Police Crackdown on Kachin VCD
February 26, 2005

The Kachin Post

Distribution, selling and screening of Kachin music and Karaoke VCDs have been banned in Kachin State capital Myitkyina, confiscating VCDs from record stores and video parlors, said residents in town. Police also asked sub-township level authorities to find out and confiscate private own VCD in every household.

Since early of February, police in Myitkyina have been confiscating all kinds of Kachin language music and Karaoke VCDs, giving the reason that Kachin VCDs do not meet the censorship law and some of them do not have military government propaganda slogan “Pyi-Thu-Tha-Baw-Hta”, aka, “People’s Desire”. The slogan, in Burma, is mandatory to put all media materials, including VCD and Karaoke.

Most of the Kachin VCDs do not have official approval from Press Scrutiny Board. “We will earn no profit if VCD has paid for censorship tax,” said a Kachin producer, who is in condition of anonymity. The price of a Kachin VCD is 500 kyat (US $0.54) in market. Kachin VCD producers have no choice to circumvent to get approve from Press Scrutiny Board, which rarely issues permits for Kachin VCDs, for business purpose.

Meanwhile, distributor of Kachin top-hit music album “Plus Three” live show VCD has been frustrating on recent ban on Kachin VCDs. The VCD had filmed last year in Myitkyina during a huge concert entertained by popular Kachin youth band “Plus Three”.

“Production of Kachin music and Karaoke VCD is not solely for business purpose, but to entertain to Kachin audiences and promote Kachin culture and literature,” said a Kachin producer.

In July 2004, a video documentary maker Lazing La Htoi was arrested by local police in Myitkyina for filming and distributing hundreds of copies of VCD which documented footage of devastating flood in Myitkyina. Authority also shut down a computer shop in Myitkyina which produced the flood documentary.