HEARTBEAT OF THE NATION

500
Ks.

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DAILY EDITION

ISSUE 39 | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2015

NEWS 2

Nay Pyi Taw-friendly

Tories keep UK office
Activists in Britain say they had
hoped a Labour victory would put
human rights back firmly on the
Foreign Offices agenda, after years
of focusing on economic ties.

NEWS 4

Returning fishermen tell

of slavery and torture
The first Myanmar fishermen to
return from Indonesia say they
worked for years without pay and
were tortured by their captors before
being abandoned on remote islands.
BUSINESS 8

No more oil and gas

tenders until 2016: govt
An All Burma Federation of Student
Unions member walks past a display
commemorating the crackdown on
demonstrators at Letpadan before
a ceremony yesterday to mark the
groups 79th anniversary.

PAGE

PHOTO: AUNG HTAY HLAING

Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise will

focus on development of recently
contracted blocks this year rather than
put any more out for tender, according
to officials at the state-run enterprise.
BUSINESS 9

Student union marks anniversary, rejects going underground

Best Western opens in

Mandalay, more to follow

Despite many of the groups key members being detained at Letpadan in March,
leaders of the All Burma Federation of Student Union said yesterday at a ceremony to
mark the groups 79th anniversary that they would not be driven underground by the
governments campaign of repression against its activities.

Hotel chain takes over management

of 91-room property in Mandalay
and plans 200-room expansion, as
international firms move into market
after a 10-year gap.

Govt offers two-stage ceasefire

Kokang group and its two allies would be excluded from nationwide ceasefire to ensure peace process stays on track
but the government will open talks with the trio once fighting stops, says chief negotiator U Aung Min. NEWS 3

2 News

Development
fund to build
worker skills
HTOO THANT
thanhtoo.npt@gmail.com
YOUNG people wishing to acquire
marketable skills can learn welding,
electrical work or how to operate a
lathe in training sessions provided
free of charge by the government. Daw
Khin Mar Aye from the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security
said the ministry has been offering
training every year in Yangon, Mandalay and Pathein in these basic skills
free of charge to 300 youths who had
not completed high school.
Come and attend our training.
We offer short courses of one-and-ahalf months, and afterward you can
get a job at Myaungdagar industrial
zone earning K150,000 a month, said
Daw Khin Mar Aye, who is deputy director of the labour department.
Daw Khin March Aye made the remarks to The Myanmar Times at a May
7 ceremony to announce the launch of
a fund to develop workers skills, held
at Nay Pyi Taws Thingaha hotel.
The new labour law provides for
the setting-up of a fund for technical
skills development, but we still have
to draft the plans, raise the funds and
form a [management] committee. In
doing so, we will take into account
the experience gained in Thailand and
Singapore, she said.
The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw approved
the Employment and Skills Development Law at its last session.
Daw Khin Mar Aye said anyone
wishing to receive the free technical
training should register with the ministry, which opened a course once 20
people had put their names down for it.
The training could start at once in the
event of a group registration, she said.
However, the training is for basic
knowledge only. The ministry says
higher-level training will have to be
paid for from the new fund.
The Skills Development Fund
will fill the gap when employers allow
their experienced workers to attend
advanced training, and are no longer
working, she said.
Contributions to the fund will be
collected from employers, but entrepreneurs in SMEs will be exempt. She
declined to say how much the ministry
hopes to raise.
The Department of Labour has also
been giving management training to
private companies. Today, staff from
AGD Bank will take part in a training
course, and staff at Shwe Mi plastics
factory and the Toyo battery factory in
Hlaing Tharyar industrial zone have
also received training.
Translation by Thiri Min Htun

THE MYANMAR TIMES MAY 11, 2015

LONDON

Nay Pyi Taw-friendly Tories

returned for five more years
Myanmar lobby groups had hoped for a Labour government that would prioritise rights over business ties

EI EI TOE
LWIN
eieitoelwin@gmail.com

MANY Myanmar people living in

the United Kingdom were able to
vote in the May 7 general election
there, some of them for the first time.
Speaking to The Myanmar Times as
the electoral campaign culminated,
they spoke of what it meant for them
to participate in a long-established
democratic process, and what the result might mean for Myanmar.
As votes were counted overnight
and results announced across the
country throughout the morning of
May 8, it emerged that what many
observers had considered a multiparty contest had come down to a choice
between only two parties, at least in
England. Furthermore, despite several days of opinion polls appearing to
show that those two parties, the ruling Conservative and the opposition
Labour, were neck-and-neck, it was
the Conservatives who won a clear
parliamentary majority.
Myanmar people living in the UK,
including those who have become
British citizens, have been following
the elections with particular interest.
Many favoured the Labour Party to
win because they felt that the Conservatives, led by Prime Minister David Cameron, were more concerned
about developing business and investment opportunities in Myanmar
than to speak up for human rights.
The Kachin National Organisation in the UK was set up in 2007
to lobby for ethnic rights and democratic reform in Myanmar. About 30
of its 100 members have the right
to vote in the UK elections, and announced before polling day that they
would vote Labour in the west London constituency of Hounslow and
Isleworth.
In a letter to local Labour candidates, the Kachin group also requested help in establishing a Kachin
Community Hall for worship, meetings and cultural programs, as well
as Labour support for the promotion
of human rights in Myanmar.
The Conservatives have gone in

British prime minister and leader of the Conservative Party David Cameron and his wife Samantha arrive at the partys
headquarters in London on May 8, the day after a general election. Photo: AFP

the wrong direction and are not doing

enough to meet my concerns as far as
their commitment to human rights
[in Myanmar] is concerned, said
Hounslow resident Bulu Makhaw, 58,
as she prepared to vote in her second
British election since 2010.
Zoya Phan, 35, an ethnic Kayin,
was very excited about being able to
vote for the first time after becoming

This British
government wants
to work closely with
Nay Pyi Taw to seek
further investment.
Anna Roberts
Burma Campaign UK

a UK citizen last year. Where I came

from it was not easy to vote. Voting is
part of democracy, she said.
Zoy Phan fled Myanmar in the
early 2000 and settled in London. As
the daughter of Kayin ethnic leader
Padoh Mahn Sha Lah Phan, the secretary of the Karen National Union,
who was assassinated in 2008 in Mae
Sot, she has become well-known in
Britain for advocating democracy and
human rights issues in Myanmar.
Anna Roberts, executive director of the Burma Campaign UK, was
hoping for a Labour win as she considers that the Conservative government favoured the current Myanmar
government. Human rights have
taken a back seat. This British government wants to work closely with
Nay Pyi Taw to seek further investment, she said.
Burma Campaign UK will continue to work with parliamentarians in
both Houses to promote democratic

reforms in Myanmar, she said.

Along with British citizens, resident citizens of Ireland and most
Commonwealth countries are allowed
to vote in a general election. While
Myanmar is a former British colony,
it elected not to join the Commonwealth upon independence in 1948,
meaning Myanmar citizens resident
in the UK cannot vote in elections.
Not all Myanmar who reside longterm in the UK are interested in
citizenship; some have left for political reasons, while many have family
back in Myanmar.
KNO secretary Khun Htoi Layang, 40, who lives in Hounslow, said
he had decided not to apply, though
he has advised others on how to acquire it. I still want to be a Myanmar
citizen, he said. I hope to return,
but only if the 2008 constitution is
amended, because I dont want to
live under a constitution written by
the military regime.

www.mmtimes.com

NEWS EDITOR: Thomas Kean | tdkean@gmail.com

News 3

IN DEPTH

Govt offers two-stage ceasefire deal

Kokang group and its two allies to be excluded from first ceasefire, but government says it will open negotiations when fighting stops

WA LONE

GUY DINMORE

THE governments chief negotiator

has proposed a conditional two-stage
ceasefire agreement with Myanmars
various ethnic armed groups that
would incorporate, at a later stage,
three factions fighting the Tatmadaw
in the Kokang border region.
Minister for the Presidents Office
U Aung Min outlined the offer to reporters attending a forum on national
reconciliation held in Yangon on May
9.
The minister, who led the government side in nearly 18 months of
ceasefire talks with representatives
of 16 armed groups, was speaking a
day after President U Thein Sein held
unexpected meetings in Kengtung,
Shan State, with political leaders of
the Wa and Mong La enclaves, as well
as Shan State Army-South.
Minister for Information U Ye
Htut posted photographs of those
meetings on Facebook without comment. Observers noticed that U Sai
Lin, chair of the National Democratic
Alliance Army that controls the Mong
La special region, was joined by his
wife, who is the daughter of Peng
Jiasheng, the fugitive octogenarian
leader of the ethnic Chinese rebels in
Kokang.
U Aung Min said a nationwide
ceasefire agreement, which was
signed in principle on March 31,
would take too long to finalise if
the government had to first talk to
the three groups fighting in Kokang,
none of which had previously reached
bilateral ceasefire agreements with
Nay Pyi Taw.
But the minister also said the
three groups had to stop fighting

President U Thein Sein shakes hands with armed ethnic group leaders in Kengtung, Shan State, on May 9, including
National Democratic Alliance Army leader U Sai Lin (left). Photos: Facebook/U Ye Htut

before peace talks could begin. The

three groups are the Kokang-based
Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) led by Mr Peng,
and its two allies, the Taang National
Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Arakan Army (AA).
All three groups are members
of the 16-strong Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT) that
signed the draft ceasefire accord with
government delegastes on March 31.
We have already promised to
reach national reconciliation through
political dialogues to be held after
the nationwide ceasefire accord, the

minister said at the Yangon forum.

President U Thein Sein appears
caught between China, which has repeatedly called for dialogue between
the government and the Kokang rebels, and the Tatmadaw, which has
pushed a large-scale offensive right
up to the Chinese border and occasionally beyond, displacing tens of
thousands of civilians since the conflict erupted three months ago.
The United Wa State Army (UWSA),
the most powerful of Myanmars
armed groups, with close economic
ties to China, last week hosted a 12way meeting of ethnic armed groups

Were not going underground,

says fugitive student union boss
MRATT KYAW THU
mrattkthu@gmail.com
DESPITE continued arrests and pursuit by the authorities, activists commemorating the 79th anniversary of
the founding of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions declared yesterday that the movement would not
go underground.
The event, which also marked two
months since the brutal police crackdown on student protesters at Letpadan, was held at the Free Funeral
Service Society in Yangon, drawing
nearly 300 people, including federation members and parents of jailed
students.
Ko Min Ko Naing and Ko Jimmy,
activists of the pro-democracy 88 Generation students group, also lent their
support to the occasion, while worker
associations and some minor political
parties sent formal messages to mark
the anniversary.
ABFSU president Ko Kyaw Ko Ko
a fugitive who has been ordered to appear in court sent a speech through
a recorded video that was screened at
the meeting.
Now we [ABFSU] can stand on
the ground, and were not going to
go underground. All students have to
focus on their security and our dignity. We have to keep up our actions
against the government on education, and all students have to unite,

that called on the government to halt

its military operations and include the
Kokang rebels and their two allies in
the nationwide ceasefire accord. The
meeting, held in the Wa stronghold
of Pangkham, also endorsed Wa aspirations to carve out their own state
inside Shan State and for a rewriting
of Myanmars constitution to create a
genuine federal system.
The official Global New Light of
Myanmar reported that the three
ethnic leaders who met the president
in Kengtung expressed support for
the peace process of the government
and reiterated their commitment

to signing the nationwide ceasefire

agreement.
The draft accord needs to be
agreed by the various ethnic leaders
represented on the NCCT before its
signing with the government. The
NCCT, which says the accord may
need rewriting, has not yet set a date
for that meeting.
U Thein Sein says he wants to finalise a nationwide ceasefire as soon
as possible in order to pave the way
for political dialogue to be completed
before parliamentary elections are
held in November.
The Yangon forum attended by
U Aung Min was organised by the
Karen National Union (KNU) and
the Restoration Council of the Shan
State, the political wing of the Shan
State Army-South. Seven ethnic
armed groups and 64 political parties
joined proceedings, as well as civil society organisations.
KNU secretary Pado Saw Kwel
Htoo Win said the aim of the NCCT
was to have an all-inclusive nationwide ceasefire. But he said they would
report to their respective organisations to decide whether to accept the
government offer of leaving out the
groups fighting in the Kokang area
until a later stage.
We also really want to end these
long wars, as the government does,
he said.
U Sai Nyunt Lwin, secretary of the
Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, welcomed the government
proposal. I think that can be the way
out of delaying the peace process, he
said.
A source close to the government
ceasefire negotiating committee, who
asked not to be named, said it would
not change its policy of refusing to
recognise the MNDAA and the Arakan Army at the political level. If the
NCCT will not agree to this then the
peace process could be delayed, he
said.

CAUTIONARY NOTICE
NOTICE is hereby given that ONDULINE of 35 rue Baudin, 92300
LEVALLOIS PERRET - FRANCE, do solemnly and sincerely declare
that we are the Owner and Sole Proprietor of the following trade mark
in Myanmar.
ONDUBAND
The said mark is used in respect of the following goods: Insulating
materials; thermal and acoustic insulating materials; waterproof
packings and bands; insulating adhesive bands (other than for stationery,
household use or medicine use); semi-processed plastic substances in
the form of sheets, bands and plates for waterproofing and thermal and
sound insulation for all building types [Class 17].
Non-metallic building materials; non-metallic transportable buildings;
non-metallic roof coverings; bituminous products for building; nonmetallic tiles; plates made of fibers and materials of all kinds (nonmetallic building materials); roofing, cladding and weather boarding
plates (non-metallic building materials); non-metallic ridge materials
for all building types [Class 19].
The said trade mark is the subject of Declaration of Ownership recorded
with the Registrar of Deeds and Assurances, Yangon, Myanmar, in
Book under No. IV/5246/2014 Dated 12th May, 2014.

An All Burma Federation of Student Unions member speaks at a ceremony to mark

the 79th anniversary of the groups founding yesterday. Photo: Aung Htay Hlaing

Any infringement or colourable imitation thereof or other infringement

of the rights of the said corporation will be dealt with according to law.

Ko Kyaw Ko Ko said.
More than 130 people were detained after police on March 10 broke
up a rally outside a monastery in Letpadan held in protest against the national education law, which students
say imposes too much central government control. About 70 are still being
held at Tharyarwady Prison, while
some prominent student leaders, like
Ko Kyaw Ko Ko, remain on the run.
Security services are closely monitoring students outside prison, according to Ba Ka Tha, as the federation is
commonly known.

Dated: 11th May, 2015

We have not sent any request letters to anyone outside to free us from
jail. Everybody knows about us, what
we did. We believe in the students
outside, student leader Ko Min Thwe
Thit said in a message that he gave to
others during a court appearance.
Ko Aung Nay Paing, spokesperson
of ABFSU, said, The government is
trying to make us go underground
and become an illegal organisation, as
happened under the military regime.
But were not going to. Now we show
through our actions that ABFSU still
exists under their sight.

GURGAON
Remfry House at the Millennium Plaza
Sector-27, Gurgaon-122 009
New Delhi National Capital Region,
India
Tel : 91-124-280 6100
Fax : 91-124-280 6101
E-Mail : remfry-sagar@remfry.com

For ONDULINE
Remfry & Sagar
Attorneys-at-Law
CHENNAI
376-B (Old No. 202)
Avvai Shanmugam Salai,
Gopalapuram
Chennai n 600 086, India
Tel & Fax 91-44-4263 7392
E-Mail: remfry-sagar@
remfry.com

4 News

THE MYANMAR TIMES MAY 11, 2015

Walkathon
raises
money for
road safety

Chief Executive Officer

Tony Child
tonychild.mcm@gmail.com
Editorial Director U Thiha Saw
editorial.director.mcm@gmail.com
Deputy Chief Operating Officer Tin Moe Aung
tinmoeaung.mcm@gmail.com
EDITORIAL
Editor MTE Thomas Kean
tdkean@gmail.com
Editor MTM Sann Oo
sannoo@gmail.com
Chief of Staff Zaw Win Than
zawwinthan@gmail.com
Editor Special Publications Myo Lwin
myolwin286@gmail.com
Editor-at-Large Douglas Long
dlong125@gmail.com
News Editor MTE Guy Dinmore
guydinmore@gmail.com
Business Editor MTE Jeremy Mullins
jeremymullins7@gmail.com
World Editor MTE Fiona MacGregor,
Kayleigh Long
The Pulse Editor MTE Charlotte Rose
charlottelola.rose@gmail.com
Sport Editor MTE Matt Roebuck
matt.d.roebuck@googlemail.com
Special Publications Editor MTE Wade Guyitt
wadeguyitt@gmail.com
Regional Affairs Correspondent Roger Mitton
rogermitton@gmail.com
Sub-Editors Peter Swarbrick, Laignee Barron
Chief Sub Editor MTM Aye Sapay Phyu
News & Property Editor MTM
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Timeout Editor MTM Moh Moh Thaw
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AYE NYEIN WIN

ayenyeinwin.mcm@gmail.com

A returning Myanmar fisherman is greeted by a relative at Yangon International Airport on May 9. Photo: Aung Htay Hlaing

First group of fishermen

return from Indonesia
NYAN LYNN
AUNG
29.nyanlynnaung@gmail.com

STORIES of murder and torture are

beginning to emerge as the first Myanmar fishermen, rescued from slavery at
the hands of their captors, return home
from Indonesia. The first group of 15
fishermen, out of 535 who are known
to have been enslaved, were brought
home on May 9.
Anti-trafficking task force commander Police Major Ye Win Aung said
eight of the 15 had been marooned on
Benjina Island by the slavers who had
captured them. Five others had escaped from a Thai fishing boat to Ambon Island and were stranded there,
while two returned home with the assistance of the International Organization of Migration.
All of them were trafficked, and
the IOM helped them return home, he
said.
The police could not say when the
remaining fishermen would be returning home.
We repatriated the first 15 as a priority for their security, because they
had spoken to the media, said Pol Maj
Ye Win Aung.
Ko Phyo Kyaw, 28, who was abandoned on Benjina Island, said he was
enslaved for two years, working without pay. After leaving home in 2011, he
was persuaded by a broker to work on
a fishing boat.

Almost 1000 Myanmar fishermen

were working around the Indonesian
islands. Some are Shan or other ethnic
groups, he told The Myanmar Times
after arriving at the airport.
Ko Kyaw Thu, who was enslaved
aboard a Thai fishing boat for about
three years, said he was forced to work
round the clock. When I tried to sleep,
the captain poured boiling water over
me, he said. Some Myanmar were
killed and their bodies thrown into the
sea.
Ko Maung Soe, who was a slave on
Benjina Island for more than seven
years, said the Myanmar authorities
had advised returning fishermen not to
talk to the media.
He was never paid for the time he
spent as a crew member on the fishing
boat.
Those of us who talked to AP news
agency were told not to [speak to the
media again], for security reasons, he
said.
Daw Yu Yu Swe, director of the social welfare ministrys Department of
Relief and Resettlement, said the government had advised the fishermen of
their rights, including the right not to
talk to the media if they did not want
to. Pol Maj Ye Win Aung said there
was a need for confidentiality as the
police were still investigating human
traffickers.
Some declined to answer questions,
but stated that they had been enslaved
for several years on fishing boats.
Together with the media, families
gathered at the airport waiting for the
return of sons and brothers they feared
they would never see again.

Ma Thandar, sister of Ko Phyoe

Kyaw, another fisherman, said the family had been trying to find him for the
past two years. The last we heard he
was working at the border. He said he
was fine. Weve only just found out that
he was trafficked, she said.
Daw Than Than Win, mother of Ko
Win Ko Naing, 25, told The Myanmar
Times at Yangon airport that her hopes
of ever seeing her son again were dwindling in the complete absence of any information about him. We were afraid
he may be dead because we couldnt
find out any information despite all our
efforts, she said tearfully.
Ko Kyaw Thu said the need to establish citizenship had held up the repatriation process. I spent eight months
on Ambon Island and two months in
Jakarta confirming my identity. All the
fishermen have to go through this, he
said.
Another eight fishermen found on
Benjina Island spent about two months
at the Myanmar embassy in Jakarta
establishing their citizenship before
being repatriated to Yangon with the
group from Ambon.
Pol Brig Gen Win Naing Tun said
the identification process would soon
be complete. The Myanmar government delegation that went to Indonesia to rescue the trafficked seamen last
month is still reportedly at work.
The United States Mission to ASEAN has pledged US$75,000 to help
fund the repatriation, and the US government has separately contributed
$225,000 to support medical costs and
case workers, as well as food, water and
shelter for the victims.

Almost 500 Rohingya rescued off Aceh

RESCUERS yesterday brought ashore
469 migrants from Myanmar and
Bangladesh after their wooden boat arrived off Aceh in northwest Indonesia,
an Indonesian official said.
We received a report from fishermen this morning that there were boat
people stranded in the waters off north
Aceh, Aceh provincial search and rescue chief Budiawan said.
We despatched teams there and
evacuated 469 migrants who are Rohingya from Myanmar and Bangladeshis. There are women and children
among them. So far, all of them are
safe, he added.
He said the group would be taken
to a detention centre in north Aceh
district, where police and immigration officials would carry out further

processing, which would include investigating their motives.

Darsa, a disaster management agency official who like many Indonesians
goes by one name, said the group had
arrived near a beach in north Aceh district early yesterday and were told to
swim to shore.
One of the migrants who could
speak Malay told me that their agent
had told them they were in Malaysia,
and to swim to shore, he said.
Some of them did. But later they
found out from fishermen that they
were in Indonesia, he added.
According to the migrant, five boats
had departed from Myanmar last week
to escape the conflict, Darsa said.
He said the Muslims were beaten
and had hot water poured on them and

they just wanted to get out of Myanmar

as soon as possible, to anywhere where
they could seek refuge, he said.
Darsa said there were 83 women
and 41 children on board. One of the
women was pregnant and some of the
children were aged under 10.
There was little food and water on
the boat. Some of them were not doing
too well and needed medical attention,
he said.
Thousands of Muslim Rohingya
officially called Bengalis in Myanmar
have braved the dangerous sea crossing
from Myanmar to southern Thailand
and beyond in recent years.
Many hope to go on to mainly Muslim Malaysia but the migrants have often fallen prey to people-traffickers in
Thailand. AFP

PEDESTRIANS struck back yesterday against Yangons increasingly deadly traffic. To mark the
Third UN Global Road Safety
Week, more than 1000 high
school students and other road
users participated in a walkathon at Peoples Park in Dagon
township.
Prizes of K1000 were handed
out for every 500 metres walked
on the 1.5-kilometre circuit, but
all the winners donated them to
road safety projects.
Students came to the walkathon even though this is the
school holidays, Sanchaung
township teacher Daw Tin Win
said, adding that her school put
road safety on its curriculum.
Traffic police also conduct
safety classes in Yangon schools
at least once a year.
Yangon Region Minister for
Transport and Communication
U Aung Khin, who attended the
event, said that while education
was a major focus of the governments road safety strategy, many
people knowingly break the road
rules.

Unless people
obey the rules of
the road, accidents
will only continue
to increase.
U Hla Aung
Yangon traffic official

This has led to an increase in

accidents in recent years something he said he hoped Global
Road Safety Week events could
help to change.
We hope this event will spotlight the danger of accidents,
and we will continue to do it in
coming years, he said.
U Hla Aung, head of the Yangon Region Supervisory Committee for Motor Vehicles, said
Myanmars rising road toll was
being mirrored elsewhere in the
developing world.
This is a matter of deep
concern, he said. Unless people obey the rules of the road,
accidents will only continue to
increase.
Participant Ko Kyaw Kyaw
Naing, of Mayangone township, said, Traffic accidents are
a major cause of death because
people dont follow the rules of
the road and road users dont respect each other.
Citing drivers who drive the
wrong way and run red lights, he
added, Education is the key. Its
not enough for children to learn
about road safety in school as
long as their parents keep breaking those rules in front of them.
Once someone has broken
the rules once, they keep doing
it. The traffic police should take
action, no matter who committed the offence.
Ma May Myat Paing, a student
at Basic Education High School 4
in Sanchaung township, said she
was glad she came. We do get
lessons from the traffic police,
she said, but a walk like this
helps bring the lesson home.

News 5

www.mmtimes.com
MAWLAMYINE, MON STATE

Family seek
answers after
custodial death
NAW SAY
PHAW WAA
nawsayphawwaa@gmail.com

IN PICTURES

PHOTO: NAING WYNN HTOON

A woman poses for a photo with a 1928 DeSoto

produced by the Chrysler Corporation at the First
Myanmar Classic Cars Show, held at Myanmar Culture
Valley on May 9 and 10. Organised by the Myanmar
Classic Cars Club, the show featured cars and motorbikes
from the early and mid-20th century, as well as more
recent vintages.

BEREAVED relatives of a man who

died in custody following his arrest in
connection with a road accident have
accused the police of killing him.
Maung Myo Thint, 33, was arrested in Chaungzon township after the
bus he was driving crashed in an accident in which no other vehicle was
apparently involved on April 15.
Two of the 21 children on board
were injured, one with a broken arm,
said Ma May Win Moe, one of the
passengers. She said that Maung Myo
Thint was arrested at the scene of
the accident, which occurred around
2pm.
U Aung Khin, his brother-in-law,
told journalists that when he visited
Maung Myo Thint that afternoon,
he complained that the police had
punched him.
When the family went to the police station the next morning in a second attempt to post bail, they were

informed that Maung Myo Thint was

dead.
Daw Mi Khin Aye, the aunt of the
deceased, said a doctor at the hospital
had told the family that he appeared
to have taken a blow to the head. She
described his death as suspicious.
Daw Mi Khin Aye said witnesses to
the crash had told her that, contrary
to what the police had informed her,
Maung Myo Thint was not injured at
the time of his arrest.
Chaungzon police chief U Hla
Khine told The Myanmar Times that
an investigation was under way. We
have set up a task force to look into
this, he said.
However, officials from the district
police office refused to answer questions from journalists yesterday. They
said they were not involved in the
investigation, and denied any knowledge of it.
Ko Zaw Min, a member of 88 Generation Peace and Open Society, said
he had written to Minister for Home
Affairs Lieutenant General Ko Ko, the
Bureau of Special Investigation and
the Mon State police deputy superintendent seeking answers. We are
asking them to investigate the death
of Maung Myo Thint, he said.

6 News

THE MYANMAR TIMES MAY 11, 2015

IN BRIEF
Youth interfaith conference
scheduled for this month

More than 100 young people are

to gather in Yangon later this
month for a six-day conference
on religious freedom and interfaith cooperation. The conference
is being organised by the Smile
Education and Development
Foundation, said the foundations
project coordinator, Ma Mon Kyi.
We will invite leaders in the
religious and social fields to
serve as panellists to guide the
discussion, said U Myo Win, the
founder of the SEDF.
The participants, aged between 18 and 30, will discuss issues surrounding religious freedom and interfaith cooperation.
As a follow-up, SEDF will hold
an advocacy workshop where 50
selected participants will learn
how to bring their priorities to
fruition through networking and
advocacy, he said.
The young people will come
from all across the country for the
May 26 to 31 conference, which is
supported by the US Agency for
International Development.
This conference will give young
people a chance to meet and
share views on religion and learn
from each other, said participant
Ma Su Wai said. Myat Noe Oo

Mandalay voter lists to

be released in June

A patient is carried on a makeshift stretcher by members of a Back Pack Health Worker Team. Photo: Si Thu Lwin

A hero of eastern Myanmar

After fleeing Manerplaw in 1995, Saw Win Kyaw has built the Back Pack Health Worker Team into a 400-strong
unit assisting a huge area, where barely 10 percent of residents have access to government health services

SI THU
LWIN
sithulwin.mmtimes@gmail.com

DEEP in the forest, the surgeon fought

to save the life of his patient, who had
stepped on a landmine. When the
tourniquet slipped and the bleeding
resumed, the surgeon stemmed the
flow as best he could with bandages
and cotton wool before continuing his
preparations to amputate.
The preparations had to be carried
out there and then to make it possible
to move the patient to a hospital. In
the forests of Kayin State, there are no
ambulances.
Saw Win Kyaw still remembers the
operation, 20 years ago.
It was hard, but I had to find the
self-confidence to help my people, he
said.
He has treated Tatmadaw soldiers,
local residents and displaced families
wounded in fighting. He has amputated the arms and legs of more than
150 victims of landmines, artillery
shells and hand grenades. He has lost
patients whose bleeding he could not
stop.
With training received from a Norwegian doctor, Saw Win Kyaw learned
how to use anaesthetics and conduct
transfusions. Patients with severe
bleeding need transfusions. Blood is
essential for mine victims, he said.
The third son of five children of Poe
Kayin parents, he was born in September 1971, in the Kayin State capital
Hpa-an. He started work as a cleaner
and assistant nurse at Htoo Waa Lu
hospital at Manerplaw, the headquarters of the Karen National Union,
in 1988. He passed basic healthcare
training in 1989, working in Manerplaw until the Tatmadaw forced the
KNU to flee in early 1995.
As the fighting raged, Saw Win
Kyaw and others formed a Back
Pack Health Worker Team to provide

Saw Win Kyaw left) at the Mae Tao clinic in Mae Sot, Thailand. Photo: Si Thu Lwin

healthcare to anyone who needed it.

That initial four-person team has grown
to more than 400 workers, providing
treatment to hundreds of thousands of
people in Kayin and Mon states.
The organisation buys medicines
from Thailand with financial aid from
the Canadian government and other
organisations, and has been providing
healthcare in 35 regions in coordination with the Karen National Union
and the New Mon State Party.
In this conflict-ravaged eastern
corner of Myanmar, the job is fraught
with difficulties and danger.

94.2

Deaths per 1000 live births in eastern

Myanmar, more than double the
national average of about 41

Up to 2012, nine health workers

had died at their posts in remote areas because of landmines and other
causes, said Saw Win Kyaw.
The conflict has left many areas
bereft of any state health services. A
recent Health Information System
Working Group of 64 townships in
eastern Myanmar comprising 456,786
people found health conditions more
similar to war-torn Somalia than to
the rest of Myanmar.
The national infant mortality rate
is among the worst in the region, at
about 41 deaths per 1000 live births,
but in eastern Myanmar the rate was
more than double, at 94.2 per 1000
live births.
Mortality rates for children under
five years of age were even bleaker, at
141.9 in the east of the country compared to 52 per 1000 nationally. Fifteen pregnant women of every 1000
require emergency aid, but less than
10 percent of survey respondents
had access to government-run health
centres.
Despite agreement on a ceasefire,

this is unlikely to change soon.

People in remote or border regions
cant get effective healthcare. Thats
why our Back Pack teams will have to
keep doing it, Saw Win Kyaw said.
While initially the team focused
on those injured in conflict, the experience of saving a newborn led Saw
Win Kyaw to turn his attention more
to womens healthcare. In my first
experience of assisting at a delivery,
I didnt have much experience. But I
knew I had to help more people, not
just those who had suffered from
weapons, he said.
In 2000, he had to deliver his daughter aboard a boat on the Thanlwin River, with no medicines or equipment. I
named her Naw Kalee Mu, he said a
name that translates to boat life.
Saw Win Kyaw has shared his experience with health workers, offering
courses in first-aid, volunteer nursing,
village management and the treatment of mental disease.
In 2012, he was awarded the Van
Heuven Goedhart Award by a Dutch
organisation, and is now director of
the Back Pack Health Worker Team.
In pursuing his particular interest
in public health care, he believes that
offering public education on how to
prevent disease or injury is better than
cure, and he still takes the time to offer public education about healthcare
in villages and wards.
While conflict is slowly receding in
eastern Myanmar, Saw Win Kyaw said
the Back Pack team will continue to
play an important role in both health
education and treatment.
He expressed willingness to work
alongside the government as state
health services are expanded throughout the region but he said the government should also recognise the
work teams such as his have done over
the past two decades.
Id like to ask the government
to officially recognise the ethnic
healthcare teams, he said, that are
providing saving lives in all ethnic
regions.
Translation by Thiri Min Htun

Mandalay voters will soon be

invited to check their names
against the provisional voters list
when it opens for public review,
electoral officials say. U Kyaw
Kyaw Soe, deputy director of the
Mandalay Region Election Subcommission, said lists of those
eligible to vote in the November
election would be open in some
townships next month.
The process of listing voters
is almost complete, and will take
only a few more days. In June we
will publish the lists in townships
where the listings are complete,
he said, adding that the process
was now about 80pc finished.
We will post the lists where
people can easily access them.
Voters should check that their
names are on the list and let
us know at once if there is any
mistake, he said.
Lists have already been published in 20 townships. Mg Zaw,
translation by Thiri Min Htun

Motorcyclists banned from

wearing masks in Myitkyina

Myitkyina city authorities have

slapped a ban on the wearing
of masks by motorcycle riders,
threatening offenders with up to a
month in prison. The statement,
issued on May 4, cited security
concerns and said the ban would
come into force today in the
capital of Kachin State.
The statement said the aim
of the ban was to prevent the
disruption of the rule of law and
crimes and to avoid damage to
life, health and safety.
Initial reaction was disbelieving. An attempt by The Myanmar
Times to seek clarification from
township officials was met with
nervous laughter.
Local MP Daw Dwe Bu said
motorcyclists only used the
masks to keep dust off their
faces. Ive never heard of any
masked criminals. Riding while
masked is not a crime, she said.
The township says violators
will be guilty of disobeying the
orders of a civil servant, making
themselves liable to a penalty of
one month in prison or K200.
Facebook commentator and
Myitkyina resident Ja Seng Awn
Bakhkyam said, Are they crazy?
The roads are so dusty no one
can ride a motorcycle without a
mask. Kyaw Phone Kyaw

News 7

www.mmtimes.com

Views

Scrambling to draw lessons

NICHOLAS
FARRELLY
nicholas.farrelly@glenlochadvisory.com

HERE is a natural rush to

draw lessons from what
has been happening these
recent, busy years. It is so
unusual for an entrenched
military dictatorship to make moves
toward political reform that a queue
forms for the tutorial.
We are intoxicated by ideas that
might apply elsewhere and that could
make Myanmars tentative success a
template for other reforms. We are
enticed to ask whether countries
synonymous with poor governance places like the DR Congo,
Syria or North Korea could benefit
from what we know about U Thein
Sein, the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, peace
agreements and Myanmars galloping
social change.
Such thoughts offer comfort when
so much in the world appears to be
hurtling in gloomier directions. The
recent period in Myanmar offers
a good-news story, admittedly one
with more than its share of complex
subject matter.
Some of the lessons we hear the
most about deal with leadership. We
understand that something happened, quietly, in the decade before
the political transformation received
much public attention. Figures like
Thura U Shwe Mann, U Khin Aung
Myint and President U Thein Sein
were still in uniform then. But they
were laying the foundations for a new
set of political compacts.
They did so in their own time, and
it is often suggested that the devastation of Cyclone Nargis, seven years
ago this month, catalysed bolder
action. It was at that moment of national impotence that the need for a
different political and economic order
was hammered home.
Since then, Myanmar has benefited from creative leadership and
a big appetite for taking risks. Many
have played their part, including ethnic commanders, democratic activists,
ordinary bureaucrats and courageous
street-level campaigners. Taken
together they have responded to an
environment shaped by suggestion
from on high. There are all manner

Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Speaker Thura U Shwe Mann meets civil society leaders in Yangon in December 2014. Photo: Zarni Phyo

of subtle indications, in the press, on

social media, in body language and
grand political re-positioning, that
have offered confidence to those understandably wary of the motivations
of retired generals.
It has helped that the new legislatures have found a way of presenting
alternatives to executive authority.
That the president doesnt always
get his way is taken to mean that
the system, whatever its flaws, is
now providing spaces for debate and
policy competition.
Regardless of whether the hluttaw was originally designed for this
purpose and it seems that it wasnt
there has been an incremental move
toward more ambitious interventions. No doubt the election in 2012
of more than 40 National League for
Democracy representatives has made

Something
happened, quietly,
in the decade
before the political
transformation
received much
public attention.

a difference. But they arent always

the ones who are most outspoken in
the chamber.
It tends to be voices from the
lesser-known democratic parties and
ethnic minorities that make the most
regular interventions. They are joined
by factions of the Union Solidarity
and Development Party also keen to
dissent with certain policies, big and
small.
We see the challenges of these
interactions most clearly in the
ethnic faultlines. If Myanmar finally
manages to pull together a sustainable national peace agreement, with
the historic possibilities that offers,
lessons will be claimed on every possible score. Such an agreement will
sire hundreds of PhDs, and give life
to 10,000 analytical thrusts. Clever
treatments of causality will punctuate
statements about effective national,
regional and global peace-making.
Its to be expected that everyone will
want some of the credit.
Yet apportioning credit shouldnt
be the goal of drawing such lessons.
It will, instead, be in the hard-headed
understanding of what went wrong,
and then right why, for whom, and
in what sequence that will need the
most serious attention. Some of these
lessons wont be neat and debates
about them will ring with contradiction, and also with self-interest. Such
will be the tone of discussion for
many years to come.

These discussions will be shaped,

most important of all, by the changing social context in Myanmar. People
who had never read an uncensored
newspaper article now have Facebook
feeds flooded with mind-boggling innuendo and speculation.
At 1000 miles a second, the internet can offer up the most remarkable
of insights, and is now setting about
changing many basic expectations
in Myanmar society. Nobody can yet
tell whether the political system in
its current fragile form will weather
all of these new pressures. We see
changes also to economic interactions, family structures and gender
relations. None of these issues will
offer easy lessons. For some, the new
Myanmar will in fact prove a cautionary tale, filled with woe, gloom and
dire futures.
That people outside Myanmar will
be seeking to appreciate its trajectory will be part of the new story
too. Getting different perspectives on
questions of leadership, institutions,
technology and culture will force us
to confront our own confidence about
how we understand the world and the
people who make change happen.
Nicholas Farrelly is a partner at Glenloch
Advisory and a fellow in the Australian
National Universitys Bell School of Asia
Pacific Affairs. He is the co-convenor of
the Myanmar Update Conference, to be
held in Canberra on June 5-6.

EDITORIAL

Money
matters
THIS year, 2015, appears likely
to hold elections for many countries around the globe. Recently
concluded elections in the United Kingdom have seen the Conservative Party emerge as the
winner, attaining an outright
majority 331 seats out of 650
seats in the House of Commons.
Unlike the 2010 elections, when
it was forced to form a coalition
government, the Conservative
Party has a much freer hand in
structuring the cabinet.
Indias elections last year were
called the worlds biggest exercise
in democracy. But less attention
was paid to the amount spent on
campaigning: about US$5 billion,
making them second only to the
US presidential elections, which
topped $7 billion.
Indian politicians justify
these expenses by pointing out
that the nation is the biggest
democracy in the world, with an
electorate of 800 million people.
What really matters, though,
is not the amount of money the
politicians and political parties
spent or intend to spend, but
the transparency and accountability with which this money is
acquired and used.
Myanmars elections in November are shaping up to be
perhaps the most democratic in
living memory. The Union Election Commission has already
promised a free and fair vote.
The issue of election expenses
has until now prompted little discussion. But the most conservative estimates suggest the parties
will spend billions of kyat.
The UEC has already set
some rules on election campaign
expenses. All political parties
should play by the rules of the
game. Some plan to go further:
the National League for Democracy recently announced that it
would publicly declare the possessions of its candidates.
Will other parties follow suit?
MPs have so far been reluctant to
declare their assets, so it seems
unlikely. But it would be a positive step toward ensuring the
elections are not just free and fair,
but also transparent and clean.

8 THE MYANMAR TIMES MAY 11, 2015

Business
WTO rules to
change customs
valuations
SU PHYO
WIN
suphyo1990@gmail.com

TARIFFS applied to imported

goods will soon be valued using
World Trade Organisation (WTO)
standards, though awareness is low
among traders about how this will
work, according to experts.
The Asian Development Bank
sponsored a series of seminars last
week for importers, customs brokers and freight forwarders.
The seminars aimed to familiarise businesspeople with the WTOs
Valuation Agreement, an international agreement laying out how
goods are to be valued for customs
duties to be applied.
The Myanmar Customs Department will soon be applying the
WTO Valuation Agreement to all
imports, said James Lynch, director of ADBs regional cooperation

division in Southeast Asia.

That is very good news for importers, but its essential that they
understand how to follow the rules,
are clear about their rights and
know what to do if they experience
difficulties, he said.
The standards are particularly
important for ad valorem customs
duties, which are customs duties
charged as a percent of the value of
the good being imported.
The WTO Valuation Agreement
stipulates valuations must be based
on the actual price of the good, generally what is shown on the invoice.
It also outlines a number of other
methods that can be used if the invoices cannot be used for pricing.
With an amendment to the Sea
Customs Act, Myanmar Customs is
to follow the terms the WTO Valuation Agreement.
The ADB held seminars in Yangon last week, with other plans
for similar seminars in Mandalay,
as well as next month in the trade
portals of Myawaddy, Tachileik,
Muse and Myeik.

A truck passes shipping containers which are waiting at Yangon port. Photo: AFP

No more bidding on oil and gas FDI relies on politics

and infrastructure
blocks planned until at least
2016, says senior MOGE official
AYE THIDAR KYAW
ayethidarkyaw@gmail.com

AUNG SHIN
koshumgtha@gmail.com
PYAE THET PHYO
pyaethetphyo87@gmail.com
MYANMA Oil and Gas Enterprise
(MOGE) will not launch any new
onshore or offshore bidding rounds
this year, and will focus instead on
the development of recently contracted blocks, the state-owned enterprise said last week.
We are not going to launch any
more bidding until 2016, as previous
bidding rounds are still ongoing. In
the meantime, we will closely monitor active PSCs [Production Sharing
Contracts], said U Myo Myint Oo,
managing director of MOGE at a
press conference in Nay Pyi Taw on
May 7.
We will also keep the current
blocks to improve the production of
petroleum reserves, he said.
He did not provide any information on how many onshore and offshore blocks would be made available in the next round.
MOGE has conducted three international bidding rounds for a
number of onshore and offshore
blocks since the nominally civilian
government took office in 2011.
Before this, as a result of Western sanctions, a majority of investors into Myanmars oil and gas sector were Asian companies.
The first onshore bidding round
for 18 blocks was launched in 2011
and nine blocks were awarded to

international companies.
In 2013, the second onshore bidding round for 18 blocks and the
first offshore round for 30 blocks
were launched. Of these, a total of
16 onshore and 20 offshore blocks
were awarded.
Since then, MOGE has been signing PSCs for awarded blocks with
the winning international companies and their local partners. Only a
few PSCs remain to be signed, ending a year-long process.

We are not going

to launch any more
bidding until 2016,
as previous bidding
rounds are still
ongoing.
U Myo Myint Oo
MOGE official

There is much potential in both

the onshore and offshore area. But
it will take time to reach the development and production stage, said
U Myo Myint Oo.
International oil companies will
not immediately begin drilling
campaigns in recently contracted
blocks, as social and environmental

impact assessment surveys and seismic acquisition activities will take

more than a year to complete, according to industry experts.
Production is unlikely to begin at
any of the recently awarded blocks
until 2028, said a senior geologist
from the Ministry of Energy, during
the 5th Myanmar Oil & Gas Exhibition in Yangon.
Myanmar has a total of 104 oil
and gas blocks including 53 onshore
and 51 offshore blocks. At present,
16 onshore and 19 offshore blocks
are in operation, according a Ministry of Energy source.
Total current production is 8000
barrels of petroleum and 55 million
cubic feet per day of natural gas
from the onshore fields and 7000
barrels of condensate and around 2
billion cubic feet per day of natural
gas from Myanmars offshore fields,
said a geologist from the Ministry
of Energy.
Foreign capital pledged to Myanmars oil and gas sector is nearly $17
billion, and $2.6 billion had already
been invested during fiscal year
2015 by the end of January, according to statistics from the Myanmar
Investment Commission (MIC).
In the future, MOGE has plans to
look into the production of unconventional resources, such as shale
gas, according to sources at the
state-owned enterprise. However,
for the time being, it will continue
focus on conventional petroleum
exploration.

TWO big barriers electoral uncertainty and poor infrastructure are

standing in the way of further foreign investment, business sources
believe. Even as more foreign investment has flooded into the country,
many investors have adopted a waitand-see attitude, they say.
The Myanmar Investment Commission has already permitted about
US$54 billion of overseas investment in the country, including $37
billion since 1990 for the power, oil
and gas sector. But investment in
manufacturing is on hold pending
much-needed improvements in infrastructure, they say.
Economist U Hla Maung said
yesterday, Inadequate electricity
supply and poor transport facilities
mean investors have to put up more
money, yet have to wait longer to see
any profits.
He added that the final removal
of US and European Union sanctions
would depend on the conduct of the
November general election and other political considerations.
U Aung Naing Oo, the secretary
of the Myanmar Investment Commission, said the removal from the
sanctions blacklist of the names
of some Myanmar businessmen
recently could change the FDI environment by opening the way for
more direct American investment.
The MIC has approved and invited more FDI in electric power
generation and in projects to improve infrastructure in recent years,
he said.

We will develop a private-public

partnership framework to attract
more investments in infrastructure
development, and we can expect
ODA for some projects to solve infrastructure challenges, he said.
To be sure, legal, policy, procedural and institutional reforms designed to build investor confidence
have been made during the term of
the present government, improving the investment environment to
some extent. The country is now
viewed more favourably by international investors.
About $8 billion has been earned
for the 2014-2015 fiscal year, said the
Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA), with a
further $6 billion expected for the
present fiscal year as MIC formulates a long-term FDI promotion
plan. This could increase as a result
of the amended investment law to be
submitted to parliament this month
and related reforms, he said.
Levelling the playing field, incorporating sound protections, and
simplifying procedures while preserving the environment rather than
tax incentives are the key elements
of the new investment law, said U
Aung Naing Oo.
U Mg Mg Lay, vice president of
the Union of Myanmar Federation of
Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said the chambers hoped to develop closer relations with responsible and ethical businesses, including
in their counterpart US chambers,
once sanctions are removed.
We hope to see more foreign investment in the wake of better rules
and policies, he said.

BUSINESS EDITOR: Jeremy Mullins | jeremymullins7@gmail.com

Myanmar tech company

plans to list on London
stock exchange

South Korea lands Asias

first Google campus to
boost startups

BUSINESS 10

BUSINESS 12

Exchange Rates (May 10 close)

Currency
Euro
Malaysia Ringitt
Singapore Dollar
Thai Baht
US Dollar

Buying

Selling

K1190
K302
K820
K33
K1095

K1230
K315
K835
K35
K1100

Awareness
needed to protect
consumers
Consumer protection rules
are in place, but practices
and awareness need
to be improved for the rules
to be effective, experts said at
a seminar late last week.
An effective approach
means testing products before
they arrive at market, and
keeping them away if they are
not safe, according to Katherine Porter from University of
California at Irvine. Policies
should also take consumers
into consideration.
One of the challenges for
Myanmar is how to engage
the consumer in making and
implementing rules, she
said.
Another major challenge
is teaching consumers their
rights and providing strategies to protect them, she said
at the seminar last week.
Myanmars consumer protection law was enacted in
mid-2014. Committees have
subequently been formed,
though experts agree the
protections are still being
worked on. Daw Myo Myo
Htike, deputy director of the
Consumer Affairs Division,
said there about 30 laws that
relate to consumer protection, including laws for a
national food law, drugs,
public health and financial
institution law.
Under the laws, consumers have the right to obtain
promised value, correct information, terms and conditions,
forums for settlement on
disputes, and non-discriminatory treatment and service.
By-laws set to follow the
consumer protection law
passed last year are still to
be released, and are at the
Attorney Generals office for
final approval.
Aye Thidar Kyaw

Local oil production is not always as environmentally friendly as it could be. Photo: Staff

Ministry warns environmentally unsound

oil companies, but lets latest off the hook
PYAE THET PHYO
pyaethetphyo87@gmail.com
THE Ministry of Energy has
warned oil and gas companies to
own up to their responsibilities in
the wake of reporting on apparently environmentally unsound
practices.
State-owned newspaper Myanma Ahlin reported on waste
sludge dumped in Mandalay Regions Kyaung Padaung township,
near the Chauk oil fields, on April
24. Senior officials of the Ministry of Energy and state-owned
Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise

held a press conference on May 7,

partly to send a message to firms
conducting unsound practices
though officials exonerated the
firm responsible for the Kyaung
Padaung sludge.
There are ways of getting rid
of waste oil sludge that is a stage
of environmental protection and
that also follows the rules. If companies dont follow it, we will take
action under management procedures, said Myanma Oil and Gas
Enterprise managing director U
Myo Myint Oo.
The case in Kyaung Padaung
township is not necessarily a case

of unsound practices, he said.

The Ministry of Energy issued
a statement on May 7 stating
the owners of Shwe Htee Saung
oil field at Gwaycho village near
Chauk township had dumped the
waste oil according to proper procedures. U Myo Myint Oo said the
waste reported in the government
newspaper is actually a temporary
storage tank that was 10 feet (3
metres) high though it had overflown the tank at the top.
It seems that media and residents misunderstood. Now we
have fixed it according to proper
procedures and made the tank 3

feet taller, he said.

U Myo Myint Oo also downplayed the possible negative effects from the incident, adding
mud and oil sludge are not necessarily overly harmful, though residents may think it is a dangerous
chemical.
U Myo Myint Oo also said the
foreign companies that have recently received rights for onshore and
offshore blocks are now working on
preparing Social and Environmental Impact Assessments as part of
their licensing rules after signing
Production Sharing Contracts.
Translation by Zar Zar Soe

Accor prepares to follow Best Westerns

lead by opening a Mandalay hotel
CLARE
HAMMOND
clarehammo@gmail.com

BEST Western Premier Hotel Shwe

Pyi Thar has become the first internationally operated hotel to open
its doors in Mandalay for more
than a decade.
For many years, Myanmars second-largest city has had only two
large international-standard hotels,
both of which are rated 4 stars.
Keppel Lands Sedona Hotel Mandalay is targeted at business guests,
and the Mandalay Hill Resort Hotel, formerly managed by Accor, is

aimed at tourists.
But since international sanctions
began to be relaxed in 2012, global
hotel groups have been looking for
opportunities across the country,
and several have committed to operating hotels in Mandalay.
As of May 6, Best Western International has taken over management of the 91-room Hotel Shwe
Pyi Thar, according to a company
statement.
The hotel is owned by local company KT Construction Group, and
is located around 20 minutes by car
to the east of the city centre.
Best Western also noted that it
is building a new 200-room wing,
with construction on the expansion
due to be completed by the fourth
quarter of next year.

The project will feature a restaurant, a bar, a swimming pool,

a fitness centre, a spa and retail
space, according to the announcement, as well as a 660 square metre
ballroom, a conference room and a

ROOM

200

Size of the expansion under way at Best

Westerns newly opened Mandalay hotel
property

lawn for outdoor events.

Best Western already operates
two hotels in Yangon, the 91-room
Best Western Chinatown in Latha township, which opened last
month, and the 201-room Best
Western Green Hill Hotel in Tarmwe township.
In the future, the US hotel group
has plans to open a hotel in Nay Pyi
Taw, as well as a second hotel in
Mandalay, according to the May 6
announcement.
Other international hoteliers are
not far behind.
French group Accor has signed
with Construction and Decoration
(CAD) Construction to operate a
Pullman Hotel as part of the Mingalar Mandalay complex, located to
the south of the city centre.

The hotel, which is designed by

architects Stephen ODell and Colin
Okashimo, was initially due to be
branded as a Novotel.
When it opens later this year,
the Pullman will become the citys
first five-star hotel, marking Accors return to Mandalay after more
than a decade.
The operator managed a Novotel
Hotel, which is now the Mandalay
Hill Resort Hotel, between 1993
and 2002, before exiting from its
Myanmar investments due to the
worsening political and economic
environment.
Best Western International,
based in the American city of Phoenix, has more than 4000 hotels in
more than 100 countries and territories worldwide.

10 Business
FMIs hospital
joint venture
gets MIC nod
First Myanmar Investment
(FMI) and Lippo Groups
health care joint venture has
been approved by the Myanmar Investment Commission,
according to a press release.
Serge Pun-chaired FMI
will own 60 percent of the
joint venture, with Indonesiabased Lippo Group, the
controlling shareholder of
Indonesias Siloam International hospitals, owning the
remaining 40pc stake.
This represents a first
step for us into the country
and we will go beyond the
city of Yangon to become a
national network, said Lippo
Group chief executive James
Riady in a press release. Our
commitment is to invest in a
model similar to Siloam that
has seen it become a national
healthcare leader.
Serge Pun said FMI and
Lippo share a vision to provide equitable and accessible
healthcare to a large segment of the Myanmar people.
The 182-bed Pun Hlaing
Hospital will be re-named to
Pun Hlaing Siloam Hospital
as part of the joint venture. It
claims six operating theatres,
24-7 emergency services, a
maternity ward, an intensive care unit and a modern
clinical laboratory, the press
release said.
Jeremy Mullins

THE MYANMAR TIMES MAY 11, 2015

MySQUAR aims for

listing in London
CATHERINE
TRAUTWEIN
newroom@mmtimes.com

THE company behind a popular Myanmar chat application

wont wait on Yangon to launch
a stock exchange to debut on
the public market.
MySQUAR the Singaporebased firm behind localised
chat application MyChat has
turned to the London Stock Exchanges Alternative Investment
Market (AIM) for its float, slated for later in 2015.
The mobile social networking platform needs backing
to keep pace with Myanmars
transformation, and a stock
market listing is the most effective form of investment for
MySQUAR right now, said the
companys chief technical officer David Rossellat.
Mr Rossellat said the companys chat app, which went
beta last August, continues to
see extraordinary growth. The
localised application targeted
at Myanmar youth counted
533,000 user accounts in early
April up from 500,000 at the
end of March with a goal set at
gaining 22,000 more by the end

of last month.
The app performs well on
Google Play, often placing in the
top 10 nationally across all apps
on the platform, Mr Rossellat
said. On May 10, MyChat ranked
12th in the top free category.
Meanwhile, international competitor Viber took 10th place.
Last year, On Device Research alleged Viber had a
stranglehold on the Myanmar
chat segment, with 79 percent

We really wanted
to create an
app that would
appeal to youth in
Myanmar.
David Roussellat
MySQUAR

of surveyed mobile internet users saying they engaged with it.

At Vibers flagship event in
Yangon last July, the company
revealed its local registered user
base had swelled to 5 million.
While the apps grip on the
market as well as stiff competition from the likes of Facebook
could prove challenging for

MyChat to battle, Mr Rossellat

called messenger apps increasing popularity a positive.
We really wanted to create
an app that would appeal to
youth in Myanmar and get them
excited to connect and find
new friends, he wrote in an
email. And apart from anything
else, MySQUAR and MyChat are
the only such tools tailor-made
for the Myanmar language.
The company has pushed
localisation and a targeted approach as MyChats competitive
edge since the early days of the
apps launch.
However, MySQUARS prospects for a public offering have
taken it far from the Myanmar
market.
Mr Rossellat said Londons
AIM is the current best fit for
MySQUAR and called the exchange the worlds top market
for companies with small capitalisation, as well as the tech
sectors premier growth market.
MySQUARs users span more
than 80 countries, but the lions
share stems from Myanmar,
Thailand and Malaysia, according to Mr Rossellat. Presently,
the firms head office is stationed in Singapore.
We are in the process of
transferring a major presence in
Myanmar this year, Mr Rossellat said.

IN BRIEF
Hlegu township agriculture needs
mechanisation push
Hlegu township in northern Yangon
needs 50 percent more equipment
to take advantage of its agricultural
potential, according to a local Ministry
of Agriculture official.
The township has more than 89,000
cultivated acres, and needs around
1500 smaller tractors and 150 large
ones, said U Naing Min Thu, an industrial farming official in northern Yangon
Region. Currently, when combining
private and public ownership, we have
only about 1000 smaller tractors and
100 large ones, he said.
U Naing Min Thu said there are a
number of ways the government is attempting to bridge the gap. It is looking
to take out loans from India to afford
purchases, while equipment vendors
are also looking to make deals.
Kubota, a Japanese brand with two
Thailand factories, held an expo in the
township, with the aim of selling equipment to local farmers. Su Phyo Win

BMW begins sales of 2 Series

BMWs Myanmar dealer Prestige

Automobiles has begun selling its 2
Series vehicles, according to company
officials.
The firm hopes to sell 200 units
this year, including 50 of the 2 Series
model, which is a two- or four-door
coupe. The models start at US$79,900
in its Yangon showroom.
Prestige managing director U Chan
Mya said BMW has developed a fuel
management system to control poorquality petrol, which can be a problem.
The 2 Series come with three-year
warranties from Prestige. The company claims to have sold 180 overall
units since launching in 2014.
Aye Nyein Win

International Business 11

www.mmtimes.com
NEW YORK

American
regulator
gives out
Bitcoin
licence
NEW Yorks powerful banking regulator announced late last week its first licence for a Bitcoin exchange, extending
its influence over the growing but littleregulated virtual currency industry.
New York City-based itBit Trust
Co was the first company dealing in
so-called crypto-currency to receive
a trust licence from the state Department of Financial Services (DFS).
ItBit immediately announced it was
accepting US retail and institutional
Bitcoin trading customers, and said it
had recruited to its board the respected
former chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Sheila Bair.
Benjamin Lawsky, superintendent
of the DFS, which supervises the massive New York City banking industry,
said it was critical to regulate the virtual money industry in the wake of the
collapse of the Tokyo-based Mt Gox
Bitcoin exchange last year.
The trust licence obliges the company to meet state banking law rules
on capitalisation, anti-money laundering safegaurds and consumer protections, Mr Lawsky noted.
We have sought to move quickly
but carefully to put in place rules of
the road to protect consumers and
provide greater regulatory certainty
for virtual currency entrepreneurs, he
said in a statement.
The technology behind Bitcoin
and other virtual currencies could ultimately hold real promise and it is critical that we set up appropriate rules of
the road to help safeguard customer
funds.
ItBit is one of a number of exchanges already operating, but was the first
to apply for a New York banking law
licence after the state moved to begin
regulating the exchanges last year.
The company started up in 2012 in
Singapore and last year in New York.
It is led by co-founder and chief executive Charles Cascarilla, an investment
banker, and is backed by a number of
venture capitalists.

The technology
behind Bitcoin
and other virtual
currencies could
ultimately hold real
promise.
Benjamin Lawsky
NY Department of Financial Services

On May 7 it formally announced

the establishment of itBit Trust with
US$25 million in fresh funding.
It also said that Ms Bair, former US
senator Bill Bradley, and Robert Herz,
former chair of the Financial Accounting Standards Board and board member at Morgan Stanley, had joined the
itBit board of directors.
Our mission at itBit has always
been to create a trusted, institutionalgrade exchange and regulatory compliance is an important pillar of that mission, said Mr Cascarilla in a statement.
Dealing with a New York-licenced
trust, he said, means that our clients can rest assured knowing that
their deposits are secure no matter
the exigency. AFP

ATHENS

KUALA LUMPUR

Greece, EU near on
debt deal: minister

Malaysia
Airlines hits
rough skies

GREECE and its international

creditors were very close to a loan
deal for the cash-strapped country,
a Greek junior minister said yesterday, a day ahead of a key meeting
in Brussels.
After weeks of painful negotiation, if the other side is willing, it
will become apparent that ... the
deal is very close and will be sealed
in the coming period, Euclid
Tsakalotos, one of Greeces main
negotiators, told Avgi daily.
Mr Tsakalotos, a junior foreign
minister, said Athens and its creditors were politically apart on labour and pension issues and that
some areas will remain open until
the last minute.
At a meeting of eurozone finance ministers later today, Greece
is hoping for a positive statement
on negotiations that will allow for a
section of 7.2 billion euros (US$8.1
billion) in remaining bailout loans
to be released, officials have said.
However, European officials
have played down the likelihood
of a deal actually emerging later
today.
We have made progress, but

THE new CEO of Malaysia Airlines

has told its employees that the troubled carrier faces a more dire outlook
than previously thought and warned
of coming job cuts, saying the company does not have enough work for
you.
The gloomy outlook from Christoph Mueller was contained in a
memo to the stricken airlines employees dated May 5 and obtained on
March 8.
The financial situation of MAS in
2015 is more challenging than we all
thought and it is a call for swift action, wrote Mr Mueller, who took his
new position on May 1.
The state fund that controls the
airline said last year it planned to
slash 6000 jobs, or about one-third of
the workforce.
It also has said it would kill off
unprofitable routes and make other
wrenching changes to rescue a carrier
facing possible collapse after years of
losses and two devastating disasters
in 2014. Appointing a new CEO was a
key part of the rescue strategy.
Mr Mueller is a German national
who had previously initiated a turnaround plan at Irelands Aer Lingus
that involved hefty job cuts. AFP

Greek Junior Foreign

Minister Euclid
Tsakalotos is head of
Greeces negotiating
team. Photo: AFP

we are not very close to an agreement, Eurogroup chair Jeroen

Dijsselbloem told Italys Corriere
della Sera daily.
It will surely not be reached at
the Eurogroup meeting [today], he
said.
Greece has been squeezing
funds from the central and local
governments to be able to meet its
international loan payments, with
concerns that within a matter of
weeks it could default and face a
messy exit from the euro.

But a loan repayment of 750

million euros due tomorrow to the
IMF will be honoured, according to
sources in Athens.
A poll in Real News daily yesterday showed 71.9 percent of Greeks
favoured a compromise to keep the
country in the eurozone.
And if the question was put to
a referendum, as the government
has indicated it may do, 49.2pc said
they would accept further salary
and pension cuts if it meant keeping the euro. AFP

12 International Business

THE MYANMAR TIMES MAY 11, 2015

SEOUL

Google opens first Asian campus in Korea

GOOGLE formally opened its first Asian
start-up campus in Seoul on May 8
a marquee-name nod to South Koreas
aspirations as a regional hub for a new
generation of tech entrepreneurs.
Opened by President Park GeunHye, who has touted establishing a
creative economy as a key policy for
her administration, Campus Seoul
is housed in the capitals upscale
Gangnam district which has become
a focal point for the Korean start-up
community.
As well as providing a space for people to work and network, it offers mentoring and training by Google teams
and experienced entrepreneurs, plus
access to other start-up communities
in Asia and beyond.
We feel were at a tipping point
where Korean start-ups will begin going global, said Jeffrey Lim, who heads
the Seoul Campus operations.
Its a point that has been touted as
tipping for some time, nudged by a
highly educated, hard-working community in a country with some of the
worlds fastest broadband speeds and
highest smartphone penetration rates.
But despite the domestic success
of some start-ups, Korean firms have
struggled to take their products to the
global market.
There are a variety of reasons, including a lack of funding and knowhow, well-intentioned but overly regulated government involvement, and the
absence of any real role models.
There are also challenges that are
particular to South Korea because of
its recent history.
The Asian financial crisis that
rocked the country in the late 1990s
and the bursting of an initial dot-com

Google campus member April Kim poses during a media tour of the campus in the Gangnam distric of Seoul. Photo: AFP

boom in 2001 served to reinforce the

widely held view that taking risks and
running your own business was to invite volatility, insecurity and potential
bankruptcy.
When bright, young Korean graduates want to create their own start-ups,
the biggest challenge they face is often
their parents, said Mr Lim.
They still push them toward the
security of jobs with the big conglomerates like Samsung and LG. They still
feel thats the gold standard for how
they raised their kids, he added.
But for those with the courage to
take the plunge, there are encouraging
signs that things are changing.

And the good thing about Korea

is that, when we change, we have
shown we can change very fast, said
April Kim, co-founder and CEO of
ChattingCat a start-up providing an
instant English-language correction
service for non-native speakers.
The 33-year-old, who has already
moved her tiny team into Campus
Seoul, believes a major corner has
already been turned, with overseas
venture capital firms setting up shop
in South Korea and Korean entrepreneurs starting to create start-up incubators and accelerators.
The government has also stepped
up, with Ms Parks administration

KUALA LUMPUR

HANOI

Unpopular
tax takes
Malaysia
political toll
AN unpopular new consumption tax
has handed fresh ammunition to critics
of Malaysias embattled prime minister,
with angry consumers complaining it
has sent some prices surging, and economists warning it could harm growth.
The government on April 1 introduced the 6 percent Goods and Services Tax (GST), which taxes transactions
throughout the business supply chain
and replaces earlier sales and service
taxes on end-consumers that ranged
from 6 to 10pc.
The government had said the more
streamlined tax regime would lead to
lower prices for many key items and
boost government revenue in Southeast Asias third-largest economy.
Experts agree Malaysias biggest
tax reform in decades is necessary
fewer than 3 million of the countrys
30 million people pay income tax, and
high government debt has economists
worried.
But implementation has been
marked by mass confusion over how
the tax works, its array of exemptions
and contradictory government statements, with many businesses hiking
prices amid the uncertainty.
The issue sparked a May Day protest by thousands of opponents and has
provided fresh fodder for ruling-party
forces seeking Prime Minister Najib
Razaks ouster over allegations of corruption and mismanagement.
We are victims of a mismanaged
economy. [The GST] hurts the poor
and the middle-class like me, said

in 2013 unveiling a 3.3 trillion won

(US$3.0 billion) fund to nurture startups over the next three years.
In the past two years, Ms Kim has
received more than $60,000 in government funding, a sum she was extremely grateful for when she was struggling
to get her company up and running.
But the money came with a substantial cost in time and effort.
There was so much paperwork!
For my first [$20,000] I had to write an
80-page report. And every quarter, they
want an accounting of how the money
is being spent, Ms Kim said.
Theres a lot of frustration and
wasted energy, she said.

Its a point echoed by another early

Campus Seoul member, Park Sangwon,
whose software development start-up
is promoting a real-time camera filter
application that already boasts 160 million downloads.
The problem is that the side providing the funding is not really looking
at making the business more successful, the 34-year-old said.
Theres a lot of distrust and wanting to make sure the money is being
spent in the proper way, he added.
The Google campuses are not-forprofit projects that the US tech giant
says carry the over-arching benefit of
widening the internet eco-sphere. The
Seoul outpost is modelled after similar
facilities in London and Tel Aviv, and
soon to be Warsaw and Sao Paulo.
Basic membership is free and space
is provided at very low rates. Google
has no financial stake in the start-ups
that use the Seoul campus, although it
clearly doesnt hurt to have a close eye
on what might become the next Twitter
or Uber.
For both Ms Kim and Ms Park, its a
welcome resource where they can meet
other small teams like their own, share
experiences, pursue possible collaborations and, hopefully, identify and open
doors to venture capital funding.
But in terms of growing, they still
lack the models for how to move beyond the Korean market.
Im at a stage where I need mentors and connections, but they are hard
to find, Ms Kim said.
I hope there will be at least one Korean start-up that makes it on a global
scale in the next few years. It would
give a lot of people hope and help others to learn and follow. AFP

Malaysias Prime Minister Najib

Razak speaks during the opening
ceremony of the 26th ASEAN
Summit in Kuala Lumpur.
Photo: AFP

Kuala Lumpur pre-school teacher Siti

Nora Manaf, 62.
Like many Malaysian consumers,
she already faced rising costs, with the
ringgit currency at its weakest in years
due to concerns over the impact of soft
world oil prices. Malaysia is heavily dependent on energy exports.
Ms Siti Nora said the price of a bag of
rice supposedly exempt from the GST
has jumped 40pc since April 1 amid
the confusion. She has begun growing
vegetables in the small garden at her
home, while slashing other living costs.
Mr Najib last month defended the
tax as an important reform that will
help us build a stronger, more sustainable and transparent economy.
He has said short-term pain was unavoidable, while vowing to clamp down
on profiteering.
But critics question the timing of
the GSTs introduction.
After Malaysias economy grew 6pc
last year, the World Bank in January
forecast a slowdown in 2015 to a stillenviable 4.7pc, citing the oil-price woes.
Malaysian consumers also shoulder some of Asias highest levels of

personal debt, increasing public sensitivity to price shocks.

Everyones wallet is being hit.
Salaries are not going up, and going
forward consumers will face a hard
time, said Paul Selvaraj, head of the
Federation of Malaysian Consumers
Associations.
Chua Hak Bin, a Bank of America
Merrill Lynch economist, said the GST
will crimp the domestic spending that
Malaysias economy increasingly relies
on as export markets have softened.
There will be a pullback in consumer spending and it could last until
September due to waning consumer
sentiment, Mr Chua said.
He added, however, that scrapping
the GST would be a disaster that
would shatter investor confidence.
Economists remain guardedly optimistic on the financial outlook, and
foreign investment remains solid.
But worried comparisons are being
made with Japan, which raised its consumption tax last year, a move blamed
for stifling consumer spending and
triggering a recession.
AFP

Pepper baits Vietnam

coffee farmer switch
COFFEE farmer Bui Van Trong is planning to switch as much as 15 percent of
his 5-acre farm to pepper after prices
more than tripled in five years.
When I have profit from it, Ill be
less worried by wild fluctuations in
the coffee market, said Mr Trong, 51,
whose farm is in the central Dak Lak
province bordering Cambodia.
Vietnam is the worlds biggest producer of pepper as well as the largest
supplier of robusta beans. As coffee
swung from a bull to a bear market
in the past 14 months, more farmers
planted pepper as an alternative source
of income. The expansion could pose
a threat to robusta production, said
Le Tien Hung, who exports the beans
from the Central Highlands.

Coffee production
may even stop
growing and decline
in the long run.
Le Tien Hung
Coffee bean exporter

Farmers are planting pepper vines

to replace old trees, said Mr Hung,
the general director at September 2nd
Import-Export or Simexco, the countrys second-largest shipper. Coffee
production may even stop growing
and decline in the long run, he said by
phone April 21.
The doi moi reforms of the 1980s
gave farmers access to global markets
and they responded by planting more

of everything. Robusta output expanded

eightfold in two decades. Pepper production has climbed 36pc in the past
five years and the country now supplies
about half of global exports. Vietnam
also ships rice, tea and rubber. Blackpepper prices in Vietnam have more
than tripled in the past five years to
US$8565 a tonne in March, according
to the Spices Board in India. Robusta
added 28pc to US$1729 a tonne on the
ICE Futures Europe market in London.
The price of pepper rose every
year but one since 2009, while coffee
has swung between gains and losses.
Robusta has also been more volatile,
jumping 52pc in the four months to
March 2014 before dropping 22pc in
the following year.
That has spurred pepper planting,
with the cultivated area increasing
to 83,800 hectares (207,000 acres) in
2014, from 55,500 hectares in 2011, according to agriculture ministry data.
Coffee plantations expanded 9.5pc to
641,700 hectares in the same period,
the data show.
A collapse in coffee output in Vietnam is unlikely any time soon. Yields
are increasing and global demand for
robusta is rising, according to Carlos
Mera, a commodities analyst at Rabobank International in London. Robusta is typically used in soluble drinks
and espresso blends.
Farmers are not going to uproot a
significant proportion of coffee trees to
plant pepper, said Mr Mera. Vietnams
harvest will probably increase to 29.4
million 132-pound (59.9 kilogram) bags
in the 12 months from October, from
27.2 million bags this year, he estimates.
Pepper vines are also more vulnerable to disease and cost more to
cultivate. Bloomberg

14 THE MYANMAR TIMES May 11, 2015

15

World

World editor: Fiona MacGregor

Widodo frees
Papua political
prisoners

North Korea claims

ballistic missile test
launch from sub

World 16

World 17

SANAA

GENEVA

Yemen rebel allies accept

Saudi five-day ceasefire offer

Shooting mystery after

bodies found in Switzerland

RENEGADE Yemeni troops who

helped Shiite rebels to seize much of
the country said yesterday that they
had accepted a Saudi proposal for a
ceasefire after more than six weeks of
air strikes.
The announcement came as Saudiled warplanes hit the Sanaa residence
of ousted president Ali Abdullah
Saleh, who is accused of orchestrating the alliance between the renegade
units and the rebels.
There was no immediate word
from the Huthi rebels themselves on
whether they too had accepted Saudi
Arabias offer of a five-day pause from
tomorrow in the devastating air war it
has led in support of exiled President
Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.
The truce moves came as the United Nations expressed mounting concern about the civilian death toll from
the bombing campaign and the humanitarian impact of the air and sea
blockade that Saudi Arabia and its allies have imposed on its impoverished
neighbour.
Coalition warplanes pounded the
rebels stronghold of Saada in the
northern mountains for a second
straight night on May 9 after declaring the whole province a military target despite aid agency pleas to spare
trapped civilians.
Following mediation from friendly
countries to establish a humanitarian
truce ... we announce our agreement,
said Colonel Sharaf Luqman, spokesperson for the army defectors.
The renegade units, who remained
loyal to Mr Saleh after he was forced
from power in early 2012, played a major part in the Iran-backed rebels capture of swathes of the country beyond
their stronghold in the mainly Shiite
northern highlands.
Their bases have been a major

target of the coalition air campaign

that the United Nations says has killed
more than 1400 people, many of them
civilians.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel alJubeir made the ceasefire proposal
on May 8 with strong backing from
Washington which has provided logistical support for its leading Arab ally
but not carried out air strikes.
Mr Jubeir stressed that the truce
offer needed to be matched by the rebels and that it would be broken off if
they made any move to exploit it for
military advantage.
The ceasefire will end should Huthis or their allies not live up to the
agreement. This is a chance for the
Huthis to show that they care about
their people and they care about the
Yemen people, Mr Jubeir said at a
joint news conference in Paris with US
Secretary of State John Kerry.
Mr Kerry said the ceasefire would
take place provided that the Huthis
agree that there will be no bombing,
no shooting, no movement of their
troops or manoeuvring to reposition
for military advantage [and] no movement of heavy weapons.
He said the pause in hostilities was
a renewable commitment that, if it

Following
mediation from
friendly countries
... we announce our
agreement.
Col Sharaf luqman
Spokesperson for army defectors

held, opens the door to possibility of

an extension.
Mr Salehs political party, the General Peoples Congress, welcomed the
proposal, expressing hope it would
minimise the impact of the aggression that has burdened the Yemeni
people with unprecedented suffering
and an unparallelled blockade.
Saudi-led warplanes carried out
two air strikes on Mr Salehs Sanaa
residence early yesterday, witnesses
said. He was believed not to have been
at home when they hit.
The UN Security Council has imposed sanctions on both Mr Saleh
and his son for their support for the
rebels and their undermining of the
transition since his ouster following a
bloody year-long uprising.
Coalition aircraft also carried out
intensive air strikes on Saada province
for a second straight night after giving
civilians until the evening of May 8 to
flee the province.
Riyadh said the rebels had crossed
a red line with deadly shelling of
populated border areas of the kingdom last week.
Residents reported at least 15 raids
across the province. Rebel chief Abdul
Malik al-Huthis home town of Marran
was again among the targets.
Aid agencies warned that large
numbers of civilians remain trapped
in the province unable to find
transport to leave.
The United Nations has said that
the fighting and the coalition blockade
have led to a rapidly worsening shortage of fuel that is also preventing the
distribution of desperately needed aid.
Doctors without Borders (MSF) said
it had been impossible for Saadas entire population to leave in just hours,
and called on the coalition to avoid hitting residential areas. AFP

An armed Yemeni tribesman from the Popular Resistance Committees, supporting forces loyal to Yemens Saudi-backed fugitive
President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, looks through binoculars in Marib province east of the capital Sanaa on May 9. Photo: AFP

SEVERAL people have been killed in a

shooting in the northern Swiss canton
of Aargau, police said yesterday.
Police, who did not give the precise
number of victims, said all those who
died were adults but that the cause of
the incident on the evening of May 9
in Wrenlingen was unknown.
A news conference was due to take
place later yesterday, police said.

Neighbours alerted police after

hearing gunshots after 11pm local
time and officers subsequently discovered several dead bodies inside and
outside a building.
Emergency services workers, however, had been unable to give a cause
of death, police said in a statement.
The identification of the victims
was under way. AFP

VATICAN CITY

Castro thanks Pope

IN PICTUrES

Young people carry portraits of World War II soldiers as they mark the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII in
Stavropol on May 9. Russian President Vladimir Putin presided over a huge Victory Day parade celebrating 70 years
since the Soviet win over Nazi Germany, amid a Western boycott of the festivities over the Ukraine crisis.

Photo: AFP

loNdoN

UK begins new political era

BRITAIN was adjusting to a new
political landscape yesterday after
a shock election victory for Prime
Minister David Cameron that decapitated the opposition and bolstered secessionists in Scotland.
While Mr Cameron spent the
weekend drawing up his new team
of ministers, the Scottish National
Party (SNP) was celebrating its seismic gains, insisting it would not be
sidelined in the new parliament.
Despite pollsters predicting that
Mr Camerons Conservatives would
lose ground in the May 7 vote, they
won 331 of the 650 seats in parliament, giving the prime minister
a second term in office this time
with a majority for his centre-right
party.
While there were dramatic gains
for the Conservatives and the Scottish National Party (SNP), the opposition was left in disarray after
the Labour and Liberal Democrat
leaders quit over their parties
drubbings.
The UK Independence Party
(UKIP) leader also resigned, after a
huge swell in votes for the populist
party translated into only one parliamentary seat.
Dozens of anti-austerity protesters unhappy with Mr Camerons
return to power clashed with police
during a protest outside Downing

Street on May 9, leading to two officers being hospitalised and 17

arrests.
Anti-Tory graffiti was also
daubed on a war memorial honouring the women of WWII in what the
Royal British Legion called a senseless act.
The victory gives the Conservatives a freer hand than in Mr Camerons previous government a coalition with the Liberal Democrats.
But the slender majority leaves
them prey to rebellion from within
their own ranks.
The Times said Mr Cameron
would need every ounce of statesmanship to surmount the challenges facing him.
His majority is slim and using it
will not be easy. His real work starts
now.
Mr Cameron had already agreed
to hold an in-out referendum on
Britains European Union membership by 2017 due to pressure from
the Conservative right wing and a
rising UKIP, and he was quick to
confirm his pledge on May 8.
There is growing concern in the
business community about the referendum, even though Mr Cameron
has said he will campaign to stay in
as long as he can negotiate reforms
to cut down on EU migrants moving to Britain.

Tories, SNP triumph in UK general election

Victorious

Out of a job

How the country voted

Ed Miliband
Aged 45
Labour Party

David
Cameron

Aged 48
Conservative
Prime Minister
Re-elected

Shetland Is.

Nick Clegg Aged 48

Liberal Democrat
Party
Nigel Farage
Aged 51 UKIP

N.
IRELAND

WALES

Nicola
Sturgeon
Aged 44
Scottish
National
Party

Seats in
parliament

Greens

Labour
56
1

EU partners gave a taste of the

tough talks ahead in their congratulations for his re-election, with
French President Francois Hollande
saying that there were rules in Europe to be respected.
European Commission chief JeanClaude Juncker said the blocs four
key principles including freedom of
movement were non-negotiable.
Mr Cameron will also face a
tough battle to keep Scotland in the
United Kingdom, and in a post-election speech pledged to grant sweeping new local powers.
Mr Cameron has kept his four
main ministers in place and boosted

ENGLAND

8 Liberal Democrats

232

Scottish
National
Party

Orkney
Is.

SCOTLAND

331

GREATER
LONDON

Conservatives

650
seats

1 UKIP
21 Others

Source: BBC

the nominal power of his finance

minister George Osborne.
Former education secretary Michael Gove will become justice secretary while Nicky Morgan will stay
on as education chief. Chris Grayling
and Mark Harper were also named
in the new cabinet.
Mr Cameron is expected to complete his cabinet fully today, then finalise more junior ministerial posts
over the coming week.
During the election campaign, Mr
Cameron named Mr Osborne, interior minister Theresa May and London Mayor Boris Johnson as his chief
possible successors, after pledging

this would be his final term in office.

Centre-left Labour lost 26 seats
and now has 232 MPs, while the centrist Liberal Democrats were eviscerated after five years in coalition with
the Conservatives, ending up with
just eight seats after losing 49.
In Scotland, the left-wing SNP
won a historic landslide 56 of the
59 Scottish seats just seven months
after losing a referendum on seceding from the United Kingdom.
The people of Scotland on
Thursday voted for an SNP manifesto, which had ending austerity as
its number one priority, party leader
Nicola Sturgeon said.
No longer will Scotland be sidelined or ignored, she said.
The Labour Party is set for a period of soul-searching as it starts
choosing a replacement for Ed Miliband, who stood down as leader.
Former leader Tony Blair yesterday told the party to ditch its shift
to the left, saying that the route to
the summit lies through the centre
ground.
Hard-working families dont just
want us celebrating their hard work;
they want to know that by hard work
and effort they can rise up, achieve,
he wrote in the Observer.
They want to be better off and
they need to know we dont just tolerate that, we support it. AFP

CUBAN President Raul Castro arrived

at the Vatican yesterday to thank Pope
Francis for his role in brokering the
rapprochement between Havana and
Washington.
The first South American pope
played a key role in secret negotiations
between the United States and Cuba
that led to the surprise announcement
in December that they would seek to
restore diplomatic ties after more than
50 years of tensions.
Mr Castro, who was accompanied
by his foreign minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, was due to hold a strictly
private meeting with the pontiff in a
small room adjoining the Paul VI Audience Hall, where large gatherings are
held in the Vatican.
Pope Francis arrived 10 minutes
ahead of Mr Castro, while a dozen uniformed Swiss Guards stood to attention
in front of the building when the limousine bearing the Cuban flag arrived.
The Holy See has said the Argentine pope personally mediated between
the two sides, and the Vatican hosted
delegations from the two countries in
October.
US theologian Miguel Diaz, a former ambassador to the Holy See, said
Pope Francis would reprise the words
of Polish pope John Paul II, who made
a historic first papal visit to Cuba in
1998.
Let Cuba open itself to the world,
and let the world open itself to Cuba,
John Paul II urged during the visit,
when he was accompanied by Jorge
Bergoglio, then auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires, now Pope Francis.
The pope will certainly reiterate
John Paul IIs urging now that Cuba is
trying to step up its involvement in the
economic world and international relations, Mr Diaz told the Italian news

agency Adnkronos.
Mr Castros stop at the Holy See, announced only on May 5, follows a visit
to Russia, where the Cuban leader attended a grandiose World War II victory parade on May 9.
He was due to meet Italian Prime
Minister Matteo Renzi in Rome later
yesterday.
The Vatican announced last month
that Pope Francis would visit Cuba in
September, becoming only the third
pontiff to do so after John Paul II in
1998 and Benedict XVI in 2012.
Pope Francis will go on from Cuba
to the United States and a meeting
with President Barack Obama.
Mr Castros ailing older brother Fidel came to the Vatican in 1996 when
he met pope John Paul II.
The Catholic Church has consistently
backed calls for the lifting of the US trade
embargo against Cuba, while staunchly
supporting Cuban Catholics, pressuring
Havana to release political prisoners,
many of them Catholic activists.
The Vatican also kept its distance
from Cuban exiles based in Miami,
Florida, clamoured for Havanas Marxist regime to be overthrown by force.
When the now-retired Benedict XVI
visited Cuba in 2012 he had long and
warm talks with Fidel Castro, who is
now 88.
The Vaticans mediation between
Cuba and the US administration was a
major success for the Holy See and had
a considerable impact in mainly Catholic Latin America.
Other diplomatic efforts have been
less successful, including a bid to help
resolve the political crisis in Venezuela
and a longstanding drive to encourage
reconciliation between the Colombian
government and guerrilla movements
there. AFP

Pope Francis talks with Cuban President Raul Castro during a private audience
at the Vatican on May 10. Photo: AFP

16 World

THE MYANMAR TIMES May 11, 2015

ABEPURA, IndonEsIA

Widodo frees Papua

political prisoners
and eases foreign
reporting restrictions
INDONESIAN President Joko Widodo has announced decades-old reporting restrictions for foreign journalists in Papua will be lifted and
ordered the release of a group of
political prisoners in the insurgencyhit eastern province.
The moves signalled that Mr
Widodo, who took office last year,
is easing the tight grip that Jakarta
has long kept on the mineral-rich
province, where poorly armed fighters have for years fought a lowlevel insurgency against the central
government.
Mr Widodo has taken a keen interest in Papua, pledging to improve
livelihoods in the heavily militarised
area which lags behind other parts of
Indonesia in terms of development.
He revealed in an interview with
a group of reporters in Abepura,
Papua, that from yesterday foreign
journalists were to be allowed full
access.
Tomorrow I will declare it, he
said. However, implementing the
change could prove tough.
Human Rights Watch researcher
Andreas Harsono predicted there
would be resistance from some quarters, including the foreign ministry
which currently oversees the visa issuing process.
He said there would also be a lot

of pressure to implement it in the

coming months.
Indonesia has long been deeply
sensitive about foreign journalists
covering Papua. Applying for permission to go there is complex, and
it is rarely granted.
Punishments for foreigners caught
illegally reporting can be harsh. Two
French journalists were given short
jail terms last year for trying to make
a documentary on the separatist
movement without authorisation.
The disclosure came shortly after five political prisoners convicted
over a 2003 raid on an Indonesian
military weapons arsenal were
granted clemency by Mr Widodo.
They were due to walk free from
Abepura prison imminently.
Dozens of Papuan separatists
are in jail for committing treason

We need to create
a sense of peace in
Papua. This is just
the beginning.
Joko Widodo
Indonesian president

Papuans greet the motorcade of Indonesian President Joko Widodo while a police officer tries to control the crowd in
Jayapura, located in the province of Papua, on May 9. Photo: AFP

for acts such as raising the proindependence Morning Star flag

and taking part in anti-government
protests.
Mr Widodo shook hands with the
five ethnic Melanesian prisoners at
the prison, presenting each with a
letter confirming the remainder of
their sentences was being waived.
Today we are releasing these five
detainees to stop the stigma of conflict in Papua, he told reporters at
the prison.
We need to create a sense of
peace in Papua. This is just the

beginning.
The release marks a change in approach from previous governments.
During the 10-year rule of president
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, only
one political prisoner in Papua was
granted clemency, according to Human Rights Watch.
However, Human Rights Watchs
Mr Harsono called on Mr Widodo
to go further by offering prisoners
amnesties. Prisoners have to request
clemency and admit guilt before it
is granted, but this is not a requirement for an amnesty.

WAsHInGTon

There are still regular flare-ups of

violence in Papua, where insurgents
are fighting on behalf of the mostly
ethnic Melanesian population.
Indonesian troops are regularly
accused of abusing Papuan villagers in the name of anti-rebel operations, but Jakarta denies allegations of systematic human rights
abuses.
Jakarta took control of Papua,
which forms half of the island of
New Guinea, in 1963 from former
colonial power the Netherlands.
AFP

BAnGKoK

Chinese land reclamation in

S China Sea surges rapidly

Thai king
home from
hospital

CHINA has dramatically ramped up

its land reclamation efforts in the
South China Sea this year, building artificial islands at an unprecedented pace to bolster its territorial claims in the disputed area, US
officials said on May 8.
The rapid construction of artificial islands in the strategic waters
comes to 2000 acres (800 hectares),
with 75 percent of the total in the
last five months, officials said.
China has expanded the acreage on the outposts it occupies by
some 400 times, said a US defence
official.
The United States did not endorse land reclamation by any of the
countries with territorial claims in
the South China Sea, but the pace
and scale of Chinas land reclamation in recent years dwarfs that of
any other claimant, the official said.
The South China Sea is home
to strategically vital shipping lanes
and is believed to be rich in oil and
gas. Washington is concerned Chinas efforts carry a military dimension that could undermine Americas naval and economic power in
the Pacific.
Washington urged restraint, and
said the land reclamation could
threaten regional stability.
We urge all claimants to pursue
peaceful and diplomatic approaches
to maritime and territorial disputes
in the South China Sea, a defence
official said.
We do not believe that largescale land reclamation is consistent
with the regions desire for peace
and stability.
The commander of the US Pacific

THAILANDS revered-but-ageing King

Bhumibol Adulyadej yesterday left a
Bangkok hospital, where he has been
recuperating since October, for his
coastal palace, as hundreds of wellwishers cheered him on his journey.
The 87-year-old king, the worlds
longest-serving monarch, is treated
as a near-deity by many Thais and his
health is a subject of public concern in
the politically turbulent country.
The convoy carrying King Bhumibol left Siriraj Hospital for his home in
the southern town of Hua Hin shortly
after 2 pm, with Queen Sirikit, 82, and
their daughter Princess Sirindhorn,
60, travelling behind the monarch, all
three in separate vehicles.
Hundreds of Thais, many dressed
in the royal colour yellow, waved flags
and held up photos of King Bhumibol
as some cheered, Long live the king!
King Bhumibol, formally known as
King Rama IX, has spent most of the
past few months in hospital after undergoing an operation to remove his
gall bladder in October.
In the past two months the monarch
has made two brief trips from his hospital bed, one in early May to a nearby palace and one last month to view the Chao
Praya river that runs through Bangkok.
No official statements were issued
about the kings health yesterday.
Most Thais have only known King
Bhumibol on the throne, and anxiety
over the future once his six-decade
reign ends is seen as an aggravating
factor in Thailands bitter political
schism. Last May the military took
over in a coup following months of
street protests that led to the toppling
of former premier Yingluck Shinawatras elected government. AFP

Fleet, Admiral Harry Harris, said

in March that China is creating a
Great Wall of sand.
US officials released the reclamation estimate as the Pentagon issued
its annual report to Congress on the
state of Chinas military, which repeated accusations that Beijing was
staging cyber attacks to scoop up
information on American defence
programs.
The report also warned that
China has made major strides with
a range of satellites as well as antisatellite jammers, saying it now had
the most dynamic space program
in the world today.
China blasted the US report on
May 9, expressing opposition and
accusing it of distorting facts.
The US defence departments
report on Chinas military and security development situation distorts
facts and continues to play up the
China military threat cliche, Chinese defence ministry spokesperson Geng Yansheng was quoted as
saying by the official Xinhua news
agency.
He made no direct mention of
land reclamation in the South China Sea, but said China was justified
in upholding its sovereignty in the
area.
The military build-up aims to
maintain sovereignty, security and
territorial integrity, and guarantee
Chinas peaceful development, Mr
Geng said.
Previous reports have noted
Chinas focus on cyber and space
weapons but this years document
included a special section on the
countrys massive dredging and

island building in the strategic

South China Sea.
At four reclamation sites, China
has moved from dredging operations to infrastructure development that could include harbours,
communications and surveillance
systems, logistics support and at
least one airfield, the report said.
The Chinese have excavated deep
channels that could accommodate
larger ships to the outposts, it said.

The pace and scale

of Chinas land
reclamation in
recent years dwarfs
that of any other
claimant.
Us defence official

The ultimate purpose of the effort remains unclear but analysts

outside China say Beijing is attempting to change facts on the
ground by improving its defence
infrastructure in the South China
Sea, the report said.
Unlike other countries making
claims in the area, China at the moment does not have an airfield or
secure docking at its outposts and
the reclamation operations may be
aimed at ending that disparity, it
said.

The Pentagon report covered a

period ending in December 2014
and said China had reclaimed 500
acres in the disputed waters up to
that point. But since then, China
has conducted reclamation covering
1500 acres, officials said.
Satellite images taken last
month and shown on the website
of the Washington-based Center
for Strategic and International
Studies (CSIS) showed Chinese
island-building in several locations, including construction of a
runway on Fiery Cross Reef in the
Spratly Island chain, estimated at
3.1 kilometres (1.9 miles) in total
and more than one-third complete
at the time.
Last week CSIS also unveiled images of Vietnamese island-building
in the Spratlys.
Beijing asserts sovereignty over
almost the whole of the South China Sea, including areas close to the
coasts of other littoral states, using
a nine-segment line based on one
that first appeared on Chinese maps
in the 1940s.
China has repeatedly defended
its construction work as taking
place within its own territory and
intended to help with maritime
search and rescue, navigation and
research.
The scale of Chinas construction work should be commensurate
with its responsibility and obligation as a major country and meet
actual needs, foreign ministry
spokesperson Hua Chunying told
a regular briefing on May 8, before
the US comments.
AFP

World 17

www.mmtimes.com
SEOUL

North Korea claims ballistic

missile test fired from submarine
NORTH Korea has claimed it had
successfully test-fired a submarinelaunched ballistic missile (SLBM) a
technology that could eventually offer
the nuclear-armed state a survivable
second-strike capability.
North Korean leader Kim JongUn, who personally oversaw the test,
hailed the newly developed missile
as a world-level strategic weapon,
according to a report by the official
KCNA news agency on May 9.
Adding further fuel to inter-Korean
tensions, South Koreas military said it
had detected the separate test-firing
by the North on May 9 of three antiship cruise missiles off its northeast
coast.
Pyongyang has issued three warnings over the past week that it will fire
on sight at South Korean navy patrol
boats it accuses of violating the disputed Yellow Sea border on the west
side of the divided peninsula.
Seoul has denied any incursions
and vowed to retaliate sternly to any
provocation.
There was no immediate independent confirmation of the SLBM test,
which would violate UN sanctions
banning Pyongyang from using ballistic missile technology.
A fully developed SLBM capability
would take the North Korean nuclear
threat to a new level, allowing deployment far beyond the Korean peninsula
and the potential to retaliate in the
event of a nuclear attack.
Satellite images earlier this year
had shown the conning tower of a new
North Korean submarine, which US
analysts said appeared to house one
or two vertical launch tubes for either
ballistic or cruise missiles.
The same analysts from the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University said at the time that developing an
operational SLBM capability would be

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un smiles while observing an underwater test-fire of a submarine-launched ballistic missile at
an undisclosed location, in a picture released from North Koreas official Korean Central News Agency on May 9. Photo: AFP

extremely costly and likely take North

Korea years to achieve.
If this is what North Korea claims
it is, then it has come much sooner
than anyone expected, said Dan
Pinkston, Korea expert at the International Crisis Group in Seoul.
An SLBM capability would certainly increase the credibility of the
Norths retaliatory threat, but Id like

RAIPUR

to see what foreign intel says about

this test, Mr Pinkston said.
According to the KCNA report, the
test was carried out by a sub that dived
to launch depth on the sounding of a
combat alarm.
After a while, the ballistic missile
soared into the sky from underwater,
the agency said.
It gave no detail of the size or range,

nor did it specify when or where the

launch was carried out.
Pictures released by KCNA showed
a missile firing out of the water, with
Kim Jong-Un watching from a boat in
the foreground.
Red lettering on the side of the
missile read bukgeungsong, meaning
north star or possibly polaris.
North Korea has been known to

doctor military photos, and the validity of the KCNA pictures could not immediately be verified.
The agency quoted Mr Kim as saying the Korean military now possessed
a world-level strategic weapon capable of striking and wiping out in any
waters the hostile forces infringing
upon [North Koreas] sovereignty and
dignity.
The test was an eye-opening success on a par with North Koreas successful launch of a satellite into orbit
in 2012, Mr Kim said.
The satellite launch was condemned by the international community as a disguised ballistic missile
test and resulted in a tightening of UN
sanctions.
While there is no doubt that the
North has been running an active ballistic missile development program,
expert opinion is split on just how
much progress it has made.
The North has yet to conduct a test
showing it has mastered the re-entry
technology required for an effective
intercontinental ballistic missile.
There are also competing opinions
on whether the North has the ability
to miniaturise a nuclear device that
would fit onto a delivery missile.
North Koreas small submarine
fleet is comprised of largely obsolete
Soviet-era and modified Chinese vessels, but suggestions that it was experimenting with a marine-based missile
system have been around for a while.
The South Korean defence ministry
cited intelligence reports last September that Pyongyang was understood to
be developing a vertical missile launch
tube for submarine use.
Ministry officials said the Norths
3000-tonne Golf-class submarine
could be modified to fire mediumrange ballistic missiles.
AFP

MANILA

Rebels kill one hostage Thousands evacuated as typhoon

ahead of Modis visit
sweeps toward Philippines
MAOIST rebels have killed one hostage and released some 250 others in
Indias restive Chhattisgarh state after
capturing the villagers on the eve of
premier Narendra Modis visit to the
state, police said yesterday.
The insurgents rounded up the
villagers late on May 8 and marched
them into the forests in impoverished
Chhattisgarhs Sukma district in protest against construction of a local
bridge, police said.
All villagers have been released
[late on May 9] except one who was
killed at the hands of the Maoists, district inspector general SR Kalluri said.
The victim was shot after he was
found guilty of encouraging others
to take part in the bridge building
in Sukma, some 318 kilometres (198
miles) from state capital Raipur.
He was found guilty at a kangaroo
court and shot dead, police sources
told AFP.
The Maoists had been protesting
against the bridge, which they fear
will give security forces easy access to
their hideouts, according to local lawmaker Kawashi Lakma.
But the villagers had been defying
Maoist orders to oppose it and even
skipped meetings called by the insurgents, leading to a show of strength
against them, Mr Lakma said.
Hostage-taking is a common tactic
by the guerillas to force villagers to
support their cause. The Maoists say

they have been fighting for decades for

the rights of tribal people and landless
farmers.
Speaking in a neighbouring district
on May 9, Mr Modi pledged government investment in the region, saying
development for all would help end
the bloodshed.
Violence has no future. Dont get
disheartened. The macabre drama of
death will end soon, Mr Modi said after announcing a new railway network
in the area and meeting children left
orphaned by the violence.
The rebels have been fighting
against Delhi-government rule since
1967 for a communist society.
They draw recruits from tribal
communities who are often desperately poor and living in underdeveloped areas neglected by successive
governments.
The rebels are thought to be present in at least 20 states, but are most
active in Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Bihar,
Jharkhand and Maharashtra, occupying vast swathes of land.
Their insurgency has cost thousands of lives including through
bombings and attacks on police and
soldiers.
Critics believe attempts to end
the revolt through security offensives
are doomed to fail, saying the real
solution is better governance and
development.
AFP

MORE than 2000 people were fleeing their homes as Typhoon Noul approached the northern Philippines
yesterday, triggering warnings of possible flash floods, landslides and tsunami-like storm surges.
The storms movement had slowed
slightly by midafternoon, but had also
strengthened to pack gusts of 220 kilometres (137 miles) per hour, said Esperanza Cayanan, chief of the governments weather monitoring division.
It was expected to hit the northern
edge of the countrys main island of
Luzon by yesterday evening.
In Taiwan, which is also in the
storms predicted path, authorities
warned sailors of strong winds and
high waves and evacuated almost
1000 tourists from an island off the
southeast coast.
Ms Cayanan said the northern Philippine province of Cagayan was expected to feel the brunt of the typhoon later
in the day when it made landfall there.
This is a very dangerous storm. It
is the strongest so far this year, said
Rene Paciente, head of the marine
weather division.
More than 2000 people in Cagayan
were being evacuated from coastal
villages, said Norma Talosig, regional
civil defence chief.
They have to evacuate to higher
ground, not in their village. They
are being assisted by the local

governments using buses and trucks,

even ambulances, she said.
The national civil defence chief,
Alexander Pama, said that given the
possibility of storm surges of up to 2
metres (6.5 feet), they were taking no
chances.
There is no exact science in this.
So we will stay on the safe side by
ordering evacuations in vulnerable areas, he said.

This is a very
dangerous storm. It
is the strongest we
have had so far this
year.
Rene Paciente
Philippines Marine Weather Division

Even as we speak, our armed forces are already moving ... to help in the
evacuation. So too are our police forces
who are conducting evacuations in their
municipalities, he told reporters.
Storm surges tsunami-like waves
generated by powerful typhoons
have become a major concern during
storms.

In November 2013 storm surges

were the main killers as Super Typhoon Haiyan ravaged the central
Philippines, leaving more than 7350
people dead or missing.
Several hundred people living in
a farming hamlet below the restive
Bulusan volcano on Luzon have also
been evacuated due to the potential
for rain to mix with volcanic ash accumulated on its slopes and form deadly
fast-moving mudflows.
The civil defence office also cited
numerous areas that could be hit by
landslides or flash floods due to the
heavy to intense rainfall that the typhoon was expected to bring.
The government has suspended
ferry services in affected areas and
some domestic flights have also been
cancelled.
About 20 typhoons and storms hit
the Philippines each year, many of
them deadly.
In Taiwan nearly 1000 tourists had
been evacuated from scenic Green
Island by noon, an official from the
county government said.
Tourists would otherwise be
stranded there for at least two days,
he said.
All ferries and flights to Green Island and another tourist attraction,
Orchid Island, were suspended and
people were urged to stay away from
coastal areas. AFP

18 World

THE MYANMAR TIMES MAY 11, 2015

KATHMANDU

Everest sherpas fear for future

World 19

www.mmtimes.com
MONROVIA

Life looks bleak for guides on the worlds tallest mountain after Nepals earthquake leaves them jobless

Liberias Ebola outbreak

finally over, UN declares

MOUNT Everest record holder Apa

Sherpa ran for his life when a huge
earthquake hit Nepal, and now fears
for the future after the disaster cut
short the climbing season for the
second year in a row.
Everyone here is scared and depressed. We have lost everything,
the climber said speaking by telephone from Thame, deep in the Everest region, one of the villages that
is home to the Sherpa ethnic group.
The tight-knit community of
around 50 families has produced
some of the worlds greatest mountaineers, including Mr Sherpa, who
is something of a celebrity having
reached the top of Everest a record
21 times.
Sherpas, thought to be of Tibetan
origin, have a long and proud history of mountaineering, and the term
today is used for all Nepalese highaltitude porters and guides assisting
climbing expeditions.
On April 25, Mr Sherpa was trekking to Thame, where he was born,
when the world appeared to crumble before his eyes, as rocks raced
down hillsides and buildings turned
to rubble.
The 55-year-old US-based climber ran for his life the moment the
7.8-magnitude quake struck, racing to get off a suspension bridge
swaying wildly as tremors rippled
through the Himalayas.
When Mr Sherpa finally arrived

THE UN health agency has declared

Liberia Ebola-free, hailing the monumental achievement in the west African country where the virus has killed
more than 4700 people.
The outbreak of Ebola virus disease in Liberia is over, the World
Health Organization (WHO) said in
a statement, adding that 42 days had
passed since the last confirmed case
was buried.
That period is double the number of
days the virus requires to incubate, and
WHO hailed its eradication as an enormous development in the long crisis.
Interruption of transmission is a
monumental achievement for a country that reported the highest number
of deaths in the largest, longest and
most complex outbreak since Ebola
first emerged in 1976, it said.
The declaration was a source of
both great pride to Liberians who had
been stalked by the deadly virus they
simultaneously sought to battle.
We are out of the woods. We are
Ebola-free. Thanks to our partners for
standing with us in the fight against
Ebola. We are Liberians, tweeted Liberian Information Minister Lewis
Brown.
The news was also cheered by international organisations like the Red
Cross, Unicef and Doctors Without
Borders (MSF), as well as officials
from the US and European Union.
However while hailing the important marker, White House

in Thame, in eastern Solukhumbu

district, two days later, what he
found was a nylon wasteland, with
everyone living under tarpaulin
sheets or tents.
The quake and a powerful aftershock had destroyed the village.
Their jobs are gone. Their homes
are gone and soon it will start to get
cold and windy, said the climber,
nicknamed Super Sherpa because
of his feats scaling the worlds tallest
mountain.
We normally need to wire our
roofs to the house foundations for
protection against wind. How will
we manage this year with just tarps
and tents? he added.
The quake, which left more than
7800 people dead across Nepal, was
the Himalayan nations deadliest disaster in over 80 years, and was followed by a 6.9-magnitude aftershock
the next day.
That aftershock was like a slap
in the face for the villagers. They
had just begun to pull themselves together after the quake and then everything unravelled, US mountaineer
David Morton said.
Many in the usually stoic community could not stop weeping for several minutes after the tremors ended, while others screamed in panic
and wondered out loud whether they
were cursed by God, Mr Morton
said.
The quake triggered an avalanche

which killed 18 people on Everest,

leading mountaineering companies to
call off their spring expeditions, making this the second year with virtually
no summits to the roof of the world.
It was the second tragedy to hit
in two years, after an avalanche last
year killed 16 Nepalese guides, sparking an unprecedented shutdown of
the 8848-metre (29,029-foot) high
mountain.

Their jobs are gone.

Their homes are
gone and soon it will
start to get cold and
windy.
Apa Sherpa
Everest sherpa

Mr Sherpa described the destruction wrought by the quake and subsequent effective cancellation of the
climbing season as a double blow
for the Sherpa community.
Mr Morton, executive director of
the Juniper Fund charity, which focuses on the welfare of high-altitude
workers in Nepal, said the impact of
two years with almost no summits
would be felt for some time.

Foreign clients will be reluctant

to climb next year. There are concerns about danger, sure, but also
cost, after climbers lost all that money over two seasons, he explained.
Mr Morton, though, expressed
hope that the community would
eventually recover thanks to a generous and active diaspora. Two charities, the Apa Sherpa Foundation and
the Thame Sherpa Heritage Fund,
are already working to raise money.
The situation facing the regions
trekking porters, many of whom
were barely able to eke out a living
before disaster struck, is even more
dire however.
They earn much less to begin
with and do not enjoy the support
network that sherpas have.
The job attracts little respect and
offers virtually no opportunities for
income growth, exploiting poor teenagers desperate for work with very little chance of breaking into the betterpaid mountaineering business.
At only 18 years old, Rajkumar
Rai is already a veteran of the Everest regions trekking trails, working
in teahouses from the age of nine
before starting to carry tourists baggage two years ago.
Orphaned at the age of five, the
teenager carries everything he owns
on his back, and said he struggled to
get by on a daily wage of US$10.
Out of 1000 rupees I earn in a
day, I have to spend 600-700 rupees

on food alone, said Mr Rai, speaking

in the Himalayan town of Namche, a
popular stop for climbers and trekkers travelling to Everest Base Camp.
Its difficult to save anything at
all, no matter how many loads I carry, he said.
The destruction of bridges, footpaths and guesthouses has thrown
an already struggling workforce into
crisis, according to Ben Ayers, country director of the non-profit dZi
Foundation, which has worked in
the district for nearly a decade.
Tourism has been the main economic driver for many people who
work as waiters, porters, domestic
help in teahouses, Mr Ayers said.
They were earning very little to
begin with and, unlike the sherpas,
they have a very limited ability to
bounce back, he said.
While the organisation attempts
to rebuild schools and create new
income generation opportunities to
relieve the communitys dependence
on tourism, Mr Ayers said he expected the region to draw visitors once
memories of the quake fade from
headlines.
Its the tallest mountain in the
world; it will always attract visitors.
The industry will take a hit but people will return in a few years, he
said.
Until then, though, we are looking at hunger, disease and suffering
for a lot of people. AFP

spokesperson Josh Earnest, in a statement, said, The world must not forget that the Ebola outbreak still persists in neighbouring Sierra Leone and
Guinea.
We must not let down our guard
until the entire region reaches and
stays at zero Ebola cases.
The WHO warned that because the
Ebola outbreaks were continuing in
neighbouring Guinea and Sierra Leone, the risk remained high that infected people could re-enter the country.
Because of that risk, MSF also tempered its applause of the declaration
with reminders that the crisis will not
be over for any one nation until the
virus has been eradicated everywhere.
For average Liberians, the development was a source of both relief and
sorrow.
I lost a brother in the Ebola crisis
so I am happy and sad, said 40-year-old
Monrovia taxi driver Nyaningo Kollie.
During the two months of peak
transmission last August and September the capital Monrovia was the
setting for some of the most tragic
scenes from West Africas outbreak:
gates locked at overflowing treatment
centres, patients dying on the hospital
grounds, and bodies that were sometimes not collected for day, noted
WHO official Alex Gasasira, who read
the organisations statement on May 9.
At the height of the crisis in late
September Liberia was suffering more
than 400 new cases a week, with un-

collected and highly infectious bodies

piling up in the streets of Monrovia, a
sprawling, chaotic city at the best of
times.
The health system embryonic before the crisis, with some 50 doctors
and 1000 nurses for 4.3 million people was devastated, losing 189 health
workers out of 275 infected.
At one point, virtually no treatment beds for Ebola patients were
available anywhere in the country, Mr
Gasasira recalled.
Schools remained shut after the
summer holidays, unemployment
soared as the formal and black-market economies collapsed and clinics
closed as staff died and non-emergency healthcare ground to a halt.
And then, as suddenly as it had
spread, Ebola retreated.
Liberia, which had recorded 389
deaths in one week in October alone,
saw fatality counts dropping below
100 within weeks, and into single figures by the start of 2015.
During a WHO-hosted ceremony on
May 9 in the Ebola crisis cell in Monrovia, Liberian President Ellen Johnson
Sirleaf saluted her fellow citizens and
health workers for rising to the crisis.
I thank all Liberians for the effort.
When Ebola came, we were confused.
We called on our professionals. They
put their best in the fight; this is the
result. I have sent a message to the
international community to thank
them, she said.

Liberias President Ellen Sirleaf Johnson attends a ceremony in Monrovia on May

9 celebrating the WHO announcement that Liberia is Ebola-free. Photo: AFP

In the coming years there will be

a reckoning on the response to the
greatest-ever Ebola outbreak, which
left 11,000 dead.
The West was initially accused of
ignoring the crisis and then treating
Liberia and its neighbours as pariahs,
blocking flights and quarantining returning health workers after the firstever domestic infections outside of
Africa, in the US and Spain.
The WHO, at times seen as overly

bureaucratic and politicised, was berated for waiting until August almost five months after the outbreak
was identified to declare it a public health emergency of international
concern.
Quite simply, we were all too late.
The world including MSF was slow
to start the response from the beginning, said MSFs head of Ebola operations in Brussels, Henry Gray, in a
statement. AFP

it

yo

gers o
n
i
f
n

THE MYANMAR TIMES May 11, 2015

the pulse editor: Charlotte rose charlottelola.rose@gmail.com

Movie world

ge
t

gears up for

Guests arrive for the opening ceremony of last years 67th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 14, 2014. Photo: AFP/Bertrand Langlois

he Cannes Film Festival will next week lift the curtain

on 12 days of glamour, movies, deals and parties
drawing the elite of the cinema world, from hollywood
honchos to arthouse auteurs.
Under the Riviera sun and high security some
of the industrys biggest stars, directors and producers will be
turning out to tread the red carpet during the May 13-24 event.
Cate Blanchett, Matthew McConaughey, Michael Fassbender,
Marion Cotillard, Colin Farrell, Michael Caine, Jane Fonda, Salma
hayek, Gerard Depardieu, Catherine Deneuve, Rachel Weisz, Jesse
eisenberg, Naomi Watts and Rooney Mara all feature in this years
movie line-up and can be expected to appear to promote their films.
The Coen brothers, Joel and ethan, will be there as copresidents of the jury that decides the festivals prestigious Palme
dOr prize. Other jury members include actors Jake Gyllenhaal,
Sienna Miller and Sophie Marceau.
The movies in competition range from hollywood-style fare,
in the form of Sicario, about a CIA operation to bring down a
Mexican drug lord, to Asian martial arts in The Assassin, to a
hungarian take on the holocaust in Son of Saul.
Some out-of-competition projections, though, are more widely
anticipated.
Among them is Mad Max: Fury Road, a sci-fi dystopian desertcarnage reboot of the franchise that made Mel Gibson famous but

now stars British actor Tom hardy.

Woody Allens latest, Irrational Man, is also awaited, as are
the big-budget animations The Little Prince and Inside Out, and
Israeli-US actress Natalie Portmans directorial debut, A Tale of
Love and Darkness.
Gaspar Noe, an Argentine director who relishes shock cinema,
will be showing his movie Love suggested to be heavily explicit,
based on a movie poster he released online in a midnight
screening.
Amy, a documentary about British singer Amy Winehouse
who died of alcohol poisoning in 2011 aged 27, will also be
getting an out-of-competition midnight projection. her family
have condemned the film as misleading and disassociated
themselves from it.
This year, europe easily dominates the competition field,
accounting for 11 of the 19 movies vying for the golden Palme.
Most of those are from a new generation of filmmakers in France
and Italy.
But perhaps one of the most telling changes seen in the
Cannes entries is the predominance of english.
The global lingua franca is used in several of the productions,
either as a way of reaching a broader audience or to adapt to
international casts, blurring the national origins of some movies.
Two of the three Italian entries, Youth and The Tale of Tales,

are in english, as are the sole Greek- and Norwegian-directed

movies in competition, The Lobster and Louder Than Bombs.
Ironically, though, not a single British movie is on this years
list, although Cannes festival director Thierry Fremaux said
Macbeth a retelling of Shakespeares tragedy directed by an
Australian but starring German-Irish actor Michael Fassbender
and French actress Marion Cotillard and filmed in Britain
effectively stood in for the UK.
For all of the hype surrounding the Cannes movie screenings,
a lot of other activity will be going on at the festival through its
market section, where backstage production deals and executive
conferences are held and valuable contacts made.
A talk by Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos on May 15
will be filled to capacity. The US film and TV streaming company
is one of the new big players shaking up the cinema industry
with its programming and unorthodox distribution.
There is also Canness frenzied party scene. every night
sees bashes big and small invade the shore and back-country
millionaires villas.
One of the highest-profile will be the annual Amfar soiree to
raise funds for AIDS research. Sharon Stone will host the event
with Natalie Portman and the Coen brothers, while Gyllenhaal,
Milla Jovovich, Diane Kruger, Isabella Rossellini and Formula
One racing champion Lewis hamilton will attend. AFP

the pulse 21

www.mmtimes.com

Cannes in numbers
9
60

The number of celebrities on the

jury that will decide the festivals
top prize, the Palme dOr. Led
by the Coen brothers, the panel
includes Jake Gyllenhaal, Sienna
Miller, Sophie Marceau and
Guillermo Del Toro.
The length in metres (nearly 197
feet) of the famous red carpet. (A
new one is laid before each official
screening of a film in competition,
meaning 180 metres of carpet are
used each day.)

36,000

19

The number of golden leaves on

the stylised palm frond that makes
up the Palme dOr. The trophy,
made out of 18-carat gold, is worth
US$23,000.

83

The number of features to be

screened this year in the festival,
including 53 in the official selection
(of which 19 are competing for the
Palme dOr).

The number of people with official

accreditations to attend the
festival, of which around 4500 are
journalists.

20,000,000
468

For 12 days starting next Wednesday, the Cannes Film Festival will be
a non-stop merry-go-round of movies, stars, interviews and parties.
Here are some figures that put the event into perspective:

12,000

The festivals budget, in euros

(around US$23 million). It is half
funded by French taxpayers, and
half by corporate sponsors.

Smile, there are cameras everywhere and not just

movie and TV ones. This is the number of surveillance
cameras filming the town 24 hours a day, with lenses
especially trained on the Palais des Festivals building
and all along the shorefront, known as La Croisette.

24

The number of steps the

stars have to climb as they
ascend the red carpet into
Cannes Palais des Festivals.

800

The number of police

officers mobilised to ensure
security during the film
festival.

The number of cinema bods taking part in Cannes

parallel film market, happening in the bowels of
the Palais des Festivals and along part of the beach.
This maze of stands is where producers, directors
and distributors get together to work out what
youll be watching on the big screen in months and
years to come.

From 74,000 to 200,000

Thats how much Cannes population swells during
the festival. It nearly triples.

AFP

LOS ANGELES

Coen brothers to bring quirky eye to Cannes contest

QUIRKy US filmmakers Joel and
ethan Coen once feted at Cannes
as award winners will this month
bring their distinctive eye to the
Croisette as judges, in what could be
good news for european directors.
Regarded as among the most
innovative directors in the world, the
Oscar-winning pair will jointly chair the
jury that selects the prestigious Palme
dOr winner at the Cannes film festival,
which runs from May 13 to 24.
We are very happy to be coming
back to Cannes ... Being presidents
of the jury this year is even more of
an honour in that weve never been
presidents of anything before, they
said earlier this year.
even though ethan has called
festival prize-giving a ridiculous
activity, the nearly inseparable
American duo are no strangers to
Cannes glory.
Their Barton Fink won the Palme
dOr and the best director prize in
1991.
Joel earned best director honours
two other times for Fargo in 1996
and The Man Who Wasnt There
in 2001. ethans directing role was
uncredited on all three films.
Their Inside Llewyn Davis won
the jurys grand prize in 2013.
This years competition line-up,
which they will be judging, includes
19 films, 11 of which are from europe.
Industry journal Varietys awards
editor Tim Gray said that, in theory,
having the Coens head the jury
could help european films, which
are perhaps more in line with the
brothers noir sensibilities.

Their presence is good news for

filmmakers from europe and from
everywhere else, for that matter. Its
clear from the Coens films that they
like to think outside the box and
that they have good taste, Gray said.
The Coens are the fifth US
filmmakers to head the Cannes jury
in 10 years, after Sean Penn in 2008,
Tim Burton in 2010, Robert De Niro
in 2011 and Steven Spielberg in 2013.
But in only one of those years did
a US film take the Palme dOr, in 2011
for Terrence Malicks The Tree of Life.
And of course the rest of the jury
will have their say: This years panel
also includes stars Jake Gyllenhaal,
Sienna Miller and Sophie Marceau, as
well as cult director Guillermo del Toro.
As jury foremen, the Coens dont
make unilateral decisions, obviously.
But they help steer the discussion.
And their films show that they like
to approach things from an unusual
angle, said Gray.
Since debuting in 1984 with their
offbeat thriller Blood Simple, the two
have reeled off a dozen films, each
notable for their quirky humour or
macabre themes and sometimes
both.
Favored by critics and film
festivals, they have won more than
120 prizes together, including four
Oscars. They have been nominated
for another nine Academy Awards,
including one individual Oscar nod
each.
The siblings are known as the
two-headed director for their
seamless ability to work alongside
each other. They write, direct and

produce their films jointly, and have

also edited movies under the alias
Roderick Jaynes.
The Cannes festivals official
selection of competing movies is
typically an eclectic list ranging
across themes and borders.
If the Coen brothers filmography
is anything to go by, though, dark
humour and offbeat characters or
situations would be appealing traits
they might seek out.
They have also increasingly been

attracting hollywood stars to their

own films.
George Clooney, for instance, has
already appeared in three of their
movies O Brother, Where Art Thou?,
Intolerable Cruelty and Burn After
Reading.
he is appearing in a fourth Coen
brothers film due to come out next
year, Hail, Caesar!, with Josh Brolin,
Tilda Swinton, Channing Tatum and
Scarlett Johansson.
Whatever happens in Cannes, the

winning film, actors and actresses will

no doubt get a huge commercial and
promotional boost from the honours
bestowed on them.
But ethan has also expressed
scepticism about the whole process.
The awards put a movie on
peoples radars, he once said.
Festivals are good, even though
the idea of putting movies in
competitions this one is the best
this, that one is the best that is
ridiculous. AFP

US directors Joel (left) and Ethan Coen pose during a photocall for their film Inside Llewyn Davis at the 66th edition of the
Cannes Film Festival in Cannes on May 19, 2013. Photo: AFP/Alberto Pizzoli

22 the pulse

THE MYANMAR TIMES MAY 11, 2015

Eco awards promote

sustainable fashion design
L
Rachna SachaSinh

AunCheD five years

ago by Redress, a hong
Kong-based nGO, The
ecoChic Design Awards
invites emerging designers
to submit collections that are both
innovative and fashionable. By
encouraging sustainable innovation
among young designers early in their
career, Redress hopes to address the
tremendous waste and pollution in
the fashion industry.
The competition is open to
emerging fashion designers living in
any country in Asia and europe, and
Myanmar applicants are welcome. In
an interview, Christina Dean, founder
and CeO of Redress, discusses
the critical need for sustainable
practices within the fashion industry
and highlights the ecoChic Design
Awards potential to transform the
industry.

What is the focus of your work at

Redress?
Redress works across the fashion
industry to promote sustainable
practices. Our award competition
empowers designers by giving them
the inspiration and motivation to selfeducate and to pioneer sustainable

fashion design. We surveyed fashion

design students last year we found
that 97 percent of them want to
have sustainable fashion education.
Currently, there is very little practical
information out there. Redress aims
to fill in the gaps and create links to
better information and sustainable
technologies and practices.

What led Redress to create The

EcoChic Design Award?
Firstly, the fashion and textile industry
is one of the worlds most polluting,
with devastating environmental and
social impacts not just in China but
globally. A few years ago, I came across
a report that estimated that fashion
designers influence an estimated
80-90pc of the environmental and
economic costs of a product. This
means that fashion designers are
very powerful to make the fashion
industry less polluting, for example
by using more sustainable design, raw
materials and construction. Weve
found that designers and universities
want to be more informed about
sustainable fashion, and when we
surveyed fashion design students
last year we found that 97pc want to
have sustainable fashion education.
however there is a huge lack in
educational awareness at the moment,

and designers are unaware of how

they can make their products more
sustainable, which means that these
terrible environmental problems
continue. We organised the ecoChic
Design Award to get closer to the
point of influence and to combat
the serious problems of the fashion
industrys pollution and waste and
the lack of education available for
emerging fashion designers.

How many years have you held the

competition?
This year we celebrate our fifth
anniversary, and we are excited to
include entries from all of Asia and
europe.
Have the awards been effective in
propelling the industry to innovate
and reduce environmental
impact?
The ecoChic Design Award is proving
to be a powerful platform that is
driving sustainable design thinking
and change. Over the last five years,
weve got education into hundreds
of universities, educated thousands
of designers, reached millions of
consumers and influenced global
fashion brands to produce sustainable
collections. But whilst we pause for
momentary celebration, we cant be

UK designer Kvin Germaniers collection won first prize at the 2014 EcoChic Design Awards. Photo: Supplied

complacent
because
textile
waste is
still a critical
environmental
and social
issue and our
work to inspire
tomorrows
leaders to be
agents of change is far
from over.
Why do you focus
on new designers, or
recent graduates for the
competition?
We are generally witnessing
that emerging fashion
designers are increasingly
expected to have a core design
ethos that values sustainability
as much as style. Our survey
results show that Asian
designers are not equipped with
comprehensive sustainable
design knowledge, and this
poses a problem for the future
of the industry. We need
to see fashion universities
increasing their sustainable
design education to plant
a widespread vision and
technical know-how for more
sustainable fashion design amongst
those who represent tomorrows
industry.
What are you most proud of in
your work thus far?
Its been an incredible journey,
not just for us but also for all of
the inspiring and very passionate
designers who have joined us in
making the future of fashion more
positive.
The competition is a breeding
ground for sustainable fashion
innovation, and we are really see
the competitions legacy broaden
and deepen now as our alumni, our
semi- finalists and finalists thrive,
not just through their sustainable
fashon brands but also their visions.
We have over 80 alumni across Asia

and europe
and we
continue
to work
with them very
closely.
Are there any
special events or
focus related to this
years competition?
This year we are
launching the
competition with an
exhibition at hysan place
in hong Kong to celebrate
the successes of the
program. Alongside the main
competition, later in the
year we will be launching an
alumni network, providing
further opportunities as we
continue to nurture their
careers in sustainable fashion.
Who should apply?
A fashion designer who
has three years or less of
professional experience, or
a designer who is currently
enrolled in a fashion and/or
design school. We only accept
applications from individuals
who are at least 18 years old.
Most of all, a fashion designer
who is excited about the possibility of
reducing textile waste. The full details
are available on our website.
What is the grand prize?
Finalists will show their work at
hong Kongs Fashion Week in
January 2016, and the winner will
have an opportunity to design a
collection for Asian luxury fashion
brand shanghai Tang.
.....................................................
How to apply
The ecoChic Design Awards is
currently accepting entries for the
2015-2016 competition cycle. The
deadline for entries is August 15.
For more information and to apply,
visit www.ecochicdesignaward.com

TOKYO

Offending the royals? Japan mayor and

Brits dont give a monkeys
A JApAnese zoo that caused a
furore by naming a baby monkey
after Britains princess Charlotte has
been told to stick to its guns by the
local mayor after two days of fraught
debate.
Mt Takasaki Wild Monkey park
in Oita was flooded with complaints
after announcing last week that
the public had voted for a newborn
macaque to be called Charlotte,
just days after Britains royal family
named its newest member.
With the story making headlines
around the world, the zoo offered an
apology for any offence caused to the
daughter of prince William and his
wife Kate.
More than 500 people got in touch
with the monkey park over two days
to voice an opinion on the name, with
early correspondents urging them to
drop it.
Initially opinions were mostly
complaints saying it is disrespectful
to the British people, then voices
supporting the name began to
increase, with some saying it was

okay because the baby monkey is

cute, an official in Oita, southwestern
Japan, said.
As the controversy raged online,
on television and in the newspapers,
local officials even sought the opinion
of the British embassy in Tokyo who
offered no comment before Mayor
Kiichiro sato ended the confusion
with a definitive ruling.
I think the public gave it the very
pretty name Charlotte, and I dont
think there is any problem with it,
so well go with Charlotte, sato told
reporters.
Japanese society places great
emphasis on not offending anybody
in an effort to maintain wa or
harmony. This frequently results in
the kind of paralysis of the decisionmaking process two days of debate
witnessed here.
Mt Takasaki Wild Monkey park
asks for suggestions for the name of
the first macaque monkey born every
year.
This years poll, in which 853 votes
were recorded, saw a sudden surge

of people suggesting Charlotte

after the British princess was named
earlier this week.
Complainants said it was
disrespectful to name a monkey after
a foreign royal, with some suggesting
that Japanese people would be
offended if a British zoo used the
name of a member of Japans imperial
family for one of its animals.
But commentators on the
websites of major British newspapers
suggested the locals were made of
sterner stuff.
seriously, who cares? name
the next one George [the name of
Charlottes elder brother]. Its of zero
consequence to any of us, wrote user
Zeeeel on an online forum.
It is not the first time an animal
has been named after the issue of
the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge:
During a royal tour of Australia last
year, then-months-old baby prince
George visited sydneys Taronga Zoo
to meet one of its bilbies a kind of
marsupial that had been named in
his honour.

Critics say the naming of a newborn macaque Charlotte at Mt Takasaki Wild

Monkey Park in Japan has made a monkey out of the British royal family. Photo:
AFP/Mount Takasaki Wild Monkey Park

24 the pulse

THE MYANMAR TIMES MAY 11, 2015

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YH 727
W9 251
YJ 151/W9 7151
7Y 241
K7 224
YH 731
Y5 234
W9 211

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

YANGON TO NAY PYI TAW

NAY PYI TAW TO YANGON

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Flight
K7 423
7Y 414
W9 309
6T 612

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Flight
YH 729
YJ 751

Days
2,4,6
3,5,7

Dep
11:00
11:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Flight
K7 320
6T 708
SO 202
7Y 532

Flight
YJ 752
YH 730

YANGON TO PUTAO

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

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

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

Days
3,5,7
2,4,6

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

PUTAO TO YANGON

Flight

Days

Dep

Arr

YH 826

7:00

11:00

Tel: 513322, 513422, 504888. Fax: 515102

Air KBZ (K7)

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

Asian Wings (YJ)

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

Golden Myanmar Airlines (Y5)

Tel: 09400446999, 09400447999
Fax: 8604051

Mann Yadanarpon Airlines (7Y)

Flight
YH 836

Days
1,7

FMI Air Charter

Tel: 240363, 240373, 09421146545

APEX Airlines (SO)

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

Air Mandalay (6T)

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

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

LASHIO TO YANGON
Arr
13:00
13:15

Air Bagan (W9)

SO = APEX Airlines

DAWEI TO YANGON

YANGON TO LASHIO
MYITKYINA TO YANGON

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

THANDWE TO YANGON

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

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

SITTWE TO YANGON

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

Domestic Airlines

Tel: 383100, 383107, 700264

Fax: 652 533

MYEIK TO YANGON

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

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

Yangon Airways (YH)

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

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

Tel: 656969
Fax: 656998, 651020

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

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

Dep

Arr

11:00

14:45

YH 831

4,6

7:00

11:00

YH 832

4,6

11:00

14:45

YH 835

1,7

7:00

11:00

YH 827

11:00

14:45

W9 251

2,5

11:30

15:25

W9 252

2,5

15:45

19:40

6T = AirMandalay
FMI = FMI Air Charter

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

the pulse 25

www.mmtimes.com

InternAtIonAl FlIGHt SCHeDUleS

Flights

YANGON TO BANGKOK
Days

Dep

Arr

PG 706
Daily
6:15
8M 335
Daily
7:40
TG 304
Daily
9:50
PG 702
Daily
10:30
TG 302
Daily
15:00
PG 708
Daily
15:15
8M 331
Daily
16:30
PG 704
Daily
18:20
Y5 237
Daily
19:00
TG 306
Daily
19:45
YANGON TO DON MUEANG

8:30
9:25
11:45
12:25
16:55
17:10
18:15
20:15
20:50
21:40

DD 4231
Daily
8:00
FD 252
Daily
8:30
FD 254
Daily
17:30
DD 4239
Daily
21:00
YANGON TO SINGAPORE

9:50
10:15
19:05
22:45

8M 231
Daily
8:25
Y5 2233
Daily
9:45
TR 2823
Daily
9:45
SQ 997
Daily
10:35
3K 582
Daily
11:15
MI 533
2,4,6
13:45
MI 519
Daily
17:30
3K 584
2,3,5
19:15
YANGON TO KUALA LUMPUR

12:50
14:15
14:25
15:10
15:45
20:50
22:05
23:45

8M 501
AK 505
MH 741
8M 9506
8M 9508
MH 743
AK 503

11:50
12:50
16:30
16:30
20:05
20:05
23:45

Flights

Days

Flights

Days

Flights

Days

1,2,3,5,6
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily

Dep

Arr

Dep

Arr

Dep

Arr

7:50
8:30
12:15
12:15
15:45
15:45
19:30

YANGON TO BEIJING

Flights

Days

Dep

Arr

Flights

BANGKOK TO YANGON
Days

Dep

Arr

TG 303
Daily
7:55
PG 701
Daily
8:50
Y5 238
Daily
21:30
8M 336
Daily
10:40
TG 301
Daily
13:05
PG 707
Daily
13:40
PG 703
Daily
16:45
TG 305
Daily
17:50
8M 332
Daily
19:15
PG 705
Daily
20:15
DON MUEANG TO YANGON

8:50
9:40
22:20
11:25
14:00
14:30
17:35
18:45
20:00
21:30

DD 4230
Daily
6:20
FD 251
Daily
7:15
FD 253
Daily
16:20
DD 4238
Daily
19:30
SINGAPORE TO YANGON

7:05
8:00
17:00
20:15

TR 2822
Daily
7:20
Y5 2234
Daily
7:20
SQ 998
Daily
7:55
3K 581
Daily
8:55
MI 533
2,4,6
11:35
8M 232
Daily
13:50
MI 518
Daily
15:15
3K 583
2,3,5
17:05
KUALA LUMPUR TO YANGON

8:45
8:50
9:20
10:25
15:00
15:15
16:40
18:35

AK 504
8M 9505
MH 740
8M 502
8M 9507
MH 742
AK 502
AI 227

8:00
11:15
11:15
13:50
14:50
14:50
19:00
13:20

Flights

Days

Flights

Days

Flights

Flights

Days

Dep

Arr

Dep

Arr

Dep

Arr

Daily
6:55
Daily
10:05
Daily
10:05
1,2,3,5,6
12:50
Daily
13:40
Daily
13:40
Daily
17:50
1
10:35
BEIJING TO YANGON
Days

Dep

Arr

CA 906
3,5,7
23:50 05:50+1
YANGON TO GUANGZHOU

CA 905
3,5,7
19:30
GUANGZHOU TO YANGON

22:50

8M 711
CZ 3056
CZ 3056

CZ 3055
CZ 3055
8M 712

3,6
8:40
1,5
14:40
2,4,7
14:15
TAIPEI TO YANGON

10:25
16:30
15:50

1,2,3,5,6
7:00
KUNMING TO YANGON

9:55

Flights

Flights

CI 7916
Flights

Days

Dep

Arr

Flights

2,4,7
8:40
3,6
11:25
1,5
17:30
YANGON TO TAIPEI

13:15
16:15
22:15

1,2,3,5,6
10:50
YANGON TO KUNMING

16:15

CI 7915

Arr

Flights

CA 416
MU 2012
MU 2032
Flights

Days

Dep

Days

Dep

Arr

Daily
12:15
3
12:40
1,2,4,5,6,7 15:20
YANGON TO HANOI

Flights

Days

15:55
18:45
18:40

MU 2011
CA 415
MU 2031
Flights

Days

Dep

Arr

Days

Dep

Arr

Dep

Days

Dep

Days

Dep

Arr

Arr

Arr

3
8:25
Daily
10:45
1,2,4,5,6,7 13:55
HANOI TO YANGON

11:50
11:15
14:30

Days

Dep

Arr

Days

Dep

Arr

VN 956
1,3,5,6,7
19:10
21:30
YANGON TO HO CHI MINH CITY

VN 957
1,3,5,6,7
16:50
18:10
HO CHI MINH CITY TO YANGON

VN 942

Flights

Flights

2,4,7
14:25
YANGON TO DOHA

17:15

VN 943

1,5
14:05
1,4,6
8:00
YANGON TO SEOUL

Arr

19:50
11:10

Flights

Days

AI 701
QR 919
Flights

Flights

Days

Dep

Dep

Arr

2,4,7
11:50
DOHA TO YANGON

13:25

1,5
7:00
3,5,7
20:40
SEOUL TO YANGON

13:20
06:25+1

Days

AI 401
QR 918
Flights

Days

Dep

Dep

0Z 770
4,7
0:35
9:10
KE 472
Daily
23:30 07:50+1
YANGON TO HONG KONG

KE 471
Daily
18:45
0Z 769
3,6
19:50
HONG KONG TO YANGON

KA 251
KA 251

5:55
5:45

KA 252
KA 250

Arr

Flights

Flights

Days

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

Arr

YANGON TO TOKYO

Flights

Days

NH 814

Daily

Dep

21:45

06:50+1

YANGON TO DHAKA

Flights

Days

BG 061
BG 061
Flights

Dep

1:30
1:10

1,6
4

Dep

15:35
13:45

YANGON TO INCHEON
Days

Dep

Arr

17:00
15:10
Arr

KE 472
Daily
23:30 07:50+1
8M 7702
Daily
23:30 07:50+1
8M 7502
4,7
00:35
09:10
W9 607
4,7
14:20
16:10
PG 724
1,3,5,6
13:10
15:05
YANGON TO CHIANG MAI
Flights

Days

Y5 251
7Y 305

2,4,6
1,5

YANGON TO GAYA

Flights

Days

8M 601
AI 236
AI 234

Days

AI 236

Dep

13:10

YANGON TO KOLKATA
Days

AI 234
AI 228
Flights

Dep

3,5,6
7:00
2
13:10
1,5
14:05
YANGON TO DELHI

Flights

Flights

Dep

6:15
11:00

1
5

Dep

14:05
18:45

YANGON TO MUMBAI

AI 775

Days

1,5

Dep

14:05

MANDALAY TO BANGKOK

Flights

PG 710

Days

Daily

Dep

14:05

MANDALAY TO SINGAPORE

Flights

MI 533
Y5 2233

Days

2,6
1,2,4,5,6

Dep

15:55
7:50

MANDALAY TO DON MUEANG

Flights

FD 245

Days

Daily

Dep

12:45

MANDALAY TO KUNMING

Flights

MU 2030

Days

Daily

Dep

13:50

NAY PYI TAW TO BANGKOK

Flights

PG 722
PG 722
PG 722

Days

3
1,2,3,4,5
1,2,3,4,5

Dep

20:15
19:30
20:15

Arr

8:05
12:50
Arr

Flights

1,6
4

Days

Days

2,4,6
1,5

Dep

12:30
10:40
Dep

Flights

Flights

19:35

AI 675

Arr

Flights

Dep

9:25
13:45

GAYA TO YANGON
Days

Dep

2
9:10
3,5,6
9:20
5
15:00
DELHI TO YANGON
Days

AI 235

Arr

Dep

7:00

KOLKATA TO YANGON
Days

1
5

Dep

10:35
13:30

MUMBAI TO YANGON
Days

1,5

Dep

6:10

BANGKOK TO MANDALAY

PG 709

Days

Daily

Dep

12:00

SINGAPORE TO MANDALAY

Flights

20:50
14:15

Y5 2234
MI 533

Arr

Flights

Days

Daily
2,6

Dep

7:20
11:35

DON MUEANG TO MANDALAY

FD 244

Days

Daily

Dep

10:50

KUNMING TO MANDALAY

Flights

16:40

MU 2029

Arr

Flights

23:15
22:30
23:15

11:00

INCHEON TO YANGON

Flights

AI 227
AI 233

Arr

Days

Flights

17:20
19:45

15:00

Dep

DHAKA TO YANGON

Y5 252
7Y 306

Flights

Arr

Daily

Days

Daily

Dep

13:00

BANGKOK TO NAY PYI TAW

PG 721
PG 721
PG 721

Days

1,2,3,4,5
3
1,2,3,4,5

Dep

17:00
18:25
17:45

Arr

00:30+1
23:30

KE 471
Daily
18:45
8M 7701
Daily
18:45
8M 7501
3,6
19:50
W9 608
4,7
17:20
PG 723
1,3,5,6
11:05
CHIANG MAI TO YANGON

Arr

16:30

Days

Flights

Flights

Dep

22:50
21:45

Arr

22:25
23:25

TOKYO TO YANGON

BG 060
BG 060

AI 235
8M 602
AI 233

Arr

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

NH 813

8:20
14:10
15:05
16:30

Days

Arr

Arr

15:40
Arr

14:55
13:05
Arr

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

10:15
14:35
Arr

12:10
12:30
18:00

International Airlines
All Nippon Airways (NH)
Tel: 255412, 413

Air Asia (FD)

Tel: 09254049991~3

Air Bagan Ltd.(W9)

Tel: 513322, 513422, 504888. Fax: 515102

Air China (CA)

Accidents can happen when youre

travelling. Photo: Shutterstock

Tel: 666112, 655882

Air India

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

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

Is travel insurance
really worth it?

Golden Myanmar Airlines (Y5)

ChrisTopher ellioTT

Bangkok Airways (PG)

Tel: 255122, 255265. Fax: 255119

Biman Bangladesh Airlines (BG)

Tel: 371867~68. Fax: 371869

Condor (DE)

Tel: 370836~39 (ext: 303)

Dragonair (KA)

Tel: 09400446999, 09400447999

Fax: 8604051

Malaysia Airlines (MH)

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

Fax: 241124

Myanmar Airways International (8M)

Tel: 255260. Fax: 255305

Nok Airline (DD)

Tel: 255050, 255021. Fax: 255051

Qatar Airways (QR)

Tel: 379845, 379843, 379831. Fax: 379730

Singapore Airlines (SQ) / Silk Air (MI)

Tel: 255287~9. Fax: 255290

Thai Airways (TG)

Tel: 255491~6. Fax: 255223

Tiger Airline (TR)

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

Vietnam Airlines (VN)

Tel: 255066, 255088, 255068. Fax: 255086

Airline Codes
3K = Jet Star
8M = Myanmar Airways International
AK = Air Asia
BG = Biman Bangladesh Airlines
CA = Air China
CI = China Airlines
CZ = China Southern
DD = Nok Airline
FD = Air Asia
KA = Dragonair
KE = Korea Airlines
MH = Malaysia Airlines
MI = Silk Air

Arr

12:10
Arr

13:20
18:00
Arr

13:20

MU = China Eastern Airlines

NH = All Nippon Airways
PG = Bangkok Airways
QR = Qatar Airways
SQ = Singapore Airways
TG = Thai Airways

Arr

13:20
Arr

16:30
15:00

TR = Tiger Airline
VN = Vietnam Airline
AI = Air India
Y5 = Golden Myanmar Airlines

Arr

12:15
Arr

Subject to change
without notice

12:50
Arr

19:00
19:35
19:45

Day
1 = Monday
2 = Tuesday
3 = Wednesday

4
5
6
7

=
=
=
=

Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday

he come-ons for insurance

are constant and often
compelling when you
travel. They start the
moment you click on a
booking site and sometimes dont end
until you disembark.
Want to insure your airline ticket?
Your cruise? how about your luggage,
pets or rental skis? Take a look
around: Theres almost nothing that
cant be insured.
No surprise that travel insurance
is a billion-dollar-a-year business. The
industry has recorded steady yearover-year sales increases since 9/11,
according to the US Travel Insurance
Association, a trade group.
But is insurance worth it? That
depends.
If youre Adam Creighton, yes. he
purchased travel insurance before
leaving for Colombia, where he
was building homes for a nonprofit
organisation.
I was robbed while I was there,
says Creighton. I reported what was
stolen a small gold ring valued at
around US$250 and turned in the
police report to my travel insurance
company along with a receipt for the
ring.
The receipt was written in Korean.
The travel insurance company
translated it, calculated the exchange
value of the new ring and promptly
cut him a cheque.
It taught me to always buy
traveller insurance when travelling
abroad, he says.
But, then, if youre Anne Krivicich,
travel insurance isnt worth it.
Shed planned a once-in-a-lifetime
cruise with her husband, Ron. But
the Krivicichs never took their dream
vacation. Ron Krivicich needed spinal
surgery, and even though the couple
bought insurance through a company
that partnered with the cruise line,
they faced a steep loss. every penny
of their $12,133 was about to go down
the metaphorical drain.
Why? Turns out Ron Krivicichs
medical condition was pre-existing, so
a refund was out of the question. Anne
Krivicich said shed asked Princess
cruise line about Rons back problems.
We were assured that we could
cancel for pre-existing medical
conditions and receive a full refund,
minus the cost of the insurance, she
says.
I contacted Princess on behalf
of the couple. A cruise line
representative called Anne Krivicich
and offered two options: She could
either rebook her cruise within a year
or she could receive a transferable
voucher through her insurance, good
for a future Princess sailing. She says
its unlikely the couple will be able to
use either offer.
On average, most insurance is
technically a bad deal, says Jonathan

Wu, the founder of ValuePenguin.

com, an insurance review site. Thats
particularly true of travel insurance,
he says. And he has the numbers to
prove it.
Wu reviewed the public filings
for travel insurance companies
and found that many pay a little
over half of their premiums toward
claims. The rest of the money goes
to commissions, administrative
costs, taxes and a profit margin. One
filing, which Wu found eye-opening,
disclosed that 25 percent of a
premium goes to commissions.
In other words, one-quarter of
every dollar spent got kicked back to
a travel agent or website selling the
policy.
Its no surprise why these types of
products are actively marketed at the
point of sale, he says.
But those who sell insurance see
it differently. Bobbie Rae Murphy, a
travel agent who specialises in cruise
and adventure travel, says insurance
commissions represent a significant
portion of her income about 5 to
7 percent. But she views insurance
as a win-win proposition a source
of revenue for her and a valuable
product that can save someones
vacation, if not their life savings.
Accidents happen, she says, and
they can bankrupt you. I counsel my
clients so they can understand the
potential for issues, then suggest that
for just a small amount of money, I
can give them peace of mind.
But not all insurance is created
equal. Like many well-travelled
industry colleagues including me
Murphy buys an annual plan for
herself. Those plans often cover the
essentials, including hospitalisation,
medical evacuation, trip interruptions
and car rentals.
Prospective travellers encounter
other types of insurance that are
probably not worth the trouble.
Those can include policies on rental
equipment like skis, or rental-car
insurance that covers more than
damage to the vehicle.
For ski rentals, for instance, the
most you can lose is the replacement
cost of the skis, which may run a
few hundred dollars at most, says
Wu. Under these circumstances,
consumers probably arent getting
much value out of insurance, as its
less likely that the risks will cause
financial ruin.
Bottom line? A lot of the insurance
youre offered while youre travelling
if not most of it is unnecessary.
Thats the conclusion of Jonathan
Stein, a former insurance adjuster
and a consumer law attorney based in
California.
I think most insurance sold to
people when they are travelling isnt
very helpful, he says. When you
do the maths, it ends up being an
outrageous premium for very little
coverage. Washington Post

TRADE MARK CAUTION

NOTICE is hereby given that Sinochem Corporation a company
organized under the laws of P.R. China and having its principal
office at 28 Fuxingmennei Street, Xicheng District, Beijing,
P.R. China is the Owner and Sole Proprietor of the following
trademark:-

(Reg: No. IV/20954/2014)

in respect of: - Fodder; feed additives; animal foodstuffs; plant
seeds; fresh vegetables; fresh fruits; live animals; plants; grains
[cereals]; lime for animal forage. Class: 31
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 Sinochem Corporation
P.O. Box No. 26, Yangon.
Phone: 372416
Dated: 11th May, 2015

PATENT CAUTION
NOTICE is hereby given that LES LABORATOIRES SERVIER
at 35 rue de Verdun 92284 Suresnes Cedex (France) is the Owner
and Sole Proprietor of the patent entitled:

26 Sport

THE MYANMAR TIMES May 11, 2015

Football

U20 team to face

SEA Games squad
Matt Roebuck
matt.d.roebuck@gmail.com

yanmars U20 side,

the nations first qualifiers for a football world
cup at any level will
today at Thuwunnas
youth Training Centre stadium face
their elders, the U23 team who will
soon depart to contest the southeast
asian Games.
The special friendly match as it
is being advertised is expected to be
a tougher exercise for the U23s who
have struggled to match the exploits
of their younger upstarts.
Having trained together for the last
two years, in what U20s coach Gerd
Zeise describes as very much like a
club atmosphere, and just returned
from a tour of Europe, the younger

team are arguably more experienced

than their elders.
after they return from their trip to
new Zealand for the U20 FIFa World
Cup that starts on may 30 at least half
a dozen of the side is expected to advance to collect full honours in the
senior squads own World and asian
Cup campaign.
myanmar U23 meanwhile have
struggled in comparison. They have
suffered heavy defeats at the hands of
Japan (90 ) and australia (5-1), the
latter finishing their hopes of qualification for their own age group asian
Championship.
Theyve also struggled to secure the
same kind of results as their younger
brothers when facing similar opposition. When up against the Fiji U20
side, myanmar U23 could only manage a 0-0 draw. When facing the same

opposition in two games either side of

that contest, the U20 first won 1-0, followed by a 3-0 victory.
In late march, the U20 side beat malaysia U23 3-0, just a few days before the
U23 side could only secure a 1-1 draw.
The performance left some fans
heading to social media to discuss
what a shame it is that the U20 side
could not represent myanmar in the
Olympic and aFC U23 qualifiers or
Junes southeast asian Games.
after those games, Kyi Lwin, the
U23 coach, said his side would try
our best despite the lack of time to
prepare. Two months later todays
game will give an indication of how
far the team has come and how far
they are likely to go, both in their efforts for sEa Games gold and their
potential to bolster the senior squad
in their future endeavours.

NEW SALT OF 3-[(3-{[4-(4-MORPHOLINYLMETHYL)1H-PYRROL-2-YL]METHYLENE}-2-OXO-2,3-DIHYDRO1H-INDOL-5-YL)METHYL]-1,3-THIAZOLIDINE-2,4DIONE, ITS PREPARATION, AND FORMULATIONS

CONTAINING IT

(Registered as Document No.10266 of 2014 in Book IV, Volume

3753 at page 64/65)
That the Company holds FRANCE (name of the country which
the said patent registered) Patent Application / Registration No.
13/56870 dated July 12, 2013.
This patent invention relates to field of pharmaceutical composition.

May 11, 6pm

Thuwunna YTC Stadium

Any fraudulent imitation or unauthorized use of the said patent

will be dealt with according to law.
U Kyi Win Associates
for LES LABORATOIRES SERVIER
P.O. Box No. 26, Yangon.
Phone: 372416
Dated: 11th May, 2015

TRADE MARK CAUTION

NOTICE is hereby given that U ni -C harm C orporation a
joint-stock company duly organized under the laws of Japan,
Manufacturers and Merchants of 182, Shimobun, Kinsei-cho,
Shikokuchuo-shi, Ehime-ken, Japan is the Owner and Sole
Proprietor of the following trademark: -

(BodyFit in Thai)

Photo: MFF/ Facebook

SwiMMing

New ban on Olympic champ Suns doctor

CHInas swimming authorities have
imposed a new ban on the doctor of
national hero sun yang for helping
the double Olympic champion when
he was suspended, the world body
announced Friday.
Despite being under a ban, Ba Zhen
assisted the world 1500m record holder at the asian Games in september
where the Chinese athlete won three
gold medals, it has now been revealed.
The Chinese swimming association has ordered that Bas one year
suspension from swimming, which
should have ended on may 16, now
go on to september 27, FIna said in
a statement.
The case has already raised controversy because of the way the

suspension of sun for a doping offence was handled, allowing him to

compete at the asian Games.
sun failed a test at Chinas national championships in may last year
and was banned for three months in
July. But the punishment was backdated to the time of the championships, meaning that sun could compete at the asiad in south Korea.
The International swimming Federation (FIna) said that the Chinese
national body had decided to recount the suspension period for Ba
who was initially banned from may
17, 2014, to may 16 this year.
FIna said Ba had violated doping
rules by travelling on a private basis
to the 2014 asian Games in Incheon,

Korea and by helping to rehabilitate

his athlete during that competition.
This was done without the previous knowledge or consent from the
Chinese national swimming team officials. Therefore, Dr Ba Zhen is sanctioned with a new suspension period,
this time from september 28, 2014 to
september 27, 2015, said the statement.
sun, 23, has insisted that his positive test for the stimulant trimetazidine was accidental and that he had
taken it to counter heart palpitations.
Trimetazidine was banned in
competition, but from January 1
has been downgraded and is effectively no longer considered a banned
stimulant. AFP

(Reg: No. IV/8791/2008)

in respect of : - Drugs for medical purposes; sanitary napkins;
panty liners (sanitary); sanitary pants; menstruation tampons;
napkins for incontinents; pads for incontinents; pants for
incontinents; sanitary masks; absorbent cotton; breast pads; and
deodorants other than for personal use Intl Class: 5
Any fraudulent imitation or unauthorized use of the said trademark
or other infringements whatsoever will be dealt with according
to law.
U Kyi Win Associates
for Uni-Charm Corporation
P.O. Box No. 26, Yangon.
Phone: 372416
Dated: 11th May, 2015

aSian gaMeS

China hammer throwers gold medal reinstated

CHInEsE womens hammer thrower
Zhang Wenxiu had her 2014 asian
Games gold medal reinstated may 6
after successfully overturning a positive drugs test, the Olympic Council of
asia (OCa) announced.
Chinas track and field team at the
Incheon Games was rocked by news
of the positive dope test five days
after Zhang threw 77.33 metres to
claim gold on september 28.
a sample provided by Zhang before the competition had shown
the presence of zeranol, a banned

substance. she was disqualified and

stripped of her gold medal.
Zhang appealed and the OCa said
in a statement Wednesday that further
independent testing last month had
shown that the presence of zeranol
was, as Zhang asserted in her appeal,
caused by eating contaminated food.
Zeranol is found naturally in a
fungus associated with cereal crops
mycotoxin zearalenone and can
even permeate into the body merely
through contact with the skin.
ms Zhang did not ingest the

Prohibited substance detected in her

sample, the statement continued.
Based on this new information and supported by the World
anti-Doping authority, the Olympic Council of asia recognises that
ms.Zhang did not return an adverse
analytical Finding for the presence
of zeranol, nor therefore commit an
anti-Doping rule Violation during
the 2014 asian Games.
accordingly, the Olympic Council
of asia will return the Gold medal to
ms Zhang. AFP

Sport 27

www.mmtimes.com
american Football

Brady says wins not

lessened by Deflategate

EW England patriots
quarterback Tom Brady
insisted May 7 the teams
Super Bowl 49 triumph
isnt tainted, despite a
report linking him to a cheating
scandal.
no, absolutely not, said Brady,
an nFL superstar who could yet
face discipline from the league after investigators found he likely
knew game-day footballs used during at least one playoff game were
purposely under-inflated by patriots staffers perhaps making them
easier to grip.
in his first public appearance
since the nFLs report was released
on May 6, Brady was greeted by
adoring fans at a question-andanswer session at Salem State University in Massachusetts, an engagement arranged long before the
report came out.
interest in the event skyrocketed
in the wake of the report, with national television news outlets carrying the first 10 minutes live, and
tickets being offered on Craigslist for
as much as US$500.
But Brady told moderator Jim
Gray that he was not yet ready to
discuss the nFLs Deflategate
findings.
i dont have really any reaction,
Brady said. its only been 30 hours
so i havent had much time to digest
it fully, but when i do, ill be sure to
let you know how i feel about it
and everybody else.
as to when that might be, Brady
said, Hopefully soon.
Theres still a process thats going forth right now, he said. im involved in that process, so whenever

Tom Brady throws a ball. Photo: AFP

it happens, it happens. ill certainly

want to be very comfortable in how
i feel about the statements that i
make.
Despite the seemingly minor
importance of the infraction with
doubts over whether balls deflated
below the minimum stipulated by
the league actually provided a competitive edge critics have urged the
nFL to take strong action against
Brady.
They say its important the fourtime Super Bowl winner, a certain
future Hall-of-Famer, isnt seen to be
above the rules.
But if there were any critics in
the room on the night, they were
drowned out by Brady admirers,
who cheered as the 37-year-old
sports hero entered the hall and
took his seat, looking relaxed in a
navy blazer and white shirt with no
tie.

To avoid the crowds, he arrived at

the campus in the historic town near
Boston by helicopter.
Gray, an Emmy-winning television sports reporter, said right off
the bat that he planned to stick
largely to the original intent of the
evening a chance for Brady to
connect with fans in one of a series of talks in which the university
invites world leaders, artists, athletes and intellectuals to discuss
their careers.
When Gray noted, however, that
there was an elephant in the room,
Brady shot back, Where?
But Bradys glossy image has
taken a hard hit. Based on information that included text messages of two staffers responsible for
team equipment, the probe found
that it was more probable than
not that Brady was at least generally aware of the inappropriate
activities of these who conspired
to deflate the balls.
Further damning Brady was the
revelation that he declined to hand
over details of his own emails, text
messages and phone messages.
The issue came to light after the
patriots victory over the indianapolis Colts in the american Conference
championship game, which sent
them to the Super Bowl.
Questions dogged them throughout the build-up to their Super Bowl
clash with Seattle, which the patriots
won 28-24.
Brady, however, said the affair
hadnt dimmed his joy in the victory
because we earned and achieved
everything that we got this year as a
team, and im very proud of that and
our fans should be, too. AFP

boxing

cycling

FLoyD Mayweather has branded

Manny pacquiao a sore loser and a
coward and says he wont delay his
planned retirement to grant the philippine icon a rematch next year, in an
apparent U-turn.
and he dismissed pacquiaos claim
that he had been carrying an injury in
the one-sided win for Mayweather, the
american calling it excuses, excuses,
excuses.
Mayweather took his unbeaten
record to 48-0 in Las Vegas with a
12-round unanimous decision over
pacquiao in a welterweight world title
bout that will go down as the most lucrative in boxing history.
in an interview recorded for
Showtime television, Mayweather
says he did text ESpns Stephen a
Smith that he would grant pacquiao
a rematch but he has changed his
mind.
The 38-year-old says he couldnt
detect any physical problem for pacquiao during the bout, after which
the Filipino and his camp said he
was suffering from a right shoulder
injury.
absolutely not, Mayweather said.
He was fast. His left hand was fast.
His right hand was fast and he was
throwing them both fast and strong.
although pacquiao had arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff
in Los angeles on May 6, Mayweather
said his plea of injury was nonsense.
He lost. He knows he lost. i lost a
lot of respect for him after all of this,
said Mayweather.

aUSTRaLian Simon Gerrans put his

injury woes behind him as he pulled
on the leaders pink jersey May 9 when
his orica outfit won the first stage team
time-trial at the Giro ditalia.
The 34-year-old from Melbourne
missed this seasons classics after
breaking his collarbone and arm in
separate falls.
But he crossed the line first ahead
of fellow australians Michael Matthews and Michael Hepburn as their
orica team won the 17.6km time-trial
on the italian Riviera.
ive had a difficult start to the
season, admitted Gerrans, one of the
only riders competing to have won
stages of the three Grand Tours italy,
France and Spain but who had never
worn the pink jersey before.
ive had to rebuild from zero after
my fall.
i missed my first two objectives of
the season, the australian championships and the Tour Down Under, and
then the ardennes classics.
i hope that my luck has changed.
Gerrans, who wore the Tour de
France yellow jersey for two days in
2013, also won a stage in his only previous appearance in the italian race in
2009.
Were very close to each other in
the team, said Gerrans, who achieved
one of his biggest wins in italy at the
2012 Milan-San Remo classic.
our advantage was to have very
strong time-trial specialists in the
team, capable of giving 100 percent.
This jersey should be divided in
nine. The objective now is to hold the
pink jersey in the team, added Gerrans, who admitted his chances of

Football

Spain strike could

cost 50m euros a day
SpainS football league launched
a lawsuit on May 8 to block a strike
threatened by players that it warned
could cost 50 million euros (US$56
million) per match day in lost
revenues.
players from top teams, including Barcelona and Real Madrid, have
threatened to boycott the last games of
the season if the government does not
renegotiate a reform of football broadcasting rights.
it remained unclear how likely the
stoppage was to go ahead and how
the row might be resolved, as players
representatives and the football federation raised various demands, some
apparently not directly linked to the
broadcast issue.
But the professional football league,
in charge of the superstar primera Division, rejected calls to change the terms
of the television reform and hurled recriminations at the federation.
The federation and players threatened an open-ended strike from May
16, which could affect crucial end-ofseason league games and the Spanish
Cup final this month.
The president of the professional
football league Javier Tebas filed a
case on May 8 at the national Court in
Madrid against the aFE players union
over the strike.
He has lashed out in recent days
at Spains football federation, the
powerful body that governs the lower
leagues and the national team.
Tebas accuses its president angel
Maria Villar, who is also a vice-president of world governing body FiFa,
of running the organisation like his
private estate.
in an interview with aFp May, 8
Tebas said the strike would breach
Spanish labour law and collective
bargaining agreements between the
league and the union.

The Liga in a statement urged the

court to process the case with the
greatest possible urgency.
The law approved by the government last month obliges broadcasters to bid collectively for the lucrative
rights to screen matches and redistributes the revenues.
The federation and the players
union say the law does not give a fair
share of the revenue to smaller lowerleague clubs.
The league has accused them of
other motives.
Tebas alleged the federation was
opposing the television reform as a
counter-attack against the government due to a dispute over public subsidies to the federation.
He warned sponsors were very
alarmed at the prospect of a strike.
When a football match day is suspended, we calculate that we could easily be talking about 50 million euros of
losses per day in revenue from broadcasting, sponsorship and betting, he
told aFp.
Dozens of players including Real
Madrid goalkeeper iker Casillas and
Barcelona midfielder andres iniesta appeared on May 7 at a press conference
by the players union in which its leaders threatened the strike.
The coaches of Real Madrid and
Barcelona, Carlo ancelotti and Luis Enrique, hoped on May 8 for a solution to
avert a shutdown of the Liga.
i think there was a little lack of
communication between the parties.
They are going to meet and in the end
take the right decision, ancelotti said.
i think the league will end
normally.
The Spanish football fans federation
called in a statement for wider negotiations on the reform. it backed the players right to strike but called on them
to clarify their intentions. AFP

Mayweather U-turn on Gerrans in pink after Giro opener

rematch with coward
as to the flip-flop on a possible
rematch, Mayweather said simply, i
change my mind.
at this particular time, no, because
hes a sore loser and hes a coward ... if
you lost, accept the loss and say, Mayweather, you were the better fighter.
pacquiao, 57-6-2 with 38 knockouts, is expected to be out of the ring
for nine months to a year.

He lost. He
knows he lost.
I lost a lot of
respect for him
after all of this.
Floyl mayweather
Boxer

Mayweather has said his last fight

will be in September, when he will
complete his six-fight deal with Showtime and then retire.
With a victory in that fight against
a still-to-be-named opponent, Mayweather would match Rocky Marcianos iconic 49-0 ring record.
He has insisted he would be happy
to retire with that mark and wouldnt
be tempted to stay around and try to
make it a round 50 victories. AFP

Orica cycle their way to a lead in the opening stage of the Giro dItalia. Photo: AFP

overall victory were slim.

in the sprints Michael Matthews
is our best option. Then in the tough
stages well see with Esteban Chaves,
he explained.
Why not me? im among the best
in the world in the classics but in the
stage races i can target at best a place
in the top 20.
in the Giro ill see day by day depending on how i feel.
Former champion alberto Contador got off to a promising start after
the Spaniards Tinkoff team finished
second.
Contador, 32, achieved the best result of the race favourites taking six seconds on italys Fabio aru, whose astana
team were third, with Colombian Rigoberto Uran of the Etixx at 12 seconds and
australian Richie porte of Sky at 20sec.
The weather is beautiful, the public very warm and i have a good feeling, said Contador, the 2008 winner

who is bidding for a seventh Grand

Tour victory.
its a perfect start to the Giro, perfect even if we would have preferred to
win when we were so close to victory.
But we have to think about the overall
standings. and in this sense its a good
result.
orica clocked 19min 26sec to put
themselves in the same position as
last year when they won the first stage
in Belfast with five riders from their
current team.
The Tinkoff team were at 7sec and
astana 13sec off the pace.
it was planned that Gerrans cross
the line first, said Matthews, who
finds himself in the same position as
last year before seizing the pink jersey
which he held for for six days.
The second stage held yesterday
over 177km between albenga and
Genoa was expected to favour the
sprinters. AFP

Sport
28 THE MYANMAR TIMES May 11, 2015

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

Myanmars championship
young guns face off
SPORT 26

HOckey

Yangon Pythons
feed the game
MaTT ROebuck
matt.d.roebuck@gmail.com

he symbiotic relationship
between a team of hockeyplaying expats and the Myanmar hockey Federation
took another step forward
over the weekend when a mixedgender team representing the Yangon
Pythons faced up against a squad of
Myanmar national players who missed
the cut for this years Southeast Asian
Games in Singapore.
Yangon Pythons, a club with players ranging from complete beginners
to those who grew up with a stick in
their hand, took to the Theinphyu
hockey Field in Yangon early on May 8
to face a team comprised of nine players who have been cut from the Myanmar national team but act as sparring
partners for the main squad.
The Myanmar hockey Federation
team ran out winner 6-2 but coach
Muhammad Ikhlaq a bronze medal
winner with Pakistan at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics was delighted with

the experience as a whole.

The first-team squad recently
toured Malaysia in order to develop
match practice. We hadnt played
competitively in over a year, Ikhlaq
told The Myanmar Times.
I want to see hockey in Myanmar
develop further, so Im keen to help
the Pythons grow.
After the game, Yangon Pythons
captain Dylan Rae presented Ikhlaq
with US$500, collected by the team
to help support the hockey teams efforts to bring home a medal from
Singapore.
The donation came after a discussion between Rae and Ikhlaq over his
difficulties supplying his side with the
correction nutrition.
While the primary diet for the players is mostly rice, the coach wanted to
introduce two eggs and two bananas
while training for the SeA Games, Rae
told The Myanmar Times.
The coach believes that diet
change should enable his players to
train hard and recovery quicker than
in the past,

When I heard this I thought it

would be the least that our hockey
team could do, as the national team
does so much for us, he added.
Pythons president Adrienne Joy explained how the club had been formed
after realising a demand for the game
among the expat community.
The partnership with Ikhlaq was
something we hadnt expected, but its
quickly become one of the defining
features of the club, said Joy.
Being able to train with a worldclass coach every week is an incredible
experience and we all learn a lot from
Ikhlaqs guidance.
The club also benefit from sticks
and balls provided by Ikhlaq and
the federation as they hire the pitch
for their weekly Saturday-morning
sessions.
The partnership also allows us to
support the national side, for example
raising money to help them in their
quest for SeA Games success. We hope
to be able to build this support further
in future as our own team grows, added
Joy.

A Yangon Python plays the ball past an MHF player. Photo: Matt Roebuck

fOOTball

Myanmar women beat Aussies to reach ASEAN final

MaTT ROebuck
matt.d.roebuck@gmail.com
MYANMARS women last night sought
an unprecedented third ASeAN Football Federation Championship title
when they took on Thailand in the
tournament final. The game took on additional meaning since womens football
will not be contested during this Junes
Southeast Asian Games.
The Golden Land Girls have twice
won the trophy, but never against
such stern competition, having beaten Australia U20 1-0 in their May 8
semi-final.
Now that we are in the final, it really doesnt matter who we play against.
The target is to win the cup, so we must
be able to beat anyone, said Myanmar
coach Thet Thet Win before the game.
The lone goal was scored by Yee Yee
Oo, who put the finishing touches onto
a Khin Marlar Tun cross in the 52nd
minute to give Myanmar the lead.
Thet Thet Win appeared to have rotated her squad tactfully, managing injuries to key players such as Than Than
htwe, whose appearance after half an
hour in the Malaysia game inspired an
increase in the games tempo and Myanmars dynamism.
So when Myanmar faced up to
the unbeaten Young Matildas it was a
relatively fresh first-eleven that took
the field. That starting line-up still
missed Than Than htwe, but did include Naw Arlo Wer Phaw. She had
started the last two group games from
the bench after scoring in the 3-2 loss
to Vietnam, but her introduction of
against the Philippines transformed
the contest with a hat-trick that placed
Myanmar in contention for the

The Myanmar womens football team jump for joy after beating Australia U20 to make the AFF Womens Championship Final. Photo: MFF/Facebook

knockout phase.
A strong Australian side took the
game to Myanmar, but Myanmar maintained their cohesion and looked particularly dangerous on the counter-attack.
Only a fine display by Australian keeper
Teagan Migah kept the scores level at
half-time.
But once Myanmar took the lead in

the second half, its stubborn defence

limited the Australians opportunities to
find a way back into the match.
We know the Australians were
tactically stronger, but I thought our
girls managed to raise the level of their
game, said Thet Thet Win.
Australian coach Ante Juric said,
There is obvious disappointment

among the team that we did not qualify

for the final. however, for a young squad
like this there are positives we can take
away from this loss and, more importantly, lessons to be learned.
Myanmars final opponents also
finished second in their group, but
beat hosts Vietnam, the winners of
Myanmars Group B, with a 2-1 win in

extra time against the championship

hosts.
Myanmars neighbours were hoping
this tournament would provide momentum into this years womens FIFA World
Cup, for which they qualified with a
fifth-place finish in the 2014 AFC Asian
Cup after beating Myanmar 2-1, also in
Vietnam.