------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------ "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" ---------------------------------------------------------- The BurmaNet News: January 16, 1996 Issue #322 Noted in Passing: All the students from my school were forced to joined the USDA. (Union Solidarity and Development Association) We would not pass the exam if we do not join the organization. - Naw Esther, a high school student from Palaw township. HEADLINES: ========== ASSK: INFLATION IS A SUBJECT THAT INTERESTS EVERYBODY STATEMENT OF THE STUDENTS AND YOUTH CONFERENCE OF BURMA ABSDF-DNA: USDA IN TENESSARIM DIVISION WATERSHED: BURMA'S FORESTS, A REPORT FROM WATERSHED IPS: ASIA-DRUGS: KHUN SA'S FALL, NO BIG BLOW TO NARCOTICS DVB: NORWEGIAN STATE OWNED OIL COMPANIES PLAN TO INVEST AUSTRALIAN PAPERS: PROTEST/STAND AGAINST SLORC INDEPENDENT LETTER: BURMA OR MYANMAR INDEPENDENT LETTER: LET US NOT BE BIASED BURMANET: BRIEF BUSINESS REPORTS ----------------------------------------------------------- ASSK: INFLATION IS A SUBJECT THAT INTERESTS EVERYBODY January 10 1996 From: carol@gol.com Mainichi Daily News, Monday, January 8, 1996 Letter from Burma (No. 7) by Aung San Suu Kyi INFLATION IS A SUBJECT THAT INTERESTS EVERYBODY "Breakfast Blues" One of the most popular topics of conversation in Burma today is the rampant inflation. When a group of people gather together to discuss the situation of the country the talk invariably turns into a comparison of the present prices of goods with the prices that prevailed before 1990. The comparisons are made wistfully, indignantly, incredulously, furiously. It is a subject that never fails to interest anybody except the tiny handful of the extremely rich who do not have to worry about the price of anything. Those for whom inflation is the worst enemy are the housewives who have to make a limited income stretch to cover the basic everyday needs of the family. A visit to the bazaar becomes an obstacle race where the shopper has to negotiate carefully between brick walls of impossible prices and pitfalls of substandard goods. After an exhausting session of shopping the housewife goes back home and struggles to produce meals which her family can enjoy, trying to think up substitutes for the more expensive ingredients which she has been forced to strike off her shopping list. To understand the difficulties of housekeeping, let us look at what it involves to produce just the first meal of the day. Breakfast for many people in Burma is fried rice. Usually it is a mixture of cooked rice and other leftovers from the evening before, vegetables, meat or shrimps; sometimes an egg or two stirred into it; sometimes there might be a sprinkling of thinly sliced Chinese sausage; sometimes a variety of steamed beans sold by vendors in the early hours of the morning might be added. It is a fairly substantial and tasty meal. The breakfast fried rice for many families has now taken on an anemic hue. There is not likely to e any meat or shrimps left over from supper, eggs or Chinese sausage would be an extravagance and even steamed beans, once the humble man's food, are no longer cheap. The price of chicken six years ago was 100 kyats a viss (about 1.6 kilograms), now it is 400 kyats. Mutton that cost 150 kyats is also 400 kyats now. Pork has gone up from 70 kyats to 280 kyats. The smallest shrimps which cost about 40 kyats in the late 1980s now cost over 100 kyats, which the price of medium-size prawns has gone up from about 100 kyats a viss to over 200 a viss. And giant prawns now over 1,000 kyats a viss have entirely disappeared from the tables of all except the very wealthy. At such prices few families are able to cook sufficient meat to satisfy the whole family for one meal, let alone to have enough left over for the breakfast fried rice. Eggs are not a ready substitute either as the price of an egg has also leapt up, from about 1 kyat each before 1990 to 6 kyats at present. And Chinese pork sausages which can be so conveniently sliced up and thrown in to provide flavor and sustenance have become almost a luxury item at around 450 kyats a viss. (Before 1990 the cost was about 250 kyats a viss.) With the price of meat so high, in the breakfast fried rice of Burma today vegetables feature large -- but not as large as one might expect. The price of vegetables has gone up at an even faster rate than the price of meat. A dish which is much loved by the Burmese not only at breakfast time but at any time of the day is /mohinga/. This is a peppery fish broth, which is eulogistically termed Burmese bouillabaisse, eaten with rice vermicelli. A steaming bowl of mohinga adorned with vegetable fritters, slices of fish cake and hard-boiled eggs and enhanced with the flavor of chopped coriander leaves, morsels of crispy fried garlic, fish sauce, a squeezing of lime and chilies is a wonderful way of stoking up for the day ahead. The price of an average dish of mohinga which includes vegetable fritters and a quarter of a duck egg was 3 kyats before 1990. Now a slightly smaller portion with a cheap bean fritter and without duck egg costs 15 kyats. There is less of even the standard flavorings: coriander leaves have gone up in price from 50 pyas a bunch to 5 kyats. Extras such as fish cake or eggs are, it need hardly be said, expensive. Few people can afford a substantial breakfast of mohinga. These days whether breakfast is fried rice or mohinga, it is not only less appetizing from lack of good ingredients, it is also less nourishing. And this is not merely because the high prices of meat, fish and beans mean less protein foods. In both fried rice and mohinga, palm oil is used instead of peanut oil which has become too expensive. To make up for the lack of tasty ingredients, a liberal dose of monosodium glutamate is generally added. What used to be healthy substantial delicious breakfast has become for many Burmese not just unsatisfactory but also something of a health hazard. Yet those who can afford to have fried rice or mohinga for breakfast, however unsatisfactory it may be, are the fortunate ones. There are many who have to make do with rice gruel -- or even nothing at all. ***************************************************** STATEMENT OF THE "STUDENTS AND YOUTH CONFERENCE OF BURMA January 10, 1996 From: ABSDF-MTZ Youth & Student's Conference Burma Jan 7-8 New Delhi 1. With an aim to upgrade the role of the students and youths and to establish solidarity among various forces that are struggling against the military dictatorship in Burma, "Students and Youth Conference of Burma" was convened from 7 to 8 January in New Delhi, India. The list of the organizations participated in the conference was as following. (1) The All Burma Student's Democratic Front (ABSDF) (2) The All Burma Students League (ABSL) (3) Karen Youth Organization (KYO) (4) All Arakan Students and Youth Congress (AASYC) (5) Democratic Party for New Society (DPNS) (6) Chin Students Union (CSU) 2. The conference is confident that, in order to solve the political problems of Burma by political means and achieve national reconciliation, a substantial political dialogue involving the leaders of the ethnic nationalities, democratic forces led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) is the best way. 3. The conference reached to he consensus to a) stand against the SLORC's National Convention and its consequences: b) support the activities of the National League for Democracy led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi; c) destroy the economic and military elements of the SLORC; d) promote the political awareness of he people concerning democracy and human rights for all the people and equal rights and self-determination for all the ethnic nationalities in Burma and e) encourage the solidarity among all revolutionary forces by strengthening the unity and understanding among various ethnic students and youths. 4. Through these two-days long deliberations, the leaders of respective organizations unanimously agreed to establish "Students and Youth Congress of Burma", as an umbrella alliance, in order to fight for the restoration of democracy and human rights in Burma in the collective form. The Congress warmly welcomes all youth and student democratic forces of Burma who agree with its ideas and plans and want to join it. 5. We strongly demand the SLORC 1) to release student leader Ko Min Ko Naing and all political prisoners immediately and unconditionally; 2) to stop the ongoing National Convention which is illegal and illogical; 3) to set up the tripartite dialogue that is to be composed of the democratic forces led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, representatives of ethnic nationalities and 4) to declare the nation-wide cease-fire. We urge the international community (1) to withdraw or stop the various forms of aid which is directly or indirectly fuelling the SLORC's machinery and (2) to impose practical and effective trader and arms embargo on SLORC military regime. ***************************************************************** ABSDF-DNA: USDA IN TENESSARIM DIVISION January 15, 1996 from caroline@ksc.net.th About 4,5000 civilians from the four townships in Mergui District rallied on December 27, 1995 to express unanimous support for the successful conclusion of the National Convention, according to the Slorc media. The rally was chaired by Ge. Ket Sein who is a Commander of Southeast military Command and chairman of Mon State, Karen State and Tenessarim Division USDA (Union Solidarity and Development Association). The participants were mainly members of the USDA, state high school students and teachers, as well as public service employees. The rally was held to show the support of a constitutional convention which has been boycotted by the opposition but the people said most of them had been forced to participated. "All the students from my school were forced to joined the USDA. We would not pass the exam if we do not join the organization. I was in the rally but I had no idea what was the reason for the rally. But the authority ordered us to join this rally" Naw Esther, a high school student from Palaw township recalled her experience. The USDA was formed on 15, September 1993 by Slorc as a social organization which establihed at village tract, wards, township, district and division levels. Its central executive committee members are civilian but its high position in state and division levels are assigned with the high military officials. It is thus analyzed as an eventual political power base for the military. Although Slorc is announced that USDA is only a social organization and there is no political platform in its movement, people inside Burma believe that in the name of USDA, Slorc is strengthening its position by grassroots mobilizing to gain support for military. Ko Myint Oo, a high school teacher from Mergui said the USDA forced the people especially government service employees into supporting the military and National Convention. It is much worse than the BSPPs program such as Lanzin youth (a BSPP youth cell during its time). People are threatened dismissals from jobs and schools, or failure of examination in case of absence to the USDA rally. People in Mergui were ordered that one person from each household must attend the rally or pay 100 kyat if fail to do so. There will be similar rallies in Tavoy district and Kaw Thaung district in the future, according to the source inside Burma. In her weekly People Forum, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said in regarding with USDA and forced participation, People can be coerced, and people support can be paid but their genuine love and goodwill can not be paid and threatened. She said one of her weekend public addresses outside her house that the public had been coerced into attending the mass rally. ABSDF News Agency: ABSDF (DAWN GWIN) ******************************************************************** WATERSHED: BURMA'S FORESTS, A REPORT FROM WATERSHED January 12, 1996 From: brelief@gol.com We recently saw an unscientific, naive, and misleading article in January's SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN regarding Burma's forests and use of working elephants. We hope that some Burmanet readers will forward the following to SA's editors and perhaps include letters to the editor so that SA's readership will learn the plain truth about SLORC's opportunistic sale of natural resources and their ruthless treatment of ethnic minorities. >From WATERSHED: People's Forum on Ecology Burma, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, Vietnam Vol. 1 No. 2. November 1995 -- February 1996 "Seeing the People for the Trees: Protected Areas in the Region" PROTECTED AREAS SYSTEMS IN BURMA: FORESTS UNDER THE GUN There are 5 National Parks and 16 Wildlife Sanctuaries in Burma, covering about 1 per cent of the country's total land area. According to a report by the Tropical Forest Programme of the World Conservation Union (IUCN), "The present coverage of protected areas in Burma is by far the lowest in S.E. Asia and is totally inadequate for purposes of biological conservation ... The reserve forests are all subject to exploitation of timber and other forest produce, including wildlife." Due to decades of civil war and military government, an accurate appraisal of the forests has not been possible as vast areas of the country are not accessible for surveys or research of forests and declared protected areas. The limited information available suggests that Burma is being rapidly deforested. In 1960, approximately 50 per cent of the country was under forest, and Burma's Ministry for Forestry contends that this amount of forest cover has not changed in the past 35 years. Independent observers put forest cover at about 30 per cent and decreasing rapidly. UNDP and FAO estimated that in 1975 average destruction of forest was about 1,250 square kilometres per year, but only five years later, this rate had increased to 6,000 square kilometres per year. In 1992, the NGO Rainforest Action Network reported that the average area of forest destroyed in Burma had increased to between 8,000 and 10,000 square kilometres per year - one of the highest national rates of forest destruction in the world. Since 1988, when the SLORC declared itself Burma's government, forest destruction has accelerated rapidly, with SLORC signing its first commercial logging contracts allowing cross - border timber exports to Thailand and China. By 1989, companies from Thailand alone had received over 40 logging concessions located along the Thai - Burma border, most of which were in the control of ethnic minority groups defending their territories against the SLORC military. In the early 1990s, SLORC also signed logging concession and joint - venture timber processing contracts with logging companies from South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore. Meanwhile, ethnic minority groups such as the Maung Tai Army of Shan State and the Karen National Union, under increasing pressure from the SLORC military; also engaged in logging to fund armsI purchases so they could defend their territories. Independent observers have been scathing in their criticism of logging by Thai companies in forest areas controlled by the SLORC. In 1994 Martin Smith, a journalist and specialist on Burma, observed, "Though Lt. Gen Chit Swe, Minister for Forestry, has claimed that these new border concessions account for only 2.6 per cent of Burma's total forest reserves, it is precisely in these remote and previously undisturbed border regions that many of the most ecologically - important reserves still remain." Although there is little, if any, indication that the SLORC is determined to protect Burma's forests and wildlife habitat, the same can not be said for one of the ethnic minority groups attempting to defend its territory, people and forests from SLORC. In 1982, the Karen National Union established 11 wildlife sanctuaries within its territory. In southern Burma's Mergui Tavoy District, the Karen Forestry Department has set up the Ka Ser Doh and Ta Naw Tha Ri wildlife sanctuaries, the former covering an area of 420 square kilometres and the latter an area of 2,250 square kilometres. However, the Karen's efforts to conserve these, and other, ecologically - important forest areas, have been extremely hampered by years of war and logging by Thai companies. Watershed is published three times a year by: Towards Ecological Recovery and Regional Alliance (TERRA) Editorial / Subscriptions / Contribution Office: 409 Soi Rohitsuk, Pracharajbampen Rd. Huay Khwang, Bangkok 10320, Thailand FAX (66 2) 691-0714, email: terraper@ksc.net.th *************************************************** IPS: ASIA-DRUGS: KHUN SA'S FALL, NO BIG BLOW TO NARCOTICS TRADE January 12 1996 By Andrew Nette From: Kai Grieg HANOI - The surrender of notorious opium baron Khun Sa to Burmese authorities last week grabbed media headlines worldwide, but it is unlikely to have a major impact on Asia's drug trade. As Khun Sa and senior Burmese army officers signed a peace pact ending the drug lord's war against the government, this year's opium crop was already being harvested in the remote hills of north-eastern Burma. Overseeing this is a new generation of drug lords who are changing the rules by which the narcotics trade in the Golden Triangle region has been conducted for decades. In the past, hill tribe farmers grew the opium poppies and merchants linked to a small group of well-established drug lords bought the raw opium paste and refined and smuggled it through Thailand and Hong Kong to markets around the world. The challenge to this established order has its origins in the collapse of the Communist Party of Burma (CPB) in 1989. Throughout the 1970s, the Chinese-backed CPB waged a guerrilla war against the Rangoon regime from positions along the border between China and Burma's Shan state. Chinese support dried up in the early 1980s, forcing the party to rely on the two cash crops available in the area under its control: tea and opium. The move proved disastrous when the CPB's war-weary rank and file revolted, splitting the 15,000-strong force into five factions along ethnic lines. Rangoon quickly signed peace deals with these groups, allowing them to keep their weapons and engage in any business activity they wished -- including drugs -- in return for cutting links to groups still opposed to the central government. Drug producers used the freedom to increase opium production from 1,200 tonnes in 1988 to a record 2,500 in 1994, according to a U.S. State Department report earlier this year, and move heroin processing refineries closer to the poppy fields. They have also taken advantage of the opening up of Indochina to pioneer new trafficking routes. Western officials speculated these had long superseded Khun Sa's network, which faced increasing attack from Thai and U.S. anti-drug agencies. ''Economic changes which have seen a move away from closed borders and the construction of new road and transportation infrastructure have increased the volume of drugs being moved out of the Golden Triangle,'' says Richard Dickens, law enforcement adviser with the U.N. Drug Control Programme's regional office. Within Burma, the emerging drug barons fought a series of bloody turf battles in which they had managed to wrest much of the crop in Shan state from the exclusive control of Khun Sa. Most seriously affected by these shifts has been the southern Chinese province of Yunnan, whose 1,000 km border with Burma is now a smuggling point for half of the heroin from the region. Beijing has launched an anti-drug drive that includes community education campaigns, televised trials of arrested traffickers and, since January, the introduction of the death sentence for anyone caught with more than 10 kg of hard drugs. More than 14,000 drug-related arrests have been made in Yunnan since 1991. In a two-month campaign in mid-1995 alone, China executed more than 100 traffickers ''but still tonnes of narcotics get through undetected'', said one source in Kunming. Chinese customs officials do not have the facilities to fully monitor the huge flow of vehicles crossing the border from Burma each day. Trafficking groups are said to be increasingly well-armed, often with weapons from the arsenals of the Chinese army. Cambodia has also been hard hit. Noun Soeur, former head of the country's anti-drug squad, says drug traders transport nearly 600 kg of heroin from Burma to Laos through Phnom Penh each week. Law enforcers remain at a loss as to how to combat the trade. ''To get the key people you have to have an international investigation, and these countries don't have a history of that,'' said Dickens. ''The arrests that have been made so far are just drug addicts and poor smugglers. The real bosses remain untouched,'' said a Thai source, referring to a recent government crackdown. Observers point to difficulties faced by local police, who often lack phones, let alone access to sophisticated crime fighting instruments. The trade is generally conducted by loose confederations or syndicates who call on contacts to put together alliances to do deals, after which they disband. The fluidity makes it more difficult to infiltrate and crack. An endless supply of recruits for drug runners are found among the expanding populations of rural poor throughout the subregion. Perhaps the major important factor hampering enforcement is corruption, a trend worsened by the social breakdown and gold rush mentality created by free market reforms in the subregion. ''Why is it that a lot of the drugs are not discovered? Because they are being transported by (Chinese) police and military vehicles,'' the Kunming source said of the trade on the Burmese-Chinese border. Given the Rangoon junta's iron grip over the country, observers say it is inconceivable that drugs could be moved out on such a scale without official connivance. ''They are definitely involved in the drug trade,'' said one Australian academic familiar with the situation in Burma. ''This is one of the poorest nations in Asia and it is difficult to see how the government could have acquired the army it has without access to some alternative form of finance.'' Also implicated have been businessmen and government officials across Asia, who have reportedly used profits from the drug trade to build new hotels and shopping centres. International police agencies say official involvement in drug trafficking threatens to turn Cambodia into a narcotics hub like Colombia. Drug smugglers in Cambodia ''are rich and have high- ranking officials behind them'', claimed Soeur. There is evidence that Cambodia has become a major centre for money laundering, with crime syndicates setting up cash-oriented businesses through which they funnel drug money. ***************************************************** DVB: NORWEGIAN STATE OWNED OIL COMPANIES PLAN TO INVEST IN BURMA January 10, 1996 (abridged) From: dvb@sn.no Hydro and Statoil have started up talks with the Burmese military junta about contracts worth billions of NOK [8NOK = 1USD]. Norway is among the few Western countries without any direct investment in Burma. Endsjo had a meeting with representatives from the Burmese military junta (SLORC) just before Christmas in Rangoon. Norsk Hydro has so far chosen to work independently, but Endsjo says that they are planning to join a consortium with other companies if the talks are positive. Hydro primarily wants to invest in a production plant for fertilizer. Statoil has chosen to join the Thai company Charoen Pokphand Group (CP-Group). The group is the biggest investor in China, and Burma is their new market. Sources in Burma says to Dagens Naeringsliv that talks between five different consortium will start in the mid February. Norsk Hydro is among the companies that are wanted most to attend the meetings. It is the enourmous Yadana field in the Andaman Sea outside Burma that has made Hydro and Statoil interested in Burma. Statoil is 100% owned by the Norwegian government, Norsk Hydro is owned 50% by the Norwegian government. There has been a discussion whether Norwegian stateowned companies should be working with the dictatorship. The official Norwegian mode is that as long as there are no UN embargo on the country Norwegian companies are free to do investments. The move by the Statoil and Norsk Hydro was strongly criticised by the Nobel Peace Award Committee and Burmese pro-democracy groups based in Norway. On 6 January 1996, the Norwegian Foreign Ministry has warned Norsk Hydro and Statoil, not to engage in Burma. "There is good reasons to keep away from Burmese military junta," the Noregian State-Secretary said. The Nordic Aviation Resources which like to won the contract from the Burmese military authorities to expand the Rangoon airport would probaly turn down their 390 million Norwegian kroner project. Officials from Statoil and Norsk Hydro said the position of the government would have impact on their decision whether to make business in Burma. On 9 Jan 1996 - Norwegian TV 2 , Evening News conducted an telephone interview with Aung San Suu Kyi regarding the Statoil and Norsk Hydro's interest to do business in Burma. Aung San Suu Kyi: We have always look upon Norway as one of the strongest allies of our democratic movenment. I would not think that this is right time for any Norwegian-own comapnies or any others industries to establish themselves in Burma. ************************************************************* AUSTRALIAN PAPERS: PROTEST/STAND AGAINST SLORC January 10, 1996 from Dr U Ne Oo POLICE INTERVENE AT BURMA EMBASSY PROTEST BURMA AUST (CANBERRA) Police have intervened during a demonstration at the Burmese Embassy in Canberra today as rowdy protesters condemning the military regime in Burma clashed with visitors. About 60 demonstrators attended the rally organised by the Australia Burma Council to mark the 48th anniversary of Burmese independence. Their speeches against the State Law and Order Restoration Council were interspersed with shouts at guests arriving at the embassy apparently to attend a diplomatic function. A handful of people approached a vehicle whose passengers wound down the windows to shout back, prompting several police to step between the car and the demonstrators. FED: AUST URGED TO TAKE STRONGER LINE AGAINST SLORC BURMA AUST (CANBERRA) Australia has been urged to strengthen its opposition to the military government in Burma. Australia's Burmese community has also called for trade boycotts and economic sanctions to force Burma's State Law and Order Restoration Council to leave office and restore democracy. The community's also urged Australians to boycott the SLORC's tourism promotion, saying that visiting the country would encourage the regime and provide hard currency to support a defence force turned against Burmese citizens. Australia Burma Council patron and former RSL national president William Keys has described the SLORC as a corrupt and brutal dictatorship, saying those who do business with it are dealing with criminals. The calls were made at a rally at the Burmese embassy in Canberra today to mark the 48th anniversary of the country's independence. ***************************************************** INDEPENDENT LETTER: BURMA OR MYANMAR January 10, 1996 From: yawnghwe@hookup.net (Harn Yawnghwe) written by: CHAO-TZANG YAWNGHWE, FAX; (604) 525-6924 Mr. Dobb-Higginson's anti-NLD/Aung San Suu Kyi diatribe does not, frankly deserve attention since it obviously is a "His Master's Voice" genre of writing practised by fawning courtiers. If the writer is so enamoured of SLORC rule, he should renounce whatever citizenship he now holds (British?), and become a true "Myanmaran(?)" (why use "Burmese," if "Burma" is no longer the country's name?). It is very naughty, if not lowly, to sing praises of despots and the likes, while one enjoys all the perks of a citizen of a liberal, democratic society. In this regard, those who choose to engage in the business of making profit in Burma, should submit fully to SLORC "laws", even or especially in business transactions. Without the protection (perhaps even guarantees) of their home governments, let us see how many would continue doing business in SLORC-land. Regarding the Burma/Myanmar issue, actually Bama and Myanmar are identical. "Myanmar" is the literary form of "Bama", or if you will, a more cultured form. Like most Asian languages, Burmese is not only hierarchical, but also the spoken and the written versions are different. Only a semi-illiterate peasant would write Burmese as it is spoken. As much, Mr. Dobb-Higginson is labouring a non-existent point when he attempts to argue that there is a world of difference between the two. It is also starkly obvious that he does not read nor speak Burmese and has moreover swallowed SLORC's concoction down to the very last unpalatable dregs. The main reason why "Myanmar" (as a name for the country) is objected to by many, is that the name change is an unilateral act by a group of men who, after killing thousands of peaceful protesters, rule at gun point. These men have absolutely no mandate to rule nor to change the name of the country or its towns. Take away their guns, and where will they be? Furthermore, they are not even soldiers, as per the generally accepted definition of the word. Strictly speaking, "Myanmar" is by itself an adjective. the grammatically correct term of the country should be "Myanmar Pri/Pyi" or "Myanmar-nalnggan," or in English, "Myanmar-land" (as in Thailand, Finland, Switzerland, etc.). Mr. Dobbs-Higginson is perfectly entitled to his uninformed opinion. However, his pristine ignorance of the Burmese language, in addition to his political illiteracy, unfortunately (or otherwise) detracts seriously from his effectiveness as a SLORC-spokesperson (or defender of the "undefendable"). ****************************************************** INDEPENDENT LETTER: LET US NOT BE BIASED January 1, 1996 from S. Win, U. K. With much interest I have been following the arguments and replies brought up against Mr. Dobbs-Higginson's article, " What the NLD is up to? " There are (2) reasons for my interest on this subject. The first reason is that I had left the country for nearly (4) decades and have worked and lived in many parts of the world during these years but whenever I hear about my country of birth it arouses my interest. The other reason is that the names Bamar, Burma, Myanmar and other British given names have always confused the people living in that country as well as those visiting the country from outside. I have always wondered when or who will come up one day and straightened the mess out. I have visited the country quite a number of times with my family since 1989 and did a lot of travelling inside the country visiting relatives and friends from both sides. During one of our visits there my children went to visit Myeik (pronounced Beik) where my wife's relatives live. At one point on the way to Myeik my daughter checked up on the map she brought from London to find out the distance left to their destination. They stopped over at a small town which was about (15) miles or (20) miles away from Myeik. There she asked some townspeople the distance left from this town to their destination Mergui (the name referred to Myeik on our British map). Strangely, she did not receive any answer on the distance left between the two places but just a confused reply of "don't know." Later on among the locals, presumably a school teacher, came up and told her that there was about 20-30 minutes drive left. Finally, when they arrived at Myeik she again checked out at the filling station using the British name Mergui receiving the same confused look. Later on when they arrived at our relatives place she recounted her experience to her uncle, who is a retired school principal, and she was explained by him that Mergui is the name given by the British during the colonial period or the way British may have mispronounced it. The name Myeik (pronounced Beik) has been used since ancient times and the majority of the people do not recognize the name Mergui which could in fact be mistaken for a town called Magwe which is located in the central part of the country quite close to a town called Meikhtila. She was also explained by her uncle that she will come up with a similar confusion if she visits Pyi (Prome on the British map), Pathein (Bassein), Mawlamyine (Moulmein), Dawe (Tavoy), Sittwe (Akyab), Bago (Pegu) and even the capital city Yangon (Rangoon) will not be easily recognized by people living in rural areas for these namesgiven and used by the British were not historical names but substitutes used for their own convenience. Even one of the races which resides on the western part of the country is since ancient times called Rakhine people or Yakhine is written language was changed to Arakan by the British and today it has been renamed Rakhine by the present government. Again the interesting point is that in the local languages there never existed the word Arakan but always Rakhine or Yakhine. It came to my notice that after so many years of regaining independence there came up one government which took the trouble of changing the names back to its original one. It is my belief that regardless of who the government is or what type of government it may be if the changes are appropriate and necessary let them do it and we should give them due credit for having the courage to do it. I believe I would not be wrong to say that if Aung San Su Kyi has done the same thing, (which her father General Aung San would be very proud of ) those who are now very much against renaming the country will hail and commend her for doing it. Unfortunately, just because it was done by someone else doesn't mean that they should not be given recognition is I think very much bias and in another word extremely childish as Mr. Dobbs-Higginson puts it. Some would even go to the extent of confusing the readers that the nationalist movement " the Doh - Bamar Asi-ayone (Our Burma Association) is the proof that myanmar and bama are the same word : ma and ba are often interchangeable in Burmese." Let me explain briefly that the word Bamar in Doh- Bamar Asiayone was used purely as a noun and even Indian and some Chinese nationals of Myanmar origin are known to be involved in this association. There is also another very reliable way to confirm my statement is to have Chao-Tzang Yawnghwe and Mr. Litner check it out with other national races living in the country and ask them how they understand the word or the name Burma (Bamar Pyi). They will refer it to the place where the Burman (Bamar) reside and for the other respective areas where other nationals reside as Shan Pyi, Kachin Pyi, Kayin Pyi, Rakhine Pyi and etc., If all the respective areas or (Pyi) of the nationalities are incorporated then it becomes Myanmar Naing Ngan. Naing Ngan is the Bamar word for country and where M. Litner got the idea that "ba" and "ma" are interchangeable. I simply do not understand. Well, my last advice for Mr. Litner is if he could look into the Chinese history, let say, about a thousand years back. He will come to realize that the Chinese called their neighbor (Myan - Tin ) not (Bur - Tin ) or (Bama - Tin) and the notion that the Kachins, the Chins, and the Nagas hardly had any contact with the Bamar before the arrival of the British is in my opinion too absurd to reply. It is like saying Christopher Columbus was a blackman who founded China and brought in the Japanese as slaves for his empire. ****************************************************** BURMANET: BRIEF BUSINESS REPORTS January 16, 1996 from information provided by M. Beer and abridged/edited by BurmaNet TEXACO: NEW PRESIDENT FOR FAR EAST DIVISION Robert A. Solberg, Vice President of Texaco Inc. and Chairman of London-based Texaco Limited, has been appointed President of Texaco's Middle East/Far East Division (ME/FE), effective March 1, 1996. Based in Harrison, N.Y., ME/FE manages operational and contractual matters related to exploration programs in Burma, among other places. JAPAN'S MARUBENI WINS CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY CONTRACT Japanese trading house Marubeni Corp has won a 2.6bn yen order from Burma for 200 construction machines, representing the largest ever construction machinery deal struck between the Burmese government and a foreign concern. Marubeni will extend trade credits in the form of three-year deferred payments for the machinery because Burma is barred from receiving Official Development Assistance (ODA) from the Japanese government. BURMA'S GDP Burmese planning minister Abel has said that during the three fiscal years from 1992-93 to 1994-95, Burma's GDP averaged an annual increase of 7.5 per cent. The figure is expected to exceed the target of 7.7 per cent by 31st March, 1996, the end of the present 1995-96 fiscal year. Burma has attracted 468m US dollars in foreign investment in the current fiscal year and the figure is expected to reach 600m US dollars by 31st March. According to official figures, Burma has drawn over 3bn US dollars of foreign investment since its opening up. Abel said that the country's energy sector absorbed the largest share of foreign investment, followed by services and mining. TAMURA EYES NEW BASES IN MYANMAR, VIETNAM TAMURA Electronics Corporation of Japan is looking into the possibility of setting up manufacturing bases in Myanmar and Vietnam, the managing director of its Malaysian operations Yasuhara Hidaka said. "We are interested ... We can not longer expand our operations here. It has become too big and on top of that, we are facing labour shortages." BURMA TRIES TO IMPROVE TIES WITH N. KOREA Myanmar invited an official of the North Korean Embassy in Bangkok to its Independence Day party last week, in an apparent step toward rapprochement 12 years after Yangon broke off diplomatic ties with Pyongyang. The North Korean official from the embassy attended the party held Jan. 4 in the Thai capital, after receiving an invitation from the Myanmar Embassy there. HITACHI CONSIDERING MANUFACTURING IN BURMA Hitachi, Ltd. is considering establishing new manufacturing bases in Vietnam, Myanmar, and other Southeast Asian nations. The company currently consigns production of color televisions and refrigerators in Vietnam, but has no operations yet in Myanmar. Copyright 1996 Xinhua News Agency FOREIGNERS TAKE PART IN COLLECTIVE ORDINATION Nearly 200 foreign devotees from 18 countries or regions including Singapore, Britain, Australia, USA, Japan and France took part in a collective ordination and novitiation on January 13 in Burma. According to the New Light of Myanmar, the collective ordination and novitiation, sponsored by Myanmar Ministry of Religious Affairs, was the third of its kind. 12 INDUSTRIAL ZONES TO BE SET UP The Myanmar government has decided to set up 12 industrial zones in the country, the New Light of Myanmar today quoted chairman of Myanmar Inwdustrial Development Committee Myint Aung as saying. Addressing a meeting on ednesday, Myint Aung, who is also Agricultural Minister, said these industrial zones will enhance the development of agro-based industries, raise quality and quantity of industrial products, and promote production of new machinery and industrial equipment. In order to support the development of private industries, Myanmar Industrial Development Bank will be opened next month, he added. TOKAI BANK TO SET UP YANGON REP OFFICE Tokai Bank has applied for Finance Ministry approval to set up a representative office in Rangoon possibly late this year. Tokai Bank wants to extend financing for infrastructure development-related projects in Burma in the future, the officials said. **********************************************************