Monthly Archives: September 2014
Ethnic education
Written on September 30, 2014 at 12:05 am, by Ian Holliday
These days education reform is deeply contentious inside Myanmar. Last week the Irrawaddy reported that more than 200 civil society groups have joined the National Network for Education Reform in rejecting the National Education Bill – which, though scheduled for further parliamentary debate, seems likely not long from now to pass into law largely unchanged….
Zwe Yan Naing’s second solo show
Written on September 29, 2014 at 12:05 am, by Ian Holliday
Just a quick shout-out for Zwe Yan Naing’s second solo show, which opened at Yangon’s Pansodan Scene on Saturday, and closes on Wednesday. The title is “To Value Something”. His first solo exhibition was also at the Pansodan – Gallery rather than Scene, though. That took place in mid-February 2012 and focused on the strong…
Kenji Nagai
Written on September 26, 2014 at 12:05 am, by Ian Holliday
Kenji Nagai, the Japanese photojournalist known for his work notably in Iraq 2003, Palestine 2006 and Myanmar 2007, was shot and killed by state military forces on the streets of Yangon seven years ago tomorrow – September 27, 2007. He was 50. Lying wounded on the ground, he continued to take photos with a camera…
Freedom from fear
Written on September 25, 2014 at 12:05 am, by Ian Holliday
In July 1991, when Aung San Suu Kyi was slated to receive from the European Parliament the 1990 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, she published from house arrest an op-ed of varying lengths in many of the world’s great newspapers. “Freedom from fear” was the title she gave to it. In December 1991, soon…
From saffron to 969
Written on September 24, 2014 at 12:05 am, by Ian Holliday
Watching Burma VJ and looking back at 2007 from 2014, not such a great distance when all is said and done, you can’t help but wonder, again, how the monks of the saffron uprising became the monks of 969. In the movie everything looks so straightforward – get rid of the military junta and life…
Burma VJ
Written on September 23, 2014 at 12:05 am, by Ian Holliday
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country is Anders Østergaard’s 2008 documentary about Myanmar’s saffron uprising. It runs for a little under 90 minutes. An opening statement notes that the film “is comprised largely of material shot by undercover reporters in Burma”. Some scenes were also reconstructed to fill narrative gaps. The movie is an…
Saffron uprising
Written on September 22, 2014 at 12:05 am, by Ian Holliday
I’m going to blog this week about Myanmar’s 2007 saffron uprising. It’s hard to put precise dates around a series of protests triggered on August 15 by a withdrawal of government fuel subsidies, launched on August 19 by former political prisoners from the 88 Generation (who were all quickly arrested), boosted from the middle of…
Formula for a world-class university
Written on September 19, 2014 at 12:05 am, by Ian Holliday
Part of the agenda for higher education reform in Myanmar, maybe too large a part, focuses on making both the University of Yangon and Mandalay University world class. But how to do that? A few days ago Times Higher Education released a formula for a world-class university drawn from an analysis of the top 200…
September 18 in history
Written on September 18, 2014 at 12:05 am, by Ian Holliday
It’s not that I want to trawl back through history compiling a full inventory of things that happened on this day – those lists can easily be found on the web. Rather, I want to draw a contrast between what is taking place in Britain today, September 18, 2014, and what took place in Burma…
Myanmar in Transition
Written on September 17, 2014 at 12:05 am, by Ian Holliday
Myanmar in Transition: Opportunities and Challenges, released by ADB last week, is a useful and important report. It has fewer than 40 pages of text – but is packed with data and analysis. The headline story (from page vii) has been widely reported: “Myanmar could grow at 7%-8% for a decade or more and raise…