ASSK: Aug. 3 Speech (on foreign inv

[strider@xxxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: ASSK: Aug. 3 Speech (on foreign investment)

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi made the following remarks in English at the conclusion
of her 4:00pm talk on Saturday, August 3:

I was asked to speak a few words in English to explain for those of our
visitors who do not understand Burmese what we have been speaking about.

To begin with I responded to letters from the public.

Among those letters is one which should be of interest to tourists.  It is from
Lashio and says that they have been asked to rebuild their houses with brick
and to contribute towards the building of new pavement.  I assume this is to
impress tourists when they come for "Visit Myanmar Year" which is supposed to
begin on the 18th of November.  This is why we say that the kind of investment
that are made now -- and a lot are in the tourism industry -- do not benefit
the people at large.  To the contrary, they give a lot of trouble to the
people.  Many of those in Lashio who have been told to rebuild their houses in
brick cannot afford to rebuild their houses.  They do not know what to do.
They do not know whether they will be asked to leave and sell their houses to
others who can afford to rebuild the houses in accordance with the standards
imposed by the authorities.  This is why we say that investments now do not
benefit the public at large.  There is misgovernance in Burma.  As long as
there is misgovernance the people will not benefit from any kind of
investment.

Also, I was speaking in some detail to an article which appeared in the latest
issue of ASIAWEEK magazine to the effect that Burmese people are only
interested in fun and fortune; they're not that interested in freedom.  I
think whoever wrote that article must himself be very much interested in fun
and fortune.  Probably because he already has all the freedom he wants.  We in
Burma do not have our basic rights which are necessary for security.  I do not
think that fun and fortune is what we are after.  We are after long-term
freedom and justice, without which there cannot be any peace in this country.
Unless there is a system which can insure peace and justice in this country,
there can be no happiness in the long run.  We are interested in the long-term
well-being and happiness of the people of Burma in general.  We are not
interested in fun and fortune of a few selfish people in this country.  This
is why these things, such as this article, are an insult to the people of
Burma who have sacrificed a lot so they may be able to achieve a system that
ensures justice and peace, not just for ourselves, but for succeeding
generations.

We would not like visitors to Burma to be deceived by the apparent appearance
of . . . happiness . . . shall we put it this way.  It is because the people
of Burma . . . we are culturally a people who put a lot of value on projecting
a happy front.  This is partly cultural and partly because we think it is only
polite to appear happy in front of visitors.  So just because you see Burmese
people smiling, you must not assume that everything is well with us.  There is
still a lot to be done before Burma can become the kind of cuntry that can
ensure security, prosperity and peace for succeeding generations.

(end of speech)