Mongolia Brief August 7, 2014 Part IV
B.Oyu:
I wish to play amazing pieces by Mongolian composers who haven’t been
recognized in Asia
August 7 (UB
Post) A pianist’s profession is a complex
one that requires high skills. Not everyone with musical talents are able
to become a professional pianist.
The following is an interview with rising
pianist B.Oyungerel, also known as B.Oyu, about the music industry and other
relevant issues.
Why did you change your name to Oyu?
My parents gave
me the name Oyungerel, but there were many cases of mispronunciation at foreign
and domestic competitions and events. I switched to Oyu in order to make
it easier to pronounce as well as to pursue the standards set for artists to
have a stage name.
Thousands of people are aspiring and making
various works for the ever-difficult classical arts. The number of Mongolian
pianists entering foreign music circles is considerably low. In general, how
developed is piano music in Mongolian?
Mongolia is
able to teach the basics incredibly well. All of my instructors studied in
Russia. There’s an academy for only classical arts in Russia. It’s a major
success that Mongolia was able to learn from Russia’s experience and establish
the academy in Mongolia.
Although the
basics are taught well, musicians aren’t able to train. Training to become a
full-fledged musician isn’t solely dependent on instructors. Abundant intellect
and funds are required. It also depends on many other aspects other than these
contributions.
I hope the
ministry and other relevant organizations unite someday and face one another
head-on and accept their shortcomings.
Truthfully,
young artists aren’t acknowledged. Their accomplished works aren’t recognized
as it should. When they criticize the reality, they receive immense
countercharge and get accused of disrespecting their elders. Even though
Mongolians claim that we’re talented and skilled, we’re unable to qualify for
the second round of A [high] level competitions. This is a fact. The
competitions we enter aren’t of B level but of C level that are organized for
amateurs.
When I took
several children with me to Italy to participate in a competition, children who
trained at the Music and Dance College of Mongolia, a vocational school, they
won 100 Euros in prize or a certificate from competing against children who
learned at home. When they returned to Mongolia, they got 14 million MNT from
the state. This isn’t development, but destruction. Instructors and children aren’t
entering competitions for improving skills. Why can’t that 14 million MNT
reward be used for musical education? We should spend it on training children
who are trying to take part in A level competitions. For instance, [the
government] can become responsible for food, rent, and all other needs of
children taking part in A level competitions.
I made three
appointments to discuss this issue with the minister but unfortunately, I
wasn’t able to meet her. Glooming over it will not solve anything. We need to
search for other means and opportunities to resolve the issue.
In Europe, people focus on educating
children through classical arts. It’s the same in Mongolia. There are tons of
people who are interested in learning piano as an adult. Is it very different
to learn piano at a young age than learning it when you’re older?
People at any
age can learn to play the piano. The significance of learning to play at a
young age is that it’s not only a matter of learning music. It becomes their
upbringing and education and helps them mature. Many people are discussing
education as it’s become a standard. It’s classified depending on whether it’s
an education for the brain, spirituality, or upbringing. If it’s taught at
early ages, it becomes a comprehensive education for these aspects.
A 30-year-old
can learn to play instruments. However, it will not affect their mentality
since they’ve already matured and developed their individual views of the
world. The most appropriate age to teach instruments is when children are four
or five. It’s the time when they start growing, understand ethics and morals,
and start developing different emotions. Europeans realized this 300 to 400
years ago, and executed it in their daily lives. I’m grateful to know that this
is being introduced to Mongolia and increasing the awareness of the people.
People often
criticize the society for inclining towards one that is more frustrating,
crude, and crueler. The key to this is arts and cultural policy. Especially
classical arts education should be given to children from an early age. We
should make opportunities for children to start enjoying drawing, painting,
sculpting, and doing ballet and encourage parents to support their children to
set foot in the amazing world of learning about oneself, feeling other’s love
and respect.
How did arts contribute in your life and
upbringing?
I didn’t notice
it while learning. It may be because I hadn’t completely finished learning.
When a woman turns 30, a new door opens. Some even explain this as another transition
period. This door is starting to open for me and I’m beginning to know myself
more. From the top, I’m realizing what sorts of upbringing and personality I
got from the teachings of my instructors and music. A few days ago, even with
my constant fault pin-pointing during a lesson, my student repeated the same
mistake three times. At the moment, I started pondering on the fact that music
may have taught me that we should learn from our mistakes. I don’t assess
myself, but others do. There’s no such thing as a perfect man who doesn’t make
any mistakes. A person’s wisdom is shown on how often you repeat mistakes,
learn from it and develop good habits. I try not to make or repeat mistakes and
try to realize when making mistakes. I was able to cultivate many positive
characteristics such as having patience at any circumstance. For instance, I
got a special award at the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition
which was organized in February. I was the oldest participant but I was proud
of myself. Continuing this line of work is a very challenging thing to do in
the music industry. Only few continue to work. I tossed everything to the side
and trained for ten hours for a whole month to partake in the competition. It
may sound easy but it’s difficult to actually do it. Rehearsing every day for a
month, while overcoming laziness and turning my back to other important
matters, requires a lot of patience. I make an effort to bring up this
patience whenever I come across an issue or an obstacle.
What’s the foremost important thing the
arts and culture sector should do to expand and grow?
Mongolia
doesn’t have a sector for musicians. This sector isn’t developed at all. There
isn’t a job position for solo pianists. The arts and culture sector should work
to establish these job positions. Currently, half of the graduates of the Music
and Dance College are working in their profession, and half have tossed it
away. This is correspondent to the low salary. Policies and markets should be
considered for increasing salaries. We should bring together people who are
interested. Just like choral songs, music is able to bring people together. We
should do something interesting and attract people in a similar way. By
grabbing an audience and forming a market, a certain amount of money will be
able to circulate. This’ll enable ambitions to flare up and motivate new
graduates. At the moment, all of them are depressed thinking about where and
what kind of work they should do. There are many talented and skilled graduates
who are as valuable as “gold”. Monetary issue is the main reason why musicians
and artists aren’t debuting. Also, we’re unable to neither work cooperatively
nor support one another.
What is your future goal and how will you
contribute in attaining recognition for Mongolian pianists internationally?
Classical art
originated from Europe. We should get recognition by playing European
compositions. In terms of cultural heritage and intellectual education,
Mongolians are ranked comparatively high. My objective is to introduce music of
Mongolian composers to Europe, if not, then at least to Asia. Mongolian
musicians can’t surpass works of European composers as they are already
well-known and played by everybody. Chinese famous pianist Lang Lang and other
talented musicians of Korea and Japan have been acknowledged from Asia. It’ll
take at least 100 years to surpass them. This is how outdated Mongolian music
is. I wish to play amazing pieces of Mongolian composers who haven’t been
recognized in Asia in order to lessen the distance.
In Mongolia,
there aren’t any composers who were able to attain fame through compositions
like that of Beethoven and Mozart. The simple fact of Mongolia having composers
of this caliber may become a huge advantage for getting world recognition. Currently,
Mongolia doesn’t know which aspect it should use to get world recognition.
Although mining made uproar for a period, investors are now running away from
Mongolia. Foreign trade is out of the question as it’s facing a crisis.
Mongolia must find a gateway for getting recognition. Classical art itself has
become the world’s measure for intellectualism. It’s the most valuable cultural
asset. Mongolia has a potential to get recognition through classical arts.
I hope a lot of
people support and cooperate to make this work successful. I will draft a
project, work and make efforts for it. My primary aspiration is to contribute
in stamping a better image and name for Mongolia and help get recognition from
the world, even if it’s a small contribution.
Women’s
wrestling team seizes seven medals at Poland Open
August 7 (UB
Post) The Mongolian women’s wrestling team won seven medals at Poland Open on
August 2 and 3, which took place in Dabrowa Gornicza, Poland.
The team won
three gold, one silver and three bronze medals at the tournament.
Mongolian gold
medalists include, S.Byambatseren in 55 kg, S.Tserenchimed in 60 kg and State
Merit athlete S.Battsetseg in the 63 kg weight class. International Master
E.Sumiya won a silver medal in the women’s 53 kg.
Bronze medals
were won by International Master E.Davaachimeg in the 53 kg division, P.Orkhon
in 60 kg and State Merit Athlete O.Burmaa in 75 kg.
Mostly European
wrestlers took part in the Poland Open, which provided a chance for Mongolian
wrestlers to see the preparation of international athletes that will take part
in the upcoming 2014 Incheon Asian Games.
Canadian
band to perform at Noise Metal Fest-2014
August 7 (UB
Post) Noise Metal Fest-2014 international live music festival will be held on
August 23 at UB Palace.
Over 13
Mongolian bands stated that they will attend the festival, as well as artists
of Canada and Inner Mongolia.
Mongol band
from Devon town of Alberta State, Canada announced that they will attend the
event.
The band is
famous for their music in different genres and songs about the history and
culture of the Mongol Empire.
The members of
the band share the names of Chinggis Khaan’s infamous nine generals, Tev
Tengri, Zelme, Zev, Sorkhon Shar, Boorchi, and Shikhi.
Mongol released
their first album “The Altan Urug ” in 2009. This year, the band released an
album named “Chosen by Tengri”.
We used to
dream about coming to Mongolia and we are glad that it is coming true, the band
said on their blog.
‘Steed
of the Sky’ tethered at Blue Moon Art Gallery
August 7 (UB
Post) Member Artist of Blue Moon Art Gallery, Union of Mongolian Artists prize
winner and renowned painter S.Enkh-Amgalan’s sixth solo exhibition, Khan
Khurmastiin Khuleg (Steed of the Sky) opened at Blue Moon Art Gallery on
Wednesday.
The artist
presents 50 of his best paintings from the last five years in this exhibition.
Paying tribute to the Year of Horse, he named his exhibition ‘Steed of the
Sky.’
S.Enkh-Amgalan
has spent 26 years working in the field of art. His last two exhibitions,
Medremj-1 (Sense-1) and Medremj-2 (Sense-2), were presented as a series in 2005
and 2008. His latest work at Blue Moon Art Gallery is on view through August
19.
S.Ganbaatar:
We need to create national debt management
August 7 (UB Post)
Each Mongolian taxpayer will carry 7
million MNT in debt, if the debt ceiling rises to 70 percent of gross domestic
product. Parliament Member S.Ganbaatar comments on national debt.
There is a report that the debt ceiling has
exceeded 70 percent of GDP. What is your opinion on the debt ceiling increase?
I hope that the
debt ceiling does not exceed 40 percent. If the debt of organizations and
companies are assumed as national debt, then it has exceeded 40 percent.
Government and the Central Bank’s debt should be considered separately. I
talked about it at the Standing Committee on State Budget’s meeting. The most
important thing is to analyze consumption and the effects of 1.5 billion USD in
debt.
The debt is a
risk and a hazard at the same time. We can’t control the risk, but we can
minimize the risk. Government needs to make a strong decisions on how to spend
debt.
What is the off-budget debt?
Development
Bank and big foundations have large debt. This means we need to create
national debt management.
According to the law, debts of Government
and state-owned enterprises are considered national debt. Experts and
economists say that some parts of the references have been deducted?
I agree with
those people. We argued about it in the State Budget Standing Committee’s
meeting, but haven’t dealt with it yet. It’s wrong to deduct some references.
Is there any repayment risk if the debt
ceiling rises to 70 percent?
It is risky for
sure. To minimize the risk, pre-feasibility studies must be done.
If the Law on Debt is changed, the Fiscal
Stability Law needs to be changed too, as foreign countries have advised that
the law needs to be stable for a minimum of three years.
I have one
idea. Forty percent is a valid recapitulation. The debt isn’t a small amount,
if we use it for effective and beneficial projects. The reason for taking on
debt is to bring about economic growth. Before any debt, pre-feasibility
studies and market research must be done, which determines whether or not debt
should be taken on. But we didn’t do this at all, so it needs to be legislated.
What should we do to make good industry?
Every country
needs to concentrate a large amount of money on big refineries to make
progress. Secondly, to bring in beneficial currency from foreign markets,
qualified domestic products need to be produced. That’s all we want. Mongolia
has been affected by the repression of market cycles of raw material prices.
The only way out of this situation is industrialization.
Does this mean the debt ceiling isn’t
important?
Yes. It doesn’t
matter If it’s 40 percent or 70 percent. The most important thing is to invest
in effective, beneficial projects where pre-feasibility studies are developed.
But 40 percent is a valid recapitulation and I support it.
Selbe
River response
August 7 (UB
Post) I recently read your article on the completion of the first phase of the
Selbe River “Restoration” project, a goal of which is to restore the flow of
the Selbe River. In my opinion, this project has not restored the river and
will make no contribution to increasing water flow; it is merely an expensive,
hard landscaping project that has destroyed any remaining natural ecological
characteristics of the Selbe River in this location, and which will, in fact,
decrease the water quality downstream. I don’t mean to criticize the
implementers of the project, as to my knowledge this was a well intentioned
project, but I do believe that their frame of reference, design concept and understanding
of the problem has been mistaken.
First, let’s
look at the problem; there are concerns that the Selbe River, which once had
steady flows and even reportedly once supported grayling [a species of salmon],
is drying up and, in recent years, experiences very low flows at times in
summer. The natural environment of the stream bed and riverside habitat has
been degraded by the accumulation of rubbish, grazing by livestock, and even
from being used as a winter road through the ger districts. Still, the Selbe
River channel provides something of a green ribbon through the city. Lets also
note that the Selbe River can experience serious floods, and that the channel
has been constrained by concrete banks and levees to protect the city from
flooding; its primary purpose now is to convey flood waters safely downstream.
Now, let’s look
at the solution that has been implemented: a section of the river channel has
been bulldozed and completely concreted over, within this channel a waterproof
liner has been laid to retain water, and a series of small dams or weirs have
been constructed to hold the water back. The retaining walls of the flood
channel have been re-built, and within the channel, landscaped paths, terraces
and steps have been built, a few small areas have been sown with grass and a
few shrubs have been planted (but nothing resembling native Mongolian river
habitat). The natural river channel has been completely destroyed. The work has
not increased the flow in any way. Water flowing in to the restored section
from upstream equals the water flowing out downstream, no new water has
miraculously appeared. The water flow has been slowed and held back by the
weirs to create something resembling a canal, not a river. Now, during periods
of low flow in the Selbe, water trickles in and trickles out at the other end,
leaving a large volume of stagnant water behind the weirs, which heats up and
turns green due to algal growth. The quality of this water is now much worse
than that flowing in, and the warmer water flowing out has a negative effect on
(what is left of) the in-stream ecology downstream. We can see that the river
has not been restored, it has been transformed into a landscaped canal with
little or no ecological value, and the flow has not increased.
How could this
be done better? Both in-stream works and upstream work throughout the Selbe
catchment are required. If we consider the problem of low flow, what is the
cause? It’s easy to blame climate change and changes in weather patterns,
perhaps also de-forestation has been blamed, or over extraction of groundwater
too. But the forests in the Selbe headwaters are actually quite well protected
and a healthy catchment should have some resilience to climate change. The
major problem in the Selbe catchment is almost certainly urbanization. Over the
last ten to fifteen years, much of the Selbe catchment has been gobbled up by
expanding ger districts and the dacha districts beyond that.
The process of
urbanization has destroyed much of the natural vegetation in these areas: even
the land that has not been built upon has been damaged by roads, tracks,
trampling, heavy grazing, compaction and soil erosion. In a natural catchment,
when rain falls the vegetation slows run off and allows infiltration to
replenish ground water. Now, when it rains there is rapid surface run off
leading to flash floods; all the water runs off quickly and there is less
infiltration to recharge the groundwater that feeds the river. So in order to
restore the flow of the Selbe River, there needs to be catchment wide work to
decrease storm runoff and to increase retention and infiltration of rainfall
within the catchment. Fortunately, there are numerous sustainable urban design
and ecological restoration techniques to enable this. This is a challenge that
needs to be incorporated into the plans and projects underway to upgrade or
re-develop the ger districts. UN-Habitat’s work with the Unur ger district
community on flood control and gully restoration is a good example of some
efforts already under way in the city.
In-stream
works, meaning in the river channel flowing through the city, should focus on
more sustainable and ecologically sensitive restoration efforts without
bulldozing and concreting the entire channel, and it is likely that a much greater
length of river could be restored for the same budget when compared to the
bulldozer and concrete approach. I mentioned that the frame of reference or
precedent for this project was one reason why the designers of this project
took this course; as I understand the idea was to copy what had been done on
the Cheonggyecheon Stream in Seoul (a tributary of the Han River). There, the
stream had been completely buried under a highway and was entirely
reconstructed, which is not necessary in the case of the Selbe. The result is a
very nice urban park, and landscaped canal, but not a natural river and
functioning ecosystem. A better reference would be to look at the restoration
of the Los Angeles River in the USA, or the Kallang River in Singapore.
I hope that the
next stage of the Selbe River restoration project can learn from the work
already completed, and use more sustainable and ecological methods in the next
stage, allowing more river to be restored within the allocated budget while
still meeting the multiple objectives of providing a flood channel, improving
flow and in-stream ecology, and offering green space within the city.
Andy Parkinson, Vietnam
Andy Parkinson is an environmental
consultant with expertise in ecological restoration and sustainable design.
Follow him on Twitter @ando_parkinson.
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