London ABSRF food fair update.

[omtun@xxxxxxxxxx]

Email: omtun@xxxxxxxxxx
Date: 22/04/96


A POST CARD FROM LONDON


About three hundred Burmese and foreign guests took a

delightful 'gastronomic tour' at a fund raising food fair 

sponsored by the All Burma Students Relief Fund (ABSRF) 

in a hall in North West London on Sunday (yesterday).



The ABSRF have been holding such charity food fairs in

London since 1992, approximately twice a year. The ABSRF

have already sent an impressive sum of #39,434-50

to the students, so far. The event held yesterday

(which collected nearly #3,000-00 according to the

latest news) was the 8th in about 4 years. The profits 

from the magnificent food stalls, no fewer than 12, 

which were set up by ABSRF members and several Burmese 

democracy csupporters, will go some way towards the 

specific and general needs of some of those students 

in the border areas who have been resiliently fighting 

against the more numerous and better armed SLORC

mercenaries for the achievement of democracy 

and human rights in Burma.



Thinking about the students, one cannot escape from the

overwhelming sentiments and the outrageous memories of their 

innumerable sacrifices, inexpressible sufferings and unforgetable 

brave deeds during their relentless struggle to FREE BURMA from 

the military tyranny.  So, one likes to humbly express the profound

and heartfelt appreciation to all the Students in the Burma-Thai 

border areas; the Burma-China border areas; the Burma-India border 

areas; the Burma-Bangladesh border areas; Burma ( inside and 

outside the SLORC's prisons); the various countries in the East and 

the West; and to the outstanding student leader-  MIN KO NAING. 

One would also like to wish ALL OF THEM a satisfying and 

victorious  NEW YEAR, wherever they are.



Coming back to the gastronomic delights displayed at the stalls 

around the hall where the ABSRF charity food fair was taking place, 

lots of people, the Burmese and non-Burmese, were seen busily 

devouring their favourite foods from the wide variety of 

Burmese cuisine, and some were still in the process of making 

hard choices from the delicious menu.  All were either sitting at 

the tables laid there or jostling in the narrow spaces, looking 

and exchanging pleasantries to each other. It was not only 

a charming occasion for the gourmet cooks and the connoisseurs of 

international foods and delicacies, but also a joyful opportunity 

for the Burmese and the foreign supporters alike to meet up 

and enjoy each others' company in the enchanting atmosphere of

the Burmese New Year.



It's always nice to enjoy the exquisite food and delicacies -

consisting of twelve main dishes and ten other delicacies - oneself,

and to see others enjoying them, especially for the good purpose

of collecting funds for the needy students championing the cause

of democracy. But, one cannot help recalling the unhappy food 

situation and sky-rocketing food prices facing one's fellow country 

people in Burma today. The democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi 

has been vividly exposing the tragic situations prevailing in Burma,

to the outside world, in her well known letters to the" Mainichi Daily

News" in Japan. In her letter No.7. entitled "Breakfast Blues", she 

speaks about debilitating inflation facing the ordinary Burmese 

people by mentioning facts and figures. She has compared the prices 

of the food today with the prices of the food that prevailed before 1990.

People can get the details in her letter mentioned above.



But, to quote her letter a little roughly, the present prices 

of chicken and mutton were 400 kyats a viss (about 1.6 kilograms) 

while pork was 280 kyats,shrimps 100 kyats and giant prawns  

over 1000 kyats a viss. At the same time the price of an average dish 

of 'mohinga' has gone up to 15 kyats.


According to my own calculations, the prices in general have climbed

up to 3 to 4 times within 4-5 year time. That is the inflation rate

for the ordinary Burmese people today. So, if one likes to make a 

wish to all the people in Burma to have a happy and prosperous year, 

one wonders whether it might sound hollow, unrealistic and even 

ridiculous to some people under the prevailing circumstances?


However, most people are fully aware that "even a week is a very, 

very long time in politics" and every Buddhist believes that 

"nothing is permanent and everything is subject to change."
 
Moreover, it is better to be upbeat than downbeat and better 

to be positive than negative. So, we, in London, would neverthless 

wish a Happy and Prosperous New Year to all the people in Burma!