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The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is a tandem two-seat, twin-engined, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor fighter/fighter-bomber originally developed for the United States Navy by McDonnell Aircraft. It first entered service in 1960 with the U.S. Navy. Proving highly adaptable, it was adopted by the U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Air Force by the mid-1960s and became a major part of their air wings.
The Phantom is a large fighter with a top speed of over Mach 2. It can carry over 18,000 pounds (8,400 kg) of weapons on nine external hardpoints, including air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles, and various bombs. The F-4, like other interceptors of its time, was designed without an internal cannon, but later models incorporated a cannon. Beginning in 1959, it set 15 world records, including an absolute speed record, and an absolute altitude record.
The F-4 was used extensively by these three U.S. services during the Vietnam War, serving as the principal air superiority fighter for both the Navy and Air Force, as well as being important in the ground-attack and reconnaissance roles by the close of U.S. involvement in the war. The Phantom has the distinction of being the last U.S. fighter flown to attain ace status in the 20th century. During the Vietnam War, the USAF had one pilot and two WSOs, and the US Navy one pilot and one RIO, become aces in air-to-air combat. It continued to form a major part of U.S. military air power throughout the 1970s and 1980s, being gradually replaced by more modern aircraft such as the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon in the U.S. Air Force; the F-14 Tomcat and F/A-18 Hornet in the U.S. Navy; and the F/A-18 in the U.S. Marine Corps.
The F-4 Phantom II remained in use by the U.S. in the reconnaissance and Wild Weasel (suppression of enemy air defenses) roles in the 1991 Gulf War, finally leaving service in 1996. It was also the only aircraft used by both U.S. flight demonstration teams: the USAF Thunderbirds (F-4E) and the US Navy Blue Angels (F-4J). The F-4 was also operated by the armed forces of 11 other nations. Israeli Phantoms saw extensive combat in several Arab–Israeli conflicts, while Iran used its large fleet of Phantoms in the Iran–Iraq War. Phantoms remain in front line service with seven countries, and in use as an unmanned target in the U.S. Air Force. Phantom production ran from 1958 to 1981, with a total of 5,195 built, making it the most numerous American supersonic military aircraft.
General characteristics
* Crew: 2
* Length: 63 ft 0 in (19.2 m)
* Wingspan: 38 ft 4.5 in (11.7 m)
* Height: 16 ft 6 in (5.0 m)
* Wing area: 530.0 ft² (49.2 m²)
* Airfoil: NACA 0006.4-64 root, NACA 0003-64 tip
* Empty weight: 30,328 lb (13,757 kg)
* Loaded weight: 41,500 lb (18,825 kg)
* Max takeoff weight: 61,795 lb (28,030 kg)
* Powerplant: 2× General Electric J79-GE-17A axial compressor turbojets, 17,845 lbf (79.4 kN) each
* Zero-lift drag coefficient: 0.0224
* Drag area: 11.87 ft² (1.10 m²)
* Aspect ratio: 2.77
* Fuel capacity: 1,994 U.S. gal (7,549 L) internal, 3,335 U.S. gal (12,627 L) with three external tanks (370 U.S. gal (1,420 L) tanks on the outer wing hardpoints and either a 600 or 610 U.S. gal (2,310 or 2,345 L) tank for the centerline station).
* Maximum landing weight: 36,831 lb (16,706 kg)
Performance
* Maximum speed: Mach 2.23 (1,472 mph, 2,370 km/h) at 40,000 ft (12,190 m)
* Cruise speed: 506 kn (585 mph, 940 km/h)
* Combat radius: 367 nmi (422 mi, 680 km)
* Ferry range: 1,403 nmi (1,615 mi, 2,600 km) with 3 external fuel tanks
* Service ceiling: 60,000 ft (18,300 m)
* Rate of climb: 41,300 ft/min (210 m/s)
* Wing loading: 78 lb/ft² (383 kg/m²)
* lift-to-drag: 8.58
* Thrust/weight: 0.86 at loaded weight, 0.58 at MTOW
* Takeoff roll: 4,490 ft (1,370 m) at 53,814 lb (24,410 kg)
* Landing roll: 3,680 ft (1,120 m) at 36,831 lb (16,706 kg)
Armament
* Up to 18,650 lb (8,480 kg) of weapons on nine external hardpoints, including general purpose bombs, cluster bombs, TV- and laser-guided bombs, rocket pods (UK Phantoms 6 × Matra rocket pods with 18 × SNEB 68 mm rockets each), air-to-ground missiles, anti-runway weapons, anti-ship missiles, targeting pods, reconnaissance pods, and nuclear weapons. Baggage pods and external fuel tanks may also be carried.
* 4× AIM-7 Sparrow in fuselage recesses plus 4 × AIM-9 Sidewinders on wing pylons; upgraded Hellenic F-4E and German F-4F ICE carry AIM-120 AMRAAM, Japanese F-4EJ Kai carry AAM-3, Hellenic F-4E will carry IRIS-T in future. Iranian F-4s could potentially carry Russian and Chinese missiles. UK Phantoms carried Skyflash missiles[111]
* 1× 20 mm (0.787 in) M61 Vulcan 6-barreled gatling cannon, 640 rounds
* 4× AIM-9 Sidewinder, Python-3 (F-4 Kurnass 2000), IRIS-T (F-4E AUP Hellenic Air Force)
* 4× AIM-7 Sparrow, AAM-3(F-4EJ Kai)
* 4× AIM-120 AMRAAM for F-4F ICE, F-4E AUP (Hellenic Air Force)
* 6× AGM-65 Maverick
* 4× AGM-62 Walleye
* 4× AGM-45 Shrike, AGM-88 HARM, AGM-78 Standard ARM
* 4× GBU-15
* 18× Mk.82, GBU-12
* 5× Mk.84, GBU-10, GBU-14
* 18× CBU-87, CBU-89, CBU-58
++++++ Form Wikipedia +++++
Kalaw (Burmese: ကလောမြို့; Shan: ၵလေႃး [ka lɔ]) is a hill town in the Shan State of Myanmar. It is located in Kalaw Township in Taunggyi District.
Kalaw
ကလောမြို့
Kalaw 21.jpg
Kalaw is located in Myanmar
Kalaw
Location in Myanmar
Coordinates: 20°38′N 96°34′E
Country Myanmar
Division Shan State
Districts Taunggyi District
Township Kalaw Township
Population (2005)
• Religions Buddhism
Time zone MST (UTC+6.30)
OverviewEdit
The town was popular with the British during colonial rule. Kalaw is the main setting of the novel "The Art of Hearing Heartbeats" by Jan-Philipp Sendker.
The hill station is located at an elevation of 1320 metres, 50 km from the Inle lake. Kalaw is famous for hiking and trekking.[1]
Kalaw Train station sign altitude.
Myanmar (Burmese pronunciation: [mjəmà]),[nb 1][8] officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and also known as Burma, is a sovereign state in Southeast Asia. Myanmar is bordered by India and Bangladesh to its west, Thailand and Laos to its east and China to its north and northeast. To its south, about one third of Myanmar's total perimeter of 5,876 km (3,651 mi) forms an uninterrupted coastline of 1,930 km (1,200 mi) along the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. The country's 2014 census counted the population to be 51 million people.[9] As of 2017, the population is about 54 million.[10] Myanmar is 676,578 square kilometers (261,228 square miles) in size. Its capital city is Naypyidaw, and its largest city and former capital is Yangon (Rangoon).[1] Myanmar has been a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) since 1997.
Early civilisations in Myanmar included the Tibeto-Burman-speaking Pyu city-states in Upper Burma and the Mon kingdoms in Lower Burma.[11] In the 9th century, the Bamar people entered the upper Irrawaddy valley and, following the establishment of the Pagan Kingdom in the 1050s, the Burmese language, culture and Theravada Buddhism slowly became dominant in the country. The Pagan Kingdom fell due to the Mongol invasions and several warring states emerged. In the 16th century, reunified by the Taungoo Dynasty, the country was for a brief period the largest empire in the history of Mainland Southeast Asia.[12] The early 19th century Konbaung Dynasty ruled over an area that included modern Myanmar and briefly controlled Manipur and Assam as well. The British took over the administration of Myanmar after three Anglo-Burmese Wars in the 19th century and the country became a British colony. Myanmar was granted independence in 1948, as a democratic nation. Following a coup d'état in 1962, it became a military dictatorship.
For most of its independent years, the country has been engrossed in rampant ethnic strife and its myriad ethnic groups have been involved in one of the world's longest-running ongoing civil wars. During this time, the United Nations and several other organisations have reported consistent and systematic human rights violations in the country.[13] In 2011, the military junta was officially dissolved following a 2010 general election, and a nominally civilian government was installed. This, along with the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and political prisoners, has improved the country's human rights record and foreign relations, and has led to the easing of trade and other economic sanctions.[14] There is, however, continuing criticism of the government's treatment of ethnic minorities, its response to the ethnic insurgency, and religious clashes.[15] In the landmark 2015 election, Aung San Suu Kyi's party won a majority in both houses. However, the Burmese military remains a powerful force in politics.
Myanmar is a country rich in jade and gems, oil, natural gas and other mineral resources. In 2013, its GDP (nominal) stood at US$56.7 billion and its GDP (PPP) at US$221.5 billion.[6] The income gap in Myanmar is among the widest in the world, as a large proportion of the economy is controlled by supporters of the former military government.[16] As of 2016, Myanmar ranks 145 out of 188 countries in human development, according to the Human Development Index.[7]
Etymology
Main article: Names of Myanmar
In 1989, the military government officially changed the English translations of many names dating back to Burma's colonial period or earlier, including that of the country itself: "Burma" became "Myanmar". The renaming remains a contested issue.[17] Many political and ethnic opposition groups and countries continue to use "Burma" because they do not recognise the legitimacy of the ruling military government or its authority to rename the country.[18]
In April 2016, soon after taking office, Aung San Suu Kyi clarified that foreigners are free to use either name, "because there is nothing in the constitution of our country that says that you must use any term in particular".[19]
The country's official full name is the "Republic of the Union of Myanmar" (ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်, Pyidaunzu Thanmăda Myăma Nainngandaw, pronounced [pjìdàʊɴzṵ θàɴməda̰ mjəmà nàɪɴŋàɴdɔ̀]). Countries that do not officially recognise that name use the long form "Union of Burma" instead.[20]
In English, the country is popularly known as either "Burma" or "Myanmar" /ˈmjɑːnˌmɑːr/ (About this sound listen).[8] Both these names are derived from the name of the majority Burmese Bamar ethnic group. Myanmar is considered to be the literary form of the name of the group, while Burma is derived from "Bamar", the colloquial form of the group's name.[17] Depending on the register used, the pronunciation would be Bama (pronounced [bəmà]) or Myamah (pronounced [mjəmà]).[17] The name Burma has been in use in English since the 18th century.
Burma continues to be used in English by the governments of many countries, such as Canada and the United Kingdom.[21][22] Official United States policy retains Burma as the country's name, although the State Department's website lists the country as "Burma (Myanmar)" and Barack Obama has referred to the country by both names.[23] The Czech Republic officially uses Myanmar, although its Ministry of Foreign Affairs mentions both Myanmar and Burma on its website.[24] The United Nations uses Myanmar, as do the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Australia,[25] Russia, Germany,[26] China, India, Bangladesh, Norway,[27] Japan[21] and Switzerland.[28]
Most English-speaking international news media refer to the country by the name Myanmar, including the BBC,[29] CNN,[30] Al Jazeera,[31] Reuters,[32] RT (Russia Today) and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)/Radio Australia.[33]
Myanmar is known with a name deriving from Burma as opposed to Myanmar in Spanish, Italian, Romanian, and Greek – Birmania being the local version of Burma in the Spanish language, for example. Myanmar used to be known as "Birmânia" in Portuguese, and as "Birmanie" in French.[34] As in the past, French-language media today consistently use Birmanie.,[35][36]
History
Main article: History of Myanmar
Prehistory
Main articles: Prehistory of Myanmar and Migration period of ancient Burma
Pyu city-states c. 8th century; Pagan is shown for comparison only and is not contemporary.
Archaeological evidence shows that Homo erectus lived in the region now known as Myanmar as early as 750,000 years ago, with no more erectus finds after 75,000 years ago.[37] The first evidence of Homo sapiens is dated to about 11,000 BC, in a Stone Age culture called the Anyathian with discoveries of stone tools in central Myanmar. Evidence of neolithic age domestication of plants and animals and the use of polished stone tools dating to sometime between 10,000 and 6,000 BC has been discovered in the form of cave paintings in Padah-Lin Caves.[38]
The Bronze Age arrived circa 1500 BC when people in the region were turning copper into bronze, growing rice and domesticating poultry and pigs; they were among the first people in the world to do so.[39] Human remains and artefacts from this era were discovered in Monywa District in the Sagaing Division.[40] The Iron Age began around 500 BC with the emergence of iron-working settlements in an area south of present-day Mandalay.[41] Evidence also shows the presence of rice-growing settlements of large villages and small towns that traded with their surroundings as far as China between 500 BC and 200 AD.[42] Iron Age Burmese cultures also had influences from outside sources such as India and Thailand, as seen in their funerary practices concerning child burials. This indicates some form of communication between groups in Myanmar and other places, possibly through trade.[43]
Early city-states
Main articles: Pyu city-states and Mon kingdoms
Around the second century BC the first-known city-states emerged in central Myanmar. The city-states were founded as part of the southward migration by the Tibeto-Burman-speaking Pyu city-states, the earliest inhabitants of Myanmar of whom records are extant, from present-day Yunnan.[44] The Pyu culture was heavily influenced by trade with India, importing Buddhism as well as other cultural, architectural and political concepts, which would have an enduring influence on later Burmese culture and political organisation.[45]
By the 9th century, several city-states had sprouted across the land: the Pyu in the central dry zone, Mon along the southern coastline and Arakanese along the western littoral. The balance was upset when the Pyu came under repeated attacks from Nanzhao between the 750s and the 830s. In the mid-to-late 9th century the Bamar people founded a small settlement at Bagan. It was one of several competing city-states until the late 10th century when it grew in authority and grandeur.[46]
Imperial Burma
Main articles: Pagan Kingdom, Taungoo Dynasty, and Konbaung Dynasty
See also: Ava Kingdom, Hanthawaddy Kingdom, Kingdom of Mrauk U, and Shan States
Pagodas and kyaungs in present-day Bagan, the capital of the Pagan Kingdom.
Pagan gradually grew to absorb its surrounding states until the 1050s–1060s when Anawrahta founded the Pagan Kingdom, the first ever unification of the Irrawaddy valley and its periphery. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Pagan Empire and the Khmer Empire were two main powers in mainland Southeast Asia.[47] The Burmese language and culture gradually became dominant in the upper Irrawaddy valley, eclipsing the Pyu, Mon and Pali norms by the late 12th century.[48]
Theravada Buddhism slowly began to spread to the village level, although Tantric, Mahayana, Hinduism, and folk religion remained heavily entrenched. Pagan's rulers and wealthy built over 10,000 Buddhist temples in the Pagan capital zone alone. Repeated Mongol invasions (1277–1301) toppled the four-century-old kingdom in 1287.[48]
Temples at Mrauk U.
Pagan's collapse was followed by 250 years of political fragmentation that lasted well into the 16th century. Like the Burmans four centuries earlier, Shan migrants who arrived with the Mongol invasions stayed behind. Several competing Shan States came to dominate the entire northwestern to eastern arc surrounding the Irrawaddy valley. The valley too was beset with petty states until the late 14th century when two sizeable powers, Ava Kingdom and Hanthawaddy Kingdom, emerged. In the west, a politically fragmented Arakan was under competing influences of its stronger neighbours until the Kingdom of Mrauk U unified the Arakan coastline for the first time in 1437.
Early on, Ava fought wars of unification (1385–1424) but could never quite reassemble the lost empire. Having held off Ava, Hanthawaddy entered its golden age, and Arakan went on to become a power in its own right for the next 350 years. In contrast, constant warfare left Ava greatly weakened, and it slowly disintegrated from 1481 onward. In 1527, the Confederation of Shan States conquered Ava itself, and ruled Upper Myanmar until 1555.
Like the Pagan Empire, Ava, Hanthawaddy and the Shan states were all multi-ethnic polities. Despite the wars, cultural synchronisation continued. This period is considered a golden age for Burmese culture. Burmese literature "grew more confident, popular, and stylistically diverse", and the second generation of Burmese law codes as well as the earliest pan-Burma chronicles emerged.[49] Hanthawaddy monarchs introduced religious reforms that later spread to the rest of the country.[50] Many splendid temples of Mrauk U were built during this period.
Taungoo and colonialism
Bayinnaung's Empire in 1580.
Political unification returned in the mid-16th century, due to the efforts of Taungoo, a former vassal state of Ava. Taungoo's young, ambitious king Tabinshwehti defeated the more powerful Hanthawaddy in the Toungoo–Hanthawaddy War (1534–41). His successor Bayinnaung went on to conquer a vast swath of mainland Southeast Asia including the Shan states, Lan Na, Manipur, Mong Mao, the Ayutthaya Kingdom, Lan Xang and southern Arakan. However, the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia unravelled soon after Bayinnaung's death in 1581, completely collapsing by 1599. Ayutthaya seized Tenasserim and Lan Na, and Portuguese mercenaries established Portuguese rule at Thanlyin (Syriam).
The dynasty regrouped and defeated the Portuguese in 1613 and Siam in 1614. It restored a smaller, more manageable kingdom, encompassing Lower Myanmar, Upper Myanmar, Shan states, Lan Na and upper Tenasserim. The Restored Toungoo kings created a legal and political framework whose basic features would continue well into the 19th century. The crown completely replaced the hereditary chieftainships with appointed governorships in the entire Irrawaddy valley, and greatly reduced the hereditary rights of Shan chiefs. Its trade and secular administrative reforms built a prosperous economy for more than 80 years. From the 1720s onward, the kingdom was beset with repeated Meithei raids into Upper Myanmar and a nagging rebellion in Lan Na. In 1740, the Mon of Lower Myanmar founded the Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom. Hanthawaddy forces sacked Ava in 1752, ending the 266-year-old Toungoo Dynasty.
A British 1825 lithograph of Shwedagon Pagoda shows British occupation during the First Anglo-Burmese War.
After the fall of Ava, the Konbaung–Hanthawaddy War involved one resistance group under Alaungpaya defeating the Restored Hanthawaddy, and by 1759, he had reunited all of Myanmar and Manipur, and driven out the French and the British, who had provided arms to Hanthawaddy. By 1770, Alaungpaya's heirs had subdued much of Laos (1765) and fought and won the Burmese–Siamese War (1765–67) against Ayutthaya and the Sino-Burmese War (1765–69) against Qing China (1765–1769).[51]
With Burma preoccupied by the Chinese threat, Ayutthaya recovered its territories by 1770, and went on to capture Lan Na by 1776. Burma and Siam went to war until 1855, but all resulted in a stalemate, exchanging Tenasserim (to Burma) and Lan Na (to Ayutthaya). Faced with a powerful China and a resurgent Ayutthaya in the east, King Bodawpaya turned west, acquiring Arakan (1785), Manipur (1814) and Assam (1817). It was the second-largest empire in Burmese history but also one with a long ill-defined border with British India.[52]
The breadth of this empire was short lived. Burma lost Arakan, Manipur, Assam and Tenasserim to the British in the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824–1826). In 1852, the British easily seized Lower Burma in the Second Anglo-Burmese War. King Mindon Min tried to modernise the kingdom, and in 1875 narrowly avoided annexation by ceding the Karenni States. The British, alarmed by the consolidation of French Indochina, annexed the remainder of the country in the Third Anglo-Burmese War in 1885.
Konbaung kings extended Restored Toungoo's administrative reforms, and achieved unprecedented levels of internal control and external expansion. For the first time in history, the Burmese language and culture came to predominate the entire Irrawaddy valley. The evolution and growth of Burmese literature and theatre continued, aided by an extremely high adult male literacy rate for the era (half of all males and 5% of females).[53] Nonetheless, the extent and pace of reforms were uneven and ultimately proved insufficient to stem the advance of British colonialism.
British Burma (1824–1948)
Main articles: British rule in Burma and Burma Campaign
Burma in British India
The landing of British forces in Mandalay after the last of the Anglo-Burmese Wars, which resulted in the abdication of the last Burmese monarch, King Thibaw Min.
British troops firing a mortar on the Mawchi road, July 1944.
The eighteenth century saw Burmese rulers, whose country had not previously been of particular interest to European traders, seek to maintain their traditional influence in the western areas of Assam, Manipur and Arakan. Pressing them, however, was the British East India Company, which was expanding its interests eastwards over the same territory. Over the next sixty years, diplomacy, raids, treaties and compromises continued until, after three Anglo-Burmese Wars (1824–1885), Britain proclaimed control over most of Burma.[54] British rule brought social, economic, cultural and administrative changes.
With the fall of Mandalay, all of Burma came under British rule, being annexed on 1 January 1886. Throughout the colonial era, many Indians arrived as soldiers, civil servants, construction workers and traders and, along with the Anglo-Burmese community, dominated commercial and civil life in Burma. Rangoon became the capital of British Burma and an important port between Calcutta and Singapore.
Burmese resentment was strong and was vented in violent riots that paralysed Yangon (Rangoon) on occasion all the way until the 1930s.[55] Some of the discontent was caused by a disrespect for Burmese culture and traditions such as the British refusal to remove shoes when they entered pagodas. Buddhist monks became the vanguards of the independence movement. U Wisara, an activist monk, died in prison after a 166-day hunger strike to protest against a rule that forbade him to wear his Buddhist robes while imprisoned.[56]
Separation of British Burma from British India
On 1 April 1937, Burma became a separately administered colony of Great Britain and Ba Maw the first Prime Minister and Premier of Burma. Ba Maw was an outspoken advocate for Burmese self-rule and he opposed the participation of Great Britain, and by extension Burma, in World War II. He resigned from the Legislative Assembly and was arrested for sedition. In 1940, before Japan formally entered the Second World War, Aung San formed the Burma Independence Army in Japan.
A major battleground, Burma was devastated during World War II. By March 1942, within months after they entered the war, Japanese troops had advanced on Rangoon and the British administration had collapsed. A Burmese Executive Administration headed by Ba Maw was established by the Japanese in August 1942. Wingate's British Chindits were formed into long-range penetration groups trained to operate deep behind Japanese lines.[57] A similar American unit, Merrill's Marauders, followed the Chindits into the Burmese jungle in 1943.[58] Beginning in late 1944, allied troops launched a series of offensives that led to the end of Japanese rule in July 1945. The battles were intense with much of Burma laid waste by the fighting. Overall, the Japanese lost some 150,000 men in Burma. Only 1,700 prisoners were taken.[59]
Although many Burmese fought initially for the Japanese as part of the Burma Independence Army, many Burmese, mostly from the ethnic minorities, served in the British Burma Army.[60] The Burma National Army and the Arakan National Army fought with the Japanese from 1942 to 1944 but switched allegiance to the Allied side in 1945. Under Japanese occupation, 170,000 to 250,000 civilians died.[61]
Following World War II, Aung San negotiated the Panglong Agreement with ethnic leaders that guaranteed the independence of Myanmar as a unified state. Aung Zan Wai, Pe Khin, Bo Hmu Aung, Sir Maung Gyi, Dr. Sein Mya Maung, Myoma U Than Kywe were among the negotiators of the historical Panglong Conference negotiated with Bamar leader General Aung San and other ethnic leaders in 1947. In 1947, Aung San became Deputy Chairman of the Executive Council of Myanmar, a transitional government. But in July 1947, political rivals[62] assassinated Aung San and several cabinet members.[63]
Independence (1948–1962)
Main article: Post-independence Burma, 1948–62
British governor Hubert Elvin Rance and Sao Shwe Thaik at the flag raising ceremony on 4 January 1948 (Independence Day of Burma).
On 4 January 1948, the nation became an independent republic, named the Union of Burma, with Sao Shwe Thaik as its first President and U Nu as its first Prime Minister. Unlike most other former British colonies and overseas territories, Burma did not become a member of the Commonwealth. A bicameral parliament was formed, consisting of a Chamber of Deputies and a Chamber of Nationalities,[64] and multi-party elections were held in 1951–1952, 1956 and 1960.
The geographical area Burma encompasses today can be traced to the Panglong Agreement, which combined Burma Proper, which consisted of Lower Burma and Upper Burma, and the Frontier Areas, which had been administered separately by the British.[65]
In 1961, U Thant, then the Union of Burma's Permanent Representative to the United Nations and former Secretary to the Prime Minister, was elected Secretary-General of the United Nations, a position he held for ten years.[66] Among the Burmese to work at the UN when he was Secretary-General was a young Aung San Suu Kyi (daughter of Aung San), who went on to become winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize.
When the non-Burman ethnic groups pushed for autonomy or federalism, alongside having a weak civilian government at the centre, the military leadership staged a coup d’état in 1962. Though incorporated in the 1947 Constitution, successive military governments construed the use of the term ‘federalism’ as being anti-national, anti-unity and pro-disintegration.[67]
Military rule (1962–2011)
On 2 March 1962, the military led by General Ne Win took control of Burma through a coup d'état, and the government has been under direct or indirect control by the military since then. Between 1962 and 1974, Myanmar was ruled by a revolutionary council headed by the general. Almost all aspects of society (business, media, production) were nationalised or brought under government control under the Burmese Way to Socialism,[68] which combined Soviet-style nationalisation and central planning.
A new constitution of the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma was adopted in 1974. Until 1988, the country was ruled as a one-party system, with the General and other military officers resigning and ruling through the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP).[69] During this period, Myanmar became one of the world's most impoverished countries.[70]
Protesters gathering in central Rangoon, 1988.
There were sporadic protests against military rule during the Ne Win years and these were almost always violently suppressed. On 7 July 1962, the government broke up demonstrations at Rangoon University, killing 15 students.[68] In 1974, the military violently suppressed anti-government protests at the funeral of U Thant. Student protests in 1975, 1976, and 1977 were quickly suppressed by overwhelming force.[69]
In 1988, unrest over economic mismanagement and political oppression by the government led to widespread pro-democracy demonstrations throughout the country known as the 8888 Uprising. Security forces killed thousands of demonstrators, and General Saw Maung staged a coup d'état and formed the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). In 1989, SLORC declared martial law after widespread protests. The military government finalised plans for People's Assembly elections on 31 May 1989.[71] SLORC changed the country's official English name from the "Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma" to the "Union of Myanmar" in 1989.
In May 1990, the government held free elections for the first time in almost 30 years and the National League for Democracy (NLD), the party of Aung San Suu Kyi, won 392 out of a total 492 seats (i.e., 80% of the seats). However, the military junta refused to cede power[72] and continued to rule the nation as SLORC until 1997, and then as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) until its dissolution in March 2011.
Protesters in Yangon during the 2007 Saffron Revolution with a banner that reads non-violence: national movement in Burmese. In the background is Shwedagon Pagoda.
On 23 June 1997, Myanmar was admitted into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). On 27 March 2006, the military junta, which had moved the national capital from Yangon to a site near Pyinmana in November 2005, officially named the new capital Naypyidaw, meaning "city of the kings".[73]
Cyclone Nargis in southern Myanmar, May 2008.
In August 2007, an increase in the price of diesel and petrol led to the Saffron Revolution led by Buddhist monks that were dealt with harshly by the government.[74] The government cracked down on them on 26 September 2007. The crackdown was harsh, with reports of barricades at the Shwedagon Pagoda and monks killed. There were also rumours of disagreement within the Burmese armed forces, but none was confirmed. The military crackdown against unarmed protesters was widely condemned as part of the international reactions to the Saffron Revolution and led to an increase in economic sanctions against the Burmese Government.
In May 2008, Cyclone Nargis caused extensive damage in the densely populated, rice-farming delta of the Irrawaddy Division.[75] It was the worst natural disaster in Burmese history with reports of an estimated 200,000 people dead or missing, damage totalled to 10 billion US dollars, and as many as 1 million left homeless.[76] In the critical days following this disaster, Myanmar's isolationist government was accused of hindering United Nations recovery efforts.[77] Humanitarian aid was requested but concerns about foreign military or intelligence presence in the country delayed the entry of United States military planes delivering medicine, food, and other supplies.[78]
In early August 2009, a conflict known as the Kokang incident broke out in Shan State in northern Myanmar. For several weeks, junta troops fought against ethnic minorities including the Han Chinese,[79] Wa, and Kachin.[80][81] During 8–12 August, the first days of the conflict, as many as 10,000 Burmese civilians fled to Yunnan province in neighbouring China.[80][81][82]
Civil wars
Main articles: Internal conflict in Myanmar, Kachin Conflict, Karen conflict, and 2015 Kokang offensive
Civil wars have been a constant feature of Myanmar's socio-political landscape since the attainment of independence in 1948. These wars are predominantly struggles for ethnic and sub-national autonomy, with the areas surrounding the ethnically Bamar central districts of the country serving as the primary geographical setting of conflict. Foreign journalists and visitors require a special travel permit to visit the areas in which Myanmar's civil wars continue.[83]
In October 2012, the ongoing conflicts in Myanmar included the Kachin conflict,[84] between the Pro-Christian Kachin Independence Army and the government;[85] a civil war between the Rohingya Muslims, and the government and non-government groups in Rakhine State;[86] and a conflict between the Shan,[87] Lahu, and Karen[88][89] minority groups, and the government in the eastern half of the country. In addition, al-Qaeda signalled an intention to become involved in Myanmar. In a video released on 3 September 2014, mainly addressed to India, the militant group's leader Ayman al-Zawahiri said al-Qaeda had not forgotten the Muslims of Myanmar and that the group was doing "what they can to rescue you".[90] In response, the military raised its level of alertness, while the Burmese Muslim Association issued a statement saying Muslims would not tolerate any threat to their motherland.[91]
Armed conflict between ethnic Chinese rebels and the Myanmar Armed Forces have resulted in the Kokang offensive in February 2015. The conflict had forced 40,000 to 50,000 civilians to flee their homes and seek shelter on the Chinese side of the border.[92] During the incident, the government of China was accused of giving military assistance to the ethnic Chinese rebels. Burmese officials have been historically "manipulated" and pressured by the Chinese government throughout Burmese modern history to create closer and binding ties with China, creating a Chinese satellite state in Southeast Asia.[93] However, uncertainties exist as clashes between Burmese troops and local insurgent groups continue.
Democratic reforms
Main article: 2011–12 Burmese political reforms
The goal of the Burmese constitutional referendum of 2008, held on 10 May 2008, is the creation of a "discipline-flourishing democracy". As part of the referendum process, the name of the country was changed from the "Union of Myanmar" to the "Republic of the Union of Myanmar", and general elections were held under the new constitution in 2010. Observer accounts of the 2010 election describe the event as mostly peaceful; however, allegations of polling station irregularities were raised, and the United Nations (UN) and a number of Western countries condemned the elections as fraudulent.[94]
U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with Aung San Suu Kyi and her staff at her home in Yangon, 2012
The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party declared victory in the 2010 elections, stating that it had been favoured by 80 percent of the votes; however, the claim was disputed by numerous pro-democracy opposition groups who asserted that the military regime had engaged in rampant fraud.[95][96] One report documented 77 percent as the official turnout rate of the election.[95] The military junta was dissolved on 30 March 2011.
Opinions differ whether the transition to liberal democracy is underway. According to some reports, the military's presence continues as the label "disciplined democracy" suggests. This label asserts that the Burmese military is allowing certain civil liberties while clandestinely institutionalising itself further into Burmese politics. Such an assertion assumes that reforms only occurred when the military was able to safeguard its own interests through the transition—here, "transition" does not refer to a transition to a liberal democracy, but transition to a quasi-military rule.[97]
Since the 2010 election, the government has embarked on a series of reforms to direct the country towards liberal democracy, a mixed economy, and reconciliation, although doubts persist about the motives that underpin such reforms. The series of reforms includes the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, the establishment of the National Human Rights Commission, the granting of general amnesties for more than 200 political prisoners, new labour laws that permit labour unions and strikes, a relaxation of press censorship, and the regulation of currency practices.[98]
The impact of the post-election reforms has been observed in numerous areas, including ASEAN's approval of Myanmar's bid for the position of ASEAN chair in 2014;[99] the visit by United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in December 2011 for the encouragement of further progress, which was the first visit by a Secretary of State in more than fifty years,[100] during which Clinton met with the Burmese president and former military commander Thein Sein, as well as opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi;[101] and the participation of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party in the 2012 by-elections, facilitated by the government's abolition of the laws that previously barred the NLD.[102] As of July 2013, about 100[103][104] political prisoners remain imprisoned, while conflict between the Burmese Army and local insurgent groups continues.
Map of Myanmar and its divisions, including Shan State, Kachin State, Rakhine State and Karen State.
In 1 April 2012 by-elections, the NLD won 43 of the 45 available seats; previously an illegal organisation, the NLD had not won a single seat under new constitution. The 2012 by-elections were also the first time that international representatives were allowed to monitor the voting process in Myanmar.[105]
2015 general elections
Main article: Myanmar general election, 2015
General elections were held on 8 November 2015. These were the first openly contested elections held in Myanmar since 1990. The results gave the National League for Democracy an absolute majority of seats in both chambers of the national parliament, enough to ensure that its candidate would become president, while NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi is constitutionally barred from the presidency.[106]
The new parliament convened on 1 February 2016[107] and, on 15 March 2016, Htin Kyaw was elected as the first non-military president since the military coup of 1962.[108] On 6 April 2016, Aung San Suu Kyi assumed the newly created role of State Counsellor, a role akin to a Prime Minister.
Geography
Main article: Geography of Myanmar
A map of Myanmar
Myanmar map of Köppen climate classification.
Myanmar has a total area of 678,500 square kilometres (262,000 sq mi). It lies between latitudes 9° and 29°N, and longitudes 92° and 102°E. As of February 2011, Myanmar consisted of 14 states and regions, 67 districts, 330 townships, 64 sub-townships, 377 towns, 2,914 Wards, 14,220 village tracts and 68,290 villages.
Myanmar is bordered in the northwest by the Chittagong Division of Bangladesh and the Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh states of India. Its north and northeast border is with the Tibet Autonomous Region and Yunnan province for a Sino-Myanmar border total of 2,185 km (1,358 mi). It is bounded by Laos and Thailand to the southeast. Myanmar has 1,930 km (1,200 mi) of contiguous coastline along the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea to the southwest and the south, which forms one quarter of its total perimeter.[20]
In the north, the Hengduan Mountains form the border with China. Hkakabo Razi, located in Kachin State, at an elevation of 5,881 metres (19,295 ft), is the highest point in Myanmar.[109] Many mountain ranges, such as the Rakhine Yoma, the Bago Yoma, the Shan Hills and the Tenasserim Hills exist within Myanmar, all of which run north-to-south from the Himalayas.[110]
The mountain chains divide Myanmar's three river systems, which are the Irrawaddy, Salween (Thanlwin), and the Sittaung rivers.[111] The Irrawaddy River, Myanmar's longest river, nearly 2,170 kilometres (1,348 mi) long, flows into the Gulf of Martaban. Fertile plains exist in the valleys between the mountain chains.[110] The majority of Myanmar's population lives in the Irrawaddy valley, which is situated between the Rakhine Yoma and the Shan Plateau.
Administrative divisions
Main article: Administrative divisions of Myanmar
A clickable map of Burma/Myanmar exhibiting its first-level administrative divisions.
About this image
Myanmar is divided into seven states (ပြည်နယ်) and seven regions (တိုင်းဒေသကြီး), formerly called divisions.[112] Regions are predominantly Bamar (that is, mainly inhabited by the dominant ethnic group). States, in essence, are regions that are home to particular ethnic minorities. The administrative divisions are further subdivided into districts, which are further subdivided into townships, wards, and villages.
Climate
Main article: Climate of Myanmar
The limestone landscape of Mon State.
Much of the country lies between the Tropic of Cancer and the Equator. It lies in the monsoon region of Asia, with its coastal regions receiving over 5,000 mm (196.9 in) of rain annually. Annual rainfall in the delta region is approximately 2,500 mm (98.4 in), while average annual rainfall in the Dry Zone in central Myanmar is less than 1,000 mm (39.4 in). The Northern regions of Myanmar are the coolest, with average temperatures of 21 °C (70 °F). Coastal and delta regions have an average maximum temperature of 32 °C (89.6 °F).[111]
Environment
Further information: Deforestation in Myanmar
Myanmar continues to perform badly in the global Environmental Performance Index (EPI) with an overall ranking of 153 out of 180 countries in 2016; among the worst in the South Asian region, only ahead of Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The EPI was established in 2001 by the World Economic Forum as a global gauge to measure how well individual countries perform in implementing the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. The environmental areas where Myanmar performs worst (ie. highest ranking) are air quality (174), health impacts of environmental issues (143) and biodiversity and habitat (142). Myanmar performs best (ie. lowest ranking) in environmental impacts of fisheries (21), but with declining fish stocks. Despite several issues, Myanmar also ranks 64 and scores very good (ie. a high percentage of 93.73%) in environmental effects of the agricultural industry because of an excellent management of the nitrogen cycle.[114][115]
Wildlife
Myanmar's slow economic growth has contributed to the preservation of much of its environment and ecosystems. Forests, including dense tropical growth and valuable teak in lower Myanmar, cover over 49% of the country, including areas of acacia, bamboo, ironwood and Magnolia champaca. Coconut and betel palm and rubber have been introduced. In the highlands of the north, oak, pine and various rhododendrons cover much of the land.[116]
Heavy logging since the new 1995 forestry law went into effect has seriously reduced forest acreage and wildlife habitat.[117] The lands along the coast support all varieties of tropical fruits and once had large areas of mangroves although much of the protective mangroves have disappeared. In much of central Myanmar (the Dry Zone), vegetation is sparse and stunted.
Typical jungle animals, particularly tigers, occur sparsely in Myanmar. In upper Myanmar, there are rhinoceros, wild water buffalo, clouded leopard, wild boars, deer, antelope, and elephants, which are also tamed or bred in captivity for use as work animals, particularly in the lumber industry. Smaller mammals are also numerous, ranging from gibbons and monkeys to flying foxes. The abundance of birds is notable with over 800 species, including parrots, myna, peafowl, red junglefowl, weaverbirds, crows, herons, and barn owl. Among reptile species there are crocodiles, geckos, cobras, Burmese pythons, and turtles. Hundreds of species of freshwater fish are wide-ranging, plentiful and are very important food sources.[118] For a list of protected areas, see List of protected areas of Myanmar.
Government and politics
Main article: Politics of Myanmar
Assembly of the Union (Pyidaungsu Hluttaw)
The constitution of Myanmar, its third since independence, was drafted by its military rulers and published in September 2008. The country is governed as a parliamentary system with a bicameral legislature (with an executive President accountable to the legislature), with 25% of the legislators appointed by the military and the rest elected in general elections.
The white rhino is a major conservation success story, having been brought back from the very brink of extinction. But the current surge in poaching for their horns, particularly in South Africa, has seen record numbers killed in recent years. Urgent efforts are now underway to stop the poaching and end the illegal trade.
White rhinos are the second largest land mammal after the elephant. Adult males can reach 1.85m in height and tip the scales at a massive 3.6 tonnes. Females are considerably smaller but can still weigh in at an impressive 1.7 tonnes.
White rhinos are also known as the square-lipped rhinoceros due to their square (not pointed) upper lip. Their name comes from the Afrikaans word “weit”, which means wide and refers to the animal’s muzzle.
Compared to black rhinos, white rhinos have a longer skull, a less sharply defined forehead and a more pronounced shoulder hump. They have almost no hair and two horns. The front horn averages 60 cm, but occasionally reaches 150 cm in length.
White rhinos have complex social structures. Groups of sometimes 14 rhinos may form, notably females with calves. Adult males defend territories of roughly 1-3km2, which they mark with vigorously scraped dung piles. The home range for adult females can be more than seven times larger, depending on habitat quality and population density.
Breeding females are prevented from leaving a dominant male’s territory, which is marked and patrolled by its owner on a regular basis. Males competing for a female may engage in serious conflict, using their horns and massive size to inflict wounds.
Females reach sexual maturity at 4-5 years of age but do not reproduce until they reach 6 -7 years. Males tend not to mate until they are 10-12 years old. They can live up to 40 years.
Mating occurs throughout the year, although peaks have been observed from October to December in South Africa and from February to June in East Africa. The gestation period is approximately 16 months with a period of 2-3 years between calves.
White rhinos are the only grazer among the five rhino species, feeding almost exclusively on short grasses. They primarily inhabit grassy savanna and woodlands interspersed with grassy clearings.
The ainmals tend to avoid the heat during the day, when they rest in the shade. They are usually active in the early morning, late afternoon and evening. During very hot periods, the cool and rid themselves of external parasites by bathing in mud in shallow pools.
Not sure what this structure is that it needs so much external bracing. It's part of the old industrial area in Mile End, which is good hunting grounds for me.
A visit to Coughton Court in Warwickshire, on the Spring Bank Holiday Weekend in late May 2018. A National Trust property, it was the home of the Throckmorton family.
Coughton Court is an English Tudor country house, situated on the main road between Studley and Alcester in Warwickshire. It is a Grade I listed building.
The house has a long crenelated façade directly facing the main road, at the centre of which is the Tudor Gatehouse, dating from 1530; this has hexagonal turrets and oriel windows in the English Renaissance style. The gatehouse is the oldest part of the house and is flanked by later wings, in the Strawberry Hill Gothic style, popularised by Horace Walpole.
The Coughton estate has been owned by the Throckmorton family since 1409. The estate was acquired through marriage to the De Spinney family. Coughton was rebuilt by Sir George Throckmorton, the first son of Sir Robert Throckmorton of Coughton Court by Catherine Marrow, daughter of William Marrow of London. The great gatehouse at Coughton was dedicated to King Henry VIII by Throckmorton, a favorite of the King. Throckmorton would become notorious due to his almost fatal involvement in the divorce between King Henry and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Throckmorton favoured the queen and was against the Reformation. Throckmorton spent most of his life rebuilding Coughton. In 1549, when he was planning the windows in the great hall, he asked his son Nicholas to obtain from the heralds the correct tricking (colour abbreviations) of the arms of his ancestors' wives and his own cousin and niece by marriage Queen Catherine Parr. The costly recusancy (refusal to attend Anglican Church services) of Robert Throckmorton and his heirs restricted later rebuilding, so that much of the house still stands largely as he left it.
After Throckmorton's death in 1552, Coughton passed to his eldest son, Robert. Robert Throckmorton and his family were practicing Catholics therefore the house at one time contained a priest hole, a hiding place for priests during the period when Catholics were persecuted by law in England, from the beginning of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The Hall also holds a place in English history for its roles in both the Throckmorton Plot of 1583 to murder Queen Elizabeth I of England, and the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, although the Throckmorton family were themselves only indirectly implicated in the latter, when some of the Gunpowder conspirators rode directly there after its discovery.
The house has been in the ownership of the National Trust since 1946. The family, however, hold a 300-year lease and previously managed the property on behalf of the Trust. In 2007, however, the house reverted to management by the National Trust. The management of the property is renewed every 10 years. The family tenant until recently was Clare McLaren-Throckmorton, known professionally as Clare Tritton QC, until she died on 31 October 2017.
The house, which is open to the public all year round, is set in extensive grounds including a walled formal garden, a river and a lake.
The gatehouse at Coughton was built at the earliest in 1536, as it is built of stones which came from Bordesley Abbey and Evesham Abbey after the Dissolution of the Monasteries Act in 1536. As with other Tudor houses, it was built around a courtyard, with the gatehouse used for deliveries and coaches to travel through to the courtyard. The courtyard was closed on all four sides until 1651, when Parliamentary soldiers burnt the fourth (east) wing, along with many of the Throckmorton's family papers, during the English Civil War.
After the Roman Catholic Relief Act was passed in 1829, the Throckmorton family were able to afford large-scale building works, allowing them to remodel the west front.
Grade I Listed Building
Listing Text
COUGHTON
SP06SE
1/144 Coughton Court
10/02/56
GV I
Country house, Gatehouse late C15, and after 1518; early and late C16; late C17
additions; west front remodelled 1780; additions and remodelling of 1835(VCH).
Limestone ashlar gatehouse. Timber framed with lath and plaster infill; brick;
imitation stone render. Tile and lead roofs; brick stacks, U-plan, formerly
courtyard. 2 and 3 storeys; 13-window range. Entrance (west) front symmetrical.
3 storey central gatehouse range has moulded plinth and double string course.
Square ground floor with corner turrets. C19 Gothic panelled part-glazed
double-leaf doors in 4-centred moulded arch with square head, hood mould and
carved spandrels. Stone mullioned and transomed windows with arched lights
throughout. Upper floors of different coloured stone. 2-storey canted oriel with
flanking lights and glazed octagonal turrets; 2 transoms on first floor, one on
second. Shield of arms on each floor. Turrets continued up another floor'; left
turret unglazed. Remainder 2 storeys only. Single 5-light window with transom
and hood mould. Clasping buttresses with quatrefoil panels projecting above
roof. Crenellated parapets with string course throughout. Remainder of front of '
scored imitation ashlar with stucco hood moulds. Ground floor has leaded 2-light
casements, 3 slightly recessed bays have Gothick sashes and moulded surrounds on
first floor. Projecting end bays with clasping buttresses. First floor: leaded
cross windows. String course above first floor. Attic with quatrefoil panels,
some part glazed. String course and crenellated parapet. Right return side of
thin bricks. Two C17 shaped gables with stone coping. Left gable between 2
external brick stacks; right gable has ball finials. 5-window range, mostly C17
stone cross windows. Narrow gabled wing set back. High single-storey range with
early C20 window, and plaster eaves cove. East front of gatehouse has unglazed
turrets and inscription over entrance. Irregular ranges to courtyard. Timber
framed with brick ground floor. Corresponding small 4-centred door. Irregular
fenestration with moulded stone mullioned windows ground floor, wood mullions
and casements above; some with transoms. 2 storey south range has close studding
with middle rail. Left section breaks forward and has 4 framed gables with
brackets. Entrance in recessed bay below third gable has 4-centred moulded
doorway with square head, hood mould and carved spandrels. Paired 6-panelled
doors with Gothick overlight. Right section has 2 large gables, and another
behind and above in roof, with decorative panel framing. Elaborately carved
scrolled bargeboards with finials and openwork pendants. End wall has gable.
Ground floor has 2 stone cross windows with arched lights. Blocked arches above
and in centre. 2-storey and attic north range. Close studding. 3 large framed
gables and smaller end gable all with casements and brackets. Ground floor has
four 3-light mullioned and transomed windows. First floor projects on plaster
cove. Blank gabled end wall. Left return side: range of c.1690. Scored render
with quoins. 3 projecting bays with hipped roofs. 4-centred doorway. Slightly
projecting first floor. Irregular fenestration with wood mullioned and transomed
windows. Interior: Entrance Hall with plaster fan vault. Late C18 open well
cantilevered staircase with moulded soffit and simple handrail; Gothick
plasterwork cornice. Drawing Room has simple early Cl6 stone fireplace. Windows
with C16,C17 and C19 armorial glass. Gothick plasterwork cornice. 6-panelled
doors. Little Drawing Room has C18 style carved wooden fireplace. Newel
staircase to roof. Tower Room has moulded 4-centred fireplace with carved
spandrels and projecting top. Two 4-centred doorways. North east turret has 2
hiding places. Dining Room and Tribune have fine C16 panelling possibly with
later work, turned balusters, grotesques and medallions with heads. Fine marble
chimneypiece with paired Ionic and Corinthian columns, cartouche and coat of
arms, Saloon, formed 1910, has arcaded panelled screen c.1660 (VCH) to Tribune.
C16 double-flight staircase from Harvington hall with heavy turned balusters and
square newel posts with finials. Study has fine C17 panelling with pilasters.
Ground floor with broad-chamfered ceiling beams. North range has part of a fine
C16 panelled timber cieling with moulded ribs and carved bosses. Dog-leg
staircase with C17 turned balusters. The Throckmortons were Catholics, and were
deeply involved in the Throckmorton plot of 1583. In 1605 the wives of the
Gunpowder Plotters awaited news at Coughton. In 1688 the east wing was destroyed
by a Protestant mob, and was finally cleared away in 1780.
(V.C.H.: Warwickshire, Vol.III, pp.75-78; Buldings of England: Warwickshire,
pp.245-6; Coughton Court; The National Trust 1984).
Listing NGR: SP0831160624
This text is from the original listing, and may not necessarily reflect the current setting of the building.
View of the house from within the house.
The North Wing from The South Wing. Couldn't go into The North Wing as it was private.
The furniture design in this space gives students the freedom to gather for an informal lunch whilst accessing their laptops. This type of meeting helps with peer-to-peer learning, personal reflection and feelings of wellbeing. The furniture has been deliberately chosen to support the encouragement of students to 'learn by conversation, not isolation'.
Cape Maeda, Okinawa Japan
Canon G7X Mark II
Recsea CW housing
Inon Z-330 external strobe x2
Inon UWL-H100 28M67 w/Dome
Signs of the intensity of the fire inside HST Power Car 43029 after it went on fire in Kilsby Tunnel following a fractured fuel pump spraying high pressure fuel onto the very hot exhaust.
Looking in better external nick than perhaps would be expected for a locomotive that's spent 17 years in open storage, DB Cargo's EWS-liveried Class 90, 90032 - stored in February 2004 - stands in the row of demic electrics alongside the Chester line at Crewe ETD.
One of my external hard drives - loads of photos saved here!!
Flickr Lounge - Saturday Theme (Week 26) ~ Bang In The Middle ....
Thanks to everyone who views this photo, adds a note, leaves a comment and of course BIG thanks to anyone who chooses to favourite my photo .... thanks to you all.
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
When Marcel Dassault started work on jet-powered fighters after WWII, the development evolved in gradual steps instead of quantum leaps, leading to a long line of aircraft. The Mystère IV was an evolutionary development of the Mystère II aircraft. Although bearing an external resemblance to the earlier aircraft, the Mystère IV was in fact a new design with aerodynamic improvements for supersonic flight. The prototype first flew on 28 September 1952, and the aircraft entered service in April 1953. The first 50 Mystere IVA production aircraft were powered by British Rolls-Royce Tay turbojets, while the remainder had the French-built Hispano-Suiza Verdon 350 version of that engine.
France was the main operator of the Mystère IV. In April 1953 the United States government and the United States Air Force placed an order for 223 aircraft to be operated by the French, and at the peak usage the Armée de l‘air operated 6 squadrons. Most of the aircraft were purchased under a United States Offshore Procurement contract and many were returned to US custody after they were retired. The Mystère IVs were used in the 1956 Suez Crisis and continued to remain in French service into the 1980s, even though they were quickly relegated into second line duties as more capable types like the Super Mystère SM2B or the Mirage III entered service.
Other international operators included Israel (using about sixty Mystère IVs in large-scale combat during the 1967 Six Day War), India (104 aircraft procured in 1957 and extensively used in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965) and Ecuador.
The Fuerza Aérea Ecuatoriana (FAE, Ecuadorian Air Force) was officially created on October 27, 1920. However, like in many other countries, military flying activity already started before the formal date of birth of the Air Force. By 1939 the Ecuadorian Air Force was still limited to about 30 aircraft, though, and a staff of about 60, including 10 officers. Military aviation did not start in earnest until the early forties when an Ecuadorian mission to the United States resulted in the delivery of an assortment of aircraft for the Aviation school at Salinas: three Ryan PT-22 Recruits, six Curtiss-Wright CW-22 Falcons, six Fairchild PT-19A Cornells and three North American AT-6A Harvards arrived in March 1942, considerably boosting the capacity of the Escuela de Aviación at Salinas.
The 1950s and 1960s saw a further necessary buildup of the air force, gaining more units and aircraft, while efforts were made in enhancing the facilities at various airbases. In May 1961 the "First Air Zone" with its subordinate unit Ala de Transportes No.11 was founded. The "Second Air Zone" controlled the units in the southern half of Ecuador, Ala de Combate No.21 at Taura, Ala de Rescate No.22 at Guayaquil and Ala de Combate No.23 at Manta as well as the Escuela Superior Militar de Aviación "Cosme Rennella B." (ESMA) at Salinas.
It was at this time that the FAE was looking for a capable (yet affordable) jet fighter that would replace the vintage F-47 “Thunderbolt” piston engine fighters of American origin that had been operated since 1947 as well as the ageing fleet of Gloster Meteor jet fighters. After consulting various options, including the British Hawker Hunter and the American F-86 Sabre, Ecuador settled upon the French Mystère IV. A total of 32 aircraft were ordered in 1958 and delivered until early 1963 in two tranches, subsequently outfitting two combat squadrons.
The Ecuadorian aircraft resembled the early French Mystère IV standard and were powered by the British Rolls-Royce Tay 250. However, they differed in small details and incorporated some updates, leading to the individual designation Mystère IVE (for Ecuador). This included a modified instrumentation and a British Martin Baker ejection seat in the cockpit. On the outside, a fairing for a brake parachute at the fin’s base was the most obvious change, and there were small oval boundary layer fences on the wings’ leading edges that improved the aircraft’s handling. The front landing gear was slightly different, too, now outfitted with a mudguard.
To improve the aircraft’s capabilities in air-to-air combat, an American AN/APG-30 range-finding radar was fitted, mounted to the center of the air intake (under a slightly enlarged radome) and linked with the gyroscopic gunsight in the cockpit. It was effective at a range of up to 2.750 m, but only covered a narrow cone directly in front of the aircraft. Initially the aircraft were operated as pure fighters/interceptors, but soon they also took over ground attack and CAS missions with iron bombs and unguided missiles, even though the Mystère IV’s ordnance capacity was rather limited. But the aircraft had a good handling at low altitude and were a stable weapon platform, so that the pilots operated them with confidence.
In the early Seventies, Ecuador had plans to upgrade its Mystères with Pratt & Whitney J48-P-5 engines, a license-built version of the Rolls-Royce Tay from the USA and outfitted with an afterburner. With reheat the J48 delivered 8,750 lbf (38.9 kN) of thrust, but continuous dry thrust was only 6,350 lbf (28.2 kN), markedly less than the old Tay engine. The high fuel consumption with operating afterburner would have markedly limited the aircraft’s range, and this engine switch would have necessitated major modifications to the aircrafts’ tail section, so that the upgrade eventually did not come to fruition due the lack of funds and the rather limited and only temporary improvement in performance.
Nevertheless, in course of their career in Ecuador, the Mystères’ still underwent some modifications and modernizations. In the early Seventies an MLU program was carried out: the retractable pannier for unguided missiles was deleted in favor of an extra fuel tank and upgraded navigational and weapon avionics. The latter included wirings for IR-guided AIM-9B Sidewinder AAMs on the outer underwing pylons, what greatly improved the aircraft’s air-to-air capabilities. The original DEFA 552 guns were replaced with more modern DEFA 553s, which had a new feed system, a nitro-chrome plated steel barrel (which was longer than the 552’s and now protruded visibly from the openings), a forged drum casing, and improved electrical reliability. During this upgrade phase the machines also lost their original natural metal livery and they received a less conspicuous tactical NATO-style grey/green paint scheme with metallic-grey undersides.
In this form the Ecuadorean Mystère IVEs soldiered on well into the Eighties, with a very good reliability record. During their active career they even saw “hot” action on several occasions, for instance in a continuous border dispute with Peru, the so-called Paquisha War. This brief military clash over the control of three watch posts flared up in January 1981 and the Mystères became involved. The first incident was a dogfight with an A-37B of the Fuerza Aérea del Peru (FAP), launched from Guayaquil to intercept it – with no casualities, though. Several similar interception incidents happened until early February 1981, and the FAE Mystères also flew several CAS missions to repel the Peruvian Jungle Infantry and to support Ecuadorian ground forces. Despite their age, the aircrafts’ ruggedness and simplicity proved them to be reliable, and its high roll rate and good handling at low altitude made it a versatile platform that was still competitive, even though its rather sluggish acceleration turned out to be a serious weak spot, esp. in the country’s typical mountainous terrain. Its relatively low range with internal fuel only was another operational problem.
The Mystère IVEs were finally retired in 1988 and replaced by Mirage F.1C fighters from France and IAI Kfir C.7 fighter bombers from Israel.
General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 12.89 m (42 ft 3 in)
Wingspan: 11.12 m (36 ft 6 in)
Height: 4.6 m (15 ft 1 in)
Wing area: 32.06 m² (345.1 sq ft)
Empty weight: 5,860 kg (12,919 lb)
Gross weight: 8,510 kg (18,761 lb)
Max takeoff weight: 9,500 kg (20,944 lb)
Powerplant:
1× Rolls-Royce Tay 250 centrifugal-flow turbojet engine with 34.32 kN (7,720 lbf) thrust
Performance:
Maximum speed: 1,110 km/h (690 mph, 600 kn) at sea level
Range: 915 km (569 mi, 494 nmi) with internal fuel only
2,280 km (1,420 mi; 1,230 nmi) with drop tanks
Service ceiling: 15,000 m (49,000 ft)
Rate of climb: 40 m/s (7,900 ft/min)
Armament:
2× 30 mm (1.18 in) DEFA 553 cannon with 150 rounds per gun
1,000 kg (2,200 lb) of payload on four underwing hardpoints, incl. bombs, rockets or drop tanks
The kit and its assembly:
A very simple project, and basically just an OOB kit in the colors of a fictional operator. The whole thing was inspired by the question: what could have been a predecessor of the Ecuadorean Mirage F.1s? Not an existential question that might pop up frequently, but I quickly decided that the Mystère IV would have been a good/plausible contender. I found this idea even more attractive when I considered a camouflage paint scheme for it, because you only get either French or Indian machines in a uniform NMF outfit or IDF Mystères in desert camouflage (either in brown/blue or the later sand/earth/green scheme).
The kit is the venerable Matchbox Mystère IVA, even though in its Revell re-boxing. It’s a very simple affair, with partly crude details like the landing gear or the dreaded “trenches” for engraved surface details, esp. on the wings. But it goes together quite well, and with some corrections and additions you get a decent model.
The kit was basically built OOB, I just added underwings pylons with some ordnance for a fighter bomber mission: a pair of drop tanks and two SNEB missile launcher pods (tanks leftover from a Sword F-94, IIRC, and the pods from a Matchbox G.91Y). A complete tub with a floor and with side consoles (origin is uncertain, though – maybe it came from an Xtrakit Supermarin Swift?) was fitted to the cockpit and the primitive OOB ejection seat was replaced with something more convincing, pimped with seatbelts (masking tape) and ejection trigger handles (thin wire).
The flaps were lowered for a more natural look, and I added small oval boundary layer fences from a BAe Hawk as a personal twist. The clumsy front wheel, originally molded onto the strut as a single piece, was replaced with something better. The main landing gear covers were replaced with thinner styrene sheet material (the OOB parts are VERY thick) and pieces from hollow steel needles were implanted into the respective fairings as gun barrels.
A thinner pitot, created from heated sprue material, was used instead of the rather massive OOB part. The ranging radar fairing in the intake was slightly enlarged with the help of white glue. And, finally, a piece of sprue was implanted into the fin’s base as a brake parachute fairing, reminiscent of the Polish Lim-6/7, license-produced MiG-17s.
Painting and markings:
Actually quite conservative, with a typical Seventies paint scheme in dark grey/dark green. I even considered a more exotic three-tone scheme but found that – together with the colorful national markings – this would look too busy. Since there is no reference for a Mystère IV in such a guise, I simply adapted the standard pattern from a Royal Air Force Supermarine Swift. For a different look than the standard RAF colors – after all, the fictional Ecuadorean Mystère IVs were painted with domestic material. I used Humbrol 75 (Bronze Green) and ModelMaster 2057 (FS 36173, USAF Neutral Grey) for a good contrast between the upper tones, with Humbrol 56 (Alu Dope) underneath.
The tail section received a burned metal look, using Revell 91 (Iron) and some graphite. The cockpit interior was painted in a very dark grey (Revell 09, Anthracite) while the landing gear became silver-grey and the wells zinc-chromate primer (Humbrol 81). For some contrast, the drop tanks became shiny aluminum (Revell 99).
The kit received a light black ink washing, primarily for the recessed panel lines, and a subtle panel post-shading – for a less uniform surface than for true weathering, I’d imagine that the aircraft would be looked after well. However, some gun soot stains around the weapon ports were added with graphite, too.
The Ecuadorean roundels and unit markings came from an Xtradecal Strikemaster sheet, the tactical codes from a Croco Decal sheet for various South-American trainers. The flag on the rudder was, due to its sweep, painted, and most stencils were taken from the Mystère’s OOB sheet or procured from an Ecuadorian Mirage V on a Carpena sheet.
Finally, the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish, the ordnance was added and the position lights on the wing tips were created with silver and clear paint on top of that.
Well, this was not a spectacular conversion build, rather an OOB travesty with some cosmetic changes. However, the rather classic grey/green camouflage suits the tubby aircraft well and the bright national insignia really stand out on it – a pretty combo. The whole package as fictional Mystère IVE looks surprisingly convincing!
On the evening of 29/12/15, we decided that 3238 could do with a final run out for 2015, so what better than posing the vehicle with some festive lights around the London/Kent border. This is Blackbrook Lane in Bickley. The next few months will see us attending to some outstanding mechanical jobs, and improving the external appearance with the application of Dennis/Plaxton badges and Pointer logos. We also have more typical number plates to fit. We don't think the M&D logo on the front of the vehicle is centred correctly, so we also intend having that rectified. Finally after a good clean, the vehicle will hopefully return to the rally scene at the South East Bus Festival at Detling in early April, followed by the Cobham Bus Rally at Brooklands later that month.
A visit to Caernarfon Castle in North Wales. It was here in 1911 and 1969 that the Prince of Wales was inaugurated (Prince Edward later Edward VIII and the current Prince of Wales, Prince Charles).
Caernarfon Castle (Welsh: Castell Caernarfon), often anglicized as Carnarvon Castle, is a medieval fortress in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, north-west Wales cared for by Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic environment service. There was a motte-and-bailey castle in the town of Caernarfon from the late 11th century until 1283 when King Edward I of England began replacing it with the current stone structure. The Edwardian town and castle acted as the administrative centre of north Wales and as a result the defences were built on a grand scale. There was a deliberate link with Caernarfon's Roman past and the Roman fort of Segontium is nearby.
While the castle was under construction, town walls were built around Caernarfon. The work cost between £20,000 and £25,000 from the start until the end of work in 1330. Despite Caernarfon Castle's external appearance of being mostly complete, the interior buildings no longer survive and many of the building plans were never finished. The town and castle were sacked in 1294 when Madog ap Llywelyn led a rebellion against the English. Caernarfon was recaptured the following year. During the Glyndŵr Rising of 1400–1415, the castle was besieged. When the Tudor dynasty ascended to the English throne in 1485, tensions between the Welsh and English began to diminish and castles were considered less important. As a result, Caernarfon Castle was allowed to fall into a state of disrepair. Despite its dilapidated condition, during the English Civil War Caernarfon Castle was held by Royalists, and was besieged three times by Parliamentarian forces. This was the last time the castle was used in war. Caernarfon Castle was neglected until the 19th century when the state funded repairs. In 1911, Caernarfon Castle was used for the investiture of the Prince of Wales, and again in 1969. It is part of the World Heritage Site "Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd".
A Grade I listed building.
History
Begun in 1283 and still incomplete when building work ceased c1330. Built for Edward I of England, it combined the roles of fortification, palace and administrative centre. A motte and bailey castle had been built here in the late C11 by Earl Hugh of Chester, although it became a residence of Welsh princes, including Llewelyn ap Gruffudd, after the Welsh regained control of Gwynedd by 1115. The English conquest of N Wales followed quickly after the death of Llewelyn ap Gruffudd in 1282 and Caernarfon was built to consolidate the English gains. Edward I employed James of St George as his architect, who had previously been employed by Philip of Savoy and had designed for him the fortress-palace of St Georges d'Esperanche. James also directed the building other castles for Edward I, including Harlech, Conwy and Beaumaris, using English craftsmen and labourers. The design of Caernarfon Castle echoed the walls of Emperor Constantine's Roman city of Constantinople, which also has polygonal towers and banded stonework, and was thus intended by Edward to be an expression of imperial power. Edward I and Queen Eleanor visited Caernarfon in 1284 and it was said that their son, Edward, the first English prince of Wales, was born at the castle in 1284.
Construction of the castle was integrated with the construction of town walls protecting the newly established borough, the town being situated on the N side of the castle. By 1292 the southern external façade of the castle was probably complete, while on the N side the castle was protected by a ditch and the walled town. The castle was damaged during an uprising in 1294 led by Madog ap Llewelyn, but Edward I swiftly regained control of Caernarfon and the castle, where restoration work began in 1295. The uprising had demonstrated the need to complete the castle's defences on the town side, which were largely built in the period 1295-1301. Work subsequently continued at a slower pace in the period 1304-30 and included the completion of the towers, including the Eagle Tower which was completed 1316-17 and in 1316 the timber-framed 'Hall of Llewelyn', the Welsh prince's residence at Conwy, was dismantled and shipped to Caernarfon. The upper portion of the King's Gate was constructed in 1321 and included a statue of Edward of Caernarfon, who had been crowned Edward II in 1307.
The castle was garrisoned for nearly 2 centuries but was increasingly neglected as hostilities softened from the C16 onwards. The castle was garrisoned for Charles I during the Civil War but was surrendered to the Parliamentarians in 1646. In the C18 the castle became one of the most celebrated of ruins in Wales, which began its present phase as tourist attraction and ancient monument. Restoration was undertaken in the final quarter of the C19 under the direction of Sir Llewelyn Turner, Deputy Constable. In 1908 ownership passed from the Crown to the Office of Works and restoration work continued. This included the reinstatement of floors in most of the towers and reinstatement of the embattled wall walks by 1911. The castle was the venue for the investiture of both C20 Princes of Wales, in 1911 and 1969.
Exterior
Constructed of coursed limestone with darker stone banding to the S and E external façades between the Eagle Tower and NE Tower. The plan is polygonal, resembling a figure of 8, and constructed around an upper and a lower ward in the form of curtain walls and mainly 3-stage polygonal towers with basements (in contrast to the round towers of the town walls). The structure is in 2 main phases. The earlier is the S side, from and including the Eagle Tower to the NE Tower, was constructed mainly in the period 1283-1292, while the N side facing the walled town was built after the uprising of 1294. The curtain walls are embattled with loops to the merlons and a wall walk. Openings are characterised by the frequent use of shouldered lintels, giving rise to the alternative term 'Caernarfon lintel', and 2-centred arches. The towers have reinstated floors of c1911 on original corbels. The outer walls have arrow loops. Windows are mainly narrow single-light, but some of the mullioned windows incorporate transoms.
The principal entrance is the 3-storey King's Gate on the N side. It is reached across the ditch by a modern segmental-arched stone bridge with stone steps to the outer side, replacing the medieval drawbridge. The King's Gate has polygonal towers with 2-light windows to the outer facets in the middle stage and 2-light windows in the upper stage. The entrance is recessed behind a segmental moulded arch. It has a 2-centred arch beneath string courses and 2-light transomed window. Above the main arch is a statue of Edward II in a canopied niche with flanking attached pinnacles.
To the R is the outer wall of the kitchens and then the Well Tower, of 3 stages with basement. The Well Tower has a higher polygonal turret reinstated in the late C19 and full-height square projection on the W side housing the well shaft. The tower has 2-light windows in the middle and upper stages.
The Eagle Tower at the W end is the largest of the towers, having been designed to accommodate the king's lieutenant. It has 3 stages with basement and 3 higher polygonal turrets. The battlements are enriched by carved heads and eagles, although much weathered. On the N side are 2-light windows and an attached stub wall with drawbridge slot. This is the planned water gate through which water-borne supplies were intended to be conveyed to the basement of the Well Tower at high tide, but it was not completed. It has polygonal responds to the gate, a portcullis slot and 2 superimposed windows between the basement and ground-floor levels. On the N side is a flight of stone steps to an arched doorway at basement level. This postern was the main entrance for those approaching by sea. On the S side the curtain wall is built on exposed bedrock and the Queen's Tower, Chamberlain Tower and the Black Tower each have a single higher polygonal turret. The outer faces have only narrow loops. On the W side of the Chamberlain Tower are stone steps to a doorway under a shouldered lintel that led into the great hall. On the E side of the Black Tower is the shorter polygonal Cistern Tower, with the unfinished Queen's Gate at the SE end. Between the Chamberlain Tower and Black Tower the curtain wall is stepped in, from which point there is a substantial raked stone plinth continuing around to the NE Tower. The Queen's Gate has double polygonal towers linked by a straight wall above the gateway, while the openings are all narrow loops. The gateway is raised above a high basement storey (and would have been reached by the building of a massive stone ramp) and is recessed beneath a segmental arch with murder holes. The Watch Tower to the N is narrower and higher than the remaining towers, beyond which is the 2-stage NE Tower, which has a 2-light window. Returning along the N side, which was built after 1295, the curtain wall and the 4-stage Granary Tower incorporate 2-light windows.
The King's Gate has murder holes to the vault and porters' rooms to the L and R, leading to the interior. Internally the castle is planned around an upper ward on the E side and a lower ward on the W side. Through the entrance passage is a 2-storey projection on the R (now housing a shop), the S side of which retains 2 portcullis slots and a vault springer, indicating that a second entrance was built here, although it no longer survives above the foundations. Above the main gate is a former chapel, which retains its original piscina. The upper storey hall has window seats. On the W side of the King's Gate are the foundations of the kitchens in the lower ward, in which are 2 round foundations for copper cauldrons and springer of a former vault. The Well Tower does not have reinstated floors, but in each storey a fireplace and garderobe are retained and in the second stage is a small kitchen above the well chamber. The fireplaces all differ in detail: in the basement is a segmental arch, the lower storey a tripartite lintel, the second stage a projecting lintel on corbels with raked hood, and chamfered lintel to the upper stage. The tower has a full-height newel stair. The basement is reached by external stone steps. Between the Well Tower and Eagle Tower is a restored fireplace with a raked hood in a chamber whose outline walls are visible.
The Eagle Tower has stone steps to the basement to the L of the main doorway, both lower stage and basement having pointed doorways. The upper stages have 2-light windows similar to the outer faces. The thick walls incorporate mural passages and stairs. In the lower stage is a large fireplace with raked hood and a small octagonal chamber that probably served as a chapel. The great chamber in the second stage also has an octagonal chapel, which retains a stoup or piscina. Between the Eagle Tower and the NE Tower the curtain wall and towers have mural passages in addition to the wall walk and generally have stone steps in either straight flights to the wall walks or newel stairs, and most chambers in the towers have associated garderobes. The Queen's Tower, known as the 'Banner Tower' in the C14, and the Chamberlain Tower have chambers in each storey with small square subsidiary chambers that probably served as chapels, and 2-light windows. The Queen's Tower has 3 octagonal chimney shafts behind the parapet. In the Chamberlain Tower the lower storey retains a fireplace with shouldered lintel. Both towers are occupied by the museum of the Royal Welch Fusiliers. Between Queen's Tower and Chamberlain Tower are the foundations of the great hall, while the 2 superimposed mural passages in the curtain wall have 2-light windows that formerly opened into the hall.
The Black Tower is smaller than the other towers and has only single chambers in each stage, with cambered fireplace in the upper chamber, and 2-light windows. The Cistern Tower has a vaulted hexagonal chamber beneath an open stone-lined rainwater tank visible on the wall walk. In the unfinished Queen's Gate the position of porters' rooms is discernible in the flanking towers of which the S has a lintelled fireplace while both have garderobes. Portcullis slots and murder holes are in the passage. The upper storey over the passage was to have been a hall but was not completed. The Watch Tower is entered by a doorway at the wall walk level only.
The NE Tower is simpler with single chambers in each stage, as is the Granary Tower, which incorporates a well shaft and has a fireplace with raked hood in the upper stage. Between the NE Tower and the King's Gate the curtain wall has corbels representing former buildings built against the curtain, and its mullioned windows incorporate window seats.
Reasons for Listing
Listed grade I as one of the finest medieval castles in Wales, and unique in its royal associations.
Scheduled Ancient Monument CN 079.
World Heritage Site.
The walk over the walls via the towers. Leaving the Eagle Tower, heading via the Well Tower, around and over the King's Gate, up the Granary Tower, then down the North-East Tower.
Well Tower
Has a well 50 feet (15m) deep and remains of medieval plumbing. The castle's kitchens lie between the Well Tower and the King's Gate.
footbridge seen after going up a spiral staircase.
Singapore (Listeni/ˈsɪŋɡəpɔːr/), officially the Republic of Singapore, and often referred to as the Lion City, the Garden City, and the Red Dot, is a global city and sovereign state in Southeast Asia and the world's only island city-state. It lies one degree (137 km) north of the equator, at the southernmost tip of continental Asia and peninsular Malaysia, with Indonesia's Riau Islands to the south. Singapore's territory consists of the diamond-shaped main island and 62 islets. Since independence, extensive land reclamation has increased its total size by 23% (130 km2), and its greening policy has covered the densely populated island with tropical flora, parks and gardens.
The islands were settled from the second century AD by a series of local empires. In 1819, Sir Stamford Raffles founded modern Singapore as a trading post of the East India Company; after the company collapsed, the islands were ceded to Britain and became part of its Straits Settlements in 1826. During World War II, Singapore was occupied by Japan. It gained independence from Britain in 1963, by uniting with other former British territories to form Malaysia, but was expelled two years later over ideological differences. After early years of turbulence, and despite lacking natural resources and a hinterland, the nation developed rapidly as an Asian Tiger economy, based on external trade and its human capital.
Singapore is a global commerce, finance and transport hub. Its standings include: "easiest place to do business" (World Bank) for ten consecutive years, most "technology-ready" nation (WEF), top International-meetings city (UIA), city with "best investment potential" (BERI), 2nd-most competitive country (WEF), 3rd-largest foreign exchange centre, 3rd-largest financial centre, 3rd-largest oil refining and trading centre and one of the top two busiest container ports since the 1990s. Singapore's best known global brands include Singapore Airlines and Changi Airport, both amongst the most-awarded in their industry; SIA is also rated by Fortune surveys as Asia's "most admired company". For the past decade, it has been the only Asian country with the top AAA sovereign rating from all major credit rating agencies, including S&P, Moody's and Fitch.
Singapore ranks high on its national social policies, leading Asia and 11th globally, on the Human Development Index (UN), notably on key measures of education, healthcare, life expectancy, quality of life, personal safety, housing. Although income inequality is high, 90% of citizens own their homes, and the country has one of the highest per capita incomes, with low taxes. The cosmopolitan nation is home to 5.5 million residents, 38% of whom are permanent residents and other foreign nationals. Singaporeans are mostly bilingual in a mother-tongue language and English as their common language. Its cultural diversity is reflected in its extensive ethnic "hawker" cuisine and major festivals - Chinese, Malay, Indian, Western - which are all national holidays. In 2015, Lonely Planet and The New York Times listed Singapore as their top and 6th best world destination to visit respectively.
The nation's core principles are meritocracy, multiculturalism and secularism. It is noted for its effective, pragmatic and incorrupt governance and civil service, which together with its rapid development policies, is widely cited as the "Singapore model". Gallup polls shows 84% of its residents expressed confidence in the national government, and 85% in its judicial systems - one of the highest ratings recorded. Singapore has significant influence on global affairs relative to its size, leading some analysts to classify it as a middle power. It is ranked as Asia's most influential city and 4th in the world by Forbes.
Singapore is a unitary, multiparty, parliamentary republic, with a Westminster system of unicameral parliamentary government. The People's Action Party has won every election since self-government in 1959. One of the five founding members of the ASEAN, Singapore is also the host of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Secretariat, and a member of the East Asia Summit, Non-Aligned Movement, and the Commonwealth of Nations.
ETYMOLOGY
The English name of Singapore is derived from the Malay word, Singapura, which was in turn derived from Sanskrit (Singa is "lion", Pura "city"; Sanskrit: सिंहपुर, IAST: Siṃhápura), hence the customary reference to the nation as the Lion City, and its inclusion in many of the nation's symbols (e.g., its coat of arms, Merlion emblem). However, it is unlikely that lions ever lived on the island; Sang Nila Utama, who founded and named the island Singapura, most likely saw a Malayan tiger. It is also known as Pulau Ujong, as far back as the 3rd century, literally 'island at the end' (of the Malay Peninsula) in Malay.
Since the 1970s, Singapore has also been widely known as the Garden City, owing to its extensive greening policy covering the whole island, a priority of its first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, dubbed the nation's "Chief Gardener". The nation's conservation and greening efforts contributed to Singapore Botanic Gardens being the only tropical garden to be inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The nickname, Red Dot, is a reference to its size on the map, contrasting with its achievements. In 2015, Singapore's Golden Jubilee year, the celebratory "SG50" branding is depicted inside a red dot.
HISTORY
Temasek ('Sea Town' in the Malay language), an outpost of the Sumatran Srivijaya empire, is the earliest written record relating to the area now called Singapore. In the 13th century, the Kingdom of Singapura was established on the island and it became a trading port city. However, there were two major foreign invasions before it was destroyed by the Majapahit in 1398. In 1613, Portuguese raiders burned down the settlement, which by then was nominally part of the Johor Sultanate and the island sank into obscurity for the next two centuries, while the wider maritime region and much trade was under Dutch control.
BRITISH COLONISATION 1819-1942
In 1819, Thomas Stamford Raffles arrived and signed a treaty with Sultan Hussein Shah of Johor, on behalf of the British East India Company, to develop the southern part of Singapore as a British trading post. In 1824, the entire island, as well as the Temenggong, became a British possession after a further treaty with the Sultan. In 1826, Singapore became part of the Straits Settlements, under the jurisdiction of British India, becoming the regional capital in 1836.
Prior to Raffles' arrival, there were only about a thousand people living on the island, mostly indigenous Malays along with a handful of Chinese. By 1860, the population had swelled to more than 80,000 and more than half were Chinese. Many immigrants came to work at rubber plantations and, after the 1870s, the island became a global centre for rubber exports.
After the First World War, the British built the large Singapore Naval Base. Lieutenant General Sir William George Shedden Dobbie was appointed General Officer Commanding of the Malaya Command on 8 November 1935, holding the post until 1939;
WORLD WAR II AND JAPANESE OCCUPATION 1942-45
in May 1938, the General Officer Commanding of the Malaya Command warned how Singapore could be conquered by the Japanese via an attack from northern Malaya, but his warnings went unheeded. The Imperial Japanese Army invaded British Malaya, culminating in the Battle of Singapore. When the British surrendered on 15 February 1942, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called the defeat "the worst disaster and largest capitulation in British history". Between 5,000 and 25,000 ethnic Chinese people were killed in the subsequent Sook Ching massacre.
From November 1944 to May 1945, the Allies conducted an intensive bombing of Singapore.
RETURN OF BRITISH 1945-59
After the surrender of Japan was announced in the Jewel Voice Broadcast by the Japanese Emperor on 15 August 1945 there was a breakdown of order and looting and revenge-killing were widespread. The formal Japanese Occupation of Singapore was only ended by Operation Tiderace and the formal surrender on 12 September 1945 at Singapore City Hall when Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander of Southeast Asia Command, accepted the capitulation of Japanese forces in Southeast Asia from General Itagaki Seishiro.
A British Military Administration was then formed to govern the island. On 1 April 1946, the Straits Settlements were dissolved and Singapore became a separate Crown Colony with a civil administration headed by a Governor. Much of the infrastructure had been destroyed during the war, including the harbour, electricity, telephone and water supply systems. There was also a shortage of food leading to malnutrition, disease, and rampant crime and violence. High food prices, unemployment, and workers' discontent culminated into a series of strikes in 1947 causing massive stoppages in public transport and other services. In July 1947, separate Executive and Legislative Councils were established and the election of six members of the Legislative Council was scheduled for the following year. By late 1947, the economy began to recover, facilitated by a growing demand for tin and rubber around the world, but it would take several more years before the economy returned to pre-war levels.
The failure of Britain to defend Singapore had destroyed its credibility as an infallible ruler in the eyes of Singaporeans. The decades after the war saw a political awakening amongst the local populace and the rise of anti-colonial and nationalist sentiments, epitomized by the slogan Merdeka, or "independence" in the Malay language.
During the 1950s, Chinese Communists with strong ties to the trade unions and Chinese schools carried out armed uprising against the government, leading to the Malayan Emergency and later, the Communist Insurgency War. The 1954 National Service Riots, Chinese middle schools riots, and Hock Lee bus riots in Singapore were all linked to these events.
David Marshall, pro-independence leader of the Labour Front, won Singapore's first general election in 1955. He led a delegation to London, but Britain rejected his demand for complete self-rule. He resigned and was replaced by Lim Yew Hock, whose policies convinced Britain to grant Singapore full internal self-government for all matters except defence and foreign affairs.
SELF-GOVERNMENT 1959-1963
During the May 1959 elections, the People's Action Party won a landslide victory. Singapore became an internally self-governing state within the Commonwealth, with Lee Kuan Yew as its first Prime Minister. Governor Sir William Allmond Codrington Goode served as the first Yang di-Pertuan Negara (Head of State), and was succeeded by Yusof bin Ishak, who became the first President of Singapore in 1965.
MERGER WITH MALAYSIA 1963-65
As a result of the 1962 Merger Referendum, on 31 August 1963 Singapore joined with the Federation of Malaya, the Crown Colony of Sarawak and the Crown Colony of North Borneo to form the new federation of Malaysia under the terms of the Malaysia Agreement. Singaporean leaders chose to join Malaysia primarily due to concerns over its limited land size, scarcity of water, markets and natural resources. Some Singaporean and Malaysian politicians were also concerned that the communists might form the government on the island, a possibility perceived as an external threat to the Federation of Malaya.However, shortly after the merger, the Singapore state government and the Malaysian central government disagreed on many political and economic issues, and communal strife culminated in the 1964 race riots in Singapore. After many heated ideological conflicts between the two governments, on 9 August 1965, the Malaysian Parliament voted 126 to 0 to expel Singapore from Malaysia with Singaporean delegates not present.
INDEPENDENCE 1965 TO PRESENT
Singapore gained independence as the Republic of Singapore (remaining within the Commonwealth of Nations) on 9 August 1965. Race riots broke out once more in 1969. In 1967, the country co-founded ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and in 1970 it joined the Non-Aligned Movement. Lee Kuan Yew became Prime Minister, leading its Third World economy to First World affluence in a single generation. His emphasis on rapid economic growth, support for business entrepreneurship, limitations on internal democracy, and close relationships with China set the new nation's policies for the next half-century.
In 1990, Goh Chok Tong succeeded Lee as Prime Minister, while the latter continued serving in the Cabinet as Senior Minister until 2004, and then Minister Mentor until May 2011. During Goh's tenure, the country faced the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the 2003 SARS outbreak and terrorist threats posed by Jemaah Islamiyah.
In 2004, Lee Hsien Loong, the eldest son of Lee Kuan Yew, became the country's third Prime Minister. Goh Chok Tong remained in Cabinet as the Senior Minister until May 2011, when he was named Emeritus Senior Minister despite his retirement. He steered the nation through the 2008 global financial crisis, resolved the disputed 79-year old Malayan railways land, and introduced integrated resorts. Despite the economy's exceptional growth, PAP suffered its worst election results in 2011, winning 60% of votes, amidst hot-button issues of high influx of foreign workers and cost of living. Lee initiated a major re-structuring of the economy to raise productivity, improved universal healthcare and grants, especially for the pioneer generation of citizens, amongst many new inclusive measures.
On 23 March 2015, its founding prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, who had 'personified Singapore to the world' for nearly half a century died. In a week of national mourning, 1.7 million residents and guests paid tribute to him at his lying-in-state at Parliament House and at community sites around the island.
Singapore celebrated its Golden jubilee in 2015 – its 50th year of independence, with a year-long series of events branded SG50. The PAP maintained its dominance in Parliament at the September general elections, receiving 69.9% of the popular vote, its second-highest polling result behind the 2001 tally of 75.3%.
GEOGRAPHY
Singapore consists of 63 islands, including the main island, Pulau Ujong. There are two man-made connections to Johor, Malaysia: the Johor–Singapore Causeway in the north and the Tuas Second Link in the west. Jurong Island, Pulau Tekong, Pulau Ubin and Sentosa are the largest of Singapore's smaller islands. The highest natural point is Bukit Timah Hill at 163.63 m. April and May are the hottest months, with the wetter monsoon season from November to January.
From July to October, there is often haze caused by bush fires in neighbouring Indonesia, usually from the island of Sumatra. Although Singapore does not observe daylight saving time (DST), it follows the GMT+8 time zone, one hour ahead of the typical zone for its geographical location.
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Singapore is a parliamentary republic with a Westminster system of unicameral parliamentary government representing constituencies. The country's constitution establishes a representative democracy as the political system. Executive power rests with the Cabinet of Singapore, led by the Prime Minister and, to a much lesser extent, the President. The President is elected through a popular vote, and has veto powers over a specific set of executive decisions, such as the use of the national reserves and the appointment of judges, but otherwise occupies a largely ceremonial post.
The Parliament serves as the legislative branch of the government. Members of Parliament (MPs) consist of elected, non-constituency and nominated members. Elected MPs are voted into the Parliament on a "first-past-the-post" (plurality) basis and represent either single-member or group representation constituencies. The People's Action Party has won control of Parliament with large majorities in every election since self-governance was secured in 1959.
Although the elections are clean, there is no independent electoral authority and the government has strong influence on the media. Freedom House ranks Singapore as "partly free" in its Freedom in the World report, and The Economist ranks Singapore as a "flawed democracy", the second best rank of four, in its "Democracy Index". Despite this, in the 2011 Parliamentary elections, the opposition, led by the Workers' Party, increased its representation to seven elected MPs. In the 2015 elections, PAP scored a landslide victory, winning 83 of 89 seats contested, with 70% of popular votes. Gallup polls reported 84% of residents in Singapore expressed confidence in the government, and 85% in its judicial systems and courts – one of the highest ratings in the world.
Singapore's governance model eschews populist politics, focusing on the nation's long-term interest, and is known to be clean, effective and pragmatic. As a small nation highly dependent on external trade, it is vulnerable to geo-politics and global economics. It places great emphasis on security and stability of the region in its foreign policies, and applies global best practices to ensure the nation's attractiveness as an investment destination and business hub.
The legal system of Singapore is based on English common law, but with substantial local differences. Trial by jury was abolished in 1970 so that judicial decisions would rest entirely in the hands of appointed judges. Singapore has penalties that include judicial corporal punishment in the form of caning, which may be imposed for such offences as rape, rioting, vandalism, and certain immigration offences.There is a mandatory death penalty for murder, as well as for certain aggravated drug-trafficking and firearms offences.
Amnesty International has said that some legal provisions of the Singapore system conflict with the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, and that Singapore has "... possibly the highest execution rate in the world relative to its population". The government has disputed Amnesty's claims. In a 2008 survey of international business executives, Singapore received the top ranking with regard to judicial system quality in Asia. Singapore has been consistently rated among the least corrupt countries in the world by Transparency International.
In 2011, the World Justice Project's Rule of Law Index ranked Singapore among the top countries surveyed with regard to "order and security", "absence of corruption", and "effective criminal justice". However, the country received a much lower ranking for "freedom of speech" and "freedom of assembly". All public gatherings of five or more people require police permits, and protests may legally be held only at the Speakers' Corner.
EDUCATION
Education for primary, secondary, and tertiary levels is mostly supported by the state. All institutions, private and public, must be registered with the Ministry of Education. English is the language of instruction in all public schools, and all subjects are taught and examined in English except for the "mother tongue" language paper. While the term "mother tongue" in general refers to the first language internationally, in Singapore's education system, it is used to refer to the second language, as English is the first language. Students who have been abroad for a while, or who struggle with their "Mother Tongue" language, are allowed to take a simpler syllabus or drop the subject.
Education takes place in three stages: primary, secondary, and pre-university education. Only the primary level is compulsory. Students begin with six years of primary school, which is made up of a four-year foundation course and a two-year orientation stage. The curriculum is focused on the development of English, the mother tongue, mathematics, and science. Secondary school lasts from four to five years, and is divided between Special, Express, Normal (Academic), and Normal (Technical) streams in each school, depending on a student's ability level. The basic coursework breakdown is the same as in the primary level, although classes are much more specialised. Pre-university education takes place over two to three years at senior schools, mostly called Junior Colleges.
Some schools have a degree of freedom in their curriculum and are known as autonomous schools. These exist from the secondary education level and up.
National examinations are standardised across all schools, with a test taken after each stage. After the first six years of education, students take the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE), which determines their placement at secondary school. At the end of the secondary stage, GCE "O"-Level exams are taken; at the end of the following pre-university stage, the GCE "A"-Level exams are taken. Of all non-student Singaporeans aged 15 and above, 18% have no education qualifications at all while 45% have the PSLE as their highest qualification; 15% have the GCE 'O' Level as their highest qualification and 14% have a degree.
Singaporean students consistently rank at or near the top of international education assessments:
- In 2015, Singapore topped the OECD's global school performance rankings, based on 15-year-old students' average scores in mathematics and science across 76 countries.
- Singaporean students were ranked first in the 2011 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, and have been ranked in the top three every year since 1995.
- Singapore fared best in the 2015 International Baccalaureate exams, taken in 107 countries, with more than half of the world's 81 perfect scorers and 98% passing rate.
The country's two main public universities - the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University - are ranked among the top 13 in the world.
HEALTH
Singapore has a generally efficient healthcare system, even though their health expenditures are relatively low for developed countries. The World Health Organisation ranks Singapore's healthcare system as 6th overall in the world in its World Health Report. In general, Singapore has had the lowest infant mortality rate in the world for the past two decades.
Life expectancy in Singapore is 80 for males and 85 for females, placing the country 4th in the world for life expectancy. Almost the whole population has access to improved water and sanitation facilities. There are fewer than 10 annual deaths from HIV per 100,000 people. There is a high level of immunisation. Adult obesity is below 10%
The government's healthcare system is based upon the "3M" framework. This has three components: Medifund, which provides a safety net for those not able to otherwise afford healthcare, Medisave, a compulsory health savings scheme covering about 85% of the population, and Medishield, a government-funded health insurance program. Public hospitals in Singapore have autonomy in their management decisions, and compete for patients. A subsidy scheme exists for those on low income. In 2008, 32% of healthcare was funded by the government. It accounts for approximately 3.5% of Singapore's GDP.
RELIGION
Buddhism is the most widely practised religion in Singapore, with 33% of the resident population declaring themselves adherents at the most recent census. The next-most practised religion is Christianity, followed by Islam, Taoism, and Hinduism. 17% of the population did not have a religious affiliation. The proportion of Christians, Taoists, and non-religious people increased between 2000 and 2010 by about 3% each, whilst the proportion of Buddhists decreased. Other faiths remained largely stable in their share of the population. An analysis by the Pew Research Center found Singapore to be the world's most religiously diverse nation.
There are monasteries and Dharma centres from all three major traditions of Buddhism in Singapore: Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. Most Buddhists in Singapore are Chinese and are of the Mahayana tradition, with missionaries having come into the country from Taiwan and China for several decades. However, Thailand's Theravada Buddhism has seen growing popularity among the populace (not only the Chinese) during the past decade. Soka Gakkai International, a Japanese Buddhist organisation, is practised by many people in Singapore, but mostly by those of Chinese descent. Tibetan Buddhism has also made slow inroads into the country in recent years.
CULTURE
Singapore has one of the lowest rates of drug use in the world. Culturally, the use of illicit drugs is viewed as highly undesirable by Singaporeans, unlike many European societies. Singaporeans' disapproval towards drug use has resulted in laws that impose the mandatory death sentence for certain serious drug trafficking offences. Singapore also has a low rate of alcohol consumption per capita and low levels of violent crime, and one of the lowest intentional homicide rate globally. The average alcohol consumption rate is only 2 litres annually per adult, one of the lowest in the world.
Foreigners make up 42% of the population, and have a strong influence on Singaporean culture. The Economist Intelligence Unit, in its 2013 "Where-to-be-born Index", ranks Singapore as having the best quality of life in Asia and sixth overall in the world.
LANGUAGES; RELIGIONS AND CULTURES
Singapore is a very diverse and young country. It has many languages, religions, and cultures for a country its size.
When Singapore became independent from the United Kingdom in 1963, most of the newly minted Singaporean citizens were uneducated labourers from Malaysia, China and India. Many of them were transient labourers who were seeking to make some money in Singapore and they had no intention of staying permanently. A sizeable minority of middle-class, local-born people, known as the Peranakans, also existed. With the exception of the Peranakans (descendants of late 15th and 16th-century Chinese immigrants) who pledged their loyalties to Singapore, most of the labourers' loyalties lay with their respective homelands of Malaysia, China and India. After independence, the process of crafting a Singaporean identity and culture began.
Former Prime Ministers of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong, have stated that Singapore does not fit the traditional description of a nation, calling it a society-in-transition, pointing out the fact that Singaporeans do not all speak the same language, share the same religion, or have the same customs. Even though English is the first language of the nation, according to the government's 2010 census 20% of Singaporeans, or one in five, are illiterate in English. This is a marked improvement from 1990 where 40% of Singaporeans were illiterate in English.
Languages, religions and cultures among Singaporeans are not delineated according to skin colour or ancestry, unlike many other countries. Among Chinese Singaporeans, one in five is Christian, another one in five is atheist, and the rest are mostly Buddhists or Taoists. One-third speak English as their home language, while half speak Mandarin Chinese. The rest speak other Chinese varieties at home. Most Malays in Singapore speak Malay as their home language with some speaking English. Singaporean Indians are much more religious. Only 1% of them are atheists. Six in ten are Hindu, two in ten Muslim, and the rest mostly Christian. Four in ten speak English as their home language, three in ten Tamil, one in ten Malay, and the rest other Indian languages as their home language.
Each Singaporean's behaviours and attitudes would therefore be influenced by, among many other things, his or her home language and his religion. Singaporeans who speak English as their native language tend to lean toward Western culture, while those who speak Chinese as their native language tend to lean toward Chinese culture and Confucianism. Malay speaking Singaporeans tend to lean toward the Malay culture, which itself is closely linked to the Islamic culture.
ATTITUDES AND BELIEFS
At the national level in Singapore, meritocracy, where one is judged based on one's ability, is heavily emphasised.
Racial and religious harmony is regarded by Singaporeans as a crucial part of Singapore's success, and played a part in building a Singaporean identity. Singapore has a reputation as a nanny state. The national flower of Singapore is the hybrid orchid, Vanda 'Miss Joaquim', named in memory of a Singapore-born Armenian woman, who crossbred the flower in her garden at Tanjong Pagar in 1893. Many national symbols such as the Coat of arms of Singapore and the Lion head symbol of Singapore make use of the lion, as Singapore is known as the Lion City. Other monikers by which Singapore is widely known is the Garden City and the Red Dot. Public holidays in Singapore cover major Chinese, Western, Malay and Indian festivals.
Singaporean employees work an average of around 45 hours weekly, relatively long compared to many other nations. Three in four Singaporean employees surveyed stated that they take pride in doing their work well, and that doing so helps their self-confidence.
CUISINE
Dining, along with shopping, is said to be the country's national pastime. The focus on food has led countries like Australia to attract Singaporean tourists with food-based itineraries. The diversity of food is touted as a reason to visit the country, and the variety of food representing different ethnicities is seen by the government as a symbol of its multiculturalism. The "national fruit" of Singapore is the durian.
In popular culture, food items belong to a particular ethnicity, with Chinese, Malay, and Indian food clearly defined. However, the diversity of cuisine has been increased further by the "hybridisation" of different styles (e.g., the Peranakan cuisine, a mix of Chinese and Malay cuisine).
WIKIPEDIA
Transporte+Citadino
Corredor de Transporte Público "Santa Rosa Sur"
Comuna de La Pintana
Santiago
Chile
Hola a todos, muy buenas tardes en este primaveral día domingo. Qué mejor que amenizar el día con este interesante texto que Sebastián Arce Padilla, alias Pelao Tatán redacto para el sitio web "El Quinto Poder".
Partamos con una breve reseña, cosecha personal.
El sistema de transportes "Transantiago" ha causado bastantes dolores de cabezas para quiénes vivimos en Santiago, cómo también la contraposición de dos formas de ver el sistema y respectivamente, darle mejoras. Mientras tanto, expertos en ingeniería de transportes señalan que volver al sistema de las "Micros Amarillas" es prácticamente lanzar una bomba atómica sobre esta ciudad, incluyendo lo que muchos ciudadanos de manera silenciosa piensan, que a pesar de las enormes dificultades experimentadas durante los primeros años, de ninguna manera desean volver a esa dictadura amarilla.
El tema en este caso es que como todos sabemos, una nueva administración ha llegado a conducir los hilos del transporte público, con un marcado énfasis en la denominada "flexibilización de malla". Sí, tal como escribí algunas líneas atrás el nuevo énfasis es la llamada competencia. Cosa que a muchos -me incluyo- no nos gusta para nada.
Y es a partir de este texto donde quisiera expresar el porque esta gestión no me gusta para nada.
___________________________________________________________________________
Morandé no tiene idea de dónde va la micro
Escrito por Sebastián Arce Padilla
Hace algunas semanas, el titular de Transportes y Telecomunicaciones, Felipe Morandé, anunció 15 medidas para mejorar el Transantiago, aquel plan de transporte urbano aplicado en Santiago, que desde su implementación ha sido un dolor de cabeza para autoridades, usuarios y trabajadores del transporte. Tanto así que el actual ministro lo califica como "mega error de los gobiernos anteriores".
No haremos el análisis político de quién tiene la culpa o qué cosas fallaron, ya que se ha desperdiciado bastante teclado en eso, con comisiones parlamentarias, opinólogos del transporte público, etc. Mejor, preocupémonos en las ideas anunciadas por el secretario de Estado y cómo estas no calzan con las ideas de "mejor transporte" y más inclusivo:
1) Vamos a iniciar un inédito proceso de participación ciudadana, para responder a lo que necesita la gente, no desde un escritorio, sino con los usuarios.
Esto se realiza desde el diseño del plan, en el 2006. Actualmente el conducto regular empieza por los municipios, que proponen ideas de acuerdo a lo solicitado por los vecinos. Luego, las propuestas se evalúan técnicamente (a través de SECTRA) y luego de calcular la real utilidad del servicio, se crea y sale a la calle. El problema, es que muchas veces los mismos vecinos NO hacen uso del nuevo recorrido, y siguen haciendo transbordos o vueltas absurdas. Hay servicios que luego de siete meses de funcionamiento, recién empiezan a tomar público.
2) Vamos a duplicar la capacidad fiscalizadora, para bajar la evasión.
Mientras no exista un factor disuasivo real, no sacamos mucho con llenar de fiscalizadores. Además, el actual proyecto de ley dejó fuera la propuesta de incluir a evasores en una base de datos tipo DICOM, que los excluyera de recibir beneficios fiscales si son sorprendidos metiéndose a los buses gratis. Y también se deja fuera a la mala utilización de pases escolares, una evasión encubierta, pero más masiva de lo que se cree.
3) Vamos a mejorar 150 recorridos para eliminar los trasbordos innecesarios y obligatorios que tanto afectan a las personas.
El trasbordo es LA forma para hacer más eficiente el transporte público. Sólo basta afinar un poco las frecuencias y enseñarle a la gente a utilizar los buses. No sacamos nada alargar recorridos al lote, ya que eso baja las frecuencias de los buses y dispara los costos operacionales. En treinta años el Metro no ha tenido conexión directa entre Gran Avenida y Estación Central y no he visto a nadie reclamar porque tiene que bajarse en Los Héroes para cambiarse de línea. Y ojo, que en la época de las micros amarillas existían recorridos eternos, que una fracción muy pequeña de pasajeros utilizaba completos.
4) Vamos a avanzar en tener frecuencias fijas durante las noches y los fines de semana. Para limitar los tiempos de espera y que la gente sepa cuánto tiempo puede esperar un recorrido.
Eso se intentó en 2007, el problema es que no existe sistema perfecto y siempre hay factores internos o externos que afectan las frecuencias. Y actualmente las frecuencias en la noche y fines de semana son fijas, pero no se publican abiertamente a los usuarios.
5) Vamos a construir la primera vía rápida del Transantiago, que atravesará 4 comunas para tener viajes más cómodos y directos.
Esta "vía expresa" es nada más ni menos que... Avenida Grecia. Este corredor de buses fue construido por el SERVIU y la Municipalidad de Ñuñoa en 1998 y mejorado para Transantiago entre 2007 y 2008. No tiene mayor sentido realizar una obra que ya está hecha y funcionando al 100%. También hay que avisarle al Ministro que hay hartas vías expresas de Transantiago operando (Pedro Aguirre Cerda-Esquina Blanca, Las Rejas Sur-Suiza, Santa Rosa, Pajaritos Oriente, Anillo Intermedio, Vicuña Mackenna, etc). El problema radica en que este mismo Ministro junto con la Subsecretaria Gloria Hutt anunciaron que se estaban reevaluando la construcción de nuevos corredores en carpeta por el SERVIU (Mapocho, San Pablo, Alameda, Providencia, los tramos pendientes de Las Rejas Norte y Departamental, etc), ya que quieren evitar las peleas con los vecinos por el siempre delicado tema de las expropiaciones.
6) Vamos a completar la renovación de más de 800 buses entre 2010 y 2011 para mejorar la comodidad y seguridad de los viajes, permitiendo una mayor accesibilidad a las personas, especialmente para la tercera edad y personas con movilidad reducida.
La renovación depende ÚNICA Y EXCLUSIVAMENTE de las empresas. En el caso de los troncales, tienen tiempo por contrato hasta diciembre para eliminar los "enchulados". Y los alimentadores, no están obligados a hacer renovación total de flota.
7) Vamos a mejorar la información de los viajes, instalando 10 mil nuevas señales de paradas y distribuyendo 800 mil mapas para mejorar la información sobre los recorridos. Porque sabemos que la señal de parada es hoy el lugar de información más importante para las personas.
En enero se empezó una colocación de cenefas en paradas con información, la cual ya estaría obsoleta según el nuevo Manual de Normas Gráficas, diseñado por la Universidad Católica. O sea, un despilfarro de recursos que da vergüenza ajena. A esto hay que sumar que nuevos diseños de paradas elimina información vital como el punto de término del servicio y el horario de funcionamiento del servicio (hay servicios cortos, expresos o nocturnos que no toda la gente conoce en qué horarios y días funcionan).
8) Vamos a mejorar el diseño de las 120 zonas pagas que hoy existen en la ciudad. Para que los usuarios puedan subir a los buses de manera más rápida y segura.
Promesa que se viene dando desde la administración de René Cortázar, y todavía no hay un proyecto claro de cómo mejorarán el diseño. Lo ideal sería que funcionaran 24 horas y los siete días, pero factores como el vandalismo y la seguridad ponen en duda este proyecto.
9) Vamos a informar por mensajes de textos los horarios de llegada de los buses en todos los troncales y un alimentador para que la gente sepa a qué hora viene el bus que le sirve. Porque sabemos que la gente quiere saber a qué hora viene el bus que necesita; lo que le permite administrar mejor su tiempo y tomar decisiones con certeza.
Este sistema opera desde octubre de 2009, estuvo funcionando para todos los servicios hasta abril, y luego se relanzó como "Plan Piloto". El problema, es que no se guía mucho por los GPS de los buses, sino por la programación previa de los servicios, que no siempre coincide.
10) Vamos a hacer más exigente la medición de las frecuencias asignadas y la regularidad para que terminemos con los “trencitos” de buses que provocan esperas innecesarias de las personas. Para controlar que las empresas cumplan con sus recorridos y horarios y los usuarios reciban un mejor servicio.
Terminar con trencitos y desórdenes de frecuencia a través de fiscalización no es suficiente: hay muchos factores que influyen en esto, pasando por el erróneo cálculo de tiempo de recorrido en algunos servicios, la falta de una infraestructura adecuada, generando que los buses compitan por espacio con los autos, la mala instalación de paraderos sólo por dejar contenta a la gente (hay servicios troncales que tienen un paradero por cuadra, aumentando tiempos de viaje de forma innecesaria), y la falta de compromiso de los conductores por cumplir frecuencias dentro de la ruta. A esto, hay que sumarle que el sistema de gestión de flota no funciona como corresponde, y a pesar que se realizó una licitación internacional para implementar dicha tecnología (la que ganó la alemana IVU, que ha realizado este trabajo en ciudades como Londres), la actual administración está pensando descartar a IVU y dejar dicha gestión a cargo de cada empresa operadora. Sobre esto, ya hay un operador que instaló su sistema paralelo, la empresa SuBus Chile (Troncal 2), que le va informando al conductor a cuánto tiempo va de acuerdo a la programación del bus, pero no ayuda a mantener una regularidad de los tiempos de espera.
11) Iniciaremos la instalación de 670 nuevos refugios en distintos puntos de la ciudad para que la gente tenga esperas más cómodas.
El problema de esto es el vandalismo: algunos paraderos han cumplido el récord de durar 24 horas en buenas condiciones: techos rotos, mapas rayados o tapados de carteles e incluso se roban el metal de los asientos.
12) Vamos a instalar mejor información dentro de los buses para entregar más información a las personas que están viajando y favorecer el acceso de personas con movilidad reducida y tercera edad.
El mismo Manual de Normas Gráficas mencionado en nota anterior indica que los buses no son una buena plataforma de información, debido a que una misma máquina pasa por todos los servicios de una empresa (hay troncales con 40 servicios) y no alcanza para colocar los datos de todos los recorridos.
13) Vamos a ejecutar un macro plan a largo plazo para rediseñar el Transantiago para que el sistema logre ser un proyecto financieramente viable que responde a las necesidades de la gente.
Transantiago más que un rediseño radical, necesita afinar ciertos elementos. Lamentablemente, Morandé pretende cambiar todo en pos de la competencia y reducción de costos, como buen neoliberal. El problema es que esto no busca un mejoramiento en el servicio, sino pregúntenle a quienes sufrieron por el mal servicio de las micros amarillas, donde la competencia y la reducción de costos eran la premisa principal.
14) Vamos a luchar por que este año no suba más la tarifa para que la gente no tenga que pagar demás.
El tema financiamiento ha sido el GRAN problema de Transantiago, pero nadie ha mencionado que una parte importante de la torta se la lleva la AFT, la Administradora Financiera de Transantiago, conformada por los Bancos Estado; Chile; BCI; Santander; CMR Falabella y Sonda, asociación la cual ha funcionado de forma deficiente: la gestión de flota ha funcionado pésimo, las cámaras y medidas de seguridad de los buses no las han implementado. Lo extraño del asunto (y sin ánimo de meterse en chanchullo politiquero), es que SONDA es propiedad de Andrés Navarro, amigo íntimo de Sebastián Piñera y parte de su círculo de asesores personales. Otras cosas que hacen dudar del real estado económico del plan, son algunos gastos innecesarios realizados por este Gobierno, como la aplicación del nuevo Manual de Normas Gráficas (que incluye cambio total de letreros, paradas, información en paradas y buses, etc.), o el pago a artistas callejeros para que musicalicen las Zonas Pagas durante la primera quincena de septiembre.
15) Vamos a seguir trabajando con un equipo profesional de excelencia para tomar buenas decisiones técnicas, operativas y financieras.
A título personal (tanto de quién escribió el artículo como mío), tengo serias dudas sobre la capacidad y la excelencia de los equipos profesionales del Ministerio de Transportes. Si se lanzan ideas como la de eliminar los buses articulados sin argumentos de peso (la excusa del rendimiento dada por Morandé no sirve, al hacer el cálculo de "kilómetros por litro" entre rígidos y articulados, y la capacidad de transporte de esos), incluir a los colectiveros en el negocio (cuando son éstos los que generan congestión innecesaria, los que utilizan pistas exclusivas y paraderos para buses bloqueando a los vehículos mayores), y sobre todo, creer que incentivando la competencia entre empresas se va a tener una mejora sustancial en la calidad del servicio, cuando fue precisamente este factor el que hizo colapsar al antiguo sistema de transportes, las "micros amarillas", odiadas por la gran mayoría de los habitantes de Santiago, y que tenían estos mismos problemas del Transantiago y otras externalidades negativas, olvidadas por los medios y las actuales autoridades (competencia extrema en las calles, alta tasa de accidentes, maltrato a pasajeros, evasión encubierta, nula mantención o renovación de flota, situaciones ilegales, delincuencia, etc). Y lo peor de esto, es que cuando se ha aplicado el factor competitivo en Transantiago, en casos puntuales, no ha servido de nada.
En Vitacura, desde julio de 2009, que lo tienen más que claro por la "competencia" entre los servicios 405 y 502, la cual no existe en la práctica.
En resumen, el gran problema de Transantiago es que todos tenemos claro el diagnóstico, pero nadie, clara la solución.
Felipe Morandé y Gloria Hutt no son mi copiloto.
________________________________________________________________________
Espero que este articulo haya sido un gusto
Nos vemos hasta la proxima
Saludos a todos
Felipe Burgos Alvarez
Lugar+Citadino
Octubre de 2010
A tener en cuenta:
Es importante respetar el Copyright de esta fotografía, considerando que existe un trabajo desinteresado detras de esta obra.
U.S. Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463 lifts the M777 Howitzer during a hoist lift exercise on Marine Corps Base Hawaii, May 21, 2020. HMH-463 worked with 1st Battalion, 12th Marines and Combat Logistics Battalion 3 to increase proficiency and combat readiness. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Eric Tso)
Sherbourne's Victorian Gothic church (All Saints) is a Grade II* Listed building, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, an eminent Victorian architect
photos taken with a Sony A77ii and a Samyang f2.8/10mm lens
This unfortunate tractor seems to have overheated. Behind it is a BMS/Morris van which has reached the end of the road and in the background, inverted, is a large mid 50's American car with 4 headlights.
The slide is labled "Shirley Tip" but I don't think that is correct. the slide was destined for the bin by it's owner who was having a clear-out.
Copyright Geoff Dowling; All rights reserved
Originally CH-54B Tarhe, (loose translation: "the Crane"). C.N. 64.091. Ex-U.S. Army 69-18483. Erickson Air-Crane Inc. based at Central Point, Oregon. Nicknamed "Elvis". Photographed at GTF, February, 2014. It is configured here for heavy lifting and not firefighting, (with external fuel tanks).
16-yr-old Betsy's poor lower leg suffered an attack by an Ilizarov external fixator. Assembled and applied by Dr. Bradley Hotchner; used to correct a bent, stunted fibula/tibia two-punch combo. We're assuming it did its job.
Deputy Secretary of State Wendy R. Sherman and European External Action Service Secretary General Stefano Sannino participate in a joint press conference in Brussels, Belgium, on April 22, 2022. [Photo courtesy of Vanessa Manca and Clint Carroll]
Here's a shot that I submitted for the SSE post last Friday on WDWPhotography.com
I really love this area of Epcot - meaning this exact area - at night. Someday I will have that external flash and get a decent Monorail in this shot. But as for now I will enjoy this view.
Thanks for all the feedback!
BRIDGEPORT, Calif (Aug. 5, 2019) U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Rosbel Munoz, a landing support specialist attached to 1st Supply Battalion, Combat Logistics Regiment 15, 1st Marine Logistics Group, prepares to conduct an external lift during Mountain Exercise (MTX) 4-19 at Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center Bridgeport, California, on Aug. 5, 2019. The purpose of the MTX is to provide training and assessment challenges to 1st Supply Battalion while bolstering planning and operational tasks across the warfighting functions in a mountainous environment. (U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Sgt. Maximiliano Rosas) 190805-M-FB282-1058
Jerry gave me a flat screen monitor stand and monitor for my birthday. No more running with the memory card to the computer and then running back to the camera to make adjustments.
Pentax K-5, converted to 590nm infrared by Isaac Szabo
SMC Pentax 1:1.8 55mm
Iridient Developer
R-B channel swap in Affinity Photo
After thinking about it for years, I finally got one of my older DSLR bodies converted to IR. I opted for the 590nm filter, to allow for color work. Since I'd like to do some film IR as well I was going to need the external 720nm filter anyway, so now I have both options for digital.
Command Module/Spacecraft 007 (S/C 007, CM-007), during assembly in Bldg 290 of the North American Aviation/Rockwell plant, Downey, CA. I believe the capsule is undergoing weight/balance measurements here.
Quite the life of S/C 007 (other than not flying) - per these fine sites:
www.jonessite.net/upload/LRD/stories/CM007A.pdf
Credit: Coye Mac Jones' website
Additional excellent information:
ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19740026226...
www.americanspacecraft.com/pages/apollo/CM-007.html
Credit: "A Field Guide to American Spacecraft" website
Amazingly informative & detailed discussion pertaining to Block I and Block II Command Modules, external appearances and configurations and their identification:
www.collectspace.com/ubb/Forum29/HTML/001008.html
Credit: collectSPACE website
Also:
www.popsci.com/blog-network/vintage-space/when-astronauts...
www.nasa.gov/feature/50-years-ago-apollo-tests-seaworthin...
commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:CSM-007
“Apollo Command Module CSM-007 aboard MV Retriever in the Gulf of Mexico, used for manned 48-hour Apollo Block I Command Module post landing systems qualification tests.”
www.navsource.org/archives/10/18/1018153006.jpg
Credit: NavSource Online website
“Apollo Command Module CSM-007A near NASA's MV Retriever in the Gulf of Mexico, during a manned 48-hour Apollo Block II Command Module postlanding systems qualification test.”:
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/Apollo_CM-007...
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Credit: Wikimedia
“Apollo recovery test in the Gulf of Mexico. Astronauts Lovell, Roosa and Duke spent 48 hours inside CM-007 April 5-7, 1968 evaluating the capacity of the Command Module to support three Astronauts waiting for a delayed recovery.”
www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/misc/apmisc-68-31...
Credit: Project Apollo Archive/J.L. Pickering