Fifty Viss

a collection of thoughts and writings on Burma

Category Archives: News

Some thoughts on Arakan State’s bloodshed

This past week, my Facebook newsfeed has been bombarded by photos, pictures, slogans and status updates all centered around the Buddhist-Muslim killings in Burma’s Arakan State. To be sure, I’ve … Continue reading

12 June 2012 · 4 Comments

101 East program on Burma’s recent changes

25 minutes long, titled “Myanmar’s reforms.” More info on Al Jazeera’s website. The program basically reiterates what’s been said in the news these days. But it features a rare short … Continue reading

6 April 2012 · Leave a Comment

Burma’s by-elections are overhyped

First off, it’s really breathtaking to see so many enthused Burmese, so many people anticipating a future of opportunity. It fills me with emotion, too. This sense of yearning, reconstruction … Continue reading

6 April 2012 · 3 Comments

News Roundup – Week 11, 2012

“Pass the Books. Hold the Oil.” (New York Times) An interesting observation on the negative correlation between a country’s natural resources and the educational achievement of its students. The countries … Continue reading

14 March 2012 · Leave a Comment

Word choice in Thein Sein’s 2012 State of the Union

Thein Sein made his annual address to the Union Parliament on Peasants’ Day, March 1 (official English translation here), a speech that has been praised by many. The Irrawaddy points … Continue reading

5 March 2012 · 1 Comment

Plans for a Yangon subway system?

The online community has been abuzz about potential plans for a Yangon subway system, when a map showing different lines connecting Yangon emerged late last last year. On February 15 … Continue reading

3 March 2012 · 1 Comment

News Roundup

Just a compilation of some interesting articles I’ve come across this past weekend. “Whistle campaign a hit on city buses” (Myanmar Times) Interesting campaign going on in Yangon’s streets to … Continue reading

28 February 2012 · Leave a Comment

Fanciful predictions

I stumbled across a few predictions that U Kyaw Thet, who wrote in the February 1958 issue of The Atlantic (“Continuity in Burma: The survival of historic forces”) made about … Continue reading

28 May 2009 · 6 Comments

Rohingyas “As ugly as ogres”

In recent news (give or take a week), a Burmese diplomat by the name of Ye Myint Aung at the Burmese Consulate in Hong Kong used very politically incorrect language … Continue reading

25 February 2009 · 2 Comments

Letting one slip through

In a rare moment of candid and unfiltered news, The Myanmar Times published a AFP wire story on the deadliest natural disasters in 2008. It includes the following: In both … Continue reading

29 January 2009 · Leave a Comment

Double standards

The Economist had an interesting point to make on how governments react differently to different countries. In Thailand, an Australian journalist was charged and detained with lese majeste, that is, … Continue reading

23 January 2009 · Leave a Comment

Reviving Burma’s Stilwell Road

The LA Times has an interesting article “Burma’s Stilwell Road: A backbreaking WWII project is revived” out, about the 1,000 mile Stilwell Road, built during World War II by African American … Continue reading

30 December 2008 · Leave a Comment

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