German guy dancing Mynamar net dance

Yangon local journal said their reporter did not breach any ethic or rules and regulations

Weekly Eleven on its website (www.first-11.com) criticized the two media outfits saying it was an “act of violating the journalistic code”, for allegedly using a second source based story related to its reporter Win Myint Kyaw, saying neither sought confirmation from the journal.
that website stated as follow .

The news of Reporter Ko Win Myint Kyaw of the Weekly Eleven News Journal broadcasted by the RFA and the Mizzima News have deviated from the actual event. The followings are the explanation of the Weekly Eleven News Journal about the recent incident.

The report from the RFA was that Reporter Ko Win Myint Kyaw of the Weekly Eleven News Journal bribed to a security employee of the Yangon General Hospital to take the photos of 13-year old A/H1N1 infected girl after saying he was a reporter of RFA; that he was quarantined at the Yangon General Hospital as soon as the incident has just happened; that he met with the responsible doctor after entering the room of the patient; that the authorities have kept him.

Moreover the Mizziama news agency reported with the so-called quote of a senior doctor that the young journalist did not use surgical mask and that he took the photos of A/H1N1 infected girl after bribing the security employee at the scene.

The real incident was that Ko Win Myint Kyaw and Ko Wai Yan Phyo Oo, the reporters of the Weekly Eleven News Journal, went to the Yangon General Hospital to cover the news in the morning of 28 June 2009. On the way, Ko Win Myint Kyaw was wearing the surgical mask. They first met with the deputy superintendent of the hospital. The latter suggested to interview with the medical superintendent of the hospital. Having known the A/H1N1 patient was being accommodated at the Tetanus Ward, they proceeded to there, and where they saw only one security employee. As he did not obstruct them, Ko Win Myint Kyaw went straight into the room of A/H1N1 patient. However, Ko Wai Yan Phyo Oo did not follow him, and waited for him at the outside of quarantine area. Ko Win Myint Kyaw took the photo of the patient at about 12 feet away from the latter for only a few seconds, and then he immediately went out of the room. While a responsible person of the hospital asked Ko Win Myint Kyaw if he was a doctor of a certain ward, he replied that he was just a journalist, not a doctor. Then Ko Win Myint Kyaw and Ko Wai Yan Phyo Oo returned from the Yangon General Hospital.

On the way back to the office, the two journalists went to the house of H1N1 patient located at the Wingaba Road of Bahan Township. They met only with some responsible persons of the quarter outside the house.

One of the responsible persons told them that they could not be allowed to enter the house; that the responsible doctors came to the house; the patient was getting relieved from the H1N1 flu. The responsible person of the quarter asked them where they come from. They replied they are from a news journal. After taking the photo of the house from outside, they returned to office. After that, due to the request of some responsible persons for the welfare of the public, Ko Win Myint Kyaw was sent to the Yangon General Hospital by the own program of the Weekly Eleven News Journal. Then, under the management of Dr. Nu Nu Thar, the medical superintendent of the Yangon General Hospital, he was preceded to Waibargi Hospital.

In this recent event, the RFA and the Mizzima News neglected on the strenuous efforts of a local journalist in covering a breaking news, and broadcasted that the journalist bribed the security employee of the hospital to take the photo of H1N1 patient; that he did not wear any facial protection mask. These news agencies broadcasted such random news without asking the reliable data to the journal, and their reports did not accord with the ethics of media persons. The responsible persons of the Weekly Eleven News Journal can answer to the questions under the rules and regulations of the country. However, these foreign news agencies recklessly posted unconfirmed news on their websites. Therefore, the Weekly Eleven News Journal strongly opposes to such irresponsible reports of RFA and Mizzama News.

It has been learnt that as Reporter Ko Win Myint Kyaw was not infected with A/H1N1 flu, or he did not suffer illness, he will be discharged from the Waibargi Hospital after 10 days of observation.
Wrong report of the Voice Weekly

The news writing of the ‘Voice Weekly’ Vol.5, No.35 (6-12 June, 2009), ‘… a reporter who interviewed with the 13 year-old A/H1N1 infected girl…’ stated under the headline news “A total of 203 people, including one reporter, observed suspect of A/H1N1” did not accord with the actual event.

In fact, Reporter Win Myint Kyaw did not interview with A/H1N1 infected girl.

Collapsed Buddhist Temple a Dark Sign for Burmese Dictator

The collapse of a 2,300-year-old Buddhist temple 15 minutes from Rangoon is being seen as a sign of the spirits’ disapproval of the military dictatorship and has Senior General Than Shwe worried, sources inside Burma say,
“It is a mysterious event, and people are talking about little else since they heard the news,” said an editor of a Rangoon newspaper. “Many pagodas have collapsed in the past because of natural disasters. But this pagoda collapsed not because of a disaster and even killed people. I have never seen this kind of event in my lifetime. We are afraid that bad things will follow soon.”
The 180-feet-high brick Danote Pagoda in Dala township came tumbling down the evening of May 30 as workers were restoring it, killing an estimated 20 workers and injuring dozens more. The collapse followed soon after Than Shwe’s wife, Kyaing Kyaing, and other family members dedicated the restored pagoda May 7 by placing a diamond umbrella atop the gold leaf-covered structure. The “hti,” or diamond umbrella, of a significant Buddhist pagoda is often adorned with diamonds, rubies, sapphires and other gems. A holy and powerful person such as a ranking monk, wealthy person or country ruler generally places the hti over the pagoda. The holy power of the pagoda accepts only the righteous person‘s donation, according to traditional belief. The diamond umbrella placed by the general’s wife fell to the ground during the collapse, signaling the spirits’ displeasure.
Danote is among the most famous pagodas in Burma. Built by a king of the southern region, the pagoda has been rocked by earthquakes many times in its long history. The Danote Pagoda was badly damaged by Cyclone Nargis in May 2008, and General Than Shwe ‘s wife leaded the repairs.
In Burma, a Buddhist nation where common people as well as the ruling generals depend largely on the advice of astrologers, Pagodas are closely tied to the power and the fortune of the country’s rulers. In ancient history, pagodas are said to have shown a beautiful holy light when the king ruled the country well. But pagodas have collapsed when the king was soon to lose power. Burma’s rulers traditionally believe that building and renovating pagodas will increase their power. Conversely, an event like the collapse of the Dala pagoda is a bad sign for a ruler’s fortune.
Despite an official ban on reporting the collapse in the media, news of the incident spread like wildfire throughout Burma, and the people believe that bad tidings are in store for General Than Shwe, sources in Burma said. A well-known astrologer said the guardian sprits of this pagoda and heaven have given Than Shwe a warning sign. The astrologer said the spirits didn’t accept his family donation because they are bad rulers who killed monks, students and democracy activists in many democracy protests over the years and arrested many innocent people seeking democracy.
Those arrested include Noble Peace Prize-winner Aung San Su Kyi, the democratically elected president of Burma and opposition leader who has spent 13 of the past 19 years under house arrest. Su Kyi, 64, is currently on trial for giving shelter to an American man who swam across a lake to her heavily-guarded home. Many Burmese see the trial as another attempt by the Burmese regime to prevent her from taking part in coming elections in 2010.
“I am an educated person. I don’t want to give any comment for this traditional belief,” said a Burmese physician living in Rangoon. “But I can say that it is a really a tough time for General Than Shwe and the other Burmese generals. Now they have got a lot international pressure for putting Aung San Su Kyi on trial again.”
Than Shwe’s wife led the restoration of the pagoda, demanding that the construction company finish the job before the end of May, which an astrologer chose as the most propitious time for the dedication ceremony. Burmese journalist have learned that Kyaing Kyaing urged township authorities to conscript navy men and local villagers as forced laborers to finish the project on schedule, therefore rushing the work. The military junta officially blamed the collapse on poor construction work and immediately began questioning construction company officials. Those officials and others including township authorities fear arrest, sources said.
The Junta issued an official warning after the collapse that people who speak of the collapse and rumors concerning the general’s family could face three years in prison.
The pagoda’s collapse is a clear sign of General Than Shwe’s fate, a well-know Rangoon fortune teller said. “General Than Shwe knows about his bad fortune. We are sad for the deaths of the people killed in the collapse. But we happy that the gods will give Than Shwe punishment sooner or later. If you don’t believe my fortune telling, let’s see what happens to him.”

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Catastrophe Worse Than a Cyclone

May 2 is the first anniversary of Cyclone Nargis for the people who live in the Irrawaddy Delta, where most of the more than 138,000 victims drowned when the cyclone roared through during the night. Even though Myanmar’s Military government says its rehabilitation process in the cyclone-affected area is going well, tens of thousands of survivors still struggle to eke out a life.

The biggest issue is drinking water. People in one village go to another village, a one-day trip, to get and buy drinking water. But many cyclone victims don’t even have money to buy drinking water. In the Hi Gyi Gyan region, Napudaw Township, there remains only20 percent of the drinking water for 9,637 people, Win Kyi, who is working for a local NGO, said.

Even in good years, villagers in the southern delta have had to buy water when ponds dry up. Now, prices are likely to be higher than ever because so many boats were destroyed in the deadly cyclone. Ponds, the traditional source of drinking water in the area, became heavily salinated when a three-metre tidal surge inundated much of the low-lying area.

Drinking water is not the only problem. Rice fields remain bare, even as food handouts wind down. Many schools have not reopened yet. Some reopened schools are short of teachers. A half million people live in rudimentary shelters. According to Myanmar government’s figure, an estimated 3.5 million people now live in the delta's towns and villages and the number is 15 percent of a total population of 53 million.

The situation of the Myanmar cyclone victims is made worse by the brutal military regime.

A few days after Cyclone Nagris hit Myanmar, China was hit with a 7.9 magnitude earthquake, killing an estimated 9,000 people at May 12. The news from China said eighty percent of the buildings in Sichuan province collapsed .But the reactions of each government were very difference. China sent some 130,000 army and paramilitary troops to the area by May 15 to carry out rescue and aid operations in the quake-hit areas, according to the government. Premier Wen Jiabao went immediately to the earthquake affected zone, while President Hu Jintao took a three-day tour of affected areas a few days after the earthquake. In the glare of the international spotlight over the pace of rescue operations, President Hu Jintao encouraged rescuers to quickly reach all affected area touched by the quake.

However, the Myanmar military regime only allowed international aid to the cyclone-affected area nearly three weeks after Cyclone Nargis hit, and then with restrictions.

“I am the only survivor from my family. My 1-year-old son and I survived from the high water wave at the top of a coconut tree. But we were living in water for the whole night. Even when the water level was down, nobody came to rescue us. We were waiting for help for three days without food and water. Finally, my son died because of starvation and cold,” Nyein Shwe, a 30-year-old woman from Kyaine Chanung village, Bogalay Township said.

The junta refused aid for three weeks, while thousands more suffered and died, leaving behind orphaned children and starving babies.

According to cyclone survivors, the junta did not even inform the Burmese people that there would be an approaching cyclone. Even though the Indian Ocean weather agency gave proper warnings to the Myanmar Department of Meteorology, Myanmar state-owned radio only launched a normal storm warning five hours before the cyclone struck. The government did not even explain what kind of storm was approaching. Nobody was evacuated before Nagris made landfall.

“We heard a storm warning from the radio. But there were many storms in the Delta during monsoon. We thought it was a normal storm announcement. Nobody told us that it is a dangerous storm which we never had before. If we had known about this, we would have moved to the nearest town before the cyclone struck,” Nyein Shwe, who lost her parents, four siblings and her only son in the cyclone, said.

In Buddhist Myanmar, Burmese people believe that disasters like flooding, earthquakes and storms happen because a bad government rules the country. Military rulers don’t want to allow bad news in the media fearing people will assume they are bad rulers. Htun Lwin, Director General of the Myanmar Department of Meteorology, later gave the reason his government announced this storm as a normal storm warning.

“At the time, we could not find a proper Burmese word to describe this kind of cyclone. It is easy to say in English. But in Burmese, we only have one word for cyclone. It was not perfect to describe Cyclone Nargis. This is why people did not fear our warning. Now we are trying to find a beautiful Burmese word to describe a big storm for the next time,” Htun Lwin said.

While the Junta could not find a proper word to describe Cyclone Nagris, more than 138,000 people perished, most of them farmers and fishermen in the Delta region. Deaths were also reported in and around Yangon, the country's largest city. Some 2.4 million people were severely affected by the cyclone with up to 800,000 people displaced. Moreover, the Burmese military junta continues to harass and detain people whodespite the odds have gone out of their way to help victims of Cyclone Nargis. Many well wishers including famous comedian Zaganar, Editor Zaw Thet Htwe and Myanmar Tribune Editor-in-Chief Aung Kyaw San and his team. They were arrested for helping cyclone victims. All detainees have recived long prison sentences. Zarganar was sentenced to 59 years in remote prison far from Yangon. Myanmar’s governnmet also held a controversial referendum May 10 in the wake of the destruction wrought by Cyclone Nargis. The outcome ratified a constitution designed to cement the military’s political power with a 92.4 percent “yes” vote.

According to official figures from the Yangon office of the World Food Program, the United Nation's appeal for $477 million closed one year later with only 66 percent funding ($315 million). Agriculture is the least-funded sector, with a shortfall of $42 million. Only 17,000 out of 375,000 destroyed houses have been rebuilt. Aid groups estimate at least 500,000 survivors, including 200,000 children, are living in makeshift shelters, primarily due to a lack of funding.

In February, the Tri Core GroupTCG (Association of South East Asian Nations, Governement of Myanmar, United nationS country team in Myanmar) said recovery would take three years and cost $700 million.

Dozens of foreign aid agencies are currently working in the Delta but some fear the regime may close the door in the future. The government has imposed a lot of restrictions on aid groups .

We heard the news about the government not allowing foreign aid agencies working in the cyclone area for next year. The government wants to finish all projects. They don’t want foreingners working in this area. They said every time is fine now,“ Win Kyi said.

World Deadly disatster Tsunami occured in South Esat Asia at 2004 . Until now, the rehabalition process in the tsunami-affected area is still going on. But the Myanmar Junta recently reported in state-owned newpapers that the Nargis-affected is recovering from the disater, and the lives of cyclone survivors are improving. State news reports said that Burmses people is enough if they have traditional fish paste. No more Hamburger and no more aids.

One year after the devastating cyclone Nargis hit Burma; the junta is already busy preparing for elections in 2010. The government’s announcement about preparing for upcoming elections in 2010 comes at a time where thousands of cyclone survivors still need basic assistance including food, farming equipments and shelter.


„Even one year later, the situation of the survivors is still bad . But government only care coming election instead of its poor survivors. We Burmeses peopel are facing a catastrophe worse than a cyclone,” Win Kyi added

Local journalists invited to Su Kyi trial again

Local journalists invited to Su Kyi trial again

Burma’s military regime allows the local journalists for hearing the trial of opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi back behind closed doors , after allowing diplomats and journalists to attend the hearing for just one day.
The junta had opened up the proceedings at the notorious Insein Prison near Yangon on last Wednesday, in an apparent concession to fierce international criticism of the charges against the Nobel Peace Prize winner.
“The local journalists have invited recently for press conference and to hear the trail . We also have received the ph call from scrutiny board in this evening (Monday)” said local journalist to yangontoday. After Only for one day were diplomats and press allowed and this is the second time for press.
Diplomats said on last Wednesday that they had been informed they would only be allowed in for one day, but the situation for the media was unclear until the official confirmation on Thursday

Burmese people Are Anxious About their detained leader

Burmese people from around the world anxious about their leader Aung San Su Kyi was taken from her house by military regime at yesterday and facing court trial in famous Insein prison.
We people from Singapore heard this news yesterday and we worry about her safety. We email about it to all Burmese we know. Military regime going to charge our detained leader for American swimmer who sneaked two nights in her compound, where she is being held under house arrest, Yin Yin who is working in Singapore said.
Military junta prepares to charged Su Kyi as Myanmar law Article 22 carries a sentence of between three and five years. They send her to jail from her house after one week they arrested US citizen John William Yettaw who swam across Lake Inya.
They are crazy people, this man get in the house because of lack of their security. Aung san Su Kyi is a detainee. They had responsibilities for her safety. She did not invite him.I am really angry on it when I heard that they are going to charge her. Oh, there are no justifications in Burma. A medical doctor who lives in New York said.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s current under house arrest is due to expire on 27 May, as stated by the Burmese military regime. Some political activists said Myanmar authority is taking the advantage for American swimmer case to extend detention of opposition leader until 2010.

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, May 11, 2009
BANGKOK – The two of us were detained in Mandalay on the evening of Wednesday, May 6, and
deported to Bangkok the following night. The arrest came within hours after we had finished a series of
feature writing and photography workshops, organized by the American Center in Yangon and
approved by the country’s Scrutiny Board (censors).
All of the 20+ government authorities we encountered during the ordeal said they were acting on orders
from Naypyidaw. They did not give a reason for the arrest. Many said they did not know why we were
arrested. They asked us nothing, told us nothing, searched nothing, took nothing. We were not
mistreated or manhandled.
We were arrested at our hotel after dinner on May 6. Immigration authorities came to the hotel lobby
and ordered us to pack for an evening train to Yangon. They said they had received the arrest order
from Naypyidaw half an hour after our last class and lecture had ended.
We spent the following 16 hours under the escort of two officials who shared our cabin. When we
arrived in Yangon, we were taken to the airport, then Immigration offices downtown, then back to the
airport for several hours before an evening flight to Bangkok.
We had been in Burma to teach and lecture about creative nonfiction feature writing and photography.
The programs were follow-ups to similar work we did in January, all of which had been approved and
acknowledged by the Scrutiny Board and the Special Branch (police). In fact, Special Branch officers
briefly visited Jerry on the first day of his class in Yangon, on April 27. All of our classes and lectures
proceeded without incident or further visits from the authorities.
We have no idea why we were arrested, though we have since heard many rumors. Perhaps it was
fallout after another American – whom we do not know nor have any connection to – allegedly swam
across a lake to meet Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon. We have heard people say we are CIA agents
in disguise as teachers – that is not true. We have heard people say we met with monks in monasteries
and other politically sensitive sources – that is not true. We have heard rumors that we met with the
Moustache Brothers comedy troupe in Mandalay – that is not true. In fact, we met very few people
outside of the classroom, mostly because we wanted to avoid any run-ins with the government for just
this reason.
Other rumors allege that we were working on sensitive stories. That is not true. The only story we had
in mind was a small piece on laphet thote, (pickled tea leaf salad) explaining the flavors, history and
cultural significance of the dish. This would have run on the food page of a travel magazine. In
Mandalay, a colleague introduced us to the owner of a longstanding laphet thote business. That man
invited us to see his place, which we did. He then invited us to visit a trade center where people buy
and sell beans and pulses, key ingredients for laphet thote. He was very excited about the invitation; we
thought little of it. We accepted and planned to meet on Thursday morning, – but we never had that
chance. This might be all, or part, of the reason we were deported.
What happened to us does not compare to what happens to Burmese who run afoul of their own
government. We were spooked, and the train trip was uncomfortable and unnecessary (we already had
plane tickets back to Yangon that could have been switched to Thursday morning). But we were fairly
certain we were not going to jail for years – or decades.
We are heartbroken to think we might not be able to return to Burma. But that is trivial to how we
worry about the safety of the people who helped us on these trips. We worked hard to avoid
government scrutiny, or any “journalistic” appearance. In the end, we cannot say why we were arrested.
That mystery rests with the Burmese government.
Jerry Redfern
Karen Coates
Bangkok
May 11, 2009
theramblingspoon@gmail.com
redcoates@hotmail.com