BNyein-OPINIUM-My 2c

Dear All, It is good to air our grievances in a Democracy since the so called elite groups had had a free ride for a long time. We all have the rights to speak out because all these funds are collected in the name of the country and the people. There are good and bad, as some of us misunderstand the meaning of democracy and freedom of speech, so there are some who will hide behind the curtain using fake or pseudo names making personal attacks and some village idiots who want to make a name by stepping on others. If we truly believe in democracy, we must possess thick skin and ignore these noises, knowing they are just trash and nothing more. If I can chime in with my 2c: We all are experiencing frustration because there are no tangible results, both inside and outside the country, as the military junta marched on with its 7 steps roadmap plan and we feel helpless. I think we need to look at the root cause of our failure and where we went wrong? (1) We are asking from the military junta instead of fighting? NLD policy is solving National solution thru “dialogue”.Since military junta goal is not to serve the country but to maintain their hold on to power, we must ask why would they come to the table for “dialogue”? So there must be a mechanism to move or even drag them to the table.(1) to pressure them thru economic sanctions(2) to pressure them thru people power or national uprising. NLD chose the first route. General Than Shwe with General Khin Nyunt’s help derailed this pressure point by wooing China , India and ASEAN support (triangulation? ) (Question: what was NCGUB doing during these years and could not counter junta efforts?) In my view, Daw Suu believes in Non-Violence as her belief system but she had never stopped anyone from taking others strategies. Because many of us believe in hero-worshipping, we follow what we think is what Daw Suu wants. So many became non-violence believers and many of us lost interest in the second route. The failure of NLD is to recalibrate the strategy for the sanctions but instead keep marching to the same drumbeat. When the pressure mechanism like sanctions failed to bring the junta to the table and NLD keep asking for the ‘dialogue’, NLD becomes a lame duck at the mercy of SPDC. (Note: No di fferent for Constructive Engagement people. They will still be ‘asking’ and at the mercy of SPDC) (3) If we all had been smart, and chose to build the UG infrastructure we would now have a force to reckon with and most of us will be busy organizing and preparing to strike before 2010 election. But many of us chose the path of “elite politics”. NCGUB think they are the chosen ones to speak for the people and think a group of 5 people can change for the country. Many become experts on this and that. Even a wannabe and a village idiot can bombard the public with his 101 class level knowledge.Many of us got satisfied giving some interview here and there or shouting and screaming on the Internet.A few got recognized. Some got invitation from the White House and some got invitation from an African dictator. But in final analysis, our so called Burmese movement is nothing but thingyan cannon (သႀကၤန္အေျမာက္), just “voices”. We have not build any strong institutions to support UG movement inside the country because we abandoned to use people power uprising as a mechanism to pressure the military junta. We lost the only threat that SPDC will recognize. &n bsp; So from my prospective we are a FAILURE because:(1) we abandoned to rely on our own people and forces, ie UG(2) We pursue the ELITE POLITICS. In all honesty, I am also guilty although I had always promoted the second route because I am part of the whole. Let’s not forget that 2010 election is an attempt to delegitimize the 1990 election that gave legitimacy to NLD. If NLD becomes irrelevant as the junta wishes and plan to, we all will be lost, because we will lose a beacon. (please read: Daw Suu). There will always be professional politicians (read as lote-sar) and they will always find a way to survive. But there are many genuine people with sincere aim and cedana for the country. We must find a way to get all of us together to build a force and fight, rather than just “asking” from the military junta. Otherwise, “time” will win and we will all die, shouting and screaming and yelling at each other while new generations of generals will arise to enslave new generations of B urmese people. Please remember, the generals are using, “time” as a weapon in their strategy to suppress the opposition. My 2c Best BKN P.S. I am writing in English because I cannot type in Burmese fast enough.