Report: Alliance for Reform and Democracy in Asia: Conference on Burma: How Asians Can Help
The welcome meeting on 7 December commenced at about 10 am with welcome remarks by Dr Chee Soon Juan, Secretary General of Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) and Chairman of Alliance for Reform and Democracy in Asia (ARDA) and introduction of SDP members present.
Our guests from overseas include Tsai Ming Dan representing Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD) , which is a non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of democracy and human rights in Taiwan and abroad.
Other guests who were at the morning discussion includes Malaysia’s Parti Keadilan vice-president Tian Chua and Alternative Asean Network on Burma (Altsean) representative, Debbie Stothard.
After a brief introduction from Dr Chee on ARDA and Singapore’s involvement with the Burmese military government, Debbie went on to provide more details about the country’s current political and social climate; which despite sanctions from U.S., disapproval and actions from the international community, seems to be going nowhere. The group discussion also includes specific ideas on how ARDA can strategise and mobilise effective resources towards democratizing Burma.
Lunch is served at New Shanghai, King’s Plaza. After the break, we proceed to King Copthorne for further discussion before a media conference at 4 pm. A public forum was originally scheduled in place of the discussion but the permit was denied by the police with reason given as “contrary to the public interest”.
The press conference was attended by a small group of local and foreign press including Associated Press, Channel I, and Today (of which they publish an article the next day – a gesture of token free speech).
At the press conference, Dr Chee highlighted the importance of having a public forum. He reiterated that Singaporeans need to know about our government’s alleged business dealings with the Burmese military government, State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), which is repressing democratic reforms within the country.
He also highlighted money laundering, drug trade and increasing AIDS infection in Myanmar as issues that could affect the region.
Tian Chua and Debbie Stothard also commented on the Burmese situation and denounced the military government and ASEAN’s effort to liberalize the countries, which are cosmetic at best.
Debbie mentioned the “7 point road map” which was proposed by Burmese Prime Minister, Gen Khin Nyunt; supposedly leading to democracy in Burma as a hoax. The road map is criticised for having no time frame; lacking in commitment to conduct dialogue with ethnic minorities; and has among drug lords among members within the convention. The road map which has broken down many times since discussed in 1991, has been in suspension since 1996.
Sam Rainsy who arrived in time for the press conference because of a late flight, was surprised at the ban and quipped that Singapore is not an “open” country as he thought it appears.
ARDA ended the press conference by announcing that they would reconvene for another meeting the next day and would release an official statement on how it would help to alleviate the situation in Burma.
Typical of local media, nothing was mentioned about the event with the exception of TODAY, which ran a short article missing out sore points that would antagonize the government.
If the paper is afraid allegations are untrue, they should have contacted the relevant government bodies to verify facts.
The event proves once again that despite governmental efforts of “opening up” and “duopolising” the media industry, the players continue practising self – censorship to avoid confronting the powers to be; and in the process, lacks the will and power to demand transparency and accountability from the authorities.
ARDA was formed after a Declaration of unity at the Asia Regional Good Governance Conference held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on 5 August 2000. The main purpose of the alliance is to promote democracy, human rights, and good governance in Asia with members pledging their mutual support and assistance, particularly during times of political crises.
Altsean focuses on mainly exposing human rights violations in Burma and publishes promotional and briefing materials to support the cause. It publishes a quarterly report card on the situation of the country which are downloadable on its homepage.
Relevant Links:
ARDA: http://www.asiademocracy.org/index.html
Altsean: http://www.altsean.org/
