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DAILY EDITION

ISSUE 38 | FRIDAY, MAY 8, 2015

NEWS 3

Highest number of IDPs

A new report from the Norwegian
Refugee Council finds that Myanmar
had nearly eight times more
internally displaced people last year
than any other country in Southeast
Asia.

NEWS 8

Myanmar contributes
to Nepal relief efforts
Both official and unofficial aid from
Myanmar has been flowing to Nepal to
assist in the earthquake recovery.
BUSINESS 10

Temporary fishing ban

to begin on June 1
Ocean fishing will be off-limits for
longer than usual from June 1 until
the end of August to allow fish stocks
to replenish.
BUSINESS 10

PAGE

PHOTO: THANDAR KHINE

Hotel bungalows encroach on temples in the Bagan Archaeological Preservation Zone.

With the ancient capital under scrutiny as a possible UNESCO World Heritage Site, the
Ministry of Culture has promised to take action against hotels built illegally within the
protected area.

Ooredoo inks deal for

500 towers
Singapore Windsor Holdings
announces deal to host Ooredoo
equipment as the Qatar telco looks to
cover 75 percent of the population by
the end of the year.

Wa urge recognition for Kokang

A summit called by the United Wa State Army ended May 6 with a list of demands, including their own separate state,
the creation of a genuine federal system and for the government to include more groups in the ceasefire. NEWS 5

2 News

THE MYANMAR TIMES May 8, 2015

Page 2
THE INSIDER: Never not sweating

Sai Mon Says

Employees from the state-run
Myawady Daily celebrated the
publications fourth birthday on May
2, marking the occasion at the yankin
offices of the not-at-all-menacingsounding Directorate of Public
Relations and Psychological Warfare
of the Commander-in-Chief (army).
a report in the Global New Light of
Myanmar said chief editor Lt-Col
Win Bo gave a speech about aims of

publishing the daily to rebut rumours

and inform the people of correct
news.
Sources say they then celebrated
by playing party favourite Hide and
Go Seek the Internal and External
Destructive Elements, before finishing
with a rousing game of charades.
Auspicious dates
Myanmar celebrated World Press
Freedom Day on May 3, with the

government marking the occasion

with its characteristically dark sense
of humour by forbidding media from
communicating with rebel forces
from the MNDaa, lest they face
action for unlawful association.
This was a clearer warning than the
martial law order already in place
which allows for harsher jail terms
to be imposed for those deemed
to be in breach of the Printing and
Publishing act.

If there were a
position higher
than or more
important than
the president, I
would want that
post.

Once was
Burma ...
Archival material courtesy of
Pansodan Gallery
First floor, 286 Pansodan, upper block, Kyauktada township

Speaker Thura U Shwe Mann

explains his modest ambitions to
RFa in June 2013

In other festal news, World

Telecommunications and Information
Society Day is coming up on May 17
no official celebration plans have been
announced, although inside sources
are refusing to rule out an hours-long
3G network failure. Following soon
afterward on May 23 is International
Day to end Obstetric Fistula, with many
concerned about just what that could
mean, while May 19-25 marks Spinal
Health Week. at this stage, sources
say, it seems unlikely the NLD will do
anything to mark that occasion.
Missed connections -W4M
I was walking along the train platform
the other day when a foreigner leaned
out of the train carriage to take a
picture of me and let me tell you, if
theres one thing women really like its
being photographed going about their
daily business by sweaty strangers
on public transport. are you the one?
Please get in touch with me somehow.
Maybe you could post my picture on a
public internet forum? Longingly yours

An undated issue of Forward adopts a novel framing of its cover model.

www.mmtimes.com

NEWS EDITOR: Thomas Kean | tdkean@gmail.com

ANALYSIS

Military links plague Thai

trafficking reform efforts
LAIGNEE
BARRON
laignee@gmail.com

THE discovery of clandestine trafficking camps in Thailand containing mass graves and human
remains has attracted mass-media
attention and has mounted pressure on a nation still smarting from
exposure as a notorious humantrafficking hub.
But as Thailand scrambles to repair its bruised reputation and address the scandalous death camps
in its backyard, rights advocates and
political experts point out the feeling
of dj vu evoked by the regimes gettough rhetoric.
Yesterday Prime Minister Prayuth
Chan-o-cha ordered officials to root
out all trafficking camps in all provinces within 10 days. The announcement was made in response to two
separate raids on trafficking camps
in Songkhla Province. Both recently
abandoned jungle sites were thought
to be holding-grounds where Bangladeshi and Rohingya refuge-seekers
en route to Malaysia were at the mercy of human smugglers until relatives could pay ransom.
But observers said not only is the
prime ministers 10-day order unfeasible given the magnitude of the issue several rights groups estimated
the number of camps to be in the
hundreds but its also indicative of
the unrealistic outlook Thailand is
taking toward its deeply entrenched
human trade.
This is quite a severe violation
of human rights that has been going
on for a long time. Everyone knows
that, said Andy Hall, a migrant
rights expert. We always hear [these
promises] but realistically this is
a knee-jerk reaction, not a long-term
solution. You cant clean up a broken
system thats been going on for decades overnight.
Though the revelation of the
grave-riddled camps may have
elicited a fresh round of dramaticsounding policies and cosmetically
concerned investigations, Thai officials have long known about, and
even acknowledged, the existence of
the camps.
We have heard about these
camps in southern Thailand but we
are not investigating this issue, Tarit
Pengdith, chief of the Department of
Special Investigation, told Reuters in
2013.
Though there have been occasional efforts to locate the camps, vows to
crack down and eradicate Thailands

Thai officials exhumed 26 bodies at a secret trafficking camp near the border with Malaysia. More bodies were
discovered at a second abandoned location less than a kilometre away. Photo: Bangkok Post/Pornprom Sattrabhaya

role as a transit point in the trade

have been short-lived.
More often than not, Thailands
policy has been to usher Rohingya
onward to Malaysia, usually via human traffickers. Thailand would
prefer to not take responsibility for
a new population of refugees, said
Matthew Smith of Fortify Rights,
which estimates that as many as
650,000 Rohingya officially called
Bengalis in Myanarmar are now
displaced, while each year tens of
thousands take perilous sea voyages
to Thailand and Malaysia.
Rights groups have long pointed
out that the voyage depends on collusion with Thai officials and soldiers.
Authorities stumbled on both of
the recently raided camps shortly
after they had been abandoned, with
fresh corpses and starving survivors
too weak to move left behind. The
BBC reported food tins, shoes and
tarps at one of the vacated camps.
Traffickers are routinely tipped
off before [the] so-called raids. This
allows Thailand to give the impression of combating trafficking while
conveniently enabling authorities to
escape responsibility for protecting
survivors or disrupting the trafficking rings, said Mr Smith.
While the army has vowed to severely punish any soldiers found involved in the deadly trafficking sites
Thailand recently made human
trafficking a death-penalty offense
a handful of soldiers and police have
only been transferred to other posts.
Meanwhile, four local admin-

istrative officials and a Myanmar

trafficker have been arrested for
kidnapping and trafficking, according to The Bangkok Post.
The Thai Navy, police, border patrol police and paramilitaries have,
according to many accounts, handsomely profited by moving Royingya
for purposes of profitable exploitation, said Paul Chambers, director
of research at the Institute of South
East Asian Affairs in Chiang Mai.
But how can Thailands military dictatorship seek to address the
problems of human trafficking when
it is elements of the military and police that have sustained it? ... Given
the probable involvement of Thai
security officials in the trafficking
of Rohingyas, any state reforms in
such policies are likely to be fleeting
and superficial.
Several analysts and rights organisations, as well as the United States,

Given the probable

involvement of Thai
security officials ...
any state reforms
... are likely to be
fleeting.
Paul Chambers
Thai affairs expert

have called for an outside independent investigation into the deaths and
the trafficking camps.
On May 6, deputy national police
chief Chakthip Chaijinda said Thailand was not alone in the trade network, but was stuck in the middle
of a smuggling route with refugees
driven from Myanmar to Malaysia.
He added that Thailand was seeking
cooperation from both Malaysia and
Myanmar.
The Myanmar embassy in Bangkok declined to comment, and officials from Myanmars Ministry of
Foreign Affairs could not be reached.
On May 5, Malaysia laid responsibility for the camps at Thailands feet.
There is no evidence yet to show
that Malaysians were part of the syndicate believed to be carrying out
human trafficking activities in Thailand, Malaysias Home Deputy Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku
Jaafar told state media.
With its neighbours unwilling to
publicly share the burden of the trafficking camps and with the annual
US Trafficking in Persons report due
out next month and the EU threatening further sanctions Thailand is
under significant pressure to keep up
the raids and investigations, which
for many have not gone far enough.
Trafficking is fault of many govts
but if action-man Prayuth had acted last year those being dug up now
might have lived, the BBCs Jonathan Head wrote yesterday.
Additional reporting by Nyan
Lynn Aung and The Bangkok Post

News 3

Myanmar
has regions
most IDPs
LAIGNEE BARRON
laignee@gmail.com
MYANMAR has a substantially higher
number of internally displaced people
than any other country in Southeast
Asia, according to a new report.
With 645,300 people fleeing due to
conflict and violence in 2014, Myanmar
had almost eight times more IDPs than
the next highest nation in the region:
Indonesia with 84,000, according to
the Norwegian Refugee Councils Internal Displacement Monitoring Center.
The total number of IDPs in the
region has actually dropped because
the intensity of violent incidents in
Myanmar declined, said the report released on May 6.
Worldwide, 2014 was record-setting,
with more people than ever before 38
million displaced.
Never in the last 10 years of IDMCs
global reporting, from the peak of the
Darfur crisis in 2004 and the sectarian
violence in Iraq in the mid to late 2000s
to the uprisings of the Arab spring in
2011 ... have we reported such a high estimate for the number of people newly
displaced in a year, the report says.
Every day in 2014 an average of
30,000 people worldwide fled their
homes; among them were residents of
Kachin and Rakhine states.
These are the worst figures for
forced displacement in a generation,
signalling our complete failure to protect innocent civilians, said Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council.
Fighting between the Tatmadaw
and armed ethnic groups was largely
blamed for Myanmars high number of
displaced persons.
In Myanmar, IDPs in Kachin and
northern Shan states faced threats from
ongoing fighting, anti-personnel mines
and UXO [unexploded ordnance], human trafficking, forced recruitment
and sexual violence, the report reads.
Thousands of people displaced in
Rakhine State in 2012 remain at camps
that lack access to basic necessities such
as enough food, sanitation facilities or
medical care, according to the monitoring centre. In March, the UN special
rapporter to Myanmar called the conditions at IDP camps abysmal with residents choosing to stay and die or take
dangerous boat journeys to neighbouring countries where they often fare no
better.
Recent outbreaks of clashes in Rakhine State have only added to the
IDP figures. The fighting has displaced
more than 400 people, many of whom
have taken refuge in neighbouring villages, according to the regional government. Local aid groups put the number
of displaced closer to 540.
Unless we challenge ourselves to
change our approach, the shockwaves of
these conflicts will continue to haunt us
for decades to come, said Mr Egeland
of the 2014 worldwide IDP increase.

4 News

THE MYANMAR TIMES MAY 8, 2015

Chief Executive Officer

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Sub-Editors Peter Swarbrick, Laignee Barron
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The temples of Bagan are seen from the top of the soaring viewing tower near Aureum Palace Hotel, located within the Bagan Archaeological Preservation Zone.
Photo: Douglas Long

Illegal hotels under spotlight

as Bagan seeks heritage status
EI EI THU
SI THU LWIN
CHERRY THEIN
newsroom@mmtimes.com
A GOVERNMENT-BACKED campaign
to have Bagan included on UNESCOs
list of World Heritage Sites has moved
into a sensitive area following a decision by the Ministry of Culture to take
action against hotels built illegally
within the ancient city and temple
complex.
But it remains to be seen exactly
what the government plans to do with
hotels built by well-connected businesspeople under the former military
junta within the walls of Old Bagan,
as well as an 18-hole golf course and a
soaring concrete viewing tower inside
the wider archaeological zone.
An official from the Mandalay Region government, who asked not to be
named, told The Myanmar Times that
the Ministry of Culture would take legal action against some hotels.
The law for ancient culture protection and preservation is already
submitted by the Ministry of Culture.
Some hotels in Old Bagan are within
the ancient heritage zone and will face
action according to the law, he said.
A team of experts from the Heritage Impact Assessment, the International Council of Monuments and
Sites (ICOMOS) and the Myanmar
Archaeologist Association has started
inspecting the hotels, said U Thein
Lwin, deputy director general of the
Department of Archaeology, National
Museum and Library.
We have inspected about 15 hotels
and found some are impacting the
ancient heritage, and we need to continue to inspect other buildings. We
will report the result to the ministry
and then they will decide how to take
action after the inspection is finished,
U Thein Lwin said.
Action must be taken against the
hotels if they are in breach of article 17
of the law on regional culture protection and preservation, he added.

The inspections are part of a broader plan to include Bagan on the World
Heritage List, which officials last year
said they hoped to achieve by 2017. We
are drawing up the management plan
together with experts from UNESCO. If
we can follow their advice then Bagan
would be added to the World Heritage
List, U Thein Lwin said.
The National Tourism Central
Committee, led by Vice President U
Nyan Tun, a former navy commander,
is involved in surveying the hotels in
the Bagan zone, according to U Nyan
Win, chair of the Myanmar Tourism
Federation.

Sometimes some
cases are above the
law. It was very
complicated to take
action with the law
when some didnt
respect it.
U San Win
Retired director general,
Ministry of Culture

The committee, which includes

ministers and business associations,
has held talks with hotel owners to
have their structures demolished if
ancient buildings lie within their hotel
compounds, U Nyan Win said. Parts of
two hotels were demolished, he said.
Last October officials from the
Ministry of Culture and UNESCO met
international experts in Bagan to discuss how the ancient city, which rose
to prominence between the ninth and
13th centuries, could be protected from
poorly planned development and a
sharp rise in tourists.

An improved inventory of pagodas and temples at the site, as well as

stricter enforcement of heritage laws,
were identified as important steps to
be undertaken before the site can be
nominated, ministry officials said.
In the early 1990s the then-military
regime forcibly moved hundreds of
residents from a village that had grown
inside the city walls of Old Bagan to
a barren area a few kilometres away.
New Bagan has since grown into a
small town of hotels and guesthouses
for ever-increasing numbers of tourists
expected to reach 5 million this year.
A 1998 law banned development
inside cultural heritage sites but some
hotels were built before the law was
enacted. Others were allowed later
in contravention of the law, some by
businesses with links to the regime.
The cavernous Bagan Museum towering over the old city was also built at
that time.
Given the sensitivity of these business ties, officials are reluctant to
name which hotels might be slated for
demolition.
U Sai Kyaw Ohn, deputy minister
for tourism, said that if buildings of
any kind had an impact on Bagans ancient structures, they should be moved
under the law and all future such projects should be banned.
Licences to build hotels must have
the permission of the regional government and the Department of Archaeology, National Museum and Library,
he said.
Officials are preparing to take legal
action against nine more buildings in
Bagan and the nearby town of Nyaung
Oo, according to U Nyein Lwin, deputy director of the Bagan branch of the
department.
We are ready to prosecute. We
are going to sue them after we get
the permission. We have already
taken legal action against one building. We are going to deal with nine
more buildings to date, he said. Some
buildings had permits for two storeys
but constructed three or four, while

others had gone beyond the permissible space, he said.

He said about 40 sites were building illegally in the Bagan and Nyaung
Oo areas. Some had continued building despite repeated warning letters.
The Ministry of Culture restricted
new buildings to two storeys in August
2014. Three storeys had been set as the
limit in May 2013.
U San Win, a retired director general at the Ministry of Culture who
helped draft the 1998 law on the Protection and Preservation of Cultural
Heritage Regions, said it was difficult
to enforce the law when society lacked
awareness of the need to protect the
countrys heritage.
Sometimes some cases are above
the law. It was very complicated to
take action with the law when some
didnt respect it, he told The Myanmar
Times.
For example, he said, development
projects inside cultural and protected
zones should have those buildings removed or demolished as mandated by
the judiciary.
But what if they didnt? We needed to consider such kinds of cases, he
said, explaining that the 1998 law was
amended to include other forms of
punishment, including fines.
However, the fine for illegal buildings was set at K10,000 (now about
US$9) a day a paltry amount for a
large enterprise.
Last month the Ministry of Culture
released the text of two bills the Protection and Preservation of Ancient
Buildings Law, and the Protection
and Preservation of Ancient Antiquities Law. They are intended to beef up
the protection of Myanmars cultural
heritage and include tougher punishments, including jail terms of three to
seven years for anyone found to have
damaged, removed or destroyed heritage buildings.
The penalties will help the ministry
enforce regulations banning development inside cultural zones, particularly at Bagan.

News 5

www.mmtimes.com

Ceasefire accord faces new challenges

LUN MIN MANG

YE MON

HOPES that the government and leaders of armed ethnic groups would
finalise a nationwide ceasefire agreement this month appear to be fading
after talks hosted this week by the
United Wa State Army (UWSA).
But commentators said the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team
(NCCT), which negotiated the draft
agreement signed with government
representatives on March 31, would
continue its efforts to find a consensus
among the 16 ethnic groups it represents, as well as with powerful groups
like the UWSA that have remained
outside the negotiating circle.
A statement issued on May 6 after
six days of talks in the UWSA stronghold of Pangkham, Shan State, seemed
to fulfill the political and military goals
set out by the hosts. The statement endorsed a long-standing demand for a
state for the Wa minority to be carved
out of Shan State on the border with
China, and demanded that the Myanmar constitution be changed to create
a genuine federal system.
But more crucially for the immediate peace process, the 12 groups invited by the Wa endorsed its insistence
that its Kokang allies and two other
groups be recognised by the government and included in the nationwide
ceasefire accord.
The Myanmar National Democratic

Alliance Army (MNDAA), an ethnic

Chinese militia with close ties across
the border, has been engaged in intense fighting with the Tatmadaw in
the Kokang region since February 9.
The Tatmadaw and the government
have refused to recognise and negotiate with the MNDAA and its two allies, the Arakan Army and the Ta-ang
National Liberation Army.
A heavy Tatmadaw artillery bombardment of hilltop rebel positions
was reported close to the border with
Chinas Yunnan province last night,
just a day after President U Thein
Sein received a high-level provincial
delegation in Nay Pyi Taw where they
discussed border stability.
The MNDAA and its two allies
have threatened to withdraw from the
NCCT in an apparent ploy to keep the
diverse ethnic armies united behind
their demands for recognition by the
government. The Pangkham statement also called on the government to
allow the United Nations and China to
act as ceasefire observers.
China, which has seen tens of thousands of refugees cross into its territory, has repeatedly called on Myanmar
to settle the Kokang conflict through
dialogue, but its urging appears to
have fallen on deaf ears.
The government had no immediate comment on the Pangkham statement. It must now await the outcome
of a meeting of the NCCT, which is
expected to be followed by a summit
of the leaders of the 16 groups it represents. No dates have been set for
those meetings. The NCCT says it expects the various rebel leaders to offer amendments to the draft ceasefire

accord that would then have to be renegotiated with the government.

U Aung Myint, a UWSA spokesperson, told The Myanmar Times that he
had discussed the Kokang crisis yesterday with U Aung Min, the governments chief negotiator in the ceasefire
talks. He quoted U Aung Min as saying
that if the three ethnic groups fighting
in Kokang would reduce their offensives, the government could persuade
the military to follow suit. U Aung Min
accused the groups of initiating the
conflict, an accusation rejected by the
MNDAA.
Asked if the UWSA would sign a
nationwide ceasefire accord, the
spokesperson replied, The peace process will not be genuine unless the
three armed groups are included in
the peace talks.
U Naing Han Tha, NCCT leader,
has expressed the same opinion.
Political analyst U Sithu Aung Myint said he believed the NCCT would
act positively and keep the coalition
together. Even a powerful group
like the Kachin Independence Army
wants the inclusion of the MNDAA in
the peace talks. I think the NCCT will
keep the situation calm by keeping the
groups in the coalition, he said.
U Yan Myo Thein, a political scientist, said the leaders of the NCCT
should be careful in negotiating peace
with the government, which, he recalled, had not stuck to commitments
given in political talks over the passage of amendments to the controversial national education law.
New challenges arose from the
[Pangkham] summit, he said, referring to the Kokang issue.

Ethnic Wa soldiers stop vehicles at a checkpoint in their self-administered

territory in Shan State. Photo: Staff

6 News

THE MYANMAR TIMES MAY 8, 2015

Rakhine ferry victims wait for justice

MRATT
KYAW THU
mrattkthu@gmail.com

Rakhine State Chief Minister U Maung Maung Ohn (right) speaks on March 27 to Ko Tun Tin Win, who survived the ferry
disaster with his son but lost his wife and daughter. Photo: Naing Win Htoon

NEARLY two months after the Aung

Takon 3 ferry disaster off the coast of
Rakhine State, victims and their relatives are still waiting for justice, with a
series of state- and Union-level investigations yielding plenty of damning
evidence but no criminal charges.
The accident has prompted closer
examination of the state of the governments underfunded ferry network, with Inland Water Transport
promising more stringent safety
checks, training for staff and onboard
demonstrations.
For survivors, however, these measures will do little to relieve the suffering and trauma of the sinking, which
occurred as the Aung Takon 3 threaded through the treacherous Naungtaw
Gyi and Naungtaw Lay narrows heavily laden with both passengers and
freight.
Survivors described to The Myanmar Times frantic scenes as crew
members, realising the ship was going
down, screamed at passengers to start
throwing sacks of lime overboard. The
ferry was so heavily overloaded that
some cargo was even stacked up in the
toilets.
Among the people who live along
the coast of Rakhine State, as well
as the regular passengers of the government-owned ferries that ply it,
the choppy, shifting Naungtaw Gyi
and Naungtaw Lay narrows have an
evil reputation. But the ferries were
cheap, charging only K2500 a ticket,
while private ferries charge K12,000K15,000. They were invariably crowded, taking passengers to the coastal
towns of Kyauknimaw, Ramree,
Kyaukpyu, Myebon, Pauktaw and Sittwe, and are the main form of transportation in a region largely without
roads. The government ran six ferries,
Aung Takon 1 to Aung Takon 6.
Officially, the ferry was licensed to
carry 176 passengers and 120 tonnes of
freight, but survivors say there were at
least 400 people on board.
The official death toll of 72 is certainly an understatement. The true
human cost of Aung Takon 3 may
never be known.
I saw that the boat was full of people and merchandise, as usual, on the
roof as well as the deck, said restaurant owner Ma Hnin Zi, who works
near Kyaukpyu port, from where the
vessel had disembarked earlier in the
day.
Ko Tun Tin Win was travelling
with his wife, son and daughter from
Kyaukpyu port to their village Thit
Pon, Myebon township when the boat
sank on March 13.
Three hours sailing out of Kyaukpyu, at about 7pm, the ferry encountered the waves around Naungtaw. By
then it was dark.
We had already passed Naungtaw
Gyi when the ferry started taking on
water. As we approached Naungtaw
Lay, the flooding grew worse and the
sailors were shouting at passengers to
help bail the ferry out. We were throwing bags of lime overboard, and anything else heavy we could find. But the
water was coming through a hole and
could not be stopped, said Ko Tun Tin
Win. The boat was sinking.
Ko Tun Tin Win was desperate to
help his family. His daughter, Ma A
Nge Lay, aged 10, was shouting, Daddy, I cant get out. My foot is trapped.
But he was also trying to find his
wife. As he struggled to save them
both, the boat foundered with a loud
splash and went down.
All around, passengers were leaping into the water amid panic and
confusion. Some had life jackets. Everyone was shouting. He saw some
passengers shut themselves in their

cabins, as if to keep the water out. He,

his wife Ma Aye Yin Thein and their
daughter were plunged into the water.
Ko Tun Tin Win kicked himself
free of the sinking ship and surfaced,
screaming out the names of his son,
his wife and his daughter. But the
sound of the waves drowned out his
cries.
In the darkness, he made for lights
in the distance. It took him about 30
minutes to swim to the island, alongside other passengers struggling and
screaming in the water.
When I got to the island, I ran
backward and forward along the
shore shouting for my family. I was
freezing cold and my head ached, he
said.
After about 20 minutes, fishermen
in two small motorboats arrived and
began to pick up people from the water and take them to the island.
The fishermen worked all night
to save as many people as they
could, while navy ships and other
private vessels joined the makeshift
search-and-rescue operation the next
morning.
Ko Tun Tin Wins 15-year-old son
Mg Tun Maung Soe survived. He never
found his wife or daughter.

When we arrived
at the scene there
were about 20
bodies floating in
the water.
Ko Tun Kyi
Duwunkyel secretary

Action in the wake of the disaster

has been muddled. Amid accusations
of overcrowding, overloading and
crew drunkenness, an initial government statement delivered in parliament by deputy transport minister U
Han Sein that blamed bad weather
for the tragedy was widely dismissed.
Speaker Thura U Shwe Mann denounced it as lies.
An inquiry launched by Rakhine
State Chief Minister U Maung Maung
Ohn, who blamed overcrowding,
missed several deadlines before being
superseded by another investigation,
commissioned by the Rakhine State
Hluttaw. That body reported on April
10, but its findings are not expected
to be taken up until next month. The
Amyotha Hluttaw has backed a Unionlevel inquiry, but it is unclear whether
that investigation was ever conducted.
Almost the entire rescue and recovery effort seems to have been left to
young volunteers and philanthropic
organisations, with no armed forces
involvement. The philanthropic group
Duwunkyel found most of the bodies
recovered so far, including that of the
captain.
When we arrived at the scene there
were about 20 bodies floating on the
water. Some had life jackets, some not.
Why were there not enough lifejackets?
I was angry about that, said Ko Tun
Kyi, the secretary of Duwunkyel.
Kyaukpyu police worked with volunteers to set up a clearing station
for information for survivors. But
because of the local conditions, volunteers were forced to bury most of
the bodies on the island where they
found them, without names or other
information.
Ko Tun Tin Win received government compensation for the loss of
his wife and daughter, but he can no
longer return to his native village. His
journey ended halfway through.
When I was going there, my family was with me. Now there is just my
son and I, he said tearfully. How can
I go home and tell my parents what
happened?

News 7

www.mmtimes.com

Myanmar, China sign

train engine deal
PYAE THET PHYO
pyaethetphyo87@gmail.com
NEW locomotives from China will
help improve rail transport in mountainous areas of Myanmar, a government official said on April 30. Myanma Railways signed an agreement to
buy 11 2000-horsepower locomotives
from the China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation
(CMC) at the Ministry of Railways
and Transportation in Nay Pyi Taw on
April 30.
Managing director U Thurain Win
of Myanma Railways and deputy chair
of CMC Zhao Jun signed the agreement,
under which the first three engines will
arrive at the end of November.
We decided to buy the new engines
so that our trains will run safely and
punctually. We will use them in mountainous areas, said U Myint Soe, deputy general manager in the ministry.
He said the remaining eight engines,

due to arrive in 2016, would run for 30

years and would be the most powerful
locomotives in the country. Each costs
198,000 euros (US$221,770), valuing
the contract at 2.178 million euros.
We have engines ranging in power
from 500, 900, 1200, 1500 and 1600HP.
These will have 2000HP, said U Myint
Soe, adding that the nations railway
stock was ageing.
Only five companies out of 38 that
initially expressed interest in responding to the tender opened last year actually submitted bids. The ministry
decided on January 20 to select CMC,
which quoted the lowest price, because they said its standards were in
line with the ministrys needs.
Half the engines currently running
in Myanmar are outdated diesel electrics. The president has instructed the
ministry to buy new diesel electric engines with foreign currency to improve
rail services for passengers and goods.
Translation by Thiri Min Htun

US gives aid to civil

society organisations
SHWE YEE SAW MYINT
poepwintphyu2011@gmail.com
THE United States embassy has handed out nearly US$190,000 in grants to
11 local civil society organisations, the
embassy announced yesterday.
The funds have been provided by
a small-grants program that supports
projects assisting people in underdeveloped or conflict-affected areas and
ethnic minorities. The fund seeks to
advance democracy and civic engagement, promote the rule of law and human rights, strengthen civil societys
capacity for advocacy and networking,
and promote conflict resolution and
peace-building.
Applications are submitted throughout the year and selected through a
competitive process. Since its inception
in 2006, the Embassy Small Grants Program has provided more than $2.5 million to local civil society organisations.
The Thamadi Foundation and the

Chin Agency this year received the biggest grant, $23,150, to conduct workshops on leadership, civic education
and voter education in eight townships
in Chin State. Other recipients, which
received between $3635 and $20,170
each, were People for People (PfP),
the Dai Social Development Organisation, Peace and Justice Myanmar, the
Democracy for Ethnic Minorities Organisation (DEMO), the Civil Authorise Negotiate Organisation (CAN-Org),
the Farmers Rights and Development
Organisation (FRDO), the Taang Womens Organisation, Colourful Girls, the
Thabyay Education Foundation and
the Muditar Foundation.
The programs main goal is to promote the development of a vibrant,
representative civil society by supporting local organisations that identify,
respond to and advocate for the needs
of their communities to broaden
citizen participation and democratic
governance, the embassy said.

Sugar factory workers

plan wages protest
PYAE THET PHYO
pyaethetphyo87@gmail.com
SUGAR factory workers in Nay Pyi
Taws Pyinmana township will stage a
sit-in next week to demand higher pay,
their leaders say. U Kyaw Htay, chair
of the United Basic Workers Organisation, said the workers were demanding that management honour their
contract of employment.
He said that when the factory was
privatised in 2011, the governments
deal with the company concerned,
Yuzana, required that the workers
continue to be paid according to civil
service salary rates. However, the company has failed to match wage increases received by government staff.
Our negotiations with the company got nowhere because their key
officials did not attend, U Kyaw Htay
told The Myanmar Times.
We receive no allowances, and as
prices keep rising we cant make both
ends meet. Were just not getting paid
enough, so we will demonstrate.
The plan is for about 300 of the

factory workers to stage a sit-in at the

Lote Thar Aung Myay sports ground
in the factory compound from May
11 to 13. They will hold up placards
highlighting their key demands: for
a pay raise according to their contract; for working hours in line with

Were just not

getting paid
enough, so we will
demonstrate.
U Kyaw Htay
United Basic Workers Organisation

those in other plants; for retaining the

same bus service they had when they
worked for the government; for renationalising the factory unless wages
are increased; and for securing the
personal involvement of the minister
for agriculture and irrigation.

If the sit-in yields no results, the

workers will take their protest to the
streets of downtown Pyinmana on
May 14, said U Kyaw Htay.
And if that doesnt work, we will
march from the sports ground to the
office of the Ministry of Agriculture
and Irrigation on May 15, he said,
adding that he had already applied to
the police for a permit.
At the time of privatisation, Yuzana
signed an agreement with the Ministry
of Agriculture and Irrigation stipulating that workers would be paid not less
than government personnel. But when
the government upped civil service
wages by K30,000 in June 2012, the
factory workers received only K15,000.
The factorys chief operating officer,
U Salaing, told The Myanmar Times
yesterday that he had asked Yuzana
to raise wages in line with the government salary increase for civil servants.
Its up to Yuzana whether or not
to raise their wages, but the company
can pay only the wages it can afford,
he said.
Translation by Thiri Min Htun

8 News

THE MYANMAR TIMES MAY 8, 2015

Myanmar sends
aid to Nepal
CATHERINE
TRAUTWEIN

NYAN LYNN
AUNG

MYANMARS government has moved

swiftly to deliver aid to Nepal, now
struggling to recover from its worst
earthquake in almost a century. Messages of support and condolence from
the government of President U Thein
Sein to Nepals leaders, President
Ram Baran Yadav and Prime Minister
Sushil Koirala, have been delayed by
technological disruptions, according
to Nepals ambassador to Myanmar,
Paras Ghimire.
Foreign ministry officials said two
cargo planes flew from Myanmar to
Kathmandu on May 1 and 2 carrying emergency supplies, including
drinking water, food and clothing.
The planes ferried back several
Myanmar nationals, including one
injured in the quake, said U Kyaw
Zayya, deputy director general of
the ministrys political affairs
department.
Myanmars support for devastated Nepal comes from the grassroots
as well as the governmental level.
In an appeal sent to The Myanmar
Times, Mr Ghimire urged one and
all and the friends of Nepal to give
liberally a plea many ordinary

citizens have heeded. Fundraisers,

who organised a candlelight vigil at
Shwedagon Pagoda, have reportedly
helped raise at least 5 million Nepalese rupees (about US$50,000) and
an additional $50,000.
In the rankings published recently by the 2014 World Giving Index,
Myanmar ranked first along with the
United States for willingness to give
to, and volunteer for, charity.
The generous outpouring of both
official and unofficial aid and sympathy from Myanmar for a stricken nearneighbour may have been prompted
in part by still-fresh memories of the
disaster inflicted by Cyclone Nargis
seven years ago this month.
Many believe the protracted reluctance on the part of the former
military regime to accept foreign aid
served to underline the urgent need
for reforms.
At least 7675 people were killed
and 16,000 injured in the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Nepal on April 25. Mr Ghimire said
donations would be deposited in
the Prime Ministers Disaster Relief
Fund.
As search-and-rescue teams begin to withdraw, the ambassador
said there was still a need for tents,
tarpaulins, blankets and torches, as
well as longer-term aid.
The ambassador has invited those
wishing to donate to visit the embassy at 16 Natmauk Yeikthar Street in
Yangon.

Nepalese residents take part in a prayer ceremony for earthquake victims in Kathmandu yesterday. Photo: AFP

News 9

www.mmtimes.com

Views

What matters for mothers in Myanmar

FIONA
MACGREGOR
fionamacgregor@hotmail.co.uk

A NEW report that shows Myanmar is

one of the worst countries in the world
in which to be a mother highlights the
massive challenges women face here. It
also underscores the vital task before the
government, not just in terms of investment and planning but also in changing
its approach to womens rights.

mortality rate for children under five

is one in 19 is dreadful.
While comparisons with Norway,
rated the best country in which to be
a mother, of course reflect a huge development gulf, the difference nevertheless illustrates just how dangerous
maternity is here. Myanmar women
are 31 times more likely to die as a
result of pregnancy than their Norwegian counterparts. Myanmar children
are almost 19 times more likely to die
before their fifth birthday than those
in Norway.
Organisations
working
with
mothers in Myanmar, such as Save

A pregnant mother and her child live in a temporary shelter in Yangon in

December 2011. Photo: Kaung Htet

Save the Childrens 16th annual

Mothers Index, released on May 4,
ranked Myanmar the 158th-worst
country out of 179 for mothers, considerably lower than any other ASEAN
nation.
After decades of isolation, civil war
and little development, the low ranking is not surprising. But the human
toll the figures illustrate that Myanmar women have a one-in-250 lifetime
risk of maternal death, and that the

The Children, say there is recognition at senior government level

that these terrible statistics are not
acceptable.
A number of programs are already
under way to tackle some of the key issues that affect mothers here, such as
poverty, malnutrition and insufficient
access to healthcare and trained birth
attendants because of hard-to-reach
locations and a shortage of skilled
staff.

Initiatives such as those aimed at

providing volunteer auxiliary midwives to remote communities at present 70 percent of women give birth
without trained support are to be
welcomed.
Save the Children, along with other
partners, is piloting a scheme to provide mothers in Rakhine State with
access to cash bonuses for nutrition
needs during their pregnancies and
during the key early months of their
childrens lives. If ever rolled out
across the country, such an initiative
could also make real and long-lasting
impacts.
The government is considering legislation that would institute the right
to maternity leave, and is working toward universal health coverage. Both
would vastly improve the situation of
the countrys mothers.
But as the latest report shows, there
is a long way to go. If the situation is
to be changed, women must be given
proper access to sexual health education
and contraception. Cultural taboos may
mean such issues have to be approached
sensitively, but that is no excuse not to
tackle them with urgency.
Improving the countrys economy,
developing an effective welfare and
health system to support mothers,
bringing about changes to business,
and working practices to allow women
proper maternity leave these are all
long-term projects that will likely take
years to advance.
Giving women the information and
access to contraception that allows
them to take control of their bodies
and fertility is key to reducing unplanned pregnancy, as well as the poverty and health risks to mother and
child associated with it.
In practical terms, this is an area
where advances could be made relatively cheaply and quickly.
Crucially, however, this should be
done with proper consultation with
women and recognition of their reproductive rights.

In the meantime, fresh challenges

are arising for those working to improve maternal health, even as organisations are struggling to meet earlier
goals.
Of the US$334 million allocated by
the Three Millennium Development
Goal Fund, 74pc was dedicated to maternal, newborn and child health. As
the four-year program enters its final
months, it is clear new goals will have
to be set.
Even as attempts are made to improve services for the 70pc of the population who live in rural areas, rapid
demographic changes are raising new

and worrying challenges. Large numbers of people are moving into the
cities without proper housing, creating risks and dangers for mothers and
infants living in cramped, unsanitary
urban settings.
Myanmars government can if it
chooses use its power to work toward the peace, economic advances,
social stability and greater equity that
will help improve the lives of Myanmars mothers. But ministers must
also ensure women are empowered to
take control of their own fertility and
make the decisions that can immediately improve their lives.

EDITORIAL
A state within a state within a state ...
The meeting of 12 ethnic armed
groups at Pangkham, the capital of
Wa autonomous region in northeastern Shan State, concluded with some
interesting proposals. Most of those
in the 12-point Pangkham statement
were about the ceasefire process and
the need for political dialogue, but one
was about the status of the Wa as a
state within Shan State.
The largest of the 14 administrative
divisions by land area, Shan State covers 155,800square kilometres, almost
one-quarter of the total area of the
Union of Myanmar (and twice the size of
Scotland). Shan State is traditionally divided into three sub-states north, east
and south. It was also initially divided
into 11 districts. An additional district,
Hopang, was created in September
2011. Shan State essentially has 55
townships with dozens of different ethnic groups living on the vast plateau.
According to the 2008 constitution,
six townships are designated asWa
Self-administered Divisions, and at the
Pangkham conference the Wa

reiterated their demand to be upgraded to the status of a state. Participants

at the meeting agreed to the proposal
in principle and with sympathy.
There have been immediate
responses from across the country,
especially from some Shan political
leaders. Most do not agree to the idea of
a state within a state. The Was proposal
has drawn special attention, not just because of its physical proximity to China
or because the United Wa State Army is
one of the strongest among the ethnic
armed groups, but also because the
idea itself might lead to the possibility of
secession. Shan State National League
for Democracy leader Khun Tun Oo,
who has always been an advocate for
the federal status of all ethnic states,
pointed out that the Wa case should
be viewed in the light of secession and
compared the situation to what happened to Crimea in southern Ukraine.
Ceasefire conferences and peace
talks should lead to reconciliation of all
warring groups, but not toward more
challenging problems.

10 THE MYANMAR TIMES MAY 8, 2015

Business
Strong pipeline follows
first onshore loan by UOB

MYAT NYEIN AYE

myatnyeinaye11092@gmail.com

JEREMY
MULLINS
jeremymullins7@gmail.com

UOB has a strong pipeline of projects set to follow its loan to a hotel
development this week. The deal
marked the first onshore loan by a
foreign bank in Myanmar, according to company representatives.
Singapore-based UOB received
permission to open its Yangon
branch for May 4, and announced
the loan to Rangoon Excelsior in a
press conference on May 6.
The bank has had a representative office in Yangon since 1994,
making it the foreign bank with the
second-longest continuous presence
in Myanmar, behind Singaporean
rival DBS. UOB was declared one
of nine winners of a foreign bank
licence last year, and its Yangon
branch is now up and running.
The bank is working on a strong
pipeline of deals, said UOB country
manager Harry Loh in an exclusive
interview on May 6.
We are not only bringing investors from Singapore into Myanmar,
we are in fact bringing investors
from [places such as] Hong Kong,
China and Thailand, into this part
of the world, he said.
Its first onshore loan is to Rangoon Excelsior, a French-Myanmar
joint venture, to refurbish a Yangon
hotel at the corner of Bo Soon Pat
and Merchant streets. UOB did not
disclose the terms of the loan.
Mr Loh said that while he acknowledged the introduction of
foreign banks had met some local
opposition, the foreign banks will
complement the local banks well,
and will focus on supporting FDI
into the country.
UOB will be supporting the
foreign investors here, supporting
their expansion in the country, he
said.
And all this will indirectly help to
contribute to growth because it will
create more jobs and boost incomes
and create more employment.

Ocean fisheries to
be closed on June 1
for three months

UOB country manager Harry Loh. Photo: Aung Myin Ye Zaw

UOB will also collaborate with

local banks, through areas such as
knowledge sharing. It has held seminars for local banks in areas like
risk management, project financing
and trade financing.
Three other foreign banks have
opened their Myanmar branches
already, and they are pursuing different approaches toward partnership with local banks. Some of the
foreign banks have zeroed in on one
of a handful of the stronger local
banks as partners, while others like
UOB aim to work with all the local
banks on a case-by-case basis.
Mr Loh said that by restricting
potential partnerships, a foreign
bank is restricting potential opportunities. In areas such as trade
financing, the local banks already
have their existing clients.
The nine foreign banks coming
to Myanmar, including UOB, are
limited to one branch and cannot
conduct retail business or directly finance Myanmar companies,
though they can work with international companies and local banks.
In any market there are always
laws and regulations, said Mr Loh.
We will definitely play a very
significant role to capture [the] FDI
opportunity which the Myanmar
Investment Commission has even
estimated crossing US$5 billion this

year. So [theres] already a huge potential for us, and we will focus on
that, he said.
Mr Loh added UOB does not consider itself to be just a Singaporean
bank, pointing out it has a strong
regional presence, with existing locations in 8 of the 10 ASEAN member countries.
Asked about challenges the bank
faced, Mr Loh said UOB is keen to
see the new Financial Institutions
Law in place. With the foreign
banks coming in, there is a need for
laws to be spelled more clearly.
Were very glad that theyve
done this, and were looking forward to it so a lot of things will be
much clearer, he said.
Mr Loh also highlighted improvements to skilled labour as
important for the financial sector.
UOB has launched a scholarship
program in partnership with the
University of Yangon and with the
Yangon University of Economics.
Singapore ambassador to Myanmar Robert Chua also welcomed
the branchs opening in a speech at
a separate launch event.
I believe that UOB together with
the other Singapore bank OCBC will
contribute to the development of
Myanmars banking sector and support foreign investments in Myanmars growing economy, he said.

OCEAN fishing will be suspended from June 1 to the end of August to allow depleted fish stocks
time to recover, according to a
statement from the Ministry of
Livestock, Fisheries and Rural
Development.
The suspension had been proposed by U Kin Sein, member of
parliament from Tanintharyi Region, in February, and was subsequently approved by parliament
and announced by the ministry
yesterday.
Fish stocks are rapidly dropping offshore, according to U Han
Htun, a fisheries businessperson
and member of Myanmar Fishery
Federation. He said he reckons
up to 80 percent of stocks have
disappeared in some locations.
There was a previous season
where fishing was banned in 201112, but it lasted only about two

Reducing the
amount of fish
caught in the sea
gives hope for a
fish comeback.
U Han Htun
Fisheries businessperson

months. Authorities also allowed

fishing at about 65pc in this period last year, because otherwise
fishing enterprises would lose
their profits, he said yesterday.
This year, fishing will be offlimits for a longer period, with
no recourse for businesses looking to continue fishing despite
the moratorium.
Reducing the amount of fish
caught in the sea gives hope for a
fish comeback, said U Han Htun.
Although fish production figures are hard to come by, export
statistics show declining volumes

of fish shipped abroad each year.

A Myanmar Fisheries Federation
spokesperson said fish exports
in 2012-13 totalled US$653 million, dropping to $536 million
in 2013-14, and could further decline to as low as $500 million
for this fiscal year.
The closed season for fishing
business is drawing opposition
from some, who claim the move
may hit the local industry too
hard.
U Maung Soe, chair of the
Myanmar Marine Fisheries Association, said there will be trouble
not only for businesses but also
for workers who will be unemployed during the period. For
this reason, the association has
applied to the ministry to loosen
some rules to allow for a moderate amount of fishing during the
closed season.
In Yangon Region there are
more than 1000 fishing boats,
and so, many fishing enterprises, he said. All of them will have
trouble continuing, and other
businesses related to marine
fishing will be shut down.
U Maung Soe said cold storage
factories, fisheries exporters and
fish processors as among those
which may also suffer. Some may
have to temporarily halt their
businesses, though others are
stocking up on raw inputs, aiming to continue work over the
suspension period.
He added the association will
request permission to continue
fishing at 50pc over the suspension period.
Others say it is likely that not
every businessperson will follow
the rules of the moratorium.
U Myo Nyunt, managing director of General Food Technology and Industrial, said his company will halt exports during the
suspension period, though added
he was concerned not all fisheries businesses will follow the
rules.
There will be fishing, and the
closed season wont be effective
for maintaining our resources,
he said.

Newcomer to build 500 Ooredoo towers

CLARE HAMMOND
clarehammo@gmail.com
SINGAPORE Windsor Holdings has
won a contract to build 500 telecommunication towers for Ooredoo Myanmar, according to a notice
published late yesterday on the Singapore Exchange (SGX).
The build-and-lease contract is
for a period of 18 months, according
to the statement. This is a relatively
modest rollout plan compared to
other towers companies operating
in Myanmar.
Pan-Asia Towers, for instance,
signed in early 2014 to build 1250
towers for Ooredoo as part of its
phase one program, which is already
complete.
A report by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and mobile

operators industry body GSMA estimates that more than 17,000 telecommunication towers will need to be set
up by 2017 to cover 70 percent of Myanmars population.
Currently, it is estimated that
around 5000 telecommunication
towers have been built in Myanmar,
according to a media release issued
by Singapore Windsor.
The agreement, which will become effective from July 2015, has
an implied value, based on the cost
of construction, of US$39 million
over 18 months, according to the
SGX notice.
Singapore Windsor will then
manage and lease the towers and associated power solutions to Ooredoo
for a 15-year term, which the operator may choose to extend for a further three terms of five years each.

Following the agreement, Singapore Windsor will be required to

give a total funding commitment of
up to $45m to Ooredoo, which will
be financed through a combination
of bank loans, vendor financing and
the private placement of company
shares, according to the notice.
Singapore Windsor Holdings is
the parent company of Myanmar
Infrastructure Group (MIG), which
itself is owned by US telecommunication towers company Square1
Infrastructure, according to MIGs
website.
MIG began operations in Myanmar in 2014.
Ooredoo spokesperson Daw Thiri
Kyar Nyo confirmed the deal, saying
the telco aims to have 75pc of the
population covered by the end of the
year.

11

BUSINESS EDITOR: Jeremy Mullins | jeremymullins7@gmail.com

Thailand counts on approval

soon for road link to Dawei
in Tanintharyi Region

The role of stateowned enterprises

needs reconsidering

BUSINESS 13

BUSINESS 14

Exchange Rates (May 7 close)

Currency
Euro
Malaysia Ringitt
Singapore Dollar
Thai Baht
US Dollar

Buying
K1195
K302
K815
K33
K1096

Selling
K1232
K315
K830
K35
K1105

IN BRIEF
Asian Wings flies to Nay Pyi Taw

Members of parliament, civil servants

and students all stand to benefit from
a new Yangon-Nay Pyi Taw service
launched yesterday by domestic airline
Asian Wings.
Commercial director Daw Yin Yin
Nyo Myint told The Myanmar Times,
We aimed especially for government
staff, business people and students
wishing to get to the capital in a short
time at a reasonable price. Its taken
a long time, but now weve started the
service, even in the low season.
The airline is offering special ticket
prices to parliamentarians, civil servants and students. All they have to do
to get a reduction is to show their ID
when they buy the ticket, she said.
Asian Wings will fly weekdays to
Nay Pyi Taw, returning to Yangon only
on Fridays, she said. Myanmar citizens
will pay US$90 and foreigners $120
one-way. It is the third airline to start
flying the Yangon-Nay Pyi Taw route.
Ei Ei Thu
Myanmar Carlsberg officials celebrate the official launch of the brewery yesterday. Photo: Aung Myin Ye Zaw

Carlsberg puts on a Bago show

CLARE
HAMMOND
clarehammo@gmail.com

PROBABLY a big day in Myanmar,

read the hop-shaped banners strung
from telegraph poles along the road
through Nyaung Inn Village Industrial Zone in Bago Region.
Alongside construction sites for
new factories Perfect Companion
Group, Karisma Apparel is the dark
green Carlsberg factory, the slogan
probably the best beer in the world
emblasoned on it in white letters.
Around the factory is scrubland; beyond that, farms.
Our regions economy is reliant
on agriculture. I wish to transform it
to an industrial region, said the chief
minister of Bago Region, U Nyan Win,
at the launch of Carlsberg Groups
Bago brewery.
Carlsberg signed a partnership
with Myanmar Golden Star (MGS)
Breweries in 2013, for a 51 percent
stake in joint venture Myanmar Carlsberg Co Ltd. On May 7, the company
officially launched three brands into
Myanmar house brews Carlsberg
and Tuborg, and a new beer unique to
Myanmar called Yoma.
While MGS vice chair U Thant
Zin Tun noted the brands have a long

way to go before they present a serious challenge to the incumbent Myanmar Beer, owned by the Union of
Myanmar Economic Holdings, the
marketing team at the launch showed
no shortage of enthusiasm.
In a vast hall lined with empty
cans of Yoma waiting to be filled, each
brand was launched in turn. First
up was Carlsberg, represented by a
12-strong cheerleading troupe of girls
and boys dressed in black and white,
brandishing sparkly green pompoms.
Following this, a chinlone performance was given to show the local
nature of Yoma beer.
Yoma is made with rice from
the Bago region the word means
mountain range in Myanmar language. It will be Myanmar Carlsbergs cheapest brand, comparable

in price to Myanmar Beer.

Yoma has 5.4 percent alcohol by
volume, because five and four add
up to make nine, a lucky number in
Myanmar, said Mr Sren Ravn, regional CEO for development markets
at Carlsberg Group, on the sidelines
of the event.
The third beer launched was
Tuborg, with a performance from Myanmars DJ Valerie, Idiots Band and
rapper Hlwan Paing. Tuborg will be
priced at a similar point to Tiger Beer,
said Mr Ravn.
We will test the brands in Yangon
first, rather than spreading ourselves
too thinly, he said. Then we will distribute them across the other major
cities.
Statistics show that as a beerdrinking society, Myanmar has some
The newly-opened Carlsberg
factory in Bago Region.
Photo: Aung Myin Ye Zaw

catching up to do with its Asian

neighbours, meaning plenty of room
for new competition, said Birgitte
Weeke, marketing director for Myanmar Carlsberg.
Myanmar drinks an average of
6 litres of beer per capita each year,
compared to 36 to 40 litres per capita
in China and Thailand, she said.
The US$50 million Bago factory
can produce up to 600,000 hectolitres
(15.9 million gallons) of beer per year,
but Mr Ravn declined to give a forecast for annual production.
Myanmar Carlsberg will at least
have a head start over the competition. Dutch firm Heineken, through
a joint venture with Myanmars Alliance Brewery Company (ABC) called
APB Alliance Brewery Company, was
initially due to open its own brewery
by the end of 2014, but the factory has
not yet opened.
These are the only two foreign
licences likely to be granted for the
time being, said Mr Ravn.
MGS and Carlsberg have a relationship that dates back two decades.
The two companies began working
together in 1993 but Carlsberg was
forced to leave the country three years
later under mounting pressure from
human rights activists and threats of
a boycott of the brand.
U Thein Tun, chair of MGS, also
heads Myanmar Consolidated Media, which publishes The Myanmar
Times.

Mining summit planned

Wispool Group from China is organising a mining summit to take place in

October, officials said at a press conference yesterday.
The firm and the Myanmar Federation of Mining Association yesterday
signed a memorandum of understanding to hold the summit. It will be held
from October 21 to 23 in Yangon, with
details and a location to come later.
Myanmar Federation of Mining Association secretary general said foreign
investment and technology is important for developing the mining sector.
Aung Shin

Low cost housing for Nyaungdon

A low-cost housing project is planned

for Nyaungdon township, in Ayeyarwady Region near the border with
Yangon. The project will sit on about 20
acres near the Ma Latt To creek, close
to the Pathein-Yangon Road, and will
eventually include 2560 units.
This project will be finished in two
years. We will sell it to local people
through installment payments by
linking with banks such as Global
Treasure, said U Than Oo, marketing
director with the developers.
Nyaungdon is about 30 miles (48
kilometres) or a 45-minute drive from
the western fringe of Yangon. The
project is to include several five-storey
buildings, with plans calling for each
apartment to be about 600 square feet.
The units will start at K8 million
(US$7368), with sales to start next
month. Although the price may be low
for urbanites, Nyaungdon residents say
it is a little steep for their township.
K8 million is higher than we can afford, said local resident Ko Kyaw Zwar.
Though its not too bad a price if we can
pay in installments. Ko Ko Aung

International Business 13

www.mmtimes.com

IN BRIEF
Vietnam devalues currency

Vietnams central bank said yesterday

it would devalue the dong currency for
the second time this year in a bid to
boost exports and drive the economy
forward.
The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)
will devalue the reference rate by 1
percent to 21,673 Vietnamese dong per
dollar to cope with adverse impacts
of international markets, it said in a
statement.
The dong was last devalued by 1pc
in January. The second devaluation
of the dong in five months follows the
evolution of national and international
financial markets, the statement said.

More Australians without jobs

Australias unemployment rate edged

up to 6.2 percent in April, official
figures showed yesterday, in a widely
expected increase reflecting the nations economic wobbles as it moves
away from its dependence on mining.
Some 2900 positions were lost last
month, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics data. Full-time roles
fell by 21,900 while 19,000 part-time
jobs were added.

Losses grow for car maker Tesla

Luxury electric car maker Tesla said

late on May 6 it was on track to deliver 55,000 cars this year even as its
losses widened on revved-up research
spending. Founder Elon Musk and
chief financial officer Deepak Ahuja
said in a letter to shareholders that
the company produced 11,160 Model
S cars in the January-March quarter
and expected to begin delivering the
long-awaited Model X late in the third
quarter.
The stepped-up production rate had
helped cut per-unit costs, they said.
But they also warned that the
strong dollar was crimping margins
on sales outside the United States, and
is forcing the firm to raise car prices 5
percent in European markets.

Chinese carmaker gets new chief

Chinas third largest carmaker FAW
yesterday named a new chair, after its
previous chief was formally put under
investigation for corruption.
China FAW Group said Xu Ping
will take over as chair and company
Communist Party chief, according to a
statement, poaching him from Chinas
second-largest automaker Dongfeng
Motor Corp.
Dongfeng said on May 6 that Mr Xu
had stepped down, to be replaced by
the chair of FAW from 1999 to 2007,
Zhu Yanfeng.

EU official stands behind trade

deal with United States
The EUs trade commissioner defended
plans late on May 6 for an international
investment court that could deal with
any disputes arising from a massive
free trade treaty with the United States.
Swedens Cecilia Malmstroem told
the European Parliament that members concerns over the controversial
Transatlantic Trade and Investment
Partnership (TTIP) had been taken fully
into account.
Ms Malmstroem said the plans she
announced this week for steps paving
the way for a global investment court
were not cosmetic changes but rather
the most significant overhaul of investment arbitration in decades.

IBM, Facebook click friend

IBM and Facebook announced they

would collaborate with marketers
to develop better online advertising
targeted to specific customers.
The companies said in a statement they would work together on
data analytics for tailoured marketing
capabilities that reach the right people
at the right time.
The statement said IBM will use
deep analytics, on top of Facebooks
anonymised and aggregate audience
data, to give marketers a clearer picture of their target audiences.
All of this means better ads for
people, the statement said. AFP

BANGKOK

Approval for Dawei-Thailand

road as soon as next month
THE road linking the Thai city of Kanchanaburi with Dawei is expected to
win approval from Myanmars parliament next month, says the Neighbouring Countries Economic Development
Cooperation Agency (NEDA).
NEDA president Newin Sinsiri
said the Thai government had agreed
to support the 138-kilometre (85.7
mile) road to the tune of 4 billion baht
(US$119 million), with the interest
rate still under consideration.
The budget earmarked for this project is set to be disbursed three years
from the financial approval date.
Once the Myanmar parliament approves the project, the Thai cabinet
will need to approve financing before
construction can proceed.
Mr Newin said the Thai government initially agreed to lend the
money for the project via a 30-year
loan with a grace period for interest
payment provided to the Myanmar
government for the first 10 years.
Once construction is finished,
travel between Kanchanaburi and Dawei will drop to only two-and-a-half
hours from four hours now, he said.
On the Thai side, the government has approved construction

A worker rides a motorcycle

past new houses being built at
Bawah, a village close to the
site of the Dawei development.
Photo: AFP

of a motorway between Nonthaburis Bang Yai district and Kanchanaburis Phu Nam Ron border
crossing, a length of 96km.
Mr Newin said the financial support by the Thai government to the
Myanmar government was essential,
as it would help to improve both

countries economies.
Thai industrialists will particularly
benefit via new opportunities to expand their production capacity, boost
exports and develop heavy industries,
he said.
The route will be part of the
planned Southern Economic Corridor

linking four countries, running from

Dawei through Bangkok and Phnom
Penh to Ho Chi Minh City.
This will be a strategic route since
it will be a major logistics improvement for the region as well as for supply chains, Mr Newin said.
The Bangkok Post

14 BusinessViews

THE MYANMAR TIMES MAY 8, 2015

OPINION

What role should state enterprises have

in the changing business environment?
As Myanmar transitions into a more open and competitive environment, the government will have to decide what role these enterprises take in the countrys
economic future. There are a number of options, though not all of them may be right for the economy

TOM
BROOKES
name@myanmartimes.com.mm

STATE-OWNED enterprises (SOEs)

have always played an important
role in Myanmars economy. In
1962, Ne Wins government adopted the Burmese Way to Socialism
resulting in the nationalisation
of roughly 15,000 companies. Isolating these businesses from any
genuine form of competition, these
enterprises eventually ran into financial difficulties and chronic
mismanagement. As a result, the
government in 1988 began mass
waves of privatisation and officially abandoned Burmese Socialism for a more market-orientated
approach. The number of SOEs in
Myanmar has been steadily declining ever since, with the number of
state-owned enterprises in Myanmar now standing at roughly 41.
Roughly is the key word to use
here, as the world of state owned
enterprises is one shrouded in secrecy. Many of the assets of these
companies,
ownership
details,
and information on operations is
sparse.
Outdated information is common and privatisations are rarely
publicised or the process considered fair. For example, the government sold its remaining 20 percent
stake in the once-state owned airway Myanmar Airways International to Kanbawza Group in January
2014 for an undisclosed amount.
This ownership change still is not
reflected on the Ministry of Transports website, and is probably still

unknown to most consumers.

These factors aside, the government must decide what role
SOEs have in the future economy
of Myanmar. On the one hand, the
41 SOEs which currently exist are
huge players in the market. Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise, Myanma Railways and Myanma Posts
and Telecoms are perhaps three of
the most well-known enterprises,
and together these SOEs account
for a huge proportion of government revenue. For the financial
year in 2013-14, 64pc of revenue to
the government of Myanmar came
from SOEs; as a comparison, taxes
made up just 23pc, including taxes
paid by these SOEs.
Despite this huge revenue
source, the majority of these SOEs
are notoriously loss-making and in
desperate need of a shakeup. Myanmar Railways is one notable example, estimated to be operating with
a revenue which covers only 60pc
of its costs. By opening up these
kinds of markets to the harsh winds
of competition, in industries where
some of these enterprises have enjoyed monopoly power, the longterm effects for the government
will be disastrous, further burdening the state as it tries to prop up
these failing companies.
The government therefore has a
number of choices to make on what
to do with these SOEs. First, it could
open the doors to competition, as it
has most recently done with the telecoms market. Increased competition
in the economy is an excellent way
to help boost development throughout the country as it leads to higherquality goods at lower prices. Cheap
SIM cards in Myanmar have already
had a significant impact on improving communication links across the

country. Other effects throughout

the economy are also felt from greater competition in markets, increased
demand for materials to build infrastructure and job creation, to name
but a few. This can only happen
when the monopoly position held by
the state is under threat from competition; MPT has been forced to improve services and cut prices lest it
lose its market share to Ooredoo and
Telenor. Consumers stand to benefit
a lot, but so too does the government. One-off injections of money

and productive methods to be used,

providing opportunities for knowledge sharing. These tax revenues
could then be spent on subsiding
rail transport to make it affordable
to the masses, for example.
An alternative option for SOEs is
to keep them operating in markets
closed to competition. By law, 12
activities ranging from the export
of gems, sale of natural gas and
the export of teak, are to be operated solely by SOEs or joint ventures where the government takes

Despite this huge revenue source,

the majority of these State-Owned
Enterprises are notoriously loss making
and in desperate need of a shakeup.

from the sale of these telecom licences has provided the government
with a large cash injection and an
opportunity to upgrade crumbling
infrastructure.
Allowing competition is also
an excellent opportunity for the
country to develop higher quality
and greater volume of trade. Joint
ventures between Myanmar Oil
and Gas Enterprise, a state entity,
and foreign oil companies has given the country the opportunity to
reap significant tax revenues from
production.
The levels of production which
are currently in operation could
never be matched if MOGE was operating on its own. Foreign interventions also allows for more efficient

an agreed percentage stake in the

operation. A number of these industries are sensitive in nature;
allowing foreign companies in to
exploit or potentially mismanage
their extraction would not be good
for the economy and it may be best
that these continue to operate in
somewhat closed markets.
Similarly it is sometimes not
beneficial to allow competition.
Having multiple companies operating in the energy industry would
be a waste of, ahem, energy. Firms
would build their own power distribution networks, compete over
damming rights and drive up the
price of inputs such as gas. Having
one large enterprise in sectors like
energy and rail would be beneficial

to the consumer through the power

of economies of scale. Cheaper electricity is the result, provided the
firm does not exploit its monopoly
power.
Any decisions on the future
of these industries should not be
taken lightly and should consider
the trade-off between quick wins
and long-term losses. Here we have
briefly explored the arguments surrounding increasing competition
into SOE-only markets. However
the government could pursue a
number of other approaches, such
as full privatisation, removal of
preferential treatment of SOEs and
other options.
Regardless of what is to be done
with these SOEs, it is crucial that
the government moves to a more
transparent stance. By disclosing
profits and operations of these enterprises you open up industries to
the scrutiny of public accountability. In 2010 the government granted
licences to four new private banks.
In each case the banks were subsidiaries of conglomerates, each of
which appeared on various lists of
sanctions imposed by the EU and
United States.
If the government is truly concerned with the development of the
country, it needs to act accordingly
and give the public a say in what it
does with these enterprises.
Tom Brookesis an economistfor
Mekong Economics in Myanmar.
Mekong Economics is a development
consultancy organisation, specialising
in conducting policy research and
project evaluations across the
Southeast Asia region for donor
organisations including the World
Bank, Asian Development Bank,
bilateral donors and INGOs.

JOB WATCH
t

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in
Myanmar is seeking for qualified applicants to fill the following position:
1)

Assistant Legal Officer PN 10003178, NOA (Re-advertisement)

(UNHCR Contract- FTA, Yangon)

Closing date: 18 May 2015

The detailed Terms of Reference for these positions are available on request
from UNHCR offices in Yangon, Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Sittwe, Myitkyina,
Bhamo, Mawlamyine, Hpa-An, Loikaw, Dawei and Taungoo.
www.unhcr.org

Job Vacancy
HR/Marketing Secretary

(1) Post

Pun Hlaing International School is looking for an office secretary with experience
in human resources and marketing. The role of this job will be to support the
Headmaster in promoting the school to potential students and parents, to be
responsible for developing the schools advertising and printed materials, to be
responsible for maintaining the schools social media and internet profile and
have an administrative role in supporting the visa application process for ex-pat
staff. Applicants must have a high standard of spoken and written Myanmar
and English.
This is a fantastic opportunity to be part of a rapidly expanding school located
on the Pun Hlaing Golf Estate
Pun Hlaing International School is an independent British International School
managed by Harrow International Management Services.
For further details and to apply, please submit your CV and letter of application
to contact@punhlaingschool.com

Vacancy Announcement (SVNMM039)

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) office in Yangon, a Genevabased international organization with over 150 offices world-wide, is seeking
qualified professionals to join the IOM office in Yangon, Myanmar.
VA No.

Position Title

VA/15/073

Health Assessment Physician

(Part-time)

No. of
position
1

Duty Station
Yangon,
Myanmar

*Above vacancy announcement is part-time (50%) and for special short-term

contract.*
Interested candidates are invited to submit an application letter and an updated
CV with a maximum length of 3 pages including names and contact details of
3 referees (copies of certificates and further documents are not required at this
stage) to below address;
International Organization for Migration (IOM)
Mission in Myanmar Yangon Office
318-A, Ahlone Road, Dagon Township, Yangon, Myanmar
Tel Land Line
: +95-1-210 588, +95-1 230 1960~2
Tel CDMA
: 09 7323 6679, 09 7323 6680
Fax
: + 95-1-210588 (Ext: 5010)
Email
: hryangon@iom.int
Application deadline: 18 May 2015 (Monday)
Note that the cover letter should clearly state the title of the position that is
applied for. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

16 THE MYANMAR TIMES MAY 8, 2015

17

World

WORLD EDITOR: Fiona MacGregor

Kerry calls for

Saudis to pause
Yemen shelling

S Korea vows to
get tough on illegal
Chinese fishing

WORLD 18

WORLD 21

GLASGOW

TEHRAN

Scots hold Westminster key

ALL eyes were on Scotland yesterday as the Scottish National Party
looked set for a landslide victory
north of the border in Britains general election, a result that could
hand it the role of kingmaker.
SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon said
the vote could be a watershed
where Scots reject Labour, the party
that has represented them for generations, fundamentally altering the
balance of power in British politics.
The weather may be a wee bit
dreich [dreary] in Edinburgh this
morning but the outlook for Scotland is sunny very sunny, she told
a final campaign event on May 6 surrounded by cheering supporters.
Across Britain, yesterdays vote
remained too close to call as voters
began turning out to polling stations, with Prime Minister David
Camerons Conservatives and the
opposition Labour party neck and
neck in the opinion polls.
But in Scotland, it was a very different story.
Despite losing last Septembers
referendum on Scottish independence, the SNP looked on course to
win more than 50 of the 59 Scottish
seats in the House of Commons up
from just six at the last election in
2010.
Most of those would be at the
expense of Labour, which won 41
Scottish seats five years ago. Without these seats it will be very hard
for Labour to win a majority in the
650-seat House of Commons.
With the Conservatives also
likely to fall short of a majority,
both sides may well have to turn to
smaller parties to form a government, giving the SNP and its antiausterity message a strong hand.
Whether [you] voted Yes or No
in the referendum or have never
voted SNP before, it is an opportunity to come together as a country
and vote to make our voice heard at
Westminster, Ms Sturgeon said.
Labour leader Ed Miliband made
a final effort on May 6 to stop supporters defecting, insisting he understood the patriotism and pride
of Scots and warning that backing
the SNP made a Conservative government more likely.

If Im prime minister I will hold

Scotlands interests in my heart and
my head, he said.
He has insisted there will be no
deals with the nationalists after
the election, whether for a formal
coalition, such as that agreed five
years ago between Cameron and
the smaller Liberal Democrats, or a
looser arrangement in parliament.
But without a parliamentary
majority, he may be forced to rely
on the SNP if he wants to become
prime minister.
The Conservatives have played
on concerns in England about the
influence of the Scottish party,
which remains committed to the
break-up of the United Kingdom.
This whole thing about a Labour government backed by the SNP
in government people feel deeply
uneasy about, because it would be
a government held to ransom by a
group of people that dont want the
UK to succeed, Mr Cameron said on
May 6.
There is also the prospect that
a stronger SNP could press for another referendum on independence.
Ms Sturgeon insists her party
will play a positive and constructive role.
She has made clear she will seek
to block the Conservatives forming
a coalition or minority government,
but insists that she would not give
a Labour government an easy ride.
Labour is committed to continuing Mr Camerons austerity program but on a reduced scale, while
the SNP says it would raise public
spending each year.
We can lock the Tories out of
government but then we can make
sure that the Tories are not simply
replaced by a Labour Tory-light government, they are replaced by something better, Ms Sturgeon said.
The horse-trading is likely to
begin within hours of the results
rolling in, during the early hours of
today. All the main party leaders, including Ms Sturgeon in her capacity
as Scottish first minister, are due to
attend a ceremony in London today
marking 70 years since the victory
over Nazi Germany in World War
II. AFP

Scotlands pro-independence First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks at the

launch of the Scottish National Party (SNP) election manifesto in Edinburgh on
April 20. Photo: AFP

IN PICTURES
Photo: AFP

British prime
minister and
leader of the
Conservative party
David Cameron
(centre) arrives
with his wife
Samantha to vote
at a polling station
in Spelsbury on
May 7, as Britain
holds a general
election. Polls
opened yesterday
in the closest
general election
for decades with
voters set to
decide between
Mr Cameron, Ed
Milibands Labour
and a host of
smaller parties.
JERUSALEM

Struggling Netanyahu forms coalition

government just ahead of deadline
ISRAELI prime minister Benjamin
Netanyahu has held on to his job,
announcing that he had hammered
together a new coalition government just ahead of a midnight legal
deadline on May 6.
But with a knife-edge majority
of just one seat in the 120-member
parliament, expectations were that
he would have to expand the ruling
alliance beyond his natural religious
and rightist partners or battle for
survival at every vote.
I am leaving here to call the
president and the speaker of the parliament to inform them that I have
been able to build a government, he
said in remarks at the Knesset after
marathon talks with Jewish Home
leader Naftali Bennett.
We need to launch it next week
and we shall do so, he added.
President Reuven Rivlins office
said he had sent a written note followed up with a phone call.
I am honoured to inform you
that I have been successful in forming a government, which I will request is brought before the Knesset
for its approval as soon as possible,
Mr Rivlins office quoted the note as
saying.
The negotiations are over, Mr
Bennett said on his official Twitter
account, adding, Now we get to
work.
The news came just over an

hour ahead of a legal deadline at

midnight local time after which
the task of forming a government
would have been given to another
party leader most likely Isaac Herzog, head of the centre-left Zionist
Union, which won 24 seats in the
March 17 election, behind 30 for Netanyahus rightwing Likud.
The deal with Mr Bennett leaves
Mr Netanyahu in command of 61
Knesset votes, bought at the cost of
major concessions to his partners.
Analysts say he will be at the
mercy of rebels, caprice or even a
bad cold the first time the coalition
faces a crucial vote.
He would then be forced to expand the ruling alliance beyond his
natural religious and rightist partners and turn reluctantly to the Zionist Union, which has so far said it
will sit in opposition.
Netanyahu is left with an unmanageable situation, said political
scientist Emmanuel Navon, of Tel
Aviv University.
The first thing hell do tomorrow ... is take his phone and start
working on a coalition with [the Zionist Union], he said.
Mr Netanyahu, is a general
without soldiers, the Maariv daily
wrote.
Mr Netanyahu himself said he
hoped to expand the alliance, without elaborating.

I have said that 61 is a good

number and 61-plus is better still,
but it starts at 61, he said in his
Knesset remarks.
For the time being his rightreligious government is expected
to continue his robust foreign policy, marked by virulent attacks on
Iran, and to maintain a hard line
on the issue of concessions to the
Palestinians.
Mr Bennett had upped his demands on May 4 after Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman dropped a
bombshell by pulling out of the coalition talks, saying his anti-Arab Yisrael Beitenu faction would not join a
Netanyahu government.
Mr Lieberman said in a statement on May 6 that it was his last
day on the job.
The move piled pressure on Mr
Netanyahu who quickly signed an
agreement with the ultra-Orthodox
Shas party, leaving only Mr Bennetts party as the last piece in the
puzzle.
Avigdor Lieberman provoked
a rare tizzy in the political establishment two days ago, wrote Ben
Caspit in Maariv.
Within minutes, Benjamin Netanyahu changed from an all-powerful emperor into a lame duck.
Commentators were unanimous
that a government with a majority
of just 61 would likely be short-lived.

When Mr Netanyahu called for

snap elections in December, it was
to put an end to the chronic instability in his existing coalition.
When he was tasked with forming a government, Mr Netanyahu
said he wanted to form a six-party
coalition of rightwing and religious
parties which would command a
majority of 67.
But Mr Liebermans last-minute
about-face deprived Mr Netanyahu
of six seats and put Mr Bennett in
the role of kingmaker.
Likud had previously signed up
three parties: the centre-right Ku-

lanu (10 seats) and the two ultraOrthodox parties Shas (seven) and
United Torah Judaism (six).
Ayelet Shaked, the Jewish Home
MP who will reportedly take the
justice ministry, has been at the
forefront of efforts to curb the powers of the Supreme Court.
Last year, she tabled a bill which
would reduce the courts ability
to overturn legislation it finds unconstitutional. The draft was put
together after the court overturned
legislation that allowed the state to
jail African asylum seekers without
trial. AFP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press

conference at the Knesset in Jerusalem on May 6. Photo: AFP

Iran releases seized cargo ship

crewed by Myanmar sailors
IRAN has released the Maersk Tigris cargo vessel seized by its patrol
boats in the Strait of Hormuz last
week over a business dispute, official media said yesterday.
Earlier this week, Myanmarbased Uniteam Marine, a shipping
management company, confirmed
there were 13 Myanmar crew on
board the Maersk Tigris out of a
total of 21, but reported the men
were well and in contact with their
families.
Yesterday it was announced the
ship had now been released.
An informed source at the Ports
and Maritime Organisation said
the Maersk ship was free to leave
the country, the IRNA state news

agency reported.
It gave no further details but
said an official statement would be
issued later on the vessels release.
Iran has said it seized the container ship because of a commercial
dispute with Denmarks Maersk
group, which chartered the Marshall Islands-flagged vessel.
The move caused concern for
the security of shipping lanes in
the strategic strait and prompted
the United States to send vessels to
monitor the situation.
In a sign of reduced tensions, the
Pentagon said on May 6 that the US
Navy had halted a mission to accompany American-flagged vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

US warships will however remain in the area to conduct routine maritime security operations,
spokesperson Colonel Steven Warren told reporters.
On May 6 Tehran denied it had
detained the ships 24 crew members, saying they were benefiting
from diplomatic assistance.
Iranian state TV reported that
the crew members were from Bulgaria, Myanmar, Romania and
Britain.
The seizure was in connection
with an Iranian court order for
Maersk to pay US$3.6 million in
damages to Iranian firm Pars Oil
Products Talayieh over cargo that
allegedly was not delivered. AFP

18 World

THE MYANMAR TIMES May 8, 2015

BUJUMBURA

RIYADH

Burundi should delay

polls as violence grows

Yemeni tribal gunmen from the Popular Resistance Committees loyal to Yemens fugitive President Abedrabbo Mansour
Hadi gather on a street in the southern city of Taez during ongoing clashes with Shiite Huthi rebels on May 6. Photo: AFP

Kerry calls for Saudis to

pause Yemen shelling
TOP US diplomat John Kerry flew in
to Riyadh on May 6 for talks on a humanitarian pause in Yemen, where
dozens of people were reported killed
trying to flee worsening conditions after weeks of war.
On the Saudi side of the border
there were more casualties as well,
when shelling from Yemen killed five
people, the civil defence agency said.
Riyadh has said it is considering
temporary halts in air raids to allow aid deliveries into Yemen, where
a Saudi-led coalition took action on
March 26 to halt an advance by Iranbacked rebels.
Twenty-two humanitarian organisations warned their emergency aid
operations in Yemen could cease because of fuel shortages, and urged an
immediate opening of roads as well as
an end to the coalitions air and sea
blockades.
There has also been growing concern for civilians in the war.
On May 6, 32 people were reported
to have died while trying to flee the
southern city of Aden by sea.
A health official accused the Huthi
Shiite rebels of killing the civilians
and wounding another 67 in the shelling of a fishing harbour and a barge.
Before he travelled to Saudi Arabia,
Mr Kerry told reporters in Djibouti
he would raise the issue of a temporary halt to air strikes with officials in
Riyadh.
We will be discussing the nature
of the pause and how it might be implemented, said Mr Kerry, who on the
May 6 held talks with Saudi Crown
Prince Mohammed bin Nayef and was
to meet King Salman yesterday.

We are deeply concerned about

the humanitarian situation that is unfolding in Yemen. For the time being
the immediate crisis is the humanitarian one, Mr Kerry said.
As well as international concern
over the growing civilian death toll
from the air campaign and fighting,
deliveries of fuel, food and medicine
have been severely crippled in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula nation.
Yemens Foreign Minister Riyadh
Yassin told reporters in the Saudi capital that he hoped to also hold talks
with Mr Kerry, especially about the
humanitarian aid to Yemen. We hope
tomorrow to discuss how we can go
forward.
The minister appeared to choke up
and later wiped his eyes after talking
about the latest casualties in Aden.
Yemens mission to the United
Nations, meanwhile, on May 6 issued
a letter to the UN Security Council
calling for a ground intervention to
push back the rebel offensive and
urged rights groups to document
barbaric violations allegedly carried out by the anti-government
fighters.
The United Nations says at least
1200 people have been killed in Yemen
since March 19, roughly half of them
civilians.
The air strikes began as anti-government fighters approached Aden,
forcing President Abedrabbo Mansour
Hadi to flee to Riyadh.
The new UN envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, was to follow Mr Kerry to Riyadh yesterday in a
bid to relaunch peace talks.
There has been heavy combat in

Aden, where rebel gunfire killed a progovernment general on May 6.

A military official said General Ali
Nasser Hadi no relation to Yemens
exiled president was shot dead. He
headed loyalist forces in three southern provinces.
Thousands have fled Yemen, many
to Djibouti in the Horn of Africa
across the Bab al-Mandeb, a key shipping channel.
The war hit home in Saudi Arabia
for a second day on May 6.
The civil defence department said
four civilians and a prison security officer were killed by shells fired from
Yemen at the border city of Najran.
The bombing came a day after the
interior ministry said three people
were killed in Najran in cross-border
mortar and rocket attacks by the
Huthis.
It was their first attack on a Saudi
city during the conflict.
Fighting along the frontier has
killed 12 soldiers and border guards in
recent weeks.
Official media said separately that
a missile killed a husband and wife
in the Jazan border region, without
specifying its origin.
On April 21, Riyadh declared nearly
a month of air strikes a success and
said threats to Saudi Arabias security and that of neighbouring countries had been removed by destroying
heavy weaponry and ballistic missiles
seized by the rebels.
The coalition said it was entering
a new phase, but air strikes continued
and fighting between pro- and antigovernment loyalists has been uninterrupted on the ground. AFP

BURUNDI President Pierre Nkurunziza was facing growing pressure yesterday over days of deadly
protests triggered by his bid for a
third term in power, with the UN
voicing concern and the opposition
demanding the presidential poll be
delayed.
The head of the UNs refugee
agency, Antonio Guterres, said he
was extremely worried by the exodus sparked by the crisis.
Tens of thousands have fled the
small central African nation.
While the government and opposition held talks, protesters defied calls to end demonstrations
after more than a week of street
battles, in which over a dozen people have been killed.
Mr Nkurunziza, a former rebel
leader from the Hutu majority who
has been in power since 2005, has
come under intense international
pressure to withdraw from the June
26 election.
This is a last chance. They have
to come up with concrete solutions
so that elections can be held in acceptable conditions, a diplomat
said of the talks, warning international funding for the polls could be
cut if a deal was not struck.
But the main opposition leader
Agathon Rwasa said the crisis had
already gone too far, demanding
a delay because the credibility of
the electoral process is already in
doubt and calling for the ruling
partys youth wing, a powerful militia called the Imbonerakure, to be
disarmed.
He also criticised the police, who
have fired live rounds at protesters.
On May 6, the police arrested a
leading activist, Audifax Ndabitoreye, for insurrection, an AFP journalist witnessed.
The arrest of the dual Burundi and Dutch national, who has
played a key role in the demonstrations, came a day after he called for
further protests.
East African foreign ministers,
from neighbouring Rwanda and
Tanzania as well as Kenya and
Uganda, met in the capital Bujumbura on May 6, where at least 16
people were wounded in further
clashes, according to the Red Cross.
Regional leaders will hold a crisis meeting on May 13 in Tanzania,
the ministers said.
The government and opposition also held talks, after furious
protesters rejected a constitutional
court ruling allowing Mr Nkurunziza to stand again.
The courts vice-president fled
the country after refusing to sign
the judgement.

US Secretary of State John Kerry

said on May 4 he was deeply concerned about Mr Nkurunzizas decision to run again, which he said
flies directly in the face of the constitution.
Burundis foreign ministry declared that peace and security
reigned across the country, apart
from a few districts of the capital
... shaken by illegal demonstrations
and violence triggered by certain
political opponents.
Vice President Prosper Bazombanza pleaded for the protests to
end, offering to release demonstrators who had been arrested, lift arrest warrants issued for key activists and reopen independent radio
stations provided protests and
the insurrection stop.
Burundi, where a 13-year civil
war between Tutsis and Hutus
ended in 2006, has been rocked
by violent protests since the ruling
CNDD-FDD nominated Mr Nkurunziza to stand for a third term.

35,000
Number of people who have fled to
neighbouring countries to escape
violence in Burundi

Critics say his candidacy violates

the constitution and the Arusha accords that ended the civil war.
Mr Nkurunzizas supporters
counter that he is eligible to stand
again since his first term in office
followed his election by parliament
not directly by the people, as required by the current constitution.
Over 35,000 Burundians have
already fled to neighbouring nations, mainly to Rwanda.
Expressing concern at the situation, UNHCR chief Mr Guterres
said, We thought Burundian refugees were something we would
never have to discuss again, unfortunately we are back to having a
significant outflow of Burundians.
It must stop. We have enough
crises in the world, Mr Guterres
said in Kenya.
Rwanda has warned Burundi
it must protect civilians and said
it has received reports linking the
violence to ethnic Hutu rebels from
the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), who fled
Rwanda into Democratic Republic
of Congo after the 1994 Rwandan
genocide of mainly Tutsis. AFP

OTTAWA

Widespread anger as Canada passes tough new anti-terror laws

A BITTERLY opposed anti-terror law
has been passed by Canadian lawmakers, dramatically expanding the
powers and reach of the countrys
spy agency and allowing it to operate
overseas for the first time.
The move came in response to the
first terror attacks on Canadian soil
last October, when a gunman killed a
ceremonial guard and stormed parliament, and a soldier was run over in
rural Quebec.
A large number of critics, including
celebrated author Margaret Atwood,
have vehemently decried bill C-51 as
an unprecedented assault on civil
rights, saying it lacks oversight and is
overly broad.
It criminalises the promotion of
terrorism, makes it easier for police

to arrest and detain individuals without charge, and expands the mandate
of the Canadian Security Intelligence
Service (CSIS), from intelligence-collection to actively thwarting terror
plots and spying outside Canada.
Ottawa said the new measures are
also needed to stem a tide of young
Canadian men and women travelling
abroad to join the Islamic State extremist group.
At least six Canadians have died
over the last two years fighting alongside extremists in Syria and Iraq.
Prime Minister Stephen Harpers
Tory majority in the House of Commons assured its passage, in a 183 to
96 vote, after several failed opposition
attempts to water it down.
It will now likely be granted royal

assent in June. However, widespread

anger over the changes may linger to
harm the Conservatives re-election
hopes in the fall.
A recent Forum Research poll
showed more than half of Canadians
are opposed to the enhanced national
security measures, while only onethird endorse them.
The act marks the biggest overhaul
of Canadas anti-terrorism legislation since 2001, when Ottawa rushed
through new national security measures following attacks in the United
States.
Mr Harpers government held the
measure up as necessary to better uncover and rout terrorist plots.
We need to make sure that the jihadi international terrorists who are

threatening us are prevented from acting by filling the gap of our information sharing, Public Safety Minister
Stephen Blaney said in parliament.
But opposition to the bill has been
enormous, and fierce.
Four former prime ministers and
top judges have led the criticism,
joined by aboriginal chiefs and environmentalists who fear being targeted
by police in the crackdown.
As part of its new mandate, CSIS
could intercept financial transactions,
prevent a suspect from boarding a
plane, intercept weapons or conduct
online counter-messaging, for example by hacking a Twitter account used
to recruit jihadists.
The government insists the new
measures target terrorists and not

law-abiding citizens.
But the opposition New Democratic Party said the law is vague, dangerous and wont make Canadians safer.
Thousands of Canadians took to
the streets to protest this bill which
will erode our rights and freedoms,
NDP MP Randall Garrison said.
These people dont want fear to
triumph over the values that guide our
democracy.
Canadas Privacy Commissioner
Daniel Therrien also declared the
scope of the new powers excessive
and the safeguards it lays out against
privacy breaches seriously deficient.
All Canadians would be caught in
this web, he warned.
Ms Atwood tweeted, See you in
the slammer, kids. AFP

World 19

www.mmtimes.com
JAKARTA

PHNOM PENH

Death row appeal delayed

AN Indonesian court yesterday postponed the start of an appeal by a
Frenchman on death row to next week,
indicating the countrys slow-moving
justice system could delay his execution for some time yet.
Serge Atlaoui, 51, had been due to
face the firing squad with seven other
foreign drug convicts last week but was
removed from the list after authorities
agreed to let an outstanding legal appeal run its course.
It was due to start at the Jakarta
State Administrative Court yesterday,
however judge Ujang Abdullah adjourned the case for a week after Mr Atlaouis lawyer failed to attend because
she was ill.
In the appeal, Mr Atlaoui, a welder,
is challenging President Joko Widodos
decision to reject his request for clemency, claiming the Indonesian leader
did not properly consider his case.
A plea for presidential clemency
is typically a death row convicts final
chance to avoid the firing squad.
The latest legal bid is widely expected to fail an appeal filed in the same
court by two Australian traffickers was
rejected, and the pair were among
those put to death last week.
However the Australians appeal
took weeks to resolve due to repeated
delays.
Following yesterdays adjournment,
a French diplomatic source said, The
Indonesian legal process is following
its usual course and that could take
some time.
France stepped up pressure on Indonesia in recent weeks to abandon
plans to put Mr Atlaoui to death, with
President Francois Hollande warning

Serge Atlaoui turns to his lawyer

Nancy Yuliana at Tangerang court
outside Jakarta on April 1. Photo: AFP

of consequences if the execution goes

ahead.
Mr Atlaoui was arrested in a 2005
raid on a secret drug laboratory outside
Jakarta. He has maintained his innocence, claiming that he was installing
machinery in what he thought was an
acrylics plant.
However, police say he was a chemist in the drugs factory.
Indonesias execution last week of
seven foreign drug convicts two from
Australia, one from Brazil, and four Nigerians sparked a firestorm of international anger, with Canberra recalling
its ambassador from Jakarta.
British grandmother Lindsay Sandiford, 58, is also on death row in Indonesia and said last week she feared
her execution could be imminent and
had started writing goodbye letters to
family.
Mr Widodo has insisted he will not
change course on the death penalty, as
Indonesia faces an emergency due to
rising narcotics use. AFP

CPP seeks to clamp

down on insults
THE Cambodian Peoples Party
has instructed its provincial officials to monitor opposition leaders on trips to the provinces and
report any insults or attacks
against the ruling party.
The CPP Central Committee
directive, signed by party secretary-general Say Chhum, makes
particular mention of Cambodia
National Rescue Party deputy
president Kem Sokha, whom
Prime Minister Hun Sen has repeatedly accused of undermining
the current detente between the
parties, dubbed the culture of
dialogue.
The document instructs all CPP
provincial and city party committee heads to follow up, listen and
note clearly any insult or attack
against the CPP or its leaders by
CNRP leaders and then make a
report to the Central Committee.
Giving examples of what to listen out for, it lists: such words as
yuon head, Khmer body, communist dictators, yuon puppets, national betrayers, nation sellers,
thief chiefs and other insulting
language.
Yuon, while a commonly used
word for Vietnamese, is considered offensive by some.
In recent months, Mr Hun Sen
has frequently censured Mr Sokha

for insulting the CPP. At the same

time, however, he has championed the culture of dialogue,
and forged closer ties with CNRP
president Sam Rainsy, which some
observers have suggested may be
a strategy to divide the opposition
leaders.

CPP unacceptable
insult list
Yuon* head, Khmer
body
Communist dictators
Yuon puppets
National betrayers
Nation sellers
Thief chiefs
* Yuon, a commonly used
word for Vietnamese, is
considered offensive by
some.

On May 5 a day after ordering

Mr Say Chhum to lead an investigation into opposition members
who routinely insult the ruling

party the PM leaked a text message exchange with Mr Rainsy in

which he warned him to stop Mr
Sokhas criticism.
Speaking in Pursat last week,
Mr Hun Sen said, In the culture
of dialogue we must respect each
other, be honest with each other,
not insult each other, not threaten
each other and also give value to
each other.
Responding yesterday, CNRP
spokesperson Yem Ponharith affirmed his partys right to constructively criticise the ruling
party, saying there was a distinction between criticism to resolve
problems and attacks.
His Excellency Kem Sokha
and His Excellency Sam Rainsy
have never used insulting words
to anyone, he said.
Kampong Cham Governor
Lun Lim Thai, the president of
the CPP in the province, on May
6 confirmed receiving orders to
monitor CNRP leaders but noted
recent positive relations between
the parties had made strong insults rare.
We do not have the intention
to bother them; we just listen to
them and report to the leaders,
he said. We accept the criticism
if it means improving what is
wrong. Phnom Penh Post

20 World

THE MYANMAR TIMES May 8, 2015

KATHMANDU

One in five
quake homes
must be razed
AS she stares forlornly at the teetering wreck she still calls home, Sobha
Shakya knows it will soon be reduced
to rubble by bulldozers poised to obliterate thousands more buildings in Nepals devastated capital.
The mammoth April 25 earthquake
that killed upward of 7600 people reduced large areas of Kathmandu to
ruins, flattening hundreds of houses as well as several centuries-old
monuments.
But nearly two weeks on from the
disaster, surveyors warn as many as
one-fifth of all homes are no longer
habitable and will have to be razed to
the ground by bulldozers or wrecking
balls in coming weeks.
As Ms Shakyas poorly constructed
and top-heavy house started to crumble in downtown Kathmandu on April
25, she and her neighbours grabbed
what they could and set up a makeshift camp in a nearby courtyard.
These houses could collapse in a
second if there is another earthquake.
Its scary, she said as she stared at
a row of empty houses on her street
propped up by wooden planks and
metal pipes.
The neighbourhood consists of
buildings dating back around a century, all of which have expanded

vertically to accommodate growing

families.
Large parts of Kathmandu were
also left in ruins by an earthquake in
1934 which killed more than 10,000
and seismologists have long voiced
warnings that another disaster could
be around the corner.
But builders who have added the
extra floors in the decades since have
routinely turned a blind eye to planning regulations and invariably used
cheap cement and other sub-standard
materials.
Our grandfathers didnt think
much while building these, said Ms
Shakya, who had been living on the
third storey of a four-storey house
along with her shopkeeper husband,
two sons and a daughter.
An initial survey this week of more
than 15,000 buildings conducted by
2400 volunteer engineers, sporting yellow hard hats and fluorescent orange
safety vests concluded that one-fifth
were damaged beyond repair.
About 20 percent of homes and
other buildings were totally damaged.
Not collapsed completely but beyond
repair due to weakened structure and
foundations, Dhruba Thapa, president of the Nepal Engineers Association, which is heading the surveys,

A Nepalese earthquake survivor walks past a destroyed house in Chautara, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) from Kathmandu
in the central Sindhupalchok district of Nepal on April 30. Photo: AFP

said.
Mr Thapa said that it made no
sense to try and shore up buildings
which were at high risk of collapse.
It will cost billions and billions of
rupees, because you see houses have
walls and roofs caving in and whole
structures have twisted and turned,
he said.
In these cases, one will have to
start afresh. Knock them [down] and
build all over again, he said. Its going to be a lot of work. A lot.
Mr Thapa added that 30 pc of the
buildings surveyed needed repairs before they could be deemed safe and
inhabitable and that half of those
inspected were completely safe.

As well as the thousands of homes,

other buildings in need of repairs include hospitals, offices, hotels and
schools.
At Kathmandus Campion School,
the 7.8-magnitude quake knocked
books off the shelves, leaving them
strewn across the library floor in
scattered piles with shattered glass. A
web of cracks also runs down walls.
Luckily the earthquake happened
when no one was here. But I have to
get everything fixed before they come
back next week, else these cracks can
have a psychological effect on the
kids, said school principal Roshan
Bhandari as volunteers chipped away
at walls.

If they see cracks, broken walls

everyday, it will slowly become like a
scar in their minds.
While Mr Thapa said the destruction was less than he had expected, he
warned the government must rebuild
the city 100 percent perfectly now or
else another quake could leave even
more devastation.
The government cannot afford to
take any chances from now onward,
Mr Thapa said.
Impoverished Nepals government
has set aside 20 billion rupees (around
US$196 million) for a reconstruction
and rehabilitation fund, and has asked
for large-scale financial help from the
international community. AFP

World 21

www.mmtimes.com
DAECHEONG

South Korea vows to tighten the net

on illegal Chinese fishing vessels
SOUTH Korean fishermen who work
the flashpoint maritime border with
North Korea tend to be a resilient
bunch, but these days a larger, more
powerful neighbour is making them
lose sleep.
North Korea is nothing compared to the Chinese fishing ships,
said Choi Won-Jin, who has fished
the crab-rich waters around his home
island of Daecheong for decades.
Daecheong is one of five frontline islands whose proximity to the
disputed border with North Korea
means they are manned by thousands
of South Korean soldiers and bristling with artillery units and bomb
shelters.
But all that weaponry has failed
to guard against what Mr Choi sees
as the biggest threat to the livelihood
of the islands fishing communities
the invasion of Chinese trawlers.
According to official estimates,
more than 1000 Chinese fishing ships
illegally accessed exclusive South Korean waters around Daecheong last
year, with only four coastguard ships
on hand to pose a deterrent.
The numbers have been growing
every year as Chinas increasing affluence and appetite for seafood pushes
more fishermen to venture beyond its
overfished waters.
Smaller wooden Chinese ships
sneaking into South Korean waters
were once tolerated in an area where
the top priority has always been
guarding against potential incursions
from North Korea.
But in recent years, the small

This is one of the

biggest crises Ive
even seen on this
island.
Kim Neung-Ho
Fisherman

boats have given way to larger steel

trawlers who engage in bottom trawling, dragging a large, weighted net
across the sea floor, and sweep up
everything in their path. Mr Choi
said.
By the time they are gone, we
have nothing left. Its all gone, including our fishing pots, he added.
Around 2200 Chinese vessels have
been stopped and fined by South Korea for illegal fishing in the past four
years, and the number of arrested
fishermen jumped from two in 2010
to 66 in 2013.
There were only five arrests in
2014, but coastguard officials said
that was largely due to all resources
being diverted to the lengthy rescue
and recovery operation that followed
the Sewol ferry disaster in April that
year.
Chinese captains are well-organised, said coastguard commando
Lee Kyung-Hak, and frequently
chain their ships together like a
big floating city in the event of a
confrontation.
Crew members often arm themselves with steel pipes and knives,
and have been known to throw burning gas canisters at officers trying to
board their ships.
We are trying our best to drive
them off our territory ... but the sheer
number of them sometimes feels
overwhelming, Mr Lee said.
A recent study estimated that
675,000 tonnes of fisheries products
were illegally taken from South Korean waters in 2012 by China with
a value of around 1.3 trillion won
(US$1.2 billion).
If anything, the situation has
worsened since then, said Lee
Kwang-Nam, head of the Fisheries
Policy Institute in Seoul who authored the 2014 study.
According to Mr Lee, the undermanned coastguard only manages to
seize or arrest less than 1 percent of
Chinese poachers.
Our fisheries resources are relatively well-preserved thanks to strict
regulations ... but may face serious

SYDNEY

Tsunami warning for PNG

Solomons after 7.2 quake
A 7.2-MAGNITUDE earthquake struck
in the Pacific between Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands yesterday,
with hazardous tsunami waves possible
along the coast, seismologists said.
The quake hit at a depth of 22 kilometres (13 miles) some 149 kilometres
southwest of Panguna in PNG and 642
kilometres from the Solomons capital
Honiara, the US Geological Survey said.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center
said no Pacific-wide threat was expected but hazardous waves are possible
within 300 kilometres of the epicentre
along the coasts of the Solomon Islands
and Papua New Guinea.
There is a warning out for a local
tsunami, Geoscience Australia senior
seismologist Jonathan Bathgate said,
but added that no serious damage to
nearby communities was expected.
The coastlines there are sparsely
populated, so we do tend to find that
even if theres a small tsunami, it largely
goes unnoticed.
But there is still a need for the people on Bougainville and the surrounding islands to certainly move away
from the coastline until this threat has
passed.
Chris McKee, from the PNG

Geophysical Observatory in Port Moresby, echoed similar sentiments.

It may have generated a tsunami,
were not certain yet, he said yesterday
afternoon.
We have put out a tsunami warning to the provinces in the area, warning people to be aware.
Were not sure at the moment
whether there has been any damage
but it was a long way off the coast, he
added.
The area around Papua New Guinea
has been rattled by a series of quakes
over the past week, including a 7.4-magnitude tremor on May 5.
A tsunami warning was also issued
on that occasion but was later lifted
without incident. No major damage
was reported.
The region lies on the 4000-kilometre-long Pacific Australia plate, which
forms part of the Ring of Fire, a hotspot for seismic activity due to friction
between tectonic plates.
In 2013, the neighbouring Solomon
Islands were hit by a devastating tsunami after an 8.0-magnitude quake, leaving at least 10 people dead and thousands homeless after buildings were
destroyed. AFP

A South Korean coastguard cutter patrols waters on the northernmost island of Baengnyeong on March 24. Photo: AFP

shortages if this pace keeps up, he

said.
Under growing domestic pressure
to crack down harder on the Chinese
fishing vessels, South Korean officials
have signalled a tougher line with the
start of this years fishing season in
April.
We were greatly outnumbered
and overwhelmed by them last year
... but weve had enough, said Yun
Byoung-Doo, chief of the Incheon
coastguard which guards the Yellow
Sea border islands.
Mr Yun said the coastguard would
use firearms, including handguns
and onboard cannon, more actively
if deemed necessary.
Beijings foreign ministry, when
contacted by AFP, did not directly
comment on Seouls toughened
stance against illegal fishing, but

urged it to enforce the law in a reasonable way, and ensure the safety
and lawful rights and interests of
Chinese fishermen.
China will continue to strengthen the education and guidance for
its fishermen, it said in a statement
faxed to AFP.
Two Chinese fishermen have been
killed in violent clashes with the South
Korean coastguard since 2012, prompting angry protests from Beijing.
Seoul insists the violence is initiated by the Chinese crews and point
to the stabbing death of a South Korean coastguard member in 2011 by a
Chinese fisherman.
South Korean fishing vessels have
not been blameless themselves when
it comes to illegal fishing in waters as
far away as the seas off West Africa.
But the government has moved to

eradicate the practice and South Korea was taken off the US list of countries engaged in illegal, unreported
and unregulated fishing in February,
and then from the EU list last month.
The fishermen of Daecheong island hope the government can be
equally effective in curbing the illegal activities of the Chinese trawler
fleets.
This is one of the biggest crises
Ive ever seen on this island, said
Kim Neung-Ho, whose father and
grandfather also made their living in
the waters off Daecheong.
At this point were not really
counting on them all going away, because thats just impossible, Mr Kim
said.
We just hope that there will be
fewer of them. Just a little fewer, he
said. AFP

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classes for a reasonable
price. If interested, lease
text or call:09-252394112.
Special for Math,
Geometry, Algebra &
Calculus. For Int'l school
(ISY, ISM, YIS & ILBC)
Grade V to XII. If you
want to be outstanding
in Math,Please contact :
Tr.Kaung Myat BE(PE).
Ph:09-731-42020, 092533-70400, Email :
kaungmyatoo251@
gmail.com
lcci Level 1 + 2 & 3,
(Home teaching & old
question prepare for
exam) Ph: 09-421134427.
phySicS Tutor needed
for year 12 international
school student. Ph: 09502- 2834.
engliSh ( home tuition),
speaking,
grammar,
issue. letter, academic
writing. SAT. TOEFL.
IELT.GCE,
IGCSE.
GMAT four skills . local
& international school
English : English for
Japaneses
children
and adult - home tuition
courses are available
now. You can contact to
SayaU Kyi Sin (Mumyint
Thar) Ph:09-4210-67375,
www.kyisinplb.
blogspot.com
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

Expert Services
Thin Thin aung,
USA. Certified Public
Accountant, B.S in
Accounting. Have 15
years of accounting
services in various
industries (healthcare,
Insurance,
retail,
trading, etc.) in America.
Expertise in and provide
following
servfices;
Business formation and
setup for the foreign
companies. Business
consultation (i.e, joint
venture and investment
opportunities). Monthly
and yearly closing
of
the
Company's
books and records in
international Standards)
(IFRS
compliance).
Accounting training for
companies & individuals.
Financial planning and
forecasting for the setup
companies and already
established companies.
Prepare consolidated
financial statements for
the group of companies
to see bigger picture of
their companies financial
status as a whole. Ph:099749-0064.
Tin Tin laTT, Certified
Public
Accountant
Finance Profectional
40 years' expserience
in Government, NGO
& company accountin,
audition & finance,
Audition
(external/
internal),
Financial
management,
NGO
Financial Management
training and on the job
accounting training. Ph:
09-2506-49443, Email :
dorothytintinlatt@gmail.
com. Bldg 221, Rm 2,
Yanshin Rd, Yankin.
We do SerVe interpret
English-ChineseMyanmar for movies,
project datas & files.
Serving translate English
- C h i n e s e - M y a n m a r.
Teacher Mr. William Lin

(Taiwan) YUNAN DIP,

IDCS, BM, TW CIVIL &
IT Top one (Interpreting,
Translating & Teaching
Language
Class)
Yangon. Ph: 09-421147821, 09-79580-7548
Tour guide Service,
If any prospective
tour operator needs
a licensed guide in
English. Please contact
Mr David, 44 st, 3 Flr,
Natchanug , Tamwe. Ph:
09-30199028.
union
MiSSion,
Computer Troubleshoot
ing & Repair, Windows
Os Installation, Anti Virus
& Software Installation,
Office & Internet Cafe
Network
Contracts,
Wireless Networking
Setup,
Router
&
CPE
Configuration,
Server Installation &
Configuration, CCTV
System solutions &
Installation service. Ph:
09- 2527-06 016
WelcoMe to contact us
for serving & translating
your business cases.
(1)Seminar, (2)Training
(3)Projects. Contact ~
Teacher Mr. William Lin
(Taiwan) 09-4211-47821
zcl(y.u.f.l), Translation
Service : Translate from
English to Myanmar,
Myanmar to English. Ph:
09-2506-66325. email
atar1990@gmail.com
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
Int'l Co.,Ltd provides
the following services.
ISO
Implementation
Programme, HR Develop
ment
Programme,
Hospitality
Manage
ment
Programme,
Project Management
Programme, English
Training Programme.
Ph: 09-731-18749, 09732-40764 or email :
zinminpon@gmail.com,
kaungsanthu1994@
gmail.com

For Rent
carS,
(Expert use
only). Mid size wagon.
Now only350.000kyats
per month with deposit
for long term. company
ID required. Call 09 730
33776.

For Sale
air coMpreSSor,
Product type: GA 907.5,
Serial number: ARP
881188, Max. final
pressure (e) .. bar 7.5
Interstage pressure (s)
(e) .. bar, Motor power:
kW....... 90 Max. speed:
..... r/min.... 1500, Year of
manufacture: .... 19 90,

Property

Made by Atalas Copco

Airpower n.v. Wilrijk
Belgium. Ph:09-4217
-44300
red linK Yadnapon
internet, Ph:09-421744300.
eMBaSSy'S Furniture
(second hand) Please
contact Tel: (01)652344, mobile : 09-5033739 Email: tztztz780@
gmail.com

General
g l o M e d
Pharmaceutical Co., Inc.
www.glomedvn.vn

Language
MyanMar Language,
Who want to learn
Myanmar
Language
4 skills are teaching
by Mr. William Lin
(Taiwan, Yunan, UK)
Ph:09421147821
engliSh (home tuition)
speaking, grammar,
issue. letter, academic
writing. SAT. TOEFL.
IELT. GCE, IGCSE.
GMAT
four
skills.
local and international
school. English for
Japaneses children &
adult - home tuition:
courses are avail e
now. you Can contact
to Saya U Kyi Sin
(MUMYIT THAR) Ph:
09-4210-67-375, www.
kyisinplb.blogspot.com
engliSh
for
professional purpose
is the need of principle
of written English.
Writing ought to be
easiest of the four skill
for students of English
as a Second language,
unlike
listening
&
reading, the student is
control with the words.
However writing class
often the opportunity
to see growth. to share
important ideas and
to develop sense of
community. . If you had
tried as much as you
can to follow the lesson
and you will get good
experiences and skill.
Middle school students
can study in a small
class. Spanish is also
inquired. U Thant Zin,
28-3B, Thati Pahtan
St, Tamwe. Ph: 09-5035350, 31021314,.
an
experienced
Chinese
(Mandarin)
teacher here in Yangon,
Myanmar. I have over
6 years teaching in
Singapore. Please do
not hesitate to contact
me for an evaluation.
Im a professional
teacher who will help you
improve your speaking,
reading and writing
skills. I use Singaporean
text books and Chinese
speaking/conversation
books for teaching
speaking, reading and
writing in Mandarin.
Im available MondaySunday with a flexible
schedule. I also teaching
Myanmar language to
all Foreigner. Elizabeth
Bao Shi :09-516-2988,
also SMS.

a TWo MonTh English

specking
classes,
Parents desiring to hire a
tutor or send their children
to teacher's classes
(Tamwe/Downtown) are
requested to contact
soon. Limited learners
only. Ph: 09-301-99028.
learn
french,
Myanmar, English and
Tamil in a month. Limited
seats. Ph: 09-30199028.
iM an experienced
Chinese (Mandarin)
teacher here in Yangon,
over 6 years teaching in
Singapore. Please do
not hesitate to contact
me for an evaluation.
Im a professional
teacher who will help
you improve your
speaking, reading &
writing skills. I use
Singaporean text books
& Chinese speaking/
conversation
books
for teaching speaking,
reading & writing in
Mandarin.
MondaySunday with a flexible
schedule. I also teaching
Myanmar language to
all Foreigner. Ph : 0959-5162988
an ex- engliSh high
school master is tutoring
in English and Myanmar
languages for individuals
or a small group. For
further details, pls
phone: 09-301-99028.

Travel
SMile
panoraMa
Travels & Tours Co., Ltd,
Car rental services. Ph:
09-505-3004, 09-250605665.
JpM Journeys Princess
Myanmar Travel & Tours :
Domestic & Int'l ticketion,
Hotel accommodation
bookings,
Package
tours, Visa on arrival,
Publics buses, trains,
river boats, Off the
beaten track, Individually
tailored incentive tours,
Special event tours,
Expert guides for all
journeys
princess
Myanmar tours. Ph:
09-731-45835, 09-252030997. Email : jpm.
sales3@gmail.com, jpm.
rsvn@gmail.com

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)
arT BaSic, Perspective,
Interior Design, Exterior
Design & Colour Theory.
Learn Art 5 months to be
a professional architect.
Only 2 months for Special
classes. Home tuition
also available. New
Vision Art Gallery and
Center,No 132 lift no: 4
Bagaya Rd, Sanchaung,
Shann Lann Bus top, Ph:
09-2542-57911

Public Notics
phySicS
TuTor
needed for Year 12
International
School
student. Ph: 09- 5022834
coMMuniTy Partners
International, Yangon
office relocated to the
following address- No.
(12/B), Hnin Si Lane,
Parami Road, Chaw
dwin gone, Yankin
Township,
Yangon,
Myanmar. Ph: + 95 1
657909

Sell / Rent
Thingangyun,
Thuwunna.
60'x80'
land. 2 storey house,
corner garden. 3 rooms
with bathroom attached.
4 aircons. 20 Lakhs per
month for rent/13.000
Lakh for sale. Negotiable.
Ph:09-2603-321212
KaMayuT,
Diamond
Condo, Pyay Rd, 1600
sqft, 1MBR, 2BR, 3A/C,
f.f, 4300 Lakhs & 35
lakhs, Call owner: 09518-8320

Housing for Rent

Very nice condo,
Thiri Avenue,Taw Win
St, 9 mile. Mayangone.
1350-sqft, 2MBR, 1BR,
Living room, shrine,
dinning room, kitchen,
Varandah 4th Floor,
Lift,own car park, security
and waste management.
Fully Furnished. only for
Foreigners. one year
basic contract. Ph:095000621, 01-200581.
(1)Bo yar nyunT
St, 2500 Sqft, 1MBR,
2SR, fully furniture USD
3000. (2)Near UNDP
office,1500 Sqft, 1MBR,
2SR, USD 1500 (3)Near
Sedona Hotel, Shwe
Ohn Pin apartment, 1500
sqft, 1MBR, 2SR, USD
1500.(4)8 Mile, Prom
condo, 2500 Sqft, 1MBR,
2SR, fully furniture, USD
4000.(5)Near
China
Embassy, Golden rose
condo, 2500 Sqft, 2MBR,
1SR, fully furniture USD
4000.(6)Chanthargone
Young condo, 2500
Sqft, 1MBR, 2 SR, USD
2500.
(7)University
Avenue Rd, Thakatho
Yeikmon condo, 1250
Sqft, 1MBR, 2 SR, fully
furniture, 2500 USD. Ph
: 09-2527-0 3331
(1) 7 Mile, single house,
2 RC, 2MBR, 1SR, fully
furniture, USD 4500. (2)
8 Mile, single house, 2
RC, 2MBR, 1SR, fully
furniture USD 7000.(3)
Near Russian Embassy,
2 RC, 2MBR, 1SR , fully
furniture USD 15000. Ph:
09-2527-0 3331
Blazon apt - (corner
unit), 3 bed room, 1900
+ sq.ft, Contact owner:
09-520-3220, 557453.
Bahan, Near Holiday
hotel, Po Sein Rd, 2 RC,
3 Room with toilet, 3 AC,
car parking, 2000US$
per month. Ph: 09-250026350, 09-31287827
dagon Tsp, Condo,
near park royal hotel,
1250 sqft, window
side, 1MBR, 1SR,with
balcony, 3AC, Lift, car
parking, T200USD per
month. Ph: 09-250026350, 09-312-87827
(1)TaMWe, East Race
Course St, 48'x73'.
Condo Pent house. 1
MBR, 2SR, wooden
floor. aircons. USD 3500
per month. (2)Bahan,
Golden Valley, 80'x60' , 2
storey building. 3 MBR,4
aircons. USD 2500 per
month. (3)Mayangone,
Maykha Rd, Parami.
0.5 acre land. European
Single storey, 4MBR, Big
lawn, Swimming pool.
Negotiable. Ph:09-260332121.
condoMiniuM
for
Rent, Chan Thar Gone
Yaung Condo at Upper
Pazuntaung
Street,
Tamwe Township. 2
nd floor, Gym, 24-hour
Lift, Security, Car Park,
Generator, Swimming
Pool, 1 Master and 2
Single Bed Rooms, 4
Aircons, 1650 Sq.Feet,
23 Lakhs (negotiable).
Contact : 09-9751-25218

KaMayuT, (1)Thanlwin
Rd. 80'x80'. 2 storey
new house. 6 MBR, 10
Aircons. Lawn. modern
nice house USD 8000 per
month. (2)Inya Rd. 0.25
acre land. Single storey.
3 MBR. aircons. Semi
furnished. USD 6000
per month. Negotiable.
Ph:09-2603-32121
Sanchaung, Bagayar
Rd, Newly decorated
apartment
(Airconditioned, big build in
wardrobe with dressing
table, standard bath room
with water heater, and
exhaust fan in Kitchen)
with good lighting and
ventilation high floor,
clear view to Shwe Dagon
Pagoda at quiet location,
between Bagayar and U
Wisara Rd is available to
rent. Walking distance to
Myay Ni Gone City Mart,
Dagon Centre, $800/
month - Negotiable for
fully furnish : Ph: 09-43067111
(1)3 Bedroom Brand New
Condo, Furnished. Pay
TV, Internet provided, 5
min walk to Kandawgyi
lake and downtown.
USD 2500 per month. No
agent fees. (2)2 Bedroom
Condo. Not furnished. 5
min walk to Sule pagoda
&
Shangrila
Hotel.
USD 1000 per month.
One month agent fees.
Contact: phyuphyu.077@
gmail.com Ph: 09-5032952, 09-730-75900.
ahlone, Strand Condo,
1250 sqft, fully furnished,
1 MBR, 1 common room,
decorated, lift, car park,
3 A/C, river view. Ph :
09-508-1175, Email :
kaungthihaheaven@
gmail.com
Very nice condo,
Thiri Avenue, Taw Win
St, 9 Mile, Mayangone.
1350 sqft, 2 MBR, 1
BR, Living room, shrine,
dinning room,kitchen,
Varandah, 4th Flr, Lift
own car park, security
and waste management.
Fully furnished. Only for
foreigners, one year basic
contract. Please contact :
09-5000621, 01-200581.
MudiTar condo flat,
Fully furnished 2, bed
room, 2.7,lakhs/month.
First to see will lease.
Ph:09 4236 60602.
Email:vtchit@gmail.com
(1)naWaraT Condo,
1200 Sqft, 1MBR,
1BR, f.f, $1500. (2)Kan
Yeik Mon Condo, 1500
Sqft, 2MBR, 1BR, f.f,
$1500.
(3)University
Yeik Mon Condo, 1500
Sqft, 1MBR, 1BR, lift,
$1500. (4) Yadanar Htun
Condo, 1360 Sqft, 2BR,
2AC, Ph, lift, $850. (5)
Classic standard Condo,
2000 Sqft, 2MBR, 1BR,
f.f, $2500. Ph: 09-421072150, 09-7963-02109.
7 Mile (Near - Bank /
Market / Shop) Bungalow
Type, One Bed Room,
Two Beds Room, Fully
furnished, Car Parking
/ Laundry Service /
Cleaning Service are
available.
Weekly,
Monthly, Yearly For 1
Month Rental : 900 USD.
Enquiry (Office Hour 9
am to 5 pm) Contact : 094217-43 770.
Bahan, (1)Shwe gone
daing Rd, new condo,
20'x70', 1MBR, 2SR, ph
line, aircons, good for
both residence & office
USD 1000 per month.
(2)Pent house condo
near Kandawkyi lake.
lake view. 5 bedrooms,
furnished, wooden floor.
aircons. USD7000 Per
month. - 09-9769-05901
KaMayuT,
(1)Pyay
Rd, 70'x75', 2 storey

building. 3MBR, good for

either office, showroom or
shop, ph line, waircons,
US 10000 per month.
(2)University Rd, new
condo, 2000sqft. 1MBR,
2SR. furnished, hot
water system. generator
line. Security system.
USD 3700 per month. (3)
Inya Rd, 50'x50' 2 storey
new house. 1MBR, 2SR.
furnished. car garage. US
4000 per month. Ph: 099769-05901
Mayangone, 7 Mile,
Pyay Rd. t/sp, 0.7 acre
land, nice lake view, big
lawn. 2 storey nice old
house, 3MBR, ph line,
semi furnished, USD
5000 per month. Ph:099769-05901
(1)Bo yar nyunT St,
2500 sqft, 1MBR, 2SR,
fully furniture USD 3000.
(2)Near United Living
Mall, 1500sqft, 1MBR,
2SR, USD 1500 (3)
Shwe Ohn Pin housing,
1500 sqft, 1MBR, 2SR,
no furniture. USD 1500.
(4)8 Mile, Prom condo,
2500sqft, 1MBR, 2SR,
fully furniture, USD
4000. (5)Near China
Embassy, Golden rose
condo, 2500 sqft, 2MBR,
1SR, fully furniture USD
4000.(6)Chanthar Gone
Young condo, 2500 sqft,
1MBR, 2SR, USD 2500.
(7)University Avenue Rd,
Takatho Yeikmon Condo,
1250 Sqft, 1MBR, 2SR,
fully furniture, 2500 USD.
Ph: 09-2527-03331.
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:
09-2523-59355.
Email : office-mm@
uniteammarine.com,
web: www .facebook.
com/officespaceyangon

Housing for Sale

Taunggyi Plots (1)
Regularly-shaped plot
of 0.25 acres @ Yay
Aye Kwin Ward for MMK
9,000 Lakhs ; (2) 0.11
acres @ Yay Aye Kwin
Ward with 2-storey house
and good view for MMK
3,000 Lakhs. Interested
buyers
or
brokers
in Taunggyi, please
email to pdecfinance@
gmail.com or call 09262702844.
eaST dagon, VIP 11
quarter, 40' x 60', Gayan,
550 Lakhs. Negotiable,
Ph: 01-500064, 09-448003146.
(1)Bahan, 483, Ayeyeik
thar
Condo
(2-B),
Ayeyeikthar 2nd St, New
University Ave,, 2000
sqft, 2nd flr, 2MBR,
Kitchen Room, Living
room, Fully decorated,
Tile/ Parquet flooring,
Own
meter,
Own
generator/ Motor, Utilities
fully equipped, Own car
parking. Price 4950
lakhs. (2)Sanchaung,
39, Zayyathukha St, 4th
Flr, 625 sqft, Hall type,
Tile/ Parquet flooring,
450 Lakhs. Tel: 09-5135533, 09-510-3053, 092505-74308.
Taung gyi, Bayar Phyu
Quarter, 50' x 55', 150
lakhs, Negotiable, Ph: 01500064, 09-4480-03146

Want to Hire
expaT
working
in
Yangon looking for
accommodation to share
with other Expats. If you
want to rent a bedroom in
your house or flat please
contact me through my
email at biscay.world@
gmail.com

FREE

THE MYANMAR TIMES MAY 8, 2015

Employment
UN Positins
The UniTed Nations
World Food Programme,
is seeking (1)nutrition
Officer NO-B, Yangon
(Re-advertise) For more
information, please visit
to http://www.themimu.
info/jobs-for-myanmarnationals. Please email
the applications with UN
P-11 to wfpmyanmar.
vacancy@wfp.org COB
19 May 2015.
The UniTed Nations
World Food Programme,
is seeking (1)Field
Monitor Assistant SC4, Mawlamyine. For more
information, please visit
to http://www.themimu.
info/jobs-for-myanmarnationals. Please Email
the applications with UN
P-11 to wfpmyanmar.
vacancy@wfp.org COB
18 May 2015.
The UniTed Nations
World Food Programme,
is seeking (1)Senior
Logistics Assistant GS6, Myitkyina (2) Senior
Logistics Assistant
(Warehouse/Operation)
GS-6, Yangon. For more
information, please visit
to http://www.themimu.
info/jobs-for-myanmarnationals. Please email
the applications with UN
P-11 to wfpmyanmar.
vacancy@wfp.org COB
08 May 2015.

Embassy
eMBASSY of Pakistan,
Yangon intends to sell
out 1 x unit car Toyota
Corolla, 1500cc, model
year 2005, black colour,
to local as well as diplomt/
non-diplomat community
in Yangon, Sealed bids
are invited form all the
interested parties by
15 May in the name of
EMbassy of Pakistan,
A4, Diplomatic quarters
Pyay Road, Dagon
township, Yangon. Car
can be visited between
1000-1300 hrs at the
Embassy location from
6 ~ 10 May 2015.
eMBASSY of Egypt is
seeking an experienced
staff to work as Bearer
at the Ambassador's
Residence. Must be able
to speak English well and
have experience in the
same field. Qualified and
Interested candidates
should submit CV and
copies of testimonials
as soon as possible
to Embassy of Egypt,
No.81
Pyidaungsu
Yeiktha Rd, Dagon
Township or to email:
egyptembassy86@
gmail.com.

Ingo Position
fondAzione Terre des
hommes Italia (Tdh- It)
is seeking Agriculture
Technician
(Based
Myingyan, Mandalay
Region) : Bachelor
degree in Agriculture or
Diploma in Agriculture.
Effective English skill.
Good computer skill.
Sharing the values and
mission of Tdh-It and the
Convention on the Rights
of the Child. Please
submit application with
completed information
about current job and
expected salary incl.
CV, photo, references
by e-mail or by postal
service to Terre des
Hommes Italia Country
Office: Tdh-It Country
Office: 48, Shwe Hinn
Thar St, Hlaing, Yangon.
Tel: 01-654604, E-mail:
hr.tdhit.mya@gmail.
com, Deadline: 22-52015.
(1) field SUperviSor
1 Post : Demoso (Kayah
State) Please send
application letter, CV
and related documents
to
Myanmar
Red
Cross Society (Head
O f f i c e ) Ya z a t i n g a h a
Rd,
Dekkhinathiri,
NayPyi
Taw.
Ormrcshrrecruitment@
gmail.com
www.
m y a n m a r
redcrosssociety.org.
The inT'l Rescue
Committee (IRC) is
seeking Senior Officer
1 post in Kayin State:

Bachelor of Arts or
Science in Social, Public
Health, Humanities or
other related field. 3
years of professional
experience in manage
ment in NGOs. 2
years of GBV, social
work, counseling, or
psychosocial experience
in. Computer literate,
including
Microsoft
Word & Excel. Fluency
in English. Please submit
a Cover letter & CV to the
HR Department by email
at:
WaiMar.Naing@
rescue.org or by delivery
to IRC office Int'l Rescue
Committee (IRC) 33/A,
Natmauk Lane Thwe
(1), Bocho (2) Quarter,
Bahan, Yangon.
MYAnMAr Red Cross
Society is seeking(1)
Livelihoods
Field
Officer 1 post in
Minbya (Rakhine State):
Relevant
University
degree.
2
years
experience in livelihood
field. (2)Medical Doctor
1 post in Sittwe: Myanmar
National.
Medical
degree with Valid license
& official registration. 1
year experience with
other
INGO/
local
NGO in mobile clinic.
Effective command of
English, Good computer
skills. (3)Monitoring
& Evaluation Officer
1 post in Nay Pyi
Taw : Bachelor or
equivalent degree in
public administration,
community
develop
ment, statistics, social
or
development
related
studies.
2
years
experience.
Effective
computer
skills, good knowledge
of information systems
and statistical software
(Access, SPSS, EPI
Info). Effective English
language skill. Red
Cross Volunteers are
preferable. Please send
application letter, CV
and related documents
to:
Myanmar
Red
Cross Society Head
Office
Yazathingaha
Rd,
Dekkhinathiri,
Nay Pyi Taw. Or
mrcshrrecruitment@
gmail.com, Closing date:
12-5-2015.
The SUBSTAnce Abuse
Research Association
(SARA), is looking for
Finance Manager (Full
Time) 1 Post (800US$
to 900US$) based in
Yangon. Masters degree
in Accounting, Business
Administration,
or
related field required.
Experience in successful
financial management of
NGO. Understanding of
rules and regulations
related to Global Fund &
3MDG project funding &
reporting requirements.
Strong working know
ledge of computer
programs & accounting
softwares:
Microsoft
Word, Excel, ACCPAC,
Peachtree, MYOB etc.
Demonstrated skills in
financial oversight of
Humanitarian Projects
in Myanmar. Fluency in
English. Experiences in
the Financial Rules &
Regulations, Procedures
of Global Fund & 3MDG,
is a definite asset.
Please submitted by
email to Ms. Khin Thida
Lwin
sara.hro.ygn@
gmail.com, and cc to
sara.sao.ygn@gmail.
com. The application
must contain a phone
number, email address,
recent passport photo, 2
referees & a statement
of expected salary by the
applicant. Closing date :
18th, May, 2015.
( 1 ) A c c o U n TA n T
(Press) - 1 Post (2)
Store Assistant - 1
Post
(3)Supporting
Officer - 1 Post. Please
send application letter,
CV & related documents
to
Myanmar
Red
Cross Society (Head
Office)
Yazatingaha
Rd,
Dekkhinathiri,
Nay
Pyi
Taw.
Ormrcshrrecruitment@
gmail.com
www.
myanmarredcross
society.org
MYAnMAr red Cross
Society is seeking

Legal Adviser 1 post,

MRCS Head Quarter
Nay Pyi Taw/Yangon :
Bachelor of Laws and/
or an Attorney-at-Law
qualification, involving
a professional degree
related to international
law. 4 - 5 years
experience. Confirmed
skills in the following
fields:
representing
an institution, public
speaking & presentation
skills, legal drafting,
analysis and synthesis,
negotiation & networking.
Fluent in both Myanmar &
English. Good computer
skills. Knowledge &
experience
of
Int'l
Humanitarian Law highly
desirable. Knowledge
of the International Red
Cross and Red Crescent
Movement and of the
latter's organisation,
legal and regulatory
framework and modes of
operation. Please send
application letter, CV,
and related documents
to : Yazathingaha Rd,
Dekhinathiri, Nay PyiTaw.
Or mrcshrrecruitment@
gmail.com
www.
myanmar
redcross
society.org.

Tamwe. www.dvb.no
ClDeadline Application:
Until Candidate Identified
horizon International
Schoolis looking for (1).
Assistant Teacher :
Age 20 ~ 35, University
graduate, Must be
proficient in English,
Comfortable working
with young learners,
2 years experience,
Able to devote oneself
to teaching, Friendly,
enthusiastic and patient.
All candidates should be
good in communication
and interpersonal skills.
Attractive
Salary.
Lunch is provided. An
opportunity to work for
an institution where
students have lots of
outstanding international
achievements. Enhance
ment training. Interested
candidates can come
for between the office
hours. Please bring
CV along with a copy
of credentials to 235,
ShukintharMyoPatt
Rd, Taketa, Yangon.
Ph: 450396, 450397,
9410010,
9410020.
Closingdate : May15th,
2015.

knowledge is essential.
For 1 & 2 : Salary
based on experience.
(3)Site Engineer - M
2 posts : A.GTI/B.
Tech/B.E(Electrical), No
experience require, Must
travel to the project site.
(4)Draft man - M/F 1
post : A.GTI/B.Tech/
B.E(Civil),
Autocad
2D, 3D, M&E drawing,
3 years experience,
Please submit CV,
photo with necessary
documetntst o 153,
G Flr, 50 St, Upper,
Pazundaung. Closing
date : within 2 weeks.
g STAr hoTel is seeking
(1)Driver - M 2 Posts (2)
Waiter - M 10 Posts (3)
Room Attantant - M/F
3 Posts (4)Bell Boy - M
1 Post (5)Cashier - F
3 Post (6)Public Area
Cleaner - M/F 2 Posts (7)
Receptionist - F 3 Post
(8)M&e (Maintainess) - M
1 Post. For new branch
at Thaketa G Star II is
seeking (1)Waiter - M
10 Posts (2)Cashier - F
3 Posts. Please submit
CV with necessary
documents to 20/b, c,
Thukhawati St, West

chATriUM
hoTel
Royal Lake Yangon
Leading Five Star Hotel
in Yangon, Myanmar
with its headquarter in
Bangkok, is now seeking
highly energetic and
motivated candidates for
the following positions:
(1).Duty Manager M/F 1 Post. Interested
candidates should apply
with full CV/Resume
indicating position of
interest, qualifications,
educational background,
employment records and
recent photo not later
than 15.5.2015. Only
short-listed candidates
will be notified by phone
for interview. Email:
h r. c h r y @ c h a t r i u m .
com Ph : 01-544500,
01-544500 HR Dept.
Chatrium Hotel Royal
Lake Yangon No.40,
Natmauk Rd, Tamwe.
Yangon.
YAngon International
School is looking for (1).
IT network Engineer :
Must have a degree in IT
and be able to manage
the local area network,
server functions and
organizations,
user
systems the installation
of all front-end (user) and
back-end (infrastructure)
school-wide technology
systems, peripherals,
apparatus & software.
3 years experiences. (2).
Admissions' Assistant
: Customer service
experience.
Good
command English and
Myanmar. Familiarity
with international schools
will be an advantage.
Qualified and interested
candidates may send
their CV forms to Mr.
James at james@
yismyanmar.com
or
117, Thumingalar Rd,
Thumingalar housing,
Thingangyun, Yangon,
Myanmar.
Ph:
01
578171, 09420163769.
The position is open
until filled.
SKY
JeT
Multi
Construction Co., Ltd
is seeking (1)Project
Engineer - M/F 2 posts
: BE (Electrical), Auto
cad, M& E dratwin, 5 year
experience in Electrical
power projects, Salary
based on experience (2)
Business Development
Engineer - M/F 1 post :
BE (Electrical) or higher,
5 years experience, M&E

Yankin, Yankin. Ph:

09-32109590, 09-32109591. Closing Date :
15 .5 .2015.
we
Are
seeking
Translator : 3 year
experience,
Strong
knowledge of legal
terminology, Positive
working
attitude,
interpersonal
&
communication skills,
Good awareness of
current affairs, cultures
and politics, It is an
advantage to have a
knowledge of and/or
interest in specialist
areas such as law,
politics/government/
public administration,
economics, marketing
and financial affairs.
Interested candidate
please send CV to ppo@
kcyangon.com with Last
drawn, expected salary
& availability period.
greAT golden Glory
Co., Ltd, A Leading
Chemical distribution
company is seeking
for self - motivated and
dedicated staff for the
following positions. (1)
Sales
Coordinator
- M/F 1 post : Any
graduate, Chemistry
or Business related
subjects more preferred,
Age 25 ~ 35 years. (2)
Accouontant - F 1 post
: Graduate in B.Com,
CPA or related subjects,
Age 25 ~ 40 years, (3)
Logistics - M 1 post :
Any graduate, Age 2- ~
35 years, Good driving
skill. (4)Driver - 1 post:
Good communication &
driving skill. All above
positions, except for the
driver, must possess the
following qualifications:
Fluent in written &
spoken English, Good
computer skill, 3 years
experience in related
field. Please submit CV,
photo with necessary
documents to 85 ~ 87, 3
Flr, 32 St, Pabedan. Ph:
387366, 387431. Email
3g@ggglory.com.mm,
3gmyanmar@gmail.
com. Colsing date : 15
May 2015.
Kelvin chiA Yangon
Ltd is a foreign legal
consultancy firm. We
invite motivated and
committed individuals
to join us as
(1)
Lawyers
who
will
work on a variety of
corporate & commercial

Local Positions
we are looking for, (1)
Sale Representative
raw (Male/ Female) 3
Posts - (B.Sc, Science
Graduate).
(2)Sale
Representative PVC
Fitting (Male/ Female) 2
Posts - (B.Sc, Science
Graduate).
(3)Ware
House Staff (Male) 1
Post - (B.Sc, Science
Graduate). For will
establish
company
supplying plastic and
paint raw material and
PVC Fitting & well
communication
skill
in English language.
Please send CV, 2 recent
photos, Photocopies or
labor registration card,
recommendation from
police force, education
certificate & other related
documents to No.10,
Parami Rd, 16 Quarter,
Hlaing, Yangon. Ph:
521002,
521009.
Closing date : 12-6-2015
we
Are
currently
seeking two new dynamic
teachers to work at
"Kings
International
School". We follow the
Early Years Foundation
Stage Curriculum of
England, but are happy
to offer training for a good
candidate. We teach both
Myanmar and Chinese
language alongside our
curriculum with specialist
teachers. Candidates
should show : Graduate
level qualifications and
teaching certificate. A
sound knowledge of
good practice, curriculum
and philosophy. Have a
fun, inspiring manner
with the children. Have
high expectations for
their children in relation
to achievement and
behavior. Be keen to
work hard and become
part of strong team. The
candidate must submit
his/her application or CV
(with attached photo) in
person to The Manager,
Kings Int'l School : 695,
Mahabandoola Rd, Bet:
19th St & Sint Oh Dan St,
Latha. Ph : 01-382213,
395816, or by email to:
zawmyogreenboy@
gmail.com
dvB Multimedia Group
is
seeking
Senior
Accountant : B.Com
or Certified Accountant,
5 years experience in
a similar position/field,
Prior experience with
international accounting
standards,
Familiar
with
computerized
accounting, Preferably
familiar with QuickBook
accounting software,
Good Computer skill
(office application), Good
analytical skill, Excellent
communication
&
networking
(interper
sonal) skills, Preferably
familiar with QuickBook
accounting software,
Preferably
good
command of spoken &
written English. Rm 4,
Bldg 18, Hninn Si Rd,

matters & transactions

in Myanmar. If you are
a Myanmar-qualified
lawyer with strong
English language skills,
you are invited to apply
to join our Myanmar
practice group. Myanmar
nationals admitted to intl
bars are also welcome
to apply. Training will be
provided. (2) Corporate
Affairs
Executive
As a corporate affairs
executive, you will
be
involved
with
business development,
networking,
market
research and liaison
work.
Applicants
should be proficient
in English, energetic
& self-motivated. All
nationalities are welcome
(Myanmar, Japanese,
Korean,
Chinese,
Taiwanese, etc). Please
email application and
curriculum vitae to ppo@
kcyangon.com
gloMed phArMAceU
TicAl Co., INC is
seeking
(1)Sales
Manager - Male 1 post
in Yangon: Excellent
in English. Determines
sales
plans
by
implementing marketing
strategies; analyzing
trends
&
results.
Establishes
sales
objectives by forecasting
and developing annual
sales quotas for regions
and territories; projecting
expected sales volume
for existing & new
products. Willing to go on
business trip in the whole
Myanmar. (2)Medical
Sales Representative
(MSR) : M/F 4 posts
in Yangon, 2 posts in
Mandalay, 1 in each
other State in Myanmar:
Approaching and making
good relationship with
customers. (3)Office
Admin - F1 post in
Yangon
:
English
speaking. Coordinates
administrative activities
& supports the offices
daily operations to
ensure
efficiently
office admin function.
Contacts with the vendor
to carry out indirect
purchasing
process
such as car rental, the
apartment lease, HOTEL
BOOKING, air tickets.
Coordinates logistics
for the expatriate such
as visa/working permit/
residence
permit/
apartment lease agree
ment. Arranges travel
and logistics for internal
parties. Checks all
expenses relate to
travel report and creates
weekly/travel report in
SAP system. Arranges
appointment/meeting
when necessary. Other
miscellaneous duties as
assigned by Superior.
CVs should be sent
by email to : giang.
glomedvn@gmail.com;
C/c to: Congkhanh.
nguyen@glomedvn.
com
H/P: +95 92
5200 2759 Mr. Giang
(English speaking) +959
261 779 889 Mr. Khanh
(English speaking) Add.:
35th str., 1st floor, middle,
Kyauktada,
Yangon.
www.glomedvn.vn
we Are seeking (1)
Production Manager
- M 1 post : Need to
hold a degree of A.G.T.I
(Mechanical), 3 years
experience in related
field, Age 30 ~ 55 years
old, Well knowledge
in modern furniture &
furniture
installation
&
production.
(2)
Marketing Manager
- M/F 1 post : Have
to understand project
sales, retail marketing
& other marketing
tools and technique.
4 years experience in
Decorative Materials
and
Construction
materials industry. (3)
Project Coordinator
(Interior)- M/F 1 post
: Able to set
project
timelines & coordinate
different parties. Well
knowledge in modern
furniture & furniture
installation & production.
3 years experience in
interior scope of work. (4)
Project Manager- M/F 1
post : Have to manage

the projects (Interior

Decoration, Renovation,
and Construction) also
timelines, procurement,
materials and labor.
A.G.T.I (Civil) or B.E
(Civil). 5 years experience
in related field. Well
experience in high-rise
construction, at least 6
storey. Well knowledge
in steel structure, precast building & modern
building
techniques.
Able to set project
timelines & coordinate
different parties. Familiar
with
construction
methods & building
codes.
(5)Assistant
HR Manager - M/F 1
post : Any graduate, 5
year experience, HR
knowledge, Computer
skills & also reporting skill.
Good communication
skills. Self-motivated,
independent thinkers and
willing to work under team
environment.
Please
submit CV, photo with
necessary documents
to HR Department Zware
Group of Companies
(DeArch Co., Ltd, Live
Life Co., Ltd, Builder
Group Co., Ltd, MBIG)
440,
Waizayantar
Rd (at the corner of
Waizayantar Rd & Thit
Sar Rd), South Okkala,
Yangon.
Tel:
951565911, +951-8551294,
+959-73117966 www.
zwaregroup.com
Email: recruitment@
zwaregroup.com
hogo
is
seeking
Technical Marketing/
Sale Marketing, 3~5
Posts in Yangon : Any
Bachelor's degree or
diploma in any field
with good command
in
IT.
Candidates
have excellent using
experience at iPad,
iPhone, Android Smart
phone and Smart TV
will be an advantage.
Minimum
2
years'
experience with sale or
marketing in networking/
CCTV
field.
Any
interested candidates
should submit not later
than 30th April along with
CV and recent passport
photo to HOGO Yangon
Business Consulting
Co., Ltd. No.(71), Ground
Floor, (5th) St, (2) Ward,
Lanmadaw, Yangon.
Email : hogobusiness@
gmail.com
SingAporeAn
Construction Company
in newly, will be starting
project in Myanmar soon
is seeking QS Engineer
1 Post M/F : Minimum
5 years experience in
related fields, Preparing
BoQ, doing bills payment,
Providing local supplier
contacts. Please send
CV to 2014thanda@
gmail.com within two
weeks.
ASiA plAzA hoTel
is seeking (1)Sale &
Marketing Manager
- M/F 1 Post. (2)
Assistant FO manager
- M/F 1 Post. (3)Sales &
Marketing Executive M/F 2 Posts. (4) fo
Supervisor - M/F 2
Posts. (5) F&B Manager
M/F 1 Post. (6)Chief
Accountant - M/F 1
Post. (7) g.S.o (Guest
Service Officer) - M/F 1
Post. (8) hr Assistant
- F 1 Post. Must be
interesting, strive and
in the long term for this
position. Please apply
with CV form, Photo,
Expect salary, Certificate
& other attachement
copy. Asia Plaza Hotel,
Yangon : 277, Corner of

38th & Bogyoke Aung San

Rd, Kyauktada, Yangon.
Ph:391070, 391071.
engliSh TeAcher
in Language School :
Responsible & reliable,
Efficient and resultoriented, At least 3
years in teaching,
Willingness and capacity
to accommodate when
faced with difficult and
frustrating
working
conditions, Able and
willing to travel in
Yangon.
Interested
applicants are to send
their current C.V with
recent photo and fixed a
day for interview. Send to
jatojamie@gmail.com or
call 09-4500-50725.
eXo TrAvel is seeking
(1)Admin Assistant
(Logistics) : Any degree
holder or equivalent
qualifications, Able to
use Microsoft office
programs comfortably.
Relevant
work
experiences would be
advantageous.
Hard
working and team player.
Able to commit overtime
when necessary. (2)
Travel Consultant : 2
years
experience in
tourism related field, Proactive & Team spirit, good
organizational & problem
solving skill, Excellent
interpersonal skills &
communication skills,
Strong sales & customer
service focus, Computer
proficiency : Microsoft
word, Excel, & Outlook,
Good communication in
English/French (Written
& Spoken ). (Only those
with a genuine interest
in joining a professional
travel company for
long-term commitment
need apply.) Interested
candidates are invited
to send a detailed
resume HR Manager at
memecho@exotravel.
com or mail to 147.
Shwegonedaing
St,
West Shwegonedaing,
Bahan, Yangon, Tel: +
95 (0) 1 8604933
zwAre groUp is
seeking (1)Marketing
Manager - M/F 1 post
(2)Project Coordinator
(Interior) - M/F 1 post
(3)Project Coordinator
(Civil Structure) - M/F
2
posts
(4)Admin
Assistant - M/F 2 posts
(5)Civil Engineer - M/F 2
posts (6)Office Secretary
- M/F 1 post (7)Assistant
HR Manager - M/F 1 post
(8)Marketing Assistant
- M/F 3 posts (9)Office
Staff - M/F 2 posts
(10)Senior
Quantity
Surveyor (Head of QS)
- M/F 1 post (11)Project
Coordinator - M/F 1 post
(12)Sales Engineer M/F 1 post (13)Driver
- M 1 post (14)General
Helper - M 1 post (15)
Store Keeper - M/F 2
posts. Please submit CV,
photo with necessary
documents to 440,
Waizayandar St, Corner
of Thitsar Traffic point,
South Okkalarpa. Ph :
01-565911, 01-8551294.
Email:
recruitment@
zwaregroup.com
inT'l Accounting & Law
firm is seeking (1)Junior
Associates, LL. B or LL.
M - F 3 posts. (2)cpAs - F
2 posts. (3) Accountants,
B Com, Level II, Level III - F
3 posts. (4) Receptionist
& Secretary - F 2 post.
For all posts: Ages 22
~ 35, Fluent in English,
Excellent negotiation &
communication skills,
Computer skills. Please
submit CV to alex.
hwang@polaris.com.mm

26 Sport

THE MYANMAR TIMES May 8, 2015

boxing

Pacquiao shoulders
more lawsuits

ALL it the fallout of the

century.
More disgruntled fight
fans are going to court
with their complaints,
suing Filipino ring icon Manny
Pacquiao and others for failing to
disclose a shoulder injury prior to
his Fight of the Century against
Floyd Mayweather.
A class-action suit filed in US
District Court in Illinois not only
names Pacquiao and promoters
Top Rank but also telecasters hBO
and Showtime, who combined to
produce the pay-per-view fight program that was sold in the United
States for about US$100.
The suit also names Mayweather, Mayweather Promotions and
cable television providers AT&T,
COMCAST and DirecTV, and accuses the defendants of deceptive
practices in marketing and advertising the bout.
Defendants, individually and
collectively, deceptively and fraudulently promoted, produced and
sold the fight as one between two
healthy fighters ... expressly misrepresenting the health of Manny
Pacquiao to the Nevada State Athletic Commission, all in an effort to
maximise and collect pay-per-view
revenue, the lawsuit claims.
At least five such class-action
suits have been filed across the

United States, seeking millions of

dollars in compensation on behalf
of those who bought tickets, forked
out pay-per-view fees or bet on the
May 2fight in Las Vegas, which
Mayweather won easily on points.
Pacquiao revealed afterward
that he had been held back by the
shoulder complaint.
It did not take long for the lawsuits to come flooding in.
Two men in Nevada sued on
May 5, saying the promotion violated the states Deceptive Trade
Practices Act.
In a similar suit filed in California, plaintiff howard B Sirota cites
former heavyweight world Champion Mike Tyson as calling the
long-anticipated bout the Dud of
the Century.
Some of the lawsuits point to
the pre-fight medical questionnaire
signed by Pacquiao for Nevada boxing authorities in which he checked
no to the question, have you had
any injury to your shoulders, elbows
or hands that needed evaluation or
examination?
Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz, named as a defendant in some
of the lawsuits, has said he inadvertently ticked the wrong box.
Daniel Petrocelli, an attorney
for Pacquiao and Top Rank, told
The Los Angeles Times that he
was confident the Nevada lawsuit

would be dismissed.
It claims Pacquiao was injured
[immediately] before the bout and
thats not true he was injured
[nearly a month] before the bout,
was examined by doctors and
cleared to fight, Petrocelli said.
And he was examined by the commission right before he fought.
eSPN reported May 4 that Pacquiaos camp expect the fighter to
undergo surgery for a significant
rotator cuff tear.
They say they disclosed the
injury suffered in training camp
when they cleared the use of antiinflammatory drugs with the US
Anti-Doping Agency and that Pacquiao had improved enough to be
cleared by doctors to fight.
Mayweather earned an emphatic, unanimous 12-round decision
over Pacquiao in the feverishly anticipated bout that will go down as
the richest in boxing history and
as one of the most overhyped.
Mayweather walked out of the
MGM Grand Garden Arena with
a check for $100 million just the
first installment of a payday that
could reach $200 million when all
the pay-per-view sales, ticket sales,
closed circuit TV viewings, and other revenue is totted up and shared
out.
Pacquiao is expected to receive
more than $100 million. AFP

FootbAll

Deflategate suggests
Brady may be a let-down
The suggestion that New england Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was aware
of a plot to deflate balls in a vital playoff
game is a hard hit to the reputation of a
US sports icon who bucked the odds to
become a four-time Super Bowl winner.
Tom Terrific was taken by the Patriots in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL
draft with the 199th selection overall.
It was an inauspicious start to what
has become a glittering NFL career
complemented by Bradys off-field rise
as a style icon.
Bradys blond locks and chiselled
chin for years made him the man women want, while his marriage to Brazilian
supermodel Gisele Bundchen only enhanced his status as the man men want
to be.
Until he wed Bundchen, the inevitable first question Brady faced at the
circus of Super Bowl media day was a
marriage proposal.
his cross-over appeal brought such
high-end endorsements as Movado
watches, while his all-American appeal
made him a perfect pitchman for such
wholesome products as Wheaties cereal
and milk.
On May 2, Brady was in the news,
jetting from the Kentucky Derby in Louisville to the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight
in Las Vegas where he sat ringside as
the Patriots teammates who made the
trip with him filled less visible seats at
the Fight of the Century.
Underpinning the glamorous lifestyle is Bradys gritty determination on
the field and a work ethic lauded by
teammates and admired by even the
most old-school NFL fans.
In 2001, he seized his NFL chance,

taking over from injured Patriots starter

Drew Bledsoe and proving himself a
strong leader with a powerful arm.
Brady ended up leading the Patriots
to a Super Bowl title that season, a triumph that was followed by victories in
the NFLs championship spectacular after the 2003 and 2004 campaigns.
hes the only starting quarterback
with six Super Bowl appearances, cementing his claim to greatness by guiding the Patriots to victory over the Seattle Seahawks in Februarys Super Bowl
in Phoenix.
Brady holds the records for most
post-season passing yards and most
post-season passing touchdowns.
That sporting legacy wont be undone by the report that found he was at
least generally aware of the inappropriate activities of Patriots equipment personnel, who it was more probable than
not had conspired to tamper with the
air pressure of New england game balls.
Attorney Ted Wells, who led the investigation of Deflategate, acknowledged there was no smoking gun.
But his reports description of Bradys
failure to surrender potentially incriminating evidence was another black mark
on a formerly squeaky clean reputation.
The report immediately sparked recollections of Bradys awkward press conference in January, three days after the
scandal broke, in which the normally
suave speaker insisted he would never
break the rules.
Now his legion of fans are left to
wonder. Brady will still go down as one
of the greats of the NFL, but his legacy
wont be complete without a reference
to Deflategate. AFP

FootbAll

La Liga to shut down over

television rights row
The race for Spains La Liga title faces
a chaotic conclusion after the countrys football federation said May 6 it
would cancel all domestic matches in
a row over TV rights.
The proposed shutdown called
by the Spanish Football Federation
(RFeF) will first affect the penultimate
round of fixtures due to take place on
May 17.
The RFeF said in a statement
it will suspend competitions of
all categories starting from May 16
indefinitely.
At the same time, once more we
reiterate the RFeF is open to dialogue
with the Spanish government.
If there is no resolution to the
dispute, the key May 17 title clash between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid
would fall victim to the stoppage as
would the concluding weekend.
The Spanish Cup final, set for May
30 between Barcelona and Athletic
Bilbao, would also not take place.
The new TV deal signed into law on
April 30 by the Spanish government
was seen as a means of helping loosen
the financial stranglehold of Barcelona and Real Madrid, the two giants of
the Spanish game.
Under the new government plan,
announced last week, the tradition of
clubs being allowed to negotiate their
own TV deals would end.
Instead, the rights would be auctioned just as they are in englands
lucrative Premier League.
The RFeF said it was unhappy over
the partition of the money as well as
the reduction of revenue from betting
streams.
The federation added that it denounced the continued interference
of government bodies in football.
Sports minister Jose Ignacio Wert
said the new deal meant a fairer distribution of finances around the league

AmericAn FootbAll

including clubs who struggle in the

shadows of Real and Barcelona, two of
the richest clubs in the world.
Wert said that the Premier League
in england generated 1.8 billion euros
(US$2.04 billion) in 2013-2014 from
TV deals compared to 800 million in
Spain.
La Liga chiefs were hoping to claim
1 billion euros in the new system.
The english Premier Leagues last
TV deal was believed to have generated an astronomical 6.9 billion euros
for the 2016-2019 seasons.
The RFeF accused the government
of having a disrespectful attitude toward them.
Our proposals, if they had been
listened to, would have brought benefits and improvements to Spanish
football.
In exchange for our co-operation
and selfless help, certain basic rights
have been expropriated, including
the right to broadcasting, added the
RFeF statement.
In another twist earlier this week,
the AFe players union threatened
strike action in protest at being excluded from the negotiations.
Argentine superstar Lionel Messi
had even added his voice to supporting industrial action.
The AFe have met with us. The
players are with them in what they
say, said Messi.
Meanwhile, the legitimacy of the
RFeF decision was questioned by the
Spanish Professional Football League
(LFP) who considered the suspension
of matches to be null and void.
The decision of the RFeF is null
and void ... because the Sports Act and
the existing Coordination Agreement
give authority to the LFP to organise
professional competitions and the
sporting calendar, said the LFP in a
statement. AFP

Indonesian government defiant

after FIFA suspension threat

Members of the PSSI board celebrate after their recent election victory. Photo: AFP

The Indonesian government insisted

May 6 it would stick by a decision
to freeze all activities of the national
football association despite a threat
from FIFA to suspend the country
from international competition.
The sports ministry said it was only
trying to make improvements and may
dispatch a team to lobby FIFA president Sepp Blatter, after the governing
body threatened to ban Indonesia unless it revoked its decision.
The FIFA warning was the latest
twist in a row that erupted in April
when the association, the PSSI, halted
the countrys top-flight league due to a
disagreement with the sports ministry
over the participation of two clubs.
The ministry then froze all activities of the PSSI, and said it was setting up a transitional body as a step
towards replacing the association.
FIFA has backed the PSSI, which
insists it remains in charge of football
in Indonesia and that the government
has no authority on the matter.
It is just the latest crisis to hit Indonesian football, which has for years
been beset by infighting and corruption. It was only just recovering
from a feud between the PSSI and a

breakaway association, which led to

the creation of two separate leagues.
In a letter this week, FIFA secretary
general Jerome Valcke said that Jakarta had to revoke its decision to freeze
the activities of the PSSI by May 29.
Valcke said the government had
violated FIFA rules that stipulated that
all football associations have to manage their affairs independently, without influence from third parties.
If it refused to do, we will have
no other option but to refer this matter to the appropriate FIFA body for
an immediate suspension, said the
letter, which was widely cited in local media.
Sports ministry spokesperson Gatot Dewa Broto told reporters that the
government was very anxious and
very serious in overcoming this problem and conceded a ban would mean
Indonesia missing out on playing in
competitions such as the Southeast
Asian Games and the Asian Cup.
however he added that the effort to
oust the PSSI was an attempt to improve the domestic game.
This is part of making improvements. Just because the government
has been threatened by FIFA, it does

not want improvements which have

been on the right track to slide backwards, he told reporters in Jakarta.
he added the government would
send a reply to FIFAs letter in the coming days setting out their position, and
if that failed to change the governing
bodys view, Indonesian officials would
travel to Switzerland, where FIFA is
headquartered, to meet Blatter.
The PSSI confirmed that the association had received the FIFA letter on
May 4.
The row has caused anger among
supporters in Indonesia, where football is wildly popular, with hundreds
of fans staging a protest outside the
presidential palace on May 5 demanding President Joko Widodo intervene.
Despite the suspension, PSSI
sought to restart the top-flight league,
the Indonesian Super League, at the
end of April but failed to do so after
the police refused to issue match permits.
During the earlier row between
PSSI and a rival association, FIFA also
threatened to ban Indonesia from international football, but the two sides
eventually resolved their differences
and avoided sanctions. AFP

Sport
28 THE MYANMAR TIMES May 8, 2015

SPORT EDITOR: Matt Roebuck | matt.d.roebuck@gmail.com

Spanish football on the

brink of suspension

bOxing

SPORT 26

Mayweather vs Pacquaio:
Bargain of the Century
MATT ROebuck
matt.d.roebuck@gmail.com

OME were said to

have paid upward of
US$400,000 to watch the
Fight of the Century between Floyd Mayweather
and Manny Pacquaio. But fight fans
in Myanmar dont think its worth 40
cents.
On a street corner in downtown
Yangon, K400 will buy you a knockoff dVd of the fight that was aired
live here on Skynet Sports, a subscription channel, at about 10am on
May 3.
Tickets are going for between
$8000 and $400,000 to $500,000,
Mayweather told the audience at a
pre-fight media event, You know,
we call this the billionaire boys
club.
But for all the pre-fight hype, Mayweathers counter-punching style did
not impress in Yangon.
We had the dVds the next day
[May 4] but Ive only sold six, said
one street vendor on May 6, who
asked not to be identified due to the
nature of his business.
Myanmar people are not interested in watching Mayweather run
around, theyre more interested in
fighting, he said, adding, They prefer Myanmar traditional boxing.
Myanmar traditional boxing (lethwei) is a form of gloveless kickboxing
that can only be won by knockout
and allows the use of limbs, knees,
elbows and head-butts to take down
an opponent.
Flick through the rack and behind
the Mayweather-Pacquiao dVd you
find another, more appealing, buy for
the local audience the mixed martial arts contests of aung La nsang,
born in Myitkyina, Kachin State, but
now fighting out of Maryland in the
United States. Additional reporting
by Kyaw Zin Hlaing

The Mayweather-Pacquiao fight can be bought for as little as K400 in downtown Yangon. Photo: Thiri Lu

AThleTicS

Uganda runners
hit by HIV scare
Ugandan runners have been hit by
a major health scare after it emerged
that a coach accused of sexually abusing
young athletes was infected with HIV.
There are fears the virus, which can
lead to aIdS, may have been spread further among other runners due to relationships among the athletes, and one of
the east african nations top sportsmen
is calling for widespread testing.
Many of our colleagues must be
infected, Commonwealth gold medallist Moses Kipsiro was quoted as saying
by the Daily Monitor newspaper. god
should have mercy on us.
Uganda, an emerging athletics power that has been trying to take on traditional regional rivals Kenya and Ethiopia, was hit by an athletics sex abuse
scandal nearly a year ago.
It broke after 28-year-old Kipsiro
relayed complaints from his female
teammates against a national coach Peter Wemali, who is alleged to have told
some of the female runners to have sex
with him in order to perform better.
Wemali has since been charged with
sexual abuse, and last week Ugandan
media said court documents had revealed he was also HIV-positive.
I know of many senior male runners who have unknowingly shared girlfriends with Mr Wemali. Some are even
married to runners that once had affairs
with him, Kipsiro said.
The Daily Monitor said three underage female runners are also feared
to have been infected by the coach,
while three other runners have filed
complaints with the police and will be
undergoing tests this week.
The numbers [of infected] could be
very high. Its very worrying, Tunde Musawo, a sports officer from Kapchorwa
district where the training camp abuse
allegedly took place, also told the paper.
Kipsiro said widespread testing was
now necessary.
I am going to mobilise the elders to
meet with all athletes and ask them to
test for HIV. Its then that we will know
the extent of the problem and see how
to help the infected ones, he said.
Last month Kipsiro, who regularly
trains with Britains Mo Farah, says he
may have to flee the east african country after receiving threats stemming
from his decision to speak out.. AFP

wEEKEND
THE MYANMAR TIMES ISSUE 08 I MAY 8-14, 2015

The green issue

Exploring Earth-friendly alternatives

from ecotourism to organic eats

contents

WWW.MMTIMES.COM

FEATURE

ot
h
ps
To

Beauticians apply facial

care to women as they
lie on beds in a stadium
in Jinan, east Chinas
Shandong province, on
May 4. A total of 1000
beauticians applied facial
care to 1000 women at
the same time in the open
air to break a Guinness
World Record, local media
reported.
Photo: AFP/ CHINA
OUT

12-13

Shady business
A few individuals and
local NGOs are doing
what little they can
to sow the seeds of
renewal following
deforestation
FEATURE

14-15

Ecotourism takes root

in southern Rakhine
Local organisations
are now hoping to
attract visitors of a
different kind to Gwa:
ecotourists
TRAVEL

16-17

The secret oases of

Rio de Janeiro
In Rio, solitary forest
hikes and lonesome
beaches are never
far away

4
6
8
9
10
11
18
19
20
25
26

Myanmar Consolidated Media Ltd.

www.mmtimes.com

arts & entertainment

Chinas next big export: state-sponsored ecocide
FOOD & DRINK
Local, fair-trade coffee in Yangon? Thats Genius

Head Office: 379/383 Bo Aung Kyaw Street,

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FAMILY
Which books deal with conservation issues for children?
HOME & GARDEN
Eco-friendly furniture keeps homes green
TRAVELSCHEDULES
Domestic and international flight times
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Chronicles of Bei Ka Street
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Comics, crosswords and predictions
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Fabulous photos from the biggest bashes around town
whaTSON
Your weekly guide to events in Yangon

Chief Executive Officer

Tony Child
tonychild.mcm@gmail.com
Editorial Director U Thiha Saw
editorial.director.mcm@gmail.com
Deputy Chief Operating Officer Tin Moe Aung
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WEEKEND
Editor-at-Large Douglas Long
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Editor Special Publications Wade Guyitt
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may not be reproduced in whole or in part
without the written consent of the Managing
Director of Myanmar Consolidated Media Ltd.

THE MYANMAR TIMES ISSUE 08 I MAY 8 - 14, 2015

wEEKEND | ARTS&entertainment
BOOK REVIEW

Chinas next big export:

state-sponsored ecocide

Michael Buckleys Meltdown in Tibet details Chinas reckless

destruction of ecosystems from the highlands of Tibet to the
deltas of Asia
BY DOUGLAS LONG

N September 2011, President U Thein

Sein ordered the suspension of the
Myitsone Dam in Kachin State for the
duration of his term in office, which ends later
this year.
The announcement came in the midst
of an ongoing campaign supported by
environmental and civil society groups that
focused on the image of the Ayeyarwady as
the cultural lifeblood of Myanmar, and that
highlighted worries that the dam would
destroy downstream fisheries, rice production
and livelihoods.
The 6000-megawatt Myitsone project,
which would supply electricity to China while
displacing about 20,000 people in Kachin,
is only part of a series of seven dams on the
upper reaches of the Ayeyarwady planned
by the Chinas state-owned Chinese Power
Investment Corporation.
The Chinese company has made clear its

desire to resume the Myitsone project, but

many locals and civil society groups want it
cancelled altogether. The issue promises to
re-emerge as a major conflict following the
end of U Thein Seins tenure as president.
Whatever the outcome, Myanmar will
remain at the mercy of Chinas insatiable
greed for energy, warns Canadian author
Michael Buckley in his 2014 book Meltdown
in Tibet.
This is due to the negative environmental
fallout from rampant dam-building and
mining projects in Tibet, which will affect
the 2 billion people in China, Vietnam,
Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar
Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Bhutan and
Pakistan who rely on the 10 major rivers
that originate on the Tibetan plateau for
drinking, agriculture, fishing and industry.
Among these rivers are Myanmars
Thanlwin (Salween) and Ayeyarwady.
Buckley first visited Tibet in the 1980s as
a guidebook writer, and the environmental
degradation he witnessed over time prompted

him to produce the 40-minute documentary

film Meltdown in Tibet (2009), and last year a
book of the same name.
The author describes what is happening in
Tibet as ecocide and contends that China is
destroying Tibet on all fronts.
The wildlife in Tibet was one of the first
casualties of the Chinese occupation. Another
casualty was clear-cutting the forests, he
says.
Meanwhile, Tibets glaciers are melting
fast, and China is aggravating the situation
with massive dam-building and mining
projects. Buckleys book supplies numerous
statistics for a litany of hydro megaprojects
in China that have already started affecting
countries downriver, as well as for projects
in the planning stages that will magnify the
devastation.
What appears to be just a Tibetan Plateau
problem or a Chinese problem is going to
become an Asia-wide problem. There are no
boundaries when it comes to environmental
impact, he writes, warning that as a result of

Chinas policies Asia will tumble into chaos.

Among the downstream effects of Chinas
frenzy for progress will be the destruction
of fisheries and the blockage of nutrientrich silt vital to farming. Without fresh
silt, farmers must resort to increased use
of expensive, environmentally destructive
artificial fertilisers. Another casualty will be
mangrove forests.
Mangroves are your first line of defence
against sea-level rise and against cyclones,
Buckley said during his appearance at the
Irrawaddy Literary Festival in Mandalay in
March.
But mangroves need silt and fresh water
to grow. If you put a dam upriver, silt and
fresh water are not getting through to the

WWW.MMTIMES.COM

mangroves, and the mangroves will

slowly disappear, which leaves you
open to disasters along the coast.
This is of particular concern in
Bangladesh as well as in Myanmars
Ayeyarwady delta.
Buckley has visited the site of the
Myitsone Dam, and in an interview
with Mizzima last month he posed
two questions concerning the
current state of the project: Why
are the Chinese workers still there?
Why are the people who lived there
not allowed to come back? He is
clearly unconvinced that the dam
will ever be officially cancelled.
He is also concerned about the
Thanlwin, which he describes as a
virgin river untouched by big dams.
But China aims to nullify this idyllic
state of affairs with plans for five
major hydropower projects.
If they build the five dams that
are planned, it means [Myanmars]
water flow can be controlled by
China at any point, Buckley said.
China will say, Were solving
your flooding problems. But most
downstream countries want the
flooding because they need it for
rice and fishing. Its an annual cycle.
So the Chinese dams do not solve
the problem, they only create other
problems. By the time they put all
those dams up, theyre going to ruin
the river and affect the people who
depend on the river.
Buckley said that in supporting
the construction of dams on the
Ayeyarwady and the Thanlwin,
Myanmar would be sacrificing its
own people and environment for the
sake of greed.
But who can stop China?
Nobody can stop China because
theyre too entangled in economic
relations and nobody wants to upset
the Chinese government. So theyre
getting away with this, he said. Its
insane what China is doing.

wEEKEND | ARTS&entertainment

Counter-documentaries: When subjects

of investigation go on the attack
Theres a new trend in film, as organisations targeted by documentary-makers such as the
Church of Scientology produce films discrediting their accusers. But are they enriching or
endangering the discussion?
BY FRED WAGNER

ECENTLY Louis Theroux revealed that

the Church of Scientology is looking to
neutralise his forthcoming documentary
about them by producing their own film about him.
In the US theres a saying that the best defence is
a good offence and L Ron Hubbard, the founder
of the religion, was a believer: Dont ever defend.
Always attack, he once instructed his followers.
Its not surprising then, that such counterdocumentaries are a staple of the church.
Theyve done one on John Sweeney, the
Panorama presenter who memorably lost his
cool while interviewing Scientologys thenchief spokesperson; theyve done one on CNNs
Anderson Cooper; and theyre likely to do one on
any public figure who comes even remotely close to
criticising them in broad daylight.
One imagines that somewhere in the belly of
the churchs spiritual headquarters in Florida, a
rapid-response unit of counter-documentarians
waits, ready to defend its honour. At the moment,
its being kept on its toes: HBO recently released a
hatchet-job Scientology documentary, Going Clear,
and now Theroux, backed up by the producers
of Man on Wire and Searching for Sugarman, is
having a go at the subject as well.
In the right hands, a film about Theroux would
be fascinating. As a presenter, hes uniquely skilled
at getting people to bare their souls on camera and,
despite the usually pally relationships he strikes
up, you wonder whether they always thank him for
it after seeing the TV version of themselves. Hes

made so many films that most people are familiar

with his style but, as hes always the one asking the
questions, you realise you dont actually know that
much about him.
With such high-profile subjects, will the genre
of the counter-documentary start to gather steam?
With the possible exception of The Great Global
Warming Swindle in 2007, which aimed to rebut
An Inconvenient Truth, there have been very few
comeback movies that have made as big a splash as
the originals.
Given the enormous financial and reputational
damage documentaries can do, this is surprising. In
recent years, major businesses have been scalped
by expos-style docs: In the wake of Blackfish,
which revealed the danger of keeping killer whales
in captivity, SeaWorlds shares tanked and its
CEO resigned; the unforgettable grotesquery of
Super Size Me forced McDonalds to alter its image
as well as its menu. So theres every motive for
organisations that have been put in the spotlight to
give their side of the story.
Just as celebrities endorse products in adverts,
one can imagine trustworthy presenters being
hired to make documentaries by, say, a church or
NGO. To work, these would need to avoid out-andout spin. A crude propaganda film, along the lines
of Leni Riefenstahls infamous Triumph of the
Will, wont appeal to a modern audience, but a more
balanced piece, done by a well-known face, could
make a compromised organisation look credible.
In Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, a documentary about
the Chinese artist-activist, you see him confronting
local authorities in the aftermath of an earthquake
in Sichuan; he is trying to gather the names of each

Photo: Pictorial Evidence

young victim, which have been withheld by the

state. As he squares up to the police, they film him
while his supporters film them. It gets a bit meta:
multiple stories are being recorded which will then
do battle to present an official version of events.
Although counter-documentaries are likely to
sometimes come from unpalatable places, they may
still be valuable, if only because they reveal what
has been left out of a discussion. Documentaries
can take years to shoot, but in the editing room
they must eventually be whittled down to just an
hour or two. Theroux was candid about this process
in 2008, when he said, In all journalism, you are
taking an encounter and packaging it as something
else.
The making of any film involves leaving out
bits that dont quite fit into the neatly parcelled
story. For an audience, its useful to know what has
been cut out and what has been chosen to be giftwrapped. If and when counter-documentaries do
take off, we should embrace them for the depth of
coverage theyll add to any given story.

- The Guardian

THE MYANMAR TIMES ISSUE 08 I MAY 8 - 14, 2015

wEEKEND | FOOD&DRINK

Local, fair-trade
coffee in Yangon?
Thats Genius
BY ZON PANN PWINT

UBBER, rice, fisheries, beans

and pulses the list of primary
products Myanmar exports
is well enough known. And then Ko
Ngwe Tun thought: Why not coffee?
Ko Ngwe Tun is familiar with his
countrys geography. He knew where
to find the right climate and the rich
soil needed to grow the best coffee
trees. What he didnt find was any
competition.
The technical director of an
IT company, he decided to add to
the list of Myanmars best-known
natural products, and by doing so
help local communities and protect
the environment. Very soon his
company, Genius Coffee, was born.
Everyone drinks coffee,
regardless of race, class or religion,
said Ko Ngwe Tun, sitting in the
Genius coffee shop on Yangons 31st
Street.
When the country started to
open up, I started wondering what
we could export that foreigners
would want. We export rice, but rice
cant be value-added. Coffee can,
and it sells everywhere. Thats why
I started the coffee business. If we
try harder to produce high-quality
coffee, we can earn foreign income,
he said.
Nature made Chin State and
southern Shan State for the
cultivation of coffee trees. Ko Ngwe
Tun chose Ywar Ngan township,
Taunggyi district, southern Shan
State, where the year-round cool
climate and sloping hills at an
average altitude of 4000 feet
(1220m) provide the ideal location
for growing his Arabica beans.
He hires local farmers, Danu hill
tribal families, who live in the area
and depend on growing seasonal
crops. In December 2011, he started
to grow coffee trees in a 9-hectare
(20-acre) patch of land under shady
trees and even began to buy and
store raw coffee from the nearby
plantations.
By growing coffee, we can create
a green and pleasant environment
under the shade trees. Both the
shade trees and the coffee trees
provide income, he said. The
decayed leaves from the shade trees
provide the best fertiliser for the
coffee trees. Thats why I trust in the
quality of my coffee.
His aim is to follow the likes of
Costa Rica, Kenya and Panama that
aim for quality rather than quantity.
I dont want to cultivate large
plantations that damage the soil,
but in small plots worked by a few
farmers under shady trees, said Ko
Ngwe Tun.

Profit is not his goal. He

distributes coffee trees to villagers
who want to grow them and shade
trees to monasteries and hospitals for
greening the environment. Genius
adheres to Fair Trade principles and
contributes about 10 percent of the
proceeds from its coffee sales toward
the development of surrounding
villages, supporting their schools,
teaching English and providing
outstanding students with stipends.
Genius also educates farmers
in minimising deforestation and
encourages the use of shade trees to
help preserve the ecosystem.
During the harvest time each
year, we visit coffee plantations
in Ywar Ngan and conduct free
training. We invite the local farmers
and train them how to pick the beans
at the right time, to grow coffee trees
and to protect the trees from the
insect pests without using pesticide,
Ko Ngwe Tun said.
He acquired processing facilities
and last year he opened his Genius
coffee shop in 31st Street to offer local
coffee drinkers the nations purest
and finest, whether hot sweet and
black in the cup, or in the form of
roasted beans or ground coffee in
brown paper bags.
One of the shops specialties is
drip-bag coffee for K400. He got the
idea in Japan.
Whenever I travel abroad I
usually visit coffee shops. In Japan,
I saw people carrying coffee packs
wherever they go, he said.
Many people drink poor-quality
coffee mix. I want them to drink pure
coffee at a low price, he added.
Tea shops will price a cup of
pure coffee at K500 at least. I fixed a
reasonable price for coffee drinkers
who want the best.
His Shan highlands coffee has
been exported to Singapore and will
expand to Japan soon. Last July, he
sent samples to the Specialty Coffee
Association of America (SCAA) for
analysis, scoring 81/100. This year,
he raised his score to 85.
I trust in the quality of my coffee.
It can compete with the world, he
said.
Here at home, Ko Ngwe Tun
wants people to know the difference
between his coffee and the mixed
stuff that comes in a packet. I hope
they will come to know the difference
in ingredients. Genius coffee
contains only natural ingredients,
pure coffee, and its safe for health,
he said.
Ywar Gyan is being put to the
test. If the quality is high, we will
expand the plantation by giving
farmers free trees to grow on their
land if they already have shade
trees, he said.

Ko Ngwe Tun poses in his Genius coffee shop on 31st Street in Yangon. Photo: Zarni Phyo

RESTAURANT REVIEW

La Carovana
BY CHARLOTTE ROSE

M not in the habit of making

new friends, but if I were, I
would want Kevin Ching to
be one of them. Not because hes the
man behind uber-hip restaurant
Port Autonomy, named one of
the hottest new restaurants in
Southeast Asia, or because his aweinducing fried chicken recently
won him the title of Yangon food
fight champion at one
of the citys
hottest

Ching has created a unique and

contemporary Italian menu, though
perhaps not Italian as you know it,
for he is known for his exciting and
original dishes and this new menu
is no exception.
We ordered the Cherry Tomato
(US$17), a salad of mozzarella,
cherry tomatoes and anchovies, to
start. A fresh, dulcet combination
though sadly the cheese was
slightly bitter. Ordering mains was
somewhat more difficult: dishes
such as Radicchio, Arancini
and Hamachi left us
torn between utter
bewilderment
and the feeling
that we were
about to
embark
on a

bar, The New Boris, is a must-go for

a bespoke cocktail or three.
Admittedly, youre pockets are
going to be a lot lighter upon leaving
La Carovana than when you arrive:
Originality comes at a price, and at
this place its a spectacularly high
one. But its not just hype Ching
really does know how to serve food.
Each dish is beautifully presented,
though without a hint of pretention,
and every last bite, from the amuse
bouche right down to the homemade
bread and herb butter, has been
thoughtfully created testament to
Chings passion for food.
In fact, Ive changed my mind:
Im totally open to making new
friends. Kevin, youre welcome
around mine for dinner any time
just make sure you bring dessert.
La Carovana
22A Kabar Aye Pagoda Road,
Bahan township
Restaurant Rating:
Food
Beverage
Service
Value
X-factor

foodie
events to
date. Not even
because hes one of
the few people cool enough to wear
their baseball cap on backward. But
because he seems like a genuinely
nice chap.
Not everyone seems to agree,
however. Ching and friend Ivan
Pun, founder of Pun + Projects
which developed Port Autonomy
have caused a bit of a stir since
the restaurant opened last year. A
spate of reports have accused the
Hawaiian-born Harvard graduate
of helping to build a hipster
restaurant empire in which rich
twenty-somethings laugh in the
faces of the poor while knocking
back champagne cocktails and
feasting on the corpses of their
children. Ok, they may not have
said that exactly, but if recent
media attention is anything to
go by, it seems not everyone is so
enamoured by Ching and his vision
for Yangons food revolution.
Haters gonna hate. But there is
no doubt that Ching knows his way
around a kitchen, and thankfully,
as executive chef at Pun + Projects
brand new opening, La Carovana,
it doesnt look like hes going away
anytime soon.
Located in a charming colonialera building next to Port Autonomy
on Kabar Aye Pagoda Road, La
Carovana has joined the small
number of restaurants in the city
that put the fine in fine dining.

spectacular
culinary
adventure.
The staff seemed
just as puzzled as we
were, though fortunately the
ever-chirpy Ching was on hand to
translate.
The Arancini ($28) transpired to
be a masterful combination of deep
fried lamb ragu with pomodoro and
tzatziki. Its a heavy dish, but the
zesty pomodoro sauce cut through
the fried balls of lamb perfectly.
Certainly, it was unlike anything
I have ever eaten before, which is
surely why you visit La Carovana in
the first place. The real nonpareil
among the mains was the Porchetta
($27) melt-in-the-mouth pork
on a bed of creamy potato which
was like a party in the mouth (the
sophisticated black-tie soiree kind,
not a sweaty warehouse rave).
Like most parties, the best part
came later in the evening. The
Affogato ($14), a rich chocolate
brownie with coffee granita and
a whole lot of other things which
my tastebuds were unable to fully
comprehend in their state of
excitement was so good I was left
somewhat flushed, as if Id been
discovered at the soiree in the
broom cupboard with someone
elses husband.
The restaurant itself has been
lovingly renovated and has an
intimate atmosphere. Service is
friendly and attentive, though
could perhaps benefit from a better
understanding of the menu and
wine list, and the chic downstairs

8
8
7
6
9

WWW.MMTIMES.COM

wEEKEND | FOOD&DRINK

RECIPE

Seafood and
crispy salmon
saffron risotto
T

HIS weeks recipe is

brought to you by Weekends
guest chef Pedro Carrillo,
executive chef at Novotel Yangon
Max. Pedro graduated from the
Hospitality School of Alcala
de Henares, Madrid, over 18
years ago and trained at the
cole Lentre in France before

working in Paris, Houston,

Chicago, Minneapolis, Cuba
and Cotonou. His grandparents
and his mother inspired him to
become a chef. Passionate about
food, Pedro describes his cuisine
as Mediterranean with a modern
touch.
Delicious and rich in texture

and taste, this seafood risotto can

be prepared in under an hour for
lunch or dinner with guests. Fresh
seafood is combined with saffron
risotto cooked with wine, cream and
parmesan cheese.
Seafood and crispy salmon saffron
risotto
6 servings
600g risotto rice
1.250 litres shrimp stock (you
can prepare the stock using 25g
tom yum goon paste to add a
spicy shrimp flavour)
18 shrimps, peeled
12 scallops
150g salmon

50g flour
100ml white wine
180g heavy cream
150g parmesan cheese (grated)
25ml virgin olive oil
20g shallots (finely chopped)
10g garlic (crushed)
5g saffron (carefully toasted in a
hot, dry pan)
Spring onion to garnish
Salt and pepper
Boil the risotto rice in the shrimp
stock until it is almost cooked, and
set aside to cool.
Add the olive oil to a pan and
fry the garlic and chopped shallots
before adding the toasted saffron.
When the shallots are soft, add the

cooled risotto rice to the pan and

mix well to combine.
Finish cooking the rice by
adding the white wine, more stock
if needed, heavy cream, parmesan
cheese, salt and pepper, and cooking
for a further 5-7 minutes.
Colour the shrimps and scallops
by cooking in a smoking hot pan
with olive oil for 2-4 minutes. Cut
the raw salmon into thin strips and
pass each strip through the flour
before deep-frying in hot oil until
crispy (be careful not to overcook it
or the salmon will become dry).
Dress the plates by covering the
risotto with the shrimps, scallops
and salmon, as pictured. Garnish
with fresh spring onion.

THE MYANMAR TIMES ISSUE 08 I MAY 8 - 14, 2015

wEEKEND | HEALTH&beauty

green restaurants

Trashion trends
for every season
BY NANDAR AUNG

AVENT you heard? Waste

is so last season when
it comes to accessorising,
recycling is in vogue.

But wearing trash doesnt have

to mean looking trashy. Thanks
to these ethical stores based in
Yangon, looking good and saving
the environment at the same time
has never been so easy.

Pomelo
89 Thein Pyu Road. Yangon
Pomelo is a non-profit social enterprise that works with Myanmar
artisans, disadvantaged groups and small local businesses to provide
a sustainable market place that empowers producers to get a fair price
for their work. The shop, located next to Monsoon on Thein Pyu Road,
is a treasure trove of colourful trashion accessories, gifts and soft
furnishings with a contemporary twist.

Magazine paper bead necklace (K10,000)

Necklace made from aluminum can tabs

(price on request)

Sunflowers art and textiles

54 (1st floor), Shangone Street, Myaynigone, Sanchaung
Founded in 2013, Sunflowers aims to support Myanmar textiles and
promote womens economic empowerment by finding a local and
international market for their weaving. The Made in Myanmar
brand includes a range of colorful
recycled accessories such as
earrings, bracelets, necklaces
and traditional shoes, as well
as naturally dyed cloths
such as cotton, silk and
lotus, all produced and
designed by women
from rural areas
and other
disadvantaged
groups.
Necklace created with car
and bicycle tyres (K9500)
and bracelet (K4500)

The healthiest eats from across Southeast Asia

BY RACHNA SACHASINH
AND CHARLOTTE ROSE

HERE are many reasons

for eating green when it
comes to your health fewer
unwanted chemicals in your
Sari Organik, Ubud, Bali
When it comes to health food,
nowhere in Southeast Asia does it
better than Ubud the city is packed
with restaurants that serve excellent
vegan, vegetarian and raw food. And
they dont come any greener than
Sari Organic: Surrounded by lush rice
fields, you can enjoy the view from
the outdoor terrace while tucking
into a delicious salad, grown in the
restaurants very own organic garden
next door. There is a range of curries,
salads and special dishes on offer,

system, reduced risk of cancer and

a healthier heart to name just a
few. Eating local, organic food also
reduces your negative impact on
the environment by reducing both
pollution and use of herbicides,
pesticides and fertilizers that cause
environmental damage.

But going green doesnt have to

mean switching to a diet of limp
lettuce and tasteless tofu. These
restaurants serve some of the
tastiest healthy grub in Southeast
Asia, and are worth checking out
while youre on your travels.

and if you cant find what you want

on the menu you can pick your own
ingredients from the garden and
the staff will prepare them for you.
There is a long list of fresh juices
and smoothies available as well
as organic wine and cider, and
the fresh mint lemonade is a
must-try.

The only way to get to Sari

Organik is on foot its a 20 minute
walk through the rice fields from the
centre of town. But that should be one
of your reasons for going.

Mai Kaidee, Bangkok, Thailand

Its a hole in the wall, albeit framed by a soft mauve doorway
that signals something fresh and bright on the other side. Mai
Kaidee delivers just that, an all-vegetarian and vegan menu that
doesnt compromise on authenticity. The banana flower yum
(savoury salad) and the gluten-free spring rolls are a hit. Purple
and brown natural rice accompanies the kaangkheowvaan
(green curry), which was a little on the sweet side although we
had no problem emptying the bowl! A fresh juice bar serves
smoothies, along with inventive blends such as mango zinger
with a dash of paprika and spicy hibiscus cooler infused
with cloves and cinnamon. And, if you love the food at Mai
Kaidee, stay for the daily cooking class! Mai Kaidee is located
in Phar Nakhon where old Bangkok remains intact. Nearby
Santichaiprakan Park and Phra Sumen Fort along the Chao
Phraya River are good spots to stroll before or after your meal.
Mai Kaidee is located at 33 Sansem Road, Phra Athit, Bangkok.

May Veggie Home, Bangkok, Thailand

Located along the busy Sukhumvit and Asok intersection, it is easy to pass May
Veggie Home without a second look. But for those willing to reserve judgement
until the food arrives, this little epicurean powerhouse will not disappoint,
serving up vegetarian fare that is nothing short of spellbinding. Tofu bi kha
pao, khao soi, and nam tok hed are legitimate Thai dishes in spite of no meat
or fish sauce. The staff are cognisant of the plethora of veggie considerations,
making sure that Jains (who eat no meat or root vegetables including onions
and garlic) and vegans are accommodated. May Veggie Homes casual vibe
is perfect for a families, couples, friends, the solo diner and even a first date.
There is no pressure, no pomp and circumstance. Instead, expect flavours that
are comforting, delicious and healthy in other words, everything you expect
from veggie fare and home cooking.
May Veggie Home is located at 8/3 Asok-Sukhumvit Intersection. To get there,
take the BTS or MRT to Asok.

Brownice Singapore, Singapore

Its a sad fact of life that some of
the tastiest treats are also the least
healthy theyre either high in
fat, sugar, artificial ingredients
or all of the above plus other
nasties. Brownice is a vegetarian
and vegan restaurant that
aims to provide healthier,
guilt-free delights
without damaging the
earth. There is a range
of healthy eats and
drinks on offer, including
soy lattes, but it is best
known for its vegan ice
cream, which, amazingly,
contains no milk, cream
or eggs and absolutely

nothing artificial. The main

ingredient is organic brown rice
milk, which replaces the high-fat
dairy cream and milk in most other
ice creams. But unlike other healthy
alternatives, with flavours
like banana oats, peanut
butter caramel and
hazelnut chocolate to
choose from, Brownice
ice cream is also tasty.
As they say on their
website, you can have
your cake and ice cream
and eat it. Without
growing sideways.

ARTillery, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

ARTillery is a health cafe and arts
venue that serves up fresh, creative,
homemade food and drinks,
specialising in raw, vegan, and
gluten-free options. Fresh juices
include the Chocolate superfood,
made with raw cacao, goji berry,
banana and nut milk and the classic

green of spinach, frozen banana

and blended superfoods. The vegan
macro bowl of ibis brown rice,
seasonal roasted veggies, wakeme
seaweed, and pickled apple cabbage
slaw is the tastiest vitamin hit weve
found in the city. Working with local
farmers to source the best quality
and freshest products available in
Cambodia, ARTillery uses chemicalfree, fairly traded and organic
ingredients whenever possible. It
also host a 5-day Raw Food Cleanse,
health and diet programs, weekend
food workshops, and night-time local
arts events.

Brownice is located in the

Sin Ming Centre, 8 Sin Ming
Road, Singapore.

ARTillery Cafe is tucked away down

a small lane on street 240, near the
Royal Palace.

WWW.MMTIMES.COM

wEEKEND | STYLE

Eco-fashion: Five designers

who have it pegged
P-CYCLING, recycling, wastetrimming, tree-loving and
pesticide-reducing are among
the many terms that get bandied
around when it comes to defining
eco-fashion. Put simply, eco-fashion
garments are made using non-toxic,
environmentally-friendly fibres
and dyes and, usually, in accordance
with fair labour practices. But while
ecological and social commitments
are paramount, quality and fit are
critical if an eco-brand is going to be
successful. Here are five independent
designers in Southeast Asia who
are creating wearable clothes with a
conscience.

FINCH

excited! she said.

Flagship store: 82 Haji Lane, Singapore
www.zhai.com.sg

Mae Teeta

Songbird

Zhai

Based in Singapore, Zhais owner

Danielle Champagne designs a
sophisticated and casual line of
wrap dresses, shirts and skirts made
entirely from organic bamboo fibre.
If you are imagining rough stalks
of bamboo lashing your skin, think
again. Bamboo fibre is extremely
soft and luxurious, blocks UV rays,
and regulates body temperature.
Classified as a grass, bamboo is a
fast-growing species that needs
no fertilizers and pesticides and is
entirely compostable. Champagne
is developing a maternity line and
actively seeking other natural fibres
to incorporate. Every timewe
find a new fibre that ticks all of our
requirements on the environmental
andsociallevels, we get quite

Songbird is a collaboration between

designer Nam Suratanachaikarn
and photographer Arpa Poonsriratt.
Operating under a strict no toxins
policy, the artistic duo is dedicated
to treating the environment and
their customers well. This means
sourcing cotton, linen and bamboo
from ecologically minded producers
in Thailand and India. Last year,
the duo introduced Mood Indigo,
a collection featuring rich, natural
indigo pigments in their bespoke
garments. Working with a colour
palette of primarily whites and blues,
the collection feature clean, modern
lines. Our designs are simple and
timeless. After 10 years, I believe that
they [can] still be used over and over,
said Poonsriratt.
Phahon Yothin, Soi 2 (above Aran
Bicicletta Coffee), Bangkok
www.facebook.com/songbirdth

No Nasties

Everyone wears T-shirts! It was the

widest net we could cast when we
started our brand. Plus, it helps that
a T-shirt is essentially a canvas!
remarks Apurva Kothari, owner of
eco-fashion brand No Nasties. If you
are intimidated by fashion choices,
then this brand is for you not only
does it say No to practices that
corrupt the environment, it also
says No to the fussiness associated
with fashion. Its organic, naturally
dyed t-shirts are made with the
softest jersey cotton and come in
flattering cuts for men and women.
The attention to fit, feel and style is
the handiwork of Shweta Deliwala,
the companys designer. No Nasties
works with farmer groups and

mills to ensure strict adherence to

organic and fair-trade standards
throughout the supply chain. After
working several years in technology,
it just wasnt satisfying. I wanted to
something more meaningful, states
Kothari, who was compelled by the
plight of conventional cotton farmers
in India. I wanted to get involved
so computers were replaced by cotton,
and here we are!
www.nonasties.in

FINCH

Heather Kaye and Itee Soni, the

Shanghai-based duo behind the
brand FINCH, have worked out a
way to produce a spectacular line
of swim and resort wear while
tackling waste and up-cycling in
the fashion industry. FINCHs
designs are crafted from soft, supple
fabrics made from Repreve yarns
that are made from recycled PET
plastics (commonly found in soda
and water bottles). It sounds like
science fiction, but there is nothing

unnatural or unearthly here.

We saw an opportunity to make
the swim category eco-friendly at
a time when no one was doing it,
explained Kaye. Swimwear fabric is
made with either poly and spandex
or nylon with spandex, so a perfect
target category to make more ecofriendly by switching to recycled
fibres.
We are a print-driven design
brand and swimwear is ideal for
prints, she said. Indeed, FINCHs
unexpected and eclectic prints and
colour combinations are striking and
irresistible. Itee, who creates them,
said, Our background in corporate
fashion made us witnesses to just
how wasteful the garment industry
is on a global scale. We want to use
fabrics and printing techniques that
need much less water and energy to
execute and make garments that can
be worn year after year.
Products available at Mandarin
Oriental Spa in Shanghai and
Singapore
www.finchdesigns.com

Mae Teeta

In Thailands Sakon Nakhon

Province, Sukhaji Deangchais family
has been working with traditional
indigo for over four generations.
Before people in Bangkok called
indigo-dyed cloth farmer uniform,
said Daengchai. Today, however,
natural indigo has crossed over to
the mainstream and is an eco-dye
staple. Mae Teeta was started by
Daengchais mother, Praphaiphan,
and now the mother-daughter team
collaborate on collections that fit a
broad demographic. Our youngest
customer is eight months old and our
oldest is 85 years old, Daengchai said.

Songbird

BY RACHNA SACHASINH

The younger Daengchai brings a

youthful vibe to the line, which
features breezy tops and full
skirts that pair well with sandals
or sneakers. Shoulder bags and
signature hats stand out in a crowd,
and the childrens line is classic and
cheerful. Daengchai senior is a master
dyer with a keen understanding of
the plants versatility and ability
to yield a brilliant palette. The
Daengchai family grows their own
cotton and sources the remainder
from local farmers in Sakon Nakhon.
For now, the collection is available
through Facebook and local fairs and
exhibitions throughout Thailand.
Updated exhibition dates are
available on their website.
www.maeteeta.com

10

THE MYANMAR TIMES ISSUE 08 I MAY 8 - 14, 2015

wEEKEND | Family

Which books deal with conservation

issues for younger children?
From Michael Foremans Dinosaurs
and All That Rubbish to Barrouxs
wordless picture book Wheres the
Elephant?, here are a few of the
best books to share with younger
children who want to know about
our threatened environment
BY JULIA ECCLESHARE

ow humans are threatening

the planet has been a theme
in childrens books for all
ages for some time. Sometimes, the
stories about what might happen
and the images of destruction
can be scary and picture books
can vividly show what how our
world might look if the planet is
misused. But there are great picture
books that show that we can all
make a difference and that is an
encouraging and useful message.
Michael Foremans classic
Dinosaurs and All that Rubbish
was groundbreaking when it was
first published in 1972. A vividly
told and illustrated story of human
greed and destruction, which
clearly spells out the need to protect
and cherish what we have rather
than unnecessarily searching for
something more, was ahead of its
time 40 years ago but it should
have made everyone sit up and take
notice. As they didnt, it is just as
meaningful today.
Foremans use of dinosaurs, not
totally extinct as has always been
thought, rising up from under the
ground and putting everything
straight again is a particularly good

detail and one that all children

enjoy.
The past 10 years have seen many
new picture books that deal with
all the issues surrounding climate
change and the need to protect our
fragile world. How the subject is
approached varies considerably.
Some take a strong campaigning
approach as in Barrouxs recently
published Wheres the Elephant?
a near-wordless picture book
that powerfully demonstrates the
devastating effects of deforestation
as Elephant, Parrot and Snake find
their simple game of hide-and-seek
is no longer possible as the trees of
the forest have been cut down to
make way for houses, road and cars.
Even a very young child can see
that the vibrantly coloured and
textured trees have been reduced to
stumps by people wanting to take
over the land. The pictures spell a
kind of sadness and the message
that they send out is clearly that this
is wrong.
Lynne Cherrys The Great
Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon
Rain Forest is equally direct. The
beauty of the forest is brought to
life in Lynne Cherrys watercolour
and pencil illustrations, as is
how delicately balanced and
interdependent the plants and the

creatures that live among them are.

When a man sleeps after trying to
chop down the Kapok tree, he hears
whispering in his ear; every living
thing in the forest including a
human child tells him that the
trees are important for the survival
of all. Luckily, the man responds
and the tree is saved.
Debi Gliori is unspecific about
place in The Trouble with Dragons
but she makes similar points about
the need for protecting the world.
The trouble with the dragons is that
they are wrecking the world: They
are chopping down trees, polluting
the environment and using up all the
resources. Somehow they must be
stopped before its all too late. Bold
illustrations and a simple rhyming
text capture the urgency of the
situation. The substitution of dragons
for people allows the perpetrators to
be just a little bit more sinister than if
they were humans.

In Anouck Boisrobert, Louis

Rigaud and Sophie Stradys In the
Forest and its partner title Under
the Ocean, pop-ups are used to
excellent effect to celebrate the
wonderful and special qualities
of their respective environments.
The glorious presentation of the
multi-layered ecosystem of each
of those special worlds shows just
why they need to be protected, how
much has already been lost and how
protection for the future must be
achieved.
How everyone can make a
difference to the future of the world
by changing their everyday habits
is the message of George Saves
the World by Lunch Time by Jo
Readman and Ley Honor Roberts.
Published by the Eden Project as
one of several titles designed to get
young children into good habits, it
shows young George learning about
recycling, composting and reusing

materials wherever possible. Such

a practical guide is inspiring rather
than alarming and is based on
the supposition that if we all do
something things will get better.
For older readers, Nicola
Daviess Heroes of the Wild series
takes readers farther afield and
into more complicated projects. In
well-told stories. each title looks
at a real conservation project in
different parts of the world. In the
fifth and most recent title, The
Whale Who Saved Us, illustrated
by Annabel Wright, Suki makes a
strong connection with a special
and beautiful whale when she is sent
off to the far, far north to live with
her great-granny where she can be
a long way away from the troubles
of her older brother. Here, and in all
the other titles in the series, Nicola
Davies shows the importance of
protecting all endangered wildlife.

The Guardian

WWW.MMTIMES.COM

wEEKEND | HOME&GARDEN

Earth-friendly
furniture keeps
homes green
BY CHARLOTTE ROSE

EUSE, reduce, recycle. Thats

the motto of environmentally
friendly furniture company
Yangon Green Furniture, which
specialises in creating eco-friendly
products from recycled, reclaimed,
refurbished and sustainable timber.
People in Myanmar always want
new things, but we have so many
old, good-quality materials that can
be reused. Why chop down a new
tree when I can give a new life to
old wood instead? said company
owner Christina Win.
A jewellery designer by trade,
Win started Yangon Green
Furniture a year ago after hunting
for furniture in Myanmar.
I couldnt find what I was
looking for, so I had it made.
Afterward, a lot of my friends
were asking me where I bought my
furniture, so I decided to start the
business, she said.
All of the wood used by the

company is reclaimed from

construction sites, warehouses or
old bridges. The wood may be old,
said Win, but it becomes new again
when weve finished with it.
Many of her products are one-off
pieces. Ill take some wood that has
come from an old bridge and turn
it into a coffee table a one-of-akind item, said Win, who describes
her product style as modern and
eclectic.
For those looking to spruce
up their homes on a budget, the
companys budget furniture line
(US$80-200) includes similar
designs made from more affordable
woods.

In addition to her own

designs, Win also custom
makes furniture according to
customers requirements. For more
information, contact Win via the

Yangon Green Furniture Facebook

page or visit the showroom at 29G
Yezet Street (Set Wa Street), Kabar
Aye Pagoda Road, Mayangone,
Yangon.

11

12

THE MYANMAR TIMES ISSUE 08 I MAY 8 - 14, 2015

wEEKEND | FEATURE

13

wEEKEND | FEATURE

WWW.MMTIMES.COM

Shady business
BY CHIT SU AND NYEIN EI EI HTWE

While
deforestation
continues
to be a major
problem throughout
Myanmar, a few
individuals and
local NGOs are doing
what they can
to sow seeds of
renewal

Photos: Supplied

T is 42 Celsius on a recent summers day in

Danubyu township, Ayeyarwady Region. The tar
road seems to be steaming. The trees that used to
line the road and provide some shade are long gone.
U Hla Kyine, a 63-year-old farmer, is not keen on
going out in the heat to check his paddy fields. He said
the weather this year was the worst since Cyclone
Nargis in 2008.
Nargis blew down the trees, so we planted more. But
then they knocked them down to feed the brick kilns,
he said.
Having lived all his life in the same town, he knows
what others only guess: The weather is getting hotter.
Maybe if all the trees, plants and even bamboo fences
had not been cut down and fed to the brick kilns, the
place would be cooler and greener.
But the owners of the kilns have families to feed
too, he said.
Another reason for disappearance of the trees is that
villagers have to burn them for fuel. Even if we get
electricity, its too weak to cook with, except for a rice
cooker and boiling water to drink, he said.
He added that there used to be rain before Thingyan,
but not anymore. And whatever happened to the
proverb that said winter could be cold enough to break
your bones?
There was a saying that winter can freeze even
the top of a buffalos horns, but now those buffalos are
seeking water to cool their horns in, said U Hla Kyine.
We live near the Ayeyarwady River. These days the
sand banks are bigger and bigger. Sometimes boats cant
even cross the river, and streams and creeks have just
disappeared.
The pattern might not be so clear from weather
reports, which, he said, covered large areas and did
not include local details. Often the forecasts are not
reliable for our township, though they may be for
others.
Its the same in Chin State, said Salai Jacob Thang,
an NGO worker. The weather varies from township
to township because of the mountainous terrain.
Sometimes you get rain in some places but not others,
but they just give one forecast for the whole of Chin
State.
When he was a teenager, he used to go fishing with
his friends and picnic on their catch, as many young

Chin people did in summer. Over the past 10 years, its

not just the fish that have disappeared. The streams and
the creeks have gone too.
The streams would dry up in the summer, but they
would come back with the rains, he said.
An NGO tried to restock streams with fry during the
rainy season, but the fish would die in the hot weather.
Salai Jacob Thang said one of the reasons for
the weather changes in Chin State was a system of
agriculture based on slash-and-burn. Farmers moved
their planting sites every year and set fire to the old
farm when they move. The fire spreads, he said.
Though many NGOs are working to preserve the
environment in Chin State, he doesnt expect an
improvement in the weather.
Water is becoming short as well, he said.
The extent to which such changes in local weather
might be attributable to long-term climate change is
subject to intense debate.
Climate change worldwide is threatening the very
existence of some species, and deforestation has been
linked to some natural disasters. In Myanmar, the area
covered by forest is shrinking year by year. In 1962,
57pc of the country was forested, falling to 50pc in 2005
and 27pc in 2008, according to figures presented to
the Government in Energy, Environment and Climate
Change Forum in Nay Pyi Taw in 2012.
According to a report by the US Food and
Agriculture Organization, Myanmar lost 7,445,000
hectares (28,750 square miles) of forest between 1990
and 2010, and continues to shed 0.3pc of forest cover
annually.
U Ko Gyi, a member of the Sein Lann Pyin Oo
Lwin environmental group from Pyin Oo Lwin
township, Mandalay Region, said laws to prevent tree
felling should be strictly enforced.
Pyin Oo Lwin, once famous for its flowers, has also
been affected by deforestation and hotter weather.
People chopped down trees indiscriminately, and
big trucks would pass through our town every evening
full of tree trunks. Now there are no more big trees in
our town, he said.
Pyin Oo Lwins main businesses are the
manufacture of fried sunflower seeds and lime for
paint, and the cultivation of betel leaves and coffee
farms. For the past 10 years, these businesses have
used trees for fuel. Now the climate resembles that of
the dry zone.
When we used to drive back to Pyin Oo Lwin from

other townships, we could feel the weather get cooler

more than 21 miles away. Now even in downtown we
can scarcely go out without umbrellas because of the
heat, U Ko Gyi said.
He planted trees for 15 years, and in 2011 he
organised the Sein Lann Pyin Oo Lwin environmental
group to grow plants. The group has planted about
10,000 shade trees around the town.
But half of them have died because people dont
know how to care for them, and because of the
weather changes, he said.
Last year, for the first time, the town flooded
during the rainy season. All the streams dried up in
summer, including creeks I had never known to dry
up. Then we had heavy rain with flooding. This is
beyond my understanding, he said.
Despite a general lack of awareness about urban
environmental issues in Myanmar, a few individuals
and small organisations are also working hard to
make Yangon a greener, cleaner city.
U Kan Nyunt, 91, has been planting trees in
Sanchaung township, downtown Yangon, for decades.
I was a taxi driver and I would get very hot driving
the whole day. I would see so many places in the city
where there was no shade, and I would plant trees in
those places, he said.
In more than half a century, he has planted more
than 1000 trees. In 2012 he was awarded the Earth
Lover prize by a local NGO, the Forest Resource
Environment Development and Conservation
Association (FREDA), to mark his achievement,
performed entirely without hope of profit or reward.
Born and bred in the leafy town of Hmawbi just
north of Yangon, for him the city is a burning desert.
The population of the city has exploded, but
people in Yangon dont want to plant trees. Planting
trees is a rare event. Cutting down trees comes much
more easily to them. They dont need a reason. They
dont know how valuable trees are, said U Kan Nyunt.
Not everyone appreciates his efforts.
Sometimes I have to plant seeds secretly because
some people hate it. I feel sorry when I see people cut
or break plants. Most people tell me planting trees is
a waste of time and wont help. But I do my best, he
said. I will keep planting till I die.
Meanwhile, Myanmar Youth in Action (MYIA)
has grown from five members to about 50 in the past
five years, since its original founders discovered the
concept of environmental awareness on the internet.

We started the group to plant trees, but we also

get involved with activities like the Myanmar Youth
Forum, said member Khaing Wit Yee.
Of the 5000 trees they have planted, they reckon
only about 30 percent are still alive.
We cant raise public awareness enough. We
plant the trees, but there are not enough people to
look after them, he said.
When they started, there was very little
encouragement from the public.
People thought we were wasting our time, and
the authorities would watch us and create delays,
Khaing Wit Yee said.
It was hard to get anything done. But now
people are changing their minds as the weather
gets hotter. They dont try to stop us now.
Volunteer groups are small, but effective. When
they see us planting trees, people start to develop
environmental awareness.
Green for Generations was founded in 2012 to
plant trees and keep the city clean. The movement
was launched, of all places, on the ferry from
Yangon to Dala.
My friend Khin Pyae Sone, who founded
the group, was crossing to Dala when she saw
passengers dropping litter over the side into the
river. Thats why we started the group to pick up
litter, said group member Ei Khin Thandar Kyaw.
They also try to raise public awareness, but there
are only 15 regular members. Each contributes
K3000 a month. We buy litter bins and uniform
shirts with our logo, said Ei Khin Thandar Kyaw.
Public awareness still has some way to go. Once
when we were collecting litter in our baskets,
someone asked if they could buy the baskets. They
thought we were selling them, she said.
Sometimes passers-by understand what they are
doing and try to help them, but sometimes not.
People misunderstand. They think were doing
it for profit, or that were being funded, or just
showing off, said Ei Khin Thandar Kyaw. Township
authorities follow them and ask questions.
They want to know what were doing and why,
and who is paying for it, she said.
Green for Generations has planted about 1200
trees since 2012, mostly in monastery compounds.
The monks look after the plants, so they
do well. Some of the ones we plant outside are
destroyed. Only about 20pc survive.

Photo: Douglas Long

People chopped down trees

indiscriminately, and big trucks
would pass through our town
every evening full of tree trunks.
Now there are no more big trees
in our town
U Ko Gyi
Sein Lann Pyin Oo Lwin environmental group

14

THE MYANMAR TIMES ISSUE 08 I MAY 8 - 14, 2015

wEEKEND | FEATURE

WWW.MMTIMES.COM

wEEKEND | FEATURE

15

Ecotourism takes root in southern Rakhine

BY AYE SAPAY PHYU

Photos: Supplied

ROVES of bamboo sway in the breeze sweeping

the foothills of the mountains in southern
Rakhine State. The Rakhine Yoma range was once
famed for its high-quality hardwoods, but much of the
teak growth in Gwa township has now been replaced by
bamboo and plantations.
The mountain ranges remoteness has helped protect
its rich biodiversity and glorious beaches, but also
deterred visitors.
An aborted attempt to draw tourists to Gwa was
launched in 1995, when the army seized coconut
plantations from local people along the beach about
25 kilometres (16 miles) north of Gwa and opened the
beachfront Kanthayar Hotel.
Few visitors came, and then the bungalows were
destroyed by Cyclone Mala in 2006, said Daw Khin Htwe
Kyi.
She runs Sakawar guesthouse and restaurant in the
Thar Yar Chine village, near Kanthayar Beach one
of just a handful of hotels in the area, including in
downtown Gwa, licensed to accept foreign guests.
After the storm fewer local and foreign visitors came.
But some foreigners spent about a week here because
they liked the tranquillity, she said.
In June, the land taken for Kanthayar Hotel was
restored to its former owners, she said, ending the failed
attempt to draw beachgoers.
Local organisations are now hoping to attract visitors
of a different kind to Gwa: ecotourists.
Rakhine Coastal Region Conservation Association
(RCA), a grass-roots organisation active in Rakhine State
since 1987, has initiated an ecotourism development in
Gwa and Kyeintali sub-township.
Ma Kyu Kyu Than, an association member, said
training for community-based tourism was conducted in
Gwa last November. About 60 young people from Gwa
and nearby areas came to learn about tourist guide skills,
and they did a field trip to do bird watching, study the
mangrove forest and learn about marketing, she said.
We also plan to offer specialised topics, such as food
serving, housekeeping and guiding bird watchers, in the
future.
She said four foreigners in two groups had visited
the area in October-November on tours organised by
SST Tourism, which specialises in nature and wildlife
tourism.
They liked to see the monkeys in the mangrove
forest and local craftspeople making bamboo hats,
coconut oil and handicrafts, she said, adding that RCA
encouraged local people to protect migratory birds and
sea turtles.
Experts and locals agree there is no lack of natural
attractions in Gwa.
It has the beach, mangrove forest and Rakhine
Yoma Elephant Camp, with 100 elephants. Visitors are
also interested in turtle breeding, said U Kyi Thar, the
local Pyithu Hluttaw representative.
Mangrove expert U Win Maung said many

endangered mangrove species can be found along the

coast. Bonsai mangroves also thrive in the area, tended
by local people who knew their value.
Rare species include Bruguiera hainesil, which we
call myine gyi, of which only about 200 examples exist in
Singapore, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea. Until lately
no one even knew it existed in Myanmar, but we found
more than 1000 plants in an environmental restoration
project in 2011. A mangrove expert from Singapore
said the one he saw in Kyauk Kyi village was the biggest
in the world, said U Win Maung, a project manager
with the Coastal Livelihood and Environmental Assets
Restoration in Rakhine State (CLEARR) project.
About 1550 square kilometres (600 square miles)
of Gwa townships total area of about 2070 square
kilometres is protected forest and elephant sanctuary.
U Aung Kyaw, warden of the Rakhine Yoma Elephant
Sanctuary, which covers 1755.701 square kilometers in
Gwa and Thandwe townships, says the park is also home
to turtles, wild cats and monkeys. About 300 square
miles of sanctuary in Gwa township comprises bamboo
forest, a staple food for the elephant, he said.
But getting there requires effort. It takes about
three nights from the Gwa-Thandwe road to the
sanctuary. Many visitors dont have the time, he said.
Amenities are also lacking in many villages in Gwa,
including Thar Yar Chine, said Daw Khin Htwe Kyi.
The village has no electricity and telecommunications
services are poor, but wells and a dam provide fresh
water. The 250-kilometre (186-mile) road between
Gwa and Yangon has improved over the past five years,
she added.
In the past two years theyve replaced the old
wooden bridges with concrete ones. Before the trip
could last more than a day but now its just six or seven
hours. The rainy season was the worst, she said,
adding that she hoped for better access to power and
communications this year.
I hope that we can see more development in the
area and higher incomes for local people.
U Maung Maung Pyone, an environmentalist who
works on the CLEARR project, said community-based
ecotourism improvement could bring major benefits
for residents, including more jobs and higher incomes.
But ecotourism will also help conservation.
There are lots of good examples in Thailand of how
to generate income for the community by conserving
biodiversity, he said.
However, he warned that ecotourism would only
be viable if Gwas natural attractions are preserved
unlike its hardwood forests.
If we are going to generate income from
ecotourism, he said, we need to do more public
education to conserve the biodiversity, including
dugongs and sea turtles.
If you go
Rakhine Coastal Region Conservation Association
https://www.facebook.com/RCA.Arakan
Sakawar Guest House and Restaurant
09-4966-6029

Ecotourism will also help conservation. There are lots of good

examples in Thailand of how to generate income for the community by
conserving biodiversity
U Maung Maung Pyone
Environmentalist

16

THE MYANMAR TIMES ISSUE 08 I MAY 8 - 14, 2015

wEEKEND | TRAVEL

WWW.MMTIMES.COM

wEEKEND | TRAVEL

Even in this city of 6 million people,

solitary forest hikes and lonesome
beaches are never too far away

Thesecretoasesof

Rio de Janeiro

The 2016 Summer Olympics will be held in the Barra da Tijuca neighbourhood of Rio de Janeiro. Photo: Dado Galdieri/Bloomberg

BY DINA MISHEV

APUCHIN monkeys jump from branch to branch in

the trees eucalyptus, mahogany, rosewood towering
above. On the ground, coatis and lizards scuttle through
thick mounds of decomposing rainforest biomass. Hiking
along, we havent actually seen any monkeys or coatis and I get
only the briefest glimpse of a lizard its tail the length of my
arm before it disappears into deadfall and underbrush, but
their rustling is nonstop.
Because humans are also scarce, I dont mind the hidden
wildlife. Walking for seven hours smack in the middle of a
city with over 6 million residents, weve only seen eight other
people.
At 38.8 square kilometres (15 square miles), Tijuca National
Park might be the smallest of Brazils 60-some national parks.
But its smack in the middle of Rio. Any amount of green space
in a city as populous as Rio is sweet.
Tijuca is one of the largest urban forests in the world.
The citys famous Christ the Redeemer statue is perched on
the summit of one of the dozens of peaks in the park. Theres
a tram that takes you there and also a hiking trail to the top.
Sometimes the wait for the former is hours long. The latter,
despite being terribly steep, can be so busy it feels like a mule
train.
Elsewhere in Tijuca, though, it feels like a national park.
Tijuca Forest is secondary Atlantic rainforest. By the mid-19th
century, the original Atlantic forest ecosystem that greeted
the Portuguese when they first came to this area in the early
1500s had been cut down to make way for sugar and coffee
plantations. In 1861, the Brazilian king, Dom Pedro II, was
prescient enough to realise this deforestation would affect the
citys supply of drinking water. He ordered the continents first
reforestation program. In less than two decades, employees
and slaves planted over 110,000 seedlings.
A century after the reforestation program was first ordered,
Tijuca was named a national park. I hired Anna Atz Asen of
Free Tours de Aventura to show me around.
We meet at the Afonso Pena metro station and hop onto a
bus so stuffed with passengers and climbing up a road so steep
and twisty I wonder whether well actually make it to the top.
Nearly an hour after boarding, we get off at Bar da Pracinha, at

the Praa Afonso Viseu in Alto da Boa Vista. And thats pretty
much the last interaction with civilisation we have for seven
hours.
An endurance athlete, I had asked Anna to come up with
a challenging day hike. A whip of a woman, born and raised
in Italys Dolomites, Anna obliges, coming up with a hike
thats not only about 30 kilometres but that also takes us to
the summits of eight peaks, several of which have 360-degree
views of the city.
Instead of killing yourself though youve got to stay alive
long enough to enjoy the beaches, remember hike just Pico
da Tijuca, with a summit knob so rocky and exposed that, in
1920, 117 stairs were cut into the side of it and a chain railing
was installed. Also, the views from its summit are the best of
the day.
From Tijuca Peaks 1016-metre (3353-foot) summit, I
see Guanabara Bay, Bico do Papagaio Peak, Pedra da Gvea,
Maracan Stadium, the Rock of the Topsail, Barra da Tijuca,
and the Atlantic Ocean. I see Christ the Redeemer, too,
but only after several minutes of searching. Seen from the
northwest, its nestled among a sea of antennas and towers. A
peak almost directly to our south blocks views of Copacabana
Beach, but we see neighbouring Ipanema Beach and then
Leblon.
My last day in Rio, I explore these beaches. Driving west out
of the city with a crew from Rio EcoeSporte Adventures, we
pass more beaches than I can count, much less remember the
names of.
I do remember Sao Conrado, because thats the beach
where the paragliders and hang gliders who launch off Pedra
Bonita land. And also Tijuca Beach, because its there where
Sergio, a true Carioca (as natives of Rio are called) and Rio
EcoeSportes founder, alerts me to the presence of caimans,
alligator-like creatures, in the brackish lagoons opposite the
beach.
But these are Carioca caimans, he says. Theyre relaxed,
like the people here. Theyre no problem to you. Evidently, the
sharks sometimes seen off these beaches got the same memo
the caimans did. Sharks here are relaxed, too. No problem,
Sergio says.
We head to Praias Selvagens, Rios wild beaches, accessible
only to those willing to hike.
Two hours by car from Copacabana, the neighborhood

of Barra de Guaratiba is still in the city of Rio. Walking up a

residential street past two- and three-storey houses painted
every shade of the rainbow but all with red tile roofs, it doesnt
feel it, though.
Making a sharp right at a tree decorated with bright buttons
nailed into it in the shape of flowers, the street eventually
morphs from a potholed lane to a dirt path. Tijuca Forest is
nice, but now youll get to see the real wild, says guide Julin
Espinosa.
Cutting across a steep, vegetated hillside, were soon out of
Guaratibas residential area and looking several hundred feet
down onto the Atlantic Ocean, which fills the horizon.
Walking the 2km to the closest wild beach several beaches
are stacked one after the other, with increasingly exiguous
trails linking them something takes me back to a walnut
forest I hiked around in Kyrgyzstan.
If I were to be transported anywhere, somewhere coastal
would make sense. But Kyrgyzstan? I cant figure out what it
is here, 23 degrees south of the equator, that makes me think
of Central Asia. Its certainly not the salty air, the petrified
dirt beneath my feet or the dreadlocked guide with Christ the
Redeemer tattooed onto the back of his muscular calf.
I puzzle over this until its time to hike up Pedra da
Tartaruga turtle stone in English. Turtle Stone looks like its
name would suggest, a rocky double mound rising out of the
ocean, attached to the mainland by an isthmus barely wider
than some of the bikinis at Copacabana. We do the steep walk
up the shell part, although a trail does go to the turtles head.
Resting at the top of the shell, 100 metres above the ocean,
we get the days best view of the wild beaches, four of them of
varying sizes and separated by rock outcrops spilling down the
hillside and into the ocean.
My day on Copacabana was wonderful, and exactly what
would be expected at a major beach in a big city: reading a
novel for the first time in over a year and, with an attendant
from the Copacabana Palace watching my lounger and
belongings, getting up every so often to wade into the ocean
to a point where it is just deep enough that the waves knock
me over. There was great people-watching. And every five
minutes, someone came over wanting me to buy a beach towel,
or hat, or massage, or temporary tattoo.
Walking back across the isthmus, we head for the first wild
beach, Praia do Perigoso. Its sand squishing up between my

17

toes, Im no longer in Rio, but on some exotic, remote island.

Or so I think. On a beach the size of five football fields, there
are half a dozen people. This is not what I expect in Rio.
In the distance, islets rise out of the ocean. At our feet,
emerald green waves crash into clean white sand. Perigoso
means danger, so this is Danger Beach, Julin says. But
I think the only danger here is that you wont want to leave.
Sergio adds, Its Carioca danger.
We swim, then find rocks to rest on. The sun dries us off
quickly and leaves a gritty layer of salt behind on my skin.
The salt wont last, so I look for a seashell to take home as a
memento. There are none. But where the beach meets the forest,
there are nuts still in their shells everywhere. They could be
walnuts the Kyrgyzstan connection! but Im not sure. I ask
Julin. He doesnt know the name, but says the energy bar he
gave me earlier had a picture of one its wrapper. Duh. Of course
the forests around the wild beaches are full of Brazil nut trees.
Brazil nuts are an entirely different beast than walnuts,
but evidently the trees they grow on are close enough to be
reminiscent.
My time in Rio could end now and Id be happy. But Sergio
has another adventure planned. Its not hiking or a beach, but
I think youll like it, he says, his English much better than he
gives himself credit for.
Less than an hour later, weve dropped off our beach
supplies at the car and are standing, feet hip-width apart, on
stand-up paddleboards and making our way across the mouth
of the Canal do Bacalhau in the protected area of Restinga da
Marambaia. Safely across, Sergio points deep into a thicket of
mangroves, most of their rainbowed roots exposed because
its low tide.
Hes indicating the spot where he once saw one of the
prettiest birds found in the area.
I cant bring myself to look for birds, though. In addition
to living in the Barrio da Tijuca lagoons, caimans live here,
too. I might risk an afternoon on a beach that is dangerous
Carioca-style, but I dont know whether Im yet ready to meet
any caimans, no matter how relaxed they are.
And we dont. An hour later, were returning our
paddleboards. We didnt see any caimans, but neither did we
see Sergios bird. Maybe its hanging out with Tijucas coatis
and monkeys.

The Washington Post

Sergio Tavares and Robson Costa on the rock formation known in English as Turtle Stone, which overlooks wild beaches.
Photo: Dina Mishev/The Washington Post

Anna Atz Asen of Free Tours de Aventur hikes Tijuca Forest. Photo: Dina Mishev/The Washington Post

the pulse travel

4
wEEKEND | travel schedules
18

THE MYANMAR TIMES ISSUE 08 I MAY 8 - 14, 2015

DOMESTIC FLIGHT SCHEDULES

YANGON TO MANDALAY
Flight
Y5 775
W9 515
YH 909
YH 917
YJ 891
7Y 131
K7 222
YJ 201
YJ 201
W9 201
YH 826
YH 835
YH 909
YH 831
YH 911
W9201
YH 829
8M 6603
YJ 601
YJ 761
YJ 211
YH 729
YH 737
YH 727
W9 251
YJ 151/W9 7151
7Y 241
K7 224
YH 731
Y5 234
W9 211

Days
Daily
1
1,2,3,5,6
Daily
5
2,4,6,7
1,3,5
1,2,4
3
Daily
3
1,7
7
4,6
2
1
5
4
6
1,2,4
5,7
2,4,6
3,5,7
1
2,5
1
1,3,5
2,4,6,7
Daily
Daily
4

Dep
6:00
6:00
6:00
6:10
7:00
6:30
6:30
7:00
7:00
7:00
7:00
7:00
7:00
7:00
7:00
7:00
7:00
9:00
11:00
11:00
11:00
11:00
11:15
11:15
11:30
13:00
14:30
14:30
14:30
15:20
15:30

Arr
7:10
7:25
7:40
8:30
8:25
8:35
8:40
8:55
8:25
8:25
8:40
8:40
8:40
8:40
8:40
8:25
11:05
10:10
12:25
12:55
12:25
14:00
13:25
13:25
12:55
16:45
16:25
16:35
16:40
16:30
16:55

MANDALAY TO YANGON
Flight
Y5 233
YH 918
YH 910
W9 201
YJ 761
7Y 132
K7 223
YH 830
YH 912
YJ 202
YJ 202
YJ 761
YH 832
YH 827
YH 836
YH 910
YJ 212
YJ 212
YJ 602
YH 732
YH 732
7Y 242
YH 728
YJ 234
K7 225
W9 152/W97152
Y5 776
W9 211
8M 6604
8M 903
YH 738
YH 730
W9 252

Days
Daily
Daily
7
Daily
5
2,4,6,7
1,3,5
5
2
3
1,2,4
1,2,4
4,6
3
1,7
1,2,3,5,6
5
7
6
6
Daily
1,3,5
1
6
2,4,6,7
1
Daily
4
4
1,2,4,5,7
3,5,7
2,4,6
2,5

Dep
7:50
8:30
8:40
8:40
8:40
8:50
8:55
11:05
11:30
11:30
12:00
13:10
13:20
13:20
13:20
13:20
15:00
15:00
15:40
16:40
16:40
16:40
16:45
16:50
16:50
17:05
17:10
17:10
17:20
17:20
17:25
17:45
18:15

Arr
9:00
10:45
10:05
10:35
10:35
10:45
11:00
14:55
13:25
12:55
13:25
17:00
14:45
14:45
14:45
14:45
16:55
16:25
17:35
18:05
18:45
18:45
18:10
18:15
19:00
18:30
18:20
19:15
18:30
18:30
18:50
19:10
19:40

YANGON TO NAY PYI TAW

NAY PYI TAW TO YANGON

Flight
YJ 201
YJ 201
6T 211
ND 910
ND 105
ND 107
ND 109
ND 9109
ND 111
SO 102
6T 211

Arr
7:55
10:20
8:00
8:15
11:40
12:20
15:40
18:00
19:20
19:00
19:20

Flight
SO 101
YJ 201
6T 212
ND 9102
ND 104
ND 106
YJ 202
ND 108
YJ 212
ND 110
ND 9110
6T 212

Arr
8:25
7:45
7:40
8:05
7:35
7:50
7:50
17:25
17:25
17:10
17:35
17:40
17:35

Flight
YH 918
YJ 891
YH 910
7Y 132
K7 223
6T 451
YH 910
YH 732
K7 225
W9 129
7Y 242

Days
1,2
4
1,3
1,2,3,4,5
1,2,3,4,5
6
1,2,3,4,5
1,2,3,4,5
7
Daily
5

Dep
7:00
7:00
7:10
7:15
10:45
11:25
14:55
17:00
18:25
18:00
18:30

YANGON TO NYAUNG U
Flight
YH 909
YH 917
YJ 891
YH 909
6T 451
K7 222
7Y 131
K7 224
YH 731
7Y 241
W9 129
W9 211
W9 129

Days
1,2,3,5,6
Daily
3
4
Daily
1,3,5
2,4,6,7
2,4,6,7
Daily
1,3,5
1,3,6
4
1

Dep
6:00
6:10
6:20
6:30
6:30
6:30
6:30
14:30
14:30
14:30
15:30
15:30
15:30

Days
5
3
1,7
4,6
3
1,2,4
2,4,6
6
2,5

Dep
7:00
7:00
7:00
7:00
7:00
7:00
9:10
11:00
11:30

Dep
7:00
8:10
8:15
8:35
9:20
10:00
10:35
13:30
16:00
17:00
18:20
19:35

Arr
8:00
13:25
9:05
9:35
10:15
10:55
13:25
14:25
16:55
17:55
19:20
20:25

NYAUNG U TO YANGON

YANGON TO MYITKYINA
Flight
YH 829
YH 826
YH 835
YH 831
YJ 201
YJ 201
6T 806
YJ 233
W9 251

Days
Daily
1,2
1,3
1,2,3,4,5
1,2,3,4,5
6
4
1,2,3,4,5
5
7
1,2,3,4,5
5

Arr
9:40
10:05
10:05
10:05
9:50
10:20
11:40
15:10
14:25

Days
Daily
3
4
2,4,6,7
1,3,5
Daily
1,2,3,5,6
Daily
2,4,6,7
1,3,6
1,3,5

Dep
7:45
7:55
8:05
8:05
8:05
8:05
8:25
17:25
17:40
17:50
17:25

Arr
10:45
10:35
9:25
10:45
11:00
8:45
9:45
18:45
19:00
19:10
18:45

YANGON TO HEHO
Flight
YH 917
YJ 891
6T 451
7Y 131
K7 222
7Y 131
YJ 891
Y5 649
YH 505
YJ 751
YJ 761
YJ 233
YH 727
YH 737
YH 727
K7 224
YH 731
7Y 241
W9 129

Days
Daily
3
Daily
2,4,6,7
1,3,5
Daily
5
Daily
1,2,3,4,5,6
3,5,7
1,2,4
6
1
3,5,7
3
2,4,6,7
Daily
1,3,5
1,3,6

Dep
6:10
6:20
6:30
6:30
6:30
7:15
7:00
10:30
10:30
11:00
11:00
11:00
11:15
11:15
11:15
14:30
14:30
14:30
15:30

HEHO TO YANGON
Arr
9:35
10:35
8:45
9:20
9:30
10:05
9:10
12:45
11:55
12:10
12:10
12:10
12:40
12:40
12:40
15:45
15:55
15:40
16:40

Flight
YJ 891
6T 452
W9 201
7Y 132
YH 918
K7 223
YH 506
YJ 762
YH 732
7Y 242
YH 728
K7 225
YJ 602
YH 738
W9 129

Days
1,5
1,3,5,7
2,4,6
2
Daily

Dep
6:45
7:00
11:15
15:30
8:20

Days
1,3,5,7
1,3,6
Daily
2,4,6

Dep
10:30
11:30
11:45
8:00

Days
2,4,6
1,2,3,4,5,6
1,3,5
1,3,6
7
1,3,4,6

Dep
8:00
10:30
10:30
11:30
11:00
15:45

Arr
8:15
9:05
13:20
17:00
10:40

Flight
Y5 326
7Y 532
K7 320
Y5 326
SO 202

Arr
12:20
12:55
12:55
9:55

Flight
K7 423
7Y 414
W9 309
6T 612

Days
1,3,5,7
Daily
3,5,7
2,4,6

Dep
7:00
8:20
10:30
11:15

Flight
YJ 202
6T 806
YH 827
YH 832
YH 836
YJ 202
YH 830
YJ 234
W9 252

Days
3
2,4,6
3
4,6
1,7
1,2,4
5
6
2,5

Dep
10:05
10:30
11:55
11:55
11:55
10:35
12:30
15:25
16:45

Arr
12:55
11:40
14:45
14:45
14:45
13:25
14:55
18:15
19:40

Flight
YH 729
YJ 751

Days
2,4,6
3,5,7

Dep
11:00
11:00

Days
2,4,6
1,3,5,7
1,3,6
Daily

Flight
K7 422
7Y 413
7Y 413
YH 506
W9 309
Y5 422

Arr
10:05
17:40
13:35
18:45
15:40

Dep
10:10
12:35
13:10
13:15

Arr
11:30
13:55
14:55
14:20

Arr
8:10
9:40
11:30
12:20

Days
2,4,6
1,3,5
7
1,2,3,4,5,6
1,3,6
1,3,4,6

Dep
9:10
11:35
12:05
13:10
14:05
16:55

Arr
11:30
13:55
14:20
14:00
14:55
17:50

Flight
K7 320
6T 708
SO 202
7Y 532

Flight
YJ 752
YH 730

YANGON TO PUTAO

Days
1,3,5,7
3,5,7
Daily
2,4,6

Dep
12:25
14:15
14:20
16:35

Arr
13:35
15:15
15:40
17:40

Days
3,5,7
2,4,6

Dep
Arr
16:10 17:55
16:45 19:10

PUTAO TO YANGON

Flight

Days

Dep

Arr

YH 826

7:00

11:00

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

Golden Myanmar Airlines (Y5)

Tel: 09400446999, 09400447999
Fax: 8604051

Mann Yadanarpon Airlines (7Y)

Flight
YH 836

Days
1,7

FMI Air Charter

Tel: 240363, 240373, 09421146545

APEX Airlines (SO)

Tel:95(1) 533300 ~ 311
Fax : 95 (1) 533312

Air Mandalay (6T)

Tel: (+95-1) 501520, 525488,
Fax: (+95-1) 532275

Airline Codes
7Y = Mann Yadanarpon Airlines
K7 = Air KBZ
W9 = Air Bagan
Y5 = Golden Myanmar Airlines
YH = Yangon Airways
YJ = Asian Wings

LASHIO TO YANGON
Arr
13:00
13:15

Air Bagan (W9)

SO = APEX Airlines

DAWEI TO YANGON

YANGON TO LASHIO
MYITKYINA TO YANGON

Dep
8:35
15:35
11:30
17:15
13:20

THANDWE TO YANGON

YANGON TO DAWEI
Flight
K7 319
SO 201
6T 707
7Y 531

Days
1,5
2,4,6
1,3,5,7
2
Daily

SITTWE TO YANGON

Arr
8:55
13:10
11:20
13:50
11:50
16:40

Domestic Airlines

Tel: 383100, 383107, 700264

Fax: 652 533

MYEIK TO YANGON

YANGON TO THANDWE
Flight
K7 422
YH 505
7Y 413
W9 309
7Y 413
Y5 421

Arr
10:35
10:15
10:35
10:45
10:45
11:00
14:00
17:00
18:45
18:45
18:10
19:00
17:35
18:50
19:10

Yangon Airways (YH)

YANGON TO SITTWE
Flight
7Y 413
W9 309
6T 611
K7 422

Dep
9:25
9:15
9:25
9:35
9:35
9:45
11:55
15:50
15:55
15:55
16:00
16:00
16:25
16:40
16:55

Tel: 656969
Fax: 656998, 651020

YANGON TO MYEIK
Flight
Y5 325
K7 319
7Y 531
Y5 325
SO 201

Days
3,5
Daily
Daily
2,4,6,7
Daily
1,3,5
1,2,3,4,5,6
1,2,4
Daily
1,3,5
1
2,4,6,7
6
3,5,7
1,3,6

Dep

Arr

11:00

14:45

YH 831

4,6

7:00

11:00

YH 832

4,6

11:00

14:45

YH 835

1,7

7:00

11:00

YH 827

11:00

14:45

W9 251

2,5

11:30

15:25

W9 252

2,5

15:45

19:40

6T = AirMandalay
FMI = FMI Air Charter

Subject to change
without notice
Day
1 = Monday
2 = Tuesday
3 = Wednesday
4 = Thursday
5 = Friday
6 = Saturday
7 = Sunday

WWW.MMTIMES.COM

wEEKEND | FICTION

INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT SCHEDULES

YANGON TO BANGKOK
Flights
Days
Dep
PG 706
Daily
6:15
8M 335
Daily
7:40
TG 304
Daily
9:50
PG 702
Daily
10:30
TG 302
Daily
15:00
PG 708
Daily
15:15
8M 331
Daily
16:30
PG 704
Daily
18:20
Y5 237
Daily
19:00
TG 306
Daily
19:45
YANGON TO DON MUEANG
Flights
Days
Dep
DD 4231
Daily
8:00
FD 252
Daily
8:30
FD 254
Daily
17:30
DD 4239
Daily
21:00
YANGON TO SINGAPORE
Flights
Days
Dep
8M 231
Daily
8:25
Y5 2233
Daily
9:45
TR 2823
Daily
9:45
SQ 997
Daily
10:35
3K 582
Daily
11:15
MI 533
2,4,6
13:45
MI 519
Daily
17:30
3K 584
2,3,5
19:15
YANGON TO KUALA LUMPUR
Flights
Days
Dep
8M 501
1,2,3,5,6
7:50
AK 505
Daily
8:30
MH 741
Daily
12:15
8M 9506
Daily
12:15
8M 9508
Daily
15:45
MH 743
Daily
15:45
AK 503
Daily
19:30

Arr
8:30
9:25
11:45
12:25
16:55
17:10
18:15
20:15
20:50
21:40
Arr
9:50
10:15
19:05
22:45
Arr
12:50
14:15
14:25
15:10
15:45
20:50
22:05
23:45
Arr
11:50
12:50
16:30
16:30
20:05
20:05
23:45

YANGON TO BEIJING
Flights
Days
Dep
Arr
CA 906
3,5,7
23:50 05:50+1
YANGON TO GUANGZHOU
Flights
Days
Dep
Arr
8M 711
2,4,7
8:40
13:15
CZ 3056
3,6
11:25
16:15
CZ 3056
1,5
17:30
22:15
YANGON TO TAIPEI
Flights
Days
Dep
Arr
CI 7916
1,2,3,5,6
10:50
16:15
YANGON TO KUNMING
Flights
Days
Dep
Arr
CA 416
Daily
12:15
15:55
MU 2012
3
12:40
18:45
MU 2032
1,2,4,5,6,7 15:20
18:40
YANGON TO HANOI
Flights
Days
Dep
Arr
VN 956
1,3,5,6,7
19:10
21:30
YANGON TO HO CHI MINH CITY
Flights
Days
Dep
Arr
VN 942
2,4,7
14:25
17:15
YANGON TO DOHA
Flights
Days
Dep
Arr
AI 701
1,5
14:05
19:50
QR 919
1,4,6
8:00
11:10
YANGON TO SEOUL
Flights
Days
Dep
Arr
0Z 770
4,7
0:35
9:10
KE 472
Daily
23:30 07:50+1
YANGON TO HONG KONG
Flights
Days
Dep
Arr
KA 251
5
1:30
5:55
KA 251
1,2,3,4,6,7
1:10
5:45
Flights
NH 814

YANGON TO TOKYO
Days
Dep
Daily
21:45

YANGON TO DHAKA
Flights
Days
Dep
BG 061
1,6
15:35
BG 061
4
13:45

Arr
06:50+1
Arr
17:00
15:10

BANGKOK TO YANGON
Flights
Days
Dep
Arr
TG 303
Daily
7:55
8:50
PG 701
Daily
8:50
9:40
Y5 238
Daily
21:30
22:20
8M 336
Daily
10:40
11:25
TG 301
Daily
13:05
14:00
PG 707
Daily
13:40
14:30
PG 703
Daily
16:45
17:35
TG 305
Daily
17:50
18:45
8M 332
Daily
19:15
20:00
PG 705
Daily
20:15
21:30
DON MUEANG TO YANGON
Flights
Days
Dep
Arr
DD 4230
Daily
6:20
7:05
FD 251
Daily
7:15
8:00
FD 253
Daily
16:20
17:00
DD 4238
Daily
19:30
20:15
SINGAPORE TO YANGON
Flights
Days
Dep
Arr
TR 2822
Daily
7:20
8:45
Y5 2234
Daily
7:20
8:50
SQ 998
Daily
7:55
9:20
3K 581
Daily
8:55
10:25
MI 533
2,4,6
11:35
15:00
8M 232
Daily
13:50
15:15
MI 518
Daily
15:15
16:40
3K 583
2,3,5
17:05
18:35
KUALA LUMPUR TO YANGON
Flights
Days
Dep
Arr
AK 504
Daily
6:55
8:00
8M 9505
Daily
10:05
11:15
MH 740
Daily
10:05
11:15
8M 502
1,2,3,5,6
12:50
13:50
8M 9507
Daily
13:40
14:50
MH 742
Daily
13:40
14:50
AK 502
Daily
17:50
19:00
AI 227
1
10:35
13:20
BEIJING TO YANGON
Flights
Days
Dep
Arr
CA 905
3,5,7
19:30
22:50
GUANGZHOU TO YANGON
Flights
Days
Dep
Arr
CZ 3055
3,6
8:40
10:25
CZ 3055
1,5
14:40
16:30
8M 712
2,4,7
14:15
15:50
TAIPEI TO YANGON
Flights
Days
Dep
Arr
CI 7915
1,2,3,5,6
7:00
9:55
KUNMING TO YANGON
Flights
Days
Dep
Arr
MU 2011
3
8:25
11:50
CA 415
Daily
10:45
11:15
MU 2031
1,2,4,5,6,7 13:55
14:30
HANOI TO YANGON
Flights
Days
Dep
Arr
VN 957
1,3,5,6,7
16:50
18:10
HO CHI MINH CITY TO YANGON
Flights
Days
Dep
Arr
VN 943
2,4,7
11:50
13:25
DOHA TO YANGON
Flights
Days
Dep
Arr
AI 401
1,5
7:00
13:20
QR 918
3,5,7
20:40 06:25+1
SEOUL TO YANGON
Flights
Days
Dep
Arr
KE 471
Daily
18:45
22:25
0Z 769
3,6
19:50
23:25
HONG KONG TO YANGON
Flights
Days
Dep
Arr
KA 252
4
22:50 00:30+1
KA 250
1,2,3,5,6,7 21:45
23:30
TOKYO TO YANGON
Days
Dep
Daily
11:00

Arr
15:40

DHAKA TO YANGON
Flights
Days
Dep
BG 060
1,6
12:30
BG 060
4
10:40

Arr
14:55
13:05

Flights
NH 813

YANGON TO INCHEON
Flights
Days
Dep
Arr
KE 472
Daily
23:30 07:50+1
8M 7702
Daily
23:30 07:50+1
8M 7502
4,7
00:35
09:10
W9 607
4,7
14:20
16:10
PG 724
1,3,5,6
13:10
15:05
YANGON TO CHIANG MAI
Flights
Days
Dep
Arr
Y5 251
2,4,6
6:15
8:05
7Y 305
1,5
11:00
12:50

INCHEON TO YANGON
Flights
Days
Dep
KE 471
Daily
18:45
8M 7701
Daily
18:45
8M 7501
3,6
19:50
W9 608
4,7
17:20
PG 723
1,3,5,6
11:05
CHIANG MAI TO YANGON
Flights
Days
Dep
Y5 252
2,4,6
9:25
7Y 306
1,5
13:45

YANGON TO GAYA
Flights
Days
Dep
8M 601
3,5,6
7:00
AI 236
2
13:10
AI 234
1,5
14:05
YANGON TO DELHI
Flights
Days
Dep
AI 236
2
13:10

Arr
16:30

GAYA TO YANGON
Flights
Days
Dep
AI 235
2
9:10
8M 602
3,5,6
9:20
AI 233
5
15:00
DELHI TO YANGON
Flights
Days
Dep
AI 235
2
7:00

YANGON TO KOLKATA
Flights
Days
Dep
AI 234
1
14:05
AI 228
5
18:45

Arr
17:20
19:45

KOLKATA TO YANGON
Flights
Days
Dep
AI 227
1
10:35
AI 233
5
13:30

Arr
13:20
18:00

YANGON TO MUMBAI
Days
Dep
1,5
14:05

Arr
19:35

Flights
AI 675

MUMBAI TO YANGON
Days
Dep
1,5
6:10

Arr
13:20

Arr
16:30

BANGKOK TO MANDALAY
Flights
Days
Dep
PG 709
Daily
12:00

Flights
AI 775

MANDALAY TO BANGKOK
Flights
Days
Dep
PG 710
Daily
14:05

Arr
8:20
14:10
15:05

Arr
22:25
22:25
23:25
18:10
12:00

Arr
13:20

DON MUEANG TO MANDALAY

Flights
Days
Dep
Arr
FD 244
Daily
10:50
12:15

NAY PYI TAW TO BANGKOK

Flights
Days
Dep
Arr
PG 722
3
20:15
23:15
PG 722
1,2,3,4,5
19:30
22:30
PG 722
1,2,3,4,5
20:15
23:15

CHAPTER 7

Tel: 09254049991~3

Air Bagan Ltd.(W9)

Tel: 513322, 513422, 504888. Fax: 515102

Air China (CA)

Air India

Tel: 253597~98, 254758, 253601. Fax 248175

Bangkok Airways (PG)

Tel: 255122, 255265. Fax: 255119

Biman Bangladesh Airlines (BG)

Tel: 371867~68. Fax: 371869

Condor (DE)

Tel: 370836~39 (ext: 303)

Dragonair (KA)

Tel: 255323 (ext: 107), 09-401539206

Golden Myanmar Airlines (Y5)

Tel: 09400446999, 09400447999
Fax: 8604051

Malaysia Airlines (MH)

Tel: 387648, 241007 (ext: 120, 121, 122)

Fax: 241124

Myanmar Airways International (8M)

Tel: 255260. Fax: 255305

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)

Tel: 255491~6. Fax: 255223

Tiger Airline (TR)

Tel: 371383, 370836~39 (ext: 303)

Vietnam Airlines (VN)

Tel: 255066, 255088, 255068. Fax: 255086

Airline Codes
3K = Jet Star
8M = Myanmar Airways International
AK = Air Asia
BG = Biman Bangladesh Airlines
CA = Air China
CI = China Airlines
CZ = China Southern
DD = Nok Airline

KA = Dragonair

MH = Malaysia Airlines

Arr
12:50

BANGKOK TO NAY PYI TAW

Flights
Days
Dep
Arr
PG 721
1,2,3,4,5
17:00
19:00
PG 721
3
18:25
19:35
PG 721
1,2,3,4,5
17:45
19:45

MU = China Eastern Airlines

NH = All Nippon Airways
PG = Bangkok Airways
QR = Qatar Airways
SQ = Singapore Airways
TG = Thai Airways
TR = Tiger Airline
VN = Vietnam Airline
AI = Air India
Y5 = Golden Myanmar Airlines

Subject to change
without notice
Day
1 = Monday
2 = Tuesday
3 = Wednesday

4
5
6
7

=
=
=
=

Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday

Saffron

EDITED BY KO NAN DOI

Tel: 666112, 655882

MI = Silk Air

MANDALAY TO DON MUEANG

Flights
Days
Dep
Arr
FD 245
Daily
12:45
15:00
Arr
16:40

Air Asia (FD)

KE = Korea Airlines

SINGAPORE TO MANDALAY
Flights
Days
Dep
Arr
Y5 2234
Daily
7:20
16:30
MI 533
2,6
11:35
15:00

KUNMING TO MANDALAY
Flights
Days
Dep
MU 2029
Daily
13:00

Tel: 255412, 413

Arr
12:10
12:30
18:00
Arr
12:10

A Study in

All Nippon Airways (NH)

FD = Air Asia

MANDALAY TO SINGAPORE
Flights
Days
Dep
Arr
MI 533
2,6
15:55
20:50
Y5 2233
1,2,4,5,6
7:50
14:15

MANDALAY TO KUNMING
Flights
Days
Dep
MU 2030
Daily
13:50

CHRONICLES OF BEI KA STREET

International Airlines

Arr
10:15
14:35

19

UR prisoner, Daniel Maung,

then related the following
account. My story begins
in the state of California, and
two of its great cities that face
each other across the Bay San
Francisco and Oakland, he
began. For it was in Oakland that
lived the demon Jasper Monk,
and in San Francisco that dwelt
the fairest and sweetest girl I ever
met my dearest Kate, Katherine
Moran. We all knew each other
from studying together at the
University of Berkeley in the 60s.
It was the summer of love,
he continued fondly. You
gentlemen may be too young to
remember, but you must have
heard what it was like in San
Francisco and in Berkeley in
those far-off days. Long hair,
rock music, free drugs, free
sex. Thats no exaggeration.
Whatever you may have read is
the truth. I was there. And as
students at Berkeley, the most
left-wing, free-thinking place
on the planet why, we had it
all, I tell you. What between
sit-ins and be-ins and love-ins
with flowers in our hair, the
free rock concerts and the free
LSD, we spent most of our time
floating high above the earth. As
a chemistry major, I was even
able to manufacture some of the
drugs we used myself.
Well, we were all into
mysticism. We had a Myanmar
master for our studies, a friend of
my parents. Even though I grew
up in California in Daly City, we
always spoke the old language
at home. Jasper and Kate took
to it at once. We even gave each
other Myanmar names. Jasper
was, of all things, arwm Myitta,
loving-kindness. They called me
"m;ajrmifDahmyaun, dagger. And
poor, beautiful Kate was yg&rD
Parami, acquired virtue.
I wouldnt say Jasper and I
were rivals for Kates affection. It
never seemed to me that way at
the time. Maybe there were things
going on below the surface I never
saw. At any rate, she chose me,
and he seemed to take it in good
part. I can tell you gentlemen she
made me the happiest man in the
world.
But in the early 70s we all
came down with a crash. The
world didnt seem so much fun
anymore. When we left Berkeley,
Kate and I hooked up with one
of those California new-age
religious sects in Frisco, not far
from Haight-Ashbury, where all
the hippy action was in those
days. There wasnt much money.
We could always get acid, but
it was illegal now, and the cops
were starting to crack down.
We werent really what youd
call imbued with a strong work
ethic, and the idealism of the 60s
protests seemed to have curdled
into something violent and sour.
As for Jasper, he went
in a different direction. He
graduated the same time as
us in comparative religion,
as it happens, magna cum
laude then got involved with a
motorcycle gang. He always had a
wild side, and he was into leather.
Next we heard, hed formed his
own chapter, the Zombie Angels,
and they were making a name
for themselves as one of the most

dangerous outfits on the West

Coast. There were wild stories of
drug raids and shoot-outs with
the police.
Well, he had his life and we
had ours, so I had no problem
with that until the day he turned
up without warning at the squat
I shared with Kate and a few
others. We spent our time fasting
and meditating and chanting,
and drug-taking. Back home in
Daly City Id been brought up
as a Baptist, but I always felt
more drawn to Eastern religion.
Though I lacked the discipline
for the noble faith of Buddhism,
I revered its precepts and I still
follow its practices to this day, if
temptation allows me.
Anyway, Jasper was coming to
us with a proposition. His Zombie
Angels chapter had grown to be a
power in the illegal drugs market,
but the cops and the FBI were hot
on his trail. He said he needed to
pull off just one more major deal
that would net him enough money
to retire on. He claimed he was
getting tired of the violence and
the criminality. He talked a lot
about the old days, how wed sat
up all night discussing the cycle of
being and suchlike. And he asked
for our help.
It didnt seem like much at
first. He just needed a couple of
lookouts, but they had to be clean.
Jasper was pretty sure all his
own people were known to the
Feds, and I had the feeling he was
afraid some of them had turned
informer. I didnt see why we
should help Jasper, but he played
on the sympathy Kate had for old
times sake, and I went along with
it to protect her.
Well, I was right not to trust
him. The whole thing turned
out to be a setup. It was Jasper
himself tipped off the cops to
throw them off his own scent
and on to ours. While he escaped
with the drugs, Kate and I were
trapped in a shoot-out. She was
killed outright and I was caught
and made to take the blame for
the whole caper. They put me in
San Quentin for 20 years.
All that time I swore that as
soon as I was released I would go
looking for Jasper Monk, and so I
did. I meant to make him pay for
Kates death and the loss of my
freedom. I put out feelers in the
Bay area, and heard hed gone to
the Golden Triangle to arrange a
major opium score. I set off after
him, but arrived too late. They
told me there hed come on here
to Yangon on his way back to the
States.
I had to be careful. But my
big advantage over him was that
I could pass as a local. I hit on the
idea of having my head shaved and
sometimes going about as a monk.
It made me sick to do it, but as a
disguise it was perfect. But I also
needed to move swiftly around
the city. So I rented a sidecar and
passed myself off as its driver,
which required another disguise.
As a reverend monk or a sidecar
driver, I could go anywhere in
the city I pleased without anyone
giving me a second look. There
arent so many foreigners in
Yangon, particularly looking like
him. And pretty soon I had tracked
him down to his lair, a small hotel
off Strand Road. All I had to do
then was get him alone.
Next week: A deadly choice

20

THE MYANMAR TIMES ISSUE 08 I MAY 8 - 14, 2015

wEEKEND | PUZZLERS

SUDOKU PACIFIC

Universal Crossword
Edited by Timothy E. Parker

A SIMPLE QUESTION By Alex Cole

ACROSS
1 Knight wear
6 Place of
pilgrimage
11 Scoutmaster,
often
14 Puppeteer Lewis
15 Asian nurses
16 Samurais sash
17 Formal greetings
19 Day break?
20 When the train
may stop?
21 Before, to bards
22 Kitchen meas.
23 Hindu retreats
27 Type of operation
29 So thats your
game, huh?
30 Follow me!
32 Stupefy
33 Not T-shirt
weather
34 Mortise filler
36 Packs away
39 What I have
here
41 Drying out
program
43 Crushing blow
44 State in India
46 Bubbly drinks
48 Take off
49 Camera
diaphragm
51 Like some loads
52 Eggs in a lab
53 Parts of the human
population
56 Revived
58 ___ be an honor
59 Utmost (Abbr.)
60 Government
procurement org.
61 Farm sound
62 Enjoying Broadway,
perhaps
68 Quaint place
to stay
69 Say nothin, e.g.
70 ___ -cotta
71 Start of a giggle
72 Church assembly
73 County by the
Thames

4 Command
5 It may be read
before a
punishment
6 Longtime Chinese
Chairman
7 Ostrich cousin
8 Citadel student
9 Line for a Broadway
show?
10 States as true
11 Why people
cant do
some things
12 Ridicule
13 Likably silly
18 Talk
incessantly

23 Major blood
artery
24 Persian
potentates
25 Question for
a magician
26 Loudness units
28 Bolt partners
31 Absolutely not!
35 Lowest point
37 Voluntarily forgo
38 Ending for farm
or home
40 Wrapped
garment
42 No-goodnik
45 Subtraction
signs

47 Having feeling
50 To the
exclusion
of all else
53 End, as of ones
patience
54 Make
reparations
55 Large beer mug
57 Goes effortlessly
63 Promising
words
64 Nancy Drews
boyfriend
65 Brief time units
66 Bonanza find
67 Candle
makeup

DOWN
1 Certain residue
2 Fraternity letter
3 Big mouth

DILBERT

BY SCOTT ADAMS

PEANUTS

BY CHARLES SCHULZ

CALVIN AND HOBBES

BY BILL WATTERSON

PUZZLE SOLUTIONS

WWW.MMTIMES.COM

WEEKLY PREDICTIONS

APRIL 10 - 16, 2015

wEEKEND | puzzlers
AUNG MYIN KYAW
4th Floor, 113, Thamain Bayan Road, Tarmwe township, Yangon.
Tel: 09-731-35632, Email: williameaste@gmail.com

AQUARIUS | Jan 20 Feb 18

LEO | July 23 Aug 22

The very act of focusing on imperfection will

pull you away from your goal of being kind
and gentle. Be aware of how quickly your
negative and insecure thinking can spiral out
of control. Redefine your objectives in a more focused
manner. Know that the drive for achievement is born of
positive desire. Love may be out of understanding.

Starting a new venture takes tenacity, not to

mention a reliable source of funding. Fear not the
slow pace of growth, but be very afraid of
standing still. Understand the value of others,
reach your hand in and draw out that value, since only the leader
can cause the led to exceed their own reach. Transparency does
not mean simplicity, nor is the lucid merely colourless.

PISCES | Feb 19 March 20

VIRGO | Aug 23 Sept 22

You should adopt your own view of your

responsibilities. Continue to be conscientious and
diligent in getting things done. Your social skills
need to be better adjusted to different types of
people and situations. Listen well and hone sensitivity to the
ideas and needs of others. The more you pick up on unspoken
meanings, the clearer you will see your way to success.

The time is right for you to put things on a

happier basis. Friendships are in good aspect
once more this week. Do your utmost to get
things back in balance now after the rocky
patch you have been through. Dont think nobody has noticed
just because they were too embarrassed to say anything. An
unusual opportunity may present a challenge.

ARIES | Mar 21 Apr 19

LIBRA | Sept 23 Oct 22

Every person has within them the power to

create. But that effect that you strive to
create is not an end in itself, but rather a
by-product of the way you apply yourself to
the encounters you experience. Do not neglect the values
and meanings of love. Avoiding close relationships may
become difficult as social harmony deepens.

Asking the wrong questions at the wrong

time in the wrong place could yield the wrong
answers. If the wrong questions are asked of
you, answer by asking another question. Say
nothing about the mistakes of others, and take care not to
reveal your own weaknesses. A big opportunity might be
coming that will bring fortune but not fame.

TAURUS | Apr 20 May 20

SCORPIO | Oct 23 Nov 21

Birth-order can help determine individual

characteristics (though not as much as the
stars). Dont be surprised to learn that you
and your siblings had different parents. Be
aware that money is merely a means to an
end and, though undeniably the root of all evil, actually
quite useful. Self-care is central to personal motivation.

When faced with the choice of pursuing your

career and enjoying higher social status, take
time to consider your response. You cant have
it all, and you cant always get what you want,
but if you try, you can cultivate the patience to steer you
through the emotional storms that are now looming on the
horizon before you.

GEMINI | May 21 June 20

SAGITTARIUS | Nov 22 Dec 21

Your decisions may change as your decisionmaking policy changes, or as that dream
youve been pursuing inevitably mutates.
Dont forget that the limits of your field of
vision are not the same as the limits of the world. Try to
know everything of something and something of
everything. Love is a construct of the heart.

Life is not all raindrops on roses and

whiskers on kittens. Events may take on a
darker hue, forcing you to confront zero-sum
choices in a deflationary environment. Take
time to tailor the messages you send, for you have no
control over those you receive. This week, time
management will be particularly important.

CANCER | June 21 July 22

CAPRICORN | Dec 22 Jan 19

The real secret of success is enthusiasm.

There! Now its no longer a secret. Though all
that glitters is not gold, strive by indirection to
acquire golden opinions. Master the
mechanics of joy, for it is the joyful mind that accomplishes
great things when others are cast down and disconsolate.
Eat more greens.

This is a period of large, slow movements,

barriers, blockages and delays. Try to be
patient. You deserve a rest after the exertions
of the past several days, which have been
particularly intense. Take advantage of the deceleration in
your life-road by sneaking another look at the map. Then
check the compass. High speed is not always good.

21

Unlocking the puzzles

of the subconscious
Authors who improvise and those
who plan both benefit from thoughts
they dont know theyre having
D

O you remember those plastic

slide puzzles you used to get in
party bags? They were made
up of a three-by-three grid with
eight tiles and a blank square the
missing tile allowing you to move the
others around.
This nine-grid puzzle was the
central image behind the story of
Mark Haddons The Red House
although, bizarrely, he didnt know it
when he wrote the book.
I was being interviewed by Claire
Armitstead at the Edinburgh Books
Festival when she said that when she
read the book she kept thinking about
those tile puzzles, wrote Haddon on
his blog after the interview.
I felt a lurch, because before
writing The Red House Id given
up on a novel called The Missing
Square, the central image of which
was one of those tile puzzles, and
whose organising conceit was that
certain absences may make a world
imperfect, but they enable that
world to change and generate new
meanings. I suddenly realised this
image had remained a model for
the central structure of The Red
House, which is a story about the
eight remaining members of a family
and a ninth member a stillborn
daughter who is still having
a profound effect on the family
despite, or because of, her absence.
This hidden structure enabled
Haddon to plot and plan his novel
around a central theme without even
realising it. Unusual, but perhaps
not unheard of, this got me thinking:
How many other novelists have
plotted their books subconsciously?
Perhaps another subconscious
plotter is John Boyne, who wrote the
first draft of The Boy in the Striped
Pyjamas in just three days and is
known for writing without planning.
I think a lot of my writing comes
from the subconscious, he said.
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
was an unusual writing experience
no sleep for three days and constant
writing. I wouldnt normally do that.
Nowadays, when I write I start with
an idea for a scene or a character and
just see where it takes me.
Like Haddon, Boyne finds
some unconscious thoughts reveal
themselves in the plot. Sometimes
when youre mining your thoughts

for ideas you realise youve been

thinking about a particular story for
a while. And then you start writing
sections that youre not sure why
are in the text but later on in the
writing the subplot reveals itself.
Boyne also admits he doesnt
know where the story is going to
go when he starts writing. I never
know the ending of my books. The
more you write [without planning]
the better you get at it and the more
interesting the work becomes.
So if the improvising writers see
hidden plots emerge in their work,
what about lifes planners? Take
Michelle Paver, a former City lawyer
turned author, who likes to plan her
books in stages. When I spoke to
Paver, she agreed this hidden logic
can reveal itself while writing.
Even if you plan your book, the
actual writing is unplanned. All
stories come from the subconscious
which is why it doesnt make sense
to over-plan. And its only once you
get on the ground with the characters
that you think, Oh, hang on a second,
hes not going to want to do that, and
you have to change your plot. So Im
constantly being surprised and finding
unplanned things because the writing
is a process of experiencing things on
the ground with the characters.
A bit of planning is good, and it
can test the strength of your story,
but dont treat it like a blueprint,
says Paver. I always imagine it like
a whole load of plates spinning, and
youve got the plan, the research
and the plot, and youve got to kind
of keep them spinning and [be]
constantly moving between one and
the other.
So it seems both those who plan,
and those who dont, acknowledge
the role of the subconscious in
their work. How much then of what
authors pen is truly unstructured,
and how much is the result of
subconscious planning? As with
those plastic slide puzzles, although
the author has an image of the final
objective, this picture is not always
available as the story unfolds.
So is the writing truly
spontaneous? It could be argued that
all writers have a master plan for
their work some of them just dont
know it.

The Guardian

22

THE MYANMAR TIMES ISSUE 08 I MAY 8 - 14, 2015

wEEKEND | QUICK GUIDE

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
Yeiktha Road, Yangon. Tel:
222886, 222887,
Egyptembassy86@gmail.
com
France 102, Pyidaungsu
Yeiktha Road, Yangon. Tel:
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
Yeiktha Road, Yangon. Tel:
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 7, Gandamar
St, Yankin 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,
Yangon. Tel: 515282,
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,
Yangon. Tel: 222812,
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 - classified.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

Excel Treasure Hotel

Yangon

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.520, Kaba Aye Pagoda

Road, Bahan Township,
Yangon, Myanmar.
Tel: 01-559150 to 7
Fax: 01-559150

Excel River View

Hotel

No.(3) Block (1 to 4), Near

Thanlyin Bridge, Thanlyin
Township, Yangon Myanmar.
Tel: 056-22550, 09-8601892,
Fax: 056-22546,

Excel Palace Hotel

No.(25, D1), New University

Avenue Road, Bahan Township, Yangon, Myanmar.
Tel: 01-544491, 01-556601
Fax: 525028, 01-544604
excel@myanmar.com.mm
autospeed123@gmail.com
www.exceltreasurehotel.com

Novotel Yangon Max

459, Pyay Rd, Kamayut
Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar.
Tel.: +95(1) 2305858
Email: bqsales1
novotelyangon@gmail.com
Parkroyal Yangon,
Myanmar
33, Alan Pya Pagoda Rd,
Dagon tsp.
tel: 250388. fax: 252478.
Savoy Hotel
129, Damazedi Rd,
Kamayut tsp.
tel: 526289, 526298,
Sedona Hotel
Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd,
Yankin. tel: 666900.
Strand Hotel
92 Strand Rd. tel: 243377.
fax: 289880.
Summit Parkview Hotel
350, Ahlone Rd, Dagon
Tsp. tel: 211888, 211966.

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.
Confort Inn
4, Shweli Rd, Bet: Inya Rd
& U Wisara Rd, Kamaryut,
tel: 525781, 526872
Clover Hotel
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

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

153/159,Bogyoke Ag San Rd,

(Cor of 46 st),Botataung Tsp.
Yangon, Myanmar,
Tel: 951-298986,296209,
www.grandlaurelhotel.com
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

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
Yuzana Garden Hotel
Alanpya Pagoda Rd, Dagon
Tsp. Tel: 503734, 524387.

ACCOMMODATIONHOTELS (NAy PyI TAw)

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

Excel Capital Hotel

Nay Pyi Taw

No.(23/24), Yarza Thingaha

Rd, Dekhina Thiri Township
Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar.
Tel: 067-8106011 to 17,
Fax: 067-8106020,
excel@myanmar.com.mm
autospeed123@gmail.com
www.exceltreasurehotel.com

No.1, Wut Kyaung St,

Yay Kyaw, Pazundaung Tsp,
Yangon, Myanmar.
Ph: 01-8610640, 01-202187,
www.mkhotelyangon.com
Panda Hotel
Min Ye Kyaw Swa Road,
Lanmadaw Tsp, Yangon.
Tel: (95-1) 212850 ~ 3,
229358 ~ 61,
Inya Lake Resort Hotel
37 Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd.
tel: 662866. fax: 665537.

Reservation Office (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

WWW.MMTIMES.COM

wEEKEND | QUICK GUIDE

23

THE MYANMAR TIMES MARCH 20 , 2015

ACCOMMODATION
LONG TERM

ARCHITECTS &
MODULAR BUILDINGS

HAPPY HOMES
REAL ESTATE & PROPERTY
MANAGEMENT

Tel: 09-7349-4483,
09-4200-56994.
E-mail: aahappyhomes@
gmail.com, http://www.
happyhomesyangon.com
Hotel Yangon
91/93, 8th Mile Junction,
Tel : 01-667708, 667688.

BEAUTY & MASSAGE

contactus@greenarc.net.au
Tel : 09-730-22820

AIR CONDITION

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.
Sule Shangri-La Hotel
223 Sule Pagoda Rd. tel:
242828. fax: 242838.
Yuzana Hotel
130, Shwegondaing Rd,
Bahan Tsp, tel : 01-549600

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
General Aircon
83-91, Ground Flr, Bo Aung
Kyaw St, Kyauktada.
Ph: 01-706223, 373462.
Hitachi Aircon
SA 7, Aung Zaya Housing,
Ahlone Strand Rd, Corner
of Ahlone Rd & Strand Rd.
Ahlone tsp.Tel: 01-2301267, 09-431-53423.

BOOK STORES

ADVERTISING & MEDIA

WE STARTED THE ADVERTISING
INDUSTRY IN MYANMAR SINCE 1991

MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

A D V E RT 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

Beauty 49
49 street (middle),
Botataung Tsp.
Tel:292650
California Skin Spa
NO 32.B, Inya Myaing Road,
Yangon. (Off University
Road) Tel : 01-535097,
01-501295. Open Daily :
(10 AM - 8 PM)

KH Hotel, Yangon
28-A, 7 Miles, Pyay Rd,
Mayangone Tsp, Yangon.
Ph: 95-1-652532, 652533

17, Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd,

Yankin Tsp.
Tel: 650933. Fax: 650960.
Email : micprm@
myanmar.com.mmwww.
myanmar micasahotel.com

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

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

YANGON
La Source Beauty Spa
12-E, Inya Rd, Kamayut Tsp.
Tel: 512380, 526653
Beauty Bar by La Source
Shop (1004), Sedona Hotel,
Tel : 860 5377 Ext : 7167
MANDALAY
La Source Beauty Spa
13/13, Mya Sandar St,
bet: 26 x 27, bet: 62 x 63,
Chanaye Tharzan Tsp.
Tel : 09-4440-24496.
www.lasourcebeautyspa.com

Marina Residence, Yangon

Ph: 650651~4, Ext: 109
Beauty Plan, Corner of
77th St & 31st St, Mandalay
Ph: 02 72506
Yves Rocher
147, Shwe Gone Taing Rd,
West Yay Tar Shay Ward,
Bahan, Ph: 01-8604930~31

BUSINESS SERVICE

CAR RENTAL
CENTURION AUTO GROUP
Corporate Car Rental
Transfer | Daily | Monthly| Fleet

English Speaking Driver

On-board Wi-Fi
$1-million Insurance
Concierge & Refreshment
Defensive Driver Training
Tel: 571586, 09 250188232
www.centurionauto.com

Car Rental Service

No. 56, Bo Ywe St,
Latha Tsp, Yangon.
Tel : 01-246551, 375283,
09-2132778, 09-31119195.
Gmail:nyanmyintthu1983@
gmail.com,
Moe Car Rental
Than Thu Mar Rd,
Thuwunna, Thingangyun.
Tel: 09-2540-07712, 0949570697, 09-799658370.

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

COLD STORAGE

Est. 1992 in Myanmar

Cold Storage Specialist,
Solar Hot Water Storage
Solutions.
Tel: 01 663656,
09 73164485, 09 252395198
Email: sales@glovermkm.
com.mm

CONSTRUCTION

MYANMAR EXECUTIVE
LIMOUSINE SERVICE

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

Self Drive Daily Rental

Brand New Left Hand
Drive
Comprehensive Insurance
Daily Rental (24 hours)
Unlimited Kilometres
24/7 Roadside Assistance
www.yomafleet.com
soe@yomafleet.com
+95 9 4500 35280

DELIVERY SERVICE

News & Business Ideas

facebook box.com.mm
http://box.com.mm

COFFEE MACHINE

Express Courier & Cargo

One Stop Logistic Solution
Ygn, Hot Line: 011224270

FITNESS CENTRE
Balance Fitnesss
University Avenue Rd,
Bahan Tsp. Yangon.
01-656916, 09 8631392
Email - info@
balancefitnessyangon.com

GEMS & JEWELLERIES

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

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

CO WORKING SPACE

No. (6), Lane 2

Botahtaung Pagoda St,
Yangon.
01-9010003, 291897.
info@venturaoffice.com,
www.venturaoffice.com

CONSULTING

Myanmar Research | Consulting

Capital Markets

Shwe Hinthar B 307, 6 1/2

Miles, Pyay Rd., Yangon.
Tel: +95 (0)1 654 730
info@thuraswiss.com
www.thuraswiss.com

Worlds leader in
Kitchen Hoods & Hobs
Same as Ariston Water
Heater. Tel: 251033,
379671, 256622, 647813

FLORAL SERVICES

Kham Le
22, Thukha Waddy St,
Suneyan Park, Yankin, Ph:
01-8605223, 8605224.

Ruby & Rare Gems

of Myanamar
No. 527, New University
Ave., Bahan Tsp. Yangon.

sales@manawmaya.com.mm
www.manawmayagems.com

Tel: 549612, Fax : 545770.

The Lady Gems

7, Inya Rd, Kamayut Tsp,
Yangon, Myanmar.
Tel : 01-2305800,
09-8315555

GENERATORS
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.

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

FOAM SPRAY
INSULATION

Your Most Reliable Jeweller

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

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

HEALTH SERVICES

DUTY FREE

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.

ELECTRICAL

Est. 1992 in Myanmar

Electrical & Mechanical
Contractors, Designers,
Consultants.
Tel: 01 663656,
09 73164485, 09 252395198
Email: sales@glovermkm.
com.mm

ENTERTAINMENT

Learn to dance with

social dancing
94, Bogalay Zay St,
Botataung T/S,
Yangon.
Tel : 01-392526,
01-1221738

Foam Spray Insulation

No-410, Ground Fl,Lower
Pazuntaung Rd, Pazun
taung Tsp, Yangon.Telefax
: 01-203743, 09-5007681.
Hot Line-09-730-30825.

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

GAS COOKER &

COOKER HOODS

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

98(A), Kaba Aye Pagoda

Road, Bahan Township,
Yangon. Tel: 542979,
553783, 09-732-16940.
Fax: 542979
Email: asiapacific.
myanmar@gmail.com.
Dent Myanmar
Condo (C), Room (001),
Tatkatho Yeikmon Housing,
New University Avenue Rd,
Bahan Tsp, Yangon.
Tel: 09 8615162, 09 8615163,
542 375, (Ext 1155)

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

24

THE MYANMAR TIMES ISSUE 08 I MAY 8 - 14, 2015

wEEKEND | QUICK GUIDE

THE MYANMAR TIMES MARCH 20, 2015

HOUSING
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

NO.61, 2nd Floor, 101 Street,

Kandawlay, Mingalar
Taung Nyunt Tsp, Yangon,
Myanmar.
Ph: 01-205102, 09 2603
60932, 09 2603 60933,
09 3334 6666

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

01 9000 712~3, Ext 330/332,

Email: enquiries.HM@
mmrdrs.com, www.
hermanmillerasia.com
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 : 951-687 778, 684 013
phgemarketing@
spa-mm.com,
www.punhlainggolfestate.com

MARINE
COMMUNICATION &
NAVIGATION

Franzo Living Mall

15(A/5), Pyay Rd,
A1(9miles),Mayangone Tsp,
Yangon.
Tel : 01-664026, 01-656970,
09-43205018

HOTEL SUPPLY

Intl Quality Uniform &

Promo Gifts
for Corporate, Hotel, F&B
Tel: (959) 972 154 990,
Email: suchada@
stgroupholdings.com

Premium Chef Uniform

No. H-8, May Kha Housing,

May Kha St., Thingangyun
Tsp, Yangon.
Tel: 01 855 0105, 09 506
7816, 09 254443366
Email: theworkwear
myanmar@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/
workwearmyanmar

LIGHTING

99 Condo, Ground Floor,

Room (A), Damazedi Rd,
Kamayut Township,
Yangon, Myanmar.
Tel : 09-2504-28700
info@decorum.mm.com

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

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

Worlds No.1 Paints &

Coatings Company
Top Marine Show Room
No-385, Ground Floor,
Lower Pazundaung Road,
Pazundaung Tsp, Yangon.
Ph: 01-202782, 09-851-5597

OFFICE FURNITURE

Tel : 01-9000712~13 Ext : 330

09-4200-77039.
direct2u@mmrdrs.com

22, Pyay Rd, 9 mile,

Mayangone Tsp.
tel: 660769, 664363.

99 Condo, Ground Floor,

Room (A), Damazedi Rd,
Kamayut Township,
Yangon, Myanmar.
Tel : 09-2504-28700
info@decorum.mm.com

REMOVALISTS

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

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

Sole Distributor
For the Union of
Myanmar Since 1995
Myanmar Golden Rock
International Co.,Ltd.
79-D, Bo Chein St, Pyay Rd,
6 Mile, Hlaing Tsp,
Tel: 654810~654819
654844~654848

TOP MARINE PAINT

No-385, Ground Floor,
Lower Pazundaung Road,
Pazundaung Tsp, Yangon.
Ph: 09-851-5202

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

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

REAL ESTATE

World famous Kobe Beef

Near Thuka Kabar
Hospital on Pyay Rd,
Marlar st, Hlaing Tsp.
Tel: +95-1-535072

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

American best practices

Pabaedan Township.
09 253 559 848
info@PathwayMoving.com
www.PathwayMoving.com
Yangons premier mover

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.

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.

Delicious Hong Kong Style

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

Quality Chinese Dishes

with Resonable Price
@Marketplace by City Mart.
Tel: 01-523840 Ext.109

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.

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)

Coffee & Snack Bar

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

Heaven Pizza
38/40, Bo Yar Nyunt St.
Yaw Min Gyi Quarter,
Dagon Township.
Tel: 09-855-1383

SC STORAGE YANGON
Monthly storage available
Transportation of goods
provided,
Mobile: 09-253 559 848,
Email: YangonStorage@
gmail.com

TRAVEL AGENTS

Yangon International
School (YIS)
Grades, Pre-school Grade 12.
American Curriculum.
117, Thumingalar Housing
Thingangyun Tsp
Yangon, Myanmar.
Tel : 95 1 578171, 573149
Fax : 95 1 578604
Website :
www.yismyanmar.com

SERVICE OFFICE

Executive Serviced Offices

Asian Trails Tour Ltd

73 Pyay Rd, Dagon tsp.
tel: 211212, 223262.
fax: 211670. email: res@
asiantrails.com.mm
Shan Yoma Tours Co.,Ltd
Ph: 01-9010378, 9010382,

www.exploremyanmar.com
www.exploreglobaltravel.
com

WATER HEATERS

The Global leader in

Water Heaters
A/1, Aung San Stadium
East Wing, Upper
Pansodan Road.
Tel: 01-256705, 399464,
394409, 647812.

www.hinthabusinesscentres.com

Tel : 01-4413410

Made in Japan
Same as Rinnai Gas Cooker
and Cooker Hood
Showroom Address
Executive Serviced
Office, Registered
and Virtual Office, Hot
Desking, Meeting Rooms
Tel: +(95) 1 387947
www.officehubservices,com

STEEL STRUCTURE

Design, Fabrication,
Supply & Erection of Steel
Structures
Tel : +95 9 252399569
Email : Sales@WECMyanmar.com
www.WEC-Myanmar.com

Reservation Office (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

Faucets | Showers |
Sanitarywares | Bathroom
Accessories, Ph: 379671,
256622, 399464, 09 9771
09852. Address: Same
as ARISTON
Grohe
Bath Room Accessories,
79-B3/B3, East Shwe Gone
Dine, Near SSC Womens
Center, Bahan.
Tel : 01-401083,

WATER PROOFING

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

WATER TREATMENT

SPORTS

Premium Trophies
From Malaysia/Italy

RESORT

SANITARY WARE

Real Estate Agent

N o Fe e s fo r C l i e n t s ,
Contact Us : 09 2050107,
robin@prontorealtor.com

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

Water Heater

RESTAURANTS

Good taste & resonable

price
@Thamada Hotel
Tel: 01-243047, 243639-41
Ext: 32

STORAGE
SC STORAGE YANGON

G-05, Marketplace by
City Mart.
Tel: 01-523840 Ext: 105

PLEASURE CRUISES

Moby Dick Tours Co., Ltd.

Islands Safari in the Mergui
Archipelago
No.89-91, Rm No.2, Gr Fr,
32nd St, Pabedan Tsp, Ygn.
Tel / Fax: 01-380382
E-mail: info@islandsafari
mergui.com. Website: www.
islandsafarimergui.com

SCHOOLS

No. H-8, May Kha Housing,

May Kha St., Thingangyun
Tsp, Yangon. Tel: 01 855
0105, 09 540 8885. Email:
trophystudio@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/
trophystudio.mm

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

SUPERMARKETS
Capital Hyper Mart
14(E), Min Nandar Road,
Dawbon Tsp. Ph: 553136.
City Mart (Aung San) tel:
253022, 294765.
Junction Square
Pyay Rd, Kamayut,
Ph: 01-527242.
Junction Zawana
Lay Daung Kan St,
Thingangyun, Ph: 573929.
Ocean (North Point)
Pyay Rd, 9 mile,
Ph: 01-652959.
Ocean (East Point)
Mahabandoola Rd,
Ph: 01-397146.
Orange Super Market
103, Thu Damar Rd,
Industrial Zone, North
Okkalar, Ph: 9690246

Water Treatement Solution

Block (A), Room (G-12),
Pearl Condo, Kabar Aye
Pagoda Rd, Bahan Tsp.
Hot Line : 09-4500-59000

WEB SERVICE

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

WWW.MMTIMES.COM

wEEKEND | SOCIALITE

25

A humdinger of
a bash

Daw Thin Thin Hlaing, Daw Naw Aye Aye Myat, Sadanan Yodpradoo, U Myat Soe Win, U Thant Zin Htwe

Guests gathered for the

long-awaited opening
of Hummingbird
restaurant on April
29. The restaurant, on
Phonegyi Road, serves a
delicious menu of Latin
American dishes, and
the rooftop bar is tipped
to become Yangons
hottest hangout.
Myo Thwin. Min Thaw Tun

Dell laptop event

Guests celebrated the
introduction of the
new Dell laptop
range in Yangon
at the Vintage
Luxury Hotel
on April 24.

Ko Aung Kyaw Thet, Ma Zin Mar Yee, Ma Ei Ei Mon, Ma Mya Yu Yu Nway

Thom, Linda Lim

Wayne Third

Danica Kumara, Leena

Nann Khin Zayar

Lynn Myat, Khin Sandar Myint

Lets get ready

to rumble
Workplaces were
empty on the
morning of May 3
as crowds gathered
in bars across the
city to watch the
much anticipated
Mayweather vs
Pacquiao fight. Gloves
off to the folks over at
50th Street Bar, who
kept the coffee coming
all morning.

Khin Cindy Soe, Trinh Proctor

Jirka, Martin and Max

Thuan and John

26

THE MYANMAR TIMES ISSUE 08 I MAY 8 - 14, 2015

wEEKEND | WHATSON

EVENTS
FRIDAY 8
ART
Exhibition by Myanmar sculptor U Soe
Tint entitled A retrospective of his
work, including sketches, sculptures and
works created by U Soe Tints students
(until May 17). Goethe-Villa, 8 Ko Min Ko
Chin Road, Bahan 10-6pm

MUSIC
Nightly Live Music. Kokine Bar &
Restaurant (next to Kokine Swimming
Club) 6-11pm
The Sky Party. Swelling beats from
house music to gypsy, breaks to hip-hop
and electro, for a nostalgic Yangon night
out. Thiripyitsaya Sky Bistro, 20th floor,
Sakura Tower, 339 Bogyoke Aung San
Road, Kyauktada 10pm

SATURDAY 9
ART
Kooe Diary. Exhibition by nine talented
contemporary artists (until May 13). The
Yangon Gallery, Pyay Road, Peoples Park.
10-6pm

NIGHTLIFE
Fake me Im famous. Come and shake
your booty to the beats of the one and
only Mr Y supported by David Ghetto.
Mojo, 135 Inya Road, Bahan 10pm
Salsa night. Dance the night away with
Riccardo from Latino Bangkok. Union Bar,
42 Strand Road, Botahtaung 9pm

MISC
Weekly run. All levels of runner can join.
Balance Fitness, 103 University Avenue
(corner of Thanlwin Street), Bahan
7:15am
Yangon Hash House Harriers Saturday
run. A mixed, family-style Hash. Runs
usually take about an hour and start
from Yangon University, University
Avenue, Kamaryut 2:45-8pm
Classic car show. Myanmar Culture
Valley, Peoples Park, U Wisara Road
9am-9pm

MUSIC
Live Jazz. Sky Bistro Bar and Restaurant.
20th floor, Sakura Tower, 339 Bogyoke
Aung San Road, Kyauktada 7-10pm

SUNDAY 10
MISC
Walkathon as part of UN Global Road
Safety Week. Peoples Park, U Wisara
Road 5-10am
Classic car show. Myanmar Culture
Valley, Peoples Park, U Wisara Road
9am-9pm
Happy Mothers Day entertainment
program. Games, food and prizes. Free
entry. Capital Hypermarket, Min Nandar
Road, Thaketa 3-7pm
Make-up class by Myanmar Beauty Talk.
K30,000. Art & Me Studio, 22 Lower Kun
Ywe Tan Street, Kyeemyindaing 10-2pm
Short film screening night in
collaboration with Short Film Fanatics.
Featuring the animations Peter & The
Wolf (2006), The Legend of the Scarecrow
(2005), Fallen Art (2004), Invention of Love
(2010), Hold The Line (2005) and more.

Rangoon Tea House, 77 Pansodan Road

8:30-10pm

MONDAY 11
MUSIC
Monday Blues. Mojo Bar, 135 Inya Road,
Bahan 9:30pm
Live piano music by Bonny. Thiripyitsaya
Sky Bistro, 20th floor, Sakura Tower, 339
Bogyoke Aung San Road, Kyauktada 7pm

MISC
Trivia Night. Free beer pitcher for round
winners and winning team gets a
K30,000 bar tab. 50th Street Bar, 50th
Street (lower block) 8-11pm

NIGHLIFE
Unlimited cocktails offer. K8000. B2O Bar
and Bistro, 96 20th Street (upper block),
Latha 8-11:45pm

TUESDAY 12
MUSIC
Live music by The Experience Band.
Thiripyitsaya Sky Bistro, 20th floor, Sakura
Tower, 339 Bogyoke Aung San Road,
Kyauktada 7-10pm

MISC
Tuesday Snippets. Gallery Conversation
and drinks. Pansodan Gallery, Pansodan
Street 7-10pm
Wine deal. All wine bottles sold at half
price. Mojo Bar, 135 Inya Road, Bahan
7-9:30pm

WEDNESDAY 13
NIGHTLIFE
Mojito Night. The Lab, 70A Shwegonedaing Road, Bahan 5:30-10pm
Girls night out. Mojo Bar, 135 Inya Road,
Bahan 8pm
Salsa at Salud. K5000 entry (includes
free Mojito, beer or cocktail of your
choice). Salud Salsa Club (Latin
Restaurant), 7C Wingabar Road (next to
Clover Hotel), Bahan

MUSIC
Jazz music and dinner. Rendez-Vous
restaurant and bar, Institut Francias, 340
Pyay Road 7:30-9:30pm

THURSDAY 14
MISC
Weekly run. All levels of runner can join.
Balance Fitness, 103 University Avenue

(corner of Thanlwin Street), Bahan

6:15am

FILM
Start times at Mingalar (1,2), Top Royal,
Shae Saung (1,2) and Nay Pyi Taw
cinemas are 10am, 12:30pm, 3:30pm,
6:30pm and 9:30pm
Start times at Junction Square and
Juntion Maw Tin are 9:30am, 12:30pm,
3:30pm and 6:30pm daily and 9:30am,
12:30pm, 3:30pm, 6:30pm 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 Pyi Taw Cinema, near Sule Pagoda
Avengers: Age of Ultron (3D). Directed by
Joss Whedon. American superhero film
The Spongebob Movie.
Directed by Paul Tibbitt. American
animated adventure comedy.
Mingalar Cinema 2,
Dagon Center 2, Myaynigone
Avengers: Age of Ultron (3D).
Shae Saung Cinema,
Sule Pagoda Road, Kyauktada
Fast & Furious 7. Directed by James Wan.
American action film.
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Mingalar San Pya Cineplex, Phone Gyi
Street and Anawrahta, Landamadaw
Avengers: Age of Ultron

WWW.MMTIMES.COM

wEEKEND | WHATSON

27

WHATS ON PICK OF THE WEEK

Exhibition remembers the Second World War

memory of the millions who fought,
whether in uniform or as civilians,
and their sacrifices and their chivalry,
across Europe and Asia, standing up
for their freedom and their human
rights, their future and their children.
To view the wartime photographs,
taken between 1939 and 1945, is to
hear the armies marching and to fear
the bombs.
This is a very important
exhibition for us and for me. As the
world changes, younger generations
may start to forget the lessons of that
time, said Colonel Dmitry S Gurov,
military, air and naval attach of the
embassy of the Russian Federation.
These photographs tell what really
happened to the people of Europe
and Japan and Burma during the
war.
The war caused an estimated 50
million military and civilian deaths.

BY NANDAR AUNG

LD does not mean forgotten.

May 1945, 70 years ago this
month, marked the end of the
deadliest and most violent conflict
in human history, the Second World
War.
The suffering and the sacrifice,
as well as the triumph, are being
commemorated this week in
an exhibition of documentary
photographs mounted jointly by the
embassies of the Russian Federation
and the Peoples Republic of China.
Stark as they are, the blackand-white images on display in the
exhibition, 70 Years of the Great
Victory at the National Museum in
Pyay Road, Dagon township, Yangon,
vividly bring to life the men and
women who resisted Nazism and
Fascism. The days of victory in the
Great Patriotic War and the founding
moments of the United Nations are
among the historic images displayed.
The organisers say they mounted
the exhibition to pay tribute to the

Photo: Zarni Phyo

70 Years of the Great Victory

runs until May 17 at the National
Museum, 66/74 Pyay Road, Dagon
township. Opening hours are 9:30am
to 4:30pm.