A SAD TALE OF CORRUPTION

Not only is it SPDC's intention to be under Chinese rule, they are already under the shadow of China in many parts of their administrations. For instance, they favour economic trade with China, using China's power to defend themselves from Westerners.

SPDC are neglecting the needs of Shan people, and helping illegal Chinese immigrants by corruption that affects every city and township. Urban areas are becoming owned by Chinese after SPDC's poppy/drug erasing program from Northern Shan State rural areas, and many wealthy Chinese drug dealers have settled in urban areas, indirectly pushing many poor Shan people into suburban and rural areas.

In this program the SPDC order all houses and buildings near main roads in every township to be constructed or built using modern concrete building methods. If the owner is unable to build as they have ordered, it must be sold, or they must share their own land with those with money who will obey the SPDC's orders.

Because of the state of administration in Burma, with low wages and poor employment prospects, the authorities have become very corrupt. They practice corruption for their own survival, and human nature being what it is, their greediness leads to a great deal of corruption. Money has become the master of man instead of man being the master of money. Therefore, many of those in authority or administration can easily be bribed, and so there is a lot of illegal business, illegal behaviours, illegal immigrants, and all kinds of illegalities.

A true story:

One poor family, a small drug dealer who lives in a large village at the border was caught with some drugs in his house by a junior local policeman. At the time, the drug dealer appealed to the policeman not to be reported or charged to the office or jailed. He promised that he wouldn't do it anymore, and he agreed to let the police take his possessions from his house as he liked. The policeman took his possessions and money as he liked and went. Not long afterwards, the policeman came to his house again to take other things that he liked.

The man said " Sayar, I'm a good person now, I regret my crime and I thank you very much for excusing me, and I promise you again, I'll never ever do it again".

The police replied " I have already helped you, now you must listen to me and obey my order, if not so, you know what I can do, you will be caught every time, you know?"

And he (the policeman) took out a bag of heroin and told the man to sell it for him and the policeman knew well the current price of the drug.

His neighbour said that this pitiable small drug dealer was caught in the net and has to help the police sell the drug to this day, without any profit for himself but he cannot stop this work as it is the only way he can survive.

He is a pitiable man who is sinking in a lake of leeches, having to feed the leeches with his own blood until he dies.

This true story is about a small drug dealer in Shan State, but I think the bigger drug dealers in Burma will face the same fate caught in the net of corruption.

Feraya Nangmone