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Tay Za
တေဇ
Born 18 July 1967
Occupation Chairman, Htoo Trading
Tay Za (Burmese: တေဇ, also spelled Tayza or Teza) (born 18 July 1967)[1] is a Burmese business tycoon, and a close associate of the country's head, Than Shwe.
Contents [hide]
1 Business holdings
2 Relationship with the junta
3 Sanctions
4 References
[edit] Business holdings
His major business interests include Htoo Holdings and Air Bagan, the country's first and only fully privately-owned airline.[2] In 2006/2007 Htoo Trading, a division of Htoo Holdings involved in teak log exports, was Burma's top private exporter and fifth largest overall, with gross revenues of $65.1 million.[3] His son, Thiha Zaw, recently bought the London Cigarette Company, a large cigarette maker in Burma, and is believed to control the tobacco industry.[2]
Other activities include construction, tourism, infrastructure projects, and mobile phone services. He maintains close relations with the military leadership - a son of key junta member General Thura Shwe Mann serves on the board of Htoo Trading, and his Myanmar Avia Export, Burma’s sole representative of Russia’s Export Military Industrial Group and of the Russian helicopter company Rostvertol,[ 4] was instrumental in the junta’s 2002 purchase of advanced MiG-29 fighters for US$130 million.[5][ 2]
[edit] Relationship with the junta
Sean Turnell, an economics professor at Australia's Macquarie University who specializes in Myanmar, calls Tay Za "easily the most flamboyant of the tycoons that Burma has produced".[6] According to Thailand-based opposition sources, he and former drug baron Lo Hsing Han paid for the $300,000 wedding of the daughter of Senior-General Than Shwe in 2006, and he is reported to be romantically involved with another daughter.[7] Than Shwe's family frequently stay at a Tay Za-owned resort at Ngwe Saung on Burma's northwest coast,[8] and he is reported to act as a business agent for the family in Singapore.[4]
Tay Za is reported to be in the process of establishing an art museum in Rangoon and is reported to be buying paintings by contemporary Burmese artists through a US citizen (to avoid US sanctions). The art museum will be on Kaba Aye Pagoda Road near Inya Lake in Rangoon.[9]
[edit] Sanctions
In 2007, following protests against the junta on the streets of many cities in Burma, the United States government imposed sanctions against Tay Za and the companies he controls including Htoo Trading and Air Bagan.[10][11]
[edit] References
^ Jay Solomon and James Hookway (2007-10-24) . "U.S. Focuses on Myanmar Tycoon". The Wall Street Journal. http://online. wsj.com/article/ SB11931666891716 8700.html?.
^ a b c Money Men. The Irrawaddy. September 2008. http://www.irrawadd y.org/article. php?art_id= 14151.
^ Ye Lwin and Kyaw Thu (4-10 June 2007). Govt dominates foreign trade as gas sales pump up exports. The Myanmar Times. http://www.mmtimes. com/no369/ b004.htm.
^ a b Wai Moe (2007-10-23) . "Tay Za Grounded". The Irrawaddy. http://www.irrawadd y.org/article. php?art_id= 9085.
^ Peter Beaumont and Alex Duval Smith (2007-10-7). "Drugs and astrology: how 'Bulldog' wields power". The Guardian. http://www.guardian .co.uk/world/ 2007/oct/ 07/burma. peterbeaumont.
^ "Tay Za: Junta links prove lucrative for Myanmar tycoon". The Strait Times. 5 May 2008. http://www.straitst imes.com/ print/Latest+ News/Asia/ STIStory_ 234209.html.
^ "Than Shwe Watch". The Irrawaddy. 2008-12-08. http://www.irrawadd y.org/article. php?art_id= 5597&page=6.
^ Cathy Scott-Clark and Adrian Levy (24 May 2008). "At home with the general". Mail and Guardian. http://www.mg. co.za/article/ 2008-05-24- at-home-with- the-general.
^ Tay Za, the Artful Dodger, The Irrawaddy, December 2008, pp. 11 ^ Executive Order: Blocking Property and Prohibiting Certain Transactions Related to Burma ^ "HP-807: Treasury Action Targets Financial Network of Burmese Tycoon and Regime Henchman Tay Za". US Department of Treasury. 2008-02-05. http://www.ustreas. gov/press/ releases/ hp807.htm.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia .org/wiki/ Tay_Za"
Bush Gulati
62 Summerhill Avenue
Toronto, ON M4T 1A8
Canada
Global Action day - Rally in Toronto for Burma's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi
Nobel Peace Prize recipient Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is Burma’s most celebrated and beloved person in the struggle for democratic governance in Burma. She has been under house arrest continuously since May 2003 and for a total of more than 13 of the past 19 years.
The release from her house arrest was due on the 27th of May. However, on May 13, Daw Suu and her two female caregivers were detained after an incident when an American national allegedly swam across Inya Lake and stayed at her house for two days. Aung San Suu Kyi has been charged under the regime’s Law Safeguarding the State from the Dangers of Subversive Elements and is being held in the notorious Insein Prison. Her trial is scheduled for May 18.
Her health has deteriorated recently, and due to the tight restrictions of her detention, she has often been denied access to her doctor, who was arrested last Thursday at the time of his monthly visit.
Burmese democracy movements and supporters around the globe are planning a ‘Global Day of Action’ scheduled on May 18, 2008 to demand her release and the release of all political prisoners in Burma.
In Canada, we will show our deepest concern for her well-being and our strong solidarity with her in a ‘Global Day of Action’ on Monday, May 18, 2008, by holding protests in Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver.
The event in Toronto:
Date: Monday, May 18, 2009
Time: 1:30 pm
Place: Queen’s Park (in front of Ontario Provincial Legislative Building)
Contact Persons:
Zaw Wai Kyaw, phone: 416 358 2318
Aung Tin, phone: 647 343 7871
Timothy Zaw, phone: 416 735 4128
For his long-term work defending human rights, equality and social justice, bencher Paul Copeland was honoured by a special tribute at a reception held in honour of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on March 28, 2007.
As a large screen beside the podium showed photos of Paul at various stages of his life, Paul's friends and colleagues reflected on his achievements and contributions. Speakers included bencher Carole Curtis; the Honourable Mr. Justice Melvyn Green, of the Ontario Court of Justice; Bush Gulati, of the Committee for Restoration of Democracy in Burma; and Timothy Zaw Zaw, of the Toronto Burma Roundtable. Bencher Joanne St. Lewis topped off the tribute with a rendition of Mahalia Jackson's "I Live the Life I Sing About in my Song," which she chose after learning it has long been a source of inspiration to Paul. 
Bush Gulati from the Committee for the Restoration of Democracy in Burma spoke about the many years of passionate volunteer work Paul has done to help Burmese refugees and to support the Burmese community in Canada. "If we need him, Paul always responds; he is literally a phone call or fax away." 
Paul spoke after hearing his friends' and colleagues' remarks. "I'm honoured, humbled and also stunned," he said, before speaking briefly about legal activism, the topic of the day. "Thank you to everyone for being here and to the Law Society for organizing this wonderful evening."