EDITORIAL/Still prisoners in their

[suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

Editorial & Opinion 

      EDITORIAL/Still prisoners
      in their own country

      When George Orwell wrote ''1984'' some
      50 years ago, little did he know that the
      totalitarian society he so vividly described
      would one day be reflected in a country he
      once worked as a colonial police officer --
      Burma. 

      In 1998, Rangoon, one could find the
      so-called four precepts of ''people's desire''
      -- urging Burmese to oppose meddling
      foreign nations and to crush their local
      stooges -- brightly emblazoned in blood-red
      billboards near the airport and around town.
      The same words, in bold prints, scream
      from the pages of the junta's propaganda
      sheet, The New Light of Myanmar --
      Burma's own version of Orwell's newspeak.

      Even the names of the ministries have
      taken an Orwellian-like vocabulary. In
      Orwell's ''1984'', the Ministry of Peace
      wages war and the Ministry of Truth is
      where the thought police torture their
      victims. Likewise in Burma, the Ministry of
      Human Settlement and Housing
      Development has the task of forcibly
      relocating people living in areas marked for
      construction projects to squalid, far-flung,
      concentration-camp-like satellite towns. 

      Soon after Nobel laureate Aung San Suu
      Kyi was released from house arrest in
      1995, she found that nothing much has
      changed with the political situation in
      Burma. 

      ''Let the world know that we are still
      prisoners within our own country,'' she
      urged. 

      In fact, the situation has since deteriorated.
      The National League for Democracy (NLD)
      -- the party which won more than 80 per
      cent of the votes in the 1990 elections -- is
      operating with severe restrictions. But most
      significantly is the downturn in the economy.
      The Burmese military junta has hoped to
      mimic the economic success of Asean's
      authoritarian regimes. The idea is that if
      governments could deliver rapid economic
      growth, the people won't mind much the
      lack of political freedom. 

      However, the Association of Southeast
      Asian Nations (Asean), mired in its own
      economic problems, it itself in a precarious
      situation. In addition, it is in no position to
      help. Foreign investments which has seen
      many high-rise hotels in Rangoon have
      since fizzled out partly because the tourist
      campaign ''Visit Myanmar Year 1996'' was
      a flop. Tourists, mindful of not doing
      anything to prop up a clearly unpopular
      regime, have shied away from visiting
      Burma. Not surprisingly, most of these new
      hotels are virtually deserted, some
      registering an occupancy rate of no more
      than 10 per cent. 

      Inflation is officially at 26 per cent a year.
      Unofficially, it is 38 per cent. Corruption is
      endemic. The growing gulf between the rich
      and the poor, which has widened visibly
      over the past few years, remains the single
      most serious source of possible discontent.

      Suu Kyi believes that such a situation
      cannot continue for long. She knows that
      change will come. When and how, she
      prefers not to speculate. If anything, it is the
      economic problems which put the greatest
      pressure on the military junta. The junta,
      which officially calls itself the State Peace
      and Development Council (SPDC), is
      concerned enough with the economic
      decline that universities -- considered the
      main source of unrest -- remain closed
      since 1996. Last month, the SPDC has
      shut down a number of institutes and is
      even terminating those taking
      correspondence courses. 

      Given this, the NLD expects the military
      would come to the negotiation table. Suu
      Kyi has signaled that she is willing to
      consider all options to break the political
      deadlock. The SPDC must response to the
      NLD's offer of a genuine dialogue. Soon. If
      not, there could possibly be another
      outbreak of violence and more bloodshed. 

      ''All sides have to realise that the impasse
      is not doing anybody any good,'' lamented
      Suu Kyi, but it appears that the old guard in
      the SPDC is not listening. Many in the old
      faction are still steadfastly against any
      rapprochement with the NLD. 

      Thus, for now, the military junta continues to
      do what it knows best -- the harassment of
      the opposition. Shortly before Suu Kyi was
      interviewed last week at NLD Deputy
      Chairman Tin Oo's house, the electricity
      was mysteriously cut. It wasn't until the
      dozen or so military intelligence officers
      who were milling outside spotted Suu Kyi
      being driven away that power was restored.

      They could turn out the lights, said Tin Oo,
      but no matter how much they try, they will
      find it hard to snuff out the light of freedom
      and democracy in Burma.