ASIA / PACIFIC
September 21, 2015
Myanmar’s Suu Kyi opens
election campaign on Facebook
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Just five years ago, when
Aung San Suu Kyi was still under house arrest, she
commented that one day she hoped to get a Twitter
account and chat with the outside world.
Earlier this month, the opposition leader kicked off
campaigning for Myanmar’s historic November 8 general
election with a Facebook post — one of many signs of how
far the country and its most recognizable politician have
come in a few years.
In a video message, Suu Kyi called the upcoming
election “a crucial turning point for our country.”
Suu Kyi, who enjoys huge public support, is barred from
running for president because of a clause in the
constitution that excludes people with foreign spouses or
foreign children from the presidency. The clause is widely
seen as custom-made for Suu Kyi, who is the widow of a
British academic and has two sons with British
nationality. But she is seeking re-election to parliament.
“For the first time in decades, our people will have a real
chance of bringing about real change,” Suu Kyi said in the
message posted on her party’s Facebook page in Burmese
and English. “We hope that the whole world understands
how important it is for us to have free and fair elections.”
More than 90 political parties will take part in the
parliamentary elections, which are being closely watched
as the next step toward democracy in a country that was
run by a repressive military junta for nearly half a
century.
The polls will be the first since a nominally civilian
government was installed in 2011. But with the military
still firmly in control of the process, there is widespread
speculation over whether the election will be free and fair.
The polls will also be the first time Suu Kyi’s National
League for Democracy (NLD) party has contested a
general election in 25 years.
The NLD is expected to make large gains at the expense
of the military-backed ruling party, and might even win a
majority.
The last time the NLD took part in a national election
was in 1990, when it won by a landslide. But the result
was ignored by the military, which kept Suu Kyi locked
away under house arrest for 15 years without phone lines
or internet and blocked virtually all contact with the
outside world.
The party boycotted the next nationwide election in
2010 because Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, was
still under house arrest and barred from taking part. The
2010 polls were condemned by international observers for
widespread irregularities. It was in 2010 that Suu Kyi
commented through her lawyer that she wished to “sign
Its mobile game uses GPS technology
to create a science fiction “aug-
mented reality.”
Kyoto, Japan-based Nintendo held
back from smartphone games, but in
March announced an alliance with
Japanese mobile-game company
DeNA to develop games for mobile
devices. In the end, Pokémon GO was
a pet project for its late president,
Satoru Iwata, said Nintendo game
designer Shigeru Miyamoto.
“Nintendo has created a wide
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SUU KYI ON SOCIAL MEDIA. Opposition leader Aung San Suu
Kyi speaks during her “Election Awareness Tour” in Ho-Pong township in
the Pa-O self-administrative zone in the southern Shan State of Myanmar.
The election campaign opened September 8 with more than 90 parties
contesting the seats. Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party is
widely expected to make large gains at the expense of the military-backed
ruling party, and might even win a majority. But the constitution bars Suu
Kyi from becoming president because she was married to a foreigner and
her sons are foreign citizens. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win)
up on Twitter” once she was released to “get in touch with
the younger generation inside and outside the country.”
A week after the 2010 election, Suu Kyi was released
from house arrest. Her party took part in 2012
by-elections, winning 43 of the 44 seats it contested —
including Suu Kyi’s first elected post as a member of
parliament.
“We hope to take our country to that point where there
can be no return from genuine development in the
democratic direction,” Suu Kyi said in a video message.
“Please help us by observing what happens before the
elections, during the elections, and, crucially after the
elections.”
Associated Press writer Jocelyn Gecker
in Bangkok contributed to this report.
The April 2013 disaster killed 1,135 people, with
thousands more rescued from the ruins of the illegally
built complex that contained five factories that supplied
garments to international companies.
When the building began collapsing, Begum said she
raced down a stairwell into the basement, where she
became trapped in a pocket of space. She managed to
survive after finding some dried food and bottles of water.
She now works in a hotel.
The collapse triggered international criticism, and
many big brands came forward to help Bangladesh
improve work and safety conditions in its garment sector.
The collapse of the building is thought to have been
caused by overloading of its structure with machines and
generators. The building was constructed on swampy land
and the owner illegally added floors.
Bangladesh earns about $25 billion annually from
garment exports, mainly to the United States and Europe,
although the country has one of the lowest minimum
wages in the world, at about $72 a month.
The industry employs about 4 million workers, mostly
women from rural areas.
Nintendo, Google spinoff Niantic in smartphone Pokémon game
Continued from page one
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Bangladesh court lifts ban on movie Rana Plaza
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — The Supreme Court in
Bangladesh has lifted a ban on the screening of a movie
about a garment worker who was rescued from the rubble
17 days after a factory building collapsed in 2013, killing
more than 1,000 people.
In response to an appeal by the movie’s producer, a
four-member panel of judges led by chief justice Surendra
Kumar Sinha decided to stay a previous high court order
that banned the release of the movie for six months.
Producer Shamima Akhter argued that the movie
should be released as the country’s Film Censor Board
had earlier approved the screening of the film after cut-
ting some scenes in response to previous court directives.
The film’s director, Nazrul Islam Khan, argued the real-
life story of Reshma Begum depicts courage amid tragedy.
In August, the high court banned Rana Plaza after a
petition was submitted alleging that the movie has scenes
of horror, cruelty, and violence that could negatively affect
workers in the country’s vital garment industry.
Lawyers said the ruling means there are no more bars
to releasing the movie, although it is not clear when that
will happen.
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 3
variety of games and game devices.
All of them have helped to expand the
game population,” Miyamoto said.
“Pokémon GO and Pokémon GO Plus
represent another step in realizing
that mission.”
Conveying how the game might
actually work is a challenge,
acknowledged Tsunekazu Ishihara,
president and CEO of Pokémon.
“You find the Pokémon with the
smartphone. You’ll have a map on
your mobile device to find the Poké-
mon and you can try to catch them,”
he said.
A video virtualization of the game
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Ishihara said one of the biggest
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data gathered by GPS and replicated
in the game would not put people in
danger. “You don’t want people
rushing into traffic,” he said.
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