Building schools, brick by brick

Published in The Myanmar Times on 13 May 2013

Tracy Cosgrove has been helping disadvantaged children for the past 18 years, after she and her husband decided they wanted a way to show their young children “another side of Asia.”

Tracy with children in Myanmar. Photo: supplied

Tracy with children in Myanmar. Photo: supplied

Following the tragic death of her husband in a car accident in 1998, Tracy continued her voluntary activities and in 2003 founded the Melissa Cosgrove Children’s Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation named after her daughter.

Along with countless health-related projects in Thailand, Tracy has initiated the building of 30 schools and orphanages in Myanmar, with the first opening in 2005. The most recent was a school for 120 children in Rakhine State, which at the end of February was handed over to the education department.

In the past, the foundation has worked with street children, trafficked children, children whose parents are migrant workers and those with HIV/Aids. It is now focused on health and education related activities.

An interior designer by profession, Tracy personally identifies and chooses the projects that are supported: her interest in Myanmar was piqued when she assisted a trafficked Myanmar boy to return to his family from Thailand.

She told The Myanmar Times, “I’m not a big NGO and I wouldn’t call it charity work – it’s about empowering people.”

Tracy is a no-nonsense person – the type who sees a tragic situation and simply gets to work improving it. One gets the feeling that “No” isn’t in her vocabulary.

She said she doesn’t get overwhelmed by thinking about the number of people who need assistance – she tries not to focus on that, but instead concentrates on what can be achieved.

During her first visit to Myanmar in 2004, a friend took her to a village in Bago Region, which is about 3 hours from Yangon. She travelled in a “Flintstones car, past a lot of checkpoints” while being followed by a policeman on a motorbike. Although the local police initially wouldn’t allow her to get out of the car, when Tracy took one look at the local orphanage she resolved to rebuild it from its dilapidated state. She immediately set up an appointment with the then British ambassador to Myanmar, Vicky Bowman, and pleaded for financial assistance to get the project started. Three months later, the job was done, and she set about rebuilding a kindergarten in the same township. She also supports a monastery in the same area.

Tracy and Phyo Wai at the orphanage in Dalla

Tracy and Phyo Wai at the orphanage in Dalla

Due to the fact that the foundation isn’t encumbered by the red tape that can surround many non-government organisations, the scope of her work is flexible. Tracy is building a school in a village located an hour by boat from Ngapali, and when she happened to see a girl with what appeared to be a spot her eye, she took a photo and posted it on Facebook. A doctor friend diagnosed it as a cancerous tumour and the teenager was promptly flown to Yangon for an operation. She is grateful to Air Mandalay for flying the girl free of charge.

While traveling on the ferry to Dalla village on 6 May, Tracy said: “The last time I was on the ferry, I saw a boy who looked really, really sick. He was grey. It turned out that he needed a heart transplant.”

Thanks to Tracy’s compassion and powers of persuasion, she raised the necessary funds for the operation and the boy has successfully recovered.

When we arrive at Hope Orphanage, Tracy swings into action – asking her assistant Phyo Wai to find out the children’s needs and how best to provide help on an ongoing basis. Though businesslike when doing the organising, she puts her notebook down towards the end and stops to take photos of the children, saying “Pyone!” (Myanmar for “smile”). She laughs and kids around with them with such ease that it seems as though she’s known them for years.

Although this orphanage in particular is being supported by a family in Australia, Tracy said that Facebook is an excellent means of obtaining funding from overseas supporters. Peoples’ generousity is such that she often has to tell people to wait until the next projects presents itself – she doesn’t fundraise unless there is a specific goal in mind.

“The network [of supporters] is growing and growing,” she said with a smile.

Tracy also has a policy of hiring locals to build the schools and orphanages, in order to boost employment opportunities in the areas she works.

Her son and daughter also help her with projects in Myanmar and Thailand, and she said that her own parents are also active supporters.

Tracy repeatedly states how her work has been aided by the kind-heartedness of Myanmar people – whether it’s a taxi driver that returns part of his payment to contribute to a youngster in need, or people banding together to achieve a common goal – all without financial reward.

She said, “It was a close community when I was growing up in Manchester, but it wasn’t like this. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

In 2003, The Evening Times gave Tracy the “Scotswoman Award,” in recognition of personal courage and dedication towards others. It’s not difficult to see why.

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by Jessica Mudditt on May 16, 2013  •  Permalink
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Against the cane: corporal punishment in Myanmar

Published in The Myanmar Times on 13 May 2013

UNICEF has provided alternative discipline training to 60,000 teachers, but corporal punishment remains legal.

PHOTO: Kaung Htet/The Myanmar Times

PHOTO: Kaung Htet/The Myanmar Times

A few years ago, an expat living in downtown Yangon noticed a distressed young girl on the balcony opposite his apartment building.

She had been doing calisthenics under the hot sun for hours, quite clearly against her will. The expat was so concerned that he called the ward councilor, but was shocked to find himself being reprimanded rather than the girl’s parents. The ward councilor made the man sign a document stating that he would never intrude on other peoples’ business again.

According to a teacher who spoke to The Myanmar Times on condition of anonymity and who will be referred to as “Mr Smith,” there is a widespread belief in Myanmar that “what happens in the home stays in the home.”

The author of a parenting book, Aung Thein Kyaw, said that violence towards children is common practice and an accepted part of Myanmar culture – including at schools, where teachers use caning and other painful techniques to discipline students.

In a 2009 Myanmar Times article, Aung Thein Kyaw said that a teacher from Aung Lan in Magwe punched a student so hard that it broke his tooth. Another died from injuries after being beaten by a teacher at a school in Pwin Oo Lwin.

Corporal punishment appears endemic: In a 2001 study by UNICEF and Research International Asia (Thailand), 40pc of the 10,073 children surveyed in Myanmar said that their parents beat them.

A 2002 study by UNICEF found that 17pc of respondents were unhappy at school because their teachers used corporal punishment.

However despite repeated calls from the United Nation’s Committee on the Rights of the Child (CROC) to repeal or amend a number of laws, including the implausibly titled Whipping Act (1927), the government is yet to do so. As recently as 2011, it rejected recommendations to make corporal punishment in the home unlawful. And although the government has issued directives that corporal punishment should not be used at schools, no law expressly prohibits it.

The Child Law allows for a form of “admonition by a parent or teacher… which is for the benefit of the child”, while the Penal Code states that: “nothing which is done in good faith for the benefit of a person under 12 years of age… is an offence by reason of any harm which it may cause.”

Although Myanmar is a signatory to CROC, campaigners seeking to end corporal punishment interpret local laws as eroding the rights of children under the UN Convention. For example, CROC outlines a government’s responsibility to “take all appropriate measures to ensure that school discipline is administered in a manner consistent with the child’s human dignity,” however existing laws permit the contrary.

UNICEF’s representative to Myanmar, Mr Bertrand Bainvel, told The Myanmar Times that, “corporal punishment and verbal threatening are very common and deep-rooted forms of discipline in schools in Myanmar.” Unfortunately, changing attitudes to a well-established practice in homes and schools will be difficult. Corporal punishment remains a global issue – to date, only 30 countries have made it illegal in the home. In such places, television and radio campaigns have proved highly effective in changing societal values about the perceived benefits of corporal punishment – chiefly, that it’s effective.

As Mr Smith explained, “Sometimes parents believe that giving the child a beating is being a good parent: It’s the way they themselves were taught to do well at school and to respect their elders. It’s important to introduce alternatives.”

Although parents undoubtedly want the best for their children, extensive research has found that corporal punishment produces exactly the opposite.

In April 2011, the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children stated that: “Studies show that discipline at school through either physical or emotional humiliation hinders a child’s ability to learn, undermining the very purpose of education.”

International studies have also found that corporal punishment leads to higher incidences- of truancy and drop-out rates. The Pediatrics journal states that: “Children who are spanked, hit, or pushed as a means of discipline may be at an increased risk of mental problems in adulthood — from mood and anxiety disorders to drug and alcohol abuse.”

Mr Smith said that in his experience, those who are subject to corporal punishment “inevitably start to bully others. We all have a certain capacity to hold hurt: When we’re holding too much, we have to get rid of it and so we impose it on others. The child who is being hurt will hurt others.”

Mr Smith said he believes that verbal abuse can be even more damaging than inflicting physical pain – a position echoed in the UN Convention. CROC states that “some non-physical forms of punishment are cruel and degrading and, thus, incompatible with the Convention. This includes punishment that belittles, humiliates, denigrates, scapegoats, threatens, scares, or ridicules the child.”

Mr Smith said, “The body can heal but if [children are] given negative verbal messages, their belief structure is affected. In the long-term, that can be more damaging.”

UNICEF has been advocating for the elimination of corporal punishment in schools in Myanmar since 2001. It continues to work with the Ministry of Education to promote Child Friendly Schools (CFS), which aim to provide learning environments that are “physically and mentally healthy, safe, psycho-socially supportive and protective of children,” said Mr Bainvel.

UNICEF assists schools and teachers in finding alternatives to corporal punishment, which are known as “positive discipline.” More than 60,000 teachers at 15,000 schools have undergone training programs to date.

Alternatives such as “timeout” – where a child is removed from the situation for a short period and remains quiet, or temporarily removing privileges such as watching television, is more effective than corporal punishment in deterring undesired behavior, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics: “The child may act out more in the short run, but these strategies are highly effective if used consistently.” Such alternatives are worth trying – particularly when there’s so much at stake.

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by Jessica Mudditt on May 14, 2013  •  Permalink
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Myanmar Times co-founder freed

Published in The Myanmar Times on 24 April 2013

Sonny Swe at Yangon Airport. Photo: Ko Taik/The Myanmar Times

Sonny Swe at Yangon Airport. Photo: Ko Taik/The Myanmar Times

The Myanmar Times’ co-founder U Myat Swe (Sonny) was released from Taunggyi Prison in Shan State yesterday, as part of a government amnesty releasing 93 prisoners.

U Myat Swe received a 14-year sentence in 2005 for bypassing censorship regulations and had served eight-and-a-half years at the time the amnesty was granted.

He was greeted at 11am by about 30 colleagues from The Myanmar Times at Yangon Airport, as well as his wife, Yamin Htin Aung and his 18-year-old son, Nicholas Swe. The President Office spokesman Ye Htut said in a Facebook post that 93 people were given a presidential pardon on Tuesday.

The Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) told Irrawaddy yesterday that 59 people being imprisoned for political reasons were among those released, including 19 political prisoners and 40 Shan rebel soldiers.

Prisoners were released from Yangon’s Insein Prison, Mandalay’s Obo, Myingyan, and Pakkoku prisons, Thayawady prison in Bago and Thayet in Magway Region.

AAPP joint secretary, Bo Kyi, said that more than 200 political prisoners remain in Myanmar’s prisons. This includes U Myat Swe’s father, Brigadier General Thein Swe, who was a senior member of the now-disbanded Military Intelligence department. No information about U Thein Swe’s possible release is currently known.

The partnership between The Myanmar Times editor-in-chief Ross Dunkley and U Myat Swe was created in 2000 and it was Myanmar’s first foreign media joint venture.

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by Jessica Mudditt on April 24, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Jessica Mudditt on April 24, 2013

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Off the deep end – understanding the rules at Kokine Swimming Pool

Published in The Myanmar Times on 15 April 2013

The first sign of trouble.

The first sign of trouble.

A TWO tier price system for locals and foreigners is in place at the majority of Myanmar’s tourist sites, which tends to be the rule rather than the exception in developing countries. In India, which has a burgeoning middle and upper class, tourists are becoming more vocal against the government’s policy of charging foreign visitors an exorbitant 4850 percent higher entry fee to somewhere such as the Taj Mahal.

In Myanmar, it’s often difficult for foreigners to ascertain the price difference, because those fees are stated in English, while the price for locals is usually in Myanmar.  A dual pricing system also exists unofficially, whether it is higher taxi fares, inflated rent and utility bills or pricier hotel room rates.

Many foreigners, such as Barnaby Haszard Morris, don’t mind paying more, because it’s seen as a way of redistributing wealth. He writes on his blog: “It actually makes good economic sense to charge these greatly inflated rates… foreigners are accustomed to prices being much higher in their home countries.”

However for Myanmar’s foreign residents, regularly being confronted by the policy can be grating.

Back in February, a notice caught my eye at Kokine Swimming Pool in Bahan township: “The Guest Members (Foreigners) are not allowed to swim from the 1st March 2013.” It was signed by the executive committee, with no further details provided.

A security guard told me it was because swimming training was being conducted (this is stated in Myanmar in a sign next to it), which seemed fairly reasonable. When I next went for a swim, I saw that a new sign had been stuck over the top of the original one, saying that the pool, which is open from 6am to 8pm six days a week, would be closed to non-members from 1 March to 31 April. Although this was a blow to my new after-work fitness schedule, I was reluctant to fork out a 200,000 kyat donation to become a member, so I began visiting various pools in Yangon (where I continued to pay more as a foreigner, and found none as lovely as Kokine).

It was therefore disappointing to learn from the friendly secretary of Kokine Swimming Pool, U Cho Maung, that the weekday training sessions finish by 11am and continue until May 25, almost a full month after non-members are allowed to return.

U Cho Maung told The Myanmar Times, “We have 10,000 members – I don’t want too much traffic at the pool.”

About 1000 people take part in the two training periods at Kokine.

He estimates that Kokine has 30 members who are foreigners, while the numbers of regular swimmers in the morning is 50 to 60 and 70 in the evening.

U Cho Maung added somewhat contradictorily, “This is the most crowded time of the year because it’s hot… That’s why we close it, because it would be crowded otherwise. But it’s not crowded, because our members come at different times. We have three pools, so members can swim in the other pools during training sessions.”

During the interview on April 9, both large pools were all but deserted by 10am: I counted four swimmers in total.

However rather than feeling slighted when I left, I’d learned that the pool’s rules are more favourable to foreigners than locals.

The pool beckons on a hot April day.

The pool beckons on a hot April day.

A year’s membership will cost a foreigner 323,000 ($367) – which includes the K200,000 donation (which goes to pool maintenance), K120,000 in monthly fees and an annual fee of K3000, which is K126,000 ($143) costlier than a local membership. However foreigners have two further options that are closed to locals: swimming on a casual basis for K2000 or paying K50,000 for a temporary, three month membership. The latter requires a guarantor letter from an employer or embassy and can only be taken out once.

Locals are only allowed to swim on a one-off basis (after 2 May) if they come with a guarantor who is a member.

U Cho Maung said the reason why locals can’t obtain a temporary membership is because they live here, so it wouldn’t make sense.

“The temporary membership is aimed at NGO and embassy staff, who might be in Yangon for three months,” he said.

However as Myanmar continues to open up and allows foreign investment to flow in, this “one size fits all” definition of a foreigner may be unrealistic, if unpalatable.

An intern at a media company told The Myanmar Times that her European government provides a small stipend for the six months she’ll spend in Yangon, so she had to choose between a gym membership or Myanmar language lessons (incidentally, she chose the latter).

When asked why foreigners pay almost double the amount of local membership fees, the secretary said that the rule has been in place for about a decade.

“This committee has always done it this way because foreigners’ salaries are higher. There are many reasons, but this is the main reason.”

U Cho Maung is also the vice-president of the Myanmar Swimming Federation and said he takes an interest in pool management when travelling overseas.

“The cost of swimming in Melbourne was high – it was at least $20 for a swim,” he said.

However the Nunawading pool’s website (where I learnt to swim in Melbourne), lists the cost of a casual visit as AUD$5.80.

When asked about the phrasing of the first notice which singled out foreigners, he said, “There must have been a mistake at the office.”

Another oddity at Kokine Swimming Pool are the signs demarcating separate sides for male and female swimmers, which I initially assumed were to indicate the location of the changing rooms.

It was during my second swim at Kokine that I realised the signs are taken seriously: my husband was waved over to the other side by a lifeguard. Sherpa attempted to explain that he’s not a confident swimmer and wanted to stay in the same area as me, but it wasn’t until he did a quick fake-drown that his point was understood and he was allowed to stay on the right-hand side.

During about five subsequent visits, I noticed men swimming on both sides of the 30-metre long pool.

When asked about the signs, U Cho Maung, “Now it’s mixed – that was before. We just mention it as a rule.”

He said the rule was created more than 10 years ago following a request from a few local women, “who were scared to swim with guys.”

He said the rule doesn’t apply if accompanying children.

“The rule is flexible. We only mention couples, because they don’t swim around properly…” he trailed off while making hug motions.

“But it’s more about prevention – this has happened very few times… It is a family pool.”

The pool was taken over by local owners from the British in 1904, and for as long as U Cho Maung can remember, foreigners haven’t caused any problems at the pool.

In terms of both the price policies and the gender-segregation, the secretary said the rules are old and might “change very soon.”

Because despite the economic justifications for charging foreigners and locals disparate prices, being categorised on the basis of nationality is often an uncomfortable experience, regardless of whether you’re paying more or less.

A swimmer called Moh Moh Thaw was unimpressed by the way she was treated at the Savoy Hotel’s pool, where she used to swim every weekend with her Australian husband – in 2010, when the power cuts were severe during summer.

“We’d buy food and drinks, but were never asked to pay to use the pool. But as soon as I went to the pool with local friends, and even though we spent more on food and drinks, we were asked to pay to use the pool. I was so angry – it’s discrimination.”

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by Jessica Mudditt on April 18, 2013  •  Permalink
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Most over 60s in Myanmar still working, survey finds

Published in The Myanmar Times on 2 April 2013

A man in Mawlamyine, Mon State.

A man in Mawlamyine, Mon State.

Most older people in Myanmar are economically active but live on less than US$3 a day, a report published by HelpAge International last month has found.

Most people 60 and over rely on their children for at least some support but the report warns that changing demographics and lifestyles could put this means of support “under strain”.

The report, The Situation of Older Persons in Myanmar, is the first comprehensive study of older people in Myanmar in decades and involved face-to-face interviews with 4080 people from all states and regions in Myanmar except Kachin State.

Non-government organisation HelpAge International received support from the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement to conduct the survey. The United Nations Population Fund provided long-term demographic projections about Myanmar’s rapidly ageing population.

The report says that by 2050, a quarter of Myanmar’s population will be aged 60 years or older. Older people account for about 9pc of the country’s estimated population of 60 million, a figure that has “virtually quadrupled over the past 60 years”. However Myanmar still has one of the lowest life expectancy rates in the region, the Asian Development Bank says.

UN projections found that persons aged 60 and older will outnumber children under the age of 15 by 2035.

The study covers demographic trends, social characteristics, economic activity, living arrangements, material wellbeing, health and family support.

It found that “even by the standards of Southeast Asia, older people in Myanmar remain exceptionally close to their families”.

More than three quarters of the people interviewed live with at least one of their children and 50pc also live with a grandchild. Among older people with adult children, 95pc have at least one child living in the same village or ward.

“[F]ew older persons in Myanmar are isolated from family and in general are socially integrated with their children and their kin … and are thus able to potentially benefit from exchanges of material and emotional support,” it said.

Mon State

Mon State

As only 10pc of older people have a telephone, people living significant distances apart from their children and other relatives have only limited ability to maintain contact.

All respondents said they receive either money or goods from their children, with adult children being the main source of support for about 60pc of older people.

However, almost a quarter of older people reported that “income from their own or their spouse’s work was still their main source of support”.

The study also found that support is reciprocal: more than 50pc of respondents who live with children provide economic support to the household, with the same proportion providing care for grandchildren.

However, the report notes that fertility rates in Myanmar have already fallen to two children per woman and predicts that “dramatically shrinking family sizes and increasing urban migration … will soon put these traditional means of support under strain.”

As pensions are “very rare” and virtually none of the respondents receive any type of welfare support from government or non-government agencies, nearly a quarter of people aged between 70 and 74 are economically active, with 60pc working in agriculture.

“Men are twice as likely as women to remain economically active, and older people in rural areas remain economically active longer than their urban counterparts,” says the report.

However, nearly half of Myanmar’s older population described their income as inadequate for meeting daily needs – almost 10pc of households have a daily income of less than $1 a day. Less than one in five older persons has savings and older people are twice as likely to have debts as savings.

A third of the older people interviewed said they live in homes without electricity, while 58pc lack access to running water. About a third has neither a radio nor television.

Along with low standards of material wealth, only a third of older people interviewed finished primary school.

“Only about half of older persons are fully literate, with women particularly likely to lack literacy.”

One finding that appears independent of demographics is religious faith. Three-quarters of respondents pray or meditate daily and 95pc do so at least once a month.

Just a third of older people in Myanmar say that their health is good or very good. Although most of those who sought medical treatment in 2012 received it, a quarter of respondents said they couldn’t afford the healthcare they felt they needed.

U Aung Tun Khaing, chair of the Elderly Project Advisory Committee at the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, said the findings will significantly contribute to future national planning on elderly care.

“With the information documented in this report we will be able to develop informed policies and implement plans for elderly care services to fill in the gaps wherever needed,” he said in a statement released by HelpAge.

HelpAge has worked in Myanmar since 2003 and drafted a National Action Plan on Ageing, which U Aung Tun Khaing said could be approved in the 2013-14 financial year, which begins on April 1.

The plan seeks to introduce a pension program, discounted transportation fares, low interest loans and subsidised health care for the elderly.

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by Jessica Mudditt on April 4, 2013  •  Permalink
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The world’s most under-rated beach: Ngapali in Myanmar

The UK magazine Wanderlust recently named Myanmar as it’s top tourist destination, yet after spending five days at Ngapali Beach I’m still surprised by how (pleasantly) quiet it was. Most people don’t associate Myanmar with Hawaii-toppping beaches and gorgeous resorts, so to address this I decided to post a few photos – and let you be the judge! I’ll add a little bit of commentary along the way…

My husband, in paradise

My husband, in paradise

Despite the hype about Myanmar as the new “it” destination, there’s not another soul on the beach, as you can see. The snorkelling was amazing – both at the rocks close to shore, jumping off a boat (great fishing too) and on a nearby island. Rumour has it that ‘Ngapali’ got its name from a sailor homesick for Napoli…

IMG_7254

Happy Hour on Ngapali Beach means two hours of half priced drinks, from 5pm – 7pm. Before dusk, the sun is a huge ball of electric pink fury and when it finally dips out of view, the lights on the squid fishing boats twinkle on the horizon. Very romantic. Every cocktail imaginable is on offer and the restaurants (such as Ngapali Bar) that aren’t attached to a hotel are super cheap. My husband ordered a barracuda that was so big it was chopped in half and brought out on two plates – and it cost about 3000 kyat (US$3.40). I ate seafood at every meal for five days…

Luxurious living

Luxurious living

This is a bedroom at Amata Resort and Spa – there was also an adjoining living area with a television, fridge, desk and so forth. The room was flanked by bamboo trees and a gecko the size of a football ran across the window at night once (a true beefcake). Other than a push-mower and a fishing boat, I never heard the sound of anything with a motor. It’s subliminal relaxation at its best. The service at Amata was faultless. The massages were expensive so I can’t vouch for them, but I’d be surprised if they weren’t awesome. There are some cheaper options (under $100 a night) closer to Thandwe airport. A friend also recommends Oliver’s Resort.

Amata's swimming pool

Amata’s swimming pool

I never got enough of this – after an afternoon of swimming, my husband and I relaxed in here until happy hour. And the hotel’s breakfast was as good as this looks!

No fighting over sun lounges

No fighting over sun lounges

Just to reiterate that crowds aren’t a problem in Ngapali.

Lazy and active as you like it

As lazy or active as you like it

Renting a fishing boat for a four hour trip to a nearby island – stopping along the way for fishing and snorkelling and a bbq fish lunch (the fishermen were generous with their catch because we caught one small fish between us) costs K25,000 ($28). It’s also possible to hire one person or two person kayaks – the tide is gentle so it’s an easy spin.

Ngapali Beach

Ngapali Beach

It’s not deserted by any stretch (pardon the pun) but this here looks like an under-rated beach. And it’s just a 40 minute flight from Yangon.

The cliche sunset shot

The cliche sunset shot

Please, put Ngapali Beach on your bucket list – I couldn’t think of a better ending for a holiday in Myanmar.

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by Jessica Mudditt on April 2, 2013  •  Permalink
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Waiting for the train: upgrading the Yangon circle line

Published in The Myanmar Times on 25 March 2013

A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It’s where the rich use public transport.                       – Mayor of Bogota, September 2012

Passengers waiting for a circle line train to arrive. PHOTO Kaung Htet/The Myanmar Times

Passengers waiting for a circle line train to arrive. PHOTO Kaung Htet/The Myanmar Times

The hands of the clock at Yangon Central Railway Station show the time as 11:50 – but it’s 10:45am and the Yangon circle line is ready for departure. A lone chicken pecks at the ground skittishly while a dog with a black tumour does his best to avoid the small flurry of passengers. Although 20 of the station’s 427 staff are employed to keep the station clean, betel stains abound and several of the rubbish bins are almost overflowing. Weary families sleep on the platform beside oversized plastic bags of belongings.

For a city with an estimated population of six million and increasingly congested roads, the intra-city railway line has an unfortunate lack of hustle and bustle. This is primarily due to the fact that the train travels at about 17 kilometres an hour and therefore takes nearly three hours to complete the 45.9 kilometre route, which encompasses 39 stations.

A working paper published in March 2012 by the Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Tokyo estimates that 130,000 passengers take the circle line each day. The Yangon Circular Railway Development Project, as the paper is titled, describes the Yangon Circle Line as suffering “from poor quality, low speed, and infrequent service. Thus, it is relatively underused as a resource.”

Indeed: the report goes on to state that just 2 pc of Yangon’s population rely on trains as a form of public transport each day, whereas 3.14 million passengers take the bus, representing the vast majority of the 4.5 million city dwellers who use public transport.

Because the train loop doesn’t extend to Yangon’s main commercial district, “commuters are forced to take buses, taxis, or rickshaws in the commercial district, which contributes to severe congestion problems,” states the report.

A German engineer called Dieter Hettler told The Myanmar Times via email that: “In February 1964 a batch of 28 diesel-hydraulic locomotives…arrived in Yangon from Essen, Germany, which I had the pleasure to put into use on circular trains starting from Insein.”

Mr Hettler taught the steam-locomotive drivers how to drive the diesel trains. He wrote that, “Later on… less powerful diesel locos were put into service on the circle line… That is still the situation today.”

In addition to the worn out carriages, the daily schedule of 10 circle line trains (the last of which leaves at 2:25pm) “is not preferable for the passengers, as trains often run not as scheduled. The uncertain schedule refrains potential passengers from using railways and encourages them to use less-uncertain modes such as bus, private car, or taxi.”

Although the station manager, U Aung Than Kyaw told The Myanmar Times that 90pc of outbound trains leave on time, 67-year-old U Thant Zin, who has run a betel shop at Dadarkalay Station station since 1986, doesn’t agree.

He said that trains are usually late and “it gets worse on weekends – maybe because there are fewer passengers and the staff don’t care.”

Last year U Thant Zin opened a second-hand electronics shop next to the betel shop, but said that business is slow and was unwilling to divulge his profits.

He’s noticed a “huge decline in passenger numbers – it’s a quarter of what it was in 1986.”

U Thant Zin believes one cause could be the increase in ticket prices – “people now prefer to travel in buses because the price isn’t much different,” he said.

However Yangon’s palpably overcrowded buses account for just 6pc of the total number of vehicles on the road, according to the university’s data from 2008. This means that a huge number of taxis and private cars dominate, with obvious consequences for air quality as well as economic impacts, such as slowing the delivery of goods and services and increasing the length of time commuters spend in traffic each day.

According to the academic L. Santucci, even a city such as Bangkok, which has a popular skytrain and metro, lost 6pc of its gross domestic product due to traffic congestion in 2011.

Although the need for an upgrade is apparent, the report states that the infrastructure cannot support a faster or more frequent train service unless the lightweight railway foundations and tracks are completely overhauled.

A copy of the Yangon circle line map, which a volunteer at Yangon Central Station gave me.

A copy of the Yangon circle line map, which a volunteer at Yangon Central Station gave me.

For decades, the circle line has been used almost exclusively by tourists and low income Yangonites, who put up with the trains’ inconveniences because it is a K100 cheaper alternative to a bus ticket. Up until November 2011, the price of a train ticket was just K10, after which it rose to K100 for a return journey.

Thirty-three-year-old Lei Lei San and her eight female friends from Mayangyone were traveling to a donation ceremony in Kyimindaing. She said, “I don’t ride the train regularly but I’m taking it today because bus fares are expensive.”

A man sitting in another carriage, who has been buying and sells folding lounges for the past two years, agreed, saying, “Buses are a bit expensive.”

The train is a more convenient option for people transporting wholesale goods – such as vendors from the large fruit and vegetable market near Botataung station. According to the station master, oversized goods are prohibited from being brought on the train during the morning rush-hour.

The Yangon circle line is itself a hotbed of entrepreneurial activity. A man with a deafening voice sells cosmetics and perfumes, while an eccentric elderly person hands out free samples of bitter tasting digestive medicine. I buy a pack for K500.

A 65-year-old blind banjo player carrying a tin filled with mostly K50 notes told The Myanmar Times, “I go from carriage to carriage. I can’t rely on my children to support me, so this is my profession.”

A woman carrying a basket of peanuts on her head said, “I’m on the train every day and I never buy a ticket. If the conductor catches me, I have to pay a K1000 fine.”

The good news is that plans to modernise the circle line are in the pipeline – but the sad news is that this will take at least six years from now to complete.

Maki Morikawa, Project Formulation Advisor for the Infrastructure Sector at Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), told The Myanmar Times that a master plan for the development of greater Yangon was started in December last year and will be published in December 2013. JICA is collaborating with Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC) to undertake the survey, which he described as “wide-ranging.”

“It includes issues such as water supply as well as urban transport,” Mr Morikawa said.

In May, JICA and YCDC will hold a seminar in Yangon to explain the survey and a question and answer session open to the public will take place.

The Yangon circle line train. PHOTO Kaung Htet/The Myanmar Times

The Yangon circle line train. PHOTO Kaung Htet/The Myanmar Times

Mr Morikawa explained that once the findings of the master plan are known, the government will set its priorities.

If upgrading the circle line makes the cut, the project will take five years to complete, Mr Morikawa said.

“For example, before starting the project, the government will need to put out a tender for the designer. This process takes time.”

JICA’s role in a possible upgrade “depends on [the outcome of] our discussions with the government. Of course we can provide finance and the government will prepare a budget,” he said.

When asked about whether an improved railway system would mean a rise in ticket prices, Mr Morikawa said, “We ask the same question ourselves, because the [circle line’s] passengers are from low income backgrounds. We need to discuss this in detail because a railway system is an important form of transport for everyone.”

Some may wonder why JICA didn’t initiate such plans sooner. As Mr Morikawa explained, JICA’s operations were relatively small between 1988 and 2003 and it wasn’t until 2011 that it began to expand its presence in Myanmar after a statement on cooperation was jointly issued by the governments of Japan and Myanmar.

Mr Morikawa said, “It’s important to see transport as a network – but so far the government hasn’t developed a concrete plan or coordination. It’s a big investment, so it’s a big decision.”

The report (which has no connection to JICA and YCDC’s plans) estimates that upgrading the railway will cost US$10 million per kilometre, amounting to a total cost of more than $400 million.

It states, “construction costs aside, the project can become profitable in about 15 years’ time” and calculates that the amount of money saved by having an efficient train line (which thereby reduces commuting times) and “increased consumer surplus from the reduction in generalised costs… are calculated to be approximately… $39.1 million a year.”

The study describes Yangon’s bus system as suffering from “insufficient management of the proliferation of routes, the poor quality of vehicles, inadequate bus networks, and lack of financial support.” This causes “on-the-road competition and threatens the safety of the public.”

Although upgrading the circle line would consume a vast amount of money, the report argues that “a frequent and reliable railway system produces more overall benefits than a bus system because railway development can attract high levels of investment from the private sector and promote real estate development around the station, which typically does not happen in the case of a bus system… Such incentives can enable the local government to form public private partnerships (PPPs), such that government spending on railway improvement can be minimised.”

Although Yangon’s infrastructure is comparatively weak – a factor that will add to the overall cost of the project: “on the positive side, the land for the Yangon circular railway is ready and no resettlement of inhabitants is required.”

It seems inevitable that Yangonites will one day take a metro for granted, and that the entire lap will take around 35 minutes. The real question is when.

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by Jessica Mudditt on March 30, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Jessica Mudditt on March 30, 2013

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Myanmar Foreign Correspondents’ Club

The Myanmar Foreign Correspondents' Club - our third meet up. Photo by Julian Ray - errantclickings.com

The Myanmar Foreign Correspondents’ Club. Photo by Julian Ray – errantclickings.com

Myanmar Foreign Correspondents’ Club is open to foreign journalists visiting or living in Myanmar.

We held our first monthly meet-up in February 2013, and so far we’ve had journalists from The South China Morning Post, Al Jazeera, AFP, Reuters, Democratic Voice of Burma, Myanmar Business Today, Mizzima and The Myanmar Times attend. It’s a casual meet-up rather than a formal meeting (but it’s worthwhile bringing your business cards!)

We’d be very glad to hear from local journalists who would be willing to share their experiences with us during an FCC meeting, which are held on the first Tuesday of every month.

A Facebook group has been created – it’s a closed group to respect members’ privacy, but new members are always welcome. Please join the group for event dates – it can also be a good resource for finding photographers/stringers and so forth.

Please note that this group is not to be confused with Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Myanmar, which is a group for Myanmar citizens working for foreign news outlets (https://sites.google.com/site/myanmarfcc/Home).

For any queries, please email jess.mudditt[at]gmail.com

Our fourth meet-up, on 7 May 2013. Photo by Julian Ray/errantclickings.com

Our fourth meet-up, on 7 May 2013. Photo by Julian Ray/errantclickings.com

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by Jessica Mudditt on March 11, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Jessica Mudditt on March 11, 2013

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The dawn of a new era for UNICEF in Myanmar

Published in The Myanmar Times on 25 February 2013

A young boy child of a gypsy family, wakes up from his sleep in his shelter. Pyay. Myanmar.Photo by Shehzad Noorani/UNICEF

A young boy child of a gypsy family, wakes up from his sleep in his shelter. Pyay. Myanmar.
Photo by Shehzad Noorani/UNICEF

During the decades Myanmar spent under military rule, the mere mention of poverty and children’s rights was completely off limits. For an organisation such as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), whose purpose is defined as promoting the rights of children by overcoming “the obstacles that poverty, violence, disease and discrimination place in a child’s path,” it’s difficult to comprehend the scale of challenge it faced.

“Now we can speak about [these issues] openly and constructively,” UNICEF’s representative in Myanmar, Bertrand Bainvel told The Myanmar Times.

Mr Bainvel took up his position in Myanmar in November last year and described the speed of change over the past year as “surprising.”

One of the biggest breakthroughs, he said, was the Tatmadaw [army] signing a national plan of action in June 2012 to prevent children being recruited to the armed forces and to discharge everyone under 18 years of age.

A hotline has been set up, as well as a series of public awareness campaigns, and on 15 February, the Tatmadaw officially discharged 24 children.

Bertrand Bainvel, UNICEF Representative to Myanmar

Bertrand Bainvel, UNICEF Representative to Myanmar

“In the past, this was also a sensitive issue and difficult to speak about.”

Mr Bainvel said that the impact of war on children is manifold, both for active participants and unfortunate bystanders.

“Firstly there are the immediate violations… of being killed or maimed. Education is disrupted [by war] and it’s very difficult for children to catch up later on in life. It’s also a very traumatic experience because the child doesn’t feel in control of his or her own life and the adults who are supposed to protect them are unable to do so.”

Mr Bainvel welcomed the signing of a ceasefire last year in Kachin state because along with obvious benefits, the ceasefire allowed UNICEF to immunize children in the area for the first time.

Another “demonstration of commitment,” said Mr Bainvel, is the fact that the government is paying for students’ textbooks; a gap UNICEF filled until a year ago.

These positive changes have allowed UNICEF to “evolve from managing projects to looking at the bigger picture of policy and supporting reforms.”

And with almost every sanction lifted, Mr Bainvel said that “more donors are interested in contributing to UNICEF’s work [in Myanmar], because it’s seen as a way for them to be part of the changes underway.”

Since setting up operations in Myanmar in 1950, UNICEF has worked directly with the government. Unsurprisingly, in the past, “some [donors] were a bit reluctant to engage directly with the government, so partnering with UNICEF was a way to avoid that,” he added.

The international non-government organisation currently has 170 staff in Myanmar and works in 61 of the country’s most vulnerable townships, providing services related to education and maternal and children’s health.

Mr Bainvel said Myanmar will continue to benefit from strong interest among the international community and increased private investment.

He said, “Other parts of the world aren’t exactly as economically dynamic as this [region]. Change could happen more quickly here.”

However he cautioned, “We have learnt from quite a few countries with very strong growth that if the growth is not redistributed equitably you see increasing disparities and very few people benefiting – sometimes the majority don’t benefit.”

Mr Bainvel believes there could be an adverse offshoot if young people aren’t provided with the opportunity to receive a quality education and in turn, a livelihood.

“It could produce a new range of issues that will impact on the rest of the society and are very costly deal with – whether it be an increase in drug use, gang activities or early pregnancy,” he said.

Likewise, if parents fail to benefit from the country’s economic expansion, “there may be a perception of quick income opportunities – that it would be better to have children [begging]on the street than to send them to school. We need to look at that,” he said.

Mr Bainvel emphasised the importance of taxation as a means to share resources equitably, particularly in Myanmar’s poorest regions.

UNICEF is supporting Myanmar’s upcoming census – the first undertaken in 30 years – which is vital to “make investment [in social services] more intelligent,” he said.

A young girl carries a basket full of sand in Pyay to a boat nearby. She earns less than one US dollar a day. Photo by Shehzad Noorani/UNICEF

A young girl carries a basket full of sand in Pyay to a boat nearby. She earns less than one US dollar a day. Photo by Shehzad Noorani/UNICEF

“Demographics drive a lot of decisions, such as the allocation of resources across the country. The more tools we have to count people and see how the population is distributed, the better.”

When asked whether February’s MTV EXIT (End Exploitation and Trafficking) concert, was deemed a success, Mr Bainvel replied in a measured tone: “We have to be very realistic about who we speak to. Those in the concert possibly were not the most vulnerable to trafficking and I think all of us were aware of that. But it’s a matter of spreading the word from ‘Yes I heard about it,’ to ‘No, it’s unacceptable. This increases the demand for better services and protection. It was a way of changing norms.”

When it comes to gender norms, Mr Bainvel believes that “in other countries, gender disparities are more visible. However this requires us to be more refined in our analysis to understand what the expected roles for boys and girls are, and how femininity is constructed and from what age, at school and at home.”

Although Mr Bainvel praised Myanmar’s inheritance laws, which give children of both sexes an equal right to inherit family property, he said that their application may not be uniform if the law conflicts with traditional beliefs among ethnic minority groups.

He also said that the disproportionate representation of men in Myanmar’s parliament is a “reflection of some inequality.”

While the potential to improve living standards in Myanmar is promising, Mr Bainvel told The Myanmar Times that “On many issues, [Myanmar] must catch up” with neighbouring countries.

He cited the fact that Myanmar has the highest rate of under-five mortality in the region: UNICEF hopes to see a decrease “as fast as possible.”

“Quick wins” can be made tby improving health services and nutrition, providing better access to safe drinking water and promoting hygiene practices.

Mr Bainvel said that the draft children’s policy currently being discussed in parliament is “very innovative, and something [UNICEF] hasn’t seen implemented in other countries. It will definitely help to accelerate progress.”

There’s no doubt that ensuring the gains made in the coming months and years benefit all Myanmar’s children is a task UNICEF will continue to pursue with zeal.

Click here to visit UNICEF in Myanmar’s website.

 

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by Jessica Mudditt on March 7, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Jessica Mudditt on March 7, 2013

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Online dating in Myanmar: a pursuit of peril or promise?

Published in The Myanmar Times on 11 February 2013

Ei Mon San and Sai Aung Zaw Tun met online.

Ei Mon San and Sai Aung Zaw Tun met online.

True love is elusive – some would say illusory – and as Valentine’s Day approaches, the chances of finding it can feel depressingly slim for singles. It’s therefore no surprise that since the world’s first online dating website, Match.com, was launched in 1995, millions of people have turned to the internet to increase their chances of finding that special someone. The stigma initially associated with online dating – that is, being judged “desperate and dateless” – has largely melted away. Unfortunately though, several risks remain.

Technology analyst firm Tekrati estimated that the online dating market in the United States generated US$932 million in 2011 and in 2009 The Guardian stated that, “Fifteen million people in Britain are single, and almost five million are shopping for love online.”

In India, traditional matrimonial sites may soon be overshadowed. A December 2012 article in Business Today titled, “Online dating business is India’s new love interest” reported that dating sites have some 25 million active members in India.

“[Indians] are now embracing a more progressive view on many things – in this case, dating, relationships and marriage,” said the founder of TwoMangoes.com, Anita Dharamshi.

China’s online dating market has existed for a decade and is expected to be worth $315 million by 2014.

Business Today reported that the industry is worth about $4 billion globally.

Some dating sites use highly specific membership criteria to stay ahead of the competition by increasing compatibility rates. For example, veggiedate.org requires “a declaration of vegetarian strictness” before setting up a personal advertisement on their site.

In Myanmar, by contrast, online dating sites such as online-dating.org were blocked until at least as recently as last year.

Open Net Initiative (ONI) said in its October 2012 report that there was a “drastic” reduction in the number of filtered sites since testing in Myanmar began in 2005.

Only five out of 541 tested URLs categorised as political content remained blocked. Interestingly, almost all of blocked URLs belonged to ONI’s ‘social’ category.

“Out of 132 total URLs found blocked, 104 belonged to the pornography and alcohol and drugs category. Also found blocked were gambling websites, online dating sites, sex education, and gay and lesbian content.”

However the dating websites listed as blocked by ONI, including adultfriendfinder.com now appears to be accessible.

Denise Strete, the director of Kaus Media Group, which designs and hosts websites in Myanmar as well as many other parts of the world, told The Myanmar Times, “We haven’t been approached [to create an online dating website in Myanmar].

Denise said the company is unsure whether such a business venture would be “accepted by the local internet user population or if it would it be seen as something so different and wrong, eating away at local traditions.”

Despite the absence of local online matchmaking sites, a variety of more casual forums exist: notably Tagged.com, G-Chat and what is arguably the world’s most popular site for romantic introductions, Facebook.

All a person really needs is access to the internet and, as an anonymous online dater told The Myanmar Times, a sense of “curiosity.”

“Thiri” (not her real name) signed up to Tagged.com in 2009 and met her boyfriend through the site a year later.

Thiri said that Tagged “is a lot like using Facebook.”

Members can create a free profile containing photos and personal information and can search for other members by name, email address and even schools where users may have attended.

However Tagged, which based in San Francisco and was launched in 2004, distinguishes itself from Facebook and other social networking sites because, “While other offerings focus on existing relationships, Tagged has established the category of social discovery.” Tagged’s website also states that it has more than 100 million members in 220 countries (oddly, that’s 27 more countries than the number that actually exist) and its “Meet Me” feature creates 2.4 million matches every day.

As Thiri scrolled through Tagged on her smartphone, I noticed that her profile has been viewed more than 4000 times and that she has 886 pending connection requests, the vast majority of which are from men.

She said “A lot of people try to connect with me, but I don’t choose people who I think might be nasty. I keep my profile private, so I haven’t had any problems with harassment.”

She also keeps the number of her connections fairly low, at a total of 60.

Thiri and her boyfriend waited three months before meeting face-to-face.

She said that after chatting online for a while, “He asked for my phone number and when we talked, I could tell he had a great sense of humour.”

He called Thiri four times a day for two months – “in the morning, then around lunchtime, dinner and bedtime. He seemed very kind and really cared about me.”

Nevertheless, Thiri knew firsthand how easy it is for people to create a false impression in order to entice people into a romance.

“Many people lie about their marital status, age and looks,” she said.

She was thus pleasantly surprised to discover that the object of her affections looked exactly the same in real life as he did in the photos he’d sent via Gmail – and that he really is a doctor and the same age as her.

When Thiri told her father that she had met someone on the internet, he reacted calmly.

“He was okay with it because I explained the advantages of using [Tagged] and also told him I hadn’t been using it every day.”

Thiri and her boyfriend celebrated their two year anniversary last month and have been introduced to each other’s parents. Plans for their marriage are underway.

When it comes to online dating, Thiri’s advice is “not to believe everything you see on the internet.”

She added, “The internet isn’t always safe. I never lied about myself, so I was a lucky one.”

Her friend then chipped in with a giggle, “But you are beautiful and wealthy…”

Ei Mon San and Sai Aung Zaw Tun met on Google Talk and married four years later.

Ei Mon San and Sai Aung Zaw Tun met on Google Talk and married four years later.

Some of Thiri’s friends exercised less caution: some set up dates shortly after meeting online and most of their experiences weren’t positive. Some were heartbreaking. One of Thiri’s female friends fell in love with someone she met online and the two started making wedding plans before ever meeting face-to-face. When the man eventually came to meet her in Myanmar, he wasn’t American as he’d claimed but Myanmar – and at least 25 years her senior.

Another friend met a girl online while studying abroad and they developed a relationship that lasted for months.

“But the girl turned out to be as old as his mother!” she said.

One of the most popular forums for meeting new people (usually through a mutual friend) in Myanmar is Google Talk (also known as ‘gchat’). One user said that many people in Myanmar create alluring email IDs to increase their chances of being noticed.

Ei Mon San, 24, and her husband, Sai Aung Zaw Tun, 26, were complete strangers until they met through Google Talk.

The couple dated online for two years while Sai Aung Zaw Tun completed his studies in the US.

Ei Mon San said, “We were friends for a long time. After talking for months, he sent me photos of himself on Gmail. Straight away, I thought he was handsome, but I didn’t believe it was actually him because a lot of people use fake photos. Later, I saw he hadn’t done that.”

The two fell in love after chatting online for eight months.

“We talked a lot about our family, our education, our problems. We shared a lot,” she said.

Ei Mon San decided to tell her mother about Sai Aung Zaw Tun four months after she’d fallen in love with him.

“At first my mum didn’t like it that I’d met someone on the internet. My mother let me call him – and she spoke to him too. Actually, she interviewed him! Everything was okay because my mum liked him – and now treats him like a son.”

When Sai Aung Zaw Tun returned to Myanmar, he came to Mandalay to meet his girlfriend in person.

“On the first day we met we went to Mandalay moat. We talked for a long, long time – we didn’t even notice it had gotten dark! Then the police came by and we had to run away.”

The couple dated “offline” for two years in Myanmar and were married in 2011.

Like Thiri, Ei Mon San considers herself lucky to have met the love of her life – she said none of her friends found lasting relationships on the internet.

“The disadvantages of online dating are that you don’t know whether a person is real or not. We can’t really know their attitude or character. Some people pretend to be good, so there’s a risk of meeting bad men. You should protect yourself,” she said.

Wise words indeed: a 2007 study by the University of Texas Health Science Centre found that “women assumed a false degree of safety while looking for love on the internet, which exposed them to stalking, fraud, and sexual violence.” Such attitudes may have likely changed over the years as familiarity with the pros and cons of online dating has improved, but many still fall victim to deceit.

And although an increasing number of online dating sites conduct background checks on members, nothing in cyberspace can be considered foolproof.

Guardian journalist Tania Gold believes that, “When you meet people conventionally, friends or colleagues introduce you, or you have interests, or a lifestyle, or a city in common. Subconsciously these factors create boundaries, so you tend to behave better. This doesn’t exist on the internet; it is profile meets profile in a vacuum.”

Sociologist Edward Laumann from the University of Chicago believes that, “A real person – whatever his relationship to you, be it friend or kinsman or co-worker – is still far and away the most reliable way to meet someone.”

While some people may consider online dating too risky to be worthwhile, deciding whether to give it a try is ultimately a matter of individual choice. As the Persian poet Rumi once said: “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I will meet you there.”

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by Jessica Mudditt on February 13, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Jessica Mudditt on February 13, 2013

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