YANGON—A newly-opened deluxe spa at Yangon’s Secretariat will have to be closed because it has no operating license, according to the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC). “We have not officially issued a business license to the spa at the Secretariat. As it is operating without a license, it has to be closed,” U Than, the […]
India hands over 50 housing units in Rakhine province to Myanmar
December 19, 2018 by
India has handed over 50 housing units in the Rakhine province to Myanmar on Tuesday during President Ram Nath Kovind’s maiden visit to the country. The housing units are part of a bigger developmental project, within which India is building 250 houses in Myanmar’s Rakhine province. Coinciding with President Kovind’s visit, Myanmar has also announced […]
Yangon Heritage Building Reopens to Public
December 27, 2017 by
Tourists can now explore one of Myanmar’s most historical colonial buildings as Yangon’s iconic Secretariat opens to the public for the first time in decades. Now high hopes are being pinned on the 120-year-old building becoming a major tourist draw to Yangon, with the launch of tours led by Asia Tours Myanmar while work gets […]
9 Acres of Marga Land Returned to Govt, but MP Demands More
December 5, 2016 by
The return to public hands of more than half a plot of land given to Marga Landmark Co for the relocated Dagon City real estate project in the waning days of the previous government is not enough for MP U Maung Maung Ohn, who yesterday called for more. Nine of the 17.7 acres of public […]
From ‘invisible’ to man in Myanmar spotlight
March 29, 2016 by
Tall, soft-spoken and almost self-effacing, Mr Htin Kyaw will on Wednesday be the focus of a handover ceremony in Naypyitaw. The next day, the 69-year-old will assume his duties as Myanmar’s first civilian president since 1962, and will preside over a fractious and volatile country in a still-fragile experiment with democracy. Pundits and the media […]
From icon to politician – As Myanmar changes, so does Suu Kyi
December 15, 2015 by
When Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi spoke warmly on a recent radio show about a critical meeting that followed her landslide election victory, she was referring to talks with the very man who had detained her for 15 years. Listeners might have been surprised by the Nobel peace laureate’s gentle tone towards Than Shwe, former […]
China or India: Difficult choice for new Myanmar government
December 3, 2015 by
Even as the Aung San Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy (NLD) is expected to form a new government in Myanmar, China has lost no time in diagnosing the import of the party’s victory and is all set to recalibrate its policy towards the country to steal a march over India towards gaining a deeper […]
‘Zawtika’ Khin Hlaing: We Should Enter Parliament to Legislate, Not to Obstruct
October 23, 2015 by
Late last year, Khin Hlaing was part of a pioneering group of four candidates to win elected office in a Rangoon municipal poll that saw the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC) gain a semblance of accountability to voters for the first time. Less than a year later, the businessman turned city official has his sights […]
The struggle to save Yangon’s architectural heritage
July 24, 2015 by
Shepherding a flock of tourists through the traffic-congested streets of Yangon, formerly known as Rangoon, a local tour guide shouts over the roar of oncoming vehicles. Here, on Bogolay Zay Street amid the moss-covered, weather-stained, early-20th Century facades in the historic centre of the city, the history of the colonial buildings that make up old […]
