• FOREIGN INVESTMENT LAW GOING THROUGH SUCCESSIVE DRAFTS!
• HELLO, U AUNG KYI! GOOD BYE, U KYAW HSAN!
• PNLO BECOMES 13TH GROUP TO SIGN CEASEFIRE!
• SHAN EDITOR NOT ON DE-BLACKLISTED LIST!
• KACHINS DEMAND PUNISHMENT FOR THOSE DISOBEYING PRESIDENTIAL ORDER!

Cartoon
Tips for the President: Let’s hope that doesn’t happen here!

Think Piece
One of the most vicious and successful drug gangs in the country is being sheltered by.. the government?

No one has been arrested for (the murder of Od Sae Pua, a 49 year old prison warder, who had refused to accept a 200,000 baht bribery to turn a blind eye to drugs brought to inmates for outside), even though police claims to know exactly who did it. The government has been completely silent on the scandal.

Bangkok Post, 26 August 2012

If I had understood (the Dhamma) as I do now, I wouldn’t have done what I had done in March 1962.

Former dictator U Ne Win, Tayan yaw akha mya (Once upon a time) by U Chit Hlaing aka Ko Ko Maung

Farmland Law and Vacant, Fallow and Virgin Lands Management Law (passed in March)

They provide little protection and could make more farmers landless, say activists and experts. Businesses would be the winners and farmer losers. The farmland law opens the door to confiscation of agricultural land on any pretext associated with a state project or national interest. By 2010, nearly 1.75 million acres had been granted to 216 private businesses. Those who confiscated the lands are now members of parliament (like Zaykabar Khin Shwe and Yuzana Htay Myint).

Reuters Trust Law, 30 August 2012

---

The World
25 August 2012

Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the moon on 20 July 1969 passes away at the age of 82. (Agencies)

28 August 2012

Separatist Parti Quebecois (PQ) wins in provincial election. A third referendum on splitting off from Canada when the time is right, says PQ leader Pauline Marois. Polls for independence is only 40%. Separatists lost heavily in 1980 and won 49.4% in 1995. (Reuters/Bangkok Post)

31 August 2012
Singapore will have no original citizens left to form the majority by 2025, if young people no longer build families, say founding father Lee Kuan Yew and the government. About 44% of men and 31% of women aged 30 to 34 are single. The work force is already dependent on immigrant labor. (DPA)

---

International Relations
27 August 2012

Dr Babatunde Osotimehin, director of UN Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) meets President Thein Sein to discuss how the fund can support development and reform process. (MNA)

28 August 2012
Planned foreign investment law has been delayed for 8 months as domestic critics say the initial draft was too generous to foreign investors. The law has become less liberal with each draft, says Australian economist Sean Turnell. Even Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) chairman Soe Thane says the existing law is even better. (Financial Times)

29 August 2012
Washington waives a visa ban ahead of a visit next month by President Thein Sein to the UN General Assembly to be held in New York. (AP)

30 August 2012
Five leading activists will be awarded with National Endowment for Democracy (NED)’s 2012 Democracy Award on 20 September in Washington:

• Min Ko Naing
• Hkun Htun Oo
• Kyaw Thu
• Dr Cynthia Maung
• Aung Din

Aung San Suu Kyi will also be among those present to pay tribute to the 5 recipients. (Narinjara)

---

Thai-Burma Relations
26 August 2012
Burma has agreed to resume the Joint Border Committee (JBC) meeting this October in Pagan, says Vasin Teeravechyan, co-chairman of Thai-Myanmar JBC. The last JBC meeting was held 7 years ago. (Bangkok Post)

28 August 2012
22 MPs are in Bangkok to study the Thai parliamentary system and public administration. They include those from Arakan, Chin, Karen, Shan and Kachin parties. (IMNA)

29 August 2012

Craig Steffensen, Asian Development Bank’s Thailand country director, speaking at Thailand Focus 2012 forum in Bangkok, urges Thailand to build the cross-border route to Dawei:

• Nonthaburi-Kanchanaburi 98 km
• Kanchanaburi-Phu Namron 70 km
• Phu Namron-Dawei 160 km

(Bangkok Post)

31 August 2012
PM Yingluck Shinawatra’s planned visit to Dawei has yet to be endorsed by Naypyitaw. (TN)

---

Politics/ Inside Burma
27 August 2012
Naypyitaw announces cabinet reshuffle:
U Soe Thein, Industry, # 2 President’s office
U Aung Min, Railway, President’s office
U Hla Tun, Finance, President’s office
U Tin Naing Thein, Planning, President’s office
U Aung Kyi, Labor, Information
U Kyaw Hsan, Information, Co-operatives
U Ohn Myint, Cooperatives, Livestock & Fishery
U Aye Myint, Science &Technology, Industry
U Tint Hsan, Sports (joint), Sports
15 deputy ministers also appointed.
(MNA)

27 August 2012
Parliament passes resolution by secret vote 447-168 in favor of a proposal urging 9 member constitution tribunal to admit and issue statement it had mistakenly given a verdict defining parliament-formed committees, commissions and organizations as not union level organizations on 28 March. (Xinhua)

29 August 2012
Another 3 ministers “allowed to resign”:
• U Khin Maung Myint Construction
• U Zaw Min Electric Power
• U Lun Maung Auditor General
(The Nation)

31 August 2012
Dr Naing Aung, Nyo Ohn Myint, Thaung Htun, Aung Moe Zaw and Maung Maung are leaving for Burma today. A group of former ABSDF members hold a press conference of the killing of their comrades executed 20 years ago allegedly under the orders of Dr Naing Aung and Ronald Aung Naing. Former military intelligence people must be included in the truth-finding process and not one-sided, says Dr Naing Aung. A lawsuit has been filed “against those responsible” at a township court last week. (Irrawaddy)

---

Ethnic Affairs
19 August 2012
Nationalities Brotherhood Forum (NBF) releases statement to ask the government to let ethnic people use their own ethnic titles on identification cards and in 2014 census. (Irrawaddy) Myint Kyaing, director general of the Department of Population, says there is no option of rejecting ‘Maung’ or ‘U’. To prepare for the start of the census on 1 April 2014, the government has begun forming committees that will draw up lists and maps for different regions. Rohingyas will also be included ‘because they are human beings,’ he says on 30 August. (Irrawaddy)

25 August 2012
PaO National Liberation Organization (PNLO) signs 5 point state level agreement and 8 point union level agreement in Taunggyi. (MNA)

27 August 2012

Saw Mra Raza Lin, CC member of Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) that has signed ceasefire agreement with Naypyitaw, welcomed by 600 people in Arakan capital Sittwe. She is leaving for Rangoon on 30 August. (Mizzima/Narinjara)

28 August 2012
Karen National Union and the Union Peacemaking Work Committee have agreed to meet in Pa-an on 3-4 September. (KNU Press Release)

---

Shans/ Shan State
27 August 2012
Deputy Border Affairs minister Maj Gen Zaw Win visited Wa Special Region # 2:
16 August – Wiangkao, inspects Songpu hydropower plant
17 August – Panghsang, meets Xiao Minliang, Bao Youri, Zhao Zhongdang, Bao Youliang, Ai Lone, Zhao Guo-ang, U Aung Myint, Bo Laikham and others. Delivers K 30 million allowance and K 66 million for rice. (MNA)

27 August 2012
Hkun Htun Oo, in Bangkok since 22 August for medical checkup, returns to Rangoon. (SHAN)

29 August 2012
Shan CBOs lend support to ethnic working group’s 7 point peace plan. (SHAN)

---

Economy/ Business
28 August 2012
Mitsubishi, Marubeni and Sumitomo will team up for a 49% share in Thilawa, close to deep sea port, to develop a special economic zone near Rongoon, says Win Aung, chairman of Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry. (Reuters)

---

Human Rights
25 August 2012
The Indonesian Red Cross sends 8-member aid team to Arakan State. (AFP)

26 August 2012
European Commission (EC) has requested Burma to provide citizenship to the Rohingyas, says EC Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Office Director-General Esko Kentrschynsky to visiting Bangladesh Food and Disaster Management Minister Abdur Razzaque. (Daily Star)

27 August 2012
Government announces 2,082 people out of 6,165 have been removed from the blacklist. The move is aimed at both exiles and Burmese activists currently living in the country. The announcement comes after the 88 Generation Students group criticized the government for refusing to issue passports to them. (MNA/Irrawaddy)

27 August 2012
Court in Maungdaw sentenced to prison 2 UN staff members and 1 humanitarian aid worker on Friday, says UNHCR in Bangkok. At least 12 were detained in June. So far 6 have been released. (Irrawaddy)

27 August 2012
Norwegian Refugee Council, contracted by Norwegian-led Myanmar Peace Support Initiative (MPSI), will begin house-to-house survey of refugees in Koung Jor camp in Chiangmai about their willingnese to move to Mong Hta, according to a Shan community press release. Refugees told NRC in July they did not want to go back due to fear of the Burmese army and other pro-government militias in the area. (Press Release/Mizzima)

27 August 2012
Mizzima News issues statement its websites are under DDoS attack (a type that overloads traffic in a server, resulting in slow processing time or complete shutdown of the server). It has received several threats in reference to its coverage of ongoing hostilities in Rakhine. (Mizzima)

28 August 2012
President Thein Sein pardons three convicted aid workers, all of whom are Burmese Muslims. (VOA)

29 August 2012

Lawyer and NLD member Saw Kyaw Kyaw Min, who returned to Burma in May, sentenced to 6 months in prison for contempt of court. (DVB)

29 August 2012
5 Special Bureau officers will be taken action for the death of Nang Wo Phan, who fell down a 5 story SB building on 24 March, 3 days after she was interrogated in connection to legal case involving land purchase. Her Japanese husband Namase Motohiko and 5 others are being tried since 17 May. Her mysterious death had drawn much criticism from the reader when it was reported by the media. (Venus News)

31 August 2012

Vivian Tan, UNHCR spokesperson in Asia, says Chinese authorities did not grant permission for her organization to reach Kachin civilians who were forced to return to Burma. (Irrawaddy)

31 August 2012
Yuzana Htay Myint has agreed to return more than 1,000 acres of confiscated land in Kachin Hukawng valley, says activist Bawk Ja. (Mizzima)

---

Environment
24 August 2012

President Thein Sein visits Irrawaddy and Pegu regions where floods have affected more than 180,000 hectares of rice fields. (Mizzima)

25 August 2012
At least 85,000 people have fled homes after the worst flooding in years in the delta region. About 70,000 are being housed at 219 emergency relief centers, says Soe Tun, a member of the government’s emergency response team. More than 240,000 hectares of rice fields are swamped. (AP)

---

Drugs
23 August 2012
Chinese authorities say the three suspects Naw Kham, Hsang Kham and Yi Lai will go on trial next month. (VOA)

28 August 2012
Sai Aung Myat, godfather Naw Kham’s assistant, handed over to Chinese authorities “temporarily” by their Burmese counterparts. He was taken across Mongla-Daluo checkpoint in China. (SHAN)

30 August 2012
Chin State government has proposed to replace poppy cultivation in Tonzang township. Since 20 July, it has been making a list of farmers to be recipients of alternative crop plantation loans. (Khonumthung)

31 August 2012
Asean holds 3-day drug meeting in Bangkok. Maesai is the main channel of drug problem for Thailand and the hope of Asean achieving drug-free status by 2015 depends on Myanmar, according to Thai deputy prime minister Chalerm Yubomroong. (Chiangrai Times)

---

War
30 August 2012
11 Kachin community-based organizations call for “immediate stop” to offensives against the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) saying they are destroying “the trust between both sides.” It also urges Naypyitaw to take “tangible actions against those who ignore the president’s orders.” (Mizzima)

---