BurmaNet News: April 12, 2001

[strider@xxxxxxxxxxx]

______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
        An on-line newspaper covering Burma 
         April 12, 2001   Issue # 1777
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________

INSIDE BURMA _______
*BBC: Burma rejects 'EU bullying'
*Irrawaddy: Like Father, Like Daughter
*AP: Thailand sends fire trucks to quell fire in Myanmar border town
*World Association of Newspapers: "Appalling Conditions" for Jailed 
Journalists in Burma

REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*Bangkok Post: Inside Politics
*BBC News: Indian lawyer fights for Burmese rebels
*BBC: Burmese rebels to petition UNHCR
*AP: 500 migrant workers arrested at Thai-Myanmar border
*Xinhua: China Presents Literature Title to Myanmar Poet

ECONOMY/BUSINESS _______
*Myanmar Times: Property Moves
*Xinhua: Myanmar's Foreign Trade Up 13.8 Percent in 2000

OPINION/EDITORIALS_______
*FTUB (Japan): Objection letter to Japanese foreign minister on large 
scale ODA to Burmese government
*The New Light of Myanmar (SPDC): Covering the carcass of an elephant 
with a goat hide

FEATURE______
*Irrawaddy: Strangers in a Changed Land


__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________





BBC: Burma rejects 'EU bullying'

April 11, 2001


The military government in Burma has rejected the extension of European 
sanctions on the country as bullying tactics. 

In a statement to the BBC, the Foreign Ministry says Burma will 
disregard foreign pressure, and that Burma is a dignified country which 
refuses to beg. 

On Monday, the European Union announced that continuing human rights 
abuses in Burma warranted the extension of sanctions for another six 
months. 

Europe has banned visits from ruling military generals, refused arms 
sales and suspended non-humanitarian aid. 

The sanctions remain under review and the European Union has welcomed 
signs of what it's described as meaningful dialogue between the leaders 
of the regime and the pro-democracy movement. 



___________________________________________________




Irrawaddy: Like Father, Like Daughter

Vol 9. No. 3, March-April 2001

by Aung Zaw

Sandar Win, 50 something, prefers to be called Dr. Daw Khin Sandar Win. 
During the BSPP era, Sandar served as a "bridge" between Ne Win and BSPP 
officials who wanted help from or meetings with her father. During the 
1988 uprising, she was unpopular among the general public, as she was 
suspected of playing a major role in the suppression of the uprising.

Sandar keeps in contact with Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, thus she is influential 
and able to acquire business concessions. Outspoken former deputy 
minister Zaw Htun, who last year criticized the regime?s economic 
policy, was not thrown into jail because of Sandar and her connections. 
Zaw Htun?s father is U San Maung, one of the Election Commissioners 
during the 1990 election. The former senior civil servant is close to Ne 
Win?s family.

Sandar Win is regarded as sharp and calm. A dissident leader recalled 
having a phone conversation with her. He soon discovered that she was 
surprisingly cool, despite his strong remarks about her father?s role in 
the killings in 1988.

Sandar and her husband run several businesses in Rangoon, including the 
Nawarat Hotel and the Thai-owned Bumrungrad Hospital, for which they are 
national representatives.

The couple is also involved in the telecommunications business. Sky-Link 
Communications Ltd, a British Virgin Islands-registered company, planned 
to install a US$144-million mobile phone system in Burma last year. A 
local company, Myanmar Sky-Link, was awarded the contract to install the 
system, which will eventually be transferred to the state-owned Myanmar 
Post and Telecommunications. The couple has a major share in the 
company. 

According to a well-placed source in Rangoon, however, the launch of 
Sky-Link?s global satellite phone system has been delayed due to 
conflicts among share holders. 

In June last year, businessman Aik Htein became a managing director of 
Sky-Link, now opened at Sedona Hotel. Aik Htein is an influential 
shareholder in Myanmar May Flower Bank, Yangon Holdings and Yangon 
Airways. May Flower Bank?s chairman Kyaw Win is accused of being 
connected to drug dealers including former druglord Khun Sa. Aik Htein 
is believed to be close to ethnic Wa and Chinese businessmen.

Sandar?s sister, Kyemon Win, keeps her distance from Ne Win. Along with 
other women painters Kyemon recently held an exhibition in Rangoon. 




___________________________________________________



AP: Thailand sends fire trucks to quell fire in Myanmar border town 

April 11, 2001

MAE SOT, Thailand (AP) _ Thailand sent fire trucks to quell a nighttime 
blaze in a border town in neighboring Myanmar that left 100 people 
homeless early Thursday, Thai officials said. 
 Myanmar officials ran across the Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge seeking 
help after the blaze broke out in Myawaddy, where residents and the 
single fire engine could not bring it under control. Myanmar is also 
known as Burma. 

 Five fire engines and two water trucks were dispatched from the Thai 
town of Mae Sot, Mae Sot district Gov. Samart Loifar said. 
 Three brick buildings and 12 wooden homes were destroyed. Those left 
homeless took shelter in a Buddhist temple in the town, Myanmar vendors 
said. 
 No casualties were reported. 

 The fire may have been started by a neglected gas stove and is 
estimated to have caused 500 million kyats (dlrs 1 million) damage, said 
the vendors in Mae Sot, 370 kilometers (230 miles) northwest of Bangkok. 




___________________________________________________






World Association of Newspapers: "Appalling Conditions" for Jailed 
Journalists in Burma

Paris, 9 April 2001

The World Association of Newspapers and World Editors Forum have called 
on Burma to immediately release journalists San San Nweh and U Win Tin, 
who are to receive the Golden Pen of Freedom award at the World 
Newspaper Congress and World Editors Forum in Hong Kong in June.

The two journalists both suffer health problems and are being held in 
appalling conditions, the Paris-based organisations said in a letter to 
General Than Shwe, head of the Myanmar State Peace and Development 
Council, as the military government of Burma is known.

The imprisonment of San San Nweh and U Win Tin "constitute a deep 
blemish on the international standing of Myanmar which can only be 
erased by their release," said the letter, signed by WAN President Roger 
Parkinson and WEF President Ruth De Aquino.

San San Nweh, imprisoned in 1994 for "anti-government reports" and U Win 
Tin, who was jailed in 1989, are the winners of the 2001 Golden Pen of 
Freedom, the annual WAN press freedom prize.

The award, which was made in recognition of their outstanding 
contribution to the cause of press freedom, is to be presented on 4th 
June at the 54th World Newspaper Congress and 8th World Editors Forum in 
Hong Kong, the annual meetings of the world's press.

Dissident writer San San Nweh, 57, was editor of two journals ¡ Gita 
Ppade-tha and Einmet-hpu ¡ and is a novelist and poet.

She was imprisoned for ten years in August 1994 for "anti-government 
reports" to French journalists and for "providing information about the 
human rights situation to the UN special rapporteur for Burma." 

 She is reportedly sharing a tiny cell with three other political 
'convicts' ¡ forced to squat because of lack of head room, and allowed 
to talk for only 15 minutes a day. She is suffering from liver disease, 
arthritis, partial paralysis and eye problems.

U Win Tin is the former editor of the daily Hanthawati newspaper, 
vice-chair of the Burmese Writers Association and a founder of the 
National League of Democracy, Burma's main pro-democracy party whose 
landslide election victory in 1990 was not recognised by the military 
regime.

He was arrested in 1989, tried in a closed military court and sentenced 
to 14 years in prison for allegedly being a member of the banned 
Communist Party of Burma. He has now served 11 years of that sentence. 

According to information received by WAN, U Win Tin was crippled by 
prison guards who beat him severely and repeatedly when he was being 
held in the notorious Insein Prison.  Accused of smuggling out letters 
detailing the conditions in the prison, he was transferred to a former 
guard-dog kennel and kept in solitary confinement for just under a year, 
until he was sentenced to an additional five years imprisonment for 
possessing writing materials.

In 1997, on the verge of death, U Win Tin was transferred from Myingyan 
Jail to Rangoon General Hospital. According to reports, he is still in 
jail and his sentence will only expire in 2008.

WAN, the global association of the newspaper industry, has awarded the 
Golden Pen annually since 1961. Past winners include Argentina's Jacobo 
Timerman (1980), Russia's Sergei Grigoryants (1989), and Vietnam's Doan 
Viet Hoat (1998). The 2000 winner was Nizar Nayouf of Syria.




___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
				



Bangkok Post: Inside Politics


April 12, 2001 




The proof is in the actual results but there are some people who believe 
Burma is willing to lend a hand in ending the flow of drugs from inside 
its borders. u Success comes to those who wait, or at least are members 
of political parties in which the other members are pretty unpopular. u 
Also available to those who wait is a reconciliation with the nation's 
police force. 

More talks with Burma on working together to end the flow of drugs from 
that country have been scheduled for early next month when Gen Thammarak 
Issarangkul na Ayudhya, the PM's Office minister in charge of the Office 
of the Narcotics Control Board, pops over to Rangoon. 

A meeting at the local level in Kengtung last week made some initial 
ground. 

The head of the Thai delegation at that meeting, Lt-Gen Wattanachai 
Chaimuenwong, commander of the Third Army based in the North, was 
satisfied with the outcome, in particular Burma's expressed desire to 
work with Thailand to hit the drug traffickers working along the border. 


His opposite number at that meeting, Maj-Gen Thein Sein, also promised 
to help destroy any drug factories found operating near the border, but 
only if Thailand found them first and was able to give their exact 
whereabouts. 

"This is a good sign for further co-operation, especially on drug 
issues," Lt-Gen Wattanachai said after the meeting. This was in marked 
contrast to his earlier comments in which he said he could not imagine 
Burma really helping Thailand with the drug menace. 

Sensitive border issues that might create new tensions that could 
disrupt this new sense of co-operation were not raised in any formal 
sense at the meeting. 

These include Burmese suspicions that Thailand gives covert support to 
the Shan rebels fighting for independence from Rangoon and the Thai 
suspicions that the Burmese military junta is collaborating with the 
United Wa State Army in the production and trafficking of drugs. 

Lt-Gen Wattanachai has reportedly briefed Gen Thammarak, who also is in 
charge of national security matters, about the mood at the meeting. 

One who loiters about the corridors of Government House said Gen 
Thammarak had some ideas on how to work more closely with Rangoon on 
drug matters. He will raise these at the coming meeting. 

One proposal is to exchange drug officers to build up contacts across 
the border. 

This exchange, something never tried before, would mean posting the drug 
officers at their embassy. Part of their job would be to help overcome 
any misunderstandings that arise. 

"We will use this bridge to continue our co-operation on drug issues 
even during times when there are disputes over other border issues," 
said our man at Government House. "Gen Thammarak is quite optimistic 
that Burma will respond positively to this idea that would open a new 
chapter of co-operation." 




___________________________________________________



BBC News: Indian lawyer fights for Burmese rebels

April 9, 2001


A human rights lawyer in India has asked a court to order the release of 
thirty-six Burmese rebels who have been held without trial in India's 
Andaman Islands for more than three years.  
The rebels belong to the National Unity Party of Arakans and the Karen 
National Union, two outlawed Burmese groups.  

The lawyer Nandita Haksar, told the court in the Andaman Islands off the 
east coast of India that the prisoners should be released because 
India's Central Bureau of Investigation CBI had not brought any charges 
against them for over three years.  

But she said they should not be repatriated to Burma as their lives 
might be in danger there.  


___________________________________________________




BBC: Burmese rebels to petition UNHCR

A court in India's eastern Andaman islands has allowed the leaders of a 
group of 36 Burmese rebels to go to Delhi to appeal for the protection 
of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. 

The court said the five could stay in the capital for two months to 
present their case. 

The rebels, from the Arakan and Karen regions of Burma, have been held 
without trial on the Andaman Islands for more than three years. 

Their lawyer Nandita Haskar has asked the court to order their release, 
saying no charges have been brought against them. 

The rebels want UNHCR protection to ensure they are not deported to 
Burma where their lives might be in danger. 



___________________________________________________




AP: 500 migrant workers arrested at Thai-Myanmar border 

MAE SOT, Thailand (AP) _ Police arrested about 500 Myanmar migrants near 
a textile factory in a Thai border town for illegal entry into Thailand, 
officers and witnesses said Wednesday. 

 The migrants were hiding in a rice field near the Champion Knitting 
factory at Mae Sot, 370 kilometers (230 miles) northwest of Bangkok, 
when they were rounded up by police late Tuesday. The migrants will be 
deported, police said. 

 San Linn, 24, one of the arrested migrants, said the factory, that had 
employed more than 3,000 Myanmar migrants, had been closed down earlier 
this month after Thai residents complained it was causing environmental 
pollution. 

 ``If we had gotten our last month's salary, we would have left for 
Burma, but we didn't have enough money to travel back. We're hungry. We 
eat nothing,'' San Linn told The Associated Press at Mae Sot immigration 
detention center. 

 Police said the migrants would be sent back to Myanmar, also known as 
Burma. Mae Sot lies on the Thai side of the Thai-Myanmar Friendship 
Bridge. 

 Hundreds of thousands of Myanmar migrants stay illegally in Thailand, 
doing manual jobs for as little as 40 baht (90 cents) a day, a third of 
the Thai minimum wage. Thousands are deported every month, but many 
return. 


___________________________________________________




Xinhua: China Presents Literature Title to Myanmar Poet

YANGON, April 11 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Writers Association Wednesday 
honored Myanmar Deputy Culture Minister and noted poet U Soe Nyunt, the 
Chinese people's old friend, with a title of " Friendly Literature 
Envoy". Representing the Chinese Writers Association, Chinese Ambassador 
to Myanmar Li Jinjun presented the title to U Soe Nyunt in the presence 
of Myanmar Culture Minister U Win Sein and guests from different walks 
of life totaling over 300. Ambassador Li said at the presentation 
ceremony that the "Pauk- Phaw" (fraternal) friendship between China and 
Myanmar has been long standing. 

Culture is an important content in the friendly exchange and cooperation 
between the two countries. In recent five decades under the drive of 
leaders of the two countries, China and Myanmar have achieved 
unprecedented development in exchange and cooperation in the sector of 
culture, he noted. He concluded that the works of U Soe Nyunt, 
"Ayeyarwaddy- Yangtze Friendly Appraisal" is the outcome of impression 
of his visit to China for five occasions. At the ceremony, U Soe Nyunt 
said Myanmar-China friendly ties has a long history. The frequent 
exchange of visits of the leaders of the two countries has strengthened 
the Myanmar-China friendly ties. He pledged to make his best efforts to 
continue to contribute to the friendly cause of the two countries. The 
series of the poem "Ayeyarwaddy-Yangtze Friendly Appraisal" contain "The 
Great Wall", "The Friendship Song in Heart" and so on totaling more than 
40. 




_______________ ECONOMY AND BUSINESS _______________





Myanmar Times: Property Moves  

April 9, 2001


ACCORDING to the level of press advertising, and news from the local 
real estate world, the recession into which the Myanmar real estate 
sector plunged, two years ago, is finally showing signs of having 
bottomed out.Clear evidence that the property market is on the move 
again is limited to the lower end of the rental market for apartments, 
whose consumers are mainly middle class locals, and the mid-range market 
for houses in the secluded, quiet townships of Bahan and Kamayut, 
composed mainly of foreigners.There is enough reason to suppose, 
however, that the worst of the real estate crisis was over by the end of 
last year.Ko Aung Htet and other agents consulted by Myanmar Times still 
remember the halcyon days of 1996-1997 when an agent or broker would 
typically charge a landlord a fee equivalent to one month?s rent, 
US$1000-2000, to get a tenant into a house.
 

The rate has not changed, but the regularity with which it was earned 
plummeted post-1998.?Business was going so well in 1996-1997 that we 
could rent 20 houses a month,? Ko Aung Htet said.?Last year I was moving 
one house a month, but since the start of this year I have been renting 
out about seven a month.? One of the reasons for the subtle shift, 
according to local agents, could be the cooling of activity in other 
business sectors: Nearly one-third of property buyers now stepping into 
the market ? and boosting general demand for housing stock ? are doing 
so because their other business, such as the automobile trade, are 
experiencing a lull.Another factor cited by local brokers is the arrival 
in the Yangon housing market of successful businessmen from states 
including Kachin and Shan and from other major cities like Mandalay and 
Myitkyina. The lowest housing prices seen in the capital in five years 
are also attracting both buyers and lessees, and pushing the sluggish 
market into action.

?Houses which previously (two years ago) went for US$1000 are now only 
about US$500 per month,? said Ko Aung Htet, an established agent at the 
top end of the rental market. ?We can say that what was previously the 
high market is now the middle-market, and what used to be the middle 
market is now the low-end market.?The Aung Myin Thu General Service 
Company entered the market six months ago, and expects the sector to be 
?wide-awake within about two years?, said managing director U Soe Hla 
Tun. Most of his customers are Japanese, Korean, and Chinese expatriates 
looking for houses in the US$500-US$1000 per month range.He also deals, 
although rarely, with big companies that want to rent a house and land 
package and will ?pay up to US$3000 to make it their office as well as a 
residence?. He sees demand for top-of-the-line rental homes as being 
still depressed, with prices about half what they were in 1999.

And he has found that tenants extending leases are frequently winning 
reduced rates ? often about two-third of the original contract ? on 
their new agreements.But Ko Aung Htet said there was little basis for 
rental tenants to push for lower prices because ?on the side of the 
house owners, they should get at least house maintenance charges out of 
the rents?.Declining demand for properties, which reached its lowest ebb 
late last year before showing recent signs of consolidation, was 
influenced by the fact that ?late last year, some companies reduced 
their workforce?, he said.?Now the houses they rented are sitting 
vacant.? In recent months, however, the prices for mid-range houses had 
begun to rise.?Last month, a house that was normally US$500 was rented 
for US$700,? Ko Aung Htet said. ?I think one of the main factors might 
be that some new garment factories from Asian countries like China and 
Korea have opened up in Myanmar, and their staff rent the mid-range and 
low-market houses,? he said.

?Another thing is that some foreigners who have been living on the 
outskirts of Yangon, at places like Thuwanna and the nine-mile area are 
now moving to Yangon?s most preferred suburbs like Bahan and Kamayut 
townships.?They have become able to afford to rent in those previously 
expensive areas,? he said.U Thet Oo, Managing Director of the Aye Yar 
Myae Company, said his company most commonly let mid-range houses around 
the seven to eight-mile areas to foreigners whose work required easy 
access to the industrial zones on the city fringe.Location, location, 
location is the golden rule of the real estate sector, in Yangon as 
elsewhere. Areas close to the breadwinner?s workplace, schools, 
recreation centres and markets are most popular.Some of Yangon quietest 
streets in the hamlet of Golden Valley carry the city?s heftiest rental 
and sale price tags; Golden Valley Rd, Inya Rd, Inya Myaing Rd, 
University Avenue Rd, Than Lwin Rd, Kanbawza Rd and Dhama Zedi Rd are 
favourites for the well-heeled.

The reliability of the power supply was another key consideration for 
potential tenants, Ko Aung Htet said, and another reason behind the 
continuing popularity of areas like Golden Valley. ?You are more likely 
to get a regular power supply closer to the city, as opposed to out in 
the suburbs.? But that guarantee came with a price tag of about US$1000 
per month, he said.Houses rented for diplomatic and United Nations 
foreign staff typically attracted prices in the range of US$1500, and 
sometimes more than US$2000 per month, Ko Aung Htet said. The latter 
often included the best facilities that Yangon lifestyle had to offer; 
tennis courts, swimming pools and frontage of peaceful Inya 
Lake.Foreigner teachers and lower-ranked staff from non-elite foreign 
companies usually tended towards houses ranging from US$300 to US$1000, 
he said.




___________________________________________________




Xinhua: Myanmar's Foreign Trade Up 13.8 Percent in 2000

YANGON, April 12 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar's foreign trade, including the 
border trade, totaled 4.086 billion U.S. dollars in 2000, up 13.8 
percent from 1999, according to the country's Central Statistical 
Organization (CSO). Of the total trade volume, imports were valued at 
2.567 billion dollars, increasing by 6.51 percent, while export amounted 
to 1. 519 billion dollars, rising by 28.94 percent. However, the trade 
deficit stood at 1.048 billion dollars, the CSO said in its latest data 
released for 2000. During the year, the import value of consumers goods, 
capital goods and intermediate goods accounted for 44.2 percent, 28.2 
percent and 27.6 percent of the total imports respectively. Myanmar 
mainly exports agricultural products, timber and marine products. The 
figures also indicate that Myanmar's private sector is playing a leading 
role in the country's foreign trade. During the year, the import value 
of the private sector made up 76.8 percent of the total imports, while 
its export value represented 68.5 percent of the total exports. The 
import and export value of the government sector during the year 
accounted for only 23.2 percent and 31.5 percent respectively. Myanmar's 
main foreign trading partners are Singapore, China, Thailand and Japan. 

 

_______________OPINION/EDITORIALS_________________





FTUB (Japan): Objection letter to Japanese foreign minister on large 
scale ODA to Burmese government


(Please see the following letter)

To:
Mr. Yohei Kono
Foreign Minister
Ministry Of Foreign Affairs (Japan)
Tokyo

Subject:    Objection for considering to grant large scale ODA to 
Burmese
government

Dated '2001 April 10

Dear His Excellency Foreign Minister,

His Excellency made a commitment to visiting Burmese Deputy Foreign 
Minister
Mr. Khin Maung Win on April 9, yesterday, that Japan is considering 
offering
Burma's so-called SPDC (State Peace & Development Council), military 
regime,
a grant to repair aging Baluchaun hydroelectric power station. It will 
be
executed, as grant-in aid ODA, within the year and total 3.0 billion yen 
to
3.5 billion yen (US $24 millions to 28 millions.) It will be the largest 
aid
since the beginning of Japanese sanction against Burma in 1988. That 
news
was mentioned by several news agencies around the world.

Under the circumstances of Burma and international current situation 
while
keeping close watch on Burma's political climate, we'd like to urge His
Excellency that Japanese government would carefully consider the timing 
of
granting ODA for Burma.

We would like to suggest your esteemed Japanese government to verify
Japanese assistance to Burmese military junta. It would be held Japan's
responsibility if Japan's premature and untimely attempts resulted in
hurting any political developments of Burma.

We realized that Japan will be very cautious toward implementing the 
package
of  renovation on an aging power plant based on the genuine humanitarian
concerns. Even though, let us allow unveiling our grievous concerns of
probably sending a wrong signal to the Burmese military junta by this
Japanese assistance while dealing with democratic opposition. It can 
make
miscalculation for SPDC that it can achieve Japan's support without any
serious concession for the reconciliation processes.

It sounds nice for making the benefit of the people of Burma regarding
having electricity, by repairing an aging power station. But the true
situation in Burma is far from the actual humanitarian ground.

We'd like to explain His Excellency some other factors as follows:

(1) The rehabilitation of Baluchaun Power Plant would be implemented by 
very
high forced labor. It is quite sure especially considering the current 
ILO
resolution that there is no transparency or accountability in the way,
carrying out projects in Burma. It can't be guaranteed that -- forced 
labor
won't be involved in renovation of superannuated Baluchaung 
Hydroelectric
Power Plant that extended as part of wartime compensation in 1958.
(2) The figure, 3 - 3.5 billion yen, is quite a large sum especially for
grant-in-aid. Repairing Baluchaun Power Plant was conducted once in 1986
with Japanese (Overseas Economic Cooperative Fun) OECF loan amounting to
3.53 billion. It should be reconsidered why such a big amount is 
necessary
to repair again. It's jeopardy in the region out of day-by-day 
increasing of
Burma's military might. It's also can't be guaranteed that 3 - 3.5 
billion
yen (US $24 millions to 28 millions) won't be used for Burma military 
regime
's other purposes. It will be contradictive for chief Japanese ODA 
policy,
not to assist military establishment by ODA.

(3) Large Scale Landmines Planting by Burma military around the 
Baluchaun
Power Plant shouldn't also be ignored, as Japan has already signed the
International Anti-Landmine Treaty, a few years ago. Burma military did 
it
at the power plant since 1981 for security cause and several regional 
people
deceased due to accidental landmines bursting. Not only casualties, 
regional
people were also punished for accidental bursting landmines --  in terms 
of
money payment for each landmine bursting. Such incidents are always
mentioned in annual reports of United Nations' Human Rights Watch, every
year.

(4) As an economical point of view, Japan has just granted 1.7 billion 
yen
in debt relief upon SPDC, Burmese military regime. After the relieving 
of
the debt, the SPDC is supposed to make same amount of purchasing goods 
from
Japan for repairing the aging power plant. It is wondering why does 
Japan
need to assist 3 - 3.5 billion yen (US $24 millions to 28 millions) as a
grant for SPDC, on top of 1.7 billion yen in debt relief. If Baluchaun 
power
plant is so high a priority for SPDC, it should be able to cover a
significant amount thru the debt relief system.

(5) One more contradiction of humanitarian ground, regarding Japanese 
ODA
for the renovation of such power plant, is  --  regional Karenni ethnic
people, one of the poorest people in Burma, in Kaya State where the
Baluchaun Power Plant is located, do not have access the electricity 
from
Baluchaun Power Plant, at all, since the establishing of the power 
plant,
1960. Unfortunately, it becomes the irony of Japan's reason for helping 
the
poor in Burma by granting ODA for repairing the Baluchaun Power Plant.
(6) Regional farmers who usually irrigated their fields from Baluchaun 
River
upstream of the power plant, were strictly prohibited for irrigating by
military order since 1998. As there is no rain in some years, regional
farmers are facing the drought in order to lack of irrigating from
Baluchaunh River. SPDC makes ensure that water is not diverted for
agriculture so that enough water can flow to
the Baluchaun Power Plant to provide electricity to big cities only. 
It's
one of the examples of SPDC's thwarting policy of humanitarian efforts.

(7) There are also many military factories and military plants under 
Defense
Industries Department, Ministry of Defense and Heavy Industries Corp.,
Ministry of Industry (2), all over Burma. Quantity of such factories and
plants is more than civilian owned and other state-owned ones. It's also
wondering how much is this a factor in the SPDC's wanting to fix 
Baluchaun
Power Plant, as an another humanitarian argument.

(8) Japan is politically saying that giving aid to SPDC can encourage
dialogue between SPDC and opposition of Burma. "Secret Talking" between 
Aung
San Suu Kyi who represents National League for Democracy (NLD), 
opposition
party, and SPDC's Secretary (1), Lt. General Khin Nyunt, can't be 
defined as
DIALOGUE. Both sides haven't released any official announcement yet. 
It's
just still in Secret Talking only. On the other hand, Japan had recently
granted US $1.85 millions for Rangoon General Hospital and US $5.13 
millions
for a rural drinking water supply project in Shan State. But there are 
not
enough concrete signs of commitment on SPDC to justify increasing aid. 
If
Japan intends to signal a hint to SPDC for the dialogue, then granting 
aid
SPDC should be enough from now on. Large-scale development assistance to
Burma would flow after democratization in Burma.

(9) Even after repairing the Baluchaun Power Plant, no one can guarantee
that electricity would be distributed in fair and square by SPDC in 
Burma.

We would like to urge His Excellency that please restrains any kind of
Japanese assistance to Burmese military regime until the consensus is
emerged by the whole international community regarding with substantial
political developments.

With best regards,

Federation of Trade Unions - Burma (Japan)




___________________________________________________



The New Light of Myanmar (SPDC): Covering the carcass of an elephant 
with a goat hide


Sunday, 8 April, 2001 


  Aggression means the act of launching an armed invasion against 
another    countryÆs territory. As the invaders (especially Thai or 
Yodaya intruders)    had entered Taninthayi, Mawlamyine, Mottama and up 
to Oktha Pegu (Bago),    during the respective periods of Myanmar 
history, we only have a history of    Myanmar kings Anawrahta Min Saw, 
Tabinshwehti, Bayintnaung, Alaung- phaya    and Hsinbyushin crushing the 
intruders in the Myanmar territory and    pursuing them till reaching 
Ayudhaya, the capital of Thailand (Yodaya).    Myanmar has never 
launched invasions for no reason. It can also be seen in    the history 
of Thailand (compiled by Thais as well as westerners). The    ancient 
Myanmar kings launched historic battles against the invaders in    
crushing and driving them out of the country. 

  And throughout the successive eras of the modern history, Myanmar has 
never    launched any acts of aggression, against any countryÆs 
(especially the    neighbouring nationÆs) territory. The nation drove 
out KMT nationalist    Chinese troops who intruded upon Myanmar in the 
early 1950s. In every    crisis, Myanmar has acted with restraint, 
control and consideration.    Myanmar had to experience sufferings as it 
always acted with restraint and    avoided confrontation to the most 
possible degree. Recently, the SURA drug    bandits under the charge of 
Ywet Sit in collusion with some units of the    Thai army fired on 
Tachilek. 


  Thai army camps stationed at Loilan region in Myanmar territory  

  The Thai army stationed troops at 34 camps  nine on the borderline and 
25    in Myanmar territory  ignoring the many complaints filed by 
Myanmar against    the intrusion. Myanmar is patiently holding official 
meetings of the border    committee to discuss the matter. Thus, Myanmar 
is a country, which never    intrudes into anotherÆs territory, but has 
to face and solve the problems    of incursion into its territory. 
  Though the aggression mainly means the act of launching an armed 
invasion    against other countryÆs territory, interfering in or 
disturbing other    nationÆs internal affairs or meddling in the 
economic and social affairs is    also an act of encroachment upon other 
nationÆs sovereignty.    There might be opposition, anti-government 
opponents or armed insurgency in    every nation of the world. But such 
oppositions, disagreements or    insurgencies are only the internal 
affairs of the respective nation. No    foreign country should interfere 
in the internal affairs, should not have    the right to say which side 
is right and which side wrong and should not    give unfair support or 
encouragement to any side. 

Every nation should    respect these codes of conduct. The world will 
never be a peaceful and    stable place if foreign nations interferen 
and meddle in the internal    affairs of a country whenever there occurs 
opposition, disagreement or    rebellion in it. Concerning the morals of 
international relations, Myanmar    is a nation which can be put to test 
every where and any time. But Myanmar    has never accepted, 
accommodated, encouraged or supported any of the    opponents, 
oppositions or insurgents of the neighbouring countries China,    India, 
Bangladesh, Laos and Thailand. 

  However, opponents, armed insurgents, expatriates, absconders and 
opium    bandits of Myanmar have been permitted to take refuge in 
Thailand    conveniently throughout the successive eras. These 
trouble-maker terrorist    drug bandits have been branded as (1) 
democracy activists, (2) human rights    activists, (3) refugees and (4) 
ethnic freedom fighters, and provided them    with all necessary aid to 
launch opposition, terrorism and armed insurgency    against Myanmar. In 
reality, all these groups, whatever they are called,    are national 
traitors trying to destroy the Union of Myanmar under the    influence 
of foreign instigation. 

  At the end of 1969, a group of rightist politicians of Myanmar arrived 
at    Thailand as expatriates. Openly staying in downtown Bangkok, they 
were    sending terrorists into Myanmar to plant and explode mines and 
to commit    arson and murders in the nation. The then Thai officials 
denied accepting    Myanmar expatriates. The expatriates were enjoying a 
luxurious life in the    lanes of Sukhumvit Road at the city centre in 
Bangkok. A cartoon was    featured in Myanmar dailies during the time. 
In the cartoon were the Thai    ministers sitting at the round-table and 
pointing at the table surface said    "There is not a single expatriate 
in Thailand." But under the table was a    crouching expatriate leader. 


  (To be continued) 
   Author : Sein Lun 




_____________________FEATURE_____________________



Irrawaddy: Strangers in a Changed Land

March-April 2001

Returning to Burma after a four-year absence, a visitor discovers that 
change has brought only a deepened sense of estrangement, not optimism, 
to ordinary Burmese.



by Thalia Isaak

It is the beginning of February 2001, and the first time I?ve been in 
Mandalay for over four years. I ask the trishaw driver to take me to 
such-and-such a street at the corner of such-and-such a street. I am 
excited to be returning to a place still vivid in my memory. 




But when we arrive there, it is the site of a huge empty building and a 
wide, new road not yet being used by cars. A shantytown has sprung up 
along the remains of the construction site; on low-slung chairs and on 
mats on the ground, people doze through the heat of the mid-day sun. I 
look up and down the road. The trishaw driver, working under that same 
mid-day sun, does not show his impatience. What I am looking for is not 
here. Did we take wrong turn? I ask, "Where is the Chinese market?" 

Leaning over conspiratorially, the driver says in a faux-dramatic voice, 
"The Chinese market is everywhere." Then he laughs out loud. Obviously 
he is referring to the great, government-assisted influx of Chinese 
citizens into Upper Burma. With little or no prompting, many people 
complain of the increasing Chinese presence in the city. He begins to 
pedal again, until we are coasting along the dusty, pot-holed road. 
Suddenly he brakes the trishaw, wipes his forehead and spreads his arms 
wide. "All Mandalay is the Chinese market. But the old Chinese 
marketplace, what you?re looking for, that is gone." He points to the 
still-empty building. "This is the new railway station."

I spent so many hours in that market, returning day after day to wander, 
practice my Burmese, take photographs. There was a young couple who sold 
thanaka wood; they?d just had a baby girl and were already worried about 
how they would educate her. Their today involved a very focused struggle 
to make enough money for their tomorrow, but they were determined, 
despite poverty, despite "the situation," to give their daughter a full, 
rich life. Their conviction in this regard, and their sense of humor, 
about almost everything, was inspiring. We laughed a lot together, 
sometimes to the point of breathlessness and tears. Our connection was 
not about politics. We enjoyed each other?s company, the whole elaborate 
yet simple Burmese ritual of talking and talking over cups of sweet tea. 


Now I have come back to Mandalay, for just a few busy days. I?ve been 
hoping to meet these good people again. I?ve brought a small gift for 
their four-year-old girl. 

But the entire marketplace is gone. 

I feel curiously bereft. 

In an attempt to understand Burmese friends on the Thai-Burmese border 
and in Western countries, I extrapolate this minor experience of 
dislocation, this failed attempt to return to a place which no longer 
exists. After so many years in difficult and often dangerous exile, what 
will it be like for Burmese people to go home? The towns and cities 
where they grew up will no longer be the towns and cities of their 
memories. So many things have changed, both within Burma and within 
their own lives. 

Of migrant workers, the novelist John Berger has written, "[His family] 
talks of his final return. The final return is mythic. It is the stuff 
of longing and prayers. It gives meaning to what otherwise might be 
meaningless. But it is also mythic in the sense that, as imagined, it 
never happens. There is no final return."

These words ring in my mind as I walk around Rangoon and Mandalay, 
seeing things as they are now, remembering things as they were when I 
left, trying to comprehend the passage of time, and the human lives, in 
between. How much does a cup of tea cost now? This is a question people 
will ask when I go back to Thailand, back to North America, when I visit 
London in the spring. It is impossible to think or to speak or to write 
only about Burma, one country at the convenient end of a plane ticket. I 
am compelled to refer to Burmese people on the border, on many borders, 
to think back to them, to address them in my mind as I write. It is 
strange to enter freely the country they were forced to leave. 

December 1996 was the last time I was in the capital city. I departed 
shortly after student protests climaxed at Hledan Junction, when the 
military charged the onlookers and rounded up the remaining protestors. 
I spent that night, very gratefully, in a Burmese family?s house with a 
group of young men who had also run away from the soldiers. 


By all accounts, it was a very tense month. While moving across the 
city, Daw Suu Kyi?s car was attacked by a group of armed men. Tanks and 
battalions of gun-toting soldiers filled the streets of the inner city. 
University Avenue was a barbed-wired no-man?s land equipped with Bren 
guns and thirsty soldiers. The riot police descended upon protesting 
students in many different areas of Rangoon. Before the protest at 
Hledan Junction, I watched a military commander savagely beat a 
protester?or perhaps just an innocent observer of the protest?with a 
wooden truncheon. It was the first time I witnessed the violence so many 
people had told me about. The image and the sound of that unarmed man 
being beaten to the ground haunted me for a long time. 

By extraordinary contrast, downtown Rangoon of February 2001 presents a 
different facet of its personality. The streets are filled with busy 
people rushing to work, busy people laughing and talking as they set up 
their wares on crammed sidewalks. There are a lot more cars now, and an 
astonishing array of plastic stuff, even red, yellow, green, blue 
teashop stools. During the two weeks I spend visiting friends and 
acquaintances here, it becomes a running joke. Writers, political 
observers, teachers, healthcare employees, artists, and a few students 
without overt political connections all agree that modern development 
has come to the Golden Land in the form of CPN: Cars, Plastic, and 
NGO?s. 

These are not the only changes. Somewhere in the city, a meeting is 
taking place between representatives of the ruling junta, the State 
Peace and Development Council, and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the 
democratic opposition. Soldiers are still stationed around government 
buildings, but they look very bored, and?this amazes me, because it is 
so different than 1996?they are not averse to exchanging a few pleasant 
words if I begin by explaining that I am lost, will you help me? This 
morning, by happenstance, I share a cab with a German tourist who 
remarks, "For a military dictatorship, there certainly isn?t a lot of 
military around." She sounds vaguely disappointed. 

I do not repeat her comment to the man I am going to visit, because I 
know it would irritate him. Having spent many years in prison, several 
of them in solitary confinement, he understands only too well that the 
presence or absence of machine guns in the streets is only a small part 
of living under a dictatorship. Besides, anyone who pays serious 
attention to the situation in Burma knows that the military has been 
stockpiling weapons for use, and using them, against their own populace 
for many years. 

Dangerous weapons do not have to be made out of metal. My friend begins 
our meeting by talking about the disappointment of the young men and 
women who have not gone and probably will never go to university. The 
military has kept most universities and some high schools closed since 
1988. "Uneducated people are easy to fool. It doesn?t matter that some 
schools are open now. They have become like every other public 
institution in Burma: corrupt to the point of uselessness. We used to 
have fine universities?remarkable places of learning. Now, like 
everything else, they are sub-standard. Each new generation of young 
people is more and more cynical. How can they not be cynical?" 

"Are you cynical?" I ask.

He smiles brightly. "Oh, no. I am just very realistic. I know this 
regime very well. You learn a lot in prison! I know they will not give 
up their power. Though I truly support and admire her, the problem with 
The Lady is that she is truly a lady. She talks like a gentlewoman. But 
the generals are not gentlemen. They only know the language of violence. 
She is a great believer in non-violence, like Gandhi, but Gandhi was a 
populist leader. He agitated the people to struggle, to march, to 
demonstrate. He relied on the masses, he didn?t tell them to be quiet. 
He understood that he was nothing without the masses acting beside him."

Over a glass of plain tea, his eyes glitter and his voice jumps nimbly 
from one topic to another. We talk for a long time. At one point, 
discussing Rangoon, I venture, "But it does seem different this time." 
There is an openness and an energy that was not possible in 1996. This 
is a very subjective observation, I know, based on a few days of 
wandering around and listening to people gossip and expound. But the 
news in Burma is very subjective. Unlike the last time I was here, no 
one in mirrored sunglasses has followed me around or ripped film out of 
my camera. Subjectively, I think this is a very good thing. 

My friend moves his glass of tea out of the way and leans over the 
table. He is frowning ever so slightly. "Just the other night, I stood 
at my window and watched a policeman slap a civilian?s face and start 
screaming at him and beating him right there in the street." Rising from 
his chair, he goes to the window and points to where the incident 
occurred. He hurriedly explains the details, then finishes the story by 
sitting down and looking at me with a tired expression. 

A moment passes. All that can be heard from the street now is the 
growing clamor of traffic and voices, people hawking things below the 
window, water-sellers banging their aluminum cups. "But don?t you think 
the dialogue between Daw Suu Kyi and the regime is a positive sign?"

He shakes his head. "What kind of dialogue do you have between a jailer 
and a prisoner? The generals are trying to cheat the world community, 
and the world community?well, the business community?wants to get into 
Burma as much, as deeply, as they can, so they are very anxious for good 
news. Now the generals are being congratulated for softening their 
stance. What softening? She is still not allowed to move. Most of the 
MP?s are still in prison. And every day there is torture and violence in 
those prisons. The entire judicial system is corrupt. We still have no 
free newspapers or organizations. It is still against the law to 
establish a private library." 

His voice has fallen almost to a whisper, but it is an intense, sharp 
whisper, the most quiet way of yelling. He emphasizes certain words with 
the movement of his hands. "Every day there is murder and rape in the 
ethnic areas. Last year, I visited Moulmein, the Mon state capital. I 
couldn?t find people speaking Mon there anymore. Just recently, a friend 
visited Taungyi and came back with the news that the whole Pao area of 
the city is gone, only Chinese from China live there now. Our ethnic 
groups are endangered species. They are being exterminated by this 
military government, the same one that is now being commended for 
talking with The Lady and letting NGO?s into the country!"

Listening to him, I feel like a member of the world community, which is, 
of course, exactly what I am, anxious for good news. Perhaps reading my 
mind, he continues, "A lot of Western media, a lot of foreigners, are 
falling into the trap of this military regime." He stands up again in 
agitation. "Those NGO?s have become the pawns of the generals. They?re 
always being mentioned in the paper as an example of how open the 
country is, how the generals have allowed them in to help the people. 
Help the people they are crushing every day! It?s just theatre. Where is 
all that money going? Into the pockets of the generals and into the 
pockets of the white people who come here to do the aid work! Aid money 
from the West is not going to topple this military government. We need 
moral and political support. We have enough theatre in Burma already. We 
are sick of it." 

The next day, a friend who is a doctor picks up where he left off. She 
believes the junta is getting very good at dissimulation. "They hired 
Western media consultants. Now they understand how important it is to 
look nice." She laughs. "Our nice dictators. Have you seen a copy of the 
Myanmar Times? It?s in color, edited by foreigners. Some profiles 
portray the generals as misunderstood men who are working hard to 
improve their country." She pauses. "People who have suffered under the 
regime cannot read that sort of thing without feeling very bitter." 



She describes losing a patient to an unnecessary wound infection after a 
successful minor surgery. Due to lack of money and equipment, even the 
operating rooms in the major hospitals are not always properly 
disinfected. Complications due to wound infection are a serious, 
recurring problem, and the cheap antibiotics most readily available to 
treat infection are of an inferior quality. Another patient from a 
satellite town died because he did not have enough money to come into 
the city for treatment. "Some NGO?s have helped with money to treat poor 
patients. But the problem is not just treatment and medication. Poverty 
prevents them from traveling into the city." The number of tuberculosis 
diagnoses continues to rise. People will take drugs for a week, two 
weeks, until they feel slightly better, until they can work again. Then 
they will stop their treatment. "I asked one of our patients why she 
stopped taking her medicine; she said it was more important to feed her 
children. What could I say to her? How do you make a choice that is not 
a choice?" 

It is true that there are no articles in The Myanmar Times discussing 
the critical situation of healthcare in Burma. I?ve seen only the latest 
edition of that nicely laid-out newspaper. It gives a distilled, 
one-sided version of the news, but I was surprised to read an article 
about HIV/AIDS, and how a group of local businessmen in Rangoon are 
trying to address the problem of discrimination against people with 
AIDS. 

When I mention this to the doctor, she replies, "Yes, that is a good 
thing. Though we don?t know if they?re doing what they say they?re 
doing." She gives me a sly smile. "I hope you don?t believe everything 
you read. The Myanmar Times is a Western act of propaganda, designed to 
make foreigners think they are reading real news. Burmese people are not 
fooled because we are accustomed to lies, but Westerners read it and 
think, ?Oh, this is very good, things are fine here.? If the government 
is genuinely interested in stopping the spread of AIDS, it would be 
helpful to allow writers and journalists to use the word ?condom? in 
their articles and stories. That word is still consistently censored."

Talking about HIV/AIDS leads to a discussion about the growing presence 
of NGO?s inside Burma. In 1996, when there were few NGO?s working on 
projects in the country, their work was not a common topic of 
discussion. But now many people I meet with want to talk about them. 
There are over a dozen foreign-based non-governmental organizations 
doing aid and development work in healthcare and agriculture. 

Just a week ago, before leaving the Thai-Burmese border, I listened to 
several debates about whether or not foreign NGO?s in Burma lend 
legitimacy, and give money, to a corrupt and brutal regime. Inside the 
country, there is no debate: it is an acknowledged and accepted fact the 
SPDC is using the non-governmental organizations in every way they can. 
But this is the price most people are willing to pay for access to even 
the possibility of change, of education, of contact with the outside 
world. To quote the doctor, how do you make a choice that is not a 
choice? 

In The Myanmar Times and the local tourism and culture magazine Today, 
the aid organizations are listed conspicuously as "foreign missions." 
Some of the big ones are here: UNICEF, World Vision, International Red 
Cross, Save The Children, Medecins Sans Frontieres, the United Nations 
High Commission for Refugees. The doctor does not condemn their work, 
though she is realistic about what they are able to do. She knows both 
foreigners and Burmese people working for several different NGO?s. "In 
the tradition of the SPDC, first you have to pay. Then you can do some 
small, good thing. And then, of course, you have to pay again. 

"The NGO?s are learning this. Some of them are able to do good work, 
particularly outside of the cities, where they have more freedom. 
Condoms are being distributed free of charge up and down the Irrawaddy 
Delta, with an explanatory pamphlet about how to use them properly, and 
information about HIV/AIDS. Most people in the countryside don?t even 
know what AIDS is, so this is a big step, an important step. If the NGO 
wasn?t here, this work wouldn?t get done. But everything depends on the 
military commanders in the area. If they don?t want work done in a 
certain town or village, they have the power to stop it completely, and 
sometimes they do."

Our conversation swings back to the news being discussed on both sides 
of the border. "The talks?" Like most people I will speak to in the next 
few days, the doctor is skeptical. "How can you have a dialogue with 
just two sides in a country full of ethnic groups and political parties? 
I think Daw Suu Kyi?s in there alone. This is just a continuation of the 
intense isolation she is forced to struggle against. She has become 
isolated from the people because she is not permitted to have normal 
contact with them. Despite this, the people continue to believe in her. 
She is the image of their hope.

"I wonder what the dialogue is about. Daw Suu Kyi and the military are 
so far away from each other. They can only be approaching each other, 
circling around each other. It could take six months, a year, two years, 
before real exchange begins. The generals will have to give a general 
amnesty for all the political prisoners before we will believe in their 
sincerity. Will they do that? I don?t know. Who knows? I like to believe 
change is possible without violence. There is so much emotion when we 
discuss politics in Burma, because we have suffered for a long time 
under this government. But solving our problems will not happen with 
emotional thinking. We blame the military and the military blames us. We 
have to get out of this cycle."


There is other news, too, stories and photographs from Thailand, from 
the border. She is very curious about the work of a colleague she 
greatly admires, but has never met: Dr. Cynthia Maung. I show her 
pictures of the Mae Tao Clinic and of the gentle, tough woman who has 
worked so hard to build it, aided by a burgeoning clan of helpers and 
medics and other doctors. My friend has never seen a photograph of Dr. 
Cynthia; she looks at the pictures for long, careful minutes. "I would 
love to meet her some day. She has done such great work. More and more 
of us know what she is doing, and we support her. We support everyone 
who is working on the border. You will tell people that, won?t you? They 
are our brothers and our sisters in this struggle. We know they will 
come back. And then the real work will begin. It will take so many years 
to rebuild our country. But we won?t give up. We are all citizens of 
Burma." 

Who speaks the words I quote here? Is she really a woman, a doctor? Is 
the first friend I mentioned really a man? I cannot resist the cautious 
impulse to confuse their genders, their professions; to suggest that 
perhaps they live in Pegu, or Mandalay. A measure of how much things 
have not changed is the anxiety people continue to have over protecting 
their identities. Friends who know I will not use their names cannot 
stop themselves from adding the customary, "And you will not use my 
name, will you? Not my real name." Of course not, I assure them. 

Preferring not to write down people?s names, I assign my notes a 
specific order, a kind of code. In December 1996, several journalist 
friends were picked up and interrogated for long hours; video cameras, 
address books, notebooks, tapes were confiscated; a young political 
protester who did an "anonymous" interview for a Western news program 
was quickly identified, arrested, and sent to prison. 

Still, because the situation is calmer now, there is almost no chance of 
my notes being read by anyone but me. Yet how can I be sure? I cannot 
be. Days into my stay, fighting unexpectedly begins in Tachilek. Live 
fire is exchanged between the Thai and the Burmese military. Within 
forty-eight hours, the price of rice increases by seventy-five percent, 
reportedly doubles in some areas. The American dollar is suddenly worth 
over six hundred kyats, not three hundred and ninety. 

In my guesthouse, people become nervous. On the third day of the 
fighting, one of the young employees stops me in the narrow stairwell to 
report the news in an excited whisper; last night he listened to Radio 
Free Asia. Then he explains how worried his parents are about the rice; 
he is fed by the guesthouse, but there are little brothers and sisters 
at home. The price of rice is like the blood pressure reading for the 
entire country; if it rises, there is danger ahead. 

For those who are already hungry, this danger is a literal, physical 
one, as it is for those who are being watched by the Military 
Intelligence. Someone I have traveled very far to talk with sends a 
message just before our meeting: it is better to cancel our appointment, 
the situation has changed. The price of rice is too high.

To think you can be sure here is a mistake born of naivet? and 
carelessness, encouraged by the smiling faces of the people you see on 
the street every day. 

This has not changed. They are still here in abundance, those faces 
which turn to your face as you cross the street or sit down in a teashop 
or walk into a market. The eyes look at you so directly; their aliveness 
is shocking. In most Western cities, people rarely meet eyes in public. 
If they do, their glances are furtive and fleeting. And they do not 
allow their mouths to break open into brilliant smiles at strangers. 

More remarkable than these dazzling smiles are the stories the mouths 
will tell, if there is time. If you are able to slow down the rush of 
the exchange and pause, begin to talk, if you know where to scratch, 
hardly a touch at all, the gold flakes off the Golden Land and the 
stories come out. Their truths have a natural tendency to rise to the 
surface. They no longer surprise. I have spent several years collecting 
them, writing them, rewriting them, trying to fathom them. The father 
dead in prison, or at a work camp in the north. The husband, son, 
sister, brother in prison. The young man who struggles to make the money 
to buy the food and the medicine for the sick uncle in prison. The 
cousin disappeared for a decade. "But I believe he is still alive. Maybe 
in India." 

So many families here are broken. Several people I meet send greetings 
back with me to the border, for brothers and sisters and cousins and 
friends they have not seen for over a decade. Many Burmese people I?ve 
met have been in prison themselves or had family members or close 
friends in prison. It is difficult to imagine the psychological effect 
of this on an entire nation. The outer system of repression calcifies 
into internal paralysis, the self-censorship that several writers and 
artists describe in great detail. The wide-open circle of the mind 
begins to close, gets ever smaller, becomes an image of the shackle, the 
handcuff, the rope tightening, or simply the mouth closing, shut tight, 
unwilling to speak. 

While talking with a very polite young man employed by an NGO, I notice 
a strange look come over his face. I am beginning to recognize this 
strained expression of contrary impulses. The lips are pursed, sometimes 
rolled inward, betraying a reluctance to speak, but the brows are 
furrowed and the eyes beneath filled with thoughts. Often accompanied by 
a moment of weighty, almost awkward silence, this look means, There is 
something else I want to say, but I am very unsure, it is nowhere in the 
script?

Quiet patience is the only reply. The young man begins to talk again, 
his voice slowly growing louder, more confident. "I am learning a lot 
with the NGO. It is a very good job for me. I am very grateful for this 
job. But there are problems with some of the people we work for. They 
don?t really understand how dangerous things are for us, because things 
are not so dangerous for them. They forget where they are. There are 
other things, too. It can be very difficult, you know?"

I nod encouragingly, with an inkling of what might be coming. 

"Sometimes it?s very hard to work with them."

I nod again.

"For example, when we go out to the villages, they think they know 
everything. They want to continue with their usual way of talking and 
lecturing. But it doesn?t work for village people. Sometimes it doesn?t 
work for us, either. Collective decision-making, empowerment, capacity 
building, many of these words don?t make sense in Burma. Sometimes they 
are just absurd. Or they are like the plastic and the cars: imported 
things from rich countries." He cannot stop himself from smirking. "How 
can we implement the project when there is no rule of law in our 
country? But when we talk about politics, they tell us it?s not 
realistic. Often they don?t want our opinion, even about the things we 
know. It?s true we are not educated like they are, but we know our 
country. We have lived here all our lives. We know how things work." He 
pauses. His face relaxes. "Well, we know how things don?t work, which is 
the same thing." We both laugh out loud.

Two weeks ago, I listened to similar comments from Burmese dissidents 
and doctors in Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son and Mae Sot. "People on the 
border are talking about the same thing. They need funding from abroad 
to keep working, even just to keep eating. So they are beholden to their 
funders. And like you, they?re grateful to the NGO?s who help them, but 
they?re also critical of Western experts marching in for week-long 
seminars to tell them how things should be done. It?s funny that you 
mention the word empowerment, because just before I left the border 
someone said to me, ?Sure, they talk a lot about empowering us, but as 
soon as we start asking hard questions and disagreeing with them, they 
tell us to shut up. It is empowerment up to the point they want us to be 
empowered.? It?s insulting. At a deeper level, it?s also racist, but no 
one wants to use this word." 

"Of course not, because how can the people who are helping us be that 
way? A lot of discussions are about money. We accept that they will make 
more money than we will, but if they really want to help our country, 
they have to employ us as expensive labor, not cheap labor. In Rangoon, 
you need at least 20 to 30,000 kyat per month for basic, personal 
necessities. Our office had a cleaner working for only 10,000 kyat per 
month. I suggested his salary be raised, but my boss said, ?Oh, no, we 
don?t want to spoil him, it?s enough money.? The assumption is that the 
really poor people are used to being really poor, and don?t mind it. 
That man had a family, too.

"When a raise for a colleague was being discussed?they didn?t want to 
give him more money, either?one of the directors took me aside and gave 
me a lecture about how much he had sacrificed in the West to come and 
work in primitive, underdeveloped Burma. He lives here like a rich man! 
How could I respect him after that?

"In my last job, we were doing a project on HIV/AIDS. We had an extra 
room in the office for people who were traveling through the city. I 
found out that one of the directors kept a prostitute in the guestroom 
for a whole weekend. In our office! I was very shocked. And the women in 
the office were very upset. It made things very difficult for every 
Burmese person working for him. If the wrong people had found out, it 
would have jeopardized the project, too. But we couldn?t really say very 
much because this man was our superior


The young man repeats how grateful he is for his job, and the chance it 
provides him to begin helping his country. Despite the accounts of 
questionable behavior and attitudes among certain individuals, he says 
that most foreign aid workers are trying hard to improve the lives of 
Burmese people. It?s true that their work is tightly controlled, but 
some NGO?s are actively pushing against the rules and restrictions laid 
down by the SPDC. The young man admires this. But his job has led him 
into a maze of concerns about the meaning of development, and what it 
will do to his culture. 

Before we say goodbye, he asks, "Burma is changing, right?"

"Yes. Even since the last time I was here."

"We want the country to change, of course. We desperately need education 
and development. We need to get out of our isolation. But who is 
changing Burma? That is my question."

"Oh, that?s so complicated. It?s not just one question, so there isn?t 
just one simple answer."

"I know. But many of the answers I come up with worry me." 

The day before my departure, I return to a teashop I used to visit 
almost every morning. The children who worked here before are mostly 
gone; new ones have replaced them. I ask about one boy in particular; he 
was very clever, very funny. After the mohinga and the morning rush was 
finished, he would teach me words which I would usually forget within a 
minute. His most lasting gift was colors; he used the checkered table 
napkins as a teaching tool. Now the other young servers rush around 
asking each other where he is and when he left. Unrealistically, I hope 
to hear that some special circumstance has befallen him, that he has 
gone to school or found more promising work. 

He is working at another teashop across the river. Some things do not 
change at all.

Though I have come very late, past five, the teashop itself is exactly 
as I remember it. A new coat of paint perhaps, and new children?s faces, 
but the essence of the place is the same. I regret not coming in the 
morning; the boys inform me that the sweet tea is all gone. There are 
only two tables still set out, and one of them has no stools. The far 
table is occupied by a group of older men, probably office mates. 

I try to say that I don?t want to make them do more work, they?re 
cleaning up, closing, I?ll be going now. But they?ll have none of it. 
Someone comes running out, heroically, with two stools. I am glad. I 
love this teashop and I want to rest here for a while. The boy who is 
the teashop spokesman?he is fifteen or sixteen? takes it upon himself to 
make sure I stay. "Do you want coffee? We have coffee. Do you want 
sugar?" He throws up vigorous shouts for coffee. I sit down. For a while 
there is a crowd of boys around, chatting and laughing, but one by one 
they return to their evening chores. Gratefully, I sit at the wooden 
table, on the wooden stool, and watch the children of the teashop wash 
dishes, load crates, and stack tables. 

Without words, they speak of the great generals. All children raised in 
poverty communicate in a language filled with silences and omissions, as 
though their vocabulary were written with an eraser. What they do not 
have dictates who they are and who they can become. Like most of the 
child-laborers working in the tea and noodle shops of Rangoon and 
Mandalay, their relatives live far away and are very poor. They send the 
children to the cities to work. The lucky ones have attended school for 
three or four years; the unlucky ones have not, and probably never will. 
Though I use the words lucky and unlucky, none of this happened by 
accident. The narrow lens of the children?s existence can be turned to 
focus very clearly on the corrupt wealth of their rulers.

The smallest boy washing dishes, perched on an overturned stool, is 
seven or eight. When he gets up to drag in another load of cups and 
plates, I notice he already has the gestures and jaunty swagger of the 
older boys. His suffering is understated, not yet embittered with anger 
or condemnation. But as he grows, he will understand more than he does 
now about why he has so few options, why he cannot read, why he is 
trapped this way and who has trapped him. He is only one of hundreds of 
thousands of poor children.

My coffee is finished. The first darkness of evening has come. After I 
say goodbye to the boys?they are all smiles and laughter?there is 
nothing I can do but leave. 

Thalia Isaak is a writer based in Europe.








________________


The BurmaNet News is an Internet newspaper providing comprehensive 
coverage of news and opinion on Burma  (Myanmar) from around the world.  
If you see something on Burma, you can bring it to our attention by 
emailing it to strider@xxxxxxx

To automatically subscribe to Burma's only free daily newspaper in 
English, send an email to:
burmanet-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

To subscribe to The BurmaNet News in Burmese, send an email to:

burmanetburmese-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx


You can also contact BurmaNet by phone or fax:

Voice mail or fax (US) +1(202) 318-1261
You will be prompted to press 1 for a voice message or 2 to send a fax.  
If you do neither, a fax tone will begin automatically.

Fax (Japan) +81 (3) 4512-8143


________________


Burma News Summaries available by email or the web

There are three Burma news digest services available via either email or 
the web.

Burma News Update
Frequency: Biweekly
Availability: By fax or the web.
Viewable online at http://www.soros.org/burma/burmanewsupdate/index.html
Cost: Free
Published by: Open Society Institute, Burma Project

The Burma Courier 
Frequency: Weekly 
Availability: E-mail, fax or post.  To subscribe or unsubscribe by email 
celsus@xxxxxxxxxxx
Viewable on line at: http://www.egroups.com/group/BurmaCourier
Cost: Free
Note: News sources are cited at the beginning of an article. 
Interpretive comments and background
details are often added.

Burma Today
Frequency: Weekly
Availability: E-mail
Viewable online at http://www.worldviewrights.org/pdburma/today.html
To subscribe, write to pdburma@xxxxxxxxx
Cost: Free
Published by: PD Burma (The International Network of Political Leaders 
Promoting Democracy in Burma)




________________

==^================================================================
EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://igc.topica.com/u/?b1dbSX.b1CGhI
Or send an email To: burmanet-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
This email was sent to: reg.burma@xxxxxxxxxx

T O P I C A  -- Learn More. Surf Less.
Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Topics You Choose.
http://www.topica.com/partner/tag01
==^================================================================