The BurmaNet News: April 9, 1999

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 "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
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The BurmaNet News: April 9, 1999
Issue #1247

Noted in Passing: "We need concrete action because our people are suffering
not just from an onslaught of words but from the deprivation of basic
justice in our country." - Aung San Suu Kyi (see MESSAGE TO UNCHR)

HEADLINES:
==========
ASSK: MESSAGE TO THE UN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS 
THE NEW REPUBLIC: LADY IN WAITING 
AFP: BURMA URGES RESPECT FOR YUG.'S SOVEREIGNTY 
XINHUA: BURMESE LEADER PRAISES RELATIONS WITH PRC 
XINHUA: MYANMAR TO HOST ASEAN CCI COUNCIL MEETING 
THE BANGKOK POST: MISSING BURMESE ALREADY KILLED 
SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: PRESS GANG OUT OF THE RAT RACE 
RFB: POWER AND BURMESE SOCIETY, PART 10 AND 11 
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AUNG SAN SUU KYI: MESSAGE TO THE UN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS 
9 April, 1999 from altsean@xxxxxxxxxx

Message of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Laureate 
General Secretary, National League for Democracy, Burma
to the 55th Session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights,
Geneva 1999

The last year has been a particularly challenging period for those of us in
Burma working for democracy and human rights. The repression of the
military regime worsened greatly after May 1998 when the National League
for Democracy declared its intention to call for the convening of
Parliament, the Parliament that was elected in May 1990.

During the last eight or nine months many members of the National League
for Democracy have been detained. Well, "detained" is the euphemism used by
the authorities for what we see as unlawful arrest. In addition, more than
150 members of parliament still remain under detention, some of them have
been forced to resign by the military regime. There are others who have
been released because their health had deteriorated badly during their time
of detention. A number of working committees of the National League for
Democracy were demolished by the authorities throughout the country and of
course, many of our active members were forced to resign.

The repression is on a very large scale but the world has not grasped the
extent of the repression because it was spread out over a number of months.
If what the military regime had done over the last eight or nine months had
been carried out, say within a matter of weeks, then I think the world
would have sat up and taken notice.

As it is, what we have suffered over the last year is far more than what we
have suffered over the last six or seven years. So we would like the
international community to be aware of the fact that the human rights
situation in Burma has deteriorated very badly indeed.

It has come to the point when the activities of the regime are tantamount
to criminal activities. The National League for Democracy has been forced
to take action under the law. We have filed suits against the home ministry
and against the military intelligence because of the criminal activities
conducted against the members of our party. But, as might be expected the
authorities have taken no action whatsoever. Our law suits remain somewhere
in the hands of the legal authorities and there seems to be no intention on
the part of the military regime to correct the injustices that have been
done to our party.

We are aware that the international community sympathizes with our
situation and we are very grateful for all the help that has been given to
us, but there is a necessity for constant vigilance and there is a need for
continued action on the part of the international community to ensure that
the human rights situation in Burma does not deteriorate further.

We hope very much that at this session of the Human Rights Commission a
firm resolution will come out which will protect the basic rights of the
people of Burma.

What we need now is more than just mere words. We need concrete action
because our people are suffering not just from an onslaught of words but
from the deprivation of basic justice in our country. Thank you very much.

Question and Answer Section:

Q:	HOW HAS THE PARTY BEEN AFFECTED BY THE CRACKDOWN?

Now about 150 Members of Parliament remain under detention, and we think
about three or four hundred ordinary members of the party.

It is a little difficult to keep track about who has been arrested and who
has been released because a lot of the people who have been released were
released with the understanding that they should not get in touch with the
party again. So we are not always aware of who has been released.

Also, a number of those who have been taken into detention have been put
into prison without trial and of course we have not contact with them

Well, the authorities say that these people are not under detention, that
they have "invited them to have discussions" so it's difficult to take
action under the law, although of course, technically it comes under the
section of illegal restraint. So we could, in a country where there is rule
of law, take action against the authorities.

It has slowed down the party's work to a certain extent, but not too much.
We are used to struggle we are used to working under very hard
circumstances and for us, well, it's part of the job, as it were.

Q:	DO PEOPLE SEE POLITICAL PARTICIPATION AS A HUMAN RIGHT?

You know, I think there are many people in Burma who do not even know there
are such things as basic human rights. We are trying to teach them.

I think at one point a few years ago, the military regime undertook to
spread the word, as it were, in Burma. I think they made some sort of
undertaking to the United Nations that they would make the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights universally available but they have not done
so. We have tried to distribute as many copies as we can of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, and those members of our party who are in
constant touch with us do know that these rights exist and are aware of the
30 articles in the Declaration ... but I think the great majority of people
in Burma have very little inkling of what the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights is.

So to think of political participation as a human right is a big step but I
think by instinct they know that they should have a right to act according
to their beliefs. There are very strong feelings against this regime. The
people are aware that there is gross injustice going on in this country and
even if they have never heard of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
their human instinct tells them that they have a right to a certain amount
of human dignity.

Q:	ARE PEOPLE LIVING IN FEAR?

There is a lot of fear in Burma. Don't forget that the military regime
first came to power in 1958 and after couple of years we had a democratic
government for a bit and then in 1962 the military regime took over again,
and since then they have lived under a very repressive dictatorship.

And in this sort of climate ... fear is a natural reaction. One of the
basic things we try to teach our people is that they must question, they
must have the intelligence and courage to raise questions, such as: If a
member of the military intelligence walks into your house in the middle of
the night, you have right to ask him whether this is an act which is
acceptable under the law. Do they have an arrest warrant? Do they have the
right to just come into somebody's house in the middle of the night and
yank people out of their beds and start questioning them and harassing
them? The simple questions as to what their rights are -- these are the
ones we want our people to ask, but even that takes some training.

Even if they do not know that a member of the military intelligence walking
into their house in the middle of the night without a warrant is illegal,
they do know there is something unjust about it, there is something wrong
about it. They do know that people should have the right to sleep soundly
in their beds without fear.

Q:	ARE CHILDREN'S RIGHTS RECOGNISED?

The military regime signed this convention on children's rights but I do
not think they have taken any concrete action.

We run a little health clinic, not exactly a health clinic, just one day a
week, we give out multivitamins, iodized salt and sugar to poor children.
And if you look at those children you can be sure that the rights of
children are not protected in this country. Some of them are so badly
malnourished that you would imagine they came from one of those disaster
areas where there has been a famine, and this is in the centre of Rangoon.

And there are many who cannot afford to go to school and sometimes I ask
the children "do you go to school" and it's sad because some of the
children are ashamed because they can't go to school so they say "yes". But
if you ask their mothers they will say "no, we used to send the children to
school but now we can't because we cannot afford it". You know that the
number of children who cannot go to school has risen in Burma. I should say
percentage because if course the increasing population may increase the
numbers and not necessarily the percentage but in Burma the percentage of
children who cannot go to school has risen and the percentage of children
who cannot complete primary school has risen over the last decade

Q:	IS CHILD LABOUR STILL OCCURRING?

Yes, but I think it is getting increasingly difficult for children to find
work because even adults are facing unemployment. There was a construction
boom a few years back and this boom has now died down. During the time of
the construction boom, you would find many children working on these
construction sites. But now even adults have difficulty finding jobs so I
think children are finding it even more difficult to find work.

WHAT ABOUT LAWS PROTECTING WOMEN & CHILDREN?

It's a little unrealistic to talk about laws in this country, where there
is no rule of law. Some of the laws look very beautiful written down but
they don't apply to the ordinary people in this country and they apply even
less to those who are involved in politics, to those who are working for
democracy.

Q:	WHAT IS THE SITUATION OF WOMEN?

 ... certainly in Burma, as in many, many countries in the world, not just
in the east, women are still second class citizens, they are still less
privileged than men.

It is universally accepted now that whenever a country suffers
economically, it's the women and children who suffer most and this is true
for Burma as well.

There is a lot of prostitution going on and I believe one of the social
problems is that now a lot of young girls who are not particularly starving
are going in for prostitution because of this need to keep up with what
they see as common day needs. It's partly to do, I think, with the
advertising on television. You know what the advertisements are like ...
all the models look glossy and they all wear very smart clothes and they
always seem to live in luxury homes and I think this raises the
expectations of young people ... apart from the problem of those who have
to go in for work like prostitution because they are actually starving and
there is no other way they can earn a living.

As I understand it because of the spread of HIV in this part of the world
there is a greater and greater demand for child prostitutes and with the
poverty of the families combined with this demand, it cannot be a good thing.

Produced by Altsean-Burma & Images Asia for the Euro-Burma Office

Not for broadcast without the permission of Altsean-Burma & Images Asia

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THE NEW REPUBLIC: LADY IN WAITING
12 April, 1999 by Anna Husarska 

Being arrested is never pleasant, but, when your detainers are wearing
flip-flops and sarongs, it's somehow less threatening. I had already given
my exposed rolls of film to an acquaintance to smuggle out of Burma, so the
police had to settle for an unexposed one left in the camera. My notes, in
Polish, were briefly examined, then ignored. And with that I was summarily
deported -- just a few hours before my planned departure.

I had been taken into custody just after leaving the headquarters of the
opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) in Rangoon, where I had met
with 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. Throughout my stay in
Burma, everyone kept asking me excitedly, "Will you see the Lady?" So it
seemed natural that my interrogators, too, would ask the same thing. "Did
you see the Lady?" they barked.

That her admirers and detractors alike refer to Suu Kyi as "the Lady" is a
testament to how she has become the absolute center of everyone's
attention. In the junta mouthpiece The New Light of Myanmar, she is
"[w]hite alien's wife Suu Kyi who is conspiring to sell the Union into the
hands of neocolonialists." The paper also runs poems about her. A sample
from the December 23, 1998, edition: "Here, woman, the people knowing/The
story of puppet on strings/Nothing good you are doing/Even when not in
power/Adorned with deception of yours/Gives orders, a woman inferior/Just
retrace your steps/To your husband, go back/You were not asked to come."

To the Burmese people, however, Suu Kyi is practically a saint, the
repository of all their hopes -- which is both uplifting and a little
unsettling. There is a spontaneous cult of personality around her. A
business woman asked me: "You like my dress top? She wears a similar one."
A bike renter in Mandalay explained it to me according to a simple formula:
"She is the daughter of the father of the nation. So the Lady is the
nation." To prove it, he gave me five different banknotes emblazoned with
the picture of her father, Gen. Aung San. Throughout Burma, streets, parks,
and squares are named after him, and his statues are everywhere. Although
he was assassinated in July 1947, six months before Burma's independence,
he is the national hero and, in a paradoxical twist, the founder of the
Burmese Army, which controls the current junta.

The military dictatorship began in 1962 with a coup that brought Gen. Ne
Win to power. Soon the country was on the autarkical "Burmese way to
socialism," which, like all roads in this direction, was a bumpy downhill
path. Opposition grew, and, in June 1988, Ne Win resigned. Burma enjoyed a
"Rangoon spring" only to see it crushed in a major military crackdown that
began on August 8, 1988. In April of that year, Aung San Suu Kyi had come
to visit her ailing mother from Oxford, England, where she had been living
with her British husband, Michael Aris, and their two sons. Even before
they were married, she had written to Aris: "I only ask one thing, that,
should my people need me, you would help me to do my duty by them."

In the wake of the crackdown, the Burmese people's need was all too
apparent. On August 26, Suu Kyi spoke at a rally outside Rangoon's
Shwedagon Pagoda: "I could not, as my father's daughter, remain indifferent
to all that was going on. This national crisis could, in fact, be called
the second struggle for national independence." This speech sealed her
position as the leader of the burgeoning democratic movement

By September, the death toll was in the thousands. The generals formed the
State Law and Order Restoration Council, known as SLORC -- a rather
unfortunate name that, on the advice of a Washington-based public relations
firm, was later changed to SPDC for State Peace and Development Council.
Within a week of SLORC's formation, Suu Kyi and dissident Burmese officers
founded the NLD. In 1990, demonstrating its total ignorance of the national
mood, the junta confidently organized elections. The NLD, led by Suu Kyi, a
won 82 percent of the seats even though, months earlier, the generals had
put her under house arrest. The junta refused to hand over power and
increased repression.

Ne Win, now 88, continues to wield power from behind the scenes. As for Suu
Kyi, she remained under house arrest for the next six years. Nowadays, it
is almost impossible to see her. Her family house is off limits for most
locals and foreigners; even DHL can't deliver packages. And her movements
are restricted when she tries to visit supporters outside Rangoon. Twice
[sic] last summer, when the military blocked her route, she conducted a
silent protest by remaining in her car for several days.

These standoffs were planned to coincide both with a meeting of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations and with the anniversary of the
August 1988 crackdown or "8/8/88" as it is known here. "People all over the
world need to be alerted to what is happening in Burma [or else] it will be
difficult for them to voice their support for what we are doing," Suu Kyi
explained at the time. "I think keeping lines of communication open is
very, very important."

Keeping those lines open is easier said than done. Nobody who is anybody in
the NLD is allowed a working telephone. To arrange my meeting with Suu Kyi,
I had to make three nighttime visits to the home of a go-between, meow-ing
like a cat to get his dogs' attention without alerting the surveillance
team across the street and retrieving messages from him left on a gate
outside his house.  I met Suu Kyi at the party headquarters in Rangoon. The
shabby, two-story building is easy to spot because of the crowd of
plainclothes and uniformed officers milling about outside. The inside is
bare, save for a poster of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in
English, many portraits of Gen. Aung San, and the NLD flag, a yellow
fighting peacock on a red background.

When I arrived, the hall downstairs was filled with women and their
malnourished children, many crying. Suu Kyi stood at the front, handing out
spoonfuls of some type of formula to each child as his name was called on a
bullhorn. Each mother received a bottle of the formula to take home. This
long, noisy, exhausting event was obviously a way for her to stay in touch
with her people, just like the distribution of rice that she does
personally every Monday. However, attendance is low because of intimidation
by military intelligence.

I spoke with her deputy, Tin Oo, about what it would take to trigger an
uprising against the junta. A students' revolt is unlikely: since December
1996, the generals have kept all the faculties closed. This
general-turned-dissident thought that economic desperation would produce
dissent. I couldn't imagine it getting more desperate. Finally, Suu Kyi
joined us. At age 53, she looks a good 20 years younger. She is graceful
and possesses what the French call charme hypnotique, yet she is also tough
and matter-of-fact. At the time, I did not know the news that she knew and
was probably devastated by: namely, that her husband, whom she had not seen
since Christmas of 1995, was dying of prostate cancer. The authorities have
refused to grant him a visa, and thus Suu Kyi has been given a Hobson's
choice. If she leaves Burma to see her husband, she will almost certainly
not be allowed back in. And, if she stays, she will never get a chance to
say goodbye to Aris before he dies.

I asked her about a rumored deal whereby, in exchange for World Bank aid
and a promise by the NLD to rescind its calls to convene the parliament,
the generals would release political prisoners, open a dialogue with the
NLD, and allow it to function as a political party. Suu Kyi pooh-poohed the
rumor: the NLD was ready to talk and have negotiations with the authorities
with or without the World Bank. But the NLD would never put a price tag on
giving up its democratic right to convene parliament.

Perhaps Suu Kyi wanted to discredit the deal because it would have
interfered with current international economic sanctions, which, the NLD
maintains, are vital. But, as one Western diplomat pointed out to me,
Burma's very backwardness -- the only major foreign investment here is a
controversial pipeline in the south owned jointly by Total of France,
Unocal of the United States, and the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (with
15 percent staying in the hands of the Burmese junta) --makes the country
less vulnerable to economic pressure. "Can a country that for years was
closed to the outside world and practiced autarky be seriously hit by
isolation?" the diplomat asked.

Meanwhile, the junta's financial policy is bizarre enough to scare off most
would-be investors even if existing sanctions were lifted. The official
exchange rate is six kyat to a dollar, while the unofficial one is 60 times
higher. Banknotes have peculiar denominations of 45 and 90 kyat because Ne
Win believes in the power of the number nine. In September 1987, the
government canceled all banknotes of the two highest denominations, thus
wiping out 80 percent of the money in circulation.

I asked Suu Kyi whether she did not fear that the Burmese, seeing no
positive results from her pacifist resistance methods, would turn to
violence like the Albanians in Kosovo have. She snapped that the Burmese
knew hers was the right way --Southeast Asia is not the Balkans. Suu Kyi
was very impressed by Vaclav Havel's classic essay "The Power of the
Powerless." We spoke about Havel's house arrest, and this led to a
discussion of the different ways totalitarian regimes treat dissidents. I
asked if the authorities' campaign against the NLD was effective. "Yes,"
said Suu Kyi. "This is very serious; imprisonments are seriously hampering
our work."

I later learned the exact figures: 193 -- almost half of the NLD
parliamentarians elected in 1990 are in detention or, as the junta puts it,
"sequestered" in "guest houses" where conversations "foster greater
understanding of the situation in the country." Most jailed NLD members are
released only if they renounce all political activities. Almost 3,000
members have done so since September --the official radio, TV, and
newspaper keep a tally. Suu Kyi maintains that the very fact that the
government bothers to publicize the numbers shows how afraid it is of the
NLD. Furthermore, she said, many of those who supposedly resigned had not
been active members, while activists who are forced to resign often
continue party activities.

Nonetheless, a Western diplomat who has been in Rangoon for a long time
called the whole Burmese political scene "virtual politics": the SPDC has
no credibility while the NLD is bottled up. Although the NLD recently
created shadow ministries, there is not much it can do with half of the
members of parliament "guest-housed." "What will be left?" the diplomat
asked with genuine worry. "Just a core of heroes around the Lady?"

In Mandalay, an 84-year-old woman asked me, "Do you think I will live to
see this change?" It took all my optimism to mumble that maybe the
dissidents can turn the tables on Gen. Ne Win and make the number nine work
for them -- i.e., overthrow the junta on 9/9/99. But she knew I said it out
of sympathy for her rather than conviction. But perhaps not everything is
lost. The policewoman who searched me after my arrest was assigned to watch
me at the airport on the last leg of my deportation. Boredom made her
talkative. It turned out that she had not been told why she was searching
me. "What did you do to get into trouble?" she asked. "You don't know? I
went to see Aung San Suu Kyi," I said. "Oh. you saw the Lady!" she
exclaimed. "How is she?" 

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AFP: BURMA URGES RESPECT FOR YUGOSLAVIA SOVEREIGNTY 
1 April, 1999 

BANGKOK, April 1 (AFP) - The Myanmar junta on Thursday called on "all
parties" in the Kosovo crisis to respect Yugoslavia's independence. "The
Government of the Union of Myanmar has been following with great concern
the current situation in Yugoslavia which has resulted in loss of lives of
many innocent men, women and children," an official statement received here
said. It said the crisis should be resolved "through peaceful means" with
"respect for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia." 

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XINHUA: BURMESE LEADER HIGHLY PRAISES RELATIONS WITH PRC 
2 April, 1999 

Yangon, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar [Burma] leader Lieutenant-General Khin
Nyunt stressed here Friday that his country would further develop the close
friendship relations with China forged by leaders of the older generations
of the two countries. Khin Nyunt, first secretary of the Myanmar State
Peace and Development Council, made the remarks here Friday afternoon in a
meeting with visiting Chinese education delegation led by Deputy Minister
of Education Wei Yu.

Myanmar and China have a long history and have established political and
economic links between the two countries long ago, he said.

"Our two countries have maintained friendly links and exchange of visits
from the top to the bottom levels. I toured China for five times," he noted.

"Our two countries have mutual understandings and respects and mutually
learn good things from each other and make use of each other's experiences
for reference," he stated.

The five-member Chinese education delegation arrived here Wednesday on a
six-day visit to Myanmar.

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XINHUA: MYANMAR TO HOST ASEAN CCI COUNCIL MEETING 
7 April, 1999 

YANGON (April 7) XINHUA - Myanmar will host the 56th ASEAN Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (CCI) Council Meeting in April-May, said a latest
issue of the Myanmar Business News published by the Myanmar Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (MCCI).

The venue was proposed at an executive committee meeting of the ASEAN CCI
held in Jakarta, Indonesia, in September last year and was agreed upon
later by Myanmar.

The September meeting discussed the enhancement of intra-ASEAN trade and
investment, activities of the ASEAN CCI and effective communications with
each national chamber among others.

An agreement was also reached at the meeting that members' annual
contribution fees of 1998-99 could be settled in the respective ASEAN
currency based on the current monetary exchange rate in view of the then
economic downturn as well as to reduce reliance on the U.S. dollar.

The MCCI plays a key role in bringing about foreign investment in Myanmar.
Up to the end of 1998, five ASEAN member countries -- Indonesia, Malaysia,
the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand -- injected in Myanmar 3.7 billion
U.S. dollars in 146 projects, accounting for 52.3 percent of the
7.08-billion-dollar total foreign investment.

Myanmar's trade with the five member countries totaled 1.94 billion dollars
in 1998, accounting for 49 percent of the country's total foreign trade
volume in the year, according to a latest official statistics.

Meanwhile, the MCCI is cooperating with companies based in ASEAN member
countries to implement an ASEAN Industrial Cooperation Scheme, aimed at
improving industries in the Southeast Asia region.

In addition to two ASEAN member countries of Singapore and Thailand, the
MCCI, a member also of the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce,
has also reached memorandums of understanding on cooperation with its
counterparts from seven other countries -- Bangladesh, Germany, Israel,
India, Japan, South Korea and Nepal.

The MCCI, established in 1919, is one of the 35 major trade organizations
in Myanmar and is regarded as the voice of business sector particularly as
the authoritative representative of the private sector business at the
national level.

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THE BANGKOK POST: MISSING BURMESE ALREADY KILLED 
8 April, 1999 

Mae Hong Son - Two Burmese soldiers reported missing since last month have
been killed, allegedly by guerrillas of the anti-Rangoon Shan State Army,
according to a border source.

The killings of Sub-Lt Fuse Cape, 23, and Sgt Miew Kay, 22, of the 329th
Battalion were reported to local Thai authorities yesterday, the source said.

The two, both belonging to a Muser tribe, were killed by SSA guerrillas
while returning from Mae Hong Son's Pang Mapha district, the source said.

Burma had asked the Thai-Burmese Border Coordination Committee in Mae Hong
Son to look for the two soldiers who had gone missing after crossing the
border on March 27 to celebrate the Muser's New Year festival.

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SUNDAY TELEGRAPH (LONDON): PRESS GANG OUT OF THE RAT RACE  
4 April, 1999 by Tim Pozzi 

Weeks away from home: 22

Money spent so far: pounds 3,097

Ailments this week: 15 mosquito bites, coffee withdrawal, no privacy

Addresses collected: 1, Danny

FORTUNATELY the virtual stranger with whom I was obliged to share a room on
my first night in Moulmein didn't snore - extremely fortunate since his
body slumbered only three feet away from mine. The walls of our windowless
room ended 18 inches from the ceiling. On the other side was a dining area,
and we were woken at dawn by the sounds of fellow guests gathering for
breakfast.

Breakfast was two tiny bananas, some horribly sweet brown liquid -- whether
coffee or tea I couldn't tell -- and a rancid jam sandwich. A legacy of
British rule? Poor Burma, I thought. At least the French gave their
colonies in Indochina the baguette.

Danny was 29 and Swiss, spoke flawless English with a whiny American
accent, and had the face of a rodent. Not a pleasant sight to wake up to,
but we got on fine, and set out to explore Moulmein together.

It was as though Danny was the Queen and I was the Pope on an unprecedented
joint walkabout. There was excited chatter, staring, pointing, laughing,
waving and hello-ing everywhere we went. Bolder individuals shook our hands
and asked where we were from before backing away politely, seemingly
thrilled that we had spoken to them.

A vigorous, sharp-eyed man of about 60 introduced himself to us as Mr
Jeremy. He spoke excellent English, and invited us to his home for a cup of
tea. It was a relief to be out of the boiling sun in Mr Jeremy's cool,
dark, teak-panelled living-room. We drank from tiny cups, and I asked Mr
Jeremy how he felt about tourists in Burma.

"Well, you can see for yourselves that people are very happy to see you
here," he began. "They will smile, wave and talk to you always -- some will
even welcome you into their homes.

"Look," he said, showing us a copy of Aung San Suu Kyi's Freedom from Fear.
"This book is banned in Burma. How did I get it? A tourist gave it to me.
Many bring us books and magazines. Backpackers like you are a connection to
the outside world, and make Burmese people know they have not been forgotten.

"But package tourists, we do not want. They give us nothing. They come here
to see some pagodas; they travel around in private air-conditioned buses,
and they bring with them only dollars for the government. For them to come
here is like watering a poisoned plant."

Mr Jeremy's eyes blazed as he warmed to his theme. "There are many who also
do not understand what it is like for us. They come here with their
passports from a world of fax machines and televisions, asking where is the
Internet while I do not even have a telephone. I cannot write a letter
because it will be intercepted. I cannot leave Burma. Even if I want to go
to another part of this country, I must fill out a report . . . "

Danny and I sat like naughty children for three hours, hardly daring to
open our mouths, while Mr Jeremy lectured us. Before we left, he gave us a
warning. "Do not think that this is normal for us to sit here and talk like
this," he said. "It is the utmost stupidity for you to speak to someone in
a bar or a restaurant about politics. There are spies everywhere.

"For you, it will not be a problem. But once you are gone, you can be sure
there will be trouble for those who have spoken with you."

As we left, I offered Mr Jeremy a copy of Time. "Ah! Thank you! I always
say that backpackers are like the soldiers in the Trojan Horse," he said
grandly. "And you have done your duty!"

Next week: north to Mandalay

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RADIO FREE BURMA: POWER AND BURMESE SOCIETY PARTS 10 AND 11 
8 April, 1999 from rfb@xxxxxxxxxxx 

Dear Friends,

Please read the Dr Aung Khin's  articles  "Power and Burmese Society  part
10 & 11" on Radio Free Burma web page. Just read or print in Burmese. News
and Information on RFB page can be freely distributed for the Burmese
Democratic movement.

Radio Free Burma
http://www.fast.net.au/rfb

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