Social development
Imagined urban futures of Yangon
As a newcomer to the city earlier this year, I noticed that urban development and planning in Yangon was a topic that often came up in many discussions, be it with colleagues or during other informal encounters. The general sentiments among locals and foreigners were ...
Teachers call for better security after educator’s murder
Teachers around the country demonstrated on January 22 calling for better protection of educators after one of their colleagues was abducted and shot dead in Kachin State’s Hpakant township. Primary school teacher U Aung Zin Tun, who was assigned to Hpakant township’s Nantmaphit village, was reportedly ...
Myanmar, Malaysia agree over aid flotilla
The flotilla spat appears to have come to an agreeable end. Myanmar has permitted a group of Malaysian organisations to send aid earmarked for Rakhine State after an official permission request was forwarded to the president, and a delegation smoothed over the arrangements on January ...
Tax cut planned for low-cost housing purchases
The government is planning to drastically reduce the taxes it levies when people purchase state-commissioned low-cost housing, which developers say puts many units out of reach for ordinary buyers. Union Planning and Finance Minister U Kyaw Win, in a speech to developers and business leaders ...
PM underlines new era workforce needs
Việt Nam will focus on developing human resources, science and technology in a bid to keep pace with the fourth industrial revolution, Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc said on January 19 at a debate in Davos, Switzerland about the future of production. At the session, ...
Ministry to realise rural education improvements
Education improvement in remote rural areas will be realised following the Ministry of Education and Sports’ proposal to begin creating some of the necessary facilities for rural teachers. The proposal was tabled for discussion by the ministry at a meeting of education administrators on January ...
Poor schools are at the heart of Thailand’s political malaise
Everyone knows that nurturing brainboxes is good for an economy. In Thailand, school reformers have an extra incentive: to narrow differences between rich people in cities and their poorer rural cousins, which have led to a decade of political tension and occasional eruptions of violence. ...
Australian charity to send Northern Territory cattle to Cambodian families
An Australian charity has bought 150 Brahman breeders from a Northern Territory Government research farm to send to Cambodia. Cows for Cambodia loans Cambodian families pregnant cows to look after until they have a calf, which the family keeps as payment. The Northern Territory cattle, ...
Saudi princess gives boost to measles vaccination drive
Saudi Arabian Princess Her Royal Highness Lamia bintMajet Al Saud, Secretary General of Alwaleed Philanthropies, says the organisation will provide about US$2.6 million to Laos in support of measles and rubella vaccinations this year. The measles and rubella vaccination control project under the National Immunisation ...
282 poor air quality days in capital in 2016
Dust concentration in the air, both in Hà Nội and Hồ Chí Minh City, was several times higher in 2016 than the levels recommended by the World Health Organization, endangering resident’s health. In Hà Nội, the dust concentration reached up to 50,5 mg per cubic ...