January 18, 2016

For a generation of Rohingya, M'sia's their only home

“I learned to read and speak in Bahasa Malaysia from my friends when we lived in a Malay village in Kemaman (Terengganu). I wanted to study more and become a policewoman but I never got the chance,” recalled 19-year-old Rohingya refugee Hamida Mohamed Yosuf.

Hamida is one of the 150,000 Rohingyas who call Malaysia home, their families having settled here after fleeing from persecution in Myanmar.

While they have managed to scrape together a semblance of life for themselves here, many yearn for the opportunities that education and legal recognition of their status would bring.

Malaysia’s public education system is one of the country’s success stories, chalking up a literacy rate of 90 percent. But Rohingya refugees, however long they may have been in the country, do not have access to government-funded schools. (Courtesy of Malaysiakini)

'Honouring Guests': How Aceh welcomed Rohingya refugees with open arms

The Rohingya refugee crisis was one of 2015's top stories. Thousands escaped Myanmar, drifting for months in treacherous waters in the hopes of being accepted by neighbouring countries to start anew.

While many sought to find refuge in Malaysia, Aceh has received thousands of Rohingya refugees with open arms, providing them with food and shelter.

And when a group of three students from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) heard about this, they decided to help shed some light on the ongoing issue.

Communication Studies majors Goh Chiew Tong, Jade Han Hui Jing and Clarissa Sih are working together on a documentary named Peumulia Jamee, which means "Honouring your Guests" in Acehnese, for their final-year project. (Courtesy of Channel NewsAsia)

Arakan hopes of self-rule rest with NLD

The National League for Democracy (NLD) has not made the Arakan National Party (ANP) an offer to form the Rakhine State government, according to Aye Tha Aung, an executive ANP member.

The ANP, the most successful of the ethnic parties in November's election, formed a liaison committee with chairman Dr Aye Maung, general secretary Tun Aung Kyaw and executive Aye Tha Aung on December 6 to have discussions with the NLD and other political parties.

“The NLD has not discussed it with us yet. We have wanted to start the process of forming the Rakhine State government since the November election. We won 22 seats; enough to form a regional government but the Constitution says the president gets to choose our chief minister. It is a difficult time while we wait to find out who that will be. We will hold discussions with the NLD about it,” Aye Tha Aung said. (Courtesy of Eleven Myanmar)

Myanmar's Suu Kyi bemoans youth 'wasting time' online

Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi, who was forced to spend years of solitude under house arrest, has hit out at young people “wasting time” on computer games and social networking.

The veteran opposition politician, whose party will soon take power after winning landmark elections last November, made the comments in a letter to organisers of a literary festival at the weekend in Yangon.

“Our lifestyles are changing nowadays as technology improves,” she wrote in a public letter to the Nobel-Myanmar Literary Festival posted online late Saturday.

“Now our children waste a lot of their time on computer games, Internet games and social networks. Children read less because the use of technology has increased,” she added. (Courtesy of Japan Today)