缅甸风云：貌强：Capital Moves to Pyinmana, WHY?

Last week-end the military leaders suddenly began to relocate government offices and staff from Rangoon to the new compound in the jungle of Pyinmana.

In the first 9 ministries to move, including Foreign Affairs, Home, Commerce, Health, Transport and Communications.

The new Capital is 320 km north of Rangoon, surrounded by mountains and dense jungle.Construction of the compound has been going on for two years, but Government employees and related civilians were only told last Friday they were moving.

Some of our friends, civil servants, had tried to be married or engaged, anyhow were warned to be charged with treason if they sought to avoid the move or to resign from their jobs .

Most people speculated that the move was to secure operations from a possible U.S. military attack on Rangoon, which is strategically vulnerable on the shore of the Bay of Bengal. But people asked, "Do you think Burma is Irak? Has Burma so much petro oil as Irak to attract USA's attack? "

Diplomats and military experts have speculated that Pyinmana's central location will make the government better able to monitor the rebelling border regions,such as the ethnic peoples of Rakhine State and Chin State in the west and the north-west, Kachin State and Shan State in the north and the east, Karen State, Kaya State and Mon State in the east and the south-east.

General Sarki of the Karen National Union (KNU) agreed to this view.

"The Burma's army is quite decentralised anyway, and it is spread throughout Burma. Now they want to concentrate in Middle Burma and radiate from this new military opperation centre toward every direction." General Sarki, the master of Karen guerrilla warfare,told Sai Wansai and me, "it is a place suitable for guerilla warfare".

According to the inofficial city-plan kept by us, the new capital, which occupies 4.6 sq miles, includes homes for military leaders, diplomatic quarters, a people's parliamentary building, government buildings, mansions for officials, national headquarters for ethnic groups, an airport, a hospital, a golf course, bunkers and secret tunnels .

The construction has been delayed due to shortage of cement and timber. The junta does not want to import construction materials because it wants to keep its plan a secret.

Burma's Chinese community in Taiwan has reacted with shock to the news.

" To move the capital to Pyinmana is unthinkable and mystical. Imagine the difficulty in rebuilding a capital, let alone the cost!" they said.

They believe that the military regime is acting on Fengshui's advice.

" No, sirs ! ", I told them ,"Fengshui is the Chinese belief in energy flows depending on wind, water,mountains, geographic and surrounding situation which is related to Chinese Taoism and Taiji's Yin-Yang. This kind of Chinese native belief has in the history scarcely spread deeply inside Burma. Mandalay city-building is another case".

We know well, Burma's leaders, same as their Burmese kings, are strong believers in Theravada Buddhism and mystical Brahman astrologers. All the Burmese kings, though being Theravada Buddhist, consulted always with their Brahman astrologers, i.e. the Indian Brahman "white Huyar" and the Burmese Brahman "brown Huyar" for affairs of the state, the super nature and the royal family.

The successive military regimes have also their fortune-tellers, the mystical astrologers. Astrology plays an important role in the junta's politics. The junta has appointed a committee of astrologers to help draft policies and decide on what date a festival is held.

On 26 & 27 August Planet Mars was approaching Earth to the nearest point. The “royal”astrologer prognosticated General Than Swe that the ruler would meet catastrophe or somebody would usurp the throne. General Than Swe asked the fortune-teller in panic for advice. So the astrologer told him to ward off evil ("yeddayah chay" in Burmese) by spreading a rumour far and wide that (sale of ) millions of gold is out ("Than-ne-chi-Shwe-yaung-htwet-pyi" in Burmese) ,in other words, 'Than Shwe is out'.Than Shwe means in Burmese "millions of gold".

By this way the critical period would pass and the evil or the pretender would disappear, declared the “royal” astrologer.