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" Religion for Peace and Freedom from Fear "







" Religion for Peace and Freedom from Fear "


Delievered by Sitagu Sayadaw
at Seminor Sitagu International Buddhist Academy and US commission on International Religious Freedom
Sitagu International Buddhist Academy
Sagaing Hills, Sagaing, Myanmar


Good morning Honorable gentlemen

Welcome to Sitagu International Buddhist Academy. I am glad to meet and to discuss with you.

There are six major Religions in the world today. Since Human beings came on Earth, people worshipped the Sun, the Moon and various deities. They also sought refuge in them on the basis of fear. It was called a primitive religion. Most of scholars stated that horror initiated the religions of those days. The Buddha also clearly said that the idea and concept of religions originated from fear. Therefore every religion has full responsibility for the removal of fear which is sticking on the mind of people. But, on the contrary, it is regrettable that a fearful religion and its followers emerged in the world.

After the primitive religions there appeared Hinduism. And afterwards, Jainism also came out on the Land where Hinduism was being flourished. Forty years after the emergence of Jainism, there appeared Buddhism also. Buddhism appeared on the birth place of Hinduism and Jainism and peacefully coexisted with them for ages. There was no traceable history of bloodshed and conflict among them. Also there was no violence and quarrel even on the statement issued by the Hindus saying that the Buddha was an incarnation of God Vishnu. We had only oral and written arguments.

Six hundred years after the Buddha, Jesus Christ appeared in the World. In the ten commandments of Christianity we find many similarities with Buddhism in the field of Morality and Noble practice. Christian missions tried to flourish their faith when they came to the East Asian countries such as India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Korea and Japan. The people of those countries were non-Christians. But, even after the arrival of Christianity also there was peaceful coexistence between Christians and non-Christians. No history of conflict can be traced to any side. Because all the Hindus, Janis and Christians are walking together on the common platform of their respective teachings, that is Morality, Loving-kindness and compassion. The religion, founded based on Loving-kindness and compassion, has no conflict and it does only social welfare services like Health, Education and other social infrastructures.

In Myanmar, many Christians converted to Buddhism in the past as well as at the present. They did it not because they were forced by the Buddhists. Similarly, many of Buddhists also converted to Christian faith. No single Christian threatened them to do so. They did it of their own free will. Every religion has and should have freedom of worship and freedom of belief. Look at the Crusade that prolonged about forty years. It was recorded in the history of the world.

We have to note that the beginning of conflict is aggressiveness and extremism either in the field of religion or that of politics. Today, in Iraq, the Islamic extremists are forcing ancient Zoroastrians to change their faith into Islam. They even threatened them to kill if their demand is not met. In Africa, a Muslim woman was given the death sentence just because she has converted to Christianity. Therefore, we, the East Asian Buddhist countries are living in constant daily fear of falling under the sword of the Islamic extremists. As we are lacking power and influence, we cannot compete against with the rapid growth of Islamic world.

There was a recorded history that in the thirteenth century A.D, a Muslim army marched from Turkey through India and destroyed Pala Buddhist dynasty and converted it into Islamic state. Pala Buddhist dynasty was none other than present Bangladesh. In the south of Philippine, the Islamic extremists revolted against the government for twenty years. Today, they established a Muslim state there. The Islamic extremists are holding weapons in the south of Thailand to make it a separate Muslim state.

Every religion, according to me, should perform its activities only for the good and welfare of the people. But, today, Islamic extremists are trying to establish Islamic states by waging war against non-Muslims. It is regrettable that they are performing the holy war (Jihad) on the name of God.

Myanmar regained its independence from British in 1948. They colonized Myanmar for nearly hundred years. Many Africans were imported as slaves when the United States of America was established. In the same way, the English rulers illegally imported labourers from India and Bangladesh to Myanmar for the hard labour during their rule.
There is also another bad consequence caused by English colonial rule. During hundred years of British rule, Burmese nationals were not formed as an army. But it was ridiculous that the English rulers administered Myanmar forming different groups of indigenous minorities as an army. When the British rulers went back to England, the minority groups revolted against the Burmese government. We cannot solve those problems until today. These are the natural sufferings faced by the colonial countries.

There is one more important thing that during the British colonial rule, many illegal immigrants from Bangladesh entered into the Rakhine state. In 1948-49, by the name of Mujtahid, those illegal immigrants revolted against Burmese army. Their intention was to establish separate Muslim state. Burmese army had to confront the Islamic Mujahidins. Today, they neither claim themselves as Bangalis nor claim Mujahidins. But, claiming themselves as Rohingars, they are trying to demand a separate home land. They also burned their houses by themselves as if it was done by Burmese Buddhists. We cannot compete with the Islamic world which is the second most powerful and wealthy. Islamic countries occupy the second largest portion even in the United Nations.

The mass media of today is also overwhelmed by the power of money. Most of mass communications such as radios and televisions are controlled by the Islamic world which has sound economy. As we are unable to fight against such a powerful media, the world is not ready either to believe or accept whatever we said. But, we were deafened by the loud explosion of the whole world when the Islamic world says something bad about Myanmar. It was the power of Islamic Medias that made the image and reputation of Myanmar bad. Therefore, we, as the Buddha taught, have determined to objectively care and protect our country and our nationality avoiding two extremes: favour and fear.

Honorable gentlemen — in conclusion, I would like to say that Myanmar is facing various problems and difficulties. Because it was under the colonial rule for nearly hundred years and even after the independence, it was fighting civil and communal war for nearly sixty years.Many organizations from abroad came to Myanmar with the intention of solving such problems. But, instead of solving it, we found that they sometimes made the situation worse and worse. Therefore I would like to request you to find a better solution for such problems.

The next one, what I would like to say is that the Myanmar government is now trying to establish internal peace and stability with the intention of ceasing civil war and communal violence. At this crucial Juncture, some religious extremists are frustrating with provocative statements and actions. I would like to request you to give your hands in the process of solving problems and conflicts. A methodical approach is essential for the peace process. It is also necessary not to make things from bad to worse and more complicated.

As devout Buddhists, we also promise that we are going to solve these problems without violence and we will do it firmly standing on the teaching of the Buddha, that is tolerance, forgiveness, serving society, sacrifice for others and rationality.

Thank you all.
May you be happy and healthy.

Dr. Ashin Nyanissara (Ph.D, D.Litt)
Sitagu International Buddhist IBot Academy
by Venerable Ashin Nyanissara (Sitagu/Thegon Sayadaw)




Monday, September 01, 2014 | Posted in , , , , | Read More »

Power to People: World Bank Group to invest US $2 billion in Myanmar to support reforms, reduce poverty, increase energy and health access




Yangon, January 26, 2014 – On his first visit to Myanmar, President Jim Yong Kimtoday announced World Bank Group plans for a US$2 billion multi-year development program. It will include projects that dramatically improve access to energy and health care for poor people and support other key government development priorities.

He announced the major increase in new financial support at a community health clinic in Yangon where he was joined by the Myanmar Minister of Health, Dr. Pe Thet Khin. They met doctors, local residents, and members of the international donor community and Kim pledged the funding will help improve the lives of the poorest people and support ongoing reforms in Myanmar.

“We are increasing our support for the huge reform effort underway in Myanmar because we want to help the government bring benefits to poor people even more quickly,” said President Kim. “Our US$2 billion dollar multi-year program will support the government’s plans to deliver universal health care to citizens and to help everyone in the country gain access to electricity by 2030.”

The World Bank Group will harness expertise and resources from IDA, IFC and MIGA to support the government’s multi-year investment program. This will include US$1 billion in Bank Group financial support to expand electricity generation, transmission and distribution. Over 70 percent of Myanmar’s people do not have access to reliable electricity.

The energy investment will also support development of a National Electrification Plan, enhance institutional capacity, and promote regulatory reforms that are critical for sustainable private sector participation. It will include support for private sector investments in power generation and distribution, as well as the scale-up of renewable energy for rural and off-grid electrification.

“Expanding access to electricity in a country like Myanmar can help transform a society – children will be able to study at night, shops will stay open, and health clinics will have lights and energy to power life-saving technology. Electricity helps brings an end to poverty,”said Kim.

IFC is partnering with the Government of Myanmar to increase efficiency in the electricity distribution sector and extend service to a greater number of end users. The World Bank Group will also pursue investments to support transparent, cost-effective private investments, and public-private joint ventures for large new power stations.

Kim said the investment will include US$200 million in IDA funding to help Myanmar achieve universal health coverage by 2030. Together with financing previously committed by other international development partners, the IDA financing will help Myanmar scale up access to quality, essential health services for women and children through results-based financing, and remove out-of-pocket payments as a barrier to health care for the poorest people.

“Everyone should have access to affordable, quality health services, and no one should be forced into poverty trying to pay for the health care they need,” he said. “The Myanmar government’s ambitious plan for universal coverage by 2030 will help ensure that every Myanmar citizen has the opportunity to live a healthy, productive life.”

An estimated 75 percent of Myanmar’s mostly rural population lacks access to quality health care, and high costs place most essential services out of reach for many Myanmar families who live below the poverty line.

President Kim will attend the Second Annual Myanmar Development Forum, on Monday, January 27th, in Nay Pyi Taw where he will meet with President Thein Sein, members of the government and opposition and business leaders.



Additional Information:

· The World Bank Group’s commitment to supporting health care in Myanmar is part of a global effort to achieve universal health coverage with two global targets for universal coverage by 2030. The financial protection target is that no one will be forced into poverty due to out-of-pocket expenses for health care. The service delivery target is to double the proportion of the poorest people with access to essential health services, including maternal and child health services, communicable diseases, treatment for chronic conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes, mental health and injuries, from 40 percent to at least 80 percent coverage.

· Increasing efficiency and capacity of existing power generation is the fastest way to improve electricity supply in a sustainable manner. The first investment credit after Bank re-engagement in Myanmar financed a $140 million electric power project to double the capacity and efficiency of gas-fired power plant in Mon State.

· Development of the country’s National Electrification Plan is also being supported by the World Bank under the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) initiative, a jointly chaired World Bank-United Nations effort that aims to achieve universal access to electricity by 2030.







World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim visits the Myanmar North Dagon Township Hospital.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014 | Posted in , , , | Read More »

2 Myanmar women found brutally murdered



Cops carry bodies of two Myanmar women believed to have been murdered at Jalan Baru,Kampung Setol. -- STR/Amir Irsyad Omar
BUKIT MERTAJAM: Two Myanmar women were found brutally murdered with one of them had her throat slit in Jalan Baru (Malaysia)here today.

State criminal investigations department chief Senior Assistant Commissioner Mazlan Kesah said police recovered the body of Htay Htay Than, 19, whose throat was slit, in a bush at about 12.15pm.
 
He said next to Htay's bloodied body was that of her friend, Than, 41, who suffered multiple stab wounds on her body and face.
 
Mazlan said police have picked up two Myanmar men, in their 30s, for questioning.



မေလးရွား၌ ျမန္မာအမ်ိဳးသမီးႏွစ္ဦး ရက္ရက္စက္စက္ အသတ္ခံရ
ဒီဇင္ဘာ ၃၀၊ ၂၀၁၃
ယေန႔ (30-12-2013) တြင္ ဂ်ာလန္ ဘာရူ၌ ျမန္မာအမ်ိဳးသမီးႏွစ္ေယာက္ ရက္ရက္စက္စက္အသတ္ခံရသည္။ ၎တို႔အနက္ တစ္ဦးမွာ ရက္ရက္စက္စက္ လည္လွီးခံရၿပီး ေသဆံုးျခင္းျဖစ္သည္။
မေလးရွား မႈခင္းစံုစမ္းေရးအႀကီးအကဲ မာဇလန္ ကီဆာ၏ စကားအရ ရဲမ်ားမွ ေ႒းေ႒းသန္း (၁၉ ႏွစ္)၊ (လည္ပင္းလွီးျဖတ္ထားခံရ) ကို ခ်ံဳပုတ္တစ္ခုအတြင္းမွ (မေလးစံေတာ္ခ်ိန္) 12:15 pm ၌ ရွာေတြ႔ခဲ့သည္။
ေနာက္ထပ္ေတြ႔ေသာအေလာင္းမွာ ေ႒းေ႒းသန္း၏ သူငယ္ခ်င္းျဖစ္သူ (မ)သန္း (၄၁ ႏွစ္) ျဖစ္ၿပီး ခႏၶာကိုယ္ ႏွင့္ မ်က္ႏွာအား ဓားျဖင့္ အခ်က္ေပါင္းမ်ားစြာ အထိုးခံထားရသည္။

 MDL

Tuesday, December 31, 2013 | Posted in , , , | Read More »

US, Japan Protest China Air Defense Zone

Japanese Coast Guard vessels sail near a group of disputed islands called Diaoyu by China and Senkaku by Japan, Aug. 18, 2013.
The United States has voiced its "strong concern" to China over threats from Beijing to enforce its claims to a set of disputed Pacific islands controlled by Japan but claimed by the People's Republic.

The White House, State Department and Pentagon all issued statements late Saturday, hours after Beijing threatened to take "defensive emergency measures" against aircraft entering its newly-proclaimed air defense zone. The Chinese edict called on all aircraft to identify themselves before entering the zone, and to obey all orders from Beijing.

The White House called the threat an escalatory development," while Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called it "a destabilizing attempt to alter the status quo" in the East China Sea. Hagel also said the United States has no plans to change how it conducts military operations in the region.

The islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Daioyu in China, are uninhabited, but surrounded by rich fishing grounds and potential energy deposits.

Earlier Saturday, Japan lodged a strong protest with Beijing that called establishment of the zone "totally unacceptable." Senior Japanese diplomat Junichi Ihara also criticized China for escalating bilateral tensions over the islands.

In the Chinese statement, which appeared Saturday on a defense ministry website, Beijing said the new rules were effective immediately.

After months of escalating tensions, Japan scrambled fighter jets earlier this month over the East China Sea, after it spotted what it said was an unmanned aircraft flying toward Japan.

Japan annexed the islets in the late 19th century. China claimed sovereignty over the archipelago in 1971, saying ancient maps show it has been Chinese territory for centuries.

The festering China-Japan dispute is one of several maritime controversies pitting China against several Southeast Asian nations, including the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia.

Beijing has indicated a willingness to negotiate the disputes, but has so far rejected calls for multilateral talks. It has sought separate negotiations with each country.

Sunday, November 24, 2013 | Posted in , , , , | Read More »

Myanmar Political Parties, Ethnic Rebels Hold First Talks

Myanmar's political parties met with exile ethnic rebel groups for the first time on Friday, with participants saying the talks have boosted trust in efforts to forge national reconciliation after decades of military conflict.

Representatives from President Thein Sein’s ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party did not attend the talks, held in neighboring Thailand’s northern Chiang Mai city, despite being invited.

Both sides agreed to work toward creating a federal political system in Myanmar, attendees said after the meeting between leaders of the umbrella United Nationalities Federal Alliance (UNFC) rebel group and representatives from 11 opposition and ethnic-based political parties.

The meeting was organized by the government-affiliated Myanmar Peace Center as part of three days of talks aimed at narrowing differences ahead of negotiations between the rebel groups and the government on a nationwide cease-fire next month.

Attendees said the talks had set the pace for future meetings between political parties and exile ethnic organizations.

“We were able to build trust and unity between the groups inside and outside the country,” UNFC deputy secretary Khun Okka told RFA’s Myanmar Service after the meeting.

“All the organizations have the same aim of forming a federal union. So we expect that our collaboration among all organizations will be stronger than before to work on peace,” he said.

Shan Nationalities Development Party representative Sai Eike Poung said future meetings between the two sides could help “build trust.”

“All ethnic armed groups, ethnic parties, and [opposition] political parties believe in the federal union,” he said.

Political party representatives met separately with members of the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), a rebel group that is not part of the UNFC, as well as the Thailand-based Women’s League of Burma and the Nationwide Cease-Fire Coalition Team.

On Saturday, the group will meet with Shan communities based in Chiang Mai.

Peace process

The series of meetings are an opportunity for political parties to weigh in on the peace process spearheaded by President Thein Sein’s government, which is racing to end conflict with the rebels to speed up reforms after decades of military rule.

After talks in Thailand, the Nationwide Cease-fire Coalition Team is expected to draw up a draft nationwide cease-fire pact that will be sent to the government next week ahead of the next round of negotiations in the Kayin (Karen) state capital Hpa-An.

Government negotiators have said they want to get all of the rebel groups to sign the nationwide cease-fire together at a ceremony in Naypyidaw by the end of the year.

But the peace process has hit stumbling blocks as the rebel groups demand a federal military and amendments to the constitution to create a federal political system allowing ethnic states greater autonomy, as well as political and social reforms.

Rebel militias have insisted their forces should be incorporated into the current national military, military officials have said that a plan allowing ethnic armed leaders granted a degree of operational autonomy in ethnic regions would cause the collapse of the current national army.

Many of Myanmar’s opposition and ethnic-based parties have called for amending the constitution and for greater autonomy for ethnic states.

National Democratic Force chairman Khin Maung Swe called on President Thein Sein to clarify what the government’s position will be on the structure of a federal army.

“The only person who can clear these doubts is the president. The president must explain his promises about the army to ethnic armed groups,” Khin Maung Swe said.

“That’s why we domestic political parties came here, to create pressure for building trust,” he said

Sunday, November 24, 2013 | Posted in , , , | Read More »

‘Yangon’s Development Is Key’


Akihito Sanjo is a senior representative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Burma. 
(Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — Earlier this year, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the development aid arm of the Japanese government, presented a grand plan for how to develop the city of Rangoon, Burma’s biggest city and commercial hub. The plan describes infrastructure projects needed to make the city, also known as Yangon, a more comfortable and well-managed place to live by 2040, and was developed in cooperation with local government authorities. The Irrawaddy’s Naomi Gingold recently spoke with Akihito Sanjo, a senior representative of JICA and director of “The Strategic Urban Development Plan of Greater Yangon,” to find out more details about JICA’s master plan.
Question: What is the Strategic Urban Development Plan of Greater Yangon, and how did the idea develop?
Answer: Right now, the population of Yangon is about 5 million to 6 million people. In 2030, it is expected to be on the scale of 10 million. There needs to be enough infrastructure here to support a population of that size. As the largest commercial center, Yangon’s development is key to the future development of Myanmar [Burma]. So JICA joined the Yangon Regional Government and the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC) to figure out what could we do to help.
We made a strategy plan, setting the year 2040 as our target. Experts from various branches of urban development—traffic, water, sewage, the environment, waste—wrote step-by-step goals for how the city should develop along the way, in 2015, 2020, 2030, etc. We held public consultations with different members of civil society to get their opinions, and then around the beginning of this year, we submitted the master plan to the Myanmar government. The plan targets not only the existing commercial area of Yangon, but also future areas to be developed—areas that, because of the rivers, were neglected in the past, like Dala and Thilawa. We’ve discussed with the government the need to define the exact region in order to ensure controlled and effective development.
Q: Why would Japan and JICA be interested in undertaking such a project?
A: From the 1970s and into the 1980s, Japan experienced rapid urbanization, as well as environmental deterioration. We thought our knowledge and experience would be an asset when designing and implementing a development plan for Myanmar. As for how Japan benefits, Japanese companies are interested in investing in upcoming infrastructure projects in Yangon. So, for example, Japan can provide grant aid to Yangon for the projects, and Yangon may choose to award the contracts to Japanese companies. The benefits go both ways.
Q: What are some of the biggest infrastructure problems you are grappling with here?
A: Only about 8 percent of Yangon residents have sewage collection and disposal services. Furthermore, sewage goes into the rivers untreated. In terms of waste management, in five years’ time the capacity at the garbage disposal sites for Yangon will be full. It’s a very, very urgent issue. From a sanitation perspective, the city’s current way of burying and disposing of garbage is not very good. We’ve suggested better methods, as well as proposed the creation of a new final disposal site and a more efficient way to collect garbage.
Q: Tell me about the timeline for the plan.
A: Our master plan doesn’t have minute details on, for example, where we’re building a bridge. Instead we tried to think about: in 2040, what do we need? In 2030, what will we need? What kind of scale of city do we need?
There are quite a few things that the two governments are still negotiating, but there are two projects we’ve already committed to. Currently, to get to Dala, you have to cross by ferry because there is no bridge, and the ferry is very old and dangerous. We’re going to provide three new ferries. Also we are going to refurbish and renovate the water treatment facilities in the northern part of Yangon city. That Nyaung Napin water treatment facility currently provides 40 percent of the total water for Yangon city, so it’s a very, very important facility, but it has really aged. Of four pumping stations, two are out of order. Both projects will be completed in the latter half of next year.
Q: As for transportation infrastructure, after the ferries to Dala, what’s next?
A: Getting rid of Yangon’s traffic jams is one of the greatest matters of concern in the country, not just for the Yangon city government, but the Myanmar government in Naypyidaw. JICA has put forth three ways of dealing with the traffic. The first is to increase the capacity of the roads, the second is to introduce a public transportation system, and the third one is to decrease the number of vehicles on the road. The third is, of course, unpopular with people in any country, so it’s a measure the government doesn’t want to take. They’re most interested in building a public transportation system, as well as increasing the capacity of roads.  Right now they’re building a lot of flyovers in order to do that.
JICA is trying to do the second option—build a practical public transportation system. For example, we want to introduce a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system. That’s the first and quickest step. The second is to build a light railway transit system (LRT), like a monorail or skytrain. But an LRT system requires a much larger investment, so it’s more of a mid-term solution.  Given Yangon’s population, an LRT system would be a natural fit, but the economics present an obstacle; local residents cannot afford to pay for the construction and running of such a skytrain project.
Q: When could we look forward to the BRT possibly being built here?
A: Two years ago when JICA said let’s join forces, the Myanmar government told us: If you can’t build the BRT within a year, then we won’t ask you to build it for us. We told them that we couldn’t do it that fast, so they decided to take matters into their own hands.
The Myanmar government has said they will introduce it within the year… They are currently planning to build it along Pyay Road [a main artery of the city], from downtown near the Sule Pagoda all the way up to the airport. If it goes well, they’ll add another line.
Q: What does JICA think is a reasonable expectation for when the BRT would actually be introduced?
A: If we introduce the BRT system to Yangon city, it would take about two years from the time we start. We need time for construction, time to set up the management operations, and we need special buses for it. Usually we carry out a pilot project to see whether the system would fit in the city—we have experience introducing a BRT system to Jakarta. But the Myanmar government decided to introduce the BRT without any pilot project.
Q: You seem like you are not so happy about that.
A: The Japanese side always tries to do enough preparation so that there is no wasted investment, but there are certainly other ways of doing things. Currently, they’re making a lot of flyovers.  If you make a flyover, a BRT usually can’t get through, and so the flyovers become obstacles. We’ve been saying, how about we think more about the long term? We’re not really seeing eye to eye on this right now.
Q: How much of the master plan to develop Yangon will be led by JICA, rather than the Myanmar government?
A: The master plan lays out many projects to implement. We want to choose and give priority to the projects that are the most urgent and have the most potential for effective resolution. But JICA can really only do a small amount of all the proposed projects, and the Myanmar government is also limited by funds. Without the cooperation of other countries, we won’t be able to make Yangon’s city development a reality. We’re currently talking with aid agencies to decide who will take the lead in each sector. For example, Japan is the leader in the transportation sector; in education, it’s the UK.
Q: Let’s talk about the Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ). What’s JICA’s role?
A: The Myanmar government wanted to create a Special Economic Zone near Yangon; JICA, as well as Japanese corporations, decided to work together with them on it. Our role is to set up the necessary infrastructure for the SEZ: for example, the water infrastructure, roads, maintenance on the port, etc.
Q: What kind of Special Economic Zone will Thilawa be?
A: That is what JICA and the Myanmar government are currently discussing.  Do we make it focused on the food industry, the garment industry or more heavy industries? That hasn’t been decided yet. It also depends on what companies are interested in.
Q: Is there a timeline?
A: The Thilawa SEZ will start operating in 2018. We won’t start construction next month, but we want to start as soon as possible—hopefully by next year.
Q: What projects have already been agreed on?
A: The development of the port and the installation of the power supply station.
Q: In order to create the Dawei SEZ, the government displaced a lot of people. The current residents of Thilawa are also going to have to be moved to make the SEZ a reality. What are the plans to make sure that’s done in a fair and equitable way?
A: As the Myanmar government has not always necessarily operated according to international standards, they don’t really know, for example, how to provide proper compensation. We are talking to the government about this and advising them to do everything according to international standards. Compensation records will be released to the public, the media will play a watchdog role, there will be public meetings with the residents, and in the end, the residents will be able to tell us themselves if think it was carried out properly.
Q: Has working with the Myanmar government been a difficult process?
A: Sometimes difficult, but sometimes exciting. It’s been challenging, but in a good way.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013 | Posted in , , | Read More »

Insight: With Japan's help, an ex-soldier leads Yangon from backwater to megacity




Toe Aung, deputy head of urban planning, poses for a photo at the Yangon City hall, with the lit Sule Pagoda seen behind him, in Yangon, September 5, 2013. 
REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun



A man stretches early in the morning on the Banduhla bridge, in Yangon, September 6, 2013. 
REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun



A man sells guavas at a jetty along the Yangon river in Yangon, September 6, 2013. 
REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun



A general view of the city is seen in Yangon, September 6, 2013. 
REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun



A general view of the city is seen, with an illuminated Sule Pagoda standing out from amongst the other buildings, in central Yangon September 6, 2013. 
REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun



A general view of the city is seen in Yangon, September 6, 2013. 
REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun



Passengers look out the windows of a bus as they travel around Yangon, July 3, 2013. 
REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun



A line of vehicles drive through Shwegontai junction, one of the busiest junctions in the city, in Yangon, July 3, 2013. 
REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun




Lines of cars are seen stuck in a traffic jam along Alanpya Pagoda road in Yangon, July 3, 2013. 
REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun




A driver assistant (C) calls out to passengers at a bus stop in Yangon, July 4, 2013. 
REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun



A man pushes his bicycle through flood waters in central Yangon, August 22, 2013. 
REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun


By Andrew R.C. Marshall
YANGON | Tue Sep 10, 2013 5:21pm EDT
(Reuters) - Every evening, long after Yangon's office workers have squeezed onto packed buses for grueling commutes to the suburbs, a single room remains lit up on the top floor of City Hall.
Inside sits Toe Aung, a former army major who almost by accident bears one of the biggest responsibilities in reform-era Myanmar: planning Yangon's unstoppable transformation from a regional backwater into Southeast Asia's next megacity.
As deputy head of urban planning, a department which didn't exist until he set it up in 2011, Toe Aung's task is unenviable. With its power shortages, floods, traffic jams, pollution and slums, Yangon is a moldering testament to nearly half a century of economic stagnation under military dictatorship.
Its population of about 5 million is expected to double by 2040, reflecting the rapid urbanization of a largely rural country. The prospect of jobs is luring thousands of underemployed villagers into a city ill-prepared to receive them.
"So many problems," muses Toe Aung, whose soft-spoken English has a U.S. accent picked up as a child in Washington, where his father was a military attache at the Myanmar embassy. "Which should be prioritized?"
Some answers lie - at least on paper - in the Yangon Master Plan, a 852-page study drafted with funds and expertise from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which oversees Japan's aid to developing countries.
The plan will be finalized in December amid fears the city's soaring land prices are scaring off foreign investors. There are also concerns that City Hall's close cooperation with JICA will give Japanese companies an unfair advantage in bidding for infrastructure projects.
Yangon lost its status as Myanmar's capital in 2005, after the former military junta carved a new seat of government from a parched wilderness some 380 km (236 miles) to the north and called it Naypyitaw ("abode of kings").
But the old capital remains Myanmar's commercial, industrial and financial center, with Yangon Region accounting for about 22 percent of GDP in 2010-11, according to the master plan.
Yangon has the country's main ports, making it the most obvious location for export-oriented manufacturing. It is also the main tourist gateway, with visitor arrivals surging since a quasi-civilian government took office in 2011.
In short, Myanmar's reform-era economy depends upon the fortunes of its biggest city. JICA puts the cost of 103 "priority projects" in Yangon at $5.4 billion, with experts predicting the city's long-term transformation will cost tens of billions more.
SLEEPY NO MORE
As with all great cities, Yangon's dysfunction is part of its charm. But not if you live there.
The power shortages mean back-up generators clog its crumbling pavements. The rear windows of many dilapidated tenements look out upon alleys carpeted with rat-infested garbage. This clogs up drainage pipes and worsens the flooding during the monsoon season.
Downtown Yangon has a decrepit sewer system built when Myanmar, then better known as Burma, was a British colony. Elsewhere, septic tanks are emptied into open drains. Less than half the city has access to piped water.
Then there's the traffic. During decades of military-imposed isolation, Yangon boasted fresh air and sleepy roads. Not anymore. The easing of government restrictions on car imports in 2011 led to a surge of vehicles on Yangon's narrow and rutted streets. The city center is often gridlocked and thick with exhaust fumes.
Without a comprehensive land use and development plan, Yangon risks becoming "yet another poorly managed and unattractive Asian megacity", the Harvard Ash Center, which advises the Myanmar government, said in a report last year.
The JICA-led master plan proposes scores of projects, including a million-house building program, the regeneration of Yangon's waterfront and a new central business district just south of the existing airport.
The Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC), as City Hall is officially known, is already inviting foreign and local companies to tender for land leases in the new 14.8-hectare CBD.
Japan expects to benefit from these projects. Earlier this year it wrote off 176.1 billion yen ($1.78 billion) in debt and extended billions of yen more in aid, much of it earmarked for the Thilawa port and industrial zone being developed by Japanese companies to Yangon's southeast.
As well as the master plan, JICA is also conducting four studies to support Thilawa's development. Its staff occupy the office next to Toe Aung's.
Unlike its Western counterparts, Japan's aid agency often pursues a "two-pronged approach" to assistance, said Andrew Gulbrandson, an American urban planner who has given the master plan's authors critical feedback.
"First, they want to help. Second, they want to identify opportunities for investment," said Gulbrandson.
Case in point: a February seminar organized by City Hall and JICA to improve Yangon's water supply, sewerage and drainage. It was an all-Japanese affair attended by big constructioncompanies such as Kubota Corporation and senior Tokyo officials.
All this gives Japanese companies an edge when bidding for Yangon projects, said Sungmin Ko, assistant commercial attache at the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) in Yangon. "Even though it's open bidding, Japanese companies have more time, more information, more specs," he said.
Many Myanmar officials privately express a preference for Japanese firms, but this doesn't mean their bids will be successful, said Akihito Sanjo, a senior JICA representative in Yangon.
In August, for example, the Myanmar government awarded a billion-dollar project to build a new international airport for Yangon to South Korea's Incheon Airport, beating a consortium led by Japan's New Kansai International Airport.
"The result was very unfortunate for us," said Sanjo.
SOCIAL UNREST
Yangon's biggest problem is one the former junta had trouble even acknowledging, never mind tackling: widespread urban poverty. At least 40 percent of its residents are "poor or extremely poor", said the United Nations housing agency UN-HABITAT.
Yangon owes its grid-like central layout and monumental government buildings to the British, who ran the city for nearly a century until Myanmar won its independence in 1948.
But it owes many of its slums to the junta, who in the 1980s and 1990s moved thousands of people from the city center to suburban wastelands, where they live in flimsy, flood-prone settlements with little or no access to basic services.
A fast-growing population is also heaping pressure on already overburdened health and educational systems. Many families can't afford to send their children even to government schools, where supplies and various fees can cost up to 50,000 kyat ($50) a month - a huge sum when the average Myanmar salary is only a few dollars a day.
Failure to help this poor, ill-educated underclass in a city where luxury cars and other conspicuous displays of wealth are increasingly common could lead to social unrest. Most democracy uprisings in Yangon against the former junta were sparked by the economic woes of the people.
All this adds urgency to Toe Aung's work. It is often 10 p.m. before he leaves City Hall, a spire-bedecked monolith with cavernous, ill-lit rooms and desks piled high with Dickensian-looking ledgers. Computers are hard to spot.
Now 46, he spent 18 years in the Myanmar military, serving as a staff officer for a junta hardliner called Brigadier General Aung Thein Linn, whom the junta appointed mayor of Yangon in 2003. Toe Aung followed.
City Hall had no dedicated urban planning unit until Toe Aung set it up in September 2011, just six months after another reform-minded ex-soldier, Thein Sein, became Myanmar's president.
"My dream is to make Yangon a model of urban development," he said.
That might seem far-fetched, but stagnation and neglect has bequeathed Yangon some advantages over its Asian rivals. Its historic buildings, though in disrepair, have not been bulldozed, nor its green spaces devoured by greedy developers.
But time is running out. Much of the area slated for new development is unproductive agricultural land, but speculation is driving up its price, said Toe Aung. "We can't control land prices in our city," he said.
One such proposal being considered is a bridge to link the downtown with Dalat, a largely rural area on the opposite bank of the Yangon River. This has prompted land prices in Dalat to shoot up, said locals.
NO MOTORBIKES HERE
As gridlocked Asian capitals such as Jakarta and Dhaka show, megacities don't function properly without mass rapid transit systems. At least 80 percent of Yangon commuters rely on the antiquated buses which honk and jostle in the streets below Toe Aung's office. They are overcrowded even outside peak hours.
Motorcycles, common elsewhere in Asia, are not an option. They were banned by the former junta, because - so one story goes - a paranoid general felt vulnerable to bike-riding assassins. Reintroducing them to Yangon's clogged and chaotic streets would be "impossible", said Toe Aung.
Fortunately, Yangon already has a circle and suburban lines plied by infrequent, slow-moving and ramshackle trains that connect the center to suburbs and industrial estates. Japanese experts working at Myanmar Railways are already researching how to upgrade the circular line, although no contract has yet been awarded for the actual work, said JICA's Sanjo.
Japan is "definitely interested in that project", he added.
Yangon lacks two other things - the first being money.
The YCDC's 2012-13 budget is just 55 billion kyat ($56 million). Chicago, a city with half the population, passed a $6.5 billion budget last year.
The second is a charismatic mayor in the mold of New York City's Michael Bloomberg or Jakarta's popular governor Joko Widodo. But don't ask an old soldier like Toe Aung to comment on this. In 2011, his ex-boss was replaced as mayor by Hla Myint - another former brigadier general.

(Additional reporting by Jared Ferrie in Yangon. Editing by Dean Yates)

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