New Thailand-Myanmar Quasi-Democracy Axis

(Professor Pavin Chachvalpongpun’s article from the DIPLOMAT on 29 July 2014.)

General Main Aung Hlaing with Thai coup leaders.

The New Thailand-Myanmar Axis. With China’s backing, post-coup Thailand and Myanmar– ASEAN’s quasi-democracies– are moving closer together.

The Thai military staged a coup on May 22, claiming to restore peace and order after months of protests against the elected government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. In reality, it was a military scheme to take control of politics ahead of an uncertain royal succession. In the process, it destroyed democratic institutions and violated the people’s human rights.

Immediately after the coup, an army of Western countries voiced their concern about the disappearance of democratic space. Subsequently, they imposed “soft sanctions,” with the United States suspending its financial support for the Thai military and the European Union freezing all cooperation with the kingdom.

Electricity Supply Crisis In Burma By U Tin Latt (EPC)

(Translation of Tin Latt’s post from the MYANMAR EXPRESS on 26 May 2014.)

Ye-ywar Dam Hydro-Electric Generating plant.

Even though I’m a senior engineer from the EPC (Electric Power Corporation) I am not an official spokesperson of EPC. So this post is just to provide general public with basic information on present situation of electricity supply and demand in our country.

Obviously the city consuming most electricity in our country is Rangoon with about 600 MW annually. Second city in the rank of power consumption is Mandalay with nearly 120 MW last year. Behind Mandalay are Naypyidaw at third position with 50 MW, Taung Gyi at fourth with 25 MW, and Mon Ywar with 15 MW at fifth position.

Household wise, even in Rangoon, only two out of three households are electricity connected, that is only 66 percent. Kayar State currently stands at second position with about thirty-five percent of total households connected to main electricity grid, thanks to their close proximity to Lawpita Hydro-Generators at Bilu-chaung. Naypyidaw and Mandalay stand at third and fourth with thirty-four and thirty-three percent respectively.

Ne Win’s Swiss Billions Resurfaced Buying AGD Bank

(Compilation of news articles from Burmese Blogs and newspapers in July 2014.)

Late General Ne Win’s three grandsons have brazenly announced their secret multi-billion dollar purchase of Asia Green Development (AGD) Bank in their public interviews with Burma’s leading media organizations in last week.

AGD, one of the largest privately-owned banks in Burma, has been founded and solely owned by Burma’s richest man Tay Za and just last Monday he reportedly has agreed to sell sixty percent to the private holding company controlled by three grandsons of late dictator Ne Win.

Three brothers Kyaw Ne Win, Aye Ne Win, and Zwe Ne Win were released from their imprisonment only in 2012 after they were arrested and sentenced to death in 2002 for treason. Their grandfather who had fallen foul with the military junta that replaced him had died under house arrest in 2002. His body was unceremoniously burned and ashes thrown away somewhere no one knows.

Myanmar: Enter As Tourist, Exit As Devotee

(Rajendra K Aneja’s article direct from the BUSINESS STANDARD on 24 July 2014.)

Myanmar, land of pagodas that shares many similarities with India, is putting its past behind to catch up with modern world.

“Try to be happy. Happiness is important. Even birds and trees should be happy. Do not rush to do many things in the time that you are here for this conference. Then you will enjoy your visit,” advises Michael Chin, chairman of Chin Corp of Myanmar.

I am stunned. Most business leaders focus on enhancing productivity and multi-tasking in short bursts of time to boost sales and profits.

Here is an executive who is counseling his employees and the delegates at an international management conference to focus on being happy. I am flummoxed. True, happy employees produce great results. Yet, no business school or management expert teaches the importance of the happiness of employees or how to measure it.

Siam Cement Group’s Moulmein Cement Plant In Burma

(Compilation of news articles direct from the GLOBAL CEMENT NEWS in March 2014.)

Myanmar: Thailand's Siam Cement Group (SCG) aims to produce nearly 2Mt/yr of cement at its new plant in Myanmar once the US$400m plant starts operations in 2016.

"Our new plant in the country is expected to produce 5000t/day, which is about 2Mt/yr," said Chana Poomee, country director of SCG in Myanmar. "We see a lot of potential in Myanmar because we consider it an ASEAN 'mid-land.' There are very good opportunities here. We believe in the future of Myanmar, so we've decided to invest," he said.

He noted that construction had progressed well, with full support from the government and Mon State. A new 20km road is being constructed while the company repairs many roads in the state.

Freedom: English-speaking Peoples Made Modern World

(Bruce Thornton’s article direct from the FRONTPAGE MAG on 18 July 2014.)

The book "Inventing Freedom. How the English-Speaking Peoples Made the Modern World." by Daniel Hannan.

The fundamental incoherence of multiculturalism comes from its cultural relativism that posits no one way of life is better than another, but then singles out the West as a uniquely oppressive global villain.

Even more contradictory, at the same time that multiculturalists slander the West for its alleged crimes, they praise and promote political and social ideals––democracy, freedom, equality, and law-based justice–– that flourish only in the West.

This cognitive dissonance is made possible by massive historical ignorance of just where such ideas originated and developed. The great value of Daniel Hannan’s Inventing Freedom lies in its recovery of that history, and the role that the “Anglosphere,” the English-speaking countries, played in recognizing and nurturing those ideals for over 1500 years.

Malaysian Passenger Jet Shot Down Over Ukraine

(News article direct from the NEW YORK POST on 17 July 2014.)

A Malaysian airliner was shot down over the Ukraine on Thursday — killing all 295 aboard, including 23 Americans — and a top US official blamed Russia’s military.

Rep. Michael McCaul, (R-Texas), the Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, said the passenger jet “was caught in the crossfire” between Ukraine and anti-government rebels and “was shot down by Russians,” who are supporting rebels.

“Clearly that had to have been accidentally [and] not intentionally because it’s a commercial airliner. I don’t know what the motivation would be for it to be intentional,” said McCaul, who said he had been briefed on the crash by government officials. “In either event, it’s going to cause a real international incident.”

Burmese Trafficked Into Slavery On Thai Fishing Trawlers

(Feature article direct from the GUARDIAN on 10 July 2014.)

Burmese slaves on a Thai fishing trawler.

Thousands and thousands of Burmese men and boys are trafficked into slavery on Thai fishing trawlers to catch food for prawns. The Thai fishing industry is built on slavery, with men often beaten, tortured and sometimes killed - all to catch 'trash fish' to feed the cheap farmed prawns sold in the west.

There is nothing but a jagged line of splinters where Myint Thein’s teeth once stood – a painful reminder, he says, of the day he was beaten and sold on to a Thai fishing boat. The tattooed Burmese fisherman, 29, bears a number of other “reminders” of his life at sea: two deep cuts on each arm, calloused fingers contorted like claws and facial muscles that twitch involuntarily from fear.

For the past two years, Myint Thein has been forced to work 20-hour days as a slave on the high seas, enduring regular beatings from his Thai captain and eating little more than a plate of rice each day. But now that he’s been granted a rare chance to come back to port, he’s planning something special to mark the occasion: his escape.

Using a pair of rusty scissors, Myint Thein chops off his long, scraggly locks. He rinses himself down with a hose, slips on his only pair of trousers and, peering out at his surroundings, remembers not to open his mouth too wide. A man with no teeth is easy to remember.

Burmese-Buddhists Victims Of Mandalay Muslim Riots

(Compilation of translated posts from Shin Wirathu’s Blog in July 2014.)

Htun Htun; Burmese-Buddhist killed by Muslims.

Only two men -- one Burmese-Buddhist and one Bengali-Muslim -- were killed but more than 20 Burmese-Buddhists were seriously injured by the Muslim rioters in Mandalay in July one and Two.

For Burmese-Buddhists the particularly alarming aspect of this Muslim riot is that unlike previous anti-Muslim riots all over Burma the perpetrators of this riots mostly were Bengali-Muslim mobs not the usual Burmese-Buddhist mobs.

The Muslim-riots-affected area by the Saudi-Funded giant “Joon Mosque” occupying the whole city block bounded by 27^th, 28^th, 81^st, and 82^nd streets in downtown Mandalay have been a Bengali-Muslim stronghold for many years now.

And once the news of Buddhist-Muslim confrontations broke out all those Bengali-Muslims armed with swords and spears and other home-made weapons had come out in force from that area and attacked any Burmese-Buddhist they found on the streets of Mandalay those two days.

And this is the compilation of background crime facts and direct interviews with the victims of Bengali-Muslim rioters in this July Muslim riots in Mandalay the second largest city in Burma now known as Myanmar.