From: BurmaNet ------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------ "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" ---------------------------------------------------------- The BurmaNet News: September 12, 1995 Issue#224 Noted in Passing: That thing about courage is not that you don't feel fear, but that you do the right thing in spite of your fear. Do it with your knees shaking, but do it. That's what counts. - Aung San Suu Kyi (quoted in SUU KYI REJECTS IDEA THERE ARE DIFFERENT TYPES OF DEMOCRACY) HEADLINES: ========== BKK POST: SUU KYI REJECTS IDEA THERE ARE DIFFERENT TYPES OF DEMOCRACY THE NATION: KHUN SA SAID PREPARING FOR SLORC ATTACK BKK POST: BIJOUX SET FOR $200M BURMA BUSINESS CENTRE BKK POST: PERSONAL MEMOIRS, PLEASANT AND OTHERWISE BKK POST: BANHARN SET TO LEAVE ON ASEAN TRIP THIS MONTH BKK POST: SURGE IN GAS OUTPUT PLANNED BKK POST: LAOTIANS INCREASE BORDER TRADE WHILE BURMA BKK POST: BROKERS CAUTIOUS OVER BURMA'S PLANS FOR STOCK EXCHANGE ---------------------------------------------------------- Produced with the support of the Burma Information Group (B.I.G). 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. 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Sutcliffe" World Wide Web: FreeBurma@POBox.com Volunteering: christin@ksc.net.th [Feel free to suggest more areas of coverage] ---------------------------------------------------------- BANGKOK POST: SUU KYI REJECTS IDEA THERE ARE DIFFERENT TYPES OF DEMOCRACY September 12, 1995 By S. Satyanarayan, Rangoon Although the military regime in Burma shows little sign of talking about democracy to the freed political leader Aung San Suu Kyi, she is optimistic of a break in the clouds. She has just talked to Gemini News Service about how she sees the future. Her main point: there is only one kind of democracy. Burma's popular dissident Opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, dismisses the distinction some Asian leaders make between "Asian" democracy and "Western" democracy. "The fundamental issue is that of governance according to the will of the people and there are no two different Asian and Western ways about this concept," she says. Her July release from six years of house arrest highlighted a debate between proponents of the policy of constructive engagement favoured by the Association of Southeast Asean Nations (Asean)_whose members chose to carry out economic and diplomatic overtures towards Burma's military regime_and Western governments, which pulled investment and made strin gent demands for improvements to the country's human rights record. Both sides claimed credit for her release. To those who would like to put economic development before human and political rights, Suu Kyi points out that Burma was a prospering Southeast Asian economy before a military coup in 1962 set the clock back on both democracy and eco nomic prosperity. The 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate referred to by some as "the Lady", brims with the tireless energy which sustained her through the years of solitude and separation from her family and pro-democracy colleagues. An optmistic outlook fosters her belief that Burma's ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc) will sit down and talk, even if it diminishes its power. She explains that a satisfactory dialogue for her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), which won the 1990 elections but was denied power by the military, is one which aims at bringing about genuine national reconciliation and setting the country on the path of true democracy. "There is no time frame set for the dialogue we have asked for with the military authorities," she says calmly. "It is not a good idea to set one, as its raises all sorts of impractical expectations." She quickly adds that she is not prepared to wait indefin- itely. She belives that if events in other countries in similar situations are any indication, "in the end they will all come to the negotiating table". "As long as we understand that this dialogue is to work out an answer which will be to the benefit of all, I think anyone would be capable of positive dialogue," says Suu Kyi. When questioned about the future of the Burmese army, whose leaders have often claimed that they are political, Suu Kyi betrays a slight anger in her voice: "My father, General Aung San, when he built up the Burmese army, wanted it to be an honourable army, to serve the people and not be involved in politics." She points out that in a country of 45 million people, Burma's reported 286,000-member armed forces makes up less that one per cent of the population and should be treated the same as any other minority. She has often talked about the need for "freedom from fear" and claims a fear grips the regime. "It is a fear that if democratic forces come to power they will wreak vengeance on them. But this is because they do not understand the demo- cratic principle that the rights of minorities are always protected under majority rule." She laughs at the possibility of being re-arrested. "Well, I can always go back to the meditation I have been practising all these years, and let's hope this time at a higher level." When the comparison between her and Gandhi is drawn she is forthright about their differences. "Except for adopting non-violent means, I am very different from Gandhi. And as for inspiration, apart from my father and the Indian Freedom Movement leaders, Gandhi and Nehru, in recent years I have been inspired a lot by Nelson Mandela." She believes that if Burmese people embrace a positive attitude they will be freed from their fear, but that you do the right thing in spite of your fear, which is born out of physical and economic insecurity. "That thing about courage is not that you don't feel fear, but that you do the right thing in spite of your fear. Do it with your knees shaking, but do it. That's what counts," she says, her eyes lighting up with laughter. Suu Kyi repeats that foreign investors interested in Burma must "ask themselves whether the economic prosperity they hope to profit from can come without democracy, which is the only guarantee for political stability in Burma." She is non-committal about whether a future democratic government would review contracts being signed now by the military regime. Her main concern is not for revenge but to benefit the people. (BP) *************** THE NATION: KHUN SA SAID PREPARING FOR SLORC ATTACK September 12, 1995 Reuter BURMA'S opium warlord Khun Sa is evacuating civilians from his headquarters in northeastern Burma in anticipation of an assault by Burmese government forces, a source in Khun Sa'a army said yesterday. A Thai narcotics official alleged that one of Khun Sa's close aides had deposited a large amount of money in a bank in Thailand's Mae Hong Son province in a further move linked to the expected Burmese assault. It's very strange when a close aide of Khun Sa deposits cash in a commercial bank, they usually keep their cash reserves at home, said the official, who asked not to be identified. The cash was believed to be personal money and not to the proceeds from the drugs business, which is dealt with in a different way, said the official. A source in Khun Sa's Mong Tai Army (MTA) guerrilla organization said civilians were being evacuated from Khun Sa's Ho Mong headquarters to a village near the Thai border in preparation for the assault by a combined force of Burmese troops and ethnic minority Wa fighters. About 100 elderly civilians, mainly family of our party's executive committee, have been evacuated to Mae Aw on the Thai border, the MTA official said. A Thai Army officer monitoring developments inside Burma said fresh Burmese troops recently moved to positions on the approaches to Khun Sa's headquarters and the offensive would probably begin in coming weeks as the rainy season drew to a close. The Burmese government condemns Khun Sa as a drug-trafficking "terrorist" and has vowed to crush him and his well-equipped guerrilla force. Khun Sa says he is a Shan nationalist who only taxes opium traders passing through his zone. But earlier this year 3,000 of his troops broke away from him because of what they said was his preoccupation with the drugs business and neglect of Shan political objectives. (TN) *************** BKK POST: BIJOUX SET FOR $200M BURMA BUSINESS CENTRE September 12, 1995 BIJOUX Holdings Plc, a jewellery-cum-property firm, announced yesterday it will proceed with its second investment project in Burma- a US$200 million real estate and infrastructure development to handle creation of a new business district in Rangoon. The company's board also approved the private placement of up 4.9 million additional shares for funding of the project. A number of international core partners will join Bijoux Holdings in launching the project. President Halpin Ho said 10% of equity had been offered to the Myanmar Fund, a direct investment institution launched in October last year. And international investors are being sought to finance 40% of the project. Mr Ho said existing commercial laws and judicial procedures in Burma guaranteed protection of the rights of investors as well as commitments given in respect of foreign investment outlays. The centre piece of the new development will be the Yangon International Convention Centre. A telecommunication centre will be set up to provide modern facilities, including tele-video conference capabilities. The first of the new project's three phases costing around $50-60 million is projected to be completed within the next three years. Under the project, a 40 acre property in the capital will be developed into a new integrated business and commercial district, to be known as the "Thuwunna New Business District". Phases II&III of the development are expected to come on-stream quickly after the company is into the first stage. The project is being described as a "fast-track total infrastructure system". With a fully comprehensive and rapid development of infrastructure facilities on a sustained basis, the project is considered valuable to the economic development of Burma. The new business district will be a totally new concept under which international standard infrastructure facilities will be self-complementary with commercial office buildings and a business club close to residential and retail centres, recreationand entertainment areas, food and beverage outlets and tourist shops. Short-and long-term residential facilities will include hotels, condominiums and luxury bungalows as well as a fully-equipped professional medical centre. Earlier, Bijoux Holdings launched its first reality project in the Burmese capital when it took the largest share in the ownership of Baiyoke Kandawgyi Hotel, the construction of which is expected to be completed by the end of this year. Bijoux Holdings has a long and abiding relationship with Burma, with the Ho family originally coming from Burma. The family will hold the major share of the new company's ownership through a shareholding being held by Bijoux Holdings Public Co Ltd, a jewellery manufacturing company listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand. (BP) *************** BKK POST: PERSONAL MEMOIRS, PLEASANT AND OTHERWISE September 12, 1995 Twilight over Burma: My life as a Shan Princess Inge Sargent. Chiangmai, Silkworm Books, 1994. 216 pp. 250baht. Available at all leading bookstores. This is the story of an Austrian student who married her classmate without knowing that she would become a royal consort in a remote country, surrounded by devoted retainers. This fascinating book is apparently a co-production with the University of Hawaii Press. It comes with an authoritative introduction by the veteran Burma-watcher, Bertil Lintner, and a dedication to Sao Kya Seng, the Prince of Hsipaw, the first husband of the authoress. As Inge Eberhard, an Austrian, she had met another student studying mining engineering at the Colorado School of Mines in Denver. He came from the Shan States in Burma. They fell in love, he proposed, and they got married. It was only as their ship pulled into the docks at Rangoon in January 1954 that she learnt her husband was a hereditary prince of a state the size of Connecticut, who had not wished to reveal his true identity for fear of someone marrying him for the wrong reasons. For the next eight years, she lived an idyllic existence in the Shan hills as royal consort now with the name of Thusandi and the title of Mahadevi, learning to be accepted by a crowd of relations and a legion of subjects while the Prince of Hsipaw distributed his lands, started agricultural projects, and took part in the political reformation of the Shan states under the Burmese constitution. No idyll lasts forever though. General Ne Win's coup in 1962 put paid to that. The prince was arrested and never heard of again, presumably murdered in politics. His wife and two daughters were placed under house (or rather palace) arrest in Hsipaw for two years. They moved to Rangoon, from which, seeing that things were going from bad to worse, they finally managed to escape with a doctored Austrian passport. The Mahadevi went to Vienna, apparently obtained a post in the Thai embassy, continued to try to discover what happened to her husband, and in the end became Mrs Sargent, settling in the United States where she taught and recently retired. That, badly put, is the story of the book as it were, which describes the life of a privileged person in a remote outpost, surrounded by an adoring husband and devoted retainers. The Mahadevi had to learn to live up to expectations, acquire a good knowledge of Shan and Burmese, travel widely in her state, and raise her two daughters. She appears to have succeeded in doing all that was expected of her very well. The collapse of this dream world was all the more devastating as it was accompanied by brutality and a total lack of regard for constitutional niceties or basic human rights. The presentation of the sequence of events is done with almost cinematographic technique. The first chapter starts with the end of the idyll: house arrest for the Mahadevi, imprisonment without charge of the Sao. The next chapter goes back to their arrival in Rangoon, their earlier meeting in Denver. Other chapters contain this see-saw between the present of the moment and the past, the flashback and the reality. But here arises a problem: This is not a novel but a recollection of real events, and yet the episodes concerning the Sao's imprisonment, his interrogations, his encounters with Karen go-betweens are all imagined, for the Mahadevi presents herself as totally distracted, not knowing what to do to try to contact her spouse, whose death she is unwilling to admit to even after she left Burma some four years later. A further structural problem occurs in the form of the narration: It is not in the first but the third person. No harm in that, you might think. But when the Mahadevi has to talk about her self, the result is embarrassing. She says, of herself and her prince when they were students: >From the day they had met at a foreign students' Party, this attractive and unusual girl had constantly been on his mind. Her warmth, her cheerfulness, and her poise made him long for her company. All that many be true, but it should hardly be said of oneself. There is inevitably, much more. "Her tight-fitting pink, yellow and white court dress, heavily embroidered with a golden peacock emblem, hugged her slim, tall figure... Her long brown hair, tamed in the traditional court hair style, resembled a natural crown... The glitter of her diamond earrings, bracelets, and rings completed the impression of a fairy-tale princess. Thusandi was stunned..." And so on. If these words were about someone else, one would not worry; but this not the case. The oppressive nature of everything after the military takeover comes over very well, especially the fear with which the army ruled, abrogating all civilised norms. Even telephone calls were interrupted by the secret police, enjoining her callers in Rangoon to speak only in Burmese or English, which they could understand, and not in Shan or German. The final departure has its touch of excitement; the reader's tension, like the authoress's does not drop until the Pan Am pilot announces "Ladies and gentlemen airspace", a statement followed by a spontaneous outburst of clapping in the airplane. It is a good read, with perhaps overmuch attention to clothing (the further Mahadevi is appalled to think she is appalled to think she is appearing in cotton frock on arrival in Rangoon after she has learned of her husband's rank, and when she is given only a few hours to flee Rangoon forever, she worries about having dress dated in style and length), but it might have if it had been written as a straightforward personal narrative. (BP) *************** BANGKOK POST: BANHARN SET TO LEAVE ON ASEAN TRIP THIS MONTH September 12, 1995 Premier Banharn Silpa-archa will go ahead with a tour of Asean at the end of this month, despite political problems at home and a lack of full preparation for regional talks. It had never crossed his mind such visits would take place this soon, he told the Bangkok Post in an exclusive inter- view at the weekend. The Foreign Ministry says it is necessary for him to consol- idate ties with counterparts in the Association of Southeast Asian nations before summits of the United Nations in October, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation group in November and Asean in December. His trip will lead to successful negotiations at these meetings, the ministry says. "I planned not to go during this time. But the ministry says that will make it difficult when we meet at the UN summit. "For this visit, talks on economics and politics are not necessary, but a meal together will bring us closer," he said. The premier is scheduled to go to Singapore and Indonesia on September 23-24 and to the Philippines and Vietnam on Sep tember 30 and October 1. Mr Banharn, asked why he would go abroad when his Government is seen as unstable, said: "That's why I choose to travel during the weekends." After attending the UN, APEC, Asean and Asia-Europe summits, he will visit Thailand's other neighbours, especially Burma. The Asia-Europe summit will be held in Thailand in early March. An appropriate time to visit Burma had to be set, Mr Banharn said. Border conflicts and sanctions by the world community against Burma have distanced Thailand. Gen Prem Tinsulanonda was the last Thai prime minister to visit the country in July 1980. During the recent visit to Burma by Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, the State Law and Order Restoration Council demanded that Thailand urgently solve three problems. These are the suppression of drug warlord Khun Sa's forces along their border, alleged encroachment by Thai traders onto the Moei River and the fisheries-related problems. Mr Banharn denied Burma's accusation that Thailand supported Khun Sa's men fighting Rangoon. On the contrary, it arrested and disarmed all of those found to have entered Thailand. It was necessary to make this clear to the Slorc, he said. As for the allegation of encroachment on the Moei River, Mr Banharn said he hoped the misunderstanding would be cleared up soon since a committee had been set up to find facts on the issue. To avoid a recurrence of the situation in which Burmese fishermen were killed on a Thai trawler, the premier said private companies wanting to invest in Burma would have to report to the Foreign Ministry to ensure they would not break their business agreements. The premier declined to comment, when asked, on the political situation in Burma after the release of Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, saying the Burmese government is not happy with news about its domestic politics. (BP) *************** BANGKOK POST: SURGE IN GAS OUTPUT PLANNED September 12, 1995 French oil firm Total Co Ltd plans to boost natural gas production from the Bangkok gas field in the Gulf of Thai land to 500 million cubic feetr per day in the next two years. Industry Minister Chiwat Sinsuwong said yesterday Jean Marie Beuque, Total's chief executive officer for Far East Area, had told him of progress in development of the field. The company plans to increase its gas production capacity to 350MMcfd next year. The volume will reach 500 MMcfd in 1997. The company is also taking part in developing the Yadana gas field in Burma's Gulf of Matarban. The Yadana gas will be piped to Thailand to fuel the Ratchaburi power plant being constructed by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand. (BP) *************** BANGKOK POST: LAOTIANS INCREASE BORDER TRADE WHILE BURMA STAYS CLOSED September 12, 1995 Report by Teeravat Khamchita (Chiang Rai) Laos is emerging as a strong partner in border trade with Chiang Rai province following the closure of the Thai-Bur- mese border in March. Trade with Laos has been rising sharply while that with Burma_mostly unofficial_is increasing slightly, according to deputy chief of the Chiang Rai Commercial Office Anant Sawangjang. Since March, two-way trade with Laos has reached 154 million baht, a 39 per cent increase from that in the same period last year. Trade with Burma was up only 10 per cent in value at 1.3 billion baht, according to the Commerce Office. Trade with Laos this year will break last year's record of 200 million baht if the trend continues until the end of this year. Chiang Rai traders also deal with China. Trade with China accounted for 13 million baht between january and July, up two per cent from the first six months last year. Anant blamed the closure of the Mae Sai-Tachilek border for the slow progress in trade with Burma. Vivat Sirijangkhawattana, president of the Chiang Rai Chamber of Commerce, said Burma's political situation and lack of standard regulations were the main reasons traders turned to Laos. Rangoon closed its border in retaliation for Thailand's decision to allow Mong Tai Army soldiers to cross the border for medical treatment in the privince during the Burmese government's offensive against the MTA. Tourists are not allowed to visit Tachilek town opposite Mae Sai district. Chiang Rai borders Shan State in Burma and Bokeo province in Laos. Trade with Laos conducted through the checkpoint between Chiang Khong district and Huayxay, the capital of Bokeo. Trade with China uses the Mekong River to Chiang Saeng district where Chinese traders go downstream to sell their products and buy goods. Traders sell petrol, monosodium gultamate, tractors, excava tors, dried longan, cement and consumer goods to Laos and buy processed wood, power generators, products from the forest and machine tools. Traders, spearheaded by the chamber, are eager to promote ties with Laos. The chamber urged Laos to set up a consulate in Chiang Rai and to lower or scrap the entry fee, open duty-free shops to promote tourism and to clarify all regu lations on trade and investment. Representatives of chambers in nine provinces bordering Laos made the call during talks with Laotian counterparts in Vientiane on September 2. The meeting was organised by the Thai embassy in Laos. Vivat said his chamber would push for the building of a bridge across the makong River in Chiang Khong. Representatives of the Australian government had surveyed the area. The chamber would hold a meeting in November to expand economic cooperation. Representatives from Laos and China would take part, he said. (BP) *************** BANGKOK POST: BROKERS CAUTIOUS OVER BURMA'S PLANS FOR STOCK EXCHANGE September 12, 1995 Report: Nussara Sawatsawang anf Thanom Pipityakorn Burma is pressing ahead with plans for a national stock exchange as the first step toward a wider capital market. However, foreign brokers are cautious about making a commit ment to establish their operations in Burma, citing unclear regulations and the country's uncertain political situation. National Planning and Economic Development Minister Brig-Gen David Abel aims for the stock exchange to be established within two years. "We hope so," Hisao Katsuta of the Daiwa Institute of Re search told Inside Indochina in Bangkok. "But we wish it to grow gradually into a formal exchange like Thailand's. Daiwa Securities Co, Japan's second-largest brokerage house, last December signed a memorandum with Rangoon to set up a stock exchange, privatise state enterprises and develop a capital market in Burma. By the end of December, Daiwa plans to set up a joint repre- sentative house for brokers to prepare for the establishment of a stock market. The company has helped the government draft a securities exchange law that is likely to take effect in a few months. The draft was 50 per cent completed, using the Japanese law as a model, a Burmese official said. Last Aprial, six gov ernment officials from the Central Bank, the Finance and Revenue Ministry and the National Planning and Economic Development Ministry attended a training course in Japan in preparation for the establishment of the exchange. Since_January, the government has offered to privatise a total of 51 state enterprises under the Trade, Light Indus try, heavy Industry, Information, and Live stock Breeding and Fisheries ministries. However, Douglas Clayton, chief representative of Credit Lyonnais Securities (Asia) in Bangkok, said the government had to create a systematic foreign exchange system and clear regulations governing the exchange. Therefore, it would take at least three to five years to set up the market. The official foreign exchange rate is six kyats for one dollar against 100-120 kyats on the unofficial market. Graham Cattlewell, chief representative of British broker Crosby Research Ltd in Bangkok, said: "We don't see any business (opportunities) at this point." Owing to the unstable political situation in Burma, it would take his group "years" before it decided whether to estab lish a representative office in Rangoon. For Katsuta, the foreign exchange rate is not a problem, because the initial stage of the capital market is aimed only at local investors who are supposed to use Burmese currency. "We believe in the potential of the domestic capital market. It has nothing to do with foreign investors and it's too early to think about it," Katsuta said. Burmese were concerned about economic growth rather than politics, he said. However, these was uncertainty whether most were familiar with the new approach. The capital market created by British companies in the colonial days has long since gone. MBA student Myint San, who runs his family's business, said share-buying was for civil servants who did not know what to do with money. He preferred to invest capital in his own business. Diawa's job is to persuade good quality companies to be listed on the exchange. The Myanmar Security Exchange Centre_the joint brokerage house_will initially encourage people to invest in the capital market. It will then become a primary market through which Daiwa will underwrite bonds and shares. According to Katsuta, Burma's economy has potential but has been idle because people do not know how to invest. Most people invested in real estate, gold and jewellery, he said. Many Burmese bitterly remember losing heavily when the government demonetised 25, 35 and 75 kyat banknotes without compensation. The kyat is of questionable value anyway. Yi Yi Myint, professor of management studies at Rangoon University's Institute of Economics, said there was a need to build public confidence in the finance sector and one way to achieve this was to ensure the market was transparent. Despite uncertainly about the number of securities with trading potential, some companies, especially those in the financial business, have started offering their shares to the public. Burma's stock exchange would take shape faster than that in Vietnam, Katsuta predicted. Burma had a good, strong capital market established during the colonial period. Laws, such as the Special Company Act for registering listed public compa nies, were in place as a result, he said. (BP) *************end**************