What’s really happening in the struggle for The Myanmar Times

Almost 13 years ago the first edition of The Myanmar Times came off the presses. Founded by Ross Dunkley and U Myat Swe (Sonny Swe) it quickly found favour with readers who were looking for fresh alternatives. A year later its Myanmar edition caught the market by storm. In a short amount of time both became dominant and superior newspapers in Myanmar and the benchmark for the press. Turbulence has followed the fortunes of the papers since then and the latest episode involving two of the partners in the business is no exception. The struggle for ownership of the papers now appears to be in its last throes. In this exclusive interview Managing Director of MCM Ltd and Editor in Chief Ross Dunkley bares all and paints a picture of the tightrope the organisation is now walking on.


Two charges have been filed against you by one of your partners, Daw Khin Moe Moe, the wife of Dr Tin Tun Oo. You have responded. What is the update?

Some criminal charges have been laid. It is quite serious. Dr Khin Moe Moe, along with five other strangers intruded into my office on January 27with a deliberate and pre-meditated plan to cause me a problem and to disrupt the running of The Myanmar Times. I was insulted and defamed and people acted in a threatening and aggressive manner towards me in this incident at The Myanmar Times. I defended myself in my own workplace. I do not believe that I have to be subjected to this type of behaviour in Myanmar, which is now a democratic country. I am shocked and deeply upset at how this happened and then suddenly next morning she has filed two cases against me. I have had no choice but to respond with four charges against her and these other perpetrators. I am contemplating adding more charges and this will depend on the advice of my legal team.

Who are the players in Myanmar Consolidated Media? What are the exact shareholdings?

Fifty-one percent of the shares in MCM Ltd are owned by Swesone Media. Swesone Media is owned by Dr Tin Tun Oo and Dr Khin Moe Moe. I am not aware of the exact shareholders and shareholdings on their side. As for the remaining 49pc, well it is controlled by me. I have as my shareholders Bill Clough, who invested in the project with me back in the year 2000 and who later on won the exploration rights for an offshore oil and gas block. Later on interests associated with a New Zealand friend bought 10pc of the total shares. That’s all. These are the same shareholders that we have with our Cambodian media investment, where we publish two daily newspapers called The Phnom Penh Post. I am the publisher of that group, which is 100pc foreign owned and has won 11 international awards in the past four years. It packs a punch way above its weight class.

From my own perspective I have put more than 13 years of my life into these two projects and I see myself leading them into something much more exciting in the near future. I have kept us in the game despite some great periods of turbulence. I hope my own shareholders would also see the sacrifices I have made and the lengths I have gone to protect and nurture these two media companies.

Why has this tension reappeared at The Myanmar Times now? Dr Khin Moe Moe even said recently she will stop the newspaper from being published – is that likely to happen?

Dr Khin Moe Moe appears to believe that because she is a majority shareholder she can throw her weight around and pretty much do as she wants. She has become increasingly aggressive and unpleasant. As a non-executive director she has been making an awful lot of statements this past week or so about what she is going to do here and what she is going to do there. I have refrained from engaging in that game, so let’s just talk about what is correct and what is not correct. Dr Khin Moe Moe has no right solely to stop anything at The Myanmar Times. She is not even the publisher of the newspaper – that role is fulfilled by her husband. The publisher is appointed by the board of directors of the company and must comply at all times with the directions given by the board and be seen to be acting in the best interests of the company. We assert and maintain that only the board can decide these things. If Dr Khin Moe Moe wishes to stop the newspaper or prevent a daily application going in then she can call a board meeting and make her case. I’m sure the board will act responsibly.

As far as I am aware the ministry has not received any documents from Dr Khin Moe Moe blocking an application for a daily. Anyway, why would she do that?

Dr Tin Tun Oo and Dr Khin Moe Moe are not your preferred partners, are they? What is the real story behind this?

Late in 2005 I was summoned to a meeting at the Ministry of Information offices on Thein Phyu Road. I was taken to a room there and in the room was Colonel Aung Nyein, who at that time was managing director of the Periodicals Enterprise. Col Aung Nyein said his minister [U Kyaw Hsan] had made it clear that Yamin Htin Aung, the wife of U Myat (Sonny) Swe, my co-founder in Myanmar Consolidated Media, could no longer be the partner in The Myanmar Times and that the minister had identified a new partner for me. They were famous doctors, he told me, and well-known publishers. They would be the perfect partners for me, he said, and as a matter of fact Dr Tin Tun Oo was in the next room and I should meet him. I said to him that I wasn’t in the habit of getting engaged let alone married to someone I had never met and that I didn’t like the ultimatum I was being given. I said that if he was brought in the room I would leave immediately and I would not talk with him. I said I had offers from other people who wanted to become my partner and that my shareholders were determined that I should exercise our legal rights. I again emphasised to him that it was impossible for me to meet these people. Later on at ministry offices next to The Myanmar Times, in a building which is now owned by Dr Tin Tun Oo, Col Aung Nyein tried once more to bring Dr Tin Tun Oo into an introduction situation with me so that I could “have a friendly chat” with him. Again I said I would walk out of the room as I was under no obligation to be forced to do so.

When I met Minister for Information Brigadier General Kyaw Hsan for the first time he said I had no choice but to accept Dr Tin Tun Oo because he had been identified as the best partner for me because he had very good English language skills and was also a publisher. If I accepted him as my partner then everything would be OK and we could discuss other things. I said I didn’t want him as a partner and that I wanted to exercise my legal rights under the companies act and our shareholders agreement and that we had made other arrangements.

Not many days I visited U Tay Za at his Inya Rd home and we had a discussion about The Myanmar Times and he indicated he was interested in purchasing the shares if they became available. He said he would make some enquiries, but he never got back to me. One of his directors later informed me that he was told by Brig Gen Kyaw Hsan or Prime Minister Soe Win to stay away because it was complicated. I also received an offer from a syndicate of businessman put together by U Moe Kyaw from Myanmar Marketing Research and Development. They were prepared to buy the shares if indeed Yamin was forced to sell but they also said to me they would be equally as prepared to sell them back to Sonny Swe if and when he got out of jail and we agreed upon a price. I greatly appreciated their gesture and the sum they offered was double the amount that Dr Tin Tun Oo paid for the shares and I have correspondence that clearly states that. I informed the minister that I had an offer of that price, but he informed that this was not the price that would be paid and that the price Dr Tin Tun Oo was offering was fair.

Not long afterwards I met Dr Tin Tun Oo. Finally, on another date, we held a meeting with the minister at his office and I said that I would continue on reluctantly but only on the condition that I ran the company on a day-to-day basis and that Dr Tin Tun Oo and his wife would not have access to the building without my permission but they would be given monthly financial accounts and be entitled to have their input at the board level, which was the appropriate place. Otherwise, I said, I would trash the business. The minister agreed immediately and then brought Dr Tin Tun Oo into the room and he said he didn’t care as long as he got dividends every three months.

That is my strong recollection of the events. I decided I would carry on for the sake of the staff and in the hope that one day my real partner would come back and lay claim to his shares. I have waited every day since then.

Is Dr Tin Tun Oo considering selling his shares? If so, who are the possible buyers?

I met with Dr Tin Tun Oo a bit more than a year ago in my office. I commented that Myanmar was changing and that very soon perhaps U Myat Swe would be out of jail. As a partner I advised him to make an early announcement that he was going to sell his shares back to the Swe family, at exactly the same price he paid for them to show he had integrity. I asked him to seriously think about that because bringing this down into a street fight and then into the courts was not a game he could win. He said he would go away and talk with “higher figures”. He never reverted to me.

Later on he made it known the shares were for sale at US$2 million. We were astonished at that number. Eventually though he finally settled it down to a figure which was double the price he paid to get into the partnership. Remember, he has also taken close to $1 million in cash over these eight years. That is how much the company has given his family in honorariums, interest, publisher’s fees, director’s fees and dividends. I’d say he has done quite handsomely.

The price was finally agreed upon just over a fortnight ago but inexplicably Dr Khin Moe Moe changed the nature of it twice in 48 hours and then they went ahead and cancelled the deal. Perhaps it is better as now we can proceed with legal action over Swesone’s right to the shares. I have all the evidence I need.

Until Sonny is free from prison, which I hope is very soon, I would be delighted to work with Yamin of course. If Sonny and his father come out then I know President U Thein Sein and his government are serious about reconciliation and democracy. Unless that happens I will remain cynical.

You are, of course, no stranger to a court battle. Can you revisit the circumstances of your arrest and jailing in 2011?

I intend to raise the issues of my arrest, imprisonment and trial to the appropriate bodies that have been set up to examine the judicial process, its transparency and its independence. I have prima facie evidence to suggest that the judicial process has been interfered with in relation to the crimes I was charged with and convicted on. There was political interference here and I must act to ensure that in the end justice has been done. I’m so glad the government has created instruments through which complaints can receive a legitimate hearing.

source: The Myanmar Times
http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/national-news/4054-what-s-really-happening-in-the-struggle-for-the-myanmar-times.html