Broadcaster MRTV-4 has issued a grovelling apology to the Tatmadaw for its word choice in a report yesterday on conflict in Rakhine State.
The news item concerned recent fighting between the Tatmadaw and Arakan Army that had forced 1100 people to flee their homes. The two armed groups have clashed repeatedly since April 16.
The military’s True News Information team issued a statement shortly after the broadcast, complaining that MRTV-4 had referred to the Tatmadaw as “government forces”, and the Arakan Army as “Rakhine Tatmadaw”.
The team “strongly denounced” the report, which it said could potentially defame the Tatmadaw and appeared to be supportive of the AA. It said the broadcaster had not followed media ethics and called on the “officials concerned” to take action. (Courtesy of Frontier Myanmar)
May 4, 2016
Religious freedom worldwide has ‘spiraled downward,’ expert says
The state of religious freedom worldwide saw more decline than improvement in the last year, said Robert George, chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.
“Regrettably, things have not improved, and in some places, things have gotten worse,” said George, a Princeton University law professor and director of the university’s James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions, during a May 2 telephone news conference coinciding with the release of the commission’s annual report.
“At best, in most of the countries we covered, religious conditions have failed to improve in any demonstrable way. In most cases, they have spiraled downward,” he added. (Courtesy of catholicphilly.com)
A Nickname for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi? There’s No Short Answer
She’s famous for a lifetime of campaigning for democracy in Myanmar, has been honored with a Nobel Peace Prize, and now, thanks to an electoral triumph, she is the leading political figure in her country.
But for anyone who speaks or writes about her, she presents something of a quandary: What do you call Daw Aung San Suu Kyi for short?
Western notions of first and last names don’t really apply in Myanmar, formerly Burma. Burmese people generally don’t hand down family names from one generation to another, or change a birth name upon marriage. And there’s no particular pattern to the number of syllable elements, except that very short names like U Nu are becoming a bit less common. (Courtesy of The New York Times)
But for anyone who speaks or writes about her, she presents something of a quandary: What do you call Daw Aung San Suu Kyi for short?
Western notions of first and last names don’t really apply in Myanmar, formerly Burma. Burmese people generally don’t hand down family names from one generation to another, or change a birth name upon marriage. And there’s no particular pattern to the number of syllable elements, except that very short names like U Nu are becoming a bit less common. (Courtesy of The New York Times)
Myanmar Army and KIA Clash near Mohnyin Jade Mine
The Myanmar Army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA)’s Regiment 8 fought for nearly an hour on the outskirts of the southern Kachin State town of Mohnyin on 22 April, the Kachin News Group has learned.
According to reports from the KIA the clashes which broke out near the Aung Thein Linn jade mine in the west of Mohnyin and involved dozens of troops from the Myanmar Army’s Infantry Battalion 54 and the KIA's Battalion 35. The area where the clashes took place is normally under the control of the KIA’s Battalion 35. The Aung Thein Linn mine has only recently begun operations.
Myanmar Army Infantry Battalion 54 arrived in Mawhan in order to replace troops from Light Infantry Battalion 308, which has been active in KIA’s Battalion 35 territory. According to a KIA spokesperson the battle broke out after the Myanmar Army fired at a KIA outpost with heavy artillery. (Courtesy of Mizzima)
According to reports from the KIA the clashes which broke out near the Aung Thein Linn jade mine in the west of Mohnyin and involved dozens of troops from the Myanmar Army’s Infantry Battalion 54 and the KIA's Battalion 35. The area where the clashes took place is normally under the control of the KIA’s Battalion 35. The Aung Thein Linn mine has only recently begun operations.
Myanmar Army Infantry Battalion 54 arrived in Mawhan in order to replace troops from Light Infantry Battalion 308, which has been active in KIA’s Battalion 35 territory. According to a KIA spokesperson the battle broke out after the Myanmar Army fired at a KIA outpost with heavy artillery. (Courtesy of Mizzima)
The Mytsone Dam: Myanmar’s NLD Dilemma
Myanmar’s National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aung San Suu Kyi, is about to face a tough policy test: whether to restart or permanently halt the construction of the Myitsone Dam, a major irritant in Sino-Burmese relations.
Agreed between China Power International (CPI) and the now-departed junta in the early 2000s, the project was meant to be the centerpiece in a cascade of seven dams on the N’Mai Hka and Mali Hka, the two streams that converge to form the Irrawaddy in Kachin State. Construction began in 2009 and was halted two years later when former President Thein Sein decided that the project would be suspended for as long as his administration remained in power.
The ball has now been passed to the new leaders of Myanmar, who will have a hard time deciding what to do with the behemoth, projected as the 15th b iggest hydroelectric dam in the world, 1,310 meters long and 140 meters tall. The project is still extremely controversial. NGOs and local organizations have long pointed out that the dam would be a blow to the Irrawaddy’s ecosystem and lamented that little is known about the details of the deal. (Courtesy of Asia Sentinel)
Agreed between China Power International (CPI) and the now-departed junta in the early 2000s, the project was meant to be the centerpiece in a cascade of seven dams on the N’Mai Hka and Mali Hka, the two streams that converge to form the Irrawaddy in Kachin State. Construction began in 2009 and was halted two years later when former President Thein Sein decided that the project would be suspended for as long as his administration remained in power.
The ball has now been passed to the new leaders of Myanmar, who will have a hard time deciding what to do with the behemoth, projected as the 15th b iggest hydroelectric dam in the world, 1,310 meters long and 140 meters tall. The project is still extremely controversial. NGOs and local organizations have long pointed out that the dam would be a blow to the Irrawaddy’s ecosystem and lamented that little is known about the details of the deal. (Courtesy of Asia Sentinel)
Myanmar nationalist may face charges after Facebook post about army chief and Aung San Suu Kyi
Nay Myo Wai, a fervent Buddhist nationalist who once threatened to beat up Muslims and feed them pork curry, is in a little trouble.
Local media reports say police are preparing to arrest him and charge him with online defamation after he wrote on Facebook that the head of the army, Min Aung Hlaing, didn’t dare to seize power [from the newly elected NLD government] because he wants to be Aung San Suu Kyi’s husband.
The post, which is a few weeks old and seems to have been taken down, featured a photo of the senior general.
Nay Myo Wai denied the allegations on Facebook today and said Muslims are creating fake accounts to mess with him. (Courtesy of Coconuts Yangon)
Local media reports say police are preparing to arrest him and charge him with online defamation after he wrote on Facebook that the head of the army, Min Aung Hlaing, didn’t dare to seize power [from the newly elected NLD government] because he wants to be Aung San Suu Kyi’s husband.
The post, which is a few weeks old and seems to have been taken down, featured a photo of the senior general.
Nay Myo Wai denied the allegations on Facebook today and said Muslims are creating fake accounts to mess with him. (Courtesy of Coconuts Yangon)
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