BurmaNet News: June 29, 2001

[strider@xxxxxxxxxxx]

______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
        An on-line newspaper covering Burma 
         June 29, 2001   Issue # 1834
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________


INSIDE BURMA _______
*AP: Suu Kyi's party opens another branch office outside Yangon
*BBC: Burma frees more political prisoners
*Translation of open letter of Bohmu Aung to Senior General Than Shwe 
*New Light of Myanmar (SPDC): Customs Staff Warned Against Corruption, 
Bribery and Abuse of Authority 
*Xinhua: 53 Fires Occur in Myanmar in May

MONEY _______
*Far Eastern Economic Review: Wa Branch into Pirate Discs
*Reuters: Myanmar leader sees 11.3 pct GDP growth 2001/2002
*AFP: China to help fund dredging of Mekong River in Laos and Myanmar 

DRUGS______
*Far Eastern Economic Review: Taliban Success Opens Door to Burma
*Voice of America: Anti-Narcotics Museum Opens in Burma

REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*AP: Suitcase outside Myanmar Embassy causes bomb scare 
*AP: 50 Myanmar migrants arrested on vegetable truck in Thailand 
*Financial Times:  A tussle for Asia

EDITORIALS/OPINION/PROPAGANDA________
*Xinhua: Myanmar-Chinese Support Beijing's Olympic Bid
*The New light of Myanmar (SPDC): Vitalization of national spirit: a 
requirement for entire people 

					
__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________



AP: Suu Kyi's party opens another branch office outside Yangon 

June 29, 2001

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) _ Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition National League for 
Democracy reopened its second branch office in as many days Friday amid 
signs the military regime was easing some of its tight restrictions on 
the party, a party leader said. 
 More than 40 NLD members attended the reopening in Hmawbi, 25 
kilometers (15 miles) north of Yangon, said Soe Myint, the NLD's Yangon 
organizing committee chairman who put up the party's distinctive red 
sign board. 
 Another NLD branch office is due to reopen on Wednesday in Shwepyitha, 
a satellite town in northwestern Yangon, said Soe Myint.
 
 Authorities have given the NLD permission to reopen 18 branch offices 
around the capital Yangon, the result of secret talks between Suu Kyi 
and the generals that began last October, their first direct contact in 
six years.
 
 On Thursday, a party office was opened at Taikkyi, about 60 kilometers 
(40 miles) north of Yangon, the first since the military junta closed 
many of the 40 branches in and around the capital in a 1998 crackdown.
 
 The government also freed nine more party members Thursday in its 
latest concession to the pro-democracy opposition, that swept 1990 
general election but was not allowed to take power. Dozens of detainees 
from the NLD have been freed since the start of the year. 
 However, Suu Kyi remains under house detention, enforced since Sept. 22 
when she tried to travel to a party office outside Yangon in defiance of 
restrictions by the military on her movements. 




___________________________________________________



BBC: Burma frees more political prisoners

Thursday, 28 June, 2001, 15:13 GMT 16:13 UK 

By Jonathan Head in Bangkok 

Burma's government has released another nine opposition prisoners from 
detention, bringing the total freed this year to more than 120.  

The nine were members of parliament for the National League for 
Democracy (NLD) party, led by the Nobel prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.  

No reason has been given for the releases. But they are believed to be 
the result of the secret dialogue, begun in August last year, between 
Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma's military leaders.  

Getting her party members released has been one of the key demands of 
Aung San Suu Kyi. The military now seems prepared to meet that demand.  
Twenty three people have been freed this month from detention in 
government 'guest houses'.  

It is believed that only around a dozen NLD members, detained during the 
military crackdown over the past three years, now remain in custody.  

Branches reopen 

The authorities have also allowed the party to reopen some of its local 
branches, closed down in 1998.  

The next significant step for the military to take would be to ease the 
restrictions on Aung San Suu Kyi, who is confined to her home in 
Rangoon.  

But beyond these gestures of goodwill, it is not clear whether the 
dialogue is making progress on substantive issues, in particular over 
any form of power sharing between the generals and the opposition.  

Neither side will say anything about the talks, except to describe them 
as very delicate.  
It is believed that a significant number of the military commanders who 
now rule Burma oppose making any concessions to the NLD.  

They fear popular retribution if they relax their hold on power.


___________________________________________________




Translation of open letter of Bohmu Aung to Senior General Than Shwe 

[BurmaNet adds....Bohmu Aung is one of the original ?30 comrades? who 
led Burma to independence. ]

OPEN LETTER FROM BOHMU ON BEHALF OF THE VETERAN POLITICAL COLLEAGUES TO 
SR. GENERAL THAN SHWE. 


Senior General Than Shwe,
Chairman
State Peace and Development Council,
Union of Myamar


20 June 2001



Bogyokehmugyi khinbya (a polite form of address)


For the good of the country, as and when necessary and appropriate 
convinced that it is our duty to do so we have appealed, requested and 
given suggestions to you without any selfish motivation whatsoever.   

Our advice and entreaties are the result of our firm convictions and 
desire to safeguard our independence and sovereignty as a nation; to 
preserve peace and stability and unity amongst all the different ethnic 
groups and for the development and implementation of a flourishing 
economy through democracy. 

During the last few days some imprisoned and incarcerated political 
prisoners have been released. Some NLD township offices have been 
permitted to function again.  We welcome this news which has been 
released by the foreign press and mentioned by the General Secretary of 
the United Nations though no official announcement has been made by the 
relevant authorities.  

This progress must be accepted as a result of the dialogue process that 
we have been constantly urging you to take. 

We have repeatedly urged and declared that the right and only way to 
achieve the stated goals of the State Peace and Development Council and 
to overcome the political problems that the country is experiencing is 
through dialogue. 

We do believe and hope that the present process of dialogue is based on 
the same international principles and standards adopted by most 
countries. To achieve national reconciliation, national unity and 
solidarity, personal animosities and grudges between groups should be 
extinguished. We anticipate that the dialogue process will become wider 
and be brought to the level as is between equals having mutual trust, 
large heartedness and freedom. 

Moreover, we will be happy if official announcements are made about the 
progress and the points on which agreement has been reached in the 
dialogue.  The whole country will rejoice with us. 

At this good stage where progress is being made we entreat the SPDC to 
release unconditionally all imprisoned and incarcerated political 
prisoners including U Aung Shwe, U Tin Oo and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi who 
have been suffering untold hardship together with their families because 
of their firm political convictions. 

To advance from this stage of good progress we believe that all legally 
constituted political parties should be restored the democratic right to 
operate and function freely. This will instill new hope in the people 
and convince them about SPDC's stated intentions. 

Fully aware and in the discharge of our duty towards the country, 

We remain,

(Bohmu Aung) 
On behalf of the Veteran Political Colleagues. 




___________________________________________________





Xinhua: 53 Fires Occur in Myanmar in May


YANGON, June 28 (Xinhua) -- A total of 53 fires broke out in Myanmar in 
May this year, causing a loss of 32.6 million Kyats ( about 93,140 U.S. 
dollars) worth of property, according to the country's Fire Department 
Thursday. Of the fire cases in the month, 32 were due to negligence, 
eight to electrical faults, 11 to arson, one to forest fire and one to 
spontaneity. Of the fires, 20 broke out in Yangon division, the sources 
said, declining however to disclose the casualties in the fire. In 
April, 131 fires occurred in the country, causing a loss of 197.47 
million Kyats (about 564,200 dollars) worth of property. 

Most of the fire cases in Myanmar were generally due to negligence, 
accounting for 60.38 percent. Although the rainy season has set in all 
over the country which will last until the beginning of October, the 
Myanmar authorities are urging the people to continue to take fire 
prevention measures and to have buildings, factories, warehouses and 
hospitals well inspected and get fire equipment ready. Myanmar's fire 
prevention services are carried out through over 540 fire stations and 
by over 71,300 firemen, according to the department.






___________________________________________________

New Light of Myanmar (SPDC): Customs Staff Warned Against Corruption, 
Bribery and Abuse of Authority 


[Abridged]

June 29, 2001

Secretary-1 of the State Peace and Development Council Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt 
met 
with staff of Customs Department at the Ministry of Fiance and Revenue 
on 28 
June. 

The Secretary-1 pointed out the fact that the aims of the department, to 
levy 
taxes on the exports and imports in accord with the law, to ensure that 
export and import of goods are being conducted in accord with the 
existing 
principles, to prevent and expose illegal exports and imports, to 
compile 
data on exports and imports and to help promote foreign trade. As 
regards the 
department's duties, it has the duty to collect taxes in accord with 
other 
existing laws, to make supervision in line with the import and export 
acts 
and foreign exchange acts, to prevent smuggling of arms, ammunition and 
explosive, and drugs, to curb smuggling of wildlife, ancient artifacts 
and 
valuables and to search and seize items or printed materials which are 
counter to Myanmar culture. 





______________________MONEY________________________




Far Eastern Economic Review: Wa Branch into Pirate Discs


Issue cover-dated July 05, 2001

Burma's Wa tribespeople, not content with heroin production and 
manufacture of millions of Thailand-bound illicit methamphetamine 
tablets, have branched into new lucrative, but less socially disruptive, 
business avenues. Thai government officials claim the Wa are now 
operating at least three underground CD and VCD factories in the 
vicinity of Mong Yawn, their northeast Burma jungle stronghold near the 
border with Thailand. It is unclear whether or not the karaoke bar in 
Mong Yawn has updated its selection. But Thai officials believe the 
bootleg discs have already hit the streets of Bangkok, where pirated CDs 
can sell for as little as 50 baht (slightly more than $1). The 
technology and equipment the Wa are utilizing are believed to be Chinese 
in origin. Until recently, southern China's Yunnan province was 
notorious for its many bootleg CD factories. Grooming for World Trade 
Organization accession, Beijing appears to be pushing its more blatant 
copyright pirates south of the border.


___________________________________________________




Reuters: Myanmar leader sees 11.3 pct GDP growth 2001/2002

YANGON, June 28 (Reuters) - Myanmar's military leader General Than Shwe 
has forecast economic growth of 11.3 percent this financial year, well 
above recent trend growth, official newspapers reported on Thursday. 
 The Myanmar language daily Kyemon quoted Than Shwe as forecasting 
Myanmar's gross national product (GDP) for the fiscal year 2001/2002 at 
1,001.43 billion kyat, up from 899.52 billion in the previous fiscal 
year to end-March 2001. 		

 According to data released by Myanmar's Central Statistical Office, GDP 
was 794.60 billion kyat in 1998/99. No data is so far available for 
1999/2000. 
 The kyat is officially pegged at six kyat to the dollar but trades at 
only about 500 per dollar on the black market. 

 According to official data, Myanmar saw annual economic growth of 8.4 
percent in the five years from 1996/97 to 2000/2001. 

 Most independent economists put Myanmar's economic growth far lower 
than this -- probably in low single figures in recent years. 

 They say years of mismanagement by the ruling State Peace and 
Development Council (SPDC) has left the economy weak and partly 
dependent on income from a large, unofficial trade in drugs. 

 Political isolation of the military government has also contributed to 
economic stagnation, they say. 

 In 1990, Myanmar held democratic elections won by the National League 
for Democracy (NLD) of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. 
 The NLD has never been allowed to govern and many of its leaders, 
including Suu Kyi, have been detained or harrassed. 

 The military government, which has run Myanmar for most of the last 40 
years, says it is managing the economy well and says economic growth has 
been supported by careful central planning. 


___________________________________________________



AFP: China to help fund dredging of Mekong River in Laos and Myanmar 

BEIJING, June 28 (AFP) - A 331-kilometre (205-mile) stretch of the 
Mekong River running through Laos and Myanmar will be dredged under a 
project co-funded by China, Chinese state media reported Thursday. 

 Xinhua news agency said the dredging operation will eventually enable 
100-ton ships to sail on the river. 

 The stretch of Mekong to be dredged runs from the number 243 
demarcation stone between China and Myanmar to Houyxay in north-western 
Laos. 

 Xinhua said China would invest more than five million dollars in the 
project. 
 The dredging and other operations will boost the the annual navigation 
capacity of the Lancang-Mekong River system from four million tons to 10 
million tons by 2007, Xinhua said. 






________________________DRUGS______________________




Far Eastern Economic Review: Taliban Success Opens Door to Burma


Issue cover-dated July 05, 2001

The ruling Taliban's success in eradicating three-quarters of the 
world's crop of opium in one season in Afghanistan has international 
buyers turning to Burma to fill the shortfall in opium and heroin 
destined for Europe. Western diplomats say international law enforcement 
officers expect Burmese production of heroin and opium to increase to 
meet the demand from Europe--Afghanistan was the continent's main 
supplier--and traditional markets such as China, Southeast Asia, 
Australia and North America. Burma's annual opium production more than 
tripled in the late 1980s, from 700-800 tonnes to 2,500 tonnes. 
Following bad weather in the late 1990s, production fell to 1,000-1,500 
tonnes a year, but given the new demand and favourable weather 
conditions, more can be expected from Burma this year. Over the past 
three years, a major drug-producing group, the Burmese military-backed 
United Wa State Army, has reportedly moved tens of thousands of 
opium-growing hill tribespeople from the rugged mountains on Burma's 
border with China to areas close to Thailand, where the soil and climate 
are more suitable for poppy cultivation.



___________________________________________________




Voice of America: Anti-Narcotics Museum Opens in Burma

 VOA News

 26 Jun 2001 20:00 UTC

 Burma's military government has unveiled a $1.4 museum to celebrate its 
 anti-narcotics efforts. 
 At the museum's opening Tuesday, the military government's number three 
 official, Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, said the project represents a  
concrete landmark for his country's efforts to combat narcotics. The  
museum's exhibits range from photographs to maps of drug trade routes.   
A convicted drug trafficker, Lo Hsin Han, attended the opening. He said 
he  personally donated thousands of dollars toward the museum's 
construction.   Critics of the Burmese government say it ignores drug 
trafficking  activities along its border with Thailand. Others allege 
that senior  members of the military are actively involved in the drug 
trade.   

Some information for this report provided by Reuters and AFP. 


___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
				







___________________________________________________



AP: Suitcase outside Myanmar Embassy causes bomb scare 

June 29, 2001

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) _ Police rushed to the Myanmar Embassy after an 
unclaimed suitcase found outside the compound wall triggered a bomb 
scare Thursday. 
 Police cordoned off the area before opening the suitcase, which was 
found to contain clothes, police Col. Sanan Imchai told The Associated 
Press. 

 He said police received a call around 6 p.m. (1100gmt) that a 
suspicious object was lying outside the embassy on Sathorn Road. Three 
bomb disposal experts rushed to the scene along with other police and 
opened the large, wheeled-suitcase, he said. 

 Police have been on alert in Bangkok since two bombs were discovered at 
the Vietnam Embassy on June 19, which were safely detonated by the bomb 
squad. Three Vietnamese dissidents have been arrested in connection with 
the incident. 

 The Myanmar Embassy was seized by five Myanmar dissidents on Oct. 1, 
1999. Armed with AK-47 assault rifles and grenades, the five students 
held the embassy for 22 hours before releasing more than three dozen 
hostages in return for safe passage by helicopter to the Thai-Myanmar 
border. 

 Hundreds of Myanmar dissidents opposed to the country's military junta 
live in Thailand. 





___________________________________________________






AP: 50 Myanmar migrants arrested on vegetable truck in Thailand 

June 29, 2001

MAE SOT, Thailand (AP) _ Fifty illegal Myanmar migrants found hiding 
under a load of vegetables on a truck were arrested Thursday as they 
traveled to Bangkok to look for work, Thai police said. 

 The 18 men and 32 women were concealed in a hollow beneath the cargo of 
the truck, which was stopped at a checkpoint near Mae Sot, 370 
kilometers (230 miles) northwest of Bangkok, said police Sgt. Sathiang 
Keawriang. 

 He said the Thai truck driver faces a maximum one year jail term for 
smuggling illegal migrants. The migrants face a three month term and 
then deportation to Myanmar, also known as Burma. 

 This week, more than 3,000 migrants were deported from Mae Sot to 
Myanmar under an ongoing campaign to rid Thailand of its estimated 1 
million illegal foreign workers. 

___________________________________________________




Financial Times:  A tussle for Asia

[Abridged] 
 
 http://www.financialtimes.com/

 By James Kynge and Amy Kazim
 Published: June 26 2001 18:38GMT | Last Updated: June 26 2001 18:45GMT

 It was not the welcome that Admiral Dennis Blair, commander of the US 
Pacific fleet, might have hoped for.  As his delegation arrived in the 
sleepy south-east Asian  nation of Laos, it noticed something unusual - 
banners hailing the Chinese defence minister. 

 "It seems they did not have time to take down the banners for the 
Chinese guy who had just left," says one member of Admiral Blair's 
delegation. "It was a mistake - but we kind of got the impression that 
someone else in these parts would not mind being the hegemon." 

 From one perspective the Laotian mishap was nothing more than a comic 
scheduling blunder. But from another, it was a revealing insight into an 
intensifying rivalry between the US and China for strategic and 
diplomatic influence in Asia. 

 Just three years after Washington and Beijing celebrated the first 
flush of their short-lived "strategic partnership", the world's 
superpower and its most populous nation are circling each other in Asia, 
vying for influence in regional bodies and seeking to prevent other 
countries from slipping into the rival's camp. 

 "The US seems to want to isolate us in the world and we must combat 
this . . . so we need to foster relations with our friends to break the 
plan," says Zhang Yebai, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social 
Sciences, a government think-tank. "Their intention to encircle us is 
obvious. It is natural for us to oppose encirclement and containment." 

 Strategic competition between the two countries is not new. Even when 
each side was supposed to be building a partnership, the US was in fact 
strengthening its military alliance with Japan - much to the 
consternation of China, which increasingly sees Japan as a regional 
rival. 

 But the diplomatic struggle now threatens to create distinct spheres of 
US and Chinese influence. "It is already very uncomfortable [trying to 
balance the US and China]," says one south-east Asian diplomat. "We are 
dreading the day when we may have to choose between the two." 


 Shrill altercations between Washington and Beijing have deepened the 
discord. A
 collision between a US spyplane and a Chinese fighter jet in April, 
Washington's
 offer of a large arms package to Taiwan - China's arch-rival - and its 
granting of a
 visa to Chen Shui-bian, the Taiwanese president, have contributed to 
mutual
 mistrust. 

 This sentiment is already finding concrete strategic expression. China 
this month
 dropped its long-standing opposition to participation in national 
groupings,
 presiding over the formation of a union comprising Russia, China and 
four central
 Asian republics called the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO). 

 The group promptly castigated US missile defence plans, warning of 
"huge
 damage" if the 1972 US-Soviet anti-ballistic missile treaty is violated 
as part of
 Washington's planned deployment of NMD. The 1972 treaty bans the 
creation of
 missile shields. The SCO's establishment also opens the way for joint 
military
 exercises and security co-operation between China and the central Asian
 republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. 

 There are other problems in the India-China relationship. They include 
China's support for Pakistan; a lingering border dispute; strategic 
rivalry in Burma; and India's provision of refuge for Tibet's exiled 
leader, the Dalai Lama. 

 Burma is a less clear-cut case. Shunned by the west, its military 
government has become China's client state. Its cross-border trade with 
China reached $2bn  (£1.4bn) in 1999 (up from just $15m a year in the 
1980s) and Rangoon acquired  $1.4bn in weapons from China between 1988 
and 1999, according to the Institute  of Defence Studies and Analysis. 

 China is building boat shelters in the Mergui archipelago in the 
Andaman Sea which the US suspects could have a military use. However, 
any change in government could see the rise of Aung San Suu Kyi, who won 
democratic elections in 1990 but remains under house arrest. Her 
accession would probably reorient Burma towards the west. 

 In general, China's approach to the south-east Asian nations along its 
borders is multifaceted. It uses its proximity to boost cross-border 
commercial ties, sell arms where they are required, extend credits and 
dispatch senior officials to engage neighbouring governments. In Laos, 
it is financing the modernisation of the Laotian army, spearheading 
multilateral talks on building a key road from China and offering to 
clear the Mekong to make it navigable for large ships. 

 Such hands-on engagement is difficult for the US to match. But 
Washington has trump cards of its own. Aside from its status as a 
superpower, its very remoteness boosts its allure as the region's 
security guarantor. Asian nations know that any troop deployments are 
unlikely to be permanent. In contrast, China's history of expansionism, 
combined with its current territorial claims, makes it the object of 
considerable suspicion.  Vietnam may look like a natural ally, since it 
is ruled by a Communist party, and has an economic reform programme that 
mirrors China's. But history suggests a warm relationship is unlikely. 
China fought a war with Vietnam in 1979 and the two clashed again in the 
1980s over their mutual claim to islands in the South
 China Sea. China's claim over the entire South China Sea also brings it 
into dispute with the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan.  The 
suspicion that Asian nations reserve for China tends to act as a 
moderating influence on Beijing's belligerence.

 As the atmosphere of open competition between the US and China 
continues, the smaller countries in Asia may be obliged to perform 
increasingly delicate balancing acts. For now, this seems merely an 
inconvenience. But there is a danger of the rivalry diverting both 
attention and resources from economic development. 




___________EDITORIALS/OPINION/PROPAGANDA__________





Xinhua: Myanmar-Chinese Support Beijing's Olympic Bid


YANGON, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Representatives of Myanmar-Chinese and 
overseas Chinese social organizations in Myanmar signed a letter on 
Thursday in support of Beijing's bid to the right of hosting the 2008 
Olympic Games. A total of 184 Myanmar-Chinese representatives signed the 
letter including those from the Myanmar-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and 
Industry, Overseas Chinese Charity Association, Myanmar-Fujian Natives' 
Association, Yunnan Natives' Association, Guangdong Natives' 
Association, Nanzhong and Huazhong Old Students ' Associations and 
Overseas Chinese Women's Association. The move was initiated by the 
Myanmar-Chinese Sports Federation (MCSF). 

MCSF Chairman Jiang Qingliang told Xinhua that although Myanmar- Chinese 
and overseas Chinese residing in Myanmar are separated from China by 
thousands of mountains and rivers, they are concerned with Beijing's bid 
for hosting the 2008 Games. The application move does not only link all 
the people living in China but also connect Chinese generations abroad. 
They wish Beijing's move a success. Jiang added that the signed letter 
will be forwarded to the Beijing Committee for Application to Host the 
2008 Olympic through the Consulate of the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar.
	


___________________________________________________




The New light of Myanmar (SPDC): Vitalization of national spirit: a 
requirement for entire people 

Friday, 29  June, 2001 


The people are often tricked by the rumours. For many times they have 
been  the victims of rumours knowingly. Not long ago, rumours spread at 
the  markets, schools and offices that there would be some news on the 
Myanmar New  Year Day. The rumour mongers were floating fabrications in 
a random way,  saying that monthly salaries of the government staff 
would be increased; that  they would be paid in FECs; that their 
allowances would be hiked; that  millions of kyats would be disbursed as 
loans to government employees; and  that K 10,000 notes would be in 
circulation. 

It has become food for thought. The government cannot hike the salaries 
of  its staff based on capricious ideas. The salaries are hiked in 
accord with  the financial situation of the State. But the greedy 
businessmen were giving  the increase in the staff salaries as an excuse 
at every opportunity in  floating rumours with wicked intention in order 
to hike commodity prices and  to lower the value of kyat. They are doing 
such perpetrations with the aim of  destroying the national economy. 

It is quite clear. At present, the nation is enjoying round about seven 
per  cent annual economic growth and the commodity prices are in a 
stable  position. There are entrepreneurs and merchants who are 
conducting regular  business and trade in a sincere, just and peaceful 
way; but there are also  greedy businessmen who see things in a 
one-sided manner for their  self-interest without having any 
consideration for others, who are waiting  for an opportunity to get 
rich and who are willing to ruin the national  situation just for their 
prosperity. 

When the government had to reduce the fuel quotas for a certain period 
due to  various reasons, these greedy persons began to hoard fuel oil in 
order to  hike the commodity prices. Then, they floated rumours, saying 
that the  consumer prices had to increase due to the hike in transport 
charges as fuel  oil was available only at higher prices in the black 
market. They then  stockpiled foodstuffs and commodities. In this case, 
their wickedness is so  obvious. 

There are more. It had been for several months since the greedy 
businessmen  floated rumours with an outdated idea, which was that 
increase in the  salaries of government employees would lead to 
skyrocketing commodity prices,  saying that monthly salaries of the 
government employees would be increased;  that the allowances would be 
hiked; and that millions of kyats would be  disbursed as loans to 
government staff. The aim of floating rumours which  said that the 
government employees would be paid in FECs, was to lower the  exchange 
value of not only the kyat, but also of the FEC and to cause a rise  in 
the value of the US dollar. In this case, the rumour mongers were the  
greedy businessmen and the illegal money changers. 

The market area of the illegal money changers is so big. Some persons 
enrol  their children at pre-primary schools, courses, vocational 
schools or other  schools which charge school fees in dollars or FECs. 
Some persons attend  foreign language courses which are being conducted 
at foreign missions which  also charge fees in dollars. Libraries which 
are being opened at some of the  foreign embassies also charge dollars 
for membership fees. And some persons  who are making preparations to go 
abroad have to pay in dollars or FECs for  visa fees. 

And there are more. Some, may be so rich people, go shopping abroad. 
Despite  the availability of almost all kinds and brands of goods at the 
shopping  malls, city markets and stores in Myanmar, some artistes go 
shopping abroad  and enjoy a spending spree there for they may think 
that shopping abroad may  enhance their popularity and artistic skills. 
Such a practice of making a  spending spree abroad will contribute no 
benefit to the nation. So, I am  trying to find an answer to the 
question Ñ where do they get all the money to  make spending sprees 
abroad? 

Moreover, some of the television commercials are being shot abroad 
because  may be the natural scenic beauties and the edifices of Myanmar 
are not fit to  shoot TV commercials for some locally-made products? Or 
they (the natural  scenic beauties and the edifices) may not meet the 
standard in artistic  terms? I am asking these questions in a sincere 
way as I lack the artistic  outlook. As the TV commercials for some 
locally-made products are being shot  abroad, these products have become 
inclusive in the foreign-made goods. Thus,  I think that the TV Myanmar 
and the Myawady TV should charge the  advertisement fees for these 
products in dollars. It will be fair if these TV  commercials are being 
charged in dollars. But it will become food for  thought, if the 
companies concerned have to pay in kyats for such TV  commercials. 
 I have nothing to say if all the enrolment of children at 
dollar-charging  schools or courses, practices of shopping abroad or 
shooting of TV  commercials abroad are the essential requirements for 
the persons who earn  dollars. 



Author : Pauk Sa 







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