Photo: Hpra Zau Ring, The Kachin Times If a picture is worth a thousand words, the photo above poignantly captures the pain and suffering of decades of war and displacement endured by the Kachins. The iconic photo by Hpra Zau Ring of The Kachin Times was taken as villagers from the Njang Yang conflict zone started arriving at […]
Category: Opinion/Analysis
Opinion
Transformation of an Entrenched Political System: The Need for International Responsibility in Myanmar
Photo by Hkun Li In January 2009, Haruki Murakami received the Jerusalem Prize, a biennial literary award given to writers whose work deals with themes of human freedom, society, politics and government. In his acceptance speech Murakami spoke of the “System” which oppresses us. He said: “Each of us possesses a tangible living soul. The […]
Save the Irrawaddy by Offering Compensation
(English version of remarks delivered by panelist Lahpai Seng Raw on the public discussion event at Novotel-Yangon, on April 20, 2019) I am from Myitkyina, a Kachin, born and bred in the town just 27 miles downstream from where the Mali and NMai Rivers merge to form the great Irrawaddy, life blood of our nation. […]
China’s Belt Road Initiative: A Cautionary Tale for the Kachin
A Memorandum of Understanding to establish the China Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) was signed by the governments of Myanmar and China in September 2018. The CMEC forms part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a 21st century reimagining of the ancient Silk Road, the network of land and sea trade routes that once linked […]
National Reconciliation and the Advancement of Peace in Myanmar
“A church that doesn’t provoke any crises, a gospel that doesn’t unsettle, a word of God that doesn’t get under anyone’s skin, a word of God that doesn’t touch the real sin of the society in which it is being proclaimed – what gospel is that?” -Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador 16 April 1978 […]
Why Is Aung San Suu Kyi-led NLD Government Barking the Wrong Tree?
During its election campaigns, the NLD launched its 2015 election manifesto stressing on what NLD yelled ‘change’ with four principles, namely (1) ethnic affairs and internal peace, (2) a constitution that ensures that all the people of our country can live together in tranquility and security, (3) a system of government that will fairly and […]