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BurmaNet News: November 3, 1995 #26
- Subject: BurmaNet News: November 3, 1995 #26
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 05 Nov 1995 08:23:00
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Date: Sun, 5 Nov 1995 08:23:02 -0800
Subject: BurmaNet News: November 3, 1995 #269
------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
---------------------------------------------------------
The BurmaNet News: September 3, 1995
Issue #269
Noted in Passing:
Yangoon Airways... will give access to the whole country bringing.. all
the peoples and their unspoiled culture within the reach of every visitor
from the East or the West. - Transport Minister Lt Gen. Thein Win
(quoted in: BKK POST: THAI FIRM TO PROVIDE FLIGHTS IN BURMA)
HEADLINES:
==========
THE ALERT LITERATURE CLUB: MEDIA RELEASE
S.H.A.N. : BANHARN TIGHTENING ANOTHER SCREW ON SHANS
BKK POST: THAI FIRM TO PROVIDE FLIGHTS IN BURMA
BKK POST: TALKS OVER 'FRIENDSHIP'BRIDGE STILL DEADLOCKED
BKK POST: SLOW 'CART RIDE' INTO BURMESE HINTERLAND
----------------------------------------------------------
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[Feel free to suggest more areas of coverage]
***********************
THE ALERT LITERATURE CLUB: MEDIA RELEASE
16 October, 1995
The Birth of the Alert Literature Club:
The Alert Literature Club (ALC) came into existence on 15th October, 1995
with the initiative and activer participation of literary democracy activists
on the Southern Burma border with Thailand. The ALC has laid down the
following aims and objectives.
Aims of the ALC:
1. To oppose military dictatorship in Burma.
2. To encourage the development of democracy in Burma.
Objectives of the ALC:
1. To help provide moral encouragement for the people of Burma who
are still struggling against military dictatorship and for the development
of democracy.
2. To support the Burmese democracy movement through the use of political
literature.
3. To help increase mutual understanding and respect and coordination and
cooperation between all the democratic forces of Burma.
Policies of the ALC:
1. While we share a commitment to the cessation of the military dictatorship and the
restoration of democracy in Burma, we are a group of independent, literature-loving
individuals, and we do not represent any political organization.
2. The ALC respects all democratic organizations and individuals and will always
endeavor to keep lasting cordial relations with them.
3 The ALC will try to use literature (the ALERT publications) to alter the thinking
of any person or organization in Burma whose attitudes and work are antagonistic
to the ALC's aims.
Future Plans of the ALC:
1. To continue to publish and distribute the "ALERT PAPER" series.
2. To print and publish "The Alert Annual Magazine" in 1996.
3. To write, translate, and publish any book which fits clearly with the ALC's aims.
4. To publish and distribute educational pamphlets, booklets, and bulletins for the
development of border refugees and internally displaced persons in Burma.
5. To cooperate closely with all literacy groups and democracy forces inside and
outside Burma.
Criteria for the Selection of Manuscripts:
1. Any contributions which the Editors' Board considers inconsistent with the
principles laid down by the ALC will not be selected.
2. However, if such contributions based on sensitive matters are considered by the
Editorial Board as being constructive to the cause, they may be selected, and the Board
will accept full responsibility for them.
3. An author may be a member of a political organization, but his or her contributions
to the ALERT PAPER will not be considered as necessarily reflecting their organiation's
policies.
4. The Editorial Board will give precedence to manuscripts which are of good quality,
regardless of their length.
5. Contributions from new writers are also very much welcomed.
6. Writings which are clear and comprehensible to the grassroots population will be
especially appreciated.
Sructure of the ALC
Advisory Board:
Mahn Aung Htay (Independent Karen Historical Research Association)
U Myint Aung Soe (Alliance for Democratic Solidarity, Union of Burma, [ADSB])
Dr. Kyaw Nyunt (People's Progressive Front [PPF])
U Yarn Aung (People's Defense Force [PDF])
ALERT PAPER Publication Committee
Chief Editor Zaw Win Maung (People's Progressive Front [PPF])
Consultant Editor Mahn Htat Khaung (Independent Karen Historical Research Association)
Editor (Burmese) Shwe Thway (Individual)
Editor (English) Nai Aung Mon (Project for Mon People Empowerment [PMPE])
Co-Editor (1) Lu Maw (People's Defense Force [PDF])
Co-Editor (2) Aung Moe (Democratic Party for New Society [DPNS])
Co-Editor (3) Khaing Mar Kyaw Zaw (Karen National Union [KNU])
Art/Design (1) Maung Maung Oo (People's Defense Force [PDF])
Art/Design (2) Nai Win Ta Mot (New Mon State Party [NMSP])
Art/Design (3) Min Pauk Pauk (Project for Mon People Empowerment [PMPE])
Information (1) Phone Kyaw (ABSDF, No. 102 Battalion)
Information (2) Ba Khet (Free Trade Union of Burma [FTUB])
Distribution (1) Aye Maung (Free Trade Union of Burma [FTUB])
Distribution (2) Pyi Oat (NLD-LA)
Invitation for Manuscripts:
The Alert PAPER Publication Committee is trying to publish the following ALERT
Papers over the next year.
1. The ALERT PAPER Vol. 3 (December, 1995)
- to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the first university student strike (1920) -
universary diamond jubilee occasion
2. The ALERT PAPER Vol. 4 (February, 1996)
- to critically examine SLORC's "Visit Myanmar Year 1996"
3. The ALERT PAPER Vol. 5 (March 13, 1996)
- to commemorate the 8th Burma Human Rights Day, "Bo Phone Maw Day"
4. The ALERT Annual Magazine (8-8-96)
- to commemorate the 8th Four-Eights (8-8-88) Great People's Movement
Any contribution, either in Burmese or English, to the above series is very much
welcomed. Also, letters of suggestion to the ALERT PAPERS will be greatly valued.
Hence, the ALC would like to request all comrades and friends of Burma to write
and send manuscripts to the ALERT PAPER. The ALC would also like to ask all
friends to distribute the information.
Sections in the ALERT PAPER:
Short Stories, Articles, Plays, Poems, and Essays
Cartoons and Caricatures
Personal Experiences and news reports (human rights, womens' rights, the environment)
General Section (revolutionary art, democracy postcards, songs, advertisements, etc.)
NOTE: The ALERT PAPER is published with the help of individual contributions
and is distributed free of charge.
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 42
Sapan Mai
Bangkok, 10200
Thailand
********************************************
S.H.A.N. : BANHARN TIGHTENING ANOTHER SCREW ON SHANS
31 October , 1995
Hit hard by reports of breaking up, the almost three-month old Banharn
government of Thailand has decided to turn into a drug fighter for a way out,
with special emphasis on amphetamines, a government source disclosed. Naturally,
the Shan armed groups, which include the Mong Tai Army and the United Wa State
Army, whose strongholds along the Thai border are reported to be producing
amphetamines are going to receive special attention, he said.
The Thai official, who requested his name not be revealed, told S.H.A.N. the
embattled government would not consider the Shan proposal in September to act as
a mediator between the Shans and the ruling Burmese junta for a negotiated
settlement of their problems. The reason, he said, was because of continued
suspicion by the Burmese of Thai motives especially with regard to the Shans.
Shans and Thais belong to the same ethnic stock known as Tais.
The tightening of the screw would begin in November, he added. "We are not
doing this to please either the Burmese or the Americans. It is to protect our
own people from your amphetamine invasion."
*****
BKK POST: THAI FIRM TO PROVIDE FLIGHTS IN BURMA
2 November 1995 Rangoon, AFP
A THAI company yesterday signed a joint venture agreement here with state-run
Mynamar Airways to provide domestic airline flights in Burma.
The agreement, signed by officials of Thailand's Krong Sombat Co Ltd, calls
for the new airline, called for Yangoon Airways Ltd, to be operational within
six months.
The new airlines will open more destinations in Burma they foreign visitors
and mean they have three carriers to choose from. Transport Minister Thein Win
said at the signing ceremony.
"Yangoon Airways, together with its predecessor Mandalay, will give access to
the whole country bringing.. all the peoples and their unspoiled culture within the
reach of every visitor from the East or the West," Lt Gen. Thein Win said.
Burma, officially called Myanmar, has designated 1996 "Visit Myanmar Year."
Yangoon Airways initially will fly two Fokker 50 aircraft to southern and northern
destinations in Burma. (BP)
***************
BKK POST: TALKS OVER 'FRIENDSHIP'BRIDGE STILL DEADLOCKED
November 2, 1995
BORDER problems and the alleged murder of Burmese seamen are issues which
have blocked progress in the latest bilateral talks on resuming construction of the
Thai-Burmese "friendship" bridge across the Moei River, said a Third Army Region
source.
Deputy Army Commander Gen. Chetha Thanajaro held the discussions with Burmese
authorities in Mae Sot District, Tak province, on Monday. The talk on the bridge issue,
which took place for the third time, reportedly failed to produced any concrete results.
The source said Burma is still dissatisfied with reclamation work on the Thai side,
which has change the river currents, and the fact that 120 Thai stalls have not yet been
removed from the bank.
The alleged murder of six Burmese seamen by Thai colleagues early Thai colleagues
early in August was another factor hampering the talks, the sources said.
Third Army Region Commander Lt Gen. Thanom Wacharaphut said yesterday that
the Burmese representatives at the talks were not empowered to make any decisions;
therefore, Gen. Chetha would have to meet with Burmese authorities at a higher level
later.
"We will try to solve the issue as soon as possible but we also need co-operation
from all parties concerned," Lt Gen. Thanom said.
Tak Deputy Governor Saneh Chalermphol confirmed that border problems have
caused construction of the bridge, which the link Tak with Burma's Myawaddy,
to be halted.
The Burmese Government ordered construction, which was nearly completed,
halted on June 7 this year.
To stop soil on its side of the Moei River, Burma had earlier sunk stakes
which changed the river currents and made them affect the Thai side. Thailand
subsequently carried out reclamation work on its bank and sunk stakes which
irritated Burma. (BP)
***************
BKK POST: SLOW 'CART RIDE' INTO BURMESE HINTERLAND
2 November 1995 Story By Ken Scoot
"ALTHOUGH Australia and New Zealand were fine in their ways, Burma was
the best," my retired father wrote on his return to England earlier this year.
We had recently spent sometime together and one of the places we toured
was Burma, a country I had been fortunate enough to visit both in 1985 and 1988.
Despite living under a bloody military dictatorship for six years, ordinary
Burmese people seemed to be as resilient and generous in spirit as they were
10 years ago. But there were changes - some good, some evident before we
even arrived in Rangoon.
In Bangkok it took 15 minutes to apply for and receive our one-month Burmese
visas (cost: 470 both). Myanmar International Airways, with its shiny new
Boeing 737s, was at least consistent: exactly 40 minutes late both into and
out of Rangoon.
On the taxi ride into the Burmese capital, the buildings were cleaner and
freshly painted, boulevards wide and tree-lined with coloured curbstones
and there were not too many cars around - but more than before.
There were new business centres like pyramids, iron-ribbed shopping malls
rising at intersections, and bill broads for luxury apartments, Lucky Strike,
Fosters, Daewoo and Apple computers.
And slogans-lots of slogans all over the country. Large white-on-red affairs
with Orwellian messages such as "We Love Our Nation", and "Love Your Mother
- Respect the Law".
Law or not, driving is still a lottery. Burma is a right-hand-drive country and
- inscrutably - most car are right-hand-drives, including the giant Chinese-made
FAW army trucks that loom menacingly over battalions of sinewy riskshaw peddlers.
(General Ne Win allegedly changed the country to right-hand-drive during the
Burmese way to Socialism years after consulting his astrologer.)
There are many indicators of an economy not just poor, but skewed in ways
that would make free-market economists fume. In Rangoon petrol costs six
baht a gallon but car owners are rationed to (missing) gallons per week. There are very
few petrol stations up-country. Fuel costs 46 baht a gallon on the black market,
which is bigger than the official economy anyway.
Our upcountry fuel stop was at a family-run wooden guesthouse in a back street
of Phu. Two sister with painted toenails and taut pink longyis expertly syphoned
petrol into our minibus. Where other families kept pigs below their house, this
family stored leaking petrol barrels. The menfolk sat on top of the upright cans,
smoking green cheroots while the daughters worked.
In this semi-desert terrain, only the ubiquitous toddy palm tree does well, providing
a sources of wooden furniture and mat roofing, while its sweet milky fruit can be
turned into alcohol or a laxative depending on preparation.
In the cool hills of eastern Mandalay near the old British hill station of Maymyo
there were productive fields. Strawberries, onions, tomatoes, cabbages, apples,
potatoes, coffee, silk, cotton and corn grow in "factories" - little more than
co-operative allotments - to feed lowland demand.
In the Maymyo hills and in Western Shan state around the Inle lake, the Chinese
border is still 240 kilometres to the east. But its massive and ominous presence is
felt like a hovering rain cloud about the burst.
In the uplands Chinese culture asserts itself in the increasingly pallid facial feature
of the hill folk, the stirred food, and in the imported goods in Kalaw, Taunggyi and
Maymyo market.
Beyond Maymyo, exhaust-belching trucks heave logs to the Chinese border, returning
with bicycles, beer, electrical goods, soap powder and medicines. As the imported
consumer goods cost more than the exported raw commodities, Burma is always short
of cash.
There were poignant reminders. At a lunch stop in blighted Magwe, young mothers
with naked babies at their breasts fought over the few kyats notes we put into their
bowls, then used the same bowls to feed their children the leftover of our soup.
Girls worked down the street sharing the same headscarf. We saw labourers
equipped with baskets and brooms building roads. Our guides said the roadbuilders
were paid 50 kyat (12 baht) a day.
The pleasures of local people tend to be simple upcountry: a one-kyat (25 satang)
cheroot, a 240 kyat (57 baht) bottle of Mandalay rum with a label and bottle -
but alas not the taste - like Jonnie Walker Red. The father north you go the cheaper
beer becomes as it is smuggled in from China.
Everywhere the corporate influence of Thailand is pervasive. Burmese men spike
their local rice whisky with Kratin Daeng energy drink. The smiling faces of Thai
middles Bird and Siriam endorse Mekhong and Saengthip whiskies. At the
Yuzana supermarket in Rangoon, retailers sell small bottles of Singha beer for
58 kyat (14 baht) - for a profit.
With the economy running on square wheels, mass tourism is being introduced as a
last-ditch effort to spread real money around the country. The General wants package
tourists, not backpackers. Visit Myanmar Year 1996 constitutes a major U-turn for
a military oligarchy conspicuously paranoid about national and cultural dissolution.
Should the tourists have clean consciences? Amnesty International reported in
May that 50 cents of every tourist dollar spent in Burma goes directly to the junta.
Well, that's 50 cents to the people too.
The impact of group tourism is beginning to change mystical Pagan, where broad
roads are being built between the crumbling 12th-century monasteries. The Shwedagon
temple now has bright fairly lights on it. Entrances to all the major monasteries have
hawkers, albeit with an impressive range of bronze, lacquerware and sandalwood curios.
Whispers of "Change money"? permeate the dusky corridors of the sacred chapels.
At the Shew Zan Daw temple, known for its sunset views, the driver of a 25 seater
Marco Polo Reisen tour bus honked the horn while a European tourist on the top tier
of the temple shouted down an order for another soda. At the top of the Sulamani
temple, three Russian tourists with a Bangkok airport duty-free bag drank rum and
Coke from tall glasses.
While the Burmese knelt to pray, foreigners knelt to get a better angle for their
palmcorders. Sacrilege? Certainly, although a lot of Burmese apparently pray
for lottery wins.
A new museum is being built in Pagan and there are rumours of a luxury hotel.
The existing choice is fine: around 400 to 500 baht a night for a clean, carpeted
twin room including breakfast, about par around the country. Burmese nationals
get rooms for half price.
At Inle Lake, dinner with the "Four Sisters" is reason enough to go to Burma. Each
evening a fishing family opens its wooden home on the lake's upper reaches. They
serve chicken and fish curries, mixed vegetables and popadoms to cross-legged guests
sitting by candlelight in the Spartans living room.
While visitors feast from bowls that are never allowed to empty, the Four Sisters
(actually three; one has married a German and lives in Europe) mingle with the
six or so diners as the relatives look on, nodding and smiling.
It is difficult to know who is more wide-eyed, the hosts or the lucky guests. At
the end the visitors leave whatever money they feel is appropriate. It's like a dream.
As is the lake, the market and temple at Phoung Daw Oo, midway down the 14 mile
lake, is a living tapestry. The rich variety of hill-tribe ethnicity and natural products
grown in Shan state meet in a collision of colours. It is cold in the mornings, with
temperatures falling to a few degrees Celsius. Nevertheless, the counter at the Joy
Hotel had a snorkel and mask for hire.
The British legacy is just as curious. At Maymyo the creaking 1904 Canada-Craig
Hotel - a mock-Tudor affair now call the Thiri Mying - is run by an ex-Gurkha who
organises a collection each evening so guests can enjoy a fire in the lobby.
The hotel only has 13 guest rooms. Yet at check-in no one was really sure if any were
available. It took staff 20 minutes to find out from the piles of ledgers on the desk.
In the draughty dining room I asked a fellow tourist at a table if lunch was till
being served. He replied; "Yes, but you have to order it." I found the waiter in
a store room and ordered the tough roast beef lunch with watered-down Houses
of Parliament brown sauce, washed down with warm Mandalay beer ("our beer is
chilly in the winter"). The Candada-Craig is rightly a national institution.
All of Maymyo is an early 20th century period piece. Well-kept botanic gardens
and horse-drawn carriages tell of the genteel pastimes of former British
administrators. Today the superlative range of Shan artefacts, woodcarvings
and tapestries at about half Chiang Mai prices is reason enough to visit. The
main retailers are Muslim traders whose predecessors had migrated from what
is now Bangladesh to set up business in the hills during British rule.
After three decades of near isolation, Burmese English is quirky, tending to
the "so many mangoes hanging" variety. We were befriended by a Burmese
women in Rangoon who did her best to organise our upcountry travel saying:
"First I will do for you, later I will do other things." We were in no position
to smirk. She spoke fluent Japanese and we couldn't say a word in her native
tongue.
The cuisine in Burma isn't quite as engaging as the people. Despite wonderful
ingredients, they tend to smother everything in oil. Some meals were glorious
exceptions. The dinner at the Golden view Restaurant in Rangoon was fit for
an ambassador and surpassed only by open-air culture show and view of the
illuminated Shwedagon pagoda.
If you are debating whether to go to Burma, go. Go independently. Go respectfully,
preferably as an independent traveller, not a package tourist. Go despite Slorc.
The Burmese people at this stage seem to be grateful for contact and friendship
with foreigners. Indeed, exposure to foreigners and a measure of tourism-generated
wealth may yet have a civilising effect on the junta.
As outsider looking at Buddhist Burma we can only hope that the middle way
of tolerance will again prevail. (BP)
****************************************