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BURMA RELATED NEWS - August 08,
2001.
------------------------------------------------------------------
HEADLINES
------------------------------------------------------------------ AFP - Myanmar students hold embassy demo on
protest anniversary
AFP - Russia set to strike arms deal in Myanmar:
military
AFP - US business executives remain bullish on
Southeast Asia
BBC - Suharto son wanted for
$54,000
The Advertiser - Companies join Burma
ban
The Nation - Drug-smugglers kill three soldiers
The Nation - Watchdog
slams call to lift sanctions
Bkk Post - Three Thais die in border
skirmish
Bkk Post - In brief -
Ship visit
Xinhuanet - Myanmar's Fertilizer Production
Decreases in 1st Quarter
Xinhuanet - Myanmar Seizes Large Amount of
Stimulant Drugs
SCMP - UN call for aid threatens 'unholy row'
Asiaweek - Echoes of Bob Dylan in Myanmar
------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday August 8, 8:24 PM Myanmar students hold embassy demo on protest anniversary BANGKOK, Aug 8 (AFP) - Myanmar
students held a protest outside the military regime's embassy in the Thai
capital Wednesday to mark the anniversary of the bloody 1988 student uprising in
Yangon.
A group of six students held aloft a large picture of democracy leader Aung
San Suu Kyi and shouted slogans at the brief demonstration at the gates of the
Bangkok mission.
In a statement the group, calling itself the Music League for Democracy,
demanded the military government release Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest and
free other political prisoners from the nation's jails.
"(We) strongly demand the junta government immediately hand over the
people's power to the National League for Democracy (NLD) party which won a
landslide in the general election of 1990," it said in a statement.
Myanmar opposition groups operating in Thailand were forced to scale down
commemorations of the "8/8/88" protests in light of violent rebel actions on
Thai soil including the siege of the Myanmar embassy in October 1999.
At the Maneeloy holding camp for Myanmar dissidents, the scene of unruly
protests in past years, some 400 people gathered peacefully to hear speeches by
Buddhist monks and chant slogans calling for political reform.
Across the border in the Myanmar jungles, two pro-democracy groups -- The
National Council of the Union of Burma and the All Burma Students' Democratic
Front -- held meetings to mark the anniversary.
In Yangon, the NLD cancelled plans to mark the anniversary for the first
time in several years.
Party sources told AFP that arrangements for a low-key commemoration of the
protests, in which hundreds of democracy demonstrators were gunned down, had
been abandoned.
They did not give an explanation for the decision, but the NLD has been
careful in recent months not to provoke the military regime while it holds
reconciliation talks with Aung San Suu Kyi.
Since the dialogue began last October, dozens of elected MPs have been
released from detention, the party has been allowed to re-open some of its
branch offices and NLD members have been given more freedom of movement.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Wednesday August 8, 4:43 PM
Russia set to strike arms deal in Myanmar: military MOSCOW, Aug 8 (AFP) - A
high-ranking Russian military delegation has arrived in Yangon on a four-day
visit to sign arms contracts with the Myanmar government, the Russian defense
ministry said Tuesday.
Russian Deputy Defense Minister Mikhail Dmitryev, who arrived in Yangon
Monday, is to sign an agreement on military cooperation as well as a series of
arms-sales contracts with Myanmar's deputy prime minister and defense minister,
Lieutenant-General Tin Hla, the AVN military news agency quoted the ministry as
saying.
Although the Russian defense ministry did not disclose the content and the
amount of the contracts, AVN said they could include the sale of MiG-29 fighters
to Myanmar and exceed 100 million dollars.
Russian officials said earlier that Moscow considers Myanmar a promising
partner in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Myanmar junta is accused by the United States and the European Union of
frequent human rights abuses.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Wednesday August 8, 6:08 PM
US business executives remain bullish on Southeast Asia SINGAPORE, Aug 8 (AFP) - Top US
business executives said Wednesday they remained bullish on Southeast Asia's
economic future, and encouraged the region to forge ahead with the establishment
of a free trade area.
"Despite the recent economic downturn, trade in Asia and especially the
ASEAN region, has grown over the past decade," said Jim Kelly, chairman and
chief executive of package delivery giant United Parcel Service (UPS).
"Asia now represents a third of the world's total international trade,"
said Kelly, who chairs the US-ASEAN business council.
He was speaking in Singapore at the opening Wednesday of a 38 million
Singapore dollar (21.2 million US) Asia-Pacific office of UPS.
With the region's potential for growth in mind, "UPS takes a long-term
approach to its investments and business strategies and the company will
continue to help businesses in Singapore and around the region be successful in
the global marketplace," he said.
His statements echoed earlier remarks in Malaysia by business council
president Ernest Bower following a meeting of the council's board of directors
earlier this week.
"We chose Malaysia for our annual meeting in the region to underscore the
importance of Malaysia to the US private sector. We are committed to take action
to strengthen this relationship and expand our trade and investment ties in
Malaysia and in the ASEAN region," Bower said.
ASEAN is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which groups Brunei,
Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singpaore,
Thailand and Vietnam.
The regional bloc's image as an investment site has been tarnished by
political problems in its biggest country Indonesia and key member Thailand as
well as kidnappings in the Philippines.
Poverty in new members Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam and allegations of human
rights abuses in military-ruled Myanmar have also affect foreign investor
perception of the region.
Bower urged Malaysia to take a leadership role in promoting a planned ASEAN
Free Trade Area that will move into effect by 2003 for ASEAN's six more
developed members, and at a later date for the rest.
US corporate executives have said that selling ASEAN as a unified market of
500 million people, rather than as 10 independent countries, would lure more
foreign investors, amid growing competition from giant neighbour China.
The US-ASEAN business council is a non-profit organisation that promotes
increased trade and investment between the United States and ASEAN members. Its
members include the executives of several top US companies.
------------------------------------------------------------------ BBC - Wednesday, 8 August, 2001, 07:46
GMT 08:46 UK
Suharto son wanted for $54,000 Indonesian police hunting for the fugitive youngest son of former dictator
President Suharto have increased the reward for information on his whereabouts
to $54,000 (50 million rupiah).
It is a huge leap from the $2,700 on offer before, and came as President
Megawati Sukarnoputri ordered police to step up their efforts.
Tommy Suharto has not been seen since he failed to turn himself in to begin
serving an 18-month sentence for fraud on 3 November last year.
Now police want to question him about a series of bomb attacks and the
murder of a judge.
Police have publicly accused Tommy of masterminding the drive-by shooting
last month of the supreme court judge, Syafiuddin Kartasasmita, who sentenced
him to jail.
The judge was shot dead by two gunmen on a motorcycle in broad daylight.
Police said on Tuesday that two men had been arrested in connection with the
murder.
According to police, the two suspects said Tommy paid them $10,800 to kill
the judge.
"The president has ordered the national police chief and the Jakarta police
to resolve this problem and to immediately arrest Tommy because he has been
convicted," presidential aide Bambang Kesowo told reporters.
Raids
Police helicopters have been dropping thousands of wanted posters in the
capital Jakarta, showing a picture of Tommy with a beard, which they said he had
used for a fake ID under the name Ibrahim.
As well as the $53,750 reward being offered by the police, the governor of
Jakarta is offering a reward of $107,500 (one billion rupiah).
A Jakarta police spokesman said police raided five homes belonging to
Tommy's family late on Tuesday, including the home of the former president.
"Mr Suharto was sitting reading the papers," said Anton Bachrul Alam. "He
told us to go ahead.
"The family were very co-operative."
The raid followed an earlier one on a home in Jakarta's Menteng district on
Saturday night. Police said they found a stash of arms and explosives and
arrested 10 people.
The president's aide also said she was "worried and concerned" about a
series of bomb attacks. The latest was on Tuesday in the East Java capital of
Surabaya, Indonesia's second largest city, in which a woman was killed.
------------------------------------------------------------------ The Advertiser
Companies join Burma ban From AAP 08aug01 EIGHTEEN Australian companies have broken their economic ties with Burma as
part of an international campaign against human rights abuses in the country.
The ACTU wrote to 60 Australian companies that did business with Burma
after an International Council of Free Trade Unions conference earlier this year
agreed to isolate the country because of its forced labour policies.
The policies were adopted after the military junta cancelled democratic elections 13 years ago. Fosters Brewing Group, Ikea Australia, Intrepid Travel, Mitsubishi Motors
Australia, Telstra Corp and Multiplex Constructions are among the companies that
have boycotted Burma, the ACTU said.
While 18 companies agreed to sever ties, others including several tour
groups and the Lonely Planet travel books refused.
Lonely Planet spokeswoman Anna Bolger said the Burma guide book contained a
section on the politics and history of the country.
"We leave it up to the traveller to make an informed decision whether to
go," Ms Bolger said.
"There is a question of whether an informed tourist helps or hinders moves
towards democracy."
ACTU president Sharan Burrow said the principled stand by the 18 companies
contrasted to the federal government's "appeasement" of the military
dictatorship.
"The federal government must take a much stronger stand to pressure Burma
into establishing democratic norms and ending the persecution of its people,"
she said.
------------------------------------------------------------------ The Nation - August 8,
2001.
Drug-smugglers kill three soldiers
Thai troops yesterday clashed with a drug caravan from Burma in a gun
battle that left three Thai soldiers dead and one wounded, Army spokesman
Colonel Somkuan Saengpataranet said yesterday.
Confiscated from the scene after the drug-runners retreated to Burmese soil
were 536,000 amphetamines tablets packed in plastic bags, Somkuan said.
The slain soldiers were Sergeant Theerachai Duangfu, Private Pollawat Kaja
and Private Kwanchai Kruefu.
Naraesuan Task Force Commander Lt-General Thomorn Kittisopol said the clash
had started at about 5am when the Thai troops, acting on a tip-off, ambushed the
drug caravan, believed to have been sent by the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army
(DKBA) and the United Wa State Army (UWSA).
Thailand believes the DKBA and UWSA are major drug-traders.
The drug gang refused to surrender to Thai troops and opened fire, killing
three soldiers and injuring another. The Thai unit found only traces of blood
and the bags of amphetamines at the scene after the group fled over the Burmese
border.
In a separate anti-drug operation yesterday, three suspected
methamphetamine dealers were shot dead under a bridge spanning the Chao Phya
river in Bangkok's Dao Khanong neighbourhood, police said.
The dead men were identified as Somsak Khanaphan, 38, of Samut Prakan's
Phra Pradaeng district, who was shot close to his Mercedes with a .38 Colt
revolver dropped close to his body; an unidentified male aged 25, 1.65 metre in
height, wearing a T-shirt, drab-coloured trousers and brown rubber sandals, with
a .38 Smith & Wesson revolver and two Bt1,000 bank notes dropped close to
his body; and an unidentified man aged between 35 and 40, 1.65 metre in height,
wearing a brown short-sleeved shirt, blue jeans and grey leather shoes, with a
9mm home-made gun found close to his body.
On the body of the 35- to 40-year-old was found a chit listing amounts of
money and methamphetamines, names and bank accounts.
The killings took place during a police sting operation. Police said Somsak
had agreed to supply plainclothes officers masquerading as buyers with 10,000
speed tablets for Bt300,000.
------------------------------------------------------------------ The Nation - August 8,
2001.
Watchdog slams call to lift sanctions
A Washington-based labour rights watchdog yesterday slammed a collective
call to lift international aid sanctions against Burma, saying the move may have
been triggered by false information about the situation in Burma.
In a statement sent to The Nation, the Federation of Trade Unions-Burma
(FTUB) cited a June 26 report by the state Chinese media, Xinhua News
Agency.
The report quoted Rangoon's No 3 leader, General Khin Nyunt, as saying that
sanctions by the West did not have much impact because economic and social
infrastructure was progressing steadily.
However, according to a May report of the FTUB, quoting figures from 1988
to last year, government expenditure on defence had increased from 22.35 per
cent to 49.93 per cent. At the same time, spending on health-care and education
had dropped from 4.71 per cent and 12.9 per cent to 2.53 and 6.98,
respectively.
The statement was in response to the call by officials of nine UN agencies
in Burma including the UN Children's Fund, the UN Drug Control Programme, the
World Health Organisation and World Food Programmes.
The nine agencies, in a joint statement, said that with some 500,000 people
HIV-positive and a high infant-mortality rate, Burma was on the brink of a
humanitarian crisis. The statement added that 25 per cent of all newborn babies
in Burma were underweight and one in three children would be malnourished by the
age of five.
Rebutting their argument, the FTUB statement quoted a Burmese figure from
the Central Statistics Organisation that foreign investment in Burma for the
first quarter of this year rose by US$41.49 million (Bt1.87 billion),
representing a 315.2-per-cent increase from the same period last year.
"As Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt and the Central Statistics Organisation are never
wrong, we may conclude that the UN employees are wrong," the statement said.
Countering the UN's argument, the FTUB suggested the UN agencies should instead
tell the junta to increase spending on health and education, restructure the
country's Foreign Direct Investment to benefit agriculture - its main economic
sector - and stop using forced labour.
The FTUB said the Burmese regime - not Western nations or democratic forces
- had imposed sanctions upon itself by refusing to cooperate with the IMF on
poverty-reduction and good-governance programmes.
The Burmese labour organisation challenged the UN officials to report to
the UN headquarters how they had been restricted from going into the field to
obtain information.
"This would help the UN and the international community get an unbiased
view and would be extremely useful in the decision-making process regarding
Burma," the FTUB said.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Bangkok Post - August 8,
2001.
Three Thais die in border skirmish Supamart Kasem Three Thai soldiers were killed and another wounded in a clash with armed
drug smugglers in Phop Phra district yesterday morning.
The intruders retreated into Burma and left behind 536,000 methamphetamine
pills.
Maj-Gen Tomorn Kittisophon, commander of the Naresuan Force, said the fight
took place in heavy rain at 5am in the jungle of Doi Kia mountain, about 1.5km
from the border with Burma.
A patrol from the Fourth Infantry Regiment Task Force clashed with 15-20
armed men, believed to be members of the pro-Rangoon Democratic Karen Buddhist
Army.
The fight lasted about 10 minutes. The traffickers withdrew into Burma,
leaving behind the drug consignment.
The dead soldiers were: Sgt Theerachai Juang-ngu, 40, Pvt Kwanchai Kruefu,
21, and Pvt Kolvat Kamja, 22. Pvt Prayon Nampa, 22, was wounded.
Maj-Gen Tomorn said despite heavy patrolling by Thai security forces, drug
smugglers were still slipping through the border.
- A total 377 policemen believed to be involved in the drug trade will be
sacked and face criminal charges over the next few months, Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra said yesterday.
Instead of helping fight the drug menace, these officers were making the
problem worse, he told cabinet members."Because of these corrupt policemen, the
drugs problem cannot be solved.
"Once I have clear evidence, these officers will lose their jobs and face
criminal charges," Mr Thaksin said, according to deputy spokesman Kuthep
Saikrachang.
Mr Thaksin did not give names or more information.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Bangkok Post - August 8,
2001.
In brief - Ship
visit
A Burmese delegation would visit Chakri Naruebet aircraft carrier at
Sattahip naval base during a meeting of Thai-Burmese Regional Border Committee
later this month, a source said.
The meeting, on Aug 22-24 in Pattaya, would be chaired by Lt-Gen
Wattanachai and Burma's Regional Triangle commander Maj-Gen Thein Sein.
The navy usually allows visitors to visit the ship at weekends.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Myanmar's Fertilizer Production
Decreases in 1st Quarter
Xinhuanet 2001.08.08 10:06:37 YANGON, August 8 (Xinhuanet) -- Myanmar produced 34,527 tons of chemical fertilizer in the first quarter of this year, a reduction of 18 percent as compared with the same period of 2000, according to the latest figures of the country's Central Statistical Organization. Meanwhile, during the three-month period, the country imported 3.38
million U.S. dollars worth of fertilizer.
In 2000, Myanmar produced 167,599 tons of chemical fertilizer, up
14.8 percent from 1999.
Up to now, the country has only three fertilizer plants which can
only produce urea and it needs over 800,000 tons of chemical fertilizer
annually and its domestic production is very limited and far from meeting
the demand.
The country is said to have to import nearly 700,000 tons of
fertilizer which accounts for 85 percent of total required quantity.
To promote agricultural development, the Myanmar government has exempted
the import duties of agricultural implements including fertilizer,
pesticide, improved variety and machinery.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Myanmar Seizes Large Amount of
Stimulant Drugs
Xinhuanet 2001.08.08 10:26:39 YANGON, August 8 (Xinhuanet) -- The Myanmar authorities seized 3.6 million tablets of stimulant drugs in Naunghkio, northern Shan state of the country, last month, according to Myanmar's Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control Wednesday. The seizure was made by a combined team comprising local intelligence
unit and the police force when they searched a car passing by at the
Naunghkio checkpoint on July 13.
Three people were arrested in connection with the case, the sources
said, adding that they were punished under the country's Narcotic Drugs
and Psychotropic Substances Law.
According to official statistics, in 2000, the Myanmar authorities
confiscated 26.6 million tablets of stimulant drug along with 1.52 tons of
opium, 158 kilograms (kg) of heroin and 590 kg of marijuana.
Besides, during the first five months of this year, the authorities
exposed a total of 1,251 drug-related cases, seizing 491 kg of opium and
25.5 kg of heroin, and punishing 1,781 drug offenders, the statistics
show.
------------------------------------------------------------------ South China Morning Post
Wednesday, August 8, 2001 MYANMAR - UN call for aid threatens 'unholy row' WILLIAM BARNES in Bangkok United Nations relief and development agencies in Myanmar have appealed for
a sharp increase in aid because of an impending "humanitarian crisis".
The move has shocked many pro-democracy activists and exiled members of the opposition, who say it risks rewarding a military regime that has yet to release its iron grip on the country or to distribute aid money in a proper way. The heads of UN agencies in the capital warned that the Aids pandemic, the
threat of mass starvation, homelessness and a dire education system have brought
much of the near 50 million population to the brink of disaster.
They pointed out that a quarter of all babies are born underweight, only
half of all children complet primary school and 500,000 people are HIV positive.
"Under these critical circumstances, humanitarian assistance to Myanmar is
a moral and ethical necessity, as well as an obligation of the international
community," said a joint letter signed by the UN's resident co-ordinator,
Patrice Coeur-Bizot, and the representatives of eight in-country agencies
including Unicef, the UN Development Programme and the UN International Drug
Control Programme.
Myanmar receives only a small fraction of the assistance provided to other
troubled countries in the region, getting aid worth about US$1 (HK$7.80) per
head of population a year, compared with US$35 for Cambodia and US$68 for Laos,
the letter, dated June 30, said.
No observer doubts the country, controlled by the military since 1962, is
in economic ruin and that ordinary people often live in very difficult
circumstances. But aid had been held back by the fear it would be misused - to
the benefit of the regime - rather than reach its intended recipients, a
regional aid expert in Bangkok said.
The UN representatives argue that to delay offering greatly increased
assistance would cause unnecessary suffering and provoke people to seek income
from the drug trade. They also hope to push along the negotiations between the
regime and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
"The nature and magnitude of the humanitarian situation does not permit
delaying until the political situation evolves," the letter said.
It said increased budget allocations for Myanmar would "contribute
significantly" to the work of UN special envoy Razali Ismail, who has helped
broker the talks that started last October.
One senior diplomat in Yangon predicted the letter would provoke an "unholy
row" in the international aid and activist community because it appeared to cast
aside many of the doubts about the distribution of substantial assistance. "I
think they have overplayed their hand in suggesting that this will actually
speed up the political reform process. There is absolutely no evidence to say
this," he said.
The ruling generals, who ignored the opposition National League for
Democracy's (NLD) victory in a 1990 election, have been holding closed-door
talks with Ms Aung San Suu Kyi for almost a year. The opposition leader recently
boycotted the annual Martyrs' Day ceremony that commemorates the assassination
of her independence-hero father and others, which well-connected observers took
as a signal she is unhappy about the slow progress of the talks.
The letter admitted that aid could provide only a minimum safety net for a
suffering population until the required "fundamental change of domestic
policies" was brought about.
The agency heads proposed focusing on Aids, the drug problem and food
production and distribution.
A member of the NLD in exile said he doubted whether the aid demand had
been approved by Ms Aung San Suu Kyi. "In the circumstances she must be the one
to approve it," he said.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Asiaweek
Webfiles: Echoes of Bob Dylan in
Myanmar
Optimism remains strong for a political settlement BY ROGER MITTON Monday, August 6, 2001
Web posted at 04:45 p.m. Hong Kong time, 04:45 a.m. GMT Odd, how memory-triggers work. I've just finished reading a biography of
the American comedian, Woody Allen. In discussing a documentary film about
Allen, the author refers to a biopic, Don't Look Back, about Bob Dylan's 1965
tour of England. I was an undergraduate at Liverpool University then and Bob
Dylan was one of my idols. When I heard he would play the Liverpool Empire, I
was among the first in line to buy tickets. Just before dusk on the evening of
the show, my girlfriend and I were standing at the foot of the steep slope of
stone steps that led up to the great old Adelphi Hotel. It was a blustery late
afternoon and no one else was around; out ambled Bob Dylan, wearing a black
leather jacket, open-necked white shirt and casual slacks. He was a small, thin,
baby-faced 23-year-old with skin so white it looked cadaverous. He paused up on
the top step, slipped a cigarette between his lips, lit it with a quick motion
of his Zippo, took a deep drag and gazed out across Liverpool's dark, satanic
skyline. I half-expected to hear: "Yeah, it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall . . ."
But there was just a silence blowing in the wind. We never spoke. I'm not sure
he even noticed us. We gazed up at him until he turned and shuffled back inside.
His concert was a movable feast. I recall it and that chance sighting of him
every time I play my Best of Bob Dylan CD.
I was playing it last night after I had returned from a wedding party at
the Peninsula Hotel in Bangkok, during which I had been discussing Myanmar with
a fellow journalist. He told me how much he loved the country and its people.
Yet he was not at all sanguine about a political settlement coming out of the
current talks between the military regime and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi. I told him I remained optimistic. And I do. But I have to admit I appear to
be blowing against the wind on this one. I have yet to meet anyone who shares my
confidence, and as I listened to Dylan's songs, I wondered why I feel this way.
Is it really just wishful thinking? Well, no, it isn't. There are, in fact, many
reasons for my buoyancy, but perhaps one of the strongest - and the one little
appreciated - is simply that it is based on a reading of some of the people I've
met on both sides of this political divide during my visits to Myanmar. I'd like
to tell you about a couple of them who inspire hope, rather than instill
despair.
They are U Tun Tin and Colonel Kyaw Thein. You may not have heard of them.
But to me they are the kind of unsung heroes who will, ultimately, transform
Myanmar. I first met Col. Kyaw Thein on March 9, 1999, at the Peninsula Hotel
(you see the memory triggers). It was early in the morning and I had gone over
to the hotel to try to see the Myanmar generals who were visiting Thailand.
Bizarrely, I found I was the only journalist there. Indeed, some of the hotel
staff and the Myanmar and Thai officials looked askance at me, as if I'd
breached a security cordon. But then Gen. David Abel appeared with a group of
other ministers and he chatted amiably with me, as did the Thai foreign minister
Surin Pitsuwan. I asked the Myanmar ambassador if I could have a word with one
of the government's top leaders when they came down, and he said he'd try to
arrange it; meantime, he introduced me to a round-faced, boyish-looking man in a
white open-necked shirt. He was genial, spoke excellent English and told me he
was Col. Kyaw Thein with the Office of Strategic Studies at the Defense Ministry
in Yangon. He had no card with him, so I wrote down his name and number. He told
me that if I was interested he'd try to arrange for me to go on a trip that was
being arranged for foreign journalists to observe anti-drug programs in Shan
State. The dates made it impossible for me to go, but I told him I would like to
see him again.
I did so on my next trip to Yangon when I interviewed him about the opium
eradication schemes he directs. He spoke candidly, especially of negotiating the
surrender of drug lord Khun Sa and he even arranged for me to visit another
former opium baron, Law Sett Han, in his fortified compound on the outskirts of
Yangon. But I don't want to focus on that now; I just want to say that Kyaw
Thein impressed me as a sincere, intelligent man who would be a credit to any
government. It is not often that one is able to say that about people these
days. I shared this thought with all the Western ambassadors in Yangon and with
their counterparts in Bangkok. I was surprised to find they all agreed. The
Americans and the Australians regard him as among the best of the OSS team, and
that is saying something. He reminds me of Surin or of Singapore's George Yeo. I
liked his candor, especially when he conceded that some officials may be
involved in the drug trade. "If you mean a government employee then you are
right," he told me. "Because every country has some black sheep, no one is
perfect. But I can assure you that nobody at my level or above is involved in
this sort of business."
A year or so later, I found myself sitting next to Kyaw Thein at a dinner
that the regional commander in eastern Shan state was hosting for a group of
foreign correspondents in Kyaingtong. Kyaw Thein told me that he was born in
Yangon, he is now 54. He still lives in the city's suburbs and drives to the
office before 7 a.m. each day in order to beat the traffic jams and be in time
for his daily briefing to Gen. Khin Nyunt, with whom he has a close rapport. As
a staunch Buddhist, he neither smokes nor drinks. He also mentioned that he has
always wanted to go to India to visit the four major Buddha sites. He has served
as an assistant to Maj.-Gen. Kyaw Win, who is now conducting the talks with Suu
Kyi. That alone bolsters my optimism.
Across the political divide is Tun Tin. Totally different, yet oddly
similar. Now 70, Tun Tin is a former lawyer - one of the nation's best and
brightest - who was struck off the bar during the Ne Win dictatorship. That is a
disgrace, and even though it is too late for him to resume practicing, it would
be a fine gesture if that disbarment were revoked. Tun Tin speaks with the same
kind of bright-eyed, gentle sincerity that emanates from Kyaw Thein. You feel
comfortable and reassured in the presence of both men. Tun Tin's law career was
rudely interrupted in 1958 when, during Ne Win's first assumption of power, his
outspokenness fell foul of the new military regime. He was exiled to the Cocos
Islands. After that Nelson Mandela-like episode, Tun Tin resumed work but was
detained yet again under the second Ne Win dictatorship in the mid-1960s and
confined at a military intelligence center. As if he had not suffered enough,
Tun Tin was arrested yet again in 1989 - having by then thrown in his lot with
Suu Kyi's fledgling NLD - and he was put in solitary confinement at Insein Jail
for several years.
I met him at his modest home on Pyay Road shortly after he had been
released. I had no idea what he would look like. I arrived at the little wooden
house at about 9.30 a.m. and sat waiting. He shuffled in, a stooped man, with a
graying brushcut, a ruddy veined face and clear piercing eyes. I am always
amazed by how those who have spent years in prison have been able to maintain
their mental faculties. Tun Tin has retained a sharp, astute mind; you can't
outpsyche him with clever questions, he spots them coming a mile off. And what
is most endearing is that unlike many lawyers and politicians, he is not at all
garrulous; quite the opposite, he is open but in a very soft-voiced, modest way
- and extremely soliticious. He had arranged coffee and cakes and pastries for
me, far too much really, and he fussed over me, anxious that I should be
welcomed with as much typical Myanmar hospitality as possible. He showed me some
books, faded old hardbacks of the kind one might find in an English village
library. He was very proud of them and they had clearly sustained him during his
oppressed days. One was a novel by Nevil Shute.
We chatted about this and that. General things. What struck me most was
that despite his periods of incarceration, when he clearly had suffered
grievously, as any intelligent man like he would when deprived of contact with
the world, he displayed no bitterness. In Insein, he had been allowed no books
and no visitors. It is too awful to contemplate and it made me think of Dylan's
song, The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll, who never done nothing to William
Zanzinger, the rich rake who killed her and got away with a mere six-month
sentence because of his connections with Maryland's moneyed and mighty. But you
who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears, take the rag away from your
face, now ain't the time for your tears, Dylan advises.
Tun Tin had no rich and powerful connections; he had simply an unshakable
belief in democracy and liberty. He still has. Right now, he is acting as Suu
Kyi's legal representative in the perverse case being brought against her by her
brother, San Aung, who has belatedly decided he'd like half the family compound.
When I asked Tun Tin about the talks between Suu Kyi and the regime, he told me
he believed they have a 50-50 chance of success. "We are hopeful," he said. He
spoke glowingly - but not sycophantically - of his party leader Suu Kyi, just as
Kyaw Thein speaks admiringly of his boss Khin Nyunt. It seems to me they are, in
a curious way, both on the same wavelength but at opposite ends of the political
spectrum. Both are honest, admirable men. A credit to Myanmar. That is why I
believe the talks will succeed. I look forward to the day they do, when I hope
I'll go for a burger to Mr. Guitar in Yangon and hear them singing Bob Dylan
songs again - and it won't sound at all incongruous. Now ain't the time for
tears and despair. It is the time for optimism and good faith.
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