From Third World to First The Singapore Story pdfdrive com

Singapore American
(a publication of our American community), in
which two teachers from the American School described their visit to Rangoon,
Mandalay and Pagan. They had hitchhiked for part of the journey and found it a
fascinating adventure. I suggested that he open up Burma, build hotels and get
safe aircraft to fly from Rangoon to Mandalay and Pagan. He would get large
numbers of tourists and considerable revenue. He listened quietly but said little.
Nothing happened. Ne Win did not want foreigners in Burma.
Only in 1993, when Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, one of their key
leaders, saw me in Singapore did I find a leader who was responsive, probably
because Ne Win had had a change of heart. Ne Win must have told him that I
was an old friend because he listened quietly as I explained that Myanmar had to
adjust to the post-Cold War world, open up its economy and develop the whole

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country. I pointed to China and Vietnam, two examples of former closed
countries that were developing their tourism and inviting foreign investors to
create jobs and wealth.
Khin Nyunt was then in charge of intelligence and the strongman of the junta
or SLORC (State Law and Order Restoration Council). I asked him to reconsider
his policy towards Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of Burma’s hero and first
prime minister, Aung San. She had married an Englishman but had returned to
Myanmar to lead a movement against the military government. They could not
lock her up forever; she would be a continuing embarrassment to their
government.
Myanmar had to improve the lives of the people, coopt capable people with
experience abroad into the government. A government of military officers could
never get the economy going. I suggested he should make it possible for
Singapore to engage and help Myanmar economically. Singapore could defend
its position internationally, if this engagement was to help Myanmar return to
normalcy, not to maintain the present system. My note-taker, a ministry of
foreign affairs desk officer for Myanmar, was fearful that he would react
strongly and was surprised when, at the end of the discussion, he thanked me for
my “valuable opinion”.
When General Than Shwe, the Myanmar prime minister and chairman of
SLORC, visited Singapore in June 1995, I suggested that he visit Indonesia to
learn how it had changed from a military leadership, with General Suharto in
charge, to an elected presidency. The Indonesian constitution gave the army a
direct role in government, with representation in the legislature under a system
called 
dwi-fungsi
(two functions). The Indonesian army had a constitutional role
in ensuring the security and integrity of the country. Elections for the president
and the legislature were held every five years. Myanmar had to go in that
direction if it wanted to be like the other countries in Southeast Asia.
I had called on Ne Win when he visited Singapore for medical treatment a
year earlier, in 1994. He talked about his peace and serenity of mind through his
practice of meditation. For two years after he withdrew from government in
1988, he had been in torment, fretting and worrying about what was going on in
the country. Then in 1990 he began to read about meditation. He now spent
many hours each day, in the morning, afternoon and evening, in silent
meditation. He certainly looked much better than the sickly person I had met in
Rangoon in 1986.
He was in Singapore again in 1997 to see his doctors. At the age of 86, he

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looked even better than on his last visit. This time he spoke only about
meditation, giving me advice on how I could improve my meditation. I asked if
he did not worry about the sickness of his loved ones, like children and
grandchildren. Yes he did, but he could control, reduce and forget these
sufferings through meditation. Did he not worry when his old generals asked for
his advice? No, he replied; when they did this, he told them never to talk about
their work because he had retired from the troubles of this world. However,
diplomats told me he commanded respect and authority within the military and
could still wield influence.
The West, especially the United States, believed that economic sanctions
could force the government to hand power to Aung San Suu Kyi, who had won
the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. I did not think this was likely. The army has been
Myanmar’s only instrument of government since Ne Win took power in 1962.
The military leaders can be persuaded to share power and gradually civilianise
the government. But unless the United States or the United Nations is prepared
to send in armed forces to hold the country together, as it is doing in Bosnia,
Myanmar without the army would be ungovernable. The West is impatient with
Asean’s constructive engagement and was puzzled when its leaders admitted
Myanmar as a member in July 1997. But what better way is there to have the
country develop, open up and gradually change? In Cambodia a UN force that
supervised elections could not install the winner into government because the