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Another diatribe against DASSK from
- Subject: Another diatribe against DASSK from
- From: brelief@xxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 05 Dec 1995 01:26:00
Subject: Another diatribe against DASSK from Michael Dobbs-Higginson
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A query: Who is "Michael Dobbs - Higginson", including nationality, present
employer, and address/fax/email if possible?
(A prize for the first person to give us some solid information, BRC - J)
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Taken from Soc.Culture.Burma with no indication where the
original came from. (We have our theories.)
WHAT IS THE NATIONAL LEAGUE FOR
DEMOCRACY REALLY UP TO?
(by Michael Dobbs-Higginson)
What is always interesting about the international media is
the clear bias that so many journalists have towards subjects
that they have taken a particular position on. This results in
distortions which the unknowing reader is not aware of, and
results in the reader believing erroneously that the relevant
commentary is a balanced and objective view. Such is
human nature in both respects!
Take for example two recent articles in the International
Herald Tribune (on Wednesday and Thursday the 29th and
30th November respectively) in one of the world's leading,
English language daily news papers about the reopening of
Myanmar's constitutional convention on Tuesday 28th
November. First of all why did both articles refer to the
country as Burma., the former name given by the British
colonial administration, instead of Myanmar the historic
name of the country before the British came. To persist in
doing this is basically an insult to the country.
Is it because Aung San Suu Kyi refuse to call the country
Myanmar and sticks stubbornly to the name Burma, and, in
turn the international media, with its biased and obsessive
focus on her and her activities, slavishly follows suit? This
behavior is indeed curious, as many other countries when, or
after, they achieved independence have renamed their
countries and the rest of the world accepts such new names.
This behavior is even more curious in that a simple poll of
the average Myanmar citizen reveals that the overwhelming
response is a preference for, and a national pride in, the
traditional name Myanmar rather that the British name
Burma. Maybe it is because Suu Kyi, having lived abroad
for (28) years - most of her adult life doesn't really feel in
her heart that she is a true Myanmar national. Alternatively,
maybe it is both because the original BAMAR (changed by
the British to Burma as it was easier for them to pronounce)
people came from the Yangon to Mandalay region and also
from the delta region and because Suu Kyi and her family
are originally from the town of NATMAUK (between
Yangon and Mandalay), she feels that she is a Burmese
person rather than a Myanmar person. If this is correct or
even partly correct, how can she claim that she represents
the country of Myanmar which incorporates many different
regions and so many different ethnic groups. Surely she
must realize that the current government thinks of the
Myanmar country as a whole and that one of its principle
objectives is to develop a sense of national unity which is
critical for the future, peaceful, social and economic
development of Myanmar. Her continuing resistance in
referring to the country as Burma (BAMAR) must cause
other ethnic groups to question her true agenda for the
future of the country as a whole. Or is her reaction possibly
also a rather childish way of rejecting the current
government because the previous government under Senior
General Saw Maung (1988-92) renamed the country
Myanmar. Again an attitude which is not exactly helpful in
developing a sense both of fairness to all ethnic groups and
of national unity.
Returning to the two newspaper articles, the first 29th
November article was very short and the only substantive
point was that "Suu Kyi's party the National League for
Democracy (NLD) attended the reopening of Burma's
Constitutional Convention, a meeting she had threatened to
boycott." No journalist name was mentioned. The second
30th November article was very negative about the current
government. It was written by Phillip Shenon for the New
York Times Service and reprinted in the International
Herald Tribune. It is interesting to note that while he is no
doubt a very competent journalist, he is also a very close
friend of Michael Aris, the English husband of Suu Kyi! In
his article he states that "the NLD would boycott the
Convention." This is an example of the journalistic bias I
referred to above. In fact the NLD actually attended the
convention on Tuesday 28th November - it then walked out
because they claimed that the opening speech by the
National Convention Session Chairman Lt. Gen. Myo Nyunt
was not to their linking - what an absurd pretext! Apart
from this inaccurate and biased reporting what is more
interesting to question is the NLD's motives in walking out
of the Convention. It could be argued that from a strategic
point of view, if the NLD had actually boycotted the
Convention (i.e. without attending it at all) , this would have
made them seem petty and unreasonable. So instead it is
probable that they attended briefly knowing full well they
would walk out using any pretext at all and thus get
maximum international positive press coverage.
What Suu Kyi and the NLD party don't seem to care about,
because of their own self - interest agenda, is that their
"game- playing" could lead to the international press
becoming even more sensationalist, biased and hostile
towards the current government. Much more importantly
this will in turn negatively affect international investor's
attitudes towards Myanmar and thus reduce the level of
foreign funds being invested in Myanmar.
What these naive and irresponsible people don't realize is
that the current government under senior General Than Shwe
has made remarkable strides since late 1992 in opening up
the Myanmar economy to serious foreign investment. What
they and the ordinary people of Myanmar also don't realize
is that the international investment community which is
practical, open and fair (quite different to the international
press community) is becoming increasingly unsatisfied by
both China's and Vietnam's lack of a proper legal system, the
frequent breaking of signed contracts, the high level of
corruption and the general confusion caused by all these
factors plus the old communist ideologues fighting with the
new business oriented ones. By contrast Myanmar with its
resources and in particular, with the pleasant and highly,
moral disposition of its people makes it a very attractive
investment alternative to these other two countries.
As a result of the current Myanmar governments strong and
positive efforts and of the above dissatisfaction with some
countries there is a clearly defined swing of widespread,
international investment interest towards Myanmar. If the
NLD party, which is hardly a cohesive one due to its
squabbling factions each with its own different agenda,
continues to behave in this irresponsible and selfish way, the
victim of these actions will not be the current government.
Instead, the victim will be the ordinary Myanmar citizen
whose opportunity to gain better education, health care,
better infrastructure services ( such as electricity, water,
sewerage, roads and so on) and the chance over all to
improve their lives, will be severely damaged if foreign
governments do not offer aid and foreign investors do not
invest. All because of their perceptions that the country
might have more civil unrest or even civil disturbances due
to the NLD's actions. It is therefore time that the ordinary
Myanmar person (not just the Burmese people) took a more
active interest in the other dark and selfish side of the NLD
activities. If the ordinary people had a clearer idea, it is not
unreasonable to think that a large number of them might
prefer to support the current government - under its
administration a clear structure is emerging and real
progress is being made. I personally am more than nervous
about the terrifying thought of a faction ridden, naive and
totally inexperienced NLD party trying to govern Myanmar
at this stage of its development.
In conclusion, while I could return to the rest of Phillip
Shenon's article and show a series of clear alternative
pictures to the ones he paints, I would rather leave the
reader to arrive at his or her own conclusion on the major
issues I have outlined above. *********
(Reprinted as found, spelling errors, etc. not ours)
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