stand with the Burmese people!

[Loburt]

Thailand generally changes government a lot more often than twice a decade, ozode. Almost all Thai governments have been friendly to Burma, as almost all Thai governments have had Chavalit as a member.

The only Thai Prime Minister who refused to visit Burma (on moral grounds) was Chuan Leekpai. Chuan's army chief was also detested by the Burmese. That was Surayud Chulanont, now interim Prime Minister. Surayud did visit Burma as PM, but pointedly made it the last ASEAN nation he visited.

Thailand's relations with Burma are long and complicated. I don't really have the time or the inclination to write about them at the moment.

As for the Singapore's (and China's) arms dealings with Burma, you can find some information on it here:

http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/reg.burma/archives/199510/msg00015.html

There is no real point pressuring Singapore over it now. It is done. Singapore's position has become more critical of the regime, but should go much further in my opinion.

My understanding is that the generals keep much of their ill gotten wealth in Singaporean banks.

As I was writing from memory, I think I wrote that the arms shipment was in September, when in fact it was in early October.

[zeusbheld]

judging from your contribution to this topic, the clown is already here.

Droll very droll!

Well seen as it takes one to know one I guess I should take your comment as a compliment?

doubt it. it wasn't funny.

I tend to think we all get a bit carried away with our own opinions with such topics and so try to throw the odd bit of levity or frivolity

key word: "try". try harder maybe...

Of course it would be better if you qualified your OPINION as just that YOUR OPINION as opposed to presenting YOUR OPINION as some sort of factual statement. It would be received much better and avoid giving the appearance of you being a total a**hole who likes to be the resident smartass with the last word on any subject.

does making the font larger make your statements more true somehow? i would have assumed any idiot could figure out it was my opinion. well, *almost* any idiot.

Naturally I don't agree with YOUR OPINION but I would never dream of telling anyone what is or is not funny

so you're a candyass. what do you want, a medal?

and I would defend your right to express YOUR OPINION to the hilt.

definitely a medal is in order then. will you always be my bodyguard? :roll:

What is funny is so subjective as to be impossible for anyone to have a correct formula or standard.

did you get a research grant for that?

As for trying harder? Well when faced with a smartass like you on call here I think you can provide enough funny material for the both of us and thus we can do without my humble efforts.

now your efforts are humble? interesting. in the post i responded to you were all but breaking your arm patting yourself on the back.

if no more "humble" efforts means you'll just post your opinion without the "comedy, " then i owe you a thank you note i believe.

Assuming your not married to Loburt whom I was responding to I think he can speak for himself quite ably?

you missed the part about this being a public forum then? if you wanted to respond *only* to loburt then use a PM (exactly as in Private Message).

[zeusbheld]

My understanding is that the generals keep much of their ill gotten wealth in Singaporean banks

little bit out of context but that gives me an idea that would be interesting, if a bit far-fetched.

imagine if governments and corporations could all agree to impose sanctions on individuals rather than countries.

guys like these wouldn't have anywhere to park their money, and wouldn have limited access to the luxury goods they're enjoying while their people live in squalor.

i'm not sold on the idea that sanctions can topple "rogue regimes."

[eagle]

My understanding is that the generals keep much of their ill gotten wealth in Singaporean banks

little bit out of context but that gives me an idea that would be interesting, if a bit far-fetched.

imagine if governments and corporations could all agree to impose sanctions on individuals rather than countries.

guys like these wouldn't have anywhere to park their money, and wouldn have limited access to the luxury goods they're enjoying while their people live in squalor.

i'm not sold on the idea that sanctions can topple "rogue regimes."

Imagine a world where money and power cause people to have integrity instead of becoming greedy pigs :twisted:

[BJ]

If their money was in any overseas banking institutions should'nt it be that United Nations sanctions include freezing of funds as they do with other organizations?

[Loburt]

My understanding is that the generals keep much of their ill gotten wealth in Singaporean banks

little bit out of context but that gives me an idea that would be interesting, if a bit far-fetched.

imagine if governments and corporations could all agree to impose sanctions on individuals rather than countries.

guys like these wouldn't have anywhere to park their money, and wouldn have limited access to the luxury goods they're enjoying while their people live in squalor.

i'm not sold on the idea that sanctions can topple "rogue regimes."

Slightly out of context and far-fetched ideas - and even a bit of humor - are more than welcome if they are a genuine attempt at finding something that would contribute to a solution.

First point: if governments and corporations could all agree to impose sanctions on....ANYONE or ANYTHING, then I think they would be far more effective. Sanctions aren't working on Burma because most of the world is not applying them. If the entire world was applying them, my feeling is that would probably be enough pressure to cause a split within the regime.

Second point: what is to prevent Than Shwe and company from finding "nominees" and stashing the money under their names?

Third point: what about places with banking secrecy laws, such as Switzerland?

Fourth point: with banking oversight being very lax in places like, well, China, wouldn't they just shift their funds someplace shadier?

It's an interesting idea, and I did read somewhere how threats of sanctions on banks that were holding North Korean money had some effect on that situation.

If I remember correctly - and a big caution here in that maybe I don't - it was just the US government that threatened the sanctions against the banks, which would have cut off their ability to transact with US banks. That was enough to get the banks to comply. And supposedly was a factor in Kim Jong Il's willingness to negotiate. Need to look into this more.

[Loburt]

Unfortunately, ozode, I think you are overestimating our economic power.

While we are certainly powerful, we are also vulnerable. Thanks to the massive debt built up by the Bush Administration. And who holds a lot of this debt in the form of US Treasury Bills?

China.

More than a trillion dollars worth. If China decides to dump them, our economy is in deep doo doo.

Like it or not, we are locked in each other's economic embrace at this point, and so must find a way to work together. China also does not respond well to threats. We must find a way to make them see it is in their interest to use their power and leverage in a more positive way.

[Loburt]

Yes your economic strength might be that strong, just a pity you have go to war to keep it that way.

The war is enriching certain companies, but it's killing our economy.

Anyway, everyone, let's not get into a US vs Europe thing here. That's a pointless waste of time right now. We're on the same side on this issue.

If anyone on TF is a member of Facebook, there is a Support the Monks in Burma group on the website with nearly 400,000 members. Within that group there is a page where people are also debating ideas on what to do.

[zeusbheld]

as lobs said the US economy and chinese economy are joined at the hip at this point.

also the US economy is influential but hardly runs the world economy. europe, when they act as a unified block, are very powerful economically (and most european economies are tied up with china too).

it's a bit unorthodox and would take time, but rather than sanctions, i think the answer would be more like opening up burma economically.

invest, move plants there, hire people, encourage, rather than disourage, spending. economic freedom begets personal freedom, and over time, personal freedom begets (more) political freedom. case in point being china. china isn't up to 'western moral standards' and there's plenty for self-righteous western pricks to carp on, but compare china now to china in 1980. i'd expect the trend to continue as long as chinese people are making money.

and yeah i agree with lobs the USA vs Europe bash-off should have it's own thread; preferably with a fence around it. y'all 're tedious.

[Loburt]

The 'invest in Burma to bring democracy' approach is not going to work except over a very very long haul.

You really don't understand the environment there. The generals are not pro-business. They are pro-control. Their track record is, if they are presented with a decision which would be good for business but might actually mean a bit more personal freedom for people, the answer is always 'no.'

Deng Xiaoping said he didn't care if a cat was black or white as long as it caught the mouse. Than Shwe cares if the cat if black or white, not if it catches the mouse.

There was a businessman in Bangkok, who I shall not name here, who spoke at the Foreign Correspondents Club in the late '90s taking exactly this position. And he put his money where his mouth is. He went to Burma to do business, as he also went Vietnam and other relatively closed countries in the region at that time.

Two years later he was back on a panel at the FCCT retracting everything he said. Not about VN or other places. Just about Burma. Because of the corruption, incompetence, and inability to allow the slightest bit of latitude in anything on the part of those in power, doing business there was a waste.

Around 2002-3, a group of businessmen, Burmese and foreign, formed something in Rangoon called "The Tuesday Club." It met every Tuesday with members of Military Intelligence to talk about business issues and try to get the regime to understand what businessmen needed and the economy needed.

It had a small amount of success, but it was far from successful. And in 2004 everyone they were dealing with from Military Intelligence was arrested and MI was dismantled by the regime. So much for The Tuesday Club.

There is very little infrastructure. Corruption is enormous. IMF and World Bank lending windows are closed. You have dual exchange rate with enormous distortions and the black economy dwarfs the legal economy.

Your phones will be tapped. Some of your employees will be spying on you for the regime. And you will be shaken down.

And you may be forced into a joint venture with the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings - the military's very own company which forces itself on most businesses there as a partner.

On top of it, Westerners will boycott whatever you are producing.

And most importantly, this approach, which does not guarantee to bring about democracy, will take at least 25 to 30 years.

Do you think Burmese want to wait that long?

[zeusbheld]

And most importantly, this approach, which does not guarantee to bring about democracy, will take at least 25 to 30 years.

Do you think Burmese want to wait that long?

i see the point of your other points but don't agree with this one because... um... won't sanctions take about the same time? maybe sanctions work, i don't know, but i've yet to see a compelling case that they do. maybe i've looked in the wrong places, if anyone has examples, do post...

[Loburt]

Once again, sanctions can work when they are applied by everyone. That is not what is happening with Burma.

Sanctions as a sole instrument will not bring change. But they can be an effective measure if they are used in conjunction with other measures and approaches.

Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu have said that sanctions were a significant factor in ending apartheid in South Africa. Not everyone agrees, but that is their view. Funny how business people who says sanctions have never worked forget that.

In any case, I'm not advocating full and total economic sanctions on Burma. On the other hand, I also can not support businesses rushing in and making a buck and enriching the generals and the military further as a reward for their horrific treatment of their own citizens. And frequently, in Burma, businesses there have become complicit in those horrors.

Daewoo buidling a munitions factory for the regime. Villagers burned out, murdered and forced to work as slave labor to clear a path for gas pipelines built by Total and Unocal. Laborers given heroin and contracting HIV while working in jade mines partly owned by Chinese companies.

What I am advocating is that those with some influence over the regime use it to help foster compromise and change, rather than aiding and abetting the rulers in their crimes.

A carrot and stick approach would probably be best.

Have the UN, with Security Council backing, set targets and indicators.

Gen. Than Shwe says he is willing to talk to ASSK if she meets certain conditions. That's fine. Ensure he releases her and all political prisoners first. And stop the crackdown. Give him a time frame to do this. If it doesn't happen, start by cutting off military aid.

Ensure that these discussion/negotiations follow a regular schedule and are mediated by a UN envoy who reports back to the Security Council.

With every bit of progress, give them a reward. With every step backwards or refusal to make progress, inflict another penalty.

After all, Than Shwe's sham of a constitutional convention went on for 14 years. It only ended when China pressured him to finish it.

And at this convention there was no dialogue. Representatives of ethnic and other groups were not allowed to debate or change anything the military put forward. They were told, this is it and shut up unless you want to be expelled from the convention and jailed. And still it took 14 years and only ended when China said end it.

No one needs a repeat of that. Except maybe Than Shwe.

[zeusbheld]

Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu have said that sanctions were a significant factor in ending apartheid in South Africa. Not everyone agrees, but that is their view. Funny how business people who says sanctions have never worked forget that....

that's an interesting example considering the respective roles of tutu and mandela. i'd be interested in an example of sanctions against a less developed country if you (or anyone) can think of one.

....What I am advocating is that those with some influence over the regime use it to help foster compromise and change, rather than aiding and abetting the rulers in their crimes.

makes sense. companies like daewoo behaving responsibly, for example, might be a good start.

A carrot and stick approach would probably be best.

IMO, in general, this works best by far with individual humans, and can be expected to work best on a macro scale as well.

Have the UN, with Security Council backing, set targets and indicators.

perhaps needs a separate thread but if the UN could be reorganized and if that reorganization could result in an organization a) with a spine, that could move faster than the average glacier, that might help.

Gen. Than Shwe says he is willing to talk to ASSK if she meets certain conditions. That's fine. Ensure he releases her and all political prisoners first. And stop the crackdown. Give him a time frame to do this. If it doesn't happen, start by cutting off military aid.

Ensure that these discussion/negotiations follow a regular schedule and are mediated by a UN envoy who reports back to the Security Council.

With every bit of progress, give them a reward. With every step backwards or refusal to make progress, inflict another penalty.

After all, Than Shwe's sham of a constitutional convention went on for 14 years. It only ended when China pressured him to finish it.

And at this convention there was no dialogue. Representatives of ethnic and other groups were not allowed to debate or change anything the military put forward. They were told, this is it and shut up unless you want to be expelled from the convention and jailed. And still it took 14 years and only ended when China said end it.

No one needs a repeat of that. Except maybe Than Shwe.

in principle seems like a sensbile approach but again all comes back to china doesn't it. with china, and ONLY china backing them, they can still pretty much do what they want.

[eagle]

I have talked to friends about product boycotts for years. As in Sanctions by a supportive government it hits them where it hurts in their profits. IN todays world Product boycotts might become the little guys only means of defense against the huge corporate controllers. Of course that would require a Gandi , Martin Luther King type leader to bring people together.

[eagle]

The poor Burmese. Apparently, the Burmese authorities have downloaded images of the protests and are now systematically hunting down those identified. I have also read about big green lorries rumbling through the neighborhoods at midnight, en route to corded off areas in order to execute mass cremation. - it sounds like a scene from Shindlers list. The Chinese did a similar thing right after Tiananmen... so, now the true figure of those massacred will never been known.

My gripe with China grows by the day. They protect both the Zimbabwe and Iranian megalomaniacs from Security Council wrath and now their INTERFERENCE and support of the Burmese junta has resulted in countless deaths. And this country is deserved of what... definitely not the Olympics.

Olympic Boycott Sounds good. Sorry state of the world when the olympic symbol becomes Walmarts symbol :shock:

[eagle]

Now that we're talking about helping countries in trouble the right time has come to suggest that Europe sends some development aid to the US, I'm thinking of education and the construction of nuke plants (French fro example, only for peaceful purposes of course).

The final objective would be to make sure they don't elect natural born dictators as presidents anymore.

What an invaluable contribution to this topic. :roll:

I see you guys move in one go from liberating Burma to educating China as if it's all the same thing.

So my idea is just an extrapolation of that idea: let's go for a BIG change for the better.

Bring some education to the most dangerous country of them all right away, the US.

Nothing valuable in that idea?

If China's the solution to Burma then the USA is the key to the whole planet.

Let's not forget who has troops on the ground in X countries killing innocents.

It isn't China.

Who's the twit here, you or me?

sorry sushi but for all your education you can still come off as ignorant as u try to hack the US constantly. YOu win the Twit award and not for that but for leaving yourself open by asking the question

[Loburt]

Singapore - Four leaders of an opposition party were arrested Monday while protesting the Singapore government's involvement in Burma, the group said.

Each of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) participants held a placard saying, "No Deals," "No Arms," "With the Junta," and "Free Burma."

The group was composed of Chee Soon Juan, the most vocal opposition leader and secretary general of the SDP; Gandhi Ambalam, SDP chairman; John Tan, assistant secretary general; and member Chee Siok Chin, Chee Soon Juan's sister.

Chee Soon Juan has been rendered bankrupt for remarks made about Singapore's leaders during a general election campaign and has been in and out of jail on several occasions for speaking without a police permit.

The SDP said the four were arrested by plain-clothed police once they began their protest in front of the Istana, where Singapore's top leaders have offices.

The four "were taken to the police vans waiting nearby," the SDP said in a statement.

They had planned to hold a 24-hour protest preceded by the submission of a petition to Myanmar Ambassador U Win Myint.

The protest was aimed "at raising awareness of the Singapore government's exploitation of the situation in Burma," a SDP statement said.

"We demand that the government open its books of the Government Investment Corp and Temasek to the people, starting with its investments in Burma," it added, referring to government investment agencies.

The party's petition with 1,107 signatures had been gathered since Burma's military junta began its bloody crackdown on monks and anti-government demonstrators.

"The ambassador refused to come out and accept the petition himself," the SDP said. "One of the embassy staff finally showed up and said the embassy could not accept the petition."

The assembly of more than four people outside without a police permit is illegal in Singapore.

More than 400 Burma nationals packed a hotel room during the weekend to pray for their brethren. The gathering included 12 members of Burma's Buddhist clergy.

Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in his capacity as chairman of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), strongly criticized Myanmar last week for the crackdown.

Foreign Minister George Yeo has emphasized the importance of keeping Burma as a member of the ASEAN family.

ASEAN is made up of Singapore, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Brunei, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. (dpa)

[eagle]

:shock:

[Loburt]

From the Irrawaddy

Burma?s state-run media on Monday accused monks of stockpiling weapons and possessing pornographic material following a series of raids on Buddhist monasteries in Rangoon.

The Alliance of All Burma Buddhist Monks, which led recent protests, rejected the allegations as false.

U Gambira, one of the leaders of the monk alliance who is being sought by the military, told The Irrawaddy on Monday the charges are government propaganda.

According to The New Light of Myanmar, a mouthpiece of the junta, the raids on the monasteries turned up 18 knives, one axe, slingshots and one 9mm bullet.

?It is regrettable that the operation revealed that in some monasteries, women sleep in the buildings where monks reside and 42 uncensored pornographic VCDs and one uncensored pornographic DVD were found,? the newspaper said.

The government threatened to punish any monk who violates the law, while continuing its search for four monks who chair the alliance of monks, which issued a number of important nationwide announcements during the demonstrations.

The four monks, U Gambira, U Vicitta, U Obhasa and U Padaka, are in hiding.

From his hiding place, U Gambira told The Irrawaddy the Burmese government is engaged in ?psychological warfare" to discredit the Sangha, and the monastery raids and arrests are a great mistake.

?They are now accusing us with lies," he said. "Their mistakes make us pity them because they do not know or see the truth. This kind of propaganda cannot end the problems or the public anger.?

The international community's increasing pressure on the military junta, he said, is karma which is coming back to the junta because of its past bad actions.

?Today the crisis in Burma is a conflict between justice and injustice," he said. "When light comes to Burma, all [unjust acts] will be gone. We all must be united.?

U Gambira said he was disappointed with the UN Security Council and words cannot stop the cruel acts of the junta. If the UN envoy wants to know the reality of the crackdowns, U Gambira said, he must go to the monasteries that were raided.

?Gambari (the UN special envoy to Burma) is not bad, but I do not think he is clever enough to resolve Burma?s crisis,? he said.

Also on Monday, Han Thar Myint of the National League for Democracy in Rangoon said there is an historical relationship between the military and monks.

?But now that they've used brutal force on the monks, it's not good for Burma?s future,? he said.

A Burmese scholar at Assumption University in Bangkok, who asked not to be identified, said the Burmese people won't be taken in by the media reports.

"The junta sees anyone who is thought to threaten their power as an enemy," she said. "The junta does not divide between civilian or monk.

?There were tears in my eyes when I saw and heard about the crackdown on protesting monks. I could not believe what the army had done.?

Since September 26, at least 48 monasteries have been raided by soldiers, according to The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma). The group said monks under detention are being humiliated, disrobed and not given food or medicine.

A Rangoon resident told The Irrawaddy that the protest will not end.

?A monk was arrested [in Dagon New Township (south)] on October 6 because of reading a cartoon,? he said. ?People are still angry because the army killed and used violence against monks. So protests will not end yet.?

According to Rangoon sources, at least eight monks are being sought by police, and monastery raids continue. on October 6, at least two monasteries in Rangoon were raided. Township authorities and security forces are searching for people shown in photographs taken during the protests.

An unknown number of people who were arrested during the protests have been released from detention, but sources say they are required to sign-in at the office of township authorities.

[zeusbheld]

...

Who's the twit here, you or me?

no reason you can't BOTH be twits :roll:

[Loburt]

The assembly of more than four people outside without a police permit is illegal in Singapore.

I think this law arises more from demographic considerations rather than political ones. Singapore's tiny size and population density would render it vulnerable to a logistical nightmare if large, unplanned protests were permitted.

Legal demonstrations do occur in Singapore and public speaking is allowed by permit at a site in Hong Lim Park. Enforcement of libel laws may be a bit more stringent in Singapore than in the West, but--all things considered--there's actually more freedom of speech in Singapore than in the USA.

LMFAO.

[eagle]

:shock:

very!

you sure your not from texas

[Loburt]

Lee: Burma generals "rather dumb"

Singapore - Singapore's senior statesman Lee Kuan Yew believes the ruling generals of Burma are "rather dumb" when it comes to managing the country's economy and will not be able to survive indefinitely, a published interview said Wednesday.

However, the Army must be part of the solution to the problems facing the country, he said. If the Army is dissolved, all of Burma's administrative instruments will go with it, and the country will have nothing with which to govern itself.

Lee, Singapore's founding prime minister and currently minister mentor, spoke with a columnist from the University of California's Los Angeles Media Centre and a new-media expert from the University of Southern California.

The contents were published in The Straits Times.

"These are rather dumb generals when it comes to the economy," he was quoted as saying. "How they can so mismanage the economy and reach this stage when the country has so many natural resources?"

Lee said that Singapore hoteliers who sunk millions of dollars into Burma on his advice have now found their hotels empty.

He has tried to advise the generals to take Burma out of isolation, referring specifically to former junta member Khin Nyunt, who is currently under house arrest.

"He's the most intelligent of the lot," Lee said of Khin Nyunt, who as prime minister and head of military intelligence was once part of a troika in the military junta, but apparently fell out with the current regime chief Senior General Than Shwe and was stripped of his posts in 2004.

Lee said he could not understand how the generals could believe that they could let Burma remain isolated, adding that even medicines were being smuggled from Thailand.

Referring to recent excesses by the junta, Lee said that the rulers must have pushed "a hungry and impoverished" people to revolt. Among the excesses were moving to a new administrative capital, Naypyidaw, complete with expensive buildings.

"We will see how it is, but whatever it is, I do not believe that they can survive indefinitely," Lee said. (dpa)

Well, they will probably survive a lot longer than necessary thanks in part to Singapore's arms supplies, investment and the Cyber Warfare system they gave the generals to allow them spy on their own citizens communications.

It's a shame that the only tragedy he cares to mention is that his friends' hotels are empty.

[Loburt]

From Asia Sentinel

So much of Burma?s bucks start with Singapore. Hotels, airlines, military equipment and training, crowd control equipment and sophisticated monitoring devices for its secret police, Singapore is a crucial manager and supplier to the junta, and the economy it controls. It is impossible to spend any meaningful time in Burma, and not make the junta richer, often via contracts with Singaporean suppliers to the tourism industry. Singapore?s hospitals also keep its leaders alive?74 year-old junta strongman Than Shwe has been getting his intestinal cancer treated in a Singapore government hospital, in a ward heavily protected by Singaporean security. Singapore?s boutiques keep junta wives and families cloaked in Armani, and its banks help launder their money.

Much of Singapore?s activity in Burma has been documented by an analyst working in Australia?s Office of National Assessments, Canberra?s premier intelligence agency. Andrew Selth is recognized as one of the world?s leading authorities on the Burmese military. Now a research fellow at Queensland?s Griffith University, Selth has written extensively on how close Singapore is to the junta. Often writing as ?William Ashton? in the authoritative Jane?s Intelligence Review, Selth has described in various articles how Singapore has sent the junta guns, rockets, armored personnel carriers and grenade launchers, some of it trans-shipped from stocks seized by Israel from Palestinians in southern Lebanon. Singaporean companies have provided computers and networking equipment for Burma's defense ministry and army, while upgrading the junta?s ability to network with regional commanders, crucial when protests spread, as they did recently, nationwide causing major logistical headaches for the Tatmadaw, Burma?s military.

?Singapore cares little about human rights, in particular the plight of the ethnic and religious minorities in Burma,? Selth writes. ?Having developed one of the region?s most advanced armed forces and defense industrial support bases, Singapore is in a good position to offer Burma a number of inducements which other Asean countries would find hard to match.?

Selth says Singapore also provided the equipment for a ?cyber war center? to monitor dissident activity while training Burma?s secret police, whose sole job it seems is to ensure pro-democracy groups are crushed. Monitoring dissidents is an area where Singapore has particular expertise. After almost five decades in power, the People?s Action Party, still controlled by the Lee family, ranks behind only the communists of China, Cuba and North Korea in dynastic staying power and skill in neutralizing opposition. ?This centre is reported to be closely involved in the monitoring and recording of foreign and domestic telecommunications, including the satellite telephone conversations of Burmese opposition groups.? Selth writes.

Singapore government companies, like leading arms supplier Singapore Technologies, dominate the communications and military sector in Singapore. Duly, Selth writes ?it is highly unlikely that any of these arms shipments to Burma could have been made without the knowledge and support of the Singapore Government.? He notes that Singapore?s ambassadors to Burma have included a former senior Singapore Armed Forces officer, and a past director of Singapore's defense-oriented Joint Intelligence Directorate. ?It is curious that Singapore chose to assign someone with a military background to this new member of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) and not one of its many capable professional diplomats.? He writes that after the 1988 crackdown, when the junta killed some 3,000 democracy protesters, ?The first country to come to the regime?s rescue was in fact Singapore.?

When I interviewed Singapore Technologies CEO Peter Seah at his office in Singapore, I inquired after the scale model of an armored personnel carrier made by his company that sat on his office table. He said ST sold the vehicles ?only to allies.? Does that include Burma, I asked, given that Singapore helped sponsor the military regime?s entry into Asean? Seah was non-specific. ?We only sell to allies and we make sure they are responsible.? He didn?t say how. For their part, ST and Temasek don?t respond to questions about their activities in Burma.

Singapore is so close to Burma than one of its diplomats there wrote a handbook for its businesspeople there. Matthew Sim?s ?Myanmar on My Mind? is full of useful tips for doing business in Burma, including being realistic about corruption and lawbreakers, despite Singapore?s self-proclaimed clean image. ?A little money goes a long way in greasing the wheels of productivity,? he writes.

A chapter headed ?Committing Manslaughter When Driving? describes the appropriate action if a Singaporean businessman accidentally kills a Burmese pedestrian. ?Firstly, the international businessman could give the family of the deceased some money as compensation and dissuade them from pressing charges. Secondly, he could pay a Myanmar citizen to take the blame by declaring that he was the driver in the fatal accident. An international businessman should not make the mistake of trying to argue his case in a court of law when it comes to a fatal accident, even if he is in the right. He highly probably will spend time in jail regretting it. It is a sad and hard world. The facts of life can be ugly.?

Sim describes Singapore?s usefulness to Burma. ?Many successful Myanmar businessmen have opened shell companies? in Singapore ?with little or no staff, used to keep funds overseas,? he notes. Sim says the companies are used to keep business deals outside the control of Burma?s central bank, enabling Singaporeans and others to do business with Burma in Singapore.

He may be referring to junta cronies like Tay Za and the druglord Lo Hsing Han. Lo is an ethnic Chinese, from Burma?s traditionally Chinese-populated and opium-rich Kokang region in the country?s east, bordering China. Lo controls a massive heroin empire, and one of Burma?s biggest companies, Asia World, which the US Drug Enforcement Agency describes as a front for his drug-trafficking. Asia World controls toll roads, industrial parks and trading companies.

Singapore is the Lo family?s crucial window to the world, controlling a number of companies there. His son Steven, who has been denied a visa to the US because of his links to the drug trade, even married a Singaporean, Cecilia Ng, and the two reportedly control a Singapore-based trading house, Kokang Singapore Pte Ltd. The couple transit Singapore at will.

A former US Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Robert Gelbard, has said that half of Singapore?s investments in Burma ?have been tied to the family of narco-trafficker Lo Hsing Han.?

Romantically-linked to a daughter of junta leader Than Shwe, Tay Za is also well known in Singapore. He had his fleet of Ferraris, Lexus? and Mercedes shipped in from there. When on the island, he likes to stay at the Meritus Mandarin hotel on Orchard Road, close to the excellent Singapore hospitals favored by his senior military patrons in Burma. Tay Za was all over the Singapore media last year toasting the launch of his new airline, Air Bagan, with the head of Singapore?s aviation authority. Dissident groups say the trade-off for Tay Za?s government business contracts in Burma is to fund junta leaders? medical trips to Singapore.

Post-script: When an earlier version of the article above was published last week in the Sydney Morning Herald, Singapore's High Commissioner to Canberra, Eddie Teo, a former boss of Singapore's secret police, the ISD, wrote to the newspaper to deny that Singapore had provided Burma's generals with succor and support. It may be that these remarks are re-visited when what Lee Kuan Yew describes as the "ticking time bomb" of the Burmese junta explodes, as many Burmese and foreign diplomats believe is likely.

[sunsnow]

That quote about hotels being empty was funny (in ofcourse sad way). Oh well, UN preparations of the resolutions about Burma is ready now, after being tweaked according to Chinese and Russian hopes to water it down. (Ok, this wasn't, unfortunatly, UN problem in the first place as correctly it is noted: this has been mainly Burmas internal matter and its risk to "spill out" to neighboring countries has been quite low so making UN's interest in the matter rather low)

Ps. Check out todays press release on the Chinese sneaky bastards and their cencorship by Reporters Without Borders. I still wonder what the heck their government is afraid of as they employ so high class cencorship in the country...www.rsf.org