Facebook & YouTube Live Webcast (free public presentation)
Monday, March 29, 2021
Program 15:00 PM HKT, Close 16:00 PM HKT
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On the morning of February 1, the military of Myanmar staged a coup d’état that deposed of the democratically elected members of the country’s ruling party, including State Counsellor and 1991 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi.  Much to the condemnation of the international community, the Tatmadaw declared the results of the November 2020 general election landslide as fraudulent and announced a year-long state of emergency, with power temporarily vested in Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. As Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest yet again and widespread protests continue daily across the nation, the United Nations reported that 1700 citizens have been arbitrarily detained and 50 people have been killed since the coup began. On March 29, join Asia Society Hong Kong Center for a timely discussion on the latest from Myanmar, as a panel of country experts will help us to unpack it all.  We will be joined by Romain Caillaud, Principal at SIPA Partners & Associate Fellow in the Myanmar Studies Programme at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, Professor Ian Holliday, Vice-President (Teaching and Learning) at the University of Hong Kong, and two of his former politics students from Myanmar, Aye Thein and Khine Lynn Thu. As the world watches this situation unfold, tune in for the inside scoop.

Romain Caillaud is a risk and reputation management consultant with more than a decade of experience providing public affairs and strategic intelligence services to corporations, law firms and nonprofits in Japan and Southeast Asia. Currently located in Japan, Romain was based prior in Singapore and in Myanmar, and is originally from France. He is the principal of Tokyo-based advisory firm SIPA Partners, an associate fellow in the Myanmar Studies Programme at Singapore's ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute, and a member of the Japan Committee of the Temple University Law School Compliance Advisory Board. Romain first worked in Myanmar in 2006 as an intern analyst at the French Embassy. He returned from 2008 to 2015, when he studied Burmese at Yangon University of Foreign Languages, established the Myanmar office of a Southeast Asia-focused public affairs firm, and acted as president of the French-Myanmar Chamber of Commerce. Romain is currently advising clients on their responses to the political situation in Myanmar. 

Aye Thein is co-translator (from English to Burmese) of Human Rights: Politics and Practice by Michael Goodhart (Editor), International Human Rights Law by Rhona Smith and Liberalism & Democracy in Myanmar by Roman David and Ian Holliday. He has extensive work experience in the development sector in Myanmar and he has been part of several development and political research projects. He holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences in politics from the University of Hong Kong, and a Master of Science in international relations and development studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). He is currently based in Yangon.

Khine Lynn Thu was born and raised in Myanmar. She has experience working as a researcher and political analyst in various INGOs and international organization on topics related to elections, politics, human rights and peace process. She was part of the academic research team which examined transitional justice and liberalism in Myanmar. She also translated international human rights textbooks into Burmese. Khine studied Politics and Public Administration at the University of Hong Kong

under HKUG scholarship and Master’s in Development Management at London School of Economics and Political Science as a Chevening scholar.

Professor Ian Holliday has been Vice-President (Teaching and Learning) at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) since 2015. He assists the HKU President in setting the direction and policy of HKU teaching and learning, and oversees quality assurance for undergraduate and postgraduate curricula. Previously he was Dean of Social Sciences at HKU, and Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences at City University of Hong Kong. His research focuses on Myanmar politics and governance. (Moderator)

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