BurmaNet News, January 23, 2008

[Editor]

January 23, 2008 Issue # 3386

INSIDE BURMA
BBC News: Burma poet held for secret insult
Irrawaddy: Young people throw an online lifeline
Irrawaddy: Rangoon taxi drivers dismayed by meter order
DVB: Military road construction destroys farmlands

ON THE BORDER
DVB: Girl sold to traffickers by her mother
Mizzima: Overnight halt by Chinese vehicles banned

HEALTH / AIDS
The Press Association: '400 children a day' die in Burma
Irrawaddy: Government hospital stops free medical services to HIV/AIDS
sufferers

REGIONAL
Shan Herald Agency for News: Asian gays call for acceptance
Mizzima: China and U.S. remain at loggerheads over Burma
Mizzima: Education and hope in exile

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: Three Burmese beheaded in Saudi for armed robbery

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: Seeking the truth, informing the public

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

January 23, BBC News
Burma poet held for secret insult – Steve Jackson

The poem appeared in a Burmese celebrity gossip magazine.  The Burmese
authorities have arrested a well known poet, who published a love poem
with a hidden message criticising the country's military leader.  Poet Saw
Wai's work - titled February the Fourteenth - was published in a Rangoon
magazine, The Love Journal.

Taken together, the first words of each line read: "General Than Shwe is
crazy with power."

Dissidents in Burma have used similar techniques before to get their
messages past government censors.

Authorities 'sensitive'

At first sight it appeared to be a straightforward love poem looking ahead
to Valentine's Day, but eagle-eyed readers soon noticed what the Burmese
government censors had missed.

It was not long before the authorities became aware of the poem and Saw
Wai was arrested.

It is not clear what will happen to him now.

Burma's military government is highly sensitive to any criticism,
especially since the pro-democracy demonstrations last September which
were put down by force.

The authorities closely monitor the media and dissidents have resorted to
increasingly elaborate methods to get their messages across.

Last year an advertisement was placed in one of Burma's main newspapers in
the name of a Swedish travel company which contained the hidden message
"Killer Than Shwe".

The company did not really exist.

____________________________________

January 23, Irrawaddy
Young people throw an online lifeline – Min Lwin


After witnessing the plight of survivors of a devastating fire in Hlaing
Township, Rangoon, in November 2005, Aung Myo Thu decided to dedicate his
life to helping people in need.

 Two years old and still growing—the online Donation Group, outside a
Rangoon orphanage that benefited from their charitable work.

He and a group of young people aged between 16 and 25 launched an online
donation initiative, which gathered 100 blankets for the homeless people.

Since then, the initiative, known as the online Donation Group, has grown
into a vibrant community of more than 150 young people who work tirelessly
to help needy and underprivileged people. So far, they have raised nearly
10 million kyat (US $7,700) for their charitable work.

Communicating via Internet coffee shops, they raise money and material aid
for a wide variety of worthy causes, from educational assistance to the
care of orphaned children and the elderly.

Each member pledges to raise 2,000 kyat (US $1.6) per month to finance the
group’s charitable work.

“We don’t receive any money from any international non-government
organizations inside or outside Burma,” Aung Myo Thu told The Irrawaddy by
phone.

No cause is too big or too small for the group to tackle. A donation of
500 kyat (US $0.4) feeds a child for a day. More than 1 million kyat
($770) is the target for purchasing medical equipment for a government
hospital.

The group is also busy raising funds to finance the education of orphans.
The Thabyay Kone Home for the Aged in Pegu is one of its beneficiaries.

The Internet-savvy young people also know the value of publicity and
invited Rangoon journalists to accompany them on a mission to hand
donations to the
Phu Moo Ler Orphans Home in the Rangoon suburb of Hmwe Bi. The orphanage
has received aid worth more than 600,000 kyat ($480) from the group.

“I was happy to see the children there eating well,” said one editor after
accompanying the group on their visit.

____________________________________

January 23, Irrawaddy
Rangoon taxi drivers dismayed by meter order – Kyi Wai

Taxi drivers in Rangoon are complaining that an official order to fix
meters to their vehicles will cut deeply into their already meager
earnings.

The order was issued by the Rangoon Division Transport Administration
Committee, which said the meters must be fixed within six months.

The officer in charge of Rangoon Division Signal and Traffic Police,
Lt-Col Aung Naing, said the meters would cut fares by 20 percent.

Taxi drivers are also required to pay operating companies for the meters,
which are expected to cost 200,000 kyat (US $156). The Transport
Administration Committee will set the meter fares: 500 kyat ($0.39) basic
rate and 150 kyat ($0.12) per mile.

Three operating companies— Aye's Family, Sakura and Lynx—are among the
first to be granted licences to have meters installed in their vehicles.
Aung Naing said companies would charge their taxi drivers a “service fee”
and they could then buy the meters in instalments.

One Rangoon taxi driver said he had difficulty enough paying the daily
vehicle hire fee of 7,000 kyat ($5.40) charged by the operating company.
The decision now to make taxi drivers pay for meters “seems like extortion
by the government in collaboration with some companies.”

Taxi drivers typically earn 3,000-5,000 kyat ($2.35-$3.90) a day, and some
say the requirement now to install taxi meters will force them to give
their jobs up.

A passenger said the traveling public might benefit by the installation of
meters in taxis—“but the cab drivers will definitely lose. The ones who
have the most to gain are the companies who are licensed to fix the
meters.”

Eight thousand Rangoon taxis are the first to be affected by the order. If
their drivers fail to fix the meters within six months they risk losing
their operating licenses or access to gasoline.

An attempt by the regime to have meters installed in taxis in 1996-97 was
abandoned amid opposition to the idea.

____________________________________

January 23, Democratic Voice of Burma
Military road construction destroys farmlands – Saw Kanyaw

Farmlands in Taung-ngu and Pha-pon disctricts in Karen state have been
destroyed by government troops as road construction and army camp
expansion work begins in the area, locals said.

A local villager in Taung-ngu said that privately-owned plantations and
farmlands alongside the Kyauk Kyi road connecting Htantabin town and Shan
Lal Pyin village were razed by the government's Military Operations
Command 21 and 9, who are responsible for extending the route.

"They came and set up their military camps, and then started on their new
road plans. Several farmlands in the area, owned by local villagers, were
demolished with bulldozers," the villager said, speaking on condition of
anonymity.

"A lot of durian, betel nut and other kinds of plantations from Shan Lal
Pyin village were destroyed too."

The villager said that the locals were furious with the military but could
do nothing as they had no legal assistance or knowledge about the correct
procedures.

"We don't know where to file our complaint and we don't dare to do it.
Also, we have to worry about our daily food first of all before we can
start dealing with this."

In Pha-pon district, road building by government troops has made villagers
relocate deeper into the jungle for fear of a possible new offensive.

Locals said the aim of the new road projects could be to aid mobilisation
and provide supply routes for government troops so that they can carry out
more offensives against KNU-controlled areas.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

January 23, Democratic Voice of Burma
Girl sold to traffickers by her mother – Htet Yazar

A seventeen-year-old Burmese girl, who escaped from human traffickers in
the Thai border town of Mae Sot, said she had been sold to the traffickers
by her mother.

Ma Noe Noe, who is from the Burmese border township of Myawaddy in Karen
state, said that her mother, Daw Khin San Wai, had sold her to human
traffickers from Mae Sot for 500,000 kyat.

"The human smuggler arrived at our house and asked my mother how much she
wanted and my mother replied 500,000 kyat. I asked her what she was doing
and she said she was only borrowing money from the woman," said Noe Noe.

"Then she asked me to go with the woman and said she would come and pick
me up in the evening. So I went. But my mother never appeared."

Noe Noe said she was kept in the traffickers' safe house in Mae Sot with
12 other girls and was not allowed to make contact with the outside world.

"I was kept under close watch all the time, even when I showered," she said.

"I slipped out of the house by telling them I wanted to make a phone call
to my brother. When I got outside I ran straight for a nearby motorbike
taxi and made my escape."

Noe Noe blamed financial difficulties for her mother’s decision.

"I feel very sad when I look at other families. My mother sold me to the
traffickers because she had no money to eat," Noe Noe said.

Noe Noe's aunt, Daw See Sar, said she was angry with her sister after
hearing what had happened, and pledged she would not let her get the
teenager back.

"I am furious with [Noe Noe's] mother for selling her own daughter like
this," said Daw See Sar.

“I am keeping the child with me and am not going to let her go back with
her mother.”

Aung Myo Min, the director of the Human Rights Education Institute of
Burma said that Noe Noe’s story reflected the struggle facing many
families in Burma.

"We assume this happened because the level of poverty is so bad in Burma
now that families cannot earn enough money even for survival," he said.

"This is because of the military junta’s upside-down economic system and
violations of human rights."

____________________________________

January 23, Mizzima News
Overnight halt by Chinese vehicles banned – Myo Gyi

Chinese trucks have been prohibited from making overnight stops on the
Sino-Burma border trade entry point in Muse by the Burmese military junta.
The order was issued by the Muse Peace and Development Council (PDC) on
January 15.

However, these trucks can enter Muse from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. but they can no
longer stop overnight in this entry port town.

"They can go everywhere inside Burma and around Muse including the
105-mile trade zone during the prescribed time. This problem arose because
of the use of cars with Chinese license plates by some businessmen in
Burma," a source close to local authorities told Mizzima.

Many businessmen into business in Muse have houses in both Burma and
China. They use cars with Chinese license plates and are into business in
Burma in the daytime. They return to China at night in their cars.

"The authorities called all businessmen having Chinese cars to the meeting
and informed them of the new regulation. The businessmen now park their
cars inside their premises at night. So there's no problem. The Chinese
cars cannot be seen on the streets now," he said.

The Northeast Command Commander Maj. Gen. Aung Than Htut visited Muse in
the middle of this month and he strolled down the town in mufti. When he
saw many cars with Chinese license plates, he asked a man on the road
about the cars. The man answered his question arrogantly. It was only
after this that the Muse PDC issued an order banning Chinese cars from
stopping overnight in Muse, a local resident said.

"The local commander came to Muse to follow up on disputes in gambling
dens in nearby Namkhan town. He strolled down the streets of the town at
night in mufti and found cars with Chinese license plates parked till late
at night and asked a car driver about it. The man unaware of his identity
was impolite and said that the car entered Muse by paying tax. The local
command commander was furious and instructed the PDC to issue the ban
order", a local resident said.

The Burmese authorities collect Kyat 2,400 (RMB 20) as toll tax on the
Muse-Jiegao border post and the Chinese authorities collect RMB 5 for cars
with Chinese license plates and RMB 2 for cars with Burmese license
plates.

Similarly ferry boats operating on the border can do business only from 6
a.m. to 6 p.m. now, ferry boats rowers said.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

January 23, The Press Association
'400 children a day' die in Burma

Hundreds of children aged under five die from preventable diseases each
day in military-ruled Burma, UN officials said.

The figures are the second-worst mortality rate for children in Asia
except for Afghanistan.

Dr Osamu Kunii, a nutrition expert in Burma for the UN, said there were
between 100,000 to 150,000 child deaths per year in the country - or
between 270 and 400 daily.

He was speaking at a briefing by Unicef of its annual report - The State
of the World's Children.

The mortality rate is a critical indicator of the well-being of children.

About 21% of child deaths in Burma are caused by acute respiratory
infection, followed by pneumonia, diarrhoea and septicaemia.

The report rated the country as having the 40th highest child mortality
rate in the world.

However, it said the death rate for young children in Burma had been
reduced by 1.6% between 1990 and 2006.

In 2000, the World Health Organisation ranked Burma's overall health care
system as the world's second worst after war-ravaged Sierra Leone.

Tens of thousands of people die each year from malaria, tuberculosis,
AIDS, dysentery, diarrhoea and other illnesses.

____________________________________

January 23, Irrawaddy
Government hospital stops free medical services to HIV/AIDS sufferers –
Shah Paung

A hospital run by the Burmese military government has stopped providing
free medical services to HIV/AIDS sufferers, according to a person living
with HIV/AIDS who was directly affected by the decision.

Tin Ko Ko said that HIV/AIDS sufferers who receive treatment at Rangoon
Infectious Diseases Hospital—which has for several years provided free
medical services, such as blood tests, laboratory analysis and x-rays, to
HIV/AIDS sufferers—now have to pay for tests and are charged a “donation
fee” to cover their treatment.

Patients who undergo x-rays or blood tests for laboratory analysis must
now pay from 3,000 kyat (US $2.3) to 4,000 kyat ($3.1). They also have to
put 500 kyat ($0.39) in a donation box, he said.

The Rangoon Infectious Diseases Hospital announced that the new
regulations started on January 21, 2008. The hospital said that HIV/AIDS
patients would have to pay for services now that the group that previously
supported the services had stopped funding.
“On Monday, several HIV/AIDS sufferers broke down in tears because they
could not pay for their medical fees,” Tin Ko Ko said. “It clearly shows
that the government cannot help HIV/AIDS patients without other supporting
organizations.”

He added that most persons living with HIV/AIDS who came to the hospital
for testing or treatment could only afford enough for transportation, food
and basic living costs.

Tin Ko Ko is one of many HIV/AIDS sufferers who has been under the care of
a National League for Democracy-affiliated welfare group. The group was
led by well-known HIV/AIDS activist Phyu Phyu Thin, a member of the NLD
who is now in hiding.

The welfare group has also been facing difficulties supplying
antiretroviral (ARV) drugs to their patients since the September uprising
as the military authorities have been hunting down and arresting many of
its working members.

The NLD-affiliated group is now taking care of up to 600 people living
with HIV/AIDS, including some 200 from other townships, according to
Yazar, a volunteer who has now had to take on a leading role within the
group since Phyu Phyu Thin went into hiding.

Yazar said that about 30 people are living in their two safe houses in
Rangoon. The welfare group is not supported by any other non-government
organization—it simply exists on donations from their patients, from NLD
members and other private benefactors, such as actors, in the community.

The Rangoon Infectious Diseases Hospital, known locally as Wai Bar Gi, is
one of the only hospitals in Burma providing ARV drugs to HIV/AIDS
sufferers. No official from the hospital was available to comment to The
Irrawaddy on Wednesday.

The AZG clinic, which is funded by the Dutch branch of Médecins sans
Frontières, was the only other clinic known to be in a position to provide
ARV drugs in Rangoon. However, in early January 2007, the AZG clinic was
forced to stop accepting new HIV/AIDS patients due to budget limitations.

According to a World Health Organization report in November 2007, Burma
has more than 339,000 people living with HIV/AIDS, one of the worst
epidemics in Asia.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

January 23, Shan Herald Agency for News
Asian gays call for acceptance – Mu Byan Binn and Kwarn Lake

International Lesbians and Gays Association Asia (ILGA-ASIA) will march
the first pride parade on 26 January 2008, the first time in history, a
press release by ILGA-Asia stated. The parade is part of the 3rd
International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) Asia Regional Conference
where more than 150 gay rights activists will gather from 24-28 January at
the BP Chiang Mai City Hotel.

Studying gender is not all about male or female in this modern society and
Lebians, Gays, Bisexuals, and Transgenders (LGBT) from different countries
in around the world are trying hard to be recognized in their societies. 
The first ever pride march will start from Narawat Bridge to Chang Klan
Road along the Night Bazaar this Saturday, 26 January.

The aim of parading and the conference is 'to be recognized, respect and
to gain solidarity and have equality' said Aung Myo Min, who is a gay man
himself and the director of Committee for Lesbigay Rights in Burma (CLRB)
founded in 1999.

Representatives from Armenia, Australia, Bangladesh, Burma, Canada, China,
India, Indonesia, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal,
New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and
United States will attend the conference, according to the statement.

Aung Myo Min said 10 representatives from Burma will attend the
conference. There are about 300 members in the CLRB, he added.

When asked whether they got any support from the junta, he said, "in
Article 1:377, Burmese government criminalizes homosexuality by law" and
the government "is a Champion of Human Rights violation”.

But Burmese organizations in exile are more supportive and "it is no more
a taboo for them", he said.

Women organizations in exile allow LGBT to become members and All Burma
Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF) had abolished their law that said
homosexuality shall be punished, Aung said.
 “With the current situation, we don't think it is necessary to have that
law so we abolished that law during the sixth conference in 2001,” said
Sonny, the general secretary of ABSDF.

According to ILGA site," ILGA-ASIA is the Asian region of the
International Lesbians and Gays Association (ILGA). It gathers 66
organizations throughout the region working for human rights and equality
for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex people. It is an
umbrella organization of ILGA which was founded in 1978, it now has more
than 600 member organizations.  Every continent and over 90 countries are
represented.

____________________________________

January 23, Mizzima News
China and U.S. remain at loggerheads over Burma

The latest round of diplomatic sparring between China and the United
States over how best to deal with Burma has once again ended with little
substantive agreement in approach.

The single aspect of concurrence appears to be in support for the
initiatives of the United Nations Special Envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari.

Following last week's Security Council proclamation that the return of
Gambari to Burma could achieve positive results, China yesterday urged the
Burmese junta to expedite the return of the Special Envoy to the country.
Both China and the United States are permanent members of the Security
Council.

Junta authorities had recently stated that the next visit of Gambari would
be delayed until April.

However Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Jiang Yu, while calling on
Burmese authorities to permit an earlier return of Gambari, also
instructed the international community that it is important to remain
"objective" in their approach to Burma.

Yu drew a strict line between a Chinese policy characterized by
"constructive assistance" and the confrontational stance epitomized by the
United States and its heavy reliance on the implementation of sanctions
against Burma and its ruling generals.

The response yesterday from the Chinese Ministry came one day after a
United States State Department official appealed to China to increase
pressure on the Burmese junta, describing the current state of affairs in
Burma as "downhill on all fronts".

Yu stated that the situation in Burma today is much improved from that
which gripped the country at the height of last year's protests.

Speaking in Hanoi at the end of a regional tour, Scot Marciel, Deputy
Assistant Secretary of State for Southeast Asia, followed up harsh words
for Burma's generals with the advice to the international community that
they must not be perceived as "anti-Burma".

In the alphabet soup of emissaries seeking to find a breakthrough
regarding Burma, European Union Envoy to Burma, Peiro Fassino, is
scheduled to arrive in Southeast Asia this weekend to further discuss the
situation in Burma and the prospect for constructive dialogue between the
generals and opposition leaders.

Fassino was in China last month in pursuit of the same goal.

____________________________________

January 23, Mizzima News
Education and hope in exile – Mark Fenn

Forty-six years of brutal and incompetent military rule have all but
destroyed Burma's education system. A proud culture of learning and
literature has been replaced, critics say, with a 'socialist' education
system which aims to churn out obedient, unthinking citizens, loyal to the
ruling junta.

Schools and universities are grossly underfunded, standards are extremely
low and corruption is rife, with rich students paying bribes in return for
top grades or entrance to the better universities. Government censors
determine what everyone, not just students, can read.

UNESO found that in 2005, just 43% of both girls and boys attended
secondary school. According to the British Foreign and Commonwealth
Office, "Government spending on health and education combined is less than
1% of GDP - among the lowest in the world."

But dedicated and visionary educators – based in neighboring Thailand and
India, or in areas of Burma controlled by ethnic minority rebels – are
preparing for a future transition to democracy by passing on the skills
they hope will allow their students to think critically and help shape the
country's future.

"Without education you cannot build a nation," says Sai Hsai Lum Kham,
principal of the Migrant Learning Center in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand.
"First we have to educate our people. After that, we have to know what
democracy is.''

The Chiang Mai-based Education Burma group, which opened the learning
center two years ago, also runs teacher training courses, a library for
displaced people and other educational projects.

Director Thein Lwin, 55, is passionate about his work. A teacher and
member of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, he was
arrested in 1990 for opposing the regime and sentenced to two years in
Rangoon's notorious Insein Prison. On his release he left Burma for
Germany and then England, where he received his doctorate in education
from Newcastle University.

Thein Lwin started the teacher training project when he arrived in Chiang
Mai in 2000. The courses ran for six months for the first few years, but
are now more intensive, at only three months each.

Twenty-five to 30 trainee teachers study on each course. Thein Lwin
recruits students from refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border who have
completed their secondary education in the camps and want to become
teachers. An estimated 140,000 people live in nine such camps, mostly
ethnic Karen and Karenni.

The trainees study classroom management, lesson planning and teaching
strategies that can be used in different subjects such as history,
geography, science and mathematics. Upon completing the course, some have
stayed in Chiang Mai to work with youth and women's organizations, but
most go back to teach in the camps.

For the past few years, Thein Lwin has also recruited from areas held by
ethnic Shan and Kachin groups in northern Burma. The newly-trained
teachers return to the rebel-controlled areas to pass on their skills and
knowledge.

Education Burma also provides one-week training courses to teachers,
including western volunteers, working in migrant schools in the Thai
border town of Mae Sot.

Thein Lwin says workshops in "reading and writing for critical thinking"
are an important part of the teacher training courses. These encourage the
development of critical faculties, and active rather than passive
learning. "Students respect each other's views. It's a kind of democratic
practice in the classroom," he adds.

In an academic paper entitled "Education and Democracy in Burma", released
in July of last year, Thein Lwin wrote of the current situation: "Many
teachers enter the classroom without proper training. Curriculum is
textbook based and is just concerned with memorizing facts in science,
history, geography and so on. Teachers use an authoritative role in
teaching. It seems that the regime uses education as a political tool by
preventing children from learning how to think. Young people are expected
to be disciplined in and out of school under the military regime. The
notion of discipline invokes ideas of loyalty and the image of obedient
citizens."

The Migrant Learning Center is another of Education Burma's success
stories. It is open to displaced Burma people of all ages and ethnicities,
although most students are in their 20s and ethnic Shan, as Chiang Mai is
close to Burma's Shan state.

The students study English, Thai and computer skills, with three levels in
each subject, each lasting three months. Lessons are free and are held
from 6-8 a.m. and 9-11 p.m., as most students work during the day - often
in bars or restaurants, construction, agriculture or the sex industry.
There are also regular sessions, with guest speakers, on health and human
rights issues.

The center, which has eight volunteer teachers, recruits new students
every three months. Around 350 are currently studying there. Those
studying computer skills learn about publishing programs and applications
such as Photoshop, and are encouraged to publish literature on various
subjects. Some students have already created their own blogs and websites,
Thein Lwin says proudly.

Among them is Aung Aung, 22, a construction worker who has lived in
Thailand for four years. He has studied at the learning centre for one
year, and now has his own blog on which he puts his poems and shares his
new knowledge of computers.

"I want to be a computer expert and I want to share the knowledge with
other people inside Burma," he says through Thein Lwin, who translates.

Another student, Thiha Lynn, 23, has been living in Chiang Mai for five
months and is supported by his sister.

He has a degree in business and management from a university in Rangoon,
but has been studying English and computers at the center for four months.
He says he wants to learn English because it's the world language and he
"can make friends anywhere".

Thiha Lynn says there are no opportunities for employment and education in
Rangoon, where he hails from. He wants to study for a master's degree in
the United States as his sister lives in New York, where she is a
journalist with Voice of America.

He would also like to do a teacher training course and teach others in Mae
Sot or Chiang Mai. In the future, he would like to go home and work at his
father's rice mill. "If Burma gets freedom, I want to go back," he says.

Sai Hsai Lum Kham, the principal of the Migrant Learning Center, has a
long experience of teaching. The 57-year-old ethnic Shan graduated from
the Rangoon Institute of Education and then taught English, Burmese and
social science in high schools for 13 years, before working as a
scriptwriter for the BBC's Burma service. He said the quality of education
in Burma is "very bad" except for the rich, who send their children to
private schools or to foreign countries like Singapore.

Sai Hsai Lum Kham left for Thailand in 1990 because he was disillusioned
with the political system and felt there was no hope.

He described the Migrant Learning Center as a place where friends meet and
support each other. "Some people who come here never went to school," he
says. "We are happy here. Although we don't have too much income we can
support ourselves and we can support our people. I think for the time
being, here is the right place for us. Thailand is a democratic country."
However, he said, everybody would like to go home one day, and his dream
is to see "many, many learning centers like this in Burma" when it is free
from military rule.

The Migrant Learning Center is funded by Bill Harrison, a retired American
banker who raises funds in the United States. Its budget is $20,000 a year
including rent, electricity, water and books.

The teacher training centre is funded by individual donors and Prospect
Burma, a United Kingdom-based charity which aims to "keep the flame of
education alive".

Thein Lwin is proud of the work he is doing and optimistic about the
future. Like his students and fellow teachers, his dream is to see
democracy return to Burma. "And when Burma is free for educational work,
we will go back to Burma. The teachers we train can participate in
education and change Burma," he says.

In addition, hundreds – perhaps thousands - of migrant workers will have
gained new language, communications and computer skills thanks to the
efforts of Thein Lwin and his colleagues, "and this will be useful when we
rebuild our country", he concludes.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

Agence-France Press
Three Burmese beheaded in Saudi for armed robbery

Riyadh - Three Burmese men were executed by the sword in Saudi Arabia on
Wednesday after a housewife was tied up and threatened with a knife during
a robbery at her home, the interior ministry said.

Abderrahman Ibrahim and Hussein Hassan, who lived in the
ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom, broke into the house and confronted the
woman before stealing cash and jewellery they shared with accomplice Abu
al-Taieb al-Tahar, the SPA official news agency quoted the ministry as
saying.

All three were beheaded in Mecca. The executions brings to 15 the number
announced by the Saudi authorities since the start of the year after a
record 153 people were put to death in 2007.

Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking can all carry
the death penalty in the oil-rich Gulf Arab country, where executions are
usually carried out in public.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

January 23, Irrawaddy
Seeking the truth, informing the public – Aung Zaw

If Burmese people are ready for change in Burma, then we must question
whether the exiled Burmese media is ready for change. The answer, I
believe, should be a resounding “Yes!”

Over the past decade, Burma’s various media operating inside the country
have been struggling to confront the regime’s draconian press laws,
heavy-handed censorship and intimidation.

As we all know, Burma enjoyed media freedom and perhaps the liveliest free
press in Southeast Asia in the 1950s and 1960s. Burma’s first constitution
in 1947 boldly guaranteed citizens the right to express their opinions and
convictions. Unfortunately, freedoms of expression and media were rather
short-lived.

The first impact against journalism came soon after Gen Ne Win seized
power in 1962. Press freedom in Burma gradually disintegrated thereafter,
curtailed by Ne Win’s socialist regime.

Newspapers were nationalized and foreign news agencies were asked to pack
their bags. Journalists and editors found themselves in prisons. During
the 1980s, all forms of public expression and publications had to pass
through Burma’s notorious Press Scrutiny Board, even though Burma’s second
constitution, drawn up in 1974, guaranteed freedom of expression. However,
that freedom, like all others, was subject to the capricious whims and
draconian dogma of the “Burmese Way to Socialism.”

In 1988, Burmese citizens marched the streets calling for Ne Win’s
resignation and an end to one-party rule. For a brief period the people of
Burma witnessed a revival of press freedom—hundreds of pro-democracy
bulletins, newspapers and pamphlets were published without going through
the PSB. Burma’s state-owned newspapers surprisingly departed from the
rose-tinted official line and an objective reporting style suddenly
emerged. Alas, it was also short-lived.

The second major impact on press freedom in Burma came shortly after the
bloody coup on September 18, 1988. The reporters and editors of the
country endured another dark era, facing arrest, torture and lengthy
imprisonments. “Burma is an enemy of the press,” said the New York-based
Committee to Protect Journalists in 2005.

Even then, they didn’t give up.

Over the past decade, a new group of journalists and reporters has
emerged—the exiles. Burmese journalists who were formerly political
activists, ex-political prisoners from 1988 and those affiliated with the
pro-democracy uprisings established news agencies in Burma’s neighboring
countries, such as India and Thailand. The Irrawaddy itself, set up in
1993, was a result of this defiant era.

Several Burmese journalists joined the BBC and the VOA Burmese services;
the Democratic Voice of Burma was set up by exiled Burmese in Norway.

These Burmese media groups have come of age and have proven themselves
powerful in shaping public opinion and accurately informing an
international audience.

During the uprising in September 2007, the reporters based in Burma and
“citizen reporters” highlighted the monk-led uprising and exposed the
brutality of the regime; but these exiled media groups also played a
crucial role too.

Chinese-made radios sold out in Burma as news-hungry people rushed to
listen to news from abroad. Satellite dishes were immediately installed to
receive TV broadcasts from abroad.

Meanwhile, as troops opened fire on the peaceful demonstrators, monks and
nuns, “citizen reporters” equipped with digital cameras, cell phones and
memory sticks bravely took to the streets to take pictures and gather
news.

Before the regime shut down Internet connections, thousands of images and
live footage came out of Burma. Powerful photographs and videos told the
world the true story of how Buddhist monks and laypeople challenged the
Burmese regime, and how the regime, in turn, responded with brutal force.
The image of the murder of Japanese photographer Kenji Nagai in broad
daylight was splashed around the globe, reviewed time and again on TV
screens by the BBC, CNN and Al Jazeera.

Burma’s exiled media—previously scorned by the internationally press as
the “dissident underground media” or the “opposition media”—dutifully and
faithfully disseminated all the news and images they received from Burma.

The exiled Burmese media have proved to the world, through their
professional integrity, skills and talent, that they can function as
effectively as any other medium in the world. Equally important were the
friendships and informal alliances that were forged between bloggers and
professional journalists while sharing news and images.

But there is a boundary line. We have to be guarded and cautious as we
stick to our task of maintaining high standards of professionalism by
ensuring that we deliver accurate news and stories to our readers.

I remember seeing images during the uprising of the body of a monk
floating in a river and a man killed by 10-wheel truck on the road.

These images widely published on the Internet created anger and sadness
among Burmese and foreigners alike in the belief that the military had
carried out these executions. However, we could not confirm the origin of
these pictures and some veteran journalists claimed that these two
pictures were, in fact, unrelated to the uprising. In the end, The
Irrawaddy did not publish these pictures.

In another case soon after, the news of the death of late Prime Minister
Gen Soe Win was published in some exiled publications. But we waited for
confirmation. When he was finally confirmed dead, we released the news
accurately.

This is the job that media professionals must adhere to—fact-checking,
verifying sources and getting confirmation, before sending out accurate
news to their readers.

The uprising in 1988 and the monk-led uprising in September 2007 were
equally important in Burma’s fight for freedom, democracy and a better
society. Nevertheless, technology, computers, Internet connections and
cell phones have changed the dynamic of the recent unrest. The attention
Burma received was massive; moreover, inside and outside media
professionals found ways to cooperate and narrowed any gaps or mistrust.
The result is that more and more young Burmese are interested in learning
journalism since the uprising.

Significantly, the exiled media groups not only shaped public opinion but
offered editorial guidance and analysis to an international audience:
officials, policy makers, UN agencies, NGOs, think tanks and international
publications. They raised awareness and reached out to a global audience.

These media groups overnight became reliable sources of information to
many international media outlets.

It is hoped that the exiled Burmese media will maintain its
professionalism, high standards of journalism and credibility, because
they have a key role to play inside Burma once the country opens up.

Inevitably, the media will be part of the solution instead of part of the
problem.

These opinions and comments were originally delivered at the Burma Update
discussion at the Changing Dynamics in the Asia Pacific Conference in
Bangkok.