Friends, Burmans, Our Ethnic brothers and sisters,

Lend me your ears!!!

I come not to praise any leader past or present.

I come not to criticize any leader past or present.

But allow me to post these thoughts for the benefit of all our citizens, living abroad or inside the country.

Those living on the bullock carts, those living on the boats, those living in the stables etc, etc, etc.

Here these humble words of mine that come out from the bottom of my heart.

I do not claim to know every thing or have any solution.

All I can claim is that I am willing to share my knowledge and experience for the peace, progress and prosperity of our country and all its peoples.

Where does National Reconciliaiton begin.

Where does it start.

Let me say these simple words which ring with truth.

"It begins within the human heart", that is it my friends.

There cannot be peace and harmony even among two people who love each other, like a husband and wife if they are not willing to each other. If they are not willing to put the interest of the marriage before their self interest.

So it is within a family. The father has to do the father's job. The mother has to do the mother's job. The children have to listen to their parents. The father has to take the leadership role and must behave in such a manner that the whole family loves and respects him. If he is drinking all day or not willing to work to bring home the food for the family then we can say that the father is negligent in his duties. In the same way the wife has to cook the food and take care of the household duties and teach the children all the good manners that need to be taught. This is how a traditional Burmese family operates. The family is at the lowest level of our national structure.

So in the interest of the nation, I appeal to all the leaders from all segments of society to ask themselves these fundamental questions.

"What kind of legacy do I wish to leave behind".

I am not going to suggest anything here. It is for the leaders to answer themselves in their heart of hearts.

If we look at history, we had good kings and not so good kings.

What kind of legacy did these Kings leave behind?

Anawratha - he founded the Bagan dynasty
Tabinshwe Hti - he founded the Toungoo dynasty
Alaung Paya - he founded the Kone Baung dynasty
King Mindon - he founded the Ratanabon City and was the convenor of the Fifth Buddhist Synod (Pyinsama Sangha Yadana Tin Mintaya Gyi).
King Thibaw - lost the country to the British
U Nu - imprisoned and later became a political exile after the coup detat in 1962 by General Ne Win.
U Ne Win - established the BSPP, ran the country to the ground economically and died an ignoble death. Not even a decent funeral.

So I ask again to all the leaders of our Golden Land.

What kind of legacy or legacies do you wish to leave behind.

If I may be permitted to venture an answer I wish to say this.

"Why not go down in history as the leaders who brought about true and genuine National Reconciliation if Burma/Myanmar".

It is not too far off.

It begins from within the heart.

"Than thaya pyauk hma ahman bawa yauk mei".

Than thaya pyauk par sei, ahman bawa yauk par sei.

Km<br><br>Post edited by: kmyaing, at: 2008/01/26 06:07

My dear UKmyaing,

I don’t mean to be odd or rude believe me. You can look at history anyway you like wahtever truth there may be it depends how you take it.

A husband and wife if some thing is missing , economically or socially or any other thing that marriage won’t last long, separation and divorce will follow sooner or later. if nota disaster. A wife or a husband remarry, another man or another women. Have a new life. If it does not work out again they can do it again and again going round and round the circle. Is that what you wanted to say, FREEDOM? That is western style should I say or the 21st century fashion. Even that fashion is for just one class of society.

We are Myanmars, our Myanmar saying is. “ Aing Doung Oo - Phayar Te - Sey Mhin Yey Sote Hto, De Thone Jet Ma Nine Yin - Noung Pyin Naing Ge Tghoi Amyo “ We are reminded by our elders like that. For English speaking people it means, if you are not sure of something , don't do it, if you cannot finish it don't start it.

We are talking Myanmar. Would you let Myanmars couple do the same or follow suit?
In many of my messages I have already mentioned that Myanmar is becoming Phar Naing Gan as Ko Aung San was afraid of. Myanmar girls becoming Pgar Thes .

Besides that was about a married couple. We are talking about Myanmar. Reconciliation. If we can not be reconciled, we should be separated we should divorce and get married again and started a new life with a new husband or a new wife. That will ve very nice isn’t it? Everybody is happy.

In politic it is not like that. Otherwise. No EU will be enlarging, No Nato will be expending.

UKMyaing, I am sorry to say I was wrong to expect more then that from you,or that was not what expect from you. honestly. General speaking, there is nothing wrong in wanting peace , wanting national reconciliation and this and that.

But if you don’t mind me saying, it seems to me that you don’t accept the realities of Myanmar at all. If I have said you don’t understand a word what I was saying. it will be too much and you may take it as I am insulting which I am not.

If I am not wrong I am seeing your focus is solely on SPDC and NLD You are highlighting on leaders such as Sr. Gen Than Shwe(SPDC) and Ma Su Kyi(NLD). Even though you did not mention their names here.

Even if haven’t, in your mind, leaders meant them, your aim or target is Myanmar and its people. My country my people, you would like to say.. I will give you that much credits. Very honourable I must say, true.

The rulers of Myanmar some of those you mentioned what is your analysis on them Let us for get about the leaders before Thibaw. Let’s say never mind about Thibaw,
Let’ us put him on the shelf for a while.

Phayar Dagar U Nu and U Ne Win what did you see in them? You did not say much about them but both of seemed to be no good for you. You know what , you are yourself out of balance., that is what I see in you. And you are talking about National Reconciliation.

I know what I am UKMyaing. I am clear very clear, I support SPDC under circumstances. These circumstances are not for me , not for my personnel reasons. The circumstances and situation of Myanmar.

I am not sure what kind of books you are reading, especially the history of Myanmar
Whatever they are, everything depends on you. How you translate , interpret and understand them.

We talk about cause an effects. Do you think you understand that? I am glad you do. Myanmar after Thibaw or Myanmar after 1948. What positive and what negatives have you seen.

“ Phaya Uu Ku” or “ Beydin and Yadayar“. Do you think they work? If they do Myanmar won’t be like this. If they do there will be no Anicca, Dukha, Anatta or Thin Khaya.

Miytta , Saydanar. Mudita. In politic there is no loving kindness UKMyaing, Jesus Christ Was killed for his loving kindness. Ko Aung San was killed because of his love for his country and his people.

I am not surprise that you think very little of U Nu or U Ne Win . Why may I ask? Is it because they are not Whites, Pale faces? Especially U Ne Win was called Shu Maung?
When U Nu analysed himself he found his heart was bigger than his brain. Was it good or bad, you can tell me. In my view his big heart nearly cost Myanmar everything. As I have told you in my message. He could be a most generous person with things which are not his own properties or which did not belonged to him.

Your views and your opinion are rightfully yours, it won’t be fair for me to say you are wrong

I don’t deny the fact that every leaders of Myanmar have their weaknesses. So have other leaders all over the world. What I am saying is if you can see the weak points and bad points, surely you must see the strong points and good points.

UKMyaing what had happened to Myanmar, under U Nu or under U Ne Win I have said it many times It was due to none aligned or neutral , not wanting to be anybody’s puppet not wanting to be anybody’s satellite.

What is happening to Myanmar is the leaders want Myanmar to be a sovereign nation and to be free and independent. If you know the real meaning of these words..

The slogan or the motto of the free world is also FREEDOM. Whichcarries a lot of meaning. This “ freedom “ should not be the freedom for some to poke their noses in others peoples’ affairs, it should not be “ freedom “ to belittle others, it should not be a freedom to undermine or manipulate others and it should not be freedom to put strings on others and so on.

You may or may not accept the fact that the “ Freedom ” Myanmar and its people were taken away by the British since 1823. I am not going into details here. You can read .

What I am saying is , up to this day, Myanmar ,may be an independent nation. But it is not a free country. If you know what I mean, I sincerely hope you know what I mean.

In another word, for being wanting “ none aligned or neutral , independent sovereign nation “ Myanmar being gang raped by the west. U Nu may have been raped, U Ne Win may have been raped, and present leaders are still being gang raped by the west.

Alright, again let’s for get about others, the west or the east or the nNorth or the South. What about our own people, what about it?

We are talking about “ National Reconciliation ”, don’t we? Then this depends on Myanmar nationals and Myanmar national alone. It not what you or what I want it must be all people must want this “National Reconciliation .”

You asked, “What kind of legacy or legacies do you wish to leave behind.”

If you don’t know, I will tell you one thing. There is some thing we can do.

New Constitution should be approved as soon as possible. New government should submit its plans to Hluttaw, if you don‘t understand what a Hluttaw is , it is Parliament UKMyaing, Parliament in English in case you are among some people who do not understand Myanmar usage. We had the same problem in the case of Burma and Myanmar. The plans which will be approved by the Hluttaw to annihilate , to wipe out totally the any insurgencies, or terrorist acts and terrorism.

Even that plans are approved by Hluttaw , Myanmar still needs limited , yes limited agreement or permission from Thailand. Cambodia, Laos , Bangladesh , India and China to cross the borders in pursued of these devils.

In short, Some nations in so called in international community should stop immediately their support for these, in their term “freedom fighters” who are actually “ terrorist” to others, while they are imposing economic sanctions and arms embargo etc.

Not long ago one of the Nato alliance Turkey had the same plans submitted to its Parliament to cross Iraqi borders into Kurdisd autonomous region to wipe out Kurdisn who are given trouble to Turkey. When Saddam Hussein was alive , these Kurds could not move. Because Saddam did not want trouble between Iraq and Turkey because of these Kurds. After Saddam is gong Iran was blamed for encouraging the Kurds.

Do you honestly think and International Community will help Myanmar in that plans. at least?

There you are UKMyaing, there is your National Reconciliation.

Have a nice dream,

Nice talking to you,

Thunderbolts.

Dear Thunderbolt,

Thank you so much for your reply.

I think there has been some misunderstanding. Some times, I am writing these postings in a very hurried manner. So there was not much time to elaborate.

Let me put on record here about the good things and the bad things of the U Nu administration and the U Ne Win administration. I think it is good for us to analyze and talk about the past so that we can use that knowledge to guide our future actions and plans.

For the sake of the younger generation let me say something about myself. When I was in high school it was during the time of U Nu. I enjoyed very much reading the &quot;Nation&quot; newspaper owned by U Law Yone. His motto was, &quot;let me write the newspapers of a country and I do not care who rules it&quot;, or something like that. The nation also had a very amusing cartoon series called &quot;Animal Farm&quot; poking fun at the communist form of government and communist ideology.

I also enjoyed very much the debates in the parliament which were broadcast on BBS. I remember U Nu was the first PM of modern day Burma to convene the Sixth Buddhist Synod.

On the day of the coup d'etat, when the soldiers came to take him into custody, he came out with his vest and asked, &quot;Boh Ne Win yaw par lar&quot;. He was in fact asking whether General Ne Win was one of those who were taken into custody on that day. Don't ask me how I know, just believe that &quot;a little birdie told me&quot;. Poor U Nu, he did not know who had staged that coup d'etat on that 2nd of Marh 1962.

I was in a class that morning and I had great admiration for General Ne Win. He was Chief of Staff at that time and he looked very charistmatic and handsome and he was not short. He had a good height. I said to myself, &quot;well I hope the Military government will clean up all the mess that the U Nu government had created. I remember at that time, U Nu was creating all sorts of commissions to take care of this problem and that problem and he used to tell the nation, &quot;pyat thanar baung thaung chauk htaung&quot;. (16000 problems in English). Then the Nation came out with a very funny cartoon where U Nu was saying &quot;Oh then form a committee to clean up all the mess&quot;. By that he meant, form a committee or commission to clean up all the mess created by the earlier committees.

So our first attempt at practising parliamentary democracy ended on that fateful day, 2 March 1962.

How was our Foreign Policy at that time. Well U Nu had good relations with China, USA, India, all the members of the Bandung Conference and he got along very well with PM Chou En Lai of China. Of course the US did not like that. They wanted Burma to be their follower like Thailand. We refused to join SEATO (South East Asia Treatry Organization) which was formed by the US and its allies to counter Chinese expansion. Burma stayed neutral and our foreign policy was called &quot;a policy of strict neutrality&quot;. Burma was one of the key players in the movement for Afro-Asain solidarity and the Non-Aligned Movement. U Nu, Chou En Lai and Tito became household words during those days.

I am not saying that there was no corruption during those times. There were many rumours going on about this man or that woman selling off their export licences.

However, the economic situation was not bad and the price of a good cotton longyi was Kyats 11 and you can buy si kyet khaul swe for One Kyat. Those were the days. If I say this much I guess you will understand what I think of U Nu's administration.

The most importatn weak point of U Nu was that he trusted General Ne Win too much. That was his down fall.

Now what about General Ne Win. His intentions were good but he also did not get good feedback from the BSPP leaders. They all tried to paint a rosy picture about the economy until it was too late. I am not saying that he was a man without any faults. However, he was man enough to say that I will retire and he did retire. He was so emotional on the day he spoke on TV to the nation that he had to call U Htwe Han to read his resignation statement.

What about his foreign policy? I think it was a big success as Burma had the ability to maneuver in any way she liked although the US and its allies did not like the way General Ne Win nationalized all foreign companies, especially the BOC - Burma Oil Company.

In my view, the UK still wants Burma to be under their thumb. The US for strategic reasons wants Burma to have the trappings of democracy so that all the American companies can do what they want not only in Burma but in all of Asia.
So enter the Dragon. Because of the rise of China, politically, economically, militarily and in the area of international relations, the US Eagle cannot do what it wished in the Asian region.

Many experts in the field of International Relations have writen many books and articles saying that the US policy towards China was wrong and that the US foreign policy towards Burma was also wrong. It is still wrong.

When I write things about Myanmar leaders past or present, I do not look at Myanmar only but do my analysis from the point of view of the whole world.

There is no such thing as a perfect leader. Leaders are also human beings like us so they too have human failings. Every leader in Myanmar or in the world has their good points and weaknesses.

That is why I have said before:

&quot;My country right or wrong.

If right to support it.

If wrong to correct it.&quot;

So the reason you and I are discussing on this very important forum is not to insult each other or to show off who has read how many books.

My purpose in writing the things I am writing today is to find a way out of this unpleasant and dangerous situation.

General Ne Win once said, &quot;the strength of the nation lies within its borders&quot;. I support that statement.

All Myanmar nationals and citizens should settle this political impasse with good intentions, cetena and with the interest of the nation at heart. All other things are secondary.

If we do not have the deep desire to achieve national unity, no outsider, not even the UN can help us.

We will all have to pay for our own actions, good or bad.

That is why I am calling for national unity and reconciliaiton.

It is not a dream, Mr. Thunderbolt.

It is doable and achievable if there is a will in all our hearts.

Like the song in the Broadway play &quot;South Pacific&quot; sung by Bloody Mary:

&quot;You must have a dream. If you don't have a dream.

How you gonna make your dream come true&quot;.

Nice talking to you.

Km

p.s. By the way I read U Kala Yazawin, Konebaung Set Mahayasawin, The Glass Palace Chronicle translated by Professor Luce and Prof U Pe Maung Tin, Aung San of Burma by Dr. Maung Maung, General Ne Win by Dr. Maung Maung, The River of Lost Footsteps by Thant Myint Oo, Foreign Policy of Burma by Professor William C. Johnstone etc., etc. (This is just a sampling to give you an idea of what books I have read.)

This is not to boast but for the benefit of the newer generation as they will inherit all the good and the bad after the older generation pass from the scene.

Dear Thunderbolt,

Thank you so much for your reply.

I think there has been some misunderstanding. Some times, I am writing these postings in a very hurried manner. So there was not much time to elaborate.

Let me put on record here about the good things and the bad things of the U Nu administration and the U Ne Win administration. I think it is good for us to analyze and talk about the past so that we can use that knowledge to guide our future actions and plans.

For the sake of the younger generation let me say something about myself. When I was in high school it was during the time of U Nu. I enjoyed very much reading the &quot;Nation&quot; newspaper owned by U Law Yone. His motto was, &quot;let me write the newspapers of a country and I do not care who rules it&quot;, or something like that. The nation also had a very amusing cartoon series called &quot;Animal Farm&quot; poking fun at the communist form of government and communist ideology.

I also enjoyed very much the debates in the parliament which were broadcast on BBS. I remember U Nu was the first PM of modern day Burma to convene the Sixth Buddhist Synod.

On the day of the coup d'etat, when the soldiers came to take him into custody, he came out with his vest and asked, &quot;Boh Ne Win yaw par lar&quot;. He was in fact asking whether General Ne Win was one of those who were taken into custody on that day. Don't ask me how I know, just believe that &quot;a little birdie told me&quot;. Poor U Nu, he did not know who had staged that coup d'etat on that 2nd of Marh 1962.

I was in a class that morning and I had great admiration for General Ne Win. He was Chief of Staff at that time and he looked very charistmatic and handsome and he was not short. He had a good height. I said to myself, &quot;well I hope the Military government will clean up all the mess that the U Nu government had created. I remember at that time, U Nu was creating all sorts of commissions to take care of this problem and that problem and he used to tell the nation, &quot;pyat thanar baung thaung chauk htaung&quot;. (16000 problems in English). Then the Nation came out with a very funny cartoon where U Nu was saying &quot;Oh then form a committee to clean up all the mess&quot;. By that he meant, form a committee or commission to clean up all the mess created by the earlier committees.

So our first attempt at practising parliamentary democracy ended on that fateful day, 2 March 1962.

How was our Foreign Policy at that time. Well U Nu had good relations with China, USA, India, all the members of the Bandung Conference and he got along very well with PM Chou En Lai of China. Of course the US did not like that. They wanted Burma to be their follower like Thailand. We refused to join SEATO (South East Asia Treatry Organization) which was formed by the US and its allies to counter Chinese expansion. Burma stayed neutral and our foreign policy was called &quot;a policy of strict neutrality&quot;. Burma was one of the key players in the movement for Afro-Asain solidarity and the Non-Aligned Movement. U Nu, Chou En Lai and Tito became household words during those days.

I am not saying that there was no corruption during those times. There were many rumours going on about this man or that woman selling off their export licences.

However, the economic situation was not bad and the price of a good cotton longyi was Kyats 11 and you can buy si kyet khaul swe for One Kyat. Those were the days. If I say this much I guess you will understand what I think of U Nu's administration.

The most importatn weak point of U Nu was that he trusted General Ne Win too much. That was his down fall.

Now what about General Ne Win. His intentions were good but he also did not get good feedback from the BSPP leaders. They all tried to paint a rosy picture about the economy until it was too late. I am not saying that he was a man without any faults. However, he was man enough to say that I will retire and he did retire. He was so emotional on the day he spoke on TV to the nation that he had to call U Htwe Han to read his resignation statement.

What about his foreign policy? I think it was a big success as Burma had the ability to maneuver in any way she liked although the US and its allies did not like the way General Ne Win nationalized all foreign companies, especially the BOC - Burma Oil Company.

In my view, the UK still wants Burma to be under their thumb. The US for strategic reasons wants Burma to have the trappings of democracy so that all the American companies can do what they want not only in Burma but in all of Asia.
So enter the Dragon. Because of the rise of China, politically, economically, militarily and in the area of international relations, the US Eagle cannot do what it wished in the Asian region.

Many experts in the field of International Relations have writen many books and articles saying that the US policy towards China was wrong and that the US foreign policy towards Burma was also wrong. It is still wrong.

When I write things about Myanmar leaders past or present, I do not look at Myanmar only but do my analysis from the point of view of the whole world.

There is no such thing as a perfect leader. Leaders are also human beings like us so they too have human failings. Every leader in Myanmar or in the world has their good points and weaknesses.

That is why I have said before:

&quot;My country right or wrong.

If right to support it.

If wrong to correct it.&quot;

So the reason you and I are discussing on this very important forum is not to insult each other or to show off who has read how many books.

My purpose in writing the things I am writing today is to find a way out of this unpleasant and dangerous situation.

General Ne Win once said, &quot;the strength of the nation lies within its borders&quot;. I support that statement.

All Myanmar nationals and citizens should settle this political impasse with good intentions, cetena and with the interest of the nation at heart. All other things are secondary.

If we do not have the deep desire to achieve national unity, no outsider, not even the UN can help us.

We will all have to pay for our own actions, good or bad.

That is why I am calling for national unity and reconciliaiton.

It is not a dream, Mr. Thunderbolt.

It is doable and achievable if there is a will in all our hearts.

Like the song in the Broadway play &quot;South Pacific&quot; sung by Bloody Mary:

&quot;You must have a dream. If you don't have a dream.

How you gonna make your dream come true&quot;.

Nice talking to you.

Km

p.s. By the way I read U Kala Yazawin, Konebaung Set Mahayasawin, The Glass Palace Chronicle translated by Professor Luce and Prof U Pe Maung Tin, Aung San of Burma by Dr. Maung Maung, General Ne Win by Dr. Maung Maung, The River of Lost Footsteps by Thant Myint Oo, Foreign Policy of Burma by Professor William C. Johnstone etc., etc. (This is just a sampling to give you an idea of what books I have read.)

This is not to boast but for the benefit of the newer generation as they will inherit all the good and the bad after the older generation pass from the scene.

Dreaming good old days? Hmm? praising Ne Win and each other. Old military freaks,

Mingala Bar UKMyaing

I hope this letter will find you well, for the moment.

Before the main course, please take this as a starter. I asure you it is to your taste.

I would like to say something about LEADERS in Myanmar whoever they are . I would like to make it very clear. These leaders are not confined to Bo Gyoke Aung San and those who are gone with him, not confined to U Nu, U Ne Win, Dr Maung Maung , U Saw Maung or U Than Shwe. The leaders include those Shan, Chin, Kachin, Kayin , Kayah and Yakhine whether they are over ground or underground.

All these leaders are leaders of Myanmar at least they are the leaders of their own people their own group, their own organizations etc.

What all these leaders must have in their mind are what we all want which are justice, liberty and equality. Next three are “ peace, economy and democracy.” How will they achieve them, how will they get them and give those to the people.

If all leaders have these six in their mind for Myanmar , for the people of Myanmar then what are they doing and why are they doing? As you have said once, these are the million dollars question they themselves cannot answer.

But I will answer for free not for one cent or a penny, why, because they don’t want them they are afraid they will lost their position post, there will be noting to do, nothing to justify to what they want to do or what they are doing.

When US President Jimmy Carter advisor Peter Bourne visited U Khun Za’s MTA HQ in Homong he said “ I think there is a willingness of United States and else where to look at the drug issue on a completely different basis and version. I think also it is now very clear that what is happening here in Shan States is truly a legitimate independence movement in which the drug issue is really a subsidiary part.”

U Khun Za followed MR. Bourne advice and immediately declared the area under his control to be independent Shan Nation and himself as the President. You know the rest of the story. But what I want to point out is that U Khun Za was not a stupid fool or an idiot which later we found him as himself, the leader with the common sense.

Here , the surrender of a U Khun Za a MonTai leader or the man with the common sense has brought the said six “ justice, liberty, equality peace, economy and democracy in Mon Tai area Homong.

Here you can see what outside influence can do, good or bad.
If all other leaders are like U Khun Za, all Myanmars will be laughing, because any government of that time will be concentrate on how to improve their standard of living, their education , their health etc. etc.

Of course it also depends on how outsiders could help Myanmar. Myanmars are not baggers by nature, they are hard working people. If only they have works to do they will do it. Now they are sitting down idle. That is the root of problems in Myanmar, troubles in Myanmar.

Some NLD members have LA in brackets by their names. Which was not Los Angelis it was meant Liberated Area. Which area of Myanmar they have liberated I have no idea. Which people have they liberated I have no clues at all. Never mind about that.

What I am saying is if only all leaders, leaders in the government, leaders in the opposition , leaders in the armed groups. Leaders of the armed insurgents, leaders of the economic insurgents believe in these six with all their heart, then what more can I say.

Is their a personality conflict which is more than a clash going on in Myanmar, that we don‘t know? or do we? May be, because we ourselves are attacking either U Than Shwe or Ma Su Kyi.

In Myanmar society, personelity is so very important.

I will come back to you with other things later. Okey?

Thunderbolts<br><br>Post edited by: thunderbolts, at: 2008/01/29 11:45