Hluttaw to watch telecom firms compliance with law

Transcription

1 Heartbeat of the nation 1200 Ks. issue 684 July 1-7, 2013 Hluttaw to watch telecom firms compliance with law After failing to stop the government from announcing the winners of its telecom licence tender, Pyithu Hluttaw Speaker Thura U Shwe Mann said the parliament would closely monitor whether winners Telenor and Ooredoo comply with the not-yet-enacted telecommunications law. NEWS 4 Gas to start flowing from this week: govt Natural gas will begin flowing through the Myanmar-China pipeline from July 1, state-run Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise says. However, the announcement came just days after an official from the enterprise told The Myanmar Times that gas would flow from the end of the month, while Reuters reported that the pipeline is facing a delay of up to three months. PAGE 25 photo: Juliet Shwe GaunG A construction worker examines sections of pipeline in Rakhine State s Kyaukpyu township. OPINION 7 Responding to Time magazine Rather than insulting Buddhism as many have alleged, Hannah Beech s article glorifies it as a peaceful religion. Rather than get angry, it is time to ask some tough questions about recent violence in Myanmar, writes freelance journalist Sithu Aung Myint. NEWS 14 Company to sue actress over occult accusations Construction firm Father Land says it will sue an Academy Award-winning actress who printed a notice in state newspapers accusing the company s chairman of performing an occult ceremony. The ad was placed after the actress and the company fell out over a property deal. BUSINESS 23 Kyat resumes slide against US dollar Licensed currency exchange services began restricting the sale of US dollars last week after the rate on the black market fell below that allowed by the central bank. The kyat was trading at 1000 to the dollar on the black market, with staff and the central bank blaming speculators for the currency s latest slide.

2 2 THE MYANMAR TIMES JULY 1-7, 2013 Page 2 online editor Kayleigh Long kayleighelong@gmail.comail.com THE INSIDER: The local lowdown & best of the web Anonymous fails to deliver Cyber hacktivist group Anonymous fell short in delivering on their previously stated threats to leak North Korean military files and wreak havoc on the country s internally controlled Internet, as the nominated attack date of June 25 (the 63rd anniversary of the beginning of the Korea War) passed with just a few minor hits being taken out on North and South Korean websites. A South Korean government site was vandalised with pro-north messages, and the websites for Air Koryo and the Rodong Sinmun newspaper were brought down by DDoS attacks; essentially overwhelming servers with requests. The loosely associated group of hackers had posted threats on Twitter and the text-hosting site Pastebin claiming to have completed several attacks on internal websites and local intranets as part of an ambitious scheme intended to force Kim Jong- Un to stand down. World s first drug conviction on deep web black market An Australian drug dealer has become the first person to be convicted for online marketplace Silk Road-related crime, after police intercepted a mail delivery of MDMA, amphetamine, marijuana and cocaine. The man pleaded guilty to two charges of importing a marketable quantity of a border-controlled drug, which carries a maximum jail term of 25 years. Tallest man falls short An online news story about the tallest man in the world living in a remote village in Myanmar surfaced last week, but was quickly debunked by state media who confirmed that Ko Win Zaw Oo was not the 8 4 originally reported, but a still-impressive 7 6. The New Light of Myanmar ran a picture of the man being measured, reporting that he has to have his clothing custom-made and goes barefoot due to the difficulty of finding 13.5-inch shoes. Donations to Win Zaw Oo can be arranged by contacting ward administrator U Paw Oo on Journalist fired over flood report An Indian television journalist has been sacked after a video of him delivering a piece to camera while sitting on the shoulders of a flood survivor went viral on YouTube. What he did was very inhuman. You cannot ride on someone s back for a story. We terminated him on Tuesday, said Nishant Chaturvedi, channel head at News Express. Some 1000 people have died in flash floods and landslides caused by heavy downpours in India s Uttarakhand state, with tens of thousands evacuated by helicopter and many more left stranded. Style Statement Yun Waddy, 15, is no stranger to the spotlight, with famous actor Lwin Moe for a father and Myawaddy TV presenter, May Thu as mother. Yun Waddy began modelling at an early age. and has over 20 advertisement appearances to her name. She also boasts a Facebook fan base of more than 120,000 all the while continuing her grade 10 studies in Yangon. Ei Ei Thu, Photo: Htet Aung Kyaw (Studio HAK) If you'd like to be involved in a NOW! Magazine photo shoot us at editorial@now.com.mm REGIONAL INSIDER No sympathy for Singapore over smog ALREADY susceptible to shopaholic mania, compulsive eating disorder and lumbered with the semi-official tag of the world s saddest people, Singaporeans are now forced to exist in an acrid peasouper smog. The poor things. It ought to be enough to elicit profound sympathy, but it most assuredly does not. As Indonesia s minister coordinating its response to the calamity, Agung Laksono, said: Singapore should not be behaving like a child and making all this noise. He is right. It is mindboggling to witness the condescension and gall of the Singaporeans as they issue missives instructing Indonesia to take definitive action to deal with the smog. Let us remember that many of the vast and highly lucrative palm oil plantations in Sumatra using the slash and burn tactics that have caused the problem are owned by Singapore companies. Already identified as likely culprits are Singapore-headquartered Asia Pacific Resources and PT Sinar Mas, whose parent company is the Singapore-listed Golden Agri Resources. Asia Pacific has now put out a rebuttal asserting that it mandates a strict no-burn policy for all its plantations in Indonesia. Two other Singapore-based conglomerates, Wilmar International and CTP Holdings, the latter a joint venture between Cargill and Temasek Holdings, are trying to preemptively defend themselves. Temasek, Singapore s sovereign fund administrator, said it has sent a team to Sumatra to confirm that there are no fires raging at its plantations. ROGER MITTON roger.mitton@gmail.com Methinks they doth protest their innocence too much. It is something they have been doing for decades. Every time the smog reaches catastrophic levels, they plead innocence and claim it is the work of recalcritrant local farmers. Utter nonsense. As is the claim that it only happens very rarely. In fact, it happens annually; it is just that some years, like this one and 1994, 1997 and 2005, are particularly horrendous. Each time, the excuses and the blame game grow as offensive as the statements made by plantation owners and ministers of health and the environment. Twenty years ago, when interviewing Malaysia s deputy health minister Farid Ariffin, I asked about the annual choking haze in Kuala Lumpur. Oh, it s temporary, he said, blithely. There s no need to press the panic button yet. Life goes on, but I ve stopped jogging and I exercise inside now. Singapore s equivalent Vicar of Bray, Kishore Mahbubani, said on the BBC last week that he d also stopped jogging, and, at a loss to offer any real answers, assured us that the haze will pass when the wind changes. So it will. And ministers will turn to other matters and the fat cat plantation owners will resume normal service while counting their dosh. What is most galling is the way Singapore whinges about such things, yet condones its own environmental pillaging, like the removal of vast amounts of sand from its neighbours shores. Indonesia, Vietnam and now Cambodia have banned the practice, but in reality it continues. Asked about it, Singapore officials say: Oh, but it s a private business and the landowners and authorities allow it, so why not, lah? Well, because it s immoral and environmentally disastrous, that s why. Just as burning plantation lands is. Really, the best solution would be for Singapore to dredge up that stolen sand and ship it over to Sumatra to douse the fires and kill the haze. If they did that, we might have some sympathy for them. But until then, they can rub their eyes and cry a river, for all the rest of us care.

3 News 3 Analysts see little damage in attempt to delay tender BILL O TOOLE botoole12@gmail.com ANALYSTS were last week weighing the potential consequences of the parliament s attempt to delay the announcement of the winners of two national telecommunications licences and what the political machinations mean for the future of the sector. On April 26, just one day before the tender winners were to be announced, U Myo Swe, secretary of the Pyithu Hluttaw s Transport, Communication and Construction Committee, submitted a proposal that the government hold off until after the telecommunications law is finalised. He expressed concern at the lack of regulation in the industry and, in particular, protection for Myanmar firms. Now analysts are questioning why the motion was proposed so close to the announcement date given that it has been clear since the start of the year that the law would not be ready. Why wait until the day before the announcement? said Jeremy Rathjen, vice president of Thura Swiss consultancy. He said the last-minute postponement push was likely the result of lobbying and political jockeying from local companies and their supporters. Mr Rathjen said he believed resistance to liberalising the sector would dissipate when work begins on telecoms infrastructure because international firms would be looking for local partners. I think [protecting businesses] is the wrong idea, said Mr Rathjen. Whatever foreign company comes here they will need a lot of local staff. There will be a lot of job creation. Prior to June 26 the process had been relatively smooth and observers had applauded the government s transparency and professionalism. When parliament approved the proposal, the government responded decisively to reassure observers that the announcement of the winners would take place the following day. Deputy Minister for National Planning and Economic Development U Set Aung, who is also head of the tender committee, said he believed that in a transition process such hiccups were common and that the dispute had not done significant damage to the country s image. It looks good that they were still able to come out with the decision at the end of the day. Andrew Wood Analyst with Business Monitor International I don t want to [criticise the parliament]. They probably have their own reasons, and their reasons must have strong justifications... Everyone has their perspective, he said. He also said he agreed that supporting and promoting local businesses is important. [But] promotion and protection are different. An important international norm is a level playing field for all businesses, he said. Mr Rathjen said the incident is not likely to deter prospective foreign investors. I thought the way [the government] handled it was successful... They kept on the path and didn t give in to outside pressure. He said he was particularly heartened that Ooredoo from Qatar was awarded one of the licences a decision no one in the Thura Swiss office expected. Honestly, we were shocked... The only way I see Ooredoo winning is if there are no political restrictions on the process. Andrew Wood, an analyst for Business Monitor International in Singapore, said the struggle over the announcement may even have boosted Myanmar s reputation. I think it looks good that they were able to still come out with the decision at the end of the day... It s clear that there s a large faction within the government that is pro-business, he said. However, he stressed that foreign investors remain wary of entering other areas of the economy. They re looking for this kind of increased transparency in all sectors... They want more regulatory clarity in all sectors. Tender committee selects Telenor, Ooredoo for licences U Myat Swe, co-founder of The Times, back as CEO THE committee in charge of bidding for two highly prized telecom licences selected Norway s Telenor and Qatari firm Ooredoo on June 27, opening up one of the world s last virtually untapped mobile phone markets. Myanmar s extremely limited mobile phone coverage less than 10 percent of the population has access to a telephone offers a potentially lucrative pool of some 60 million customers to the bid winners. After three months of deliberation the committee is pleased to announce... the two successful applicants, from the 11 global consortiums on a final shortlist, it said in a statement. The government launched the tender, which is conditional on a telecommunications law yet to pass parliament, in the hope of quickly increasing mobile coverage across the country to reach around 80pc of the population by Few can currently afford mobile phones and SIM card fees, which in the past cost about US$200, although the government is trying to make prices more affordable through the release of K1500 SIM cards. The bid process has also been closely watched as a bellwether of economic reforms aimed at driving rapid foreign investment. Telenor said it will launch voice and data service next year and plans to roll out coverage nationwide within five years a key condition laid down in the tender by Myanmar. Daily newspapers carry news about the telecoms tender winners on June 28. Photo: Ko Taik We are looking forward to working with the government and people of Myanmar in developing the country s telecommunication industry, a sector that will play a key role in Myanmar s socioeconomic development, said Sigve Brekke, head of Telenor Asia. The winners saw off fierce competition from major telecoms players including Singtel, Bharti Airtel and a bid by the Digicel group involving one of Myanmar s richest men, Serge Pun, and billionaire financier George Soros. France s Telecom-Orange and Marubeni Corporation of Japan will be backup options if either of the two successful firms fails to meet the selection criteria, the committee said in its statement. Valid for 15 years, the licences are the first to be awarded and will see the two foreign firms enter a market once monopolised by a pair of state companies. Neither firm immediately released figures on the value of the bid or how much money they will plough into establishing a mobile network across the impoverished and remote country. But one bidder previously had estimated the required spending to develop a Myanmar network at about $2 billion, while Digicel pledged to spend more than $6 billion. Concerns the bid announcement would be put back swirled on June 26 after a move by lower house lawmakers to postpone the process. But Deputy Minister of National Planning and Economic Development U Set Aung, who is also chairman of the committee overseeing the telecoms tender, said the tender would not be subject to politics. We are not dealing with small companies but dealing with the best of the best companies in the world... Our dignity can be harmed if we respond late, he said. AFP EFFECTIVE June 24, U Myat Swe (Sonny) has been appointed as the chief executive officer of Myanmar Consolidated Media Ltd, the owner and operator of The Myanmar Times. Announcing the appointment, MCM managing director Ross Dunkley said it was only appropriate that a co-founder would be welcomed back into the organisation he established more than 13 years ago at the first stroke of the new millennium. We polled the staff to ascertain their feelings about Sonny returning and not surprisingly a massive majority are welcoming him back and see it as his right. In fact not a single member of our more than 350-plus staff ticked the box that he should not be back here working. If ever there was an endorsement then surely that would be it, Mr Dunkley said. U Myat Swe called for all to back the company s expansion drive and reiterated its right to take the two newspapers of the company onto a daily cycle. I spent the better part of nine years in prison dreaming of such a day and I hope that Ross and I and all of the staff can stand together proudly to do that in the very near future, he said. What I am concerned about more than anything else is the livelihoods of the 350-odd staff. We need to move onto the daily cycle. That s our right, I believe, and our destiny, and I look forward to being at the front line in helping achieve this aspiration.

4 4 News THE MYANMAR TIMES JULY 1-7, 2013 Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief (MTE) Ross Dunkley Chief Executive Officer U Myat Swe Editor-in-Chief (MTM) Dr Tin Tun Oo drtto@myanmartimes.com.mm Chief Operating Officer Wendy Madrigal madrigalmcm@gmail.com Hluttaw backs down after bid to halt tender process EDITORIAL newsroom@myanmartimes.com.mm Editor MTE Thomas Kean tdkean@gmail.com Editor MTM Zaw Myint editormtm@myanmartimes.com.mm Chief of Staff Zaw Win Than zawwinthan@gmail.com Editor Special Publications Myo Lwin myolwin@myanmartimes.com.mm Jessica Mudditt - jess.mudditt@gmail.com Deputy Editor MTM Sann Oo sannoo@gmail.com Business Editor MTE Vincent MacIsaac biz.news.myanmar@gmail.com Business Editor MTM Tin Moe Aung Property Editor MTM Htar Htar Khin property@myanmartimes.com.mm World Editor MTE Douglas Long editors@myanmartimes.com.mm The Pulse Editor MTE Manny Maung manny.maung@gmail.com Timeout Editor MTM Moh Moh Thaw mohthaw@gmail.com Online Editor Kayleigh Long kayleighelong@gmail.com Sports Editor Tim McLaughlin timothy.mclaughlin3@gmail.com Chief Political Reporter Soe Than Lynn Head of Translation Dept Ko Ko Head of Photographics Kaung Htet Photographers Boothee, Aung Htay Hlaing, Thiri Book Publishing Consultant Editor Col Hla Moe (Retd) Editor Win Tun Nay Pyi Taw Bureau Chief Soe Than Lynn soethanlynn@gmail.com PRODUCTION production@myanmartimes.com.mm Head of Production & Press Scrutiny Liaison Aung Kyaw Oo (1) Head of Graphic Design Tin Zaw Htway MCM PRINTING printing@myanmartimes.com.mm Head of Department Htay Maung Warehouse Manager Ye Linn Htay Factory Administrator Aung Kyaw Oo (3) Factory Foreman Tin Win ADVERTISING advertising@myanmartimes.com.mm National Sales Director Khin Thandar Htay sales-director@myanmartimes.com.mm Account Director Nyi Nyi Tun Classifieds Manager Khin Mon Mon Yi classified@myanmartimes.com.mm ADMIN & FINANCE Finance Manager Mon Mon Tha Saing finance@myanmartimes.com.mm HR Manager Nang Maisy administration@myanmartimes.com.mm Publisher Dr Tin Tun Oo, Permit No: Systems Manager Khin Maung Thaw webmaster@myanmartimes.com.mm DISTRIBUTION & CIRCULATION Circulation & Distribution Director Jesse Gage distmgr@myanmartimes.com.mm circulation@myanmartimes.com.mm ADVERTISING & SUBSCRIPTION ENQUIRIES Telephone: (01) , Facsimile: (01) administration@myanmartimes.com.mm The Myanmar Times is owned by Myanmar 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. Head Office: 379/383 Bo Aung Kyaw Street, Kyauktada Township, Yangon, Myanmar. Telephone: (01) , Facsimile: (01) Mandalay Bureau: No.178, 74 th Street, (Bet. 31 st & 32 nd streets) Chan Aye Thar San Township, Mandalay. Tel: (02) 24450, 24460, 65391, Fax: (02) mdybranch@myanmartimes.com.mm Nay Pyi Taw Bureau: No. 10/72 Bo Tauk Htein St, Yan Aung (1) Quarter, Nay Pyi Taw-Pyinmana. Tel: (067) 23064, capitalbureau@myanmartimes.com.mm soethanlynn@gmail.com SOE THAN LYNN THE Pyithu Hluttaw backtracked from its opposition to announcing the results of the tender on June 27 but said it would watch Telenor and Ooredoo closely to ensure they adhere to the new telecommunications law. The Pyithu Hluttaw on June 26 approved a proposal urging the government to delay the announcement of the tender winners, scheduled for the following day, on the grounds that the telecommunications law should be introduced first to ensure adequate protections for local companies. The government quickly announced it would proceed as planned but to smooth over any tension Minister for Communications and Information Technology U Myat Hein fronted parliament on the morning of June 27 to explain the tender process. The duty of the parliament is to introduce laws that are suitable for the present time and the duty of the government is to practise these laws MEMBERS of the government have resigned from their positions in the Union Solidarity and Development Party s central executive committee, a senior party official said last week. Central executive committee member U Hla Swe said the resignations were prompted by the possibility of impeachment rather than any internal dispute. He said ministers U Soe Thein, U Aung Min and U Tin Naing Thein for the benefit of the people, Thura U Shwe Mann said on June 27. In regards to the telecom tender issue we felt it was necessary to discuss it because we were worried that [the tender] will not be in harmony with the telecommunications law. The presentation from the minister for communications and information technology showed complete transparency. The tender winners have to pledge that they will completely follow the new law that the hluttaw will soon finalise. The minister also gave a guarantee on this The Pyithu Hluttaw will monitor how [the companies] approach the telecom sector. U Myat Hein said the announcement of the tender winners needed to go ahead as planned to maintain the country s dignity and image. He said the government had also considered the need to ensure the tender resulted in business opportunities for local firms. All of the telecom firms that applied through the tender know that the new telecommunications law is still being drafted and has not yet been passed by the hluttaw, he said. So far the telecom tender has been praised but it would diminish the confidence of foreign investors across all resigned after U Win Myint, the National League for Democracy s lower house representative for Pathein, submitted a proposal to clarify the section of the constitution that says members of the government cannot be involved in party activities. A number of senior members resigned from their positions, including Minister for Cooperatives U Kyaw Hsan, who was formerly a secretary, U Hla Swe told The Myanmar Times last week. They were not fired because of any clash between [President] sectors if we can t proceed as promised. The potential tender winners have also agreed to work under the new law. Discussing the minister s presentation, North Dagon representative Daw Tin Nwe Oo said the process had transparency and accused those behind the June 26 proposal of being dishonest. The proposal was submitted by U Myo Swe, the representative for Tanai in Kachin State, and was approved without objection. He said that while the tender was a good initiative there were concerns that Myanmar companies in the sector may face losses in future due to the The tender winners have to pledge that they will completely follow the new law that the hluttaw will finalise. USDP members at the party s first national assembly in Nay Pyi Taw in October Photo: Christopher Davy Thura U Shwe Mann Pyithu Hluttaw Speaker Ministers resign CEC positions WIN KO KO LATT winkolatt2012@gmail.com U Thein Sein and [Pyithu Hluttaw Speaker] Thura U Shwe Mann. I think it was because they were worried about being impeached by the Constitutional Tribunal, he said. I told our party s central executive committee [that members of the government] should not be given any responsibilities because they cannot take part in party affairs. Section 64 of the constitution forbids the president and vice presidents from taking part in party activities, while ministers are forbidden under section 232(k). monopoly of the foreign companies. Under the government s telecom [tender] project, two local companies and two foreign companies look like they will be competing. The foreign companies have overwhelming capital, technology and experience all of them are definitely superior compared to local companies, said U Myo Swe, who is also secretary of the Pyithu Hluttaw Transport, Communication and Construction Committee. Local firms will have fewer chances to acquire technology from foreign companies because they have to work separately, he said, suggesting instead that the foreign firms be required to form joint ventures with local companies. It should only happen after the new telecommunications law is enacted. Pyithu Hluttaw Speaker Thura U Shwe Mann said Myanmar firms that tried to compete with foreign rivals would not only be dominated but also broken eventually. While the proposal was approved, it was not supported by all MPs, with Daw Sandar Min from the National League for Democracy describing it as protectionism. Translated by Zar Zar Soe No change to USDP policy at meeting WIN KO KO LATT winkolatt2012@gmail.com THE Union Solidarity and Development Party concluded its first major meeting since its October 2012 national conference without formalising any new policies. About 300 members, including 44 from the party s central executive committee, gathered in Nay Pyi Taw from June 22 to 24, ahead of the opening of the seventh session of parliament on June 25. The meeting heard expert analyses on a number of key political topics, including the constitution, proportional representation and federalism. Speaking at a press conference on June 24, vice chairman U Htay Oo said policy decisions on proportional representation would be made at a later date by the central committee in the interest of the nation and the citizens. U Htay Oo said the discussion on federalism and the constitution had yielded no results either. In terms of the constitution, we have to amend it if is necessary but we will not amend it if it is unnecessary. We do not yet know what points need to change, he said. Since the military coup of 1962 the government has described federalism as a type of secession but during his recent trip to the United States Thura U Shwe Mann said this had been a wrong understanding. U Htay Oo said the USDP did not totally equate federalism with secession. U Htay Oo said it was too early to comment on another comment Thura U Shwe Mann made in the US that the USDP could form a coalition with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi s National League for Democracy. Translated by Zar Zar Soe

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6 6 News THE MYANMAR TIMES JULY 1-7, 2013 Complaints over anti- Time petition THOMAS KEAN DOUGLAS LONG A MYANMAR expatriate and an editor from The Myanmar Times have had their addresses used without their knowledge to sign an online petition against Time magazine that has so far received nearly 70,000 signatures. Ko Aung Moe Win, a public policy student in the United States, said he was shocked when he received an from Avaaz.org, a community petitions website, thanking him for signing the Buddhist is not Terror!!! Please Reevaluate July Issue Time Cover Story Title petition on June 24. He said his experience casts doubt on the authenticity of the more than 68,000 signatures on the petition. I didn t even visit the Avaaz site, he said by on June 25. It makes me very suspicious about the legitimacy of the numbers I suspect some people are adding addresses with Burmese names to inflate the numbers. Ko Sann Oo, deputy editor of the Myanmar-language edition of The Myanmar Times, said he had received the same confirmation notice from Avaaz despite not signing the petition. It is shameful to use the address without the knowledge of the owner, he said. I don t understand why they did it because the owner of the address will definitely find out. Oliver MacColl, a campaigns director at Avaaz.org, said there had been numerous cases of addresses being abused to sign the petition. [W]e send confirmation s to all signers so if someone s address is used without their authorisation, they are alerted and can inform us so we can correct it. That appears to have happened to Mr Aung Moe Win and we ve taken steps to remove his and other names that were improperly signed, he said. Mr MacColl said the website has other mechanisms to manage and monitor the accuracy of addresses used to sign petitions. International Management Group VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT The International Management Group is an international organization with an office established in Yangon and is seeking for the following positions for EU-funded capacity building project. (a) National Programme Officer (national) is required for a new EU-funded project in the IMG office in Yangon. The position requires over 5 years experience in senior project management. A Postgraduate development or political science degree a requirement. Required to assist in the management of an exciting programme of grants and sub-grants. Required to assist in managing a staff of 4. Work and coordinate with international and national partner organisations. Experience with EU programming preferred. Fluent spoken and written English is required. Excellent computer skills required. Applications by . Deadline: 16th July, (b) Logistics and Procurement Officer (national) is required for a new EU-funded project in the IMG office in Yangon. Experience in procuring items such as office supplies, furniture, equipment, cars, etc., for the IMG office and project partners. Experience required in national and preferred in international procurement. Experience with EU rules preferred. Candidate will also be expected to produce documentation on procurement and payments. Experience necessary in scheduling travel and accommodation, and in organizing IMG events. The position requires at least 3 years experience in procurement and logistics. Fluent spoken and written English is required. Excellent computer skills required. The position requires working to support a team of 5 staff within a larger office. Applications by . Deadline: 16th July, (c) Financial Officer (national) is required for a new EU-funded project in the IMG office in Yangon. Sound experience in accounting, financial reporting and procedure. Experience in handling bank accounts. The position requires at least 5 years experience in programme accounting. Proficiency in spoken and written English is required as well as excellent computer skills in basic software packages. The position requires working to support a team of 5 staff within a larger office. (d) Secretary/Assistant (national) is required for a new EUfunded project in the IMG office in Yangon. Experience in office administration, basic book-keeping, and letter writing is essential. Experience in arranging workshops, bookings for travel and accommodation essential. The position requires at least 3 years experience in programme assistance or office administration. Proficiency in spoken and written English is required as well as excellent computer skills in basic software packages. The position requires working to support a team of 5 staff within a larger office. The complete Terms of Reference for the position can be obtained at the IMG website: Please send application and CV with cover letter to the IMG Office at: Room 506, 5th Floor, Royal Yaw Min Gyi Condominium, No.52, Yaw Min Gyi Road, Dagon, Yangon, via to: vacancy-myanmar@img-int.org before closing date July 16th Watchdog group slams THOMAS KEAN tdkean@gmail.com REPORTERS Without Borders has condemned the government s decision to ban the distribution of Time magazine over its July 1 Face of Buddhist Terror cover story, describing it as an unacceptable step backwards. The Central Supervisory Committee for Registration and Distribution of Printers and Publishers decided to recommend the government ban the magazine at a meeting at the Ministry of Information on June 25. The committee said the magazine s coverage of Buddhist extremism in Myanmar could jeopardise efforts to build trust between Muslim and Buddhist communities and may cause recurrence of unwanted conflicts at home. Deputy Minister for Information U Ye Htut confirmed the ban the following day. The article entitled The Face of Buddhist Terror in Time Magazine 1 July issue is prohibited from being produced, sold or and distributed in original copy or photocopy in order to prevent further racial and religious conflicts, he No return to dark days of censorship, promises deputy minister U Ye Htut TIM MCLAUGHLINLIN timothy.mclaughlin3@gmail.com DEPUTY Minister for Information has insisted that censorship will never return just two days after the government banned the distribution of a controversial issue of Time magazine. U Ye Htut, who is also a spokesperson for President U Thein Sein, said that the government has no plans to reinstate the strict censorship that kept domestic media muzzled for decades. We are not backtracking, said U Ye Htut. We do not want to go back to censorship. Censorship does not agree with a democratic society. U Ye Htut also expressed little faith in the average person s ability to make an informed judgement about the accuracy of the articles they read and warned that this could fuel overreactions and in turn instability. People are very confused, posted on his Facebook page. Magazine distributor Innwa Books also confirmed it would not sell copies of the July 1 edition of the magazine. Reporters Without Borders said it was appalled by the ban and called for it to be lifted at once. We are extremely disturbed by the government s subsequent decision to ban Time magazine s sale in any form. At a time when Burma s media law is still being drafted, it reflects an attitude that is completely contrary to the fundamental principles that should govern media law reform, the press freedom organisation said. It shows that there has been no change in the government s desire to control news and information and to assume the right to apply prior censorship whenever it deems this to be necessary. This is an unacceptable step backwards for media freedom in Burma. The authorities must rescind this decision and face the problems head-on. It also criticised Innwa for going far beyond its role as a distributor. Innwa Books is violating media freedom and the Burmese public s right to information, the group said. Meanwhile, Time magazine defended its cover story, with a spokesperson describing the article, by award-winning It shows that there has been no change in the government s desire to control news and information. Reporters Without Borders Deputy Minister for Information U Ye Htut speaks at a seminar in Yangon on June 28. Photo: AFP Controversial monk U Wirathu attends a meeting of Buddhist monks journalist Hannah Beech, as a thoughtful, well-reported piece. Time s international cover story shows the presence in Myanmar of an extremist movement that associates itself with Buddhism. Time is pleased by the debate and discussion this important piece has raised, the spokesperson said. The article and in particular the cover of the magazine s U Ye Htut said. There is more and more news and it is more complicated. He was speaking at a seminar at Yangon s Chatrium Hotel on June 28, which focused on how to counter the rising tide of hate speech. The event was aimed at members of the media. Two days earlier, the deputy minister had announced on his Facebook page that the government had banned distribution July 1 edition, which depicts controversial monk U Wirathu with the words, The Face of Buddhist Terror, has sparked outrage since it was released online last week. However, very little of the debate has focused on the contents of the article. Rather, web users have expressed sadness and anger at the linking of a Myanmar monk with the word terror. More than 60,000 people of the July 1 issue of Time magazine because of its article on controversial monk U Wirathu. The timing of U Ye Htut s comments did not go unnoticed among members of the media in attendance. Myanmar Journalists Association vice president U Thiha Saw laughed when asked about the apparent contradiction and said U Ye Htut was in part responsible for the decision to ban Time. He described it as a return to old tactics in a bid to silence unflattering media coverage. I don t agree with this idea to ban a publication, whether it is from inside the country or from another country, said U Thiha Saw, who is also a member of the press council and helped organise the workshop in cooperation with the US embassy. He pointed out that the ban had created far more interest in the article at the centre of the controversy. It grows and grows and grows, he said, adding that it had circulated widely through social media in spite of the ban.

7 govt ban OPINION News 7 Responding to Time magazine in Yangon on June 27. Photo: AFP signed a petition on Avaaz. org, a community petition website, within a day of its launch on June 23. The petition called on Time to please reevaluate about your magazine cover story title for July issue, describing the piece as hate speech. I am not a supporter of U Wirathu But the combination of these two words Buddhist and Terror are very sad feeling for every Buddhists. Our religious is more weaker year by year. Please don t do like that, it said. Similarly, a Facebook page, We Boycott Time magazine for their choice of Wirathu as Buddhist Terror, had more than 24,700 likes, with organisers calling on Buddhists to boycott Warner Brothers new Superman movie, Man of Steel. Both Warner Brothers and Time are owned by Time Warner Inc. SITHU AUNG MYINT newsroom@mmtimes.com.mm HANNAH Beech s feature, When Buddhists Go Bad, in the July 1 issue of Time magazine has recently occupied many column centimetres in local weekly and daily papers. The President s Office and some private publications have issued public statements objecting to Time s cover story. I would like to discuss what she wrote and how we should respond to it. But I want to start by saying something about what I have seen in the local press. Some publications printed translations of the article. However, in many cases they didn t give complete information, even when they said it was the full article. Some just translated the sentences that they felt would have the maximum impact and even changed some paragraphs when translating from the original to Myanmar. What did Hannah Beech actually write? There are three main points: the generally good image of Buddhism; recent violence in Myanmar related to religion; and the image of U Wirathu. She said that while there are Hindu nationalists, Muslim militants, fundamentalist Christians and ultra-orthodox Jews, Buddhism has not been associated with religious extremism. She highlighted the positive image of Buddhism and acknowledged it is a mostly peaceful religion. She said that Buddhist monks had taken part in protests against colonial and repressive governments by starving or burning themselves, or by marching peacefully. She then gave some reasons why destructive actions that do not comply with Buddhist teachings have happened recently, starting in Sri Lanka. She states that every religion can be twisted into a destructive force poisoned by ideas that are antithetical to its foundation. She spotlighted the situation in Sri Lanka, Myanmar and sounthern Thailand and said that Buddhism had been twisted into a destructive movement and stained with negative images because of incidents led by people who had strayed from the original essence of their faith. Far from insulting Buddhists, we can see that she glorified Buddhism as a peaceful religion in comparison with other faiths. She said the recent violence in Myanmar that has affected the image of Buddhism happened because some people used religion as a steppingstone to achieve their aims. There is nothing particularly unusual or sensational in Hannah Beech s feature about violence in Myanmar. It has been covered in other international media, and local journalists have written much the same too. The third point in the article is the image of U Wirathu. It isn t dfficult to check whether The July 1 issue of Time magazine. Photo: AFP Far from insulting Buddhists, she glorified Buddhism as a peaceful religion. Ms Beech s article differs from reality. There are numerous letters and articles, audio and video files, and eyewitness reports because U Wirathu preaches a lot about the same issues. We need to be brave enough to recognise the truth and answer the question: Is he following the way of Buddha or deviating from it? It is true that the image of Buddhism across the world has been stained because of the cover story of Time magazine. One Myanmar monk in Canada said it will have an effect on monks abroad because people across the world may think they are all extremists. We need to show the world that what they have seen is not an image of a real Buddhist. The previous military regime slandered all media that wrote the truth about what the government was doing. They would say: The BBC is cheating. VOA is lying. RFA and DVB are releasing false news. Is that how we should respond now? Shall we say that Time magazine is fabricating the news, releasing wrong information and being manipulated by groups who hate Buddhism? I believe that members of the government and hluttaw, monks and all devout Buddhists have to decide for themselves the answers to the following questions: Why has the image of Buddhism been tarnished recently? And why has that negative image also stained Buddhism in Myanmar over the past two years? We can t do anything about the image of Buddhism in the other countries mentioned in Ms Beech s article. However, we can work to find ways to rebuild the image of Buddhism in our own country. Translated by Thiri Min Htun Sithu Aung Myint is a freelance journlist with more than 15 years of experience and a former editor at Pyithu Khit (The People s Age) journal. EDITORIAL Don t shoot the messenger THE response to Time magazine s July 1 cover story, The Face of Buddhist Terror, has taken few observers by surprise. However, in their rush to condemn the article, web users, the Myanmar media and the government have missed a number of issues, particularly around freedom of speech. Neither the article nor the cover linked Buddhism and terrorism. The article does not use the word terrorism, and only mentions terrorist when referencing Osama Bin Laden. Similarly, it does not label Buddhism a religion of extremism or extremists. Time has certainly been more careful to avoid using the terrorist label than some Myanmar publications, which, in their reporting on the conflict in Rakhine State last year, immediately branded Bengalis as terrorists. Rather, the Time cover presents U Wirathu as the face of a form of terror that has unfortunately reared its head in Myanmar over the past year in clashes between Muslims and Buddhists. There is a legitimate debate over whether this is a fair portrayal. However, given U Wirathu s incessant and inflammatory statements about Muslims the description is more apt than many seem to want to believe. U Wirathu has not retracted or disputed anything he was quoted as saying in the article, including that Muslims are stealing our women, raping them and his preaching that [n]ow is the time to rise up, to make your blood boil. Indeed, he makes similar statements on a regular basis. His primary complaint appeared to be that the interview was not run in full as a question-and-answer article. Most journalists would agree that such a demand is unacceptable and there is no suggestion that Time agreed to do this when the interview took place. It is, in effect, a classic case of shoot the messenger: It is U Wirathu s comments to the media that have tarnished the image of Buddhism in Myanmar, not the journalists who report on them. The article s main error appears to be reporting that U Wirathu describes himself as the Burmese Bin Laden, a charge he denies. The vague accusations that Time and Hannah Beech have somehow violated journalism ethics should be clarified. The Daily Eleven has led the charge but its nonsensical efforts to link Time magazine s senseless sensationalism with Newsweek s financial troubles only does itself a disservice. Particularly worrying is that journalists and editors appear to have forgotten their own struggle over the past 50 years for the right to express themselves freely. By criticising Time for its coverage they may be endangering their own ability to report and comment freely in the future. The government has been quick to ban the distribution of Time s July 1 issue because it may cause unwanted conflicts. Should it not do the same to a Myanmar publication that prints an article on extremists within the mostly peaceful religion of Islam? The government s reasons for the ban are suitably broad that they could easily be used again in future to stifle reporting on other sensitive issues. Regardless of how you view Time magazine s coverage, The Myanmar Times believes that the prospect of more, not less, censorship should not be encouraged.

8 8 News THE MYANMAR TIMES JULY 1-7, 2013 Police call for more support in drug fight AUNG SHIN MYANMAR needs more international assistance to combat drug abuse and trafficking, particularly in opium-producing areas of the country, a senior police official said at a drug-burning ceremony last week. Police Lieutenant Colonel Tin Aung, deputy director of the international relations section of the Myanmar Police Force s anti-drug taskforce, said public cooperation is also needed. The government is working to combat drug trafficking and opium eradication with international support. But we need public support as well as more international assistance to succeed, he said at an event in Yangon to mark International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. The peace process with ethnic groups will support opium eradication. Police Lieutenant Colonel Tin Aung Anti-drug taskforce Myanmar marked the day by torching drugs and precursor chemicals valued at US$76.79 million at ceremonies held in Yangon, Mandalay and the Shan State capital Taunggyi. In May, Myanmar announced it was pushing back its 15-year drug elimination deadline by five years, to The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) says Myanmar is the second-largest opium producer in the world, and estimated production rose 17 percent in Pol Lt Col Tin Aung said UNODC was assisting Myanmar to attract more international aid for its antidrug efforts. In February, Myanmar signed an agreement with the United States on drug control measures that will see members of the Myanmar Police Force travel to the US for training, he said. The two sides will also cooperate on a project to measure opium cultivation in Shan State. The police force also works in close cooperation with anti-drug offices in Thailand and China, and has other bilateral agreements to fight drugs with Bangladesh, India, the Philippines and Russia. We have many challenges in implementing drug control projects. All stakeholders... have to participate in our process if we are to achieve our goals. If we get that participation from all sides, including the international community, we expect to get more success, he said. One major issue, he said, is the need for effective crop substitution Seized drugs and precursor chemicals are burned at a ceremony in Yangon on June 26. Photo: Boothee programs. We are implementing model farms for opium substitution in Shan State. We collaborated with local people to change their life with these model farms. [Anti-drug efforts] will be more successful when local people see that there are other crops to grow than opium. And also... the peace process with ethnic groups will support opium eradication, said Pol Lt Col Tin Aung. He said the anti-drug taskforce had also taken action against some police offers found to be involved in drug trafficking. Earlier this month, Radio Free Asia reported that two high-ranking officers from Sagaing Region had been arrested on drug charges. In 2012, 5740 people were arrested in relation to 4006 drug cases, while 1618 cases were recorded in the first five months of this year. Narcotics burned at Mandalay ceremony THE government has marked International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking by burning drugs valued at almost US$9 million in Mandalay. The drugs, seized by police in five states and regions, were burnt on a sport field at the foot of Mandalay Hill about 8am on June 26. It is the third time we ve destroyed drugs in Mandalay. These drugs were seized in Mandalay, Sagaing and Magwe regions and Kachin and Chin states, said Mandalay Region Minister for Security and Border Affairs Colonel Aung Kyaw Moe. Twenty-two types of illicit drugs and restricted chemicals were destroyed, including about K3 billion of pseudoephedrine tablets. The total value was estimated at $8.86 million. We have constantly cracked down on the trade in illicit drugs since We will extend the suppression period for another five years, said U Ohn Lwin, administrator for Mandalay Region and chairman of its anti-narcotics team. Si Thu Lwin, translated by Zar Zar Soe TRADE MARK CAUTION Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, a company incorporated in Germany, of Henkelstrasse 67, D Dusseldorf, Germany, is the Owner of the following Trade Mark:- DIXAN Reg. No. 2924/1997 Reg. No. 2208/2013 in respect of Class 03: Soaps, bleaching preparations and other substances for laundry use; washing, rinsing and softening agents for laundry; dish-washing agents; cleaning, polishing-scouring-abrasive and degreasing preparations. Fraudulent imitation or unauthorised use of the said Trade Mark will be dealt with according to law. Win Mu Tin, M.A., H.G.P., D.B.L for Henkel AG & Co. KGaA P. O. Box 60, Yangon makhinkyi.law@mptmail.net.mm Dated: 1 st July 2013

9 News 9 Blind accuse ministry of backtracking on inclusive education CHERRY THEIN t.cherry6@gmail.com TEACHERS and former students from Kyeemyindaing School for the Blind are urging the government not to backtrack on its inclusive education policy. Starting this academic year, the school, which is operated by the Ministry of Social Welfare, has been told to reintroduce special school education. But teacher U Zaw Htwe Oo told The Myanmar Times the decision meant that blind students will no longer have the chance to join other children in mainstream education. Previously, blind students were able to join mainstream students from grade six, he said. I m sorry about this backward step. Special education discourages and excludes blind students from society. I don t want my students to suffer, he said. The decision was made by a director general within the Ministry of Social Welfare and has also been vigorously opposed by some officials within the ministry. The ministry could not be contacted for comment last week. The State of the World s Children, a UNICEF report released in Myanmar on June 14, found that children with disabilities confront additional challenges as a result of their impairments and the many barriers that society throws their way. Rather than segregating children with disabilities in special schools, inclusive education entails educating all students within the regular school system, the report said. U Zaw Htwe Oo said the inclusive education system adopted by Myanmar in 2005 had allowed children with disabilities to join normal school activities and was particularly beneficial for blind students. The system encouraged them to participate in society and helped to build their selfconfidence and independence, he said. Disabled people should not be excluded because of their disability. Although they are given special education to help cope with their impairment, it is effectively exclusion, he said. One student said he had expected to be able to join mainstream education in grade six. If I d known we would not be able to join, I would not have sat the grade five exam, he said. I want friends in a normal school. The parent of a child who attended a mainstream state school, Daw Hla Hla Win, said she wished all blind students were as enthusiastic about their studies as sighted children. Excluding them made them more depressed about their visual impairment, she said. When my son joined a normal school, I was worried at first. But now he s just like other boys, except for his blindness. I m proud of him and now I dare to dream he can attend higher education too, she said. A petition against the resumption of special education has so far received no response from the ministry. Special school is the first step toward exclusion. Joining a mainstream school with normal children is challenging for the blind, but they soon get used to it. Teachers and friends helped us study, said former student Ko Aung Lwin Oo. Children study at Kyeemyindaing School for the Blind. Photo: Hein Latt Aung Five shops destroyed by mob in Mandalay THAN NAING SOE SI THU LWIN A MOB searching for Muslims destroyed nine shops inside a monastery in Mandalay Region s Thabeikkyin township last week. The mob of about 100 people destroyed the stalls around 8:30am on June 22, the Mandalay Region police force office said. Five stalls were owned by Muslim traders and four by Buddhists. The mob descended on the monastery after a fight between a resident and a Buddhist trader sparked rumours of fighting between Muslims and Buddhists. The mob had heard that Muslims were hiding inside the monastery compound. Members of the mob agreed to leave after the district administrator, district police major and representatives of social organisations came and discussed the incident with them. The stalls had been erected in the compound of Thukha Karri Monastery in Chaung Gyi village for a trade fair. Thirteen Muslims visiting the village for the fair are being temporarily housed in the police station. Police have filed three charges against five people from Chaung Gyi village. The same day, a group of about 70 people armed with sticks and knives set up a roadblock on the Mandalay-Mogok Road in Singu township to search for Muslims. However, they ended the blockade after the Singu township administrator and township police major intervened. Translated by Zar Zar Soe

10 From Argentina to Zambia, USA to Japan, we take strength from the shared values of a diverse workforce that circles the globe. With employees and operations in over 150 countries, we are truly an international company, with thousands of teams working daily in practically every time zone. You can lead a conference call with Helsinki in the morning, and participate on a Beijing video conference in the afternoon. At Nokia Siemens Networks, you will be able to engage with people from around the world, providing valuable opportunities to share and exchange ideas, values and cultures. Through the use of advanced tools and applications supporting virtual teaming, collaboration, and remote working, Nokia Siemens Networks provides more opportunities to create your ideal work environment and facilitates the development of global work teams within the organization. This means you have an infrastructure in which to work and grow, inspired by the key ethos of the company: connectivity. Be part of something that connects you to the world. MANAGEMENT CENTRAL 1. Account Manager Manage and grow Networks Systems sales for Nokia Siemens Networks and build & maintain relationship with key customer stakeholders in Myanmar. Articulate customers business needs and create solutions with Nokia Siemens Networks portfolio. Excellent communication in both English and Burmese, presentation and negotiation skills with background with management experience from Communications Operator/Vendor is preferred. Active personality with ability to build personal customer relationship in multicultural environment 2. Human Resource Manager The HR Manager is responsible for ensuring people processes are implemented in the country according to the Nokia Siemens Networks global guidelines and the local entity is operating in compliance with local laws and regulations. Acts as the primary, trusted HR Advisor and coach Line Managers in people management and HR practices In-depth knowledge and ability to interpret local employment law, taxation relates to employment, remuneration structures and compensation & benefits principles. Ability to influence outcome possess strong customer focus. 3. Real Estate Manager Responsible for the overall management of daily workplace operation. Accountable for the co-ordination and delivery aspects of day-to-day workplace and transaction services, directing service providers as required. Manage the distribution and inventory control of pantry, stationery, first aid items, etc. Responsible for management of major projects involving building renovation, expansion, relocation, restacks, reconfigurations, etc At least 4-5 years of experience within a business environment with basic knowledge and understanding of facilities management and finance is required. Possess excellent customer service skills. 4. Quality/H&S Manager Responsible for quality and processes on entity program level and continuously monitors cross fucntional program quality to secure customer satisfaction. At least 5-6 years of experience as Quality Manager and a team player with management skill 5. Customer Business Finance & Control Provides financial leadership to the Customer Team drives fact based decision making and by managing, controlling and continuously improving the financial performance of the Customer Team. Is accountable for reporting quality including compliance with all appropriate standards. In-depth experience and knowledge in Financial Accounting Management, Planning, Reporting Analysis & Controlling, hands on technical experience in SAP, Nelle, LEA, accruals, N-Risk, Trezon and excellent Planning & Organizing, Problem Solving and Decision Making skills. 6. Receptionist Provides support services and clerical duties in order to ensure efficiency and effectiveness within the office Including answering of telephone calls, screen and redirect all incoming calls as appropriate and handle caller s inquiries and take messages when required. Greet, assist and direct Visitors (customer, supplier, vendor, interview candidate, etc) to the appropriate staff and responsible and manage the issuance of office access cards. Preferably non-executives specializing in clerical or administrative support with excellent customer service skill. Pleasant personality with excellent written and spoken English CUSTOMER OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT PROJECT OFFICE 1. Project Director Independently manage projects with high risk and complexity ensuring good profitability and quality. Ensure customer satisfaction with delivery and implementation of services. Has overall profit and loss responsibility for the project. At least 6-7 years of experience as Project Director with strong knowledge of project management processes. 2. Project Finance & Control Ensure the quality of project s planned and reported financials and applies financial skills to improve project performance. Responsible for audit evidence to ensure internal control compliance. At least 4-5 years of experience as Project Finance & Control with in-depth experience and knowledge in Financial Accounting Management, Planning, Reporting Analysis & Controlling. Hands on experience in SAP, Nelle, LEA, accruals, N-Risk, Trezon 3. Technical Manager The Technical Project Manager is responsible for planning, organising and managing Core/Radio Network Implementation, Multi Vendor Interface Verification Testing and System Acceptance Testing in the customer project from tendering phase to actual implementation. Education in Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Telecommunications or Information Technology or equivalent. Has advanced troubleshooting skills on telecom circuit and packet switch platforms. In-depth understanding about Circuit, GPRS, LTE networks and with good experience with IP, Linux & Unix. Strong customer focus and service mindset. 4. Project Manager - Core Plans and manages execution of the project or sub project according to budget. Leads sub project team. Manages time, quality, progress, cost, risks, and internal and external resources. Ensures that all project milestones are met by using global processes, tools and interfaces. Acts as customer interface in own responsibility area. In-depth understanding on detailed technical and telecommunciations systems with strong customer focus. Previous experience as Care Engineer is an added advantage 5. Care Program Manager Manages service business in the care phase for an assigned account. Is accountable for Care business and all Care phase operations through improvement of customer satisfaction, overall profit and loss responsibility, development of new business and provision of Care phase services. Job Requirements: Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics or Telecommunications related field or equivalent with at least 5-6 years in relevant experience in 2G/3G Network. In depth experience and skills in performing trouble shooting including features upgrade and process of integration. 6. Network Planning & Optimization Manager Leads, plans and manages network planning activities throughout the network. Acts as customer interface in own responsibility area. At least 8-12 years of experience in related field with strong knowledge and experience in troubleshooting tools, Trace & log file analysis tools. Good team player with strong problems solving ability. 7. Project Assistant/Administrator Provides administrative support to project team and ensure that projects are run in compliance with Organization s requirement. Responsible for tracking and reporting the overall project progress. At least 3-4 year of experience in a related field as Project Administrator with good analytical and inter-personal skills. Excellent understanding in project management is an added advantage. MANAGED SERVICES OFFICE 8. Network Operations Manager Lead and manage operations for Managed Services covering NOC operations, FLM operations and Business Operations. Act as primary contact on operations to customer. Plan and implement activities to achieve network KPI and SLA. At least years of experience in related field with working experience in a highly technical environment, and in depth knowledge of data networking. Ability to prioritize and execute tasks in a high-pressure environment. 9. Network Operations Centre Manager Lead and manage Network Operations Centre daily operation. Responsible to interface with other NOCs that are related to the customer's network. Delivering of NMC services, performance management, configuration management, fault management services for entire network. Lead and manage emergency situation in the network to full closure. At least 8-12 years of experience in related field with working experience in a highly technical environment, and in depth knowledge of data networking. Ability to prioritize and execute tasks in a high-pressure environment. 10. Network Fault Manager Responsible to manage network related faults within the network. Handles issue fault report and engage with Product Line or external parties on trouble resolution. Plans and executes activities for improvement of the network service availability KPIs. At least 6-9 years of experience in related field with advanced technical knowledge of mobile networks is an added advantage. Strong knowledge in network configuration and monitoring tools. 11. Network Performance Manager Responsible for overall network KPIs maintenance and improvement. Plans and executes network optimization activities within the network. Collect and maintain network statistics database and produce scheduled performance reports. At least 6-9 years of experience in related field with Network Integration experience. Good understanding of statistical relevance of performance measures and excellent analytical and presentation skills. 12. Field Operations Manager Lead, plans and manages the field maintenance activities within the network. Responsible for meeting FLM SLA as per contract. Monitors audit and verify FLM teams performance and perform improvement program to ensure high level of SLA achievement. At least 6-9 years of experience in related field with excellent understanding of technical applications in business processes. In-depth understanding of logistics in supply is an added advantage.good problems solving skill. 13. Capacity Management Manager Plans, manages and monitors network capacity demand. Responsible to evaluate expansion options, recommend solutions and follow up post expansion activity. Responsible for anticipate seasonal activities demand and plan and execute mitigation actions. At least 6-9 years of experience in related field with engineering related working experience in Mobile Networks. In-depth knowledge about network performance and optimization is an added advantage. 14. Inter Carrier Relations & Regulatory Manager Responsible for managing the communications with other telecom carrier domestic or foreign. Manage faults in inter carrier connections either Circuit Switch or Packet Switch. Manages government and regulatory affairs of the network and ensure network compliance. At least 6-9 years of experience in related field with strong knowledge and experience with third party transportations. 15. Network Configuration Manager Plan and manage configuration changes in the network. Responsible for network configuration consistency, schedule audits and network database maintenance. Check, verify and approve scheduled maintenance from third party and plan internal activities according the third party needs. At least 6-9 years of experience in related

11 field with solid experience in configuration management. Proven to be a good team player, take responsibilities and initiatives. Self-motivated, target driven and innovative thinking. PROJECT SUPPORT 1. Contract Manager Preparing & negotiating agreements/contracts and other documents according to business needs. Act as an experienced and competent contributor to a legal analysis.resolve contractual disputes and foster contract development during the contract development and lifecycle At least 5-6 years of experience as Contract Manager with strong negotiation skills and knowledge of legal concepts. 2. Procurement Manager Responsible for Nokia Siemens Networks Supplier/Sub-Contractor Selection, Negotiations and Contracting and responsible for Supplier/ Sub-Contractors assessments including capability & capacity. At least 5-6 years of procurement experience preferably with Telecom background is an added avantage. Possess excellent knowledge in Costs Analysis Management, Supplier Base Management and Supplier Quality Management. 3. Logistics Manager Responsible for logistics content and expertise in defined areas throughout the product life cycle to ensure the products/results can be delivered in most cost efficient way and demand/supply network requriements are fulfilled. At least 5-6 years of experience in the field of Logistics with hands on experience in managing Service Providers is an added advantage. Possess strong knowledge of Import-Export Rules and local Customs Compliance 4. Costs & Progress Manager Managing middle and large projects, as well as supporting other projects in daily CPM work. Estimating, monitoring, reporting, analyzing and managing the project execution progress against timeline, milestones and invoicing schedule agreed in the customer contract. At least 5-6 years of experience in CPM with in-depth knowledge and experience in the area of Earned Value Management, ERP, Cost Controlling & SAP. 5. Documentation Manager Responsible to manage customer dcoumentation and resolves problems through immediate action or short term planning and sets priorities to ensure tasks completion At least 5-6 years of experience in documentation area with in-depth understanding and knowledge in basic principles of Software & Hardware. 6. Project Management Processes and Tools Support Manage Project Management tools and provides support to Project Managers in processes and project database. At least 3-4 years of experience with strong understanding in project management. Familiarity with project management tools is an added advantage. ENGINEERING SERVICES MOBILE BROADBAND RADIO 1. Radio Network Planning Manager Responsible to lead, plan and managed Radio network planning activities. Acts as customer interface in own responsibility area. At least 6-9 years of experience in related field with strong technological understanding in Core, Packet & Circuit Switch is an added advantage. A strong team player with results oriented 2. Radio Network Planning Engineer/ Senior Engineer 2G/3G Performs radio network planning activities in customer projects independently according to project plan. Plans and performs advanced technicalactivities to service the customer. The Requirement: At least 4-5 years experience and 7-8 years of experience (for Senior role) with strong understanding in Radio Network Planning is an added advantage. Strong analytical and problems solving skills. 3. Radio Network Optimization Engineer/ Senior Engineer 2G/3G Technical expertise for optimizing the Radio Network to improve the performance and network quality to acceptable level. Important contributor to development of the overall goals and objectives of the company. The Requirement: At least 4-5 years experience and 7-8 years of experience (for Senior role) with solid understanding in optimization tools. Strong analytical and problems solving skills. 4. Radio Network Planning Tools Engineer Responsible to manage Network Planning tools in the project and implementation and release of database changes. Performs technical activities to service the customer directly or through customer interface. The Requirement: At least 3-5 years of experience in Network Management System Knowledge and with strong telecom knowledge. Good troubleshooting skills and communication skills. MOBILE BROADBAND - CORE 5. Core Network Planning Manager Responsible to lead, plan and managed Core network planning activities. Acts as customer interface in own responsibility area. At least 6-9 years of experience in related field with strong technological understanding in Core, Packet & Circuit Switch is an added advantage. A strong team player with results oriented. 6. Core Engineer Circuit Switch/Packet Switch Proactively plans and performs advanced technical activities requiring knowledge in multiple areas or on a system level to service the customer. Prioritizes work based on customer impact, and brings expertise to customer site on need basis. May support areas by participating in emergency and 24/7 duty. Education in Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Telecommunications, or Information Technology. At leaset 4-5 years experience in technical support team and Equipment implementation for CS Core network in wireless communications networks. Has excellent IP, Unix experience and skills set INTERNET PROTOCOL (IP) TRANSPORT 7. Transmission Network Planning Manager Leads, plans and manages transmission network planning activities covering 2G, 3G and LTE. Acts as customer interface in own responsibility area. At least 6-9 years experience in related field and proven track record in IP based mobile backhaul and transmission backbone network design and optimization. Good problem solving and analytical skills. 8. Transmission Network Planning Engineer/ Senior Engineer (MicroWave) Leads a team of transmission planning engineers in performing TX Planning activities centrally or regionally. Responsible for the system planning for the own area. At least 4-6 years experience in related field and proven track record in IP based mobile backhaul and transmission backbone network design and optimization. Good problem solving and analytical skills. 9. IP Network Planning Engineer Performs all related planning activities that involves IP planning. Identifies, executes and solves technical tasks and problems. May support areas by participating in emergency and 24/7 duty. The Requirement: At least 2-4 years of experience in a related field with good understanding in promoting IP network solutions. In-depth understanding and knowledge of IP planning and configuration is an added advantage. CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT (CEM) 10. CEM Engineer/OSS Engineer Plans and executes technical tasks requiring specialist skills in own professional area. Ability to work independently with the responsibility for solving customer request cases and reporting according to processes. Identifies and solves technical problems. May support areas by participating in emergency and 24/7 duty. The Requirement: Preferably with experience on NT-HLR/One-NDS platform with excellent knowledge and experience in UNIX/TCP/IP/Oracle/Cisco/EMC skills. In-depth knowledge in development of scripts (Perl/Shell) would be an added advantage SERVICE MANAGEMENT SITE SOLUTIONS 11. Site Acquisition & Construction Works Manager Plan and responsible for overall Construction rollout activities and ensure SA activities meet customer and Nokia Siemens Networks requirements. Accomplishes project milestones by reviewing action items and schedules, expediting requirements, escalating project completion impediments. At least 6-9 years of experience in related field with good knowledge in technical understanding. Strong inter-personal and strategic planning skills. 12. Field Manager Plans and manages execution of the project or sub project according to budget. Leads sub project team. Manages time, quality, progress, cost, risks, and internal and external resources. Ensures that all project milestones are met by using global processes, tools and interfaces. Acts as customer interface in own responsibility area. Degree in Electronics/ Electrical Engineering or equivalent and at least 5-6 years of experience in rollout of Telecom solutions. Hands on experience in managing Productivity & Quality Audit, installation and commissioning with electrical works including Rectifier, Battery and Generator with earthing system. 13. Implementation Manager Implementation Manager is responsible for leading and coordinating Implementation activities to ensure that Nokia Siemens does fulfill contractual commitments in time with required quality measures. As an enabler, team set-up including service supplier(s), roles and responsibilities, processes and tools are to be in order. The Requirement: At least 6-9 years experience in related field with strong Project Management understanding is an added advantage. Pro-active, customer focus and good team player. 14. Site Supervisor Act as NSN representative on site for the inspection of Civil, Mechanical, Electrical and Telecom installation works. Responsible for monitoring and inspecting sites and Telecom installation work progress and verifying that the implementation is done according to Customer specifications, Nokia Siemens Networks standards & guidelines and Health & Safety standards At least 4-5 years experience as Site Supervisor with strong knowledge in Civil works. Good Disclaimers: The application does not guarantee a job or even that any application will be considered; hiring shall be in accordance with policies and practices of the partners, in their sole discretion, and in compliance with local law and employment regulations; and the hiring process may be abandoned or modified without notice. understanding of customer s needs and excellent and self-confident communication skills & conflict management. 15. Site Quality Inspector Ensure adequate monitoring and randomly inspects Telecom site installation work to verify that the implementation is done according to Contracts (Customer & Suppliers), Customer specifications, NSN standards & guidelines and NSN work processes and Quality and Health & Safety standard. Participates to Service Supplier meetings and follow-up with Supplier and analysis on corrective action (and pro-active improvement plan). At least 3-4 years of experience in related field with in-depth understanding in Quality Management System. Strong understanding in Project Management is an added advantage. 16. Project Engineer, Site Acquisition Handles interface for SA and permitting service suppliers. Provides training and support to the local SA and permitting service suppliers as required. Ensures SA activities meet customer and Nokia Siemens Networks requirements. Participates in meetings with local authorities as required. At least 6-9 years of experience in related field with good knowledge and understanding in technical related. Strong inter-personal and strategic planning skills. 17. Project Engineer, Civil Works Manages all construction works implementation activities. Ensure implementation activities and quality meet project requirements and targets. Reviews and approves Site specific drawings (site lay out + equipment installation drawings) coming from service suppliers. Communicates Model site standard design & details to service supplier teams. Co-ordinates site design and construction works site deployment activities with SA and TI teams in zone. At least 6-9 years of experience in the related field with good knowledge and understanding in technical related. Strong inter-personal and strategic planning skills. 18. Project Engineer, Radio/Core Network Responsible for network dimensioning, node dimensioning, preparation of network proposals. Provides support to the project and implementation team by way of technical product details and ensuring a smooth and prompt delivery of hardware and short lead time into commissioning. Provides technical information for Radio Access product type approval and communicate product life cycle roadmap. At least 4-5 years of experience in Network Management System Knowledge and with strong telecom knowledge. Good troubleshooting and communication skills. 19. Project Engineer, MicroWave Design, test and evaluate integrated circuits components used in microwve devices. Responsible to meet with client s and end users to develop project objectives and troubleshoot problems. At least 4-5 years experience in the related filed who specialize in devices that use short radio wave signals. Strong inter-personal and strategic planning skills. Good understanding of customer s needs and excellent and self-confident communication skills. Closing date for application is on 22 July The hiring process will run in conjunction with trusted local partners. Only shortlisted candidates will be notified. For further information about the role and requirements please send in the necessary details to recruitmm.hr@nsn.com Copyright Nokia Siemens Networks. All rights reserved.

12 12 News THE MYANMAR TIMES JULY 1-7, 2013 BRIEFS Thai company joins school milk program Another dairy company has stepped up its promotional efforts by partnering with the government to offer free milk to primary school students - this time in Chin and Kayah states. Thailand-based company CP Meiji will provide 250,000 cartons of heat-treated milk to students in the two states, Vice President Dr Sai Mauk Kham said at a ceremony to launch the project. He said the donation meant the government would be able to provide milk to 2000 students across 15 schools in Chin and Kayah states. The project will run until the end of November. The Ministry of Education has already formed a partnership with the Singapore-based Tetra Pak for a larger school milk project targeting 45,000 students in 205 schools in Yangon, Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw. Dr Sai Mauk Kham encouraged other companies to get involved in the program. Pyae Thet Phyo, translated by Zar Zar Soe Four million to get oral care education Dental experts are planning to teach more than 4 million of the country s schoolchildren about the importance of looking after their teeth. Starting on July 1, an international program called Live, Learn, Laugh will see dental specialists volunteer their time over the next three years to travel to schools across the country and provide oral health care and education. The program is a collaboration between the FDI World Dental Federation, the Myanmar Dental Association (MDA) and Unilever Oral Care. Dental association president U Pwint Phoo said in addition to checking students teeth, the dentists will share information on good dental habits, including the use of fluoride toothpaste. We will teach children that the right form of brushing, carried out twice a day, is important to protect against decaying teeth and other dental problems, U Pwint Phoo said at a press conference on June 20. He added that working with schoolchildren is the best way to ensure better health habits. It is effective to start with the younger generation to help them develop good behaviour which will last for the rest of their lives, he said. They can then share their knowledge with other members of their family. Yamon Phu Thit Monks attend a meeting at a monastery outside Yangon on June 27. Photo: AFP Monks stand by marriage law push t.cherry6@gmail.com CHERRY THEIN LEADING monks have deferred a decision on whether to tone down a controversial marriage law that would force non-buddhist men to convert if they want to marry a Buddhist woman. About 1500 monks from across the country gathered at Aung San Taw Ya Tet U monastery in Yangon s Insein township on June 27 to discuss the law, including Sitagu Sayadaw and representatives of Buddhist communities in Sri Lanka, Thailand, India and the United States. While the law is not yet finalised, participants agreed that legislation is needed to protect Buddhist women who marry men of other faiths. U Dhamma Piya, a spokesperson for the team that drafted the law, said it would be presented to the public once completed with the help of a team of legal experts. After getting public feedback it would presented for submission to the hluttaw. We suggested the law be imposed but we need more agreement from public, he said. Soon after the draft law proposal is completed, we will present it to the public and accept their feedback. A draft of the law released at a peace conference earlier in June attracted significant criticism both inside Myanmar and abroad, with some observers expressing concerns that it could exacerbate religious divisions and tension. There have also been questions raised over whether monks should be involved in the affairs of laypeople. Asked about these criticisms, U Dhamma Piya agreed monks should not criticise laypeople but at the same time they have a responsibility to help people when asked. When their marriage is smooth, it is no problem, he said. But when women [who marry men of other faiths] face problems... the legal system can t help them, he said. One monk from Sagaing Region who attended the assembly told The Myanmar Times that monks in his area regularly encountered women who had been abused by their husbands because they continued to follow Buddhism after marrying. We see and hear many stories of human rights abuse but as clergy we can t conduct any research or study on Soon after the draft law is completed, we will present it to the public and accept their feedback. U Dhamma Piya Spokesperson for team drafting a controversial marriage law this. If you wish to know more we encourage you to explore the truth not for hatred or revenge but to prevent this from happening in future, he said. A five-point statement was released after the meeting. The gathering denounced Time magazine s article on Buddhist extremism and called for the establishment of a body to preserve race and religion and promote peace studies. Sitagu Sayadaw Ashin Nyanissara said he was concerned that religious conflict could distract from the government peace process. I suggest all to be aware and resist from being used by inciters. Please do not exaggerate small matters to become larger ones. Try to strengthen loving kindness and be patient as the Buddha teaches, he said. When these conflicts happen again and again, we [Buddhist monks] should not be involved in it. If we are involved, we will be as Time magazine accused us. I strongly denounce Time magazine s article on Buddhism but at the same time I request all Buddhists be patient and contain their anger on these issues. U Dhamma Piya said he also supported the idea floated on June 27 to establish a global Buddhist organisation to protect the religion. We need to protect Buddhism from any kind of misuse or accusations. As Sitagu Sayadaw said there may be enemies both inside and outside. We have responsibility to be organised internally and to build a fence to keep out our enemies, he said. Two killed in Rakhine State IDP camp: UN TWO Muslims were shot dead and six others wounded when security forces opened fire at a camp for some of those displaced by last year s violence in Rakhine state, the UN refugee agency said on June 28. The incident, on the morning of June 27, took place as security forces tried to break up a dispute at the Kyein Ni Pyin camp in Pauktaw township, home to at least 4400 displaced people mainly Rohingya Muslims whose homes were torched in deadly clashes with Rakhine locals. Gunfire was used by the authorities to disperse the crowd, resulting in the fatalities and woundings, UNHCR said in a statement, adding that two of the wounded were minors. It was unclear if the casualties were Rohingya, a spokeswoman for the UNHCR said, as the camp is also home to Kaman Muslims. The Rohingya are generally referred to as Bengalis inside Myanmar. We are appealing to the authorities to handle the matter in a peaceful and calm way to avoid fuelling further violence and loss of life, she said. A spokesman for Rakhine State government confirmed that two Muslims were killed in the incident. Up to 140,000 people were displaced in two waves of sectarian unrest between Buddhists and Muslims in Rakhine last year that left about 200 people dead. The majority still languish in unsanitary camps prompting the UN to warn of the dangers disease poses to the vulnerable camp residents as the monsoon rains continue to batter the region. Myanmar views its population of roughly 800,000 Rohingya as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and, since the unrest, thousands have fled the region by sea. Outbreaks of deadly communal unrest have dampened international optimism about Myanmar s extensive political and economic reforms as it emerges from decades of harsh military rule. Religious unrest has also broken out elsewhere in the ethnically diverse country, with dozens of people dying in violence in central Myanmar in March that mainly targeted Muslims. AFP After tender, New Light of Myanmar set for overhaul AUNG SHIN koshumgtha@gmail.com THE state-run New Light of Myanmar will be privatised to allow Myanmar to have an international standard English daily by the time the Southeast Asian Games are held, a senior Ministry of Information official said on June 26. But in a surprise decision, the ministry awarded the tender to a company with little media experience ahead of experienced operators including investors in The Myanmar Times. The supervisory committee announced on June 14 that Global Direct Link Co won the tender, beating three other shortlisted companies: Logistics Media Services Co, Media One Co and Far Eastern Consolidated Media. The ministry called for tenders on March 25 in order to privatise the paper, and formed a committee to supervise the tender process. The tender submission deadline was April 25. Many companies applied for the tender, said U Ye Naing, general manager of the ministry s News and Periodicals Enterprise. We found some suitable candidates among those that applied but we chose Global Direct Link after we considered the company s financial and technical proficiency. Global Direct Link is a private Myanmar company that was registered in 2011 and conducts most of its business with Japanese firms. The company has no prior experience in the media industry but will bring in experts from Japanese news agency Kyodo News to provide technical assistance, U Ye Naing said. The Myanmar Times was unable to reach Global Direct Link s owner, U Tin Nyunt, for comment because he was travelling to Japan last week. We will now have to form a jointventure company to operate the newspaper and we are going to discuss in detail before we sign a memorandum of understanding with Global Direct Link. The current agreement is that share ownership will be split 51 percent to the News and Periodicals Enterprise and the remaining 49pc will be owned by Global Direct Link, U Ye Naing said. The iconic name of the newspaper, which has acted as a government mouthpiece for decades, will not be changed, he said. However, most of the newspaper s operations, ranging from editorial to financial management, will be overhauled. We need an international-standard English newspaper because we are going to host the Southeast Asian Games and chair ASEAN in 2014, he said. That s the main reason that we privatised the New Light of Myanmar. The new version will be a 16-page broadsheet and four colours. We are going to ask the newspaper s employees to retire or move to other departments. If they want to stay on with the newspaper they will have to apply for jobs. U Ye Naing said Global Direct Link and the enterprise have promised to invest K6 billion (about US$6 million) in the joint-venture. The ministry s investment will include land owned by the enterprise. The New Light of Myanmar was founded as the Working People s Daily on January 12, 1964, and was renamed on April 17, The government permitted private daily newspapers to begin printing on April 1 for the first time in 50 years. So far about 31 private daily newspapers have received licences.

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14 14 News THE MYANMAR TIMES JULY 1-7, 2013 Company to sue over occult accusations Actress facing defamation case after she accused Father Land chairman of performing black magic ceremony when property deal went sour ZON PANN PWINT FATHER Land Construction plans to sue a three-time Academy Awardwinning actress for defamation after she accused the company s chairman of performing an occult ceremony on the site they are jointly developing. The company put a notice in state-run newspapers on June 27 announcing it would take legal action against Daw Wah Wah Win Shwe for her comments, which were made at a press conference and in a notice in state newspapers. It also accused her of trying to find an excuse to back out of an agreement to pay Father Land K1.2 billion to build a 21-storey tower on the site of a former cinema on Bogyoke Aung San Road, and said she has only been able to pay threequarters of the contracted amount. Daw Wah Wah Win Shwe has delayed the date to make the contract for the new building because she couldn t give the money that she promised to give, the company said in the notice. She tarnished the reputation of the company by putting the advertisement in the newspaper accusing our company chairman of performing an occult ceremony on the site. The construction company will sue her for [the accusation] and a civil case has been filed to Yangon Region High Court to get compensation for the damage to its reputation. Daw Wah Wah Win Shwe announced in late June that she had cancelled her deal with Father Land Construction because the company had failed to meet its contracted construction targets. In April 2012 she contracted the company to build a 12-storey tower on the Su Htoo Pan Cinema site on Bogyoke Aung San Su Htoo Pan cinema on Bogyoke Aung San Road before it was demolished by Father Land Construction. Photo: Boothee Road, which she owns. The company received K900 million (about US$900,000) and the cinema building from Daw Wah Wah Win Shwe. Aside from the demolition of the old cinema and putting up a fence around the site, they haven t done anything in 14 months they haven t even begun laying the foundations for the new tower, Daw Wah Wah Win Shwe s son, U Win Htut Win, told The Myanmar Times. However, he said it was revelations that senior officials from the company had visited the site in the middle of the night and performed an occult ceremony lighting a candle on a piece of meat that prompted her to sever ties. Witnesses near the site saw it happening and informed us, he said. My mother called [the chairman of Father Land] on February 28 and asked whether he [performed the ceremony] and he confessed to having done it twice. At a June 23 press conference, Daw Wah Wah Win Shwe s family played what they said was a recording of the Father Land chairman confessing to the act. Witnesses to the incident also attended the press conference. U Win Htut Win said that following the phone conversation both sides had agreed to cancel the contract on March 25. Father Land officials said they would pay back the money, he said. Since then they have been avoiding us... We told [the chairman] that we don t want to work with him and asked him to return the money to us but he still hasn t, U Win Htut Win said, adding that the family is considering legal action. A spokesperson for Father Land, U Myo Myint, said the voice file played at the press conference was fake. He said a dispute between the two sides broke out in March. In December, the actress had asked to increase the size of the tower from 12 storeys, plus a penthouse and basement, to 21 storeys because of the site s prime location and soaring property prices, he said. We made a verbal agreement to build it in January this year and she gave an extra K100 million for the new construction. Then the company submitted the proposal to Yangon City Development Committee s Committee for Quality Control of High-rise Building Projects. The plan included space for a hotel, cinema, shopping mall and restaurants, he said. In March, Daw Wah Wah Win Shwe put an advertisement in staterun newspapers in an attempt to sell the extra apartments in the tower, he said. Shortly after, the committee told the company to submit a new plan for the tower. While we were carrying out the department s instruction, the problem with the lighting of the candle in front of the site arose, he said. U Win Htut Win said the construction company was at fault for not submitting an adequate construction plan to YCDC. It is not our job to draw the plan. We entrusted the task to them, he said. The company s June 27 notice said that because Daw Wah Wah Win Shwe had cancelled the contract unilaterally she would not be refunded the K900 million. If [Daw Wah Wah Win Shwe] makes a contract with [Father Land] to cancel the original contract to build a 12-storey tower the company will give back the site, it said. Anyone who trespasses on the site before a contract is made to cancel the previous contract will be charged. New infrastructure at risk over lack of building code, says expert AYE SAPAY PHYU ayephyu2006@gmail.com WITHOUT urgent changes in building codes Myanmar s burgeoning new infrastructure tall buildings, factories, dams and bridges could be swept away in a second, an earthquake expert says. The warning comes as a United Nations report reveals that earthquakes could cause up to US$100 million worth of damage to the country. The UN s Office for Disaster Risk Reduction s latest global assessment report, GAR 2013, puts the annual average loss (AAL) from earthquakes in Myanmar at an estimated US$10 million to $100 million. The report says economic risks are highly concentrated in countries with a high earthquake hazard. It also stated that about 76 percent of total global earthquake loss is concentrated in Asia. Myanmar is an earthquake-prone area because of the 1500-kilometre Sagaing fault, which stretches from northern Myanmar to the Gulf of Martaban. The most recent major quake occurred at Shwebo in November Measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale, it affected 24 townships in upper Myanmar. U Than Myint, president of the Myanmar Earthquake Committee, said the country was acting to reduce the damage from earthquakes. Cities are not like before. Populations are increasing. Buildings are now made of masonry and concrete and if they are not well constructed there will be loss of life in the event of an earthquake. New cities are coming up and exposure to risk is higher, he said. The building code should be developed to improve safety, because Myanmar is prone to hazards like earthquakes, landslides and cyclones. We are undertaking many development projects big structures, big factories and big dams. But if a big earthquake comes, all will be washed away within a second. That s why our country needs to follow the code and build better, he said. U Than Myint said Myanmar has been developing its National Building Code (MNBC) since mid-2011 and expects to finalise it in The provisional code is now being circulated for comments. We are polishing up our provisional code and will finalise it by 2014, he told an earthquake risk management workshop in Yangon in mid-may. He said the Committee for Quality Control of High-rise Building Projects applied earthquake-riskresistant design to buildings of nine storeys and above but they are not yet mandatory for lower-rise buildings. Earthquake-resistant design should be considered for all buildings. Simplified codes are needed If a big earthquake comes, all [new projects] will be washed away within a second. U Than Myint Myanmar Earthquake Committee chairman for use in towns and villages, said U Than Myint. He added that the 6.8 magnitude quake in Tarlay, Shan State, in 2011 proved the saying that earthquakes don t kill buildings do. The earthquake committee s survey report into the earthqauke, which left dozens dead, stated that about 90 percent of buildings in affected areas of eastern Shan State had not been properly designed.

15 News 15 Residents push USDP to return parkland SI THU LWIN A DISPUTE is brewing in Sagaing Region between residents and the Union Solidarity and Development Party over a 52-acre park that was given to its predecessor, the Union Solidarity and Development Association, 15 years ago. The park in Sagaing s Wetlet township was handed over to the USDA in 1998 with the agreement of five community leaders. However, residents say that it should be given back now that the association has transformed into a political party. We didn t see any benefits since the USDP took it over. U Aye Chan Aung Wetlet resident Residents submitted an application for permission to protest the issue to township police on June 4 but it was rejected on June 12. We will appeal to the regional police force because we feel that in rejecting our application the township police have denied us our rights as citizens, said U Htet Naing Kyaw, one of the leaders of the campaign for the park to be returned. Police rejected the application on the grounds that a response was pending from the president and government ministries. They also said the garden was given to the USDA voluntarily and not confiscated so the process of handing it back needs to take place through legal channels. Police also said they were concerned the issue could cause riots throughout the township, and in particular clashes between USDP members and demonstrators. Wetlet resident U Aye Chan Aung said it was unclear whether the government could order the USDP to hand the land back. The response from the police that we will have to go through the legal system to get it back is not appropriate because the original transfer did not take place officially either, he said. The park was built by collecting 25 pya (a quarter of K1) for each basket of paddy sold in the township from 1982 to About 8.6 acres are being used for government and private buildings and public spaces, while paddy is being cultivated on 17.8 acres. Another 25.7 acres are being used to grow other crops, said Ko Zaw Zaw Soe from Wetlet community group White Social Network. [Before it was given to the USDA] income from the park was used for community projects. But we didn t see any benefits since the USDP took it over. The five community leaders transferred it to the USDA but since it changed into a political party we want to take it back to use it for the development of our town, he said. Some of those involved in the transfer in 1998 have reportedly said they will help the community regain ownership of the land. The local USDP representative in the Sagaing Region hluttaw, U Ye Tint, who was one of the five community leaders who handed the park to the USDA in 1998, said he would not oppose the move. We didn t make any legal contract at the time for the handover, U Ye Tint said. I would like to say to residents that if they want to take it back they should do so according to the law. They have the right to do so and I will make no effort to stop them. Photo: Si Thu Lwin U Maung Win, one of the organisers of the Wetlet park campaign, speaks at a press conference in Mandalay on June 23. Farmer U Maung Win said the park was once a notable feature of the region but had deteriorated under the USDP s custodianship. If we can get the park back we will use the profit from its produce for health, education, fire hazard prevention, natural disaster preparedness and other infrastructure repair works, he said. Translated by Zar Zar Soe Japanese national arrested in Bagan SI THU LWIN sithulwin.mmtimes@gmail.com A JAPANESE national has been arrested at Bagan s Nyaung Oo Airport after airport officials allegedly found antiquities in his baggage when he tried to board a flight for Mandalay on June 24. The man was charged under section 7(5) of the 1957 Antiques Act by Nyaung Oo township police, the Mandalay Region police force office said. Those found guilty of exporting or attempting to export antiques face a sixmonth jail term, a fine or both. The man was allegedly carrying two lower jaw bones and two molars that are all thought to be fossils and a piece of petrified, or fossilised, Shorea robusta. The man said he had been given them by a boy near Bagan s Ananda Pagoda at about 3pm the previous day, police said. Seventeen lacquer items, including an antique monk s bowl and a wooden statue about 25 centimetres high, were also discovered in his baggage, police said. The law defines an antiquity as any object of archaeological interest and police said all items found could be considered antiques. The man is being held at Nyaung Oo police station. Translated by Zar Zar Soe

16 16 News THE MYANMAR TIMES JULY 1-7, 2013 A primary school student does homework by candlelight during a power blackout in Mandalay on June 24. Photo: Phyo Wai Kyaw Latest electricity cuts leave MDY govt red-faced PHYO WAI KYAW pwkyaw@gmail.com SI THU LWIN sithulwin.mmtimes@gmail.com THAN NAING SOE thennaingsoe@gmail.com SPARKS are flying in Mandalay as residents complain about the city s on-off electricity supply. On June 14, the stateowned daily newspaper Mandalay informed its readers that power would be available 24 hours a day starting a few days later. But just five days later, rotating power cuts four hour on, four hours off were announced. Then, on June 26, the regional electricity minister, U Myint Kyu, announced that the supply would resume full-time from the end of June. It was unclear why the power supply had dropped off at a time when the country s hydropower dams are replenishing, which should allow them to improve output following the annual lull during the hot season. After we made the initial announcement that supplies would improve, circumstances forced us to change it. We will supply as much as we can, said an official from the regional power supply enterprise, who asked not to be named. Residents and business owners expressed frustration at the unpredictability of the electricity supply in Mandalay and the customer service of the regional power office. We can t complete routine tasks, said Daw Sann, a housewife from Thinbawtan ward in Aung Myay Thar San township. Company clerk U Htin Linn from Maha Aung Myay township said that even when the power was on the voltage was inadequate. The power is only about volts. When we call to complain, nobody picks up the phone, he said. U Ye Win Aung, who owns a spare parts business in Mandalay s industrial zone, said his company received just two hours of electricity a day and even during those two hours it often cut out. He said businesses also had to cover the costs of installing electricity infrastructure. All transformers and electric cables in the industrial zone were provided by the business community. It s time Myanma Electrical Enterprise finally accepted its responsibilities. They should also provide electricity at rates comparable to those of neighbouring countries, he said. Union Minister for Electric Power U Khin Maung Soe told a workshop in Nay Pyi Taw last month that only 30 percent of Myanmar households received electricity as of April. In Mandalay Region, 37pc of homes are electrified, less than half of the 75pc in Yangon Region. Farmer digs up Pyu antiques SI THU LWIN sithulwin.mmtimes@gmail.com A FARMER from Sagaing Region s Myinmu township has uncovered gold and silver relics thought to date from an ancient Pyu settlement. Ko Than Zaw found antiques while ploughing his fields in Tha Man Taw village in early June. The objects have been handed over to the archaeological department but not before Ko Than Zaw tried to sell them to a jeweller in Mandalay. The gold and silver in the items is thought to have a market price of more than K10 million (about US$10,000). We checked that these antiques had not been stolen and confirmed that he had actually found them in his own field so we advised him to transfer them to the Department of Archaeology, said Police Major Soe Nyein of the Mandalay Region police force office. Ko Than Zaw was ploughing his fields in the first week of June when he struck something that looked like a silver bowl. It was later found to be a stack of two silver cups. He then discovered more items in the area, including about 25 small and large gold ornaments with a floral design, a square-shaped gold locket with an embossed floral design, about 700 small gold rings, 16 colourful jewels and five miniature jade statues. He initially kept them in his house but on June 22 took the items to a jewellery store at Man Myo Market in Mandalay s Maha Aung Myay township. The jeweller suspected that the items were antiques and informed the police. This was later confirmed by archaeological experts. Archaeologist Tampawaddy U Win Maung said similar antiques had been uncovered in the area two or three times before. He said the area was once home to a Pyu city known as Alakatpa. When [Alakatpa] was destroyed by conflict during the reign of King Pyu Saw Hti, people buried the items as they fled, he said. These antiques date back to that Pyu era most likely the third to fifth centuries AD. Translated by Win Thaw Tar

17 Villagers wait on protest over ward election AUNG YE THWIN HLAING KYAW SOE VILLAGERS in Myinmu township, Sagaing Region, are demanding democracy. They have been waiting more than three months for a response to their complaint that the administrator they selected according to the Ward and Village-tract Administration Law has still not been appointed. The process began last December, when Padathtaine village selected U Kyaw Swe as their administrator, on the basis of votes cast by the heads of each 10-household group, and asked the township administrator to appoint him. But though local administrators have been duly appointed in the other 51 villages of Myinmu township, events in Padathtaine took a more complicated turn. Complainants have now signed a petition setting out their grievance. One of them, U Pho Pyar, told The Myanmar Village elders never responded to our invitation to resolve this problem through negotiation. U Thein Zaw Administrator for Myinmu News 17 In Mandalay, a US$2m dream Residents in one of the city s most deprived and unhealthy areas are hopeful that a proposed grant from the Asian Development Bank will help transform their community and their lives PHYO WAI KYAW pwkyaw@gmail.com I WAS surprised and shocked when I saw the dramatic opening scene of Slumdog Millionaire, where the young lead jumps into an open latrine in a slum in Mumbai in order to meet his hero. However, those same feelings of shock arose again recently along with a heightened sense of smell when I visited a large slum in Mandalay s Myayi Nandar ward, on the eastern edge of Chan Mya Tharsi township. And just like the star of Slumdog Millionaire, the inhabitants of the Myayi Nandar slum are also in desperate need of a large cash prize in this case a US$2 million infrastructure investment from the Asian Development Bank to boost their living standards. The slum s residents live in bamboo thatch dwellings barely 300 square feet in size, sometimes with four families crammed under each roof and open latrines invariably close by sometimes only 5 feet away. These latrines are beside the cooking areas and only a few of the better homes have small drains that operate as makeshift baths. Daw Byar Sein, a 62-year-old slum resident, said most of the people in Myayi Nandar have one main aim fixing the toilets. I want to repair just the latrine and don t have hope for much else, she said on June 17. We have planned for a long time to fix the toilet but the years pass by and we get older. We never have enough money to get the work done. My husband recently suffered a stroke and was paralysed but we don t have anywhere else to live. We just keep hoping that one day we ll be able to fix the toilets. Daw Byar Sein said she used to recycle bottles, paper and cardboard but no longer works. She lives with 13 relatives under the one roof. The Daw Thaung Ye cooks a meal at her home in Chan Mya Tharsi s Myayi Nandar ward in Mandalay last month. Photo: Phyo Wai Kyaw last time a new latrine was dug by the family was when Daw Byar Sein first moved in 20 years ago. It is this level of poverty that has prompted ADB and Mandalay City Development Committee (MCDC) to study the area as part of a US$2-million integrated development project that aims to improve living conditions in the area. MCDC has made three visits to the slum since February, residents said. They came to visit our houses one by one and looked at the latrines, which are all full and overflowing, resident U Win Naing said on June 17. They also took photos and water samples from our wells. We are so glad they came and hope they will support us by fixing the drains, water supply and latrines, he said. However, we also hope they move quickly because nothing has happened yet. Ward administrator U Khin Maung Nyo said he was told that conditions in the ward were worse than slums in the Philippines. I have learned that the support could start being provided this month, which will help the people living here, he said. Senior MCDC official U Htun Kyi said on June 12 that he hoped that the ADB assistance would extend to providing financial support to slum dwellers, as well as fixing the toilets and water supply. MCDC figures show there are about 2400 residents living in 500 huts in the slum and most are casual labourers. The area was settled in the early 1990s as a place for people who previously lived on the streets. U Win Naing said the first batch of residents were forcibly moved to the area then empty fields and told to build homes. He said disease and sickness stalk residents: In the past three years two people have been killed by cholera, while dengue haemorrhagic fever used to be a common problem. We are all hoping to get some support and I don t want to see this hope dashed. And if we get new toilets... Well, I think we ll all feel like actors who have won an Academy Award. Times that the dispute arose after twice the required number of community leaders were selected to oversee the vote. The township administrator told the village to select five village elders [to manage the election] through the will of people. But the then-village administrator, U Zaw Myo Oo, secretly chose five people without consulting residents. At the same time, the village clerk, U Aung Kyaw Zaw, selected five elders through public consultation so that the village actually proposed 10 elders, he said. U Pho Pyar said the township police officer sided with U Zaw Myo Oo and annulled the results, prompting the villagers to submit the complaint in March. They say that U Zaw Myo Oo has been continuing to act as the village administrator. Township administrator U Thein Zaw said he decided to annul the December 26, 2012, election and instead appoint a village administrator who met the necessary criteria because there was a lack of unity in the village. Village elders never responded to our invitations to resolve this problem through negotiation, he said. And when the district administrator went to the village, U Kyaw Swe admitted that they were wrong. We will select a village administrator by vote according to the will of the people. Translated by Thit Lwin

18 18 News THE MYANMAR TIMES JULY 1-7, 2013 OPINION Leadership needed on illegal wildlife trade Myanmar should use its position as the chair of ASEAN in 2014 to take a stand on the illegal wildlife trade, which proliferates along its borders FEAT KALA MULQUEENY WILLIAM SCHAEDLA LAST month, government, industry and civil society leaders descended on Nay Pyi Taw for the World Economic Forum on East Asia. With Myanmar poised to take over as chair of ASEAN in 2014, the gathering marked a new milestone in Myanmar s political and regional leadership. One important issue, however, was not discussed. As chair of ASEAN, Myanmar needs to address the illegal wildlife trade. Not only an environmental issue, it also has economic, security and health implications. This year, the United Nations called illegal wildlife trafficking a serious transnational criminal activity that has fuelled and funded conflicts, terrorism, and other illicit activities. Myanmar has some of the world s greatest biodiversity. Its northern forest complex is home to elephants, bears, leopards and hundreds of species of birds. At the core of the forest lies an 8500 square mile tract the Hukawng Valley Wildlife Sanctuary that is the world s largest tiger reserve. Myanmar also has the most elephants in Southeast Asia. To protect this biodiversity, Myanmar has an elaborate system of forest laws that predate the military government. In 1994 Myanmar also enacted the Protection of Wildlife and Wild Plants and Conservation of Natural Areas Law, which forbids the possession, sale or export of endangered animals or their parts and carries fines of K30,000-K50,000 or imprisonment of up to seven years. Three years later, Myanmar signed the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES). In 2010, Myanmar chaired the fifth annual meeting of ASEAN-Wildlife Enforcement Networks and in 2011 created a national inter-agency Wildlife Enforcement Law Enforcement Task Force. Continuing this trend, the new government has committed to banning all timber exports from next year. However, reports suggest there is significant trade in elephants, Asiatic bears, sun bears, tigers, leopards, snow leopards, cloud leopards, turtles, tortoises and pangolins from Myanmar to its neighbours. Bears are hunted for their gall bladder and bile, which are used in traditional Chinese medicine. Big cat parts, such as whole skins, paws, bones and penises, are used for religious amulets, decorative pieces, aphrodisiacs and traditional Chinese medicine. Wildlife products, including bear paws, wild cat parts, and loris and deer horns, on sale in Mong La s main market. Photo: Supplied Moreover, the factors that make Myanmar a potential hub for regional trade also make it an ideal transit point for the illegal wildlife trade. Myanmar shares porous borders with China, Bangladesh, India, Laos and Thailand. One study by TRAFFIC, a global non-government organisation dedicated to monitoring the illegal wildlife trade, found that markets in Shan State at Mong La, near the China border, and Tachileik, on the Thai border were transit points for big cat body parts. In just a 12-day period, TRAF- FIC researchers found parts from at least 215 bears being openly traded in these border markets. The research showed that despite its wildlife laws, enforcement in Myanmar is at most ad hoc and of low priority in areas under the control of non-state armed groups. Why is this a problem? From experience in other countries we know that wildlife crime destroys biodiversity and the services that healthy ecosystems provide. The illegal wildlife trade deprives governments of direct revenue from sales of statemanaged natural resources and avoids indirect revenue from taxes on private sector exports. It prevents local communities obtaining sustainable livelihoods, and smallscale poachers receive just a fraction of what end-users pay. It can undermine national security because insurgent groups often support their activities via sales of contraband, including wildlife. It also poses serious threats to health as the transport of wildlife products can spread disease. These challenges are not unique to Myanmar they occur across Southeast Asia. Thailand and Vietnam, for example, came under scrutiny in March this year at the 16 th CITES meeting in Bangkok. Thailand was criticised for failing to properly regulate its national ivory trade, with legal loopholes allowing imported foreign ivory to be passed off as a legal domestic product. Vietnam was told that rhino horn smuggling was increasing across its borders. These issues are of serious international importance: African countries spend millions of dollars annually on protection efforts and clashes with heavily armed militant groups cost dozens of rangers their lives each year. Both Thailand and Vietnam are taking strong measures to address the crisis. With greater openness, escalating regional demand from China and other ASEAN countries and realisation of the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015, the problem is likely to accelerate. Under moves toward economic integration, any inconsistencies in national laws or enforcement will see wildlife criminals moving to exploit the weakest nations in the regional grouping. To address this issue, the European Union established a common CITES framework that encompassed all of its member states when it was first formed. ASEAN would benefit from adopting a similarly consistent approach to wildlife laws and enforcement. As Myanmar assumes the ASEAN chairmanship in 2014 and plays a key role in leading the 10-member group toward the ASEAN Economic Community, it should steer ASE- AN toward adopting a strong framework to stop the illegal wildlife trade and ensure it is enforced. Kala Mulqueeny is a principal counsel at the Asian Development Bank and was a Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum. William Schaedla is Southeast Asia director of TRAFFIC, a joint program of the World Wildlife Fund and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Sculptor U Soe Thein carves a piece of ivory in his Mandalay workshop in August Photo: Kyay Mohn Ivory sculptors lam Tougher rules on sourcing raw ivory, high prices and the ban o KYAY MOHN WIN kyaymonewin@gmail.com THESE are grim times for Myanmar s oncebooming trade in ivory products. Young apprentices are not entering the business, raw materials are short because of laws designed to stop poaching and craftsmen are declining in numbers. Though customer interest is still high, the global reaction to the mass slaughter of elephants that resulted in the 1989 ban on ivory smuggling and the adoption of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has taken its toll. Today, barely 30 ivory sculptors are still in business in Myanmar. The amount of ivory available today is probably just 20 percent of what it was when I started learning to be an ivory sculptor two decades ago. Prices are much higher and it s hard to train people because we can t risk wasting the materials. Ivory carving needs patience and time, and young people aren t interested. I have only five pupils in my workshop, said sculptor U Myint Than. The number of ivory shops has also fallen, with only three in Mandalay and one in Yangon. Each shop has about 10 sculptors, said an industry source. In each shop, there are one or two ivory craftsmen with the professional skills to do Myanmar traditional designs, said Daw Thet Wai Yi of Nan Myint Myanmar Traditional Ivory Carving Shop. We have two sculptors for Myanmar traditional design and three more who create designs for Chinese buyers. Seven other sculptors make ivory rosaries and bangles. The few sculptors who are still working can ask higher salaries... which reduces my profit, she said. She said the price of ivory had gradually risen to nearly K1 million a viss (1 viss equals 1.6 kilograms or 3.6 pounds). Until 1997, she said, 1 viss of ivory was generally about the same price as a tical of gold, which last week was K707,000. Sculptors obtain the ivory legally from the owners of elephants that have died. Tusks are also normally trimmed every three months to reduce the danger they pose to people, and these materials can be sold. We have difficulty buying ivory. One elephant was valued at about K1.5 million to K2 million, so the animal owners normally sell ivory from a dead elephant so they can buy another. Two sets of tusks can keep us in work for a year, said Daw Thet Wai Yi. The amount of ivory available today is probably just 20 percent of what it was two decades ago. U Myint Than Mandalay-based ivory sculptor

19 URE News 19 3MDG issues $2.3m grant to strengthen health system YAMON PHU THIT Yangon General Hospital. Photo: Boothee THE prescription: US$2.3 million, to be administered over two years, in support of the health system in Myanmar. That is the figure the Three Millennium Development Goal Fund (3MDG) has pledged to augment and improve the country s existing health-care system. The donation comes as a result of a May 19 agreement with the World Bank and Myanmar partners and policymakers, including the Ministry of Health. Investing in better health systems is key to achieving better health for all, said Dr Paul Sender, the fund s director. The collaboration will create a robust foundation for a stronger health system, which is essential if Myanmar is to achieve rapid gains in terms of poverty alleviation and rural development. The money will be used to build the capacity of the Ministry of Health in the areas of health-care financing, management and delivery. It will also be used to help set priorities and develop a coherent strategic plan for achieving equal access to quality affordable health care, Dr Sender said. The long-term goal, Dr Sender said, is the establishment of financially sustainable universal access to health care in order to prevent people from falling into poverty or experiencing greater hardship due to illness. National policymakers, including the Ministry of Finance and Revenue, the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development and partners in health service delivery, are an important part of the project, he said. Our partnership with the World Bank will provide a wealth of global experience and best practice knowledge in order to work toward improved health, well-being and longevity for all, Dr Sender said. The 3MDG Fund was established in June 2012 by bilateral donors, which have provided US$300 million for activities over five years. It supports health service provision and in particular aims to help the country meet the three health-related Millennium Development Goals of reducing child mortality, improving maternal health and combating HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. Win ent fading craft n exports appear to spell the end for traditional ivory carvers We can also get from 3 to 10 inches of ivory from a live animal, twice a year. Chinese and Thais believe ivory cut from a living elephant is better, and they used it for statues or rosaries, she said. Ivory even in powder form can sell for K50,000 a kilo for use in cosmetics, she added. But the flexibility in the law has not stopped the illegal killing of elephants for their ivory. As The Myanmar Times reported in March, poaching has been a major factor in the decline of the elephant population, which government figures show has fallen from more than 4600 in 1991 to as low as Officials from the Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry s Nature and Wildlife Conservation Division concede that they have been unable to stop the trade in ivory, though they have taken action against people who killed elephants illegally. At least 18 elephants were killed between 2011 and 2013, mostly for their ivory. On January 28, a 15-year-old elephant was killed in Bago Region, and its ivory and molars removed. The forestry department arrested one suspect, but two others escaped. Myanmar law also bans the export of elephants or products derived from them, including ivory items. The government has threatened several times to enforce the law in March 2011, for example, it warned foreign tourists that ivory bought in Myanmar would be confiscated at Yangon International Airport when they leave the country but there is no evidence that it has followed through on these threats. All sculptors interviewed for this article said most of their customers were foreigners, particularly Chinese and Thai visitors. Most customers are Chinese. They usually buy ivory jewellery and utensils such as bangles and chopsticks. They will spend from K10,000 to K600,000. Western buyers don t buy large items because ivory is banned in their countries, though they are fond of ivory sculpture, said one seller who asked not to be named. Some buyers believe that ivory jewellery and utensils are good for health, and that ivory chopsticks change colour if touched by poisoned food, he said. Daw Thet Wai Yi said demand from Western countries declined sharply in the early 2000s because of stricter enforcement of antiivory laws abroad. She said that some still buy one or two items, sometimes asking sellers to dye the ivory. But she said demand from Chinese buyers has also dropped because of restrictions on trade in ivory products put in place there in The ivory industry will no longer flourish because of limited raw materials and the declining number of professionals. But we will continue carvings as long as we have the raw material, she said. She said she thought it was important that ivory sculpting skills were preserved as befitting a traditional art form. U Myint Than said he was also worried the trade would die out. When I started learning ivory sculpture, it was very popular, he said. I love sculpting and I don t want the art to disappear. Translated by Zar Zar Soe

20 20 News THE MYANMAR TIMES JULY 1-7, 2013 Rebuilding the state education system Minister for Education U Mya Aye talks to The Myanmar Times about international support for education reform, plans to add an extra year of schooling in , disciplining headmasters for accepting broker fees and responding to the ministry s critics AUNG SHIN koshumgtha@gmail.com The first step in the education reform process is the Comprehensive Education Sector Review (CESR), which is being conducted jointly with international donors and NGOs. What is the status of the CESR and when will some of its main recommendations be implemented? The review has already been completed in both lower and upper Myanmar and the results discussed with regional chief ministers, regional social welfare ministers, parents, ethnic minority community leaders, parliamentarians and civil society members. Civil society organisations have openly asked to amend some points, particularly about the expansion to a 12 th year of schooling, and I will follow their requests. For example, [we ve been asked] whether we will adopt a (five years of primary school, four years of middle school, three years of high school) or a system. We are still not sure which one will be adopted but not doing so has left us behind other ASEAN countries. We are the only nation in the region that hasn t added a 12 th year of schooling. For this school year we are trialling it in the Nay Pyi Taw Council area. Depending on how the trial proceeds we will propose it to the hluttaw. If the hluttaw approves, it will be introduced for the next academic year [ ]. The education budget has risen about K300 billion (about US$290 million) to K900 billion in How will you use that additional funding? There are many things we need to do. This year the education budget is K903 billion. We are going to build about 40,000 educational buildings. We are going to appoint new teachers between 30,000 and 40,000 at the primary, middle and high school levels. We are going to build toilets: The current ratio is one toilet to 70 students and we will change this to one in 50. And we are going to build 53 offices for district education officers. Children study at a rural school. Photo: Kaung Htet But I thought that in an earlier hluttaw session the ministry said there was no need to build offices for these district education officers? Yes, that s right. But the offices are necessary. If the district education officer does not have an office then there will be a weak link in the chain. Now the district education officer has been upgraded to deputy director level. They will even have a car. International agencies are making contributions to support reform in the Ministry of Education. Who exactly is involved? They are contributing a lot. AusAID has contributed US$80 million over four years for the CESR, while UNICEF and Japan International Cooperation Agency are also giving assistance. The World Bank will give assistance too: It will award scholarships to outstanding students who cannot afford education. [The World Bank] has also promised to help with education infrastructure. The Asian Development Bank will also give us assistance. What other reforms being carried out in the ministry? We are making a lot of changes. We have added about 4200 schools last year, enabling villages to have their own school, and also upgraded some schools. We sent about 800 scholars to other countries for further study last year. Previously primary headmasters received less than a high school headmaster but now they receive the same if they do their job properly. And we also transferred teachers back to their hometowns because it is normally more convenient if they can live together with their familyt. We are trying to carry out these changes quickly; we don t want to have any unfinished tasks in three years time when the next government takes office. When journalists try to interview staff and teachers from the education department, they say that they were ordered by their superiors [in the Ministry of Education] not to say anything. Is that true? In my opinion, it is not correct. In such a transparent era, how can I stop them from talking to the media? I have given teachers autonomy. However, they should not talk nonsense. When we interviewed teachers, we found that it was true. And in small towns teachers are scared of the township-level education officers. The Ministry of Education is not trying to control anybody. I used to be a teacher. I chose this career because I wanted to do it. As you know, you need to be interested in teaching but also benevolent and willing to make sacrifices to be a good teacher. Nobody forced them to do this job. They chose it themselves. After they have made this choice, they should try to be happy with it. However, some people are not happy. Our education ministry has about 360,000 staff the second-highest number after the Ministry of Defence. Have there been any cases where you took disciplinary action against teachers because they did not observe the ministry s rules? Yes, there are. We took action against a school because it took school entrance fees even though we have asked them not to do it. This happened in Yangon this year. In the democratic era, there may be people who want to turn back and if there are then we will have to work out who they are. If we know who they are, we will warn them. If they don t stop after receiving a warning, we will take action. Because I used to be a teacher, I don t want to do this. But if we don t do it, the ministry will be ruined. We will go backward instead of forward. How then will you take action against the school officials who took entrance fees? The headmaster will be forced to retire. We will also charge the middleman. Because we worry that headmasters will ask for contributions from parents, the government has given them petty cash ranging from K50,000 to K1 million starting from this year. It is up to the headmaster how this is spent. People are still saying that the education ministry is not transparent. How do you respond to that? Some people who are not aware of the real situation may say that What is important is sincerity. In a democratic era, we are prone to criticism. We can t do anything if we are cursed at. Translated by Thit Lwin OPINION Why religious tolerance and democracy cannot be separated NEHGINPAO KIPGEN newsroom@myanmartimes.com.mm LIKE many other countries around the world, Myanmar is a multi-religious state. Religion has been a sensitive and divisive issue since independence. Ministry of Foreign Affairs data shows 89.2 percent of citizens are Buddhist. The next largest religions are Christianity (5pc), Islam (3.8pc), animism (1.2pc) and Hinduism (0.5pc). The government regularly declares that religious intolerance or discrimination is nonexistent, a claim reiterated by Pyithu Hluttaw Speaker Thura U Shwe Mann on June 13 during his United States visit. However, this assertion seems to contradict the reality on the ground. Though there is no official state religion, successive governments have shown some degree of preference for Buddhism, which is largely among the Bamar, Rakhine, Shan, Mon and Chinese populations. The 2008 constitution formally grants freedom of worship but it also contains broad exceptions that allow the government to restrict religious freedom. During the years of parliamentary democracy, from 1948 to 1962, the mostly Bamar civilian government openly supported Buddhism. Leaders in the government donated large sums to fund and maintain Buddhist monuments. The country s decades-old armed conflicts are also partly rooted in religious differences. For example, the Kachin people, who are predominantly Christians, were opposed to the introduction of Buddhism as state religion in the national parliament under the leadership of Prime Minister U Nu. The Kachin construed the move as an act of Burmese chauvinism. For decades, the Kachin have lived with deep distrust toward the central government. While political demands have been at the heart of the conflict, the failure to reconcile religious differences has also hindered a peace deal between the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) and the government. The KIO is the only major armed group yet to agree to a ceasefire with the government, despite reaching a preliminary agreement on May 30. More evidence of religious divisions can be seen in the conflict in Kayin State. When the Karen National Union (KNU), which reached an historic agreement with the government in January 2012, split in 1994, it did so largely along religious lines. While the majority of Kayin people are Buddhist, most of the KNU leadership is Christian. Because of alleged religious discrimination and abuses of power, a breakaway faction, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), was formed. After the split the DKBA with support from the Myanmar army attacked the Karen National Liberation Army, the armed wing of the KNU, for several years. The religious division remains apparent. The clearest example is the simmering tension between Muslims and Buddhists. While the physical violence has stopped, the tension still lingers. This tension has also tarnished the image of Myanmar s Buddhist monks, who are widely revered, as some appear to hold quite radical views. During a two-day meeting of more than 200 monks in Yangon in mid- June, U Wirathu, an ultra-nationalist Buddhist monk, proposed an interreligious marriage law under which anyone who marries a Buddhist woman would have to convert to Buddhism. The proposed law also requires any Buddhist woman seeking to marry a Muslim man to first gain permission from her parents and local government officials. Failure to comply with the law could bring a jail term of up to 10 years and result in the confiscation of property. While the law is just a draft, it is indicative of the broad distrust between Buddhists and Muslims. This attitude is also manifested in the 969 movement, which teaches that minority Muslims threaten racial purity and national security. The campaign also encourages Buddhists not to do business with Muslims and only support shops owned by fellow Buddhists. History shows a trend of religion as a source of division in Myanmar society not only under civilian but also military rule. For example, one could not be promoted to a high-ranking military officer unless he converted to Buddhism. As the democratisation process continues the different branches of government legislature, executive and judiciary need to take judicious steps to prevent history from repeating itself. Myanmar needs to build a secular state where religion is completely separate from politics. The freedom to choose any religion must be protected and respect for another person s religion needs to be encouraged. The freedom to practise any religion should be a fundamental democratic right not a privilege. Unless the necessary remedial steps are taken, Myanmar will be left with a society with perpetual suspicion between members of different religious groups. The threat of religious violence will be everpresent. It is imperative that this delicate but crucial issue be addressed constitutionally as well as practically. In doing so, the interests of different religious groups need to be taken into account. Religious tolerance should be an integral element of the democratic transition. But it also needs to go beyond the government and legislature. In a country where religion has historically played a significant role in politics it is imperative that a culture of tolerance toward other religions takes root. Nehginpao Kipgen is general secretary of the US-based Kuki International Forum. He researches the politics of South and Southeast Asia, with a strong focus on Myanmar.

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22 22 THE MYANMAR TIMES July 1-7, 2013 Business Parliament aims to drive up investor confidence New laws on banking, special economic zones, competition, patent rights and intellectual property will be considered in this session of parliament Aye ThidA KyAw A COLLECTION of laws that aim to earn the trust of international investors will be debated during this sitting of parliament, officials said last week. Laws that will govern the central bank and special economic zones have been completed and will be submitted to parliament soon, said Pyithu Hluttaw representative U Aye Mauk, who is also secretary of the lower house s planning and financial development committee. However, other legislation on intellectual property, fair competition and patent rights is still being drafted and will be submitted by the relevant ministries when ready, he said. Tatsuo Murao, a Japanese lawyer and a founder of Cast Consulting (Myanmar), said the new legislation will encourage Japanese conglomerates like Toyota, Nissan and Honda to set up subsidiaries here. He said there are two reasons why they remain shy about Myanmar: inadequate infrastructure; and undeveloped laws and regulations, and administration systems, to protect intellectual property rights. Infrastructure can be improved within a few years, but protection of intellectual property will take more time. Legal reform is long overdue, Mr Marao said, pointing out that the Myanmar Companies Act has not been updated since it was promulgated in 1914 during the colonial period. U Thein Aung, a lawyer for Myanmar Patent and Trademark law firm in Yangon, who is also involved in writing the intellectual property draft law, said the government must move quickly to protect intellectual It is not enough to modify old laws. We have to make new ones. U Thein Aung lawyer Myanmar Patent and Trademark A worker at Toyota s new service shop in Yangon polishes a vehicle. New legislation protecting businesses could result in more investment from Japanese conglomerates, legal experts say. Photo: Boothee property by passing laws and training governmental staff to enforce them. The foreign investment law enacted last November, with the accompanying rules and regulations laid out in January, was only a start, he added. Some information concerning intellectual property is included in this law, but there is a need to promulgate the IP law immediately. Copyright, trademark and arbitration legislation is out of date, U Thein Aung said. It is not enough to modify old laws. We need to make news ones. Mr Muao said some Japanese executives have the misunderstanding that Myanmar lacks a legal and regulatory framework for business. The problem is not the lack of legislation but its complexity, he added. Myriad laws and regulation were drafted in different periods and against different backgrounds. Some laws of the Burma Code [based on] common law remain valid, along with laws and regulations established during each sitting of the Union Parliament, the socialist regime, the military regime and the current government. Mr Murao described the lack of laws to protect intellectual property as a huge barrier to investment. The International Intellectual Property Alliance, a private sector lobby group of associations representing more than 3,200 US copyright-based companies, agrees. It called for close examination of intellectual property rights in Myanmar as well as market access to trade in copyright-related goods and services, as part of the review of Myanmar s bid for inclusion in the US generalised system of preferences (GSP). The GSP review should include gaining an understanding of how [Myanmar] will provide creative industries, including film, music, games, books and journals, and software the ability to do business in the country, it said at a public hearing on the GSP in Washington on June 4. One criteria for deciding whether a country is eligible for GSP benefits is the extent to which such country is providing adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights, it told the hearing. Mr Murao said protection of Japanese firms IP will lead to more investment in and technoloy transfers to small- and-medium-sized enterprises here, which he identified as the force of change in Myanmar. Myanmar, like ASEAN s other developing members, must upgrade technological competence so it can reduce its reliance on imports, he added. Restricting imports will be difficult for Myanmar since it is party to international trade agreements that prevent protectionism, Mr Murao said. About 100 Japanese businesses have set up representative offices here but most are just investigating the market, he said. Japanese firms are interested in manufacturing, trading and logistics, construction and large infrastructure projects, he added.

23 BuSINESS EdITor: Vincent MacIsaac Gas to begin flowing to China this month BUsiness 25 Foreign demand driving condo rents sky high property 28 Euro Malay Ringitt SG Dollar Thai Baht US Dollar Exchange Rates (June 28 close) Currency Buying K1253 K310 K759 K31.5 K970 Selling K1273 K320 K771 K32.5 K Kyat resumes slide against US dollar Central bank says speculators aim to weaken the currency and pledges to intervene if the market gets out of hand Myanmar, HK plan investment promotion deal MyAT MAy Zin THE governments of Myanmar and Hong Kong have agreed to negotiate a bilateral investment promotion and protection agreement and another on double taxation will follow, the financial secretary of the special administrative region of China said. John Tsang said the deal will provide certainty and clarity to businesses in both jurisdictions and that negotiations should be fairly straight -forward. He made the comments following a luncheon in Yangon for a delegation of officials and executives from Hong Kong on June 27. The luncheon was organised by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Singapore and the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry. Federation chairman U Win Aung urged Hong Kong manufacturers to concentrate on businesses that can create better jobs for our people. Myanmar s recent readmission to the European Union s generalised scheme of preferences creates opportunities for companies seeking duty-free access to that market, he said. Mr Tsang said there is an upsurge of interest in Myanmar among Hong Kong businesspeople, describing them as very excited about opportunities here. These are extraordinary times for Myanmar s development, he said. Hong Kong-owned factories in China s industrial heartland, the Pearl River Delta, are shifting to Southeast Asia because of labour shortages and rising prices there. Myanmar will be a beneficiary of this trend, Mr Tsang said. He also encouraged executives in Myanmar to consider Hong Kong as a platform for accessing mainland China and other markets, saying that companies incorporated in Hong Kong have tariff-free access to mainland China. Hong Kong banks also offer renminbi trade settlement, allowing companies to reduce volatility and currency risk by conducting trade in China s currency, Mr Tsang said. Aye ThidA kyaw ayethidarkyaw@gmail.com LICENSED currency-exchange services last week began restricting the sale of US dollars as the kyat resumed its slide against the greenback, bankers said. With the kyat falling faster on the black market, licensed traders said they were unable to maintain profitability at the rate the central bank allows them to charge. We lose money if the difference between the official and black market rates is K20-K30 to the dollar, Daw Theingi Nwe, general manager of Co-operative Bank, said on June 26. We are only selling large sums to customers who urgently need dollars and can show documentation to prove it, she added. I would not be at all surprised to hear that speculators are active. sean Turnell Economics Professor Maquarie university Currency traders said they began applying restrictions including a requirement that buyers show proof of need, such as export documents on June 24, the first day of trading for the week. Licensed currency traders are tied to the daily rate set by the central bank and can only trade at plus or minus 0.8 percent of it. U Zaw Lin Htut, senior general manager of Kanbawza Bank s international banking division, said the bank was unable to keep up with the black market. A lot of customers just buy from us and sell to others, but we don t want to encourage market speculation, U Zaw Lin Htut said. On June 26, the central bank s rate was K959 to the dollar. Licensed traders were buying dollars for K959 and selling them for K966. On the black market, however, the greenback was trading for up to K1000. After strengthening slightly in early June, the kyat has weakened by about 0.1 or 0.2pc a day at central bank auctions, although the fall has been more pronounced on the open market. A black market trader at Kyauktada market said the US dollar had shot up as the international price of gold fell from US$1300 to $1275 a tical and the dollar strengthened against a number of other major currencies. He said informal money changers in Yangon had to follow gold and currency trading trends set in nearby Shwebonthar Street in Pabedan township, where brokers make large deals in gold, currencies and gems. The deals are based on data from Bloomberg s financial website. An official from the central bank s foreign exchange management department said the bank monitors the black market daily. The information that we have collected suggests that a group of people are working to weaken the kyat, but we stand ready to intervene if the situation gets out of hand, the official said. Sean Turnell, an economics professor at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, said exchange rate volatility can be expected in transition scenarios such as in Myanmar. I would not be at all surprised to hear that speculators are active. An extra dimension in Myanmar of course is the fact that a formal foreign exchange market was long suppressed, so we have little real idea what its equilibrium rate might be (around which daily movements could be expected to fluctuate). Many exchange rates are volatile at the moment, including Australia s, he said, adding that he expects the kyat to settle near and around 1000 to the US dollar. Foreign exchange markets often anchor over psychologically comforting benchmarks like this, Mr Turnell said. Hong Kong Financial Secretary John Tsang said global factors are also at play. When the world is in crisis investors seek safety, he said on June 27. Funds are also flowing back to the United States in expectation of higher interest rates on long-term government bonds there, Mr Tsang said. Myanmar will have to get used to volatility, he added.

24 24 Business THE MYANMAR TIMES July 1-7, 2013 Farms face labour shortage BrieFs su phyo win AS the population shifts from rural areas to cities, farms are facing acute labour shortages and higher costs, farm owners say. We have to pay workers more than before and give them advance pay and free meals, said U Soe Khaing, a farmer from Laymyatnhar township in Ayeyarwady Region. Workers began becoming scarce last year and the problem has intensified this year, he said. Some farmers have had to reduce the amount of land they cultivate because they cannot find workers, he added. Farm yields are at least 20 percent less than they were and the quality of paddy is not as high. U Thein Aung, president of the Independent Farmers Association, said low wages and lack of regular work had driven more than half of farm workers to cities. With the price of rice low and farmers struggling to repay debts, farm owners can t offer wages that will attract workers. Workers are going abroad, especially to Thailand and Malaysia, often illegally, he said. Only elderly people and children remain in villages, U Thein Aung added. Ko Mg Mg Gyi, who used to work on a farm in Shwebo township in Sagaing Region, said he went to Malaysia last year to earn money to support his family of 10. Ko Mg Mg Gyi said he earned K400,000 a month at a factory in Malaysia, compared to the about K30,000 he earned in his village. Up to 70 percent of his village s adults had left the village in search of work, he said. Yangon gold price dips, but not enough to attract buyers Gold traders said demand for the metal was down last week, even as the price fell below K700,000 a tical (0.576 ounces). Even though the gold price has fallen to less than K700,000 a tical, we are seeing sales fall, said u Kyaw Win of u Htone Gold Smith Shop, who is also a senior vice president of Myanmar Gold development Public Company. By June 28 a tical of gold was selling for about K677,000, while the international price was about us$1203 an ounce. u Kyaw Win blamed the season for the price fall. This is not a time for people to be spending money on gold, he said, adding that farmers were concentrating on crops and parents were focused on school for their children. Sales are down by about 30 percent compared with May, he said. Sanyamin Aung Yangon Ministry moves to promote access to western markets A CENTrE for trade promotion and information will be launched in yangon by the end of the year to take advantage of duty-free access to Western markets, a commerce ministry official said last week. The united States is considering granting Myanmar access to its generalised scheme of preferences and the European union has already done so, said u Aung Soe, deputy director general of the trade promotion department. Myanmar has many more trade opportunities now that we can trade freely again with the Eu, like other ASEAN members, he added. Agriculture and fisheries exports accounted for about 32 percent of gross domestic product and nearly 43pc of all exports in the fiscal year, u Aung Soe said a trade summit last week. Aung Shin The Fine Print Legal & tax insight The rules of trade: Connecting foreign producers to local agents and distributors sebastian pawlita sebastian@pwplegal.com Zin Myo AUng zinmyo@pwplegal.com AS a matter of administrative practice, foreigners cannot register a company whose business scope is trade. It is not legally possible for, say, a producer of toys with a factory in China to set up a distribution company in Myanmar in order to sell its products locally. As a consequence, a producer must engage an intermediary to have the toys sold in Myanmar, and this intermediary may either be an agent or a distributor. An agent acts on behalf of the foreign toy producer in order to sell the toys to a third party who would then sell them to the public. In this arrangement, if the customer in Myanmar to whom the products were ultimately sold were not willing, or were not able, to pay, the foreign toy company would have no claim against the agent for payment of the purchase price. In contrast, distributors are those who choose to buy the products directly from the foreign toy producer and who take responsibility for resale themselves. Distributors are distinct from agents in that they take on additional risk: If they cannot resell the goods, or if their customers default on payment, distributors are still liable for payment of the purchase price to the producer. Under current law, agents and distributors must be Myanmar citizens or 100-percent Myanmar-invested companies.of course, a foreign seller also needs to conduct due diligence before using an intermediary in order to be sure the intermediary has the necessary capacity in both staff and experience to sell the products successfully. Contracts between the foreign seller the principal, in legal parlance and the agent or distributor are regulated by the Myanmar Contract Act, formerly the Indian Contract Act, of Agency or distributorship agreements typically include a number of topics: Lists and descriptions of the goods to be distributed Territory and exclusivity, clarifying whether the intermediary will be allowed to distribute the products in the whole of Myanmar or only in certain areas, and also whether or not the principal will be allowed to appoint other intermediaries Distribution channels (direct sale, shops, internet, etc.), clarifying whether the intermediary will be barred from using certain channels Length of the contract and conditions of renewal Notice period required Details of the remuneration of the intermediary Obligation of the intermediary to achieve certain sales targets Market development, such as whether or not the intermediary is obligated to conduct marketing campaigns Who pays for marketing campaigns Who handles customer complaints and repairs defective goods Licence for the intermediary to use the foreign seller s trademarks, which the foreign seller should register in Myanmar Confidentiality and non-compete clauses Choice of law and dispute resolutions. Each of these items carries its own legal issues. For example, intermediaries often want exclusive selling rights in a certain territory, and may want to insert exclusivity clauses into contracts to restrain the foreign principal from appointing another distributor in this same territory. Conversely, foreign principals often don t want intermediaries to distribute products for the principal s competitors; if so, a principal may use exclusivity clauses to keep the intermediary from doing exactly that. However, one part of the Myanmar Contract Act seems, at first glance, to disallow the exclusivity clauses commonly found in agency or distributorship agreements. Section 27 states that every agreement by which any one is restrained from exercising a lawful profession, trade or business of any kind, is to that extent void. Are such clauses disallowed in Myanmar? The answer is no. Section 27 does not invalidate contractual clauses that are reasonable and common in a certain business, and exclusivity and non-compete arrangements in contracts with an agent or distributor are exactly that. The author of the contract must take care, however, when drafting post-contractual non-compete clauses which prohibit an intermediary from distributing the products of competitors even after the contract with the foreign principal has ended. In order to be reasonable, such clauses should be limited in time and territory; they may also need to state that principals will provide compensation for any loss of income incurred by the intermediary as a result in order to ensure the contract is fair to both parties. Sebastian Pawlita and Zin Myo Aung are consultants at Polastri Wint & Partners Legal & Tax Advisors in Yangon. SpECIAl SERIES Links add value to inclusive business In the third part of a series of six articles, the chairman of CSR Asia examines how companies can increase profits by focussing on economic, technological and social capital RichARd welford rwelford@csr-asia.com LAST year the Asian Development Bank predicted a GDP growth of 6.3 percent for Myanmar in and some see the potential for this to be even higher. There is little doubt that political and economic changes have the opportunity to create wealth for businesses and for the people of Myanmar. The challenge is to ensure that everyone benefits from economic growth and development. Myanmar s strategic location within Asia (40pc of the world s population can be found on its borders) and the lifting of sanctions from the West mean that there are huge opportunities to service the domestic economy and for export-led growth. New consumer markets and growing business-to-business opportunities emerge as interregional trade increases. However, businesses face huge challenges with underdeveloped infrastructures and struggle to identify local partners in Myanmar. Networks of businesses interested in leveraging Myanmar s economical capital and working responsibly are key to long-term sustainable development. Many such companies are now looking at how they can work with other businesses and civil society partners to create opportunities for economic success. Business success in an international competitive marketplace will not come easy. Companies investing in Myanmar will soon come to learn how incomplete infrastructures will impact their business activities especially with respect to insufficient transportation, cumbersome distribution networks, unreliable electricity supply and underdeveloped communication infrastructure. Responsible businesses will engage with local authorities, institutions and business peers to identify the economic barriers to growth and to invest in the physical and social infrastructures around their operations. An important part of the social responsibility of any company will be to ensure that the value it creates is distributed fairly and equitably. Businesses are realising that by creating value for people they are creating the consumer markets that will ensure long-term success. In order to make economic development inclusive and in particular help to reduce poverty, businesses will need to look at their own economic contributions and consider ways in which they can create jobs, new small business opportunities along value chains and local clusters of economic development. Technological Capital: Technology is an indispensible organ for value creation. Myanmar is in need of new technological investment and investment in the human resource skills. Businesses will have to expect low technological skills in the short run, but will see that it will be to their advantage to invest in human capacity. Import of, and investment in, technology is urgently needed and responsible businesses will be part of a process of creating clusters of technology and technological development, including cooperation with universities and research centres on research and development. A responsible business in Myanmar may not always want to invest in the most advanced technology imported from the West, which is often aimed at reducing jobs. Myanmar is in The private sector will find that investments in socially responsible and inclusive business will be recognised and rewarded. need of appropriate technology and know-how transfer that enhances local skills and capacities and generates jobs, incomes and wealth. Investment in appropriate technology will ensure that there is new employment, training and development opportunities for people and that people can increase their incomes by being more efficient and productive. Social Capital: Social capital is a very important asset in Myanmar and relationships are key to creating the economic networks that can encourage responsible business and create value for all people. For businesses coming to Myanmar and those already operating here, it is vital to establish networks, for capacity building and value creation. Industry associations, chambers of commerce, local clusters of business and networks involving government and civil society organisations will be vital to encouraging responsible and inclusive business in Myanmar. Because civic reciprocity and social cohesion are deeply rooted within Myanmar s society and people s beliefs, the private sector will find that investments in socially responsible and inclusive business will be recognised and rewarded by stakeholders. An important part of the social capital development of Myanmar will relate to respecting, promoting and advocating international human rights in the country. Responsible businesses will need to develop policies and guidelines as well as educate their staff and business partners. Responsible organisations will be monitoring their value-chain performance to ensure they are not complicit with human rights abuses. As part of their risk-management approach, organisations need to track and understand social and ethical conflicts and include findings in their strategy, plans and activities. Robert Welford is the chairman of CSR Asia, which recently published Responsible and Inclusive Business in Myanmar. The report is available at

25 Business 25 Gas set to flow from Myanmar to China this month: official Soe SAndAR oo THE pipeline that will transport natural gas from Rakhine State to China s Yunnan province will begin operating at the end of July, according to a director of state-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprises, which is a partner in the dual pipeline project with several foreign firms. U Than Tun, director of offshore exploration at the company, said that more compensation could also be offered to those whose livelihoods have been damaged by the project that will see two pipelines transport crude oil and natural gas from the coast of Rakhine to the border with China in Shan State. We will make sure the people are treated fairly, he said, adding that those who lost land have already been compensated. His statement preceded a report in state-run New Light of Myanmar on June 29 quoting an unnamed official from the the same company saying the gas will begin to flow to China on July 1. The official also said that no leakages are expected on the controversial pipeline. Alice Pyr, a representative of two Chinese companies involved in the project, said We are still not sure about the exact date [gas will flow]. Alice pyr representative Southeast Asia Gas Pipeline Southeast Asia Crude Oil Pipeline and Southeast Asia Gas Pipeline both majority owned by China National Petroleum Company will donate another US$2 million a year to improve the living standard of local people around the pipeline area. Ms Pyr said the gas pipeline is operational and that it will begin transporting gas to China this month. We are still not sure about the exact date yet, she added. The comments follow reports that the gas pipeline is behind schedule. Myanmar Energy Minister U Than Htay told Reuters on June 11 that it will be delayed by two or three months. Construction in Myanmar is complete, but construction in China is delayed, he was quoted as saying. A report released by United States-based Asia Society last week said Nay Pyi Taw is apparently preparing to renegotiate contracts for all previously agreed-upon [energy and mining] projects to ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place and to subject future projects to stricter social and environmental controls. The report did not mention specific projects, nor did it include statements from government officials supporting this claim. Its author did not respond to a request for more information. Ms Pyr said neither of the firms she works with had been told by the government that it was reconsidering the project. The government had publicly endorsed the project, she said, adding that it will benefit Myanmar. U Than Tun said those who believe they have been damaged by the project should seek fair compensation rather than try to shut it. If the project operates fully, Myanmar can get 100 million cubic feet [of natural gas] a day, so the benefit of the project is incredible. A village resident in Rakhine State observes a reservoir adjacent the dual pipeling that will transport oil and gas to China. Photo: Staff

26 26 Business THE MYANMAR TIMES July 1-7, 2013 washington US suspends Bangladesh s trade privileges South Asian country loses duty-free access to US market for failing to ensure workers rights The Rana Plaza building in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on April 26, two days after its collapse killed 1,127 people. Photo: Bloomberg This case has been dragging on for six years and it took a building collapse and a thousand people dying for the US government to get to this point. kimberly elliott Trade Specialist Center for Global development PRESIDENT Barack Obama announced on June 27 the suspension of US trade privileges for Bangladesh in response to growing concerns over labour rights and worker safety in the country. The decision is the culmination of a yearslong review of labour conditions in the impoverished South Asian nation. Pressure on the Obama administration to act intensified after more than 1,200 people died when a factory collapsed April 24 one of the global garment industry s worst accidents. In a proclamation, Mr Obama said Bangladesh was not taking steps to afford internationally recognised workers rights to employees in that country. Suspending the benefits developing countries receive as part of the generalised system of preferences (GSP) program for Bangladesh is a highly symbolic move. As Bangladesh s biggest trading partner after the European Union, the United States hopes it can exert significant pressure on Bangladesh s authorities to reform labour practices and ensure workers rights in a country where factory accidents have been all too common and the minimum wage is just US$38 per month. Recent deadly industrial accidents caused everyone to grieve but underscored problems we have seen in Bangladesh for some time, US Trade Representative Michael Froman said in a conference call with reporters after the announcement. Our goal is to see Bangladesh restore its eligibility, but to see workers in safe conditions. He said the administration has no timetable in mind for restoring Bangladesh tariff breaks, noting that this will depend on the progress made in improving workers conditions. The United States expects the country to follow through on approving a new labour law and take a series of other steps being negotiated with the US Labor Department, unions, civic groups and others. The suspension becomes effective in 60 days after publication in the federal register. The Bangladeshi Embassy did not respond to requests for comment. But its officials in Washington argued strongly against a suspension and have said that their country is making progress on improving industry conditions. The suspension abolishes tariff breaks granted to about US$35 million worth of imports annually. The breaks cover a wide variety of goods that are imported by the United States free of tax. However, the breaks do not apply to Bangladesh s textile industry, which sells in excess of $4.5 billion of goods to the United States each year and in 2010 accounted for 90 percent of Bangladeshi exports to the country. 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 Deadline 1. Planning and Budgeting Officer (LICA 7) Yangon National 01-July Health Data Quality Assurance (DQA) Yangon National 02-July-2013 Specialist (LICA 7) 3. Agriculture and Livestock Officer (NOB) Yangon National 08-July Partnership Assistant ( Intern) (other) Yangon 10-July Assistant to Project Coordinator (LICA 3) Yangon National 14-July Project Support Officer (LICA 6) Yangon National 16-July Programme Officer Yangon International 17-July-2013 (Rural Finance and Value Chains) (IICA 3) For details please visit UNOPS website and click on the post you are interested in applying for. All applications must be made through UNOPS E-recruitment system. Though the GSP tariff breaks apply to only a small percentage of the country s exports, Mr Froman said the suspension has greater impact than the numbers themselves suggest, given the public attention and the importance the government attaches to it. Labour unions and Democrats on Capitol Hill have been pressing the Obama administration to take this step. Bangladesh s labour laws must be dramatically improved and suspending GSP benefits will hopefully help kick-start these overdue reforms, said Foreign Relations Committee president Senator Robert Menendez. Trade advocacy groups generally argue against trade-disrupting measures on the grounds that the brunt of the pain falls on workers. Kimberly Elliott, a trade specialist at the Center for Global Development who has been following issues in Bangladesh, said the administration was taking the wrong tack if it wants to change the country s behaviour. She believes that offering tariff breaks to textiles and the prospect of a boost in Bangladesh s already massive exports to the US would likely be a more effective strategy. That move would be controversial, however, among US textile companies and poor countries like Haiti and Kenya who benefit from US trade preferences. It is pressure from buyers that is going to get Bangladesh to change, she said. This case has been dragging on for six years and it took a building collapse and a thousand people dying for the US government to get to this point. It is not clear to me that it sends that much of a signal. Another alternative would be to increase tariffs directly on textiles, a move that also would hurt the dozens of US companies that rely on Bangladeshi garment factories for their production. The United States purchases about 25pc of the country s $18 billion in annual apparel exports. US retailers Wal-Mart and Gap have resisted participating in an international, legally binding industry agreement to improve safety conditions in Bangladeshi factories signed last month by mostly European companies. Instead, they are close to committing to a separate initiative of their own. The European Union, which imported about $12 billion of goods from Bangladesh last year, is also contemplating whether to suspend trade benefits for Bangladesh. Such a decision would have far more impact, because Bangladesh s clothing and textiles exports receive duty-free treatment there. However, Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Lilianne Ploumen said that it should not get to that point because the authorities in Bangladesh will yield to the pressure. I cannot imagine them not acting to address these issues, she said. The Washington Post

27 washington Confidence near 6-year high on rising value of homes CONSUMER sentiment held close to a six-year high in June as higher home values gave Americans more reason to be optimistic about the economy. Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan said on June 28 its final confidence index for the month eased to 84.1, higher than the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey, from 84.5 at the end of May. The group s measure of the economic outlook climbed to an eight-month high. Other data from the MNI Chicago Report showed manufacturing is struggling to gain traction. An improving housing market is sustaining sentiment and making up for the hit to household wealth from a recent setback in stock prices. Further strides in employment and housing will help provide more fuel for an economy beset this quarter by federal budget cuts. Consumers are more attuned to the labour market gradually getting better and the rise in house prices rather than declining stock prices or increasing mortgage rates, said Guy Berger, an economist at RBS Securities in Stamford, Connecticut, who projected a sentiment reading of 84. Growth in the second half is going to be a little better than it is in the first half. The MNI Chicago Report s business barometer dropped to 51.6 in June from 58.7 in May, which was the highest in more than a year. A reading of 50 is the dividing line between expansion and contraction. The median forecast of 56 economists surveyed by Bloomberg was 55. The index has been out of sync with other regional factory reports, surging in May when others pointed to a slump, and dropping in June as measures from the Federal Reserve Banks of New York and Philadelphia point to a rebound. The Chicago group s measure of new orders fell in June from a three-month high, while backlogs slumped to the lowest level since September Manufacturing makes up about 12 percent of the economy. It s going to be an uneven path toward growth, said Thomas Simons, money market economist at Jefferies & Co in New York. Manufacturing should gain steam in the second half of American factories stand to gain as economies in Europe and Japan stabilise. German retail sales rose in May more than economists forecast, adding to signs that a recovery in Europe s largest economy has gathered pace amid record-low interest rates. In Japan, the economy strengthened in May as factory output rose the most since 12% Amount us home prices rose in the year to April, according to data released last month. December 2011 and retail sales climbed. Resilient sentiment in June was concentrated among US households with incomes above US$75,000 a year, the report showed. At the same time, all income groups expected continued modest gains in the overall economy as well as continued declines in the national unemployment rate, the group said in a statement. Winnebago Industries, based in Forest City, Iowa, is among companies boosting production of its recreational vehicles to meet improving demand. This is a reflection of our dealer network s confidence in our motorhome products, It s going to be an uneven path toward growth. Thomas simons Economist Jefferies & Co as well as a confidence in the overall industry as they prepare for the summer season, Randy Potts, chairman and chief executive officer, said on a June 27 earnings call. A June 27 report showed consumer spending, which accounts for about 70pc of the economy, increased in May following the largest drop in more than three years. Purchases rose 0.3pc after a 0.3pc decline the prior month, Commerce Department figures showed. Incomes advanced 0.5pc, more than projected. Home purchases also kept improving this month, according to those surveyed by the University of Michigan. Rising home values were reported by the highest share of consumers since 2007, and fewer than one in 10 homeowners said they would lose money if they sold their house. Property prices in the 12 months through April rose by the most in more than seven years. The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values increased 12.1 percent from April 2012, the biggest year-over-year gain since March 2006, after advancing 10.9pc a month earlier, according to the June 25 report. Rising real estate values are helping offset a drop in share prices. Global stocks and bonds retreated after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke on June 19 outlined the conditions that would prompt the Fed to reduce and eventually end $85 billion in monthly asset purchases. As market participants gain additional insight from the words of Federal Reserve officials or by policy actions in coming quarters, further asset price volatility seems likely, said Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker. This type of volatility is a normal part of the process of incorporating new information into financial asset prices. Bloomberg CONSTRUCTION of the 27-storey Kabar Aye Executive Residence project in Mayangone township will start this month, its developer told The Myanmar Times last week. A spokesperson for Yangonbased Living Square Company an importer of electronic appliances and furniture said the company s first construction project will be completed in three years. We ve done the soil tests and hope construction will start in July, said the spokesperson who asked not to be named. He also declined to say how much the project will cost or how much units will sell for. The project on a half-acre plot on Kabar Aye Pagoda Road will, however, include a helipad, he said, adding that 15 of its 100 units have been sold. When complete it will cover 480,000 square feet, including three levels of underground parking. The first four floors are reserved for retail shops. More parking will be available on levels five to eight, giving the project a total of 270 parking spaces. The ninth through 19 th floors will have eight residential units on each floor, Living Square s spokesman said, adding that the 21 st and 22 nd floors will include a gym, swimming pool, fitness centre, playground and coffee shop. Levels 23 to 27 are for penthouse units. The spokesperson said the helipad is intended for medical emergencies. It is difficult for patients to get to hospital in an ambulance in Yangon because of the traffic congestion, the spokesperson added. He also said buyers can purchase units through instalment payment plans at Kanbawza and Myanma Apex banks. A1 Construction has been contracted to build the project and the design was done by Japan-based MS Group. Thailand-based Seafco Public Company, which developed the Marina Bay Sands Resort Project in Singapore, is constructing the underground levels. Meinhardt Company, which worked on Singapore s Sail Marina Bay Financial Centre and Signature Tower, will monitor and evaluate construction. This project has three basement levels and the construction for this multi-level Property Business 27 Living Square debut offers first residential helipad htar29@gmail.com htar htar Khin An employee of Living Square Company points to the penthouses of its 27-story executive residence. Photo: Htar Htar Khin basement is being done by world-class companies, Living Square s spokesperson said, adding that standards set by the Committee for the Quality Control of High-Rise Building Projects will be strictly adhered to.

28 28 Business Property THE MYANMAR TIMES July 1-7, 2013 BrUssels Spain in hot water over steps to prevent eviction THE European Commission on June 24 warned new anti-eviction measures being adopted by regional authorities in Spain could scare off investors and spark financial instability. Commission spokesman Simon O Connor said the measures risked breaching a deal signed with Spain last year over the recapitalisation of its banking system. A letter from our services has been sent to the Spanish authorities, he said, adding that new measures could heighten uncertainty in the Spanish housing market. We have reiterated in our letter to the Spanish authorities the importance of reinforcing financial stability. It is desirable to avoid any lack of clarity, which... could undermine investor confidence, he told reporters. Referring in particular to a measure adopted by the regional government of Andalucia earlier this year, he said: The decree raises risks as to the fulfilment of the objectives of Spain s program to receive EU banking aid. Andalucia, Spain s most populous region and the one with the highest unemployment rate, has issued a decree allowing it to expropriate homes for up to three years to permit families facing eviction to continue to live there. Despite opposition from the country s banking sector, two other regional governments have followed suit with similar measures Catalonia and the Canary Islands. AFP london Queen receives income boost from British estates QUEEN Elizabeth II will see her income rise by 5 percent next year after the Crown Estate, a vast property empire from which she draws her funds, reported record profits on June 27. The Sovereign Grant, which pays for the queen s official duties and upkeep of royal properties, will rise from 36.1 million (US$55 million) this year to 37.9 million in Under a new funding arrangement agreed on in 2011, the grant is set at 15pc of the profits of the estate from two years previously. The rest of the profits go into the public coffers. Comprising London s famous Regent Street and Windsor Park among its properties, as well as almost the entire seabed around Britain, the estate is now worth more than 8 billion. It announced record profits of million in the financial year to March 2013, up from million in the previous year. We are proud that another record Crown Estate performance will again make a strong contribution to the nation s finances, Crown Estate chairman Stuart Hampson said. The Sovereign Grant was introduced by Prime Minister David Cameron s government to replace the civil list and separate funds for royal travel and upkeep of palaces. Prince Charles, the heir to the throne, and his family live off the income from his own royal lands, the Duchy of Cornwall. AFP TRADE MARK CAUTION NOTICE is hereby given that Continental Matador Rubber, s.r.o a company organized under the laws of Slovakia and having its principal office at Terezie Vansovej, 1054, Puchov is the owner and sole proprietor of the following trademark:- MATADOR (Reg: Nos. IV/883/2011 & IV/4368/2013) In respect of: - Tyres - Cl:12 Any 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 Continental Matador Rubber, s.r.o P.O. Box No. 26, Yangon. Phone: Dated: 1 st July, 2013 Foreign demand driving surge in rental prices myatnyeinaye11092@gmail.com MyAT nyein Aye FOREIGN demand for accommodations and office space has helped triple the price of condominiums in Yangon in a year, real estate agents said last week. Daw Moh Moh Aung, owner of Win Shwe Wah real estate agency, said demand has been surging since the end of last year, with foreigners leading the charge. Foreigners cannot buy houses, apartments or condominiums, she said. In the past, hotels could rent rooms for foreign companies to set up offices, but this is no longer possible [due to the short supply of rooms] so foreign companies are opening offices in condos, she said. Condo offices can double as homes, allowing companies to save costs on housing, Daw Moh Moh Aung added. Most condos in Yangon are not really condos they just have a lift. daw Moh Moh Aung General Secretary Myanmar real Estate Services Association Mexico city Building on a shaky foundation MEXICO S homebuilders have amassed more than US$2.2 billion in debts, their share prices have sunk and more than 100,000 homes are sitting empty. In May, the nation s second and third largest homebuilders, Urbi and Geo, defaulted on interest payments. Then on June 11, it was industry leader Homex s turn to fail to honour a debt payment. Their debt troubles reverberated in the stock market, with the shares of Homex falling by 70 percent by mid-june while Urbi s stock tumbled by 74pc and Geo lost 68pc. As a result of aggressive financial policies, major homebuilders in Mexico are taking a beating while demand for new housing has plunged to half of what it was in 2008, the international ratings agency Standard & Poor s said in a report. Their inability to purge inventories and surpass significant hurdles in refinancing has resulted in collapsing operations and financial distress, the agency said. We expect the lackluster demand for new homes to continue during the next couple of years, which is likely to force major Mexican homebuilders to restructure not only their debt, but also their business plans. Demand for new homes dropped from 400,000 in 2008 to 200,000 in 2009, when Mexico was engulfed in the global financial crisis, causing the nation s six biggest homebuilders to see their debts soar. Eduardo Torres, a senior economist at BBVA Research, said the Mexican companies began to focus on subsidised housing after the global crisis, believing it was a more stable and less vulnerable investment. But it didn t turn out that way, Mr Torres said. Ko Htun Htun, an agent for Phoenix real estate, said foreigners comprised about 80 percent of its condominium renters. We have many foreign customers looking at condos, but most of the interest is for rentals, not purchases. It s getting hard to find condos available for rent, he said. Daw Moh Moh Aung said condo rents had surged up to 300 percent in some buildings in about 12 months. Last year, standard condos rented for about K500,000 a month, but that has increased to K1.5 million this year, she said. Some condos with better facilities are going for much more. An agent for realtor Moe Myint Thawtar said the limited supply of condominiums in Yangon made it likely that rents will continue to rise. Demand for condos at my agency is about 50pc higher this year than last year. And we have seen prices for furnished condos double this year, she added. Ko Htun Htun said rising condo purchase prices, which have increased by about 25pc in a year, were being passed on to renters. Last year condos cost about K100,000-K150,000 a square foot, but this year they are selling for K150,000 to K200,000 a square foot, he said. Daw Moh Moh Aung, who is also general secretary of the Myanmar Real Estate Services Association, said a proposed condominium law, which would allow foreigners to buy selected properties, would likely lead to higher quality. Most condos in Yangon are not really condos they just have a lift, she said. A condo should have shopping, Major real estate developers in Mexico are going through a crisis with an accumulated debt of nearly US$ 2.3 billion, a collapse in the stock market and more than 100,000 homes, like the one above in Jalisco State, currently uninhabited. Photo: AFP The industry erred in choosing bad locations for new homes in the past decade, analysts say. The problem is that they built complexes far from city centres, with communication and public transport problems, which caused people to abandon their homes, said Beatriz Garcia Peralta, researcher at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. According to Mexico s governmentbacked mortgage lender, Infonavit, some 119,960 homes are now empty, either because people moved out or owners never found buyers. The whole model had some deficiencies. The model of having a low-cost home outside the city, without adequate A view from the inner courtyard of Royal Thazin Condominium in central Yangon. Photo: Aung Htay Hlaing a parking space for each apartment, a gym, swimming pool, security and maintenance, she added. Daw Moh Moh Aung forecast that demand from foreign buyers will rise, and urged the government to make more land available to developers at cheaper prices to allow them to build more housing. If the government made more land available, developers could build cheaper housing, which would reduce rent, she said. infrastructure and services, was going to struggle to succeed, Mr Torres said. The government of President Enrique Pena Nieto, who took office in December, wants to change the housing policy by focusing on constructing taller buildings in urban areas, rather than making people live on the outskirts of cities. But analysts say the country needs a broader solution that includes social housing and that it is unclear how homebuilders can get out of the crisis. We don t know how this is going to end, Mr Torres said. But there is a consensus to say that the volume of activity of thes companies will never be the same. The size of their operations should diminish. AFP

29 Technology 29 Pricey but worth it: Cubans finally surf the Web Japan s Tokyo University robot creator Tomotaka Takahashi demonstrates a humanoid robot Kirobo, which reacts to his voice and speaks with gestures, in Tokyo on June 26, Kirobo will be sent into space to provide conversational company for a Japanese astronaut in the international space station on a six-month mission from this August. Photo: AFP Japan robot says space mission big stride for androids A TALKING robot that will accompany a Japanese astronaut in space this summer says the cosmic tour will be one giant leap for androids everywhere. In a scene straight out of Star Wars, the pint-sized KIROBO fielded questions from curious journalists who asked what it was going to do in space. This may look a small step, but it will be a big stride as a robot, the blackand-white humanoid robot outfitted with bright red boots told a press briefing in Tokyo. Its creators said they were sending the robot into space to act as a chatting partner for astronaut Koichi Wakata, who is set to arrive at the International Space Station (ISS) later this year. KIROBO is to arrive in August in what its handlers say is the first visit for a robot at the space station. Wakata will also be the first Japanese astronaut to command the ISS. KIROBO will remember Mr Wakata s face so it can recognise him when they reunite up in space, said creator Tomotaka Takahashi. He will be the first robot to visit the space station. Standing at just 34 centimetres (13.4 inches) tall and weighing about one kilogram (2.2 pounds), the little android is programmed to communicate in Japanese and keep records of its conversations with Mr. Wakata. The robot, which has a wide range of physical motion, will also play a role in some missions, relaying messages from the control room to the astronaut, Mr. Takahashi said. Back on earth, twin robot MIRATA will be on the lookout for any problems encountered by its electronic counterpart. Mr. Takahashi, who said he was inspired by legendary animation character Astro Boy, said he now wants to create a miniaturised robot that owners could carry in their pocket like a smartphone. By bringing a robot into space, the development of a symbiotic robot is expected to move along much faster, Mr. Takahashi said, referring to efforts at making robots even more human-like. The project s website can be found athttp://kibo-robo.jp/. AFP rigoberto diaz CUBAN teacher Nancy Garcia would love to surf the Web at home. But since that is restricted in this communist country, she now logs on from new hotspots at a price few can afford. I don t stay long so as not to throw money out the window, said the 53-year-old as she checked her near the Havana waterfront at one of the island s 118 new public access Internet points, open for several weeks now. With only doctors, journalists and certain other professionals able to connect from home, Cuba has one of the lowest numbers of Web users in all of Latin America: just 2.6 million in 2011, out of a population of 11.1 million. With few other options, Garcia and hundreds like her have been flocking to the new government-created hotspots to check , connect to social media and browse websites. That s if they can pay for it. At the cost of US$ 4.50 an hour, down from $ 6 previously, the Internet remains out of reach for most Cubans whose monthly salary barely scratches the $ 20 mark. There will always be those who can afford to pay but there will always be more who can t, said Ms. Garcia, who previously trekked to one of the city s hotels to go online, forking out over $10 an hour for a painfully slow connection. It s incredibly expensive, agreed Deisy Perez, an actress and owner of a private restaurant who came to see if she could order audio and video material for her establishment. Today I took a look at what s on offer, on another day I ll do some advertising for the restaurant, she said. But I have to be quick. It s just too costly. Authorities say their goal is to provide home Web access. But despite the switching on of an undersea fiber-optic cable from Venezuela to replace costly satellite hookups, the government has said it is forced to prioritize it for it for social use purposes, with universities, There will always be those who can afford to pay but there will always be more who can t. nancy garcia Cuban teacher companies and research centers given preference. Recently, a senior official insisted that limited access was due to technological and financial considerations. Dissidents, however, claim the government s goal has been to control access to information and that restricting Internet access is just another form of censorship in a country where all media outlets are state-controlled. At the public access point frequented by Garcia and Perez, located in the landmark FOCSA skyscraper, turnout is steady. There s a good crowd, more than I had expected, said manager Dilia Ortega, who oversees the nine terminals. Sometimes there s a line, she noted, adding that clients are satisfied. Since succeeding his brother Fidel in 2006, Cuban President Raul Castro has allowed citizens to own a laptop and a cell phone, although here too, cost keeps the poor most of the population from partaking in this privilege. We re moving forward, said Perez as she took a breather from her online shopping. But even as more and more people have access to new technologies, there are still many more Cubans who don t even know it exists. AFP US Army reviews rules of cyber warfare THE US military is reviewing its rules of engagement to deal with the growing threat of cyber crime, military chief Martin Dempsey said Thursday. Mr. Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest-ranking officer in the US military, said the review was in response to soaring cyber attacks. The Department of Defense has developed emergency procedures to guide our response to imminent, significant cyber threats, Mr. Dempsey said in a speech at the Brookings Institution, a Washingtonbased think tank. We are updating our rules of engagement - the first update for cyber in seven years - and improving command and control for cyber forces. Mr. Dempsey said that since his appointment as head of the Joint Chiefs in 2011 intrusions into our critical infrastructure have increased 17-fold. Some 4000 cyber-security experts would join the ranks over the next four years, while some 23 billion USD would be spent on tackling the threat. Mr. Dempsey said Cybercom the US command responsible for combatting cyber-crime was now organized in three divisions. One team is in charge of countering enemy attacks, another was tasked with offering regional support while a third is responsible for protecting some 15,000 US military computer networks. In addition, following a presidential directive, the military now has a manual which allow it to cooperate with the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI in the event of attacks on civilian networks. Mr. Dempsey meanwhile lamented what he described as inadequate safeguards by the private sector. Our nation s effort to protect civilian critical infrastructure is lagging, he said. Too few companies have invested adequately in cyber security. In a reference to concerns over the levels of government surveillance on private individuals since the revelations by leaker Edward Snowden, Mr. Dempsey said he believed a balance could be struck. I understand that the country is debating the proper purpose, and limits, of intelligence collection for national security, he said. Let me be clear these are two different things. One is collecting intelligence to locate foreign terrorists and their domestic coconspirators; the other is sharing information about malware to protect our critical infrastructure from a different kind of attack. AFP in pictures Japanese engineer Takanori Tateoka displays a hologram of a seven-month fetus face at the Baby and Kids expo in Tokyo on June 28, Pioneer have developed a new hologram printer to show 3D images of foetus faces while 3D data of computerised tomography is provided by obstetrician clinics. Photo: AFP

30 30 THE MYANMAR TIMES JULY 1-7, 2013 World WORLD EDITOR: Douglas Long UNITED NATIONS Rice leaves UN with blast over Syria disgrace TIM WITCHER US ambassador Susan Rice left the United Nations on June 25 slamming the Security Council s failure to act over the worsening Syria conflict as a moral and strategic disgrace. But while Ms Rice criticised Russia and China for their veto of resolutions on the Syria war, she said it was not inevitable that relations with Russia would continue to sour. Ms Rice, who moves to become President Barack Obama s national security advisor, said the repeated failure of the Security Council to unify on the crucial issue of Syria I think is a stain on this body and something that I will forever regret. The council s inaction on Syria is a moral and strategic disgrace that history will judge harshly, Ms Rice told reporters after making her farewells to other UN envoys after four and a half years as US ambassador. BOSTON Russia and China have three times used their vetoes as permanent members of the Security Council to block Western-proposed resolutions that would have increased pressure on President Bashar al-assad. Ms Rice stressed that there were no sanctions or threats of force in the proposed resolutions, which she called very mild. Yet we have been paralyzed, and I don t know how in any circumstance one could ascribe that to a failure of US policy or US leadership, when the vast majority of the council was ready and willing to move ahead. Russia and China accused the United States, France and Britain of only seeking regime change in Syria, where the United Nations says more than 93,000 people have been killed in the past 27 months. Ms Rice said tougher sanctions against Iran and North Korea had been a Security Council success and showed it was possible to work with Russia, which could become a key dossier in her new White House job. The council s inaction on Syria is a moral and strategic disgrace that history will judge harshly. Susan Rice Outgoing US ambassador to the UN At Ms Rice s final closed consultations, Russia s UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin read out a mock council statement which expressed relief at Ms Rice s departure, according to diplomats at the meeting. Russia is a complex relationship, Ms Rice acknowledged to reporters after the good natured farewell from her rival envoy. While there are certainly important points of divergence, and there have been points of friction and there undoubtedly will be in the future, I am not prepared to predict that that is inevitable, she said. On issues as important as Iran and North Korea, and many others, we have been able to find common ground and effect outcomes that have been beneficial, Ms Rice said. Samantha Power, a White House advisor, has been named as the new UN ambassador and is awaiting congressional confirmation. AFP Accused Boston bomber faces 30 charges HONG KONG Ukrainian Internet Party activists hold a tap the phone and internet lines internet surveillance program exposed by former Edward Snowden. Photo: A US grand jury on June 27 indicted teenager Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on 30 counts in connection with the April double bomb attack on the Boston marathon that killed three people and injured more than 260. The counts include using a weapon of mass destruction and causing death by bombing a public place. Federal prosecutors said 17 of the charges carry a possible death penalty. Mr Tsarnaev is to be formally arraigned in Boston district court on July 10, prosecutors said in a statement announcing the charges after weeks of questioning the man at his prison hospital bedside. Mr Tsarnaev and his brother Tamerlan are accused of leaving two pressure cooker bombs at the marathon finish line on April 15 that sprayed nails and other metal debris into the huge crowds. The ethnic Chechen Muslim BRIEFS Sarajevo Remains of 400 victims to be buried on Srebrenica The remains of more than 400 of some 8000 Muslim men and boys killed by Bosnian Serb forces in July 1995 in Srebrenica will be buried on July 11, the 18th anniversary of the massacre, organisers said on June 26. Since the previous anniversary, remains of 404 victims were found in mass graves, said Hatidza Mehmedovic of the organising committee. The remains had been identified and will be buried in a memorial centre at Potocari, near brothers are also said to have killed a campus police officer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology during the giant manhunt that followed. Tamerlan, 26, was killed in a gun battle with police four days after the attack. Hours later, Dzhokhar, 19, was found in a boat in a Boston suburb back garden and caught after another showdown. The university student suffered a bullet wound to his throat and was said to be only communicating by writing answers on paper. US investigators have been looking into the brothers links to radical Muslim elements in their native Russia. Mr Tsarnaev was naturalised as an American citizen last year. The indictment says that while hiding in the boat, the critically wounded Mr Tsarnaev wrote on it: The US government is killing innocent civilians. Srebrenica, she said, adding that the youngest victim among them was a 14-year-old boy. The remains of 5657 victims of the massacre found in several mass graves in the Srebrenica region are already buried at Potocari. Paris Barroso useless as EU commission boss: minister A French minister said on June 28 that Jose Manuel Barroso had achieved nothing as European Commission chief, in the latest attack in a bitter war of words between Paris and Brussels. I can t stand to see such evil go unpunished, he added. We Muslims are one body, you hurt one, you hurt us all. Charges announced by prosecutors include use of a weapon of mass destruction resulting in death, bombing a public place resulting in death, malicious destruction of property resulting in death, using a firearm causing death and carjacking. The indictment alleges that the brothers conspired to carry out the attack on the 117th Boston Marathon from February this year. Video released by police at the time showed two young men walking calmly through the crowds to place backpacks that it later emerged contained pressure cooker bombs. The bombs were detonated seconds apart, killing a boy, a Chinese student and a woman restaurant manager. At least 13 of the injured had limbs torn Asked if she thought Mr Barroso had been a bad choice for the job, Trade Minister Nicole Bricq told LCI television: I think so. I think he has done nothing during his term. The row has its roots in France s bid to protect the European film and television industry from Hollywood dominance in free-trade talks with the United States, but has escalated into a broader dispute over the European project. Mr Barroso raised hackles in France for terming as reactionary Paris bid to protect Europe s audiovisual sector. off. The bombs were designed to shred skin, shatter bone, and cause extreme pain and suffering, as well as death, said the indictment. Three days later, photos of the two suspects were released and a major manhunt launched during which inhabitants of much of the Boston region were ordered to stay indoors. The indictment alleges the brothers had five homemade bombs, a semiautomatic handgun, a machete and a hunting knife when they drove to MIT and shot and killed a police officer. The brothers then carjacked a Mercedes and forced the driver to hand over cash before dumping him. Gun battles erupted at Watertown, in the Boston suburbs. The brothers hurled four of the bombs at police before Tamerlan was gunned down. AFP Santiago Colombia says closer than ever to peace with rebels Colombia is closer than ever to a peace deal with Marxist FARC rebels after 10 rounds of talks to end their half-century-old conflict, the country s foreign minister said on June 27. Government and rebel negotiators struck a first deal on May 26 on land reform, resolving one of the thorniest issues on the negotiating table. The talks, which opened in November in Havana, are the fourth attempt since the 1980s to bring peace to Colombia. AFP Snowden: a m JITENDRA JOSHI A LONE hero is on the run, eluding a spy hunt across a globetrotting storyboard as he strives to expose wrongdoing at the heart of Washington s vengeful intelligence apparatus. The script s ending is not yet written but that, for his supporters at least, is the Jason Bourne-style narrative of Edward Snowden. For them, the former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor s exposure of a many-tentacled eavesdropping campaign represents the made-for-hollywood stand of one man fighting impossible odds. For the US government, the leaks made by the 30-year-old IT specialist risk allowing extremists to plot and maim unhindered. While Mr Snowden has won sympathy internationally, Washington has cast him at best as a misguided fool, at worst as a traitorous villain in the pay of hostile powers. Whatever the validity of his actions, the scene-shifting drama has made for a riveting spectacle that observers believe will eventually end up on the big screen. The plot at times has strained credulity, but it is all real, starting with Mr Snowden s decision in May to abandon his pole-dancing girlfriend in Hawaii for Hong Kong and a life on the run. Every spy novelist in the world is not writing at the moment, because they are glued to this - it is the biggest spy case there has been in decades, said Jeremy Duns, the author of three novels about a turncoat British agent in the Cold War. Like other observers, Mr Duns expects a movie or book tie-in before long to explore the nuances of a story that seems ripped from the pages of John le Carré, dwelling on themes of moral ambiguity, conflicted loyalties and outright betrayal. Any adaptation of the Snowden saga will have to give prominent billing to the NSA, an organisation so secretive that it was once dubbed No Such Agency. The NSA emerged from the shadows in the 1998 film Enemy of the State, featuring Will Smith and Gene Hackman. Well before the 9/11 attacks, it covered the encroaching reach of the surveillance machine - one that in the movie s telling would stop at nothing, not even murder, to expand its powers and shield its secrets. In comments dismissed by his critics as paranoid ravings, Mr Snowden on June 17 evoked the threat of the US government murdering me, but said his stream of revelations could not be dammed. Truth is coming, and it cannot be stopped, he told Guardian readers, in what could pass for the tag line of a Hollywood film. Mr Snowden has injected a twist into the traditional plot. The unglamorous IT guy, munching on pizza as he beavers away at his laptop, is now the leading man.

31 31 Asian sites added to UNESCO World Heritage list WORLD 34 Obama reveals plan to subdue climate change WORLD 33 JFK might not be a jam doughnut after all WORLD 37 TEHRAN Rowhani election creates surge of hope in Iran protest outside the US Embassy in Kiev on June 27 to attract attention to the violation of rights by the US AFP odern spy thriller The geek in the van has become the Bourne, said Mr Duns, who has also written a history of the 1960s Soviet spy Oleg Penkovsky published this month. In fact, according to the Hollywood trade press, A-list director Michael Mann is working on a project tentatively called Cyber that will portray the US and Chinese militaries coming together to thwart a dangerous hacking conspiracy. Mr Mann has been scouting locations in Hong Kong. The Chinese territory was the setting for a month-long stay by Mr Snowden that took in endless room-service meals at a boutique hotel in bustling Kowloon before he decamped in the dead of night to the homes of local supporters. Filmic touches included a dinner of pizza and Pepsi with his lawyers at which Mr Snowden insisted that all present stash their mobile phones in the fridge to block any signals. Invoking James Bond s drink of choice, one expert cited by the New York Times said the insulating properties of a fridge are shared by a martini shaker. Any film that wants to stay true to Mr Snowden s international odyssey will need a hefty budget to cover location shoots, from Hawaii to Hong Kong, onwards to Russia and then elsewhere, via stops in Washington and Beijing to cover the back-story of toplevel intrigue. Like Tom Hanks in The Terminal, Mr Snowden now finds himself in airport limbo, seemingly stuck in Moscow as he ponders his next move - possibly asylum in Latin America. In one scene straight from a spy thriller, the fugitive threw his pursuers off the trail by booking to take one flight from Moscow to Cuba, only to fail to show up. Frustrated journalists who did take the Aeroflot flight were reduced to filming the empty seat at 17A, enduring the sniggers of the crew and an alcohol ban in economy class - before landing 12 hours later Every spy novelist in the world is not writing at the moment, because they are glued to this - it is the biggest spy case there has been in decades. Jeremy Duns British author in Havana, where the flight s captain was filmed laughing uproariously. I have a feeling that we are all participating in some grandiose spy conspiracy, said Olga Denisova, a journalist with Voice of Russia radio. The supporting cast could do nothing but take refuge in dark humour. But for one major protagonist, there is nothing funny about this drama. White House aides disdain heroic characterisations of Mr Snowden, saying his revelations have jeopardised surveillance operations designed to keep the public safe from harm. One US administration source bitterly rejected any comparisons between Mr Snowden and Vietnam War leaker Daniel Ellsberg, whose life story was made into the 2003 film The Pentagon Papers. While Mr Ellsberg stayed and fought in US courts, the source mocked Mr Snowden s willingness to stand up for what he believes from Hong Kong! The story has lots of potential for dramatic adaptation, perhaps because the good and bad elements of the leading character are so ambiguous, commented professor Robert Thompson, a scholar of popular culture at Syracuse University in upstate New York. I imagine any movie adaptation will use this ambiguity and portray Snowden as neither a hero nor a villain. It s a very modern American story. AFP JITENDRA JOSHI THE election of moderate Hassan Rowhani as Iran s next president has sent a surge of expectation through a nation anxious for relief from international sanctions and seeking more freedoms at home. Rampant inflation, a plummeting currency and rising number of people out of work in an economy struggling under the weight of the sanctions have all made their mark. Navid Fathi, the chief technology officer for a Tehranbased computer engineering firm, laments restrictions imposed by sanctions devised to force Iran to curb its controversial nuclear activities. Professionals in my field need to be able to interact with the world, he said. We need to be able to procure devices, to exchange data and to engage in financial transactions [with the outside world]. Mr Rowhani, a 64-year-old mid-ranking cleric, won the election on June 14 with more than half the votes, sweeping aside rivals from the conservative camps that have held sway in Iran for the past eight years. The head of a relatively moderate nuclear negotiating team under reformist president Mohammad Khatami in the early 2000s, Mr Rowhani has pledged greater transparency in talks with world powers over Iran s nuclear ambitions. Mr Fathi said the sanctions, which have been largely blamed for the country s economic woes, must be removed. The first issue that must be resolved is sanctions, which have restricted us, he said. A sane person takes sane decisions, which affect our lives. Rowhani is a sane person. Jamal Rahamti Iranian cartoonist Tehran has been negotiating with the so-called group of P5+1 the UN Security Council s five permanent members plus Germany over its nuclear program. But those talks have failed to produce any breakthrough. In a news conference two days after his election, Mr Rowhani slammed as unjust the EU and US sanctions targeting Iran s oil and banking sectors that have crippled its economy. But Iran, he said, will be more transparent to show that its activities fall within the framework of international rules as the nuclear issue cannot be resolved without negotiations. His remarks, along with a pledge to bring about the change desired by people whose lives under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad s presidency have been hit hard by the sanctions, have energised Iranians. A sane person takes sane decisions, which affect our lives, said cartoonist Jamal Rahamti. Rowhani is a sane person. Iran has repeatedly denied claims from the world powers that its nuclear program is aimed at developing weapons, and insists it is for peaceful purposes only. Reinforced by UN Security Council sanctions, punitive measures have cost the economy billions of dollars in vital oil revenues and foreign investment, leaving Iran struggling with raging inflation and a depreciated currency. Inflation is more than 30 percent, the rial has lost nearly 70pc of its value and unemployment is rising. AFP

32 TRADE MARK CAUTION Notice is hereby given that LES LABORATOIRES SERVIER of 50, rue Carnot Suresnes cedex, FRANCE, is the Owner and Sole Proprietor of the following trademark: _ (Reg: No. IV/5566) In respect of: - Pharmaceutical and veterinary preparations; sanitary preparations for medical purposes; dietetic food and substances adapted for medical or veterinary use, food for babies; dietary supplements for humans and animals; plasters, materials for dressings; material for stopping teeth, dental wax; disinfectants; preparations for destroying vermin; fungicides, herbicides in class 05. Any fraudulent imitation or unauthorized use of the said trademark or other infringements whatsoever will be dealt with according to law. U Nyein Kyaw B.Sc., Dip Engg., R.L., D.B.L. For Biofarma Room 007, Inya Lake Hotel 37, Kaba Aye Pagoda Road Mayangone Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar Tes: (951) unk@myanmar.com.mm Date: 1 st July, 2013 TRADE MARK CAUTION Chevron Intellectual Property LLC, a company organized and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware, of 6001 Bollinger Canyon Road, San Ramon, CA 94583, U.S.A., is the Owner of the following Trade Marks:- Kaleidoscopic Corporate Logo in color Reg. No. 489/1995 CALTEX Kaleidoscopic Corporate Logo (Horizontal Version) in black & white Reg. No. 490/1995 in respect of Chemicals used in industry, agriculture, horticulture and forestry; fertilizers and fertilizing preparations; moisture repellents and preparations for assisting ignition; preparations to assist gasoline and diesel engine cleansing; plastics in the form of powders, liquids or pastes for industrial use; chemical cleaning and degreasing preparations; petroleum, gasoline, motor spirits, naphtha, lubricants, oils and greases, petroleum greases, gas oil, fuel oils, furnace oil, paraffine, heating oils, illuminating oils, oils for industrial use in the making, surfacing and paving of roads, kerosene. Servicing, maintenance and repair of vehicles and service stations for vehicles, restaurants including self-service restaurants, snack bars and cafeterias, catering services, retailing of goods including packaged oil; automotive parts and accessories, hardware, photographic requisites, cosmetics, newspapers and magazines, food, drink and confectionery. 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.L for Chevron Intellectual Property LLC P. O. Box 60, Yangon. makhinkyi.law@mptmail.net.mm Dated: 1 st July World International THE MYANMAR TIMES JULY 1-7, 2013 PARIS SAN FRANCISCO Gays celebrate landmark US marriage rulings JOE FITZGERALD GAYS and lesbians across the United States erupted in celebration on June 26 after the Supreme Court passed two landmark rulings on same-sex marriage in their favour. Large crowds gathered for an evening celebration in New York s Greenwich Village after a day of euphoria following the top US court s decisions, announced to an explosion of joy in Washington DC. In San Francisco, which has one of the biggest gay communities in the country, more than 400 people had gathered at City Hall for the announcements, made early in the morning West Coast time. Dressed in a full-length white wedding dress, Jenni Chang kissed her partner of five years, Lisa Dazols, when the rulings which include lifting a same-sex marriage ban in California were announced. We ll get married now. We re going today. It feels amazing that our government supports us, said Ms Dazols, wearing a purple tie and black vest and slacks. When the first ruling was announced, overturning the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the crowds exploded in cheers and stamped their feet, and couples threw their arms up in the air together. It feels good to see love triumph over ignorance, and that began here in San It feels good to see love triumph over ignorance, and that began here in San Francisco. Francisco, said Mayor Ed Lee. A crowd of same-sex marriage supporters that gathered under brilliant sunshine outside the US Supreme Court in Washington also burst into cheers when they heard the rulings. Washington lawyer Alex Kaplan, 33, kissed his 45-year-old French partner Olivier Basdevant when the DOMA ruling was announced. It s a dream come true it will have a profound effect on our family, said Mr Kaplan. The couple was especially happy because the ruling will allow Mr Kaplan to sponsor Basdevant for a US green card to stay in country permanently. Amanda Werner, a 24-year-old bisexual law student, said she travelled from California to Washington to be present for the ruling. To see DOMA dismissed is a great feeling. It is such a great outcome for us. It was time, she said. In New York, Edie Windsor, the 84-year-old lesbian widow whose legal challenge led to the June 26 ruling, was applauded by celebrants at Stonewall Inn, the focal point of a seminal 1969 clash between gays and police. To all the people, thank you, thank you, thank you, she told a crowd gathered in Greenwich Village that waved banners with messages such as All Love Is Equal. Christine Quinn, speaker of New York City Council, paid tribute. It s two New York City lesbians who brought DOMA down, she said. We are just as good, we are just as important, we are just as American as anybody else. The Supreme Court also said a case on Proposition 8, a 2008 voter initiative in California that prohibited same-sex marriage in the nation s most populous state, was not properly brought before them. That 5-4 decision which indicates that gay marriages will soon resume in California enabled the justices to dodge the thornier issue of whether same-sex marriage is a constitutional right throughout the United States. California briefly allowed same-sex marriages in 2008 before the Proposition 8 ban. AFP GENEVA El Niño unlikely to appear in 2013 THE Pacific Ocean is unlikely to see either a warming El Niño climate phenomenon or its cooling La Niña opposite number through the end of the year, the UN s weather agency said on June 26. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said forecasts showed that Pacific climate patterns were set to remain neutral through the rest of the year, although a slight chance of La Niña or El Niño development remains. During the past year, indicators in the tropical Pacific, including ocean temperatures, Carlos the Jackal s sentence upheld A FRENCH court has upheld a life sentence handed to Carlos the Jackal, once one of the world s most-wanted militants, who had appealed against his conviction for a series of deadly bombings in France 30 years ago. The eccentric 63-year-old Venezuelan, whose real name is Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, addressed the court for four hours at the end of the six-week trial on June 26, before a panel of judges went into chambers for deliberations. Ed Lee Mayor of San Francisco Jenni Chang (right) and Lisa Dazols celebrate the Supreme Court rulings in San Francisco s Castro neighborhood on June 26. Photo: AFP sea level pressure and cloudiness, indicate that neither of the climate patterns has been present, it said. In the first two months of this year, sea surface temperatures did approach a borderline La Niña level, WMO said, adding though that the oceanatmosphere system as a whole did not remain in a La Niña state for long enough to be considered a weak La Niña event. The UN agency said less than a quarter of the climate models it surveys predicted weak La Niña conditions between June and September, Carlos, who has been imprisoned in France since 1994, was found guilty in 2011 of masterminding the 1982 and 1983 attacks on two French passenger trains, a train station in Marseille and a Libyan magazine office in Paris. Already serving life for murder at the time, Carlos was given another life sentence for his role in attacks that left 11 people dead and nearly 150 injured, earning him the mantle of the world s most-wanted fugitive. while less than one-fifth of them expected to see El Niño develop before the end of The two phenomena are significant factors in the fluctuations of the world climate. El Niño occurs every two to seven years, when the trade winds that circulate surface water in the tropical Pacific start to weaken. The outcome is a major shift in rainfall, bringing floods and mudslides to usually arid countries in western South America and drought in the western Pacific, as well as a change in nutrient-rich ocean currents Carlos lawyer Isabelle Coutant-Peyre said her client would appeal once again, criticising a verdict she said was decided without a shred of proof by a discredited justice system. Carlos has denied any involvement in the attacks and said during the appeal that the evidence gathered from intelligence files against him was unreliable. In his address to the court, Carlos said the evidence had been falsified by manipulators serving foreign powers and that lure fish. It last paid a visit from June 2009 to May El Niño is often followed by a return swing of the pendulum with La Niña, which is characterised by unusually cool ocean surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific, and which was last declared over in April The two climate patterns are closely watched by scientists, who say that while they are not caused by climate change, rising ocean temperatures caused by global warming may affect their intensity and frequency. AFP accused French investigators of being agents of the American embassy. Prosecutors had called for the life sentence to be upheld, saying Carlos remained extremely dangerous. The bombings were widely believed to have been carried out to avenge France s detention of two members of a militant group Carlos ran with the support of East Germany s notorious secret police, the Stasi. AFP

33 MARSHALL ISLANDS Rising seas erode Pacific leader s home island WASHINGTON International World 33 Obama lays out plan to fight climate change GIFF JOHNSON AS the United States urges world leaders to ramp up action on climate change, the leader of one small island chain in the north Pacific Ocean has already got the message watching helplessly as rising seas slowly erode his birthplace. The idyllic beaches on the island of Buoj where Marshall Islands President Christopher Loeak fished as a boy are already submerged, and the ever-encroaching ocean now threatens to wash away roads, schools and airstrips. The end of the island gets shorter every year. Some places we used to stand on the beach to fish are now in the water, said Mr Loeak, 60. Buoj is one of 52 islands in Ailinglaplap, an atoll that a Marshall Islands survey found was one of its most vulnerable to climate change. I have great attraction to Ailinglaplap, Mr Loeak said in the capital, Majuro. I can live on other islands, but I was born and raised there. I always think about going back there to live. The Marshalls, an island nation of some 70,000 people about halfway between Australia and Hawaii, will have a rare moment in the international spotlight in September, when it hosts the annual Pacific Islands Forum. Mr Loeak said he wanted to use the opportunity to send a strong message to the world, particularly larger polluting nations, about the need for action to slow down climate change. We will not stop telling people that climate change is a real issue for humanity, he said. We will be the first to feel it, but it will come to them and they should realise it. The impact of global warming is starkly evident in Ailinglaplap, with the Marshall Islands senior climate change advisor Steve Why saying the majority of the atoll s shorelines were eroding. Infrastructure at risk of eroding includes three airstrips, roads, causeways and schools, he said. Mr Why and his survey team documented coastal erosion as an increasingly serious problem affecting many of the atoll s islands and noted the threat of rising sea levels to the entire country. Strong northeast trade winds since October 2012 have elevated sea levels 3-6 inches ( centimetres), noticeably accelerating erosion on Ailinglaplap, he said. About 1700 people are scattered on the atoll s islands, which are barely 1 metre (3 feet) above sea level, even at their highest points. A causeway linking some of the islands is disappearing, while saltwater makes previously productive agricultural land useless. Mr Why said discussions with the community showed people wanted the infrastructure problems fixed, but they were reluctant to confront the worst-case scenario. Most conversations stalled as we envisaged what the future held over a 3-foot rise in average sea level during this century, and more beyond that, he said. [It s] not difficult to imagine what will happen over the coming decades while standing, talking, sleeping and raising one s family on land that is just a couple of feet in elevation above the high tide mark a line that is now always slowly moving inland when there isn t anywhere else that s easy to retreat to. Mr Loeak said that while he was happy to see world leaders such as US President Barack Obama talking about climate change, it had not changed the fact that sea levels were continuing to rise in the Pacific. And he said in the face of rising waters, his own fate was tied to that of the island. I will remain here until I die, he said. If the water comes, it comes. AFP President Obama s plan takes a three-pronged approach that includes cutting carbon pollution in the United States, mitigating the impact of climate change and seeking international action to address the problem STEPHEN COLLINSON US President Barack Obama on June 25 laid out a broad new plan to fight climate change, using executive powers to get around flat earth science deniers who have blocked action in Congress. Mr Obama called for new restrictions on existing and new power plants to curb carbon emissions, and pledged to push new-generation clean energy sources and to lead a fresh global effort to stem global warming. Officials said the plan would allow the United States to meet a goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, a pledge Mr Obama made at the inconclusive Copenhagen summit in Mr Obama argued that Americans across the country were already paying the price of inaction against climate change, describing 2012 as the warmest year in human history, which parched farmlands in the US heartland. As a president, as a father and as an American, I am here to say we need to act, he said in a speech delivered in the sweltering early afternoon heat outside Georgetown University, with an eye on his political legacy. Mr Obama said he had no patience for climate change deniers, including We don t have time for a meeting of the Flat Earth Society. Sticking your head in the sand might make you feel safer, but it is not going to protect you from the coming storm. Barack Obama US president US President Barack Obama feels the heat as he unveils his plan to fight climate change at Georgetown University in Washington DC on June 25. Photo: AFP many in Congress, who dispute the science holding that carbon dioxide emissions contribute to a dangerously warming planet. We don t have time for a meeting of the Flat Earth Society, he said. Sticking your head in the sand might make you feel safer, but it is not going to protect you from the coming storm. Mr Obama also touched on the Keystone XL pipeline, which is designed to carry oil from the tar sands of Canada to the US Gulf Coast, and has become a cause célèbre for environmentalists. He warned the project, currently under State Department review to determine whether it is in the US national interest, should not be approved if it contributes to global warming. Our national interest will be served only if this project does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution, Mr Obama said. The president is widely expected to approve the long-delayed project when it reaches his desk. The State Department has already concluded in a draft report that it would not significantly harm the environment. Canadian Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said on June 25 he was confident the project would get approved, insisting there would not be any increase in emissions as a result of the construction of the pipeline. Environmentalists, however, insist the pipeline would lead to the expansion of tar sands extraction in Alberta a process they say creates the dirtiest oil on Earth. Mr Obama s plan is based on a three-pronged approach: cutting carbon pollution in the United States, mitigating the impact of climate change and seeking international action to address it. Mr Obama committed to withdrawing support for coal-fired power plants abroad and offered to discuss new initiatives with big emitters like India and China. He directed the Environmental Protection Agency to write rules to impose new standards for carbon emissions on new and existing power plants. The plan calls for US$8 billion in loan guarantees to support investments in innovative technologies and aims for a 20pc increase in energy efficiency in commercial, industrial and residential buildings. Some opponents of his approach have warned that the plan could result in older coal-fired plants being taken offline and may thereby raise electricity prices for consumers, which could disproportionately hurt the poor. Officials counter that the plan will reduce the amount of electricity used, thereby reducing fuel bills. The specifics of much of his plan were unclear, and many of Mr Obama s new rules could face court challenges that would delay their implementation. The president will be using the executive powers of his office since Congress where there is widespread scepticism of climate change science and fear about the economic impact of mitigation efforts has refused to act. Mr Obama also set a goal of reducing carbon pollution by 3 billion metric tonnes by 2030 a figure equivalent to more than half of the annual carbon pollution from the US energy sector. AFP TRADE MARK CAUTION sanofi (formerly sanofi-aventis) a Company incorporated in France, of 54 rue La Boetie, Paris, France, is the Owner of the following Trade Mark:- COARSUCAM Reg. No. 8580/2006 in respect of Class 05: Pharmaceutical products. Fraudulent imitation or unauthorised use of the said Trade Mark will be dealt with according to law. Win Mu Tin, M.A., H.G.P., D.B.L for sanofi P. O. Box 60, Yangon makhinkyi.law@mptmail.net.mm Dated: 1 st July 2013

34 34 World International THE MYANMAR TIMES JULY 1-7, 2013 TRADE MARK CAUTION NOTICE is hereby given that IL YANG PHARM. CO., LTD. of 182-4, Hagal-dong, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea is the Owner and Sole Proprietor of the following trademark: - PHNOM PENH (Reg: No. IV/1050/2013) in respect of: - Non-alcoholic drinks; fruit juices; vitamin drinks; beverages containing red ginseng extracts; beverages containing ginseng extracts; aerated drinks; sports drinks; energy drinks; beverages containing ginkgo leaf extracts. Any 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 IL YANG PHARM. CO., LTD. P.O. Box No. 26, Yangon. Phone: Dated: 1 st July, 2013 TRADE MARK CAUTION NOTICE is hereby given that NACHI-FUJIKOSHI CORP. a company organized under the laws of Japan and having its principal office at 1-1-1, FUJIKOSHIHONMACHI, TOYAMA-CITY, TOYAMA-KEN, JAPAN is the owner and sole proprietor of the following trademarks:- (Reg: No. IV/4241/2013) in respect of :- Bearings for machines; ball bearings; bearings (parts or machines); roller bearings; radial ball bearing; thrust ball bearings; cylindrical roller bearings; taper roller bearings; cutting tools; cutters (machines); sawblades (parts of machines); taps (parts of machines); drills; end mills; milling cutters; broaching cutters; gear hobbing cutters; pinion cutters; gear shaving cutters; reamers (machines); tooth forming machine tools; tooth rolling flat dies; gear rolling dies; machine tools; metal working machine; polishing machines; milling machines; cutting machines; grinding machines; broaching machines; semiconductor working machines; precision roll forming machines; machining centers; hydraulic pumps and valves; pumps (parts of machines); piston pumps; vane pumps; gear pumps; modular pumps; piston motors other than for land vehicles; valves (parts of machines); pressure valves (parts of machines); modular valves; solenoid valves; pressure control valves; flow control valves; direction control valves; electric proportional valves; electronic proportional valves; electro-hydraulic proportional valves; cylinder for machines; industrial robots; robots (machines); spraying machines; welding machines. Class: 7 Cutting tools; hacksaw blades; drills; reamers; taps; milling cutters; circular saw cutters. Class: 8 Automobiles; automobile parts (including in the class); axles for vehicles; axle journals; radial ball bearings; roller bearings; bearings for land vehicles; thrust ball bearings; cylindrical roller bearings; motor cars; motor car parts (included in the class); motorcycles; motorcycle parts (included in the class); vehicles for locomotion by land, air, water or rail; vehicle parts (included in the class). Class: 12 Any 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 NACHI-FUJIKOSHI CORP. P.O. Box No. 26, Yangon. Phone: Dated: 1 st July, 2013 A view of Mount Fuji from the Miho no Matsubara pine grove in Shimizu Ward, Shizuoka, on June 22. Photo: The Yomiuri Shimbun N Korea city, Mount Fuji join UNESCO list ROYAL tombs, fortress walls and a 700-year-old school in North Korea s medieval city of Kaesong were among a dozen monuments granted World Heritage status by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) at its annual meeting last week. Twelve sites in Kaesong, the heart of the Koryo dynasty that unified the Korean peninsula for the first time, were classified on the grounds of embodying the political, cultural, philosophical and spiritual values of the kingdom, UNESCO said. The Kaesong monuments including sections of defensive walls have survived repeated assaults on the city, which served as the seat of the Koryo kings who ruled from They are located several kilometres from an industrial park jointly run by the divided WASHINGTON North and South, which has been closed since April after a tensions between the bitter enemies reached boiling point. Hailing Kaesong s outstanding universal value UN- ESCO said the monuments are exceptional testimony to the unified Koryo civilisation as Buddhism gave way to neo- Confucianism in East Asia. As the decision was announced several black-suited North Korean delegates stood and clapped at the UNESCO committee annual session in Phnom Penh. Thanking UNESCO for the listing one of the North Koreans hailed the joyful occasion in a brief statement to the auditorium. Kaesong was established in 919 as the capital of the Goryeo dynasty also known as Koryo which gave its name to the modern state of Korea. The dynasty is credited with creating a unified national identity for the first time. When the Korean peninsula was partitioned along the 38 th parallel after World War II, Kaesong was in South Korea. During the Korean War, it came under North Korean control and remained so until the end of the conflict, thus becoming the only city to change from South to North control as a result of the war. UNESCO also granted World Heritage status to more than a dozen of natural wonders and cultural jewels, including two iconic volcanoes - Japan s 3776-metre (12,460- foot) Mount Fuji, known for its perfectly cone-shaped volcano, and Italy s Mount Etna. Other sites in Asia were Xinjiang Tianshan and the terraced rice fields of Honghe Hani in China, and the Hill Forts of Rajasthan, India. Newly named heritage sites in other parts of the world included the 15 th century town of Agadez (Niger), El Pinacate and Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve (Mexico), Tajikistan National Park, Namib Sand Sea (Namibia), Medici Villas and Gardens (Italy), wooden churches in the Carpathian mountains (Poland and Ukraine) and Red Bay Basque Whaling Station (Canada). The following were classed as in danger heritage sites by UNESCO: all six of Syria s World Heritage Sites because of ongoing civil war; and the East Rennell area of the Solomon Islands, the largest raised coral atoll in the world endangered by logging. Iran s ancient citadel of Bam was taken off the in danger list. AFP CIA introduces new and improved website THE CIA prides itself on secrecy but the spy agency unveiled a revamped website on June 24 that promises a userfriendly layout and a sleeker, more modern web experience. Borrowing the jargon of corporate marketing, the Central Intelligence Agency touted its new online look for jobseekers or people interested in the spy service s origins. The new and improved website reflects CIA s strong commitment to educating and informing the American people about the agency s history, mission and organisation, CIA Director John Brennan said in a statement. I encourage the public to explore the website and learn more about an American institution dedicated to protecting our country s security, said Mr Brennan, known as the mastermind behind secret drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen. The CIA, heavily criticised over its reluctance to discuss drone bombing raids abroad or the treatment of terror suspects, said the new site offered more interactive features and more information to the public. The site features a menu of less-than-exciting videos, including a nine-minute promotional clip that provides a quick history of the agency from its founding in 1947 to the present. The video s production standards are not exactly Hollywood material but it does try to explain the different branches of the agency, using a brief clip from a James Bond film to highlight the role of technicians who create gadgets for spies in the field. Think Q in James Bond movies, says the narrator during a segment on the agency s science and technology office. The site also appears aimed at recruiting a new generation of spies, with a job fit tool that allows prospective applicants to find the best match for their skills and a job cart that allows people to apply to up to four jobs at one time. The CIA website also makes it easier to search through historical documents from the Cold War era that have been declassified, including official collections recounting a range of secret operations during the Vietnam War. AFP

35 World Special 35 JEREZ DE LA FRONTERA Bullfighting gored by economic woes ANTHONY FAIOLA UNDER the fierce Andalusian sun, a class of novice matadors strode into an empty bullfighting ring, arching and flourishing through moves meant to slay a beast in its tracks. Yet during their breaks, the teenagers spoke of an adversary in their path to glory even greater than a raging toro: Europe s economic crisis. In Spain, the bullfighting plot of man against beast, famously captured by Ernest Hemingway, is now one of a sport struggling against the financial odds. In a time of harsh government austerity, cash-strapped municipalities across Spain are abandoning financial support for festivals involving bullfights and running of bulls, disrupting a chain of economic activity from breeders and transporters to costume makers and bullfighters. Amid plummeting demand, more fighting bull breeders are dispatching their stocks to the butcher rather than the spectacle of the ring. In increasingly hard times, bullfight organisers are engaged in highly public disputes with matadors and creditors over wages and overdue payments. One of the most publicised fights has kept the form-fitted silhouette of Julian Lopez Escobar the star matador known as El Juli out of Madrid s Las Ventas bullfighting ring for the better part of a year. Tickets to privately sponsored bullfights have long cost as much as a rock concert. But prices jumped even higher last year after the government hiked the sales tax on cultural events. In a country where a debt crisis, budget cuts and an ever-worsening real estate bust has left one out of every four Spaniards out of work, industry officials say higher prices have only exacerbated the 40 percent drop in attendance at major bullfighting events from 2007 to Spanish bullfighting was already stung by growing opposition among animal rights activists as well as a ban on the sport that went into effect last year in the autonomous region of Catalonia, where anti-bullfighting feelings run deeper than anywhere else in Spain. But the strain of the economic crisis on the industry, bullfighting advocates say, has been far more deadly. Last year, the total number of major bullfights fell to 1014 a 51pc drop since 2007, according to industry statistics. The crisis, aficionados say, is underscoring the extent to which Europe s economic woes are goring a hole in the national identities of the region s hardest-hit countries. Among traditionalists, bullfighting a dance to the death between man and beast remains the highest expression of Spanish sport, with a cult of celebrity surrounding the biggestname matadors. Mercedes San Roman Mateos, 16 (left); Miguel Andrades, 17 (centre); and Cristobal Reyes, 15, take part in a practice session at the Municipal Bullfighting School of Jerez in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, on June 12. Photo: The Washington Post Voraciously covered by bloggers and sports writers, leading matadors can pull in six-digit purses for major bouts and regularly compete with soccer stars for tabloid ink. Although the largest events in Madrid and Pamplona still draw large crowds, bullfights in smaller towns and mid-size cities such as Jerez de la Frontera are becoming increasingly rare. Bullfighting is confronting a crisis from Spain s financial difficulties, said Sandra Moscoso, a 27-year-old with a crushing grip who beat the odds in a macho sport by rising to the top ranks of this nation s professional matadors. Yet the declining number of bullfights has led her to follow other professional Spanish bullfighters who are now largely competing in Latin America. Three years ago, she found work at five major bouts in Spain, compared with only one last year. In this city long famed for its sherry but now plagued by a host of empty storefronts and For Sale signs on apartment buildings, she watched from the wings as her 18-year-old brother eager to follow in her footsteps kicked The crisis has helped our cause. There are more people who have decided to stop going to bullfights, and it s been harder for breeders to raise fighting bulls. The industry is getting desperate. Aida Gascon Director of AnimaNaturalis up the dirt as he trained hard in the still-intense heat an hour before sunset. It was hard for me, she said, but every year with the crisis, it s getting harder to find fights in Spain, and it s going to be even harder for him now. Equally alarmed about the future of a sport is the centre-right government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, which is supporting a bill that would declare bullfighting part of Spain s national patrimony and potentially undermine Catalonia s ban on bullfights. The government is also studying other ways to boost the sport, including funnelling more resources into promotion, reversing the recent sales-tax increase on tickets and offering state aid for struggling young bullfighters in training. Everyone involved in our great national pastime is being impacted, Carlos Nunez, head of Spain s Bull Breeders Association, said recently in a drawing room on his ranch, decorated with bovine horns and sepia posters of great bullfights past. He said that when he sells a bull to the butcher he gets US$750 a head, compared with $1350 to $20,000 a bull typically fetched for fights. Animal rights groups say the bad economy has driven home the point that bullfights should no longer take up the resources of small cities and towns that still spend millions of euros annually to subsidise such events. The crisis has helped our cause, said Aida Gascon, director of the animal rights group AnimaNaturalis in Madrid. There are more people who have decided to stop going to bullfights, and it s been harder for breeders to raise fighting bulls. The industry is getting desperate. In Jerez de la Frontera, the cashstrapped city government is sponsoring only three bullfights this year, fewer than in years past. Nevertheless, the municipal bullfighting school has seen an uptick in the number of students enrolling, mostly from newcomers with socially depressed backgrounds. In times like these, their dreams of escaping their lives, of helping their families through success in the ring, only gets stronger, said Antonio Lozano, 53, the school s director. As a professional in the 1970s and 1980s, he once challenged bulls in some of Spain s greatest arenas. On a recent afternoon, Mr Lozano barked critiques as half his students moved theatrically with capes and swords while the other half played the bull with horns in hands. One of his students, Sandra Moscoso s 18-year-old brother Antonio Moscoso, said that even now, it was not in the spirit of the sport to give up. Because of the crisis, I know it will be harder, said Mr Moscoso, who grew up with posters of great matadors pinned to his bedroom wall and was inspired by his sister to try to go pro. But there is nothing like the feeling I get in my stomach when I stand in front of the bull. This just means I have to try harder, and not give up. The Washington Post MILAN Dear Italy: I have left, but would come back if... AMELIE HERENSTEIN AS thousands of Italians leave the country to look for work elsewhere, one young journalist s blog claims to offer a megaphone for this generation, a voice to all those who profess to be ready to return if. From disenchanted rants to nostalgic laments, feedback from young film directors, researchers and doctors in New York, France and Germany are published by Antonio Siragusa on his blog iotornose.it ( I ll come back, if... ). They have an interesting point of view on Italy, which is not heard enough. They can propose changes inspired by the countries where they are living better lives, said the 28-year-old blogger from Caserte in southern Italy. The situation is dramatic. As a precarious worker, I feel it personally, said Mr Siragusa, who began the blog after his brother, cousins and friends began to emigrate, and does not rule out packing his cases too if nothing changes. The stories on his blog speak of a country stuck in a two-year recession, where anti-crisis austerity programs have squeezed ordinary Italians hard. But they also denounce a deep-seated culture of nepotism and corruption. I would like to return to Italy because the quality of life is better but here I get a salary I could never dream of back home and my work is appreciated, said Michela Pascucci, 27, who works for PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Brussels. Natascia Musardo, 28, studying for a doctorate in law at Mainz University in Germany, said she would return even if she had to earn half as much, if there was a decent job waiting. I d come back if, to achieve things, I was not forced to make frustrating or illegal compromises; if I was able, by investing time and energy, to obtain my goals without being someone s daughter ; if Italy was ready to hire me on merit and choose someone else over me if they are better than me, she said. From 2000 to 2010, according to a survey cited by La Stampa newspaper, 316,000 Italians between 25 and 37 years old with university degrees emigrated, the majority heading for Germany, followed by Britain, France and the United States. Confindustria business association head Giorgio Squinzi said this month that Italy had spent 5 billion euros (US$6.5 billion) on educating those now working abroad. Our incredulous competitors thank us for this precious gift, he added sardonically. The Eurozone s third largest economy did worse than thought in the first quarter of this year, shrinking by 0.6 percent, and the national unemployment rate in April rose to 12pc. The brain drain phenomenon is not new to Italy, but the issue has been exacerbated during the last few months, with youth unemployment reaching 40.5pc in April, sparking promises of government action. AFP

36 36 World International THE MYANMAR TIMES JULY 1-7, 2013 TRADE MARK CAUTION NOTICE is hereby given that Revlon Consumer Products Corporation a company incorporated in United States of America and having its principal office at 237 Park Avenue, NEW YORK, NY, 10017, U.S.A. is the Owner and Sole Proprietor of the following trademark: - REVLON NEW COMPLEXION LUMINOUS WHITE (Reg: Nos. IV/6537/2009 & IV/3389/2012) in respect of:- Cosmetics and makeup and skin care products Any 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 Revlon Consumer Products Corporation P.O. Box No. 26, Yangon. Phone: Dated: 1 st July, 2013 TRADE MARK CAUTION NOTICE is hereby given that WARNACO INC., a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware, United States of America of th Avenue, New York New York 10018, United States of America, are the owners and Sole Proprietors of the following trade marks:- OLGA (Reg: No. IV/1774/1993) WARNER S (Reg: No. IV/1775/1993) The above two trademarks are in respect of:- Articles of clothing, including boots, shoes and slippers Any fraudulent imitations or unauthorized use of the said trademarks or other infringements whatsoever will be dealt with according to law. U Kyi Win Associates for WARNACO INC., P.O. Box No. 26, Yangon Phone: Dated: 1 st July, 2013 TRADE MARK CAUTION NOTICE is hereby given that KINJIRUSHI KABUSHIKI KAISHA (also trading as Kinjirushi Co., Ltd.) a company incorporated in Japan and having its principal office at 61, Yahata-Hontori 2-Chome, Nakagawa-Ku, Nagoya-Shi, Aichi-Ken, Japan is the Owner and Sole Proprietor of the following trademark: - (Reg: No. IV/2142/2013) in respect of: - Coffee, tea, cocoa and artificial coffee; rice; tapioca and sago; flour and preparations made from cereals; bread, pastry and confectionery; ices; sugar, honey, treacle; yeast, baking-powder; salt; mustard; vinegar, sauces (condiments); spices; ice; Japanese horseradish (powdered wasabi, grated wasabi, processed wasabi) Any 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 KINJIRUSHI KABUSHIKI KAISHA (also trading as Kinjirushi Co., Ltd.) P.O. Box No. 26, Yangon. Phone: Dated: 1 st July, 2013 MOSCOW Report blasts Russia for Magnitsky s death KATHY LALLY A REPORT prepared on the death of Russian whistle-blowing lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, presented on June 25 to a European body that promotes human rights, severely criticised Russia for failing to hold anyone accountable for his death in pretrial detention. The report was prepared by Andreas Gross, a member of the Swiss parliament, for the 47 countries making up the Council of Europe and was given to the council s human rights and legal affairs committee on June 25. At a news conference in France, Mr Gross said the report would provide WASHINGTON US Senate clears hurdle to tighten Mexico border THE US Senate easily cleared a key immigration reform hurdle on June 24, advancing a critical compromise Republican measure that would tighten security on the country s border with Mexico. The procedural vote marked an important test for comprehensive immigration reform backed by President Barack Obama. He wants it enacted this year, though the landmark legislation faces an uncertain fate in the House of Representatives. Fifteen Republicans joined a unanimous Democratic side to end debate on the vital amendment, which would bring muscular new security measures to the southern US border including 20,000 additional agents, 1125 kilometres (700 miles) of secure fencing and expansion of drone surveillance along what is already the most militarised border in the Americas. The controversial legislation, shepherded through the Senate by its four Republican and four Democratic authors, would create a 13-year-long pathway to citizenship for the more than 11 million immigrants living illegally in the United States. It would also reform the work visa system in agriculture and high-technology fields, and institute electronic employment verification and comprehensive entry-exit tracking, while seeking to prevent future waves of illegal immigration by making the US-Mexico border virtually impenetrable. We re securing the border but we re allowing those people at the back of the line to have some pathway to continue to live the American dream, the same things that we want for our sons and daughters all across the country, said Senator Bob Corker, who crafted the border deal with fellow Republican John Hoeven. President Obama, who has largely stayed out of the fray material for the council s Parliamentary Assembly to consider when it debates possible sanctions against Russia at its winter session. Mr Magnitsky, who died in Moscow in November 2009, accused Russian officials of using documents stolen from the Hermitage Capital investment fund to carry off a US$230 million tax fraud. Instead of pursuing the officials, authorities charged Mr Magnitsky with the fraud. Recently, Russia opened a new case against him in death and brought charges against Hermitage founder William Browder as well. Mr Gross, who interviewed numerous witnesses in US Border Patrol agents Richard Funke and Colleen Agle guard the border between Arizona and Mexico at the town of Nogales on July 28, Photo: AFP but in recent weeks sought to nudge the bill forward, stressed at a White House meeting with business leaders on June 24 ahead of the vote that immigration reform would give the nation s economic recovery a boost. Now is the time to get comprehensive immigration reform done, he said. A coterie of conservatives, however, were banding together against the legislation, including Senator John Cornyn of the border state of Texas. Mr Cornyn accused top Senate Democrat Harry Reid of running a Senate dictatorship by exerting unassailable control over which immigration amendments received votes in recent weeks, and attacked the Corker-Hoeven deal as a political fig leaf that will not solve the problem. While recognising the amendment boosts border enforcement, Mr Cornyn and others said it unacceptably fails to implement border triggers that would only allow the full Russia, told the news conference that high-level officials declined to talk to him. He said the evidence he accumulated, however, persuaded him that Mr Magnitsky was innocent and responsibility lay with a group of criminals, including the persons he had accused before these persons took him into custody, where he died. The report comes six months after the United States passed the Magnitsky Law, which places financial and visa sanctions on certain Russian officials. Russia vehemently denounced the US law, and on June 25 Ilyas Umakhanov, the deputy speaker of Russia s upper house of parliament, legalisation for undocumented workers to begin once all the border security measures are in place. This bill has no teeth. This bill has US$48 billion thrown up against the wall to buy the votes to say this bill will secure the border, and it will not, Senator Tom Coburn said. Democrats hotly countered that the new border enforcement has no fewer than five triggers, including the requirement that the e-verify system be in place before any permanent residency cards are issued to legalised immigrants. They just won t take yes for an answer, said Democratic Senator Charles Schumer, citing the added security measures inserted as a concession to sceptical Republicans. No one can dispute that the border will become virtually airtight. He said new technologies unavailable as recently as 10 years ago, like drone surveillance, would allow for far tighter operational control criticised the Gross report. He called it full of flaws, contradictions and myths. Mr Gross, however, maintained that the death tells a wider story of Russia. The Magnitsky case is just one emblematic example of how helpless individual citizens are once they are taken into custody, Mr Gross wrote in his report, adding that many others whose names were never known had suffered similar treatment. It is for the sake of these nameless victims that the international community must not accept the outcome of the case so far. The Washington Post The controversial legislation would earmark US$3.2 billion for new equipment, including unmanned drones, helicoptors, boats, ground sensors and cameras of the 3200-kilometre (2000- mile) border. The June 24 procedural step was approved 67-27, although the two Democrats who missed the vote support the amendment. The amendment details US$3.2 billion in new equipment, including four unmanned drone systems, 40 helicopters, 30 boats, 4595 unattended ground sensors and hundreds of fixed and mobile camera systems. Some lawmakers have warned it will be dead on arrival in the Republican-held House, where conservatives want to see stronger protections in place, and politicians in border states remain sceptical. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer said it was encouraging to see additional security measures approved for the bill, but insisted it was too early to give her stamp of approval. There are still too many unknowns, Ms Brewer said. AFP

37 DOHA Qatar emir hands power to son THE emir of gas-rich Qatar, a major actor on the world diplomatic stage and key backer of Arab Spring uprisings, stepped down on June 25 in favour of his 33-year-old son, Sheikh Tamim. Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-thani s abdication after 18 years was a rarity in the Arab world, but analysts do not expect significant changes in the way the super-rich Gulf state is ruled. I address you today to announce that I am handing the rule over to Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-thani, the 61-yearold emir told Qataris in a televised speech. The decision marks the beginning of a new era in which a young leadership will hold the banner that would place the hopes of the coming generation upon its priorities, he added. Sheikh Hamad suffers from kidney problems but officials insist he has not stepped down because of his health but instead to bring a younger leadership to the fore. He appeared to be in good health during his speech on June 25 and during weekend meetings with US Secretary of State John Kerry and French President Francois Hollande. Under a scorching sun, scores waited in long lines outside the seaside palace in Doha to swear allegiance to a Qatari Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al-thani arrives at the Elysee Palace for a lunch with France s thenpresident Nicolas Sarkozy on February 3, Photo: AFP tall, smiling Mr Tamim, who stood next to his father to welcome the visitors. Among those who congratulated father and son was influential Sunni Muslim cleric Sheikh Yusuf al-qaradawi, who embraced both. Mr Qaradawi is a controversial figure in the West and has millions of supporters, mostly from the Muslim Brotherhood. In a coffee shop on the outskirts of Doha, a young woman clad in a traditional black abaya voiced mixed feelings. I am saddened by the departure of the father of this nation under whose reign I had lived and grown up, she said. But I m reassured about the future with the enthronement of Sheikh Tamim, who is young but mature. A number of Gulf rulers congratulated Sheikh Tamim, including King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and the president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-nahayan. Qatar s relations with the UAE have been strained in recent months over Doha s reported support of the Muslim Brotherhood, which has risen to prominence in several Arab states. Sheikh Hamad has used Qatar s immense gas wealth to drive its modernisation since he overthrew his own father, Sheikh Khalifa, in a 1995 coup. He hands over to his son, now by far the youngest sovereign of any of the Gulf monarchies, a country that has developed into a political and economic powerhouse, with multi-billion-dollar investments across the world. According to the World Bank, Qatar recorded a gross domestic product of US$173 billion in 2011, while average per capita income in 2012 stood at 98,000 euros ($128,811). The tiny peninsula holds the world s third-largest gas reserves and produces roughly 77 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas per year, making it the world s largest supplier. AFP International World 37 BERLIN Did JFK tell Berlin he was a jam doughnut? LEGEND has it that US president John F Kennedy made a whopping grammatical gaffe with his iconic declaration Ich bin ein Berliner 50 years ago on June 26, 1963, essentially telling his audience and the world I am a jam doughnut. The historical lore was that JFK, in his first faltering words of German, was wrong to use the indefinite article ein and should have said Ich bin Berliner to declare his solidarity with the embattled Cold War city. Not so, says Anatol Stefanowitsch, a Berlin professor of linguistics. The sentence Ich bin ein Berliner is grammatically absolutely acceptable, he said ahead of the commemorations for the stirring speech. The phrase came up twice in the speech, delivered in Mr Kennedy s broad Boston accent. It was his brainchild and was translated into German for him by official interpreters JFK had written it out phonetically on note cards so he would be understood. Mr Stefanowitsch notes that while Berliner is a German word for a filled pastry, the context of Mr Kennedy s declaration made his sentence abundantly clear to the cheering throngs. The confusion derives from the fact that [in German], you normally express your belonging to a predefined group in a sentence without an article, such as Ich bin Student or indeed Ich bin Berliner, he said. The sentence Ich bin Berliner is This picture taken on June 26, 1963, shows then-us President John F Kennedy (left) giving a speech at the Schoeneberg city hall in Berlin, where he said his famous German sentence, Ich bin ein Berliner (I am a Berliner). Photo: AFP clear and cannot refer to doughnuts because that is not a predefined group. Mr Stefanowitsch said the construction with the article ein is used when a speaker wants to say that he doesn t literally belong to the group, but rather wants to express that he has something in common with them. That is exactly what Kennedy wanted to do he did not want to claim to actually be a resident of the city of Berlin but rather to say that he shared something with the Berliners, namely their love of freedom, Mr Stefanowitsch said. At the end of his 10-minute address, Mr Kennedy said the immortal words: All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin and therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words Ich bin ein Berliner. Kennedy not only delivered a grammatically correct sentence but rather the only sentence that made sense there, Mr Stefanowitsch said. AFP TRADE MARK CAUTION DC Shoes Inc., of Graham Street, Huntington Beach, California 92649, USA, is the Owner and Sole Proprietor of the following Trade Mark: Reg.No.IV/ 4148 /2013 in respect of Int l Class 18: Backpacks, duffel bags, athletic-style bags, all purpose sport bags, gym bags, knapsacks and fanny packs. Any fraudulent imitation or unauthorized use of the said Trade Mark or other infringements will be dealt with according to law. Khine Khine U, Advocate LL.B, D.B.L, LL.M (UK) For DC Shoes Inc., #205/5, Thirimingalar Hous; Strand Rd., Yangon. Dated. July 1, 2013

38 38 World Asia-Pacafic THE MYANMAR TIMES JULY 1-7, 2013 TRADE MARK CAUTION NOTICE is hereby given that Revlon (Suisse) S.A. a company incorporated in Switzerland and having its principal office at Badenerstrasse 116, 8952 Schlieren, Zurich, Switzerland is the Owner and Sole Proprietor of the following trademark: - REVLON AGE DEFYING (Reg: Nos. IV/1572/2006, IV/1396/2009, IV/3373/2012) in respect of:- Cosmetics and non-medicated skin care preparations Any 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 Revlon (Suisse) S.A. P.O. Box No. 26, Yangon. Phone: Dated: 1 st July, 2013 TRADE MARK CAUTION NOTICE is hereby given that Revlon (Suisse) S.A. and having its principal office at Badenerstrasse 116, 8952 Schlieren, Switzerland is the Owner and Sole Proprietor of the following trademark: - REVLON (Reg: Nos. IV/599/2001, IV/1571/2006, IV/1400/2009 & IV/3381/2012) in respect of:- Fragrances; cosmetics; nail care products; skin care products; toiletries; hair care products; antiperspirants and deodorants Any 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 Revlon (Suisse) S.A. P.O. Box No. 26, Yangon. Phone: Dated: 1 st July, 2013 TRADE MARK CAUTION NOTICE is hereby given that Hino Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (also trading as Hino Motors, Ltd.) of 1-1, Hinodai 3-Chome, Hino-Shi, Tokyo, Japan is the Owner and Sole Proprietor of the following trademark: - (Reg: No. IV/1519/2013) in respect of:- Land vehicles; trucks; buses; engines and motors; all for land vehicles; parts and fittings for all the aforesaid goods; all included in International Class: 12 Any 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 Hino Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (also trading as Hino Motors, Ltd.) P.O. Box No. 26, Yangon. Phone: Dated: 1 st July, 2013 You are what you read, demand the best news! Quality delivered to your doorstop- just today. subscribe.mt@gmail.com BRIEFS Beijing More than 2m Tibetans rehoused, relocated More than two million Tibetans in China have been forced to change homes or relocate in a government-sponsored program that is damaging their traditional culture and rural lifestyle, a human rights monitoring group said. Citing Chinese official figures, the report, entitled They Say We Should Be Grateful : Mass Rehousing and Relocation in Tibetan Areas of China, said that two million people were moved into new houses or rebuilt their own houses between 2006 and The number of people affected accounted for more than two-thirds of the entire population of the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR), it said. Citing China s 2010 census, it said there were about 6.2 million ethnic Tibetans living in China, with 2.7 million of them in the TAR, the group said. According to Human Rights Watch, the report cites violations such as lack of consultation and proper compensation, quality defects in housing and the disregard for autonomy rights in Tibetan areas. Tokyo Man sues NHK for using foreign words A pensioner is suing Japan s national broadcaster for emotional distress, claiming the overuse of foreign loanwords has rendered many of its programs unintelligible, his lawyer said on June 26. Hoji Takahashi, 71, is demanding 1.41 million yen (US$14,000) in damages for the broadcaster s reliance on words borrowed from English, TURPAN ARMED police in China s ethnically divided Xinjiang on June 27 blocked the road to the site of riots that killed 27 people a day earlier in the region s deadliest violence in years, which state media called a terrorist incident. It was the deadliest spasm of violence to hit the troubled western region since 2009, when riots killed hundreds. Xinjiang, an area about twice the size of Turkey, is home to around 10 million members of the mostly Muslim Uighur ethnic minority. Officers stationed 40 kilometres (25 miles) outside Turpan city s Lukqun township where the violence reportedly occurred checked car passengers IDs and barred AFP journalists from entering, citing safety concerns. A visitor in Turpan which lies about 250 kilometres (155 miles) from the regional capital Urumqi said he saw another roadblock with armed officers and about 20 police vehicles. A resident surnamed Chai said a helicopter arrived on the scene along with many police and soldiers. The Xinhua state news agency said on June 26 that knife-wielding mobs attacked police stations and other locations, and nine police or security guards and eight civilians were killed before police opened fire. instead of their traditional Japanese counterparts. Japanese has a rich native vocabulary, but has a tradition of borrowing words from other languages, often quite inventively and sometimes changing their meaning in the process. Takahashi, a member of Nihongo wo taisetsu ni suru kai (The Treat Japanese as Important Association), brought his suit because entreaties to NHK had been ignored, his lawyer said. Beijing Sex tape official jailed in China: Xinhua A former Chinese government official who became infamous after a video showing him having sex with a mistress was leaked online has been jailed for 13 years on bribery charges, state media said on June 28. A court in Chongqing sentenced Lei Zhengfu, the former top official of one of the megacity s districts, the government-run Xinhua news agency reported without giving details. Mr Lei shot to fame after blogger and journalist Zhu Ruifeng released the sex video last year, along with lurid details of a blackmail scheme which saw a property developer amassing videos of several officials having sex. Zhao Hongxia, who was recorded having sex with Mr Lei, was given a jail term of two years with a two-year reprieve, Xinhua said. Zhu released the video in the wake of high-profile statements by Chinese President Xi Jinping declaring a crackdown on corruption, which he said threatened the future of the ruling Communist party. AFP The reason for the violence was not immediately clear, but state-run media on on June 27 called it a terrorist incident. Chinese authorities have often blamed clashes in the region on terrorists. Violent elements in Xinjiang are coming under the increasing influence of foreign terrorist forces, the Global Times, which has links to China s ruling Communist Party, said in an editorial. Uighur rights groups have dismissed the claims of terrorism, citing economic inequality and religious repression by Chinese authorities as causes of IN PICTURES sporadic unrest. The World Uyghur Congress, a group run by exiled Uighurs, said in a statement that the incident was evidence of China s failed policies towards Uyghurs. This incident has occurred around the arrival of Ramadan, which is severely repressed each year, it said. The group said an information blackout and security crackdown in the area called into question state media s account of the clashes. China denies claims of repression, and insists its citizens have religious freedom. It has pumped investment into the Pakistani Frontier Corps personal break Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan, Police block site of China Xinjiang riot Ethnic Uighurs display bread at their stall beside the road leading into the riot-affected town of Lukqun, China, on June 27. Photo: AFP region, which holds massive reserves of coal and gas, in an attempt to boost development and growth. A handful of residents in Turpan said they had heard about the incident but declined to elaborate. Life in the city went on as normal as residents napped on the side of the road near mudbrick homes and grape fields. According to official figures, 46 percent of Xinjiang s population are Uighur, while another 39pc are Han Chinese, after millions from the majority group moved there in recent decades to find work. AFP

39 World Asia-Pacafic 39 liquor bottles in a ceremony in the Shahkas area of the Jamrud Khyber Agency, one of the Federally on June 26. Officials destroyed the contraband as part of International Anti-drug Day. Photo: AFP BEIJING China and S Korea urge N Korea to resume nuclear talks WILLIAM WAN THE leaders of China and South Korea called for North Korea to resume negotiations on its nuclear disarmament after a meeting on June 27 in which they discussed ways to draw their isolated and erratic neighbour back into dialogue with the outside world. The summit in Beijing marked the beginning of a fourday visit by South Korea s new president, Park Geun-hye. It also came at a time when China, Pyongyang s biggest ally and longtime benefactor, has signalled unusual displeasure with the North after it recently carried out a missile launch and nuclear test and issued a barrage of provocative rhetoric despite Beijing s protests. We shared an understanding that North Korea s possession of nuclear weapons cannot be tolerated under any circumstances, Ms Park said at a joint news conference with China s President Xi Jinping. Mr Xi said that he and Ms Park had agreed to work together on matters related to the North but put his emphasis on the need for Pyongyang to restart six-nation talks on nuclear disarmament. In the days leading up to the meeting, Ms Park made clear that North Korea was her overriding concern, telling South Korean media that she would try to boost cooperation with China so as to make North Korea come forward for sincere talks. Underscoring her hope of strengthening and leveraging economic ties with China, Ms Park was accompanied by executives from South Korea s biggest companies, including Samsung, LG and Hyundai Motors. The unusually large 71-member business contingent highlights the enormous volume of trade between the two countries - worth US$215 billion last year - and South Korea s status as one of the few countries to post a trade surplus with China. As for China, many analysts say it is using the meetings with Ms Park to signal its displeasure with North Korea and increase pressure on the government there. Many noted that Ms Park is meeting with Mr Xi before North Korea s young new leader, Kim Jong Un, has had an opportunity to do so. A visit by Mr Kim to Beijing simply has not been possible given the recent chill in relations between China and the North, said Zhang Liangui, a North Korea expert at the Central Party School, which is run by the ruling Communist Party. Chinese officials are considered unlikely to abandon North Korea anytime soon, fearful of the instability, the swarms of refugees and the unified US-friendly Korean government that might ensue on its doorstep. Still, after North Korea s nuclear test this spring, China agreed to increased sanctions on its ally and cut off access for some North Korean banks. In the past, Chinese residents had some sympathy toward North Korea, more or less, In the past, Chinese residents had some sympathy toward North Korea, more or less, but right now, Chinese are very disappointed and feel North Korea is almost laughable. Jin Canrong International relations professor at Renmin University but right now, Chinese are very disappointed and feel North Korea is almost laughable, said Jin Canrong, an international relations professor at Renmin University in Beijing. In the past, Mr Jin added, China was reluctant to publicly discuss North Korean issues with the South or the United States, out of consideration for its ally s feelings. But now, China doesn t care what North Korea thinks at all and discusses these agendas openly in public, he said. The Washington Post Australian PM urges gentler politics MARTIN PARRY NEWLY reinstated Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd urged a kinder, gentler approach to politics on June 27 as he strove to claw back ground ahead of September elections after deposing predecessor Julia Gillard in a dramatic party coup. The 55-year-old returned to power in a snap leadership ballot on June 26, three years since he was himself ruthlessly ousted by Ms Gillard, the country s first female premier who will now retire from politics. With his Labor Party desperately fighting for electoral survival, Mr Rudd used his first speech to parliament to acknowledge the brutal political saga. Political life is a very hard life, a very hard life indeed, he said after being sworn in. Occasionally it can be kind, more often it is not. He asked MPs to be a little kinder and a gentler with each other in the further deliberations of this parliament while praising Ms Gillard, who he had earlier vowed never to challenge. Through the difficult years of minority government the former prime minister has achieved major reforms for our nation that will shape our country s future, he said. On top of all that, I acknowledge her great work as a standard-bearer for women in our country. Mr Rudd s resurrection marks a stunning turnaround for the former premier who will now lead Labor to elections scheduled for September 14, which polls had predicted Tony Abbott s conservative opposition would win by a landslide. Seven key ministers resigned in the aftermath of Ms Gillard s dumping, including her most loyal supporter, treasurer and deputy leader Wayne Swan, and Defence Minister Stephen Smith. Ms Gillard s Transport Minister Anthony Albanese was sworn in as Mr Rudd s deputy while former Immigration Minister Chris Bowen was appointed treasurer. Labor s popularity has tanked under Ms Gillard but Mr Rudd, who ended a decade of conservative rule with a comprehensive 2007 election win, remains popular and his elevation is expected to give the party a Political life is a very hard life, a very hard life indeed. Occasionally it can be kind, more often it is not. Kevin Rudd Australian prime minister Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd speaks in parliament s House of Representatives in Canberra on June 27. Photo: AFP significant boost. In the most recent poll earlier this month, Labor s primary vote, which strips out the support of minor parties, had slumped to just 29 percent with the opposition at 47pc. But the poll said that if Mr Rudd returned, Labor would spike to a more competitive 40pc to the opposition s 42pc. John Wanna, a politics professor at the Australian National University, said Mr Rudd could clearly help reverse the slide under his predecessor who failed to connect with voters. His message is much better than Gillard s, that s been very clear. He s a populist, he said. Analysts are tipping Mr Rudd will bring the election forward to August 24 to capitalise on an expected surge in Labor s popularity, although he said on June 27 there would not be a huge variation one way or another on the date. Ms Gillard called the June 26 leadership ballot after a day of internal party manoeuvring in favour of her arch-rival. Mr Rudd won the vote among Labor lawmakers 57 to 45 the third time Ms Gillard s hold on power had been tested since 2010 elections when she secured the narrowest of victories. The charismatic Rudd launched an unsuccessful challenge in early 2012 while foreign minister, but was routed 71 votes to 31. Then in March this year, Labor elder statesman Simon Crean made an abortive attempt to reinstall Mr Rudd, who refused to contest. In his pre-vote pitch on June 26, Mr Rudd said he could no longer stand by and watch Mr Abbott elected to office. While he has yet to set out any policies, Mr Rudd said in a dig at the opposition that they would be ones which work, as opposed to slogans which sound good. Mr Abbott suggested Mr Rudd was more interested in ego than the Australian people. Yes, he s had his revenge, but is this all about Kevin Rudd s ego or is it about the Australian people? he said on Fairfax radio. The conservative leader had few compliments for Ms Gillard, who famously accused him of a being a misogynist. I have a feeling that history will judge her pretty harshly because I think it was a poor prime ministership, he said. Ms Gillard, who will sit on the backbenches until retiring at the next election, expressed pride in her concession speech at being the country s first female leader. What I am absolutely confident of is it will be easier for the next woman and the woman after that and the woman after that. And I m proud of that, she said. AFP

40 40 the pulse THE MYANMAR TIMES july 1-7, 2013 the pulse editor: MANNy MAuNG e g t y o u r f i n g e r s o n i t Chinlone challenges Chinlone has been a popular sport in Myanmar for perhaps the past 1500 years but for the most part, it has predominantly been in the domain of men. More recently, women are adapting the sport to suit their style and even compete professionally. Ma Thidar Oo plays with fire. Photo: Thirilu Chinlone is starting to become more popular with Myanmar women. Photo: Thirilu zonpann08@gmail.com Zon Pann Pwint THE game could be 1500 years old. Yet you can see it played on any street-corner. And exceptional players can earn a fortune. Chinlone is typically played in groups of six, who keep the ball in the air without using their hands. It costs nothing and it keeps players limber, as they sway back and forth, using their shoulders, elbows, knees, feet and head to keep the ball in play. Ma Thu Zar Lynn never thought of it as a livelihood. My elder sister learnt chinlone as a child and thinks nothing of playing every day, she said. Now a professional, she told The Myanmar Times: I didn t believe that playing the sport could earn a fortune to support my family. But it does. Her sister, Ma Phyu Phyu Win, has won many awards across the country and even became a trainer to young female chinlone players. I started to learn chinlone at the age of seven. Even my father, who thought the sport was not suitable for women, was happy to see his daughters practise, and he got to play so well himself that he became a trainer, she said. Her sister and Ma Thu Zar Lynn usually play at donation ceremonies, pagoda festivals, tournaments, and even funerals. My sister and I can support my whole family by playing chinlone, she said. Chinlone even helps people with heart trouble. One of the young girls who studies at my home has a weak heart but she has markedly improved after practising chinlone, she added. U Ye Aung, general secretary of Myanmar Chinlone Federation, said two variations of the game are intended for women - solo and playing in a circle of six players. Sometimes, Chinlone is popular nationwide because all classes of society can play. U Ye Aung Myanmar Chinlone Federation one woman plays in the centre supported by five male players. A solo player will perch on a stack of glass bottles or kicks the ball through an iron ring that has been set ablaze. Chinlone is popular nationwide because all classes of society can play. All you need is a rattan ball, which lasts for at least a month, he said. Chinlone is not a sport that requires many players, or a lot of space. Two people can play, even in a narrow street, he added. But Ma Thu Zar Lynn said it s hard to maintain the balance between sport and education. She left school before matriculating in order to pursue her game. I abandoned my studies, but the sport has earned me recognition and a fortune, she said. According to the historical evidence, the traditional game was played 1500 years ago, U Ye Aung said. When the ruined temple in Khin Pa village in Sri Ksetra near Pyi was excavated in 1926, a silver ball among golden stupas was found inside the temple. Founded in 1953, the chinlone federation has struggled to attract players from a wide area by organising matches across the nation. In 2009, the rules were simplified, narrowing down the 30 variations that used to exist, most of them very difficult. The federation often holds matches in Mrauk-Oo, Magway, Shwebo and Mandalay to provide opportunities for competition with players from different countries. I encourage girls to play chinlone for health and financial reasons. Most solo female players in the federation are able to support their whole families by playing chinlone solo, said U Ye Aung. One player could buy a car with her earnings from playing alone, he added. Another solo player, Ma Thidar Oo, performs at Kandawgyi Palace Hotel every evening. I was taught by my aunty who wanted to pass on the legacy of her talent to me. At first I was apprehensive because of her talent, but then I became very interested in the sport, Ma Thidar Oo said. When I play with the blazing metal ring, my skin sometimes gets burned. And sometimes I fall off the stack of glass bottles and cut my foot. But I keep playing.

41 the pulse 41 Poetry prize awarded to Myanmar poet nuam BAwi A MYANMAR poet has won a prestigious Thai poetry prize, the first time the Sunthorn Phu prize has been won by a non-thai. Maung Thwe Thit s Thar-tha-nah Tadine Neh Nant-tha-myine Sakhan Hla Kheh Be (With the Wall of Sasana, Nant-tha-myine looks beautiful) poem is about lepers, who have traditionally suffered from ostracism from society. The Sunthorn Phu Award ceremony was held on June 26 at the Thai Cultural Centre, Bangkok. Sunthorn Phu ( ) was of the same generation as well-known Myanmar poets of the Konbaung era such as Lat-wal Thone Narah A-mat Gyi, Yarma Yakan U Toe and Shwe Taung Nanda Thu. This poem is the one I value above everything I ve written over the past 50 years, said Maung Thew Thit. It portrays those who are cast out by society. Honestly, it was difficult to write. We can share the feelings of the excluded only if we have shared their experience. As Saya Maung said to Thein Saing, Maung Thwe Thit, you can die happy even if you never write again. That s how satisfied I am with this poem, he said. Not only are lepers forbidden to leave the pagoda compound, they also have to suffer jokes at their expense, or accusations that they don t earn their keep. This is oppression of the weak, he said. Older lepers who had no access to modern medicine were likely to lose their hands or feet. But their children are healthy. When they wanted to introduce their son into the Buddhist order, they asked me to write an invitation letter for them. The poem came into my mind while I was writing it, said Maung Thwe Thit. Whenever I read this poem in public, the audience reaction is very emotional, he said. When a boy becomes a novice monk, the parents have to hold a white cloth to catch his hair as his head is shaved so that it does not fall on the ground. But lepers [without hands] have to hold the cloth in their mouths, he said. Maung Thwe Thit s first poem was Yone Kyi Chat (Trust), published in Karnel Zin magazine in He now works as a senior editor at The Myanmar Times. Translated by La Min Ein Me N Ma Girls with all five members of the band in June, Photo: NOW! Me N Ma Girls down to four With the Wall of Sasana, Nant-tha-myine looks beautiful are they called the diseased? no matter who sets the criterion, no matter who chooses the object and the subject, we are humans of the community. we do have diseased complexion. we are settling debt of past existence physically. we are not ill mentally. we have the right to donate. we have the right to look forward to nirvana. we have the right to listen to the Dhamma. we have the right to share merit gained. we have the right to say Sadu again and again. we have the right to lock the gate of hell. nandar AUng nandaraung.mcm@gmail.com ME N Ma Girls singer Wai Hnin is to leave the successful popmusic group, Power Music has announced in Los Angeles. She wanted to spend more time with her parents, said other group members. Me N Ma Girls released their debut album Year of the Tiger in 2010 as the Tiger Girls, later adopting their current name. Other than Wai Hnin, the members are Htike Htike, Ahmoon, Cha Cha and Kimmy. Their second album is called Mingalaba. There are no plans to replace Wai Hnin, which will continue with four members, Ahmoon told The Myanmar Times. She quit the group but she will still be our sister. She wanted to spend more time with her parents and to do something other than singing. We didn t want to lose such a good partner, said Ahmoon. Last September, Me N Ma Girls signed an 18-month contract She quit the group but she will still be our sister. Ahmoon with Daniel Hubbert. In March they recorded Girl Strong in LA and performed at the Women in the World Summit 2013 in New York. On May 22, they sang at the Music Matters Live festival in Singapore. We are busy all the time with local and foreign gigs, so we don t have much time to spend with our families, said Cha Cha. Wai Hnin s parents are old and not good in health, which is why she felt she had to leave. We were together for three years, through good times and bad. On June 16, their documentary Miss Nikki and the Tiger Girls played at the Sydney Film Festival and was chosen as a top-10 finalist for the Foxtel Australian Documentary Prize. Legacy music academy opens in Yankin nandar AUng nandaraung.mcm@gmail.com GITAMEIT and Legacy music schools have joined forces to open a new private academy in Yankin township, Legacy founder U Ko Ko Lwin said. While the school has been operating since June 1, the official launch of the Legacy Music Academy was held on June 27. Designed to provide training for the next batch of musical stars in Myanmar, U Ko Ko Lwin said the school will provide music training with international standard facilities. There are a lot of very good musicians in Myanmar but most have serious theoretical weaknesses, he said. We plan to fill those gaps by providing specialist trainers and will only accept students after they have auditioned. We have a wide range of instruments and we will have teachers for each instrument, said U Ko Ko Lwin. The school will begin offering a diploma program in November, U Ko Ko Lwin said. We expect that our students will be of a high standard, said U Moe Naing, principal of the new school. We have raised them and provided scholarships to many and taught them in special programs to be stars. The head of the music department is Saw James, who has a diploma from the Music Factory Singapore, the principal is U Moe Naing (a teacher from Gitameit) and the founder is U Ko Ko Lwin. The school already has 30 students and employs 10 permanent teachers. Ko Thar Nge, a vocals teacher from Legacy school, said: I studied at Gitameit in 2007 and became a teacher in I teach vocals for beginners and have six students, he said. Legacy is Myanmar s first international standard music academy and will provide diplomas recognised by the Ministry of Culture in November. Phyu Phyu Kyaw Thein, secretary of the Myanmar Music Association, said private schools such as Legacy and Gitameit filled a gap in the musical training provided by government-run facilities. We have a National University of Arts and Culture that teaches traditional music, she said. Myanmar s youth need to know not only traditional music techniques but also international musical skills to keep them abreast of international music trends. The state should open its own musical academies to teach contemporary music but we welcome the opening of this private academy.

42 42 the pulse local THE MYANMAR TIMES july 1-7, 2013 top-notch topknots U Win Pe at his home studio in Yangon. Photo: Boothee He s back! The prodigal son of 60s art returns home to Myanmar A NEW documentary is shining a spotlight on an old custom: the uniquely Myanmar women s hairstyle known as sayitwine, a topknot with a circular fringe. The production company, Eastern Country (Pyitaw Oo), aims to introduce a new generation to this ancient style in its film The Village of Sayitwine. The focus is on residents of Sayitwine village in Natogyi township, Mandalay Region, as they go about their daily lives, with a commentary from narrator Nine Nine. We decided to produce this documentary because this unique Myanmar traditional hairstyle is now so rarely seen in Myanmar, said Ma Thida Hlaing, production manager of Eastern Country. Director Wai Chit Ko is from the same central Myanmar region. When I wrote the script, I compared village life with the big city. I also arranged the filming and the background music. There are only about 50 girls left in Myanmar with a sayitwine hairstyle. I decided to shoot the documentary because soon there may be none left, he said. Sein Moot Tar, Sein Mya Po and Lawunein from Mandalay are responsible for the background music. The Village of Sayitwine, Eastern Country s first documentary, is now on sale for K2000. In the future, we plan to produce a documentary about Inle lake, said Ma Thida Hlaing. Lwin Mar Htun ma ThAnegi WIN Pe the artist is back. For many younger than 30 years of age, the reaction to this might be... huh? especially from those who have no interest in the arts. Live and learn, you young people! I ve known him for years, and Win Pe is one of the three second-line leaders of the modern art movement, which I dare say led to more innovative ideas in the other arts. He also earned acclaim for the great movies he directed and the equally good short stories he wrote, but as far as the art community is concerned, including the writer of this article, nothing matters but his art. Modern art struggled to take root in the 1950s through two artists, U Kin Maung ( ) from Mandalay and Baji Aung Soe ( ) from Yangon. U Kin Maung was very much influenced by Picasso, but his own paintings were never free of traditional Myanmar themes and lacked social commentary. Baji (art) Aung Soe was a professional artist who also worked as an illustrator for magazines. His own style was based on folk art and classical drawings through which he often made social and political comments. They were the fathers of modern art in Myanmar, and by the early 1960s three young leading artists took over the next step: two from Mandalay, Win Pe and Paw Oo Thett; and one from Yangon, Kin Maung Yin. Paw Oo Thett followed in Baji Aung Soe s footsteps as an artist-illustrator based in Yangon. In Yangon, Kin Maung Yin gave up a promising career as an architect where Paw Oo Thett soon joined him. After Win Pe left a prestigious position as the principal of the Mandalay State School of Fine Arts, he too settled in Yangon. If one was taking part in a show, the other two were usually involved as well. They were usually referred to in one word: win-pe-kin-maung-yinpaw-oo-thett. Some of the younger generation of painters were immediately entranced with their works presented in a few private art shows in the early 1960s, sponsored by western diplomats or the aristocracy of Yangon. For aspiring young painters to whom nothing else was important but art, it was dazzling to see their works full of vibrancy, passion and movement, which left no room for the loveliness of pastoral scenes we have seen by the thousand. We were eager to embrace the freedom from traditional norms, but it was not an easy process: The Socialist State itself could not care less for anything as insignificant to them as artists, but older painters and writers were incensed that we had been A couple of U Win Pe s favourite works are kept at his home studio in Yangon. Photo: Boothee contaminated by western culture. At every possible chance writers attacked modern art and this formed a great divide between those who were going the realism way and those who discarded perspective and presentation to create motion, to express moods, to emphasise passions. Paw Oo Thett s paintings delight us; Kin Maung Yin s dazzle with the win Pe s art is back after losing its way for nearly 35 years. purity and translucency of his colours. And Win Pe s works of the 60s, 70s and early 80s were so strong in colour, subject and presentation that it was like getting a blow in the guts but one that left you gasping not in pain but in awe. His paintings vibrated with life and the intensity of passionate colours. He used to say jazz fan that he is that his paintings are improvisations of colours, lines, compositions. Art communities often overlap, especially among like-minded peoples and by the late 70s Win Pe s career had segued into the movie business. By the early 80s he had become more comfortable in the movie director s chair and soon he had practically abandoned painting to concentrate more on making movies to much acclaim; but to admirers of his art, also bitter resentment. He made more than 20 movies and in 1981 won the academy award with his Hninsi Ni Einmet (Dream of the Red Rose). Some of his most popular moves were Thanmani Leikpyar (Steel Butterfly), Mahuya (Ebony) and Hmwe Aung Hla Dei Pan (Fragrant Flower). For reasons best known to itself the Ministry of Culture declined to hold the Academy Awards ceremony for the years 1985, 1986 and 1987, when his movies were considered top contenders by the public. In 1989 he began to write short stories that garnered even more admirers, while his artist friends, although they too enjoyed his literary works, simmered that he seemed to be moving further away from paint and brush. When he moved to the United States in 1994, it was in our eyes a final goodbye: He had left his country, left his art. Lately there were rumours that he was painting again but that it was more like dabbling, not like before. He returned last year. This month he held a show at Gallery 65 with another renowned artist. Win Pe s art is back, after losing its way for nearly 35 years. In his Zodiac series painted this year we discover again the power of his intent, the passion of his colours and the vibrancy of the whole. The motifs of his younger days, the birds, the buffalo horns and the musical instruments are all there, with the combined intensity of every aspect leaping off the canvas into your very soul. And you feel the most satisfying, most wonderful, blow to the gut and what a joy it is to feel it again. Welcome home, Win Pe, in more ways than one. Fashion frenzy off the runway DESIGNERS are preparing for Mandalay s first fashion show. The Designer on Runway 2013 event will be held at the Oriental House hotel in August. The show is aimed at pitching Myanmar fashion and design into a national competition and encouraging designers to challenge each other more creatively. Ko Shell from Shells Entertainment says he wants to provide more opportunities to young people in the Upper Myanmar region. They get fewer chances to compete than people from Yangon, Ko Shell said. The best designer will receive K1 million, and the runner-up K500,000. The winner of the People s Choice award will win K300,000, and other prizes will also be handed out. We had received support from business sponsors for transportation and living costs to perfect this show and we are still collecting to fund the judges, including one from abroad, said Ko Shell. Another sponsor, Ko Bo Bo Naing Lin, managing director of Moda fashion magazine, said: We re participating because our magazine is duty-bound to improve the fashion media. Ei Ei Thu

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44 44 the pulse THE MYANMAR TIMES july 1-7, 2013 Victims of war Children try to study in the candlelight at a Kachin refugee camp. Photo: Htein Win ei ei thu 91.eieithu@gmail.com A WAR photographer is hoping that his work will help light up the darkness for children victimised by conflict. Htein Win s THEY are weird at first glance, but kind of cute. Prefectures and municipalities in Japan have been adopting local mascots, creating a new wave of characters within the Yuru Kyara genre, which refers to mascots representing cities or prefectures. Katsuo Ningen, the human bonito mascot of Kochi Prefecture, is one example. Dressed in a loincloth, it has a black humanoid torso topped by the gigantic severed head of a bonito, with red flesh and white bone visible where it was chopped off. Bonito is one Kochi Prefecture s photographs of displaced persons in Kachin State, Victims of War will be on display at the Myanmar Journalists Association from July 5. Some pictures have already been published in the media, but this show is intended for people who have not seen them, he told The Myanmar Times. The camps in the war zone house 2300 people, including 168 children separated from their parents because they were sent there to escape the war. specialty foods. Okaza-emon, who wears white overalls and a short bobbed hairstyle, is a Yuru Kyara for Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture. The mascot assumed the title of the city s art public relations minister. Experts say that while conventional mascots are merely cute, a new breed with other characteristics has appeared because the world of Yuru Kyara has reached a saturation point. Katsuo Ningen was devised in 2007 by a confectionery maker in Kochi. The bonito-headed mascot has won growing popularity among Yuru Kyara fans who say it is carving its own unique path. As a result, an affiliated organisation of Kochi Prefecture in April commissioned the mascot as a specially assigned section chief for promotional events. At a meet-and-greet event in Tokyo, organised by the prefectural government, more than 200 people applied for a chance to shake hands with Katsuo Ningen. The capacity was limited to 100 people on a first-come, first-served basis. Sales of a Katsuo Ningen-themed photo book topped 10,000 copies in the month after it was released. The 64-page photo book hit stores on April 3. It includes images of the mascot standing on the Harimayabashi bridge, one of the prefecture s major tourist attractions. In another photo, it relaxes in front of terraced rice paddies, another popular sightseeing spot. The first printing of 5000 copies When I went to Kachin State last year, I wanted to photograph the war, but I got the chance to go to camps located in Mai Ja Yang village, Loi Je township, just across the river from the Chinese border. I stayed in the camps about seven days to depict the daily life of children there, he said. Htein Win will display about 30 photos, which will be on sale during the exhibit. He will donate 75 percent of the proceeds to the camps. I want to donate a generator japanese city mascots get weirder Udon-no, whose name literally means Udon brain, is a Yuru Kyara (city mascot) for Kagawa Prefecture in Japan. Photo: The Yomiuri Shimbun. sold out. A spokesperson of Kadokawa Shoten Publishing Co., the book s publisher, said, An additional printing for such a mascot s photo book is surprising. Meanwhile, Okaza-emon was created by Koheita Saito, a contemporary artist living in Nagoya. The character is modeled on a 40-year-old man raising a child alone after his wife left him. Okaza-emon s head and face are designed to almost subliminally depict the kanji character oka from the name of the city, while the kanji character zaki is clearly emblazoned on its chest. When Okaza-emon was introduced at an art event in the city last year, it was popular mainly among young women who found it weird but cute. After that, it was recognised by the city government as an official mascot. Udon-no, whose name literally means Udon brain, is a Yuru Kyara for Kagawa Prefecture with a bowl of noodles for a head. It is modeled on a person who ate too much udon and woke up in the morning to find that his head had turned into a bowl of udon noodles - arranged in wavy lines that resemble the convolutions of human brain tissue. Modelled on a local ghost, Darudaru is the Yuru Kyara for Wakayama Prefecture. The prefectural government received complaints that the mascot s appearance was so terrifying that it made babies cry. As a result, it was forced to temporarily suspend promotional activities. The Yomiuri Shimbun because they don t have light at night. They are studying with the help of a single candle for four children. Everybody in the camps wants peace so they can go home and the children who are separated can return to their parents, he added. Htein Win has been interested in photography from an early age, and worked with three photographers while he was attending the University of Medicine. I prefer to record scenes rather Myanmar Skaters Group (MMSG) celebrated World Go Skateboarding Day by screening a documentary entitled Road to the Last Kingdoms at the group s office on U Chit Maung Road, Yankin township, Yangon. Go Skateboarding Day is June 21, but they celebrated it on June 22. Most Myanmar skaters are students, and this year June 21 was a Friday, so we observed it the following day, said MMSG member Nyi Nyi Naing. Skating is not yet an official sport in Myanmar. Our MMSG is not an official organisation, but we want to become an official skate association, and then a federation. As an than entering photo competitions. I intended to publish a pictorial record that will contain celebrity portraits mixed with the lives of ordinary people, he said. The solo exhibition will run from July 5-20 at the Myanmar Journalist s Association, located at 140, 40 th Street, between Mahabandoola Street and Merchant Street, Kyautada township. MMsG celebrated Go skateboarding day Lwin mar htun lwinmarhtun.mcm@gmail.com A skateboarder performs tricks over a homemade ramp. Photo: Supplied association, members can take part in skate activity worldwide, including the 2013 SEA games in Myanmar, he said. Though the sport continues to grow in popularity, Yangon still has no designated skate parks for young fans of the sport, said Nyi Nyi Naing. In the rainy season, we can t skate in Yangon because we don t have a skate park. Our documentary was shot in Mandalay, Shwebo, Bagan and Sagaing Regions. All those places have a public skate park, but we don t, he said. New members are being accepted without charge. We welcome anyone who is interested in skating. If they can t skate, we will teach them for free. But we don t plan to offer classes, said Nyi Nyi Naing.

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46 46 the pulse tea break THE MYANMAR TIMES july 1-7, 2013 Universal Crossword Edited by Timothy E. Parker SUDOKU PACIFIC BACK TO THE WALL By Rob Lee ACROSS 1 Exchange street 5 Complete weariness or boredom 10 Kosovo dweller, perhaps 14 Mother of Romulus 15 Deli array 16 Blue dye source 17 Needing mending 18 Type of metabolic rate hit for The Kinks 20 Let s get outta here! 23 Persnickety 24 Captain s stop 25 The majority of the world s population 28 Start of a wand waver s utterance 30 Unpopular animal in a china shop? 31 Business department 33 What makes a drink clink 36 Grab a stool and have a drink 40 Superman s symbol 41 Have (waiting room words) 42 Safecracker 43 Be familiar with 44 Emulates Mr. Universe 46 Form the cast of 49 Ermine, in summer 51 What a crow-eater has? 57 One of seven deadlies 58 you the clever one! 59 Lunchbox snack, perhaps 60 Let Us Now Praise Famous Men author James 61 porridge hot Winter Palace denizen 63 Julie of The Talk 64 Question poser 65 Some actors DOWN 1 Accompanied by 2 Additive in skin lotions 3 Certain euro forerunner 4 Dry ground sighted from a ship 5 Decorate with an insignia 6 Draws close 7 Inclement 8 Whence the Osmonds came 9 Sea-girt land 10 Glandular output 11 Bomber Gay 12 Little streams 13 Great time or great noise 21 When trebled, a Beach Boys hit 22 Excessively stringent 25 Monastery resident 26 Looks for damages 27 Misery causes 28 Scads 29 Ventured 31 Belch 32 loss for words 33 Long-horned goat 34 Hamster s home 35 Bits of work 37 One-named New Ager 38 G.I. s troupe grp. 39 Canine, but not a dog 43 Young pet 44 Oh! Susanna composer 45 On the (fleeing) 46 Company with a duck in its ads 47 Sort of syrup off the wizard 49 Move stealthily 50 On edge 52 California s Valley 53 Lode loads 54 Major ( Great Bear constellation) 55 Bears or Bulls 56 d oeuvre (appetizer) DILBERT BY SCOTT ADAMS PEANUTS BY CHARLES SCHULZ CALVIN AND HOBBES BY BILL WATTERSON PUZZLE SOLUTIONS

47 the pulse food and drink 47 Soothe the soul with a bowl of soup phyocooking@gmail.com PhYo'S Cooking adventure SERVED piping hot, a bowl of soup can nourish and soothe after the weariest of days, especially if you ve just been drenched in monsoon rain. Usually I make up a big pot of soup on the weekends and freeze to reheat through the week for a quick dinner. I like to fry or bake the cauliflower before adding to the soup. Frying gives it a wonderfully caramelised flavour, and sour cream goes well with the cheesy potato-andcauliflower soup. I used to make fried herb breadcrumbs and keep them in an airtight box so I can add them into soup. The texture contrasts nicely with the creamy soup. Mustard and cumin seeds pair well with cauliflower. These spices are also great to build up your immunity against colds and flu during the wet weather. CHEESY potato-and- CAulIfloWER Soup ingredients (serves 4) 70 ml vegetable oil 1 onion (diced) 400 grams cauliflower 400 grams potatoes 4 cups chicken stock (2 teaspoons of chicken stock powder mixed in one litre of water) 40 grams parmesan cheese or any hard cheese off the skins. Cut into two-centimetre cubes and set aside. Wash the cauliflower. Peel the hard skin from the stem and cut up into small pieces, along with the florets. Pour ¼ cup vegetable oil into a wok or sauce pan and fry the potatoes on a medium heat. When they go golden in colour, take the potatoes out of the pan and set aside. Add the cauliflower to the hot pan and fry, with a lid on. When soft, remove from the heat and transfer to a plate. Add two tablespoons of vegetable oil into the stock pot and sauté the onions on a medium heat. When they become translucent, add fried cauliflower and chicken stock to boil. Turn down the heat once the soup is boiling and simmer for 45 minutes. Let the soup cool down and blend until smooth. Add the grated cheese and fried potatoes and simmer again for minutes. Stir frequently. Add salt to taste. When the soup becomes creamy, it will be ready to serve. Serve with toast, fried breadcrumbs or garlic bread. Crispy bacon is also a good garnish. SpICEd CAulIfloWER Soup ingredients (serves Four) 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 medium onion diced 400 grams cauliflower 1 tablespoon cumin seeds 1 tablespoon of mustard seeds 4 cups chicken stock (2 teaspoons of chicken stock powder mixed in one litre of water) 20 curry leaves simmer for 45 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow to cool. Blend and simmer again for 15 minutes. Salt to taste. When the soup becomes thicker, it is ready to serve. Deep-fry the curry leaves in a wok and garnish the soup with them. Serve with naan, chapatti or roti bread. tips For deep-frying curry leaves: Heat the oil and fry the curry leaves quickly for just a few minutes. Olive oil can be substituted for vegetable oil. Blend into the soup when the leaves are cool enough to handle. Vegetarians can replace chicken stock with vegetable stock. shopping Naan bread is available at tea shops. Roti is available at Indian restaurants. Next week Rice salads. preparation Wash the potatoes well and peel Wine Review red wine Chateau peyrouley Bordeaux Rouge preparation Rinse the cauliflowers and cut up the florets as well as the crisp stems. Peel the hard skin from the stems and cut them into small pieces. In a stock pot, add the vegetable oil and sauté the onions. When the onions are translucent, add cumin and mustard seeds and fry for one minute. Add the cauliflower and fry for another five minutes. Bring the chicken stock into the pot and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and Warm up with some nourishing soups. Photo: Phyo Arbidans thin but well balanced with hints of blackberries, cocoa and licorice. it s an easy drop to wash down and goes well with a strong cheese like a salty danish blue. Score 7/10 white wine Score 5/10 Jacob s Creek Riesling 2011 Generally to be avoided, jacob s Creek wines are infamous for their acrid notes. this reisling is no different, with heavy flavours of kiwi fruit and passionfruit without any balance the sourness. only drink if you have to. K15,000 K13,500 satisfaction at the union Bar and Grill manny.maung@gmail.com MannY Maung THE Union Bar and Grill in Yangon is becoming quite the mainstay with expats in need of fast internet, a friendly atmosphere and consistently good food. The restaurant/bar strikes a perfect balance between relaxed and classy, leaving you feeling a little bit spoilt and like you ve worked hard to deserve a treat. It s not unusual to bump into friends who are freelancing or just taking it easy for the day and surfing the internet, or to see suit-clad business-types meeting up for a brisk lunch meeting. For me that day, I wanted to sample the Thai specials for the week. I had heard two Thai chefs had been brought to Yangon for just four days to cook up Thai and Isan food. The choices were simple and not over the top, with some standard Thai heavyweight dishes on offer. There was larb moo, sticky rice and tom yum, but I ordered the main special of roast duck curry (K13,000). Unfortunately for my friend who is vegetarian, there were no choices for her, so she chose the entrée of artichoke and potato ravioli with sage brown butter and pecorino from the à la carte menu (K5,700). The Union Bar also serves complimentary delicious, fresh-baked bread that I normally make the mistake of filling up on before my main, but this time I held off. The duck curry came out, served in an aesthetically pleasing mixture of grape tomatoes, green peppers, bitter green peas (my favourite), and pineapple pieces. The pineapple is a traditional Thai addition it provides a contrasting sweetness to the spicy heat of the dish and balances well with the slight bitterness of the peas. I would have liked the coconut milk to be a little more thick, but otherwise the dish was perfect. My friend, who often orders the ravioli for lunch, found the pasta hit the comfort spot as usual. While it was exciting to be able to sample the specials, it s a shame the Union Bar and Grill didn t offer the choice for a longer period of time. Perhaps next time they can do this and also provide at least one vegetarian option. Food: 8 Drink: 7 Service: 8 atmosphere: 9 X-factor: 8 Value for money: 7 total score: 8/10 The Union Bar and Grill s special of roast duck curry - the candle helps keep away the flies. Photo: Manny Maung

48 48 the pulse socialite THE MYANMAR TIMES July 1-7, 2013 Angel Li Li Beauty Centre opening Crystal, Alice Ong, lily, Ms. Jarg and Mr. Chen Real Fitness Centre launch Gilbert Chua Anty Marlar Nay Aung and u Hla Myint Swe luh luh yan Pwint Khin Shwe Win Martin, Maxime and Gabriel Ko Nge and Bo Bo Myanmar-Japan Media business matching ceremony Legacy Music Academy opening ceremony Shimanura Hiroyuki yoichi Tateishi Chi li and yan yan Chan linn Myat Htwe, Osamu Tsuruya and Nakajima Hidekazu Kometanikechi Myo Gyi Ar-T Chan Chan Bangkok Airway thank you party Porrutai Smutkiri.Mr.Passapong Jirawattanasak and Chananchida Chansivanont

49 the pulse socialite 49 PUPA make-up launch Jordan toothbrush product launch Naum Bwai LAUNCHING into her week, Socialite started with a decadent lunch at Western Park restaurant in Kandawgyi last Monday, where Japanese and Myanmar media magnates met for a bit of a chinwag. She also attended the World Refugee Day conference that provided a sobering reality check at Yangon s Peace Centre, where refugee advocates discussed how Myanmar refugees from around the world could return to Myanmar safely. The serious tone was broken up with a light-hearted balance of events that saw Socialite being more commitment to dental hygiene by attending Norway s Jordan toothbrushes launch at the Traders hotel. She then floated through the Sakura trademark new kitchen products that got launched in Bahan township and she got to see what was on offer at the Angel Li Li Beauty Center that just opened on Alanpya Pagoda Road. Socialite finished up her week by donning her cutest black and white dress for the official opening of the Real Fitness Centre in Golden Valley, but she ll leave it until next week to hit the exercise bike. Sakura kitchen products launch Aww ya Tha and Nyan linn Aung Mg Mg Aye Min Maw Kon Nan Myat Phyoe Thin Nway Oo Ko Pann Pann Baby Mg Kyaw Kyaw u Kyaw Thin Danif Wang u Sai lone ya and wife AwBa Fertilizer new product launch lwin Moe u Tha Toe Hein yoon Wati lwin Moe Aye Myat Thu

50 50 the pulse travel THE MYANMAR TIMES July 1-7, 2013 domestic FligHt SCHEdUlES Yangon to nay PYi taw MON 6T 401 7:00 7:55 UB-A1 7:30 8:30 UB-B1 11:30 12:30 UB-C1 16:30 17:30 TUE UB-A1 7:30 8:30 UB-B1 11:30 12:30 UB-C1 16:30 17:30 WED UB-A1 7:30 8:30 UB-B1 11:30 12:30 UB-C1 16:30 17:30 THUR UB-A1 7:30 8:30 UB-B1 11:30 12:30 UB-C1 16:30 17:30 FRI UB-A1 7:30 8:30 UB-B1 11:30 12:30 6T :30 16:25 UB-C1 16:30 17:30 SAT UB-A1 8:00 9:00 SUN UB-A1 15:30 16:30 nay PYi taw to Yangon MON UB-A2 8:50 9:50 UB-B2 13:00 14:00 UB-C2 18:00 19:00 TUE UB-A2 8:50 9:50 UB-B2 13:00 14:00 UB-C2 18:00 19:00 WED UB-A2 8:50 9:50 UB-B2 13:00 14:00 UB-C2 18:00 19:00 THUR UB-A2 8:50 9:50 UB-B2 13:00 14:00 UB-C2 18:00 19:00 FRI UB-A2 8:50 9:50 UB-B2 13:00 14:00 6T :00 17:55 UB-C2 18:00 19:00 SAT UB-A2 10:00 11:00 SUN UB-A2 17:00 18:00 Yangon to MandalaY MON YJ 891 6:10 8:45 YH 917 6:10 8:40 Y :15 7:30 YJ 143/W :30 8:35 K :30 8:40 W :00 9:05 6T 401 7:00 9:40 W :30 8:55 K :00 9:25 YJ :00 12:25 YJ :00 12:55 YH :15 13:25 K :00 13:25 W :30 16:25 K :30 16:35 6T 501/K :30 16:35 TUE YJ 891 6:10 8:15 YH 917 6:10 8:40 Y :15 7:30 6T 401/K7222 6:30 8:35 K :30 8:40 K :45 8:10 W :00 9:05 YJ 143/W :30 8:35 W :30 8:55 8M :00 10:10 W :00 11:25 K :00 13:45 YH :15 14:15 YJ :00 12:55 K :00 13:25 W :30 16:25 K :30 16:35 6T 501/K :30 16:35 YH :30 16:40 WED YJ 891 6:10 8:15 YH 917 6:10 8:40 Y :15 7:30 YJ 143/W :30 8:35 6T 401/K7222 6:30 8:35 K :30 8:40 W :00 9:05 W :30 8:55 K :30 9:35 K :00 9:25 YJ :00 12:25 YJ 751/W :00 12:55 YH :15 13:25 K :00 13:25 W :30 16:25 K :30 16:35 6T 501/K :30 16:35 YH :30 16:40 THUR YJ 891 6:10 8:45 YH 917 6:10 8:40 Y :15 7:30 YJ 201 6:30 7:55 6T 401/K7222 6:30 8:35 YJ 143/W :30 8:35 K :45 8:10 K :30 8:40 W :00 9:05 W :30 8:55 8M :00 10:10 YJ :00 12:55 YH :15 14:15 K :00 13:25 W :30 16:25 K :30 16:35 6T 501/K :30 16:35 YH :30 16:40 FRI YJ 891 6:10 8:15 YH 917 6:10 8:40 Y :15 7:30 6T 401/K7222 6:30 8:35 YJ 143/W :30 8:35 K :30 8:40 YJ 211 7:00 8:25 W :00 9:05 W :30 8:55 K :30 9:35 K :00 9:25 W :00 11:25 YJ 751/W :00 12:55 YH :15 13:25 K :00 13:25 K :00 14:25 W :30 16:25 K :30 16:35 6T 501/K :30 16:35 YH :30 16:40 SAT YJ 891 6:10 8:15 YH 917 6:10 8:40 Y :15 7:30 6T 401/K7222 6:30 8:35 K :30 8:40 W :00 9:05 YJ 143/W :30 8:35 YJ 761 7:00 8:55 W :30 8:55 YJ 001 8:00 8:55 K :00 13:45 YH :15 14:15 YJ 601/W :30 12:55 K :00 13:25 W :30 16:25 K :30 16:35 6T 501/K :30 16:35 YH :30 16:40 SUN YJ 891 6:10 8:15 YH 917 6:10 8:40 Y :15 7:30 6T 401/K7222 6:30 8:35 K :30 8:40 W :00 9:05 YJ 143/W :30 8:35 W :30 8:35 K :30 9:35 K :00 9:25 8M :00 10:10 YJ 751/W :00 12:55 YH :15 13:25 YJ :30 12:55 K :00 13:25 W :30 16:25 K :30 16:35 6T 501/K :30 16:35 YH :30 16:40 MandalaY to Yangon MON Y :10 9:25 YH 918 8:40 10:45 K :55 11:00 YJ 892 9:00 10:25 W :10 11:05 W :20 10:45 YJ 143/W :50 10:45 6T :00 12:00 YJ :30 17:25 K :40 16:05 W :45 17:10 YJ :35 18:00 W :40 18:45 K :40 18:05 6T 502/K :50 19:00 YH :45 18:10 K :50 19:00 TUE Y :10 9:25 YJ 892 8:30 10:25 YH 918 8:40 10:45 6T 402/K :55 10:55 K :55 11:00 W :10 11:05 W :20 10:45 YJ 143/W :50 10:45 K :40 18:05 W :40 18:45 YH :40 18:45 K :50 19:00 6T 502/K :50 19:00 W :05 18:30 YJ :35 18:00 8M :20 18:30 YH :00 19:25 K :00 19:25 WED Y :10 9:25 YJ 892 8:30 10:25 YH 918 8:40 10:45 YJ 143/W :50 10:45 6T 402/K :55 10:55 K :55 11:00 W :10 11:05 W :20 10:45 Y :30 10:30 K :40 16:05 YJ :30 17:25 W :45 17:10 K :40 18:05 W :40 18:45 YH :40 18:45 K :50 19:00 6T 502/K :50 19:00 YH :25 18:50 YJ 752/W :50 19:15 THUR Y :10 9:25 YH 918 8:40 10:45 YJ 143/W :50 10:45 6T 402/K :55 10:55 K :55 11:00 YJ 892 9:00 10:55 W :10 11:05 W :20 10:45 YJ :00 12:25 YJ :35 18:00 K :40 18:05 W :40 18:45 YH :40 18:45 6T 502/K :50 19:00 K :50 19:00 8M :20 18:30 YH :00 19:25 FRI Y :10 9:25 YJ 892 8:30 10:25 YH 918 8:40 10:45 6T 402/K :55 10:55 K :55 11:00 W :10 11:05 W :20 10:45 YJ 143/W :50 10:45 Y :30 10:30 YH :45 18:10 K :40 18:05 W :40 18:45 YJ :00 13:25 YH :40 18:45 K :50 19:00 6T 502/K :50 19:00 YJ 752/W :50 19:15 W :05 18:30 K :40 19:05 SAT Y :10 9:25 YJ 892 8:30 10:25 YH 918 8:40 10:45 YJ 143/W :50 10:45 6T 402/K :55 10:55 K :55 11:00 W :10 11:05 W :20 10:45 Y :30 10:30 YJ :00 11:55 YJ :35 14:00 W :45 17:10 K :40 18:05 W :40 18:45 K :50 19:00 6T 502/K :50 19:00 YH :40 18:45 YJ 602/W :10 17:35 YH :00 19:25 SUN Y :10 9:25 YH 918 8:40 10:45 YJ 892 8:30 10:25 YJ 143/W :50 10:45 6T 402/K :55 10:55 K :55 11:00 W :10 11:05 W :20 10:45 Y :30 10:30 YJ :30 17:55 W :40 18:45 YJ 725/W :50 19:15 6T 502/K :50 19:00 K :40 18:05 YH :40 18:45 K :50 19:00 8M :20 18:30 YH :25 18:50 Yangon to nyaung U MON YH 917 6:10 7:45 YJ 891 6:10 8:00 YJ 143/W :30 7:50 K :30 7:50 W :00 8:20 6T 401 7:00 8:55 W :30 17:10 6T 501/K :30 17:20 K :30 17:25 TUE YJ 891 6:10 7:30 YH 917 6:10 7:45 YJ 143/W :30 7:50 6T 401/K :30 7:50 K :30 7:50 W :00 8:20 W :30 17:10 6T 501/K :30 17:20 K :30 17:25 YH :30 17:25 WED YJ 891 6:10 7:30 YH 917 6:10 7:45 6T 401/K :30 7:50 K :30 7:50 YJ 143/W :30 7:50 K :45 8:05 W :00 8:20 W :30 17:10 6T 501/K :30 17:20 K :30 17:25 YH :30 17:25 THUR YH 917 6:10 7:45 YJ 891 6:10 8:00 6T 401/K :30 7:50 K :30 7:50 YJ 143/W :30 7:50 W :00 8:20 W :30 17:10 6T 501/K :30 17:20 K :30 17:25 YH :30 17:25 FRI YJ 891 6:10 7:30 YH 917 6:10 7:45 6T 401/K :30 7:50 K :30 7:50 YJ 143/W :30 7:50 K :45 8:05 W :00 8:20 W :30 17:10 6T 501/K :30 17:20 YH :30 17:25 K :30 17:25 SAT YJ 891 6:10 7:30 YH 917 6:10 7:45 6T 401/K :30 7:50 K :30 7:50 YJ 143/W :30 7:50 W :00 8:20 W :30 17:10 6T 501/K :30 17:20 K :30 17:25 YH :30 17:25 SUN YJ 891 6:10 7:30 YH 917 6:10 7:45 6T 401/K :30 7:50 K :30 7:50 YJ 143/W :30 7:50 W :00 8:20 W :30 17:10 6T 501/K :30 17:20 K :15 16:25 K :30 17:25 YH :30 17:25 nyaung U to Yangon MON YH 917 7:45 10:45 K :05 11:00 YJ 143/W :05 10:45 YJ 892 8:15 10:25 W :35 10:45 6T 401 9:10 12:00 W :25 18:45 6T 502/K :40 19:00 K :45 19:00 TUE YJ 892 7:45 10:25 YH 917 7:45 10:45 YJ 143/W :05 10:45 6T 401/K7222 8:05 10:55 K :05 11:00 W :35 10:45 W :25 18:45 YH :25 18:45 6T 502/K :40 19:00 K :45 19:00 WED YJ 892 7:45 10:25 YH 917 7:45 10:45 YJ 143/W :05 10:45 6T 401/K7222 8:05 10:55 K :05 11:00 W :35 10:45 K :40 18:00 W :25 18:45 YH :25 18:45 6T 502/K :40 19:00 K :45 19:00 THUR YH 917 7:45 10:45 YJ 143/W :05 10:45 6T 401/K7222 8:05 10:55 K :05 11:00 YJ 892 8:15 10:55 W :35 10:45 YH :25 18:45 6T 502/K :40 19:00 K :45 19:00 FRI YJ 892 7:45 10:25 YH 917 7:45 10:45 YJ 143/W :05 10:45 6T 401/K7222 8:05 10:55 K :05 11:00 W :35 10:45 K :40 18:00 W :25 18:45 YH :25 18:45 6T 502/K :40 19:00 K :45 19:00 SAT YJ 892 7:45 10:25 YH 917 7:45 10:45 6T 401/K7222 8:05 10:55 YJ 143/W :05 10:45 K :05 11:00 W :35 10:45 K :40 18:00 W :25 18:45 YH :25 18:45 6T 502/K :40 19:00 K :45 19:00 SUN YH 917 7:45 10:45 YJ 892 7:45 10:25 6T 401/K7222 8:05 10:55 K :05 11:00 YJ 143/W :05 10:45 W :35 10:45 W :25 18:45 YH :25 18:45 6T 502/K :40 19:00 K :45 19:00 Yangon to MYitkYina MON YJ :00 13:50 K :00 10:55 K :00 14:55 TUE K :30 11:05 W :00 12:55 K :00 14:55 WED YJ :00 13:50 K :00 10:55 K :00 14:55 THUR YJ 201 6:30 9:20 K :30 11:05 K :00 14:55 FRI K :00 11:30 W :00 12:55 YJ 211 7:00 9:50 K :00 14:55 SUN YJ :30 14:20 K :00 11:30 K :00 14:55 MYitkYina to Yangon MON YJ :05 17:25 K :10 16:05 K :10 18:05 TUE K :20 16:00 K :10 18:05 W :35 18:30 WED K :10 16:05 K :10 18:05 YJ :05 17:25 THUR K :20 16:00 K :10 18:05 YJ 202 9:35 12:25 FRI K :45 15:15 YJ :05 13:25 K :10 18:05 W :35 18:30 SAT K :10 18:05 SUN YJ :35 17:55 K :45 15:15 K :10 18:05 Yangon to HEHo MON YH 917 6:10 9:35 YJ 143/W :30 9:20 6T 401 7:00 10:35 W :30 9:40 K :30 9:30 K :30 8:45 W :30 11:40 YH :15 12:40 YJ :00 12:10 6T 501/K :30 15:40 W :30 15:40 K :30 15:45 TUE YJ 891 6:10 9:00 YH 917 6:10 9:35 YJ 143/W :30 9:20 6T 401/K7222 6:30 9:30 K :30 9:30 W :30 9:40 K :00 11:15 YJ :00 12:10 6T 501/K :30 15:40 W :30 15:40 K :30 15:45 YH :30 15:55 WED YJ 891 6:10 9:00 YH 917 6:10 9:35 YJ 143/W :30 9:20 6T 401/K7222 6:30 9:30 K :30 9:30 K :30 8:45 W :30 9:40 W :30 11:40 YJ 751/W :00 12:10 YH :15 12:40 6T 501/K :30 15:40 W :30 15:40 K :30 15:45 YH :30 15:55 THUR YJ 891 6:10 9:30 YH 917 6:10 9:35 6T 401/K7222 6:30 9:30 K :30 9:30 YJ 143/W :30 9:20 K :30 8:45 W :30 9:40 YJ :00 12:10 6T 501/K :30 15:40 W :30 15:40 K :30 15:45 YH :30 15:55 FRI YJ 891 6:10 9:00 YH 917 6:10 9:35 6T 401/K7222 6:30 9:30 K :30 9:30 YJ 143/W :30 9:20 K :30 8:45 W :30 9:40 YJ 751/W :00 12:10 YH :15 12:40 YH :30 15:55 6T 501/K :30 15:40 W :30 15:40 K :30 15:45 SAT YJ 891 6:10 9:00 YH 917 6:10 9:35 6T 401/K7222 6:30 9:30 K :30 9:30 YJ 761 7:00 8:10 YJ 143/W :30 9:20 K :30 8:45 W :30 9:40 K :00 11:15 W :30 11:40 6T 501/K :30 15:40 W :30 15:40 K :30 15:45 YH :30 15:55 SUN YJ 891 6:10 9:00 YH 917 6:10 9:35 6T 401/K7222 6:30 9:30 K :30 9:30 YJ 143/W :30 9:20 K :30 8:45 W :30 9:40 YJ 751/W :00 12:10 YH :15 12:40 6T 501/K :30 15:40 W :30 15:40 K :30 15:45 YH :30 15:55 HEHo to Yangon MON YH 918 9:35 10:45 K :30 8:45 K :45 11:00 W :55 11:05 YJ 143/W :35 10:45 6T :50 12:00 K :50 15:05 W :00 17:10 YJ :50 18:00 W :55 18:45 YH :00 18:10 6T 501/K :00 19:00 K :00 19:00 TUE YJ 892 9:15 10:25 YH 918 9:35 10:45 6T 402/K7223 9:45 10:55 K :45 11:00 W :55 11:05 YJ 143/W :35 10:45 K :50 16:05 W :55 18:45 YH :55 18:45 K :00 19:00 6T 501/K :00 19:00 YJ :50 18:00 WED YJ 892 9:15 10:25 YH 918 9:35 10:45 6T 402/K7223 9:45 10:55 K :45 11:00 W :55 11:05 YJ 143/W :35 10:45 K :40 14:55 W :00 17:10 W :55 18:45 YH :55 18:45 6T 501/K :00 19:00 YH :40 18:50 K :00 19:00 THUR YH 918 9:35 10:45 6T 402/K7223 9:45 10:55 K :45 11:00 W :55 11:05 YJ 143/W :35 10:45 K :50 15:05 YJ 892 9:45 10:55 W :55 18:45 6T 501/K :00 19:00 K :00 19:00 YJ :50 18:00 YH :55 18:45 FRI YJ 892 9:15 10:25 YH 918 9:35 10:45 6T 402/K7223 9:45 10:55 K :45 11:00 W :55 11:05 YJ 143/W :35 10:45 K :40 14:55 YH :55 18:45 W :55 18:45 YH :00 18:10 6T 501/K :00 19:00 K :00 19:00 SAT YJ 892 9:15 10:25 YH 918 9:35 10:45 6T 402/K7223 9:45 10:55 K :45 11:00 W :55 11:05 YJ 143/W :35 10:45 YJ :50 14:00 K :40 14:55 K :50 16:05 W :00 17:10 YH :55 18:45 W :55 18:45 6T 501/K :00 19:00 K :00 19:00 SUN YJ 892 9:15 10:25 YH 918 9:35 10:45 6T 402/K7223 9:45 10:55 K :45 11:00 W :55 11:05 YJ 143/W :35 10:45 K :40 14:55 W :55 18:45 YH :55 18:45 6T 501/K :00 19:00 K :00 19:00 YH :40 18:50 Yangon to Sit t we MON 6T :30 13:55 K :00 14:20 TUE 6T :30 15:55 WED 6T :30 15:55 THRU K :00 14:20 6T :30 15:55 FRI 6T :15 13:15 SAT K :00 14:20 6T :30 15:55 SUN 6T :30 12:55 Sit t we to Yangon MON 6T :15 16:15 TUE K :35 15:55 6T :15 17:40 WED 6T :15 17:40 THUR K :35 15:55 6T :15 17:40 FRI 6T :35 15:00 SAT K :35 15:55 6T :15 17:40 SUN K :55 10:50 6T :15 14:40 Yangon to MYEik MON K :00 9:05 YJ 301 7:00 9:10 YH 633 7:00 9:15 TUE K :00 9:05 YJ 301 7:00 9:10 6T 707 7:30 9:30 WED K :00 9:05 YJ 301 7:00 9:10 YH 633 7:00 9:15 THUR K :00 9:05 YJ :30 13:40 YH 633 7:00 9:15 FRI K :00 9:05 YH 633 7:00 9:15 SAT K :00 9:05 YJ :00 13:10 6T :15 13:15 SUN K :00 9:05 YJ 301 7:00 9:10 YH 633 7:00 9:15 6T 707 7:30 9:30 MYEik to Yangon MON K :30 13:35 YH :25 13:25 YJ :25 13:35 TUE 6T :55 13:55 YJ :25 13:35 K :30 13:35 WED K :30 13:35 YH :25 13:25 YJ :25 13:35 THUR YH :25 13:25 K :30 13:35 YJ :55 18:05 FRI YH :25 13:25 K :30 13:35 SAT K :30 13:35 YJ :25 17:35 6T :40 17:40 SUN K :30 13:35 YH :25 13:25 YJ :25 13:35 6T :55 13:55 Yangon to thandwe MON 6T :30 15:05 FRI 6T :15 12:10 thandwe to Yangon MON 6T :20 16:15 FRI 6T :25 15:00 domestic airlines Air Bagan Ltd.(W9) Tel : , , , Fax : Air KBZ (K7) Tel: ~80, ~39 (Airport), Fax: Air Mandalay (6T) Tel : (Head Office) , , Fax: Airport: ~3, Fax: Asian Wings (AW) Tel: , , ~3. Fax: Golden Myanmar Airlines (Y5) Tel: , , Mobile: , Fax: Yangon Airways(YH) Tel: (+95-1) , , , Fax: FMI Air Charter - Sales & Reservations Tel: (95-1) , / (+95-9) Domestic 6T = Air Mandalay W9 = Air Bagan YJ = Asian Wings K7 = AIR KBZ YH = Yangon Airways UB = FMI UB Charter Y5 = Golden Myanmar Airlines Subject to change without notice

51 the pulse travel 51 Yangon to Bangkok MON PG 706 7:15 9:30 8M 335 9:00 10:45 TG 304 9:50 11:45 PG :30 12:25 TG :55 16:50 8M :30 18:15 PG :20 20:15 Y :05 19:50 TG :45 21:40 TUE PG 706 7:15 9:30 8M 335 9:00 10:45 TG 304 9:50 11:45 PG :30 12:25 TG :55 16:50 8M :30 18:15 Y :05 19:50 PG :20 20:15 TG :45 21:40 WED PG 706 7:15 9:30 8M 335 9:00 10:45 TG 304 9:50 11:45 PG :30 12:25 TG :55 16:50 8M :30 18:15 Y :05 19:50 PG :20 20:15 TG :45 21:40 THUR PG 706 7:15 9:30 8M 335 9:00 10:45 TG 304 9:50 11:45 PG :30 12:25 TG :55 16:50 8M :30 18:15 Y :05 19:50 PG :20 20:15 TG :45 21:40 FRI PG 706 7:15 9:30 8M 335 9:00 10:45 TG 304 9:50 11:45 PG :30 12:25 TG :55 16:50 8M :30 18:15 Y :05 19:50 PG :20 20:15 TG :45 21:40 SAT PG 706 7:15 9:30 8M 335 9:00 10:45 TG 304 9:50 11:45 PG :30 12:25 TG :55 16:50 8M :30 18:15 Y :05 19:50 PG :20 20:15 TG :45 21:40 SUN PG 706 7:15 9:30 8M 335 9:00 10:45 TG 304 9:50 11:45 PG :30 12:25 TG :55 16:50 8M :30 18:15 Y :05 19:50 PG :20 20:15 TG :45 21:40 Yangon to don MUEng MON FD :30 10:20 FD :15 14:05 FD :50 19:35 TUE FD :30 10:20 FD :15 14:05 FD :50 19:35 WED FD :30 10:20 FD :15 14:05 FD :50 19:35 THUR FD :30 10:20 FD :15 14:05 FD :50 19:35 FRI FD :30 10:20 FD :15 14:05 FD :50 19:35 SAT FD :30 10:20 FD :15 14:05 FD :50 19:35 SUN FD :30 10:20 FD :15 14:05 FD :50 19:35 Yangon to SingaPorE MON MI 509 0:25 5:00 8M 231 8:00 12:25 Y :10 14:40 SQ :25 14:45 8M 6232/3K :30 16:05 3K :30 16:05 MI :40 21:15 TUE MI 509 0:25 5:00 8M 231 8:00 12:25 Y :10 14:40 SQ :25 14:45 3K :30 16:05 8M 6232/3K :15 15:50 VN :25 17:10 MI :40 21:15 WED 8M 231 8:00 12:25 Y :10 14:40 SQ :25 14:45 8M 6232/3K :30 16:05 3K :30 16:05 MI :40 21:15 THUR 8M 231 8:00 12:25 Y :10 14:40 SQ :25 14:45 3K :30 16:05 8M 6232/3K :15 15:50 VN :25 17:10 MI :40 21:15 FRI 8M 231 8:00 12:25 Y :10 14:40 SQ :25 14:45 3K :30 16:05 8M 6232/3K :30 16:05 8M :05 19:30 MI :40 21:15 SAT MI 509 0:25 5:00 8M 231 8:00 12:25 Y :10 14:40 SQ :25 14:45 8M 6232/3K :30 16:05 3K :30 16:05 8M :05 19:30 MI :40 21:15 SUN MI 509 0:25 5:00 8M 231 8:00 12:25 Y :10 14:40 SQ :25 14:45 3K :30 16:05 8M 6232/3K :15 15:50 VN :25 17:10 8M :05 19:30 MI :40 21:15 international FligHt SCHEdUlES Yangon to kuala lumpur MON 8M 501 7:50 11:50 AK :30 12:50 MH :15 16:30 AK :45 21:00 TUE AK :30 12:50 MH :15 16:30 AK :45 21:00 MH :55 21:10 WED AK :30 12:50 8M 501 7:50 11:50 MH :15 16:30 AK :45 21:00 THUR AK :30 12:50 MH :15 16:30 AK :45 21:00 FRI AK :30 12:50 MH :15 16:30 AK :45 21:00 MH :55 21:10 SAT AK :30 12:50 8M 501 7:50 11:50 MH :15 16:30 AK :45 21:00 SUN AK :30 12:50 MH :15 16:30 AK :45 21:00 MH :55 21:10 Yangon to BEiJing TUE CA :15 21:55 WED CA :15 21:55 THUR CA :15 21:55 SAT CA :15 21:55 SUN CA :15 21:55 Yangon to gaungzhou MON CZ :40 22:15 TUE 8M 711 8:40 13:15 WED CZ :20 15:50 THUR 8M 711 8:40 13:15 FRI CZ :40 22:15 SAT CZ :20 15:50 SUN 8M 711 8:40 13:15 Yangon to taipei MON CI :50 16:15 TUE CI :50 16:15 WED CI :50 16:15 FRI CI :50 16:15 Yangon to kunming MON MU :40 18:00 TUE CA :15 17:35 MU :40 18:00 WED MU :20 18:35 CA :15 17:35 THUR CA :15 17:35 MU :40 18:00 FRI MU :40 18:00 SAT CA :15 17:35 MU :40 18:00 SUN CA :15 17:35 MU :40 18:00 Yangon to CHiang Mai THUR W :20 16:10 SUN W :20 16:10 Yangon to Hanoi MON VN :10 21:30 WED VN :10 21:30 FRI VN :10 21:30 SAT VN :10 21:30 SUN VN :10 21:30 Yangon to Ho CHi MinH CitY TUE VN :25 17:10 THUR VN :25 17:10 SUN VN :25 17:10 Yangon to doha MON QR 619 8:15 11:15 THUR QR 619 8:15 11:15 FRI QR 619 8:15 11:15 Yangon to PHnoM PEnH WED 8M :50 19:15 SAT 8M :50 19:15 Yangon to SEoUl MON KE :45 8:05+1 TUE KE :40 8:05+1 WED KE :40 8:05+1 THUR KE :40 8:05+1 0Z 770 0:35 9:10 FRI KE :40 8:05+1 SAT KE :40 8:05+1 SUN KE :40 8:05+1 0Z :35 9:10 Yangon to Hong kong MON KA 251 1:10 6:00 TUE KA 251 1:10 6:00 THUR KA 251 1:10 6:00 SAT KA 251 1:10 6:00 Yangon to tokyo MON NH :30 06:40+1 WED NH :30 06:40+1 SAT NH :30 06:40+1 Yangon to incheon MON 8M :45 8:05 TUE 8M :45 8:05 WED 8M :45 8:05 THUR 8M :45 8:05 FRI 8M :45 8:05 SAT 8M :45 8:05 SUN 8M :45 8:05 MandalaY to Bangkok TUE TG 782 9:30 11:55 FRI TG 782 9:30 11:55 SAT TG 782 9:30 11:55 SUN TG 782 9:30 11:55 MandalaY to don MUEng MON FD :45 15:00 TUE FD :45 15:00 WED FD :45 15:00 THUR FD :45 15:00 FRI FD :45 15:00 SAT FD :45 15:00 SUN FD :45 15:00 MandalaY to kunming MON MU :40 17:20 TUE MU :40 17:20 WED MU :40 17:20 THUR MU :40 17:20 FRI MU :40 17:20 SAT MU :40 17:20 SUN MU :40 17:20 Bangkok to Yangon MON 8M 336 6:15 7:00 FD :15 8:00 TG 303 7:55 8:50 PG 701 8:50 9:40 TG :00 13:45 PG :45 17:35 FD :50 17:35 TG :50 18:45 8M :15 20:00 PG :15 21:30 Y :10 21:55 TUE 8M 336 6:15 7:00 FD :15 8:00 TG 303 7:55 8:50 PG 701 8:50 9:40 TG :00 13:45 PG :45 17:35 FD :50 17:35 TG :50 18:45 8M :15 20:00 PG :15 21:30 Y :10 21:55 WED 8M 336 6:15 7:00 FD :15 8:00 TG 303 7:55 8:50 PG 701 8:50 9:40 TG :00 13:45 PG :45 17:35 FD :50 17:35 TG :50 18:45 8M :15 20:00 PG :15 21:30 Y :10 21:55 THUR 8M 336 6:15 7:00 FD :15 8:00 TG 303 7:55 8:50 PG 701 8:50 9:40 TG :00 13:45 PG :45 17:35 FD :50 17:35 TG :50 18:45 8M :15 20:00 PG :15 21:30 Y :10 21:55 FRI 8M 336 6:15 7:00 FD :15 8:00 TG 303 7:55 8:50 PG 701 8:50 9:40 TG :00 13:45 PG :45 17:35 FD :50 17:35 TG :50 18:45 8M :15 20:00 PG :15 21:30 Y :10 21:55 SAT 8M 336 6:15 7:00 FD :15 8:00 TG 303 7:55 8:50 PG 701 8:50 9:40 TG :00 13:45 PG :45 17:35 FD :50 17:35 TG :50 18:45 8M :15 20:00 PG :15 21:30 Y :10 21:55 SUN 8M 336 6:15 7:00 FD :15 8:00 TG 303 7:55 8:50 PG 701 8:50 9:40 TG :00 13:45 PG :45 17:35 FD :50 17:35 TG :50 18:45 8M :15 20:00 PG :15 21:30 Y :10 21:55 don MUEng to Yangon MON FD :15 8:00 FD :10 11:45 FD :35 17:20 TUE FD :15 8:00 FD :10 11:45 FD :35 17:20 WED FD :15 8:00 FD :10 11:45 FD :35 17:20 THUR FD :15 8:00 FD :10 11:45 FD :35 17:20 FRI FD :15 8:00 FD :10 11:45 FD :35 17:20 SAT FD :15 8:00 FD :10 11:45 FD :35 17:20 SUN FD :15 8:00 FD :10 11:45 FD :35 17:20 SingaPorE to Yangon MON SQ 998 7:55 9:20 3K 585 9:10 10:40 8M 6231/3K585 9:10 10:40 8M :25 14:50 MI :10 23:35 MI :20 15:45 Y :35 17:05 TUE SQ 998 7:55 9:20 3K 585 9:10 10:40 8M 6231/3K585 8:55 10:25 8M :25 14:50 MI :20 15:45 Y :35 17:05 WED SQ 998 7:55 9:20 3K 585 9:10 10:40 8M 6231/3K585 9:10 10:40 8M :25 14:50 MI :20 15:45 Y :35 17:05 THUR SQ 998 7:55 9:20 8M 6231/3K585 8:55 10:25 3K 585 9:10 10:40 8M :25 14:50 MI :20 15:45 Y :35 17:05 FRI SQ 998 7:55 9:20 3K 585 9:10 10:40 8M 6231/3K585 9:10 10:40 8M :25 14:50 MI :20 15:45 8M :30 21:55 MI :10 23:35 Y :35 17:05 SAT SQ 998 7:55 9:20 3K 585 9:10 10:40 8M 6231/3K585 9:10 10:40 8M :25 14:50 MI :20 15:45 8M :30 21:55 MI :10 23:35 Y :35 17:05 SUN SQ 998 7:55 9:20 8M 6231/3K585 8:55 10:25 3K 585 9:10 10:40 8M :25 14:50 MI :20 15:45 8M :30 21:55 MI :10 23:35 Y :35 17:05 BEiJing to Yangon TUE CA 905 8:05 13:15 WED CA 905 8:05 13:15 THUR CA 905 8:05 13:15 SAT CA 905 8:05 13:15 SUN CA 905 8:05 13:15 kaula lumpur to Yangon MON AK :55 8:00 MH :05 11:15 8M :50 13:50 AK :05 16:15 TUE AK :55 8:00 MH :05 11:15 MH :45 15:55 AK :05 16:15 WED AK :55 8:00 MH :05 11:15 8M :50 13:50 AK :05 16:15 THUR AK :55 8:00 MH :05 11:15 AK :05 16:15 FRI AK :55 8:00 MH :05 11:15 MH :45 15:55 AK :05 16:15 SAT AK :55 8:00 MH :05 11:15 8M :50 13:50 AK :05 16:15 SUN AK :55 8:00 MH :05 11:15 MH :45 15:55 AK :05 16:15 guangzhou to Yangon MON CZ :45 16:35 TUE 8M :15 15:50 WED CZ :40 10:30 THUR 8M :15 15:50 FRI CZ :45 16:35 SAT CZ :40 10:30 SUN 8M :15 15:50 taipei to Yangon MON CI :00 9:55 TUE CI :00 9:55 BR 287 7:45 10:35 WED CI :00 9:55 FRI CI :00 9:55 BR 287 7:45 10:35 SAT BR 287 7:45 10:35 kunming to Yangon MON MU :30 13:55 TUE CA :40 13:15 MU :30 13:55 WED CA :40 13:15 MU :20 11:30 THUR CA :40 13:15 MU :30 13:55 FRI MU :30 13:55 SAT CA :40 13:15 MU :30 13:55 SUN CA :40 13:15 MU :30 13:55 CHiang Mai to Yangon THUR W :20 18:10 SUN W :20 18:10 Hanoi to Yangon MON VN :35 18:10 international airlines Air Asia (FD) Tel: , Air Bagan Ltd.(W9) Tel : , , , Fax : Air China (CA) Tel : , Air India Tel : ~98, Fax: Bangkok Airways (PG) Tel: , , Fax: Condor (DE) Tel: up to 39 (ext : 810) Dragonair (KA) Tel: , , Fax : International FD & AK = Air Asia TG = Thai Airways 8M = Myanmar Airways International Y5 = Golden Myanmar Airlines PG = Bangkok Airways MI = Silk Air VN = Vietnam Airline MH = Malaysia Airlines CZ = China Southern CI = China Airlines CA = Air China KA = Dragonair Subject to change without notice WED VN :35 18:10 FRI VN :35 18:10 SAT VN :35 18:10 SUN VN :35 18:10 Ho CHi MinH CitY to Yangon TUE VN :40 13:25 THUR VN :40 13:25 SUN VN :40 13:25 Bangkok to MandalaY TUE TG 781 7:25 8:50 FRI TG 781 7:25 8:50 SAT TG 781 7:25 8:50 SUN TG 781 7:25 8:50 doha to Yangon WED QR :05 07:00+1 THUR QR :05 07:00+1 SUN QR :05 07:00+1 PHnoM PEnH to Yangon WED 8M :15 21:40 SAT 8M :15 21:40 SEoUl to Yangon MON KE :40 22:15 TUE KE :40 22:15 WED KE :40 22:15 0Z :50 23:25 THUR KE :40 22:15 FRI KE :40 22:15 SAT KE :40 22:15 0Z :50 23:25 SUN KE :40 22:15 tokyo to Yangon MON NH :30 15:30 WED NH :30 15:30 SAT NH :30 15:30 Hong kong to Yangon MON KA :45 23:30 WED KA :45 23:30 FRI KA :45 23:30 SUN KA :45 23:30 incheon to Yangon MON 8M :40 22:15 TUE 8M :40 22:15 WED 8M :40 22:15 THUR 8M :40 22:15 FRI 8M :40 22:15 SAT 8M :40 22:15 SUN 8M :40 22:15 don MUEang to MandalaY MON FD :50 12:15 TUE FD :50 12:15 WED FD :50 12:15 THUR FD :50 12:15 FRI FD :50 12:15 SAT FD :50 12:15 SUN FD :50 12:15 kunming to MandalaY MON MU :55 13:50 TUE MU :55 13:50 WED MU :55 13:50 THUR MU :55 13:50 FRI MU :55 13:50 SAT MU :55 13:50 SUN MU :55 13:50 Golden Myanmar Airlines (Y5) Tel: , , Mobile: , Fax: Malaysia Airlines (MH) Tel : , ext : 120, 121, 122 Fax : Myanmar Airways International(8M) Tel : , Fax: Silk Air(MI) Tel: ~9, Fax: Thai Airways (TG) Tel : ~6, Fax : Vietnam Airlines (VN) Fax : Tel / / Qatar Airways (Temporary Office) Tel: , (ext: 8142, 8210) Y5 = Golden Myanmar Airlines 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 PHILIPPINES Totally unplugged in a Philippine archipelago JILLIaN KEENaN IN recent years, travel bloggers have hailed Palawan Island in the western Philippines as Asia s new final frontier, tempting tourists away from better-known destinations in Thailand and Bali. The island s coastline, more than 1,242 miles, boasts some of the most beautiful white-sand beaches in the world. In fact, rumor has it that Alex Garland, author of The Beach, actually lived on Palawan while writing his best-selling novel about a group of tourists who discover the world s most perfect secret cove. But even more breathtaking than Palawan itself (if that s possible) are the tiny, sparsely inhabited islands sprinkled across the South China Sea between Palawan and the northern island of Coron. And the only way to see those is by boat. For five days, 12 other tourists and I, along with our guide and crew of three, would sail from island to island on a small outrigger boat, sleep on beaches, and buy our food from local fishermen and villages along the way. There would be no itinerary. There would be no WiFi. There would be no cellphone signal. Most alarmingly, there would be no Twitter. If you break your leg, get used to it, because there s no hospital, a our tour guide warned us in a pre-trip briefing. So don t break your leg. The transformative influence of the Philippines works quickly. Within hours of our setting sail, my bikini became my skin, and I stopped caring (honestly!) what might be happening online. All that tension just went away. Life on the boat quickly settled into a languid routine of snorkeling, eating, relaxing on the blue-and-white wooden deck and exploring tiny islands. Every evening, we set up camp on a beach and spent the night talking, singing or reading by torchlight. (OK, OK, I was the only person in the group not traveling as a couple. So maybe the others weren t reading at night.) On the fourth day, we stopped at a small island village, only to discover that a festival was being held that afternoon. While the other tourists stayed near the beach to watch a basketball game, I wandered off. I wove between small thatched houses, admiring the colorful political campaign posters that decorated the walls, until a tiny smiling girl appeared. Like a magical rabbit from a fantasy novel, she beckoned me to follow her. I did. What s your name? I asked. She didn t understand me, and giggled. I smiled, and we turned a corner. A huge crowd had formed around a small ring. People were shouting, laughing and climbing trees to get better views of the event. The little girl had brought me to a cockfight. Cockfighting is to the Philippines what baseball is to the USA or rugby is to New Zealand, my Lonely Planet guidebook matter-of-factly explained. Western tourists complain about the practice, but they don t get much sympathy from Filipinos, who just smile and wonder what all the fuss is about. The other tourists from the boat had already mixed in with the crowd of spectators on the far side of the ring, but I d shown up too late to join them (and I wasn t particularly eager to have a front-row view of the bloody event, anyway). Instead, I climbed a tree, settled onto one of the branches and turned my camera onto the crowd. It seemed as if the whole village was there. The two roosters were outfitted with short knives strapped to their legs and pushed together into the ring, and it was all over in less than a minute. Both roosters died. (The winner died second.) Our beach camp on the penultimate night was equipped with a generator - not for charging our phones, but to power the ancient karaoke machine that had been improbably set up inside an open-air hut. Late into the night, we tourists, the Filipino crew members and a few locals gathered around it to drink beer and rum and sing love songs in Tagalog, English and a handful of other languages. For a second, as I watched our tiny United Nations drunkenly bleating Bohemian Rhapsody from an island speck in the middle of the ocean, that moment of harmony felt like the solution to all the world s problems. The Washington Post. A crowd evaluates a rooster before a cockfight, a popular event in the Philippines. Photo: Jillian Keenan/The Washington Post.

52 52 the pulse international THE MYANMAR TIMES July 1-7, 2013 WEEKLY PrEdIcTIoNS July 1-7, 2013 aquarius Jan 20 - Feb 18 LEo Jul 23 - Aug 22 Thailand s police officers will undergo a strict excerise program in order to help them lose weight. Photo: AFP Thailand s traffic cops battle the bulge apilaporn VEcHaKIJ bellies wobbling and chubby limbs swinging, dozens of sweaty traffic cops exercise to the rhythm of Thai pop songs as part of a scheme to reduce the number of overweight police in Bangkok. Poor diets and long hours in a sedentary job on the city s gridlocked streets have left the Thai capital s traffic police prone to piling on the pounds. But their health - and the public image presented by potbellied officers - has become such a worry that police bosses have laid on free fat-busting classes, enlisting nearly 60 volunteers for a twomonth Fit and Firm program. After barely a fortnight on the course, Senior Sergeant-Major Nitas Saisaard says he now weighs a still hefty 138 kilograms (304 pounds) but has shed six kilos and reduced his waistline by three inches. When I work, it is definitely difficult... When I am directing the traffic - in the centre of roads, between cars - I sometimes get hit, brushed by wing mirrors, the 48-year-old explains, sweat rolling down his forehead after an exercise class. But twice-weekly sessions - including yoga and aerobics - are so far working for Nitas, along with a new diet of fruit and soups that banishes his favourite fried street food and bowls of white rice. I gained weight because I eat a lot at late night. We [traffic police] have uncertain schedules, says Nitas, who has joined similar schemes before but never quite managed to win his personal battle of the bulge. TEMPERS flared and police had to be called in June 27 as anxious Singaporeans rushed to McDonald s outlets to buy Hello Kitty plush toys being sold by the fast-food chain as a promotion. Hundreds had begun queueing the previous night to get their hands on a kitten in a skeleton outfit, depicting a character from the German fairy tale The Singing Bone. It was the last of a series of six limited-edition Hello Kitty characters dressed in different outfits from popular fairy tales which were being sold by McDonald s this month. In some outlets, chaos broke out amid rampant queue-jumping as supplies of the toys ran out soon after the stores opened for business on Thursday. One video uploaded on YouTube Bangkok s Metropolitan Police Bureau wants cops with waistbands over 36 inches to consider doing the course, enticing them to lose over 10 kilos with prizes of nearly US$160 for the best performers. Senior policemen saw that our officers are too chubby... too fat, so they decided they should lose weight, said Lieutenant Colonel Sujit Suksamai, who is also taking part in the course. When police are too fat, they can t work quickly. Reducing the fat makes them stronger, healthier and faster. Police chiefs have frequently tried to encourage their colleagues to tackle their expanding paunches by running regular fitness classes including a Fat Fighters course earlier this year. Slimming down is also an issue of public confidence in the police, says health expert Kawita Kruenjit who leads some of the exercise and health sessions at a Bangkok private hospital. When the general public see fat police they wonder how are they going to run after the bad guys? she added. In their defence, police say the stress of 15-hour shifts guiding traffic in one of the world s most congested cities, where When the general public see fat police they wonder how are they going to run after the bad guys? Kawita Kruenjit Health expert showed police officers mediating between two customers in front of a McDonald s counter. Another showed an irate man asking an agitated crowd Is he Singaporean? Is he educated?, apparently in reference to someone who had gotten a queue ticket ahead of others. Some customers took to Facebook to register their anger after they went home empty-handed, while others immediately put the toys - sold for about US$3.62 with set meals - up for sale online at far higher prices. This is absolutely ruining the Singapore reputation. Poor management and irresponsible, wrote Catherine Ong on McDonald s Singapore s Facebook page. Others voiced their annoyance at compatriots who had let their Hello Kitty they receive little love from motorists who routinely stew in hour-long traffic jams, makes the job incompatible with a healthy lifestyle. But it is the traffic police s proclivity for the cheap, fatty treats dished out by Bangkok s ubiquitous street stalls that are doing the most damage, according to Doungrut Wattanakitkraileart, who researches the health of police officers at Bangkok s Mahidol University. More than half of 265 traffic police she surveyed in 2011 in one Bangkok district suffered high cholesterol. Food on sale near police stations is unhealthy. It is oily and salty - coconut milk curries and fattening dishes, she said, adding low wages deter many from a healthier diet. Fit and Firm is changing habits and some attitudes, even among those who are only marginally on the wrong side of scales. The first time after 45 minutes of aerobic dance non-stop, my whole body was stiff. But now... I can do it nonstop, Senior Sergean-Major Wichien Noppan, who is just over 90 kilos, said proudly. Scoffing a lunch of white rice and a Thai curry in a traffic booth at a busy intersection in central Bangkok, Sub Lieutenant Banyong Wannawong admits it is hard to change the eating habits of a lifetime. Weighing in at a scale-tipping 130 kilos, Banyong pithily explains why he is unlikely to trim down anytime soon. My favourite foods are fattening... I could eat them less but I won t enjoy them as much. AFP Singapore gripped by Hello Kitty frenzy mania run out of control. Singapore last went into a Hello Kitty frenzy in 2000, when McDonald s sold a series of the toys in wedding outfits to usher in the new millenium. Hello Kitty, which started in 1974 in Japan as a moon-faced cartoon cat on a coin purse, has developed into a global cultural phenomenon. Sanrio, the Tokyo-based company behind the Hello Kitty industry, says it now has around 50,000 different products on sale in 109 nations and territories. Kitty-mania is also well established in Hong Kong where both men and women line up for hours outside McDonald s outlets during promotional schemes. In 2008, Japan appointed the character as its goodwill tourism ambassador to China and Hong Kong. AFP you have strong humanitarian urges, but they need to be balanced with enthusiasm and good organisational ability. you are the type to always keep moving into newer and more exciting things, but you have to be objective. Know yourself and your needs in an emergency. To be capable of deep attachments that will survive your fickle nature, be ready to refine your emotions using intelligence and discrimination. PIScES Feb 19 - March 2 Don t overthink situations past the point of logic and reason. you can t let compulsive urges or interference from others change your decisions. Keep in mind, however, that big changes in your lifestyle are often dependent on your mood and your morals, so stay optimistic. As Einstein said, imagination is more important than knowledge. aries Mar 21 - Apr 19 If you don t learn from past experience you ll end up repeating mistakes and undermining your selfesteem and confidence. Base your decisions on scientific and mathematical understanding and you ll soon see that truth and spirituality are closely related. live your life according to the values of honesty, truth and love. As a first step, try being more diplomatic with those you deal with on a daily basis. TauruS Apr 20 - May 20 This week, work on establishing a reputation as a reliable person others can depend on. If you treat your work associates as close friends of long standing instead of just casual acquaintances, it will make everybody feel satisfied and safe just by knowing you. Try to hold your tongue when necessary to reduce awkwardness and avoid making things complicated. gemini May 21 - June 20 As philosopher Michael Pritchard remarked, Fear is that little dark room where negatives are developed. you have nothing to be afraid of but your own misconceptions, so don t let anything that s not strictly logical limit the scope of your imagination. Don t be afraid to gear up for new social challenges. If you go beyond your inner circle, you ll be able to cast a wider net when fishing for information. cancer Jun 21 - Jul 20 Virtue plus wisdom is the greatest value in the world. If you avoid all thoughts that might produce fear, or the fear of fear, or the fear of fear of fear, you ll be caught in a loop and you ll never let your imagination run free. Remember too that love and sex are like positive and negative, two sides of the same coin. Better changes tomorrow will start with intellectual challenges today. If the writing is on the wall, you want to be there to read it, so keeping your social relationships strong means reviewing daily changes with care and attention. But don t get too concerned about looking for the early signs of love. yours will come around soon. VIrgo Aug 23 - Sep 22 Find a way to align yourself with the goals of your organisation and you will gain a greater understanding of the value of personal fulfillment. For true 3D vision, you need more than one perspective. While a good idea may come from one person, it is only accomplished through the efforts of many. If true love doesn t come easy, remember that the problems look toughest just before the brighter prospects come into view. LIbra Sep 23 - Oct 22 Trust is the foundation of leadership, character inspires trust, and love needs character without fault. Remember the words of Chuck Colson, former aide to President Nixon: As you go through life whether it s in the military, in your business, in the church, or whatever walk of life someone is going to depend on your character more than upon your IQ. ScorPIo Oct 23 - Nov 21 It takes rubbing to polish a gem, and no man can be perfect without trials. Try to think of mistakes as lessons for success. Risk may lead to hidden opportunities, but to realise them you ll have to manage your time carefully. If you can adapt to different social situations you ll manage to reach your goal. SagITTarIuS Nov 22 - Dec 21 Recall your previous mistakes to reduce your existing problems and to avoid gaining more by committing social blunders. In nationbuilding, the four ethical principles are propriety, righteousness, integrity and a sense of shame. The same is true for individuals: While a victory over someone else can make you feel strong, a victory over yourself makes you all-powerful. love is sure to keep you on the right wavelength. capricorn Dec 22 - Jan 19 Count your life with smiles, not dissatisfaction and discontent; tally your age not by years but by the number of good deeds you do. Once you have burned your own grief, you are ready to turn your sorrows into a helpful partner for the road ahead. Never bring pride into a place where love is better suited. AUNG MYIN KYAW 4 th Floor, 113, Thamain Bayan Road, Tarmwe Tsp, yangon. Tel: williameaste@gmail.com

53 EMBASSIES Australia 88, Strand Road, Yangon. Tel : , , , , , , fax: Bangladesh 11-B, Than Lwin Road, Yangon. Tel: , , fax: , bdootygn@mptmail.net. mm Brazil 56, Pyay Road, 6 th mile, Hlaing Tsp, Yangon. Tel: , , fax: Administ.yangon@ itamaraty.gov.br. Brunei 17, Kanbawza Avenue, Golden Velly (1), Bahan Tsp, Yangon. Tel: , , fax: bruneiemb@ bruneiemb. com.mm Cambodia 25 (3B/4B), New University Avenue Road, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. Tel: , , fax: , net.mm China 1, Pyidaungsu Yeiktha Road, Yangon. Tel: , , , , , fax: , Egypt 81, Pyidaungsu Yeiktha Road, Yangon. Tel: , , fax: , egye mbyangon@mptmail. net.mm France 102, Pyidaungsu Yeiktha Road, Yangon. Tel: , , , , , fax: , ambaf rance. rangoun@ diplomatie.fr Germany 9, Bogyoke Aung San Museum Road, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. Tel: , , fax: info@rangun. diplo.de India , Merchant Street, Yangon. Tel: , , , fax: , , , net.mm Ambulance tel: Fire tel: 191, , Police emergency tel: 199. Police headquarters tel: , Red Cross tel:682600, Traffic Control Branch tel: Department of Post & Telecommunication tel: , Immigration tel: Ministry of Education tel:545500m Ministry of Sports tel: , Ministry of Communications tel: Myanma Post & Telecommunication (MPT) tel: Myanma Post & Tele-communication (Accountant Dept) tel: , Ministry of Foreign Affairs tel: , Ministry of Health tel: Yangon City Development Committee tel: HOSPITALS Central Women s Hospital tel: , Children Hospital tel: , Ear, Nose & Throat Hospital tel: Naypyitaw Hospital (emergency) tel: Worker s Hospital tel: , , The Essentials Indonesia 100, Pyidaungsu Yeiktha Road, Yangon. Tel: , , , fax: , Israel 15, Khabaung Street, Hlaing Tsp, Yangon. Tel: , fax: , info@ yangon.mfa.gov.il Italy 3, Inya Myaing Road, Golden Valley, Yangon. Tel: , , fax: , ambyang.mail@ esteri.it Japan 100, Natmauk Road, Yangon. Tel: , , , , , fax: Embassy of the State of Kuwait Chatrium Hotel, Rm: No.416, 418, 420, 422, 40 Natmauk Rd, Tarmwe Tsp, Tel: North Korea 77C, Shin Saw Pu Rd, Sanchaung Tsp, Yangon. Tel: , South Korea 97 University Avenue, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. Tel: , , fax: , myanmar@mofat.go.kr Lao A-1, Diplomatic Quarters, Tawwin Road, Dagon Tsp, Yangon. Tel: , fax: , Laoembcab@ mptmail. net.mm Malaysia 82, Pyidaungsu Yeiktha Road, Yangon. Tel: , , , , fax: , mwkyangon@mptmail. net.mm Nepal 16, Natmauk Yeiktha, Yangon. Tel: , , fax: , Pakistan A-4, diplomatic Quarters, Pyay Road, Yangon. Tel: (Chancery Exchange) fax: , pakistan@ myanmar. com.mm Philippines 50, Sayasan Road, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. Tel: , fax: , p.e. yangon@gmail.com Russian 38, Sagawa Road, Yangon. Tel: , , fax: , rusinmyan@mptmail.net.mm Serbia No. 114-A, Inya Road, P.O.Box No. 943-Yangon. Tel: , , fax: , serbemb@ yangon.net.mm Singapore 238, Dhamazedi Road, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. Tel: , singemb_ ygn@_ sgmfa. gov.sg Sri Lanka 34 Taw Win Road, Yangon. Tel: , fax: , slembassy. yangon@gmail.com The Embassy of Switzerland No 11, Kabaung Lane, 5 ½ mile, Pyay Rd, Hlaing Tsp, Yangon. Tel: , , Fax: , Ext: 110 Thailand 94 Pyay Rd, Dagon Tsp, Yangon. Tel: , , United Kingdom 80 Strand Rd, Yangon. Tel: , , , , , fax: United States of America 110, University Avenue, Kamayut Tsp, Yangon. Tel: , , , fax: Vietnam Bldg-72, Thanlwin Rd, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. Tel: vnemb myr@ cybertech.net.mm Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia No.287/289, U Wisara Rd, Sanchaung Tsp. Tel : , , fax : Emergency Numbers Yangon Children Hospital tel: , , Yangon General Hospital (East) tel: , , Yangon General Hospital (New) tel: , , , Yangon General Hospital (West) tel: , , Yangon General Hospital (YGH) tel: , , , ELECTRICITY Power Station tel: POST OFFICE General Post Office 39, Bo Aung Kyaw St. (near British Council Library). tel: INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT Yangon International Airport tel: YANGON PORT Shipping (Coastal vessels) tel: RAILWAYS Railways information tel: , UNITED NATIONS ILO Liaison 1-A, Kanbae (Thitsar Rd), Yankin Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar. Tel : , Fax : IOM 12th Flr, Traders Hotel, 223, tel: ext UNAIDS Rm: (1223~1231), 12 Fl, Traders Hotel. tel: , , fax: UNDCP 11-A, Malikha St, Mayangone tsp. tel: , fax: UNDP 6, Natmauk Rd, Bahan tel: fax: UNFPA 6, Natmauk Rd, Bahan tsp. tel: UNHCR 287, Pyay Rd, Sanchaung tsp. tel: , fax UNIAP Rm: 1202, 12 Fl, Traders Hotel.tel: , UNIC 6, Natmauk St., BHN tel: 52910~19 UNICEF 14~15 Flr, Traders Hotel. P.O. Box 1435, KTDA. tel: ~32, fax: unicef.yangon@unicef. org, UNODC 11-A, Malikha Rd., Ward 7, MYGN. tel: , , , , , fax: fo.myanmar@unodc.org www. unodc.org./myanmar/ UNOPS Inya Lake Hotel, 3 rd floor, 37, Kaba Aye Pagoda Rd, Mayangone Tsp. tel: ~7. Fax: UNRC 6, Natmauk Rd, P.O. Box 650, TMWE tel: ~19, (Resident Coordinator), fax: , WFP 3 rd -flr, Inya Lake Hotel, 37, Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd. tel: ~6 (6-lines) Ext: WHO 12A Fl, Traders Hotel. tel: ASEAN Coordinating Of. for the ASEAN Humanitarian Task Force, 79, Taw Win st, Dagon Tsp. Ph: FAO Myanma Agriculture Service Insein Rd, Insein. tel: , fax: ACCOMMODATION- HOTELS Asia Plaza Hotel YANGON No. 277, Bogyoke Aung San Road, Corner of 38 th Street, Kyauktada Township, Yangon, Myanmar. Tel : (951) , Reservation@ (Ext) 1910, 106. Fax : (951) hotelasiaplaza@gmail.com Chatrium Hotel Royal Lake Yangon 40 Natmauk Rd, Tarmwe. tel: fax: No.7A, Wingabar Road, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. Tel : (951) , ~4. Fax : (01) info@cloverhotel.asia Confort Inn 4, Shweli Rd, Bet: Inya Rd & U Wisara Rd, Kamaryut, tel: , No. (356/366), Kyaikkasan Rd, Tamwe Township, Yangon, Myanmar. Ph: , Fax: reservation@ edenpalacehotel.com M-22, Shwe Htee Housing, Thamine Station St., Near the Bayint Naung Point, Mayangone Tsp., Yangon Tel : , , Fax : (95-1) grandpalace@ myanmar.com.mm No. 12, Pho Sein Road, Tamwe Township, Yangon Tel : (95-1) , , , , Fax : (95-1) greenhill@ myanmar.com.mm Hotel Yangon 91/93, 8 th Mile Junction, Mayangone. Tel : , Inya Lake Resort Hotel 37 Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd. tel: fax: General Listing No. 205, Corner of Wadan Street & Min Ye Kyaw Swa Road, Lanmadaw Tsp, Yangon. Myanmar. Tel: (95-1) ~ 3, ~ 61, Fax: (95-1) info@myanmarpandahotel.com myanmarpandahotel.com PARKROYAL Yangon, Myanmar 33, Alan Pya Pagoda Rd, Dagon tsp. tel: fax: enquiry.prygn@ parkroyalhotels.com parkroyalhotels. com. Royal White Elephant Hotel No-11, Kan Street, Hlaing Tsp. Yangon, Myanmar. (+95-1) , MGM Hotel No (160), Warden Street, Lanmadaw Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar ~9. www. hotel-mgm.com Savoy Hotel 129, Damazedi Rd, Kamayut tsp. tel: , , Sweet Hotel 73, Damazedi Road, San Chaung Tsp, Ph: Sedona Hotel Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd, Yankin. tel: Strand Hotel 92 Strand Rd. tel: fax: Summit Parkview Hotel 350, Ahlone Rd, Dagon Tsp. tel: , Thamada Hotel 5, Alan Pya Phaya Rd, Dagon. Tel: , Traders Hotel 223 Sule Pagoda Rd. tel: fax: Winner Inn 42, Than Lwin Rd, Bahan Tsp. Tel: , reservation@winner innmyanmar.com Yuzana Hotel 130, Shwegondaing Rd, Bahan Tsp, tel : , Yuzana Garden Hotel 44, Alanpya Pagoda Rd, Mingalar Taung Nyunt Tsp, tel : ACCOMMODATION LONG TERM Happy Homes REAL ESTATE & PROPERTY MANAGEMENT Tel: , aahappyhomes@ gmail.com, happyhomesyangon.com Golden Hill Towers 24-26, Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd, Bahan Tsp. tel: ghtower@ mptmail.net.mm. Marina Residence 8, Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd, Mayangone Tsp. tel: ~4. fax: MiCasa Hotel Apartments 17, Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd, Yankin Tsp. tel: fax: Sakura Residence 9, Inya Rd, Kamaryut Tsp. tel: fax: The Grand Mee Ya Hta Executive Residence 372, Bogyoke Aung San Rd, Pabedan Tsp. tel (25 lines). ACCOMMODATION- HOTELS (Nay Pyi Taw) Reservation Office (Yangon) No-123, Alanpya Pagoda Rd, Dagon Tsp Tel : ~838 Hotel Ayeyarwady (National Landmark, Zeyar Thiri Tsp, Nay Pyi Taw) Tel : , reservation@ maxhotelsgroup.com Reservation Office (Yangon) 123, Alanpya Pagoda Rd, Dagon Township Tel : ~838 Royal Kumudra Hotel, (Nay Pyi Taw) Tel : , reservation@ maxhotelsgroup.com AIR CONDITION Chigo 216, 38 St (Upper), Kyauktada Tsp, tel : The First Air conditioning systems designed to keep you fresh all day GUNKUL Engineer supply Co., Ltd. No.437 (A), Pyay Road, Kamayut. P., O Yangon, Tel: +(95-1) , Mandalay- Tel: Nay Pyi Taw- Tel: , sales.ac@freshaircon. com. URL: freshaircon.com General 83-91, G-F, Bo Aung Kyaw St, Kyauktada Tsp, tel : , BARS (Nay Pyi Taw) 50 th Street 9/13, 50th street-lower, Botataung Tsp. Tel

54 THE MYANMAR TIMES July 1-7, 2013 Green Garden Beer Gallery Mini Zoo, Karaweik Oo-Yin Kabar. Lobby Bar PARKROYAL Yangon, Myanmar. 33, Alan Pya Phaya Road, Dagon Tsp. tel: Strand Bar 92, Strand Rd, Yangon, Myanmar. tel: fax: , ADvERTISING WE STARTED THE ADVERTISING INDUSTRY IN MYANMAR SINCE 1991 Marketing & communications A d v e r t i s i n g SAIL Marketing & Communications Suite 403, Danathiha Center 790, Corner of Bogyoke Rd & Wadan Rd, Lanmadaw Township, Yangon, Myanmar. Tel: (951) , , admin@ advertising-myanmar.com com BEAUTY & MASSAGE Marina Residence, Yangon Ph: ~4, Ext: 109 Beauty Plan, Corner of 77th St & 31st St, Mandalay Ph: Aesthetic Medical Spa 5 (C), Race Course Condo, South Race Course Street, Tarmwe, Yangon. Mobile: dr.face.aesthetic@gmail.com LS Salon Junction Square, 3rd floor. Pyay Rd, Kamayut Tsp. Tel , ext 4001 La Source Beauty Spa ~80(A), Inya Rd, Kamayut Tsp, tel: , Lemon Day Spa No. 96 F, Inya Road, Kamaryut Tsp, Yangon. Tel: , E.mail: Spa Paragon Condo B#Rm-106, Shwe Hinthar Condo, Corner of Pyay Rd & Shwe Hinthar St, 6½Mile, Yangon. Tel: Ext: 112, , BOOK STORES Innwa Book Store No. 246, Rm.201/301, GF, Pansodan Street (Upper Block), Kyauktada Tsp. Tel , , , Dhamazedi Rd., Bahan T/S, Yangon. Tel: , Room 308, 3rd Flr., Junction Center (Maw Tin), Lanmadaw T/S, Yangon. Tel: , Ext (B), Departure Lounge, Yangon Int l Airport. 45B, Corner of 26th & 68th Sts., Mandalay. Tel: (02) yangon@monumentbooks.com MYANMAR BOOK CENTRE Nandawun Compound, No. 55, Baho Road, Corner of Baho Road and Ahlone Road, (near Eugenia Restaurant), Ahlone Township. tel: , fax: info@ myanmarbook.com CAFÈS La Brasserie (International) PARKROYAL Yangon. 33, Alan Pya Phaya Road, Dagon Tsp. tel : COFFEE MACHINE illy, Francis Francis, VBM, Brasilia, Rossi, De Longhi Nwe Ta Pin Trading Co., Ltd. Shop C, Building 459 B New University Avenue , nwetapintrading@gmail.com CONSTRUCTION Zamil Steel No-5, Pyay Road, 7½ miles, Mayangone Tsp, Yangon. Tel: (95-1) ~04. Fax: (95-1) zamilsteel@ zamilsteel.com.mm CO WORKING SPACE No. (6), Lane 2 Botahtaung Pagoda St, Yangon , info@venturaoffice.com, CONSULTING Myanmar Research Consulting Technology Shwe Hinthar B 307, 6 1/2 Miles, Pyay Rd., Yangon. Tel: +95 (0) info@thuraswiss.com COOPER valves Exotic Alloys for Severe Service, Myanmar Sales Representative mlwin@coopervalves.com ELECTRICAL Est in Myanmar Electrical & Mechanical Contractors, Designers, Consultants. Tel: , gei.ygn2@ gmail.com, glover2812@ gmail.com ENGINEERING 193/197, Shu Khin Thar Street, North Okkalapa Industrial Zone, Yangon. Tel: ~5, , Fax: supermega97@ gmail.com. www. supermega-engg.com ENTERTAINMENT Dance Club & Bar No.94, Ground Floor, Bogalay Zay Street, Botataung Tsp, Yangon.Tel: , danceclub. hola@gmail.com (Except Sunday) The Uranium Dance Studio Pearl condo Bldg (C), 2 nd flr, Bahan Tsp. Tel: , FASHION & TAILOR Sein Shwe Tailor, No.797 (003-A), Bogyoke Aung San Road, Corner of Wardan Street, MAC Tower 2, Lanmadaw Township, Yangon, Ph: , ~4 Ext: 146, 147, uthetlwin@gmail.com FITNESS CENTRE Traders Health Club. Level 5, Traders Hotel Yangon#223 Sule Pagoda Rd, Tel: Ext: 6561 Balance Fitnesss No 64 (G), Kyitewine Pagoda Road, Mayangone Township. Yangon , info@ balancefitnessyangon.com Life Fitness Bldg A1, Rm No. 001, Shwekabar Housing, Mindhamma Rd, Ph: , Fax: , Hot line: , natraysports@ gmail.com Mr. Betchang No.(272), Pyay Rd, DNH Tower, Rm No.(503), 5th flr, Sanchaung Tsp, Tel: The Yangon GYM Summit Parkview Hotel 350, Ahlone Rd, Dagon Tsp. tel: , FLORAL SERvICES Floral Service & Gift Shop No. 449, New University Avenue, Bahan Tsp. YGN. Tel: , , Market Place By City Mart Tel: ~43, ~46, Ext: 205. Junction Nay Pyi Taw Tel: ~ ~15, Ext: 235. Res: , eternal@ mptmail.net.mm Floral Service & Gift Centre 102(A), Dhamazaydi Rd, Yangon.tel: Summit Parkview Hotel, tel: , ext. 173 fax: sandy@ sandymyanmar.com.mm. Rosana Flora No.173(B), West Shwegonedaing Rd, Bahan Tsp, YGN. Tel: GAS COOKER & COOKER HOODS Yangon : A-3, Aung San Stadium (North East Wing), Mingalartaungnyunt Tsp. Tel : , Mandalay : Room No.(B,C) (National Gas), 35th St, Btw 80th & 81st, Chanayetharzan Tsp. Tel : , , 36748, GEMS & JEWELLERIES Ruby & Rare Gems of Myanamar No. 527, New University Ave., Bahan Tsp. Yangon. sales@manawmaya.com.mm Tel: , Fax : Natural Gems of Myanmar No. 30 (A), Pyay Road (7 mile), Mayangone Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar. Tel: , ~9. GENERATORS No , Bo Aung Kyaw St, Yangon-Pathein highway Road. Hlaing Tharyar tsp. Tel: , , Fax: , mkt-mti@ winstrategic.com.mm HEALTH SERvICES 98(A), Kaba Aye Pagoda Road, Bahan Township, Yangon. Tel: , , , Fax: asiapacific. myanmar@gmail.com. 24 hours Laboratory & X-ray No. (68), Tawwin Street, 9 Mile, Mayangone Township, Yangon, Myanmar. Tel : (951) Fax : (951) Acupuncture, Medicine Massage, Foot Spa Add:No,27(A),Ywa Ma Kyaung Street, Hlaing Township, Yangon. Tel: , Hour International Medical Victoria Hospital No. 68, Tawwin Rd, 9 Mile, Mayangon Township, Yangon, Myanmar Tel: , Fax: /7 on duty doctor: Website: One Stop Solution for Quality Health Care Piyavate Hospital (Bangkok) Grand Mee Yahta Executive Residences. No.372, Bogyoke Aung San Rd, Pabedan. Tel: , Ext: Hotline: Vibhavadi Hospital st Floor-Right, Waizayanter Road, Thingangyun Tsp, Yangon. Tel: , HOME FURNISHING 22, Pyay Rd, 9 mile, Mayangone Tsp. tel: , Franzo Living Mall 15 (A/5), Pyay Rd, A-1, 9 Miles, Mayangone Tsp, Yangon. Ph: Bldg-D, Rm (G-12), Pearl Condo, Ground Flr, Kabaraye Pagoda Rd, Bahan Tsp. Tel: Ext 814, S.B. FURNITURE No , Dagon Tower, Ground Flr, Cor of Kabaraye Pagoda Rd & Shwe Gon Dine Rd, Bahan Tsp. Tel: , European Quality & Designs Furniture Suitable for Outdoor or Indoor Use No , FJVC Centre, Ground Floor, Room No. 4, Strand Road (Corner of Botahtaung Pagoda Road), Botahtaung Township, Yangon 11161, Myanmar. Tel: , H.P: Fax: contact@ smartdesignstrading.com Website: www. wovenfurnituredesigns.com INSURANCE EXPATRIATE HEALTH & INSURANCE Tel: (09) thinthinswe@poe-ma.com FOAM SPRAY INSULATION Foam Spray Insulation No-410, Ground Floor, Lower Pazuntaung Road, Pazuntaung Tsp, Yangon. Telefax : , , Hot Line hours Cancer centre No. (68), Tawwin Street, 9 Mile, Mayangone Township, Yangon, Myanmar. Tel : (951) Fax : (951) PHIH-Specialist Clinic FMI Centre (4 th Floor) #380, Bogyoke Aung San Road, Pabedan Tsp. Tel: , RISK & INSURANCE SOLUTIONS Tel: (09) robert.b@poe-ma.com LEGAL SERvICE U Min Sein, BSc, RA, CPA.,RL Advocate of the Supreme Court 83/14 Pansodan St, Yangon. tel: uminsein@mptmail.net.mm

55 July 1-7, 2013 THE MYANMAR TIMES MARINE COMMUNICATION & NAvIGATION Top Marine Show Room No-385, Ground Floor, Lower Pazundaung Road, Pazundaung Tsp, Yangon. Ph: , TOP MARINE PAINT No-410, Ground Floor, Lower Pazundaung Road, Pazundaung Tsp, Yangon. Ph: PLEASURE CRUISES Schenker (Thai) Ltd. Yangon 59 A, U Lun Maung Street. 7 Mile Pyay Road, MYGN. tel: , fax: sche nker@mptmail.net.mm. Enchanting and Romantic, a Bliss on the Lake 62 D, U Tun Nyein Road, Mayangon Tsp, Yangon Tel , Mob operayangon@gmail.com No. 5, U Tun Nyein Street, Mayangone T/S, Yangon. Tel : , , zhinyalake@ gmail.com SERvICE OFFICE No. (6), Lane 2 Botahtaung Pagoda St, Yangon , info@venturaoffice.com, SUPERMARKETS WATER TANK PE WATER TANK Tel : , , , theone@yangon.net.mm WATER TREATMENT Media & Advertising Intuitive Design, Advertising, Interior Decoration Corporate logo/identity/ Branding, Brochure/ Profile Booklet/ Catalogue/ Billboard, Corporate diary/ newsletter/ annual reports, Magazine, journal advertisement and 3D presentation and detailed planning for any interior decoration works. Talk to us: (951) , B Myanma Gon Yaung Housing, Than Thu Mar Road, Tamwe, Yangon. OFFICE FURNITURE Open Daily (9am to 6pm) No. 797, MAC Tower II, Rm -4, Ground Flr, Bogyoke Aung San Rd, Lamadaw Tsp, Yangon. Tel: (951) Ext: 303 sales.centuremyanmar@ gmail.com Bld-A2, Gr-Fl, Shwe Gabar Housing, Mindama Rd, Mayangone Tsp, Yangon. eko-nr@ myanmar.com.mm Ph: , Bld-A2, Gr-Fl, Shwe Gabar Housing, Mindama Rd, Mayangone Tsp, Yangon. eko-nr@ myanmar.com.mm Ph: , PAINT World s No.1 Paints & Coatings Company Moby Dick Tours Co., Ltd. Islands Safari in the Mergui Archipelago 4 Days, 6 Days, 8 Days Trips Tel: , info@islandsafari mergui.com. Website: www. islandsafarimergui.com Road to Mandalay Myanmar Hotels & Cruises Ltd. Governor s Residence 39C, Taw Win Rd, Dagon Tsp, Yangon. Tel: (951) fax: (951) RTMYGN@mptmail.net.mm REAL ESTATE Aye Yeik Tha Real Estate Mobile: , FREE House-Hunting Service with English Speaking Expert. Tel : robinsawnaing@gmail.com Win Real Estate Agency Our Services - Office, House & Land (For Rent) (Agent Fees Free) Tel: , realwin2012@gmail.com Legendary Myanmar Int l Shipping & Logistics Co., Ltd. No-9, Rm (A-4), 3 rd Flr, Kyaung St, Myaynigone, Sanchaung Tsp, Yangon. Tel: , , Mobile legandarymyr@ mptmail.net.mm Bo Sun Pat Tower, Bldg 608, Rm 6(B), Cor of Merchant Rd & Bo Sun Pat St, PBDN Tsp. Tel: , , , , RESTAURANTS Acacia Tea Salon 52, Sayar San Rd, Bahan Tsp, Tel : Lunch/Dinner/Catering , No.430(A), Corner of Dhamazedi Rd & Golden Valley Rd, Building(2) Market Place (City Mart), Bahan Tsp, Yangon. Tel : (Ext-309), Cafe47 47-A, Pyay Rd, 7½ miles, Mayangone Tsp, Tel : Heaven Pizza 38/40, Bo Yar Nyunt St. Yaw Min Gyi Quarter, Dagon Township. Tel: World famous Kobe Beef Near Thuka Kabar Hospital on Pyay Rd, Marlar st, Hlaing Tsp. Tel: Kohaku Japanese Restaurant Chatrium Hotel Royal Lake Yangon 40, Natmauk Road, Tamwe Tsp, Lobby Level, Tel: Ext 6231 Monsoon Restaurant & Bar 85/87, Thein Byu Road, Botahtaung Tsp. Tel: , Pansweltaw Express Cafe: 228, Ahlone Rd, Ahlone Tsp. Tel: (1) East Point Shopping Center. Tel: Ext: 309. Summer Palace (Chinese) Restaurant Level 2, Traders Hotel, #223, Sule Pagoda Road. tel: ext:6483 Indian Fine Dining & Bar Bldg No. 12, Yangon Int l Compound, Ahlone Road. Tel: , , sales@corrianderleaf.com The Ritz Exclusive Lounge Chatrium Hotel Royal Lake Yangon 40, Natmauk Road, Tamwe Tsp, Ground Floor, Tel: Ext 6243, 6244 The Emporia Restaurant Chatrium Hotel Royal Lake Yangon 40, Natmauk Road, Tamwe Tsp. Lobby Level, Tel: Ext 6294 Traders Gourmet Corner Level 1, Traders Hotel, #223 Sule Pagoda Road, Kyauktada Tsp. Tel : ext : 6503 Traders Gallery Bar Level 2, Traders Hotel, #223 Sule Pagoda Road. tel: ext: 6433 Traders Lobby Lounge Level 1, Traders Hotel, #223 Sule Pagoda Road. tel: ext: 6456 No. 372, Bogyoke Aung San Rd, Pabedan T/S, Yangon. Tel : , (Ext : 3027) zawgyihouse@ myanmar.com.mm SCHOOLS Horizon Int l School 25, Po Sein Road, Bahan Tsp, tel : , , , ~7. fax : , contact@horizonmyanmar. com, ILBC IGCSE SCHOOL No.(34), Laydauntkan Road, Tamwe Tsp, Yangon. Tel: , , ,545736, Fax: info@ilbc.net.mm INTERNATIONAL MONTESSORI MYANMAR (Pre-K, Primary) 55 (B) Po Sein Road, Bahan Tsp, Yangon, Tel: , imm.myn@gmail.com Yangon International School Fully Accredited K-12 International Curriculum with ESL support No.117,Thumingalar Housing, Thingangyun Township, Yangon. Tel: , Yangon International School New Early Childhood Center Pan Hlaing Golf Estate Housing & U Tun Nyo Street, Hlaing Thar Yar Township, Yangon. Tel: , Capital Hyper Mart 14(E), Min Nandar Road, Dawbon Tsp. Ph: City Mart (Aung San Branch) tel: , (9:00 am to 9:00 pm) City Mart (47 th St Branch) tel: , (9:00 am to 9:00 pm) City Mart (Junction 8 Branch) tel: (9:00 am to 9:00 pm) City Mart (FMI City Branch) tel: City Mart (Yankin Center Branch) tel: (9:00 am to 9:00 pm) City Mart (Myaynigone Branch) tel: (9:00 am to 10:00 pm) City Mart (Zawana Branch) tel: (9:00 am to 9:00 pm) City Mart (Shwe Mya Yar) tel: (9:00 am to 9:00 pm) City Mart (Chinatown Point) tel: ~63. (9:00 am to 10:00 pm) City Mart (Junction Maw Tin) tel: (9:00 am to 9:00 pm) City Mart (Marketplace) tel: ~43. City Mart (78 th Brahch-Mandalay) tel: ~9. IKON Mart No.332, Pyay Rd, San Chaung. Tel: , , sales-ikon@ myanmar.com.mm Junction Mawtin Bogyoke Aung San Rd, Cor of Wadan St. Lanmadaw. Ocean Supercentre (North Point ), 9 th Mile. Tel: , TRAvEL AGENTS Asian Trails Tour Ltd 73 Pyay Rd, Dagon tsp. tel: , fax: res@ asiantrails.com.mm Shan Yoma Tours Co.,Ltd Commercial scale water treatment (Since 1997) Tel: ~38. H/P: , B, Thazin Lane, Ahlone. WATER HEATERS The Global leader in Water Heaters A/1, Aung San Stadium East Wing, Upper Pansodan Road. Tel: , Water Heater Same as Rinnai Gas cooker and cooker Hood Showroom Address WEB SERvICES World-class Web Services Tailor-made design, Professional research & writing for Brochure/ Catalogue/e-Commerce website, Customised business web apps, online advertisement and anything online. Talk to us: (951) , B Myanma Gon Yaung Housing. Than Thu Mar Road, Tamwe, Yangon. Custom web design and development. Scalable, optimized sites and responsive design for mobile web. Facebook apps, ads and design. Hosting and domains. Myanmar s 1 st socially and eco responsible IT company. Get in touch: sales@mspiral.com and visa & IMMIGRATION Sole Distributor For the Union of Myanmar Since 1995 Myanmar Golden Rock International Co.,Ltd. #06-01, Bldg (8), Myanmar ICT Park, University Hlaing Campus, Hlaing Tsp, Yangon. Tel: ~17. Crown Worldwide Movers Ltd 790, Rm 702, 7 th Flr Danathiha Centre, Bogyoke Aung San Rd, Lanmadaw. Tel: , , ext: 702. Fax: crown worldwide@mptmail.net.mm 22, Kaba Aye Pagoda Rd, Bahan Tsp. tel leplanteur@ mptmail.net.mm. Traders Café Traders Hotel, Yangon. #223, Sule Pagoda Rd. Tel: ext: WASABI : No.20-B, Kaba Aye Pagoda Rd, Yankin Tsp,(Near MiCasa), Tel; , WASABI SUSHI : Market Place by City Mart (1 st Floor). Tel; Myaynigone (City Mart) Yankin Center (City Mart) Junction Mawtin (City Mart) No.35(b), Tatkatho Yeik Mon Housing, New University Avenue, Bahan Township, Yangon. Tel: , , Car Rental with English Speaking Driver. (Safety and Professional Services). Tel : robinsawnaing@gmail.com Check Eligibility Business Visa And Tourist Visa No need to come to Myanmar Embassy travel.evisa@gmail.com

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Price: Ph , DELL INSPIRON N4110 Intel Core i5 Ram 4GB H.D.D 500GB Graphic 2GB Red Color Like New Price : Ph : IPAD MINI 32 Wifi+4G 7 Month Warranty. Price : ipad Mini 16GB+4G. 8 Month Warranty Price : ipad 2 64GB Wifi Price : Ph: % NEW NOKIA Lumia 820 With Original Box & Accessories 10 Month Warranty Card. Price : Ph : IPAD 2 64GB Wifi Price : Ph : % NEW SAMSUNG Galaxy Note White & Pink With Original Box & Accessories. 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Price : Ph : NOTBRANDBut Excellent Quality Samsung Galaxy Note1 Black 16GB GT- N7000 Version With Box + Charger Samsung Galaxy S2 GT-i GB (Black) Samsung Galaxy S2 (White)GT GB With Box + Full Accessries Just Like New Ph: IPAD MINI 16GB Brand New Ipad Mini 32GB (Used) Ipad2 32GB Ipad2 32GB Wifi+3g Ipad4 64GB Ipad3 32GB (Used) Ipad3 64GB Ph: CAR (New) : Mazda Demio 2007 model 1300 S, PW, AC, Navi,TV, DVD) Toyota BELTA 2007 model 1300 Cc [G great, PS, PW, TV, Navi, SRS, ABS, Push Start, Smart Key Mileage : Km [Great 5] Nissan Vanette Truck [2006 Model] [PS, ABS, SRS [Diesel Turbo 2000 Cc] [1 Ton] Ph : DIGITAL PHOTO Printer (Noritsu QSS Green EOP Digital Carrier),(Show Error message : Y Filter, C Filter), Price : / Lakh. (can negotiate). Ph : MAC BOOK AIR NEW Warrenty, OSX Version SoftwareUpdate Pro:1.7GHz Intel Core i 5,Memory 4CB1600Mhz DDR3. Start up Disk LARS HD = price 8 Lakhs kyat. Pls contact : , A COLLECTION of German & East European stamps to be given away free of charge. Call NISSAN TIIDA Latio (Saloon) 2008, 15S, 1500 CC Beige Color, Km Original TV, Very Good Condition 2 Sa/- --- Ph: , ORIGINAL 3DS Game Cartridge (Spirit Camrea: The Cursed Memoir) Kyats. Original 3DS Game Cartridge (Kid Icarus: Uprising) Kyats. Ph: " IPHONE 5 64GB Black Official Unlock with Original Box & Accessories. 6 Month Warranty. Price : Ph: % NEW SONY Xperia Ion With Original Box & Accessories (Black Color) Price : Ph : DELL VOSTRO 3550 Intel Core i5 Ram 4GB H.D.D 500GB Finger Print Keyboard LED Back Light. Price : Ph : HP PAVILION G4-2022tx Intel Core i5 Ram 8GB H.D.D 500GB& Remote Control (1 year & 7 month warranty) Price : Ph : DESKTOP (1) No : Monitor - View Sonic LED Montior (18") Processor - Intel(R) Pentium(R) CPU G640 Memory MB RAM Others - Prolink Mouse / Keyboard / UPS + Mouse Pad + A4Tech Speakers + Computer Table Total Price : kyats (2 years Warranty). Ph: % GOOD IMAC with full box with Warranty Card : Specification: Quad Core Intel Core I5 4GB DDR3 Ram 500GB HDD. 21" Display AMD Radeon HD 6750M 512 MB Super Drive, Wife, Bluetooth. Price 900,000 Ks. Ph: , ORIGINAL 3DS Game Cartridge (Spirit Camrea: The Cursed Memoir) Kyats. Original 3DS Game Cartridge (Kid Icarus: Uprising) Kyats. Ph: " General ACMEE SANDAR TUN : Uniform Specializer, 70, G Flr, Anawrahta Rd, Between Bo Aung Kyaw & 40th St, Kyauktada, Ph: , SEIN THIHA : 285, 40th St, Upper, Kyauktada Tsp, Yangon. Ph: , , LINYAMA Quality Product Sales & Service Center : 219, Bosunpet St (Middle), Pabedan Tsp, Yangon. Ph: , , , Language ENGLISH Classes: English for Young Learners & Adult, General English (4 skills) Foundation English Course. Business English Course. One to One, Special Class & Home, Saya Zaw Myo Win, Ph: , LANGUAGE Proficiency (A) Effective & Scientific way, (B) Intensive Class, (C) Interpreter - part time/ Full time (Under mentioned languages), (D) Hindi/ Myanmar/ English (Basic Advance for Embassy staff/ Foreigner/ A group single/ Kids + Teens/ NGO - INGO personal/ (Special rate for national peoples) by an Expert Tutor. (1) Home tuition available in groups of single. (2) Translation of English/ Hindi/ Sanskrit/ Bengali/ Nepali & Myanmar are also available. (3) Business Guide & Agency services. (4) Partner-ship business welcome. R.S. Verma. B.Sc., (Bot), Yangon. (UFL-English) Yangon. rsverma. myanmar@gmail.com, Ph: , Add: 125, 43 rd St, 5 th Flr (R), Botahtaung. MYANMAR : Within 24 hours can make you get confident in Myanmar language speaking & scripts. Teacher Phyu Phyu Khin: phyuporcupine@ gmail.com Travel NYAN MYINT THU Car Rental Service : Ko Nyan Myint Win Kyi (MD) - No 56, Bo Ywe St, Latha Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar. Ph : (+95) , Hp:(+95) il:nyanmyintthu1983@ gmail.com, nmt@ nyanmyintthucarrental. com, colwinkyi@ gmail.com. Web:www. nyanmyintthucarrental. com NATTHMEE Classical Travels:Taunggyi-Inly- Kalaw-Pindaya ( July 18) hotels + Transportation + breakfast, lunch, Dinner Package Trip for 3 night 4 days kyats for one person. Bagan-Popa (July 18) hotels +Transportation+ breakfast, lunch, Dinner Package Trip for 2 night 3 days kyats for one person. Chaungtha Beach HotelMax,Belle Resort + Transportation +breakfast, lunch, Dinner kyats for one person. (1 night) kyats for 1 person (2 night) Ph: , ASIANA AIRLINES Promotion : Yangon to Seoul(ICN) Round- Trip $ 765 (1 year validity, additional 10 kg Baggage, etc). Remark: Applicable on May & June. Flight Schdules :Yangon - Incheon OZ :50/08:50 Every Thursday & Sunday. Incheon- Yangon OZ :30/23:40 Every Wednesday, Saturday. Myankor Travel Service Co., Ltd. Representative: U Thura Tun. Ph: M&S Car Rental Service 146, L(2) Shwe Hnin Si St, Ward (5), 8(1/2) Mile, Mayangone, Yangon. Ph: mnscarrentalservice@ gmail.com. Want To Buy WIMAX, McWill Ph : WIMAX [ Bagan ], McWill Ph : WE PAYCash for your Your Mobile Phone Handset Laptop Notebook Netbook Macbook and other electronic device We Buy Mobile Samsung Apple HTC LG Sony Nokia and other We buy With High Price if you want to sales. Pls contact : Want To Rent REQUIRED new Pajero/ Prado/Surf on Rental basis urgently in Limited Foreign Company, rent as per car condition & market standard. Contact details: Ph: , , , , ID: zmtcool@gmail.com, jyoti.b227@gmail.com, jyoti.b227@rediffmail. com Rent/Sale URGENT Sales/Rent, Dagon Port Industrial Area (1 Acre) Land, 30000Sqft (Garage + office Building), 2 Pulses Gravity Clean Machines, Rice Polishing Machine 1, 315 KVA Transformer, Fully Water & Electricity, Selling Price: Negotiable Renting-70 Lakhs. Ph: , , , HousingforRent FOR Rent: Apartment at Pearl Condo, for rent. Pearl Condo Minimum Block B, Kabaaye Pagoda Road, Sqft 1750, 1MB, 2BR, 4AC, Fully furnish, Heater, Extph, 2500 USD. Contact , MINDAMA CONDO, Building(B), Rm(901), Finely Decorated, Including Funiture. Contact No : , BAHAN, New University Avenue Condo, 1350 sqft, 1 MB, 2 SB, Fully furniture, 8 th Flr, 3 AC, Phone, Foreigner Welcome, 1,300,000 Kyats per month: BAHAN, Shwe Gone Daing Tower Condo Convenient place, Own compound with car parking, Shwedagon Pagoda Panoramic view with 1350 Sqft, 1 MB, 3 SR, 24 Hr Lift, 3 A/C, Water Heater, Teak Parquet, Teak cabinet, Clean & good condition. Hot Price US$977!! Fully furniture start from US$1188. Ph: MAYANGONE, Taw Win Thiri Condo (9 Miles, near Ocean Super Center) 1550 sqft, 1 MB, 2 SB, Fully Furniture, 8th Flr, 3 AC, Phone, Foreigner Welcome. 1,300,000 Kyats per month at least 6 months contract. Ph : (1)NEAR PEARL CONDO, Kokkine St, 3000 Sqft 2 RC, 3 bed room, fully furnish, 2134 USD(2) Near Hlaing Thar Yar Industry, 3500 Sqft 2 RC, 4 bed room, fully furnish USD (3)Near Chatrium Hotel, 1575 Sqft, 2 RC, 3500 Sqft, 3 bed room USD (4)Golden valley, 2 RC, 1500 Sqft, 3 bed room, fully furnish. Near French restaurant USD (5)Golden valley, 2 RC, 1650 Sqft, 4 bed room, fully furnish,near City mart, 6500 USD. Ph : LANMADAW, (25' x 50') 12 St, the whole 8 unit (Lift), For Hotel, Education. Ph: ROOM 30' x 60' 1 MBR, 2 common rooms, fully furnished half layer with decorated 8 th flr W/O lift. on the Waizayantar Main Rd US$ 500 per month, foreigner only & no broker please. Ph: , PEARL CONDO (D), 15th Flr, 1500 sqft, Corner Rm, Fully furnished, 4 Air-con, 2BR, 1MBR, Suitable for foreigner, reasonable price, 1'350 US$ per month. contact no: Burmese: ; English: (1)NEAR AUNG SAN CITY MART, condo 1500 Sqft, 2 MBR, 1SR, US$ 2222 (2) Hledan, Diamond condo, 1200 Sqft, 2 bed room,us$ 1111 (3) New University avenue condo, 2300 Sqft, 3 bed room. US$ 2500(4) Chaung Tar condo, with swimming pool Sqft, 2 bed room, fully furnish, US$ 2777 (5)Strand Rd, near Strand Hotel, condo 2300 Sqft, 3 bed room, US$ 2134 (6)9 Mile, U Mg Mg Soe St, 4200 Sqft 2 RC, 4 bed room, US$ Ph: (1)PANSODAN ST condo, near Ruby Mart, 1250 Sqft.2 bed room, fully furnish.us$ 1667 (2) Bo Myat Tun St condo, good place.1500sqft, 2 bed room, fully furnish US$ 2000 (3)Shwe gon dine St condo, good place 1200 Sqft, 1 MBR, fully furnish US$ 900.(4) Near Taw win shopping mall condo, 1500 Sqft, 2 MBR, US$1667 (5) Near Park Royal hotel, Bo yar nyunt condo,1200 Sqft, 1MBR,1SR.US$1111. Ph: HousingforSale SOUTH OKKALAPA, Yadanar, Main Road (3500 Sq.ft)(3F), 3MBR, 2BR, Guest Room, Shrine Roo, 6AC, Home, Mini Theater, Parquette floor, Water Heater, Japan style furnished. Selling price-1800 (Negotiable), Ph: , , , HLAING THAR YAR (near FMI City) RC-2 storeyed building, With a Garage, Furnished (50x60), 1900 Lakhs (Negotiable), Ph: , , , LAND : We have Lands for sale suitable for making Industrial buildings in large area. Buyers can contact us on (There is no pay for Agents & Third party... Warmly welcome the buyers) MAYANGONE, 9 miles, Bonyarna Lane (50 x 70 x 65 ) garden with including house (3700 Lakhs) no agent pls. Ph: MINGARDON Garden, Kantkaw Yeik Tha.100' x 100' x 4 pics (closed with beside and back side) Price: Kyats 2,475 lakh/100 ' x 100 ' x 1 pics. (can negotiate) contact person & Ph :

57 FrEE THE MYANMAR TIMES July 1-7, 2013 Employment UN Positions IOM Int'l Organization for Migration is seeking (1) AMW/CHW Trainer in Bogale, Ayeyarwaddy Region: Must have a client-oriented and result-orientated mindset, and uphold the programme values of caring, innovating, partnering, demonstrating competence & working for positive change. Experience in Maternal and Child Health Care Projects/ Psycho-social supports/ Nutrition/ Emergency Preparedness and response, preferably with an INGO. Competent in MS Exel, word processing, and Power Point. (2)Office Driver in Yangon & Bogale: Valid driving license. Knowledge of driving rules and regulations and skills in minor vehicle repair. At least 3 years of work experience as a driver with safe driving record. Good knowledge in English. (3) Driver in Mawlamyine, Mon State: Valid Driving License. Knowledge of driving rulse & regulations and skills in minor vehicle repair. 3 years experience as a driver with safe driving record. Good understanding of English language.pls submit CV to IOM Mission in Myanmar - Yangon. 12 th Flr, Traders Hotel, 223, Sule Pagoda Rd, Yangon, Myanmar. iomyangon@iom. int, Website: iom.int, Tel: , WFP Myanmar is seeking Information Technology Assistant Grade : SC-5 1 post in Yangon : Minimum Secondary school education. Supplemented by technical or university courses in a field related to Information & Communication Technologies will be advantage. Five years of progressively responsible technical experience in the operation & maintenance of radio, telex & facsimile equipment. Some familiarity with operations of commercial telecommunications systems and services such as PABX, radio, satellite, etc.experience in the use of MS Word, MS Excel and Microsoft Outlook. Fluency in English & Myanmar. Pls send applications with UN P-11 form to HR Unit, World Food Programme, 3rd Flr, Inya Lake Hotel, 37, Kaba Aye Pagoda Rd, Yangon, Myanmar, P.O. Box 650(or) to Myanmar.vacancy@wfp. org, COB 9 July IOM Int'l Organization for Migration is seeking (1)Assistant Project Manager - Medical Services & Social Mobilization in Myawaddy, Kayin State: Advanced university degree in Nursing, Public Health or Medicine (must have a valid license to practice). Strong programme management skills are necessary, demon strated by 5 years experience manage ment health related projects for int'l organi zations or INGO. (2)Laboratory Manager in Mawlamyine, Mon State. Laboratory technician (Grade I). For 1 & 2 : Computer literacy, Good in English & Myanmar (fluency in Kayin and/or Mon would be an advantage). (3) Mobile Clinic Team Leader (Malaria) in Mawlamyine, Mon State. Advanced university degree in Nursing, Public Health or Medicine (Must have a valid license to Practice). Computer literacy. (4)Monitoring & Evaluation Assistant in Yangon : A Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline (Public Health, Epidemiology, Computer science, Statistics, Social science, or a related field). Pls submit CV to IOM Mission in Myanmar - Yangon, 12 th Flr, Traders Hotel, 223, Sule Pagoda Rd, iomyangon@ iom.int, Ingo Positions SOLIDARITES Int'l is seeking Administrative Officer in Sittwe, Rakhine State: Academic background in Management, finance or accounting studies. Fluent in English & Myanmar. Good computer skill in Windows XP/7, MS Office 2007/2010. Pls submit application (CV, Cover letter, references) to HR Department Solidarites Int'l: 44 A, Tharyarwaddy Lane, Bahan, Yangon or per hr.recruitment. mm@gmail.com, cc: to rks.admassist.stw@ solidaritesmyanmar.org, MEDECINS Sans Frontieres-Holland (AZG) is seeking (1)Clinic Manager, MGD South 1 Post in Maungdaw South, NRS Project, Rakhine State : Medical degree. Work experience as Medical Doctor with MSF. Good command of English, Good computer skills.closing date : 3 July, (2)Project Coor dinator Advisor 1 post in Sittwe : University Degree. Excellent in English. Pls send application letter, CV & passport photo, copies of education qualifications & references to: HR Coordinator, MSF- Holland/ AZG (Yangon Coordination), 62A, Bawdiyeiktha-Thanlwin Rd, Bahan, Yangon. Or Sciences/ Medical Technology or Minimum grade I or II (2 years/ 1 year training in National Health Laboratory. Basic command of English. (2) Data Operator 1 post in Yangon Project: University Degree. Excellent typing skills & Advance computer skills. Pls send application letter, CV, passport photo, copies of education qualifications & references to: Project Coordinator, MSF-Holland/ AZG (Yangon Project Office), 15(C), Aung Min Khaung St, Kamayut, Yangon. Or through msfh.myanmar. recruitment@gmail.com, Closing date : 4 th July WORLD VISIONMyanmar is seeking(1) Marketing Officer (Micro Finance Program) in Yangon : University Bachelor Degree in Business Administration or Marketing is essential. Good command of Myanmar and English. (2) Operations Analyst in Yangon : University Bachelor Degree in any discipline is essential. 2 years experience in the field of data analyzing, reporting & administration is referable. Excellent command of Myanmar & English & excellent knowledge in report writing. (3)Zonal Education Specialist (ECCD & NFE program) 2 post in Mandalay & Mawlamyine : Any graduate, Work experience and format training on Education or related discipline would be an advantage. Excellent command of Myanmar & English and excellent knowledge in report writing. (4) Trainee Credit Facilitator (Micro Finance Program) (2 positions) in Aung Myay Thazan and Patheingyi, Mandalay : University Degree in any discipline with some desired focus in Finance, Accounting and/ or Development studies. Good computer skills in Microsoft Office Word & Excel. Good command of Myanmar & English. (5) Receptionist 1 post in Yangon : Any graduate, 3 years experience. Fluency in both (English/ Myanmar) communication skills. competent in the use of Microsoft Office Computer programs including Word, Excel & Power Point. Pls submit resume (clearly identify the post you apply) by post to HR Department, World Vision Myanmar or in person to application drop-box at 18, Shin Saw Pu Rd: Ahlone, Sanchaung PO or send to myajobapps@wvi.org Closing date : July 01, org.mm MEDECINS Sans Frontiers - Holland (AZG) is seeking (1)Project Head Mechanic - 1 post in Yangon : Higher education in car mechanics. 2 years experience. Good command of English. (2) Medical Storekeeper - 1 post in Sittwe: University degree (preferably Pharmacy Degree or Diploma). Working experience in a related field with an INGO. Good computer skills. Good command of English. Pls send application letter, CV, passport photo, copies of education qualifications & references to: Logistics Through rakhine-esdrecruiting@oca.msf.org, Closing date : 8 July MEDECINS Sans Frontieres - Holland (AZG) is seeking (1) Lab Technician 7 posts in Kachin, Shan & Maungdaw Project : University degree (B.P.SC or B.Med.Tech) or Diploma in Paramedical Coordinator, MSF- Holland/ AZG (Yangon Coordination) : 62A, Bawdiyeiktha-Thanlwin Rd, Bahan, Yangon. or through msfh.myanmar. recruitment@gmail.com Local Position PAJERO DRIVING Experienced Driver reqired. urgently in Limited Foreign Company, salary as per experiences & market standard. Contact details: Phone: , , , , ID: zmtcool@gmail.com, jyoti.b227@gmail.com, jyoti.b227@rediffmail. com SING Link Training Center is currently seeking for: Native or Near Native English, Chinese, Myanmar Language Teachers (full-time/ part time) Requirements : Be a native/ near native speaker. Hold a 4-years university degree or higher. 2 years teaching experience. Be positive thinking, hard-working. Flexible, innovative and resourceful teaching methods. Pls forward CV to singlinkeducation@ gmail.com & singlinkedunandar@ gmail.com. Ph: , , AMDA is seeking Assistant Admini strative/ Financial Officer 1 post in Yangon Office: University degree in Accounting/ Financing with 2 years experiences (INGO experience would be an asset). Strong computer skill. Good written & oral communication skill in Myanmar & English. Pls enclose a C.V., copies of testimonials (references) & passport photo to Senior Officer, Admin/ Finance Unit, AMDA Myanmar Country Office, 19 B, Thukhawaddy Rd, Yankin, Yangon. Tel: , amda@mptmail. net.mm Closing date : 8 th July THE CENTER for Vocational Training, with school facilities and office in Yangon provides vocational training according to the dual apprenticeship model, which combines Practice with Theory. CVT works closely with a wide range or training companies. We are recruiting a English Teacher 2 Posts : B.A (English) or diploma in ELTM (or) ELT (or) FCE. Prefer the M.A (English) with 3 years experience. Age over 30. To teach 4 skills of English. Fluent in written and spoken English. Requirements: Interested in wide spectre of the profession related aspect in general, Computer literate. Submit the applications with CV and Copy of Education Certificate to the reception counter in a closed envelope or by at or before 18 th July Contact: 3 rd Flr, MRCS Bldg.,42, Strand Rd, Botahtaung, Yangon, Ph : , , hrcvtmyanmar@gmail. com cvt @ gmail.com WEARE one of the leading Adventure tour Operator in Myanmar seeking for dynamic Energetic and self motivated staff to enhance our existing Operation in Myanmar. Sales & Purchasing Manager (Male/Female) (1) Post (US$ ). Candidate must process strong written verbal communication skills in English, Must be (35) Years and 5 years post qualification experience in similar position or in the rank. Must possess high level of knowledge in Microsoft excel spreadsheets. The ongoing challenge of improving and streamlining business systems and controls will require you to work and communicate closely with other members of the team. Candidates must submit their application (Send by personal, by post or by ) with one photo to Journeys Adventure Travel: 53, Mayangon Pagoda Lane, Mayangon, (Near Mayangon Labor Office), Ph: , , , Admin@ journeysmyanmar.com. within two weeks. CREDERA GROUP is looking for a Project Manager to join its growing Myanmar Team in its downtown Yangon office : English & Myanmar written & spoken, Ability to Liaison with Senior Corporate & Government Stake holders, Basic PC Competence ( , Microsoft Office), 5+ year work experience in Myanmar is Recommend, Flexibility to travel internally Myanmar, Entrepreneurial Thinking. Pls do not send original certificates, degrees or other reference documents, as we will request these when candidates reach the final stage of our recruitment process. Details of the project will be shared with the relevant applicants. Pls send resumes/cv's (maximum 2 pages) at govind@crederagroup. com For more information on our Group please check out our website WE ARE seeking (1) Myanmar Language Teachers for English Speaking Foreigners. (2)Expert Teachers and Study Guides for HND Course(Cambridge & Edexcel) Business, Engineering & Computing (3)IGCSE teachers & Study Guide (4) Teachers for International School Student Special (Primary 1 to Secondary 2) Ph : TELECOM SITE Acquisition Specialist - M/F 30 posts :International firm looking to recruit ambitious individuals for the purpose of acquiring real estate lands, on which global telecommunication companies will be building their networks.we seek proactive candidates who can excel under our truly global & expanding work environment. Training is provided prior to starting on the field. Recruits will gain a vast array of skills, from increased leadership &organization to improved commu nication skills, as they will be interacting directly with land-owners and the local council as well as engineers and project managers.the ideal candidate should have a firm grasp of the Myanmar language and a basic understanding of the English language. Good knowledge of the local real estate market is also preferable as the job entails travelling to different regions across Myanmar in their search for suitable land. Candidates should have a degree or diploma, as well as strong computer skills; specifically with software such as Microsoft Office & Windows. Outstanding opportunity with lucrative pay package centered on a performance-based commission scheme. Pls send CV to rsemaan@ alcazar-capital.com or mail to 60, Pyay Rd, 6½ miles, Hlaing, Yangon. WOH HUP Int'l Pte Ltd, a Building Construction Company is seeking(1) Account Executive : Degree in Accountancy, 2 to 4 years experience handling full set of account, Able to do MYOB will be an advantage, Good learning attitude & take initiatives, Basic Microsoft Office knowledge. (2)Logistic Executive : Diploma / Degree in Logistics, 2 ~ 5 years relevant experience, Good knowledge on custom clearance & freight forwarding, Quantity Surveyor, Degree in surveying, 3 years relevant experience, Purchasing Executive Diploma / Degree in Purchasing or relevant, 2 ~ 5 years working in purchasing, Preferable familiar with construction material. (3) Site Structure Engineer : Degree holder in Civil Engineering, 2 to 5 years experience in field works, Fresh graduates are also welcome, For all posts: Good English standards in writing & speaking. Pls submit resume with cover letter in English, stating current & expected salary (in Kyat) to Woh Hup Int'l Pte Ltd (Myanmar Branch) - 483, Suite (8B), Aye Yeik Thar 2nd St, Aye Yeik Thar Condo, Bahan, Yangon, (OR) thundarmm@ wh-intl.com. IMCS (Info Myanmar Computer Studies) is seeking (1)Office Executive 2 Posts (2). Marketing Executive 2 Posts (3). Account Executive 2 Posts (4). Network Teacher 3 Posts (5).Hardware Teacher 3 Posts (6). Programmer (.net,java,asp) 2 Posts (7).Hardware Engineer 2 Posts. Job Description: Full time, Experience: Smart communication skills, Flexible approach, Excellent team player: 2 years experience in related field, Salary & Benefits :Salary + Bonus + Transportation Charge & Other Facilities. Pls apply (CV form) Qualification papers, 2 passport photo (color) to IMCS Office : 21/23, 2nd flr, U Tun Linn Chan St, Hledan, Kamayut, Ph; , Closing date : 15, July, 2013, WE ARE seeking (1)Senior Electrical Engineer - M 1 Post (2) Senior Mechanical Engineer - M 1 Post. All position must be able to communication in English and working experience at least 5years. Pls submit CV with the recent photo copy of NRC, Labor card and qualification certificates to the Managing Director of Myat Kan Moe Enterprise Ltd :(002), Bldg (A-8), G Flr, Mindama Rd, Shwe Gabar Housing, Mayangone, Yangon, Ph:663656, gmail.com Closing date : 15-July WE ARE looking for a Personal Assistant (PA) for Kore-Myan Entertainment : Able to speak English, Supervise day-to-day operations Manage appointment, meeting and various kinds of activity, Willing to travel sometimes, Freshly Graduate with working Experience, Age around 20 (female only). Send resume to zawnyunt. htun@gmail.com for interview WE ARE seeking (1) Senior Electrical Engineer 1 Post (B.E EP) (2)Senior Mechanical Engineer 1 Post (B.E) : 5 years experience in related fields.(3) Sales & Marketing - F 2 posts (4) Accounts - F 1 post (5) Computer Staff - F 1 post (6)Office Staff - F 1 post. Ph : , AN INTERNATIONAL School in Yangon is urgently looking for a Native English speaking Principal. Pls send the CV to (job.new.vacancy@ gmail.com). DIETHELM Travel Ltd is a leading tourism company in Myanmar based in Yangon is looking for Reservation Senior Staff 2 posts. All applicants should be motivated, creative, hardworking, great communicatior with good written & spoken English & fully computer literate in MS office. Pls sumbit CV to 412, Merchant St, Corner of 45 St, Botahtaung, Yangon. Ph: ~ 460 Ext: 300, leisure@ mm.diethelmtravel.com. WE ARE seeking(1). Cashier - F 1 post : Any graduate, LCCI Level I, II, Age 20 ~ 25 (2).Accountant - M/F 1 post : B.Com, LCCI Level (III), ACCA, For 1 & 2 : Age 25 ~ 35. Knowledge of accounting procedure & accounting record (Data entry) with 1 years experiences in account receivable control. (3). Sales Supervisor - M 1 post : Any graduate, Age 25 ~ 30, 2 years experience. Intermediate level (English), Dealer supervision in lower & upper (4). Marketing Office Staff - F 1 post : Any graduate, Age 25 ~ 30, 2 years experience, Intermediate level (English), Web Develop ment, DTP, Book-keeping, Communi cating (5).Shipping Officer - M 1 post : To handle all competition of export/import matters, customer clearance & all government matters. (6).Logistics Manager - M 1 post : Any graduate, 35 ~ 45, 5 years experience in Logistics field, Must prefer alcohol production experience, Must have English & computer literacy. (7). Warehouse Data Entry Supervisor - M 1 post : Any Graduate, 25 ~ 30, 1 years experience, Good command in English & computer skills. Pls submit CV with 1 recent photo, relevant documents & references to HR Department - Victory Myanmar Group Co., Ltd: 216, 6th Flr, Bogyoke Aung San Rd., Botahtaung, Yangon. Ph : , (1)WEB DESIGNER - M/F 5 Posts : Photoshop, Flash, Dreamweaver (or) MS Front Page, HRML, CSS, JavaScript, CMS (Joomla,Mambo)(2) Marketing - M/F 5 Posts : Computer Basic, English Basic. 165/167, 1Flr, 35th St (Middle), Kyauktada. INTERNATIONAL law firm seeking qualified lawyers. Lawyers should have 5 years of experience in International Firm. Strong command of English required due to significant interaction with foreign clients. Outstanding opportunity with competitive salary package Submit CV to suhlaing07@gmail.com Tel: KELVIN CHIA Yangon Ltd is a foreign legal consultancy firm is seeking(1) Lawyers who will work on a variety of corporate & commercial matters & transactions in Myanmar. Myanmar nationals admitted to int l bars are also welcome to apply. Training will be provided. Applicants may to klm@kcyangon. com and submit your curriculum vitae. (2) Corporate Affairs Executive/AssistantAs a corporate affairs executive/ assistant, you will be involved with business development, networking, market research & liaison work. Proficient in English, energetic & self-motivated. All nationalities are welcome (Myanmar, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese, etc). Pls application & curriculum vitae to kk@kcyangon. com. (3) Admin cum Accounts Assistant: Good communication skills in English. Mature & capable of supervising & directing subordinates. Must be well-organized, meticulous, have initiative & execute instructions promptly. Some accounting back ground & experience preferred. Pls send full resume stating current & expected salaries, together with a recent photograph to chw@kcyangon.com. UNITED NATIONS INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION Job Description: Fostering pro-poor and inclusive MSME development in Myanmar (Preparatory and Pilot Phase), SAP ID # , Preparatory Assistance/ Pilot project Post title : National expert on MSME development - National Project Coordinator (NPC) Duration : 9 working months Date required : 01 Aug 2013 Duty station : Yangon, Myanmar with possible travel to other locations in Myanmar Counterparts : Central Department of SMEs Development-Ministry of Industry, Min of Cooperatives, Republic of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) Duties : Under the direct supervision of the UNIDO's Clusters and Business Linkages Unit Chief and in close cooperation with UNIDO Regional Field Office in Thailand, the National expert will carry out the following tasks: Required Competencies: Strong planning, organization, coordination & analytical skills Substantive knowledge of socio-economic development, privatesector development and rural development Knowledge and background of MSME development! economic development Strong communication skills (oral & written) Minimum Requirements/Qualifications Master's degree in economics and/or international development Minimum of 5 years of working experience mainly in project/programme management (project planning, programming, implementation and monitoring) and conduct of economic research and lor evaluation/ assessment Experience working with UN or international development organizations (bilateral/multilateral) Good knowledge & experience in the country is preferred Language : Proficiency in written and oral English. Fluency in local dialect is an Advantage For further information, please contact: Gloria M. Adapon Industrial Development Officer UNIDO Regional Field Office in Thailand 5th Flo Dept. of Industrial Works Building 57 Phrasumen Road, Banglamphoo Pranakorn, Bangkok Thailand Tel.: ext. 104 Fax: g.adapon@unido.org Cc: N.Lawkittiwong@unido.org Deadline for Applications: 19 July

58 58 Sport THE MYANMAR TIMES July 1-7, 2013 LauSaNNE Cycling tends its wounds after Armstrong s fall THE downfall of Lance Armstrong last year left deep scars on the Tour de France and a seven-year void on its honours board, just as organisers were gearing up to celebrate the historic 100 th edition of cycling s greatest race. Eight months on and the wounds have not yet healed, with fresh revelations emerging last week that French star Laurent Jalabert allegedly used erythropoetin (EPO) on the 1998 Tour. Jalabert has not admitted using the banned blood booster, responding to the allegations in L Equipe newspaper on June 24: I can t say if it s false, I can t say if it s true. But last weekend the 1997 race winner and three-time runner-up Jan Ullrich, of Germany, admitted for the first time that he doped. Amid a steady flow of confessions from former riders, Armstrong remains the symbol of cycling s darkest days, when winning was not just a question of athletic ability but EPO injections, blood transfusions and testosterone pills. The US rider, unmasked as a serial dope cheat by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), was subsequently stripped of his record Tour wins, as well as his career rankings back to August He now no longer figures in the pantheon of Tour de France greats. Instead, his best finish in La Grande Boucle is a modest 36 th place in In contrast, Ullrich, sanctioned for doping violations in 2012, has kept his 1997 win and other podium finishes, with the exception of his third place in The belated confessions from the peloton have done little to convince critics that cycling is not discredited, overshadowing efforts within the sport to move on from years of scandal and suspicion. The sport s world governing body the International Cycling Union (UCI) had taken steps to stamp out doping, notably with the introduction of biological passports in IN PIcTurES EPO use, though, is far from being a thing of the past, as demonstrated by the former golden boy of Italian cycling, Danilo di Luca, who tested positive in the Giro d Italia in May, and his compatriot Mauro Santambrogio. The recent domination of Team Sky, reminiscent of Armstrong s US Postal Service team in the late 1990s and 2000s, has also set tongues wagging, and prompted vehement denials of wrong doing from the British team. But certainly the peloton has a more human face than in Armstrong s heyday, with riders such as 2012 Tour winner Bradley Wiggins insistent that today s riders are different from their recent predecessors. We re the ones picking up the pieces and having to convince people that the sport is clean, and it s difficult to convince some people, it really is, because of a precedent that has been set, he said last October. Tour favourite Chris Froome, runner-up behind Wiggins last year, has also insisted: The sport has changed a lot in 10 years. Cycling in 2013 is not the same as during the Armstrong years, the director of the Tour de France, Christian Prudhomme, added. Armstrong may have been unmasked but there is continuing disquiet about the UCI. Hein Verbruggen, who headed the federation during the Texan s pomp, remains honorary president while Irishman Pat McQuaid, who succeeded the Dutchman in 2005, is hoping to secure a third term as president from September. Both men have resisted calls to resign since the publication of the devastating USADA report on Armstrong last year, amid claims that the UCI turned a blind eye to his activities for years. In response, McQuaid promised an independent external commission to look into the UCI s role in the scandal. But the commission was effectively still-born, with both the USADA and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) critical of its limited Kings of Omaha: UCLA baseball players celebrate winning their first College World Series Championship after beating Mississippi State on June 25 in Omaha, Nebraska. Photo: AFP remit, leading to it being disbanded almost immediately. In an attempt to bring an end to the code of silence in cycling, proposals have been mooted for a South Africa-style Truth and Reconciliation commission. Even Armstrong has said he would co-operate with such a body. AFP WaSHINgToN Photo: AFP German Jan Ullrich waiting on the podium to register for the 19 th stage of the 92nd Tour de France on July 22, Mayweather, Alvarez begin hype for showdown SYdNEY McCabe out for rest of year WALLABY back Pat McCabe was on June 26 ruled out of rugby for the rest of the year after sustaining a neck injury during last weekend s loss to the British and Irish Lions in the first Test at Brisbane. Specialists said he needed to properly rest to prevent it becoming career-threatening. The 25-year-old first fractured his neck on last year s European tour and will need to wear a brace for at least six weeks to stabilise the reopened injury before further assessments are made. It s unfortunate that having completed the healing process from last year s injury that it has happened again, Wallabies doctor Warren McDonald said in a statement. The fracture that has partially opened up is expected to repair itself and strengthen. The specialist advice is that a return is viable pending the full recovery and strengthening of the neck. Only time can do that, but we will be monitoring it closely throughout the healing process. The ACT Brumbies star has played 20 Tests and was philosophical about the setback, noting that it could have been a lot worse. It was encouraging to hear the specialists being positive both about the recovery process but also the possibility that I could be able to return to the playing field, Mc- Cabe said. We ll see how the rehabilitation goes and take it from there. I d obviously like to get back into it, but I ll be taking no chances with my health either. AFP Floyd Mayweather motions during a news conference in Times Square on June 24 in New York City. Photo: AFP UNDEFEATED fighters Floyd Mayweather and Saul Canelo Alvarez, set for a September 14 showdown at Las Vegas, are hyping the world title bout with a tour that launched in New York and Washington. Mexico s Alvarez, whose nickname is Spanish for Cinnamon, will defend his World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association super welterweight titles against Mayweather in a pay-per-view show on Mexican Independence Day weekend. Mayweather, 44-0 with 26 knockouts, has relied upon Mexican fight fans, many cheering for his rivals, to help make him the world s highest-paid athlete, with Sports Illustrated estimating he will make US$90 million this year. Mayweather, who was jailed last June on domestic violence charges, will make the bout the second in a sixfight deal with telecaster Showtime that could bring him record profits by the conclusion of the deal. Alvarez, 42-0 with one drawn and 30 knockouts, suffered the only blemish on his record in 2006 with a draw in his fifth professional bout, and hopes to end Mayweather s magical run. In boxing everybody has their time, and this is my time, Alvarez said. Everybody knows that Floyd is the best without question, but it s my time. We re going to win. I m younger and bigger, which are very important keys. Floyd is a very intelligent fighter, but I m going to have the right game plan. This is my biggest fight but I ve visualised it and prepared my mind for it for a while. Alvarez turns 23 next month while Mayweather, 36, fought his first pro fight when the Mexican was only six years old. It has truly been an amazing ride, Mayweather said. I m blessed to be in the sport of boxing and be at the top for 17 years. I just want to give the fans a hell of a fight. Canelo is a young strong champion. He has obviously done something right to be at this level. He s a guy that I can t overlook. I ve got to go out there and fight the best fight. Mayweather also warned that Alvarez has not faced anyone as hard to stop. When guys face me, it s a totally different level, Mayweather said. I know what it takes in a fight of this magnitude and I m going to continue to dedicate myself to my craft and be the best that I can be. The Earth is my turf. You can put me in any ring and I ll always come out victorious. AFP

59 briefs Johannesburg Pistorius to resume training South African Paralympic hero Oscar Pistorius, accused of murdering his girlfriend, is to resume limited training for his mental well-being, but does not plan a return to competition, his family announced. The double amputee, known as the Blade Runner for his trademark artificial limbs, is accused of murdering model Reeva Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine s Day at his upmarket home in the South African capital. Pistorius claims he mistook his girlfriend for an intruder. New York cavaliers select canada s bennett The Cleveland Cavaliers chose Anthony Bennett first overall in the 2013 NBA entry draft, making the university of Nevada las Vegas forward the highest drafted Canadian ever. The six-foot-seven Bennett averaged a team-leading 16.1 points and 8.1 rebounds with unlv. The Cavalier s choice late on June 27 came as a surprise because prior to the draft many thought they would select centre Nerlens Noel of Kentucky, who ended up going sixth to the New Orleans Pelicans. AFP Yangon Than Naing takes top spot at bodybuilding competition Than Naing flexed his way to the top spot at the Body Building and Model Physique competition on June 27 at the Myanmar Convention Center in yangon taking home gold in the men s category. Nyi Phyu finished second, while Kyaw lin rounded out the top three. In the female fitness model division Nan Htet Htet lin was crowned Champion of Champions. I am very happy being awarded this prize. I trained for six months to enter the competition. I am very thankful to my trainers, Nan Htet Htet lin told The Myanmar Times. She said that she enjoys being a fitness model because it is a sport that supports women s physical strength, and that she will be competing soon in international competitions. She also called for more women to get involved in the sport. Kyaw Zin Hlaing munich Gymnasts look to vault into popularity KYaW ZIN HLaINg kyawzinhlaing91@gmail.com THE Myanmar Gymnastics Federation is hoping that international support and new domestic facilities will help to boost participation within the country, where the disciplines receive little interest. The centrepiece of this effort to raise gymnastics profile is the Kyaik Ka San Gymnastics Stadium, which opened on June 23 in coordination with International Olympic Day. We have already negotiated and signed a memorandum of understanding with the South Korean Gymnastics Federation in which they will provide gymnastic equipment, the president of Myanmar Gymnastics NEW YorK Federation (MGF) Thein Win said of the facility. The opening was marked with a tournament at which the floor exercise, pommel horse, vault and balance beam were contested. Myanmar gymnasts will travel to South Korea in late July for a month long joint training session with Korean gymnasts in preparation for a five-nation tournament to be hosted in Myanmar in October, as part of the agreement. South Korea is not the only country lending a helping hand. General secretary of the MGF Aye Thein said about 20 Myanmar gymnasts are currently working with three Chinese coaches. While gymnastics officials were happy with the progress that is being made, they are disappointed that gymnastics will not be included in the upcoming Southeast Asian Games, scheduled to open in Nay Pyi Taw on December 11. I feel very sorry for our athletes because they will not have a chance to participate in the Southeast Asian Games due to the decision made by the Myanmar Olympic Committee not to include our sport, Aye Thein said. It s a big loss for our athletes because they will not get to compete even though the competition is being will be held in our country. A gymnastics fan, who asked not to be named, shared this frustration. I am very disappointed that gymnastics were not included in the SEA Games. I don t understand why it was omitted even though it is an Olympic sport, he said. Former Patriots star charged with murder FORMER New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez was charged with murder on June 26 following the shooting death of a man whose bloodied body was found dumped less than a mile from his home. After days of speculation linking the 23-year-old tight end to the killing of Odin Lloyd on June 17, police officers swooped on Hernandez at his US$1.7 million luxury mansion early on June 26 before leading him away in handcuffs. The multi-millionaire sports star was later arraigned at Attleborough District Court on charges of murder, unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of a large capacity firearm, Massachusetts State Police said. Prosecutor William McCauley told a packed hearing Hernandez and two other unidentified associates had murdered Lloyd in an execution-style slaying because he was angry his friend had spoken with people he had troubles with. Lloyd was driven to a remote industrial park and shot five times, including once as he lay on the ground raising an arm in a vain effort to protect himself. He orchestrated his execution, McCauley said. A lawyer for Hernandez requested that the former NFL star be freed on bail pending trial but the request was denied by the judge. Shortly after his arrest, the Patriots announced in a statement on their website that Hernandez had been released from his contract. A young man was murdered last week and we extend our sympathies to the family and friends who mourn his loss, the statement said. Words cannot express the disappointment we feel knowing that one of our players was arrested as a result of this investigation. He orchestrated his execution. William mccauley Prosecutor We realise that law enforcement investigations into this matter are ongoing. We support their efforts and respect the process. Suspicion fell on Hernandez almost immediately after the discovery of the 27-year-old Lloyd s body at an industrial park close to the NFL player s home in North Attleborough, roughly 40 miles (65 kilometres) outside Boston. ABC, citing police sources, reported that a video security system at the home of Hernandez had been deliberately destroyed and that the portable phone a lawyer for Hernandez gave to police had been smashed into pieces. At the June 26 court hearing, McCauley said surveillance video from Hernandez s house had captured him walking through his home holding a pistol in the hours after the killing. Reports earlier said Hernandez had also hired specialist house cleaners to scrub down his home in the days after the killing. Law enforcement sources told the Fox station and ABC that Hernandez and Lloyd had been seen at several nightclubs before the killing. Hernandez s neighbors reportedly heard gunshots shortly after 3am on June 17. Hernandez, who has played three seasons for the Patriots, received a $12.5 million bonus when he sealed a contract extension last August which took him up to He made 79 catches for 910 yards and seven touchdowns in the 2011 season but played only 10 games last year due to injuries, making 51 catches for 483 yards and five touchdowns. AFP From SPorT 60 Sport 59 A gymnast competes on June 23 at the Kyaik Ka San Gymnastics Stadium in Yangon. Photo: Kyaw Zin Hlaing I have more options now than I did have one year ago when I was running around trying to chase down every possible tournament and every point to get back to world number one. Overall I think I ve been playing actually not so bad, like some have portrayed it. Season s not over here. Only just in the middle. Still have a lot of tennis left. Federer said more credit was due to lower-ranked players, with so much attention focused on the big four. I think there was a time where some players didn t believe they could beat the top guys. So maybe there s a little bit of a thing happening at the moment. I m happy about that, that players believe they can beat the best on the biggest courts in the biggest matches, he said. I think it s very important, that belief. We re missing the teenagers overall, so it s up to other guys to do it like we ve seen this week, at other places as well. All we can do is give it all we have, be a professional, train hard, do all the right things, what you re supposed to be doing. I m looking forward to playing hopefully injury-free for the rest of the season, then we ll go from there. AFP Manchester United unveils SkyNet deal eight months late Fitness model Nan Htet Htet Lin. Photo: Kyaw Zin Hlaing aung SI HEIN aungsiheinmm8@gmail.com MANCHESTER United s June 21 announcement of a deal with SkyNet to broadcast its dedicated television channel, MUTV, in Myanmar was met with confusion by those who have for months been tuning in to watch the Red Devil focused channel. According to a spokesperson for the football giants, the agreement was signed in November 2012 and MUTV has been broadcasting in the country ever since. The decision to delay the announcement, the spokesperson said, was made in order not to dilute the story. The story Manchester United was trying to avoid diluting included news of a new deal with TV2 in Norway, and an extension of its contract with station 365 in Iceland, which were both announced on the same day. The comment confirms the comments of a SkyNet official, who asked not to be named, but said the company had been broadcasting for months and the June 21 move was just a way of getting some promotion. Manchester United is fortunate enough to have 659 million followers around the globe and the creation of agreements, like the ones we have with SkyNet, TV2 and 365, allows us to bring them closer to the club they love, Manchester United commercial director Richard Arnold said in a statement. By teaming up with reputable media houses like SkyNet, TV2 and 365 we can ensure that this content is delivered in right way, reaching key audiences. The deal with MUTV was essential for drawing football-crazed viewers to SkyNet last season when the cable provider lost out on broadcast rights for English Premier League games.

60 60 THE MYANMAR TIMES JULY 1-7, 2013 Sport SPORT EDITOR: Tim McLaughlin Gymnasts get boost from international support SPORT 59 I m not finished A defiant Roger Federer speaks of years of playing to come after a stunning upset at Wimbledon Sergiy Stakhovsky celebrates beating Roger Federer (top) at the Wimbledon Championships on June 26. Photo: AFP ROGER Federer insisted he will play on for many more years to come despite crashing out of Wimbledon in a shock defeat that brought his extraordinary Grand Slam run to a juddering halt. Though downbeat, the Swiss legend said he would not go into panic mode after being knocked out by unfancied Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky in the second round on June 26. The world number three said there was perhaps a sea change happening in tennis where lower-ranked players now had the belief to mix it with the sport s best, like himself, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal. Federer s shock 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/5), 7-5, 7-6 (7/5) loss to world number 116 Stakhovsky on his Centre Court stomping ground brought the curtain down on his run of 36 consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances, which started at Wimbledon At 31 years old, some are questioning whether Federer s all-conquering powers are now openly in decline. But the man himself insisted he had plenty left in the tank. I still have plans to play for many more years to come, the seven-time Wimbledon winner said. It s normal that after all of a sudden losing early after being in the quarters 36 times, people feel it s different. I wish it wasn t going to end here. But I don t think that s something fans are going to mourn. It s a great number. I can be proud of it. But I m moving on. He said he would reflect on the run when I m retired, and that s not right now. Federer plans to use his unscheduled time off to recharge and focus on the rest of the season. What do you do after something like this? What do you do? Do you do the 24-hour rule? You don t panic at this point, that s clear. Just go back to work and come back stronger. Somewhat simple; hard to do sometimes. But usually I do turnarounds pretty good. I m looking forward to what s to come. I hope I can play a good end to the season. And the 17-time Grand Slam champion felt he was generally performing well. This is a setback, a disappointment, whatever you want to call it. But then overall I think I played great eight months ago at the World Tour Finals. I played great at the Australian Open, he said. I didn t play so much as of late. At the same time that gives me more flexibility with my schedule moving forward and next year as well. CONTINUED SPORT 59