Daw Suu's Letter from Burma #5 (199

[carol@xxxxxxx]

Subject: Daw Suu's Letter from Burma #5 (1997)

Mainichi Daily News, Monday, June 9, 1997

TIMES OF TRANSITION OFTEN BREED UNCERTAINTY:
"Transitions 1"

Letter from Burma (No. 5) By Aung San Suu Kyi

	The process of significant change from one state to another is often
fraught with difficulties.  In Burma, we tend to attribute vague,
unidentifiable sicknesses with seasonal change.  People generally feel ill
at ease and uncomfortable in these in-between periods where everything from
the temperature to the state of their bones seem uncertain.  How much more
unsettling it must be during periods of social and political transition.
	Burma is supposed to have started the transition from a one-party socialist
authoritarian state to a democratic society eight years ago.  Leaving aside
for the moment the question of whether or not we have made any progress
along this path we can certainly confirm that all the difficulties and more
associated with times of transition are being experienced in our country.
There is uncertainty about matters to which people would not give a second
thought in normal societies.  For example, school children, university
students and their parents all over Burma are waiting to hear when the
"summer vacation" will come to an end.  Some universities have been closed
since the student demonstrations of early December last year.  As for the
schools which closed for their usual summer holidays at the beginning of
March, the new term was meant to have started at the beginning of this
month.  But for some reason there has not yet been any indication as to when
this new term will begin.  As an added complication there are rumors that
the color of the children's uniform, which is known as "school green," might
well be changed.  There is some speculation as to whether the new color is
to be blue or purple (blue is considered to be the safer bet).  One wonders
whether such decisions are based on esthetics, politics or astrology.  None
of this helps to alleviate the confusion of the people who are already
uncertain of the road ahead of them.
	The subject of inflation is both tedious and irresistible.  A housewife
comes back from the bazaar muttering a litany of the price rises that have
taken place since the last shopping expedition which could have been as
recent as the previous day.  It does not make for security to be unable to
calculate your daily household expenses.  Perhaps the only ones who have
received a temporary respite from the worry of inflation are the school
children who do not for the moment have to haggle with their parents over
the pocket money they need.  In Rangoon, a decent school lunch costs the
equivalent of the average daily pay earned by the lowest-ranking civil
servant.  This makes the fact that some families of state employees can
still manage to send their children to school a near miracle.
	But, of course, most people are aware that this is more the age of bribery
and corruption than of miracles because our civil servants are obliged to
supplement their official income to make ends meet.
	Burmese Buddhists talk constantly of /annica/, the law of impermanence.
Nothing is forever, everything is in a process of change.  But it would be
so much more bearable if that change could be a smooth journey rather than a
series of rough leaps and bounds across precarious terrain.  While accepting
that nothing is permanent it would still be nice to think that electricity
supply is more, rather than less, permanent and lights can be turned on at
the flick of a switch.  The erratic nature of our electricity supply may
confirm the basic fact of life that we cannot take anything for granted.
But it certainly doesn't make life any easier.  It came as a surprise to
many Burmese people when the power failure in Kuala Lumpur last year was
considered news of international importance.  We reckon that if every time
there was a power failure in Rangoon and had to be reported in the
newspapers there would not be much room for other news items.  The
unreliability of our electricity supply is nothing new -- it was very much a
part of Burma under socialism.  But according to some people, the element of
unpredictability has increased since the frequently proclaimed transition to
what is said to be a free market economy.  We all feel vulnerable when the
process of change is not cushioned by the necessary mechanism to take away
some pains of adjustment.