Reuters AlertNet - Myanmar's neglected HIV patients face a struggle to the death
19 Nov 2009 11:27:00 GMT
Written by: Phoebe Kennedy
YANGON - Htay Htay Thwe is one of the lucky ones. True, she is infected with HIV, her husband died last year, she has tuberculosis, chronic abdominal pains, no job and a seven-year-old daughter to support.
But Htay Htay Thwe is receiving life-saving medicine, setting her apart from most people living with HIV in Myanmar, for whom the virus guarantees a slow, painful death.
The 41-year-old widow sits straight-backed on a plastic stool as she waits for her monthly visit with the doctor at a small, concrete-floored clinic in Myanmar's main city Yangon. Four months ago, she was accepted on a community-based HIV/AIDS programme and now receives anti-retroviral treatment (ART) for free.
"Before I got on the programme, I could not afford this medicine, or any other medicine," said Htay Htay Thwe, painfully thin after months of illness.
"I was very sick. I was sure I would die like my husband."
An estimated 240,000 people in military-ruled Myanmar are infected with the HIV virus that causes AIDS. That comes nowhere close to the numbers infected in parts of Africa, but it is the yawning gap between those who need treatment and those who receive it that marks out Myanmar's HIV/AIDS tragedy.
Of the 75,000 people in need of anti-retroviral treatment, just one fifth actually get it. The remainder are dying, or waiting to die.
The priorities of Myanmar's ruling generals lie elsewhere. The government spends nearly half of its budget on defence, but just 0.3 percent of GDP on healthcare. Of that, only a tiny amount goes towards spending on HIV/AIDS.
"People are dying needlessly because there just isn't enough money," said Peter Paul de Groote, the head of Medecins Sans Frontieres-Holland in Myanmar, by far the biggest provider of anti-retroviral drugs in the country.
"The government and the international community urgently need to scale up ART provision," he added.
International donors, too, have been slow to respond. Reluctant to commit funds to a country ruled by military dictatorship since 1962, donors give less per head to Myanmar than any other poor country in the world.
In 2007, Myanmar received only US$4 per person in aid, compared to $47 in Cambodia and $68 in Laos, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
"It's difficult to understand," de Groote told Alertnet. "We have 60,000 people here who are going to die. There shouldn't be a political element to the decision to save them. It's a simple humanitarian imperative."
DONORS REASSESS APPROACH
Some donors are reassessing their approach to Myanmar, acknowledging that years of sanctions have failed to bring political change. And aid workers say the relief operation launched after last year's Cyclone Nargis showed that aid could be delivered effectively and independently in Myanmar.
A key donor in the health sector, The Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, pulled out of the country in 2005 but earlier this month approved a new $158 million grant to fund HIV/AIDS treatment in Myanmar over five years.
That is significant new money for those struggling to combat the epidemic. Smaller NGOs and grassroots groups in Myanmar say they are preparing to expand their HIV work as soon as more money becomes available.
One such group, Private Partnerships for Public Health (PPPH), has created a model bringing together community organisations, doctors and public hospitals to provide care for people living with HIV - including testing, counselling, medical treatment and home visits.
"We are drawing on capacity that already exists -- our role is to create partnerships so that more people living with HIV/AIDS can access the care they need," said Dr Tazeem Bhatia Theuss, advisor to the programme which is funded by the UK-based International HIV/AIDS Alliance.
"There isn't nearly enough money, but we see this as a sustainable model and we are ready to scale up if the money comes in."
The programme targets the very poor - patients like Htay Htay Thwe, who is now too weak to work, but used to sell charcoal on the side of the street.
For her, like the majority of people in Myanmar, the $30 to $40 per month that anti-retroviral drugs cost is beyond her means.
Back at the simple, wooden house she shares with her mother, sisters, brother, daughter as well as five other children, Htay Htay Thwe explains that before she was accepted on the ART programme, she assumed she would die.
"I did not expect help. We are poor, we cannot buy medicine. People like us are usually left to die by ourselves," she said.
"So I feel lucky. Now maybe I will live to see my daughter grow up."
19 Nov 2009 11:27:00 GMT
Written by: Phoebe Kennedy
YANGON - Htay Htay Thwe is one of the lucky ones. True, she is infected with HIV, her husband died last year, she has tuberculosis, chronic abdominal pains, no job and a seven-year-old daughter to support.
But Htay Htay Thwe is receiving life-saving medicine, setting her apart from most people living with HIV in Myanmar, for whom the virus guarantees a slow, painful death.
The 41-year-old widow sits straight-backed on a plastic stool as she waits for her monthly visit with the doctor at a small, concrete-floored clinic in Myanmar's main city Yangon. Four months ago, she was accepted on a community-based HIV/AIDS programme and now receives anti-retroviral treatment (ART) for free.
"Before I got on the programme, I could not afford this medicine, or any other medicine," said Htay Htay Thwe, painfully thin after months of illness.
"I was very sick. I was sure I would die like my husband."
An estimated 240,000 people in military-ruled Myanmar are infected with the HIV virus that causes AIDS. That comes nowhere close to the numbers infected in parts of Africa, but it is the yawning gap between those who need treatment and those who receive it that marks out Myanmar's HIV/AIDS tragedy.
Of the 75,000 people in need of anti-retroviral treatment, just one fifth actually get it. The remainder are dying, or waiting to die.
The priorities of Myanmar's ruling generals lie elsewhere. The government spends nearly half of its budget on defence, but just 0.3 percent of GDP on healthcare. Of that, only a tiny amount goes towards spending on HIV/AIDS.
"People are dying needlessly because there just isn't enough money," said Peter Paul de Groote, the head of Medecins Sans Frontieres-Holland in Myanmar, by far the biggest provider of anti-retroviral drugs in the country.
"The government and the international community urgently need to scale up ART provision," he added.
International donors, too, have been slow to respond. Reluctant to commit funds to a country ruled by military dictatorship since 1962, donors give less per head to Myanmar than any other poor country in the world.
In 2007, Myanmar received only US$4 per person in aid, compared to $47 in Cambodia and $68 in Laos, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
"It's difficult to understand," de Groote told Alertnet. "We have 60,000 people here who are going to die. There shouldn't be a political element to the decision to save them. It's a simple humanitarian imperative."
DONORS REASSESS APPROACH
Some donors are reassessing their approach to Myanmar, acknowledging that years of sanctions have failed to bring political change. And aid workers say the relief operation launched after last year's Cyclone Nargis showed that aid could be delivered effectively and independently in Myanmar.
A key donor in the health sector, The Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, pulled out of the country in 2005 but earlier this month approved a new $158 million grant to fund HIV/AIDS treatment in Myanmar over five years.
That is significant new money for those struggling to combat the epidemic. Smaller NGOs and grassroots groups in Myanmar say they are preparing to expand their HIV work as soon as more money becomes available.
One such group, Private Partnerships for Public Health (PPPH), has created a model bringing together community organisations, doctors and public hospitals to provide care for people living with HIV - including testing, counselling, medical treatment and home visits.
"We are drawing on capacity that already exists -- our role is to create partnerships so that more people living with HIV/AIDS can access the care they need," said Dr Tazeem Bhatia Theuss, advisor to the programme which is funded by the UK-based International HIV/AIDS Alliance.
"There isn't nearly enough money, but we see this as a sustainable model and we are ready to scale up if the money comes in."
The programme targets the very poor - patients like Htay Htay Thwe, who is now too weak to work, but used to sell charcoal on the side of the street.
For her, like the majority of people in Myanmar, the $30 to $40 per month that anti-retroviral drugs cost is beyond her means.
Back at the simple, wooden house she shares with her mother, sisters, brother, daughter as well as five other children, Htay Htay Thwe explains that before she was accepted on the ART programme, she assumed she would die.
"I did not expect help. We are poor, we cannot buy medicine. People like us are usually left to die by ourselves," she said.
"So I feel lucky. Now maybe I will live to see my daughter grow up."
*************************************************************
15 documentaries eligible for Oscar nods
Published: Nov. 19, 2009 at 10:49 AM
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Hollywood's Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced 15 documentaries will advance in the voting process for the 82nd Academy Awards.
Eighty-nine pictures had originally qualified in the documentary category.
The Documentary Branch Screening Committee will now select five nominees from among the 15 titles on the shortlist.
The 82nd Academy Awards nominations are to be announced Feb. 2 in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Los Angeles.
Oscars for outstanding film achievements of 2009 are to be presented March 7 at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, and televised live by the ABC Television Network.
The films eligible for Oscar nomination in the best documentary category are "The Beaches of Agnes," "Burma VJ," "The Cove," "Every Little Step," "Facing Ali," "Food, Inc.,"
"Garbage Dreams," "Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders," "The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers," "Mugabe and the White African," "Sergio," "Soundtrack for a Revolution," "Under Our Skin," "Valentino the Last Emperor" and "Which Way Home."
Published: Nov. 19, 2009 at 10:49 AM
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Hollywood's Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced 15 documentaries will advance in the voting process for the 82nd Academy Awards.
Eighty-nine pictures had originally qualified in the documentary category.
The Documentary Branch Screening Committee will now select five nominees from among the 15 titles on the shortlist.
The 82nd Academy Awards nominations are to be announced Feb. 2 in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Los Angeles.
Oscars for outstanding film achievements of 2009 are to be presented March 7 at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, and televised live by the ABC Television Network.
The films eligible for Oscar nomination in the best documentary category are "The Beaches of Agnes," "Burma VJ," "The Cove," "Every Little Step," "Facing Ali," "Food, Inc.,"
"Garbage Dreams," "Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders," "The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers," "Mugabe and the White African," "Sergio," "Soundtrack for a Revolution," "Under Our Skin," "Valentino the Last Emperor" and "Which Way Home."
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The Malaysian Insider
Will Myanmar junta chief meet the lady?
Nirmal Ghosh
Friday November 20 2009
NOV 19 — The question on many people's minds in Yangon these days is whether Senior General Than Shwe will meet “the lady”, as Aung San Suu Kyi is known across Myanmar.
She requested a meeting with the regime's supremo in a letter dated Nov 11 to explain how she would cooperate in tasks “beneficial to the country”.
If Than Shwe were to meet her, it could be a turning point in the political stalemate that began when her National League for Democracy (NLD) won a 1990 general election whose results were not recognised by the army.
But analysts are cautious. The senior general is trying to engineer a potential milestone in modern Myanmar's history — ensuring that army-backed parties win next year's election without any rigging and that the outcome is deemed credible by the international community.
At the Asean summit in Thailand last month, Prime Minister Thein Sein reportedly told other Asean leaders that if Suu Kyi “maintains a good attitude, it is possible that the Myanmar authorities will relax the current measures”.
But the decision to release her is almost certainly in the hands of just one man — the senior general.
Suu Kyi has spent most of the last 20 years in some form of detention — mostly house arrest in her dilapidated lakeside bungalow. In August, she was sentenced to another 18 months of house arrest for harbouring an uninvited American citizen.
An early release may be possible for the Nobel laureate, but such a move may well be just a gesture to appease international opinion.
Also, she would at most be allowed only a small degree of participation, if any at all, in active politics.
If Than Shwe were to release her, then a critical factor would be timing the move so that she will have minimal or no impact on his plans.
Meanwhile on Sunday, at the first US-Asean summit in Singapore, United States President Barack Obama told Thein Sein that Suu Kyi should be released.
The message was not new but the messenger and how it was delivered to the Myanmar leadership were unprecedented. It was the first time in years that a Myanmar leader had a face-to-face meeting with a US president, and it took place against a backdrop of Washington's new policy of engaging Myanmar.
Thein Sein reportedly did not react to the request, but thanked the US for its new policy of engagement rather than isolation.
But US officials are not under any illusion that Washington can force change in Myanmar, at least as long as Than Shwe maintains his iron grip.
The new US policy is one of engagement with the regime while maintaining economic sanctions against it. Obama has held out the promise of lifting the sanctions if there is some positive signal from the regime.
Raising the issue of Suu Kyi was meant to remind the regime that the US, even as it engages more with the regime on other fronts, has not watered down its focus on democracy, said historian Thant Myint U, author of “A River Of Lost Footsteps”.
But he pointed out that should the US take the “long-term, multi-year view”, then many things are possible.
If the US depends too much on short-term change, its efforts may go down the same dark tunnel as had previous attempts to engage the regime, he said.
Suu Kyi's current sentence will ensure that she remains in detention through the elections, which are scheduled for the middle of next year, making it impossible for her to take part in the process.
Most Myanmar analysts, used to occasional signs of progress congealing into stalemate, are either cautious or pessimistic about the shift in US policy — and are not sanguine about Suu Kyi's release.
But if the senior general met her, it would reignite hope that she would be set free. — The Straits Times
Will Myanmar junta chief meet the lady?
Nirmal Ghosh
Friday November 20 2009
NOV 19 — The question on many people's minds in Yangon these days is whether Senior General Than Shwe will meet “the lady”, as Aung San Suu Kyi is known across Myanmar.
She requested a meeting with the regime's supremo in a letter dated Nov 11 to explain how she would cooperate in tasks “beneficial to the country”.
If Than Shwe were to meet her, it could be a turning point in the political stalemate that began when her National League for Democracy (NLD) won a 1990 general election whose results were not recognised by the army.
But analysts are cautious. The senior general is trying to engineer a potential milestone in modern Myanmar's history — ensuring that army-backed parties win next year's election without any rigging and that the outcome is deemed credible by the international community.
At the Asean summit in Thailand last month, Prime Minister Thein Sein reportedly told other Asean leaders that if Suu Kyi “maintains a good attitude, it is possible that the Myanmar authorities will relax the current measures”.
But the decision to release her is almost certainly in the hands of just one man — the senior general.
Suu Kyi has spent most of the last 20 years in some form of detention — mostly house arrest in her dilapidated lakeside bungalow. In August, she was sentenced to another 18 months of house arrest for harbouring an uninvited American citizen.
An early release may be possible for the Nobel laureate, but such a move may well be just a gesture to appease international opinion.
Also, she would at most be allowed only a small degree of participation, if any at all, in active politics.
If Than Shwe were to release her, then a critical factor would be timing the move so that she will have minimal or no impact on his plans.
Meanwhile on Sunday, at the first US-Asean summit in Singapore, United States President Barack Obama told Thein Sein that Suu Kyi should be released.
The message was not new but the messenger and how it was delivered to the Myanmar leadership were unprecedented. It was the first time in years that a Myanmar leader had a face-to-face meeting with a US president, and it took place against a backdrop of Washington's new policy of engaging Myanmar.
Thein Sein reportedly did not react to the request, but thanked the US for its new policy of engagement rather than isolation.
But US officials are not under any illusion that Washington can force change in Myanmar, at least as long as Than Shwe maintains his iron grip.
The new US policy is one of engagement with the regime while maintaining economic sanctions against it. Obama has held out the promise of lifting the sanctions if there is some positive signal from the regime.
Raising the issue of Suu Kyi was meant to remind the regime that the US, even as it engages more with the regime on other fronts, has not watered down its focus on democracy, said historian Thant Myint U, author of “A River Of Lost Footsteps”.
But he pointed out that should the US take the “long-term, multi-year view”, then many things are possible.
If the US depends too much on short-term change, its efforts may go down the same dark tunnel as had previous attempts to engage the regime, he said.
Suu Kyi's current sentence will ensure that she remains in detention through the elections, which are scheduled for the middle of next year, making it impossible for her to take part in the process.
Most Myanmar analysts, used to occasional signs of progress congealing into stalemate, are either cautious or pessimistic about the shift in US policy — and are not sanguine about Suu Kyi's release.
But if the senior general met her, it would reignite hope that she would be set free. — The Straits Times
*************************************************************
Globe and Mail - Myanmar warned of wind, but not the water
LAURA MacINNIS, GENEVA — Reuters
Published on Wednesday, May. 07, 2008 1:37PM EDT
Myanmar appears to have alerted its people that a powerful cyclone was on its way but to have lacked information about the deadly storm surge that came with it, the United Nations weather agency said on Wednesday.
World Meteorological Organization (WMO) expert Dieter Schiessl told journalists that authorities in the former Burma began issuing forecasts of strong winds and rainfall several days ahead of cyclone Nargis's landfall on Friday and Saturday.
But it was the accompanying storm surge – which was as high as 3.5 metres – that caused the most devastation in Myanmar, where officials say 22,500 people have died, 41,000 are missing and one million lost their homes.
"The overall wind speed was broadly correctly forecasted," said Mr. Schiessl, the WMO's director for strategic planning and weather and disaster risk reduction.
"In a storm surge, the shape of the coast and the geography of the ocean floor has a significant impact. That information can only be generated locally," he told a news conference in Geneva, the UN's European hub.
Myanmar rarely faces storms of this magnitude, Mr Schiessl said – its previous tropical cyclone with costal landfall was about 40 years ago.
Authorities in the isolated state, whose military regime has been rebuked by the United States and other Western powers, told the WMO that Myanmar's Department of Meteorology and Hydrology started issuing warnings about the cyclone on April 27, based on data drawn from several monitoring centres worldwide.
"Timely and appropriate" information was transmitted to government authorities and disseminated through national television, radio and the written press, the WMO said. It cited reports it received from Myanmar, which UN experts in Geneva have not been able to independently verify.
It is not clear whether Myanmar knew how to respond to those warnings, Mr. Schiessl said, raising parallels to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in which hundreds of thousands of people perished.
International researchers are developing systems to help forecast the size of storm surges, and sophisticated radar systems exist that can help coastal surveillance.
"No such a radar system is available in the coastal area of Myanmar," Mr. Schiessl said, noting that few developing countries could afford to implement such technology on their own.
"We need to find donor organizations that are prepared to provide the financial resources," he said. "Developing countries lack the financing and also the staff resources to deploy and operate these systems."
LAURA MacINNIS, GENEVA — Reuters
Published on Wednesday, May. 07, 2008 1:37PM EDT
Myanmar appears to have alerted its people that a powerful cyclone was on its way but to have lacked information about the deadly storm surge that came with it, the United Nations weather agency said on Wednesday.
World Meteorological Organization (WMO) expert Dieter Schiessl told journalists that authorities in the former Burma began issuing forecasts of strong winds and rainfall several days ahead of cyclone Nargis's landfall on Friday and Saturday.
But it was the accompanying storm surge – which was as high as 3.5 metres – that caused the most devastation in Myanmar, where officials say 22,500 people have died, 41,000 are missing and one million lost their homes.
"The overall wind speed was broadly correctly forecasted," said Mr. Schiessl, the WMO's director for strategic planning and weather and disaster risk reduction.
"In a storm surge, the shape of the coast and the geography of the ocean floor has a significant impact. That information can only be generated locally," he told a news conference in Geneva, the UN's European hub.
Myanmar rarely faces storms of this magnitude, Mr Schiessl said – its previous tropical cyclone with costal landfall was about 40 years ago.
Authorities in the isolated state, whose military regime has been rebuked by the United States and other Western powers, told the WMO that Myanmar's Department of Meteorology and Hydrology started issuing warnings about the cyclone on April 27, based on data drawn from several monitoring centres worldwide.
"Timely and appropriate" information was transmitted to government authorities and disseminated through national television, radio and the written press, the WMO said. It cited reports it received from Myanmar, which UN experts in Geneva have not been able to independently verify.
It is not clear whether Myanmar knew how to respond to those warnings, Mr. Schiessl said, raising parallels to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in which hundreds of thousands of people perished.
International researchers are developing systems to help forecast the size of storm surges, and sophisticated radar systems exist that can help coastal surveillance.
"No such a radar system is available in the coastal area of Myanmar," Mr. Schiessl said, noting that few developing countries could afford to implement such technology on their own.
"We need to find donor organizations that are prepared to provide the financial resources," he said. "Developing countries lack the financing and also the staff resources to deploy and operate these systems."
*************************************************************
Mission Network News
Myanmar refugees still flood the borders
Posted: 19 November, 2009
Myanmar (MNN) ― In 1984, the first wave of Myanmarese refugees fleeing from conflict began flooding across the border into Thailand.
25 years later, the crisis continues. Patrick Klein with Vision Beyond Borders says, "There are currently over 150,000 refugees that have come into Thailand from Burma. There are still more flooding across the border."
The persecution and violence seems to have government support. Many of the refugees are of the minority Karen people, who are among the most discriminated against in Burma. "One of the generals said, "By the year 2010, there will be no Karen people left. We're going to wipe them off the face of the earth."
Is the campaign ethnic or faith-based? Klein says it's a bit both. Many of the Karen are Christians. However, according to Voice of the Martyrs Canada, Buddhism is strongly entrenched in the Myanmarese majority; only about five percent of Christians in Burma are converts from Buddhism.
VOMC has more grim news. These Christians have been raped, tortured and murdered. In the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, which devastated the country in early May 2008, Burmese authorities reportedly denied relief aid to several Christians.
The harassment is growing more blatant. In his last visit, Klein said he visited with a group of orphaned refugees. Myanmar junta soldiers had threatened to kill all of the children in the home, so the group fled in the middle of the night. All 86 children took refuge 150 yards away in Thailand.
Vision Beyond Borders works with several church partners and at least six orphanage programs in Myanmar. Many of these sprang to life as the result of the deadly Cyclone Nargis last year. Klein says, "Because of the compassion of the Christians reaching out to these refugees coming in, even the Buddhists now are coming to faith in Jesus Christ, so the Gospel is increasing."
Persecution will follow. "It seems like they're trying to stamp out the church," explains Klein, adding, "They know that the number of Christians is growing. But it seems like whenever there's real persecution, the church seems to grow."
Vision Beyond Borders responds through their partners. Pray for the strength of Christians to stand firm in their faith, despite the lawlessness around them. Pray, too, for ministry opportunities for Christians to share their faith with others. You can help. Click here for details.
Myanmar refugees still flood the borders
Posted: 19 November, 2009
Myanmar (MNN) ― In 1984, the first wave of Myanmarese refugees fleeing from conflict began flooding across the border into Thailand.
25 years later, the crisis continues. Patrick Klein with Vision Beyond Borders says, "There are currently over 150,000 refugees that have come into Thailand from Burma. There are still more flooding across the border."
The persecution and violence seems to have government support. Many of the refugees are of the minority Karen people, who are among the most discriminated against in Burma. "One of the generals said, "By the year 2010, there will be no Karen people left. We're going to wipe them off the face of the earth."
Is the campaign ethnic or faith-based? Klein says it's a bit both. Many of the Karen are Christians. However, according to Voice of the Martyrs Canada, Buddhism is strongly entrenched in the Myanmarese majority; only about five percent of Christians in Burma are converts from Buddhism.
VOMC has more grim news. These Christians have been raped, tortured and murdered. In the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, which devastated the country in early May 2008, Burmese authorities reportedly denied relief aid to several Christians.
The harassment is growing more blatant. In his last visit, Klein said he visited with a group of orphaned refugees. Myanmar junta soldiers had threatened to kill all of the children in the home, so the group fled in the middle of the night. All 86 children took refuge 150 yards away in Thailand.
Vision Beyond Borders works with several church partners and at least six orphanage programs in Myanmar. Many of these sprang to life as the result of the deadly Cyclone Nargis last year. Klein says, "Because of the compassion of the Christians reaching out to these refugees coming in, even the Buddhists now are coming to faith in Jesus Christ, so the Gospel is increasing."
Persecution will follow. "It seems like they're trying to stamp out the church," explains Klein, adding, "They know that the number of Christians is growing. But it seems like whenever there's real persecution, the church seems to grow."
Vision Beyond Borders responds through their partners. Pray for the strength of Christians to stand firm in their faith, despite the lawlessness around them. Pray, too, for ministry opportunities for Christians to share their faith with others. You can help. Click here for details.
*************************************************************
New Zealand Herald - Journalist faces 10 years' jail for video of orphans
By Peter Popham
4:00 AM Thursday Nov 19, 2009
If a shocking documentary about the fate of Myanmar's cyclone orphans wins a video-journalism award in London tomorrow, it will be some time before one of the men who shot it gets a chance to celebrate.
Six months after shooting the film, the cameraman, known only as T, was arrested coming out of an internet cafe in Yangon and taken to the city's Insein Prison.
Last week, after four months in jail, he was told he would be charged with the new offence of filming without government permission, which carries a minimum jail sentence of 10 years.
The Rory Peck awards are given annually to freelance video cameramen and documentary makers who run the sort of risks which Peck, who was shot dead while filming the siege of the Russian Parliament in 1993, take daily.
In Myanmar the challenges are rather different. The risks of getting shot or bombed while filming in the peaceable, agrarian Irrawaddy delta south of Yangon are low. But, in other respects, this must be one of the most dangerous assignments in the world.
T's film follows a number of children orphaned by Cyclone Nargis, which struck southern Myanmar in May last year, killing 140,000 people in the delta and making 2.4 million homeless, as they struggle to survive in the absence of their parents and with negligible assistance from the state.
T and his colleague, another Burmese identified as Z who is currently hiding in Thailand, even filmed an appearance by General Thein Sein, the junta's Prime Minister, telling a group of desperate villagers to get back to work and to expect nothing from the state for some time.
T joins 13 other cameramen working for the Oslo-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) who have been jailed by the Burmese authorities since the Saffron Revolution of 2007 - the mass uprising led by monks which shook Asia's most repressive regime to the core.
Ever since the coup d'etat of 1962 which brought General Ne Win to power, Myanmar's ruling generals have done everything in their power to control the images of the country which reach the outside world.
But the internet and the shrinking size of video cameras have given dissidents new ways of getting their words and pictures out - as the junta discovered in September 2007, when freelance video cameramen working for DVB shot the swelling protest marches of the monks. The pictures were picked up by global news networks.
To stop this happening again, the authorities passed a new law banning filming without government permission, and began locking up for long terms those who defied it.
By Peter Popham
4:00 AM Thursday Nov 19, 2009
If a shocking documentary about the fate of Myanmar's cyclone orphans wins a video-journalism award in London tomorrow, it will be some time before one of the men who shot it gets a chance to celebrate.
Six months after shooting the film, the cameraman, known only as T, was arrested coming out of an internet cafe in Yangon and taken to the city's Insein Prison.
Last week, after four months in jail, he was told he would be charged with the new offence of filming without government permission, which carries a minimum jail sentence of 10 years.
The Rory Peck awards are given annually to freelance video cameramen and documentary makers who run the sort of risks which Peck, who was shot dead while filming the siege of the Russian Parliament in 1993, take daily.
In Myanmar the challenges are rather different. The risks of getting shot or bombed while filming in the peaceable, agrarian Irrawaddy delta south of Yangon are low. But, in other respects, this must be one of the most dangerous assignments in the world.
T's film follows a number of children orphaned by Cyclone Nargis, which struck southern Myanmar in May last year, killing 140,000 people in the delta and making 2.4 million homeless, as they struggle to survive in the absence of their parents and with negligible assistance from the state.
T and his colleague, another Burmese identified as Z who is currently hiding in Thailand, even filmed an appearance by General Thein Sein, the junta's Prime Minister, telling a group of desperate villagers to get back to work and to expect nothing from the state for some time.
T joins 13 other cameramen working for the Oslo-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) who have been jailed by the Burmese authorities since the Saffron Revolution of 2007 - the mass uprising led by monks which shook Asia's most repressive regime to the core.
Ever since the coup d'etat of 1962 which brought General Ne Win to power, Myanmar's ruling generals have done everything in their power to control the images of the country which reach the outside world.
But the internet and the shrinking size of video cameras have given dissidents new ways of getting their words and pictures out - as the junta discovered in September 2007, when freelance video cameramen working for DVB shot the swelling protest marches of the monks. The pictures were picked up by global news networks.
To stop this happening again, the authorities passed a new law banning filming without government permission, and began locking up for long terms those who defied it.
*************************************************************
RADIO THE VOICE OF VIETNAM
Updated : 5:39 PM, 11/19/2009
Vietnam-Myanmar Int’l Trade Fair opens
Vietnam-Myanmar International Trade Fair 2009 kicked off at the Conference Centre in Yangon, Myanmar on November 19.
During the four-day event, 52 Vietnamese businesses introduced lots of products, including medicines, cosmetics, food, garments and textiles, footwear, electronics, office stationery, household utensils, building materials, fertilizers and rubber products.
Meanwhile, 10 Myanmar businesses brought to the fair aquatic products, consumer goods, traditional handicrafts and artworks made of gemstone.
Vietnam is now one of Myanmar’s 16 biggest importers, mainly for agricultural and forestry products and seafood. It exports to Myanmar products such as steel, electronics, medicines, chemicals, computers, plastics, cosmetics and diezel oil.
In the past three quarters, trade exchange between Vietnam and Myanmar reached US$60 million. In 2008, two-way trade turnover fetched US$108.2 million, an increase of 11.27 percent from 2007.
Updated : 5:39 PM, 11/19/2009
Vietnam-Myanmar Int’l Trade Fair opens
Vietnam-Myanmar International Trade Fair 2009 kicked off at the Conference Centre in Yangon, Myanmar on November 19.
During the four-day event, 52 Vietnamese businesses introduced lots of products, including medicines, cosmetics, food, garments and textiles, footwear, electronics, office stationery, household utensils, building materials, fertilizers and rubber products.
Meanwhile, 10 Myanmar businesses brought to the fair aquatic products, consumer goods, traditional handicrafts and artworks made of gemstone.
Vietnam is now one of Myanmar’s 16 biggest importers, mainly for agricultural and forestry products and seafood. It exports to Myanmar products such as steel, electronics, medicines, chemicals, computers, plastics, cosmetics and diezel oil.
In the past three quarters, trade exchange between Vietnam and Myanmar reached US$60 million. In 2008, two-way trade turnover fetched US$108.2 million, an increase of 11.27 percent from 2007.
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The News International - PIA flies 465 Hajj pilgrims from Myanmar to Jeddah
Updated at: 2325 PST, Wednesday, November 18, 2009
YANGOON: National airlines, PIA has chartered 6 flights to take 1860 Burmese Hajj pilgrims to Jeddah, Geo News reports Wednesday.
The first departure out of 6 chartered flights will take off from Myanmar carrying 465 Hajj pilgrims to Jeddah today.
PIA will earn 2.5 million dollars as income from these chartered flights to Myanmar, PIA spokesperson has stated.
Boeing 747 and 300 will be used by PIA for these chartered flights.
Qazi Khalilullah, Pakistan’s ambassador to Myanmar has stated that Burmese Muslims have welcomed PIA’s service of carrying local hajj pilgrims to Hijaz.
Updated at: 2325 PST, Wednesday, November 18, 2009
YANGOON: National airlines, PIA has chartered 6 flights to take 1860 Burmese Hajj pilgrims to Jeddah, Geo News reports Wednesday.
The first departure out of 6 chartered flights will take off from Myanmar carrying 465 Hajj pilgrims to Jeddah today.
PIA will earn 2.5 million dollars as income from these chartered flights to Myanmar, PIA spokesperson has stated.
Boeing 747 and 300 will be used by PIA for these chartered flights.
Qazi Khalilullah, Pakistan’s ambassador to Myanmar has stated that Burmese Muslims have welcomed PIA’s service of carrying local hajj pilgrims to Hijaz.
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People's Daily Online - First climate change info center to be opened in Myanmar
20:41, November 19, 2009
An information center related to climate change will be opened in Myanmar's biggest city of Yangon at the end of this month to serve as a base for planning preventive measures against climate change and disasters, sources with the Meteorology and Hydrology Department said on Thursday.
The information center, set up at the Kyogone Forestry Directorate in Insein Township, will provide update news about global warming, climate change and the country's weather condition for government departments, researchers, environmental conservation workers and the public, the sources said.
Educative talks on preserving natural environment will also be launched by experts at the center, it added.
Meanwhile, Myanmar experienced the most disastrous ever cyclone Nargis on May 2 and 3 last year. The cyclone swept the country's five divisions and states -- Ayeyawaddy, Yangon, Bago, Mon and Kayin, of which Ayeyawaddy and Yangon inflicted the heaviest casualties and massive infrastructure damage.
The storm killed 84,537 people and left 53,836 missing and 19,359 injured, according to official death tolls.
During this year, the country also experienced more storms, flood, earthquake, untimely rain and drought.
20:41, November 19, 2009
An information center related to climate change will be opened in Myanmar's biggest city of Yangon at the end of this month to serve as a base for planning preventive measures against climate change and disasters, sources with the Meteorology and Hydrology Department said on Thursday.
The information center, set up at the Kyogone Forestry Directorate in Insein Township, will provide update news about global warming, climate change and the country's weather condition for government departments, researchers, environmental conservation workers and the public, the sources said.
Educative talks on preserving natural environment will also be launched by experts at the center, it added.
Meanwhile, Myanmar experienced the most disastrous ever cyclone Nargis on May 2 and 3 last year. The cyclone swept the country's five divisions and states -- Ayeyawaddy, Yangon, Bago, Mon and Kayin, of which Ayeyawaddy and Yangon inflicted the heaviest casualties and massive infrastructure damage.
The storm killed 84,537 people and left 53,836 missing and 19,359 injured, according to official death tolls.
During this year, the country also experienced more storms, flood, earthquake, untimely rain and drought.
*************************************************************
Interview: UNICEF makes contribution to Myanmar's relief work in cyclone-hit region
www.chinaview.cn 2009-11-19 09:39:05
by Chen Meihua, Feng Yingqiu
YANGON, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations children's fund has incorporated relief work into its regular program for this year in Myanmar's cyclone-struck delta area, a UNICEF official says.
UNICEF said its strategy and response in Myanmar's cyclone-hit area was in line with a recovery and preparedness plan launched byASEAN and the Tripartite Core Group.
UNICEF's engagement in Myanmar's relief work was based on its core commitments for children, Zafrin Chowdhury, a UNICEF official, told Xinhua in a recent interview.
Chowdhury spoke with Xinhua ahead of the 20th anniversary of the 1989 signing of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
UNICEF's program covers six areas, including water, environmental sanitation and hygiene, health and HIV, nutrition, education, and child protection, within the framework of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Chowdhury said.
UNICEF will launch a photo contest with the Myanmar Photographers Association in the capital Nay Pyi Taw on Nov. 20 to celebrate the convention's signing.
The contest will feature children in schools across the country, with the focus on healthy children, emergency and recovery, and children at risk, Chowdhury said.
"UNICEF plays a key role in supporting the government in formulating the first ever national plan of action on protection of children in emergencies, and in the longer term, a national child protection system with improved policies and helping build capacity on child protection," she said.
Chowdhury said cyclone Nargis last year left about 140,000 people dead, 2.4 million affected, and 800,000 displaced.
More than 50 percent of the schools, and nearly 75 percent of the health facilities in the cyclone-hit areas were destroyed or seriously damaged.
As of mid-March, UNICEF had received 69 million U.S dollars, or76 percent of the 90.8 million dollars requested, she said.
UNICEF had conducted relief work from five field locations in Ayeyawaddy division, three of which were recently closed, she said.
Two major field offices in Laputta and Bogalay serve as centers for relief and recovery work in the rest of the delta, and the coverage would be extended to all 36 townships in Ayeyawaddy and Yangon affected by the cyclone, she said.
From 2009, UNICEF's emergency recovery programs would become part of the regular country program, she noted.
Specifically, UNICEF has launched an emergency relief and recovery response to improve access to essential healthcare for women and children to reduce illness and death.
Among the estimated 2.4 million people affected by the cyclone, UNICEF aims to cover 293,000 people, of whom 194,000 were children under five years old.
The coverage of a measles vaccination campaign for children has reached 90 percent and the coverage of routine immunizations in all the affected townships has reached 80 percent, said an UNICEF report on the relief work in Myanmar.
About 80 percent of the affected children and pregnant/lactating women have access to medical care and 80 percent of the basic health facilities have restarted with MNCH services, the report said.
About 410,330 primary school children have returned to classes as a result of UNICEF support to 2,740 affected primary schools.
UNICEF has pledged to continue to improve all the areas affected by the disaster, Chowdhury said, adding that more international aid is still needed for the recovery effort.
www.chinaview.cn 2009-11-19 09:39:05
by Chen Meihua, Feng Yingqiu
YANGON, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations children's fund has incorporated relief work into its regular program for this year in Myanmar's cyclone-struck delta area, a UNICEF official says.
UNICEF said its strategy and response in Myanmar's cyclone-hit area was in line with a recovery and preparedness plan launched byASEAN and the Tripartite Core Group.
UNICEF's engagement in Myanmar's relief work was based on its core commitments for children, Zafrin Chowdhury, a UNICEF official, told Xinhua in a recent interview.
Chowdhury spoke with Xinhua ahead of the 20th anniversary of the 1989 signing of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
UNICEF's program covers six areas, including water, environmental sanitation and hygiene, health and HIV, nutrition, education, and child protection, within the framework of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Chowdhury said.
UNICEF will launch a photo contest with the Myanmar Photographers Association in the capital Nay Pyi Taw on Nov. 20 to celebrate the convention's signing.
The contest will feature children in schools across the country, with the focus on healthy children, emergency and recovery, and children at risk, Chowdhury said.
"UNICEF plays a key role in supporting the government in formulating the first ever national plan of action on protection of children in emergencies, and in the longer term, a national child protection system with improved policies and helping build capacity on child protection," she said.
Chowdhury said cyclone Nargis last year left about 140,000 people dead, 2.4 million affected, and 800,000 displaced.
More than 50 percent of the schools, and nearly 75 percent of the health facilities in the cyclone-hit areas were destroyed or seriously damaged.
As of mid-March, UNICEF had received 69 million U.S dollars, or76 percent of the 90.8 million dollars requested, she said.
UNICEF had conducted relief work from five field locations in Ayeyawaddy division, three of which were recently closed, she said.
Two major field offices in Laputta and Bogalay serve as centers for relief and recovery work in the rest of the delta, and the coverage would be extended to all 36 townships in Ayeyawaddy and Yangon affected by the cyclone, she said.
From 2009, UNICEF's emergency recovery programs would become part of the regular country program, she noted.
Specifically, UNICEF has launched an emergency relief and recovery response to improve access to essential healthcare for women and children to reduce illness and death.
Among the estimated 2.4 million people affected by the cyclone, UNICEF aims to cover 293,000 people, of whom 194,000 were children under five years old.
The coverage of a measles vaccination campaign for children has reached 90 percent and the coverage of routine immunizations in all the affected townships has reached 80 percent, said an UNICEF report on the relief work in Myanmar.
About 80 percent of the affected children and pregnant/lactating women have access to medical care and 80 percent of the basic health facilities have restarted with MNCH services, the report said.
About 410,330 primary school children have returned to classes as a result of UNICEF support to 2,740 affected primary schools.
UNICEF has pledged to continue to improve all the areas affected by the disaster, Chowdhury said, adding that more international aid is still needed for the recovery effort.
*************************************************************
Forbes - What's Obama Bringing Home From Asia?
Nouriel Roubini, 11.19.09, 12:01 AM EST
He may yet head off a trade war.
President Barack Obama embarked on his highly anticipated maiden visit to Asia last week, furthering his efforts at global outreach. The trip comes as global leaders are reckoning with an unsynchronized exit from economic policies that have helped end the worst recession of the post-war era.
Policy changes in Asia, particularly among major U.S. creditors, will be essential to rebalance global growth: Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation nations (including those in the Americas) absorb 55% of U.S. goods exports and provide a major market for U.S. service exports, while Asia depends on U.S. consumers and foreign direct investment to drive economic growth. With the trip, Obama aims to renew U.S. political and economic influence in a region that analysts claim was ignored by the previous administration, addressing key issues like economic cooperation, climate change, free trade and the regional balance of power. By spending nine days abroad--as domestic issues like health care and unemployment vie for his attention back home--the president acknowledges the growing importance of the U.S. relationship with a rising Asia.
Obama's first stop was Japan, a key U.S. ally and the host of a large (and increasingly contested) U.S. military presence. Next, Obama stopped in Singapore, where he attended a summit of APEC leaders. Obama, whose cap-and-trade legislation is stalled in Congress, was among the world leaders who accepted that a binding carbon emissions deal was unrealistic, saying the best that could be hoped for was a "politically binding" deal. On the sidelines of the APEC meeting, Obama met Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to discuss U.S.-Russia ties, the new arms control treaty and possible sanctions on Iran and North Korea. While in Singapore, Obama also attended the first U.S.-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, which was also attended by Myanmar's Prime Minister Thein Sein, before arriving in China. His final stop will be South Korea, where talks of disarming North Korea may overshadow discussions on the U.S.-South Korea trade agreement.
Ahead of Obama's visit to China, U.S. officials focused on the new goal of obtaining "strategic reassurance" that China would seek to maintain global stability as the country's influence grew. A bilateral deal on climate change would have sent a powerful signal on this subject. Although U.S. and Chinese leaders signed several agreements on clean energy initiatives, in part because of job creation goals, neither side was ready to make any binding commitments on carbon reduction.
Similarly, the U.S. sought Chinese support on Afghanistan, Iran and North Korea, but no meaningful cooperative agreements have been aired publicly. Over the past year, however, Chinese and U.S. leaders have been meeting more often than they have during past U.S. administrations, and linkages at all levels of government have increased.
Trade and currency issues dominated the U.S.-China meetings, as they have in past meetings, though the relevant discussions were brief. The U.S. claimed a weak renminbi (RMB) would prevent the correction of global imbalances that both sides seek, but China put the blame on U.S. debt levels. This visit comes as market actors are increasingly pricing in a renewed gradual appreciation of the RMB over the next six months.
Just before Obama's arrival, a senior Chinese official criticized loose U.S. monetary policy for the first time. As in their trade meeting in Hangzhou last month, China and the U.S. pledged to work together to avoid a trade war as pressure builds in both countries' export sectors. As the global economy has begun to stabilize, the number of anti-dumping complaints has grown. Calm heads may prevail in the end, but, again, no strong commitments came from Obama's visit or the meeting of trade leaders on Oct. 29.
China sent a political message by skipping some of the goodwill gestures that usually accompany a U.S. presidential visit. Ahead of the visit, Chinese dissidents were reportedly rounded up, a striking contrast to the token prisoner releases that tended to precede visits from Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Likewise, Obama's "town hall" meeting in Shanghai was not televised live across China as past U.S. presidential speeches were.
In addition to asserting China's desire to level the political playing field, the moves may reflect insecurity on the part of China's leadership, stemming in part from concern that the domestic economic recovery remains "unstable, unbalanced and not yet solid." Even if it is better positioned to resist U.S. pressures, China still has a limited ability to alter policy in Washington--in part because China's pursuit of macroeconomic stability from the dollar peg constrains other policies, including reserve diversification.
Nouriel Roubini, a professor at the Stern Business School at New York University and chairman of Roubini Global Economics (RGE), is a weekly columnist for Forbes.
Nouriel Roubini, 11.19.09, 12:01 AM EST
He may yet head off a trade war.
President Barack Obama embarked on his highly anticipated maiden visit to Asia last week, furthering his efforts at global outreach. The trip comes as global leaders are reckoning with an unsynchronized exit from economic policies that have helped end the worst recession of the post-war era.
Policy changes in Asia, particularly among major U.S. creditors, will be essential to rebalance global growth: Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation nations (including those in the Americas) absorb 55% of U.S. goods exports and provide a major market for U.S. service exports, while Asia depends on U.S. consumers and foreign direct investment to drive economic growth. With the trip, Obama aims to renew U.S. political and economic influence in a region that analysts claim was ignored by the previous administration, addressing key issues like economic cooperation, climate change, free trade and the regional balance of power. By spending nine days abroad--as domestic issues like health care and unemployment vie for his attention back home--the president acknowledges the growing importance of the U.S. relationship with a rising Asia.
Obama's first stop was Japan, a key U.S. ally and the host of a large (and increasingly contested) U.S. military presence. Next, Obama stopped in Singapore, where he attended a summit of APEC leaders. Obama, whose cap-and-trade legislation is stalled in Congress, was among the world leaders who accepted that a binding carbon emissions deal was unrealistic, saying the best that could be hoped for was a "politically binding" deal. On the sidelines of the APEC meeting, Obama met Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to discuss U.S.-Russia ties, the new arms control treaty and possible sanctions on Iran and North Korea. While in Singapore, Obama also attended the first U.S.-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, which was also attended by Myanmar's Prime Minister Thein Sein, before arriving in China. His final stop will be South Korea, where talks of disarming North Korea may overshadow discussions on the U.S.-South Korea trade agreement.
Ahead of Obama's visit to China, U.S. officials focused on the new goal of obtaining "strategic reassurance" that China would seek to maintain global stability as the country's influence grew. A bilateral deal on climate change would have sent a powerful signal on this subject. Although U.S. and Chinese leaders signed several agreements on clean energy initiatives, in part because of job creation goals, neither side was ready to make any binding commitments on carbon reduction.
Similarly, the U.S. sought Chinese support on Afghanistan, Iran and North Korea, but no meaningful cooperative agreements have been aired publicly. Over the past year, however, Chinese and U.S. leaders have been meeting more often than they have during past U.S. administrations, and linkages at all levels of government have increased.
Trade and currency issues dominated the U.S.-China meetings, as they have in past meetings, though the relevant discussions were brief. The U.S. claimed a weak renminbi (RMB) would prevent the correction of global imbalances that both sides seek, but China put the blame on U.S. debt levels. This visit comes as market actors are increasingly pricing in a renewed gradual appreciation of the RMB over the next six months.
Just before Obama's arrival, a senior Chinese official criticized loose U.S. monetary policy for the first time. As in their trade meeting in Hangzhou last month, China and the U.S. pledged to work together to avoid a trade war as pressure builds in both countries' export sectors. As the global economy has begun to stabilize, the number of anti-dumping complaints has grown. Calm heads may prevail in the end, but, again, no strong commitments came from Obama's visit or the meeting of trade leaders on Oct. 29.
China sent a political message by skipping some of the goodwill gestures that usually accompany a U.S. presidential visit. Ahead of the visit, Chinese dissidents were reportedly rounded up, a striking contrast to the token prisoner releases that tended to precede visits from Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Likewise, Obama's "town hall" meeting in Shanghai was not televised live across China as past U.S. presidential speeches were.
In addition to asserting China's desire to level the political playing field, the moves may reflect insecurity on the part of China's leadership, stemming in part from concern that the domestic economic recovery remains "unstable, unbalanced and not yet solid." Even if it is better positioned to resist U.S. pressures, China still has a limited ability to alter policy in Washington--in part because China's pursuit of macroeconomic stability from the dollar peg constrains other policies, including reserve diversification.
Nouriel Roubini, a professor at the Stern Business School at New York University and chairman of Roubini Global Economics (RGE), is a weekly columnist for Forbes.
*************************************************************
Washington Post - In China, Obama leaves more questions than he takes
By Dana Milbank
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Listening to President Obama and his Chinese counterpart this week, it was hard to tell who was Hu.
One is the leader of a great democracy. The other is the head of a repressive regime. But as the two men faced reporters in Beijing's Great Hall of the People, Obama deferred to the wishes of President Hu Jintao: They would not take questions. In lieu of this rite of freedom, the two leaders exchanged platitudes.
"We reached agreement in many important fields," the communist leader assured everybody.
"Our two governments have continued to move forward in a way that can bring even greater cooperation in the future," the democratic leader reciprocated.
It was, to put it charitably, a low-key way of spreading American values. A decade earlier, in that very same hall, President Bill Clinton criticized China's Tiananmen Square crackdown during a news conference with then-President Jiang Zemin. President George W. Bush, no fan of the media, made Hu squirm at the White House three years ago when he insisted that they take questions from U.S. and Chinese journalists.
Obama, by contrast, didn't hold a news conference in China. Instead, he answered questions in Shanghai from students, who were apparently members in good standing of the Communist Youth League (even so, the authorities declined to broadcast the session on state television). Elsewhere in Asia, Obama eschewed the usual format for news conferences with the leaders of Japan and South Korea, instead allowing one reporter from each side to ask a question at each appearance.
Members of the White House press corps traveling with Obama were baffled: Even Bush, the great unilateralist, had been more willing to mix it up with journalists, foreign and domestic, while abroad. After reporters complained to White House press secretary Robert Gibbs about a lack of communication, he issued a 61-word written statement worthy of the Politburo Standing Committee: "President Obama's visit to China has demonstrated the depth and breadth of the global and other challenges where US-China cooperation is critical," it began.
Other elements of Obama's Asian trip -- the bow to the Japanese emperor, the handshake with the Burmese prime minister -- have earned more attention, but Obama's reluctance to be challenged in public is more problematic. It sends a message to the world that contradicts his claim to the Chinese students that he is a better leader because he is forced "to hear opinions that I don't want to hear."
Instead of facing questioners in public, Obama invited correspondents from each American television network to come to his hotel for a series of one-on-one interviews of about 10 minutes apiece.
For the president, this was a low-risk alternative. Each reporter had to cover multiple topics, and that, by the White House's design, left little room for probing beyond the superficial. Obama told Fox News's Major Garrett, for example, that the White House is "taking a look" at tax provisions to encourage businesses to hire, but he didn't offer any specifics. He told CBS News's Chip Reid that he is "fine-tuning" his Afghanistan strategy, but he didn't say what it is. He gave CNN's Ed Henry the news that he is "absolutely confident" that health-care legislation will pass, but he didn't say in what form.
Then there were the requisite human-interest questions that the TV morning-show hosts love. NBC News's Chuck Todd asked whether the president had lost weight. "I'm eating fine and I'm sleeping fine," Obama reported. "My hair is getting gray." Henry asked whether Obama would read Sarah Palin's book. "You know, I probably won't," the president answered.
In that sense, Obama's Asian tour continued a pattern he has developed at home. He had five full news conferences at the White House during his first six months in office but has had none since July. That puts him roughly on par with Bush, who had four full White House news conferences in the same time. For Obama, who pledged to bring a new level of transparency to the presidency, that's hardly an impressive record.
Instead of subjecting himself to public inquisition, Obama has opted for the calm and cordiality of the tête-à-tête. He had done an impressive 134 sit-down interviews as president before leaving for China, according to CBS News's Mark Knoller, and his four in China brought the tally to 138.
It's easy to see why Obama prefers this format. Consider some of the questions that have arisen during these sessions:
"You picked the Tar Heels to win the national championship, didn't you?
"You are very, very famous as a very cool man, but what don't you like about yourself?"
"Golf. What does it do for you?"
"How do you relax?"
"Have the girls had kids over after school?"
"Do you get to read them a story at night, tuck them in bed?"
With questions like these, even President Hu might start talking to the press.
By Dana Milbank
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Listening to President Obama and his Chinese counterpart this week, it was hard to tell who was Hu.
One is the leader of a great democracy. The other is the head of a repressive regime. But as the two men faced reporters in Beijing's Great Hall of the People, Obama deferred to the wishes of President Hu Jintao: They would not take questions. In lieu of this rite of freedom, the two leaders exchanged platitudes.
"We reached agreement in many important fields," the communist leader assured everybody.
"Our two governments have continued to move forward in a way that can bring even greater cooperation in the future," the democratic leader reciprocated.
It was, to put it charitably, a low-key way of spreading American values. A decade earlier, in that very same hall, President Bill Clinton criticized China's Tiananmen Square crackdown during a news conference with then-President Jiang Zemin. President George W. Bush, no fan of the media, made Hu squirm at the White House three years ago when he insisted that they take questions from U.S. and Chinese journalists.
Obama, by contrast, didn't hold a news conference in China. Instead, he answered questions in Shanghai from students, who were apparently members in good standing of the Communist Youth League (even so, the authorities declined to broadcast the session on state television). Elsewhere in Asia, Obama eschewed the usual format for news conferences with the leaders of Japan and South Korea, instead allowing one reporter from each side to ask a question at each appearance.
Members of the White House press corps traveling with Obama were baffled: Even Bush, the great unilateralist, had been more willing to mix it up with journalists, foreign and domestic, while abroad. After reporters complained to White House press secretary Robert Gibbs about a lack of communication, he issued a 61-word written statement worthy of the Politburo Standing Committee: "President Obama's visit to China has demonstrated the depth and breadth of the global and other challenges where US-China cooperation is critical," it began.
Other elements of Obama's Asian trip -- the bow to the Japanese emperor, the handshake with the Burmese prime minister -- have earned more attention, but Obama's reluctance to be challenged in public is more problematic. It sends a message to the world that contradicts his claim to the Chinese students that he is a better leader because he is forced "to hear opinions that I don't want to hear."
Instead of facing questioners in public, Obama invited correspondents from each American television network to come to his hotel for a series of one-on-one interviews of about 10 minutes apiece.
For the president, this was a low-risk alternative. Each reporter had to cover multiple topics, and that, by the White House's design, left little room for probing beyond the superficial. Obama told Fox News's Major Garrett, for example, that the White House is "taking a look" at tax provisions to encourage businesses to hire, but he didn't offer any specifics. He told CBS News's Chip Reid that he is "fine-tuning" his Afghanistan strategy, but he didn't say what it is. He gave CNN's Ed Henry the news that he is "absolutely confident" that health-care legislation will pass, but he didn't say in what form.
Then there were the requisite human-interest questions that the TV morning-show hosts love. NBC News's Chuck Todd asked whether the president had lost weight. "I'm eating fine and I'm sleeping fine," Obama reported. "My hair is getting gray." Henry asked whether Obama would read Sarah Palin's book. "You know, I probably won't," the president answered.
In that sense, Obama's Asian tour continued a pattern he has developed at home. He had five full news conferences at the White House during his first six months in office but has had none since July. That puts him roughly on par with Bush, who had four full White House news conferences in the same time. For Obama, who pledged to bring a new level of transparency to the presidency, that's hardly an impressive record.
Instead of subjecting himself to public inquisition, Obama has opted for the calm and cordiality of the tête-à-tête. He had done an impressive 134 sit-down interviews as president before leaving for China, according to CBS News's Mark Knoller, and his four in China brought the tally to 138.
It's easy to see why Obama prefers this format. Consider some of the questions that have arisen during these sessions:
"You picked the Tar Heels to win the national championship, didn't you?
"You are very, very famous as a very cool man, but what don't you like about yourself?"
"Golf. What does it do for you?"
"How do you relax?"
"Have the girls had kids over after school?"
"Do you get to read them a story at night, tuck them in bed?"
With questions like these, even President Hu might start talking to the press.
*************************************************************
The Irrawaddy - Coco Islands to Open for Tourism
By WAI MOE - Thursday, November 19, 2009
Sitting 300 kilometers off the Burmese mainland in the Indian Ocean, the Coco Islands were once known as “Burma’s Devils Island,” infamous as a detention center for political prisoners.
After the penal colony was closed in 1971, the tiny islands—which form the northern link in the Andaman Islands chain—were handed over to the Burmese navy. In the 1990s, China reportedly established a signals intelligence base on Great Coco Island, though it was never confirmed.
And now, Burma’s tourism authorities intend to open the islands up to foreign and domestic tour groups with the first ferry of tourists due to sail on Friday.
“Four hundred tourists will sleep on the boat for two nights and will spend two days on the island,” said an official from the Rangoon Division Peace and Development Council.
A return ticket price for the first tour has been quoted at 25,000 kyat (US $25) although the price is expected to be much higher for foreign tourists. Travel agencies in Rangoon expect the tours to be popular though little is known about any facilities on the islands.
A travel agent in Rangoon, who asked to remain anonymous because of security concerns, said that the 400 tourists will sleep in wooden bungalows on Great Coco Island.
The three small islands that make up the chain are home to a small fishing community, coconut farmers and a handful of marine biologists who monitor the conservation of green turtles.
Apart from that, tourists will find little more than palm trees, white sandy beaches and pristine waters.
The Coco Islands were under Indian control until 1882 when they were passed into the administration of British Burma. The British planned to build a prison on the islands, but they did not pursue the plan.
However, under late dictator Gen Ne Win’s interim government, a penal colony was founded on Great Coco Island in January 1959. Political dissidents accused of threatening security and disrupting the social stability of Burma were sent to the penal colony.
“After Ne Win’s coup d’état in 1962, and the installation of a military government, the prison gained the reputation of being a Burmese ‘Devil’s Island,’” wrote Burma researcher Andrew Selth.
The number of political prisoners sent to the prison camp on Great Coco Island increased in 1969. They had to harvest coconuts, work on “development projects” and grow their own food.
Many of the dissidents were members and sympathizers of the Communist Party of Burma. Of the thousands of prisoners sent to the island, only three prisoners—Mann Aung Kyi, Mann Nyein Maung and Aung Ngwe—are known to have escaped when they floated across the Indian Ocean clutching driftwood. However, they were rearrested when they reached the Burmese mainland.
Due to worsening food and living conditions, political prisoners on the island conducted three known hunger strikes. The first hunger strike was in 1969 and ended after seven days when the authorities gave in to their demands.
In the following two years, a 40-day long strike and a 53-day long strike occurred. After eight hunger strikers had died during the second protest, the prison authorities gave in and closed the penal colony on Great Coco Island in December 1971. All the prisoners were transferred to Insein Prison in Rangoon.
Panmawaddy Naval Base took over from the disused prison and remains there to this day.
A strategic point in the Indian Ocean, the Coco Islands attracted attention in 1992 when analysts and journalists reported China’s involvement in setting up a radar station, apparently to monitor Indian activity. However, other Burma watchers, such as Selth, say the reports are untrue.
Some analysts said that the base on Great Coco Island was a part of China’s “String of Pearls” strategy, aimed at building naval bases from the South China Sea to the Middle East to guard China’s energy supplies.
Even though evidence has surfaced regarding China’s assistance in upgrading the Burmese naval base on the islands, there is still a lack of solid evidence about China’s military involvement.
Analysts point to the Coco Islands strategic location and China’s new billion-dollar pipeline project from Burma’s Arakan State to its southwestern province of Yunnan, which will ultimately carry more than 80 percent of China’s imported oil and gas.
China’s oil and gas will pass through the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean and analysts say that local naval bases would be a valuable asset.
By WAI MOE - Thursday, November 19, 2009
Sitting 300 kilometers off the Burmese mainland in the Indian Ocean, the Coco Islands were once known as “Burma’s Devils Island,” infamous as a detention center for political prisoners.
After the penal colony was closed in 1971, the tiny islands—which form the northern link in the Andaman Islands chain—were handed over to the Burmese navy. In the 1990s, China reportedly established a signals intelligence base on Great Coco Island, though it was never confirmed.
And now, Burma’s tourism authorities intend to open the islands up to foreign and domestic tour groups with the first ferry of tourists due to sail on Friday.
“Four hundred tourists will sleep on the boat for two nights and will spend two days on the island,” said an official from the Rangoon Division Peace and Development Council.
A return ticket price for the first tour has been quoted at 25,000 kyat (US $25) although the price is expected to be much higher for foreign tourists. Travel agencies in Rangoon expect the tours to be popular though little is known about any facilities on the islands.
A travel agent in Rangoon, who asked to remain anonymous because of security concerns, said that the 400 tourists will sleep in wooden bungalows on Great Coco Island.
The three small islands that make up the chain are home to a small fishing community, coconut farmers and a handful of marine biologists who monitor the conservation of green turtles.
Apart from that, tourists will find little more than palm trees, white sandy beaches and pristine waters.
The Coco Islands were under Indian control until 1882 when they were passed into the administration of British Burma. The British planned to build a prison on the islands, but they did not pursue the plan.
However, under late dictator Gen Ne Win’s interim government, a penal colony was founded on Great Coco Island in January 1959. Political dissidents accused of threatening security and disrupting the social stability of Burma were sent to the penal colony.
“After Ne Win’s coup d’état in 1962, and the installation of a military government, the prison gained the reputation of being a Burmese ‘Devil’s Island,’” wrote Burma researcher Andrew Selth.
The number of political prisoners sent to the prison camp on Great Coco Island increased in 1969. They had to harvest coconuts, work on “development projects” and grow their own food.
Many of the dissidents were members and sympathizers of the Communist Party of Burma. Of the thousands of prisoners sent to the island, only three prisoners—Mann Aung Kyi, Mann Nyein Maung and Aung Ngwe—are known to have escaped when they floated across the Indian Ocean clutching driftwood. However, they were rearrested when they reached the Burmese mainland.
Due to worsening food and living conditions, political prisoners on the island conducted three known hunger strikes. The first hunger strike was in 1969 and ended after seven days when the authorities gave in to their demands.
In the following two years, a 40-day long strike and a 53-day long strike occurred. After eight hunger strikers had died during the second protest, the prison authorities gave in and closed the penal colony on Great Coco Island in December 1971. All the prisoners were transferred to Insein Prison in Rangoon.
Panmawaddy Naval Base took over from the disused prison and remains there to this day.
A strategic point in the Indian Ocean, the Coco Islands attracted attention in 1992 when analysts and journalists reported China’s involvement in setting up a radar station, apparently to monitor Indian activity. However, other Burma watchers, such as Selth, say the reports are untrue.
Some analysts said that the base on Great Coco Island was a part of China’s “String of Pearls” strategy, aimed at building naval bases from the South China Sea to the Middle East to guard China’s energy supplies.
Even though evidence has surfaced regarding China’s assistance in upgrading the Burmese naval base on the islands, there is still a lack of solid evidence about China’s military involvement.
Analysts point to the Coco Islands strategic location and China’s new billion-dollar pipeline project from Burma’s Arakan State to its southwestern province of Yunnan, which will ultimately carry more than 80 percent of China’s imported oil and gas.
China’s oil and gas will pass through the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean and analysts say that local naval bases would be a valuable asset.
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The Irrawaddy - Mystery of the Handcuffed Statues
By KYI WAI - Thursday, November 19, 2009
Rangoon’s rumor mill is at work again over reports that statues of a well known nat, or spirit, in two local temples are being handcuffed at night.
The revered nat, Mya Nan Nwe, is believed to have supernatural powers and the ability to take on human form. She is credited with making donations to local temples, including the two where her statues stand— Bo Ta Htaung Pagoda and a pagoda at Hlaw Kar Lake in Rangoon’s Mingladon Township.
A resident living near Bo Ta Htaung Pagoda said local authorities tie the hands of the statue at 11 p.m. and untie them at 6 a.m. the next day.
Families living close to Hlaw Kar Lake say the same procedure is followed at a lakeside pagoda where a statue of Mya Nan Nwe is located. The statue’s hands, raised in a reverential gesture toward Buddha, are handcuffed every night, they say.
"One morning, I came quite early to offer food at the altar to the Buddha and I saw some glittering thing on the hands of Mya Nan Nwe's statue and when I approached closer to it, I saw it was a handcuff,” the resident said. “At first, I thought some young people must have played a joke, but then I saw the handcuffs were the real thing.”
Theories for the phenomenon abound. A Rangoon businessman said he had heard rumors that the handcuffing procedure had been ordered by junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe after a dream in which a nat dressed like Mya Nan Nwe had appeared and spoken to him.
“It’s said that soothsayers suggested to Than Shwe that he should have the statues handcuffed to prevent any trouble from Mya Nan Nwe.”
Another resident said: “Some people said Mya Nan Nwe appeared to Snr-Gen Than Shwe in a nightmare and in response he ordered the statues to be handcuffed.”
A senior government official confirmed the rumor. "It’s said that a famous lady traveled through Burma and built many pagodas, where statues of her were erected. The authorities allowed the statues to be built, but reports that the generals were suffering nightmares caused them to issue this handcuffing order.”
By KYI WAI - Thursday, November 19, 2009
Rangoon’s rumor mill is at work again over reports that statues of a well known nat, or spirit, in two local temples are being handcuffed at night.
The revered nat, Mya Nan Nwe, is believed to have supernatural powers and the ability to take on human form. She is credited with making donations to local temples, including the two where her statues stand— Bo Ta Htaung Pagoda and a pagoda at Hlaw Kar Lake in Rangoon’s Mingladon Township.
A resident living near Bo Ta Htaung Pagoda said local authorities tie the hands of the statue at 11 p.m. and untie them at 6 a.m. the next day.
Families living close to Hlaw Kar Lake say the same procedure is followed at a lakeside pagoda where a statue of Mya Nan Nwe is located. The statue’s hands, raised in a reverential gesture toward Buddha, are handcuffed every night, they say.
"One morning, I came quite early to offer food at the altar to the Buddha and I saw some glittering thing on the hands of Mya Nan Nwe's statue and when I approached closer to it, I saw it was a handcuff,” the resident said. “At first, I thought some young people must have played a joke, but then I saw the handcuffs were the real thing.”
Theories for the phenomenon abound. A Rangoon businessman said he had heard rumors that the handcuffing procedure had been ordered by junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe after a dream in which a nat dressed like Mya Nan Nwe had appeared and spoken to him.
“It’s said that soothsayers suggested to Than Shwe that he should have the statues handcuffed to prevent any trouble from Mya Nan Nwe.”
Another resident said: “Some people said Mya Nan Nwe appeared to Snr-Gen Than Shwe in a nightmare and in response he ordered the statues to be handcuffed.”
A senior government official confirmed the rumor. "It’s said that a famous lady traveled through Burma and built many pagodas, where statues of her were erected. The authorities allowed the statues to be built, but reports that the generals were suffering nightmares caused them to issue this handcuffing order.”
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Jail term extended for 2007 activist
Nov 19, 2009 (DVB)–An activist whose group played a key role in sparking the September 2007 monk-led uprising in Burma has had his 10-year prison sentence extended by eight years, sources close to his family said.
Kan Myint, who spent four years in prison in the early 1990’s, was an active member of the commodity protester group, Myanmar Development Committee, whose protests against the sudden hike in fuel prices in September 2007 triggered the uprising.
He was arrested on 8 December 2008 and later handed a 10-year sentence on charges of causing a public riot, and breaching the Immigration Act and Video Act. The leader of the group, Htin Kyaw, is currently serving 12 years and six months in prison.
A source close to Kan Myint’s family said that he was sentenced on 13 November to eight more years in prison on separate under the Unlawful Association Act (17-1) for having link with an unlawful association, and Act (17-2) for involvement with an unlawful association.
The Unlawful Association Act is regularly used by the Burmese military government to imprison opposition activists, journalists and politicians.
“According to his lawyer, he could not be charged with Act 17-1 after he was already charged with Act 17-2,” said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity. “However the court gave him maximum sentences for both charges separately.”
The case mirrors that of another activist, Generation Wave member Nyein Chan, who last month had an eight-year sentence extended by 10 years. He had been caught distributing leaflets to mark the one-year anniversary of the founding of the youth activist group.
Meanwhile, three members of the opposition National League for Democracy party facing trial in Rangoon’s notorious Insein prison special court were yesterday charged with the Unlawful Associations Act, according to lawyer Kyaw Ho.
The members are Ma Cho (also known as Myint Myint San), Sein Hlaing and Shwe Gyo.
Burma currently holds around 2,120 political prisoners, including 244 monks and 270 students, according to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners – Burma (AAPP).
Reporting by Khin Hnin Htet
Nov 19, 2009 (DVB)–An activist whose group played a key role in sparking the September 2007 monk-led uprising in Burma has had his 10-year prison sentence extended by eight years, sources close to his family said.
Kan Myint, who spent four years in prison in the early 1990’s, was an active member of the commodity protester group, Myanmar Development Committee, whose protests against the sudden hike in fuel prices in September 2007 triggered the uprising.
He was arrested on 8 December 2008 and later handed a 10-year sentence on charges of causing a public riot, and breaching the Immigration Act and Video Act. The leader of the group, Htin Kyaw, is currently serving 12 years and six months in prison.
A source close to Kan Myint’s family said that he was sentenced on 13 November to eight more years in prison on separate under the Unlawful Association Act (17-1) for having link with an unlawful association, and Act (17-2) for involvement with an unlawful association.
The Unlawful Association Act is regularly used by the Burmese military government to imprison opposition activists, journalists and politicians.
“According to his lawyer, he could not be charged with Act 17-1 after he was already charged with Act 17-2,” said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity. “However the court gave him maximum sentences for both charges separately.”
The case mirrors that of another activist, Generation Wave member Nyein Chan, who last month had an eight-year sentence extended by 10 years. He had been caught distributing leaflets to mark the one-year anniversary of the founding of the youth activist group.
Meanwhile, three members of the opposition National League for Democracy party facing trial in Rangoon’s notorious Insein prison special court were yesterday charged with the Unlawful Associations Act, according to lawyer Kyaw Ho.
The members are Ma Cho (also known as Myint Myint San), Sein Hlaing and Shwe Gyo.
Burma currently holds around 2,120 political prisoners, including 244 monks and 270 students, according to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners – Burma (AAPP).
Reporting by Khin Hnin Htet
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