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By now everyone on earth with an online access would have been aware of the incursion by Hamas across the Gaza with Israel and kidnapping and killing of innocent civilians. Israeli armed forces are on standby for a ground invasion into Gaza, with the aim of eliminating Hamas once and for all. It would be easier said than done. With a divided administration before this sortie, it be a challenge for Israel to muster enough consensus among its population for them if they be able to stomach caskets of Israeli soldiers coming home. With lack of sufficient intelligence on Hamas underground tunnels within Gaza, the casualties are expected to be sizeable. Remember high US casualties numbers in urban warfare along the streets of Fallujah and Mosul. And how the tunnel rats of Vietnam contributed to the US downfall in Indochina war of attrition.
Time is not on Israel side. As Sun Tzu noted, “Speed is the essence of war. Take advantage of the enemy’s unpreparedness; travel by unexpected routes and strike him where he has taken no precautions”. The world is also pressuring Israel to take the high road as it presses for the release of hostages and and the targeted revenge on Hamas terrorists, instead of widespread bombing of targets co-inhabited by civilians.
Both sides seem to be right from their own caucuses. The pessimistic ones would lament how unlikely this conflict would be resolved before the end of their life. Two states solutions have been argued and negotiated for years, since the times of resolution 242, but the none of these has born fruits. Essentially, the dispute can be boiled down on land ownership. Both Jews (Israeli) and Arabs (Palestinians) have claimed it as theirs alone. From a purely historical perspective, “Israel” predates “Palestine” by more than a millennium. But, with the Jewish people then dispersed from their homeland, “Palestine” became home to a substantial Arab population, again for more than a millennium.
If Hamas and the fundamentalists believe in wiping Israel out of this land, which according to the Book of Genesis, was the land promised by God to descendants of Abram’s, then the solution is even farther than the Alpha Centauri. Israel rhetoric in the past years have been, ‘If Palestinians lay down their arms, there will be peace in the Holy Land. If the Israeli lay down their arms, there would be no Israel.’ This oratory would not work as the solution either. In the mean time, the world awaits with an abated breath, praying that the altercation would not become a stepping stone for the all-dreaded WWIII!
Analogy and Contradiction with Western Myanmar
We are also in land dispute. On one side is the Myanmar people, Myanmar government and Myanmar Constitution. The other side is the Bangladeshi illegal immigrants, who labelled themselves as ‘Rohingyas’ demanding the self administrative land and the right to citizenship of Myanmar.
Myanmar people do not want them in Myanmar. Neither does the government. They are also not one of the 135 ethnic races recognised by our Constitution. Akin to the problems in the Holy Land, the British imperialists are the culprit of this problem and as usual, they left this trashy inheritance for the people of Myanmar. They brought these labourers from East Pakistan to work in rice fields within Myanmar and to work as their servants, yet as a role model for responsible and accountable behaviour of a fallen ex-super power, they did not bring them back to their places of origins post WWII period.
Most Islamic countries believe the land does not belong to Israel, despite the archeological fact that Jews were there prior. Yet, they want Myanmar to allow these ‘Rohingyas’ the right of stay and the right of citizenship, even though their invasion and illegal occupation has been less than 150 years old. It all boils down to land issue here too. The illegal occupation of land is still illegal.
Contrary to their position in Israel, most Arab countries and OIC are demanding the right of these illegal Bangladeshi to continue occupying the golden land. If they want the illegal occupiers of Arab lands to get out, should they not insist on illegal occupiers of Myanmar lands across the Western front to leave the land too?
Corrupt ex-LG Moe Myint Tun took personal benefits abusing the State’s foreign exchange policy, essential goods policy and other economic policies while serving under the auspices of the member of the State Administration Council, the Chairman of the Myanmar Investment Commission, the Chairman of the Foreign Exchange Supervisory Committee and Central Committee for Ensuring Smooth Flow of Trade and Goods.
Touted as the person to replace SG Min Aung Hlaing, he blatantly abused his position of power and committed treason by violating the roadmap and objectives adopted by the State. Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) sold US dollars for importing palm oil to be sold at the discounted rate to edible oil importers yet he did not take action against those entities or persons who had raised the price of palm oil, instead of toeing the state controlled price.
Moreover, he took bribes given by companies as part of the scam to cheat the government of foreign exchange, illegally keeping foreign exchange currencies and participating in civilian businesses by breaking directives related to the military discipline.
He was indicted under the court martial and the tribunal sentenced him to a prison term of a 20-years equivalent of a life sentence.
In a similar case, ex-BG Yan Naung Soe (an officer previously served under Moe Myint Tun) serving the duties of Joint Secretary of the Central Committee, took personal benefits against the economic policies of the State and committed treason to the State, together with ex-LG Moe Myint Tun. He also violated the roadmap and objectives adopted by the State by contravening the conformity with foreign exchange, essential goods and other economic policies.
He abused his position to profit from exchange rate differentials between the government set for essential goods and the actual prices charged to public by designated businesses. He accepted bribes in foreign currency and Myanmar kyats from businesspersons, paving connections between business persons and his partner in crime, Moe Myint Tun. He illegally kept foreign currencies and participated in the civilian businesses in breach of directives related to military discipline.
He was also court martial-led and sentenced for the term of a 20-year imprisonment equivalent to a life sentence.
Hopefully, they would not be so readily and easily pardoned in a couple of years time, as even the perception of corruption at the very top, let alone actual corruption, tear down the image of Myanmar across the world and degrade standing of its citizens among the nations!
Do you know that the temperatures in Ulaanbaatar start going negative from October onwards until end of March? In the middle of winter, the temperatures at night can go as low as -30C on average. By the way, that’s excluding the wind chill factor. And mind you, the wind speed on Mongolian grasslands can be fearsome. No wonder tourists are hard to come by in a capital city affectionately known as UB, Khot, or Lanbaatar.
But don’t lose heart! You can still experience (nearly) the same mongol culture and feel the experience elsewhere, in the province of Inner Mongolia, a province and autonomous region of the People’s Republic of China. Even though the province is dominated by the Hans in major cities, such as Hohhot (in Chinese, Hu He Hao Te), the vast grasslands with sparse density were all occupied by the Mongols, sharing the same culture and way of life as their cousins across the national boundary.
The temperatures are milder significantly, infrastructure more advanced and with obviously shorter travelling time from hubs within China, you would be hard pressed not to put your priority ranking on this, comparatively speaking. If you do take a bullet train from Beijing, it would set you back by a couple of hundred RMB, depending on the class of travel and you will reach the capital of Inner Mongolia region within two and half hours. The geography of the suburban areas comprised of unending horizons flat grasslands and deserts, a smaller replica of the greater Mongolia.
Hohhot
The capital of Inner Mongolia autonomous region is filled with captivating places of interests even without venturing out to the intricate world of Mongol cultures yet. The visit to Hohhot would not be complete without seeing the attractions of both heaven and earth in infusing the two great cultures, the Chinese and the Mongols.
Even in the era of the Mongol empire, peace between the northern tribe and the Han emperor was preserved by one famous woman, Wang Zhaojun. One of the four famous beauties of China, Wang sacrificed herself by volunteering to be the wife of the leader of the northern tribe. She was a 3rd or 4th ranked concubine of the Han emperor. The emperor never noticed her and by the time he realised what he had lost, Wang has been promised to the leader. Wang made the arduous journey to Mongolia. Along the trip, she sang and the flying geese looked at her and the legend has it that they all fall from the sky, after seeing Zhaojun’s beauty. Even though, the leader promised to send her back to China, after he died, that promise was never fulfilled. She was forced to marry his eldest son as one of his wives. She was never allowed to go back to China. Eventually they let her live close to China, in the current region of Inner Mongolia and she eventually passed away there. There was never a war between the Mongols and the Hans during the time Zhaojun was with the tribe leader. In addition to being a legendary beauty, she was a genuine heroine of the Han dynasty. Together with Xi Ji (Warring period), Diaochan (Three Kingdoms) and Yang Guifei (Tang), Wang Zhaojun (Han) was one of the four beauties of ancient China and she is the only one with a museum dedicated to her for her invaluable contributes towards the great Han.
Now that the earthly part of Hohhot is complete, we can now move onto more heavenly affairs. There is the famous Dazhao temple and well known five pagoda temple, evidencing the spread of Buddhism in mainland before the advent of communism. The former is the largest Buddhist temple in Inner Mongolia, constructed during the Ming dynasty. The latter is another noteworthy addition during the following Qing dynasty.
Grasslands and Deserts
Those who are into outdoors can check out the grasslands and deserts that Genghis Khan and his hoard of horsemen roamed one thousand years ago. Nearby the capital, there are some famous grasslands, namely, Xilamuren, Hulunuir and Gegentala. Observe the Yurts, or Gers, as they are called. These dwellings or houses of Mongols may be small, but the circular structure protects the strong winds from all directions. Once you reach the grasslands, you would instantly comprehend the power of such powerful gusts, accompanied by occasional mini tornados that could take away all of your loose possessions from hats to gloves while enveloping you with the dust, dirt and sand. Mongol culture can be observed in these dwellings from paying respect to Genghis Khan, infusion of Buddhism, keeping artefacts of wild animals to use of silverware for meals.
If that is not sandy enough for your liking, there is always the fringes of the world 3rd largest desert that you can explore. Kubuqi desert features many touristy attractions including camel rides, 4×4 driving, sand surfing, etc.
The costs are reasonable too. The tours are sensible so long as you do not crave for the add-ons such as horse riding or motor bike experience on these outdoors. Accommodation costs are also extremely value for money, probably due to the sparsity of regular visitors. As usual in China, infrastructure is flawless. Just make sure you got a google translator or similar device. And don’t forget to preload your VPN if you want to use any of the google services!
So, here you go! Without having to freeze your body along with your adventure, Inner Mongolia can surely give you a real taste of Mongol culture and travel back in time to figure out how the barbarians from this part of the world manage to amass the biggest land holding on earth while surviving such inclement weather in their homelands. May be all empires started while looking for better pastures elsewhere.
160 billion Kyats (~$55m) will be spent on hydropower projects in the 2023/24 financial year, according to the current Budget. The projects to be implemented in the 2023/24 financial year included Shweli-3, Thahtay, and Upper Kengtawng Projects.
In addition, 1.5 billion Kyats has been slated for the survey of new hydropower projects, 230 billion Kyats on substations and power cable lines, 127 billion Kyats on electricity supply and 2.7 billion Kyats on the maintenance of dams and hydropower plants.
Without sufficient supply of electricity across the country, the country will never get out of the poverty trap. Even African countries with years of development that started well behind Myanmar, are now having 24×7 electrical supply in all their major cities.
Trade Department under the Ministry of Commerce has unveiled three priority sectors for imports. The first priority sector covers pharmaceuticals, medical devices, fertilisers, pesticides, seeds, diesel, petrol, edible oil, raw materials used in livestock businesses, veterinary drugs, industrial raw materials, PET chips, food materials, plastic raw materials, medicine and herbal raw materials, packing materials, lubricants, engine oil, other industrial oil, tar and LPG gas. The importers are entitled to buy foreign currency to bring those items into the country.
The items on the second priority include iron and steel, paper and stationary, equipment for electricity generation, transmission and distribution, construction materials, machine and spare parts, tyre and rubber products, auto parts and accessories for telecommunication. Electronic goods, telephone, telecommunication device, telephone, food commodity, consumer goods, vehicle sfor commercial purpose and machineries are under the third priority sector.
This announcement represented further fine turning by the government to expedite the import processes while trying to maintain the balance of trade to avoid foreign currency shortage.
If you ever have a chance to live in Beijing for one month, would your views of China change? Can you imagine China being the most developed country in the world, at least in terms of infrastructure? Would you still dispute the statement that you can see blue skies on most days in Beijing? Welcome to the capital of the North, or rather, the Middle Kingdom!
Cleanliness: First, Beijing is one of the cleanest cities in the world. There are no rubbish lying around. Citizens can complain/report directly to municipality via WeChat messaging if any rubbish is left uncollected or uncleared. On the streets, on the walkways, on the overhead bridges, in buildings, there is simply no visible unsightly trash. There is no smell of stale urine that usually welcomes you in the European capitals of London and Paris. No loveable rodents running around just like in the subways of New York either. Very well kept and maintained infrastructure, bringing back memories of downtown Chicago.
Hardworking: Everyone in Beijing is so hardworking. From taxi drivers to deliverymen to cleaners, everyone is working tirelessly, believing in this country, its leadership and the fact that they do not want to fall back into the dark days of the great leap backward and the cultural revolution. They are thankful for the opportunities to be able to work hard to earn a decent living. The stories told by old folks of half of their villages starving to death are still afresh in many people minds.
Order and organisation everywhere: Based on our guesstimate, China may have more CCTV cameras than people. Every lamppost or higher up structure is fitted with 3 or 4 cameras looking at every angle to record every single movement of everyone. Other than your own private residence and the toilet, you will not be able to avoid being tracked. Hence, people behave. Everything is orderly. People queue at trains and entrances. Anti social behaviour is close to non existent. You would feel super safe that you could even leave your mobile around. You cannot find baggers either.
Most of the Chinese order things online, making payment via WeChat pay or Alipay. Then when the parcels arrived, the packages were just left lying around the drop zone. Anyone could have gone to pick any parcel or pilfer. But it does not happen. People just search for their individual package among many others, pick up what belongs to them and left. We would be hard pressed to find any other country in this world, being able to top that. The projection of integrity starts from the very bottom.
Food was good: Beijing food is typical Chinese food. Being the capital with 23 million people and a reasonable number of foreign population (all embassies are here), the food of your liking would not be difficult to find. The prices are very reasonable too. Chinese government always have the intention to ensure that the prices do not become out of reach from the majority of the working class – a recipe for social unrest.
Traffic and pollution: As recent as five years ago, Beijing air is famously polluted. But the change from coal power plants to nuclear and hydropower, decisively, ensures that blue skies are now visible from downtown Beijing. The car population has been controlled. Without a residency permit, do not even dream of buying a car in Beijing. Not allowed. Even Beijing residents have less than 1% chance of winning a permit in a car permit lottery system.
But do not lose heart. Metro cost is extremely cheap and it covers Beijing well. The max cost for a single trip is around 75c, regardless of how far you travel.
The capital also no longer allows motor bikes on the road. All new bikes are electric, hence no air or noise pollution from millions of these vehicles. Electric cars are also everywhere, showcasing that the country is ahead of the curve in this world and in line for reaching its targeted carbon neutrality by 2060.
The vastness and ring roads: Beijing occupies such a large area that having one or two ring road encircling the capital is not enough. It has seven major ring roads in all. A feat not seen in any capital on earth.
Attractions: If you want to learn 500 years of China history Beijing is the place to be. Great Wall, Old summer palace (that the British and French destroyed), New summer palace, Forbidden city, etc., awaits you in this ancient capital. The entrance fees are not expensive either. E.g., Beijing zoo entrance ticket just cost $4. Singapore zoo ticket cost $20.
Of course, being in a new city comes with its own set of difficulties. First and foremost would be the language barrier. The second would be the extensive use of digital payments. Cash is seldom used by locals and hence some shops are always short on change. Albeit these minor adjustments, you would be pleasantly surprised to realise that actions are more valuable compared to ideologies, the importance of good leadership in nations building and eventually, how overrated the concept of democracy is.
Gas-Powered balloon services over Bagan resumed for the coming tourist season, said Nan Tint, Chairman of NyaungU Township Administration Body in Bagan. The Shwe Lay Tagun (reddish brown) balloon team resumed its Balloons over Bagan services on the morning of October 7 from Hotel Zone (4) in Gantga Ward of Bagan Myothit of NyaungU Township. The team flew two gas-powered balloons with 16 passengers each over Bagan to enjoy the beautiful scene of the city. The tour lasted 45 minutes. It starts at Hotel Zone (4) in Gantga Ward of Bagan Myothit and ends in the southeast of Bagan Lodge Hotel, east of Bagan Myothit.
The travellers can now explore the Bagan Ancient Cultural Zone, the picturesque scenes of the Ayeyawady River, palm trees, Htanaung (Acacia leucophloea), neem trees and ancient buildings. The balloon tour that was suspended since the start of Covid, has now resumed. The Oriental Blooms Company launched the Balloons over Bagan service in 2013 with six balloons and the Golden Eagle Company also introduced the service in 2014 with another three balloons.
Plans are underway for visitors to tour Union National Race Village in Thar Kay Ta Township, of Yangon Region, by taking a cruise on the Yangon River and Bago River during the next tourist season, said San Hlaing, deputy director of the village. A pontoon bridge has been built at the village where boats can harboured to cruise along the famous Yangon and Bago Rivers.
As such, boats from villages along Bago River can be used in transport of visitors to dock at the newly established pontoon bridge of the village and jetties at Pansodan and Botahtaung. During the upcoming tourism season, the Yangon River and Bago River cruises will offer visitors the chance to explore the Union National Race Village and participate in programmes allowing visitors to learn to cook and enjoy ethnic foods.
One would be forgiven if the only thing ever heard about Xinjiang is on how China abused its power, denied human rights to Uyghur muslims there, and according to wikipedia, Uyghur genocide! Lamentably, that’s how the western media and propaganda go these days. Simple and naive conclusions were drawn having never visited Xinjiang or through interviews with less than 26 people out of Xinjiang 26 million population, in a vast area occupying 1/6 of the whole of China.
Even for visitors to China, free and easy or otherwise, Xinjiang would not be on your top 10 list of places to venture out in China. Unless you are directed specifically to go there, in a country where travelling without knowing Mandarin can really be more handicapped than being in a wheel chair, you would not be journeying towards the West.
Then there is the ‘insignificant’ issue of costs. To comfortably travel to either of the two Westernmost provinces of Mainland (Xinjiang or Tibet) for a week or so, would set you back by at least $10,000 per person. Not a tiny sum for 99% of the world population.
Yes, we have been there!
Not only the capital of Xinjiang (Urumqi), but also the cities of Karamay, Ili and Hotan.
The flight from the Capital of the North (Beijing) takes close to six hours, probably akin to flight time from Singapore to Shanghai. It’s all exciting to be going to the place where most parts of the Silk Road 2,000 years ago existed, yet gazing down from the plane only greeted you with miles and miles of desolate dunes of the desert, devoid of decent settlements down there. We wonder how the traders from Constantinople managed to cross such an enormous and empty expanse, unaccompanied by contemporary modes of transportation that we are so accustomed to, at this moment.
But not all is lost here! Once you reach the town of Karamay (in Chinese, Ka La Mar Yi), you would realise this third or fourth tier town is many times bigger than most cities in other parts of the world. Karamay is an oil city. You would certainly be impressed by the power of Chinese infrastructure. Suddenly, pristine freeways leading into the city popping right out of the barren wasteland. High rise residential towers are within your next visibility, followed by a couple or so refineries. We were told there there are two or three universities even in this faraway and lonely place, making sure that even inhabitants of one of the remote parts of China can still enjoy the essential public services to help them stand tall.
Ili (in Chinese, Yi Li)
The city of Ili is near the border with Kazakhstan. A sizeable portion of the city population speak can Kazakh language better than the urban dwellers from Kazakhstan itself (who speak Russian). Their traditions are safeguarded in full in a country where 95% of the population is Han Chinese.
We visited the Shaanxi Great Mosque of Yining city, that highlighted the historic mix of cultures of Uyghur Islam and ancient Chinese civilisation. Just outside of the mosque, there exists a ward for residents, where the majority are of Kazakh ethnicity. The houses are of Kazakh design, fused with customary Chinese hereditament. Their foods are unique and their hospitality is distinctive. Nearby of that district is the touristy and much frequented Six Star Street, the Centre of a historic neighbourhood, whose name literally derives from six main roads radiating outwards from a central point.
Ili city is also home to the only Xibe language newspaper in the world – Qapqal News. Xibe people are another ethnic minority group in China, descendants of Tungusic peoples, originally inhabitants of Siberia and Manchuria. Those wondering if this area had ever been a subject of emperors of China past, they only have to see the Xibe Ancient City surrounded by magnificently towering city walls, comparable in sight with those of Xi’an from afar.
Hotan (in Chinese, He Tian)
Hotan is essentially an Uyghur city, where 97% of the city population are Uyghur Muslims and the Hans are the minority. You can observe the long-established arts and crafts of the traditional family businesses such as making paper from the pulp of Mulberry trees. Even in a province where the universal development is behind times, comparatively speaking, infrastructure investment and government dedication to this far-flung region is at par with over the rest of the provinces in the central plains, especially in education and transport and utility infrastructure.
Urumqi (in Chinese, Oo Lu Mu Chi)
Finally we are at the metropolis of Xinjiang, Urumqi. The history of the city can be traced back to the times of the Silk Road merchants – stopping for an over night stop at the Grand Bazaar, listening to the accordion opera performers made up of Hans, Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Dungans and Manchus. The former two are the dominant populace in a city of 3.5 million. Uyghur language is widely spoken here in addition to Mandarin.
Just like in countries such as Myanmar, where the western media, NGOs, their agendas and propagandas, contributed for the better part of igniting conflicts between the ethnic Muslims and the State, China has been subject to serious threats and acts of terrorism within this territory. And China has been successful in bringing peace and prosperity to this land formerly known as Uyghuristan. Absence of western social media, NGOs with ulterior motives, purportedly independent western mainstream media, helped contributed to the speedy crackdown of terrorist and those with separatist ideas.
In conclusion, most us would never truly understand something until we experience them. And experience is the best teacher for all of us. Most of the commentators on Xinjiang have never visited various parts of this great province, or met sufficiently large pool of people to disseminate the truth. In this world full of fake news, mis and dis-information, conceivably this short piece of personal encounters would serve to offer a counterbalance on the world view of this great state of Xinjiang and its friendly and peace loving populace.
