“I DIDN’T want to be a journalist, but of course I didn’t want to be a political prisoner either,” says editor and author Kyaw Zwa Moe laughing. “But I just did what I believed I should do.”

During a chat at the launch of his book “The Cell, Exile the New Burma”, the 47-year-old writer recalls how he “fell in love with journalism” after fleeing his home country in 2001 and joining the then-Chiang Mai-based The Irrawaddy magazine, where he continues to be the English edition editor.

Indeed, it is both ironic and apt that Kyaw Zwa should end up being a journalist after all the reading and hiding of books and pens inside the prison cells he had to call home for eight years. He was arrested at 19 for his role in August 8, 1988 pro-democracy uprising, went into exile in Thailand after his release and returned to Myanmar, as Burma is officially known today, in 2013.

 Kyaw Zwa Moe /courtesy of Kyaw Zwa Moe

Unlike a typical memoir, ’The Cell, Exile and New Burma” is both personal and impersonal. The 32 articles tell stories all too common to too many people until the country started on the bumpy journey of political transition in 2011. Indeed, the book’s title reflects how a prison cell and exile were common experiences for individuals like Kyaw Zwa, as well as Myanmar’s past and present leaders. “If we want to understand the current political situation, we cannot get rid of these two places,” he says.

Kyaw Zwa talks about the unfinished story of Myanmar’s democratic transition, which has produced “kind of a democracy”. He discusses the perilous balance between democracy and a return to the past – and how a constitution that protects the military’s role is a fundamental handicap that weakens civilian governance despite the elections that put the National League of Democracy-led government in place in 2016.

 Kyaw Zwa Moe, right, talks during the book launch with Johanna Son.

I’VE SEEN A FEW DESCRIPTIONS CALLING YOUR BOOK “MEMOIRS”, BUT THEY’RE NOT, NOT REALLY. WHY A COLLECTION OF STORIES, NOT PERSONAL MEMOIRS?

[After I left Burma], I met many other people. All of them were encouraging me to write a memoir. But I couldn’t, I couldn’t do it. Luckily, one year after I was released from the prison, I joined The Irrawaddy. I didn’t intend to be a journalist but after I joined and I started writing the stories, news reports and later on analysis, documentaries, I really fell in love with journalism. So let’s say I have been busy with daily news reports all the time.

THE FIRST PART OF THE BOOK IS MORE PERSONAL. BUT WORKING ON THIS PROJECT REQUIRED YOU TO RELIVE THE TRAUMA. WAS THAT PART OF THE REASON WHY IT TOOK YOU SO LONG?

I don’t really have a trauma, even though I spent eight years in prison. But of course, we always face a difficult time whenever we recall something, something sad or something bad from the past. One of the examples of a bad incident was when my mother, who was 49 at that time, was hit by a military vehicle when I was in prison. But that was really coincidence. For anyone who wants to take something subjectively or personally, I should have hated the military and the military leader as well. But to me, [not writing a book earlier] was not simply because of that but because I couldn’t really focus on the book project. But I had 700, 800 stories all related to the pro-democracy movement, so I tried to repackage these into this book. That, I think, is more interesting than my memoirs.

HOW WAS IT FOR YOU TO KNOW THAT YOU MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO GO BACK HOME? THERE WAS A TIME IN HISTORY WHEN WE THOUGHT THAT TWO COUNTRIES WOULD NEVER CHANGE – MYANMAR AND NORTH KOREA.

I didn’t know when I could go back, but since I joined the movement in 1988, when I was 16 years old, I think I was always optimistic. Even in front of the soldiers, at the forefront of the student protests, even when I tried to run away from the gunshots, I was always optimistic. When I was arrested and sentenced to 10 years, I knew that I would be released one day. I was never depressed. So I tried to do something even when I was forced to be in prison. That’s the type of person I think I am now. Every bit of stationery, every piece of paper, pencil, pen, was illegal in the cell. I tried to smuggle these goods into my cell, because I was so keen to learn something.

THE BOOK COVERS A LOT OF THE PAST, AND MUCH OF THE RECENT PAST. WHAT DO YOU THINK BURMA’S PAST CAN TEACH US ABOUT THE FUTURE? WHAT DID THE COUNTRY’S PAST TEACH IT?

In 1988, our young students started the 1988 pro-democracy movement on the streets demanding democracy. We can see that we have democracy because the government we have now was elected by the people in 2015. It is kind of a democracy. Basically, democracy means that you get the government that you voted for. We got a democracy that’s not perfect at all. But now that is a real example for all of us, because democracy alone is not enough. Democracy doesn’t come with civil rights, equality, autonomy or prosperity. Democracy is just the right to vote for a party you like. Democracy should come with constitutional liberalism, which is even more important or at least equally important. Constitutional liberalism is to get civil rights, to get your individual right and to get the rule of law – constitution is the key.

DO YOU THINK MYANMAR IS A MISUNDERSTOOD COUNTRY, OR DO PEOPLE OUTSIDE EXPECT TOO MUCH OF IT?

I think so. I would say that the country is complex in all of its layers. Sometimes we Burmese don’t understand what is going on, but at the same time I would say that the leadership doesn’t really have a vision of how to solve a lot of problems in our country.

YOU SAID THAT YOU ARE AN OPTIMIST, BUT ALSO A PRAGMATIST. WHAT ARE THE THREE TOP CHALLENGES THAT MYANMAR NEEDS TO ADDRESS?

Choosing even three is very difficult. Don’t forget that our Big Brother, the military, is still around. And they officially get 25 per cent of the seats in parliament without even standing in the election. There are three posts occupied by the military, according to the constitution. They are defence minister, home affairs minister, the border affairs minister, and of course, the commander-in-chief, who has the power to appoint those ministers. So, constitutionally, the government cannot purge those three ministers. Politically, the government cannot really purge the commander-in-chief either. So they are on top, so far. It’s quite difficult but the constitution is one of the main problems in our country. But even within that limited situation, the government, or we, all of us, can have our own |space to do more and more in terms of pushing the boundaries. Now, we say Myanmar is in democratic transition. If I have to define that, democratic transition means to dismantle the military from politics. This is very delicate in our country, very delicate.

MAYBE THAT’S WHY THE BOOK USES ‘EVOLUTION’ INSTEAD OF REVOLUTION? IT’S NOT A GOOD TIME FOR DEMOCRACY IN SOUTHEAST ASIA. ARE THERE LESSONS THE REST OF US CAN LEARN FROM MYANMAR?

I joined the pro-democracy movement in 1988, 30 years back. Now, it is 2018. So we just started. We thought that we could get democracy in a few years, in the following years. I didn’t know twhen I joined the movement, that democracy is a process, to build a nation, or to rebuild a nation, and to restructure the entire nation’s society with its millions of people. So I think it will take time; it is very difficult. I think if you are optimistic, if you are positive, it’s not too bad. Look at the United States – that’s why we can learn from other countries as well.

Johanna Son is editor/founder of the Reporting ASEAN series (www.AseanNews.net).

Myanmar and more

Copies of ‘The Cell, Exile and the New Burma’, are available by writing to reportingasean@gmail.com.

Your body goes through whirlwind changes, some of which can be less pleasing than others. Hair loss after pregnancy, is one of these and it is quite common.

The loss usually continues for 10-12 weeks and after this, new hair should start to appear even if you’d done nothing. A healthy diet with plenty of protein will help the hair regrowth process.

But once you reach your 40s or 50s, you may again experience some thinning of the hair. This, of course, is for entirely different reasons.

And while thinning hair or hair loss in 40s or 50s is common, it also drains the self-confidence and most mothers dislike publicly discussing how emotionally traumatising it is to lose this symbol of beauty.

In fact, about half of all women face thinning hair by the time they reach 50.

It happens when your body becomes overly sensitive to male hormones called androgens, which can block hair growth. As a result, follicles gradually get smaller, producing shorter, finer hair until they stop growing hair at all.

The “gold standard” medical treatment for hair loss is a drug applied to the scalp called minoxidil. Minoxidil works by prolonging the growth phase of hair. Initial results occur at 4 months with maximum results occurring at 8 months.

Now another, newer hair growth treatment is being administered in dermatologist clinics. It consists of Platelet–Rich Plasma (PRP) injections. Platelet–Rich Plasma is a concentration of platelets, which are rich in growth factors.

Growth factors are the naturally occurring substances that are capable of stimulating the activity of the hair follicles. They play the role of messengers, signalling hair cells to function and result in significant improvement in new hair growth and density.

The use of PRP has a number of scientifically based articles showing its efficacy. In fact, it has been used in medicine to treat a range of health issues, including arthritis and signs of ageing. For treating hair loss, PRP is collected from a patient’s blood and injected into scalp areas of thinning hair.

The procedure requires minimal to no downtime. It works for any women experiencing hair loss, but those with early hair loss tend to respond best. For best results, consistency is crucial. Treatments are typically given once a month for the first 3-4 months. Anticipated results can first be seen within about 2-3 months.

With the Mother’s Day right around the corner, I hope this treatment option is good news for those mums struggling to find hair–loss solutions. It’s never too late to start anti–ageing prevention. Happy Mother’s Day!

THANISORN THAMLIKITKUL MD is a member of the American Society of Cosmetic Dermatology and Aesthetic Surgery and certified in dermatological laser surgery. Send your questions for her to info@romrawin.com.

CO-WORKING SPACES are all the rage in Bangkok these days and new facilities are popping up all over town to meet the needs of start-ups and freelancers who need a base that’s not their living room.

And we’re not talking about just office space. Today’s workspaces go far beyond the serviced facilities to include a brasserie, fitness studio, hostel and spa to make the working day a far more pleasant experience.

Glowfish Sathorn offers serviced offices, meeting rooms, conference halls and individual desks for startups and the self-employed.

Covering an area of 3,800 square metres on the second floor of Sathorn Thani 2 Building and easily accessed from Skytrain Chong Nonsi station, the new branch of Glowfish Offices is based on the concept of a healthy work-life balance. The office space offers serviced offices matched to business size along with meeting rooms, studios, conference halls, individual desks and collaboration areas. That’s complemented by stress-relieving workout studios Base and Physique 57 along with a recently opened co-dining space. Spread over 1,300sqm, it’s home to five eateries serving up a range of favourites including khao pad gapao (fried rice with meat and holy basil), Northern-stylekhao soi (curried noodle soup), Vietnamese pho, stewed chicken over rice as well as sandwiches and coffees.

 Glowfish’s co-dining space offers premium comfort foods from five eateries in pleasant work-life environment.

“The millennial generation seeks a healthy work-life balance and we want our place to be a creative community that fosters a culture of sharing and exchange, and brings out the best out in every individual. That’s why we offer a flexible workspace, a motivating workout environment and a dining area designed specifically to meet their needs,” says Glowfish’s managing director Gavin Vongkusolkit.

Designed by IAW Architect, the 200-seat, self-service, co-dining space offers a choice of spaces. There’s a long wooden table for a large group, a high table and stool for those eating alone and two to four-seat tables for low-key socialising. Tropical plants, retro hanging lamps, natural wood tones and a turquoise vibe create a calm retreat from the livelier working and dining spaces. Free Wi-Fi and plug-in sockets are available for freewheeling Bangkokians. There’s even a pantry equipped with microwaves and dinnerware for co-working customers.

“You can come here to eat, have a cup of coffee, work or hold a formal meeting,” adds Gavin. “We focus on comfort foods with high quality ingredients and the four new eateries are run by young entrepreneurs who have passion for food and creativity.”

Estimates put the number of people working in the two Sathorn Thani buildings at around 8,000, and Gavin admits it’s a challenge to draw them into dining at Glowfish where prices range from Bt80 to Bt350 from their more usual and cheaper haunts at the nearby Lalai Sup Market.

“We can be a choice for people who prefer good food and nice environment, but we also have to come up with a promotional strategy to encourage customers to linger here over brunch, lunch, break times and dinner. So far, our regular customers are executives, young professionals and expats. We’ll open a beer bar with a live band soon and that can be a new hangout for after work,” he says.

 Easy! Buddy presents Thai favourite khao pad gapao such as beef fried rice with marinated sirloin.

Often when people are unsure what to order, they opt for khao pad gapao – often referred to as a “silly dish”. The truth, though, is that the khao pad gapao offered at many street-food stalls is not particularly appetising. You get chopped long beans, onion, baby corn, carrot and a lot of oyster sauce, and maybe a basil leaf or two. It has little to do with the real recipe.

At Easy! Buddy, you can build your own dish with premium ingredients. Rice options are jasmine rice, sticky rice and quinoa. For meats you can opt for marinated sirloin slices, diced rib eye, salmon fillet, kurobuta pork and chicken liver pate. The choices of toppings are fried egg, onsen egg, creamy omelette, grilled sweet corn, pork crackling and chilli paste and the levels of spiciness are customised to your taste.

Fried quinoa with salmon fillet and onsen egg and cornbread with honey butter

Easy! Buddy is the brainchild of Thamtanut Hatayodom who runs a chef’s table of Western cuisine for six to 16 people at his home and discovered that the trimmed leftovers of beef taste great when stir-fried until crispy and cooked with rice, garlic, chilli and holy basil leaves. He was cooking the dish for his guests as a complimentary treat but they loved it so much that Thamtanut decided to open Buddy to Go and has been offering his khao pad gapao via a food delivery service last October.

 Beef fried rice with marinated sirloin topped with fried egg, sweet corn, pork crackling and chilli paste

“Every dish is made fresh to order. I don’t serve stir-fried meats with leaves of holy basil over rice, but I cook the rice thoroughly with the ingredients and a special sauce. I use old jasmine rice and after steaming, it will be kept in a refrigerator overnight or for three hours for sticky rice. This helps to dry the grains out enough to give fried rice a good texture. If I use warm or just-cooked rice, the fried rice will turn out soggy, without those distinct chewy grains,” says Thamtanut who graduated from Le Cordon Bleu Paris and worked in the kitchen at Kiin Kiin Copenhagen for six months.

If you don’t know where to start, pick up any one of the chef’s favourites, such as beef fried rice with marinated sirloin topped with fried egg, sweet corn, pork crackling and chilli paste (Bt250), beef fried sticky rice with marinated sirloin (Bt200), and fried quinoa with salmon fillet and onsen egg (Bt320). Snacks like cornbread with honey butter (Bt160) and toast with chicken liver pate (Bt200) are also available.

 Viet Concept has Vietnamese classics like naem nueang.

Monica Singh loves Vietnamese food because of its abundance of vegetables but is allergic to chemicals all too often used to grow the veg. She decided to open her own contemporary Vietnamese eatery called Viet Concept.

“I use only organic vegetables delivered directly from the farm. As my mother is a native of Nong Khai province, I can source pho noodles made by descendants of the Vietnamese who settled here. I get my moo yor (pork sausage) from Ubon Ratchathani because it has a high percentage of ground pork with less starch,” says Monica. “With its minimal use of dairy and oil and the reliance on herbs and vegetables, Vietnamese food is considered one of the healthiest cuisines around.”

Pork pho noodle

The menu so far offers 16 classic Vietnamese dishes. The popular naem nueang can be enjoyed as a platter of pork meatballs, fresh herbs and vegetables and rice papers for you to wrap by yourselves (Bt280) or as ready-to-eat rolls (Bt120) for easy eating. Pho noodles can be served with pork (Bt135), shrimp (Bt175) or with a spicy fusion of tom yum broth and pork balls (Bt160).

 Shrimp paste sugar cane skewers

Perfect for sharing with friends is a plate of savoury-sweet shrimp paste sugar cane skewers (Bt190). The ground shrimp is mixed with pork paste to add moisture and is wrapped around a stick of sugar cane then fried to finish and served with blanched rice vermicelli tossed with fried shallots.

“People working around this area are so busy and they eat without really thinking about it. I want to offer pleasurable eating. When we work hard, we should enjoy life,” she adds.

Nam ngiao noodle at North Sathorn

Lampang-born Siwat Tongpatanakul’s North Sathorn offers the classic dishes of the North prepared to family recipes. Nam ngiao noodle (Bt150) is a great balance of sour, salty and spicy flavours and has rice noodles with minced pork, diced curdled pork blood, chopped tomato and tua nao (fermented soybean) with pork crackling, pickled mustard greens, beansprouts and a slice of lime.

Nam prik ong

“I found that there are no Northern-style foods that look and taste nice around this area, so there’s potential for my business,” says Siwat, who is also a creative director of Glowfish.

Other favourites are khao soi gai (chicken curry and egg noodle, Bt150), grilled sai oua(Northern-style, spiced pork sausage, Bt125), and nam prik ong (ground pork, tomato, fermented soybean and chilli dip, Bt125). A favourite is the spicy tum mamuang (Bt100) with shredded green mango, fish paste, chilli and palm sugar tossed with dried small fishes.

Tum mamuang

Dessert is lumyai sorbet (Bt80) made with wood-fire baked longan from Lamphun and served with separate small cups of dried longan and brown sugar.

Lumyai sorbet

Stewed chicken/beef/pork over rice is a favourite dish with Sasi Uraiwanchai’s children. At her Hip Bowl, the premium, home-made stews are her selling points, made to recipes handed down through the generations.

Hip Bowl serves stewed chicken over rice prepared to a family recipe.

“It started with my grandmother who cooked for my mum. Then my mum cooked for me and now I cook it for my children. Chicken, pork and beef are slowly braised in herbal broth for two, three and four hours respectively and simmered with stock until the meat tendered. It’s a single dish that is easy to eat and can be served immediately –perfect for a quick meal,” says Sasi.

Stewed beef over rice

The stewed chicken over rice (Bt140) comes with mushroom, carrot, Chinese-style pork sausage and chopped green chilli while the stewed Thai-French beef over rice (Bt220) is served with fried, dried crispy chilli, julienned Japanese spring onion and chilli vinegar sauce. Diners can substitute rice for rice noodles or instant noodles. For an additional Bt60, you also get salad, dessert and hot/cold tea.

Take a break with a cup of coffee, a sandwich and sweet treats at Kuppadeli.

Gavin, who also runs the popular cafe Kuppadeli, has opened a new outlet at Glowfish where customers can enjoy a wide range of coffees, sodas and sandwiches made with sour dough, rye or whole wheat bread.

EAT A LITTLE

Glowfish’s co-dining space is on the second floor of Sathorn Thani 2 Building and easily accessed from BTS: Chong Nonsi station (exit 2).

It’s opens Monday to Saturday, from 10am to 8pm.

Call (02) 109 9600 or visit http://www.GlowFishOffices.com.

Sleek, graceful and uncomplicated, the Venus Collection reveals linear patterns with a neat, beautiful style perfect for the well-dressed sophisticated mother. This classy fine jewellery collection is ideal for warm social functions or formal work gatherings, adding a certain sparkle to the irreplaceable maternal image. Beautifully crafted by Artinian artisans, each piece is made from superior gold and Artinian diamonds and can be found at Maison Artinian at the Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok. A personalisation service is also available.

Up in the air

One of the novelties showcased earlier this year at Baselworld, Hamilton’s Khaki X-Wind Auto Chrono Limited Edition watch is packed with technical aviation features including Hamilton’s ground-breaking drift angle calculator. Limited to just 1,918 pieces, it uses the H-21-Si, the first Hamilton chronograph movement with a silicon hairspring which has been precision certified by COSC as a chronometer. The American-born and Hollywood favourite is introducing this watch as a celebratory piece to commemorate the 100th anniversary of its selection as timekeeper of the first US airmail flights between Washington DC, Philadelphia, and New York.

Beauty round the clock

Beauty 24, the newly opened multi-brand beauty store at the heart of Siam Square, is guaranteed to please all cosmetic buyers by offering more than 250 brands through the store and via an online shopping platform manned by customer services personnel to answer any queries around the clock. Owned and run by Suriyon Sriorathaikul, Napassanan Pannipa, Dr Chalermruth Narkvichien and Sheranut Yusananda, Beauty 24 also sells perfumes, skincare and hair care products.

Check it out at Beauty24online.com.

Perfect for that morning jog

Under Armour (UA), a leader in the innovation of high-performance sportswear apparel, has opened Southeast Asia’s most cutting-edge Brand House at CentralWorld, showcasing its most advanced tech and unveiling its much-anticipated new running shoes, the HOVR Series 2. Engineered to provide the ideal combination of cushioning and energy return and built to provide a zero-gravity feel, these shoes offer the most explosive cushioning in the industry, allowing you to run longer and jump higher. Two new styles are available: the HOVR Sonic and HOVR Phantom.