Htet, arrogant son of Burmese Tay Za, enjoying in Singapore

Htet, the arrogant son of Burmese businessman Tay Za, really knows how to enjoy his life while millions of people of Burma suffer back home. Tay Za’s son is currently attending school at Singapore’s United World College of South East Asia. The following article was reproduced from The First Post, UK:

While Burma’s wealthiest tycoon, Tay Za, tries to protect his millions from US-led efforts to destroy his business empire, his 19-year-old son Htet Tay Za is living it up in Singapore and has sent an arrogant email to friends - accompanied by photos of him partying with pretty girls - saying: "US bans us. We're still f---ing cool in Singapore."

The email, which is believed to be genuine, continues: "We're sitting on the whole Burmese GDP. We've got timber, gems and gas to be sold to other countries like Singapore, China, India and Russia.

"My brother is rocking on his red brand-new Lamborghini with hot sexy Western chicks... and I need another Ferrari to rock on."

A former schoolfriend said: "The email seems to be genuine. That's his style. He's an arrogant bastard. The pictures of him partying are certainly genuine and recent."

Htet Tay Za attends one of Singapore's most expensive schools, the United World College of South East Asia, but it's not clear whether his famous father will be able to afford the fees much longer as sanctions on Burma's business leaders begin to bite.

Tay Za's airline, Bagan Air, is reported to be in deep trouble. Local Burmese are boycotting its services because of Tay Za's close links with the hated junta.

Also see "Myanmar's generals hit where it hurts".

Burma tycoon Tay Za denounces US sanctions

Flamboyant Myanmar tycoon Tay Za Monday denounced US sanctions against his airline and other firms which he said would only hurt the people of the impoverished nation of Southeast Asia. US President George W. Bush last month ordered sanctions against seven companies with ties to Myanmar's ruling junta.

Tay Za's Air Bagan was among seven firms blacklisted to pile more pressure on the regime after its bloody suppression of pro-democracy protests in September which left 13 dead and thousands locked up. "I hereby condemn the sanctions which were recklessly imposed and only hurt the people of Myanmar," Tay Za told officials, staff and businessmen in a speech for celebrations to mark Air Bagan's third anniversary.

"The sanctions are misguided and unfair. Air Bagan Ltd is a legally constituted company with funds earned through 100 percent legitimate means," he said. "No government officials or party outside Htoo Group of companies owns any shares in Air Bagan."

The charismatic tycoon, who was said to be close to members of the ruling junta, also denied he was the son-in-law of one of the ruling generals. "There had been allegations that I am the son-in-law of one of the senior members of the state. It is totally untrue and I categorically and utterly refute these allegations," he said.

He also said his airline was not involved in any criminal activities. "The capital of Air Bagan is not related in any way with such business as drug trafficking, arms sales and money laundering but comes from the earnings of Htoo Group of companies through our legitimate business," he said.

Tay Za however admitted that the airline was facing problems because of the sanctions. "Air Bagan Ltd ... is facing a myriad of problems because of wrongful sanctions imposed by the US administration. Due to restrictions on banking facilities, Air Bagan is encountering operational difficulties," he said.

"Under the circumstances, Air Bagan's Singapore flights have been suspended." Air Bagan had announced from November 4 it would suspend its Singapore service, which was only launched in September.

"It is apparent that the US sanctions will mainly impact on the working population," he said, adding that they would affect the 14,000 employees of Htoo Group companies and Air Bagan. "We shall tackle the sanctions by fair and rightful means, carry on with our second five-year plan and forge ahead in the private sector for the economic development of Myanmar together with the state," he said.

Myanmar-watchers say Tay Za, 43, is also involved in tourism, infrastructure projects, mobile telephone services and was involved in the government's purchase of helicopters from Russia.

The article was obtained from MSN News

UN's Gambari fails to impress Burma Junta

On his second visit to Burma since the brutal crackdown on demonstrators, in September, United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari held talks with senior members of the Burmese military regime. But there are few signs of a breakthrough in encouraging a transition to civilian rule.

Gambari’s task was fraught by the fact that on the eve of his arrival in Rangoon, the country’s largest city, on Saturday, the junta announced the expulsion of Charles Petrie, the U.N.’s top diplomat in that country, for activities that were deemed ‘inappropriate.’

“The government’s announcement that the U.N. resident coordinator Petrie is to be expelled, is clearly a deliberate attempt by the Burmese regime to sabotage Gambari’s visit,” a western diplomat in Bangkok who deals with Burma told IPS.

And now, although he has held meetings with the top brass of the military in the capital of Naypyitaw — some 400 km north of Rangoon — Gambari has been told to cut short his mission by one day and leave on Wednesday.

In fact, there are clear signals that the generals are not in the least interested in the international community’s efforts to encourage democratic change and are intent on introducing a political system that will consolidate the military’s power in the future.

Burma (also known as Myanmar) has been ruled by the military since 1962. The U.N. and international human rights organisations have charged the regime with widespread and systematic human rights violations, including torture, summary executions and the use of child soldiers.

Before flying to Naypyitaw, Gambari was briefed in Rangoon by Petrie who advised him to concentrate on his primary aims, and not be side-tracked by the regime’s decision to declare him persona non-grata, according to U.N. sources.

Gambari had also discussed his mission with U.N. secretary-general Ban Ki Moon in the Turkish capital of Istanbul on Friday. He was asked to tell Burma’s leaders that the U.N. regards their actions as totally unacceptable, according to U.N. officials.

But Gambari would have found it hard to ignore the junta’s accusation that Petrie went beyond his duties by criticising the regime’s failure to meet the economic and humanitarian needs of its people, and by saying this was the cause of September’s mass pro-democracy protests. “The Senior General and his hard-line supporters have no intentions of including Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD (National League for Democracy) in talks about Burma’s political future. They are pressing on with their own road map and are not interested in having any U.N. involvement. The latest ploy is intended to sidetrack Gambari, because they are not prepared to make any concessions,” he said.

Burma’s military rulers had originally invited the U.N. envoy to return to the country in the latter part of November because that fitted neatly into their plans. They wanted to finish drafting the new constitution which effectively legitimised their grasp on political power, and have the Asian leaders summit, in Singapore in two weeks time, endorse it.

A referendum on the new constitution would then be set for early next year, according to a senior Burmese government official. This would allow the regime to provide the U.N. envoy with a fait accompli which would prevent any concessions being made to Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD. “The only issue open for discussion then would be whether the pro-democracy parties and ethnic groups would oppose the constitution at the planned referendum,” said an Asian diplomat based in Rangoon.

But intense behind-the-scenes diplomatic pressure from Beijing convinced the regime to bring the visit forward. “The Chinese authorities told their ally that if Beijing was to be able to continue to protect them in the U.N. Security Council then they had to show some progress — and an early return visit by Gambari was essential,” the Chiang Mai-based Burmese academic Win Min told IPS.

Much is riding on Gambari’s efforts to get the two sides to talk. His visit is critical if there is to be progress in Burma, Singapore and Indonesia’s foreign ministers told journalists at a press conference in Singapore, last week.

“I hope that Myanmar (Burma) can look at the positive examples in many countries and move decisively towards national reconciliation and engage in a serious dialogue with Aung San Syu Kyi, the NLD and all the other parties, and move forward,” said Singapore’s foreign minister George Yeo.

“The key here is strengthening Gambari’s hand and giving him a strong set of cards so that he do his good work in Myanmar, be a good mediator, catalyse the process which should bring the country forward,” the minister added.

The two foreign ministers — Yeo and Indonesia’s Hassan Wirayuda — both met Gambari last week while he was in Singapore waiting to finalise his visit to Burma.

“While we don’t expect too much to come from it, it does give the junta a way out if they are interested in finding an inclusive solution to their economic and political problems,” said a Rangoon-based diplomat.

At this stage it is unclear whether he will be allowed to meet Aung San Suu Kyi on his return to Rangoon, but it is almost certain he will be seeing her at least once, according to U.N. officials in Burma. He will also be meeting other representative of the pro-democracy movement, including executive members of the NLD, and ethnic leaders.

For almost two decades the U.N. has attempted to help bring about national reconciliation in Burma. During that time the junta has made minor concessions, occasionally releasing Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest and freeing political prisoners. Now the U.N. envoy is desperately trying to strengthen the process.

Gambari’s mission is to promote “democratic measures by the Myanmar government, including the release of all detained students and demonstrators,” Ban Ki Moon said last week. “Our goal is that he will facilitate this dialogue between the government and opposition leaders,” he added.

But there is little evidence that Gambari is going to be any more successful on this trip than his previous visits to Burma. “The hardliners have strengthened their control on power and are in no mood to include Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD in the process,” Win Min told IPS.

The above news was obtained from www.burmanet.org

Burmese Sanction Unnecessary?

CNN's interview with PM Lee was aired on Friday evening but I was unhappy with PM Lee's answers to the questions on whether Singapore is a money laundering centre for members of Burmese junta and on whether Singapore should have more concrete actions other than just issuing statements. I will quote the interview reported by Reuters and Channelnewsasia.

If you have read through the whole article on both news providers, you might notice quotes by PM Lee like "dirty money and money laundering" were not published in the CNA article. I feel it might be an intentional effort by our news provider to prevent Singaporeans from questioning the government on this aspect probably because recently Singapore has had some hard time with Indonesia and the international media on the allegations of corrupt Indonesians running off to Singapore and parking their illegal money into our banks because of Singapore's strict bank secrecy laws which could make it convenient for money laundering activities to take place.

"Secondly, if you want to have sanctions, it cannot just be Singapore or even ASEAN, but all of the countries in the world have to do that, and that includes the Western countries, investors in Myanmar and its neighbours like China with big stake in Myanmar."

It is, of course, wonderful if all countries with economic ties with the regime could come together and agree on a trade sanction. Although calling for a total trade sanction against Burma may indeed be counter-productive, PM Lee does not seem to understand that, in the current situation, the junta leaders and their cronies seemed to be benefitting themselves more rather than benefitting the general population. Why, then should these countries continue to enrich the Burma dictators and help them to strengthen their grip on power? Cripple the military government by restricting exports of critical supplies (such as arms and telecommunication devices) necessary for the survival of their army and their stranglehold on the Burmese society. So it is wrong for PM Lee to say trade sanctions are useless but he should, instead, initiate talks with China and India for more real actions as suggested.

And I wonder if he would still say the same thing if there were Singaporeans killed during the crackdown? Is he still going to ignore the atrocities by the junta?