HOUSE OF THE WEEK

Ready-for-rent villa in Mayangone township

MAKE no mistake – this is a big house. The compound is about 10,000 square feet and the two-storey house has about 5000 square feet as well. And it’s just as well that there’s so much space because it’s a long way from downtown, at Thanlawaddy Street, off Pyay Road, in Mayangone township. more

Yangon Weather Forecast, Burma

WHO warns of malaria drug tolerance

YANGON – Tolerance to artemisinin, the most effective anti-malarial drug available, is emerging in Myanmar and could pose a major challenge to regional malaria control, the World Health Organisation (WHO) says. (Volume 26, No. 509)

Thazi tsp cement factory online

A YANGON City Development Committee-operated cement factory in Mandalay Division’s Thazi township will come online in the second week of February, Yangon Mayor and committee chairman Brigadier General Aung Thein Linn said. (Volume 26, No. 509)

Credit needed in delta: report

A TRIPARTITE Core Group (TCG) survey has found an “overwhelming” need for cash and credit in areas of the Ayeyarwady delta affected by Cyclone Nargis, a spokesperson said last week. (Volume 26, No. 509)

Fuel stations to be privatised

THE state-owned Privatisation Committee has put 246 fuel filling stations from Myanma Petroleum Products Enterprise’s (MPPE) national network out to tender as part of government plans to privatise fuel distribution. (Volume 26, No. 509)

Vocational training giving kids options

AN INTERNATIONAL non-government organis-ation is giving children who missed out on formal education a second chance in life. World Vision Myanmar is providing children in Hainggyi Island township in Ayeyarwady Division with what it calls “non-formal” education: training to equip them with skills they can use to make a living. (Volume 26, No. 509)

Remain wary of A(H1N1): expert

THE danger from A(H1N1) flu has not gone away, a senior medical expert has warned. Although the strength of the A(H1N1) pandemic in Myanmar has dwindled, it is important to stay alert, said Professor Kyi Kyi Thinn, the head of the Department of Microbiology at the University of Medicine I. (Volume 26, No. 509)

Villages see economic benefits of infrastructure projects

WHEN non-government organisation World Vision Myanmar asked the residents of Kone Tan village, in Hainggyi Island township, what they wanted to see rebuilt, the response was unanimous: an all-weather road. (Volume 26, No. 509)

Shelter to receive more funding: TCG

THE Tripartite Core Group (TCG) hopes to use most of US$19 million in unallocated funding pledged at a recent donor conference on shelter projects, a spokesperson said last week. (Volume 26, No. 509)

Archaeologists to assist with Cambodia excavations

LOCAL archaeologists could be heading to Cambodia to assist with excavation work if a proposal made at a recent roundtable meeting comes to fruition. (Volume 26, No. 509)

A glimpse of Kachin beauty in Myitkyina

FOR the sights, sounds and variety of upper Myanmar, why not try a trip to Myitkyina, capital of Kachin State? You can go by road, rail or air, though road access, especially during the rainy season, is the most difficult. Air travel is rapid and reliable. But if you want to get the flavour of the countryside as you pass through at ground-level, train is perhaps the most eventful way of getting there. (Volume 26, No. 509)

Few but united, Myanmar forge a life in Siem Reap

WHILE millions of Myanmar migrants temporarily – and sometimes perman-ently – call Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia home, a small but adventurous group have carved out a community in a less obvious Southeast Asian neighbour: Cambodia. (Volume 26, No. 509)

Industry groups work to strengthen sugar trade

Chinese New Year spurs market

MOVE over bullock, the tiger is coming – and he’s hungry. Though sales of accessories for next week’s Chinese New Year festivities are down, merrymakers are buying as much food as they ever did, shopkeepers say, despite higher prices.

Nay Pyi Taw taxi biz opens but customers prefer private cars

COMPETITION for taxi and car rental business is heating up in Nay Pyi Taw as “official” taxis take to the streets. But the private firms that sprang up to cater to the nation’s new capital in 2006 are still attracting customers, they say.

Htoo Trading begins work on Bogale hospital

HTOO Trading has started work on a new hospital in the Ayeyarwady Division town of Bogale that is scheduled to open before the end of the year, a spokesperson said last week.

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A brief history of the Myanmar Academy Awards

THE Myanmar Academy Awards has a reputation for unpredictable results, most notably last year when only six prizes were awarded instead of the expected 11, and rather controversially, none of the prizes were given to women.

Few foreign novels being translated

TRANSLATIONS of foreign novels are declining owing to a lack of reader interest say veteran writers and translators. In previous years, fiction, best sellers, classic novels and prize-winning books by famous authors were translated into Myanmar language to satisfy public demand. However, in recent years relatively few foreign works have been translated.

Word on the street .....

YE NYI NYI is a professional marionette player who will this week participate in workshops dedicated to marionette theatre organised by Alliance Francaise. Timeout caught up with him to talk about how he got involved with marionettes.

Chinese lion dance contest

IN celebration of Chinese New Year, Capital Hyper-market will be holding a Lion Dance Championship between February 8-10 at the supermarket in Thaketa township, Yangon. Six groups will participate, which include Hou Bao Shi, Global Lion, YSL, Pearl-Black, Tian Long (Rain Dragon) and Eversmile.

» More timeout story

Eclipse-watching in Rakhine State

YOU don’t need an excuse to visit Mrauk U in Rakhine State – it has nearly all of Bagan’s charm, in a user-friendly environment, with just a fraction of the tourists.

Travel association launches search for ‘Miss Tourism’

A LEADING tourism industry body has launched a search for a young, single Myanmar woman to spearhead the country’s international tourism campaigns.

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GETTING THOSE TRICKY PET SHOTS RIGHT: Japanese actress Nozomi Sesaki displays Fujifilm’s new slim digital camera FinePix Z700 EXR, equipped with a 12 megapixel Honeycomb CCD and a 6.4-32.0mm/F3.9-4.7 zoom lens on its compact body at the company’s headquarters in Tokyo on February 2. The new FinePix features the world’s first dog and cat face recognition and automatic shooting system to photograph user’s pets. Fujifilm will put it on the market on February 20. Pic: AFP

Internet slows to a crawl in Yangon

INTERNET users relying on Yatanarpon Teleport’s service faced delays and inconvenience last week. Access ground to a virtual halt on February 2, with even the Google browser taking minutes to load. Those coming to work on the following morning and hoping to see a change were sorely mistaken, with the internet virtually inaccessible.