INFORMATION SHEET No.A.0616(I)

[OKKAR66129@xxxxxxx]

MYANMAR INFORMATION COMMITTEE
YANGON
INFORMATION SHEET
No.A.0616(I) 20 Septembr 1998

OFFICE CALLS IN YANGON ON 19 SEPTEMBER

(A)		Minister for Livestock and Fisheries received Director-General 
Mr Dhammarong Parkobboon and officials of Fisheries Department of the Ministry
of Agriculture and Cooperatives of Thailand at his office.

(B)		Minister for Religious Affairs received Sayadaw(Senior Abbot) of Golden
Pagoda Buddhist Temple Lai Meng Wah (a) Ven Shifa Zhao and party at Wizaya
Mingala Dhamma Thabin(Summon Hall) at Kaba Aye in Mayangon Township on 19
September. They discussed donation of a car for International Theravada
Buddhist Missionary University and offering of Soon(Lunch) and robes to 2,500
members of the Sangha(monks) in Yangon and Mandalay. Singapore Buddhist
delegation led by Lai Meng Wah (a) Ven Shifa Zhao arrived Yangon on 15
September and visited the pagodas in Yangon, Mandalay and Bagan NyaungU under
the arrangement of Ministry of Religious Affairs and Sri Asia Tourism Service
Co Ltd.
Special Feature Respect For the Dead and Bereaved Families Please !
		It is quite saddening to read an article which appeared in the Bangkok Post
of 20 September entitled " Out of the storm -and into death ". The story of
the crash of a Myanmar Airways Fokker-27 plane which occured on August 24 was
heavily spiced with racial hatred, violence, political motivation and anti-
military sentiments to create a Hollywood style sensationalism.
		It is quite difficult to understand how the author came up with such a story
since he seems to be confused and contradicts his own story. To point out a
few of the most obvious ones:-
		(a)	" Forensic examination of the body of the dead woman confirmed multiple
rape ". ( Refering to the air hostess) and " A university student apparently
suffered the same fate. "
		(b)	" The Burmese male survivors on the plane were tortured. The villagers
chopped off ears and fingers."
		(c)	" The hated men of the Burmese Army were kicked and punched, living and
dead alike."
		(d)	" All guns aboard the plane had disappeared. The exact number of
weapons are not known. "
		(e)	" About 20 seats - roughly half the passengers - were Burmese military
officers and their families."
		( f)	" Several other young men were also returning home from university
registration in Yangon."
		In this scenario it is extremely difficult to understand how the author came
up with such and such. 
		(a)	The multiple-rape assertion theory when he also mentioned in his story
that medical reports are still unavailable from secretive Burmese bureaucracy.
		(b)	Again the author mentioned that Burmese male survivors were tortured and
ears and fingers chopped off when he early claimed that medical reports were
unavailabe.
		(c)	The author's story of living and dead alike of the Burmese Army were
kicked and punched is quite interesting and it is to be assumed  that he had
been at the scene of the crash when this orgy supposedly 	occured.
		(d)	Since this aircraft was a civilian transport plane the author's
imagination of making it into an arms shipment aircraft is quite interesting.
		(e)	The passenger list available from the Myanmar Airways confirms the
number of military personnel on aboard which is far different from the
author's so-stated number.
		(f)	The university and college students from Shan State as well as students
from other states and division do not need to make their registration in
Yangon. They are required to make it in their own respective regions for their
own convenience and need not travel to Yangon which the author has stated.
		It is very unfortunate that the author did not make any proper kind of
inquiry and investigative reporting before writing such an article and seems
to have based his information on pure speculation against the ethics of
journalism. It is our hope that in the future when such kind of stories are
being reported authors should check their information with relevant
authorities of the concerning countries and keep their stories factual.
Irresponsible reporting will not help but put more misery and grief on the
bereaved families and it should be totally avoided.
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