Beginning in March 2009, the National Library of Australia is now collecting Myanmar crime magazines. Pyit-hmu (Crime Magazine) and Shu-htaunt Hmu-hkin (Crime and News Journal) are two new Burmese-language subscriptions. Shu-htaunt Hmu-hkin is a weekly journal that consists of news on recent criminal cases in Myanmar, including murder, rape, assault, robbery, theft, forgery, fraud and drug trafficking. Pyit-hmu is a monthly magazine that features a variety of crime-related articles from home and abroad, as well as legal issues, news, stories, poems and cartoons.
[This post is provided by the National Library of Australia as part of our Book Zone feature. For further information on the featured publications contact Saowapha Viravong at sviravong@nla.gov.au]
Regarding “Shu-htaunt Hmu-hkin”:
The name of the journal is “Shu-htaunt”.
“hmu. gin: (မှုခင်း) and thi din: (သီတင်း)” means “crime and news.”
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Oops, my typo for news in the previous comment. Here is the correct one.
သတင်း is “news
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Ever since late Ne Win’s BSPP or Ma-Sa-la time, the weekly and monthly crime magazines are a rare publishing phenomenon in Burma under a long and brutal military dictatorship, where the freedom of expression does not exist at all.
As long as the people committing the crimes are not part of ruling elite such as any military personnel or Party officials, the true crimes, the investigations, and the trials or even the most severe punishment such as hangings are freely allowed to be published by these magazines.
These true cases of crime have opened a rare window to have a glimpse at the tightly-closed Burma and her people even though the distorted view is through the shade of violent crimes.
Many a police officers and prison wardens who are able to write well have also become the most famous authors of Burmese society because of that rare freedom in Burma.
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