196395387-201335710

WWW.MMTIMES.COM ISSUE 710 | DECEMBER 30, 2013 - JANUARY 5, 2014

1200Ks.

HEARTBEAT OF THE NATION

Govt, NLD at odds on healthConnect with us @

twitter @TheMyanmarTimes

email [email protected]

facebookfacebook.com/themyanmartimes

SMS09 5000 613

NEWS 9

Army whistleblowers in line for amnesty Committee recommends 12 former Tatmadaw members – including several jailed for leaking details of a secret North Korea visit – be considered political prisoners and freed.

NEWS 6-7

Pressure builds for UN human rights officeHuman rights commission and hluttaw committee say UN rights presence is needed, while EU ambassador insists Myanmar “should not fear the opening of this office”.

BUSINESS 20-21

SPA misses Landmark lease deadlineSingapore-listed Yoma gives Serge Pun & Associates six more months to secure lease extension for downtown site slated for US$400 development.

THE PULSE 34

Skate or dieSkate parks in Mandalay are popping up in record numbers, attracting first-time boarders, bladers and BMX riders. But without a local stable of experts to coach the new generation, the scene could fold before it hits its stride.

A plan to bring in universal health coverage could become a hot issue in the 2015 election, after the NLD announced it would introduce the measure within 10 years – half of the 20-year timeframe proposed by the government. NEWS 3

YCDC dog culling prompts community angerAnimal rights activists have labelled a municipal program to poison stray dogs as inhumane and called for reform, as a YCDC official revealed that workers who cull the dogs face regular abuse and even physical attacks from angry residents.

PHOTO: BOOTHEE

PAGE

15

CONSTITUTION REFORM LOBBY HITS THE ROAD SPECIAL REPORT 14

SKY’S THE LIMIT FOR YANGON REAL ESTATESPECIAL REPORT 24

2 THE MYANMAR TIMES DECEMBER 30, 2013 - JANUARY 5, 2014

online editor Kayleigh Long | [email protected] 2

Rope Wizard makes meritKyaikhtiyo’s famed pagoda may find it has some new competition, with recent media reports pointing to a unique attraction at the Kyaukhtatkyi Pagoda just several kilometres north of the Golden Rock.

Eleven Media last week reported on Min Min, the flying “Rope Wizard”, who risks life and limb by balancing and sliding along a cane rope on his stomach in order to gild the pagoda on behalf of pilgrims. He wears a heavy-duty cloth reinforced shirt, in order to avoid chafing.

Min Min’s father Aye Lwin, now 72, began the practice in 1989. He retired some four years ago, leaving his son to take over. Min Min revealed the secrets of his gravity-defying act to Eleven:

“I only eat vegetables. I always pray to the Nine Attributes of the Buddha. When I was young, I learned how to climb the rope by watching my father. I still haven’t faced any difficulties yet. The main reason I risk my life is for Kyaukhtatkyi Pagoda to look sublime with gold leaves and for the people to have merit.”

Surgeon leaves his markA British surgeon has been suspended over allegations that he “branded” his initials onto a patient’s liver, UK media reported last week.

Simon Bramhall faces an investigation after a colleague discovered the initials “SB” on the organ during a follow-up operation at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, central England, newspapers said.

The hospital’s managing trust said in a statement, “Following an allegation of misconduct, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust has suspended a surgeon while an internal investigation is completed.”

The Daily Mail newspaper said Bramhall used non-toxic argon gas to sear his initials onto the liver. – AFP

“Swarm” of piranha relatives leaves scores injuredA swarm of biting fish injured more than 70 people who were bathing at a popular beach in Argentina on Christmas, say medical officials. A seven-year-old girl had her finger partially amputated and dozens more suffered bite wounds on their extremities from the fish, a relative of the piranha called “palometas”, said Federico Cornier, the director of emergency services in the city of Rosario.

“This is not normal,” Cornier said on television. “It’s normal for there to be an isolated bite or injury, but the magnitude in this case was great ... This is an exceptional event.” – Reuters

Seng Lufor NOW! magazine.Photo: Htet Aung Kyaw (Studio HAK)

When Myanmar was Burma...Archival material provided by Pansodan Gallery

An advertisement for cigarettes and typewriters from British publication Burma To-day, 1944.

THE INSIDER: The local lowdown & best of the web

‘In Myanmar even people do not have enough rights yet … If I tried to discuss animal rights now other MPs would make fun of me.’

Yangon Region representative Daw Nyo Nyo Thin responds to public outcry over YCDC’s dog eradication

campaign, explaining why she doesn’t intend to raise the issue in the hluttaw just yet.

MORE ON NEWS 15

An actor plays Mao Zedong in China’s central province of Hunan, to mark the former leader’s 120th birthday. Photo: AFP

News 3www.mmtimes.com NEWS EDITOR: Thomas Kean | [email protected]

Govt, NLD at odds over health coverage upgrade

UNIVERSAL health coverage appears set to become a political issue in the 2015 election, with the government and the National League for Democracy in agreement on the need to introduce af-fordable coverage for all – but at odds on how and over what period to do it.

The World Bank, which is assist-ing the government with its plans, de-scribes universal coverage as ensuring all people obtain the health services they need without suffering financial hardship when paying for them.

U Htay Win, director general of the Health Planning Department, said the Ministry of Health expects it will take 20 years – and a massive injection of state and private funding – to replace the decades-old cost-sharing system with universal health coverage.

“Universal health coverage is a very complicated project and we need to balance the organisation of health in-surance, welfare health organisations and the public,” he told The Myanmar Times in a recent interview.

After decades of underinvestment in health, the challenges for introduc-ing universal health coverage are enor-mous. Many remote populations are entirely cut off from health services; rates of tuberculosis, malaria, and ma-ternal and child mortality are among the highest in Asia. The high and varied burden, combined with a 20-year de-cline in social-sector spending, presents formidable health policy challenges, particularly for extending services to hard-to-reach populations, analysts say.

But providing healthcare coverage for Southeast Asia’s largest country will require more than just careful plan-ning. It will require money - and tough decisions about where this money should come from, said Dr Hnin Hnin Pyne from the World Bank.

“It is a social and political decision,” Dr Hnin Hnin Pyne said of deciding on how to implement universal coverage.

In contrast to the government, NLD health policy adviser Dr Kyaw Zaw said

the opposition party would make uni-versal coverage a priority and introduce it within 10 years if elected, while over the same period increasing total health expenditure more than seven-fold.

“We want to implement the project within a short time by increasing the government budget for public health,” Dr Kyaw Zaw said. “In Myanmar most people are unable to access acceptable health services from the government and they can’t afford to pay for treat-ment.

“If the NLD wins the election, they have a plan to increase the government budget [so that] health expenditure is 15 percent of [gross domestic product],” he said, adding that this would be paid for through taxes on alcohol and cigarettes.

Total health expenditure – the amount expended by both the govern-ment and individuals – currently repre-sents 2pc of GDP, U Htay Win said. The government is aiming to incrementally increase this to 5pc – a figure suggest-ed by the World Health Organization (WHO) – by raising state spending, which in 2012-13 was K386.66 billion, around 0.76pc of GDP and 3.14pc of the total budget. Spending increased more than 29pc in 2013-14, to K499.31 billion.

However, there are limits as to how fast both state and private health ex-penditure can be scaled up, U Htay Win said.

“We are a developing [country] so we cannot support free treatment for all people and people cannot afford to spend a lot of money for health treat-ment.”

The funding shortfall would be made up by levying private health in-surance premiums on high-income earners, he said. But developing this form of private health insurance so that it covers the entire country could take at least 20 years, he added.

Working with the support of the World Bank and the WHO, which are providing technical assistance, the government has earmarked maternal and neo-natal services as the priority services to be delivered first under the universal coverage program.

Choosing priority services requires an honest assessment of what is need-ed and what can be delivered first through the existing public and private healthcare establishments, taking into account their human resources and in-frastructure, Dr Hnin Hnin Pyne said.

While neighbouring Thailand intro-duced a relatively large universal care package of services over about 10 years from 1992, Dr Hnin Hnin Pyne said it did so from much higher level of initial spending.

Its total national expenditure on health was estimated at 4.3pc of GDP in 2009 and today Thailand spends about US$174 per capita on health, compared to $2 in Myanmar, she said.

In Myanmar, patients end up paying more than 65pc of their healthcare bills out of their own pocket – a payment system that leaves healthcare seekers highly vulnerable to impoverishment or ruin.

This can lead people to forgo treat-ment – an unhealthy statistic almost impossible to capture.

A functioning universal health care program provides affordable treatment at a cost that is not impoverishing or ruinous, said Dr Sundarajan S Goplan, health adviser to the World Health Or-ganization in Myanmar, said.

“This means that if [someone] is on the poverty borderline, they do not fall into poverty due to health expenditure,” Dr Goplan said, “and that if someone is already impoverished they do not incur catastrophic spending on health that is [economically] ruinous.”

SHWE YEE SAW MYINT

BRIDGET DI CERTO

NLD says it will implement universal health coverage within 10 years if elected, while government – assisted by the World Bank and the WHO – has set a 20-year timeframe

A male patient sits with a relative at Bogale township

hospital in Ayeyarwady Region. Photo: Kaung Htet

29%Increase in the state health budget in

2013-14, to K499.31 billion

TRADE MARK CAUTIONRavintoraisio Oy, of Raisionkaari 55, 21200 Raisio, Finland, is the Owner and Sole Proprietor of the following Trademarks:-

BENECOLReg. No. 4/14610/2012

Reg. No. 4/14611/2012 Reg. No. 4/14612/2012in respect of:- “Class 5: Nutritional supplements; dietetic substances adapted for medical use, namely, cholesterol-lowering capsules, powders, tablets or chewables containing plant stanol ester, food for babies.Class 29: Meat, fish, poultry and game; meat extracts; preserved, dried and cooked fruits and vegetables; jellies, jams, compotes; eggs, milk and milk products, except ice cream, ice milk, and frozen yogurt; edible oils and fats.Class 30: Coffee, tea, cocoa, sugar, rice, tapioca, sago, artificial coffee; flour and preparations made from cereals, namely, cereal-based snack foods and drinks, ready-to-eat cereal derived food bars, breakfast cereals, wheat flakes, corn flakes, maize flakes, oat flakes, crisped rice cereals; bread, pastry and confectionery, namely, caramel chew product, ices; honey, treacle; yeast, baking-powder; salt, mustard; vinegar, sauces; spices; ice. Class 32: Beers; Mineral and aerated waters and other non-alcoholic beverages, namely, soya-based drinks not being milk substitutes, oat-based beverages not being milk substitutes, beverages containing plant stanol ester, fruit-based beverages, oat-based beverages with fruit juice and milk not for food purposes; fruit beverages and fruit juices; syrups and other preparations for making beverages namely, fruit beverages, soya beverages not being milk substitutes, oat based beverages with fruit juice and milk not for food purposes.”

Any fraudulent imitation or unauthorized use of the said Trademarks will be dealt with according to law.

U Nyunt Tin Associates International LimitedIntellectual Property DivisionP.O. Box No. 952, Yangon, Myanmar.Tel: 959 4500 59 247-8, Email: [email protected] Ravintoraisio Oy Dated: 30 December, 2013.

TRADE MARK CAUTIONGENERAL MOTORS LLC, a Delaware corporation of 300 Renaissance Center, Detroit, Michigan 48265-3000, U.S.A., is the Owner of the following Trade Mark:-

B U I C KReg. No. 1188/1979

in respect of “Motor driven vehicles of all kinds, motor cars, automobiles, motor trucks, motor lorries and parts thereof and automobile accessories of all kinds “.

Fraudulent imitation or unauthorised use of the said Trade Mark will be dealt with according to law.

Win Mu Tin, M.A., H.G.P., D.B.Lfor GENERAL MOTORS LLCP. O. Box 60, YangonE-mail: [email protected]: 30 December 2013

4 News THE MYANMAR TIMES December 30, 2013 - Jaunary 5, 2014

Full steam ahead on the ‘African Queen’

LIFE is a short, sharp endurance test – and then you die. But solace can come by recollecting past pleasures when, for a brief interlude, the senses are vitalised and the daily quotidian becomes tolerable.

The French writer Marcel Proust wrote a seven-volume novel, In Search of Lost Time, based on such past joys, which were famously stimulated by the taste of a madeleine cake dipped in warm tea. Freshly brewed coffee with a little cream does the job for me, as it did last week when a rare news item about Brunei popped up – and my mind took off.

To paraphrase Proust, the vicissi-tudes of life became indifferent, its dis-asters innocuous, its brevity illusory; for I was no longer at my desk, I was on the African Queen.

Or more precisely, Brunei’s African

Queen, which putters down the café-au-lait Limbang River from the capital, Bandar Seri Begawan, to Limbang town in Malaysia’s Sarawak State.

And oddly, it was a rather dull report about the opening of a new bridge from Limbang to Brunei’s eastern enclave of Temburong that sparked this reverie.

Temburong, while largely empty – it hosts only 2 percent of Brunei’s 380,000 population – is geographically big and makes up a quarter of the sultanate’s land mass. It also plays host to the Singapore Armed Forces, whose troops train there and act as a deter-rent against any potentially hostile action by Malaysia.

Now, thanks to the new bridge, which closes an infamous gap in the Pan Borneo Highway, Temburong as-sumes even greater importance.

Previously, it was possible to drive from Sarawak’s capital Kuching to Limbang via Miri and Bandar, but then the road abruptly ended at the Pandaruan River.

There, drivers had to wait, often for hours, for a creaky old ferry to take across them to Temburong; now they

can drive straight over in minutes and continue on to Sabah’s capital, Kota Kinabalu, and even to Tawau.

It is a big deal, which is why the December 8 bridge opening was at-tended by the Sultan of Brunei, the Malaysian Prime Minister and the chief ministers of both Sabah and Sarawak. “With the completion of this bridge, we move closer to realis-ing the ASEAN Community in 2015 because this was the last point along the Pan Borneo Highway that had to be linked,” Malaysia’s PM Najib Razak said at the ceremony.

The bridge not only closes the “miss-ing link” in the 2000-kilometre (about 1250-mile) highway but it also marks the symbolic closure of a long-festering territorial dispute between the two countries over the district of Limbang.

The trouble began back in 1890, when Britain’s colonial ruler, Charles Brooke, the so-called second Rajah of Sarawak, took Limbang from Brunei and made it part of Sarawak, thereby splitting Brunei in two.

The move infuriated the tiny sultanate, which became even more anxious about its borders with

Malaysia, especially after huge oil and gas reserves were discovered off its coastline.

Not unnaturally, fearing more loss of sovereignty, Brunei declined to fol-low Sabah and Sarawak in joining the Malaysian Federation in 1963.

Instead, the sultanate went its own way, while continuing to complain about the unfair Limbang annexation and other alleged border encroach-ments by Malaysia.

But time and reality assuage such disputes and now the “Friend-ship Bridge” has brought both sides together and obviated the need for the Temburong ferry crossing.

Those like myself, however, who fondly recall Brunei’s African Queen, can still live out their madeleine-like reverie by taking the half-hour trip between Limbang and Bandar.

Just clamber aboard and sit among the beer cases and the sequined good-time girls, for they are among its abiding joys as it transports you be-tween dry, staid Bandar and decadent, frolicsome Limbang.

I’d love to go back. Just to see the new bridge, you understand.

Why Myanmar’s peace process needs more women

Views

NEGOTIATIONS between the gov-ernment and representatives from 18 armed ethnic groups give a glimpse of the potential for positive changes to come for Myanmar’s embattled ethnic states. However, these talks also cast a spotlight on the dismal state of gender discrimination in the country: All of the chief negotiators are men.

Days before the peace talks in My-itkyina in early November, the United Nations Security Council and the UN Committee on the Elimination of Dis-crimination Against Women, known as the CEDAW Committee, each adopted new instruments addressing the rights and role of women in situations of armed conflict and peacebuilding. Both honed in on long-ignored aspects of the gendered realities of war and peace.

The CEDAW Committee oversees compliance with the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Dis-crimination Against Women (CEDAW) – a treaty to which Myanmar, like most states, is a party. On October 18, the Committee adopted General Comment 30, clarifying that the responsibilities in the convention apply with full force to state parties, even in the upheaval of armed conflict and peacebuilding.

The comment goes a step further and urges non-state actors – to date considered safely beyond the legal reach of CEDAW – to behave in line with the Convention. It backs this re-quest by placing an explicit legal bur-den on states and the international community to punish violations perpe-trated by these groups.

The comment tackles these issues and others that no previous interna-tional instrument dared touch, and it finally spells out the brutal truth that women around the world have been saying for decades: “For most women in post-conflict environments,” it says,

“the violence does not stop with the official ceasefire or the signing of the peace agreement and often increases in the post-conflict setting.”

This message is essential for My-anmar at its current crossroads. There is enormous pressure on all parties to the civil wars to seize this unprec-edented opportunity for peace but the continued exclusion of women risks jeopardising that opportunity. The government and ethnic armies must work together to construct the true peace envisioned by CEDAW, one in

which both men and women are free from violence.

The UN Security Council has of-fered a roadmap for how to reach such a peace. In 2000, the seminal Resolu-tion 1325 first called for women to have an equal say in all levels of peace negotiations, demanded that violence against women be met with something more than impunity in post-conflict societies, and made the unprecedented acknowledgment that no country can move beyond conflict if half its popu-lation remains embattled. In October,

the Security Council’s Resolution 2122 furthered its agenda on women, peace and security launched 13 years ago, affirming that Resolution 1325, and women, still matter.

When these texts were promulgat-ed, I was in Chin State – the poorest and most remote of Myanmar’s ethnic states – speaking with community lead-ers about women’s rights and the peace process. Unsurprisingly, more than 100 ethnic Chin community leaders I met had never heard of CEDAW (to which Myanmar acceded in 1997) or the Secu-rity Council’s agenda on women, peace and security (kicked off in 2000), but their interest was piqued. It sparked positive discussions on ways to address Myanmar’s endemic gender discrimi-nation and the need for women to join the peace process. Our organisation, Fortify Rights, plans to support their efforts.

Is new insight into a text Myanmar has ignored for over 10 years incentive enough to spark changes in the peace process? Probably not. But luckily these new UN instruments do not exist in a vacuum. Myanmar’s people – especially its women – are weary of decades of violence and there is a newfound com-mitment to peace. This set of innova-tive tools for transition could join those forces to fuel change.

General Comment 30 and Resolu-tion 2122 could spur great change in Myanmar, not because of their legal weight, which regrettably is not all it should be, but because the timing is right. If Myanmar is committed to mov-ing from conflict to lasting peace, the government and ethnic armed groups must afford women an equal voice in the peace process.

Failure to do so will create a society bound together by a “peace” that per-petuates abject discrimination against half of Myanmar’s population. That won’t be real peace, and it won’t sup-port a strong, democratic Myanmar.

Taylor Landis is a researcher with the human rights organisation Fortify Rights. Follow her on Twitter @TaylorMLandis.

Taylor landis

[email protected]

roger [email protected]

A female Kachin Independence Army soldier walks through Laiza on November 2. Photo: Boothee

Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief (MTE) ross Dunkley [email protected] Operating Officer – Wendy madrigal [email protected] Counsel and Deputy Editor-in-Chief – Zaw myintEditor-in-Chief (MTM) – Dr Tin Tun Oo [email protected]

EDITORIAL [email protected] MTE – Thomas Kean [email protected] MTM – Sann Oo [email protected] Chief of Staff – Zaw Win Than [email protected] Special Publications – myo Lwin [email protected] Bureau Chief – Jeremy mullins

Business Editor MTE – Philip [email protected] Editor MTE – bridget Di certo [email protected] Pulse Editor MTE – manny maung [email protected] Editor MTE – Tim mcLaughlin [email protected] Editor MTE – Kayleigh Long [email protected]

Chief Sub Editor MTM – aye Sapay PhyuBusiness Editor MTM – Tin moe aungProperty Editor MTM – Htar Htar Khin [email protected] Timeout Editor MTM – moh moh [email protected] Editor MTM – Thet Hlaing

News Editor (Mandalay) – Khin Su WaiHead of Translation Dept – Ko KoHead of Photographics – Kaung HtetPhotographers – boothee, aung Htay Hlaing, Thiri

[email protected] Directors – Tin Zaw Htway, Ko Pxyo

MCM PRINTING [email protected] of Department – Htay maungFactory Administrator – aung Kyaw Oo (3)Factory Foreman – Tin Win

[email protected] National Sales Directors – chan Tha Oo, nay myo Oo, nandar Khine, nyi nyi TunClassifieds Manager – Khin mon mon [email protected]

ADMIN, FINANCE & ITFinance Manager – mon mon Tha Saing [email protected] – Khine Su yin, Han Oo KhinPublisher – Dr Tin Tun Oo, Permit no: 04143 Information Technology Manager – Kyaw Zay yar Lin

DISTRIBUTION & CIRCULATION Circulation & Distribution Director –Jesse Gage [email protected]

ADVERTISING & SUBSCRIPTION ENQUIRIESTelephone: (01) 253 642, 392 928Facsimile: (01) 254 [email protected]

The myanmar Times is owned by myan-mar consolidated media Ltd and printed by mcm commercial Printing with approval from mcm Ltd and by Shwe Zin Press (0368) with approval from mcm Ltd. The title The myanmar Times, in either english or myanmar languages, its associated logos or devices and the contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written consent of the managing Director of myanmar consolidated media Ltd.

Myanmar Consolidated Media Ltd.www.mmtimes.com

Head Office: 379/383 bo aung Kyaw Street, Kyauktada Township, yangon, myanmar.Telephone: (01) 253 642, 392 928Facsimile: (01) 392 706

Mandalay Bureau: bld Sa/1, man mandalar Hous-ing, 35th Street, between 70th and 71st streets, yan myo Lone Quarter, chan aye Thar San Township. Tel: (02) 65391, 74585. Fax: (02) 24460email: [email protected]

Nay Pyi Taw Bureau: no. 10/72 bo Tauk Htein St, yan aung (1) Quarter, nay Pyi Taw-Pyinmana. Tel: (067) 23064, 23065email: [email protected]

6 News THE MYANMAR TIMES December 30, 2013 - January 5, 2014

Student union vows to ignore protest law

A STUDENT activist group says it will ignore a law regulating public protests and demonstrations – and push to get it struck off the statute books. The All Burma Federation of Students’ Un-ions (ABFSU) is targeting section 18 of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law, which was passed by the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw in December 2011.

“We’ve adopted a policy that the ABFSU won’t apply for permission. We will also join with other groups in the hluttaw in a legislative push to have section 18 revoked,” said Ko Aung Hmaing San, a Mandalay-based feder-ation official.

When his organisation plans a demonstration it will inform the au-thorities but will not ask for permis-sion, he said.

“We will communicate to the au-thorities the reasons for our peaceful assembly in order to ensure that they can take steps to avoid any inconven-ience to the public,” he said.

Since the restoration of civilian government, about 200 people have been charged under section 18 of the peaceful assembly and peaceful pro-cession law, or section 505(b) of the criminal law, for illegal demonstra-tions, according to Ko Tawki of the As-sistance Association for Political Pris-oners. “Some have been charged under both sections,” he said.

Those convicted under section 18 face up to one year in prison, although

in some cases judges have imposed only a K10,000 fine instead.

Ko Aung Hmaing San said the courts had discriminated against de-fendants accused of breaching the law, notably in the case of protests against the Letpadaung copper mine and land grabs.

“In Monywa township, three mem-bers of the ABFSU and [activist] U Myint Aung were charged under sec-tion 18. Their cases were all the same. But the ABFSU members were fined K10,000 each, while U Myint Aung was sentenced to a year’s imprison-ment. He is a member of an anti-Let-padaung committee so the sentence against him was the result of malice, I think,” said Ko Aung Hmaing San.

Ko Tun Naing Win, a human rights activist in Myitthar township, said the four organisers had applied for permission to demonstrate under the peaceful assembly and peaceful pro-cession law.

“We have to ask – are the authori-ties afraid of the truth?”

The federation and eight other groups released a statement on No-vember 22 demanding the immediate release of all activists detained under these sections and for the revocation of the “oppressive” laws.

In November, Union Solidarity and Development Party Pyithu Hluttaw representative Thura U Aung Ko sub-mitted proposed amendments to the law that would remove section 18 and only require that organisers inform authorities before a demonstration.

– Translation by Thiri Min Htun

Demonstrators take part in a peace march in September 2012. Photo: Kaung Htet

Than naing [email protected]

Pressure builds on government to allow UN human rights office

THE international community’s efforts to prod the government into allowing the United Nations to open a human rights office – considered a key test of its sincerity to improve human rights – appear to be making inroads, the Euro-pean Union’s ambassador says.

The government has so far been reluctant to give approval for the office to open, despite repeated re-quests, including in EU-sponsored UN resolutions, for it to do so. However, members of the parliament’s human rights committee, as well as the hu-man rights commission, have told The Myanmar Times the office is needed to improve Myanmar’s human rights situation.

Speaking just after the EU Foreign Affairs Council called in its annual Con-clusions on Myanmar/Burma for “the establishment of a country office of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights”, am-bassador Roland Kobia said he believed Myanmar is looking at the proposal “positively”.

“My impression is that Myanmar understands that it might be in its own interests ... [and] that it is moving for-ward” with opening the office, he told The Myanmar Times on December 18.

“At the end of the day it could be very useful for this transition and it could be an asset for Myanmar to say, ‘We’ve got this office, we’re moving on human rights ... and we are working together to try and improve human rights.’ So I think there’s a win-win there.

“Myanmar should not fear the open-ing of this human rights office. I think it’s a little bit like when the Interna-tional Labour Organization opened an office here and started questioning the labour laws ... Finally it turned out to be a success story ... I could very much see the same thing happening for this human rights office.”

Presidential spokesperson U Ye Htut did not respond to requests for comment on the issue last week. But U Tin Maung Win, secretary of the par-liament’s Committee of Fundamental Rights, Democratic Rights and Human Rights of Citizens, said the opening of a UN human rights office would help to

ThomaS Kean nan Tin hTwe

European Union ambassador says office could be a “win-win”, as human rights commission calls for its opening

TRADE MARK CAUTIONNOTICE is hereby given that ATHLETA S.A. a company organized under the laws of Japan and having its principal office at 1-4-10 Higashikomagata, Sumida-ku, Tokyo, Japan is the owner and sole proprietor of the following trademarks:-

(Reg: No. IV/12303/2013)

(Reg: No. IV/12304/2013)

(Reg: No. IV/12305/2013)The above three trademarks are in respect of :-“Handbags; bags [envelopes, pouches] of leather, for packaging; wallets; sports bags; leisure bags; traveling bags; backpacks [rucksacks]; carry bags; briefcases; shopping bags; school bags; ball-shaped bags of leather; beach bags; valises; vanity cases [not fitted]; purses; pocket wallets; key cases [leatherware]; card cases of leather; umbrellas and their parts.” Class: 18“Clothing; coats; sweaters; trousers; shirts; tee-shirts; sweat shirts; jackets [clothing]; blazers; pyjamas; underwear [underclothing]; swimsuits; short pants; socks and stockings; fur stoles; shawls; scarves [scarfs]; gloves and mittens [clothing]; neckties; mufflers; ear muffs [clothing]; headgear for wear; track suits; sock suspenders; suspenders [braces]; belts of leather [clothing]; headbands [clothing]; bandanas [neckerchiefs]; footwear; sandals; sports shirts; uniforms for football; anoraks; sports overuniforms; wind-jackets; stockings; wristbands; soccer shoes; clothes for sports; boots for sports.” Class: 25

Any fraudulent imitation or unauthorized use of the said trademarks or other infringements whatsoever will be dealt with according to law.

U Kyi Win Associatesfor ATHLETA S.A. P.O. Box No. 26, Yangon.Phone: 372416 Dated: 30th December, 2013

TRADE MARK CAUTIONNOTICE is hereby given that Aspen Global Incorporated a company organized under the laws of Mauritius and having its registered office at c/o Kross Border Trust Services Limited, ST Louis Business Centre, Cnr Desroches & St Louis Streets, Port Louis is the Owner and Sole Proprietor of the following trademark: -

TRANDATE (Reg: Nos. IV/7316/1975 & IV/13650/2013)

in respect of : - “International Class - 5”

Any fraudulent imitation or unauthorized use of the said trademark or other infringements whatsoever will be dealt with according to law.

U Kyi Win AssociatesFor Aspen Global IncorporatedP.O. Box No. 26, Yangon.Phone: 372416 Dated: 30th December, 2013

News 7www.mmtimes.com

Pressure builds on government to allow UN human rights office

build on the human rights gains made so far.

“It’s better if they are here,” he said. “They can help us in many ways.”

However he said that government would need to set certain rules and regu-lations for the office’s operations, and its success would depend on mutual trust.

“It’s normal that they can’t run an of-fice instantly,” he said.

U Sitt Myaing, secretary of the My-anmar Human Rights Commission, said an OHCHR presence would be beneficial for the commission. He said he was confident the two bodies could cooperate but warned that the human rights office would need to be bal-anced to avoid the criticisms levelled at some rights organisations, particularly for their perceived bias in regards to Rakhine State.

“We will know what they are like only when we work closely with them. Human rights means standing for the truth,” he said. “But I really don’t know whether [the opening of the office] has been delayed or is proceeding as normal.”

The failure to allow a human rights office to open – along with the conflict in Rakhine State – was one of the ma-jor reasons that Myanmar was again the subject of a UN General Assembly reso-lution this year.

Human rights groups have also called on President U Thein Sein to follow through on his promise to al-low the office to open. When the presi-dent visited Europe in March, Human Rights Watch said in a statement that he “should be urged to honour his pledges to permit an office of the UN High Com-missioner for Human Rights with a full

rights protection, promotion, and tech-nical assistance mandate and allow full and unimpeded access of humanitarian organizations to areas where civilians are in need”.

But during the discussion on the UN resolution, Myanmar’s permanent repre-sentative to the UN, U Kyaw Tin, said his

country “reserves the right to choose the mandate of the office”.

The Myanmar government had pre-viously insisted that the resolution was not needed because of the progress it had made on human rights, including the release of political prisoners, legal reforms and the establishment of a hu-man rights commission. The govern-ment also said it had been told that the 2012 resolution, which it helped the EU draft, would be the last on its human rights situation.

However, after some prodding by the United States, the EU again drafted a resolution and received Myanmar’s assistance.

Mr Kobia said that despite its belief no resolution was needed Myanmar “has shown a very positive spirit in this process”.

“Of course, no country likes to have a country-specific resolution; that’s nor-mal. No country likes to be put to the fore and get a bit of criticism.

“[But] what’s happening in Rakh-ine is of great concern for Europe, it’s of great concern for many other coun-tries around the world, and we made it known. Now if next year the problem is solved there won’t be a resolution. If not, I don’t know – I don’t have a crystal ball. Let’s see.”

Demonstrators hold signs accusing the UN of bias in Rakhine State during a protest in Yangon in August 2012. Photo: Staff

European Union ambassador says office could be a “win-win”, as human rights commission calls for its opening

‘Myanmar should not fear the opening of this human rights office.’

Roland Kobia EU ambassador to Myanmar

TRADE MARK CAUTIONPfizer Products Inc, of Eastern Point Road, Groton, Connecticut, 06340, U.S.A., is the Owner and Sole Proprietor of the following Trademark:-

ALONDReg. Nos. 4/4809/1998, 4/2427/2001, 4/104/2005

in respect of “Class 5: Pharmaceutical for the treatment of neurological and kidney complications due to diabetes and all goods in this class.”

Any fraudulent imitation or unauthorized use of the said Trademark will be dealt with according to law.

U Nyunt Tin Associates International LimitedIntellectual Property DivisionP.O. Box No. 952, Yangon, Myanmar.Tel: 959 4500 59 247, Email: [email protected] Pfizer Products IncDated: 30 December, 2013.

TRADE MARK CAUTIONPFIZER ENTERPRISES S.A.R.L, of Rond Point du Kirchberg, 51 Avenue JF Kennedy, L-1855 Luxembourg, is the Owner and Sole Proprietor of the following Trademark:-

DALACIN CReg. No. 749/1998

in respect of “Pharmaceutical preparation.”


U Nyunt Tin Associates International LimitedIntellectual Property DivisionTel: 959 4500 59 247Email: [email protected] PFIZER ENTERPRISES S.A.R.LDated: 30 December, 2013.

TRADE MARK CAUTIONNOTICE is hereby given that Hormel Foods Corporation a company organized under the laws of U.S.A. and having its principal office at 1 Hormel Place, Austin, Minnesota, U.S.A. is the owner and sole proprietor of the following trademark:-

SPAM (Reg: Nos. IV/50571995, IV/130/2006, IV/2154/2009 &

IV/12317/2013)in respect of:- “canned meats and especially spiced ham” – International Class 29


U Kyi Win Associatesfor Hormel Foods Corporation P.O. Box No. 26, Yangon.Phone: 372416 Dated: 30th December, 2013

8 News THE MYANMAR TIMES DECEMBER 30, 2013 - JANUARY 5, 2014

US$34 million allocated for ASEAN meetings

MYANMAR will spend more than K30 billion on the 300-500 interna-tional meetings it expects to host over the coming year as the chair of ASEAN, the government says. U Aung Htoo, deputy director general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ ASEAN Affairs Department, said

the first would be the ministerial re-treat, scheduled for January 15-18 at Bagan.

“That meeting of ASEAN minis-ters will discuss the follow-up to the results of the Brunei summit,” he said. Other meetings will include the ASEAN summit, and gatherings at the ministerial and deputy ministeri-al levels, and working group sessions at Nay Pyi Taw, Mandalay, Taunggyi,

Bagan, Pyin Oo Lwin and Chaungtha.The K33.4 billion (US$34.1 mil-

lion) budget will also cover the prepa-ration of the necessary guesthouse and meeting rooms, he added.

Myanmar will host the 47th ASEAN foreign affairs meeting and three major summits, including working group meetings on Timor-Leste and the six-party talks on the North Ko-rean peace process.

JICA, govt to sign railway loan deal in early 2014

JAPAN will loan Myanmar US$200 million of the $500 million required to upgrade the Yangon-Mandalay Railway early next year, a Japan In-ternational Cooperation Agency of-ficial said last week.

While JICA has not publicly com-mitted to financing the remaining $300 million, chief representative Tanaka Masahiko said the $200 mil-lion was the “first batch” of several loans the agency would provide for the upgrade, which will cut travel time in half from 15 hours.

“The two governments are pre-paring to sign the agreement and we hope to sign it this fiscal year, maybe in March,” Mr Tanaka said.

“After signing the agreement we will transfer $200 million as a first batch and also transfer the second batch during next year. We

[estimate] the upgrading period will take between two and three years and will reduce by half the [ journey] time.”

The loans will incur almost no interest and be paid back over 14 years, he added.

Mr Tanaka said Myanmar will be responsible for conducting an “in-ternational tender” for the upgrade.

“We will help with technology and the Myanmar government will [conduct an] international tender for fixing the railway, [establishing

the] control system and [supplying the] locomotives. I think the My-anmar government should assign a consultant for tendering,” he said.

Myanma Railways has applied for $500 million to upgrade the rail-way and is hopeful of getting it in early 2014, general manager U Htun Aung said in October.

The 595-kilometre (370-mile) journey between Yangon and Man-dalay once took 12 hours but dete-rioration of the track means it now takes about 15 hours.

Onlookers stand beside the Yangon-Mandalay Railway. Photo: Douglas Long

NYAN LYNN [email protected]

AYENYEIN

[email protected]

MILLION US$

500Estimated cost of upgrading the

Yangon-Mandalay Railway

Upgrade will take two to three years and cut travel time in half, from around 15 hours

TRADE MARK CAUTIONExxon Mobil Corporation, a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of New Jersey, U.S.A., of 5959 Las Colinas Boulevard, Irving, Texas 75039-2298, U.S.A., is the Owner of the following Trade Mark:-

ENERGY LIVES HEREReg. No. 8832/2013

in respect of “Class 1: All goods in the class. Class 4: All goods in the class. Class 16: Advertising materials; brochures, printed matter. Class 35: Corporate advertisements. Class 41: All services in Class 41, including: corporate advertisements and public interest statements relating to the petroleum and chemical industries”.


Win Mu Tin, M.A., H.G.P., D.B.Lfor Exxon Mobil CorporationP. O. Box 60, YangonE-mail: [email protected]: 30 December 2013

TRADE MARK CAUTIONMarriott Worldwide Corporation, a Maryland (USA) Corporation, of 10400, Fernwood Road, Bethesda, Maryland 20817, U.S.A., is the Owner of the following Trade Marks:-

Reg. No. 7620/2013in respect of “International Class 43: Hotel services; restaurant, catering, bar and lounge services; resort and lodging services; provision of general purpose facilities for meetings, conferences and exhibitions; provision of banquet and social function facilities for special occasions; and reservation services for hotel accommodations”.

Fraudulent imitation or unauthorised use of the said Trade Marks will be dealt with according to law.

Win Mu Tin, M.A., H.G.P., D.B.Lfor Marriott Worldwide CorporationP. O. Box 60, YangonE-mail: [email protected]: 30 December 2013

COURTYARDReg. No. 7618/2013

Reg. No. 7619/2013


Amnesty push for army whistleblowers

PRESIDENT U Thein Sein’s pledge to release all political prisoners by the end of the year 2013 has been largely redeemed – but some highly compli-cated individual cases remain, partic-ularly those involving former military officials.

As The Myanmar Times reported last week, a dispute has arisen over the status of prisoners still behind bars who were charged with criminal as well as political offences. Some of those detained were members of the now disbanded Military Intelligence, who have themselves been accused of locking up dissidents.

The Remaining Political Prison-ers Scrutiny Committee (RPPSC) lists nearly 50 political prisoners still in jail, including 12 who are for-merly from the Tatmadaw. It met on December 21 and finalised its list of political detainees, which was then submitted to the President’s Office for consideration.

RPPSC member U Sai Nyont Lwin said the process had been made harder because the Ministry of Home

Affairs has been unhelpful, with its Special Branch body refusing to re-lease lists of prisoners and their bio-graphical details.

One of the most controversial cas-es may be that of U Win Naing Kyaw, a former army major turned busi-nessman, who was arrested in 2009 on charges related to the leaking of information about Pyithu Hluttaw Speaker U Thura Shwe Mann’s trip to North Korea in 2008 to exile media.

According to the Assistance Asso-ciation for Political Prisoners, U Win Naing Kyaw was sentenced to death and his two co-defendants to 20 years in prison under a range of laws, in-cluding the colonial-era Official Se-crets Act and the 2004 Electronic Transactions Act.

The three were also accused of leaking details of Myanmar’s tun-nelling program and its relationship with Russia.

On January 4, President U Thein Sein announced the commutation of the death sentence to life imprison-ment.

U Sai Nyunt Lwin said U Win Na-ing Kyaw should be regarded as a political prisoner and had been in-cluded on the committee’s list of re-maining political prisoners.

“He was sentenced under a law concerning political matters, and information he revealed about the plans of the military regime [became] known to the world,” agreed U Ye Aung, a former political prisoner and committee member.

The jailed trio also have inter-national support. In July, the Asian Human Rights Commission said the three were among five jailed whistle-blowers who should be considered political prisoners and released by the government.

Despite the committee’s recom-mendation, the release of the 12 former military political prisoners could still be scuppered by the Tat-madaw. Committee chairman U Soe Thein said at the meeting that the president would make a decision on their cases after consulting with the military.

U Thet Oo, of the organisation Former Political Prisoners, said he anticipated a government amnesty on January 4 to mark Independence Day.

WA LONE

[email protected]

As many people were preparing for the Christmas public holiday, staff from Myanmar Brewery Limited in Mandalay ended the year by donating to the city’s blood bank. Since it launched its donation program in 2006 the company’s staff have donated almost 10,000 bottles. – Si Thu Lwin

IN PICTURES

PHOTO: SI THU LWIN

12Former Tatmadaw soldiers considered

political prisoners by the RPPSC

Committee recommends release of three jailed for leaking details of North Korea visit

A Myanmar Brewery Limited employee donates to the Mandalay

Blood Bank on December 24.

TRADE MARK CAUTIONNOTICE is hereby given that Starbucks Corporation d/b/a Starbucks Coffee Company a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Washington, USA and having its principal office at 2401 Utah Avenue South, Seattle, Washington 98134, United States of America is the Owner and Sole Proprietor of the following trademarks:-

(Reg. No: IV/13000/2013)In respect of;- Class 03: Decalcifying and descaling preparations for cleaning domestic and/or commercial brewing machines; cleaning preparations for domestic and/or commercial brewing machines; cleaner for use on domestic and/or commercial brewing machines. Class 07: Electric coffee grinders for domestic or commercial use.Class 09: Loyalty cards, incentive cards, reward cards, gift cards, and club cards that may be used towards the purchase of coffee, tea, cocoa, packaged and prepared foods, electric appliances, non-electric appliances, house wares, kitchenware, books, musical recordings, toys, including teddy bears, stuffed toys, plush toys, dolls and accessories therefor, ornaments; Computer application software for mobile devices and mobile phones, namely, software for consumers to access, monitor and manage their loyalty program profile and funds in associated stored value accounts, pay for purchases via mobile pay functionality, access menu data and store location information; Computer software for use in authoring, downloading, transmitting, receiving, editing, extracting, encoding, decoding, playing, storing and organizing audio data; audio recordings featuring classical, jazz, contemporary, pop, seasonal, Rhythm and Blues, soul, world, and rock music; digital audio players; downloadable music via a global computer network and wireless devices; covers and cases for cell phones and personal electronic devices; straps for cellphones; decorative ornaments for cell phones; holders for magnetically encoded gift cards; magnetic coded gift cards; mouse pads; vending machines. Class 11: Electrical appliances, namely, espresso makers and coffee makers for domestic and/or commercial use; water filters; water filtration and purification units and replacement cartridges and filters therefor.Class 16: Publications and printed materials, namely, newsletters and magazines featuring information about coffee and coffee drinkers, paper filters for coffee makers, photo albums, art paper, drawing pencils, artists’ brushes, pens, pencils, ball point pens, bookmarks, pencil boxes, stationery boxes, pen cases, pencil cases, stationery, posters, paper napkins, paper coasters, paper bags, paper cup sleeves; boxes and paper packaging; instructional booklets.Class 21: Hand operated coffee grinders and coffee mills, insulated coffee and beverage cups, paper cups, non-paper reusable coffee filters, non-paper coasters, insulated vacuum bottles, coffee cups, tea cups and mugs, glassware, dishes, plates and bowls, trivets, storage canisters, non-electric drip coffee makers, non-electric plunger-style coffee makers, decorative storage containers for food, non-electric tea kettles, tea infusers, tea pots, tea strainers, candle holder (not of precious metal), candlesticks not of precious metal, ceramic figurines, porcelain figurines.Class 29: Milk, flavored milk, milkshakes and milk based beverages; soy milk; fruit jams; compote, jellies, bread spreads as far as not included in other classes; preserved fruit and vegetables, prepared meals or frozen meals as far as not included in other classes consisting of meat, soy, poultry, seafood, vegetables, fruits, tofu, and/or cheese also including pasta, rice, or grains; yogurt, yogurt-based beverages; whipping cream; prepared nuts, seasoned nuts, roasted nuts; nut milk and nut juice; edible oils and fats.Class 32: Fruit juices; fruit and juice based beverages; fruit drinks and soft drinks containing fruit juices; frozen fruit beverages and frozen fruit-based beverages; fruit concentrates and purees used as ingredients of beverages; beverage concentrates and syrups for making

frozen blended beverages; sparkling fruit and juice based beverages and soda beverages; vegetable-fruit juices; vegetable-based beverages; beverages containing vegetable juices; liquid and powdered beverage mixes; flavoring syrups for making tea and herbal tea-based beverages; water, mineral water, sparkling water, drinking water with vitamins, and other non-alcoholic drinks; soft drinks; soda pop beverages; flavoring syrups for making beverages; flavored and unflavored bottled waters; energy drinks; soy-based beverages not being milk substitutes; soy drinks and soy-based beverages; nut milk and nut juice.Class 38: Communication services, namely, transmitting streamed and downloadable audio and video entertainment programming via computer, satellite and communications networks; audio entertainment broadcasting and transmission; subscription audio and video entertainment broadcasting and transmission via computer, satellite and communications networks; electronic and digital transmission of voice, data, information, images, signals and messages; providing on-line chat rooms, bulletin boards and community forums for the transmission of messages among computer users concerning entertainment, music, concerts, videos, radio, television, film, news, sports, games and cultural events; delivery of messages by electronic transmission; provision of connectivity services and access to electronic communications networks, for transmission or reception of audio, video or multimedia content; Providing multiple user dedicated access to the Internet; Broadcasting and downloading service that allows users to playback, sample, download, store, create playlists and stream music, videos, movies, games and entertainment related programming over computers, wireless devices, PDAs, telephones, and digital listening and playback devices; transmission of electronic gift cards and greeting cards.

STARBUCKS(Reg. No: IV/13001/2013)

In respect of:- Class 03: Decalcifying and descaling preparations for cleaning domestic and/or commercial brewing machines; cleaning preparations for domestic and/or commercial brewing machines; cleaner for use on domestic and/or commercial brewing machines. Class 07: Electric coffee grinders for domestic or commercial use.Class 09: Loyalty cards, incentive cards, reward cards, gift cards, and club cards that may be used towards the purchase of coffee, tea, cocoa, packaged and prepared foods, electric appliances, non-electric appliances, house wares, kitchenware, books, musical recordings, toys, including teddy bears, stuffed toys, plush toys, dolls and accessories therefor, ornaments; Computer application software for mobile devices and mobile phones, namely, software for consumers to access, monitor and manage their loyalty program profile and funds in associated stored value accounts, pay for purchases via mobile pay functionality, access menu data and store location information; Computer software for use in authoring, downloading, transmitting, receiving, editing, extracting, encoding, decoding, playing, storing and organizing audio data; audio recordings featuring classical, jazz, contemporary, pop, seasonal, Rhythm and Blues, soul, world, and rock music; digital audio players; downloadable music via a global computer network and wireless devices; covers and cases for cell phones and personal electronic devices; straps for cellphones; decorative ornaments for cell phones; holders for magnetically encoded gift cards; magnetic coded gift cards; mouse pads; vending machines.Class 11: Electrical appliances, namely, espresso makers and coffee makers for domestic and/or commercial use; water filters; water filtration and purification units and replacement cartridges and filters therefor.Class 14: Clocks, alarm clocks, watches and wristwatches, kitchen timers, stop watches; jewelry.Class 16: Publications and printed materials, namely, newsletters and magazines featuring information about coffee and coffee drinkers, paper filters for coffee makers, photo albums, art paper, drawing pencils, artists’ brushes, pens, pencils, ball point pens, bookmarks, pencil boxes, stationery boxes, pen cases, pencil cases, stationery, posters, paper napkins, paper coasters, paper bags, paper cup sleeves; boxes and paper packaging; instructional booklets.Class 18: Wallets, billfolds, tote bags, purses, briefcases,

book bags, briefcase-type portfolios, valises and umbrellas, all made of cloth, plastic or leather, key fobs of leather.Class 21: Hand operated coffee grinders and coffee mills, insulated coffee and beverage cups, paper cups, non-paper reusable coffee filters, non-paper coasters, insulated vacuum bottles, coffee cups, tea cups and mugs, glassware, dishes, plates and bowls, trivets, storage canisters, non-electric drip coffee makers, non-electric plunger-style coffee makers, decorative storage containers for food, non-electric tea kettles, tea infusers, tea pots, tea strainers, candle holder (not of precious metal), candlesticks not of precious metal, ceramic figurines, porcelain figurines.Class 25: T-shirts, polo shirts, sweatshirts, caps, hats, jackets, shorts, aprons and neckties.Class 28: Toys, namely, teddy bears, stuffed toys, plush toys, dolls and accessories therefor, Christmas ornaments, yo-yos, playing cards. Class 29: Milk, flavored milk, milkshakes and milk based beverages; soy milk; fruit jams; compote, jellies, bread spreads as far as not included in other classes; preserved fruit and vegetables, prepared meals or frozen meals as far as not included in other classes consisting of meat, soy, poultry, seafood, vegetables, fruits, tofu, and/or cheese also including pasta, rice, or grains; yogurt, yogurt-based beverages; whipping cream; prepared nuts, seasoned nuts, roasted nuts; nut milk and nut juice; edible oils and fats.Class 33: Alcoholic beverages.Class 38: Communication services, namely, transmitting streamed and downloadable audio and video entertainment programming via computer, satellite and communications networks; audio entertainment broadcasting and transmission; subscription audio and video entertainment broadcasting and transmission via computer, satellite and communications networks; electronic and digital transmission of voice, data, information, images, signals and messages; providing on line chat rooms, bulletin boards and community forums for the transmission of messages among computer users concerning entertainment, music, concerts, videos, radio, television, film, news, sports, games and cultural events; delivery of messages by electronic transmission; provision of connectivity services and access to electronic communications networks, for transmission or reception of audio, video or multimedia content; Providing multiple user dedicated access to the Internet; Broadcasting and downloading service that allows users to playback, sample, download, store, create playlists and stream music, videos, movies, games and entertainment related programming over computers, wireless devices, PDAs, telephones, and digital listening and playback devices; transmission of electronic gift cards and greeting cards. Class 41: Entertainment services, namely, the provision and/or organization of entertainment, educational, recreational and/or musical events; organization, production, hosting, and/or presentation of shows, live performances, concerts, and other events and activities; arranging and conducting of personal appearances for entertainment purposes; Publishing and production of musical and sound recordings; Providing access to an interactive computer database featuring a comprehensive digest of musical recordings; providing databases and directories in the fields of music, video, radio, television, news, sports, games, cultural events, entertainment, and arts and leisure via communications networks; providing information, audio, video, graphics, text and other multimedia content in the fields of music, video, radio, television, news, sports, games, cultural events, entertainment, and arts and leisure via communications networks; music publishing services; publishing of text, graphic, audio and video works via communications networks; Providing in store and on-line facilities to enable users to program audio, video, text and other multimedia content, including music, concerts, videos, radio, television, news, sports, games, cultural events and entertainment-related programs; production and distribution of radio programs; music production services; entertainment services, namely providing reviews of music and commentary and articles about music.

Continued to page 11

(Reg. No: IV/13002/2013)In respect of:- Class 43: Restaurant, cafe, cafeteria, snack bar, coffee bar and coffee house, carry out restaurant, and take out restaurant services; catering services; coffee supply services for offices; contract food services; food preparation; preparation and sale of carry out foods and beverages.

CAFFE VERONA(Reg. No: IV/13007/2013)

CASI CIELO(Reg. No: IV/13008/2013)

GAZEBO BLEND(Reg. No: IV/13009/2013)

GOLD COAST BLEND(Reg. No: IV/13010/2013)

KOMODO DRAGON BLEND(Reg. No: IV/13011/2013)

STARBUCKS VERANDA BLEND(Reg. No: IV/13015/2013)

STARBUCKS WILLOW BLEND(Reg. No: IV/13016/2013)

YUKON BLEND(Reg. No: IV/13017/2013)

The above ten trademarks are in respect of :-Class 30: Beverages made of coffee; coffee; coffee beans; ground coffee beans.

PIKE PLACE(Reg. No: IV/13013/2013)

In respect of :- Class 30: Coffee; coffee beans; ground coffee; instant coffee; coffee extracts and essences; coffee-based preparations and beverages; espresso-based preparations and beverages; iced coffee; artificial coffee; extracts and essences of, and preparations and beverages based on, artificial coffee.

(Reg. No: IV/13019/2013)The above two trademarks are in respect of :-Class 07: Electric coffee grinders for domestic or commercial use; electric milk frothers.Class 11: Electrical appliances, namely, espresso makers and coffee makers for domestic and/or commercial use; water filters; water filtration and purification units and replacement cartridges and filters therefor.Class 16: Paper filters for coffee makers; paper napkins; paper cups; paper coasters; paper bags; paper cup sleeves; boxes and paper packaging; instructional booklets.Class 21: Hand operated coffee grinders and coffee mills, insulated coffee and beverage cups, paper cups, non-paper reusable coffee filters, non-paper coasters, insulated vacuum bottles, coffee cups, tea cups and mugs, glassware, dishes, plates and bowls, trivets, storage canisters, non-electric drip coffee makers, non-electric plunger-style coffee makers, decorative storage containers for food, non-electric tea kettles, tea infusers, tea pots, tea strainers, candle holder (not of precious metal), candlesticks not of precious metal, ceramic figurines, porcelain figurines; non-electric milk frothers; scoops. Class 29: Dried milk powder; powdered milk; milk, flavored milk, milkshakes and milk based beverages; fruit jams, fruit sauces, jellies, spreads, curds and preserves.Class 30: Coffee; ground and whole bean coffee; cocoa; tea and herbal tea; coffee, tea, cocoa and espresso beverages; beverages made with a base of coffee; beverages made with a base of espresso; beverages made with a base of tea; powdered chocolate and vanilla; sauces to add to beverages; chocolate syrup; chocolate sauce; fruit sauces excluding cranberry sauce and applesauce; baked goods, namely, muffins, scones, biscuits, cookies, pastries and breads, sandwiches, granola; ready-to-drink coffee; ready-to-drink tea; ice cream and frozen confections; chocolate, candy, spice and candy confections, in the nature of beverage topping sprinkles.

VERISMO(Reg. No: IV/13018/2013)

LIGHTNOTE BLEND(Reg. No: IV/13012/2013)

STARBUCKS BLONDE(Reg. No: IV/13014/2013)(Reg. No: IV/13005/2013)

The above two trademarks are in respect of :-Class 35: Business administration; business management; franchising, namely providing technical assistance in the establishment and/or operation of restaurants, cafes, coffee houses and snack bars; retail services in the field of: coffee, tea, cocoa, packaged and prepared foods, electric appliances, non-electric appliances, housewares, kitchenware, clocks, watches, kitchen timers, stop watches, jewelry, books, musical recordings, mouse pads, wallets, billfolds, tote bags, purses, briefcases, book bags, valises and umbrellas, all made of cloth, plastic or leather, key fobs of leather, clothing, caps and hats, toys, including teddy bears, stuffed toys, plush toys, dolls and accessories therefor, Christmas ornaments; wholesale distributorships, wholesale stores and wholesale ordering services all in the field of: coffee, tea, cocoa, packaged and prepared foods, electric appliances, non-electric appliances, housewares, kitchenware, clocks, watches, kitchen timers, stop watches, jewelry, books, musical recordings, mouse pads, wallets, billfolds, tote bags, purses, briefcases, book bags, valises and umbrellas, all made of cloth, plastic or leather, key fobs of leather, clothing, caps and hats, toys, including teddy bears, stuffed toys, plush toys, dolls and accessories therefor, Christmas ornaments; mail order services and mail order catalog services, computerized on-line ordering services, computerized on-line retail services, on-line ordering services and on-line retail store services all in the field of: coffee, tea, cocoa, packaged and prepared foods, electric appliances, non-electric appliances, housewares, kitchenware, clocks, watches, kitchen timers, stop watches, jewelry, books, musical recordings, mouse pads, wallets, billfolds, tote bags, purses, briefcases, book bags, valises and umbrellas, all made of cloth, plastic or leather, key fobs of leather, clothing, caps and hats, toys, including teddy bears, stuffed toys, plush toys, dolls and accessories therefor, Christmas ornaments; computerized on-line gift registry and ordering service.Class 43: Restaurant, cafe, cafeteria, snack bar, coffee bar and coffee house, carry out restaurant, and take out restaurant services; catering services; coffee supply services for offices; contract food services; food preparation; preparation and sale of carry out foods and beverages.

(Reg. No: IV/13004/2013)In respect of :- Class 07: Electric coffee grinders for domestic or commercial use.Class 09: Loyalty cards, incentive cards, reward cards, gift cards, and club cards that may be used towards the purchase of coffee, tea, cocoa, packaged and prepared foods, electric appliances, non-electric appliances, house wares, kitchenware, books, musical recordings, toys, including teddy bears, stuffed toys, plush toys, dolls and accessories therefor, ornaments; Computer application software for mobile devices and mobile phones, namely, software for consumers to access, monitor and manage their loyalty program profile and funds in associated stored value accounts, pay for purchases via mobile pay functionality, access menu data and store location information; Computer software for use in authoring, downloading, transmitting, receiving, editing, extracting, encoding, decoding, playing, storing and

STARBUCKS COFFEE(Reg. No: IV/13003/2013)

organizing audio data; audio recordings featuring classical, jazz, contemporary, pop, seasonal, Rhythm and Blues, soul, world, and rock music; digital audio players; downloadable music via a global computer network and wireless devices; covers and cases for cell phones and personal electronic devices; straps for cellphones; decorative ornaments for cell phones; holders for magnetically encoded gift cards; magnetic coded gift cards; mouse pads; vending machines.Class 11: Electrical appliances, namely, espresso makers and coffee makers for domestic and/or commercial use; water filters; water filtration and purification units and replacement cartridges and filters therefor.Class 14: Clocks, alarm clocks, watches and wristwatches, kitchen timers, stop watches; jewelry. Class 16: Publications and printed materials, namely, newsletters and magazines featuring information about coffee and coffee drinkers, paper filters for coffee makers, photo albums, art paper, drawing pencils, artists’ brushes, pens, pencils, ball point pens, bookmarks, pencil boxes, stationery boxes, pen cases, pencil cases, stationery, posters, paper napkins, paper coasters, paper bags, paper cup sleeves; boxes and paper packaging; instructional booklets.Class 18: Wallets, billfolds, tote bags, purses, briefcases, book bags, briefcase-type portfolios, valises and umbrellas, all made of cloth, plastic or leather, key fobs of leather.Class 21: Hand operated coffee grinders and coffee mills, insulated coffee and beverage cups, paper cups, non-paper reusable coffee filters, non-paper coasters, insulated vacuum bottles, coffee cups, tea cups and mugs, glassware, dishes, plates and bowls, trivets, storage canisters, non-electric drip coffee makers, non-electric plunger-style coffee makers, decorative storage containers for food, non-electric tea kettles, tea infusers, tea pots, tea strainers, candle holder (not of precious metal), candlesticks not of precious metal, ceramic figurines, porcelain figurines.Class 25: T-shirts, polo shirts, sweatshirts, caps, hats, jackets, shorts, aprons and neckties. Class 28: Toys, namely, teddy bears, stuffed toys, plush toys, dolls and accessories therefor, Christmas ornaments, yo-yos, playing cards.Class 29: Milk, flavored milk, milkshakes and milk based beverages; soy milk; fruit jams; compote, jellies, bread spreads as far as not included in other classes; preserved fruit and vegetables, prepared meals or frozen meals as far as not included in other classes consisting of meat, soy, poultry, seafood, vegetables, fruits, tofu, and/or cheese also including pasta, rice, or grains; yogurt, yogurt-based beverages; whipping cream; prepared nuts, seasoned nuts, roasted nuts; nut milk and nut juice; edible oils and fats.’Class 33: Alcoholic beverages.Class 36: Financial services, namely, debit, credit and stored-value card services; charitable fund raising services. Class 41: Entertainment services, namely, the provision and/or organization of entertainment, educational, recreational and/or musical events; organization, production, hosting, and/or presentation of shows, live performances, concerts, and other events and activities; arranging and conducting of personal appearances for entertainment purposes; Publishing and production of musical and sound recordings; Providing access to an interactive computer database featuring a comprehensive digest of musical recordings; providing databases and directories in the fields of music, video, radio, television, news, sports, games, cultural events, entertainment, and arts and leisure via communications networks; providing information, audio, video, graphics, text and other multimedia content in the fields of music, video, radio, television, news, sports, games, cultural events, entertainment, and arts and leisure via communications networks; music publishing services; publishing of text, graphic, audio and video works via communications networks; Providing in store and on-line facilities to enable users to program audio, video, text and other multimedia content, including music, concerts, videos, radio, television, news, sports, games, cultural events and entertainment-related programs; production and distribution of radio programs; music production services; entertainment services, namely providing reviews of music and commentary and articles about music.

FRAPPUCCINO(Reg. No: IV/13006/2013)

In respect of :- Class 43: Restaurant, cafe, cafeteria, snack bar, coffee bar and coffee house services.

Continued from page 10

Continued to page 12


Riverside communities face challenging future

“DISASTROUS” changes in the be-haviour of the Ayeyarwady river have wreaked havoc among the villagers who depend on it for their livelihood, a meeting of experts heard earlier this month. Environmental degradation accelerated by human activities is putting their way of life at risk, local community representatives said at a workshop in Yangon on December 17.

Residents of Yenangyaung, Htee Gying and Mawlamyinegyun town-ships, along with representatives from the Sein Yaung So, Renewable Energy Association Myanmar, and Promotion of Indigenous and Nature Together groups, presented the challenges that communities have faced over the past decade because of changing water-sheds, bank erosion, resource deple-tion and pollution.

U Myint Tin, a community re-searcher with Sein Yaung So, said de-forestation in the upstream areas of the Ayeyarwady River had led to more

deposition, shifting waterways and bank erosion.

“Mass timber production persists along the Ayeyarwady river in the townships of Katha [in Sagaing Re-gion and] Shwegu and Bhamo [in Kachin State]. Watershed areas are damaged because of deforestation. The consequences include bank ero-sion, the formation of sandbanks and changing waterways,” he said.

U Thaung Tin Oo, a resident of Yenangyaung in Magwe Region, said residents of Nyaung Pin Thar village in the township had suffered from ero-sion that had worsened since 2005.

“Nyaung Pin Thar, 3 miles [5 kilo-metres] south of Yenangyaung on the

eastern bank of the Ayeyarwady, has existed for more than 300 years, with a population of 700,” he said.

“The impact of bank erosion start-ed in 2005 because of changing water-ways. About 1000 acres of farmland have been lost to erosion, and villagers face losing their livelihood,” he said.

U Khin Win, of Bu Kyun village in Yenangyaung, said four out of five vil-lages in his village tract had been af-fected by erosion.

“The behaviour of the Ayeyarwady has been changing since 2007. The wa-ter level used to rise and fall gradually, maintaining the fertility of the arable land. But since 2007, the water has not risen [as much as before] and this has caused erosion. About 400 acres of farmland were lost last year because of erosion, and we are still losing our land because of this disaster,” he said.

U Thin Aye, a former director of the forestry department, said riverside conservation or development projects should take into account the effects on the whole river basin.

“Environmental degradation up-stream can have wide social and eco-nomic impacts downstream,” he said. “Development on the river should be implemented based on an assessment that includes the whole river basin.”

Men walk on the bank of the Ayeyarwady River in front of a temple at Bagan. Photo: Staff

AYE SAPAY PHYU

[email protected]

‘About 400 acres of farmland were lost last year because of erosion, and we are still losing our land.’

U Khin Win Bu Kyun village, Yenangyaung

DISCOVERIES(Reg. No: IV/13020/2013)

In respect of :- Class 29: Ready-to-drink milk based beverages, excluding milkshakes, and non-carbonated milk-based soft drinks.Class 30: Coffee, espresso, tea, and chocolate beverages, and beverages made with a base of coffee and/or espresso and/or chocolate and/or tea.Class 32: Non-alcoholic drinks, soft drinks.

BEARISTA(Reg. No: IV/13021/2013)

In respect of: Class 28: Toys, namely, teddy bears, stuffed toys, plush toys, dolls and accessories therefor, Christmas ornaments, yo-yos, playing cards.

READY BREW(Reg. No: IV/13022/2013)

STARBUCKS VIA(Reg. No: IV/13023/2013)

In respect of:- Class 30: Ground and whole bean coffee, cocoa, tea (herbal and non-herbal), coffee, tea, cocoa and espresso beverages, and beverages made with a base of coffee and/or espresso, beverages made with a base of tea, powdered chocolate and vanilla; sauces to add to beverages; chocolate syrup, flavoring syrups to add to beverages, baked goods including muffins, scones, biscuits, cookies, pastries and breads, sandwiches, granola, ready-to-drink coffee, ready-to-drink tea, ice cream and frozen confections; chocolate, candy and confections.

TAZO(Reg. No: IV/13024/2013)

In respect of :- Class 30: Tea and herbal tea; tea and herbal tea-based beverages; tea and herbal tea-based beverages and concentrates, with fruit flavoring; frozen confections with tea, herbal tea and/or fruit flavoring; ground and whole bean coffee, cocoa, herbal and non-herbal tea; coffee, tea, cocoa and espresso beverages, and beverages made with a base of coffee and/or espresso; beverages made with

Class 32: Fruit drinks and soft drinks containing fruit juices; fruit juices; sparkling fruit and juice based beverages and soda beverages; frozen fruit beverages and frozen fruit-based beverages; liquid and powdered beverage mixes; flavoring syrups for beverages.

a base of tea, powdered chocolate and vanilla; sauces to add to beverages; chocolate syrup, flavoring syrups to add to beverages; baked goods, namely, muffins, scones, biscuits, cookies, pastries and breads, sandwiches, ready-to-drink coffee; ready-to-drink tea; chocolate, candy and confections; processed cereal-derived food product to be used as a breakfast cereal, snack food, or ingredient for making food, ready-to-eat cereal; rolled oats, oatmeal, grain-based snack foods; ready-to-eat oat-based snack food, crackers; frozen entrees consisting primarily of rice or pasta with such entrees also including vegetables or fruit; frozen, prepared or packaged entrees consisting primarily of meat, seafood, poultry and/or vegetables, fruit, rice, pasta and/or grains; frozen novelties, ice cream, ice milk, ice cream bars, ice cream sandwiches; frozen yogurt.


U Kyi Win Associatesfor Starbucks Corporation d/b/a Starbucks Coffee CompanyP.O. Box No. 26, Yangon. Phone: 372416Dated: 30th December, 2013

In respect of: Class 30: Coffee and non-alcoholic coffee-based beverages.

Continued from page 11

TRADE MARK CAUTIONNOTICE is hereby given that Millennium & Copthorne International Limited a company organized under the laws of Singapore and having its principal office at 36 Robinson Road #04-01 City House, Singapore 068877 is the owner and sole proprietor of the following trademark:-

COPTHORNE(Reg: No. IV/9228/2012)

in respect of: “Business management of hotels and resorts/motels and other temporary accommodation including serviced apartments and apartment hotels; public relations services in relation to temporary accommodation, including hotels and motels, serviced apartments and apartment hotels; marketing of temporary accommodation including hotels and motels, serviced apartments and apartment hotels including the advertising of the aforementioned services via the Internet and other global computer networks.” - Class: 35“Temporary accommodation services, accommodation (rental of temporary), catering (food and drink), rental of meeting rooms, restaurants, cafés, reservations of temporary accommodation; providing temporary housing accommodation; providing serviced apartments; hotel services.” Class: 43Any fraudulent imitation or unauthorized use of the said trademark or other infringements whatsoever will be dealt with according to law.U Kyi Win Associates for Millennium & Copthorne International LimitedP.O. Box No. 26, Yangon.Phone: 372416 Dated: 30th December, 2013

TRADE MARK CAUTIONMEDI plus TEC Medizinisch-technische Handelsgesellschaft mbH, a company incorporated under the laws of Germany, and having its principal place of business at Baerler Strasse 100, 47441, Moers, Germany, is the Owner and Sole Proprietor of the following Trademarks:-

GOLD SEALReg. Nos. IV/7201/2004, IV/9323/2009, IV/2579/2013

CAPITALReg. Nos. IV/7202/2004, IV/9324/2009, IV/2580/2013

EMPIREReg. Nos. IV/801/2005, IV/9325/2009, IV/2581/2013

in respect of “Class 34: Tobacco goods, in particular cigarettes and filter-tip cigarettes; smoker’s articles; matches.” Any fraudulent imitation or unauthorized use of the said Trademarks will be dealt with according to law.U Nyunt Tin Associates International LimitedIntellectual Property DivisionP.O. Box No. 952, Yangon, Myanmar.Tel: 959 4500 59 247, Email: [email protected] MEDI plus TEC Medizinisch-technischeHandelsgesellschaft mbHDated: 30 December, 2013.


The custodians of Inn Gyin Taw monastery at the foot of Mandalay Hill are seeking donors to help gild the monastery’s 97-metre (324-foot) reclining Buddha image. U Thumana from Inn Gyin Taw said that while it is not known when the image was built, it was once renovated by the renowned hermit U Khanti, who established and repaired many religious buildings before his death in 1949, aged 80. The unique monastery also features 81 rooms, each measuring exactly 13.4 square metres (144 square feet). – Si Thu Lwin

Bomb fugitive in KNU No 5 Brigade area, leaders say

THE Karen National Union leader-ship has ordered its No 5 Brigade to detain and question the man ac-cused of orchestrating a series of bombings in October that left at least two people dead.

KNU Central Executive Com-mittee member Phado Mann Nyein Maung said he asked the brigade’s leadership to question Saw Shwe Htoo, also known as U Nay Toe, who police allege was responsible for the bombings in Bago, Sagaing and Yangon regions.

Phado Mann Nyein Maung said Saw Shwe Htoo is a lower-ranking member of the KNU with some re-sponsibilities related to the group’s finances.

“Saw Shwe Htoo is in [the] No 5 Brigade [area] … Currently, he is suspended from the KNU,” he said.

Saw Shwe Htoo has been charged under section 3 of the Explosive Sub-stance Act and section 512 of Code of Criminal Procedure for his alleged role in the bomb attacks, one of which injured an American citizen staying at Traders Hotel. The case was transferred to Yangon’s western district court on December 9 and the judge declared him a fugitive.

Three other men have also been charged under the Explosive Sub-stance Act for their alleged role.

Phado Mann Nyein Maung said the KNU is cooperating with the government to bring all the perpe-trators to justice.

“Colonel Saw Roger Khin and his members from our Defence De-partment have met the other peo-ple arrested by police,” he said.


TOE WAI [email protected]

‘Currently [Saw Shwe Htoo] is suspended from the KNU.’

Phado Mann Nyein Maung Karen National Union CEC member

IN PICTURES

PHOTO: SI THU LWIN

Inhumane and divisive, but dog culling policy remains

YANGON City Development Commit-tee’s dog culling policy is putting its workers at risk of attack from angry residents who oppose the poisoning of street dogs, an official acknowledges. Animal rights activists, meanwhile, say a more humane way of controlling the spread of rabies needs to be adopt-ed, pointing to international research that shows culling is ineffective unless coupled with a serious rabies immuni-sation program for dogs.

The longstanding policy, which sees around 3000 dogs killed each month in Yangon, was put in place to protect residents from rabies, said U Thet Wai, a spokesperson for the committee’s Veterinary and Slaughter-houses Department.

But it often provokes confronta-tions with residents, he said, as it vio-lates Buddhist teachings that forbid the taking of life. Some residents also regularly feed the street dogs and de-velop attachments to them.

“We don’t want to kill dogs,” U Thet Wai said. “Most of the staff in our department are also Buddhist. But we do it because it is our duty … to clean the dogs and prevent the spread of rabies.”

The department’s teams, which are separated into four districts, go street to street poisoning stray dogs, working every day except Saturdays and full-moon days. They also act on specific

complaints from the public.To avoid conflict with residents,

the poisoning is normally done in the evening, he said.

However, this is not always the case. At least three dogs were killed on Bo Aung Kyaw Street on Decem-ber 23 during daylight hours in front of stunned bystanders. As YCDC offi-cials looked on and took photos, resi-dents managed to save at least one dog by giving it food to counteract the poison.

The officials, who received a bar-rage of abuse from bystanders, said they were responding to an urgent re-quest from a “VIP” to clean the street of all stray dogs.

Municipal records show that be-tween 2500 and 3000 stray dogs are killed each month. In Mandalay, where culling is the responsibility of the Cleaning Department, the munici-pal authorities destroyed 3900 stray dogs in 2012-13.

Ma Myat Thet Mon, who in July established a shelter for strays in Yan-gon Region’s Kyauktan township that is now home to 200 dogs, said most people acknowledge the need to con-trol the number of street dogs. What makes them angry, she said, is the slow, painful death that results from poisoning.

“I can’t stand it when I see poi-soned dog because I know they feel a lot of pain before they die. We need to find a more humane way, a way in which they are killed instantly and without suffering,” she said.

The effectiveness of culling is also questionable, according to interna-tional health and animal welfare or-ganisations. The World Society for the Protection of Animals says under-resourced communities in developing countries frequently resort to random-ly culling strays, by poisoning, elec-trocuting or shooting dogs, but these methods are “inhumane, causing the animals great pain and suffering”.

“They are also ineffective in the long term as they do not address the cause of the problem,” WSPA says.

This is backed up by research from the World Health Organization, which says that killing stray dogs does little to stop the spread of rabies

unless combined with vaccination campaigns.

“There is no evidence that removal of dogs alone has ever had a significant impact on dog population densities or the spread of rabies,” it says. “In ad-dition, dog removal may be unaccep-table to local communities. However, the targeted and humane removal of unvaccinated, ownerless dogs may be effective when used as a supplemen-tary measure to mass vaccination.

“Mass canine vaccination cam-paigns have been the most effective measure for controlling canine rabies.”

However, U Thet Wai said the de-partment lacks the funding to immu-nise stray dogs.

Municipal authorities may also be overstepping the law by randomly culling dogs. Under Myanmar’s mu-nicipal act, workers are only allowed to kill dogs if they receive a complaint from the public.

However, until now there has been little public effort to ensure this act is followed correctly or amend or abolish the law, which dates to the colonial era. In other countries, culling has proved

more controversial and politicians have even moved to remove the pro-cedure or ensure it is done humanely, said Dr Kyaw Naing Oo, a veterinary epidemiologist in the disease control division of the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries.

“Thailand changed its dog culling system after the issue was discussed in the parliament and a new law enact-ed,” Dr Kyaw Naing Oo said. “No one has tried to do that here.”

He agreed that a more humane ap-proach should be taken in line with international standards.

“[A] humane culling methodology should be applied and … conducted only at night-time to avoid the public seeing awful scenes. It would be better to follow the more humane method in our country not only for the disease control but also for dog population control in both urban and rural areas,” he said.

Legal change could still be some way off given the busy parliamen-tary schedule, however. Daw Nyo Nyo Thin, a representative in the Yangon Region Hluttaw, said she had no plan

to raise the issue of animal rights be-cause “in Myanmar even people do not have enough rights yet”.

“If I tried to discuss animal rights now other MPs would make fun of me,” she said last week.

For now, the fight has been left to a handful of animal rights activ-ists like Ma Myat Thet Mon. In Man-dalay, where dogs not only face the threat of poisoning but also abduc-tion to be sold as meat in China, the Stray Dogs Rescue Group has asked the regional government for permis-sion to reopen a dog sanctuary on 66th Street, northeast of Mandalay Hill.

But Ma Myat Thet Mon said YCDC has so far been reluctant to engage with animal rights activists to reform culling methods.

“I want to give shelter to stray dogs [rather than have them killed], and also try to control diseases and the dog population,” she said.

“I cannot afford to do this work on my own so I asked the municipal authorities to help me but so far they haven’t even replied.”

International experts say culling is ineffective unless combined with mass rabies immunisation programs that YCDC argues it cannot afford to implement

INVESTIGATION

3000Average number of stray dogs poisoned

by YCDC each month

Poisoned dogs lie on the pavement on Bo Aung

Kyaw Street on December 23. Photo: Boothee

SHWE YEE SAW

[email protected]


Air Bagan crash investigation report finds pilot error: DCA

THE Department of Civil Aviation last week submitted its draft final investiga-tion report into the fatal Christmas Day crash at Heho in 2012 to the Ministry of Transport, the head of the investigation team said last week.

DCA deputy director general U Win Swe Tun, the head of the four-member Myanmar Accident Investigation Bu-reau (MAIB) tasked with investigating the Air Bagan crash which resulted in two deaths and 11 people sustaining injuries, said the results indicated pilot error.

The MAIB was formed one day after the accident, on December 26, 2012. It submitted its report on December 22, 2013.

“The accident occurred due to the incorrect judgment of the pilot. It doesn’t mean that the pilot disobeyed the rules though,” U Win Swe Tun told The Myanmar Times last week. “When we checked the flight data recorder, it showed that the rest of the journey was fine and the accident happened only due to his misjudgement while landing.”

The pilot’s licence has been sus-pended since the beginning of the in-vestigation. Air Bagan was formed in June 2004 and launched its first flights

in November that year. It is a subsidiary of Htoo Group of Companies, owned by tycoon U Tay Za.

U Win Swe Tun said that despite the finding the report is not designed to recommend sanctions against individ-uals or companies. The focus is to learn from the accident and take measures to avoid crashes in future.

“This accident was closely watched by the media and the public to see whether legal action would be taken or compensation given. But the in-vestigation report was prepared ac-cording to International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Annex 13 … [The report] only focuses on the cause of the

accident and suggests how to avoid it happening again in the future.

“The review [of the draft] is ongoing and we will publish the report through our website soon. It will also be sent to the ICAO.”

Air Bagan spokesperson Ma Grace confirmed that the pilot had been suspended since the investigation was launched. She said the company is waiting the results of the investiga-tion and will follow all of the report’s recommendations.

The aircraft was carrying 71 people when it crashed and caught fire on landing at Heho on December 25.

The deceased included a tour guide,

Ma Nwe Lin Shein, who was aboard the ageing Fokker-100, and U Pyar, who was riding a motorcycle hit by the plane when it slammed into a road near Heho Airport. The 11 people injured in the crash included four foreigners, the two pilots and a cyclist.

The crash occurred at about 8:51am as the plane was making a landing ap-proach at the airport on a flight from Mandalay International Airport.

The MAIB received assistance from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) in the recovery and download of data from the aircraft’s Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder units.

ZAW WIN [email protected]

Reform advocates take to the road

Talks begin on minimum wage rateTHE Ministry of Labour has met Mandalay employers and workers to solicit advice on the setting of a mini-mum wage in the region.

Speaking at the meeting at Kanaung Hall in Mandalay Industrial Zone on December 24, director gen-eral U Myo Aung said the ministry wanted the minimum wage to be fair for both employers and workers.

“If the minimum wage rate is so low, the workforce won’t be satisfied, and if the minimum wage is too high, employers can’t afford to pay staff and may even have to close their busi-nesses. We are now surveying their opinion and taking their advice to set the right rate,” U Myo Aung said.

He added that the ministry will also seek input from international and local non-government groups, such as the International Labour Organiza-tion and the Myanmar Development Resource Institute.

Discussions focused on challenges that could arise from setting a mini-mum wage and ways to solve these problems, the type of jobs that need a minimum wage most, and the pros and cons of setting wages based on different job types. – Than Naing Soe, translation by Thiri Min Htun

Department of Higher Education director general U Thein Win explains the Ministry of Education’s policy on university hostel places. Photo: Pyae Thet Phyo

Marks to decide university hostel spots

OUT-OF-TOWN students, and those with the highest marks in the ma-triculation exams, are the most like-ly to get places in university hostels, the Department of Higher Educa-tion has decided.

During the coming academic year, priority will go to first-year students from outside the city in which they are studying, the depart-ment’s director general, U Thein Win, said on December 22.

“If the number of students is higher than the hostel’s capacity, we’ll decide who to accept based on their marks,” he said.

“At Yangon University, Yangon

Institute of Education and Saga-ing Institute of Education, students from first to final year can stay in the hostel. And we are now prepar-ing hostels for students at other levels in other colleges and univer-sities,” said deputy director general U Zaw Myint.

But he said more hostels for fe-male students are needed at Yangon University. Some hostels that were previously used for male students have been allocated to women be-cause of the shortage.

“We’ve implemented a temporary plan to be able to use existing build-ings effectively. Later, all students can be accommodated when the govern-ment builds more hostels,” he said.

At Myitkyina University, the gov-ernment is constructing four build-ings with a capacity of 160 students for 2013-14. Students will be able to stay there from second semester for K5000 a month.

“Another four buildings that can take up to 160 students will be com-pleted after the second semester for use next June,” said U Thein Win.

Another three buildings, for 160 students, are also planned for three universities which currently have no hostels. They should be ready by the second half of the 2014-15 aca-demic year, he said.

“At universities which don’t have hostels, students can temporarily use vacant buildings for university faculty and staff. At universities with insufficient space, they can

stay in vacant rooms in nearby uni-versities. This will save living costs and create a good educational envi-ronment,” he added.


PYAE THET [email protected]

EARLIER this month a bus carrying 25 Myanmar lawyers trundled up the road to Mandalay.

The lawyers had with them copies of the 2008 Myanmar constitution, drafted by the military government in power at that time.

They also carried a Manual of Con-stitutional Awareness drafted by Lon-don-based NGO the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law and translated into Myanmar. The manual describes what a constitution is, what the salient fea-tures of the Myanmar constitution are and what changes might be sought.

Mandalay was the fourth stop on a 10-day bus tour. Five days earlier in Yangon, the lawyers had boarded in darkness, leaving just as the sun rose behind the magnificent Shwedagon Pagoda.

Together, they set off on a whirl-wind tour around the country to speak to lawyers, politicians and members of civil society in eight states and regions about the constitution.

By the time they reached Manda-lay, they had already visited Mawla-myine, Hpa-an, Bago and Nay Pyi Taw. Taunggyi, Meiktila and Yangon were yet to come.

The trigger for this expedition was the launch of a constitutional review process by Myanmar’s parliament ear-lier this year.

In July, a 109-member review com-mittee was established to review the 2008 constitution. On October 3 the committee invited submissions from political parties, organisations and individuals around the country. Sub-missions must be in by December 31, and the committee will report to par-liament by January 31, 2014.

This is a historic opportunity to create a connection and sense of own-ership between the people of Myan-mar and their government, as well as to produce meaningful changes to My-anmar’s legal and political landscape.

In response, two Yangon-based le-gal organisations – the newly formed Myanmar’s Lawyers Association and

the Myanmar Legal Aid Network – volunteered to join the Bingham Cen-tre’s project to raise awareness of the constitution and the reform process, as well as to provide assistance and support to those who wished to make submissions to the committee.

The constitution of Myanmar has changed three times since the country gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1947 under a multiparty parliamentary system.

In 1962, that constitution was sus-pended with the overthrow of elected

civilian government by the military’s Revolutionary Council. In 1974, a sec-ond constitution established a social-ist one-party state with no real separa-tion of powers.

In 1988 it was again suspended, this time by the military-based State Law and Order Restoration Council. The country remained without a con-stitution until 2008 when Myanmar’s third and current constitution was passed by a referendum.

Although heavily criticised for its non-inclusive drafting process and the decision to hold the referendum in the immediate aftermath of Cyclone Nar-gis, it does establish a presidential sys-tem of government with universal fran-chise, a bicameral legislature and 14 regional governments and assemblies.

Despite its dubious origins, the constitution was an important step to-ward multi-party democracy and even recognises a number of fundamental human rights.

Nevertheless, criticisms of the 2008 constitution, from within Myanmar and the wider international commu-nity, remain well-founded.

They include the reservation of

25 percent of parliamentary seats for members of the military; the appoint-ment of some key cabinet seats by the military; the involvement of the execu-tive in the appointment of key mem-bers of the judiciary; and the very high threshold of agreement needed for constitutional amendment (more than 75pc of parliament together with, in certain circumstances, the majority of the population in a referendum).

In addition, Daw Aung Sang Suu Kyi cannot at present stand for the office of president or vice president, because the constitution disqualifies anyone whose children are citizens of a foreign country.

These concerns were echoed in the workshops hosted around the country by members of the bus tour, led by two UK barristers, Naina Patel and Alex Goodman of the Bingham Centre.

The dusty room in Mandalay was filled with the voices of the 100-odd people, all clamouring to get a word in despite the novelty of the discussion about a rights-based democracy.

In one corner, a young monk pon-dered the limits of the right to vote; in another, an elderly man dressed in a

starched white shirt and black jacket queried the absence of any constitu-tional prohibition on torture, given his long confinement for anti-government activities.

Myanmar now has a massive op-portunity to develop its rich but large-ly unexploited natural, mineral and energy resources. The introduction of the rule of law could provide a stable infrastructure for such development, both encouraging and protecting in-vestment and trade.

Increasing the representativeness of parliament could improve the qual-ity of Myanmar’s laws and the equita-ble distribution of resources.

Broadening the criteria for presi-dent would enable high-quality candi-dates such as Daw Suu Kyi to stand for election. Strengthening the independ-ence of the judiciary could improve the climate for enforcing contracts, protecting property rights and tack-ling corruption.

This is particularly important giv-en that Transparency International’s assessment of global perceptions of public sector corruption in 2011 rates Myanmar’s reputation below every country in the world except North Ko-rea and Somalia.

The end product of the tour was the completion of more than 200 submissions to the committee, many delivered by hand to the parliament building in Nay Pyi Taw.

Whether these representations will be taken seriously is of course another matter, given that more than 75pc of the members of parliament need to consent to change under a constitu-tion that is one of the most difficult in the world to amend.

Whatever the ultimate result, the bus tour showed that the people of Myanmar see constitutional reform as a road to huge potential development under enhanced respect for human rights.

Sir Jeffrey Jowell QC is director of the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law in London. Naina Patel is director of education and training at the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law.

JEFFREY JOWELLNAINA [email protected]

KYAT

5000Monthly fee for a student to stay at Myiktyina University’s hostel

when it opens in 2014

Ministry of Education plans to build hostels at three universities that currently have no accommodation for students

FOCUS

‘This is a historic opportunity to create a connection and sense of ownership between the people and their government.’



Killer stalks Sagaing villagersVicious stabbings in a previously peaceful community have left residents scared they will be next

AS sunlight spreads pale across the winter sky, Daw Aye Mya is starting to finish up her work out in the field. It’s only 3pm but the shorter days this time of year aren’t the only rea-son she’s keen to be back home well before darkness falls.

Everyone in her village now works together in small groups – no-body works alone, not lately – and as the afternoon begins to slide into evening, people start getting anxious to go home. The reason is fear, or as Daw Aye Mya puts it, “What if I meet the murderer who is on the loose as I’m going back to my home?”

Once, Ngartayaw village in Saga-ing township was a place of peace and stability. The village boasted more than 500 houses, three mon-asteries and a middle school. The residents kept busy growing crops in turn on farmland and the sandbanks of the river.

But the placid demeanour of this peaceful community was shattered last month by a tragic incident.

November 17, the full moon day of Tazaungmone, is a significant day for Buddhists. On that day most of the villagers were attending a festi-val at nearby Kaunghmudaw Pagoda, about 16 kilometres (10 miles) away.

Those celebrating, however, did not realise what was going on at home. The head of their village, U Kyaw Khine, was murdered, stabbed by a knife-wielding attack-er, as he walked along the road at around 10am. An 86-year-old sen-ior monk, U Bhaddanta Zawana, was also attacked.

The sayadaw survived thanks to the help of two villagers. But he suf-fered cuts to his head and arms, and his right ring finger was cut off en-tirely. His two helpers also suffered cuts to their hands.

While the attacks happened in two separate incidents, police have filed charges against one individual,

who has lived in the village most of his life. So why are residents here still afraid?

They haven’t found him yet. The man fled the village the day he alleg-edly committed the offences, leaving behind his mother and siblings.

“We are scared of him because he has no normal human feeling,” said Ko Win Lwin, one of the villagers who helped the sayadaw in the af-termath of the attack. “He killed the head of the village and he also tried to kill the sayadaw, who is revered by all villagers. Since he dares to attack those top people, he thinks nothing of us, the laypeople. We are so scared of him.”

Ko Win Lwin said the man in question has a history of unstable behaviour.

“[He] is a deserter from the mili-tary. After leaving, he first excavated gemstones in Mogok, then he worked in a gold mine in Yamethin. The first time his business was good but the second time he returned with bad news. Since then, he has been out of his mind,” Ko Win Lwin said.

“He reads books about insight,” said Ko Win Lwin. “He said he can do what he wants to do because the

door of hell is closed for him. He ac-cused the sayadaw of controlling him, of not allowing him to reach the next level of success. So he tried to kill the sayadaw.”

In February, the alleged mur-derer placed a knife to the sayadaw’s neck and threatened to “send him to heaven”. The sayadaw eventu-ally convinced him to remove the knife and the head of the village – U Kyaw Khine – and two police then forced the man sign a pledge saying that he would never again go to the monastery.

Tragically for U Kyaw Khine, however, the pledge had the opposite effect.

Forcing the man to sign the pledge meant “he harboured a grudge against the head of the village and killed him”, Ko Win Lwin Said.

Since the incident, six police have

been stationed in the village. But the villagers, still feeling threatened, have also formed their own patrols.

“The villagers are so tired now be-cause they have to work in the field in the daytime and have to guard at night,” said Ko Ko Naing, who also came to the sayadaw’s aid with Ko Win Lwin.

After the attack, U Bhaddanta Zawana underwent medical treat-ment at Mandalay General Hospital. As his life remains in danger in the village, he is staying temporarily in a Mandalay monastery. Residents have been visiting and paying obeisance to him at the monastery in turns.

U Bhaddanta Zawana said that af-ter the first time that the man pulled a knife on him he had urged police and the village head to send him to a mental hospital. “I told them I would pay the expenses,” said U Bhaddanta Zawana, still wearing bandages from his injuries. “But no one was inter-ested in my advice. That’s why we’ve ended up in this sad situation.”

Back in Ngartayaw, rumours cir-culate frequently that the alleged killer is close by, perhaps waiting to strike again. People say lunches taken to farmlands are being sto-len. They say he has threatened to keep on killing until five people are dead.

Meanwhile, Daw Aye Mya and her fellow farmers have no choice but to keep on working. So all they can do is watch each others’ backs – and head home before the sun disappears at the end of each day.

“In the past, our village is peace-ful,” said Daw Aye Mya, as she packed up her things and prepared for the journey home. “Before we were very proud of our village ... but now we dare not go another vil-lage. These crimes have made us all ashamed.”


Ko Win Lwin (left) and Ko Ko Naing were injured when they came to the aid of an 86-year-old monk attacked by a knife-wielding man in Sagaing Region’s Ngartayaw village last month. Photo: Than Naing Soe

THAN NAING SOE

[email protected]

Dear editor,The opening ceremony of the

Southeast Asian Games on Decem-ber 11 gave a sense of just where that US$33 billion in Chinese funding is going: elaborate costumes, synchro-nised dancing and enough fireworks to create a haze of smog over Wunna Theikdi stadium as thick as a Beijing evening.

The spectacle itself was some-thing of a victory lap for the Chinese, whose own opening and closing cer-emonies during the 2008 Olympic Games were said to be unbeatable in scale. But the light show also called up memories of another event which happened earlier that year: Cyclone Nargis.

Mid-ceremony, stadium spectators and audiences watching from home or crowded around TVs in teashops across the country were unexpect-edly treated to the illusion of flimsy four-walled huts being blasted apart and carried off by torrents of digital waves, all before an apocalyptic big-screen background of fire and flood.

Of course, in the aftermath of the country’s worst-ever natural disas-ter that “severely affected” 1.5 mil-lion and killed upward of 180,000, families in the delta didn’t actually emerge whole and dry from their huts. Nor did they immediately be-gin planting trees, singing songs and dancing with giant smiling animals. But that seems to be the way Nay Pyi Taw prefers to remember it.

One wonders what the visit-ing athletes from the Philippines thought of the charade. Clearly the sequence was planned long before the strongest tropical storm ever recorded at landfall ripped through their country last month - and should have been promptly and qui-etly shelved as soon as it did.

Digital Nargis 2.0 did contain one similarity to the tragedy of Nargis 2008, however: Just like in real life, representatives from other nations weren’t allowed onto the field until some time afterward.

Regards,Wade Guyitt

LETTER

18 News THE MYANMAR TIMES DECEMBER 30, 2013 - JAUNARY 5, 2014

Myanmar to push diplomatic solution on South China Sea

MYANMAR must avoid bowing to any form of international pressure on the South China Sea dispute when it takes over the leadership of ASEAN next year, a government official says.

U Aung Htoo, deputy director gen-eral in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ ASEAN Affairs Department, said My-anmar would seek to emulate the ap-proach of Brunei and work toward a diplomatic solution to the dispute.

Five ASEAN nations – Brunei, In-donesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam – are claimants to sections of the South China Sea, while China claims much of the sea through its proposed boundary, which is known as the nine-dash line. Taiwan also has a claim.

In the past China has insisted on negotiating the boundary with other claimants individually, while ASEAN members have proposed negotiating collectively. Tensions remain high but the first talks toward a code of conduct

to resolve the dispute were launched in September.

On October 10, participants at the East Asia Summit – the 10 ASEAN members and eight other countries, including the United States, China and Japan – welcomed “positive progress” on official consultations toward the code of conduct.

U Aung Htoo said Myanmar will try to add further momentum to these initial talks.

“China has now agreed to the prin-ciple of a code of conduct to resolve the South China Sea dispute. We can’t go against China and we will try our best to handle the dispute with Chi-na’s agreement as much as we can,” U Aung Htoo said.

He said it was important that My-anmar is not perceived as favouring ei-ther side in the dispute, adding that it would seek to avoid the situation that occurred when Cambodia chaired the group in 2011 and acceded to China’s demands on the text of an ASEAN communiqué, prompting a major dip-lomatic squabble.

“We will be able to release regional statements without being influenced by external pressure,” he said.

Danny Chian Siong Lee, director of the ASEAN secretariat’s Community Affairs Development Directorate, said

the bloc’s members are committed to resolving their differences with China through peaceful negotiations and en-gagement. He said it is a view shared by China.

Gao Mingo, the head of the Po-litical and Information Section at the Chinese embassy in Yangon, said his country is committed to resolving the dispute “peacefully … through consul-tation and negotiation”.

He said that the issue should not be allowed to overshadow broader ties between China and ASEAN.

“The disputes over the South China Sea between China and some ASEAN nations are not the entirety of China-ASEAN relations,” he told The Myan-mar Times.

“China and ASEAN countries enjoy friendly relations and there’s vast po-tential for future development.

“China looks forward to jointly working with ASEAN countries to … ensure peace and stability in the South China Sea.”

During its year-long tenure as ASEAN chair, Myanmar is also likely to come under scrutiny for its han-dling of issues such as Rohingya citi-zenship, the peace process with armed ethnic groups, economic reform, anti-terrorism efforts and climate change.

U Than Maung, an adviser to the Myanmar Institute of Strategic and In-ternational Studies, a Ministry of For-eign Affairs thinktank, said Myanmar needs to adhere to an “independent” foreign policy to avoid conflict with its ASEAN partners or other members of the international community.

“It could damage Myanmar’s in-ternational standing if it cannot man-age these issues effectively,” U Than Maung said.

U Kye Myint, also from Myanmar-ISIS, said he was concerned that My-anmar would be “sandwiched” by China and the US, which favours the position of ASEAN’s claimants.

ASEAN Affairs Department direc-tor general U Aung Lynn said Myan-mar was committed to the code of conduct. “Building trust and using di-plomacy is the foundation of resolving this dispute,” he said.

Myanmar will host the first ASEAN meeting as chair of the bloc on Janu-ary 15. It received the chairmanship at a handover ceremony in Brunei on October 10.

NYAN LYNN [email protected]

‘We will be able to release regional statements without being influenced by external pressure.’

U Aung Htoo ASEAN Affairs Department

Nationalism: a barrier to integration?

CLOSER integration between ASEAN members was always going to be a challenge in a region as diverse as Southeast Asia. The bloc’s 10 mem-bers each have their own political system, culture, religion and level of development, as well as a whole host of domestic problems that of-ten spill over borders and affect their neighbours.

Also, little is also known about how the region’s 500 million people feel about cooperating more closely with citizens of countries with which, in many cases, they have little in com-mon. But a recently established Fa-cebook community, with more than 200,000 members across all 10 mem-bers, has given some insight – and highlighted how nationalism could hinder regional integration.

The ASEAN Community page is moderated by 41 young people, with up to five from a single country, and was officially recognised by ASEAN secretary general Le Luong Minh in August.

Comments on the page though suggest little unity between countries, or at least within the bloc overall. The problems of member countries have repercussions for the network of moderators. In but one example, the conflict in Rakhine State drew lots of angry comments toward the Myanmar administrators of the page from members unhappy at the gov-ernment’s treatment of the Muslim Rohingya.

“The repercussion of Rakhine conflict on [the ASEAN Community] page is quite huge. The Myanmar admins felt sad because every post from [them] got comments that were vituperative and highly critical,” said administrator and university student Ma Aye Moe Moe Chit.

Even before the strong responses to the Rakhine issue the administra-tors had set a policy that the ASEAN Community page is for “positive” comments only. This effort to stifle debate has further irritated some, who have instead gone to the admin-istrators’ personal Facebook accounts to attack them.

“[S]ome hate us because [the ASEAN Community] page is always promoting good info about ASEAN,” Gerry Bautista, an admin from the Philippines, said by email. “Some-times, some other members send [private messages] to my personal ac-count just to bash me, [asking], ‘Why can’t I post [about] the bad side of the Philippines?’”

“Many times I [want] to cry whenI read bad comments about Vietnam,” complained admin Nguyen Hoang Minh Dand.

Regardless – or perhaps because – of the online slanging matches, the online ASEAN community is growing at a rate of hundreds of members a day.

Since it was founded in August 2011, it has 220,630 likes and 23,497 people talking about it as of Decem-ber 23. While Myanmar boasts the second-largest number of members after Thailand, administrator Ko Khine Min Than said they are rarely among the most active on the page.

“Most of the Myanmar members just like the page, give some com-ments and like the posts of the ad-min, maybe because of the internet connection. Only a very few members are trying to share [information] about the country,” Ko Khine Min Than said.

“Generally, Singapore and Brunei people are not interested in ASEAN and our page … [but] people from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines people are very active.”

But these nationalistic attitudes are likely to hinder attempts by ASE-AN to generate a greater cohesiveness between the people of its 10 member states, which has been a priority of the bloc’s leadership for a number of years.

In a previous interview with The Myanmar Times, former secretary general Surin Pitsuwan said it was time for ASEAN to transition from a leader-driven to people-driven grouping.

“The [ASEAN Charter] now pro-vides for people to participate and make a contribution,” he said in March 2009. “If people take that se-riously, we’ll have a chance to help drive and shape the region and the organisation. If they don’t, then you can’t blame the leaders. They have made their commitment; they have opened up the space. Now it’s for the people of ASEAN to seize the opportunity.”

However, successful people-to-people collaboration has been rare. The Southeast Asian Games is per-haps the only event that can be con-sidered a socio-cultural integration success story, but it is still one based on national competition. Most tour-ism and cultural promotion events, meanwhile, are focused on business ties, while civil society and youth fo-rums show promise but are just gain-ing momentum.

As a result, the challenge in over-coming strong nationalist sentiment and competition between members

that is ingrained through, in some cases, centuries of conflict remains as strong as ever.

It is further complicated by dis-parities in economic development. The bloc’s members range from an economic powerhouse like Singapore to least developed countries such as Laos and Myanmar.

“It is undeniable that some coun-tries think they are better than other countries in terms of development and education,” said Hareef, an ad-ministrator from Brunei.

“Some countries share the same interests and background as other countries: for example, CLMV [Cam-bodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam] countries, or Malaysia, Singapore, In-donesia and Brunei. Some people are not really interested in countries with different backgrounds and do not un-derstand them well, which creat[es] competition and argument,” he said.

“I do not have a problem if they want to criticise the cultures, food and so on. [What really] bothers me [is how] nationalism prevents us in-tegrating into one ASEAN.”

Boon, an administrator from Thai-land who was one of the first to join the project, said even the administra-tors struggle to cooperate because they find it hard to hide their feelings toward other countries.

“So far we are trying to urge the admins to work together rather than competing against each other,” he said. “The page creator, Mr Jirapat, [asked me to] take charge in control-ling the posts that are made by my-self as well as other administrators. I need to make sure that there is col-laboration rather than competition.”

Recently, however, there has been a glimmer of hope for those who want to see the people of ASEAN come closer together.

Network members responded with unity following Typhoon Hai-yan, which battered the Philippines in early November, killing more than 6000 people. The disaster prompted members of all countries to express support and encouragements for those affected.

The young administrators, such as Ko Thiha Wint Aung, said this gave them cause for optimism.

“I believe that ASEAN must work as a community, as a family and as a united region,” Ko Thiha Wint Aung said, “to be developed, peaceful and prosperous.”

SANDAR LWIN

[email protected]

ASEAN FOCUS

A Facebook group for the ASEAN community highlights some of the issues the bloc will face as it tries to bring members closer together

20 THE MYANMAR TIMES December 30, 2013 - January 5, 2014

BusinessSPA misses Landmark deadline as talks continue with ministry

SINGAPORE-LISTED Yoma Strategic Holdings has given Serge Pun & Asso-ciates (Myanmar) another six months to finalise a lease extension for the site of the proposed US$400 million Land-mark project in downtown Yangon.

Developers say the extension is needed to make the project financially viable but the Ministry of Rail Trans-portation, which owns the site, is reluc-tant to approve it because of a previous dispute over the rental fee, a ministry official said last week.

As The Myanmar Times reported earlier this month, SPA has been in ne-gotiations with the ministry and state-run Myanma Railways since early this year but is yet to reach a deal on the terms for the lease extension. SPA is seeking to extend the lease to 70 years, the maximum allowable under foreign investment rules.

Yoma announced on December 20 that it had given Serge Pun’s company another six months to finalise terms, pushing the December 31 deadline back to June 30, 2014. While it is the second time SPA has missed such a deadline, Yoma said it is confident the deal will be completed, adding that SPA will “rely on the existing leases of the two sites to carry out permitted works on the Landmark development”.

“The Landmark development is a large project requiring extensive plan-ning and preparation and it is in the interests of the company that the devel-opment of the Landmark development continues while SPA negotiates and

finalises the terms of the master lease with the relevant authorities,” it said.

Business tycoon Serge Pun is chair-man of both SPA (Myanmar) and Yoma.

A Nay Pyi Taw-based Myanma Railways official, who asked not to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the media, confirmed the talks were continuing. He said, however, that the Ministry of Rail Transporta-tion is reluctant to grant the extended lease because SPA and its partners had for years failed to meet the terms of the

original agreement. If the extension is agreed it will be at a higher rental fee, he indicated.

From 1995 SPA was a minority part-ner in Meeyahta International Hotel Limited (MIHL), which developed Grand Mee Ya Hta Executive Resi-dences and FMI Centre. SPA and SPA (Myanmar) held around 28 percent of shares, while Thailand’s Nawarat Pa-tanakarn Public Company held 53pc, according to documents from the Thai stock exchange.

Aye NyeiN WiN ThomAs KeAN

The former Burma Railway Company building located at the corner of Sule Pagoda and Bogyoke Aung San roads is scheduled to be part of the Landmark Project. Photo: Ko Taik

Myanmar Railways official says Ministry of Rail Transportation reluctant to approve lease extension because of past dispute over land rental feeTHOUSANDS of Cambodian garment workers on December 26 joined anti-government protests demanding that Prime Minister Hun Sen step down and call a new election.

The opposition had urged the tex-tile industry’s vast workforce to join its daily rallies in the capital against Hun Sen, and the workers’ participation is a boost to efforts to challenge the long-ruling strongman.

Hun Sen last week rejected opposi-tion calls for him to step down and call a new vote to settle allegations of vote-rigging in July elections.

The protests on December 26 coin-cided with a strike by about 300,000 garment workers for higher pay.

The government announced earlier this week that the monthly minimum

wage for garment workers would be increased from US$80 to $95 starting from April next year.

The workers are demanding a mini-mum wage of $160 per month in 2014.

Rong Chhun, president of the Cam-bodian Confederation of Unions, said the strike had forced many factories to stop work.

“We cannot accept the increase. It is so little. The workers will continue with the strike if there is no resolution,” he told AFP.

Disputes over wages and safety conditions in Cambodia’s lucrative gar-ment industry are frequent. The multi-billion dollar industry employs about 650,000 people and is a key source of foreign income for the impoverished country.

The opposition party has boycotted parliament since the election.

Parliament in late September ap-proved a new five-year term for Hun Sen, despite the absence of opposition MPs, in a move decried by the opposi-tion as a “constitutional coup”.

Hun Sen – a 61-year-old former Khmer Rouge cadre who defected and oversaw Cambodia’s rise from the ashes of war – has ruled for 28 years, and has vowed to continue un-til he is 74. – AFP

Cambodian garment workers strike, join opposition protests

PhNom PeNh

300,000estimated number of garment workers

striking for better pay

Leader of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party Sam Rainsy greets supporters during a demonstration in Phnom Penh on December 26. Photo: AFP

SPA misses Landmark deadline as talks continue with ministry

Under the terms of the original lease, MIHL was to pay the Ministry of Rail Transportation $24 a square metre on the 9.37 acre site, or around $910,000 a year, the Myanma Railways official said.

“[MIHL] failed to pay the money to the ministry and the ministry filed a civil suit in 2009. In 2012, the judge ordered the two sides to reach a settle-ment,” the official said. The terms of the settlement have not been publicly released.

Mr Pun said last week any debt owed to the government had been re-paid and indicated it was not an issue in the negotiations.

“Any debt owed to the government prior to August 2012 was not a debt owed by SPA but by the company in which SPA was a minority partner. Upon acquiring all the shares back from the majority shareholder, SPA repaid any and all debts owed by the company to the government,” Mr Pun told The Myanmar Times.

Unveiled in November 2012, the mixed-use Landmark project will

include a luxury hotel, a business hotel, serviced apartments, a high-end condo-minium, and retail and office space de-velopments. The site occupies a prime location at the corner of Sule Pagoda and Bogyoke Aung San roads.

Under the proposed arrangement, Yoma and First Myanmar Invest-ment, of which Mr Pun is also chair, would be the major equity holders in the project.

The lease negotiations and a subse-quent application to Myanmar Invest-ment Commission appear to be the last hurdles for Yoma and its partners to jump before construction work can begin on the site.

In its announcement last week, Yoma said it has secured financing from the International Finance Cor-poration, a member of the World Bank Group, and the Asian Development Bank for half of the project to be fund-ed through debt.

IFC and ADB “have been mandated to provide a debt and equity financing

Myanmar Railways official says Ministry of Rail Transportation reluctant to approve lease extension because of past dispute over land rental fee

more oN BusiNess 22

ONE of the first apartment complexes in Southeast Asia has been given a new lease on life – as a serviced apart-ment complex.

Formerly known as Prome Court, the June XI development, which also includes a business centre, opened on December 25, with 218 rooms.

The building, which was until re-cently the home of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was redeveloped by Youth Force Group of Companies, which hopes to tap into the increas-ing demand for office and apartment space from foreign companies enter-ing Myanmar.

The development’s name comes from the date – June 11, 2012 – on which Youth Force got permission for the project from the Myanmar Invest-ment Commission. A tender for the 1.722-acre site, including three build-ings, was announced in January of that year.

Company spokesperson U Kyaw Soe Win said the firm has leased the site for 50 years with the possibility of two 10-year extensions.

“The terms and conditions of the contract through MIC do not allow the original structure and architec-tural features of the buildings to be changed. This means that the compa-nies that rent space here also need to follow these rules,” he said.

Youth Force had originally planned to develop an additional 14-storey building in the same compound but had to revise these plans because of new zoning rules.

“Recently this area was put into the restricted category for high-rise development so we changed our plans from a 14-storey to a 6-storey serviced apartment. However, we will develop the foundations of the building so that it can be expanded to 14 storeys in the future if the rules change,” he said.

According to conservation group Yangon Heritage Trust, Prome Court

was constructed as a residential complex for members of British ad-ministration in 1921 and finished in 1922. The author Maurice Collis, who wrote numerous books about Myan-mar, lived in the building during the last years of his stay. After independ-ence Prome Court became the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office and then the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

U Kyaw Soe Win said many local and international firms were inter-ested in taking leases in the building, which is currently empty, but Youth Force hopes to get a single tenant for the entire site.

“We haven’t fixed the price yet but it will definitely be above the market rate because of the services we offer, the location and the uniqueness of the building.”

June XI is one of just a handful of serviced apartments in Yangon, along with Sakura Residence, Marina Resi-dence, Golden Hill Tower Executive Apartments, Espace Avenir and Mi-Casa Hotel Apartments.

Serviced apartments open in former foreign ministryzAW WiN [email protected]

Attendees gather at the opening of the June XI apartments on December 25 in Yangon. Photo: Ko Taik

BusiNess 23

Sme development still faces numerous challenges

a booming year for yangon real estate looks to continue in 2014

ProPerTy 24

HR ManagerSalary 1,000,000-1,400,000 ks/month

Responsibilities: Fully responsible for the HR area: defining, structuring and developing recruiting channels and processes, creating contract, payroll process, social security taxes, handbook creating, etc., Requirements: Fluent in ENGLISH and MYANMAR; >5years work experience in HR Management field.

JOIN US TODAY! Contact: 09421038671, [email protected]

We are hiring!

22 Business THE MYANMAR TIMES December 30, 2013 - January 5, 2014

THE holiday season has contributed to a ma-jor bump is Western-style clothing sales in Yangon, shop owners said last week. Shop-pers are not only bundling up against colder weather, but also looking to impress with new fashions as they ring in the New Year and take advantage of end-of-the-year sales promotions.

“This year demand for clothes is up 50 percent compared to this time last year,” said Ma Poe Ei Phyu, owner of Pretty Girl Fashion Shop located in Dagon Centre.

Ma Poe Ei Phyu said the brisk business was mainly coming from customers shop-ping for jackets and jeans, wanting to sport new designs but also to cut the nighttime and early morning chill of the city’s brief but no-ticeable cold season.

Daw Nilar, owner of Pinki Fashion Shop, a wholesale outlet in Mingalar Market, said that she had seen a similar trend.

“This year [our] clothing sales are up around 50pc. Myanmar people are now very familiar with New Year’s Eve parties, so clothes are being sold very quickly this year,” she said.

Last year, people in Yangon were able to ring in 2013 with a countdown and large fire-works display, a public celebration that had been banned under the previous government. The event proved to be wildly popular with

around 90,000 people gathered in downtown to watch.

Daw Nilar added that she had also seen a rise this year in people purchasing Western-style clothes as New Year’s and Christmas gifts, often lured in by end-of-the-year price cuts. The increase in sales has helped to make

up for last year’s Christmas season, where Daw Nilar said she saw no rise in sales.

Shopper Ma Wut Yee Htun, 21, said she was moved to buy a new jacket after seeing prices slashed by as much as 68pc at some shops in Yangon, calling the seasonal deals “amazing”.

Winter clothing business heats up as weather cools and 2014 looms

coNTiNued from BusiNess 21

package to the Landmark Develop-ment” and the “parties are currently negotiating on the terms of the financ-ing”, it said.

Talks with The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels for a proposed Pen-insula Hotel in the heritage-listed former Burma Railway Company building are “in an advanced stage of concluding the definitive documents and finalising the design and plan-ning of the development”, Yoma said. It added that discussions with two other minority partners, Mitsubishi Corporation and Mitsubishi Estate of Japan, are also progressing.

myAT Noe oo [email protected]

Customers purchase winter jackets in December in downtown Yangon. Photo: Thiri

iN PicTuresBallet for a bull market: New York City Ballet principal dancers Sara Mearns and Zachary Catazaro pose on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange after ringing the opening bell December 24. Photo: AFP

Business Development manager

Marketing manager

Sales and distribution manager

Brand manager

Logistic officer

Medical doctor

Project manager

Sales engineer

Site engineer

Chief Accountant

Accountant

HR Manager

HR Executive

Legal executive

Secretary

Passenger service agent ( airline)

Receptionist

Customer service

No. 851/853 (A/B), 3rd Floor, Room (7/8), Bogyoke Aung San Road, Lanmadaw Township, Yangon, Myanmar.Tel: (951) 229 437, 09 49 227 773, 09 730 94007Email: [email protected], [email protected] www.facebook.com/esearchmyanmar

New

Vaca

Ncies

aPPL

Y NOw

!Which

is why more than 500,000

readers choose the two

newspapers that have the

nation covered

24 hours a day.

7 days a week.

365 days a year.

Advertising & Subscription

Hotline: +951 392 928

email: advertising@

myanmartimes.com.mm

circulation@

myanmartimes.com.mm

The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in Myanmar is inviting qualified candidates to apply for the following positions:Sr. Title and level Duty Station Position Deadline1. National Public Health Programme Office (LICA Specialist 8) Yangon National 12 Jan 142. Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist (IICA-3) Yangon National 9 Jan 14 3. Programme Associate (LICA 4) Yangon National 8 Jan 144. Contract Assistant (LICA-3) Yangon National 8 Jan 145. Senior Policy Officer (re-advertised) (LICA Specialist-8) Yangon National 8 Jan 146. Operations/Contract Associate (G6) Yangon National 8 Jan 147. Communications Assistant (LICA-3) Yangon National 8 Jan 14 Website Management-(Vacancy Extension) The benefit package for the above positions includes an attractive remuneration, 30 days annual leave and 10 holidays per year, medical insurance, learning and development opportunities and a challenging working environment with 250 national and international colleagues.

Business 23www.mmtimes.com

GOVERNMENT officials have ex-pressed concern that despite a re-newed focus on development, Myan-mar’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs) continue to face serious is-sues, warning that these types of businesses could suffer as Myanmar is poised to take the chair of ASEAN and the ASEAN Economic Commu-nity strives for greater regional inte-gration.

U Than Htut, deputy director gen-eral of the Ministry of National Plan-ning and Economic Development (MNPED) said despite efforts by the government, SMEs continue to lag behind those found in Laos and Cambodia.

“Everybody knows that the role of SMEs is an important part of our country. Our president is himself the chairman of the SMEs development committee,” U Than Htut said, add-ing that he believed a lack of coor-dination between the private sector and government on SMEs was the biggest problem facing the sector.

Academic panels, meetings to dis-cuss SME development theory, and

workshops on applying for and re-ceiving loans have already been held, according to U Than Htut, who said what needs to happen now is greater work across government and pri-vate sectors, to bring the two sides together.

“What we needed is cooperation“, he said, calling for a nationwide meeting in which both private busi-nesspeople and government officials could create a detailed development plan drawing from both parties.

Around 100,000 SMEs have reg-istered through a new registration department established in April 2012 by the Ministry of Industry. MNPED is preparing to carry out a survey of SMEs with the help of the United Nations Development Programme

to gather information on what the SMEs including what they are pro-ducing and who owns them.

Aung Myint Than, director of the MNPED told The Myanmar Times that this could take place as early as January 2014.

Myanmar’s lack of an SME Law, sufficient consumer protection and intellectual property rights make the situation more complicated than that in other ASEAN countries. A fi-nal draft of the SME Law has been completed, but it has not yet been presented to parliament and the de-tails remain confidential.

Daw Ei Shwesin Tun, assistant director of the central department of SME development said that SMEs face tremendous issues when at-tempting to secure loans for busi-ness start-up and expansion, due to the lack of an SME law.

The current loan registration pro-cess is long, requiring SME owners to show ownership of land to receive loans. The three-year loans range from K10 million to 50 billion and carry an interest rate of around 8 percent.

While business owners complain about the time it takes to secure a loan, the government remains con-cerned that they may never see a return on money that they loan out.

‘ ’We want to take action for SME development, but there is risk for us

[the government],’’ she said. Daw Khine Khine New, joint sec-

retary of the Union of Myanmar Fed-eration of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI), was realis-tic about the challenges being faced by Myanmar SMEs.

She said that business owners are

unaware of recent changes, pointing out specifically Myanmar’s reinstate-ment to the European Union’s Gen-eralised scheme of tariff preferences (GSP) in July 2013. Greater clarity and passing this information along to SME owners would be beneficial, she said.

ACCORDING to industry experts a number of Myanmar’s key commod-ities’ prices dropped in December.

Beans: The price of beans fell as demand in India slumped following the country’s festival season and a new crop began to enter the mar-ket.

“Since the last week of October the price for a tonne of matpe Fair Average Quality (FAQ) has fallen from K670,000 to K570,000,” said U Myat Soe, a central executive commit-tee member of the Myanmar Pulses, Beans and Sesame Seeds Merchants’ Association.

Myanmar exports 70 percent of its bean crop to India. The most popular varieties are black matpe, green mung, toor whole and chick-peas. Most beans are grown in the Bago, Yangon, Mandalay, Ayeyar-wady and Sagaing regions from No-vember to February.

Cooking Oil: The wholesale price of peanut oil on December 24 was K3300 a viss (1.6 kilograms or 3.6 pounds), while the retail price was K3500 a viss, both up K100 from the previous week.

“It is the beginning of the peanut harvest season, so prices have been forced down. The price may contin-ue to fall in coming months “said U Saw Hla Myint, a spokesperson at Summit peanut oil warehouse.

Rice: The price of rice falls as harvest season forces prices down. The price of a bag of high quality rice (pawsan) was K22000 on De-cember 24, down from K31000 at the end of October said a repre-sentative from the Htet Ye Yint Rice warehouse.

Gold: One tical (.596 ounces) of gold was selling for K645,000 in Yangon on December 24, down K10,000 from K654,000 two weeks earlier said a representative from Aung Thamadi Gold Shop.

Challenges ahead for SME growthNyaN liN auNg

[email protected]

Commodities prices down in DecembermyAT Noe [email protected]

‘Everybody knows that the role of SMEs is an important part of our country.’

u Than htut Deputy director general, ministry

of national Planning and economic Development

A food vendor prepares dishes on the streets of Yangon. Pic: AFP

24 Business Property THE MYANMAR TIMES December 30, 2013 - January 5, 2014

THE Yangon property market enjoyed a boom year in 2013 as Myanmar’s eco-nomic opening continued to attract foreign interest and buoyed consumer confidence. Supply for international-standard offices and housing strug-gled to meet the increased demand, prices soared across virtually all mar-ket segments, from condominiums to industrial land and plots in urban fringe areas.

“On average property prices rose around 50 percent across Yangon. The market was good in every township,” said U Khin Maung Aye from Shwe Kan Myay real estate agency.

But it was the high price of office space that arguably attracted the most attention. By the end of the year the rent for a Yangon office was around eight times higher than just three years before, said Ko Min Min Soe from Mya Pan Tha Khin real estate agency.

Real estate firm Colliers Interna-tional estimates the average rental rate for an office is nearly US$80 a square metre – higher than neigh-bouring Bangkok, Hanoi and even glitzy Singapore.

Apartments were not overlooked as the market soared, with prices in all six downtown townships rising sharp-ly through 2013.

The price of high-end apartments rose about 30pc over 2013, according to U Yan Aung, a real estate analyst. Further growth is anticipated in 2014 as the Condominium Law, submitted to parliament in November 2012 but still not approved, is likely to allow full foreign ownership of eligible condo-minium apartments – a change from the blanket ban on foreign ownership under current laws.

Foreigners will be eligible to own apartments on the sixth floor or above of a condominium, with up to 40pc of dwellings in a single building eligible for foreign ownership, according to a draft of the law.

While property owners saw the val-ue of their assets spike this year, this growth caused headaches for the gov-ernment, which is concerned that high prices are deterring investment, par-ticularly in job-creating enterprises.

In October, the government tried to cool property prices by assessing the price of land and using these values to determine the taxes payable when land ownership changes.

Essentially a move to thwart those trying to skirt the 37pc land tax – for those who can’t show proof of income – by simply declaring a lower sales

price, the new system has impacted most the high end of the market, with sales of properties in the K1 billion-plus range (US$1.02 million) slowing.

One of the hottest areas this year was previously overlooked outskirt townships known as Dagon Myothit (not to be confused with Dagon town-ship, just north of downtown). Divided into four sections – north, south, east and Dagon Seikkan – the township has attracted both developers and in-dividual buyers looking to avoid the high prices elsewhere. Developers broke ground on a number of sites in the area this year and three new resi-dential mega-complexes are slated for development in Dagon Seikkan alone.

U Yan Aung, general manager of Sie Khon Naung agency said he expected prices to climb in the four Dagon My-

othit townships in 2014.Further afield in Yangon, progress

on the Japanese-backed Thilawa Spe-cial Economic Zone (SEZ) in Thanlyin township drove land prices in the area 10 times higher, agents said.

While most of the city saw a steady increase in prices, there were simi-lar boom stories in some previously quiet areas. Across the river from downtown, buyers in Dala township learned first-hand volatile and unpre-dictable nature of land speculation. In September, rumours of a bridge being constructed across the Yangon River sent prices soaring – some up to 1000 times higher than earlier in the year. But as it became clearer that the bridge would not become a real-ity prices quickly plummeted, said real estate expert U Khin Maung Aye.

“Many people wanted to buy in Dala because they thought the bridge project was going to be implemented. Later, they learned that this bridge would not be built, so the price dropped by half,” he said.

Heading into 2014, experts in Yan-gon said that they expected prices to remain high for the next 12-18 months. A slowdown is likely after that, how-ever, as government initiatives to en-sure residents are not priced out of the market – from improved tax collection to low-cost housing developments – have an impact.

“The property market is also likely to grow strongly in 2014,” real estate analyst U Khin Maung Aye said. “But expect prices to drop when the gov-ernment implements new [low-cost] housing projects in Yangon.”

Yangon real estate surges in 2013Prices are across nearly all market segments and look set to remain high throughout next year and beyond

A construction worker inserts rebar on a construction site in Yangon. Photo: AFP

myAT NyeiN Aye TiN yAdANAr hTuN

Property Business 25www.mmtimes.com

RISING from a former palm planta-tion, the towering Astaka complex will cast its shadow across the Malaysia-Singapore border by 2017, a symbol for an ambitious development zone linking the economies of the two former rivals.

Construction cranes are sprouting across southern Malaysia’s Johor state as investment flows into “Iskandar”, a development zone that aims to draw Singaporean capital to its larger neigh-bour’s cheaper land and labour costs.

The zone has been dogged by scepti-cism since its inception in 2006, due in part to Johor’s reputation in Singapore as a backward hotbed of car thieves.

But soaring costs in Singapore are causing a re-think.

Anthony Phillips moved his fam-ily across the narrow Johor Straits to Iskandar, lured by property prices less than half those of Singapore and cheaper schooling.

He now commutes to his Singapore communications consultancy, a trip that takes less than an hour.

“Iskandar offers the best of both worlds,” he said.

Authorities say Iskandar – named after a revered former Johor sultan – landed US$40.5 billion in investment commitments by end-October, one-third of the way toward an ambitious 2025 target of $123 billion.

Singaporeans are already a key mar-ket for a $280 million Legoland theme park that opened in 2012 and brand-

outlet shopping.Other projects include a branch of

UK-based moviemakers Pinewood Stu-dios and an “Edu-city” bringing togeth-er several European universities on one campus.

A Singaporean-funded $1.1 bil-lion Motorsports City being built will include racing circuits and a driving school, and is intended as a regional hub for development of the sport.

Bilateral relations have long been prickly.

But Ismail Ibrahim, head of Malay-sia’s Iskandar Regional Development Authority, notes a “reversal of tide”, saying Iskandar allows each to leverage its strengths amid an uncertain world economy.

“We like to describe our relationship with Singapore through this simple term: ‘co-opetition”, said Ismail, stand-ing beside scale models of the Iskandar area.

“We compete, but at the same time we cooperate.”

With a world-class financial centre and port, high-tech Singa-pore’s 5 million residents create a GDP equal to Malaysia’s 28 million. But soaring prices have crimped competitiveness.

A 120-square metre condominium in the centre of Singapore fetches well over $2 million while the Johor Bahru equivalent rarely tops $400,000.

Malaysia, meanwhile, views Is-

kandar as a new inlet for the foreign investment that has been vital to its development.

It offers a range of tax breaks and other inducements in Iskandar’s des-ignated 2217 square kilometres (855 square miles) – three times Singapore’s size – of mostly plantation land.

Concerns are rising, however, that Malaysian, Singaporean, and Chinese money is fuelling a speculative prop-erty bubble while more balanced eco-nomic development lags.

Johor housing prices have jumped more than 20 percent in the past year, double the national average and caus-ing some local grumbling, yet Iskandar has one of Malaysia’s lowest retail and office occupancy rates.

Units in places like Astaka, which at 301 metres (987 feet) will be the tallest residential block in either country, can go for upward of $2.5 million.

Analysts said recent Malaysian measures to cool speculation would have little impact, especially with huge Chinese developers now eyeing Iskandar.

Country Garden, one of China’s top property firms and among a handful of cash-flush Chinese developers in Is-kandar, has broken ground on a $5.6 billion residential township.

Of the project’s 9000 luxury con-dominiums, one-quarter were sold to China buyers.

Malaysian officials express hope that “catalytic” projects like Legoland and the motorsports facility will stimu-late other business growth.

“There was a property play in the beginning. Now we have to focus on job creation ... to migrate to a vibrant economic zone,” said Wan Abdullah Wan Ibrahim, chief executive of Malay-sian government-owned UEM Sunrise, a key Iskandar developer.

International business consultancy Frost & Sullivan has announced plans to invest $176 million to house its back-end operations in Iskandar.

But Johor business leaders com-plain the area’s Malaysian labour base is short on skills and that many still prefer better-paying work in Singapore.

A speculated linking of Singapore’s mass-transit system with Iskandar has been cited as a potential shot in the arm, but no firm plans have yet emerged.

Observers believe, however, that economic fundamentals will ensure the area’s makeover is eventually completed.

“Iskandar will succeed because it

has to,” said Johor ruling-party parlia-ment member Nur Jazlan Mohamed.

“Malaysia needs it economically and Singapore needs it politically to release the cost pressure.” – AFP

The newly completed Legoland hotel in Nusajaya, in the southern state of Johor Bahru bordering Singapore. Photo: AFP

NusAJAyA

Hopes for shared boom rise on the Malaysia-Singapore border

Workers at a construction site in Danga Bay in the southern state of Johor Bahru bordering Singapore. Photo: AFP

26 THE MYANMAR TIMES December 30, 2013 - January 5, 2014

World WorlD eDitor: Bridget Di Certo | [email protected]

THOUSANDS of South Sudanese have been killed in more than a week of violence, with reports of bodies piled in mass graves, the UN said as it moved to nearly double its peacekeepers there.

Large areas of South Sudan re-main out of the government’s con-trol amid fears the young nation was sliding toward civil war, though Juba said its forces had recaptured the strategically important town of Bor from rebels on December 25.

The UN humanitarian chief in the country, Toby Lanzer, said there was “absolutely no doubt in my mind that we’re into the thousands” of dead, the first clear indication of the scale of the conflict engulfing the country.

Earlier, UN rights chief Navi Pillay said a mass grave had been found in the rebel-held town of Bentiu and cited reports of at least two more in Juba.

The grim discovery follows esca-lating battles between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and those backing his rival Riek Machar, a for-mer vice president who was sacked in July.

The official toll nationwide has stood at 500 dead for days, but aid workers have said the number killed was likely far higher.

Witnesses recount a wave of atrocities, including an orchestrat-ed campaign of mass killings and rape.

In a Christmas message to the people, Mr Kiir said that “innocent people have been wantonly killed,”

warning that the violence risked spiralling out of control.

“There are now people who are targeting others because of their tribal affiliation .... It will only lead to one thing and that is to turn this new nation into chaos,” he added.

The unrest has taken on an ethnic dimension, pitting Mr Ki-ir’s Dinka tribe against Machar’s Mr Nuer.

Mr Machar said he was ready to accept Mr Kiir’s offer of talks, fol-lowing days of shuttle diplomacy by African nations and calls from Western powers for an end to the fighting.

“We want democratic, free and fair elections. We want Salva Kiir to call it a day,” Mr Machar said, listing his demands.

US Secretary of State John Kerry called both men and urged them to “accept a cessation of hostilities and begin mediated political talks,” the State Department said.

Mr Machar’s promise of talks came shortly before the army stormed Bor, which Information Minister Michael Makwei called a “gift of the government of South Sudan to the people”.

Bor’s capture, apparently with-out major resistance by the rebels, relieves about 17,000 besieged civil-ians who fled to the UN peacekeep-ing compound for protection, se-verely stretching limited food and supplies.

UN peacekeepers had spent days bolstering fortifications ahead of the army assault, after militia

South Sudanese girl puts her family’s laundry out to dry on a barbed fence at a makeshift IDP camp at the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) compound in Juba December 22. Photo: AFP

Scores killed as South Sudan slides toward civil war

THE death toll from aerial bombing of an Aleppo neighbourhood last week has risen to 42, a monitor said, as Syria’s air force targeted other areas of the city and nearby villages.

“The toll has risen to 42 people killed in Hanano,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, re-ferring to the neighbourhood hit by massively destructive TNT-packed barrel bombs.

Hundreds of people have been killed during the past week in Aleppo as Syrian aircraft have dropped crude barrel bombs on the country’s one-time commercial hub, now largely re-duced to rubble, say activists, medics and other witnesses.

The Aleppo Media Centre, a net-work of citizen journalists in the northern city, had singled out the bombing of Hanano as especially deadly, as the barrel bombs had struck a bus, “leaving no survivors”.

The Observatory’s Rami Abdel Rahman said President Bashar al-As-sad’s regime “is trying to turn people in opposition areas against the rebels. It is killing and forcing people to flee in order to secure that goal”.

Other air attacks struck the rebel-held Sakhur, Ahmadiyeh, Baideen and Ard al-Hamra neighbourhoods of the city, which has been cleaved into re-gime- and rebel-held enclaves since the summer of 2012.

Elsewhere in Aleppo province, Marea and Atareb villages were also hit on December 21.

The Syrian Revolution General Commission, a network of grassroots

activists, described “panic and mass flight to the countryside, despite the intense cold”.

It also said two of the fatalities were ambulance workers, who died in the unrelenting bombardment as they tried to help wounded people.

Aleppo’s opposition Provincial Council announced schools in rebel-held areas would be closed “for a week ... because of the systematic, deliberate bombing”.

The council also said in a state-ment that two schools had been hit in Sunday’s bombing.

Footage distributed by Shahba Press, another network of citizen jour-

nalists, showed a child in his badly damaged school saying that the bomb-ing in Marea village happened while classes were being held.

On Saturday, Human Rights Watch said “government forces had used means and methods of warfare that... could not distinguish between civilians and combatants, making at-tacks indiscriminate and therefore unlawful”.

It also condemned the reported use of the highly destructive barrel bombs, adding that “military commanders should not ... order the use of explo-sive weapons with wide-area effects in populated areas”. – AFP

A digger arrives to remove the rubble following an airstrike in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on December 24. Photo: AFP

jubaaleppo

Air strikes rock Syrian city

aK-47 creator mikhail Kalashnikov dies age 94World 29

egypst declares musim brotherhood “terrorist” groupWorld 32

China backs Pakistan nuclear projectWorld 31

South Sudanese girl puts her family’s laundry out to dry on a barbed fence at a makeshift IDP camp at the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) compound in Juba December 22. Photo: AFP

gunmen last week stormed a UN compound in the Jonglei outpost of Akobo, killing two Indian soldiers and about 20 ethnic Dinka civilians sheltering there.

Fighting has spread to half the country’s 10 states, the UN said, with hundreds of thousands fleeing to the countryside and others flood-ing UN bases seeking shelter.

Pillay’s spokeswoman told AFP that a UN official had visited a mass killing site in Bentiu, the capital of the oil-rich Unity state, and counted at least 34 bodies.

Rebel fighters are also reported to have committed atrocities in ar-eas they control.

Late on Tuesday, the UN Secu-rity Council voted to send nearly 6000 extra soldiers and police to South Sudan, nearly doubling the UNMISS force to 12,500 troops and 1323 civilian police.

But UN chief Ban Ki-moon, who requested the reinforcements,

warned the force “will not be able to protect every civilian in need in South Sudan.”

“This is a political crisis which requires a peaceful, political solu-tion,” he said, calling on rival lead-ers to “save [your] proud and newly independent country”.

The US military deployed a “platoon-sized” Marine contingent to neighbouring Uganda to protect US citizens and facilities in South Sudan and prepare for possible fur-ther evacuations of Americans, a spokesman said without specifying the number of troops involved.

Nearly 100 US troops were al-ready on the ground in South Su-dan, including a contingent rein-forcing security at the American embassy.

The Pentagon also deployed a roughly 150-strong special Marine Corps unit to Djibouti, along with cargo planes and helicopters.

On December 22, a US evacua-tion operation had to be called off when American aircraft came un-der fire, with four troops wounded.

South Sudan gained independ-ence in July 2011 and is still the youngest country in the world, born out of a bloody decades-long strug-gle for independence from Sudan.

It remains a fragile state with deep ethnic divisions.

Mr Kiir has accused Mr Machar of starting the fighting by attempt-ing a coup, while Mr Machar says the president has exploited ten-sions within the army to carry out a purge. – AFP

Scores killed as South Sudan slides toward civil war

6000number of additional soldiers and police the un Security council has

voted to send in to South Sudan, doubling the security presence.

juba

xinjiang region

Crude prices climb as conflict worsens

16 Uighur killed in Xinjiang clash

CRUDE edged higher in Asian trade Thursday on supply concerns follow-ing escalating violence in oil-producer South Sudan, but gains were capped as dealers sat on the sidelines awaiting fresh leads after the festive season.

New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate for February delivery, was up 13 cents at US$99.35 in afternoon trade while Brent North Sea crude for February gained 17 cents to US$112.07.

Sanjeev Gupta, head of the Asia-Pa-cific oil and gas practice at consultancy firm EY, said oil prices were being sup-ported by “fears of disruptions in supply from South Sudan”.

But “markets are likely to remain

range-bound till the release of new eco-nomic data during the first of week of 2014”, he said.

Violence in South Sudan, a fledg-ling oil producer, escalated as its army battled rebel forces in a key oil-producing state, while the United Nations moved to double its peacekeep-ing force to stave off civil war.

Thousands are believed to have been killed in more than a week of violence pitting troops loyal to President Salva Kiir against those backing his rival Riek Machar, a former vice president who was sacked in July.

Oil production, which accounts for more than 95 percent of South Sudan’s

economy, has been dented by the vio-lence, with oil workers evacuated last week.

The escalating violence has added to concerns about a disrup-tion in global supply, following the continued curtailment of output from OPEC member Libya due to a months-long blockade of crucial terminals in the eastern part of the country.

Investors are also awaiting the weekly US oil inventories report to be released Friday for clues about US de-mand.

Analysts project US supplies fell 2.2 million barrels, according to a survey by the Wall Street Journal. – AFP

SIx Uighur women were among 16 people killed in a clash in China’s res-tive xinjiang region last week, cam-paign groups said, contradicting Bei-jing’s version of events.

The Munich-based World Uyghur Congress(WUC) and Radio Free Asia (RFA), which is funded by the US government, said that police raided a house where an extended family was gathering.

xinjiang, in China’s far west, is home to the mainly Muslim Uighur minority and Chinese authorities say that “terrorists” were responsible for the incident.

But WUC spokesman Alim Seytoff, citing information from two residents of Saybagh village, where the clash took place, said, “It was a massacre of a family who had gathered to prepare for the upcoming wedding of one of their children.”

According to RFA, one resident said that the local police chief “trig-gered the incident by lifting the veil of a woman during the raid on the house”.

The dead included two police offic-ers, with the other 14 all Uighurs.

xinjiang has for years seen spasms of violence that Beijing attributes to

terrorism and separatism but rights groups say is triggered by cultural op-pression, intrusive security measures and a wave of immigration by China’s Han majority.

The violence peaked in 2009, when around 200 people died and more than 1,600 were injured in riots in the regional capital Urumqi.

China’s state-run xinhua news ser-vice said that an initial probe of the Saybagh incident revealed that the 14 “terrorists” who were shot dead were from a group promoting extremist re-ligious ideas and making explosives for terrorist attacks. – AFP

28 World International THE MYANMAR TIMES December 30, 2013 - January 5, 2014

HEAVY arms fire triggered panic last week in the Central African capital of Bangui, prompting a French force to deploy tanks near the airport, where tens of thousands of residents are seeking refuge from deadly sectarian violence.

The tanks took positions at the entrance to the airport, where French and African peacekeepers are based, after automatic weapons fire and ex-plosions shook several parts of the city.

The gunfire subsided as night fell, giving way to a tense calm in the capi-tal in which residents are grappling with increasingly unreliable electric-ity and telephone connections.

Tens of thousands of people have been sheltering in precarious condi-tions on the airport grounds since the sectarian bloodletting erupted early this month in the former French colo-ny, claiming hundreds of lives.

Automatic weapons fire, much of it from heavy machine guns, was heard but apparently not directed at the airport. It was especially intense in the nearby PK12 area.

Hundreds of panicked residents could be seen fleeing the area on foot towards central Bangui.

In chaotic scenes, others sought to join the displaced people already at the airport, overseen by French soldiers manning combat positions behind sandbags.

Some residents who spoke to AFP by telephone accused former rebels backing Muslim interim president Michel Djotodia of mounting attacks,

while others named Christian vigilan-tes as the aggressors.

Although Mr Djotodia officially disbanded his Seleka rebels after seiz-ing power in a March coup, some of its members went rogue, leading to months of killing, rape and pillag-ing – and prompting some majority Christians to form vigilante groups.

One resident in a Muslim-majority neighbourhood said an unspecified number of bodies were brought to the local mosque.

Bangui was virtually deserted on December 26 because of regular outbursts of gunfire in other areas throughout the day.

Peacekeeping troops were also ab-sent from the streets, with only one helicopter, probably French, circling above.

Earlier Wednesday, a spokesman for the African peacekeeping force MISCA said its Chadian troops would be redeployed out of the capital amid charges they were siding with a for-mer rebel group.

“The whole Chadian contingent will be sent to secure the north in the next few days,” MISCA spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ndong Toutoune told AFP.

The spokesperson did not elaborate on how or exactly where the Chadian troops would redeploy in the impoverished country that has for decades been prone to coups, rebel-lions and mutinies.

Later, several Chadian MISCA tanks and jeeps could be seen leav-ing the airport and heading toward

the city centre. The Chadians, mainly because

they are Muslim, face accusations by many in Bangui of complicity with the mostly Muslim Seleka rebels who overthrew President Francois Boz-ize in March in the predominantly

Christian country.Amnesty International says some

1000 people were killed in just a cou-ple of days in early December, mostly by Muslim ex-rebels but also in Chris-tian reprisal attacks.

The head of the Burundian contin-

gent in the African MISCA force told AFP his men were disarming former rebels when Chadian troops from MISCA threw a grenade and opened fire on them, prompting some Burun-dian elements to return fire, wound-ing three Chadians.

The fighting has virtually wiped out Christmas for the country’s Christians, though they fit in a Christmas Eve mass at Bangui’s red-brick cathedral before a dusk-to-dawn curfew took effect on December 25.

“We must speak out freely and say, in one voice, ‘This should never happen again,’” Bangui Archbishop Dieudonne Nzapalainga said in an emotional sermon as soldiers stood guard.

On December 24, Chadian sol-diers had opened fire on hundreds of stone-throwing protesters, mostly Christians, killing one man and wounding around 40 others, three seriously.

Traditionally influential in the Central African Republic, neighbour-ing Chad is France’s main partner in its efforts to re-establish peace in the country. It contributes 850 troops to the 3700-strong MISCA force.

But the growing defiance of Cen-tral Africans toward the Chadian contingent is complicating the task of the 1600 French troops deployed to the country since the beginning of December.

The UN refugee agency says the unrest has uprooted more than 200,000 people from their homes.

– AFP

French troops evacuate the body of a demonstrator who was shot dead near the international airport in Bangui on December 23, 2013. Photo: AFP

French tanks deployed in Bangui clash

libya protests force internet shutdownKnife-wielding protesters last week stormed the headquarters of libya’s largest telecoms provider and forced an eight-hour shutdown of internet access in the south and west of the country.

Dozens of protesters calling for Prime minister ali Zeidan to resign occupied libyan telecom and technology’s headquarters in the eastern suburbs of the capital, tripoli, forcing staff to cut internet service, said ltt communications chief mourad bilal.

“thanks to the activation of a Plan b by our telecommunications techni-cians, internet has now been restored in the regions that experienced out-ages,” mr bilal told aFP.

the months-long blockade has dealt a blow to the country’s economy and slashed oil production from nearly 1.5 million barrels per day to just 250,000.

Vietnam economy picks upVietnam’s economy grew 5.42 percent in 2013, picking up speed slightly after its worst performance in more than a decade the previous year, according to an official estimate released monday.

While growth narrowly missed the government’s target of 5.5pc, the economy is “showing signs of recovery” compared with 2012 when gross domestic product came in at 5.25 pc, the weakest in 13 years, the General Statistics office (GSo) said in a report.

communist Vietnam is struggling with a host of economic woes, includ-ing sluggish domestic demand, a bank-ing sector weighed down with high levels of toxic debt and record numbers of bankruptcies.

in may, the central bank cut interest rates for the eighth time in little more than a year in an attempt to spur lend-ing and boost consumption and reduce inflation, but last year were forced to resort to stimulus measures.

– aFP

in brieF

bangui

International World 29www.mmtimes.com

Snowden makes Christmas addressFORMER American intelligence ana-lyst Edward Snowden has declared his “mission accomplished” after unveiling huge US surveillance pro-grammes, but urged citizens to insist their governments stop spying on them.

In excerpts of his first major me-dia appearance since claiming asy-lum in Russia -- which was broadcast on British television on Christmas Day -- Snowden issued a staunch de-fence of individual privacy.

“Together we can find a better balance, end mass surveillance and remind the government that if it re-ally wants to know how we feel, ask-ing is always cheaper than spying,” he said in extracts released by Brit-ain’s Channel 4.

The former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor sent shock-waves around the world by revealing the extent of Washington’s electronic eavesdropping.

The short, pre-recorded broadcast was his first television appearance since arriving in Moscow in June.

The 30-year-old has also given his first in-person interview since claim-ing asylum, telling the Washington Post: “I already won.

“For me, in terms of personal sat-isfaction, the mission’s already ac-complished,” he said.

“As soon as the journalists were

able to work, everything that I had been trying to do was validated,” he added.

“Because, remember, I didn’t want to change society. I wanted to give society a chance to determine if it should change itself.”

Snowden leaked explosive details of the secret surveillance schemes to media including the Washington Post and Britain’s Guardian, and has fled the United States to avoid pros-ecution.

He arrived in Russia in June as a fugitive and spent more than a month holed up in a Moscow air-port before being granted a year’s asylum.

US federal prosecutors have filed a criminal complaint against him, charging him with espionage and felony theft of government property.

His leaks have deeply embar-rassed President Barack Obama’s administration by revealing the mas-sive scale of America’s spying efforts, including on the country’s own allies such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

In his Christmas Day broadcast to Britain, Snowden says that children born into today’s world will “grow up with no conception of privacy at all”.

“They’ll never know what it means to have a private moment to themselves -- an unrecorded,

unanalysed thought,” he says in the broadcast, due to be aired at 1615 GMT.

“And that’s a problem because pri-vacy matters. Privacy is what allows us to determine who we are and who

we want to be.”Channel 4 has aired a short “al-

ternative” Christmas message every year since 1993, intended as a re-sponse to Queen Elizabeth II’s an-nual Christmas Day broadcast on the rival BBC.

The channel caused a row in 2008 when it chose former Iranian presi-dent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as its

Christmas broadcaster.The NSA’s collection of communi-

cations data has grown dramatically since the September 11, 2001 attacks.

On December 21, Obama said he welcomed a debate about the NSA’s role as he weighs possible changes to its broad powers amid a public out-cry over rights to privacy.

A panel of legal and intelligence experts chosen by the White House has recommended curbing the agen-cy’s powers.

A federal judge has warned that the NSA’s routine collection of nearly all Americans’ phone records was probably unconstitutional.

Snowden insisted in the Post interview that he had not been

disloyal to his former employers.“I am not trying to bring down

the NSA, I am working to improve the NSA,” he said. “I am still working for the NSA right now. They are the only ones who don’t realise it.”

Snowden blamed lawmakers’ de-cision to keep the NSA programmes hidden and their failure to ask prob-ing questions for his decision to spill the secrets.

“The system failed comprehen-sively, and each level of oversight, each level of responsibility that should have addressed this, abdi-cated their responsibility,” he said. – AFP

russia

‘I didn’t want to change society. I wanted to give society a chance to determine if it should change itself.’

edward snowden nSa whistleblower

MIKHAIL Kalashnikov, the Russian armourer credited with inventing the AK-47 “Kalashnikov” automatic rifle, has died at age 94. Kalashnikov was a self-taught inventor and So-viet soldier when, in 1947, he lent his name to what is perhaps the most iconic firearm of the 20th century. A recent estimate suggested that there are approximately 100 million Kalashnikovs in existence today — one-fifth of the world’s total gun supply. “There are a dozen or so words that are the same in every language of the world,” Elena Joly wrote in the preface to 2006’s The Gun That Changed the World. “They include the words ‘taxi,’ ‘radio,’ ‘Coca-Cola’ — and ‘Kalashnik-ov.’”

Born in 1919, Mikhail Kalashnikov spent much of his boyhood in Siberian exile before he was conscripted into the Soviet Army in 1938. Injured in the Battle of Bryansk in 1941, Kalashnikov spent months convalescing in a mili-tary hospital.

Though he had little formal educa-tion, Kalashnikov had an innate talent for tinkering, and spent his days lying in bed and pondering the Nazi forces’ superior firepower. He would later say that “here, in spite of the pain of my injury, I was obsessed night and day by a single thought: inventing a weapon to beat the fascists.”

The AK-47 was that weapon. While the AK-47 wasn’t the first “assault ri-fle,” it was certainly the most simple. It was light. It did not jam. It was easy to understand and inexpensive to manu-facture.

As John Forge wrote in 2012’s Designed to Kill, “Compared to any similar weapon, the AK is very easy to use, and thus, even a poorly or barely trained soldier — or one wear-ing gloves in Siberia — or, sadly, even a child, can use one effectively at close range.”

The rifle soon became standard So-viet Army issue, and, over the next two decades, the USSR freely licensed the gun to its allies.

Versions of the rifle were soon be-ing manufactured in Poland, Hungary, East Germany, China, North Korea and many more countries. As the gun spread, it assumed symbolic proper-ties.

As Phillip Killicoat noted in a 2007 working paper for the World Bank, “an image of the rifle appears on the Mo-zambique national flag, and ‘Kalash,’ an abbreviation of Kalashnikov, is a common boy’s name in some African countries.”

The gun became popular among terrorist groups, too, and this both-ered Kalashnikov.

In a 2002 interview with a German newspaper, he expressed regret over the weapon that made him famous. “I’m proud of my invention, but I’m sad that it is used by terrorists,” he said.

“I would prefer to have invented a machine that people could use and that would help farmers with their work — for example a lawnmower.”

– Slate

neW York

Kalashnikov dies at 94

justin peters

Mikhail Kalashnikov, 2009. Photo: AFP

International World 31www.mmtimes.com

CHINA has committed US$6.5 bil-lion to finance the construction of a major nuclear power project in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi as it seeks to strengthen ties with its strategic partner, Pakistani officials said.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif broke ground on the $9.59 billion project last month but of-ficials have provided few details of how they plan to finance it.

Financing documents seen by Reuters showed China National Nuclear Cooperation (CNNC) has promised to grant a loan of at least $6.5 billion to finance the project, which will have two reactors with a capacity of 1100 megawatts each.

Two members of the government›s energy team and three sources close to the deal confirmed this. CNNC was not available for comment.

“China has complete confidence in Pakistan›s capacity to run a nuclear power plant with all checks in place, said Ansar Parvez, chair of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commis-sion which runs the civilian nuclear program.

Parvez declined to give more details of the funding but said it would be completed by 2019 and each of the two reactors would be larger than the combined power of all nuclear reactors now operating in Pakistan.

As part of the deal, China has also waived a $250,000 insurance premium on the loan, said two sources in the Energy Ministry with

knowledge of the project. They de-clined to be identified as they are not authorised to speak to the me-dia about the financing.

Pakistan and China, both nucle-ar-armed nations, consider each other close friends and their ties have been underpinned by wari-ness of India and a desire to hedge against US influence in South Asia.

Pakistan sees nuclear energy as key to its efforts to solve power shortages that have crippled its economy. Pakistan generates about 11,000MW of power while total de-mand is about 15,000MW.

Blackouts lasting more than half a day in some areas have sparked violent protests, undermining an economy already beset by high un-employment, widespread poverty, crime and sectarian and insurgent violence.

Under its long-term energy plan, Pakistan hopes to produce more than 40,000 MW of electricity through nuclear plants by 2050.

The United States sealed a nucle-ar supply deal with India in 2008, irking both China and Pakistan.

Pakistan wants a similar agree-ment with the United States but it is reluctant, largely because Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan admitted in 2004 to transfer-ring nuclear secrets to North Korea, Iran and Iraq.

“There should be no double standards in terms of civilian nucle-ar deals,” Mr Parvez said. “Pakistan has energy needs and the building

of two new reactors should convince everyone that India’s embargos and restrictions won’t stop us.”

Pakistan carried out its first nu-clear tests in 1998, soon after In-dia conducted tests. Both refuse to join the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, which would oblige them to scrap atomic weapons.

China has already helped supply two nuclear reactors at the Chash-ma nuclear power complex in Paki-stan’s Punjab region, while another two are also under construction with Chinese assistance.

China says its nuclear ties with Pakistan are entirely peaceful and come under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards. It has not given details of the project’s fi-nancing but state media has put its total value at $9.59 billion.

“Bilateral cooperation in the en-ergy sector is to help ameliorate Pa-kistan’s energy shortages,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on December 24.

“This accords with the interests of the Pakistani people.”

Three prominent physicists re-cently raised questions about the safety, design and cost of the new reactors in Karachi, sparking a na-

tional debate.“There is no official information

about preparedness for a nuclear accident in Karachi that is available publicly,” said Zia Mian, a Pakistani-American physicist who directs the Project on Peace and Security in South Asia at Princeton University.

“The only real obstacle that may exist to the new reactors being built is if the citizens of Karachi decide they do not want to live with the risks these reactors create.”

But Pakistan’s new energy minis-ter has dismissed the critics.

“Every 1000 megawatts of elec-tricity produced through nuclear energy saves you $1 billion in oil imports,” Khawaja Asif, the minister for water and power, told Reuters.

“If critics can give me alterna-tives and other platforms to raise money for low-cost, clean power, I’m willing to listen.” – Reuters

karachi

China backs Pakistan nuclear project

$uS billion

6.5chinese financing for Pakistan’s nuclear

power project in Karachi

TRADE MARK CAUTIONDKSH International AG, a company incorporated under the laws of Switzerland, and having its principal place of business at Wiesenstrasse 8, Zurich, Switzerland, is the Owner and Sole Proprietor of the following Trademarks:-

HirudoidReg. Nos. 1367/2008, 7969/2010, 8997/2013

ELMETACINReg. Nos. 1366/2008, 7968/2010, 8998/2013

in respect of “Class 5: Pharmaceutical preparations.”


U Nyunt Tin Associates International LimitedIntellectual Property DivisionTel: 959 4500 59 247, Email: [email protected] DKSH International AG Dated: 30 December, 2013.

TRADE MARK CAUTIONNOTICE is hereby given that Vifor (International) Inc. a company organized under the laws of Switzerland and having its principal office at Rechenstrasse 37, 9014 St. Gallen, Switzerland is the owner and sole proprietor of the following trademarks:-

VENOFER(Reg: Nos. IV/6613/2002, IV/7062/2010 & IV/8893/2013)

MALTOFER(Reg: Nos. IV/6614/2002, IV/7061/2010 & IV/8894/2013)

the above two trademarks are in respect of:-“Pharmaceutical and veterinary preparations; sanitary preparations for medical purposes”


U Kyi Win Associatesfor Vifor (International) Inc.P.O. Box No. 26, Yangon.Phone: 372416 Dated: 30th December, 2013

32 World International THE MYANMAR TIMES December 30, 2013 - January 5, 2014

Egypt’s military-backed government has designated the Mus-lim Brotherhood a terrorist organiza-tion, criminalizing the activities and finances of a movement that rose to power in national elections last year but has been crippled by a govern-ment crackdown since a coup in July.

The announcement was a stunning blow to the decades-old Islamist or-ganization, which survived for years in the shadows and in prison cells under then-President Hosni Mubarak but rose to the height of political power after his ouster in the 2011 uprising.

With the victory of Mohammed Morsi — a former Brotherhood leader — in Egypt’s first democratic presiden-tial election in 2012, the movement was poised to realise its Islamist pro-ject but struggled to govern the coun-try’s vast and bloated bureaucracy.

Morsi’s presidency faltered under an already crumbling economy and his controversial efforts to pass a new national constitution, further isolating the increasingly unpopular Brother-hood, whose leaders began courting hard-line Islamists to bolster support.

Egyptian legal experts said the de-cree would shutter hundreds of chari-ties and nongovernmental organisa-tions affiliated with the Brotherhood, one of Egypt’s largest opposition groups.

The organizations provide health care and other services to rural and urban areas that lack infrastructure.

Anyone who is a member of the Brotherhood, participates in its activi-ties or promotes or funds the group will be subject to prosecution under the Egyptian penal code, analysts said. Membership in a terrorist group is punishable by five years in prison. The maximum penalty for providing weap-ons and ammunition to a domestic terrorist group is death.

Brotherhood officials could not be reached immediately for comment. But a statement posted on the group’s official Twitter account called the dec-laration a “worthless decision from an illegal gov’t without any evidence and will not change anything in reality”.

“The protests are in the streets despite a law restricting them — and killings and prison sentences. All this has not changed the will of the peo-ple,” said Ibrahim Elsayed, a member of the Brotherhood’s political group,

the Freedom and Justice Party, the Associated Press reported. “The deci-sion has no value for us and is only worth the paper it is written on.”

The declaration by Egypt’s interim cabinet seems likely to harden further the divide between Morsi’s supporters and secular backers of the temporary government ahead of a referendum on a new constitution scheduled for next month.

After the announcement, the Unit-ed States expressed concern about “the current atmosphere and its po-tential effects on a democratic transi-tion in Egypt.”

“We think it is essential for Egypt to have an inclusive political pro-cess; it is the best means of restoring the stability that the Egyptian peo-ple want and that is necessary to the country’s economic recovery,” State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said. “There needs to be dialogue and political participation across the po-litical spectrum.”

The government acted quickly to blame the Brotherhood — which re-nounced violence decades ago — for a deadly car bombing Tuesday outside a security headquarters building in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura.

The allegation has inflamed ten-sions and given rise to vigilante at-tacks against Brotherhood support-ers.

Founded in 1928, the Muslim Brotherhood was banned by Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser after an attempt to assassinate him in 1954. With grassroots appeal, the movement survived several subsequent crack-downs.

Deputy Prime Minister Hossam Eissa accused the Brotherhood of carrying out the Mansoura attack and said that, in response, the government had decided to classify the organiza-tion as a terrorist group. Eissa did not provide evidence that the Brotherhood was involved in the bombing or any other recent attacks on security forces in Egypt.

On Wednesday, a Sinai-based jihad-ist group, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, or An-sar Jerusalem, claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s bombing, which killed 15 people, including 11 police officers, in one of the deadliest such attacks in Egypt in years.

Analysts say the group, which sur-faced in Egypt’s restive Sinai Penin-sula in 2012, is probably responsible for most of the more complex sophis-ticated operations against security compounds in Egypt since the military coup.

The group has claimed responsibil-ity for several major car bomb attacks in Egypt in recent months, including an attempt to assassinate the interior minister in a Cairo suburb in Septem-ber.

In the statement released to jihadist forums Wednesday, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis warned Egyptian police and soldiers to abandon their posts and stop working for the government “to preserve their religion and lives.”

In Mansoura on the night of December 26, hours after the car bomb ravaged buildings across a wide city block, anti-Islamist crowds roamed the streets and burned and looted Brotherhood-linked businesses. Residents chanted against the Islam-ists in the street, and others played pro-military songs.

Many in Egypt seemed to welcome the government’s escalation of its fight against the group.

The front-page headline of the privately owned Egyptian daily, Al-Youm Al-Sabea, on Wednesday read “The people want the execution of the Brotherhood.”

Ahmed Abdel Rahman Fawzi, a psychiatrist whose clinic was de-stroyed in the car bombing, said calls for revenge “will just bring more chaos and destruction.”

“What we need,” said Mr Fawzi, 29, “is an independent investigation into who” perpetrated the attack. – AFP

Egyptian mourners carry the body of one of the 13 people killed in a car bomb at a funeral in Mansura, north of Cairo, on December 24. Photo: AFP

cairo

Muslim Brotherhood deemed a terrorist organisation The Egyptian government last week declared the Muslim Brotherhood to be a terrorist organisation, in a move that criminalises the group’s activities.

‘What we need is an independent investigation into who perpetrated the attack.’

Psychiatrist ahmed abdel rahman Fawzi calls for an inquiry into the car

bomb that claimed 13 lives.

TRADE MARK CAUTIONNOTICE is hereby given that Sansha Electric Manufacturing Company, Limited a company organized under the laws of Japan and having its principal office at 1-56, Nishiawaji 3-chome, Higashiyodogawa-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka-fu, 533-0031, Japan is the owner and sole proprietor of the following trademark:-

SanRex(Reg: No. IV/10561/2013)

in respect of :- “Plating machines; welding machines.” Int’l Class: 7“Semi-conductor elements; power supplies; power conditioners for solar power generation devices” – Int’l Class: 9


U Kyi Win Associatesfor Sansha Electric Manufacturing Company, Limited P.O. Box No. 26, Yangon.Phone: 372416 Dated: 30th December, 2013

TRADE MARK CAUTIONNOTICE is hereby given that CHANNEL V MUSIC NETWORKS LIMITED PARTNERSHIP organized and existing under the laws of Hong Kong with offices at 13th Floor, One Harbourfront, 18 Tak Fung Street, Hunghom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, is the Owner and Sole Proprietor of the following trade mark:

The said Trade Mark consists of a letter V and a bracket symbol.The above Trade Mark is used in respect of the following description of services, that is to say: Class 38Television and radio broadcasting services; digital television services; provision of telecommunications access and links to computer databases and the Internet; diffusion of television programmes; operation of earth-to-satellite television transmitters for transmission of signals to satellite; relaying of television programmes by satellite; operation of satellite-to-earth receiver aerials; frequency conversion of microwave signals relayed by satellite; dissemination of television programmes relayed by satellite receiver aerials by cable or by microwave link to television receivers of users; operation of television cable networks; provision and operation of radio, telephone, telegraph, satellite and of cable network communications systems; videotext and teletext transmission services; electronic and telecommunication transmission services; transmission of data and of information by electronic, computer, cable, radio, radiopaging, teleprinter, teleletter, electronic mail, fax machine, television, microwave, laser beam, communications satellite or other communications means; provision of communication facilities for the interchange of data by electronic means; consultancy services relating to data communications; transmission of information for business or domestic purposes from a computer-stored data bank; rental of communication apparatus; time sharing services for communications apparatus; and all the above also provided on-line from a computer database or the Internet, and provision of information, consultancy services and advisory services relating to all the aforesaid servicesmanufactured, imported, sold by or on behalf of CHANNEL V MUSIC NETWORKS LIMITED PARTNERSHIP in the Union of Myanmar.That a Declaration of Ownership in respect of the said Trade Mark has been registered in the Office of the Sub-Registrar, Yangon, on the day 16th of August, 2013 under No. 8887 for 2013.WARNING is hereby given that any fraudulent imitation, unauthorised or improper use of the said Trade Mark or other infringement of the rights of CHANNEL V MUSIC NETWORKS LIMITED PARTNERSHIP in any manner whatsoever will be dealt with according to law.

Dated this 30th day of December, 2013.

U Kyi Win Associatesfor CHANNEL V MUSIC NETWORKSLIMITED PARTNERSHIP53-55 Maha Bandoola Garden StreetP.O. Box No. 26, Yangon

TRADE MARK CAUTIONNOTICE is hereby given that Royal Porcelain Public Company Limited a company organized under the laws of Thailand and having its principal office at 9th Floor 888/90-92, Mahatun Plaza Building, Ploenchit Road, Lumpini, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330, Thalind is the owner and sole proprietor of the following trademarks:-

(Reg: No. IV/5831/2013)

(Reg: No. IV/5832/2013)

(Reg: No. IV/5833/2013)

(Reg: No. IV/5834/2013)

(Reg: No. IV/5835/2013)

(Reg: No. IV/5836/2013)The above six trademarks are in respect of:-“Household or kitchen utensils and containers; combs and sponges; brushes (except paint brushes); brush-making materials; articles for cleaning purposes; steelwool; unworked or semi-worked glass (except glass used in building); glassware, porcelain and earthenware not included in other classes” Class: 21


U Kyi Win Associatesfor Royal Porcelain Public Company Limited P.O. Box No. 26, Yangon.Phone: 372416 Dated: 30th December, 2013

THE MYANMAR TIMES December 30, 2013 - January 5, 2014

ge

t y

ou r f i n g e r s o n i t

Skate onBy Jeremy mullins andmon mon aye

THE feeling of freedom drew him to 35 Skate World, said Ko Phyo Htet Aung on a nippy December evening after school in Mandalay.

There is no shortage of establish-ments seeking to separate young peo-ple from their disposable income, he said. He could just as easily be play-ing video games. Instead, he is one of a growing number of young people spending his free time and money at skate parks, though observers say they are waiting to see whether this sudden boom of interest turns into something long-term and sustainable.

Sliding plastic bags onto his feet and then putting on his roller skates, Ko Phyo Htet Aung, 19, said he comes to the skate park almost every even-ing.

“When I skate, I feel free and happy,” he said.

There is undeniable enthusiasm

for skating sports, including roller quading, where each skate has two rows of two wheels, as well as inline skating and skateboarding, said park owners. But since they generate rev-enues from entrance fees and equip-ment rentals, maintaining long-term interest in the sports is crucial to keep the parks open, they said.

What leads people to try skating in the first place is a little bit of derring-do, said Ma Su Mon Aung, owner of 35 Skate World.

“Some people find it’s quite hard to stand on the four wheels,” she said. “Some people find it’s impossible and it’s quite dangerous. So, it’s like an adventure.”

While many of Mandalay’s young people are keen to try, however, their interest often wanes after a few visits to the park.

“Skate parks are like a trend,” she said. “If we just open a skate park and leave it, it will be gone one day.”

Her park competes with 10 others in the city, but also internet gam-

ing and KTV lounges. Even the SEA Games drew away customers, she said. Looking to the future, Ma Su Mon Aung said she plans to hold races and contests to maintain inter-est in the sports.

About 11 skate parks operate in Mandalay city and another 19 in various towns in Mandalay Division, according to statistics provided by Ko Lwin Latt, executive councillor with the Myanmar Skate Association (MSA). By comparison, there are only a couple of skate parks in Yangon, which are not always open to skaters, he said.

“Yangon skaters [have lots of] international skating knowledge and are going for professional levels but lack practice space compared with Mandalay,” Ko Lwin Latt said.

There are fewer skate parks avail-able for use in Yangon now than in previous years as the land used by the parks has been turned over to other ventures, he said, adding that there is talk of international donors building

new parks in the city.Some 500 skaters have joined the

MSA from across Myanmar, he said. And while most international or-

ganisations like it focus solely on one sport, the MSA is composed of signifi-cant communities of skateboarders, roller bladers and even BMX riders.

Yet even with the growing enthu-siasm for the sports, proponents say popularity over time is not guaran-teed. Participants said they lack depth of knowledge about the sport they practise, and only a few are confident enough to attempt tricks. Instead, most skaters and riders cruise in circles around the concrete rink, mak-ing little use of the obstacles such as ramps and rails.

The MSA is attempting to improve interest and knowledge through demonstration tours, advocacy for better parks, and distributing donated DVDs and skates, Ko Lwin Latt said. Likening the current situation facing Myanmar’s regular skaters to a video game limited to 10 levels, he said it can be difficult finding new challeng-es in the game after all 10 levels have been successfully completed. A boring game means a drop-off in the number of people at skate parks and rinks, while improved skills and knowledge would likely generate more interest, he said.

Boarding and Blading are hot in mandalay, But can it last?

If we just open a skate park and leave it, it will be gone one day. ma su mon aung owner, 35 Skate World

Skaters at 35 Skate World in Mandalay on December 23, 2013. Photo: Sithu Lwin

the pulse 35www.mmtimes.com

Blood and SpIrIt

amaury lorin

UPon arrival in Myanmar, most foreigners with a taste for literature turn first to George orwell’s best-selling 1934 novel Burmese Days. It’s a dark portrait of a British teak merchant losing his humanity in 1920s Imperial Burma.

Some of the best writing on British Burma, however, comes from a lesser-known but prolific Irish writer. Where orwell’s work is somewhat Manichaean, the writing of Maurice Collis (1889-1973) showed a subtler approach to similar themes. His long field expe-rience in different remote stations shows through in the inimitable flavour and genuine depth of his books. As he wrote in the preface to She Was a Queen (1937), this irreplaceable experience gave him the “blood and spirit” of Burma pervasive throughout his works.

Collis studied history at oxford from 1907 before joining the Indian Civil Service in 1911 and being appointed successively to posts in Sagaing, Arakan, Myeik and Rangoon as a colonial officer (1912-1934), deputy commissioner (the “local autocrat”, in his own words) and then district magistrate.

An extraordinary storyteller, Collis wrote more than 20 books in a clear, visual and brisk style, all published by Faber and Faber. They include autobiographies (notably Into Hidden Burma, 1918-1931 and Trials in Burma, 1930-1931), biographies (of Marco Polo, Thomas Stamford Raffles and Fernão Mendes Pinto), plays, travel writings, chronicles, novels and ro-mances. He was also a contributor to the Burma Research Journal.

He was obsessed by social-racial exclusiveness and the places where British and Burmese came into contact. In the late 1930s, for ex-ample, no Burmese – not even the acting governor, Sir Joseph Maung Gyi – was admitted to membership of the British clubs. Collis under-stood and recorded the prevailing tensions better than any other writer. Burmese colonial society, its balls and dinner parties provided near endless inspiration.

But more than this, Collis’ books deserve to be read as first-rate historical documents. They show a shrewd understanding of people and the issues, without conces-sions. Indeed, one of Collis’ greatest merits is his historian-like use of primary archival sources. His witty narratives, powerful recreations of the exotic Burmese scene, are based on abundant original notes, which are mainly preserved in the India office Library in London.

The social dynamics in a colonial situation are far more complex than a confrontation of racial groups perceived solely in terms of antagonism. In a “colonial meeting”there are many cross-interactions and hybridisations between the coloniser and the colonized at all levels – political,

economic and intimate.observing this, Collis found his

favorite themes at junctures be-tween racial communities – be they in the domestic or social spheres. The titles of the 12th and 14th chap-ters of Into Hidden Burma (1953) are in fact key to understanding Collis’ work as a whole: “The Pres-sure of Conformity”, and “Face to Face with Myself”.

Most of his books depict the in-tertwined identities of “white men in colonial situations”. A notable example is Siamese White (1936), dedicated to the inhabitants of Mergui and full of opium-smoking characters engaged with so-called “native women”. They are pain-fully torn between commitment to British imperial rule and love of Burmese culture, a dilemma that could lead to a dangerous confu-sion of identity. How can we not see an autobiographical dimension in these portraits?

Almost all of Collis’ stories are set amid real historical periods: the fall of the Pagan dynasty in 1287 (She was a Queen, 1937); Arakan’s rise to a maritime power during the reign of King Minbin (1531-1553), facing Portuguese filibusters (The Descent of the God, 1948); etc. But his history is not “the history of our universities”, warned Collis himself, in a letter to his friend the French archaeologist Charles Duroiselle (1871-1951). Though facts are abundant – everything but the names of the real persons in some cases – the line between historical truth, fiction and legend is still thin with Collis. Based on oral history and coming from the memories of country people rather than books, his works can be read more like popular tales.

Yet truth is stranger than fiction with Collis. His characters are umbrella-holding kings and queens

riding white elephants, scholars, monks, astrologers, antiquarians, magicians, amazons, messengers, and adventurers drawn into haz-ardous journeys (The Grand Per-egrination, 1949). Spirits, divinities, birds and dragons, jungles full of tigers, houses haunted by ghosts of European pirates and more bring his stories an exotic and mystical touch.

The troubled period around 1930 was a time of long-sown discontent among the Burmese who were awaking into rebellion and testing the principles of British Imperialism. Collis, fighting the possessive and domineering view of the British Empire, blamed “the absurdity of the idea, then generally held in Rangoon, that the Burmese could not throw up men competent to direct the affairs of their country”.

In the context of rising political agitation in 1929, “the most dif-ficult year of [his] life”, he depicted the rising Burmese resentments towards the British.

He wrote, “The Burmese were treated as an inferior race; though the law was supposed to be the same for all, it was interpreted to favour the British. […] You could not believe British promises; the way they acted betrayed their real thoughts. […] This demand for a change of heart was very strong among educated Burmese; it was a thing which could be understood also by the least educated and it can be said that now for the first time all classes began to attach great importance to it.”

Collis noted, too, that “the prob-lem was complicated by Burma be-ing a commercial venture in which a quantity of British capital was invested”. In the end, of course, the Burmese profited very little from the huge wealth that the British

generated through extraction.Soon, two particular events put

him at odds with the British rule.First, while visiting Rangoon

in February 1930, the mayor of Calcutta, Sen Gupta, made two speeches in which he attempted to excite hatred toward the British Raj. A complaint was brought against him, and it was Collis’ responsibility to prosecute this case – among many other cases pitching European interests against those of the Burmese. Sen Gupta’s speeches were actually intended to make Burmese join the Indian Congress Party and forsake the policy of separation from the British. It was also at the time when Gandhi was launching non-violent civil disobe-dience against the Government of India and the question of separat-ing Burma from India was being discussed in London. Collis bitterly and gradually came to realise that far from being asked to administer an impartial system of justice, he was first and foremost expected to protect British interests.

Later on, for having sentenced a British Army officer to three months’ imprisonment for criminal negligence in driving a car (a na-tive would have been imprisoned as a matter of course for the same offence), Collis was reprimanded by his hierarchy and quickly trans-ferred to another post.

By the end of the 1930s, he soon became marginalised for being deemed by the Foreign office as too pro-Burmese.

Similarities between Mau-rice Collis and Joseph Conrad’s Lord Jim and Heart of Darkness quickly come to the mind. Can Collis’ works be ranged under the reductive label of “(anti-)colonial literature”? Is it “naturalistic” or “adventure literature”? It appears hard to restrict Collis’ works – exceedingly worth a read – into any one literary genre. none could wholly embrace it.

If you can’t wait to get into Collis’ world, most of his books can be read in their beautiful original leather-bound versions in the col-lection of Monica Mya Maung, the last British woman remaining in Burma from the colonial era, who married a Burmese and died in 2007. It is available at the British Council Library in Rangoon (78 Kanna Road). Kevin Mackenzie, director of the British Council Myanmar, and his team are warmly thanked for their welcome there.

..............................................................Amaury Lorin, PhD History (Sciences Po, Paris), is a French Yangon-based historian, journalist and consultant. He is the author of nouvelle histoire des colonisations européennes (XIXe-XXe siècles) (France University Press, 2013) and the founder of NGO Myanmar Challenge.

Ko Shine Aung Khant, a skate-boarder at X-Games Skateland in Mandalay, said that while he skates nearly every night it is difficult for him to learn new tricks from fellow Mandalay skaters. The community simply lacks the necessary expertise. Friends in Yangon send him links to YouTube clips and pictures of them-selves in action so he can try to copy the moves and upgrade his skills.

First-time skaters said a combina-tion of adventure-seeking and recom-mendations from friends drew them to try out the parks.

Ma Ei Thandar Khaing said she usually spends her evenings at her hostel, but just last week friends con-vinced her to try on some roller quad skates for the first time. At first she relied on them to guide her around the rink, but she quickly grasped the skills to proper herself, she said.

“At first I was afraid of falling and hitting my head, but now I think it’s fun,” she said. “It turns out it is not so difficult.”

reading Beyond orwell for a glimpse of British Burma

Maurice Collis (right) in 1932 in Myeik (Tenasserim) with a Balloonist and the Superintendent of Police. Photo: Supplied.

Maurice Collis by Ida Kar (1961), National Portrait Gallery, London

36 the pulse THE MYANMAR TIMES December 30, 2013 - January 5, 2014

annual PredicTions for 2014

cancer | Jun 21 - Jul 22

The first six months of the new year will be full of social agreement, action plans and financial investment. you will be called upon for more effort than usual, but cash rewards could result. The second three months will bring some good fortune of

a material nature. everything is easy and successful and you will be able to handle your affairs more than capably. Keep yourself well informed of what is happening in the world. Know precisely what you like and don’t like through your own logic.

aries | mar 21 - apr 19

The year is a great one in which social beginnings and the maintenance of good relations are of the greatest importance. you must, in fact, be prepared to meet others halfway, and be able to give as much as you hope to be given. Systematic handling of career matters must

be a priority, even though there is a special place for the pleasurable side of life. your lifestyle will be changing after June and you will need both fact and patience in dealing with anything of an emotional nature. you will experience hope and satisfaction in matters of property.

AUNG MYIN KYAW4th Floor, 113, Thamain bayan road, Tarmwe township, yangon.Tel: 09-731-35632, email: [email protected]

Taurus | apr 20 - may 20

The year will be sure to show a solid progressive trend in social communications and developments to do with risky financial transactions. There could be big changes after June to bring you into prominence regarding your personal hopes and wishes. you should endeavour to keep on harmonious terms with all. June is

a doubtful time for love affairs, and the younger (or more susceptible) you are, the greater the stupidity of infatuation that could upset your life. your financial stability can be restored by prudence and close attention to duties.

Pisces | Feb 19 - march 20

an encouraging basic trend from Jupiter, ruling planet of your sign, will help you to expand and extend your life generally during 2014. Don’t get frustrated and dissatisfied by your right action. you can look forward to progress in material concerns and emotional favor. even

the best influences can only bless you if you make an effort to work with good intentions. Great care will be needed in your handling of relationships from march to July. Incompatible temperaments and the possibility of estrangement in existing partnerships are on the horizon.

aquarius | Jan 20 - Feb 18

One of the most remarkable features of 2014 will be your contrivance, originality of thought, and the ability to tackle any job with energy and cleverness. before June 9 you will be in good relations with old partners, who will be strong in their determination to change their lives through integrity, morality

and nobility. There will be considerably less tension in your associations with others from now on. Something is not sure to be something and nothing is not to be fixed as nothing. never let the roots of your desires go too deep into the flame of lust. Set your mind toward some new promised land.

leo | Jul 23 - aug 22

The year ahead will be stimulating. What you might be up against is other people who will not naturally accept you at your own valuation. you will need to prove your right to order them about and your ability to do it. another series of awkward corners could arise in anything to do with money. Throughout

the year, the tendency is more for dispersal than acquisition of cash. Forewarned is forearmed, so be content to live one day at a time and deal with things as they arise and don’t feel frustrated, especially during January, June, July and September. you should see the glass of water half-full.

Gemini | may 21 - June 20

your grandiose ideas could become visible and you will stretch beyond your normal horizons by propounding abstract ideas in ingenious ways. One question usually remains unanswered, and you must remain silent before your intellectual challenge. after the first week of march, you

should make changes to your social life. even complete reconstruction is possible in all that affects social organisation and your leadership role. balancing your thoughts and feelings, put yourself out there to help another and endeavour to understand people’s problems.

VirGo | aug 23 - Sep 22

The year ought to prove crowded with good events that positively sparkle with the unusual thanks to the favour of Jupiter. choose yellow colours all the time. Learn from old friends and family members, but detach from pessimistic partners. you can expect your mental power to be greatly enhanced. This being so, you

could have a wonderful opportunity to enhance the comforts of your life. Inner restlessness could lead to rashness, impulsiveness and excess of emotion. The less you seek from others, emotionally and materially, the better off you will be.

liBra | Sep 23 - Oct 22

you may get the best out of the new year. understand the factors that can work against you if you allow them to do so. your own inhibitions could be the “spears against you” in the months of January, February and march. Harmony is not always the best thing to seek, but you may need it

for very necessary reforms. after July, your concerns will be more to your liking and you should already be feeling more self-reliant and independent. Do your utmost to find better balance and love will be pleasurable in the first half of the year.

scorPio | Oct 23 - nov 21

Some important and even conclusive changes in your affairs could transpire in the area that rules family relationships and financial transactions between January and June. The general trend in social affairs is for linking up with people who belong to elite circles and whose

originality of thought has a positive effect on your mind. It would be wrong to overlook possibilities because of eccentric or erratic social relationships. news about the affairs of a relative could cause some adjustments in your private life.

saGiTTarius | nov 22 - Dec 21

From January to February, your communications could be incompatible with others and you may feel ineffectual and nagged to do something. after February, your situation will improve. you will be consistent and courageous in making right decisions, taking into account history and

legal advice. you are sure to feel disappointed by social and political interference as you persist in these challenges. Develop a habit of questioning things in your everyday life. you have to cross the desert to reach the oasis.

caPricorn | Dec 22 - Jan 19

you will need practicality and steady application of effort throughout the year. The first half will look bright and you will feel courageous and responsible. There will be a strong influence on anything to do with money and July could bring your personal affairs into prominence and stability. you may

have to wait longer than expected for decisions or cash settlements and profit. The more you can keep your affairs to yourself and confine your efforts to your own concerns, the better it will be. remain an enigma to others.

the pulse 37www.mmtimes.com

onE of the main causes of traffic congestion in Yangon is the bad habit among impatient drivers of switching into the oncoming lane to bypass cars that are stopped or moving slowly. For the sake of sav-ing a few seconds, these selfish drivers block traffic, and then force the cars behind them to slow when they cut back into the proper land.

The police, meanwhile, impo-tently blow their whistles, only making matters worse by adding to the din of honking car horns. Most of the time, this practice of driving in the wrong lane creates minor inconveniences.

But last year it ruined my vaca-tion.

I was driving with my fam-ily to Kyaikhtiyo Pagoda in Mon State, better known to foreigners as the Golden Rock. About 160km (100 miles) from Yangon, we came across a traffic jam. The cars trav-elling in our direction had come to a complete halt.

We pulled behind the last car and got out of our vehicle to join the many others who were standing around or sitting on the roadside. Drivers told us the road ahead was clogged with cars driv-ing in the opposite direction—from the pagoda back toward Yangon. Thinking it couldn’t possibly take too long, we waited patiently and enjoyed the forest scenery. We took pictures and exchanged jokes with other travellers.

About 30 minutes passed, and not a single car had come down the road from the opposite direction. This is when the situation went from inconvenient to insufferable.

A few recently arrived driv-ers behind my car started their

engines and proceeded to drive up the empty left lane. others followed. Within an hour, the unmoving backup in the left lane extended more than 5km and thou-sands of cars.

The road was completely blocked in both directions. We waited six hours in total, not mov-ing an inch. We eventually gave up, turned around and headed back to Yangon along with many other disappointed drivers.

Thus, on a recent trip to Japan, I was quick to notice that the at-titude there toward waiting in line is totally different. Like any big city, Tokyo has its problems with traffic congestion, but there is an orderliness that just doesn’t exist in my own country.

on the way downtown from narita Airport, the traffic was slow but never completely blocked. I noticed a lane on the left side of the highway reserved for police cars and ambulances. Even though it was empty, no one dared to use it illegally. A Japanese person I met explained that the proper use of these lanes was strictly enforced, and big fines were imposed on non-emergency vehicles that drove on them.

This is a lesson we should learn in Myanmar. Enforcement of traf-fic rules here is spotty at best, so usually drivers can get away with ignoring the whistle-blowing cops. A Myanmar person I met in Tokyo said Japanese people possess the patience and respect to queue properly, and they never jump the line.

The first queue I encountered in Japan was at the immigra-tion counter at narita Airport. Even though there were people in front of me when I arrived, I was

through in a matter of minutes. How was this possible?

An immigration official kept things moving by checking the entry forms of the people stand-ing in line and even helping fill in some of the blanks – flight number, date of arrival, port of entry – as the line moved forward. I’ve never seen this kind of service before, and I didn’t notice anyone getting impatient as happens in Myanmar and some other countries I’ve visited.

I saw plenty of lines in Tokyo – at shopping centres, subway stations, taxi stands, bus stations, restaurants, coffee shops and even toilets. In every instance, the people were waiting patiently. A Japanese guide who was taking me around the city pointed out the longest line I had ever seen. It was at a new shop where Japanese teenagers were waiting up to three hours to get a cup of “very good” coffee. A Myanmar friend who was travelling with me commented that he would not wait one minute for a cup for coffee. neither would most people in Yangon: A three-hour wait for coffee would not go over very well in Myanmar.

Westerners I’ve met are often surprised at how things work in Myanmar, where people think nothing of cutting in line at the supermarket. not only that, they think it’s rude if people don’t hap-pily allow them to jump the queue. A Canadian colleague complained about this, describing incidents at shopping centres where local queue jumpers had expressed shock that someone would be so impolite as to question their enti-tlement to shove their way to the front of the line.

The nerve of some people.

Mind the queue myo lwin

How the line-jumping habits of Myanmar ruined my holiday

TRADE MARK CAUTIONNOTICE is hereby given that HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY a company organized under the laws of Korea (South) and having its principal office at 231, Yangjae-Dong, Seocho-Gu, Seoul, Korea (South) is the owner and sole proprietor of the following trademarks:-

HYUNDAI i10(Reg: Nos. IV/7068/2010 & IV/13647/2013)

VELOSTER(Reg: Nos. IV/8588/2010 & IV/13648/2013)

The above two trademarks are in respect of:-“Goods falling in international class 12”


U Kyi Win AssociatesFor HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANYP.O. Box No. 26, Yangon.Phone: 372416 Dated: 30th December, 2013

TRADE MARK CAUTIONNOTICE is hereby given that Japan Tobacco Inc. a company organized under the laws of Japan and having its principal office at 2-1, Toranomon 2-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan is the Owner and Sole Proprietor of the following trademark: -

HIMAX(Reg: No. IV/11175/2013)

in respect of:- “Honey; molasses for food; sugar; sweeteners; yeast; yeast extracts; baking powder; salt; celery salt; cooking salt; dressings for salad; ketchup; mayonnaise; meat gravies; preserving food stuffs; sauces (condiments); seasonings; soya sauce; tomato sauce; vinegar; mustard; spices, Int’l Class: 30”

Any fraudulent imitation or unauthorized use of the said trademark will be dealt with according to law.

U Kyi Win Associatesfor Japan Tobacco Inc.P.O. Box No. 26, Yangon. Phone: 372416 Dated: 30th December, 2013

TRADE MARK CAUTIONNOTICE is hereby given that Seco Tools Inc a company duly organized under the laws of the United States of America and having its principal office at 2805 Bellingham Drive, Troy, 48083 Michigan U.S.A. is the Owner and Sole Proprietor of the following trademark: -

CARBOLOY(Reg: Nos. IV/7616/2010 & IV/13649/2013)

in respect of : - “metals including their alloys, specially steel; blanks for cutting tools; dies and parts thereof and die metal; machine tools and parts, cutting tools and tips for machine tools and tool holders”


U Kyi Win AssociatesFor Seco Tools IncP.O. Box No. 26, Yangon.Phone: 372416 Dated: 30th December, 2013

38 the pulse tea break THE MYANMAR TIMES December 30, 2013 - January 5, 2014

ACROSS1 Wail lustily5 Trumpet

sounds10 Blender setting14 Old Milan

money15 Woodshop

machine16 Jackson ___,

Wyo.17 Norse god

of war18 “Hiroshima, Mon ___”

(1959 film)19 Capri or Wight20 How one

wishes things would get

23 Manicuring material

24 Gets close to25 Tusked marine

mammal28 Clauses’

connectors30 Black, to Byron31 Chocolate source33 It’s chewed on the

farm36 Be unable to sit40 Home for a hog41 Pooh’s love42 Cereal

companion43 Bowling alley44 “Ciao for now!”46 One beyond

foolish49 Bad-looking

person?51 Grade-school math

hint57 Falsifies, as

accounts58 Deceive

playfully59 “Aha!”60 “Fifteen Miles on the

___ Canal”61 An Eastern

Christian62 Sarge’s

pooch63 Soapmaking

substances64 Denominational

offshoots65 Indian flat

bread

DOWN 1 Shapeless movie

monster 2 ___-de-camp 3 ___ of habeas

corpus 4 Signals for Revere 5 Turns the music way

up 6 Truman’s Missouri

birthplace 7 Lack of texture, as a

muscle 8 Heavy impact sound 9 Milosevic, for one10 Certain laundry load11 Popular ground cover

plant

12 More under the weather

13 Lords and ladies21 Bird of the outback22 “___ a good note”25 Spiders’ homes26 Set edge-to-edge27 Australian parrot28 Sore after exercising29 Denial in Dundee31 Film in Cannes32 Worked on a sub, say33 Baby bed34 Like a storied

duckling35 TV’s Dick Van ___37 “___ all she wrote”38 Attained

39 Return from the depths, perhaps

43 Botches (with “up”)44 Deadens or dulls45 “Affirmative!”46 Urge47 Journal48 Art movie, often49 Fiber-___ cable50 Win and rub it in52 Work for an

orchestra?53 Mysterious old

character54 Fashion finish?55 ___ load of

(notice)56 Gas light

Universal CrosswordEdited by Timothy E. Parker

PAIR UP By Corey Bowers

SUDOKU PACIFIC

PUZZLE SOLUTIONS

DILBERT BY SCOTT ADAMS

PEANUTS BY CHARLES SCHULZ

CALVIN AND HOBBES BY BILL WATTERSON

laugh all the way to the bank when you rent this space.The tea break page is being re-formatted in readiness for our move to a daily cycle. It may look something like this in the future.

Our market research shows that a page like this attracts a large number of readers, who loyally read it every day.ring marketing Department to book this space permanently and

laugh all the way to the bank with the extra business coming in your door.

Telephone us now on +951 392 928

the pulse food and drink 39www.mmtimes.com

Phyo’s cooking adventure

Last-minute fiestaFestive recipes with a Tex-Mex twist

[email protected]

SInCE I’ve come back to live in Myanmar, I’ve missed the nice creamy avocados I used to eat in Australia. Typically Myanmar people

use avocados only in shakes and smoothies. Aussies don’t do this. They eat them. I have two favorite ways to use this fruit and the flavours it carries so well.

My mother-in-law introduced me to guacamole when I was living at her place. It’s avocado prepared as a dip and often served with crunchy corn chips. The first taste of it was strange for a Burmese, but I fell in love. The dip is tangy and creamy, and diced onions add

texture.This is my version and you can

experiment with variations as you like: spicy, tangy, creamy or chunky.

The second recipe is a corn salsa inspired by Mexican cuisine. Cumin with sweet corn is yummy but so easy to make at any time. It could be a side dish for a barbecue dinner party.

Learn these quick recipes and you will build your repertoire of snacks to pull out when you want to entertain friends at home but have a busy schedule.

Also, buy avocados carefully in Yangon. Sometimes you’ll miss the

right moment of ripeness and find the inside spotty and brown. If you need one, buy two so that you’ll always have back-up.

GUAcAMolE ServeS 6

3 ripe avocados6 tbsp fresh lime juice2 small tomatoes, seededand diced 2 tbsp coriander, chopped1 small onion, diced2 tsp tobacco chilli sauce(add more if you love hot and spicy)Salt for taste

Cut the avocados into halves and remove the seed. Peel and cut into the cubes.

In a shallow bowl, mash the avocados with a fork. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well, or pulse in a food processor until combined. I like to leave some avocado pieces to enhance the texture. Salt to taste.

Transfer to a serving bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Keep in the fridge until ready to serve.

Serve with corn or tortilla chips.

coRN SAlSA WITH cUMINServeS 6

4 ears corn1 tbsp ground cumin 1 tbsp ground coriander seeds1 tbsp olive oil

¼ red pepper or 1 small green pepper2 small tomatoes5-6 coriander sprigsSalt

Place corn in a stock pot and fill with water to cover them. Boil the corn with husk on until it becomes soft. It will be around 30 minutes. Cut the kernels from the cob. Set aside.

Sauté ground cumin and coriander seeds in olive oil for 10 seconds in a non-stick frying pan at medium heat. Mix in the corn.

Remove from heat and let cool.Dice the pepper. Remove seeds

from tomatoes and dice. Add to the pan and mix well. Transfer salsa to a serving bowl and garnish with coriander leaves.

Salt to taste and serve with tortilla chips. It’s also good with barbecued chicken or beef.

FOODIe QuOTe

“Kissing don’t last; cookery do!” – George Meredith, English novelist and poet

Hot pot is a cool choice for dinner with friendsIn this cooler weather, a bowl of hot pot is the perfect thing to warm and relax us. You might try Shwe Kaung Hot Pot, which is conveniently located just a few minutes from the eastern part of Shwe Dagon Pagoda.

one of the more famous Chinese restaurants in Shwegonedine Township, Shwe Kaung provides a large parking space and offers both a buffet and sit-down meals served by attentive staff. The patio looks like a large garage: austere with tidy sets of tables and chairs. The interior, however, offers an air of grandeur and comfort with thick wooden tables and chairs.

Before sitting down, first you must pick the raw ingredients from a selection of refrigerated fresh vegetables and raw meat, including everything from mushroom to squid. Some ingredients are for the adventurous diner. The possibilities include organ meats such as liver, kidney, lung, heart and tongue.

My dining partner suggested that I avoid the organs and crab meat because they tend to dissolve in the pot’s boiling broth. So I chose simply – sliced pork meat and prawns with a medley of mushrooms, chicken balls rolled in seaweed and other greens, cauliflower, taro root stock and mustard.

The ingredients are arranged in coloured-plastic baskets and

each colour corresponds to a price, making the bill easy to calculate. A basket of raw vegetables or mushrooms ranges from K300 to K450, while a basket of chicken or seafood ranges from K800 to K1800. If you don’t want to select the ingredients yourself, you can order a set hot pot combination (mutton, pork, chicken, beef ) for K8000.

While we were picking our ingredients, our server had already prepared the broth. He turned on a gas cooker fixed under the table and tossed our meats and prawns into a steel bowl to poach, leaving the vegetables for us.

The bowl was set to a moderate

heat to cook the meat well, which turned out to be too hot. I hoped to savour each bite, but was overwhelmed by the burning in my mouth. I separated the cooked meat from the broth and chatted with my friend as we waited until the meat cooled and we could eat slowly. The meat is delicate and delicious and the taro root stock was pleasantly sweet.

The spicy, sweet broth, however, was quite salty. Every time I took a sip, I had to drink a cup water. So I alternated, sipping broth and drinking water to drive away the saltiness. I was also disappointed to find the vegetables not crisp even

when cooked on low heat.After eating three or four slices

of pork and prawn, my stomach was full and so was my dining partner. The hot pot would perfect to share with three or four friends. The meal is plenty, and it would have lessened the sting of the bill. When it arrived, my eyes widened in surprise. our meal was K22,000.

overall, the ingredients at Shwe Kaung are fresh and tasty, excepting the salty broth. I also failed to find refreshment after the meal because the menu doesn’t offer fresh fruit juice, which would have been very welcome. only canned beverages are available.

shwe Kaung Hot Pot

Nar Nat Taw Street, Shwegonedine township

Food 7atmosphere 7X-factor 8Service 8value for money 6

Total Score: 7.2

The large, comfortable dining room at Shwe Kaung. Photo: Zon Pann Pwint Hot pot ingredients ready for cooking. Photo: Zon Pann Pwint

Zon Pann [email protected]

Guacamole with corn chips. Photo: Phyo

Corn Salsa with cumin. Photo: Phyo


The Myanmar Times staffs party

MBA Cruiser Cocktail Party

Ko Chan Thar and Ma Akari Min Htutwedding reception

Siloxogene lucky draw

Majesty lucky draw

Savills new office opening

40 the pulse socialiteJa

ck, Q

ueen

and

Kin

g fr

om T

he m

yanm

ar T

imes

repo

rter

of t

he y

ear w

inne

r Zo

n Pa

n Pw

int a

nd W

indy

Ko Ko Zaw and Thet Thet Thein nan yu

Guest

a nge Lay and ei Lay

richard emerson, Troy Griffiths and Sushant bihani mr neil mac Gregor

chit Thu Waimoe moe and model

u maung Zaw (winner) Ko Kyaw moe aung u Thein Win aung

Canmake X-Max party

2014 Pioneer new product launching

Youth Art Competition 2013

L’Oreal new products launch

www.mmtimes.com the pulse socialite 41

Happy New Year to all our beloved readers! Socialite hopes you will have good luck and good cheer over the holidays. Last week she attended the Savills new office opening at the Park Royal Hotel, on December 16. On the following day, she hopped around several events: the Youth Art Competition 2013, also held at the Park Royal, the Silixogene “lucky draw” at Traders Hotel and Pioneer’s new products launch at Golden Valley. She visited the She Shines Jewelry House for its X-Max sale promotion, and she celebrated with The Myanmar Times staff at their annual Christmas party, on December 20. The next day, she was at Yankin Center for L’Oreal’s new cosmetics launch, and she attended the wedding reception of Ko Chan Thar and Ma Akari Min Htut at the Yuzana Garden Hotel.

[email protected]

NyeiNei ei Htwe

Gucci aung and Ko Thaw Tararr T

mod

els

model

mr Hideaki Ishii and mr Tatsuhito matsumoto mr Puthoug mintrakul

Zin mar Htutmin Wai Kyaw

Ko Zawma Zin and ma nu yin Win

42 the pulse tea break THE MYANMAR TIMES December 30, 2013 - January 5, 2014 42 the pulse travel THE MYANMAR TIMES December 30, 2013 - January 5, 2014

DOMESTIC FLIGHT SCHEDULES

Domestic6T = Air Mandalay

W9 = Air Bagan

YJ = Asian Wings

K7 = AIR KBZ

YH = Yangon Airways

FMI = FMI AIR Charter

Y5 = Golden Myanmar Airlines

Subject to changewithout notice

Domestic AirlinesAir Bagan Ltd. (W9)Tel : 513322, 513422, 504888, Fax : 515102

Air KBZ (K7)Tel: 372977~80, 533030~39 (Airport), Fax: 372983

Air Mandalay (6T)Tel : (Head Office) 501520, 525488, Fax: 525937. Airport: 533222~3, 09-73152853. Fax: 533223.

Asian Wings (YJ)Tel: 951 516654, 532253, 09-731-35991~3. Fax: 951 532333

Golden Myanmar Airlines (Y5)Tel: 95 9 400446999, 95 9 400447999, Fax: 01 860 4051

Yangon Airways(YH)Tel: (+95-1) 383 100, 383 107, 700 264, Fax: 652 533.

FMI Air Charter - Sales & ReservationsTel: (95-1) 240363, 240373 / (+95-9) 421146545

Day1 = Monday2 = Tuesday3 = Wednesday

4 = Thursday5 = Friday6 = Saturday7 = Sunday

Yangon to naY PYi taw

Flight Days Dep ArrFMI A1 1,2,3,4,5 7:30 8:30Y5 777 1,2,3,4,6 7:45 8:25FMI A1 6 8:00 9:00FMI B1 1,2,3,4,5 11:30 12:30FMI A1 7 15:30 16:30FMI C1 1,2,3,4,5 16:30 17:30YH -SPL 1,4,6 18:00 19:10

naY PYi taw to Yangon

Flight Days Dep ArrFMI A2 1,2,3,4,5 8:50 9:50FMI A2 6 10:00 11:00FMI B2 1,2,3,4,5 13:00 14:00FMI A2 7 17:00 18:00Y5 778 1,2,3,4,6 17:30 18:10FMI C2 1,2,3,4,5 18:00 19:00YH -SPL 1,4,6 19:10 20:05

Yangon to MandalaY

Flight Days Dep ArrYJ 901 Daily 6:00 7:25YH 917 Daily 6:00 8:20YJ 891 Daily 6:10 8:15Y5 234 Daily 6:15 7:30YH 909 1,2,3,4,5,7 6:15 7:556T 401 Daily 6:20 8:25K7 222 Daily 6:30 8:40K7 626 1,5 6:45 8:10K7 226 2,4 6:45 8:10YH 833 2 7:00 8:40YH 831 4,6 7:00 8:40YJ 001 1,2,3,4,5 7:30 9:20W9 201 Daily 7:30 8:558M 6603 2,4,7 9:00 10:10K7 624 Daily 10:30 11:55YJ 211 5,7 10:30 11:55YJ 601 1 10:30 11:55YJ 761 1,2,4,6 11:00 12:55YJ 201 1,2,3,4 11:00 12:25

YJ 751/W9 7751 3,5,7 11:00 12:55YH 737 3,5,7 11:00 13:10YH 729 2,4 11:00 14:00YH 727 1 11:00 13:10W9 251 2,5 11:15 12:40YH 921 5 11:30 15:106T 807 7 11:30 12:556T 807 1 12:00 13:25YH 731 4 13:30 15:40YH 921 6 13:30 15:10K7 224 Daily 14:30 16:35W9 129 Daily 15:00 16:55YH 731 1,2,3,5,6,7 15:00 17:106T 501 Daily 15:30 17:30W9 211 Daily 15:30 16:55

MandalaY to Yangon

Flight Days Dep Arr

YJ 901 Daily 7:40 9:45YH 910 1,2,3,4,5,7 7:55 10:00Y5 233 Daily 8:10 9:25YH 918 Daily 8:20 10:15YJ 891 Daily 8:30 10:256T 402 Daily 8:45 10:45K7 223 Daily 8:55 11:00W9 201 Daily 9:10 11:05W9 144 Daily 9:20 10:45Y5 132 3,5,6,7 9:30 10:30YJ 001 1,2,3,4,5 9:50 10:45K7 227 2,4 10:35 12:00K7 627 1,5 10:55 12:20YH 834 2 11:30 12:55YH 832 4,6 11:30 12:55K7 845 2,4,7 12:50 16:006T 808 7 13:15 15:156T 808 1 13:45 15:45YJ 602 6 15:10 16:35YJ 202 1,2,3,4 15:30 16:55YJ 212 5,7 15:30 17:35YH 732 4 15:40 18:40YH 728 1 16:30 17:55YJ 762 1,2,4,6 16:35 18:00W9 120 1,3,6 16:30 17:55K7 225 Daily 16:50 19:00W9 129 Daily 17:10 18:35YH 738 3,5,7 17:10 18:35W9 211 Daily 17:10 19:15K7 625 Daily 17:10 18:35

8M 6604 2,4,7 17:20 18:30YH 730 2,4 17:45 19:106T 502 Daily 17:50 19:55

YJ 752/W9 7752 3,5,7 17:50 19:15YH 922 5,6 18:00 19:25

Yangon to nYaung u

Flight Days Dep Arr

YH 917 Daily 6:00 7:35YJ 901 Daily 6:00 8:10YJ 891 Daily 6:10 7:30W9 141 Daily 6:15 7:35YH 909 1,2,3,4,5,7 6:15 8:406T 401 Daily 6:20 7:406T 351 1,2,3,4,6,7 6:30 7:50K7 222 Daily 6:30 7:50YH 909 6 7:00 8:40W9 143 Daily 7:15 8:35YH 731 4 13:30 17:20K7 224 Daily 14:30 17:25W9 211 Daily 15:30 17:40YH 731 1,2,3,5,6,7 15:00 17:556T 501 Daily 15:30 18:20

nYaung u to YangonFlight Days Dep ArrYH 917 Daily 7:35 10:15YJ 891 Daily 7:45 10:25W9 141 Daily 7:50 10:40K7 222 Daily 8:05 11:00YJ 901 1,2,3,4,5,6 8:25 9:45YH 910 Daily 8:40 10:00W9 144 Daily 8:50 10:106T 351 5 10:50 13:55YH 732 4 17:20 18:40K7 225 Daily 17:45 19:00W9 211 Daily 17:55 19:15YH 732 1,2,3,5,6,7 17:55 19:156T 502 Daily 18:35 19:55

Yangon to MYitkYinaFlight Days Dep ArrYH 833 2 7:00 10:05YH 833 4,6 7:00 10:05K7 844 2,4,7 7:30 11:05K7 624 Daily 10:30 13:25YJ 211 5,7 10:30 13:20YJ 201 1,2,3,4 11:00 13:50W9 251 2,5 11:15 14:10

MYitkYina to YangonFlight Days Dep ArrYH 834 2 10:05 12:55YH 832 4,6 10:05 12:55YJ 211 7 13:35 16:55YJ 211 5 13:35 17:35YJ 202 1,2,3,4 14:05 16:55K7 625 Daily 15:40 18:35W9 252 2,5 16:05 19:00

Yangon to HeHoFlight Days Dep ArrYH 917 Daily 6:00 9:05YJ 891 Daily 6:10 9:00W9 141 Daily 6:15 8:206T 401 Daily 6:20 9:20K7 222 Daily 6:30 9:306T 351 1,2,3,4,6,7 6:30 8:45W9 201 Daily 7:30 9:40K7 828 1,3,5 7:30 8:45YH 505 2,3,4,6,7 10:30 11:55

YJ 751/W9 7751 3,5,7 11:00 12:10YJ 761 1,2,4,6 11:00 12:10YH 737 3,5,7 11:00 12:25W9 203 Daily 11:00 12:10YH 727 1 11:00 12:25W9 119 1,3,6 11:15 12:256T 807 7 11:30 13:50K7 826 2,6 11:45 13:006T 807 1 12:00 14:20YH 731 4 13:30 14:55K7 224 Daily 14:30 15:45W9 129 Daily 15:00 16:10

YH 731 1,2,3,5,6,7 15:00 16:256T 501 Daily 15:30 16:40

HeHo to YangonFlight Days Dep ArrW9 141 Daily 8:35 10:406T 352 Daily 9:00 11:10YH 918 Daily 9:05 10:15YJ 891 Daily 9:15 10:256T 402 Daily 9:35 10:45K7 223 Daily 9:45 11:00W9 201 Daily 9:55 11:05YH 506 2,3,4,6,7 11:55 14:00W9 204 Daily 12:25 13:35K7 829 1,3,5 13:50 15:056T 808 7 14:05 15:156T 808 1 14:35 15:45W9 120 1,3,6 15:45 17:55YH 728 1 15:45 17:55YJ 762 1,2,4,6 15:50 18:00K7 224 Daily 16:00 19:00YH 738 3,5,7 16:25 18:35W9 129 Daily 16:25 18:35YH 731 1,2,3,5,6,7 16:25 19:15YH 732 4 16:25 18:406T 501 Daily 16:55 19:55K7 827 2,6 17:25 18:40

Yangon to Sit t weFlight Days Dep Arr6T 605 Daily 11:15 13:156T 611 4,6 14:30 15:55W9 309 1,3,5,6,7 11:30 12:55YH 511 1,5 10:30 12:35K7 426 Daily 12:30 13:50

Sit t we to YangonFlight Days Dep ArrYH 512 1,5 12:35 13:556T 606 Daily 13:35 15:00K7 427 Daily 14:05 15:256T 612 4,6 16:15 17:40

Yangon to MYeikFlight Days Dep ArrK7 319 Daily 7:00 9:05YH 633 1,3,5,7 7:00 9:15

MYeik to YangonFlight Days Dep ArrK7 320 Daily 11:30 13:35YH 634 1,3,7 11:25 13:25YH 634 5 9:15 12:55

Yangon to tHandweFlight Days Dep ArrW9 141 Daily 6:15 9:356T 351 1,2,3,4,6,7 6:30 10:006T 605 Daily 11:15 12:10

YH 505 2,3,4,6,7 10:30 13:10YH 511 1,5 10:30 11:35W9307 2,4 11:30 13:50W9 309 1,3,5,6,7 11:30 13:50

tHandwe to YangonFlight Days Dep ArrW9 141 Daily 9:50 10:406T 632 1,2,3,4,6,7 10:15 11:106T 605 Dailys 12:25 15:006T 632 5 13:00 13:55YH 511 1,5 11:35 13:55YH 506 2,3,4,6,7 13:10 14:00W9 307 2,4 14:05 14:55W9 309 1,3,5,6,7 14:05 14:55

the pulse tea break 43www.mmtimes.com the pulse travel 43www.mmtimes.com

DURING a recent visit to Myitkyina in Kachin State, I was invited to attend an outdoor gospel festival at which Kachin musicians performed along-side Christian singers and evangelists from Europe. The festival attracted thousands of Kachin, who for three nights gathered in a field in front of a huge stage that had been built for the event.

I visited on the final night and found the crowd listening raptly to an evangelist who was preaching in the style of an American from the Deep South. “FEEL the power of CHEEE-susssss,” he intoned, not quite able to stifle his Dutch accent.

As I listened, the preacher credited the Lord for bringing democracy to Myanmar. According to the sermon, the Lord was “covering the Golden Land with his glory” and “removing the barriers that have stopped heaven from invading certain areas of Myan-mar”.

“In the next two years you’re go-ing to see millions of souls rescued from the darkness and brought into the light,” he effused prophetically, his white shoes shining under the million-watt stage lights, “and because of what is happening in Myanmar, thousands of missionaries will go into coun-tries around Myanmar – Cambodia, Thailand, China – and contact every tribe….”

The crowd was enthralled. The faithful closed their eyes and waved their hands rapturously in the air. The atmosphere became even more emo-tionally charged when the evangelist showed the “scourging of Jesus” scene from Mel Gibson’s film The Passion of the Christ, with the original sound-track replaced by angelic choir music.

I wandered backstage. There was talk among the European entourage about the healing power of God, and I spotted a tall German man in a blue shirt who was muttering nonstop into a hands-free mobile phone. Except that on closer inspection, there was was no phone. One of the stage crew explained that God had given this man the ability to “talk in a language no one knows”. It took me a second to register that she meant he was speak-ing in tongues.

Signs of Christianity are every-where in Kachin State, in the form of churches, theological colleges and white crosses affixed to the front of nearly every house. Still, I was sur-prised to find Pentecostalism – a Christian sect that practises proph-ecy, faith healing and glossolalia – alive and well. The size and enthu-siasm of the festival crowd made my visit to the Kachin Cultural Museum the following day all that much more revealing.

The museum is clean, reasonably well-labelled and, thanks more to the numerous windows than to the elec-tricity supply, fairly well-illuminated. Fancy ethnic costumes are on display, as are farming tools, musical instru-ments, jewellery and scale models of traditional houses. What is missing is

any acknowledgment whatsoever that the majority of Kachin are Christian, not Buddhist or animist.

Instead, the museum holds a dis-play of Buddha images and votives from Pyu-era cities in central Myan-mar. There are photos of Buddhist pagodas in Kachin State, which is fair enough, but no photos of any of the numerous churches in the region. There are artefacts once utilised in an-imistic burial rites dating back to the 19th century before most Kachin had converted to Christianity.

One room holds a portrait of Ola Hanson, who is described on the la-bel as “the inventor of the Jinghpaw [Kachin] literature”. Nowhere in the museum is he identified as a Swedish-American Baptist missionary who set-tled in northern Myanmar in 1890 and created a Kachin-English dictionary in order to translate the Bible.

On my way out of the building, I asked a woman at the front desk about the reason for this “oversight”. She laughed and acknowledged what I had already suspected: All traces of Christianity were left out because the museum was established by the Min-istry of Culture’s awkwardly named Department of Archaeology, National Museum and Library. In other words, as a government institution, the mu-seum’s role is not so much to educate visitors about the actualities of Kachin culture but rather to serve as a propa-ganda tool to promote Myanmar as a “unified” country in which being “ethnic” means wearing colourful cos-tumes but not getting too uppity about expressing non-Buddhist beliefs.

To her credit, the woman at the desk said I could write my observa-tions in the “remarks” section of the museum registry. I happily picked up the proffered pen and expressed my revulsion at the ministry’s decidedly undemocratic institutional censor-ship.

I don’t know if any authority will read my comment, but it’s clear that such government-run institutions have a long way to go before they can be called museums.

Feeling a little myopic at the Kachin Cultural Museum

Attractive, Christianity-free displays at the Kachin museum in Myitkina.

Photo: Douglas Long

Douglas [email protected]

InternationalFD & AK = Air Asia

TG = Thai Airways

8M = Myanmar Airways International


PG = Bangkok Airways

MI = Silk Air

VN = Vietnam Airline

MH = Malaysia Airlines

CZ = China Southern

CI = China Airlines

CA = Air China

KA = Dragonair


IC = Indian Airlines Limited

W9 = Air Bagan

3K = Jet Star

AI = Air India

QR = Qatar Airways

KE = Korea Airlines

NH = All Nippon Airways

SQ = Singapore Airways

DE = Condor Airlines

MU=China Eastern Airlines

BR = Eva Airlines

DE = Condor

AI = Air India

BG = Biman Bangladesh Airlines

Subject to changewithout notice

International AirlinesAir Asia (FD) Tel: 251 885, 251 886.

Air Bagan Ltd.(W9)Tel : 513322, 513422, 504888, Fax : 515102

Air China (CA)Tel : 666112, 655882.

Air IndiaTel : 253597~98, 254758. Fax: 248175

Bangkok Airways (PG)Tel: 255122, 255 265, Fax: 255119

Condor (DE)Tel: + 95 1 -370836 up to 39 (ext : 810)

Dragonair (KA)Tel: 95-1-255320, 255321, Fax : 255329

Golden Myanmar Airlines (Y5)Tel: 95 9 400446999, 95 9 400447999, Fax: 01 860 4051

Malaysia Airlines (MH)Tel : 387648, 241007 ext : 120, 121, 122 Fax : 241124

Myanmar Airways International(8M)Tel : 255260, Fax: 255305

Silk Air(MI)Tel: 255 287~9, Fax: 255 290

Thai Airways (TG)Tel : 255491~6, Fax : 255223

Vietnam Airlines (VN)Fax : 255086. Tel 255066/ 255088/ 255068.

Qatar Airways (Temporary Office)Tel: 01-250388, (ext: 8142, 8210)

Biman Bangladesh Airlines (BG)Tel: 371867~68, Fax: 371869.

Day1 = Monday2 = Tuesday3 = Wednesday

4 = Thursday5 = Friday6 = Saturday7 = Sunday

InTErnATIOnAL FLIGHT SCHEDULESYAnGOn TO BAnGKOK

Flights Days Dep ArrPG 706 Daily 7:15 9:308M 335 Daily 8:40 10:25TG 304 Daily 9:50 11:45PG 702 Daily 10:30 12:25TG 302 Daily 14:55 16:50PG 708 Daily 15:20 17:158M 331 Daily 16:30 18:15PG 704 Daily 18:20 20:15Y5 237 Daily 18:05 19:50TG 306 Daily 19:45 21:40

YAnGOn TO DOn MUEnGFlights Days Dep Arr

DD 4231 1,3,5,7 8:00 9:45FD 2752 Daily 8:30 10:20FD 2756 Daily 12:50 14:40FD 2754 Daily 17:35 19:25FD 2758 1,2,3,4 20:55 22:50

YAnGOn TO SInGAPOrEFlights Days Dep Arr

MI 509/SQ 5019 1,2,6,7 0:25 5:008M 231 Daily 8:00 12:258M 233 5,6,7 14:00 18:25Y5 233 Daily 10:10 14:40

SQ 997/MI 5871 Daily 10:25 14:453K 586 Daily 11:40 16:20

MI 517/SQ 5017 Daily 16:40 21:15TR 2827 1,6,7 15:10 19:35TR 2827 2,3,4,5 17:10 21:353K 588 2,3,5 19:30 00:10+1

YAnGOn TO KUALA LUMPUrFlights Days Dep Arr

8M 501 1,2,3,5,6 11:30 15:30AK 1427 Daily 8:30 12:50MH 741 Daily 12:15 16:30MH 743 Daily 16:00 20:15AK 1421 Daily 18:50 23:10

YAnGOn TO BEIJInGFlights Days Dep ArrCA 906 2,3,4,6,7 14:15 21:55

YAnGOn TO GAUnGZHOUFlights Days Dep Arr

8M 711 2,4,7 8:40 13:15CZ 3056 3,6 11:35 15:50CZ 3056 1,5 17:40 22:15

YAnGOn TO InCHEOnFlights Days Dep Arr

8M 7502 Daily 0:50 8:508M 7702 Daily 23:45 8:05

YAnGOn TO TAIPEIFlights Days Dep Arr

CI 7916 1,2,3,5,6 10:50 16:15QR 288 2,5,6 11:35 17:20

YAnGOn TO KUnMInGFlights Days Dep Arr

MU 2012 1,3 12:20 18:35MU 2032 Daily 14:40 18:00CA 906 2,3,4,6,7 14:15 17:35

YAnGOn TO CHIAnG MAIFlights Days Dep Arr

W9 9607 4,7 14:20 16:10

YAnGOn TO HAnOIFlights Days Dep ArrVN 956 1,3,5,6,7 19:10 21:30

YAnGOn TO HO CHI MInH CITYFlights Days Dep ArrVN 942 2,4,7 14:25 17:10

YAnGOn TO DOHAFlights Days Dep ArrQR 619 Daily 7:30 11:15QR 919 Daily 7:30 11:15

YAnGOn TO PHnOM PEnHFlights Days Dep Arr

8M 403 1,3,6 8:35 12:30

YAnGOn TO SEOULFlights Days Dep Arr0Z 770 4,7 0:50 8:50KE 472 Daily 23:35 07:45+1

YAnGOn TO HOnG KOnGFlights Days Dep ArrKA 251 1,2,4,6 01:10 05:35

YAnGOn TO TOKYOFlights Days Dep ArrNH 914 Daily 22:10 06:45+1

YAnGOn TO SIEM rEAPFlights Days Dep Arr

8M 401 1,3,6 8:35 10:45

YAnGOn TO GAYAFlights Days Dep Arr

8M 601 1,3,5,6 9:00 10:20

YAnGOn TO DHAKAFlights Days Dep ArrBG 061 1,4 19:30 20:45

MAnDALAY TO BAnGKOKFlights Days Dep Arr

TG 2982 2,4,6 9:30 11:45TG 2984 5,7 19:35 21:45PG 710 Daily 14:15 16:40

MAnDALAY TO DOn MUEnGFlights Days Dep Arr

FD 2761 Daily 12:50 15:15

MAnDALAY TO KUnMInGFlights Days Dep Arr

MU 2030 Daily 14:40 17:20

nAYPYIDAW TO BAnGKOKFlights Days Dep ArrPG 722 Daily 19:45 22:45

BAnGKOK TO YAnGOnFlights Days Dep Arr

8M 336 Daily 11:55 12:40TG 303 Daily 8:00 8:45PG 701 Daily 8:50 9:40TG 301 Daily 13:00 13:45PG 707 Daily 13:40 14:30PG 703 Daily 16:45 17:35TG 305 Daily 17:50 18:458M 332 Daily 19:20 20:05PG 705 Daily 20:00 21:15Y5 238 Daily 21:10 21:55

DOn MUEnG TO YAnGOnFlights Days Dep Arr

DD 4230 1,3,5,7 6:30 7:15FD 2751 Daily 7:15 8:00FD 2755 Daily 11:35 12:20FD 2753 Daily 16:20 17:05FD 2757 1,2,3,4 19:35 20:25

SInGAPOrE TO YAnGOnFlights Days Dep Arr

SQ 998/MI 5872 Daily 7:55 9:208M 6231/3K 585 2,4,7 8:55 10:25

3K 585 Daily 9:10 10:408M 6231/3K 585 1,3,5,6 9:10 10:40

8M 232 Daily 13:25 14:50TR 2826 1,6,7 13:10 14:30

MI 518/MI 5018 Daily 14:20 15:45TR 2826 2,3,4,5 15:00 16:30Y5 234 Daily 15:35 17:053K 587 2,3,5 17:20 18:508M 234 5,6,7 19:25 20:50

MI 520/SQ 5020 1,5,6,7 22:10 23:35

BEIJInG TO YAnGOnFlights Days Dep ArrCA 905 2,3,4,6,7 8:05 13:15

KAULA LUMPUr TO YAnGOnFlights Days Dep Arr

AK 1426 Daily 6:55 8:00MH 740 Daily 10:05 11:15MH742 Daily 13:50 15:008M 502 1,2,3,5,6 16:30 17:30AK 1420 Daily 17:20 18:25

GUAnGZHOU TO YAnGOnFlights Days Dep Arr

CZ 3055 3,6 8:40 10:30CZ 3055 1,5 14:45 16:358M 712 2,4,7 14:15 15:50

TAIPEI TO YAnGOnFlights Days Dep Arr

CI 7915 1,2,3,5,6 7:00 9:55BR 287 2,5,6 7:45 10:35

InCHEOn TO YAnGOnFlights Days Dep Arr

8M 7701 Daily 18:40 22:158M 7501 Daily 19:30 23:40

KUnMInG TO YAnGOnFlights Days Dep Arr

MU 2011 1,3 8:20 11:30CA 905 2,3,4,6,7 13:00 13:15

MU 2031 Daily 13:30 13:55

CHIAnG MAI TO YAnGOnFlights Days Dep Arr

W9 9608 4,7 17:20 18:10

HAnOI TO YAnGOnFlights Days Dep ArrVN 957 1,3,5,6,7 16:35 18:10

HO CHI MInH CITY TO YAnGOnFlights Days Dep ArrVN 943 2,4,7 11:40 13:25

DOHA TO YAnGOnFlights Days Dep ArrQR 618 Daily 21:15 06:29+1QR 918 Daily 21:15 6:29

GAYA TO YAnGOnFlights Days Dep Arr

8M 602 1,3,5,6 11:20 14:30

PHnOM PEnH TO YAnGOnFlights Days Dep Arr

8M 404 1,3,6 13:30 14:55

SEOUL TO YAnGOnFlights Days Dep ArrKE 471 Daily 18:30 22:300Z 769 3,6 19:30 23:40

TOKYO TO YAnGOnFlights Days Dep ArrNH 913 Daily 11:40 17:15

HOnG KOnG TO YAnGOnFlights Days Dep ArrKA 250 1,3,5,7 21:50 23:45

DHAKA TO YAnGOnFlights Days Dep ArrBG 060 1,4 16:15 18:30

BAnGKOK TO MAnDALAYFlights Days Dep Arr

TG 2981 2,4,6 7:30 8:45TG 2983 5,7 17:30 18:45PG 709 Daily 12:05 13:25

DOn MUEAnG TO MAnDALAYFlights Days Dep Arr

FD 2760 Daily 10:55 12:20

KUnMInG TO MAnDALAYFlights Days Dep Arr

MU 2029 Daily 13:55 13:50

BAnGKOK TO nAYPYIDAWFlights Days Dep ArrPG 721 Daily 17:15 19:15

General Property

HOW TO GET A FREE ADBy Fax : 01-254158By Email : [email protected], [email protected] mail : 379/383, bo aung Kyaw St, Kyauktada Township, yangon.

HOW TO GET MORE BUSINESS FROMAS LITTLE AS K.5,000.

buy Space On THeSe paGeSCall: Khin mon mon yi - 01-392676, 392928

FREERent/ Sale

Car For Rent (Toyota Vitz / 2008 / AC) - Short and longer distances. - Driver is fluent in English. - Try us for Compitative rates. Mr. Benjamin, Ph : 09-2590-65766, 09-730-39218.

KaMaYUT, Innya Myaing rd, 80' x 80' land, 2RC, 4 MBR, Fully furnished, New (7) Aircons, Generator, Lawn, Ph Line, US$ 6500 per month. (2) Innya rd, 80' x 90' land, 2RC, 4 Master bedroom, Ph Line, US$ 6000 per month. Ph: 09-507-4241

PaBEDaN, New Condo, Downtown Near Sule Pagoda, 3000 Sqft, 3 MBR, 1 Single bedroom 5 Aircons, Bathtub, Teak floor, nice view, US$ 3500 per month. Ph: 09-507-4241.

THINGaNGYUN, On Thu Min Ga La Main Rd, Near-Yangon International School (YIS), ILBC Apartment - First Flr (1,200 Sqft) One Master Bed Room attached bath room & toilet, Two Single Rooms Extra Bath Room & Toilet, Kitchen Room,Dining Room, Sitting Room Near KBZ Bank, City Mart, Market, Schools, Circular Train Station car parking space, Opposite of YIS Teachers' apartments Nice, Peace Location: Ph-09-5148138, 01-573881.

HousingforRentMaYaNGoNE, 8th Mile Primrose Condo 3F Living Room, 1MBR, 2SBR, 1 Maid Room, Fully Furnish, Own

Parking, Two Elevator, Card security System. Ph: 09-511-1485, 45L

MYa Ya MoN Water Front Villa, 3 storey building with full facilities. Ph: 01-241756, 370334, 09-510-3207.

T H I N G a N G Y U N , Kyipwaryay (North) Drive 25 minutes to Down Town, 40' x 60', 2 RC, 3 MBR, 2 SR, 3 Aircons, 1 Ph. US$ (1000) per 1 Month. Only 1 year contract. Contact :09-508-0880. [email protected]

HLaING THar Yar, FMI City, 80' x 60', 2 Story building, 2 living room, 4 MBR, 2 SR, with Ph, Aircon, Hot, cool water, nice to live. Ph : 09-731-81377.

(1).NEar Bogyoke Market, 2500 sqft, 2 MBR, 1 SR , fully furnish, 3000 USD. (2).Near Park royal hotel, 1250 Sqft, 2 MBR, 1 SR, fully furnish, 2500 USD. (3).Near Park royal hotel, 2500 Sqft, 3 MBR, fully furnish, 4000 USD. Ph: 09-4921-4276.

(1) THUWUNNa, Duplex

for Sale, 2 storeys building, 40 x 70 ft, Thuwunna VIP-1, Main Rd (2) North oakklapa, Main Rd (Wai Pon La Rd) Near Medical School Shop House, 1200 Sqft, Hall type, . (3) Yankin, Shwe Ohn Pin Housing, 900 Sqft. 3 rooms, fully furnished, Near Sedona Hotel. Ph:09-732-41848, 09-8601-042.

BaHaN, Golden velly, (1) near ISY school, 2RC, 2400 sqft, 2 MBR, 2 SR, fully furnish, 4500 USD (2).near City Mark, 2 RC, 5600 sqft , 6 MBR, fully furnish (10000 USD) (3). 3 RC, 5000 sqft, 3 MBR, good for office, 4500 USD. Ph: Ph: 09-4921-4276.

(1)KYEE MYIN DINE, Pan Hlaing housing, Pan Hlaing St, first flr, 25' x 37', 2BR, 3 Aircon, 1Ph, 1heater, pressure pump, 2 exhaust fans, highly decoration, 750 Lakhs, Negotiable, (2)Pazun Daung, Mahabandoola Rd, 8th flr, 25'x60', 3BR, 1 Aircon, 800 Lakhs, Negotiable, Ph-09-4016-04409.

CENTraL CITY Residence near Park Royal, marble/hardwood premium fittings, modern design. 4 rooms 3 bathroom (2 master w/ attached bath) 1955sqft $4850/month. [email protected], 09-4211-02223.

PrIME oFFICE, Pansodan Rd, 2500 sqft, office layout w/ boardroom & manager's office. Clean open design, foreign quality fittings. Full building generator. $6250/month. [email protected], 09-4211-02223.

HousingforSaleLaND & Building for Sales by owner:- 40' x 60' area land & Wood Building Water, Electricity OK & ready for staying No.294, South Dagon-18(B) Aung Min Ga La St (Concrete Rd) Ph:01 573881, 09-514-8138

WE have Lands for sale suitable for making Industrial buildings in large area. Buyers can Contact Us on 09-4500-59037. (There is no pay for Agents & Third party ... Warmly welcome the buyers )

Want to RentaParTMENT/HoUsE - Wanted Couple from Singapore seeks a clean and comfortable house or apartment in quiet neighbourhood - not more than 9 miles from city - for long term stay (minimum 1 year) commencing January/February 2014. Rental USD 2,500 per month. Email to [email protected] or call 094-5005-3669

EducationLCCI, Level I,II &III, MYOB. Ph : 09-520-0974.

EDUCaTIoN Guiding Primary Student for primary level English, Maths, Science, Geogra phy, History, English Language. gmail: [email protected]

For IGCsE (Edexcel & Campridge) & Secondary level Regular tuition classes Home tuition Exam preparation classes All subjects available Contact: 09-508-8683.

TEaCHErs who have got Teaching experience in Singapore, Intl School (primary & seconday levels) AEIS, PSLE, GCSE, SAT , IELTS, TOEFL, English-Myamar Speaking Class for company , Sayar Bryan (ME) 09-4200-7 0692

"sCHoLar Teaching Organization" founded with ME, BE and Master Degree holder with 12 years experience in teaching field.Role & Responsibility: Making the students develop problem solving skills, critical thinking skills and I.Q & E.Q enriching skills, Int'l School (ILBC, Total, MISY, ISY, PISM, Horizon, ISM, network, MIS, MLA, ES4E, DSY, IISY, RV). All grades, All Subjects Singapore MOE Exams (AEIS, S-AEIS exam, IGCSE, IELTS, TOFEL. Tr.Daniel Caulin : 09-2150-75 Tr.Bryan :09-4200-70692.

sPECIaL IGCsE for Scholarships, English, Physics, Chemistry, Math, IELTS; SAT 1 & 2; Teacher Solomon + 3 experts. Ph:09-541-7781.

“ENGLIsH CLassEs” For both young learners & adult, Good foundation in Grammar, Good foundation in English, General English-4 skills, Business English-4 skills, Vocabulary enrichment course. Intensive classes only & no home visit . Ba Yint Naung Tower – 1, Ground Floor, Room - C&D, Kamaryut

Township, Yangon . Contact - Ph: 09-4500- 45 916, gmail: [email protected].

For PrIMarY Student : English, Maths, Myanmar, Geography, History, Science, Social, English Language. If you need to coach your child. Please do contact at Teacher Caroline : [email protected]

WaNT To LEarN English? Learn English with native speaker! -4 skills, Business English, IELTS graduation, IELTS foundation, Custom Program. We are going to open our new intake at 2nd December and offer 20,000 kyats Discount. Contact our Friendly Customer Service Officers for complete information. Ph: 09-731-62586, 09-4211-19895, 01-230-5699, 01-230-5822. Email: [email protected] . Add : Bldg 6, Junction Square, Kamaryut, Yangon.

HoME Tution & Guide : For pre - KG, Primary & secondary level. Specialized in Maths & Biology. Tr. Daw Khin Swe Win (B.E.H.S Thuwunna) Rtd. Ph: 09-730-99679,

TEaCHING ENGLIsH : English for young learners and adults. English for oversea travel, study, workplace or social purpose. Business English, Basic English, Everyday English, Communicative English. Taught by experienced and qualified teacher. Taught in abroad for a few years. Effective lessons, International Learning materials, Refresh, develop and practise English. Ms Si Si - Ph: 09-4207-85157

Expert ServicessErvICE oFFICE you can trust. Business Service for foreign investors . 905, 9F, Panchan Tower, Corner of Dhamazedi Rd & Bagayar Rd, Sanchaung Tsp, Yangon. Tel: 01-503895, Email :yangon_

[email protected], http://www.v2m.jp

E N G L I s H Corresponding Service, Email: Reading and Replying. Fax : Reading and Replying. Letter writing for companies. Albert Than - 09-4310-5909.

rEaL EsTaTE : We have Lands for sale suitable for making Industrial buildings in large area. Buyers can Contact Us on 09-4500-59037. (There is no pay for Agents & Third party ... Warmly welcome the buyers )

aUNG Professional T r a n s l a t i o n P r o f e s s i o n a l Translation from Myanmar to English & English to Myanmar. For legal Translation, T e c h n o l o g i c a l , Diploma tic, Contract, Advertising, Movie, Literature, etc. With Various Services on

paper, electronic file, recording & other relevant matters. both regular and express with expert service. No139, 2nd Flr, Bargayar Rd, Sanchaung, Yangon. Ph: 09-7 3 2 - 1 1 9 0 7 , a u n g [email protected]

For SaleMIsUBIsHI Canda 10' (hydrolic door) 2007 Engine Power 4900CC Pw, Ac, Ps front butterfly, Lay type 3 Tan, 1 G (190 Lakhs, Pls contact : Ma Thanzin : 09-731-01896

MIsUBIsHI Canntar box 10' (2006) Engine power 3000 CC, Pw, Ac, Ps front butterfly, Lay type 2 Tan, 1 G,Price :195 Lakhs, Pls contact : Ma Thanzin : 09-731-01896

MaCBooK Pro to sell (99% good condition) 13" Intel Core 2 Duo Ram 4GB H.D.D 750GB Mac OS 10.8.5 + Window. Price: 650,000 MMK. For personal user only to contact, Ph: 09-4237-16686

MaCBooK Pro 13" Retina Display Intel Core i5 Ram 8GB S.S.D 128GB Mac OS 10.9 Price : 1380000. Ph : 09-4200-50651

99% NEW saMsUNG

Series 5 Ultra Book Intel Core i5 Ram 8GB H.D.D + SSD Display 13.3 1 Year 6 Month International Warranty Price : 580000. Ph : 09-501-6694

GeneralIF you are thinking to give a book-gift to your loved ones. Meiji Soe's "Culture & Beyond - Myanmar" is a unique of its king revealing Myanmar Culture, Beliefs and Superstitions in sector by sector together with photos. Available at Book Stores & MCM Ltd. Ph: 253642, 3922928, 392910. Email: [email protected]

sHWE KYIN Slipper shop, Yangon. Ph: 01- 240966 ext 333, 09-515-7156.

LanguageWITHIN 24 hours can make you confidient in Myanmar language speaking and scripts! Teacher Phyu Phyu Khin 09-4930-8926, [email protected], No.56 I, Thiri Marlar Lane, 7.5 mile, Pyay Road, Yangon.

ENGLIsH Grammar for all classes. Ph: 09-541-3847.

CHINEsE for all grades. Ph: 09-541-3847.

GIvE your child the best possible start to life at Int'l Montessori Myanmar

(English Education Center) Accredited by IMC Bangkok (Since 1991), Our Montessori curriculum includes: Practical Life Exercises, Sensorial Training, Language Development, Mathematics, Cultural Studies, Botany & Zoology, History, Creative Art, Music and Movement, Cooking Physical Development, Social & Emotional Development, Learning through play, 55(B), Po Sein Rd, Bahan, Yangon, Myanmar, Ph: 546097, 546761, Email: [email protected]

MYaNMar for Foreigners, Ph: 09-2501-50791.

WITHIN 24 hours can make you confidient in Myanmar Language speaking and scripts! Teacher Phyu Phyu Khin : 09-4930-8926, [email protected], 56 I, Thiri Marlar Lane, 7.5 mile, Pyay Rd, Yangon.

ENGLIsH for Adults &Young Learners 100 % face to face classroom based lessons, Small classroom sized, limited seats, Variety of learning resources Experienced, internationally qualified teacher who get the best out of you, whatever your level. Offer courses that build your confidence for practical situations and improve important areas such as Speaking and Listening in English. English for young learners : Teacher Yamin - Ph: (01) 291679, 09-250-136695.

For ForEIGNErs Want to learn Myanmar speaking at your home? Contact : 09-517-9125, 09-861-1052

ENGLIsH for Young learners : Build confidence in commu nicating in English. Build strong foundation in English for further education. Introducing reading with variety of books. Using Int'l syllabuses such as Oxford, Collins & Cambridge ,etc. Lesson will be conducted in English. Taught by qualified & internationally experience teacher.English for Adults Speak fluently in various situations. Improve your pronunciation and increase your vocabulary. Communicate effectively in everyday situations. English for social, study, overseas travel and work purposes. Teacher Yamin - Ph:291679, 09-250-136695

Public NoticeHr MoDULE -1, Recruitment & Selection Certificate Course Trainer (1) Daw Soe Soe Kyi , HR Practitioner MPA , B.Sc (Chemistry), Executive Diploma in Human Resources Management Trainer (2) Daw Swe Swe Aung, HR Practitioner B.Agr. Sc Executive Diploma in Human Resources Management Fees Ks-120,000. Schedule,Start date : - 14th December, 2013. Complete date - 29th December, 2013 , Sat: & Sun: (3-weeks) Time - From 02:00 pm to 05:00 pm , total 6- hrs. Address : Ba Yint Naung Tower -1 , Ground Flr, Rm C&D, Kamaryut

Yangon. Contacts : 09 4500 45916 emails : [email protected] , [email protected]

TrainingWIsDoM Management Centre : Abnormal Psychology Program. Level: Certificate. Program Outlines : 1. What is Normal and Abnormal? Assessing & Diagnosing Abnormality. 3.Anxiety Disorders 4.Somatoform & Dissociative Disorders. 5.Mood Disorders 6. Suicide 7.Schizophrenia Duration : 12-Week Day: Tuesday (6:30 ~ 8:00 PM) Starting Date: December 17, 2013. Fees: New Participant : 50,000 Ks. Regular Participant: 45,000 Ks. Add: No.8, 6th Flr (Right), Chan Thar St, Sanchaung(Near Shan Lan Bus-Stop) Ph:09-537-0230, 09-730-02705

DECENT Myanmar Training School Personal Management & Business Management Trainings Basic English Grammar IELTS preparation English for Specific Purpose-ESP. (1) Spoken English (2) Business Writing (3) Business English (4) English for Marketing (5) English for HRM (6) English for Media (7) English for IT (8) English for Law (9) English for Marine Engineering (10) English for Medicine 29/ B, Rm 7, Myay Nu St, Myaynigone. Ph:01-512-467, 09-722-32047.

TravelNEW NovEMBEr Travel & Tour - Our Services: Package Tours/ Fit & Group Tours; Special Tours / Incentive Tours, Business Tours, Business Matching & Meeting, Seminar - Exhibition Service, Guide Services / Hotel Reservation, Car Rental Service / Boat/ Cruise Tickets. "Yours Satisfaction is our reward" Ph-09-4927-7415, 01-378531, 09- 4480-01 612. Email : [email protected], www.newnovembertravel.com Yangon Office :260, Ground Flr, 40th St, 9 Qtr, Kyauktadar,Yangon.

vIrGIN LaND Tours - Visa Services : Worldwide Air Ticketing, Worldwide Hotel Reservation, All Kind Transportation Rental, Inbound & Outbound Tour Operator, Tour Guide Services. Ph. 01-861-0252, 09-512-3793, 09-520-2643.

BELTa Car Rental Rate with Professional English Speaking Tour Car Driver*600000 Ks/ month (exclude fuel OCTANE) contact: Mr.Sonny: 09-4200-48040 & Ms. MyaMyaAung (Tourist Guide): 09-4015-43732

NYaN MYINT THU Car Rental Service : Ko Nyan Myint Win Kyi (MD) - 56, Bo Ywe St, Latha, Yangon, Myanmar. Ph : 01-246551, 01-375284. ph:09-2132778. email: [email protected], nmt@nyan m y i n t t h u c a r r e n t a l .com, colwinkyi@gmail. com. Web:www.nyanmyintthucarrental.com

Avenue 64 HotelNo. 64 (G), Kyitewine Pagoda Rd, Mayangone Tsp, Yangon. Tel : 09-8631392, 01 656913-9

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 : [email protected]

The Essentials

Emergency Numbers

For more information about these listings, Please Contact - [email protected]

Ambulance tel: 295133. Fire tel: 191, 252011, 252022. Police emergency tel: 199. Police headquarters tel: 282541, 284764. Red Cross tel:682600, 682368Traffic Control Branch tel:298651Department of Post & Telecommunication tel: 591384, 591387.Immigration tel: 286434.Ministry of Education tel:545500m 562390Ministry of Sports tel: 370604, 370605Ministry of Communications tel: 067-407037.Myanma Post & Telecommunication (MPT) tel: 067-407007.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.

HOSPITALSCentral Women’s Hospital tel: 221013, 222811.Children Hospital tel: 221421, 222807Ear, Nose & Throat Hospital tel: 543888.Naypyitaw Hospital (emergency) tel: 420096.Worker’s 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.

ELECTRICITYPower Station tel:414235

POST OFFICEGeneral Post Office 39, Bo Aung Kyaw St. (near British Council Library). tel: 285499.

INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTYangon International Airport tel: 662811.

YANGON PORTShipping (Coastal vessels) tel: 382722

RAILWAYSRailways information tel: 274027, 202175-8.

UNITED NATIONSILO Liaison 1-A, Kanbae (Thitsar Rd), Yankin Tsp, Tel : 01-566538, 566539IOM 12th Flr, Traders Hotel, 223, Tel: 252560 ext. 5002UNAIDS 137/1, Thaw Wun Rd, Kamayut Tsp. Tel : 534498, 504832UNDCP 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: 52910~19UNICEF 14~15 Flr, Traders Hotel. P.O. Box 1435, Kyauktada. Tel: 375527~32, Email: unicef.yangon@unicef. org, www.unicef.org/myanmar.UNODC 11-A, Malikha Rd., Ward 7, Mayangone. tel: 01-9666903, 9660556, 9660538, 9660398. email: [email protected] UNOPS Inya Lake Hotel, 3rd

floor, 37, Kaba Aye Pagoda Rd, 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 Ward (2), (Golden Valley), Bahan Tsp. Tel : 2305971~6 (6 lines).WHO No. 2, Pyay Rd, 7 Mile, Mayangone Tsp, Tel : 650405-6, 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. fax: 641561.

EMBASSIESAustralia 88, Strand Road, Yangon. Tel : 251810, 251797, 251798.Bangladesh 11-B, Than Lwin Road, Yangon. Tel: 515275, 526144, email: [email protected] 56, Pyay Road, 6th mile, Hlaing Tsp, Yangon. Tel: 507225, 507251. email: [email protected] 17, Kanbawza Avenue, Golden Velly (1), Bahan Tsp, Yangon. Tel: 566985, 503978. email: bruneiemb@ bruneiemb.com.mmCambodia 25 (3B/4B), New University Avenue Road, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. Tel: 549609, 540964. email: RECYANGON @mptmail.net.mmChina 1, Pyidaungsu Yeiktha Road, Yangon. Tel: 221280, 221281.Danmark, 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, [email protected] 102, Pyidaungsu Yeiktha Road, Yangon. Tel: 212178, 212520, email: ambaf rance. rangoun@ diplomatie.frGermany 9, Bogyoke Aung San Museum Road, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. Tel: 548951, 548952, email: info@rangun. diplo.deIndia 545-547, Merchant St, Yangon. Tel: 391219, 388412, email: indiaembassy @mptmail.net.mmIndonesia 100, Pyidaungsu Yeiktha Rd, Yangon. Tel: 254465, 254469, 229750, fax: 254468, email: kukygn @indonesia.com.mm

Israel 15, Khabaung Street, Hlaing Tsp, Yangon. Tel: 515115, fax: 515116, email: [email protected] 3, Inya Myaing Road, Golden Valley, Yangon. Tel: 527100, 527101, fax: 514565, email: ambyang.mail@ esteri.itJapan 100, Natmauk Rd, Yangon. Tel: 549644-8, 540399, 540400, 540411, 545988, fax: 549643Embassy of the State of Kuwait Chatrium Hotel, Rm: 416, 418, 420, 422, 40 Natmauk Rd, Tarmwe Tsp, Tel: 544500.North Korea 77C, Shin Saw Pu Rd, Sanchaung Tsp, Yangon. Tel: 512642, 510205South Korea 97 University Avenue, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. Tel: 527142-4, 515190, fax: 513286, email: [email protected] A-1, Diplomatic Quarters, Tawwin Road, Dagon Tsp, Yangon. Tel: 222482, fax: 227446, email: Laoembcab@mptmail. net.mmMalaysia 82, Pyidaungsu Yeiktha Road, Yangon. Tel: 220248, 220249, email: [email protected] 16, Natmauk Yeiktha, Yangon. Tel: 545880, 557168, fax: 549803, email: nepemb @mptmail.net.mmNorway, No.7, Pyi Thu St, Pyay Rd, 7 Miles, Mayangone Tsp,Yangon. Tel: 01 – 9669520 - 17 Fax – 01- 9669516New Zealand No. 43/C, Inya Myaing Rd, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. Tel : 01-2305805Netherlands Diplomatic Mission No. 43/C, Inya Myaing Rd, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. Tel : 01-2305805

Pakistan A-4, diplomatic Quarters, Pyay Rd, Yangon. Tel: 222881 (Chancery Exchange) Philippines 50, Sayasan Rd, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. Tel: 558149-151,Email: p.e. [email protected] 38, Sagawa Rd, Yangon. Tel: 241955, 254161, Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia No.287/289, U Wisara Rd, Sanchaung.Tel : 01-536153, 516952. Serbia No. 114-A, Inya Rd, P.O.Box No. 943, Yangon. Tel: 515282, 515283, email: serbemb @ yangon.net.mmSingapore 238, Dhamazedi Road, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. Tel: 559001, email: singemb_ ygn@_sgmfa. gov.sgSri Lanka 34 Taw Win Road, Yangon. Tel: 222812, The Embassy of Switzerland No 11, Kabaung Lane, 5 ½ mile, Pyay Rd, Hlaing Tsp, Yangon. Tel: 534754, 512873, 507089. Fax: 534754, Ext: 110Thailand 94 Pyay Rd, Dagon Tsp, Yangon. Tel: 226721, 226728, 226824Turkish Embassy 19AB, Kan Yeik Thar St, Mayangone Tsp,Yangon. Tel : 662992, Fax : 661365United 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: 650306Vietnam Bldg-72, Thanlwin Rd, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. Tel: 511305

General Listing

Chatrium Hotel 40 Natmauk Rd, Tarmwe. tel: 544500. fax: 544400.

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 : [email protected]. URL: http://www.freshaircon.com

ACCOMMODATION-HOTELS

AIR CONDITION

RESORTS

No. 205, Corner of Wadan Street & Min Ye Kyaw Swa Road, Lanmadaw Tsp, Yangon. Myanmar. Tel: (95-1) 212850 ~ 3, 229358 ~ 61, Fax: (95-1) 212854.info@myanmarpandahotel .com http://www.myanmarpandahotel.com

No.7A, Wingabar Road,Bahan Tsp, Yangon.Tel : (951) 546313, 430245. 09-731-77781~4. Fax : (01) 546313. www.cloverhotel.asia. [email protected]

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

PARKROyAL yangon, Myanmar 33, Alan Pya Pagoda Rd, Dagon tsp. tel: 250388. fax: 252478. email: [email protected] parkroyalhotels. com.

Golden Hill Towers 24-26, Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd, Bahan Tsp. tel: 558556. [email protected] Residence 8, Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd, Mayangone Tsp. tel: 6506 51~4. fax: 650630.

ACCOMMODATIONLONG TERM

ACCOMMODATION-HOTELS (Nay Pyi Taw)

Tel: 09-7349-4483, 09-4200-56994.E-mail: [email protected], http://www. happyhomesyangon.com

Happy HomesReal estate & PRoPeRty

ManageMent

MGM Hotel No (160), Warden Street, Lanmadaw Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar. +95-1-212454~9. www. hotel-mgm.comSavoy 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.Traders Hotel 223 Sule Pagoda Rd. tel: 242828. fax: 242838.Winner Inn 42, Than Lwin Rd, Bahan Tsp. Tel: 503734, 524387. email: reservation@winner innmyanmar.comWindsor Hotel No.31, Shin Saw Pu Street, Sanchaung. Yangon, Myanmar. Ph: 95-1-511216~8, www.hotelwindsoryangon.comyuzana Hotel 130, Shwegondaing Rd, Bahan Tsp, tel : 01-549600yuzana Garden Hotel 44, Alanpya Pagoda Rd, Mingalar Taung Nyunt Tsp, tel : 01-248944

No. (356/366), Kyaikkasan Rd, Tamwe Township, Yangon, Myanmar.Ph: 542826, Fax: 545650Email: [email protected]

Royal White Elephant HotelNo-11, Kan Street, Hlaing Tsp. Yangon, Myanmar. (+95-1) 500822, 503986. www.rwehotel.com

Reservation Office (Yangon) 123, Alanpya Pagoda Rd, Dagon TownshipTel : 951- 255 819~838Royal Kumudra Hotel, (Nay Pyi Taw)Tel : 067- 414 177, 067- 4141 88E-Mail: [email protected]

(Nay Pyi Taw)

M-22, Shwe Htee Housing, Thamine Station St., Near the Bayint Naung Point, Mayangone Tsp., YangonTel : 522763, 522744, 667557. Fax : (95-1) 652174E-mail : [email protected]

No. 12, Pho Sein Road, Tamwe Township, YangonTel : (95-1) 209299, 209300, 209343, 209345, 209346Fax : (95-1) 209344E-mail : [email protected]

Clover Hotel City Center No. 217, 32nd Street (Upper Block), Pabedan Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar. Tel : 377720, Fax : 377722 www.clovercitycenter.asiaClover Hotel City Center Plus No. 229, 32nd Street (Upper Block), Pabedan Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar. Tel : 377975, Fax : 377974 www.clovercitycenterplus.asia

Hotel yangon 91/93, 8th Mile Junction, Tel : 01-667708, 667688.Inya Lake Resort Hotel 37 Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd. tel: 662866. fax: 665537.

Reservation Office (Yangon)123, Alanpya Pagoda Rd, Dagon Township.Tel : 951-255 819-838Hotel Max(Chaung Tha Beach)Tel : 042-423 46-9, 042-421 33.Email : maxhotelsreservation@ gmail.com

17, Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd, Yankin Tsp.Tel: 650933. Fax: 650960.Email : micprm@ myanmar.com.mmwww.myanmar micasahotel.com

BARS

50th Street 9/13, 50th street-lower, Botataung Tsp. Tel-397160.

Air Con Sales & ServiceNo. 2/1, Than Thu Mar Rd, Thuwunna Junction. Tel : 09-4224-64130

No. (68), Tawwin Street, 9 Mile, Mayangone Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar. Tel : (951) 9 666141 Fax : (951) 9 666135 Email : [email protected] Website : www.witoriyahosptial.com


HOME FURNISHINGGENERATORS

GEMS & JEWELLERIES

22, Pyay Rd, 9 mile, Mayangone Tsp. tel: 660769, 664363.

Floral Service & GiftCentre 102(A), Dhamazaydi Rd, Yangon.tel: 500142 Summit Parkview Hotel, tel: 211888, 211966 ext. 173 fax: 535376.email: [email protected].

FLORAL SERVICES

Floral Service & Gift ShopNo. 449, New University Avenue, Bahan Tsp. YGN. Tel: 541217, 559011, 09-860-2292.Market Place By City MartTel: 523840~43, 523845~46, Ext: 205.Junction Nay Pyi TawTel: 067-421617~18 422012~15, Ext: 235.Res: 067-414813, 09-492-09039. Email : [email protected]

FITNESS CENTRE

24 Hour International Medical Centre @ Victoria Hospital No. 68, Tawwin Rd, 9 Mile, Mayangon Township, Yangon, MyanmarTel: + 951 651 238, + 959 495 85 955Fax: + 959 651 39824/7 on duty doctor: + 959 492 18 410Website: www.leo.com.mm

“ One Stop Solution for Quality Health Care “

Balance FitnesssNo 64 (G), Kyitewine Pagoda Road, Mayangone Township. Yangon01-656916, 09 8631392Email - [email protected]

Life FitnessBldg A1, Rm No. 001, Shwekabar Housing, Mindhamma Rd, Mayangone Tsp. Yangon.Ph: 01-656511, Fax: 01-656522, Hot line: 0973194684, [email protected]

No. 589-592, Bo Aung Kyaw St, Yangon-Pathein highway Road. Hlaing Tharyar tsp. Tel: 951-645178-182, 685199, Fax: 951-645211, 545278. e-mail: mkt-mti@ winstrategic.com.mm

Ruby & Rare Gems of Myanamar

No. 527, New University Ave., Bahan Tsp. [email protected] Tel: 549612, Fax : 545770.

Bldg-D, Rm (G-12), Pearl Condo, Ground Flr, Kabaraye Pagoda Rd, Bahan Tsp. Tel: 557448. Ext 814, 09-730-98872.

BEAUTY & MASSAGE

ADVERTISING

SAIL Marketing & CommunicationsSuite 403, Danathiha Center 790, Corner of Bogyoke Rd & Wadan Rd, Lanmadaw Township, Yangon, Myanmar. Tel: (951) 211870, 224820, 2301195. Email: [email protected]. com

WE sTarTED THE aDvErTIsINGINDUsTrY IN MYaNMar sINCE 1991

M a r k e t i n g & c o M M u n i c at i o n s

a d v e r t i s i n g

Strand Bar 92, Strand Rd, Yangon, Myanmar. tel: 243377.fax: 243393, [email protected] www.ghmhotels.com

Lobby BarPARKROYAL Yangon, Myanmar. 33, Alan Pya Phaya Road, Dagon Tsp. tel: 250388.

MYANMAR BOOK CENTRENandawun 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: [email protected]

COFFEE MACHINE

CAR RENTAL

illy, Francis Francis, VBM,Brasilia, Rossi, De LonghiNwe Ta Pin Trading Co., Ltd. Shop C, Building 459 BNew University Avenue 01- 555-879, [email protected]

•150 Dhamazedi Rd., Bahan Tsp, Yangon. Tel: 536306, 537805.

Email : yangon@ monument-books.com•15(B), Departure Lounge,

Yangon Int’l Airport.• #87/2, Crn of 26th & 27th

St, 77th St,Chan Aye Thar Zan Tsp, Mandalay. Tel : (02) 24880.

Spa ParagonCondo B#Rm-106, Shwe Hinthar Condo, Corner of Pyay Rd & Shwe Hinthar St, 6½Mile, Yangon. Tel: 01-507344 Ext: 112, 09-680-8488, 09-526-1642.

BOOK STORES

Lemon Day SpaNo. 96 F, Inya Road, Kamaryut Tsp, Yangon. Tel: 514848, 09-732-08476.E.mail: lemondayspa.2011 @gmail.com

No. 52, Royal Yaw Min Gyi Condo, Room F, Yaw Min Gyi Rd, Dagon Township, Yangon, Myanmar. Tel: 09-425-307-717

YANGON La Source Beauty Spa 80-A, Inya Rd, Kamayut Tsp. Tel: 512380, 511252Beauty Bar by La SourceRoom (1004), Sedona Hotel,Tel : 666 900 Ext : (7167)LS SalonJunction Square, 3rd Floor.Tel : 95-1-527242, Ext : 4001MANDALAYLa Source Beauty SpaNo. 13/13, Mya Sandar St, Chanaye Tharzan Tsp.Tel : 09-4440-24496.www.lasourcebeautyspa.com

No. 20, Ground Floor, Pearl Street, Golden Valley Ward, Bahan Township, Yangon. Tel : 09-509 7057, 01-220881, 549478 (Ext : 103)Email : realfitnessmyanmar @gmail.comwww.realfitnessmyanmar.com

• First class VIp Limousine car rental.

• professional english Speaking Drivers.

• Full Insurance for your Safety and comfortable journey

• call us now for your best choicewww.mmels.com

MYaNMar EXECUTIvE LIMoUsINE sErvICE

HOT LINE: 09 - 402 510 003

01-646 330

Get the Best Pure Natural Gemstones and Jewellery No. 44, Inya Road, Yangon, Myanmar.Tel : 01-2305811, 2305812. email : info@bestjewels myanmar.com, Bestjewelsmyanmar.com

Zamil SteelNo-5, Pyay Road, 7½ miles, Mayangone Tsp, Yangon. Tel: (95-1) 652502~04. Fax: (95-1) 650306.Email: [email protected]

24 hours Cancer centreNo. (68), Tawwin Street, 9 Mile, Mayangone Township, Yangon.Tel : (951) 9 666141Fax : (951) 9 666135

24 hours Laboratory & X-rayNo. (68), Tawwin Street, 9 Mile, Mayangone Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar.Tel : (951) 9 666141Fax : (951) 9 666135

The Lady Gems & JewelleryNo. 7, Inya Rd, Kamayut Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar.Tel : 01-2305800, 09-8315555The Lady Gems & SilkCo operative Business Centre, Room No (32/41), New University Avenue Rd, Bahan Tsp, Yangon.Tel : [email protected]

No. 56, Bo Ywe St, Latha Tsp, Yangon. Tel : 01-246551, 375283, 09-2132778, 09-31119195. Gmail:nyanmyintthu1983@ gmail.com,

Car Rental Service

CONSTRUCTION

one stop EnT CenterNo. (68), Tawwin Street, 9 Mile, Mayangone Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar. Tel : (951) 9 666141 Fax : (951) 9 666135 Email : [email protected] Website : www.witoriyahosptial.com

CONSULTING

Shwe Hinthar B 307, 6 1/2 Miles, Pyay Rd., Yangon.Tel: +95 (0)1 654 [email protected]

Myanmar Research | Consulting | TechnologyMarina Residence, YangonPh: 650651~4, Ext: 109Beauty Plan, Corner of77th St & 31st St, MandalayPh: 02 72506

Green GardenBeer Gallery Mini Zoo, Karaweik Oo-Yin Kabar.

DUTY FREE

Duty Free ShopsYangon International Airport, Arrival/Departure Tel: 533030 (Ext: 206/155)

Office: 17, 2nd street, Hlaing Yadanarmon Housing, Hlaing Township, Yangon. Tel: 500143, 500144, 500145.

FOAM SPRAY INSULATION

Foam Spray InsulationNo-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, Sint-Oh-Dan St, Lower Block, Latha Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar.Tel : 01-2410292, 243551, 09-431-83689, 09-4480-33905.

The Natural Gems of Myanmar & Fine Jewellery.No. 30(A), Pyay Road, (7 mile), Mayangone Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar.Tel : 01-660397, 354398-9E-mail : spgmes.myanmar @gmail.com

Your Most Reliable Jeweller

ENTERTAINMENT

No.94, Ground Floor, Bogalay Zay Street, Botataung Tsp,Yangon.Tel: 392625, 09-500-3591Email : [email protected](Except Sunday)

Dance Club & Bar

No-001-002, Dagon Tower, Ground Flr, Cor of Kabaraye Pagoda Rd & Shwe Gon Dine Rd, Bahan Tsp. Tel: 544480, 09-730-98872.

S.B. FURNITURE S.B. FURNITURE

HEALTH SERVICES

98(A), Kaba Aye Pagoda Road, Bahan Township, Yangon. Tel: 553783, 549152, 09-732-16940, 09-730-56079. Fax: 542979 Email: [email protected].

CO WORKING SPACE

No. (6), Lane 2 Botahtaung Pagoda St, Yangon.01-9010003, 291897. [email protected], www.venturaoffice.com

DTDC Courier and Cargo Service (Since 1991)Yangon. Tel : 01-374457Mandalay. Tel : 09-431-34095. www.DTDC.COM, [email protected] Door to Door Delivery!!!

COURIER SERVICE

ENGINEERING

one-stop solution for Sub-station, M&E Work Design, Supply and Install (Hotel, High Rise Building Factory)193/197, Shu Khin Thar Street, North Okkalapa Industrial Zone, Yangon. Tel: 951-691843~5, 951-9690297, Fax: 951-691700 Email: [email protected]

FASHION & TAILOR

Sein Shwe Tailor, 797 (003-A), Bogyoke Aung San Rd, MAC Tower 2, Lanmadaw Tsp, Yangon, Ph: 01-225310, 212943~4 Ext: 146, 147, E-mail: [email protected]

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 : 09-6803505, 09-449004631.

GAS COOKER & COOKER HOODS

World’s leader in Kitchen Hoods & HobsSame as Ariston Water Heater. Tel: 251033, 379671, 256622, 647813

GIFT PRODUCT

Sole Distributor of Red Ginseng from

Korea Ginseng Corporation Tel: 01-374851, 394360Stores:Coreana @ Junction Square / Mawtin,UNIQHAN@U Wisara Rd; MBIC No.16, 87th street.

UnionBarAndGrill 42 Strand Road, Botahtaung, Yangon. Tel: 95 9420 180 214, 95 9420 101 854 www.unionyangon.com, [email protected]

Get your Visa online for Business and Tourist No need to come to Embassy.#165. 35th Street, Kyauktada Tsp, Yangon.Tel: +951 381200, [email protected]

December 30, 2013 - January 5, 2014 THE MYANMAR TIMES

VISA & IMMIGRATION

WATER TREATMENT

WEB SERVICE

Water HeaterMade in Japan

Same as Rinnai Gas Cooker and Cooker Hood Showroom Address

Capital Hyper Mart 14(E), Min Nandar Road, Dawbon Tsp. Ph: 553136.City Mart (Aung San Branch) tel: 253022, 294765. City Mart (47th St Branch) tel: 200026, 298746.City Mart (Junction 8) tel: 650778.City Mart (FMI City Branch) tel: 682323.City Mart (Yankin Center Branch) tel: 400284.City Mart (Myaynigone Branch) tel: 510697.City Mart (Zawana Branch) tel:564532.

SUPERMARKETS

Commercial scalewater treatment

(Since 1997)Tel: 01-218437~38. H/P: 09-5161431,

09-43126571.39-B, Thazin Lane, Ahlone.

PAINT

Open Daily (9am to 6pm)No. 797, MAC Tower II, Rm -4, Ground Flr, Bogyoke Aung San Rd,Lamadaw Tsp, Yangon.Tel: (951) 212944 Ext: [email protected]

Sole DistributorFor the Union of Myanmar Since 1995Myanmar Golden Rock International Co.,Ltd.#06-01, Bldg (8), Myanmar ICT Park, University Hlaing Campus, Hlaing Tsp, Yangon. Tel: 654810~17.

World’s No.1 Paints & Coatings Company

Bldg-A2, G-Flr, Shwe Gabar Housing, Mindama Rd, Mayangone Tsp, Yangon. email: [email protected] Ph: 652391, 09-73108896

WATER SOLUTION

SERVICE OFFICE

No. (6), Lane 2 Botahtaung Pagoda St, Yangon.01-9010003, 291897. [email protected], www.venturaoffice.com

REAL ESTATE

Real Estate AgentAgent fees is unnecessaryTel : 09 2050107, 09 [email protected]

22, Kaba Aye Pagoda Rd, Bahan Tsp. tel 541997. email: [email protected]://leplanteur.net

Good taste & resonable price@Thamada HotelTel: 01-243047, 243639-41 Ext: 32

G-01, City Mart (Myay Ni Gone Center). Tel: 01-508467-70 Ext: 106

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

1. WASABI : No.20-B,Kaba Aye Pagoda Rd,Yankin Tsp,(Near MiCasa),Tel; 09-4250-20667, 09-503-9139Myaynigone (City Mart)Yankin Center (City Mart)

No. 5, U Tun Nyein Street, Mayangone T/S, Yangon. Tel : 01-660 612, 011 22 1014, 09 50 89 441Email : [email protected]

RESTAURANTS

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.

Your Most Reliable & Friendly Real Estate Agency

Tel : 09-730884801-242370, 394053

Road to MandalayMyanmar Hotels & Cruises Ltd. Governor’s Residence 39C, Taw Win Rd, Dagon Tsp, Yangon. Tel: (951) 229860fax: (951) 217361. email: [email protected] www.orient-express.com

MARINE COMMUNICATION &

NAVIGATION

Top Marine Show RoomNo-385, Ground Floor, Lower Pazundaung Road, Pazundaung Tsp, Yangon.Ph: 01-202782, 09-851-5597

Schenker (Thai) Ltd. Yangon 59 A, U Lun Maung Street. 7 Mile Pyay Road, MYGN. tel: 667686, 666646.fax: 651250. email: sche [email protected].

No.290-B,U Wisarya Road,10 Ward, Kamaryut Township,Yangon.TEL:(09)259040853Open daily 11:00~23:00Produce by Sagittarius Myanmar

Executive Serviced Officeswww.hinthabusinesscentres.comTel : 01-4413410

TRAVEL AGENTS

Shan yoma Tours Co.,Ltd www.exploremyanmar.com

Asian Trails Tour Ltd73 Pyay Rd, Dagon tsp. tel: 211212, 223262. fax: 211670. email: [email protected]

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

aekarCompany Limited

PLEASURE CRUISES

Moby Dick Tours Co., Ltd.Islands Safari in the Mergui Archipelago5 Days, 7 Days, 9 Days TripsTel: 95 1 202063, 202064E-mail: info@islandsafari mergui.com. Website: www.islandsafarimergui.com

World famous Kobe BeefNear Thuka Kabar Hospital on Pyay Rd, Marlar st, Hlaing Tsp.Tel: +95-1-535072

Enchanting and Romantic, a Bliss on the Lake 62 D, U Tun Nyein Road, Mayangon Tsp, YangonTel. 01 665 516, 660976 Mob. [email protected]

Relocation SpecialistRm 504, M.M.G Tower, #44/56, Kannar Rd, Botahtaung Tsp. Tel: 250290, 252313. Mail : [email protected]

Crown WorldwideMovers Ltd 790, Rm 702, 7th Flr Danathiha Centre, Bogyoke Aung San Rd, Lanmadaw. Tel: 223288, 210 670, 227650. ext: 702. Fax: 229212. email: crown [email protected]

Yangon Int’l SchoolFully Accredited K-12 International Curriculum with ESL support No.117,Thumingalar Housing, Thingangyun, Tel: 578171, 573149, 687701, 687702.

Delicious Hong Kong Style Food RestaurantG-09, City Mart (Myay Ni Gone Center). Tel: 01-508467-70 Ext: 114

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

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

REMOVALISTS

Legendary Myanmar Int’l 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: [email protected] .mmwww.LMSL-shipping.com

U Min Sein, BSc, RA, CPA.,RL Advocate of the Supreme Court 83/14 Pansodan St, Yangon. tel: 253 273. [email protected]

LEGAL SERVICE


TOP MARINE PAINT No-410, Ground Floor, Lower Pazundaung Road, Pazundaung Tsp, Yangon.Ph: 09-851-5202


WATER PROOFING

OFFICE FURNITURE

Sai Khung Noung Real Estate Co., Ltd. Tel : 541501, 551197, 400781, 09-73176988Email : saikhungnoung [email protected]

For House-Seekerswith Expert ServicesIn all kinds of Estate [email protected] : 09-332 8727009-2541 26615 (Fees Free)

MEDIA & ADVERTISING

Media & AdvertisingAll the way from Australia. Design for advertisement is not easy, reaching to target audience is even harder? We are equipped with great ideas and partners in Myanmar to create corporate logo, business photography, stationery design, mobile advertisement on public transport and billboard/ magazine ads. Talk to us: (01) 430-897, (0) 942-000-4554. www.medialane.com.au

Real Estate AgencyEmail : [email protected] : 09-732-02480, 09-501-8250

No.430(A), Corner of Dhamazedi Rd & Golden Valley Rd, Building(2) Market Place (City Mart), Bahan Tsp, Yangon.Tel : 01-523840(Ext-309), 09-73208079.

Ocean Center (North Point), Ground Floor, Tel : 09-731-83900 01-8600056

Easy access to CBD Fully furnished facility Company setup for $1,000 Office available from $360 only

Tel: + 95 1 374851Email : [email protected] (ENG)www.3ec.jp/mbic/ (JPN)

Web ServicesAll the way from Australia. World-class websites, come with usability and responsiveness. Our works include website, web apps, e-commerce, forum, email campaign and online advertisement. Plus, we’re the authorised reseller for local and international domain names. So, put your worries aside and let us create the awesomeness you deserved online. (01) 430-897, (0) 942-000-4554. www.medialane.com.au

Monsoon Restaurant & Bar 85/87, Thein Byu Road, Botahtaung Tsp. Tel: 295224, 09-501 5653.

No. 372, Bogyoke Aung San Rd, Pabedan T/S, Yangon. Tel : 01-380 398, 01-256 355 (Ext : 3027)Email : [email protected]

WATER HEATERS

The Global leader in Water HeatersA/1, Aung San Stadium East Wing, Upper Pansodan Road. Tel: 01-256705, 399464, 394409, 647812.

European Quality & Designs Indoor/Outdoor Furniture, Hotel Furniture & All kinds of woodworksNo. 422, FJVC Centre, Ground Floor, Room No. 4, Strand Road, Botahtaung Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar.Tel: 01-202063-4, 09 509-1673 E-mail: [email protected], www.alexander-rose.co.uk

Bld-A2, Gr-Fl, Shwe Gabar Housing, Mindama Rd, Mayangone Tsp, Yangon. email: [email protected] Ph: 652391, 09-73108896

Horizon Int’l School25, Po Sein Road, Bahan Tsp, tel : 541085, 551795, 551796, 450396~7. fax : 543926, email : [email protected], www.horizon.com

SCHOOLS

Pre School and Primary years (Ages 2 to 10)No. 695, Mahabandola Road, (Between 19th & Sint Oh Dan Street), Latha Township, Yangon.Tel :01-382213, 395816www.imecedu.com

a drink from paradise... available on Earth@Yangon International Hotel, No.330, Ahlone Rd, Dagon Tsp, Yangon. Tel: 09-421040512

Singapore CuisineSuper One Super Market, Kyaikkasan Branch,No. 65, Lay Daung Kan Rd, Man Aung Qtr, Tamwe Tsp, Yangon. Tel : 01-542371, 09-501-9128

48 Sport THE MYANMAR TIMES December 30, 2013 - January 5, 2014

HOLLYWOOD Park, once America’s most famous horse racing showplace with legendary moviemakers and film stars among its patrons, closed Sun-day after 75 years with a final slate of 11 races.

Such equine icons as Seabiscuit, Citation, Affirmed, John Henry and Zenyatta competed at the impressive venue in suburban Inglewood, which opened on June 10, 1938.

Film industry legends were among 600 shareholders who founded the track to attract the rich and famous, including Bing Crosby, Walt Disney, Al Jolson, Warner brothers studio’s Jack Warner, MGM’s Sam Goldwyn and noted producers Darryl Zanuck and Mervyn LeRoy.

But as cinematic generations changed, so too did the fortunes of US horse racing, with simulcast betting and more wagers being done through the Internet helping reduce live at-tendance at tracks.

A real estate development is planned on the site of a track where Cary Grant once strolled with starlets and famed comedians once enjoyed their leisure hours, a place where only nostalgia remains.

“People stop to talk and none of them, I really mean none of them, still believe they are going to tear this place down for real estate. We’ve all been told that, but nobody seems to believe it,” 86-year-old box seat usher Richard War-ren told the Los Angeles Times.

“It’s losing an old friend.“I remember Fred Astaire, sitting

in these boxes. Then there would be Lucy and Desi Arnaz and they’d be ar-guing about something and they’d be with Jimmy Durante and he’d be just sitting there smoking a big cigar and ignoring them.”

Triple Crown winner Citation cap-tured the 1951 Hollywood Gold Cup, the last race of his career and one that took him above US$1 million in winnings, the first horse to crack that mark.

Seabiscuit, made famous to 21st Cen-tury sport and film fans in a 2003 movie, won the inaugural Gold Cup in 1938.

Shared Belief, prepared by Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, won the 33rd and last CashCall Futurity earlier this month in the final major event at Hollywood Park, a $750,000

race for two-year-olds that had show-cased the next year’s Kentucky Derby hopefuls.

“I’ve loved the place and I hate to see it go,” Hollendorfer said.

The largest crowd to attend races at Hollywood Park was 80,348 on May 4, 1980.

los angElEs

End of era as Hollywood Park closes aft er 75 years

A jockey takes a break during morning workouts at Betfair Hollywood Park on December 21. Photo: AFP

TRADE MARK CAUTIONSHANGHAI METERSBONWE FASHION & ACCESSORIES CO.,LTD., a company incorporated under the laws of P.R. China, and having its principal place of business at No.800, Kangqiao East Road, Nanhui District, Shanghai, China, is the Owner and Sole Proprietor of the following Trademark:-

ME&CITYReg. Nos. 8759/2008, 2206/2012

in respect of:- “Class 18: Imitation leather; School bags; Backpacks; Handbags; Briefcases; Purses; Valises; Furniture coverings of leather; Umbrellas; Clothing for pets.Class 25: Clothing; Layettes (clothing); Shoes; Hats; Hosiery; Gloves (clothing); Neckties; Scarfs; Girdles; Bathing suits.”


U Nyunt Tin Associates International LimitedIntellectual Property DivisionP.O. Box No. 952, Yangon, Myanmar.Tel: 959 4500 59 247-8, Email: [email protected] SHANGHAI METERSBONWE FASHION &ACCESSORIES CO.,LTD. Dated: 30 December, 2013.

TRADE MARK CAUTIONPfizer Products Inc., a company organized and existing under the laws of the State of Connecticut, U.S.A., and having its principal place of business at Eastern Point Road, Groton, Connecticut 06340, U.S.A., is the Owner and Sole Proprietor of the following Trademarks:-

REVATIOReg. No. 6622/2004

in respect of “Pharmaceutical preparations for the treatment of cardiovascular disorders, central nervous system disorders, urological and urogential disorders, infectious diseases and cancer in Class 5.”

CADUETReg. Nos. 5962/2001, 101/2005

in respect of “Pharmaceutical and veterinary preparations and substances; all included in Class 5.”


U Nyunt Tin Associates International LimitedIntellectual Property DivisionTel: 959 4500 59 247, Email: [email protected] Pfizer Products Inc. Dated: 30 December, 2013.

TRADE MARK CAUTIONCSL Behring AG, a company incorporated in Switzerland, of Wankdorfstrasse 10, CH-3000, Bern 22, Switzerland, is the Owner of the following Trade Mark:-

AlbuRxReg. No. 13872/2013

in respect of “Int’l Class 5: Pharmaceutical preparations and substances; blood products; blood protein for therapeutic use; albumin”.


Win Mu Tin, M.A., H.G.P., D.B.Lfor CSL Behring AGP. O. Box 60, YangonE-mail: [email protected]: 30 December 2013

Sport 49www.mmtimes.com

RAFAEL Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray opened the 2014 season in Abu Dhabi on December 26 with Roger Federer hop-

ing his absence isn’t an indicator of more misery ahead.

World number one Nadal pro-vided the comeback story of 2013, winning 10 titles, including a record eighth French Open and a second US Open which took his majors haul to 13.

Djokovic defended his Australian Open crown while Murray claimed Britain’s first Wimbledon mens’ title in 77 years.

But while the big three start their new campaigns with a leisurely three-day stroll in the Gulf, record 17-time major winner Federer begins his 17th season as a professional in Brisbane and with his career at a crossroads.

In 2013, the world number six failed to reach a Grand Slam final for the first time since 2002 and his second-round defeat at Wimble-don ended his run of 36 consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final appear-ances.

Federer will turn 33 in August but is acutely aware that his great hero, Pete Sampras, quit at 31 and at the top of his game, having secured a fifth US Open.

His record against the sport’s big

three also makes for worrying read-ing – he is 10-22 against Nadal hav-ing lost all four matches against the great Spaniard this year and 9-11 when up against Murray, losing their one clash in 2013.

He is still ahead in his rivalry with Djokovic at 16-15 but lost both their meetings this year while the Serb has taken six of their last eight matches.

The Swiss goes into 2014 having severed his ties with long-time coach Paul Annacone, one of a number of players to have tweaked their back-up teams over the winter.

“For me, it’s pretty simple: this is what I used to do as a little boy. It’s something that always is there in your DNA,” said Federer, who will be playing a warm-up tournament in Australia for the first time in 11 years.

After Brisbane, where he is top seed, Federer heads for the Austral-ian Open, a title he has captured on four occasions but where he has fallen in the semi-finals on his last three visits.

Nadal missed the UAE tourament in 2012 as well as the Australian Open as he nursed a knee injury for seven months, but he had a record-setting 2013, losing just seven times in 82 matches.

The 27-year-old is now just four majors behind Federer and with five years on his long-standing rival, is

widely expected to pass the mark of the Swiss whose last major was the 2012 Wimbledon title.

Djokovic stunned tennis by hiring Boris Becker as his new head coach, a decision prompted by his desper-ate desire to improve a record that reads six Grand Slam titles but also six defeats in finals at majors.

As well as defending his Austral-ian Open title, Djokovic also has another big date lined up for early in the new year, marrying longtime girlfriend Jelena Ristic to whom he got engaged in September.

Murray missed the closing tour-naments of 2013 to undergo back surgery and once his Abu Dhabi stint is over he will join Nadal as the lead-ing attraction in Doha which, along with Brisbane and Chennai, opens the competitive season.

“I know how hard it is to win the majors,” Murray, who lost his first four Grand Slam finals, told Sky Sports News.

“It may never happen again, I might not win another one but I just want to give myself the best chance to do that. Hopefully I’ll give myself an opportunity to win another one.”

The WTA Tour starts in Brisbane and Auckland and will conclude with a new home in Singapore for the season-ending championships.

Six of the world’s top 10 will be in Brisbane led by defending champion Serena Williams.

The American will be 33 in 2014 but her rock-solid confidence and iron will are as intimidating as ever.

Williams ended 2013 with 11 titles while triumphs at the French and US Opens took her Grand Slam haul to 17, one off the mark shared by Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova and just five away from Steffi Graf ’s Open Era record of 22.

Williams enjoyed a match record of 78 wins against just four defeats, claimed the season-ending WTA Championships title and became the oldest number one player.

Victoria Azarenka, comfortably Williams’ biggest rival, also features in Brisbane as does Maria Sharapova who was forced to shut down her 2013 campaign at Cincinnati in Au-gust because of a shoulder injury.

Sharapova has hired Sven Groen-eveld, the former coach of Monica Seles, in an effort to knock Williams off her perch.

However, Sharapova has a 2-14 re-cord against the American with both those wins coming way back in 2004.

World number two Azarenka has won just three of her 16 meetings against Williams, although she split their four clashes in 2013 and for a second successive season took her great rival to three sets in the US Open final. – AFP

PaRis

BEiJing

End of era as Hollywood Park closes aft er 75 years

The first Breeders’ Cup was staged at Hollywood Park in 1984, handling more than $11.4 million in wagers with a crowd of 64,625 and an estimated television viewership of 50 million people.

Panamanian jockey Laffit Pincay Jnr broke Bill Shoemaker’s former

career victories record of 8,833 at Hollywood Park on with a victory on December 10, 1999.

Pincay established a new mark of 9,530 races before retiring in a cer-emony at Hollywood Park in 2003, although Pincay’s record was eclipsed by Russell Blaze in 2006. – AFP

A jockey takes a break during morning workouts at Betfair Hollywood Park on December 21. Photo: AFP

Federer at 2014 crossroads, Serena eyes history

Serena Williams posing with the Suzanne-Lenglen trophy after winning the 2013 French tennis Open final on June 8 in Paris. Photo: AFP

FORMER NBA star Dennis Rod-man returned from North Korea on Monday, saying he did not meet “awesome” Kim Jong-Un on his third visit to the reclusive state but was unfazed by the lack of contact.

The heavily tattooed Rodman has developed an unlikely relation-ship with Kim since making his first trip in March, when he de-clared the leader a “friend for life”, and is organising an exhibition bas-ketball game on January 8 to mark his birthday.

Asked how he felt about the lack of face-to-face contact with the young ruler after landing at Beijing airport, Rodman said, “I am not worried about it.” He added, “I’ll see him again.”

“He is awesome, man,” Rodman said when asked about Kim as he was being ushered out of the air-port by security.

“We’re going to be playing in two weeks,” he added, referring to the match between North Ko-rea and a team of mainly ex-NBA players.

When he left Beijing for Pyong-yang last week, Rodman said he would have “a good conversation” with Kim to help the world, without elaborating.

Kim, educated in Switzerland,

is reportedly a keen basketball fan, especially of the Chicago Bulls, for whom Rodman played a key role in winning three NBA titles alongside Michael Jordan in the 1990s.

There is growing concern over the regime’s stability after the ex-ecution earlier this month of Jang Song-Thaek, a high-level official who was the uncle and former po-litical mentor of Kim Jong-Un, but Rodman earlier distanced himself from political events.

He spent much of his time in the North training the country’s basket-ball team, reports said.

The team of former NBA players was expected to be announced dur-ing the trip, but no details have yet been given. The sides will face each other in the first half before they are mixed up for the second half, according to reports.

Pyongyang is holding a US citi-zen, Kenneth Bae, who was sen-tenced to 15 years in jail on charges of trying to topple the North Ko-rean regime. But US officials said they had not been in touch with Rodman over the visit and he did not represent the US government.

They also reiterated official warnings by the US government to its citizens not to travel to North Korea. – AFP

Rodman back from N Korea without meeting ‘awesome’ Kim

‘I know how hard it is to win the majors. It may never happen again, I might not win another one ... ’

andy murray professional tennis player

50 Sport THE MYANMAR TIMES December 30, 2013 - January 5, 2014

The former girlfriend of a Chinese Olympic gymnastics champion has been sentenced to life in jail for de-frauding other star athletes and ce-lebrities of nearly US$10 million, state-run media said on December 25.

Wang Ti – whose then-boyfriend Xiao Qin won pommel horse gold at the 2008 Beijing Games – cheated “more than two dozen well-known figures in the sports and entertain-ment industries”, the China Daily reported.

Among the victims were gymnasts Yang Wei, who won the 2008 men’s individual all-round title, and his wife Yang Yun, who won a bronze at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

“Many victims trusted Xiao, con-sidering his social influence, so they gave money to his girlfriend,” a law-yer for several victims told the China Daily.

Wang pretended to be the daugh-ter of various high-level officials, claiming that enabled her to buy properties and luxury cars at reduced prices, the paper said.

Altogether she obtained 58 million yuan ($9.6 million) and HK$2 million ($260,000), it added.

Wang ran her scam from 2008 to 2011, during which time she dated Xiao but was also still married to a player from the Chinese football team Dalian Shide, the China Daily report-ed previously.

At the time the club was owned by Xu Ming, a businessman once listed as a billionaire who was a key prose-

cution witness in the corruption case against fallen political high-flyer Bo Xilai earlier this year.

Wang’s trial opened in June 2012 but the sentence was only handed

down earlier this month and she plans to appeal, the China Daily said.

The report gave no explanation for the unusually long 18-month process.

– AFP

BEiJing

lonDon

ToKyo

China Olympian’s lover jailed for life

Wang Ti holds her daughter with her ex-husband during a football match in Dalian in June 2013. Photo: AFP

FORMER Charlton and West Ham manager Alan Curbishley and Ameri-can international midfielder Clint Dempsey signed on at Fulham on De-cember 24 with the Premier League club staring at relegation.

Curbishley, 56, was named first team technical director to work along-side head coach Rene Meulensteen while former star Dempsey, who plays for Seattle Sounders in the MLS, penned a two-month loan deal.

“I’m very happy that Alan has joined us as I know his expertise will

be invaluable as we enter the remain-ing months of the season,” said Meu-lensteen, who took over from Martin Jol three weeks ago but is in charge of a side which is second from bottom of the Premier League.

“Following Martin Jol’s departure I discussed with both [chief executive] Alistair Mackintosh and the chairman the challenges we face, and I was de-lighted that they supported the idea of additional support within the coach-ing team.

“Alan has a proven track record

in the industry and understands full well what it takes to succeed. I look forward to sharing ideas and listening to advice, to ensure Fulham Football Club remains where it belongs: in the Premier League.”

Curbishley played for West Ham, Birmingham, Aston Villa, Charlton and Brighton before turning his hand to management with Charlton and West Ham whom he left in 2008.

Earlier Tuesday, Dempsey, 30, agreed to return to Fulham where he spent five and a half seasons in his first

spell after having signed in January 2007 from New England Revolution.

During his first stay at Craven Cot-tage, Dempsey scored 60 goals in 225 appearances.

Dempsey scored the only goal of the match against Liverpool at Craven Cottage in May 2007, which secured Premier League football the following season.

“It feels good to be back. This has always felt like my home in Europe,” said the American.

“I am excited to be back and be

a part of this team and play in this league.”

Dempsey said he also hopes that a spell in England will help sharpen his form ahead of the World Cup.

“I just wanted to be back playing at the highest level, get back to top form and get back to helping the team where they are not where they want to be in the table,” he added.

“Going into World Cup year you want to get to that top form and carry that forward, so hopefully have a good showing.” – AFP

THE club of star Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka has approved his move to the US major leagues, at a likely bargain price for such a high-profile trans-Pacific deal because of a new “posting” system.

The Rakuten Eagles, powered by Tanaka to their first-ever “Japan Series” national title this year, spent about a week after the launch of the new system before announcing on Wednesday they would release the 25-year-old right hander.

The new rules put a US$20 mil-lion cap on the money a Japanese team can earn from posting a player for a transfer to a major league club. There was no limit under the previ-ous system.

“There are many problems in the new posting system. And the club, which owns a precious player, feels it is unequal,” Rakuten president Yozo Tachibana told a news confer-ence, without disclosing the release fee the club wants.

“But we have highly appreciated pitcher Tanaka’s seven-year contri-bution to the team ... and accepted his wish to challenge the major leagues.”

Tanaka separately told reporters: “I want to continue my baseball ca-reer by firmly bearing in mind what I have achieved (at Rakuten).”

If posted, Tanaka, who went 24-0 in the regular season this year, is expected to draw several suitors in-cluding the New York Yankees and the Texas Rangers.

Major League Baseball (MLB) and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) announced the new posting system early next week.

The original system was intro-duced in 1998 to prevent a drain of Japanese talent across the Pacific without benefiting their old clubs and to provide US teams with equal bidding opportunities.

But rising bidding prices have prompted MLB to revamp it.

Under the previous system, which helped Japanese stars Yu Darvish, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Ichiro Suzuki land MLB deals, US clubs made blind offers for negotia-tion rights to a player. The highest bidder would win the rights

Under the new system, a posted player can negotiate with any club willing to pay a release fee which his NPB outfit demands. But the amount should not exceed $20 milllion.

In 2012 the Texas Rangers posted a record winning bid of $51.7 million just for the right to negotiate with right-handed pitcher Darvish.

Tanaka’s transfer could have earned the nine-year-old Rakuten, the youngest of Japan’s 12 profes-sional baseball clubs, at least $50 million under the old system, ac-cording to Japanese media. – AFP

Curbishley, Dempsey sign on for struggling Fulham

Japan pitcher Tanaka freed up to join MLB

24Wins for masahiro Tanaka during his

perfect 2013-14 regular season.

Sport52 THE MYANMAR TIMES December 30, 2013 - January 5, 2014 SpOrT eDITOr: Tim McLaughlin | [email protected]

a blaze of fireworks and colour brought the cur-tain down on the South-east Asian Games in Myanmar on December

22 – an event which marked the for-merly cloistered country’s return to the international stage.

A spectacular closing ceremony illuminated by fireworks, animation and thousands of dancers delighted the crowd at the 30,000-capacity sta-dium in the sprawling capital Nay Pyi Taw.

The raising of the Singapore flag – the city-state will host the regional showpiece in 2015 – marked the end of 11 official days of competition which saw Thailand top the medals table with 107 golds.

The event was hailed as Myan-mar’s ‘coming out’ party and was given to the hosts as a reward for reforms overseen by President Thein Sein, who was present at the closing and opening ceremonies.

Concerns over Myanmar’s readi-ness to host a large international standard event had been raised ahead of the Games, while the dis-tances between venues in the vast capital also raised eyebrows.

But Myanmar has basked in its host status and a rare moment in the international limelight after years in isolation under military rule.

“Some local and international ob-servers thought Myanmar could not host the SEA Games,” said the presi-

dent’s spokesman U Ye Htut on his Facebook page. “They were wrong.”

The closing ceremony saw thou-sands of dancers perform scenes from Myanmar’s history to an animated background broadcast on vast screens flanking one side of the stadium.

At one point hundreds of teenage boys and girls delighted the crowd with a synchronised demonstration

of chinlone – a local cane-ball game – which was followed by scores of elab-orately-dressed drummers pounding a rhythm for an array of dancers.

The opening and closing ceremo-nies were supported in cash and know-how by China – which con-firmed its own re-emergence onto the international platform with the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008.

A SEA Games official thanked China at the closing ceremony for its “tremendous support” which of-ficials said amounted to US$33 mil-lion.

While little known outside the re-gion, the Games are a source of local bragging rights for the 11 competing nations and give athletes from lesser sporting nations the chance to shine.

While Thailand topped the med-als, winning many leading track and field events as well as the flagship men’s football gold, Myanmar came in a respectable second with 86 gold medals.

It had been accused of cherry-picking non-Olympic sports such as chinlone to ensure a strong showing on home soil. – AFP

nay Pyi TaW

Singapore Minister for Manpower Tan Chuan Jin waves the Southeast Asian Games (federation flag after the handover ceremony during the closing ceremony of the 27th SEA Games in on December 22. Photo: AFP

SEA Games end with a bang

‘Some local and international observers thought Myanmar could not host the SEA Games. They were wrong.’

u ye Htut Spokesperson for the government

Rodman returns from n korea hoops trip

sPoRT 49

196395387-201335710

Documents

Transcript of 196395387-201335710