KUALA LUMPUR, 30 Oct 2017:
The Foreign Affairs Ministry confirms that a Malaysian journalist employed by Turkish Radio and Television (TRT) was detained by Myanmar authority on Friday (Oct 27) for allegedly video recording the Hluttaw building (House of Representative) in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar using a drone without prior authorisation.
In a statement, Wisma Putra said Mok Choy Lin was detained with a Singaporean and a local, and was currently being investigated by the Myanmar authorities.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the embassy of Malaysia in Yangon is monitoring the case and will render the necessary consular assistance accordingly,” said the statement.
The Myanmar Information Ministry said the journalists had intended to take pictures of parliament buildings and pagodas in the capital city of Nay Pyi Taw when security guards spotted them.
Separately, Myanmar is planning to transform Pyin Oo Lwin, the city of flower in the northern part of the country, into an Asean flower city, the official Global New Light of Myanmar reported today.
The transformation will be made by using flower growing technique from the Netherlands, the report said, adding that growing quality flower in Pyin Oo Lwin, Mandalay region, will reduce the inflow of flower from other countries.
A private company will import quality flower seeds from the Netherlands to grow quality flower plants with the use of natural fertiliser in a bid to export flowers to the international markets, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation was quoted as saying.
A Flower Growers’ Association will also be formed to accelerate the project, the report added.
Meanwhile, Myanmar is scheduled to hold a flower festival in Pyin Oo Lwin starting Dec 1. The one-month Pyin Oo Lwin Flower Festival, which will take place at the National Kandawgyi Botanical Garden, will display more than 130,000 foreign and local flower species including artificial ones.
Last year’s annual flower festival attracted millions of visitors.
Pyin Oo Lwin is a scenic hill town in Mandalay region and is located in the Shan Highland, some 67 kilometres east of Mandalay and at an altitude of 1,070 meters.
The town was estimated to have a population of around 255,000 in 2014.
– Bernama