KAO WAO NEWS No. 66
An electronic newsletter for social justice and freedom in
April 10- 28, 2004
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READERS’ FRONT
NATIONAL CONVENTION: A JUNTA PLAYING GAME
WOMEN CALL FOR DIALOGUE BEFORE NATIONAL CONVENTION
ANNUAL SUMMER LITERACY CLASS HELD
MATERNAL AND CHILD WELFARE ORDERED TO FORM
DISCUSSION ON SANCTIONS MISS THE MARK
GENERAL BO MYA’S PEACE
MON SONGKRAN IN
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READERS' FRONT
Dear Readers,
We invite comments and
suggestions on improvements to Kao-Wao newsletter. With your help, we hope that
Kao-Wao News will continue to grow to serve better the needs of those seeking
social justice in
Regards,
Editor
kaowao@hotmail.com, kaowao@shaw.ca
____________________________________________________
On Myint
Shwe’s “Sanctions Miss the Mark”
Yes. This is true.
The sanctions hurt the people most and not the generals. A big reason is that
they are not multi-lateral and include all nations. If it were, it could
shut the junta down. Daw Suu Kyi realizes this too. Also when good
companies are kicked out or quit
Philip -
_________________________________
Dear KaoWao News,
Thank you very much for the marvelous website created by your talented Webmaster. I am inspired by the best quality of journalism you have put in your work as the editor of Kao Wao Newsgroup.
Henry Soe-Win
D4B.
_______________________________________
Dear Kao Wao,
Wishing you happiness and I hope the Mon nationals will gain their rights in the New Year. Want to see independence for a Yamanya state in a federated union for future.
Yours,
Mahabee
__________________________
Thanks for the best quality of newspaper journalism you have put in your work and the excellent website created by your very artistic Webmaster Aierott.
Sincerely,
Rotmon H
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Assimilation Policy
(By Kao
Wao:
SPDC
local commander ordered Mon National Schools to stop teaching the Mon language
so that schools can be maintained under strict government control in southern
Ye,
The
Burma Army commander Colonel Myo Winn warned Mon teachers at Kao Jaer village that they must immediately change the
curriculum and stop teaching Mon otherwise the schools will be shut down.
“The
Mon National schools must be under government control. You must teach the Burmese language and hoist
the Burmese national flag; if not, following this instruction, the schools will
be closed down,” Colonel Myo Winn who led the military offensive against Mon
armed forces in southern Ye township, Mon State said during a forced meeting
held last month on March 19, 2004.
According
to the source from the New Mon State Party, the commander also gave similar
threats to the Mon teachers in Kwan TaMoi TaoTak village, on
During
the offensive to wipe out the Mon armed group, Hongsarwatoi
Restoration Party which started in December 2003, the Burma Army has also
launched a new war on education and culture, said Nai
Chan Mon, a teacher from Ye.
An officer from the Mon National
Education Office said that education officials were
warned on
“We
must talk about this issue seriously in our next Central Committee meeting in
early May,” said NMSP’s Secretary General Nai Hongsar in an interview with
Kao Wao Newsgroup.
The Mon national schools in this area were administered by the NMSP for several years. The Mon education system was well established and about 1,000 teachers were operating from Elementary to High Schools in the rural areas.
In the past, the military junta normally threatens teachers whenever they want to give pressure to the Mon national movement. Many teachers have been arrested, tortured, forced to resign, and physically or sexually harassed by the authorities, accused of being involved in politics or supporting the anti-government groups.
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National Convention or an ace in the
hole for the SPDC
NATIONAL CONVENTION: A JUNTA PLAYING GAME
(By Taramon/ Sangkhlaburi)
“I thought
I was being arrested when they took me to the Southeast Military Command at the
end of March but they told me that I should be a Mon delegate and attend the
National convention”, said Nai Saik
Hloin.
The Mon
community leader in
According
to a close friend of Nai Saik,
the commander said he could win against the Mon National Democratic Front,
which won five seats in the last 1990 election or could win over the cease-fired
The
source from
“The
SPDC wants to form a new party with the Mon nationalities in
The
source said six men were separately taken to the military command for
interviews even though all of them have no political background.
Six Mon
delegates are Nai Saik, Nai Kying Pe
(former Mon State Administrator), Nai Lun Ngwe (former Manager of Salt
Enterprise of Mon State), Nai Sein
Than (former manager of Mon State Information and Public Relation who works for
Rehmonya Bulletin monthly newspaper) and two other
USDA members.
Nai Saik was a former assistant manager of the Mon State
Agriculture Department. He lived at the
house of Mon national leader Nai Ong
Tun while attending university.
The
source said Nai Saik has
already received an invitation letter this month and decided to attend the
convention but may walk out if there is no freedom of expression. Even though
the single man holds a government position, he is well respected by the Mon
community, especially students, for his honesty and hard work on Mon culture
and literature activities.
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WOMEN CALL FOR DIALOGUE BEFORE
NATIONAL CONVENTION
(Kao Wao:
Ongoing state violence against women renders SPDC National Convention
meaningless.
The Women’s League of Burma called the junta to implement a nationwide ceasefire, release political prisoners and begin a tripartite dialogue towards national reconciliation.
According to a statement issued from the Thai Burma border, the WLB stated that the SPDC army has been using sexual violence and other forms of violence as a weapon of war against ethnic women.
The WLB, an umbrella organization
of women groups from
A new report titled, "Women's Political Prisoners in Burma", jointly produced by the Burmese Women's Union and the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), exposes how women involved in the human rights and democracy movement have been unjustly imprisoned and tortured by the SPDC authorities for their political beliefs. According to the report, out of the 1,500 political prisoners, over one hundred including Aung San Suu Kyi are women.
“Without releasing all political
prisoners, and without taking serious measures to eliminate violence against
women, the announcement made by the regime to reconvene the National Convention
on
"Women's Political Prisoners
in
"Shattering Silences" at: (www.womenofburma.org)
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ANNUAL SUMMER LITERACY CLASS
HELD
(IMNA:
Mon community celebrated the
closing ceremony of Summer Mon literacy school organized by Rev. Parlita in Kamawet, Mudon on
Community leaders, Buddhist
monks, schoolteachers and students from different areas attended the
celebration to congratulate more than 10,000 students from 11 circles in
The celebration started at about
“All Mon politicians, soldiers, religious leaders and teachers must work for their people if they want to be genuine leaders. Literature is a signification of the nation and if you are not working to promote it, are you leader,” said the well respected Abbot on the stage in front of the huge gathering.
Ajarr Parlita encouraged the Mon community to foster respect and education of Mon culture to the younger generation and to join in the Mon literature schools where they can read and write Mon literature.
He was jailed by the military
government for publishing Mon magazines but continues to working at promoting
and preserving Mon Literature and Culture in
According to a community leader, the number of students has increased this year and 330 teachers were volunteering in several classes.
In Mudon, the Mon literature summary school started after the examination of the government school and thousands of children from the government school joined in the classes.
“We prefer our children to learn from both schools (Mon and Burmese),” said Nai Chan Done, a student’s father from Mudon.
The course was only for one month
and it finished on time before the New Year (water festival). Thanpyuzayart and
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MATERNAL AND CHILD WELFARE
ORDERED TO FORM IN VILLAGES
(IMNA:
Authorities forced the establishment of the Myanmar
Maternal and Child Welfare Association yesterday at a
village headmen’s meeting.
The military authorities organized a workshop held over a two-day period in Mudon, 18 miles from Mawlamyine, and rounded up the village headmen to form the Myanmar Maternal and Child Welfare Association in every village.
According to a headman who attended the workshop, the authorities forced them to get 100 villagers to join the Myanmar Maternal and Child Welfare Association. If the village is big, it must have more than 100 members, but the local women are reluctant to join in.
During the meeting, the authorities also trained the village headmen basic military, firearm procedures and management.
Thanpyuzayart and other townships are also ordered by the government to form Myanmar Maternal and Child Welfare Association. The military government has already formed Myanmar National Women Affairs Committee and has set aside placements for its members for business ventures.
A villager in
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By Elaine Kurtenbach,
A P:
Shanghai, China--Forty-five years after it was proposed, a modern version of
the ancient Silk Road that once linked Asia with Europe is nearing
completion -- an 87,500 mile web of high ways and ferry routes connecting
32 Asian countries.
On Monday evening, 23 Asian nations signed a treaty on the road system.
The Asian Highway Agreement is intended to ensure construction of a road system, modeled on the route that traders once traveled by camel train, to provide access for many landlocked Asian nations.
First proposed in 1959 but delayed by decades of Cold war distrust, the project has been endorsed in principle by all 32 affected countries.
Even as telecommunications links draw the world ever closer, the realities of
geography --enormous deserts rugged mountain ranges and impassable jungle
--mean that many people in
The
A U.N map of the highways as
planned roughly resembles a spider web strung from
Funding for most of the preliminary work has come from
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DISCUSSION ON MYINT SHWE’S SANCTIONS MISS THE MARK
We might miss a major part of the economic policy and political
instability?
I respect different views
from different people, but allow me to express mine. There could be a few
people who oppose the sanctions that might hurt the citizens of
Before we focus on
sanctions, why not review the whole economy of
Single income is no
better. The minimum monthly salary in the public sector has been about Kt 1,000
since 1994, equivalent to US$ 1.25 at current parallel exchange rate. In April
2000, the public sector minimum salary has been increased to Kt 5,000 (US$
6.25—equals 0.21 cent/day) though many resort to corruption to survive, but the
military personnel's minimum salary was increased to Kt 10,000 (US$ 12.5—equals
0.42 cent/day) and the maximum wage was raised to Kt 15,000/month (US$
18.75—0.63 cent/day).
The regime refuses to
invest and persuade other investors in the country to compete.
According to official
data, GDP growth rate was quite impressive but lacks positive economic
fundamentals. This result reflects the distortions in the foreign exchange
market, the continuing high level of inflation, and the low levels of revenue
and public expenditure.
The regime failed to
grant the investors rights and provide a lack of opportunity to the people, but
created uncertain political instability. The collapse in foreign
investment has further reduced the resources available for investment. The
state sector's share of GDP has remained steady at around one-fifth of constant
price GDP in recent years. However, the state dominates some sectors including
mining and power, and has an important role in transport, domestic trade and
manufacturing. The state also controls the exports of many key commodities, and
as a result, account for 28% of exports in 1999/00. In 1999 private investors
in land reclamation projects were granted permission to export up to half of
their crops. The military and the Union Solidarity Development Association
(USDA) are also involved in businesses including gems and logging.
Another economic setback
is that the regime fails to control inflation and it likely will remain high
for three reasons: a tenfold increase in electricity prices effective March
1999, an increase in transportation costs because of higher taxes, and a
decline in commodity production. The main source of inflation is budgetary
deficits and other contributory factors to the inflationary process,
over-bidding of agricultural products of export, over-building of certain
infrastructure facilities, and depreciation of the Kyat in the parallel market
for foreign exchange, which increases the prices of imported goods used as
inputs in the production process.
When I met Dr Kyaw Yin Hlaing at the Heonrich Boell Foundation's for a two-day conference in
According to the official
data, the defense expenditure exceeds far greater than agriculture, public
social and other sectors' expenditures. In 1999/00, out of the country’s
population of 49.13 million, the defenseman power strength was about 470,667
(0.96% of total population) only. Hence, it is evident that the junta ignores
the economic, social and infrastructure development for the country’s majority.
In other words, the cost of achieving internal security and peace is a drain on
hard earned public funds and manpower, which could have been directed to nation
building, development activities or improving institutional and social capital.
In order to recover the
budget deficit, the junta-increased taxes and collected money and free labor
from the people for the nation's developmental projects such as the
construction of roads, dams, bridges and so on just for show. The junta
continues to heavily control command and centralize
International investment
may help open societies and bring democratic change in some countries. In
Sanctions bring blows to
the foreign companies who entered into joint ventures directly with the
military regime, businessmen close to the junta and the drug lords who
collaborate with the generals. It is earnestly requested here that individual
governments, employers and worker organizations of ILO member states adopt
severe economic sanctions against the illegitimate junta as this is the only
way to stop the flow of income to the military machinery and will enhance
dialogue between the stakeholders and on the urgent need to combat poverty and
respect trade union rights.
Again, Dr Kyaw failed to prove these young unfortunate women are
in this institution in terms of sanctions in
Indeed sanctions alone
could not bring down the suppressive regime from power, but these actions from
the international community are the regime’s fault, which
consentingly misses political reconciliation with legitimacy. But what are
the alternatives to convince the regime that it is not suited to run the
country on its own?
Nyo Ohn Myint
Former NLD youth
(Quote: FTUB's Economic Report 2003)
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GENERAL SAW BO MYA’S PEACE
(By Mahn Kyaw Swe)
“We need to build a true national unity with honour. If there was
a national unity in
General Saw Bo Mya, vice president of Karen National Union,
delivered a speech on his 77th birthday peace mission to
The vice president of KNU celebrated his 77th birthday on
Gen Bo Mya was born in Htee
Moo Khi village, Papon, in
1926. The local villagers respect him as
a descendant of Saw Koo, the last independent Karen Sawke in the
Gen Bo Mya converted to Christianity when he
married a Karen woman of Seventh Day Adventist and became a well-known
Christian leader among the KNU. He
became president of KNU in 1976 replacing Mahn Ba Zan. Gen Bo Mya
maintained the post of president until the last 2000 KNU election. Saw Ba Thin Sein, a well-educated former KNUP official, became the
President of KNU. However, Gen Bo Mya himself is still in charge as the chief of KNLA, the
military wing of KNU and was elected as vice president.
When Karen unity seminar took place in 1999, Gen Saw Bo Mya recalled the worst time he ever faced a crisis during
his leadership as a president of KNU.
When Manalplaw fell, some Karen Christians
leaders both civilian and military officers abandoned their organization due to
extreme depression and stress. The
morale of the soldiers was low due to knowing to infighting against family and
friends. Some KNLA officers turned to
alcoholism and suffered permanent depression.
Criticism mounted extremely high from both inside and outside the
organization especially from the younger generation. Regardless of confusion, the KNU has survived
for over 50 years as a tough organization under his strong leadership and
military experience. SPDC wrongly thought it would be the end of KNU when the
DKBA surfaced. Today, KNU faces a new type of warfare by SPDC regime, which
uses religion, social networks, economics, and diplomacy as weapons.
Gen Bo Mya was in hospital when Col San Pwint, the intelligent officer of SPDC, came to see him in
November 2004, a relationship based on over 5 decades of military
fighting. He did not hesitate to go to
Only true peace and national unity would guarantee national
reconciliation and improve the lives of many in the country, he confirmed. He kept the focus on peace by reminding Gen
Khin Nyunt of the SPDC’s meaningful talk of true
peace. The power of his speech echoed
with his belief in God, honesty, justice, and righteousness. Over 50 years of military and political
experience prepared him to meet face to face with his enemies who talk to him
like the black sheep of the family. “If
leaders would fulfill their promises, the country would be prosperous and would
develop”, he stated.
The Rev. Saw Mar Gay Gyi’s
prayer followed his speech with a hymn number 28, ‘He leadeth
Me’ was sung by the attendants in both the Burmese and
Karen languages. The room echoed with
the song, “he lead-eth me! O bless-ed thought! O words with heav'n-ly”. Amid criticism of the young, educated Karen
new generation, but Gen Saw Bo Mya demonstrated that
he is still in charge of the KNU leadership regardless of his poor educational
background and his current position as vice president. He is still winning a political warfare using
a religion he trusts, believing his success depended on his strong beliefs,
proving his diplomatic ability, mental fitness and courage during his meeting
with SPDC generals.
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MON SONGKRAN IN
(Kao-Wao:
The Mon communities in
In the
According to Ven.
Dhamma Dinna, the abbot of
In
Back home; Mon people annually celebrate New Year Festival for three days in Monland. During this period, the older people stay in the Buddhist temples. Monks also preach sermons of the Buddha to lay devotees and guide them in the practice of interior meditation for three days intensively.
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