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Myanmar: Construction Resumes in Suspended Dam Project

tan — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:53:03 +0000

Weekly Eleven reported that construction of the controversial Myit Sone Dam in Kachin State in Myanmar which was suspended last year by the government has been resumed.

Myanmar: New Currency Exchange Rate

tan — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:41:24 +0000

The Central Bank of Myanmar set the new currency exchange rate of 818 Kyats per 1 US Dollar, as part of the move to implement a new floating currency exchange system. Previously, the official rate was 6.4 Ks. per 1 US Dollar.

Myanmar: Life Inside a Refugee Camp

tan — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 02:52:01 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage on Refugees.

Nine months have passed since clashes broke out between the Myanmar Army and Kachin Independence Organization (KIO). Thousands of people have fled to refugee camps in other areas in Kachin State, and in villages near China's border.

At least 66 refugees camps have been set-up in government-controlled areas, while others are in Kachin Independence controlled areas and on the China side of the border.

Based in Yangon, Burmese blogger Nang Nyi and her friends visited one of those refugee camps near the China border in mid-February, and she wrote about her experience there. In part one of her blog entry, she started her story by saying:

As everyone know, I am just a normal girl. I do not get involve in politics, nor do I understand it, and I don't hold onto or participate in any parties or organizations or any ideology. I only believe in freedom, justice, and humanitarianism. So I would like to share back my experience in the way I've seen it and I've felt it.

There were four other friends who went along on the trip with her. They travelled from Yangon to Mandalay and then to Muse, in Shan State. They then crossed over to Chinese's border town of Shwe Li to buy the necessary things for the refugees. The next day, they went to the refugee camp:

Map of the Trip Made by Nang Nyi and her Friends

When war broke in Kachin State, refugees ran away to the nearest border to escape. Loizer Refugee Camp is a well-known camp. But the refugee camps we went to were at the borders near Lwe Je. The camps are in the Chinese area of Lai Yin, next to Lwe Je. The refugee camps near Lai Yin were managed by a Kachin group called Wunpawng Ninghtoi (WPN). “Wunpaung” in Kachin means “All Kachins”, and “Ninghtoi” means “Light”. So you can say that this group is the “Light of Kachins”.

When she entered the refugee camp, she saw many kids, but the kids seemed to be afraid of her:

A Kachin Kid (Photo by Nang Nyi)

I have volunteered at orphanages and monastic education centres, so I was used to being delighted at seeing the kids and greeting them enthusiastically. But here, we can not get near these kids. We were sad to see that kids ran away from us because we were unfamiliar faces and our looks showed that we were Bamar.

She also commented about the conditions of the refugee camp:

Tents at the Refugee Camp (Photo by Nang Nyi)

One thing we faced when we got there was (not having enough) toilets. In a refugee camp that had over 1000 people, they only had 11 toilets. The water for the toilet has to be retrieved from an almost-dry stream over a mile away. In the whole camp, there was one well. They use that water for drinking. The camp was built on an old dump site between the sugarcane fields at the outskirts of a Chinese village.There were no big trees around the area, so during day time, it was dusty and hot air blew. At night, the cold winter wind passed through the waterproof canvases and gets very chilly.

In part two of her blog entry, she wrote about visiting old mills, or coal factories to find out about their needs. She wrote more about that in her post:

Kids Playing at the Refugee Camp (Photo by Nang Nyi)

Some of the camps that they lived in are very near to the places where the fightings were going on. We also got to a place where they said over a field of corn and a field of sugarcanes, they'll be back to their old village. At such camps, they go back to their old villages to get drinking water. They had to watch out for the situation, and avoid the gunfights. On the morning that we were leaving, a man who went to harvest sugarcanes in a sugarcane field died of a bomb explosion. Also, many people have died in those camps because of diarrhea.

On the second day of her trip, they and the responsible people from the camp held a small meeting to discuss about what the refugees needed, and what they can give back in return:

This Woman Sells Brooms and Sell them at Chinese Markets (Photo by Nang Nyi)

The main things that they need are drinking water, water for cooking, and toilets. After that, medicines, and then foodstuff. Clothes, kitchen items, blankets and pillows are sufficient due to donations from the Chinese villages. But what they gave us were sweaters and pants, so they still need longyis for the women. So we immediately donated the left-over money so that they can dig a well there.

In part three of her entry, Nang Nyi wrote about the terrible ordeals that the Kachin villagers faced:

One evening, the (Burmese) army came to the place where the villagers were hiding, and started shooting at them. The villagers grabbed their children who were playing near the village and stream, and tried to run away, but a woman who had just given birth, her new seven-days-old child, a 4-year-old kid, and her mother were left at the village.

The villagers who were hiding in th forests heard the children crying all night, but they dared not go back into the village. So they didn't run very far away, and waited all night. Only after the soldiers left in early morning, the father of the 7-day-old-child, and the grandfather of the 4-year-old kid went back to look. The two kids couldn't make a sound anymore due to crying all night. The corpse of the mother of 7-day-old child, who had an bayonet wound from left rib to right rib, was found under a rock. The villagers were not able to take her with them, nor bury her, so they just carried the kids, and left. The mother of the 4-year-old kid was abducted by the soldiers, and haven't heard since.

She also wrote about what a Kachin villager had told them during the meeting:

A note written by a Kachin refugee, which says: "We all love you. When you go back to Yangon, will you give us your phone number? When you get back to Yangon, will you send us our photos? We all love you"

“I am so happy that the Bamar kids are visiting us. We do love the Bamar people. After all, we are all human, so we ‘re happy and thankful that you came and helped us in anyway you can. This is not because of how much you donated us, but because of your kind hearts. We are happy that you will be helping us with the things we need, but what we really need are not those. We want peace. We want to go home. We want to live peaceful in our own farm, in our own land, and in our own home with our families. So please help us for that.” - the villager told us with tears in his eyes.

When Nang Nyi and her friends left the camp, the villagers came along with them to their car. She wrote about their farewell message:

A Group Photo of the Villagers at the Refugee Camp (Photo by Nang Nyi)

We told them, “We will see you again, but not here. In Kachin State.” They cried when they heard that. They replied, “Yes, we also want to see you again, but not here. We will meet you in our own villages”.

The fulfillment of the wishes of the Kachin refugees may not be too far away. Delegates of the KIO Army and representatives of the Burmese government will be meeting in Ruili for the third round of talks for ceasefire negotiation this week. Before departing for Ruili, Sumlut Gam, Head of the Kachin delegates, said:

I'm optimistic. Everything will be better.”

This post is part of our special coverage on Refugees.

Myanmar: Visiting the Kachin Refugee Camp

tan — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 12:54:17 +0000

Nang Nyi wrote about her experience when she and her friends visited a Kachin Refugee camp near the Shan State borders of Myanmar and China. Over 1000 Kachin people have been staying at this refugee camp ever since fighting broke out between the government army and the Kachin Independence Army

Myanmar: Freed Blogger's First Post

tan — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:24:14 +0000

Myanmar Blogger Nay Phone Latt, who was released on January 13th along with other prominent political prisoners after being imprisoned for 4 years, wrote his first blog post about his experience in prison.

Myanmar: A Year After Suu Kyi's Release

tan — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 23:47:45 +0000

The Burmese people in Myanmar and the whole world rejoiced after Aung San Suu Kyi's release last year on November 13, 2010. Now it has almost been a year since she had been released.

Maydarwii wrote on her blog as soon as Suu Kyi was released:

I thought that I will blog again only after I finished my exams, but today, I will blog because of a happy occassion. Because of the vague news I've been hearing, my mind was in a limbo since yesterday. For this kind of news is heard all the time, but they sometimes turned out to be false. I wished that this news was correct but not feeling too positive about it. While eating breakfast that morning before going out, my uncle told me that the news I heard yesterday was still unconfirmed so I was feeling a bit let down. After coming back home at 1pm, I was hungry so was preparing lunch when my uncle came into the kitchen happily announcing, “She's been released!” We left our lunches at the table, and came in front of the TV watching the news for a long time. We forgot that we were hungry. After all, we have been waiting to hear this news for many years.

I was feeling so overjoyed to see the joyous crowd in front of Daw Suu's house which made me feel goosebumps and tears were forming in my eyes. I couldn't stop looking at Daw Suu's blurry face on TV. I feel so happy and sad at the same time. Indescribable feelings overwhelmed my heart.

Aung San Suu Kyi, 8 October, 2011. Image by Flickr user Utenriksdept (CC BY-ND 2.0).

Htoo Tayzar was one of the Burmese bloggers who went to NLD Headquarters to listen to her speech to the Burmese people the next day after release. He wrote:

At 10:30am, there was a lot of people already, and many of them was holding “We Love Su” posters. I noticed that there was no uniformed men around there, except for the traffic police. There are also a lot of people at the betel nut shops and tea shops which were directly in front of the headquarters. I saw that many grand dads and grand moms came, holding little kids by the hand. People who came were from different generations

He took many photos at the event, even though “it was too crowded to even stand properly and had to be stand on tip-toe to take these photos.”

Meanwhile, Kyaw Thu, a Burmese actor who has also won many hearts because of his Free Funeral Service Society, gave paintings he drew to Suu Kyi. When asked how he feels about Suu Kyi's release, he said:

We now have a warm light in our lives. I don't want us to lose our goals. I don't want us to have a life that prevents us from working because of fear. Now “Mother” Suu can lead and guide us on our way. We can't just be happy for her release. It is important that we will follow her guidance.

Many local news journals were not allowed to put her release as headline and reporting about her release was heavily censored. However, a local sports journal was reportedly suspended for two weeks due to its headline which read, “Sunderland Freeze Chelsea,” “United Stunned by Villa” & “Arsenal Advance to Grab Their Hope”, but with light-colour letters in the headline can be read out as “Su Free. Unite & Advance to Grab The Hope.”

Furthermore, nine other local journals were suspended for a week for putting Suu Kyi's release news on front page.

However, after the new government has been inaugurated in 2011, there were relaxations of press censorship on news about Aung San Su Kyi. An article written by her, called “My Holidays” was featured on Pyi Thu Khit Journal.

She traveled to Bagan with her son in July 2011. It was her first trip outside Yangon after being released from house arrest. She greeted hundreds of local residents, and many were elated to be able to meet her.

A resident said:

“I'm so happy to see our country's daughter,” said a 70-year old flower seller at the pagoda. “Nobody but Suu Kyi can unite this country.”

She was also against the implementation of Myitsone Dam Project in Kachin State. She also seemed to be catching up with social and cultural events after having been imprisoned for years. She attended several events, such as “Sketch of A River Art Exhibition“, 150th Anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore at the Indian Embassy, a football match and the recent opening of Baydar Library. She will also be sponsoring the Art of Freedom Film Festival, where she took financial responsibilities for awarding the entries.

In August 2011, she met with Myanmar's President U Thein Sein for the first time, and said she was “satisfied” with the talks.

She also met with other foreign dignitaries, such as United States Senator John McCain.

Meanwhile, Suu Kyi said that she wil make a decision about re-registering her party National League for Democracy (NLD) after parliament amends the election laws. She said:

Whether we re-register our NLD party depends on the law. That is the reason why we will need to wait until that law has been endorsed to decide about this. When this law has been endorsed, we will hold a meeting according to party laws and decide on this issue. We are very precise. We only do things according to the law. That is why I cannot decide yet because I haven't seen the law.”

On November 13, 2011, she will be holding a press conference in the NLD headquarters in celebration of her one-year freedom.

Myanmar: Controversial Dam Project Suspended

tan — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 04:24:08 +0000

The Weekly Eleven quoted a memo sent to the Parliament by Myanmar's President U Thein Sein which ordered the suspension of the controversial Myit Sone Dam project on Ayeyarwaddy River in Kachin State.

Myanmar: Bomb Blasts in Three Cities

tan — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 16:00:14 +0000

Bombs have exploded almost simultaneously in the capital city Naypyidaw, Mandalay and Pyin Oo Lwin on Friday, June 24, 2011.

A Car Bomb Blast in Mandalay, Myanmar. Source: Eleven Media.

According to Mizzima, the two bomb explosions in Naypyidaw and Mandalay happened almost at the same time. The bomb explosion in Mandalay was planted on a car parked in front of Zaycho Hotel. Eyewitnesses saw two injured people being carried away by ambulances.

The Voice Weekly has posted photos of the bomb explosion at Mandalay on their Facebook page.

Another bomb explosion in Naypyitaw happened at a home on Ngu War St. near Tha Pyay Kone market place. An eyewitness said:

The explosion was very severe and I saw the debris from the explosion landing as far as 80 feet. Officials are now investigating in the area, and I also saw them bring a mine-searching dog.”

The bomb explosion in Pyin Oo Lwin was also at a vacant home. An eyewitness said the bomb explosion caused the whole house to collapse.

Myanmar: Post-Earthquake Stories from Aid Workers

tan — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 15:57:14 +0000

A 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit the northern Shan State in Myanmar on Thursday, and according to a state-run TV report, the death toll has increased to 74 people, and the number of injured has climbed past 100 people.

According to an updated report from Weekly Eleven, several aftershocks have been recorded in areas near the eastern Shan State spreading fear among the residents. One resident in Oak Kyin village said on March 26, around 12pm:

There was another earthquake last night and one this morning also. I don't dare to stay in my house anymore. The shaking is felt more because my house is ground-based. Nothing can be predicted because it is a nature event. I will let fate decide.

Residents also said that because of the earthquake, the death toll in Tarchileik, Tarle, Nar Yaung village, Mine Lin village, and Mine Koe village is estimated to be more than a hundred, with Mine Lin village having the most number of casualties.

Earthquake damage in Myanmar. Photo from blog of akm-kunta

In the same report by Weekly Eleven, an aid worker described the situation in Tarle:

Wounded people have been sent to Tarchileik Hospital and Mine Phyat Hospital. Aid groups from Tarchileik and Kyaing Tong have based their camps in Tarle. I can say that the situation has calmed down a little. Reconstructions have begun. Rehabilitation camps have been opened in Tarle and Nar Yaung village.

An aid worker who went to Tarle, one of the worst-hit areas, was interviewed by The Irrawaddy:

I arrived in Tarle around 10am. Most of the 3-storey buildings on the side of the road only has 2 stories now. Many 2-storey buildings have also collapsed. Monasteries were also included in those collapsed buildings. Some of these buildings are more than 20 years old, so it made things worse.

Not only residents of Tarle, but also the residents in Tarchileik had to sleep on tarpaulins. When I arrived in Tarle, I saw that some people were clearing the things at their house by themselves. Some were crying in front of relative's houses. I also saw some crying because they lost their relatives. I couldn't ask them anything. I should say some were lucky to be alive.

The government hasn't done anything yet. Some were sent to hospitals. But I didn't go to the hospital so I don't know what's happening there. As far as I see, I see that there are about 60 deaths in Tachileik. There were about 20-30 deaths there (in Tarle). Death toll would be above that.

I donated some materials, instant noodles and water. I gave all of them to residential officials. I don't know what they will do with these things. They have opened temporary shelters. Those who have relatives go and live at their house.

Now, the highway has been closed temporarily. They said that it will be going under maintenance.

Another aid worker from Tarchileik said:

The earthquake happened on March 24, 8:25pm. Some hours after, officials from Tarchileik came and asked me to volunteer so I went with them. I arrived in Tarle at midnight.

On the road to Tarle, there is one big bridge. When we reached that place, our car cannot go forward anymore. So we had to cross the bridge on foot and continue on to Tarle. The road at the edge of the bridge had moved down about 5 feet. There was a great deal of destruction. With some houses, only the roof was visible and the whole house has went down into the ground.

What I had to do there was to send wounded people to Tarchileik hospital. There is a hospital at Tarle, but that hospital had also collapsed. So at first, we had to place the patients at the empty yard in front of the hospital and give them treatment. Afterwards, they were carried by stretchers to the car at the other side of the bridge. The walk there takes about 15 minutes.

When we get to the other side of the bridge, we can't immediately send the patients to the hospital. Because we didn't have many available stretchers, we had to take that stretcher back to the hospital and carry another patient. There wasn't enough cars so we couldn't send one patient to Tarchileik hospital with one car. Therefore, the patient who was sent first to the car had to wait for other patients to arrive.

Another thing is we had to wait for many levels of officials' approval for clearance in order for the car to leave to the hospital. That wastes a lot of valuable time. In the car I had to drive, one patient died when we were about to reach Tarchileik Hospital. There were people who had survived the earthquake, but died when they shouldn't have because they were not treated in time for their sustained injuries. It really makes me sad.

U Win Swe, president of Myanmar Geological Society, said to Weekly Eleven:

In the past, strong earthquakes have occured in areas around Shan State. But it has been awhile since that has happened. Earthquakes usually reoccur in areas that were previously hit before. It was only a matter of how frequent. In areas among the quake fault line, there is a tendency for after shocks to follow after a big earthquake has hit.

He also warned that because the Indian plate keeps pushing into Asia, Myanmar should be on alert for earthquakes in the future.

Myanmar: Over 3,000 Attend Mandalay Barcamp 2011

tan — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 15:54:44 +0000

The city of Mandalay in Myanmar held its first Barcamp from February 12 to 13. It took the organizers almost one year to prepare for this event.

According to Weekly Eleven, over 3,100 people attended the two-day event, and on Feb 12, the first day of Mandalay Barcamp, a total of 56 topics were discussed, and on the second day, 52 topics were discussed. A wide range of topics were discussed at the Barcamp, such as information technology, literature, language, society, economics, health and education.

At first, Mandalay Barcamp was supposed to be held at Innwa Hotel, but the location was later changed to Poppa Hotel, on 78th St.

Nyi Min San wrote in his blog about the location change and why it was so difficult to choose a spot in Mandalay:

“… Though we had initially chosen Innwa Hotel, we had to re-think about the location (of Mandalay Barcamp) because of certain problems we faced. We all discussed for a possible solution, and the only solutions we were able to arrive at were to change the location or change the date. Changing the date is a very difficult task for it will not be good for the businesses who have sponsored our event, and also, we have already advertised the dates, and the costs of that are a lot. Therefore, we decided not to change the date, and just thought about changing the location.

Because Mandalay did not have an ICT Park like in Yangon, choosing the location was a really difficult problem for us. I do wish that there was an ICT Park in Mandalay.

For the location, we had to choose within available hotels, and had to find a hotel that meets with the budget we have. The location would also have to be a place with easy access.”

On the 12th, Nyi Min San and Ko Agga held a discussion about CMS Technology. Nyi Min San wrote about the discussions he planned to hold on the 13th:

“Today, MBS (Myanmar Blogger Society) would be holding a Panel Discussion. From Mandalay side, Ko MgHla, Ko Thakhingyi, Ko Ye Myat Thu and I will join. Others who are interested in this topic are also welcomed. …

Another topic that Ko MgHla, Ko Thakhyingyi and I are thinking of having is a discussion on Lightroom. We will all discuss about photo-retouching.”

MgHla, a blogger from Mandalay and PR Team Leader for Mandalay Barcamp, wrote in his blog:

“We were able to successfully hold Mandalay Barcamp 2011, the first barcamp for Mandalay, at Poppa Hotel from February 12-13. It was a barcamp where various topics were discussed, and not only IT-related topics. There were over 3100 attendees for the 2-day event. We were wrong to estimate that only a 1000 people will attend. Because we had to move to another location, the new location does not have big rooms, so that became a weakness. I would like to thank the main organizers Mandalay MCPA and MICA for their organizing efforts.”

Photos of the Barcamp event were also uploaded to Barcamp Mandalay page on Facebook. MandalayBloggers.org also wrote a photo post on Mandalay Barcamp.

Because of the big success of Mandalay Barcamp, there are plans underway to hold a Photo Camp in Mandalay.

Myanmar: Suu Kyi is free at last

tan — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 01:57:38 +0000

She has been in prison for 15 years in the past 21 years, but now she is free at last. Burmese pro-democracy icon and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was released from detention by the military-backed government of Myanmar Saturday afternoon, a week after the holding of a nationwide election which was dominated by pro-administration candidates.

The Democratic Voice of Burma was able to document the first few minutes of her release. This video shows Suu Kyi waving to supporters in front of her lakeside house.

AUNG SAN SUU KYI RELEASED from DVBTV English on Vimeo.

News spread out last Thursday that Suu Kyi will be freed this weekend on the date of expiration of her house arrest sentence. It was reported that she has signed the paper for her release around 12pm on that day. Even members of the National League for Democracy (NLD), Suu Kyi's party, started cleaning the headquarter's secretariat office in anticipation of her release. On Friday, there was a crowd of 500 or more people gathering in front of the NLD office in Yangon, all waiting for “Aunty Su's” release. A banner in front of the headquarters reads “Today's the Day of Her Release“.

More than 100 NLD members and supporters also donated blood at a local hospital to draw attention to her release.

Suu Kyi's impending freedom was later doubted when the Burmese top court rejected her final appeal against her house arrest this Friday, making the people anxious whether she will be released or not.

Meanwhile, Kim Aris, Aung San Su Kyi's son reportedly has gotten his visa approved to visit Myanmar.

Now that Suu Kyi is free at last, independent media site The Irrawaddy urges its readers to submit suggestions and other ideas to Suu Kyi

The world rejoiced when Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, was freed from house arrest. Twitter users used the hashtag #aungsansuukyi as they joined the global conversation in celebrating Suu Kyi's freedom.

Myanmar: “Boycott elections” campaign

tan — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 22:17:26 +0000

Although the November 7 elections in Myanmar has been criticized as a sham by many countries around the world, the government is determined to push ahead with it. As the day draws near, there are mixed reactions among the Burmese people within the country and abroad.

The opposition party, National League of Democracy, has boycotted the election citing that it is “unfair and undemocratic”, and is urging the citizens not to vote in the elections. Detained Burmese pro-democracy leader, Aung San Su Kyi, also decided that she will not vote in the election even though she is on the electoral roll.

In Japan, the 2010 Election Boycott Committee has held a protest march in Ebitsu Park, Tokyo.

In Rakhine State, “NO Campaign” posters were posted in several townships, which read,
“Boycott 2008 Constitution and 2010 Election: NO 2010″. One of the people who participated in this campaign said to Arakhan Review:

For Boycott Election Campaign, we have posted around 1000 posters in 12 villages of Taung Kote and Ma Ei Townships one month before the Nov 7 election. We have gone down to these villages so that everyone in these villages can participate in this campaign against the government's election. We have to do this campaign together in both townships of Taung Kote and Ma Ei because these two townships together make up one constituency. Another thing is Union Solidarity Development Party (USDP) and National Unity Party (NUP) will be the only two parties running in this constituency, so we don't need to feel bad towards other parties by this boycotting. We totally opposed the 2008 Constitution, so we cannot accept this 2010 Elections which will legalize this constitution.

In the November 7 elections, about 498 seats in the lower house of Parliament (Pyi Thu Hlut Taw), 224 seats in the upper house (Amyo Thar Hlut Taw) will be contested including the other seats in the States and Divisional Legislatures. Around 25 percnt of these seats will be reserved for defense service personnel.

Myanmar: Overcrowding in Hledan

tan — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 09:19:11 +0000

Pink Gold from Myanmar blogs about the road side shops in Hledan, a popular hangout place in Yangon, Myanmar.

Myanmar: Women Candidate Percentage in the Elections

tan — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 14:26:35 +0000

According to a survey conducted by The Irrawaddy, less than 8 percent of the candidates running for the November 7 elections in Myanmar will be women.

Myanmar: Elections To Be Held on November 7

tan — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 12:37:19 +0000

Myanmar has announced today that elections will be held on November 7, 2010, which will become the first election to be held after 1990. Political parties were urged to submit their candidate list between August 16 and August 30, 2010.