March, 2005 - Volume 13 No.3

Inside This Issue


Editorial_March 2005

Showdown Time
Rangoon’s open defiance towards the International Labour Organization (ILO) may lead to sanctions, writes Jim Andrews.

On the Run
An escaped porter for the Burma Army tells Shah Paung about the inhumanity and violence he experienced.


Reading the Cybertech Signposts
Former military intelligence chief Khin Nyunt’s purge has paralyzed Burma’s main IT provider, reports Shawn L. Nance.

The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre
Burma’s publications are subject to closure and journalists face jail at the hands of a capricious censorship board, Aung Zaw writes.

Light Fading at Myanmar Times
The demise of Military Intelligence marks the end of The Myanmar Times newspaper’s special government privileges, reports Aung Zaw.

With Friends like You…
Aung Lwin Oo investigates Asean’s growing unease with member country Burma’s pariah status, especially as Burma prepares to assume Asean’s chairmanship in 2006.

True Grit
American sculptor Jim McNalis uses Burma’s own soil to construct busts of the opposition figures he admires, reports Jim Andrews.


An Enduring Legacy Written in Blood
March 27, 1945 is the day the famous “Thirty Comrades” inspired Burma to resist foreign occupation, but now Armed Forces day only symbolizes the army’s corruption, Yeni writes.


CULTURE
Back On Their Feet
Although only Thailand’s muay thai is internationally renowned, Burmese and Cambodian traditional boxing can be far more entertaining (and painful), Scott Mallon writes.

BOOK REVIEW
Cambodia’s Bad Dream
Bertil Lintner delves into the controversy surrounding Philip Short’s Pol Pot: The History of a Nightmare, about the rise of the Khmer Rouge and whether they really committed “genocide.”

THE BACK PAGE
The Back Page (March 2005)



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