SPDC 'Comical Ali' no cause for mirth

The Nation
EDITORIAL


Published on December 9, 2007

Burmese information minister's ridiculous claims must not distract from the horrors he is trying to conceal
First there was the former Iraqi information minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, dubbed "Comical Ali" for his deadpan insistence that Iraqi forces were crushing the American invaders as Baghdad was about to fall. In recent days, Southeast Asia has witnessed the emergence of its own version of Comical Ali - Burmese Information Minister Kyaw Hsan of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the highest decision-making body in Burma's military-run state.

Late last week, Kyaw Hsan came close to shouting, "Reporters of Asean, unite!" According to the information minister, powerful Western nations were out to discredit his beloved regime by generating "biased information".

"Some powerful nations are misusing media as a weapon to interfere in the internal affairs of small nations [as well as to spread] biased information with negative views to tarnish the image of the country internationally," Kyaw Hsan was quoted as saying last week in the new administrative capital of Naypyitaw.

He was speaking at a meeting of the information subcommittee of Asean's Culture and Information Committee. Kyaw Hsan charged that international media had exaggerated the recent protests and harmed Burma's image, and described the recent demonstrations as "trivial". It was a sentiment that fell in line with the Burmese junta's decision earlier this week to kick out the UN's top resident diplomat, Charles Petrie, for portraying the junta negatively in a UN report.

On the same day that Kyaw Hsan was making his wild claims, Burma's state-run mouthpiece, The New Light of Myanmar, reported the destruction of some 28.3 hectares of opium fields in Shan State and the arrests of eight people in a recent joint operation of police and army counter-narcotics squads. Considering the fact that the size of the field constituted 10 per cent of the total plantation area destroyed this past poppy-growing season, the operation was sizeable indeed.

But what The New Light of Myanmar didn't say was that, according to the UN's Office on Drug and Crime, this past growing season saw Burma's cultivating areas increase by 29 per cent and opium cultivation was up by 46 per cent as a result of the higher yield. It also neglected to mention the fact that Burma continues to house some of the world's most notorious drug lords on its soil, or the fact that many of opium warlords have switched to producing methamphetamines and other illicit drugs.

Like Thailand in the aftermath of the September 2006 coup, Burma was in desperate need of good and constructive news - of the type that would counter the so-called "biased information" coming out against Burma - especially after the country was roundly condemned by the world for its treatment of peaceful demonstrators led by Buddhist monks. Unfortunately, Kyaw Hsan's plea for Asean reporters to come to Burma's rescue and the story about the raiding of the opium planting did not do much to win Burma the favour of the international community. Kyaw Hsan drawing comparisons with his Iraqi counterpart and becoming a celebrity also did not help.

Al-Sahhaf became a cult figure and the subject of a line of top-selling T-shirts as a result of his ridiculous rants. One of his more outrageous outbursts came as United States forces were taking over Baghdad's airport: "They are nowhere near the airport, they are lost in the desert ... They cannot read a compass. .. They are retarded."

A dance track sampling some of his more colourful phrases was even released and US President George W Bush admitted that he was a fan. The world adored Comical Ali's trademark beret and smile and gave him a break. Unfortunately for Kyaw Hsan and the SPDC, the world cannot do the same and must not do the same.

Too often we hear members of Asean argue that lecturing Burma or anybody else in this region about human-rights issues would be akin to aggravating the imperialism of previous centuries with the cultural imperialism of the present. But should past mistakes be a reason to avoid tending to human-rights issues today?

Asean risks becoming Rangoon's backup singers if the grouping chooses to sit idly by and do nothing about the ongoing bloody crackdown in Burma.

Perhaps information minister Kyaw Hsan should try speaking the truth. It may not get him a record contract, but it could set him free.