Ma Lynn Pwint Naddy, 11, likes to think of herself as Burmese, not American. She speaks Burmese with her parents, she explains Burmese history and culture with her classmates, and she is learning the traditional dances of her native Yangon.
But Ma Lynn Pwint Naddy has not been to Burma (as her family chooses to call it) since she was a baby. For the last four years she has attended the Thabyay Nyo Burmese school, where her distant language and culture has been restored to her one Saturday at a time.
Thabyay Nyo, which is Myanmar for “Image of Burmese History”, holds weekly classes in a rented elementary school at Rockville, a small town just north of Washington DC. The school teaches Burmese language, history and culture for free to children from the 40 or so migrant families in the area. It was founded by Daw May Nyein, an activist and former literary criticism professor at Yangon University who went to the US in 2009 and began tutoring the children of political exiles from Myanmar. Thabyay Nyo launched in 2010 when Daw May Nyein and the other parents decided to make their sessions official. (Courtesy of Frontier Myanmar)
January 20, 2016
Special report: Hunting for jade in a corner of hell
From the dispassionate eye of a satellite in space, the area around Hpakant, a town in Myanmar's Kachin state, looks like a dry brown moonscape in a sea of green.
The mostly potholed dirt and gravel road to Hpakant twists through emerald hills; in the rainy season, it is reduced to reddish-brown mud, and wooden pontoons load vehicles two or three at a time to swing them across swollen rivers. Around Hpakant itself - a ramshackle organic boom town - over 850 jade mining firms operate over some 9,000ha.
On the ground, the mines are something out of a brutal pre-industrial era. Dump trucks rumble along the tops of high ridges, stick their rumps out and tip their heavy loads of earth and rock tailings from the mines down the slope into deep canyons gouged from the earth. (Courtesy of The Straits Times)
The mostly potholed dirt and gravel road to Hpakant twists through emerald hills; in the rainy season, it is reduced to reddish-brown mud, and wooden pontoons load vehicles two or three at a time to swing them across swollen rivers. Around Hpakant itself - a ramshackle organic boom town - over 850 jade mining firms operate over some 9,000ha.
On the ground, the mines are something out of a brutal pre-industrial era. Dump trucks rumble along the tops of high ridges, stick their rumps out and tip their heavy loads of earth and rock tailings from the mines down the slope into deep canyons gouged from the earth. (Courtesy of The Straits Times)
January 19, 2016
Computer ‘mole’ found in Myanmar gov’t computers
A sophisticated computer “mole” has been discovered in the computers of Myanmar government and non-governmental organizations, which is believed to have been launched by an Asian source.
The cyber threat was announced by Arbor’s Security Engineering and Response Team (ASERT) on its website on January 11. ASERT called the computer threat “The Seven Pointed Dagger.”
The computer threat involves a newly discovered Remote Access Trojan (RAT) which has been labeled Trochilus by security researchers at Arbor Networks.
Trochilus (pronounced “tro kil us”) is part of a seven-piece malware cluster that offer hackers a variety of capabilities, including deep entry into compromised networks and snooping on data, ASERT said on its website. (Courtesy of Mizzima)
The cyber threat was announced by Arbor’s Security Engineering and Response Team (ASERT) on its website on January 11. ASERT called the computer threat “The Seven Pointed Dagger.”
The computer threat involves a newly discovered Remote Access Trojan (RAT) which has been labeled Trochilus by security researchers at Arbor Networks.
Trochilus (pronounced “tro kil us”) is part of a seven-piece malware cluster that offer hackers a variety of capabilities, including deep entry into compromised networks and snooping on data, ASERT said on its website. (Courtesy of Mizzima)
Manipuri people on the verge of losing their identity
The ever growing fear of losing one’s own distinct identity has plagued the people residing in the bordering areas of Myanmar and Bangladesh and in the north-eastern states including Assam and Tripura.
Notably, Manipuris have their own script and they are the only mountain tribes who extensively follow the ‘Vaishnavite’ branch of Hindu religion.
Community leader K Sunder Gopal Sharma told reporters, “today, Manipuris in Myanmar hardly number 10,000 as against over one lakh decades ago. Thousands of Manipuris, including devout Vaishnavas, have since converted to Buddhism”. He said military rulers in Myanmar did not encourage the community members to study their own language in schools or converse in it at social gatherings. Gopal said he feared that if nothing is done, the Manipuris in Myanmar will soon see their distinct cultural identity lose out to the native population there. (Courtesy of NewsGram)
Notably, Manipuris have their own script and they are the only mountain tribes who extensively follow the ‘Vaishnavite’ branch of Hindu religion.
Community leader K Sunder Gopal Sharma told reporters, “today, Manipuris in Myanmar hardly number 10,000 as against over one lakh decades ago. Thousands of Manipuris, including devout Vaishnavas, have since converted to Buddhism”. He said military rulers in Myanmar did not encourage the community members to study their own language in schools or converse in it at social gatherings. Gopal said he feared that if nothing is done, the Manipuris in Myanmar will soon see their distinct cultural identity lose out to the native population there. (Courtesy of NewsGram)
Bangladesh makes record $10.5 million drug bust
In a record drug bust, Bangladesh has seized 2.8 million methamphetamine tablets from Myanmar with a street value of around USD 10.5 million and arrested three persons as the country struggles to tackle the problem of drug abuse.
Contraband yaba tablets often referred to as 'horse drug' were seized in near simultaneous security clampdowns in the capital and northeastern port city of Chittagong.
Elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) called it the country's biggest-ever drug and arrested three suspected drug peddlers. (Courtesy of Times of India)
Contraband yaba tablets often referred to as 'horse drug' were seized in near simultaneous security clampdowns in the capital and northeastern port city of Chittagong.
Elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) called it the country's biggest-ever drug and arrested three suspected drug peddlers. (Courtesy of Times of India)
The first US envoy to visit Myanmar since last year's landmark polls on Monday urged President Thein Sein to release all remaining political prisoners before Aung San Suu Kyi's government takes power next month.
Myanmar's quasi-civilian government steered reforms culminating in the November election that saw Suu Kyi's pro-democracy party win an outright majority.
Those reforms included the release of hundreds of political prisoners, many jailed for long sentences under the junta which ruled the country with an iron-fist for five decades. (Courtesy of Bangkok Post: News)
Myanmar's quasi-civilian government steered reforms culminating in the November election that saw Suu Kyi's pro-democracy party win an outright majority.
Those reforms included the release of hundreds of political prisoners, many jailed for long sentences under the junta which ruled the country with an iron-fist for five decades. (Courtesy of Bangkok Post: News)
Myanmar motorbike driver, 39, dead after being run over by cement mixer truck
Thalang police are considering whether or not to charge a 41-year-old Thai man who ran over a 39 year old Myanmar last night in Thalang.
At about 6:10 on January 17, Thalang Police were alerted to the incident, which happened in Sisunthon’s Moo 3, along the northbound lane of Thepkrasattri Rd, about 150 meters north of the heroines monument. (Courtesy of news.thaivisa.com)
At about 6:10 on January 17, Thalang Police were alerted to the incident, which happened in Sisunthon’s Moo 3, along the northbound lane of Thepkrasattri Rd, about 150 meters north of the heroines monument. (Courtesy of news.thaivisa.com)
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