------------------------------ BurmaNet ----------------------------- "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The BurmaNet News: June 8-10, 1996 Issue # 439 Noted in Passing: It's not going to be very easy, there are a lot of vested interests between the Slorc and the individual countries in the region. -Teddy Buri An exiled elected member of Suu Kyi's NLD party (See BKK POST: S'PORE'S LEE: SUU KYI CAN'T RULE BURMA) Burma is rich in natural resources, not least reserves of virtually every kind of stone and gems, opening more employment opportunities and regional development. -Laurence Chin, country manager of Burma Airway International Co, (See BKK POST: BURMA HAS OPPORTUNITIES - BUT WATCH YOUR WALLET) HEADLINES: ========== THE NATION: PHILIPS/ THAI PICKS AGENT FOR BURMA THE NATION: WORK PERMITS FOR BURMESE BKK POST: JUNTA MOVES TO BAN SUU KYI'S PARTY BKK POST: SUU KYI BRAVES SLORC WRATH BKK POST: S'PORE'S LEE: SUU KYI CAN'T RULE BURMA BKK POST: WHAT BURMA'S CONSTITUTION WILL LOOK LIKE IF THE SLORC HAS ITS WAY BKK POST: REQUEST FOR BURMESE ABBOT AT LAMPANG WAT REJECTED THE NATION: SUU KYI PULLS PUNCHES IN LATEST PUBLIC ADDRESS THE NATION: WHAT'S IN A NAME? IN BURMA, MAY BE A TRUCE THE NATION: THE LINE OF THOUGHT LEE KUAN YEW BUILT BKK POST: BURMA HAS OPPORTUNITIES - BUT WATCH YOUR WALLET ASIA TIMES: MYANMAR OPPOSITION TREADS CAUTIOUS LINE ASAI TIMES: LUXURY CAR DEALER HOPING TO CAPTURE MYANMAR MARKET ------------------------------------------------------------ THE NATION: PHILIPS/ THAI PICKS AGENT FOR BURMA June 8, 1996 The Nation PHILIPS Electronics (Thailand) Ltd recently appointed Maymyo Import Export (Myanmar) Ltd, as the Burmese distributor of Philips business electronics, communication and security and office automation products. With this new distributor arrangement, Philips will strongly increase its professional activities in Burma by supplying key- telephone system SOPHO-IS 300 series PABX, MATV, sound and security systems, conference and public address systems, personal computers and monitors. The distribution agreement was signed by Robert Martijnse, chairman and managing director of Philips Electronics (Thailand) Ltd, and Maung Kyaing, managing director of Maymyo Import Export (Myanmar) Ltd, on June 4 at Philips head office in Bangkok. (TN) ************** THE NATION: WORK PERMITS FOR BURMESE June 8, 1996 The Nation THE Labour Ministry has proposed issuing work permits for many of 400,000 illegal Burmese labourers in the country, the Job Placement Department chief said yesterday. Prasit Chaithongphan said that under the proposal, business operators will be required to register their workers at immigration offices and pay a fee of Bt1,250 for each employee, he said. The fees will be returned to the operators if the employment is terminated, but the operators will have to pay another Bt3,750 if the registered workers flee or commit offences, he said. However, the jobs are limited to five areas: fisheries, construction, farming, industry and transportation. Foreign labourers are not yet allowed to work as maids, Prasit said, adding there are about 400,000 illegal Burmese workers in 39 provinces across the country. (TN) *************** BKK POST: JUNTA MOVES TO BAN SUU KYI'S PARTY June 8, 1996 Rangoon, AFP BURMA'S military government issued an order authorising the Home Ministry to ban NLD and imprison its members state-run Radio Rangoon reported. The order, signed by Gen Than Shwe, gives the ministry power to ban any organisation violating laws against unlawful gatherings or obstructing the development of a constitution through the government's National Convention, the report said. NLD officials said they would go ahead with the meetings this weekend despite the threats, setting up another potential confrontation in a months-long political stand off. Effective immediately, members of a banned organisation could be given prison sentences of five-to-20 years and fines if found guilty of encouraging or instigating activities which "adversely affect the national interest," state radio said. Yesterday, rolls of barbed wire appeared outside Aung San Suu Kyi's home, apparently being stored ahead of her weekend addresses. Two big truck laden with roll of barbed wire were moved onto the edge of the road on either aide of her lake-side compound on University Avenue, their loads discreetly covered with branches and grass. The NLD was told on Tuesday that the party would be banned if it went ahead with a resolution adopted at a party congress last week to draft an alternative constitution and continued to hold the public meetings. Military authorities have sent out progressively threatening signals to Aunt San Suu Kyi and, in an editorial yesterday, warned the NLD could be banned and its members jailed if the party continued along its present course. A commentary in the Burmese press said the plan to frame a new constitution was a direct challenge to the authority of the ruling junta. "If the NLD persists in going ahead with its decision to draft a constitution, it would automatically join the ranks of other outlawed organisation... which have also prepared such so-called constitutions," the commentary said. An analysts in Rangoon said that neither side was likely to back down from the stand-off, adding that Aung San Suu Kyi would press on with what she has described the "normal work of a political party." NLD officials said Suu Kyi was determined to carry on with the meetings and they pledged her addresses would take place inside her lakeside compound if authorities kept the crowds away. Political events in Burma began to snowball three weeks ago as the military rounded up 262 NLD activists, including 238 party candidates elected in abortive elections in 1990, in a bid to scuttle a key pro-democracy meeting. NLD officials say 144 party activists have been released from detention so far. One analysts said the tone of the articles about Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD had become "more nasty, if that is possible," in the past few days, pointing to yesterday's threat to lock up opposition members. "If the NLD becomes outlawed, all its members candidates who were treated as temporary guests of the government during their recent detention, would be sent straight to the Insein University of Life," the article in the state-run newspaper said. Insein is Rangoon's main prison, where international human rights groups say torture is common and conditions are crowed and miserable. Analysts say the military is steadily cracking down on the opposition following Aung San Suu Kyi's defiant announcement on May 26 that the NLD would hold regular party congress and draft its own state constitution. The junta has been overseeing the drafting of a new Burmese constitution, which would guarantee the military a central role in future civilian governments, and has pledged to step aside when it was completed. (BP) ************** BKK POST: SUU KYI BRAVES SLORC WRATH June 9, 1996 Associated Press, Rangoon Defying threats of harsh punishment from the government, pro- democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi addressed more than 5,000 supporters who gathered in front of her house today. The one-hour meeting took place without any interference from the authorities. The crowd cheered and shouted "Long live Aung San Suu Kyi" and "Let the cause for democracy be successful" when she appeared at the gate to her compound late this afternoon. Burma's military government announced Friday that prison sentences of five to 20 years awaited anyone who incited, demonstrated, spoke, or wrote "in order to undermine the stability of the state, community peace and tranquillity and prevalence of law and order." The law's immediate target appeared to be Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to bring democracy to Burma. She has met with her supporters every Saturday since being released from six years of house arrest last July. Her speech today was much milder than usual, containing no remarks critical of the regime. It was not clear whether she would be subject to legal action over the rally. The government imposed the law in reaction to recent challenges by the democratic dissidents to the authority of the military which for 34 years has governed Burma, also called Myanmar. Besides prison sentences, the law calls for fines and confiscation of property, and decrees that any organisation found in violation will be suspended, disbanded or outlawed. The law came a day after the military informed Suu Kyi's party that it was banning the Saturday meetings -- already prohibited under a law that forbids gatherings of more than 50 people, but which has not been enforced. Suu Kyi said then that the meetings would continue. The new law, signed by the chairman of the country's junta, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, also makes unauthorised writing of a constitution subject to the same penalties. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy announced last month after a party congress that it was doing just that, rejecting a constitution being drafted by a government-organised convention that has been meeting for three years. The weekend meetings represent virtually the only opportunity that Burmese have to see Suu Kyi -- pronounced Soo Chee. The government has blocked most of her efforts to travel around the country or even to gatherings in the capital's suburbs. About 2,000 people have been coming to Suu Kyi's Saturday meetings, and thousands more listen to tapes made there of what she says. The crowd grew to 10,000 people on the day the party congress met at Suu Kyi's house, despite the government's efforts to block the meeting by arresting 262 participants. The congress adopted resolutions calling on the military to turn over power to the overwhelmingly pro-democratic parliament elected in 1990. The regime never honoured the elections, and the congress was to bring together surviving candidates on the sixth anniversary of the vote. The opposition reported on Friday that 154 of the detainees from the recent roundup had been freed. Meanwhile, the Multi-party Democracy General Election Commission, which was in charge of the 1990 general election that the NLD won by a landside, made a announcement in a statement that Yu Gan and Saw Hla Oo resigned from the pro-democracy party for health reason while Chit Khin and Aunt Bo quit because they were no longer interested in party politics. (BP) *************** BKK POST: S'PORE'S LEE: SUU KYI CAN'T RULE BURMA The nation could collapse like Bosnia' June 9, 1996 Agencies, Singapore BURMESE pro-democracy leader Aunt San Suu Kyi may not able to governor her country and would be better off remaining a political symbol, according to Singapore's elder statesman Lee Kuan Yew. Lee, a tough-talking advocate of strong government and unabashed critics of liberalism, also told a forum with foreign and local media late on Friday that Burma could collapse "like Bosnia" into various parts under outside pressure. Lee, who has advised various Asian governments since stepping down after 31 years a prime minister in 1990, said Washington must be prepared to help run Burma and keep it intact if it insists on bringing down its military regime. "I have visited the place and I know that there is only one instrument of government, and that id army," said Lee, who personally knew former Burmese dictator Ne Win. Ne Win was replaced in 1988 by a junta known as Slorc, which has refused to honour the victory of opposition groups led by Aunt San Suu Kyi in the 1990 general elections. Lee, citing Burma's problems, said that "if I were Aunt San Suu Kyi, I think I'd rather be behind a fence and be a symbol" than be "found impotent" to lead the country. "You've go to create an instrument of government and there isn't one," added Lee, who said a civil service as it is known in countries like Singapore "does not exist in Burma." Singapore and other Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) members advocate "constructive engagement" with Burma. Rejecting US and European calls to isolate the Slorc to promote democratic change. Asean also includes Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. "Asean is not the US or the EU. Asean cannot rescue Burma even if it wants to and I have the awful feeling rescuing Burma is beyond the capacity of even the US," Lee said. Meanwhile, analysts and Burma exiles said yesterday that Asian leaders will be reluctant to help the US apply co-ordinated pressure on Burma's military rulers to ease their crackdown on anti-government activists. Two US envoys seeking support to end the campaign against democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will be hampered by a Southeast Asian tradition of non-interference in other countries and Washington's perceived lack of leverage in the region, they said. The Clinton administration has urged Burma to halt its "pressure tactics" and said it would send experts William brown and Stanley Roth to the region to discuss a co-ordinated response to brewing political tensions in Burma. They will visit Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Singapore, Manila and Tokyo from June 10 to 17. Diplomatic sources in Tokyo said Japan, the largest aid donor to Burma, would be urged to use its influence on Rangoon to move towards democracy. But despite regular cautions to Burma against cracking down on dissidents, japan has so far held off from using its aid of about $140 million a year as a lever. Burma's military rulers passed a tough new law on Friday that effectively bans Suu Kyi and her party from saying or doing anything contrary to the government's planned new constitution. Analysts said the tradition in Asean of staying out of other countries' business will make the US envoy's job tough. "There is a very strong feeling within Asean that one should not comment on the internal politics of another country," said Bruce Gale, an analyst with Political and Economic risk Consultancy in Singapore. Burma last year took the first step towards membership of Asean which says it wants Burma to join by the year 2000. "To the extent that Burma might be seen as a possible further Asean member, they (Asean) may feel uncomfortable going along with the US because it would create a precedent that might be a little bit worrying," Gale said. An exiled elected member of Suu Kyi's NLD party, Teddy Buri, said the business links between Slorc and its Southeast Asian neighbours did not bode well. "It's not going to be very easy," said Buri. "There are a lot of vested interests between the Slorc and the individual countries in the region." (BP) ***************** BKK POST: WHAT BURMA'S CONSTITUTION WILL LOOK LIKE IF THE SLORC HAS ITS WAY June 9, 1996 TIN MAUNG MAUNG THAN reports on the Slorc's attempts to finetune the concentration of power. IN April 1992 Burma's ruling Slorc announced it would convent a meeting to formulate "the basic principles for the drafting of a firm and stable Constitution". Subsequently, in October, the National Convention Convening Commission (NCCC) was formed, chaired by the (then) Yangon Regional Commander and composed of ranking military officers and senior judicial and administrative officials. The NCCC classified eight categories of delegates for the National Convention (NC): nominees of political parties; representatives-elect; nationalities; peasants; workers; intellectuals and intelligentsia; service personnel; and other invited delegates. For the first category, each of the 10 existing political parties which contested the 1990 General Election was allowed five nominees. Six political parties were invited to send altogether 99 delegates from among their elected representatives. All eight elected representatives which stood as independents were included. Also invited were 215, 93 and 48 nominees representing the nationalities, peasantry and workers, respectively, who were selected by a hierarchy of state/division, township zone and township supervision committees. Each 15-member selection committee comprised heads of local government agencies and respected residents of the community. Forty-one delegates from the intellectual / intelligentsia category were "prominent intellectuals" and "knowledgeable" persons. Their selection was scrutinised by a committee led by the Director General of the Government Office and comprising heads of government organisations and selected members of the intellectual/intelligentsia community. The state service personnel group's 92 members were selected by committees formed within the respective ministers and agencies. Of the eight category's 57 delegates, 41 "invitees" were chosen from members of the ethnic groups which had given up their armed struggle against the government, while others were "experienced persons in political, economic, social and administrative fields in the State". However, 86 delegates from the National League for Democracy (NLD) - a party which won 80 per cent of the seats in the 1990 General Election - left the NC in protest at the beginning of the plenary session in November 1995 and were subsequently excluded for breaching NC rules. The NC commenced on Jan 9, 1993, guided by six objectives envisioned by the NCCC as: non-disintegration of the state; non- disintegration of national solidarity; perpetuation of sovereignty; flourishing of a "genuine multi-party democracy", further burgeoning" of "justice, liberty and equality"; and enabling the military "to participate in the national political leadership role of the future state". Subsequently, 15 chapters for the constitution were spelt out and detailed principles pertinent to each chapter were discussed at length by participants. Altogether, 104 "fundamental principles" underlying the prospective constitution were distilled by the NCCC from the various proposals put forward during the proceedings and were later prescribed by the NCCC as a basis for future deliberations under each chapter heading. Though the NC has yet to reach a conclusion, the essential points regarding the state structure, the legislature, the executive, and the role of the military has been delineated. The state structure is based on a secular republic comprising seven "regions" and seven "states". There will be "Union" territories (under central government),a hierarchy of district, township, and village/ward under each region or state, and self- administered territories for ethnic communities whereby a distinct "national race" constitutes a majority within its boundaries. In this regard, the NC endorsed the establishment of self- administered areas for Naga, Danu, Pa-O, Palaung and Kokang races and the Wa self-administered region. For the legislature, a bicameral parliament with a five-year tenure in the form of a 440-seat House of Representatives and 224-seat House of Nationalities which together constitute the Union parliament is envisaged. There will also be a provincial parliament for each region or state. One-quarter of all seats in the legislature is reserved for military representatives nominated by the armed forces Commander- in-Chief (C-in-C). In the executive branch, the head of state will be the President. The Union Cabinet, comprising ministers and the attorney-general, will be appointed by the President, and its members need not be elected representatives. The chief minister of the region or state government is also a presidential appointee. Self-administered areas will be governed by "leading bodies" whose members will be represented in the territorially relevant region or state government. Administration at district and township levels will be by civil servants. Administration of wards and village tracts is by appointed personnel. As for the military, it will enjoy complete autonomy with its C- in-C as the supreme commander. Ministerial portfolios for defence, security/home affairs, and border areas in the Union Cabinet are reserved for military personnel nominated by the C- in-C, who will also nominate the deputy ministers. Furthermore, co-ordination with the C-in-C is required to appoint military personnel to any other minister/deputy-minister post. The assignment of military personnel to leading bodes of self- administered areas is also the C-in-C's prerogative. There will be a provision for the supreme commander to assume state power in a national emergency. The President, whose parents must also be citizens, will play a crucial role in the governance of the Myanmar state. The candidate must not only have a minimum of 20 years continuous domicile in Myanmar but also satisfy the requirement that the "President of the Union himself, parents, spouse, children and their spouses" must not owe allegiance to or "be a subject of foreign power or citizen if a foreign country" and shall not be "entitled to the right and privileges of a subject or citizen of a foreign country". Another condition that the person be "well acquainted with the affairs of State such as political administrative, economic and military affairs" would rule out most political figures. The presidential election procedure is significant. The electoral college comprise three groups from the Union Cabinet: equal numbers of elected representatives "elected on the basis of population"; and military representatives nominated by the C-in-C. Each group shall elect one vice-president who need not be an elected representative. The president will then be chosen from among them by the entire electoral collage after scrutiny by a body composed of leaders and deputy leaders of the two cabinets. The unsuccessful candidates will assume the vice-presidencies for the five-year term of office. The wide-ranging powers of the union president allow unprecedented control over the executive branch. The president can designate ministries and appoint or dismiss ministers, deputy ministers, attorneys-general, auditors-general, as well as members of a Union Civil Service Board. He can prescribe ministries and the number of ministers for the region or state government, and also nominate respective chief ministers (from elected representatives of region/state). The president can assign region/state ministers and chairmen of self-administered areas/regions (nominated through the chief minister by the respective leading bodies) in co-ordination with the relevant chief minister. All such assignments must be confirmed by the respective cabinet but the latter have no right to reject the president's nominee provided the person satisfies the constitution's provisions. Thus, the president and the armed forces C-in-C between them wield considerable authority and all important government executives are ultimately responsible to the president only. The political parties will face a situation whereby executive positions may be filed with personnel external to the body politics. Even when elected representatives are chosen to serve in the government they have to forego party affiliations and resign form the legislature. In this way, the elected representatives' role will generally be confined to legislative and deliberative functions and the raison d'etre of competitive politics - to form a government - will be obviated. It effectively de-links state power from political competition and representation of voting constituencies. Consequently, a corporatist state may evolve in which the ruling elite will be insulated from electoral politics. The successful conclusion of the NC, which would lead to the actual drafting of Burma's future constitution according to agreed-upon principles, has become imperative. Meanwhile, the NC has opened for constitutional principles which emphasise the autonomy of the executive under the leadership of a president and the authoritative dual role of the military as a counter-poise to the apparent failings of politicians. This will result in an unprecedented and unique constitution for the Union of Myanmar which is different to previous ones which, in contrast, were premised on governance by elected representatives. (BP) Tin Maung Maung Than is a Fellow at the institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore. *************** BKK POST: REQUEST FOR BURMESE ABBOT AT LAMPANG WAT REJECTED June 9, 1996 A REQUEST from Burma for two citizens of that country to be made abbot and deputy abbot of Lampang's Sri Chum Temple has been rejected. The monks involved are the Venerable Sayadaw Ashin Nyana Siri and Sayadaw Sudhamma. The Foreign Ministry passed the Burmese government's request to the Interior Ministry, saying such appointments would not conform with Thai monastic rules. The relationship between monks and the government in Thailand differed from that in Burma, the ministry pointed out. In Burma, the government issued directives that monks were bound to follow, especially concerning their role in society. The Interior Ministry agreed, noting that there are already numbers of Burmese monks at various temples in Bangkok and the provinces, many of them illegal immigrants. (BP) *************** THE NATION: SUU KYI PULLS PUNCHES IN LATEST PUBLIC ADDRESS June 10, 1996 AYE AYE WIN AP RANGOON - Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi took a careful step back yesterday from a showdown with the military regime, giving a bland, inoffensive speech to supporters to avoid violating draconian new public order laws. Some 5,000 people braved the new decrees, which can land offenders in prison for up to 20 years, to gather outside the gates of Suu Kyi's home for her customary weekend lecture. The number was higher than usual, but half that of two weeks ago. As on Saturday, when 5,000 people turned out for the first meeting since the new decrees were announced, authorities did not interfere, fueling confusion about whether the regime was being tolerant or delaying a crackdown for a quieter moment. But yesterday, expectations ran slightly less high of an immediate police swoop to break up the gathering. Some Burmese afraid of being seen in the crowd slowly drove back and forth before Suu Kyi's home in a sign of support for those courageous enough to join the audience. "I'm not afraid of anything," said a woman in the crowd, speaking on condition of anonymity. "many people who dare not come to this gathering are awed by the courage of these people." The regime escalated its conflict with Suu Kyi on Friday by announcing a law curbing nearly all political activity, with prison sentences for anyone seeking to "undermine the stability of the state, community peace and tranquility". Despite the arrest of 262 supporters last month, she held a congress marking the sixth anniversary of parliamentary elections overwhelmingly won by the opposition. The junta never allowed Parliament to convene. The 18 delegates who eluded arrest called on the military to surrender the power it has held since 1962 and announced plans to draft an alternate constitution to a charter being formulated by a government-stacked panel. The junta announced on Friday that any organisation drafting a separate constitution would be banned. Suu Kyi gave a deliberated non-inflammatory speech yesterday about democracy in India and even praised the junta for keeping school fees low. Her supporters clapped less than usual. Despite the threat of arrest, the crowd did not seem nervous. Before Suu Kyi appeared, they chanted for several minutes, "Long live Aung San Suu Kyi" and "Let the cause for democracy be successful". Closing her 10-minutes talk, Suu Kyi said: "You are not gathering here because we speak. This is a gathering of the people, who proved themselves to be very orderly disciplined." She asked them to leave quietly with out blocking traffic. No barbed wire or police were in sight. Suu Kyi, 50, were a green Burmese jacket and garlands of pink roses and jasmine in her hair. People held dozens of tape recorders to capture her speech, which would be distributed surreptitiously around Rangoon in hours. She gave no news conference. Earlier, authorities gathered 3,000 people near Suu Kyi's house to watch a billboard go up denouncing interference in Burmese affairs - code attacks on Suu Kyi and foreign support for her. Foreign governments have urged the junta not to crackdown further on Suu Kyi's supporters. Opposition officials said that only 154 of the 262 activists detained three weeks ago to stop the congress have been freed. About 20 are believed to have been transferred to Insein prison near Rangoon, notorious for torture. In Canberra, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer described the latest move by the regime to silence dissidents as an unacceptable curtailment of political liberty. Owner said the new decree would increase tensions in the country and - far from bolstering security as the military government claimed - may lead to further instability. The prospect of instability was a matter of regional and international concern and Downer said he would raise it Monday with US Secretary of State Warren Christopher in Washington. (TN) *************** THE NATION: WHAT'S IN A NAME? IN BURMA, MAY BE A TRUCE June 10, 1996 The only Rangoon-newspaper that dared to print Aung San Suu Kyi's name last week could become a proxy channel for dialogue, Silvia Feist writes from the Burmese capital. To read Burma's state-run newspaper last week one gets the impression that the name of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is a synonym for the words "destruction", "traitor", or "enemy". He mane itself, or that of her party, the NLD are rarely used. During the crucial period when the NLD-congress was held, only one Burmese-langauge daily Kyemon dared publish her name; in a two-instalment article under the headline, "Why the Demand for Dialogue Was Not Implemented". The article offered a striking contrast to the common tone of other Burmese newspapers: welcome a dialogue, outlining topics to be clarified before a dialogue could be implemented and even referring to "voluntary public labour" with an unstated admission that this labour is far from being voluntary on all occasions. And - perhaps most astounding - it directly addressed "Dear Daw Aung San Suu Kyi". The article caught the attention of various embassy officials who described it as "very unusual" and said "it might be a hint that they)the military) are moving". The article stated that there are two school of though in Burma on national reconciliation, calling one the "Utopain National Reconciliation Policy" versus the "Objective National Reconciliation Policy. The so-called utopain policy, it said, prescribed the separation of the military and parliamentary, and was an apparent reference to NLD policy. Surprisingly this idea is accept in principle, but rejected for the time being. The so-called objective policy legitimises the dominant role of the military as "a natural result" of Burma's social and political developments, especially what it called the "diversity in insurgency", which the newspaper described as unique in the world. Suggesting that this policy would be more adequate for present-day Burma, the article urged "Myanmar (Burma) leaders and the people of Myanmar to use their own political experience". To strengthen this argument the article quotes Suu Kyi saying "the Burmese people experience a parliamentary era", but - as the article concludes - during this era "internal insurgency and terrorism were raging", there fore the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL) "had no choice but to commit acts that countered democratic practice". The indirect implication that the Slorc and AFPFL handled politics in the same way - at least in the question of counter- insurgency - is disturbing for many reasons. Nevertheless it is a challenging argument, since Suu Kyi's father, Gen Aung San, was one of the AFPFL. And Suu Kyi often contracts the tatmadaw (People's Army) with the forces of her father's time. The article urges Suu Kyi to declare her attitude towards these two policies as an important step on the way to dialogue. And three days later the NLD congress did recognised the tatmadaw as a necessary institution of the country, but reaffirmed the supremacy of parliament. The article concludes with a warning not mentioning Suu Kyi's name, but nevertheless directly addressed to her, that: In case she decides to "follow the imaginative (utopain) national reconciliation path, you will be avoidably pushed to intimidating, pressuring and coercing the present government". That fits the statement Tourism Minister Gen Kyaw Ba made last week in an interview with Radio Australia, putting forward that Slorc cannot tolerate Suu Kyi's criticism. As far as it is known the writer of the article, U Hla Myint, is not directly related to the military government. But since his article was published in a state-controlled daily, there are only two possibilities of interpretation: either it was published by mistake or Slorc is slowly starting to open a channel for dissenting ideas. This might be considered as some kind of "proxy dialogue" on the way to the dialogue Suu Kyi has been demanding for so long. (TN) *************** THE NATION: THE LINE OF THOUGHT LEE KUAN YEW BUILT June 10, 1996 Age mellows some people and hardens others. It seem to have done neither, however, for Lee Kuan Yew. In the rapidly changing world, the Singapore patriarch remains as doggedly convinced of the right of his authoritarian ways, more recently referred to as the "Asian Way", as he was during the island state's tumultuous formative years. For such as obviously brilliant man, Lee's mind is surprisingly inflexible. It matters not whether he is talking about India, Korea or Burma, he remains convinced that only hardline "no- nonsense" government can lead to growth and prosperity. To govern any other way asserts, would result in the chaos that is supposedly modern-day America or Bosnia. In his formal news conference to foreign reporters since 1959, Lee on Friday once again made the argument that what he calls "Western-style" democracy has no place in the developing world or Asia. Lee's line is now fairly well known. Stability and power, no matter whether that power, no matter whether that power is legitimate or not, are the key factors to development. He defended the current regime in Burma, saying that the ruling military is "the only instrument of government" in that country. He said troops are needed even to clear squaters from streets. (Burmese dissidents might also suggest they are useful when it comes to rounding up free labour for infrastructure projects). Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has none of those powers, he said adding that she should stay "behind a fence and be a symbol." Phenomenal success As outrageous as he can should sometimes, Lee is a tough man to debate, not only because of an agile mind but also because of the phenomenal success of Singapore. It is an economic miracle that cannot be denied. During 21 years as prime minister, Singapore rose from being a swampy backwater to a regional powerhouse. According to one recent survey, it is the most economically competitive country in the world. But as Lee enters the twilight of his political career it is interesting to ponder what his legacy will be. The institution weakness of Singapore's self-styled democracy - there is no real freedom of the press, the opposition is cowed and the leaders have cultivated a tradition that tolerates no public criticism - mans there are no real external controls to ensure that those who follow in Lee's footsteps will maintain the high standards he demanded of government officials. Weighing on the minds of some is the traditional Chinese cautionary tale about the rise and fall of successful families. The grandfather lays the foundations for wealth, the son consolidates it and the grandson inevitably squanders it. Can Singapore avoid a similar fate? Lee says yes but it only if it continues to have "tough minded, dedicated, determined, able and the honest leaders." But there are few guarantees, institutions or mechanisms to ensure this will happen. Lee concedes that 30 years of growth and stability have made his people complacent. On Friday night he said Singaporeans are more concerned about material benefits and selfish gains. "This is very dangerous, because things can go terribly wrong very quickly," he said. Outside of Singapore, Lee's legacy is even more worrying. Southeast Asia's newest generation of autocrats in Cambodia and Burma have made no secret of their admiration for Lee's though talk. In effect, he has thrown them a lifeline to legitimacy amid a sea of international condemnation and also a front for carrying on in less than up to what were once accepted as "international" standards. Now they govern according to "Asian standards". If Lee's rhetoric sounds not all that dissimilar to that of some of his reformed communist neighbours it is because they rose to power in similar fashion. Whereas in the Indochina countries communist parties, often working behind nationalist fronts, took power and eliminated their non-socialist allies, Lee did the same only in reverse. His model, "autocratic capitalism", proved infinitely more successful than "autocratic communism" but both systems have an Achilles' heal - the lack of opposition structure to keep everything in order and above board. Social chaos Lee offers a point of view that is comforting to many because it is unambiguous and unapologetic. Even if much of what he says is contradictory. It is the strength of so-called Western democracies that has allowed them to indulge, many would say over-indulge, the individual and produce the social chaos Lee warns against. But as Yugoslavia's Tito proved, iron-fisted individuals are no match for - to use a Lee phrase - the "primeval forces at work" in humanity. For all the noise and colorful debate Lee so derides, democracy when done right protects against the failings of individuals, who so intoxicated with their own power, invariably lead developing states to misery. It is perhaps ironic and possibly a shame, that Lee, the consummate "I did it my way" individual has so little faith in democracy as a force for social cohesion. (TN) ******************* BKK POST: BURMA HAS OPPORTUNITIES - BUT WATCH YOUR WALLET June 10, 1996 by Yolaine d'Udekem The view that political conditions in Burma are such that it is not worth even thinking about doing business there has been challenged by a presentation on opportunities in Rangoon. Participants in a discussion after the presentation organised by the Singapore-Thai Chamber of Trade were told the pitfalls are real but there are ways to avoid them and be successful. Two businessmen who have been active in Burma told the gathering at the Jewellery Trade Centre in Bangkok that prevailing conditions could be better. Halpin Ho, president of Ho Group and owner of the Jewellery Trade Centre, said Burma's international image is not that good. "We have to visit first the country and spend time over there before starting anything," he said. When he arrived for the first time in Burma in 1964 he lost everything and left the country. He returned four years ago with his gems business in mind, after visiting many countries, including Burma. His eyes were opened and he had a different and better view of everything. His objective is to create jobs apart from making approve it. He is now planning infrastructure and property projects, starting soon, which will provide jobs. "If you want to be successful in anything over there, you need to be very patient and persistent," he said. Laurence Chin, country manager of Burma Airway International Co, said "Burma is rich in natural resources, not least reserves of virtually every kind of stone and gems, opening more employment opportunities and regional development." Burma, he said, has abundant human resources and business depends a lot on a labour pool which is very cheap. The minimum daily rate for an unskilled workers is 20 kyat. At the official rate, US$1 represents six kyat. "The time needed to find staff depends on good management and discipline," said Ho. Chin said: "Because of the situation now, you can pick up anyone for work, teach them what you want and give a speedy training. "The government has adopted a market-oriented system increasing employee opportunities," he said. Under investment laws, foreign concerns are allowed to invest and submit proposals in the form of wholly foreign-owned enterprises or partly-owned or in the form of a joint ventures with a private or public local entity. The main sectors that attract investors are manufacturing, tourism, oil and gas and mining. "Our objective is to make money," said Chin. "Burma Airways is for instance, trying to be quick, making a profits in eight months. A foreign entity that operates under the foreign investment law has the right to enjoy economic benefits and to send money back to its own country. "To be successful when investing in Burma, keep your eyes open, see where the opportunities are and choose the good ones otherwise you lose money," cautioned Chin. "Do your homework, know what you want, choose your partner well, improve business and take a risk." (BP) ****************** ASIA TIMES: MYANMAR OPPOSITION TREADS CAUTIOUS LINE June 10, 1996 Yangon Stephen Brookes, Asia Times Faced with the threat of an imminent government crackdown, Myanmar's opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) appears to be backing away - at least temporally - from the confrontational stance it has adopted in recent weeks toward the ruling military government. The increasingly tense stand-off between Myanmar's ruling Slorc and the opposition NLD entered a new and potentially volatile stage on Saturday, when the government announced penalties of five to 20 years' imprisonment for "inciting, demonstrating, delivering speeches, making oral or written statements and disseminating in order to undermine the stability of the State, community peace and tranquillity and prevalence of law and order." The new law, which took up almost the entire front page of the daily New Light of Myanmar, also made it illegal to draft a national constitution without official permission. The law was aimed directly at the NLD and its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, according to government sources, and was drawn up following the NLD convention last month. In a move one analysts called "provocative", the NLD vowed to draw up a constitution for Myanmar, in direct opposition to an ongoing constitution convention being held by the government. "It's a whole new game now," said one analysts in Yangon. "The centerpiece of the NLD conference was the announcement that it would draw up a constitution. But if they proceed on that path, the party will be shut down." The NLD won 82 per cent of the parliamentary seats in Myanmar's last general elections in 1990, but was not allowed to form a government. In May, the league called for the government to immediately honour the results of those elections, something Slorc has refused to do. "This is a warning," said a top government official who requested anonymity. "We're trying to take preventive measures. But if Mrs Aris (Suu Kyi is married to a Briton, Michael Aris) refuses to understand and is confrontational, the government will have no choice. The survival of our country is at stake." The NLD appears to be taking the warning seriously. At her customary Saturday afternoon speech tot he public, Suu Kyi told a crowd of about 3,000 that she had never said anything against the prevalence of law and order, and that the law should apply equally to all." I have a clear conscience about that," she told the crowd. The NLD, she added, had been working toward democracy for the good of the country. She also noted that Slorc had done a number of positive things for the country, including holding elections, releasing political prisoners, building roads and bridges and moving towards a market economy. She also seemed to play down the NLD itself, saying that the party was not well-organized and faced a number of difficulties. She also said it was established to bring about democracy, not to gain power. One diplomat later said the speech was "skilful" and that she had managed to promote her democratic ideals while avoiding mentioning the national convention and directly defying the new law. Nevertheless, she ignored official instructions on both Saturday and Sunday by speaking to crowds lined up along Yangon's University Avenue in front of her home. According to the government source, top NLD personnel had been told on Friday that the speeches could only be held inside the compound. The barbed wire barricades, which the traffic police usually set up between the street and the pavements, were removed early on Saturday morning. "If she takes the advice of her more level-headed advisors," said the government official in remarks early on Saturday, "then there won't be any trouble. Bit if she doesn't, things will go from bad to worse." Asked during the weekend whether she feared arrest, Suu Kyi said she did not fear being detained, but that she had to consider it a possibility. Suu Kyi spoke to a crowd of about 5,000 on Sunday afternoon, and again avoided the topic of the national convention. In a measured speech that evolved a restrained response, she spoke for about 20 minutes about the recent elections in India and noted that they proved that democracy could exist in Asia. She said she would discuss the convention in her speech next weekend. The audience, which had greeted her with great excitement, chanting "Democracy must prevail", appeared should after her remarks. The government had no immediate response to her speeches, although it held a rally early on Sunday morning a few hundred meters from her home. According to an eyewitness, between 2,000 and 3,000 people at 7.00am at the intersections of Kaba Aye Pagoda Road and University Avenue, where they unveiled a billboard denouncing "destructionists". The group reportedly split into three "columns", according to the witness, one of which marched up University Avenue toward Suu Kyi's house. (AT) ************** ASAI TIMES: LUXURY CAR DEALER HOPING TO CAPTURE MYANMAR MARKET June 10, 1996 Yangon Stephen Brookes, Asia Times When Charles Stroud looks at Yangon during rush hour, he sees streets filled with junk-bumper-to-bumper junk. "Those are all second-hand vehicles from Japan, spewing pollutants into the air," said the manager of BMW's new showroom in Myanmar. "Other countries are unloading all their excess rubbish into this market - and somebody needs to put a stop to that." Stroud intends to be one of those getting Myanmar out of clunkers and into quality cars. His showroom for Land Rover and BMW opened in March, one of the mushrooming number of new car out-lets in Myanmar. Nissan opened a showroom in Yangon on Tuesday, and Toyota, Mazda and Honda are also setting up operations in what may be one of the world's fastest-growing car markets. ?Myanmar is just opening up," said Stroud. "A lot of people had cold feet about coming in - nobody wanted to be the first. But we're the first European car company to be here, and we think that will pay off." The BMW showroom - a joint venture between Indonesia's Asia International, Myanmar Cinthe Motors, and Japan's Marubeni - is the first of several planned for Myanmar. A second service centre is being built in Yangon, and a third is planned for next year in Mandalay. The total investment so far is about US$5 million, according to BMW. The number of cars in Myanmar has been growing by an estimated 10 per cent a year for the past two years. But because of high taxes on new car imports, most of the imports are used. New car sales still represent a small but fast-growing number, expanding from 240 cars in 1994 to 684 in 1995, according to BMW, which expects the market to grow by about 14 per cent annually in the next few years. "I see the market for Land Rovers being very big, because there's already a lot of product knowledge here," said Stroud. "BMW is a very new product here, and it may take a little longer. We'll probably sell about two of them every three weeks initially, but it could rise rapidly. It take time for people to see the vehicles on the road." In fact, it may take time for people to even see them in the showroom. Because of a bottleneck at the port of Yangon - where some 61 ships are waiting to be unloaded - Stroud only has six cars in the country, with another 33 en route. Nevertheless, he's in for the long term, exploring a market that very little is known about. "We've done market research," he said, "But there's a new mentality that we have to get used to. We have to sift the time-wasters from the real potential customers. It's an elusive market, because you don't know who has money." And in a country where the starting price for a 3-Series BMW is US$32,000, or roughly 110 times the average per capita income, the customers are likely to be few and far between, at first. Stroud expects the wealthier merchants, some government ministers and people from the large international companies to be his initial clients. "Fortunately for us, Mercedes-Benz is not in the market," he said. "So people look to BMWs as the status symbol to get. I think it's going to be very difficult for Mercedes to enter the market now." For anyone entering the new car market in Myanmar, worrying road bumps still remain. Taxes on new are rugged in most areas, the quality of gasoline is poor and there are few skilled mechanics. But for those who came in for the long haul, said Stroud, the rewards were there. "There are going to be a lot of new car dealers opening up - you're going to have companies like Volkswagen and Audi," he said. "And the dealers here now are expanding because the market is there. The people who have second-hand cars are going to sell them and buy new cars, and that new car will be upgraded from a Nissan to a Toyota to a Land Rover or a BMW. And this is where the market is going to grow." (AT) ---------------------------------------------------------- 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: plilian@asc.corp.mot.com Fonts: tom@cs.colgate.edu History of Burma: zni@students.wisc.edu International Affairs: Julien Moe: moe@gramercy.ios.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 Rohingya culture Kyaw Oo: myin@erols.com Shan history/culture: Sao Hpa Han: burma@ix.netcom.com Shareholder activism: simon_billenness@mail.cybercom.net Total/Pipeline Dawn Star: cd@utopia.EUnet.fr Tourism campaigns: bagp@gn.apc.org "Attn. S.Sutcliffe" World Wide Web: FreeBurma@POBox.com Volunteering: christin@ksc.net.th [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" Letters to the editor, comments or contributions of articles should be sent to the editor at: strider@igc.apc.org