Suu Kyi and hundreds of fellow lawmakers from her National League for Democracy (NLD) strode into the legislature on Monday with a huge mandate from November elections, carrying the hopes of a nation desperate to rebound after decades under the military yoke.

But the democracy champion, who is herself barred from the presidency under a constitution scripted by the former junta, said it was “not yet time to form a government”.

She was speaking at her first press conference since the new parliament.

“Don’t be anxious. You will know when the time comes,”Suu Kyi told reporters, adding that the party must “think carefully” about its choice of a candidate and suggesting the decision would not come until next month.

The NLD’s massive majority — with almost 80 per cent of parliament’s seats — gives it a clear run at the presidential selection.

Suu Kyi, the centrepiece of Myanmar’s long democracy struggle, is excluded from the presidency by a charter clause that bars anyone with close relatives who are foreign.

She has sought to sidestep that problem by vowing to rule “above” a proxy leader.

But the secrecy surrounding a potential candidate has sent ripples of disquiet through the nation.

There are few obvious choices since the pro-democracy movement has been dominated by Suu Kyi’s charismatic leadership since the 1980s.

The NLD also faces a still-powerful military, which under the constitution is granted 25 per cent of parliamentary seats — giving it an effective veto on charter change.

The army has so far resisted any move to amend the clause that blocks Suu Kyi, and a commentary in the state military newspaper on Monday restated this stance.

Elected members of both houses of parliament and the military will nominate three candidates to replace outgoing President Thein Sein, who retains his post until the end of March.

The new president will then be chosen by a vote of the combined houses.

Suu Kyi said she was “really satisfied” with the parliamentary process so far, particularly the selection of several ethnic minority representatives for the roles of parliament speakers and their deputies, which she said was intended to promote “national reconciliation”.

She also chided reporters over their over-eager approach to news collection in recent months, following chaotic scenes during the election and huge media scrums in parliament this week.

“People should be able to move around freely,” she said, but pledged to work for greater transparency in a party that decreed recently that she alone could act as a spokesperson.

The next government faces a daunting rebuilding task in one of Southeast Asia’s poorest countries, where civil wars continue to rage in ethnic borderlands and public services bear the scars of junta neglect.

– AFP

Its minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said the guidelines would be issued by tomorrow.

He said fighting the virus was a challenge because it spreads easily.

“But we have to fight it, by stopping it from breeding,” he told reporters after launching the Watch Your Weight, Watch Your Calories healthy eating campaign here.

Also present was Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.

Zika has been linked to brain birth-defects.

Cases have been reported in Brazil and those infected hardly show any symptoms, unlike dengue.

Both Zika and dengue are transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

Dr Subramaniam said one measure to fight Zika was to eradicate the Aedes mosquito.

He said there was no known treatment or vaccine for the virus.

Dr Subramaniam advised Malaysians planning to visit South America to defer their travels while those returning from there should exercise caution if they felt lethargic or weakness in their limbs.

“Since carriers are asymptomatic, they need to see a doctor if they experience general weakness,” he said.

On Monday, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the recent microcephaly cases and other neurological disorders reported in Brazil and French Polynesia in 2014 as a “public health emergency of international concern” but did not call for restrictions on travel and trade.

The condition has been linked to but not proven to be caused by the Zika virus.

Dr Subramaniam said the strain in Brazil was probably different and more dangerous than the one found in Malaysia in 2014.

The virus was first isolated from mosquitoes in 1969 in Bentong, Pahang, and the last case was in 2014 when a German traveller was diagnosed with a mild infection after her return to Germany from Sabah.

In Petaling Jaya, Health deputy director-general Datuk Dr Lokman Hakim Sulaiman said the WHO declaration has no advisory other than the measures Malaysia has taken to combat mosquito breeding.

“The focus is on standardising case definition and diagnostics for clarity of reporting and surveillance, and the need for more studies,” he said.

WHO director-general Margaret Chan, who made the declaration after the first International Health Regulations Emergency Committee on Zika virus, said the committee agreed that a causal relationship between Zika infection during pregnancy and microcephaly was strongly suspected, although not yet scientifically proven.

“All agreed on the urgent need to coordinate international efforts to investigate and understand this relationship better,” she said.

According to WHO, the virus was first discovered in Uganda in 1947 in rhesus monkeys.

It was subsequently identified in humans in 1952 in Uganda and Tanzania.

Outbreaks of the virus have been recorded in Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific.

The Qinzhou Nixing pottery with more than 1,300 years of history is renowned both at home and abroad for the clay that is only available locally and the “kiln transformation” art that cannot be copied. It is the only one of its kind in China and one of the four famous pottery in China – the other three being the Violet Sand Earthenware of Yixing in Jiangsu Province, Jianshui pottery in Yunnan Province and Rongchang pottery Sichuan Province and has been included in the National Intangible Cultural Heritage list.

In recent years, the local government has been promoting Nixing pottery as an important industry, putting the development of Nixing pottery in the fast lane.

Last year, the local government spent 1.5 billion yuan to build a Nixing pottery cultural and creative industries park covering an area of 445.5 acres (Millennium Ancient Pottery Town). So far 28 Nixing pottery businesses and 15 masters have signed a lease and entry agreement. Reporters from mainstream media outlets in Thailand said they would introduce the excellent traditional culture of Guangxi to more people through what they saw and heard after they returned to Thailand.

The extremist group also recently released a threatening video to the Malaysian government, which is currently stepping up operations to detect and detain suspected IS-affiliated individuals.

As previously reported by The Straits Times, in a video in the Malay language, the Malaysia-Indonesia IS unit -the Katibah Nusantara – said it would take revenge for the capture of its members.

Entitled “Mesej Awam Kepada Malaysia” (A Public Message for Malaysia), the video warns: “If you catch us, we will only increase in number, but if you let us be, we will draw closer to our goal of bringing back the rule of the caliphs.”

He continued: “I urge you all to create a genuine democratic, federal Union, cooperating with each other together with unity and love. Our dignity will be promoted if we are dutiful to the national interest instead of personal interests. We should all perform our best since we are the ones who will participate in writing new pages of the country’s history.”

He also said the MPs are legislators and should not violate the country’s laws.

He continued that the second parliament must focus on legislation, including amending, cancelling and drafting laws to protect the people’s lives and security. Also, the parliament has to examine whether existing laws, including orders and notifications, are in line with human rights and democratic standards.

He said: “I’m pleased to be the speaker of the parliament. I will try my best to fulfil this responsibility fairly.”

The parliament will reconvene on February 4.

Win Myint is a member of the NLD’s central executive committee. He represented NLD in Tamwe constituency, Yangon Region. He also won seats in the 1990 and 2012 elections, representing the party.

More than 600 local and foreign reporters covered the parliament session opening on February 1. Former Lower House Speaker Thura Shwe Mann, former deputy speaker Nanda Kyaw Swa, and several ex-MPs attended the event. Tin Oo, NLD patron, was also present as an observer. Only four representatives, including vice presidents Dr Sai Mauk Kham and Nyan Htun from the USDP were absent yesterday.

The Lower House is comprised of 433 MPs: 255 from NLD, 30 from USDP, 12 each from the Rakhine National Party (RNP) and the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), three each from the Pa-o National Organisation and the Ta’ang National Party, two each from the Zomi Democracy Party and the Lisu National Development Party (LNDP), one each from Kachin Democracy Party, Wa Democratic Party and Kokant Democracy Party as well as 110 military representatives.

The new MPs were aspired to move the nation forward.

“There are great expectations for the building of a federal Union, equal rights for ethnic minorities and the country’s development. We don’t know how far we can go. The Lower House speaker is now responsible for bringing about equal rights for the people. We’re now going to see how much the parliament can do for national unity. I’m rather optimistic,” said Ba Shein from the Rakhine National Party (RNP).

“We want equal rights for ethnic people. The NLD and ethnic representatives should have equal rights. I hope they will,” said La Marlay from the LNDP.

Sai Zin Thant from the SNLD noted that his party discussed issues such as whether the opposition should be shaped, something absent during the previous session.

“The previous five years will not be the same as the coming five years,” he said, adding that if there would be no opposition if SNLD did not take the matter in its hands.

Prior to the November election, SNLD planned to team up with NLD to form the opposition, he noted.

The upper house is to be comprised of 135 MPs from the NLD, 11 from the USDP, 10 from the RNP, three from the SNLD, two each from the Zomi Democracy Party and the Taang National Party, one each from the Mon National Party, National Unity Party and the Pa-O National Organisation, two independents as well as 56 military representatives.

The foreign community rushed to congratulated Myanmar on the opening of the new parliament session. Good wishes came from many countries including France and the United States.

The US embassy in Yangon released a statement on February 1 saying: “On November 8, 2015, the people of Myanmar made their voices heard in a historic election. Today, we congratulate the newly elected parliamentarians on their first day in office and wish them well as they take on the difficult but urgent task of advancing peace, prosperity, justice and reform in this country. The US Embassy salutes the process of democracy that led to this historic day and looks forward to providing support for these new parliamentarians as well as others throughout the country seeking to promote democratic practice in coming years.”

“We’re facing an uphill battle,” said the 35-year-old novice legislator. “Most of us have little experience in government, but we are very determined to make it work.”

The new NLD members flooded the imposing parliament building on Monday, many clad in the traditional burnt orange tunics that have been worn by the party for decades and overwhelmed the olive green of the army bloc as the freshly elected legislature met for the first time since Suu Kyi’s massive poll win in November.

Expectations are sky-high after the NLD won about 80 per cent of elected seats, crushing the junta-linked ruling party and setting the stage to replace the semi-civilian government of President Thein Sein.

“It was like a dream because Daw Aung San Suu Kyifought alone against the military – and then she won,” said Khin Maung Myint, a first-time NLD lawmaker from Hpakant, a remote town in the north of the country famous for its jade production.

The former jade and gems trader clutched a black suitcase given to parliamentarians last week containing a starter kit for first-time MPs, including a copy of Myanmar’s military-drafted constitution from 2008 and a basic guide to lawmaking.

“It did not only shake Myanmar, it shook the whole world,” he said.

The 255 members of the NLD’s lower house caucus come from diverse backgrounds – artists, former political prisoners and small-scale entrepreneurs warily wandered the corridors of power together as they gathered to choose a speaker for the chamber.

But they comprise two main groups: experienced pro-democracy stalwarts who were persecuted and imprisoned under the junta, and members of a younger generation that joined the party after the country embarked on a process of reform in 2011.

The two groups share two things in common: they will be forced by the 2008 constitution to work with former enemies from the military; and they have very little experience of governing.

FINE LINE

Suu Kyi has to tread a fine line, compromising between the change-hungry party grassroots, the general public and the army that still holds a quarter of seats in parliament and controls a large chunk of Myanmar’s state apparatus.

Choosing the speaker is another stop on the NLD’s journey that began last September, when the candidates hit the campaign trail and canvassed votes in a well-organised operation, which included rigorous media training.

Some activists left the party over Suu Kyi’s choice of candidates as she focused on creating a disciplined caucus, leaving some experienced activists out and making room for well-educated younger members who can enact laws – and also could be more willing to engage with the army.

Myo Zaw Aung was expelled from university in 2002 and was acting as Suu Kyi’s bodyguard a year later during what has become known as the Depayin Massacre, when her motorcade was attacked by pro-junta thugs and 70 of her supporters were killedin what was seen as an assassination attempt.

“I was arrested and tortured, but I can forgive the military. We now have to work together to ensure a smooth transition,” he said.

The NLD resembles less a modern political party with a cohesive agenda, and more a broad movement united by years of struggle for democracy under Suu Kyi’s charismatic leadership.

“I feel like the parliament is very big and marvellous, but still most people are poor,” said Myint Lwin, a newly-elected NLD lawmaker. “I want to fulfil the people’s wishes as much as I can and make their lives as marvellous as this parliament.”

The challenge now facing Myanmar’s new ruling party is to turn vague aspirations into a coherent policy platform.

King Ngaih Mang, 42, a new lawmaker from the Zomi Congress for Democracy Party, an ethnic party from Myanmar’s impoverished Chin State, offered an insight into the scale of the task.

“Our region still doesn’t have paved roads, it still has roads that were paved during the Second World War,” she said. What we need for our region is the infrastructure, roads, healthcare, all of which are very necessary.”

– Reuters

“One of the striking aspects about this exhibition is that judges are looking for the best artists and the best art, subjectively defined. And one can see very clear linkages and connections among the works,” says Harger, who is also the museum’s executive director.

This year’s chosen works show the artists’ approach to social, economic and geopolitical issues and their attempts to convert personal experiences into universal feelings.

In When Need Moves the Earth, Thai artist Sutthirat Supparinya, who was nominated in the video and digital category, shows two power projects in her home country. Through her camera, she talks about the challenges to the environment posed by the Srinakarin dam and the Mae Moh lignite mine.

“The two constructions are located in a sensitive geological environment. I want to explore the impact of human and industrial activities on the (sites’) natural surroundings,” she says.

Huang Po-chih, an artist from Taipei, provides a microcosmic insight into industrialization in Taiwan and on the mainland. His installation Production Line explores agricultural recession and individuals within the structures of manufacturing and consumption.

He links his mother’s story with the story of “Auntie Huang”, another woman from southern China’s Shenzhen city, where many cloth factories get their money from Taiwan. The two women share a similar background: Both went to cities from the countryside and ended up working on such production lines.

Huang put up a youthful photo of his mother at the exhibition venue and a photo of the other woman facing away from the visitors. Near them he has placed a stack of jeans made in the factories of Taipei and Shenzhen, with the words, “Sorry, I don’t have an off today”, projected on a nearby wall.

“In Taiwan, nobody cares about personal stories. People always focus on the economy, finance and business. That’s why I try to look at the very small universe of individuals,” says Huang, who was one of the award-winners.

Shanghai-based sculptor Yang Mushi also dwells on individuals. His installation-like sculpture on show, called Grind, displays several groups of objects in different formations – some look like piles of timber and some like sharpened pencils. The articles, placed on a large aluminum plate, took two years to make at a Shanghai factory. He then darkened their surfaces with lacquer.

He says the objects reflect the various states of his mind.

“I felt rather pessimistic and pained during the production process. I saw the materials becoming smaller inside the machines, and felt my own life fritter away.”

He sees the process as a confrontation with his “other” side that easily blends into the social mainstream. He says the work helps him cool down, release his anxiety and maintain a distance from his surroundings.

Zhang Wei, a Beijing-based photo artist and awards nominee, says many young artists today “simply sell ideas or depend on impulse to create”.

“But when one reaches middle age, an artist should rely on his experiences to go on.”

If you go 10 am-7 pm, through March 27. Level 3, ArtScience Museum, Marina Bay Sands, 6 Bayfront Avenue, Singapore. +65-6688-8888.

The first initiative, a US$17 million programme known as the Berbak Green Prosperity Project, will help to restore the water of peat swamp forests in Jambi. The restoration of this system will help to eventually decrease the prevalence of peat fires in the province.

“The Berbak project will also provide training to increase production of local agriculture and will facilitate smallholder oil palm certifications and community-based palm oil mill effluent renewable energy systems,” the US embassy said in a statement on Monday.

The second initiative is a $13 million agreement with three palm oil mills in Riau Province for biogas power plants utilizing palm oil mill effluent and assisting independent smallholders in each mill’s supply base to become RSPO certified.

This grant alone is expected to produce 3 MW of renewable energy from biogas, the equivalent amount of electricity needed to power 9,000 rural homes; capture 117,000 tCO2e/year, which is equivalent to emissions from vehicles driving 785 million kilometers per year. It is also expected that the project can improve productivity and management practices for 2,000 independent smallholders.

The US embassy said these two programmes, both of which will be implemented by an Indonesian agency, the Millennium Challenge Account – Indonesia (MCA-I), were part of the US government’s overall support for Indonesia’s commitment to reduce carbon emissions and protect vulnerable peatlands.

Apart from these projects, the US, through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), has recently launched a new portfolio of projects to address climate change and support Indonesia’s goal of reducing emissions by 29 percent by 2030.

According to the embassy, USAID will partner with the Indonesian government to help conserve and sustainably manage 8.4 million hectares of forest and peatland that can serve as carbon sinks.

The embassy further said that USAID would help eliminate 4.5 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions and leverage $800 million in private sector investment in clean energy for five million citizens.

“USAID will also help protect local communities from the effects of a changing climate and more extreme weather by assisting national and provincial governments implement effective climate change adaptation strategies.”

The US embassy said USAID had also invested more than $38 million into environmental initiatives in 2015.

“Moving forward, we have a planned investment of $47 million for forest conservation and land use planning, $24 million for land use policy and conservation advocacy, $19 million for global climate change adaptation, $19 for clean energy and $5 million for forest research,” it said.

“These programmes are a sign of our commitment to working in partnership with Indonesia to combat the causes of climate change and to help the country achieve its goal of reducing emissions in the future.”

But popularity and power are only the beginning for the Nobel laureate and her hundreds of new MPs, many of whom have no experience of public office.

Here are a few of their main challenges:

Picking a president

===================

Suu Kyi’s party can form a government, but who will lead it?

The Nobel laureate is barred from the presidency by a clause in the junta-drafted constitution because her children are British.

Many believe it was scripted specifically to block her path to power.

She has said she will rule “above” a puppet president, who will replace outgoing President Thein Sein in late March.

If she does, that position is not covered in the constitution and could rile the powerful military who have ceded some powers but retain 25 per cent of seats in parliament — and with them an effective veto on major charter change.

Military still in play

======================

Given the presidency issue, Suu Kyi may need to sweeten up an army which held her prisoner for some 15 years.

Observers say good relations between Suu Kyi and the military will be crucial to get anything done.

That is because the military’s political powers are not limited to parliament.

The 2008 constitution that was scripted under ex-dictator Than Shwe hands the army chief control over three key ministries: home affairs, defence and border affairs.

Home affairs is a bureaucratic juggernaut and includes the police force and the sprawling General Administration Department (GAD), a vast network that forms the backbone of the civil service.

Beyond this soldiers are also in active combat as civil wars continue to rage in parts of Myanmar’s ethnic minority borderlands.

Uncertain peace

===============

Myanmar’s ethnic minorities have fought for greater autonomy for more than 50 years.

Thein Sein signed ceasefires with several of the country’s major ethnic armed groups, but heavy fighting continues, particularly in Kachin and Shan states.

As a member of the ethnic majority Bamar, Suu Kyi has sometimes been viewed with suspicion by these groups.

But the NLD won handsomely in ethnic states and Suu Kyi has pledged to work towards a federal system.

She also must tackle the scourge of anti-Muslim sentiment that has fomented since an explosion of unrest in Rakhine state in 2012 between Buddhists and minority Rohingya communities.

Tens of thousands of Muslim Rohingya are still trapped in bleak displacement camps and the next government faces pressure from the international community to find a solution for them.

But they will be wary of enraging Rakhine Buddhists, who largely see the Rohingya as illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh.

Economic development

====================

Myanmar’s economy has surged under reforms by Thein Sein’s government. Foreign investment swept in as most Western sanctions were lifted.

Mobile phones are now ubiquitous, car imports are rising fast and several special economic zones are in the pipeline.

The economy grew at 8.5 per cent in the 2014/15 fiscal year, but the World Bank expects this to moderate to 6.5 per cent this year.

But poverty is still a problem for huge swathes of a country that relies on agriculture.

With many of the previous government’s so-called “quick win” policies already enacted, the NLD has said it will focus on luring more international investment.

Speedy development is held back by patchy electricity supply, poor road and rail networks and an unskilled workforce.

Graft is also endemic. Myanmar ranked in joint 147th place out of 168 in Transparency International’s 2015 corruption perception index.

There is also the question of febrile relations with China — Myanmar’s biggest trading partner.

– AFP