Far and Away: Reporting From the Brink of Change (78 page)

462
 Tensions between Arakanese Buddhists and foreign aid workers are described in Lawi Weng, “Arakan monks boycott UN, INGOs,”
Irrawaddy
, July 6, 2012.

462
 The 2014 Mandalay riots were reported in “Five injured in Mandalay unrest, damage limited,”
Irrawaddy
, July 2, 2014.

463
 For a scholarly discussion of the variety of Muslims residing in Myanmar, see Khin Maung Yin, “Salience of ethnicity among Burman Muslims: A study in identity formation,”
Intellectual Discourse
13, no. 2 (2005).

465
 For more information on the tattooed women of Chin state, see Sarah Boesveld, “Stealing beauty: A look at the tattooed faces of Burma’s Chin province,”
National Post
, July 15, 2011.

466
 The number of monks in Myanmar is put at four hundred thousand to five hundred thousand in Sarah Buckley, “Who are Burma’s monks?” BBC News, September 26, 2007.

467
 The history of Jewish migration to and from South Asia is explored in Nathan Katz and Ellen S. Goldberg, “The last Jews in India and Burma,”
Jerusalem Letter
, April 15, 1988.

467
 Moses Samuels died on May 29, 2015; see Jonathan Zaiman, “Remembering Moses Samuels, the man who preserved Jewry in Myanmar,”
Tablet
, June 2, 2015.

468
 Moses Samuels himself stated, “There is no problem with religion here”; see Seth Mydans, “Yangon Journal; Burmese Jew shoulders burden of his heritage,”
New York Times
, July 23, 2002. Also, see a touching remembrance of Moses Samuels and an account of Myanmar’s Jewish community: Sammy Samuels, “Hanukkah with spirit in Yangon,”
BBC News
, December 4, 2015.

468
 The outcome of cease-fire negotiations with armed rebel groups in Myanmar is reported in Shibani Mahtani and Myo Myo, “Myanmar signs draft peace deal with armed ethnic groups,”
Wall Street Journal
, March 31, 2015.

468
 For more background on the remnants of the Kuomintang in Myanmar, see Denis D. Gray, “The remaining veterans of China’s ‘lost army’ cling to old life styles in Thailand,”
Los Angeles Times
, June 7, 1987.

469
 Mong La’s National Democratic Alliance and its leader, Sai Leun, figure in Michael Black and Roland Fields, “Virtual gambling in Myanmar’s drug country,”
Asia Times
, August 26, 2006; and Sebastian Strangio, “Myanmar’s wildlife trafficking hotspot,”
Al Jazeera
, June 17, 2014.

469
 Kachin state’s lucrative jade industry is investigated in Andrew Marshall, “Myanmar old guard clings to $8 billion jade empire,” Reuters, October 1, 2013. The escalating death toll in a landslide at a jadeite mine is reported in Kyaw Myo Min, Kyaw Kyaw Aung, and Khin Khin Ei, “Hopes fade for Myanmar landslide survivors as lawmakers urge greater safety for miners,” Radio Free Asia, November 24, 2015.

471
 Thant Thaw Kaung’s story is told in Mary O’Shea, “Journey of shelf discovery,”
Post Magazine
, October 14, 2012.

473
 Htein Lin’s life and work are the subjects of Thomas Fuller, “Back to a Burmese prison by choice,”
New York Times
, December 6, 2014.

475
 Htein Lin’s project,
A Show of Hand
, is described on his website, at
http://hteinlin.com/a-show-of-hand
; and in Kyaw Phyo Tha, “Hands of hardship; Artist Htein Lin spotlights political prisoners’ travails,”
Irrawaddy
, July 27, 2015.

475
 The work of Wah Nu and Tun Win Aung is discussed in Mike Ives, “Culling Myanmar’s past for memories,”
New York Times
, October 16, 2013; and Susan Kendzulak, “Burma’s flying circus,”
Art Radar
, October 18, 2013.

476
 Maung Tin Thit (also known as U Ye Mon) won a seat in the Hluttaw (the legislative assembly) in the 2015 general elections; see Pyae Thet Phyo, “Ex-minister’s agent denies seeking recount,”
Myanmar Times
, November 12, 2015.

476
 Ma Thanegi,
Nor Iron Bars a Cage
(2013).

476
 Ma Thanegi articulated her opposition to sanctions in “The Burmese fairy tale,”
Far Eastern Economic Review
, February 19, 1998.

478
 Misuu Borit’s efforts to reestablish the Burmese cat in its native land are recounted in Kelly McNamara, “Burmese cats return to a new Burma,”
Bangkok Post
, September 14, 2012; and Kyaw Phyo Tha, “A purr-fect pedigree in Burma,”
Irrawaddy
, February 24, 2014.

479
 Figures on tourism in Myanmar come from Turner et al., op. cit.

479
 The convicted
Unity Journal
staffers remain in prison; see San Yamin Aung, “Supreme Court rejects appeal of Unity journalists,”
Irrawaddy
, November 27, 2014.

479
 Charges against some protesters were eventually dropped; see “Charges dropped against 23 journalists,”
Nation
(Bangkok), August 25, 2014.

479
 The death of Aung Kyaw Naing (Par Gyi) in police custody is reported in Lawi Weng, Nyein Nyein, and Kyaw Hsu Mon, “Missing reporter killed in custody of Burma army,”
Irrawaddy
, October 24, 2014. On the aftermath of the event, see British Broadcasting Corporation, “Myanmar court ‘must investigate Aung Kyaw Naing death,’ ” BBC News, December 3, 2014.

479
 Zaw Pe’s conviction for “trespassing” while investigating a scholarship program is described in Zarni Mann, “DVB reporter jailed for one year,”
Irrawaddy
, April 7, 2014.

479
 The conviction and sentencing of the
Bi Mon Te Nay
staffers is reported in Nobel Zaw, “Court sentences 3 journalists, 2 media owners to 2 years in prison,”
Irrawaddy
, October 16, 2014.

479
 Htin Kyaw’s arrest and conviction are the subject of Nobel Zaw, “Activist hit with additional sentence, totaling over 13 years,”
Irrawaddy
, October 31, 2014.

479
 Press freedom rankings come from Reporters Without Borders’s annual World Press Freedom Index, 2015, at
http://index.rsf.org
.

480
 The quotes from Yanghee Lee (“to criminalize and impede,” “disproportionately high”) come from Yanghee Lee, “Report of the Special Rapporteur on situation of human rights in Myanmar,” United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, September 23, 2014.

480
 The increasingly desperate plight of the Rohingya people is described in Rishi Iyengaar, “Burma’s million-strong Rohingya population faces ‘final stages of genocide,’ says report,”
Time
, October 28, 2015; and Penny Green, Thomas MacManus, and Alicia de la Cour Venning, “Countdown to annihilation: Genocide in Myanmar,” International State Crime Initiative, 2015.

481
 The 969 movement is the subject of Andrew Marshall’s reports “The 969 catechism,” Reuters, June 26, 2013; and “Myanmar gives official blessing to anti-Muslim monks,” Reuters, June 27, 2013. For discussion of the Ma Ba Tha political party, see Annie Gowen, “Hard-line Buddhist monks threaten Burma’s hopes for democracy,”
Washington Post
, November 5, 2015.

481
 The pending lawsuit against Burmese president Thein Sein is discussed in Agence France-Presse, “Muslim groups sue Myanmar president for Rohingya ‘genocide,’ ”
Guardian
, October 5, 2015.

481
 The National League for Democracy’s election victory is reported in Oliver Holmes, “Aung San Suu Kyi wins outright majority in Myanmar election,”
Guardian
, November 13, 2015. U Win Htein’s postelection comments on Muslims in Burma are drawn from Austin Ramzy, “After Myanmar election, few signs of a better life for Muslims,”
New York Times
, November 18, 2015.

481
 The expansion of the Myanmar press, and its simultaneous suppression by the government, is the subject of Julie Makinen, “Myanmar press freedom: Unprecedented but still subject to pressures,”
Los Angeles Times
, March 27, 2015; Paul Mooney, “Jail, lawsuits cast shadow over Myanmar media freedom,” Reuters, May 15, 2014; and Amnesty International, “Caught between state censorship and self-censorship: Prosecution and intimidation of media workers in Myanmar,” Amnesty International, June 16, 2015.

482
 The military’s constitutionally enshrined dominance over Burmese politics is noted in “A milestone for Myanmar’s democracy,”
New York Times
, November 12, 2015.

482
 Suu Kyi’s remarks on the constitution of Myanmar are reported in Claire Phipps and Matthew Weaver, “Aung San Suu Kyi vows to make all the decisions in Myanmar’s new government,”
Guardian
, November 10, 2015; see also Fergal Keane, “Myanmar election: Full BBC interview with Aung San Suu Kyi,” BBC News, November 10, 2015.

Lost at the Surface

483
 I would not have seemed such an adventurous eater had I been born forty years later. Eel has become so popular that both Japanese and American varieties have been added to the International Endangered Species List; see Frances Cha, “Japanese eel becomes latest ‘endangered food,’ ”
CNN Travel
, February 5, 2013; and Annie Sneed, “American eel is in danger of extinction,”
Scientific American
, December 1, 2014.

484
 Dutch Springs Quarry in Lehigh, Pennsylvania, is the watery grave of not only a school bus, but also a fire truck, a trolley, three different airplanes, and a Sikorsky H-37 helicopter; see Julie Morgan, “Keeping ’em diving in the Keystone State,”
Sport Diver
, April 21, 2006.

485
 My opening address at the Sydney Writers’ Festival can be viewed on the festival website, at
http://swf.org.au
.

485
 Orpheus Island Resort, a pleasant enough place when you aren’t being abandoned at sea by its incompetent staff and then asked to pay for your trip by its impenitent manager, has a website at
http://orpheus.com.au
.

487
 Although the Tarzan yell is unmistakable, its provenance is debatable; see Bill De Main, “The disputed history of the Tarzan yell,”
Mental Floss
, August 22, 2012.

490
 The story “In Which Piglet Is Entirely Surrounded by Water” is chapter 9 of A. A. Milne,
Winnie-the-Pooh
(1926).

Abrahams, Fred. “In his first interview, Saif al-Islam says he has not been given access to a lawyer.”
Daily Beast
, December 30, 2012.

Adams, Susan. “Treasure islands: Inside a Japanese billionaire’s art archipelago.”
Forbes
, July 29, 2015.

Agence France-Presse. “Muslim groups sue Myanmar president for Rohingya ‘genocide.’ ”
Guardian
, October 5, 2015.

———. “Rwanda opposition says can’t find lawyer for Kagame 3rd term case—one said ‘God was against it.’ ”
Mail & Guardian
, July 8, 2015.

———. “US opposes third term for Rwanda’s Kagame: Diplomat.”
Guardian
(Nigeria), June 5, 2015.

Agyman, Gyasiwaa. “‘Mahama will soon mortgage Ghana to anti-Christ.’”
Adom Online
, January 8, 2016.

Ai Weiwei. “Ai Weiwei: China’s art world does not exist.”
Guardian
, September 10, 2012.

Akinsha, Konstantin. “Art in Russia: Art under attack.”
ARTnews
, October 1, 2009.

Alston, Philip. “Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: Follow-up to country recommendations—Brazil.” United Nations Human Rights Council, May 28, 2010.

Alter, Alexandra. “China’s publishers court America as its authors scorn censorship.”
New York Times
, May 28, 2015.

American Consul Rio de Janeiro. “Counter-insurgency doctrine comes to Rio’s favelas.” September 30, 2009.

Amey, Katie. “Government-issued housing, super-highways that span 20 lanes but not a soul in sight: Inside Myanmar’s haunting capital city.”
Daily Mail
, April 18, 2015.

Amnesty International. “Caught between state censorship and self-censorship: Prosecution and intimidation of media workers in Myanmar.” Amnesty International, June 16, 2015.

———. “State of Libya.” In “The state of the world’s human rights.” Amnesty International, March 11, 2015.

Amos, Howard. “Russian publisher prints books about Putin under names of western authors.”
Guardian
, August 11, 2015.

Anistia Internacional Brasil. “You killed my son: Homicides by military police in the city of Rio de Janeiro.” Amnesty International, August 3, 2015.

“Anti Muslim monk Wira thu talk about Meiktila before riot.” YouTube, March 24, 2013.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=N7irUgGsFYw
.

Antunes, Anderson. “When samba meets African dictators: The ugly side of Rio de Janeiro’s Carnival.”
Forbes
, February 19, 2015.

Antwi-Otoo, Kweku. “Gay activist Andrew Solomon will be a pastor one day: Moses Foh-Amoaning.”
Atinka 104.7 FM Online
, July 13, 2015.

Arendt, Laurie. “A toast to her brother,”
Ozaukee Press
, September 13, 2007.

Artavia, David. “Cameroon’s ‘gay problem.’ ”
Advocate
, July 7, 2013.

Asia Foundation. “The Asia Foundation donates books to parliamentary library in Burma.” Asia Foundation, October 24, 2012.

Associated Press. “Assault on U.S. consulate in Benghazi leaves 4 dead, including U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens.” CBS News, September 12, 2012.

———. “Vinegar contaminated with antifreeze kills Chinese Muslims at Ramadan meal.”
Guardian
, August 22, 2011.

———. “Women journalists targeted in Afghanistan.” NBC News, June 26, 2007.

Aung San Suu Kyi. “Please use your liberty to promote ours.”
New York Times
, February 4, 1997.