THE NATION: Burma celebrates new

[suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

Headlines 

      Burma celebrates new
      year

      RANGOON -- Burma began its four-day
      water festival celebrating the Buddhist new
      year yesterday amid strict government
      restrictions and dire warnings from
      soothsayers predicting a ''year full of woe.'' 

      Thousands of people took to the streets of
      Rangoon to let their hair down and cool off
      with a citywide water fight despite threats
      from the ruling military junta that unruly
      behaviour would be severely punished. 

      The State Peace and Development Council
      (SPDC) set up 248 official water-throwing
      stalls and others devoted to emphasising
      ''Burmese traditions and culture'' -- with
      discipline as a central theme, the
      state-owned press reported. 

      Revellers found with prohibited items such
      as water-balloons would be jailed for one
      year while throwing such water-bombs was
      punishable with a three-year jail term,
      official reports said. 

      They exhorted citizens to dress properly
      during the ''thingyan'' festival and avoid
      unruly behaviour which could lead to
      breaches of ''national unity and unrest.'' 

      Meanwhile, fortune tellers were doing their
      best to spoil the fun, with new-year
      predictions ranging from poor harvests to
      huge earthquakes. 

      One soothsayer predicted soaring food
      prices -- not a particularly bold forecast
      given the plunging value of the local
      currency against the US dollar over the past
      few months. 

      Sources said the government appeared to
      be cutting costs and had limited the number
      of official new-year stalls representing the
      various ministries. 

      Water-splashing is a central element in
      new-year festivities in Thailand, Laos,
      Cambodia and Burma. -- Agence
      France-Presse.