#80 Spotlight on ASEAN

The recent brutal crackdown on protesters in Myanmar by the military regime has led to a unified barrage of condemnation and sanctions from the West. Not so elsewhere. While China, India and Russia have rightly been accused of doing far too little to leverage their political muscle, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should be viewed in the same light. After all, other than the United Nations, ASEAN is by far the largest organization of which Myanmar is a member.

There does, however, appear to be some movement at ASEAN, whose leaders are gathered in Singapore for their annual summit this week. A condemnation of the junta's violent suppression of Buddhist monks and other peaceful protesters was announced on the heels of a bold statement by Philippine President Gloria Arroyo, who said "Those who will sign the charter [committing all 10 members of ASEAN to promote human rights and democracy] agree to the objective, spirit and intent of establishing a human rights body - the full protection of human rights within Asean...Until the Philippine Congress sees that happen, it would have extreme difficulty in ratifying the Asean charter."

Despite this, signs that the government of Myanmar will be allowed to continue on the current path are much more prevalent. For one, the charter has been ratified by all ten members, despite President Arroyo's remarks. Furthermore, while host nation Singapore had invited the UN's special envoy to Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari, to make a speech at the event, Myanmarese officials objected, and gained the support of the eight other member nations, blocking Mr Gambari's briefing. Singapore then went on to reiterate the fact that "Myanmar is an integral part of the family."

Meanwhile, the European Union adopted sanctions against 1,207 firms in Myanmar and expanded visa bans and asset freezes on the country's military rulers. This follows a move by the US to impose similar sanctions targeting the country's key timber, metals and gemstone sectors.

In other news from ASEAN, following earlier agreement to fully liberalize aviation services by 2015, the bloc agreed at the summit to also eliminate trade barriers for goods and services in an attempt to create a European Union-modeled economic community by 2015. This does not include a single-currency or the freedom of movement across borders by citizens of member states, but looking at the path taken by the EU, this might very well be the first step in that direction.

#79 Events According to the Myanmar Government

With the anti-government protests in Myanmar (also known as Burma) now turning violent, the situation in the country is reaching breaking point. The world continues to receive pictures and video footage of the events, courtesy of technology savvy youth in Myanmar who manage to bypass the restrictions imposed by the government on phones and the Internet. Global sentiment is clearly on the side of the Monks and the rest of the pro-democracy demonstrators, especially in light of the violence witnessed. The protests had been entirely peaceful, yet triggered a violent response that brings back haunting memories of the brutal crushing of protests back in 1988.

The key difference this time (besides it being Monks - the nation's greatest moral authority - and not students who lead the protest) is the ability of locals (and some foreigners) to get new footage out for the world to see within hours after the events take place. This strongly shapes global opinion and makes it increasingly difficult for the military government to control the propaganda wheel. To be sure, the government has begun to shut down cell phone providers and slow down Internet connections, but so far the opposition has managed to continue to smuggle images out of the country. This is in stark contrast to the brutal, yet efficient, response by the Junta back in a time when the Internet was not around in the country and cell phones practically unheard of.

Nevertheless, the government is trying it's best to control the flow of information, blaming the protests on "outside elements" and "corrupted, so-called monks." Meanwhile, the protests barely receive any air time on state run television. It is furthermore interesting to read an excerpt of government sponsored reporting of the events. Below is a copy of an article written in "The New Light of Myanmar" on Thursday, September 27. It can be found here: www.myanmar.com/newspaper/nlm/index.html


"The government has been striving day and night together with the people for the emergence of a peaceful, modern and developed discipline-flourishing democratic nation. As the government has been endeavouring to ensure stability of State, community peace, the rule of law and national development that are the main requirements, the national races in all regions are practically enjoying the fruits of national peace and development.

However, saboteurs from inside and outside the nation and some foreign radio stations, who are jealous of national peace and development, have been making instigative acts through lies to cause internal instability and civil commotion. Hence, some members of the Sangha, anti-government groups and saboteurs were staging protest walks. Some foreign broadcasting stations and destructionists have been issuing announcements, requests and leaflets as if the entire people were taking part in the protests participated by only some monks and people just to intensify the rowdy demonstrations.

The people who wish to earn their living in peace do not accept or take part in the protests. Thus, some saboteurs of the protest walks forcibly urged families of the homes all along their route, whether they know them or not, to provide alms and other requisites for monks. Those saboteurs told the families that if they failed to yield to their demand, the protesters would not take care of their personal and property safety. Moreover, they threatened the families demanding them to join the protest or provide financial assistance, adding, the protesters would not guarantee the security of the lives and property of the families. The saboteurs were acting like extortionists in a threatening way. Moreover, some protester monks entered homes and demanded families to offer soft drinks, urging families who could not join the strike to make donations for the convenience of administrative affairs. According to those families, they had never seen or known those so-called monks in the past and they were not their mentor monks.

Some families filed complaints about the threats to the authorities, saying that they had to pay the protesters from forty or fifty thousand kyats to one lakh as extortion money. The authorities have informed the people to file complaints in person or on line to the respective Ward Peace and Development Councils, Township PDCs or local authorities against intimidations, extortions or acts to force them to join the protest against their wish. The authorities have also urged families to make complaints against extortionists by name if they know them well and to live with security awareness."

For rare footage of the protests taken by one of our editors, be sure to look at our article #78 Witnessing the Myanmar Protests.

#78 Witnessing the Myanmar Protests

One of our editors happened to be travelling through Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) when small protests against the military government slowly began transforming into a mega demonstration not seen since the mercilessly crushed 1988 pro-democracy uprising. With the Junta having thusfar decided not to take forceful action, it was possible to shoot the rare footage found below. The video was taken on a rainy Monday afternoon on 24 September 2007 in the country's capital Yangon (Rangoon).

#51 Modernization, Myanmar Style

Today's most famous examples of reclusive states with hard handed dictators are most probably Zimbabwe and North Korea, while others would add Cuba to the list (personally I think Cuba and Castro in no way compare to the brutality found in Mugabe and Kim Jong Il's respective nations). Less famous garrison states include Turkmenistan and Myanmar. It is Myanmar that beckons attention in this article.

Few people know more about Myanmar than that it is ruled by the military, it used to be called Burma, and Democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi is held in house arrest. As with every country, there is a lot more to it than first meets the eye, but Myanmar's recent decision to abruptly move their capital to a city that didn't even exist two years ago, particularly merits special attention. To be sure, the country has undergone a tremendous amount of changes in her long history.

On 4 January 1948, Myanmar gained independence and was named the Union of Burma, with Sao Shwe Thaik as its first President and U Nu as its first Prime Minister. After a period of relative stability, the country found itself unable to remain Democratic and experienced repeated name changes. In 1962 Democratic rule was ended with a military coup d'état, followed by a name change to the “Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma” in 1974, another coup d'état in 1988 by General Saw Maung, a name change back to the "Union of Burma" the same year and it was finally renamed the "Union of Myanmar" in 1989.

Free elections were held the following year, in 1990 and were decidedly won by Aung San Suu Kyi's political party, the National League for Democracy (NLD). The military junta (known as the "State Law and Order Restoration Council," or SLORC) refused to accept the result, however, nullifying it and seizing power. They later changed their official name official name to the "State Peace and Development Council" (SPDC) in 1992, remaining in power until today. The country has known two rulers since the military junta seized power by force in 1990: General Saw Maung and current leader, Senior General Than Shwe.

Until March 27 of this year, the capital of Myanmar was Yangon. As can be expected based on the country's history, Yangon was not always known by that name. The old name, Rangoon, was officially changed in 1989 to Yangon. Officially, the new administrative capital, Naypyidaw, was proclaimed on 6 November, 2005, but it was not named or shown to the outside world until March 27 of this year. Naypyidaw lies 3 kilometers west of Pyinmana and approximately 460 kilometers north of Yangon. It translates to the "abode/city of the kings" and, judging by the first pictures of the city, it certainly appears to befit kings.

According to Information Minister Kyaw Hsan, 924,608 people now live in the 7,000 square kilometres that has become Naypyidaw, in central Myanmar. The city is expected to be competed in a year, with all the buildings constructed, the green flourishing and road and rail links improved. The city is divided into three zones; one for the military, one for government administration, and one for residences.

While the reason for moving the capital remains unclear (perhaps it is nothing more than following an old tradition where ancient Burmese rulers used to dismantle the capital of their predecessor and build a new one meant to outshine all those that came before), it appears certain that it will be an economic failure. For one, all government employees were forced to move to Naypyidaw a year and a half ago. The countless apartments are being developed for these workers, who now find themselves with reliable water and electricity supply and newly paved roads - all rarities in the impoverished nation. Furthermore, government officials have seen a major increase in their salaries, with some top-ranked officials seeing their salary soar more than 1,000%, according to the BBC. This might sound nice, but seeing that there is no real economic shift or progress in the country and thus no solid basis for funding this project, it will surely lead to disillusionment among the people and possible economic disaster. Resentment might also increase among the populace, as those who are not government officials will be left with no benefit and increased inequality. The luxury cars and uniformed men on motorcycles in the "Military Zone" of the new capital, where a fortress-like complex houses Myanmar's leader, won't help either.

Talk from the military remains highly anti-Western, with blame for most everything being laid on imperial powers on a daily basis. Simultaneously, however, talk of Democracy surfaces occasionally, as it did in the speech of Senior General Than Shwe at the Armed Forces Day parade. Than Shwe said "The people, together with the military must also strive hard to build a modern, developed state where disciplined democracy flourishes." So far, this kind of talk has been little more than empty words. Unless the government truly changes its ways and allows space for proper business initiatives and investment, not only is Naypyidaw doomed, but the country as a whole stands little chance of rebounding.

For pictures of the new capital, Naypyidaw, have a look at the following link:

http://svaradarajan.blogspot.com/2007/01/naypyitaw-photo-album.html