearly 20 year hiatus, the
Myanmar National sports tournament
began last week in Naypyitaw.
From December 8 to 24, hundreds
of amateur athletes from around the
nation will compete in 27 different
sports, with additional 7 para-sport
events.
According to U Thaung Htike,
vice minister at the Ministry of Sport,
previous national sports tournaments
were held in 1992, 1994, and 1997.
While there were attempts in the
last decade to revive the competition,
U Thaung Htike said unspecified difficulties stood in the ministrys way.
Now, U Thaung Htike said he hopes
that this years tournament will be the
beginning of an annual tradition.
The vice minister said the tournament will be an excellent opportunity for the nations young athletes to
sharpen their skills for the all-important SEA games to be held next year
in Singapore.
A regional chinlone match. Photo: Staff

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Heartbeat of the nation

Issue 759 | December 15 - 21, 2014

A police officer escorts students off the

New images offer fresh perspective on U Thant uprising, 40 years on

Govt avoids talks plan

Behind the gems and

PR policy freezes out

2 THE MYANMAR TIMES DECEMBER 15 - 21, 2014

online editor Kayleigh Long |

THE INSIDER: The local lowdown & best of the web

Yangon authorities have been hard

parlours, when found to be providing

Once was Burma ...

culture and there have been many

Google debuted the Myanmar

The Face of Buddhist Error

Myanmar made headlines around

to Insein Prison after it was deemed

Though 85% of respondents

From the Asia Foundations

Two men who share the same name

Retired cane juice vendor plagued

Estimated total population of Irrawaddy

News editor: Thomas Kean | tdkean@gmail.com

Divisions in Yangon hluttaw over 12-way talks

Yangon Region Hluttaw representatives confer on December 10. Photo: Thiri

In the debate that followed, some

township said that as a Rakhine U Aye

affairs of other ethnic minorities and

Decision makers steer clear

AS politicians manoeuvre in advance

student group, have striven mightily to

said proposer U Saw Tun Aung Myint.

THE MYANMAR TIMES December 15 - 21, 2014

Accusations fly over rights

San Aung, said he also doubts that

What the report

Commission members are appointed by the president and despite

THE MYANMAR TIMES December 15 - 21, 2014

A prominent photographer recounts his dangerous mis

Deciding that I should document

on, fresh images

ssion to document student efforts to honour the former UN secretary-general in 1974

There were fears

importance of documenting the

the students demanding people in

THE MYANMAR TIMES December 15 - 21, 2014

Chief Executive Officer

Colonial-era buildings in downtown Yangon. Photo: Shutterstock

B&Bs to shake up tourism

Myanmar Consolidated Media Ltd.

MOST visitors to Pindaya arrive by

benefits of tourism remain in communities and the sectors growth support

B&Bs would be a compromise,

and border areas.

Estimated income from tourism this

However, The Myanmar Times has

Parents polled on school bus proposal

d interests and security fears

major problem in Yangon since the

Cars stop on the road in front of BEHS 1 Dagon. Photo: Yu Yu

said she had received a letter from her

school ferries arent safe because they