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The language of land use: a constitutional primer
Wade [email protected]
THE people of Myanmar do not hold absolute property rights – a fact which has remained true, though
meant different things, through the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial eras.
For centuries in Myanmar, land arrangements revolved around “use rights” rather than “ownership”, and this conception was still in force when the British arrived. As JS Furnivall wrote in 1909, before the arrival of the British “there was for the most part no ownership in land”:
Local notions of ownership differed from those held by the “Western mind, saturated with the idea of private property”, Furnivall reported, later quoted by economist Sean Turnell in Fiery Dragons, his 2009 history of economics in Myanmar.
Furnivall and Turnell both cite the following British account of delta farmlands in 1862: “In the majority of instances, the villagers regard land, especially paddy land, to be common land, which, if unoccupied, any villagers have a right to take up, and which when they have done with it they have an equal right to throw aside. If not taken up, it remains the common fallowland of the villagers for a few years, until it finally … takes its place in the wasteland of the village tract.”
Following the colonising of Upper Myanmar, the British instituted the Burma Land and Revenue Act (1879). This set the basis for future land rights through until independence, and imposed a British approach in which individuals held title to land, allowing them to work, sell, transfer, and pass down defined areas as desired.
But where the Empire giveth, the Empire taketh away: “The land and revenue arrangements instituted by the British led to far greater state involvement with the land sector,” write the authors of the 2009 report Housing, Land and Property Rights in Burma: The Current Legal Framework, “as well as far greater private ownership of the land
than had previously been the case, in effect, usurping longstanding customary land usages.”
Once the government had a hand in how land was owned, it was able to exploit it to its own use. Cadastral surveys began carving the country into categories, the 2009 report says: “land under grant (long and medium grants); lease-hold lands; temporary lease lands (seasonal only); new colonies (newly opened lands); inundated and ‘island’ lands found only in riverine areas (lands submerged under rivers during Monsoon season, which re-appear when river water recedes)”.
Like most laws passed under
colonialism, this formalisation of land rights – including the first ever division of “state land” and “non-state land” – proved a double-edged sword.
There was, for the first time, a nationwide mechanism to regulate land use and provide some protection for owners where necessary. But ultimate ownership was now vested in the crown – as
it is in the United Kingdom to this day, making Queen Elizabeth II the largest landholder in the world. And what the new landlord wanted to do was start collecting taxes.
Land tax became the single largest revenue source for the British government in Burma, an arrangement which continued through Burma’s 1935 change from being a province of British India to an independent property.
Later, following the confusion of
wartime occupation by the Japanese, independence would come to Burma at last in 1948. Now freed from colonial rule and getting set to chart their own course, the nation’s new rulers equated capitalism with foreign control – no good for a nation looking to establish its own sovereignty. Centralised control of land became the underpinning of a new state system: newborn free Burma was socialist in everything but name.
In the new constitution governing the nation and setting out its principles and practices, the state was named the “ultimate owner” of all land. First used appearing in the constitution in 1948, this phrase – and its implication – has stubbornly remained in place ever since, through two subsequent constitutions, including the 2008 version currently used.
The land-use sections of each of Myanmar’s three post-independence constitutions mirror the successive governments’ respective philosophies of centralised rule. And the more things changed, it seems, the more things stayed the same.
While the British had defined land rights for citizens in positive terms – inserting Crown dominance only via phrases such as “subject only to” or “save by” – the 1948 document turned the exceptions into the rule. It spelled out explicitly the right of the state to take land as desired – “for collective or co-operative farming or to agricultural tenants and limited holdings by default” – and no clause set out any rights of a citizen to hold land privately.
By 1975, over a decade after the military took power, this socialist system had become explicit. The constitution took on the rhetoric of collectivist propaganda. From here out, land confiscations would be carried out “in the interest of the working people of all national races”.
The constitution was suspended in 1988, following the fall of the so-called Burmese Way to Socialism. In 2008 a new constitution was approved, meant to reflect the new nation and its new name.
While similar to past incarnations, the language of the current version of the constitution reflects the transition to a market economy, backed by reform of the legal system. In today’s Myanmar, land confiscation is carried out “by economic forces”, following the “enact[ment of] necessary law”.
One other change is notable: After a 60-year absence, descriptions
of individual rights return to the constitution. The state, the document says, “shall permit citizens” a number of land-related rights.
But with the state still the “ultimate owner” of land, absolute property rights remain impossible, even in the new Myanmar. As a result, land has become one of the most frequent sites of conflict between people, corporations and government.
The 2014 Index of Economic Freedom, published by the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal, gives Myanmar a lowly 10 out of 100 points for property rights, tied for Myanmar’s worst category.
In fact, overall Myanmar is ranked second-lowest in property rights among polled countries, tied with Cuba, Iran and Syria, among others. Only North Korea, Turkmenistan and Venezuela are ranked lower.
At the top of the property portion of the index is New Zealand, with a score of 95. Tied for second place,
[In 1948] the state was named the ‘ultimate owner’ of all land ...
This phrase – and its implication – has stubbornly remained in place ever since
Staff writers Wade Guyitt, Ye Mon, Aung Kyaw Nyunt, Su Phyo Win, Tin Yadanar Tun, Myat Nyein Aye, Aung Shin, Phyo Wai Kyaw, Toe Wai Aung, Su Hlaing Htun, Zaw Win Than, Myat Noe Oo, Aye Thidar Kyaw
Contributors Mon Thi Han
Editors Myo Lwin, Wade Guyitt
Sub editor Mya Kay Khine Soe
Photography Yu Yu, Wade Guyitt, Aung Htay Hlaing, Catherine Trautwein, Thiri Lu
Cover photograph Wade Guyitt (Maha Zaya Street, Pazundaung, Yangon)
Cover design Ko Htway
Page layout Ko Khin Zaw
For feedback and enquiries, please contact [email protected], [email protected]
How land rights reflect political systems
This land isn’t your land 1876
Burma Land and Revenue Act8. A landholder shall have a
permanent heritable and transferable right of use and occupancy in his land, subject only:
a) to the payment of all such revenue, taxes and rates as may from time to time be imposed in respect of such land under any law for the time being in force;
b) to the reservation in favour of Government of all mines and mineral products, and of all buried treasure with all the powers conferred by section 38A.
1935Government of Burma Act 145.1) No person shall be deprived of
his property in Burma save by authority of law.
2) The Legislature shall not have power to make any law authorizing the compulsory acquisition for public purposes of any land, or any commercial or industrial under taking, or any interest in, or in any company owning, any commercial or industrial under taking, unless the law provides
for the payment of compensation for the property acquired and either fixes the mount of the compensation, or specifies the principles on which, and the manner in which, it is to be determined.
1948The Constitution of the Union of Burma 30.1) The state is the ultimate owner of
all lands.2) Subject to the privisions of this
Constitution, the State shall have the right to regulate, alter or abolish land tenures or resume possession of any land and distribute the same for collective or co-operative farming or to agricultural tenants.
3) There can be no large land holdings on any basis whatsoever. The maximum size of private land holding shall, as soon as circumstances permit, be determined by law.
1975The Constitution of the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma18.The State- (a) is the ultimate owner of all
natural resources above and below the ground, above and beneath the waters and in the atmosphere, and also of all the lands;
(b) shall develop, extract, exploit and utilise the natural resources in the interest of the working people of all the national races.
1988No constitution; suspended by military
2008The Constitution of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar37. The Union :(a) is the ultimate owner of all
lands and all natural resources above and below the ground, above and beneath the water and in the atmosphere in the Union;
(b) shall enact necessary law to supervise extraction and utilization of State- owned natural resources by economic forces;
(c) shall permit citizens right of private property, right of inheritance, right of private initiative and patent in accord with the law.
OUT:Land Nationalisation Act, 1953“It is prohibited, as from the commencement of this Act, to mortgage, or to sell or to transfer by some other means or to divide the lands, if the act is against this Act or against by-laws of this Act.”
IN:Farmland Law, 2012Allows farmers with land use rights to occupy, sell, mortgage and pass on land
BUT...Vacant, Fallow and Virgin Lands Management Bill, 2012Allows government or companies to lay claim to land deemed unused – some say with little protection for farmers
Land typesThe state owns all land in the county and it disperses holdings to individuals, companies and government branches under the following categories.
Note that possibilities and procedures for foreign holdings vary according to the land type; for more detailed information on this topic, see the 2014 report Investing in the Myanmar Real Estate Sector by the law firm VDB Loi Myanmar Ltd.
Freehold landDating from the colonial era, freeholds are no longer granted, though existing freeholds are still recognised. Land can be used for any purpose and transferred as desired to citizens.
Grant landGrant land can be transferred, used for any legal purpose, and constitutes most individual holdings in urban areas. A lease can range from 10 to 90 years, and be extended. Can be used for any purpose, and no limits exist on selling to other nationals.
FarmlandGranted by government for paddy growing only. Permits are required to work the land, which can also be leased.
Agricultural land The same as Farmland above, but can be used for any kind of crop, not just paddy.
Permit / Licensed landGiven by government to some civil servants. Leasing requires government approval.
Government leased landUsually controlled by municipal bodies, this often forms the basis of foreign-invested projects.
Vacant / Fallow / Virgin landVacant or fallow land has been abandoned or left unused by its owner. Virgin land is land which has never been cultivated at all. Applications can be made to a central committee to use either category, even if it is currently held in someone else’s name.
Monastery / Religious landCannot be used for any other purpose other than that which is designated – for instance, a business cannot be run out of monastic land – unless a request is approved by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
PoINTs (oUT oF 100)
10Myanmar’s score in the 2014 Index of Economic Freedom in the category of property rights – the second-lowest
score given out
with a score of 90, are 18 countries, among them Australia, Canada, Chile, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Singapore and the United Kingdom.
While Myanmar’s total economic score in the report rose between 2013 and 2014, its property rights score did not. The consequences of this are worrisome: The report finds countries with higher levels of
economic freedom will “substantially outperform” others in areas of economic growth, per-capita incomes, health care, education, environmental protection, poverty reduction and overall wellbeing.
Land use is not among the first topics raised when discussing possible revisions to the constitution – but perhaps it should be.
Photo: Staff
4
In the now-cancelled new city zone west of Yangon, residents say they would be happy to trade their rural livelihoods for a chance at development
Betting the farm Daw Moh Moh Aung General SecretaryMyanmar Real Estate Services AssociationThere will be changes in the real estate market in 2015, but it will depend on how much international investment comes and also on the political transformation. Prices will either rise or fall.
Now estate tax has been increased by nearly 50 percent. In the past, a 2400-square-foot plot of land cost about K4 million in Dagon and it has increased to K5 million now. Also industrial land cost K120 million for one acre in the past, and now costs about K190 million.
Dollar rates are low and not good to invest in here. Gold prices are not good for business. The car market also is ruined. so people have changed their business into real estate. People came to invest during the era of changes. But Myanmar people were not familiar with taxation.
As a tax department, they will have to explain to people and people need to understand. Prices saw a 30 percent increase in June and July of 2014, but were calmer after tax rates were released on october 8. People are just waiting and seeing because of the changing times. Later we are expecting commerce to be in good shape.
U Tun TunManager
Phoenix Real Estate and General Service
The property market is slow in 2014 but it was better the year before. It slowed because of tax increases. Buyers bought estates and changed the names on the deeds because taxes rates were cheap in 2013. Now the cost of changing names on registration is high, so that business is not going well.
Now low-cost housing is starting. But low-cost housing needs to be cheap so that everyone can live with their own apartment. Those low-cost housing prices are a little bit high. Land prices are the basic issue with going low-cost. If land prices are cheap, the prices will be low.
U Maung Lay
Central Executive
Myanmar Real Estate Services AssociationThe real estate business is dependent on increasing and decreasing prices, but whether prices will go up or down in 2015 can’t be predicted. The government is developing south Dagon and North Dagon to be on the same level with our downtown Latha, Lanmadaw, Pabedon and Kyauktada townships. Because of that we can’t predict what will happen next. Buyers need to check when buying if the paperwork is real or fake. Buyers need to associate with professional lawyers in checking if tax has already been paid or not.
– Translation by Khant Lin Oo
THE recently announced, roundly accused, rapidly aborted new city project in the countryside west of Yangon left a sour taste in the mouths
of many – and for none more so than those living in the area, who say it promised them a better future only to pluck it from their grasp.
On August 22, Yangon Mayor U Hla Myint told Yangon Region hluttaw that a new city project would be implemented outside the existing city boundaries, on 30,000 acres between the Pan Hlaing and Hlaing rivers and Twante Canal, to the west of Yangon. The development, he said, would help ease the city’s overpopulation. The project was a surprise to media and even to MPs. It also carried an estimated price tag of US$8 billion and led to a predictable flurry of land buying in the area, with many trying to get their own piece of those funds.
One real estate agent interviewed for this article said a previous project in the area saw land change hands for K3 million an acre. After the mayor’s announcement, land in the designated area – mostly farmland – went for as high as around K50 million per acre in interior plots, and K100-170 million an acre along the roadsides.
But controversy rose as quickly as the prices: The new city would be built entirely by Myanma Saytannar Myothit Public Company, U Hla Myint said, of which little if anything was known by the public and which had registered as a public company only in December 2013.
Some onlookers alleged impropriety about the arrangement. Some even suggested close ties between two Chinese businessmen alleged to run the company and the mayor himself.
In reponse to the outcry, the government
backpedalled. On August 28 it announced the process would be changed to a tender system. Then, on September 26, barely a month after being first announced, plans for what was referred to as the “new city” were shelved for further study.
Prices in the area promptly plunged back to normal levels, brokers said, and interest has since moved elsewhere.
For those living in the area, however – most of whom make their living as paddy farmers – it’s been a brief taste of something that now
won’t go away.“We were very happy when we heard the news
about the project,” said farmer U Kyaw Myat, of Kha Lout Cheik village in Twante township. “But our happiness is no longer. We are very disappointed for the suspension of this project.”
“We hope the new city project will come back and we requested the government to start again this project,” U Khin Aye, of Tamangyi village in Twante, said when asked about the project.
Of course, selling their land would mean farmers like U Kyaw Myat would no longer be able to farm. But he said the prospect of development in the area makes it worthwhile, because of what it would mean for the standard of living for those who live nearby.
“I don’t want to work on a farm. I want the project for healthy and educated living. If the project is implemented, they will build many schools and hospitals. So all children can study in their region. And at present, there is no hospital in Twante,” U Kyaw Myat said.
Of the 30,000 acres originally slotted for the project, local real estate agents said 10,000 had been dealt by the time the project was cancelled, most of it to Chinese and South Korean buyers.
With things in limbo, those deals are now falling through. “Foreigner buyers don’t ask to get the advance back and they don’t get in touch to pay the remaining money,” said one local agent.
The land that did change hands is mostly still
being farmed by those who worked it originally, except now it belongs to someone else.
And the agent said the experience may have left investors feeling once-bitten, twice-shy.
“Some buyers said that they have to stop and they don’t believe the government anymore.”
Yangon does need expansion, according to U Sai Khon Naung, managing director of Sai Khon Naung real estate and construction. But he warns it has to happen carefully.
“Yangon needs the new city. But if the government want to reveal a new city, that city should be better than the old … In the other developed countries, they use a strategy for new cities and they prepare the electricity, school, hospital and other infrastructure first. Then they move the people there,” said U Sai Khon Naung.
He said a new city project could help damp down Yangon’s property prices, and if the results are worthwhile people will move there of their own accord.
U Myat Thu Win, founder of Shwe Min Thar real estate said, “When Yangon’s population is so high, the city need more projects for extension. But the government should have transparency and plan well for their project. The government should care about whether there can be side effects or not before they start.”
Farmers in the proposed new-city area say the project may have been in the works longer than generally known. They said starting three years ago, a few companies began buying land nearby, though no one knew for what. One of these companies is involved in other prominent developments in the Yangon area. Another company, the name of which they do not know, asked them to cooperate for a project last year, and promised residents up to K50 million per acre.
Regardless of who implements the project, however, some residents say they wish to see it renewed.
“I work on my farm for a living,” said Ko Kyaw Than, of Hlaing Tharyar township. “But I really want to see the new city.
“We just need our place to develop because our place is beside the Pan Hlaing River. If there will be a bridge to Yangon, we will be getting better transportation and the place is going to be developing.”
The new city project, the mayor says, will be resumed in 2040. In the meantime, it’s back to the field.
– Additional reporting by Myat Nyein Aye
Betting the farm
2040Year urban population of Yangon will be double today’s figure (10 million versus 5 million), according to YCDC urban plan
‘I don’t want to work on a farm ... And at present,
there is no hospital in Twante.’
...With aunG KyaW nyunt
Photo: Yu Yu
6 7
aunG [email protected]
FORMED in 1996, the Myanmar Construction Entrepreneurs Association’s mandate is to support
development in the construction sector. Boasting nearly 2000 members and 1000 construction companies, the MCEA is now busy collaborating with YCDC on the city’s zoning plan. It has advised the Ministry of Construction in drafting the long-awaited Condominium Law, to be discussed in parliament soon. It is also helping arrange for young local engineers to study high-tech methods in Japan, in partnership with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism as well as the government of Japan.
U Tha Htay, chair of leading construction company Original Group Construction, became president of the MCEA in 2012. Here he speaks exclusively to The Myanmar Times about the association’s activities.
What are the main responsibilities of the MCEA? The association consists of private construction entrepreneurs and construction materials producers. It was formed to support development of the country’s construction sector privately. The living standard of people is directly concerned with construction. The MCEA is to be a supporter of the state’s policy.
Does your association have any particular duty in the country’s current economic reform process?We are handling this indirectly –
we don’t have direct tasks given by the government, but our central executive committee members are taking on some duties in other directly responsible organisations. It means we are already involved in the country’s economic reform process.
What is the MCEA doing now?We are busy organising new sub-associations in the regions, and have already started in Mandalay, Monywa and Mawlamyaing. We will continue forming sub-associations under the MCEA in every region and state.
Is this by state order or the association’s own plan?It is our own plan. We have officially been allowed to form these kinds of associations in the regions.
Are any well-known construction companies not members of the MCEA?All major private construction companies are in the MCEA. Some of them were founders.
How do you see the construction sector today? It is going as planned. Especially there is a lot construction development happening in Yangon and Mandalay. Firstly it is because of foreign direct investment and secondly because the state’s budget to education, health and development has increased. There are a lot of infrastructure development projects by state and regional governments. The construction sector is progressing quite a lot.
Any weakness or challenges in the sector?The main thing is a shortage of skilled labours. We are facing that problem. We can’t go any further with our old methods because the latest technologies are being used in the sector now as foreign investments are coming. We have to update our existing resources and technologies.
A few months ago, President U Thein Sein met business icons in Yangon. What did you discuss in your presentation?Extending the Yangon area is essential. But high-rise buildings are a must, as the land prices are terribly high … We suggested the government allow construction of high-rise buildings in areas such as Mingalardon, Insein, North Okkalapa
and South Okkalapa townships, where there are no high buildings yet. While the limitation on high-rises around Shwedagon Pagoda is agreed by everyone in the construction sector, we suggest this limitation shouldn’t be enforced in other areas away from downtown or Shwedagon.
What are your comments on the new city project which was criticised a lot recently?Normally we agree with the concept of extending Yangon City. But I don’t like how the authorities managed things that time. Internationally, such projects are consulted on with technicians, and would be conducted by an international tender system. It cannot be done wrong [without a tender]: It cannot be done like
that; it is not proper management. The Yangon City Plan shouldn’t just consider 40 or 50 years ahead – it should consider hundreds of years ahead, for our next generations.
What are your thoughts on businesspeople knowing about new city projects or other big government construction projects before they start? What do we do about speculation?It shouldn’t happen. Actually, it is a legacy of the old customs from the previous government’s time. If we are going toward democracy, it is a matter of transparency. The people are our family members, and they should be properly informed. Everyone should have an equal chance. The competition should be equal; not a matter of letting the public know
when someone else has already been given a contract. No speculation, no corruption: It is a matter of transparency for everyone. That is the responsibility of the government.
Are private construction sites being properly managed? Are they quality-conscious? Under the previous government, a lot of construction permits were granted at the same time due to desire to boost development numbers. In Yangon, there were a lot of construction permits. YCDC tried to manage the quality of construction sites, but they can’t ensure quality control with their workforce, because there are thousands of construction sites in progress at the same time. YCDC has fewer engineers to handle the issue. Now, the High-
rise Supervising Committee under YCDC is taking action on unqualified construction sites. But this must be done continuously. And private construction companies should take their own responsibility too. When it comes to quality, everyone should be tightly handled. We are responsible for what we do in the future. The controlling process to private constructions is still weak even though more managing actions were taken.
More and more foreign direct investment (FDI) is coming in. What is the effect on local construction companies and competition in the sector?More FDI is to the advantage of everyone. Of course, our local companies will have to see more competition because they are working with international companies. But we can never develop without FDI. It is good for the country.
Millions of people in Yangon don’t own a house. Most rent and are crowded into very bad living conditions. What considerations should we give to this issue?People should be staying in standard living quarters. Our people shouldn’t be on the street, or especially in illegal housings. In fact, it is wrong usage that we are calling these people illegal residents. How can these Myanmar citizens be illegal within their country? The government has a lot of land space in Yangon. The government should implement real low-cost housing projects for the people.
Can you comment on local construction materials?We can only produce a small number of construction materials at present, and the quantity is so small it doesn’t cover all construction. Now we are relying on imports. For example, we are using cement products from India and Thailand. Our country is rich in limestone minerals, but we can’t develop many cement factories because of other infrastructure needs such as electricity and road. It is a very large investment.
…with U Tha Htay, president of the Myanmar Construction Entrepreneurs Association
Building rapport...
tin yadanar [email protected]
MATERIALS are where builders have traditionally cut costs, but a generation after the first building boom, many are now seeing the error of their ways.
“Many contract buildings started being built around 1990. At that time, many buildings were constructed to improve the number of buildings and nobody cared about the quality, “ said U Aung Myint, vice president of the Myanmar Engineering Society.
U Aung Min, the director of Myat Min Construction, agrees. While he says many buildings, even luxury condos, lack adequate disaster-preparedness, standards generally have improved, as the first experiment and its shabby result is now informing approaches to the current building boom.
“When contract buildings emerged, the contractors and landowners didn’t care about quality, and they only focused on building many apartments. Later the apartment were falling down and being destroyed only a few years after construction,” he said.
“Now they focus on the quality.”The primary determinant of a
building’s quality is in materials – precisely where so many chose to cut corners in the past.
“Breaking down the costs of building a new house, 50 percent is the building materials, 25pc is the labour and the other 25pc is the profit,” said U Yan Aung, manager of Asia Builders Construction.
“To get good-quality buildings, the foundation is important. There are at least five kinds of foundations, each at different prices. When the foundation is made on soft ground, the price should be higher than on hard ground. Likewise the rest of the building’s price will depend on the materials chosen, from iron sizes to kinds of cement,” said U Yan Aung.
U Aung Min said, “Some contractors and developers decrease the quality and don’t follow the normal building
standards, to get more profit and to sell the buildings at cheaper prices.”
Real estate agent U Min Htun said buyers often can’t or don’t consider build quality when shopping for a new home, and tend to focus on location and price. This makes it easier for builders and contractors to do things on the cheap, which is why U Min Htun said it’s important for agents to help customers from getting suckered. “People need to not buy houses that are not good quality, no matter how good the location and how fair the price.”
A YCDC official said municipal authorities check the quality of buildings after they are constructed, in an attempt to bring some measure of quality control to the table. But of course, by this point most of the salient construction details are hidden from the eye
The best promotion of good practices, some say, may be in the form of competition.
“Now many foreign companies are coming to the Myanmar and they value quality,” said U Aung Myint, who is joint secretary of the Myanmar Engineering Counil, which supports quality building and engineering.
Myanmar engineers and developers need to emulate the good habits of foreign partners when they co-operate with foreign developers, said U Aung Myint, who is president of the Myanmar AGTI Society, which certifies professional engineers and is working on a scheme to do the same for developers.
He said the opening-up of the nation means Myanmar’s construction sector needs to build stronger or be torn down itself.
“The foreign companies are coming to Myanmar and also Myanmar companies can go to the foreign countries when the ASEAN Economic Community [AEC] starts. The skill standards and grades will be limited in all ASEAN countries, so if Myanmar engineers and developers lack quality skills, they will be passed over in favour of other developers. For the AEC, we face as many challenges as advantages.”
Myat nyein aye [email protected]
A NEW building code was drafted last year and is available for voluntary compliance before it is officially passed into law, said U Win Khaing, chair of the Myanmar Engineering society (MEs). The code has been published by the Ministry of Construction for public reference.
“If the construction sector follows this [draft] law, the buildings that result will be standardised. If somebody asks about the quality of a building, you can point them toward the National Building Code (Myanmar),” U Win Khaing said.
In the past, he said, standards were left up to individual builders, leading to vast discrepencies in quality and safety. The new code will bring rules and regulations to ensure all construction nationwide matches the same standards. The Ministry of Construction will supervise construction and measure it against the code in future.
Moreover, a Myanmar Engineering Council law drafted in November 2013 was enacted last month on october 10. A society spokesperson said it will keep all engineers working from the same blueprint.
“Under the Engineering Council Law, engineers will follow standard rules and regulations too,” the spokesperson said.
Cutting cornersThe old days of using shoddy materials must end, builders say
FoLLow ThE CodE
Su Phyo [email protected]
WHILE other countries use explosives to demolish even
the largest buildings within a few minutes, crews in Myanmar still do things the old-fashioned way.
“We need to pull out the roof, the galvanized iron sheets, first,” said U Bo Su, of Yangon’s Dawbon township.
After the roof comes off, he says, the bars supporting it are removed. Then the walls of the first storey are removed, then the first-storey floor. Next the walls come off the ground floor. Finally, the vertical columns which formerly supported the whole structure are taken down.
If it sounds painstaking, it is, but there’s good reason to be methodical. In a country where building supplies are at a premium, bricks, metal, even nails can all be salvaged, sold and reused.
“We buy old buildings from owners and sometimes public buildings with tenders and we take responsibility for their demolising with our crews, and then sell the properties back to the contractors,” U Bo Su said.
The demolition team, since they own the property at the time of demolition, also profits from the
component parts of the structure once removed – so it makes good sense to avoid unnecessary waste.
“All the material from destruction sites, even a nail, can be recycled or reused,” said U Bo Su, who has been buying old buildings, demolishing them and selling them back to contractors for more than 20 years. “It takes experienced
workers to get good pieces rather than broken ones.”
“Everything left has a market for reselling,” said U Hla Tin, a demolition technician and consultant. “As we are living in a developing country, we want to use all the materials left from demolishing as much as we can.”
Even from an ostensibly wooden house, around 40 truckloads of bricks will normally be carted away, in trucks send by the builders who have purchased the used materials
from the demolition crew. One truckload of broken bricks is worth about K8000. During rainy season the price can surge up to K12,000 because of demand for filling potholes in roads. Unbroken used bricks can be sold individually, for K70 apiece – new bricks usually go for around K100, so it’s a 30pc savings to buy used.
Scrap wood and galvanized iron sheeting can be sold as well, even if bent.
U Bo Su agrees that the most important tools of the trade are the right people: “skilled, robust and experienced labour”. Crews comprise at least five skilled workers, each earning around K7000 per day.
The most common project is a one- or two-storey wooden houses, U Bo Su says, which aren’t too much trouble to take apart: about 10 days’ worth of work for his team. Concrete houses tend to take longer, about a month. The largest buildings U Bo Su has worked on, four-storey concrete numbers, take around three months, and extra machinery – backhoes, bulldozers – are called for to handle the heavy lifting.
These days its mostly houses coming down and apartments going up, U Bo Su said. “Some people want to demolish as the building is too old to live in. The rest just want to replace it with a high-rise,” he said.
Before any sledgehammers are swung, however, a demolition crew needs municipal permission. This is mainly to establish that those doing the demolition have the right to be on the property.
“We permit demolition if they can prove that they actually own the building,” said U Nay Win, assistant chief engineer of YCDC’s Engineering Department (Building).
What if someone wants to speed things up and use explosives instead?
That’s simply not an option, U Nay Win said.
“The law doesn’t permit anyone to use any explosive materials expect in the military.”
What goes up must come downIn Myanmar, demolitions happen piece by piece
TrUCKLoADs
40Quantity of bricks normally carted
away from a simple two-storey wooden house during demolition
Buildings are torn down on Yangon’s Pyay Road. Photo: Wade Guyitt
The old Yangon airport terminal gets pulled down earlier this year. Photo: Wade Guyitt
Photos: Aung Htay Hlaing
8
Phyo Wai [email protected]
IN the storied teashops of Mandalay, the talk is of profit and loss, taxes and discounts, freehold rights and kyat per square foot. While sailors man the decks and miners descend into the pit, Mandalay’s real estate agents hit the teashops.
This mingling of tea and property is not new. The local writer Ludu Daw Amar claims there is something about the teashop setting that helps endow the necessary air of shrewd impartiality, dignity and grace that helps the broker convince buyer and seller alike that the transaction, and the commission, are just right.
The cut and thrust of business at Bagan Ahla got so intense among the brokers, sellers and buyers
that its roadside tables stretched for hundreds of metres in each direction, spilling over into the territory of the neighbouring Min Thiha establishment.
“For me, teashops are the image of freedom. If we make appointments for business, we mostly meet at teashops. The ethos of the teashop in Mandalay is different from Yangon. Here, once we’ve placed our order, we are free to sit unmolested with our tea in front of us. We can make friends in a short time. The owners don’t mind if we sit for a long time, ordering tea after tea,” said veteran broker U Aung Win. He also reminisces fondly about Sein Nu teashop on 65th Street, in Myothit, and speaks of the rival establishments that have sprung up – Pyae Sone, Shwe Taung and New Paris in the west, another Shwe
Taung and Than Tayar in the east.U Kyaw says, “Brokers now
don’t gather in one single place. Different groups meet in their own rendezvous. Some gather in teashops at Setmhu or Thinpangone ward. Working methods vary. Many brokers will sit in a teashop all morning. Some sit all day. Others sit, then leave, then come back and sit again.”
They talk. They listen. They bargain. Whether the market is cool or brisk, it is discussed over brews.
Observers are wondering: Could the rapid spread of cheap mobile phones, and the swift transmission of detailed information that comes with it, destroy this cosy culture of pouring out bids and counter-bids over fragrant infusions of leaf? It’s too early to tell. Let’s go down to the teashop and talk about it.
Translation by Thiri Min Htun
toe Wai [email protected]
THE second annual survey of land prices in Yangon’s townships comes at a time when the market is in a
slump, with city dwellers hesitant to cut a deal, brokers say, and sales falling victim to sky-high prices.
Following complaints of residents undervaluing their properties when registering them, or simply not changing the name on the deed when transfering ownership, the Appraisal Board in 2013 assessed land values in townships so the values could be used for calculating land tax uniformly.
The study was completed again this year, but with prices high, few are buying, and with taxes on the increase fewer still are registering.
“We think property sales will improve before the end of this rainy season, but buyers are watching the situation without making any transactions because of the property value assessment,” said real estate agent Ko Aung Myint.
The appraisal’s results show clear distinctions between land in the six downtown townships – Kyauktada, Pabedan, Latha, Lanmadaw, Dagon, Botahtaung and Pazundaung – and elsewhere. Land downtown is valued at between between K250,000 and K400,000 per square foot. Other townships in the city come in noticeably lower, from K50,000 to more than K200,000 per square feet.
“Currently a flat measuring 12.5 feet by 50 feet in Kyauktada township is priced at K95 million,” Ko Aung Myint said. “Flats nearby Kyauktada township are priced from K50 million to K1500 million, according to what storey they’re on. In Latha, the price of a 25-by-50-foot flat on a first floor is K2.3 billion,” Ko Aung Myint said.
Though the board has been careful to note this is not a way to artificially set prices for different areas of the city, some feel there may be a knock-on effect. For instance, a change in square-foot value can work out to a big difference in valuation of the total price of a property, real estate agent Ko Than Tun said, and may set a pace for the industry.
“If a 1600-square-foot condo flat on Pansodan Road was worth K445 million, its per-square-foot value is K270,000. But with the Appraisal Board’s assessment value of K300,000 per square feet, a 1600-square-foot condo may be nearly K500 million,” said real estate agent Ko Than Tun.
Rental income is taxable, so landlords are also passing these high prices on to renters, said Ko Swar Lay, a real estate agent in Kyauktada.
“The rental for a condo with lift is
K200,000 minimum and K800,000 maximum. A company building condos in Botahtaung township asks K200,000 per square foot for pre-sales. Renting flats in Bo Myat Tun condo costs between K2 million and K2.5 million.”
The price of a 12.5-by-50-foot flat downtown also varies by floor, he said, with numbers decreasing according to how many stairs you
have to climb: K300,000 on the first floor, K280,000 on the fourth, K250,000 on the fifth.
Agents say the price crunch downtown is spilling over to the rest of the city, with outskirts townships like North Dagon, South Dagon, Thingangyun, South Okkalapa, North Okkalapa, East Dagon, Hlaing Tharyar and Shwe Pyi Thar seeing the crunch as well.
“Some people sell their flats and condos in downtown for billions of kyats,” said real estate agent Daw Mu Mu Myint, “then buy land [40ft by 60ft] in the suburbs by paying K10-20 million and building better buildings there by using K50-80 million for land and building. Therefore the price of land and building in the suburbs are increased.”
In 2011, renting a 20-by-40-foot wooden houses in a suburban area cost K25,000. It now ranges from K80,000 to nearly K100,000. Land prices for a 40-by-60-foot lot in a prime area priced at K10 million in 2004 now approaches K2 billion.
Land in industrial zones and suburbs ranges in value now between K40 million and K1 billion. Industrial-zone land is priced between K190 million to K200 million per acre. But in some places, the current assessment value is higher than the past asking price.
– Translation by Thiri Min Htun
Sales sluggish in YangonLand-value survey of Yangon’s townships for taxes purposes shows how much downtown demand is driving prices elsewhere too
on the Mandalay real estate scene, there’s one address that matters above all others – your broker’s local teashop
Where everybody knows your game
METrEs
127Maximum height above sea level
(roughly 416 feet) for tops of buildings in Yangon, to ensure
none goes higher than the tip of shwedagon Pagoda
‘Buyers are watching the situation
without making any transactions.’
Su hlainG htun
INVESTORS from the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector say they’re being squeezed out of the Nay Pyi Taw market, as government budget deficits have led to the suspension of several high-profile projects, and some smaller projects and newly developed industrial zones are still under the shadow of large business firms owned by privileged moguls.
The National Archive, one of the most important national buildings, is among the projects on hold, stalled at 70 percent complete due to budget shortfalls. Although the National Reception Building’s construction was started by the government, the opportunity to build and operate the building was later transferred to top-10 business tycoons.
The capital’s housing market is also tightly controlled. When buyers want to own a house in Tapyaykone special ward, in the area between the recently developed Maniiyadanar Kyauksein government building and the hotel zone, they have to go to the Nay Pyi Taw municipal authority and purchase directly from there. Despite being called “special housing”, few signs of public developments have been observed in the area yet.
Some business firms have been
banned from investing in projects since 2012-2013, and some say contracts are awarded only to moguls with a close connection to government officials.
“There are still projects that are ongoing,” said U Maung Maung – not his real name – the head of a construction firm involved in tenders for Nay Pyi Taw projects. “But, the difference is that these projects are not as big as the previous ones. Although the projects go on, there still seems no chance for investors from the SME sector.
“The big-handed tycoons are still capturing all the opportunities like how it always used to be. No competition for everyone in the investment sector has led to the loss of opportunities to invest in good business,” U Maung Maung said.
Although Nay Pyi Taw authority is offering chances to construction firms for some projects via tenders, non-tycoon business firms are saying that the tendering process lacks transparency. They say the tenders are never announced in state-sponsored newspapers, for example.
“The show-offs need to be stopped now. The time for real practical experience is coming,” said U Maung Maung. “Think and carry out what the market demands and needs. Don’t look only at tycoons that are grasping everything, and
think for the people.”Locals also criticise roadworks
they say are not in the most-trafficked areas. A medical doctor from Pyinmana said that expansion isn’t needed, and other sectors are suffering as a result.
“I think that road and bridge works are being carried out as a first priority in the Nay Pyi Taw project. It will be great if they prioritise more on the health and education areas,” said local resident U Soe Myaing.
Only 20 or so top companies are taking all the big projects in Nay Pyi Taw, and the competition among civilian entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises is bleeding everyone else dry, he added.
A senior official from Nay Pyi Taw City Development Committee said big companies are winning the projects because they have technology and investment, and denied that favouratism plays any role in the process.
“We look at both the technology and the investment capacity of the companies to handle the projects,” the official said.
“It is necessary for small entrepreneurs to take loans if they cannot afford to buy land. At the same time, it is necessary for entrepreneurs to have strong project implementation plans.”
Translation by Myo Lwin and Lun Min Mang
Is Nay Pyi Taw only for tycoons?
Urban round-up YGN, MDY, NPT
10 11
The IllustraLand area – 1 acreNumber of rooms – 208Price per square foot – Contact for detailsLocation – Phoe Sain Road, Bahan townshipConstruction time – Completion in 2017Unit size – 1292-2088 sq ftAdvantage – Fully furnished apartment with imported materialsContact – 09-254477633, 09-254477644, 01-206431
Infinity Luxury CondominiumLand area – 0.5 acresNumber of rooms – 148Price per square foot – K340,000Location – Kabar Aye Pagoda Road near Golden ValleyConstruction time – 36 months from oct 2014Unit size – 1300-3800 sq ftAdvantage – Full Singapore design,good location and full 360 degree view of Yangon city, close to airport, lakes, foreign embassies, Shwedagon PagodaContact - 01-544504
Luxury living in Yangon tin yadanar tun
Photos and information supplied.
Star CityLand area – 420 acresNumber of rooms – over 2000Price per square foot – over K100,000 to over K200,000Location – Kyaik Khauk Pagoda Road, Thanlyin townshipUnit size – 651-3374 sq ftAdvantage – Shopping malls, banks, schools are includedContact – 09-73119511
68 ResidencesLand area – 1 acreNumber of rooms – 375Price per square foot – K390,000-K450,000Location – Sayar San Road at Kabar Aye Pagoda Road, Bahan townshipConstruction time – September 2014-September 2017Advantage – Low E-glass system, duplex systemContact - 8804477, 8804478, 8804479
GEMSLand area – 12.8 acresNumber of rooms – 584Price per square foot – K190,000- K290,000Location – 113 Insein Road, hlaing townshipConstruction time – october 2013-November 2014Advantage – Very fair priced condo and good location near Inya Lake and airportContact - 01-526146, 526148, 526170
Dagon CityLand area – 22 acresNumber of rooms – over 1000Price per square foot – K350,000-K395,000 Location – Kabar Aye Pagoda Road at U htaung Bo StreetConstruction time – At least 5 yearsUnit size - 1477-2832 sq ftAdvantage – Near Shwedagon PagodaContact - 09-448255555
12
headline
ZaW Win [email protected]
THE government is aiming to make Myanmar the leading air travel hub on the continent, a goal that is
spurring the biggest building projects currently under way.
“For the future of Myanmar’s aviation sector, we have set a vision that aims at making Myanmar the major logistic hub in Asia,” said U Nyan Htun Aung, minister for transport.
“For fulfilling this vision, we have also defined a mission that will drive us to develop and strengthen the safe, secure, efficient, sustainable and environmentally-friendly aviation industry in the country.”
The ministry will implement four strategic plans to achieve this goal: pursuing liberalisation of economic regulation; establishing new air linkages to destinations worldwide; promoting national airlines; and improving infrastructures.
This last is where the big spending will happen – and where the construction industry comes in.
“We will upgrade, in a timely manner, our air transport infrastructure to become qualified ones. We do recognise the importance of aviation safety and capacity building for the development of our aviation sector,” said U Win Swe Tun, director general of the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA).
In order to speed up the plans, he said, the ministry is deploying Public Private Partnership schemes in keeping with economic trends and the new foreign investment law.
Figures from the DCA show total passenger traffic was 6.49 million in 2013, a 16.5 percent jump from 2012.
The large increase in passenger
numbers at Yangon International Airport has prompted the government to revive the mothballed Hanthawaddy airport project near Bago.
The government has also invited the private sector to participate in a planned redevelopment of Yangon and Mandalay international airports.
Among the winners, Pioneer
Aerodrome Services, a Myanmar company, won the tender to renovate Yangon International Airport, while Singapore-based Yongnam-CAPE-JGC was selected as the back-up.
“Yangon airport can handle only 2.7 million passengers a year. In 2011, it received about 2.4 million passengers [and] in 2012 it was beyond capacity. Yangon International Airport will be expanded to handle 6 million passengers a year. The large-scale reconstruction of Yangon airport is scheduled for completion before the end of 2015,” he said.
Japan-based Mitsubishi Corporation was selected to renovate Mandalay International Airport, with France-based VINCI Airports selected as the back-up company.
“Mandalay International Airport can handle 3.5 million passengers a year. It will be renovated and added cargo facility and the upgrade project is expected to finish by 2015,” he said.
The long-awaited announcement
for the winning consortium of Hanthawaddy International Airport project was officially announced on October 29 at Myanmar Civil Aviation Training Institute in Yangon.
Hanthawaddy is expected to become the country’s main airport, located on a 9000-acre (3642-hectare) site about 77 kilometres (48 miles) north of Yangon near Bago. The site was first slated for development in the early 1990s. Work began in March 1994 but ceased in October 2003. Despite its distance from the city, the site was considered the most suitable among a shortlist of nine.
DCA announced that a Singapore consortium comprising Japan’s JGC Corporation was selected by the Ministry of Transport to build the US$1.5 billion contract.
He said the company will get official development assistance from the Japanese government with low interest rates and the group didn’t ask for any guarantee from Myanmar government.
“They are now in talks with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to cover part of the construction cost with development assistance. The project’s completion date is now pushed back from 2016 to 2019. So the airport will be ready to operate by December 2019 and will be capable of handling up to 12 million passengers a year,” said U Win Swe Tun.
The tender had previously been awarded to a consortium led by the South Korean Incheon Airport Cooperation in August 2013, but in February this year, Singapore-led consortium has been brought back to “re-enter negotiations” for the project because the original tender winner, from South Korea, has so far failed to meet the government’s specifications for the project.
Cleared for landingMinister says Myanmar is aiming to be “the major logistic hub in Asia” – and that’s a big deal for the construction industry which will make it happen. several big deals, in fact.
MILLIoN
6Annual number of passengers
the expanded Yangon airport will be ready to handle by the end of
2015 – half the capacity of the new Hanthawaddy airport, set to open
December 2019
aye thidar [email protected]
WITH property prices through the roof in Myanmar, a mortgage is a powerful yet still locally unutilised tool for facilitating home ownership. Experts say that while mortgages drive prices higher because they boost demand from the middle class, they should be implemented nonetheless, in keeping with international financial practice, in order to ease payments and financial planning.
Bankers interviewed by The Myanmar Times said they have strong financial backing to provide mortgages to customers as soon as Central Bank allows, but since Central Bank reopened economic policies generally three years ago, local banks have been treading cautiously, not wanting to put a foot wrong in their offerings.
“There are no rules and
regulations for the [banks’] right to own apartments,” said U Mya Than, chair of Myanmar Oriental Bank. “That makes risk for us [banks]. We don’t want to go to court with problems.”
Loan assessments to business enterprises can easily be calculated through financial statements and cash flow, he said, but for homeowners it’s more difficult, as it’s necessary to calculate for long-term inflation and property price fluctuation over the next couple of decades.
With the draft of the new condominium law finalised and likely to be enacted by early 2015, a policy for mortgages is probably included as part of the law, said advocate U Than Maung of Kelvin Chia international law firm in Yangon.
“But the condominium law alone is not enough to activate mortgages,” he said, adding other laws such as
financial institutions and housing loans also need to be implemented.
Economist U Hla Maung said mortgages requires strong capital and stock exchanges and a strong monetary market. He also agreed the government needs to act in setting rules and regulations.
“I hope it will happen in the near future with Central Bank permission, possibly with the assistance and practice of foreign banks,” he said.
U Hla Maung added that the important thing is that property prices need to be watched closely, to avoid a bubble of property prices which crippled the mortgage system in the 2008 financial crisis.
Central Bank allowed hire purchase for commercial banks in late 2011, focused only on buying vehicles and electronic products. Regional government urged banks to offer hire purchasing for customers in their recent low-cost housing in outskirts areas. However, the system
was not popular, as banks demanded many documents and restrictions from their customers.
The different between a hire purchase and a mortgage is who the right to own something, U Mya Than said.
Hire purchase is safer for the bank side, as the property remains in the bank’s hands for as long as a customer is paying. However, the customer can own a property before he has fully paid in a mortgage, he said.
The other challenge is that even well-paid middle-class staff may find it a burden to meet the monthly payments mortgages require.
“The banks will take many risks in this case, so we need to scrutinise it even if Central Bank would allow it,” he said.
He suggested more government low-cost housing is a better solution for those in need than relying on bank loans.
Banks wary of mortgage risksBut introduction of mortgage law to Myanmar would facilitate access to housing
Myat noe [email protected]
LIVING downtown may be a way to skip the traffic for affluent businesspeople, but the steep prices and congestion make it an unpopular place to set up a home.
originally the centre of the city’s planning structure, sule Pagoda today is the hub in terms of price, says Ko Htun Htun, an agent from Phoenix real estate. He says a rough rule is that the closer you get to sule, the more expensive you can expect a property to be. But he added that’s generally okay for the demographic most often drawn downtown –wealthy, unattached businessmen.
“Places which are crowded and near bus stops – businessmen like these places,” Ko Htun Htun said.
Those looking beyond the bachelor lifestyle tend to look elsewhere, he added. “People who want to live only, and not do business, like the quiet places and look in the quiet areas.”
The question of how to balance the need for quiet with the need for convenience makes purchasing property outside downtown a difficult proposition, even if the price is more attractive.
Ma Naw, a broker who lives in shwe Pyi Thar, agrees that selling outside of downtown can be harder, because it requires a more complicated set of considerations.
“People looking for houses to live in like quiet areas,” she said, adding that many want to able access amenities like markets or public transportation – but also do not want to live right next to them.
“sometimes, owners have difficulty selling if a house is near a crowded area like a market or a monastery,” Ma Naw said.
Location is a prime factor in sales, but how a property is presented – or “staged”, in industry lingo – can also make a difference. You can’t always trust people to recognise that your place is a diamond in the rough, especially if you’ve left it a little too rough, and it’s so full of clutter they have to turn sideways to squeeze down the hall.
If you want your residence to make a lasting impression, you need to dress it up, as if for a first date.
“I decorated my house when I sold it,” said Daw Aye Aye Naing, a south okkapala resident. Formerly of 13th ward, she sold her property and moved to 10th ward six months ago. But she is now renting, being unable to afford to buy an apartment.
In her experience, neighbours and environment can also help tip the scales to help you sell, she says.
As can a good broker: Ko Zarni, an agent who lives in okkalapa, says being a good communicator is crucial for success as a real estate agent.
“some buyers are very choosy and so we have to talk until they are satisfied,” he said.
“And sometimes they cannot pay much money but they are very fussy. Times like that are difficult in my job.”
Be wary, however, not to get too carried away with tempting talk.
“The brokers speak well of the electricity and water, but the reality [after moving in] may be not having enough water to use,” said Daw Than Than Aye. “It is a big problem.”
All the city’s a stage
An artist’s rendering shows the planned Hanthawaddy airport. Photo: Supplied
14 15
Su Phyo [email protected]
THEY say good fences make good neighbours. At least, they used to say that – today a good pair of earplugs
might be closer to the mark.Celebrations have always been
riotous events in Myanmar, in the age of amplification – combined with the lack of anything close to soundproofing in homes – one person’s enthusiasm has become another person’s discomfort. Or possibly many people’s discomfort.
Street vendors; portable personal music players; festival stages; store promotions; religious sermons through loudspeakers; roving fundraising groups you can hear a mile off – all in all, the city, and especially downtown, is a pretty noisy place to be. And that’s with even mentioning all the car horns.
But telling people to be quiet is simply not done in polite Myanmar culture. These days, it’s up to the grandmothers to start taking a stand.
Recently a lady mailed a letter to the op-ed column in a state-owned paper. She wanted to complain about a betel shop next to her house. It wasn’t the spitting that did her in, though – it was the two amplifiers the shop had set up, which played music morning till night she could hear inside her home. And if that wasn’t enough, her grandchild was trying to study for exams.
Now, the exam period in Myanmar seems like the one time a semblance of peace and quiet can be enforced. Last year YCDC even ordered KTV lounges to shut for the exam period, to keep on track those whose time and energy would be better spent
slaving away at their desks.If only similar concern for public
welfare continued at other times of year. The township office gave the betel shop a warning, and the music did stop – for a while. A few days later, though the shop turned it on again, morning until night.
No fine, no punishment was given.Other countries have municipal
limits on the number of decibels that can be played in public at a given hour. If such things exist here, though, they certainly aren’t enforced. It’s all part of being polite, but it also means everyone suffers distraction anytime anyone wants to be loud. Where are the manners in that?
During the Kahtein festival, the biggest donation festival of Buddhism, which was held earlier this month, people go out around the city to collect money for monasteries from
well-wishers. They put amplifiers on trishaws, cars, and even trucks to let everyone know they are coming. The soundtrack ranges from traditional Myanmar songs to South Korea’s mega-hit “Gangnam Style”, all played at ear-splitting volume. One wonders how the people pushing the trishaws or riding in the cars can stand being that close to the speakers without losing their hearing altogether. Of course, maybe they already have, and that’s why they keep turning it louder.
It’s not just about Buddhism, though – like love itself, noise seems capable of reaching across all beliefs. Hindus too play music during festivals by putting extra
loudspeakers, amplifiers, drums, even electric guitars in cars and jeeps. Firefighters take care of the traffic beside them as they go about the city.
Other times of the year, many groups go around the wards to collect money. They use volume to advertise their approach, and living in an apartment with thin walls gives a good chance to contemplate the Doppler effect – but not much else.
Daw Taung Tin – the grandmother who wrote that letter to the editor – says all this noise bothers her health at any time of year. She says she knows it is supposed to be for religious purposes, but it actually makes her less peaceful, less calm and less mindful.
“I can’t stand that loud music when it is close to my home,” said Daw Taung Tin. “I just want them to move away quickly as I am mostly feeling unwell. But we can’t complain
to anyone as it is for religious affairs. We have no choice but to be patient and tolerate it.
She added, however, that blasting music seems “fairly different from the Buddha’s scriptures and teachings”.
U Za Wa Na, from the Abidamar Yanthi Monastery where Buddhist scriptures are taught to monks, said that when people mix religious affairs with business the essence of Buddhism fades away.
“There doesn’t need to be too many offerings from the donors for a monk,” U Za Wa Na said. “Three robes are enough for one monk. And during the Kahtein festival, it is enough if only one robe for one monk is offered.
But now people are competing with each other to collect money from donors and they try to attract people by making loud noises to the surrounding area. And the Western music and spiritual songs don’t relate with Buddhism.”
He said people are taking advantage of the tolerance of Buddhist people with the religious affairs. They are trying to modernise everything nowadays, even the collection of money from donors.
“Sometimes people just want to do good things,” U Zaw Wa Na said. “They want to collect more money to donate but they don’t even consider what impact they are making on the surroundings. The people just have to ignore it though they can’t bear the noise.”
U Za Wa Na said the value of some things decreases with quantity, like gems which are precious only for being rare.
“More and more groups are rising up to collect money. It is not good for Buddhism. In the past there was nothing like today’s situation,” U Za Wa Na said.
Monastic organisations should encourage the restriction of loud noise in public, said U Za Wa Na
A township official agreed.“Some are fake money collectors
as they don’t even send letters to get permission from the ward office to use the loudspeakers, sound box and amplifiers. They just put an image of Buddha on the trishaw and collect money from donors,” said an official from Kyauktada township, who asked not to be named.
If people hear loud noise relating to religion, he said, they mostly try to tolerate it. If it relates to business, like a noisy teashop, they will sometimes complain to the ward office.
One thing they can’t do much
about is demolition or construction crews. There’s no way to hammer a nail in quietly – and with the construction sector booming, there’s little way to block out the distraction, except with a little music.
But wear headphones. And keep the volume low. Your ears – and your neighbours – will thank you.
What’s the law?The Myanmar Times was unable to determine current law on noise violations in Yangon. A search for “noise” in the 1245 pages of Housing, Land and Property rights in Burma: The Current Legal Framework brings up the following two mentions – but the report was published in 2009, so what’s currently on the books is unknown. Tell us if you hear anything, okay?
The Specific Relief Act (1877)Chapter X: of Perpetual InjunctionsIllustration … [Person] A rings a bell or makes some other unnecessary noise so near a house as to interfere materially and unreasonably with the physical comfort of the occupier, B. B may sue for an injunction restraining A from making the noise.
The City of Rangoon Municipal Act (1922)235. … rules may thereunder may provide for or regulate all or any of the following purposes and matters, namely:(b) the prohibition and regulation of the use of whistles, trumpets, and noise-producing instruments operated by any mechanical means
Mon thi [email protected]
IN Yangon, the root of our urban problems lies in a lack of physical and ethical distinctions in people’s minds between
public space and private space. As the city develops, the consequences of the shortfall of public knowledge on this subject will increasingly be brought to the fore.
Yangon is a city shaped on the private scale. The basic element of the city is the optimising individual and his or her immediate private space. As the urban population continues to rise, a typical “optimising” person, who is by definition opportunistic, wants as much space as they can acquire. Domestic lives manifest themselves beyond the boundaries of private space, and the occupation of public space for private use has become the norm.
But when the spacial needs of one individual are juxtaposed with those of many others, the city becomes a congested ground of constant spatial contestations. Consider a typical downtown urban block as a microcosm of Yangon: Most streets contain multiple programs of commerce and living, and people’s acts in areas like these create complex, unthought-of implications for all.
Physical actsSpitting and littering in public space are very common. For example, in urban blocks, residents use what
should be public space behind their properties as if it were private. Residents from upper floors typically throw trash down into the alleys, treating it as their own open-air trash bin. This not only makes these areas unusable for other purposes, but attracts stray dogs and pests, who live off the abundance of sustenance in the alley. It’s not uncommon to hear the screams of stray dogs which have been hit on the head by falling trash bags. And spitting is a similar act to littering: Waste is expelled – but straight into everyone else’s shared environment.
Ethical beliefsSometimes altruism has unintended consequences. Many religions encourage kindness to animals, and for Buddhists the desire to provide and donate encourages the feeding of pigeons and stray dogs. But the resulting overpopulation of stray dogs and the noise pollution also impacts the quality of urban life.
While animals are cared for, buildings generally are not. To say there is a correlation between belief systems and the shape of a city may be debatable, but it is true to say that residents often accept things as they are, without striving to change them. That also extends to the urban environment. People take care of their own sections of a building’s façade only occasionally, so the result looks like a patchwork. Only recently have we seen a surge of interest in the look of the skyline, mostly
through the commercials of new developments. Maintaining buildings and urban spaces is a Western concept, and Yangon is a city made with a provisional outlook.
Without attention, nature thrives in Yangon’s urban environment – but not in a way we might enjoy. A city left alone to natural growth over time becomes a complex ecosystem. Nature loves overlooked spaces and thrives in them. Mosses and large plants prosper behind the building blocks; so do varieties of ants, other insects and rats.
Economic pressuresTraditional ways of doing business are perpetuated by gruelling economic conditions, but not always to the benefit of the urban environment.
Mobile street hawkers are familiar sights in the city. Whether the noisiness and traffic they cause is beneficial or not makes for a spirited debated between those who appreciate street food and those who want to pass a quiet time. They are, however, examples of a significant problem in Yangon: Ownership of the streets is ambiguous.
Driven by lack of private space, some people take permanent
proprietorship of part of the street by growing plants, using space for commerce or putting other private possessions there. In downtown blocks with dense activities, human activities fill every available corner. Parking is reduced, leading to clogged streets and constant traffic jams. Private lives spill out into the public environment and make things slower, noisier and more crowded for everyone.
A matter of philosophyIn ancient Greece, some philosophers went to one extreme, defining public space as a place where individuals should not draw attention to themselves, intentionally or otherwise. (To give a radical example, conjoined twins appearing in an ancient Athenian marketplace would have been considered offensive to the public, despite the fact that being born conjoined is a natural happening, not a social statement.)
Others, such as the Cynics, favoured the opposite view. They considered public space to be a place where people could do anything they prefer, without needing to consider – or be considered by – others.
Residents seem to lean toward the latter view. But philosophers like Raymond Geuss (born 1946) would
say Cynics are people who detach themselves from politics. The essence of politics is mutual dependence. In a city like Yangon, where some people litter on the streets, people must not be feeling they will have to suffer inconveniences from the polluted streets that result from their actions, or they would not do so.
If we do not unravel urban issues related to and caused by people’s behaviours, the city will become increasingly difficult to manage in the years ahead. Just as animals decline when forests cannot sustain them, so too do humans wither when our environment fails to support us. But the city by itself does not degenerate. It does so when individuals do not do what is right and is of most benefit to all.
It is essential that we ask ethical questions about what it means to live with others. This, as much as better buildings or traffic flows, is what could create a better city and a friendlier urban environment.
Yangon’s urban planning solutions will remain hampered so long as residents keep shaping the city toward their own ends
The city we deserve?
Sounding off on noise violations
Mon Thi Han studied at the Architectural Association in London, England. She is currently preparing for postgraduate study and writes about architecture and cities.Pardon me?
sound is measured in units called decibels, and long or repeated exposure to sounds at or above 85 decibels can cause hearing loss. The louder the sound, the shorter the amount of time it takes for noise-induced hearing loss to happen.
Here are the average decibel ratings of some familiar sounds: • The humming of a refrigerator
45 decibels • Normal conversation
60 decibels • Noise from heavy city traffic
85 decibels • Motorcyles
95 decibels • MP3 player at max volume
105 decibels • sirens
120 decibels • Firecrackers and firearms
150 decibels Your distance from the source of the sound and the length of time you are exposed to the sound are also important factors in protecting your hearing. A good rule of thumb is to avoid noises that are too loud, too close or last too long.
source: National Institute on Deafness and other
Communication Diseases
IN PICTURES
Workers plus materials equals the start of the Yangon’s new GEMS development, shown here under construction in September 2014.
Photo: Thiri Lu
‘‘I can’t stand that loud music when it is close to my house. I just want them to
move away quickly.’
This goes to eleven. Photo: Catherine Trautwein
Photo: Yu Yu
