“Give me an educated mother, and I shall promise you the birth of a civilised, educated nation,” Napoleon Bonaparte once said. These words make reference to the fact that building a nation relies on how we educate ourselves and others, and why it is important to let emerge the intellectuals who have the capacity to build it, to make it happen;

The Arakan Army (AA), which has controlled much of Arakan State since an informal ceasefire with the Myanmar military was reached in November 2020, issued a statement on December 17, 2021. The statement warned the public that nefarious activities were taking place in Arakan State, leading to sectarian tensions, and highlighted five recent developments. 

Motorcycle thefts are happening on a daily basis in Sittwe. However, according to the state police, there are only 12 reported cases of stolen motorcycles in Arakan State. If a motorcycle is stolen, why not report it to the police? One reason is that most motorcycles do not have a licence, and there is a weakness in the judiciary. 

Companies from 13 countries — including the United States, France, Malaysia, Thailand, China, Japan, Singapore, Canada, the Netherlands, Austria and South Korea — operate in the Arakan Sea. According to a report released by AOW (Arakan Oil Watch) on November 19, 2021, most of Myanmar’s revenue comes from taxes from the natural gas industry. 

Despite decades of civil war, political conflicts and poverty, Myanmar seemingly emerged from military dictatorship with the holding of 2010 multi-party general elections. Just over a decade later, the Myanmar military seized power on February 1, 2021, after a third multi-party election and after two terms of successive governments elected by the people. 

In the not-too-distant past, the government and ethnic armed groups reached an understanding and took a renewed approach to finding political solutions to political problems, noting the high cost of war to lives, livelihoods, the environment and much more.  

In 2018, Myanmar and CITIC Group signed a framework agreement on the deep-sea project. The following year, the Chinese firm hired Canadian company HATCH to supervise the environmental impact assessment (EIA) and a “pre-geo survey.” But experts from the Canadian firm was able to visit Kyaukphyu only one time due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

In early September, photos of locals in Hsin Swel Ya village volunteering for road construction work were posted on social media. The damaged road was muddy, washed out and difficult if not impossible to traverse by foot or vehicle.  

Arakan State has a long history of being a de facto nation and has a strong geographical location. It also has a strong literary and artistic heritage, as well as a wealth of resources and infrastructure to provide good food and services to its people. There are people in Arakan State who will be satisfied under an Arakan government and administration that can lead the people to security and development.  

A group of young people can be seen playing football in a field. It is gratifying to see so many young people competing so fiercely. Isn’t physical activity very important for health reasons? However, there are many elderly people sitting on the field’s sidelines, some wearing masks but others without masks. I wander off in front of an audience that could be infected. 

Looking back on the 1990s and 2000s, bookstores are one of the fondest memories of my childhood. I miss the feeling of competing with others to get my hands on a book, every time a new one by my favorite author arrived; I miss reading it; and memorising my favourite words by writing them down in notebooks.

Every country has a national security concept. The concept of “national security” has been interpreted by many scholars in many ways, and national security is still defined today. The concept of nationalism in part means the perception of national security. I don’t know exactly how to translate the English word “Nation” into the Myanmar language. 

The coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China, has been threatening people around the world since December 2019. Humanity has not yet been able to defeat the virus, which invades the respiratory system, attacks the lungs and takes lives.  

The AA chief said in an interview with Arakkha Media on August 16 that the Arakan Army had been calling for a confederacy since 2019 and would attempt to regain Arakanese’s sovereignty. At the same time, the AA chief said that staff from the AA’s judicial sector in Arakan State will be paid salaries. On the one hand, I see this as a public declaration of financial security in addition to the strength of the AA.

Our country is affected by natural disasters every year. Despite the abundance of natural resources, very poor rulers have not only been unable to build adequate irrigation dams, but have also been unable to prevent natural disasters.

On the one hand, the political leadership of the Arakan Army in Arakan State and the political stance of the Arakanese people have emerged as a unique model. The Arakan Army, which has been campaigning for a Confederate position, has ended two years of fighting with the Tatmadaw in Arakan State and is politically leading Arakan State. Despite the military council’s actions in Arakan State, the local government’s administration has become less active. 

“Where can I get oxygen?” and “Can someone please tell me how I can refill oxygen?” are the types of posts that have flooded social media every day over the past month in Myanmar, after the Southeast Asian nation was hit by a fresh wave of the deadly coronavirus in late May. 

The military council released many prisoners from prisons in an amnesty, but did not include those arrested for political beliefs held following the coup. It shows that the military council is not yet willing to resolve the political crisis. Voice of America (VOA) has confirmed that seven women prisoners were killed in riots in Insein Prison, but the full extent of the violence in the prison has not been confirmed. 

Arakan State has not seen any fighting since the military coup and there has been little anti-coup activity. On a national scale, Arakan State has been a beacon of relative stability since the military took power. But as the Covid-19 death toll climbs in Arakan State, there is reason to believe that the military’s handling of the third wave could sour the moods of Arakanese people who did not show the same kind of visceral rejection of the military government in the immediate aftermath of its coup.