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DAILY EDITION

ISSUE 72 | THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2015

NEWS 3

MP calls for Than Shwe to

break deadlock
Parliamentary debate over
constitutional amendments resisted
by military MPs hears call for former
junta leader to intervene and let his
opinion be known. A vote is to be held
today with bill heading for rejection.
NEWS 4

Court rules on journalist

shot by soldiers
A court has concluded that freelance
journalist Ko Par Gyi, who was shot
while in army custody last October
in Mon State, died from unnatural
causes, after two soldiers attend final
hearing and admit shooting him.
NEWS 6

Singapore court charges

three over murder plot
Three Myanmar men have been
charged with conspiracy to murder a
fellow national after renting a seaside
chalet they equipped with meat
mincer, chainsaw and chopping board.

BUSINESS 8

Confusion over Indian

border gate shut to trade
The Tamu-Moreh official border
gate with India is frequently closed,
but at 12 days now, local traders say
this closure has been longer than most.
Traders reckon it will reopen soon.
BUSINESS 9

KBZ launches credit cards

after 12-year hiatus
After an absence of 12 years following
the 2003 banking crisis, KBZ has been
given clearance and started issuing
credit cards. Officials say they could
do more if there were a credit bureau.

Workers make blouses at a garment factory on the outskirts of Yangon. Photo: Aung Hay Hlaing

National minimum
wage deal: K3600 a day
National minimum wage committee concludes a year of tough bargaining, with a
recommendation to parliament that represents a setback for the garment industry. NEWS 2

2 News

THE MYANMAR TIMES JUNE 25, 2015

National minimum wage

proposal agreed at K3600

AYE SAPAY PHYU

ayephyu2006@gmail.com

NYAN LYNN
AUNG
29.nyanlynnaung@gmail.com

A NATIONAL committee yesterday

proposed a nationwide minimum
daily wage of K3600 (US$3.20) for
all workers at the conclusion of a
year of often heated debate between
the government, employers and labour representatives.
A union representative and a
Kayin State labour ministry official,
both members of the national minimum wage committee, disclosed the
figure to The Myanmar Times on
the final day of a closed-door meeting in Yangon that appeared to deal
a blow in particular to the garment
industry.
Minister for Labour and committee chair U Aye Myint declined
to confirm the amount. He told The
Myanmar Times that the minimum
wage might be set between K3200
and K4000 and that the exact figure
would be officially announced over
the next days.
It is sure that the minimum
wage cannot be less than K3000,
even if we cant say how much it
is fixed exactly at this moment, he
told a press conference after the
meeting.
Two months of consultations
will be held after the proposal is officially announced, and before the
issue goes to parliament for a final
decision.
The committee made its decision
yesterday after a two-day workshop
that brought together the labour
ministry, employers and trade union representatives organised by the
Union of Myanmar Federation of
Chambers of Commerce (UMFCCI).
The committee, formed a year
ago, includes the labour ministry,

Heavy rain
expected
until the
end of June

Workers sew garments at a factory in Yangon. Photo: Aung Htay Hlaing

the national planning and social

welfare departments, officials from
states and regions, and labour and
employer representatives.
Most committee members were
said to be in favour of a proposed
minimum wage of K3600 as a basis
for the whole country. A day earlier,
labour representatives had argued
for K4000.
But the meeting was unable to
reach a decision until the evening
as representatives of the garment
industry were insisting on a lower
amount.
The garment representatives
made strong arguments on wages.
They had been demanding wages as
low as K2500, said U Naw Aung, a
labour delegate on the committee.
He said workers representatives appreciated that the committee

agreed on a proposed K3600, even if

it was less than they had pushed for,
because there was an urgent need to

The garment
representatives
made strong
arguments on wages.
They had been
demanding wages as
low as K2500.
U Naw Aung
Labour delegate

settle the issue. Unions would now

have a minimum wage on which to
base proposed adjustments, he added.
Daw Khine Khine Nwe, representing garment factories, said the
factories would need more time to
fix minimum wages and to recognise the proposed level.
Garment workers could actually
earn from K8000 to K10,000 a day
but this included overtime and benefits, she said. If basic wages were
set at a low level, employers could
promise to increase wages step by
step, she said.
UMFCCI chair U Win Aung said
factory owners who could not pay
the proposed wages would have to
think about changing their business practices. He declined to comment on whether the committee had
reached agreement on K3600 a day.

HEAVY rain is forecast in coastal

areas until the end of this month,
an official from the Department of
Meteorology and Hydrology (DMH)
said yesterday.
U Kyaw Lwin Oo, director of the
DMH, said strong monsoon conditions in the last week of June will
bring heavy rain to Myanmar coastal
areas.
Monsoon intensity will be strong
because of the effect of storm remnants in the West Bay of Bengal and
storms in the Arabian Sea and the
South China Sea. That will result isolated heavy rain in Myanmar coastal
areas and rough seas, he said.
U Kyaw Lwin Oo forecast that the
Rakhine coast, the Gulf of Mottama
and the Tanintharyi coast could receive between 4 and 10 inches (101.6
to 254 millimetres) of rain during
the period from June 22 to June 30.
Rain is expected along the northern Rakhine coast between June 30
and July 8, while heavy rainfall of
possibly more than 10 inches will
persist in the southern Rakhine
coast, the delta area, the Gulf of Mottama and Tanintharyi till July 8.
The monsoon has intensified to
strong condition since mid-June because of storms in the Arabian Sea,
the Bay of Bengal and the South China Sea, and some coastal areas, including Yangon, have received more
than 3 inches (76.2mm) of rain in 24
hours this week.
Mingalardon weather station
in Yangon recorded a new 24-hour
maximum rainfall record for June
with 7.64 inches (194mm) at 9.30
am on June 23. Its old record in 1951
measured 5.51 inches (140mm).
DMH reported on June 24 heavy
rainfall in Bago and Tanintharyi
regions, Rakhine, Kayin and Mon
states, with isolated heavy rain in
Chin State in the past 24 hours.

www.mmtimes.com

NEWS EDITOR: Thomas Kean | tdkean@gmail.com

MP calls on U Than Shwe to

break constitution deadlock
Kayin State MP says only former senior general can change the minds of military MPs opposed to amendment bills

EI EI TOE
LWIN
eieitoelwin@gmail.com

WITH civilian and military MPs at loggerheads over proposed constitutional

reform, a hluttaw representative yesterday put forward a novel solution:
ask former Senior General Than Shwe
for his opinion.
The proposal was floated during a
debate yesterday on proposed changes
to sections 436 and 59(f ), which appear almost certain to be rejected at
a vote today due to opposition from
military MPs.
Section 436 enshrines the militarys veto over constitutional change,
while 59(f ) sets the eligibility criteria
for presidential candidates.
Civilian MPs are advocating for
changes to section 436 that would
reduce the threshold required to pass
constitutional changes from more
than 75 percent of MPs to at least 70pc.
In a bid to break the deadlock, U
Kyun Kann, a representative from
the Chin Progressive Party, said MPs
should ask former military chief U
Than Shwe for his opinion before the
amendment bill is put to a vote.
The 2008 constitution was written
by the former military regime led by
Senior General Than Shwe. So I believe we can make some changes [to
section 436] based on the comments
of Senior General Than Shwe, U Kyun
Kann said.
Senior General Than Shwe resigned as national leader and armed
forces chief on March 30, 2011, when
he signed the order to dissolve the
State Peace and Development Council and transfer power to President U
Thein Seins new government.
However, he is still said to exert
influence over the current crop of civilian and military leaders, who have
stated publicly that they occasionally
meet him and listen to his advice.
U Kyun Kann said he believes the
current military leadership would
definitely accept suggestions from
their former boss, if only out of
respect.
Although [senior general Than
Shwe] is not interested in politics, the
2008 constitution was written according to his instructions We have to say
to him [the 2008 constitution is] not
relevant with the current situation and
we are having problems changing it. I
hope that his comments would have an
effect on the military. Thats why I proposed like this, U Kyun Kann later told
reporters during a break in parliament.
Asked by reporters for her views on
U Kyun Kanns proposal and the senior generals possible influence over
constitutional change, Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi said she had nothing special
to say.
Everybody has the right to give
their views. Now [U Kyun Kann] said
his view in parliament, she said.
However, U Htay Oo, a vice chair
of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) who is known to
be close to the former senior general,
said he did not think U Than Shwe
would offer comment on the proposed
amendments.
He has retired now and does not
take part in state affairs so I think he
wont give any comment or suggestion
about the constitution even if [MPs]
came and requested him to do so, said
U Htay Oo, who has previously said he
visited U Than Shwe to pay respect
on special occasions, such as the full
moon of Thadingyut.
Following more than two years

Riding to the rescue? Then-Senior General Than Shwe reviews troops during a military parade in March 2010. Photo: AFP

of discussion and negotiations, two

amendment bills were submitted to
parliament on June 10 by senior members of the USDP.
Thirty-nine MPs were approved to
take part in the June 23-25 debate on
the first bill, which contains changes
that would require approval both in
parliament and at a nationwide referendum. The debate will conclude with
a vote today and anything less than
75pc of support from all MPs will see
the amendments rejected.
Fifteen participated in the first
days discussion, while 18 more, including MPs from the USDP, the NLD,
ethnic minority parties and the military got the chance to speak yesterday.

The military should

not go against the
peoples will any
longer.
Daw Phyu Phyu Thin
National League for Democracy

During the first two days of debate,

USDP representatives supported the
lowering of the threshold contained
in section 436 to 70pc, while NLD
and ethnic minority MPs pushed for
it to be lowered further, to two-thirds
of all MPs.
The NLD also called for the annulment of section 59(f) in its entirely a
move that would make Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi eligible for the presidency.
However, military MPs have spoken out against change to either section 59(f) or section 436.
Brigadier General Tin Soe said
yesterday that the military agreed to
amend section 59(d) which requires
presidential candidates to be well
acquainted with the affairs of the Union such as political, administrative,

economic and military to replace

military with defence.
However, he said the military was
opposed to changing section 59(f ) because it was important that the president, as head of state, had the full trust
of the people. If the president or his or
her family members accepted foreign
support in any way, Myanmar might
indirectly come under the control of a
foreign country, Brig Gen Tin Soe said.
We dont accept outside interference. Allowing a mixed-blood [to be
president] could harm our independent and sovereignty, he said.
He added that the military believed
the criteria should even be extended
to Union ministers, although this has
not been proposed in the amendment
bills.
On June 23, meanwhile, Brigadier
General Tin San Naing strongly argued
against making any changes to section
436, saying the military veto was needed to maintain order and stability during the transition to democracy.
In light of the militarys stance, civilian MPs from a range of parties did
their best to make a case for passing
the amendments.
Thura U Aung Ko from the USDP
said there needed to be more flexibility for civilian MPs to amend the
constitution. If changes are not made,
Myanmar will struggle to achieve national reconciliation and attain genuine peace, he said.
For example, the nationwide
ceasefire agreement could not be
signed and we will not be able to build
a federal state, he said.
Daw Phyu Phyu Thin from the NLD
suggested that the military should allow the changes as they are necessary
to move forward to a truly democratic
state.
It is the right time to rebuild the
relationship between the military and
civilians. The military should not go
against the peoples will any longer,
she said.
While Speaker Thura U Shwe
Mann has said parliament will vote

on the bill today, he has not yet specified which system would be used. Two
options are at his disposal: electronic
voting and the stand-up system.
Most MPs are in favour of the
stand-up voting system, which would
require those against the amendment
bill to stand when it is put to a vote.
Id prefer the stand-up voting system, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said yesterday. It would be transparent.

News 3

Government
negotiators
meet UWSA
YE MON
yeemontun2013@gmail.com
GOVERNMENT peace negotiators met yesterday in Nay Pyi
Taw with representatives of the
United Wa State Army to discuss
reducing military tensions between the two sides.
The UWSA, the most powerful of Myanmars armed ethnic
groups, said it had received an
offer of talks on June 22 from U
Thein Zaw, vice chair of the governments Union Peacemaking
Work Committee and a member
of the Pyithu Hluttaw for the Union Solidarity and Development
Party.
U Zaw Htay, director of the
Presidents Office, confirmed to
The Myanmar Times that the
talks had taken place but declined to comment further. The
Wa army case is very sensitive in
the current situation. So we dont
want to say anymore, he said.
U Sai Paung Nat, a member
of parliament in the upper house
from the Wa Democratic Party,
said people were alarmed by the
worsening military tensions between the two sides, and that he
believed the government and the
UWSA would calm the situation.
Tensions rose in early June
after the Tatmadaw detained six
UWSA fighters and 10 villagers
in Shan State. They were later
released. Reports of clashes were
later denied.
The UWSA, which has close
economic ties with China, has
had a bilateral ceasefire with the
government since 1989 and has
remained largely on the margins
of talks aimed at reaching a nationwide ceasefire agreement.
But in early May the UWSA
hosted a conference of armed ethnic leaders in its border stronghold of Pangkham that endorsed
the groups aspirations to carve
out its own state inside Shan
State. The meeting also expressed
support for the UWSAs ethnic
Chinese allies who have been
fighting the Tatmadaw in the Kokang region since February.

4 News

THE MYANMAR TIMES JUNE 25, 2015

Chief Executive Officer

Tony Child
tonychild.mcm@gmail.com
Editorial Director U Thiha Saw
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EDITORIAL
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World Editor MTE Fiona MacGregor,
Kayleigh Long
The Pulse Editor MTE Charlotte Rose
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Regional Affairs Correspondent Roger Mitton
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Sub-Editors Peter Swarbrick, Laignee Barron
Chief Sub Editor MTM Aye Sapay Phyu
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Photo: Naw Say Phaw Waa

Daw Thandar and her lawyer, U Robert San Aung, leave a hearing into the death of her husband, Ko Par Gyi, at Kyaikmayaw Township Court on May 11.

Soldiers tell how they killed

journalist, as hearing ends
Unsatisfied with findings of court hearing, widow of deceased reporter vows to continue pursuing case

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LUN MIN
MANG
lunmin.lm@gmail.com

A COURT has concluded that the freelance journalist Ko Par Gyi, who was
shot while in army custody last October in Kyaikmayaw township, Mon
State, died from unnatural causes. In
a dramatic development, the two soldiers who admitted shooting him appeared at the final hearing on June 23,
which was also attended by the widow
of the deceased, Daw Thandar.
Lance Corporal Kyaw Kyaw Aung
and Private Naing Lin Tun testified
that on the evening of Ko Par Gyis
death he had asked to go outside to
urinate. He then hit Private Naing Lin
Tun, and they scuffled. Lance Corporal
Kyaw Kyaw Aung arrived on the scene
and shot Ko Par Gyi from behind, at a
distance of about five paces.
The two soldiers of the No 210
Light Infantry Regiment have already
been acquitted by an army court martial of a charge of death by negligence,
and were among 11 military personnel
to attend this weeks hearing.

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I think the
discrepancies will
help us in bringing
the case back to
court and getting to
the truth.
Daw Thander
Wife of Ko Par Gyi

by the Ministry of Defence and the

human rights commission, said Daw
Thandar.
She said she is compiling all the
statements and would later release her
findings to the media.
Ko Par Gyi, a freelance reporter,
was detained in Kyaikmayaw township on September 30, 2014, while he
was covering fighting between government troops and the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA). He died
on October 4, but the military only released a statement about his death 19
days later. The statement alleged that
he was a member of the Klo Htoo Baw
Karen Organization, the political wing
of the DKBA.
I think the discrepancies will
help us in bringing the case back to
court and getting to the truth, Daw
Thandar added.
According to the constitution, the
decision of a military court is final and
cannot be appealed, which presents a
challenge to any fresh attempt to move
the case forward.
Daw Thandar was also advised
at the final hearing by Mawlamyine
township judge U Thet Aung that the
case would be difficult to take further.
The judge was neither urging me
to go further nor convincing me to

drop the case. He just said if I wanted

the case to move forward, it would be
very difficult, she said, adding that
she would consult her lawyer.
The complainant is Officer U Tin
Oo of Kyaikmayaw police. At this
stage, the police have the option of declaring the case closed.
Whatever happens, even if the police close the case, I will continue to
try to bring the case to court.
U Kyi Myint, a lawyer and vice
chair of the Investigating Committee
for Violations of Human Rights, a civil
society rights group, said the case had
few prospects of further resolution under the current constitution.
However, he said it was unusual
that the government had even agreed
to allow a civilian court hearing into
Ko Par Gyis death. The appearance of
military personnel at the hearing was
unprecedented, he added.
In the past, there were many cases
of human rights violation committed
by the military. However, military personnel never appeared in a court hearing like at the inquest into Ko Par Gyis
death, he said.
Kyaikmayaw Police Officer U Tin
Oo was not available for comments on
whether he would continue to pursue
the case.

Ministry promises tender for $170m Yangon-Dala bridge

HTOO THANT
thanhtoo.npt@gmail.com

Myanmar Consolidated Media Ltd.

www.mmtimes.com

That verdict, which was handed

down last November but announced
only in May, apparently allowed the
two soldiers to walk free. They appeared in the Kyaikmayaw Township
Court only as witnesses.
Because of the inconclusive nature
of the court hearing, which was a civil
proceeding, Daw Thandar said she
would continue to pursue the case in
the hope of an eventual resolution of
the matter.
The two soldiers admitted they
shot Ko Par Gyi dead. But some of
the evidence the court heard today
deviated from the statements made

MYANMARS tallest bridge could be

designed and built by foreign companies. International tenders will
be put out both for the consultancy
team supervising the design and the
construction company that will build
the Dala suspension bridge, it was announced yesterday.
The 48-metre-high (160-foot)
bridge, which will link downtown
Yangon city with Dala township, will
be funded by a US$137.8 million loan
from South Koreas Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) to

mark the friendship between the two

countries.
Ministry of Construction permanent secretary U Kyaw Lwin said
the ministry and the EDCF have already set rules and regulations for
the tender process, which would be
launched soon.
We will choose a consultancy
team which will give advice and supervise the design team and engineers
for the Yangon-Dala bridge project by
tender, he said. A construction company will also be selected by international tender.
The bridge project also features
a training course for Myanmar engi-

neers. It is expected that this program

will enable the sharing of technical
knowledge among local engineers
from both the Ministry of Construction and Myanmar Engineering Society, and foreign engineers.
U Han Soe, director general of the
Department of Bridges, said Myanmar would supplement the Korean
loan of $137.8 million with an additional $30.4 million from the budget.
On May 28, Pyidaungsu Hluttaw
gave the green light to the 40-year
loan with 0.01 percent interest and a
15-year deferment period.
U Soe Tint, deputy construction minister, told parliament that

the Yangon-Dala suspension bridge

would be the tallest bridge in the
country, at 48m (160ft) high, enabling
vessels loading up to 1500 tonnes to
pass beneath easily. The bridge will
be 247m (823ft) wide.
Compensation for houses, gardens
and schools that are included in the
project area on the Dala side has already been negotiated with residents.
The bridge project also includes a water supply pipeline for Dala township,
which faces drinking water shortages
every dry season.
The project is estimated to take
about five years.
Translation by Zar Zar Soe

6 News

THE MYANMAR TIMES JUNE 25, 2015

SINGAPORE

Myanmar trio charged

over murder plot
THREE Myanmar men were charged
yesterday with conspiring to murder
a fellow national in Singapore with a
gruesome collection of instruments
including a chainsaw, a meat mincer, a
cleaver and a chopping board.
Myanmar nationals Ko Yae Wynnt
Oaung, 32, and Ko Phyo Min Naing,
31, as well as Singapore permanent
resident Ko Zaw Min Hlaing, 37, were
charged in a district court with plotting
to murder another Singapore permanent resident, Ko Aye Maung Maung
Thet, 28. A fourth suspect, 29-year-old
Myanmar national Ko Win Kyaw Kyaw
Aung, left Singapore on the morning
of June 22, police said.
The offence is punishable by up to
14 years in jail plus a fine.
The four men attempted to abduct
Ko Aye Maung Maung Thet at a suburban carpark on the evening of June 21,
with two of them assaulting him with
a taser, an electrical device designed
to stun and disable a person, court
documents said. The men fled when
the victims cries for help attracted the
attention of passers-by.
They were arrested the following
day, two of them at a rented seaside
chalet in Singapores eastern region.

Items such as a meat mincer,

chainsaw, kitchen knives, gas cooker,
gas cylinder tank, a tool set, trolley
bags, plastic sheets, cable ties, cleaver,
aprons, chopping board and rubber
boots were also recovered from the
chalet and seized as case exhibits, the
police said.
In court yesterday, the three men,
dressed in civilian attire and handcuffed, appeared sombre as the charges were read to them in Myanmar language by an interpreter. No pleas were
entered. They were ordered remanded
in police custody for one week to assist
in investigations.
The case follows a spate of murders
in neighbouring Malaysia last year involving Myanmar nationals, mostly in
the northern state of Penang. In some
cases, victims were decapitated or had
some of their body parts severed.
Malaysian police have said they believed the attacks are related to violent
clashes in Myanmar between members
of the Buddhist majority and a Muslim
minority, the Rohingya, who the Myanmar government refers to as Bengali.
But the motive for the botched
murder plot in Singapore has not been
disclosed. AFP
MRCS supplies are delivered in Myebon township after Cyclone Giri in October 2010. Photo: Kaung Htet

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Taximeters, Drive recorder, Traffic accident status recorder, event
recorders, TachoGraph, Vehicle position acquiring system, Signal
pulse matching device for speed signal pulse and engine rotating
speed for tachograph, Computer software for operating control,
fuel cost saving, driving support and traffic accident prevention
support, Computer software, Computer hardware.
Any fraudulent imitation or unauthorized use of the said
Trademarks will be dealt with according to law.
For YAZAKI CORPORATION
U Nyunt Tin Associates International Limited
Intellectual Property Division
Tel: 959 4500 59 247, Email: info@untlaw.com
Dated: 25th June, 2015.

SHWE
YEE SAW
MYINT
poepwintphyu2011@gmail.com

THE Myanmar Red Cross Society

will finally become independent
under an amendment bill nearing
final approval in parliament. Members say the reforms in the bill are
important to improve the organisations effectiveness, as its activities
are being stifled by tight government controls.
The bill will amend the Myanmar Red Cross Society Act, which
was introduced in 1959 and amended in 1971, 1988 and 1998.
Those
earlier
amendments
strengthened the position of government officials in the organisations structure from the national
right down to the township level.
These are now set to be rolled
back with the new amendment bill,
which is designed to put the organisation back into civilian hands, said
Daw Khine Myo Myat Thein, director of organisational development
at the MRCS.
The changes will affect 11 sections of the existing law, including
those related to the organisations
administrative structure, fund management, duties, activities, communication with other organisations,
flag and logo, she said.
The changes will result in more
civilian involvement and will result
in the MRCS becoming an independent organisation, she said.
We amended this law because
we are working to help the public.
The main beneficiaries of the law
will be those we are trying to help
and our volunteers, she said. If
civilians are more involved, it will
help us assist people faster.
In particular, she said, government control will be loosened at

the township and district levels of

MRCS, which has 30,000 permanent staff and more than 200,000
volunteers across the country.
The 1998 amendments laid out
a structural reformation that
formed seven- or eight-member supervision committees at the state/
region, district and township level.
These committees comprise government officials from the health, education and social welfare ministries,
as well the police force, fire department and general administration
department.
At the top, meanwhile, the Central Council will be expanded to
include 15 representatives one

If civilians are
involved, it will
help us assist people
faster.
Daw Khine Myo Myat Thein
Myanmar Red Cross Society

from each state and region, as well

as Nay Pyi Taw selected through
a vote at a national meeting, 13
representatives from government
departments, up to 10 civil society
representatives, 10 representatives
nominated by the government, and
15 experienced MRCS volunteers
or youth representatives.
The current Central Council features 14 elected state and region
representatives, 13 government officials and no more than 10 representatives appointed by the government.
The amendments appear to have
been in development for almost
a decade. According to a vacancy
announcement posted by MRCS in
2014, the existing MRCS Act is not

reflecting the new and emerging

humanitarian needs and a muchneeded process of renewing the legal base [got] underway in 2007.
However, the full extent of the
planned changes remains unclear.
Some will be detailed in by-laws
that will be drafted by MRCS after
the amendment bill is approved,
Daw Khine Myo Myat Thein said.
The bill was submitted to the
Pyithu Hluttaw by Deputy Minister
for Health Daw Than Than Htay
and published in state-run media
on June 5. After passing the lower
house, it was approved without debate by the upper house on June 19,
although MPs agreed to recommendations from the bill committee
that resulted in 39 amendments,
four deletions and the inclusion of
one new passage. Committee member U Zaw Myint Pe said the changes were minor, and mostly related
to language usage.
It will now be submitted back to
the Pyithu Hluttaw for approval.
The proposed changes have been
welcomed by staff at the MRCS,
who say they will improve the effectiveness of its operations.
Program coordinator U Zaw
Htoo Oo said the major problem at
MRCS is that most of its senior positions are filled by government officials, particularly from the Ministry
of Health.
This is not good for the MRCS
because civil servants dont do this
job very well. They always wait for
permission from senior officials to
do something and as a result all our
work is delayed, he said. This really frustrates most MRCS members.
He said he believed that the law
would result in genuine change and
the government would hand over
control of MRCS to non-government experts.
We can see in the new law that
the MRCS system and structure is
very different I think it will be
much better than the old one.

News 7

www.mmtimes.com

Views
Its time for
Myanmar to
join the region
and scrap visas
ROGER
MITTON

rogermitton@gmail.com

NYONE who travelled to

Myanmar in earlier decades
knows what a hassle it
was to get a tourist visa, to
worry about what to put on
your landing card and customs form,
and to fret about where and how to
change money.
Once, about 15 years ago, coming
here on a Myanmar Airways International flight that was barely one-quarter full, an anxious couple from New
Orleans, who were sitting across the
aisle, peppered me with questions.
As Americans, would they be treated suspiciously? If they said Burma
would they be in trouble? Would their
laptop be confiscated? Did they have to
change their dollars? If so, was it safe
to do it on the street?
Thankfully, such issues are of less
concern today, and except for the childish and exasperating local habit of only
accepting pristine dollar bills, visitors
can be pretty relaxed about coming
here now.
There is, however, one area where
Myanmar, along with fellow laggards
Cambodia and Laos, is still living in the
dark, pre-digital age; it is, of course, the
business of visas.
Aside from a handful of regional
neighbours, who can get a measly 14day visa-free entry to Myanmar, other
tourists still endure the rigmarole of
going to embassies, filling in forms,
supplying photos and paying fees.
While the recently introduced online
application system for tourists has
helped, it only cuts out a visit to the
embassy: The forms, photos and payment are still required.
For what? Its an utter waste of time
and effort.
Think about it: All immigration
counters are computerised these days
and a standard scan of any visitors
passport immediately records all the
details and necessary information to
keep tabs on that person.
The fact is that Myanmars old-style
paper visas, a hangover from past
xenophobic military regimes, are not
only redundant but also profoundly annoying since they take up the best part
of a passport page.
Why does Myanmar not catch up
with the rest of the region and abolish
them? This month, both Indonesia and
Vietnam have done exactly that, and
both anticipate many more tourist arrivals as a result.
Increased tourism creates more
work and more jobs, leads to service
improvements and greater infrastructure development, and most certainly
brings in hugely more revenue than
the fees collected for visas.
On that point: Just what does

happen to the US$50 fee for a visa on

arrival? Is it just a scam to line the
pockets of immigration officials? Or is
it actually used for some constructive
public purpose? It would be nice to
know.
But while pondering that matter,
lets at least applaud this months bold
move by President Joko Widodo to
grant visa-free travel to Indonesia for
citizens of all ASEAN states and much
of Europe and the Americas.
Not to be outdone, last week
Vietnam added France, Germany, Italy,
Spain and the United Kingdom to its
list of 17 countries whose nationals do
not require a visa for a 15-day visit.
Hanois brave move to scrap the
need for worthless and outdated visas
is expected to boost tourism and
reverse a 12.6 percent slump in arrivals
to Vietnam in the first half of this year.
The head of Vietnams National
Administration of Tourism, Nguyen
Van Tuan, said the hassle of getting a
visa was the key factor that seriously
hampered Vietnams goal of attracting
more tourists.
If an authoritarian regime like Vietnam can scrap visas and also landing

Myanmars oldstyle paper visas, a

hangover from the
past xenophobic
military regimes, are
not only redundant
but also profoundly
annoying.

cards, then surely Myanmar, as well as

Cambodia and Laos, can do the same.
For heavens sake, even former
Soviet satellites like Kazakhstan and
Kyrgystan have recently abolished
the need for tourist visas for many
countries.
And please dont say visas are
needed for security reasons, because
its simply hogwash.
Few places are more security conscious than Singapore and Malaysia,
yet for decades they have allowed tourists visa-free entry for up to 30 days
without any problems.
Nor are visas any better at preventing visitors from overstaying than
passport entry stamps that specify a
permitted length of stay.
As well, the customs forms and
the arrival and departure cards that
Myanmar still uses should be scrapped.
No one seriously examines them; they
are just stored for a while and then
trashed.
What exactly are the arrival forms
for? The only added information they
provide that is not already in the visitors passport is a hotel address and
contact number.
And even tourists who put in their
correct hotel details (many do not)
tend to move on after a day or two so

A passport displays a Myanmar departure stamp. Photo: Shutterstock

the information soon becomes useless.

Malaysias Home Ministry sensibly
scrapped these cards some years ago,
saying that immigration officials obtain
a biometric record of every foreigner
who arrives and thus the landing cards
are redundant.
That wise policy helps explain why
Malaysia and Thailand receive the
most tourists in the region: Thailand
top the list with 26.7 million visitors
followed by Malaysia (25.7), Singapore
(15.6) and Vietnam (7.6).
These countries are tops not
because they are more scenic or have
better beaches or cultural sights or
tastier food than Myanmar. No, it is in

part because they dont require visas.

Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam
dont even need landing cards: Visitors
just go up to the immigration official
who scans their passport and waves
them through in seconds.
Of course, there are still annoying
inconsistencies, such as the way some
countries that have scrapped visas still
retain other vestiges of the pre-digital
era, such as airport departure taxes.
Like most of the region, Cambodia,
Indonesia and Thailand have now
scrapped these scam charges, but the
Philippines incongruously blots its
admirable visa-free copybook by continuing to demand such fees.

Where does that money go? Apparently not to airport maintenance

and renewal, given the poor state of
Manilas terminals.
Still, these are quibbles compared to
the main gripe of potential Myanmar
visitors, namely having to fill in visa
forms, line up at crowded consular
offices early in the morning, provide
photos and money, and then return
next day; its all very off-putting.
Nay Pyi Taw should get its act
together and quickly emulate this
months actions by Indonesia and
Vietnam and abolish the need for visas,
landing cards and customs forms. Lets
move with the times.

8 THE MYANMAR TIMES JUNE 25, 2015

Business
Indian gate closed for unusually long time
also no plans by Indian authorities
to raise duties on bilateral trade
with Myanmar.
Border trade is governed by the
Border Trade Agreement, which
covers 64 goods. He said trade is
still taking off, as infrastructure is
weak at the border. An Integrated
Check Post at the Tamu-Moreh
crossing is currently under-built,
which will help trade at the area.
According to Ministry of Commerce data, in the 2013-14 fiscal year
Myanmar exports totalled US$16.46
million and imports totalled $26.12
million, while in 2014-15 Myanmar
exports totalled $17.03 and imports
totalled $39.86 million.

SU PHYO
WIN
suphyo1990@gmail.com

THE main official border gate to

India in Tamu, Sagaing Region, has
been closed for 12 days, as local
traders blame rising customs duties
and a nearby military raid.
Local businesspeople say they
are waiting for the gate to reopen,
though there are also informal
ways to cross the border in the
mean-time. However, officials from
the Indian embassy in Yangon said
yesterday it was not aware of the
closing of the border trade point
by any authority on any account on
the Indian side of the border.
Local traders say they have been
unable to cross through the official
portal for 12 days.
The gate has been closed by
the Indian side, said Ko Nyi Lay, a
cross-border trader.
We heard they are raising some
customs duties, so the gate is closed
for a while.
He added that it is not unusual
for the gate to be closed for a week
or 10 days, though this time it is
somewhat longer than normal.
Tamu on the Myanmar side and
Moreh on the Indian side are the
main portal for bilateral MyanmarIndia trade.
Other traders said a recent military action may also be to blame.
U Tin Shwe, another local trader,
said the raid conducted by India on
rebels in the border area on June 8
was about 25 miles (40 kilometres)
from the gate.
Week-long closures occur frequently, but this time is a bit longer

Week-long closures
occur frequently,
but this time is a bit
longer than normal.
U Tin Shwe
Myanmar trader

People stroll through a market on the Myanmar side of the Tamu-Moreh crossing. Photo: Staff

than normal but its going to reopen soon, he said.

The gate has now been officially closed, which has stopped the
flow of goods, but people can use
other [informal] gates so business
is ongoing.
There have been differing accounts of the June 8 strike by Indian

army troops on National Socialist

Council of Nagaland-Khaplang bases, which Indian officials have said
was conducted in Myanmar territory
in retaliation for a June 4 attack on
an Indian patrol in Chandel, Manipur, that left 18 soldiers dead.
Silas Thangal, deputy chief of
mission at the Embassy of India

in Yangon, said yesterday that India attaches great importance to its

relations with Myanmar, including
commercial ties.
We are not aware of any closing
of the border trade point by any authority on any accounts on the Indian side of the border, he said.
Mr Thangal added that there are

Mr Thangal also said that India

and Myanmar have signed an MoU
on border cooperation in 2014, covering cooperation against insurgencies among other provisions.
The MoU includes a provision
for coordinated patrols on either
side of the boundary and regular
interaction to maintain peace and
stability along the border, he said.
Mr Thangal added that Indian
special forces from the 21 Para Special Forces crossed into Myanmar
on June 8 in retaliation for the June
4 raid in India.

SMALL BUSINESS

Rain dampens mobile phone sales in rural areas

MYAT NOE OO
myatnoe.mcm@gmail.com
HANDSET sellers are blaming
monsoon season for a slowdown in
sales, particularly for wholesalers
venturing into rural areas.
Yangon-based firms often buy
bulk handsets to distribute and sell
in the countrys smaller cities and
towns. Yet the usual flood of sales
slows to a trickle as rainy season reduces consumer spending in places
such as Ayeyarwady Region.
Parts of the Ayeyarwady delta
becomes a morass this time of
the year, meaning farmers and
rural dwellers are more reluctant
to make the trek into town to
buy items like phones. As a consequence, businesspeople like Ko
Zarni, owner of Tar Tar mobile
shop, said he is on the hunt for a
temporary new market.
My company mainly distributes
in the Ayeyarwady Region, he said.
But sales have dropped by half, so
we are looking for other markets
and avoid the area.
Normally his firm makes trips to
Ayeyarwady four times a month, but
through to the end of rainy season

in October it only averages two trips

a month.
Ko Wai Yan, owner of Wai Yan
mobile shop, said potential shoppers are more likely to stay at home
in the villages, instead of coming
to urban centres, during the monsoons. Farmers are busy during the
rainy season and transportation is
difficult, so sales are down.
We reduce the amount of products we sell, he said. Last year, I
had no experience for the rainy season, and I went to Ayeyarwady Region to sell, but sales were not good
and I lost money on the car rental
price and cost of accommodation.
This year, Ive learned better.
Yangon-focused sellers say they
also experience a sales decline in
the rainy season, but reckon it may
be less than in rural areas.
Employees of Ko Htun shop in
Shwe Pyae Sone market said there
is a large difference between the
post Thingyan period, when sales
boom, and the current rainy season.
The Yangon market slows a
little, but its mostly stable. I lose
business this time of the year from
customers who buy to resell in rural areas, said one employee.

Rainy season can get in the way of foot traffic. Photo: Staff

The number of handset and accessories sellers has also been increasing, growing competition in
the business.

The owner of another store, TR

mobile shop, said sellers bank on
festival-time for large sales.
During festivals, the demand is

huge, and there is no problem from

too much competition, he said.
But now, demand is small and supply is huge.

BUSINESS EDITOR: Jeremy Mullins | jeremymullins7@gmail.com

Margin trading for

Chinese stocks leaves
$364 billion on the line

Richard Bransons
cruise line plans to
leave port

BUSINESS 10

BUSINESS 12

Exchange Rates (June 24 close)

Currency
Euro
Malaysia Ringitt
Singapore Dollar
Thai Baht
US Dollar

Buying
K1230
K296
K821
K33
K1116

Selling
K1250
K308
K835
K36
K1119

Banks keen to
experiment before
credit bureau arrives
AYE THIDAR KYAW
ayethidarkyaw@gmail.com

The new KBZ credit card is displayed at a press conference yesterday. Photo: Aung Myin

KBZ launches credit

card after 12-year hiatus
AYE THIDAR
KYAW
ayethidarkyaw@gmail.com

KANBAWZA bank marked the return of credit cards to Myanmar

yesterday, along with a slate of other products including online and
mobile banking.
Kanbawza, which usually brands
as KBZ, has received approval from
the Central Bank of Myanmar and
begun re-issuing credit cards, said
senior managing director U Than
Cho yesterday.
Domestic credit cards had proliferated over a decade ago, but the
2003 banking crisis brought a halt
to the product.
U Than Cho said KBZs credit
cards have been available since
June 18 at its branches.

We are following the Myanmar

Payment Union guidelines, so its
unlikely there will be a mistake
again, he said.
KBZ will rely on its existing
customer data when issuing credit
cards. The company is targeting
businesspeople, government officials, professionals, private company staff with good salaries, its loan
and deposit customers and people
with regular income.
There will be three classes of
credit card classic, gold and, at
the highest level, platinum, which
will have maximum credit of K5
million. Interest rates are 13 percent a year.
Ashis Kumar Sharma, general
manager of KBZs card department,
said the cards will require different qualifications. Those with guarantees or collateral will be able to
receive the gold or platinum cards,
but those without collateral will
be limited to a classic card with a

K300,000 limit.
I think it is the proper time to
issue credit cards, as online transactions have already started. We
will start as much as the central
banks rules and regulations allow,
and will be able to provide more
services when the credit bureau appears, he said.
The bank also launched its internet banking and mobile banking
products yesterday.
They will allow customers to
transfer money, check bank statements and request cheque books
to be delivered to their offices or
homes without travelling to the
bank. The service can be used on
Android and iOS smartphones and
devices.
General manager U Soe Tin
Maung Zaw said the registration
fee for the service is K3000, and
account transfer fees are K200 for
own-account transfers and K500
for internal account transfers.

Work to start on gas plant next year

KO KO AUNG
pmkokoaung@gmail.com
HTYNN LINN AUNG
htynlynnnaung@gmail.com
WORK on a previously-announced
400-megawatt gas-fired plant at Thilawa special economic zone is to start early next year, according to Eden Group
managing director U Chit Khine.
The plan is a joint venture between
Myanmars Ministry of Electric Power,
Japans Marubeni Corp, Thailands
Global Power Synergy, which is part
of PTT Group, and Eden Group. The
memorandum of understanding was
signed in May, with the plant to be completed in 2020.

We will start building the plant

soon. I hope it will start in early 2016,
said U Chit Khine.
The Thilawa special economic zone
is located 14 miles (23 kilometres)

We will start
building the plant
soon. I hope it will
start in early 2016.
U Chit Khine
Eden Group

southeast of Yangon, and is a joint venture between Myanmar and Japanese

businesses and governments. At the
signing event in May, Myanmar government officials said the plant will distribute electricity to the zone as well as to
Yangon Region. U Chit Khine said last
week that it will take about six weeks
for the feasibility study, after which construction will be started.
Foreign companies, particularly
from Japan, are keen on Thilawa.
US beverage container manufacturer Ball and a Japanese auto parts
manufacturer called Koyo Radiator
Company were the first to sign up to
build factories in the special economic
zone, in June 2014.

BANKS are tentatively beginning

to offer new types of products, but
it would be easier with a credit bureau, according to banking sources.
Work on a credit bureau is under
way, though insiders say developing
the bureau and the regulations surrounding means it is not likely to
arrive for a year.
In the meantime, banks can have
difficulty determining whether they
are lending to the same customer
twice. They are generally reluctant
to accept collateral that is not a document proving ownership of land,
or items like gold, as otherwise
banks do not know if a person has
borrowed from more than one institution using the same collateral.
The Central Bank of Myanmars
Financial Institutions Supervision
Department and a Singaporean
firm are currently working toward
establishing a Myanmar credit bureau. When it is set up, it will also
make it easier for institutions to
issue credit cards and other novel
products.
The International Finance Corporation last year issued a press release stating it is working with the
Central Bank of Myanmar to pave
the way to launch at least one credit bureau by June 2016, which will
allow lenders to access borrowers
credit history, evaluate loan risks
and make lending decisions more
quickly.
U Zaw Win, deputy chair of the
Myanmar Payment Union, an organisation started by banks in 2011
to provide card and point of sale
payments, said a credit bureau is
essential when offering new bank
loans. As the banking sector develops, financial products will become
increasingly complex, such as specialist foreign organisations buying
up non-performing loans, for which
a credit bureau is essential.
U Zaw Win said there is room
for a wider range of products in the
financial sector. Most banks lend
at the ceiling of 13 percent a year,

with the exception of some financing from state-owned institutions,

which can come at a lower rate to
certain entities such as SMEs.
There is also room for the credit
bureau to collect data from foreign
companies and work with the foreign banks operating in Myanmar.
U Zaw Lin Htut, chief executive
officer of Myanmar Payment Union,
said even though the credit bureau
is crucial to issuing credit cards,
domestic banks have long histories
with their clients sometimes in
excess of 20 years which will be
enough to start programs.
It will be late if they wait for
the credit bureau. Banks can start
with secure cards with small limits
even unsecured in some cases, he
said.
Banks need to work at controlling risks, but also need to offer
services that meet their customers
satisfaction.
Novel products have been slow
to be introduced. Some banks are
attempting to experiment with new
products, though say they need regulatory approval.
U Kyaw Lwin, director of Global
Treasure Bank, said the firm has
some plans to offer loans without
collateral, and will apply to the
central bank for permission even
before the credit bureau arrives.
Local banks insistence on collateral is out of date with international practices, leading to the search
for new products. Still, it will not
proceed without central bank approval, he said.
Feasibility studies will be required on the projects, as well as
preparations for risk management.
We will hire a foreign firm to make
that initial risk analysis, he said.
U Kyaw Lwin added the new
products will complement its current lending products rather than
replace it.
Meanwhile, state-owned Myanma Insurance has offered credit
guarantee insurance for small and
medium enterprises.
The program started in mid-2014
with premiums at around 2 to 3pc.

Invitation to Bid
English Language Courses for the Ministry of Labour,
Employment and Social Security
Deutsche Gesellschaft fr Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is
part of the German Development Cooperation. It is supporting the Myanmar
Government in its activities related to sustainable economic development
through projects on private sector development, technical and vocational
training, banking and financial sector development.
Objective of the Assignment
The objective of the assignment is to strengthen the English language skills of
selected employees in the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security
within 16 weeks.
All classes will take place in the premises of MoLES of Myanmar in Naypyitaw
and have to be conducted by native English speakers.
Schedule:
- Early morning hours between 8 to 10 am
Timeline:
August to November 2015
Further Information
The complete set of tender application documents can be requested under
chaw.htay@giz.de.

10 International Business

THE MYANMAR TIMES JUNE 25, 2015

GENEVA

Nestle to rebuild image

after noodle incident
NESTLE chief Paul Bulcke says he
has drawn the lessons from Indias
shock ban on its Maggi instant noodles over a health scare and is now
trying to salvage the image of the
worlds top food company.
Mr Bulcke insisted that its hugely popular Maggi brand was 100
percent safe, saying that packaged
food was unfairly fingered by many
around the world as a health risk.
The Switzerland-based food giants reputation took a bashing because its a big brand and that [ban]
made a lot of waves, the Belgian
chief executive said.
Indias food safety regulator on
June 5 outlawed the product after it
said tests showed the noodles contained excessive levels of lead.
The largest food company by
revenues is challenging the order
and is in the process of destroying
more than 27,000 tonnes of Maggi
noodles after halting production
a Herculean task given Indias size.
The ban had led to 3.2 billion rupees (US$50.5 million) worth of goods
being withdrawn, the company said.
Nestle had already announced it
was pulling the product from sale
when the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India imposed
a ban following similar moves by
some state governments.
One can have facts on ones side
but its the perception that counts,

Mr Bulcke said, explaining the companys decision to withdraw and destroy the product.
Food has never been safer, he
said. But there is this perception
and we have to work on that. We
have to reconnect with consumers.
According to Brand Finance, a
consultancy firm, Maggi is set to
lose over $200 million in brand
value following the setback in India.
Maggi was previously valued at
$2.4 billion, Brand Finance said,
adding that it had ranked the noodle manufacturer as the 23rd-most
valuable food brand in the world.
The ban in India could have devastating implications for Maggi in
neighbouring countries where it is
also very popular, experts warn.
The only thing that interests
me is to have the product back as
soon as possible and that things are
cleared up, said Mr Bulcke, who
took over as Nestles chief executive
in 2008.
We are doing all we can to make
contact with Indian authorities at
the earliest, he said, adding, The
product is safe.
Nestle notched up sales of 13.5
billion Swiss francs ($14.4 billion)
in ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook
meals last year, the third most profitable sector for the company after
soft drinks as well as milk products
and ice cream.

NEW DELHI

The food industry has been

rocked by several scandals in recent years including tainted milk in
China and horse meat being fraudulently passed off as beef in Europe.
There have also been growing concerns over obesity and the
health effects of processed or industrial food.

Food has never been

safer ... but there is
this perception and
we have to work
on that. We have
to reconnect with
custoemrs.
Paul Bulcke
Nestle CEO

Nestle CEO Paul Bulcke. Photo: AFP

Mr Bulcke said Nestle, which has

made nutrition, health and well-being the main axes of development,
had invested enormous sums to
develop balanced and healthy products, notably reducing the levels of

sugar and salt.

Nestle is currently trying to
relaunch frozen meals in North
America.
As for India, Mr Bulcke says he
wants to get Maggi noodles back on
the shelves as soon as possible.

Maggi noodles grew increasingly

popular as more and more Indians
moved away from their home villages to study or seek work.
It emerged as one of Indias five
most trusted brands in a consumer
survey conducted last year. AFP

HONG KONG

Billionaires need more China margin trades buckle as

than money for Indias rout puts $364 billion at risk
green energy target
BILLIONAIRES from India and some
from abroad are lining up investments
to realise Prime Minister Narendra
Modis green energy target of 175 gigawatts by 2022. They face greater hurdles than the US$200 billion needed.
On June 22, Indian telecommunications billionaire Sunil Mittal announced a joint venture with Softbank Corps Masayoshi Son to spend
$20 billion to set up 20 gigawatts of
solar power in a decade. That follows
plans by billionaire Gautam Adani to
form a joint venture with SunEdison
to build Indias largest photovoltaic
panel plant, with as much as 7.5GW of
annual production capacity.
Earlier this year, billionaire Dilip
Shanghvi agreed to provide as much
as 38 billion rupees ($598 million)
of security for Suzlon Energy to help
Asias second-largest maker of wind
turbines fill orders and return to profit. That was in addition to Mr Shanghvis family buying a 23 percent stake
in the company for 18 billion rupees.
The success of these investments
may rest on more mundane details.
Impediments such as an absence of
local manufacturing, a difficult business environment and inadequate
infrastructure stand in the way, said
industry executives.
Zhiguo Zhu, senior vice president
at Trina Solar, which plans to set up
a 2-GW factory in India this year,
complained about slow processes in
a phone interview last week that are
delaying its plans.
In Myanmar, China or Thailand,
we put up a factory in eight months,
Mr Zhiguo said on June 16. In India, I
can give you the start date, but not the
finish date.
Mr Son too was cautious about a

completion date.
Wed like to do this over 10 years.
How much we can accelerate will
depend on cooperation and collaboration with the central government
and utilities, Mr Son said while announcing his joint venture plans. If
we have land available to us then
manufacturing locally makes sense. If
we have up and down in availability
of land then it becomes more difficult
to make locally.
Upendra Tripathy, secretary at the
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, said hes aware of the criticisms
and is meeting investors and project
developers in various states every
month to ensure faster clearances.
We will double mandatory clean
energy purchase quotas for states this
year, Mr Tripathy said, referring to the
purchase of expensive clean energy.
Still, compliance remains low as
money-losing state power distributors
prefer buying cheaper thermal energy.
The question is whether loss-making distribution companies will buy
clean power, said Anish De, partner,
infrastructure and government services, at KPMG India. Only aligning
them with the governments requirement can sort out the problem.
Further out, the absence of a forecasting and scheduling mechanism
for fluctuating clean energy will make
Indian power utilities reluctant to absorb the power as is happening in Japan and China now.
Bridge to India, a solar energy
researcher, foresees a problem of
curtailment in India, where grid
operators dont allow expensive and
oscillating clean energy to access their
networks.
Bloomberg

THE biggest tumble in Chinese

shares since 2008 is proving especially painful for margin traders as
their favorite stocks sink faster than
the benchmark index, raising the risk
of forced liquidations.
The 30 equities in Shanghai with
the highest levels of margin debt relative to tradable shares have dropped
17 percent on average since the market peaked on June 12, versus a 13pc
decline for the Shanghai Composite Index. Margin positions on the
citys bourse fell for the first time in
a month on June 19, a sign that leveraged investors are unwinding bets
after they grew more than five-fold in
the past year.
With at least US$364 billion of
borrowed money riding on stocks
in Shanghai and Shenzhen, losses
on those positions threaten to magnify market declines as traders sell
shares to meet margin calls. Chinas
benchmark index tumbled at the fastest pace among global equity gauges
last week, after a world-beating 152pc
gain in the previous 12 months.
Its a self-fulfilling prophecy,
Roshan Padamadan, the founder and
manager of Luminance Global Fund,
said in an interview on Bloomberg
Television from Singapore. As people try to book profits, theyll find out
that theres nobody on the other side
of the trade.
The Shanghai Composite gained
2.2pc at the close on June 23, rebounding from an intraday drop of as
much as 4.8pc.
EGing Photovoltaic Technology,
a Chinese solar-equipment maker in
eastern Jiangsu province, dropped
21pc from June 12 through last
week after outstanding margin bets
climbed to 44pc of the companys
free-float adjusted market capitalisation, the highest level among

more than 480 equities tracked by

Bloomberg and the Shanghai Stock
Exchange.
Shanghai Construction Group Co,
with a margin trade ratio of about
34pc, has retreated 19pc, paring gains
over the past year to 243pc. Shenzhen-based Joincare Pharmaceutical
Group Industry declined 20pc after
margin bets reached almost 27pc of
free float.
In a margin trade, investors use
their own money for just a portion
of the stock purchase, borrowing
the rest from a brokerage. The loans
are backed by the investors equity
holdings, meaning they may be
compelled to sell to repay their debt
when prices fall.

As people try to
book profits, theyll
find out that theres
nobody on the other
side of the trade.
Roshan Padamadan
Luminance Global Fund

You can see from Fridays sharp

decline that people are already cutting losses on margin trading, said
Mari Oshidari, a Hong Kong-based
strategist at Okasan Securities Group
Inc. This is still ongoing, so we
should watch out for further selling
pressure.
While margin debt has surged in
recent months, its still at manageable
levels relative to the size of Chinas
$8.8 trillion stock market, according

to Aaron Boesky, the chief executive

officer at Marco Polo Pure Asset Management, which runs a China-focused
hedge fund.
Investors should take advantage
of market declines to increase holdings, Mr Boesky said, anticipating the
Shanghai Composite may rally another 36pc to surpass its all-time high in
October 2007.
It is best to buy the dips, he said.
Consolidation allows for those already high returns to sell and take
profit, and those who have resisted
jumping into the market to now have
an appetising entry point.
Margin traders have been such
an important source of demand for
Chinese shares that any pullback,
particularly one caused by regulatory
efforts to curb the use of leverage,
will weigh on the market, according
to Ronald Wan, the chief executive officer of Partners Capital International
in Hong Kong.
Almost all of this years biggest
declines in the Shanghai Composite,
including a 6.5pc slump on May 28,
were sparked by investor concerns
over margin-trading restrictions.
The China Securities Regulatory
Commission is planning to curb the
amount of margin trades and short
sales financed by brokerages to no
more than four times their net capital, according to draft rules posted
on its website June 12. Brokerages
including GF Securities and Haitong
Securities have already tightened
lending requirements to limit their
exposure to any market downturn.
Chinese stocks have been heavily
reliant on margin financing, Mr Wan
said in an interview on Bloomberg
Television. If the government actually cracks down on certain forms of financing, a correction is unavoidable.
Bloomberg

International Business 11

www.mmtimes.com
BANGKOK

Thailand businesses urge

delayed minimum wage float
THAILANDS business sector has
urged the government to delay a
floating minimum wage plan or any
policy that would push the daily
wage above 300 baht (US$8.88), as it
would push consumer prices higher
and have a negative impact on the
economy, says the Joint Standing
Committee on Commerce, Industry
and Banking (JSCCIB).
Supant Mongkolsuthree, chair
of the Federation of Thai Industries
(FTI), a component of the committee, said the FTI had worked with
the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) on the
issue by conducting a survey and
questioning 1303 companies.
The poll found 21.8 percent disagreed with the plan to float the minimum daily wage or raise the wage
above 300 baht.
Moreover, 18.2pc said the daily
wage for skilled labour should be
increased appropriately, while 15.5pc
said wages should be based on the
cost of living in each province.
Another 13.6pc said the government should ask for comments from
the business sector before taking any

PHNOM PENH

Cambodia
rubber law
abandoned
THE Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry
and Fisheries has postponed the finalisation of a draft rubber law amid
declining rubber prices, according to a
senior official.
It is not a good time to put more
regulations or requirements for producers to follow.
[Because] the price of rubber is
declining, we will wait until the price
bounces back to have the law approved, said Ly Phalla, undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
Under the draft law, producers
must be more selective in choosing the
type of rubber for plantation and only
processed rubber can be exported.
Mr Phalla stated that this would
ensure that Cambodia produces quality rubber and encourages processing
in the industry.
The price of rubber has declined
from US$4500 per tonne on average
in 2011 to between $1800 and $2000
per tonne in 2013 up to now.
The declining price is attributed to
the shrinking demand of rubber globally, especially in China.
Sliding natural rubber prices last
year prompted the governments of
Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia,
with additional help from Cambodia,
Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, to reduce supply.
The seven countries, which account for more than 70 percent of
global natural rubber production, met
in October to discuss the exports cap.
Another regional meeting of 11 rubber-producing countries is expected to
take place in Siem Reap this October.
The countries are expected to come
up with strategies to encourage the
dropping price to rebound, according
to Mr Phalla.
The draft is expected to be finalised
and submitted [to the Council of Ministers and then the National Assembly]
for approval after the meeting in October, and it will likely be adopted by
2016, he said. The Phnom Penh Post

decision to raise the minimum wage.

The business sector will have another meeting next month, and wed
like to propose our comments to the
government so it will listen to our
concerns, Mr Supant said.
Last month, the National Wage
Committee decided to cancel the
minimum wage scheme in 2016 and
replace it with a floating method.
Then the Labour Ministry announced a plan to replace the old
system with a floating minimum
wage based on the cost of living in
each area. The daily floor would remain 300 baht.
At present, the government is
studying the feasibility of minimum
wage proposals.
Kamphol Panyagometh, NIDAs
vice president for research and consulting services, said 51pc of poll respondents wanted the government
to keep the daily minimum wage unchanged at 300 baht.
Many companies were severely
affected by the 300 baht minimum
wage in the past, and they needed
to move their production bases
to neighbouring countries to seek

Thai workers are

pushing for a higher
minimum wage.
Photo: AFP

cheaper labour costs, Mr Kamphol

said.
Tanit Sorat, vice-president of the
Employers Confederation of Thailand, said the business sector would
meet on June 30 to discuss the minimum wage.
The proposals generated by

the meeting will be sent to the Labour Ministry for further decisionmaking on the daily minimum wage.
At this stage, most of us [in the
business sector] disagree with the
plan to raise the daily wage to over
300 baht or even to 360 baht, Mr
Tanit said. Bangkok Post

Australia to join Asian

Infrastructure Bank
Australia said yesterday it will join
the new Beijing-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as a
founding member, contributing
A$930 million (US$719 million) as
paid-in capital over five years.
The AIIB, to be based in the
Chinese capital, has 57 prospective
members, and will have a total paidin capital of US$20 billion as well as
authorised capital of US$100 million, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop
and Treasurer Joe Hockey said in a
joint statement.
Mr Hockey will seal the agreement in Beijing on June 29.
The decision comes after
extensive discussions between the
government, China and other key
partners around the world, the
ministers said.
There is an estimated infrastructure financing gap of around
US$8 trillion in the Asian region over
the current decade. The AIIB will be
part of the solution to closing this
gap.
The AIIB is expected to be
operational later this year, but has
been shunned by the United States
and Japan, the worlds largest and
third-largest economies.
The bank has been viewed by
some as a rival to the World Bank
and the Asian Development Bank,
two institutions under strong US
influence. AFP

12 International Business

THE MYANMAR TIMES JUNE 25, 2015

BRUSSELS

Tax havens identified by

the European Union

EU releases first list

of tax havens
THE European Union published its
first list of international tax havens
yesterday as part of a crackdown on
multinational companies trying to
avoid paying tax in the 28-nation
bloc.
The list of 30 territories includes
Hong Kong and Brunei in Asia; Monaco, Andorra and Guernsey in Europe; and a series of Caribbean havens including the Cayman Islands
and British Virgin Islands.
The European Commission proposals also include reforms to end
sweetheart tax deals following a series of investigations into arrangements between EU countries and
firms including Amazon, Apple and
Starbucks.
We are today publishing the top
30 non-cooperative jurisdictions
consisting of those countries or territories that feature on at least 10
member states blacklists, EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre
Moscovici told a news conference.
The former French finance minister

said the publication of the blacklist was

a decisive step that would push noncooperative non-EU jurisdictions to be
more cooperative and adopt international standards.
But critics say the publication
of the list risks being seen as an
attempt to distract from the EUs
need to tackle its own issues with
tax avoidance.
Yesterdays tax proposals are
a response to the so-called LuxLeaks scandal that exposed deals
with the tiny EU state of Luxembourg that saved some of the
worlds largest companies, including Apple, IKEA and Pepsi, billions
of dollars in taxes.
The dealings in Luxembourg
have been particularly embarrassing for Jean-Claude Juncker, now
the head of the European Commission, who was the small duchys
premier when the deals were initially made.
The EU is also looking to build on
existing probes into the tax dealings

Spectators watch as competitors paddle boats during the annual Dragon Boat
Festival in a EU-designated tax haven Hong Kong. Photo: AFP

of Apple in Ireland, Starbucks in the

Netherlands and Amazon and Fiat in
the Luxembourg.
Corporate taxation in the EU
needs radical reform, Mr Moscovici

MIAMI

said as he unveiled the plan.

Member States need to pull together and everyone must pay their
fair share.
AFP

Andorra
Anguilla
Antigua and Barbuda
Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
Bermuda
British Virgin Islands
Brunei
Cook Islands
Cayman Islands
Grenada
Guernsey
Hong Kong
Liberia
Liechtenstein
Maldives
Marshall Islands
Mauritius
Monaco
Montserrat
Nauru
Niue
Panama
Seychelles
St Kitts and Nevis
St Vincent and the Grenadines
Turks and Caicos
US Virgin Islands
Vanuatu

WASHINGTON

Chinese minister
urges US to do its part

Sir Richard Branson (second from right) with Virgin Cruise president and CEO Tom McAlpin (second from left) and friends
at the Perez Art Museum to announce the new Virgin Cruise Lines in Miami on June 23. Photo: AFP

Richard Branson
enters cruise business
VIRGIN Cruises will launch its first
luxury liner in 2020 from Miami,
British tycoon Richard Branson announced late on June 23, placing his
bets on medium-sized boutique
ships.
True to his flamboyant style, Mr
Branson arrived amid fireworks at the
Perez Art Museum in Miami, descending from a helicopter dressed in a captains uniform and shorts.
Virgin Cruises plans to make
some waves with an original and intimate experience, he said at a news
conference.
Mr Branson promised a worldclass cruise line that will redefine the
cruising experience for good. The Virgin Cruises approach will appeal to
cruisers and non-cruisers alike.
A joint venture with Bain Capital,
the cruise line will be the latest addition to 64-year-old Mr Bransons Virgin Group, which includes an airline,
a railroad, a bank and a cable operator
among its more than 400 holdings.

The amount invested in Virgin

Cruises was not disclosed.
Mr Branson said he has ordered
the lines first three ships from Italys
Fincantieri, which will deliver them in
2020, 2021 and 2022.
We made the decision to sail
against the current trend of building
these big megaships, Virgin Cruises
president and CEO Tom McAlpin said.
We are going to be constructing
smaller, more boutique vessels.
We have deliberately chosen a size
of ship that allows us to offer an excellent variety of experiences but in a
more intimate environment, he said.
Mr McAlpin said the ships will
weigh about 110,000 tonnes each, and
have the capacity to carry some 2800
passengers and a crew of 1150.
These are highly technological
machines, said Fincantieri chairm
Vincenzo Petrone.
The level of the entertainment ...
envisioned is extremely complex with
technological challenges. But we are

sure we can together develop a very

special type of platform.
Mr Branson, who said he has
dreamed of having a cruise line for
decades, voiced hope that Virgin Cruises will be able to stop in Cuba in the
near future, calling it a great country.
But so far, there are no specific
plans to do so.
US President Barack Obama and
Cuban President Raul Castro agreed
in December to seek to restore normal
relations, and the two leaders held
groundbreaking talks on the sidelines
of an April summit in Panama.
The White House sees better relations with Cuba as correcting an outof-date policy and as a likely signature foreign policy achievement of Mr
Obamas presidency.
Just last month, the United States
dropped the only Communist-run
country in the Americas from its blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism, removing yet another hurdle to normal
relations. AFP

CHINESE Finance Minister Lou Jiwei called on June 23 on the United

States to boost its domestic savings and investment to strengthen
growth, including spending to improve infrastructure.
Speaking during the first day of
the annual Strategic and Economic
dialogue between the rival political and economic powers, Mr Lou
countered US pressure for China
to stop relying on investment to
power growth.
He pointed out that Chinas
contribution to global growth is 30
percent, while the US, the largest
economy in the world, added only
10pc.
To enhance the world economy,
he said, the United States should
save more and turn that into productive investment, especially in
infrastructure.
We also hope that the United
States accelerates its structural
reform process and develops effective processes to increase labour
force participation and then enhancing the savings rate, he said
in a press conference, speaking

through an interpreter.
The United States should have
a proper mechanism to mobilise
more savings to direct to investment. At the same time we would
suggest that the US could use the
opportunities of greater fiscal
space to increase the investment
in infrastructure.
By giving investment a greater
role in growth, the United States
could make a great contribution
to world economic development,
he added.
The talks got under way in
Washington with US Treasury
Secretary Jacob Lew urging China
to loosen controls on its currency
and encourage more domestic
consumption.
In two separate statements Mr
Lew also expressed strong concern
about what he said was Chinese
government-sponsored cyber-hacking of US companies to steal business information and technology.
Such activity falls outside of the
bounds of acceptable state behaviour in cyberspace, Mr Lew said.
AFP

LONDON

Bank bonuses may be

clawed back in UK
BRITISH regulators on June 23 announced new rules allowing banks
to claw back top executives bonuses up to a decade after they were
awarded in cases of misconduct.
The Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct
Authority (FCA) said they were
extending existing seven-year clawback rules for the most senior managers at British banks.
In other measures, bonuses for
non-executive directors will be
banned, as will bonuses for senior
managers of any bank or lender
that gets bailed out by taxpayers.
This is a crucial step to rebuild
public trust in financial services,

and allows firms and regulators

to build long-term decision making and effective risk management
into peoples pay packets, said FCA
chief executive Martin Wheatley.
The new rules will also extend
the period for which bonuses must
be deferred for up to seven years
for senior managers, five years for
risk managers and three to five
years for all other material risk
takers.
The rules on deferral and clawback come into force for performance periods beginning on January 1, 2016, with other changes
applying from July 1 this year.
AFP

14 THE MYANMAR TIMES JUNE 25, 2015

World

15

WORLD EDITOR: Fiona MacGregor

S Korean hospitals
close as MERS
spreads

Mother Teresas
successor dies in
Kolkata

WORLD 16

WORLD 16

PUERTO PRINCESA

KARACHI

Japan, Philippines defy China with

second S China Sea spy plane flight
JAPAN and the Philippines flew patrol
planes near disputed South China Sea
waters for a second straight day yesterday, defying Chinese warnings.
A Japanese P-3C Orion and a Philippine navy islander flew on a search and
rescue drill 50 nautical miles (92.6 kilometres) northwest of Palawan island,
officials said.
While the flight was in the general
direction of the resource-rich Reed
Bank claimed by both the Philippines
and China, officials refused to say if the
planes flew directly over the area.
Following a similar flight the day before, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang warned against hyping
the navy drills, suggesting they could
undermine stability in the region.
But Japanese Maritime Self-Defence
Force Commander Hiromi Hamano
told reporters that yesterdays joint
training exercise was a success, shortly
after the spy plane landed at a Philippine airbase in Palawan.
I think it is important to continue

HADR [humanitarian and disaster response], SAR [search and rescue] training with the Philippine Navy.
Philippine President Benigno Aquinos office also praised the drills.
The Philippines has had these exercises before with our strategic partners, presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said in a statement.
It should not be taken as an affront
to any other and is an expression of cooperation and learning from all those
involved.
Yesterdays flight was a search
and rescue activity, Philippine navy
spokesperson Commander Lued Lincuna said. The surveillance plane crew
did not observe anything unusual in
the waters, Mr Hamano told reporters.
Reed Bank lies about 85 nautical
miles west of Palawan, within the Philippines 200-mile exclusive economic
zone.
An encounter between a Chinese
vessel and a survey ship contracted by
Filipino firm Philex Petroleum in 2012

IN PICTURES
Photo: AFP

has stalled exploration in the area.

The Philippines and Japan are in
the middle of their second-ever naval
joint manoeuvres this week, which followed historic exercises last month.
The two former World War II foes
are strengthening their strategic partnership in the face of separate territorial rows with China.
The Philippine Navy is also holding
separate naval exercises with its longtime ally the United States off Palawan
this week, with a US P-3 Orion flight
from the island scheduled for today.
Chinas claim over almost the entire
South China Sea overlaps with those of
the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan.
Beijing has ramped up construction
of artificial islands on South China Sea
reefs to reinforce its claim over the resource-rich waters that also host major
shipping lanes.
It is embroiled in a separate dispute
with Japan over an island chain in the
East China Sea. AFP

A Balinese
woman
performs a
traditional
dance during
at the 37th Bali
Art Festival
in Denpasar,
on Indonesias
resort island
of Bali on
June 24. The
festival is a full
month of daily
performances
of traditional
dance and
music.

HONG KONG

Last outpost of HK protest site cleared

THE final remnants of the tent city
that once blocked a major highway
through Hong Kong during mass prodemocracy protests was cleared away
by city authorities yesterday.
The camp of around 150 tents outside the legislature complete with
flower pots, a study area and large colourful banners was a final outpost
of the former Admiralty rally site that
was cleared in December.
The public protests over how Hong
Kong chooses its next leader in 2017
were sparked by a ruling from Beijing
last year that all candidates must be
vetted by a loyalist committee.
Campaigners derided the bill as
fake democracy and tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the
streets to object.
The proposal was finally voted
down by pro-democracy lawmakers
last week and many of those who
had made the Tim Mei New Village

camp their home prepared to move

as police indicated a clearance was
imminent.
By yesterday morning, all that remained were some ramshackle tents
and piles of unwanted belongings,
from sofas and mannequins to mugs,
toys and slippers.
Dozens of government officials
moved in with brooms and saws to
dismantle the tents, while trucks
waited to transport the debris away.
The deadline has expired. I now
announce that officers ... will ... remove the persons, tents, marquees
and other properties, an official announced over a loudspeaker.
One male protester carrying a
yellow umbrella, the symbol of the
democracy movement, was led away
from a tent by what appeared to be
plain-clothed police officers.
Police would not immediately confirm the man had been arrested.

A small group of protesters looked

on through the grey morning drizzle
and uniformed police also watched
from the sidelines.
Some protesters said they disagreed with the clearance of what the
authorities said was an illegal camp.
I feel very helpless. There are still
a lot of issues at stake. Theres no reason to clear it all, said Qing Lam, in
her 30s.
Benny Mok, 51, who works as a
surveyor, said he had been at the site
for 270 days and called the clearance
suppression without reason.
[It is] a PR show to make it appear we are disturbing the people,
said Mr Mok. But he added that the
protests had galvanised younger
generations.
Youths are now becoming more
involved in political issues. You would
have never imagined that in the past,
he said. AFP

An official from the Lands Department checks a tent at the last remaining pro-democracy site in the Admiralty district of
Hong Kong on June 24. Photo: AFP

WASHINGTON

US, China vow cooperation amid tensions

THE United States and China
vowed yesterday to avoid confrontation as they began a final day of key
talks, tackling head-on differences
over issues such as cyber security
and freedom of the seas.
President Barack Obama was
also preparing to meet key members of the Chinese delegation yesterday ahead of a visit in September
by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
US Vice President Joe Biden
sharply warned Beijing on June 23
that the worlds waterways which
carry 80 percent of the planets
commerce must remain open.
Responsible countries adhere to
international law and work together
to keep international sea lanes open
for unimpaired commerce, Mr
Biden said pointedly.
The two major trading partners
remain at odds over Chinas claims
to much of the South China Sea and
Washington has repeatedly urged
Beijing to stop building artificial islands and resolve its numerous territorial claims peacefully.
Nations that discard diplomacy
and use coercion and intimidation
to settle disputes, or turn a blind eye
to aggression of others, only invite
instability, Mr Biden warned.
In unusually frank comments,
Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang
noted that Beijing and Washington
do not agree on everything, admitting, On some issues, perhaps, consensus still eludes us.
But he insisted, Neither of
us could afford the cost of noncooperation
or
even
all-out
confrontation.
Decision-makers of both countries must always remember that
confrontation is a negative sum
game in which both sides will pay

heavy prices and the world will suffer too, Mr Wang said.
Welcoming the top delegation of
some 400 officials also led by Chinas State Councillor Yang Jiechi for
the seventh round of annual talks,
Mr Biden insisted Beijing must be
at the table to help set up a new
rules-based system in a rapidly
changing world.
There will be intense competition,. We will have intense disagreements. Thats the nature of international relations, Mr Biden said.
There are important issues
where we dont see eye-to-eye, but it
doesnt mean we should stop working hand-in-hand, he said.
US Secretary of State John Kerry
insisted, No nations agree on every
issue. But we do not accept that a
narrowing of the differences is beyond our reach.
Our relationship is dynamic
and it has grown and matured
steadily in the past decades.
Mr Jiechi vowed China would
work with the United States in a
spirit of openness, to properly address the relevant issues.
High on the agenda is cyber
hacking, with Treasury Secretary
Jacob Lew insisting both nations
must abide by certain standards of
behavior within cyberspace.
We remain deeply concerned
about Chinese government-sponsored cyber-enabled theft of confidential business information
and proprietary technology from
US companies, Mr Lew told the
delegations.
Such activity falls outside of the
bounds of acceptable state behavior
in cyberspace.
But in a sign of Chinas discontent, Chinese Finance Minister Lou

Jiwei called on the US to boost its

domestic savings and investment to
strengthen growth, including spending to improve infrastructure.
The United States should have a
proper mechanism to mobilise more
savings to direct to investment, he
said, pointing out that Chinas contribution to global growth is 30 percent, while the US, the largest economy in the world, added only 10pc.
Ties have strained over US accusations of cyber espionage and a

bilateral cyber working group was

suspended by Beijing last year after
Washington indicted five Chinese
military officers for hacking into US
computers.
This weeks talks come after revelations of huge breaches of US government computer networks at the
Office of Personnel Management,
an issue US officials said they would
raise directly with their Chinese
guests.
Mr Kerry said the two countries,

the worlds two largest economies

but also biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, were working effectively to try to reduce emissions
ahead of a key UN-led Paris conference on setting new targets in
December.
The idea is that you are creating
a critical mass of countries that are
setting these targets and everyone
feels compelled to join, Mr Kerry
said.
AFP

Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong (left) shakes hands with U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden (right) as Chinese State
Councilor Yang Jiechi (centre) looks on during the joint opening session of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue,and
Consultation on People-to-People Exchange on June 23 at the State Department in Washington, DC. Photo: AFP

Heatwave eases as
death toll nears 700
A DEADLY heatwave that has killed
nearly 700 people in southern Pakistan showed signs of easing yesterday, bringing some respite to the
sweltering city of Karachi.
Temperatures in the city, which
is Pakistans largest and has seen the
majority of the deaths, were forecast
to peak at 38 degrees Celsius (100
Fahrenheit), down from the 40-plus
highs of recent days.
Winds have shifted to the southwest, blowing cooler air into the
port city from the Arabian Sea, and
the Pakistani Met Office has predicted rain, which would bring lower
temperatures.
The government has demanded
urgent action to deal with the crisis, and the administration in Sindh
province yesterday declared a public
holiday to encourage people to stay
indoors out of the sun.
Some residents took to hosing
each other down with water to avoid
collapsing from heat stroke.
A state of emergency is in force
in hospitals which are struggling to
cope with the 3000 people affected by
heatstroke and dehydration.
The change in weather will come
as welcome relief for the economic
hub, where maximum temperatures

have hovered around 44-45C since

June 20.
The National Disaster Management Authority has been setting up
dedicated heatstroke treatment centres to try to cope with the volume of
patients.
Blasting summer heat is not unusual in Pakistan, and some parts of
the country regularly experience
higher temperatures than those seen
in Karachi this week, without serious
loss of life.
But this years heatwave has coincided with the start of the Islamic
fasting month of Ramadan, during
which millions of devout Pakistanis
abstain from food and drink from
sunrise to sunset.
The majority of the deaths in
Karachi have been among the poor
and manual labourers who work
outdoors, prompting clerics to urge
those at risk of heatstroke not to fast.
The situation has not been helped
by power cuts, a regular feature of life
in Pakistan, which have stopped fans
and air conditioners from working.
Electricity shortages have crippled
the water supply system in Karachi,
hampering the pumping of millions
of gallons of water to consumers, the
state-run water utility said. AFP

TOKYO

Thai former police chief

arrested over airport gun
JAPANESE authorities have arrested
a former senior policeman from Thailand for possessing a loaded gun at a
Tokyo airport, officials said yesterday.
Comronwit Toopgrajank, a former
Bangkok police chief, was detained on
May 22 at Narita airport as he tried to
leave the country, a police spokesperson said.
Officials stationed at the airport discovered a revolver with five live rounds
in the 60-year-olds suitcase and arrested him on the spot on suspicion of
violating gun laws, the spokesperson
added.
The suspect told police the gun was
his own and was a gift from a friend,
and that he had forgotten he had put
it inside the suitcase, the official said.
He entered Japan on June 19, and
said he visited a waste incineration
plant as part of a group of some 80 people, the spokesperson added.
A Thai embassy official said Mr
Comronwit was being quizzed by
prosecutors.
Mr Comronwit headed the police in
Thailands capital between July 2012
and May 2014, the same month Thailands generals seized power in a coup.
He retired later that year.
Thai junta chief Prayut Chan-o-cha
said yesterday he had ordered officials
at the countrys biggest airport Suvarnabhumi to investigate whether Mr
Comronwit was able to take the pistol
through security before flying to Japan.
I have ordered the investigation to
look at whether he can smuggle such a
thing on board and whether he passed
through X-ray machines, he told
reporters.
Such a security breach, if proven,
would be a major embarrassment for
Thailand at a time when its aviation

industry is under increased scrutiny.

Last week the International Civil
Aviation Organization red-flagged
Thailand after it failed to meet a deadline to address a significant safety
concern about how air operators are
certified.
Analysts say that move could
prompt further scrutiny by aviation
bodies in the United States and Europe as well as make it harder for Thai
airlines to find insurance or lease new
aircraft.
Gen Prayut has vowed to meet the
ICAOs demands.
Mr Comronwits detention also
comes a fortnight after five Thais were
detained at Lahore airport in Pakistan
after one of them tried to board a plane
with a pistol and ammunition.
So far they had not been linked to
any insurgent groups in Thailand.
While Japanese police do carry
guns, Japan has very strict firearms
control laws and few people possess
weapons or have come into contact
with them.
Thailands police are armed and the
country has one of Asias highest gun
murder rates. AFP

I have ordered an
investigation to
look at whether ...
he passed through
X-ray machines.
Prayut Chan-o-cha
Thai junta chief

16 World

THE MYANMAR TIMES JUNE 25, 2015

MANILA

IN PICTURES

Club sorry
for transgender ban
ONE of the Philippines top nightclubs
has issued an apology after its bouncers barred a transgender fashion designer from entering, triggering outrage in celebrity circles.
The management of the Valkyrie, in
an uptown suburb of Manila, issued a
statement on June 23 stressing they do
not discriminate against transwomen
and transgender individuals.
The Club does not refuse entry on
the basis of an individuals sexual orientation. The Club has, on many previous occasions, welcomed transgender guests into its premises, said the
statement, a copy of which was obtained by AFP yesterday.
The apology came after popular
designer Veejay Floresca was denied
entry into the fashionable nightclub
earlier this month.
Ms Floresca said she was barred
from Valkyrie on June 12 with a
bouncer telling her cross-dressers are
not allowed.
On June 20, she tried to enter another uptown establishment, the Pool
Palace Club, owned by the same company, but was blocked by a bouncer
who questioned her California ID
card, identifying her as a woman.
No, you are still a man, she quoted the bouncer as saying. However,
a woman at the club intervened and
helped Ms Floresca get inside, she
added.
The incidents touched off a firestorm with many accusing the management of discrimination.
Vice Ganda, one of the countrys
most popular comedians, who is a
part-owner of Valkyrie, said in a tweet,
The No Crossdressing Policy in any
establishment is so THIRD WORLD.
If Valkyrie implements this crap I will
pull out my very small share.
TV talk show host Boy Abunda,
who is gay, also expressed support for
Ms Floresca, saying, Whether you are
a cross-dresser or a transgender woman ... you still have rights.
The management said the clubs
personnel were only enforcing a policy
to deny entry to someone if they doubt
that person is presenting an authentic
identification card, the statement said.
Club management recognises,
however, that it may be necessary to
provide further training to its staff
to ensure that they are better able to
communicate the clubs guidelines
and policies to its patrons in order to
avoid misunderstanding in the future,
it added. AFP

Photo: AFP
Catholic nuns of the
Missionaries of Charity
perform prayers next to the
body of former superior
general of the organisation
Sister Nirmala Joshim at
St Johns church in Kolkata
on June 23. Sister Nirmala
Joshi, who succeeded Mother
Teresa, died earlier that
day at the age of 81, church
officials said.
SEOUL

S Korean hospitals
close as MERS spreads
TWO major hospitals in South Koreas capital suspended services to
patients yesterday in a bid to stop the
spread of MERS after four new cases
of the deadly virus were reported.
The new cases of Middle East
Respiratory Syndrome included
two who were in the same hospital
ward as other patients with the potentially deadly virus, Seouls health
ministry said.
The others were a nurse at Samsung Medical Centre in Seoul one
of the epicentres of the outbreak
and a relative of a patient who was
hospitalised for an unspecified disease in a hospital in Pyeongtaek,
south of Seoul, in early June.
Out of 179 people confirmed to
have caught MERS, five were infected through unknown transmission
routes outside hospitals, which have
until now been at the epicentre of
the outbreak, the ministry said.
A total of 27 people have died in
South Koreas MERS outbreak the
largest outside Saudi Arabia while
about 3100 people were being held
under quarantine at state facilities
or at home.
Samsung hospital, where nearly
90 patients, visitors and medical
staff have contracted the virus, declared a 10-day suspension of most
services on June 14 to stem the
spread of the virus.

But as the number of new infections has continued to grow, authorities have decided to extend the
partial shutdown indefinitely.
The outbreak at the hospital,
which belongs to South Koreas
top conglomerate Samsung group,
prompted heir apparent Jay Y Lee to
publicly apologise for causing great
pain and concern on Jume 23.
Another major Seoul hospital,
Konkuk University Medical Centre,
yesterday also stopped admitting
new patients and performing surgery after four cases were reported
in recent days.
Almost all infections so far have
taken place in hospitals and the
World Health Organization said it
had found no evidence suggesting
transmission of the virus outside
hospital.
Sixteen patients were in critical

1330

Number of people infected with MERS

worldwide since the first outbreak
was reported in 2012

condition as of yesterday, the

ministry said, while 67 people have
recovered and been released from
hospital.
South Koreas MERS outbreak
began on May 20 when a 68-year-old
man was diagnosed after returning
from a trip to Saudi Arabia.
The virus since then has spread
at an unusually rapid pace, sparking alarm in Asias fourth-largest
economy and elsewhere in the
region.
The outbreak dealt a severe blow
to businesses from tourism to retail
as people have shunned crowded
venues and more than 120,000 foreigners cancelled planned trips to
Seoul.
South Koreas central bank cut its
key interest rate this month in a bid
to counter the economic impact of
the outbreak, but its chief yesterday
said it was already starting to fade.
The extent of the fall has declined from the first and second
week of the outbreak, which is why
we are hoping the impact is weakening, he said in comments carried by
the Yonhap news agency.
There is no known vaccine for
MERS, which has infected more
than 1330 people, mostly in Saudi
Arabia, in 26 countries since first
reported in 2012, according to the
WHO. AFP

SEOUL

UN chiefs
meet comfort
women
THE UN high commissioner for human
Rights met with three former comfort
women on a visit to Seoul yesterday
and promised to continue advocating
on behalf of South Korean victims of
Japans wartime system of sex slavery.
Zeid Raad Al Hussein met with the
three, who are among some 50 surviving South Korean comfort women, at
a museum in Seoul dedicated to the
women forced into sexual slavery during World War II.
Mr Al Hussein would continue to
advocate on their behalf, he was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency
after meeting with them.
I will of course stay in touch with
them and visit them again as often as I
can, he said.
About 200,000 women, mainly
from Korea but also from China, Indonesia and other Asian nations, were
forced into sexual slavery during the
war. South Korea says Tokyo does not
fully accept its guilt and has not sufficiently atoned.
But Japan insists the issue was settled in the 1965 bilateral agreement
that restored diplomatic ties between
the two nations, which saw Tokyo make
a total payment of US$800 million in
grants or loans to its former colony.
The issue has strained relations between Seoul and Tokyo for years with
South Korean President Park GeunHye saying there can be no meeting
with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe until Japan makes amends. AFP

World 17

www.mmtimes.com
WASHINGTON

Outrage in
France over
US spy claims
THE French presidency said yesterday it will not tolerate any
acts that threaten its security after leaked documents apparently
showed the US spied on President
Francois Hollande and his two
predecessors.
Commitments were made by
the US authorities, the Elysee Palace said in a statement, referring to
promises by the US in late 2013 not
to spy on Frances leaders. They
must be remembered and strictly
respected.
Mr Hollande convened his security chiefs after secret documents
leaked by WikiLeaks indicated that
the US had spied for years on him
and two former leaders.
Spying between allies was unacceptable, said French government spokesperson Stephane Le
Foll, shortly before the emergency
meeting of the defence council.
The documents labelled Top
Secret and appearing to reveal
spying on Jacques Chirac, Nicolas
Sarkozy and Mr Hollande from
2006 to 2012 were published online by WikiLeaks, in partnership
with French newspaper Liberation
and the Mediapart website.
The leak comes just weeks
after President Barack Obama
approved landmark legislation
ending the US governments
bulk telephone data dragnet, significantly reversing US policy by
reining in the most controversial
surveillance programme since
9/11.
The White House did not comment on past activity, but said it
was not targeting Mr Hollandes
communications and will not do so
in the future.
We are not targeting and will
not target the communications of
President Hollande, said National
Security Council (NSC) spokesperson Ned Price late on June 23, calling the US partnership with France
indispensable.
The meeting of Frances top
ministers and intelligence chiefs
was set to evaluate the nature of
the information published by the
press on June 23 evening and to
draw useful conclusions, said one
of Mr Hollandes aides.
Among the documents are five
from the US National Security
Agency (NSA), including the most
recent dated May 22, 2012, just
days after Mr Hollande took office.
It claims the French leader approved holding secret meetings in
Paris to discuss the eurozone crisis,
particularly the consequences of a
Greek exit from the eurozone.
It also says Mr Hollande believed after talks with German
Chancellor Angela Merkel that she
had given up [on Greece] and was
unwilling to budge.
This made Hollande very worried for Greece and the Greek people, who might react by voting for
an extremist party, according to
the document.
The same file also alleges that
the French leader went behind Ms
Merkels back to schedule meetings
in Paris with members of the Social
Democrats, Germanys main opposition party at the time.
In 2013, the NSA was accused of
spying on Ms Merkel.
It is difficult to accept that
between allies ... there can be this
kind of activity, particularly related to wiretapping linked to the

president of the Republic, said Mr

Le Foll.
But the French spokesperson
also tried to play down the controversy, saying it was not something
that should trigger a major crisis.
There are enough dangerous
crises in the world today, he said.
Another document, dated
2008, was titled Sarkozy sees
himself as only one who can resolve the world financial crisis,
and said the former French president blamed many of the current
economic problems on mistakes
made by the US government, but
believes that Washington is now
heeding some of his advice.
Mr Chiracs choice for appointments at the United Nations was
the subject of a file dated 2006. In
that same document, then-foreign
minister Philippe Douste-Blazy
was described as someone who has
the propensity ... for making illtimed or inaccurate remarks.
In Washington, NSC spokesperson Mr Price echoed a statement
issued earlier on June 23 by the security council, saying, We do not
conduct any foreign intelligence
surveillance activities unless there
is a specific and validated national
security purpose. This applies to
ordinary citizens and world leaders
alike.
He added, We work closely
with France on all matters of international concern, and the French
are indispensable partners.
Frances ambassador to the US,
Gerard Araud, appeared to downplay the revelations, saying on
Twitter, Every diplomat lives with
the certainty that their communications are listened to, and not by
just one country. Real world.
Important, confidential discussions are held by secure methods
of communication, he continued,
but all our other devices are, by
definition, listened to.
But an aide of Mr Sarkozy blasted the alleged spying as unacceptable methods as a general rule and
more particularly between allies.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said French citizens had a
right to know their government
was subject to hostile surveillance
from a supposed ally, and promised more timely and important
revelations soon.
Documents leaked by former
NSA contractor Edward Snowden
in 2013 had revealed mass US surveillance activities, sparking global
outrage.
They included the allegation
that the US had spied on Ms Merkel.
At the time, Washington made
no outright denial, but said Ms
Merkels phone was not being
tapped currently and would not be
in future.
British newspaper The Guardian reported at the time that the
NSA had listened in on the phone
calls of 35 world leaders. According to various reports they include
the leaders of France, Mexico and
Brazil.
While it was not known then if
Mr Hollandes phone was bugged,
the French leader had said on a visit in Washington in February 2014
that the two allies had resolved their
differences over American digital
eavesdropping.
Mutual trust has been restored,
Mr Hollande said then. AFP

THE HAGUE

Landmark court case for worlds

greenhouse gas campaigners
A DUTCH court yesterday ordered the
state to slash greenhouse gas emissions nationwide by at least 25 percent
by 2020, in a case that could serve as
a blueprint for activists around the
world.
The court orders the State to reduce the overall volume of greenhouse
gas emissions in such a way that they
are at least 25 percent less in 2020
compared to 1990, judge Hans Hofhuis said as the courtroom erupted in
cheers and applause.
The ruling came after almost 900
Dutch citizens took their government
to court in April in a bid to force a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
to tackle climate change.
They hope that it will serve as a
template for legal action elsewhere in
the world.
Marjan Minnesma, who heads

environmental rights group Urgenda

which brought the case, had said it
wanted The Hague to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent
over 1990 levels by 2020.
The parties agree that the severity and magnitude of climate change
make it necessary to take measures to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the
court said in its ruling.
The State must do more to reverse the imminent danger caused
by climate change, given also its duty
to protect and improve the environment, the court said.
Effective
control
of
Dutch
emissions is one of the States tasks,it
said, adding that the cost of the reductions would not be unacceptably
high.
This is a world first for us,
Ms Minnesma said at the court,

expressing hopes that the precedent

set by the Netherlands would be followed by many across the world.
Millions of people who already
experience climate change personally
hope that we, the people responsible
for the emissions and who have the
means, will still make a timely intervention, Ms Minnesma said in a
statement.
These people, with this ruling in
hand, can now bring their own cases,
she said.
The Amsterdam-based Urgenda
said the case was the first in Europe
in which citizens attempted to hold
the state responsible for its potentially devastating inaction on climate
change, and the first in the world in
which human rights were used as a legal basis to protect citizens against its
effects. AFP

18 World

IN PICTURES
Photo: AFP

THE MYANMAR TIMES JUNE 25, 2015

A horse rears in a crowd during the traditional San Juan festival in the town of Ciutadella, on the Balearic Island of
Menorca on the eve of Saint Johns day on June 23. During the event, held each year over two days, Minorcan race
horses gallop and prance on their hind legs through the streets to honor the towns patron saint. As the caixers (horse
riders) ride together in a parade, spectators attempt to pat the horses chests to get good luck.

PARIS

WASHINGTON

Ebola was disaster for

malaria control: study

Global polls back US

against IS, despite
torture concerns

UNTREATED malaria in Guinea

surged as a result of the Ebola scare
and probably caused far more deaths
than the dreaded haemorrhagic fever
itself, doctors reported yesterday.
Tens of thousands shunned seeking help for malaria, fearing infection
from people with Ebola or confinement if they showed feverish symptoms, the experts said.
Researchers led by Mateusz Plucinski from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
looked at figures from 120 clinics in
December 2014, when the Ebola outbreak in Guinea was at its peak.
Sixty clinics were in prefectures
that had been most affected by Ebola
and the 60 others in places where the
disease had not been reported.
They compared this with data for
attendance at these clinics in 2013
and malaria incidence from 2011 and
2014.
The number of outpatient visits

COUNTRIES across the world have

a favourable view of the US and its
fight against the Islamic State radical group, according to a Pew Research Center report.
Americas use of torture, though,
was widely condemned, with people
in the 40 countries included in the
study declaring the practice against
suspected terrorists was not justified.
Internationally, the global median of public perception of the United
States was 69 percent favorable and
24pc unfavorable. The US airstrikes
in Iraq and Syria against IS fighters
drew 62pc support and 24pc opposition.
Those numbers were in stark
contrast to the US invasion of Iraq
in 2003, which was generally viewed
unfavorably abroad.
But the US scored less favorably
when people were questioned about
what Pew called the harsh interrogation methods used against suspected terrorists in the wake of 9/11
that many consider torture.
A median of 50pc of global respondents felt the use of such tactics
were not justified, compared to 58pc
of respondents in the US who felt the
methods were warranted.
The use of torture was laid bare
in a 2014 US Senate report about the
interrogation of al-Qaeda suspects
following the September 11, 2001,

74,000
Number of Malaria cases believed
to have gone untreated due to the
Ebola outbreak

in December fell by 11 percent and

the tally of patients receiving malaria
treatment fell by 24pc for oral drugs
and by 30pc for injectable drugs, they
found.
The falls were far greater in Ebola-affected areas. Out-patient attendance there plummeted by 42pc in
certain age groups, and the number
of treated malaria cases dropped by
as much as 69pc.
But even districts which had not
recorded a single case of Ebola saw
substantial declines in reported malaria cases and treatment.
Malaria facilities were also badly
affected by staff shortages, the study
found.
Extrapolated nationwide, around
74,000 likely cases of malaria were
not treated, said the study, published
in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
It is difficult to put an exact figure on the number of excess malaria
deaths, Mr Plucinski said.
However, our study and a recently modelling analysis suggest that the
number of excess malaria deaths in
Guinea are likely substantially larger
than number of deaths from Ebola
virus disease.
Previous
investigations
into
uncomplicated
malaria
have
found that around 3 to 30 pc of
untreated cases progress to severe
malaria, depending mainly on the
age of the patient. Of these cases,

between 45 and 73 pc will die.

According to the World Health
Organization (WHO), as of June 14,
there had been 27,305 confirmed,
probable and suspected cases of
Ebola in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra
Leone, of which 11,169 were fatal.
In Guinea, there had been 3674
cases, 2444 of them fatal.
One problem is that the early
symptoms of malaria fever, headache and body aches mimic those
of Ebola, said Mr Plucinski.
Our data suggest that since the
start of the Ebola epidemic, people
with fevers have avoided clinics for
fear of contracting Ebola or being
sent to an Ebola treatment centre.
Malaria control efforts and care
delivery must be kept on track during an Ebola epidemic so that progress ... is not jeopardised and Ebola
outbreak response is not impeded,
he said.
Evidence from Sierra Leone and
Liberia suggests it is very likely
they too were devastatingly affected.
In April, research based on a
broad-ranging computer model, published in The Lancet, suggested an
additional 11,000 deaths from malaria may have occurred in the three
countries.
A further 3900 deaths may have
occurred through disruption to the
supply of insecticide-treated bednets,
it added. AFP

terrorist attacks.
People around the world generally supported US President Barack
Obama, with a median of 65pc having confidence in the second-term
leader.
The Pew report found people in
Asia generally supportive of his plan
to commit more military resources
to the area.
The move has raised tensions between the US and China, which is
angling for more control of the strategic South China Sea.
Favoring the US pivot to Asia
were some 71pc of people in the Philippines and Vietnam, 5pc of Japanese and 50pc of South Koreans.
Around 54pc of Malaysians polled
opposed the greater US military
commitment to the region, which a
majority of Chinese interpreted as
an attempt to try limit Chinas growing power.
But the US still received higher
ratings than China in Asia, as well
as in Africa, Latin America and
Europe.
The US had a 9-point ratings
edge over China in Africa and Asia,
a 28-point margin in Europe, and a
10-point lead in Latin America.
The converse was true for the
Middle East, where China had a far
better image, with 52pc support,
compared to 29 pc favourable for the
US. AFP

THE MYANMAR TIMES June 25, 2015

the pulse 21

www.mmtimes.com

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i
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n

DePuTY Pulse eDiTor: ToM BArTon tom.a.barton@gmail.com

Build a School in Burma director Robert Cornwell (centre, back) poses with Palaung women and schoolchildren. Photos: Supplied

F
ZON PANN
PWINT
zonpann08@gmail.com

To build a school in Burma

OR children living miles off the beaten track, education really is just
one big adventure. Children living in the delta battle waves as they
go to school by ferry boat. In hilltop villages, missed footing on a
slippery track can result in a bone-snapping fall. And once in class,
you might see a scorpion dart through a crack in the floorboards.
Unsurprisingly, these hazards contribute to the dropout rate. In rough and
rainy weather, parents often keep their children safe at home, fearing the risks
attendant on simply getting to class.
Robert Cornwell became aware of this when he visited Myanmar in 1996. A
decade later, he founded the charity Build a School in Burma.
Since 2010, BSB has built 10 schools in remote areas without public
transport, and is in the process of building five more.
The funding comes from Roberts pension, donations from his daughter,
who is a college student who works part-time, and his friends, one of whom
runs a solar panel company. Two local donors have contributed K300,000 and
US$1000 respectively.
I was walking through villages in the hills of southern Shan State in
January 1996. Every village was a different ethnic group and many had no
school or just a thatched shack, said Robert.
A local NGO told him that building a village school cost about K20 million. His
friend Andrew Lederer, who visited Myanmar with him in 1996, offered to help
him raise the money. Their first school is situated in Nan Auw village (about one
and a half hours from Kalaw by jeep). It was completed in March, 2011.
Many villages still lack schools, so children can attend only by walking a
long way. This can be dangerous, especially during the rainy season, he said.
The schools are in Yangon and Bago regions, the delta, the Bay of
Bengal coast north and south of Chaung Tha, near Pyay, and in Rakhine,
Kachin, and northern and southern Shan states. Many ethnic groups
including Kachin, Shan, Danu, Taro, Bamar, Palaung, Rakhine, Lisu, Lahu and
Karen and religious groups are now enjoying the benefits.
Ko Naing Naing Lin, who works as a volunteer for BSB. tells the story of a
teacher working at a BSB school in Poe Dauk village, Ayeyarwady Region. She
is the only teacher, in charge of over 40 children from first to fourth grades in a
hall-like concrete building.
There was no school in the village before. The children had to go to another

village across the river. Eventually they built a hut, with a teacher who had
failed the matriculation exam.
Ko Naing Naing Lin said, Before we transformed the hut into a new
concrete building, we considered sending the teacher to a boarding school in
Haigyi Island to retake her exams. She was very enthusiastic about serving
the children of her village, and studied hard. She passed with a distinction in
biology, and is now teaching at the newly built school.
BSB look for communities which lack good schools, where the community
is well organised and will contribute land, labour and materials. The schools
include complete sets of wooden chairs and tables, and are run by the villagers.
When the schools are close to their houses, the dropout rate obviously
decreases. One of the teachers recalled that some children were killed by a
train while crossing the railway on the way to school. That doesnt happen
now, said Ko Naing Naing Lin.
He said the transportation costs for building materials were higher than the
materials cost when he built a school in Hway Port, Shan State, because of the
slippery tracks.
In many other areas, children can only attend middle school by moving to
a town where there is such a school. The costs of boarding and middle school
fees are too high for many families and they are separated from their children
at age 10 when the children board away.
For poor children, the costs of fees, uniforms, books and supplies are often a
reason why they cannot attend school. Although Myanmar law provides for free
education, almost all government schools charge some type of fee, said Robert.
Many children still have no opportunity for school at all, while others have
to drop out by fifth grade because no middle school is available. Lack of
education leaves children vulnerable to trafficking and with no way but
farming to earn a living.
Its always a challenge to raise money. There will always be more needs
than we can afford to help. But we are fortunate to have generous donors and
are looking for ways to find new donors and raise more funds, he said.
My father, mother and grandmother were teachers and all of us at
BSB have enjoyed the benefits of a good education. We and our donors are very
gratified to help Myanmar children to get an education. We wish Myanmar and
its children a bright and progressive future, Robert said.

22 the pulse

THE MYANMAR TIMES June 25, 2015

Dramatic arts classes

to keep culture alive
Phyo Wai KyaW
hlaing KyaW Soe

PRIVATE foundation
is to open dance
classes to help preserve
traditional Myanmar
performing arts. The
Arts Mandalay Foundation has
engaged scholars and experts to
teach a month-long course, starting
from June 29, at the home of the
actor Win Naung in Pyigyitagun
township, Mandalay Region, a
spokesperson said.
Myanmar dramatic art is on the
verge of extinction as stage acting
exerts more influence. This course
should help preserve it, said dance
trainer U Than Aung on June 19.
Daniel Ehrlich, the founder of
the Arts Mandalay Foundation, said
it was seeking support here and
overseas for the establishment of a
theatre and a private art school.
He said, Scholars say the best
time to learn Myanmar dance is
between the ages of eight and 12.
We will draw up a curriculum with
the help of retired teachers from
the Pandra School of art and music.
Fundraising will be difficult, so by
establishing the theatre first we will
have an opportunity to display the
arts. Translation by Emoon

The Global Gossip

US rap mogul Diddy arrested in
los angeles
American rap mogul Diddy was arrested in Los
Angeles on June 22 for assault with a deadly
weapon in this case, a kettlebell.
no one was seriously hurt in the incident
at the university of California, Los Angeles
sports centre, and police have launched an
investigation, the school said.
Diddy real name Sean Combs, 45 likely
will be moved to the Los Angeles County
Sheriffs Department Inmate Reception Center,
officials said.
entertainment website TMZ said that Combs
American rapper Diddy is being
attacked one of the trainers at the centre.
held on assault charges. Photo:
It was not immediately clear what
Michael N Todaro/Getty Images for
transpired. But one of Combs sons has played
CIROC/AFP
special teams for the universitys squad.
Im thankful that our staff showed the
level of professionalism that they did in handling this situation. This is an unfortunate
incident for all parties involved, football coach Jim Mora said in a statement.
While uCPD continues to review this matter, we will let the legal process run its
course and refrain from further comment at this time.
Combs, who had a hand in the careers of artists including Mary J Blige, Biggie,
usher and Lil Kim, has an estimated uS$700 million fortune.
He has worked as an artist, producer, actor, fashion designer, fashion brand owner
and businessperson.

The dual romantic dance (hna-phar-thwar) is performed at a variety concert

at the National Theatre, Mandalay. Photo: Phyo Wai Kyaw

Colombian actress Sofia Vergara

(right) and US actress and Oscar
winner Reese Witherspoon pose for
photographers during the premiere of
the film Hot Pursuit in Mexico City on
June 22. Photo: AFP/Omar Torres

Josh Wiggins poses with the

dog Jagger, who plays the
role of Max, on arrival for the
premiere of the film MAX in
Hollywood, California, on June
23. Photo: AFP/Frederic J Brown

Spanish police arrest vet for smuggling heroin inside puppies

Spanish police said June 23 they have arrested a Venezuelan vet wanted by the united
States for allegedly surgically implanting bags of liquid heroin inside puppies to
smuggle the drugs into America.
Police arrested Andres Lopez elorza on June 20 in the town of Santa Comba in
Spains northwestern region of Galicia, where he had been hiding since a Spanish
court last month approved his extradition to the united States, police said in a
statement.
This person, a veterinarian and member of a drug trafficking organisation,
transported heroin from Colombia to the united States in implants which he placed
inside puppies which he sent as pets, police said in a statement.
Lopez, who is married with two children, was first detained on an international
arrest warrant in December 2013 in Lugo in Galicia but was released while his
extradition was being considered.
He had been on the run since Colombian police in 2005 raided a clinic he ran in
Medellin and found 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) of heroin implanted inside three puppies
which were due to be flown to the united States once their surgical scars had healed.
After the Colombian raid, the united States called on police forces worldwide to
detain the vet on suspicion of drug smuggling.
Spanish police said Lopez had remained inside the apartment in Santa Comba
since the court ordered his extradition and had no contact with his wife and children to
try to escape arrest.

British teen nets super role as Spider-Man

British actor Tom Holland

has been chosen as the
next Spider-Man. Photo:
AFP/Andrew Cowie

Months of speculation ended June 23 as British actor Tom

Holland scored a coveted Hollywood superhero franchise,
and will be spinning webs on Andrew Garfields heels.
Sony Pictures and Marvel, apparently keen to get
back to Spideys schoolboy beginnings in the comics
tradition, picked the up-and-coming boyish 19-year-old
who starred in The Impossible to play Peter Parker.
We saw many terrific young actors, but Toms
screen tests were special. All in all, we are off to a
roaring start, said Tom Rothman, Sony Pictures Motion
Pictures Group.
Hollands first Spider-Man film, as yet untitled,
will be released in 2017. He follows British-American
Garfield and American Tobey Maguire.
Jon Watts will be directing. AFP

the pulse 23

www.mmtimes.com
MILAN

Gender-bending Gucci

sets tone for 2016 summer of love

LAure BruMoNt

ale fashion followers

will be sporting
distinctly androgynous
looks next year if some
of the Spring/Summer
2016 catwalk shows in Milan are
a guide even if Giorgio armani
resisted the trend.
armani brought Milans menswear
fashion week to a close on June 23
with a collection dominated by soft,
almost liquid silhouettes that was
unveiled with Robert de Niro among
the front-row VIPs.
Trousers were frequently baggy
and pleated, as were three-quarterlength shorts, as armani marked 40
years in the business with a collection
that bore all of his hallmarks.
DSquared also stayed true to form
with an extreme-sports-inspired collection that featured ponchos, chunky
snow shoes and wrist-to-shoulder
tattoos.
Spearheading a trend toward a
blurring of the lines between mens
and womenswear across many of the
collections unveiled in Italys home of
fashion was Gucci.
The Florence-based house has
been taken in a radical new direction
by alessandro Michele, the former
handbag designer who took over as
creative director following the sacking of Frida Giannini at the end of
last year.
To a soundtrack of Gregorian
chanting, Michele sent out a stream

of models in pastel-coloured silk

blouses and lace shirts that would not
have looked out of place at a 1970s
music festival.
Floral-patterned suits, low-waisted,
ground-scraping flares, big geeky
glasses, handbags, embroidered dressing gowns, 70s-cut trenchcoats and
tie-dye denim shorts also featured
in a collection presented in a former
customs warehouse.
It was a collection Michele pointedly depicted as a break with the
brands reputation for playing it safe.
Dtournement is the opposite of
quotation, said the typically cryptic
press notes, borrowing a phrase from
theorist Guy Debord and the French
word for a diversion.
It was certainly that: Traditional
male dressing codes have been diverted to the point that they are borrowing womens clothes, fabrics and
favourite accessories.
Only time will tell if Guccis gamble on a younger, more daring vision
of one of the worlds most valuable
luxury brands will pay off.
But the initial reaction in the
specialist fashion press and in the
increasingly important blogosphere
to the June 22 show appears to have
been quite positive.
The press has been gentle on the
unassuming Michele, embracing his
daring neo-dandyism and recognising
his influence, Womens Wear Daily
noted, before adding the killer question: But what will customers say?
Italian label etro also borrowed

from a range of colours that have

traditionally been the preserve of
womenswear electric blue, golden
yellow and dirty pink among them
for a collection that designer Kean
etro said had been inspired by the
egg, the symbol of male and female
union.
at venerable Italian house
Canali, tradition was updated rather
than thrown out under designer andrea Pompilios vision of a neverending Mediterranean summer in
a collection that relied heavily on
featherweight fabrics including organza, egyptian cotton and a linensilk-wool mix, and featured models
carrying vintage mini-suitcases as
handbags.
The trend towards a de facto
merger of men and womens clothing
was underlined at the weekend by
a Prada collection in which soft silk
shirts, worn open to the belly button
or lower and partially tucked-in,
featured repeatedly.
as if to drive home the point, Miuccia Prada also used her menswear
show as an opportunity to show off a
string of items from her womenswear
collection.
In the words of Stefano Pilati,
head of design at ermenegildo Zegna,
the key to the feminised look is restrained application. Todays fashion
conscious man is romantic but sure
of himself, strong and with an almost
feminine attitude, he says with a
marked emphasis on the almost.
AFP

Models present creations for fashion house Gucci at

the Men Spring-Summer 2016 Milans Fashion Week
on June 22. Photo: AFP/Giuseppe Cacace

24 the pulse

THE MYANMAR TIMES JUNE 25, 2015

DOMESTIC FLIGHT SCHEDULES

YANGON TO MANDALAY
Flight

Days

Dep

MANDALAY TO YANGON
Arr

Flight

Days

Dep

YANGON TO HEHO
Arr

Y5 775

Daily

6:00

7:10

Y5 233

Daily

7:50

9:00

W9 515

6:00

7:25

W9 201

Daily

8:40

10:35

YH 917

Daily

6:10

8:30

YJ 891

1,2,3,5,6

8:40

10:35

YJ 891

1,2,3,5,6

6:20

8:25

7Y 132

2,4,6,7

8:50

10:45

7Y 131

2,4,6,7

6:30

8:35

K7 223

1,3,5

8:55

11:00

K7 222

1,3,5

6:30

8:40

YH 918

Daily

8:30

10:25

6T 805

2,4,6

6:30

7:40

6T 806

2,4,6

10:30

11:40

YJ 201

1,2,3

7:00

8:55

YJ 202

1,2,3

12:00

13:25

W9 201

Daily

7:00

8:25

YJ 761

1,2,4

13:10

17:00

W9201

7:00

8:25

YJ 212

15:00

16:25

8M 6603

9:00

10:10

YJ 212

15:00

16:55

YJ 601

11:00

12:25

YJ 602

15:40

17:35

YJ 211

5, 7

11:00

12:25

7Y 242

1,3,5

16:40

18:45

YJ 761

1,2,4

11:00

12:55

K7 225

2,4,6,7

16:50

19:00

YH 729

2,4,6

11:00

14:00

YH 728

17:00

18:25

YH 737

3,5,7

11:00

13:10

W9 152/W97152

17:05

18:30

YH 727

11:30

13:40

Y5 776

Daily

17:10

18:20

W9 251

2,5

11:30

12:55

W9 211

17:10

19:15

7Y 241

1,3,5

14:30

16:25

YH 738

3,5,7

17:10

18:35

K7 224

2,4,6,7

14:30

16:35

8M 6604

17:20

18:30

Y5 234

Daily

15:20

16:30

8M 903

1,2,4,5,7

17:20

18:30

W9 211

15:30

16:55

YH 730

2,4,6

17:45

19:10

W9 252

2,5

18:15

19:40

YANGON TO NAY PYI TAW

Flight

Days

Dep

Arr

NAY PYI TAW TO YANGON

Flight

Days

Dep

Flight
YH 917
YJ 891
7Y 131
YJ 891
K7 222
7Y 131
Y5 649
YJ 751
YJ 761
YJ 751
YJ 233
YH 737
YH 727
K7 224
7Y 241
W9 129

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

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

HEHO TO YANGON
Arr
9:15
9:10
9:20
8:45
9:30
10:05
12:45
11:40
12:10
12:10
12:10
12:25
12:55
15:45
15:40
16:40

Flight
YJ 891
YH 918
YJ 891
W9 201
7Y 132
K7 223
YJ 762
7Y 242
K7 225
YH 728
YH 738
YJ 602
YJ 752
W9 129

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

Flight
Y5 326
6T 706
7Y 532
K7 320
Y5 326
SO 202

YANGON TO MYEIK
Flight
Y5 325
K7 319
6T 705
7Y 531
Y5 325
SO 201

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

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

Days

Dep

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

Arr
10:10
10:25
10:35
10:35
10:45
11:00
17:00
18:45
19:00
18:25
18:35
17:35
17:55
19:10

Air Bagan (W9)

Tel: 513322, 513422, 504888. Fax: 515102

Air KBZ (K7)

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

Asian Wings (YJ)

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

Golden Myanmar Airlines (Y5)

Tel: 09400446999, 09400447999
Fax: 8604051

Tel: 656969
Fax: 656998, 651020

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

Dep
8:35
8:55
15:35
11:30
17:15
13:20

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

Arr

Flight

Yangon Airways (YH)

Tel: 383100, 383107, 700264
Fax: 652 533

FMI Air Charter (ND)

Tel: 240363, 240373, 09421146545

APEX Airlines (SO)

SITTWE TO YANGON
Days

Dep

Arr

Arr

K7 422

2,4,6

8:00

9:55

K7 423

2,4,6

10:10

11:30

7Y 413

1,3,5,7

10:30

12:20

7Y 414

1,3,5,7

12:35

13:55

W9 309

1,3,6

11:30

12:55

W9 309

1,3,6

13:10

14:55

6T 611

Daily

11:45

12:55

6T 612

Daily

13:15

14:20

YJ 201

1,2,3,4

7:00

7:55

SO 101

Daily

7:00

8:00

ND 910

1,2,3,4,5

7:15

8:15

YJ 202

1,2,3,4

8:10

13:25

ND 105

1,2,3,4,5

10:45

11:40

ND 9102

1,2,3,4,5

8:35

9:35

ND 107

11:25

12:20

ND 104

1,2,3,4,5

9:20

10:15

ND 109

1,2,3,4,5

14:55

15:40

ND 106

10:00

10:55

Flight

Days

Dep

Arr

Flight

Days

Dep

Arr

2,4,6

8:00

8:55

K7 422

2,4,6

9:10

11:30

YANGON TO THANDWE

Domestic Airlines

Mann Yadanarpon Airlines (7Y)

MYEIK TO YANGON

YANGON TO SITTWE
Flight

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

THANDWE TO YANGON

Tel:95(1) 533300 ~ 311

Fax : 95 (1) 533312

Air Mandalay (6T)

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

Airline Codes
SO = APEX Airlines

ND 9109

1,2,3,4,5

17:00

18:00

ND 108

1,2,3,4,5

13:30

14:25

K7 422

ND 111

18:25

19:20

YJ 212

16:00

16:55

7Y 413

1,3,5

10:30

11:20

7Y 413

1,3,5

11:35

13:55

SO 102

Daily

18:00

19:00

ND 110

17:00

17:55

W9 309

1,3,6

11:30

13:50

7Y 413

12:05

14:20

K7 = Air KBZ

ND 9110

1,2,3,4,5

18:20

19:20

7Y 413

11:00

11:50

W9 309

1,3,6

14:05

14:55

W9 = Air Bagan

Y5 421

1,3,4,6

15:45

16:40

Y5 422

1,3,4,6

16:55

17:50

YANGON TO NYAUNG U

NYAUNG U TO YANGON

Flight

Days

Dep

Arr

Flight

Days

Dep

Arr

YH 917

Daily

6:10

7:45

YH 918

Daily

7:45

10:25

K7 222

1,3,5

6:30

7:50

7Y 132

2,4,6,7

8:05

10:45

7Y 131

2,4,6,7

6:30

7:50

K7 223

1,3,5

8:05

11:00

K7 224

2,4,6,7

14:30

17:25

K7 225

2,4,6,7

17:40

19:00

7Y 241

1,3,5

14:30

17:10

W9 129

1,3,6

17:50

19:10

W9 129

1,3,6

15:30

17:35

7Y 242

1,3,5

17:25

18:45

W9 211

15:30

17:40

W9 129

15:30

17:35

YANGON TO MYITKYINA

YANGON TO DAWEI

DAWEI TO YANGON

Flight

Days

Dep

Arr

Flight

Days

Dep

Arr

6T 805

2,4,6

6:30

8:55

6T 806

2,4,6

9:10

11:40

YH 826

1,3.5.7

7:00

9:40

YJ 202

1,2,3,4

10:35

13:25

YJ 201

1,2,3,4

7:00

10:20

YH 827

1,3,5,7

11:30

13:55

YJ 233

11:00

15:10

YJ 234

15:25

W9 251

2,5

11:30

14:25

W9 252

2,5

16:45

Y5 = Golden Myanmar Airlines

YH = Yangon Airways

Flight

Days

Dep

Arr

Flight

Days

Dep

Arr

K7 319

1,3,5,7

7:00

8:10

YH 634

2,4,6

12:15

13:25

YH 633

2,4,6

7:00

8:25

K7 320

1,3,5,7

12:25

13:35

6T = AirMandalay

SO 201

Daily

8:20

9:40

6T 708

3,5,7

14:15

15:15

FMI (ND) = FMI Air Charter

6T 707

3,5,7

10:30

11:30

SO 202

Daily

14:20

15:40

7Y 531

2,4,6

11:15

12:20

7Y 532

2,4,6

16:35

17:40

YANGON TO LASHIO
MYITKYINA TO YANGON

7Y = Mann Yadanarpon Airlines

LASHIO TO YANGON

Flight

Days

Dep

Arr

Flight

Days

Dep

Arr

YJ 751

3,5

10:30

12:45

YJ 752

3,5

15:40

17:55

YH 729

2,4,6

11:00

13:00

YJ 752

16:10

17:55

YJ 751

11:00

13:15

YH 730

2,4,6

16:45

19:10

Dep

Arr

Flight

Days

Dep

Arr

YANGON TO PUTAO

PUTAO TO YANGON

Flight

Days

18:15

YH 826

1,3,5,7

7:00

10:35

YH 827

1,3,5,7

10:35

13:55

19:40

W9 251

2,5

11:30

15:25

W9 252

2,5

15:45

19:40

YJ = Asian Wings

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

the pulse 25

www.mmtimes.com

InternAtIonAl FlIGHt SCHeDUleS

Flights

YANGON TO BANGKOK
Days

Dep

Arr

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

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

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

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

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

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

8M 501
AK 505
MH 741
MH 743
AK 503

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

Flights

Days

Flights

Days

Flights

Days

Dep

Arr

Dep

Arr

Dep

Arr

1,2,3,5,6
7:50
Daily
8:30
Daily
12:15
Daily
15:45
Daily
19:30
YANGON TO BEIJING

Flights

Days

Dep

Arr

Flights

BANGKOK TO YANGON
Days

Dep

Arr

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

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

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

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

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

8:45
8:50
9:20
10:25
12:55
15:15
16:40
18:35

AK 504
MH 740
8M 502
MH 742
AK 502

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

Flights

Days

Flights

Days

Flights

Days

Dep

Arr

Dep

Arr

Dep

Arr

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

Flights

Days

Dep

Arr

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

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

22:50

8M 711
CZ 3056
CZ 3056

CZ 3055
CZ 3055
8M 712

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

10:25
16:30
15:50

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

9:55

Flights

Flights

CI 7916
Flights

Days

Dep

Arr

Flights

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

13:15
16:15
22:15

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

16:15

CI 7915

Arr

Flights

CA 416
MU 2012
MU 2032
Flights

Days

Dep

Days

Dep

Arr

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

15:55
18:45
18:40

Dep

Arr

Flights

Days

MU 2011
CA 415
MU 2031
Flights

Dep

Days

Dep

Days

Dep

Arr

Arr

Arr

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

11:50
11:15
14:30

Dep

Arr

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

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

VN 942

VN 943

Flights

Flights

QR 919
Flights

Days

Dep

Days

Dep

Days

Dep

Arr

2,4,7
14:25
YANGON TO DOHA

17:15

1,4,6
8:00
YANGON TO SEOUL

11:10

Arr

Arr

Flights

Flights

QR 918
Flights

Days

Dep

Days

Dep

Days

Dep

KA 252
KA 250

Arr

Flights

Days

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

Arr

YANGON TO TOKYO

Flights

Days

NH 814

Daily

Dep

21:45

06:50+1

YANGON TO DHAKA

Flights

Days

BG 061
BG 061
Flights

Dep

1:30
1:10

1,6
4

Dep

15:35
13:45

YANGON TO INCHEON
Days

Dep

Days

Dep

Arr

Arr

Flights

Y5 251
7Y 305

8:05
12:50

2,4,6
1,5

YANGON TO GAYA

Flights

Days

8M 601
AI 236
Flights

Days

2
1,5

Dep

13:10
14:05

YANGON TO KOLKATA
Days

AI 228
Flights

Dep

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

AI 236
AI 701
Flights

6:15
11:00

1,5

Dep

14:05

YANGON TO MUMBAI

AI 773

Days

1,5

Dep

14:05

MANDALAY TO BANGKOK

Flights

PG 710

Days

Daily

Dep

14:05

MANDALAY TO SINGAPORE

Flights

MI 533
Y5 2233

Days

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

Dep

15:55
7:50

MANDALAY TO DON MUEANG

Flights

FD 245

Days

Daily

Dep

12:45

MANDALAY TO KUNMING

Flights

MU 2030

Days

Daily

Dep

13:50

NAY PYI TAW TO BANGKOK

Flights

PG 722

Days

1,2,3,4,5

Dep

19:30

Arr

Arr

8:20
15:05
Arr

Dep

Days

Dep

Flights

9:25
13:45

GAYA TO YANGON
Days

Dep

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

2
1,5

Dep

9:20
7:00

KOLKATA TO YANGON
Days

AI 227

1,5

Dep

10:35

MUMBAI TO YANGON

AI 675

Days

1,5

Dep

6:10

BANGKOK TO MANDALAY

Flights

Days

Daily

Dep

12:00

SINGAPORE TO MANDALAY

Y5 2234
MI 533

Days

Daily
2,6

Dep

7:20
11:35

DON MUEANG TO MANDALAY

Flights

15:00

FD 244

Arr

Flights

Arr

12:30
10:40

Days

2,4,6
1,5

Flights

Flights

22:30

Dep

INCHEON TO YANGON

Flights

Arr

16:40

1,6
4

AI 235
8M 602

PG 709

Arr

Days

15:40
Arr

14:55
13:05

Days

Daily

Dep

10:50

KUNMING TO MANDALAY

MU 2029

Days

Daily

Dep

13:00

BANGKOK TO NAY PYI TAW

Flights

PG 721

Days

1,2,3,4,5

Dep

17:00

Air China (CA)

Tel: 666112, 655882

A group of foreign tourists wearing facial masks arrives at Incheon airport, west
of Seoul, amidst news of increasing MERS cases in South Korea. Photo: EPA

Air India

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

Bangkok Airways (PG)

Tel: 255122, 255265. Fax: 255119

Biman Bangladesh Airlines (BG)

Tel: 371867~68. Fax: 371869

Condor (DE)

Tel: 370836~39 (ext: 303)

Dragonair (KA)

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

Golden Myanmar Airlines (Y5)

Tel: 09400446999, 09400447999
Fax: 8604051

Malaysia Airlines (MH)

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

Fax: 241124

Myanmar Airways International (8M)

Tel: 255260. Fax: 255305

Nok Airline (DD)

Tel: 255050, 255021. Fax: 255051

Qatar Airways (QR)

Tel: 379845, 379843, 379831. Fax: 379730

Singapore Airlines (SQ) / Silk Air (MI)

Tel: 255287~9. Fax: 255290

Thai Airways (TG)

Tel: 255491~6. Fax: 255223

Tel: 371383, 370836~39 (ext: 303)
Tel: 255066, 255088, 255068. Fax: 255086

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

BG = Biman Bangladesh Airlines

CA = Air China
CI = China Airlines
CZ = China Southern

Arr

10:15
14:35

16:30
20:50
14:15

11:00

Air Bagan Ltd.(W9)

Tel: 513322, 513422, 504888. Fax: 515102

AK = Air Asia

Arr

Y5 252
7Y 306

Flights

Arr

Daily

Dep

DHAKA TO YANGON

Flights

Arr

Arr

TOKYO TO YANGON
Days

Arr

00:30+1
23:30

18:10
12:00

AI 235
AI 401

22:35

Dep

22:50
21:45

Arr

22:25
23:25

W9 608
4,7
17:20
PG 723
1,3,5,6
11:05
CHIANG MAI TO YANGON

16:30
19:50
15:05

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

Flights

BG 060
BG 060

16:10
15:05

Days

NH 813

17:00
15:10

W9 607
4,7
14:20
PG 724
1,3,5,6
13:10
YANGON TO CHIANG MAI
Flights

Flights

Tel: 09254049991~3

Vietnam Airlines (VN)

06:25+1

5:55
5:45

Flights

Air Asia (FD)

Arr

3,5,7
20:40
SEOUL TO YANGON

KA 251
KA 251

Tel: 255412, 413

Tiger Airline (TR)

13:25

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

All Nippon Airways (NH)

Arr

2,4,7
11:50
DOHA TO YANGON

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

International Airlines

Arr

Arr

12:0
12:30
Arr

12:20
13:20
Arr

13:20
Arr

13:20
Arr

13:20
Arr

16:30
15:00
Arr

12:15

DD = Nok Airline
FD = Air Asia
KA = Dragonair
KE = Korea Airlines
MH = Malaysia Airlines
MI = Silk Air
MU = China Eastern Airlines
NH = All Nippon Airways
PG = Bangkok Airways
QR = Qatar Airways
SQ = Singapore Airways
TG = Thai Airways
TR = Tiger Airline
VN = Vietnam Airline
AI = Air India
Y5 = Golden Myanmar Airlines

Subject to change
without notice

Arr

12:50
Arr

19:00

Day
1 = Monday
2 = Tuesday
3 = Wednesday

4
5
6
7

=
=
=
=

Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday

Visitors to
South Korea
can (mostly)
breathe easy

he infectious disease
du jour is Middle
east Respiratory
Syndrome (MeRS), a
viral respiratory illness
thats leaving some travellers
hyperventilating about their
vacation plans.
For now, the month-old outbreak
the largest recorded outside the
Middle east is confined to South
Korean healthcare facilities, which
arent exactly popular summer
destinations for travellers. But, as
usual, the fear is spreading faster
than the disease.
Travellers can breathe easy:
Their chances of contracting MeRS
in South Korea are minimal. We
do not recommend that people
avoid travelling to Korea, says
Lisa Rotz, the associate director
for global health and migration in
the US Centers for Disease Control
and Preventions division of global
migration and quarantine. So far,
all transmission has been within
health-care facilities, so the risk to
most travellers is extremely low.
But medical professionals say its
important to monitor the situation
closely. And if you decide to cancel,
it also helps to know your rights.
The CDC publishes updates
on the outbreak on its website,
at wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/
watch/mers-republic-of-korea. You
can also find MeRS information
on the World health Organizations
site: www.who.int/csr/disease/
coronavirus_infections. There is
no evidence so far that this virus is
spreading in the general community.
Low risk doesnt mean no risk,
notes Robert Wheeler, chief medical
officer at On Call International, a
travel risk-management company.
If youre near the outbreak, he
says, you need to take serious
precaution, because there is risk of
person-to-person transmission of
the virus if you have close contact
with an infected person. This could
happen if someone provides direct
care in the home of a person sick
with MeRS.
Those with weakened immune
systems, chronic diseases and
people of older age tend to be
particularly at risk for more serious
illness and fatality when infected,
so it is vital for these groups to be
conscious of their surroundings and
those they are in contact with, he
says.
The precise nature of MeRS virus
transmittal isnt well understood, says

Florence Comite, an endocrinologist

based in New York. What we do
know is that the MeRS virus has an
incubation period of five to six days,
but that symptoms can appear as
early as two days and up to 14 days
after an initial exposure.
MeRS is believed to spread from
an infected persons respiratory
secretions; for example, through
coughing or sneezing, Comite says.
how do you protect yourself
from MeRS? Ronald St John,
who founded the travel health
and safety site Sitata, says the
same ways you would minimise
your exposure to any respiratory
agent, such as the flu virus.
These include frequent handwashing, cough and sneeze
etiquette, maintaining a 1-metre
distance from someone who
has a respiratory infection, the
physician says.
One just-as-urgent question
for travellers to Northeast Asia is
how to protect your trip in case the
outbreak worsens. Insurance can
help, but you have to make sure
youve purchased the right coverage.
A standard policy with named
exclusions may limit a claim you
have to make if theres an outbreak.
In other words, you cant cancel a
trip because youre afraid you might
contract MeRS.
A cancel for any reason
insurance policy allows you to
recover a percentage of your trip
for any reason, including a MeRS
outbreak. But those policies are
usually pricey. Travel insurance
typically sets you back by between 4
and 8 percent of your trips prepaid,
nonrefundable cost. A cancel for
any reason policy can cost 10pc
of the nonrefundable cost, or even
more.
If an outbreak happens, then
airlines, cruise lines and tour
operators may cancel their trips. In
that case, you should be entitled to
a full, no-questions-asked refund,
although some companies, notably
tour operators, will try to persuade
you to accept a credit. Refer to
the terms and conditions of your
purchase to see what your refund
would be. Dont rely on the verbal
claims of a company representative.
But if theres a consensus among
health professionals, its that this
isnt the time to cancel a trip to
Korea, or Northeast Asia. The WhO
continues to advise that travel
restrictions for South Korea are not
warranted. The Washington Post

26 Sport

THE MYANMAR TIMES June 25, 2015

ASIA

FooTBaLL

Business

Chinas Wanda
to buy more
sports firms

Australias players celebrate a victory against Brazil at the end of their 2015 FIFA Womens World Cup round of 16 football match. Photo: AFP

Australia fair? Matildas say no

UStrALIAS women footballers should be offered

more attractive conditions including higher
match fees, their union
said yesterday after the team dumped
star-studded Brazil out of the World
Cup to reach the quarter-finals.
the womens national team, the
Matildas, will be paid just A$750
(US$581) each under their current
contract when they take on reigning
champions Japan this weekend in
edmonton, Canada, for a place in the
semi-finals.
In contrast, their male counterparts
are paid A$8500 each when they play
in the quarter-finals of a comparable
tournament, excluding bonuses, according to a separate agreement.
What we are seeing at the moment with the Matildas is that many
of them are having to combine their

playing commitments with part-time

jobs and theyre also trying to juggle
that with studying, a spokesperson
for the union, Professional Footballers Australia, told AFP.
[But] the Matildas commitments are very much full-time.
theyve been in camp for 120 days
over the past six months and they are
away from their families so to be able
to balance those commitments with
any sort of meaningful employment
is extremely difficult.
the spokesmperson said the union
-- which is in negotiations with governing body the Football Federation Australia (FFA) as the current Matildas
agreement expires in July was pushing for the players to receive what is a
fair and equitable share of revenue, although that may not necessarily mean
pay equality with the men.
He added that providing more

attractive terms and conditions including for match fees, travel arrangements and accommodation was necessary to keep top athletes in the game
and provide a viable career path.
the Matildas, who are on a minimum annual playing contract of
A$21,000, were paid A$500 each
for their Womens World Cup group
matches and will get A$1500 if they
make the final.
the Socceroos the mens national team who won the Asian Cup in
Sydney earlier this year have match
payments of A$7500 each for major
tournament group games, with the
fees rising to A$11,500 for a final.
they are not given a base pay but
receive far greater commercial payments and sponsor bonuses.
the FFA said it had invested heavily in the Matildas World Cup preparations and was pushing hard to

secure more sponsorship.

FFA is working hard to overcome
the challenges in securing commercial partners for womens football on
top of the commitment from [shopping centre giant] Westfield who
support both the W-League and Matildas, a statement said.
the results in Canada and the way
the players have conducted themselves
can only help in securing the commercial support that can drive significant
growth in expenditure.
Chinas state media on June 22
said their womens football team
would receive the highest ever
bonus of around 1 million yuan
(US$160,000) as a reward for reaching the World Cup quarter-finals.
Most national team players earn
about 3000 yuan (US$485) a month,
below the countrys income average
of 4100 yuan, Xinhua said. AFP

ProPerty and entertainment giant

Wanda Group, which formally took a
20 percent stake in Spanish football
club Atletico Madrid in April, will buy
at least three more sports companies
this year, its chair said.
Within this year, Wanda will still
buy at least three sports companies,
Xinhua quoted chair Wang Jianlin as
saying. Upon the completion of these
mergers and acquisitions, Wanda is
going to be the world number one in
the sports industry.
As well as the 45 million euro (now
US$50 million) Atletico share, Wanda
this year paid 1.05 billion euros for
Swiss sports marketing group Infront,
which is headed by the nephew of outgoing FIFA president Sepp Blatter and
holds some broadcasting rights to the
World Cup.
Wanda is looking to increase its influence in the global sports business,
as Beijing bids for the 2022 Winter
olympics and rumours swirl that China could seek to host the 2026 football
World Cup.
Wangs phrasing suggests that the
at least three deals do not include
the Atletico or Infront acquisitions.
the billionaire, a diehard football
fan, did not reveal specific targets, but
said they should have activities in China and worldwide sports marketing or
ownership rights, the report late June
23 said.
Wang also claimed that there will
soon be good news announced about
Chinese football, without giving any
details, Xinhua added.
Wanda Group could not be reached
immediately for comment.
Bloomberg News ranks Wang as
Chinas richest man and the ninthwealthiest in the world, with a net
worth of $42.1 billion.
His Beijing-based conglomerate,
which has interests in hotels, entertainment and retail, last year saw a 30
percent jump in revenue to 242.5 billion yuan.
It bought US cinema chain AMC
entertainment Holdings in 2012 and
has moved to branch out into film production and theme parks.
Its listed arm, Dalian Wanda
Commercial Properties Co, raised
$3.7 billion in an initial public offering in Hong Kong in December.
AFP

sWiMMinG

Son of Myanmar swim star

sets US age-group records
MaTT RoeBuCk
matt.d.roebuck@gmail.com
WINN Aung, 12, the son of former Myanmar national swimmer than tun
Aung, now living in redding, California, broke another two United States
national age-group records to take the
total number of long-course records
he currently holds to five.
the Myanmar Swimming Federation took to Facebook on June 15
to offer their congratulations to the
swimmer, who broke the 11-12 agegroup records for the 200 metres freestyle and 200m butterfly events at the
Sanders Long Course Invitational in
roseville, California.
Winn Aung adds those times to the
records he already holds in the same
events in a short-course pool as well as
the long-course records for the 10-andunder age-group at 50m free, 100m
free and 200m free.
His newest record 2 minutes 12
secs 91 milliseconds for the 200m fly
took 1.49 seconds off the time set by
both ryan Murphy (2008) and Seth

Say Woon Chun (2013). the former

now competes at National Collegiate
Athletic Association (NCAA) level in
the US, where he reigns as a four-time
individual champion. He also holds
the current NCAA record for the 200
yards backstroke, a record previously
held by five-time olympic gold medallist ryan Lochte.
Coincidentally, Winn Aungs newest record also has a roundabout
connection to Joseph Schooling, the
Singaporean swimmer who swam his
way to nine gold medals including
the 200m fly from the oCBC Aquatic
Arena and became the star of the recent 2015 Southeast Asian Games.
When Murphy set the record
in 2008, his coach with the Bolles
School Sharks was the Spaniard Sergio Lopez. In January 2015, Lopez
was appointed head coach of Singapore Swimming.
Myat thint, 13, was Myanmars
entry in the 200m fly at Singapore
Games, clocking a 2:32.51 in the heats.
Schooling swam a 1:55.73 in the final
to set a Games record. AFP

in PiCTuRes
Photo: Facebook/
MFF

Myanmar have qualified for the June 27 semi-final of the AFC U14 Girls
Regional Championship after they beat their 3-0 and 4-1 victories over
Cambodia and Laos respectively. Before that they will play Thailand today to
see who will top Group A of the tournament being held in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Sport 27

www.mmtimes.com
CHESS

Super-gran closes in on world record

n 87-year-old Hungarian
woman aims this weekend to set a world record
by beating 1920s Cuban
chess grandmaster Jose
Raul Capablanca at his own game: simultaneous play.
Since the 1950s, Brigitta Sinka, a
former top amateur player, has played
around 13,000 documented games of
simultaneous chess across Hungary,
usually on dozens of boards at the one
time, taking on all comers, many of
them schoolchildren.
With preparations under way for a
weekend-long event she calls a final
push, she hopes to play the final few
hundred games needed to overtake a
total 13,545 attributed to Capablanca (1888-1942), one of the worlds bestever players.
Chess is my life, simultaneous play
is my passion, grey-haired Sinka told
AFP during a short break from playing
excited teenagers inside a circle of 16
tables in a Budapest high school.
In one hour, Ive gone round 30
times. You can count how many metres that is. Soon it will be kilometres,
she laughed.
Sinka, whose nickname is Auntie
Bici (pronounced Bitzi), clocked up
thousands of games around Hungary
playing at summer camps for schoolchildren hosted by her employer for
many decades, a Communist-era metal recycling firm.
I love seeing the twinkle in the
childrens eyes when they play. Chess
develops their brains like no other
game, says Sinka, who gives each

Brigitta Sinka studies a board in another series of simultaneous games. Photo: AFP

of her young opponents a miniature rosette she sews at home as a

memento.
Thirteen-year-old
Martin
is
impressed.
She always sees ahead where Im
going to move. It seems the older you
are, the better player you become, the
schoolboy told AFP.

neither Sinkas energy nor ambition has been deterred by three heart
operations in recent years.
In hospital where she recorded 14
simultaneous games with the nurses
she recalls the doctors advising her to
quit playing.
They gave me a walking stick, but
it kept falling over when I leant on the

tables with one hand and made my

moves with the other. Then they realised chess keeps my body strong and
my mind sharp.
In 2010, with her total around 9000
games, a chess historian told her that
he had spotted Capablancas total in a
biography of the Cuban great.
I was unaware of it before then, so

I thought Id have a go at beating it,

she said.
Around a century ago Capablanca played high-speed simultaneous
exhibition chess for money but his
games, despite being counted, were
undocumented.
Sinka however has meticulously recorded in scrapbooks every game she
has played where, when, opponent,
and result each signed off by a witness.
She hopes the Guinness Records
adjudicators will acknowledge her feat
as an official world record.
Born in 1928 and raised on a remote farm on the Great Hungarian
Plain, her father taught her the chess
moves by the age of four.
She was twice selected to play at
the womens Chess Olympiads, but
missed out both times.
At the inaugural event in 1957 her
passport to leave her then-Communist
homeland was delayed in the post,
then in 1960 Hungary was part of an
Eastern Bloc boycott.
Arriving too late to compete in
the 1957 event in the netherlands
had a silver lining, however, as
she was invited to play in a sidelines chess event, her first-ever six
simultaneous games.
Shes been unstoppable ever since,
says Eszter Erdei, her childhood friend
now helping her document the game
details.
And her victory rate? A whopping
86 percent, with your correspondent
although it wont count for the record
added with impressive ease to her
many scalps. AFP

Sport
28 THE MYANMAR TIMES JunE 25, 2015

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

Matildas demand
better conditions
SPORT 26

SEA GAMES

Myanmars U23 players celebrate their semi-final victory with fans who then queued up in Peninsula Plaza to buy tickets for the final. Photos: AFP (main), Facebook/Myanmar Football Lovers (inset)

Games organisers investigate

8500 pieces of silver
MATT ROEBUCK
matt.d.roebuck@gmail.com

ONEY received by members of the Myanmar

U23s Southeast Asian
Games
silver-medalwinning team in apparent appreciation of their efforts
may have been part of a scalping
scheme cover-up, it has been alleged
by several Singaporean media outlets.
Zaw Min Htike, spokesperson for
the team, confirmed to The Myanmar Times that team manager Than
Toe Aung had received a donation of
S$8500 after the final, and that the
money had been shared among the
players.
We received this money from a
fan. We dont know the nature of the
fans business, said Zaw Min Htike.
But the Singapore Southeast Asian
Games Organising Committee (SINGSOC) has opened investigations over
the alleged illegal resale of tickets for
the final of the Games football competition to Myanmar fans eager to attend the match.
Ye Win Paing, owner of Doe My-

anmar grocery store at Singapores

Peninsula Plaza a mall known as
the city-states Little Burma has
admitted to various media outlets
that he sold tickets at a higher rate,
but donated the S$8500 he made to
Myanmars U23 side, which lost 3-0
to Thailand.
Speaking to Singaporean publication Today, Ye Win Paing, a Myanmar
native, who now possesses Singaporean
citizenship, denied any wrongdoing.
I didnt make any money from it.
In fact, I donated another S$300 out
of my own pocket to them, said the
27-year-old. I dont want to add anything more to this, but I think some
people are jealous of my business.
But according to other reports
from Singapore and on the Facebook
page Myanmar Football Lovers, Ye
Win Paing is alleged to have pocketed
money from further sales.
Min Htaw Paing, who says he
bought five tickets to Myanmars 2-1
semi-final win over Vietnam for S$25
from Doe Myanmar, told The Straits
Times, I was told the additional
S$5 he [Ye Win Paing] was charging
would be donated, but I also noticed

that they cost only S$14, as stated on

the ticket. Where did the rest of the
money go?
The Straits Times reported that it
was only informed about the donation of proceeds from tickets sold for
the final, and could not confirm if Ye
Win Paing claimed to have done the
same for the semi-final.

We received this
money from a fan.
We dont know the
nature of the fans
business
Zaw Min Htike
MFF spokes person

Zaw Min Htike told The Myanmar Times yesterday that the team
had received only one donation from
the fan who presented them with the
S$8500.

Lynn Htat Aung, who brought the

matter to the attention of the social
media group, told The Straits Times
that, so eager were his friends to secure seats at the 55,000-capacity National Stadium, they had little choice
but to buy the tickets from Doe Myanmar.
Although tickets were officially
sold out on the morning of the final,
there were a sizeable number of seats
empty in the stadium, which was
dominated by Myanmar supporters.
Such actions give the Myanmar
community a bad name, and I felt I
had to highlight it to the public and
the authorities, said Lynn Htat Aung,
a permanent resident of Singapore.
I heard that he [Ye Win Paing]
was planning to sell the tickets to the
final at an even higher price. And he
didnt mention that he was donating
the profits until some of his customers started protesting, Lynn Htat
Aung said in The Straits Times.
Channel News Asia reported that in
response to media questions, Toh Boon
Yi, chief of corporate and community
outreach at SINGSOC, confirmed it had
sold 2050 tickets to the Golden My-

anmar Group, at a discounted rate of

S$13 intended for group bookings of
100 or more tickets.
SINGSOC withdrew the discount
and charged the standard price of
S$20, plus a S$1 booking fee, after
they learned the groups intention to
collect the standard ticket price from
their members.
We now understand that tickets
were sold for S$25, with the difference supposedly donated to a charitable cause. SINGSOC is reviewing the
matter with the relevant authorities,
said Mr Toh.
Today reported that although unauthorised resale of SEA Games tickets was barred by SINGSOC, Ye Win
Paing was unworried by the claims.
Other people are also doing it. I
sold them because there were a lot of
requests from Myanmar supporters,
he told them.
Although the matter is not under
current police investigation, it has
been reported that the Doe Myanmar
shop was closed on June 15, the day
of the final, on advice from police,
who feared a last-minute rush for
tickets.