Young people and their families are seeking any way they can to evade the Myanmar military’s conscription drive – sometimes with the help of sympathetic local administrators.
BY

  

Young people and their families are seeking any way they can to evade the Myanmar military’s conscription drive – sometimes with the help of sympathetic local administrators.
Thin Lei Win left Myanmar during her teens and has worked as a journalist in Singapore, the United Kingdom and Vietnam, among others. In February this year, she returned to the country to help set up Myanmar Now, a press agency supported by the Thomson Reuters Foundation that produces stories in English and Myanmar. She spoke to Frontier about what the organisation can add to Myanmar’s media landscape and the future of journalism in the country.
Yathar Cho Industry leads the instant noodle market in Myanmar with its popular Yum Yum brand. When the second wave of investment begins after the elections foreign competitors will challenge the frontrunner. Frontier asked Yathar Cho Industry managing director U Wai Phyo, who is also vice-president of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, about reform, economic pessimism and Yum Yum’s flood relief.
Christina Win is the owner of Yangon Green Furniture. It is one of the few companies in Yangon making furniture from recycled and reclaimed timber and focusing on the domestic market. When Christina Win returned to Myanmar after living in Thailand, Israel, Australia and Singapore, she found it difficult to buy the furniture she wanted for her apartment. Trained as a jewellery designer, she began designing furniture in 2013 and the next year opened Yangon Green Furniture in a house built by her grandparents in Mayangone Township. Christina Win spoke to Frontier about her decision to use reclaimed timber, the challenges she faces in the market and the future of eco-friendly products in Myanmar.
Bo Bo Entertainment is a household name in the Myanmar music industry. The company organises events and concerts, produces merchandise and records and promotes superstars like Thar Thar, Ye Yint Aung and Mi Sandi. But not all is well in the music industry. Frontier talked with managing director Bo San about piracy, the new Copyright Law, shrinking market volumes and foreign investors lurking in the background.

Latest Issue

Stories in this issue
Myanmar enters 2021 with more friends than foes
The early delivery of vaccines is one of the many boons of the country’s geopolitics, but to really take advantage, Myanmar must bury the legacy of its isolationist past.
Will the Kayin BGF go quietly?
The Kayin State Border Guard Force has come under intense pressure from the Tatmadaw over its extensive, controversial business interests and there’s concern the ultimatum could trigger fresh hostilities in one of the country’s most war-torn areas.