This latest trip was made primarily to attend the 5th meeting of the Committee for Shan State Unity (CSSU) which was jointly formed in October 2013 by the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA), Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP) and Shan State Joint Action Committee (SSJAC) as well as several Shan CSOs.
The SSJAC itself is an alliance of Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNDP), Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA) and Shan People’s Militia Force-Hseng Keow.
Day One. Wednesday, 2 March 2016.
Each of us is a God.
Each of us knows all.
We need only to open our minds to hear our own wisdom.
(Attributed to The Buddha)
For the second time since January, the airways official is having trouble trying to find my name on her set. The first time it was when I was checking in for the trip to Switzerland. It took them some 40 minutes to access my name. It wasn’t that way before the Thai airport administration changed its system a few months ago. On the contrary, it was as fast as checking other normal passports.
Mine is a different matter. I hold a Traveling Document for Aliens issued by the Passport Division in Bangkok. The T.A.says my nationality is XXA (sounds dangerously like SSA, doesn’t it?), which I was told means a stateless person. Well, I suppose it isn’t quite reassuring to the country I’m going, that I’m likely to jump ship there at my age, is it?
Anyway, she politely informs me to wait and goes up to the Immigration office upstairs to check. She is back in a few minutes, which indicates it hasn’t any problem with me going out of the country. She then calls up what I think is Suvarnabhumi in Bangkok. Takes her another while to decide my document is in order and she then issues me a boarding pass. The whole process takes her half an hour and I thank her for her time and trouble. Luckily there’s another counter to take care of other passengers.
After going up and through the immigration to the departure lounge, I run into a young old friend Sai Hsai Wan and his family. He’s taking them to visit his parents, Sai Aung Tun and Nang Noom, in Yangon. Both of them used to be my teachers during my years in Taunggyi, 1962-68.
“Father’s being conferred Ambassador for Peace award by the World Peace Movement Trust in India on 5 March,” he says. “If you, Lay Lay (Uncle), can make yourself available, we’d like you to be there at the ceremony.”
Of course, I reply I hope so, though I’m not sure. Because the CSSU meeting is supposed to last until 5 March. Is it something like the Nobel? I ask. He doesn’t know.
At 12:00 Burma Standard Time, after less than an hour flight, we’re in Mingladon airport. Takes me another half an hour to get to the hotel Summit Parkview on Ah Lone Road.
At 14:45, I’m at the Myanmar Peace Center (MPC) on the Shweli Street. My host is U Hla Maung Shwe, who says he has arranged a meeting on the evening of 5 March for the CSSU leaders and Dr Tin Myo Win, designated as the deputy peace commissioner under The Lady, who’s also going to be “above the President.”
In the evening I’m visited by a childhood friend. “They say the NLD doesn’t have capable administrators and they will need people from the outgoing government to come and help,” he complains. “But aren’t they the same people who have since 1962 dragged the whole country down to become an LDC (Least Developed Country)?”
Well, I don’t think anyone’s going to argue he’s wrong, is there?
By SAI KHUENSAI / Director of Pyidaungsu Institute and Founder of Shan Herald Agency for News (S.H.A.N)
All views expressed are the author’s own
