BurmaNet News, April 12, 2005

[Editor]

April 12, 2006 Issue # 2939


INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: KIO hold emergency meeting
Mizzima: Pyinmana gets 24-hour power at the expense of other cities
DVB: Murdered Thet Naing Oo’s friends released in Rangoon
Narinjara: SPDC Rejects Federalism for Burma

ON THE BORDER
Narinjara: The price of gold increases on the border

HEALTH / AIDS
DVB: Interview with chief vet Dr. Than Tun on avian flu outbreak in Burma
AP via Washington Post: Myanmar says its bird flu under control

BUSINESS / TRADE
Asia Pulse: S Korean miners seek to joint copper proiect in Myanmar

REGIONAL
Christian Science Monitor: Activists urge India to adopt refugee law
DPA: Singapore steps up drive to become Southeast Asia's educational hub

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: Burma lets off steam at Thingyan

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

April 12, Irrawaddy
KIO hold emergency meeting - Khun Sam

The Kachin Independence Organization on Tuesday opened a three-day
emergency meeting in response to rumors that Burma’s military government
is preparing to seize its territory.

The meeting opened at KIO headquarters in Laiza, Kachin State, near the
Burma-China border and aims “to evaluate the current political state and
to elect new central committee members, as well as to lay down future
policy,” according to KIO Vice Chairman Manam Tu Ja.

Local residents said government troops from light infantry battalions 141,
260 and 29, stationed in the area of N’jang Yang, near Laiza, have poured
into the region. They have been reinforced in recent weeks.

The dramatic increase in junta soldiers in the region has sparked fear
within the KIO and among local villages that the rumors of an aggressive
campaign by the government to wrest control of the area—particularly
Laiza, Maija Yang and N’ba Pa—from the KIO will prove true. These cities
are vital to the KIO and generate considerable revenue for the ethnic
opposition organization from logging concessions agreed to with the ruling
junta.

Manam Tu Ja dismissed the speculation of a government take-over of KIO
territory, saying the group “has been in healthy relations with the
(junta’s) Northern Commander.” He added that the KIO recently received a
message from Maj-Gen Ohn Myint, commander of the Northern Command,
assuring them that the government will maintain the peace accord with the
group, which is one of the largest armed ceasefire groups participating in
the government-sponsored National Convention, tasked with drafting a new
constitution.

Meanwhile, a high ranking KIO official told The Irrawaddy on condition of
anonymity that the meeting is quite unusual and will look into the rumors.

Early this year, government troops attacked a KIO office in Nam Hkam
Township, northern Shan State, leaving five KIO soldiers dead. The
government claimed the incident took place because KIO soldiers were
outside of “the agreed designated place,” where ceasefire groups are
required to stay. The government, however, did not explain why it took
control of the area, which KIO has overseen since 1997.

“Unlike other ceasefire groups, the KIO has a self-sufficient position,”
said Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Burmese military analyst based along the China-Burma
border. “The government aims to reduce that position.”

In recent years, the presence of government troops has increased with the
arrival of new infantry and artillery battalions in Kachin State.

London-based environmental group Global Witness stated in January that the
government appeared to undermine Kachin ceasefire groups’ position by
limiting revenue generated from timber taxes.

____________________________________

April 12, Mizzima News
Pyinmana gets 24-hour power at the expense of other cities - Min Thu

Burma’s new administrative capital in Pyinmana has uninterrupted power for
the first time after siphoning it from other towns including Yangon and
Mandalay.

Residents in Pyinmana told Mizzima today, “Five months back, we got power
only once in two days and sometimes luckily every alternate day . . . But
now we are getting regular uninterrupted power supply. Sometimes there is
no power for only half an hour or an hour. That's all”.

An official from the Ministry of Electric Power said power generated by
the Paunglaung power plant was being drawn from other towns including Pyi,
Wetpoke, Innma and Yethashe.

Despite the Paunglaung plant’s capacity of 280 MW, produced by four
turbines, sources said water levels were so low only two were operational,
meaning many other towns were going without electricity.

“Last night, the light out at midnight. We can get power back again only 2
pm tomorrow. Previously we got power regularly from Paunglaung power
plant. We got power whole day and whole night. Since last two months back,
we have been facing this load shedding,” a Pyi resident told Mizzima.

Sources said only 400 MW’s of power were being generated while demand sat
at 845 MW.

Demand will increase if industrial zones are expanded. The Ministry of
Power is planning to generate up to 2,000 MW more to meet the growing
industrial demand for power.

Rangoon commander lieutenant general Myint Swe said State Peace and
Development Council chairman senior general Than Shwe gave orders for the
generation of an additional 5,000 MW.

A Rangoon resident said, “The situation of power supply in Yangon is worse
than before. Even in the downtown six townships, which got uninterrupted
power supply previously are now facing regular six hours load shedding
daily”.

____________________________________

April 12, Democratic Voice of Burma
Murdered Thet Naing Oo’s friends released in Rangoon

Win Myint and Khin Maung Zaw, the two witnesses and friends of Thet Naing
Oo who was brutally beaten to death by Rangoon Kyimyintaing (Kemmendine)
Township police and fire brigade members last month, were released today
from the notorious Insein Jail.

But it is not clear whether they were released on bail or after they
signed pledges, a source close to their families told DVB.

We contacted Thet Naing Oo’s mother San Yi and the two released men for
confirmation and comments, but we were unable to talk to any of them.

____________________________________

April 12, Narinjara News
SPDC Rejects Federalism for Burma

Deputy leader of the Burmese military junta, Vice-Senior General Maung 
Aye, stated at the graduation ceremony of military officers in Ba Htoo
Military Town, Mandalay, on 10 April, 2006 that federalism will break up
the country, according to the nation's government controlled media.

General Maung Aye claimed that those promoting genuine federalism are
trying to break up the Union which is formed by places of different size,
population and economic opportunities, under the guise of a federation in
name.  He further claimed that the ideology of federalism
gives priority to party politics over national interest, and as such, is a
danger to the nation.

This attack on genuine federalism and those promoting it is the strongest
yet from a senior member of the junta since the recent release of the
draft federalist constitution proposed by Federal Constitution Drafting &
Coordinating Committee-Union of Burma (FCDCC).

The FCDCC, an umbrella organization including Members of Parliament
elected in Burma’s last free election in 1990, ethnic nationality groups,
women’s groups and youth groups, proposed a constitution providing for
genuine federalism, with guarantees of equality and self-determination for
the various ethnic groups of Burma.

The FCDCC supports federalism as the only way to establish a peaceful and
united Burma.  The preamble of the proposed draft constitution states that
only genuine federalism will guarantee against the break-up of the
country.

The majority of Burmese political organizations, besides the SPDC, believe
that Burma should be a federal union of eight states including a Burman
state.

After independence in 1948, Burma fell into the abyss of civil war because
many Burman political leaders failed to respect the federal system that
had been agreed upon to establish equality and self-determination of the
other ethnic nationalities.

General Maung Aye admitted that Burma has been left behind other nations
on the path of development due to the civil war, and that unity of the
ethnic nationalities is vital for the future of Burma.  However, he blamed
the current discord on the divide and rule policies of the British who
ruled in Burma prior to 1948, rather than the Burman leaders who have
controlled the central government and failed to recognize the rights of
other nationalities.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

April 12, Narinjara News
The price of gold increases on the border

The price of gold on the Burma and Bangladesh border went up recently as a
rumor was spread throughout the region that army high raking officials and
rich men were buying a large amount of gold in Burma after the government
increased the salaries of its servicemen.

In Maungdaw, a western border town of Burma close to Bangladesh, a kyat
(0.0163 kilogram) of gold went up to 400,000 kyats from 320,000 kyats this
week. In Buthidaung, a town close to Maungdaw, the price of gold went up
to 380,000 from 300,000 kyats.

The increasing price of gold is not only happening on the Burma side of
the border but also on the Bangladesh side, said a goldsmith from Teknaf.

The goldsmith said that last week the price of gold was only 14,000 Taka
in Bangladeshi markets but this week the price of gold increased to 15,000
Taka for 0.0163 kilogram. Currently the exchange rate is one Bangladeshi
Taka to 18 Burmese kyats.

It was learned that some gold traders are currently illegally exporting
Bangladeshi gold to Burma through border towns because the price of gold
in Burma is higher than the price of gold in Bangladesh.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

April 11, Democratic Voice of Burma
Interview with chief vet Dr. Than Tun on avian flu outbreak in Burma

During a news briefing at Bangkok on 10 April, United Nations’ Food and
Agriculture Organisation (FAO) officials said that the recent outbreak of
avian flu in Burma is more serious than previously thought and that it has
become a major source of problem for the region.

Dr. Than Tun, director of Burma’s military government’s Planning and
Administration Department of the Livestock Breeding and Veterinary
Department, who earlier insisted that bird flu was unlikely to break out
in Burma because only some 15 percent of chickens are grown commercially,
gave his reactions to the report as follows:

TT: The report the regional coordinator from the FAO, Dr Vitaliy, had was
about earlier days. He left Burma around 28-29 (March). What he mentioned
was about the situation then. Today, the report by Dr Brussens, an expert
from the FAO, who is about to leave (Burma) today, mentioned the fact that
the disease is well under control. The actual situation is that some
townships have been brought under control for about 14 to 15 days now. The
last place, like Kyaukse, has also been brought under control for three
days already.

DVB: From your experience, do you expect any other regions to come under
the threat of the disease?

TT: Presently, we are in a very good position. In the earlier stage, we
lacked the experience and had to act quite hastily and cooperate with many
departments.

DVB: I see. How about the measures being undertaken now to prevent the
disease from spreading to the people?

TT: They are very good. The Health Department has been closely monitoring
the situation and regional authorities are giving their full attention to
the matter. Control measures are strictly being enforced by us. Entry into
town limits is carefully checked. Besides, the weather has also been very
favourable so there are no close contacts. We can clearly study the
situation. It is unlike the flu season. Everything is very good so far.

DVB: We understand that neither your department nor the Ministry of Health
rendered any assistance to the affected poultry farms in the field and the
farms ended up culling their own chickens. What is the help that you have
been giving them?

TT: Some farms lost the birds in the beginning and we noted them down for
risk prevention efforts. We had to cull the chickens in those farms and
since it involved a lot of birds, we had to use many people, including
those from the farms.

DVB: We understand that handling the disease-ridden chickens help spread
the disease to people. So, when clearing these farms, what sort of
assistance did you provide to the farm owners...?

TT: Well, when the culling was done, some wore preventive gear. Of course,
there were some who did not, but most of them did. We also had to
systematically spray the farms. Of course, there were some shortcomings.

DVB: Almost all farms lost quite a bit of their investment. What
arrangements are being made to help them?

TT: Of course, we have made plans. Time is still needed. Once stability
resumes, it will be incumbent upon us to help them. Our department, the
Livestock Breeding Bank, and the Livestock Breeding Headquarters have
plans to rehabilitate them.

DVB: What, would you estimate, is the danger period, so to speak?

TT: I think by the end of April, we should be able to restore normalcy to
the control areas and the restricted areas. We will ease the restrictions.
Of course, we will have to be always alert to this sort of disease.
Thinking about the future should come after the efforts to ease the
restrictions. There should be different phases.

Than Tun also said that more than 400,000 chickens had to be culled as a
result of the 9,200 chickens and 5,600 quails being infected. He said
eight townships in Mandalay Division, including Singaing, Kyaukse, and
Amarapura, and five townships in Sagaing Division, including
Kantbalu,Monywa, and Sagaing, were hit by avian flu.

FAO and World Health Organization officials still concerned about the
situation will be visiting Burma at the end of the month.

____________________________________

April 12, Associated Press via Washington Post
Myanmar says its bird flu under control

Yangon: Bird flu in Myanmar has been brought under control, and
restrictions will be lifted in two affected regions by the end of the
month, a livestock official said Wednesday, just days after the U.N. said
the situation in this impoverished nation was more serious than originally
thought.

Several areas have been free from infection for one or two weeks, said Dr.
Than Tun, director of the Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department.

"The situation seemed serious because of several outbreaks around March
24-28, but the situation is under control now," Than Tun said.

On March 13, authorities confirmed bird flu outbreaks in the central
Mandalay and Sagaing regions.

A report by a U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization expert who inspected
those areas noted that "the last date of bird flu infection and culling
(in Mandalay) was April 5 and the disease has been brought under control,"
the livestock department announced in a statement Wednesday.

It said the FAO expert, identified as Dr. Prasat, inspected the regions
from March 28 to April 10, and that restrictions in Mandalay and Sagaing
would be lifted by the end of April.

As of Tuesday, authorities had culled a total of 326,884 chickens and
317,305 quails, and destroyed 175,338 chicken and quail eggs, it said.

On Monday in Bangkok, He Changchui, the FAO's regional representative,
said authorities had revised initial reports that there were only two
outbreaks of the deadly H5N1 virus in Myanmar.

"The situation there was more serious than we imagined," he said. "Up to
now, there are over 100 outbreaks."

The World Health Organization will send a team to inspect the bird flu
situation in Myanmar at the end of this month.

Myanmar ranks as one of the world's poorest nations, with its military
rulers suspicious of foreign influence and reluctant to reveal the
seriousness of problems it faces, including the rampant spread of AIDS.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

April 12, Asia Pulse
S Korean miners seek to joint copper proiect in Myanmar

Seoul: A consortium of South Korean companies is pushing to join a
Canadian company's copper mine development project in Myanmar, a state-run
mining corporation said Wednesday. KOREA RESOURCES CORP. said it and two
other South Korean companies signed a preliminary agreement in January
with IVANHOE MINES LTD to jointly develop a copper mine in Monywa, central
Myanmar.

* Korea Resources said the South Korean consortium is pressing ahead with
a plan to buy a 25 per cent stake in the copper mine for US$120 million.

* About 10,000 tons of copper will be shipped to South Korea each year
once the mine begins production, it said.

SUMMARY

Consortium of S. Korean companies pushing to join a Canadian company's
copper mine development project in Myanmar

____________________________________
REGIONAL

April 12, Christian Science Monitor
Activists urge India to adopt refugee law - Anuj Chopra

Many refugees seek official recognition and access to services in order to
make a better life for themselves here.

Darkness envelopes the refugee colony of Ramdev Nagar as night falls.
There's no electricity here, despite being on the fringes of the large
Indian city of Jodhpur. A flickering paraffin lamp reveals scrawny
children and faces hungry with want.

The Hindu residents who migrated here from Pakistan to escape religious
persecution find themselves stuck in this ghetto, known derisively as the
"Houses of Pakistanis." Since the government does not recognize them as
refugees and grant them citizenship, residents cannot land jobs.

"We have no country, no identity," says Prem Chand, a lanky young man who
migrated with 15 members of his family last year from the Sindh province
in Pakistan. "We don't even exist on paper."

Refugees like Mr. Chand are streaming into India from all parts of its
unstable neighborhood. Yet how they are treated differs from state to
state and ethnic group to ethnic group, leaving refugee advocates calling
for a national law to ensure that settlements like Ramdev Nagar are not
allowed to fall through the cracks.

"India cannot be inhuman to send back people who are persecuted or whose
lives are in danger in their own countries," says Rajeev Dhawan from the
Public Interest, Legal Support and Research Centre in New Delhi.
"Currently, it's a cumbersome, ad-hoc process which does not expeditiously
verify the status of refugees."

India's long porous borders and stable democracy makes it an attractive
destination for refugees in the region - home to one-tenth of the global
refugee population.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates there
are more than 200,000 refugees seeking citizenship in India, and the
numbers are rising by the day. There are 100,000 Tibetans, 60,000 Chin
refugees from Burma, 51,000 Sri Lankan Tamils living in 112 refugee camps
in Tamil Nadu, and approximately 13,235 other UNHCR-recognized refugees in
India.

"India is in such a neighborhood that generates refugees often," says
Carol Batchelor, the chief of the UNHCR, in New Delhi.

The absence of uniform legislation on refugee protection, says Mr. Dhawan,
means that political interests are dictating the different administrative
measures being applied for different refugee groups in India.

Dhawan emphasizes the need for a law in India that clearly distinguishes a
foreigner from a migrant and a refugee. Five years ago, he was a
consultant for a draft proposal for a law on refugees by the UNHCR to the
Law Ministry. Under the proposal, a refugee would be treated uniformly
across India, eligible for humanitarian assistance, and allowed to remain
if they aren't deemed a security threat.

Since then, the draft proposal has only been gathering dust with the
Indian government. Officials at the Ministry of Home Affairs, in New
Delhi, say they recognize the need for a refugee policy and are mulling
over the draft proposal, but are unable to give a timetable for it to come
into force.

Currently, the Indian government supervises mass migrations only;
individual cases are handled by the UNHCR. In effect, says Ravi Nair from
the South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre, Delhi is
"sub-contracting" to the UNHCR, a foreign agency, the "sovereign national
function" of determining individual refugee cases.

But because India has not signed the Refugee Convention nor enacted
federal legislation, the UNHCR cannot set up refugee processing centers
along India's land and sea frontiers, where the bulk of refugees arrive.
Individuals in India who wish to apply for refugee status must instead
visit the UNHCR office in New Delhi, who then process the case and pass it
along to the government for consideration.

Human rights violations against refugees are common and will continue
until judicial safeguards are provided to citizens and noncitizens alike,
says Hindu Singh Sodha in Jodhpur. He founded the Pak Visthapit Sangh
(PVS), a nongovernmental organization that works with Pakistani refugees
who migrated to India in the aftermath of the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war.

PVS has been staging demonstrations and holding discussions with
government officials and political leaders to highlight the plight of the
refugees. Late last year, PVS's efforts paid off: The Government of India
provided Indian citizenship to some 13,000 Pakistani refugees. Early this
year, India also granted citizenship to 12 out of 9,673 Sikh Afghans
seeking refuge in India.

In the darkness of the "Houses of Pakistanis," Hemant Kumar is lugging
wood to set up a cooking fire. Eight years ago, he crossed over from
Hyderabad, in Pakistan, to India, leaving his sister and aging mother
behind. Despite his education, he had no other choice since then but to
work as a bonded laborer - his calloused hands and chafed feet bear the
evidence.

But there's hope now: After seven years of a rootless existence, Mr. Kumar
received Indian citizenship last year, making it easier for him to get a
job at a medical store in Jodhpur.

"If only this had happened sooner. We're not a vote bank for politicians
in India, but we're humans, too, you know," he says. "Governments tend to
forget that."

____________________________________

April 12, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Singapore steps up drive to become Southeast Asia's educational hub

Singapore: Singapore is stepping up its drive to become Southeast Asia's
premier educational hub among students eagar for a dose of the West with
cultural reminders of their homelands.

A quality education, safe environment, far cheaper costs than the United
Kingdom, United States and Australia, and a multilingual population are
the major selling points for recruiters aiming to meet the government's
target of attracting 150,000 pupils by 2012.

"We're not just interested in numbers," said Dane Lim, an educational
services coordinator with the Singapore Tourism Board's (STB's) special
unit set up three years ago to broaden awareness of the array of
educational choices available.

"We want to promote an atmosphere of vibrancy," he said.

The fast-growing Chinese and Indian markets have prompted the STB to
expand its roadshows in both countries. The government has been slashing
red tape, easing student visa requirement and encouraging the student
hostel business.

Foreign students have increased from 50,000 to 70,000 in the three-year
period ending last year. They attend 200 schools from the primary level
through post-graduates, with the bulk seeking educations beyond the
secondary level in the universities, polytechnics, junior colleges,
diploma granting institutes and training centres.

Every STB office in 22 countries now has a section offering detailed
information about studying in high-tech Singapore where English is the
spoken language and Mandarin second among the predominantly Chinese
population. The 14 per cent who are Malays and 7 per cent ethnic Indians
offer opportunities to interact with these locals as well.

Indian student Sabiha Begum, 21, acknowledged that going to an Australian
school was her first choice, but the cost of sending her was beyond her
parent's means.

Enrolled in a privately run computer training centre, she said, "Singapore
is modern. I get a Western education. At the same time, it is an Asian
country" with an Indian community.

Several of her friends said their parents were reluctant to expose them to
too much Western culture at once in the US or Australia.

The cost of studying in Singapore is one-third of going to a university in
Britain and one-half for the US, Lim said, excluding the prestigious and
far more expensive Ivy League schools.

Referring to the primary competition in the region for overseas students,
Lim said, "Thailand has its own strengths, particularly in international
studies."

The city-state prides itself for biomedical research, information
technology, engineering, telecommunications and business studies amid a
backdrop of 6,000 multi-national firms.

Students from China, numbering 33,000, have overtaken the more than 8,000
Malaysians and slightly fewer Indonesians who used to be the major sources
of foreign students. India and Vietnam are currently sending 4,000 each,
while students from Myanmar (Burma) number 1,800 followed by 700 South
Koreans.

The Chinese are mostly from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, said
recruiters representing different schools. They tend to be from
single-child, white collar families. Those attending primary and secondary
schools are usually accompanied by "study mamas," a parent who accompanies
them.

Hopes of a job in Singapore are high among those attending universities.

"For my first half-year here, I didn't understand what my teachers were
saying," said Zhu Yilin, a Shanghai native. Now 23 and a teacher at a
Singapore private school, Zhu mastered English and secured a computer
science degree.

It is not unusual for students to spend their first six months learning
English before starting degree courses.

A particularly strong lure is the presence of branches of such world-class
institutions as the University of Chicago School of Business,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, University of
California, University of New South Wales, and France's Insead.

Australia's Monash University became the latest to plan a campus.

"I probably could have gone to Bangkok, but talk is that Singapore is the
best," said posstgraduate student Simon Olsen, 27, from Denmark. He is
doing research in Southeast Asian Studies at the National University of
Singapore, the city-state's top academic facililty.

Small groups of Europeans, Australians and Americans also study in the
city-state. Others are from Madagascar, Nigeria, Uzbekistan and
Kazakhstan.

There is room for improvement. Allowing foreign students to work part-time
is expected to start in June.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

April 12, Irrawaddy
Burma lets off steam at Thingyan - Yeni

For Burmese, part of the aim of Thingyan, a five-day water festival that
commemorates the coming of the New Year, is to cool down during the
hottest time of the year and celebrate their cultural and religious
heritage.

Astrologers, including the state-sponsored Myanmar Calendar Advisory
Members, have given blessings this year in the annual Thingyan-sa, an
almanac broadsheet that predicts what to expect in the coming year. This
year’s edition claims that Burma will be “a country of happy people,
particularly young citizens.”

On the streets of Rangoon, the country’s youth will be hanging off the
back of pickup trucks in bumper-to-bumper traffic and drenching other
vehicles and the city’s pedestrians with squirt guns, super soakers,
pipes, water balloons, and even fire hoses. Rangoon’s well-known
University Avenue—where Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest—will
resound with the thumping of hip-hop music. “Young girls dance all the
time, even without the music,” said one Rangoon resident.

But Thingyan is not just for the young. Burma’s “old man” Than Shwe, the
junta chief, and his aging gang also seem quite happy. At the end of
April, their official salaries will rise ten-fold. Some reports suggest
that the general’s paycheck will be somewhere in the neighborhood of
1,200,000 kyat (US $890).

The government-subsidized water festival has in past years brought the
capital of Rangoon alive in a way that doesn’t happen at any other time of
the year. Ethnic dance performances and concerts by popular singers are
only a few of the many events held during the festival. In light of the
government’s costly move to Naypyidaw, skeptics are saying that the junta
will reduce spending on this year’s event to recoup the enormous cost of
building Naypyidaw.

According to Burmese Buddhist tradition, the Celestial
King—Thagyamin—descends to Earth when the New Year festival begins to
reward people according to their deeds during the past year. Burmese
believe Thagyamin keeps two books—one made of dog skin for those who do
evil, and the other embossed in gold for those who commit good deeds.

A running joke spreading widely in Rangoon is that Thagyamin may cancel
his trip this year after learning that the junta has arranged to buy
Russian-made air defense systems.

Thingyan is a national and religious holiday, during which Burmese take
time out to have fun, perform acts that will earn them merit, and relax
from the cares of their daily lives. It is also a time for citizens to
reflect on the future of their country and the hopes they hold dear for
themselves and their children.

This year’s festival holds a greater significance. In an unprecedented
attempt to reach out to Burma’s military government, the opposition party
National League for Democracy proposed reconvening the people’s
parliament—comprising winners of the aborted 1990 elections—in return for
acknowledging the junta as Burma’s de jure government. The NLD requested a
response by the beginning of the New Year.

So far, the junta has officially remained silent.

We are entering a New Year this week
but with the same old regime firmly
entrenched. Hope will be hard to come by, but many hold tight to the
belief that brighter days are ahead.