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EPA
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ASEAN+: MANY GAPS ON AEC REMAIN ✪7
First INDEPENDENT English daily
www.elevenmyanmar.com
FRIDAY, April 24, 2015
INSIDE
Inlay drying up
NATIONAL
Ponds in different parts of the country dry up following heat waves
MYANMAR ELEVEN
THE famous Inlay Lake in
Myanmar’s southern Shan State
is drying up, with local people
facing water shortages and difficulties in water transport.
With the lake rapidly drying
up, motorboats could not run
around the Inlay Phaungdaw-U
Pagoda, said one of the boatmen.
“Previously, there was water
around this Minethauk wharf. But
now there is almost no water.
Motorboats can no longer run.
We have four wharves. We transport visitors by charging them a
small fee,” said one boatman,
Soe Win.
San Yin, a shopkeeper from
the pagoda said: “The Inlay Lake
has been drying up for over a
month. We mostly used bottled
water. The local people have
been using the water from this
lake since 1936. But it is 10 years
since we have stopped using the
water for drinking. One-litre bottled water cost Ks 500 here. I
bring bottled water from
Nyaungshwe and sell them here.
Today, authorities started dredging the lake for silt.”
The local residents in the Inlay
region have long been using bottled water for drinking while
some villages have started digging more artesian wells.
“About 15 years ago, the lake
was as deep as 18 feet. But now
it is only about six feet deep. The
areas around the Phaungdaw-U
Pagoda have totally dried up,”
said Soe Myint Thaung, chairman of Inlay Lake Motorboat
Service.
He blamed the drying up of
the lake on deforestation and
lack of embankments to prevent
silting.
“The Inlay Lake is famous for
its one-legged rowers and float-
ing plantations. It is the second
largest foreign exchange earner
after Bagan. So the lake should
be well conserved. People will
take more interest if they (the
government) implement a shortterm three- or five-year project
rather than a long-term one. I’m
worried the Inlay Lake could disappear in the next five years,” he
commented.
Heat waves hit several parts of
Myanmar.
According to the
Meteorological and Hydrology
Department, Myanmar is suffering from severe hot weather condition with temperature looming
at 40 degree Celcius especially
in the middle and lower regions,
according to the Meteorological
and Hydrology Department.
“Yangon’s temperature is 40C
now and it is slightly lower than
last year’s temperature. In
March, the temperature was over
the record in two areas.
Temperature in Chauk is about
44C now.
There may be some rainfall in
coming days to relieve the high
temperatures,” said Kyaw Moe
Oo, deputy director general of
the department.
Sagaing, Mandalay and
Tanintaryi regions and Kachin,
Shan and Chin states will have
rainfall within the next five-day
period, according to the department.
Mandalay, the second largest
city in Myanmar, is sizzling under
intense heat wave as temperature skyrocketed, according to
local residents.
Since the beginning of March,
Mandalay has averaged 38C. On
April 20, it recorded the highest
temperature - 39.2C, according
to the Mandalay Region’s
Meteorological and Hydrology
Department.
Laukkai residents return
home as fighting eases
✪2
BUSINESS
BTMU opens branch,
Krungsri opens rep office
✪5
ASEAN+
Vietnam journalists’ role
in war
✪8
EPA
ARTS&CULTURE
Stars and meteors illuminate the dark sky during the Lyrid meteor shower in Yangon yesterday. The Lyrid meteor shower occurs
every year between April 16-26.
Live act, classic hits
✪10
NATIONAL
2
MYANMAR ELEVEN, Friday, April 24, 2015
Laukkai refugees return home
MYANMAR ELEVEN
Laukkai refugees are boarding a truck to return home.
On April 18, the commanderin-chief of the defence services,
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing,
said that Kokang clashes are
nearing an end.
“Thank you for your help. Now
the clashes are nearly at an end,”
Min Aung Hlaing told injured soldiers at No.9 Military Hospital,
Lashio.
The fighting between government soldiers and Kokang rebels
started on February 9.
According to the government,
110 soldiers have died and 259
have been injured from February
9 to March 21, from 253 clashes.
It claims Kokang armed groups
fled from the main areas of
Parsinkyaw’s east and northeast,
with the army recapturing hills
near the Chinese border.
It said the Kokang forces were
deployed in high land in
Santaaikshan and Shinkhattan
with the government seizing hills
numbered 1553, 1859 and 1753.
The rebels, calling themselves
EMG
LOCALS from Laukkai, the
capital of Kokang SelfAdministered Zone in northern
Shan State, have returned home
after fleeing ongoing clashes
more than two months ago.
Since February, they took
shelter at the refugee camps in
Thiri Mingala Mansu Shan monastery and Mansu Bamar monastery in the 12th ward of Lashio
Township.
“Currently, refugees who
returned back homes are being
temporarily sheltered at No.1
Basic Education High School in
Laukkai. We are going to arrange
for those war refugees who must
stay in individual shelters. And
then we will arrange for some
house owners to go their houses,” said Kyaw Kyaw Htun,
Deputy Director of the Ministry of
Social Welfare, Relief and
Resettlement.
“We are happy to return to the
Laukkai. However, we have heard
that our houses and apartments
in Laukkai had been burgled.
Some houses were burned.
Nevertheless, we will arrive in
Laukkai, we can earn a living as
whatever jobs if the situation will
be stable liked in the past. We
would like to say Thanks for all,”
said Htu Shan, a local.
War refugees returned to
Laukkai under the arrangements
of the government’s transportation access and some also have
gone to homes after riding in
their motorcycles, three-wheeled
passengers’ vehicles and own
cars.
Within over two months, there
are 24,200 war refugees sent to
their respective areas across the
nation through Thiri Mingalar
Mansu Shan Monastery.
Myanmar National Democratic
Alliance Army (MNDAA), are a
member of the United
Nationalities Federal Council
(UNFC) and Nationwide
Ceasefire Coordination Team
(NCCT).
The UNFC said that the issues
should be resolved through political discussion, not conflict. Now
MNDAA has used force to solve
problems, the case should be
handled by the UNFC, according
to Colonel Khun Okka, joint sec-
retary of UNFC.
The UNFC sent an open letter
to President Thein Sein on April
13 saying that clashes in Kokang
hindered nationwide ceasefire
talks and the government needed
to stop conflict through discussion.
The Union Peacemaking Work
Committee (UPWC) and NCCT
have agreed a final draft of the
nationwide ceasefire agreement
despite the ongoing conflict in
Kokang.
Voice Weekly Journal apologises for controversial photos
MYANMAR ELEVEN
The Voice Weekly journal has
apologised for uploading to
Facebook controversial photos
of Aung San Suu Kyi, chairperson of the National League for
Democracy (NLD), who attended an event to commemorate
the one-year anniversary of the
death of writer Hanthawaddy U
Win Tin.
The photos appear to depict
Suu Kyi greeting Muslim religious leaders with her hands
positioned to signify a budding
lotus. Facebook users comment-
ed on the photos accusing the
politician of religious impropriety. However, other say the depictions of Suu Kyi appear out of
context.
Suu Kyi’s bodyguard Soe Win
said: “She greeted the religious
leaders when meeting them
first.
Then, she paid respect to the
monks. I don’t know how the
photographer took these photos
from the other side while she
was paying respect to the
monks.”
The Voice Weekly’s online
editorial team apologised via
Facebook post to those upset by
the photos.
The publication’s Chief editor
Kyaw Min Swe said: “We did not
do it intentionally. And we did
not make any change to the
photo either.
I think we should not have
posted the disputable photo.
This was the negligence of the
online editorial team. I urged
them to remove this photo
shortly after I found out about
it.”
An eyewitness said that when
Aung San Suu Kyi appeared at
the event, and the hall was
abuzz with people eager to greet
her, taking pictures and videos.
Among those who greeted her
were religious leaders, including
monks.
When she reached the second row, Christian and Islamic
leaders greeted her. After greeting them, she turned to greet
the monks by putting her hands
together reverently. After that,
she sat in the front row and gave
a commemoration speech.
It was speculated that as
most photographers wanted to
get a clear shot of her so they
zoomed and when they did so,
only the two religious leaders
were visible.
Researcher Yan Myo Thein
said: “ This is the second time
the Voice Weekly has done
something like this.
The first time was the highly
unethical case of the photo of
student protestors being violently dispersed. Its chief editor is
the deputy secretary of the
Interim Press Council.
It is not right for them to
make mistakes and just apologise again and again. We need
to ask why they did this and
what objectives were in mind.”
MYANMAR ELEVEN, Friday April 24, 2015
3
National
4
NEWS
DIGEST
Concerns on
referendum
The clock is ticking on Union
Parliament Speaker Thura Shwe
Mann’s promise to hold a
referendum on constitutional
amendments in May, but the
election commission says it cannot
go ahead until Parliament approves
amendments to the referendum law.
The Joint Bill Committee says a bill
amending the National Referendum
Law will be submitted to Parliament
when it resumes sitting on May 11,
leaving a tight time frame to
schedule and organise a poll.
“As Parliament is responsible
for legislation, it needs to amend
that law in time. Our commission
will take necessary measures after
the Union Parliament has finished
its work,” Union Election
Commission director Thaung
Hlaing said. Some MPs warn that
the timing is not right for a
referendum to be held that early as
Parliament still has the referendum
bill to complete.
YCDC plans elevated
toll roads
Yangon City Development
Committee (YCDC) said it was
planning to build elevated toll roads
to reduce the city’s congestion.
YCDC estimated that the road
projects would cost US$3.5 billion
and include new bridges across the
Yangon and Hlaing rivers. The
project would be put out to tender
and was expected to begin before
the 2017-18 financial year,
according to Yangon Mayor Hla
Myint. The Yangon River bridge
would be 1.4km long and the Hlaing
bridge would be 1.2km, he said.
YCDC said it was planning to
reduce congestion with more
elevated and express roads to
provide swifter access to the city
centre.
MYANMAR ELEVEN, Friday, April 24, 2015
Many attend Win Tin’s
commemoration
MYANMAR ELEVEN
THE first commemoration of
the famous activist-cum-journalist Hantharwady Win Tin was
held at Royal Rose Restaurant in
Yangon on April 21 with many
people attending the event.
Attendees include his former
political colleagues, leaders of
the political parties, activists, former political prisoners, civic
organisations, writers, actors and
actresses, and his admirers.
National League for
Democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi said, “We should value those
who worth it, especially those
who led us as an idol. It is good
for our country. I don’t know how
much percentage of the compatriots has such mindset. I was
under house arrest. Likewise, U
Tin Oo was in prison. However,
sacrifices we made were a piece
of cake comparing to that of his.”
Win Tin was one of Myanmar’s
longest-serving political prisoners and most stalwart pro-
democracy activists.
As a co-founder of the NLD,
he was sentenced to 20 years in
prison for producing anti-government propaganda and was
released in 2008. Prior to his
imprisonment, he served as editor-in-chief of the Kyemon and
Hanthawaddy newspapers.
He passed away at Yangon
General Hospital on Monday at
the age of 85 after suffering from
multi-organ failure. His funeral
last year drew upto 100,000 people.
US Ambassador to Myanmar
Derek J Mitchell said last year,
“As newspaper editor, author,
poet, and for nearly two decades,
political prisoner, U Win Tin was
a man of rare integrity and courage, a man who dedicated his life
to democratic principles, particularly the principle of press freedom, even under enormous hardship.”
The US Embassy also
released a statement to mark the
one-year anniversary of his
departure.
“He was a staunch proponent
of government and civil society
working together to help political
prisoners overcome their suffered hardships to become valued actors in shaping the country’s future. We remain inspired
by his enduring commitment to
the plight of political prisoners,
righting the wrongs of injustice,
and promoting the principle of
freedom of expression at his own
personal cost. U Win Tin is
missed but his legacy lives on.”
On April 21, the family of Win
Tin offered alms to the monks in
the morning at Mahazi Sarsana
Villa.
Deputy NLD Leader Tin Oo
said, during the event,
“Previously, I rarely met with
political prisoners. He
(Hantharwady Win Tin) knew
many of them in and out. I used
to follow him while he visited the
political prisoners. He even sacrificed his health for his political
conviction.”
A 16-year-old boy from Sarmaw
village in Mogaung Township,
Kachin State, died from wounds
sustained from a landmine blast on
April 10, sources say.
According to police records and
the victim’s relatives, Myat Noe was
fishing with friends when the mine
was triggered.
A relative said: “His family
depended on him. His body was
sent to Sarmaw village hospital for
further examination. Both his
thighs and buttocks were blown up.
He died from blood loss. The
Kachin Independence Army (KIA)
told us not to use one side of the
river but the boys were on the other
side. [The government and ethnic
armed groups] talk about peace but
accidents like this still happen.
Villagers use the river to make a
living.”
According to the Kachin
government records from 2011 to
2014, 58 people died and 231
people were injured from landmine
and bomb blasts. A total of 36
people were killed and 45 injured
by firearms.
Most landmine blasts this year
have occurred in Hpakant with
others in Indawgyi, Mansi and
Mogaung. At least four people have
been killed and 21 injured this year,
according to police records and
other sources.
AFP
Landmine kills Kachin
boy
Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo, centre, sounds the gong for the symbolic opening of the
Asian African Conference in Jakarta on April 22. Myanmar President Thein Sein, 2nd left, and
other Asian and African leaders gathered in Indonesia this week to mark 60 years since a
landmark conference that helped forge a common identity among emerging states.
Over 150,000
white cards
returned in
Maungdaw
Thar Shwe Oo
MYANMAR ELEVEN
More than 157,000 expired
temporary citizenship cards,
also known as white cards,
had been returned by April 21
in Maungdaw District, says a
local official.
“There are ... 73,516 from
Maungdaw Township, 74,056
from Butheetaung Township
and 10,117 from Taungpyo
Township,” said Saw Naing,
deputy director of the
Department of Immigration
and National Registration for
Maungdaw District.
There were no returns
during the Thingyan holidays,
which ended Tuesday, but
collections have now
resumed. There are more
than 500,000 white card
holders in Maungdaw
District. Five centres are
receiving expired cards in
Maungdaw, four in
Butheetaung and two in
Taungpyo. Those who return
the expired cards are issued
receipts, which do not serve
as identity cards but must be
exchanged when new ID
cards are made available.
President Thein Sein
declared in February that the
temporary identification
cards would no longer be
valid after March 31 and all
cards must be turned in by
May 31. Those who fail to
surrender their cards can be
charged under the Residents
of Myanmar Registration Act
(1949) and could face imprisonment for a term not
exceeding two years, a fine
not exceeding Ks 500 or
both. The decision to revoke
the cards has caused tension
as without them the whitecard holders are unable to
vote on a referendum on constitutional amendments that
is expected to be announced
at any time.
Lawsuit against Yangon chief minister still not accepted
MYANMAR ELEVEN
The courts had not accepted
by Wednesday a third lawsuit by
the Myanmar Lawyers’ Network
against Yangon Region’s chief
minister, the Myanmar
Investment Commission and two
private companies over the
planned redevelopment of colonial-era national heritage sites.
The court twice last year
rejected the network’s effort to
sue over the plan to turn the former high court and police commissioner’s headquarters in
downtown Yangon into a museum and a five-star hotel.
Myanmar-owned companies
Flying Tiger Engineering and
Prime Residence are named in
the lawsuit. Swiss chain
Kempinski AG reportedly plans
to open a 239-room hotel in 2017
under the brand name the
Kempinski Yangon. Developers
say they are making efforts to
maintain heritage characteristics
of the buildings.
The network launched its lawsuit in November and then again
in December, but the courts
rejected the legal action without
providing reasons, network
member Gyi Myint said, explaining that the network appealed to
the court prior to Thingyan (New
Year) to reconsider its decision
for dismissing the lawsuit.
“(The developers) say we have
no right to sue according to the
constitution,” Gyi Myint said. “We
explained to them that we can.
We told them that the constitution has a section protecting
state-owned assets.”
The network staged two protests in 2012 and 2014 against
the redevelopment of the sites.
The lawyers want the buildings
preserved as part of Myanmar’s
justice system.
KYAT EXCHANGE
BUSINESS
Buy
Sell
US $
1073
1087
Euro ¤
1135
1166
784
802
Singpore $
Source: KBZ Bank
5
MYANMAR ELEVEN, Friday, April 24, 2015
Krungsri opens office in Yangon
MYANMAR ELEVEN
A security guard keeps
watch at the Bank of
Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ
(BTMU) branch following
the bank’s official
opening in Yangon on
April 22, the first foreign
bank to operate in
Myanmar for decades.
AFP
BANK of Ayudhya (Krungsri),
a member of Mitsubishi UFJ
Financial Group (MUFG), has
opened a representative office in
Yangon with the aim of supporting the bank’s corporate and
SME clients from Thailand in
capturing business opportunities
in Myanmar. The announcement
was made on Wednesday when
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ
(BTMU), a banking entity under
MUFG, officially commenced its
full branch operations in Yangon.
It was the first foreign bank
branch opened in the country in
six decades. BTMU’s opening will
support Krungsri’s clients in their
financial service needs, among
others lending, international
money transfer, and currency
exchange. “The opening of a
Krungsri representative office in
Myanmar affirms our commitment to support our clients to
grow their businesses outside
Thailand, particularly in neighbouring countries. Additionally,
we expect the launch of our representative office will enhance
bilateral trade and investment
activities between the two countries,” said Krungsri President
and CEO Noriaki Goto.
The newly established BTMU
Yangon branch will support
Krungsri’s clients in their financial service needs, such as lending, international money transfer,
and currency exchange, Goto
said. Krungsri’s representative
office will also provide businessmatching services between operators from the two countries.
Krungsri is Thailand’s 5th
largest financial group in
Thailand in terms of assets,
loans and desposit with seven
decade presence in the country.
In an interview with The
Nation late February, Nobuyuki
Hirano, president and chief executive of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial
Group (MUFG) and president of
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ,
foresaw the seamless services
underpinned by Krungsri’s suc-
cess stories in Thailand and
BTMU’s global network that
could be offered to Japanese and
Thai businesses seeking to
expand in Southeast Asia and
elsewhere as well as individual
consumers across the region.
The strategy “to grow with
Japanese companies” runs well
with the trend that Japan seeks
to grow its investment in Asean,
which plans to create a single
economic community by yearend. Hirano believes Japanese
companies’ presence in the
region is solid, particularly in the
automotive industry, thanks to a
more extensive supply chain than
in other parts of the world.
“With the AEC [Asean
Economic Community], Thailand
represents great opportunities
for us. Thailand is the centre of
continental Asean. We’d like to
build business in and outside
this country.” Japanese companies have been playing a major
role in the development of
Thilawa Special Economic Zone,
the first of its kind in Myanmar.
Japan is also expected to sign
a deal in May to get involved in
the development of Dawei.
Govt raises rent on Yangon Zoological Garden Myanmar buys
only small
amount of gas
MYANMAR ELEVEN
Nilar
MYANMAR ELEVEN
EMG
The Department of Forestry has
raised rental fees to be paid by the Htoo
Groups of Companies for the Yangon
Zoological Garden from Ks 70 million to
Ks 77 million per year in response to
criticism over the low initial rate.
The Department of Forestry signed a
10-year contract with the Htoo Group in
2011 with the option of renegotiating the
deal every two years.
Dr Nyo Nyo Thin, a member of the
Yangon Region parliament, criticised the
arrangement between the Htoo Group
and the zoo, saying the rent paid by the
Htoo Group is too low for the large area
the zoo occupies.
“Even the fresh water aquatic garden
pays more than [the original] amount,”
she said at a parliament meeting last
year.
The contract went up for renegotiation this month, but the Yangon Region
government prohibited the rent from
being raised by more than 10 per cent of
the original rate. Therefore, the regional
parliament raised the rent to Ks 77 million per year.
Despite the raise in rent, Dr Nyo Nyo
Thin said the rate is still too low.
“I don’t know why the Yangon Region
government said the rental charges
could increase to only 10 per cent of the
original rate. I know the Yangon
Zoological Garden is quite a large place,
and the present increased amount is
Visitors at the Yangon Zoological Garden
still low. It should be more than the
increased amount. The government
lacks systematic management of its
income, and that’s why there is a budget
deficit,” the MP said.
The Htoo Group of Companies rents
permits to run the zoological gardens in
both Yangon and Nay Pyi Taw.
The Yangon Zoological Garden is
more than 100 years.
Myanmar is buying only 200 million cubic metres
of natural gas for local consumption, although its
quota entitled the country to buy two billion cubic
metres of natural gas from Southeast Asia Gas
Pipeline Co Ltd , the operator of Myanmar-China gas
pipeline project.
“We are supplying gas from four distribution
centres – Kyaukphyu, Mandalay, Yenanchaung and
Taungtha - for local electricity generating. The gas
supply will increase later,” said an official from the
company. The 793-km Myanmar-China gas pipeline
runs through Kyaukphyu in Rakhine state to Yunnan
province of China. The pipeline started gas
transmission in June 2013. Taungtha distribution
centre began the operation this month and it will be
the main supply centre for Myingyan power plant.
It is estimated that a total of 12 billion cubic metres
of natural gas will be transported via the pipeline to
China per annum. At the initial state, the transmission
capacity is set at 5.2 billion cubic metres. Southeast
Asia Gas Pipeline is a joint venture between China
National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and Myanmar Oil
and Gas Enterprise (MOGE). Both also established
Southeast Asia Oil Pipeline Co to run an oil pipeline.
According to CNPC, Both pipelines will start from
Myanmar’s Kyaukryu and enter China at Ruili in
Yunnan Province. The gas pipeline will extend across
Yunnan, Guizhou, Chongqing, and Guangxi.
Business
6
MYANMAR ELEVEN, Friday, April 24, 2015
Italian-Thai, Rojana expected to
ink Dawei SEZ deal by end-May
Erich Parpart
THE NATION
File photo of the land plot to be developed as Thilawa SEZ Class A zone
Thailand and Myanmar agreed
in June 2013 to set up the special
economic zone with an equal
shareholding and initial investment of Bt12 million, far below
the Bt100 million that was proposed and planned by ItalianThai Development earlier.
“This is a large project and a
new plan must be drawn up. A
private company alone cannot
afford to build the whole project,
because it is hard to secure lending for long-term investment in
infrastructure.
Therefore the government has
to be the one that lays down the
infrastructures first, and the
commitment shown from
Thailand and Myanmar has persuaded Japan to follow suit,” said
the deputy minister.
Meanwhile, construction of a
second Thai-Myanmar Friendship
Bridge and a road connecting the
bridge to the main highway in
Thailand’s Mae Sot province is
EMG
ITALIAN-Thai Development
and Rojana Industrial Park are
expected to finalise a contract
with the Myanmar authorities for
the initial phase of development
in the Dawei Special Economic
Zone (Dawei SEZ) by around the
end of next month, Deputy
Transport Minister Arkhom
Termpittayaphaisith said on
Tuesday.
Arkhom is also secretary-general of the Office of the National
Economic and Social
Development Board.
The initial phase of the Dawei
project will consist of a
27-square-kilometre industrial
estate and a 138km two-lane
road between the SEZ in
Myanmar’s Tanintharyi region
and Phunumron checkpoint in
Thailand’s Kanchanaburi province, an initial township for the
workers, a liquefied-natural-gas
terminal for gas transport over
long distances, a telecom landline, a power plant, a small port,
and a water reservoir.
“There are two Thai companies [Italian-Thai and Rojana]
that have entered the bidding
process for the construction of
the first 27-square-kilometre
industrial estate in Dawei and the
contract agreement is expected
to be finalised around the end of
May, or at the beginning of June,”
he said.
Deputy Prime Minister MR
Pridiyathorn Devakula revealed
in January that the projects in
the initial stage of Dawei development were expected to be
worth around US$1.7 billion
(Bt55 billion), and said he
believed the construction phase
would commence this year.
The Myanmar government is
planning to ask for an officialdevelopment-assistance loan
from Thailand to fund the twolane road, Arkhom said yesterday.
The amount of the loan is
expected to be around Bt4.5 billion.
Japan is also looking to provide assistance in the drafting of
the new comprehensive plan for
Dawei, and to enter the project
fully once the comprehensive
plan is completed and the full
phase begins, he added.
Japan currently holds an
equal partnership in the Dawei
SEZ via a special-purpose vehicle to run the project after a trilateral agreement reached at the
meeting of the Joint High-Level
Committee on Dawei development in January.
“The reason Japan was reluctant to join earlier is the lack of a
master plan from the two governments [Thailand and Myanmar],
but the new comprehensive plan
is expected to be completed by
the end of this year,” Arkhom
explained.
The Dawei SEZ replaced
Italian-Thai Development, which
had been granted the original
concession from the Myanmar
government in November 2010.
expected to commence in
October, he said.a
Moreover, Sa Kaew is likely to
host the second Thai special economic zone to be launched, following the launch of the Mae Sot
SEZ, which is expected before
the end of this year, he added.
Myanmar’s first SEZ to be opened in June
DEUTSCHE PRESSE-AGENTUR
The first special economic
zone (SEZ) in Myanmar will be
put into commercial operation
by the end of June, an official
said Thursday.
“Construction of eight local
and foreign factories on the
phase 1 of Thilawa SEZ is
almost finished,” said Thein
Han, managing director of
Myanmar Thilawa SEZ Holdings
Public Ltd.
The phase 1 occupies nearly
400 hectares southeast of the
central city of Yangon, and will
be the part opened in June, he
said.
“These factories will create
at least 20,000 job opportunities for Myanmar people, and
the whole phase 1 could create
up to 50,000 job opportunities,”
he said.
Including phase 2, which
started construction in October,
the Thilawa SEZ site covers
2,400 hectares, and is being
developed by Myanmar-Japan
Thilawa Development (MJTD), a
Myanmar-Japan joint venture.
Work started in November
2013 and is due for completion
in 2016 or 2017.
A total of 40 firms, mostly
from Japan, Myanmar, Taiwan,
Thailand and Singapore, have
already signed up for participation.
Thanlyin picked for ICT park
MYANMAR ELEVEN
A 300-acre site in Thanlyin
Township has been chosen for
the construction of an ICT zone
like MICT Park in Yangon,
according to Myanmar Computer
Federation.
The design of the ICT (information and communication tech-
nologies) zone is under discussion. The MICT Park was established in 2004 in Hlaing
Township and now hosts more
than 100 ICT companies. The
federation asked for help from
the Yangon regional government
as the 20-acre MICT Park is full.
“We have chosen the site for
the ICT zone. We did not get it
free of charge and will have to
buy it. The construction of an ICT
zone is under discussion.
Myanmar companies alone cannot afford to complete the construction.
We will put it out to tender for
investment from foreign ICT
companies as well as Myanmar
firms,” said Zaw Min Oo, secre-
tary of the federation.
The regional government gave
the green light for the new site as
the first location chosen was
reserved for a port development.
“We will conduct soil tests.
Then we will choose building
designs and calculate costs.
Much more needs to be done in
the whole process,” he added.
ASEAN+
Many gaps to plug before
AEC can be realised: WEF
7
MYANMAR ELEVEN, Friday, April 24, 2015
ON their way to creating a single market at the end of this year,
Southeast Asian nations will
need to bridge many gaps before
they can integrate successfully.
The 10-member Asean grouping has well-catalogued disparities, whether in income - the per
capita GDP ranges from
US$1,300 in Myanmar to over
US$48,000 in Singapore and
Brunei - education or infrastructure. Yet the most important gap
to close may well be the trust
gap.
Some 800 of the best and
brightest thinkers and movers
from the region and beyond
spent three days in Jakarta teasing out the benefits and challenges that will accompany
Asean’s transformation into a
region with free movement of
goods and services, investment,
skilled labour and freer flow of
capital. The dimensions of the
Asean Economic Community
(AEC) are impressive.
If it were an economy, it would
be the world’s seventh largest,
with a combined GDP of $2.4
trillion.
More importantly, the AEC will
remain the world’s fastest growing region for decades to come.
With a population of 600 million,
it is larger than the EU or North
America.
One of the most enthusiastic
AEC votaries at the World
Economic Forum on East Asia,
which ended on Wednesday, was
Malaysia’s Minister of
International Trade and Industry
Mustapa Mohamed. Asked to
scope out its potential, he said
with little hesitation that it could
rival the EU, the world’s biggest
economic bloc. Give it a few
years, he said.
“To the extent that Asean
grows at 5 per cent per annum
EPA
THE STRAITS TIMES
Jakarta
AirAsia CEO Anthony Fernandes, left, sees immense benefits to come from the economic
integration.
and Europe by less than 2 per
cent, of course we will catch up
with Europe; one day we will be
there,” said Mustapa.
Many participants, among
them Philippine tycoon Teresita
Sy-Coson, embraced the idea of
a single Asean-wide visa and
wished that an “Asean consciousness” would pervade the region.
If there were a vote by acclamation at the forum, AEC would
have sprung into existence. Yet,
the reality hit just hours later.
The AEC hardly figured in
Indonesian President Joko
Widodo’s much anticipated
speech on Monday evening.
Instead, his message was for
businessmen to make “incredi-
ble” profits from investing in his
country.
Mustapa, whose country will
host the yearend summit where
AEC will be launched, admitted
the region’s small and mediumsized enterprises, unlike the economic elite, feared the AEC.
Said HansPaul Buerkner,
chairman of the Boston
Consulting Group: “The region
needs more selfconfidence to
trust in itself, its potential and
future.
“No one is sure who will benefit at this point; the only good
option is to grasp the opportunity.”
The AEC, when implemented,
is envisioned to give the region
the impetus to become an economic powerhouse, gathering as
it does a population of 600 million people with a collective
gross domestic product of more
than US$2.4 trillion (S$3.2 trillion), making it the seventh largest economy in the world.
While 91 per cent of measures
under the AEC blueprint have
been put in place and most of
those to reduce non-tariff barriers are expected to be in place
by its launch, many did not
expect change to happen overnight.
“The AEC is moving at a pace
that the political leaders want it
to. The speed is dictated by the
political process and the balance
that the leaders want to have
between their national policies
and the greater common good,”
noted Ho Hsing Chan, group
managing director-Asean, Du
Pont Company (Singapore).
Still, as Myanmar businessman Serge Pun said, compared
with five years ago, the commitment to move integration forward
could be seen. “It could do better
by going faster, but that’s just a
wish.”
That wish list is long: better
human rights, closing the gap
between rich and poor states,
freer movement of labour across
borders, even an Asean-wide visa
to facilitate tourism.
Indonesian banker Budi
Gunadi Sadikin, for one, would
like to see more equitable economic development in Asean,
with richer countries like
Singapore and Malaysia trying to
bring states like Indonesia and
Vietnam closer to them.
“If the focus is to make ourselves bigger, that will create
unsustainability, because rich
countries will become richer, and
poor countries will stay poor,” he
said. Human rights activist
Evelyn Balais-Serrano would like
to see a balance between economic growth and social, cultural
and human rights development.
“Unless there is a balance, there
is always a tendency to have
growth but also more inequality,
as the price of growth is paid
mostly by people who are marginalised, disadvantaged and...
displaced because of this development.”
While acknowledging that the
AEC will not be perfect, AirAsia
boss Tony Fernandes said “it will
simplify business, raise standards and bring prosperity” to the
region.
“We have the numbers: 600
million people and a lot of good
work. Definitely the AEC can rival
the EU.”
Malaysia proposes regional peacekeeping force
THE STAR
Malaysia, as Chair of Asean,
has proposed the setting up of
an Asean Peacekeeping Force to
deal with security issues in the
region, said defence minister
Hishammuddin Hussein.
“We have taken the initiative
to propose the setting up of an
Asean Peacekeeping Force
under the auspice of the United
Nations.
“The proposal had received
positive reactions from Asean
member states,” he said when
answering a question by
Senator Mohd Ali Rustam at the
Upper House today.
He said the details of the
regional peacekeeping force and
its scope will be ironed out
between Defence Ministers Plus
(ADMM-Plus) and presented to
Asean chair in Laos next year.
He said the peacekeeping
force would only become a reality after receiving the backing of
Asean members and approval
from UN.
“This will send a clear message that Asean is united in
achieving peace for the region
while also addressing the threat
of trans-border terrorists activities in a unified manner,” he
said. At present, several Asean
nations such as Thailand,
Singapore, Indonesia Indonesia
and Brunei are already working
together to monitor the maritime routes at the Straits of
Malacca and Sulu Sea.
Hishammuddin said the proposal comes in light of the
agreement for greater cooperation between Asean militaries
for humanitarian and disaster
relief efforts under a Joint
Declaration on the Asean Ready
Group which was signed in
Langkawi last month.
Earlier, Hishammuddin told
lawmakers that the Islamic
State was a new phenomenon
and threat to the region.
He cited the example where
several terrorists groups in
Southern Philippines had
pledged allegiance to the
Islamic State.
Later, at a press conference
at Parliament lobby,
Hishammuddin said steps have
been taken to create awareness
among armed forces personnel
over the danger posed by IS.
However, he acknowledge
that IS is relying heavily on
social media to attract followers
and it would be impossible to
monitor every personnel.
On April 5, anti-terror units
arrested 17 people, including
two who recently returned from
Syria, for allegedly plotting terror attacks here. Those detained
included two army personnel.
On March 30, home minister
Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was
reported to have that police had
so far detained 75 individuals
suspected of being involved in
IS, including 13 foreigners who
were deported from Malaysia.
ASEAN+
8
MYANMAR ELEVEN, Friday, April 24, 2015
Powerful propaganda: Vietnam
journalists’ role in war
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Ho Chi Minh City
An old giant 500-W loudspeaker that was used for
northern communist
Vietnam’s propaganda work
is kept as historical relic in
front of the Headquarter of
the Voice of Vietnam (VOV)
in Hanoi.
“So when they did have something serious to say like the My
Lai massacre, no one believed
them,” Robinson added, of the
infamous March 1968 slaughter
of Vietnamese villagers by
American soldiers.
Unlike the foreign press,
which in the main tried to provide balance, Vietnamese correspondents had a clear bias.
“If you saw Americans walking
down the streets carrying the
severed head of your comrade
would you not hate them?” said
famed Vietnamese war photogra-
AFP
MANY US soldiers who fought
in Vietnam will remember Hanoi
Hannah, the silky-voiced communist radio correspondent who
urged young American GIs to
stop fighting and go home.
She is the most famous of
dozens of Vietnamese journalists
drafted by the communists to
help the war effort, which ended
40 years ago this month with the
fall of the city then known as
Saigon.
In daily broadcasts from the
northern capital Hanoi, Hannah
would play music by Joan Baez
and Bob Dylan, announce the
names of American troops killed
in fighting, and read clippings
from US newspapers about antiwar protests.
“Nothing is more confused
than to be ordered into a war to
die or to be maimed for life without the faintest idea of what’s
going on,” Hannah, whose real
name is Trinh Thi Ngo, said on
air, reading from a script whose
message was tightly controlled
by the communist authorities.
Ngo joined the state-run Voice
of Vietnam as a young woman
and her near-perfect English was
seen by the state’s propaganda
masters as a way to connect with
US servicemen.
Now a frail octogenarian, she
lives in southern Ho Chi Minh
City - renamed after Vietnam’s
independence hero after the 1975
victory - but declined AFP interview requests on health grounds.
“She helped US soldiers
understand what was going on,”
said Tran Duc Nuoi, a former top
editor at Voice of Vietnam.
“Her broadcasts shook
American soldiers... because of
Hanoi Hannah’s voice, some soldiers started opposing the illogical war and put down their weapons,” he added.
Propaganda was essential to
both sides’ wartime strategies.
The US dropped billions of
anti-communist leaflets over
Vietnam. But it could not fully
control the western press, and
their raw, powerful coverage of
Vietnam is credited with swaying
US public opinion on the conflict.
Meanwhile, Hanoi tightly controlled the domestic flow of information, highlighting only its successes and American failures,
not the enormous losses it was
suffering.
But observers say the impact
of efforts to demoralise
Americans - including through
Hanoi Hannah’s broadcasts have been overblown.
“I don’t think many GI’s actually listened to her, much less
were influenced by what she
said. They knew it was all propaganda,” said Carl Robinson, a
journalist who covered the war
for the Associated Press, adding
US forces preferred listening to
their army’s own radio network.
Because of a tendency to
over-exaggerate, the communist
journalists also lost credibility, he
said.
pher Dinh Quang Thanh.
It was their “duty” to highlight
communist victories and help the
war effort, said Thanh, who photographed communist soldiers
entering Saigon’s Independence
Palace, to bring the war to an
end on April 30, 1975.
“We couldn’t stand these people who brought bombs and
shells into our country to kill,” he
said. At least 2.5 million soldiers
from Vietnam’s communist North
and US-allied South died in the
conflict alongside three million
civilians, according to official fig-
Jakarta’s traffic forces children
to become road savvy
THE JAKARTA POST
Jakarta has become increasingly unfriendly toward pedestrians and cyclists and even
more toward the young, many
of whom are not allowed by
their parents to travel home
from school alone.
Haikal Ramadhan, 9, said
one of his friends had been
injured in the head and leg
when he was hit by a motorcycle while walking home and
talking with a friend.
Rakan Yusra, 10, said he was
almost grazed by a motorcycle
when he and some friends
were walking in the middle of
the road in front of their
school. They were also talking
while walking.
For junior road users in
Jakarta, it seems, street smartness is a must to survive the
traffic jungle. They have to be
extra cautious and alert all the
time and there seems to be no
room for children to walk leisurely while talking.
Nurlaila, a teacher at SD
Bendungan Hilir 12 state elementary school in Central
Jakarta, said on Tuesday that
her students went to and from
school by different modes - by
ojek (motorcycle taxi), by private car and by foot.
“Only a few of them live
nearby and they come to
school by foot,” she added.
Agung, a father who drives
his son to the Bendungan Hilir
school by motorcycle every
day, said he had told his son to
always wear a helmet, a jacket
and two pairs of pants to protect himself.
Agung said that as his home
was far from the school, he did
not allow his son to walk there.
“The traffic here is very dangerous because a lot of drivers
do not abide by traffic regulations,” he said, adding that he
did not allow his 12-year-old
son to take public transportation because he was too young
to deal with the unpredictable
traffic.
ures. On the American side, more
than 58,000 soldiers lost their
lives, while some estimates say
more Vietnam veterans committed suicide after the war than
died in fighting - although the
figures are disputed.
Vietnamese reporters faced
the same - if not worse - dangers
as their foreign colleagues, who
have been lionised since the war
for their powerful coverage.
Some 200 Vietnamese correspondents - who lived alongside
regular army units - were killed
during the conflict.
While Vietnamese reporters
working for the communist side
were certainly less balanced in
their reporting than the foreign
press, their images were still
powerful, according to photographer Tim Page, who covered the
war for UPI.
“The problem that the great
frames taken by the photographers on the ‘other side’ is that
they never got to see the light of
day in the west,” Page, co-author
of a book of images by foreign
and Vietnamese journalists killed
in the war, told AFP.
Malaysia upholds death sentences
for Mexican brothers, two others
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia’s highest court on
Thursday upheld guilty verdicts and
death sentences for three Mexican
brothers, a Singaporean and a
Malaysian convicted of manufacturing
drugs.
The Gonzalez Villarreal brothers Luis Alfonso, 47, Simon, 40, and Jose
Regino, 37 - were arrested in March
2008 in an industrial building in
southern Malaysia where police found
30 kilograms (66 pounds) of
methamphetamine and equipment for
making drugs.
The brothers insist they were
working as cleaners and were unaware
drugs were being made.
Drug trafficking convictions in
Malaysia carry a mandatory sentence
of death by hanging.
“Our decision is unanimous.
Appeal dismissed against all five
defendants. Conviction and sentence
affirmed,” Federal Court justice
Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin, speaking
on behalf of a panel of judges, told the
court in Malaysia’s administrative
capital of Putrajaya.
The men were sentenced in May
2012 and the ruling was affirmed a
year later by an appeals court. The
brothers are from Culiacan, the capital
of Mexico’s northwestern state of
Sinaloa, bastion of the powerful
Sinaloa drug cartel.
The brothers, dressed in white
prison trousers and white shirts with
red sleeves, took the decision calmly,
even managing to smile as they were
led from court.
The Mexican foreign ministry has
said it had “repeatedly expressed (to
Malaysian authorities) Mexico’s
position against capital punishment”.
The defendants included Singaporean
citizen Lim Hung Wang, 56, and Lee
Boon Siah, 51, of Malaysia.
The decision exhausts all normal
court options for the defendants, but
defence lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik
said they planned to seek a last-ditch
judicial review of the case by the
Federal Court.
Failing that, they may consider
seeking a royal pardon from
Malaysia’s figurehead monarchy, he
said.
MYANMAR ELEVEN, Friday, April 24, 2015
9
ASEAN+
Philippines on its way to
be a heavyweight: IHS
PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER
THE Philippine economy is
projected to expand significantly
over the next decade and a half
to become one of Southeast
Asia’s heavyweights, fueled by a
growing middle class and a
resurgent manufacturing sector.
IHS Global, a think tank, said
that the government’s businessfriendly policies would lead to
higher levels of investment, helping create more jobs and raise
incomes in the country.
Over the next five years, gross
domestic product (GDP) growth
may average 5.5 per cent, forecasts showed. If this expansion
were to be sustained, per capita
income, or the money the average Filipino makes, could double
to $6,000 a year by 2024. By
2029, the size of the economy is
expected to more than triple
from $310 billion in 2015 to over
$1 trillion.
“These significant increases in
per capita GDP will create one of
Asean’s largest consumer markets of the future, as the middle
class rapidly expands over time,”
IHS Global Asia Pacific chief
economist Rajiv Biswas said.
“This will help attract foreign
direct investment by multinationals into the Philippines manufacturing and services industry.”
The main growth drivers for
the Philippines economy are the
rapidly growing outsourcing sector and the strong flow of remittances from Filipino workers
abroad. The expected gains may
be attributed to the large pool of
university-educated workers as
well as the strong Englishlanguage skills of the workforce
in the country.
In the Philippines, the export
revenue from the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector
more than doubled between
2008 and 2014, reaching an estimated $18 billion in revenues by
2014, while the total number of
employees in the IT-BPO industry
exceeded 1 million.
By 2016, the Philippines’
IT-BPO industry is projected to
have 1.3 million employees. The
rapid growth of this industry is
also driving economic development in a number of cities across
the Philippines, with Manila and
Cebu now ranked among the
world’s leading BPO hubs.
Also, remittances from Filipino
workers abroad rose to a new
record of $26.9 billion in 2014—
up 6.2 per cent from the level
seen in 2013, providing a key
source of strength for the
Philippines’ balance of payments. Overseas workers’ remittances directly support consumer expenditure and residential
housing construction, becoming
a key driver of GDP growth in the
Philippines.
In the long term, the development of the Philippines will
depend on the manufacturing
sector’s competitiveness—whether it can effectively harness foreign and domestic investment
flows. “This will require considerable improvement of the business climate, with the Philippines
still ranked very low globally on
the World Bank’s ease of doing
business rankings,” Biswas said.
Thai economy
may have
shrunk over
last 2 quarters
THE NATION
Singapore hotels take actions
THE STRAITS TIMES
A general view of Singapore’s financial district.
Sovereign hotel chains, said:
“When you compare the market
now to the tourism boom years
when the integrated resorts first
opened, room rates and occupancy were much higher then.
But now, visitor numbers are
dropping and yet the number of
hotel rooms is increasing year on
year.
“We have to keep working to
maintain our current revenues.
It’s going to be more challenging.
So that’s good if we have our
own campaign.”
The number of hotels in
Singapore jumped from 373 in
2013 to 392 last year, injecting
2,154 rooms into the market, latest STB figures show.
The average occupancy rate
stood at 85 per cent last year,
down 1 per cent from 2013. The
average room rate was S$258
per night, down 0.2 per cent.
Several hotels are slated to
open this year, including the 557room Genting Hotel Jurong on
April 30, the 442-room Park
Hotel Alexandra next month and
the 157-room Patina in the
Central Business District, which
will open in the third quarter.
Meanwhile, tourist arrivals
have fallen from 15.6 million in
2013 to 15.1 million last year - the
first drop since 2009.
There were 2.4 million visitors
in the first two months of this
year, a 5 per cent decline year on
year.
Audrey Chung, Far East
Hospitality’s head of global sales
and marketing, said the new
campaign would help the
10-hotel chain, which runs boutique hotels like The Quincy and
Oasia, “drive numbers not just to
our hotels, but to Singapore as
well”.
AFP
Five major hotel companies in
Singapore are taking matters into
their own hands to boost the
dwindling number of tourists
here, and to protect their own
rice bowls.
The hotel groups and GTA - a
firm that helps them sell their
rooms to travel agents abroad have put aside a total of S$2 million (US$1.48 million) to drive
their own overseas marketing
campaign featuring 22 of their
hotels.
The year-long campaign
began on April 1 and will involve
three-day roadshows in at least
12 cities.
They are mostly second- tier
markets like Kochi in India and
Busan in South Korea, where
Singapore and the hotels are less
well known, said GTA regional
vice-president of sales and marketing Daryl Lee, who is driving
the campaign.
Campaigns will be customised
for each city. In India, for
instance, hotels will offer packages with vegetarian food options.
GTA will meet the Singapore
Tourism Board (STB) next month
to make sure their campaign
does not clash with the government agency’s.
STB’s director of hotels and
sector manpower, Ong Huey
Hong, said: “We welcome such
initiatives by industry players. In
an increasingly competitive environment, we need more promotional activities to excite potential visitors about Singapore as a
vibrant destination.”
The companies involved are
FRHI Hotels and Resorts, Global
Premium Hotel, Far East
Hospitality, Resorts World
Sentosa and The Ritz-Carlton.
Eddie Lim, 40, chief executive
of Global Premium Hotel, which
owns the Fragrance and Park
Resorts World Sentosa said
that the campaign is a chance to
“reach out to travel agents in
second-tier cities that we don’t
normally have contact with”.
To sell their rooms, hotels
here generally advertise in target
countries. They also work with
travel agents and aggregator
firms like GTA and promote their
website to draw direct bookings.
Swiss firm GTA processes
more than 21,000 global hotel
bookings a day. This is the first
time it has teamed up with hotels
for such a campaign.
Hotels like Santa Grand
Hospitality, which is not involved
in the campaign, said it relies on
direct sales and online travel
agencies but would consider
joining such an event if it was
invited. Marketing manager Derik
Poh said: “We are small. We can’t
do roadshows overseas.”
There is a chance that
Thailand’s quarterly economic expansion will be in
negative territory if year-onyear growth in gross domestic product comes in at just
3 per cent for the first three
months of the year, Don
Nakornthab, director of the
Bank of Thailand’s
Macroeconomic Policy
Office, said on Wednesday.
His comment followed a
statement by the secretarygeneral of the Office of the
National Economic and
Social Development Board
(NESDB), Akom
Termpitayapaisit, who said
the economy’s year-on-year
expansion would most likely
be around 3 per cent in the
first quarter.
With seasonally adjusted
economic expansion
between the final two quarters of 2014 now recorded at
1.7 per cent, the NESDB is
expected to release this
year’s official first-quarter
GDP data on May 18.
“The quarter-on-quarter
growth at around 2 per cent
in the fourth quarter of 2014
is quite aggressive when
compared to normalcy in
the past, so a slowdown of
quarter-on-quarter expansion from the fourth quarter
of 2014 to the first quarter of
2015 is expected.
“However, the fact that
the numbers for consumption and exports did not look
so good in the first two
months of this year means
the quarter-on-quarter size
of the economy might actually have contracted,” said
the central bank’s macroeconomic chief.
“Nevertheless, I believe
quarter-on-quarter performance in the second quarter
will most likely be better
than in the first quarter,
because of somewhat of a
recovery in the export sector
and an increase in government spending,” he added.
The central bank said the
baht had strengthened by
around 1 per cent since the
last Monetary Policy
Committee meeting on
March 11, which is generally
in line with the movement of
other currencies in the
region.
LIFESTYLE
Live act, classic hits
10
MYANMAR ELEVEN, Friday, April 24, 2015
Lin Lin Khaing
MYANMAR ELEVEN
Since debuting shortly after
2000, Sone Thin Par quickly
earned recognition with the title
song of her debut album
“Kabargyi Ka Kyinn Tal So Pay
Mae”.
The catchy tune, itself a local
cover of Mark Dinning’s classic
hit “The World is Getting
Smaller”, simply launched her
career in music. With a string of
hits under her belt and an evergrowing fanbase, Sone Thin Par
is set to stage her first concert
tomorrow. In this exclusive interview with Myanmar Eleven, the
diva takes a behind-the-scenes
look at the concert while showing
her fans what’s there to expect.
Tell us about the concert.
I’ve had this big dream of
staging my own concert ever
since I started singing. My
friends have been very supportive [of the concert]. Some of
them pitched in with financial
support and equipment. My
mentors Min Chit Thu and Myint
Moe Aung is also supporting me.
Everyone is giving me a hand.
How do you design the setlist
since you have many hits?
I tend to select my own songs.
I have only selected two or three
cover songs that used to be popular. I choose the songs that are
suitable to sing at the concert.
Mostly, I have selected the songs
that were top hits. I have selected
about 15 original songs and
“copy” songs.
Tell us about the performance and presentation of the
concert.
I’m thinking of holding the
concert in three segments. I will
sing 10 old songs that I normally
sing in concerts in the first section.
The band has rearranged
songs like “Yarzawin Thwin Mae
A Chit” to make them livelier and
a bit uptempo. I will perform the
unplugged versions of songs like
“Cowboy” during the second segment. Of the last 10 songs, four
will have some performances by
Khae Mi Ko, Uranium, and Jade
Dragon dance groups.
Will there be any guest
entertainers?
My fellow sisters from the
music industry – Chaw Su Khin,
Tin Zar Maw, and Connie – will
help as presenters rather instead
of me hiring outsiders.
I hear you’re interested in
doing a programme based on
your life story.
I’m thinking of doing this programme. I haven’t taken many
photos since I was a child. I plan
to present a summary of my
childhood with what I have.
live show?
Even if I have this broadcast
on TV, it has to be the standard
live TV delay. I want the audience
to come and experience a real
live concert. I have done my best.
That’s why I want them to come
to the concert.
How do you feel now that you
are about to hold your first concert?
I’m very happy and excited.
I’m also a little scared. There are
many things that could go wrong
during the concert, but I plan to
do my best for my audience.
Any plans for your fans in
other regions?
I have many ideas. As this is
my first concert, I will select and
perform my best songs. I want to
release it on DVD, but I’m focusing on the concert at the
moment.
Are you satisfied with your
music career?
You can say I’m a little bit
lazy. I haven’t released many
albums. I have to devote my time
to my family. I also double as a
mom so I’m wearing two hats at
the same time. Youth these days
work real hard, but I don’t want
Will this concert be a truly
to pull my punches. I have this
mindset that is to always keep
outperforming myself every day.
My fans still support my songs
even now. I want to thank all the
fans who will always be there for
me.
Anything you want to tell
your fans who are coming to
your concert?
The audience will receive
something nice and worthy of
their time spent in concert. They
will get a genuine live-concert
experience filled with many good
songs they used to like in the
past.
Coca-Cola Myanmar names Eaint Chit,
Mi Sandi as brand ambassadors
MYANMAR ELEVEN
Popular female artists Eaint Chit
and Mi Sandi have been appointed
Coca-Cola Myanmar’s new brand
ambassadors.
The two artists will join existing
brand ambassador Sai Sai Kham
Leng to tour the country as part of
Coca-Cola’s Myanmar Summer
Festival.
“Both singers, who are successful
in the music industry, are joining
hands with Coca-Cola to do some
fun activities and music. We are
planning many programmes for them
to work with artist Sai Sai Khem
Mi Sandi is one
of the two new
brand
ambassadors
of Coca-Cola
EMG
What have you prepared for
the concert?
When I started planning the
concert, I came up with this title:
“The Prominent Songs of Sone
Thin Par”. I have released four
studio albums and many group
albums [throughout my career].
These include covers of other
people’s songs, but I also have
many songs of my own. Among
them,
I have selected 30 prominent
songs that I think the audience
will like. The rehearsal is up and
running. I will be performing with
Dream Lover band. This band
has been with me since I started
singing in Mandalay. They have
rearranged some of my old songs
to match up with the present era
and helped me select the songs.
Leng, who was appointed as brand
ambassador two years ago,” said a
spokesman for Coca-Cola Myanmar.
“Coca-Cola is the first product I
have accepted to work as a brand
ambassador. It is a worldwide brand
so I believe I will get some nice experience working with them. We will
travel with Coca-Cola and present fun
programmes,” said Mi Sandi.
Eaint Chit is a successful singer
who has released two studio albums
and won the “I Love Artist” award at
the 2014 Myanmar Music Awards. Mi
Sandi has released two well-received
studio albums and won Best Artist at
the Monsoon Music Awards last year.