Most mass media ignores Yangon real

[mg_myanmar@xxxxxxxxx]

Subject: Most mass media ignores Yangon reality

SOURCE:  Myanmar Information - http://www.myanmar.com/

Excerpt from The Japan Times, 4th January 2000

Most mass media ignores Yangon reality

By YOICHI YAMAGUCHI
Former Ambassador of Japan to Myanmar


No other nation in Asia is comparable to Myanmar for its friendly
attitude toward Japan. With its richness in natural resources and
agriculture, and now as a full fledged member of ASEAN Myanmar is
becoming a very important partner for Japan.

In the aftermath of the turmoil of 1988 that brought about an almost
anarchic confusion in Myanmar, the Japanese government was obliged to
restrain its relations with the country, and official development
assistance was totally suspended. 

A wide gap exists, however between the political realities in Myanmar
and the news usually reported by most of the mass media in Western
countries and Japan. News  about Myanmar is quite often based on a
fixed pattern: The military junta (the bad guys) versus Aung San Suu
Kyi*s NLD (The good guys). Suu Kyi has become a global heroine of
democracy, with the image of a modern Joan of Arc, whereas the
military clique is always described as oppressing democracy movements,
disrespecting human rights and clinging to power in order to maintain
their rule. 

News fitting this pattern is widely reported but news not in line with
this scheme is quite often discarded or even sometimes reported in a
deliberately distorted way. 

This tendency in reporting news generates an inaccurate or even false
image of Myanmar and leads people in other countries to hold an
erroneous perception about the situation there. The result is the
formation of public opinion based on this inaccurate reporting, which
greatly influences the policies taken by Western countries. 

In reality, members of the military junta are far from clinging to
power for selfish motives, rather they are devoted to making self
sacrifices for the cause of their country and its people. They state
on every occasion that the present government s task is only
provisional and that having no intention of staying in power for a
long time, they are ready to go back to their barracks as soon as
their mission is complete. They also demonstrate probity. In contrast
to what frequently occurs in similar cases in many countries,
corruption is exceptional. 

The military government is endeavoring to create a modern, democratic
and developed country. The efforts thus taken by them have resulted,
as a matter of fact, in remarkable achievements in various fields.
These include restoring order with substantial improvements in
security all over tile country; overcoming ethnic minorities armed
insurgences; establishing excellent relations with neighboring
countries; and embarking on the modernization of the economy by
transforming it into an open and free-market system. 

The government is also striving to establish a democratic political
structt7re. The leadership states repeatedly that its final goal is
the realization of full democracy, but that the process to reach that
objective should follow the course best adapted to the reality of tl7e
country. The country s leaders think that if they move too hastily in
trying to realize full democracy, they will cause disorder in the
country and thus fail to ensure satisfactory functioning of the
democratic plans. 

All these positive aspects of the military government are neglected by
the international media. In consequence, they are not known by people
in other countries, who influence the policies taken by Western
governments and restrict the implementation of the Japan.


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Mg Myanmar
A Myanmar citizen who loves Myanmar

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