Volume 4, Issue 18

October 25, 2018

Volume 4, Issue 18

Yangon hustle: the shadowy trade in gold and dollars

Panic over a falling currency and surging gold prices has put the spotlight on a network of brokers and speculators profiting from – and possibly fuelling – volatility.

BY Hein Ko Soe

Editorial, Opinion

Cash flow problems

Exchange rates are highly political; in Myanmar, the ups and downs of the kyat are often considered a barometer of economic performance.

BY Frontier & Frontier

News Feed, News, Affairs

Controversy unfurls as MP flags respect issue

A Yangon Region MP has generated controversy by complaining about people – in particular, Muslims – who refuse to stand for the national flag in cinemas.

BY Kyaw Lin Htoon

News Feed, News, Affairs, Features

Bringing the land use policy to life

After more than two years of uncertainty, the government has committed to establishing a National Land Law in line with the principles of the widely lauded National Land Use Policy.

BY Eva Hirschi

News Feed, News, Affairs

As camps close in Rakhine, humanitarians fear complicity in permanent segregation

Support more independent journalism like this.

BY Emanuel Stoakes & Ben Dunant

Bizfeed, Business, Features

Whisky mogul takes aim at foreign liquor producers over illegal imports

A half-hearted crackdown on the sale of imported liquor in Yangon has drawn attention to an increasingly bitter fight between liberalisers and protectionists.

BY Thomas Kean & Kyaw Ye Lynn

Bizfeed, Affairs, Business, Features

‘Myanmar needs to ensure safe and efficient use of its airspace’

Debate is growing over Myanmar’s infrastructure needs in the aviation sector and whether there is an economic case for a proposed new airport near Yangon in the short-term.

BY Frontier & Frontier

Photo Essays, News, Affairs, Features

Pedal power: Yangon commuters choose bicycles

Bicycles are becoming a preferred transport solution in Yangon for commuters tired of traffic jams.

BY Mratt Kyaw Thu

Opinion

Trade sanctions? The EU needs to learn from 2003

A trade ban imposed on Myanmar by the United States in 2003 savaged the garment industry and forced some young women into prostitution.

BY Geoffrey Goddard

Opinion

Feet of clay

Debate over the rescinding of honorary awards often reflects our own faults: our desire to create exaggerated images of our idols and our eagerness to judge them too soon.

BY David I Steinberg

Sithu Aung Myint, Opinion

The Eleven Media case and the state counsellor’s views on media freedom

Days after the arrest of three Eleven Media journalists, the state counsellor says outsiders would be surprised by the level of media freedom in Myanmar.

BY Sithu Aung Myint

News, Affairs, Features

‘Skeletons covered in skin’: inside Myanmar’s labour camps

Ex-guards describe convicts perishing en masse from exhaustion, vicious beatings, and starvation at remote camps with no access to medical care.

BY Myanmar Now

News Feed, News, Affairs, Features

By-elections are coming. Here’s why you should pay attention

Thirteen electoral contests on November 3 won’t alter the balance of power, but will serve as a barometer of political change across Myanmar.

BY Ben Dunant

Photo Essays, Affairs, Features, Culture

B-boys: Celebrating a passion for dance

A dedicated group of youth known as the Session Breakerz is helping to reinvigorate the street dance scene in Myanmar.

BY Emily Fishbein

Culture

A home for Om: Yoga in Yangon

The steady growth in global popularity of the ancient Indian practice of yoga is supporting a rising number of studios in Yangon as well as retreats in spectacular locations.

BY Loren Lee Chiesi