A candidate of Democracy Party for a New Society talks with microphone during an election campaign rally at downtown area in Yangon, Myanmar on Sunday. EPA
Ei Tinzar Maung speaks during a campaign ahead of the November 8 general election. AFP
An elderly man casts his ballot during early voting at a polling station in Yangon. EPA
Elderly people wait to cast their ballots during early voting at a polling station in Yangon. EPA
Myanmar President Win Myint greets members of the media after casting his ballot in Naypyitaw. EPA
Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi casts an advance vote in Naypyitaw. Reuters
Supporters of National League for Democracy (NLD) take part in a boat rally ahead of a November 8 general election in the Yangon river. Reuters
An NLD supporter holds a flag on the top of a boat as he takes part in a rally in the Yangon river. Reuters
NLD supporters party take part in a boat rally in the Yangon river. Reuters
NLD supporters greet to a boat rally. Reuters
NLD supporters take part in a boat rally in the Yangon river. Reuters
NLD supporters take part in a boat rally in the Yangon river. Reuters
An elderly man leaves after casting his ballot in Yangon. EPA
Election staff carry a mobile ballot box in Yangon last week, as advance voting in the country's election began for elderly people. AFP
Officers and volunteers from Union Election Commission walk to collect ballots from elderly people who make an early voting on the outskirts of Yangon. AP Photo
An election official is seen in a residence in Yangon last week, as advance voting in the country's elections began for elderly people. AFP
This US presidential election has cast such a long shadow that other events that would normally be noted have been overlooked. In the case of Myanmar’s general election, which takes place this Sunday, that may be to the relief of many in the country’s powerful elites. For, what the polls will mark is one of the worst instances of democratic backsliding and betrayal of hopes that the world has ever seen.
The contrast with the last election in 2015 is stark. There was huge excitement then, as it was seen as being the first properly contested national vote since the generals had taken over the country in 1962. Yes, there had been a general election in 1990 – but the military refused to accept the National League for Democracy's overwhelming victory, and placed the NLD's leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, under house arrest. There was also another in 2010, after the junta followed through on its promise to put Myanmar on a "roadmap to democracy". But the NLD was effectively banned from taking part, and with the country still run by men who had swapped their uniforms for civilian clothes, many thought that Myanmar had become a democracy in name only.
In 2015, however, the NLD was allowed to participate. True, 25 per cent of the seats in parliament were still reserved for military appointees, and Ms Suu Kyi would be barred from the presidency by a constitutional provision tailormade to target her – anyone whose children are foreign citizens is excluded, and her two sons are British. The military retained other powers, such as the right to name the ministers of defence, home affairs and border affairs.
But it seemed as though the voices of the people would finally be heard; and they were. The NLD won 86 per cent of the seats in the two houses of parliament, and while Ms Suu Kyi couldn’t be the official head of state, the new role of “State Counsellor” was created for her and she has been internationally recognised as the de facto leader of the country ever since.
Since then, the disappointment has been so crushing that a recent Foreign Policy article accused Ms Suu Kyi's NLD of having "undermined democracy in Myanmar" and of "pursuing policies that resemble those of the military government that it fought for decades". That is quite a charge considering that the generals had turned a once-wealthy country into an economically ruined pariah police state.
What prompts that conclusion is to a great degree but not solely the tragedy of the Rohingya, whose displacement, murder and torture most of the world considers to constitute genocidal ethnic cleansing; but whose plight the NLD is in denial about, if not actively complicit in it.
The international NGO Human Rights Watch says that this election will be “fundamentally flawed” and held in a situation where the media has been muzzled and government critics are being prosecuted. The All Burma Federation of Trade Unions and the All Burma Federation of Student Unions want voters to boycott the election until the military-drafted constitution is changed. The jubilation felt globally in 2015 has so utterly dissipated that the NLD of today appears to be an entirely different party to the one whose struggle was supported for decades by eminent human rights figures such as South African cleric Desmond Tutu.
Children are seen enjoying the rain at the Nayapara refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Getty Images
Rohingya are taking shelter during a rainstorm at the Nayapara refugee camp. Getty Images
A Rohingya child sits inside a sewage ring at a camp in Teknaf. AFP
Rohingya youths study the Koran in a mosque at a camp in Teknaf. AFP
Women are seen outside a shelter in a refugee camp in Cox's Bazar. Getty Images
Refugees walk with food donations in a camp in Cox's Bazar. Getty Images
A man sells betel leaves in a market at a camp in Teknaf. AFP
A child collects discarded plastic at the Nayapara camp. Getty Images
A boy pulls his goat at a camp in Teknaf. AFP
A woman walks down a stairway in a refugee camp in Cox's Bazar. Getty Images
Men renovate a roof of their makeshift house at a camp in Teknaf. AFP
A sign is seen in Kutupalong Rohingya refugee camp. Getty Images
Rohingya people are seen at a camp in Teknaf. AFP
At the core of this is, of course, Ms Suu Kyi. She is the NLD. Her control is so total that she has not just no rival but no obvious successor. It is worth remembering who she once was. When "the Lady", as she is known, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, the organisers called her a "modern symbol of freedom" and "an outstanding example of the power of the powerless". In 2006, Britain's New Statesman magazine conducted a readers' poll to name the greatest "hero of our time". Ms Suu Kyi came top, receiving three times as many nominations as the next placed figure – Nelson Mandela.
Now that she has been so thoroughly disgraced that her Nobel would surely have been revoked were there a process to do so – there isn't – her supporters abroad must ask how they misread her so badly. The truth is that there were many signs that she was not the person they thought she was. In 2012, well before she was in government, I wrote in these pages that "Ms Suu Kyi has been notably unforthcoming about the aggression inflicted on the Rohingya" – a year in which 100,000 were displaced and villages were torched. She has always been closer to the army – founded by her father, Myanmar's independence hero, Gen Aung San – than was widely understood.
A handout photo released by the International Court of Justice shows a general view of The International Court of Justice (ICJ) holding a public hearing in the case concerning the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (The Gambia v. Myanmar) at the Peace Palace in The Hague, with Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi (5thL) and Gambian politician and lawyer Abubacarr Marie Tambadou (4thR) attending. AFP
A handout photo released by the International Court of Justice shows International Court of Justice (ICJ) Judge and court president Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf speaking during a public hearing in the case concerning the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (The Gambia v. Myanmar) at the Peace Palace in The Hague. AFP
A handout photo released by the International Court of Justice shows International Court of Justice (ICJ) Judge Navanethem Pillay attending the public hearing in the case concerning the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (The Gambia v. Myanmar) at the Peace Palace in The Hague. AFP
epa08062118 Abubacarr Tambadou (L front, seated), minister of justice of The Gambia, and Aung San Suu Kyi (C), Myanmar State Counselor, on the second day before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Peace Palace, The Hague, The Netherlands, 11 December 2019. Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi defended her country at the International Court of Justice against accusations of genocide filed by The Gambia, following the 2017 Myanmar military crackdown on the Rohingya Muslim minority. EPA/KOEN VAN WEEL
epa08062116 Abubacarr Tambadou (2-L front, seated), minister of justice of The Gambia, and Aung San Suu Kyi (C), Myanmar State Counselor, on the second day before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Peace Palace, The Hague, The Netherlands, 11 December 2019. Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi defended her country at the International Court of Justice against accusations of genocide filed by The Gambia, following the 2017 Myanmar military crackdown on the Rohingya Muslim minority. EPA/KOEN VAN WEEL
TOPSHOT - Protesters in support of Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi hold pictures in front of the Peace Palace of The Hague on December 11, 2019, following Aung San Suu Kyi's second day of hearing on the Rohingya genocide case. Aung San Suu Kyi is set to speak out in Myanmar's defence at the UN's top court on December 11, 2019, a day after the former democracy icon was urged to "stop the genocide" against Rohingya Muslims. Once hailed internationally for her defiance of Myanmar's junta, the Nobel peace laureate will this time be on the side of the southeast Asian nation's military when she takes the stand at the International Court of Justice. - Netherlands OUT / AFP / ANP / Koen Van WEEL
Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi speaks in front of the judges on the second day of hearings in a case filed by Gambia against Myanmar alleging genocide against the minority Muslim Rohingya population, at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands December 11, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman
epa08062075 A general view of the court room in the Peace Palace as Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi (C-L, back) stands during the second day before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), in The Hague, The Netherlands, 11 December 2019. Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi defended her country at the International Court of Justice against accusations of genocide filed by The Gambia, following the 2017 Myanmar military crackdown on the Rohingya Muslim minority. EPA/KOEN VAN WEEL
Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi (C) stands before the UN's International Court of Justice on December 11, 2019 in the Peace Palace of The Hague, on the second day of her hearing on the Rohingya genocide case. Aung San Suu Kyi appears at the UN's top court today, a day after the former democracy icon was urged to "stop the genocide" against Rohingya Muslims. Once hailed internationally for her defiance of Myanmar's junta, the Nobel peace laureate will this time be on the side of the southeast Asian nation's military when she takes the stand at the International Court of Justice. - Netherlands OUT / AFP / ANP / Koen Van WEEL
Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi looks on before the UN's International Court of Justice on December 11, 2019 in the Peace Palace of The Hague, on the second day of her hearing on the Rohingya genocide case. Aung San Suu Kyi appears at the UN's top court today, a day after the former democracy icon was urged to "stop the genocide" against Rohingya Muslims. Once hailed internationally for her defiance of Myanmar's junta, the Nobel peace laureate will this time be on the side of the southeast Asian nation's military when she takes the stand at the International Court of Justice. - Netherlands OUT / AFP / ANP / Koen Van WEEL
People demonstrate against Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi on the second day of hearings in a case filed by Gambia against Myanmar alleging genocide against the minority Muslim Rohingya population, outside the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands December 11, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman
Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi (R) stands before the UN's International Court of Justice on December 11, 2019 in the Peace Palace of The Hague, on the second day of her hearing on the Rohingya genocide case. Aung San Suu Kyi appears at the UN's top court today, a day after the former democracy icon was urged to "stop the genocide" against Rohingya Muslims. Once hailed internationally for her defiance of Myanmar's junta, the Nobel peace laureate will this time be on the side of the southeast Asian nation's military when she takes the stand at the International Court of Justice. - Netherlands OUT / AFP / ANP / Koen Van WEEL
TOPSHOT - A handout photo released on December 10, 2019 by the International Court of Justice shows Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi attending the start of a three-day hearing on the Rohingya genocide case before the UN International Court of Justice at the Peace Palace of The Hague. Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi faced calls for Myanmar to "stop the genocide" of Rohingya Muslims as she personally led her country's defence at the UN's top court on December 10. - RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / UN Photo/ICJ/ Frank Van BEEK" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS --- / AFP / UN Photo/ICJ / Frank Van BEEK / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / UN Photo/ICJ/ Frank Van BEEK" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS ---
If the Myanmar vote attracts relatively little attention internationally, it will be because Aung San Suu Kyi's former admirers are so sad and disillusioned that they would rather turn away
For such a formerly admired person, it is surprising how critical three of her biographers, Justin Wintle, Bertil Lintner and Peter Popham, are of her in their books. Her intransigence and inflexibility are repeatedly described, and the haughtiness of her and her staff are amusingly recounted in Mr Popham's second volume, The Lady and the Generals. Arranging meetings with Ms Suu Kyi was so difficult, Mr Popham wrote, that one visitor "in exasperation… phoned her office himself. 'I am the president of Mongolia,' he told the functionary at the other end. He was told to 'please send in your CV'."
Ms Suu Kyi turned out to be a classic case of international human rights organisations assuming that, because she was opposed to a dictatorship, she must be a liberal of their stripe too. Very clearly she is not. What she means by "human rights" does not include an iota of compassion for the Rohingya nor unanimity on many of the freedoms essential for a democracy to be worthy of the name.
Myanmar will have its election, and Ms Suu Kyi and the NLD will probably win. They will do so squarely if not totally fairly, because they are genuinely popular in a country that is rife with anti-Muslim prejudice. But Myanmar is no longer a symbol of hope. If this vote attracts relatively little attention internationally, it will be because Ms Suu Kyi’s former admirers are so sad and disillusioned that they would rather turn away. Dwelling on the downfall of one of their most treasured secular saints is simply too painful.
Sholto Byrnes is an East Asian affairs columnist for The National
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Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany - At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people - Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed - Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest - He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
Non-profit arts studio Tashkeel launched this annual initiative with the intention of supporting budding designers in the UAE. This year, three talents were chosen from hundreds of applicants to be a part of the sixth creative development programme. These are architect Abdulla Al Mulla, interior designer Lana El Samman and graphic designer Yara Habib.
The trio have been guided by experts from the industry over the course of nine months, as they developed their own products that merge their unique styles with traditional elements of Emirati design. This includes laboratory sessions, experimental and collaborative practice, investigation of new business models and evaluation.
It is led by British contemporary design project specialist Helen Voce and mentor Kevin Badni, and offers participants access to experts from across the world, including the likes of UK designer Gareth Neal and multidisciplinary designer and entrepreneur, Sheikh Salem Al Qassimi.
The final pieces are being revealed in a worldwide limited-edition release on the first day of Downtown Designs at Dubai Design Week 2019. Tashkeel will be at stand E31 at the exhibition.
Lisa Ball-Lechgar, deputy director of Tashkeel, said: “The diversity and calibre of the applicants this year … is reflective of the dynamic change that the UAE art and design industry is witnessing, with young creators resolute in making their bold design ideas a reality.”
Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
Duterte Harry: Fire and Fury in the Philippines
Jonathan Miller, Scribe Publications
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Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
