Monthly Archives: December 2014
Finnish Lessons
Written on December 11, 2014 at 12:05 am, by Ian Holliday
A week or two ago my friend and former colleague David Skidmore posted a link on Facebook to a review that appeared in the New York Review of Books nearly three years back. The book is Finnish Lessons: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland? by Pasi Sahlberg. The review, published in…
Myanmar futures
Written on December 10, 2014 at 12:05 am, by Ian Holliday
Nearly four years into Myanmar’s transition, questions about where the country is heading are on nearly everyone’s mind. Certainly in Yangon, admittedly a very political city, you only have to take a taxi or sit down for a casual chat and the conversation quickly veers in that direction. The fact that the 2015 general election…
Education for everyone
Written on December 9, 2014 at 12:05 am, by Ian Holliday
The University of Hong Kong was privileged last Friday to host Professor Richard C Levin, from 1993 to 2013 president of Yale University, and since the start of April this year CEO of Coursera, the world’s largest MOOC platform. Rick participated in several events on campus, and during the day certainly succeeded in conveying the…
Death of a Hero
Written on December 8, 2014 at 8:05 am, by Ian Holliday
Today is the 40th anniversary of the Rangoon funeral of former UN Secretary-General U Thant. It was by no means an ordinary occasion. Neither was it distinctive in ways that might be expected for the most illustrious Burmese of his generation. Rather, it constituted an act of rebellion led by students and supported by monks…
Private-sector investment in Myanmar’s higher education
Written on December 5, 2014 at 12:05 am, by Ian Holliday
The British Council has just published an e-book entitled Grand Challenges in Asia-Pacific Education. In it, chapter 7 by Roger Chao takes the title “Private sector investment: enhancing capacity and quality in Myanmar’s higher education sector”. It’s a brief analysis, but it contains some good points. The basic argument is this: “Increasing private sector investment…
Banned in Burma in the New York Times
Written on December 4, 2014 at 12:05 am, by Ian Holliday
My apology for this puff post – but it’s not every day you get a mention in the New York Times. Banned in Burma has done just that. In the hard copy of the international edition, Philip Heijmans’ “New freedom for Myanmar’s artists” appeared last Friday, and was a very welcome trailer for our three-day…
Jade, heroin and HIV in Kachin State
Written on December 3, 2014 at 12:05 am, by Ian Holliday
Dan Levin has an excellent long article in the New York Times – “Searching for Burmese jade, and finding misery”. As a bonus feature, Jonah M Kessel has a superb accompanying 11-minute documentary video – “Jade’s deadly journey”. Both focus on jade mining in Hpakant, Kachin State, and on pervasive heroin addiction and very high…
Pillay on R2P
Written on December 2, 2014 at 12:05 am, by Ian Holliday
I only recently came across the text of the Fourth Annual Gareth Evans Lecture delivered by Navi Pillay, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, on October 29, 2014 at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City. Her title was “Stopping Mass Atrocities and Promoting Human Rights: My Work as the UN High Commissioner…
The Saya San rebellion
Written on December 1, 2014 at 12:05 am, by Ian Holliday
One week ago, Maitrii Aung-Thwin visited City University of Hong Kong to give a terrific presentation on the Saya San revolt. His actual title was “In the shadow of the king: rural resistance and special rebellion law in colonial Burma”. It was fascinating to learn more about an uprising fomented in Tharrawaddy District (three and…