Voice out

Rape Being Used as a Weapon of War in Burma

2012-01-30T20:56:00.000-08:00

Saturday, 20 August 2011 13:46 Banyar Kong Janoi

Photo: Banyar Kong Janoi

Burmese Rights activists and the US based Human rights watch are accusing the Burmese military of crimes against humanity.

They say the Burmese army is raping civilan women in the conflict zones where there is separatist fighting between the state army and armed ethnic groups who are demanding greater independence.

Banyar Kong Janoi in a village in Kachin State hears the story of one such rape victim.

It is raining when I arrive in a small village in the Kachin state where 35 year old Ma Myit lives.

Ma Myit is not her real name; she asked to stay anonymous.

She says all her life she has lived in fear of Burmese soldiers.

“When I was about 15 years old, I was out in the woods finding food for pigs along with other girls from our village. There is a Burmese battalion posted near our village and when soliders saw us they tried to catch us. Luckly I escaped then. Some of my friends who couldn’t run fast enough were caught and raped by the soliders.”

But this year on the 20th of June Ma Myit wasn’t so lucky.

“Our village is on the way between Myitkyina and Bhamo. I was heading to Bhamo for a religious meeting. There was fighting on the way, so I was walking around the paddy field instead of going straight to avoid confrontation. Unfortunately, I met the Burmese soldiers in the paddy field and they captured me.”

She says the Burmese soldiers used her as entertainment for five days.

“The soldiers took me along with their army battalion, passing by many villages. During that time they were raping me every night. I don’t want to recall my experience with them. I feel bad even when talking about it now. I don’t want to recall anything: I just want to forget it. I was forced to sleep with a soldier and a colonel. In the middle of the night, the colonel came to me. I screamed, but the soldier beside me said nothing and neither did other people. The colonel and I struggled. I think he is about 60 years old. In the morning, I told the soldiers that if they continued to assault me this way they would have to kill me first.”

Ma Myit escaped and ran to a Shan village where she asked for help.

“I was naked and came knocking at a house the village in the middle of the night. The people came out of and pointed with flash lights.”

Then a woman gave her clothes and brought her some food.

The next day they helped her return home.

Ma Myit is one of the many women force to live with the horrors of war.

Ma Naw Myay Sein is from a Kachin womens organization in the provincal capital Laiza.

The group is documenting rape cases taking place in the Kachin State.

She shows me some documents and pictures of the raped victims.

“We have documented a lot of rape cases. As an example case, two Burmese officers raped a woman on the way when she went to a rice field. One officer ordered her to perform oral sex and another assaulted her. While one of the officers attempted to kill her, she ran away. There are countless cases we have received but some cases we can not verify so we have to put them aside. In some cases, the victims were able to escape, but some were killed by the Burmese soldiers on the spot.”

They have verifyied 18 rape cases commited by the Burmese soldiers since the fighting broke out in the Kachin state in early June.

Kachin independence activist Htoi Bu says the human rights abuses are politically motivated.

“In Kachin State, if the Burmese soldiers see a passerby, they asked: ‘Are you Kachin?’ If he or she answers yes, he or she will be killed. In the worst cases, women including young girls are raped and killed by the Burmese army. We have heard that the soldiers get their orders from their senior officers. This kind of act is really inhumane and shameful among Burmese people and in the international community. If the Burmese government is to be genuine in its call to build a united country, they must recognize that Kachin people are their people.”

Elaine Pearson is Human Rights Watch’s deputy Asia director.

She says it is time to establish a commission of inquiry to investigate the allegation of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma.

“Clearly, the Burmese government has shown that they are unwilling to address this kind of abuses unless there is some kind of external pressure. So the number one thing we are calling the commission of inquiry to investigate is this allegation of war crimes. This would then lead to an international independent investigation. And we believe that could indeed play a role in deterring the future violation of human rights and future abuses by the Burmese army.”

The co-ordinator of a relief committee for the Kachin, La Rip said international communities should respond quickly to this emerging humanitarian crisis.

“The fighting should not be excuses for these abuses. Simply people around here would say that ‘aww, it can be because the war is there, because the fighting hasn’t been stopped, so the abuses would happen.’ No, actually, I don’t agree with that. Even the fighting if there has been on dialogue at the moment that kind of abuses should be totally stopped. And if those kinds of abuses are taking place, international organizations, who are responsible to protect civilians, should take immediate actions.”

Is the government really honest to ethnics groups?

2012-01-30T20:55:00.000-08:00

I was in a conference of Asian nation’stransition from military dictatorship to democracy. The conference aimed to beclosed-door discussion between the Burmese government delegations andacademics.

The Burmese government representativesboldly said there is no human rights abuse in Burma and they blame the ethnicinsurgents for disrupting economic growth.

I wonder why they did not mention aboutcorruption and mismanagement of the country economy are obstacles of the growthtoo.

Ye Htut, the ministry of information,said the ethnic armed groups should not participate in the politics foldbecause it is unacceptable in international standard. However, the 2008constitution, which drafted by junta, allows the Burmese military general totake up 25 per cent of seats in parliaments.

Dr. Kyaw Yin Hlaing, said if we areonly pointing out those problem, we can not move on to the next stage. Shouldwe ignore those evidences to build confident among us? The past is a lesson forfuture. So the government should show different to win the ethnics trust.

Ceasefires will not Bring about Lasting Peace: Burmese Ethnic Leaders

2012-01-29T08:27:00.001-08:00

Saturday, 28 January 2012 12:07 Banyar Kong Janoi

Photo: Banyar Kong Janoi

Burma’s government has held ceasefire talks with ethnic Kachin rebels to end fighting near the northern border with China.

But officials say the preliminary meeting did not yield any major breakthroughs.

The Kachin Independence Army or K-I-A is one of the country's most powerful and well-armed rebel groups.

Earlier this month the government signed a ceasefire with Karen rebels in the east of the country. It has also held talks within the last two months with the Shan State Army.

But as Banyar Kong Janoi reports many are suspicious about these ceasefires.

61 years old, Law Reh sings about the richest of his homeland -- the Karenni state in eastern part of Burma.

He has spent the last two decades in a refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border because of fighting between an armed group of Karenni National Progressive Party and the government.

Law Reh says he is lucky to be alive after being forced to work as a porter for the Burmese military.

“They used us to clear landmines. I witnessed people being killed and tortured in front of me. One of them was a teacher, who taught Karenni language in our village school. He had his mouth cut out in front us. He finally bleed to death. Around 100 people in our group, including me were going to be shot but then the soliders changed their minds and decided to let us starve. We went with out food for ten days. We some how manage to survive but I was so weak I could not lift my arms. Then we were finally allowed to go home.”

Early this month (January) the Karen National Union and the Burmese government agreed to a ceasefire.

But Law Reh is not convinced that it’s safe enough to leave Thailand and go home.

Hhun Okkar is a spokesman for the United Nationalities Federal Council, an alliance of ethnic armed groups.

He is also suspicious about the recent ceasefire aggrements.

“The ethnic groups have made ceasefire agreements with the military government many times before with past military leaders and now with the President Thein Sein. Although different tactics were used to reach agreements we can see the government’s intention is the same. The government promises to improve economic opporitunites for the ethnic groups but they never aggree to real political power. Now we are expecting that their will be discussions about ethnic political power but we are not sure if it will happen. It’s too early to say the problem has been solved.”

Burma has eight major ethnics groups who make up 40% of Burma's population.

They have been demanding - without success - for greater regional autonomy from the majority Burman-led central government since independence from Britain in 1948.

Khun Oo Reh is the general secretary of the Karenni National Progressive Party.

He says the government needs to understand what ethnic groups are fighting for.

“We have been discriminated against and we have been ignored. The majority Burman ethnic group always wants to control the country. We are not treated fairly. Also we are fighting to protect our ethnic identity. We want self-determination. We want a federal democractic system in Burma. When Burma gained independence from Britain it was not so that the Burman people could rule but so all ethnic group could have self-determination. We all have to live and rule together.”

He says it is too early to say whether the nominal civilian government under the leadership of Thein Sein is serious about giving ethnic groups a greater say in how they are governed.

“Throughout history the ruling party in Burma, whether you call it a military dictatorship or the Burmese government, always name us separatist groups. They don’t use the word ‘Federalism’; they only talk about the ‘Union of Burma’. Their slogan is ‘federalism is separatism’. I believe that none of the ethnic groups are demanding an independent state. What we are fighting for is a real federal democratic system in Burma. There is no guaranteeee for peace unless there is a political solution, ceasefires can be broken at anytime.”

Why Hong Kong Women don’t Want to Have Babies

2011-11-30T22:52:00.000-08:00

Saturday, 19 November 2011 12:47 Banyar Kong Janoi

Download The global population just reached seven billion.

But the Hong Kong government wants their women to have more babies.

While Mainland China has a strict one child family policy the Hong Kong territory government is trying to encourage married women to have three children by offering tax incentives.

Hong Kong has one of the lowest birth rates in the world. If current trends continue, a quarter of Hong Kong's population will be 65 or over by 2031.

Banyar Kong Janoi takes a look at why many Hong Kong women don’t want to have babies and if the government’s incentives will work.

A 21-year-old university student, Aman Wong, is determined never to get married.

“I think I am quite selfish so I don’t think I can give up for others. Because of that I don’t think I should just find somebody and then he do everything for me, but I am not doing anything for him. So I feel bad. Second thing is the guys here are not mature enough. You know there is a word ‘kidult’. We call guys kidult because they are adults but they act like kids. A lot of guys, when they go back home, play computer games and just sit in front of the computer. I don’t want to be like I am having a boyfriend and I feel like I am having a child.”

This year’s census has revealed that the number of adult unmarried women in Hong Kong has increased by more than 60 percent in the last two decades.

In response the Hong Kong government is trying to encourage women to have babies with money.

Parents can claim tax breaks worth more than 20,000 US dollars.

Aman says this will not change her mind.

“The government policy, it is good they have the policy to help people and make people to get married because they think one of the concerns is why people don’t get married, is they think it will be too costly for them to get married and have a child so they don’t want to have that. But for me it is not whether to have the economic stability. I think for most Hong Kong people why don’t get married is because they have economic backup already and they have ability to earn money so they don’t think they should get married to rely on men.What Hong Kong government is doing now is “Oh you got benefit when got married” but I don’t think that benefit attracts me a lot.”

But she says some of her friends have been encouraged by the government incentives to get married but they don’t necessarily have children.

“I know some of my friends, they are older than me, they really do get married because of the government policy. They don’t have enough money, they get married, they have their wedding, and they register under the government registration so legally they are couple. But they don’t live together yet. They just have the names so that they can be together so they can apply for the government housing which is much cheaper.”

Local companies are also trying to encourage couples to have children.

DBS Hong Kong Bank introduced a policy earlier this year called “5@5” allowing their employees to go back home at 5pm instead of 9pm.

American Express has introduced flexible work arrangements during school exam seasons when many parents take time off to help their children prepare.

And the accounting giant KPMG offers employees with families up to 40 days more leave than workers without children.

Bonnie Lam who works with a technological equipment selling company says incentives like these do encourage her to have a family one day.

“I think this is a benefit for the employee. For sure, if I have a family, I welcome this policy but even if I don’t have a family; I also welcome this policy because it is good to the workers. It can enhance a sense of belonging to the company and it is good to all employees”

But 33-year-old Bonnie is not in a relationship yet.

“May be too busy during these years, I think so. I am looking for another relationship but no target at this moment so it is OK, just follow my heart and just wait for the new one. I think my social cycle is too small and too busy on working and also too lazy to get out. I think this is the main point. I am too lazy to get out and I always watch TV.”

Dr. Lau Yuk-king is doing research into the family friendly policies in Hong Kong and Mainland China.

She says Hong Kong women have high expectations when it comes to relationships.

“I think traditional ideology, even our university graduate girl wants to find someone have the same education level or higher education level. Even if she has a very good job and good earning she still wants to find someone who has a better job and a better earning. So it is really difficult. It is extremely difficult for Hong Kong women. Because they have their own comfortable life so they prefer if they can’t find a good mate, they remain single.”

Those that do marry usually have one or two children. Dr. Lau Yuk-king says that it is because the education system is very competitive in Hong Kong.

“Hong Kong is not a good place for people to live. It is a good place for people to earn money but the quality of life is so low in Hong Kong and the competition is so king. So if we have children, we have to worry about them the whole life because there are high probabilities that they will lose in competition if we do not have intensive input on their study, language training or the whole personality development. We have to do a lot of thing to make sure our children do not fail in the competition. So it is burdensome for us not only money but also psychologically.”

In order to slow down the aging population she argues that rather than pushing women to have more babies the government should encourage more migration.

“We may invite more people to come to Hong Kong if replacement rate so low; welcoming outsiders to become us is one of the way but how could to be selected in the process. The government has to think about it. How about domestic helpers? I think if they have stayed over 7 years, we should honor their rights to become one of the Hong Kong citizens because everyone can get this kind of rights. It is not fair to discriminate against them because they are domestic helpers.”

However, the government is still not allowing domestic foreign workers who have lived in the territory for a long time to become permanent residences.

This is despite a court ruling in favor of the domestic workers.

Instead the government would prefer their own women to have more babies.

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2011-11-04T09:30:00.001-07:00

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Philippine Immigrant Maid Wins Landmark Hong Kong Case

2011-10-09T07:36:00.000-07:00

Saturday, 01 October 2011 12:14 Banyar Kong Janoi

Photo: Banyar Kong Janoi

Download Hong Kong's High Court has ruled that a domestic helper from the Philippines should be allowed to apply for permanent residency in the city.

The case was brought by Evangeline Banao Vallejos, who has worked to for the same Hong Kong employer for more than 25 years.

The ruling could lead to more than 100,000 other foreign maids winning rights to residency.

Banyar Kong Janoi takes a look at why the case is so import to the lives of thousands of people.

A group of Filipinos play games, while others watch a culture performance in Victoria Park.

It’s 43 years old Minda only day off. She comes here to forget about work.

“I sleep in the toilet because they don’t give me a room. They put the bed there.”

She says if lunch was three minutes late her boss would get so angry she threw a fork at her.

“She said the water is dirty, I said it is dirty because I’ve cleaned the floor already. So she is angry she gets a bottle of water and throws it to me. I was scare so I called the police.”

She had two weeks to find another employer or she would have had to leave Hong Kong.

“I found another employer but still crazy. You see I have a mark because she hurt me on Monday night. She said I didn’t properly wipe up her daughter because I was taking a bath to her daughter. I didn’t finish to wide her body yet and than she come and peel her, and it is still wet. She gets the towel.”

And she beat Minda. She shows me the red marks on her arm.

In one high profile case a domestic worker from Indonesia had a hot iron placed on her neck by her employer.

“Foreign domestic worker if we complain our abuse, we immediately we lose our job.”

Eman Villanueva is the secretary General of United Filipinos in Hong Kong. They advocate for greater rights for domestic workers.

“So in our case, it will difficult to complain because that would mean losing your job; that would be going back home and that would be no job for me. It is not easy. Especially, if I have my family; I am supporting my children to go to school; if I am paying some debts, that is not acceptable. So I will rather keep silent; I will rather not complain even I am being abused as long as I can bear the abuses. Because of the absence of permanent residency for foreign domestic workers, we become very vulnerable to abuses and exploitation.”

If you live in Hong Kong for more than seven years legally you have the right to become a permanent resident.

But until now, not if you are a foreign domestic worker. This week’s landmark court decision that a Filipino domestic workers can apply for residency changes that.

There are more than 300,000 foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong, mainly from Indonesia and the Philippines.

It is thought that around thousand have lived here for more than seven years and now could potentially also apply for residency.

The case has sparked a great deal of debate in Hong Kong.

Some people are worried that their jobs will be taken if more foreign workers are allowed to stay.

The government has argued that it will create a burden on social welfare because workers will bring in relatives and children.

But Eman says that is not true.

“It is superficial. It a made-up belief. For example, they said that once we get the permanent residency half of million people will come. That is the exactly what happened in case of Mainland Chinese. 12 years ago, the Hong Kong government also said the same thing. Because of the court ruling favouring Mainland children, they said 1.67 million Mainland Chinese will come to Hong Kong in span of ten years. Now 12 years after, there is only eight thousand of them who came.”

Back in Victoria Park where domestic workers come to relax on their day off...women say even if they were given permanent residency they wouldn’t want to stay.

“No, I don’t interested because the cost of living in Hong Kong is very high. So if stay out we need to pay for the house, we need to pay our own food and daily affair. I think working in the same employer and without taking permanent residence is okay.”

For them this court decision is not so much about living in Hong Kong, but it is about having the legal power to stand-up for rights at work and having the option to stay.

Burma’s Civil War Denies More Children an Education

2011-09-04T19:39:00.000-07:00

Burma’s Civil War Denies More Children an Education

Saturday, 27 August 2011 14:25 Banyar Kong Janoi . Photo: Banyar Kong Janoi
Burmese rights groups say thousands of children in conflict areas are missing out school as physical survival and food security takes priority.
Rights groups say nationally 60 percent of Burmese children don’t finish primary school and in conflict areas the situation is worse.

Fighting that broke out in early June between the government troops and armed groups ethnic groups has displaced thousands of people including many children.
Banyar Kong Janoi reports from a make-shift school in a refugee camp, in provincial capital of the Kachin state, Laiza.
Sitting on bamboo benches and writing on flat bamboo tables, children read sentences written in chalk on the blackboard; they are paying close attention to their teacher.

These students have been recently displaced from their homes by the fighting between the government and the Kachin Independence Army or KIA.
Dressed in the school uniform- a white Shirt and a green skirt- 17-year-old Kha Lan says she has dreamt of going to university since she was a little girl.
“My plan is after I finish grade 9th this year, I will attend high school either in Myitkyina or in our town then I will go to a university in Burma.”

But in early June she was forced to leave her village due to fierce fighting.

“On that day, KIA soldiers told us to leave so we came to Laiza with our classmates. I want to be educated. I believe educated people can achieve things in life. I would like to be an actress I want to entertain people to keep them happy.”
Kha Lan is one of thousands of children, who have had their education disturbed by civil war in Burma.

Roi San is the headmaster of a refugee high school in Laiza.

She says children like Kha Lan are the lucky ones as they can continue their education at the refugee camps.
“There are lots of children who cannot attend school at all during the year because they have to run from one place to another. But it’s even hard for the children in the camp who are getting some education to focus on their studies when their lives are so uncertain. Children who get behind in school lessons often just drop out.”

She says they don’t have enough teachers to teach all the displaced children; her staff are already working overtime.
“Some students can catch up the lesson they missed when on the run but some cannot. Besides they are living in a very crowd camp so it’s hard for them to focus. There are a lot of difficulties for them. They don’t have stationery such as books and pens with them. They left them at home when ran from the war. We hand out equipment as much as we can.”

Anna Lena Till is doing research about Burmese refugee education in shelters along Thai-Burmese border for her post-graduate academic paper.
“Education in Burma is not stable; as soon as Burmese army comes to village, comes to schools everybody has to flee and hide in the jungle, for example. So a five days school week is not possible because the education disturbed so often.”

Till said students at shelters in Thai-Burmese border can get a high school education in the camp but there is still no hope of them being able to go to university.

“There was a pilot project in some years ago, whereas were ten students from the shelters were selected to take part entrance exam to a Thai University, an English program. Actually, they passed the test so the Thai university were ready to accept them. But the issue is the [Thai] ministry of interior policy which does not allow them to leave the shelters. So in the end, they could not go [to the university] because the ministry of interior did not give them permission.”

Less than five percent of Burma’s state budget will be spent on education this year. While nearly quarter will go into military expenditure.

According to the United Nations, 60 percent of Burmese children do not finish fourth grade; 19 percent drop out after first grade.

U Myint Wai is the duty director of the Thai Action Network for Democracy in Burma.

He runs a Sunday school for Burmese migrant workers in Bangkok. He says an uneducated generation is dangerous for both Thailand and Burma.

“Only a few students finish high school. So without higher education, these migrant workers struggle to understand the Thai legal process and their rights. If they don’t know their rights, they are not able to take opportunities. They also don’t know if they bringing diseases with them when they go back to Burma. We are very concerned about how our country can progress without educated people.”

Rape Being Used as a Weapon of War in Burma

2011-08-21T08:53:00.003-07:00

Saturday, 20 August 2011 13:46 Banyar Kong Janoi

Photo: Banyar Kong Janoi

Download Burmese Rights activists and the US based Human rights watch are accusing the Burmese military of crimes against humanity.
They say the Burmese army is raping civilan women in the conflict zones where there is separatist fighting between the state army and armed ethnic groups who are demanding greater independence.
Banyar Kong Janoi in a village in Kachin State hears the story of one such rape victim.

It is raining when I arrive in a small village in the Kachin state where 35 year old Ma Myit lives.
Ma Myit is not her real name; she asked to stay anonymous.
She says all her life she has lived in fear of Burmese soldiers.
“When I was about 15 years old, I was out in the woods finding food for pigs along with other girls from our village. There is a Burmese battalion posted near our village and when soliders saw us they tried to catch us. Luckly I escaped then. Some of my friends who couldn’t run fast enough were caught and raped by the soliders.”
But this year on the 20th of June Ma Myit wasn’t so lucky.
“Our village is on the way between Myitkyina and Bhamo. I was heading to Bhamo for a religious meeting. There was fighting on the way, so I was walking around the paddy field instead of going straight to avoid confrontation. Unfortunately, I met the Burmese soldiers in the paddy field and they captured me.”
She says the Burmese soldiers used her as entertainment for five days.
“The soldiers took me along with their army battalion, passing by many villages. During that time they were raping me every night. I don’t want to recall my experience with them. I feel bad even when talking about it now. I don’t want to recall anything: I just want to forget it. I was forced to sleep with a soldier and a colonel. In the middle of the night, the colonel came to me. I screamed, but the soldier beside me said nothing and neither did other people. The colonel and I struggled. I think he is about 60 years old. In the morning, I told the soldiers that if they continued to assault me this way they would have to kill me first.”
Ma Myit escaped and ran to a Shan village where she asked for help.
“I was naked and came knocking at a house the village in the middle of the night. The people came out of and pointed with flash lights.”
Then a woman gave her clothes and brought her some food.
The next day they helped her return home.
Ma Myit is one of the many women force to live with the horrors of war.
Ma Naw Myay Sein is from a Kachin womens organization in the provincal capital Laiza.
The group is documenting rape cases taking place in the Kachin State.
She shows me some documents and pictures of the raped victims.
“We have documented a lot of rape cases. As an example case, two Burmese officers raped a woman on the way when she went to a rice field. One officer ordered her to perform oral sex and another assaulted her. While one of the officers attempted to kill her, she ran away. There are countless cases we have received but some cases we can not verify so we have to put them aside. In some cases, the victims were able to escape, but some were killed by the Burmese soldiers on the spot.”
They have verifyied 18 rape cases commited by the Burmese soldiers since the fighting broke out in the Kachin state in early June.
Kachin independence activist Htoi Bu says the human rights abuses are politically motivated.
“In Kachin State, if the Burmese soldiers see a passerby, they asked: ‘Are you Kachin?’ If he or she answers yes, he or she will be killed. In the worst cases, women including young girls are raped and killed by the Burmese army. We have heard that the soldiers get their orders from their senior officers. This kind of act is really inhumane and shameful among Burmese people and in the international community. If the Burmese government is to be genuine in its call to build a united country, they must recognize that Kachin people are their people.”
Elaine Pearson is Human Rights Watch’s deputy Asia director.
She says it is time to establish a commission of inquiry to investigate the allegation of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma.
“Clearly, the Burmese government has shown that they are unwilling to address this kind of abuses unless there is some kind of external pressure. So the number one thing we are calling the commission of inquiry to investigate is this allegation of war crimes. This would then lead to an international independent investigation. And we believe that could indeed play a role in deterring the future violation of human rights and future abuses by the Burmese army.”
The co-ordinator of a relief committee for the Kachin, La Rip said international communities should respond quickly to this emerging humanitarian crisis.
“The fighting should not be excuses for these abuses. Simply people around here would say that ‘aww, it can be because the war is there, because the fighting hasn’t been stopped, so the abuses would happen.’ No, actually, I don’t agree with that. Even the fighting if there has been on dialogue at the moment that kind of abuses should be totally stopped. And if those kinds of abuses are taking place, international organizations, who are responsible to protect civilians, should take immediate actions.”

‘We have to Dance to the Rhythm of War Music’: Kachin Refugees

2011-08-19T01:36:00.000-07:00

Saturday, 13 August 2011 13:16 Banyar Kong Janoi

Photo: Banyar Kong Janoi

Download Burmese Rights groups are calling on international humanitarian organizations to help the growing number of people fleeing the conflict between the Kachin Independence Army and Burmese government army.

Thousands have already been displaced from the conflict that started in June.

As fight spreads to neighboring Shan and Karen states hundreds more are fleeing to the Chinese border everyday.

Local refugee groups as they don’t have the resources to look after them.

Banyar Kong Janoi reports from a make-shift camp in Laiza.

In a city hall in Laiza, children run between rows of sleeping mats laid out for war refugees.

On strings above hang their clothes.

This is not the first time seventy year old Hka Lam Rai Ja has been displaced.

“It was in 1985 when the fighting broke out near our village. We faced lots of difficulties as my children were still very young. They could not walk by themselves, so I had to carry them and our belongings at the same time. We had nothing to eat, so we made porridge from banana trunks and we lived on that for a long time. It was so difficult to survive.”
Even when a ceasefire was signed between the Kachin rebel forces and the Burmese government and she was able to return home life was not easy.
“When we returned to our home, we faced immense difficulties because the price of rice was so expensive. We lost everything: chickens, pigs and cattle at that time. Each member of the family had only one outfit of clothes.”

When she heard fighting had started in early June she fled again through the jungle, walking for a day with six members of her family to reach Laiza.

“Now I am old. I thought we could live peacefully but this happened unexpectedly. I am on the run from war again. I want to live in peace but what can we do?”

Her thirty five year old Myi Tung Kai Htang says they didn’t want to take any chances.

“We have been hearing the news from the fighting: if the Burmese soldiers saw women, they raped them; the men would be tortured and killed. So we were afraid that we would be the next victims so we left our village. On the way, it was raining, children were sick and crying; old mother felt dizzy and fell down. It was really hard.”

Both sides blame each other for the latest round of fighting that ended a 17 year ceasefire.

The Kachin independence army says they will continue fighting until they are granted a certain degree of autonomy over their own affairs which would guarantee respect for their own rights and culture.

After two months in the refugee camp 49-year-old Maru Hkawn just wants to go home.

“No matter how small or nice our house is we miss home but I don’t know when we can go back. We are waiting for the fighting to stop. I don’t know what the future holds. We have to dance to the rhythm of war music.”

Some 17,000 people have been displaced since the fighting broke out in the early June.

Most of people left their home in anticipation rather than in response to the fighting.

Anticipating a long war, the Kachin Independence Organization has started to build 500 bamboo houses along the Chayan river outside of Laiza which will accommodate 7,000 people.

In a small bamboo built clinic, a child is crying and about 10 other refugees are lying down on the floor waiting to be seen.

Lan Hai is the only doctor here working alongside three nurses.

“Most of them are suffering diarrhea. Some get infected malarias. I have seen three of children die because of diarrhea.”

Right now the clinic is running with KIO’s assistance but Dr Lan Hai is worried they will start running out of supplies soon.

La Rip, coordinator of a refugee relief committee for the Kachin.

“The resources we have, do not match the basic need of IDPs. In the long period of time plan, we should find international donors who really can take care of this IDPs’ rations and assistances. I think the way we are doing, the way we are receiving donations, are not sustainable.”

Neighboring China has been sending back Kachin refugees fleeing the violence.

“We have been very much concerned about their security, as well as health sector and education sector and also their rights. They have nowhere to demand their rights. If they have to flee to China and that is not secure enough: the Chinese government is not given any assurance vocally to the IDP people that they would take an initiative step to take an action on the rights of IDP people to take care of refugees.”

New Generation War in Burma

2011-08-09T14:42:00.000-07:00

Saturday, 06 August 2011 15:15 Banyar Kong Janoi

Photo: Banyar Kong Janoi

Download Despite ceasefire talks being attempted between the Kachin Independence army and the Burmese government, fierce fighting in frontline areas is still taking place.

As with other armed ethnic groups, the Kachin have abandoned their previous claim for independence from Burma.

Instead want they say they are fighting for is a certain degree of autonomy over their own affairs which would guarantee respect for their own rights and culture.

Banyar Kong Janoi reports from Kachin Independent Army headquarters in Laiza.

The Kachin Independent Army’s headquarters in Laiza is a hive of activity for senior officials to fight against Burmese army.

A big map is hanging on the wall with a line of remark where the current fighting is.

Update military reports hang to senior officials.

The Burmese soldiers fire their rockets to Laiza.

Using high-tech equipment, such as Google earth software, an officer tracks where Burmese soldiers fire their rockets. It is about 9,000 meters far from Laiza.

Thirty years old Htoi Bu has joined Kachin Independence Organization, the political wing of KIA, after her post-graduated in linguistic five years ago as a campaigner.

She is campaigning among young people about their struggle.

Despite ceasefire talks between the government and the KIA, she said this war will not end soon.

“I think this civil war will be widespread around the country; not only in border of Kachin State, but also other cities. The ethnic armed groups have an agreement, if we cannot solve the problem with the Burmese government politically, we have to solve militarily. That’s why; all ethnic groups will fight for their rights until they can achieve what they want.”

Some 17,000 people have been displaced by the fighting that began in early June.

But Htoi Bu says her people are use to suffering.

“We are fighting federalism so we can be governed by our own people. The way junta governs us today is threaten our culture, language, and religion so this fighting is meaningful for us. Of course, our people are suffering because of this war but we have been facing much more trouble under Burmese military government. So we believe this war is worth the sacrifice.”

La Nan is the joint-secretary of the Kachin Independence Organization.

He said if the Burmese government is genuine about a ceasefire, they should make a nationwide ceasefire with all ethnic armed groups.

“If we want to stop this civil war, it is impossible to make a deal only one group. Now, the government has been fighting against with Shan, Kachin, Karen, and Mon. So first they should stop fighting against those groups and then start talking about the ceasefire plan. If they even do not stop fighting against those groups, how we can believe this ceasefire is genuine? We know, we cannot find a solution by military means. At the end of the day, we have to talk and negotiate to find a solution.”

The fighting in June marked the end of 17 years ceasefire agreement.

The agreement defined a framework for future business deals and outlined a portion of the Kachin State that would fall under the KIO's control.

However, the document was never made public, which made the assessment of its implementation difficult.

La Nan said signing that agreement back in 1994 was a mistake.

“At that time, only two parties: KIO and junta witnessed the ceasefire agreement. No one knew what the agreement was about. Besides, we did not have a third a party to monitor the agreement. As a result, the government as they were the biggest force was taking advantage of the deal and they did whatever they want.”

La Nan says they do not want to make the same mistake again.

“If we have to sign ceasefire again, we need to have a clear timeline on what both parties will do for the country’s political development. Besides, we need a third party to monitor the agreement for who is taking advantage of it. We are ready to sign a ceasefire agreement if it is solid and has some kind of guarantee. We don’t want only talk without solid evidence. We have experienced when Burmese military said they would stop fighting but later they fought us again.”

He says they would accept China as the third party observer.

Laiza is crossed by a stream marking the Chinese border and About 300,000 Kachin also live in neighboring China.

“China should not think, this matter is internal problem. This problem is not internal problem, when the fighting broke out, it affected Chinese investment inside Burma plus more refugees will flee to China so it affected them directly. So they should involve solving the problem.”

La Nan says recent ceasefire talks between KIO and Burmese government official in Laijayang did not reach a solution.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has sent a letter to government and ethnic armed groups calling for a political solution to be found instead of trying to solve disputes with guns.

Her effort was welcomed by the ethnic groups.

La Rip, coordinator of a refugee relief committee for the Kachin, said both sides should not proud of their fighting.

“Fighting between them in military form, using military equipments also hurt civilian population and also daily activities of normal people. That’s why; there should be a space for dialogue negotiation and peace talk to find lasting solution. It is not no matter who win [this war], they should not be, both sides KIA and military government, should not be proud of claiming a victory one another. There won’t be that kind of victory against each other, I think. The finding solution is a victory for all: for KIA, Burmese government and civilian population.”

Living the dream

2011-07-04T02:49:00.000-07:00

A non-profit school helps Burmese migrant workers improve their local job prospects

Published: 2/07/2011 at 12:00 AM

Newspaper section: Business

Clad in a black-and-white school uniform, Khine Mi Mi Thein, 22, listens attentively to her Thai teacher in class.

The computer science graduate from the University of Computer Studies in Mawlamyine, Burma is among more than 600 students attending Sunday classes for Burmese migrant workers in Bangkok. They study the Thai and English languages and computing skills in hopes of a better future here.

Founded in early 2003, the DEAR Burma School is run by the non-profit Thai Allied Committee with Desegregated Burma Foundation (TACDB).

With more than 700 students each year, the school offers 17 classes for English language, 15 for Thai and five for computers. Students pay only 350 baht a course.

"I hope my life will get better after learning new skills and knowledge from this school," said Khine Mi Mi, her eyes radiant with hope.

Coming to Thailand to pursue her dream of a better job, she works as a manual labourer in a Samut Sakhon car equipment production factory.

Working from 8 am to 8 pm, she earns only 315 baht a day, although that is five times more than she could earn as a skilled worker in Burma.

The bus trip to the school in central Bangkok's Ratchathewi district takes her two or three hours.

School director U Myint Wai said the school provides migrant workers not only better skills, but also knowledge about their rights and Thai labour regulations.

"As many Burmese migrant workers do not speak or read Thai, they don't know local laws, regulations or traditional culture, so problems often occur between Thai authorities and migrant workers. We want to solve this problem by providing them with training," said U Myint, who is also the deputy director of the TACDB.

He said supplementary courses include environmental awareness, labour and human rights, and legal aid.

Domestic helper Ma Moe Moe, 42, has dreamed of learning Thai since first arriving in this country. Her dream became reality when she first signed on with the school five years ago.

"I've been working hard to please my employers, as I don't want them to stop me from studying," she said.

"I learn a lot here. Apart from language skills, I've studied workers' rights. For example, I know that Thai regulations guarantee workers a minimum wage."

The school is also a venue for meeting up with friends. Burmese food and products are sold on campus, and the sound of students chatting in Burmese and other ethnic languages from her country make her feel at home.

"We exchange both good and bad news among ourselves," said Ma Moe. "My mind has really opened up."

Hla Min Aung, who has also studied at the school for five years, is one example of a success story.

He now sells garments in Soi Nana. Using his English- and Thai-language skills, he usually earns about 400 baht a day working from 5 pm to midnight.

As well, he does some freelance interpreting for Burmese tourists in Bangkok and occasionally acts as a middleman for Burmese companies, buying local products and shipping them back to his home country.

"The school's education has been very helpful. My life has improved. Without these languages skills, I could not do the job I'm doing now," said Hla Min.

Amnesty International (AI) says more than a million Burmese migrant workers are employed in various Thai sectors including fisheries, manufacturing, domestic work, construction, hotels, restaurants and agriculture.

Thai Labour Ministry figures show 149,990 Burmese migrants are registered.

In 2005, AI reported Burmese migrant workers in Thailand faced pay that was well below the minimum wage, unsafe and unclean working and living conditions, vulnerability to harassment, arrest and deportation at the hands of the local police and a lack of access to the levels of education and medical care that were available to Thai workers.

U Myint said the school cannot solve all these problems, but it is a first step.

The DEAR Burma School is looking to expand to other locations, but this can only happen with the cooperation of donors and the Thai Labour and Education ministries, he said.

U Myint said the school is negotiating with both ministries to be recognised as a vocational training institute.

Innovative integration

2011-06-13T02:10:00.000-07:00

Hydroponics and solar power combine as a food and alternative energy solution.

Published: 9/06/2011 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section:Bangkok Post, Business
Kong Janoi

It may not yet be a household name, but Get IT Co, the country's first hydroponic solar farm operator, is confident it can popularise the concept and is targeting a 10% share of the local solar power market in the next two decades.

It takes 19 rai to generate one megawatt of electricity, so producing 1,000MWto fulfil current energy needs will take 19,000 rai, making it impossible to develop solar farms without thinking of food production, according to Mr Polathorn.

In partnership with PTS Progressive Engineering Co, Get IT now runs two hydroponic solar farms in Prachuap Khiri Khan province - one with 25 kilowatts of capacity in Hua Hin district and the other with one-megawatt capacity in Muang district's Bor Nok village.

Hydroponics is the cultivation of plants in nutrient solutions rather than in soil.

All power generated is supplied to the Provincial Authority of Thailand, while the vegetables grown onsite are sold to Bangkok markets.

Get IT is now preparing four more projects in Nong Khai, one in Sakon Nakhon and three in Udon Thani.

The eight new projects, which will generate a combined 8 MW, will all be completed this year.

"Ours is an agriculture-based economy, so any land used for solar farms alone will be at the expense farming. Therefore, we want to produce both electricity and food on the same piece of land," said Polathorn Neamsiri, managing director of PTS.

The company is the strategic partner of Get IT, which was established in 2008 under Board of Investment privileges in return for using the local office as its Asian headquarters.

Get IT's website (http://www.greenenergytechnology.asia) says the company entered into a joint venture with Thai Diamond City in April to build Thailand's largest solar park at 100 MW, to be located in Kaeng Krachan National Park north of Hua Hin town.

"It takes 19 rai to generate 1 MW of electricity, so producing 1,000 MW to fulfil current energy needs will take 19,000 rai, making it impossible to develop solar farms without thinking of food production," said Mr Polathorn.

He said the high temperatures present at a solar farm are conducive to higher fruit and vegetable output.

"Hydroponics can produce higher yields, and output can be harvested more quickly than with normal farming methods, so we can recoup our investment relatively soon," said Mr Polathorn.

He said Get IT has spent 87 million baht over the last six years on hydroponic solar farming.

The eight new solar projects will cost a combined 600 million baht.

Next year, investment is expected to top 2 billion baht, prompting Get IT to embark on an aggressive fund mobilisation drive, said Mr Polathorn.

With production costs for hydroponic solar farms relatively high, the company is considering its own solar cell factory and quartz smelting plant in Thailand to lower the cost of solar panels.

Mr. Polathorn said such a move would cost 6 billion baht.

"We intend to account for 10% of the 54 gigawatts planned under the country's 20-year solar power development plan," he said.

"To achieve this target, we welcome partnerships with all licensed solar power developers along with landowners."

Philip Napier-Moore from Mott MacDonald, a British solar engineering firm, said solar farm development requires being connected to the power grid, as battery chargers are still too expensive and have a short lifetime for storage capacity.

Renewable Energy is Growing in Thailand

2011-06-13T02:08:00.000-07:00

Saturday, 04 June 2011 15:08 Banyol Kong Janoi

Photo: Banyol Kong Janoi

Download The Thai government is promising to be the leading nation in South-east Asia when it comes to green energy.

One of the world’s largest solar power plants is being built in Thailand at the moment and should be generating electricity later this year.

Bangkok was the host this week of Clean Power Asia, the largest regional power event which focuses on both renewable and cleaner fossil power.

Energy experts from across the world for there and Banyol Kong Janoi spoke with some of them for Asia Calling.

Investors, engineers, and bankers who are interested in the green technologies development are here at the ‘Clean power Asia’ exhibition.

New green technologies such as biogas treatment plants, solar panels, waste and water treatment plants are on display.

On one stall is Nicole Bihler the marketing manager of Solarzentrum Allgau, a German solar company.

“I think the market here in Thailand is definitely one of the biggest markets in the future as I’ve leant before the second biggest market growing in the world right now. So I see a lot of potential here in Thailand and especially the people, the way to work here is really nice.”

There are many solar companies looking to get access to the Thai market.

The Asia Development Bank has leant up to 70 million dollar to support a local Lopburi solar project in Thailand.

According to the ADB, this solar project is one of the worlds biggest.

Bihler says the energy of the future must come from renewable sources.

“We should all use what the nature gives us for free, we gonna have the sun forever. I hope so. We gonna have wind forever. Those are resources that we actually use, not going to back to nuclear power which can destroy a country just in seconds.”

Right now only 12 percent of energy in Thailand comes from renewable energy.

But the government wants to double the amount coming from renewable sources by 2022.

Methar Thongma is a manager of PTT the biggest energy supplier company in Thailand

Speaking at the conference, Mether said this possible if Thailand looks to biogas energy and uses.

Palm oil and rubber industry waste.

Dr Kunn Kangvansaichol is a researcher at PTT.

“From the knowledge, some of applications the renewable technologies can compete with fossil fuel in some area, for example, biomass from existing sugar cane mill or biomass from existing palm oil mill. They can compete because they consider their waste no cost. You can compete it. In Some area, you have to transport natural gas or you have to have infrastructure for transmission line, solar can be competing with the existing technology.”

Francesco Vavarro is a manager from the Steven Leach Group sustainable design company.

He said Southeast Asia countries are still struggling to rely on renewable energy.

“The biggest difficulty we are now facing, doing all of this here in southeast Asia specifically in Thailand, is cost. Still a lot of technologies and material use to build sustainably are new plus there is a lot research and development need to be done which mean there is a lot upfront cost in developing into mature technologies and mature building products. So at this stage we are in, people still try to find out what are the best things to do. And when they find that out, hopefully the cost will go down. Right now, the biggest challenging is to get people to understand the upfront cost that they are paying today, you can gain back overtime in relatively quickly.”

Eva-Maria Schmitt a wind energy consultant in Germany says the cost will go down.

“Now, energy is still cheap. Oil is relatively cheap and nuclear is relatively cheap but 10 years or the later 40 years then all fossil energies are going to be very expensive. And renewable energies are getting cheaper and cheaper. One day, they will be less expensive than fossil energy so the development is going to the direction renewable.”

Francesco says the cost now should be shared.

“Every person should be responsible for the future of our planet. Sustainability is whether it be in term of resources, renewable energy, or how we live our life, everybody responsibility. Specific to my company as the people who are creating interior design to build environment is our responsibility to point out and advocate what is the best thing to do in charging our way for better tomorrow.”

World Earth Day April 22

2011-04-20T06:28:00.000-07:00

Save our plant

Only you part2

2011-04-15T17:31:00.000-07:00

You said you would not do it again. But you did not tell me the truth.
You said I was the one you love. But I had to think how many people you have said to.

You said I could believe you from then, but you haven't told me even basic thing.

I was frustrated when I saw your words without logic.
I was frustrated to think I will hate you nor to forgive you.
I was frustrated when I thought we could be together.

I don't have strong heart to ignore your tear.
I want to close my ears to listen your stories.

I was destroyed because I love you.
I was destroyed because I could not forget you.

I was still thinking about you.

Only you

2011-04-15T00:23:00.000-07:00

You are my world,

You are my lover,

You are my friend,

You are my betrayer.

You are the one who give me energy.

You are the one who help me from trouble.

You are the one who let me fight from depression.

You are the one who give me a warm heart.

You are the one who I think smart.

You are the one who break my heart.

You are the one who always smile at me.

You are the one who leave me alone.

You are the one who sent me no home.

You are the one who I used to admire.

You are the one who end my smile.

You are the one who give me nowhere to go.

You are the one who I still love.

Only You

Public volunteer is needed to save environment: commentary

2011-04-04T04:53:00.000-07:00

Incentive may play some role in dealing with plastic bag overuse in Hong Kong. Last week, our class had done a survey of supermarkets to find out how many people are still using plastic carrier bags a year and a half after the introduction of the 50-cent-per-bag levy. Most people we asked during the survey said they don’t use them because they have to pay. This is good in a way: it has led, according to the government, to a 90 per cent drop in use of these bags. But I wonder how far people are willing to volunteer to save the environment when saving money is not part of it.

One negative thing we noticed was that many people still take the small transparent plastic bags, which are free. This small bag cannot be recycled nor reused them.

Does this mean we have to regulate everything? Supermarkets only charge for normal plastic bags and give away the small transparent ones without any limit. For sure those plastic bags will have an impact on the environment because they cannot be recycled nor reused them. Whether Hong Kong needs a levy on those small bags depend on the public.

read more

There are a lot for problems in solving the plastic bag problem: reusing plastic bags is unhygienic and reusable bags are difficult to keep clean and wash.

It is questionable whether the 90 per cent reduction really is a step forward to a solution.

To be fair, there are some people who really care about the environment but they are a small percentage of the population. We need the public to volunteer in this matter instead of waiting for a law to be passed.
more photos

old man with treasure chair in Hong Kong

2011-03-26T18:43:00.000-07:00

oldman with a treasure chair in Hong Kong

Arising financial journalism in the era of internet

2011-03-12T21:40:00.000-08:00

While many news organisations are facing budget constraints in the era of the internet, the financial information service Bloomberg is going from strength to strength, celebrating its 50,000^th news terminal in Asia.

Bloomberg, which sells primary financial news via for subscribers, rents about 300,000 terminals worldwide at a cost of about US $2,000, or HK$ 15,579, a month, said Ben Richardson, an editor at Bloomberg’s Hong Kong bureau in charge of government and political coverage.

The company has increased the fee every two years or so and has no worries about profitability.

He said stories about there being no money in traditional journalism any longer are not true. “There is huge money,” he said. Bloomberg and Reuters have proved that it could be made from providing people with news accurately and quickly.

He said the majority of their readers were on the sell side, that is, traders and stockbrokers who usually knew their financial information and just needed to pick out the figure they needed. He said about 40 per cent of their customers only looked at the headlines.

He said a headline alone will move markets, and people will make money from that information.

Reuters and Bloomberg spend millions of dollars each year getting the news out faster by upgrading the speed of connections.

Mr Richardson said when he worked for Reuters more than ten years ago he had 10 minutes to get the first headline. Then when he joined Bloomberg in 2001 they cut their time to 7 minutes, and it’s now down to 2 minutes. “Soon we’ll be publishing the news before it’s happened,” he joked. “The more prepared you are, the faster you can get the news.”

If financial journalists cannot provide information quickly and accurately, their customers would lose money in the market, and would no longer use their service, he said.

Hong Kong Producing Too Much Rubbish

2010-10-25T20:22:00.000-07:00

Saturday, 23 October 2010 14:07 Banyar Kong Janoi

Download Hong Kong is facing a waste crisis.

Government data shows the amount of waste increasing more than ten thousand tonnes each year.

In addressing the waste problem, the government plans to extend the Tseung Kwan O landfill despite lawmakers’ and residents’ opposition to the plan.

Activists say the government should come out with a better strategy to solve the problem.

From Hong Kong Banyar Kong Janoi reports.

Kwok Pik-han, a 19-year-old first year university student, lives in Tseung Kwan O, only 50 metres from the land fill site that contains thousands of tonnes of waste dumped over many years.

“My nose has some problem because of air pollution. I always have runny nose and it affects my life so much. We can still smell nasty smell so it is a good environment to live.”

A few weeks ago, the government proposed to extend the landfill near her village.

“The government planned to build up bigger landfill in Tseung Kwan O, which Tseung Kwan residents do not like it: we against it. District’s council fights for it not to do so now they are finding some way to deal with rubbish problem because there is so much rubbish in Hong Kong.”

Hong Kong produces more waste than it’s neighbours Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore.

Yet it recycles the less according to the environmental organization Friends of the Earth.

The garbage at another land fill site, Siu Lang Shui in Tuen Mum is stacked 120 metres high.

This landfill site is still being used as a waste site by the Hong Kong Government.

Some teachers and students in Hong Kong are eager to tackle the waste problem.

At Sir Ellis Kadooris Secondary School, visiting landfills and educating student to reduce and recycle waste are school activities.

This year the school received a Hong Kong Green School Award from the Environmental Campaign Committee, a group of civic leaders hoping to tackle environmental problems in Hong Kong.

Yet teacher Sam Chan says the school has limited resources.

“Government should assign more funding for school specify for use of environmental education”

Sam Chan says separating garbage and telling students what kind of garbage can be recycled has reduced waste at the school.

Professor Jonathan Woon Chung Wong is currently doing a research on waste management in Hong Kong.

“A lot of people say that, green groups say that, we don’t need landfill, we don’t need incinerator. What we need is people separation. Do think it is okay. I would say that Hong Kong is very strange situation. We don’t have compulsory charging waste. You can dump your waste without paying anything.

Compulsory government charges for waste can motivate citizens to reduce their waste.

Yet Jonathan says that even countries that have charges and separation for waste still have to have to deal with landfills and incinerators.

“Even though, you can do the best in the world, you still have waste to dispose into the landfill. Waste separation is a must. We need to do it but it is not the solution for the current situation.”

“So where all rubbish go? This is dilemma I would say that it is really difficult situation now. You can’t really have any choice. The choice is first we need to expand our landfill site because it takes time to build also. At the same time, we need to immediately get the permission to build incinerator otherwise five years later, you need to ask extension again. The extension will continue unless you build incinerator.”

The government environmental department was not available to give comment.

Back at Kwok Pik-han is also active in the school green activities.

She is fighting for waste separation and reduction among the students in the university.

“People may think that you are a person even you do recycle and reduce waste yourself it won’t help but I think if we do not do it the problem get more serious.”

Because for Kwok Pik- han the site near Tseung Kwan O isn’t just a potential garbage dump, it’s her home.

Burmese Sex Workers Avoid Arrest with Bribes and not Carrying Condoms

2010-09-01T07:19:00.000-07:00

Sunday, 29 August 2010 10:22 Banyar Kong Janoi

Download Burmese sex workers say they don’t carry condoms because if they do they will be arrested by the police.

Sex work is illegal in Burma and there are no government programs to educate against HIV/AIDS.

As a result Burma has one of the fastest rates of HIV/AIDS infection in Asia after Cambodia and Thailand.

Banyar Kong Janoi went to meet sex workers in the capital Rangoon and has this report.

It’s a Sunday night and the JJ night club is full of working girls who look between 16 and 20 years old.

They cross the dance-floor in super high stiletto heels and miniskirts made from flimsy material. They move awkwardly to blasting heavy music.

A few Burmese male customers watch closely from low tables.

18-years-old Ya Min says she works here to survive.

“I am working in this job to support my family who don’t have enough money. So I invest my body into this job.”

She began working as a prostitute two months ago after she struggled to find another job in the capital.

Sex work is illegal in Burma and the Burmese military government strictly prohibits prostitution and brothels.

But Yan Min says it’s easy to bribe the police.

“We bribe local policemen so we can work. When other police come they call us and warn us that there will be a raid and to hide. We pay them a monthly fee between 30 – 50 US dollars, sometimes it’s 150 dollars. We have to give them whatever they ask. I never carry condoms because if they see the condom they know that I am a sex worker.”

Lawyer U Aung Thein from the Central Executive Committee of the National League for Democracy, condemns the government’s handling of sex workers.

He says the Suppression of Prostitution Act, which was enacted in 1949, is not just.

“The law aims to stop all sex work. Women can be easily labeled as prostitutes and houses that are suspected of being brothels are targeted. But the law does nothing to the men who have sex with prostitutes.”

He says the military regime has mishandled the issue.

“Because it’s criminalised the sex workers go underground and therefore they are not being educated about health and sexually transmitted diseases. In this situation HIV/AIDS is being spread quickly because there are no controls.”

Figures from 2005 from the Burmese National AIDS Programme show more than 30 percent of sex workers are HIV positive.

Burma has one of Asia's highest adult HIV/AIDS rates after Cambodia and Thailand.

Another sex worker who goes by the named Tin Tin says many of collegues are HIV positive.

“One of them was beautiful and young when I met her with a slim body. But she became very thin and had abscesses on her body and on her mouth. When everyone is cold, she is hot; everyone is hot, she is cold. Then her abscesses became bigger and bigger. I don’t really know what a HIV patient looks like but another colleague said she had it.”

She says her colleague was sent back home after her boss found out that she was HIV positive.

“He gave her some money to go back home. The girls also gave her some money. We encouraged her not to be depressed but she was very sad. I told her you will be OK when you get home to your family. She insisted that she wasn’t HIV positive.”

She does not know if her friend is still alive.

As the people who are HIV positive are usually poor they can’t afford antiretroviral drugs.

Tin Tin has never even heard of them.

She says sex workers use traditional medicine.

“Three of my colleagues are HIV positive. They inject penicillin and drink some leaf liquid which you can buy on the street. It’s made by mixing the leaves with salt. It’s believed to kill the HIV virus. There are some people who drink that tea and stay healthy.”

Tin Tin says despite the risk she will continue working as a prostitute.

“I will not regret my decisions if I get HIV/AIDS because I have chosen my path. I knew the risks when I started this job. I do it because of the money. I don’t know if my body is clean. Some clients use condoms; some don’t. Some only use one when I ask them to. Sometimes the condom breaks. I protect myself as much as I can but I have to sleep with lots of men, I can’t say how many.”

Economic hardship also drives Burmese girls to travel to China and Thailand and work in the sex industry.

Along the Thai-Burma border, agents recruit women by promising them with jobs but then force them into the sex trade.

Naw Kanda is the spokesperson for a safe-house that helps migrant workers on the border.

“Not only HIV, we have tuberculosis, malaria and disabled people. The program is only for people who were arrested and deported. Some time, people come and drop a patient without letting us know. Like last time, when we went to the church and we came back, there was an old man here. He was dropped here and we don’t where he is from. We can’t just ignore them when they’re already here, and sick and nowhere to go! Right?"

She says most sex workers also have very limited choices.

“In my own opinion, sex workers, especially people from Burma, they have no choice. They are forced to do it even though they don’t want to do it. And then some men when they came, they don’t use condom that’s why they got it. Some time they got it from injection. They have to use drugs so they can work more for the employer.”

Burmese telephone market set for dramatic growth

2010-08-17T21:51:00.001-07:00

August 16th, 2010

A telephone tower in Rangoon city

Kong Janoi, IMNA : Decreasing landline prices and expanding phone services, both to be launched this week, are exciting potential customers all over Burma.

According to this week’s edition of Burma’s weekly Eleven journal, this week the Burmese government-controlled department of Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications (MPT)is launching a new reduced-price telephone landline service; the department is also adding another digit to Burmese phone dialing numbers, thereby upping the amount of daling numbers available to potential users around the country.

A Rangoon-based business magazine’s editor told IMNA that increasing demand within the country necessitated the need a for increased telephone services nationwide. The attractive price of the newly available landlines are also expected to attract even more interested customers.

“This landline is only a million kyat [1,000 USD] per head and [buyers] will get service three or four weeks after applying. Compared to in the past, [it would take] you three years at least to get service after applying and the price is about 2.5 million kyat [2,500 USD] per head. This one is relatively cheap and easy to apply for so many customers will [be interested] to buy it,” he said.

According to figures published by this week’s Weekly Eleven journal, there are currently only a little over 2 million [2,199,049] total phone owners in the whole of Burma; the country has a population of over 50 million people.

The reason for the service expansion is unknown. A political analyst in Rangoon told IMNA, “It is strange that the government is now opening up communication service, because before they didn’t want civilians to use such a communication tool. By using this tool they [the government] think that people will communicate with the outside world and [start] telling what they have been suffering in this country.”

Phone service expansion has in the past been attributed to government attempts to raise funds for the upcoming national elections, recently set for November 7th. A source quoted in a June 18th, 2009 article published by The Irrawaddy news magazine linked phone service expansion to the Burmese government’s inadequate budget, indicating that that the government needed more funds to hold the 2010 elections.

Despite the possibility of government profit, many of the sources that IMNA interviewed felt that expansion of phone services will serve to empower the Burmese people. A Rangoon-based journalist interviewed by IMNA expressed optimism for the change, opining that the launching of new phone service will prove highly beneficial to the country’s citizens.

“This is good thing if lots of phone service is available to people, so that the media can contact them [as a] part of monitoring or checking [the upcoming] election,” he explained.

Min Yan Naign, a founder of Generation Wave, a campaign group dedicated to promoting voter boycotts of the upcoming elections, told IMNA that having increased phone services available in Burma will greatly increase the group’s campaigning abilities, which already rely heavily on cellular phone services.

“We use graffiti as our campaigning tool but since phone service [is becoming] available to many people, we use SMS [Short Message Service] in our campaign which is easier and less risky. We use prepaid once-time-use SIM cards and we throw them away after sending a campaigning message.”

According to the Rangoon business magazine editor that IMNA interviewed earlier in this article, Burma remains one of the world’s costliest places to obtain phone services, with a single prepaid SIM card costing as much as 20 US dollars for one hour’s worth of usage.

Short URL: http://monnews.org/?p=957

Burma's Youth Rapping for Revolution

2010-08-17T21:47:00.000-07:00

Friday, 13 August 2010 20:06 Banyar Kong Janoi

Download This year looks set to be a crucial one for Burma.

The military government has announced that the first elections for 20 years will be held on November the 7th and international attention is likely to be focused on the detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

But there is another group working to bring about change in Burma whose methods are less conventional.

Generation Wave is a group of hip-hop-loving, young Burmese, dedicated to overthrowing the military government.

They are boycotting the election and demanding a social revolution.

Banyar Kong Janoi went to meet them in Rangoon.

‘Don’t give up! Be brave to say what is not right!’ rap Generation Wave.

Their song is being played in Burma on the foreign-based television station, the Democratic Voice of Burma.

The song is amusing and the film clip shows four members of Generation Wave wearing masks and bouncing around.

They act out the military junta arresting, torturing, and imprisoning political activists.

Generation Wave asks people to overthrow the military regime with them.

26-year-old, Pakker is watching the music video closely. He, like many young Burmese, is a big fan of Generation Wave.

“The song is very important for young people because we can learn from the lyrics. The message from the music goes to your heart. The more the youth become knowledgeable the better society will be. This song informs us about the election. After listening to it we will know whether it’s worthwhile for us to vote.”

Aung Than Htike is one of the singers in Generation Wave based in Rangoon.

We met in a public space near the sea so we will not stand out.

“We are activists. We send messages to people in different ways. Music is one of our tools to send our messages. We also recently published a poem and distributed it to the people. Sometimes we use graffiti on walls. Whatever we can do, we will do to it to raise the awareness of people.”

For this he is a wanted man in Burma.

He keeps his home address and daily movements secret.

He says he nearly got caught by the state police last year.

“I was working underground but when one of my colleagues got arrested the police got our profiles. I was put on the wanted list by the military regime. A year ago the police came to ask questions about me but they did nothing to them. The police watched my house for about three months.”

About 30 Generation Wave members have already been arrested.

Aung says he has to think carefully about where he stays and is always checking to see if someone is following him.

But despite the risks they are campaigning against the election.

A founder of Generation Wave, Min Yang, says the poll is meaningless.

“The 2010 election is not fair because it’s based on a constitution that we do not accept. We are boycotting the election because we don’t want to stay as slaves to the military for the rest of our lives. That’s why we are campaigning among the people. We are forming alliances with other youth groups to protest as much as we can. If we get more space to carry out our activities we will do more.”

Generation Wave is grounded in harsh reality.

The organisation grew out of what became known as the Saffron Revolution - the 2007 protests led by saffron robed monks, who were violently put down by the Burmese military.

“We didn’t want the revolution to end just like that. After the September uprising nothing changed in our country. As young people we are not satisfied; we demand change. We want freedom from the military rule as soon as possible. So we campaign using music and graffiti to let people know about their rights.”

He says their group attracts young people to politics.

“Politics is about our daily survival. Our economic problems are due to our political situation. What we are doing now is to let people get interested in politics because people should know about politics. It is so our country can be changed and our living standard can be changed."

He says he is very happy that many young people are now involved in the movement.

“After 2007, many youth are interested in politics. They are involved in social work. Based on this fact, we want to make some change in the country because our country’s politics, economy and education are far behind other countries. So we will do whatever we have to do, to change our country with non-violent ways such as involving social working and music campaigns.”

Back at the house receiving the DVB TV channel which is broadcasting a Generation Wave song, a community leader Nai Hla Thein says music is the only language in which young people are interested.

“Many young people are interested in Generation Wave songs that were broadcast from the DVB TV channel. This is a good sign because many young generations do not understand the country politics such as rights abuse, inequality. They even don’t know that the peoples’ leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is struggling. By listening to their music and visualizing the picture in TV, many people learn a lot what they don’t know yet about our country. We want to see these kinds of activities more in the future.”

Thai language degree introduced at Burmese university

2010-08-13T07:42:00.001-07:00

August 13th, 2010

Students attend classes at YUFL

Kong Janoi, IMNA : The University of Foreign Languages in Yangon [Rangoon] (YUFL) plans to launch a new Thai language degree program during the 2010-2011 academic year.

An official from the University’s new Thai Language department told IMNA that implementing a new Thai language program is part of an expansion project for the university. She declined to give further comment.

Former UFL students who are currently pursuing further studies in Bangkok feel that increasing their proficiency in the Thai language will be beneficial for their future careers; many pointed to the thousands of Burmese students currently studying in Thailand and the millions of Burmese migrant workers who are employed in the country.

A UFL alumni, who is currently studying in Thailand, says the inclusion of Thai in the University’s curriculum provides a great opportunity to young people in Burma.

“Thailand is our neighboring country and its economy is growing. This is the University of Foreign Language so they [ the University] need to implement the courses that will attract students,” she said.

Another former student currently enrolled at a Thai University said the UFL is one of Burma’s most selective universities, after the University of Medicine; UFL programs are highly sought after by students who hope to find international employment.

Many, like the students interviewed above, applaud the addition of a Thai language program to universities in Burma as a step towards empowering Burma and Burmese citizens’ economic negotiations with Thailand. Others do not greet the news with complete optimism.

Dr Sean Turnell, associate professor in economics at Macquarie University in Sydney, and Burma economic expert, cautioned IMNA that audiences must consider the larger nature of economic relations between the two countries, and take care not to overplay the actual power that proficient Thai will give Burma or Burmese citizens:

“In and of itself, this decision to teach Thai is a good thing. Burma will, and must, always have a close economic relationship with Thailand, and such teaching should only help Burma get the most out of this relationship.”

“However, there is a problem at the degree of imbalance in the economic relationship between the two countries at the moment, which is probably the source of why some might be uncomfortable at news like this. Put simply, Burma is little more than a quarry and source of unfinished raw materials for Thailand and other countries…”

The three-year bachelor degree programs at Burma’s two universities of foreign languages, located in Rangoon and Mandalay respectively, already offer English, French, Chinese, German, Japanese, Korean and Russian language courses. Thai will only at present be offered at the Rangoon-based site. This week’s edition of Burma’s Weekly-Eleven journal reported that entrance depends on university entrance exam scores, with top students earning places in the ultra-competitive English program. The journal also reported that admission to the new Thai program may demand high marks as well.

Bloggers Fight for Freedom of Expression in Burma Election

2010-08-10T15:36:00.000-07:00

Saturday, 07 August 2010 11:34 Banyar Kong Janoi

Download Blogs are an alternative source of independence news in Burma as all other media such as newspapers, radio, and TV are controlled by the military regime.

The bloggers gained international attention during the ‘Saffron Revolution’ against the government lead by the countries monks in 2007. Bloggers were the main source of news and uploaded video and images of the protest.

As our reporter Banyar Kong Janoi found out, the blogs are an important source of election news for young people inside Burma.

He spent two days with a renowned blogger inYangon.

An internet shop in Yangon is full of customers.

Most of them are young.

All though there is still no date for the election, there are many online forums with open heated debate about the poll.

University student, Mi Sike Ka-mar Chan, says she has learned a lot about the election online.

“2010 election is a heated issue in every blogs. On their discussion page, some people comment the election is good for people while others criticize. Some criticize the National League for Democracy Party not joining the election while others support them for boycotting it. There are a lot of blogs about Burma. We just read the ones that interest us. The blog suits Burmese people because they have a low bandwidth so we can open them easily.”

Another university student, Moe Kyaw, says blogs are his only source of information.

“I learnt from the blog about the 2010 election especially from the blogs which focus on politics. They post how to vote and they post the regulation of the election. By reading those posts we know the answers and we can say why we don’t agree with the election.”

The freeforcountry.tayzartay.com blogger is based in Rangoon.

He is calling for radical changes to the election process.

“We want to see an election of international standard. The government must change. We want a government who is truly elected by the people. We have lived under a military dictatorship since birth. Because of these we have to struggle to live. Compared to other countries we are behind because of the military leaders. That’s why we must follow other countries and lift the living standard of the people. We are fighting with our pen to explain to people from our blog.”

His blog became popular among young people inside Burma and gained an international audience after the ‘Saffron Revolution’ in 2007 when monks staged large street protests against the military regime in Burma.

The bloggers played a critical role by uploading images and telling the true story. In response the government cut internet access to the entire country.

A ‘Force for Country’ blogger explains how they avoid the government censorship.

“We need software, proxy numbers to pass through a banned server to login our blogs. The free proxy can be expired. So we share among our peers and we found new tech and proxy numbers that can pass the server to upload posts. We upload it in different internet cafés because if we upload at a permanent shop and post with a single IP, the authorities would know; they would come and arrest us. Typing in the house, we just upload the post in the shop within a minute. As soon as we have uploaded we leave.”

Shop owners are required to report customers who are looking at banned websites or sites that criticise the government.

They have been ordered by the government to check each user’s screen every 15 minutes to monitor their online activities.

On all the PCs in this internet café is a sign that reads: “You are not allowed to see political and pornography websites.”

Youtube, Google mail and Yahoo mail are blocked.

However many users are smart enough to surf banned websites through proxy servers.

But bloggers working inside the country do so at great risk.

28-year-old blogger, Nay Phone Latt, was sentenced to 20 years in jail in 2008 for posting a cartoon of the military leader, Than Shwe.

‘Free for country’ bloggers says security is very important.

“We can’t just look at the screen; we always have to look around us and see who is looking at us. When we are uploading, we do not use a full screen. We use the “restore down” function- half screen. While we are uploading the post we pretend to be surfing other websites so people don’t pay attention to us.”

He says he takes the risks because it’s his responsibility as a citizen of Burma.

“I don’t get any support in the way of funds to operate this blog. I just save from my pocket money to use the Internet for uploading posts. I get technical help from my friends who are better with computers. We can present the true story. It’s incredible when we go on a field trip; we can upload pictures which tell the true current story. When people understand the situation and learn from our blog, we are happier than if we got paid for our work. I feel this job is important so I do it.”

He says he is very honest in his work.

“I am very concerned with accuracy. I go into the field to collect information. Although there is not a lot of news on my blog it’s more of a watchdog. I monitor the work of civil servants and government officials. If I get a new’s tip, I will investigate further before posting it and I will take photos.”

Back in the Rangoon internet café university student, Nai Rot Khine, says bloggers are a lifeline for her generation.

“As for me, reading blogs is very important. We can read different kinds of issues. We can read open discussion about the current politics so we can make ourselves rich in knowledge.”

Piracy crackdown aims to boost Burma’s film and music industries

2010-08-07T18:00:00.001-07:00

Friday, 06 August 2010 13:38 Kong Janoi

Recent police crackdowns on pirated copies of Burmese music and films in the cities of Rangoon and Mandalay are expected to provide an economic boost to Burma’s struggling entertainment industry.

A resident in Burma’s capital city, Rangoon, told IMNA today that the streets of Rangoon are currently completely devoid of vendors selling pirated copies of Burmese films or music. The crackdown is reported to have been in effect since May 2010.

“Before, we could find some pirated copies everywhere, although it was illegal to buy them, because the venders bribed the police to [allow them to] sell them , but now they [venders] cannot bribe the police anymore. The police have even give some money to people who informed them about pirated CDs and DVD [being sold],” she said.

This source reported that the crackdown includes only Burmese films productions. Film vendors selling pirated western and Korean films can still be seen on Rangoon’s streets, yelling for customers.

“The police were paid to crack down on pirated copies of Burmese film and music productions. The other films, like Korean movies and western movies, they are not paid [to confiscate] so who cares?” she said.

Representatives from Burma’s entertainment industry complained to The Irrawaddy newspaper on June 29th, 2007, that widespread piracy of Burmese music and film were driving both industries to the brink of collapse; the Burmese government’s periodic attempts to stifle piracy were deemed too weak to be truly effective.

According to a journalist in Rangoon, the orders for this most recent, and more stringent, attempt to quell piracy were issued by the Burmese government after insistant complains from representatives of the country’s film industry.

“The serious crackdown happened when [film] director Maung Myo Min’s group demanded that the government enforce the laws three month ago. After that they [the police] have arrested many vendors in the cities of Rangoon and Mandalay,” he explained.

The police headquarters in Rangoon were not available for comment.

A travel agent in Rangoon informed IMNA that airports have become the sites of police searches for contraband pirated material, and that her agency is now taking care to warn customers of the situation before they attempt to fly out of the country.

A pirated vendor sells entertainment CDs and DVDs on the street of Rangoon

“The airport authorities check everything, and if they see some pirated CDs and DVDs, they will bring travelers to the Special Police. They [the Special Police] will fine them about 10,000 Kyat [US $10] . So to avoid trouble and fines, we recommend our customer buy legitimate one,” she said.

Buying legal DVDs and CDs is an excessive expense for most Rangoon dwellers, IMNA’s first source in Rangoon reports. She claims that legal DVDs and CDs cost around 2,000 kyat [US $2] each, while pirated copies cost as little as 400 kyat [$0.40]. Barring this option, individuals with internet access (including herself, she admits) can always download entertainment for free.

Burma Election Campaign Not Free and Fair

2010-08-02T08:21:00.000-07:00

Saturday, 31 July 2010 09:29 Banyar Kong Janoi

Download All though there is still no date for the election, politically campaigning has begun across Burma.

There are 37 other new political parties and five existing groups that have registered to contesting in the poll that is expected to be held later this year.

They include Pro-military, pro-democracy and ethnic parties.

As Banyar Kong Janoi reports from Rangoon is not a free and fair campaign.

On the street of Rangoon, people are indecisives about what party they are going to vote for in the election.

A university student, Moe Kyaw says he will not take part.

“I don’t know who to vote for because I don’t like any party. I like the National League for Democracy Party but their break away party seems vague. I have to wait and see what they can do. Properly, they can do nothing for the people so I will not vote for anyone.”

Opposition parties are finding it very hard to campaign. They are being severely restricted by the military government.

Opposition party flags and posters are only allowed to be displayed in their private offices.

All printed material has to pass the State Security Censorship Board before bring distributed.

And the media is control by the military government.

50 years old Hla Thein is a influencial leader the in Mon State. He says his community doesn’t know about the poll.

“We don’t have a space to move and to speak about politics so many of people are no longer interested. Noone has told us what is happening with this upcoming election. Nobody knows what the election will mean to their everyday life. them. They also don’t know about how to cast their vote.”

Despite the restrictions opposition parties are campaigning in many parts of the country.

But they can’t reach many areas because of a lack of resources.

However, the pro junta party- Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP)- is free to campaign and lure certain groups to join the party.

Party members enjoy cheap mobile phone rates and have been given credit loans from the state bank.

Mon ethnic elder Hla Thein again.

“The military regime has it worked out that the parties supporting them will win. The pro-junta party will get money from the state budget to use for its campaign. They even can organize people freely while other opposition parties are struggling for funds and are not free to organizing people. It is very hard for the opposition groups to win the polls.”

Despite all the obstacles being place in front of them opposition parties still believe they can win votes.

Nai Ngwe Thein is a leader of All Mon Region Party which will contest on the poll.

“We have been told what we can and can not do. We have to report where we are going to and how many people are at our meetings. The pro Pro-junta party has been campaigning long before they got a permit to run as a party. But we are not afraid because many people don’t like their party. People will only vote for the pro-junta party if they are are threatened. Our job is to tell people not to be afraid. We will win if there is a fair election.”

Nai Tun a resident in Mon State says he will vote no matter what.

“Although we know this election is not fair, we will vote for the Mon party because they care about our people.”

The National Democratic Force, the break-away party from Aung San Suu Kyi’s is trying to convince it’s supporters that the election is a step towards democracy and justice in Burma.

U Khin Maung Swe is the leader of the party. I spoke to him on the phone as it was too dangerous for us to met.

“We will see the result after the people cast their vote. If all democratic forces including ethnic democracy parties win a large number of seats in the parliament we can change the constitution. And we can change the laws to benefit the people and amend the laws that oppress the people as well.”

Nai Rot Khine a university student in Mon State also has some hope that the election may bring about much needed change.

“Although good and bad always come together. I would say this election is a first step forward in breaking burma’s political deadlock. To create a true election atmosphere the military regime should allow all parties to organize people and should give press freedom so the media can investigate any issue in the country.”

For Asia Calling, this is Banyar Kong Janoi in Rangoon.

Woman tells tale of abuse in Rangoon Division

2010-08-02T08:17:00.001-07:00

August 2nd, 2010

Kong Janoi, IMNA : A woman taking refuge on the Thai-Burma border claims that she fled her home, after abuse at the hands of that township-level authorities in her village in south Dagon Township, Rangoon Division made life for herself and her family unbearable.

Mya Thein Khine, of Karen and Burmese heritage, told IMNA that local authorities used their political powers to harass , imprison, and fine her husband and brother-in-law; she and her husband fled to the Thai-Burma border three months ago.

Mya Thein Khine explained to IMNA that south Dagon Township’s chairman U Khin Zaw and township secretary U Hla Sein, who were appointed to those positions after Burma’s military government reformed the local administration in 2009, repeatedly accused Mya Thein Khine’s husband, an ethnic Shan man, of being connected to Shan armed groups, simply because the couple had immigrated to Yangon Divison from Shan State looking for new business opportunities.

Mya Thein Khine reported to IMNA that the township authorities’ accusations and abuse were groundless and discriminatory.

“Because my husband is Shan, they [local authorities] accused him of being a Shan rebel group member. We are citizens in this country. We have ID cards. We have the right to move everywhere in the country. We did nothing wrong against the country. They do not have an evidence to prove that he is a Shan armed group member.”

Living in 168 quarter in South Dagon she also informed that her sister’s husband, who lived with the family, was arrested and sent to jail for singing a song that local authorities found offensive.

“He was just singing in the street on the way back home after drinking with his friends. They thought he sang indirectly to them about what they had done to people [human rights abuses]. So they accused him of disrespecting authorities and ordered the police to arrest him. We had to give police 20,000 kyat [20 USD] in order to get his release,” she said.

“It is not much money but for poor people like us, we struggled to get it,” she added.

Although her brother-in-law was released after bribing the police, Mya Thein Khine reported that the case is still ongoing because the local authorities wanted to continue to punish her brother, who is still living in Dagon Township.

“The local authorities are not satisfied with the release of our brother-in-law so they are being overly harsh with him,” she said.

U Aung Myo Thein from The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners informed IMNA that cases like those of Mya Thein Khine’s family are common in Bumra. He reported that local-level authorities have been given increased legal and executive power since the Saffron Revolution.

“People can be arrested for expressing their dissatisfactions in Burma. They will be accused of being rebels. After the authorities give the title to those who complain to them of being ‘rebels’, they can arrest them at any time. There is no further investigation as to whether their accusation is right or wrong. Before, the Military Intelligent Unit and the Police used to investigate the cases and arrest people but after 2007, even pro-junta associations such as Union Solidarity and Development Association can arrest people which is not the correct thing to do. That’s why people may choose to flee from their homes after they feel insecure in their [native] places,” he said.

Short URL: http://monnews.org/?p=902

Mon party’s campaign dogged by government surveillance

2010-07-28T04:41:00.000-07:00

July 28th, 2010

AMRDP chairman Nai Ngwe Thein addresses an audience in Moulmein during the party’s election campaign

Kong Janoi, IMNA : Representatives from the All Mon Regions Democracy Party (AMRDP) are finding that Burmese government surveillance measures are stifling their campaign activities.

According to IMNA field reporters, AMRDP leading organizers Nai Nwe Soe and Nai Baya Aung Moe are being closely monitored by a regional Military Intelligence Unit this week during their campaign in Myiek Township, Tenasserim Division. Witnesses from around Mon State report that that all AMRDP representatives have been followed by the Military Intelligence office in every Township they visit during their campaign, which began in late June.

The party has reportedly been troubled by the Burmese Election Commission’s requirement that all campaign activities be reported to the Commission in advance.

“Last week, when they [AMRDP campaigners] were organizing people in Mudon town, they faced a problem with authorities because they [the AMRDP] informed the [Election] Commission that they would give a speech with two people. In the campaign meeting, when the audience asked a question of their party, one of their members, whose name had not been given to the authorities, talked to the public, so the authorities gave a warning to their party,” a Mudon town witness reported.

“I would like to ask them why pro-junta party like Union Solidarity and Development and Ethnic Unity Party is free to do anything without any restriction from the government,” he added.

Despite pressure from Burma’s military regime, Nai Ngwe Thein, the leader of the AMRDP, believes that the party will ultimately be successful in gaining votes in Mon State.

“We will definitely win the [parliamentary] seat in Mon State if there are free and fair elections, because as far as we know, many people don’t like the pro-junta party. People will only vote to pro-junta party if they feel a threat [from the Burmese government]. We have to explain our people not to afraid to vote to our party,” he explained to IMNA’s field reporters in an interview this month.

According to IMNA field reporters observe situation in Mon State, many people are increasingly enthusiastic about casting their votes in favor of the AMRDP.

Nai Tun, a resident of Mudon Township, said, “Although we see this election is not fair, when the Mon party will come up for elections in our region, we will vote for them because our votes will go only for the Mon Party which we believe will care for our people.”

A political observer from Rangoon named Nai Htaw Mon explained to IMNA that even one member of the AMRDP in Burma’s parliament will likely increase the Mon people’s cultural rights.

“If we look at the Mon culture and literature aspect, it will be freer to learn and teach after the election [if even one AMRDP member is elected]. Politically speaking, if the Mon Party will properly get elected at last, with ten members, what they can do is be a voice in parliament with that amount of people.”

The AMRDP was formed in April 2010; the group is currently the only Mon political group campaigning in Mon State and Mon-controlled areas in the 2010 Burmese elections.

Shanghai Expo Shows off China’s Green Technology Effort

2010-07-27T01:37:00.000-07:00

Saturday, 19 June 2010 14:27 Banyar Kong Janoi

Download Innovative clean technology is the focus of Shanghai Expo 2010.

Solar energy, wind power, and nuclear energy are being promoted to the expected 70 million visitors to the Expo.

Many green technologies, especially energy saving home appliances, are on display which hopefully will benefit the Chinese city’s environment long after the event has closed.

Banyar Kong Janoi has a story from Shanghai.

Shuttle buses running on solar power move people around the giant Expo.

In the Chinese pavilion a film on how to make a city more environmentally friendly is showing.

Wind power, solar and nuclear energy technology are demonstrated to visitors.

A Shanghai resident, Xie Jing-hu, says he has seen changes for the better in his city.

“You see this from the cleaning-up of Suzhou river and the city tree planting program. Natural gas has also replaced coal gas in many areas which is cleaner and more environmentally friendly.”

Shanghai is one of China's most populous cities and one of the world's major ports.

The city's infrastructure and environmental problems include housing shortages and air and water pollution.

Heavy dependence on coal as a source of fuel for both industrial energy and residential heating in Shanghai has resulted in significant air pollution.

Also, a daily flow of approximately four million cubic meters of untreated human waste enters the Huangpu River creating serious water pollution.

But Shanghai resident, Xie Jing-hu, says the government is now putting pressure on industry to be cleaner.

“Factories that do not pay attention to the environmental protection laws are shut down. So now businesses have to solve the pollution problem. Rubbish is recycled to create electricity. We can only expect and we also believe that things will get better.”

According to officials since the Expo opened on May 1, the solar power station inside the zone has generated 1.2 million kilowatt-hours of power.

Water cooling technologies have saved nearly six million kilowatt-hours of power on air conditioning.

Lin Bin is a deputy Director of Jiefang Daily Group, a communist founded newspaper.

“People are concerned about green technology because it’s about their quality of life. But they also think about money. So there needs to be a balance between greenness and economic development.”

China is the world's leading manufacturer of solar panels.

But 95 percent of these are exported.

Dao Thi Thu Hang from Green Generation Network in Vietnam says China is a role model for the region.

“China is very good example of renewable energy development because China has very good policy to support business and other sectors to develop renewable energy. And I know today China is one of the leading countries in clean technology include clean energy.”

Earlier this year, the Chinese government announced over 100 billion US dollars in incentives for solar power businesses.

According to 2007 government figures, about 17 percent of China's electricity comes from renewable sources.

The country makes heavy demands on hydroelectricity with the largest number of dams in the world and more are being planned.

This hydropower is also being imported from neighboring countries such as Burma and Laos.

Nai Tiaung Pakao is a spokesperson for Mon Youth Progressive Organization, which is campaigning to boycott dams projects in Burma.

“It is good that China is planning to produce wind power and solar energy but at the same time, China invests a lot of money in hydropower plants in Burma. These not only destroy the environment but also create human rights abuses. For instance, when China wants to build a dam in Burma many people are forced from their homes. No one listens to their protests and there are no social or environmental assessments done.”

Back at the Shanghai Expo a school teacher from Beijing, Matt Moar, says China needs to play a positive role in reducing green house gases globally.

“Chinese government started on the green energy and green economics. We are very interesting to see what they do because they contribute a lot of pollution and they have not done so far, have not been really cooperative with the talks and green movement so we will see what they put on the spot.”

He said the Chinese green campaign in the Expo is a step forward.

“There are a lot of countries who don’t really know and are not concerned about recycling or new methods of energy. They are expecting a lot of people at the expo so many people will be educated about this.”

Burma Election Split Pro-democracy Groups

2010-07-26T23:56:00.000-07:00

Friday, 23 July 2010 19:28 Banyar Kong Janoi

Download A breakaway group from Burma's pro-democracy party the National League for Democracy (NLD) has been registered to run in elections due later this year.

The National Democratic Force's decision to run in the controversial elections has put it at odds with other supporters of the NLD.

Traditional pro-democracy leaders, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, refused to register the NLD for the poll.

As a result, the party was disbanded by the military authorities.

Banyar Kong Janoi in Rangoon hears the arguments from both sides.

In one of the cities most popular tea houses a group of men are having a heated discussion about the upcoming election.

Some believe it’s right that pro-democracy groups are joining the poll while others believe it’s a betrayal of the movement.

I take them to safe place to record their views.

Htaw Mon is a car broker in Rangoon.

He agrees with the National League for Democracy (NLD) decision to boycott the election.

“Even if the opposition wins half the seats in parliament they won’t have a chance to change anything. In order to make any decision, 75 percent of the members of parliaments have to agree. Besides, 25 percent of the seats automatically go to members of the military and we don’t know how many seats the pro-junta party will get. So the election means nothing.”

The NLD won a landslide victory in Burma's last elections in 1990, but the country's military rulers have refused to hand over power.

Aung Suu Kyi has spent most of the last two decades in some form of detention and she is currently under house arrest despite strong international pressure.

Her party has decided to boycott this years election to send a strong message that the new constitution and the poll is a sham.

U Aung Thein is a member of central executive committee of NLD.

“The 2008 constitution is to entrench the military regime. It is also against democratic principles. What’s more, if we look at the right of ethnicities, this constitution seems like federalism, in fact it’s not because the presidents and prime ministers have to be members of the military. So it is very hard for ethnic people to get a high position like prime minster. That’s why it is not democracy so we cannot accept it.”

NLD is demanding the military government change the constitution and make the polls free and fair.

U Aung Thein says they are ready to take-part if that happens.

“We want to change electoral laws. The constitution should be redrafted and the dialogue should be called among the political parties and ethnic groups for national reconciliation. The election commission should not be controlled by any political party. Now as the election commission has to dance for junta, how they can do their job freely? How could we take part in the election under these circumstance?”

But not all pro-democracy activists agree.

The NLDs decision not to re-register to contest in this year’s election put it at odds with some of its supporters.

So they formed a break-away party called the National Democratic Force.

U Khin Maung Swe is the leader of the party. I spoke to him on the phone as it was too dangerous for us to meet in person.

“We know this is not going to be a fair election but we have to move on from that. If we have legislature power we can act as a check and balance to the government. If we just say “The election is not free or fair” and boycott it the military government will rule forever. According to constitution if no one challenges the military government they will win.”

He says people need a political party to stand with them.

“Our Burmese people need change. That’s why we want to give them some hope in politics. The political crisis, which they have suffered under for many years, must be solved in the parliament. We need political reconciliation. We believe all democratic forces, ethnic leaders, and the leaders of military who hold 25 percent of parliament’s seats will help turn this country into a democracy in the future.”

News that the new party had received a permit to run in the elections was broadcast on state media.

The state-run Myanma Ahlin newspaper said the National Democratic Force will join 37 other new political parties and five existing groups in contesting the poll.

U Khin Maung Swe says they want to work inside the system to create a socialist liberal democracy.

“We don’t believe our Burmese people can move to the liberal democracy so we will have to go with socialist liberalist democracy as our political setting with mixing market orientated economy. We want to boost people’s economy to increase the number of middle class people in the country.”

NLD supporters have accused the National Democratic Force of stealing their party symbol - a bamboo hat - in order to win votes.

But Khin Maung Swe said his party's symbol is not the same because it has two stars above the hat.

U Aung Thein from the NLD’s central executive committee says this election will only bring about more suffering.

“Only if an elected government is running the country that Burma can be changed. Now the junta is controlling any changes. It could take two or three decades before we see real change into Burma because the military has secured their position in the constitution to avoid facing justice for her violence acts. People have suffered and are suffering a lot.”

But on the streets of Rangoon there is some optimism about the election.

Mi Mow is a high school student in the capital.

“We haven’t seen any election before. It is very exciting to cast our vote. It is good for us to know that we can choose our leader.”

In next week’s program we will be hearing more some the residents of Rangoon about how they are feeling about the election and depsite the fact there is still no date for the poll our reporter takes a lot at the political campaigning that ‘s ready begun before.

Chinese funding freed Burma to participate in Shanghai Expo

2010-06-16T20:21:00.000-07:00

By Kong Janoi/ Shanghai

The Chinese government has subsidized the pavilions of developing countries to join the 184 Shanghai Expo.

The funding for the otherwise excluded countries comes as the expo also promises to give foreign nations and companies a chance to further develop business partnerships with China and Chinese companies.

A representative of Bangladesh Pavilion, Mohammad Abdul Halim, said they came to the expo through the expo committee arrangement.

“We did not even invest a single penny on this expo. We even get a salary from the expo committee,” he said. “We get a small building here but it is fine for us.”

According to Shanghai Expo official website the Chinese government spent US $58 billion on the Expo and related infrastructures in Shanghai.

Burma, which shares a border with China and tight economic connections, was invited to the expo this year. It is the first time isolated nations, such as Burma, North Korea, Zimbabwe and Iran, are participating in a world expo.

With the theme of the Shanghai Expo being, “A Better City, A Better Life”, these isolated nations, such as Burma, increase exposure for their culture’s heritage and relation to the economy of China.

These countries’ pavilions have not been popular amongst visitors due to the little amount invested on the pavilions and exhibitions. However some people are still coming to see these pavilions because they have had no lines in which to queue as compared to the more popular pavilions where visitors have had to wait several hours.

Inside the Burmese pavilion, a Hong Kong Tourist, Yuen man-yuk reported, “I felt strange when I saw those countries showing tourist-like attractions in the World Expo because I expected to see such hi-tech exhibitions in the Expo and other fascinating new inventions.”

The Burmese pavilion, which is part of the Joint Asia Group III, shares it’s building with Laos. The Burmese theme, entitled “Better Urbanization with Harmonized Eco-System”, is designed like a Mandalay palace inside, and features a hanging picture of Shwedagon pagoda as the background. In the pavilion local customs and culture are introduced. Additionally the pavilion hosts the sales of diamonds and other Burmese products.

However there are no Burmese staff present in the pavilion, compared to other countries have their own staffs to represent their country. Visitors have reported that due to the building’s size and little visual development, the “Better Urbanization with Harmonized Eco-System” takes five minutes visit.

The offer by China to fund Burma’s pavilion is telling, Nyo Ohn Myint, chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee for the National League for Democracy Librated Area (NLDLA), believes. Nyo Ohn Myint says that China wants to influence those countries in term of economy and politics.

“China has a lot of border trade [between the] Burmese and Chinese government,” notes Myint. “They want Burmese government to be more efficient and independent economically within the Chinese scope, So they can grow a Chinese economic empire. That is why the Burma [is] invited [to] the Expo.”

Xinhua, a Chinese government controlled news agency, said that China and Burma will sign a series of agreements to boost existing bilateral trade, which reached US $264 million this year.

Burma has faced economic sanctions form the United States and other western countries since 1990 when the ruling military junta refused to acknowledge the results of national election that overwhelmingly elected the opposing party, the National League for Democracy, led by noble laureate Aung San Su Kyi.

Since, the question of sanctions has been increasingly divided, as 20 years later the Burmese military regime remains in power and the Burmese economy remains stagnant.

Myint added, “The Burmese government exports only raw material like timber and some kinds of natural resources. China wants Burma to be more open minded to deal with the world because the sanctions are part of the problem in that Burma cannot co-exist the international economic sector. But that [also makes] China [the] only door for Burmese government to deal with international communities.”

For some visitors that attend the Burmese pavilion at the world expo, the Chinese effort to support Burma’s fledgling pavilion, is an opportunity for awareness. A United States tourist, Matt Maar, said the China effort inviting isolated countries to the Expo is a sign of a new step to solve their problems.

“It is good because isolation is not going to solve the problem. They should be given a chance see and realize [what] benefit there is to open their countries. I think the move by China is on right track.”

Shanghai World Expo: A Better Life?

2010-06-16T20:15:00.000-07:00

Sunday, 06 June 2010 14:04 Banyar Kong Janoi

Download The Chinese government has spent nearly 60 Billion US dollars on it’s World Expo in Shanghai.

It’s on for 184 days and China is using it to show off its remarkable economic growth.

The expo also promises to give foreign nations and companies a chance to further develop business partnerships with China and Chinese companies.

Banyar Kong Janoi is at the Expo for Asia Calling.

Thousands of people are crowded in front of the gate.

Security guards are checking every person. Water and liquid are not allowed in. Notebook computers are scanned.

More than 190 countries and more than 50 international organizations have registered to make this the largest ever World Expo.

China expects almost 100 foreign leaders and millions of people from across the world to come and see the show.

Already there are long queues to get inside the pavilions.

It can take hours to get into popular ones from Japan, Germany, Saudi Arabia and South Korea.

Inside these pavilions, visitors experience the current and future urban life of the country by way of images and videos projected onto screens along the corridors.

Environmental protection is a common theme.

Hi-tech wind power and solar energy models are being promoted. Riding bicycles instead of driving cars is encouraged.

Sailee from Hong Kong has come here to explore new innovation.

“Learn the culture of other countries and also hi-tech. But also some kind of Chinese people and other foreigners”

The African live show is amusing many vistors.

Three black singers in full song interact with the audience.

Many developing countries are taking part in this year’s expo.

Mohammad Abdul Halim is a Bangladesh Pavilion representative.

“We have gained experience visiting different pavilions that how development their economy, history, culture, and even manufacture capacity. Then We can compare with our capacity. We have an opportunity to do how to develop farther in the capacity of Bangladesh so this is the best forum.”

He said the Expo is a symbol of China’s global influence.

“I think it is one of the greatest opportunity for China to show case this power because you know. China is fast forward country. It is going to dominate the world in term of economy. You know China is the pick of economic development: resource mobilization is highest pick so China is showing how powerful the country is economically, technologically, culture heritage all the things."

Halim see China as a role model for Bangladesh and another developing countries.

“Because of China develop in the fastest rate. They are using their resources in the greater way. They are very much environment conscious also. So Bangladesh as a developing country should fellow China on their development activities.”

The Expos theme song ‘a better city a better life’ can be hear throughout the park.

Shanghai resident Li Ping is happy with the rapid development taking place in her city.

“The situation now is far much better than before and definitely this slogan “better city better life” will be realized in the future since the world exposition brings with it advanced knowledge from the developed countries which will facilitate the realization of this version.”

But for some people the Expo has made their life harder.

Over ten thousands families were relocated to other areas to build the Expo.

Even though many of them received compensation, they are still struggling to find somewhere to live due to the soaring property prices.

Standing out side the Expo gates 70 year old, Xie Jing-hu says he has not seen change for the better.

He is a factory worker who rents a small flat with his wife.

“World exposition is organized by the government who takes responsibility for our ordinary people. We expect an improvement of life. It is every one’s wish but now we face housing problem that we wish to be resolved. It seems to us that the government begins paying attention to this problem gradually; however we understand that this problem can only be solved slowly.”

Essay on Man's invention

2010-03-03T22:39:00.000-08:00

Man’s invention makes contribution to a wonderful place to live on the earth in term of new technology development. However, there is also a great danger of the earth which has been affected by human activity. Thus, protecting the nature of the earth is more important than taking advantage of natural environment to build a better place to live.

Some people believe that human creativity make a comfortable living because they can easily access to homes, cars, holidays and schools than the Stone Age people. In the past, people did not even have proper shelters to protect themselves from the strong weather but now they have everything they need. For example, in winter, people have winter clothes and heater. In summer, they install air-conditioning in their building. Transportation and communication are very convenient nowadays. In the past, people was using horse and traveled by foot from one place to another which consumed longer time but now because of new technology development, people even can travel to the moon. Also it only takes few hours from Asia to America. The form of communication was totally changed. During the monarchic era around 16^th century, people set a fire to signal a warming or to communicate between their troops. Now people can use phone, SMS, and Skape to communicate more accurately and efficiently. It can communicate instantly and it can even see face to face by video call or video chat. Consequently the world becomes a village. That’s why human activity is making a perfect world.

Even though the new invention of technology makes the world like the heaven, it destroys the natural environment on the earth. For instance, Air-conditioning produce cool and comfortable temperature inside building but at the same time it produces carbon dioxide which pollutes the environment. There are hundreds of thousands of air-conditioning producing carbon dioxide every day. Also greenhouse gases, cars and factories pollution which cause global warming today. When our earth is warming, the ice cap in the North Pole melts down so there is flooding in many countries like Philippine. The earthquake, volcano, and Tsunami are occurring as a result of destroying the nature of environment. Therefore, human activity is harming the environment.

Likewise, human activity cannot make a better place to live if their activities are harming or destroying the environment because without a better environment human cannot survive. The association between human and earth is like an egg and a hen. If there are no eggs, it cannot make a hen and if there are no hens, it cannot make an egg. Thus, In order to make a better place people have to make sure that they are not destroying the environment. Hence, people should not blind their eyes in the short term luxurious life. They also have to anticipate and take actions for long term consequence of the impact.

In conclusion, the correlation between new technology development and natural protection are always challenging to get a great solution. They both are controversial to mankind. I strongly believe that there is a way to make a better place without damaging our natural environment.

First experienced in Hong Kong Baptist University

2010-03-03T04:27:00.000-08:00

As I was strolling along a floor, I saw a sign written “Room 704”. I thought for a while and plunged in an electronic key and opened the door. I saw a middle age couple in the room. I tried to communicate with them but I did not understand what they were speaking. However with a gesture, I assumed that they wanted me to wait for awhile.

While I was waiting for my room to be ready, a man about 18 years old was walking towards me. He had short black hair and black eyes in the medium height. I assumed that the way he dressed make him look like a local in Hong Kong. He did not smile at me as he was gazing me and he voiced in Chinese.

“I don’t understand,” I told him.

“Oh you are international student,” he said “where are you from?”

“I am from Burma,” I replied but he seemed that he had no idea where Burma was. Then he began to introduce himself.

“My name is Kawai. I am a hall tutor in this floor. If you need some help please let me know.”

“Thank you Kawai. My name is xxx. Nice to meet you,” I responded.

My room was ready as I saw a signal from the couple so I took my belongings and entered the room. The room was cozy and well furnished for three people so the furniture are divided into three such as beds, kneels, and study tables sticking with a letter named A B C. Mine is the letter C so every things sticking with the letter C belonged to me. The bunk beds were decorated for two. Another bed was designed at a high position so the lower part could place a study table and kneel for a person. The room was really small to compare where I used to live in Thailand and Burma. I used to stay alone twice as bigger than as this room when I attended the meeting in Indonesia. Nevertheless, I realized that I was in Hong Kong and it was different to other places. People were struggling to get a place to live even worse than my room.

After I took a shower, I was thirsty. I could not see any water in a refrigerator so I went down to the lobby to buy a bottle of water. I inserted HK$ 5 coin into a retailer machine but it did not drop any bottle of water for me and it jammed. I called security for help but he can do nothing and requested me to drop a slip about the incident to a responsible person.

On the next morning, I gathered in the student residential hall’s canteen and had breakfast with other two Burmese students who were going to study at Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) the same as me. We were asked to meet a staff in the University International Office but we did not know how to get there. Luckily, a roommate of a Burmese student offered to guide us to go to the International Office so the problem was solved. On the way, we passed by a Chinese Medicine Building and Jockey Club building. The buildings were about 18 floors and had multiple rooms inside. In front of the Chinese Medicine building, there was a backyard which was grown some blossomed and greenish grasses. Next to the backyard, there was a small hill which hided the buildings from the southeast area. As we were talking and walking, we reached the international office. The office was not so far from the student residential hall. It was about 10 minutes walk. We entered into a lift and the student who guided us pressed a number 8. As we were walking toward the office, a young woman in mid 20s with fair complexion came out and greeted to us. She had read our name and tried to pronounce in Chinese accent.

“How is your flight?” she warmed us with lightly conversation.

“It was great”

Their team came out from their office to say hello to us. Their warmly welcome make us enjoyable in Hong Kong. I felt as I met old friends or family members when I met them. Our journey in studying began in Hong Kong. We are making new friends and adopting new lifestyle.

IT 1580

2010-03-01T21:26:00.001-08:00

I enrolled the course named IT 1580. It was useful for our daily life internet knowlage.

This post is for my class assignment.

Burma Military Regime Aimed to End Gambling in Society

2009-09-15T06:40:00.000-07:00

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Banyar Kong Janoi

The Burmese regimes slogan is "the land of gold" it implies that no one is struggling in Burma.

The military-government controls every aspect of people’s lives in the country.

All major enterprises are state-own. To do business in Burma you need to have connects to the ruling generals.

The State also tries to control freedom of expression and social morals.

Last month, the regime began a crack down on gambling.

From inside Burma King Kong Janoi reports.

People are crowed in a coffee shop watching the Thai Stock market on satellite TV.

Their interest is not in the performance of the stock market, but in the random, final two digits of the share price.

It’s called to two digits lottery and the winner numbers are calculated in the last minute before the stock market closes. This happens twice a day.

Among them is 30 year old Nai Shwe Htay.

"The reason why I gamble is I am not happy with my low income. I am impatient and want a big amount of money at once. I want to get married soon and I need money for my wedding. Also if I get a large amount of money I can start my own business.”

Each month he gambles 24 US dollars in the hope of winning about 1000 US dollar but so far he has never won.

Gambling is epidemic among Burma's poor, people from the villagers travel to cities just to gamble.

Some go to the temple asking the monk what number will come up next.

If they run out of money the gamble their house, land and businesses.

Layi Mon has watched her neighbors ruined by gambling.

"She ended up committing suicide after she lost everything through gambling and couldn’t pay her debts. And another one her life was destroyed. She had to sell all properties in order to pay off her debt. Now she runs a small roadside shop selling food to survive.”

To address the problem the Burmese military has launched a crack-down on gambling.

The gambling law of 1986 aims to improve Burmese society.

Police have been told to arrest people found gambling. The maximum sentence is two years in Jail.

A public information campaign is also running. There are billboards and signs across the country saying ‘Work with us to wipe out gambling’.

But gambler Non Tama says the authorities and particularly the police are part of the problem.

"They always claim when they arrest people for gambling that they are doing their duty and helping society but in fact they are just looking for money. You can easily bribe them and get off all charges. It’s no big deal. So gambling is actually on the increase.”

Asia Calling tried to get a response from the Burmese police about these allegations.

We rang seven different police stations from the headquarters to local posts and no one was willing to talk.

In 2007 Transparency International named Burma as one of the most corrupted countries in the world.

Due to corruption and mismanagement of the country’s economy unemployment is very high.

The average annual income is less than 400 US dollars.

Hundreds of Thousands of people leave the country every year in order to find jobs in neighbor countries like Thailand.

In coffee shop in the Karen State, unemployed men are trying to guess the next number.

They write down digits and try to logically work it out.

Gambler Nai Mon says the government needs to address the root causes of the gambling problem.

"If people had jobs they wouldn’t gamble so much. I would be busy with my job and wouldn’t have time to gamble. If the government wants to stop the practice they need to improve the economy and focus on creating jobs and spreading the wealth around and improving the living standards of the general population.”

The Burmese military government decline to talk to Asia Calling.

However a lawyer who wants to be unnamed from Burma says this is the law that is good for society.

"When the people gamble, it can destroy public morality because after they lost every thing, they could become thieves and robbers so this law have to introduce to society."

Burma’s Armed Ethnic Groups to Step up Resistance

2009-09-01T06:49:00.000-07:00

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Burma's armed ethnic groups and ceasefire groups are vowing to unite to fight against government forces in the lead up to next year’s election.

According to Burma’s new constitution, all ceasefire groups must operate under the command of the military government.

However, most ceasefire groups have rejected the offer to work as government border patrol units and say they will maintain their army to protect their own people.

As Banyar Kong Janoi reports The New Mon State party and other ethnic groups say they will not accept any policy that doesn’t benefit their people.

Mon villagers dressed in their ethnic colors of red and white gather to celebrate their 62nd revolutionary day.

People sing the Mon National song.

This is the anniversary of the Mon uprising for self-determination against the Burmese government.

Mi Layi Mon says the dream of an independent Mon state is being kept alive by her generation.

“The rights of our people are in the hands of our youth because the youth play a very important role and they are very active in the political movement. So in the future the youth like us will promote ideology and education and we will get what we want."

The New Mon State Party fought an armed struggle for independence against the Burmese junta for over five decades.

But in 1995 it accepted a ceasefire agreement offered by the military regime.

Mon Sone, a resident in Karen State, says signing the ceasefire agreement was the right thing to do at the time.

"We do not blame the NMSP for signing that deal because war is not going to achieve our goal. Fighting will only destroy our people and send us further into poverty. During the conflict years we couldn’t maintain our culture, language or religion because we were on the run all the time. So the idea is we that we would try to achieve our political goals through negotiation.”

But he says the military regime has not kept up their side of the deal.

Now under the country’s new constitution the military regime is demanding all ceasefire groups must operate under the command of the military government.

They want the Mon armed wing to act as a border patrol. Mon Sone says they will never do this.

"The New Mon State Party has been fighting for the rights of the Mon people for long time. We honour and respect what they have done but if they accept the juntas offer and start working for them their honour will disappear right a way. So we very proud that they rejected this offer.”

One of ceasefire group, the Kachin Independence Organization, is preparing to fight if the junta puts pressure on them to become a border guard force.

But the New Mon State Party says they are committed to resolving the stand-off in a peaceful way.

Nai Hong Sa Boung Khine is a NMSP spokesperson.

"For us, we will still maintain ceasefire agreement but if the regime demand more pressure more on us we will have to consider in another way. So far, we would love to solve it politically through negotiation not by fighting with armed.”

The government is by stepping up confrontation against opposition groups.

The government's latest offensive against the Karen National Union, which began in June, has resulted in nearly 5000 Karen fleeing across the border into Thailand.

The conflict between the Burmese government and the KNU, which has stretched over 60 years, is thought to be one of the world's longest running.

Mahn Nyien Maung is a central committee member of Karen National Union armed force.

"If the regime is committed to building peace to avoid civil war them we will go into negotiations with them. But they are not thinking about returning Burma to the democratic path or about the rights of ethnic groups they are only thinking about how long they will be in power for.”

The military government is promising that elections will take place next year. If they go ahead they will be the first democratic vote since 1990.

Aung San Suu Kyi won that election but was never allowed to rule. The extension of her house arrest this month means she will be unable to contest next year’s vote.

Political science student Chan Jit in the Mon state says there are two ways to change in Burma a people’s uprising for a slow transitional change.

"For instance, say, if American stops its sanctions and begins doing Business with Burmese people and Burmese government and then the middle class would become larger by then. This evolution would mean the military has to give up their power slowly.”

Angry and Sadness in Burma After Aung San Suu Kyi Verdict

2009-08-17T02:54:00.000-07:00

Sunday, 16 August 2009 17:54 Banyor Kong Janoi

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Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced this week to an additional 18 months under house arrest.

She was charged with breaching the terms of her house arrest by harboring an American tourist who swam across a lake bordering her villa and entered her heavily guarded property uninvited.

In the Mon State, people are watching exiled television to get the news about the trial and are upset and frustrated.

Our correspondent Banyor Kong Janoi reports from Mon State.

In a coffee shop in Mon State people are discussing the Suu Kyi verdict.

A man who drives a motorcycle found out the news while watching exiled television the Democratic Voice of Burma in a secret place.

Some people try to silence him. It is risky to talk about political issues in public.

While others like Nai Oo join in the debate saying the regime is creating enemies of the people.

We go to a safe place so he can talk more.

“Now we can see in every coffee shop people are discussing Daw Suu Kyi trial. We are very angry with the regime because they never do anything good for the country. Their cruelty has gone too far it’s time to begin repairing our nation.”

Nai Oo says nobody gets a fair trial in Burma.

“It is really strange with the Suu Kyi trial because in my opinion she is nice person, we accept her as our leader. She did not do any bad things. It just that they want to remove her from the 2010 election.”

Indeed the ruling means that she will not be able to take part in junta’s planned elections next year.

They will be the first vote since 1990, when her party won overwhelmingly but was never allowed to take power.

Community leader in the Mon State Nai Lawi says the military regime is very worried Suu Kyi will win again.

“At the moment, they are afraid of her being an obstacle for their election if she free. They will release Daw Aung San Suu Kyi if when she can do no harm to them when they can control the country as they wish and they can generate their military rule forever.”

Her conviction and continued detention were condemned by world leaders and sparked demonstrations in cities from London to Japan.

The European Union is preparing new sanctions and a group of Nobel laureates, including the Dalai Lama has called on the UN Security Council to take strong action against the country.

But Community leader Nai Lawi is not convinced this will affect the junta.

“They will not listen to anyone when it comes to releasing Daw Suu and other political prisoners. They will not care if the International community does not recognize their election, they don't care; they will do whatever they want.”

New Mon State party spokesperson Hong Sa Boung Khine says Suu Kyi must be released in order to solve the political dead-lock in the country.

“She has one of most important the political roles to play in Burma. Without her we can’t move forward.”

Back in the coffee shop Nai Oo says the people will stage another uprising against the military soon.

"If the military regime can’t solve our economic and political problems there will be another revolution again but I don’t know when and how. But at that time, we need to be ready to achieve our goal."

New Military Offensive Creates More Misery for Burma’s Karen People

2009-06-29T06:59:00.000-07:00

Saturday, 27 June 2009 17:08 Kong Janoi

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We go now to the Thai Burma border, where thousands of Burmese, ethnic Karen people have fled to recent weeks, following an escalation of fighting between Karen rebels the Burmese army and their former allies the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army.

Rebels claim that this latest offensive is aimed at wiping out any opposition ahead of the so-called multi-party elections scheduled for 2010.

About 4,000 refugees, mostly women and children have arrived since the offensive began in the first week of June.

They have brought little with them except stories of trauma and suffering and fears for those left behind, which they shared with our reporter Kong Janoi. It is the wet season in Mae On Son, a terrible time to be living in temporary shelters.

A sick child is crying. A thin plastic sheet is the only protection for this medical clinic. There is only one health work to care for the sick. Nan Hti arrived recently after the fight reached her village.

“After we heard gun fire, we all ran from our village, we could not take anything with us. I was struggling to run because I had five children with me. One child from our group died on the way while because of malaria.”

The refugees are taking shelter in a new camp about one hundred kilometers north of Mae Sot, a border town where around 100 hundred thousand other Karen refugees have settled.

It’s a thirty-minute hike up the mountain to reach the new camp.

Gun-fire from clashes between Burmese troops and Karen rebels can be heard in the distance.

The Burmese troops began this latest offensive against the Karen National Union rebels in early June after the rebel’s resisted attempts by the Junta, who is allied with the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) to establish a border force.

The rebels earlier rejected a ceasefire offer from the junta and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, which demanded that the groups unite under one banner to establish a ‘Border Guard’ force.

The rebels say they would lose their army if they accepted the junta’s offer. They believe that their intention is to wipe out all opposition ahead of the promised multi-party elections scheduled for 2010.

Naw Paw Gay from the Karen Information Center says the Burmese troops and DKBA want to rid the area of Karen rebels troops in order to make border guard troop after coming election.

“This offensive against the Karen rebels KNU is amid to clear KNU from this area. As the junta constitution, in coming 2010 election, there were no aim groups in Burma so the groups can co-operate with junta as border guard otherwise the Burmese troops will fight them to end of their enemies. DKBA accepted junta policy as border guard so they have been collaborating with Burmese troop an offensive KNU."

To help there cause the Karen Information Center is distributing a video recording of fighting on the frontline.

Mahn Nyien Maung a Central committee member of the rebel group says they will fight until the end. He is wants all the people of Burma to rise up against military rule.

"As everybody knows the military government in Burma has done nothing to promote the transition to democracy and they offer no ethnic rights. They even kill our respected, innocent monks so they definitely don’t care about the people. All ethnic groups and civilians should unite. We should not be divided even though our enemy uses game amongst us and we should fight together to end military brutal rule and for democracy and ethnic rights in Burma.”

The KNU has been fighting for greater autonomy from Myanmar's central government for more than 60 years.

In a separate statement the Karen Women Organization (KWO) said two young Karen women were raped and murdered last week by Burmese soldiers.

Burmese soldiers captured the two women, aged 17 and 18, after their husbands fled into the jungle. One of them was pregnant whilst the other was a mother of a six-month old baby.

Karen Women’s Organisation secretary Dah Eh Kler says ASEAN countries should do more to help her people.

“We appeal to the international communities to put pressure on the junta over this latest offensive. Some countries may say it is a domestic problem but it is spreading to all our neighbor countries. Burma is an ASEAN member and ASEAN has a responsibility concerning human right abuses and escalating wars.”

The junta is reported to have assembled more troops in the region in recent days. The rebels are reported to have withdrawn from some strongholds after suffering heavy causalities.

Meanwhile more and more people are arriving at Mae On Son camp. More than 4,000 have come so far.

This is in addition to the 100,000 sheltering in camps to the south and nearly half a million, according to aid agencies, who are displaced inside eastern Burma.

Thai authorities and other aid agencies are struggling to provide essential aid.

Nan Hti doesn't know what to do next.

“We are just sitting here and thinking. If there is peace in my village I will go back. We love our home and we want to stay there. We left our farms and struggles there. We cannot run from the war anymore. It is too hard. We just want peace to last forever.”

Burmese Refugees Celebrate Birthday of Imprisoned Suu Kyi

2009-06-21T21:01:00.000-07:00

Saturday, 20 June 2009 19:17 Kong Janoi

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Burmese democracy hero Daw Aung San Suu Kyi turned 64 last Friday the 19th of June.

But there were unlikely to be celebrations at the notorious Insein prison, in the Burmese capital Yangon, where Suu Kyi remains imprisoned.

She is on trial for charges of violating the terms of her house arrest by harboring an American who swam uninvited to her lakeside home last month.

The trial is widely viewed as an excuse to keep her locked up until elections, scheduled for next year are held. U.N. human-rights investigators have condemned her arrest, labeling it a "flagrant" rights violation.

In Mae Sot, on the Thai Burma border, thousands of Burmese refugees honored Suu Kyi’s struggle with celebrations and ceremonies marking her birthday.

Asia Calling reporter Kong Janoi was there for the celebrations and filed this report.

Hundreds of Burmese refugees joined celebrations for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s 64th birthday in Mae Sot.

In music and dance and with words of praise they honored her efforts to achieve democracy in their homeland.

U Zaw Wot is convinced that only she can end the military junta’s rule.

“Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is the only current leader in Burma who is known as a political and moral force. She is respected by many and I think only she can deliver democracy for the Burmese and also solve ethnic issues.”

But others are more cautious.

U Kyaw Han, a former chairman of the All Student Rakhine Congress says Ms Suu Kyi is certainly a democracy hero but she may not be able to resolve Burma’s ethnic divisions. He believes ethnic people need to stand up for themselves.

“We have to separate the two sides of Suu Kyi’s leadership. She is perfect to lead Burma’s democracy movement, but I don't think she will be able to represent the interests of all ethnics groups in Burma.”

Nan Dah Eh Kler, a secretary of Karen Women Organization says it is too soon to know what Ms Suu Kyi can do for Karen people.

“It is hard to say whether Ms Suu Kyi represents the Karen people because she has not met Karen civilians or had discussions with them about their problems. But as we observed in her speechs in the past, she did mention ethnic problems. We have to wait and see if she can solve these when the time comes.”

Regardless of Ms Suu Kyi’s track record on issues of ethnic divide it is clear that, for Burmese women in particular, she is a potent symbol of their struggle for human rights.

Nan Dah says her organization is using the day of her birth, to mark the struggles of all women in Burma.

“All along the border, we are participating with people and other civil society organizations in the campaign for Ms Suu Kyi’s release. There is no justice at all in her arrest. It shows that in Burma, women do not have protection and always become victims. We can not image how women are abused in the rural areas and war zones in Burma.”

In Mae Sot, women planted trees and released birds to mark the passing of her 64th year and hopes for her speedy release from prison.

Their condemnation is an echo of the outrage and concern expressed by leaders and human rights groups across the world.

Tin Tin Aung from the Women’s League of Burma says if the military junta is sincere in its commitment to a so called roadmap for democracy, it must free Ms Suu Kyi.

“Without the release Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, there will be no inclusive political process and there will be no peaceful transition and no reconciliation and also no lauching of peace and democracy in Burma. So it is important to call international communities to demand for release Aung San Suu Kyi also all political prisoners, to start a dialogue process, review this 2008 constitution and condemn and denounce coming the 2010 elections.”

After the Deluge: Burmese Remember Nargis One Year On

2009-05-10T07:18:00.000-07:00

May 9th, 2009 by Kong Janoi

Asia Calling

Nearly one year after cyclone Nargis struck Burma’s Irrawaddy Delta, killing more than a hundred thousand people, many are still without basic necessities such as drinking water.

The United Nations says small gains have been made but the country and its people are still in desperate need of foreign assistance.

In Bangkok our reporter Kong Janoi spoke with aid groups still working in the Delta and produced this report.

Members of Bangkok’s Burmese community gathered in the Thai capital to mark the one year anniversary of the cyclone which swept across Burma’s Irrawaddy Delta on May the 2nd last year, killing more than 130,000 people.

This song was composed in its wake; it describes the powerful storm and the death and destruction it caused.

For two days Nargis battered the Irrawaddy. What the gusts of wind didn’t destroy was swept away by a massive tidal surge. Residents in the fertile rice-growing region, already among the poorest in the world, could do little to escape. Some 2.4 million were left homeless, their crops and animals destroyed.

Now one year on, some survivors say they are struggling to find the bare necessities. A Ryee Mya lost her husband in the disaster.

Tens of thousands of fishermen lost boats and nets in the disaster.

Ba Twe was one of them. He still can’t work because his boat and net have yet to be replaced.

“We don’t have any work to do now. We have no fishing nets. Nobody has been able to go back to work yet. In this village there are about 30 households, all of them have been unable to rebuild their houses. The plastic covering my hut, I won it in a lottery. I am lucky. They don’t have enough plastic for everyone so they have to distribute it by a lottery system.”

Farmers lost their rice crops and vast stretches of land were left unusable after being contaminated with sea-water. Many have been unable to pay back loans or find the funds to purchase new seeds, water buffaloes and equipment to plant crops.

U Poe Hla says he is still waiting for assistance promised by the government.

“We are all farmers here, we don’t have any supplies or money for farming. We need machines, gasoline or cows to grow rice. The government said they will provide us with credit but still we have not received it yet.”

The United Nations says some gains have been made. Almost all the children separated from their parents or orphaned have been reunited with their families or placed with new carers.

But more than half a million people are without adequate shelter, a big concern as the country approaches another monsoon season. And 350,000 people are still receiving food assistance.

Andrew Kirkwood is the director of Save the Children Fund in Burma. He says his organization is working overtime to provide drinking water for people in the Delta region.

“Save the children imported 10 machines to make water from out of salt water, plus three additional water treatment plants, those machine are working 24 hours a day. We are putting water into boat with big rubber platter and distributing water on a daily basis for 660,000 people in the delta. The amount water we are distributing about three liter per person, per day. It is the absolute minimum needed for survival.”

In the weeks after the disaster, the Burmese military government was condemned by the international community for its refusal to let foreign assistance into the country. Eventually some foreign workers were given access and many still remain there.

Frank Smithius is the Director of Medecins Sans Frontieres in Burma. He says foreign aids workers still face restrictions.

“It is not better than it was before Nargis, but it is also not worse than before Nargis. In Myanmar there are a numerous aresa that are not accessible for foreign organizations.”

What all aid agencies will say is that Burma is in desperate need of foreign donations. They point to the fact that donors have given 315 million dollars in aid - less than half of what the United Nations requested. By contrast the international community donated 12 billion dollars after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which killed more than 200,000 people.

NGO’s say ongoing sanctions against the military junta often discourage people from donating to funds to assist Burma. The country receives just two dollars-eighty in foreign per head of population each year. Next door, the people of Laos receive 49 dollars per head.

Frank Smithius says the international community needs to change its attitude towards Burma.

“The whole country has been ignored and that’s very unfortunate. In other third-world countries there is a lot of international aid, not in Myanmar. Nargis might have been positive trigger to change that for the future, I really hope so because the needs in the whole country are enormous and there are tens of thousands of people dying each year of diseases that are very easy to treat and I don’t think there is a good excuse for that.“

Back From the Brink: Thai Protests End, For Now

2009-04-21T03:20:00.000-07:00

Asia Calling

April 18th, 2009 by King Kong Janoi

After three weeks of protests, supporters of Thailand’s exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, known as the Red-Shirts, grew increasingly restless this week, embarking on what they described as the final stage of their revolution; attempting to force the resignation of current Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his government.

After storming a hotel in the resort town of Pattaya and forcing the cancellation of the ASEAN summit it seemed that Thailand was once again on the verge of the chaos caused by the opposition Yellow-Shirts who took siege of Bangkok’s International Airport late last year.

Two protestors are reported to have died in clashes with police and the military but in less than 48 hours the action forced the protesters to back down and return to their villages…for now.

The latest episode has left many wondering how Thailand can break the cycle of political unrest that has gripped the nation for more than two years and continues to damage its already fragile economy.

Asia Calling’s Kong Janoi filed an update from the capital Bangkok.

Tears and disappointment filled Ratchadamnoen Nok Avenue on Tuesday as thousands of frustrated Red-Shirts packed up their belongings, abandoning what was supposed to have been their “final stand” at Government House.

After two days of escalating street battles, the protesters woke on Tuesday morning to find the military had surrounded their main camp in Bangkok.

United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) core leader Waeng Tojitrak says they negotiated a peaceful exit with the military.

“When we heard there was violence and some deaths and third parties accusing the red-shirts of being violent we decided to negotiate with the soldiers to send our supporters home safely. We will take some time out to refresh our strategy. The fight for democracy in Thailand will never end until Thailand becomes a free and fair democracy.”

Dr Tosaporn Sererak a former MP and Red-Shirt supporter warned the crisis wasn’t over.

“It is not over. They will continue their fight, there are still a lot of demonstrations at the small point at Snam Laung and every where. We have to fight in the street by the people and parliament. We don’t have a true democracy.”

The latest stand-off is yet another blow to Thailand’s economy, which is already feeling the effects of the global financial crisis.

The University of Thailand’s Chamber of Commerce, Economic and Business Forecasting Center estimates that the Thai will shrink by more than 5 or 6 percent this year, particularly if the political fighting continues.

Dr Paul Tanongpo is an economics professor at Rangsit University in Bangkok. He says Thailand will suffer longer from the crisis because of the protests.

“Economically Thailand has already been injured by the global financial crisis. The current political instability in the country will continue to further depress economic outlook for the country, the various businesses, particular tourism. Overall the economic outlook for Thailand is not that positive even prior to the political protesta, the government has already suggested new graduates from Thai universities, approximately seven hundred thousand for 2009, will be unemployed. This political turmoil will further depress economically. It will take Thailand another year to recover from the current situation.”

Many Thai’s are weary of the ongoing political turmoil.

In a recent survey by the Assumption University in Bangkok, 74 percent of Thai’s questioned said they are sick of politics.

But many, particularly the poor in rural areas, support the Red-Shirts. Thaksin Shinawatra was popular for lifting rural incomes, cracking down on drugs and paying off the country’s debts to the International Monetary Fund.

Rural dwellers in the North are resentful of perceived elitists in Bangkok; notably the judiciary, the military and the powerful advisers of King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

In Bangkok, papaya salad seller Wasarnee believes the red-shirts were fighting for her rights too.

“The Red shits can not improve the economy but if we can achieve real democracy, we can build a strong economy. The Red shits are fighting for poor people not for themselves. Right now everything is expensive and this government is doing little to help the economy.

The question many are asking now is how long this latest ceasefire will last.

Dr Paul Tanongpo says there is now an established cycle of political unrest in Thailand.

“This type of cycle has become part of Thai political culture. After dissolution of the protests and several days to come, there will be a short period of relative peace but the protests will continue. A part of the protest and catalyst of the protests comes from outside, former Prime Minister Thaksin, so long as he continues to support the problems inside the country there will continue to be protests of this type, even if it leads to the unseating of the current government and the Red side wins the Yellow side will come out and continue the cycle. Thailand will continue to suffer and destroy its own image.”

He says the problems will remain until Thai politicians agree to accept each other and work together.

“The problem of Thailand today is not so much about Red Shirts or Yellow shirts, it has to do with political culture of certain leaders or political partys of Thailand who are not willing to accept the vote of the people, insisting that if even a majority of the vote goes to a certain party, insisting that the party should be dissolved. In Democratic systems, politicians must be able accept and be willing to accept the vote of the people, not to monopolise and look for reason’s to dissolve the government.”

Arrest warrant s have been issued for Thaksin Shinawatra and dozens of other Red-Shirts for their role in inciting the protests.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva says elections will be called once stability has been restored. He also pledged to seek agreement in the government on unspecified political reforms.

Fresh

2009-04-02T22:29:00.000-07:00

People want to relax when they tired
Our mind get refresh when feel there is nothing dilemma
The mind flooding on the air like the boat in the water

However if you put yourself in the wrong place, you will never get never relax because of the sense and atmosphere.

What will happen if you mind get dark all the time?
What will happen if you soul did not get refresh?
Where is happiness if those are obstacle in your life?

Is it because you or because of me?

ဘ၀လမ္း

2009-04-02T03:27:00.000-07:00

ငါမေတြ႕ခ်င္တဲ့သူေတြနဲ႕ ဘယ္ေတာ့မွ မေတြ႕ပါရေစနဲ႕

ငါမျမင္ခ်င္သူေတြနဲ႕လဲ ဘယ္ေတာ့မွ မဆံုပါရေစနဲ႕

ငါမၾကိဳက္တဲ့သူေတြကိုလဲ ဘယ္ေတာ့မွ မၾကည့္ပါရေစနဲ႕

ငါဟာ မျပံဳးတတ္တဲ့ မ်က္ကန္းတစ္ေယာက္ပါပဲ

ဒါေပမယ့္ သူတို႕ရဲ့အလည္မွာ ငါရွိေနဆဲ

ဒါေပမယ့္ ငါသူတို႕နဲ႕ ခပ္ကင္းကင္းေနနုိင္ပါရဲ့

ဒါေပမယ့္ သူတုိ႕ကို ငါျမင္ေနရတုန္းပဲ ္

ငါ့မ်က္လံုးအစံုက ကန္းေနေပမယ့္ ငါ့အေပၚ သူတုိ႕ ျပဳမူ သမ် လုပ္ခဲ့သမ်ေတြကို ျပန္ေတြးတိုင္း ငါ့နာက်င္မူေတြကို ငါ့စိတ္ထဲက ျပန္ျမင္ေယာင္ အမွတ္ရေနတုန္းပဲ

သိပ္မၾကာခင္ကေလးကပဲ ငါ့လက္ကိုင္ဖုန္းေလးကို ေပါက္ခဲြြျပီး ငါ့စိတ္ေတြကို အဆံုးအထိ ေပါက္ကြဲလိုက္ေပမယ့္ သိပ္ေတာ့လည္း မထူးပါဘူး အခုခ်ိန္အထိကိုိ ငါ စိတ္ေတြကို ငါတည္ျငိမ္ေအာင္ မလုပ္နုိင္ေသးဘူး

ညတာေတြကလဲ ရွည္လ်ားလြန္းလိုက္တာမ်ားကြယ္ အိပ္မေပ်ာ္တဲ့ ငါ့အတြက္ ဘာအဓိပါယ္မွာကို မရွိေတာ့ဘူး။

ဘုရားေရ ငါငရဲျပည္ကို ေရာက္ေနရသလိုပါပဲလား လက္ေတြ႕ဘ၀မွာေတာ့ လူေတြဟာ တစ္ခ်ိဳ႕ အခ်ိန္ပိုင္းေတြေလာက္ပဲ ငရဲျပည္က လြတ္ေျမာက္ခြင့္ရမယ္ ထင္ပါရဲ့

ဒီေတာ့ မင္းစိတ္ေတြ ျပန္ျပီး ထူေထာင္နိုင္ဖို႕ မင္းစိ္တ္ကို မင္းကိုယ္တုိင္ပဲ တည္ေဆာက္ရမွာပဲ..

ဘာသာျပန္၊ မဆုမြန္

Way of life

2009-03-30T10:26:00.000-07:00

Never meet people who I don't want to
Never see people who I don't want to
Never look people who I don't want to
Never smile I am blind

But I am in the middle of them.
But I can avoid them
But I still see them

Even my eyes is blind, my mind is awake it make to think what they did to me.

I can not stand anymore destroy phone nothing different from a few minutes ago.

Night pass long, sleeplessness, nothing mean to me.

Oh hell, some time people suffering hell in the present life.

You have to build your mind up

BRIDGE to better learning

2009-03-27T20:38:00.000-07:00

Southeast Asian educators discuss language of instruction in schools

By: ABIGAIL CUALES LANCETA

Published: 24/03/2009 at 12:00 AM

Bangkok Post

The popular wooden bridge of the Mon community in Sangkhla Buri, Kanchanaburi province, stands as a symbol of the Mon peoples' aspiration to traverse the way to a better life and at the same time preserve their birthright.

Mon students enjoy their walk to school. PHOTOS COURTESY OF SEAMEO

Considered the longest wooden bridge in Thailand, the Mon Bridge, or Saphan Uttamanuson, is an enduring pathway that provides ease for Mon villagers to travel back and forth between the two ends of the Khao Laem lake as they go about their daily lives.

The same bridge serves about 1,200 Mon children who cross it every day to reach the Wat Wang Wiwekaram School, the only government institution of learning in the village.

Just like many other ethnic and linguistic minority people in Southeast Asia, the Mon often face barriers to quality basic education.

Oftentimes, Mon children have difficulty in schools because the language of instruction is different from what they speak at home.

In an attempt to facilitate teaching and learning among the Mon children, the school introduced the Mon-Thai Bilingual Programme, where the Mon language is used as the language of instruction when teaching younger children.

The approach allows teachers to use the native language of the children to introduce general learning and use it to bridge to the Thai language.

Only a year old, the learning innovation has made a big difference in the performances and attitudes of the children.

Their parents speak of the abundant benefits from the new manner of teaching introduced to their little ones.

Use of mother tongue

Persuaded by the nobility of the initiative, the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation (Seameo) Secretariat, which is based in Bangkok, visited the site and captured visual documentation of the school and its community.

The story found its way through the Seameo meeting of senior education officials from the Southeast Asian countries that was held from Feb 24 to 26 in Bangkok. Presented in cooperation with Thailand's Ministry of Education and the Foundation for Applied Linguistics, the implementation strategy and immediate outcomes of the Mon-Thai Bilingual Programme inspired educators from other Southeast Asian countries to adopt and adapt its basic principles to their own academic programmes.

The Mon Bridge or ‘Saphan Uttamanuson’.

Confronted with unique and diverse linguistic situations, Southeast Asian countries speak of the same need to provide access to quality basic education for all, including minority groups and the linguistically disadvantaged.

Country representatives shared good and functioning examples of using the first language or the mother tongue of the learner to connect to the learning of a second or national language. The examples reveal that a strong foundation in the first language and a good bridge to the second language builds successful, lifelong learners in both languages. At the same time, this preserves the people's culture and the language itself.

Collaboration

The meeting identified exemplars and assessed their usability. Among the many good practices shared at the meeting was the use of both Thai and Pattani Malay in teaching and learning in the southern provinces of Thailand, including Songkhla, Pattani, Narathiwat and Satun provinces.

Other good examples included the use of lingua franca, or the commonly spoken language in a region, such as in the Philippines, or the bilingual literacy programme for the Khmou minority in Laos, or the use of the Sudanese language in Indonesian classrooms.

The countries expressed enthusiasm to work further with Seameo in pursuing collaborative projects to implement the good practices shared at the meeting.

Organised by the Seameo Secretariat and with support from the World Bank, the meeting aimed at providing the opportunity to explore how Southeast Asian countries, through appropriate language policies, can achieve Education for All (EFA) by widening access, reducing repetition of grade levels and dropout rates, and improving learning outcomes.

Those who attended the meeting include senior education officials and representatives from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam.

Representatives from several international non-government organisations (NGOs) provided a wider dimension in the discussions at the meeting. The NGOs comprised Care Cambodia, International Cooperation Cambodia, Mahidol University, Save the Children, Unesco Bangkok, Unesco Hanoi, Unicef, the World Bank, Summer Institute of Linguistics (known as SIL) International, Seameo Regional Centre for Educational Innovation and Technology, Seameo Regional Language Centre, and Seameo Regional Centre for Archaeology and Fine Arts.

"This is the very essence of this gathering. We have to showcase good and functioning examples of using the native language of the child at the beginning of schooling to usher him [or her] slowly to learn in a new language. This approach will greatly improve learning," explained Seameo Secretariat director Dr Ahamad bin Sipon.

Just like the expressions of satisfaction from the meeting's participants regarding their newly found knowledge, the voices of the Mon children echo through the village, giving voice to the joy of learning in school. And besides their old but unfailing wooden bridge, the Mon people have found a new bridge that will lead them to wider horizons.

The use of their very own Mon language in school will surely connect the young children to a greater world of learning through the Thai language. It will not only improve the learning outcomes of the Mon children, but will also help to keep the Mon legacy alive.

Abigail Cuales Lanceta is a programme officer in charge of information at the Seameo Secretariat in Bangkok. She has been a teacher and an education programme specialist working on various education development projects in the Philippines' Department of Education. Contact her at abigail@seameo.org .