BKK Post,April 9,1998.Postbag

[suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

It might be okay
if you're an expat

   In a letter. on Apr 4, Pat James claimed that "Burma offers quality of life".  First of all, I would like to point out that Mr James, a Texan working for an oil company and living in Burma, is an expatriate and he has not experienced the suffering that most Burmese people go through.
   
   Expatriates, living with diplomatic immunity and earning US dollars, can live freely and with maids, cooks and chauffeur.  This kind of life is only for foreign nationals like Mr James.

    How can Mr James compare his experiences of 'peace of mind' and 'quality of life' with an average Burmese person?  An average.  Joe is making 1,000 kyat/month (equivalent of approximately $4) when the price of chicken is over 100 kyat/kilo.  Most people in Burma are starving despite the presence of multinational corporations.

   Investments from foreign companies are the lifeblood of the military regime.  The very same military regime has killed thousands of peaceful demonstrators, has jailed thousands of activists for speaking out, and has refused to hand over power to the rightful government.

   If Mr James had seen his children shot and killed in front of his eyes by the soldiers ruling Burma, or if Mr James had ever been thrown into jail and tortured for speaking his mind like citizens of Burma, he would not be claiming that "Burma offers quality of life".

Pwint Htun
Spokane, Washington






                                        The Burmese chose Suu Kyi

     Perhaps Burma "has what many world travellers have been seeking', if many world travellers seek a beautiful country ravaged by 35 years of military rule, an economy rife with corruption, and a people whose speech and political activity are curtailed at gunpoint, all augmented by a community of profiteering investors who benefit none but the military.

   Perhaps Burma offers "quality of life", if quality of life does not include basic rights and freedoms; you may know that your family is safe, but only as long as you do what the military says, don't admit that you care about democracy or human rights, and don't threaten to stop Burma's lifeblood of foreign investment.

    Mr James (Apr 4) advocates 'controlled growth", which, he implies, somehow could not be achieved under a democratic system.  He argues that the people need to be educated, even though Burma has one of the highest literacy rates in the developing world. . Most insulting are his hypocritical claims that "only Burmese citizens know what pace is best for their own country".  Mr James appears to have
forgotten that Burmese citizens did attempt to determine their own future; they overwhelmingly selected Aung San Suu Kyi's party to lead them.  As for Suu Kyi herself, she has led the (popularly elected) pro-democracy movement for nearly 10 years now, and Burma's citizens do not  seem to think it a problem that she has  no military (government) experience.

   The basic point, however, is that regardless of Suu Kyi's motives, regardless of whether Mr James would want her as his leader (he says he does not), the Burmese people have chosen her party to lead them.  And she would be irresponsible to do otherwise.


Marco Simons 
Free Burma Coalition 
New England Burma Roundtable Harvard University, Massachusetts