Myanmar generals cannot survive indefinitely, says MM
MINISTER Mentor Lee Kuan Yew believes Myanmar's ruling generals,
whom he described as being rather 'dumb' when it comes to managing
the country's economy, will not be able to survive
indefinitely.
But he says the army must be part of the solution to the problems
facing their country, because if it is dissolved, all of Myanmar's
administrative instruments will go with it, and the country will
have nothing with which to govern itself.
Mr Lee made these points during a wide-ranging interview at his
office in the Istana on Sept 27 with syndicated columnist Tom Plate
of the University of California's Los Angeles Media Centre, and
new-media expert Jeffrey Cole of the University of Southern
California's Annenberg Centre.
Mr Lee said: 'These are rather dumb generals when it comes to the
economy...How they can so mismanage the economy and reach this
stage when the country has so many natural resources?'
He noted that Singapore hoteliers, who had sunk millions of dollars
in Myanmar on his advice, have now found their hotels empty.
Mr Lee disclosed that he has tried to advise the generals to take
Myanmar out of its isolation, referring specifically to former
junta member Khin Nyunt, who is now under house arrest.
MM Lee said: 'He's the most intelligent of the lot. I sold him the
idea, or at least he bought the idea, that the way for them to go
forward was to get out of uniform, and do it like Suharto, form a
party, Golkar, and then take over as a civilian party.
'But halfway through, Suharto fell. So, it ended up as the wrong
advice, they backtracked. Then they chucked Khin Nyunt out.'
Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, as prime minister and head of
military intelligence, was once part of a troika in the military
junta, but apparently fell out with current regime chief Senior
General Than Shwe, and was stripped of his posts after a purge in
2004.
The following year, then aged 64, he was sentenced to 44 years of
house arrest on charges including corruption and bribery.
Mr Lee said he could not understand how the generals could believe
they could let Myanmar remain isolated from the world indefinitely,
noting that even medicines were being smuggled from Thailand.
He said: 'We will see how it is, but whatever it is, I do not
believe that they can survive indefinitely.'
The Minister Mentor also decried recent excesses by the junta,
saying they must have pushed 'a hungry and impoverished' people to
revolt.
These excesses included moving to an entirely new administrative
capital, Naypyidaw, complete with expensive buildings for military
leaders and a golf course.
He also referred to the lavish wedding of Gen Than Shwe's daughter,
a video of which was smuggled out of the country to be shown on
YouTube on the Internet.
The video showed his daughter wearing a collection of
diamond-encrusted jewellery and extravagant clothing - lit up 'like
a Christmas tree', as Mr Lee put it.
Gen Than Shwe's daughter and her husband also received gifts
reportedly worth more than US$50 million (S$73.6 million).
Asked if China could nudge Myanmar out of its isolation, Mr Lee
said he was not sure if Beijing had that power. He said: 'They've
tried and, in fact, we have tried to talk them out of
isolation.'
During the interview, Mr Lee was also asked to comment on a wide
range of other issues, including US-China ties, US presidential
elections, the changing media in the age of the Internet,
Singapore's long-term prospects and other regional issues.
http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Story/STIStory_165519.html
