January 2 - 8, 2012

myanmartimes
Myanmars first international weekly Volume 31, No. 608 1200 Kyats
EDITORIAL

tHe

Time to seize the moment

IT seems probable that in the coming years we will look back on 2011 as a watershed year for Myanmar, a year in which the country finally confined decades of military rule to the dustbin of history and embarked on a journey of democratisation. As we enter 2012 there are many reasons to be optimistic. Since President U Thein Seins government came to power on March 30, it has made significant progress on many important issues. A few of these have captured most attention, particularly the presidents meeting with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the suspension of the Myitsone dam. We have, however, seen other, equally important but less lauded changes. Government by decree has been replaced by consensus-decision making. The parliaments have functioned independently and are getting stronger as institutions. Societal controls have been relaxed to some degree. The media industry has been at the forefront of these changes. Struggling under strict censorship for many years has only made 2011 all the more rewarding for the countrys many journalists, including those at The Myanmar Times. The manner in which we and other publications were able to cover important national issues, such as the Myitsone dam, parliamentary debates and, more recently, aspects of the conflict in Kachin State, would have been previously inconceivable. Having recognised that a free press is an important aspect of democracy, the government should continue to loosen censorship in a coordinated and responsible manner, and journalists and editors must accept the responsibilities that come with this freedom. The dramatic changes of 2011 have created a sense of optimism, hope and belief in many segments of Myanmar society that the country is on the right path and being led by a government that has the peoples interests at heart. There is reason to be cautious, however. Hope is a powerful thing. Properly harnessed, it can propel reforms, yet it can also dissipate quickly. The next 12 months will be critical for U Thein Sein and his government to consolidate the progress we have seen in 2011 and make headway on issues where more needs to be done. Two of these stand out. Millions of Myanmar continue to live in poverty, surviving on less than K1000 a day. Economic reforms a priority, the government said when it took office need to be implemented, and implemented in a way that benefits the most vulnerable households in the country. In this regard, the international community has a vital role to play in terms of provision of technical assistance. Having withheld support for too long, the West must now show it is really committed to a better future for the Myanmar people. The second issue, however, can only be solved by a concerted effort from within. Decades of internal conflict have ravaged Myanmars borderlands. Should this situation continue indefinitely, the outlook for the country is bleak. While the November 19-20 meeting on the Thai border with five armed ethnic groups should be welcomed, the failure to definitively stop the fighting in Kachin State since the breakdown of a ceasefire in June has represented a black mark against U Thein Seins government. More page 4

In a year of surprises, this one tops the list

Reserving 25 percent of seats for serving military personnel was one of the more controversial aspects of the 2008 constitution. But like many developments in 2011, the militarys role in parliament has gone contrary to expectations. Find out more with our in-depth report on page 3. Military representatives take notes in the Pyithu Hluttaw in Nay Pyi Taw on August 22. Pic: AFP

Arrivals up, but not all is well in the tourism trade

Industry leaders warn infrastructure shortages, rising prices and a lack of professionalism could harm the sectors image among prospective clients
THE growth in tourist arrival numbers has highlighted a number of potential pitfalls for the industry moving forward, sources say. While optimistic about the outlook for tourism, concerns are growing over the countrys lack of hotel and transport capacity, poor infrastructure, high prices and inefficient booking systems. The Myanmar tourism industry is now at a point where we need to become more professional because the number of people who want to visit Myanmar is slowly growing, Mr Edwin Briels, general manager of Exploration Travel and Tour, said last week. A spokesperson from a tour company based in Sakura Tower said that the availability of hotel rooms and seats on domestic airline bookings was a serious issue. On one side arrival numbers 1 and November 30, up from 271,547 in the same period in 2010, the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism announced recently. A spokesperson for the Union of Myanmar Travel Association (UMTA) said the industry was enjoying solid increases in tourist numbers. All major hotels in Yangon and key destinations are fully booked. We expect an increase of at least 20 to 25pc for the 2011-2012 fiscal year, the spokesperson said. While growth in 2011 has been mostly driven by arrivals from Asia, the industry is preparing for a shift in clientele next year, with more bookings expected from the American, Australian and British markets, which in the past mostly adhered to the tourism boycott campaign. We expect the market to shift in 2012, said Daw May Myat Mon Win, assistant general manager for marketing and operations at Yangons Chatrium Hotel. There will be a significant increase in leisure travellers from the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, the United States and Australia from 2012 onwards. Commercial travellers will also increase with the opening up of the economy. Therefore, major leisure destinations such as Bagan, Inle and Ngapali will benefit from the high-end leisure market, and Yangon as the key commercial hub will benefit from business travellers and the Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, and Exhibitions business. She said hotels would almost certainly see higher occupancy and revenues in 2012. I feel the increase will not be lower than 25pc. That means the rates will definitely go up to cater for increased demand. More page 4

are growing but on the other side we dont have enough facilities to meet demand. We have a shortage of hotel rooms and domestic [airline] seats during this years high season and this issue can potentially have a huge negative impact on tourism. The ministry and private sectors must consider developing a master plan to solve these problems, the spokesperson said. The warnings come as government figures show arrivals increased more than 26 percent in the first 11 months of the year, following a record-breaking 2010. More than 343,000 tourists visited Myanmar between January

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Yingluck and the feelgood factor

DR Feelgood, a British blues rock band, never approached the fame of the Beatles or the Stones or even the Kinks, but they were mesmeric performers who had a great rapport with pub crowds in Londons East End. Among the bands more memorable numbers was The Feelgood Factor, a song about a woman who possessed that quality. Its chorus goes like this: She got what you want She got what you need Its the feelgood factor and its guaranteed The lyrics came to mind last month when Yingluck Shinawatra, the Thai Prime Minister, attended a sumptuously colourful garden party marking King Bhumibol Adulyadejs 84th birthday. Without doubt, Yingluck has got the feelgood factor. As she moved among the glittering throng of gowned ladies, bowtied men, uniformed officers, diplomats and bureaucrats, as well as some plain folks and lowly journalists, she was like a

feelgood The has spread factor over Thailand and swamped the cynicism and despair caused by the civil unrest and social polarisation that resulted from the military coup of 2006.

celestial magnet. Everyone, including senior members of the cabinet and normally august ambassadors, pressed towards her, eager to exchange a few words and have their photograph taken with her. What was most striking was that she never missed a beat, never let the radiant smile drop, never failed to return a preferred wai or a friendly greeting. Despite her relative political inexperience, Yingluck, 44, appears to the manor born and it looks likely that while some under-performing ministers may soon fall by the wayside, shes definitely in for the long haul. The feelgood factor, which radiates from her, has spread over Thailand and swamped the cynicism and despair caused by the relentless civil unrest and social polarisation that resulted from the disastrous military coup of 2006. And despite recent lethal floods of biblical proportions, there is

now a sense of relief and calmness, accompanied by a conviction that her government will last, and that while it may have ups and downs, it will not do anything crazy. What accounts for Yinglucks incredible feelgood factor? Well, for starters, the Thaksin factor can be dismissed as the major reason for it. Yes, earlier this year, her elder brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, did pick her to lead the Pheu Thai Party that would represent his interests in the July 3 election. And yes, his name and funds and political acumen did help propel her to victory in those polls. But its one thing to get that kind of backing, its quite another to capitalise on it and leave your opponents in the dust, and then, having won in a landslide, to hold down the post of prime minister and retain popular support. Perhaps we should not be so surprised. After all, aside from the feelgood factor, Yingluck, who earned a masters degree in the United States and is a former company managing director, is known to be savvy and self-assured. A well-connected business consultant, who has been in Thailand for decades and is not easily impressed, recalled that when he invited Yingluck to seminars, she always participated and asked the best questions. She has already acquired the political knack of avoiding blame and is now referred to in the local media as the Teflon Lady. In a poll earlier last month, three times more people blamed the opposition Democrats for causing the floods than blamed Yinglucks government, and twice as many blamed the Democrat-aligned Bangkok governor. In fact, the opposition, led by former PM Abhisit Vejjajiva, has performed dismally and appears unable to offer much in the way of constructive criticism aside from ritual and increasingly boring anti-Thaksin jibes. As one ambassador said at the Kings birthday gala: Who cares about that? If any Thais do, its because they want Thaksin back. So harping on about it is a lose-lose tactic for the Democrats. Hes right. Meantime, Yinglucks popularity continues to rise. A recent poll gave her a 68 percent positive rating. As the song says: She got the feelgood factor and its guaranteed.

Clockwise from top: Members of the 88 Generation Student Youths (Union of Myanmar) conduct campaign activities in Mandalay in mid-2010. Union Solidarity and Development Party members at the opening of the partys Mandalay headquarters on August 20, 2010. A Union Election Commission voting demonstration in September 2010. Pics: Christopher Davy, Hein Latt Aung

Mandalay marches to a different political beat

his efforts to keep discipline among civil servants, U Sein Hla said he thinks lower-ranking civil servant have not changed their behaviour. He also complained that few of the candidates that contested the election in 2010 had remained politically active, and those that had seemed unable to build a support base. They cant work practically. We need stronger politicians and improved performance. It is very important that parties dont have unworthy politicians in their ranks, he said. Perhaps another explanation is that Mandalay Region voters plumped overwhelmingly for the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) in the November 2010 poll. The party won all Amyotha Hluttaw and Pyithu Hluttaw seats in the region, and all but two of the 57 elected representatives in the Mandalay Region Hluttaw are from the USDP. However, recently there has been some movement among opposition political parties in the city. At a gathering on October 30, political leaders from six parties agreed to form what they called a Joint Action Committee (JAC), essentially a cross-party alliance. Members of the committee will meet on the last Sunday of each month to discuss political issues of importance. But most of Mandalays residents believe political changes have had a limited impact, and that clean government in particular is a long way off. We have seen some changes in the regional government such as the minister contacting private journals directly. This is a sign of change, said cartoonist Hergule (Katha). But one thing were unhappy about is that lower-level members of government bodies seem to lack awareness of the changes.

MANDALAY residents have always been at pains to point out that they do things differently than those in other parts of the country. And when it comes to politics, the same appears to be true. While Nay Pyi Taw and Yangon have been a hive of political activity over the past seven or eight months, Mandalay has been relatively quiet. But residents are keen to stress that not all is as it seems in Myanmars second largest city. Mandalay and Yangon are very different in everything. Its like the difference between the countryside and the city, said Ko Sanyu Kyaw, a local journalist. There are just a few politicians in Mandalay and they cannot mobilise like the Yangon-based politicians, he said. But we have many social associations in Mandalay and they can perform better than political parties. Ko Sanyu Kyaw added that he hadnt seen any prominent political changes in Mandalay since the government came to power in late March. For outspoken lawyer and politician U Sein Hla, who unsuccessfully stood as an independent candidate in the 2010 election, the new government has a mixed record. I like President U Thein Sein but Im not happy with [the governments] policies, he said. We welcome the presidents speech talking about good governance and clean government but we will have to wait and see how clean it really is. While he commends U Ye Myint, the chief minister of Mandalay Region, for

This reflects broader public sentiment that while the government has been clear in its intentions, improvements are slow to materialise. We see some clear political changes but not from the bottom of the government most staff are not keeping up with the changes. People want to see a lot of changes. Everyone is really interested in the political movement and the countrys transition process, said Ko Nyein Chan, a Mandalay resident. In an important step, reporters were given access to the Mandalay Region Hluttaw for the first time in November, allowing them to better report on issues concerning the regional government. Unsurprisingly, U Ye Myint spun a positive line. He said at the hluttaw meeting in Mandalay on November 2 that the regional government was maintaining discipline among government staff and that ministers were venturing out to the field for rural development tasks. He added that regional government was cooperating with the central government in Nay Pyi Taw on legislation and development tasks concerning Mandalay Region and that the regional government has told staff on city development committees to improve public awareness of efforts to fight corruption. Whether Mandalay residents agree with U Ye Myint, Dr Madan Mohan Sethi, the Indian consul general in Mandalay, said the creation of a regional governments had made communication on sub-national issues easier. Now it is much better because I can meet at least nine ministers in the new [regional] government. Before we could only meet one [military] commander, Dr Sethi said. And I feel like we now have more freedom to speak during these meetings.

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I asked a military representative [in the Amyotha Hluttaw], how come? Why didnt you all have the same stance [on that issue]? He replied, I also have no idea about [why the decisions were different], said U Phone Myint Aung, an Amyotha Hluttaw representative. It can also be seen in television broadcasts of hluttaw sessions that the military representatives do not always vote together, contrary to initial expectations. However, one notable issue did manage to gain the support of all military personnel in the Pyithu Hluttaw: a proposal for a general amnesty. Submitted by U Thein Nyunt, the representative for Thingangyun, in late August, the proposal received unanimous support from both civilian and military representatives, to the surprise of many observers. The question is whether this bipartisanship and ability to operate freely will continue. U Phone Myint Aung said he concluded from the recent row between the two houses that the presence of military representatives could improve trust between the parliament and the military, which has been the dominant institution in the country for decades. I f m i l i t a r y representatives were not in parliament, there would be more speculation and doubt between the parliaments and military when disputes like this occur, he said. Dr Aye Maung, an Amyotha Hluttaw representative from Rakhine State, said while relations between military and civilian representatives were generally good there were still concerns that the military personnel were not independent. Theres no particular source of problems between each of us, he said. [But] I would like to have a secret voting system in order to allow them to vote even more independently.

In the hluttaws, more green shoots

IT was one of the most contentious aspects of the constitution: reserving 25 percent of seats for serving military personnel. But despite some initial mistrust, elected and military representatives say relations are improving between the two groups and, after a slow start, the serving military personnel are learning the ropes of life in the hluttaw. It is fine, theres no problem between military and civil representatives no atmosphere of tension. We are becoming familiar with each other, said U Sai Than Nai, a Pyithu Hluttaw representative from Shan State. We can even see discussions on the sidelines [of parliament] among civilian and military representatives on issues that they share a common interest in, said U Than Nyein, a former member of National Democratic Force and now an independent Pyithu Hluttaw representative. Colonel Zaw Min Maung, a military representative in the Yangon Region Hluttaw, said there was also a cordial relationship in the regional body. The atmosphere is fine, no tension between us at all. We are all thinking about the good of our country, he said. The provision to give the military a formal role in the parliamentary system developed during the National Convention, which was called to draft a new constitution in 1993, five years after demonstrators across the country called for an end to socialism in favour of a liberal democratic system. Some invited groups, including the National League f o r D e m o c r a c y (NLD), boycotted the National Convention primarily over the issue of the military having a formal presence in parliament. It remained a major concern for the party when senior

Above left: Military representatives in the Pyithu Hluttaw on August 22, the first day of the second session. Above right: President U Thein Sein addresses the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw earlier the same day. Pics: Soe Than Lynn, AFP which is K300,000 a month parliament, the military members decided not to for those in the national r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s w e r e contest the 2010 election. legislatures and K200,000 apparently unused to the However, it was seen a m o n t h i n r e g i o n a l parliamentary procedures. as a concession to more But in the second session legislatures. conservative elements in the I chose my original salary their participation has There are no instructions military who worried that transitioning to Western- for discussions and voting. from the military. Theres b e e n i n c r e a s i n g a n d I s t y l e d e m o c r a c y , w i t h W e d e c i d e o u r s e l v e s , not much of a difference have noticed they prepare parliaments comprising confirmed Colonel Zaw Min between the two, though, themselves for discussions by reading legal texts and only elected representatives, Maung. We have studied he said. While the number of so on. They also participate political subjects at the would lead to instability. Military representatives Defence Services Academy, military appointees in in discussions on proposals, occupy 110 seats in the he said, referring to the parliaments is legislated, said a journalist covering 440-seat Pyithu Hluttaw, exclusive officer training there are no rules concerning the Pyithu Hluttaw. But some said the military representation on 56 out of 224 seats in the school in Pyin Oo Lwin. Additionally, military parliamentary committees. practices of the military had Amyotha Hluttaw and more than 200 seats in the 14 representatives underwent R e p r e s e n t a t i v e s s a i d followed the representatives to parliament. state and region They seem to hluttaws. They were look at their senior appointed by the We can even see discussions in parliament officers before then-commander in chief, Senior General between civilian and military representatives on d e c i d i n g h o w t o vote. Sometimes we Than Shwe. can see they look In the lead up to issues they share a common interest in. confused as to how the convening of they should vote, the first session of parliament in Nay Pyi Taw on a five-day training program c o m m i t t e e s h a d b e e n said a journalist who has January 31, there was much b e f o r e s t a r t i n g t h e i r established with suitable observed the Amyotha speculation among elected assignment to parliaments people, regardless of their Hluttaw. Their ability to participate representatives about what on January 26 engaging background, and comprised freely in parliamentary mostly civilians. role the appointed military with legitimacy duties. J o u r n a l i s t s a s s i g n e d debates and decisions was The main duty for personnel would play: Would they try to hinder attempts military representatives is to cover parliamentary recently illustrated in the at reform? Would they be to uphold our three national sessions have been given row over a controversial able to work independently? causes: non-disintegration a rare insight into the d e c i s i o n m a d e b y t h e of the union, maintaining workings of parliament. P y i d a u n g s u H l u t t a w Would they vote as a bloc? T e n m o n t h s o n , n a t i o n a l s o l i d a r i t y Like the parliamentarians, speaker U Khin Aung Myint. representatives say that a n d p e r p e t u a t i n g t h e s e v e r a l s a i d m i l i t a r y On that occasion, all Pyithu the military personnel sovereignty of the state, representatives appeared Hluttaw representatives to vote and discuss issues civilian and military f a c e f e w r e s t r i c t i o n s Col Zaw Min Maung said. Military representatives freely, without having to objected to his decision, when participating in parliamentary discussions are able to receive their follow the instructions of a while all Amyotha Hluttaw representatives expressed or voting on bills and previous salary or accept the superior. At the first session of their formal support for it. salary of a parliamentarian, proposals.

MMA launches two Balloon enthusiasts to return this month youth health hotlines
By Aye Sapay Phyu By Yamon Phu Thit TELEPHONE hotlines that allow young people to anonymously ask questions about reproductive health have been established as part of the Myanmar Medical Associations Youth Development Program, a spokesperson said last week. The lines are manned by specially trained doctors from 10am to 5pm daily and young people are able to ask questions about topics such as HIV/AIDS and reproductive health. A White Line has been established for men, while women are encouraged to call the Pink Line. A spokesperson from the Youth Development Program said it opened the hotlines last month because young people were often too embarrassed to ask questions about reproductive health during a face-to-face consultation. Young people dont receive the right information if they arent able to ask for it openly, Dr Aung Paing Khant said. While callers can remain anonymous, they are required to give their age and township. It will make it easier for us to refer them to clinics if we know their address, he said. Anyone can use the hotline freely but abusive language will not be tolerated. The White Line can be reached on 09-7321-2226 and the Pink Line 09-73212227. A GROUP of Swiss tourists will visit in late January for a hot-air balloon tour of the country, said U Tint Naung, managing director of Golden Express Travel and Tours. The group has visited each year since 1999. This year the balloonist will take to the skies over Inle, Mandalay, Pakokku and Bagan, U Tint Naung said. They will arrive in Yangon on January 28 and leave on February 11. They will go to Inle first they like that place very much. They will then travel to Mandalay and Pakokku, and then Bagan will be last destination. Those places are convenient for flying, he said. About 30 people will be in their group with a total of seven balloons. He said the group includes two parachutists, who plan to jump in Inle,

Mandalay and Bagan. In previous years the group has participated in the Kachin Manaw Festival in Myitkyina and Kayah State Day in Loikaw. But these areas are difficult to access and often you need to apply for permission to travel there, so they are not eager to go there again, he said. Other previous destinations include Monywa, Bago, Taunggyi, Pindaya and Mrauk-U.

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Stability of the State, community peace and tranquillity, prevalence of law and order Strengthening of national solidarity Building and strengthening of disciplineflourishing democracy system Building of a new modern developed nation in accord with the Constitution

Four political objectives

Building of modern industrialized nation through the agricultural development, and all-round development of other sectors of the economy Proper evolution of the market-oriented economic system Development of the economy inviting participation in terms of technical know-how and investment from sources inside the country and abroad initiative to shape the national economy must be kept in the hands The of the State and the national peoples

Four economic objectives

Uplift of the morale and morality of the entire nation of national prestige and integrity and preservation Uplift and safeguarding of cultural heritage and national character Flourishing of Union Spirit, the true patriotism Uplift of health, fitness and education standards of the entire nation

Four social objectives

Experts sound cautious note on tourism growth

By Yu Yu Maw WITH Myanmar likely to again be among the worlds top nations in terms of tourist arrival growth this year, stakeholders are warning that the government should ensure the industrys expansion doesnt come at the expense of Myanmars culture and natural environment. The issue was widely discussed at last months Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) tourism conference in Bagan, with industry experts from across the region saying Myanmar should learn from the mistakes made in some neighbouring countries. They also called for the drafting of a tourism master plan and better government regulation of the industry. Deputy Minister for Tourism U Htay Aung said the government believed that quick tourism growth could lead to a dilution of Myanmars cultural heritage. We will go step by step, going from 300,000 air arrivals [a year] to 400,000 and then 500,000. Our government is conscious that will be the way to prevent an over-commercialisation of our assets and the destruction of our social and cultural fabric, U Htay Aung said. International air arrivals rose more than 20 percent this year, with about two-thirds of visitors from Asia, according to government figures. The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), meanwhile, expects Myanmar to be among the worlds fastest growing From page 1 like Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines. Assistance for a tourism regulation project could come from several sources, including through GMS programs. The Asian Development Bank has said it is looking at how it can offer support to the industry, while a representative from the Norwegian embassy said it wanted to provide tourism and environmental experts to provide advice. I want to see how we can help develop tourism in Myanmar. We are already encouraging our people to come to Myanmar to see the beautiful country, said Mr Arne Jan Flolo, a counsellor at the Norwegian embassy in Bangkok. We will talk to the government to share our experience and work out how we can encourage the sustainable development of Myanmar tourism. There is no doubt Myanmar will see a huge increase in tourism in the future. Deputy Minister U Htay Aung said he hoped Myanmar would benefit further from participation in the GMS grouping, which also includes Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. The world is knocking at our door but at the moment the door is a little bit jammed and heavy. We do hope that in the future we will also have a chance to perform a leading role in implementing GMS programs that will fulfil the objectives of socio-economic development and poverty alleviation through tourism in the region, the deputy minister said.

Tourists wait for sunset at a pagoda in Bagan in early November. Pic: Kaung Htet markets, with an increase of up to 25pc. Arrivals are expected to increase further next year, particularly if the government goes through with plans to liberalise border crossing regulations and offer visa-onarrival. In November, it established the Committee for the Smooth Entrance of Foreign Visitors, comprising representatives from the government and Myanmar Tourism Board (MTB). However, unchecked growth is not necessarily desirable, experts agree. Private sector businesses will grow the industry but they will not regulate themselves, said Mr Martin Craigs, chief executive officer of PATA. It is up to the government to create the right balance for the benefit of all, and the job of business enterprises to voice their opinions to the government. PATA will then help by facilitating the dialogue between the various players in our industry. Mr Anthony Wong, group managing director of Asian Overland Service Tours and Travel, said the establishment of the MTB was a good step but it needs to be followed by a master plan based on regional experiences. We know that tourism has both good and bad effects on a country. You can suffer from over-capacity and a number of other issues that are not good for local communities or the country in general, he said. But I believe Myanmar has a huge advantage if it can learn from the mistakes made in countries

Tourism trade
However, Mr Briels said the lack of accommodation was being exacerbated by some agents and tourists making double bookings, back-up bookings and fake bookings. Hotels are not strict enough to ask for a deposit and this results in long waiting lists, which are scaring away many potential visitors who just want a confirmed booking. Especially upcountry, we see many rooms becoming available at the last minute, he said. During a sales visit to the Netherlands some operators told me that Myanmar is difficult to deal with you need to wait until the last minute to get rooms confirmed. We should try to avoid building that kind of reputation. The challenge for 2012 is to make sure hotels and other operators are quick in

Myanmar Consolidated Media Ltd. www.mmtimes.com Head Office: 379/383 Bo Aung Kyaw Street, Kyauktada Township, Yangon, Myanmar. Telephone: (01) 253 642, 392 928 Facsimile: (01) 392 706 Mandalay Bureau: No.180, 74th Street, (Bet. 31st & 32nd streets) Chan Aye Thar San Township, Mandalay. Tel: (02) 24450, 24460, 65391, 65392 Fax: (02) 24460 Email: mdybranch@myanmartimes.com.mm Nay Pyi Taw Bureau: No. 10/72 Bo Tauk Htein St, Yan Aung (1) Quarter, Nay Pyi Taw-Pyinmana. Tel: (067) 23064, 23065 Email: capitalbureau@myanmartimes.com.mm

confirming and cancelling reservations. Some operators like RV Paukan are already really strict, which is excellent for us to work with if clients really want to come they are happy to pay a deposit to secure the booking. Ministry of Hotels and Tourism figures show that 205,266, or almost two-thirds of all visitors to Myanmar in the first 11 months of the year, came from Asian countries. Thailand led the way with 53,874, followed by China (31,940), Malaysia (20,999), and South Korea and Japan (20,151 combined). Almost 24pc of total arrivals were from Europe. France represented the largest single market, accounting for 16,949 visitors, followed by Germany (11,355) and Italy (8497). Mr Werner Rumpf, managing director of Sun Birds Tours, said that while European markets were showing more

interest in Myanmar, demand was yet to really take off. He said the tourism industry would need to see more investment to cope with future increases in tourist numbers. It can be said in one sentence: build up much better infrastructure for tourism, such as more hotels, cars, flights, guides and last but not least improved roads so that clients can see this beautiful country overland.

Time to seize
Resolving this and other conflicts will require a great deal of political will from all sides. It must also be recognised that national reconciliation is about more than an end to soldiers shooting at each other. Many ethnic groups that are not actively fighting the government also have legitimate grievances

that need to be addressed. A national-level conference, along the lines of the Panglong Conference, would represent a major step in the right direction and give the government the opportunity to show it genuinely desires a peaceful and united nation. The time is right to put not only military rule behind us but also internal conflict. To be successful, though, peace deals must go beyond the leaders and penetrate all segments of society. Everybody has a role to play and at The Myanmar Times we intend do our utmost to facilitate dialogue and information sharing among all groups. Our work is, of course, only possible with your support. We would like to thank all our readers for their loyalty not only over the past 12 months but also the past 12 years. We wish all of you a safe, happy and prosperous new year.

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building the schools, he said. The Nippon Foundation was also considering expanding its assistance in Shan State by supporting the building of secondary schools. It would be a shame if the assistance ended with the building of primary schools, which is why I would also like to build high schools and one reason is because it is very important to develop human resources at the local level, Mr Sasakawa said. These school-building projects in remote areas make the people there realise that the government is not neglecting them and this will contribute towards building a more united nation, he said, adding that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi had expressed support for the plan to expand the school building projects when they met earlier on December 19. Mr Sasakawa, who met President U Thein Sein in Nay Pyi Taw on December 14, said the plan to expand distribution of traditional medicine kits to every village in the country was aimed at making Myanmar a model country in the use of traditional medicine. The Nippon Foundation began funding the distribution of the kits in 2009 and they have already been provided to 7000 villages. We want to expedite the distribution of the kits and if all goes well they will be provided to all of the villages in Myanmar in three years, Mr Sasakawa said, adding that Myanmar was well known internationally for the high standard of its traditional medicine. I know that many people have the option of choosing between traditional medicine and Western medicine, but in remote areas they do not have that option at all and if they have a traditional medicine kit it can be used to treat about 50 percent of all illnesses, he said. The Nippon Foundation would also provide training for those responsible for dispensing the

Foundation plans civil service training

By Geoffrey Goddard VISIONARY Japanese philanthropist Mr Yohei Sasakawa has been visiting Myanmar to discuss plans for a range of projects by the Nippon Foundation, including assistance for building capacity in the public service ahead of Myanmar assuming the chairmanship of ASEAN in 2014. Mr Sasakawa, the chair of the Nippon Foundation, said the other projects included expanding a school-building program in Shan State, launching school-building projects in Rakhine State, and expanding the distribution of traditional medicine kits to all of the estimated 70,000 villages in Myanmar. Providing assistance for training in the public service before 2014 will really make a difference in ensuring the success of Myanmars chairmanship of ASEAN, Mr Sasakawa said in an interview at the Sedona Hotel in Yangon on December 19. He said the Minister for Foreign Affairs, U Wunna Maung Lwin, had agreed on the training at a meeting during his visit to Japan in October. Providing assistance for capacity building in the public service would also contribute towards enabling Myanmar to engage more effectively with the international community as it continues its reform process, he said. Referring to the Nippon Foundations support for education in Myanmar, Mr Sasakawa said it would build its 200th primary school in Shan State next year, when it plans to begin a similar program in Rakhine State. Mr Sasakawa acknowledged that many international organisations were involved in helping to support education and improve literacy in Myanmar. But what is unique about our school building in Shan State is that the community has ownership of the projects; they participate in

President U Thein Sein and Mr Yohei Sasakawa (right), chair of the Nippon Foundation, in Nay Pyi Taw on December 14. Pic: Supplied/Nippon Foundation medicine. Each kit features seven types of traditional medicine for treating a variety of illnesses, as well as a thermometer, gauze, bandages, sterilising alcohol, medicinal plant alcohol, sticking plaster and a booklet on Myanmar traditional medicine. The kits cost about US$10, which is considerably cheaper than providing Western medicine. Mr Sasakawa said the Nippon Foundation also intended to provide assistance to the disabled, including contributing to the formation of an organisation dedicated to providing skills training. We want to help to motivate them so that they can go back into society and contribute their skills to the community, he said. And we want to establish a school to provide training in orthotics and prosthetics. Describing himself as just a simple, private man, Mr Sasakawa said he had devoted himself to philanthropy because of an overwhelming passion to help those who are suffering. A turning point in his life had occurred when he was 20 and visited a village in South Korea inhabited by people afflicted by leprosy. I saw a world I had never known before; they suffered awful discrimination and stigmatisation and were totally alone, Mr Sasawaka said. This is the reason why I do this work, he said, referring to his efforts to fight leprosy. It is not easy to do this work; you must have perseverance to do it. An intense lobbying campaign on behalf of those suffering from the disfiguring disease resulted in the United Nations adopting a resolution in March 2011 to work for the elimination of discrimination against those affected by leprosy and their family members. Since 1976 the Nippon Foundation and its sister organisations have provided funding to Myanmar totalling nearly $20 million for healthcare and human resource development projects, including training for journalists from The Myanmar Times, and hosting conferences and seminars on such topics as industrial reform and Myanmars role in ASEAN.

Trustees ready remote Alaungdaw Kathapa for festival season

By Cherry Thein TRUSTEES at Alaungdaw Kathapa Pagoda, located in a remote part of Sagaing Region, have begun preparations for annual pagoda festivals that start in February. Alaungdaw Kathapa Pagoda hosts two back-toback festivals each year: one on the full moon of the lunar month of Tabodwe (February 7 in 2012), and one the following month on the full moon of Tabaung (March 7). At the first festival 9000 illuminated candles are offered together with htamane (glutinous rice), while at the second a mass alms-offering ceremony will be conducted. The festivals attract residents from both Sagaing Region and Chin State, and offer an insight into their traditional culture. The journey to Alaungdaw Kathapa is not for the fainthearted, however, with roads in the area often in poor condition after rainy season. U Maung Maung Htay, a member of the pagodas board of trustees, said repair work on the road had begun who are busy but it is also attracting elderly people, he said. Aside from making offerings at the highly revered Alaungdaw Kathapa Pagoda, those who join the trip will also visit the cave temples of Po Win Taung and Shwe Ba Taung near Monywa, as well as pagodas in Sagaing and Mandalay. He said Alaungdaw Kathapa Tour Company, founded more than 10 years ago, donates all profits from its tours to the Alaungdaw Kathapa Pagodas board of trustees for upkeep of the religious site. While Myanmar has many pilgrim tour companies, few offer packages to Alaungdaw Kathapa owing to the low demand and poor condition of roads in the area, a spokesperson from Shwe Zee Kwet Tour Company said. The tour is seasonal but if we get enough passengers for the trip from 30 to 40 we arrange a bus. Its very rare though because we dont specifically offer that package and most pilgrims know there is one dedicated tour company for that site Alaungdaw Kathapa Tours. Yangon-based Unique Star Tours is offering a January 20-24 package to Alaungdaw Kathapa priced at K190,000. Another option is a regular highway bus to Sagaing, from where local buses regularly depart for the pagoda at festival times. U Maung Maung Htay said despite the logistical difficulties, the two festivals attract a total of more than 200,000 pilgrims a year. The pilgrimage is also attractive for [foreign] tourists. In recent years, it has been hard for them to get permission from local authorities but now they are allowed freely. I think the number of tourist will increase, he said. According to Buddhist belief, the cave at Alaungdaw Kathapa Pagoda holds the preserved remains of Ashin Maha Kathapa, said to be one of Guatama Buddhas most devoted disciples. Those interested in signing up for the Tabodwe or Tabaung trips can contact Alaungdaw Kathapa Tour Company on (01) 226-924 or 09-7300-2473.

The road to Alaungdaw Kathapa is often in less-than-perfect condition. Pic: Supplied in early December and it should be open by the New Year. There are many other chores to do, such as cleaning the rest houses, shrines and bathrooms on the mountain. The pagoda will open in early January, he said. U Maung Maung Htay also runs Alaungdaw Kathapa Tour Company, which offers trips to both of the festivals. The first, from February 3-10, will see pilgrims travel from Yangon to Mandalay by train and then continue by bus to the pagoda, which is inside Alaungdaw Kathapa National Park. The second pilgrimage tour has been scheduled for March 23-30. U Maung Maung Htay said the trip would cost about K72,000 a person, including transportation, meals and accommodation. The price is the same for foreigners and locals. The company will accept bookings from up to 4000 pilgrims from Yangon and Mandalay, and plans to also offer four-day trips to the pagoda for those with a tight schedule, he said. Every Friday, we arrange buses for the trip. It costs K50,000 a person, not including meals, and we accept 30 to 40 for each trip. I planned it to cater to people

TiMESbusiness
By Aye Thidar Kyaw THE winds of change are finally blowing in Myanmars financial sector as the Ministry of Finance and Revenue has begun taking steps to reform an industry that has been largely dormant since the crisis in 2003, industry sources say The past year saw the return of banking products long missing from the market, such as automatic teller machines (ATMs), hire purchase agreements to buy consumer goods and properties and official foreign currency exchange counters. The services have caught the attention of customers and boosted the amount of business the banks are doing. The Ministry of Finance and Revenue has authorised 11 private banks to handle and trade foreign currencies. These banks are Ayeyawaddy, Asia Green Development, Co-operative, Innwa, Kanbawza, Myanma Apex, Myanmar Industrial Development, Myanmar Oriental, Myawaddy, Tun

January 2 - 8, 2012

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much easier for traders because it will eliminate some of the delays they have faced in the past, he said. Only Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank (MFTB), Myanmar Investment and Commercial Bank (MICB) and Myanma Economic Bank (MEB) are authorised to handle international monetary transfers, including swift payments. Kanbawza Bank vice chairman U Than Lwin said allowing private banks to handle swift payments would increase the amount of tax the government could collect by bringing the transfers into the legal fold and away from the hundi, an illegal and informal remittance network. The Ministry of Finance and Central Bank have more responsibility now but they need international advice on how to move forward, he said. Daw Ohnmar Sein, the executive director of Asia Green Development Bank, said Myanmars banking industry needed to boost its international exposure. Our banking sector has to further open up and become more involved internationally, she said. She added that a midSeptember decision to allow

A woman withdraws money from a Co-operative Bank ATM last month. Pic: Thet Htoo Foundation and United Amara. Several of these banks, including Kanbawza, Asia Green Development and Cooperative, are also preparing swift transfer services to allow traders and overseas workers to speedily remit money through correspondent banks abroad. However, banking officials said it would take at least three months for such services to be introduced. Co-operative Bank managing director U Phey Myint said his firm was aiming to begin offering swift transfers from April. Because the private banks can cooperate with the three state-owned banks this system will make banking

The changes to the banking

sector this year ... will help to boost economic activity but arent enough.

banks to accept gold as collateral was a step in the right direction. Things are changing: In the past we could not use commodities such as gold as collateral but we are now able to, which means that more people will be able to access loans. This will help to develop the private sector by letting more people access bank-backed credit, she said. Myanma Apex Bank advisor U Soe Tin said the recent reforms to the banking industry would boost a number of other sectors, such as tourism, because they make it easier for people to access and transfer money. Myanmar Shrimp Association chairman U Hnin Oo said the reforms were a good start but did not go far enough. The changes to the banking sector this year ... will help to boost economic activity but arent enough, he said. U Min Ko Oo, chairman of Myanmar Pulses, Beans and Sesame seeds Merchants Association, said: Myanmar is gathering strength [economically] but we have to increase the pace of reform. But opening up the banking industry certainly supports traders, he said.

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prepared, he said. In fact, I think there are not enough factories operating to handle the orders we would likely receive if the sanctions were dropped, he added. A spokesperson for the Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association said Vietnam boosted the number of garment manufacturing jobs from 10,000 to 100,000 in one year, which he said Myanmar could be poised replicate. I think Myanmar could match Vietnam in terms of the number of people employed in the garment industry, he said. Even if the US sanctions are not eased the future of the industry remains bright because South Korea and Japan have been steadily increasing their orders. However, U Khin Maung Aye said the impact of the weak US dollar, which has fallen by about 25pc in the past year against the kyat, was pushing businesses to book losses rather than turn away customers. He said that the cost of living was rising and employers had to lift salaries to compensate if they wanted to hold onto staff. But at the same time companies could not raise the price of their orders or risk losing out to foreign competitors. It has been a difficult year because I dont want to reduce the size of my labour force but sometimes we must accept losses from orders, he said. I dont even want to think about the exchange rate because that has been the He added that a number of Taiwanese firms, encouraged by the low-interest loans available from Taiwanese banks, were ready to investment in the industry. But he warned that domestic companies would need to be prepared when approached by foreign firms or risk losing profit. Local businessmen have to be ready before they agree to work with foreign companies or they will only get a tiny slice of the profits, he said. U Khin Maung Aye said his companys orders were up 30 percent year-on-year in 2011, with contracts signed to supply clothing to firms in South Korea, Japan, Italy and Germany. But 90pc of our orders came from the US before the sanctions were imposed. Daw Thandar Soe, director of Amazing Tree Collection in Hlaing Tharyar township said: Im sure order will come to Myanmar if sanctions are dropped because labour charges are low here, lower even than China. Daw Thandar Soe added that she was preparing to expand Amazing Tree Collection in anticipation of sanctions being lifted. The most difficult issue is hiring land to build a new factory. Some businesspeople just buy plots of industrial land as investments and never develop them. They just hire them out or sell them if the price is high enough but it creates problems for companies that actually want to set up factories.

Garment makers hope US sanctions ease

AFTER a disastrous year battling a weak US dollar exchange rate, garment makers are gearing up to boost production in the hopes that Western sanctions will ease, industry figures said last week. The renewed hope follows the early December visit to Myanmar by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Im sure that this is the start of a good period for the industry because I think the government will do everything it can do to boost the sector since it employs so many people, said U Khin Maung Aye, managing director of Lat War Company in Hlaing Tharyar Industrial Zone, which runs two factories and manages two more. He said that if the United States eased sanctions specifically the ban on purchasing goods made in Myanmar clothing orders from US firms would quickly follow. He added that the US market bought 50 percent of Myanmars garment exports from 2000 until 2003, when the sanctions were applied. Since then many factories have shut down and the industry has been forced to focus instead on the Asian market, he added. If sanctions were dropped many of the factories that shut after 2003 would be restarted; some are already

A garment worker at a factory in Yangon Region. Pic: The Myanmar Times archive biggest problem this year but Ive kept up our operations and even expanded in the hope that sanctions would be eased, he added. At the same time, Myanmar faces competition from Bangladesh, which also has a large pool of cheap labour but enjoys tax exemptions in the European Union, a major export market.

Authorities clamp down on trading following B&P fraud

By Myat May Zin UNCONTRACTED sales have been outlawed at the Bayintnaung Wholesale Commodity Exchange Centre in Yangon following the latest scandal to rock Myanmars lucrative beans and pulses industry, an official said on December 16. Dr Min Zaw, vice president of the centre, said that all trading in the market would have to be done by contract from January 1. Working with proper contracts in the commodities market will encourage safe trading and reduce the instances of criminal behaviour, he said. We do not want dealers trading beyond their means and will ask traders to declare the value of their different holdings and capital, he said. The clampdown at the market comes following an alleged K4 billion (US$5 million) fraud. U Zaw Nge, also known as U Zaw Than Htike, the managing director of Sein Nan Htike trading company, is alleged to have fraudulently obtained the money from about 60 other traders before fleeing with the money to Thailand on November 24. We are preparing the various contracts that will be used in consultation with lawyers, said Dr Myint Oo, joint secretary of commodities market. We hope this idea will bring about safe trading and will start being used in January. We want to encourage dealers not to make deals that exceed their capital, he said. The use of banking cheques to settle payments within the centre would also be outlawed, he said. Before the incident involving U Zaw Nge we allowed traders to use bank cheques to pay, even on Fridays and Saturdays. But U Zaw Nge gave out a lot cheques, even though he didnt have any money left in his bank account, he added. Bayintnaung Wholesale Commodity Exchange Centre was established in 1991 and is the countrys largest commodities market. The market has more than 4000 members.

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A Dietcombank employee counts money next to piles of bank notes in Hanoi on December 19. Pic: AFP

Vietnam launches reform of troubled banking sector

By Amlie Bottollier-Depois HANOI After years of skyrocketing credit growth to finance development, Vietnams banking system is now weighed down by toxic loans that have forced the communist nation to launch tough reforms. The Southeast Asian countrys financial sector consists of about a hundred banks either state owned, private or foreign bank branches. But most have only limited capital and many face a substantial shortfall of cash. In the years to come, the whole set-up will have to change. There are too many small banks, said Le Tham Duong, from the Banking University of Ho Chi Minh City. The challenges are enormous. After a 14-fold increase in the amount of loans held by banks since 2000, reaching 244 percent of gross domestic product in September 2011 according to the central bank, the system has woken up with a huge quantity of bad debts. Many result from the inability of state-owned companies and banks to fully follow the market economy principles embraced by the Communist Party in the late 1990s. The trend was further accelerated by the regimes economic reforms in early 2010, when the government abandoned its sacred dogma of economic growth to tackle macroeconomic imbalances, particularly record inflation, still around 20pc. Measures towards credit limitation via higher interest rates in particular have been taken, making it harder for indebted companies. Official figures today show toxic loans represent about 3.2pc of all of those registered in the country. But they are increasing fast and could reach 5pc by the end of this year, said Cao Si Kiem, vice president of the Consulting Committee for National Monetary Policy which advises the government. granted Vietnam US$7 billion of assistance in 2012, the authorities have announced a plan to restructure the sector. The program will entail an assessment of the banks health before merging some of them, Cao Si Kiem told AFP. We will strive to halve the number of banks by 2015, in order to have two or three Vietnamese banks capable of competing with regional banks, said the former governor of the Central Bank. The process has just begun with the announcement of the merger of three small banks stake in a Vietnamese bank, and all foreign shareholders cannot exceed 30pc. The crisis could get the government to make decisions that are not entirely consistent with its current ideology, but more realistic, said Alain Cany, president of Eurocham, the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam. He said this would include accepting that, in some specific cases, foreign banks may have more than 20 or 30pc. For him, the nightmare scenario of chaos in the banking system is not on the agenda. But he urged the authorities to be vigilant, including drastically reforming the state sector. Last year the near bankruptcy of state-owned shipbuilder Vinashin, with debts of over $4.4 billion, damaged Vietnams financial standing and underlined the haphazard management methods inherited from the planned economy. Without fundamental reform, another Vinashin cannot be ruled out, observers note, openly worrying about the situation of some state giants such as Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), which recently announced major losses. Investors are now crossing their fingers that no new disaster will hamper the difficult but necessary reform of the banking sector. The reform is likely to succeed. Unless the crisis is deeper than we think, said Cany. AFP

are too many Therechallenges are small banks ... The enormous.
Many experts distrust the figures, saying bad debts are badly underestimated in a country where opacity still dominates the corporate culture and where transparency of accounts, including the Central Bank, is mere wishful thinking. Foreign observers suggest at least 10pc of banks assets could be bad loans. The non-performing loan ratio could easily surpass 15pc, causing major problems for the banking sector, said the analyst firm Capital Economics in a recent report. Under pressure from ratings agencies as well as international donors, who have in Ho Chi Minh City in early December a move supported by the state. But analysts say much more painful treatment is needed. It is a lot more than putting banks together that needs to be done, you cant put three banks together and magically solve the bad loans situation. Someone has to absorb the bad debts, said Tony Foster, of business law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. Experts stress the need to strengthen the participation of foreign players, who could bring bigger financial capacity and sharper know-how. A foreign bank is currently permitted to hold a 15 to 20pc

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Cars and buses negotiate the Shwegondaing Junction in Bahan township last month. Pic: Yadanar

Overpass plan prompts public questions

By Htar Htar Khin NEWS that four overpasses will be built at four of Yangons busiest intersections has captured the publics attention. But U Khin Maung Maung, a 94-year-old former commissioner of police who wrote the Greater Rangoon [Yangon] Plan in 1955, said the infrastructure overhaul was desperately needed. Construction of infrastructure such as overpasses needs to be started now. Some junctions in Yangon are in desperate need of overpasses and the responsible people should begin building new roads to feed those developments, he told The Myanmar Times recently. U Khin Maung Maungs 19-page report featured illustrated flyovers and diagrams of the citys major intersections and roundabouts, which were in place to handle only 25,000 vehicles. We drew this plan to cover Yangons future infrastructure needs and if its recommendations had been put into effect earlier we would not be encountering the problems we see today. Its really regrettable, he said. U Khin Maung Maungs 1955 report, written for the Greater Yangon Planning Committee, included recommendations to keep land near the Shwegondaing and Hledan intersections free from development to enable overpasses to be built there in future. However, those recommendations were ignored and U Khin Maung Maung wrote in an opinion piece published by The Myanmar Times in early November that installing flyovers or overpasses would be problematic because the junctions in question are now hemmed in by in Tarmwe and North Okkalapa townships, although no upgrades have been announced for the latter. He added that there would be little point building overpasses unless the Yangon City Development Committee also improved roads and the rail network as well. U Soe Thein said the government had invited U Phone Myint, the 45-year-old owner of a fashion shop in the area, said retailers had been exchanging rumours about a possible overpass for months. Weve heard that something will be done to the junction but we havent seen any pictures or plans. And we have no idea what impact it will have on our Hledan Junction needs an overpass because the traffic here is extremely heavy sometimes and there are many accidents, she said. U Aung Myo Myint, 38, who has owned an aluminium goods shop near Tarmwe Junction in Bahan township since 2002, said the areas surrounding major intersections were U Tin Aung Moe, 43, said he chose to live in Bahan township on East Shwegondaing Road because it provided easy transport around the city. I like my apartment a lot because its easy to find transport. And the noise doesnt bother me anymore, he said. However, he said some of his neighbours hated the traffic, particularly during peak hour. Peak hour can be scary, particularly for pedestrians and there are many accidents at night-time because the streetlights rarely work and there are no zebra crossings or overhead walkways for pedestrians, which I think should be built, he said. He added that whatever the government chose to do, safety should come first. If they are going to build overpasses they must be structurally safe and provide room for pedestrians to walk in safety.

Building overpasses is expensive and time-consuming but they are required.

development. Minister for Industry U Soe Thein said overpasses will be built at the Bayintnaung, Hledan, Shwegondaing and Tarme intersections during a press conference in Nay Pyi Taw on November 28. He told reporters that overpasses would be built instead of flyovers to save space. However, developers warned that the four overpasses might not be enough. There are many crowded junctions areas in Yangon and its not possible to build overpasses everywhere, said U Lazarus, the managing director of Yadanar Shwe Htun Construction. The problem is that its expensive to do this work and many of the areas that need overpasses are already built up, he said. But U Lazarus admitted that the overpasses were needed to solve chronic traffic problems, especially Singapore to invest in the construction of an overhead train line. U Ko Ko Lay, a director of Three Friends Construction in Mingalar Taung Nyunt township, said the infrastructure upgrades announced by U Soe Thein would be costly but needed to be done. Building overpasses is expensive and timeconsuming but they are required. But I would like to see a master plan drawn up before any work is done to ensure that all the different components fit together, he said. We need this work to make sense in the long term. I see that Yangons infrastructure has not developed at the same pace as the city. Little new work has been done in the last 15 years. Hledan residents, however, had mixed views on the plan to build an overpass. lives, he said. He added that an overpass would not necessarily solve the traffic congestion at Hledan. Hledan Road is quite narrow and parked cars and people looking for parks regularly cause jams. It would make sense for there to be a large car park located here, he said. U Zaw, 41, the owner of Mya Aye Kyi store on Hledan Road, said he was worried that the project might affect his business. From my point of view those businesses near the approach roads to the overpasses are going to lose business, he said. U Zaw added that parking in the area is also a major problem. Retired teacher Daw Kyi Kyi Htay, 56, who lives in a first floor apartment on Hledan Road, said an overpass at the junction would be a positive development. good places to operate a business. Even though business is poor at the moment, we can survive because of where our shop is. We get a lot of foot traffic generated by the big bus stops nearby, he said. I welcome the overpass news but seeing the project plans will be important because I dont want to find my shop hidden away, he added.

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An Indian woman poses with a mobile phone to illustrate a new application alert for women in New Delhi on December 20. Pic: AFP
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Canada hunts for rare earth metals

MONTREAL A steep decline in Chinese exports of rare earth metals used in many high-tech gadgets has forced a global search for new crucial supplies and hopes are high for major finds in Canada, analysts say. Everyone has started to search for rare earth elements [REEs], Michel Jebrak, a mineral resources specialist at the University of Quebec in Montreal, told AFP. The Japanese are desperately searching all over. Europe has a new strategic plan to secure rare earth elements too. It all started with concerns over Chinas monopoly, triggering a race to find new deposits and mine them. Rare earth metals are a set of 17 chemical elements that despite their name are abundant in the Earths crust, but very dispersed and rarely found in economically exploitable concentrations. China currently produces, mostly in Inner Mongolia, almost 95 percent of the rare earth elements used in cellular telephones, hybrid cars, wind power generators, flat screen televisions, MP3 players, computers and other devices. The main obstacle is finding high enough concentrations of the metals to cope with growing demand and break the Wests reliance on China for supplies. It is also thought that China could undermine efforts to bring new supplies online by flooding the international market with cheap REEs and making new mines uneconomical, Jebrak warned. Its a brave new world, and thats a problem, he said. The sector just exploded over the past year but could just as quickly collapse. China ordered a cut in REE exports in late 2010 in order to keep supplies for its own burgeoning high tech industry, to bolster prices and to encourage foreign firms to set up plants in China to access its restricted supply. But the move by Beijing provoked anger in Japan, Germany and the United States already concerned that current supplies might not meet an expanding demand for REEs before export quotas were raised this year. Western nations have since had to consider ways to break Chinas monopoly and this led to the launch of dozens of mining exploration sites for REEs one-quarter of them in Canada. Toyota announced last week plans for a joint venture with Canadian junior mining company Matamec to develop a rare earth elements mine in Quebec to obtain supplies for the automakers hybrid and electric vehicles. Australia and the United States are also vying to become major producers, he added. AFP

App to help women fight sex assault

By Ammu Kannampilly NEW DELHI A smartphone app launched in the Indian capital of New Delhi in late December aims to fight a rise in sexual assault cases by enabling women to immediately alert friends or family if they feel at risk. The Fight Back app created by Indian non-profit Whypoll will at the press of a single key send an SOS message via text message, email and Facebook. Once the SOS is activated, recipients will be able to track the senders location via GPS and come to her aid. I grew up in Delhi and its always been an unsafe city. And it just keeps getting worse. As a woman, you just dont feel comfortable on the roads, Whypoll co-founder Shweta Punj told AFP. I was disgusted by the violence and wanted to do something about it. Delhi now tops the list of Indias most unsafe cities for women, with 489 reported rape cases in 2010, up from 459 in 2009, according to police statistics. Indias rapid economic growth has thrown open new job opportunities for women, but many feel at risk of harassment or assault while travelling on their own to and from work. In a 2010 survey by the Delhi government, the United Nations and womens rights group Jagori (Wake Up Women), 45 percent of women said they avoided stepping out alone after dark and 65pc feared taking public transport. The survey also suggested that police needed to play a stronger role in safeguarding the rights of women. According to Whypoll co-founder Hindol Sengupta, while users can choose to include a number for the Delhi police in their SOS shortlist, the main focus of the app is to alert friends and family. Indians depend far more on their near and dear ones because we dont trust the system to help us, Sengupta told AFP. Once you send the SOS, your friends and family will take it up with the police and pressure them into doing something. It is unclear how the police will handle complaints sent to them via Fight Back designed to work with Nokia, Samsung, HTC and BlackBerry smartphones. A number of police officials contacted by AFP said they were unaware of the apps existence. Sengupta admitted that the success of Fight Back would hinge on the polices efficiency and willingness to take up reported cases. There is no magic solution to this problem, but we are in talks with the police and we hope the app will help them respond fast in such situations. The Fight Back app is priced at 100 rupees (US$1.90) for a years use. Currently available only in English, the creators plan to offer it in Indian languages and expand its reach to include nine more cities by the end of 2012. The app comes a year after volunteer activists in Egypt launched HarassMap, an initiative which asks women to send text messages with details of their location when they face sexual harassment. The aim of HarassMap is to build a map of hotspots where women are more likely to be assaulted and demand an increased police presence in those places. AFP

Internet lets US export consumer lifestyle

By Glenn Chapman SAN FRANCISCO As a gift-buying frenzy mounted in the days before Christmas, US retailers were exporting the countrys shopping culture along with once hard-to-get goods to locales around the world. Spending at US e-commerce websites climbed 15 percent from the previous year by the start of December, and online sales on the Cyber Monday after Thanksgiving set a new record high of US$1.25 billion, according to comScore. The international share of the Cyber Monday shopping tally climbed to nearly 7pc, the industry tracker reported. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are definitely American exports, said Michael DeSimone, chief executive of New Yorkbased FiftyOne Inc, which specialises in helping US store websites handle international transactions. FiftyOne tends to shipping, tariff, currency exchange and other logistical hassles that discouraged US shops from catering to customers in other countries. Increasingly, instead of having to travel to the United States for a coveted brand of jeans or t-shirts, people outside the country Gilt has added tens of thousands of new members since it went international in November with FiftyOnes help, according to Gilt senior director of logistics Crystal Caligiuri. Gilt sales are modeled after New York City sample sales in which people queue outside shops for chances to buy brand-name products sales until November 8. We saw a lot of those customers storm in and shop, Caligiuri said. Its been fun to watch. US e-tailers are indoctrinating international shoppers into this countrys rhythm when it comes to bargain hunting and seasonal discounting, according to DeSimone. shoppers also causes merchants to adapt to ways things are done in other countries or cultures. For example, the season in a given hemisphere influences whether winter clothing or beach wear are discounted and US retailers can capitalise on sales pegged to local holidays in other countries. The changes in the way we have to think are numerous, Caligiuri said. We have to think about how our international customers are similar and how they are different, she continued. The other important part is making sure the web experience makes everyone feel comfortable and wanted. US retailers savvy regarding online commerce promises to make the array of items available to international shoppers current and varied, and to boost investment in online shopping across the board, according to DeSimone. AFP

consumers want to have the Globalisation means that which really means having ultimate retail experience the American retail experience.
can simply order online, according to DeSimone. Sales handled by FiftyOne this holiday season so far have more than doubled from last year. FiftyOne clients include US retail titans Bloomingdales, Macys and Sears, as well as Aeropostale, Barneys New York, Crate & Barrel and online-only flash sales sensation Gilt. at deeply discounted prices while limited supplies last. Its first-come, firstserved deals, Caligiuri said. Whoever clicks on the mouse first gets it. Since Gilt launched four years ago, it has been flooded with email requests to ship items to Russia, China, South America or elsewhere, but wasnt geared for international Globalisation means that consumers want to have the ultimate retail experience which really means having the American retail experience, DeSimone said. And consumers know when big buying days in the US are driving sales of the goods they want to purchase, so that also drives international purchasing. Connecting with global

The decline of the American model

Comment by Andrew Bacevich
IN American history, every now and then there is a definitive ending. The crash of October 1929 ended the Roaring Twenties; VJ Day ended World War II. The withdrawal of US forces from Iraq last month, while less dramatic, also marks the passing of an era. Launched in 2003 amid assurances of a rapid victory, the war ended nearly nine years later with the United States settling for considerably less. Undertaken to demonstrate US supremacy, the war has instead revealed the stark limits of American power. It has laid waste to the post-Cold War era of great expectations once thought to define the future. Remember the 1990s, which opened with the Soviet Union in its death throes and the United States riding high? The Cold War reached a peaceful conclusion, and a new historical chapter, seemingly rich with promise, dawned. Led by the United States its preeminence affirmed in 1991 by Operation Desert Storm the world was moving from darkness into light. While preparing Americans for their first military encounter with Saddam Hussein, President George H.W. Bush heralded the approach of a new world order. Lacking poetry, his formulation never caught on. So in Washington, politicians and political observers were soon vying to provide a more vivid rendering of the age. This effort yielded three broad claims. The first claim was ideological: The collapse of communism signified the triumph of liberal democracy, a victory deemed definitive and irreversible; viable alternatives for organising society had ceased to exist. The second claim was economic: The end of the Cold War had unleashed the forces of globalisation; with the unimpeded movement of goods, capital, ideas and people, previously unimaginable opportunities for wealth creation beckoned. The third claim was military: Advanced information technology was revolutionizing warfare; armed forces able to exploit that revolution would gain unprecedented effectiveness. Americans took it for granted that their own approach to democracy should and would apply universally. They believed themselves better positioned than any would-be competitor to capitalise on the promise of globalisation. As for hightech military power, Desert Storm had already testified to American prowess; what some were calling a revolution in military affairs would translate a clear edge into permanent supremacy. These claims together Confidence that globalisation will (or should) define the economic future has taken a nose dive. While the US has been making war, rising economic powers have been making hay, often at American expense. At home, meanwhile, deference to the market has produced corruption, recklessness and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Only in the realm of military power has American dominance remained unquestioned, as politicians and generals constantly assert. Yet after years of fighting in Iraq, and with the Afghan war and other overseas contingency operations continuing, the value of that claim is fading. No doubt US forces have matchless combat capabilities. Yet the sad fact is that they cannot be relied upon to win. Merely avoiding defeat has become a staggeringly expensive proposition. The beliefs to which the end of the Cold War gave rise liberal democracy triumphant, globalisation as the next big thing and American dominion affirmed by a new way of war have all come to rest in that unmarked grave reserved for failed ideas. Those who promoted and persisted in the Iraq war wielded the shovel that helped dig the hole. This defines their legacy. The Washington Post (Andrew Bacevich, a Vietnam veteran and retired colonel in the US Army, is a professor of history and international relations at Boston University. He is the author of Washington Rules: Americas Path to Permanent War.)

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US soldiers wait to leave Iraq from Camp Adder on the outskirts of the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah on December 17. Pic: AFP fostered an exuberance bordering on the ecstatic. America stands alone as the worlds indispensable nation, President Bill Clinton declared in his second inaugural address. As the worlds greatest democracy and with an economy that was the strongest on Earth, the United States, Clinton predicted, would soon hot, had played a central role in certifying American beliefs and practices. The Bush administration expected war in the 21st century to replicate this achievement. Affirming US military primacy was the key to upholding American ideological and economic prescriptions. Around the world, Washingtons writ would become law. proclaiming Mission Accomplished providing a backdrop for his remarks. The 9/11 hijackers had imagined that they could . . . force our retreat from the world, Bush said. They have failed. Rather than retreating, America was on the march, with more victories to follow and history restored to its proper course. on for years, claiming many victims. Prominent among them was the very future that Americans insisted was all but foreordained. After Iraq, the future no longer bears the label Made in the USA. In places such as China, alternatives to liberal democracy stubbornly persist and show no signs of flagging. Where demands for democracy sound the loudest

After Iraq, the future no longer bears the label Made in the USA.
lead a whole world of democracies. History had rendered a verdict: The future belonged to the US and to those who embraced the American way. For anyone unwilling to accept that verdict, there was US military power. The hidden hand of the market will never work without a hidden fist, journalist Thomas Friedman wrote in 1999. Then came 9/11, which left the almighty superpower looking less like historys architect than its victim. From the outset, President George W. Bushs response to this affront sought not simply to avert further attacks on the American homeland, but to quash suspicions that history might not be tilting in Americas direction after all. As long as the United States of America is determined and strong, Bush assured the nation on Sept. 20, 2001, this will not be an age of terror. This will be an age of liberty here and across the world. So the global war on terrorism was implicitly even primarily an American war for global preeminence, waged to validate the claims of Washingtons post-Cold War consensus. Removing any doubts about US determination and strength had become an imperative. This meant unsheathing the hidden fist. After all, 20thcentury wars, cold as well as From this perspective, designating Saddam Hussein as Enemy No 1 made a great deal of sense. Granted, Iraq was not involved in the terrorist attacks of September 11. Husseins regime had only the most negligible links to al-Qaeda. And, of course, Iraqs stockpile of nuclear and biological weapons turned out to be a figment of fevered imaginations. But critics who employed such facts to charge the Bush administration with deception or incompetence missed a larger point: The real aim of Operation Iraqi Freedom was to demonstrate that the United States still called the tune to which history marched. For such purposes, Husseins ramshackle regime presented an ideal target. To choose war is always to roll the dice. In this case, however, given the weakness of Husseins legions and the self-evident might of the worlds sole superpower, the dice seemed loaded. All that remained was to win the inevitable victory and reap the rewards. And for a tantalising moment, victory seemed within reach. On March 20, 2003, US forces entered Iraq. On April 9, Baghdad fell. On May 1, Bush, in naval aviators garb, landed on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to celebrate what US forces had achieved, with a banner Speaking with characteristic certainty, Bush referred to Operation Iraqi Freedom in the past tense. Yet, in Iraq, complications ensued. The war there had only just begun. It dragged as in the Arab world the outcome may not favour liberal values. Across Asia, Africa and Latin America, the American model, today damaged and more than slightly tarnished, is only one among several.

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Oh Albert! Did you get it wrong?

PARIS In 2011, physics was from being accepted as five they had seen. The response came, well, shaken by an experiment sigma, or a claim that is which said the Universes tried and tested and deemed at light speed, in physics speed limit, enshrined by authentic. A team in the forums and the media. If this result at CERN Einstein in his 1905 theory United States is already of special relativity, could working to see if the result is proved to be right, and particles are found to travel can be replicated. be broken. But what would happen if faster than the speed of Normally staid scientists light, then I am prepared to r u s h e d t o d e f e n d a it turns out to be true? One possibility: the speed eat my shorts, live on TV, foundation theory of modern physics and one even of light can be broken and declared Jim Al-Khalili, a professor of theoretical vowed to eat blue boxer Einstein was wrong. Another: the particles, as p h y s i c s a t B r i t a i n s shorts if the findings were they made their trip, crossed University of Surrey. confirmed. The squabble became a T h e f u s s b e g a n i n into some extra dimension S e p t e m b e r w h e n a or two, beyond the four common news item and even European team announced dimensions of reality that a source of jokes (A neutrino that ghostly sub-atomic we know, which comprise walks into a bar We dont particles called neutrinos three of space and one of serve faster-than-the-speedof-light particles in here! had been found to travel time. If so, our traditional says the barman.). some six kilometres (3.75 In contributions to the miles) a second faster than concept of the Universe open-access website arXiv, would be ripped apart. the velocity of light. Yet this counter-intuitive scores of physicists laid The neutrinos had been into the OPERA generated at the experiment, giant underground lab of the European It could mean that Einstein s e e i n g p o t e n t i a l anomalies. Centre for Nuclear was right in some respects, Scientists involved Research (CERN) in in another Gran Geneva. but not completely. Sasso experiment They were timed called ICARUS, at their departure using the same and, after travelling 732 kms (454 miles) through i d e a w o u l d a l s o s a v e neutrino beam from CERN, argued that the particles Earths crust, at their Einsteins reputation. By traversing into an extra should have lost most of arrival at the Gran Sasso dimension, the particles their energy if they had Laboratory in Italy. T o d o t h e t r i p , t h e would in effect have taken beaten the light barrier. But when the neutrinos neutrinos should have taken a short cut to get to their destination. They would not arrived, their energy values 0.0024 seconds. I n s t e a d , t h e y h i t have been superluminal, or were entirely consistent with travel at the speed of t h e d e t e c t o r s i n I t a l y faster than light. I t c o u l d m e a n t h a t light. 0.00000006 seconds sooner Many papers noted Einstein was right in some than expected. I f t h e e f f e c t w e r e respects, but not completely. that the tiniest technical confirmed, it would show It could be that there is a inaccuracy would have some particles can travel bigger theory which lies skewed the outcome. Some questioned whether faster than the speed of outside his theory, like a light, Professor David nested doll, said Pierre t h e O P E R A t e a m h a d W a r k , d i r e c t o r o f t h e Binetruy of the Astroparticle properly tagged the pulses Particle Physics Department and Cosmology Laboratory of neutrinos so that the particles could be identified at Britains Science and of Paris. Fearing an outcry, the at the start and end of their Technology Facilities OPERA scientists went flight. Council, told AFP. Others said the use of T h i s w o u l d b e a over their results again and profound revolution in again for six months before GPS to synchronise the physics, probably the most going public. They larded timing may have affected significant one to happen in their announcement with measurement. The geopositioning signals caution and admissions of the last 100 years. Right now, the OPERA bewilderment and pleaded from orbiting satellites experiment is a long way with others to verify what were moving relative to

the neutrinos and to the detector, resulting in a shorter time-of-flight measurement of exactly 64 nanoseconds QED! The OPERA team has finetuned the neutrino beam to tag the particles better, but say they still have the

same result. And they are looking at using a fibre optic cable, rather than GPS, to synchronise the timing. In the coming 12 months, Einstein could be confirmed on his mighty pedestal, or worrying cracks may appear

in it. And CERN is expected to deliver its judgement on whether the Higgs Boson, the elusive God particle exists. So 2012 is set to be a year to remember and not just in the lab. AFP

Technology and the revolution in the way people read

SAN FRANCISCO Tablet computers and electronic readers promise to eventually close the book on the ink-and-paper era as they transform the way people browse magazines, check news or lose themselves in novels. It is only a matter of time before we stop killing trees and all publications become digital, Creative Strategies president and principal analyst Tim Bajarin told AFP in December. Online retail giant Amazon made electronic readers mainstream with Kindle devices and Apple ignited insatiable demand for tablets ideal for devouring online content ranging from films to magazines and books. The combined momentum of e-readers and tablets will push annual revenue from digital books to US$9.7 billion by the year 2016, more than tripling the $3.2 billion expected in 2011, said a Juniper Research report. Readers are showing increased loyalty to digital books, said the US Book Industry Study Group (BISG). Nearly half of print book buyers who also got digital works said they would skip getting an inkand-paper release by a favourite author if an electronic version could be had within three months, a BISG survey showed. The e-book market is developing very fast, with consumer attitudes and behaviours changing over the course of months, rather than years, said BISG deputy executive director Angela Bole. Concerns about e-book reading are diminishing, with people mainly wishing for lower device prices, the survey found. When you can get someone excited about reading in any way, you turn on the reading ignition and it leads to all content, Weiner said, adding that ink-and-paper works will continue to hold a place in the mix. Bajarin believes it will be at least a decade before print is obsolete. For one thing, there is a generation of people above 45 who grew up with this reading format and for many this will remain the I think it is a myth that it is going to kill the print book business, Weiner said. Will it force publishers to think differently? he asked rhetorically. Absolutely, but it doesnt spell the demise of print (book) publishing. Newspapers and magazines, however, should read the digital writing on the wall, according to analysts. Newspapers and magazines have different issues, Weiner said. In 2011 media colossus News Corp launched an iPad only publication, The Daily, as newspapers big and small improved mobile websites and invested in applications to get their publications on tablets. Struggling internet pioneer Yahoo! has been recreating itself as a platform for premier digital content and in November it launched a Livestand news magazine tailored for the iPad. Livestand weaves video, pictures and text in easily navigated presentations in a challenge to popular iPad social magazine application Flipboard. Time Inc in November brought in digital advertising veteran Laura Lang to run what is the largest magazine publisher in the United States. Magazines are still figuring it out, Weiner said of adapting to the smart tablet age. I think they are in evolution. As if online competition was not enough for the print magazine business, the US Postal Service is proposing to do away with weekend deliveries in a move that could make weeklies seem like even older news by the time they reach readers. AFP

I think it is a myth that it is going to kill the print book business.

Owning e-readers tended to increase the amount of money people spent on titles in what BISG described as a promising sign for publishers. Major US book seller Barnes & Noble responded to the trend by launching an e-reader, the Nook, and other chains are picking up on the strategy, said Juniper. Im among those who believe that the new e-book craze expands a persons interest in reading overall, said Gartner analyst Allen Weiner. most comfortable way for them to consume content for quite a while, he said. However, younger generations are already moving rapidly to digital representations of publications and, over time, they will be using e-books and tablets to consume all of their publications. Weiner expected hardback or paperback books to be preferred in some situations, such as home reading, even as digital dominates publishing. Print will wind up extinct for newspapers, while magazines will need to figure out the balance between print and digital, he said. Newspapers spend considerable amounts printing and distributing daily editions that cannot be kept as fresh as stories on the internet. Meanwhile, advertising has been moving online where audiences can be better targeted and advertisers pay when people actually click on ads.

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Fallow to farm, with UN help

DOLLOW, Somalia Farmers pull up onions from the soft earth on the green banks of a river, while water gurgles down irrigation channels: an ordinary rural scene, if it were not taking place in Somalia. A harsh drought swept the Horn of Africa in 2011, turning several southern Somali regions into famine zones where thousands are reported to have died, but the small farming region separated from Ethiopia by the river Dawa was spared. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) started a project last year to clear nine hectares of land extremely fertile, but abandoned to the wild since 1964, when Somalia and Ethiopia fought over their common border. Now a pump gushes out water from the river, irrigating tomato plants, beans, watermelons and onions just a few kilometres from a camp for displaced people, forced to flee from the countrys famine-struck regions. We could have died if the aid had not been given, said Hassan Arab Barre, the village chief, adding that while before the project life was not good, he can now sell surplus crops in the local market. We have harvested for the past two seasons because we had a water pump but before we were not able to do so, Barre added. The whole area was a forest but we have been digging, and now it is a farm with a good harvest. Nor is this the only program here: 244 similar farming projects in the

Some of the 313 baobabs in the protected area near Madagasgars west coast town of Morondava. Pic: AFP

Farmers weed their vegetable crops on irrigated fields near Dollow in central Somalia late last month. A program initiated by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation has transformed land which had laid fallow since 1964. Pic: AFP southern Gedo region have been launched, benefiting 4400 families. Its a small pocket of relative calm from the bloody conflict elsewhere in southern Somalia, with Ethiopian forces and allied militia having driven Islamist Shebab insurgents some 40 kilometres (25 miles) to the east. More than US$800 million has been donated to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Somalia, triggered by two dry seasons and worsened by the two decades of bloody civil war. The United Nations last month halved the number of famine zones, but warned thousands still face death in the worlds worst crisis with nearly 250,000 people face imminent starvation. But if the necessary investments had been made earlier and on a regular basis, far less money would have been needed to prevent such a disaster, following the example of Dollow, said Luca Alinovi, FOA head for Somalia. A dollar spent in prevention avoids six dollars spent in the response to a humanitarian crisis, said Alinovi. Installing a water pump, for example, can be done at relatively little cost for dramatic impact, but the dominant fact of the last 21 years in Somalia was the lack of continued investment, he says. Images of Somalia as an arid wasteland populated by dazed refugees from hunger are by no means inevitable, say FAO specialists. Despite the war, Somalia this year will export 4.3 million head of livestock to Gulf states. Before the war, Somalia was a prolific exporter of bananas, has two of the largest rivers in East Africa, the Juba and Shabelle, and the Italian colonisers left an irrigation system that could be rehabilitated. But the war is obviously a major challenge. The Somali farmers will suffer because they will not be able to access their land to harvest, Alinovi said. Dollow region is dotted with green bushes and fresh growth, helping fatten up camels recently brought back by their owners, who left in search of grazing lands for their herds. So many animals died during the drought, said Ahmed Warsame, from the Association of Veterinarians in southern Somalia. The situation is improving day by day, but there are people who have lost all their livestock. They now need humanitarian aid to resume their business. AFP

Green groups battle keeps baobabs alive

MORONDAVA, Madagascar Majestic trees line the dusty road known as the Avenue of the Baobabs, their large trunks crowned with clawing branches that reach 20 metres (70 feet) high. These giants seem immortal but the trees national symbols of Madagascar are only alive thanks to a last-minute rescue operation that kept them from drowning. A sugar mill diverted water to the site, and the local people used this water to grow rice. The baobabs were in the middle of the rice fields and their trunks stood in water all year, said Anselme Tilahimena, of the environmental organisation, Fanamby. Mired in the rice paddies, the trees rotted from the inside. Their trunks weakened, about two baobabs were blown down every year in cyclones. The baobabs fate began to brighten in 2007, when a 320-hectare (790-acre) area outside the west coast town of Morondava was declared a protected area, home to 313 baobabs cared for by Fanamby. Since then, authorities halted the diversion of water to the area. The rice paddies dried up, replaced by marshes covered with purple-pink hyacinths. Children paddle around happily while their mothers throw nets in the water to catch small fish. About 250 people live in the area. Since 2007 we have developed alternative agricultural activities in dry farming, like peanuts or market gardens with green vegetables, Tilahimena said. But farmers in this country long dogged by poverty find it difficult to change. Runoff from the sugar mill fertilised the land, which produced abundant rice harvests. Its important to protect the baobabs, but you dont earn as much with peanuts, said 56-year-old farmer Vontana, known by one name, who used to plant rice around the base of the trees. I am going to grow rice again if they build a canal. Work is underway on a seven-kilometre (fourmile) canal that will allow farmers to replant paddies without endangering the b a o b a b s , b y i rr i g a t i n g 187 hectares outside the protected zone. Weve understood that its the only solution, to find other land to grow rice. Market farming has given good results here, but its difficult to change peoples practices. Thats a long-term job, said Tilahimena. Fanamby has also taught residents to make crafts, which they sell to the 6000 tourists who travel every year to photograph the striking baobabs some hundreds of years old. The trees are a testament to dense tropical forests that once blanketed Madagascar, which has suffered severe deforestation, and subsequent desertification and depletion of water resources. A wood-and-raffia stall at the entrance to the park sells fresh drinks and miniature baobabs sculpted out of rosewood. The profits go to the sculptors and site management. Father-of-three Mahotoeky Randrianirina, 2 8 , w o r k s t h e c o u n t er several times a week, when he is not working in his maize and sweet potato fields. I am good at sculpture now. Thanks to that, I earned a lot more and could build a house and buy goats with the money, he said. Randrianirina counts on tourism development to improve his familys lives, but the stall is the only building on the site. To ensure the avenues future, Fanamby and the villagers association are planting new baobabs across the protected area. AFP

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An Afghan womans heartache

KABUL Three times Hasrat Bibi gave birth. Each time her baby was stillborn. After the third, she was left a social outcast and unable to have more children, but in Afghanistan her story is all too familiar. Bibi first fell pregnant as a teenager 22 years ago. Her body may have been too young to cope with nine months carrying a child, but she was living in a society where motherhood is considered a womans primary, if not sole purpose. Yet having a baby can be treacherous in Afghanistan, where figures show that one woman dies every two hours from pregnancyrelated causes and nearly three percent of babies are stillborn. In Bibis case, childbirth left her with a complicated fistula a hole next to her urinary tract that has left her incontinent and unable to bear more children. Although a national survey, carried out last year, revealed that maternal mortality rates in Afghanistan have fallen with the provision of foreign aid-funded healthcare, 500 out of 100,000 live births still end in death. Health professionals in Kabul fear that improvements paid for by Western donors through 10 years of war could stagnate as NATO combat troops carry out a staggered departure, leaving more would-be mothers at risk. Bibis face, dotted with traditional rough blue tattoos, crinkles into tears as she tells how her condition has left her shunned, even Helmand and Zabul, where the Taliban-led insurgency is rife. Despite the dire conditions, aid-funded improvements mean that fewer women die during pregnancy and childbirth, and more children are living past their fifth birthday than at any time before, the report shows. The US State department welcomed the reports encouraging trends, which partly resulted from a US, UN and World Bank-funded education program that has increased the number of midwives threefold since 2003. Each midwifes training costs US$12,000-$18,000. The women spend two years studying in one of 34 provincial centres before returning to work in communities. The training focuses on preventing post-birth haemorrhage, which is responsible for most deaths. A recent World Bank report showed that Afghanistan, one of the poorest countries in the world, is likely to need about $7 billion a year from foreign aid after the scheduled departure of all international troops in 2014. While NATO is urging foreign donors to continue giving money to Afghanistan after combat troops depart in 2014, the economic crisis in the West and corruption in the war-torn country make a downturn in financing likely. Transport and health are highly vulnerable, the report said. AFP

Jhollywood struggles for box office profits

RANCHI, India In one a music video. Now, with four films of Indias poorest, most violence-wracked states, released and five more on the being a movie star means way, Lakra says she hopes doing your own make-up to move up to a Bollywood in a car mirror and then project some day. Bollywood is like an dancing to a soundtrack ocean compared to us. Even from a mobile phone. Los Angeles has Hollywood, if I get a small role there, Mumbai has Bollywood I will go ahead with it for and then theres Jhollywood, sure, she says. The first Jhollywood film, a tiny but enthusiastic film industry in the eastern state Sona kar Nagpur (Golden Nagpur) was released in of Jharkhand. T h i s i s t h e b i g g e s t 1992 and director Dhananjay problem of working in Nath Tiwari did so many our movies, you have to jobs that his name appeared do everything yourself... a reported 13 times in the apply your own makeup, credits. Tiwari sold some land to supply your own costumes, Jhollywoods leading female make the film and, once it star Varsha Lakra grumbles was ready, he went from village to village putting up with a smile. O n a s u n n y S u n d a y tents to show the movie. Not much has changed mid-December morning in Ranchi, the scruffy state since then. Filmmaking budgets capital, Lakra, 24, is on location at her latest shoot. are tiny, usually between She sits in her small 250,000 and 500,000 rupees car, applying pink eyeshadow, eye-liner, layers of foundation and powder as the traffic whizzes past. Our films are made keeping our culture in mind and our culture is not that glamorous, she admits. We show our villages and how, as Jharkhand develops, people are leaving the villages to go work in towns. Jhollywood prides itself on telling the stories of the states low-caste and tribal people, making movies on shoestring Actress Varsha Lakra applies budgets with minimal make-up in her car ahead of equipment. a shoot on the outskirts of P r o d u c e r s r a i s e the Jharkhand state capital, capital by cashing in Ranchi. Pic: AFP anything from parcels (less than $6000). The last of land to cars. Jhollywoods stars may few years have seen just have lives far different three Jhollywood films from Bollywoods adored released annually. There isnt much money big-name screen legends, but they are hugely popular so sometimes you just have to make do with what in the state. Lakra who said she you have, Ranchi-based earns up to 30,000 rupees filmmaker Anil Sikdar told (US$600) a film and her AFP. Its like you need an actor husband Monuraj, 25, are household names, elephant for a sequence, and are regularly mobbed but you cant find one, so someone suggests getting by fans. With limited funds and a horse, but then you cant few cinema owners willing find a horse, so what do you to screen Jhollywood over do? You use a dog, he said, Bollywood fare, however, laughing. Sikdars latest venture, the industry barely two decades old is fighting to Jharkhand ka Chhaila (The Boy From Jharkhand) stay afloat. Jhollywood films often attracted good audiences f o l l o w t h e s a m e b a s i c last year in local cinemas plotlines as Bollywood, -- though no official figures featuring a dash of romance, are available -- but he was a few fight scenes and still unable to recover its multiple musical sequences, costs. His situation is not with . L a k r a s m o s t r e c e n t unusual -- in the last 19 r e l e a s e , K a r m a w a s a years, only one Jhollywood saga about a villager who production is thought to avenges the murder of his have broken even, meaning sisters boyfriend. In it, film-making is a costly Lakra danced while a crew labour of love. And fear of violence by members held up a cheap mobile phone playing the left-wing Maoist insurgents is another problem as soundtrack. But, unlike Bollywood, villagers are reluctant most Jhollywood productions to make the trip to city are shot on digital video cinemas after sunset. They are afraid to go on and in the local languages of Sadri, Nagpuri and the roads. If they do go out, then they will get stopped by Santhali. Lakra told AFP she began the police and questioned. So working at 15, when a local why would anyone take the composer asked her to act in risk? Sikdar said. AFP

Hasrat Bibi at an hospital in Kabul. Her three children were stillborn. Pic: AFP by her husband. A plethora of problems endemic to Afghanistan delay proper treatment, say medical experts. Families living in remote, impoverished communities rarely understand the seriousness of medical issues, and local health care is scant. Transportation to the nearest health facilities can take several hours on foot or by donkey. And most women live in purdah unseen by men outside their families and may be house-bound and unable to see a doctor. Bibi, who comes from a rural village in the eastern province of Ghazni and doesnt know how old she is, said she had no proper help for 10 years. With UN funding, she has been sent to Pakistan for treatment, and an operation there to mend her fistula has a 60 percent chance of success. Although there is a fistula centre at Kabuls Malalai maternity hospital, it was unable to help her because of a lack of trained staff and medical supplies. On average, Afghan women each give birth to five children. Two of every three births happen in the home without trained help because of social customs and a severe shortage of midwives, a recent national report showed. The figures come from the Afghanistan Mortality Survey 2010, conducted by the Afghan Public Health Institute, Ministry of Public Health and Central Statistics Organisation, throughout 87 percent of the country. It did not include rural parts of the southern provinces of Kandahar,

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only the workshop of the world but the source of more than two thirds of its counterfeit products. Often working on behalf of highprofile brands such as New Balance sportswear and Bulova designer watches, the firm has put together cases against manufacturers of illicit goods from toilet seats to handbags to medicines. Its staff of 10 operates from a tiny Hong Kong office, plus counterfeit injectable drugs to meet them in a southern Chinese hotel. When the meeting took place, police were watching from the next room on a live camera feed. On a signal from Kavowras, police stormed the room, but the counterfeiters sat quietly, realising the game was up. Chinas a very civilised place, its not the Wild West, says Kavowras says Chinese police and trademark authorities have a genuine desire to fight the problem and praises changes to the law that have allowed civil litigation on counterfeiting and admitted notarised evidence. Theyre really doing their best theyre overwhelmed, and in some places, given the vastness and population density of the country, there are issues with corruption. An investigation backed by European and Chinese authorities, ended with Panoramic identifying both manufacturers and sellers of the clothing in an illicit business that involved 30 to 40 Chinese factories. Customs authorities seized 300,000 euros (US$400,000) worth of goods. We put (them) out of business. For me thats a great result, said Kavowras. A police officer with the New York Police Department until an injury forced his retirement, Kavowras, 49, moved to China in 1994 to study Mandarin. He found work with the famed detective agency Pinkerton in Guangzhou before moving to Hong Kong, where he set up Panoramic 14 years ago. Kavowras cautions that firms which see China as a risky business environment should do their homework. Many firms which complain of brand hijacking by trademark agents have failed to register their brands, he said. AFP

MyanMar tiMes

Hong Kong sleuth wages war on mainland bootleggers

HONG KONG Like any good private eye, Hong Kong-based Ted Kavowras has a range of whisky bottles by his desk. But these arent for swigging between jobs theyre samples of counterfeit spirits whose makers he has helped shut down. His detective firm Panoramic Consulting occupies a growing niche in the fight against Chinas mammoth fake goods industry, posing as buyers to enter factories and gather evidence that can lead to fines, arrests and shutdowns. From an office littered with disguises and bling accessories containing hidden cameras, he and his staff travel to the mainland in the guise of Middle Eastern businessmen, shady European traders or Latin Americans seeking a quick buck. Im everybodys dream in China, some rich fat guy, the former New York police officer told AFP. The bigger the lie, the more they believe it. His firm has been in ever greater demand as China has become not

We put (them) out of business. For me thats a great result.

discreet premises on the mainland and an array of front companies used to convince factories that their interest in purchasing is genuine. I do what Chinese investigators cant do, because I have the ethnic diversity. They cant pretend to be buyers from overseas, Kavowras said. Kavowras displays video footage of a case in which he and his colleagues lured a group making Kavowras. But that does not mean the counterfeiters are not dangerous. These fake drugs were causing injuries all over the world, he said. Kavowras says markets for illicit consumer goods operate openly in the southern Chinese hub of Shenzhen, with wholesalers grading their wares from A to C. Top-grade fakes are made in the same factory as the originals. But overall the Chinese are reacting to it as much as possible, he said. Its the demand from overseas that is causing all of these counterfeits to be made. Another case involved a major clothing brand Kavowras cannot name, which wanted to enter the European market only to find a copycat brand making slave copies, or exact reproductions of its range, had got there first.

Challenges on horizon for the Great Successor

Analysis by Chico Harlan
government officials in Seoul and Washington agreed on at least one major point about North Koreas hereditary succession: The longer Kim, lived, the better its chances. But gauging its success, from now on, could be difficult, particularly because Seoul and Washington have few ways to gain intelligence about the inner power circle in Pyongyang. Some experts took it as an early sign of a smooth power handoff that Kim Jong-Un was appointed as head of the committee that will organise his fathers funeral on December 28. Behind the scenes, Kim Jong-Il had spent years surrounding his heir apparent with those who were loyal to the Kim family and nobody else. He purged or banished senior officials who he considered powerhungry. He gave powerful positions to his sister, Kim Kyong-Hui, and his brother-in-law, Jang Song-Taek but not without removing some of Jangs closest friends. If some high-profile officials are gone within the next few months, security experts said, it could be a sign of a fight for power that is threatening Kim Jong- Uns rise, with caretakers deciding that they would rather be rivals. Kim Jong-Il tried to build a system where people owed their loyalty exclusively to him and his son, said Ken Gause, an analyst who specialises in North Korean leadership. But the idea that Kim Jong-Un immediately starts making the decisions is a bit of a stretch. This is not a country that is used to collective leadership. That competition could eventually unravel, and that is one of the potential things that could cause instability. When Kim Jong-Il formally took power from his father, Kim Il Sung, in 1994, he already had worked behind the scenes for almost two decades. He had visited other countries and orchestrated military attacks; he had studied his fathers methods. But the visible power transfer to Kim Jong-Un began only 15 months ago, when North Korea held a massive political gathering in Pyongyang, naming him to several top military and Workers Party positions. With its official propaganda, though, North Korea has given only halting signals of Kim Jong-Uns rise. A common childrens song that supposedly celebrated him did not mention his name. His birthday passed without official acknowledgment. When Kim Jong-Il made official trips to China and Russia, Kim Jong-Un stayed at home. When the father travelled domestically, visiting factories and grocery stores, meeting military units and watching figure-skating events, the son often joined him. But most times, for official photos, the younger Kim stayed in the background. Kim Jong-Uns profile expanded in September, when he met the president of Laos, sitting side-by-side with his father. He also attended a large military parade, sharing a VIP booth with his father. In public, the chubby Kim JongUn wears Mao-style suits, similar to those worn by his grandfather. His hair a long, black wave on top and sides buzzed almost to the scalp was described by the official state newspaper as sobering and stylish. Although a hagiographic campaign hailed him as the Dear Young General it is unclear how much support he has within the armed forces or the ruling party, both of which are dominated by far older men. For more than six decades, the Kim family has used North Korea as its own family-run business, gathering nuclear weapons, collecting luxury cars, funnelling money to the military, paying little worry to chronic food shortages in the countryside and using isolation to hold it all together. But Kim Jong-Ils death comes at a time when North Koreans have increased access to outside information, adding an obstacle that the Dear Leader never faced in his own succession. In an effort to bring in hard currency, the country has opened up to outside investors. Defector groups in Seoul smuggle in CDs and USB flash drives, loaded with pro-democracy information. With its central fooddistribution system all but broken, North Korean officials have allowed the emergence of private marketplaces gathering spots where people can potentially share, in whispers, ideas they once kept to themselves. The Washington Post

TRAdE MARk CAuTIoN

IPSEN PHARMA S.A.S., a company organized under the laws of France, of 65 Quai Georges Gorse, Boulogne-Billancourt 92100, France, is the Owner of the following Trade Marks:-

AuToGEL
Reg. No. 3909/1998

TOKYO Kim Jong-Un, introduced on December 19 as North Koreas new leader, faces more formidable challenges than his father and grandfather, who ruled the country for a combined 63 years, as he assumes power in the impoverished nation without the stature and experience of his predecessors. North Koreans learned the same day that their Dear Leader Kim Jong-Il, 69, had died of a heart attack. As they flooded into public squares, showed a video released by Pyongyangs news agency, many fell to their knees, sobbing, even howling. The government tried to reassure them about the readiness of Kims youngest son, declaring on state-run media, Under the leadership of Kim Jong-Un, we should turn our sorrow into strength. Although he is hailed as the Great Successor, the new leader, thought to be in his late 20s, has neither the resume nor the skills needed to control the country in the rigid manner of his father and grandfather, experts say. And his fathers death has put him in charge long before he gained the allegiance of older officials who could help him maintain power. The model that North Korea has clung to for six decades poses its own challenge: The country survives by controlling what its people say and do, harder to manage when the leader is young and untested, not a demigod. Analysts who have studied North Koreas second attempted power transfer, which began in September 2010, say they fear several scenarios, including a military revolt or a fight for power among older Workers Party members, who view Kim Jong-Un as a vulnerable target. Until late 2010, most North Koreans had never seen a photograph of an adult Kim Jong-Un. Pyongyangs propaganda office had begun taking cautious steps to build the successors personality cult, particularly as Kim Jong Il, the Dear Leader, struggled with his health after a stroke in 2008. But the process was designed to last years, not months. This is really the worst possible nightmare for the North Korean state this sudden death, and for the son to be taking over, said Victor Cha, a former White House director of Asian affairs. This could collapse before our eyes. Before Kims death, experts and

in respect of Class 3: Perfumery, essential oils, cosmetics, hair lotions; dentifrices. Class 5: Pharmaceutical, veterinary and sanitary preparations.

EGB 761
Reg. No. 5416/1997

in respect of Class 5: Pharmaceutical, veterinary and hygienic products.

FoRLAX
Reg. No. 1710/1996

FoRTRANS GELoX INTETRIX PAXELAdINE SMECTA SoMATuLINE TANAkAN

Reg. No. 4915/1995 in respect of Class 5: Pharmaceutical and veterinary products. Fraudulent imitation or unauthorised use of the said Trade Marks will be dealt with according to law. Win Mu Tin, M.A., H.G.P., D.B.L for IPSEN PHARMA S.A.S. P. O. Box 60, Yangon. Dated: 2nd January, 2012 Reg. No. 4488/1996 Reg. No. 4916/1995 Reg. No. 4487/1996 Reg. No. 4486/1996 Reg. No. 4918/1995 Reg. No. 4919/1995

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homes with kitchens, running water and toilets, offered freshly cooked meals and fizzy drinks. It was a relatively sophisticated logistics operation that showed how embedded are the Taliban in North Waziristan, where the Pakistani military has resisted US pressure to launch a sweeping offensive. Their fervour for fighting and hatred of the United States and the US-allied Pakistani government was plain to see. But so too were lighter moments, such as sunning themselves in the courtyard, reading Urdu newspapers to keep abreast of events and listening to songs praising the glory of jihad blasted out of cassette players. In the past three years, there have been 236 US drone strikes in Pakistan, killing at least 1767 people. Taliban foot soldiers admit they have had a devastating impact on their lives. I lost 20 close friends in drone attacks. Its the biggest danger for us, said Wazir, a commander in North Waziristan who refuses to give his real name. It has restricted our movement. We take a lot of care before moving from one place to other, we avoid using the phone, he said. Precautions have not been relaxed despite a one-month

In the badlands with the Taliban

MyanMar tiMes

BANNU, Pakistan Nothing terrifies Pakistani Taliban fighter Tariq Wazir more than US drones, a harbinger of instant death invisible to the naked eye and proof of Americas mastery of the skies. Each time he hears the low hum reminiscent of a bumble bee, fear clutches his heart and he remembers how 20 of his comrades were pulverised by missiles they never saw coming in Pakistans tribal badlands. Gone are the days of communicating by phone and travelling freely. Instead he spends his days praying or reading newspapers in safe houses, moving under the cover of darkness, trying to keep one step ahead and stay alive. An AFP reporter was given a fascinating glimpse of the dayto-day life of a group of Pakistani Taliban when he travelled with them for four days between safe houses in North Waziristan during November. He and three other journalists were invited to interview the head of the faction, Hakimullah Mehsud, or another top Taliban leader but the interview never materialised, due to what the Taliban said were security reasons. Instead, they spent each night on the move, resting by day in relatively comfortable mud-brick

An unmanned US Predator drone leaves its hangar at Bagram air base in Afghanistan, in a file photo taken on November 27, 2009. In the past three years, US drone strikes in Pakistan have killed more than 1760 people. Pic: AFP reprieve in missile strikes since driving down lesser known tracks more aggressive tone towards away from the prying eyes of Washington as relations have November 17. The Long War Journal quoted informers. They picked their way gone into free fall since a covert US intelligence officials as saying gingerly, without lights. Hand American raid in May killed the attacks are on hold so as not torches can be used, but only in an Osama bin Laden, which some to further strain the alliance with emergency and then only briefly. commentators have linked to a They sought shelter in one- decline in militant attacks. Islamabad after a NATO air strike Whenever Pakistan has killed 24 Pakistani soldiers on storey mud homes, where blankets and old Afghan carpets provide a tensions with America, we see calm November 26. In response, Pakistan shut its modicum of warmth. Women and here, smiled Wazir, a nod also to the let-up in drone strikes. Afghan border to NATO supplies children were never seen. Several of the fighters told AFP The fighters prepared their own and evicted US personnel from the Shamsi air base, a reported hub for food, collecting firewood from the that militancy runs in the family. Habib-Ur-Rehman Mehsud, CIA drones, although most of the mountains and sipping on green who said he had survived two aircraft are thought to take off from tea, offering soft drink to guests. Halwa, a local sweet, was served drone strikes, said his father and US bases in Afghanistan. Pakistani officials concur there on arrival. Dinners were generous uncle died fighting the Soviets in is a temporary moratorium on helpings of beef, mutton or chicken, the mid-1980s in Afghanistan. His family fled a Pakistani drone attacks, but witnesses say served up with rice, potatoes and military offensive in 2009. surveillance flights are incessant. vegetables. Its a reality that drones are Dried fruits and nuts are a The Taliban fighters wear the uniform of any adult man in the popular snack, peanuts and the major threat to us but it is also a reality tribal belt. that Pakistan They carry Kalashnikovs We take a lot of care before moving from one provided all the information to wherever they the Americans, go, tuck pistols place to other, we avoid using the phone. he said. into their belts Mujeeb-Urand sometimes Rehman, 25, another Taliban sport hand grenades around their cashews a particular favourite. Looking through a newspaper, fighter, said his elder brother waists. Dressed in traditional shirts the Taliban pounced with delight was killed in a drone strike in that fall to the knees, caps rolled on Irans claim to have shot down the Mir Ali area of Waziristan down over the ears, waistcoats and the bat-winged RQ-170 Sentinel in 2010. Abdul Salam, who comes from balloon-style trousers, they conceal stealth drone. See how Iran forced it to land! near Miranshah, the capital their guns under the folds of the blankets wrapped around the head Why cant our government do of North Waziristan, said his this? said one. They are getting brother, younger sister and father and shoulders. They were aged mainly between dollars, they have sold the whole were killed by a drone in 2009. He said he wanted to go to 22 and 42, all were bearded and of Pakistan to the Americans, Afghanistan and fight against Ameer Sahib a mark of respect replied a second militant. Their hatred of the government the Americans who killed his was a common name for each other, at least in the presence of stems from Islamabads fractious family. My basic duty is to fight jihad. Avenging my family comes alliance with Washington. reporters. P a k i s t a n h a s a d o p t e d a second. AFP At dusk, they were on the move,

Indias dalit millionaires seek to inspire others

MUMBAI On the face of it, entrepreneur Ashok Khade is just another one of Indias wealthy entrepreneurs, heading a successful US$27 million infrastructure and oil and gas business group that employs 4500 people. But Khade, 56, is a rarity, as he belongs to Indias dalit, or untouchable classes, who for centuries have been anchored at the bottom of Hinduisms caste system. The opening of Indias economy has helped bring in some mobility in the rigid social hierarchy, leading to a gradual rise in jobs and opportunities for Indias poorest and even created a new breed the dalit millionaire. Khade, a first-generation businessman who drives a BMW, battled poverty and discrimination as a child in a village near Sangli in Maharashtra state, about 400 kilometres (250 miles) from Indias financial hub, Mumbai. After graduating in mechanical engineering, he came to Mumbai to work at Mazgaon Docks, a leading shipyard that makes warships and submarines for the Indian Navy. He acquired technical skills and, after a stint in Germany, returned to India in 1995 to set up the DAS Offshore group, which has built offshore oil platforms as well as worked on transport infrastructure projects. As growth opportunities improve across Indias hinterland, dalits are starting to seek senior jobs and set up businesses, said Khade. The biggest problem for dalits today is that they have no godfather, Khade told AFP, citing the lack of role models in contrast to Indias Hindu, Jain and Parsi communities. There is an opinion that dalits cannot take one step without others help, added Milind Kamble, chairman of the Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DICCI), a lobby group to promote the cause and interests of dalits. And we want to change that, show that we can do it, he told reporters last month. India has an estimated 165 million dalits, who are shunned by higher castes and are the poorest in terms of income, literacy and land. Caste discrimination is officially illegal in India but still pervades many aspects of daily life, especially outside cities. However in recent years, several dalit entrepreneurs have emerged, setting up companies in manufacturing, engineering, and food processing, Kamble told AFP. Kamble says the biggest hurdle for dalits is to raise collateral to obtain loans from banks and institutions. DICCI is planning to set up a venture capital fund next year with an estimated worth of five billion rupees (nearly $100 million) to help needy and potential dalit entrepreneurs. We have to stop fighting capitalism and secure our share in Indias wealth, Kamble said. AFP

Time out
By Thae Thae Htwe and Zon Pann Pwint DR Zaw Sein Lwin, a psychiatrist based in Yangon, is fond of relating a story aimed at illustrating the successful use of music as a form of psychotherapy. One man was sent by his family to the Mental Health Hospital [in Yangon] because of his uncontrollable behaviour, Dr Zaw Sein Lwin. After spending 15 years there, the man was exposed to music therapy, after which he was able to return home in good health. Dr Zaw Sein Lwin said he revived the use of music therapy in 1997 while working at the Mental Health Hospital in Mayangone township, and continued its use until he retired in 2006. During that time, Kachin singer K Jar Nu and members from the Christian Musician Fellowship assisted in the use of music to help patients at the hospital, he said. According to hospital records, psychiatrist Dr Tin Nyunt Pu started the use of music therapy at the hospital in the 1950s, he said. Singing, listening and performing were used as ways for patients to release their stress rather than holding it in. When people feel stress and tension, these stresses have a deleterious effect on the mind, causing an irregular response, Dr Zaw Sein Lwin said. Consoling themselves, receiving comfort from others and sharing their stress with others are ways of relieving anxiety. Another way is using activity as an expression of the stress. Music therapy is an expressive therapy that can take many forms, usually under the guidance of a trained music therapist. Dr Zaw Sein Lwin utilised the concept in its most rudimentary form, inviting guest musicians to perform and to encourage patients to participate in singing and dancing. When I was practicing clinical psychiatry and neuro-psychiatry at the Psychiatry and Mausley Hospital in London in 1994, I learned about and observed

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The Myanmar Times January 2 - 8, 2012

Doctor recalls benefits of music therapy

with only a few patients. They seemed very enthusiastic about the singing, listening and performing, which attracted more participants to the second session. I was encouraged by their participation and continued the therapy. The sessions were so popular, in fact, that they were soon increased in frequency from once a month to twice a month. However, in 2001 the hospital relocated to East Dagon township, and sessions were again cut back to once a month. When we moved to East Dagon we went back to once a month due to the cost and the difficulty of finding space. But by the time I retired in 2006, we had 10 singers, 15 patients who sang with the singers and 400 patients who listened to the songs they performed, he said. Dr Zaw Sein Lwin said most patients were allowed to take part in the sessions, except for those with very short attention spans, or who suffered from paranoid delusions or hallucinations, or could not control their violent behaviour. K Jar Nu, who has been performing at the Mental Health Hospital since 1997, said she has witnessed firsthand the positive therapeutic effects of singing, listening and dancing. Whenever Im invited, I take part. I sing, the band plays while the patients sing, and we sing songs together. The patients are happy, and they start to listen and follow what the doctors say and take their medicine regularly, she said. When I went to the hospital to perform, I also heard that the suicide rate had been high before, but had significantly decreased after the staff had implemented music and art therapy programs, she said. Dr Zaw Sein Lwin said music distract patients from worries about their illnesses and helps them unwind. The program also helps patients overcome their inferiority complexes. They feel proud to be involved in singing and dancing with More page 21

Staff members from Mental Health Hospital in Yangon attend an exhibition of artwork by hospital patients at Lokanat Gallery in 2001. Pic: Supplied therapeutic sessions that were of interest to me, Dr Zaw Sein Lwin said. I didnt learn about music therapy in particular. I only read about it in textbooks and learned from other therapists who used it. I didnt get any certificate in the subject. However, he said he was keen to introduce new methods of therapy in Myanmar, where psychiatrists tend to rely solely on drug treatments. I wanted to change this practice. I decided to adopt a modified approach to music therapy to suit patients in Myanmar, he said. Dr Zaw Sein Lwin introduced the music therapy sessions in 1997, starting in a small dining room at the Mental Health Hospital with 20 patients, six musicians and a few staff members. I was worried whether patients would be interested in music therapy, he said. The first session began

Bronte manuscript sells for $1 million

LONDON An unpublished manuscript by a 14-year-old Charlotte Bronte, who went on to write Jane Eyre, sold at auction in London last month for a record 690,850 (US$1,069,000). Sothebys auction house said the sale, at more than double the guide price, was the highest ever price at auction for any literary work by Charlotte Bronte or her two famous sisters, Emily and Anne. The miniature manuscript, titled Young Mens Magazine, Number 2 and dated August 1830 was bought by the Museum of Letters and Manuscripts in Paris and will be exhibited in January. The manuscript consists of 19 pages measuring just 35mm by 61mm as well as the original folder and case. It contains characters who inhabited the imaginary world called Glass Town that Bronte and her siblings created when they were growing up. It includes a passage very similar to a scene in Jane Eyre, the novel Bronte wrote 17 years later, in which the insane wife of the eponymous heroines love interest, Mr Rochester, sets fire to his bed curtains. Sothebys director Philip Errington said: Sothebys was honoured to sell a manuscript of such rarity and huge literary significance, and the record price set today reflects the international interest in Charlotte Brontes work. AFP

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January 2 - 8, 2012
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Astrological predictions for 2012

YOUR STARS
By Astrologer Aung Myin Kyaw
Aquarius
The ability to think abstractly and formulate laws, theories and clear concepts from the masses of observed facts is an intellectual quality of the Aquarius. Except for May and June, 2012 is a special gift given by the universe, but social disappointment will disturb your happy life in February, March and April. Happiness is a spiritual choice from your inner soul, and you will take the appropriate action. Shaping conditions to your specifications will result in many happy creations. After May your lifestyle will change for the better, achieving a more comfortable state supported by others according to your directions. Power and prestige are alluring up to the end of February, and it might be necessary to pay more attention to time and financial management. Keep your focus on the essentials, and let the trivial things go. You are less concerned with concepts of right or wrong than with challenging authority and power as a matter of principle. You should endeavour to maintain harmonious and affectionate relations with everyone in your social circle. In the mature account of love, it is only when one truly knows ones partner that love is given a chance to grow. Focus on the beauty of soul, which is the essence of love. Spiritual breakthroughs are dependent on your strong, daily efforts.

Jan 20 - Feb 18

war and not love? Promise yourself that you will acquire a wide-angle vision of the nature of love. From October to December, be careful about your social commitments and avoid quick decisions about joint business ventures. Be aware that people have trouble understanding that your lack of diplomatic skills are compensated for by your integrity. Commit to spending the year in the pursuit of gaining spiritual insights and interests. If for the past year you have been treading the line between love and marriage, chances are that you will continue in this manner in the coming year.

and commitments in February, March and April, but dont make any abrupt changes to your schedules and programs during this time. Team up with colleagues in whom you can place your trust. May and June will be disappointing months for social relations taking risks and starting arguments would be a mistake. However, July to December will a fortuitous period for making progress and expanding your theatre of operations. If you choose to follow the path of reason and knowledge, keep silent about the influences of the heart.

Think carefully before you take advantage of unexpected social or financial opportunities, as making decisions too quickly could lead to doubt and hesitation in the future. Keep your mind calm and strong, and remember that wisdom is purified by virtue and virtue is purified by wisdom.

Scorpio

Taurus

Pisces

The power to deal with things in a way that is beneficial to yourself is based on self-confidence and a positive outlook. January to May is a favourable period for making financial progress through calculated risks and smart decisions. The second halves of the months of May, June, November and December will bring big disappointments in friendships, largely based on the narrowing of communication channels. During these periods, you will need to get better information from people who are not bent on lawlessness and destruction. However, July will be a fortunate period for social relations and personal communication. Clever defensiveness is a way of preventing relationship problems from leaving your sphere of influence. Love exists in a zone so different from ordinary time that is said to be eternal. At first the nature of the attraction might not be clear, but you can develop your own love story by giving careful attention and favour to the idea of stronger commitment. Know that the gift of the truth excels all other gifts. One drop at a time will eventually fill the water pot; likewise, little by little you can fill yourself with good.

Feb 19 - Mar 20

The new year will start with a whimper but end on a high note. You must learn to manage and control your selfish nature, especially when it comes to relations with close friends. That also means letting go of your sense of ownership over your partner. You must also learn to combine your awesome powers of logic with an understanding of human psychology. Time feeds your mind, so be patient, do what needs to be done and dont worry so much. Foster your career through involvement with charities and altruistic causes. Important financial changes will take a long time to unfold, so you should consider a shift in strategy. January, February and March will be effective months for laying the groundwork for future success. Soon after, you will be offered opportunities at better companies with a higher salary and higher status. Married people will tend to stay married and singles will tend to stay single. For singles, love opportunities will be found close to home, and will occur in educational settings. Develop common intellectual interests that you can pursue as a couple.

April 20 - May 20

Leo

Your tendency to epitomise humanitys will to power leads you to strive to see your desires become law under your own direction. While these efforts will not necessarily come to fruition, at the very least your personal taste will become your own style, which will be imitated by those around you. The first four months of the year will see your mind disturbed by the problems of your family, partners and friends. Small differences in attitude could become huge gaps. Financial development will also be slow during this period. When your life feels like a mess, remember that stress can be the start of real success. The flower of compassion can bloom at any moment, even in an atmosphere of enmity. Hold your partner tight in the light of the process of becoming perfect, and consecrate your relationship so you can live according to the dictates of its highest purpose. Ennoble yourself by speaking no evil words and performing as many good deeds as possible.

July 23 - Aug 22

Happiness comes when you admit what you are lacking and where your needs lie. Remember the old maxim: If you think you dont love a need, then thats your need indeed. Dedicate the new year to using mental practice, concentration and mediation to develop a strong and courageous mind. Contemplating your experience and knowledge is one of the best ways to simultaneously calm and toughen your mind. You can transform yourself into any type of person you desire to be. Make sure your facts are right before taking action, otherwise the wrong inputs will lead you in the wrong direction. Keeping yourself well informed is an art that must be constantly upgraded. Part of the problem is that you ask the wrong questions, and if you ask the wrong questions you are never going to come up with the right answers. Feelings of sorrow should be taken as a signal that its time to focus your mind on the positive and the possible. Love requires no change.

Oct 23 - Nov 21

Sagittarius

Virgo

Gemini

Aries

In reality, action is the essence of the Aries psychology the more direct, blunt and to-the-point the action, the better. Courage, self-confidence and an optimistic attitude will be key components in your struggle to improve your social grace and achieve financial success. From January to May, do your best to make the right effort in all pursuits, and make sure you say what you mean and that you understand what is being said to you. Endeavour to develop an intuition of the centrality of love, and ask yourself, Why do you hide from yourself ? Why do you study

March 21 - April 19

The Gemini is to society what the nervous system is to the body. A dual nature and the gift of the gab are your most extraordinary qualities, which set you apart from those born under other astrological signs: You can make conversation about anything, anywhere, at any time. However, be careful with personal communication in February, March and April chances are high that using the wrong words will lead to strife, bad decisions and doubts. Also, pay careful attention to your dealings with friends during this time. In the long period from May and September, you could experience some unwelcome changes concerning your professional career, and you might also find yourself parting ways with old colleagues. It might be helpful to change your own rules and theories to find common ground with others. Take a conservative approach when making presentations at important meetings. The best way to approach personal relationships is to think clearly about love and give more favour and freedom to your beloved. You need to understand the bigger cosmic picture, including the vast flow of human evolution. Avoid conflicts and confrontations.

May 21 - June 20

You will experience few disappointments in social affairs in the coming year. You will desire the pure expression of the ideal in your mind, body and affairs, and if you find impurities you will attempt to clear them away. You will believe that impurities are the beginning of disorder, unhappiness and uneasiness. Unexpected opportunities and expected possibilities will appear as the true path; ready yourself to take action by perfecting your time management skills. Be wary of decisions you make while in a state of mental confusion. Avoid making promises too easily, but be sure never to break those that you do make. Any misunderstandings with friends and family members can be cleared up quickly by paying closer attention to one anothers needs. Look for love beyond your current social circle, and dedicate yourself to building a clear and sincere relationship. Brook no interference in love.

Aug 23 - Sept 22

You will always seek to expand your horizons to cover more territory and increase your range and scope. You also have an inborn consciousness of wealth that can attain any financial goal. Your love life will develop harmoniously until May, after which things will take a turn for the worse. Never look at what you have lost but instead look at what you have left, and remain cool, calm and collected. Your passionate persistence without impertinence will produce progress that will help fulfil your hearts needs and give birth to new strength for your soul. Do not allow your strong sense of justice to be lost; stay positive, and pinpoint those sources of interference that are trying to dishonour your reputation. Be careful to avoid misrepresentation and misinformation in your communication channels. Use you superior intelligence to determine the appropriate times to build up strength, to speak, and to keep silent.

Nov 22 - Dec 21

Capricorn

Libra

Cancer

Thinking is indirect. Thinking about a thing never touches the thing itself, but feeling is a faculty that makes direct contact with the object or issue in question. Superior management skills will be very important in reaching your goals, leading to great changes in your profession and resulting in a more balanced lifestyle. January is a lucky month for conversation with others. Be careful with promises

June 22 - July 22

The souls power to express beauty in all of its forms is your genius. The urge of your soul is to beautify the world and yourself. To explore the spiritual dimension of love, avoid being self-centred, and try to understand the spiritual nature of those in whom you are interested. From January to May you will experience a period of growing trust, respect and interdependence with your friends and social relations. It is also a time during which you can easily draw on endurance and courage to take risks in pursuit of the truth. Try not to be overwhelmed by the beauty of love and language in your love affairs. Understand that different types of people express love in different ways. Understand the allencompassing nature of the vacuum of love before you affirm your feelings and commit to a relationship.

Sept 23 - Oct 22

You tend to focus on the negative side of everything, so dedicate the new year to overcoming this poisonous attitude by accentuating the positive. Never argue with success. Attitude is a sure prescription for happiness. Sorrow, rejection and bereavement hit all of us at some point in our lives. This is also a year for you to contemplate your role in society, and compare it with the role you would like to see yourself playing. Take steps to see this desire become reality. Big changes will unfold slowly over the course of the entire year. Understand that you can live without material objects, but you cannot live without meaningful personal relationships. Love is not a sport, and it has no rules for sorrow. It is only when one truly knows ones partner that love is given a chance to grow according to its own nature.

Dec 22 - Jan 19

For a personal reading contact Aung Myin Kyaw, 4th Floor, 113 Thamain Bayan Road, Tamwe Township, Yangon. Tel: 556689, Email: williameaste@gmail.com

Cooking with grandma is the new luxury food kick

By Audrey Stuart CANNES, France Forget five-star restaurants. Food-loving tourists are getting their kicks in other ways, from cooking up a hotpot with a Mauritian grandmother to market shopping with a Venetian countess. More than just fine dining, wellheeled travellers in search of gourmet luxury are seeking out experiences, sparking a shift in the tourist industry, according to experts at an upmarket travel fair in Cannes last week. Gourmet travel as a niche market is huge everywhere, Jennifer Campbell, a member of the bespoke travel specialist Virtuoso network, said at the annual International Luxury Travel Market The trend is growing strongly, said Campbell, whose firm will shortly fly a small group of epicureans on a truffle-hunting expedition to Italy. Travellers now want to go out and about to see for themselves, for example, how truffles grow, where to find them and how to cook them. The movement kicked off three to five years ago, boosted in the United States, Britain and elsewhere by rising interest in organic produce and local food, as well as global television hits such as Masterchef. Frank Farneti, regional head of Frances luxury Relais et Chateaux hotel network, told a packed conference on gastronomic travel that success rests on creating an impression of authenticity. One example is Grandmas Kitchen at the Shanti Maurice Nira beachside resort in Mauritius, an alternative to the resorts highend restaurants run by the real grandmother of one of the staff. Grandma rustles up traditional Creole fare that might include honey lamb or fish curry at her home while sharing stories with her guests, before sending them off with a selection of handwritten recipes. The simple experience has proved a hit with the resorts well-heeled guests, along with a fish and rum shack set up on the beach. Its all about taking people out of a cosseted, gated community and giving them an experience that they cant get by themselves, said the owner and chief executive of Nira Hotels and Resorts, MPS Puri. Hoteliers and restaurant owners are not the only ones to benefit from this newfound appetite for authentic dining. From Italian aristocrats to ordinary housewives in China, individuals are opening up their homes to amateur cooks keen to master local dishes, from the most simple to the seriously exotic. These travellers want to learn about new ingredients and new mixtures, explained Paul Bruning, head of sales and marketing at the Southern Africa branch of luxury travel provider Abercrombie and Kent. The new Philippe Starck-designed boutique Hotel Palazzina Grassi, in the heart of historic Venice, is tapping into the culinary-driven market. Guests can accompany one of the citys best-known aristocrats, Countess Enrica Rocca, to the citys famous Rialto market to learn how to select fresh, locally caught fish. The countess leads them and their shopping baskets back home to prepare Venetian specialities, while regaling them with stories about her family history. Guests are coming from around Europe as well as Australia to enjoy a day out with the countess, at a cost of around 1000 euros (US$1300), said a hotel spokeswoman. The thirst to learn about local produce reaches beyond foodie tourists. Vikram Madhok, the managing director of Abercrombie and Kent India, organises an annual trip around India for a group of London chefs, to visit spice markets and help them explore new regional dishes. AFP

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January 2 - 8, 2012
The 27 Club is unlikely to be a real phenomenon, says the paper. Fame may increase the risk of death among musicians, but this risk is not limited to age 27. Historically, the big risk period for rocknroll fame appears to be the 1970s and early 1980s, the researchers say. After that, the number of deaths among the charttoppers fell sharply. Indeed, there was a period in the late 1980s when there were no mortalities at all. Why this is so is unclear it could be that treatment for drug overdoses and addiction improved, and thus saved musicians in danger. The 27 Club gained currency with Winehouses death in July, prompting the explanation that musicians often become famous in their early 20s, and their risk-taking peaks four to five years later. A more insidious argument was that musicians craving immortality subconsciously became bigger risk-takers, or even committed suicide, in order to join rocks dead elite. Faithful to the principles of scientific rigour, the authors of the study acknowledge that the data trawl has some flaws. Three of the 27 Club (Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison) did not have a No 1 album in Britain and were thus excluded. AFP patients in drawing, and brought brushes, paints and paper to the hospital at their own expense They taught the patients drawing as an expression of their feelings and thoughts. The hospital collected more than 200 painting during the program, which were exhibited at Lokanat Gallery in 2001, Dr Zaw Sein Lwin said, adding that the hospital still had the collection of artwork. Artist Daw Than Myint Aung, who volunteered for the art therapy program, said creating artwork helped reduce violent behaviour and softened the hearts of the patients. Their undesirable behaviour was changed through art. They no longer expressed their feelings through their behaviour and instead expressed themselves in their paintings, she said. In 1997, artist Chaw Ei Thein started giving basic drawing lesson to patients once a week, with help from Daw Than Myint Aung and another staff member at the hospital, Dr San Linn. More artists joined as word spread about the program Its hard to say that some patients made full recoveries from mental disease through art alone. But art clearly supplements other forms of medicinal treatment and helps them heal, Daw Than Myint Aung said.

MyanMar tiMes

27 Club of dead rockers a myth: study

PARIS Fame boosts the risk of early death for rock stars but the claim that the peril is greatest at the age of 27 is false, according to a study published last month by the British Medical Journal (BMJ). The theory of the 27 Club spread last year when A m y Wi n e h o u s e j o i n e d Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain and Brian Jones and other musicians who succumbed to the rocknroll lifestyle while in their 27th year. Health statisticians led by Adrian Barnett of the Queensland University of Technology in Australia put the 27 Club hypothesis to the test. They compiled a data base of 1046 musicians solo artists and band members who had a No 1 album in the British charts between 1956 and 2007, a net that included balladeers, pop singers, R&B and heavy metal. The first No 1 was Frank Sinatras Songs for Swinging Lovers! on July 28, 1956, and the last was Leona Lewis Spirit on November 18, 2007. During the period under study, 71 of the musicians died, equivalent to 7 percent of the sample. But there was no peak at all in deaths at the age of 27. On the other hand, musicians in their 20s and 30s were two to three times likelier to die prematurely than the general British population. From page 19 famous singers, and to make friends with musicians, he said. He added that patients always looked forward to the days when music therapy sessions were scheduled: Those who suffered from loneliness and who secluded themselves from society became performers on the stage. Patients felt a sense of freedom and confidence through musical therapy. After Dr Zaw Sein Lwins retirement in 2006, the music therapy sessions were slashed from the hospitals agenda. They now occur only about once a year, usually around Christmas and featuring invited musicians. I suggest that the tradition should be restored regularly and dynamically. I confirm that it will be beneficial to patients health, he said. During his tenure at the Mental Health Hospital, Dr Zaw Sein Lwin also encouraged reading and art as forms of therapy. I kept small libraries in each ward where I collected novels, magazines and comics that patients could borrow, he said. I tried to get them into the habit of reading, and didnt set any strict rules on borrowing even if they tore pages out of the books. Artists and cartoonists also volunteered to train

Members of Me N Ma Girls perform at their record launch at Central Hotel on December 17. Pic: Yadana

After name dispute, new album for Me N Ma Girls

By Nuam Bawi THE all-girl band Me N Ma Girls released their second album last month, featuring 12 songs and titled MinGaLarPar (Greetings). Eleven of the tracks are originals, composed by Me N Ma Girls, San Pee, J-Me and Ar-T, as well as by the bands Australian trainer Nicole Nikki May. The lone cover song is a Myanmar favourite composed four decades ago by Alinka Kyaw Swar Shwe Pyi Aye. The audio CD, which also features guest performances by J-Me and Nikki, is accompanied by a DVD with videos of all the songs, directed by Thone Paung and Nikki. The record release on December 17 was the culmination of a long saga involving controversy over the bands name. The five-piece band was originally formed in February 2010, with members chosen through a talent competition that attracted more than 100 contestants. Originally named the Tiger Girls, the group released their first album, Year of the Tiger, in late 2010. The group, whose act combined singing and dancing along the lines of countless Western, South Korean and Japanese allgirl pop bands, quickly gained a following among local music fans, and also gained the attention of the international press. But one year after forming, the band had an irreconcilable dispute with their original producers. The most important thing is that we would like to do original songs but the producers just wanted to do cover songs, band member Ah Moon told The Myanmar Times in an interview on December 19. We couldnt come to an agreement for a new contract so we decided to separate from the producers, she said. The band continued working on new material, and in June signaled a new phase in their careers by changing their name from Tiger Girls to Me N Ma Girls. We honestly didnt want to change the name, but the old producers stopped us from using Tiger Girls, and we didnt want to waste our time, energy and money fighting for the name, so we chose to start using Me N Ma Girls, Ah Moon said. Despite the dispute, Ah Moon said the band was grateful that the producers helped them get started. If the producers didnt hold the competition [in 2010], we would not have come together and formed the band, she said.

eNtertAiNmeNt News
January 2 - 8, 2012
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Actors are wise to interpret, not mimic, historical legends

By Ann Hornaday AN advertising slogan for a famous fur company once posed the question What becomes a legend most? That philosophical conundrum resonates with added meaning at the moment, when theatres seem glutted with movies about historys most storied icons. In the past several weeks alone, movie fans have been treated to a big-screen adaptation of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, featuring the fictional Cold War spy George Smiley and the titular Victorianera detective. Filmgoers could also take in A Dangerous Method, about psychoanalytic pioneer Sigmund Freud and his friendship with Carl Jung. Whether drawn from fiction or real life, these protagonists present particular challenges, not just for the actors playing them but also for audiences who are likely to have preexisting images of them in our heads. Success, when it comes to playing the larger-than-life, isnt just a function of a great performance but an act of will on the part of filmgoers who must simultaneously hold on to and let go of their most ingrained, cherished preconceptions. So people interested in seeing Gary Oldman play Smiley in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy will not only have to submerge their own vision of the MI6 operative if theyve read the book, but theyll also have to bid farewell to Alec Guinnesss definitive portrayal of him in the 1979 BBC miniseries. In fact, filling Guinnesss legendary shoes gave Oldman pause, until he realised that, like great Shakespearean roles, Smiley was legitimate territory for reinterpretation. Oldma n s le ve lheadedness and guts pay off in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, in which hes just as recessive and diffident as Smiley is on the page, all the while infusing the character with newfound amounts of quiet, carefully conserved energy. Oldman spends much of his time listening in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and he doesnt speak in the films first 20 minutes or so. Such restraint the willingness to appear to be doing nothing marks the confidence of an actor who trusts the camera, and by extension the audience, to fill in the fascinatingly blank slate he presents. Staring evenly out of his owlish glasses, his face a mask of bland inscrutability, Smiley seems to take on the colouring of whatever habitat he finds himself in, a process of active passivity that Oldman animates with just the right amount of calibrated dynamism onscreen, such as when he slowly rolls down a car window to let out a bee that others have been furiously swatting. The secret Oldman understands about playing a beloved literary figure is that one must simultaneously banish the character and subtly fuse it with ones own. And its precisely that delicate balance that Robert Downey Jr fails to strike in his Sherlock Holmes movies, in which he allows his own manic, look-at-me showmanship to swamp any attempt at genuine characterisation. Goodness knows that Holmes has proved a Oldman so faithfully obeys): Make a character ones own, but dont smother it completely with ones own mannerisms, tics and native charisma. Icons, in other words, must be allowed room to breathe even more so when they happen to be real human beings. For an actor, the operating question isnt What becomes a legend most? as much as How do you become a legend best? In A Dangerous Method, Vi g g o M o r t e n s e n p l a y s Freud, not as the balding, white-bearded man with a scowl most people conjure when they think of the Austrian neurologist, but as Mortensen was deservedly nominated for a Golden Globe last month for his performance in A Dangerous Method. So were Leonardo DiCaprio and Meryl Streep, for their portrayals of FBI Director J Edgar Hoover in J Edgar and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. As accomplished as those performances are, though, they also point out the dangers inherent in playing real-life icons whose faces, behaviour and habits of speech are so well known that they invite impersonation rather than acting. Its impossible to argue that DiCaprio and Streep dont uncannily inhabit their respective characters, in both cases with some extraordinarily realistic makeup and prosthetics. Both are called on to age over several years in their movies, each of which hews to a first-person, flashback-framed narrative structure that favours psycho-biography over larger cultural or political implications. The result, in each case, is a portrait that, while impressive in its mimicry, becomes a study in rhetoric and personal style, rather than an illumination of more complex truths beyond the subjects interior demons. (In the words of one British critic: With The Iron Lady, Streep gives us Thatcher without Thatcherism.) If both J Edgar and The Iron Lady err on the side of wax-works imitation, thats not the fault of DiCaprio or Streep as much as the movies theyre in. But both performances raise the question of whether an impression can be too good, dazzling audiences with sheer technique but distracting them from deeper meanings. Compare S t r e e p s n o t e - p e r f e c t impression of Thatcher with Michael Sheens portrayal of Tony Blair whom Sheen resembles only slightly in The Queen and The Deal, but who nonetheless emerges as a vivid avatar of political ambition and social change in 1990s Britain. Or consider My Week With Marilyn, in which Michelle Williams takes on the daunting task of playing no less an icon than Marilyn Monroe. Physically, Williams is all wrong for the role her lips are too voluptuous, her eyes too hooded, her vocal register too low. But in this snapshot of Monroes disastrous collaboration with Sir Laurence Olivier on the set of The Prince and the Showgirl, Williams manages simultaneously to evoke Monroe and spare her the indignity of impersonating her. Thus unencumbered, the film becomes less a showcase for a stunt of Great Acting than a wistful, affecting essay on art, celebrity, insecurity and manipulation. The Washington Post

Jim Carrey, instigator of the creepiest pretend celebrity crush of 2011. Pic: RanZag

Most memorable celeb moments of the past year

By Jen Chaney THE past year in entertainment news taught us many lessons: that seemingly fake reality-show weddings rarely end well; that anyone who plays a foil to Jon Cryer on Two and a Half Men will eventually experience a public meltdown; and that if youre famous, its a really bad idea to take nude photos of yourself with a cellphone. (Actually, its probably a bad idea in general.) In addition to providing teaching moments, 2011 also gave us many Hollywoodrelated memories, moments well never forget about the famous people we dont know. Here are just a few; consider them your pop culture superlatives for 2011. Kate moment that provided the most schadenfreude: the cancellation of Kate Gosselins Kate Plus 8. Mommy blogs that run on Gosselin snark were the happiest places on Earth when that news broke. Kate moment that provided the least schadenfreude: the royal wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William. This event was so classy and heart-warming, the only thing to make sarcastic comments about were the silly hats. But neither their silliness nor the buzzeda b o u t d r e s s o f Pi p p a Middleton could detract from all that tastefulness. Biggest singing error during a public event: Christina Aguileras Super Bowl botching of The StarSpangled Banner lyrics. Aguilera felt strongly about the twilights last gleaming. So much so that she sang it twice. Biggest singing error during a public event, part two: Scotty McCreerys lipsynching screw-up during the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade. We know the American Idol winner and everyone else who stands on a float doesnt really sing, but at least hold up the mike at the right time to maintain the illusion. Movie event that made us cry: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. Saying farewell to Harry, Ron, Hermione and everyone from Hogwarts was truly the sweetest sorrow. Movie event that made us cry unintentionally: the trailer for Jack and Jill. Once we watched it, there was nothing left to do but weep for Al Pacino. Best awards-show acceptance speech by a Melissa: Melissa McCarthys weepy, beauty-pageant Emmy Award win for best actress. With tears in her eyes and a tiara on her head, McCarthy was all aw-shucks grace and charm. There she is, Miss America. Worst awards-show acceptance speech by a Melissa: Melissa Leos f-bombed Oscar remarks. Leo, who won her first Oscar for her role as a feisty boxing mom in The Fighter, is a salt-of-theearth, speak-her-mind kind of lady. We respect that. But someone needed to remind her that theres no cursing at the Academy Awards. Creepiest pretend celebrity crush: Jim Carreys love for Emma Stone. In an online video meant as a joke, Carrey confessed that he wanted to marry The Help star and have chubby little freckle-faced kids with her. Sort of funny. Also? Creepy. Creepiest, seemingly real pseudo-celebrity marriage: Doug Hutchison and Courtney Stodden. The 51-year-old bit player on Lost married a 16-year-old who looks like a 35-year-old porn star, thereby ensuring they would become the subject of perverse internet fascination. Dont know who they are? Consider yourself lucky. The Washington Post

As filmmakers in Myanmar mull a movie about the life of Bogyoke Aung San, one of the biggest challenges will be finding an actor who can fill the shoes of the countrys legendary father of independence. wonderfully elastic figure over the years, as amenable to the straight-faced style of Basil Rathbone in the 1940s and Jeremy Bretts more neurotic interpretation in a middle-aged family man of warmth and even humour. (What an exquisitely Protestant remark, Freud says when Jung betrays his naivete about anti-

can be too good, dazzling audiences with sheer technique but distracting them from deeper meanings.

performances Some of whether an raise the question impression

the 1980s to a modern-day version played by Benedict Cumberbatch (who can coincidentally be seen ably assisting Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy). But in Guy Ritchies 2009 Sherlock Holmes and his new sequel, the consulting detective has become utterly unrecognisable, an eccentric foil for the movies true mission of bombastic action, Matrixinspired special effects and campy dynamics between Holmes and Dr Watson (Jude Law). Downey violated the cardinal rule when playing a known quantity (a rule

Semitism.) Mortensens costar, Michael Fassbender, didnt need to clear the same preconceptions about Jung as Mortensen did about Freud, which makes Mortensens performance all the more accomplished. Playing the psychiatrist at a moment when his theories about sexuality and human psychology were controversial and precariously fragile, he imbues the real-life man with the stately reticence of a Viennese bourgeois, not the inner fire-bombthrower. Its an approach that allows the films true stars ideas to shine.

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January 2 - 8, 2012
Myanmar Publishers and Printers Association Meeting
HAPPY New Year to everyone! Socialite hopes you enjoyed a festive holiday season with many social events. She had a very intense lead-up to the Christmas holiday so intense, in fact, that it will take a few weeks to catch up. Meanwhile, on December 17, she took part in the 20th meeting of Myanmar Publishers and Printers Association at UMFCCI, before heading over to the opening ceremony of Green Elephant Bistro on West Shwegondine Road in Bahan township. Her footsteps then led her to the launch of Cocoon Silk Fashion House on Inya Road in Kamaryut township, and then to New University Avenue Road to attend the 4th anniversary of Precious Gems. Socialite then popped by the Luminarc 2012 New Design Showcase at Maw Tin Junction and then rushed to artist U Ba Kyis awards ceremony at Bogyoke Aung San Market. On December 18, she attended the opening ceremony for Laurel Art Academy at Pearl Garden Housing at Pearl Condo.

MyanMar tiMes
Green Elephant Bistro Launch

Daw Cherry Aung

Daw Mi Mi Naing, Daw Tin Tin Win and Daw Kyi Kyi Htay

Dr Tin Tun Oo

Union Minister U Kyaw Hsan

Laurel Art Academy Opening Ceremony

Artist U Ba Kyi Award Ceremony

Yan Aung Director Myo Zaw Aung Zay Yar

Aythaya Wine Tasting Event

Ko Kaung Sat Htun and Ko Zin Min Aung

Ko Min Lwin and Ma Sandar Lwin

Mr Werner Rumpf, Mr Mikhail M Mgeladze and Mr Bert Morsbach

U Thaung Han

Officials

U Thant Zin

Guests

U San Nyein and Ms Amelie Chai

Precious 4th Anniversary Sale

Guests

Daw Mar Lar Myint and Ma Mar Lar Win

Customers

Cocoon Silk Fashion House Opening

Ma Mya Mar Lar Aung and Ma Theint Thinzar Aung

Guest, Yadanar Pone and Chaw Yadana

Hla Izali Tint Warso Moe Oo

Luminarc 2012 New Design Showcase

U Soe Moe, Daw Win Win Tint and guest

Ju Juu K

May

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January 2 - 8, 2012
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MyanMar tiMes

Beauty, bloody history in Uruguay

By Hilary Krieger IM standing at the top of Colonia del Sacramentos Street of Sighs, an 18 th century passageway built by the Portuguese when they still controlled this peninsula in present-day Uruguay. The original trough running down the centre of the mossy-stoned lane continues to drain rainwater to the Rio de la Plata lapping just metres away. Two rows of aged ochre, rose and russet stucco buildings now serve as art galleries and artisanal cheese stores. Im captivated by a scene of beauty created by cobblestones, wroughtiron lamps, coastal bluffs and, of course, prostitutes. My tour guide, Maria del Carmen, has just informed me that the galleries and gourmet shops on this street were brothels in a former lifetime, beckoning the many seamen who washed up on Colonias shores. One of several legends explaining how Colonias most photogenic street got its name claims that the sailors would sigh over the women of easy virtue as they walked down the road. Ive taken the hour-long ferry ride from chaotic Buenos Aires to this enchanting colonial city across the river in search of tranquillity. Thanks to the prostitutes, Ive found it. According to Maria, the prostitutes are responsible for Colonias preservation of a bygone era. The ladies of the night held court on this street and the surrounding alleyways until a mere 40 years ago. Along with other impoverished souls, they kept the Barrio Historico the precinct of neer-dowells while the better-off chose to erect new edifices farther inland. Thus were the historic buildings saved from the demolition and modernisation that has condemned many other would-be tourist magnets to the dustbins of history. Once the tourism industry recognized the perfectly preserved districts appeal and took over culminating in a UNESCO World Heritage Site designation in 1995 skyrocketing rents forced the prostitutes out. Thats just one historical irony in a place now prized for its tranquil beaches and relaxed atmosphere but originally a military fort whose early decades were steeped in blood and turmoil. Although the Portuguese chose the location as a strategic port from which to challenge the Spanish and then spent decades duking it out with their archenemy, Colonia is now synonymous with peace and quiet. And this is not a place for moving quickly. For one Even a short ride brings you to beaches ideal for sunning or reading. After my comprehensive museum turn, I was feeling a little tuckered out and was secretly relieved when it got too windy and chilly for biking. Instead, I decided to peek into the shops selling handmade ceramics and woolen wraps and check out the cafes so blessedly prevalent in this part of the world. Id heard that the beer in Uruguay was an even better liquid refreshment than the tea and coffee at the cafes. So I recruited a German couple at my lodgings to help me evaluate that claim, figuring that they could provide an expert opinion. Before hitting the bar, we went out in search of quality parilla (steak and other meat options put on the grill) and Malbec, the staples that define the culinary landscape in Argentina and Uruguay. We found them both at local institution Parrillada El Porton, whose thick wooden tables were filled with both Colonia families and tourists. One of my new German friends also found the Uruguayan specialty chivito on the menu. This is a slab of beef sitting atop french fries and salad, itself topped by bacon, ham and cheese, all crowned with a fried egg. Though its often priced for two to share, he managed to clear his overflowing plate on his own. Any remaining room was filled by another, sweeter local specialty: pasteles de membrillo, layers of fried dough stuffed with quince jam and dusted with powdered sugar. Afterward, we headed out to a nightspot, which there are just enough of to keep travellers entertained for a few evenings without disrupting Colonias slow pace. There are trendy bars with fancy cocktails and upscale restaurants with fine wines, but we went for El Drugstore, a quirky establishment featuring artwork and kitsch, a lengthy drink list and live music. We sipped our Pilsen brews to the sounds of a pair of guitarists plucking out traditional regional tunes. Although the beer rated only a wavering thumbs up from the Germans, it added a pleasant flavour to our night out on the town. In any case, remember that experiencing Colonia is more about drinking up the atmosphere than the local concoctions. And that the real main course are the streets of stone houses covered with bougainvillea, the sailboats gliding past the railing of the beach path and the feeling that the cosmic clock has been paused for your visit. Sigh. The Washington Post

AIRLINE OFFICES
Air Bagan Ltd.(W9)

56, Shwe Taung Gyar Street, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. Tel : 513322, 513422, 504888, Fax : 515102 Air Asia (FD) 33, Alan Pya Pagoda Rd, Ground Flr, Parkroyal Hotel, Yangon. Tel: 251 885, 251 886.

Air China (CA)

Building (2), corner of Pyay Rd and Kaba Aye Pagoda Rd, Hotel Yangon, 8 miles, Yangon, Myanmar. Tel : 666112, 655882.

Bangkok Airways (PG)

Yangon. Tel: 255122, 255 265, Fax: 255119

#0305, 3rd Fl, Sakura Tower, 339, Bogyoke Aung San Rd, Kyauktada Tsp,

Air India

75, Shwe Bon Thar St, Pabedan Tsp, Yangon. Tel : 253597~98, 254758. Fax: 248175

Myanmar Airways International(8M)

08-02, Sakura Tower, 339, Bogyoke Aung San Rd, Kyauktada Tsp, Ygn. Tel : 255260, Fax: 255305

A tourist walks up the Street of Sighs in Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay. Pic: The Washington Post thing, theres not a lot here. Its possible to walk from one end of the old town to the other in less than 15 minutes, so theres no need to rush. Each year thousands of tourists make the mistake of thinking that because you can take an easy day trip to Colonia from Buenos Aires via a one-hour high-speed ferry, thats what you should do. Sure, in one day I could scale the 118 tightly wound steps of the lighthouse for a panoramic view, cross over the reconstructed colonial drawbridge to roam along the old city walls, and squeeze in a picnic on the reedy beach. But by staying the night, I could slow my heart rate and absorb some of the laidback vibe before returning to the big city, as well as experience a side of Colonia thats only available to those who dont have to hurry to hop on an afternoon ferry. The evening of my arrival, I decided to follow the ship lights glowing at the end of the pier and stroll along the wooden planks until I found myself amid dozens of sailors tethering their boats to their moorings by moonlight. The next morning was a Sunday, and as I walked past the central church destroyed and rebuilt in SpanishPortuguese warring almost too many times to count I heard a rich, boisterous singing. I tried to slip in unobtrusively at the back, but I arrived just as the priest gave his blessing to the parishioners, who all turned to each other to offer words of greeting and kisses on the cheek mine included. And by staying for two evenings, I could weigh in on the impassioned local debate over the best spot for watching the regularly spectacular sunsets. Many swear by the lighthouse because of the 360-degree vista, but it can close too near to sunset to give you time to savour the view. Maria, my guide, prefers to walk out on the pier in the old port, where you can linger alongside teenagers and old couples until well after the sun has crossed the horizon. I chose the deck of one of the many waterside restaurants as my favourite observation point. Yes, there were a few people and lampposts between me and the shore, and neither the cuisine nor the service matched the scenery. But sitting at a patio table sipping vino as the sun bade farewell really couldnt be beat particularly since the sun turned into a magenta orb before eventually slinking under the water. Of course, there are things to do here beyond strolling, sitting and sipping. Colonia boasts an array of museums, and for the single price of US$2.50, you can enter them all. Alas, its true that you get what you pay for, and $2.50 divided among several museums doesnt get you much. English is in very short supply in most of the museums. Luckily, many of the more compelling exhibits are largely visual, including a collection of ancient map reproductions in the Portuguese Museum and all of Nacarellos House, a tiny four-room structure built by the Portuguese in the mid-18th century. The stone floors and wood-beamed roof impart the feeling of that era, as do replica furniture and decor. The building is one of Colonias oldest, though the Spanish destroyed many of the earliest Portuguese structures just a year after the establishment of Nova Colonia do Santissimo Sacramento in 1680. That sacking was the first of many times that Spain and Portugal traded the territory back and forth, but eventually their competition, continued by Argentina and Brazil, gave way to an independent Uruguay, with Colonia one of its most storied cities. Meandering around the sycamore-lined streets, redtiled houses and benchstrewn plazas during my hour-long walking tour of the old town the day before had seemed like a much better use of my time than traipsing through the official museums. With Maria leading the way, I was able to get the timeline on the whip-lashing history, observe buildings I might have overlooked and learn about the prostitutes contributions to Colonia. I decided to skip the 90minute version hawked at the ferry terminal, since it cost $25 and required a bus ride out of the old town to see a forlorn 100-year-old entertainment destination 7 kilometres (4 miles) north. These days its main draw is a disintegrating bullring, which was used only a couple years before the central government outlawed bullfighting in 1912. The nearby casino was also shuttered, though gaming sites still operate in the new areas of town. Other visitors use pedals instead of petroleum to get out of the historic centre, renting bikes to explore the shoreline or the Bodega Bernardi vineyard about 7 kilometres (4 miles) away.

Malaysia Airlines (MH)

335/357, Bogyoke Aung San Rd, Pabedan Tsp, Yangon. Tel : 387648, 241007 ext : 120, 121, 122 Fax : 241124 339, Bogyoke Aung San Rd, 2nd Floor, Sakura Tower, Kyauktada Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar. Tel: 255 287~9 , Fax: 255 290

Silk Air(MI)

Thai Airways (TG)

#11-01, Sakura Tower, 339, Bogyoke Aung San Rd, Kyauktada Tsp, Ygn. Tel : 255499 Fax : 255490

Vietnam Airlines (VN)

#1702, Sakura Tower 339, Bogyoke Aung San Rd, Kyauktada Tsp, Yangon. Fax 255086. Tel 255066/ 255088/ 255068.

Domestic Airlines
Yangon Airways(YH)

166, MMB Tower, Level 5, Upper Pansodan Rd, Mingalar Taungnyunt Tsp, Yangon. Tel: (+95-1) 383 100, 383 107, 700 264, Fax: 652 533.

Air Bagan Ltd.(W9)

56, Shwe Taung Gyar Street, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. Tel : 513322, 513422, 504888, Fax : 515102

AIR KBZ (K7)

33-49,Corner of Bank Street & Maha Bandoola Garden Street, Kyauktada Tsp,Yangon, Myanmar Tel: 372977~80, 533030~39 (Airport) Fax: 372983

Air Mandalay (6T)

146, Dhamazedi Road, Bahan Tsp, Yangon Tel : 501520, 525488 (Head Office) 720309, 652753, 652754 (Airport Office), Fax: 525 937

Asian Wings (AW)

No.34(A-1), Shwe Taung Gyar Street, Bahan Township,Yangon.Myanmar. Tel: 951 516654, 532253, 09-73135991~3.Fax: 951 532333

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January 2 - 8, 2012

MyanMar tiMes

DOMESTIC FLIGHT SCHEDULES

DAYS
MON

INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT SCHEDULES

DAYS
SUN

Flight
6T 403 AW 891 6T 401 K7 222 W9 011 AW 761 K7 824 6T 451 YH 909 6T 405 W9 251 6T 401 YH 729 6T 451 K7 226 AW 791 AW 891 6T 405 6T 401 K7 222 K7 824 YH 737 6T 451 W9 261 YH 731 YH 909 AW 891 AW 201 6T 401 W9 255 6T 405 YH 729 K7 622 6T 451 YH 731 AW 891 6T 401 6T 405 W9 251 6T 401 YH 917 K7 222 AW 751 K7 824 6T 451 YH 731 W9 271 YH 909 6T 401 AW 601 YH 729 6T 501 AW 891 YH 909 AW 891 6T 405 6T 401 K7 822 W9 255 K7 622 AW 751 6T 451 6T 501

Dep Arr
06:15 06:15 06:15 06:30 07:30 11:00 11:00 11:30 06:15 06:15 06:30 06:30 11:00 11:30 11:00 15:00 06:15 06:15 06:30 06:30 11:00 11:00 11:30 13:30 15:00 06:15 06:15 06:30 06:30 06:30 06:45 10:30 11:25 11:30 15:00 06:15 06:15 06:15 06:30 06:30 06:30 06:30 11:00 11:00 11:30 15:00 06:00 06:15 06:30 07:00 10:30 15:00 16:15 06:15 06:15 06:15 06:30 06:30 06:30 11:00 11:00 11:30 15:00 07:40 08:20 08:20 08:40 08:30 12:55 12:25 12:55 07:55 08:20 07:55 08:35 12:40 12:55 12:25 16:25 08:20 08:20 08:35 08:40 12:25 13:10 12:55 07:55 17:10 07:55 08:20 07:55 08:35 08:55 08:10 13:30 12:25 12:55 17:10 08:20 08:20 08:20 07:55 08:35 08:50 08:40 12:25 12:25 12:55 17:10 07:25 07:55 08:35 08:25 13:30 17:00 08:20 08:30 08:20 08:20 08:35 08:35 08:55 12:25 12:25 12:55 17:00

DAYS
TUE

Flight
W9 009 6T 406 6T 402 YH 910 W9 011 YH 812 W9 251 K7 227 W9 150 AW 762 YH 730 6T 502 W9 009 AW 892 6T 406 6T 332 6T 402 W9 021 K7 825 YH 738 6T 502 W9 009 AW 892 6T 402 YH 812 W9 021 K7 623 AW 762 YH 730 6T 502 W9 009 AW 892 6T 406 YH 918 6T 402 K7 223 AW 202 W9 251 K7 825 YH 731 6T 502 W9 232 YH 728 AW 892 6T 332 6T 402 W9 011 W9 262 AW 602 YH 812 YH 730 6T 502 W9 009 AW 892 YH 910 6T 406 6T 402 W9 011 W9 256 K7 823 YH 812 K7 623 AW 752 YH 738 6T 502

Dep Arr
08:30 08:40 08:55 09:25 09:25 13:25 13:35 15:05 16:20 16:25 17:20 17:20 08:30 08:35 08:40 08:45 08:55 14:10 15:45 17:10 17:20 08:30 08:35 08:55 13:10 14:10 15:45 16:25 17:15 17:20 08:30 08:35 08:40 08:50 08:55 09:00 11:00 13:35 15:45 17:10 17:20 17:35 17:45 08:35 08:45 08:55 09:25 10:50 12:20 13:10 17:15 17:20 08:30 08:35 08:35 08:40 08:55 09:25 11:20 11:55 13:10 15:45 17:10 17:10 17:20 09:30 10:40 10:55 10:50 11:10 14:50 15:00 16:30 17:45 17:50 18:45 19:25 09:30 10:30 10:40 10:10 10:55 15:10 17:10 18:35 19:25 09:30 10:30 10:55 14:35 15:10 17:10 17:50 18:45 19:25 09:30 10:30 10:40 10:45 10:55 11:05 12:25 15:00 17:10 19:25 19:25 19:00 19:10 10:30 10:10 10:55 11:10 12:15 13:45 14:35 18:45 19:25 09:30 10:30 10:00 10:40 10:55 11:10 12:45 14:00 14:35 17:10 18:35 18:35 19:25

DAYS
THUR

Flight
AW 891 W9 009 6T 401 YH 917 6T 405 AW 891 W9 009 6T 401 K7 222 YH 917 6T 361 6T 405 W9 009 YH 917 AW 891 6T 401 W9 143 6T 405 AW 891 YH 909 W9 009 6T 401 YH 917

Dep Arr
06:15 06:30 06:30 06:30 06:15 06:15 06:30 06:30 06:30 06:30 06:45 06:15 06:30 06:30 06:15 11:30 06:00 06:15 06:15 06:15 06:30 06:30 06:30 07:35 07:25 07:50 08:05 07:35 07:35 07:25 07:50 07:50 08:05 08:05 07:35 07:25 08:05 07:35 12:50 07:20 07:35 07:35 07:50 07:25 07:50 08:05

Flight
K7 822 W9 115 YH 811 6T 501 YH 731 YH 737 W9 143 AW 892 6T 402 YH 918 W9 011 K7 223 AW 892 6T 406 YH 918 W9 011 6T 402 K7 827 W9 116 W9 143 AW 892 6T 406 YH 918 6T 402 K7 223 W9 143 6T 406 YH 918 6T 402 K7 823 W9 143 AW 892 6T 406 YH 918 6T 402 K7 223 6T 406 W9 143 AW 892 YH 918 K7 827 6T 402 AW 892 6T 406 YH 918 W9 011 6T 402 6T 362 K7 823 W9 116 YH 738 6T 607 W9 309 6T 607 W9 309 6T 607 W9 309 6T 607 W9 309 6T 607 W9 309 6T 607 W9 309 6T 607 W9 309 6T 608 W9 310 6T 608 W9 310 6T 608 W9 310 6T 608 W9 310 6T 608 W9 310 6T 608 W9 310 6T 608 6T 707 AW 301 6T 707 K7 317 K7 317 AW 301 AW 301 6T 707 K7 317 AW 301 6T 708 6T 708 K7 318 AW 302 AW 302 K7 318 6T 708 K7 318 AW 302

Dep Arr
06:30 11:00 11:00 15:00 15:00 11:00 09:05 09:20 09:30 09:35 09:40 09:55 09:20 09:30 09:35 09:40 09:45 10:30 16:45 09:05 09:20 09:30 09:35 09:45 09:55 09:05 09:20 09:35 09:45 10:30 09:05 09:20 09:30 09:35 09:45 09:55 08:45 09:05 09:20 09:35 10:30 09:45 09:20 09:30 09:35 09:40 09:45 09:55 12:50 16:45 17:20 11:00 13:00 11:00 13:00 11:00 13:00 11:00 13:00 11:00 13:00 11:00 13:00 11:00 13:00 13:15 15:00 13:15 15:00 13:15 15:00 13:15 15:00 12:40 15:00 13:15 15:00 13:15 07:30 07:00 11:15 12:30 12:30 12:45 07:00 11:15 12:30 12:45 11:55 15:40 16:40 17:15 11:30 16:40 15:40 16:40 17:15 07:40 12:10 12:25 16:10 16:25 12:25 10:15 10:30 10:40 10:45 10:35 11:05 10:30 10:40 10:45 10:35 10:55 11:40 17:55 10:15 10:30 10:40 10:45 10:55 11:05 10:15 10:30 10:45 10:55 11:40 10:15 10:30 10:40 10:45 10:55 11:05 10:55 10:15 10:30 10:45 11:40 10:55 10:30 10:40 10:45 10:35 10:55 11:08 14:00 17:55 18:35 13:00 14:45 13:00 14:45 13:00 14:45 13:00 14:45 13:00 14:45 13:00 14:45 13:00 14:45 14:40 16:45 14:40 16:45 14:40 16:45 14:40 16:45 14:40 16:45 14:40 16:45 14:40 09:30 09:05 13:15 14:00 14:00 14:50 09:05 13:15 14:00 14:50 13:55 17:40 18:10 19:20 13:35 18:10 17:40 18:10 19:20

Flight
MON FD 3771 8M 335 TG 304 PG 702 8M 331 PG 704 FD 3773 TG 306 TUE FD 3771 8M 335 TG 304 PG 702 8M 331 PG 704 FD 3773 TG 306

Dep
08:30 08:50 09:50 10:55 16:30 16:40 17:40 19:45 08:30 08:50 09:50 10:55 16:30 16:40 17:40 19:45 08:30 08:50 09:50 10:55 16:30 16:40 17:40 19:45 08:30 08:50 09:50 10:55 16:30 16:40 17:40 19:45 08:30 08:50 09:50 10:55 16:30 16:40 17:40 19:45 08:30 08:50 09:50 10:55 16:30 16:40 17:40 19:45 08:30 08:50 09:50 10:55 16:30 16:40 17:40 19:45 08:40 10:10 14:15 16:40 08:00 10:10 14:15 16:40 08:00 10:10 11:25 16:40 08:00 10:10 14:15 16:40 17:30 08:00 10:10 11:25 16:40 17:30

Arr
10:15 10:35 11:45 12:50 18:15 18:35 19:25 21:40 10:15 10:35 11:45 12:50 18:15 18:35 19:25 21:40 10:15 10:35 11:45 12:50 18:15 18:35 19:25 21:40 10:15 10:35 11:45 12:50 18:15 18:35 19:25 21:40 10:15 10:35 11:45 12:50 18:15 18:35 19:25 21:40 10:15 10:35 11:45 12:50 18:15 18:35 19:25 21:40 10:15 10:35 11:45 12:50 18:15 18:35 19:25 21:40 13:05 14:45 18:40 21:15 12:25 14:45 18:40 21:15 12:25 14:45 15:50 21:15 12:25 14:45 18:40 21:15 22:05 12:25 14:45 15:50 21:15 22:05

Flight
SAT 8M 231 MI 511 8M 6232 MI 517 MI 519 8M 231 MI 511 8M 233 MI 517 MI 519

Dep
08:00 10:10 11:25 16:40 17:30 08:00 10:10 14:15 16:40 17:30

Arr
12:25 14:45 15:50 21:15 22:05 12:25 14:45 18:40 21:15 22:05

Flight
MON 8M 336 FD 3770 TG 303 PG 701 PG 703 FD 3772 TG 305 8M 332 TUE 8M 336 FD 3770 TG 303 PG 701 PG 703 FD 3772 TG 305 8M 332

Dep
07:10 07:10 07:55 09:15 15:00 16:25 17:50 19:25 07:10 07:10 07:55 09:15 15:00 16:25 17:50 19:25 07:10 07:10 07:55 09:15 15:00 16:25 17:50 19:25 07:10 07:10 07:55 09:15 15:00 16:25 17:50 19:25 07:10 07:10 07:55 09:15 16:25 15:00 17:50 19:25 07:10 07:10 07:55 09:15 15:00 16:25 17:50 19:25 07:10 07:10 07:55 09:15 15:00 16:25 17:50 19:25 07:55 14:10 14:20 19:40 07:55 14:10 14:20 19:40 07:55 09:10 14:10 14:20 07:55 14:10 14:20 15:20 19:40 07:55 09:10 14:10 14:20 15:20

Arr
07:55 07:55 08:50 10:05 15:50 17:10 18:45 20:10 07:55 07:55 08:50 10:05 15:50 17:10 18:45 20:10 07:55 07:55 08:50 10:05 15:50 17:10 18:45 20:10 07:55 07:55 08:50 10:05 15:50 17:10 18:45 20:10 07:55 07:55 08:50 10:05 17:10 15:50 18:45 20:10 07:55 07:55 08:50 10:05 15:50 17:10 18:45 20:10 07:55 07:55 08:50 10:05 15:50 17:10 18:45 20:10 09:20 15:35 15:45 21:05 09:20 15:35 15:45 21:05 09:20 10:35 15:35 15:45 09:20 15:35 15:45 16:40 21:05 09:20 10:35 15:35 15:45 16:40

Flight
SAT MI 512 8M 6231 8M 232 MI 518 MI 520 SUN MI 512 8M 232 MI 518 MI 520

Dep

Arr

YANGON TO MANDALAY

YANGON TO BANGKOK

BANGKOK TO YANGON

07:55 09:20 09:10 10:35 14:10 15:35 14:20 15:45 15:20 16:40 07:55 09:20 14:10 15:35 14:20 15:45 15:20 16:40 19:40 21:05 10:05 11:15 14:00 15:00 15:40 16:45 10:05 11:15 14:00 15:00 15:40 16:45 10:05 11:15 15:40 16:45 10:05 11:15 14:00 15:00 15:40 16:45 10:05 11:15 14:00 15:00 15:40 16:45 10:05 11:15 15:40 16:45 10:05 11:15 14:00 15:00 15:40 16:45 08:50 10:30 14:15 15:45 08:50 10:30 14:15 15:45 09:55 12:45 09:55 12:45 09:55 12:45 12:35 13:15 12:35 13:15 12:35 13:15 12:35 13:15 12:35 13:15 10:00 14:55 15:50 16:40 14:30 15:00 14:30 15:00 16:35 18:10 16:35 18:10 16:35 18:10 16:35 18:10 11:40 13:25 11:40 13:25 11:40 13:25 13:50 15:15 13:50 15:15

FRI

HEHO TO YANGON
MON

SUN

TUE

WED

SAT

TUE

YANGON TO SIEM REAP

WED 8M 401 SAT 8M 401 08:50 11:25 08:50 11:25 09:00 13:00 12:15 16:30 17:15 21:30 09:00 13:00 12:15 16:30 17:15 21:30 12:15 16:30 17:15 21:30 09:00 13:00 12:15 16:30 17:15 21:30 09:00 13:00 12:15 16:30 17:15 21:30 12:15 16:30 17:15 21:30 09:00 13:00 12:15 16:30 17:15 21:30 11:20 15:50 08:45 13:15 11:20 15:50 08:45 13:15 SAT 14:00 19:25 14:00 19:25 14:00 19:25 14:15 17:35 14:15 17:35 14:15 17:35 14:15 17:35 14:15 17:35 13:30 16:40 13:30 16:40 12:00 13:30 12:00 13:30 19:10 21:30 19:10 21:30 19:10 21:30 19:10 21:30 SUN

8M 234
MON MH 740 8M 502 AK 850 TUE MH 740 8M 502 AK 850 WED MH 740 AK 850 THU MH 740 8M 502 AK 850 FRI MH 740 8M 502 AK 850 MH 740 AK 850 MH 740 8M 502 AK 850

SUN

KUALA LUMPUR TO YANGON

WED

WED

YANGON TO KUALA LUMPUR

MON 8M 501 MH 741 AK 851 TUE 8M 501 MH 741 AK 851

THUR

NYAUNG U TO YANGON
MON 6T 404 W9 109 AW 782 YH 732 6T 502 YH 910 W9 109 AW 792 6T 502 YH 732 W9 109 AW 782 YH 732 6T 502 YH 910 W9 109 YH 732 6T 502 W9 109 AW 782 YH 732 6T 502 YH 910 W9 109 AW 792 YH 732 6T 502 YH 910 6T 502 W9 109 YH 732 08:45 17:25 17:25 17:55 18:05 08:40 17:25 17:25 18:05 18:10 17:25 17:25 17:55 18:05 08:40 17:25 17:55 18:05 17:25 17:25 17:55 18:05 08:40 17:25 17:25 17:55 18:05 08:40 17:03 17:25 17:55 10:05 18:20 18:45 19:15 19:25 10:00 18:20 18:45 19:25 19:30 18:20 18:45 19:15 19:25 10:00 18:20 19:15 19:25 18:20 18:45 19:15 19:25 10:00 18:20 18:45 19:15 19:25 10:00 18:23 18:20 19:15 THUR

THUR

FRI

TUE

FRI

WED FD 3771 8M 335 TG 304 PG 702 8M 331 PG 704 FD 3773 TG 306 THUR FD 3771 8M 335 TG 304 PG 702 8M 331 PG 704 FD 3773 TG 306 FRI FD 3771 8M 335 TG 304 PG 702 8M 331 PG 704 FD 3773 TG 306 FD 3771 8M 335 TG 304 PG 702 8M 331 PG 704 FD 3773 TG 306 FD 3771 8M 335 TG 304 PG 702 8M 331 PG 704 FD 3773 TG 306

WED MH 741 AK 851 THU 8M 501 MH 741 AK 851 8M 501 MH 741 AK 851 MH 741 AK 851 8M 501 MH 741 AK 851

WED 8M 336 FD 3770 TG 303 PG 701 PG 703 FD 3772 TG 305 8M 332 THUR 8M 336 FD 3770 TG 303 PG 701 PG 703 FD 3772 TG 305 8M 332 FRI 8M 336 FD 3770 TG 303 PG 701 FD 3772 PG 703 TG 305 8M 332 8M 336 FD 3770 TG 303 PG 701 PG 703 FD 3772 TG 305 8M 332 8M 336 FD 3770 TG 303 PG 701 PG 703 FD 3772 TG 305 8M 332

WED

SAT

FRI

THUR

FRI

SAT SUN

SAT SUN

SAT

FRI

SUN

SAT

YANGON TO GUANGZHOU
WED CZ 3056 THUR 8M 711 SAT CZ 3056 SUN 8M 711 MON CI 7916 WED CI 7916 FRI TUE CI 7916 CA 906

GUANGZHOU TO YANGON
WED CZ 3055 THUR 8M 712 SAT CZ 3055

YANGON TO SITTWE
MON TUE WED THUR FRI SAT SUN

SAT

SUN

SUN

SUN 8M 712 MON CI 7915 WED CI 7915 FRI TUE CI 7915 CA 905

YANGON TO MYITKYINA
MON TUE THUR FRI SUN W9 255 W9 251 AW 201 W9 255 W9 251 AW 211 W9 255 06:30 06:30 06:30 06:30 06:30 06:00 06:30 09:25 09:25 09:20 09:25 09:25 08:50 09:25

SAT

YANGON TO TAIPEI

TAIPEI TO YANGON

SUN

YANGON TO KUNMING
WED CA 906 THUR CA 906 SAT SUN Mon FRI CA 906 CA 906 IC734 IC734

KUNMING TO YANGON
WED CA 905 THUR CA 905 SAT SUN Mon FRI CA 905 CA 905 IC733 IC728

YANGON TO NYAUNG U
MON W9 143 6T 401 AW 891 YH 633 K7 222 YH 917 W9 143 6T 401 AW 891 6T 405 YH 917 W9 143 6T 405 6T 401 K7 222 YH 917 AW 781 06:00 06:15 06:15 06:15 06:30 06:30 06:00 06:30 06:15 06:15 06:30 06:00 06:15 06:30 06:30 06:30 15:00 07:20 07:35 07:35 07:50 07:50 08:05 07:20 07:50 07:35 07:35 08:05 07:20 07:35 07:50 07:50 08:05 17:10

MYITKYINA TO YANGON
MON TUE THUR FRI SUN W9 256 W9 252 AW 202 W9 256 W9 252 W9 256 09:45 12:05 09:35 09:45 12:05 09:45 12:40 15:00 12:25 12:40 15:00 12:40

SITTWE TO YANGON
MON TUE WED THUR FRI SAT SUN

SUN

MANDALAY TO YANGON
MON YH 634 AW 892 6T 402 K7 223 W9 262 W9 021 K7 825 AW 762 YH 728 6T 502 08:35 08:35 08:40 09:00 10:50 14:10 15:45 16:25 16:30 17:20 10:00 10:30 10:40 11:05 12:15 15:10 17:10 17:50 17:55 19:25

TUE

YANGON TO KOLKATA

KOLKATA TO YANGON

YANGON TO HEHO
MON W9 119 AW 761 YH 727 6T 501 YH 731 K7 826 W9 115 AW 761 YH 811 6T 501 YH 731 W9 119 YH 737 6T 501 YH 731 K7 826 AW 761 YH 811 W9 109 6T 501 YH 731 W9 109 6T 501 YH 731 K7 826 AW 751 W9 119 YH 811 6T 501 YH 731 11:00 11:00 11:00 15:00 15:00 06:30 11:00 11:00 11:15 15:00 15:00 11:00 11:00 15:00 15:00 06:30 11:00 11:00 14:30 15:00 15:00 14:30 15:00 15:00 06:30 11:00 11:00 11:00 15:00 15:00 12:10 12:10 12:25 16:10 16:25 07:40 12:10 12:10 12:40 16:10 16:25 12:10 12:25 16:10 16:25 07:40 12:10 12:25 15:25 16:10 16:25 15:25 16:10 16:25 07:40 12:10 12:10 12:25 16:10 16:25

WED

YANGON TO SINGAPORE
MON 8M 231 MI 511 8M 233 MI 517 TUE 8M 231 MI 511 8M 233 MI 517

YANGON TO CHIANG MAI

THUR W9 9607 SUN W9 9607

SINGAPORE TO YANGON
MON MI 512 8M 232 MI 518 8M 234 TUE MI 512 8M 232 MI 518 8M 234

CHIANG MAI TO YANGON

THUR W9 9608 SUN W9 9608

TUE

YANGON TO MYEIK
MON TUE

Domestic
6T = Air Mandalay W9 = Air Bagan AW = Asian Wings K7 = AIR KBZ YH = Yangon Airways
THUR WED

YANGON TO HANOI
MON VN 956 WED VN 956 FRI SAT VN 956 VN 956

HANOI TO YANGON
MON VN 957 WED VN 957 FRI SAT TUE VN 957 VN 957 VN 943

THUR FRI SAT SUN

International
FD & AK = Air Asia TG = Thai Airways 8M = Myanmar Airways International PG = Bangkok Airways MI = Silk Air VN = Vietnam Airline MH = Malaysia Airlines CZ = China Southern CI = China Airlines CA = Air China IC = Indian Airlines Limited W9 = Air Bagan 3K = Jet Star
SAT FRI

WED 8M 231 MI 511 8M 6232 MI 517 THUR 8M 231 MI 511 8M 233 MI 517 MI 519 FRI 8M 231 MI 511 8M 6232 MI 517 MI 519

YANGON TO HO CHI MINH

TUE VN 942 14:25 17:10 14:25 17:10 14:25 17:10 08:50 12:50 08:50 12:50 THUR VN 942 SUN VN 942 WED 8M 401 SAT 8M 401

WED MI 512 8M 6231 8M 232 MI 518 THUR MI 512 8M 232 MI 518 MI 520 8M 234 FRI MI 512 8M 6231 8M 232 MI 518 MI 520

HO CHI MINH TO YANGON

THUR VN 943 SUN VN 943 WED 8M 402 SAT 8M 402

MYEIK TO YANGON
MON TUE

YANGON TO PHNOM PENH

PHNOM PENH TO YANGON

THUR FRI SAT SUN

YANGON TO GAYA
WED 8M 601 SAT 8M 601 09:00 10:30 09:00 10:30

GAYA TO YANGON
WED 8M 602 SAT 8M 602 11:30 15:00 11:30 15:00

Subject to change without notice

PROPERTY
Rent/Sale
pyin oo lwin For Rental & Sale Area : 65.00 acres. Location: About 5 miles away from Pyin Oo Lwin Town & is about (1km) away from Mandalay Lashio Main Rd (on the way to Peik Chin Myaung), Rd condition from Main Road to the Land is very good. Soil & Land Condition - 80% flat with little slope - Can start plantation / farming immediately - Have one big tube well & two big Concrete reservoir for irrigation purpose - Suitable for all type of Crop & Farm or even bee keeping too. Sale Price : 95 lakhs per acres. 2600 Fully decorated, 7A/C Ph : 09-502-0969. The house built on the lake with both swimm-ing pool negotiable price & tennis, Big garden, new house with 4bedrooms, Ph: 09- 502-0969 Suitable for embassadors residence.

Business
Singapore based investment company looking to invest in profitable and fast growing businesses in Myanmar. Business owners who are interested to work together with us, please email your business information and contact details to: sg.commence@gmail. com.

Housing for Sale

BaHan, 40 x 60 ft plot at Kaba Aye, Two storey house include. Selling price - 2300 lakh (negotiable). Tel: 663-326, 09-73197531, 09-431-26571, 09431-41971. tHingingyun , Thumingalar Housing Comples, Land (84ft x 40ft) - Lakhs 3800 .Contact to : 095000811 aHlone, Sin Minn Housing, Kannar Rd, 15 x 55, 2 Flr, 2 Bed Rooms, Extn Phone, Power Meter & Motor, already decorated with Parquet, 2 minutes work to bus-stop (Sin Min Market Bus Stop) & bazaar, Sales Price: 320 Lakhs, Pls contact owner : 226855/226822 (extn: 134) Hotel, a 12 doubleroom two-storeyed Hotel (fully-furnished) in Bagan Myothit. Situated on the best location and on the one and only Main Road of Bagan Myothit. One single-storeyed kitchen + servant quarter included in the same compound of the land area 60ft. x 80ft. All documents are in present owners name. Most promising area in Bagan where Tourism Industry will boom and local business will flourish after completion of Pakokku-Bagan bridge. Price= 1800 Lakhs (Negotiable) Only down-payment & immediate transfer of the building and all documents. This is a migration sale and once-in-the-bluemoon chance. Contact through nyuntaung 1959 @gmail. com duwun@mail4u. com.mm aks@myanmar. com.mm www.myanmartravels. org or call 09-2042039, 01-577066. manDalay : 26(B) Road, between (86/87) Aungmyaytharsan Tsp. (22 ft X 75 ft ) Ph: 09-504-8704, 02-21915 Hmaw Bi - Area : 35' x 60' Price : 45 Lakhs. Ph : 513993 , 09-513-2125, 09731-56058, kyeemyin Dine ,25' x 50', 2 storey building, 2 AC,1 line ph., Insein St, Yangon. Price: 2,200 lakh Contact ph: 09-500-3181, 09-515-2981 .

Computer
general Computer Services. Pls Contact 09-732-13407 Computer Maintenance & Services Available Services: Annual Maintenance Contracts. On Call, At Site Servicing Network Installation & Configuration, Laptop Servicing, Data Recovery. Hot Lines: 09- 513-0617, 09-800323 i.C.S system solution Computer Maintenance, Wireless Router Configuration, Window OS & Software Installation, Netowrk services direct to the Company , Office & Home. Available Contract service . Antivirus Software License + Update = 8,500 Ks 09 540 9712 Computer Services (Door To Door) windows Install, Virus Cleaning, Driver Update, Games & Software Install, Contract service with Internet Cafe, Office, Company. Pls Contact : 09-732-13407. HD game, APP (Install). iPHONE, iPOD 6000ks , iPAD 8000ks , iTUNES Account Open (free game, app download ) Ph : 09-514-7480 r.V Networking & computer maintenances , Windows installation , software, game, internet, network, virus cleaning, Ph : 09730- 33395. 75 (d), Thitsar Rd, 13 Block, Yankin , Yangon. "eaSy way Computer and Network Services Windows, Software, Game installation, Network game installation, Cable and Wireless Network installation Data recovery service On call, Weekly/Monthly Contract services contact: Ko Myat Thu Ph: 09-731- 62315. CmS Linux OS services RedHat, CentOS, Ubuntu Installation & Servicing Advantages : no virus infections, low hardware requirements & compatible with windows applications ph: 09-513-0617.

, SAT , IELTS, TOEFL ,Sayar HtetPh; 0921 50075, Saya Thet (or) Korean Native English Teacher (09 7311 1782 ), Sayar Win Zaw 730 20858, Tr. Phyu 09430 83117 , Tr.Ahme B.Sc( IC ) Ph: 730 592 65,, Sayar Min Aung (217425) (* KoreanEnglish teacher for young learners) StuDy guiDeS for Grade 10, 11 and Intl school (ISY, MISY, ILBC, Total, PISM, Crane, MLA, Diplomatic, RV), GCSE, SAT, IELTS, TOEFL, Teachers who have got Teaching experience in

We can grantee parents to become their children as the outstanding students. (Only San-chaung) To conduct Khin Mon (First year Hons(Eng)). Ph:512176 DentiStry - Australia : Are you a dentist and willing to go to Australia to practise denistry? We will guide you through your (1)Occupational English test (OET) To sit the OET exam in Yangon (2) Preliminary Australian dental council exam (Part I) (3)Final ADC exam. Contact : 09-731-69973.

HousingforRent
(1)yankin, Pyinnyawaddy Condo, 1700 Sqft, (R.T) Ph, A/C, 6.5 Lakhs. (2) Ayeyeik Tha Condo 2000 Sqft, 2MB, 1BR, 8 Lakhs AYT: 09-518-8320, 09-5074096. SuperB location for TRUCKS parking in downtown area. 5 minutes drive from Hle Dan Junction. 15 minutes drive to Hlaing Thar Yar, airport. Dhama Thukha Kyaung Rd, Hlaing Township. 0.8 acres compound: (a) land only (b) 2 x 3-phase industrial power meter (c) 1 x phone landline. Ph : 09-501-2920 tHuwanna , 80 ft x 60 ft 2RC, water, electricity, aircon and tel line - rental Lakhs 7 / month Ph : 09500-0811 BaHan : New University Avenue Lane, Condo, 7 Flr, 1500 Sqft , Fully Furnished, Fully Furniture, 3 A/C, 1 MBR, 2 SBR ,1Ph, 5.3 Lakhs , (Suitable to Rent for Foreigner), Call : 09731-35900, 01-569448, 722635. BaHan, 93 (J), Than Lwin Road, 2 RC new building on 0.25 acre, Bedroom (4), Bathroom (5), 3 Phase Meter, Ph: (1), rent only to Foreigners. Contact: Daw May Kyi 09-503-8589, 526972. BaHna, A Big 3 storey house with7 bedrooms (bathroom attached), for rent. Spacious outdoor area in Golden Valley, Bahan. No brokers. Pls contact : 09-862-4900. Hlaing, Baho Rd, very near from Bartar (Thiri Myaing) Bus stop, ISM Int'l school, 12.5' x 50', G Flr, Good in water supply and Lighting, Transporting is very convenient. Available for computer store, beauty palar. 1 month only 1.5 Lakhs. Ph: 09-730-49543. mayangone, 100 x 100' 2 story, new house, Ph,5 Bedrooms, US$

Want to Hire
we are looking for condo apartment or House (to hire) with air-con, furniture, & phone to open the INGO office. Preferred locations are Hlaing, Kamaryut, Mayan-gone, Sanchaung. (No Broker) Owners are cordially invited to contact to 09731-29477.

Education
For primary Students English , Maths Myanmar, Geography History, Science Social, English Language French Language If you need to coach your child contact at : high.guide @gmail.com teaCHing combination of Foreign and Myanmar Style/ Skillful Teachers, Teachers who have got Teaching experience in Singapore,Now back to Myanmar/Teaching for those who need Foreign teaching experience/ Study Guides for Grade 10, 11 and Ints School( ISY, MISY, ILBC, Total, PISM, Crane, MLA, Diplomatic, RV ) , GCSE

Singapore, Now back to Myanmar/ Teaching for those who need Foreign teaching experience/ Teaching combination of Foreign & Myanmar Style/ Skillful teachers, Saya Htet B.E(IT) Ph: 09-215-0075, Saya Win Zaw B.E(IT) 09-730-20 858, Saya Thet (MBBS) or Korean Native teacher 09-731-11782 Saya JameS Abrahams extensive training in different subjects available for Grade 8, 9, 10 & 11 (English and Burmese will be used as the medium of teach-ing); home tutoring for primary 1,2,3,4,5 students (only English will be used as the medium of teaching) from int'l school esp. TOTAL & Horizon; The first two periods will be free and to be used to assess the IQ & diligence of the student. Ph: 242216, 09-515-0335 email: jimbrown88@gmail. com Sat (Critical Reading, Literature Subject Test), TOEFL (iBT, pBT) test book, IELTS, 4 skills Proficiency course, teach by up-to-date edition book by Teacher Daw Nila Regular Section & Home Tuition Available Ph: 09-5128799, 640553. pre-kg to IGCSE O Level (All Subjects) Age 4 to Adults. AEIS, IPSLE (Primary 1 to IGCSE) (100% Express). Sat & Sun Four Skills (PreKG to Primary 4) IELTS, TOEFL. SAT 1 SAT 2 (All Subjects). Starters, Movers, Flyers. KET, PET, FCE, CAE. Grammar & Composition Classes (Grade 1 to 11), English four skills for adults. Myanmar language for foreigners (4 skills) Light Year Education Centre: 43, Ngwe La Yaung St, U Chit Maung Rd, 31, Mahar Myintmoh St, Bahan, Ph: 544728, 09-731-12429. StuDy guiDe : We teach the children from grade-1 to grade-8 all subjects (government). We also teach the children who study in the private school and want to learn Myanmarsar.

i n t e r n at i o n a l Schools Subjects : English, Maths, Science, Hindi & Social. Will coach your kids with great effort. Contact : Teacher Fiona : 31, 6th flr , U Lun St , Tawme. ph : 09430-63590

Expert Service
auStralian ViSa Specialists : Student visas, Guardian visas, Tourist visas. EduLink Australia : 01-500-464, 09-73162586. airCon & Electrical Engineering Services (Installation,Repairing & Servicing) August Engineering Service. Tel; 09-731-10321 , 586509 Email; aes. august@ googlemail. com tranSlation Service : Myanmar To English contact : high.guide@ gmail.com priVate Service Advertising & Marketing group : 58, Aung Yatana St , South Dagon, South Dagon Park Yangon, Myanmar. agent If you need to rent or buy House , Land Compartment and Office Rooms. Pls do contact at : high.guide @gmail.com.

guide (For Embassy family and others) When you stay in Myanmar, do u want to ask to your children to learn Myanmar language? Call: 095146505, 0973075265 01-501846 Ext:191 (Christine) Happy learning Japanese Language, we have basic level course, advance level course, we'll consult you who go to japan to study, without having any profit, start in december. Contact. 130 (3A) Camp Bell Rd, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. Tel : 555259, 430230. Home tution japanese language course (basic, inter) kanji course spoken course 09-7303-2296. tHoSe who are seeking a compitent spoken English home tutor, Pls call 09-730-41953 (Mr. David) For ForeignerS Interested in learning Myanmar speaking effectively and easily in a short period with Myanmar (English teacher) at your home. Save your time and money. 100,000 kyats per month. Ph : 09 5179125. engliSH with a difference speaking (American style). Mr. Vincent : 51st, (Lower), Bldg 4, Rm 16, Batataung. Ph: 09-73127376. eXperienCeD Myanmar teacher of foreign students If you would like to be fluent in Myanmar language, contact Saya Min Thu onluckyboy.star@ gmail.com, Ph : 09-73138659. Saya Min Thu has 3 years experience teaching Myanmar to foreign students from over 10 different countries. References are available upon request. myanmar Language Teaching to Koreans. Ph: 09-731-93691 Email:flowerazalea 2010 @gmail.com

Food
you Can orDer myanmar traditional food such as Rakhihne food, Pyay food We can grantee to give you very delicious, fresh, healthy food. Pls contact us Ph:512176 Add : 1 . Pan Chan St. Sanchaung. (Well-known traditional food restaurant in Sanchaung)

Language
BuSineSS engliSH : Classes of Saya Than (Yangon University) (LL.M., Ex. G.M.) will commence in January 2012 in line with UK syllabus. Limited 10 trainees per section. Essentials of business communication: introducing, greetings, telephoning, meetings, negotiating, presentation, business letters, report writing, business travel, etc. 4 skills with video & audio teaching aids in fully air con classroom. (special arrangement for companies in group study) Ph: (01) 535697 ForeignerS who want to study the Burmese Language. Home visit will available now. Contact me: Moe Pwint 537803 rainymoe85 @ gmail.com myanmar language

For Rent
Super Custom 92 mdl, Diesel, 7 seats 4B- Car for three months lease, monthly 10 Lakhs: Owner: 09-518-8320, 09-507-4096. HiaCe Super Custom Diesel (8 Seater) - 10 Lakhs, Hiace Grand Cabin G Diesel (12 Seater) - 12 Lakhs. Nice condition with driver. Ph: 09-492-13662, 09430-29447.

For Sale
epSon Stylus Pro 9890 Large Format Printer. 2880 x 1440 dpi resolution. Epson Ultra Chrome K3 Ink Technology. Auto cutter for roll paper. (BO+) size printing (44 wide printing). Including 8 pcs of 110ml inks Ph: 09-731-31768. uSeD ipHone 4G 16GB (White) with Gevey Card Already Jailbreak and

install Full application and HD Game with 2 Cover and charger Price - 320000 if interest Pls call : 09-517-8391. (1). aCer monitor 18.5" (2). Nividia Graphic Card 1GB (3). CDMA 800 mhz + Huawei C8500 Ph: 09739-03193. VolkSwagen - Passat saloon( 96-97)-7A / HSD , price k 135 lakh. contact ph: 661291, 09502-5820. uSeD Twelve-Penny Black Canadian Stamp issued in 1851. Price : Negotiable . Contact : k.link.mm@gmail.com mSi graphic - 1GB (Used) Beat by Dr.Dre Solo HD Black Headphone (Used) Dr.Dre Price - 150,000 Razer Banshee starcraft II headphone (Used) Razer Price - 90000 Macbook Pro 13" (Used) Core2duo 2.4GHZ DDR3 HDD 250GB with macOS X Lion ph: 09-730-48374 HD game, app (install). iPhone, iPod 6000ks, iPad 8000ks, iTunes account open (free game, app download) contact : 09-514-7480 ipaD2 wifi 32gb (used) white Razer Banshee starcraft II headphone (used) 90000 ph : 09-730-48374 large printer EPSON Stylus Pro 9890 Printer (Brand New/Original Pack) B0+ Size Printing (44" wide) 9 colour catridge Contact Ph: 09-731317 68 niSSan Presea BlackStar limited Edition (1994 Model) [ Good as New (Odometer 135000 km) ] Ph : 09492-75744 aDSl (Bagan/MPT), WiMax (Bagan), IPStar (MPT), Pentium 3 System Units (30 Units) Ph : 09-730-84143 maCBook Pro 13" used Core2duo 2.4GHZ DDR3 HDD 250GB with macOS X Lion PC Desktop used Core 2 quad 2.5 GHZ HDD 250GB / DVD Drive RW RAM - DDR3 4GB MSI Graphic - 1GB ph- 09730-48374 (1)Saung tent brand new (2)Shelves for shops. Contact : 511195, 09-802-0030. elleCtriC piano : Roland M II ( 6 Sets ) With stand & stool. Ph: 09-730-52088. ipHone 4S Black (64G) Unlocked. ph: 0943080638, yeyintsithu @gmail.com. ipoD touCH nano, pink colour, 16GB, condition very good, 3 silicon covers, earphones and data cable as brand new, price - K 110,000, Ph : 09-513-7465. For gSm, Sony Ericsson U10 (Anio) White Color Second Hand 1500000 kyats For CDMS, 450 ZTE N160 White Color Nearly Brand New 30000 kyats Ph : 09-736-67788. Current uSe : (1). EPSON Stylus Photo R230 with Continuous ink tank (2). EPSON Stylus C65. Price: 110000/Ks Ph: 09- 73130288. (1) Sony TV 25' Trinitron, Tru Surround with SRS Gray colour (2) yamaha generator, Single Cylinder 2.3 KVA, EF 2600, Petrol Engine OHV Engine, Brushless. Ph : 534987 SamSung Galaxy Tab 16Gb (Tablet and GSM Handset) One week

used, timer 10 minutes Including applications, leather bag and jean cover Price. 310000 kyats. Ph. 09-73158658. SpeCial SaleS (Alvarion Brand) Internet Broadband Accessories. Indoor Units (2.4 & 3.5 ) - with Int'l Warranty. Original UDP Cables & Adaptors. Outdoor Units (2.4 & 3.5) - with Int'l Warranty. Original UDP Cables & Adaptors. Several kinds of ADSL Modem (for MPT & Yatanarpon Teleport). *MPT ADSL (India with IP) 2 Line. *Investor (UPS) Feature 2 No. Ph: 09-730-17406, 09-731-00976, 09-5166976. Do you want to buy a (BLACK BERRY GSM Hand set)? a good brand with cheap price, 50% off, 6 months used only but flawless. (Price 350,000 kyats) only. Ph: 09-517-9125. Sony (Vaio) brand new laptop with cheap price, i5-2410M, Processor 2.90 GHz, window 7 home, Premium (64bit), hard disk drive (500 GB), warranty 1 year (Price 800,000 kyats), Ph: 09-517-9125. Dell net Book 10 inches, good second hand. Bought from USA. OS- Window 7, Inspiration 1011, Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU N270 @ 1.60GHz, Ram 1.00GB, 160000 Kyats. Pls contact: 09-5005747, 09-500-3978.

Fashion&Beauty
autHentiC handwoven textiles, suitable for all seasons, available in our studios. Our unique collections will satisfy your dream of being different from others in your selection of clothing. Pls call Ph: 09-512-08040.

Restaurants
green elepHant Restaurant (Yangon): 33, Thirimingalar Lane (Attia Rd), Kamayut , Ph: 536498, 09-73190398, 09-731-52300. Mandalay: 3(H), Block 801, 27th St, Bet: 64th & 65th St, Aung Daw Mu Qtr, Mandalay, Bagan: (1) Main Rd, New Bagan, Ph: 061-65422, 09-204-3463, 09-73197142. (2) Nandawun River view Restaurant, Near Law Ka Nandar Pagoda, New Bagan. Ph: 061-65422, 09-2043463, 09-731-97142, Green Elephant (New Showroom) Yangon. 6(A), Inya Rd, Kamayut. Ph: 524430, 09-49328203.

Training
oFFiCe SeCretarial Training Course, Business English, Job Interview Skills & Event Management for Group & Individuals, Pls contact: Hnin Yu Zin (M.Sc, MBA) Ph: 226855, 226822 (ext:13

Travel
Saw nay San Car Rental Service : All kinds of cars available for down town as well as highway trips. Pls contact : Khin Thandar Cho. Ph: 09-512-5047 , 09-730-47476.

Want to Buy
aDSl, WiMax, McWill, MPT IPStar. Contact : 245 415

Employment
INGO Position
malteSer Int'l is looking for an efficient, motivated & experienced person to fill the position of (1) a Medical Officer - PHC in Maungdaw , Northern Rakhine State : Qualified medical professional with registration card (SAMA). 2 years experience in public health, with clinical and INGO project management experience. Computer literate in MS Office Package. Fluent language skills in Myanmar & very good English. (2) project manager, 1 post in Hopin, Kachin State : Completed University Degree in any of the following specialites: Public Health, Medical Science, Social Work, Public Administration, Program Management. 3 years experience in NGOs, possibly in Health programs. Fluency in English (oral & written). Pls submit Cover letter explaining how their education, skills and experience meet the requirements for the position; CV including dates and detailed descriptions of all current and previous work, education and training experiences and reference contact details, with 2 recent photos; Copies of work & educational certifi-cates; Copy of national ID card; Reference letters from previous supervisors to 60 Tharyawaddy St, Bahan, Yangon . Email: hr.co.malteser@gmail. com (or) Deadline of Application: 3rd January, 2012. malteSer Int'l is looking for logistic assistant (1 post) in Htan Tabin, Yangon Region : High School (or) preferable with relevant diploma/ certificate. 1 year experience in logistic field. Good Computer skill in Microsoft Word, Excel & Email. Fluency in written / spoken; Myanmar & English. Starting Date: as soon as possible. Pls submit Cover letter explaining how their education, skills and experience meet the requirements for the position; (CV) including dates and detailed descriptions of all current and previous work, education and training experiences and reference contact details, with 2 recent photos. Copies of work & educational certifi-cates. Copy of national ID card. Reference letters from previous supervisors to 60, Tharyawaddy St, Bahan , Yangon Email: hr.co.malteser@gmail. com. Closing date: 28th December, 2011 Burnet Institute Myanmar (BI-MM) is an International Non Governmental Organization, which seeks dedicated person for Senior Technical Officer position. This position is responsible for providing technical leadership in area of Maternal and Child Health (MCH) technical expertise across Burnet Institute Myanmar and collaborating with technical working group of relevant Government agencies, UN, INGOs and NGOs. Detailed information could be seen at the notice board of Burnet office. Interested and qualified applicants are required to submit an Application letter and Curriculum Vitae to the HR Department at Burnet Institute office : 226, 4th floor, Wizaya Plaza, U Wisara Rd, Bahan or by email to burnet.myanmar@ gmail. com no later than 4.p.m., Thursday, 26 December 2011. meDeCinS du Monde (MDM) is looking for project manager, 1 Post in Hopin, Kachin State. Requirements: Competed University Degree in any of the following specialities: Public Health, Medical Science, Social Work, Public Administration, Program Management. 3 years experience in NGOs, possibly in Health programs. Fluency in English (oral and written). Pls submit CV & a cover letter to MDM Country Coordination Office, Yangon : 47-B, Po Sein St, Bahan , Yangon, Ph: 542830, 723654. E-mail: hr. mdmmyanmar @ gmail. com. Closing date: 31 December, 2011. (or) MDM Coordi-nation Office Myitkyina : 429, Mye Myint Quarter, Myitkyina. Ph: 07420718, 09-470-12910. Mayangone P.O, Yangon. Tel: 657024, 657697 (Direct), 662866 (Ext: 1718-1721), Fax: 657024, 657697, Email: hansecare@ myanmar. com.mm eHeCutiVe Chef (1) post. Sous chef (2) posts Cook / kitchen helper (6) posts waiter/waitress (10) posts Cashier (3) posts Security (3) posts Dishwasher (3) posts. Pls submit CV with other documents to Sky Cafe & Bar :278 / B, U Wrezara Rd, Near Blazon. Hp; 09862-1986. Closing date : 30th December, 2011. we are well known International Law Firm looking for Junior lawyers (M/F) : Age 25~35, LLB, at least higher grade pleader 2 years experience. Must have good English skills (Intermediate Level) for Foreign firm specializing in business law Computer skills (Microsoft office) Submit CV to suhlaing 07@ gmail.com Tel: 556692, 556407. teaCHing Positions Available!The Montessori Education Group is the leading provider of IndependentEducation, offering continuous care for children and students as a pre-school specialist. As such, we specialize in preparing young people as individuals, with the aim of nurturing the best aspects of all of our students. Renowned Int'l Montessori Education Group is looking for several pre-school teachers for its new preschool facilities in Yangon Required qualificat-ions & skills. Passionate about children. Good in both spoken and written English. Pre-school teaching qualification and experience. CCA know-ledge is preferable. Good interpersonal skills. Submit the application to A Lister Co., Ltd, No. 307, Shwe Hin Thar Tower (B), 6 Mile, Pyay Rd, Yangon, Myanmar in a closed enveloped or by email to secretary. alister @ gmail.com, mmtci@ singnet. com. sg, tci @ singnet.com. sg, mmtci @ ingnet. com.sg. we are seeking for enthusiastic and motivated person to our organization as: admin executive Female (1) post : Age 25 to 30. Any Graduate with relevant post diploma or certificate. Must be fluent in English written & oral. Good persona-lity. Knowledge & experience of relevant software application (Word, Excel, Power point) Internet & Email. 3 years administration related experience in medium or large companies. Must be able to perform multi tasks. Communication and negotiation skill is essential. Good team player who adapts well in a team environment. Able to work independently in projects assigned to. necessary references. C.V & 3 color photos (1.2"x 1.5") size. Educational references & recommendation references of past experiences. Character recommendation of area police station and regional governors (Quarter PDC). Copy of NRC card, Labor registration card, Previous job recommendation & Expected salary to H.R. Department : 160, Bogyoke Aung San Rd, Between 45 & 46 St, Pazun Taung, Ph: 299789, 291825, Email:service @giordano.com.mm. Closing Date : 30 December 2011. tHe Hotel@Tharabar Gate, Bagan is seeking IT Technicial 1 post : experienced & knowledge of WiFi, Networking & server administartions are essential. Position is appointed for Bagan & need positive attitude & willingness to learn more. English Language proficiency, good personality & experienced in related field is a must. Any interested person, Pls send CV with 1 recent photo, labour registration card, NRC coppy, character recommendation of police station & relevent certificates to Rm 201, 202 Summit Parkview Building, 350, Ahlone Rd, Dagon Tsp, Yangon or mail to win.ayeaye@ gmail.com or hrm@ tharabargate.com FaCtory Coordinator M : Age 30 to 45 years with at least 5 years experience in industry. Must have knowledge of MS Word & Excel and speak some English. Must be able to work independently. Good salary for the right candidate. Duties include: Liaison between office & factory. Procurement of materials. Export of companys products. English. artperson for Ceramics - M/F (2) posts : Preferably a graduate of the Yangon fine Art School or National Cultural University. Must have some working experience. Should be computer literate. Pls call 383395 to arrange for an interview. giorDano is seeking regional Sales Supervisor - M (1) Post : Age under 30. Any graduate and relevant diploma or certificate. (3) years experience in regional distribution industry. Can use Microsoft Office. Must be literate in spoken & written English. Energetic, motivated & well communication skill. Can able to travel. management trainee M/F Age under 25. Any Graduate. Can use Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PageMaker and Internet & Email). Must be literate in spoken & written English. Well calculation knowledge ( Need to answer GMAT question) Energetic, motivated M/F - 3 Posts (5). Driver - M 1 Post. Job Description : Full time Lecturer. Job qualifications & requirements : University graduate, Proficient in related field, At least 2 years working experience, Age 20 years & above with smart personality. Pls apply to IMCS Office with Curriculum vitae (CV Form), Qualification papers, 2 recent photo to 21/23, 2nd Flr, U Tun Lin Chan St, Hledan, Kamayut. Ph :09-730-25495, 09492-42047.admin@ myanmarcisco.com www.myanmarcisco. com not later than 30th, Dec, 2011 tHe Chinthe Track is currently looking for (1) Sales & reservations manager - M/F, Age around 30. Able to work under stress. (2) reservations & operations Staff : M / F, Age around 22. For 1 & 2 : Fluent in English spoken & written. Other foreign language is a benefit. Well organized. Able to work together in a team. On-the-job experience in reservations of at least 2 years. (3) it Supervisor M /F,Age around 28. Good knowledge of English (spoken & written). Well organized. Able to work tegether in a team. Onthe-job experience in IT of at least 3 years. Pls submit a full & updated resume including a recent passport photo to : finance @ focus-asia. travel.Applications can also be sent by regular mail or by hand to : The Chinthe Track. C/O Daw Thin Thin Htaik, Finance & HR Manager, Sedona Hotel, Level 2 Latha Rm 1, Kaba Aye Pagoda Rd, Yangon, We regret to inform that telephone applications will not be considered. myanmar Daewoo Int'l Ltd is seeking new staff for (HR, admin, Finance, Business Dept) any graduate, English & computer literate, Age under 25, M/F (single). Experience in related field is prefer. Qualified & interested persons are recommen-dation from Police Force & relevant documents to HR Department : Yangon- Pyay Rd, Pyinmabin Industrial Estate, Mingalardon. Ph: 600068, 600069. Closing date : Dec 26, 2011. Personal interview : Dec 28, 2011 (9:30 am) aBC Asia Beverages Co., Ltd. is seeking (1) Sales & admin Supervisor (Grade 4) (Location Yangon/ Taunggyi). M 2 posts : Any Graduate, Age 25-35. Have a Diploma or certificate in Sales & Marketing. 2 years sales experience. Possession of driving license prefer. Good computer knowledge/ English skill verbal/ written commu-nication. (2) Sales Supervisor (Grade 3) (Location Yangon/ Naypyidaw). M 1 posts : Any Graduate, Age 25-35. Have a Diploma or certificate in Sales & Marketing. 2 years sales experience. Possession of driving license. (3) marketing Supervisor (Grade 3) (Location - Magway). M 1. Any Graduate, Age 25-35. Have a Diploma or certificate in Sales & Marketing. 2 years sales experience. Possession of driving license. Good computer knowledge/ English skill. (4) Sales representative (Grade 2) (Location - Naypyidaw/ Magway/ Pyay). M 3 posts : Any Graduate, Age 2030. Have a Diploma or certificate in Sales & Marketing. 2 years Sales Experience. (5) Driver (Grade 2) (Location Head Office/ Yangon/ Naypyidaw). M 2 posts : High School, Age 20-35. Have good personality. Have red driving license prefer. Have motor vehicle maintenance know-ledge. Pls submit a detailed CV & support-ing documents , full resume indicating qualifications tran-script, labor card copy, (2) recent photos, police & quarter authorized original recommendation letters and working experiences transcript to HR Department :(5/6), Corner of Bayint Naung Rd & Ayeyeik-mon 1st St, Hlaing. Ph: 09-730-9753, 682093, 682337, dhha@ hcwisky.com we are one of the leading Technologies Companies, dealing in Security Product, Technology & Solutions across the country is seeking Sale executive M/F 3 Post: 2 years sale experience. Age 20-30, any Graduate or Dip in IT or Computer Techno-logy Equivalent. Interest in IT & Electronic Security marketing will be advantage Basic PC skill & English, Proficiency would also be advantage. (2) m & e technician - M (5) Post : AGTI (Electrical/Electronic) (or) equivalent. 2 years experience in engineering and M & E Installation. Basic PC skill and IT knowledge would be advantage. Age 20-30. Salary will commensurate with experience. Pls send application attached with a passport-size photograph, academic Certificates and other relevant documents. 72, Shwe Hnin Si Lane (6), A1 St, 5th Ward, 9 Mile, Mayangone, Tel: 650979, 662191. uniteam Tours & Travel is urgently looking for travel Consultants - 2 posts : Must have minimum of 2 years experience in a travel agency & tourism field (incl. quoting offers, hotel-, ticketing - & transportation bookings & other services of the daily work routine). accountant - 1 post : 1 year experience. Diploma in accounting level and knowledge in finance is required. Importance of good verbal & written communication skills in English. Good working knowledge of Microsoft Office, Excel & E-mail systems). Must have ability to handle customers professionally at all stages of their travel. Attractive salary package & development possibilities are offered. Application letter & resume by e-mail: info@uniteam-travelmyanmar.com leaDing SHipping company with business activities in shipping transportation services. We are looking for a bright , energetic and ambitious people to join our company. Vacancy position in Yangon: Sales manager - M/F : Must be Graduate, Age 30 ~ 40, 3 years worked experience in shipping industry or forwarding. Able to speak and write in English, able to use computer effectively & efficiently. Pls apply via email with photo to vacancy.ygn @ gmail. com not later than 31.12.2011. myanmar Megasteel Industrial Ltd. is seeking for GI sheets manufacturing factory: (1) Office assistant (Corporate Affair/ Planning/ Factory) - M/F 15 Posts : Age 25~30 . Working experience in IT field is preferable for Corporate Affair. Understand in Export/ Import, Banking & local purchase for Planning. Understand in Store ground stock taking & inventory of raw material and spare parts for Factory. (2) receptionist - F 3 Posts: Age 25 ~ 30 . For 1 & 2 : University degree holder. English commu-nication skill (spoken & written). Proficiency in computer literacy. (3) maintenance engineer & apprentice Supervisor (Factory) - M 10Posts:BE,BTech,AGTI (Mechanical/ Electronic/ Electroni-cal). Age 20 ~ 30. Can use AutoCAD for MaintenanceEngineer. (4) Security Officers & Security team leader & Security - M 10 Posts: Age 35 ~ 45. Good personality. 5 years experience. Persons Retired from Army & Police and attended in related training, well under-stand the security procedure & rope, can manage & carry for training. (5) Driver - M 5 Posts : Age 30~45 . Can drive in any kind of motor car skillfully. 3 years experience. Application should included a hand written application letter, CV, expected salary, high and weight, a passport photo, photo copy of NRC and labour card, contact ph & address to Rm. 903, 9th Flr., Yuzana Tower, Shwegonedine Rd., Bahan. PO Box - 470. Ph: 684655, 685630. CmS Urgently Require marketing executive 1 post 2 Year Experience Ph : 09-513-0617. (1)marketing executive - 1 post (2). merchandising executive 1 post (3). Chief accountant 1 post (4).account executive 1 post (5). assistant Frontline manager 1 post (6). warehouse executive 1 post (7). Brand associate 4 posts (8). management trainee - 10 Posts (9). accountant 2 posts (10). Cashier 2 posts (11). Senior Sale 5 posts (12).Junior Sale 20 posts (13). Store keeper - 5 posts. All Candidates have to work at Yangon office & position (1 to 8)must have: Good Communi-cation & negotiation & analytical skill. Willing to Travel oversea for short period training. Be Proficient in both English and Myanmar Languages. Computer Literate. Pls send CV together with Copies of academic certificates, Original and Update Police Clearance form, a copy of Family Registration. Form (10), One passport sized photo and a copy of NRC to : HR Manager, Business Development Team. Creation (Myanmar) Co.,Ltd : 15~18, Thamain Bayan Road, MyittarYeik Mon Housing, Tarmwe, Hp: 09 202 7604 , email: bdthrmanager@ goldenland. com.mm Application submitted without these details will not considered. VaCanCy Announcement: The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is seeking suitably qualified Myanmar nationals for the following vacancy: National Project Officer (SC- 8) GLO J71Treatnet & DDR Project Duty Station: Yangon University degree in public health, medicine, or social sciences or related field, Minimum 5 years of relevant experience in the area of drug demand reduction/drug dependence treatment and rehabilitation. Candidates should clearly indicate the Post Title in their application. Application must include a cover letter, current CV, copies of relevant academic qualification certificates, and a recent passport sized photograph. Application should be address to UNODC, 11A, Maylikha Road, Ward-7, Mayangone Township, Yangon, Closing Date: 06 Jan 2012.

Local Position
(1) CHieF Cook : Age around 30 & above. Degree holder. To be able to make Menu. To be able to manage Cost Control. Smart at Myanmar and Chinese Foods. Experience should be 5 years and above. Prefer computer skill is additional. (2) Cook : Age around 30 & above. Degree holder. Specialist in Myanmar & Chinese Food. Experience should be 2 years and above. (3) Service Crew : Age around 25 & above. Degree holder. Hardworking. Polite & Good social skill. The salary will provide with Singapore $ and willing to work 10am to 10pm & 6 days a week. Candidate should have related certificates and experiences recommendation letters. Contact Ma Lorreta @ Ma Khin Khin Win, 1/A, Pyay Rd, Near the Tadar Phyu Bus Stop, Hlaing , Yangon. Ph: 512305, 512307, 536837, Ext339, email : contact @ paradise.com. mm Beauty Paradise Manufacturing & Industrial Co., Ltd. (1) it net working - M/F1 Post : Any Graduate, Age under 35, 3 years experiences in related Field. Good interpersonal & communication skills and good personality. Can be able to run IT Software. (2) Brand Supervisor -F 1 Posts: Any Graduate, Age under 30, 1 years above experience in cosmetic field. Good personality. Able to plan & implement branding. Able to travel (3) Brand manager - F 1 Post : Any Graduate, Age under 35, 3 years expereinces in related field. Good interper-sonal & communi-cation skills, leadership skill & good personality. Able to plan, imple-ment marketing activities & report back. Computer proficiency (Word, Excel, Power Point). Able to travel, when may need. (4) Chief accountant - M/F 1 Post : B.Com, C.P.A, Age under 45, 3 years experiences in trading cosmetic Field as C.A level. Good interpersonal & communication skills, leadership skill & good personality. Can be able to manage Accounting Software. Pls submit 1/A, May Aye Myaing Chan, 51/2 Mile, Pyay Rd, Hlaing, Ph: 512307, 512305. SerViCe engineer M 2 Posts : BE/ AGTI (EP/MP) : 3 years experience, Age under 35 , Computer Literacy, Good Personality. Address: 37, Kabaaye Pagoda Rd, Inya Lake Hotel Complex,

we are currently seeking dedicated and quality personnel as per our requirements below to join us and be a part of our plantation team. accountant: Able to finalize full Set of Account. Ensure timely monthly management reporting. To manage cash flow and bank reconciliation. Com-pliance to external audit & tax submission. Ensure compliance to SOP from various locations. If you fit the requirement below, we would like to meet you. Degree in Finance/ Accountancy or equivalent qualification. 2 years experience in related field. Good command of spoken & written in English & Myanmar. Experience with accounting software package. Results oriented and performance driven with strong analytical skills. Excellent inter-personal, communication & leadership skills. Multitasking, good communication, administrative,planning & organizational skills are essential. Ability to excel under work pressure. Pls submit CV with 2 recent photos, copies of relevant qualifications, labor registration, and copy of NRC to Myanmar Agri-Tech Ltd. Rm-504, 5th Flr FMI Centre, 380, Bogyoke Aung San Rd, Pabedan. C o - o r D i n at i o n manager - M : Age 30 to 45 years with at least 5 years experience in industry. Must have knowledge of MS Word & Excel and speak some English. Must be able to work independently Good salary for the right candidate. Duties include: Liaison between office and factory. Procurement of materials. Export of companys products. Office Clerk - General - M/F (2) posts : Must have at least 3 years working experience, Should preferably have some accounting knowledge. Must have knowledge of MS Word & Excel and speak some

and well communication skill. Location to Yangon. H.R Department : (160), Bogyoke Aung San Rd, Between 45 & 46 St, PazunTaung . Ph: 291825, 295938 Clossing Date: 30.12.2011 . E-mail: service@giordano.com. mm. mie, Myanmar Intelligent Effort Co., Ltd is seeking Finance & admin Coordinator - F 2 Posts : Age 20 ~ 25. Good personality & communicative.Written & Spoken English is a must. Computing skills (E-mail, Internet, Word, Excel) is a must. LCCI level III would be advantage. Able to travel if necessary. Probation Period: 4 Months. Pls submit the application form with a recent photo, police recommendation,labour card & other qualification docu-ments to FMI Centre, 707-708 C, 7th Flr, 380, Bogyoke Aung San Rd, Pabedan , Ph: 240400, 240373 (Ext: 1708). closing date : 31st December 2011. SaVoy Hotel is urgently looking for (1) night auditor - 1 post must have at least 2 years Night Audit experience. (2) F&B Supervisor 1 post must have high know-ledgeable both in Bar & restaurant nature, good leadership skills and 2 years experience in international hotels. (3) Chief engineer -1 post must have at least 5 years experience. (4) Baker - 1 post. (5) receptionists - 2 posts (6) waiter/waitress - 1 post. For Position 5 & 6 must have at least 1 yr experience in hotel fields. Application letter by email to operations @ savoyhotel-yangon. com or 129, Dhamma-zedi Rd, Yangon. Tel: (95-1) 526298, 526289. imCS (Info Myanmar Computer Studies) is seeking (1). network teacher - M 3 Posts (2). Hardware teacher - M 3 Posts (3). Service engineer - m 3 posts (4)programming teacher(.net,Java,ASP)

The Essentials
EMBASSIES Australia 88, Strand Road, Yangon. tel : 251810, 251797, 251798, 251809, 246462, 246463, fax: 246159 Bangladesh 11-B, Than Lwin Road, Yangon. tel: 515275, 526144, fax: 515273, email: bdootygn@mptmail.net. mm Brazil 56, Pyay Road, 6th mile, Hlaing Tsp, Yangon. tel: 507225, 507251, 507482. fax: 507483. email: Administ.yangon@ itamaraty.gov.br. Brunei 317/319, U Wizara Road, Sanchaung Tsp, Yangon. tel: 526985, 524285, fax: 512854 email: bruneiemb@ bruneiemb.com.mm Cambodia 25 (3B/4B), New University Avenue Road, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. tel: 549609, 540964, fax: 541462, email: RECYANGON @mptmail. net.mm China 1, Pyidaungsu Yeiktha Road, Yangon. tel: 221280, 221281, 224025, 224097, 221926, fax: 227019, 228319 Egypt 81, Pyidaungsu Yeiktha Road, Yangon. tel: 222886, 222887, fax: 222865, email: egye mbyangon@mptmail. net.mm France 102, Pyidaungsu Yeiktha Road, Yangon. tel: 212178, 212520, 212523, 212528, 212532, fax: 212527, email: ambaf rance. rangoun@ diplomatie.fr Germany 9, Bogyoke Aung San Museum Road, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. tel: 548951, 548952, fax: 548899 email: info@rangun. diplo.de India 545-547, Merchant Street, Yangon. tel: 391219, 388412, 243972, fax: 254086, 250164, 388414, email: indiaembassy @mptmail. net.mm Indonesia 100, Pyidaungsu Yeiktha Road, Yangon. tel: 254465, 254469, 229750, fax: 254468, email: kukygn @indonesia.com.mm Israel 15, Khabaung Street, Hlaing Tsp, Yangon. tel: 515115, fax: 515116, email: info@ yangon.mfa.gov.il Italy 3, Inya Myaing Road, Golden Valley, Yangon. tel: 527100, 527101, fax: 514565, email: ambyang.mail@ esteri.it Japan 100, Natmauk Road, Yangon. tel: 549644-8, 540399, 540400, 540411, 545988, fax: 549643 North Korea 77C, Shin Saw Pu Road, Sanchaung Tsp, Yangon. tel: 512642, 510205, fax: 510206 South Korea 97 University Avenue, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. tel: 527142-4, 515190, fax: 513286, email: hankuk@ kore mby.net.mm Lao A-1, Diplomatic Quarters, Tawwin Road, Dagon Tsp, Yangon. tel: 222482, fax: 227446, email: Laoembcab@ mptmail. net.mm Malaysia 82, Pyidaungsu Yeiktha Road, Yangon. tel: 220248, 220249, 220251, 220230, fax: 221840, email: mwkyangon@mptmail. net.mm Nepal 16, Natmauk Yeiktha, Yangon. tel: 545880, 557168, fax: 549803, email: nepemb @mptmail.net.mm Pakistan A-4, diplomatic Quarters, Pyay Road, Yangon. tel: 222881 (Chancery Exchange) fax: 221147, email: pakistan@ myanmar. com.mm Philippines 50, Sayasan Road, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. tel: 558149-151, fax: 558154, email: yang onpe@mptmail.net.mm Russian 38, Sagawa Road, Yangon. tel: 241955, 254161, fax: 241953, email: rusinmyan@mptmail .net.mm Serbia No. 114-A, Inya Road, P.O.Box No. 943Yangon. tel: 515282, 515283, fax: 504274, email: serbemb@ yangon.net.mm Singapore 238, Dhamazedi Road, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. tel: 559001, fax: 559002, 559922, email: singemb_ ygn@_ sgmfa. gov.sg Sri Lanka 34 Taw Win Road, Yangon. tel: 222812, fax: 221509, email: slembassy. yangon@gmail.com, info@slembyangon.org, www.slembyangon.org Thailand 94 Pyay Road, Dagon Township, Yangon. tel: 226721, 226728, 226824, fax: 221713 United Kingdom 80 Kanna Road, Yangon. tel: 370867, 380322, 371852, 371853, 256438, 370863, 370864, 370865, fax: 370866 United States of America 110, University Avenue, Kamayut Township, Yangon. tel: 536509, 535756, 538038, fax: 650306 Vietnam Building No. 72, Thanlwin Road, Bahan Township, Yangon. tel: 511305, fax: 514897, email: vnemb myr@ cybertech.net.mm Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia No.287/289, U Wisara Rd, Sanchaung Tsp. tel : 01-536153, 516952, fax : 01-516951 UNITED NATIONS ILO Liaison Officer Rm (M1212~1220), 12 Fl-A, Traders Hotel. 223, tel: 242 393, 242811. fax: 242594. IOM 12th Flr, Traders Hotel, 223, tel: 252560 ext. 5002 UNAIDS Rm: (1223~1231), 12 Fl, Traders Hotel. tel: 252361, 252362, 252498. fax: 252364. UNDCP 11-A, Malikha St, Mayangone tsp. tel: 666903, 664539. fax: 651334. UNDP 6, Natmauk Rd, Bahan tel: 542910-19. fax: 292739. UNFPA 6, Natmauk Rd, Bahan tsp. tel: 546029. UNHCR 287, Pyay Rd, Sanchaung tsp. tel: 524022, 524024. fax 524031. UNIAP Rm: 1202, 12 Fl, Traders Hotel.tel: 254852, 254853. UNIC 6, Natmauk St., BHN tel: 52910~19 UNICEF 14~15 Flr, Traders Hotel. P.O. Box 1435, KTDA. tel: 375527~32, fax: 375552 email: unicef.yangon@unicef. org, www.unicef.org/myanmar. UNODC 11-A, Malikha Rd., Ward 7, MYGN. tel: 666903, 660556, 660538, 660398, 664539, fax: 651334. email: fo.myanmar@unodc.org www. unodc.org./myanmar/ UNOPS Inya Lake Hotel, 3rd floor, 37, Kaba Aye Pagoda Rd, Mayangone Tsp. tel: 951657281~7. Fax: 657279. UNRC 6, Natmauk Rd, P.O. Box 650, TMWE tel: 542911~19, 292637 (Resident Coordinator), fax: 292739, 544531. WFP 3rd-flr, Inya Lake Hotel, 37, Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd. tel: 657011~6 (6-lines) Ext: 2000. WHO 12A Fl, Traders Hotel. tel:250583. ASEAN Coordinating Of. for the ASEAN Humanitarian Task Force, 79, Taw Win st, Dagon Township. Ph: 225258. FAO Myanma Agriculture Service Insein Rd, Insein. tel: 641672, 641673. fax: 641561.

General Listing
ACCOMMODATIONHOTELS
Chatrium Hotel Royal Lake Yangon 40 Natmauk Rd, Tarmwe. tel: 544500. fax: 544400. Summit Parkview Hotel 350, Ahlone Rd, Dagon Tsp. tel: 211888, 211966. fax: 227995. Thamada Hotel 5, Alan Pya Phaya Rd, Dagon. tel: 243639, 243640, 243641. Traders Hotel 223 Sule Pagoda Rd. tel: 242828. fax: 242838. Winner Inn 42, Than Lwin Rd, Bahan Tsp. tel: 535205, 524387. email: winnerinnmyanmar @gmail.com Yangon YMCA 263, Mahabandoola Rd, Botataung Tsp. tel: 294128, Yuzana Hotel 130, Shwegondaing Rd, Bahan Tsp, tel : 01-549600, 543367 Yuzana Garden Hotel 44, Alanpya Pagoda Rd, Mingalar Taung Nyunt Tsp, tel : 01-248944

ACCOUNTANTS AND CONSULTANTS

Charted Certified, Certified Public Accountants. tel: 09-5010563. drtinlatt@matglobal.com

AIR CONDITION
Chigo No. 216, 38 Street (Upper), Kyauktada Tsp, tel : 373472

No.7A, Wingabar Road, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. Tel : (951) 546313, 430245. 09-731-77781~4. Fax : (01) 546313. www.cloverhotel.asia. info@cloverhotel.asia Confort Inn 4, Shweli Rd, Bet: Inya Rd & U Wisara Rd, Kamaryut, tel: 525781, 526872 Golden Aye Yeik Mon Hotel 4, Padauk Lane, 4th Word, Aye Yeik Mon Housing, Hlaing. tel: 681706. Hotel Yangon No. 91/93, 8th Mile Junction, Mayangone. tel : 01-667708, 667688. Inya Lake Resort Hotel 37 Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd. tel: 662866. fax: 665537. Orchid Hotel 91, Anawrahta street, Pazundaung Township, Yangon, . Tel: 399930, 704740, 293261. E-mail: orchidhotel@myanmar. com. mm.

ACCOMMODATIONHOTELS (NAy PyI TAw)

The First Air conditioning systems designed to keep you fresh all day GUNKUL Engineer supply Co., Ltd. No.437 (A), Pyay Road, Kamayut. P., O 11041 Yangon, Tel: +(95-1) 502016-8, Mandalay- Tel: 02-60933. Nay Pyi TawTel: 067-420778, E-mail freshaircon@gkmyanmar. com.mm. URL: http:// www.freshaircon.com General 83-91, G-F, Bo Aung Kyaw St, Kyauktada Tsp, tel : 706223, 371906

Reservation Office (Yangon) 262-264, Pyay Road, Dagon Centre, A# 03-01, Sanchaung Tsp, Yangon. Tel: 95-1-501937, 536255, 09-520-0926.
The Oasis Hotel (Nay Pyi Taw)

ASTROLOGER
Saya Min Thoun Dara Astrologer No(2), Maha Wizaya Pagoda North Stairway, Dagon Tsp. tel: 296184

Tel: 95-67-422088, 422099

BARS ACCOMMODATION LONG TERM

No. 205, Corner of Wadan Street & Min Ye Kyaw Swa Road, Lanmadaw Tsp, Yangon. Myanmar. Tel: (95-1) 212850 ~ 3, 229358 ~ 61, Fax: (95-1) 212854. info@myanmarpandahotel .com http://www. myanmarpandahotel.com Panorama Hotel 294-300, Pansodan Street, Kyauktada Tsp. tel: 253077. PARKROYAL Yangon, Myanmar 33, Alan Pya Pagoda Rd, Dagon tsp. tel: 250388. fax: 252478. email: enquiry.prygn@ parkroyalhotels.com Website: parkroyalhotels. com. Savoy Hotel 129, Damazedi Rd, Kamayut tsp. tel: 526289, 526298, Seasons of Yangon Yangon Intl Airport Compound. tel: 666699. Sweet Hotel 73, Damazedi Road, San Chaung Tsp, Ph: 539152 Sedona Hotel Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd, Yankin. tel: 666900. Strand Hotel 92 Strand Rd. tel: 243377. fax: 289880. Easy Expat Accommodation Specialist in Yangon. Tel: 09-730-33776. Espace Avenir No 523, Pyay Rd, Kamaryut Tsp. tel: 505213-222. Golden Hill Towers 24-26, Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd, Bahan Tsp. tel: 558556. ghtower@ mptmail.net.mm. Marina Residence 8, Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd, Mayangone Tsp. tel: 6506 51~4. fax: 650630. MiCasa Hotel Apartments 17, Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd, Yankin Tsp. tel: 650933. fax: 650960. Sakura Residence 9, Inya Rd, Kamaryut Tsp. tel: 525001. fax: 525002. 50th Street 9/13, 50th street-lower, Botataung Tsp. Tel-397160.

Green Garden Beer Gallery Mini Zoo, Karaweik Oo-Yin Kabar.

Emergency Numbers
Ambulance tel: 295133. Fire tel: 191, 252011, 252022. Police emergency tel: 199. Police headquarters tel: 282541, 284764. Red Cross tel:682600, 682368 Traffic Control Branch tel:298651 Department of Post & Telecommunication tel: 591384, 591387. Immigration tel: 286434. Ministry of Education tel:545500m 562390 Ministry of Sports tel: 370604, 370605 Ministry of Communications tel: 067-407037. Myanma Post & Telecommunication (MPT) tel: 067407007. Myanma Post & Tele-communication (Accountant Dept) tel: 254563, 370768. Ministry of Foreign Affairs tel: 067-412009, 067-412344. Ministry of Health tel: 067-411358-9. Yangon City Development Committee tel: 248112. HOSPITALS Central Womens Hospital tel: 221013, 222811. Children Hospital tel: 221421, 222807 Ear, Nose & Throat Hospital tel: 543888. Naypyitaw Hospital (emergency) tel: 420096. Workers Hospital tel: 554444, 554455, 554811. Yangon Children Hospital tel: 222807, 222808, 222809. Yangon General Hospital (East) tel: 292835, 292836, 292837. Yangon General Hospital (New) tel: 384493, 384494, 384495, 379109. Yangon General Hospital (West) tel: 222860, 222861, 220416. Yangon General Hospital (YGH) tel: 256112, 256123, 281443, 256131. ELECTRICITY Power Station tel:414235 POST OFFICE General Post Office 39, Bo Aung Kyaw St. (near British Council Library). tel: 285499. INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT Yangon International Airport tel: 662811. YANGON PORT Shipping (Coastal vessels) tel: 382722 RAILWAYS Railways information tel: 274027, 202175-8.

INYA1 Resturant & Bar No.(1), Inya Road, Kamayut Tsp. Tel: 01-527506 email: inyaone@gmail.com www.inya1.com

Strand Bar 92, Strand Rd, Yangon, Myanmar. tel: 243377.fax: 243393, sales@thestrand.com.mm www.ghmhotels.com

The Grand Mee Ya Hta Executive Residences 372, Bogyoke Aung San Rd, Pabedan Tsp. tel: 951-256355 (25 lines). fax: 951-256360. email: gmer@ mptmail.net.mm, www.grandmeeyahta.com

Lobby Bar PARKROYAL Yangon, Myanmar. 33, Alan Pya Phaya Road, Dagon Tsp. tel: 250388.

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BEAUTY & MASSAGE
MYANMAR BOOK CENTRE Nandawun Compound, No. 55, Baho Road, Corner of Baho Road and Ahlone Road, (near Eugenia Restaurant), Ahlone Township. tel: 212 409, 221 271. 214708 fax: 524580. email: info@ myanmarbook.com

mt Quick guide
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MyanMar tiMes

DRINKING WATER
Alpine Parami Road, Kapasa 4 shophouse, Mayangone. tel: 666258 Everyone needs a MIRACLE once in thier lives. Bio Disc energised water promotes yourhealth and lifestyle. enquires551616, 725228

The Uranium Dance Studio Pearl condo Bldg (C), 2nd flr, Bahan Tsp. tel: 09731-42624, 09-514-0404.

GAS COOKER & COOKER HOODS

24 hours Medical centre No. 330, Yangon International Hotel, Ahlone Road, Dagon Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar. 24 hour Call Centre : (951) 218 445 Clinic : (959) 4921 8159 Office : (951) 218 446 Fax : (951) 218 389 PHIH-Specialist Clinic FMI Centre (4th Floor) #380, Bogyoke Aung San Road, Pabedan Tsp. tel: 243 010, 243 012, 243 013

A Little Dayspa No. 475 C, Pyi Road, (Between Sweety Home & Shwe Kant Kaw Silk) Kamayut, Yangon. Tel: 09-431-28831.

La Source Beauty Spa 80(A), Inya Rd, Kamayut. tel: 512 380, 511 252. Sedona Hotel, Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd. tel: 666 900 My Way Diamond Condo, Bld(A), Rm (G-02), Pyay Rd, Kamayut Tsp, Yangon. Ph: 52717, 09 51 70528

FITNESS CENTRE
Espace Avenir 523, Pyay Rd, Kamayut Tsp, Tel : 505214, 505222, 505213 FIT Club Rm 101~3, Marina Residence, 8, Kaba Aye Pagoda Rd, Mayangone Tsp, tel : 650634, 650651 ext:102

CAFS

DUTY FREE
La Brasserie (International) PARKROYAL Yangon. 33, Alan Pya Phaya Road, Dagon Tsp. tel : 250388.

Yangon : A-3, Aung San Stadium (North East Wing), Mingalartaungnyunt Tsp. Tel : 245543, 09-730-37772. Mandalay : Room No.(B,C) (National Gas), 35th St, Btw 80th & 81st, Chanayetharzan Tsp. Tel : 09-6803505, 02 34455, 36748, 71878.

GENERATORS

Traders Hotel, 5th Floor Tel: 242828,Ext: Coreana. Sedona Hotel, Mandalay Ground Fl. Tel: 02-36488, Ext: Coreana

Qi Foot Spa At Inya Lake Hotel, Yangon, Myanmar. Tel: +951-662866, 662857 Ext: 1725

SR 22/1, Next to the Pearl Shopping Centre, Kaba Aye Pagoda Road, Bahan Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar. tel: 544 297, 549 527, 700 777 , fax: 558 044. email: eros@ mptmail.net.mm. www.erosspa.com

INYA1 Resturant & Bar No.(1), Inya Road, Kamayut Tsp. Tel: 01-527506 email: inyaone@gmail.com www.inya1.com Strand Caf 92, Strand Rd, Yangon. Tel: 243377. fax: 243393, sales@thestrand.com.mm. www.ghmhotels.com Traders Caf Traders Hotel, Yangon. #223, Sule Pagoda Rd. Tel: 242828 ext: 6519

Duty Free Airport Shopping Yangon International Airport Arrival / Departure. tel: 662676 (Airport). office: 90B/1, Inya Road, Kamayut Township. tel: 512534, 500143-5.

Heavy Equipments & Genset

PARKROYAL Fitness & Spa PARKROYAL Yangon. 33, Alan Pya Phaya Road, Dagon Tsp. tel: 250388.

EDUCATION CENTRE
MHR Business & Management Institute 905, 9th floor, Modern Iron Market(Thanzay Condo) Lanmadaw St. tel: 707822. NELC (Nelson English Language Centre Young Learner & Adults No 53, Dhamayon Street, Myaynigone, Sanchaung Tsp. tel: 534287 NLEC 82 Anawrahta Rd, Corner of 39 St, Kyauktada Tsp. tel: 250225. RV! Centre Yangon RV Management Services Co., Ltd. Tel: 535433, 541886, 242410, 250388 Ext: 333. email: ask@ rvcenre.com.sg The British Council 92, Strand Rd, Kyauktada Tsp. tel: 254658. Mr. Betchang No.(272), Pyay Rd, DNH Tower, Rm No.(503), 5th flr, Sanchaung Tsp, tel: 095041216

Winning Way No. 589-592, Bo Aung Kyaw St, Yangon-Pathein highway Road. Hlaing Thayar Tsp. Tel: 951645178-182, 685199, Fax: 951-645211, 545278. e-mail: mkt-mti@ winstrategic.com.mm

24 hours Cancer centre No. 330, Yangon International Hotel, Ahlone Road, Dagon Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar. Tel: (951) 218388, 218292 Fax: (951) 218389

HAIR

Zen Wellness Care No.62 (A), Room-3, Yaw Min Gyi Street, Dagon Tsp, Yangon. Tel: +951-252939.

Lemon Day Spa No. 96 F, Inya Road, Kamaryut Tsp, Yangon. Tel: 514848, 09-732-08476. E.mail: lemondayspa.2011 @gmail.com Saw Peter Foot Reflexology Oil Massage, Body Massage, Foot Massage. Any time you want at your place. tel : 09-431-56459, 09-518-8047.

BATTERY

CAR DEALER
ISO 9001:2008 (QMS)

The Yangon GYM Summit Parkview Hotel 350, Ahlone Rd, Dagon Tsp. tel: 211888, 211966. Traders Health Club. Level 5, Traders Hotel Yangon#223 Sule Pagoda Rd, Tel: 951 242828 Ext: 6561

Hair Clinic @ Asia Pacific Cut, Colour, Treatment, Perm, Styling, Make up + hair up. Opening hours: Tue to Sun 9 am - 6 pm, 81, Kabaraye Pagoda Road, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. Mu Mu Win, 09-431-64128.

Proven Technology Industry Co., Ltd. No. FS 14, Bayintnaung Rd, Shwe Sabai Yeik Mon, Kamayut Tsp, Yangon. Tel: 951-951-701719~20, 527667, 531030, 531041, 530694. Fax: 527667, 531030. http//www. toyobatterymyanmar.com.

HOME FURNISHING

Piyavate Hospital (Bangkok) Myanmar Represent ative (Head office) Miba Gon Yee Business Group, No.506, 5th-fl, Yuzana Twin Tower, (No.8, Pangyan Tower) Cor of Dhama Zedi & Bargayar Rd, SCHG Tsp. Tel: 500600, 500800, 500900. Fax: 539799. hotline: +9595018777. piyavate@ myanmar.com.mm www.piyavate.com
Shimmering Gold Services Co., Ltd.
ViCtory For liFe

MTG Motors Trading Co.,Ltd No.H, Hlaing Yadanar Housing, Yangon-Insein Road, Hlaing Tsp. tel: 503590, 514165

FLORAL SERVICES
22, Pyay Rd, 9 mile, Mayangone Tsp. tel: 660769, 664363. Home Plus Trading Co., Ltd. No. 457, Aung San Stadium, Mingalartungnyunt Tsp. tel: 394888. Fax: 393008.
BANGKOK, THAILAND

CHOCOLATE

Inya Day Spa

BOOK STORES

ENTERTAINMENT

16/2, Inya Rd, Kamayut Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar. Tel: 537907, 503375.

Room - 4021, 3rd Floor, Taw Win Centre. Ph: 8600111 (Ext:4021), 09-803-2581.

Innwa Book Store No. 246, Rm.201/301, GF, Pansodan Street (Upper Block), Kyauktada Tsp. Tel. 389838, 243216, 374324, 514387

G-A, Ground Floor, Pearl Center, Kabaraye Pagoda Road, Yangon. Tel: 09 500 6880 Email: chocolateheaven. sale@gmail.com

Dance Lessons Mon-Fri 12:00 to 23:00. Sat-Sun 10 am to 8 pm Fun dancing Friday nights with Filipino musicians 4, U Tun Myat St, Tamwe. Tel: 01-541 550

Floral Service & Gift Shop No. 449, New University Avenue, Bahan Tsp. YGN. Tel: 541217, 559011, 09-860-2292. Market Place By City Mart Tel: 523840~43, 523845~46, Ext: 205. Junction Nay Pyi Taw Tel: 067-421617~18 422012~15, Ext: 235. Res: 067-414813, 09-49209039. Email : eternal@ mptmail.net.mm

HEALTH SERVICES

VEJTHANI MYANMAR REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE No.125(C), West Shwe Gon Dine Road, Bahan Township, Yangon, Myanmar. 01-3449977. Hot Line: 09-507-1111, 01-555448, 555998. vejthani@myanmar.com.mm www.vejthani.com

Floral Service & Gift Centre 102(A), Dhamazaydi Rd, Yangon.tel: 500142 Summit Parkview Hotel, tel: 211888, 211966 ext. 173 fax: 535376.email: sandy@ sandymyanmar.com.mm.

81, Kaba Aye Pagoda Road, Bahan Township, Yangon. Tel: 548022, 542979, 553783, 09-8030847, 09-730-56079. Email: asiapacific. myanmar@gmail.com.

LEGAL SERVICE
U Min Sein, BSc, RA, CPA.,RL Advocate of the Supreme Court 83/14 Pansodan St, Yangon. tel: 253 273. uminsein@mptmail.net.mm

MARINE COMMUNICATION & NAVIGATION

Agent Office, 5th Floor, Junction Centre (Maw Tin), Lanmadaw Township, Yangon. Myanmar. Ph: 09-731-56770, 09-5117584, Fax: 01-516313, myanmarmeditour@gmail. com Bumrungrad Intl Rm 238, Summit Parkview Hotel, Dagon Tsp. tel: 723999, 211888. Ext: 8238.

Foral Service & Gifts shop No.2, Corner of Khay Mar St & Baho Rd (Near Asia Royal Hospital), Sanchaung Tsp, Yangon. email: yangonflorist@ myanmar.com.mm. Tel: 01-510406, 09-73184714.

Top Marine Show Room No-385, Ground Floor, Lower Pazundaung Road, Pazundaung Tsp, Yangon. Ph: 01-202782, 09-851-5597

Media & Advertising

FOAM SPRAY INSULATION

Foam Spray Insulation No-410, Ground Floor, Lower Pazuntaung Road, Pazuntaung Tsp, Yangon. Telefax : 01-203743, 09730-26245, 09-500-7681. Hot Line-09-730-30825.

No. 365/367, Bo Aung Kyaw st (Upper), IHBC, Kyauktada Tsp. Tel: 392484 , 389824, 09803-0166. Fax: 392590. Email: radiant.aesthetics @gmail.com. Web: www. kembanganradiant.com

FURNITURE
NatRay Co., Ltd. Rm 807, La Pyayt Wun Plaza. tel : 01-370833, 370836

Acupuncture, Medicine Massage, Foot Spa Add:No,27(A),Ywa Ma Kyaung Street, Hlaing Township, Yangon. Tel: 01-511122, 526765.

Intuitive Design, Advertising, Interior Decoration Corporate logo/Identity/ Branding, Brochure/ Profile Booklet/ Catalogue/ Billboard, Corporate diary/ email newsletter/ annual reports, Magazine, journal advertisement and 3D presentation and detailed planning for any interior decoration works. Talk to us: (951) 430-897, 553-918 www.medialane.com.au 58B Myanma Gon Yaung Housing, Than Thu Mar Road, Tamwe, Yangon.

mt Quick guide
January 2 - 8, 2012
PLEASURE CRUISES
Black Canyon Coffee & International Thai Cuisine 330, Ahlone Rd, Dagon Tsp. tel: 0980 21691, 395052. email: blackcanyon@yangon. net.mm. Eugenia 47, Manawhari Housing Estate, Baho Road, Ahlone Tsp. tel: 227346. Feel Myanmar Foods 124, Pyi Htaung Su Yeik Thar Street, Dagon Tsp. tel: 725736. Mesamis French Restaurant No.5, U Htun Nyein St, Kaba Aye Pagoda Rd, Mayangone Tsp, Yangon. Tel: 656611, 09-431-35406. Email: info@ mesamisyangon.com Tiger Hill Chinese Restaurant Chatrium Hotel Royal Lake Yangon 40, Natmauk Road, Tamwe Tsp, Lobby Level, Tel: 544500 Ext 6253 Traders Gourmet Corner Level 1, Traders Hotel, #223 Sule Pagoda Road, Kyauktada Tsp. Tel : 242828 ext : 6503 Traders Gallery Bar Level 2, Traders Hotel, #223 Sule Pagoda Road. tel: 242 828. ext: 6433 Traders Lobby Lounge Level 1, Traders Hotel, #223 Sule Pagoda Road. tel: 242 828. ext: 6456 ILBC 180, Thunandar 9th Lane, Thumingalar Housing, Thingungyung.tel: 562401.
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MyanMar tiMes
No.35(b), Tatkatho Yeik Mon Housing, New University Avenue, Bahan Township, Yangon. Tel: 951-549451, 557219, 540730. www.yangon-academy.org Myanmar. Tel: 95-1-535783, 527705, 501429. Fax: 95-1-527705. Email: salesikon@myanmar.com.mm Ocean Supercentre (North Point ), 9th Mile, Mayangone Tsp. tel: 651 200, 652963. Pick n Pay Hyper Market Bldg (A,B,C), (14~16), Shwe Mya Yar Housing, Mya Yar Gone St, Mingalartaungnyunt Tsp. Tel: 206001~3, Fax: 9000199 Sein Gay Har 44, Pyay Rd, Dagon Tsp. tel: 383812, 379823. Super 1 (Kyaikkasan) 65, Lay Daunt Kan St, Ph: 545871~73 Super 1 (Shwe Bonthar) 397, Bogyoke Aung San St, Pabedan. Ph: 250268~29 Victoria Shwe Pone Nyet Yeik Mon, Bayint Naung Rd, Kamaryut Tsp. tel : 515136.

Road to Mandalay Myanmar Hotels & Cruises Ltd. Governors Residence 39C, Taw Win Road, Dagon Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar. tel: (951) 229860 fax: (951) 217361. email: RTMYGN@mptmail.net.mm www.orient-express.com

Monsoon Restaurant & Bar 85/87, Thein Byu Road, Botahtaung Tsp. tel: 295224, 09-501 5653.

PAINT

TOP MARINE PAINT No-410, Ground Floor, Lower Pazundaung Road, Pazundaung Tsp, Yangon. Ph: 09-851-5202

No. 105/107, Kha-Yae-Bin Road. between Pyi Daung Su Yeik Tha (Halpin) and Manawhari Road/Ahlone Tsp. Tel: 09-730-29973, 09-731-08608. Tel/Fax: 538 895. H/P: 09 5409469, 09 8032909.
goldengalon@mptmail.net.mm

ILBC IGCSE SCHOOL No.(34), Laydauntkan Road, Tamwe Tsp, Yangon. Tel: 542982, 545720, 549106,545736,400156 Fax: 541040 Email: info@ilbc.net.mm www.ilbcedu.com ISM Intl School W 22/24, Mya Kan Thar Housing, Hlaing Tsp. tel:530082, 530083. International School Yangon No.20, Shwe Taung Kyar Street, Bahan Tsp, Yangon. Tel: 512793. Kangaroo Child Care 55, Aung Min Gaung 1st Rd, Kamayut Tsp. Tel: 501 568, 09 504 7732. MAA Learning Centre 377, First fl, Shwe Bon Thar St., Pabedan Tsp. Yangon. Tel: 250501, 250502.

SOLAR SYSTEM

The Brightest AC CFL Bulb 21, 9th street, Lanmadaw Tsp. Ph: 212243, 216861, 216864. spsolarstation@gmail.com www.spsolarstation.com

STEEL CONSTRUCTION

PUMP

MTG Pumps & Machineries No.H, Hlaing Yadanar Housing, Yangon-Insein Road, Hlaing Tsp. tel: 503590, 514165.

Italian delicatesse & Ice-cream No.150, Dhamazadi Rd, Bahan Tsp. (Monunent Book Shop) Open Daily 9:00am to 7:00pm. Italian Ice-cream, Pasta, Pizza & Bar (2) G/F, City Mart, Myaynigone Centre. tel : 508469, 508470 ext. 113 Open Daily 9:00am to 10:00pm.

REMOVALISTS

Crown Worldwide Movers Ltd 790, Rm 702, 7th Floor Danathiha Centre, Bogyoke Aung San Road, Lanmadaw Township. tel: 223288, 210 670, 227650. ext: 702. fax: 229212. email: crown worldwide@mptmail.net.mm

House of Memories Piano Bar & Restaurant Myanmar Cuisine & International Food 290, U Wizara Rd, Kamaryut Tsp, Yangon. tel: 525 195, 534 242. e-mail: houseofmemories 9@gmail.com

Pansweltaw Express Cafe: No.228, Ahlone Road, Ahlone Tsp. Tel: 215363 (1)-Rm 309, 3rd fl, Ocean, East Point Shopping Center, Pazundaung Tsp. Tel: 397900 Ext:309. (2)Ground Fl, Ocean North Point Shopping Center. Tel:652959, 652960, Ext: 133. www. pansweltaw.com E-mail: pansweltaw@ myanmar.com.mm

PEB Steel Buildings 60 (A), Halpin Road, Yangon. Tel: 01-218223, 218224. Fax: 218224. marketing@pebsteel.com. mm www.pebsteel.com.mm

TRAVEL AGENTS

1. WASABI : No.20-B, Kaba Aye Pagoda Rd, Yankin Tsp,(Near MiCasa), Tel; 666781,09-503-9139 2. WASABI SUSHI : Market Place by City Mart (1st Floor). Tel; 09-430-67440 Myaynigone (City Mart) Yankin Center (City Mart) Junction Mawtin (City Mart)

SUPERMARKETS
Asia Light 106, Set Yone Rd., Mingalar Taung Nyunt Tsp. tel: 294074, 294083. Capital Hyper Mart 14(E), Min Nandar Road, Dawbon Tsp. Ph: 553136. City Mart (Aung San Branch) tel: 253022, 294765. (9:00 am to 9:00 pm) City Mart (47th St Branch) tel: 200026, 298746. (9:00 am to 9:00 pm) City Mart (Junction 8 Branch) tel: 650778. (9:00 am to 9:00 pm) City Mart (FMI City Branch) tel: 682323. (9:00 am to 9:00 pm) City Mart (Yankin Center Branch) tel: 400284. (9:00 am to 9:00 pm) City Mart (Myaynigone Branch) tel: 510697. (9:00 am to 10:00 pm) City Mart (Zawana Branch) tel:564532. (9:00 am to 9:00 pm) City Mart (Shwe Mya Yar Branch) tel: 294063. (9:00 am to 9:00 pm) City Mart (Chinatown Point Branch) tel: 215560~63. (9:00 am to 10:00 pm) City Mart (Junction Maw Tin Branch) tel: 218159. (9:00 am to 9:00 pm) City Mart (Marketplace) tel: 523840~43. (9:00 am to 10:00 pm) City Mart (78th Brahch-Mandalay) tel: 02-71467~9. (9:00 am to 10:00 pm) IKON Mart IKON Trading Co., Ltd. No.332, Pyay Rd, San Chaung P.O (11111), Yangon,

Admissions Office: No. 44, Than Lwin Road, Bahan Township, Yangon. Tel: 535433, 09-850-3073. Email: rviacademygn@ rvcentre.com.sg Streamline Education 24, Myasabai Rd, Parami, Myangone Tsp. tel: 662304, 09-500-6916.

Asian Trails Tour Ltd 73 Pyay Rd, Dagon tsp. tel: 211212, 223262. fax: 211670. email: res@ asiantrails.com.mm Htoo Travels 209/c, first flr, Shwe Gonedaing Rd, Bahan. Tel: 548554, 548039.

Phoenix Court (Chinese) PARKROYAL Yangon. 33, Alan Pya Phaya Road, Dagon Tsp. tel: 250388. Kandawgyi (Royal Lake) Park, Yangon. (opposite of Eye Hospital) Ph: 556837, 556838. Fax: 556875. E-mail: whitericeyangon@gmail.com www.whiterice-myanmar. com

NO.13, Rm-3/4, Kyaung Lane, Myaynigone(N), Tel: 501971, 516955, 516977, email: miracle_ tour@ myanmar.com.mm Sun Far Travels & Tours 27, Ground flr, 38th st, Kyauktada Tsp. Tel: 380888.

Schenker (Thai) Ltd. Yangon 59 A, U Lun Maung Street. 7 Mile Pyay Road, MYGN. tel: 667686, 666646.fax: 651250. email: sche nker@mptmail.net.mm.

INYA1 Resturant & Bar No.(1), Inya Road, Kamayut Tsp. Tel: 01-527506 email: inyaone@gmail.com www.inya1.com

Shiki-Tel (Japanese) PARKROYAL Yangon. 33, Alan Pya Phaya Road, Dagon Tsp. tel: 250388. Signature Near U Htaung Bo Round, about Bahan Tsp. tel: 546488, 543387.

LANGUAGE
Bilingual Language Centre Teaching Myanmar to Non-Myanmar No.7 (Gournd Floor), Thu-Kha-Main Street, Myaynigone, San Chaung. Tel: 09-500-6431, nyalinphyu@gmail.com

Summit Intl Learning Centre No.248, Ahlone Rd, YGN. Ph: 222661, 725718 www.silceducation.com

WATER HEATERS

No. 142, Ground Floor, 46th Street, Botahtaung Township, Yangon. Tel/Fax: 202466. Tel: 398669, 09-511-7876. wwmservices@myanmar. com.mm

Kohaku Japanese Restaurant Chatrium Hotel Royal Lake Yangon 40, Natmauk Road, Tamwe Tsp, Lobby Level, Tel: 544500 Ext 6231

SKY VIEW Restaurant No. 255, Rm 1504, 15 Flr, Olympic Tower, Bo Aung Kyaw Rd, Kyauktada Tsp, Tel : 386539, 392886.

SCHOOLS

95, Anawrahta Rd, Pazundaung Tsp. tel:296552, 293754. 336, Pyay Rd, Sanchaung Tsp. tel: 526456. New University Avenue, 551521, 551951, 553896. U Wisara Rd, tel: 524599, 501976.

The Global leader in Water Heaters A/1, Aung San Stadium East Wing, Upper Pansodan Road. Tel: 251033, 09-730-25281.

Same as Rinnai Gas cooker and cooker Hood Showroom Address

Water Heater

RESTAURANTS

Enchanting and Romantic, a Bliss on the Lake 62 D, U Tun Nyein Road, Mayangon Tsp, Yangon The Ritz Exclusive Lounge Chatrium Hotel Royal Lake Yangon 40, Natmauk Road, Tamwe Tsp, Ground Floor, Tel: 544500 Ext 6243, 6244 TB Bar & Restaurant The Grand Mee Ya Hta Executive Residences (Second Flr) 372, Bogyoke Aung San Road, Pabedan Tsp, Yangon. Tel: 385101, 256355. 256356 Fax: 385101

24 hours open. 5, Alan Pya Phaya Rd, Dagon Tsp, inside Thamada Hotel. tel 243640, 243047, Ext: 32.

Tel. 01 665 516, 660976 Mob. 09-512-7795 operayangon@gmail.com www.operayangon.com

ASIA Language & Business Academy (All classes are taught by native English-speaking teachers), No-66 Shwedagon Pagoda Road Dagon Tsp, Yangon, Myanmar. Tel:720966, 384055, http://www.alba-edu.com

WEB SERVICES

Lunch/Dinner/Catering 555539, 536174

22, Kaba Aye Pagoda Rd, Bahan Tsp. tel 541997. email: leplanteur@ mptmail.net.mm. http://leplanteur.net

Horizon Intl School 25, Po Sein Road, Bahan Tsp, tel : 541085, 551795, 551796, 450396~7. fax : 543926, email : contact@horizonmyanmar. com, www.horizon.com

Yangon International School Fully Accredited K-12 International Curriculum with ESL support No.117,Thumingalar Housing, Thingangyun Township, Yangon. Tel: 578171, 573149 www.yismyanmar.net Yangon International School New Early Childhood Center Pan Hlaing Golf Estate Housing & U Tun Nyo Street, Hlaing Thar Yar Township, Yangon. Tel: 687701, 687702

World-class Web Services Tailor-made design, Professional research & writing for Brochure/ Catalogue/e-Commerce website, Customised business web apps, online advertisement and anything online. Talk to us: (951) 430-897, 553-918 www.medialane.com.au 58B Myanma Gon Yaung Housing. Than Thu Mar Road, Tamwe, Yangon.

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January 2 - 8, 2012

MyanMar tiMes

Asia felt the heat in year gone by

By Kuldip Lal NEW DELHI Three Pakistani stars being jailed for spot-fixing in England underlined a mixed year for cricket in Asia despite Indias memorable World Cup triumph at home in April. Pakistans resurgence on the field under Misbah-ulHaq held out hope that all was not lost for the troubled nation, but the region endured more lows than highs over the past 12 months. Indias status as crickets nerve-centre took a beating as attendences dwindled for even home one-day internationals, TV ratings dropped and sponsors contemplated other options. Even the Indian Premier League, facing a highpowered government investigation for alleged financial irregularities and money laundering, lacked the buzz that was seen in the previous three seasons. Viewer-fatigue had clearly taken its toll and the time to act had come, said veteran Indian batsman Rahul Dravid while delivering the Sir Donald Bradman Oration in Canberra on December 14. Since about, I think 1985, people have been saying there is too much meaningless one-day cricket, said Dravid. Maybe its finally time to do something about it. Indias euphoria over winning the limited-overs World Cup at home in April was short-lived as Mahendra Singh Dhonis men were dethroned as the number one test side after a 4-0 walloping in England. Sri Lanka, who lost to India in the World Cup final in Mumbai, have tumbled downhill and not won a test match since the retirement of world bowling record holder Muttiah Muralitharan in July 2010. Bangladesh showed no signs of improvement, even suffering an embarrassing defeat at the hands of Zimbabwe in August on the African nations return to test cricket after six years. The cricketing world was shamed when a British judge jailed three Pakistani stars, including former captain Salman Butt, and their agent in November for their part in a spot-fixing scandal. Butt, 27, was handed a 30-month sentence, Mohammad Asif, 28, was jailed for a year and 19-yearold Mohammad Amir was sentenced to six months in a young offenders institution after being found guilty of fixing parts of a test match against England in 2010. The players British agent Mazhar Majeed, 36, who was caught in a sting by the now-defunct News of the World newspaper sting, pleaded guilty and was sent to prison for two years and eight months. Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar is carried on his teammates shoulders after India defeated Sri Lanka in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 final at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on April 2. Pic: AFP Pakistan did well to put aside the scandal and revive their fortunes on the field, highlighted by their success over Sri Lanka in all three formats of the game in the neutral venue of the United Arab Emirates. Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal is the leading wicket-taker in tests this year, while three Pakistani bowlers Shahid Afridi, Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez are among the top six in one-day internationals. Pakistans biggest challenge will come at the start of the new year when they host the worlds number one side England in three test matches in the UAE. India made amends for the humiliation in England by an expected resurgence at home where they blanked England 5-0 in a one-day series and followed that with a 2-0 test and 4-1 oneday success over struggling West Indies. Dravid, whose three centuries in England was the lone bright spot in Indias dismal series in England, became the first batsman to score more than 1000 runs this year with five hundreds. Millions in India and abroad continued to wait for Sachin Tendulkars 100th international century continued as the master fell for 91 in the Oval test against England and then for 94 against the West Indies at home in Mumbai. But Tendulkar, now into his 23rd year in international cricket, appeared unfazed by the hype, saying 100 hundreds was just a number and wondered what the fuss was about. When I got my 90 th international century, nobody said anything, he said. Even before my 99th century, nobody said anything. So why now? I dont understand. AFP

Simoncelli death casts shadow over MotoGP

By Nick Reeves PARIS Marco Simoncellis death at Sepang in October cast a long shadow over the 2011 MotoGP season, the gifted Italians untimely passing a shocking reminder of the ever present dangers attached to the sport. The tragedy, which followed one year on from the death of Japanese teenager Shoya Tomizawa, robbed the grid of one of its brightest and quickest stars. Simoncelli, the flamboyant 2008 Moto2 world champion with the distinctive Jimi Hendrix hairstyle, was making waves in the top division in what was only his second season. Two pole positions and two podiums for Honda augured well for the popular riders future title prospects. Casey Stoner, who one week earlier was crowned 2011 MotoGP world champion in the Australian Grand Prix, led the tributes to Simoncelli at Sepang, saying: When something like this happens you remember how precious life is. Another MotoGP colleague and friend, Andrea Dovizioso, commented: Marco was a courageous rider and he always fought hard. Weve battled on the track since we were kids. I often saw him fall off but without any harm. He appeared indestructible. Sepang was the penultimate leg of a year that saw Stoner claim his second MotoGP crown. The Honda rider took the title in Phillip Island after his closest rival, defending champion Jorge Lorenzo, crashed in practice. The Spaniard had to be flown back to Madrid for surgery to reattach the ring finger on his left hand, leaving Stoner to power to victory in a wire-to-wire win on his 26th birthday. Second across the line that day was Simoncelli in what was to be his best-ever performance in MotoGP. Stoner, who claimed his first MotoGP title in 2007, enjoyed a standout season. The Honda ace made the podium in every race bar Jerez, wrapping up the year in the best possible fashion with victory in the seasonclosing race in Valencia. Stoners points haul of 350 was 90 clear of Lorenzo, with Dovizioso ending up with 228 points in third. Multiple world champion Valentino Rossi had a quiet time by his standards, the Ducati man coming in seventh, tied on 139 points with his fallen compatriot, Simoncelli. In Moto2 the crown went to Stefan Bradl of Germany, the Kalex rider triumphing when his sole rival, Marc Marquez of Spain, pulled out of the title decider in Spain. Bradl laid down his marker for the season when rattling off wins in four of the first six races. Marquez hit back with six out of seven wins but the 2010 125cc champion was then kyboshed when he fell in testing in Sepang, forcing his no-show in Valencia. In 125 the crown went to Aprilias Spanish rider Nicolas Terol when he took second to 16-year-old sensation Maverick Venales, who finished third in the standings, in the seasoncloser. AFP

Gilbert dominates 2011 cycling season

PARIS As Alberto Contador fought back tears during an impassioned plea against doping accusations last February, his rivals were planning for a season that would eventually etch some of their names in cyclings history books. By the end of 2011, only a few names stood out from the rest and Contador, despite coasting to his second Giro dItalia victory in June, wasnt among them. While Cadel Evans finally triumphed at the Tour de France and sprint king Mark Cavendish ended Britains 46-year wait for a world road race title, the biggest draw of 2011 was arguably Philippe Gilbert. The Omega-Pharma rider was a big hit at the Tour de France where he produced a classy uphill finish to win the opening stage and pull on the coveted yellow jersey for the first time. Even before July rolled around, however, the Belgian had dominated the hilly one-day classics with a determination and panache that prompted Eddy Merckx-like comparisons from weathered cycling observers. Comparing any modernday cyclist to the Belgian legend is nonsensical. His was an era when racers rode over 150 days a year and Merckx, known as the Cannibal for his voracious appetite for victory, was and remains unrivalled. Yet many of Gilberts 18 wins came in tough races, and he raced all year round in a bid to finish as world number one. He won a total of five one-day classics including the Amstel Gold Race, Fleche Wallonne and LiegeBastogne-Liege a trilogy caused a huge upset to win Paris-Roubaix. While Gilbert got his maiden Tour de France stage in July, Evans was the man of the moment. Finally, the stars aligned for the Australian who had twice finished runner-up and fallen victim to misfortune in previous yellow jersey attempts. As three-time champion Contador suffered crashes early in the race, Evans BMC outfit provided crucial support and he produced a series of remarkable performances to keep his bid alive in the mountains. On the penultimate stages time trial, Evans easily overturned a 57 second deficit to Luxembourgs Andy Schleck to secure a historic win. Its been years of hard work and there were a lot of moments in these three weeks where our Tour was lost but to get here safely with all my skin just that alone is a quest in itself, said Evans. Post-Tour, Gilbert won the hilly San Sebastian Classic and, mid-August, won a stage and the overall at the Eneco Tour. He then captured the Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec to ensure he would finish the year as world number one. The season of Contador paled in comparison, only being brightened by his marriage to his girlfriend of 10 years, Macarena Pescador. Heading into 2012, the Spaniard is still awaiting deliberation from the Court of Arbitration for Sport on an appeal by cycling and doping authorities to ban him for a positive test for clenbuterol in 2010. AFP

Australias Cadel Evans sets off on the 42.5-kilometre 20th stage of the 2011 Tour de France on July 23. Pic: AFP known as the Ardennes Classics and achieved only once before, by Italian Davide Rebellin. Days prior to defending his Amstel crown Gilbert had won the Fleche Brabanconne on April 13, one of several semiclassic victories the 29year-old also added to his collection. It was that series that gave Gilbert most pleasure. For me, that series [of four wins] was quite phenomenal, said Gilbert. But it was also the way I won the races as well. What Im also proud of is the fact that from April 13 to July 2, no one beat me in a race. Gilbert also took stage wins at the Tour of the Algarve and TirrenoAdriatico, as well as overall victory and a stage win at both the Tour of Belgium and Ster ZLM Toer. And after three runner-up places in the five previous years, he was crowned Belgian champion in June, thus ending four years of Flemish hegemony in the black, orange and yellow jersey. Still, Quick Steps Tom Boonen, the 2005 world and 2009 Belgian champion, took his biggest win of the year at Ghent-Wevelgem a week after Australian Matt Goss took the biggest win of his career at Milan-San Remo, where Gilbert was third. Another Flemish, Saxo Banks Nick Nuyens, proved the wiliest at the Tour of Flanders and a week later fellow Flandrian Johan Van Summeren of Garmin

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By Dave James PARIS With three Grand Slam titles, five Masters, a 70-6 winning year and a record cash haul of US$12.6 million, Novak Djokovic was the king of tennis in 2011. Spurred on by leading Serbia to a maiden Davis Cup title at the back end of 2010, the 24-year-old put together a 43-match winning run in the first half of 2011. It was a surge that brought him the Australian Open title in January and was only ended by a rejuvenated Roger Federer in the semifinals at Roland Garros. As well as claiming a second title in Melbourne, Djokovic won all the seasons opening four Masters at Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid and Rome, defeating Rafael Nadal in the finals of all of them. The Serb then defeated Nadal to win Wimbledon taking the Spaniards world number one spot in the process before clinching the US Open. Again Nadal was the vanquished opponent in the final after Djokovic had defeated Federer from two sets, and two match points down, in a breathtaking semi-final. Djokovics landmark season eventually took its toll with a combination of back and shoulder trouble condemning him to four defeats in the years closing stages. I had an unbelievable year. Nothing can really ruin that. I will always remember this year as the best of my life, he said. Even John McEnroe, whose season winning record of 82 wins against just three defeats, set in 1984, was briefly within the Serbs sights after his US Open victory when he was at 64 wins against two losses, was in awe.

January 2 - 8, 2012

King Djokovic reigns on the tennis courts in 2011

Japan shine in chaotic year for Asian football

By Talek Harris SINGAPORE Allconquering Japan starred on the pitch in a year of upheaval for Asian football after regional chief Mohamed bin Hammams fall from grace in a sensational bribery case. Japans Blue Samurai were crowned Asian champions in January, only to be outdone by their Nadeshiko womens team, who helped ease the trauma of a major earthquake disaster by claiming the regions first senior world title. Chinese football took a giant step forward with the signing of Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka, as the Super League looked to move on from a major match-fixing scandal. But corruption engulfed South Koreas K-League as the unearthing of a deepseated match-fixing culture left dozens of people in the dock and was closely linked to two suicides. Qatars Al Sadd were crowned Asias club champions, and then went on to beat African title-holders Esperance in the Club World Cup before falling to Spains Barcelona. However bin Hammam, who also comes from Qatar, endured a torrid year after his bid to replace Sepp Blatter from the FIFA presidency was derailed by claims he handed out cashstuffed envelopes to the bodys delegates. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) boss left FIFAs June congress in Zurich not as its new chief, but banned from the sport. He is now fighting the sanction at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Japan produced the lions share of positive headlines when they claimed their fourth Asian title in memorable fashion when Tadanari Lees volley downed Australia 1-0 in extra time. The Blue Samurai had inched their way to the final with tight wins in the quarters and semi-final against Qatar and South Korea, and it wasnt until the 109th minute that Lees left-footer settled the thriller in Doha. But the tournament also demonstrated progress for Australia, the regions second-ranked side who bounced back from a disappointing Asian debut in 2007 to reach their first final. Japans Nadeshiko then took centre-stage when they shocked favourites the United States in the womens World Cup final a result hailed as a miracle by a disbelieving Japanese press. Japan edged a nail-biting match 3-1 on penalties after they twice came from behind to be locked at 2-2 after extra time, prompting celebrations both on the streets of Tokyo and in the shelters housing earthquake and tsunami refugees. This will help brighten the atmosphere at the temporary housing complex. It will boost our efforts to hang on, Katsuo Mori, a 74-year-old man whose home was washed away by the tsunami, told Jiji Press news agency. AFP

Serbian player Novak Djokovic reacts after beating French player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga during the mens single semi-final at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London on July 1. Pic: AFP He has had the greatest year in the history of our sport, said the American. Djokovic probably played one of the shots of the year on match point against Federer at Flushing Meadows when he unleashed an all-ornothing forehand service return that left the great Swiss rooted to the spot. Federer double-faulted on the second match point and Djokovic was on his way again. The figures back up Djokovics year of dominance. He beat Nadal six times out of six, Federer four out of five and world number four Andy Murray, two in three, with the Britons win coming courtesy of an injury retirement in the final in Cincinnati. The worlds leading three men have now won 29 of the last 32 Grand Slam crowns. Since the start of 2004, only Gaston Gaudio (2004 French Open), Marat Safin (2005 Australian Open) and Juan Martin del Potro (2009 US Open) have broken their stranglehold. Nadal took his majors collection to 10 in 2011 with a sixth French Open title to equal Bjorn Borgs record Paris haul. The Spaniard lost his number one spot to Djokovic and cut a jaded, frustrated figure as the year closed, complaining about player burn-out and scheduling at the US Open. But claiming the winning point for a fifth Davis Cup triumph against Argentina in Seville in December at least breathed new life into the Spaniard. Nadal will skip the Davis Cup in 2012, preferring to conserve his energy for his Olympic title defence and a new assault on Djokovic. He is also wary of the drawbacks of constant action on the court in 2011, Nadal played 84 matches, more than any of the top four. I know the one way to change the situation is to work more, think more about tennis, do everything in the right shape, do everything good inside the court, everything good outside the court, said the Spaniard. Nadal finished the year with three titles, the last of which was the French Open in June. Federer, meanwhile, defied those who believe that having celebrated his 30th birthday in 2011, his best was behind him. The Swiss won his first title in Doha in January before picking up three more in the home straight in Basel, Paris and a sixth World Tour finals trophy. In between, he had suffered his first-ever Grand Slam loss after being two sets up when Jo-Wilfried Tsonga stunned him in the Wimbledon quarter-finals. He had previously boasted a 178-0 Grand Slam win-loss record when winning the first two sets. That proud record was further blemished by Djokovic at the US Open. But his World Tour Finals win in London means Federer, who finished the season without a Grand Slam title for the first time since 2002, will go into the new campaign on the back of a 17-match winning run. For me, it was the strongest finish Ive ever had in my career. Im looking forward to next year, he said. AFP

Japan midfielder Keisuke Honda celebrates a goal against Bahrain in the final qualifier for the 2011 Asian Cup in Toyota on March 3, 2010. Pic: AFP