| Editorial_September 2007 |
 Poisoned Waters Burma’s beautiful Inle Lake, one of the country’s major tourist attractions, is dying. In a disturbing dispatch from Shan State, supported by statistics, Kyi Wai explains why—and talks to the local people whose livelihoods are being threatened by a looming ecological disaster. |
 Where Even Dead Flowers are Doomed The fishermen of Inle Lake aren’t the only victims of the area’s declining economy, Kyi Wai reports. An ancient Burmese tradition is also dying out as raw material prices rise amid increasing competition. |
 Asia’s ‘Financial Parking Lot’ William Boot visits Singapore and finds some murky financial dealings below the city-state’s squeaky-clean image. |
 ‘A Leader of Men’ One of Burma’s nine martyrs assassinated in July 1949 was a member of the country’s maligned Muslim community. Yeni profiles U Razak, who rose from the position of a Mandalay school headmaster to become a cabinet minister in Burma’s pre-independence government. |
 Born on the Run Photojournalist Dai Kurokawa recounts how a visit to a refuge for displaced people in Karen State included a vigil at the side of a young woman as she gave birth in her jungle shack. |
 Selling Safer Sex in Conservative Burma Efforts to educate the Burmese public on the subject of HIV/AIDS prevention face many obstacles, writes Htet Aung in an article containing statistics highlighting the severity of the problem. |
 A Dying Presence Lampang in Northern Thailand was devastated several times by Burmese invaders, but 19th century traders from Burma made good past pillage by building some of the city’s most beautiful temples. Jim Andrews visited some, and met the only Burmese abbot still in residence there. |
 China Turns On the Charm China is employing a new strategy in its bid to project a benign image of itself to the outside world, according to author Joshua Kurlantzick. He calls it a “charm offensive,” in a book reviewed by Bertil Lintner. |
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 Unsafe Harbor Although Malaysia is a Muslim state, Rohingya refugees from Burma find little understanding there for their plight, concludes Violet Cho after visiting a Kuala Lumpur suburb where Rohingyas eke out a miserable existence. |
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