Monthly Archives: July, 2007
ASEAN proceeds with making a human rights commission
Interestingly enough, ASEAN will proceed in creating a human rights commission to improve its standing in the international community, despite initial objections by Burmese diplomats. The Irrawaddy reports that: A … Continue reading
U.S. sanctions renewal, Burma’s first decade in ASEAN and UN intervention
How interesting. Several important developments regarding Burma today: (1) Burma celebrates its 10th anniversary in ASEAN, (2) The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to renew sanctions against Burma, … Continue reading
43 years since the death of Burma’s foremost man of letters
Kodaw Hmaing, one of the most influential literary figures in modern Burmese history, died on this day in 1964. His life is worthy of being known. Ba Zan Lin has … Continue reading
Typing in Burmese on Windows Vista
Does anybody know how to install ‘keyboards’ (Burmese Unicode) on Windows Vista (I have a 64-bit Windows Vista Ultimate laptop)? I’ve tried every program imaginable on the Internet to install … Continue reading
A taste of Thai culture
Today, my family went to to the Wat Thai of Los Angeles, one of the largest Thai temples in the L.A. area (the other one is in the suburb of … Continue reading
The very sketchy road to democracy
Yesterday, National Convention (NC) delegates reconvened for a final session at Nyaunghnapin. There, NC chairman Thein Sein reiterated and stressed the need to stick to the ‘basic principles’ made in … Continue reading
60 years on: Burma’s Martyrs’ Day
Today, July 19, is one of Burma’s most important national holidays. Martyrs’ Day is called Azani Nay (အာဇာနည္ေန ့) in Burmese (Azani is Pali-derived word for martyr). It commemorates the … Continue reading
Misleading outsiders: the Burmese constitution-to-be
A reader e-mailed me about The Myanmar Times article about the National Convention just now. The journalist, Thet Khaing euphemizes the National Convention. He writes: The Secretary-1 of the State … Continue reading
How the new Burmese government will work
Tomorrow, Burma’s military government reconvene its final meeting and wrap up the writing of the constitution at the National Convention, which began nearly 18 years ago. Note that only 11% … Continue reading
The Burmese Armed Forces has its eyes on legitimacy
The Armed Forces has been eying for a legitimate place in the Burmese government. Now, it will get it. With the final National Convention meeting beginning tomorrow, the Constitution will … Continue reading
Interesting Burmese word origins
A graphic I made, showing some of the linguistic diversity found in the Burmese language. Burmese has a hodgepodge of words that come from other languages, some that would surprise … Continue reading
The best Burmese salad noodles in America
The best Burmese salad noodles (hkauk hswe thoke) in America come from one very talented woman. Daw May-yu, who is originally from Mergui (Myeik) Tavoy (Dawei) in Tenassarim Division (Tanintharyi), … Continue reading
