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March 5 - 11, 2012

myanmartimes
Myanmars first international weekly Volume 31, No. 617 1200 Kyats

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Daw Aung San Suu Kyi waves to supporters during a by-election rally in Yangon Regions Thongwa township on February 26. Pic: AFP

Reps call on govt to uphold checks and balances


HLUTTAW representatives have weighed in on the deba te over the status of parliamentary committees, warning the government not to override the checks and balances enshrined in the 2008 constitution. The debate has apparently been sparked by growing disagreement between the government and Pyidaungsu Hluttaw over budget and national planning bills. Last month, Union AttorneyGeneral Dr Tun Shin informed the hluttaw that the Constitutional Tribunal was investigating whether the constitution defines committees, commissions and teams established by the Pyithu, Am y o tha and Pyidaung su hluttaws as Union-level bodies. If it decides they are not, these bodies could potentially lose the right to scrutinise Union-level bills such as the budget. The decision to seek the tribunals adjudication has raised concerns that the government is attempting to stifle criticism of important pieces of legislation, representative told The Myanmar Times last week. Parliamentary committees have to serve their duties, whether they are called union level or not. In completing these duties, the Union Government should cooperate with our committees. If not the legislative check and balance system will be lost, Pyithu Hluttaw Speaker Thura U Shwe Mann said at a press conference on February 20. He said that the hluttaws were operating within the laws. If [the government] does not agree with us, it will mean the democracy that we are trying to establish will not be alive. But we hope that from these events we will gain experience and eventually reach our goal. Pyidaungsu Hluttaw representatives were similarly critical of what they perceived to be an attempt to reduce oversight of the governments activities. I dont want to comment directly on the matter that the Constitutional Tribunal is handling. But [the status of parliamentary committees is] already contained in the 2008 constitution, said U Thein Nyunt, the Pyithu Hluttaw member for Thingangyun. He pointed to section 11(a), which states that the three branches of sovereign power namely, legislative power, executive power and judicial power are separated, to the extent possible, and exert reciprocal control, check and balance among themselves. He said that it was not the right time to be arguing when there are a lot of reform tasks to be done. As Pyithu Hluttaw Speaker Thura U Shwe Mann said, reform tasks will have to be carried out in collaboration. If we follow the democratic way, we should accept criticism and advice, we should be patient. But we have to check whether criticism is reasonable. If reasonable, accept it. If not, dont accept it. The union-level status of committees is also confirmed in the hluttaw laws and bylaws, another representative said. Daw Nan Wa Nu, the Pyithu Hluttaw representative from Kunhein, said the move to seek a Constitutional Tribunal ruling on the status of parliamentary committees had confused the budget approval process. Irrespective of the status of Pyidaungsu Hluttaw representatives, it is enshrined in law that we have the right to assess national plans, budgets and contract entered into with foreign countries, said the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party member. More page 4

NLD to build trust between army and people


By Win Ko Ko Latt in Shan State DAW Aung San Suu Kyi has called on the military to support the countrys fledgling democratic system. The National League for Democracy chair said during a one-day visit to southern Shan State on March 1 that she wanted to see better relations between the people and the Tatmadaw. I will say what the people dare not say, which is that we want our Tatmadaw to stand for democracy, she told supporters in Heho township on March 1. She also urged members of the Tatmadaw to vote for her party in the April 1 by-elections. I am the daughter of Bogyoke Aung San, father of independence. I was born into a Tatmadaw family. I want to see a warmer relationship between the people and Tatmadaw based on trust. She also urged people to vote based on the policy and tradition of a political party rather than personality. I request people openly to vote for my party. My party is also getting ready to obey the peoples wish, she said in Kalaw township. She said people need to have unity but not necessarily need to agree on everything. Respect and recognition of other cultures, traditions and languages was also important for national development. The basic requirement for national development is unity. We cannot establish a prosperous country without it. Our party also recognises the equal rights of ethnic people. We want to see our country as a genuine democratic union, she said. Rule of law is as important as internal peace. Our country cannot go as it did in the past. We need political, economical and social reform.

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Vietnam: Two decades of development lessons


By Adam McCarty THERE are striking parallels between the economy of Vietnam in the 1990s and that of Myanmar today. Of course there are also many differences, but the similarities suggest that there are lessons for Myanmar as it opens its economy to the world, particularly given that Vietnam has averaged 7-8 percent annual GDP growth for the past two decades. A key question is what economic reforms should Myanmar focus on in 2012 and during the immediate post-sanctions period? There are similarities in the starting point of both countries. In 1992, Vietnam implemented its first systematic measurement of living standards and reported a poverty rate of nearly one-in-two Vietnamese. A similar survey in Myanmar in 2005 reported one-inthree in poverty. Vietnam 20 years ago was less developed and poorer than Myanmar today, yet both start as poor countries with great potential notably a young, large and literate population with that potential not being fully realised for both external (sanctions) and internal reasons (protectionist policies, a weak legal system and property rights, and so on). Even policy changes show similarities. In 1989 Vietnam unified its official and black market exchange rates, just as Myanmar is in the process of doing. The American-led trade and investment embargo against Vietnam dragged on until 1993 (one year after a new constitution in Vietnam), but hopefully, given the present pace of positive changes, we might see the embargo against Myanmar lifted this year. In Vietnam, a series of important policy reforms were taken well before the embargo was lifted. These included the return of land to individual farm households on permanent use-right basis (1988); stabilisation of the macro-economy, notably inflation (1989); removing barriers that stopped households from conducting businesses (1990 Law on Private Enterprises); and trade and foreign investment liberalisation (the 1987 Law on FDI had no real impact until the exchange rate unification). The above four reform areas are, I argue, the foundation for success in the post-embargo period in Vietnam. All were built upon in later years, such as the 1993 amended Land Law that made agricultural land-use rights transferable and useable as collateral, and the 2000 Enterprise Law. I choose the above four reforms because opening up to world trade and investment (and official development assistance, or ODA) is the only path for a country to get rich. Macroeconomic stability is a prerequisite for following that path: instability and high inflation, for example, lead to low foreign direct investment (FDI). Yet if you want equitable development where more than an elite benefit that rapid growth must be built on supporting households. Most importantly, that means giving households private ownership of their assets, a legal framework that protects that ownership, and a minimum of regulations and taxes on their ability to do business. In other words, encourage households to invest, make profits and keep them. Myanmar has much work to match the policy reforms of Vietnam over the past two decades. Vietnam did not wait for the embargo to be lifted before making bold policy reforms and neither should Myanmar. This raises questions about the appropriate sequencing of reforms: it is easy to make lists of all the changes needed, but in what order should they and can they be tackled? Reform, moreover, is

A bank employee counts Vietnamese dong notes at a branch in Hanoi in November 2009. Pic: AFP not just a matter of issuing (and removing) laws and regulations but also of building the institutions that make such paper meaningful: a Central Bank; Auditor General; Government Inspectorate; commercial and arbitration courts; judiciary; professional associations; research institutes and universities; and many more. Another lesson from Vietnam is that reform is a continuous process of issuing, reviewing, amending and removing policies and one that requires much effort and government capacity. In the 1980s, the Vietnamese government structure was top-heavy and cumbersome. Many small matters could only be decided at the highest levels. That was fine when not much was changing for example, when there were few foreign investors but during the 1990s it was clearly a bottleneck to progress. Since then, a process of decentralistion and administrative reform has tried to keep pace with the demands of a modern and competitive market economy. The government of Myanmar will face the same challenge; the faster it can decentralise authority across the board, the faster it can benefit its own people. Vietnam has made mistakes as well and there are negative lessons to learn. Establishing stateowned product-specific monopoly corporations was a very different approach to Japan and South Korea, where private corporations were encouraged to compete against each other for export markets. Vietnam has also not handed over macroeconomic policy management to technical experts, such as a truly independent central bank, so great confusion persists about appropriate policy instruments and targets. Further, Vietnam has been slow to liberalise and make competitive its financial sector. Yet these negatives are outweighed by the positives that enabled Vietnam to achieve middleincome country status in 2011 with a reported poverty rate of 12pc in 2009. In subsequent articles in this series I will choose particular aspects of the Vietnamese reform experience, explain them, and relate them to contemporary Myanmar. I have chosen topics of importance, but also of relevance to donor organisations, who will be planning many new interventions read projects with the government this year. These topics include microfinance, integrated rural development, promoting private sector development, and trade liberalisation. Myanmar has a broad and comprehensive policy reform agenda ahead of it, yet it is neither alone nor unique. The experience of other countries, like Vietnam, can give guidance both good and bad. (Dr Adam McCarty is an Australian economist who has been living and working in Vietnam since 1991 as a university lecturer and consultant, conducting policy research and project evaluations for donor agencies. In 2001, he established Mekong Economics Ltd, where he is chief economist, and his work a across the Mekong region has covered microfinance, state enterprise reform, rural development impact evaluations, trade policy, aid effectiveness, and the education sector.)

The Mail Box


Dear Editor, It was encouraging and informative to read the article by Myat Khaing in the latest edition of Monitor News Journal where the once strictly taboo subject of who was responsible for the mining, demolition and destruction of the historic Rangoon University Students Union building on July 8, 1962 was discussed. This same article also referred to extracts in the Northern Star Journal by veteran politician Thakin Tin Mya on happenings and experiences during the Burma Socialist Programme Party period when the then-Chief of Staff General Ne Win invited him and three others to his Ady Road residence on March 10, 1963 to discuss the political situation and explain why he parted ways with Brigadier Aung Gyi, the then-Vice Chief of Staff (Army). There was also a separate but relevant statement by Aung Gyi on his 93rd birthday where, among other things, it was revealed perhaps for the first time that of the legendary Thirty Comrades Bo Setkya, Bo Letya and Bo Zeya were higher-ranking than Bo Ne Win in both military rank and the political structure. As we move to a more democratic system with many changes from the past five decades it is imperative that all inside and outside the country become more aware of what really happened in Burma, particularly from 1962 to 1988. BBS U Win Tin Kamaryut Dear Editor, On February 20 at the Pyithu Hluttaw session, the representative for Thingangyun submitted a proposal to establish a Union Commission on Counter Corruption to pave the way for clean government and good governance. Having viewed this on MRTV and read it in Myanma Ahlin (New Light of Myanmar) the next day I felt it was a bold step to fill a crucial gap in developing democracy within a disciplined society. If the Union Commission on Counter Corruption is formed I hope not only the citizens of Myanmar but also the international society will welcome it and have more confidence in the government, hluttaws and Myanmar democracy in general. In this respect I recall a research paper Corruption: Causes, Consequences and Cures by U Myint, the chief economic adviser to President U Thein Sein, published in the Vol 7, No 2 edition of the Asia-Pacific Development Journal in December 2000. This paper is a valuable and technically complete work in regards to fighting corruption. It is easy to talk about tackling the corruption problem but harder to implement an anti-corruption agenda. I look forward to seeing more focus in the media as well as the broader society on this topic. Perry Han Shin

Got something to say? We want to hear from you. Address all correspondence to the Editor, The Myanmar Times (English). We endeavour to respond to all correspondencei n a timely manner. Address: 379-383, Bo Aung Kyaw Street, Kyauktada township, Yangon. Telephone: (+951) 392-928, 253-642, Fax: (+951) 392-706 Email: your.myanmar.times@gmail.com

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NLD files legal suit against rival in Meiktila


By Kyaw Hsu Mon and Tin Hlaing THE National League for Democracy has initiated legal proceedings against a former member who is running against the party in Meiktila township. NLD spokesperson U Nyan Win told The Myanmar Times on February 29 that the partys Meiktila township chairman had filed the suit against Daw Myint Myint Aye, alleging that she used the partys name while campaigning to mislead voters. Daw Myint Myint Aye, 54, joined the NLD in 1989 but quit the party after it selected a candidate from Yangon, U Win Htein, to contest the Pyithu Hluttaw seat of Meiktila. In his submission to the township court on February 22, NLD chairman for Meiktila Dr Thein Lwin alleged that Daw Myint Myint Ayes campaign manager, U Thein Aung, told residents she was still a member of the NLD during a campaign trip. It was not immediately clear which regulation Daw Myint Myint Aye had allegedly violated. The case has reached the township court. Dr Thein Lwin and U Win Htein are solving it now, U Nyan Win said. In a recent interview Daw Myint Myint Aye said she would make clear to voters that she was no longer associated with the NLD during her campaign trips. Speaking to The Myanmar Times last week, she said her campaign manager had accidentally used an NLD letterhead when writing to a resident in Meiktila. Most of her close supporters are former NLD members. I didnt have any intention to do it; my manager accidentally used the cover letter of the NLD while writing a letter to a resident. My manager, U Thein Aung, is a former NLD member and I believe he didnt mean to do it, she said. Daw Myint Myint Aye said the police were still making enquiries and were yet to lay any charges. I started my campaign 12 days ago and Ive been to more than 20 villages. Each time I told them I am not a member of the NLD and I explained how I was committed to helping them in the future, she said. Daw Myint Myint Aye said she did not know which law or regulation had allegedly been broken. I will face this problem. I have a strong belief that this was not intentional.

Domestic airfares to rise from March 8


By Zaw Win Than and Thomas Kean TRAVELLING in Myanmar is about to get more expensive, with domestic airlines to introduce a fuel surcharge this week that will see most ticket prices rise about 20 percent. The rise comes after the Ministry of Energy announced on February 28 that it would sell aviation fuel at the market rate from March 1. It was not immediately clear what effect this would have on the overall fuel price. Airlines immediately announced fares would rise from March 1 as a result but pushed back the increase one week following a backlash from agents and customers. The airlines said the surcharge would depend on the destination, with increases ranging from K7000 to K18,000 for Myanmar travellers and US$10 to $25 for foreign visitors, with the largest increase on routes from Yangon to Myitkyina, Putao, Bhamo, Lashio, Kalay and Kawthoung. Agents expressed concern last week that the sudden change could harm the image of the countrys tourism industry, as they would have to renegotiate prices with customers and external agents. Nowadays many tourists are visiting Myanmar and I am worried [the increase] will negatively impact on tourist arrivals, said a representative from a Yangon-based tour company. We dont know why the ministry changed this policy. They should inform the airlines a bit earlier. Now many passengers are really not happy to pay the extra cost. Ma Eainsie Phyu from New Age Travellers said the imposition of the surcharge was premature and would cause a lot of inconveniences for agents and their clients. The fuel price will not be fixed anymore but no changes have been made yet. But the airlines just took the opportunity [to raise prices]. We can understand if the fuel price changes we have to pay accordingly but the fuel price has not yet officially changed, she said. Well unfortunately have to request our clients to pay the surcharge directly to the airline when they check-in, although it will be problematic for both our company and our clients. She said Myanmar was an increasingly expensive travel destination, particularly relative to its neighbours, with some hotels in Yangon recently raising room rates by as much as 40 percent. Myanmar tourism wont thrive in this region if these kinds of things happen regularly. We should remember that we are not alone. Travellers have tonnes of destinations to choose from. Customers who have already issued tickets for travel from March 8 will be required to pay the surcharge when checking in. But U Myat Thu, an assistant general manager from Air KBZ, said his company would not levy the surcharge on tickets for travel before March 15 that were purchased before March 2. Those who buy a ticket with us from March 3 [for travel from March 8] will have to pay for the increased fuel surcharge, he said.

Fuel surcharge rise


How much extra will it cost you?

Myitkyina

Lashio Mandalay Nyaung U Heho Nay Pyi Taw Tachileik

Sittwe

Thandwe

$25 / K18,000 $15 / K12,000 $10 / K7000

Yangon

Fuel surcharge increase to come into effect on all private domestic airlines from March 8 following surprise Ministry of Energy decision to sell jet fuel at market prices from March 1
Source: Air Bagan

Dawei

Kawthoung

New Yangon party Govt readies for measles campaign opens headquarters
By Shwe Yinn Mar Oo NEWLY established Myanmar National Congress will field three candidates in the April 1 by-elections, its chairman said last week. U Kaung Myint Htut, who ran as an independent candidate in November 2010, losing to former Yangon mayor U Aung Thein Linn in South Okkalapa, will contest the Pyithu Hluttaw seat of Mingalar Taung Nyunt against candidates from the National League for Democracy, Democratic Party (Myanmar), Union Solidarity and Development Party and National Unity Party. The party is also fielding candidates in Mayangone and Dagon Seikkan, U Kaung Myint Htut said at a ceremony to open the partys head office, in Mingalar Taung Nyunt township, on February 26. The candidates have already started campaigning but we want to make public meeting. This is not only for attracting votes, but also to raise the peoples awareness about politics, he said. THE Ministry of Health is aiming to inoculate about 6.4 million children aged nine months to five years as part of a mass measles immunisation campaign, an official said last week. Dr Aye Ko, health director of the Department of Health for Yangon Region, said at a measles campaign advisory meeting on February 28 that the national campaign would target all children, regardless of their vaccination history. The campaign will take place from March 22 to 31 and is the first since 2007. It will be conducted by the Ministry of Health with funding from the United Nations Childrens Fund and the World Health Organisation and assistance from American Red Cross and the UN Foundation. Dr Aye Ko said the national campaign was important for those who might normally miss out on vaccination, such as children in remote areas. The vaccination campaign is conducted because the measles cases were detected again in Myanmar during 2011, he said, adding that there were 1774 confirmed cases of measles last year. Yamon Phu Thit

Tender Invitation For Vehicle Rental


Merlin Myanmar INGO would like to invite closed tender bids as per below the requirements, terms and conditions: 1) Two saloon cars for usage in Yangon with occasional travel to Nay Pyi Taw and Pathein areas. 2) Two Four Wheel Drives (4WD) for usage in Yangon with occasional travel to Laputta and Nay Pyi Taw areas. All major maintenances and repair costs will be the owners' responsibility. This rental contract will only be for vehicles; drivers will be hired by Merlin. Vehicle insurance will be covered by Merlin. Contracts will be of six month's duration Rental payment will be paid on a monthly basis. Any interested parties/owners/agent/service companies are invited to submit closed tenders to the contact address below within one month after publication of this notice. Bids in sealed envelopes, titled Closed Tender Bid for Vehicles, should be delivered to Merlin No.224(A), 4th Floor, Salomon Building, U Wisaya Rd, Bahan T/S.

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March 5 - 11, 2012
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Stability of the State, community peace and tranquillity, prevalence of law and order Strengthening of national solidarity Building and strengthening of disciplineflourishing democracy system Building of a new modern developed nation in accord with the Constitution

Four political objectives

Building of modern industrialized nation through the agricultural development, and all-round development of other sectors of the economy Proper evolution of the market-oriented economic system Development of the economy inviting participation in terms of technical know-how and investment from sources inside the country and abroad initiative to shape the national economy must be kept in the hands The of the State and the national peoples

Four economic objectives

Uplift of the morale and morality of the entire nation of national prestige and integrity and preservation Uplift and safeguarding of cultural heritage and national character Flourishing of Union Spirit, the true patriotism Uplift of health, fitness and education standards of the entire nation

Four social objectives

Min Ko Naing (centre) and other 88 Generation student leaders arrive at Mandalay Airport on February 25. Pic: Si Thu Lwin

88 Gen leader pledges discipline


By Yadana Htun and Si Thu Lwin THE 88 Generation wants to further its cooperation with the government and will conduct its activities with discipline in order to build trust, leader Min Ko Naing told residents in Mandalay last week. About 30 members of the activist group visited Mandalay from February 25 to 29 following an event in Myitkyina. Following a meeting with comedians, cartoonists and artists on February 27, Min Ko Naing urged the public to show restraint and work within the legal political framework. At the moment, we have got permission to make campaigns and speeches to some extent. From page 1 Thats why we also have to be careful and show discipline. For example, we shouldnt block the street with our activities, said the prominent activist, who was released from Thayet Prison in Magwe Region in January. We want to cooperate. If we are threatened, people wont accept it and will show their courage. Thats why we welcome an authority or a ruling system that we can cooperate with, he said. While the group was denied permission to enter and pay respects at the martyrs cemetery in Mandalay, Min Ko Naing acknowledged the assistance the 88 Generation received from local authorities throughout their trip. When we got to Mandalay, the authorities welcomed us and treated us nicely. We appreciate their open-mindedness. If this continues we can achieve democracy, he said. He also thanked residents who came and greeted the group in spite of the hot weather. If we add the time we all spent together in the prison, each of us had to stay about 20 years on average. But the tiredness and the hard times we had during those years have disappeared and our sacrifice is worthwhile when we see your encouragement and support for our group. During the trip, the group also participated in social activities with a local organisation. When we got to Mandalay, Asia Light Foundation from [Pyin Oo Lwin] was doing environmental activities at Mandalay Hill collecting discarded plastic bags. Thirteen members from our group joined them and helped, said Ko Antbwe Kyaw, who was also recently released from prison. Mandalay comedian U Htin Paw told The Myanmar Times that many Mandalay residents were optimistic about the future because of the 88 Generations role in the political process. I came here to welcome our leaders. I expect that we will get the kind of democracy we want with their efforts. I also see a great deal of potential for our country. It seems that the authorities are flexible at the moment and we can expect a better future. [The 88 generation student leaders] have done good things and I believe that they will keep doing these in the future, U Htin Paw said.

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Reps warn govt


The words Pyidaungsu Hluttaw automatically imply that all of its representatives are members of a union-level body. But whether they are the members of a union-

level body or not, representatives duties to legislate and act as a check and balance will not change significantly. Another representative said the oversight and advisory role of the committees was more

important than their status. All we do is prevent the government from [incorrectly] using its power and make sure the governments activities follow the law and are in the public interest. Our activities

should not be blocked or banned. Similarly, the government should help the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw achieve its tasks and show mutual respect. They need to be united, he said. Translated by Thit Lwin

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NLD supporters wait for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi at the Manaw ground in Myitkyina township on February 24. Pic: Shwe Yinn Mar Oo

March 5 - 11, 2012

88 Generation calls for peace conference


By Ei Ei Toe Lwin THE 88 Generation has called for a Panglongstyle peace conference to permanently end political conflict between the government and armed ethnic groups. The group released a four-point statement following its February 23 to 25 trip to Kachin State, during which it met people displaced by fighting in the region as well as political, religious, social and business leaders. Speaking to reporters on February 28 after arriving back in Yangon, 88 Generation member Ko Mya Aye said a national peace conference was needed to guarantee equal rights for all ethnic groups. Our ethnic brothers dont think there have been any changes in Myanmar because there is war all the time. They think that they do not enjoy any rights, he said. We have heard the government has said it will hold a conference soon in Nay Pyi Taw like Panglong. If we want to end these problems [with refugees], we need to solve the political conflicts. If we want to solve these political conflicts, we need to urgently hold a conference with the participation of all parties. He said the conflict in Kachin State had significantly damaged national unity and needed to be halted as soon as possible. I became very worried for our country when I saw refugees. It is important to get peace in this region. The [Kachin people] were full of negative feelings. It can explode at any time so we are releasing this statement with the aim of preventing this from happening. It reflects not only the attitude of the 88 Generation but also the desires of all the Kachin people we met, said Ko Mya Aye. In the statement, titled Echo of Myitkyina for Kachin Peace, the group called for sufficient supplies to be distributed to refugee camps in Kachin State and for the government to act immediately to bring peace to the region. We deeply wish for peace discussions to be held as soon as possible with the aim of getting real peace among all nationals, to stop civil war and to shape a united nation with freedom, fairness and equality, the statement said. Ko Pyone Cho, another 88 Generation member, said the group had listened to the wishes and voices of a wide cross-section of Kachin society. After adding all of these wishes and voices, we have reached a common agreement based on a desire for peace, he said. The 88 Generation travelled to Kachin State as part of its efforts to end civil war, as well as to make a donation to refugee camps in the state capital. The group said as many as 70,000 displaced people were thought to be living in relief camps across the state, and many were not receiving enough food. Ko Mya Aye said provision of relief supplies to displaced people in camps had been uneven and unpredictable, with some missing out altogether on assistance. Most of them lack sufficient food and they are in a worrying situation. We would like to request both sides [the government and other assistance groups] to ensure all receive sufficient food, he said.

Kachin conflict dominates NLD leaders northern visit


I DIDNT come here because I support the NLD, said Ko Ye Thiha, his face covered in sweat and enthusiasm, as he stood at the front of a several thousandstrong crowd gathered at the Manaw ground in Myitkyina. I have come to meet a Nobel peace laureate. I have come to find out what her opinion is about the place where a war is being waged, the young activist from Myitkyina said, holding a vinyl poster with the words: Please help us! To bring peace to our Kachin land!!! The large crowd had been waiting at the Sitapu Ward Manaw ground since early morning to listen to National League for Democracy chair Daw Aung San Suu Kyis address. As has been the case at earlier party rallies in Tanintharyi, Yangon and Ayeyarwady regions, the red colour of the NLD flag dominated the scene. We arent sure how much she can do. From her visit, hopefully we can get a better understanding of what effect she can have on the people of Kachin State and the fighting, Ko Ye Thiha said. As expected, the NLD leader spoke extensively about conflict with ethnic groups, telling the crowd that national development was impossible without domestic peace. I know that attempts to reach a ceasefire are underway. That is the first step to genuine peace. What is important is to get a political agreement only after that will we be in peace. We cant fight for peace, we have to negotiate. Its not easy, she said. We are trying to build a system in which we are all safe and independent, she added. To build peace among ethnic groups, we should show how broadminded we are, how honest we are and how we nurture union spirit among ourselves. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi arrived in Myitkyina on February 23 to campaign ahead of the April 1 byelections. She first proceeded to Mogaung township and made speeches at Namtee football ground and Oh Tann ward, located in the heart of the town. Mogaung is one of three constituencies the NLD will contest in Kachin State, along with Hpakant and Bhamo. In Mogaung, the partys candidate, Daw Khin Kyi, will run against independent candidate Dr Manam Tu Jar, a former Kachin Independence Organisation leader. The visit was Daw Aung San Suu Kyis third to the state, after 1989 and 2003, and came as the government and KIO were engaging in tentative peace talks. The NLD has made domestic peace one of its three byelection campaign priorities and Daw Aung San Suu Kyis visit generated significant interest among Kachin residents, particularly in Myitkyina. After returning from Mogaung on the evening of February 23, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi joined Kachin religious and social leaders as well as NLD members from Myitkyina, Mohnyin, Mogaung, Hpakant and Lonekhin for dinner, said U Than Swe, one of the organisers of the event. Another of the organisers, Dr Khet Aung, said he believed the meeting would contribute to national unity. Its very pleasing that such a public leader visits our town, said Dr Khet Aung. Also present at the dinner was U Dain Rad Ah Phone, the son of U Dain Rad Tha, a signatory to the Panglong Agreement. I wanted to meet Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on personal terms. Her father and mine met for Myanmars independence and now their children have met. After speaking for more than an hour at the Manaw ground on February 24, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi flew to Bhamo and returned to Yangon in the evening via Myitkyina. Daw Aung San Suu Kyis visit created transparency among different stakeholders in the region, said U Rud Zaw Khaung, who has taken part in recent peace talks between the government and KIO. She can do a lot of things for the development of the country in collaboration with the government, public and international community, he said. Aunty Suu often talks about tripartite discussions [between the government, armed groups and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi] If confidence is built th r ou g h o u t th e u n ion , [peace] is not impossible. But Ko Ye Thiha said peace could not be forced on Kachin State by outsiders and the desire to end the conflict had to come from within. We cant rely on her for peace. Peace cannot be achieved by a single person alone. We should rely on ourselves; we have to do it by ourselves. Its the matter that mainly concerns the people of Kachin State. We should do it because we want peace, said Ko Ye Thiha. But if Kachin State is not peaceful, then the whole country is not peaceful. We wont rely on her but collaboration is necessary. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi should do her bit as much as she can. At the same time, those who are making peace, who are praying and who are helping displaced people should do their bit. If so, a positive result will come out in the end. Translated by Thit Lwin

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The complexities of a wa
By Andrew RC Marshall

ar Pu Village, Shan State In Myanmars new war on drugs, meet the weapon of mass destruction: the weed-whacker. Its two-stroke engine spins a metal blade, which is more commonly deployed to tame the suburban gardens of wealthy Westerners. But today, in a remote valley in impoverished Shan State, Myanmar police armed with weed-whackers are advancing through fields of thigh-high poppies, leaving a carpet of stems in their wake. When the police are finished, their uniforms are flecked with a sticky brown sap harvested from these flowers for centuries: opium. Myanmar produced an estimated 610 tonnes in 2011, making it the worlds second-biggest opium supplier after Afghanistan, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The area under poppy cultivation has doubled in the past five years. Now, emerging from half a century of military dictatorship, Myanmar says it wants to buck that trend. Since taking power a year ago, the civilian government of President U Thein Sein has launched a series of political and economic reforms. It has also dramatically accelerated a campaign to eradicate opium poppies and shed Myanmars pariah status as one of the worlds top drug producers. Myanmar officials allowed a Reuters reporter and photographer to visit former conflict areas in remote Shan State to examine the campaign, marking the first time in decades that Western journalists were able to report freely in the region. The five-day journey with the UNODC and local police came as Myanmar appeals to foreign donors for US$500 million to finance a program it says will wean 256,000 households off poppy-growing over the next three years. Wiped out by 2014? Every year the international community spends millions of dollars [on anti-narcotics initiatives] in countries like Afghanistan and Colombia, and the outcome is not satisfactory, U Sit Aye, senior legal adviser to President U Thein Sein, said in an interview. Here, with international assistance, we guarantee to wipe out the opium problem by 2014. It is an ambitious goal. Police, soldiers and villagers armed with sticks and weed-whackers have destroyed 21,256 hectares (52,525 acres) of poppy fields since September,

more than triple the area eradicated during the previous growing season, according to Myanmars Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC). This has potentially prevented almost 30 tonnes of heroin, opiums most notorious derivative, from hitting the world market, according to calculations based on UNODC statistics. But opium had been harvested from some poppies before they were destroyed, Reuters found. And while more poppy is being destroyed, more is also being grown: the total area under cultivation will likely rise by about 10 percent between 2011 and 2012, the UNODC estimated.

the government and ethnic rebel groups including two factions of the Shan State Army have allowed poppy eradication in what were once no-go areas for the Myanmar authorities. But the ceasefires were fragile, and a poorly managed eradication campaign could cause them to unravel. Alternative crops Chopping down opium poppies is the easy part. Helping former poppygrowing families develop alternative crops and livelihoods is complicated and costly. In Afghanistan, on the other side of the Himalayas, opium production is so vast and sophisticated that it resembles a legitimate agribusiness in some areas. But in Myanmar, poppies are produced mainly by subsistence farmers who depend upon the cash opium generates to buy food. About 256,000 households are involved in opium poppy cultivation, the UNODC estimates. The opium yield from an acre (a third of a hectare) of Myanmar poppy is worth about $1000. Thats a life-saving sum of money in Myanmar, where a third of its 60 million people live on a dollar a day. The rapid elimination of opium poppy creates serious problems for these households, Eligh said. You have people who couldnt harvest their poppies, who dont have any money, having to survive for the next five or six months with almost nothing. Alternative crops cant be planted until the rains come in June or July. Weve got a very narrow window, Eligh continued. If they dont get help during that period, then there is a very real chance that theyll go back to poppy. The UNODC argues that the ceasefires create a rare opportunity for the international community to help Myanmar tackle its opium problem and, by extension, its civil war. The CCDAC is asking the international community for $524.48 million to develop alternative livelihoods for poppygrowing households. Getting it will be an uphill task. Thanks to sanctions, Myanmar receives less humanitarian aid per capita than almost any other poor country. After 1988 we were sanctioned and banned by Western countries, said Police Colonel Tin Maung Maung, the most senior operational officer in the CCDAC. We got no assistance from them. Without outside help, he said, We cannot do it. We need international support. Blessing and curse Myanmars strategic location is a blessing and a curse. As it emerges

Here, with international


assistance we guarantee to wipe out the opium problem by 2014.

This suggests that, with or without foreign assistance, Myanmars three-year target is unrealistic. Most opium produced in Myanmar comes from Shan State, which is part of the Golden Triangle, an area that was probably named after the gold once used to buy opium. Here, and in neighbouring Kachin State, poppies thrive not just on cooler weather and higher altitudes, but on poverty and conflict. For half a century, Myanmar has been torn apart by fighting between government forces and various ethnic rebel groups ranged along its borders, where people have endured the worst human rights abuses. The United States recently upgraded diplomatic ties with Myanmar after Hillary Clintons historic visit in November, the first by an American secretary of state since 1955. But the US and European countries regard peace with Myanmars longsuffering ethnic minorities as a key condition for lifting crippling economic sanctions. Forging a lasting peace is arguably U Thein Seins toughest challenge, and it is complicated by opium. As in Afghanistan and Colombia, the drug trade has long fuelled conflict in Myanmar, providing cash to buy weapons and a lucrative product to fight over. Opium and conflict were so intertwined that one problem could not be solved without the other, said Jason Eligh, UNODC country manager for Myanmar. The path to peace is lined with poppies, he said. We must address that. Recent peace talks between

Top: Illicit drugs valued at more than K93 billion are burned at a destruction ceremony in th on December 8, 2009. Above left: A patient huddles in a blanket at a government-run drug r Above right: Used syringes at a government-run drug rehabilitation centre in Lashio. Pics: Wi from nearly 50 years of isolation and misrule, the countrys long borders with China, India and Thailand grant access to Asias most dynamic economies. They also make it a regional hub for manufacturing and distributing narcotics. of Taunggyi, is a ribbon of blacktop unfurling through rice fields and bustling market towns. At the roadside, Buddhist novice monks in maroon robes held out bowls to solicit donations. This reporter travelled in UN vehicles sandwiched between trucks carrying armed police. Their presence was not ceremonial. Last July, outside the nearby town of Loilem, a rebel group called the Shan State Army-South ambushed a Myanmar police convoy, killing six people, reported the Shan Herald Agency for News, a news service run by Shan exiles in Thailand. Shan rebels and a government militia belonging to the Pa-O, the states secondlargest ethnic group, clashed regularly. Hostilities subsided in December after the SSASouth signed a ceasefire, but men with guns still roam this restive region. UNODC regional chief Gary Lewis described Shan State as a swirling and often toxic mix of money, guns and drugs. Cheroots, temples and garlic The Pa-O are devout Buddhists, known for growing poppies and building beautiful temples. At the village of Kyauk Ka Char, the first stop in the five-day tour of the state, the temple was the grandest structure in a community of simple wooden houses with rusting tin roofs. Inside, three giant Buddha statues smiled down upon a group of villagers waiting to greet their rare visitors: Lewis and Eligh from the UNODC, and Police Colonel Myint Aung of the CCDAC. The villagers wore turbans, in the Pa-O style, and smoked cheroots and chewed betel nut. Lewis delivered a stark message. The days of poppy

dont even Youto take the have opium to market. The market comes to you.

It shares a porous 2100kilometre frontier with China, where 2.2 million users consumed 45 tonnes of mostly Myanmar heroin in 2008, said the UNODC. Shan State is named after Myanmars largest ethnic minority. The road east from its capital, the former British colonial hill-station

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them. This years opium crop will be greatly reduced because of these tools, said Police Colonel Win Naing, Shan States chief of police. UNODC officials agreed, but cautioned that eradication wasnt the only factor influencing the seasons total production. One was bad weather. In many parts of Shan State, heavy rain had washed away poppy seeds or damaged young plants. This alone might have halved the yield before eradication began. Another factor was the total area under cultivation, which had risen by at least 10pc between 2011 and 2012, estimated the UNODC. In other words, although more poppies had been destroyed, more had also been planted. A third factor became apparent outside Kyauk Ka Char, where a poppy field the size of a soccer pitch lay strewn with stems. These were felled in a recent operation but, as tell-tale marks on their bulbs revealed, not before some of the opium was harvested. This suggested that the ongoing eradication campaign might not reduce the total yield by as much as the Myanmar authorities had hoped. The poppy-farmers of Kyauk Ka Char might have received a tip-off. More likely, the police had simply arrived too late. Since 2006, Chinas National Narcotics Control Commission has given Myanmar satellite maps to help locate and destroy poppy fields. But Shan State police said they have gotten no other international assistance, and were hampered by lack of personnel and equipment. Many fields were so remote and well-hidden that not even satellite maps were much help. Sometimes, we have a map but still cant find growing there. Thailand still produces about 5 tonnes of opium every year, despite dispatching troops on regular poppyeradication missions. This fact alone suggests that Myanmars bid to eradicate opium in just three years is fanciful. But the target of 2014 was chosen for a reason: that year, for the first time, Myanmar will mark its growing acceptance by the international community by chairing ASEAN, a position it was denied six years ago amid Western uproar over its human rights record. One potentially embarrassing UNODC survey map showed dense poppy cultivation only a few hours drive from Myanmars capital Nay Pyi Taw, where ASEAN and world leaders will gather in 2014. ASEAN has declared that its 10 member states will be drug free by 2015, an equally fanciful target considering the regions soaring use of methamphetamine. Better known in its pill form as ya ba, it is also manufactured in huge quantities in Shan State. When asked whether poppies or pills were the bigger law-enforcement challenge, Pol Col Tin Maung Maung of the CCDAC replied, Both are a great problem for us. Reuters

ar on opium
price that some Pa-O villages left it to rot in the fields. Transporting these crops to market was also a problem. Poppy-growing villages such as Kyauk Ka Char are remote, with unpaved roads only passable in the dry season. By contrast, the market for opium was guaranteed and transport wasnt an issue. Most farmers grew two crops. The first, which accounted for three quarters of the annual opium yield, was planted in September or October, and harvested about three months later; then a second crop was planted. Areas with good irrigation could even plant a third. During harvest season Chinese-speaking traders on motorbikes toured the villages and paid cash for opium. You dont even have to take the crop to market, said Eligh. The market comes to you. Poppy debts Daw Moe Mohm, 48, a single mother of six daughters, had borrowed K300,000 from a Taunggyi moneylender to buy fertiliser for her poppies, which were recently destroyed. I just wanted to cry, she said. With her cash crop gone, Daw Moe Mohm couldnt repay the loan or even the interest on it a crushing 8pc a month. She had no way to grow rice until the rains came, and no cash to buy it. We know your need is great and more help is required, Lewis told her. We will act on it. On the way back to Taunggyi, Eligh called a colleague at the World Food Program and an emergency supply of rice arrived in Kyauk Ka Char less than three weeks later. More rice was bound for other villages nearby. The UNODC has three projects aimed at current and former poppy-growers in Myanmar. Located in the Shan townships of Hopong and Loilen, the projects offered a range of assistance: developing alternative crops, improving the land with irrigation and fertilisers, households involved in opium poppy production, Eligh said. When the poppy fields of War Taw, a village in Loilen township, were destroyed, the UNODC gave people tools, seeds and agricultural training. But this help was not enough to stop War Taws young men and women from leaving for Thailand, where an estimated two million Myanmar people now work, most of them illegally. With the poppies gone, that exodus could accelerate. Daw Nang Khae, a 49-yearold poppy-grower, reckoned about 60 villagers a tenth of War Taws population worked in Thailand. Her 29-year-old daughter left for Bangkok five years ago to work as a maid and never returned. Three months ago, her teenage son left too. It breaks our heart to watch them go, said Daw Nang Khae. But we had to borrow money to buy food and cant pay it back. Thats why we send our children away. Traditional medicine Poppy eradication removes not just a cash crop but, for many hill-tribes, a medicine. The villagers of Kaw Mong Pyin, an isolated village in eastern Shan State populated by ethnic Akha, regard opium as a life-saving traditional remedy. Weve used it since our ancestors time, said U Asan, 43, a poppy-grower who was raising 10 children and 20 oxen. U Asans village felt untouched by modernity. The women wore elaborate headdresses hung with coloured beads and silver coins dating back to British colonial times. Pigs slumbered beneath wooden houses with thatched roofs. When his cattle got sick, said U Asan, he fed them a mixture of ginger, garlic, salt and opium. The villagers also baked opium with garlic to treat their own diarrhoea, a life-threatening illness in remote areas. Without opium, he said, the villagers would need basic medical help for their families the nearest hospital was a five-hour walk away. We only use a little, said U Asan. Too much makes you dizzy. But another pressing health issue is opium addiction, which is rife among hill-tribes such as the Akha. Every time I go home I start smoking again, said U Abo, 49, a long-time opium smoker being treated at a government clinic in the Shan State town of Kengtung. No poppies are grown in my village, but opium is very easy to buy. Poppy proliferation The weed-whackers destroy not just fully grown poppy plants, but also a hard-to-spot second stage of seedlings which some farmers plant between

we Sometimesbut have a map still cant find the [opium] field. We just walk around in circles.

the field, said Sai Aung Kyaw Win, 39, a veteran UNODC surveyor who spends months trekking through poppy-growing areas. We just walk around in circles. International acceptance Neighbouring Thailand was proof that alternative development worked, the UNs Eligh said, although it took more than 30 years and $1 billion to halt large-scale poppy-

he Shan State town of Kengtung rehabilitation centre in Lashio. in Nyunt Lwin, Christopher Davy are finished, he told the villagers, before asking what help they needed to grow only legal crops. Nobody said a word until a local schoolteacher, who was translating between Pa-O and English, urged people to talk freely without fear of arrest. The authorities had destroyed their poppies once before, in 2005, and given them no compensation or assistance. Growing alternative crops wasnt easy, said U Aung Tun, 40, a father of four. Many people grew cordia trees, whose leaves were used to make traditional Myanmar cheroots. But the recent influx of cheap Chinese cigarettes meant that fewer people smoked cheroots, making the leaves increasingly unprofitable. We tried growing garlic and sugar cane but there was no market for it, U Aung Tun said. We lost everything we invested. Garlic fetched such a low

Every time I go home I start


smoking again. No poppies are grown in my village but opium is very easy to buy.

providing microfinance to landless households, setting up cash-for-work programs, vaccinating livestock, and building roads and clinics. This is funded with $7 million from the European Union, Germany and Japan. It was barely enough to help 10,000 of the 256,000

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A long journey for medical industry


By Yamon Phu Thit I WANT to be a doctor when I grow up. Twenty years ago, this was the answer you would receive from most children when you asked about their dream career. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the respect and status doctors command, many parents also encouraged their children to study medicine. However, the relationship between doctors and patients has changed dramatically since the shift to a marketoriented economy, which has brought cost-sharing at government clinics and a plethora of private facilities. This contrasts with the socialist era, which ended in 1988, when people had to mostly rely on state-run hospitals and medical costs were much lower, said Dr Htwe, chief editor of the journal Health Digest. The government gave permission for private hospitals to open later on. Private hospitals naturally charge money and healthcare has become a commodity. This has changed the relationship between patients and doctors, he said. Doctors concede that disputes and conflicts with patients are on the rise, a fact they mostly attribute to a lack of time during consultations. In the past, they say, there was a degree of balance between the overall population and the number of doctors. In recent years, however, medical schools have failed to train enough doctors to meet demand. A doctor should spend about 15 to 20 minutes with a patient to do an examination and diagnosis. But now, most doctors spend something like three to five minutes on each patient, Dr Htwe said. Dr Zaw Than, chief editor of Healthcare Journal, said the issue was being widely discussed in the medical fraternity. Patients want to explain what they are feeling [to the doctor] and want a proper consultation. But the doctors do not have enough time. The rapport between them will be better if patients are given more time to talk, he said. The rise in medical costs has also increased expectations in terms of quality of service and treatment. I recently met a doctor whose demeanour I would describe as robotic. There wasnt any warmth in him, as far as I could see. I think patients recover faster from pain if their doctor treats them with warmth and friendliness. Some doctors are only looking for money, though, said Ko Hlwan Khaing Shinn, who works for an energy company in Yangon. While in many countries doctors will be tied to a specific clinic, in Myanmar they frequently work parttime at more than one, which makes being punctual a challenge. I once had to wait for a doctor until midnight. I was very upset that they wasted my time, said Ma Mie Mie, who owns a construction materials shop in Bayintnaung. Another recent development is medical negligence lawsuits, and their coverage in the media. On November 14, a woman filed a suit against an obstetrician and gynaecologist for allegedly miscalculating her delivery date, resulting in the premature birth of her baby, which subsequently died. The complainant held a press conference to discuss the case, ensuring news of the incident spread quickly. Similarly, in late 2009 media reports brought to light the case of a 15-year-old girl who died at a well-known private hospital in Bahan, after the doctor misdiagnosed dengue haemorrhagic fever as appendicitis. The outrage the media coverage generated forced the Myanmar Medical Council to ban the doctor and the hospital to pay a significant amount of compensation to the girls family. This has led some in the medical fraternity to argue that negative media coverage of doctors is harming their relations with patients. It is the responsibility of media to point out something new or that needs to be changed. The media is not working for negative reasons. I dont think you can blame this situation only on the media, Dr Zaw Than said. Some cases cause misunderstandings between patients and doctors and both sides use the media as a tool to spread the information publicly. So the media need to do in-depth analysis before reporting on these cases to ensure they dont accidentally hurt either the patient or the doctor, he said. Dr Htwe said medical negligence had always been an issue but the difference is that private sector media are now able to report on the cases. [These cases] were just never really known publicly before, he said. Traditionally the custom was for people to comfort themselves by thinking that whatever happens is fate, and not someones fault. But today these customs are changing and the influence of the media is powerful so we are seeing more and more of these cases. Speaking at a recent medical conference, Vice President Dr Sai Mauk Kham said it was important to stand by and protect doctors facing spurious lawsuits and requests for compensation. However, he said those who breach professional guidelines also needed to be dealt with properly. The Myanmar Medical Association is working to form a body to protect doctors from unfounded allegations of negligence and impropriety, either in the media or the courts, Dr Htwe said. To avoid making incorrect accusations, journalists need to make sure they are reporting cases fairly and accurately. Nobody wants to see the media used as a tool to hurt somebody. Publications need to take responsibility for the accuracy of their content, said Dr May Zaw, who writes under the penname Dr May. The media are important for health because they help people gain health knowledge. But its also important that youre sharing the right information, she said. It is unclear how all of these issues will be resolved, but most agree that there is a need to rebuild trust in the countrys medical fraternity. The qualifications of Myanmar doctors are good. Patients need to have trust and it is important to build warm and smooth relations between patients and doctors, Dr Zaw Than said. For Dr Htwe, the answer is simple: train more doctors. Both patients and doctors need to understand each other, he said. We shouldnt only look at things from one side. Our country does not have an adequate number of doctors so they have to work at many different clinics and hospitals and dont spend as much time on patients as they want to. If the situation does not improve, the public, rather than the doctors, will likely lose out. The doctors will try to take the safe option and have patients undergo complete medical examinations that are probably not necessary. They will convince the patients to do this to cover themselves but the result will be higher medical expenses.

Govt salary proposal sparks commodity price rise debate


need to take disciplinary action against corruption while raising salaries at the same time, he said. THE Pyithu Hluttaw U Khin Maung Swe of speakers proposal to raise the National Democratic salaries might have been Force said the disagreement popular but it has also raised between the hluttaws and concerns about the effect on government was an example inflation and commodity of democracy in practice. prices. The salaries should be Myanmar is in the midst raised to prevent corruption, of a rare period of price but the key message is, how stability, with inflation at do we control the inflation, historically low levels: The he said. I think as a cure most recent figures from for inflation the government the governments Central needs to create more job Statistical Organisation opportunities and collect show the consumer price taxes. index rose only 0.2 percent Ko San Lin in the first 10 Aung, a 42-year months of 2011. old resident While Thura Production costs do not go of Kamaryut U Shwe Manns proposal to raise up when government salaries township, said the business sector salaries to 1959-60 levels was rejected increase ... as far as I can tell, needed to change its mindset and by Minister for F i n a n c e a n d prices go up because businesses not automatically raise prices Revenue U because of salary Hla Tun on the think they can get away with it. increases. grounds it would Production cause the budget deficit to balloon, he also that wages needed to rise to costs do not go up when cited the impact on inflation fight corruption, saying that g o v e r n m e n t s a l a r i e s on its own higher salaries increase as far as I as a concern. can tell, prices just go up U Aung Myo Myint, a 35- would not work. In practice it is likely to because businesses think year-old engineer said that while government salaries be wrong. Even if salaries they can get away with should rise, the increase could cover for their living raising them, he said. He said the government should be mostly geared costs, some will still [be towards those earning the corrupt]. They started should also take steps to [engaging in corruption] to control price manipulation, lowest incomes. We need to consider survive on their low income i n c l u d i n g t r a d e r s w h o how to control the price but later they just want to purchase commodities and store them until prices of everyday commodities, be rich, he said. This has created a culture rise. which usually rises when They want to play the salaries go up. [Inflation] of economic opportunism will have an impact on that is likely to continue market but the government should look at how it can low-paid employees in the regardless of pay rises. [The government] will rein them in. private sector as well and By Kyaw Hsu Mon we need to consider that, he said. While price controls might appear the simplest option, Dr Nay Zin Latt, a presidential adviser for economic affairs, said a more sustainable and longterm goal was to reduce transaction costs in commodity production. The government has to reduce unnecessary transaction costs: production costs, transportation costs, inventory costs, storage costs and so on, he said. He also contested Thura U Shwe Manns assertion

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Payout likely after Thandwe crash


By Zaw Win Than STATE-RUN Myanma Insurance is planning to pay compensation to Air KBZ for damage to an aircraft that skidded off the runway at Thandwe Airport recently, a senior official said last week. Dr Mg Maung Thein, general manager of Myanma Insurance, said the compensation payout to Air KBZ was subject to approval by the underwriter, an unidentified foreign insurance company. The plane was carrying 51 passengers when it crashed on landing at Thandwe on February 17 at 10:30am. Nobody was injured in the incident, but photos of the accident provided to The Myanmar Times showed damage to the undercarriage of the aircraft and a propeller. We are planning to pay compensation for the accident because the aircraft carried AirClaims Insurance with Myanma Insurance and was backed by a foreign insurance company. The compensation payout for the aircraft accident is still being preceded, he said last week. He said an expert from Singapore was conducting a survey of the incident and would submit a report for the compensation payout. According to the survey, the aircraft can be repaired and after reviewing the final report, we will be working for the compensation payout based on the repair cost. A spokesperson for Air KBZ confirmed nobody was injured in the incident,

Entries open for photo contest


THE Ngwe Saung arm of the Myanmar Hoteliers Association is inviting entries for its annual photo contest, which is being held for the fourth time. U Aung Htay Lin, vice president of the Ngwe Saung Zone, said that the theme of the contest was Tourist attractions of Ngwe Saung Zone and organisers wanted to see photos not only of the beach but also nearby sites of interest. We have organised three photo contests since 2009 and in previous years most photos were just of the beach. There are also other places in the area where visitors can enjoy themselves, such as Bird Island, Thazin village, Zee Maw village and Sin Ma village, and the elephant camp. We want to discover those areas, he said. He said entries can be submitted to the Myanmar Photographic Societys office in Yangons Kyauktada township by April 30. U Aung Htay Lin said that the winner will receive K500,000, while the first and second runner-up will receive K300,000 and K200,000 respectively. He said 10 photographs would be given honourable mention prizes valued at K50,000 each. P r i z e - w i n n i n g photographs will be used in travel promotion activities and a calendar. Aye Sapay Phyu

The damaged nose of the Air KBZ aicraft that crashed at Thandwe Airport on February 17. Pic: Supplied which saw the aircraft come to a stop on a pile of gravel beside the runway. Among the 51 passengers, 32 were foreigners and the other 19 were local passengers. The front wheel of the aircraft was broken due to the accident but luckily none of the passengers or Air KBZ staff were injured, said the spokesperson. He confirmed the company was in discussions with Myanma Insurance about a payout. The spokesperson said the accident was caused by a hydraulic system failure that prevented the front landing gear from deploying before landing. One of the foreign passengers who was on the flight said that no care at all was provided by Air KBZ after the accident. Now we know what they mean by their slogan, Air KBZ Flying Beyond Expectation, he said. One industry insider familiar with the incident said that after the accident, the pilots and crew members were spirited away to the best four-star beach resort to enjoy the rest of the day while the passengers were left alone to make it to their hotels with no more contact or service from the airline. He said some passengers did not want to make the return trip to Yangon with Air KBZ, but received no help from the airline in booking tickets with other airlines. One passenger wanted to get back to Yangon only by car, he said. Air KBZ, which is owned by Kanbawza Bank, was launched on April 2, 2011 and operates schedule flights from Yangon to Nyaung Oo, Mandalay, Heho, Tachileik, Dawei, Myeik, Myitkyina, Kalay, Kawthoung, Thandwe and Sittwe.

Job fair to be held this month


By Sandar Lwin MORE than 50 companies are expected to participate in a Yangon job fair later this month, according to organisers. The Myanmar Young Entrepreneurs Association (MYEA) said last week the Myanmar Job Fair 2012 would seek to link up employers with job seekers and is thought to be the first of its kind held in Myanmar. The fair will be at the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) headquarters on Min Ye Kyaw Swar Road in Lanmadaw township from March 17 to 18, MYEA general secretary U Aye Win said at a press conference last week. The fair will cover various kinds of jobs. The companies already signed up to participate in the fair as of February 24 include many well-established companies, such as the producer of Yum Yum instant noodles (Yathar Cho) and market information service [company] e-trade Myanmar, he said. The fair will include facilities to enable prospective employees to file applications on the spot, as well as private rooms for employers to conduct interviews. There will also be talks from experts in the afternoon and more than 50 lucky draws for various training programs, including language, accounting and software development, said MYEA associate secretary Daw Thin Thin Set. She said anecdotal reports and a small survey conducted by the MYEA in January suggested that many employers were having trouble finding the right employees for their business. We have a labour force that is seeking jobs so we think it is the right time to hold a job fair. This fair will be a bridge between employers and the labour force so that one finds the right employee and the other finds the right job, she said. Organisers said that they would consider holding regular job fairs in the future if the Myanmar Job Fair 2012 proved successful.

Ethnic news journal to launch in March


A JOURNAL focusing on news from the countrys ethnic-dominated regions is set to launch in March, several months later than originally planned, its editor in chief said last week. Ko Pyo Wai Lin said The Unity was initially expected to hit newsstands in November because it took eight months for the groups publishing licence to be approved. He said that the name of the new publication also had to be changed from The Union, which was already registered by the Union Democratic Party. We only changed the name. We will report politics and other ethnic news as we originally planned, Ko Pyo Wai Lin said. The 36-page journal will be published each Friday and is owned by three ethnic nationals, including U Sai Hla Kyaw, the general secretary of the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party and Pyithu Hluttaw representative for Langkho in southern Shan State. He said that most journals were focused on events in Bamar-dominated areas and gave less space to ethnic news. Yadana Htun

TiMESbusiness
Gold price likely to increase, say traders
By Aye Thidar Kyaw GOLD prices are on their way up and are tipped to continue rising, gold traders and jewellery shop owners said last week. On February 29, a tical (0.576 ounces) of gold was selling for about K760,000, a K2000 rise from a week earlier but a nearly 5 percent increase on the late January price of K725,000. Traders said the rise was being spurred by strong demand for Myanmar gold from across the border, even though its illegal to export gold. Even if the world gold price is stable and the dollars value doesnt change much in Myanmar I think gold prices here will increase further, said U Win Nge from Aung Thamadi gold shop in Lanmadaw township, he said on February 27, when the price was K756,600 a tical. Several industry insiders said that if a gap opened between Myanmars gold price and the international market rate which is also increasing people would take the opportunity to smuggle gold abroad, mostly to China via the border trading zone at Muse in Shan State. On February 29 the international price was US$1785 an ounce AFP news agency reported. Using an exchange rate of K810 to the dollar that equals a price of

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General Electric to sell goods in Myanmar


YANGON The medical equipment division of General Electric Co has reached a deal with a local partner to sell its products in Myanmar and said it could expand further as the country continues to open up to the outside world. GE Healthcare appointed Sea Lion Co Ltd on February 25 as the national dealer for its products in Myanmar. Although the US government still has sanctions on investment in the country, foreign businesses are starting to test the waters because of political and economic reforms under a new civilian government in office since last March. Foreign governments have said they would monitor elections on April 1 and if they are deemed free and fair, some could start to lift or soften sanctions. Asked about GE Healthcares plans, regional spokesman Khor Jiak Woen said by email: We have decided to permit the sale of GE Healthcare equipment and services into Myanmar. We will continue to carefully monitor developments in Myanmar and will decide when to permit the sale of other GE products and services as conditions evolve. In a statement to mark the venture with Sea Lion, David Utama, the chief executive officer of GE Healthcare ASEAN, stressed the company could help modernise Myanmars healthcare system with its medical imaging products and information technology. Reuters

A man works to refine gold at a workshop in Mandalay in January 2011. Pic: Kaung Htet about K833,000 a tical or just slightly less than 10pc above the domestic price. A Myanmar Gold Entrepreneurs Association official said if the domestic price fell too far below the international rate smuggling would increase. Thats what happens when the gap is too large and we cant stop it because thats how the market works, he said, adding that he doubted prices would decline in the short term. He added that the high prices were also scaring off customers.

Economists urge close look at budget


By Aye Thidar Kyaw ECONOMISTS were last week hopeful that this years national budget, which is being debated in the parliament, would lay the foundation for inclusive growth. U Than Lwin, a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Myanmar, said that before 1963 the government released all official economic data but since then such information had disappeared from public view. However, the constitution states that future budgets must be made public. However, the draft does not include a pay rise for government staff, an issue that caught the attention of Pyithu Hluttaw Speaker U Thura Shwe Mann, although it did contain measures designed to boost spending in infrastructure, human resources and defence. Unlike in previous financial years, the budget uses an exchange rate of K800 to the dollar, compared with K6 in previous years. Several sources said that using the K800 figure would likely lead to a budget deficit. Minister for Finance and ReceU Hla Tun said the budget deficit for 2012-13 would subsequently expand to K6.613 trillion a deficitto-GDP ratio of 12.87pc. He said a doubling of wages would see the minimum and maximum salaries rise to K70,000 and K420,000 respectively and expand the deficit by K911 billion. If wages increased 50pc the deficit will be K3.152 trillion, with a deficit-to-GDP ratio of 6.14pc. Expenditure on health amounted to 3pc of the budget, while education received 5pc, both of which fell far below public expectations, said U Maw Than, an economist and former rector of the Yangon Institute of Economics. Another economist, U Khine Tun, said during a budget analysis workshop held at non-government organisation ActionAids office on February 28 that while looking at the budget, the government also needed to keep a watch on taxation rates, noting that taxes on key export items such as fisheries products and beans and pulses had been reduced to 2pc from 10pc in the past year. In previous financial years the government prioritised GDP growth in budget plans and just set a number that they wanted. Then they would try to achieve that GDP figure but weve learned that growth alone cannot develop our society, he said. Meanwhile, Pyithu Hlattaw speaker Thura U Shwe Man urged parliamentarians on February 17 to raise the salaries of government staff in the next financial year, adding that funds for this move could be found by axing unnecessary projects. Mr Shafique Rahman, a senior policy advisor at the United Nations Development Program and a speaker at the workshop, said if the government raised staff salaries it would be forced to find other ways to meet the budget deficit. He said one option would be to print money, which would increase inflation and hurt ordinary citizens. Another option would be to sell government bonds or borrow money from international finance institutions but he said that would saddle the government with more debt that it would need to pay off in future. However, a Ministry of Commerce official said that low government salaries could encourage corruption if government staff earned too little to make ends meet. He added that higher salaries would help to mitigate that risk. We need to fix a minimum salary at this time in preparation for the ASEAN Free Trade Area when huge foreign investment is expected to arrive. We need to check what government staff in neighbouring countries are earning at that time, he said.

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New retail outlet coming on March 16


By Htar Htar Khin YANGON will add another huge retail outlet to its expanding collection of shopping centres on March 16 when Junction Square opens, a company spokesperson said last week. The four-storey centre, which is between Pyay and Kyuntaw roads in Kamaryut township, occupies a 9-acre plot and includes more than 300,000 square feet of retail space, the spokesperson said. Junction Square will be the fifth Junction-branded retail centre, he added. We have to open shopping centres at a quality level that satisfies all potential clients. We aim for this development to meet international standards and reflect the changing face of Yangon, said Ko Ye Naing, marketing manager of Shwe Taung Developments Junction Centre division. The centre was planned and designed in cooperation with Thai and domestic architecture firms, he said. Junction Square will house more than 300 shop houses on the ground floor, while the remaining levels will cater to shops selling clothing, cosmetic, jewellery, fabric, IT products, furniture, housewares, electronics, toys and more. It will also include an edutainment centre and a health and wellness centre on the third floor, he added. The development will also house international education facilities, computer centres, bank branches and three mini theatres, one of which will show 3D movies. The compound includes parking for at least 200 vehicles.

US growth easing after strong Q4: Fed


which dropped sharply last summer, has since rebounded but remains relatively low. The picture appeared at odds with the Commerce Departments revision of its growth estimate for the last three months of 2011 to a peppy 3 percent from an initial estimate of 2.8pc. But that came after a dismal third quarter, and Bernanke said the economy this year was likely to expand at a pace close to or somewhat above the more tepid average of 2.25pc for the full second half of 2011. He also played down expectations of a continued sharp rebound in jobs, saying the Fed expected unemployment would decline only slowly from the current official rate of 8.3pc. The new data and Bernankes testimony gave meat to both President Barack Obamas Democrats and rival Republicans as the White House race picks up pace with a focus on Obamas economic record since the disastrous 2008-09 recession. Senior Republican congressman Jeb Hensarling blasted Bernanke for his characterisation of the recovery under Obama as modest. The true unemployment rate is 15.4pc, he said. Half of all Americans are now classified by the Census Bureau as either low income or in poverty, and one in seven now have to rely on food stamps. Bernanke pointed to an apparent contradiction in economic data on one hand showing a promising rise in production and some areas of consumption, and on the other, still-depressed consumer activity and stillslow job creation. He said the key issues were still high unemployment, stagnant wages and the depressed housing market. Unfortunately, many potential [home] buyers lack the down payment and credit history required to qualify for loans, the Fed chief said. Others are reluctant to buy a house now because of concerns about their income, employment prospects, and the future path of home prices. After the sharp fall in the jobless rate in the last six months, to 8.3pc in January from 9.1pc in August, Bernanke said the Fed expects unemployment to continue to edge down only slowly this year. Long-term unemployment is still near record levels, and the number of persons working part time for economic reasons is very high, he said. Economists said Bernanke was not ready to embrace the trickle of more positive data on the economy in recent weeks. Todays testimony shows [the Fed] is unconvinced of the recoverys sustainability, said BBVA Research in an analysis. But some said that he was being typically cautious, and that the new fourthquarter growth estimate suggested a rosier picture for households than the Fed chief painted. The upside surprise came in higher estimates for consumer spending on services, said Nigel Gault, chief US economist at IHS Global Insight. Household incomes have been doing better than we thought, giving consumers a bigger cushion to cope with the headwind from rising gasoline prices, he said. Meanwhile Bernanke played down the most recent worry of rising oil prices, which has become a political issue as the campaign for the November presidential election picks up. The rise of gasoline prices is likely to push up inflation temporarily, he said. But, in the longer term. inflation is expected to remain subdued. AFP

Workers clean a fountain at the front of Junction Square in Kamaryut township last week. Pic: Boothee

By Veronica Smith WASHINGTON Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke said on February 29 that stagnant wages and unemployment were holding back the US economy, chilling a surge in optimism that came after the government raised its estimate for fourth quarter growth. The Fed chief warned of sluggish growth in 2012 as fretful consumers keep their wallets zipped, though he admitted a disconnect between the data showing strengthening in the manufacturing sector and, at the same time, still-weak consumer sentiment. The fundamentals that support spending continue to be weak, Bernanke said in semi-annual testimony to Congress. Real household income and wealth were flat in 2011, and access to credit remained restricted for many potential borrowers. Consumer sentiment,

United Nations
BUREAU DE LA COORDINATION DES AFFAIRES HUMANITAIRES

Nations Unies
OFFICE FOR THE COORDINATION OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRES

UNOCHA MYANMAR VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT (UNOCHA/YGN/2012/002) The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) in Myanmar is seeking the applications from dynamic and highly motivated Myanmar nationals for the following vacancies. Detailed terms of reference/ requirements for vacancies can be requested at the UNOCHA Office. The positions mentioned below are Fixed Term Appointments (FTA) for 1 year with possibility of extension, for multiple duty stations. a. Field Coordination Officer (NOA, 2 positions) Requirements Masters Degree or equivalent in Economics, Social Sciences, International Relations, Political Sciences or related field. Minimum 2 years of progressively responsible professional experience in the field of humanitarian/ recovery affairs, knowledge on global policies and guidelines related to humanitarian/recovery affairs and humanitarian reform. Ability to write clearly and concisely in English and local language(s). Strong computer skills. Proven high-level representation skills, such as speaking at meetings and providing situational analysis. Proven capacity to work effectively in small teams. Experience working in implementation and delivery of humanitarian/recovery projects at the field level is a must. Experience working in a complex settings that requires sound judgment, and operational flexibility. Previous experience in a similar capacity with humanitarian agencies, in particular the UN, preferred. Fluency in English and Myanmar language. Knowledge in any other local languages will be an asset. Candidates should clearly indicate the Vacancy Number and Post Title in their applications, and should submit them together with complete duly filled UN-P11 form, bio-data stating personal details, academic qualification and work experience, copies of master degree certificate and scores transcript, and a recent passport sized photograph. Applications should be addressed to: Admin and HR Unit, UNOCHA Myanmar Inya Lake Hotel, 1st Floor, Room 113, 37, Ka Bar Aye Pagoda Road, Mayangone Tsp. Closing Date: 19 March 2012 (COB) Only short-listed candidates will be notified. Interviews will be competency based.

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Job watch
Sales & Marketing Executive
A leading foreign automotive distribution company is looking for dynamic, service-oriented and self-driven individual, who has strong desire to excel. Responsibilities: Achieve sales target given Communicate and implement all marketing initiatives Handle all in-coming enquiries Handle general operations & administrative matters Other duties as assigned by the management. Requirements: Degree holder Effectively bilingual (both written and conversational English) At least 2 years of working experience (preferably in sales & marketing) Work experience in foreign company would be desirable Ability to travel would be an added advantage. Interested applicants, please send your resume with a recent photo, expected salary and availability to HR@tga.com.sg by 10th March 2012.

China must reform economy: WB


By Allison Jackson BEIJING China could face an economic crisis in the next 20 years if Beijing does not quickly overhaul its development model, World Bank and Chinese government researchers warned on February 27. The worlds second-largest economy was at a turning point and the need for deep reforms was urgent, the analysts said in a report forecasting Chinas economic growth would nearly halve in the next two decades. China must make a number of changes, such as scaling back its vast and powerful stateowned enterprises, breaking up monopolies in strategic sectors and making it easier for small companies to access financing, they said. China could postpone reforms and risk the possibility of an economic crisis in the future or it could implement reforms proactively, according to the China 2030 report prepared by the World Bank and the Development Research Centre under the State Council, Chinas cabinet. Proactive policy change has been key to Chinas economic success and the calls for reforms within the country have never been louder. After averaging 10 percent annual growth for the past 30 years, Chinas export and investment-driven economic model was no longer sustainable, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said at the launch of the study. The case for reform is compelling because China has now reached a turning point in its development path, Zoellick told a conference in Beijing. The countrys current growth model is unsustainable. This is not the time just for muddling through its time to get ahead of events and to adapt to major changes in the world and national economies. The report was backed by Vice President Xi Jinping and Vice Premier Li Keqiang, who are expected to succeed

VACAENCY ANNOUNCEMENT Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), a Japanese governmental organization responsible for implementing Official Development Assistance (ODA), Myanmar Office is seeking a Receptionist for its expanded works in the Union of Myanmar. Key responsibilities: - Welcoming and receiving incoming international and local visitors and telephone calls - Managing incoming and outgoing letters and documents, making copy, and other duties as appropriate - Establishing and ensuring effective working relationship with visitors - Establishing effective communication and working relationship with government counterpart organizations - Keeping records of incoming and outgoing mails - Carrying out any other duties that may arise from time to time All staff members have to maintain professional security, accuracy and integrity. Failure to do this may result termination of employment contract. Job description may be revised as necessary. Duration of Assignment: Initially up to 31 March 2013, with possibility of yearly renewal upon satisfactory performance. Eligible candidate should possess following qualifications; - university degree - fluent in English (reading, writing, speaking) - age less than 30 years - ability to work in a team and maintain harmonious relationship with other staff and other organizations and - good computer skill and knowledge of Word, Excel & Power Point, e-mail and internet How to apply: Qualified and interested persons are requested to send the applications with updated C.V, educational credentials and references to JCIA Myanmar Office, Room 701, 7th Floor Sakura Tower, No.339, Bogyoke Aung San Road, Kyauktada Township, Yangon not later than 16 March 2012. From the first week of April 2012 (negotiable), yearly renewal upon satisfactory performance. Note: Only short listed candidates will be contacted for subsequent interviews.

World Bank president Robert Zoellick answers a question from the media during a press conference at the World Banks Beijing office on February 28. Pic: AFP President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao during a major transition of power that begins at the end of this year. Despite this high-level support, the report is likely to face resistance from people with vested interests in the current model, Zoellick said. Reforms are not easy they often generate pushback, he said. Liu Shijin, vice minister of the Development Research Centre, said the reforms were necessary as the Asian powerhouse slows to 5-6pc annual growth in the next 20 years from the current 9pc. Chinese leaders frequently talk about the need to reform the countrys economic model, partly by reducing its heavy reliance on exports and increasing domestic consumption. But significant reforms have been slow as stability-obsessed leaders try to maintain rapid economic growth seen as essential to create enough jobs for the countrys 1.3 billion people and keep a lid on unrest. Beijing prohibits or restricts foreign investment in certain sectors such as auto, energy, finance, banking and telecommunications, drawing criticism from overseas competitors over the lack of market access and unfair treatment. Domestically, privately owned firms often complain about the lack of competition and the fact they cannot access financing from commercial banks, which prefer to lend money to major state-owned enterprises. The report also urges Beijing to commercialise the banking system and gradually remove interest rate controls as it seeks to complete its transition to a market economy. Other recommendations called for greater innovation, further social welfare reforms, better protection for farmers land rights and market incentives to encourage companies and households to adopt green technology. Such concrete measures were necessary as China seeks economic growth based on stability, said Li Wei, Minister of the Development Research Centre. Despite the ongoing eurozone crisis and weakness in the United States, Zoellick played down fears of an economic disaster in China in the near term. There are stress points that will expand over time rather than [turn into] a crisis, Zoellick said, forecasting a soft landing for the Asian powerhouse. But he acknowledged that the devil will be in the implementation of the reforms. AFP

Potential and problems ahead for Myanmar: Rogers


By Mark Tay and Anuradha Kanwar SINGAPORE Myanmar resembles China before Beijing launched economic reforms three decades ago but poses enormous risks for investors, including opaque laws and a troubled currency, high-profile commodities investor Jim Rogers said last week. They dont even have a real currency at the moment, Rogers, a known commodities bull who co-founded the Quantum Fund with George Soros in the 1970s, told Reuters in an interview on February 22. It is not very easy to invest in unless you go there to make direct investments. Rogers was referring to Myanmars kyat, which fluctuates considerably against the dollar and trades at multiple blackmarket rates, some as much as 130 percent higher than the official rate that is barely used. Myanmar has introduced democratic reforms with astonishing speed since a civilian government took office last March after five decades of army rule, releasing more than 600 political prisoners, easing media censorship and seeking ceasefires with ethnic rebel armies. It has sought help from the International Monetary Fund and Asian Development Bank in tackling its economic problems, particularly the kyat issue, but they say they cannot be solved easily. The prospect of the end of Western sanctions imposed for human rights abuses has prompted a surge of interest from investors who view Myanmar, with its vast natural resources, tourism potential and urgent infrastructure needs, as one of Asias last frontier markets As big as France and Britain combined, Myanmar sits strategically between India, China and Southeast Asia with ports on the Indian Ocean and Andaman Sea, all of which have made it a coveted energy-security asset for Beijings western provinces. Myanmar has massive natural resources, agriculture, minerals and energy. Theyve got it all. Fifty years ago, Myanmar was the richest country in Asia, Rogers said. It looks increasingly likely the embargoes will start to be lifted in the next 12-15 months as Myanmars government pulls out all the stops to convince the international community it has changed, and needs trade and investment bans to be lifted in order to overhaul its long-stagnant economy. However, lifting the embargoes will not be simple. Though certain political measures can be eased, like travel bans on top officials, both the EU and United States require proper reviews and congressional or parliamentary approval in order for trade and economic restrictions to be removed. Rogers had a message for Asian investors not hamstrung by those sanctions. Get in there quick before the Americans come, because right now you dont have to compete with America. It is great because the Americans are shooting themselves in the foot again, he said. Beyond the sanctions, the barriers to progress in Myanmar are formidable: an incoherent exchange rate regime, woeful infrastructure, weak investment laws, a crippled banking system, decades of mismanagement and a shortage of skilled labour. Rogers also warned about entering into partnerships with the wrong people. Business deals between foreign investors and Myanmar partners have often involved cronies of the former junta, either as partners or middlemen, and many are on US and EU blacklists. Those tycoons were among the main beneficiaries of a largely opaque privatisation boom that preceded a 2010 election, during which prime state assets, such as shipping companies, gas stations and real estate, were sold off. Myanmar is a great opportunity, Rogers said. But if you get involved with dumb people, youre going to lose money. Reuters

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failure and averted the possibility of a severe credit crunch and additional recessionary pressure across the [euro area], Standard & Poors wrote in a report. We also think that the ECBs actions have helped warm up public funding markets from the deep freeze of late 2011, although investor demand remains selective. Nevertheless, S&P said the actions did not address the underlying structural issues in the banking sector, including capital shortfalls at various banks, the questionable viability of some business models in the medium term, and continued uncertainty over the appropriate carrying values of assets such as certain sovereign exposures, it said. Capital Economics economist Jennifer McKeown cautioned that hopes that the funds will also solve the [eurozone] fiscal crisis and breathe life into the ailing eurozone economy are likely to be disappointed. Italian and Spanish banks, apparently using funds from the December operation, did increase their purchases of sovereign debt in January, no doubt contributing to the fall in government borrowing costs as a result. But overall eurozone bank purchases of government securities rose by less in January than in November and December, before the first LTRO. And even if banks have more money to invest after a functioning interbank market or solve the sovereign debt crisis, he said. Berenberg Bank chief economist Holger Schmieding welcomed the move as helping confidence. The euro crisis is a crisis of confidence. Whatever makes markets believe that Europe is getting its act together can restore such confidence. With its aggressive three-year LTRO, the ECB has managed to impress markets, Schmieding said. Investors are starting to believe that the ECB will do what it takes to prevent an the implosion of the common currency which many global investors had wrongly predicted late last year. The ECB has shifted perceptions of Europe. Looking ahead, analysts were sceptical the ECB will want to undertake a third LTRO amid concern within its governing council about the potential longer-term inflationary impact of so much cheap funding being made available. T h e r e w o n t automatically be a third round, said Austrian central bank head Ewald Nowotny in an interview in The Times. European stock markets rose were firmer on the move, led by banking shares while the euro held steady, giving up very modest gains on the news. AFP

MyanMar tiMes

ECB throws open liquidity floodgates again


By Simon Morgan FRANKFURT The European Central Bank threw open its liquidity floodgates again on February 29, pumping up the banks with nearly 530 billion euros (US$712 billion) in cheap loans to avert a dangerous credit squeeze. In the second such cash bonanza in two months, the ECB said 800 banks took 529.5 billion euros at exceptionally low interest rates in its second threeyear long-term refinancing operation, or LTRO. That beats the 489.19 billion euros ($656 billion) borrowed by 523 banks in a first operation in December but analysts said the move would merely buy time and not be enough on its own to solve the eurozones crippling debt crisis. The ECB launched the ultra-long loans late last year with the aim of averting a credit squeeze in the 17 countries which share the euro. The ECB, lending the money out at just 1 percent, hopes the banks will lend the cash to households and businesses and also use it to bring down government borrowing costs. Analysts believe the first operation in December succeeded in easing funding problems for European banks, which have to deal with debt of 720 billion euros ($965 billion) due to mature in 2012. We believe that the ECBs intervention has materially reduced the risk of a liquidity-driven bank

Schoolchildren walk past drawings and a slogan on a wall in the center of Athens. Pic: AFP todays operation, we are not convinced that they will stash it in risky government bonds, Mckeown said. The head of the German banking federation BdB, Michael Kemmer, also warned that the ECB liquidity was no panacea for the eurozones ills. The measures are buying time but they cant replace

Flood-hit Japanese firms may quit Thailand: survey


BANGKOK Almost one in 10 Japanese manufacturers with operations in Thailand plans to relocate out of the kingdom after last years devastating floods, a survey showed on February 29. Electronics makers were particularly hard hit, with more than half directly affected by the disaster, according to the poll of 1345 companies by the Japanese Chamber of Commerce Bangkok (JCCB), in which 366 responded. The electronics sector suffered more than other industries, said Setsuo Iuchi, chairman of the organisations economic research committee, adding that such companies were now trying to spread their risk. Eight percent of all Japanese manufacturers in Thailand plan to relocate out of the country, while 85pc will resume their business in the same place. Others expect to move within the kingdom. The months-long floods last year took a heavy toll on Thailands industrial heartland north of Bangkok, with many factories forced to close temporarily. Japanese auto giant Honda has suspended operations since early October at its factory in Ayutthaya, where it was forced to destroy more than 1000 cars that were submerged by the muddy waters. The survey showed 72pc of manufacturers expected to resume their operations between December 2011 and March 2012, while 21pc will restart in April-May this year, and 6pc in June or later. Those companies that are resuming late have to wait for new machinery imported from Japan, and some are still waiting to see the Thai governments flood prevention plan, Iuchi said. The JCCB has urged the Thai government to speed up the implementation of a flood control plan. AFP

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China's Wang Shu wins Pritzker prize


LOS ANGELES Chinese architect Wang Shu is this years winner of the Pritzker prize, his professions highest honour, in recognition of his efforts in designing timeless buildings in a nation in rapid flux, the foundation that oversees the prize announced on February 28. Wang, 48, whose modestly named practice Amateur Architecture Studio is based in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, is only the second architect of Chinese origin to win the Pritzker, after Guangzhou-born I.M. Pei in 1983. Wang Shus oeuvre, seen in depth by the jurors during a visit to China, left no doubt that we were witnessing the work of a master, said jury chairman and British property developer Lord Peter Palumbo. He said the decision to give the Pritzker to Wang and in doing so catapult him into the elite of global architecture was unanimous among the nine jurors, who included past laureates Zaha Hadid and Glenn Murcutt. The US$100,000 award will be formally presented to Wang in Beijing on May 25. This is really a big surprise, said Wang in a statement issued by the Hyatt Foundation of Los Angeles, which administers the prize that is sometimes known as the Nobel prize of architecture. I am tremendously honoured ... I suddenly realised that Ive done many things over the last decade. It proves that earnest hard work and persistence lead to positive outcomes. Trained in architecture at the Nanjing Institute of Technology, Wang undertook his first project, a youth center outside Hangzhou, in 1990, then spend a decade alongside craftsmen to gain handson building experience. His first major undertaking, a Suzhou University library in 2000 that earned him a national prize, was followed by art and history museums in Ningbo, sections of the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, and an apartment complex. His fondness for marrying old and new, and his passion for sustainability, once saw him salvage more than two million tiles from demolished traditional houses to finish roofs at the Hangzhou art school. The question of the proper relation of present to past is particularly timely, for the recent process of urbanisation in China invites debate as to whether architecture should be anchored in tradition or should look only toward the future,

The Ningbo Museum, which was designed by Pritzker prize-winning Chinese architect Wang Shu in Ningbo, in east Chinas Zhejiang province. Pic: AFP Palumbo said. As with any great architecture, Wang Shus work is able to transcend that debate, producing an architecture that is timeless, deeply rooted in its context and yet universal. Other Pritzker laureates include Norman Foster, Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers. Last year the honour went to Portugals Eduardo Soutoo de Moura. AFP

Michael Jordans house on market for $29 million


CHICAGO Basketball fans with a penchant for luxury can truly Be Like Mike now that NBA icon Michael Jordans sprawling suburban Chicago home has hit the market for a cool US$29 million. The secluded compound in Tony Highland Park greets fans with a shimmering 23 Jordans Bulls jersey number stretched across an imposing gate. Among the most extraordinary features of the sprawling estate is the attached indoor basketball complex, realtor Baird and Warner said in a February 29 press release. It features a full size regulation basketball court with specially cushioned hardwood flooring, adjustable backstops and baskets, and competition-quality high intensity lighting. It also features a custom sound system with speakers tuned to provide perfect acoustics within the court space and has a separate entry and nearby parking area. The modern threestorey mansion was built between 1993 and 1995 and extensively renovated in 2009 and offers 56,000 square feet of living space. It has nine bedrooms, more than 15 baths and five fireplaces, and includes an attached three-bedroom guest house. The manicured grounds also house an indoor/outdoor entertaining and pool area, an outdoor tennis court, a putting green, a deep water pond, and three separate climate-controlled multi-car garages. Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA titles in the 1990s and sparked the 1992 Barcelona Olympic US Dream Team to gold. With high-leaping acrobatic shots and clutch baskets in the dying seconds of games, Jordan lived up to the Nikepowered hype as a generation of basketball followers sought

Czech Minister of Culture Alena Hanakova (left), Brnos mayor Roman Onderka (centre) and a descendant of the original owners of the Tugendhat villa, Daniela Tugendhat, at the opening ceremony of the reconstructed Mies van der Rohe villa in Brno on February 29. Pic: AFP

Among the most extraordinary


features of the sprawling estate is the attached indoor basketball complex.

Czech Bauhaus gem open again after revamp


BRNO, Czech Republic The UNESCO-listed Tugendhat villa, a Bauhausstyle architectural gem in the southern Czech city of Brno, reopened its doors on February 29, following a complete renovation. The clean-lined 20 th century villa nestled in a vast sloping garden is the work of German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969), head of the celebrated Bauhaus school that sought to accentuate architecture as an art. The radical ideas used by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe here influenced to a great extent the entire evolution of 20th-century architecture, Pavel Ciprian, head of the Brno municipal museum, said at the reopening ceremony. In the design, the architect abandoned the idea of separate rooms, opting instead for a vast open space of 250 square metres (2691 square feet), from which giant windows frame views of the sprawling gardens and the city. The villa was built in 19291930 for Jewish entrepreneur Fritz Tugendhat and his wife Grete. In 1938, the family fled to Switzerland and then Venezuela to escape Nazi Germanys occupation of the country during World War II. A house built for a family has become a work of art, said Daniela Hammer Tugendhat, one of the four children of the builders. Since the start of the war, the villas fate echoed that of the country it was seized by the Nazis to serve as a studio for the German Messerschmitt aviation factory, and then confiscated by the Soviet army. After the war, the villa became the property of the Czechoslovak state in 1955. It was modified to serve as a re-education centre for children before being revamped for representative purposes in the 1980s. The villa was the setting for key talks between the Czech and Slovak prime ministers, Vaclav Klaus and Vladimir Meciar, in 1992 in the run-up to the peaceful split of the former Czechoslovakia into two countries a year later. UNESCO put the villa on its world heritage list in December 2001. The renovation was carried out by a Czech company but under the supervision of the whole world, said Roman Onderka, the mayor of Brno, 200 kilometres (125 miles) southeast of the Czech capital, Prague. He said that the renovation had cost 170 million Czech koruna (US$9.2 million). AFP

to Be Like Mike and wear Air Jordan sneakers. Forbes magazine has estimated Jordans net worth at $500 million, largely because his Nike brand items remain a $1 billion moneymaker. After flopping in the front office for the Washington Wizards after his 2003 retirement, Jordan took an executive role with the NBA Charlotte Bobcats and then purchased the North Carolina-based NBA club. AFP

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Tourists ride rickshaws with the Tokyo Sky Tree tower in the background in Tokyo. Pic: AFP

Pending US home sales show industry regaining footing


By Shobhana Chandra WASHINGTON More Americans than forecast signed contracts to buy previously owned homes in January, indicating the industry that sparked the last recession is improving. The index of pending home resales climbed 2 percent after a 1.9pc decrease the prior month that was smaller than previously estimated, the National Association of Realtors said in Washington on February 27. The median forecast of 44 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for a 1pc advance. Buyers are returning to the real estate market on the heels of faster job gains for three straight months, falling home prices and record-low borrowing costs. At the same time, foreclosures are weighing on property values and construction, slowing the housing recovery. Housing demand has bottomed, and we should see some gradual improvement in sales, said Yelena Shulyatyeva, an economist at BNP Paribas in New York, who projected a 2pc gain in pending sales. The dark side of the story is still the oversupply and the expected pickup in foreclosures. Thats what policy makers really need to think about. Pending sales were projected to rise after an initially reported 3.5pc drop in December, according to the Bloomberg survey. January estimates ranged from a decrease of 1.7pc to an increase of 3.3pc. Compared with a year earlier, January pending home sales climbed 10.3pc. Pending home sales are considered a leading indicator because they track contract signings. Purchases of existing homes are tabulated when a contract closes, typically a month or two later, and made up more than 90pc of the housing market last year. Still, lower appraisals and rejected mortgage applications due to stricter lending standards have resulted in more breakdowns of deals. In January, 33pc of Realtors said they experienced contract failures, up from 9pc who said so 12 months earlier, according to the association. Existing-home sales rose to a 4.57 million annual rate in January, the group reported last week. While it was the best showing since May 2010, distressed properties made up the largest portion of all purchases since April. The median price fell 2pc from January 2011. Two of four regions saw an increase in pending home sales, the February 27 report showed. That included a 7.6pc gain in the Northeast and a 7.7pc increase in the South. Pending purchases dropped in the West and Midwest. Builders such as Toll Brothers and DR Horton are benefiting from job growth as well as cheaper properties and record-low mortgage rates. Were optimistic, Doug Yearley, chief executive officer at Horsham, Philadelphiabased Toll Brothers, said in a February 22 interview with Bloomberg Television. We have orders that are up significantly. Were seeing deposits up, were seeing traffic up. The Realtors groups measure of whether households earning the median income are able to buy a median-priced property at current interest rates reached record levels in the final three months of 2011, recent data showed. Borrowing costs are also staying low. The average rate on a 30-year fixed loan was little changed at 4.09pc in the week ended February 17, from 4.08pc the prior week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. It averaged 4.05pc the week of February 3, its lowest reading in records dating back to 1990. New-home purchases declined 0.9pc in January to a 321,000 annual rate from 324,000 in December that was stronger than previously reported, the Commerce Department said on February 24. Bloomberg News

Japan finishes Tokyo Sky Tree


TOKYO Construction of the Tokyo Sky Tree, the worlds tallest selfsupporting communications tower, finished last week, two months late because of the quake and tsunami that struck Japan last March. Tourist bosses in the country hope the tower will be a big draw for foreign visitors, whose numbers have plummeted in the aftermath of the disaster and the nuclear crisis it sparked. The construction was originally scheduled to finish in December 2011 but was delayed due to a shortage of supplies after the disaster, said a spokeswoman for the operator, adding that the finished structure is sound. Construction of the 634metre (2080-foot) tower near the already popular Asakusa traditional district on Tokyos eastern side began in July 2008. The Tokyo Sky Tree tops the 600-metre Canton Tower in Chinas Guangzhou and the 553-metre CN Tower in downtown Toronto. Some 580,000 construction workers were engaged in the construction, which cost 65 billion yen (US$806 million) for the tower alone, the spokeswoman said. The Tokyo Sky Tree is expected to overshadow landmarks in the capitals upscale western parts, including the 333-metre Tokyo Tower, which was built in 1958 and became a byword in Japan for the countrys rapid post-war growth. It hosts two observation decks at 350 metres and 450 metres above ground as well as restaurants and office space and sits at a former freight shunting yard along the Sumida river. AFP

Italy to scrap Catholic property tax loophole


ROME Crisis-hit Italy on February 24 adopted a draft bill to scrap a controversial tax exemption for Catholic Church property in a move that could raise an extra 600 million euros (US$808 million) a year. The law now allows businesses operating out of Church property such as hotels and restaurants not to pay property tax as long as the building also has some religious function, such as a chapel or an adjoining monastery. The government promised this month to remove the exemption following an outcry among many Italians who are already hard pressed by an austerity drive that has raised taxes and slashed budgets to avoid bankruptcy. Prime Minister Mario Monti informed the cabinet that he has presented an amendment to the Senate ... on the immediate abrogation of rules on exemption for properties where commercial activity is not exclusive, the cabinet said. Property that is exclusively for non-commercial use such as churches will continue to be exempt from tax. The European Commission had opened an investigation into the loophole in 2010 on suspicion of anti-competitive behaviour. The Italian Catholic Church considered separate from the Vatican state, which has sovereignty owns around 100,000 properties worth 9 billion euros ($11.7 billion) including churches, schools, universities and hospitals. It also owns properties mainly aimed at tourists such as the French restaurant Eau Vive and the fourstar hotel Ponte Sisto in Rome. The National Association of Italian Communes has said the extra revenue for state coffers could be around 600 million euros ($780 million) a year. AFP

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Japan phones built to survive water torture: makers


By Hui Min Neo BARCELONA Japanese women are so fond of their phones, they even use them in the shower, say manufacturers. This makes waterproofing a must also good against rainstorms and accidents while texting on the toilet. Panasonic and Fujitsu are touting their waterproof and dust-proof phones as they seek to charm the overseas market at the worlds biggest mobile phone show in Barcelona last week. In Japan, you cant sell a phone if its not waterproof. About 90 to 95 percent of all phones sold now are already waterproof, Panasonic executive Taro Itakura told AFP at the Mobile World Congress. Why? This is very unique young Japanese women prefer to use their cellphones even when taking their showers, Itakura said. Cellphones have become must products. Panasonic is looking to re-enter the European market after pulling out in 2005 to concentrate on its domestic sales. The reason we decided to come back is that there have been a lot of changes in this industry with the introduction of the smartphone, which has become a global product, he said. In order to survive in this industry as a manufacturer, we, Panasonic, have to be strong in terms of global competition. It is not known whether Europeans share the J a p a n e s e f o ndness for phoning in the shower, but Itakura hopes they will consider the benefits for chatting in the rain. A third of the damage to phones comes from water, said Florian Sohn, a Panasonic marketing specialist for Europe. You may drop the phone in the bathroom, or bring it close to water when you wash your hands or it may fall inside toilets, he said. Dust-proofing meanwhile can appeal to customers such as construction workers, he added. Fujitsu, which has a fifth of the Japanese smartphone and tablet markets,

A Panasonic Eluga Power waterproof smartphone in a glass of water during a demonstration at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain on February 28. Pic: AFP also sets great store by waterproofing. The mobile phone is with us 24 hours a day. It accompanies us to the bathroom, to the shower, or under the rain. So it is a necessity for the phone to be robust, Nobuo Ohtani, Fujitsu corporate senior vice president, told AFP. While better known abroad for their laptops, the Japanese giant is also trying to sell phones to Western markets. In Barcelona, it showcased its range of phones on sale in Japan, as well as a new quadcore phone with extra processing power. Besides being waterproof, the phone also appeared crack-resistant when hammered repeatedly with a falling steel ball. Ohtani said Fujitsus smartphones will also offer human-centric technology that makes the devices easier to view or hear, a particular advantage for elderly users. This technology includes sensors that raise or lower the volume of a call, or even slow down speech if the caller is speaking too quickly. AFP

Tech giants lectured on gadget worship


LONG BEACH, California Silicon Valley giants at the prestigious TED innovation conference on February 28 were warned that the worship of technology will ruin the world before it saves it. Activist and author Paul Gilding made a case for the peril of obsession with modern technology and how lust for the latest gadgets is distracting people from acting to stop global disasters such as climate change. The Earth is full, argued Gilding, author of The Great Disruption, in which he reasons that as technology drives efficiency and economic growth it powers breakneck consumption that the planet cannot endure. It is full of us. It is full of our stuff, full of our waste, and full of our demands, he said. We have created too much stuff. This is not a philosophical statement, this is just science. The worlds population has topped seven billion system will break. On a TED stage famous for presentations from leading entrepreneurs developing ways to make the world a better place, Gilding argued that technology was making matters worse. sets rules and administers consequences. He cited national debt crises, the Occupy Wall Street movement and rising global temperatures as signs the breakdown of modern life is underway. really do love a good crisis and this one is a master. The head of the nonprofit X Prize Foundation, which is devoted to technology breakthroughs for the good of mankind, was then brought on stage to provide

technology get are right; Those people who think that it takeswillcrisisus throughgoing. they are only missing a to get us
people and resources are being devoured faster than they can be replenished, he said. Our approach is simply unsustainable, said Gilding, the former director of Greenpeace International. Thanks to those pesky laws of physics, it will stop. The With China and other developing countries booming, in many cases thanks to technology, the worlds resources are being rapidly devoured, he said. The Earth doesnt care what we need, Gilding said. Mother Nature doesnt negotiate; she just Weve had 50 years of warnings and pretty much done nothing to change course, he lamented, his eyes watering with tears. Those people who think technology will get us through are right; they are only missing that it takes a crisis to get us going ... We a counter-point to Gildings dark vision. Im not saying that we dont have our share of problems climate change, species extinction, resource shortage but ultimately we have the ability to see problems way in advance and knock them down, Peter

Diamandis said. He argued that rapidly improving sensors, robotics, digital medicine, synthetic biology and computing power in the internet cloud provided hope for a better future. He added that a Slingshot device about the size of a college dorm room refrigerator and capable of cheaply making drinking water from even the most tainted of sources was being tested with the backing of a beverage company. Diamandis also heads Singularity University in Silicon Valley, which serves as a training ground and academic boot camp for entrepreneurs, inventors and technology industry executives. AFP

Mozilla goes after Android, Apple with cheaper phone pledge


By Hui Min Neo BARCELONA Mozilla, which brought the free web browser Firefox to the masses, now wants to do the same for mobile users, with a new open source operating system that could drastically slash smartphone prices. The non-profit groups so-called Boot to Gecko project will go after Googles Android or Apples iOS, to create an alternative which could generate smartphones that are 10 times cheaper than an iPhone while offering similar experiences to those running on other platforms. We want to pioneer a category, Brendan Eich, who is Mozillas chief technology officer, told AFP at the worlds biggest mobile fair in Barcelona. We see the mobile world recreating the wall of gardens in the 1990s that AOL had, lamented Eich, referring to restrictions imposed by the internet provider two decades ago. Mozilla therefore wants to disrupt the closed system, and open it up to competition for greater innovation. The idea is for a platform that is completely reliant on the web, meaning that all phone capabilities, including calls, messaging, and browsing functions, would be web-based. Being on the web removes the need for much of the intermediary software that requires large memory or speedy processors both of which are expensive. As a result, it is able to cut costs dramatically. The group has partnered with Telefonica on the project, with the Spanish giant aiming to ship phones running on the new OS this year. For Carlos Domingo, Telefonica Digital director of product development, the development spells massive opportunities in Latin America, where smartphones are not catching on because of prohibitive prices. A new phone on the Mozilla platform, could be more than 10 times cheaper than an iPhone, Domingo told AFP. It could even be competitive compared to the cheapest phone on Finnish giant Nokias Lumia line, which runs on the Windows platform and will begin shipping this year at 189 euros (US$246). We can probably do two to three times cheaper than that, said Domingo, who aims to have the phones commercialised in six to eight months. Brazil is a typical target market for Telefonica because it has 75 percent mobile penetration rate, but just 5pc on smartphones. Nevertheless, Mozilla will face stiff challenges from Android and Apple, the runaway smartphone leaders. Microsoft too, launched its new Windows 8 at the Mobile World Congress on March 1, as it seeks to claw back some market share in the rapidly growing smartphone industry. But Eich, who invented the popular programming language JavaScript, believes the new system could hold its own against competitors. If you believe that iOS and Android have about 70 or 80pc of the market and if you believe that the remaining 20pc will not be fragmented ... we would hope to be 80pc of that 20pc, he said. It is possible that some of our partners agree that by making the right entry points, we can actually achieve high volume growth and be that platform, he added. And if the project succeeds, other regions could also benefit, as like all open source projec ts, it will be open for sharing. AFP

Japan feared Tokyo was finished after nuclear crisis


TOKYO A worst-case scenario sketched out by the Japanese government foresaw the end of Tokyo in a chain of nuclear explosions that would mean evacuating the city, an independent panel said on February 28. Plans were drawn up for the mass withdrawal from the capital as at least one senior minister fretted that meltdowns at Fukushima might spark crises at reactors all along the coast and engulf the city of 13 million people. The revelations came in a 400-page report published by a panel of experts who were given free rein to probe the events surrounding the worlds worst nuclear crisis in a generation. I had this demonic scenario in my head that nuclear reactors could break down one after another, then chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano told the panel. If that happens Tokyo will be finished, he said, according to the report. The panel said as the situation on Japans tsunami-wrecked coast worsened, Fukushima operator Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) had wanted to abandon the plant and evacuate its workers. But the utility, which refused to co-operate with the study, was ordered to keep men on site by then prime minister Naoto Kan. Experts concluded that if the premier had not insisted, Fukushima would have spiralled further out of control, with catastrophic consequences. Panel head Koichi Kitazawa told a news conference that Kans refusal to bow to TEPCOs demand had averted a worse crisis. Consequently, its Mr Kans biggest contribution that the Fukushima 50 remained at the site, added Kitazawa, referring to dozens of personnel who worked to contain the accident and were feted as heroes. Respected academics, engineers and journalists were drafted in by the Rebuild Japan Initiative Foundation after public demands for an independent probe into the meltdowns at Fukushima in the aftermath of the monster tsunami of March 2011. The six-member panel led a team that interviewed more than 300 people central to the disaster response and was given access to data and documents used in the days and weeks after disaster struck. The panel found that while some of Kans actions in the aftermath of the disaster had been helpful, a tendency to micro-manage events had hampered the emergency response. The report said the delay in the use of seawater as a coolant for overheating reactors was a prime example and came about because the prime ministers office had insisted on the use of freshwater. Experts later said the use of seawater which was available in plentiful supply had probably averted a worse disaster. AFP

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A distraught Yuko Sugimoto searches for her son, Raito, in the tsunami-devastated town of Ishinomaki, Miyagi preference, on March 13, 2011, and together at the same location on January 27. Yuko was reunited with Raito on March 14, three days after the tsunami struck. Pix: AFP/Yomiuri Shimbun (left), Toru Yamanaka (right). More pix: P. 25.

Outrage as aid barred to Syrian city


Briefly
WASHINGTON US President Barack Obama warned on March 2 against a premature attack on Iran, while Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu insisted his country had the right to self-defence. But in an apparent nod to Netanyahu ahead of key White House talks on March 5, Obama said if sanctions failed to curb Tehrans atomic ambitions, US military action against Iranian nuclear facilities should not be ruled out. VICTORIA, Seychelles A stricken Italian liner, the Costa Allegra, docked in the Seychelles capital on March 1 after its 1000 passengers had to use mineral water to wash and fight sweltering heat as the ship was slowly towed to port, two days after a fire disabled it. The Costa Allegra belongs to the same fleet as the Costa Concordia that smashed into rocks off Tuscany on January 13. WASHINGTON President Barack Obama said on February 29 he was confident the United States could stick to its Afghan drawdown timetable despite a week of deadly unrest over the burning of the Koran at a US base. Earlier report, P. 21. WASHINGTON Mustachioed Americans with a sense of both charity and humour are making plans to descend on Washington on April Fools Day to demand a US$250 tax break for their defining facial feature. AFP DAMASCUS The UN demanded on March 2 that Syria allow in humanitarian aid after a Red Cross relief mission to a vanquished rebel stronghold was blocked, as fears grew of brutal reprisals by regime forces. With world outrage growing against the Syrian regime, a monitoring group reported at least 38 Syrians killed on March 2, including 10 shot dead in Baba Amr, the rebel district of Homs city overrun by regime forces the previous day. Meanwhile wounded British photographer Paul Conroy, who was smuggled out of Homs through Lebanon, said from a hospital bed in Britain that the regimes monthlong bombardment of the city was an indiscriminate massacre and there were thousands of people there just waiting to die. Thousands of people poured onto the streets of Damascus and the coastal city of Aleppo on March 2 to urge the West to supply the rebel fighters with arms, prompting the security forces to open fire, said activists and monitors. In New York, UN leader Ban Ki-moon demanded that Syria unconditionally let in humanitarian aid. UN chief of slandering President Bashar alAssads government with his accounts of the deadly crackdown on opposition protests. The United States called all countries to condemn the horrific brutality in Syria as President Barack Obama declared that Assads days were numbered. French President Nicolas Damascus regime or face justice for the blood on their hands. He described the situation as a scene of medieval barbarity. Syria has refused to let UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos into the country, but Ban said the United Nations still hoped to persuade President Bashar al-Assad to allow her entry to make Jakob Kellenberger said the ICRC and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent Society were not allowed to enter Baba Amr more than a day after getting permission to do so. It is unacceptable that people who have been in need of emergency assistance for weeks have still not received any help, Kellenberger said in a statement in Geneva. More than 20,000 civilians are believed to have been trapped in Baba Amr during a month-long bombardment by regime forces, with a lone doctor reported to be tending to the scores of casualties in a single makeshift clinic. The UN rights body appealed to Syria to respect international law after receiving unconfirmed reports of 17 grisly executions as regime forces took control of Baba Amr. AFP Earlier report, P.24

How as a human being can you bear...this situation.


The Syrian authorities must open without any preconditions to humanitarian communities, Ban told a news briefing at UN headquarters. It is totally unacceptable, intolerable. How as a human being can you bear... this situation, he said. But Syrias UN envoy Bashar Jaafari accused the Sarkozy said that what is going on is scandalous. There are more than 8000 dead, hundreds of children, and the city of Homs faces the risk of being wiped off the map. British Prime Minister David Cameron urged Syrians butchering their compatriots to turn their backs on the criminal an aid assessment. His comments came after the Red Cross said Syria had blocked an aid convoy from entering Baba Amr, which was overrun by regime forces on March 1 after rebel fighters retreated in the face of their withering assault. International Committee of the Red Cross president

China hails US, North Korea breakthrough


SEOUL China last week welcomed North Koreas agreement to freeze nuclear activities in return for US food aid, a deal that raised cautious hopes of an easing of tensions under Pyongyangs new young leader. South Korea and Japan also on March 1 hailed the Norths commitment to suspend its uranium enrichment program along with nuclear and long-range missile tests and to let UN nuclear inspectors monitor the deal. The February 29 breakthrough followed USNorth Korean talks in Beijing the previous week, the first under the new regime. China, the Norths sole major ally, welcomed the warmer relations between North Korea and the United States. China is willing to work with relevant parties to continue to push forward the six-party talks process and play a constructive role to realise long-term peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and northeast Asia, said foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei. The six-nation nuclear disarmament talks have been stalled for three years. The disclosure in November 2010 of the enrichment program, which could give the North a second path to an atomic bomb, lent urgency to the diplomacy. South Korea also backed the agreement disclosed simultaneously by the US and North Korea late on February 29. The US-North Korea announcement reflects the close work Seoul and Washington have done to try to resolve the nuclear standoff, said a foreign ministry spokesman. Japans Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba said the deal was an important step but called for concrete action. Tokyo still wants the complete and verifiable denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, he said. That is also the stated goal of the six-party talks which began in 2003 and group the two Koreas, Japan, China, Russia and the United States. The North angrily quit the forum in April 2009 and staged its second atomic weapons test a month later. Analysts said last weeks deal could help revive the talks, but many remain sceptical that the North will ever abandon its nuclear weaponry. At this point the best that can be done is to freeze the nuclear program, said Peter Beck, Korea representative for the Asia Foundation. For now, the agreement is a welcome development. Talking is better than not talking and a freeze is better than an unfettered nuclear program. The United States has pledged 240,000 tonnes of food for young children and pregnant women. The North has suffered persistent severe f ood shortages since a 1990s famine. Pyongyang said it would let the International Atomic Energy Agency monitor the suspension of uranium enrichment. Agency chief Yukiya Amano called this an important step forward and said his inspectors were ready to return. US administration officials were cautious. Todays announcement represents a modest first step in the right direction, said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. We of course will be watching closely and judging North Koreas new leaders by their actions. AFP

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A Russian teachers voting lesson


By Kathy Lally ST PETERBURG, Russia Disgruntled citizens registered thousands of complaints of violations after the December 4 parliamentary elections and demonstrators filled the streets protesting their unfairness, but all these weeks later its difficult to find any traces of anyone being held to account. Except, that is, for Tatyana Ivanova, an experienced St. Petersburg precinct chairman and high school assistant principal who publicly reported that she had refused to comply with orders to falsify the vote. That produced a charge of slander and now, out of work, shes awaiting her day in court. The attack on her, and the lack of any public effort to prosecute vote fraud, suggests the results of the March 4 presidential election may be open to question, even though web cameras have been bought to oversee polling places across the country. Doubts about the results could threaten the legitimacy of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who is intent on achieving a rousing first-round victory to dispel any uncertainty about his authority after repeated protests against him. I dont know of anyone who has been prosecuted for election violations, said Maxim Reznik, a member of the St Petersburg City Council and a leader of the liberal Yabloko party, which made many the district wrote an open letter criticising Ivanova and her fellow precinct chairman. The obvious lies of the former teachers prove their unscrupulousness, the letter said. There is no doubt that they were paid for their statements. In our opinion their planned interviews with newspapers, internet resources and TV are examples of dishonest pre-election struggles. Reznik, who is head of the education committee in the St Petersburg City Council, said teachers, who are so dependent on the government and vulnerable to the chain of command, should not be supervising elections. What she did was very courageous, he said. The more we talk about it, the better. The League of Voters, a citizens group formed in January to promote fair elections, has publicised Ivanovas case and offered her legal assistance. Andrei Buzin, who supervises election oversight for independent monitor Golos, estimates that 30,000 complaints were made throughout the country over violations on December 4. Prosecutors have officially reported opening six criminal cases and 3000 lower-level administrative suits, he said, but most have probably been dismissed. Heres one example in Moscow, he said. A member of the election commission was seen stuffing ballots. Observers saw him. A complaint was filed with the

Supporters of Vladimir Putin in Moscow on February 23 ahead of a rally for the March 4 presidential elections. Pic: AFP the equivalent of US$2300. As a precinct chairman, Ivanova was paid $300 for work over a threeweek period. She was summoned again, this time in the presence of the district education official in charge of Ivanovas school. United Russia must get an extra 200 votes, she was told. I said not a single (parliamentary) deputy is worth my imprisonment, Ivanova recounted, fortified by a pot of tea. They said, Fine, someone else will do it but you must close your eyes. Ivanova said she was infuriated at the sense of impunity. They all were so sure nothing would happen to them, she said. On election day, she made sure the observers sat next to the ballot box. Late at night, they took the results to election offices, where the young man she had encountered earlier and the district schools supervisor awaited. The young man threw the results on his desk. United Russia had achieved 22.7 percent of the vote in Ivanovas precinct. Though some St Petersburg precincts reached the mid-30s, it was not a good day for United Russia, which won just under 50pc of the vote nationwide. Nothing can be done here, she recalled him saying. I decided I wasnt going to leave things like that, Ivanova said, taking out a tissue from her purse as her eyes began to water. But I didnt know where to go, or whom I should complain about. I didnt have any proof. I only had my honest word and now that seems like such a rare thing. At the end of December, when higher-ups pressured her principal not to give her an annual bonus, Ivanova quit her job. I like my principal very much, Ivanova said. She was afraid she would be fired. After 30 years, she was earning about $900 a month as a teacher and assistant principal. Her 55-year-old friend, the other precinct chairman, quit in support but decided not to go public. Ivanova went to the newspapers, and soon her story was all over St Petersburg. Recently, Natalya Nazarova, the district schools supervisor, accused Ivanova of damaging her reputation and asked for $3700 in damages. Nazarova, who has declined to speak to the Russian press, could not be reached for comment. Thirteen school principals in

procedures she had long since mastered. Instead, a young man she had never seen before confronted her and a few others. Youre very experienced, he said, as she recalled in late February. We need your help. His message: United Russia, the ruling party connected to Putin, needed more votes. Ivanova said she was shocked; her first thought was that her honesty was being tested. Shes a fixture at her precinct, based in School 575, where she teaches. She a The fourth of March historiclives nearby, inon neighbourhood Vasilyevsky Island. Her is not the end. daughter teaches at the school and also serves on the election commission. Ivanovas complaints about fraud. He predicts the forthcoming children went to the school, and coming election will also be unfair, the family Ivanova, her husband, but said the opposition has no daughter, son, daughter-in-law and intention of easing its pressure on grandson share an apartment. We each have one room, she said, Putin and his government. The fourth of March is not and we meet in the kitchen. Ivanova was sure United Russia the end, he said. Its just the would win anyway. beginning. We need more votes, she Ivanova, 53, a speech therapist and Russian teacher, has worked quoted the man. Your work will on elections for 14 years. When be noticed. One of the other election workers a city election official summoned her to a pre-election meeting last spoke up. How much? he asked. fall, she expected to rehearse the They would be paid, he was told,

What she did was very courageous.


prosecutors office. Members of the commission were called in and they denied it. Case dismissed. On February 24, the independent Levada Center reported the results of its latest poll: 80 percent of Russians believe Putin will win the election on March 3. Tatyana Ivanova will be among those voters casting their ballots for Putin. She is a member of United Russia. Putin, she said, has done a good job. I still believe in him, she said. The Washington Post

Palestinian developer realises a vision for new city


RAWABI, Palestinian Territories Palestinian businessman Bashar alMasri knew that building Rawabi, which aims to be the West Banks newest city, wasnt going to be an easy project. But he never imagined it would take three long years to win Israeli approval for a road of no more than a few kilometres (miles). It should be a straightforward process, but when you deal with politics, you never know what might happen, he told AFP in his office in Ramallah. Work on the road is finally about to begin. And once complete, about 100 trucks a day will travel along it, bypassing the narrow village road that until now served as the only access to the construction site. But the hard-won approval is only for a temporary road, and could be rescinded at any time, illustrating the unique challenges facing Masris ambitious project which is about much more than real estate. The businessman, who lived overseas for many years and holds US citizenship, envisages a model city that attracts employers and allows people to work where they live. There are so many complications. The road is temporary, we have to apply for its renewal every year, they could stop it at any time, he says. But Masri is optimistic that the project, which is likely to cost about US$1 billion, will be profitable and politically beneficial. He also believes the city will be a model for a way the Palestinians can stake a claim to their land and curb the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Its a ticking time bomb and I think the Palestinians have made a mistake by not creating facts on their land. But attitudes are changing, says Masri, a tall, thin energetic man in his 50s who speaks clipped English peppered with Americanisms Tractors adorned with Palestinian flags trundle around the 85-hectare (210acre) plot, which commands views of verdant olive groves and hills dotted with small villages. At base camp, a cluster of smart trailers looks out over the project, where enthusiastic young men and women talk to prospective West Bank towns, stemming the exodus of their educated middle-class residents to Ramallah. I dont have a problem in terms of real estate. I could even increase the price a little bit and I would still sell what I have, he says. But my vision is to create a standalone city, and in doing that I have to create jobs... If the vision works, if the concept works, you can take Rawabi and put it next to Jenin, Qalqilya, Bethlehem. Masri, who moved back in the mid-1990s, also wants Rawabi to set new green standards, and expects it to boast a commercial centre with infrastructure advanced enough to cater to the most high-tech firms. I believe since were building a nation practically from scratch, we have the opportunity of building a modern nation, he says. Not everyone appreciates his vision, with some Palestinians claiming the project looks too much like an Israeli settlement, others angry that Rawabis homes will be unaffordable to many. Interest from buyers suggests his critics are outnumbered, with more than 7500 families having already prequalified to buy a home, he says. Masri is realistic about the obstacles to its completion. We have daily problems with the Israelis, just like everyone else in the Palestinian private sector, he says, describing delays ranging from hours to days caused by one checkpoint on the road to Rawabi. The checkpoint is not against Rawabi, its against the Palestinian people, period, he said. AFP

There are so many complications.


but is perfectly comfortable in his native Palestinian Arabic. Hopefully with Rawabi its just one more step in that direction. At the construction site, the attitude is full speed ahead, despite the setbacks that have affected the projects timeline and initial cost estimates. buyers, some of the 25,00030,000 people who may one day call Rawabi home. They show off slick slide-shows and attractive models of units that go for $80,000 to $140,000 and have garnered interest from buyers throughout the West Bank and abroad. If successful, he imagines placing similar cities by major

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Briefs
James Murdoch exits News International
NEW YORK James Murdoch, the younger son of media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, stepped down on February 29 as executive chairman of News International, News Corps scandal-plagued British newspaper unit. James Murdoch, 39, will remain News Corps deputy chief operating officer and focus on international television operations, the New York-based media and entertainment giant said in a statement. News Corp. said James Murdoch was stepping down from News International following his relocation to company headquarters in New York as deputy chief operating officer, a move which took place last year. Related reports, P. 22.

US stands by Afghan war strategy


WASHINGTON The US military has no plans to alter its troop drawdown timetable in Afghanistan despite a week of deadly unrest over the burning of the Koran at an American base, the Pentagon said on February 27. Defence Secretary Leon Panetta and top US military officer General Martin Dempsey both believe that the fundamentals of our strategy remain sound, spokesman George Little told reporters. The United States will stick to its plan for a gradual troop drawdown and has an unwavering commitment to hand over to Afghan security forces by the end of 2014 as agreed by the NATO alliance, Little said. Attacks on US and coalition troops and violent protests were regrettable but had not jeopardised strong ties between American and Afghan forces, he said. Were not going to let the events of the past week, which are regrettable and The United Nations announced that it was pulling its international staff out of its base in the northern Afghan province of Kunduz after it came under attack by demonstrators on February 25. The commander of NATOs International Security Assistance Force, US General John Allen, withdrew all staff out of Afghan ministries at the weekend on February 25-26 when two US advisers were shot dead in the interior ministry, apparently by an Afghan colleague. AFP There had been no decision yet on when coalition advisers would return to their posts at government offices, Kirby said. Allen is not ready right now to have the advisers go back, he said. But this is temporary. The general had advised his commanders to be vigilant given recent events but he also made it clear that operations must continue, Kirby said. AFP

US military officers salute as coffins containing the bodies of Army Major Robert Marchanti and Air Force Lieutenant-Colonel John Loftis arrive at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, on February 27. The two officers were shot dead by an Afghan colleague in the Afghan Interior Ministry in Kabul on February 25. Pic: AFP unfortunate and tragic, influence the long-horizon view that were taking with respect to our partnership with Afghanistan and to our enduring work there, Little said. Another military spokesman, Captain John Kirby, acknowledged tensions had flared over the burning of the Islamic holy book at the Bagram airbase and after two US officers were gunned down inside the interior ministry. But he said the scale of protests had begun to decline and that US troops were still operating successfully alongside Afghan forces. These events theyre troubling, theyre worrisome, theyve got everybodys attention. And yes, tension is high here in Kabul right now, Kirby said by video link from the Afghan capital. But across the country writ large... the mission continues and were seeing the protest activity decline. The United States has repeatedly apologised for the Koran burning at an incinerator and insisted it was a mistake and not intentional. The incident set off seven successive days of protest and violence, with the death toll estimated at about 40.

Egypt sets dates for presidential election


CAIRO Egyptians will vote on May 23 and 24 to elect their first president since a popular uprising overthrew Hosni Mubarak a year ago, the head of the elections committee said on February 29. Faruq Sultan told journalists expatriates will be allowed to vote from May 11 to May 17 and that any run-off will be held on June 16 and 17. The result will be announced on June 21, said Sultan, in keeping with a timetable set by the military rulers to hand power to an elected president before the end of June.

Argentina refuses entry to British cruise liners


BUENOS AIRES Two British cruise ships that visited the Falkland Islands were refused entry to an Argentine port on February 27, amid tension over the disputed archipelago. The Adonia, owned by P&O cruises, and the Princess Cruises vessel Star Princess were both blocked from entering Ushuaia in southern Argentina after both ships stopped at the Falklands on February 25. We are very concerned to hear the Adonia and Star Princess have been refused access to the port of Ushuaia, a spokesman for Britains Foreign Office said in London. Tensions are running high between Britain and Argentina over the Falklands, which London controls but Buenos Aires claims, ahead of the 30th anniversary in April of the start of the war between the two nations over the South Atlantic islands. Argentina has also reacted angrily to the deployment of Prince William to the Falklands as part of his job as a Royal Air Force search and rescue pilot, and to a planned fact-finding trip by British lawmakers this month. The Argentine province of Tierra del Fuego said its applied the law in denying port access to the Star Princess and the Adonia. The Falklands, off the southern coast of Argentina, have been under British control since 1833. A 74-day war in 1982 cost the lives of 649 Argentine troops, 255 British troops and three Falkland Islanders, with Britain retaining control. AFP

9/11 victims remains dumped in a landfill, reveals Pentagon


WASHINGTON Partial remains of some victims of the September 11 attacks were dumped in a landfill, the Pentagon revealed Tuesday for the first time on February 28, issuing a report that exposed years of bungling at the US militarys most important mortuary. The portions of remains that ended up at a landfill came from the 2001 attacks on the Pentagon and from a hijacked airliner that went down in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on 9/11, said the report by an independent panel. The revelation came from a review of the troubled mortuary at Dover Air Force Base, which has been blamed for mishandling the remains of some troops killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The details about the 9/11 remains were mentioned only in passing in the report, which focused on how to fix management problems at the troubled mortuary. Any remains related to 9/11 carry a special significance for Americans and the White House promptly issued a statement, saying the Pentagon was taking steps to ensure such mistakes never happen again. We are deeply concerned about reports that in 2001, some unidentified portions of remains from the 9/11 attacks were disposed of in a landfill, and about the unacceptable handling of remains at Dover, the White House said. Officials said it was unclear how many victims might be involved or whether some of the remains belonged to the Al-Qaeda hijackers. The military had acknowledged last year that some portions of remains of fallen soldiers at the Dover mortuary in Delaware had been incinerated and sent to a Virginia landfill, a practice that was halted in 2008. The military now disposes of unidentified cremated remains at sea. The review called for bolstering oversight at Dover, restructuring the chain of command overseeing the mortuary, expanding training and hiring more staff members. AFP

Belarus accuses EU of raising tensions


MINSK Belarus on February 29 accused the European Union of escalating tensions in a growing diplomatic row, after EU member states recalled all of their ambassadors to the former Soviet state. Belarus had earlier told the EU and Polish envoys to leave and tell their capitals of Minsks dissatisfaction with new sanctions targeting judges, prosecutors and police officers alleged to have been involved in repression, an unusual diplomatic step which prompted the recall by Brussels of all remaining EU ambassadors. AFP

Romney back in front as Super Tuesday looms


DETROIT, Michigan Mitt Romney pulled back in front in the topsy-turvy race for the Republican presidential nomination on February 28 with victories in Arizona and Michigan, gaining valuable momentum ahead of this weeks pivotal Super Tuesday contest. But Romneys narrow win in his native Michigan failed to dispel doubts about his ability to rally the partys conservative base for what is expected to be a dogfight with President Barack Obama in Novembers general election. Wow! What a night, an obviously relieved Romney told cheering supporters at his state campaign headquarters in Novi. We didnt win by a lot but we won by enough and thats all that counts. Rival Rick Santorum who placed a close second in Michigan sought to cast the result as a victory for a campaign that had been all but written off until he managed to sweep Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri on February 7. A month ago they didnt know who we are but they do now, Santorum told supporters. A staunch Christian conservative who strongly opposes abortion and gay marriage, Santorum advanced in the polls by painting himself as the authentic conservative and his multimillionaire opponent as out of touch. Romney gained momentum with these two wins, said Paul Beck, a political expert at Ohio State Ohio will be University. But Super Tuesday will likely yield a mixed picture. The former governor of Massachusetts will likely win that state, along with Virginia where Santorum and former House speaker Newt Gingrich are not on the ballot and possibly Vermont. But he will have a tough time capturing Georgia, Tennessee, or Oklahoma, Beck said. Ohio will be the big prize, Beck told AFP. Santorum leads here now, but his lead is fragile. Romney leads in pledged delegates after having won the more important states so far. He also has the best-funded and most organised campaign, which will certainly help in what could be a long slog to the Republican National Convention in August. All four remaining candidates including former House speaker N e w t Gingrich and the big prize. congressman Ron Paul of Texas have vowed to stay in the race until the convention, where a result might have to be brokered behind the scenes if no one reaches the magic number of 1144 delegates. The negative, gaffe-ridden campaign by Republican hopefuls is providing ample fodder for Obama as he builds his reelection campaign ahead of the November 6 general election. A pugnacious Obama on February 28 slammed his Republican opponents for their vehement opposition to his efforts to save the Michigan-based auto industry. In a speech to auto workers gathered in the US capital, Obama accused Romney and his fellow Republicans of being on the wrong side of history and of blatant pandering to conservative voters. Romney has frequently accused Obama of engineering the bailout of General Motors and Chrysler to help his union supporters, but Obama said Romneys charges of crony capitalism is a a load of youknow-what. The Republican opposition to the bailout and focus on divisive social issues has probably cost them Michigan in the general election, said Michael Traugott, a political expert at the University of Michigan. We dont have many auto workers left, but its symbolic for general attitudes about workers in the state of Michigan, he told AFP. AFP

ANC expels youth leader


JOHANNESBURG South Africas ruling African National Congress on February 29 expelled its youth leader Julius Malema, turning against a man who helped bring South African President Jacob Zuma to power but later stood in his path to re-election. Malema was convicted in November of provoking divisions within the ANC and suspended for five years. AFP

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UK police officer condemns corrupt culture at tabloid


LONDON Journalists at Britains best-selling tabloid The Sun had a network of corrupted officials who provided them with stories in return for cash payments, a top police officer said on February 27. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers told a public inquiry into press standards that the Rupert Murdochowned newspaper had a culture of paying police, the military, health workers, government and prison staff. In a statement, Murdoch conceded that such payments had existed but insisted: The practices Sue Akers described at the Leveson inquiry are ones of the past and no longer exist at The Sun. Akers is leading Scotland Yards bribery investigation, which has seen 10 current or former Sun journalists arrested since November, as well as a serving police officer, a Ministry of Defence worker and an army officer. Updating the inquiry on its progress, she said: There appears to have been a culture at The Sun of illegal payments, and systems have been created to facilitate those payments whilst hiding the identity of the officials receiving the money. Murdoch, who shut down the tabloids sister paper the News of the World over a phone-hacking scandal last year, has pledged his support for the title, launching a Sunday version of The Sun on February 26. He insisted on February 27: We have vowed to do everything we can to get to the bottom of prior wrongdoings in order to set us on the right path for the future. That process is well underway. But embarrassing details continue to emerge from the Leveson inquiry, which was set up after the hacking row to examine how the British press operate. Speaking at the beginning of a new phase examining the ties between newspapers and the police, Akers

British singer, parents receive $952,000 in phone hacking payout


LONDON British singer Charlotte Church and her parents received 600,000 in phone-hacking damages from Rupert Murdochs newspaper group under a settlement unveiled at the High Court in London on February 27. Lawyers for the 25-yearold and her parents, James and Maria, had confirmed the previous week that terms had been agreed with News Group Newspapers (NGN), publishers of the defunct News of the World tabloid. Charlotte Church, who rose to fame as a child, was in court to hear the reading of a statement resolving her claim that 33 articles in the News of the World had resulted from her familys voicemails being hacked. The settlement, worth $952,000 or 710,000 euros, of which half is for legal costs, is one of the biggest made to the dozens of celebrities and public figures who have taken legal action against the News of the Worlds owners. Speaking outside court after the hearing, Church said she had been sickened and disgusted at the extent of the hacking. Nothing was deemed off-limits by those who pursued me and my family just to make money for a multi-national news corporation, she said. My parents were not in the public eye, they just happened to have a wellknown daughter. They have been harassed and put under surveillance and my mother was bullied into revealing her own private medical condition for no other reason than that they were my parents.

News Corporation chairman and chief executive officer Rupert Murdoch with the first edition of The Sun on Sunday as it came off the presses at Broxbourne, outside London, on February 26. An editorial in the tabloid said its journalists would be ethical. Pic: AFP/News International Group Ltd updated the inquiry on her teams analysis of millions of emails provided by News Corp. Multiple payments have been made to individuals amounting to thousands of pounds, she said, adding: There is also mention in some emails of public officials being placed on retainers. Akers said the payments were openly referred to at The Sun and were approved at a very senior level. The recent arrests at The Sun concerned the delivery of regular, frequent and sometimes significant sums of money to small numbers of public officials by a journalist, she said. She cited one case involving more than 80,000 (US$127,000) paid out over several years and another where one of the arrested journalists has over several years received over 150,000 in cash to pay his sources. Akers said police were mindful of the right that journalists had to protect their sources when pursuing stories in the public interest. But she said: The vast majority of the disclosures that have been made have led to stories which I would describe as salacious gossip rather than anything that could be remotely regarded as in the public interest. Rebekah Brooks, the former editor of The Sun and News of the World, admitted to lawmakers in 2003 we have paid the police for information in the past, but last year she insisted she had never personally sanctioned any such a payment. Brooks, who went on to be chief executive of News International, the publisher of The Sun and the News of the World, was arrested last year by police investigating phone hacking and bribery. She had resigned shortly before her arrest, but denies any wrongdoing. AFP

Charlotte Church reads a statement to the media outside the High Court in central on February 27 after the settlement of her legal action against the publishers of the defunct News of the World over allegations of phone hacking. Pic: AFP Someone in a newspaper thought that was OK. How can that be, in any rightthinking society? Church, the former wife of Welsh rugby international Gavin Henson, said she had wanted to bring those responsible to court to explain their actions, but she feared she would have learned nothing from a trial. The newspaper group had been prepared to go to any lengths to cover up the industrial scale of their illegal activity, she said, adding: In my opinion, they are not truly sorry, only sorry they got caught. The biggest settlement made so far is the 3 million, including 1 million for charity, paid to the parents of murdered British schoolgirl Milly Dowler, whose voicemail was hacked. AFP

Trade Mark CauTion


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

(BodyFit in Thai) ( reg: no. iV/8791/2008) in respect of : - Drugs for medical purposes; sanitary napkins; panty liners (sanitary); sanitary pants; menstruation tampons; napkins for incontinents; pads for incontinents; pants for incontinents; sanitary masks; absorbent cotton; breast pads; and deodorants other than for personal use Intl Class: 5 Any fraudulent imitation or unauthorized use of the said trademark or other infringements whatsoever will be dealt with according to law. U Kyi Win Associates for Uni-Charm Corporation P.O. Box No. 26, Yangon. Phone: 372416 Dated: 5th March, 2012

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WikiLeaks publishes millions of intelligence firms emails


Stratfor, founded in 1996, LONDON WikiLeaks slammed the publication on February 27 began of the emails but said it publishing a huge tranche of would not comment on their emails from US intelligence content. firm Stratfor in a move the Having had our anti-secrecy website said property stolen, we will revealed the private lies of not be victimised twice by private spies. submitting to questioning WikiLeaks claims that about them, the company more than five million said in a statement. emails from the company The emails are private will uncover everything property. Like all private from sinister spy tactics to emails, they were written an insider trading scheme casually, with no expectation with Goldman Sachs in the anyone other than the coming weeks. sender and recipient would Texas-based Stratfor, ever see them. They should which describes itself as a be read as such, it said. subscription-based provider The emails are widely of geopolitical analysis, believed to have been passed denounced the theft of the to WikiLeaks by hacker emails as a deplorable, group Anonymous, which unfortunate and illegal claimed in December that breach of privacy. it had stolen them. The first batch released But Assange refused to on February 27 suggests specify how his website had that Dow Chemical, the Pic: AFP come to possess the messages, parent company of the saying: As a matter of policy firm responsible for the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at a news conference we dont discuss sourcing or 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, in London on February 27 to announce the release of speculate on sources. paid Stratfor to monitor emails from the US-based intelligence firm, Stratfor. WikiLeaks, in its W i k i L e a k s i s s i f t i n g said at a news conference campaigners for victims sourcing methodology, of the disaster, WikiLeaks t h r o u g h t h e e m a i l s , in London. Over the last ten years the deliberately tries to not dating from July 2004 to claims. T h e w h i s t l e b l o w i n g December 2011, with 25 private intelligence industry even know itself where its website said emails also media partners including has boomed in the United information comes from, because indicate that ultimately Coca-Cola is the paid Stratfor A deplorable, unfortunate and illegal breach of privacy. thato n g e s t str to investigate protection. animal rights WikiLeaks itself came Rolling Stone magazine States and other countries. group Peta. But with this growth under fire last September A substantial proportion and Italys La Repubblica o f S t r a t f o r s f u n d i n g newspaper, while members t h e r e h a s n o t b e e n a for potentially endangering comes from government of the public can also view commensurate growth in the lives of government accountability mechanisms, informants by publishing agencies including the US the messages. The emails document the said Assange, who is fighting an unredacted version of its Department of Homeland Security, WikiLeaks said, private lives and private lies extradition from Britain to archive of 251,000 secret US while adding that it could of private spies, WikiLeaks Sweden over sexual assault diplomatic cables. AFP Related report, P. 28. founder Julian Assange allegations. not yet give exact figures.

A world service turns 80


LONDON The BBCs international World Service radio station turned 80 on February 29, as the broadcaster hailed a boom in its Iranian audience despite steep budget cuts. The programs will neither be very interesting nor very good, BBC chief John Reith had dismally predicted in 1932 as the World Service, then called the Empire Service, launched using short-wave radio technology. But 80 years on the BBC said it was determined to reach ever larger foreign audiences via television, radio and the internet, announcing that BBC Persian TV had doubled its audience from 3.9 million weekly viewers in 2009 to nearly 7.2 million. More than one in 10 Iranians now watch BBC Persian TV each week, said the BBC, which regularly complains that the Iranian regime jams its broadcasts. World Service radio marked its 80th year with a special day of live programming, encouraging its 225 million global listeners to participate in shaping the content in a dozen languages. These are historic and changing times for the BBC World Service, said the BBCs director of global news Peter Horrocks. We want our audiences to be at the heart of both the commemoration of the past and conversation about the future. The British government, which pays for World Service through its foreign ministry, slashed the radio stations 270 million (US$431 million) budget by 16 percent last year. The World Service has broadcast in 68 languages over its eight-decade history. It now has 28 services, many of which are only accessible online. A tight financial climate does not mean we need to shrink our ambition we want to reach more people, Horrocks said. The BBC began international television broadcasts in 1991 through World Service TV, now called BBC World News. The World Service is still paid for by the foreign ministry but from 2014 the duty to fund it passes to the BBC itself as the government seeks to cut a record deficit. AFP

Trade Mark CauTion


NOTICE is hereby given that kao kabushiki kaisha (also trading as kao Corporation) a company organized under the laws of Japan and having its principal office at 14-10, Nihonbashi Kayabacho 1-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan is the owner and sole proprietor of the following trademarks:-

Trade Mark CauTion


Shiseido Co., Ltd. a Company organized and existing under the laws of Japan, of 7-5-5 Ginza,Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 104-0061, Japan, is the Owner of the following Trade Marks:-

PURE & MILD


reg. no. 6652/2002

BRAVAS
reg. no. 6700/2002

(reg: no. iV/12621/2011) The above two trademarks are in respect of:Soaps; perfumery; essential oils; cosmetics; hair lotions; dentifrices- Intl Class: 3

VALCAN LAVSHUCA
(reg: no. iV/12619/2011)

REVITAL SHISEIDO BASALA


reg. no. 6646/2002 reg. no. 6647/2002 reg. no. 6645/2002

reg. no. 6644/2002

reg. no. 6703/2002 (reg: no. iV/12620/2011) (reg: no. iV/12622/2011) The above two trademarks are in respect of:Soaps; perfumery; essential oils; cosmetics; hair lotions; dentifrices- Intl Class: 3 Household or kitchen utensils and containers (not of precious metal or coated therewith); combs and sponges; brushes (except paint brushes), perfume atomizers (containers), cosmetic brushes, eye brow brushes, hair brushes, nail brushes, shaving brushes, hair combs, powder compacts not of precious metals (containers), dispensers for liquid soap, soap holders, sponge holders, powder puffs.- Intl Class 21 Any fraudulent imitation or unauthorized use of the said trademarks or other infringements whatsoever will be dealt with according to law. U Kyi Win Associates for kao kabushiki kaisha (also trading as kao Corporation) P.O. Box No. 26, Yangon. Phone: 372416 Dated: 5th March, 2012

reg. no. 6704/2002

reg. no. 6706/2002 in respect of Soaps, perfumeries, cosmetics including skincare, bodycare, hair care and make up products. Fraudulent imitation or unauthorised use of the said Trade Marks will be dealt with according to law.

SHISEIDO
reg. no. 6651/2002

reg. no. 6649/2002

Win Mu Tin, M.A., H.G.P., D.B.L for Shiseido Co., Ltd. P. O. Box 60, Yangon. Dated: 5th March, 2012

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Iraqis see red after MPs approve $50m armoured cars deal
BAGHDAD A decision by outside, the Green Zone, MPs to spend US$50 million she said, referring to the on their own armoured cars heavily-fortified centre on a day that dozens of of Baghdad that is home people were killed in a wave to the government and of attacks has drawn sharp parliament. Each one of them has criticism from across Iraqi a full team of bodyguards society. The vote, alongside a so there is no need to have long-delayed approval of other privileges. In addition to the the 2012 federal budget late on February 23, was taken armoured cars, MPs already largely without debate or receive a budget allocation objection and will see a total for 30 bodyguards, but of 350 armoured vehicles officials claim that most bought at a cost of 60 billion only appoint a handful Iraqi dinars ($50.4 million), of guards and pocket the remainder of the allotted a parliament official said. All major political groups, funds. Iraqi MPs already receive including Prime Minister Nuri al-Malikis State of monthly salaries of $8500, Law coalition, the main generous pension benefits, Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc, plots of land and diplomatic the alliance of Kurdish passports. Lawmakers monthly pay parties and the movement loyal to anti-US Shiite cleric was dramatically lowered Moqtada al-Sadr voted in after nationwide protests favour of the move, the a year ago against official official said, speaking on corruption and government inaction. condition of T h e anonymity. But the Security should F e b r u a r y 23 decision decision came on the w h i c h be for all Iraqis same day as allocates one a wave of armoured car to each MP and an attacks in six provinces extra 25 vehicles to be i n I r a q t h a t k i l l e d 4 2 dispersed at the discretion people and wounded more of parliaments speaker than 250, in violence later has sparked the ire of claimed by al-Qaeda. The day after the vote regular citizens, religious was taken, a representative leaders and observers. The subject of buying of Iraqs most revered a r m o u r e d c a r s w a s Shiite Muslim religious approved quickly, while leader blasted the decision other laws are taking a at prayers in the shrine long time, which shows that city of Karbala on February MPs prioritise their own 24. Security should be for all benefits over the needs of the people, said political Iraqis, not just for a group commentator Tariq al- of people, said Ayatollah Ahmed al-Safi, Grand Maamuri. If they fear for their lives Ayatollah Ali al-Sistanis in this way, let them resign representative in Karbala. The duty of MPs and and sit at home, because the Iraqi people are not the government is to solve ready to waste their money t h e p e o p l e s p r o b l e m s to protect these MPs, he and provide security for everyone. Instead of buying said early last week. Iraqi journalist Wassan al- armoured cars for $50 Shimmari said lawmakers million, it would have been better to approve laws to were over-reacting. T h e y l i v e i n s e c u r e protect all of the people. AFP areas inside, or even

Syrian mourners farewell loved ones at funeral in the northwestern city of Idlib on February 25, a day after it came under heavy attack from government forces. Pic: AFP

Fresh sanctions for Syria as US condemns cynical vote


DAMASCUS Syria said almost 90 percent of voters approved a new constitution in a referendum which Washington condemned on February 27 as absolutely cynical. The charter brought in by President Bashar al-Assad after 11 months of anti-regime protests won 89.4 percent of votes cast in the referendum on February 26, with a turnout of 57.4pc, Interior Minister Mohammed al-Shaar said. The results came as the European Union imposed fresh sanctions on Damascus and while Moscow hit back at US criticism for standing by Assad and frustrating international effort to end the regimes clampdown. EU foreign ministers agreed to freeze assets of Syrias central bank, impose a travel ban on seven Syrians close to Assad, ban cargo flights into the 27-nation bloc and restrict trade with Damascus in gold and precious metals. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin slammed the Wests cynical stance on Syria, staunchly defending Moscows joint veto with China of two UN Security Council draft resolutions condemning Damascus. He accused the West of lacking the patience to work out an adjusted and balanced resolution that also required opposition forces to cease fire and withdraw from flashpoints such as the besieged central city of Homs. A refusal to do so was cynical. Syrian regime forces on February 27 kept up their assault, killing at least 30 civilians, while 11 members of the security forces also died in clashes, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Eleven civilians were killed in shelling of the rebel-held district of Baba Amr, in the central city of Homs, under bombardment for a 24th straight day, the monitoring group said. Efforts to evacuate foreign journalists from the rebel-held Baba Amr district of Homs failed on February 27, a Western diplomatic source in the Syrian capital said. The ICRC has been negotiating to rescue the wounded Western journalists from Homs under assault by regime forces for more than three weeks and retrieve the bodies of two others killed there the previous week. In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland asked how a democratic process such as the referendum could take place in the country while Syrian government guns and tanks were still firing. We dismiss it as absolutely cynical, Nuland told reporters. The draft text of the constitution that was overwhelmingly approved by voters ends the legal basis for the five-decade stranglehold on power of Assads ruling Baath party but still leaves huge powers in his hands. The Syrian opposition says the changes are cosmetic after nearly a year of repression by Assads security forces that human rights groups say has left more than 7600 people dead. The United Nations also doubts the credibility of the referendum held amid pervasive violence, a UN spokesman said. Any vote in Syria must be held in conditions free of violence and intimidation, UN deputy spokesman Eduardo del Buey told reporters, adding that UN chief Ban Ki-moon had just noted the vote. While a new constitution and the end of the Baath party monopoly on power could be part of a political solution, a referendum must take place in conditions free of violence and intimidation, del Buey said. It is unlikely to be credible in a context of pervasive violence and mass human rights violations, he added. AFP

Trade Mark CauTion


n.V. organon, a Company incorporated in The Netherlands, of Kloosterstraat 6, 5349 AB, Oss, The Netherlands, is the Owner of the following Trade Marks:-

Sudan attack raises border tensions


Khartoum threatened retaliation The insurgents, who last year formed KHARTOUM Sudanese rebels said on February 28 they killed a revolutionary front aimed at on February 26 after accusing South 150 government soldiers along the toppling the Khartoum regime, claimed Sudan of backing the rebel attack disputed border with South Sudan in the attack in the contested Jau area on the Jau area, six kilometres (four a battle that prompted Khartoum to part of an oil-rich region on the poorly miles) inside the border, in violation threaten retaliation against its newly defined border as their first combined of a memorandum on non-aggression and cooperation signed earlier in operation against government forces. independent neighbour. Sawarmi Khaled Saad, the Sudanese February. Sudans military denied the casualty It said rebels accompanied by officers toll and said it had killed a huge army spokesman, dismissed claims from South Sudans army number of rebels, but gave launched a direct attack, no figure. but South Sudan has denied The casualties came during a surprise attack Border tensions have flared since South supporting opposition on February 26 against Sudan broke away from Sudan last July. groups in Sudan. Ethnic minority a government base in insurgents in the SPLM-N the Jau area, said Arnu fought alongside the former Ngutulu Lodi, of the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement-North that clashes had occurred in other rebels now ruling the South. South Sudan broke away in July after areas and said the only fighting had (SPLM-N). Rebels counted the bodies on the been around Jau, from which rebels an overwhelming vote for independence that followed more than two decades of ground, he said, and seized three tanks had since withdrawn. Now SAF troops are clearing the war. Border tensions have since flared, along with hundreds of weapons and with each side accusing the other of vehicles in the joint operation with a area, he said. Access to the state is heavily supporting rebels within its territory, small number of fighters from Darfurs Justice and Equality Movement restricted, making independent while a major dispute over oil transit fees remains unresolved. AFP verification difficult. (JEM).

deCa-duraBoLin
reg. no. 5583/1996

reg. no. 5590/1996 in respect of Medicines and pharmaceutical preparations for human use. Fraudulent imitation or unauthorised use of the said Trade Marks will be dealt with according to law. Win Mu Tin, M.A., H.G.P., D.B.L for n.V. organon P. O. Box 60, Yangon. Dated: 5th March, 2012

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Left: A street in Tagajo, Miyagi prefecture, on March 13 last year and the same area on January 12. Centre: A bridge in Ishinomaki, Miyagi prefecture, on March 15 last year and the same area on January 13. Right: The Asia Symphony beached at Kamaishi, Iwate prefecture on March 18 last year and the same area on January 16. Pix, top: Kim Jae Hwan (left, centre), Roslan Rahman (left). Pix, bottom: Toru Yamanaka.

What I saw was no longer Japan


By Harumi Ozawa TOKYO Nearly a year after he worked in the tsunami wasteland of northeast Japan, AFP photographer Toru Yamanaka returned to capture the progress that has been made. But even for a veteran journalist, this was no straightforward assignment. On a recent winters day, Yamanaka stood in an empty and windswept stretch of land in the ravaged city of Rikuzentakata. Nothing was left of the carnage he had seen last March. But neither was the city that once stood there. It is for me symbolic of what this disaster was all about, said Yamanaka, 53. There was a community in that place, where people were living. They had houses, families and companies to go to. They are all gone. For Yamanaka, who has worked for Agence FrancePresse for 25 years, it was not the first time he had been sent to cover a huge natural disaster in his home country. In 1995 he was one of the first photographers on the scene of the Kobe earthquake, a catastrophe that left more than 6400 people dead. But nothing he saw in Kobe could prepare him for the scale of the devastation that greeted him when he arrived on Japans northeast coast after last years March 11 tsunami. This is nothing like Kobe, that was what hit me first, he said, recalling the moment he reached the coastline. Kobe was bad, too, but what I saw (in the northeast) was no longer Japan, there was nothing left of what you usually see in Japans countryside. There were only mountains of debris. And, says Yamanaka after his recent trip back to the area, it is clear that putting these shattered communities back together will take so much longer. Several months after the Kobe quake I was in a helicopter to shoot aerial views, and I remember seeing houses covered with blue plastic sheets. People had already started rebuilding the city, he said. When I looked over Rikuzentakata, I was staggered. There was absolutely nothing there. What would we do with the land? In January, Yamanaka spent a week retracing the steps that he and his fellow AFP lensmen had taken last March as they captured the sometimes still smoking ruins of what had once been pretty coastal towns. The idea was to go back to the exact spots to see what had changed since they revealed the initial carnage to the world. It was a painstaking assignment, with some places so changed it was like the difference between day and night. In Kamaishi, one of the hardest-hit cities in a disaster that claimed more than 19,000 lives, he was trying to find the spot where a ship called Asia Sympathy had run aground. The gigantic vessel, whose red bow had smashed through a concrete breakwater and stopped just a few metres (feet) from a house, had been removed, giving few clues to where he should be looking. When he finally found the spot, he saw that the ship had been blocking a view of a statue of the Buddhist God of Mercy standing on top of a distant mountain. In some areas, Yamanaka had to rely on tiny signboards or on the outlines of hills that frame the original pictures. I tried to imagine the angles that we, as photographers, tried to take in the wake of the disaster, Yamanaka said. But many times I just followed my gut feeling to find the locations. One picture that he had to recreate was of a young mother in Ishinomaki. The forlorn image of Yuko Sugimoto, wrapped in a blanket against the cold as she scoured the wreckage for her only son broke the hearts of readers and viewers around the world. But the picture Yamanaka took this time was an altogether more cheerful one. In it, Sugimoto, 29, smiles shyly, standing in the middle of a busy road as she tightly holds the hand of her son Raito, with whom she was reunited three days after the tsunami. She remembered exactly where the spot was. Otherwise I would have never found it, he said. For father-of-two Yamanaka, it was a nice picture to take. Those three days of being apart must have been heart-breaking. It was so good to see them together. AFP

Trade Mark CauTion


MarTeLL & Co, a company incorporated in France of Place Edouard Martell, 16100 COGNAC, FRANCE, is the Owner and Sole Proprietor of the following Trademarks: reg. no. 548/1967 in respect of cognac brandy in Class 33.

Trade Mark CauTion


NOTICE is hereby given that asahi Group Holdings, Ltd a joint stock company organized under the laws of Japan, Manufacturers and Merchants of 23-1, Azumabashi 1-chome, Sumida-ku, Tokyo, Japan (formerly at 7-1, Kyobashi 3-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan) is the Owner and proprietor of the following trademark: -

MarTeLL

reg. no. 2716/2006 in respect of alcoholic beverages except wines in Class 33.

reg. no. 2717/2006

reg. no. 2718/2006

in respect of alcoholic beverages in Class 33. Any fraudulent imitation or unauthorized use of the said Trademarks will be dealt with according to law. u nyunt Tin associates, Intellectual Property Law Firm P.O. Box 952, Yangon, Myanmar. Tel: 951 375754, Fax: 951 254321, Email: info@untlaw.com For MarTeLL & Co Dated: 5th March, 2012.

(reg: no. iV/12225/2011) in respect of:- Pharmaceutical preparations; dental materials; medical materials and goods; goods for womens hygiene; lactose; semen for artificial insemination Intl Class: 5 Meat for human consumption; meat extracts; processed fruits and vegetables; Japanese style foods; eggs and processed eggs; stew and soup mixes; dairy products; edible oils and fats Intl Class: 29 Coffee; tea; coffee or tea based beverages; artificial coffee; seasonings; rice; snack and foods prepared from cereals, flour, tapioca and sago; confectionery; coffee syrups; curry mixes Intl Class: 30 Alcoholic beverages; spirits Intl Class: 33 Any fraudulent imitation or unauthorized use of the said trademark or other infringements whatsoever will be dealt with according to law. U Kyi Win Associates for asahi Group Holdings, Ltd P.O. Box No. 26, Yangon. Phone: 372416 Dated: 5th March, 2012

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Bloodletting to haunt Gillards government


Analysis by Madeleine Coorey
SYDNEY Australians have seen the ugly inner workings of the ruling Labor party in Prime Minister Julia Gillards showdown with Kevin Rudd on February 27, and the bloodletting will likely wreak more damage, observers say. Gillard ousted thenpremier Rudd from power in June 2010 in a swift and brutal party coup against a leader seen by many as controlling and egotistical and tensions between the pair have simmered ever since. That dynamic led to his resignation as her foreign minister on February 22, in the belief only he can save the party from an Kevin Rudd dismissed embarrassing defeat at criticism from within the elections due next year party as being like a soap with Labor trailing the opera. Pic: AFP conservative opposition in suggested Kevin Rudd is opinion polls. With the move to challenge the Anti-christ incorporated, for the leadership, Rudd and if not the son of Satan, opened the floodgates on at least the grandson of an unprecedented wave of Satan. Analysts agreed the criticism from within the party in a row he described very idea of a challenge to a s b e i n g l i k e a s o a p Gillards leadership was destabilising despite her opera. While Gillard smashed emphatic victory, and some R u d d 7 1 t o 3 1 i n t h e indicated a third candidate secret vote among Labor could emerge to lead the p a r l i a m e n t a r i a n s o n party in coming days. I think she will continue February 27 to keep her job, the public airing of the to struggle, said Rodney partys internal discord Smith, a politics expert from points to a rocky road ahead, Sydney University. I think the government analysts said. You just puzzle over will continue to struggle to how Gillard will shore up get attention back on its her position, said Haydon policy achievements, its Manning, head of politics at legislative achievements South Australias Flinders b e c a u s e t h e r e w i l l b e continued University. speculation Its very n difficult You just puzzle I bt h i u k a o t to see the p r i m e over how Gillard L a b o r s electoral minister chances. continue will shore up So I think to hold the that sort of her position. leadership uncertainty i f t h e isnt going polls dont improve and given that so to disappear and so people much ammunition has been will be casting around for handed to the (opposition) alternative leaders. As the Australian coalition. Polls indicate a Gillard- economy rides an Asianled Labor administration d r i v e n m i n i n g b o o m , is deeply out of favour with t h e i n f i g h t i n g i s o n l y voters and will be dumped helping the conservative from office at the next oppositions chances of election. They suggest Rudd seizing power in the next is the partys best hope of election, he said. Richard Stanton, from victory. Yet despite his public Sydney Universitys media popularity, Rudd is not a n d c o m m u n i c a t i o n s liked by the majority of department, agreed that his Labor colleagues, some Rudd wont go away and of whom launched vicious could use the one-third open attacks ahead of the of caucus votes he scored on February 27 to build ballot. Treasurer Wayne Swan another run in the future. Stanton said that while described him as selfinterested underminer of the centre-left Labor party, the government given to which Rudd drove to power dysfunctional decision in a landslide in November making who held a deeply 2007, had been hurt by the demeaning attitude towards imbroglio the soap operalike rivalry had at least other people. Other ministers lined boosted public involvement up to explain why they in politics. Labor has been badly dumped Rudd who led the country through the damaged as a brand but a grim days of the global far greater number of people financial crisis talking of who would not normally be a lack of consultation and involved or interested in preparation and chaotic politics are now surfacing and taking an interest, management of his office. Rudd said Gillard had he said. And I think thats a lost the peoples trust and told people not to believe good thing for Australian the scathing critiques that politics. AFP Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard at a news conference in Canberra on February 27 after defeating former foreign minister Kevin Rudd in the vote for the leadership of the Labour party. Pic: AFP

Trade Mark CauTion


CaSTroL LiMiTed, a company organised and existing under the laws of England and Wales, of Wakefield House, Pipers Way, SWINDON, Wiltshire, SN3 1RE, England, is the Owner of the following Trade Marks:-

aCTiV
reg. no. 1413/1999 in respect of Industrial oils and greases; lubricants; lubricating oils and greases; fuels; non-chemical additives for fuels, lubricants and greases; dust absorbing, wetting and binding compositions; illuminants; gear oils; transmission oils. reg. no. 6442/2005

LiQuid enGineerinG
reg. no. 7196/2005

iTS More THan JuST oiL iTS LiQuid enGineerinG


reg. no. 57/2002 in respect of Chemicals used in industry, science, photography, horticulture and forestry; chemical products for use in industry and/or for use in manufacturing processes; synthetic materials for absorbing oil; detergent additives to petrol; chemical additives for fuels, lubricants and greases; adhesives for industrial purposes; anti-freeze; brake fluids; brazing preparations; degreasing preparations for use in manufacturing processes; oil dispersants; fluids for hydraulic circuits; soldering chemicals; transmission oils and fluids; cutting and grinding fluids and oils; coolants; chemical products for use in treatment of cooling systems in intl Class 1. Anti-corrosive and anti-fouling compositions and preparations; anti-tarnishing preparations for metals; protective preparations for metals; preservatives against rust in intl Class 2. Soaps; cleaning, scouring, polishing and abrasive preparations; detergents and degreases other than for use in manufacturing processes; grinding preparations; oils for cleaning purposes; stain removers; rust removing preparations in intl Class 3. Measuring cylinders; measuring glassware; syringes for taking samples of refrigeration oils; thermometers; temperature indicators; measuring, testing, weighing, monitoring and checking apparatus and instruments; chemistry apparatus and instruments; scientific apparatus and instruments; apparatus for testing lubricants, hydraulic oils and fluids, anti-freeze preparations and thermic transfer fluids; electric batteries and electric battery chargers; protective helmets for motor cyclists; installations and pumps for dispensing measured quantities of oil and grease; video tapes; video recordings; computers; computer software; computer programs in intl Class 9. Analysis, testing and monitoring of oils, coolants, greases and lubricants; monitoring of fuel and lubricant levels in machines and in vehicles; analysis and diagnosis of wear rates, defects and faults in engines and machinery; advisory services based upon the results of the aforementioned analysis and diagnosis; monitoring services relating to the servicing, lubrication, maintenance and repair of vehicles, engines and machinery in intl Class 42. reg. no. 7710/2005 in respect of Class 1: Chemicals used in industry, science, photography, horticulture and forestry; chemical products for use in industry and/or for use in manufacturing processes; synthetic materials for absorbing oil; detergent additives to petrol; chemical additives for fuels, lubricants and greases; adhesives for industrial purposes; anti-freeze; brake fluids; brazing preparations; degreasing preparations for use in manufacturing processes; oil dispersants; fluids for hydraulic circuits; soldering chemicals; transmission oils and fluids; cutting and grinding fluids and oils; coolants; chemical products for use in treatment of cooling systems. Class 4: Industrial oils and greases; lubricants; lubricating oils and greases; fuels; nonchemical additives for fuels, lubricants and greases; dust absorbing, wetting and binding compositions; illuminants. Class 37: Servicing , lubrication, maintenance, and repair services for vehicles, engines and machinery; inspection services relating to the aforesaid; anti-rust treatment for vehicles; tyre fitting and puncture repair; motor vehicle wash services; service station services. Class 42: Analysis, testing and monitoring of oils, coolants, greases and lubricants; monitoring of fuel and lubricant levels in machines and in vehicles; analysis and diagnosis of wear rates, defects and faults in engines and machinery; advisory services based upon the results of the aforementioned analysis and diagnosis; monitoring services relating to the servicing, lubrication, maintenance and repair of vehicles, engines and machinery; monitoring services relating to the servicing, lubrication, maintenance and repair services for vehicles, engines and machinery. Fraudulent imitation or unauthorised use of the said Trade Marks will be dealt with according to law. Win Mu Tin, M.A.,H.G.P.,D.B.L. for CaSTroL LiMiTed P.O. Box 60, Yangon Dated: 5th March, 2012

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Jail term for Yellow Shirt


BANGKOK A Thai court on February 28 sentenced controversial political figure, media mogul Sondhi Limthongkul, to 20 years in prison for corporate fraud. Sondhi is the founder of the royalist Yellow Shirt protest movement, which helped to topple fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra in 2006. The Criminal Court convicted Sondhi, 64, of violating the Securities and Exchange Act in a case dating to the mid-1990s and gave him the maximum sentence, a court official told AFP. Sondhi appealed against the verdict and was released on bail of 10 million baht (US$330,000), his lawyer told AFP. AFP

Nepal calls for help to settle Everests height


KATHMANDU Nepal is appealing to international donors to help it finally settle a long-running dispute over the height of Mount Everest, a government official said Wednesday. The worlds highest peak, which straddles Nepal and China, is usually given a height of 8848 metres (29,029 feet) based on an Indian survey in 1954, but other more recent measurements have varied by several metres. China measures the peak four metres lower by excluding the snowcap while in 1999 an American team using GPS technology recorded a height of 8850 metres. Nepals state-run Survey Department told AFP it was seeking grants and expertise from international donors, as well as the global scientific community. This is part of the ongoing three-year Nepal government project to settle the mountains height. But we have neither the scientific expertise nor the resources to carry out such tasks, said director-general Krishna Raj BC. We have already measured from sea level to the base camp. But the difficult part is from there on. We need to train Sherpas on how to measure the height scientifically. For example, we need to carry up GPS equipment. AFP

Members of an influential Philippine religious sect, Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ), at a rally in Manila on February 28 attended by about 600,000 people. Despite tensions with President Benigno Aquino, a former strong supporter of the sect, organisers said the rally was a purely religious gathering. Pic: AFP

RP to seek oil, gas in disputed waters


MANILA The Philippines said on February 29 it would push ahead with plans to expand oil and gas exploration in waters also claimed by China, as it brushed off a fresh Chinese warning. The comments came amid a fresh spike in tensions in the decades-old dispute over the potentially resource-rich South China Sea, where the Philippines and China, as well as Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan, have overlapping claims. Philippine Energy Undersecretary James Layug said it was preparing to issue exploration licences for 15 blocs, three of which were in the South China Sea. However Layug insisted China had no legal claim to the three contentious blocs, as they were well within the Philippines 200-nautical-mile economic exclusion zone recognised under international law. In our view, (these) areas are not disputed areas... that they are our territory has been accepted by all our neighbours, except China, Layug told reporters. He said the three licences were for areas between 72 and 80 nautical miles from the western Philippine island of Palawan, and 575 nautical miles from the nearest major Chinese landmass. The other 12 licences on offer are in Philippine territory not claimed by China. At this stage of the process, companies are only required to submit a general application to explore for any of the 15 blocs. They have to nominate which specific bloc they want to explore by the end of July. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei spoke out in Beijing on February 28 against the Philippine exploration plans. Any country or company that engages in oil and gas activities in waters under Chinese jurisdiction without the Chinese governments approval does so illegally, he said. Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario reacted to Hongs comments on February 29 by reasserting his countrys rights to the areas, as determined by the UNs Convention on the Law of the Sea. It is our stated position that our activities are well within our sovereignty under UNCLOS, del Rosario said. Tensions between the two countries spiked last year after the Philippines said Chinese patrol boats harassed a British vessel doing survey work at Reed Bank, about 80 nautical miles from Palawan. AFP

Chinese mining firms hampered by bribery mindset, says email


SYDNEY Chinese mining interests in Australia are being held back because they believe they must pay bribes to get what they want, said a former senator quoted in emails released by WikiLeaks. The private email is one of a huge number from the US-based global intelligence company Stratfor that the whistleblowing organisation began publishing on February 27. The assessment, titled Insight China/ mining, said that Chinese firms were unable to overcome a corruption mindset when doing business Down Under. Where foreign companies do get access to tenements, they always seem to lose out because the mining sector in China is one of the most corrupt sectors of all, the unnamed former senator reportedly said. The email is dated mid-2010, just months after Australian mining executive Stern Hu was jailed for 10 years in China after a Shanghai court convicted him of taking kickbacks worth millions of dollars from Chinese steel firms and stealing corporate secrets during 2009 iron ore talks. The incident damaged ties with Beijing, Australias biggest trading partner and a major investor in its vital resources sector. In the email, the senator said corruption was widespread in China. Ironically, this corruption is one of the impediments to Chinese interests not having accumulated even greater stakes in the resources sector in Australia, he reportedly said. They simply cannot get it in their heads that the rule of law applies to mining projects in Australia. They refuse to believe that they have a right to receive a mining lease subject only to complying with relevant environmental permitting conditions. They think you have no credibility unless you tell them they need to bribe someone!!! The email did not name the former senator but said he was well-connected politically, militarily and economically and now worked in private industry helping foreign companies with mergers and acquisitions. AFP

CauTionary noTiCe
Protopharma Limited, a British Company of Norwich Bio-Incubator, Norwich Research Park, Colney Lane, Norwich, Norfolk NR4 7UH, Great Britain, is the sole Owner and Proprietor of the patent entitled:-

Anti-malarial pharmaceutical composition


(corresponding to Great Britain appln. nos. 0806510.4 dated 10 april 2008 and 0819559.6 dated 27 october 2008 now Granted under Patent no. 245467) in respect of pharmaceutical compositions, delivery methods, delivery devices and methods for the treatment of uncomplicated and complicated malaria. The invention provides, in a first aspect, a pharmaceutical composition comprising artemether or arteether; and a pharmaceutically-acceptable excipient, formulated for transmucosal sublingual, buccal or nasal dosage. The invention also provides a medicament delivery device containing a composition described herein; a medicament delivery device containing a composition described herein; a device for providing pharmaceutical doses of the pharmaceutical composition described herein; a kit for the treatment or prophylaxis of malaria containing a composition described herein; a method of treating a disease responsive to artemether or arteether (and preferably artemether) comprising the administration to a patient in need thereof of a therapeutically effective amount of artemether or arteether by the transmucosal sublingual, buccal or nasal route; a kit for the treatment of malaria containing a composition described herein; the use of artemether in the preparation of a pharmaceutical composition for the treatment or prophylaxis of malaria; and a method of treating malaria comprising the administration of artemether. A Declaration of Ownership of the said Patent has been registered in the Office of the Sub-Registrar of Deeds and Assurances, Yangon being No. 2796/2009. The said Owner claims all rights in respect of the above patent and will take all legal steps against any person, firm or corporation infringing their rights to the said patent in Myanmar. Win MuTin, M.A., H.G.P., D.B.L for Protopharma Limited. P. O. Box 60, Yangon. Email: makhinkyi.law@mptmail.net.mm Dated: 5th March, 2012

NZ reef ship skipper pleads guilty


WELLINGTON The captain and second officer of a ship that caused New Zealands biggest sea pollution disaster pleaded guilty to criminal charges on February 29, officials said. The officers were in charge of the Liberian-flagged Rena when it hit a reef last year, releasing an oil slick that killed thousands of sea birds and fouled beaches in the North Islands pristine Bay of Plenty. The men, both Filipinos, pleaded guilty to operating a ship in a dangerous manner and attempting to pervert the course of justice by altering navigation records after the accident, Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) said. It said the men, whose names have been suppressed since they were released on bail last year over fears for their safety, could face lengthy jail terms. They will be sentenced on May 25. More than 300 tonnes of toxic fuel oil spilled from the Rena when hit the Astrolabe Reef in clear conditions as it steamed towards Tauranga, New Zealands largest container port, on October 5. AFP

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Oscar documentary winner to campaign against acid attacks


KARACHI Pakistans first Oscar winner launched a campaign on February 28 in the hope that her documentary about survivors of acid attacks can help eliminate a crime that disfigures hundreds of women each year. Saving Face by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, 33, which won in the short documentary category, follows victims as they struggle to recover and bring their attackers to justice, and shows the work of British Pakistani plastic surgeon Mohammad Jawad, who helps restore their faces and lives. Acid attacks are among the worst forms of domestic violence in Pakistan and mostly directed at women, who are often classified as second-class citizens. Victims are disfigured for life and ostracised by society. The team behind the documentary is using its website to launch a campaign raising awareness about the attacks, inflicted on about 200 women each year in Pakistan, and to strengthen legislation against the violence. The film must be more than an expose of horrendous crimes, it must be a recipe for addressing the problem and a hope for the future, codirector Daniel Junge says on www.savingfacefilm.com. Pakistans parliament last year adopted tougher penalties for the crime, increasing the punishment to between 14 years and life, and a minimum fine of one million rupees (US$11,000). The new law came into effect on December 28. Obaid-Chinoys mother, Saba, told AFP that the campaign was launched formally after her daughter won the Oscar, which had provided her with a unique

Briefs
Terror plot foiled, says New Delhi
NEW DELHI Indias home minister said on February 29 that police had foiled a major attack by suspected militants from the Pakistan-based Lashkare-Taiba group who were caught with explosives at a rail station. Home Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters that two men were arrested at New Delhis main station after a tip-off from intelligence agencies and work by three state police agencies. Lashkar-e-Taiba is one of the most powerful militant groups in Pakistan and is blamed for the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that left 166 people dead.

Police stand guard as demolition work continues at the infamous Abbottabad compound on February 26. Pic: AFP

Pakistan demolishes bin Ladens hideout


ABBOTTABAD Bulldozers last week razed the infamous three-storey home in Pakistan where Osama bin Laden lived for at least five years until he was killed by US special forces last May. Only the wall of the compound remained intact early last week, obscuring the debris of the house in the garrison town of Abbottabad where the al-Qaeda chief hid with his three wives and nine children, 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the capital. Officials were reluctant for the site to become a shrine and the house was pulled down two months before the first anniversary of the secret US Navy SEAL raid that has been described as the Pakistan armys biggest humiliation. The fact that bin Laden lived so long just a mile from the countrys premier military academy exposed the powerful military to charges of complicity or incompetence and dealt a massive blow to Pakistan-US relations. The demolition has been completed, the three-storey building was razed to the ground, a security official told AFP on February 27. Bulldozers began the demolition work late on February 25 in Abbottabads Bilal Town, which was propelled from a quiet suburb to international notoriety after the al-Qaeda leader was killed on May 2. We found nothing in the building. Everything had already been taken away by the investigation experts, the security official told AFP. The compound has been closely guarded by Pakistani security officials since the US operation. Hundreds of people visited after bin Ladens killing, provoking concern that it could become a shrine to Islamist militants in a country where attacks blamed on the Taliban and al-Qaeda have killed thousands in recent years. The Americans buried bin Ladens body at sea, determined that no grave act as a memorial to the mastermind of the September 11 attacks. A provincial government official said no decision had been taken on the future of the site. Many people living in the neighbourhood want a girls school erected on the bin Laden plot providing the community with something it lacks and a slap in the face for Islamist militants opposed to girls education. It will be the best message to the world because militants are against girls education, said a neighbourhood resident, Mohammad Siddique. AFP

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy at the Academy Awards in Hollywood on February 26 after she won the best short documentary Oscar with co-producer Daniel Junge. Pic: AFP opportunity and strength to strive for her goal more effectively. The campaign is mainly aimed at making our society more humane and better to live. It is to help and remedy those who are victims of such brutality and injustice, she told AFP. The website said the film, which few have seen in Pakistan, was uniquely positioned to advance awareness, education and prevention efforts. The chairwoman of Acid Survivors Pakistan, a partner in the campaign, told AFP that the fight to eliminate the crime had only just started and that the campaign would increase awareness, partly by showing the film widely. Valerie Khan Yusufzai said eight acid attacks had been reported in Pakistan so far in 2012 and that all had been registered with police. We now need to strengthen the momentum to get more legislation passed which will complement the law that got passed in May 2011, Yusufzai told AFP. AFP

Attack in China leaves 20 dead


BEIJING Twenty people died when a group armed with knives attacked a market in Xinjiang, the latest outbreak of violence in the ethnically divided Chinese region, authorities said on February 29. The motive behind the attack late the previous day was not immediately clear. The state-run Xinhua news agency initially put the toll at 12 dead, but the official information website Tianshan said on February 29 that 20 people died, including 13 innocent people and seven terrorists who were killed by police.

Beijing orders new pollution measure


BEIJING Chinas cabinet on February 29 ordered new air-quality standards to measure the most dangerous form of particulate matter, following a public outcry over worsening air pollution. The State Council told 31 major regional capitals including Beijing and Shanghai to begin monitoring PM2.5 particulate, or fine particles measuring 2.5 microns in diameter, this year, the cabinet said on its website. The new measure which had been demanded by environmental campaigners would be compulsory for 113 more cities in 2013, it said.

Trade Mark CauTion


NOTICE is hereby given that hoyU KabUshiKi Kaisha (also trading as Hoyu Co., Ltd.) a company organized under the laws of Japan and having its principal office at 501, Tokugawa 1-Chome, Higashi-Ku, Nagoya-Shi, Aichi-Ken, Japan is the Owner and Sole Proprietor of the following trademark:-

Assange wanted in US, says email


SYDNEY US prosecutors have drawn up secret charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, a confidential email cited by media said last week, as his lawyer demanded Australia start protecting him. The email is one of thousands from the USbased global intelligence company Stratfor that the whistleblowing organisation began publishing on February 27. Internal correspondence to Stratfor analysts from vice-president of intelligence Fred Burton said: We have a sealed indictment on Assange, the Sydney Morning Herald reported on February 29. The newspaper, which has access to the emails through an investigative partnership with WikiLeaks, said the comment on January 26 last year was made in response to a media report about US investigations targeting WikiLeaks. The information came with the request to protect it and not publish, the paper said, adding that Burton had close ties to the US intelligence and law enforcement agencies. Assange, an Australian citizen, is awaiting a British Supreme Court decision on his appeal against extradition to Sweden on sexual assault allegations. He strongly denies the claims, saying they are politically motivated and linked to the activities of WikiLeaks. Assange fears being sent to Stockholm would open the way for his extradition to the United States to face charges of spying linked to the leaking of classified military documents by US soldier Bradley Manning. Manning was formally charged on February 23 for allegedly turning over a trove of classified US documents to WikiLeaks in one of the most serious intelligence breaches in US history. Assanges lawyer Jennifer Robinson said in Australia that the government needed to start standing up for one of its citizens and only had to look at Mannings treatment to see what awaited the WikiLeaks boss. We need only look at the treatment of Bradley Manning... who has been held in inhumane and degrading conditions for more than 600 days without trial to know what fate awaits Julian should be be extradited to the US, she said. It is time the Australian government and the Australian people start asking questions. He is an Australian citizen and he deserves our protection. She said that regardless of the outcome of the British court case, fears were high that the US would seek an extradition. Irrespective of what happens now we have confirmation that there is a sealed indictment, that we could be seeing an extradition request from the US irrespective of the outcome, said Robinson. AFP

(reg: nos. iV/4352/2005 & iV/12839/2011) in respect of : - hair dyes; hair color preparations; bleaching preparations for hair; color-removing preparations for hair; hair lotions; hair sprays; hair waving preparations; hair tonic; hair creams; hair shampoo; hair conditioner; hair treatment cream; cosmetics; toiletries Any fraudulent imitation or unauthorized use of the said trademark or other infringements whatsoever will be dealt with according to law. U Kyi Win Associates for hoyU KabUshiKi Kaisha (also trading as Hoyu Co., Ltd.) P.O. Box No. 26, Yangon. Phone: 372416 Dated: 5th March, 2012

Thai activist jailed for lese majeste


BANGKOK A Thai political activist was sentenced on February 28 to seven and a half years in prison under the kingdoms royal defamation laws. The Criminal Court in Bangkok found Surachai Danwattananusorn guilty of insulting the monarchy during several public speeches he gave to supporters of his Red Siam group in 2008 and 2010. Surachai planned to appeal against the verdict, said his lawyer. AFP

Time out
H O L LY W O O D S i l e n t movie The Artist crowned its spectacular awards season success by winning five Oscars including the Best Picture prize at the 84 th Academy Awards on February 26. The French-directed black-and-white film earned Oscars for best director for Michel Hazanavicius and best actor for Jean Dujardin, who played a silent movie era star whose career was torpedoed by the arrival of the talkies. I love your country, Dujardin told the Hollywood audience as he accepted his Oscar, the first for a French actor. But speaking to French journalists later, he said he might consider projects in the US after winning best actor Oscar for The Artist, but insisted he would never be an American actor. In Paris, President Nicolas Sarkozy hailed the Oscar triumph as a sign of the tremendous success of French cinema and quality cinema. The movies success was witness to the exceptional vitality of our cinema and the success of the governments policies to support the excellence of this major French industry, he said. Hollywoods biggest and going, Oh no. Come on ... her, again? You know. But, whatever! she said, rolling her eyes. Octavia Spencer took the prize for best supporting actress for her role as a black maid in the civil rights drama The Help, receiving a standing ovation for her powerhouse performance. Veteran Canadian actor Christopher Plummer, 82, crowned a six-decade acting career with a long-overdue Oscar, a best supporting actor trophy for his role in Beginners as an ailing widower who embraces his homosexuality. Kissing his coveted golden statuette, he joked: Youre only two years older than me, darling where have you been all my life? Other winners included the Johnny-Depp voiced Rango, for best animated feature and Woody Allen for best original screenplay for Midnight in Paris. In the foreign language category, Irans A Separation beat films from Belgium, Canada, Israel and Poland. Its director Asghar Farhadi dedicated the award to Iranians who despise hostility and resentment, and referred to current tension between Tehran and the West over the Islamic republics suspect nuclear program.

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The Artist crowned with Oscar gold


At the time when talk of war, intimidation and aggression is exchanged between politicians, the name of their country, Iran, is spoken here through her glorious culture, her rich and ancient culture that has been hidden under the heavy dust of politics, Farhadi told the Oscars audience. Those Iranians braving a ban on satellite television receivers were able to see the Oscars live. And they quickly launched an avalanche of electronic exchanges to declare their pride and joy at their countrys first Oscars win. J a f a r, 2 9 , w r o t e o n his Facebook page that his happiness was not just because of the unprecedented Oscar win its more because of what he (Farhadi) said. Hossein, 30, from Isfahan, added: Thank you Asghar Farhadi! It had been soooo long we hadnt taken pride in ourselves. And A Pakistani director won her countrys first Oscar for Saving Face, a short documentary about acid attacks on women and those who help them recover. Obaid-Chinoy paid tribute to all the women in Pakistan who are working for change, saying: Dont give up on your dreams. This is for you. Tw i t t e r f o l l o w e r s i n Pakistan erupted with joy at news of the Oscar, falling over themselves with praise for her win and delighted that Pakistan was making headlines for something other than Al-Qaeda, Taliban and bomb attacks. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was quick to congratulate Obaid-Chinoy, and said she would receive a high civil award without specifying which one. The show was presented by a galaxy of stars, including last years best actress and actor Natalie Portman and Colin Firth, Tom Cruise, Penelope Cruz, Tom Hanks and Angelina Jolie. Highlights included a breathtaking cinema-themed performance by Canadian dance troupe Cirque du Soleil, including rapid-fire acrobatics and tumbling across the stage and ceiling of the auditorium. Wow, said veteran host Billy Crystal, presenting the show for the ninth time. I pulled a hamstring just watching that. British comic Sacha Baron Cohen also pulled a colourful stunt, coming dressed as the star of his latest movie, The Dictator and pouring the faux ashes of late North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il on an interviewer. AFP

Oscar winners, actress Meryl Streep and actor Jean Dujardin, pose at the 84th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood, California on February 26. Pic: AFP most glittering night had t u r n a s f o r m e r B r i t i s h long been expected to be premier Margaret Thatcher a battle between Hugo and in The Iron Lady, earning a The Artist, two odes to film- standing ovation from the A-list Hollywood audience. making. It was the third Oscar M a r t i n S c o r s e s e s 3 D adventure Hugo, which for 62-year-old Streep and had the most nominations, her first in three decades, with 11 compared to 10 for underscoring her status as The Artist also garnered the pre-eminent actress of five prizes, but all came in her generation. When they called my technical categories. Meryl Streep won best name, I had this feeling I actress for her powerful could hear half of America

Literature award permitted to return after 3 years


By Nyein Ei Ei Htwe AN AWARD for the best political literature was given out for the first time at the sixth Taw Phayar Ka Lay literature awards ceremony at Royal Rose restaurant (Thiri hall) on February 28. This year saw a return to publicly hosting the awards, under permission from the government, which also saw the new category included. Receiving permission to give the award for political literature this year was a great feeling, said U Htet Myat, a member of judging committee. We established a judging committee to begin reading all legally published books in Myanmar in 2006 and held our first award ceremony in 2007 at Sein Lan So Pyay Garden, he said. But from the third year, we couldnt hire any hotel or hall to celebrate our awards, so we had to hold it each year at U Taw Phayar Ka Lays house which is small and uncomfortable, and were able to cater for only a few people, he said. The ceremony awarded three categories, including the best poetry and short story collections of the past year, as well as for political literature. For the best political literature award, the rules were slightly bent as Lay Htee U Own Maungs Hnit Paung Ngar Say Kyar Thaw A Khar (After More Than 50 Years) was published as a novel last year, but originally appeared as a series in Moe Journal 17 years ago. Im very proud to accept the award on behalf of my father, and Im sure he would be happy if he knew he won this Taw Phayar Ka Lay award, said his daughter, Daw Ni Ni Mar. He was always eager to share his experiences as an air force soldier before he passed away, so thank you to all the publishers and judging committee. She also questioned why the government did not allow the awards ceremony as the books were selected from those published under permission of the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division (PSRD). The best collections of poetry and short stories were won by the poet U Mg Aung Pwint and writer U Nyi Pu Lay, respectively. Both the collection of poems, titled Nyein Chan Yay Nya Sar (Dinner for Peace) and the collection of short stories, Ta Ti Ya Myo Daw Thar Ei A Lwan (Yearning By The Third Citizen), were popular last year. Every literature awards ceremony has a certain dignity, and now Im very proud to

Daw Khin May, wife of U Taw Phayar Ka Lay, hands the award for best political literature to Daw Myint Myint, wife of U Own Maung at Thiri Hall on February 28. Pic: Ko Taik win the Taw Phayar Ka Lay prize in the same year with a writer and poet I admire, said writer U Nyi Pu Lay. I want to win many more awards like this. I hope there are many more literature awards and they do not to disappear again, he said. Each prize winner was honoured with a trophy and K200,000 in prize money. The ceremony ended with a poem recital of a work by U Taw Phyar Ka Lay, who was the son of U Ko Ko Naing and A Shin Htiek Su Myat Phyar Lay, the fourth daughter of King Thibaw. U Taw Phyar Ka Lay died in 2006, with most of his latter years spent in jail. His daughter, Daw Dawei Thant Sin, told the audience thant while her father was of royal lineage, he had always supported the public in their efforts for freedom, ultimately leading to his detention. He passed away in June 2006, without feeling free but now we have permission to celebrate his award proudly, so I feel he has finally escaped from that difficult situation, she said.

Events Flash
with ...

Nuam Bawi

Bringing along their five albums, customers can receive their ticket at Bo Bo Enterprise, No 34, 1st floor, 101 Street, Mingalar Taungnyunt Township. Ph: 205 905.

Hip Hop show free tickets


Customers who buy five original copies of any Bo Bo Music Production albums can get one free ticket to a hip hop concert held by the company on 25th March at Myawsin Kyun, Kandawgyi.

Cartoon Show
30 to 40 cartoonists from Yangon, Mandalay and Mawlamyiang will hold a cartoon exhibition at the Lokanat Gallery, No 62, 1st floor, Pansodan street, from 5th to 7th March.

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Cartoonists come together for Kachin


By Nuam Bawi A GROUP of artists is pooling resources to help those affected by the conflict in Kachin State, currently drawing caricatures for the public at the Shwedagon Pagoda west gate from February 22 to March 7. Moved by the current situation in Kachin State, the artists began fundraising by drawing caricatures and realised they could boost their efforts by becoming more involved, setting up the group, A Phyu Yaung Twe Let Myar (White Holding Hands). When we learned about the victims in Kachin State we felt we had a responsibility to help as much as we could. But we knew we could not do it alone so we discussed with some of our friends and came up the idea to combine with other groups who are also eager to help the victims, said Bo Bo, an organiser of the fundraising group. They have also drawn public caricatures in fundraising events such as Manaw Ala Gita Nyiah, a concert of famous Kachin singers and musicians, in Myawsin Kyun on February 25. S a n Tu n , l e a d e r o f Together artist group, which joined A Phyu Yaung Twe Let Myar, said they had initially intended to fundraise to provide donations for Kachin victims but realised they could do more if they got involved. We had planned just to give money to an organisation that is working for Kachin victims. But when we met them in Shwe Gone Dine at an event we talked and made the decision to combine as one, he said. The group was formed by graduate students from the National University of Art and Culture with the idea stemming from the artists attempts to raise funds for themselves through street art. But with awareness of such tragedies in the country, they decided to shift the focus, initially drawing for victims of the fire at Mingalar Taungnyunt storage facility. They are now a combination of 9 youth groups fundraising for Kachin victims, with the next step to actually travel to the state in March. As we dont have a large amount of funds and also knew we couldnt get so much so we are aiming to not just donate money, we are going there to let them know we know their situation. We will collect some letters for them from here and we will perform a variety show there too, said Bo Bo. The group has also received donations of warm clothing from overseas friends. I feel happy and proud that we could help them in our own way, although it is not much, said the artist.

Pic: Ko Taik Customers enjoy having their caricature drawn by a member of A Phyu Yaung Twe Let Myar (White Holding Hands) group of artists at the Shwedagon on February 27.

Aung San film overwhelmed with donated memorabilia


By Zon Pann Pwint RARE memorabilia of General Aung San are being donated to the biographical film project on the countrys independence leader, which is planned to start filming in 2013. Numerous private donors have already offered their memorabilia to the project that a member of the films executive board says helps them build an accurate picture of the time. The Bogyoke film executive board has so far received rare pictures of General Aung San, vinyl records on which his historic speeches are preserved, swords that were used during the period and original copies of newspapers that published his efforts to gain independence, said director Daw Kyi Phyu Shin. Unexpected pictures of General Aung San include a photo of him riding a boat in Inle, a portrait that was used by the British government as a warrant for his arrest in 1940 for K5. I had never seen these in local prints and came from donors in Yangon and Mandalay, she said. She added that the donors generosity knows no bounds, with one even donating a car dating from the post-war period that they had maintained for decades. The car is in a good condition; the owner drove to the executive board office to show how well the car works and said he wants to support us to see it appear in a scene, she said. Other valuable contributions are stamps, first editions of books about Aung San and newspapers published during the period when General Aung San died. Most of the newspapers have pictures of Aung San on the front and are still in good condition. Their generosity is evidence of how they love Aung San, which is proved by how well preserved they are. I am amazed at the extent of their patriotism, she added. The donated vinyl on which General Aung Sans speeches are recorded has a crack and needs to be sent to Singapore to be professionally restored and transfered to digital format. It will provide valuable assistance to the actor who will play the general as they will get to learn first hand how the independence leader gave speeches according to tone and intonation, as well as learning about his character from books and newspapers. These sources will also prove useful, as the print media was given full freedom of expression during that time, she said. Daw Kyi Phyu Shin said the filmmakers are going to great lengths to achieve historical accuracy so the donated newspapers and books are of crucial importance to check what they have learnt before. We want to show the true history. There will be no invention or fiction but the film-makers will try to make it artistic. she said. The film will aim to capture the mood of the generals period so such authentic memorabilia of General Aung San have become crucial and will make an exceptionally useful contribution for historical precision because I have never read the newspaper issued on Independence Day on January 4, 1948. We can produce an exact copy of the newspaper to use in the film, she said. U Kyaw Minn, owner of Zezawa bookstore, is one of those who collected copies of Hantharwady, Myanmar Shae Saung (The Daily Guide) and The Rangoon Daily newspapers published from 1946 to 1962. Newspapers published early in 1947 contained the latest details on General Aung Sans speeches and what decisions he made in his meetings. Most of the newspapers at that time had his picture on the front, U Kyaw Minn said. I started to collect them 10 years ago as I felt they would be of historical importance one day, he said. When people used to visit Martyrs Mausoleum to pay respect on Martyrs Day, July 19, they used to receive booklets containing brief biographies of all the martyrs who were a s s a s s i n a t e d t h a t d a y. T h e booklet was distributed yearly, but the tradition didnt continue after the 1970s. I still keep these booklets too, he said. The donations are of such historical importance that a museum devoted to General Aung San is being planned once filming is complete so that the memorabilia can be viewed by the public.

Musician Thxa Soe ends career to make money


By Yadana Htun THXA Soe has been making music since he was a teenager. But suddenly its all over. While everyone was expecting the release of his sixth solo album after a two year break, Thxa Soe announced he would change his career and become a businessman. I spent all my time in the studio, about six days a week, creating music but Ive got nothing back for my efforts. I got success artistically but not financially, he said. He said ongoing piracy in the music industry as a major reason forcing him away from music, adding that its been about three months since he has gone to his studio. Everybody wants to buy pirated copies and we dont get a fair price for our work. People can buy a bottle of mineral water for K400 but why cant they buy a CD for K1500? There are more than 60 million people in Myanmar if you could only sell about a thousand CDs youd have a hit album. Ive been making music for more than 10 years and I cant even buy a flat yet, he said. Thxa Soe started his career as a hip-hop MC. Along with his friend Bar Bu, they formed the band Theory and released their debut album in 2000. Not content with just being the front man, in 2001 he left the country to study music at the School of Audio Engineering in London. He focused on studying electronic music for three years. He returned with new ideas to mix electro and traditional music. He released his first solo album, Yaw Tha Ma Mhwe (Blended Music) in 2006 and kept on releasing electro music inspired albums. Over the years, Thxa Soe has released five solo albums and seven group albums. But he made the decision to quit after he had to undergo a series of treatments for his worsening health over the past two years. During these days, only my family cared for me and spent money on me. I was only able to keep making music due to my parents support. In return, I cant give them anything back. I should care for them too, he said. Thxa Soe recently opened an education counseling centre and also plans to start a business career by getting into the construction industry. Im not sure whether Ill keep spending one day a week making music, he said. But admitted he is still attached to his music. If the situation gets better I will return to music as a career. I wont totally abandon it but I have to spend less time on it.

New 3D Cineplex opens in Yangon


By Zon Pann Pwint TAW Win Centre opened the third screen of its in-house cinema, and Yangons first 3D theatre, on March 1. The centre on Pyay Road, which opened in February 2011, has already been running its two other screens on DVD format, but the new one offers a 3D experience, accommodating 101 people at a time. The Taw Win Family Group had planned to open a 3D theatre a year ago but it took a long time to build and get the technical side right so it could be opened in March, said U Myo Aung, assistant manager of Taw Win Centre. This is the first 3D theatre in Yangon. Audiences here havent had the chance to watch 3D movies although they have been popular for a long time. We are happy to announce its long-awaited arrival, he said. The theatre will show mainly adventure films that have a lot of 3D effects to showcase the format. I am happy that the audience will finally have a taste of 3D, he added. There are four screenings a day and ticket prices are set at K2500 and K3500.

A Yu Wa Di newspaper from 1954 containing a story on General Aung San. Pic: Supplied

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how we would present such a terrible story, and whether it was necessary to do so, she says. Manga is so familiar and can be read by people of all ages, its a good way to understand others earthquake experiences, she said. However, while many of the artistic responses have been emotional, six-member art collective ChimPom have taken a more confrontational approach, using public anger at the countrys reliance on nuclear energy. The group has produced a video called Real Times in which they travel into the middle of the exclusion zone around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi and hoist a white flag above the ruins of the plant. They paint it with the red sun of Japans national flag, before transforming it into the warning symbol for radioactive material. In a separate project, they added a panel to a mural by Taro Okamoto in Tokyos fashionable Shibuya district that depicts the fallout from the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs. Aping the style of Okamotos original, the ChimPom addition shows the smoking Daiichi nuclear plant. Although the panel for which they did not have permission was swiftly removed, group leader Ryuta Ushiro insists it contributed to renewing the history of Japan and nuclear energy. Ushiro rejects some Post 3/11 artists view that there is a distinction between emotional and political responses to the disaster. When you try to create something, sharing one experience together, the action inevitably takes on a political aspect, he said. The issue is not really whether it is political or not, but whether it was made with the intention of communicating with other people. AFP

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Japanese art shifts after tsunami


By Madeleine King TOKYO In the year since Japans northeast coast was torn apart by a massive quake-tsunami and ensuing nuclear crisis, artists have searched for new ways to come to terms with the disaster. The so-called Post-3/11 movement has taken its inspiration from images of tsunami-ravaged townships and grief-stricken victims in the aftermath of the worst tragedy to hit the nation since World War II. From activist performance art to the creation of a memorial, artists have found new ways to either make a statement against nuclear power or simply remember the thousands who perished. Practically every exhibition and art event held after the ... earthquake has implicitly or explicitly responded to these life changing events, says Emily Wakeling, a curator and art researcher working in Tokyo. The majority of artists responses have been emotional, she says. For 27-year-old installation artist Tsubasa Kato, a trip to Fukushima for volunteer work to clear up the mountains of rubble provided him with the inspiration to leave a lasting memorial. Kato recently completed a threestorey lighthouse built from the collected ruins of houses destroyed by the tsunami, with the help of 300 local residents whose lives were wrenched apart by the disaster. While his usual approach with large works is to drop them into place, ensuring a noisy landing, he decided his Fukushima work should be lifted quietly, as a mark of respect. He was initially reluctant to become involved creatively, but his experiences working alongside the locals soon changed that, he said.

Taro Okamotos Myth of Tomorrow by artist group ChimPom at a Tokyo train station. Pic: AFP I n Fu k u sh i m a , they were pulling buildings down, clearing the ruins. Yet there I was, with the opportunity to build something new for the community, he told AFP in a Tokyo gallery. He says the optimism of the thousand or so who gathered to watch the lighthouse pulled upright was palpable. Japanese people have a shared culture of rallying together after natural disasters, and the project was a way audiences and victims could communicate on an emotional level, he said. Manga artist Moeko Fujii, 25, says the disaster means she and her colleagues have had to change the way they go about their work. As artists weve had to rethink

Italian designers look to China for salvation


By Ella Ide MILAN Italys top designer brands looked to foreign buyers, particularly from China, for salvation during Milan Fashion Week, offering a lifeline for a sector which is heading for another slump in Italy this year as the country grinds through a recession. With Italians hurting from budget austerity and fears that a debtladen Rome could follow Athens into the mire, the National Chamber of Fashion said the situation was worse than in 2008 when the global financial crisis began. Italian fashion designers hopes that last years revenue trend up 5.5 percent from 2010 could be sustained, were dashed last week when the industry forecast a 5.2pc drop for 2012 to 60.2 billion euros (US$79 billion). Revenues went down 4pc in 2008 and a record 15pc in 2009. It has become essential to focus attention on Asian and American markets, said Mario Boselli, head of the chamber which organises fashion week. In fact, bleak results in Italy are being offset largely by gains in nonEuropean countries, particularly in Russia, Hong Kong, South Korea and China. The situation is dramatic. The Italian market is a disaster, just like the French market. No one is buying anything! In Europe, there is a real crisis, said a manager at a top fashion house who spoke on condition of anonymity. Milan has responded accordingly: for the first time buyers attending the shows and fashionistas unable to attend the whirlwind of parties this year will have access to the fashion chambers website in a Chinese language version. Seventy-two fashion houses take their autumn-winter 2012 collections to the catwalks in palaces, monuments and parks across the city until February 27. The show opened its doors with Gucci on February 22, followed by Prada and Fendi on February 23, Versace on February 24, Jil Sander and Bottega Veneta on February 25, Missoni and Dolce & Gabbana on February 26 and Giorgio Armani on February 27. This year will be complex and full of uncertainty, while 2011 was positive overall, said Silvio Albini, the head of the international textile association Milano Unica, adding that there were already signs of a slowdown in orders. This is a time for our companies to have a global vision and to focus on exports to countries where the values of Made in Italy count a lot, he said. Albino said Italian textile imports by China went up 27.2pc in 2011. Fashion giant Gucci in particular has been performing so well in Asia that it buoyed up the 2011 results for the French luxury group PPR that owns it. PPR last month posted a net profit up 2.3pc to 986 million euros in 2011 with revenues up 11.1pc, and the group said it was very optimistic that Gucci would continue to perform well in Asia and sales would increase. Exposure to the higher-margin retail business in Asia also boosted profits at Salvatore Ferragamo. Revenues for the Italian house, which listed on the Milan stock exchange last year, climbed 26.2pc to 986.5 million euros. With the exception of tsunami and earthquake-hit Japan, the group posted a growth in revenue close to or higher than 30pc in every region, while the fashion houses retail chain registered a vast 44pc jump in China. A wealth of brands are expanding in the region, including Armani, Roberto Cavalli and Jil Sander, which has just opened a new branch in China. Versace has even come up with a jewelled handbag with handpainted golden dragons on the side panels in honour of the 2012 Year of the Dragon. Chinas retail market will grow at a rate of 14pc in 2012 and 2013, and luxury retail will grow at an even higher rate of 20pc over the same period, said Isabel Cavill, luxury expert with Planet Retail research group. China is the most tangible emerging market for growth, were talking about major investments where brands are prepared to set up stores in Hong Kong despite incredibly high rental rates for shops, she said. AFP

Chinas Zhang Daqian tops 2011 art sales


PARIS The late Chinese artist Zhang Daqian was the best-selling artist at auction in 2011, global market monitor Artprice told AFP, while Spanish great Pablo Picasso dropped out of the top three. Chinese artists dominate the top end of the art market. Zhangs compatriot Qi Bashi was the second top seller and six Chinese artists in all were in the top ten, while Chinese art accounts for 40 percent of sales by value. China, which has held the top spot in art auctions since 2010, took two of its star artists to the head of the annual table in 2011, said Thierry Ehrmann, chairman and founder of Parisbased Artprice. The third place in the Artprice table was taken by American pop art master Andy Warhol, knocking Picasso who died in 1973 and has been the bestseller in 13 of the past 14 years back into fourth place. Zhang, who lived between 1899 and 1983, was not only top in sales but, according to Artprice, he had the best annual haul of any artist with 1371 pieces going for a total of US$554.53 million (418 million euros). Qi, who lived between 1864 and 1957, came in behind, netting art investors $510.57 million and Warhol hit $325.88 million. AFP

A model displays a creation as part as Fendi Fall-winter 2012-2013 collection on February 23 during the Womens fashion week in Milan. Pic: AFP

entertainment news
March 5 - 11, 2012
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National Day of Brunei

Malaysia scraps US singer show over Allah body art


KUALA LUMPUR Malaysian authorities scrapped a concert by American singer Erykah Badu on February 28 after she angered Muslims with a photo in which she sports body art including the Arabic word for Allah. Information Minister Rais Yatim said on Twitter that the concert was cancelled because it breached government guidelines on religious sensitivities and cultural values in the Muslim-majority country. Tattoos are forbidden in Islam and many Muslims also frown upon depictions of the word Allah that are deemed frivolous or disrespectful. The acclaimed soul artist had been scheduled to perform in the capital Kuala Lumpur. Badu is known for pushing the envelope. She raised eyebrows in 2010 with a video for the song Window Seat in which she strips naked while walking the street in Dallas, Texas, where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, falling dead at the fateful spot. The Home Ministry, which summoned three top editors of the newspaper on February 27, has said it would issue a warning letter to The Star demanding an explanation over use of the photo. Malaysias Centre for Independent Journalism issued a statement criticising the ministrys response as unnecessary and detrimental to media freedom.

U Wunna Maung Lwin and wife, HE Pehin Dato Rahmani Dato Basin and his wife

Daw May Zin Nyunt and Daw Yupar Khin

Immigration attach of Malaysian embassy and wife

Grand opening ceremony of GD Giada Boutique

Cranberries reform after nine-year break


PARIS Tired of non-stop touring and hurting for inspiration, The Cranberries hung up their guitars in 2003. Nine years on, the Irish rockers say the chemistry came right back for their new album Roses, released on February 27. The quartet from Limerick shot to fame in the 1990s with hits like Linger and the politically-charged Zombie about the Northern Ireland conflict, lifted by the powerful voice of singer Dolores ORiordan. They sold 40 million records worldwide, becoming one of the flagship bands of the decade, but by 2003, two years after releasing their album Wake Up and Smell the Coffee, they had hit a dead end. And that could have been the end of the story, were it not for Trinity College, Dublin, which invited the singer to become an honorary patron of its philosophical society in 2009. Asked by the university to perform for the occasion, she looked up her old companions and the question of getting back together came up. The four decided to book into a studio but with no contract, no management, no record company, said guitarist Noel Hogan. We were not obliged to do it, we just did it because it was what we wanted to do. Roses, the album born of those recording sessions, is instantly recognisable as the work of The Cranberries, with soft, airy melodies backing up ORiordans distinctive voice. The Cranberries kick off a world tour on March 15, starting in New Zealand.
Zaw Win Htut and Daw May Khine E Toe and family

Ya Wai Aung, Moh Moh Myint Aung and Myo Thandar Tun

R Zar Ni with family

Arial Thu Ta, Chan Chan and Nandar

Thiri Swe

Monkees frontman Davy Jones dead at 66


MIAMI Davy Jones, lead singer of 1960s made-for-TV band The Monkees, whose hits included Im a Believer and Last Train to Clarksville, died on February 29, the local coroner said. He was 66. The British-born star, whose TV antics with Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork drew fans but also unflattering comparisons with the Beatles, died of a heart attack in Florida, the TMZ celebrity website said. The four-piece band initially gained fame through their TV show about a band called The Monkees, created by legendary US music producer Don Kirshner. Joness good looks and British charm born in Manchester, England went down well with US audiences, along with the three American group members: guitarist Nesmith, bassist Tork and drummer-singer Dolenz. Their knockabout antics on the show with the toe-tapping theme tune Hey Hey, Were the Monkees drew criticism that they were a rip-off of the Beatles, who had taken America by storm a few years earlier. But the show won two Emmy awards in 1967, for best comedy director and outstanding comedy series. Fresh-faced Jones was said to be the reason that David Bowie real name David Robert Jones changed his name in the mid-1960s to avoid any confusion.

Medical Tour in Korea 2012 press

Ma Yee Yee Swe

Soe Myat Thu Zar

Ms Kim Mi Jo

Cherry Oo new branch opening

Adam Sandler sets Razzies nominee record


SANTA MONICA, California US actor Adam Sandler set a record for cinematic stinker nominations as organisers of the Razzie awards unveiled their 32nd annual movie short lists of shame. The Golden Raspberry Award Foundation nominees for worst films and performances, announced a day ahead of the Oscars, included no fewer than 11 for Sandler, more than double the previous record by Eddie Murphy in 2005. Sandler amassed the 11 Razzie nods as actor, writer and/or producer of three critically-panned movies released by his Happy Madison Productions, Jack & Jill, Bucky Larson and Just Go With It, organisers said. Cross-dressing comedy Jack & Jill leads the pack for Worst Picture with 12 nominations overall, including both worst actor and actress for Sandler and a third Razzie nod for Oscar winner Al Pacino, who plays himself in the movie. But this year organisers changed the timetable, announcing the nominees on the eve of the Oscars, while the winners will be announced on Sunday, April 1 April Fools Day. Nominees for the Razzies rarely turn up to claim their awards up at the spoof event. Actress Halle Berry turned up in 2005, and Sanda Bullock gamely appeared last year, handing out DVD copies of her offending performance in box office flop All About Steve.
Authority U Aung Khin Tint and Daw Khin Aye Myint

GNC Live Well products launch

Daw Sandar Phone Win

Ma Mya Hnin Yee Lwin and Dr Khin Khin Soe

Ko Htun Myint Aung, Dr Khin Khin Soe, Daw Khin Khin Thit and Ma Khin Thet Oo

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soCialite
March 5 - 11, 2012
KMA product launch
SOCIALITE, hustled her way to the grand opening ceremony of GD Giada Boutique at Taw Win Center as well as passing by NIBBAN Dealers Night at Traders Hotel on February 21. She was at a second dealer conference, this time by LG at Traders Hotel on February 23. The following day, she enjoyed students performances at the freshers welcome event by Victoria University College at Karaweit Hotel. On February 25, she attended the new branch opening of Cherry Oo watch shop on Anawyahta road, a GNC live well products launch in Bahan township and a new product launching ceremony of the Smart Dictionary at Park Royal Hotel. Socialite ended her week attending the press event of Medical Tour in Korea 2012 by Pure Dream Company at Sedona Hotel and squeezing in a KMA cosmetics launch at Gamonepwint shopping center on February 26. She also attended Kuwait National Day and Brunei National Day on 27 and 28 February at Sedoan.

MyanMar tiMes
Kuwait National Day

HE Essa Yousef A Shammal (Center), Yangon Region Chief Minister U Myint Swe

Mr Sittichoke Suwanate and Ma Nan Nilar Htike Attendees

Victoria University Colleges Fresher Welcome

Khine Pwint Attendees Ko Myo Nyunt Aung and Ma Ohnmar

Teacher Teresa

Dr Phyo Thuzar Thein

Daw Hnin Mar Aung

Dr Nay Win Naing

SMART Dictionary new products launch

Kyawt Hmu Min Thein and Chaw Su Su Han

Staffs

U Sai Soe Tin Win

Ma Khine Myo Thu and Ma May Ohnmar

Daw Nan Sam Sai, U Soe Htun Zaw, Ko Sai Cho Lwin and Mr Stan Do

Dealer Conference 2012 of LG

Ko Htet Myat Lwin and Daw Aye Aye Thwe

U Wai Lwin

U Maung Maung Htun and Ko Ah Li

Mr Michael Jung

LGs team

NIBBANs Dealers Night

Dr Aung Thein

Daw Shwe War

Staffs

travel
March 5 - 11, 2012
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Laughs keep airline flying high


By Jean Liou JOHANNESBURG In case you have two children, choose the one you love the most to help him or her first. Such wisecracking announcements are standard fare on Kulula, a discount carrier that relies on humour to secure its place in South Africas skies. Humour has been part of Kulula from day one, said Heidi Braurer, the airlines marketing chief. It is well to be easy and funky, but this is serious business, too. Since launching in 2001 as Africas first low-cost carrier, Kulula has become South Africas number two carrier, powered by ad campaigns that have costumed ordinary flyers as cape-wearing superheros, under its slogan Now anyone can fly. Their planes could be painted with cows, or arrows marking the nose and tail. And they never hesitate to turn to news headlines for inspiration. With a tiny budget, we needed to be seen, said Braurer. We couldnt guarantee that we would always be cheapest, especially as the national carrier (South African Airways) had a history of cost-cutting to drive out new entrants to the market. The airlines name means its easy in Zulu, she said, and the original idea was to make flying simple, at a time when the non-budget SAA dominated routes. But the company did not come from nothing. Its part of British Airways local partner Comair, which operates both airlines. Comair has been flying since 1946 and is listed on the local exchange, with BA holding an 11 percent stake. Over the last decade, Kulula has claimed 20 percent of the domestic market and transports 2.4 million passengers a year, with several no-frills challengers following it into the skies. It is a very good case study, said David Blyth, marketing manager at Yellowwood ad agency. It is a very difficult market, very competitive, he said. What they did very cleverly is giving humour, bringing an ambience: as a passenger, you think you are a personality, you get more for the same price. The flight crews outlandish announcements have become Kululas brand, helping passengers forget that they have to pay for their snacks. Flight attendants threaten to test passengers who ignore the safety announcements, and urge everyone not to leave their children behind. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Cape Town. You can disembark in a moment. Except for the hunk in 13A, who is welcome to stay, one flight attendant said upon landing, leaving everyone scouting the plane only to realise theres no row 13. They are encouraged to be interacting and original, but not insulting to anybody, Braurer said. We dont hire them as comedians, we hire them as flight attendants. The airline also knows how to capitalise on headlines to get people talking. During the 2010 World Cup, Kulula defied football governing body FIFA, which barred the airline from using the phrase World Cup in its ads. In response, Kulula offered free tickets to anyone named

AIRLINE OFFICES
Air Bagan Ltd.(W9)

56, Shwe Taung Gyar Street, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. Tel : 513322, 513422, 504888, Fax : 515102 Air Asia (FD) 33, Alan Pya Pagoda Rd, Ground Flr, Parkroyal Hotel, Yangon. Tel: 251 885, 251 886.

Air China (CA)

Building (2), corner of Pyay Rd and Kaba Aye Pagoda Rd, Hotel Yangon, 8 miles, Yangon, Myanmar. Tel : 666112, 655882.

Bangkok Airways (PG)

Yangon. Tel: 255122, 255 265, Fax: 255119

#0305, 3rd Fl, Sakura Tower, 339, Bogyoke Aung San Rd, Kyauktada Tsp,

Air India

One of low-cost carrier Kululas aircraft docks at Johannesburg airport on August 17. Pic: AFP Sepp Blatter, like FIFAs president, finally giving a flight to Sepp Blatter the dog, who became an internet star. Last year it offered to pay lobola, a grooms traditional wedding gift for his brides family, for Prince William to marry Kate Middleton. The question posed to passengers: How many cows do you think Kate is worth? The local airline industry is facing a pinch, with Kululas parent company Comair just announcing its first-ever financial loss. Once you play in a territory, you have to make it work all the time, it is very challenging for them to keep it interesting, Blyth said. But they have some issues now. They have to cope with ever increasing costs on fuel and a very increasing airport access cost. It is hard to keep on being humorous in those conditions. They are facing a tough time. AFP

75, Shwe Bon Thar St, Pabedan Tsp, Yangon. Tel : 253597~98, 254758. Fax: 248175

Myanmar Airways International(8M)

08-02, Sakura Tower, 339, Bogyoke Aung San Rd, Kyauktada Tsp, Ygn. Tel : 255260, Fax: 255305

Malaysia Airlines (MH)

335/357, Bogyoke Aung San Rd, Pabedan Tsp, Yangon. Tel : 387648, 241007 ext : 120, 121, 122 Fax : 241124 339, Bogyoke Aung San Rd, 2nd Floor, Sakura Tower, Kyauktada Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar. Tel: 255 287~9 , Fax: 255 290

Silk Air(MI)

Fashion hotels show jetsetters luxury Italian style


By Ella Ide MILAN From Dubai to Jamaica, Australia to Brazil, high-end fashion hotels are mushrooming as growing numbers of luxury travellers seek a taste of the glamour and indulgence that only stardom used to bring. Offering presidential suites with everything from private cinemas to personal chefs, Italian brands are investing heavily in the latest fad creating lifestyle experiences which guarantee guests designer perfection. This is a massive area of investment for designer labels, said Salvo Testa, professor in fashion management at Milans Bocconi University. Its no longer just about getting you to wear Armani, for example, its about getting you to eat, sleep and dream Armani as well. Despite the economic crisis, Italian labels in particular are a driving force in the sector, with a Bulgari hotel opening in London in April and hotels planned by Missoni and Armani for Kuwait, Oman, Cape Town and Marrakesh. American brands are not luxurious or aspirational enough to interest rich clients, especially in Asia, the Middle East or South America and French designers worry about over-exposing their brands, said Testa. Italian brands, meanwhile, have been gradually innovating with secondary fashion lines and homeware, and have even broken into the restaurant business all of which are elements then incorporated into their hotels, he said. As the well-heeled flock to Milan in these days for fashion week, catwalk shows are followed by parties in the Bulgari hotel, or celebrity-packed dinners in the citys Dolce & Gabbana, Just Cavalli and Moschino restaurants. Those searching for a more intimate dining experience can head to the Armani hotel, where its possible to book a table in the kitchen and watch the chef rustle up a fare dreamt up by the billionaire designer Giorgio Armani himself, where guests pay up to 11,000 euros (US$14,800) a night. The Armani ideal is to welcome guests from any background and make them feel at home so much so that they have highly trained personal lifestyle managers who are on call 24 hours a day to attend to every whim. Newly-weds who have blown their savings on a night of luxury but have nothing to wear for their romantic aperitif in the bar overlooking Milans famous cathedral can ask their personal manager to get them kitted out. Youre heading out to a party and need a fashion adviser? Wed arrange one for you, or of course you could shop in the Armani clothing store downstairs, said Andrea Zeno Villa, the hotels marketing and communications manager. What party? Everything you could ever need is right here, said his colleague Viviana Giussani as she showed off one of the signature suites, which cover two floors and come with a kitchen and private gym or cinema. Its a win-win situation for the fashion houses. They enter into partnership with large hotel chains which fund the venture, rake in the royalties and build up brand awareness and brand loyalty, said Testa. They start attracting VIPs, and celebrities like Lady Gaga hire a room to change for a concert and come to use the hotel as a second home, he said. While the flagship stores cater for guests looking for authentic Made-in-Italy luxury, it is the hotels in wealthy and emerging markets which draw in what the Burberry brand calls the travelling luxury consumer. China is the most tangible emerging market for luxury growth. Chinese are travelling abroad and spending up to six times as much overseas as they do at home, said Isabel Cavill, a luxury expert with Planet Retail research group. The vastly wealthy Chinese and Russians are travellers who place their money and trust in Italian fashion brands because there is such a dearth of culture and intimacy in their own luxury services back home, said Testa. AFP

Thai Airways (TG)

#11-01, Sakura Tower, 339, Bogyoke Aung San Rd, Kyauktada Tsp, Ygn. Tel : 255499 Fax : 255490

Vietnam Airlines (VN)

#1702, Sakura Tower 339, Bogyoke Aung San Rd, Kyauktada Tsp, Yangon. Fax 255086. Tel 255066/ 255088/ 255068.

Domestic Airlines
Yangon Airways(YH)

Tourism Myanmar Update


Myanmar to participate at ITB Berlin 2012 Myanmar Marketing Committee will showcase Myanmar at the worlds leading travel trade show, ITB Berlin 2012, together with 26 co-exhibitors comprising three airlines, six hotels and 17 tour operators, from March 7 to 11. With more than 170,000 visitors, and over 10,000 exhibitors from 180 countries, ITB Berlin is the leading business-to-business platform for the tourism industry. MMC will also hold a press conference to international media, detailing current trends in the countrys tourism sector and to further promote Myanmar as a unique travel destination. For more information on ITB 2012, please visit http:// www.itb-berlin.de/en/ Jazz nights at the Ritz The Ritz Exclusive Lounge at Chatrium Hotel will host jazz music nights, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday throughout March. The Hotels resident band will play between 8.30pm until 11.30pm. The hotel also runs daily happy hours from 7pm to 9pm, with buy one get one free and special offers on select items, plus complimentary tidbits. The Ritz Exclusive Lounge opens daily from 7pm to 1:30am on the ground floor of the Chatrium Hotel Royal Lake Yangon, 40 Natmauk Road, Tamwe Township, Yangon. For more information or reservations, please call (95 1) 544 500 Ext: 6243/ 6244 (or) fb@chatriumygn.net. mm, www.chatrium.com/ chatrium_hotel_yangon

166, MMB Tower, Level 5, Upper Pansodan Rd, Mingalar Taungnyunt Tsp, Yangon. Tel: (+95-1) 383 100, 383 107, 700 264, Fax: 652 533.

Air Bagan Ltd.(W9)

56, Shwe Taung Gyar Street, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. Tel : 513322, 513422, 504888, Fax : 515102

AIR KBZ (K7)

33-49,Corner of Bank Street & Maha Bandoola Garden Street, Kyauktada Tsp,Yangon, Myanmar Tel: 372977~80, 533030~39 (Airport) Fax: 372983

Air Mandalay (6T)

146, Dhamazedi Road, Bahan Tsp, Yangon Tel : 501520, 525488 (Head Office) 720309, 652753, 652754 (Airport Office), Fax: 525 937

The Myanmar Marketing Committee (MMC), the marketing arm of Myanmar Tourism Promotion Board, aims to market and promote Myanmar as a destination to develop the Myanmar tourism industry. For more information please visit our websites www.tourism-myanmar.com or www.tourismmyanmar.org or contact Winnie at Traders Hotel, Level 3, Business Center, No 223 Sule Pagoda Road, GPO Box 888, Yangon, Myanmar. Tel: +951 242 828 Fax: +951 242 800 Email: mmc-pr@tradersyangon.com.mm

Asian Wings (AW)

No.34(A-1), Shwe Taung Gyar Street, Bahan Township,Yangon.Myanmar. Tel: 951 516654, 532253, 09-73135991~3.Fax: 951 532333

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DOMESTIC FLIGHT SCHEDULES


DAYS
FRI

INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT SCHEDULES


DAYS
SUN

Flight
K7 244

Dep Arr
13:00 15:30

DAYS
WED

Flight
W9 009 AW 892 6T 406 6T 332 6T 402 W9 021 6T 802 YH 738 K7 825 6T 502 W9 009 AW 892 6T 406 6T 332 6T 402 YH 812 W9 021 K7 229 AW 762 YH 730 6T 502 W9 009 AW 892 6T 406 6T 332 YH 918 6T 402 AW 202 W9 251 YH 731 6T 502 W9 232 YH 728 6T 404 AW 892 6T 402 W9 011 W9 262 AW 602 YH 812 6T 802 K7 623 YH 730 6T 502 W9 009 YH 910 AW 892 6T 406 6T 402 W9 011 W9 256 YH 812 6T 802 K7 623 AW 752 YH 738 6T 502

Dep Arr
08:30 08:35 08:40 08:45 08:55 14:10 15:35 17:10 17:50 17:20 08:30 08:35 08:40 08:45 08:55 13:10 14:10 15:45 16:25 17:15 17:20 08:30 08:35 08:40 08:45 08:50 08:55 11:00 13:35 17:10 17:20 17:35 17:45 08:00 08:35 08:55 09:25 10:50 12:20 13:10 16:00 16:55 17:15 17:20 08:30 08:35 08:35 08:40 08:55 09:25 11:20 13:10 13:30 16:55 17:10 17:10 17:20 09:30 10:30 10:40 10:10 10:55 15:10 17:00 18:35 19:15 19:25 09:30 10:30 10:40 10:10 10:55 14:35 15:10 17:10 17:50 18:45 19:25 09:30 10:30 10:40 10:10 10:45 10:55 12:25 15:00 19:25 19:25 19:00 19:10 10:05 10:30 10:55 11:10 12:15 13:45 14:35 17:25 18:20 18:45 19:25 09:30 10:00 10:30 10:40 10:55 11:10 12:45 14:35 14:55 18:20 18:35 18:35 19:25

DAYS
SUN

Flight
W9 143 6T 405 AW 891 YH 909 W9 009 6T 401 K7 222 YH 917 K7 223 W9 109 AW 782 YH 732 6T 502 K7 223 YH 910 W9 109 AW 792 6T 502 YH 732 K7 223 W9 109 AW 782 YH 732 6T 502 K7 223 YH 910 W9 109 YH 732 6T 502 K7 223 W9 109 AW 782 YH 732 6T 502 K7 223 YH 910 6T 404 W9 109 AW 792 YH 732 6T 502 K7 223 YH 910 W9 109 YH 732 6T 502

Dep Arr
06:00 06:15 06:15 06:15 06:30 06:30 06:30 06:30 08:10 17:25 17:25 17:55 18:05 08:10 08:40 17:25 17:25 18:05 18:10 08:10 17:25 17:25 17:55 18:05 08:10 08:40 17:25 17:55 18:05 08:10 17:25 17:25 17:55 18:05 08:10 08:40 08:45 17:25 17:25 17:55 18:05 08:10 08:40 17:25 17:55 18:05 07:20 07:35 07:35 07:50 07:25 07:50 07:50 08:05 11:15 18:20 18:45 19:15 19:25 11:15 10:00 18:20 18:45 19:25 19:30 11:15 18:20 18:45 19:15 19:25 11:15 10:00 18:20 19:15 19:25 11:15 18:20 18:45 19:15 19:25 11:15 10:00 10:05 18:20 18:45 19:15 19:25 11:15 10:00 18:20 19:15 19:25

Flight
W9 115 YH 811 K7 826 K7 224 6T 501 YH 731 YH 737

Dep Arr
11:00 11:00 12:30 14:00 15:00 15:00 11:00 12:10 12:25 13:45 15:15 16:10 16:25 12:25

Flight
MON FD 3771 8M 335 TG 304 PG 702 8M 331 PG 704 FD 3773 TG 306 TUE FD 3771 8M 335 TG 304 PG 702 8M 331 PG 704 FD 3773 TG 306 WED FD 3771 8M 335 TG 304 PG 702 8M 331 PG 704 FD 3773 TG 306 THUR FD 3771 8M 335 TG 304 PG 702 8M 331 PG 704 FD 3773 TG 306 FRI FD 3771 8M 335 TG 304 PG 702 8M 331 PG 704 FD 3773 TG 306 SAT FD 3771 8M 335 TG 304 PG 702 8M 331 PG 704 FD 3773 TG 306 SUN FD 3771 8M 335 TG 304 PG 702 8M 331 PG 704 FD 3773 TG 306

Dep

Arr

Flight
SAT 8M 231 MI 511 8M 6232 MI 517 SUN 8M 231 MI 511

Dep

Arr

Flight
MON 8M 336 FD 3770 TG 303 PG 701 PG 703 FD 3772 TG 305 8M 332 TUE 8M 336 FD 3770 TG 303 PG 701 PG 703 FD 3772 TG 305 8M 332 WED 8M 336 FD 3770 TG 303 PG 701 PG 703 FD 3772 TG 305 8M 332 THUR 8M 336 FD 3770 TG 303 PG 701 PG 703 FD 3772 TG 305 8M 332 FRI 8M 336 FD 3770 TG 303 PG 701 FD 3772 PG 703 TG 305 8M 332 SAT 8M 336 FD 3770 TG 303 PG 701 PG 703 FD 3772 TG 305 8M 332 SUN 8M 336 FD 3770 TG 303 PG 701 PG 703 FD 3772 TG 305 8M 332

Dep

Arr

Flight
SAT MI 512 8M 6231 8M 232 MI 518 MI 520 SUN MI 512 8M 232 MI 518 MI 520

Dep

Arr

YANGON TO NAYPYITAW NAYPYITAW TO YANGON


FRI K7 245 15:50 16:50

YANGON TO BANGKOK
08:30 10:15 08:50 10:35 09:50 11:45 10:55 12:50 16:30 18:15 16:40 18:35 17:40 19:25 19:45 21:40 08:30 10:15 08:50 10:35 09:50 11:45 10:55 12:50 16:30 18:15 16:40 18:35 17:40 19:25 19:45 21:40 08:30 10:15 08:50 10:35 09:50 11:45 10:55 12:50 16:30 18:15 16:40 18:35 17:40 19:25 19:45 21:40 08:30 10:15 08:50 10:35 09:50 11:45 10:55 12:50 16:30 18:15 16:40 18:35 17:40 19:25 19:45 21:40 08:30 10:15 08:50 10:35 09:50 11:45 10:55 12:50 16:30 18:15 16:40 18:35 17:40 19:25 19:45 21:40 08:30 10:15 08:50 10:35 09:50 11:45 10:55 12:50 16:30 18:15 16:40 18:35 17:40 19:25 19:45 21:40 08:30 10:15 08:50 10:35 09:50 11:45 10:55 12:50 16:30 18:15 16:40 18:35 17:40 19:25 19:45 21:40

08:00 12:25 10:10 14:45 11:25 15:50 16:40 21:15 08:00 12:25 10:10 14:45

BANGKOK TO YANGON
07:10 07:55 07:10 07:55 07:55 08:50 09:15 10:05 15:00 15:50 16:25 17:10 17:50 18:45 19:25 20:10 07:10 07:55 07:10 07:55 07:55 08:50 09:15 10:05 15:00 15:50 16:25 17:10 17:50 18:45 19:25 20:10 07:10 07:10 07:55 09:15 07:55 07:55 08:50 10:05

07:55 09:20 09:10 10:35 14:10 15:35 14:20 15:45 15:20 16:40 07:55 09:20 14:10 15:35 14:20 15:45 15:20 16:40

YANGON TO MANDALAY
MON AW 891 6T 405 6T 401 W9 011 6T 801 AW 761 6T 451 K7 824 6T 501 K7 228 YH 909 6T 405 W9 251 6T 401 YH 729 6T 451 K7 622 AW 791 6T 501 6T 405 AW 891 6T 401 6T 331 6T 801 YH 737 K7 824 W9 261 YH 731 6T 501 K7 228 YH 909 AW 891 6T 405 AW 201 6T 401 W9 255 6T 331 YH 729 K7 622 K7 226 6T 501 YH 731 AW 891 6T 405 W9 251 6T 401 YH 917 6T 331 AW 751 K7 824 K7 224 6T 501 YH 731 W9 271 6T 403 YH 909 6T 401 AW 601 6T 801 YH 729 K7 622 6T 501 AW 891 YH 909 AW 891 6T 405 6T 401 W9 255 6T 801 AW 751 K7 622 6T 501 06:15 06:15 06:30 07:30 08:30 11:00 11:30 12:00 15:00 06:00 06:15 06:15 06:30 06:30 11:00 11:30 12:00 15:00 15:00 06:15 06:15 06:30 07:00 10:45 11:00 12:00 13:30 15:00 15:00 06:00 06:15 06:15 06:15 06:30 06:30 06:30 07:00 10:30 12:00 12:30 15:00 15:00 06:15 06:15 06:30 06:30 06:30 07:00 11:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 15:00 06:00 06:15 06:15 06:30 07:00 10:30 10:30 12:00 15:00 16:15 06:15 06:15 06:15 06:30 06:30 08:00 11:00 12:00 15:00 08:20 08:20 08:35 08:30 09:55 12:55 12:55 13:25 17:00 07:25 07:55 08:20 07:55 08:35 12:40 12:55 13:25 16:25 17:00 08:20 08:20 08:35 08:25 12:10 13:10 13:25 07:55 17:10 17:00 07:25 07:55 08:20 08:20 07:55 08:35 08:55 08:25 13:30 13:25 13:55 17:00 17:10 08:20 08:20 07:55 08:35 08:50 08:25 12:25 12:25 14:25 17:00 17:10 07:25 07:40 07:55 08:35 08:25 12:35 13:30 13:25 17:00 08:20 08:30 08:20 08:20 08:35 08:55 09:25 12:25 13:25 17:00

NYAUNG U TO YANGON
MON

HEHO TO YANGON
MON W9 143 AW 892 6T 406 YH 918 W9 011 6T 402 K7 223 AW 892 6T 406 YH 918 W9 011 6T 402 K7 223 K7 823 W9 116 W9 143 AW 892 6T 406 YH 918 6T 402 K7 223 W9 143 6T 406 YH 918 6T 402 K7 223 W9 143 AW 892 6T 406 YH 918 6T 402 K7 223 W9 143 AW 892 YH 918 6T 402 K7 223 K7 823 AW 892 6T 406 YH 918 W9 011 6T 402 K7 223 6T 452 W9 116 YH 738 09:05 09:20 09:30 09:35 09:40 09:45 10:00 09:20 09:30 09:35 09:40 09:45 10:00 15:15 16:45 09:05 09:20 09:30 09:35 09:45 10:00 09:05 09:30 09:35 09:45 10:00 09:05 09:20 09:30 09:35 09:45 10:00 09:05 09:20 09:35 09:45 10:00 15:15 09:20 09:30 09:35 09:40 09:45 10:00 14:55 16:45 17:20 10:15 10:30 10:40 10:45 10:35 10:55 11:15 10:30 10:40 10:45 10:35 10:55 11:15 16:30 17:55 10:15 10:30 10:40 10:45 10:55 11:15 10:15 10:40 10:45 10:55 11:15 10:15 10:30 10:40 10:45 10:55 11:15 10:15 10:30 10:45 10:55 11:15 16:30 10:30 10:40 10:45 10:35 10:55 11:15 17:05 17:55 18:35

THUR

8M 233
MI 517

14:15 18:40
16:40 21:15

TUE

YANGON TO SIEM REAP


WED 8M 401 SAT 8M 401 08:50 11:25 08:50 11:25

TUE

TUE

8M 234
MON MH 740 8M 502 AK 850 TUE MH 740 8M 502 AK 850 WED MH 740 AK 850 THU MH 740 8M 502 AK 850 FRI MH 740 8M 502 AK 850 SAT MH 740 AK 850 SUN MH 740 8M 502 AK 850

19:40 21:05
10:05 11:15 14:00 15:00 15:40 16:45 10:05 11:15 14:00 15:00 15:40 16:45 10:05 11:15 15:40 16:45 10:05 11:15 14:00 15:00 15:40 16:45 10:05 11:15 14:00 15:00 15:40 16:45 10:05 11:15 15:40 16:45 10:05 11:15 14:00 15:00 15:40 16:45

KUALA LUMPUR TO YANGON

WED

YANGON TO KUALA LUMPUR


MON 8M 501 MH 741 AK 851 TUE 8M 501 MH 741 AK 851 WED MH 741 AK 851 THU 8M 501 MH 741 AK 851 FRI 8M 501 MH 741 AK 851 SAT SUN MH 741 AK 851 8M 501 MH 741 AK 851 WED CZ 3056 THUR 8M 711 SAT CZ 3056 09:00 13:00 12:15 16:30 17:15 21:30 09:00 13:00 12:15 16:30 17:15 21:30 12:15 16:30 17:15 21:30 09:00 13:00 12:15 16:30 17:15 21:30 09:00 13:00 12:15 16:30 17:15 21:30 12:15 16:30 17:15 21:30 09:00 13:00 12:15 16:30 17:15 21:30 11:20 15:50 08:45 13:15 11:20 15:50 08:45 13:15

FRI

THUR

WED

WED

FRI

THUR

SAT

SAT

15:00 15:50 16:25 17:10 17:50 18:45 19:25 20:10 07:10 07:10 07:55 09:15 07:55 07:55 08:50 10:05

FRI

THUR

SUN

SAT

SUN

YANGON TO MYITKYINA
MON TUE THUR FRI SUN W9 255 W9 251 AW 201 W9 255 W9 251 AW 211 W9 255 06:30 06:30 06:30 06:30 06:30 06:00 06:30 09:25 09:25 09:20 09:25 09:25 08:50 09:25 SUN

15:00 15:50 16:25 17:10 17:50 18:45 19:25 20:10 07:10 07:10 07:55 09:15 07:55 07:55 08:50 10:05

FRI

GUANGZHOU TO YANGON
WED CZ 3055 THUR 8M 712 SAT CZ 3055 08:50 10:30 14:15 15:45 08:50 10:30 14:15 15:45

YANGON TO GUANGZHOU

MYITKYINA TO YANGON
MON TUE THUR FRI SUN W9 256 W9 252 AW 202 W9 256 W9 252 W9 256 09:45 12:05 09:35 09:45 12:05 09:45 12:40 15:00 12:25 12:40 15:00 12:40 TUE

YANGON TO SITTWE
MON 6T 611 W9 309 6T 611 W9 309 6T 607 W9 309 6T 611 W9 309 6T 607 W9 309 6T 611 W9 309 6T 611 W9 309 11:15 13:00 11:15 13:00 11:00 13:00 11:15 13:00 11:15 13:00 11:15 13:00 11:15 13:00 12:40 14:45 12:40 14:45 13:00 14:45 12:40 14:45 12:40 14:45 12:40 14:45 12:40 14:45

SAT

YANGON TO NYAUNG U
MON W9 143 AW 891 6T 405 YH 633 6T 401 K7 222 YH 917 W9 143 6T 405 AW 891 6T 401 K7 222 YH 917 W9 143 6T 405 6T 401 K7 222 YH 917 K7 242 6T 451 AW 781 AW 891 6T 405 W9 009 6T 401 K7 222 YH 917 AW 891 6T 405 W9 009 6T 401 K7 222 YH 917 K7 242 AW 891 W9 009 6T 401 K7 222 YH 917 6T 801 06:00 06:15 06:15 06:15 06:30 06:30 06:30 06:00 06:15 06:15 06:30 06:30 06:30 06:00 06:15 06:30 06:30 06:30 07:00 12:30 15:00 06:15 06:15 06:30 06:30 06:30 06:30 06:15 06:15 06:30 06:30 06:30 06:30 07:00 06:15 06:30 06:30 06:30 06:30 10:30 07:20 07:35 07:35 07:50 07:50 07:50 08:05 07:20 07:35 07:35 07:50 07:50 08:05 07:20 07:35 07:50 07:50 08:05 08:20 13:50 17:10 07:35 07:35 07:25 07:50 07:50 08:05 07:35 07:35 07:25 07:50 07:50 08:05 08:20 07:35 07:25 07:50 07:50 08:05 11:50

16:25 17:10 15:00 15:50 17:50 18:45 19:25 20:10 07:10 07:10 07:55 09:15 07:55 07:55 08:50 10:05

SUN 8M 711

SUN 8M 712

WED THUR FRI SAT SUN

YANGON TO TAIPEI
MON CI 7916 WED CI 7916 FRI CI 7916 14:00 19:25 14:00 19:25 14:00 19:25

TAIPEI TO YANGON
MON CI 7915 WED CI 7915 FRI CI 7915 09:55 12:45 09:55 12:45 09:55 12:45

YANGON TO HEHO
MON W9 119 AW 761 YH 727 K7 224 6T 501 YH 731 K7 822 W9 115 AW 761 YH 811 K7 224 6T 501 YH 731 W9 119 YH 737 K7 224 6T 501 YH 731 AW 761 YH 811 K7 224 W9 109 6T 501 YH 731 K7 224 W9 109 6T 501 YH 731 K7 822 AW 751 W9 119 YH 811 K7 224 6T 501 YH 731 11:00 11:00 11:00 14:00 15:00 15:00 08:00 11:00 11:00 11:15 14:00 15:00 15:00 11:00 11:00 14:00 15:00 15:00 11:00 11:00 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:00 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:00 08:00 11:00 11:00 11:00 14:00 15:00 15:00 12:10 12:10 12:25 15:15 16:10 16:25 09:15 12:10 12:10 12:40 15:15 16:10 16:25 12:10 12:25 15:15 16:10 16:25 12:10 12:25 15:15 15:25 16:10 16:25 15:15 15:25 16:10 16:25 09:15 12:10 12:10 12:25 15:15 16:10 16:25

TUE

SUN

YANGON TO KUNMING
TUE CA 906 14:15 17:35 14:15 17:35 14:15 17:35 14:15 17:35 14:15 17:35 WED CA 906 THUR CA 906 SAT SUN CA 906 CA 906

15:00 15:50 16:25 17:10 17:50 18:45 19:25 20:10 07:10 07:10 07:55 09:15 07:55 07:55 08:50 10:05

KUNMING TO YANGON
TUE CA 905 12:35 13:15 12:35 13:15 12:35 13:15 12:35 13:15 12:35 13:15 WED CA 905 THUR CA 905 SAT SUN CA 905 CA 905

WED

TUE

SITTWE TO YANGON
MON TUE WED THUR FRI SAT SUN 6T 612 W9 310 6T 612 W9 310 6T 608 W9 310 6T 612 W9 310 6T 608 W9 310 6T 612 W9 310 6T 612 12:55 15:00 12:55 15:00 13:15 15:00 12:55 15:00 12:55 15:00 12:55 15:00 12:55 14:20 16:45 14:20 16:45 14:40 16:45 14:20 16:45 14:55 16:45 14:20 16:45 14:20

MANDALAY TO YANGON
MON YH 634 AW 892 6T 406 6T 402 W9 262 6T 802 W9 021 AW 762 YH 728 6T 502 K7 825 W9 009 6T 406 6T 402 YH 910 W9 011 K7 229 YH 812 W9 251 W9 150 AW 762 YH 730 6T 502 08:35 08:35 08:40 08:55 10:50 13:20 14:10 16:25 16:30 17:20 17:50 08:30 08:40 08:55 09:25 09:25 11:15 13:25 13:35 16:20 16:25 17:20 17:20 10:00 10:30 10:40 10:55 12:15 14:45 15:10 17:50 17:55 19:25 19:15 09:30 10:40 10:55 10:50 11:10 12:40 14:50 15:00 17:45 17:50 18:45 19:25 THUR

WED

YANGON TO KOLKATA
Mon FRI IC734 IC734 13:30 16:40 13:30 16:40

15:00 15:50 16:25 17:10 17:50 18:45 19:25 20:10

KOLKATA TO YANGON
Mon FRI IC733 IC728 10:00 14:55 15:50 16:40

THUR

FRI

YANGON TO SINGAPORE
MON 8M 231 MI 511 08:40 13:05 10:10 14:45

YANGON TO CHIANG MAI


THUR W9 9607 SUN W9 9607 12:00 13:30 12:00 13:30

SINGAPORE TO YANGON
MON MI 512 8M 232 MI 518 07:55 09:20 14:10 15:35 14:20 15:45

CHIANG MAI TO YANGON


THUR W9 9608 SUN W9 9608 14:30 15:00 14:30 15:00

TUE

FRI

YANGON TO MYEIK
MON TUE 6T 707 AW 301 6T 707 K7 317 K7 317 AW 301 AW 301 6T 707 K7 317 AW 301 07:30 07:00 11:15 12:30 12:30 12:45 07:00 11:15 12:30 12:45 09:30 09:05 13:15 14:00 14:00 14:50 09:05 13:15 14:00 14:50

8M 233
MI 517 TUE 8M 231 MI 511

14:15 18:40
16:40 21:15 08:00 12:25 10:10 14:45

YANGON TO HANOI
MON VN 956 WED VN 956 FRI SAT VN 956 VN 956 19:10 21:30 19:10 21:30 19:10 21:30 19:10 21:30

8M 234
TUE MI 512 8M 232 MI 518

19:40 21:05
07:55 09:20 14:10 15:35 14:20 15:45

HANOI TO YANGON
MON VN 957 WED VN 957 FRI SAT VN 957 VN 957 16:35 18:10 16:35 18:10 16:35 18:10 16:35 18:10

SAT

SAT

THUR FRI SAT SUN

8M 233
MI 517 WED 8M 231 MI 511 8M 6232 MI 517 THUR 8M 231 MI 511

14:15 18:40
16:40 21:15 08:00 12:25 10:10 14:45 11:25 15:50 16:40 21:15 08:00 12:25 10:10 14:45

8M 234
WED MI 512 8M 6231 8M 232 MI 518 THUR MI 512 8M 232 MI 518 MI 520

19:40 21:05
07:55 09:10 14:10 14:20 09:20 10:35 15:35 15:45

Domestic
6T = Air Mandalay W9 = Air Bagan AW = Asian Wings K7 = AIR KBZ YH = Yangon Airways FD & AK = Air Asia TG = Thai Airways

International
8M = Myanmar Airways International PG = Bangkok Airways MI = Silk Air VN = Vietnam Airline MH = Malaysia Airlines CZ = China Southern CI = China Airlines CA = Air China IC = Indian Airlines Limited W9 = Air Bagan 3K = Jet Star

YANGON TO HO CHI MINH


TUE VN 942 14:25 17:10 14:25 17:10 14:25 17:10 THUR VN 942 SUN VN 942

HO CHI MINH TO YANGON


TUE VN 943 11:40 13:25 11:40 13:25 11:40 13:25 THUR VN 943 SUN VN 943

MYEIK TO YANGON
MON TUE 6T 708 6T 708 K7 318 AW 302 AW 302 K7 318 6T 708 K7 318 AW 302 11:55 15:40 16:40 17:15 11:30 16:40 15:40 16:40 17:15 13:55 17:40 18:10 19:20 13:35 18:10 17:40 18:10 19:20

THUR FRI SAT SUN

YANGON TO PHNOM PENH


WED 8M 401 SAT 8M 401 08:50 12:50 08:50 12:50

07:55 09:20 14:10 15:35 14:20 15:45 15:20 16:40

PHNOM PENH TO YANGON


WED 8M 402 SAT 8M 402 13:50 15:15 13:50 15:15

8M 233
MI 517 FRI 8M 231 MI 511 8M 6232 MI 517

14:15 18:40
16:40 21:15 08:00 12:25 10:10 14:45 11:25 15:50 16:40 21:15

8M 234
FRI MI 512 8M 6231 8M 232 MI 518 MI 520

19:40 21:05
07:55 09:10 14:10 14:20 15:20 09:20 10:35 15:35 15:45 16:40

YANGON TO GAYA
WED 8M 601 SAT 8M 601 09:00 10:30 09:00 10:30

GAYA TO YANGON
WED 8M 602 SAT 8M 602 11:30 15:00 11:30 15:00

Subject to change without notice

tea Break
March 5 - 11, 2012
the

36
MyanMar tiMes

Worlds oldest liquor a true passion


By Jan Hennop BREDA, Netherlands Forty years ago when Dutch businessman Bay van der Bunt bought his first two bottles of vintage cognac on a road-trip to France, little did he know it would be the start of a collection worth millions of euros today. Collecting old liquor never even crossed my mind back then, Van der Bunt, 63, told AFP as he uncorked an ancient-looking bottle, part of what is regarded as the largest collection of old liquors in the world now up for sale for a mere six million euros. Go ahead have a taste, this is an 1895 cognac from the house of A. E. Dor, he said, pouring the deep brown liquid into a snifter glass then holding it up to the light as the cellar filled with a musky, velvety aroma. A glass like this could set you back several thousand dollars in any top restaurant in the world, he added as he carefully lifted the snifter to his nose, savouring the rich bouquet before taking a small sip. Van der Bunt wants to sell the collection in its entirety otherwise its integrity will be compromised. And he has already received solid interest, notably from potential buyers from China and Russia, but has accepted no offers yet. In the early 1970s, the businessman owned a small antiques shop, which often took him on trips to France to look for hidden gems in second-hand stores. But many times there were also old bottles of cognac or armagnac and I decided to buy these, not or an Armagnac Eau de Vie from the same year. The year of the French Revolution, Van der Bunt said proudly. I have even been approached by some of the cognac houses in France wanting to buy back their own historical product, he added. By his own admittance, as his collection grew buying at auctions and stock from famous restaurants such as Maxims in Paris so did his need to possess some of the old spirits in existence. It became a passion, an obsession and ultimately a form of avarice. He tells the story of bidding at a Sothebys auction in London in the 1970s on a rare 1789 vintage cognac. I told my wife Ria: This is the one bottle I must have, it simply has to be removed from the market, no matter the cost, eventually paying 5000 pounds an astronomical amount at the time for the privilege. Tw o m o n t h s l a t e r, another existing bottle is up for auction at Christies. That one too, simply, had to be removed from the market, he laughed, adding I paid way too much money for it. But after 40 years of passionate collecting, the Dutch businessman is putting his collection up for sale. I promised my wife when she turns 65, I will sell the collection and well use the money to build a smaller house, Van der Bunt, who has no children, said. There will, however, be one bottle not for sale. Its a 1780 Remy Martin, believed to be one of the worlds olde st e xist in g bottles of cognac, a gift from my father. AFP

Dutch businessman Bay van der Bunt, 63, checks a cognac in a converted cow shed at his rustic farmstead on the outskirts of the southern Dutch city of Breda on February 16. Pic: AFP even thinking back then what it would one day become. In 1978, his collection got its first major boost when Van der Bunts father gave him a gift of some 100 bottles, presents my dad received while running a small gardening service company for the wellheeled in the area. My father said: You are out of your mind to collect liquor. Why dont you invest in something worthwhile? Well, I didnt listen, he said smiling. His collection has grown to more than 5000 dusty bottles, kept safely behind lock and key in a converted cow shed at his rustic farmstead on the outskirts of the southern Dutch city of Breda. The collection consists mainly of bottles of rare cognac and armagnac, distilled from French grapes, as well as a variety of ports, madeiras and rums. Asked whether he preferred cognac or armagnac, Van der Bunt just laughed: Its like asking a polygamist which one of his wives he loves the most. The crown prince of the collection is undoubtedly a six-litre bottle of 1795 Leopold Brugerolle, bought at an auction by Christies in 1990. It is the last remaining hand-crafted bottle in the world that accompanied Napoleon Bonapartes army on its campaigns and is valued at 138,000 euros ($182,000), said Van der Bunt. T h e r e s a l s o t h r e e complete sets of eight bottles of A. E. Dor cognacs, dating from 1805, 1811, 1834, 1840, 1858, 1875, 1889 and 1893 and valued at between 70,000 to 80,000 euros a set. Or a hand-blown bottle of 1789 Courvoisier & Curlier which will set a potential buyer back 49,000 euros,

YOUR STARS
By Astrologer Aung Myin Kyaw
Aquarius Jan 20 - Feb 18 Empathy is the heart and soul of giving. Let the joy of philanthropy enter your mind, and enhance your view of everything around you. Use your virtue to reach your goals, and you will feel much more contented than if you progressed in an underhanded way. Your communication skills will be very effective, particularly in smoothing out rough spots in love and social relationships. Pisces Feb 19 - Mar 20 No matter how negative the situation, endeavour to inject a positive element into it, to even out the results. Dont allow pessimistic influences to force you to change your values, especially those that drive you to help others in need. Spending time with a new circle of friends could lead to romance. Developing love in two hearts at once sometimes requires perseverance, but the results are well worth the effort. Aries March 21 - April 19 Nothing matters more than living with selfconfidence. Never forget your responsibilities to the family circle in which your life is rooted. Society is built upon trust, and someone who loses trust in others stands to lose everything. Make yourself a trusted friend in social circles,

and there will also be no problems in your love life. Taurus April 20 - May 20 A simple, well-rounded life requires purification with a smile. Someone is thinking of buying you a present or asking you for a date. Considerable profits are in store for you. Good news will remove doubt, but someone might try to undermine your confidence. Travel may lead to a new experience or even greater prospects. What distinguishes extraordinary people is how they respond when life sends one of its inevitable curves. Gemini May 21 - June 20 Success is not sexy but its all about working the basics of excellence with a passionate consistency. Stick to the fundamentals that you know in your heart to be true, and you will do just fine. Qualify yourself by taking responsibility for your role in what is not working in your life. Focus on being self-disciplined and valuing your family. Small daily gains will lead to giant results over time. Cancer June 22 - July 22 When thinking about the prospects of success and failure, do not allow your fears to overwhelm your faith. Personal and organisational greatness is not about revolution but evolution, so be sure to focus on small but consistent victories. The paradox of our wired world is that as we became more connected electronically, we become less connected emotionally. But love is more important than everything else,

and this requires the touch of another human being to feel connected. Leo July 23 - Aug 22 Do not neglect the power of breaking bread with family and friends, and try not to lose sight of the importance of human contact. A bright flame of passion is burning in someones heart for you. Reward yourself for your efforts, and learn to take solace in the positive results of your perseverance and exertion. Work towards achieving a higher level of diplomacy. Virgo Aug 23 - Sept 22 Your softness is hard enough to break the hearts of others, and you have the power to create beauty in the souls of those around you. Protect yourself from falling prey to greed, either on your part or from others. Show grace under pressure and in the face of interference from those who are too proud to see their own faults. Know when to retreat from the forces of destructive challenge and controversy. Libra Sept 23 - Oct 22 Present more of your positive and exulted nature to the world. No ones life is perfect, and you must face challenges both large and small. You must develop the willpower to choose to be strong and logical when things fall apart. Your beautiful qualities can inspire others to greater heights, and your well-developed spirit can win over beautiful hearts and souls. Scorpio Oct 23 - Nov 21 Try to be more productive, but at the same

time relax and have more fun. Discover that creativity comes when you are relaxed, happy and enjoying the moment. You need to make space for your genius to flow. Business is about loving the people who do business with you, and giving them more value than they have any right to expect. Your romantic relationship will flower. Sagittarius Nov 22 - Dec 21 Your first responsibility as a leader is to define reality, and the last is to say thank you to everyone who helped your project succeed. Connect with your wisdom each morning with enthusiasm and open your heart a little wider. Speak your own truth. Show your respect for the gift of life that has been given to you. Your love life will be as sweet as heavenly music. Capricorn Dec 22 - Jan 19 Work out the solution by analysing the elements of the problem in the context of the law of cause and effect. The big question for you is, What are you doing to help build a new and better world? Dont blame politicians and those around you; blaming others is a means of excusing yourself from responsibility. Believe that ordinary people every so often can do extraordinary things. Take personal responsibility for your part in the problems between you and your partner.
For a personal reading contact Aung Myin Kyaw, 4th Floor, 113 Thamain Bayan Road, Tamwe Township, Yangon. Tel: 0973135632, Email: williameaste@gmail.com

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Engineering Services (Installation,Repairing & Servicing) August Engineering Service. Tel; 09-731-10321, 586509 Email; aes. august@ googlemail. com C.L.T Ladies Fashion Tailoring (Use Centimeter Unit) Bldg. 8, Rm : 1 Yankin Lane Thwe 5, East Yankin, Ph: 09-73025931. OUTSCOURCING - We are a Engineering and Trading firm which is privately owned and lead by senior citizen that engineer with diversified experience of more than 30yearsinrelatedindustry. We are outscourcing the high-tech industrial equip-ments and products (Alcohol Meters, MOBREY Boiler Water Level Control, Draeger Water Vapour Tube, SWISS LOXX Chem-Bio Escape Mask, KROHNE Flow meter, DIABON Bursting Disc, Air-driven Double Diaphragm Pump, etc.,), Medical equipments (DREGER Products) and other products & equipments which especially you required from the Worldwide countries. And develop and consult the various types of Turnkey Projects (BUSE CO2 Plant, Drinking Water Plant, Cement Plant, Bio-Fuel/Diesel Plant, Pharmaceutical Plant, Vinegar Plant, R.O Seal & Crown Cork Plant, Effluent Treatment Plant, etc.,) . Add: 141(B), 1st Flr, Bayintnaung Rd, Hlaing. Tel: 513235, 09730-75047

classes or groups reviews of leveling! Calls Teacher Min Thant Ph: 09-73173175. Email: khinmin@gmail. com LANGUAGE Proficiency(A) Effective & Scientific way, (B) Intensive Class, (C) Interpreter - part time/ Full time (Under mentioned languages), (D) Hindi/ Myanmar/ English (Basic _ Advance for Embassy staff/ Foreigner/ A group single/ Kids + Teens/ NGOINGO personal/ (Special rate for national peoples) by an Expert Tutor. (1) Home tuition available in groups or single. (2) Translation of English/ Hindi/ Sanskrit/ Bengali/ Nepali & Myanmar are also available. (3) Business Guide & Agency Services. (4) Partnership business welcome. Rs. Verma. B.SC., (Bot), Yangon. (UFL-English), Yangon. Email: rsverma. maynamar@ gmail. com, Ph: 09-730-42604. Add: 125, 43rd St, 5th Flr (R), Botahtaung.

Package: Price 200,000. Modules: Inventory Control, Purchase, Sale, Account Payable. (Available :Barcode Printer/Scanner). Ph:09504-2775 CAN buy for wish: Narrow of modernness Kaw Lin citys history, history of holy return Buddha, Magazine for pearl sign of Kyaws monastery, Myanmars poetry of fifty years, another and long Poetry of rains night, fresh time of world, to pleasant days of gold moon, birthday of young daughter, the poems, can buy for wish. Moe Naung (Kawlin) 125, Padamya St, Aungzeyar Quarter, Kawlin city. (Hug saggaing division). SPECIAL DISCOUNT 1. HTC Desire HD 2. Nokia E5. To contact : 09-503-0197 (1) PLATINUM PRO tread mill, almost new, K120,000. (2) New Fibre glass bath tub, economy size, 48"x30" x 16", ideal for bath-rooms with limited space, 3 nos.

& Investing, Accounting, Briefcase Series, Interview skills. English language can be available at Innwa Book Store, A Yone Thit Book Store, TAB Book Centre (Taw Win Centre). Yar Pyae (Mandalay) Book Store & Tun Oo (Mandalay) Book Store. 214, 4th Flr, Corner of Anawrahta Rd & 32nd St, Pabedan, Email: nyoon. bookdealing@ gmail. com Ph: 386693, 09-504-6769. BABY If you need baby sitter for half day you can contact sharyangle@gmail.com

PROPERTY
HousingforRent
BAHAN, Golden Valley, 0.35 acre Land, big garden, 2 storey, ph line, semi-furnished, 4 MBR, US$ 3000 per month, Ph: 09-502-0969 CHINA TOwN apartment, lift, 17x59', Ph line, 2AC, 2MBR, Jacuzzi, Funished Room, water heater, US$ 1000/ 8Lakh per month, Ph: 09-502-0969 MAYANGONE, Pyay Rd, 0.5acre land, 2RC Storey new house, 5 master bed rooms, ph, Fully furnished, big garden, US$ 3500 Per month, Ph: 09-503-4954 KAMAYUT , Inya Rd 0.3acre land, 2.2RC Storey, 2MBR, 7BR, garden, ph line, US$ 3200 per month, Pls call 09-503-4954 BAHAN, : Shwe Gondaing, Condo, 7F, 1500 Sqf , Fully Furnished, Fully Furniture, 3 A/C, 1 MBR, 2 SBR ,1PH, 750USD, (Suitable to Rent for Foreigner), near down town, near golden Vally Call-01-569448, 09-73135900 BAHAN : New University Avenue Lane, Condo, 7F, 1500Sqft , Fully Furnished, Fully Furniture, 3 A/C, 1 MBR, 2 SBR, 1Ph, (Suitable to Rent for Foreigner), 800USD. Call-01569448, 09-731-35900 CHANTHA GONYAUNG Executive Codomi-niums - Penthouse/Rooms. - 4 rooms, 5 rooms. - Fully Furnished. - Amazing serenity and satisfactory facilities, club restaurant. - 24 hours electricity internet, cable TV. -Brookers welcome. -Interested parties pls call 430078 to 87 (Ext : 0,303), 09-430-85887, 09-430-85889, BAHAN,Kanbawza Rd, Golden Valley, Bahan, Yangon. 30x30 ft, 2 new stories building with 30x110 ft land. Backyard lawn and greenery. Very quiet place.1 master bed room and 2 bed rooms. Fully furnished. Best electricity in town. YCDC water. US$ 1200/mt.Can provide phone/internet depend on price. Ph: 09-732-06783 ,09-5010816. SUpERB location for TRUCKS parking in downtown area. 5 minutes drive from Hle Dan Junction. 15 minutes drive to Hlaing Thar Yar, airport. Dhama Thukha Kyaung Rd, Hlaing. 0.8 acres compound: (a) land only (b) 2 x 3-phase industrial power meter (c) 1 x phone landline pls contact 09 5012920 SOUTH OKKALAPA: 10 minutes drive from Sedona Hotel, Mya Thida Housing , Banglow , 2 story building, Fully furnish-ed, Fullyfurniture, 4 MB, 4SB, Ph, A/C, Good Neighborhood, 15 Lakhs, Foreigners welcome. Call - 01-569448, 09731-35900 BAHAN. (for Foreigner) Pearl Condo Tower D, 6 floor Fully Furnished about 1780 Sqft, 3BR. US$1800/mt 1 year Contract. Call: 09-5018701. BAHAN. Pearl Condo Tower E, 4th floor. Fully Furnished (including kitchen ware) Inclusive of electricity, water, wireless internet, satellite TV channels. about 1780sq ft, 3BR. US$3000/mt (nego) Payable Monthly Call: 095200654

Training
SUMMER SINGING course 2012 Commencing Date : 7th March, 2012. Completion Date : 30th May, 2012. Sessions (Tue + Thur) 9:00 am to 11:00 am (Wed + Fri) 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm (Sat + Sun) 10:00 am to 12:00 noon. Contact Address : UNIQUE Music Class - No.304 (A-4), Waizayantar Rd, 16/3 Quarter, Thingangyun, Yangon. Tel : 09-430-93361. GUITAR GUIDE To Home Ph:09-731-94925 UNITED KARATE - Aikido Combat Dojo No. 267, 5th Flr Pyay Rd (front of Dagon Center II) Myaynigone,Sanchaung Tel: 09-507-7634, 09567-0442 Monday, Wednesday, 18:00 to 20:00 - Sports Karate Friday, 18:00 to 20:00 Combat Karate (Sayargyi U Thaung Din Style) Member fees - 15,000 Kyats Registrat-ion Monthly - 10,000 Kyats. United Club old members: FOC Registration Monthly - 50% off - Moe Lwin. SMART Fitness Center : Invite to all of our customer, Grantee for over weight men & women (over 200 lb), to get always smart & healthy body, Available to discuss with skillful training teacher, Teach in systematically. Ph: 09730-17729. 142, 47th St, 1st Flr, Botataung.

Housing for Sale


MANDALAy, La La - 63, Industrial Zone (40' x 60') 2 Blocks (Can contact directly to Owner, Ph: 01 565751) MANDALAy : 26(B) Rd, between(86/87) Aungmyaytharsan Township. (22 feet X 75 feet ) Ph: 09-504-8704, 02-21915. SOUTH OKKALA, 20' x 60' house, Anawmar 2nd St , Block 13, Ph: 572607, 09-861-8286. BAHAN, Locate at Golden Valley 2, Inya Myaing Rd, Total Sqft - 14950 (Nearly 15000) Price - 250000 per Sqft. Ph: 513160. BAHAN, 40 x 60 ft plot at Kaba Aye, Two storey house include. Selling price - 2300 lakhs (negotiable). Tel: 663-326, 09-731-97531, 09-431-26571, 09-43141971.

Language
GUIDE (For Embassy family and others) When you stay in Myanmar,do you want to ask to your children to learn Myanmar language ? Call-09-732-23668 (ko soe thi aung) FOR FOREIGNERS Interested in learning Myanmar Speaking easily & effectively in a short time with Myanmar English Teacher. Save your time & money. Contact : 09517 9125. KEEN Intl Language Centre - Progressive Myanmar Language Private Classes for Foreigners who live in Myanmar. Effective Program for new sections are available. For more information, pls contact : keencentre @gmail. com TEACHER Daw Khin Thawda Aung, English Grammar & Speaking in 60 hrs. IELTS, TOEFL, GCE & SAT in 120 hrs. Tel: 556571, 09-508-9368. MyANMAR LANGUAGE Guide (For Embassy family and others) When you stay in Myanmar, do You want to ask to your children to learn Myanmar language? Call: 09514-6505, 09-73075265. 501846 Ext:191 (Christine) LEARN ENGLISH! In a quiet atmosphere and fun with an experienced teacher Certified in TEFL patient, friendly, organized Enjoys English language: daily conversations, business issues, preparation for examinations. Develop your skills: reading, writing, listening comprehension,conversation, grammar and vocabulary. Mode of work: textbooks, novels, magazines, newspapers, audio, video, etc. To all levels & ages individual

For Rent
CAR: Model : 90 Mark II Car No: 7A, Color: Dark Gray, Car Condition: Fine, Price : 5.5 lakhs per one month (Negotiable), Contact Person : Mr. Win Lwin Thant, Contact Ph : 09-43039613 HAVE YOUR OFFICE at the prestigious central towers for only 39000 kyats a month. Pls call 09-492-47013, 01-377151. For more details about the facilities and services offered.

Expert Service
TRANSLATION: Those who are looking for a competent translator; I provide English to Myanmar and Myanmar to English. Specialize in Novel, business and ngos materialsetc: Pls Contact Daw Maw Maw San ph: 09-431-97513 mail: maw. san @ gmail.com REAL ROPERTyService P If you want to buy,sell or rent Land, Condominium, apartment, house Office and need advice regarding with property, contact 0973135900,01-569448. DOwNLOADINGService :We offer services for downloading large file with fair price. Just contact us. info. futuretech. mm@ gmail. com Ph: 09-5160225,09-515-0720 COMpUTER TUTOR :Basic, DTP, Video, editing, Graphic, Zaua. Ph: 09 730 227 43zauatahan @ gmail. com No. 7, 7A, 89th St, Kandawlay, Yangon SEARCH pROpERTY Online : Are you looking to buy, rent, sell or rent out your property? Please visit us at: www.eainsearch.com or call: 09 732 493 78 REAL EASTE If you need Land, House Apartment, Office Room, Building to buy or sell you are welcome to contact caroline.zita@gmail.com AIRCON & Electrical

For Sale
iphone 4S - 16G Black Brand new. ph:09- 43184138. TV 21" Toshiba 218*8m + VCD : 80000 SONY 21": 80000/- SAnsung oneset 21": 30000/ 1G, ph; 09501-0830 HD GAME, app (install) iPhone, iPod 6000ks, iPad 8000ks, iTunes : account open (free game,app download) , iOS 5 all iDevices full untethered: jailbreak (power off) iPhone 4s, iPad 2 available. contact :09-514-7480 RAzER STARCRAFT 2 Headphone Apple Superdrive New cmda 800mhz + c8500 handset with no internet Ph: 09730-48374 iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch , PSP Services :Jailbreak , game install, Version Upgrade, iPhone4 / 4S sim card cutting, PSP modify + Games Service, Create iTunes account (ygn / mdy), Create Gmail account (ygn / mdy), Ph: 09-739-03193 (mandalay only) (1) HR SOFTwARE Package: Price 200,000. Modules: Employee Management, Time Attendance, Payroll. (Available :Finger Print/ Card). (2)pOS Software

available, K 1.45 lakhs each. (3) Used foam rubber double mattress, 78"x 66"x 6" K.30,000. (4) Used Yamaha Clavinova electronic piano - K 800,000. Ph: 09500-3248. Address: 114, Kayebin Rd, Dagon Tsp., near Childrens hospital. IpHONE 3GS - 16G White very very good All accessories with covers iOS 5.0.1 + jailbreak, unlock 250,000 ks. ph: 09-43184138 CHINA Generator (STC20KW, 3 Phase) 1-set (6-lakhs) Ph: 541351, 552729

Want To Buy
LOOKING TO buy a large, old home with a big garden in a quiet suburb, preferably away from the main road and not in Golden Valley. House must be structurally sound but does not have to be in A1 condition. For more information please call June on + (951) 501 437

Travel
ELEGANT MyANMAR Tours Company Ltd ! Special Promotion in April 2012 to welcome Myanmar New Year!! Trip to the Virgin Islands in Mergui Archipelago by cruise 6 Days 5 Nights (5 April 2012 to 10April 2012) 550000 Ks Now (Local) & 720 USD Now (Foreigner) Special promotion trip for launching a new Mergui Princess Boat ! 5 Days 4 Nights (11 April 2012 to 15 April 2012) & (18 April 2012 to 22 April 2012) Kawthaung, 115 Island, Nyaung Wee Island, Myauk Ni Island, Ranong for shopping 660 USD per pax (Foreigner) + 430000 Ks (Local) Book now with us! Email: mergui princess @gmail. com, Ph: 01-401261, +959-43064296 pACKAGE Tour to USA & Europe for April 2012 are available at United Treasure Travel (UT) with attractive offer. For booking & inquiry, just call to 09-731-77936, 09-5165219, 558866.

Want to hire
TO HIRE Suitable building to run an office (or) to take relax two bed rooms with bathroom attached About 7 miles from Pathein bridge road side of Pathein Ngwe Saung run way Contact: 09-5201910, 534580 VILLA OR CONDO (for foreigner) Bahan, Mayankone, Hlaing, Kamayut,Thingankyun, Yankin. RC, MB, SB, Water-Well & YCDC, Good Electricity, A/C, Ph, Attached to Garden, Furnished, Rent Rate - $600 ~ $1000. Pls contact by house owner to Ms. Hnin Si within office hours 9AM to 5PM556692, 540995 NEAR yUzANA PLAzA, warehouse to hire. Ph: 546309.

Food
DE CHEF Corner Bakery Since- 1999, Rm No.03, Ground Flr. Block C, Pearl Condo, Bahan, Yangon. Tel: 554253.

Public Notice
pHOTOGRApHY Especially food and interior photography for Hotels & Restaurant Contact ; Sam (Tel : 09731-74404) MYANMAR COOK Book A unique Myanmar Cook Book with recipes for practical usage, written in English by Daw Ena WinB.FastMo hinga,Ohn no Khauk swear, Shwe taung Khauk swear, etc . . .Rice & CurryChicken Curry, Duck Curry,Prawn Curry etc,Myanmar Style. Available in Yangon (1). Innwa Book Store, Pansodan St. Tel : 389838, 374234. (2).Myanmar Book Centre, Tel 221271 (3).Bishop store, Old Yaydarshay Rd, Bahan (4).Tab Book Center, Taw win Plaza, Tel: 8600042, 8600043 (Daw Ena Win & Associates) NYOON Book Dealing: Various kinds of Books regarding Business Management, Business

Education
SUMMER and regular English Classes: Four skills and grammar will be taught by an experienced teacher with international exposure:An ideal home tutor & will guide your children with special care and attention: Contact: Teacher Maw Maw:ph 09431 97513 maw. san@ gmail.com M.ED- degree holder English teacher with 35years English teaching experience can be contacted for individual English Speaking, IELTS or Matriculation Classes. Booking for

Want To Hire
A MNC that is planning to open an office in Yangon is seeking the following for short term and long term lease; Land Crusier, Pajero, and Toyota Hiace, air-con, and must be clean, to include driver. Pls quote on a daily, weekly & monthly lease terms.

Employment
Embassy
THE EMBASSY of the Republic of Korea is seeking one personal driver. Requirements : Age 25 to 40 years old. Communication in English (Korean can be assisted). Good Inter-personal skill. Good in Health. The interested person can send the lasted CV form to 97, University Avenue, Bahan, Yangon (Embassy of the Republic of Korea), Ph: 01-527142~44 Contact person: Honey Soe (Admin Department). The project activities focus on promoting participatory development approaches for the formation and capacity development of Self Help Groups to reinforce their existing livelihood activities, starting new income generating activities, provision of community-based Home Care service, training in Self Care, etc. The overall aim of the programme is to reduce poverty and vulnerability of older people and to facilitate their participation in community development. HelpAge International(Myanmar) is seeking qualified and experienced Myanmar national for a Receptionist post: Main responsibilities: Make schedules, greet visitors to the office, undertake responsibilities associated with developing travel itineraries/visit schedules for senior management staff and visitors including flight bookings, visa processing, hotel reservation, travel insurance, etc. Perform other duties as assigned by members of the Senior Management Team. Knowledge & experience: Graduate with at least 2-3 yrs experience in Secretary Field and fluent in English both written and spoken with good interpersonal skills; ability to work for long hours; computer literate, and strong familiarity with typing skills using both Myanmar and English fonts. Interested and qualified candidates are requested to send a Cover Letter and Curriculum Vitae to the Human Resources Unit of HelpAge International Myanmar Country Office, No 10 Kanbawza Avenue, Shwe-taun-gya Ward No. 1, Bahan Township, Yangon OR by email to hr.helpagemyanmar@ gmail. com no later than 5 p.m., Monday, 12th March, 2012. Only shortlisted candidates will be notified for interview. SOLIDARITES Int'l (SI) is looking (1) Deputy Programme Manager : MBA in Agriculture or other relevant University Degree. 4 years professional experience in project management. Good knowledge of Project Cycle Management. Fluent in English/ Excellent reporting skills. Good computer skills in particular for data processing and analysis; proficiency in MS Office. Knowledge of the Chin State and the project area is considered as an advantage. (2) Deputy Programme Coordinator : MBA in Agriculture or other relevant University Degree. 5 years of professional experience in project management. For 1, 2 : Previous experience with an INGO in implementing Agriculture/ Food Security/ Livelihood projects. Proficiency in English, Fluency in Myanmar language. High computer literacy. Pls submit application (CV, cover letter, references) to the attention of: Caroline Courtois, Programme Coordinator - Solidarites Int'l Office : 44-A, Taryarwa-ddy Lane, Sayar San Ward, Bahan, Yangon OR per email: hr.solidarites. rk. mm@ gmail.com (thanks to use basic excel, word or pdf format). Closing date: 9.3.2012 . MEDECINS du Monde (MDM) is seeking (1) Counselor (VCCT) 1 post in Yangon : Graduate or Degree. Good Knowledge in English. Good communication skill. (2) Nurse (ART Counselor) 1 post in Yangon : Graduate or Degree. 1 year experience with HIV/ AIDS & ART patients. Basic English. Good communication & counseling skills. Team spirit. Pls submit CV and a cover letter to MDM Yangon Office. 16, Kan Yeik Thar St, Mayangone, Ph: 662604, 652658 (OR) Email: hr. mdmmyanmar @ gmail. com MALTESER Int'l is looking for a project Manager in Pauktaw & Myebon, Rakhine State : Preferably Master degree or equivalent professional experience in the fields of rural development; 4 years experience in project management including managing human resources, logistics and budgets; Excellent communication skills including a good sense of diplomacy & discernment; Fluent in Myanmar & English. Proficient in Microsoft Office (particularly Word, Excel, & Power Point), Previous working experience in Rakhine State is a strong asset. Pls submit application incl. CV, 2 photos, copies of educational certificate, National ID, & references to Malteser Int'l Country Office: # 1415 (6F), Pyi Taw Aye Yeik Thar St, Yankin, Email: hr.co. malteser@ gmail. com Closing date: 05th March, 2012 various school principals to contact school visit & presentation. Source and indentify potential agents to built up close contact with, and collaborate with agent to tap in to agents recruitment networks. Motivate team player, who contributes to achieve enrollment targets. Pls send in a detailed resume (stating current & expected salaries) along with a recent photograph to Rm : 809, 8 flr, La Pyayt Wun Palza, Singnal Pagoda Rd, Dagon Tsp. Or Tin Nilar Wynn (renmyanmar3 @myanmar. com.mm) not later than 10th March 2012. QUALIFIED individuals interested in competing for the below vacancies should submit their applications directly to the Logistics Media Service Co., Ltd. (1) Marketing & Advertising Manager - - 1 post (2) Senior Account Executive - 7 post (3) Senior Marketing Executive 7 posts (4) Marketing Assistants - 20 posts. Minimum Qualifications, Knowledge, & Experience: Bachelors degree holder with 5 years proven experience or MBA with 3 years in marketing & advertising field especially with expertise in media servics industry. Bachelors degree in Economics with 2 years experience or LCCI second level with 2 year experience. Bachelors degree holder with 3 years experience in Marketing & advertising. Bachelors degree holder ability to learn quickly, demonstrate critical thinking, & make situation-appropriate decisions using sound judgment. Outstanding interpersonal & communication skills. Experience working in a high-paced, small company environment. To Apply: Pls submit a letter of interest, a detailed resume listing qualifications & experience with supporting documents & certificates to 297, Rm. 3, 2nd Flr, Corner of Mahabandoola Rd., & Bogalay Zay St., Botahtaung, Yangon or logimedia@ myanmar. com.mm before end of March 2012. ALBA requires experienced part time Art & Music teachers. Prefer teachers familiar with western Art and Music programs. 66, Shwedagon Pagoda Rd, Dagon Tsp, Yangon. Ph: 376236, 376314, Email: admin@ albaedu.com NATIVE English speakers wanted for part time teaching at ALBA. Experience preferred. We have current vacancies. 66, Shwedagon Pagoda Rd, Dagon Tsp, Yangon. Ph: 376236, 376314, Email: admin@ albaedu.com (1) BRAND MANAGER - M/F 1 post : University Degree & higher qualification such as MPA (or) MBA/ Masters degree is an added advantage. 2 ~ 3 years experiences. Excellent written & oral commu-nication skills in English Good computer skills on all common Microsoft applicants. (2) Accountant - F 3 post : B.Com (or) LCCI Level III. 2-3 years experience. Good computer skills on all common Micro-soft applications & accounting software. (3) Sales Executive & Respresentative M/F 6 posts: University Graduate (MBA holder prefer). 2 ~ 3 years experiences. Age 25 ~ 30. Can speak English fluently. Can use MS excel, word,pagemaker. Pls submit a cover letter & detailed CV with relevant document & a recent photo to: Rm 807, 8th Flr, La Pyayt Wunn Plaza, Dagon Tsp. Closing date: 15th March 2012. SAVOy HOTEL is urgently looking for (1) Chief Engineer - 1 post: must have 5 yrs experience in related fields. (2) HR/payroll Assistant - 1 post : must have at least 2 years experience. (3) Receptionists - 1 posts (4) waiter/waitress 3 posts. (5) Driver - 1 post. For Position 3, 4 & 5 must have at least 1 year experience in hotel fields. Application letter by email to operations @ savoyhotel-yangon. com or 129, Dhamma-zedi Rd, Yangon. Tel: (95-1) 526298, 526289. BAGAN THANDE Hotel Group Co., Ltd. is looking for Reservation Manager or Asst. Reservation Manager : Age 25-35 to be appointed for Yangon Office : 5 years experience in related field, positive attitude, Excellent writing and good communication skills in Myanmar and English, good personality, able to use computer (Microsoft word & Excel) & Internet & Email knowledge. Pls submit CV with other testimonial to : 75 (D), Banyadala Rd, Bahan , near Shin Par Ku Clinic. Ph: 546225/6, 543963. wE are urgently seeking (1) General Manager - M 1 post. (2) HR Manager M/F 1 post. (3) Logistic Manager - M 1 post.(4) Business evelopment D Manager - M/F 1 post. (5) Business Development Dy Manager/ Asst Manager - M/F 1 post. (6) Senior Executive (Commer-cial) - M/F 2 posts.). (7) Senior Accountant-M/F2posts. (8) Business Development Executive M/ F 2 posts. (9) Manager for Executive Office M/F 1 post. Pls submit an application letter, with full CV detailing experience, knowledge & skills. Pls include the names & contact details of referees to HR Department : hrd1@ pristine myanmar. com or PO Box 428 or No.B/7, Taw Win Rd, 9 Mile, Mayangone within 2 weeks. THABICO Manufacturing & Trade Company (THABICO) is seeking Information Recruiment 1 post : Age 23 ~ 30. Minimum in Bachelors Degree in Food Science/ Chemical within related field. Strong technical knowledge; Good sales & negotiation skills; Team work, ability to learn fast; Decision making and problem solving skills. Good communi-cation & written English. Pls send full resume, stating current & expected salary, and enclosing a recent photograph to : Nguyen Van Bay/ U Thein Zaw : 629/631, Pyay Rd, Kamayut . Tel: 503603/ 534439, 09-5415513. Email: vanbay. nguyen 76@ gmail.com or duyphuong@thabico. com wE ARE seeking to appoint experienced Travel Consultant & Product Executive. Please contact Nature Travels & Tours. Tel: 255 620, 09-501 1287 Email: adm.trails. myanmar @ gmail.com M-SPIRAL is an exciting new IT and marketing company opening in Yangon is seeking web & Graphic Designer : 3 years experience in both web & graphic design. Experience in Photoshop CS3 and Illustrator. Self-motivator with artistic flair.Send CV, cover letter and folio/links to hr@mspiral. com. web developer: 2 years experience in web development. Must have expert knowledge of HTML, CSS, PHP and MYSQL. Wordpress experience preferred. Self-motivator with strong critical thinking & problem solving skills. Send CV, cover letter and folio of weblinks to hr@ mspiral.com.Finance and Administration Officer : 3 years experience in accounting & office administration. Self-motivator with strong critical thinking skills. Bachelors degree in accounting or related discipline. Send CV & cover letter to hr@ mspiral.com. Content writer: 3 years experience in print media and/or marketing. Strong English writing skills & translation experience. Corporate & entertain-ment writing & experience preferred. Send CV, cover letter , 3 recent English & Myanmar language writing samples to hr@ mspiral.com. Applications close March 6th. URGENTLy Required: (1) project Director, (2) Project Manager, (3) Site Manager. The applicants for the all the above mentioned positions must be degree holder of BE - Civil. Project location is Kyauk Phyu. Good command in English is an added advantage. Interested & qualified persons are welcomed to submit full CV, detailing skills, knowledge & experience with recent color passport sized photo-graph and copies of the testimonials to the contacts below. Ph: 09-731-89577, 221134, 218387. Feel free to contact for detail information. Mail: Application can be submitted via Email tossa@myanmaroffshoreltd.com. Pls mark applied position in front of CV. Attractive salary. Urgently required. ADVERTISING Agency Looking for an outgoing & creative Male to join our video editing team. Salary Negotiable. Knowledge of Adobe software, 2D/3D animation & editing software with min. 1 year working experience. Ability to be a team player and must be able to work independently and under tight deadlines. Call : 09-5069346 for an appointment. THE E4Y is a school education program for out-of-school-youngsters. It is an opportunity for children between the age of 13-17 years that have to leave the normal school system due to difficult circumstances. We are looking for Subject Teacher - M/F: Age under 40. Able to speak & to write English fluently. Able to work with computer very well. Experience in the related field. What we offer: Work in a friendly motivated team. Guidance & instructions of experienced teachers. Correct salary. Pls summit application form with references not later than 15 March 2012 to Vocational Orientation Program for Out-ofSchool- Young-sters/ E4Y, No : 65, Kyaikwine Boys Training Center, Kyaik-wine Pagoda Rd, Mayangone, Tel: 09731-04683.

INGO Position
HelpAge International is a global network of notfor-profit organisations. HelpAge mission is to work with our partners to ensure that people everywhere understand how much older people contribute to society and that they must enjoy their right to healthcare, social services and economic and physical security. HelpAge is widening the scope of its work in Myanmar & expanding to new geographical locations. Currently, HelpAge, in collabo-ration with relevant Government agencies and partners, in implementing projects that support older people and other vulnerable groups by strengthening their livelihood and food security, health and DRR capacities in Ayerawaddy, Mandalay and Sagaing Regions.

Local Position
A SINGApORE based trading firm having branch in Yangon is looking for an import marketing executive for sales of various items to its customers in Myanmar. Candidates should have back-ground of international trade or shipping and speak/write good English. Interested candidates may forward their C.V to lilani. vatsal@ gmail.com. SpINE ARCHITECTS A Local Architectural Firm Seeks Architect (all levels) : Diploma & Work Experience a Plus, All must know AutoCad well. 3-D modeling & Rendering skills a plus. Senior project Manager : 5 years + experience in design & construction, review & supervision of working drawings, site management, detailing ability. Autocad proficiency a plus but not essential. Civil/ Structural Engineer : 3 years + experience in structural design & construction. ETABS and Autocad proficiency required. M&E Engineer : 3 years experience in design/ installation: Electrical loading calculations & distribution Generator, voltage regulation, switch systems. Air con calculations & system planning Sanitary & piping systems. Low voltage systems (telephone, networking) Lighting. Autocad familiarity will be helpful. Foreign work experience & knowledge of int'l code preferred. Admin Assistant Any graduate, : good com-munication, English & Computer skills required. one year experience, Pls send CV with recent photo, indicating education, work experience & expected salary to SPiNE Architects at 15/A, West Parami Rd, Mayangone (Across RC-2). Ph: 660 996, 667770. Email: admin@ SPiNE architects. com Closing date: 30 March 2012 RAFFLES Education Corporation is seeking Education Consultant to be a part of our international marketing teams. We would like to invite you to join us for a challenging career and opportunities for personal growth and development. Education Consulant F 2 Posts : A minimum of Bachelor Degree holders with 2 to 4 years experience, preferably in sales and marketing ,cost management indust-ries. Good communi-cation skills & comfortable in public speaking, must be able to speak English. Able to travel to various cities in Myanmar. Initiative individual, who strives to achieve enrollment targets. Responsi-bilities : Co-ordinate & attend marketing activities such as, Education Fairs and Seminars. To penetrate into potential target markets & develop close relationship with

The Essentials
EMBASSIES Australia 88, Strand Road, Yangon. tel : 251810, 251797, 251798, 251809, 246462, 246463, fax: 246159 Bangladesh 11-B, Than Lwin Road, Yangon. tel: 515275, 526144, fax: 515273, email: bdootygn@mptmail.net. mm Brazil 56, Pyay Road, 6th mile, Hlaing Tsp, Yangon. tel: 507225, 507251, 507482. fax: 507483. email: Administ.yangon@ itamaraty.gov.br. Brunei 317/319, U Wizara Road, Sanchaung Tsp, Yangon. tel: 526985, 524285, fax: 512854 email: bruneiemb@ bruneiemb.com.mm Cambodia 25 (3B/4B), New University Avenue Road, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. tel: 549609, 540964, fax: 541462, email: RECYANGON @mptmail. net.mm China 1, Pyidaungsu Yeiktha Road, Yangon. tel: 221280, 221281, 224025, 224097, 221926, fax: 227019, 228319 Egypt 81, Pyidaungsu Yeiktha Road, Yangon. tel: 222886, 222887, fax: 222865, email: egye mbyangon@mptmail. net.mm France 102, Pyidaungsu Yeiktha Road, Yangon. tel: 212178, 212520, 212523, 212528, 212532, fax: 212527, email: ambaf rance. rangoun@ diplomatie.fr Germany 9, Bogyoke Aung San Museum Road, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. tel: 548951, 548952, fax: 548899 email: info@rangun. diplo.de India 545-547, Merchant Street, Yangon. tel: 391219, 388412, 243972, fax: 254086, 250164, 388414, email: indiaembassy @mptmail. net.mm Indonesia 100, Pyidaungsu Yeiktha Road, Yangon. tel: 254465, 254469, 229750, fax: 254468, email: kukygn @indonesia.com.mm Israel 15, Khabaung Street, Hlaing Tsp, Yangon. tel: 515115, fax: 515116, email: info@ yangon.mfa.gov.il Italy 3, Inya Myaing Road, Golden Valley, Yangon. tel: 527100, 527101, fax: 514565, email: ambyang.mail@ esteri.it Japan 100, Natmauk Road, Yangon. tel: 549644-8, 540399, 540400, 540411, 545988, fax: 549643 Embassy of the State of Kuwait Chatrium Hotel, Rm: No.416, 418, 420, 422, 40 Natmauk Rd, Tarmwe Tsp, Tel: 544500. North Korea 77C, Shin Saw Pu Road, Sanchaung Tsp, Yangon. tel: 512642, 510205, fax: 510206 South Korea 97 University Avenue, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. tel: 527142-4, 515190, fax: 513286, email: hankuk@ kore mby.net.mm Lao A-1, Diplomatic Quarters, Tawwin Road, Dagon Tsp, Yangon. tel: 222482, fax: 227446, email: Laoembcab@ mptmail. net.mm Malaysia 82, Pyidaungsu Yeiktha Road, Yangon. tel: 220248, 220249, 220251, 220230, fax: 221840, email: mwkyangon@mptmail. net.mm Nepal 16, Natmauk Yeiktha, Yangon. tel: 545880, 557168, fax: 549803, email: nepemb @mptmail.net.mm Pakistan A-4, diplomatic Quarters, Pyay Road, Yangon. tel: 222881 (Chancery Exchange) fax: 221147, email: pakistan@ myanmar. com.mm Philippines 50, Sayasan Road, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. tel: 558149-151, fax: 558154, email: p.e. yangon@gmail.com Russian 38, Sagawa Road, Yangon. tel: 241955, 254161, fax: 241953, email: rusinmyan@mptmail .net.mm Serbia No. 114-A, Inya Road, P.O.Box No. 943Yangon. tel: 515282, 515283, fax: 504274, email: serbemb@ yangon.net.mm Singapore 238, Dhamazedi Road, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. tel: 559001, fax: 559002, 559922, email: singemb_ ygn@_ sgmfa. gov.sg Sri Lanka 34 Taw Win Road, Yangon. tel: 222812, fax: 221509, email: slembassy. yangon@gmail.com, info@slembyangon.org, www.slembyangon.org Thailand 94 Pyay Road, Dagon Township, Yangon. tel: 226721, 226728, 226824, fax: 221713 United Kingdom 80 Kanna Road, Yangon. tel: 370867, 380322, 371852, 371853, 256438, 370863, 370864, 370865, fax: 370866 United States of America 110, University Avenue, Kamayut Township, Yangon. tel: 536509, 535756, 538038, fax: 650306 Vietnam Building No. 72, Thanlwin Road, Bahan Township, Yangon. tel: 511305, fax: 514897, email: vnemb myr@ cybertech.net.mm Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia No.287/289, U Wisara Rd, Sanchaung Tsp. tel : 01-536153, 516952, fax : 01-516951 UNITED NATIONS ILO Liaison Officer Rm (M1212~1220), 12 Fl-A, Traders Hotel. 223, tel: 242 393, 242811. fax: 242594. IOM 12th Flr, Traders Hotel, 223, tel: 252560 ext. 5002 UNAIDS Rm: (1223~1231), 12 Fl, Traders Hotel. tel: 252361, 252362, 252498. fax: 252364. UNDCP 11-A, Malikha St, Mayangone tsp. tel: 666903, 664539. fax: 651334. UNDP 6, Natmauk Rd, Bahan tel: 542910-19. fax: 292739. UNFPA 6, Natmauk Rd, Bahan tsp. tel: 546029. UNHCR 287, Pyay Rd, Sanchaung tsp. tel: 524022, 524024. fax 524031. UNIAP Rm: 1202, 12 Fl, Traders Hotel.tel: 254852, 254853. UNIC 6, Natmauk St., BHN tel: 52910~19 UNICEF 14~15 Flr, Traders Hotel. P.O. Box 1435, KTDA. tel: 375527~32, fax: 375552 email: unicef.yangon@unicef. org, www.unicef.org/myanmar. UNODC 11-A, Malikha Rd., Ward 7, MYGN. tel: 666903, 660556, 660538, 660398, 664539, fax: 651334. email: fo.myanmar@unodc.org www. unodc.org./myanmar/ UNOPS Inya Lake Hotel, 3rd floor, 37, Kaba Aye Pagoda Rd, Mayangone Tsp. tel: 951657281~7. Fax: 657279. UNRC 6, Natmauk Rd, P.O. Box 650, TMWE tel: 542911~19, 292637 (Resident Coordinator), fax: 292739, 544531. WFP 3rd-flr, Inya Lake Hotel, 37, Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd. tel: 657011~6 (6-lines) Ext: 2000. WHO 12A Fl, Traders Hotel. tel:250583. ASEAN Coordinating Of. for the ASEAN Humanitarian Task Force, 79, Taw Win st, Dagon Township. Ph: 225258. FAO Myanma Agriculture Service Insein Rd, Insein. tel: 641672, 641673. fax: 641561.

General Listing
ACCOMMODATIONHOTELS
Chatrium Hotel Royal Lake Yangon 40 Natmauk Rd, Tarmwe. tel: 544500. fax: 544400. Summit Parkview Hotel 350, Ahlone Rd, Dagon Tsp. tel: 211888, 211966. fax: 227995. Thamada Hotel 5, Alan Pya Phaya Rd, Dagon. tel: 243639, 243640, 243641. Traders Hotel 223 Sule Pagoda Rd. tel: 242828. fax: 242838. Winner Inn 42, Than Lwin Rd, Bahan Tsp. tel: 535205, 524387. email: winnerinnmyanmar @gmail.com Yangon YMCA 263, Mahabandoola Rd, Botataung Tsp. tel: 294128, Yuzana Hotel 130, Shwegondaing Rd, Bahan Tsp, tel : 01-549600, 543367 Yuzana Garden Hotel 44, Alanpya Pagoda Rd, Mingalar Taung Nyunt Tsp, tel : 01-248944

ACCOUNTANTS AND CONSULTANTS


Charted Certified, Certified Public Accountants. tel: 09-5010563. drtinlatt@matglobal.com

AIR CONDITION
Chigo No. 216, 38 Street (Upper), Kyauktada Tsp, tel : 373472

No.7A, Wingabar Road, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. Tel : (951) 546313, 430245. 09-731-77781~4. Fax : (01) 546313. www.cloverhotel.asia. info@cloverhotel.asia Confort Inn 4, Shweli Rd, Bet: Inya Rd & U Wisara Rd, Kamaryut, tel: 525781, 526872 Golden Aye Yeik Mon Hotel 4, Padauk Lane, 4th Word, Aye Yeik Mon Housing, Hlaing. tel: 681706. Hotel Yangon No. 91/93, 8th Mile Junction, Mayangone. tel : 01-667708, 667688. Inya Lake Resort Hotel 37 Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd. tel: 662866. fax: 665537. Orchid Hotel 91, Anawrahta street, Pazundaung Township, Yangon, . Tel: 399930, 704740, 293261. E-mail: orchidhotel@myanmar. com. mm.

ACCOMMODATIONHOTELS (NAy PyI TAw)

The First Air conditioning systems designed to keep you fresh all day GUNKUL Engineer supply Co., Ltd. No.437 (A), Pyay Road, Kamayut. P., O 11041 Yangon, Tel: +(95-1) 502016-8, Mandalay- Tel: 02-60933. Nay Pyi TawTel: 067-420778, E-mail freshaircon@gkmyanmar. com.mm. URL: http:// www.freshaircon.com General 83-91, G-F, Bo Aung Kyaw St, Kyauktada Tsp, tel : 706223, 371906

Reservation Office (Yangon) 262-264, Pyay Road, Dagon Centre, A# 03-01, Sanchaung Tsp, Yangon. Tel: 95-1-501937, 536255, 09-520-0926.
The Oasis Hotel (Nay Pyi Taw)

ASTROLOGER
Saya Min Thoun Dara Astrologer No(2), Maha Wizaya Pagoda North Stairway, Dagon Tsp. tel: 296184

Tel: 95-67-422088, 422099

ACCOMMODATION LONG TERM


No. 205, Corner of Wadan Street & Min Ye Kyaw Swa Road, Lanmadaw Tsp, Yangon. Myanmar. Tel: (95-1) 212850 ~ 3, 229358 ~ 61, Fax: (95-1) 212854. info@myanmarpandahotel .com http://www. myanmarpandahotel.com Panorama Hotel 294-300, Pansodan Street, Kyauktada Tsp. tel: 253077. PARKROYAL Yangon, Myanmar 33, Alan Pya Pagoda Rd, Dagon tsp. tel: 250388. fax: 252478. email: enquiry.prygn@ parkroyalhotels.com Website: parkroyalhotels. com. Savoy Hotel 129, Damazedi Rd, Kamayut tsp. tel: 526289, 526298, Seasons of Yangon Yangon Intl Airport Compound. tel: 666699. Sweet Hotel 73, Damazedi Road, San Chaung Tsp, Ph: 539152 Sedona Hotel Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd, Yankin. tel: 666900. Strand Hotel 92 Strand Rd. tel: 243377. fax: 289880. Easy Expat Accommodation Specialist in Yangon. Tel: 09-730-33776. Eco-Apartment Fully Furnished Ga 21, Pearl Centre (Pearl Condo), Bahan Tsp. Tel: 557488. Espace Avenir No 523, Pyay Rd, Kamaryut Tsp. tel: 505213-222. Golden Hill Towers 24-26, Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd, Bahan Tsp. tel: 558556. ghtower@ mptmail.net.mm. Marina Residence 8, Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd, Mayangone Tsp. tel: 6506 51~4. fax: 650630. MiCasa Hotel Apartments 17, Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd, Yankin Tsp. tel: 650933. fax: 650960. Sakura Residence 9, Inya Rd, Kamaryut Tsp. tel: 525001. fax: 525002. The Grand Mee Ya Hta Executive Residence 372, Bogyoke Aung San Rd, Pabedan Tsp. tel 951-256355 (25 lines). fax: 951-256360. email: gmer@ mptmail.net.mm, www. grandmeeyahta.com Yangon City Villa (Residence) Pyay Rd, 8 Mile Junction, MYGN, tel: 513101

BARS
50th Street 9/13, 50th street-lower, Botataung Tsp. Tel-397160.

Green Garden Beer Gallery Mini Zoo, Karaweik Oo-Yin Kabar.

Emergency Numbers
Ambulance tel: 295133. Fire tel: 191, 252011, 252022. Police emergency tel: 199. Police headquarters tel: 282541, 284764. Red Cross tel:682600, 682368 Traffic Control Branch tel:298651 Department of Post & Telecommunication tel: 591384, 591387. Immigration tel: 286434. Ministry of Education tel:545500m 562390 Ministry of Sports tel: 370604, 370605 Ministry of Communications tel: 067-407037. Myanma Post & Telecommunication (MPT) tel: 067407007. Myanma Post & Tele-communication (Accountant Dept) tel: 254563, 370768. Ministry of Foreign Affairs tel: 067-412009, 067-412344. Ministry of Health tel: 067-411358-9. Yangon City Development Committee tel: 248112. HOSPITALS Central Womens Hospital tel: 221013, 222811. Children Hospital tel: 221421, 222807 Ear, Nose & Throat Hospital tel: 543888. Naypyitaw Hospital (emergency) tel: 420096. Workers Hospital tel: 554444, 554455, 554811. Yangon Children Hospital tel: 222807, 222808, 222809. Yangon General Hospital (East) tel: 292835, 292836, 292837. Yangon General Hospital (New) tel: 384493, 384494, 384495, 379109. Yangon General Hospital (West) tel: 222860, 222861, 220416. Yangon General Hospital (YGH) tel: 256112, 256123, 281443, 256131. ELECTRICITY Power Station tel:414235 POST OFFICE General Post Office 39, Bo Aung Kyaw St. (near British Council Library). tel: 285499. INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT Yangon International Airport tel: 662811. YANGON PORT Shipping (Coastal vessels) tel: 382722 RAILWAYS Railways information tel: 274027, 202175-8.

INYA1 Resturant & Bar No.(1), Inya Road, Kamayut Tsp. Tel: 01-527506 email: inyaone@gmail.com www.inya1.com

Strand Bar 92, Strand Rd, Yangon, Myanmar. tel: 243377.fax: 243393, sales@thestrand.com.mm www.ghmhotels.com

Lobby Bar PARKROYAL Yangon, Myanmar. 33, Alan Pya Phaya Road, Dagon Tsp. tel: 250388.

mt QuiCk guide
March 5 - 11, 2012
BEAUTY & MASSAGE
MYANMAR BOOK CENTRE Nandawun Compound, No. 55, Baho Road, Corner of Baho Road and Ahlone Road, (near Eugenia Restaurant), Ahlone Township. tel: 212 409, 221 271. 214708 fax: 524580. email: info@ myanmarbook.com
the

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COLD STORAGE ENTERTAINMENT GAS COOKER & COOKER HOODS
24 hours Laboratory & X-ray No. 330, Ground Flr, Yangon Intl Hotel, Ahlone Road, Dagon Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar. Tel: (951) 218388, (951) 218292 Fax: (951) 218389

A Little Dayspa No. 475 C, Pyi Road, (Between Sweety Home & Shwe Kant Kaw Silk) Kamayut, Yangon. Tel: 09-431-28831.

La Source Beauty Spa 80(A), Inya Rd, Kamayut. tel: 512 380, 511 252. Sedona Hotel, Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd. tel: 666 900 My Way Diamond Condo, Bld(A), Rm (G-02), Pyay Rd, Kamayut Tsp, Yangon. Ph: 52717, 09 51 70528

Building Materials

Est. 1992 in Myanmar Cold Storage Specialist, Solar Hot Water Storage Solutions. Tel: 09-504-2196, 09-73194828. E-mail: gei.ygn2@ gmail.com, glover2812@ gmail.com

Dance Lessons Mon-Fri 12:00 to 23:00. Sat-Sun 10 am to 8 pm Fun dancing Friday nights with Filipino musicians 4, U Tun Myat St, Tamwe. Tel: 01-541 550 The Uranium Dance Studio Pearl condo Bldg (C), 2nd flr, Bahan Tsp. Tel: 09731-42624, 09-514-0404.

Yangon : A-3, Aung San Stadium (North East Wing), Mingalartaungnyunt Tsp. Tel : 245543, 09-730-37772. Mandalay : Room No.(B,C) (National Gas), 35th St, Btw 80th & 81st, Chanayetharzan Tsp. Tel : 09-6803505, 02 34455, 36748, 71878.

DUTY FREE
Traders Hotel, 5th Floor Tel: 242828,Ext: Coreana. Sedona Hotel, Mandalay Ground Fl. Tel: 02-36488, Ext: Coreana Zamil Steel No-5, Pyay Road, 7 miles, Mayangone Tsp, Yangon. Tel: (95-1) 652502~04. Fax: (95-1) 650306. Email: zamilsteel@ zamilsteel.com.mm

GENERATORS

FITNESS CENTRE
Duty Free Airport Shopping Yangon International Airport Arrival / Departure. tel: 662676 (Airport). office: 90B/1, Inya Road, Kamayut Township. tel: 512534, 500143-5. Espace Avenir 523, Pyay Rd, Kamayut Tsp, Tel : 505214, 505222 FIT Club - Rm 101~3, Marina Residence, 8, Kaba Aye Pagoda Rd, Mayangone Tsp, Tel : 650634, 650651 Ext:102 Parkroyal Fitness & Spa Parkroyal Yangon. 33, Alan Pya Phaya Road, Dagon Tsp. Tel: 250388. Winning Way No. 589-592, Bo Aung Kyaw St, Yangon-Pathein highway Road. Hlaing Tharyar tsp. Tel: 951645178-182, 685199, Fax: 951-645211, 545278. e-mail: mkt-mti@ winstrategic.com.mm

Qi Foot Spa At Inya Lake Hotel, Yangon, Myanmar. Tel: +951-662866, 662857 Ext: 1725

24 hours Cancer centre No. 330, Yangon International Hotel, Ahlone Road, Dagon Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar. Tel: (951) 218388, 218292 Fax: (951) 218389

SR 22/1, Next to the Pearl Shopping Centre, Kaba Aye Pagoda Road, Bahan Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar. tel: 544 297, 549 527, 700 777 , fax: 558 044. email: eros@ mptmail.net.mm. www.erosspa.com

CAFS

EDUCATION CENTRE
Zen Wellness Care No.62 (A), Room-3, Yaw Min Gyi Street, Dagon Tsp, Yangon. Tel: +951-252939. La Brasserie (International) PARKROYAL Yangon. 33, Alan Pya Phaya Road, Dagon Tsp. tel : 250388. MHR Business & Management Institute 905, 9th floor, Modern Iron Market(Thanzay Condo) Lanmadaw St. tel: 707822. NELC (Nelson English Language Centre Young Learner & Adults No 53, Dhamayon Street, Myaynigone, Sanchaung Tsp. tel: 534287 NLEC 82 Anawrahta Rd, Corner of 39 St, Kyauktada Tsp. tel: 250225. RV! Centre Yangon Tel: 535433, 541886, 242410, 250388 Ext: 333. email: ask@rvcenre.com.sg The British Council 92, Strand Rd, Kyauktada Tsp. tel: 254658.

HOME FURNISHING

BATTERY
Lemon Day Spa No. 96 F, Inya Road, Kamaryut Tsp, Yangon. Tel: 514848, 09-732-08476. E.mail: lemondayspa.2011 @gmail.com Saw Peter Foot Reflexology Oil Massage, Body Massage, Foot Massage. Any time you want at your place. Tel : 09-518-8047.

Mr. Betchang No.(272), Pyay Rd, DNH Tower, Rm No.(503), 5th flr, Sanchaung Tsp, Tel: 095041216 The Yangon GYM Summit Parkview Hotel 350, Ahlone Rd, Dagon Tsp. tel: 211888, 211966. Traders Health Club. Level 5, Traders Hotel Yangon#223 Sule Pagoda Rd, Tel: 951 242828 Ext: 6561

22, Pyay Rd, 9 mile, Mayangone Tsp. tel: 660769, 664363. Home Plus Trading Co., Ltd. No. 457, Aung San Stadium, Mingalartungnyunt Tsp. tel: 394888. Fax: 393008.

24 hours Medical centre No. 330, Ground Flr, Yangon Intl Hotel, Ahlone Road, Dagon Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar. 24 hour Call Centre : (951) 218 445 Clinic : (959) 4921 8159 Office : (951) 218 446 Fax : (951) 218 389 www.leomedicare.com
Shimmering Gold Services Co., Ltd.
VICTORy FOR LIFE

BANGKOK, THAILAND

ISO 9001:2008 (QMS)

Proven Technology Industry Co., Ltd. No. FS 14, Bayintnaung Rd, Shwe Sabai Yeik Mon, Kamayut Tsp, Yangon. Tel: 951-951-701719~20, 527667, 531030, 531041, 530694. Fax: 527667, 531030. http//www. toyobatterymyanmar.com.

INYA1 Resturant & Bar No.(1), Inya Road, Kamayut Tsp. Tel: 01-527506 email: inyaone@gmail.com www.inya1.com Traders Caf Traders Hotel, Yangon. #223, Sule Pagoda Rd. Tel: 242828 ext: 6519

HEALTH SERVICES

FLORAL SERVICES

CHOCOLATE

81, Kaba Aye Pagoda Road, Bahan Township, Yangon. Tel: 548022, 542979, 553783, 09-8030847, 09-730-56079. Email: asiapacific. myanmar@gmail.com.

VEJTHANI MYANMAR REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE No.125(C), West Shwe Gon Dine Road, Bahan Township, Yangon, Myanmar. 01-3449977. Hot Line: 09-507-1111, 01-555448, 555998. vejthani@myanmar.com.mm www.vejthani.com

LEGAL SERVICE
U Min Sein, BSc, RA, CPA.,RL Advocate of the Supreme Court 83/14 Pansodan St, Yangon. tel: 253 273. uminsein@mptmail.net.mm

Inya Day Spa

BOOK STORES

ELECTRICAL

16/2, Inya Rd, Kamayut Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar. Tel: 537907, 503375.

Room - 4021, 3rd Floor, Taw Win Centre. Ph: 8600111 (Ext:4021), 09-803-2581.

Innwa Book Store No. 246, Rm.201/301, GF, Pansodan Street (Upper Block), Kyauktada Tsp. Tel. 389838, 243216, 374324, 514387

G-A, Ground Floor, Pearl Center, Kabaraye Pagoda Road, Yangon. Tel: 09 500 6880 Email: chocolateheaven. sale@gmail.com

Est. 1992 in Myanmar Electrical & Mechanical Contractors, Designers, Consultants. Tel: 09-504-2196, 09-73194828. E-mail: gei.ygn2@ gmail.com, glover2812@ gmail.com

Floral Service & Gift Shop No. 449, New University Avenue, Bahan Tsp. YGN. Tel: 541217, 559011, 09-860-2292. Market Place By City Mart Tel: 523840~43, 523845~46, Ext: 205. Junction Nay Pyi Taw Tel: 067-421617~18 422012~15, Ext: 235. Res: 067-414813, 09-49209039. Email : eternal@ mptmail.net.mm

Agent Office, 5th Floor, Junction Centre (Maw Tin), Lanmadaw Township, Yangon. Myanmar. Ph: 09-731-56770, 09-5117584, Fax: 01-516313, myanmarmeditour@gmail. com Bumrungrad Intl Rm 238, Summit Parkview Hotel, Dagon Tsp. tel: 723999, 211888. Ext: 8238.

MARINE COMMUNICATION & NAVIGATION

Floral Service & Gift Centre 102(A), Dhamazaydi Rd, Yangon.tel: 500142 Summit Parkview Hotel, tel: 211888, 211966 ext. 173 fax: 535376.email: sandy@ sandymyanmar.com.mm.

Top Marine Show Room No-385, Ground Floor, Lower Pazundaung Road, Pazundaung Tsp, Yangon. Ph: 01-202782, 09-851-5597

Foral Service & Gifts shop No.2, Corner of Khay Mar St & Baho Rd (Near Asia Royal Hospital), Sanchaung Tsp, Yangon. email: yangonflorist@ myanmar.com.mm. Tel: 01-510406, 09-73184714.

No. 365/367, Bo Aung Kyaw st (Upper), IHBC, Kyauktada Tsp. Tel: 392484 , 389824, 09803-0166. Fax: 392590. Email: radiant.aesthetics @gmail.com. Web: www. kembanganradiant.com

MARKET RESEARCH

MMRD Research BLDG C, New Mingalar Market, 10-story BLDG, 8 & 9 flr, Coner of Mill St & Banyardala Rd, Mingalar Taungnyunt Tsp. Tel: 200326, 200846, 201350. Fax: 202425.

FOAM SPRAY INSULATION

Acupuncture, Medicine Massage, Foot Spa Add:No,27(A),Ywa Ma Kyaung Street, Hlaing Township, Yangon. Tel: 01-511122, 526765. Piyavate Hospital (Bangkok) Myanmar Represent ative (Head office) Miba Gon Yee Business Group, No.506, 5th-fl, Yuzana Twin Tower, (No.8, Pangyan Tower) Cor of Dhama Zedi & Bargayar Rd, SCHG Tsp. Tel: 500600, 500800, 500900. Fax: 539799. hotline: +9595018777. piyavate@ myanmar.com.mm www.piyavate.com PHIH-Specialist Clinic FMI Centre (4th Floor) #380, Bogyoke Aung San Road, Pabedan Tsp. tel: 243 010, 243 012, 243 013

Media & Advertising

Foam Spray Insulation No-410, Ground Floor, Lower Pazuntaung Road, Pazuntaung Tsp, Yangon. Telefax : 01-203743, 09730-26245, 09-500-7681. Hot Line-09-730-30825.

FURNITURE
NatRay Co., Ltd. Rm 807, La Pyayt Wun Plaza. tel : 01-370833, 370836

Intuitive Design, Advertising, Interior Decoration Corporate logo/Identity/ Branding, Brochure/ Profile Booklet/ Catalogue/ Billboard, Corporate diary/ email newsletter/ annual reports, Magazine, journal advertisement and 3D presentation and detailed planning for any interior decoration works. Talk to us: (951) 430-897, 553-918 www.medialane.com.au 58B Myanma Gon Yaung Housing, Than Thu Mar Road, Tamwe, Yangon.

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mt QuiCk guide
March 5 - 11, 2012
Signature Near U Htaung Bo Round, about Bahan Tsp. tel: 546488, 543387.

MyanMar tiMes
SCHOOLS
Kangaroo Child Care 55, Aung Min Gaung 1st Rd, Kamayut Tsp. Tel: 501 568, 09 504 7732. Streamline Education 24, Myasabai Rd, Parami, Myangone Tsp. tel: 662304, 09-500-6916. No.35(b), Tatkatho Yeik Mon Housing, New University Avenue, Bahan Township, Yangon. Tel: 951-549451, 557219, 540730. www.yangon-academy.org

OFFICE FURNITURE
Schenker (Thai) Ltd. Yangon 59 A, U Lun Maung Street. 7 Mile Pyay Road, MYGN. tel: 667686, 666646.fax: 651250. email: sche nker@mptmail.net.mm.

Centure Office Furniture Monday to Saturday (9am to 6pm) No. 797, MAC Tower II, Room -4, Ground Floor, Bogyoke Aung San Road, Lamadaw Township, Yangon, Myanmar. Tel: (951) 212944 Ext: 303 sales.centuremyanmar@ gmail.com www.centure.in.th

Kohaku Japanese Restaurant Chatrium Hotel Royal Lake Yangon 40, Natmauk Road, Tamwe Tsp, Lobby Level, Tel: 544500 Ext 6231

PLEASURE CRUISES

Bo Sun Pat Tower, Bldg 608, Rm 6(B), Cor of Merchant Rd & Bo Sun Pat St, PBDN Tsp. Tel: 377263, 250582, 250032, 09-511-7876, 09-862-4563.

Bldg No. 12, Yangon Intl Compound, Ahlone Road. Tel: 09-431-85008, 09-731-60662. sales@corrianderleaf.com

ASIA Language & Business Academy (All classes are taught by native English-speaking teachers), No-66, Shwedagon Pagoda Road, Dagon Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar. Tel:+95-1376236, 376314, 384055. http://www.alba-edu.com

Enchanting and Romantic, a Bliss on the Lake 62 D, U Tun Nyein Road, Mayangon Tsp, Yangon Tel. 01 665 516, 660976 Mob. 09-512-7795 operayangon@gmail.com www.operayangon.com The Ritz Exclusive Lounge Chatrium Hotel Royal Lake Yangon 40, Natmauk Road, Tamwe Tsp, Ground Floor, Tel: 544500 Ext 6243, 6244 Horizon Intl School 25, Po Sein Road, Bahan Tsp, tel : 541085, 551795, 551796, 450396~7. fax : 543926, email : contact@horizonmyanmar. com, www.horizon.com ILBC 180, Thunandar 9th Lane, Thumingalar Housing, Thingungyung.tel: 562401.

SOLAR SYSTEM

RESTAURANTS

Moby Dick Tours Co., Ltd. Islands Safari in the Mergui Archipelago 4 Days, 6 Days, 8 Days Trips Tel: 95 1 202063, 202064 E-mail: mobydicktours@ gmail.com. Website: www. moby-dick-adventures.com

24 hours open. 5, Alan Pya Phaya Rd, Dagon Tsp, inside Thamada Hotel. tel 243640, 243047, Ext: 32.

The Brightest AC CFL Bulb 21, 9th street, Lanmadaw Tsp. Ph: 212243, 216861, 216864. spsolarstation@gmail.com www.spsolarstation.com

22, Kaba Aye Pagoda Rd, Bahan Tsp. tel 541997. email: leplanteur@ mptmail.net.mm. http://leplanteur.net Tiger Hill Chinese Restaurant Chatrium Hotel Royal Lake Yangon 40, Natmauk Road, Tamwe Tsp, Lobby Level, Tel: 544500 Ext 6253 Traders Gourmet Corner Level 1, Traders Hotel, #223 Sule Pagoda Road, Kyauktada Tsp. Tel : 242828 ext : 6503 Traders Gallery Bar Level 2, Traders Hotel, #223 Sule Pagoda Road. tel: 242 828. ext: 6433 Traders Lobby Lounge Level 1, Traders Hotel, #223 Sule Pagoda Road. tel: 242 828. ext: 6456

STEEL CONSTRUCTION

City Mart (78th Brahch-Mandalay) tel: 02-71467~9. (9:00 am to 10:00 pm) IKON Mart IKON Trading Co., Ltd. No.332, Pyay Rd, San Chaung P.O (11111), Yangon, Myanmar. Tel: 95-1-535783, 527705, 501429. Fax: 95-1-527705. Email: salesikon@myanmar.com.mm Ocean Supercentre (North Point ), 9th Mile, Mayangone Tsp. tel: 651 200, 652963. Pick n Pay Hyper Market Bldg (A,B,C), (14~16), Shwe Mya Yar Housing, Mya Yar Gone St, Mingalartaungnyunt Tsp. Tel: 206001~3, Fax: 9000199 Sein Gay Har 44, Pyay Rd, Dagon Tsp. tel: 383812, 379823. Super 1 (Kyaikkasan) 65, Lay Daunt Kan St, Ph: 545871~73 Super 1 (Shwe Bonthar) 397, Bogyoke Aung San St, Pabedan. Ph: 250268~29 Victoria Shwe Pone Nyet Yeik Mon, Bayint Naung Rd, Kamaryut Tsp. tel : 515136.

Lunch/Dinner/Catering 555539, 536174 Road to Mandalay Myanmar Hotels & Cruises Ltd. Governors Residence 39C, Taw Win Road, Dagon Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar. tel: (951) 229860 fax: (951) 217361. email: RTMYGN@mptmail.net.mm www.orient-express.com Black Canyon Coffee & International Thai Cuisine 330, Ahlone Rd, Dagon Tsp. Tel: 0980 21691, 395052. email: blackcanyon@ yangon. net.mm.

No.5, U Htun Nyein St, Kaba Aye Pagoda Rd, Mayangone Tsp, Yangon. Tel: 656611, 09-431-35406. Email: info@ mesamisyangon.com Monsoon Restaurant & Bar 85/87, Thein Byu Road, Botahtaung Tsp. Tel: 295224, 09-501 5653.

ILBC IGCSE SCHOOL No.(34), Laydauntkan Road, Tamwe Tsp, Yangon. Tel: 542982, 545720, 549106,545736,400156 Fax: 541040 Email: info@ilbc.net.mm www.ilbcedu.com ISM Intl School W 22/24, Mya Kan Thar Housing, Hlaing Tsp. tel:530082, 530083. International School Yangon 20, Shwe Taung Kyar St, Bahan Tsp. Tel: 512793.

PEB Steel Buildings 60 (A), Halpin Road, Yangon. Tel: 01-218223, 218224. Fax: 218224. marketing@pebsteel.com. mm www.pebsteel.com.mm

TRAVEL AGENTS

SUPERMARKETS
Asia Light 106, Set Yone Rd.tel: 294074, 294083. Capital Hyper Mart 14(E), Min Nandar Road, Dawbon Tsp. Ph: 553136. City Mart (Aung San Branch) tel: 253022, 294765. (9:00 am to 9:00 pm) City Mart (47th St Branch) tel: 200026, 298746. (9:00 am to 9:00 pm) City Mart (Junction 8 Branch) tel: 650778. (9:00 am to 9:00 pm) City Mart (FMI City Branch) tel: 682323. City Mart (Yankin Center Branch) tel: 400284. (9:00 am to 9:00 pm) City Mart (Myaynigone Branch) tel: 510697. (9:00 am to 10:00 pm) City Mart (Zawana Branch) tel:564532. (9:00 am to 9:00 pm) City Mart (Shwe Mya Yar Branch) tel: 294063. (9:00 am to 9:00 pm) City Mart (Chinatown Point Branch) tel: 215560~63. (9:00 am to 10:00 pm) City Mart (Junction Maw Tin Branch) tel: 218159. (9:00 am to 9:00 pm) City Mart (Marketplace) tel: 523840~43. (9:00 am to 10:00 pm)

Asian Trails Tour Ltd 73 Pyay Rd, Dagon tsp. tel: 211212, 223262. fax: 211670. email: res@ asiantrails.com.mm Htoo Travels 209/c, first flr, Shwe Gonedaing Rd, Bahan. Tel: 548554, 548039. Sun Far Travels & Tours 27, Ground flr, 38th st, Kyauktada Tsp. Tel: 380888.

PAINT
No.430(A), Corner of Dhamazedi Rd & Golden Valley Rd, Building(2) Market Place (City Mart), Bahan Tsp, Yangon. Tel : 01-523840(Ext-309), 09-73208079.

TOP MARINE PAINT No-410, Ground Floor, Lower Pazundaung Road, Pazundaung Tsp, Yangon. Ph: 09-851-5202

REMOVALISTS

Crown Worldwide Movers Ltd 790, Rm 702, 7th Floor Danathiha Centre, Bogyoke Aung San Road, Lanmadaw Township. tel: 223288, 210 670, 227650. ext: 702. fax: 229212. email: crown worldwide@mptmail.net.mm

Italian delicatesse & Ice-cream No.150, Dhamazadi Rd, Bahan Tsp. (Monunent Book Shop) Open Daily 9:00am to 7:00pm. Italian Ice-cream, Pasta, Pizza & Bar (2) G/F, City Mart, Myaynigone Centre. tel : 508469, 508470 ext. 113 Open Daily 9:00am to 10:00pm.

No. 105/107, Kha-Yae-Bin Road. between Pyi Daung Su Yeik Tha (Halpin) and Manawhari Road/Ahlone Road, Dagon Tsp. Tel/Fax: 538895, Tel: 09730-29973, 09-540-9469.
padonmar.restaurant@ gmail.com. www.myanmarrestaurantpadonmar.com

Admissions Office: No. 44, Than Lwin Road, Bahan Township, Yangon. Tel: 535433, 09-850-3073. Email: rviacademygn@ rvcentre.com.sg

WATER HEATERS

Legendary Myanmar Intl Shipping & Logistics Co., Ltd. No-9, Rm (A-4), 3rd Flr, Kyaung St, Myaynigone, Sanchaung Tsp, Yangon. Tel: 516827, 523653, 516795. Mobile. 09-512-3049. Email: legandarymyr@ mptmail.net .mm www.LMSL-shipping.com

House of Memories Piano Bar & Restaurant Myanmar Cuisine & International Food 290, U Wizara Rd, Kamaryut Tsp, Yangon. tel: 525 195, 534 242. e-mail: houseofmemories 9@gmail.com

Pansweltaw Express Cafe: 228, Ahlone Rd, Ahlone Tsp. Tel: 215363 (1)-Rm-309, 3rd flr, Ocean, East Point Shopping Center, Pazundaung Tsp. Tel: 397900 Ext: 309. (2)G-Flr, Ocean North Point Shopping Center. Tel:652959, 652960, Ext: 133. www.pansweltaw.com E-mail: pansweltaw@ myanmar.com.mm

1. WASABI : No.20-B, Kaba Aye Pagoda Rd, Yankin Tsp,(Near MiCasa), Tel; 666781,09-503-9139 2. WASABI SUSHI : Market Place by City Mart (1st Floor). Tel; 09-430-67440 Myaynigone (City Mart) Yankin Center (City Mart) Junction Mawtin (City Mart)

95, Anawrahta Rd. Tel:296552, 293754. 336, Pyay Rd, Sanchaung Tsp. Tel: 526456. New University Avenue, 551521, 551951, 553896. U Wisara Rd, Tel: 524599, 501976.

The Global leader in Water Heaters A/1, Aung San Stadium East Wing, Upper Pansodan Road. Tel: 251033, 09-730-25281.

Same as Rinnai Gas cooker and cooker Hood Showroom Address

Water Heater

WEB SERVICES

Phoenix Court (Chinese) PARKROYAL Yangon. 33, Alan Pya Phaya Road, Dagon Tsp. tel: 250388.

Kandawgyi (Royal Lake) Park, Yangon. (opposite of Eye Hospital) Ph: 556837, 556838. Fax: 556875. E-mail: whitericeyangon@gmail.com www.whiterice-myanmar. com

LANGUAGE
Bilingual Language Centre Teaching Myanmar to Non-Myanmar No.7 (Gournd Floor), Thu-Kha-Main Street, Myaynigone, San Chaung. Tel: 09-500-6431, nyalinphyu@gmail.com

INYA1 Resturant & Bar No.(1), Inya Road, Kamayut Tsp. Tel: 01-527506 email: inyaone@gmail.com www.inya1.com

Shiki-Tel (Japanese) PARKROYAL Yangon. 33, Alan Pya Phaya Road, Dagon Tsp. tel: 250388.

Yangon International School Fully Accredited K-12 International Curriculum with ESL support No.117,Thumingalar Housing, Thingangyun Township, Yangon. Tel: 578171, 573149 www.yismyanmar.net Yangon International School New Early Childhood Center Pan Hlaing Golf Estate Housing & U Tun Nyo Street, Hlaing Thar Yar Township, Yangon. Tel: 687701, 687702

World-class Web Services Tailor-made design, Professional research & writing for Brochure/ Catalogue/e-Commerce website, Customised business web apps, online advertisement and anything online. Talk to us: (951) 430-897, 553-918 www.medialane.com.au 58B Myanma Gon Yaung Housing. Than Thu Mar Road, Tamwe, Yangon.

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previously worked as a youth academy director for Yangon United FC, giving them a slight advantage of some familiarity with Myanmar National League clubs. YUFC were not well prepared for the match with the team losing four influential players in Kyi Lin, David Htan, Yan Aung Win and Kaung Si Thu to the national U-21 squad for the Brunei Cup. Another player, Khin Maung Lwin, was out injured. I am very upset about having to lose five players, four for Brunei and one injured, the head coach of YUFC, Mr Eric Williams, said. He also had an eye on the next MNL match against Yadanarbon FC as it is a crucial one for the league. Forced to prioritise, Mr Williams fielded a second string squad against BEC Tero Sasana. For us the more important thing is to win at Yadanarbon. Thats why I changed so many players, he said. Mr Ord also rested many of his regular players, giving chances to some of the teams younger players. I used young players in the game because I would like to see them [in action]; I found them satisfactory, he said. With the absence of the wingers Kyi Lin and David Htan, YUFCs left and right attacks were visibly blunted. In midfield the players battled hard to keep possession in the face of sustained pressure from the Thai side but the difference between the teams was telling as YUFC struggled against Tero Sasanas passing and teamwork. It took 23 minutes for Ponlachai to head the ball into YUFCs net for the opening goal. The second goal came late in the second half on 83 minutes when Cleiton Augusto rounded Saw El Htoo, YUFCs goal keeper, and almost snatched a second when the keeper came rushing past his defenders to take on the

MyanMar tiMes

Thais dish out friendly punishment


By Aung Si Hein THAILANDS Premier League club, BEC Tero Sasana, ended their run of friendly games in Myanmar by beating Yangon United FC 2-0 at the local clubs home stadium on February 27. As a long-standing top level football club in Thailand, reaching eighth position in the league last season and two players selected for the national team, BEC Tero Sasana proved stiff competition for Myanmar teams. Their first friendly was with Ayeyarwady United FC handing out a 5-1 drubbing at Yangons Aung San stadium on February 23. They also went to Mandalay to play Yadanarbon FC on February 25, giving Mandalay spectators a chance to cheer Tero Sasana as the teams owner, Mr Bryan Marker, was born in Mandalay. The head coach, Mr Andrew O rd, h ad also

A YUFC player (2nd right) swings in a cross during the friendly match against BEC Tero Sasana at in Yangon on February 27 Pic: Boothee forward. YUFC did manage to pose a threat to Tero Sasana but couldnt turn any chances into goals. We just couldnt score today. We missed two sure chances in the first half and in the second too, Mr Williams said. After the game, Mr Ord said that if YUFC kept playing at the same standard, they could prove difficult opponents in the upcoming AFC cup. However, YUFCs first match in the competition, playing on March 7, is against Chonburi FC, runners-up in the Thai Premier League. Our club has two players selected for the national team whereas Chonburi has six and many experienced players. Yangon United will have to prepare well, he said. I hope our players in the Brunei cup could come back for the match with Chonburi, said Mr Williams, but if the U-21 squad goes all the way to the semi-final, they wont.

Indonesia FA denies graft accusations in 10-0 rout


JAKARTA Indonesian football authorities on March 2 denied any foul play in the national teams 10-0 thrashing by Bahrain, after world governing body FIFA announced an inquiry and fans expressed outrage. The Gulf side needed to win by a ninegoal margin to have any hope of going through to the last round of Asian zone qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup finals, while Indonesia had already been eliminated from the tournament. Indonesias football association (PSSI) has long been mired in graft scandals, but the head of its disciplinary committee Bernhard Limbong told AFP: Theres no way corruption is involved in this. I know because I was involved in organising the match. If anyone did that, they would be a traitor to Indonesia. I would like to apologise to the whole nation for the defeat and for making Indonesia look like a total loser. Before the game the two teams had a head-to-head record of two wins apiece and two draws, but Indonesia went down to a flurry of goals after their starting keeper was sent off two minutes into the match. FIFA said it was mounting its investigation given the unusual outcome in relation to the resultsexpectation and head-to-head history and in the interests of maintaining unequivocal confidence in our game. Limbong said: We welcome FIFA to carry out the required investigation on the matter. If there is any evidence to prove that corruption was involved, please let us know. But please dont jump to conclusions. He added that the PSSI would protest the goalkeepers sending-off to FIFA. In the event, the result was academic, with Bahrains rivals Qatar going through when a goal four minutes from time in Tehran earned them a 2-2 draw with Iran. But Indonesians ridiculed the result on Twitter. Wait, 10-0 Bahrain vs Indonesia. Is this football as in soccer, right? Not American football, avianto tweeted in English. The PSSI has come under fire in recent years over corruption allegations, leadership tussles and most recently a breakaway super league that has prompted threats of sanctions by FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation. The countrys coordinating minister for the economy Hatta Rajasa said he was surprised by the score and hoped it was embarrassing enough for the troubled sporting body to reform. Indonesian football needs to be better managed and better regulated, Rajasa said. Its sad to see a score of 10-0. Its not basketball, its football. AFP

$3bn spent on transfers in 2011: FIFA


PARIS More than US$3 billion was spent in 2011 on international football transfers, FIFA said on March 1, as it published its first full-year report on player moves worldwide. The report highlighted that the average annual salary of a professional footballer was $244,000 but was skewed upwards by a handful of high-earning top stars. In reality, the median salary was just $43,000. Similarly, high transfer fees of leading players distorted the average cost of moves. The average was $1.5 million but only 14 percent involved any financial compensation. AFP

tImESsPORt
Clinical French see off depleted Germany
Arjen Robben (3rd left) of The Netherlands scores the opening goal against England at Wembley Stadium in London on February 29. Pic: AFP By Ryland James BREMEN, Germany France gave themselves a pre-Euro 2012 boost with a 2-1 friendly win over an injury-depleted Germany in Bremen on February 29 as the Germans suffered their first defeat in 11 games. A first-half goal by Frances Olivier Giroud, who then set up substitute Florent Malouda for the second, inflicted the first defeat on Joachim Loews Germany since they were beaten by the same margin by Australia last March. Germanys Brazil-born striker Cacau scored a late consolation for the hosts, but the French deserved the win. It was a disciplined performance from France who open their Euro 2012 campaign against England in Donetsk on June 11 and Laurent Blancs side dominated a weakened German team lacking five firstchoice players. Germany were missing captain Philipp Lahm, his deputy Bastian Schweinsteiger, midfielders Mario Goetze and Lukas Podolski, plus defender Per Mertesacker with injury, but their replacements failed to cope with the French. Loew opted to give youth a chance in midfield with Moenchengladbachs exciting prospect Marco Reus alongside Real Madrids skilled playmaker Mesut Ozil and Leverkusens Andre Schuerrle but it was only Ozil who really tested the French. France were also missing injured pair Madrids Karim Benzema and Marseilles Loic Remy. Germany had a couple of early chances, but the French took the lead after a superb run from Montpelliers Mathieu Valbuena who found his club teammate Giroud unmarked to bury his shot past Wiese on 21 minutes. Ozil attempted a long-range strike on the stroke of half-time which flew the wrong side of the post as it finished 1-0 to the French at the break. Loew switched Miroslav Klose for Bayern striker Mario Gomez, who took over the captains armband, after the break and Blanc swapped Paris Saint Germains Jeremy Menez for Franck Ribery on the left wing. The second goal came when Giroud played the ball into Malouda who managed to scramble the ball over the line with the help of the crossbar on 69 minutes. It could have been more as only the offside flag prevented Tottenham Hotspurs veteran striker Louis Saha getting the third after he found the net with time almost up while Cacau grabbed the Germans consolation on 91 minutes. AFP

March 5 - 11, 2012

Robben double sinks England


By Rob Woollard LONDON Arjen Robben scored twice as the Netherlands overcame a brave England fightback to win a thrilling friendly international 3-2 at Wembley on February 29. England, playing their first match of the post-Fabio Capello era, looked to have snatched a draw after goals in the final five minutes from Gary Cahill and Ashley Young cancelled out efforts from Robben and KlaasJan Huntelaar. But just as Youngs injurytime equaliser had sent a 76,283 Wembley crowd into raptures, Holland swept forward and Robben latched onto a Mark van Bommel pass to curl a superb winner beyond Joe Hart. It was the dramatic final act of a memorable game which had seen England haul themselves back to parity after Holland had appeared to be coasting to victory. England caretaker manager Stuart Pearce said his youthful sides naivety had been responsible for the defeat. We probably showed a little bit of naivety and a slight lack of belief, Pearce said. Thats something weve got to get into the squad, going forward. Once wed got ourselves back into the game, were disappointed to have been beaten. But there were a few good showings, we learned a lot and that was the exercise. Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk meanwhile praised his sides performance as they banished the memory of their last international, a 3-0 defeat to Germany. We lost against Germany on the counter-attack and we didnt want to lose on counter attack here ... you have to defend against England as they have a lot of very fast players and thats a weapon. But we were happy to play our football, and the pitch was unbelievably good, he added. Pearce had named an experimental side, opting for Tottenhams Scott Parker as captain ahead of Steven Gerrard while handing starts to international novices Danny Welbeck, Chris Smalling, Cahill and Leighton Baines. A low key first half had seen England make the brighter start even if genuine goalscoring chances were thin on the ground for the home side. However in a foreshadowing of what was to come, the best chance of the first half fell to Robben after 14 minutes, the former Chelsea player turning Micah Richards and forcing Hart to save smartly at his near post. Thereafter England were on top but tellingly never really tested Stekelenburg in the Dutch goal. Pearce was given cause for alarm after only 33 minutes however when Gerrard, making his first start for England since 2010, was substituted as a precaution to be replaced by Sturridge. Sturridge however made an instant impact, embarrassing Erik Pieters for pace before firing in a low centre across the face of goal. Parker meanwhile found himself on the receiving end of a brutal challenge from Kuyt, the Liverpool player taking out the Spurs midfielder with a flying leap that somehow escaped a caution. But early in the second half England were exposed as the Dutch cut loose with deadly accuracy, Robben and substitute Huntelaar scoring in rapid succession. Robben drew first blood with a superb individual effort on 57 minutes. The Bayern Munich winger picked up a stray England pass inside his own half, surged forward and as Cahill and Smalling backed off, fired an unstoppable low shot beyond Hart. England had barely had time to digest that setback before it was 2-0. Schalke 04 striker Huntelaar who had replaced Arsenals Robin van Persie at half-time swept a pass out to Dirk Kuyt on the right flank. Kuyt returned the compliment with a teasing cross and Huntelaar leapt high to nod past Hart to double Hollands lead. The goal came at a cost for both sides, Huntelaar and Smalling being substituted after a sickening clash of heads which left both players needing hospital treatment. England had their chances to get back in the match, but subsitute Stewart Downing volleyed wide from James Milners cross while Daniel Sturridge, who had replaced Gerrard midway through the first half was responsible for a glaring miss late on with the goal at his mercy. But England finally got on the scoresheet on 85 minutes when Baines picked out Cahill and the Chelsea defender beat the offside trap to slot past Maarten Stekelenburg. Then in the first minute of stoppage time, substitute Phil Jones slipped in Young who lifted his shot over Stekelenburg for a scarcely credible equaliser. Englands joy was short-lived as Robben conjured up another magical finish to give the World Cup finalists a deserved win. AFP

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MyanMar tiMes March 5 - 11, 2012
the wish of our government, he said. Confidence is very important for national reconciliation in our country. Civil war has gripped parts of Myanmar since independence in 1948 and an end to the conflicts as well as alleged human rights abuses involving the military is a key demand of the international community. U Thein Sein a former prime minister who came to power almost a year ago after decades of military rule has launched efforts to end ethnic conflict as part of a raft of reforms. The new government has reached tentative peace deals with several rebel groups including in eastern Karen and Shan states, but bloody fighting in Kachin State has overshadowed reconciliation efforts. A presidential order issued in mid-December for the military to cease attacks against Kachin guerrillas failed to stop heavy fighting in the region, according to the rebels. U Thein Sein acknowledged that the unrest had not yet ended but said he had instructed the military not to engage in combat except in self-defence. Fighting will not stop by pointing the finger of blame at each other, he added. Ceasefires are needed on both sides first for political dialogue ... We all have to work so our ethnic youths who held guns stand tall holding laptops. Myanmars regime held initial peace talks with representatives of the Kachin Independence Organisation in January in China, with the two sides agreeing to hold further negotiations in search of an end to the conflict. Last week Daw Aung San Suu Kyi herself sometimes distrusted by ethnic minorities appealed for unity among the countrys different groups as she campaigned in Kachin State ahead of April 1 by-elections. AFP

U Thein Sein vows focus on reconciliation, equality


NAY PYI TAW President U Thein Sein said last week that his government wanted equal rights for ethnic minorities, the latest conciliatory gesture from the regime to armed ethnic groups. U Thein Sein said in a speech to parliament on March 1 that the authorities needed to end the misunderstanding with ethnic minorities, which he said was due to a lack of dialogue. The expectation of ethnic groups is to get equal rights for all. Equal standards are also

Wage debate continues after presidential address


By Soe Than Lynn THE presidents address to the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw was for the most part well-received by parliamentarians last week, particularly its strong focus on national reconciliation. But the sections of U Thein Seins March 1 speech that touched on the issue that has divided Nay Pyi Taw over the past month pay rises for civil servants drew fewer plaudits, with most representatives In recent weeks the government and Pyidaungsu Hluttaw have engaged in a highly charged debate over the issue of salaries, with Pyithu Hluttaw Speaker Thura U Shwe Mann declaring an immediate pay rise essential for fighting corruption and Minister for Finance and Revenue U Hla Tun arguing it would be fiscally irresponsible. The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw has approved Thura U Shwe Manns motion to raise the minimum governement salary to K100,000 a month by scaling down or suspending unnecessary government projects but it remains unclear whether the government will implement the plan. President U Thein Sein said on March 1 that his government would try to increase salaries and allowances at a right time depending on our macroeconomic situation, including foreign debt and budget deficit. The president said the debate about pay rises had already caused commodity prices to skyrocket and the government had to consider the 96.7 percent of the population who were not civil servants. Representatives said they believed the comments constituted a pledge to raise salaries but express frustration at the lack of a time frame or pay rise scale. Amyotha Hluttaw representative U Khet Htein Nan told The Myanmar Times the speech was good, particularly on national reconciliation, but he did not agree with the assessment on pay rises. I liked the sections

Myanmars economic promise faces pitfalls


By Richard Sargent NAY PYI TAW Resourcerich Myanmar is seen as a hot new business frontier as reforms tempt investors, but with currency distortions and a banking system in tatters, analysts warn the economy could be slow to bloom. International economic experts meeting in the capital Nay Pyi Taw last week agreed there was almost a contagious faith in the countrys potential as it opens up after years of isolation. Aside from its abundant natural resources, including oil and minerals, Myanmar has huge scope to develop its tourism industry after years of boycotts against the former government. The country was once known as the rice bowl of Asia because of its agricultural riches. But economic mismanagement during nearly 50 years of direct military rule have left the country deeply impoverished. But as a new government pushes through political reforms at a rate that has stunned observers, many hope it can take advantage of its opportunities and a strategic location between China and India. In many ways it is well-positioned to provide enormous investment opportunities, Nobel Prizewinning economist Joseph Stiglitz, of New Yorks Columbia University, said at the meeting of experts. The fact that there has been so little investment in the past means the potential returns are very high. The government, which remains dominated by former generals, took power last year and has since been hailed for reforms such as the release of hundreds of political prisoners. Western countries are now considering lifting economic sanctions, fuelling the huge growth in interest by outside business. Myanmars government said in January that it planned to offer eight-year tax exemptions to foreign investors as Western companies rushed to build ties with the one-time international pariah. The International Monetary Fund has pointed to Myanmars high growth potential, estimating real gross domestic product growth in the 2011-12 fiscal year could hit 5.5 percent. But it said currency reform is a priority in the country, which currently has an informal exchange rate almost 100 times better than the official one. Its a view shared by Stiglitz, who stresses the need for not only the unification of the foreign exchange but bringing down the foreign exchange rate, which is adversely affecting the competitiveness of their economy. Myanmars banking system is almost nonexistent following a major crisis in 2003. A recent report by the British risk analysis group Maplecroft said Myanmar has the worlds worst legal system for doing business, retaining a position it has held for the past five years despite recent reforms. The country must also professionalise its administration, which is stamped with a military culture and chronically under-skilled. The political changes in a way have gone very well and the story is relatively wellknown now, said Myanmar historian Thant Myint-U. But the economic story is still very murky. I think the government is trying to undertake a lot of very wideranging reforms but how its actually going to come together, how its actually going to strengthen not weaken the political process, I think remains to be seen. The government of President U Thein Sein appears to be pulling out all the stops to persuade the European Union and United States to lift sanctions. All eyes are now on April 1 by-elections, which opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been allowed to contest after years of detention and marginalisation. If the vote is perceived as free and fair, the country is likely to be rewarded by a further thawing of international relations and more foreign direct investment. We have to make sure its responsible, that it is not just coming here for a very short term and then just run away with the profits, said Myanmar economist Dr Aung Htun Thet. But we really want serious partners. AFP

Myanmars President U Thein Sein (bottom C) greets members of parliament after he delivered a speech at the Union Parliament in Naypyidaw on March 1, 2012. Pic: AFP PHOTO / SOE THAN WIN about how they would try to bring peace and economic development to our country, he said. But I believe that the advantages [of a pay rise] will outweigh the disadvantages ... [inflation and commodity price rises] will have to be handled whenever pay rises are done, so it is better if it is done now. But U Sai Hsaung Hsi, th e r epr esen tativ e for Kyaukme, said a wellmanaged pay hike would not necessarily result in prices rising. It may be true if money is printed to pay for pay raises. But there will be no inflation if budgets are changed without affecting the GDP-to-deficit ratio, he said. Commodity prices went up a few days ago not because of news about pay raises but because of the exchange rate for [US dollars] sharply fluctuating from K760 to K830. Traders also cannot increase prices in a market economy where there is strong competition. Representative U Ye Tun urged the government to improve its tax collection system in order to raise the funds for a pay rise. Previously when there was a pay rise it was financed by printing new bills because extra revenue could not be collected, he said. Collecting revenue doesnt mean collecting it from public. There is a lot of money that doesnt go into the governments treasury even though it is from the public. Just look at the list of Myanmars top 10 taxpayers where are the well-known business tycoons? There are clearly some rich people who are evading paying tax. He said border trade tax collection also needed to be improved. If the full amount of revenue is collected and new bills are not printed, commodity prices wont go up, he said. Representative U Sai Thiha Kyaw said parliamentarians had expected too much from the presidents speech. The hluttaw will proceed with discussing budgets as planned; it will revoke things that should be revoked, it will withdraw things that should be withdrawn, he said. The motion about pay raises has already been approved so it cant be revoked. But we have to wait and see to what extent the government will carry it out. Translated by Thit Lwin

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March 5 - 11, 2012
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Secret ballot retained in ward, village admin bill


By Soe Than Lynn WARD and village tract officials will in future be elected through secret ballot, after the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw last week narrowly voted down a proposal from President U Thein Seins office that local officials be selected partly through negotiation. The Ward and Village Tract Administration Bill had already been approved but was resubmitted to parliament by the presidents office with the recommendation that secret ballot system be changed to negotiated selection system. However, lawmakers voted down the proposal 278 to 236, with 12 representatives abstaining from the February 22 vote. Section 7(c) of chapter 4 of the bill states that each group of 10 households is required to submit the name and personal details of a person living in their ward or village tract who meets the criteria to be an administrator. The proposed amendment would have resulted in these nominees being selected through negotiation rather than a vote a provision contained in the original draft submitted to the hluttaw by the government but later amended by lawmakers. Speaker U Khin Aung Myint floated the idea of allowing communities to choose which method they preferred to use but this was also rejected. The comment of the president was reasonable in terms of procedures, said U Aung Thein, the representative for Ywarngan. However, in practice it could result in people being too afraid to speak out or simply following what other people do. It could allow officials to use their power to influence [the selection of administrators]. Only secret ballot system can reveal their true wishes for selecting a leader of a ward or village tract. It will reduce the likelihood of problems later on between administrators and residents. A negotiated selection system cannot prevent inappropriate use of influence to affect the result. Only a secret ballot system can revealed the true desire of the community, said U Tun Aung Kyaw, representative of Ponnagyun in Rakhine State. But not all were happy with the change. U Mann Kan Nyunt from Kayin State Constituency 2 said he supported the presidents proposed amendment because organising secret ballots was a financial and organisational burden. I feel sad that the hluttaw did not support the presidents proposal, said U Mann Kan Nyunt. U Thein Nyunt of Thingangyun argued that a secret ballot was fundamental to democracy. Our country is reportedly on the path to democratisation, we have started a transition to democracy this is what the president has said. So what is the essence of democracy? The secret ballot is the only free and fair way for people to elect their leaders. This is the essence of democracy. The amendment of Pyiduangsu Hluttaw is in harmony with the democratic way. And there will be many serious problems if we put both systems in the bill, he said. Translated by Zar Zar Soe

Commission confirms Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as candidate


By Kyaw Hsu Mon THE election commission has officially endorsed Daw Aung San Suu Kyis candidacy for the April 1 by-elections, after a rival candidate sought to have her removed from the race for accepting funds from a foreign organisation. The southern district election commission office in Yangon Regions Thanlyin township posted the announcement in its office on February 28, U Nyan Win, a spokesperson for the NLD, said the following day. The announcement that the election commission accepted Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as a candidate was put up in the commission office late on February 28, he said. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will contest the seat of Kawhmu in Yangon Region. In the early weeks of February, U Tin Yi, a member of Unity and Peace Party, filed an objection against Daw Aung San Suu Kyis candidacy on the grounds that she did not conform to the Pyithu Hluttaw Election Law. U Tin Yi submitted the objection on February 6, arguing that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was not eligible to stand as a candidate because she contravened section 10(g) of the Pyithu Hluttaw Election Law, which bars anybody entitled to enjoy the rights and privileges of a subject of a foreign government or a citizen of a foreign country. In his letter of complaint, U Tin Yi also said she had received cash prizes from more than 100 international awards and these had not yet been transferred to a bank in Myanmar. He alleged that she accepted grant money from overseas organisations and that a person from the United States named Philip Robertson had secretly sent US$80,000 more than a decade ago. Under section 10(h) of the Pyithu Hluttaw Election Law, anybody who obtains and utilises directly or indirectly the support of money, land, housing, building, vehicle, property from any individual of a foreign country is barred from running as a candidate. U Tin Yi had submitted articles from state-run media published in 1999 and 2000 and transcripts of press conferences as evidence to back up his claim. The election commission dismissed the objection on February 11 after discussing the objection with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi but did not immediately confirm her eligibility. The commission office has now announced [she is a candidate] because the objection did not have strong evidence, said U Nyan Win. Translated by Thiri Min Htun

88 Generation leader Min Ko Naing speaks at an event in Kachin State on February 24, with the Myitsone in the background. Pic: Shwe Yinn Mar Oo

Ayeyarwady campaign a river of collaboration, says Min Ko Naing


By Shwe Yinn Mar Oo POLITICAL activist Min Ko Naing paid tribute the spirit of unity exhibited by the government, the president and the people at an event held in Kachin State last month to express gratitude for the decision to suspend work on the US$3.6 billion Myitsone dam. The project that would block the Ayeyarwady River was prevented in the end because the government, the president and the people all worked together, Min Ko Naing said at the event held at Tanphe village, where the Maykha and Maylikha rivers join at Myitsone to form the Ayeyarwady. A river of collaboration joined forces to prevent the blockage; it was so auspicious, the 88 Generation student activist said, referring to the national outpouring of emotion which preceded the decision announced by President U Thein Sein on September 30 to suspend the dam. The February 24 event, held on a hillock within view of the dam site, was attended by about 100 people, most of them Kachin in traditional attire. Also present were members of the 88 Generation student group, environmentalists, writers, poets, cartoonists and artists. Speaking from a stage featuring a banner reading Echo of gratitude for Myitsone, Min Ko Naing spoke of the power that comes when individuals are united. Though you have no power, there will be influence if you are united, he said. What is important is that all agree with each other; if you share the same feelings, you will overcome everything. Min Ko Naing expressed gratitude to those involved in the campaign against the dam. I thank the experts and citizens who focused on the future of children yet to be born, rather than on the matter of money, for being far-sighted, he said. National unity is important, Min Ko Naing said. It was launched from the Myitsone and it continued flowing; let us cherish what was achieved for ever. Veteran environmentalist U Ohn told the crowd that the confluence of the Ayeyarwady could be likened to a neck. The Myitsone area is like the neck of a human. If the throat is throttled, the entire body will be dead, U Ohn said. The Ayeyarwady must be safeguarded, not only by the Kachin, but also by Bamar, Rakhine, Mon, Kayin and all national groups, who must be prepared to risk their lives, he said, his voice choking with emotion. Speaking on behalf of the artists, cartoonist Aw Pe Kye said that while he was happy that the dam had been suspended, there was still uncertainty about the Ayeyarwady Rivers future. We cannot put up our oars amid uncertainty; passion is important, Aw Pe Kye said. Only if you are working from the heart, the entire people will join you. May matters relating to Myanmar as well as the Ayeyarwady be carried out with passion led by wisdom, he said in prayer. After the prayer, members of the crowd went down to the confluence and gathered stones from the river. The stones were used to build a cairn which will be known as the Myitsone memorial. Translated by Thit Lwin

Dept of Meteorology to mark 75th anniversary


By Aye Sapay Phyu THE Department of Meteorology and Hydrology is planning three days of events to mark its 75 th anniversary along with World Meteorological Day 2012 later this month, a spokesperson said. U Maung Maung Soe, deputy director of the department, said exhibitions and paper reading secessions about weather and climate issues will held from March 23 to 25 at the departments office on Kabar Aye Pagoda Road in Mayangone township. He said all people interested in the topics are welcome to attend. The winners of an essay competition with the World Meteorological Day 2012 theme of Powering our future with weather, climate and water would receive their prizes on March 23. The World Meteorological Organisation, its 189 Members and the worldwide meteorological community celebrate World Meteorological Day each year on March 23. The day commemorates the entry into force in 1950 of the WMO Convention, which created the organisation.

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