---------------------------------BurmaNet-----------------------------------
-----
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------

The BurmaNet News: September 20, 1996
Issue #519

HEADLINES:
==========
MAINICHI DAILY NEWS: BURMESE ACTIVISTS RALLY IN TOKYO
ISBDA: TWO MORE NLD ACTIVISTS ARRESTED
NATION: WRITER RESPONDS - LETTER
NEW STRAITS TIMES: 33 NGOS PROTEST MYANMAR'S JOINING ASEAN
NATION: BURMA MILITARY VOWS PEACE ON ANNIVERSARY
THAI-BURMA CHECKPOINT REOPENS
NYT: WHO KEEPS THE BURMESE IN STEP? ASK THE GENERALS
INDEPENDENT REPORT: PROGRESS IN U.S. SELECTIVE PURCHASING 
NLM: ARTICLE EXPLAINS SUU KYI'S `BLIND ACCUSATIONS'  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------

MAINICHI DAILY NEWS: BURMESE ACTIVISTS RALLY IN TOKYO
September 19, 1996
From: Carol Schlenker & Aung Thu <carol@gol.com>
By Demian McLean

About 60 Burmese activists marched through the streets of Tokyo Wednesday
afternoon, pumping their fists in the air and shouting slogans that called
for an end to eight years of human rights abuses and military rule in the
country now called Myanmar.
        
The march began in Gotanda Minami Park with a mock re-enactment of the
bloody military coup in 1988, and culminated with a visit to the Myanmar
Embassy, where activists carrying Burmese flags delivered a list of demands
for the military junta, including the release of all political prisoners and
an opening of dialogue between the current government and Burmese Nobel
laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
        
Protesters particularly decried Japanese and other Southeast Asian
countries' support for Myanmar's military government, which has been
repeatedly castigated since 1988 by Amnesty International and other human
rights organizations.  Marchers particularly took issue with Japan providing
Official Development Assistance to Burma.
        
"We're trying to show the Japanese people and government the real situation
in Burma," said Aung Thu, a leader of the Burma Youth Volunteer Association
and an organizer of the march.  "People are still suffering -- there's
torture and there's forced labor," he said.
        
"The Japanese people think that if they send more ODA, it'll help develop
the country," he said, "Instead, it's going to the military," he said,
pointing to Myanmar's swelling military's ranks, which he said today number
475,000 soldiers, up from 175,000 soldiers eight years ago.
        
At the Myanmar Embassy gate, marchers stuffed a giant envelope through the
mail slot addressed to Gen. Thwan Shwe, leader of the military junta,
containing a list of the demands.
        
Inside, embassy guards watched from their security booths, and other
watched from a high wall with a telephoto lens, snapping photos of marchers
as they passed.

************************************************************

ISBDA: TWO MORE NLD ACTIVISTS ARRESTED
September 19, 1996
From: "K. Tint" <ktint@earthlink.net>

Two democracy activists who are members of the NLD Rangoon office were 
arrested by the military authorities on Saturday, NLD sources said. The 
individuals named Ko Aung Myint Oo and U Khin Aung who work at Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi's office were taken to custody by the military intelligence 
officers for political reasons. Although whereabouts of these two 
activists are not known, it is feared that they may receive long prison terms 
after secret trials. 

*********************************************************

NATION: WRITER RESPONDS - LETTER
September 19, 1996

BurmaNet Editor's Note: Tourism may have brought money to some Burmese,
but the majority, despite safer drinking water, are finding it
increasingly difficult to make ends meet. Low pay, as well as regular
demands for forced contributions and forced labor, leave many families
without enough to eat.  That is why approximately 1 in 40 Burmese are now
working abroad, often in appalling conditions.  Tourism has done nothing
to decrease human rights abuses by the SLORC. And while a tourist boycott
cannot bring down the SLORC, it is clear that the SLORC has tried to use
the Visit Myanmar Year campaign to gain legitimacy.  That is why Aung San
Suu Kyi, whose party received 82% of the votes in 1990, has called for the
boycott.  For those who support the pro-democracy movement, boycotting
Visit Myanmar Year is a concrete way to demonstrate support.

I would like to respond to the charges made by Christina Fink and Faith Doherty
that my co-ed piece was full of  "factual errors". First off, with in the
last year
alone, I have spent four months traveling to nearly every state in Burma and 
talking to people from all walks of life, not just people in the tourism
business.
Not a single person I have met outside Aung San Suu Kyi's
immediate Yangon circle has supported economic sanctions of any kind.

Neither critic offered one shred of evidence to refute my
observation that the average Burmese is better off today than 10
years ago. Yes, the economy is very weak any current report makes
that obvious. But take any such economic report - including the
US survey cited by Ms Fink- and compare it with the 1986
equivalent and the evidence is unequivocal. The most complete of
them, the UN human development reports, make this abundantly
clear. According to the 1994 World Development Report, 74 per
cent of Burmese citizens have access to safe drinking water, a
252 per cent increase since 1980. Does this mean everything great
in Burma and there isn't vast room for improvement? No, it simply
means that with respect to certain social and economic realities,
things are better than before, not worse. To deny this is to risk
losing all credibility, as many foreign Burmese activists have
done.

Fink and Doherty trot out the same half-truths and misconceptions
that their respective organizations depend upon for their
continued existence. The one exception may be the case of the
Sittwe Hotel in Arakan state, if there ports of draft s labor
are true Whether the Karen Human Rights Group can be  considered
an independent observer (just how many Karen are found  in 
Sittwe." questionable, but if these allegations are true, it is
the first time a hotel development has used draft labor to my 
knowledge. I observed the early stages of construction of the
Sittwe Hotel myself and to me it looked like a paid labor site.
The same goes for the Buddhist Museum in Sittwe. It's rather
hard to swallow that in either of these cases the government had
any need for unpaid labor, but without having done a thorough
investigation myself I can't rule it out. I doubt whether either
Ms Fink or Ms Doherty have ever been to Sittwe; dependent upon
information passed around by those seeking asylum in Thailand,
they cannot claim to have the full story.

Ms Fink grossly misquotes me as saying that "most tourists do not
use the roads or railways but take airplanes instead." Instead, I
wrote that the Rangoon-Mandalay road wasn't solely used by
tourists, and that the majority of tourists flew to Mandalay This
is a fact that can be easily be verified by comparing the number
of air and land arrivals to Mandalay. Furthermore, most of the
people using public road transport to Mandalay whether bus or
train - are Burmese citizens. This is patently obvious to anyone
who has bothered to look for themselves.

I fully  understand the symbolic value of a Visit Myanmar Year
(VMY) boycott, but my position is that trying to turn Burma into
Cuba - strengthening the government while weakening the people
through a travel embargo - is essentially an empty gesture. The
Burmese government's VMY promotional efforts have been so inept
that the best estimates of those involved in Burma tourism
predict that the same number of people will arrive during the
ill-fated year as would if no promotion at all had been
undertaken. 
     
Ms Fink says "Suu Kyi has not ordered tourists to boycott Burma
indefinitely. She has merely asked that people refrain from
coming during  SLORC's campaign for Visit Myanmar Year which
begins this November."

In the first place, Suu Kyi has no authority to "order" anyone,
much less tourists. Secondly, she has made it abundantly clear in
private conversations that she is opposed to tourism as long as
Slorc is in power; only when specifically asked about Visit
Myanmar Year as she limited her remarks to that arena. Again, I
fully understand the sentiment behind this position, but I cannot
agree with the chosen tactic given my own observation that this
is not the will of the Burmese people and given my belief that
this is an unfruitful tactic. 
     
Ms Doherty makes the oft-repeated error of referring to Suu Kyi
as an elected leader, forgetting that she was placed under house
arrest before elections were held and that no one 'leader" was
elected by the NLD. The only prospective officials chosen during
the elections were MP elects, and Suu Kyi wasn't one of these.
Suu Kyi is a courageous and extremely admirable person, but
unless I missed something in my research, elected she's not.

The nearest thing to an elected leader that the pro-democracy
movement has is Dr. Sein Win of the National Coalition Government
of the Union of Burma, an ad hoc border organization that has
stated that "Responsible individuals and organizations who wish
to verify the facts and to publicize the plight of the Burmese 
people are encouraged to utilize SLORC's more relaxed tourist policies." 
     
Neither critic has dared to refute the basic premise of my op-ed
piece, that there isn't a single indication that the Burmese
military, which has thrived on 34 years of isolation, will
somehow turn tail and run because tourists stop coming to Burma.
You have to have your head firmly planted in the sand to follow
such a line of reasoning. The government has been illegitimate
since its 1962 inception, and tourism this year, last year or
next year has little bearing on this basic reality.

I am especially disturbed by Ms Doherty's reference to the
Mustache Brothers, Par Par Lay and Lu Daw, who are my friends
and whose opinions on tourism are well known to me. Can Ms
Doherty claim a similar relationship?

This is not Par Par Lay's first time to be jailed for political
reasons, and following his previous arrest I asked him 
repeatedly if it would be better for tourists to stay home as
long as such human rights abuses continued and he was adamant
that they continue to come, to bring hard currency to the people
and to observe the realities of today's Burma, the good as well as the bad.

Contrary to Ms Doherty's assertion, I never presented myself as a
"non-biased observer". As the byline to my piece made clear, I've
been updating Lonely Planet's guidebook to Burma since 1986. I do
not, however, derive any sort of royalty on that book - it's a
strictly work-for-hire relationship with no direct relation to 
sales. The book is traditionally a money-loser for both LP and
myself. As far as I can tell, the only condition that shows a
strong correlation with Burma book sales is the visa situation;
as visa validities increase, sales go up, and when they decrease sales go down.

At any rate I couldn't care less whether the book sells a million
copies or goes out of print, as my primary motive in traveling
to and writing about Burma is my respect for its people. I'm paid
the same for writing these books regardless of what I report
about the governments and human rights situations; in fact,
Lonely Planet continually urges its authors to be as unbiased as
possible in their political reporting. This is not the case with
certain activist groups whose funding entirely depends on
painting a certain picture.
     
Should Slorc go away tomorrow, Ms Fink would be looking for
another job and Ms Doherty would have to pump up another cause to
justify that portion of the funds earmarked for publishing poorly
substantiated research on Burma. I, Ms Fink, and Ms Doherty each
live by  reporting our observations;  each of us has our own
moral agenda and none of us can reasonably claim more morality
than the other as far as I can see. At any rate, such ad hominem
arguments my motives versus their motives are irrelevant to the
debate issues themselves. The question remains, will a travel
boycott make a positive or a negative contribution? I remain
convinced at least for the time being that it can only bring negative results.
     
Joe Cummings 
Bangkok 

*****************************************************************
NEW STRAITS TIMES: 33 NGOS PROTEST MYANMAR'S JOINING ASEAN
September 19, 1996

KUALA LUMPUR, Wed - Representatives from 33 non- governmental
organization today presented a memorandum to the Foreign Ministry
to protest Myanmar's application to join ASEAN.

The memorandum urged the Malaysian Government and other ASEAN
members to ensure that Myanmar's ruling military junta, the State
Law and Order Restoration Council, would ad-here to certain
conditions before its application was considered.

Four leaders of the group, Abim secretary general Ahmad Azam
Abdul Radman, Cenpeace director Fan Yew Teng Burma Solidarity
Group Malaysia coordinator Debbie Stothard and the National Union
of Muslim Students Malaysia secretary general Zamri Zakaria were
met by Wisma Putra's undersecretary for Southeast Asia,
Australia, New Zealand and Asia Pacific Ahmad Fuzl Abdul Razak
and his deputy, Arshad Husin.

Ahamd Azam said during the 30 minute meeting both officials had
assured the group that the memorandum's contents would be
conveyed to Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Abdullah Ahmad Badawl.

Yesterday, Abdullah said Myanmar had formally applied to become a
member of ASEAN.

Its application was submitted by Myanmar Foreign Minister U Ohn
Gyaw during last month's visit of Yangon SLORC chairman General
Than Shwe here.

Abdullah, who is currently the chairman of the Asean Standing
Committee, said copies of the application have been forwarded to
the other ASEAN nations.

ASEAN's present policy of constructive engagement must not ignore
the fact that Slorc is an illegitimate government, one that was
not elected by the people during the May 1990 general election,"
Ahmad Azam said.

*****************************************************************

NATION: BURMA MILITARY VOWS PEACE ON ANNIVERSARY
September 19, 1996

RANGOON - Burma yesterday vowed  to usher in a new era of peace
and prosperity on the eighth anniversary of a coup that thrust
into power the current military government.       

"The people, the government and the Tatmadaw [armed forces] shall
unitedly march forward to a new era of peace, progress and
prosperity," was the banner headline in the official New Light of 
Myanmar newspapers. 

State-run newspapers yesterday carried pages of reports detailing
the military junta's achievements over the past eight years, and
outlined many more that are in the works. But prodemocracy groups
disagreed with the achievements of the government, which has been
widely accused of human rights and condemned for its failure to
restore democracy. - Reuter.   

*****************************************************************

US EMBASSY RANGOON: FOREIGN ECONOMIC TRENDS - BURMA
June 1996

RECEIPTS

The GOB has been unable, due to it's lack of both popular support and of 
administrative integrity and competence, to collect internal revenue
effectively,
the incidence of effective taxation has fallen disproportionately on the
external
sector. Conversely, the usefulness of the external sector for funding the
SLORC's 
military expansion is thought by some observers to be related to the SLORC's
policy of encouraging external trade and investment.

>From FY 89/90 through FY 94/95, the external sector constituted less than 1/4
of legal GDP, but appears to have been the source of about 1/2 of public sector
revenue.

In FY 94/95, almost 19% of the public sector's foreign currency receipts,
and about
9.4% of it's total receipts, is estimated to have been contributed by
external grants
partly of grass-roots humanitarian and opium crop substitution projects from
the 
United Nations agencies, but mostly of unilateral debt relief from the
government
of Japan, which is the GOB's largest external creditor. When the GOB
services its
official bilateral to Japan. the government of Japan deposits an equivalent
amount 
of Yen into an account that the GOB can use to purchase non-military
merchandise.
The GOB has used most of the Japanese debt relief to fund current expenditure.
>From FY 92/93 to FY 94/95, the annual value of this unilateral Japanese debt
relief,
increased form about US $33 million to about US $125 million.

Under the SLORC's rule, an apparently small but rapidly growing share of the 
GOB's income form the external sector has been derived from direct and indirect 
ownership of minority equity interests in private export-oriented firms, often 
through joint ventures with foreign investors. One hundred percent foreign 
ownership is not allowed in most of the sectors in which foreign investment is 
permitted, and the local joint venture partner of most foreign investors is 
either one of the GOB's state economic enterprises, or the military's Union
Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd. (UMEH)

UMEH is increasingly the local joint venture partner with which the GOB
encourages foreign investors to affiliate. UMEH is a specially privileged
holding
company formed in February 1990. As stipulated by it's charter, 40% of it's 
equity is owned by the Directorate of Defense Procurement, a defense ministry
agency that supplies the GOB's military imports: the remaining 60% is owned
by "defense services personnel" notably senior military officers including SLORC
members, and by military regiments and war veterans (organizations or 
individually). UMEH, as stipulated by it's charter, operates under the
charter of
the Dictorate of Procurement, with which it is co-located across from the street
from the Defense Services Museum in Rangoon.

UMEH appears designed to persist long after most State Economic Enterprises
(SEE)are privatized. The GOB's policy of acquiring substantial  minority equity 
interests in export oriented firms through foreign joint ventures with UMEH
could eventually enable the GOB to relinquish state monopolies of leading 
exports and to privatize many SEEs, while continuing to receive substantial
non-tax revenues from the external sector for expenditure by the military.

************************************************************ 

THAI-BURMA CHECKPOINT REOPENS
September 19, 1996
Thirawat Khumtita
Chiang Mai

A checkpoint in Chiang Saen district has been reopened to
facilitate construction of a casino, owned jointly by Thai and
foreign businessmen, on the Burmese side of the border.
     
Deputy director of the Internal Security Operations Command's
Chiang Rai office Col Chusak Anujornphan said the Interior
Ministry ordered the I reopening of Ban Wang Lao check point in
Tambon Vieng on July 25.
     
A steel bridge has been built across the Ruak River to facilitate
delivery of construction materials from Thailand and soldiers
have been stationed at the checkpoint to ensure security, he said.
     
Security risks are high and Col Chusak fears crime could rise as
smugglers and drug traffickers can now cross the border freely.
     
The casino, which is expected to open in the middle of next year,
could pose problems because both the Burmese and Thai governments
have no policy of supporting the gambling business.
     
A source said Interior Minister Banharn Silpa-archa approved the
reopening of the checkpoint at the request of Prasit
Phothasuthon, the younger brother of Chart Thai MP Praphat
Phothasuthon.

*****************************************************************

NYT: WHO KEEPS THE BURMESE IN STEP? ASK THE GENERALS
September 17, 1996
From: Zaliwin@aol.com
by Seth Mydans

Yangon, Myanmar -- there are fighter planes and rifles and artillery shells
in the new  military museum here, but there are also displays of textile
mills, power plants, resort hotels, supermarkets, bus lines and dancing shoes.

There are paintings of great battles and portraits of military leaders, but
there is also a model of the restoration of the golden Shwedagon Pagoda, a
display of soccer and tennis balls and a diorama titled "Brief History of the
Yangon City Water Supply System."

"Parks!" snapped Col. Ye Htut, the museum's director.  "How many parks have
we got?"

"Thirty!" cried a guide in the showroom of the Yangon City Development
Commission in the capital of this nation, formerly called Burma.  "Thirty
parks!"

The Defense Services Museum is no ordinary military museum, a vast, sunlit,
marble-floored building constructed three years ago in the city formerly
called Rangoon at a cost of nearly $9 million.

But this is no ordinary military:  an all-pervasive institution that sees
itself as the historical backbone and only future hope for the nation.
Having seized and held on to political power by force, the Burmese military
now pervades virtually every aspect of society, every level of government,
all corners of the economy.

"The armed forces have been fighting to keep this country together for 50
years," Col. Ye Htut said, standing in front of a diorama.  "Suddenly someone
says: "Oh, you have nothing to do with politics.  Go back to your barracks
and let the politicians settle things."  This we cannot accept."

A recent tour of the museum, under the genial guidance of Col. Ye Htut,
provided a self-portrait of one of the world's most reviled military
establishments.

There were no dioramas of the gunning down of pro-democracy demonstrators, no
displays of the long-running battle to suppress ethnic insurgencies, nothing
to indicate that the military is arresting its political opponents at an
increasing rate.

The museum concentrated on the country's struggle for independence from the
British in the first part of the century and on economic development in the
 last few years.  

In an odd turn of history, the most prominent personality in the museum is U
Aung San, the assassinated leader of the independence movement and the father
of the current junta's chief critic, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the
country's pro-democracy movement.

In an interview, Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi was surprised to hear of the giant
portrait of her father in the museum and the glass case displaying his
uniform, boots, gloves, sword and briefcase.

She sharply criticized the military's attempt to manage the nation by fiat,
saying, "You may be able to run an army like that, but can't run an economy
like that."

She added, "They don't seem to have learned the lesson that when an army
diversifies like that it gets less and less professional and less and less
proficient as an army, so they lose out both ways."

Despite the elaborate displays in the museum's 60 showrooms, not everything
about the military is open to scrutiny.  Though Col. Ye Htut said it numbers
about 250,000 troops, foreign estimates are closer to 400,000.  And although
official figures put military spending at 8 to 10 percent of the national
budget, the World Bank places it at closer to 40 percent.

But there is no dispute about the military's grip on the country. Myanmar has
been a military state since Gen. Ne Win took power in a coup in 1962 and
established a closed society.  The current junta seized power after the
massacre of hundreds of demonstrators in 1988, and then refused to step down
after losing a democratic election in 1990 to Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy.

These actions were in the national interest, Co. Ye Htut said.

"If you understand the history and development of our armed forces, you will
not see them in such a very, very negative way,"  he said.  "The media sees
the armed forces shooting down people and holding on to power because it did
not want to give up power.  This is not so.  The armed forces wanted to hand
over power, it the situation would be stable.  But there was no chance to
have a stable situation."

Co. Ye Htut led a visitor through what amounted to a tour of Myanmar:
displays of the Yeni No. 2 Paper Mill, the Teigu Seasoning Powders Factory,
the Shwedon gas turbine, the Mandalay International Airport, the Yangon City
Golf Resort.

"All built by Slorc," the colonel said, referring to the State Law and Order
Restoration Council, the military junta that took power in 1988.

Pointing to a display in the showroom of the Transportation Ministry, he
said, "This is the railway line reputed to have been built by slave labor."

Was it?

"No, we are Buddhist people," the colonel said.  "So we don't like hurting
other people.  We refrain from killing.  We refrain from doing what you might
call unpleasant things."  

Most of the unpleasantness in Myanmar has been caused by politicians, he
said, and one of the military's proud achievements has been to keep the
politicians at bay.

"We had elections, yes," Co. ye Htut said, "but after the elections, if we
were to hand over power to the political organizations we would  have had a
repeat of history -- the squabbling of political organizations, the fighting
to secede from the union.  The fight for power.

"It has happened again and again," he said.  "Only the military can hold the
country together.  Only the military can work to end this civil strife.  That
is why we are taking sole responsibility for this job."

**********************************************************

INDEPENDANT REPORT: PROGRESS IN U.S. SELECTIVE PURCHASING 
September 19, 1996
From: Tomoyuki Tanaka <ez074520@dale.ucdavis.edu>

1.  The entire State of Massachusetts passed a tough selective
contracting law on 25/6/96 [...]

2.  Oakland California passed a selective contracting law on 23/4/96

3.  San Francisco, California passed a selective contracting law on
22/4/96

4.  Ann Arbor, Michigan passed a selective contracting law on 15/4/96

5.  Santa Monica California passed a selective contracting law on
28/11/95

6.  Madison Wisconsin passed a selective contracting law on 16/8/95

7.  Berkeley California passed a selective contracting law on 8/2/95.

***********************************************************

NLM: ARTICLE EXPLAINS SUU KYI'S `BLIND ACCUSATIONS'  
September 17, 1996
Article by Phyo Aung

[Transcribed Excerpt] I found news regarding the
second news briefing of the Information Committee of the
State Law and Order Restoration Council which were presented
in full in the 3 September issue of the newspapers. [passage omitted] 

The reply given by the Minister was seen to be
systematic one given precisely according to procedure by a
true gentleman according to what the cultured and wise
journalist wanted to know. Wanting to know precisely how U
Hla Htwe asked in connection with what Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
said in the presence of personnel of various news agencies
and those from various embassies connected with information,
I searched for it in THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR in which it
was presented in original English version, as follows: 
U Hla Htwe of Antara News Agency and Nihon Keizai
Shinbum said Daw Aung San Suu Kyi had said at the "press
conference" the previous Saturday that quite a number of
foreign investing firms in Myanmar were immoral and benefits
and profits accrued from them had gone to only immoral
people. Concerning the matter, he asked for comments. Before
asking the second question, he said Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
said at the same press conference that the market economic
system had stopped being an open-door economic system since
1993 and become a government monopolized economic system and
that Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd [UMEHL] had come
to own a large slice of the economy and monopolized the
economy. He asked if it was true and to what extent the
UMEHL had economic enterprises in Myanmar and to what
percentage it held. 
It is vividly seen that points contained in both the
questions are blind accusations made by Daw Suu Kyi with her
eyes tightly closed. Accusing the foreign entrepreneurs who
came to Myanmar to make investments and to do trade as
"immoral" is really too serious. With what evidence was the
accusation made? The meaning of the word immoral does not
only mean wrong intentions but also means those with no
morals, lose character and with no shame. If so, t?is
amounts to clearly accusing personnel of the oil companies
such as Unocal and Total Companies, companies like Daewoo
and Segye, those who have made investments in hotel business
such as Inya Lake, Strand, Traders, Sedona, Summit Parkview
and other hotels, Italy- Thai Construction Company and
entrepreneurs of United Kingdom engaged in Ayeyawady
Waterways Tourism Service totalling over 200 organizations
which have made investments, to be immoral persons. Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi has balantly accused these dignified
entrepreneurs who have made investments in various countries
of the world without any sound evidence. The dignified
entrepreneurs should take heed of the fact that they can
file law suits against Daw Suu Kyi to retaliate her
accusations. 
The second point accusing that the Myanmar Economic
Holdings Ltd had monopolized the economy is done to accuse
the Government and the Tatmadaw [Defense Services] and it is
quite obvious that she was too eager to obstruct and hinder
the interests of the Tatmadaw. The answer given by the
Minister is complete. However, wanting to know why Daw Suu
Kyi said in this manner, I approached some journalists with
whom I had close contacts and asked them and I came to know
that she gave as an example that in the mining work carried
out in Mogok, the Economic Holdings Ltd is said to have
taken many good plots. I came to realized that she made the
accusations without exactly knowing how many mining plots
there are in Mogok, what system is practiced, which
organizations are engaged in them and what system is used in
allotting the plots to original owners. 
In mining of gems, it is important for people to have
luck, wisdom, perseverance and investments. It is not a
matter like carrying out geological survey and exploration
work for finding oil, natural gas and minerals, nor a
forecast be made on the exact spot where success would be
achieved. Plots are marked and allocated in places where
there is likelihood of finding gems. One can find the gems
or not depending on one's luck. Accusation cannot be made
that the best plots are selected and taken. Such accusations
are made by those persons who once tried to do some gems
mining to some extent but failed in their bid and are like
persons still longing for their past golden days to come. It
looks as though Daw Suu Kyi was speaking on behalf of such
persons. It will not do to have a pessimistic view and make
accusations all the time. Why has she made accusations
without concrete proof and easily believed in what those who
surround her say? Only those who have a considerate mind
can think clearly and see things clearly as they are. 
 "Foreign investors don't come and make investments
in Myanmar," it is said. 
When foreign investments come the public get jobs. The
investments help to bring about all-round economic
development to the State. These are true facts. 
"No foreign assistance should be given to Myanmar
Naing-Ngan," it is said. 
Development is being achieved with foreign help. For
example, with the assistance given by Japan the General
Diseases Hospital was built. The Institute of Nursing came
into existence. Didn't they bring benefit to the public? 
With the assistance given by Japan farm machines could be
purchased for the development of border areas. This was
aimed for development of the people. This are true facts. 
"Tourists should not visit Myanmar," it is said. 
This is being said to cover up the lies told by
expatriate groups who are roving round the world and
spreading rumours that the situation in Myanmar is very bad
and there is no security and people should not go to there.
It is assumed that this is being said in order to cover up
the false rumors spread by Daw Suu Kyi in collaboration
with expatriate group fearing that their lies will be
detected. When tourists come the world comes to know about
Myanmar. They see the true situation. When tourists come a
lot of foreign exchange is earned in all sectors. When
souvenirs are sold the local entrepreneurs earn more income,
economic and social contacts are made tending to bring
development to the country. These are original facts. 
Having considerations has nothing to do with being
educated. Although educated if one does not have the power
to consider then one can make mistakes and bring lots of
dangers. It is not good for oneself and at the same time it
bring lots of dangers to the surrounding. [passage omitted] 
Due to the ability of the media of the West Bloc, what
Daw Suu Kyi has said and done have been made known to the
world and this can easily be seen how much she has gone
astray from the power of thinking. She should at least
consider the condition of those who are surrounding her,
think of their historical background, of how much truth
there is in what they say and what news they give and how
much they are wrong. In reality by hearing news that "in
Hlinethaya people have to buy congee [surplus water that is
drained off while rice is being cooked]" one should at once
realize the real situation and should at once have
consideration. In spite of knowing that something is wrong
and continuing to be foolish is very dangerous. 
Thinking about this, I came to remember the song sung
by vocalist Chit Kaung. According to this song although the
people think of you and take interested in you, don't try to
speak or act perversely against the world as the world is
much better than you. It is only you who will get into
trouble. The acts deliberately done in order to put the
government into a tight spot is like pushing the government
and the public to the situation of losing their interests. 
"Consideration and reality can be perceived." 

*********************************************************

BURMANET SUBJECT-MATTER RESOURCE LIST

BurmaNet regularly receives enquiries on a number of different 
topics related to Burma. If you have questions on any of the 
following subjects, please direct email to the following volunteer 
coordinators, who will either answer your question or try to put you 
in contact with someone who can:

Campus activism:        zni@students.wisc.edu
Boycott campaigns: [Pepsi] ai268@freenet.carleton.ca     
Buddhism:                    Buddhist Relief Mission:  brelief@gol.com
Chin history/culture:        [volunteer temporarily away]
Fonts:                                  tom@cs.colgate.edu
High School Activism:     nculwell@facstaff.wisc.edu
History of Burma:            zni@students.wisc.edu
International Affairs:   Julien Moe: JulienMoe@aol.com
Kachin history/culture:      74750.1267@compuserve.com 
Karen history/culture:  Karen Historical Society: 102113.2571@Compuserve.com
Mon history/culture:         [volunteer needed]
Naga history/culture:   Wungram Shishak:  z954001@oats.farm.niu.edu
Burma-India border            [volunteer needed]
Pali literature:                 "Palmleaf":  c/o burmanet@igc.apc.org
Pipeline Campaign               freeburma@irn.org
Resettlement info:      refugee_help@mail.serve.com 
Rohingya culture                volunteer needed
Shan history/culture:   Sao Hpa Han: burma@ix.netcom.com
Shareholder activism:       simon_billenness@mail.cybercom.net 
Total - France          Dawn Star: cd@utopia.EUnet.fr  
Tourism campaigns:              bagp@gn.apc.org     "Attn. S.Sutcliffe"   
volunteering:           refugee_help@mail.serve.com
World Wide Web:              FreeBurma@POBox.com

Geographical Contacts:

Massachusetts           simon_billenness@mail.cybercom.net 

[Feel free to suggest more areas of coverage]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The BurmaNet News is an electronic newspaper covering Burma.
Articles from newspapers, magazines, newsletters, the wire
services and the Internet as well as original material are published.   
It is produced with the support of the Burma Information Group 
(B.I.G) and the Research Department of the ABSDF {MTZ}              

The BurmaNet News is e-mailed directly to subscribers and is
also distributed via the soc.culture.burma and seasia-l
mailing lists. For a free subscription to the BurmaNet News, send 
an e-mail message to: majordomo@igc.apc.org   

For the BurmaNet News only: in the body of the message, type 
"subscribe burmanews-l" (without quotation marks).   
For the BurmaNet News and 4-5 other messages a day posted on Burma 
issues, type "subscribe burmanet-l"  (NOTE: this is a lower case "L",
not the numeral one).

Letters to the editor, comments or contributions of articles should be 
sent to the editor at: strider@igc.apc.org

