Minister’s comment is attempt to influence court , Suu Kyi

By Agence France-Press

Detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said that Burma's Home Minister Major General Maung Oo's alleged comment on her release is an attempt to influence the court, according to a lwayer of hers.

Nyan Win, who was allowed to see her yesterday for two and a half hours at her lakeside home in Rangoon to discuss various matters with her, said that she finds the alleged comment of the minister inappropriate.

"Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said, if it is true that he said that, it is not fair. It is an unfair (biased) comment because the case that concerns him is still to be decided by the Supreme Court. The case is not over yet. This utterance before the court has made a decision implies an attempt to influence the court. It is inappropriate, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said."

Her response came after it was reported that Maung Oo told local officials at a meeting in upper Burma that the 64-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner is to be released from house arrest in November.

Aung San Suu Kyi was found guilty by a court in Rangoon of breaching conditions of her house arrest in August last year after US citizen John Yettaw swam to her house, uninvited. She was ordered to stay another 18 months in detention.

The Supreme Court recently heard her lawyers' final arguments against the extended house arrest.

Critics of the junta said that the trial was a deliberate ploy to keep her out of the political arena whilst polling is taking place this year.

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Agence France-Press.

My opinion:

I wish she would be released as soon as possible and lead the country, making every civilians get better living standards.

Armed groups to form parallel Burmese govt

By Htet Aung Kyaw

Several Burmese armed groups, including the Karen National Union, could soon merge with Burma's government-in-exile to form a parallel government prior to elections this year.

According to a minister with the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), Khun Myint Htun, a new constitution is currently being drafted which will outline steps to integrate ethnic resistance leaders into a broader coalition.

"We have discussed the plan with [ethnic] groups who met the six qualifications: they must be a group that has a political party, their own territory, and their own public support," he said. "They also must have education and medical programmes for the public, and an [armed] resistance wing."

He said that part of the agreement was to "seek a federal union" in Burma, which is currently ruled by a rigid central military government. The country's multiple ethnic groups have long called for political autonomy in the volatile border regions.

At least four armed groups have reportedly pledged to join the coalition, although only the Karen National Union (KNU), one of Burma's largest armed opposition groups, has confirmed interest.

"We have always planned to form a parallel government even prior to the election members of parliament in 1990 [Burma's last elections], so this is just shaping an old idea," said Saw Hla Ngwe, joint-secretary of the KNU.

"If the negotiations [with the NCGUB] turn out well, then we will form a parallel government to compete with the [ruling junta]," he added.

"This way, there will be more understanding between armed groups and the democratic movement."

The majority of Burma's opposition parties have not yet announced whether they will participate in the elections, rumoured to be in October this year. Critics of the junta claim that the 2008 constitution will entrench military rule in Burma, thus delegitimising any claims by the generals that elections will be democratic.

Conflict is also expected to intensify in the run-up to polling, particularly as the junta attempts to convert ethnic ceasefire groups into border guard forces and bring them under the direct control of Naypyidaw.

The KNU is among only a handful of Burma's 18 armed ethnic groups not to have signed a ceasefire deal with the government, although the pressure of the border guard issue has weakened already tenuous truces.

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Htet Aung Kyaw.

Mekong tiger population at ‘crisis point’

By Agence France-Press

Governments must act decisively to prevent the extinction of tigers in Southeast Asia’s Greater Mekong region, where numbers have plunged more than 70 percent in 12 years, the WWF said Tuesday.

The wild tiger population across Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand and Vietnam has dropped from an estimated 1,200 in 1998 – the last Year of Tiger – to around 350 today, according to the conservation group.

The report was released ahead of a landmark three-day conference on tiger conservation, which will be attended in the Thai resort town of Hua Hin from Wednesday by ministers from 13 Asian tiger range countries.

It said the regional decline was reflected in the global wild tiger population, which is at an all-time low of 3,200, down from an estimated 20,000 in the 1980s and 100,000 a century ago.

“Today, wild tiger populations are at a crisis point,” the WWF said, ahead of the start of the Year of the Tiger on February 14, according to the Chinese lunar calendar.

It cited growing demand for tiger body parts used in traditional Chinese medicine as a major factor endangering the region’s Indochinese tiger population.

Infrastructure developments were also blamed by the report for fragmenting tigers’ habitats, such as roads cutting through forests.

“Decisive action must be taken to ensure this iconic sub-species does not reach the point of no return,” said Nick Cox, coordinator of the WWF Greater Mekong tiger programme.

“There is a potential for tiger populations in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia to become locally extinct by the next Year of the Tiger, in 2022, if we don’t step up actions to protect them.”

Although Indochinese tigers were once found in abundance across the Greater Mekong region, the WWF says there are now no more than 30 tigers per country in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

The remaining populations are mainly found in mountainous border areas between Thailand and Burma. But the WWF is calling on the ministers in Hua Hin to take action to double the numbers of wild tigers by 2022.

“This region has huge potential to increase tiger numbers, but only if there are bold and coordinated efforts across the region and of an unprecedented scale that can protect existing tigers, tiger prey and their habitat,” said Cox.

Worldwide political efforts to secure the tiger’s future will culminate in a Tiger Summit in September in Vladivostok, Russia, hosted by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

“There is an unprecedented opportunity to galvanise political will and action to turn the tide on wild tiger numbers,” said Mike Baltzer, head of WWF’s global tiger initiative.

“But to do this, we must stop the trade in tiger parts, rampant poaching, and secure the tiger’s habitats.”

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Agence France-Press.

My opinion:

It is really inhumane to kill tigers and trade them for medicine. If you really want to cure people, do something good which is not giving trouble to any organisms. Don't kill animals and don't destroy their habitats.

Monks ‘to boycott’ Suu Kyi’s brother

By DVB

A prominent Burmese monks group will boycott religious services for Aung San Suu Kyi's estranged brother unless he backs away from a dispute regarding her Rangoon house-cum-prison.

The dilapidated lakeside compound that opposition leader has been held in for 14 of the past 20 years has become the subject of a legal dispute. Suu Kyi's brother, Aung San Oo, claims part ownership of the house, and has blocked a bid by Suu Kyi to renovate the property and boost security.

A statement released by the All Burma Monks' Association (ABMA) yesterday said that Aung San Oo should drop the lawsuit blocking the renovation, and stop collaborating with the Burmese government.

"The AMBA is disappointed to see U Aung San Oo turning a blind eye to his status as a son of [Burmese independence hero] General Aung San and to the hardship faced by the people in Burma," it said, adding that Suu Kyi's brother was a "tool of the [ruling] generals" in Burma.

Aung San Oo first claimed part-ownership of the house, which had belonged to their mother Khin Kyi, in 2000, amid speculation that he would then sell his half-share to the Burmese junta.

The courts however blocked the case, citing his status as a US citizen. It is illegal for foreign citizens to own property in Burma.

ABMA member U Zawana said that the latest lawsuit was "an obstacle to achieving democracy in Burma," adding that "harassing Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the people's leader, is harassing our democratic effort."

Fellow monk U Maydawii said that the group may enact the boycott, or Pattanikkujjana, against Aung San Oo unless he drops the case by 31 January.

"If he doesn't step back then we will notify all the monks inside and outside of the country to start the boycott against Aung San Oo and his family from 1 February," he said.

The last time the boycott was enacted was in November last year when junta chief Than Shwe visited Sri Lanka. Burmese monks living there said that the boycott that began following the bloody September 2007 uprising had not been lifted, and would reject any donations from Than Shwe.

The giving of donations to monks is seen as a symbolically important 'merit making' act within Buddhist tradition, and the refusal of this can carry negative ramifications for religious concepts, such as karma.

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma).

My opinion:

It is a shame that Aung San Oo is an animal fed by the junta. He doesn't even deserve to have a status as a son of Bo Gyoke Aung San. Just stupid brat!!!

Security concerns plague migrant workers

By Joseph Allchin

Burmese migrant workers are waiting with concern over the new National Verification Programme which will seek to register the millions of migrant workers currently in Thailand.

The plan, which involves migrants from Burma, Laos and Cambodia registering with the government in their country of origin, as well as the Thai government, has triggered security fears among the migrant community.

"Many workers are concerned about security, especially their relatives in Burma because there are rumours that local authorities will threaten and extort money from the families of migrant workers," said Moe Swe of Yaung Chi Oo migrant workers association in Mae Sot, Thailand.

"One of the workers' mothers in Moulmein [Mon state] had money extorted from her by authorities. There was also a group of workers in Phuket [Thailand] who filled out the form and then the local authorities went and extorted money from their families," he continued.

The Thai government has extended the timeframe for verification to 2012 and a Burmese labour minister has urged migrants to complete the registration. The Thai newspaper, The Nation, reported that the minister had claimed the migrant workers would not be taxed.

Moe Swe said that some of the workers will not complete the National Verification Process, even though they are registered.

"They cannot hold their passport because the employers often keep their passports, so the employers always control them; they still won't have the freedom it is meant to give them."

There is also the concern about the price of documents and travel for registration, which could discourage many.

It could also mean that migrants enter into exploitative bonded labour with employers, whereby they take out a loan on to attain the documents and then spend a year working off the loan in poor conditions.

"It is a good thing," said Moe Swe, but "in reality there are several problems". For example, ethnic minorities who live outside of Burmese government territory no longer appear on 'family lists', and so therefore will have trouble registering in Thailand. The process relies on a claimant having a country of origin and being able to prove that.

Furthermore, decades of military rule in Burma have caused an absence of competent bureaucracy, and fuelled a reluctance to give the authorities personal information for fear of the abuse.

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Joseph Allchin.

My opinion:

I am sorry for those immigrants. They flee to Thailand because they can no longer be under the control and bully of the Burmese junta and because they can no longer survive in Burma. Thailand government should have empathy to those immigrants and should negotiate with them instead of giving out such rules.

Burma journal attacks ‘criminal’ homosexuality

By Joseph Allchin

Homosexuality can cause mental illness and encourage sexual crimes, medical "experts" have warned in a front-page article in Burmese media today.

The article, published in the popular Bi-Weekly Eleven Journal, echoes a similar slur in the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper last month that suggested that HIV/AIDS stems from "socially unacceptable behavior".

A former psychology professor, Khin Aye Win, was quoted today as saying that children should be taught "not to engage in abnormal sexual activities and, to protect themselves from unwanted troubles and dangers".

"When they are capable of understanding things clearly, they can use their common sense to analyse the situation, even when persuaded by someone," she added.

The issue of homosexuality remains highly taboo in a country where colonial laws dictating that same-sex relations should be punishable by death have been not been erased, although the death sentence is seldom carried out.

The Bi-Weekly Eleven Journal states that with the rise of globalization, parents should be teaching their children about sexual activities and misconduct. It then suggests however a link between homosexuality and crime.

"In some cases, a man whose mind turned female tried to seduce other men and then ended up mugging and murdering them," the article said.

It also said that homosexuals "are usually found in crowded places, public toilets, teashops and at some restaurants".

Aung Myo Min, a prominent exiled Burmese anti-homophobia campaigner, said that the story "was dangerous, particularly because some of the comments came from a psychologist".

"They want to stereotype homosexuals as sexual abusers, especially against minors, but it's not homosexuals who commit these crimes; it could be anyone," he said.

"Homosexuality is not a mental disease; that's clearly stated by the WHO [World Health Organisation]," he added.

A report released by the UNAIDS programme in November last year found that roughly one-in-three gay men in Burma are HIV positive. The problem is compounded by the government's meager spending on healthcare; 2.3 percent of the total GDP, according to World Health Organisation (WHO) figures for 2006.

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Joseph Allchin.

My opinion:

Most Burmese people still have traditional views on gender. While maintaining the tradition, they should also change their attitude to more modern view which gives freedom and right to other people. Needless to say, the Burmese junta is the one who most commits the discrimination and the persecution.

Burma praised for anti-trafficking progress

By Joseph Allchin

A senior UN official in Burma has congratulated the ruling junta on steps it has taken to tackle human trafficking, during a meeting yesterday of six Mekong states in Bagan.

It is the seventh year that the meeting, the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative Against Trafficking (COMMIT), has taken place.

It is billed as a UN effort to get the governments of Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, China, Vietnam and Burma to discuss the problem of human trafficking, and included an ensemble of international NGOs, UN agencies and regional observers.

"The purpose is to reaffirm the commitment to eradicating all forms of human trafficking in the region, share and evaluate progress in 2009 and lay the foundations for future strengthened cooperation in counter trafficking," a UN press statement said.

Despite a US report last year that found Burma's human trafficking problem to be "significant", the UN's resident coordinator in Burma, Bishow Parajuli, said yesterday that the Southeast Asian state had made good progress in the past six years.

"Myanmar [Burma] was the first country in the Mekong region to pass a comprehensive anti-human trafficking law in line with international standards," he said.

"It was also one of the first countries to establish a specialist anti-trafficking police unit, widely regarded as best practice, and has passed a five-year National Plan of Action in areas like prevention, law enforcement and protection."

According to Ohnmar Ei Ei Chaw, liaison officer for the UN Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP), the meeting also included discussions on "collecting databases [of human trafficking statistics] and conducting surveys and research to learn about trafficker networks and the needs of trafficking victims".

Parajuli followed that "it is imperative that we continue to address the root causes" of human trafficking in Burma, such as unemployment, poverty and abuse.

However, according to a Chin community leader and head of a Burmese refugees centre in Kuala Lumpur, the problems of remaining in Burma can outweigh the maltreatment of trafficked persons. "To you they are traffickers; to us they are travel agents," he said.

Meanwhile, the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper today quoted Burma's home minister, Major Maung Oo, as telling the conference that Burma "is no longer a safe haven" for traffickers.

Indeed according to many workers who have paid traffickers, it is no longer a safe haven for workers either, following decades of economic mismanagement and a political climate that denies labour rights and fuels high levels of forced labour.

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Joseph Allchin.

My opinion:

Can we really believe that? Is the news really true?

Burma junta ‘worse than cyclone Nargis’

By Francis Wade

Human rights violations by the ruling junta in Burma have caused more damage than cyclone Nargis, which struck in 2008 and left 140,000 people dead, a top Philippines senator has said.

Aquilino Pimentel, who is also a senior member of the world’s leading body of parliamentarians, the Inter Parliamentary Union’s (IPU), said that the devastation wrought by Nargis pushed people to think that it "was the worst thing that could happen to Myanmar [Burma]".

"But actually… not. It was rather the deprivation of the rights of the people by a ruling junta," he told AFP.

The ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) was roundly condemned for its slow reaction to the cyclone and for initially refusing offers of overseas aid for the estimated 2.4 million people left destitute.

But that criticism fed into wider outrage at the military government, who continued to export mass quantities of rice in the cyclone's aftermath despite warnings from aid groups that millions were going hungry.

Journalists were also barred from entering the cyclone-struck Irrawaddy delta, while a number of Burmese reporters were handed lengthy prison sentences for providing images and footage to foreign media.

Pimentel's comments mirror a similar outburst from the ruling junta in the weeks following the cyclone, with the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper leading with a story on the "despicable" reporting of the cyclone by foreign media, under the title 'The enemy who is more destructive than Nargis'.

The SPDC was again catapulted into the international spotlight last year after a Rangoon prison court found opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi guilty in August of sheltering US citizen John Yettaw, and sentenced her to a further 18 months under house arrest.

According to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPP), 231 political prisoners were locked up in 2009. This comes in spite of several senior-level US diplomatic visits to Burma aimed partly at pressuring the junta to release political prisoners.

"Nothing much seems to be happening in terms of advancing the cause of democracy in Myanmar," Pimentel said, adding that the 14 opposition parliamentarians elected in 1990, which includes Suu Kyi, must be freed.

Rights groups have also called for closer attention to be paid to the persecution of ethnic groups in Burma's border regions, where the government's multiple conflicts with ethnic armies have caused widespread displacement and killings of civilians.

Human Rights Watch complained yesterday that, despite calls for the junta to be investigated for war crimes and crimes against humanity growing louder in 2009, "no government has yet taken the lead in either initiative at the UN".

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Francis Wade.

My opinion:

Then, I will say, "The Burmese junta is even worse than nuclear weapon."

Eight charged for Sept 2007 activities

By Khin Hnin Htet

Eight activists have been charged for their role in the September 2007 uprising, more than two years after police in Burma launched a brutal crackdown on peaceful protests.

The eight men, who include four monk and a school teacher, were arrested last year during a crackdown that coincided with the two-year anniversary of the so-called Saffron Revolution.

Lawyer Kyaw Ho, who is representing two of the men, Thandar Htun and Ko Nyo, said that all eight were charged under the Unlawful Associations Act and the Immigration Act, which together carry a maximum seven-year sentence.

The other defendants are Ye Myint, U Yaywata, U Kawthita, U Withudi, U Waryama and Kyaw Khin.

"They were, [accused] of having contacts with the All Burma Monks Association and the Generation Wave [activist groups], and also charged under the Immigration Act for illegally crossing border to meet with those groups," said Kyaw Ho.

He added there was "no legitimacy" in making his clients, who were arrested in their hometown of Mandalay, stand trial in Rangoon.

Five of the men reportedly do not have lawyer assistance, while Kyaw Ho said that relatives of the eight had been barred from visiting them since their arrest.

The Burmese government in September last year launched a crackdown on people suspected of involvement in fomenting the 2007 uprising, in which thousands of civilians, led by monks, took to the streets of Burma initially to protest against a hike in fuel prices.

The demonstrations quickly became a show of force against the military regime, which responded by firing into crowds and killings hundreds.

Burma's revered monk community was targeted in the crackdown. According to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPP), more than 250 monks are currently held in Burmese prisons.

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Khin Hnin Htet.

My opinion:

It is the usual custom of the junta to imprison those who are likely to against the military or to blame on innocent civilians to mask the junta's own actions. I'm sorry for all of those who are imprisoned illegally-without concrete evidence.

ILO extends forced labour ‘understanding’

By Nan Kham Kaew

The International Labour Organisation has agreed the extension of a 'supplementary understanding' with the Burmese government regarding illegal use of forced labour in the country.

The organisation's deputy head, Kari Tapiola, arrived in Burma last week to secure the extension of the agreement that looks to ensure victims of forced labour are free to lodge complaints without recrimination from the military government.

Tapiola is today led a delegation to the remote capital of Naypyidaw, in central Burma, where he met with government officials. Before leaving Geneva, he had also signaled a desire to visit the town of Aunglan, where 17 farmers were imprisoned following a land dispute with the junta.

Steve Marshall, the ILO's liaison officer in Rangoon, said that the delegation would arrive in Aunglan on Thursday.

"But the critical factor is that the programme [supplementary understanding] which has been discussed and agreed with the government of Myanmar [Burma] will be proceeding and we look forward to continuing this on a constructive basis," he said.

The delegation is scheduled to stay in Burma for one week. Local legal advocacy groups, such as the Bago-based Guiding Star, led by lawyer Aye Myint, and families of jailed May Day activists, were invited to meet with the delegation at the ILO liaison office in Rangoon on 22 and 23 January.

Aye Myint said that he would urge the ILO to set up regional advocacy groups to accept complaints, as opposed to one Rangoon office "where even an ordinary urban resident wouldn't dare to enter".

The ILO has struggled since the first supplementary understanding was signed in February 2007 to curb the use of forced labour, which includes land disputes and recruitment of child soldiers, by the Burmese government.

It has also expressed "serious concern" about the jailing of labour activists and forced labour complainants.

A family member of one of the imprisoned Aunglan farmers said he will request that Tapiola secure the release of their relative.

"I heard the supplementary understanding is due to be extended and I have nothing to say about that. But if the [ILO]cannot even meet with people who filed complaints to them, then the supplementary understanding will not mean anything to us," he said.

The delegation is also due to meet with the six May Day activists who were given lengthy prison sentences following their arrest in 2007, after they had attended a celebration at the US embassy's American Centre in Rangoon.

The group was charged with defamation of the government, unlawful association and for illegally crossing the border. Some were given life sentences.

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Nan Kham Kaew.

My opinion:

Even if you try to extend the understanding with Burmese government with regards to illegal forced labour in the country, the government will still commit forced labour though the government might pretend that he understand what ILO means related to this case. Why? Because the junta is just the animal without reasoning.

Election ‘preparation’ barred from media

By Ahunt Phone Myat

Burmese media has been banned from publishing material covering political groups' preparations for the elections this year, while news of the elections themselves is allowed.

The censoring has targeted parties belonging to the 'third force' in Burmese politics; those neither aligned to the incumbent nor opposition groups, said potential runner Phyo Min Thein, who recently organized a discussion forum on Burmese politics in Rangoon.

"Basically, [the junta] is blocking its opponents from exercising their rights and is looking to manipulate the [political] playground for itself," he said.

A veteran news editor in Rangoon said that reporting on activities to do with the elections is not likely to be allowed until the elections laws and laws regarding the formation of political organisations are announced.

He added however that even when laws are announced, the media will be allowed only limited scope to report on the events.

His comments were echoed by the secretary of the Burma Media Association, San Moe Wei, who said that the delay in announcing the elections laws and date was deliberate, and will give the media "limited freedom, to report on events".

"[The government] was once defeated in the 1990 elections, so it seems like they will be very careful not to make the same mistakes this time," he added.

Other political activists in Rangoon speculated that media reports on the elections were not yet allowed because the government was still working to persuade credible and influential political figures, who are not government-backed, to join the elections as individual parliamentary representatives.

Veteran Burmese politician and former ambassador to China, Thakin Chan Htun, said that Burma should model its elections on that of neighbouring countries.

"I would like to urge leaders of the [army] to hold the elections the way Bangladesh did, where the country's polls were praised by the international community as free and fair," he said.

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Ahunt Phone Myat.

My opinion:

No wonder that the junta will do everything to prevent his opposition party to win. And, of course, other parties which are neither pro-goverment nor against government are animals fed by the junta so that there will be parties participating the election while these parties will be defeated in the election. That's the junta's plans.

State-backed attacks on activists grow

By Francis Wade

A leading rights watchdog has reported a global rise in the number of state-sanctioned abuses against "rights defenders", fueled in part by the inability of the rights movement to protect victims.

The annual report, by New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), said that attacks on human rights monitors "are not limited to authoritarian governments like Burma and China", but are now rampant in countries such as Russia, Sri Lanka, Burundi and Afghanistan.

In the case of Burma, despite growing calls for the ruling junta to be investigated for war crimes and crimes against humanity in 2009, "no government has yet taken the lead in either initiative at the UN", HRW said.

The report also expressed concern about the regime's refusal to allow prison access to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), amid reports that detained US citizen Kyaw Zaw Lwin, a prominent exiled Burmese rights campaigner, was being tortured.

According to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPP), the junta imprisoned 231 activists, lawyers, journalists and politicians in 2009, many of whom were sentenced on or around the two-year anniversary of the September 2007 monk-led uprising.

Kenneth Roth, executive director of HRW, said that the attacks "might be seen as a perverse tribute to the human rights movement, but that doesn’t mitigate the danger. Under various pretexts, abusive governments are attacking the very foundations of the human rights movement."

He went on to criticize US president Barrack Obama's "incomplete translation" of improved rhetoric "into policy and practice".

The US last year attacked the deteriorating political situation in Burma by announcing that it would begin dialogue with the junta after years of isolation, although earlier this week it signaled its impatience over the lack of progress toward democratic reform in the country.

Despite increasing attention from Washington, Burma has however been labeled a "boutique issue" for the US, which is under heavy pressure to transform its image in the Middle East, whilst Obama deflects growing discontentment over his domestic performance.

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Francis Wade.

My opinion:

Don't worry that the junta will never make progress on his performance towards democracy or for the benefits of the civilians. Why? Because the junta only cares for his own welfare.

Punk’s not dead in military-ruled Burma

By AgenceFrance-Press

The singer smashes his guitar to pieces on the stage as thousands of spiky-haired punk fans cheer loudly – a rare display of countercultural exuberance in military-ruled Burma.

At this concert in a land where all song lyrics must be submitted to the regime´s censors, there are no openly anti-establishment messages from either the musicians or the crowd with their dyed blond, blue and red locks.

But as the band launches into the next number, a raw release entitled "I Want To Kill You!", fans moshing at the open-air park in the former capital Rangoon say they want the freedom to express themselves.

"As a punk, I do whatever I want!" says 16-year-old Ko Pyae, dressed head-to-toe in black and sporting smeared black eye shadow – the unofficial uniform of punks and goths all around the world.

"At home I don´t care about anyone. I don´t care about my neighbours."

Rangoon´s vibrant youth music scene is unexpected in a city where the streets ran with blood less than three years ago as the ruling junta crushed massive pro-democracy protests led by Buddhist monks.

But the regime´s thought police still exert their control – even when most bands would rather sing about vague themes of fun, teenage rebellion and relationships than anything political.

Heavy rock group Outsider are in a dingy studio on the outskirts of Rangoon working on their first album – and must submit all their song lyrics to the censors.

"If I want to write something about freedom, if I want to write about the things I want, I can´t write it directly," says drummer and songwriter Thar Nge, stepping over the blankets next to his drum kit that serve as his bed.

"If I want to show something that represents the Myanmar [Burma] people, not just me personally, there´s no way I can do it. If I write that, it becomes political," he adds.

The censors do not stop at politics, he says. Any mention of alcohol, cigarettes or anything else deemed not to conform to the Buddhist nation´s values is struck out.

Bands like Outsider learn to sing in analogies and become masters of euphemism – even though they say they are no trailblazers for democracy and don´t want their music to have any overtly political message.

"We do as much as we can," says Thar, "but we don´t try to change politics. In our heads, we are musicians."

Debbie Stothard, a Bangkok-based pro-democracy campaigner and coordinator of the ALTSEAN-Burma network, said the reluctance of some of Burma´s young musicians to play at politics was a legacy of the system.

Burma has been ruled by the military since 1962 and the regime has cracked down on protesters not only in 2007 but also in 1988, besides locking up hundreds of dissidents.

They include Nobel Peace Prize winner and author Aung San Suu Kyi.

"Young people have been brought up to believe that politics is dangerous and, by being political, they are asking to be locked up, they are asking to lose their job opportunities, they are asking to be tortured and killed," Stothard said.

"But, eventually, everyone gets to a point where they have to sing what they´re thinking."

Music is not the only way of getting a point across in Burma.

Aung is a successful painter whose commercial works sell for hundreds of dollars each, a big sum in this impoverished nation, but he says his real interest lies in conceptual art.

"I live by selling paintings but there´s less freedom with paintings. I make videos and do performance art to express myself. That gives me a sense of satisfaction afterwards," says Aung, not his real name.

One of his videos shows a goldfish swimming in a small glass of water. A hand drops in a tablet that fizzes and sends the fish into a frenzy – when the froth clears it lies floating dead on the surface.

An apparent commentary on the junta´s handling of the 2007 protests – known as the Saffron Revolution after the colour of the monks´ robes – he says that he has drawn fire for cruelty to the fish.

"People have criticised this video because a fish is killed. What about all the people killed here in Myanmar? Why don´t they speak up about that?" he says.

Meanwhile at the end of the punk concert in Rangoon unrest brews, fuelled by cheap beer vendors, as fans throw bottles, try to tear apart the stage and stamp – then urinate – on concert posters.

But there is no sign of any security forces moving in and no chants of political activism – the marauding punks are angry that the band didn´t play an encore.

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Agence France-Press.

My opinion:

Performers such as actors, actresses, singers, etc have much influence on the Burmese people. If the former starts something against the junta, the people will follow.

Win Tin allowed to leave Rangoon

By Yee May Aung

Renowned opposition politician Win Tin, who remains Burma's longest serving political prisoner, yesterday left Rangoon division for the first time since his release in September 2008.

After spending 19 years in prison, where he was tortured, held in a cell designed for military dogs and denied medical treatment, the 80-year-old former journalist was released but prohibited from leaving Burma's central Rangoon division.

Yesterday however he set out in a convoy that included other literary figures within the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party to attend the 100-year anniversary of the birth of the influential Burmese writer, Ludu U Hla, in Mandalay, nearly 400 miles north of Rangoon city.

"I don't know how this will go. I have my tickets booked and all. If I get stopped at the bus station, then so be it," he told DVB before leaving.

He said that apart from being stopped for questioning by police, who followed the group to the bus station and photocopied identification cards, everything was otherwise "smooth".

"[After being released] I travelled once to Kunchangon on a day trip and also to Hle Ku [in Rangoon division]. This is the first time I'm going on a long distance trip," he said.

"Government intelligence has been phoning me, asking questions for details of my trip," he added. "Hopefully I'm fit for it. I'm not in really good health; I get tired easily and find it difficult to catch a breath sometime. But I'm going on an express bus so I should be alright."

He was fitted with a pacemaker last August after complaining of a slow heartbeat, although remained a popular figure outside the gates of Rangoon's Insein prison during the trial of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Win Tin's prominent role in anti-junta activities both before and since his imprisonment has made him a leading figurehead for the opposition in Burma, and a popular point of contact for international media.

He was also put forward as a lawyer for Suu Kyi during her trial, but the court dismissed him on the grounds that he had served time in prison.

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Yee May Aung.

My opinion:

Most NLD members become elderly and are in bad health because of being imprisoned for most of their lives. Anyway, I'm glad for those who have been released from prison.

Western envoys at Suu Kyi hearing

By Khin Hnin Htet

Diplomats from the British embassy in Rangoon yesterday attended the court hearing for Aung San Suu Kyi's latest appeal, in which lawyers refuted the legality of her sentencing last year.

"We were there to show our support for Suu Kyi's legal team," British embassy spokesperson Ruth Bradley-Jones told DVB, adding that they had been invited by the defence lawyers.

The embassy staff had been granted permission to attend by Rangoon authorities and were told that they would be given no special attention, although Bradley-Jones said the media presence outside the Burma courtroom after the hearing finished was significant.

Suu Kyi's lawyer, Nyan Win, said that the laws in the 1974 constitution on which the prosecution based its case "came to an end" in 1988.

"We argued that there is no legitimacy in putting the restrictions on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi under sections of a law that has already ended," he said.

"Government lawyers countered that, according to announcement 6/1988, a law can still remain in effect unless it has been publicly terminated and that there was no announcement made on termination of the 1974 constitution."

He added that a date for the appeal outcome had not been announced, but that the "unique" characteristics of the case may affect the normal timeframe for announcement.

He also said that two judges were present, instead of the traditional lone judge, and that there "was more security than listeners in the court room today".

"We believe that we will win on legal grounds. If we lose, we will submit a special appeal, which we have a right to do under law."

Another of Suu Kyi's lawyers, Kyi Win, presented her defence statements, while lawyer Hla Ohn Myint argued for Suu Kyi's two caretakers, Khin Khin Win and Win Ma Ma, who were also sentenced alongside the opposition leader.

Suu Kyi has however been barred from attending the appeal and remains confined to her house-cum-prison on the shores of Rangoon's Inya lake.

She was sentenced to 18-months under house arrest in August 2009 after allegedly sheltering US citizen John Yettaw, who swam across the lake to her compound in May.

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Khin Hnin Htet.

My opinion:

It is pretty obvious that the junta tries to do whatever he wants despite no legal or official laws or cause or evidence. Even a child can know that the above statements said by the judges are totally invalid without concrete evidence or proofs. This is how the junta works: if I say you are wrong, then you are wrong.

Burma torture now ‘more widespread’

By Francis Wade

Torture in Burma is "now more widespread than at any time in recent decades", according to an open letter sent by an Asian rights group to the UN's torture rapporteur.

The letter, signed by the executive director of the Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), claims that the spread of torture was partly a result of the Supreme Court in Burma making exemptions to rulings which would have forbidden the use of evidence gained from torture, thereby setting precedence, or giving orders, that allow the practice.

"The current Supreme Court of Myanmar [Burma] has enabled their use and has thereby encouraged the practice of torture by virtue of a number of orders," said executive director Basil Fernando.

The letter, addressed to Dr Manfred Novak, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, also details the gruesome practices meted out to a number of prisoners; torture it describes as "grave" and "extreme".

These were used on Dr Wint Thu and eight others who had lead prayers for democracy, the letter said.

It also detailed the shocking treatment of a monk, who was "forced…to kneel on sharp gravel while an officer jumped up and down on his calves. If he didn't give him the answers that they wanted then they hit him on the head with a wooden rod."

Bo Kyi, joint secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPP), doubted however the role of the Supreme Court in encouraging torture.

"It is not related to the supreme court because the Supreme Court has no power; everything is under the control of military intelligence. There is no rule of law; there is no separation of power."

He further questioned whether torture was used for gaining evidence, arguing instead that "it is used for gaining revenge".

In effect then the internal legality or otherwise of torture is neither here nor there, and the Burmese government rather uses brutality as a punishment and deterrant, not necessarily in order to gain intelligence.

Fernando told DVB that the rise in the use of torture was partly due to "the whole debate over torture [being] relitivised.

"The Bush and Blair period [through their use of torture] passed a very wrong message that international norms can be waivered. In my experience, I have never seen a period where extrajudicial killings are so common" he continued. "We are in a period where human rights are being respected less and less".

He also shared Bo Kyi's assessment that "this is like the governments punishment for what the people do. The Burmese courts aren't a court, they just rubber stamp and legitimise what the governments do; it doesn't stand against what they do."

The letter concludes that senior judiciary "should be considered complicit in this abuse and should be subject to international scrutiny and censure in same measure as the torturers themselves".

Worryingly, Fernando also adds that torture is difficult to remove from a system once it becomes common practice, and that "whatever happens in Myanmar in coming years, the use of torture will remain endemic."

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Francis Wade.

My opinion:

Yes, it is true that torture becomes common practice and some people even becomes believe in that. This is so bad for all Burmese civilians.

Companies skirt alcohol advert ban

Ahunt Phone Myat

Alcohol companies in Burma are using alternative methods to advertise their products after the government slapped a ban on alcohol commercials in the print and broadcast media.

More adverts have reportedly been appearing on buses around Burma's major towns since the ban, which included a block on cigarette commercials, came into force at the beginning of this year.

Meanwhile, alcohol companies are keeping exposure to their brand names high by producing non-alcoholic products.

"Now the producer of Grand Royal Whisky has introduced their new product, Grand Royal drinking water," offered one Rangoon-based journal editor as an example.

Another journalist told DVB that Burma's notoriously strict junta-controlled censor boards had banned some news reports of the rise in alternative advertising.

The majority of print publications in Burma had previously relied on the adverts as a key source of revenue, and predicted heavy losses once the ban came into place.

The three biggest advertisers before the ban had been Myanmar Brewery Ltd, International Beverages Trading Co., Ltd and Peace Myanmar Group Co., Ltd, which produce Myanmar Whiskey and Myanmar Rum.

Each news journal could command up to 600,000 kyat ($US600) for a one-page advertisement from these companies, and a journal publisher said that the ban had consequently caused a big drop in income.

Advertisements for alcohol and cigarettes are already banned on billboards and television in Burma which, like most media, is heavily controlled by the government.

There are nearly 200 official magazines and newspapers circulating inside the country, all of which are registered to the censor board, while all but one television station is wholly owned by the government.

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Ahunt Phone Myat.

My opinion:

Though the companies which produce alcohol and cigarettes have much drop in income, the ban of such advertisements can lessen those who buy the products so that there will be more health improvement. I wonder why these companies only care for money instead of the customers' health.

Woman included in NLD expansion

By Htet Aung Kyaw

Another woman will join the Burmese opposition party's central committee after a major and unprecedented expansion was yesterday put into motion.

Nine people in total have been added to the existing 11-member central executive committee (CEC) of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party. One of these, Dr May Win Myint, is now the only female in the committee other than the detained leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.

The news was met with muted enthusiasm by the secretary general of the Thailand-based Burma Women's Union (BWU), Tin Tin Nyo, which has in the past called for a greater gender balance within the party.

"Only after 20 years has one more woman been included in the CEC," she said. "It's a positive step, but it's taken so many years to get [here]."

"I would suggest however that the NLD consider more women at this decision-making level. There are 20 people, and only two of these are women. The other woman, Aung San Suu Kyi, is under house arrest, so it's really only one woman [who is active]."

Another prominent addition to the CEC is party spokesperson and lawyer for Suu Kyi, Nyan Win, who acted as the international media's first port of call during the Suu Kyi trial last year.

Another NLD spokesperson, Khin Maung Swe, said that the majority of the CEC, those who were neither detained or in poor health, will hold a plenary meeting next Monday to assign duties to the new members.

He added that the expansion was being undertaken to prepare for "the upcoming political situation in the country", but declined to say whether this was a reference to the looming elections, which the NLD is yet to announce whether it will participate in.

Some lower-ranking NLD members complained last week however that the decision-making process to select the new members had been done without full cooperation from the various party wings.

Khin Maung Swe reacted by saying that the party had needed to act swiftly on the requests of regional members. The expansion was first framed as a call for fresh blood in the party following a rare meeting between Suu Kyi and two ageing CEC members, chairperson Aung Shwe and secretary U Lwin.

"Due to our respect to [regional members], we carried out the expansion quickly. If we have to collect opinions from the ground level, we wouldn't be able to do it this quickly," he said. "One day, when we can convene everyone, we will do this as a fully democratic procedure."

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the author Htet Aung Kyaw.

My opinion:

It is good to balance out in the party. Sometimes, women can point out views that men cannot even think of.

Activists sentenced 'without evidence'

By DVB staff reporter

Three Burmese opposition activists were sentenced yesterday to three years' with hard labour, despite the prosecution being unable to provide any palpable evidence for their charges, a lawyer said.

The three National League for Democracy (NLD) party members were charged under the Unlawful Associations Act for allegedly accepting money from a member of the banned NLD-Liberated Areas (NLD-LA) party, Eva.

Lawyer Kyaw Ho said that the trial judge, Tin Swe Lin, had given the three, Shwe Gyo, Ma Cho (also known as Myint Myint San) and Sein Hlaing, harsh sentences despite a lack of solid evidence.

"There were neither eye-witnesses nor paperwork evidence that [the three] had accepted money from Eva," said Kyaw Ho. "We cannot accept such a ruling on legal grounds and we are preparing to appeal."

The three were arrested in March last year and have been kept in detention since, although Kyaw Ho said the time already spent in detention will not be subtracted from their sentence.

"There is an official court guideline stating that the amount of time a person has spent in detention during the trial has to be subtracted from the prison term," he said, adding that this would also be appealed.

There had been prior speculation that the three were being targeted for their work in helping political prisoners, although there was no mention of this from Kyaw Ho.

Several NLD members reported last month that they were being forced by Burmese intelligence officers to divulge details about their families and jobs, reportedly on instruction from senior government.

Others were reportedly being photographed and told to fill out questionnaires, although the NLD sent out a directive to members urging them not to comply.

Analysts believe pressure against the NLD and other opposition groups is likely to increase this year as the ruling junta prepares for its first elections since 1990, when it ignored a landslide victory by the NLD.

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the staff reporter.

My opinion:

This is the junta's principle: if I say wrong, you are wrong. No evidence is needed. I'm the rule here!

Burma pledges free election

By DVB staff reporter

Burma's foreign minister has told Southeast Asian counterparts that promised elections would be held this year and would be fair, the ASEAN secretary general said on Thursday.

Surin Pitsuwan said the military-ruled state’s foreign minister, Nyan Win, made the comments at a dinner on Wednesday in Vietnam with his counterparts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

"That was done last night and it was assured that it will be this year, and it will be free, fair and credible," Mr Surin told reporters on the sidelines of an ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting. "No date has been set, but everything is moving on course. That’s what we were told."

Mr Surin said the ASEAN ministers "have expressed their high hope that the issue of Burma will be resolved this year and that we can move on to the new era of ASEAN relations and cooperation with the international community."

ASEAN, which has a principle of non-interference in members’ affairs, has long faced criticism for not taking a firmer stand on Burma.

Mr Nyan Win refused to make any comment to AFP on Thursday.

The United States and the 10-member ASEAN bloc agreed in November that Burma’s scheduled 2010 elections must be "free, fair, inclusive and transparent" to be credible.

The call came after President Barack Obama and Burmese prime minister Thein Sein took part in the first-ever ASEAN-US summit, a reversal of a longstanding US policy of shunning the Burmese regime.

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma)by the staff reporter.

My opinion:

If you believe in the junta, you are totally a fool without reasoning!!!

Tourists wrestle with rights issues in Burma

By DVB staff reporter

Soaring high in a hot air balloon over Bagan in central Burma at sunrise, foreign tourists gasp in awe at a vast plain dotted with around 4,000 centuries-old temples.

Despite sights like these Burma remains one of the least visited nations in Asia, as many operators and holidaymakers take their money elsewhere so that it doesn’t end up lining the pockets of the country’s military rulers.

But others argue that it is possible to explore the country with a clear conscience in spite of concerns over the junta’s rights abuses, imprisonment of dissidents and use of forced labour.

"If nobody came here, there would be more poverty than there is now, I guess, so I don’t actually have a problem coming here. It doesn’t mean that I support the system," said Dirk, a Belgian tourist in Bagan.

Yasmin, a German visitor, said she wanted to "build up my own idea of the situation here".

"I came on the premise that, as far as possible, I wouldn’t stay anywhere state-owned but would try to stick to private businesses, to stay in privately run guesthouses and to have contact with local people, as long as that didn’t put them at risk," she said.

Last year, just 230,000 foreigners arrived at Rangoon airport, more than half of them tourists, according to an official estimate. The figure was up from the 177,018 who arrived in the previous year but around the same as 2007.

The biggest groups of tourists come from Thailand, China and Japan, drawn by wonders such as Rangoon’s gold-covered gilded Shwedagon pagoda and stunning Inya Lake with its mountains and stilt villages.

By comparison, neighbouring Thailand drew an estimated 14 million tourists in 2009.

Calls by rights groups and some western governments for a visitor boycott grew louder after the regime launched a bloody crackdown on huge pro-democracy protests led by Buddhist monks in September 2007.

Thousands of people were arrested after the demonstrations and many received long jail sentences.

One of them was comedian Par Par Lay.

He got out after a month, after his third time behind bars, and while his troupe of performers, the Moustache Brothers, is banned from performing in public, it keeps its nightly shows going for tourists.

"Tourists come — you know what is happening here," said Lu Maw, another member of the troupe, before a show in Mandalay, the country’s second biggest city.

A group of 10 mainly Western tourists watches the mix of crude slapstick and bizarre puppetry, the performers swathed in gaudy costumes and daubed with makeup."Tourist’s camera, tourist’s eye, tourist’s ear. That’s what we need!" says Lu Maw.

However, with elections promised by the regime later this year, the situation is showing signs of gradual change.

Detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi last year wrote to reclusive junta leader Than Shwe offering suggestions on getting Western sanctions lifted after years of advocating punitive measures against the generals.

In August she reportedly eased her earlier objections to tourism, on the grounds that increased contact with foreigners would help ease the regime’s grip over the impoverished nation.

"Myanmar [Burma] (the regime) doesn’t want to have contact with Westerners. By boycotting the country, in fact we only reinforce the opinion in Myanmar that Myanmar must be kept separate from the rest of the world," said Jacques Ivanoff of the Research Institute on Contemporary Southeast Asia in Bangkok.

A painting seller in Bagan living in a one-roomed hut near the temple ruins said a boost in tourism would help the economy.

"We need tourists here. The government gets only 10 dollars for the entrance fee. But we get money from tourists in hotels, restaurants and by selling things," said the man, speaking on condition of anonymity.

But the junta remains wary of opening up the country to the eyes of tourists. Much of Burma remains off-limits, particularly its sensitive border areas largely inhabited by minority ethnic groups.

Visitors therefore tend to see the same handful of sites, leaving most of Burma’s people untouched by tourism."Here we don’t benefit because tourists don’t come here. They go straight past our village. It’s just the government who benefits," said a fisherman in a village near Rangoon.

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the staff reporter.

My opinion:

Burma has lots of natural beauties, and natural resources. And also, most Burmese people are so kind, good-natured and hospitable. There are many other things like traditional food, traditional culture that can attract so many tourists over the world. But, because of the junta and its military ruling system, rarely anyone come and visit Burma.

Death sentence for Burmese whistleblowers

By DVB staff reporter

Two Burmese government officials accused of leaking sensitive information about secretive diplomatic trips to Russia and North Korea are to be executed, a Rangoon court has announced.

Another man, a civilian, was handed a 15-year prison sentence after a two-month trial in a closed court inside Rangoon's Insein prison.

The three are also accused of leaking details of the Burmese government's secret military tunnel project, which have been obtained by DVB.

Win Naing Kyaw, an ex-army major who had worked as a personal assistant for late junta secretary-2, General Tin Oo, was yesterday given the death sentence under Section 3 of the Emergency Provisions Act. He was also charged under the Electronics Act and the Official Secrets Act.

Thura Kyaw, also known as Aung Aung, a senior clerk from the Burmese foreign ministry's European desk, was also given the death sentence under the Emergency Provision Act, while Pyan Sein was sentenced to 15 years' in prison under the Electronics Act.

Intelligence documents leaked by the three men detailed two senior level governmental visits to North Korea and Russia, as well as North Korea's involvement in the tunnels project.

According to the documents, Burma's ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has been developing the tunnels since 1996. During the visit to Russia in 2006, Burma's second-in-command, Maung Aye, discussed the procurement of a guided missile system with Moscow's deputy minister of defense, Yury Nikolayevich Baluyevsky.

Then in 2008, General Shwe Mann, joint chief of staff of the Burmese army, visited North Korea where he observed tunnel complexes dug deep into the side of mountains that can hold heavy armoury, including chemical weapons.

The information about the two trips was allegedly distributed via former government official Aung Linn Htut, who is now living in exile after authorities found the documents stored in his computer hard drive.

A number of other army officials were also been detained in connection with the case.

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the staff reporter.

My opinion:

I'm sorry for those who got death sentence, but am proud of them since they give important information about Burma-tunnel projects and N Korea and Russia involvement in it- to the world. If it is not because of them, the world won't know what the Burmese junta is doing, especially to give trouble to the Burmese civilians and to the world.

Trade unions attack Burma wage rise

By DVB staff reporter

A salary increase for civil service workers in Burma is necessary but will severely strain the country's budget and "damage the public", a Burmese trade union coalition has said.

Nearly two million people are set to benefit from the rise, which was announced by the government at the end of last year and could in some cases more than double low-income salaries.

But myopic government spending on the military and infrastructural development projects, along with the billions channeled into building the new capital, Naypyidaw, has weakened the Burmese economy, despite its considerable sales of energy and natural resources.

"Suddenly increasing the salary without any adjustment to the economic sector could bring about bad consequences, such as a hike in commodity prices and inflation," the Federation of Trade Unions Burma (FTUB) said in a statement.

Inflation in Burma, one of the world's poorest countries, is already at nearly 30 percent, while annual GDP growth rate, according to the World Bank, is 12.7 percent.

All civil service workers receiving between the lowest monthly wage of 15,000 kyat ($US15) to the mid-level 80,000 kyat ($US80), will get an additional 20,000 kyat ($US20) each. According to the US State Department, the average annual wage for Burmese citizens is less than $US200.

Analysts have said that, with the Burmese elections looming this year, the salary hike is a means for the junta to secure crucial votes from the army and government employees.

That view was however refuted by renowned Burmese economist Khin Maung Kyi, who said that there was "nothing surprising" about the government's decision to "satisfy workers".

The FTUB said however that the increase "is the successful outcome of non-violent struggles by the workers and the privates in the army" following lasting dissatisfaction with the inordinately low wages.

It added that the government should have included civilian workers, labourers and farmers in the increase.

"This is completely opposite to the suggestion made by Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, who visited Burma on December 15, 2009, who said that conditions for farmers in the country should be improved in order to fuel economic development."

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the staff reporter.

My opinion:

Well, the junta seems to increase the salaries for all civil service workers, but at last, he wants them to vote for him in the election. As expected from cruel, disgusting and selfish junta!!! And, also only for their security, the junta builds Naypyidaw, which is the most secretive place in Burma, from the country's budgets. The junta does everything for his own benefits rather than doing for the Burmese civilians.

Women selling hair 'to restore livelihoods'

By Staff Reporter

Trade in women's hair in Burma has boomed in the last five years as people look for a new way to make ends meet, particularly in the wake of the devastation wrought by cyclone Nargis.

One healthy head of women's hair could sell for up to $US35, a bonanza in a country where the average wage is less than $US20 per month, a Burmese hair trader told Reuters.

The boom has been fuelled by growing demand for wigs in China and South Korea, and the hair market has blossomed into a lucrative business for some Burmese traders, buoyed by rising prices.

One woman, Yu Yu, said that she was able to pay for her father's medical treatment and could now send her brother to school after selling her hair.

"At first, I just felt so sad about losing my hair. But later, I was really happy that I was able to save my father’s life and solve my family’s extreme financial problems," she said.

Other traders say that the market grew in the wake of cyclone Nargis in May 2008, which struck the Irrawaddy delta, killing 140,000 and leaving 2.4 million homeless.

Economic recovery has been slow, with thousands of hectares of farmland still polluted by the salt water and adequate housing still denied to nearly 800,000 cyclone victims.

Wild financial mismanagement since the military took power in 1962 has transformed Burma from one of Southeast Asia's more prosperous countries into one of the world's poorest states, with an inflation rate of around 30 percent.

Although the junta spends lucratively on infrastructural development, particularly hydropower and gas projects, the vast majority of the product is sold abroad, leaving nearly one-third of Burma's population below the poverty line.

The country however has a substantial informal sector that provides a crutch for the majority of the population, and which has been comparatively unharmed by the impact that decades of western sanctions have had on the official economy.

Between two and three million Burmese migrants are thought to be working in Thailand, while many more have fled low employment prospects in the country to find work in Malaysia, Singapore and southern China.

Reference:

This is from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) by the staff reporter.

My opinion:

It is indeed true that those people affected by Nargis cyclone still need aids for survival. Not only them but also the general public need more health service, education and finance in order to survive and have better living standard. Still, the junta rejects international aids. Damn!!! And also, the junta uses money from the country's economy only for his own benefits. It is so cruel, terrible and selfish junta!!!