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In this chapter, we examine historical and contemporary debates about the position and situation of women in Myanmar (and to a lesser extent gender and sexual minorities). Specific reference is made to the patriarchal character of the military coup of February 1, 2021, and the emergent forms of feminist resistance that turned social norms inside out in protest against lethal repression. The way women, as well as sexual and gender minorities, are unequally positioned and face structural and social discrimination in society serves to contextualize our presentation of the findings of a collaborative case-study conducted in 2018 on issues pertaining to gender and imprisonment in Myanmar, based mainly on interviews with former prisoners in three research sites. The aim was to generate field-based knowledge about the carceral experiences of women and LGBTQIA+ persons in Myanmar – focusing on their needs and vulnerabilities, their capacities and rights, their relationships and identities, and their modes of survival as they encounter penal regimes. Findings are summarized focusing on former prisoners’ experiences of legal bias; perspectives on encounters with the criminal justice system; the inadequacy of health provision (posed as lethal neglect); and the way certain behaviors and identities are criminalized. The chapter concludes with some reflections on the degree to which there might still be space for critical scholarship in the post-coup world and poses some questions for future research.

Improvements in special education and the implementation of inclusive education are a significant focus in Myanmar. Legislation toward these goals was officially enacted in the National Education Law, which was amended in 2015. While the Ministry of Education has adopted a policy of inclusive education, which states that all students with disabilities could attend mainstream school classes, classroom settings are not adequately equipped to support students with disabilities. The Department of Social Welfare does not have an inclusive education program. The department's role is to support the training of schools as a part of special education for such students, providing primary special education via different teaching methods and appropriate therapies for students with disabilities. After students pass the primary education exam, they can join middle school, high school, and higher education levels of inclusive education, which run under the Ministry of Education. All special schools in Myanmar focus their different occupational therapies on enhancing students' physical and mental capabilities and collaborating with outside professionals in relevant areas. The Ministry of Education aims to develop the knowledge and skills of teacher educators and teachers, so they can effectively adopt more inclusive teaching practices. Currently, Myanmar's basic education reforms are being carried out through the National Education Strategic Plan (2016–2021). The ministry is currently working to implement a new 4-year pre-service degree program as well as the Basic Education School Quality Assurance Standards Framework. Such a movement to enhance the quality of teachers became a bridge to collaborate between inclusive and special education within two ministries.

This chapter provides a cross-cultural look at the intersection of religion and the state with a focus on social control, social movements, political authority, and legitimacy. To better understand the complexities of governance, this chapter examines state social control of religion with a specific focus on the effects of that control on society. State leaders often seek to control and use the power of religion to gain legitimacy, authority, and control over citizens. Conversely, religious leaders sometimes seek to engage and even control the power of the state. This chapter highlights some of what happens when religious leaders directly engage in politics and challenge the social control mechanisms of political authority.

At times religious majorities seek not only to participate in the public square, to make policy, but also to exercise complete control of political and cultural institutions. In many nations, from Christians in the United States to Buddhists in Myanmar, some religious and government leaders share the goal of complete religious control over their societies. What happens to the religions and to the society when these religious and government leaders are successful? What happens to the religion when a state controls, supports, and promotes that religion? This chapter uses the case histories of the repression of the Muslim minority by the Buddhists nationalists in Myanmar and the desires of the United States Christian Dominionists goals to illustrate and highlight the way that the twin powers of the state and religion serve as direct agents of social control by transmitting values of each institution through law, policy, and by punishing those who deviate.

To provide low-cost housing, the Myanmar Government is attempting to use public–private partnership (PPP) to attract private investors. However, there is little information concerning the influencing factors for implementing PPP low-cost housing projects in Myanmar. This paper, therefore, aims to identify and analyse these factors.

A total of 51 in-depth interviews were conducted with interviewees involved in various kinds of housing projects implemented through the adoption of PPP or other approaches. The methods of data collection and the analysis are based on grounded theory (GT) methodology.

Using the GT method to analyse the interviews, five categories emerged from 50 influencing factors regarding the establishment and implementation of the PPP model for low-cost housing in Myanmar: provision of incentives; obstacles in implementing PPP for all stakeholders; barriers to private sector participation; public sector responsibilities and challenges; and attraction factors and challenges for financial institutions. Among 12 newly found factors, the three most important for PPP low-cost housing in Myanmar are the availability of project funding, the resolution of land-acquisition issues and the development of a sound financing system.

Our findings strengthen previous studies by identifying factors affecting PPP low-cost housing either specific to Myanmar or common among other countries. Of the 50 factors identified, 38 factors were found in previous studies, but 12 are likely specific to Myanmar.

Our findings can be used by governments, particularly the Myanmar Government, and financial agencies to understand the low attractiveness of PPP low-cost housing for investors and to develop/improve policies to stimulate PPP low-cost housing, especially in Myanmar.

Many previous studies have been undertaken to identify factors that influence the implementation of PPP for low-cost housing. However, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, there are no prior studies specific to Myanmar in this context.

This qualitative approach study aimed to understand the barriers to accessing a tuberculosis (TB) clinic in a Thai hospital as experienced by TB patients from Myanmar living on the Thailand-Myanmar border.

Twenty-two participants were asked to provide information. In-depth interviews were used to gather the information. Each interview lasted 40 min.

TB patients from Myanmar experience several barriers to accessing TB treatment and care at Mae Sai Hospital, such as language and economic problems, although they are very satisfied with the quality of service and positive attitude of the health care providers. A long waiting time and lack of explanation of the pathogenesis of TB were noted as negative aspects by the patients and their relatives. The medical staff at the TB clinic were negatively affected by the excessive workload and unsuitability of some methods or technologies. Using budgetary subsidies from agencies to fund TB care and treatment was not sustainable. Foreign TB patients are not subsidized by the national universal insurance scheme of Thailand, and sending TB patients back to their home country is sometimes unavoidable.

Thailand and Myanmar should strengthen their collaboration and develop a system to improve the quality of TB patient care and management for those who are living in poverty and lack education, by focusing on reducing language and economic barriers to accessing health care services including support for medicines and laboratory materials related to TB case management among these populations.

Regulatory authorities in Myanmar are increasing banks’ independence in providing loans to facilitate better financial resource allocations. On the other hand, not only in the USA but also among European countries, policymakers are designing regulations that could reduce banks’ autonomies in risk management and decrease risk taking behaviour. These governments have made policy interventions in their banking sectors which could be identified as repressive policies. They are commonly justified as macro-prudential regulations rather than financial repression. However, the authors are yet to understand as to what extent regulations need to be tightened or loosened up to reach optimal risk-taking behaviour. Using Myanmar as an example where the extreme form of governmental interventions and prudential regulations exists, this paper aims to identify the effectiveness of such policies.

This paper relies on a case study of the Myanmar’s Banking Sector. The paper adopts of the synthesis of institutional theory and Oliver’s strategic response to identify how banks respond to repressive financial policies. The empirical evidence is collected through conducting 16 interviews including banks’ general managers, deputy chairmen and loan officers. Afterwards, the authors analysed the data using categorical thematic analysis with the assistance of NVIVO.

First of all, the extent to which repressive financial measures enforced on banks differ depending on their political affiliations and ownership structures. Second, though repressive policies were enforced on banks to curb risk taking behaviour among banks and maintain financial stability, Myanmar banks themselves had inherent nature of risk aversion towards lending. Third, in Myanmar, financial repression does not always mean banks need to compromise their efficiency in profit maximisation to achieve legitimacy from the regulatory authorities. If the formal constraints were not in line with economic actors’ internal objectives, a different set of rules of the game were formed.

This paper provides new evidences for the controversial subject on financial repression and liberalisation through analysing micro level data of banks’ lending practice rather than using aggregate macro-level data. Bank-level information provides banks’ concerns, challenges and their loan assessment process while operating under repressive financial policies. This study is also unique in the sense that it is contributing to the limited academic literature on Myanmar’s financial system. It represents the last surviving case of repressed financial system and the presence governmental interventions and prudential regulations. Hence, it was used as an example to identify the effectiveness of such policies.

Strategy.

Undergraduate final year or MBA.

This teaching case describes the journey undertaken by Yoma Strategic Holdings (YSH) Ltd, a Singapore-listed company that operates predominately in Myanmar, to become a successful and highly profitable conglomerate business empire in Myanmar. The case provides a rich contextual description of how YSH leveraged upon its partnerships and capabilities, especially with its parent and sister companies, to pursue its conglomerate business model. To facilitate the discussion that this teaching case aims to generate among lecturers and students, we have provided a summary of the latest developments in Myanmar since the 2010 general election. This helps to give students an appreciation of the challenges involved in creating a successful business in Myanmar.

The learning outcomes that this teaching case hopes to achieve in students are as follows: Understand the concept of “economies of scope” in corporate strategy; identify and explain the various corporate strategies (i.e. diversification and vertical integration) that can be implemented to develop a conglomerate business model; recognize the organizational and managerial issues arising from implementing these corporate strategies and understand the circumstances that influence its success; and assess the relative advantages of managing a business in a conglomerate business model and advise a company on whether a particular activity should be undertaken internally or outsourced.

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