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ISSUE 9 | Thursday, March 19, 2015

Overloading
blamed for deadly
ferry sinking

Inflation eats
into profits of
local banks

US was involved in
failed Philippines
raid, enquiry told

nEWS 2

business 9

WORLD 14

Ferry victims remembered at emotional service

Yangon residents light candles in the shape of the letters SOS on the ground at Mahabandoola Park yesterday
afternoon, in a memorial for those who lost their lives in a March 13 ferry accident off the coast of Rakhine State.
The official death toll from the accident stands at 63.

SKorea linked to crackdown

The South Korean embassy in Yangon met government officials to request they disperse protesters from South
Korean-owned factories in Shwe Pyi Thar township prior to a March 4 crackdown by plain-clothed thugs. news 3

2 News

Government
to replace
ageing fleet
after sinking

THE MYANMAR TIMES March 19, 2015

Overloading blamed for ferry

accident, as death toll hits 63

Myatt Kyaw Thu

[email protected]
THE ferry tragedy off the coast of Rakhine State has prompted the state
government to replace the old ferries
of the Aung Takon line with new vessels, chief minister U Maung Maung
Ohn told The Myanmar Times on
March 17.
The chief minister said Aung Takons ferry service had been suspended since the tragedy, which he blamed
on overloading. Inclement weather
had earlier been blamed, but this was
later ruled impossible by a prominent
meteorologist.
These ferries should not run any
more, and people dont want to ride
aboard them. We will replace them
with new ferries, said U Maung
Maung Ohn.
At least 63 people died in the March
13 sinking, when the 19-year-old vessel went down off Myebon on its way
from Kyaukpyu to Sittwe. Search and
rescue efforts led by volunteers from a
local philanthropic organisation were
continuing yesterday.
The ship was officially carrying
214 passengers and crew. Based on
the number of survivors and bodies
recovered to date, it was carrying at
least 230 but it is feared that many
more unregistered passengers were
aboard. State-run Myanma Insurance announced on March 16 that
they would pay K500,000 compensation to the relatives of the deceased,
and K400,000 to those injured in the
incident.
The Aung Takon line was once
leased to a private entrepreneur, U
Kyaut Taung of Toungup township,
but the government later resumed
control.
U Maung Maung Ohn said the
state government would set a moderate ticket price for new ferries, higher
than the current price but cheaper
than those of private services.
People could not afford the higher
prices if we privatised the service, he
said.
Private shipping lines Malikha and
Shwe Pyi Tan charge about K15,000
for travel from Toungup to Sittwe,
while the state-owned ferries charge
only K2500 for the same route.
Residents said only those who
lacked the money for the private services booked berths on Aung Takon.
No one dares to ride Aung Takons
ferries. They are all afraid, said Ma
Thu Thu of Toungup township.
No details were given on the timeframe for or the expected cost of replacing the vessels, or where the funds
would come from.
Translation by Zar Zar Soe

Mratt
Kyaw Thu
[email protected]

AS teams of volunteers recovered

the remains of those lost in the Aung
Takon 3 ferry disaster of March 13,
further details have begun to emerge
of the events immediately surrounding the tragedy, including eyewitness
accounts.
The death toll late on March 17
reached 63 as the recovery teams,
led by young members of a local
philanthropic organisation, continued their search and the disposal of
the remains. Combined with the 169
people officials say were rescued, this
means there were at least 232 people
on board 18 more than the official
manifest but survivors said there
could have been up to 400 on the
ferry when it went down.
Amid allegations the ferry was
severely overloaded when it sunk,
the Rakhine State government has
formed an investigation commission
and instructed the team to complete
its report no later than yesterday,
March 18. An earlier government
statement blaming the weather has
been dismissed.
Volunteer members of Duwunkyel
free funeral service in Kyaukpyu are
leading the search for the deceased.
On March 15, they found two bodies, which were buried in Myebon.
A further 20 bodies discovered the
following day were also buried in
Kyaukpyu township.
The bodies we found on [March
16] could not be identified because
their state of decomposition was too
advanced, U Tun Kyi, a member of
the Duwunkyel free funeral service,
told The Myanmar Times yesterday.
We will find more bodies if we can
search the sunken ferry itself.
The volunteers found seven more
bodies on March 17, at about 5:30pm.
They were cremated on Myauk Kyein

Rakhine State Chief Minister U Maung Maung Ohn meets survivors in Kyaukpyu on March 17. Photo: Naing Wynn Htoon

Island, the place nearest to where

they were discovered, because it was
too difficult to carry them to Kyaukpyu, said U Myo Myint Naing, one of
the searchers.
One of them was the captain.
Some people recognised him. The
bodies of two monks from Kyaukpyu
were also found, and we cremated
them here at once, he said.
Captain U Hla Maung Thein was
listed as missing as of March 17, but
10 crew members survived, rescuers
said.
In a statement to the public at
the township hall in the wake of the
sinking, Rakhine State Chief Minister U Maung Maung Ohn said an
inquiry would investigate allegations
that the captain had been drinking.
Of the 169 people the authorities
say were rescued, most have gone
home, and 33 were accommodated
temporarily at the Basic Education
Middle School 4 Kyaukpyu, while

The Aung Takon 3 in more seaworthy times. Photo: Supplied

The crew asked the

passengers to help
bail out the water,
but it just kept
pouring in.
U Tin Win
Ferry-sinking survivor

some of the injured are in the local

hospital.
It has emerged that the ferry left
Kyaukpyu port bound for the state
capital, Sittwe, at about 4:30pm.
Flooding began at about 7pm as it
entered the waters between Naung
Daw Gyi and Naung Daw Lay islands,
which are notorious for treacherous currents. Attempts to stem the
flooding failed, and the vessel sank
at 8:15pm.
Preliminary reports estimated
the death toll at 34, out of 214 passengers and crew officially listed. But
ferries in these waters are known to
be chronically overcrowded, as passengers pay only K2500 per ticket,
instead of the K15,000 charged
by private ferry companies. The
Aung Takon line was owned by the
government.
Survivor U Tin Win, of Toungup
township in southern Rakhine State,
told The Myanmar Times that the
waves were just 60 centimetres (2

feet) high when the flooding started, just after the vessel had passed
Naung Daw Gyi island.
The crew asked the passengers
to help bail out the water, but it just
kept pouring in. Crew members were
trying to lighten the load by throwing 80-pound [36.3-kilogram] bags
of lime overboard. It was no good,
he said. When I went looking for
my little daughter, the ferry tilted to
the left. Within 10 seconds, it went
down.
The government said the ferry
was authorised to carry 120 tonnes of
goods and 176 people. Survivors have
told reporters there were about 400
passengers on board. Survivors have
said they witnessed excessive loading
on board, including bags of lime and
other goods stacked on deck, as the
ferry left port.
U Maung Maung Ohn said that
the ferry sank because it was overloaded. Meteorologist U Tun Lwin
has questioned a government statement issued on March 14 that the
ferry sank due to bad weather, dismissing this claim as impossible.
The Rakhine Chief Minister said
the regional government would take
responsibility for the care of children
who had lost their parents, and had
also assumed responsibility for helping survivors now staying in Kyaukpyu to return to their families and
jobs. The regional government has
also paid K1.2 million to the families of the deceased and K500,000 to
each survivor.
Translation by Thiri Min Htun

Judge closes courts for labour activist hearings

in BRIEF

Kyaw Phone Kyaw

[email protected]

Govt withdraws media bill

JOURNALISTS and colleagues of labour activist Ko Thu Zaw Kyi Win were
yesterday barred from sitting in on his
first court appearance since being arrested for incitement on March 4.
Ko Thu Zaw Kyi Win was detained
in Shwe Pyi Thar township following
a crackdown on protesting garment
workers on March 4. He is facing a
charge under section 505(b) of the Penal Code, which carries a potential twoyear jail term.
The courts legal officer has submitted a request to the regional court to
shift the case to Yankin or South Okkalapa townships for security reasons.
The judge at Shwe Pyi Thar is yet to

make a decision on the request, which

is opposed by the defendant because it
would make it hard for his family to attend court.
The decision to close the court at
yesterdays hearing was condemned by
Ko Thu Zaw Kyi Wins lawyer, Ko Nay
Lin Aung.
You can see the situation. There
is no violence. The judges talked a lot
about open courts but even [people involved in other scheduled] cases at the
court are not allowed in, and also the
media. This situation is bad, he said.
Ko Thu Zaw Kyi Win appealed personally to the judge to open the court,
saying that he would accept responsibility for security if police were unable to.
I will tell my friends not to cause
any disturbance, he said, according to

Ko Nay Lin Aung, adding that the judge

did not reply.
The authorities also closed Shwe Pyi
Thar Township Court for other hearings
involving labour activists. In one case
in early March, police officers initially
barred the relatives of a defendant,
Ko Naing Htay Hlwin, from entering.
Only after a vigorous argument were
they granted permission to sit in on the
hearing, but media and the defendants
colleagues were denied access.
During the hearing, Ko Thu Zaw Kyi
Win also complained that the prison
authorities had not allowed him to submit a request to the regional court to
keep the case at Shwe Pyi Thar.
The judge said it was a decision
for the prison authorities and not his
responsibility.

Ko Thu Zaw Kyi Win and three other

activists have threatened to launch a
hunger strike if the case is transferred.
Ko Thu Zaw Kyi Win appeared in
a court a day after another activist, Ko
Naing Htay Lwin. Today Ko Myo Min
Min will appear, followed by Ko Naing
Zaw Kyi Win. All face charges under
section 505(b).
Workers arrested for allegedly staging an illegal protest will appear in
Shwe Pyi Thar Township Court on
March 23 and Insein Township Court
on March 26.
If convicted they face a one-year
prison term under section 18 of the
peaceful protest law. In Insein township
they have also been accused of rioting,
which carries a potential prison term of
two years.

Citting the current media situation,

the government is moving to suspend
consideration of a media bill drawn
up in collaboration with UNESCO. The
Pyithu Hluttaw yesterday agreed not
to proceed with planned debate on the
Public Service Media Bill.
A revised bill will now be drafted to
take into account amendments arising
from public comments, and to bring
the text into line with the Television and
Broadcasting Law, Minister for Information U Ye Htut told the media.
Private media publications have
been vocal in their opposition to the
draft law, which they say will prop up
loss-making state newspapers and potentially put independent publications
out of business. Htoo Thant

www.mmtimes.com

News editor: Thomas Kean | [email protected]

News 3

EXCLUSIVE

SKorea urged govt to

end labour protests
Laignee
Barron

TRADE MARK CAUTION

NOTICE is hereby given that BIS Myanmar Limited, a company
incorporated under the laws of the Republic of the Union of
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Kyaw Phone
Kyaw

WHEN Yangon labourers from five

foreign-owned factories reeled out the
picket lines and demanded a meagre
pay boost at the end of January, their
calls were initially dismissed. Two
weeks later, however, the government
shifted into overdrive to quell the demonstrations at the behest of the South
Korean embassy, The Myanmar Times
has learned.
After attempts at negotiations
stalled on February 17 due to factory
owners rejecting demands for a K1000a-day (US$1) pay rise, the government
deployed police units wielding batons
to disperse thousands of mostly young,
impoverished female workers who had
massed in the streets. Dozens of protesters were bloodied and injured in
the clashes, with some requiring hospitalisation after they claim police stampeded over them. By the workers count,
at least 30 went missing, and two union
leaders and an activist were jailed.
The crackdown policy appears to
have largely been driven by the South
Korean ambassadors backdoor campaign to protect his countrys business
interests.
South Korea and Myanmar have
long enjoyed mutually beneficial relations. As of 2013, trade between the
two countries stood at more than $1.5
billion, and South Korean investment
is vital to Myanmars booming garment
sector. According to industry sources,
20 percent of Myanmars garment factories are officially South Korean-owned,
with another 20pc likely run by South
Koreans through locally registered
companies.
The wage strike hit two South Korean garment factories E-Land Myanmar and Costec International as well
as three other Chinese-owned factories.
The South Korean embassy told
The Myanmar Times it requested intervention to protect its factories from
financial losses and to ensure the safety
of South Korean management. The embassy would not comment on whether
the violent crackdowns were what it
had in mind when requesting action.
I know that the lawful right of
workers should be respected. However,
those striking workers occupied the
entrance of the factory and prevented
the moving in and out of people and
products, which is a serious illegal action causing serious financial loss,
the embassys commercial attach,
Wongyoung Choi, told The Myanmar
Times in an email. The strikers even
detained [the South] Korean managing
director of Costec on February 3 for
almost 12 hours.
Workers from Costec have denied
taking hostages.
On February 3, a foreign woman,
maybe Korean went into the factory
with about 20 workers around 8am.
She didnt come out of the factory until
around 8pm. We did not force her for to
stay in the factory, said Ma Thein Moe
Lwin, a worker from Costec.
If the embassy says we arrested their citizen, it is a lie or
misunderstanding.
But on the premise that South Korean citizens were at risk, the countrys
ambassador travelled to Nay Pyi Taw on
February 4. In a meeting with Minister
for Labour U Aye Myint the ambassador requested steps be taken to prevent the illegal action of the striking
workers, according to Mr Wongyoung.
When contacted about the alleged
detention, a Costec representative hung

Police stand guard near protesting workers on March 4. Photo: Naing Wynn Htoon

up on The Myanmar Times.

Officials from the ministry declined
to comment on South Koreas involvement in the clampdowns but on February 23, the Irrawaddy quoted deputy
minister U Htin Aung as saying embassies had been in touch with senior
officials about pursuing action against
workers in line with existing laws.
South Korean media also cited an
anonymous official from the South Korean foreign ministry who confirmed
that the embassy had intervened to end
the protests.
This is not the first time South Korean diplomats have orchestrated crackdowns on striking garment workers. In
January 2014, the embassy in Cambodia boasted on its Facebook page that
its diplomats lobbied Phnom Penh to

The lawful right of

workers should be
respect. However,
those striking
workers occupied
the entrance of the
factory.
Wongyoung Choi
South Korean embassy

deploy an elite Cambodian military unit

to shut down a protest for higher wages.
Ensuing clashes led to five workers being shot dead.
South Korean-owned factories also
have history of mistreatment of workers. In 1996, the South Korean manager
of a shoe factory in Vietnam was convicted for lining up and beating employees with a shoe. Corporal punishment
was an ingrained aspect of South Korean workplaces until the 1970s.
Myanmars recent factory demonstrations took a darker turn and escalated further after a second meeting
between the South Korean ambassador
and senior parliamentary officials on
February 25. Both the embassy and the
parliament office rejected suggestions
the protests were discussed, however.
They insisted that the meeting was focused on improving relations and
gearing up for the 40th anniversary of
the establishment of diplomatic ties.
However, a day after the meeting,
the government-run Global New Light
of Myanmar printed a picture of the
Amyotha Hluttaw Speaker U Khin
Aung Myint shaking hands with Ambassador Lee Baek-soon. Directly under
the photo, the paper ran an article that

praised the good results the government was achieving in negotiating an

end to the spate of factory protests.
The government also took to staterun TV to announce that the demonstrations were hurting factory profits
and chasing away foreign investors. The
factory workers were warned to end
their strike and accept modest pay rises
offered by the foreign factories.
About half the picketers took the
bait, many scared off by the police
clampdown. But many hundreds more
continued the strike, only to find the
announcement presaged an even more
violent attack.
On March 4, their protest was
quashed by police and plain-clothed
thugs toting read armbands emblazoned with the word duty. More than
a dozen more were arrested.
Yangon Region minister U Zaw Aye
Maung, who has led efforts to negotiate
with the workers, declined to comment
on whether the auxiliary group was sent
at the South Korean embassys behest.
But the response from the embassy
has not surprised international labour
groups familiar with the countrys tactics.
[South] Korean employers are notorious for their hostility toward unions
and strikes, said Eunji Kang of Korean House for International Solidarity.
There is a high suspicion that Korean
embassies take any steps available (even
unlawful ones) to protect the benefits
and interests of Korean entrepreneurs
and investors.
After the March 4 crackdown, the
Myanmar government went into damage control, dredging up legal codes
from the 1890s to prove the legality of
mobilising the plain-clothed force.
In contrast to its long-winded defence of the Cambodia episode, this
time the South Korean embassy stayed
silent at least, until it agreed to speak
to The Myanmar Times.
The South Korean government
mistakenly thinks that its alright to
export its harsh, rights abusing tactics
in dealing with labor protests to other
countries, but its not, said Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights
Watchs Asia division. If the workers
are attacked by police responding to the
embassys call, the rest of the international community should call out Seoul
as being equally responsible for those
rights violations.
But workers said it makes little difference to them who sent in the attack
dogs to end their protest.
I dont know about the politics, but
I am deeply scarred from that [March
4] crackdown, said Ma Thanda Aye, a
worker from the E-Land garment factory. The pain of injuries is not important, but the image of these events
replays and sometimes I see them again
before sleeping.

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4 News

THE MYANMAR TIMES March 19, 2015

IN DEPTH
Chief Executive Officer
Tony Child
[email protected]
Editorial Director U Thiha Saw
[email protected]
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[email protected]
EDITORIAL
Editor MTE Thomas Kean
[email protected]
Editor MTM Sann Oo
[email protected]
Chief of Staff Zaw Win Than
[email protected]
Editor Special Publications Myo Lwin
[email protected]
Editor-at-Large Douglas Long
[email protected]
News Editor MTE Guy Dinmore
Business Editor MTE Jeremy Mullins
[email protected]
World Editor MTE Fiona MacGregor
[email protected]
The Pulse Editor MTE Charlotte Rose
[email protected]
Sport Editor MTE Stuart Deed
Special Publications Editor MTE Wade Guyitt
[email protected]
Regional Affairs Correspondent Roger Mitton
[email protected]
Chief Sub Editor MTM Aye Sapay Phyu
News & Property Editor MTM
Tin Moe Aung
[email protected]
Timeout Editor MTM Moh Moh Thaw
[email protected]
MCM BUREAUS
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[email protected]
News Editors (Mandalay)
Khin Su Wai, Phyo Wai Kyaw
Nay Pyi Taw Bureau Chief Hsu Hlaing Htun
[email protected]
DIGITAL/ONLINE
Online Editors Kayleigh Long, Thet Hlaing
[email protected], [email protected]
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Photographers
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Religious defamation
law takes on new role
Once used to jail dissidents, 295(a) now being employed to appease nationalist groups

Wa Lone

Guy Dinmore

CIVIL society activists and lawyers

are concerned that a religious defamation law that once served as a tool
of the military junta to jail its opponents is now being used selectively
by the authorities to placate powerful
Buddhist nationalists ahead of this
years elections.
New Zealander Phillip Blackwood
and his Myanmar business partners, U
Tun Thurein and Ko Htut Ko Ko Lwin,
drew the ire of the Patriotic Buddhist
Monks Union for a psychedelic image
of the Buddha wearing headphones
that was posted on Facebook to promote a drinks night at their sinceclosed VGastro bar.
They were sentenced by a Yangon
court on March 17 to two-and-a-half
years in prison with hard labour under section 295(a) of the Penal Code.
They pleaded not guilty and intend to
appeal.
On the same day, Chaung-Oo Township Court in Sagaing Region upheld
charges under 295(a) against U Htin
Lin Oo, an author and former information officer of the National League
for Democracy, whose criticism of
Buddhist extremists in a speech last
October had angered the Committee
for the Protection of Nationality and
Religion, known in Myanmar as the
Ma Ba Tha. His application for bail
was denied and he remains in prison
awaiting trial.
In both cases, monks from such
groups have attended the trials.
Section 295(a) of the penal code
prohibits deliberate and malicious
acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.
That section and 295 defiling
a place of worship was commonly
used by the then military junta to
jail political opponents, particularly
monks and nuns involved in the 2007
saffron uprising.
U Kyi Myint, a High Court lawyer,
said the military government used
that law introduced under British
colonial rule against its opponents,
and that it remained open to abuse.
He noted that it was not applied in
cases where pro-government entities
have made attacks on religion.
Section 295 has been made by the
British to be used in good way, but
now the authorities use it in the wrong
way as a weapon of punishment to
maintain political power, he said.
Sai Nyunt Lwin, secretary of the
Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, said judges had been under pres-

Controversial Buddhist monk U Wirathu talks during a protest against UN special

rapporteur on human rights Yanghee Lee in Yangon on January 16. Photo: AFP

sure and were influenced by someone

trying to damage the supposed independence of the judiciary. Perhaps
the government might use this law to
gain political profit, but I think its not
a good prospect for the future to influence the judges, he said.
Nay Phone Latt, a blogger, commented that no one was safe because
the authorities could use the law as
they wanted. There was still no clear
law on use of the internet, he noted.
Rights activists see the court cases
and the passage through parliament
of four controversial religion and race
laws drafted by Ma Ba Tha as the
governments weak response to the
growing strength of hardline Buddhist
nationalists whose hate rhetoric is often directed at the countrys Muslim
population.
As an example of the rise of religious intolerance, Yanghee Lee, UN

special human rights envoy to Myanmar, told UN delegates in Geneva on

March 16 of the latest attack on her
by the monk U Wirathu, a founding
Ma Ba Tha member who had previously called her a whore for her reporting on Rakhine states Rohingya
Muslims.
The beastly woman has done it
again. It looks like she hasnt learnt
a lesson, she quoted him as saying.
This time I will not say it verbally.
I will say it with my slipper Oh
dear patriots, let us find ways and
means to teach the beastly woman
a lesson.
Matthew Smith, director of Fortify
Rights, an NGO, commented, This is
an election year and religion is already
being used for political purposes. Its
become a race to the bottom to determine who is a stronger defender of
conservative Buddhism.

in BRIEF
Ceasefire negotiations
focus on military issues

Peace negotiators say they

expect to finalise discussions
on military-related issues in a
draft nationwide ceasefire today.
Talks between the Union Peacemaking Work Committee (UPWC)
and the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT), which is
negotiating on behalf of 16 armed
groups, started on March 17.
On the first day talks focused
on ways to de-escalate conflict,
and negotiators covered seven
chapters.
The second day focused on
sections considered most integral to the accord those relating
to military affairs, including codes
of conduct and the establishment
of a joint monitoring committee.
We have reached agreement
on almost all points, NCCT
member Khun Okkar said at the
conclusion of yesterdays meeting. We are going to discuss
[three] points tomorrow. We hope
we will conclude [the militaryrelated sections] at tomorrows
meeting.
He declined to say what agreements had already been reached.
Talks are expected to continue
until March 22. Negotiators said
yesterday they expect to conclude
the draft nationwide ceasefire on
the final day.
The first two days of discussions passed smoothly and we
didnt face any difficulties, said
senior Myanmar Peace Center
official U Hla Maung Shwe.
Ei Ei Toe Lwin

Mt Popa fire weakens

A fire that has been raging

on the flanks of Mount Popa
is weakening, observers say.
Local authorities and volunteer
members of the Popa Lovers
Association, based in Kyaukpadaung township, Mandalay
Region, cut firebreaks to stem
the blaze, which has been raging
for five days.
The fire, said to have been
caused by negligence, has
caused great damage to local
forests.
It is the first major outbreak in
40 years.
Mount Popa is a volcano, 1518
metres high, and can be seen as
far as 60 kilometres away, beside
the Ayeyarwady River.
Neighbouring Taungkalat, a
737m volcanic plug, is a famous
centre for the worship of animist
nat spirits. Khin Su Wai

Journalists jailed for defaming military MP

Ye Mon
[email protected]
TWO staff from The Myanmar Post
were sentenced to two months prison with hard labour by Mawlamyine
Township Court yesterday for defaming a military MP.
Major Thein Zaw, a representative of the Mon State Hluttaw, asked
police to charge chief editor U Than
Htike Thu and deputy chief reporter
U Sann Moe Tun under section 500 of
the Penal Code for a story the journal
published last year, titled Military

representatives have to take part in

the workshop due to the countrys low
education.
The MP alleged that things were
attributed to him in the article that
he did not say.
Editor-in-charge Ko Zin Thaw Naing said the decision was unfair and
the journal planned to appeal to the
Union Supreme Court.
We wouldnt have quoted him
if he didnt say it. We wrote exactly
what he said at the workshop. He
should have contacted us if the story
was wrong and we would have writ-

We wouldnt
have quoted him
if he didnt say it.
We wrote exactly
what he said at the
workshop.
Ko Zin Thaw Naing
The Myanmar Post

ten a correction, but he never did

that, Ko Zin Thaw Naing said.
The defendants lawyer, U Tun
Aung, also questioned the fairness of
the verdict. He said judges tended to
find in favour of military complainants.
U Thiha Saw, a member of the Myanmar Press Council (Interim), said
the council could not mediate in the
dispute because the military representative went straight to the police
with his complaint.
If they had presented it to the
press council first, the case would not
have reached the court, he said.

News 5

www.mmtimes.com

White armband campaign

gears up to go national
Ye Mon
[email protected]
A CAMPAIGN to distribute white
armbands in support of students
arrested in the Letpadan police
crackdown is gearing up to go national today, despite opposition
from authorities.
Ko Nyi Moe Swe of the Poetry
Lovers Association, which is active
in the campaign, said yesterday
they would distribute more than
15,000 armbands in 20 townships.
The armbands bear the words
We are students. Respect our
rights. About 5000 were distributed in Yangon by student supporters and activists on March 13 and 15
to focus public disapproval of the
March 10 crackdown in Letpadan,
which resulted in more than 120
people being arrested, and many
beaten, while protesting against
the National Education Law. The
armband campaign then paused for
three days during school matriculation exams.
We launched the white campaign to counter the red armbands and red collars which were

Restaurant
association
to work with
Unilever
INTERNATIONAL food company
Unilever has teamed up with Myanmar Restaurant Association to bring
clean and healthy food to the streets
of Yangon. MRA yesterday announced
it would sign an agreement with Unilever Food Solution Company of Thailand on March 30 to establish international health standards in the citys
roadside food stalls.
MRA secretary general U Kyaw
Myat Moe said Unilever would train
stallholders in the importance of cleanliness in the storage and preparation of
food. They will check up on the stallholders to see if they prepare food the
way theyve been trained to, he added.
MRA selected 18 roadside sellers
from six downtown townships last September in preparation for this exercise.

They will check up

on stallholders to
see if they prepare
food the way theyve
been trained to.
U Kyaw Myat Moe
Myanmar Restaurants Association

Well try to help them reduce

waste and improve the quality of their
food so that their earnings increase,
he said. The selected stallholders have
undergone medical examinations.
Students, office workers and passers-by rely on these stalls for good
food when they get hungry. They will
be reassured to see them putting on
safety gloves to make salad, and ensuring that the water they use is fresh,
said U Kyaw Myat Moe.
The stallholders will also be
trained in looking after food in different weather conditions. Ei Ei Thu

Activists distribute armbands in Yangon on March 13. Photo: Naing Wynn Htoon

worn by Swan Ar Shin and the

riot police who beat and arrested
the student protesters in Yangon
and Latpadan, said Maung Saung
Kha, leader of the Poetry Lovers
Association.

Vigilantes used by the authorities to break up peaceful demonstrations in Yangon and elsewhere
wore civilian clothes and red armbands emblazoned with the word
duty.

The national campaign will see

white armbands circulated in Letpadan, Yangon, Mandalay, Pyay,
Magwe, Pakokku, Pathein and 13
other townships.
The armbands have been spotted in parks, markets, tea shops
and on public transport in Yangon
city. A Facebook campaign has attracted international support as
well, with the We support Myanmar Students page drawing more
than 23,000 likes.
Ko Nyi Moe Swe said administrators in some townships in Yangon had warned them not to gather
as a crowd.
Weve been warned along the
Inya [Lake] embankment. The authorities said we dont have permission and that we should request it
from the police station. But we told
them this is just a campaign, not a
protest, so we dont need the permission. Then they allowed us to
continue the campaign, he said.
Several dozen of those arrested
in Letpadan have since been released without charge, but those
still in custody could face several
years in prison.

NNER meets
hluttaw over
education
law changes
THE National Network for Education Reform called on parliament on
March 17 to consider amending the
controversial National Education
Law. The NNER wants the Amyotha
Hluttaw Bill Committee to take up an
amendment bill that it says is based
on the peoples will.
The NNER version of the changes
was agreed on by the government, MPs
and student organisations at a meeting
in Yangon in February, said leader U
Thein Lwin. We want a quality education system under democratic management, he said.
He added that student unions, active and retired teachers, students,
parents, and people from different
regions and states discussed the education law in October, 2012. At an
education conference in 2013, 20 representatives from different regions attended.
The draft reflects all the input we
received. It reflects social justice and
human dignity, and the need for equal
rights, he said. The Ministry of Education should also support the introduction of a better education system
than we have now. Pyae Thet Phyo,
translation by Thiri Min Htun

6 News

THE MYANMAR TIMES March 19, 2015

Govt go-slow
on minimum
wage panned
Nyan lYnN
aung
[email protected]

A UNION leader has urged the government to speed up its consideration of the minimum wage, warning
that delay could bring more industrial unrest. U Aung Lin, chair of the
Myanmar Trade Unions Federation,
said yesterday that the government
should try to finalise the matter
by April, four months earlier than
planned.
His call has received significant
support, with U Maung Maung Win,
a lawyer and member of the governments labour Arbitration Council,

KYAT

10,000
Amount a family of four needs to cover
daily expenses in Yangon Region,
according to cost-of-living survey

describing wages as the fundamental cause of recent protests and

strikes in industrial zones.
The government should start
setting the minimum wages, instead
of collecting surveys all the time. Its
just delaying the process, he said.
U Ye Naing Win, a member of the
Cooperative Committee for Trade
Unions, said setting the minimum
wage would be beneficial for both
employers and workers.
For employers, it will reduce labour disputes and they will know exactly what their labour costs will be,
rather than costs increasing whenever there is a protest, he said.
On March 13, deputy labour minister Daw Win Maw Tun announced
that the minimum wage would be
introduced in August, following the
completion at the end of February of
a cost-of-living survey conducted in
most areas of the country.
Initially, however, the wage
would be applicable only in Yangon
Region, and extended to other states

and regions later. A 60-day transition period would be allowed after

the announcement of the minimum
wage for any objections.
The deputy minister declined to
say how much the minimum wage
would be, noting only that early results from the cost of living survey
which began in late January in
Yangon and Bago regions indicated that the cost of living for a family
of four in Yangon Region exceeded
K10,000 a day.
We will consult the parties involved, including the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of
Commerce and Industry [UMFCCI]
and labour organisations, she said.
Daw Tin Mar Htway, a director
of the ministrys Minimum Wages
Survey Department, said there have
been delays in collecting cost-of-living data in some parts of the country,
including conflict-affected areas and
those with poor transport and communication infrastructure, such as
Chin State and Tanintharyi Region.
The debate over the minimum
wage follows a wave of protests over
low pay that stopped work at a number of garment factories in Shwe
Pyi Thar township, Yangon Region,
before the last of the demonstrators
were set upon by civilian thugs on
March 4.
The Ministry of Labour and the
Myanmar Garment Manufacturers
Association have both cautioned in
recent weeks that the unrest is scaring off foreign investment.
MGMA chair U Myint Soe said
employers would pay higher salaries
if workers were better trained and
the government relaxed rules and
regulations that hamper expansion.
We need better market access,
more productivity, and relaxing of
some government rules and regulation, he said. If that happens, we
could pay more regardless of whether there is a minimum wage.
U Aung Lin from the MTUF said
high real estate, poor electricity supply and double taxation were holding back investment in manufacturing more than wage disputes.
Employers spend much more on
those parts of their business than salaries. But when they lose money, they
try to shrink labour costs, he said.
He said the government could expect more strikes the longer it delays
introducing the minimum wage.
Unless the minimum wage is fixed
soon, disputes will keep arising.

Department plans thousands of

wells for dry zone, coastal areas
Cherry Thein
[email protected]
THE government will dig more than
3500 wells in dry regions and states
over the next year. The Ministry of
Livestock, Fisheries and Rural Development has launched a long-term
water-supply project in the dry zone,
delta and coastal regions, where
access to clean and safe water is
limited.
Last fiscal year they provided
3559 wells, and will dig 3552 more
in priority areas, including Ayeyarwady Region, starting in April. Priority zones will designated depending on whether they include shallow
lakes, hand-scooped waterholes,
and spring- and rain-watered tank
supplies.
Department of Rural Development

IN PICTUREs
Photo: Thiri Lu

assistant director U Win Min Oo told

The Myanmar Times that more than
20,000 villages still lack access to
water.
We have been implementing this

20,000
Villages, of a total of 64,000, that lack
access to water, according to the
Department of Rural Development

project since 2011, but more still has

to be done at a nationwide level, he
said, adding that climate change and

population increases had pushed up

demand in some places.
The project provided 1611 wells in
2011-12, 1571 in 2012-13 and 2028 in
2013-14.
More than 30,000 out of 64,000
villages had access to water in 2014,
the ministrys annual report said.
In a project coordinated with the
health ministry and a Japanese university team, lead and arsenic levels
in the water in Ayeyarwady Regions
Thapaung township are also being
tested.
The project also provided tubewells in delta and coastal areas
where groundwater was tainted with
seawater.
Thapaung is a pilot project and
we plan to expand it to other townships based on the results, said U
Win Min Oo.

Workers weld a section of the Yangon mayors Thingyan pandal in

front of City Hall on March 17. Thingyans water-throwing festivities
kick off on April 13 and wind down on the evening of April 16, a day
before Myanmar New Years Day.

FALAM, Chin STATE

Chin party launches campaign to win youth, women vote

Bill OToole
[email protected]
WITH the exact date of the November
election yet to be announced, the Chin
Progressive Party this week launched
the first stage of its campaign with a
series of town hall meetings across the
state aimed at enticing both voters and
potential CCP candidates.
The party, which won 12 seats in the
state and national parliaments in the
2010 election, is in the earliest stages
of planning for the November poll, and
has yet to settle on how many seats
they will contest.
Speaking to The Myanmar Times
after a meeting in Falam on March 17,
chair Salai No Than Kap said the CCPs

first priority is expanding membership

beyond the older Chin men who dominate the party.
There are many more women voters
than men. Their role is very important
in winning votes, he said. We are not
that strong in the younger generation,
so we are organising young people.
Salai No Than Kap shared the stage
in Falam with local rights activist Ma
Cherry Za Hau, who will be running on
the CCP ticket this November.
I chose to join because the leadership is very open to gender equality,
she said after the meeting. Usually
Chin women let their husbands vote
for them. Today Im trying to convince
women to come to the polling station
by themselves.

Salai No Than Kap stressed the

freedom the CCP offers its members
relative to other political parties. National League for Democracy or Union
Solidarity and Development Party MPs
have to get their partys consent before
asking a question in parliament. But in
the CCP there are no restrictions. My
members of parliament never consult
me before they put forward [bills], he
said, adding that this was not a problem as long as they are doing good
things for the country.
While many groups both locally and
internationally are already raising concerns about the possibility of fraud and
corruption during the election, both
Ma Cherry Za Hau and Salai No Than
Kap said they were confident the count

Usually Chin
women let their
husbands vote for
them. Today Im
trying to convince
women to come to
the polling station
by themselves.
Ma Cherry Za Hau
Chin Progressive Party candidate

would be free and fair.

Times have changed. The international community is watching, he
said, adding that the CCP would also
be training its members as election
observers.
Asked about the party platform,
Ma Cherry Za Hau said they would
emphasise using political power to
bring better infrastructure to their
home state, which ranks as the poorest in the nation.
Chin people always think that any
services provided by the government
are a donation or a mercy, but I emphasise that these are our human rights,
she said. Education, health, electricity,
water supply; everything is about human rights.

News 7

www.mmtimes.com

Views

Malaysia leads the way, again,

in making a mockery of rule of law
It may seem unlikely in light of recent events, but Malaysia was once a beacon of hope in a region not known for fair administration of justice

HE problem with this region, as the former Australian Foreign Minister Gareth
Evans restated this month,
is a growing disrespect for
the rule of law.
Nations that neglect to foster a
reputation for integrity and decency,
said Evans, endanger their own interests and jeopardise trade, tourism,
foreign investment, national security
and political support.
More specifically, those like Cambodia, Myanmar, Singapore and Vietnam that sentence people to jail for
self-serving political reasons or on
frivolous religious grounds deserve
all the contempt they get.
In his article titled Trashing the
ASEAN Brand, Evans took a justified and long overdue swipe at such
governments and gave prominent
attention to two of the worst cases:
Malaysia and Thailand.
It is not hard to see why, given
that the duo both founding members of ASEAN has in the past
made attempts to establish strong
democratic credentials and adhere to
a semblance of the rule of law.
Indeed, until recently, they were
regarded by many as potential beacons of hope in a region not known
for integrity and decency in the
administration of justice.
Those beacons have now dimmed
and the hope has fizzled out like a
damp squib, as political survival,
personal enrichment and self-aggrandisement have taken precedence
over the public will.
Arguably, the worst case is
Thailand, where a shameful scenario
continues to unfold and where the
most sickening aspect is the lack of
public outrage.
Evans, whose capacity to fulminate has few parallels, trenchantly noted that the impeachment
of former Prime Minister Yingluck
Shinawatra on trumped-up charges
has made political reconciliation
impossible.
Sadly, he is almost certainly correct. There is simply no way to put
lipstick on this pig and the future

Roger
mitton

[email protected]

for Thailand remains ominous and

scary.
That said, an even more depressing scenario is playing out in
Malaysia, which Evans tackles first
in his bleak appraisal of the way the
regions ruling elites have twisted the
rule of law to their own advantage.
As this column noted a month
ago, the long-ruling National Front
coalition, led by Prime Minister
Najib Razak, has been steadily sinking into a treacly pit of venality and
incompetence.
Some have argued that the criticism was excessive, including that
made by Evans and that carried in
the New York Times, which exposed
the huge financial losses of a wealth
fund set up by Najibs stepson, Riza
Aziz.
However, it is now apparent that
the barbs did not go far enough.
Under Najibs corrupt and hapless
leadership matters have gone from
bad to worse and the rule of law has
been shamelessly flouted.
Consider how the PM, fearing
growing disquiet in the Malay heartland states, acquiesced to indeed,
some would say tacitly encouraged
racist taunts and actions by his more
extreme UMNO colleagues.
A classic example occurred earlier
this month when one of his ministers
urged the majority Malay community
to boycott shops and businesses run
by Malaysias Chinese minority.
Cloaked in the perverse logic
that it would force Chinese traders
to reduce their prices and so make
life easier for the Malays, this racial

Nurul Izzah, daughter of Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, gives a

thumbs up after being released on bail in Kuala Lumpur on March 17. Photo: AFP

freakonomics drew not a whimper of

protest from Najib.
His craven behaviour appeared
to derive from a belief that since
the Chinese and Indian voters had
largely deserted him in the last election, he might as well ignore them
and pander to the Malay ground.

Under Najibs
corrupt and hapless
leadership matters
have gone from bad
to worse and the
rule of law has been
shamelessly flouted.

In this regard, he has even

deferred to Islamic chauvinists and
agreed to allow UMNO to consider
demands for Sharia to be introduced
and to be applied to non-Muslims as
well as Muslims.
As for the attacks on his unexplained wealth and his shopaholic
wifes insatiable desire for expensive
jewellery and handbags, the PMs
office issued a statement saying that
Najib had legacy family assets.
That sparked an astonishing and
very public rebuttal from the PMs
four brothers, who said their father
was a highly principled man, wellknown to all who knew him for his
frugality.
In other words, he was the complete opposite of Najib and could not
have left much money to his children, so it was a lie to suggest that
the PM had inherited all his dough
from his father.

In an attempt to recoup ground,

Najib called the 190 UMNO constituency heads from across the
country to come to an extraordinary meeting in Kuala Lumpur on
March 8 to pledge loyalty to his
leadership.
Unfortunately for him, 31 refused.
So too did the partys No 2,
Deputy PM Muhyiddin Yassin, who
is from Johor state, and Mukhriz
Mahathir, the chief minister of
Kedah state and a son of former PM
Mahathir Mohamad, who has called
on Najib to resign.
Johor and Kedah are UMNO bastions and if they have turned against
the PM he is on very dangerous
ground.
Desperate to save his skin, Najib
then orchestrated another debasement of the rule of law and had
Nurul Izzah Anwar, a daughter of
the jailed opposition leader Anwar
Ibrahim, arrested for sedition.
In his censorious article, Evans
had called the jailing of Anwar a
shocking and indefensible decision,
and asserted that Anwars real crime
was to have almost defeated Najib in
the previous election.
Last weeks arrest of Nurul Izzah,
ostensibly because as an opposition MP she had raised questions
in parliament about the grounds for
her fathers conviction, is even more
shocking and indefensible.
After all, sedition is defined in
law as carrying out actions that are
deemed to have the potential to
spark violent insurrection against
the established order.
Is that what young Ms Nuruls
words in parliament are deemed to
have done? Brought Malaysia to the
brink of revolution?
It is preposterous and deeply
offensive, and the fact that she has
now been released on bail does not
make things much better.
As Evans rightly intimates, if anyone has reduced Malaysia to the level
where an outraged citizenry might
rise up against the sordid twisting
of the rule of law it is Najib and his
discredited regime.

8 THE MYANMAR TIMES March 19, 2015

Business
A tale of two New Cities as
satellite towns grow on outskirts
Tin
yadanar
Htun
[email protected]

SATELLITE towns are popping up

in Yangons outskirts, as the citys
population grows and residents
look for space to expand.
Padamyar and Pearl New Cities
are both located in the north of the
citys Mingalardon township. While
they have existed for years, largely
as a space for various government
departments, they have recently
caught on as places to call home.
Its become a densely populated
place since late 2012, said local real
estate agent U Kyaw Aung. People
are becoming interested in the New
Towns.
The two New Cities were slowly
begun about 1970, though initially
only as permit land that was rented
by tenants. They predate similar
satellite towns in the new Dagon
townships to the east, and now
count as two of Mingalardon townships 31 wards. The township itself
is one of Yangons largest by area,
including the Yangon airport, several industrial parks and golf courses.
Interest in the area had previously been minimal, with many
kept away by poor utilities. With
local improvements to electricity,
water and transportation beginning
in earnest around 2012, downtown
residents have been relocating further uptown.
Of the two, Padamyar is more
densely populated than Pearl, although both of them are growing, say local residents. Padamyar
is smaller and most lots are tiny,
starting at around 1800 square feet.
Pearl has larger plots, up to 10,000
square feet, and much of it is composed of large housing compounds
and farms.
The two New Cities called
myothit in Myanmar language are
also attracting notably different clienteles. Pearl sees plenty of retired
officials and businesspeople keen
for the large land plots, while Padamyar has more of a blue-collar feel.

Construction is under way at

the entrance to Pearl New City.
Photo: Zarni Phyo

Much of Yangons growing industrial might is springing up in

Mingalardon township. With dozens of factories opening nearby,
workers are keen to move in to the
satellite cities, rather than living in
downtown homes.
Pearl New Town resident U Zaw
Zaw said there are lots of industry
at the edge of the township.
The government paved the
main road in Mingalardon in 2012,
and now people are interested in
moving here, he said.
Property agent U Yan Aung said
the two New Cities have become
particularly prosperous since late
2012, though there are a number
of similar satellite cities that were
attempted.
Many people have moved to
these two towns, and their price is
now quite high, he said.
Although land prices vary significantly, U Yan Aung said 18,000

A sign marks Padamyar New

City in Mingalardon township.
Photo: Zarni Phyo

square feet on the main road in

Pearl myothit can fetch as much as
K750 million (US$720,000), while
more isolated properties in the area
can cost a minimum of K80 million.
Granted land is now sometimes
available at the two New Cities,
which is a notable attraction for
those who would like to own their
hand. Combined with vastly improved infrastructure and cheaper
prices compared to down, it is drawing growing interest though the
long commute downtown throws
off many.
With the success of the area has
come speculation, according to local agent U Than Win.
There are many manipulators interested in the land, setting up frequent appointments, he said. Business has dropped off somewhat in
line with a general slowdown of the
Yangon market.
The price spike in the area started in 2012, with some prices changing on a daily basis. Transportation
is the key to the area land away
from the main roads is much less
sought-after than property located
on important land links.
Local residents say the pace
of change in the formerly sleepy
neighbourhoods has been dizzying.
Daw Khin May, resident of Pearl
myothit, first moved in forty years
ago.
At the time it was at the start of
the new town and there were only
a few houses in Pearl, she said.
When I started building the house,
I was given a house number, and it
was number 2, the second house in
the area.
Initially serving large government officials in various capacities,
only recently has the area become a
hotspot for civilians as well.
Daw Khin May said she pays
fees for her house, land and water
use every three months. Prices vary

but it is always under K2000, she

claimed.
The land her home sits on is
owned by the government, similar
to many of her neigbours who likewise do not own the land. She said
usually only the areas main properties are grant land which can be
owned outright.
Only houses on the main roads
seem to have granted land, she
said.
With fees so low, many residents are not interested in taking
grant land.
The area also has an agricultural
twist to it. While farmland is increasingly being crowded out in the
area, many local residents still grow
produce.
If we throw out a mango seed,
it can turn into a plant, because the
soil is so good, said local resident
U Soe Wai.
Electricity has finally been extended across most of Mingalardon
township, reaching the two New
Cities a few years ago. Since 2010,
roads are gradually been extended
and paved over. Most of the areas
water still comes from tube wells,
with much being scooped by hand.
The boomtown feel of the area
extends to the lack of health clinics and schools, with many local
residents forced to travel far to
find them though this is slowly
improving.
All the infrastructure improvements are not making the area any
closer to downtown, though. At rush
hour it can be a two-hour drive to
Sule Pagoda, too far for most commuters to the area. For those with
workplaces uptown, though, the
commute is much more manageable.
Ma Thu Thu Aung, a university
student and resident of Padamyar,
said while getting downtown is a
pain, travelling around the area is
simple. Motorcycles are permitted

No. 1
Main Road

Hlawga Lake

Padamyar Myothit
Pearl Myothit

Airport

Inya Lake
Kandawgyi

in the area, providing an economic

mode of transportation, with no
need for many taxis or buses that
provide the vital links in the downtown townships.
She listed a number of other advantages behind the area cheaper
food, growing number of stores,
KBZ bank branches arriving, and a
more pleasant all-around lifestyle.
With Yangons population continuing to expand, it is likely the
satellite areas will simply expand in
the future. Still, infrastructure and
transportation links in particular
still lag the more developed parts of
Yangon.

Business editor: Jeremy Mullins | [email protected]

Shuttered government
fertilizer factory looks
for investors

People turn out to

protest Sri Lankas
central bank head

BUSINESS 10

BUSINESS 11

Exchange Rates (March 18 close)

Currency
Euro
Malaysia Ringitt
Singapore Dollar
Thai Baht
US Dollar

Buying
K1089
K307
K765
K31
K1070

Selling
K1107
K308
K769
K32
K1074

Bank bottom line hit by inflation

aye thidar kyaw
[email protected]
BANKS are facing a profits squeeze as
the gap between deposits and lending narrows, while rising inflation
prompts some customers to take out
their cash and spend it.
The offer of competitive savings
rates to attract more cash deposits is
cutting into profits as well.
Although the government-imposed floor is 8 percent, many banks
have begun offering higher rates to
attract deposits, with some term deposits around 10pc. Meanwhile, interest rates on loans are capped at 13pc.
To maintain profit levels, banks
have to adjust interest rates for lenders, but the Central Bank has already
set the high and its unlikely change
any time soon, said Kanbawza Bank
vice president U Than Lwin. But if
the Central Bank allows us, there are
ways of making more money, he said.
Banks are offering about 15 products, about one-third the number
typically offered by international
banks, he said. These include issuing
recommendation letters for foreign
residents, funds clearance or arranging notary public services.
Asia Green Development Bank
executive director U Soe Thein said

the government had tried to borrow

money from the public to relieve the
budget deficit, but the banks had insufficient cash.
Interest rates in Myanmar, designed to protect against inflation or
to buttress a weak currency, are the
highest in ASEAN.
Raising rates on deposits like
this is an appropriate strategy for
the banks individually, and for the
system as a whole, said economist
Sean Turnell from Australias Macquarie University. It protects depositors somewhat against the erosion of
purchasing power from inflation, and
also to some extent against the falling
value of the kyat against the US dollar, he said.
In many ways this is also a positive development on another front
competition, said Mr Turnell. The
fact that banks feel compelled to increase the returns they offer to depositors suggests that competition in the
industry is working in the consumers
interests.
However, one might imagine in
the longer term that there will be
pressure to increase interest rates on
loans too (currently capped by regulation), since bank margins will be
eroding and, along with these, bank
profitability. When that happens,

borrowing consumers will be worse

off. Again, however, all of this is
standard practice more or less everywhere, he said.
Economist U Khine Tun said there
are a number of sequential effects
from the rise of deposit interest rates.
By raising rates, the money supply
can be reduced because high rates attract more savings. Fewer kyat in the
market will boost the exchange rate
and reduce inflation.
On the other hand, if lending rates
increase together with the deposit
rate, it will discourage investment as
investors seek low-cost production
methods yielding efficiency gains.
The negative effect of the increase
of deposit interest rates is troublesome for banks in the long run. They
will have narrow their profit margins.
The fall of a bank can be harmful to
the whole economy, unlike the fall of
any other industry, he said.
Despite higher inflation, bank savings deposits rose in 2014, in part because of expanded bank services.
GIZs updated analysis of the Myanmar financial sector said the deposit rate was significantly higher, at
about K17 trillion (K17,384,273 million) in 2013-14 fiscal year, than the
K6 trillion (K6,961,248 million) of
2011-12.

Bank workers process

kyat notes. Photo: Staff

Online grocery seller takes its shot

Catherine
Trautwein
[email protected]

A TECH startup wants to cut down

on the tumult associated with grocery shopping in Yangon, and is
urging customers to browse for
their daily bread online instead of
in person.
Yet online grocery shopping does
not seem the most obvious choice
of services, given the citys crowded
streets and shopping habits of visiting the local market almost daily.
But Daily Mart, which went live in
January, has eyes for future growth,
according to co-founder and executive director Ko Htut Thant Syn.
I think it may be a little bit early,
but it is the right time because the internet penetration is getting better,
she said. More people are exposed
to the technology, and they believe it
will help them.
On average, the platform receives
less than a handful of orders per
day between three and five and
around 48 site visits. Ko Htut Thant
Syn wants to bring orders up to double digits in the next six months, and
said a minimum of 20 orders a day
would make for a very comfortable
position.
I think we are still a bit early to
enter the market, but we are already
here, so we just move on, co-founder
and operations director Ma Zin Mar
Lwin said. We will try to get more
people to know this kind of service
and how convenient it can become in
their daily lives.
The firm claims the mantle of Myanmars first online grocery shop. The
business model exists elsewhere, but
has proven tricky to execute.
In Myanmar, its early days not

only for the infant startup, but also

for the e-commerce industry around
it. With recent telco rollouts across
the country and development in internet infrastructure, more and more
people are moving online; but major
hurdles in the form of online payment systems and logistics remain
to be tackled before businesses work
like Amazon Prime.
Ko Htut Thant Syn said Daily
Mart came about when he and Ma
Zin Mar Lwin melded their ideas of
starting a delivery service and selling

goods to consumers. A subsidiary of

Global Green Development Group,
whose other ventures reside firmly
offline in property and construction,
Daily Mart received monetary backing from the firms CEO but no external support.
Meanwhile, the streets of Yangon,
crowded with taxis, set the stage for
Daily Marts launch as did the success of similar online stores in other
markets.
Our main intention is to help
people save time, Ko Htut Thant Syn

said. You dont have to get stuck in

traffic, you dont have to wait for the
queue and you dont have to carry
heavy items back home.
Daily Mart stakes its advantage on
convenience. The business sets up a
trade-off between the hassle of traditional shopping which burns petrol
and time and the mark-up that can
accompany buying things online.
Daily Marts digital shelves
house more than 1400 products.
Customers who click around, fill
their cart and order goods pick

from among three delivery windows

to wait for product drop-offs. After
an order gets confirmed, Daily Mart
fills it from stock at its warehouse
and sends items via drivers to consumers doors across 24 of Yangons
townships. Customers currently pay
cash on delivery, while online payment will arrive soon.
For now, delivery on orders at
more than K10,000 costs nothing
on other purchases, it could run customers up to K2000. Ko Htut Thant
Syn called the companys margins
very small, and Ma Zin Mar Lwin
said Daily Mart must keep its prices
close to the market. The company
sometimes buys stock in less bulk
than other players, making the deals
less attractive.

I think we are still a

bit early to enter the
market, but we are
already here, so we
just move on.
Ma Zin Mar Lwin
Co-founder of Daily Mart

Yangons traffic problems are one challenge among many for a local online grocery shop. Photo: Staff

The shop casts a wide net to catch

customers. Ko Htut Thant Syn said
it targets everybody expats, moms,
elderly men and women because
everybody has to go grocery shopping. It should appeal particularly to
the time-strapped, with Ma Zin Mar
Lwin describing potential customers
as people without their own means of
getting around, or who dont want to
deal with sitting in traffic.
The site is accessible via mobile,
and Daily Mart is moving toward offering a mobile application.

TRADE MARK CAUTION

10 Business

THE MYANMAR TIMES March 19, 2015

NOTICE is hereby given that SK Holdings Co., Ltd. of 99,

Seorin-dong, Jongro-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea is the Owner
and Sole Proprietor of the following trademark: -

(Reg: Nos. IV/8789/2008 & IV/4373/2012)

in respect of:- ammonia, anti-corrosive agents, antifreezing
solution, antioxidants, brake solution, butadiene, catalysts, caustic
soda for industrial purposes, cellulose derivatives(chemicals,
chemical preparations for the manufacture of paints, diethyl
malonate, diisopropyl malonate, diketene, dimethyl malonate,
dimethyl terephtalate, dimethylformamide, dimethyllamine,
epichlohydrine, ethoxylate, ethylene, ethylene amines, ethylene
glycol, ethylene oxide, ethylene vinyl acetate, fatty amine, fertilizer,
fire detergent agent, fluids for hydraulic circuits, formic acid, fumed
silica, furfuryl alcohol, hypochlorite of soda, isopropyl alcohol,
melamine, methyl chloride, methyl metal acrylate, methylamine
derivatives, methylene chloride, microorganism(excluding yeast)
not for medical purposes, neopentyl glycol, photoresist, plasticizer,
polycrystalline silicone, polyester, polyethylene, polyethylene
resins, polyethylene terephthalate, polymethylmeta acrylate,
polypropylene, polypropylene resins, polytetrafluoro ethylene,
polyvinyl butyral film, polyvinyl chloride, potassium sorbate,
power steering fluid, propylene, purified terephthalic acids,
refrigerants, semi-processed synthetic resins, silicones, sodium
carboxymethyl cellulose styrene monomer, solvent, surface-active
chemical agents, synthetic resins, terephthalic acids, tetramethyl
ammonium chloride, tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide, toluene,
transmission fluid, trimethylamine hydrochloric acid, unprocessed
acrylic resins, unprocessed artificial resins, unprocessed epoxy
resins, unprocessed plastics, unprocessed synthetic resins, urea,
urethane resins, UV chemical stabilizer, vulcanization accelerators,
water treating agents - Class: 1
benzene, benzol, combustible oil, crude oil, cutting fluids, cutting
oil, denatured fuel alcohol, diesel oil, dust removing preparations,
fuel gas, fuel with an alcohol base, gas oil, gasoline, grease for belts,
heavy oil, industrial oil, kerosene, lighting oil, LNG(liquefied natural
gas), LPG(liquefied petroleum gas), lubricating oil, methylated
spirit, moistening oil, naphtha, non-slipping preparations for belts,
oil for paints, oil for the preservation of leather, olefin, petroleum
jelly for industrial purposes, propane gas, solid fuels, stearine,
synthetic petroleum, xylene - Class: 4
acetate fiber, acetate tow, bags of textile for packaging envelopes
and pouches, Bags(sacks) for the transport and storage of materials
in bulk, Carbon fibers [fibres] for textile use, cleaning tow, cotton
tow, cotton waste(flock) for padding and stuffing, cushioning and
stuffing packing materials, not of rubber or plastics, plastic fibers
for textile use, polyester fiber, polyester staple fibers, raw cotton,
raw fibrous textile, raw linen, raw wool, ships sails, tents, textile
fibers, tow, treated wool - Class: 22
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 SK Holdings Co., Ltd.
P.O. Box No. 26, Yangon.
Phone: 372416

Dated: 19th March, 2015

Farmers spread fertilizer on a field in Myanmar. Photo: AFP

Shuttered fertilizer
factory asks for investors
aung
shin

[email protected]

MYANMA Petrochemical Enterprise

has invited local and international
firms to partner with it in the shuttered No 3 fertilizer factory in Magwe
Region.
The invitation for letters of expression of interest come as its parent organisation the Ministry of Energy has

been working on a number of planned

joint ventures, aiming to professonalise operations of several state-owned
firms.
The deadline for expressions of interest is March 23. The chosen firms
will partner with Myanma Petrochemical Enterprise in a joint venture production, storage, distribution and marketing, a statement said.
No 3 factory is located in Kyawzwa
village, Aunglan township, of Magwe
Region. It is designed for a capacity of
360 tonnes of ammonia per day and
600 tonnes of urea per day. The fertiliser factory makes use of 11.5 million

Norwegians to
support offshore
technical training
aung shin
[email protected]
THE Norwegian Environmental
Agency will aim to boost government staffs technical skills through
training on Environmental and Social Impact assessments for offshore
oil and gas, according to an official.
The training is to take place in
Nay Pyi Taw from March 23 to 25,
covering technical knowledge of the
assessment surveys for offshore oil
and gas exploration and production, for both local and international companies.
Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (EIA/SIA) must
be completed as part of oil and gas
investments.
Dozens of firms won new onshore and offshore petroleum
blocks in 2013.
With the Production Sharing
Contracts now mostly signed between Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise and the private companies,
the impact assessments are the next
step.
The objective of the training is
to understand the EIA/SIA process
for offshore oil and gas projects,
said an official from the Environmental Conservation Department
under the Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry.
Trainees will include 20 people
from the EIA/SIA team, five from
Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise, and
five people from related government

ministries, he said.
It is the first time the Norwegian association is supporting this
kind of technical training for oil
and gas projects, the official said.
The Environmental Conservation Department is the focal department for reviewed EIA/SIA reports
from extractive projects, such as
mining and oil and gas.

It is the first time

the Norwegian
association is
supporting this kind
of technical training
for oil and gas
projects.
Environment Ministry official

A law on environmental conservation was passed in March 2012,

with the follow-up rules and regulations published in June last year
though the EIA/SIA procedures are
still works in progress.
Completing the EIA/SIAs is common practice in much of the world,
though local experience on the issues is still improving.

standard cubic feet of natural gas a day.

It has been shut since 2010, with
low productions of 450 tonnes of
urea per day in the latter days of its
operations.
There are currently five state-owned
fertiliser factories in the country, with
total designated capacity of 3350
tonnes.
The Ministry of Energy has also
invited private firms to join it for ventures at a state-owned refinery and
LPG plants.
It plans to expand semi-state owned
enterprises for various midstream and
downstream energy businesses.

YCDC in large spend

to repair downtown
drainage
The Yangon City Development
Committee (YCDC) spent about
K4.9 billion (US$4.7 million)
to repair downtown drainage
systems particularly in Botahtaung township, a state-run
newspaper said on March 16.
Officials are currently working on extending drainage systems and repairing ones that
had been destroyed in flood last
year, the committee said.
Work is being completed
with an eye to getting ahead of
the rainy season.
Works should be done by
end of this financial year [April
1].We are working hard to finish by the end of this month,
said the YCDC deputy head of
the roads and bridges department. He called the citys
drainage system ruined and
obsolete.
Yangon has an underground drainage system which
was built during colonial
times, he said. Before repairing all of the systems, we
focused on the downtown area,
especially Thein Phyu main
underground drainage.
YCDC spent K1.2 billion on
renewing Thein Phyus underground drainage system and
making it eight feet wide and 12
feet deep. Work started in October, 2014. YCDC plans to fix the
rest of the drainage systems
and underground waste water
systems around the Yangon
municipal area in coming years.
- Noe Noe Aung

International Business 11

www.mmtimes.com
WASHINGTON

Columbo

Chief
defends
Etihad as
David
ETIHAD Airways chief James Hogan
defended the UAE carrier March 17
against harsh attacks from US airlines over subsidies, saying his company was a David battling the US
Goliaths.
Mr Hogan told an aviation industry summit in Washington that airlines everywhere benefit from state
support, dismissing the claims of
unfair competition by Gulf carriers in
a report released by the top three US
airlines.
As a battle heats up between Gulf
airlines and rivals in Europe and the
US, he accused the three US carriers
American Airlines, Delta Airlines and
United Airlines of themselves hiding behind protection.
The worlds two largest airline
markets, the United States and the
European Union, are closed, giving
their own airlines a huge advantage
in scale and scope, he told the US
Chamber of Commerce Foundations
14th Annual Aviation Summit.

Many, many
airlines, including
many in this room,
have benefited from
years of government
bailouts, write-offs
and loans.
James Hogan
Etihad head

Mr Hogan said established aviation giants were built on various

kinds of state support, including preferential market access, infrastructure
and airports, hardly different from
what Gulf carriers Qatar Airways, Etihad and Emirates are accused of.
He also cited the governmentbacked bailouts of US carriers when
they failed.
Many, many airlines, including
many in this room, have benefited
from years of government bailouts,
write-offs and loans, everything from
bankruptcy protection to covering
pension fund obligations to straightout financial payments.
Etihad is a David whos been facing Goliaths since 2003, he argued.
The three biggest US airlines
working together carry 34 times
more passengers.
In early March, American Airlines,
Delta Airlines and United Airlines,
along with US airline labour groups,
accused the Gulf three of enjoying
interest-free loans, subsidised airport
charges, government protection on
fuel losses, and below-market labor
costs that are considered unfair subsidies by the World Trade Organization.
They called on the US government
to open new talks over bilateral air
agreements to address what they said
are violations of those pacts, giving
the Gulf carriers unfair competitive
advantage.
Qatar Airways chief Akbar al-Baker said on March 16 the problem was
that the US carriers do not differentiate between what is a subsidy and
what is the legitimate equity that a
state-owned carrier gets.
Delta anyway flies crap airplanes
that are 35 years old, he added.
AFP

Sri Lanka Central Bank head

on leave, under investigation
SRI Lankas central bank chief has
taken leave while a committee investigates allegations one of his
family members benefited unduly
from a US$76 million bond auction, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said late March 17.
Newly appointed governor Arjuna Mahendran was on leave
from Monday amid the probe into
the sale of the 30-year treasury
bonds, half of which were allegedly snapped up by his son-in-law.
Mr Mahendran has taken a
leave of absence from [March 16]
in the interests of transparency,

MILLION US$

76

Size of the bond sale that has landed

Sri Lankas central bank governor in
hot water

Mr Wickremesinghe told parliament, stressing that the official

had not been asked to step down.
The allegations against Mahendran risk damaging new President
Maithripala Sirisena who won
elections partly on accusing his
predecessor of cronyism and corruption.
Mr Mahendran, who took
charge of the Central Bank of Sri
Lanka after Mr Sirisenas win in
January 8 elections, could not be
contacted for comment.
The bank sold 10 billion rupees
(US$76 million) of bonds in February at a coupon rate of 12.5 percent, after earlier indicating to the
market that 1 billion would be sold
at 9.5pc.
The opposition and local media
have alleged the bonds were issued
at an above-market interest rate
and that Mr Mahendrans son-inlaws company bought about half.
They allege the relative benefited from inside information about
the rate and volume of bonds the
bank planned to issue.
AFP

Sri Lankan police personnel look on as opposition legislators demonstrate

against an allegedly controversial bond sale opposite the Central Bank
building in Colombo on March 18, 2015. Photo: AFP

12 International Business

THE MYANMAR TIMES March 19, 2015

European move a blow

to US: Chinese media
CHINESE state media took a victory
lap yesterday, gloating over the decision of major European powers to join
a Beijing-backed multinational lender
that the United States perceives as a
threat to the Washington-led World
Bank.
Welcome Germany! Welcome
France! Welcome Italy! said a commentary in the official Xinhua news
agency, describing the United States
as petulant and cynical.
Berlin, Paris and Rome said in a
joint statement Tuesday that they
want to become founding members
of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), after Britain last
week announced ambitions to be the
first major Western country to join
drawing a rare rebuke from close ally
Washington.
Calling the triple decision a brave
yet rational move, Xinhua said it contained a stark message for the US.
Washington was trying to forge an
anti-AIIB front among its allies, the
commentary said, but sour grapes
over the AIIB makes America look isolated and hypocritical.
As more and more Western countries mull over joining the China-led

lending body, the US will feel lonelier if it continues to be a holdout, it

added. So Washington, what are you
waiting for?
China touts the US$50 billion institution as a tool for financing regional
development alongside other lenders
such as the World Bank and the Japan-led, Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB).
US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew
did not dress down Germany, France
and Italy, but questioned whether the
AIIB would adhere to the kind of
high standards of other global institutions in comments before Congress.
The state-run China Daily insisted
in an editorial that even though the
new bank was proposed by and headquartered in Beijing, that does not
mean it is Chinese, or an instrument
of Chinese soft power.
It sought to take the moral high
ground over the latest developments.
US obstructionism has been less
than effective this time because it has
failed to see that Washington and Beijing have no reason to stand against
each other on a matter such as this,
it added.
AFP

IN PICTUREs

Nintendos share price rocketed up yesterday more than 21 percent

in Tokyo trading on the previous days news the firm would make a
shift to mobile gaming. Photo: AFP

Tokyo

Japan firms heed PMs

call to boost salaries
MAJOR firms yesterday announced
pay rises for workers after sustained
pressure from the government in its
attempt to push up prices in longdeflationary Japan.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abes
drive to get Japan economically
ship-shape with a mix of easy money and fiscal largesse has born some
fruit since its launch two years ago,
in the form of soaring stock prices
and a falling currency.
But stagnant salaries have been
one of the main missing links in the
virtuous circle of growth that the
premiers signature Abenomics
plan envisages.
With deals from some of Japans biggest employers announced
March 18 following the annual labour talks known as shunto, or the
spring offensive it appeared the
prime minister was at least partially
getting his way.
The worlds biggest automaker
Toyota said it would raise employees pay by an average of 4000 yen
(US$33) a month about 1.14 percent above current pay.
Toyota employees would also get
an average bonus worth 6.8 months
of their base wage a common pay
structure in Japan. The firm now expects to book a record 2.13 trillion
yen ($18.1 billion) net profit in the
fiscal year to March.
Last year the Corolla and Prius
hybrid maker gave the first wage
rise in six years.
Japans second-largest automaker
Nissan agreed to give an even bigger
raise of 5000 yen a month, and a bonus worth 5.7 months of employees
base wage, the company said.
Weve had thorough discussions
on the very difficult challenge of becoming more competitive ... while
contributing to sustaining a good
economic cycle, Toyota managing
officer Tatsuro Ueda told reporters.
Major electronics firms, such
as Panasonic and Toshiba, agreed
to give a unified wage rise of 3000
yen a month, bigger than last years
2000 yen.

Former US President Bill Clinton looks at former Japanese Prime Minister

Yoshiko Mori (not in photo) as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Aze (right)
introduces him in Tokyo on March 17. Photo: AFP

Pay rises have taken on an extra

significance since a sales tax increase in April last year dented the
economys frail recovery.
The rise Japans first in 17 years
slammed the brakes on consumer
spending, plunging the economy
into recession and throwing Mr
Abes growth-boosting program into
question.
The plunge in the value of the
yen, while helping exporters, reduced spending power at home
because it has made imports more
expensive.
Official data have shown that
Japanese household spending in
2014 declined at its fastest pace in
eight years, underscoring how badly
clobbered the average person felt.
Observers said the wage settlements looked promising but the
question now would be whether
the thousands of smaller companies
that make up a huge chunk of Japans economy would follow suit.
It is important to note that the

first movers which have announced

wage hikes so far do not represent
the typical firm, said Marcel Thieliant, an economist on Japan at Singapore-based Capital Economics.
The median base pay hike last
year fell well short of the hikes at
the first movers, and we think that
this will remain the case this year.
Under Mr Abes economic drive,
the Bank of Japan has set an inflation target of 2.0pc by next year.
But a growing number of economists have cast doubt on the chances of the BoJ reaching its target
without further expanding an already enormous monetary easing
scheme, launched two years ago.
Overall, this years shunto
shows that the tight labour market
has indeed resulted in a stronger
rise in base pay than last year, Mr
Thieliant said.
But wage growth will likely still
fall short of the levels required to
lift inflation towards the Bank of Japans 2.0pc inflation target. AFP

Ankara

Turkey launches gas

pipeline to Europe
TURKEY and Azerbaijan on March
17 formally began construction on
a new gas pipeline costing $10 billion which will pump gas from the
vast Azerbaijani Shah Deniz 2 field
across Anatolia to Turkish and EU
consumers.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, Azerbaijani counterpart
Ilham Aliyev and Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili simultaneously pushed three buttons to
launch work at the eastern end of
the pipeline in the ceremony in the
Kars region of eastern Turkey.
In the name of God! cried the
pious Mr Erdogan as he pushed the
button to the booming sound of the
theme music from the film Pirates
of the Caribbean in the televised
ceremony.
The EU, whose energy commissioner Maros Sefcovic was at the
ceremony, is backing the project as
part of its Southern Corridor policy
to bring gas from new eastern markets and reduce dependence on
Russia for supplies.
The 1850-kilometre (1150-mile)
Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) pipeline which is
due to be completed in 2018 is to
link up to the existing South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP) which links Turkey to the Azerbaijani gas fields in
the Caspian Sea through Georgia.
The backers of the project expect that the TANAP will then
link up with the planned TransAdriatic Pipeline (TAP) that will
bring the gas from western Turkey
to Greece, Albania and across the
Adriatic to Italy.

The pipelines avoid Armenia,

with whom Azerbaijan and Turkey
have frozen ties due to the NagornyKarabakh conflict and the dispute
over the mass killings of Armenians
in World War I.
But Mr Erdogan said the pipeline would not only carry Shah
Deniz gas to Europe but also carry
peace.
Oil and natural gas projects
are unfortunately associated in the
world with conflicts, competitions,
fights, wars and exploitation. I believe that this project will be remembered with peace and welfare,
he said.
He confirmed the project would
cost $10 billion, far more than
when it was originally conceived
in 2012.
According to the partnership
agreement signed last week, Azerbaijans state energy firm SOCAR
and Turkeys Botas will hold 58 percent and 30pc stakes respectively
while British energy giant BP has a
12pc share.
Without TANAP you cannot get
Azerbaijani gas across Turkey, said
Laurent Ruseckas, senior adviser
in global gas at IHS Energy in London.
The development of Shah
Deniz 2 depends on getting all the
pipelines from the Caspian Sea to
Italy built and a big part of that is
TANAP.
The total investment in Shah
Deniz 2, including the cost of the
pipeline infrastructure, is $40-45
billion.
AFP

The Southern Gas Corridor

Turkey, Azerbaijan launch a $10-billion project to bring Azerbaijani gas to Turkish and EU consumers
Pipelines
South Caucasus Expansion (SCPX)
Trans Anatolian (TANAP)
Trans Adriatic (TAP)

UKRAINE

GEORGIA
Black Sea

BULGARIA
ITALY

50

1,8

GREECE

IRAN

TURKEY
200 km

AZER.

km

SYRIA
Source: BP

Shah
Deniz 2
field

RUSSIA

CRIMEA

International Business 13

www.mmtimes.com
United States

Capital
controls
to avoid
Greek exit
DUTCH Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem raised the possibility of using capital controls to prevent Greece
from leaving the euro, the most explicit
mention of that option to date by a top
European policymaker.
Mr Dijsselbloem, who heads the
group of euro-area finance ministers,
told BNR Nieuwsradio late March 17
that the 2013 Cypriot bailout shows
temporarily shutting banks and restricting the flow of capital could stabilise Greeces financial system and allow
it to remain part of the currency union.
Its been explored what should
happen if a country gets into deep
trouble that doesnt immediately
have to be an exit scenario, he said.
For Cyprus, we had to take radical
measures. Banks were closed for a
while and capital flows within and out
of the country were tied to all kinds
of conditions. But you can think of all
kinds of scenarios.
Euro-region finance ministers are
urging the Greek government to draw
up a rigorous plan to fix their economy so the blocs taxpayers wont balk
at further support. The Greeks could
run out of cash as early as this month,
forcing Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras
to decide whether to bow to European
demands or strike out alone by abandoning the euro.

It's been explored

what should happen
if a country gets into
deep trouble that
doesnt immediately
have to be an exit
scenario.
Jeroen Dijsselbloem
Dutch Finance Minister

There is absolutely no discussion of imposing capital controls in

Greece, government spokesperson Gabriel Sakellaridis said March 17 on Ant1
TV. Under no circumstances would
Greece even accept discussing such
an option. Mr Sakellaridis did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Mr Dijsselbloems remarks.
Greeces parliament was scheduled
to begin debating measures to boost
liquidity as the cash-strapped country
braces for more than 2 billion euros
(US$2.12 billion) in debt payments
due tomorrow. Unable to access bailout funding and locked out of capital
markets, the government will outline
emergency plans that include incentives for tax delinquents to pay up
before March 27, when Greece needs
money for monthly salaries and pensions. The government is burning
through cash while trying to get creditors euro area member states, the
European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund to release
more of a 240 billion euro bailout.
Euro-area finance ministry officials
held a call yesterday to discuss Greeces
deteriorating finances, according to
two officials.
Its important to get Greece back
on track again, Mr Dijsselbloem said.
Last year, it went remarkably well.
Greek bonds fell, with the yield on
the Greek government 10-year bond
gaining 5 basis points to 10.83 percent.
Bloomberg

Seoul

South Koreans visit the North

A GROUP of 14 South Korean businesspeople yesterday travelled to
the Kaesong joint industrial zone
for talks with North Korean officials to resolve an escalating row
over wages at the park.
Pyongyang last month announced it would raise the basic
salary of some 54,000 North Korean workers employed across 125
South Korean firms in the complex
as of the end of last year.
The South rejected the idea,
citing an existing agreement that
any wage rise had to be agreed by
a joint committee overseeing the
management of the park.
It offered talks to discuss the issue but the North refused, saying
it had no need to consult with the
South and a legitimate and normal right to amend working conditions in Kaesong, which lies in
the North just over the border.
As to the Norths unilateral
changes to the regulations on
wages, we will convey our position
without reservations to the North,
said Chung Ki-Sup, head of the
council of South Korean companies
operating at Kaesong.
The companies are in a dilemma
as the South Korean government
has made it clear that they will be
penalised if they yield to pressure
from the North.

The group of 14 South Korean businesspeople answer questions. Photo: AFP

The Norths proposal would

increase the average amount the
South pays for each worker including allowances, welfare and
overtime from US$155 to $164
monthly.
Separately, a row over the
launch of anti-Pyongyang leaflets
from the South has cast a shadow
over the parks fate.
The leaflets are scheduled to be
sent by propaganda balloon around

March 26 to mark the five-year anniversary of the sinking of a South

Korean warship in 2010, with the
loss of 46 sailors, which the South
blamed on the North.
South Korean activists say they
will also sneak copies of satirical
Hollywood movie The Interview
across the border, in defiance of
North Koreas repeated threats of
retaliation through military means.
Kaesong
businessmen
say

the Norths anger at the planned

launches is behind the row over
wages. The South insists the activists have a democratic right to send
the leaflets, but has appealed for
restraint to avoid overly provoking
the North.
In October last year North Korean border guards attempted to
shoot down some balloons, triggering a brief exchange of heavy
machine-gun fire between the two
sides.
Local residents living near the
launch sites have complained that
the activists are putting their lives
at risk by making them potential
targets for North Korean retaliation.
Kaesong businesspeople apparently downplayed their concerns
that there might be a repeat of the
2013 crisis when the North effectively closed down the park for five
months following a surge in military tensions.
Many of the firms, manufacturers of low-priced household goods,
are still reeling from financial losses from the 2013 shutdown, estimated to be up to $1 billion.
The zone, a rare symbol of crossborder cooperation, had previously
been spared the fallout from eruptions in ties between the two Koreas. AFP

14 THE MYANMAR TIMES March 19, 2015

World

World editor: Fiona MacGregor

MANILA

US played big role in botched

Philippine raid, reports Senate
US forces played a substantial role
in a botched anti-terrorism raid in the
Philippines that left 44 local police
commandos dead, according to a Senate report.
The raid, known locally as Oplan
Exodus, has plunged President Benigno Aquinos administration into
crisis and jeopardised efforts to end
a decades-long Muslim separatist
insurgency.
US personnel played a role in the
training before, and monitoring, of
the ... operation, Senator Grace Poe
told reporters on March 17 as she released the findings of a committee inquiry into the January 25 raid.
The committee found that the
United States substantially invested
in the entirety of Oplan Exodus. It
provided equipment, training and
intelligence.
The raid sought to capture or kill
two men on the US governments list
of most wanted terrorists who were
living among Muslim rebels in southern Philippine farming communities.
One of the men, Malaysian national Zulkifli bin Hir who had a
US$5-million bounty on his head, was

reported killed.
But the other, Filipino Abdul Basit
Usman, escaped as rebels surrounded
the police commandos and killed 44 of
them. A police inquiry earlier outlined
a multitude of tactical errors that led
to the slaughter of the commandos.
The Senate report said Mr Aquino
must bear responsibility for the
deaths.
But it also raised questions about
the accountability of the United
States, a longtime military ally of the
Philippines that has so far declined to
outline its role in the operation.
Three unidentified Americans were
brought into the local army brigade
headquarters during the operation,
creating tensions with the Filipino
military commander at a crucial time,
the Senate report said.
One of the Americans ordered
Maj. Gen. Edmundo Pangilinan to fire
the artillery, the report stated.
However Pangilinan refused and
told him: Do not dictate to me what
to do. I am the commander here.
Responding to the Senate report, a
US government official said, This operation was planned and executed by

Senator Grace Poe displays a copy of a report by the Police Board of Inquiry
during a press briefing in Manila on March 17. Photo: AFP

Philippine authorities. We refer you to

them for details of the operation.
The United States provides military training and intelligence to the
Philippines in its counter-terrorism
efforts.
US forces are not allowed to engage in combat under the terms of an
agreement between the allies a deal
Ms Poe said there was no evidence to
suggest had been breached.
But, citing US training, equipment
and intelligence, she said there were
concerns that Washingtons influence
on the Philippine National Police
(PNP) was too strong.
This raises a question of whether
the PNP leadership would have entered into such a risky and hazardous
operation without the support of the
United States and the US$5 million
reward offered for Marwans capture.
Mr Aquinos public support has
plummeted to its lowest level since
he took office in 2010 because of the
botched raid, according to a survey released on March 17.
His public approval ratings fell to
38 percent in the first week of March,
from 59 pc last November, polling firm
Pulse Asia said.
Mr Aquinos term ends in the
middle of next year and the constitution does not allow him to run for
re-election.
But his plunging popularity could
weaken his ability to secure congressional support for his most important
remaining initiatives, as well as damage the election chances of his hopedfor successor.
Mr Aquino is also hoping to finalise
a peace pact with the nations biggest
rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and end a conflict
that has claimed tens of thousands of
lives since the 1970s.
But the raid has left the peace process in jeopardy, with Congress suspending hearings on the proposed law
that would implement the pact.
AFP

BANGKOK

Two jailed over Bangkok blast

TWO Thai men have been given
five-month jail sentences for their
involvement in a grenade attack outside a criminal court in Bangkok this
month.
Thai authorities said Mahahin
Khunthong and Yutthana Yenpinyo,
both 34, drove up to the entrance of
the capitals main criminal court and
threw an RGD-5 grenade into the car
park on the evening of March 7.
No one was injured in the attack,
which the pair admitted carrying out,
the court said. The men were sentenced on March 17.
The attack was the second small
blast to hit Bangkok in as many months
after twin pipe bombs detonated outside a busy shopping mall in early February, wounding two people.
Thailands military rulers who
installed martial law in May and
seized power in a coup have blamed
both attacks on activists linked to the
Red Shirt movement loyal to ousted
premiers Thaksin and Yingluck Shinawatra, something the group has
vehemently denied.

Shortly after the first bombing

Thailands junta chief Prayut ChanO-Cha spoke out against widespread
rumours on social media that the
military were behind the blasts to reinforce the need for martial law.
Pressure has been mounting on
the junta to lift the controversial restrictions, with an increasing number
of opponents saying debate is being
stifled just as Thailand needs it most.
National police spokesperson
Prawut Thavornsiri said on March 17
a total of 14 people have been arrested over both blasts while three more
were wanted for questioning.
The most recent arrest was of Natthatida Meewangpla, a 37-year-old
nurse, who had been missing since
March 11, when relatives said she
was taken away by soldiers without
explanation.
She has been charged with terrorism, collaborating in trying to kill
and weapon possession, Mr Prawut
said.
Initially Thailands junta denied
holding the nurse, a prominent

witness to a bloody 2010 crackdown

by the military against Red Shirt
protesters in which at least 90 were
killed, including a nurse and two foreign journalists.
But on March 17 she was publicly
handed over by the military to the
police.
Footage broadcast on local news
channels showed the pink-haired
nurse flashing the three-fingered salute from the Hunger Games movies
a symbol of resistance adopted by
critics of the junta.
Public Red Shirt resistance to the
coup has been muted, with leaders
under observation by the military
and warned against organising political rallies.
Thailand has been blighted by
nearly a decade of political turmoil
since billionaire former premier Mr
Thaksin shook up the establishment
by winning elections with his populist politics.
Parties led by him or his allies
have won every election since 2001.
AFP

IN PICTUREs
Photo: AFP

A woman takes a selfie next to

Cherry Blossom Festival in Gucun

JAKARTA

Families accept s
AN Indonesian whose daughter-inlaw is among 56 people unaccounted for following the December
crash of an AirAsia plane said yesterday his family had accepted the
sad reality that her body would
never be found.
Rescuers called off the hunt
for the remaining passengers on
March 17, almost three months
after Flight QZ8501 went down
in stormy weather as it flew from
the Indonesian city of Surabaya to
Singapore, killing all 162 people on
board.
The crash of the Airbus A320200 sparked a huge international
search, with ships and aircraft from
several nations scouring the waters
for the plane wreckage and the
victims.
In recent weeks the hunt had
already been scaled back, with
just Indonesias civilian search and
rescue agency involved and only a
small number of new bodies found.
Early yesterday, the last ships

Her parents and

my family have let
her go in peace. We
have to accept this
sad reality.
Hadi Widjaja
Relative of Air Aisa crash victims

involved in the search left Pangkalan Bun, the town on Borneo

island which had served as a base
for the hunt, said agency official SB
Supriyadi.
A total of 106 bodies have been
recovered, with the last three found
at the weekend.
Hadi Widjaja, whose son and
daughter-in-law were on the flight,
praised rescuers for doing a good
job.
His son has been found but his
daughter-in-law remains missing.
He said her family realised it was
time to move on.
Her parents and my family
have let her go in peace. We have
to accept this sad reality, he said.
The rescuers spent three
months on this search operation,
he said, adding that his family really appreciated their work.
Eka Santoso, whose brother,
sister-in-law and their two children
were on the plane, said he believed
if the search operation was extended, more bodies could be found,
but he had accepted the decision
to end it.
The body of his brother has
been retrieved, but his three other
relatives remain missing.
I have already asked AirAsia
and the search and rescue agency
to extend the search, but I cannot
do more, said the 53-year-old, adding that he would just have to accept that they are no longer searching for our loved ones.
Bambang Soelistyo, head of
Indonesias search and rescue

15

Netenyahu claims
surprise victory in
Israeli election

Vanuatans think
positive despite
cyclone damage

World 17

World 18

KUALA LUMPUR

Call for Islamic penalties

splits fragile opposition

a man wearing a pig mask during the first day of the nearly one month-long
n Park in northern Shanghai on March 18.

sad reality as jet hunt ends

agency, said the decision to end the
search had been taken after consulting the victims relatives at a meeting in Surabaya.
The search should have ended
much earlier but out of respect for
family members, we extended the
operation until we completely ended it yesterday [March 17], he told

AFP.
The Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee has so
far shed little light on what caused
the flight to crash, or what occurred
in the moments before the tragedy.
It has reported that the plane
climbed rapidly in an area of towering storm clouds before crashing,

and that the co-pilot was at the controls, rather than the more experienced pilot, in the moments before
the accident.
The planes black box flight data
recorders have been recovered, and
will provide vital clues as investigators seek to figure out what caused
the crash. AFP

Indonesian rescue personnel carry a coffin bearing the recovered body of an AirAsia flight QZ8501 victim onto a plane
in Pangkalan Bun airport, southern Borneo island, on March 17. Photo: AFP

A MALAYSIAN Muslim party yesterday launched a push to implement

Islamic criminal punishments such as
flogging and amputations in a state it
governs, a move that threatens to tear
apart the countrys opposition.
The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party
(PAS) is a member of a three-party opposition alliance that nearly wrested
national power from Malaysias six-decade-old ruling regime in 2013 elections.
But PASs campaign for the Islamic penalties known as hudud in
Kelantan state has brought the alliance to the breaking point just as it
struggles to hold together following
the jailing last month of its overall
leader Anwar Ibrahim.
Malaysian media reports said PAS
tabled amendments in the Kelantan
state assembly on yesterday, seeking
to revise a 1993 law that set out such
punishments but which was never enforced as it conflicts with the federal
constitution.
The party plans to later submit a
bill in the national parliament seeking
a federal law change to allow hudud
in Kelantan, a rural state in northern
Malaysias Islamic heartland.
Hatta Ramli, a moderate PAS member, called the issue the biggest challenge yet facing the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (Peoples Pact) coalition.
I pray that the differences over the
move ... will not end up in a break-up
of Pakatan, he said.
PAS officials say hudud in Kelantan
would apply only to Muslims. Muslims
make up around two-thirds of Malaysias diverse population of about 28
million.
PASs partners had issued stern

warnings not to proceed with the plan,

but have not yet explicitly threatened
to expel the party from the coalition.
Malaysia practises a relatively
tolerant brand of Islam, but more
conservative attitudes have gained
support in recent years, driven by intensifying competition between PAS
and the ruling United Malays National
Organisation (UMNO) for the key
Muslim vote.
Bridget Welsh, a Malaysia politics
analyst with National Taiwan University, said the hudud move reflects a
power struggle within PAS between a
conservative leadership dominated by
ulama, or Islamic scholars, and more
progressive party factions.
The ulama leadership are using
hudud as a political weapon to slay
their enemies within the party, not
to bring about genuine moral governance, she wrote in an opinion piece
published yesterday.
The divisions over hudud will
heighten voter concerns over whether
the fractious alliance, and particularly
PAS, could be trusted with national
government, she added.
The opposition also includes the
moderate, multi-racial party of Anwar
Ibrahim, and one representing Malaysias large Chinese minority.
Mr Anwar was jailed last month for
five years on a sodomy conviction he
says is false, removing the oppositions
highest-profile figure.
The UMNO, which controls parliament, has helped stir the opposition
discord by expressing support for
PASs move, but it remains unclear
whether it would back the required
federal law change. AFP

SINGAPORE

Founding PM now
critically ill, says son
SINGAPORES founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew is critically ill
and his condition is worsening further
while on life support in hospital, the
government said yesterday.
The 91-year-old, widely credited
with transforming Singapore from an
economic backwater into one of Asias
wealthiest economies, has been in the
intensive care unit at Singapore General Hospital since February 5, receiving
treatment for severe pneumonia.
Mr Lee Kuan Yew remains critically ill in the ICU and has deteriorated
further, said a statement from the
office of his son, Prime Minister Lee
Hsien Loong.
On March 17 the government said
his condition had worsened due to an
infection and he was on antibiotics
while doctors closely monitored his
condition.
The senior Mr Lee has been breathing with the help of mechanical ventilation, a form of life support, according
to previous government statements.
Mr Lee modernised Singapores
economy but rights advocates have
criticised the British-trained lawyer
for his iron-fisted rule, which has seen
political opponents jailed or driven to
bankruptcy through costly libel suits.
A longtime fitness buff, Mr Lee has
visibly slowed since his wife of 63 years
Kwa Geok Choo died in 2010.

Prime Minister Lee posted the latest update on his father on his Facebook page and was immediately inundated with expressions of support,
prayers and wishes for the patriarchs
recovery.
Many expressed their desire to see
the senior Mr Lee live a few months
longer to witness the celebration of
Singapores 50th anniversary of independence on August 9, an event known
as SG50.
It gained self-rule from colonial
ruler Britain in 1959 and became a republic in 1965 after a brief and stormy
union with Malaysia.
My prayer to Mr Lee Kuan Yew.
Hang on. Please be around to celebrate
SG50 with the nation, wrote reader
Elena Wee Meng Gek.
Netizen Sangeetha Prasad wrote, I
just dont want him to suffer so much!
It is really so heart wrenching! If only
love could heal!
Others were resigned that he may
not recover.
No matter what the outcome is,
most important is that Mr Lee Kuan
Yew does not suffer. My prayers to
him, wrote reader Jessie Seah.
The Peoples Action Party (PAP),
which was co-founded by the elder Lee,
has been returned to power in every
election since 1959 and currently holds
80 of the 87 seats in parliament.. AFP

16 World

THE MYANMAR TIMES March 19, 2015

DAMASCUS

US drone brought
down by Syrian troops
SYRIAS military shot down a US
drone over the coastal province of
Latakia, a stronghold of President
Bashar al-Assad, state media have
said.
The US military confirmed that
it had lost communication with an
unarmed Predator drone over northwest Syria on March 17 and was looking into the claims it was brought
down.
If confirmed, it would be the first
time that Syrian forces have attacked
a US aircraft since the coalition fighting the Islamic State began raids
against the jihadist group in Syria in
September.
The claim came as activists said
Syrian regime forces had carried
out an attack using chlorine gas that
killed six people, including three
children.
Syrian state news agency SANA
reported the apparent downing of a
US drone in a breaking news alert.
Syrian air defences brought
down a hostile US surveillance aircraft over north Latakia, it said,
without providing further details.
While Syria is not participating in
the air strikes against the IS, it has
so far refrained from taking action
against aircraft involved in the USled coalitions operations to take out
the extremist group.
Damascus has said it was given
prior warning before the coalition

began the strikes, and Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said last year that
Washington had pledged its raids
would not hit the Syrian army.
The strikes in Syria have largely
been focused on Aleppo and Raqa
provinces, where the Islamic State
has strongholds.
But the campaign has also targeted the group elsewhere, and hit
positions believed to belong to fighters affiliated with Al-Nusra Front, the
feared Syrian wing of l-Qaeda.
IS fighters have been largely absent from the northwestern province
of Latakia, according to the Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights, a
Britain-based monitor.
But Al-Nusra fighters are active
in the province, which is home to the
Assad familys ancestral village and is
a bastion of the Alawite sect of Shiite
Islam to which the president belongs.
According to the Observatory, the
strikes have killed more than 1600
people, most of them jihadists.
Elsewhere in war-ravaged Syria,
activists and the Observatory reported at least six people had been killed
in an alleged regime gas attack.
The overnight incident in Idlib,
in the northwest, prompted outrage
from rights group Amnesty International, which said it was further evidence of government war crimes.
Three children, their mother
and father, and their grandmother

suffocated to death after regime barrel bomb attacks, the Observatory

said.
The monitor said doctors in the
village of Sarmin, southeast of Idlib
city, concluded that the manner of
death indicated a gas, possibly chlorine, had emitted from the barrel
bombs.
Activists in Sarmin said chlorine
gas had been used and posted videos of a chaotic field hospital where
disoriented victims coughed and held
gas masks over their faces as children
cried in the background.
A paramedic said first responders
rushed to the scene unprepared.
This is the first time weve experienced a poison gas attack, Motea
Jalal said.
We grabbed the masks we had.
They are for fires, not for gas attacks,
but thats what is available.
He said paramedics retrieved
the wounded and tried to wash the
chemicals from the bodies, adding
that more than 100 people were in
need of treatment.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said
in January it had confidence that
chlorine gas had been used in attacks
on three villages in 2014. It did not
assign responsibility, but its report
noted that witnesses heard helicopters before the attack, which only
government forces possess. AFP

FRANKFURT

Frankfurt hit by riots

ahead of ECB opening
VIOLENT protests broke out in Frankfurt yesterday ahead of the inauguration of the European Central Banks
new headquarters, with cars set on fire,
windows smashed and stones thrown
by anti-capitalist activists hours before
a massive rally.
Already seven police cars have been
set alight and at least two officers have
been injured, a police spokesperson
said.
Water cannons were used to disperse groups of protesters near the security zone erected around the 185-metre (605-foot), 1.3 billion euro ($1.4
billion) new skyscraper in the east of
the city.
The spokesperson described the
demonstrators as being aggressive
and violent.
A number of violent incidents had
been reported around the city, centred
around the new building itself, but
also Frankfurts venerable Alte Oper
concert hall and the financial district,
she said.
An AFP journalist at the scene said
windows had been smashed at the citizens centre and burning tyres were in
the road nearby.
Convoys of police vans sped through
the streets of the financial capital with
sirens blaring and helicopters hovered
overhead.
The ECB was due to officially inaugurate its headquarters at 11am in
the presence of central bank president
Mario Draghi and around 100 invited
guests.
But security was extremely tight

with more than 10,000 anti-austerity

demonstrators planning a protest rally.
The ECB already moved into the
new building situated on the Main
river running through Germanys financial capital late last year.
Given the raging Greek debt crisis,
the central bank has decided to keep
the inaugural celebrations relatively
low-key with just 20 guests from outside the institution.
Marching under the Blockupy banner, groups such as Attac, but also unions, will join in the rally, alongside
representatives from Greeces leftist
Syriza party, and Miguel Urban of
Spains Podemos.
A special train of 800 activists is
arriving from Berlin and 60 buses
from 39 different cities across Europe.
Despite the early violence, police said
they expected most of the protesters to
remain peaceful.
It is one of the biggest deployments ever in the city, a police spokesperson said.
The organisers accused the police
and city authorities of scaremongering and drawing up an absurd civil
war scenario.
Another spokesperson described
the massive police deployment as a
scandal.
But Hannah Eberle for the Interventionistische Linke (Interventionist
Left) vowed that demonstrators will
not allow the police to get in their way.
Were fighting for ... a democratic
and social Europe, said Roland Suess
of the anti-capitalist group Attac. AFP

World 17

www.mmtimes.com
TEL AVIV

Tough-talking
Netanyahu
claims election
WITH nearly all the votes counted
yesterday in Israels rollercoaster
election, Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu looked set for a triumphant return that will likely deepen
tensions with the Palestinians and
the West.
Centre-left challenger Isaac Herzog conceded defeat yesterday afternoon and said he had congratulated
rightwing Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu on his win.
A few minutes ago, I spoke with
the prime minister and I congratulated him on his achievement and
wished him good luck, Mr Herzog
said, speaking to Israeli television
and radio stations outside his house.
Mr Nentanyahus Likud party
was on course for 29 seats in the
120-member parliament with 96 percent of ballots tallied, while his nearest rival the centre-left Zionist Union
trailed with 24, public radio said.
The Central Elections Committee
website said Likud had garnered just
over 23 percent of the vote and the
Zionist Union almost 19 pc.
Mr Netanyahu had already
claimed victory in the March 17 election and the initial results seemed
to ensure him a third straight term,
although he will need the backing of

his allies to form a coalition.

He had put security at the forefront of his campaign, arguing he is
the only one capable of protecting
Israel from an Iranian nuclear threat
and vowing never to allow the Palestinians to establish a capital in east
Jerusalem.
The Palestinians vowed to step
up their diplomatic campaign for
statehood.
It is clear that Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu will form the
next government, so we say clearly
that we will go to the International
Criminal Court in the Hague and we
will speed up, pursue and intensify
all diplomatic efforts, chief negotiator Saeb Erakat said.
Addressing cheering supporters at
campaign headquarters in Tel Aviv,
Mr Netanyahu said, Against all odds
we achieved a great victory for the
Likud. We achieved a great victory
for the national camp under the leadership of the Likud. We achieved a
great victory for our people of Israel!
Now we have to build a strong and
stable government.
In a late appeal to the far-right
ahead of the polls, Mr Netanyahu
ruled out the establishment of a Palestinian state if reelected, effectively

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara wave to supporters as they react to exit poll figures in Israels
parliamentary elections late on March 17. Photo: AFP

reneging on his 2009 endorsement of

a two-state solution.
Mr Herzog has repeatedly called
for the creation of a Palestinian state
alongside Israel.
Mr Netanyahu made a lastminute call on his supporters to go
to the polls to counter a high turnout
among Arab Israelis.
The rule of the right-wing is in
danger. Arab voters are going to the
polls in droves! he said in a video on
Facebook. Go to the polling stations!
Vote Likud!
Radio stations yesterday reported
that the main Arab parties took third
place with 14 seats after forming an
alliance to challenge the premier.

Likud activists at a temporary

headquarters set up in a Tel Aviv convention hall danced in celebration at
the late surge.
Likud had been trailing the Zionist Union by up to four seats in surveys in the week leading up to the
vote, which was seen as a referendum
on his premiership.
Experts said Mr Netanyahu looked
like the most likely party leader to be
asked by President Reuven Rivlin to
form a government after the official
results, which are expected in the
coming days.
Netanyahu has done it. He has
managed to catch up in the final
lap, said Claude Klein, a specialist in

constitutional law at Jerusalems Hebrew University.

Under Israels electoral system,
the prime minister is not the head
of the party that gains the most seats
but whoever can build a coalition
commanding a majority of at least 61
seats in parliament.
Moshe Kahlon, once a popular
minister under Likud, could find
himself in the position of kingmaker
after exit polls predicted his centreright Kulanu party won 10 seats.
Some 5.8 million people were eligible to vote, with 25 parties vying for
the Knesset.
Turnout was 71.8 pc, up from 67.8
pc in 2013. AFP

18 World

THE MYANMAR TIMES March 19, 2015

Vanuatu Cyclone
MELE, Vanuatu

Vanuatans
think positive
despite cyclone
destruction
NOT long after the roof of Keith and
Emma Vatokos bedroom was torn
off by Vanuatus destructive cyclone,
family members and neighbours
were already hammering nails into
a new makeshift home.
The Vatokos and their village
Mele, 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) south
of the Pacific nations capital Port
Vila, are struggling to clear waterlogged houses after winds of up to
320 kilometres (200 miles) per hour
and pounding rain swept through,
flooding a nearby river.
The reality for many Vanuatuans is bleak with reports across the
island chain of widespread destruction of property and crops, along
with water and food shortages, and
fears of disease.
But the villagers in Mele are

Despite what we are

facing we still put
our heads up high
and think positive.
Thats what makes
us strong.
Emma Vatoko
Vanuatan resident

doing their best to stay positive, typifying the optimistic demeanour that
outsiders see as a defining characteristic of the islanders.
Despite what we are facing, we
still put our heads up high and always think positive, Emma Vatoko
said as she stood beside her bedroom, which now sits bare of everything except a handwritten poster of
The Lords Prayer on the wall.
Thats what makes us strong.
The 35-year-old lights up when
she talks about how the community
rallied together after the Category
Five storm barrelled ashore on the
night or March 13. She describes
how they are cooking meals for
each other and rebuilding damaged
homes.
Its hard for us, but we have to
have confidence in ourselves that we
can do it, she said.
Vanuatu, which has a population
of some 267,000 people living across
a string of picture-perfect islands,
is famed as a tropical paradise for
tourists.
Despite being among the worlds
poorest nations, it was dubbed the
happiest place on earth almost
a decade ago by British think tank
New Economics Foundation for balancing the well-being of its residents
with a light environmental footprint.
Lida Chilia, another Mele villager,
credits the support of her neighbours
as a key reason why she remains op-

Lida Chilia laughs on March 17 in her village Mele, two kilometres south of the Vanuatu capital Port after Cyclone Pam
ripped through the island nation. Photo: AFP

timistic. Ms Chilia, 39, said she was

frightened as the storm battered her
home for hours through the night.
Standing up after meticulously
removing coin-sized debris caught
between blades of grass, Chilia
beamed broadly even as she recalled
the ordeal.
We prayed for several hours. We
asked God to protect us, she said.
We feel sad. But we [neighbours]
always sit together, and that makes
me happy.
Tom Perry from aid agency
CARE Australia said Port Vila residents were dealing with the aftermath remarkably well, given the
circumstances.
But he feared the can-do attitude

avoids addressing some of the issues raised by Cyclone Pam such

as the assumption in the subsistence
economy that food is always readily
available.
New homes are also being erected using similarly flimsy materials
such as metal sheets that were
blown away by the storm instead
of more hardy ones.
They are [rebuilding] in a way
that worries me, Mr Perry said at
his office in Port Vila.
They are resilient people and
they want to get on. So they want to
start rebuilding houses but theyre
rebuilding houses that just fell over.
In Mele, Jenny Garae and her
friends prepare a basic lunch of

bread and butter for the men toiling over the new corrugated metal
house for the Vatokos.
Ms Garae, 18, is helping her family remove the mud congealing on the
floor after their home flooded. Yet
she too is keen to look on the bright
side to the challenging conditions.
If you look around, houses are
made of boards and sheets, Ms Garae said, stressing how villagers are
coming together for mutual aid.
Maybe this is a sign that people
should build their house with cement, she added, although many
in the poverty-stricken country cannot afford such luxuries, and rely on
making do with what they have.
AFP

TANNA, Vanuatu

Cut-off islanders spell out need for aid with signals

AID was due to reach some of cyclone-hit Vanuatus worst affected islands yesterday but others remained
isolated, with flights over the Pacific
nation showing desperate villagers
spelling out the letter H for help.
Relief agencies are battling tough
conditions and logistical challenges

in the sprawling archipelago with a

lack of landing strips and deep water ports hampering their efforts to
reach distant islands and get a better
grip on the full scale of the disaster.
Vanuatu Prime Minister Joe Natuman said it will be at least a week
or two before the situation becomes

Cyclone-ravaged Vanuatu

As of March 18
Fears for food supplies
Rising concerns about
contaminated water,
disease

Path of Cyclone Pam

VA N U AT U
Population:
270,000

Santo

Mar 12

Estimated 60,000 children

affected, virtually all schools
closed

Malekula
Efate
PORT VILA
Very destructive
winds

Communications to many
Mar 13
islands
still down
Reached wind gusts
up to 320 kph
70% of houses of provincial
capital of Tanna damaged
Erromango

Destructive
winds
100 km

More than 3,370 people

sheltering in 48 evacuation
centres on Efate

Tanna
Mar 14

Source: UN OCHA/Reliefweb

SOUTH
PACIFIC
OCEAN

AUSTRALIA

clearer.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs revised
its death toll from 24 down to 11 but
said it was expected to rise, and aid
groups continued to paint a bleak
picture, warning of large-scale property destruction and shortages of
food and clean water.
The southern islands of Tanna and
Erromango bore the full brunt of Severe Cyclone Pam when it barrelled
in late on March 13, and Oxfam, the
UN and CARE Australia said assessments showed widespread devastation with entire villages destroyed.
In Tanna at Lenakel, the provincial capital, 70 percent of houses are
damaged, CAREs Tom Perry said
speaking in Vanuatus capital Port
Vila.
The whole township of Waesisi on
Tannas northeast coast was inundated with water ... and 100 percent
damaged.
Therere no buildings standing,
he said.
Reconnaissance flights by military
aircraft from Australia and France
found severe and widespread damage across the larger islands of Tanna, Erromango and Efate, the UN
said.
Less damage was found on the
smaller islands in Vanuatus southern region, which include Anatom,
Aniwa and Futuna.
Aid teams reached Tanna, home
to 30,000 people, for the first time
on March 17 and more humanitarian

workers were flying in to deliver aid.

A ferry full of relief supplies was expected to arrive today.
The aid, from organisations such
as Oxfam and the Australian military, includes basic medical supplies, water and sanitation kits and
tarpaulins.
Many of the archipelagos 80 islands remain cut off and Oxfam
country director in Port Vila, Colin
Collett van Rooyen, said flights over
some of them saw people signalling
for help.
The aerial assessments of Ambryn island reported large white Hs
marked out on the ground by people
signalling for help, and on Tongoa is-

The ariel assesment

of Ambryn island
reported large white
Hs marked out on
the ground by people
signalling for help
and on Tonga island
people [are] holding
up mirrors.
Colin Collett van Rooyen
Oxfam country director

land people [are] holding up mirrors

also signalling for help, he said.
While the death toll was revised
down, he said real concerns remained about disease with water
contaminated, sanitation equipment
destroyed and an increasing lack of
food.
A BBC team reached the small island of Moso in the northwest and
reported that people had resorted
to drinking harmful saltwater, with
outside help yet to arrive. Drinking
saltwater can lead to dehydration
and death.
There are no shops on Moso and
crops were destroyed, the broadcaster said, adding that many houses
were flattened.
The United Nations said more
than 3370 people were sheltering in
some 48 evacuation centres on the
main island of Efate.
In Port Vila, access to water and
electricity was rapidly being restored
and Telecoms Sans Frontieres was
working to re-establish telecommunication networks in five provincial
disaster management centres, which
the UN said was a priority.
Stores also began reopening, as
people began the task of rebuilding.
Vanuatu is no stranger to cyclones, which are common in the
South Pacific, but locals said Pam
felt worse than Cyclone Uma in 1987,
which killed 30 people.
Before, it took one to three
months to recover, Riby Esau, 60,
said. Itll be longer now. AFP

World 19

www.mmtimes.com
MOMBASA

Protests after ivory crimes most wanted bailed in Kenya

THE suspected ringleader of an ivory
smuggling gang was granted bail on
medical grounds by a Kenyan court
yesterday prompting angry protests
from conservationists.
Kenyan national Feisal Mohammed Ali, who figured on an Interpol
list of the nine most wanted suspects
linked to crimes against the environment, was arrested by international
police agents in Tanzania in December after fleeing Kenya and extradited to face charges in the port city of
Mombasa.
Releasing Mr Ali on a 10 million
shilling (US$108,000) bond, Magistrate Justus Kituku said he did not
believe the suspect would try to flee
again.
The court hopes the accused has
learnt his lesson, said Mr Kituku.
The world is a global village. You can
run but you cannot hide.
The judges decision came after defence lawyers successfully argued that
their client required medical treatment
for diabetes that could not be provided
while in custody. Mr Kituku ordered
Mr Ali to hand over his passport and
report to detectives weekly.
He is charged with possession of

and dealing in elephant tusks weighing more than two tonnes equivalent to at least 114 slaughtered elephants and worth an estimated $4.5
million. Prosecutors allege he is a key
player in the organised crime network stretching from African parks
to Asian markets.
Mr Ali has denied all charges.
The haul was discovered by Kenyan police in June when they raided
a car dealership in Mombasa, after
which Mr Ali fled to Tanzania.
Conservationists reacted angrily
to yesterdays ruling, saying it undermined a case seen as a test of Kenyas
willingness and ability to prosecute
wildlife crimes.
Paula Kahumbu, chief executive
of conservation organisation Wildlife
Direct, said the decision to grant bail
was ridiculous.
The 10 million shilling bond is
a fraction of the value of the ivory
seized, she said. This is a very, very
bad sign that Kenyas landmark case
is being compromised.
Its very depressing, said Frank
Pope of Save the Elephants. Its a sad
day for Kenya when someone accused
of orchestrating the killing of some of

the worlds most iconic wildlife is allowed to walk free.

He said it now remained to be
seen whether the laws written on
paper will be carried through in the
real world.
A recent five-year study of wildlife
cases before Kenyan courts, carried
out by Wildlife Direct, found that
only 7 percent of those convicted of
offences against elephants and rhinos actually went to jail, despite the
crimes carrying a maximum 10-year
sentence.
Already the Ali case has been
mired in controversy after a fleet of
vehicles, due to be presented as evidence, disappeared while under police guard.
Save the Elephants estimates an
average of 33,000 elephants have
been lost across Africa to poachers
each year between 2010 and 2012.
Experts say that international
criminal gangs control the trade,
pushing Africas elephants towards
extinction. A joint UN Environment
Programme and Interpol study in
2013 said the illegal trade is worth up
to $188 million. Mr Alis next hearing
is due on March 24. AFP

PARIS

Breast is best for IQ,

30-year study reports
PEOPLE breastfed as infants have
higher intelligence scores in adulthood,
and higher earnings, according to a
study published yesterday that tracked
the development of 3500 newborns
over 30 years.
And, critically, the socioeconomic
status of mothers appeared to have
little impact on breastfeeding results,
according to a paper published by The
Lancet medical journal.
The effect of breastfeeding on
brain development and child intelligence is well established, lead author
Bernardo Lessa Horta of the Federal
University of Pelotas in Brazil said in a
statement.
What has been less clear, is whether
the effects persist into adulthood, and
whether a mothers socioeconomic status or education level played a bigger
role in the outcome of previous studies
than her choice to breastfeed or not.
Our study provides the first evidence that prolonged breastfeeding
not only increases intelligence until at
least the age of 30 years but also has
an impact both at an individual and
societal level by improving educational
attainment and earning ability, said
Mr Horta.
What is unique about this study
is the fact that, in the population we
studied, breastfeeding was not more

common among highly educated, highincome women, but was evenly distributed by social class.
Mr Horta and a team analysed data
from another study of children born in
Pelotas in 1982.
Information on breastfeeding was
compared to IQ test results at the average age of 30 years, as well as the
educational achievement and income
of 3493 participants.

Our finding is
that predominant
breastfeeding is
positively related to
IQ in adulthood.
Berndardo Lessa Horta
Federal University of Brazil

The researchers divided these

subjects into five groups based on the
length of time they were breastfed as
infants, controlling for 10 social and
biological variables that might contribute to the IQ increase including family
income at birth, parental schooling,

genomic ancestry, maternal smoking

during pregnancy, maternal age, birthweight, and delivery type, said the
statement.
While the study showed increased
adult intelligence, longer schooling,
and higher adult earnings at all duration levels of breastfeeding, the longer
a child was breastfed for (up to 12
months), the greater the magnitude of
the benefits.
An individual breastfed for at least
a year as a baby gained a full four IQ
points, had 0.9 years more schooling,
and an income of 341 Brazilian Reals
(US$104) higher per month at the age
of 30, compared to those breastfed for
less than one month, the study found.
The likely mechanism underlying
the beneficial effects of breast milk
on intelligence is the presence of longchain saturated fatty acids (DHAs)
found in breast milk, which are essential for brain development, said Mr
Horta.
Our finding that predominant
breastfeeding is positively related to
IQ in adulthood also suggests that the
amount of milk consumed plays a role.
In a comment also carried by The
Lancet, Erik Mortensen of the University of Copenhagen said the findings had important public health
implications. AFP

BELGRADE

Seven held over Srebrenica massacre

SERBIAN police yesterday arrested
seven people suspected of taking part
in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre in
Bosnia, in which around 8000 Muslim
and boys were killed, the war crimes
prosecutors office said.
The seven, identified only by initials,
were said to be members of a Bosnian
Serb wartime special police unit.
They were suspected of having
committed war crimes against the
civilian population notably at the
Kravica warehouse outside Srebrenica
where more than 1000 Muslims were

killed in July 1995, the prosecutor said

in a statement.
The prosecution is also searching
for several more people believed to be
in neighbouring countries, the statement said.
After capturing the then-UNprotected enclave on July 11, 1995,
Bosnian Serbs summarily executed
around 8000 Muslim men and boys in
a few days.
The killings were ruled to be genocide by the International Criminal
Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia

(ICTY) and the UNs top court, the International Court of Justice.
In 2007, four members of the Serbian paramilitary Scorpions unit were
sentenced to between five and 20 years
each for their part in the atrocity, the
worst in Europe since World War II
Bosnian Serb wartime political
and military leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic are currently on
trial before the ICTY for genocide, war
crimes and crimes against humanity, some related to the Srebrenica
massacre. AFP

Kenyan national Feisal Mohammed Ali stands in the dock at a Mombasa court on
December 24, 2014. Photo: AFP

TRADEMARK CAUTION
NOTICE is hereby given that Evonik Degussa GmbH a company
incorporated in GERMANY and having its principal office at
Rellinghauser Strae 1-11 45128 ESSEN is the Owner and Sole
Proprietor of the following trademark: -

( Reg: Nos. IV/5455/2002 & IV/2143/2013 )

in respect of : - Chemicals used in industry, science and photography,
as well as in agriculture, horticulture and forestry inorganic and
organic basis chemicals, organic specialty chemicals, fine chemicals
and bio chemicals, oleochemicals and auxiliary chemicals for the oil
production, chemical products for civil engineering; fertilizers, growth
regulators for plants; chemical products for livestock breeding, vine
production, textile and paper industry; enzymes for industrial use;
chemical substances for preserving foodstuffs; smell depressants for
organic waste and for the implantation into plastics, -textiles and
paper; unprocessed artificial resins, unprocessed plastics; manures; fire
extinguishing compositions; tempering and soldering preparations;
chemical substances for preserving foodstuffs; tanning substances;
adhesives used in industry - Class:1
Paints, varnishes, lacquers, colour dispersions; coatings for buildings;
preservatives against rust and against deterioration of wood; colorants;
mordants; raw natural resins; metals in foil and powder form for
painters, decorators, printers and artists. - Class: 2
Bleaching preparations and other substances for laundry use;
cleaning, polishing, scouring and abrasive preparations; soaps;
perfumery, essential oils, cosmetics, hair lotions; dentifrices - Class:3
Rubber, gutta-percha, gum asbestos, mica and goods made from
these materials (included in class 17); goods made from plastics as
semi-finished products; packing, stopping and insulating materials;
flexible pipes (not of metal). - Class:17
Coffee, tea, particularly decaffeinated, cocoa, sugar and
sweeteners, cereal preparations, ices; yeast; mustard, vinegar, sauces
(condiments); spices, mixtures and preparations for the butcher, fat
and cookery industries; aroma extracts and preparations thereof;
pectine, gelatine, polysaccharides, texturants for the food industry,
extracts of natural substances and concentrates for the food and
aroma industry (included in class 30). Class:30
Fruit drinks and juices; fruit extracts for the food industry; syrups
and other preparations for making beverages, hop extracts - Class: 32
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 Evonik Degussa GmbH
P.O. Box No. 26, Yangon.
Phone: 372416

Dated: 19th March, 2015

ge
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yo

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n
i
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n

the pulse editor: CHARLOTTE ROSE [email protected]

it

THE MYANMAR TIMES march 19, 2015

Known for attention-grabbing dress sense

and loitering, the Kingdoms steav are widely
regarded as little better than gangsters. But
the young bulls themselves say that they are
just misunderstood

Cambodias
style brigade
WILL JACKSON, VANDY MUONG, VANN SERYNOCH

bout 4pm every afternoon, groups of young people

begin to congregate at an empty concrete lot on
Koh Pich, aka Diamond Island. As the sun sinks,
hundreds arrive via the bridge at the end of Sihanouk
Boulevard. They ride around on their motos, chat,
smoke and check each other out.
Mostly male, almost all are in their teens and early 20s. Some
sit on benches under the mango trees that divide the lot from the
road the small, unripe fruit hanging above caked in dust. More
drape themselves over their bikes. Others particularly couples
loiter on a dirt embankment next to the Mekong.
Meet the steav, a much-maligned demographic of Cambodian
youth widely considered little better than adolescent gangsters.
According to social researcher Tong Soprach, the term which
is pronounced stiew and sometimes translated as rebel
started being used as a pejorative referring to teenagers about 15
years ago.
The word is similar to bong thom, or gangsters but for
younger people, adolescents, about 15 to 20 years old, Soprach,
who also writes a weekly column for the Phnom Penh Posts
Khmer-language edition, said.
Steav rejected traditional values and were thought to be
obsessed with material goods new clothes, motorbikes and
mobile phones, he said. They also had a reputation for bad
behaviour: gathering in public places, like at the Independence
Monument and Koh Pich, to talk, drink and smoke, and skipping
school.
At the extreme, they would steal money from their parents
and get involved in robberies and bag snatching, fighting and
drug taking.
Its a subculture that fascinates French-Cambodian filmmaker
Davy Chou who is making a feature film called Diamond Island
about young people who work and hang out there.
The word steav originally came from ko steav, which is a
young cow, a little bull or something, said Chou, who with his
bouffant hairdo has occasionally jokingly been accused of being a
steav himself. I think its a good image.
Theyre youngsters, this kind of free young people. Not rebels,
but kind of showing off and expressing their freedom. A little
bigger than life. The opposite of steav would be the very polite
young guy who draws exactly within the lines of what a young
guy should be. But Im sure theyre sometimes the same people at
different times.
Chou, who is best known for his documentary Golden
Slumbers about Cambodias film industry in the golden age of
the 1960s and 1970s, said the steav reminded him of American
youth in the 1950s, a time when the culture there was becoming

Photos: Phnom Penh Post/Charlotte Pert

less conservative and more free: like James Dean in Rebel

Without a Cause.
Everyone had their own motorbike and this feeling of
freedom, Chou said.
At a casting call for Chous film last week, singer Nen Tum,
who was auditioning for a role as a steav, said they were just
young people who wanted to have fun.
The word steav is a bit sensitive, it basically means just
teenagers, but somehow people just assume that its bad.
Whenever they hear the world steav they think that steav are just
useless teenagers who love to waste their time doing nothing.
On Monday afternoon at Koh Pich the young people hanging
out at the concrete lot identified themselves as steav, but said
they were misjudged.
Dara Tola, a 19-year-old university student sitting under one
of the mango trees with a group of friends, said not all steav were
the same.
They just call anyone who hangs out here steav, he said.
Some steav were bad people who didnt have jobs or money
and used drugs and fought with each other, he said. They
sometimes drag-raced at the Koh Pich lot. But others were good,
normal students or workers.
Good steav just have a good way of dressing and nice
hairstyles, like fashionable people, Tola said. It doesnt really
matter what they call us as long as we dont do bad stuff.
Nearby, a group of young men sat on larger motorbikes. They
were reticent to talk until they called their leader who was
at a different spot on Koh Pich and received permission to be
interviewed. Even then they were reluctant to have their photos
taken.
The group, which has about 30 members in total, meet every
afternoon, said Vann Sotheng, a 17-year-old grade-11 student at
Beltei International School.
He said they spend their time planning rides out to places
like Kirirom Mountain and Kampot, and charity drives to donate
money to poor children in the provinces.
Sotheng, wearing a blue shirt open at the collar and tight
black jeans, and sitting on a big neon yellow motorbike bought
by his parents a sticker reads: I love my family said he came
straight to Koh Pich every day after going home to change out of
his uniform.
The word steav is not bad. They just call us that because of
the way we look and all the stickers on our motorbikes, he said.
Chou said steav style was influenced by outside trends like
Western movie stars and Korean pop singers but was distinct
to the Kingdom. Im not sure if we can find Cambodian steav
outside of Cambodia, he said.

Its a social type that is very new. It couldnt happen when

nobody had things like big motos before. Its also linked with this
emerging middle class.
Chou said the classic steav look for guys was tight trousers, a
colourful shirt with wide lapels and flip-flops or nice sneakers.
The girls often wore sexy short pants.
He said the place to go for a supercool look was the
hairdressers behind Bak Touk High School.
At the Kalip Mode hairdressing salon there on Tuesday,
nearly a dozen male hairdressers were busy sharpening up their
customers already stylish hair. Cambodian-style dance music
pounded on the sound system. Most of the customers were
teenage boys.
About three-quarters are male and the rest are lesbians, said
hairdresser Ban Soravorn, 18. We rarely get any [straight] female
costomers.
Soravorn said a steav was someone who was young and fresh,
with a good style of fashion that looked cool with a nice haircut.
No, I dont think steav is a bad world at all. Steav is someone
who is cool, he said.
Appearances were important, he added. You cannot look like
an old-fashioned person; you have to look cool. I have to look
good because I want to attract peoples attention, especially girls.
Reaksmey, a 21-year-old university student, said she
considered herself a steav because she was different from
normal people who dont like to try cool and new styles as steav
do.
I know some people think that steav are bad people who
are young, crazy, wild and like to cause trouble, but, for me, it
depends. Not all the steav are bad. Some are good people who
love to dress up just to make themselves look cool, follow the
new trends and be happy about themselves and to attract other
peoples attention.
People shouldnt judge others just by their appearance.
She added that she felt comfortable being a lesbian because
there were many people like her in the subculture and it was
considered normal.
Chou said he wanted to make it clear that Diamond Island,
which is set to start shooting later this year, wasnt all about the
steav.
The main inspiration of the film is how to catch something
about the youth today, in this very specific time of modernisation
of Cambodia, in a place that for me is very symbolic of that
specific moment, and maybe symbolic of the future of Cambodia,
Chou said.
Its an interesting parallel to how this country is and where
its going. Phnom Penh Post

the pulse 21

www.mmtimes.com

Taking the show on the railroad

Nandar Aung
[email protected]

RAVING the slings and

arrows of outraged
commuters, a group of
talented young actors are
taking their show on the
road. The railroad, that is. Yangons
circular train line, to be, or not to
be, exact.
Its almost 9pm, but the 15 actors,
some from the Shakespeare School, in
the Laurel Art Academy hall are still
rehearsing without the slightest trace
of fatigue. The multinational and
multitalented group moves as one
under the direction of Liam Shea.
One more time, he commands.
They have been rehearsing
for two months, Wednesday and
Thursday every week, and they still
look like theyre having lots of fun.
Ko Phoo Pyae Si Thu, an actor
from the Laurel Art Academy, said,
It looks so cool. Ive performed
several times with Liams group, but
I havent seen such a fun play. It is
quite different from the others. It
looks like a street performance, but
its much more difficult.
He will depict a street vendor on
the train selling fried insects.
Liam Shea, director of the
Shakespeare School, Yangon, is no
stranger to these actors, veterans
together of such works as Macbeth
and Midsummer Nights Dream.
But there will be no daggers
suspended in the air, or mischievous
imps of the woods in their next gig.
The stories they will act out are
based on the real-life stories and
experiences of the commuters who
use the circular line to get to work.
As all know, a lot of the projects

Second
Myanmar
photo festival
launches
Nandar Aung
[email protected]

Performers rehearse in preparation for their performance on Yangons circle line train on March 22. Photos: Thiri Lu

of My Yangon My Home were

staged downtown. But theres more
to Yangon than downtown. We
decided to take our plays to the rest
of the city, said Shea.
He and the actors went out on
the trains to talk to the commuters
to get materials to put in the
sketches. I hope it will amuse
people, he said.
One of the stories concerns a
little girl who used to try to hail the
train as if it were a taxi as it passed.
When it chugs past, she starts to cry.
In a plot development that suggests
Alice in Wonderland, she follows a

Voxpop

Mars One aims to establish a permanent human

settlement on Mars. Do you think it is possible?
U Win Kyi, car tyre inflator
I read that there are living things on Mars. Mars One
believes it is possible to live on the planet so they are
taking the risk. I dont think it is impossible.

Ma Khin Shwe, Yangon resident

I think it is possible because the development of
science is awesome.

U Soe Naing, security guard

If the soil and atmosphere of Mars is similar to that
of our planet, the project is possible. If the advance of
modern science can make water on the Moon, I dont
see we couldnt do it on Mars.

Sue Welch, Australian tourist

We need to get to Mars first before we can start a colony.
I just cant imagine how it will work. Do they even know if
it will be possible for humans to live there? Will there be
water?

Ko Ye Win, sugarcane juice seller

It is possible because science is so advanced these
days. But I dont think human beings could live long
on Mars it wouldnt be healthy. Humans are not
accustomed to life on that planet and it is so different to
our planet. Anyway, I think their project is a good one.
Andy Constantaras, engineer
Its farfetched but anything is possible these days.
We went to the moon 50 years ago, after all. If it was
a round-trip Id definitely offer to go, but I wouldnt
want to stay for ever. Although at my age I suppose it
doesnt matter.

sprite aboard the train and meets

the strangest people.
That play will be performed
on Yangon Station platform. The
other performances, each lasting
20-30 minutes, will play out in the
carriages.
Commuters will see a gullible
Western tourist paying silly prices
for anything and everything sold
by vendors, with no idea what he
is buying or what to do with it, and
then getting into trouble with the
train guard.
All the stories, about reality and
fantasy, will come together, brought

to life by the actors, musicians from

Myanmar Orchestra, dancers and
puppeteers from Htwe Oo Myanmar.
The audiences dont have to see the
whole performance. They can always
get off. And anyone who wants to see
it can get on, said Liam.
The Circle Line performances are part
of the Yangon Art and Heritage Festival,
My Yangon My Home. They start at
Yangon Station from 10am to 2pm from
March 22 and are free.
For more information visit www.
shakespeareschools.com

MYANMAR Photographic Society

will hold its second photo festival
on March 20-22 at the Yangon
Gallery. More than 300 photographs,
including award-winning pictures
from last Januarys All Myanmar
Photo contest, will be on show,
together with cameras and
accessories.
The festival will also feature a
seminar, workshop and talks on
photographic technology.
Japanese photographers Koyama
and Kana Sonoda will deliver a lecture
on March 20 at the Yangon Gallery at
Peoples Park.
On the opening day, members
of the society will hold one-hour
discussions on wedding photography
and photo essays, and on March 21
they will discuss street photography
and micro/nature, panoramic and
body light painting photography. On
March 22, discussion will centre on
flash photography, the photo contest,
travel photography, and using filters
and Photoshop plug-ins.
The talks start at 11am, and are
free to attend.
Ko Kyaw Kyaw Win, a member
of the society, said, Professional
photographers will deal with several
themes in these talks. Participants
will also voice their opinions. Ill be
speaking on photo essays.
Contest winners will receive their
awards on March 22, 4m at the Yangon
Gallery, Peoples Park, Ahlone Road.

Irish Mars trip finalist casts doubt on project

An Irish finalist for the audacious
Mars One project to start a human
colony on the red planet predicted
the plan would fall on its face on
March 17.
Joseph Roche, an astrophysicist
at Trinity College Dublin, said the
selection process for the one-way
trip was deeply inadequate, and that
finalists were encouraged to give
money to the project.
My nightmare about it is that
people continue to support it and give
it money and attention, and it then
gets to the point where it inevitably
falls on its face, Roche told Medium
magazine.
If I was somehow linked to
something that could do damage to
the public perception of science, that
is my nightmare scenario.
Mars One, a Dutch-based nonprofit, has been repeatedly criticised
over its plan to colonise Mars from
2024.
Dutch Nobel Physics prize
winner Gerard t Hooft, an early
backer of the project, has said that
it will far cost more and take longer
than planned.
A study by Massachusetts Institute
of Technology researchers found that
humans would start dying within
68 days on the colony, and a TV deal
intended to help fund the project
reportedly fell through.
Roche, an assistant professor,
said that candidates for the trip were
awarded points in return for buying
Mars One merchandise or donating to
the project.
Initial plans for an interview
process lasting several days never
materialised after candidates signed a
non-disclosure agreement, he said.
I have not met anyone from Mars
One in person, Roche said.
All the info they have collected
on me is a crap video I made, an
application form that I filled out with

Dutch-based non-profit Mars One aims to establish a permanent human settlement

on Mars, sending people every two years from 2024. Photo: Creative Commons

mostly one-word answers ... and then

a 10-minute Skype interview.
That is just not enough info to
make a judgement on someone about
anything.
The group did not respond to
requests for comment on Roches

claims, but said donations from

candidates did not influence the
selection process, and that a new TV
deal was in place.
Roche did not indicate whether
or not he planned to drop out of the
project. AFP

22 the pulse

THE MYANMAR TIMES March 19, 2015

ROME

Designer duo hit back at

Elton in IVF storm
Italian designers Dolce and
Gabbana on March 16 accused Elton
John of being authoritarian, ignorant
and hypocritical as a celebrity-driven
row over IVF babies and gay adoption
showed no sign of abating.
John, 67, stirred up a storm when
he called for a boycott of the designer
label in reaction to an interview in
which Domenico Dolce referred to
babies conceived through IVF as
synthetic.
In Instagram comments that
have been endorsed by celebrities
including Victoria Beckham, Ricky
Martin, Sharon Stone, Courtney Love
and Martina Navratilova, the gay star
accused the Italian duo of wagging
your judgemental little fingers at IVF.
He added, Your archaic thinking
is out of step with the times, just
like your fashions. I shall never
wear Dolce and Gabbana ever again.
#BoycottDolceGabbana.
The hashtag was the top trending
one on Twitter in Britain on March
16 and in the top three in Italy, with
most posts highly critical of the
Italian duo.
The designers, who are also gay,
claimed it was John who was being
judgemental, not them.
Dolce said his comment that IVF
was not for him should not have been
interpreted as disapproval of anyone
elses choices.
Im Sicilian and I grew up in
a traditional family, made up of a
mother, a father and children, he said
in a statement. This is the reality in
which I grew up, but it does not imply
that I dont understand different
ones. I was talking about my personal
view, without judging other peoples
choices and decisions.
His business partner Gabbana
was so infuriated by Johns statement
that he posted the comments #fascist
and #boycotteltonjohn on the singers
Instagram page before deleting them.
On March 16, he expressed more
measured criticism.
I didnt expect this, coming from
someone whom I considered, and
I stress considered, an intelligent
person like Elton John. I mean, you
preach understanding, tolerance and

then you attack others? he said.

Is this a democratic or
enlightened way of thinking? This
is ignorance, because he ignores the
fact that others might have a different
opinion and that theirs is as worthy
of respect as his. Its an authoritarian
way of seeing the world: agree with
me or, if you dont, Ill attack you,
Gabbana added.
John has two young sons with his
husband David Furnish who were
conceived through IVF and born
thanks to a surrogacy arrangement.
In the original interview, in Italys
Panorama magazine, Gabbana said
he would have a child tomorrow if
he could, while Dolce explained why
he did not feel he could go down that
road.
You are born and you have a
father and a mother, Dolce said. Or
at least thats the way it should be,
and thats why Im not convinced by
children from chemistry, synthetic
babies, uteruses for rent, semen
chosen from a catalogue.
The backlash is causing concern
among D&G executives about the
impact on the companys global brand
and sales as hopes it would blow over
quickly begin to look optimistic.
AFP

British pop superstar Elton John

(left) and his now-husband David
Furnish arrive for the British Premiere
of Gnomeo and Juliet, in Londons
Leicester Square, on January 30, 2011.
Photo: AFP/Max Nash

PARIS

Iranian filmmakers defy

regime to foreign acclaim

ranian filmmakers, at home

and in exile, are breaking free
from restrictions imposed
both by their repressive
government and by audience
expectations to form a creative
wave that is increasingly winning
attention internationally.
The 2011 Oscar win for the
Iranian movie A Separation
snapped the focus on what was
coming out of the Islamic Republic.
But those in the industry emphasise
that other notable productions
go well beyond regime-approved
portrayals of daily Iranian life.
From this years Berlinale
triumph of Taxi to a couple of fresh
American-made movies including
a dark comedy by the maker of the
groundbreaking Persepolis, and
other films hitting screens abroad,
the output is challenging Tehrans
censors and easy categorisation.
Iran has strong art and cinema
that will thrive no matter the
adversity, exiled Iranian director
Mohsen Makhmalbaf said as he
presented his latest movie, The
President, about a Central Asian
republics dictator toppled in a
revolution and running for his life.
There is hope for this cinema,
more than for the life of the
dictatorship in Iran. There is hope
that one day we dont have this
regime but we will have a good
history of Iranian cinema.
Taxi by Jafar Panahi, a dissident
director living in Tehran who is
defying a ban by the government
there on making movies for 20
years, is the latest big success. His
film, smuggled out of Iran, took top
prize at the Berlin film festival last
month.
Despite the accolade, Taxi wont
be be shown in Iranian cinemas.
But it will certainly be seen anyway
by Irans legions of film fans who
pay a dollar or two for bootleg
DVDs in a thriving underground
market.
That same market will also

Irans film director Mohsen Makhmalbaf poses on March 10 in Paris, a week

before the French release of his last movie Le President. Photo: AFP/Loic Venance

offer The Voices, a less lofty, more

commercial movie by Marjane
Satrapi, the Iranian-French director
behind the award-winning 2007
black-and-white animation Persepolis.
The new film, a macabre comedy
starring Ryan Reynolds as a man
pushed to murder by his talking
pets, has nothing at all to do with
her native country. It can be seen
as part of a deliberate plan in her
evolution to becoming a director
first and not one exclusively
associated with stories about Iran.
What I had to say about Iran, I
said at length ... I dont like to redo
what I know what to do because
I feel like Im not progressing
enough, Satrapi said.
Still, Iran is in me, its my
country, she stressed. Makhmalbaf,
who now holds a French passport
and lives in Britain, and who has
survived what he said were four
attempts by Irans regime to murder
him, says that after 10 years in
exile, I dont know where is my
homeland ... Little by little I am less
Iranian, honestly.
He, too, adheres to a more
universal identity, shaking off

Another day, another burrito

Douglas Long
[email protected]

ALL me un optimista, but

every time I hear about
a restaurant in Yangon
serving Mexican food, I
hope against hope for a
complete menu of enchiladas, chile
rellenos, tostadas, chimichangas,
tamales and chilaquiles.
I excitedly dust off my humongous
purple-velvet fine-dining sombrero
and make haste to the venue in
question, only to be disappointed
by the dearth of (from my US
perspective) south of the border
options, which are usually limited
to burritos, tacos, quesadillas and
sometimes fajitas.
Such was the case with my recent
visit to Agora Caf and Restaurant,
but as usual I made the best of an
initially disappointing situation.
Agora is divided into two areas:
an inviting caf with booth seating on
one side, and a spacious dining room
with tables on the other. We opted for
the latter after a waitress who met us
at the door warned that the caf was
too hot.
Climatic considerations aside,
the dining room was not especially
appealing in its bigness and emptiness.

Photo Caption. Photo: AFP

There were a few paintings with price

tags attached hanging on the wall
and sitting on easels, but it appeared
as if someone had lost interest halfway
through installing the exhibition and
fled the scene.
When it came time to order, we
skipped the Asian and Western
sections of the menu and focused
on the Mexican fare, starting with a

small order of guacamole and chips

(K5000). This turned out to be a
better bargain than anticipated: The
crunchy chips were made in-house
and the guacamole was abundant.
When the chips were gone, there was
still plenty of deliciously pulverised
avocado left over to slather onto the
slow-roasted pork burrito (K7500) I
ordered as my main course.

any attempt to pigeonhole him as

concentrating on Iran, which he
was forced to flee a decade ago.
I am first a human being,
second I am an artist, third I was
born in Iran not the reverse.
Given the oppression and
censorship in Iran, some of the
freshest visions starting to emerge
about the country come from the
post-revolutionary generation born
and raised outside their parents
country.
Ana Lily Amirpour, an IranianAmerican born in Britain, offers
one such movie: a black-and-white
vampire western about a trendy,
bloodsucking Iranian dressed in
Islamic garb titled A Girl Walks
Home Alone at Night.
The 2014 film, shot in California
but set in an imaginary Iranian
town and featuring Farsi dialogue
throughout, has been well-received
and opened up career horizons for
Amirpour.
But her next project will not be
Iran-themed. Instead, she said shes
making a film in English this time
that she summed up as a violent
post-cannibalistic love story. AFP

Restaurant Review
The burrito looked rather small
when delivered to the table but
turned out to be quite filling. The
pork was tender and tasty, and the
tortilla in which it was wrapped had
been grilled to crunchy yet supple
perfection. Its no exaggeration to say
that there was clich alert a fiesta
of impressive proportion every bite.
My dinner compaero ordered the
steak fajitas (K9000), which came
with grilled peppers and onions, and
way more meat than could possibly
be accommodated by the three
tortillas on the plate. She judged the
dish to be pretty good. I sampled
a few pieces of the leftover beef and
found it to be credibly succulent,
although the flavour was somewhat
uneven: Some pieces were very salty,
others substantially less so.
For drinks we skipped the caf
selections and perused the collection
of signature cocktails from Southeast
Asia, which included the Singapore
sling, the jungle bird (Malaysia), the
krungthep (Thailand) and the pygmy
slow lorange (Laos).
We decided to go domestic and
ordered a couple of Pegu Clubs
(K5000). Mine was pleasingly
refreshing, but never having tried
a Pegu Club before Im a beer guy
I cant say whether it stands as a

particularly remarkable exemplar of

this particular cocktail.
The next time I dine at Agora, I
will likely ignore the waitresss advice
and sit in the caf, heat or no heat. I
will also arrive having already had my
high hopes for an expansive Mexican
menu ruthlessly obliterated, and
can therefore expect to have a better
overall experience.

Agora Caf and

Restaurant
Agora Caf and Restaurant
84 Kanbe Road, Yankin
township, Yangon
Restaurant Rating

Food 7
Beverage 8
Service 7
Value 7
X-Factor 6

24 the pulse

THE MYANMAR TIMES March 19, 2015

DOMESTIC FLIGHT SCHEDULES

Yangon to Mandalay
Flight
Y5 775
W9 515
YH 909
YH 917
YJ 891
YJ 811
K7 282
W9 201
YH 835
YH 831
W9201
7Y 131
K7 266
8M 6603
YJ 751
YJ 211
YJ 601
YJ 201
YH 911
YJ 761
YJ 233
YH 729
YH 737
YH 727
W9 251
7Y 941
7Y 841
7Y 943
K7 822
YJ 151/W9 7151
K7 622
K7 226
7Y 241
YH 731
Y5 234
W9 211

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

Dep
6:00
6:00
6:00
6:10
6:00
6:30
6:00
7:00
7:00
7:00
7:00
7:15
8:00
9:00
10:45
11:00
11:00
11:00
11:00
11:00
11:00
11:00
11:15
11:15
11:30
11:45
11:45
11:45
12:30
13:00
13:00
13:30
14:30
14:30
15:20
15:30

Arr
7:10
7:25
7:40
8:30
8:05
7:55
8:10
8:25
8:40
8:40
8:25
9:20
10:05
10:10
14:50
12:25
12:25
12:25
12:40
12:55
12:55
14:00
13:25
13:25
12:55
13:10
13:10
13:10
16:55
16:45
14:25
14:55
16:25
16:40
16:30
16:55

Yangon to Nyaung U
Flight
K7 282
YJ 891
YH 909
YH 917
YJ 141
YJ 881
YJ 881
YJ 801
K7 242
7Y 131
7Y 121
K7 264
7Y 241
YH 731
W9 129
W9 211
W9 129

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

Dep
6:00
6:00
6:00
6:10
6:20
6:30
6:45
7:00
7:00
7:15
8:20
14:30
14:30
14:30
15:30
15:30
15:30

YJ 151 / W9 7151

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

Dep
7:00
7:00
7:00
7:00
11:00
11:00
11:30
11:45
13:00
13:00

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

Nyaung U to Yangon

Arr
7:20
7:20
8:25
7:45
7:40
7:50
8:05
8:20
8:20
8:35
9:40
16:40
17:10
17:25
17:35
17:40
17:35

Yangon to Myitkyina
Flight
YH 829
YH 835
YH 831
YH 826
YJ 201
YJ 233
W9 251
7Y 841
K7 622

Mandalay to Yangon
Flight
Days
Dep
YH 910
Daily
7:40
Y5 233
Daily
7:50
YJ 811
3
8:10
YJ 891
Daily
8:20
K7 283
Daily
8:25
YH 918
Daily
8:30
W9 201
Daily
8:40
7Y 132
Daily
9:35
K7 267
Daily
10:20
YH 830
5
11:05
YH 836
1,7
13:20
YH 832
4,6
13:20
YJ 212
7
15:00
YJ 212
5
15:00
YJ 752
5
15:05
YH 912
2
15:30
YJ 202
1,2,3,4
15:30
YJ 762
4
15:50
YJ 602
6
16:25
YJ 762
1,2
16:35
YH 732
6
16:40
7Y 242
Daily
16:40
YH 732
1,2,3,4,5,7 16:40
YH 728
1
16:45
W9 152/W97152
1
17:05
Y5 776
Daily
17:10
W9 211
4
17:10
K7 823
2,4,7
17:10
8M 6604
4
17:20
K7 227
2,4,6
17:20
8M 903
1,2,4,5,7 17:20
YH 738
3,5,7
17:25
K7 623
1,3,5,7
17:40
YH 730
2,4,6
17:45
YJ 234
6
17:45
W9 252
2,5
18:15

Arr
9:40
10:05
10:05
10:05
13:50
16:05
14:25
14:35
15:55
16:45

Flight
Days
YJ 891
Daily
YH 918
Daily
YJ 141 / W9 7141
1
YJ 881
7
YJ 881
1,2,4,5
YH 910
Daily
YH 835
6
K7 242
Daily
7Y 131
Daily
7Y 121
Daily
K7 283
Daily
K7 265
Daily
7Y 242
Daily
W9 129
1,3,6
YH 732
1,2,3,4,5,6

Dep
7:35
7:45
7:55
8:05
8:20
8:25
8:35
8:35
8:50
9:55
10:10
16:55
17:25
17:50
17:25

Arr
10:15
10:45
10:55
10:10
10:25
9:45
9:55
11:45
11:30
14:10
11:30
18:15
18:45
19:10
18:45

Yangon to Heho
Flight
Days
Dep
YJ 891
Daily
6:00
K7 282
Daily
6:00
YH 917
Daily
6:10
YJ 141/ W9 7141
1
6:20
YJ 811
3
6:30
YJ 881
7
6:30
YJ 881
1,2,4,5
6:45
K7 242
Daily
7:00
YJ 201
1
7:00
7Y 131
Daily
7:15
K7 266
Daily
8:00
7Y 121
Daily
8:20
Y5 649
Daily
10:30
YH 505
1,2,3,4,5,6 10:30
YJ 751
3,7
10:30
YJ 751
5
10:45
YJ 761
1,2,4
11:00
YJ 233
6
11:00
YH 727
1
11:15
YH 737
3,5,7
11:15
7Y 941
1,2,4,6
11:45
K7 828
1,3,5
12:30
K7 822
2,4,7
12:30
K7 264
Daily
14:30
7Y 241
Daily
14:30
YH 731
Daily
14:30
W9 129
1,3,6
15:30

Heho to Yangon
Arr
8:50
9:00
9:35
8:35
8:40
8:45
9:00
9:15
9:10
10:05
9:15
10:35
12:45
11:55
11:40
11:55
12:10
12:10
12:40
12:40
13:55
13:45
13:45
15:45
15:40
15:55
16:40

Yangon to Myeik
Flight
Y5 325
7Y 531
K7 319
Y5 325

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

Dep
6:45
7:00
7:00
15:30

Days
1,3,6
Daily

Dep
11:30
13:00

Arr
8:15
8:38
9:05
17:00

Flight
Y5 326
7Y 532
K7 320
Y5 326

Arr
12:55
14:55

Flight
W9 309
K7 423

Days
2,4,6
1,5

Dep
7:00
7:00

Arr
9:50
10:35
13:10
13:50
13:05
13:35
16:40

Myitkyina to Yangon
Flight
YH 832
YH 836
YH 827
YH 830
YJ 202
YJ 152 / W9 7152
K7 623
YJ 234
W9 252

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

Dep
11:55
11:55
11:55
12:30
14:05
15:35
16:10
16:20
16:45

Arr
14:45
14:45
14:45
14:55
16:55
18:30
19:05
19:10
19:40

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

Dep
10:45
10:30
11:00
11:30
12:30

Days
6,4
3
7,1
2,5

Dep
7:00
7:00
7:00
11:30

Days
1,3,6
Daily

Dep
13:10
15:10

Flight
Days
Dep
YJ 141/W9 7141
1
10:05
K7 243
Daily
10:50
YH 506
1,2,3,4,5,6 13:10
7Y 122
Daily
13:20
W9 309
1,3,6
14:05
K7 422
Daily
14:10
Y5 422
1,3,4,6
16:55

Arr
8:10
7:48

Flight
K7 320
7Y 532

Arr
13:00
12:45
13:00
13:18
14:50

Flight
YJ 752
K7 829
K7 829
YJ 752
7Y 742
YH 730

Arr
14:55
16:30

Arr
10:55
11:45
14:00
14:10
14:55
16:30
17:50

Arr
11:00
11:00
11:00
15:25

Flight
YH 836
YH 832
YH 827
W9 252

Days
2,4,6
1,5

Dep
12:25
11:30

Arr
13:35
12:18

lashio to Yangon

yangon to putao
Flight
YH 831
YH 826
YH 835
W9 251

Arr
10:05
12:18
13:35
18:45

dawei to Yangon

yangon to lashio
Flight
YJ 751
YJ 751
YH 729
7Y 741
K7 828

Dep
8:35
10:45
11:30
17:15

Air Bagan (W9)

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)

Tel: 656969
Fax: 656998, 651020

Yangon Airways (YH)

thandwe to Yangon

yangon to dawei
Flight
K7 319
7Y 531

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

Domestic Airlines

Tel: 383100, 383107, 700264

Fax: 652 533

Airline Codes

sittwe to Yangon

Yangon to thandwe
Flight
Days
Dep
YJ 141/W9 7141
1
6:20
K7 242
Daily
7:00
YH 505
1,2,3,4,5,6 10:30
W9 309
1,3,6
11:30
7Y 122
Daily
12:15
K7 422
Daily
13:00
Y5 421
1,3,4,6
15:45

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

Myeik to Yangon

Yangon to sittwe
Flight
W9 309
K7 422

Flight
Days
Dep
YJ 141 / W9 7141
1
8:50
YJ 811
3
8:55
YJ 881
7
9:00
YJ 891
Daily
9:05
K7 283
Daily
9:15
YJ 881
1,2,4,5
9:15
W9 201
Daily
9:25
K7 243
Daily
9:30
YH 918
Daily
9:35
7Y 132
Daily
10:20
7Y 121
Daily
10:50
K7 267
Daily
11:10
YH 506
1,2,3,4,5,6 11:55
YJ 752
5
14:20
YJ 762
4
15:50
YJ 762
1,2
15:50
7Y 241
Daily
15:55
YH 732
1,2,3,4,5,6 15:55
K7 829
1,3,5
16:10
YH 728
1
16:00
YJ 602
6
16:25
K7 264
Daily
16:30
YH 738
3,5,7
16:40
YJ 752
3,7
16:45
W9 129
1,3,6
16:55

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

Dep
13:15
15:05
15:05
15:40
16:00
16:45

Arr
16:30
15:55
17:25
17:55
17:48
19:10

putao to yangon
Days
1,7
4,6
3
2,5

Dep
11:00
11:00
11:00
15:45

Arr
14:45
14:45
14:45
19:40

7Y = Mann Yadanarpon Airlines

K7 = Air KBZ
W9 = Air Bagan
Y5 = Golden Myanmar Airlines
YH = Yangon Airways
YJ = Asian Wings

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
PARIS

International FLIGHT SCHEDULES

YANGON TO BANGKOK
Flights
PG 706
8M 335
TG 304
PG 702
TG 302
PG 708
8M 331
PG 704
Y5 237
TG 306

Days
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily

BANGKOK TO YANGON

Dep
6:05
8:40
9:50
10:30
14:50
15:20
16:30
18:35
19:00
19:50

Arr
8:20
10:25
11:45
12:25
16:45
17:15
18:15
20:30
20:50
21:45

YANGON TO DON MUEANG

Flights
DD 4231
FD 252
FD 256
FD 254
FD 258
DD 4239

Days
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily

Flights
TG 303
PG 701
Y5 238
8M 336
TG 301
PG 707
PG 703
TG 305
8M 332
PG 705

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

Dep
8:00
8:30
12:50
17:35
21:30
21:00
Dep
8:00
9:45
9:45
10:25
11:45
13:35
14:40
16:40
19:30

Arr
9:45
10:20
14:40
19:25
23:15
22:55

Flights
DD 4230
FD 251
FD 255
FD 253
FD 257
DD 4238

Arr
12:25
14:15
2:35
15:10
16:20
20:50
19:05
21:15
00:05+1

Flights
TR 2822
Y5 2234
SQ 998
3K 581
MI 533
8M 232
MI 518
3K 583
8M 234

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

Dep
7:30
8:30
12:15
16:00
19:05

Arr
11:30
12:45
16:30
20:15
23:20

Flights
AK 504
MH 740
8M 502
MH 742
AK 502

Arr
0550+1

Flights
CA 905

Arr
13:15
15:55
22:10

Flights
CZ 3055
CZ 3055
8M 712

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

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

Days
3,5,7

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

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

Dep
10:50

Arr
16:10

Flights
CI 7915

Days
Daily

Days
1,3,5,6,7

Dep
12:30
12:40
14:50

Arr
15:55
18:50
18:15

Days
2,4,7

Flights
MU 2011
CA 415
MU 2031

Dep
19:10

Arr
21:25

Dep
14:25

Flights
VN 957

Days
1,4,6

Arr
17:05

Flights
VN 943

Days
4,7
Daily

Dep
0:50
23:55

Arr
11:40

Flights
QR 918

Days
Daily

Arr
8:50
07:45+1

Flights
KE 471
0Z 769

Days
Daily

Dep
22:10

Arr
5:25

Flights
KA 252
KA 250

Days
2
5

Arr
06:45+1

Flights
NH 913

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

Dep
11:45
19:45
Dep
12:50
14:30
23:55

Arr
13:00
21:00

Flights
BG 060
BG 060

Arr
14:45
16:20
07:45+1

Flights
PG 723
W9 608
8M 7701

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

Dep
6:15
11:00
14:30

Days
1,3,5,6

Flights
Y5 252
7Y 306
W9 608

Dep
10:30

Arr
11:50

Flights
8M 602

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

Dep
14:15

Arr
16:40

Days
Daily

Dep
15:45
7:50
Dep
12:50

Days
Daily

Dep
13:50

Flights
Y5 2234
MI 533

Arr
15:15

Flights
FD 244

Days
1,2,3,4,5

Dep
19:45

Arr
18:10

Dep
11:45

Arr
13:25

Dep
19:45

Arr
0459+1

Dep
18:30
19:30

Arr
22:30
23:40

Dep
22:20
21:50

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

Dep
11:45
Dep
8:30
16:30

Days
1,3,5,6
Days
Daily

Arr
16:40

Flights
MU 2029

Arr
22:45

Flights
PG 721

Days
Daily
2,4,6
Days
Daily

Biman Bangladesh Airlines (BG)

Tel: 371867~68. Fax: 371869

Condor (DE)

Tel: 370836~39 (ext: 303)

Dragonair (KA)

Tel: 255320, 255321. Fax: 255329

Golden Myanmar Airlines (Y5)

Tel: 09400446999, 09400447999
Fax: 8604051

Malaysia Airlines (MH)

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

Fax: 241124

Myanmar Airways International (8M)

Tel: 255260. Fax: 255305

Qatar Airways (QR)

Tel: 379845, 379843, 379831. Fax: 379730

Tel: 255287~9. Fax: 255290

Thai Airways (TG)

Tel: 255491~6. Fax: 255223

Tiger Airline (TR)

Vietnam Airlines (VN)

Tel: 255066, 255088, 255068. Fax: 255086

Airline Codes
3K = Jet Star
8M = Myanmar Airways International
AK = Air Asia

CA = Air China
CI = China Airlines

Arr
17:15

CZ = China Southern

Arr
10:45
18:45

FD = Air Asia

Arr
11:55
18:10
22:30

DD = Nok Airline

KA = Dragonair

MH = Malaysia Airlines

Mass tourism
forces mobbed
museums to
overhaul welcome

ass tourism spurred by

cheap flights and richer
emerging economies is
forcing the worlds top
museums to rethink their
welcome, notably by boosting access,
embracing apps and improving
ancillary services such as eateries and
gift shops.
The overhaul is dictated by the
sheer numbers of visitors crowding
galleries to catch a glimpse of the
Mona Lisa, a Van Gogh canvas or a
Michelangelo statue.
Nearly 10 million people a year
pass through the Louvre, 7 million
visit the British Museum and 6
million go to the Met in New York.
The Louvre was conceived for
5 million people. For the past three
years straight weve had more than
9 million, noted the president of
the vast Paris museum, Jean-Luc
Martinez.
With globalisation, there are not
only more and more people trying
to squeeze through the doors of the
worlds museums, but they hail from
many more cultures and countries
than in the past.
Museums are finding that they no
longer cater to a public well-versed in
the history and artistic movements
on show, but to visitors needing more
context and information to process
what they are seeing.
We are still far from learning
the lessons from this diversification,
said Alain Seban, who has run the
Pompidou Centre in Paris for the past
eight years.
Foreigners make up 70 percent
of the Louvres visitors and 80pc of
Versailles, with Chinese in particular
a growing contingent.
This imposes another way to
receive them and to try to understand
what they have come to see, said the
president of the Palace of Versailles,
Catherine Pegard.
Susan Foister, spokesperson for
the National Gallery in London,
concurred.
We think a lot more these days
about who makes up our audience
and what they need from their
encounters at the National Gallery,
she said.
Often in groups or families,
tourists from afar tend to take in a

museum by making bee-lines for its

most famous artworks: the Mona Lisa
painting and the Venus de Milo statue
at the Louvre, for instance.
Polling shows that many visit just
one landmark museum per year, and
that their average age has dropped
significantly. At the Musee dOrsay
30pc of the visitors are under 26, and
at the Louvre half are younger than
30.
That makes for some unusual
success. The Musee dOrsay, for
instance, was surprised to see a
lot of young people turn up to an
exhibition of works by a littleknown French painter named
Jean-Leon Gerome, whose paintings
recalled the heroic dioramas used in
video games.
So how can the museums adapt to
the changing face of their visitors?
You have to start from the idea
that these people know nothing, said
Martinez from the Louvre. References
that might seem obvious need
explaining, with multiple translations.
French museums are applying
lessons learnt from starting up
outposts in different parts of the
country, or abroad.
Several museums are ramping
up their digital offerings to support
their collections, giving visitors the
opportunity to load information into
their smartphones or tablets before
walking the halls.
At the Pompidou Centre, where
two out of three visitors brandish
a smartphone, an application will
soon be launched that offers the user
a tailored walk-through, based on
interests revealed through a quiz.
Seban said the future would
probably see visits increasingly
personalised, with museums
borrowing tactics and technology
from the big retailers.
The Internet is also sustaining a
virtual model of the museums that
is just as popular as the real thing.
The Mets website last year received
more than 26 million visits, while the
National Gallery had six million.
Its paradoxical to present the
amount of visitors as a problem,
said Martinez. A museums mission,
after all, is to allow the widest
public possible the chance to see its
collections. AFP

MI = Silk Air
MU = China Eastern Airlines

Arr
10:15
14:35
18:10

Dep
12:50
Dep
12:05
Dep
7:20
11:30
Dep
10:55

Tel: 255122, 255265. Fax: 255119

KE = Korea Airlines

Dep
11:00
17:20
18:30
Dep
9:25
13:45
17:20

Bangkok Airways (PG)

BG = Biman Bangladesh Airlines

Arr
00:15+1
23:45

Arr
16:00
Arr
13:25
Arr
16:30
14:50

DON MUEANG TO MANDALAY

Arr
12:20

NH = All Nippon Airways

PG = Bangkok Airways
QR = Qatar Airways
SQ = Singapore Airways
TG = Thai Airways
TR = Tiger Airline
VN = Vietnam Airline
Y5 = Golden Myanmar Airlines

Subject to change
without notice

KUNMING TO MANDALAY

NAY PYI TAW TO BANGKOK

Flights
PG 722

Flights
PG 709

Arr
20:50
14:15

MANDALAY TO KUNMING
Flights
MU 2030

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

Tel: 253597~98, 254758. Fax 248175

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

Dep
16:40

singapore to mandalay

MANDALAY TO DON MUEANG

Flights
FD 245

Arr
11:50
11:30
14:00

BANGKOK TO MANDALAY

MANDALAY TO singapore
Flights
MI 533
Y5 2233

Dep
8:25
11:10
13:30

gaya TO YANGON

MANDALAY TO BANGKOK
Flights
PG 710

Days
Daily
3,6

Air India

Singapore Airlines (SQ) / Silk Air (MI)

chiang mai TO YANGON

Arr
8:05
12:50
16:20

YANGON TO gaya
Flights
8M 601

Days
3,5,7

Air China (CA)

Arr
9:50

INCHEON TO YANGON

YANGON TO chiang mai

Flights
Y5 251
7Y 305
W9 607

Dep
7:00

DHAKA TO YANGON

YANGON TO INCHEON
Flights
PG 724
W9 607
8M 7702

Days
2,4,7

Air Bagan Ltd.(W9)

Tel: 513322, 513422, 504888. Fax: 515102

Tel: 255050, 255021. Fax: 255051

TOKYO TO YANGON

YANGON TO DHAKA
Flights
BG 061
BG 061

Days
1,3,5,6,7

Tel: 09254049991~3

Arr
10:35
16:40
15:50

HONG KONG TO YANGON

Dep
1:10

YANGON TO TOKYO
Flights
NH 914

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

Air Asia (FD)

Nok Airline (DD)

Dep
8:35
14:40
14:15

SEOUL TO YANGON

YANGON TO HONG KONG

Flights
KA 251

Arr
22:50

DOHA TO YANGON

Dep
7:55

YANGON TO SEOUL
Flights
0Z 770
KE 472

Dep
19:30

HO CHI MINH CITY TO YANGON

YANGON TO DOHA
Flights
QR 919

Arr
8:00
11:15
13:30
15:05
18:25

HANOI TO YANGON

YANGON TO HO CHI MINH CITY

Flights
VN 942

Dep
6:55
10:05
12:30
13:55
17:20

KUNMING TO YANGON

YANGON TO HANOI
Flights
VN 956

Arr
8:45
8:50
9:20
10:40
12:45
14:50
15:45
18:50
21:35

TAIPEI TO YANGON

YANGON TO KUNMING
Flights
CA 416
MU 2012
MU 2032

Dep
7:20
7:20
7:55
9:10
11:30
13:25
14:20
17:20
20:10

GUANGZHOU TO YANGON

Dep
8:40
11:35
17:40

YANGON TO TAIPEI
Flights
CI 7916

Arr
7:15
8:00
12:20
17:05
20:55
20:15

BEIJING TO YANGON

Dep
23:50

International Airlines

Tel: 666112, 655882

Dep
6:30
7:15
11:35
16:20
20:15
19:25

KUALA LUMPUR TO YANGON

YANGON TO GUANGZHOU
Flights
8M 711
CZ 3056
CZ 3056

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

YANGON TO BEIJING
Flights
CA 906

Arr
8:45
9:40
22:20
12:40
13:50
14:30
17:50
18:50
20:05
21:30

SINGAPORE TO YANGON

YANGON TO KUALA LUMPUR

Flights
8M 501
AK 505
MH 741
MH 743
AK 503

Dep
8:00
8:45
21:30
11:55
13:05
13:40
17:00
18:05
19:20
20:15

DON MUEANG TO YANGON

YANGON TO SINGAPORE
Flights
8M 231
Y5 2233
TR 2823
SQ 997
3K 582
MI 533
8M 233
MI 519
3K 584

Days
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily

Days
Daily

Dep
12:55

Arr
12:50

BANGKOK TO NAY PYI TAW

Days
1,2,3,4,5

Dep
17:15

Arr
19:15

Day
1 = Monday
2 = Tuesday
3 = Wednesday

4 = Thursday
5 = Friday
6 = Saturday
7 = Sunday

The National Gallery at Trafalgar Square in London. Mass tourism spurred by

cheap flights and richer emerging economies is forcing the worlds top museums
to rethink their welcome. Photo: AFP/Justin Tallis

26 Sport

THE MYANMAR TIMES MARCH 19, 2015

FOOTBALL

Joy as rock-bottom Bhutan

pull off World Cup shock
C
HEERING fans poured
onto the streets of Thimphu
on March 17 as Bhutan, the
worlds lowest-ranked football team, pulled off a major shock to reach the second round of
World Cup qualifiers.
Joyous supporters banged drums
and chanted Now were not the worst
team! after the tiny Himalayan nation, rock-bottom at 209th in the FIFA
rankings, stunned Sri Lanka 3-1 on
aggregate.
The Ronaldo of Bhutan, Chencho
Gyeltshen, struck twice in the 2-1 win
at a packed Changlimithang Stadium,
a week after Chokey Nimas men beat
Sri Lanka 1-0 in Colombo.
Gyeltshen opened the scoring on
five minutes and he was mobbed by
his teammates when he coolly struck
the winner in the 90th minute, sealing
Bhutans progression.
Although Sri Lanka are only ranked
174th, Bhutan, attempting to qualify for
a World Cup for the first time, were
such outsiders that ex-Sri Lanka skipper Ashok Nawgalage even questioned
the point of playing the tie.
But in the event it was the Bhutanese given the afternoon off by
Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay to
support the national team who were
celebrating a memorable win.
Bhutan, better known for its Gross
National Happiness Index and archery, will now take its place among
40 Asian teams in the group qualifying
stage starting in June.

Although Bhutans chances of reaching the 2018 World Cup in Russia remain extremely small, they have provided the first upset at the start of a global
qualifying campaign.
It was not the only fairytale result as East Timor, one of the worlds
youngest and poorest nations, sent
Mongolia crashing out 5-1 on aggregate in chilly Ulan Bator.
Sleeping giant India made it
through thanks to a 0-0 draw with
Nepal in Kathmandu, following last
weeks 2-0 victory in the east Indian
city of Guwahati.
But Pakistans home leg against
Yemen in Lahore was postponed and
shifted to an as-yet-unnamed neutral
venue after a deadly Taliban attack on
churches in the city.
The move was another blow to
sport in Pakistan, who trail 3-1 from
the first leg, after a 2009 attack in Lahore put tours by international cricket
teams on hold.
Elsewhere Taiwan fought back
from 1-0 down in the first leg to beat
Brunei 2-0 away thanks to goals from
Wang Ruei and Chu En-le either side
of half-time.
French-born Thierry Bin scored
for Cambodia in a 1-1 away draw with
Macau, which was enough to seal their
progression 4-1 on aggregate.
Asias lowest-ranked teams were
playing home and away to reach the
group stage, kicking off a marathon,
worldwide qualifying campaign for
the next World Cup. AFP

Bhutanese footballer Chencho Gyeltshen (right) scores a goal

past Sri Lankas goalkeeper during their 2018 FIFA World Cup
Preliminary Round qualifying match in Thimphu on March 17.
Photo: AFP

India

00

Nepal

Cambodia

Indiawon 20 on aggregate
Yemen

Postponed

Pakistan

1-0

Chinese Taipei

Mongolia

Sri Lanka

Timor-Lestewon 51 on aggregate

Alpine championships go to the wire

US skier Marco Sullivan competes in the Mens downhill at the FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup finals in
Meribel on March 18. Photo: AFP

giant slalom one, definitely. But it is also really

nice to have the GS globe.
It gives me extra power for the next races so
I hope the two can go hand in hand.
In the womens events which like the mens
races feature only the top 25 in each category,
theres all to play for, with American Lindsey
Vonn leading the super-G and downhill standings, by 8 and 35 points respectively from Fenninger.
Its going to be a close fight in downhill and
super-G, so I will really have to ski my best at the

2-0

Brunei

Chinese Taipeiwon 21 on aggregate

SKIING

THE fight for the overall men and womens titles

will go down to the wire at the season-ending
March 18-22 World Cup alpine skiing finals in
Meribel.
In the mens events, Austrian Marcel Hirscher leads Norwegian Kjetil Jansrud by 164
points, with races to come in the downhill,
super-G, giant slalom and slalom at the French
resort that hosted the 1992 Olympic ski program.
The skiers have been the stand-out performers of the season, having both already snaffled a
crystal globe for topping standings in two individual disciplines.
Hirscher, who claimed super combined gold
and giant slalom silver at Februarys world
championships, took the giant slalom crown
from American Ted Ligety.
Jansrud was left disappointed to have come
away from Beaver Creek with only a super combined silver, but continued that Norwegian love
affair with the super-G by claiming the globe in
emphatic style.
The womens overall title comes down to a
straight fight between Austrian Anna Fenninger
and Slovenian rival Tina Maze.
Fenninger claimed world super-G and giant
slalom golds and downhill silver in February
while Maze won downhill and super combined
golds and a silver in the super-G, the two dominant forces across those disciplines and sure to
guarantee a thrilling battle.
Aside the overall titles, other crystal globes up
for grabs are the mens slalom, with Germanys
Felix Neureuther heading Hirscher by 55 points,
and downhill, with Jansrud 20 points ahead of
Austrian Hannes Reichelt.
Its not possible to win the overall globe
if youre skiing badly in one discipline you
have to have two really good disciplines, said
Hirscher.
If I had to choose, I would say I prefer retaining the big globe compared to winning back the

Macau

Cambodiawon 41 on aggregate

Yemen leading 3-1 on aggregate

Timor-Leste

1-1

Finals in Meribel. Hopefully I can get two titles,

said Vonn.
Fenninger is in pole for the giant slalom,
86pts ahead of teammate Eva-Maria Brem, while
it would take a major upset for Swedens Frida
Hansdotter to claim the slalom globe from inform American world champion Mikael Shiffrin.
I feel confident in my skiing now. But for the
big globe I have to wait for Tina to make mistakes I think, Fenninger said.
I think it will be tight until the end and I
dont know if I can make it or not.

1-2

Bhutan

Bhutan won 31 on aggregate

CYCLING

Armstrong
Tour ride plans
disrespectful:
cycling chief
WORLD cycling chief Brian Cookson on
March 17 hit out at drugs cheat Lance Armstrongs plans to ride this years Tour de France
route for charity, branding them completely
disrespectful.
Armstrong, stripped of his seven Tour titles for doping offences, has signed up to take
part in the event, organised by former England
football player Geoff Thomas.
The fundraising mission will see cyclists
ride the route of the Tour one day ahead of
the peloton, but Union Cycliste Internationale
(UCI) president Cookson wants Armstrong to
reconsider.
Im sure that Geoff Thomas means well, but
frankly, I think thats completely inappropriate
and disrespectful to the Tour, disrespectful to the
current riders, and disrespectful to the UCI and
the anti-doping community, Cookson told the
Sport Industry Breakfast Club in London.
I think Lance would be well-advised not to
take part in that.
Armstrong was banned for life from competing in cycling and triathlon by the United
States Anti-Doping Agency in August 2012 and
Cookson said the Texans charitable motives
did not make his stunt more palatable.
Ive heard that reason rolled out throughout Lance As career as well, Cookson added.
Im not critical of people trying to raise
funds for charity, lets be clear. But I think
maybe Lance could find a better way of continuing his fundraising efforts than this.
Lance Armstrong can ride his bike around
France as often as he likes. Its got nothing to
do with me or the UCI. AFP

Sport 27

www.mmtimes.com

IN BRIEF
Football
Sunderland to review Johnson
suspension

Premier League strugglers

Sunderland announced yesterday that
they are reviewing their suspension of
winger Adam Johnson following his
arrest on suspicion of sexual activity
with an under-age girl.
The 27-year-old England
international, arrested two weeks ago,
had his bail extended by five weeks on
March 17 and does not need to report
back to police until April 23.
In response, Sunderland released a
statement saying, Following the police
decision, the club will be reviewing its
position.
The announcement came a day
after the club appointed Dick Advocaat
as manager following the dismissal of
Gus Poyet.

Shut up! Balotelli tells critics

Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli hit

out at his detractors in an angry video
published on his Instagram account
late on March 17, telling them, Shut
up!
Speaking directly to camera in the
short clip, he says, Do you know me?
Did you ever talk to me, personally? Do
you know what Ive been through in my
life? You just saw me play football on
the pitch, so man, shut up!
An accompanying caption read: For
those with an easy judge (sic) without
knowing s*** about others. Good night
#idowhatiwant-remember!
The 24-year-old Italy international
may have been responding to criticism
of his performances since arriving at
Anfield from AC Milan in a US$23.5
million deal last August.
Balotelli has scored only four goals
in 20 appearances in all competitions
and has found the net only once in the
Premier League.

Formula One
No 2015 German Grand Prix, says
Hockenheim boss

The boss of the Hockenheim circuit

has insisted there will not be a German
Grand Prix held there in 2015 despite a
Formula One race currently scheduled
to be held in Germany from July 17-19.
Georg Seiler, boss of the
Hockenheim track, told German daily
Bild they will not be ready to host the
race in time.
We have no hope any more of
having a Formula One race here, he
said.
The time in which to organise a
race has expired, otherwise the quality
of the event would have suffered.
Hockenheim hosted last years
German Grand Prix, but is supposed
to alternate each year with the
Nuerburgring, which has new owners
and no contract for 2015.
Formula 1 magnate Bernie
Ecclestone said in January that
Hockenheim would again host
this years race as the only viable
alternative to Nuerburgring in
Germany.
The official 2015 calendar does not
yet specify a venue for the race. AFP

Cricket
Australia call up Steve Waugh for
words of wisdom

Australia have called up former

captain Steve Waugh for advice as they
prepare for the World Cup quarterfinal against Pakistan at the Adelaide
Oval tomorrow.
Waugh, 49, a veteran of four World
Cups and part of the winning squad
twice in 1987 and as captain in 1999,
had a dinner meeting with the entire
squad on March 17 and was also
present at the nets yesterday.
It was good to sit down over dinner
with him and just chat about cricket
and World Cups, opening batsman
Aaron Finch said.
Hes obviously captained a winning
one and played in another one as
well. There are not many bettercredentialed players to talk to about
it. Guys just threw a few questions at
him. AFP

TENNIS

Federer, Nadal power

through in straight sets

OUR-TIME champ Roger

Federer avenged his only
loss of the season and
world No 3 Rafael Nadal avoided another early
exit on March 17 at the WTA and
ATP Indian Wells tournament.
It was in January that Andreas
Seppi shocked Federer in the third
round of the Australian Open but
the Swiss star got his payback winning 6-3, 6-4 in 82 minutes on centre court.
It was Federers only loss and
it snapped his streak of 11 straight
semi-final appearances at the Aussie Open.
It was good to play him right
away again and erase it from the
memory, said Federer. This was
one of those matches where I was
happy to get through and happy it
was over.
Federer moves through to the
round of 16 to play American Jack
Sock, who beat Spains Roberto
Bautista-Agut 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Three-time champion Nadal
avoided a second straight early exit
from Indian Wells with a 6-4, 6-2
victory over Donald Young.
Nadal will square off against
Frances Gilles Simon for a berth in
the quarter-finals.
Last year, Nadal was eliminated
in the third round by Alexandr Dolgopolov 7-6, 6-4. It was his earliest
exit in the California desert tournament since 2004.
Last year was 2014 and we are in
2015. Every year is different, Nadal
said. I played a lot of good tournaments here with good results.
I feel very comfortable. I happy
to be in the fourth round.
Nadal hit just one ace and made
three double faults but he broke
Young six times in the 80-minute
match on centre court.
He hopes to improve his serve in
the next round against Simon.

Rafael Nadal of Spain lunges in his match against Donald Young of the USA during day nine of the BNP Paribas Open
tennis at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 17. Photo: AFP

Its true that I had a few mistakes with my serve, he said. But
then with a positive attitude in
the next game, I was able to have
breaks.
I did what I had to do to get
through, winning in straight sets.
I need to serve a little bit better
tomorrow.
World number one Serena Williams woke up after a slow start to
battle past American compatriot
Sloane Stephens in three sets to
reach the quarter-finals.
The 19-time Grand Slam winner defeated a dogged Stephens
6-7 (3/7), 6-2, 6-2 as her emotional
return from a 14-year Indian Wells
boycott gathers pace.
Williams, 33, said it was good to

play a two-hour match because she

needs to step up her game if she is
going to advance deeper into the
draw.
I still am trying to find my
bearings, she said. I have been off
a little this week.
I just had to stay focused and
use the experience of a three-set
match.
Williams, who blasted 14 aces and
broke Stephens six times in the twohour, six-minute match, faces Timea
Bacsinszky of Switzerland next.
The two former Fed Cup teammates have a colourful history after
Stephens, 21, upset Williams in the
quarter-finals of the 2013 Australian Open in three sets.
That win ended Williams

20-match winning streak and the

two havent been chummy since
then.
Sixth-seeded Canadian Eugenie
Bouchard was upset by qualifier
Lesia Tsurenko, who rallied for a
6-7 (5/7), 7-5, 6-4 victory.
In other matches, defending
champ Flavia Pennetta eliminated
second-seeded Maria Sharapova of
Russia 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 and third seed
Simona Halep, of Romania, defeated
Karolina Pliskova 6-4, 6-4.
On the mens side, Canadian
sixth seed Milos Raonic hammered
Dolgopolov 7-6 (7/2), 6-4, Czech Tomas Berdych rolled over American
Steve Johnson 6-4, 6-2 and Simon
took care of Michael Berrer, of Germany, 6-2, 7-5. AFP

MOUNTAIN BIKING

Epic mountain bike racing tests the toughest

WHEN a former Springbok rugby
captain describes a cycle race as
tougher than a Test match, you know
the Cape Epic deserves its title as the
Tour de France of mountain biking.
Its a lot more gruelling, John
Smit, who led South Africa to the 2007
World Cup, said shortly after finishing
the first stage of the race this week.
A Test match is 80 minutes of
hard, physical pain. This is pain
stretched out over eight days so its
similar but longer, he said.
Smit along with more than a
thousand other riders had just
completed a 113-kilometre (70-mile)
ride through the rugged mountains
of South Africas Western Cape.
The March 16 ride was Stage 1 of
the seven stage race, which covers a
total of 739 kilometres of torturous
trails and 16,000 metres of climbing.
If it is so tough, why do it at the
age of 36 after having proved yourself on the rugby field?
Its a challenge, said Smit, a former front-row forward, looking as
grimy and exhausted as he would
have been after having taken on the
likes of the All Blacks.
Youve got to do something. I
stopped for about two months after I
retired [in 2011] and it was the worst
thing ever.

So I found a bicycle, got fit and

now I look for these tough things to
do.
Its a sentiment shared by many
of the 1200 men and women in tworider teams tackling the 12th annual
Cape Epic, widely regarded as the
best mountain bike race in the world.
Among them are leading international riders, including world champions and Olympic medallists.
Tipped to win among a starstudded field this year are Swiss
Christoph Sauser and Czech Jaroslav
Kulhavy of Team Investec-SongoSpecialized.
But while they and other top professional riders fight it out for the
lead, streaming through the mountains behind them is a colourful
crew of tough and skilled amateurs
in pursuit of their own triumphs of
guts and glory in what is also known
as the Untamed African MTB Race.
Advertising agency executive Russell Lund, 42, and his tennis coach
partner Piet Calitz, 40, described
the torments of the steep and rocky
course as they loaded up on pasta after finishing the first stage.
Lund fell he shows a bloodied
shin and Calitz had a time-consuming puncture, but they were in good
spirits as they tried to work out why

they were doing it.

Thats a very good question, said
Lund. I guess you really feel once
you are here that its a week out of
your regular life you almost feel
like a pro for a week.
Like Smit, they brushed aside
their age, pointing out that the entry
fee of 60,000 rand (nearly US$5000)
was prohibitive for young amateur
riders without sponsorship.
So why not spend the money on a
good holiday?
I know, its absolute lunacy, said
Lund. Someone should pay you to
do it.
But its an enormous challenge
and it was on my bucket list.
Also, theres something about
a mountain bike race if its a nice
track and its pretty, even after 120

This is pain
stretched out over
eight days so its
similar but longer.
John Smit
Former South African Rugby captain

kilometres youll find two guys smiling and singing.

You wont see that in a marathon
runner.
The fees go toward a sophisticated logistics operation which sees a
travelling race village follow the riders, pitching more than 2000 tents at
each stage and serving thousands of
meals a day.
The total prize money, at 1.6 million rand (nearly $130,000) is the
highest in world mountain biking,
but that is not on the minds of most
of the riders.
The first stage began and ended
at the Oak Valley wine estate in the
Elgin Valley, some 70 kilometres
from Cape Town in the scenic Overberg region.
The local wines were available in
refreshment tents, but not surprisingly the bartenders were among
the least busy support staff as the
top athletes tended their bodies and
their bikes after a hard day on the
road.
Lund, however, dismissed the
idea that a celebratory drink was out
of the question for amateur riders.
Ill have a beer tonight and Piet
will have several. I encourage him
the more he drinks the faster he
goes, said Lund. AFP

Sport
28 THE MYANMAR TIMES March 19, 2015

SPORT EDITOR: Matt Roebuck | [email protected]

Cycling chief slams

Armstrongs Tour plans
SPORT 26

CRICKET

No choke: South Africa down

Sri Lanka to reach semis
S
OUTH Africa stormed into
the World Cup semi-finals
yesterday with a nine-wicket rout of Sri Lanka which
brought the curtain down
on the ODI careers of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene.
Off-spinner JP Duminy (3-29) took
a hat-trick and leg-spinner Imran Tahir claimed 4-26 as South Africa, who
had never before won a World Cup
knockout match, set up a clash against
either New Zealand or West Indies for
a place in the March 29 final.
Chasing just 134 to win, the Proteas
reached their target in the 18th over
with opener Quinton de Kock making
an undefeated 78.
Sangakkara, in his last one-day
international appearance, top-scored
for Sri Lanka with 45 as his recordbreaking run of four successive ODI
hundreds came to an end. Together
with Lahiru Thirimanne (41) he put
on 65 for the third wicket.
Fellow veteran Jayawardene, who
now quits all international cricket,
made only four before he became one
of Tahirs victims as 1996 champions
Sri Lanka lost their last six wickets for
just 19 runs.
South Africa skipper AB de Villiers, who lost the toss, said he feels
his team can now go on and win an
elusive first World Cup.
Im quietly confident. Im always a
positive kind of guy I always believe
in big things, he said.
Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews
admitted his team suffered severe
stagefright.
A score of 130 was not much. There
were no demons on this track. But we
didnt bat well. Maybe it was nerves. We
didnt go for our shots and its easily our

Sri Lankas Tharindu Kaushal dives in a failed catch attempt during the 2015 Cricket World Cup quarter-final match between
South Africa and Sri Lanka in Sydney on March 18. Photo: AFP

worst performance we have done in the

World Cup and it happened to be in the
quarter-final, he said.
Duminy said he was shocked to
have become the first South African to
take a World Cup hat-trick.
Ive never got close to a hattrick so Im pretty pleased with that

performance. It was mainly about keeping the runs down, said Duminy, who
dismissed Mathews and then, at the
start of his next over, got rid of Kulasekara and Tharindu Kaushal LBW
for a golden duck on his one-day debut.
After Kyle Abbott and Dale Steyn
sent back openers Kusal Perera and

Tillakaratne Dilshan, it was the turn

of Pakistan-born spinner Tahir to
strike, dismissing Thirimanne and
Jayawardene.
Man-of-the-match Tahir also got
rid of Thisara Perera (0) before wrapping up proceedings with the wicket
of Lasith Malinga. AFP

Sri Lankan great Kumar Sangakkara said he was confident about the
future of the side after he bowed
out of one-day internationals with
a World Cup quarter-final defeat by
South Africa.
Sangakkara, who will continue
in Test cricket, had always planned
to bring down the curtain on his
one-day career after the World Cup.
But there was no fairytale finish for either Sangakkara or fellow
batsman Mahela Jayawardene, for
whom this was a last Sri Lanka
match in any format, as the two
veterans both runners-up at the
2007 and 2011 World Cups were
denied the chance to play in a third
straight final.
I think the team is in great
hands. Angelo Mathews has been
such an impressive leader right
throughout, said Sangakkara.
I think Tillakaratne Dilshan
might be playing a few more seasons for Sri Lanka, and weve had
Lahiru Thirimanne [who made a
fluent 41 yesterday] whos really
made great strides.
Every single time he plays he
looks more and more impressive.
I think if you take some of the
younger players, if I can compare
myself to them at the same age, I
think these guys are quite a way
ahead of where I was, and thats
quite exciting when you really look
at it because that means theyve got
so much more left to learn and a lot
more to give to Sri Lanka, Sangakkara said.
I have no fear about the future
of Sri Lankan cricket.

FOOTBALL

Yadanarbon clinch 2-0 win against Global

MATT ROEBUCK
[email protected]
YADANARBON FC kept their hopes of qualifying
for the knockout stages of the AFC Cup alive on
March 18 with a 2-0 win over Philippines Global
FC at Mandalays Mandalar Thiri Stadium.
Yadanarbons win came from the sides third
Group G match, with the draw set to get a lot
tougher for the Myanmar National League champions: the only home game left to play comes
against Group G favourites South China.
Djedje Djawa opened the scoring on 52 minutes after Yadanarbon had previously wasted
a host of opportunities. Local player Win Htay
Kyaw doubled the advantage with the last kick of
the game to boost Yadanarbons goal difference
in what might prove vital to the teams chances
of progression.
Yadanarbon dominated the first-half but was
unable to finish effectively despite a dozen good
chances. Global played the game on the counterattack, a tactic that at times looked in danger of
succeeding. However, as the second half continued, the visitors, with the option of only one outfield substitute on the bench, started to tire in
the 38C heat and Yadanarbon finally capitalised.

But the hosts had shown intent from the start

as a long ball in the opening seconds caused
trouble in the Global FC box and saw keeper
Florencio Junior falling awkwardly as he dealt
with the danger.
Yadanarbon continued to attack, initially
down the right through Thet Naing, with Tin
Win Aung acting as playmaker to send the
winger down the flank and deliver a number of
crosses that were ultimately wasted.
On the 17th minute, a Thet Naing run saw him
drive into the box and tee up a shot for Ivorian
Djawa on the edge of the 6-yard box, a close
range opportunity that was deflected off a Global
defender.
Global then gave a glimpse of the threat they
could pose in the 20th minute, when a zigzag run
from Mark Hartmann eventuated in a through
ball that his teammates were unable to meet.
Moments later Yadanarbon should again
have found themselves in the lead when Tin Win
Aung and Djawa combined to get in behind the
visitors defence. Djawa crossed the ball agonisingly close to the goal line only for Zin Min Tun
to narrowly miss his strike.
Global continued to wait for the counterattack and Yadanarbon continued to waste

opportunities with Djawa visibly frustrated at

his and his teams lack of finishing.
Nevertheless, the home team continued to attack, knowing a win was the only acceptable result for them in this game. Nigerian centre-back
Happiness Okpechi even got in on the attack,
looking dangerous as he charged from deep in
his own half in the 28th minute until the big man
was hacked to the floor 30 yards out.
Globals closest opportunity to scoring
came in the 39th minute when a shot from
Dennis Villanueva on the left, just outside the
penalty box, found the outstretched defensive
boot of Djawa, who nearly achieved in his own
goal what he had as yet failed to do in the oppositions half.
As the half drew to a close, Yadanarbons effort was summed up when Tin Win Aung found
space on the break in the centre of the field. He
advanced up the pitch holding up the ball for his
compatriots to run ahead of him. Yan Paing got
free and was played into the box unchallenged
by a Global defender before he shot tamely and
failed to challenge the keeper.
A Global counter early in the second half
nearly paid dividends when a series of ricocheted kicks found Villaneuva with the ball only

feet from the goal-line but he was ultimately

challenged and defeated by keeper Thiha Si Thu.
Djawas drought finally came to an end when
in the 52nd minute a series of passes resulted in a
low cross in the box that the hard-working Ivorian could not fail to put into the back of the net.
As the game approached the hour mark, the
visitors looked keener to develop their own attacking opportunities with Hartmann threatening from long-range at 63 minutes.
In the 79th minute Ye Ko Oo seemed to pass
the majority of the Global team in crossing the
field from left to right but as he made his way
to the back post, the player narrowed the angle
so much that the Global shotstopper was able to
stand up and block the goal.
Yadanarbon continued to waste its chances
and nearly paid the price when a long range effort from Villanueva forced a juggled save from
Thiha Si Thu.
But as the match closed out, the final kick of
the game came from the young local strike substitute Win Htay Kyaw who claimed a goal from
inches out after Si Thu Aung attacked down the
left flank on the counter-attack and forced a deflected shot past the keeper that ended on the
boot of the young sub.