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BurmaNet News: September 21, 1995



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The BurmaNet News: September 21, 1995
Issue#232


Headlines:
========
BKK POST: MOEI RIVER BANK ENCROACHER TO BE PAID COMPENSATION
NATION: JAPAN TO DECIDE ON GRANT TO BURMA BY NEXT MONTH
BKK POST: A SUCCINCT LOOK AT BURMESE THEATRE
----------------------------------------------------------
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INFORMATION ABOUT BURMA VIA THE WEB AND GOPHER:
Information about Burma is available via the WorldWideWeb at:

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[including back issues of the BurmaNet News as .txt files]
BurmaWeb:  http://www.uio.no/tormodl

Burma fonts: 
http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~lka/burmese-fonts/moe.html

Ethnologue Database(Myanmar):
    
http://www-ala.doc.ic.ac.uk/~rap/Ethnologue/eth.cgi/Myanmar 

TO ACCESS INFORMATION ABOUT BURMA VIA GOPHER:

 gopher csf.colorado.edu.

Look under the International Political Economy section, then
select Geographic_Archive, then Asia, then Burma. 
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BURMANET SUBJECT-MATTER RESOURCE LIST

BurmaNet regularly receives enquiries on a number of
different topics related to Burma.  The scope of the subjects
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BurmaNet is therefore organizing a number of volunteer
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direct email to the following coordinators, who will either
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Billeness"
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Sutcliffe"   
World Wide Web:              FreeBurma@xxxxxxxxx
Volunteering:           christin@xxxxxxxxxx  

[Feel free to suggest more areas of coverage]
*******************

BKK POST: MOEI RIVER BANK ENCROACHER TO BE PAID COMPENSATION
September 20, 1995

THE Commerce Ministry yesterday agreed to pay 600,000 baht
compensation for shophouses removed from the Moei River bank for
alleged encroachment.

The encroaching shophouses and stalls were knocked down on
Saturday which soured relations with Burma.
Deputy Commerce Minister Montri Danpaibul said his ministry will
set aside a budget of 600,000 baht to pay owners of the stalls.
The decision was reached at a meeting yesterday between ministry
officials and representatives of 10 provincial chambers of
commerce neighbouring Burma.

It was seen as a compromise between both sides as owners of the
stalls initially needed 1.6 million baht for the damage.
The money came from the International Trade Development Fund,
the ministry's funds set to promote trade, he added. The Interior
Ministry ordered the shophouses removed in July after Burma
alleged that owners of stalls in Mae Sot District had encroached
on the river and demanded the dismantling of the river rock bank
which diverted the river current.

The problems led to the suspension of construction of the
Thai-Burma Friendship Bridge in Myawaddy.
Dismantling the stalls and shophouses is one of three conditions
Rangoon set for Thailand to tackle before seeking an improvement
in bilateral relations.

The Burmese Government also urged Thailand to stop supporting
opium warlord Khun Sa's Mong Tai Army and resolve the case of
murdered Burmese fishermen.

Deputy Commerce Minister Pairote Suwanchawee will visit Rangoon
early next month to hold talks with Burmese Trade Minister Tun
Kyi on promoting border trade and the border trade agreement
plan.

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NATION: JAPAN TO DECIDE ON GRANT TO BURMA BY NEXT MONTH
September 20, 1995

TOKYO _ Japan is considering giving Burma grant-in-aid worth Y1.5
billion to Y2 billion (US$ 14.4 million to US$19.2 million) to
repair nursing schools in Rangoon, a foreign ministry official
said yesterday.


The final decision on the grant is expected to be made next
month, he said, refusing do confirm a Sankei Shimbun newspaper
report that Japan was to give Burma a grant OF about y1.6 billion
next month.

Foreign ministry study mission visited Burma in June, before
Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was released from
nearly six years of house arrest, and in late August to early
September, he said.

Formerly Burma's biggest aid donor, Japan joined western nations
in suspending aid after the military coup in Burma in 1988. _
agencies France-Press.

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BKK POST: A SUCCINCT LOOK AT BURMESE THEATRE
September 20, 1995

Since 1911, changes in Burmese theatre are more of scandals
than of contributions to the performing arts.

Burmese Dance and Drama 
Noel F. Singer. Kuala LumPur.
Oxford University Press 1995. 94
pp. Illustrations. M$35 (629 baht).

Following on his very successful book on Burmese (not, thank
goodness, Myanmarese) puppets, Noel singer, alias Nay Myo, has
now produced this attractive little book on the Burmese theatre
in general. Many of the excellent illustrations are from his own
hand, and are handsomely complemented by old and recent
photographs.

The book is divided into eight short chapters, the first of which
deals with the performing arts in Burma to 1885, starting with
the visit of a cultural troupe of Pyu dancers and Mon musicians
to the T'ang court at Ch'angan in A.D. 802, with the event being
recorded in the new T'ang Dynasty. The emperor Dezong was duly
impressed.

After a succinct overview of music and dance in this sarly
period, Singer covers the court musicians of the Konbaung
dynasty, these were highly regulated, and not allowed to perform
outside the palace, though those which played at funerals of
members of the royal family were not permitted inside it.

Theatricals at the Konbaung court are covered in detail. Burmese
theatre had already received Thai influences since the fifteenth
century, the influx of Thai artist after the sacking of Ayutthaya
in 1767 led to a style known as yodayar which was "equated with
refinement" versions of Inao and the Ramayana were very popular,
though the 45 nights required by the latter for its complete
performance meant it was more often produced in parts.

Western-style theatres first appeared in the Second Anglo-Burmese
War of 1852 and were increasingly used, even in Mandalay under
Thibaw, though he sat under a large traditional circular umbrella
structure in front of the raised stage, while spending huge sums
on his actors and orchestras. Singer gives some amusing gossip
concerning favourite actors and actresses _ one of whom was a
Thai called "Delicate Mist" _ of the period.

Entertainment for the common people understandably took different
forms. There were religious narratives, drum dancing (Schwebo had
a drum "rain calling songs" similar to north-east Thailand), and
dramatic performances with Mintha (prince) and Minthamee
(princess), who retained their courtly robes even when they
portrayed poor people. There were a few masks and virtually no
props, and performances took place from about 2 a.m. to dawn.

The removal of the court with the British occupation of Mandalay
in 1885 led to the dispersal of palace entertainers and a freeing
of theatrical traditions. Innovations from Rangoon caused popular
Mintha actors to set up their own theatres and perform
contemporary Burmese plays. Among the many female impersonators,
Aung Bala was wildly acclaimed while all-female dance troupes
became the rage in lower Burma.

The period from 1911 to the present saw further changes to
Burmese theatre, with many Mintha "remembered not for their
contributions to the performing arts, but for the scandals left
in their wake." Recent developments include the influence of
films and videos, and the establishment of state Schools of Fine
Arts to preserve dance and drama traditions.

The last chapter on alternative theatre covers trance dancing for
the nat and the post-war phenomenon o dancing transvestite
mediums who also now appear in theatrical companies.

This surprisingly complete little book comes with a bibliography
and a select index (in which the play Enaung, mentioned several
times does not appear, nor does the Ramayana), and is written by
someone who clearly knows on and feel for his theatre.

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Typed by the Research Department of the ABSDF [MTZ]  20.9.95

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