Monthly Archives: August 2014
Aung Myint: 14 AM
Written on August 15, 2014 at 12:05 am, by Ian Holliday
Congratulations to TS1 Gallery on Yangon River’s Lanthit Jetty. Opening today, and running through September 20, is Aung Myint: 14 AM – a pretty cool title for a 14th solo show. One of Myanmar’s leading experimental artists, Aung Myint in this collection looks back at the age of 67 on a career dominated by five…
Commodity futures exchange
Written on August 14, 2014 at 12:05 am, by Ian Holliday
I confess that until a week or two ago at BSC I hadn’t given the notion of commodity futures exchange a single thought – didn’t even have a clear sense of what it is. But I was convinced of its significance to Myanmar’s economic growth when I attended a presentation by Myoe Myint, executive director…
Not easy to do business
Written on August 13, 2014 at 12:05 am, by Ian Holliday
Linked to Jared’s BSC presentation about doing business in Myanmar were some opening remarks from Zaw Oo, adviser to President Thein Sein on economic matters, and head of the Centre for Economic and Social Development at Myanmar Development Resource Institute. Among much else, he drew attention to the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index….
For my friends, anything
Written on August 12, 2014 at 12:05 am, by Ian Holliday
Jared Bissinger ended his excellent BSC presentation on doing business in Myanmar with this quotation: “For my friends, anything. For my enemies, the law.” It’s variously attributed to a host of South American dictators – Brazil’s Getulio Vargas by the BBC in 2005, for instance, and Peru’s Óscar R Benavides by the Economist in 2012….
Census and sensibility
Written on August 11, 2014 at 12:05 am, by Ian Holliday
Such a brilliant title from Jane Ferguson of the University of Sydney – I couldn’t resist. Also a great paper, as ever, delivered at BSC in Singapore just over a week ago. Mainly, of course, Jane focused on the manifold ways in which Myanmar’s 2014 census lacked sensibility, through not being appreciative of, or responsive…
Beyond Rangoon
Written on August 8, 2014 at 12:05 am, by Ian Holliday
Today is the 26th anniversary of Burma’s 8-8-88 uprising – not as special as last year’s milestone, but still not to be missed. Having looked at The Lady on Aung San Suu Kyi’s birthday in June, I turn now to Beyond Rangoon. Based on an actual story, the film was directed by John Boorman, and…
South on peace
Written on August 7, 2014 at 12:05 am, by Ian Holliday
One of the best talks at the Yunnan symposium was given by Ashley South – an update from a key figure in the Myanmar Peace Support Initiative. In common with the rest of us, he had only 15 minutes. In that time, though, he managed to provide a masterly survey. I have his permission to…
Peace process prognosis
Written on August 6, 2014 at 12:05 am, by Ian Holliday
As is only to be expected, Myanmar’s ongoing peace process was a prominent topic of debate in both Kunming and Singapore. The headline story was high-level official confirmation of what many have long thought – that not everything is going to be wrapped up ahead of the 2015 general election. Yes, there’s a strong chance…
Envisioning Myanmar
Written on August 5, 2014 at 12:05 am, by Ian Holliday
In the second half of last week, I moved from Kunming to Singapore to attend the International Burma Studies Conference 2014 – “Envisioning Myanmar: Issues, Images, Identities”. It was my first ever BSC, and it was great. Among a reported total of 270 delegates were gathered many big stars, giving even ordinary mortals the chance…
Reintegrating Myanmar into the international community
Written on August 4, 2014 at 12:05 am, by Ian Holliday
In the early part of last week I was in Kunming to attend the eighth iteration of an annual academic symposium on Myanmar – “Myanmar in 2014: Re-integrating into International Community”. The host was Professor Li Chenyang, Director of the Center for Myanmar Studies at Yunnan University. The co-organizers were the Charhar Institute, the Faculty…