Q: At this busy and critical time, you must be exhausted both inbody and in mind from having to answer all these questions. Please lookafter yourself, since your well-being is so important to the people ofour country.
A: I am very grateful for your kind concern,and I will be very careful with myself because of the respect I havefor the kindness shown by everyone who is concerned for me. I am veryencouraged by the support that all of you have shown. I think I neednot emphasize to you that we will achieve quick success because of thesupport that all of you have given to me.
Q: I would like toknow, are the persons who are responsible for your safety providing youwith air-tight security, both day and night? I would also like to askwhether they are taking good care of your health. As a loyal citizenof our country, I am willing to perform whatever duties you wish me tocarry out. Lastly, please pass on to the people of Burma some words ofencouragement—that they should not despair, as we will always be hereto support them.
A: I am very happy to know that you willalways be supporting us. I enjoy listening to your songs on the radioevery now and then [the questioner is a well-known Burmese singer]. Iwould like to say that those who look after my safety are providing mewith a very tight security system. Please do not worry. As for myhealth, Dr. Tin Myo Win and Dr. Pyone Maw Ei, who have taken care of mefor many years, will continue to do so. Please don’t worry about thateither.
As for us, we would like to give not just you, buteveryone, duties to carry out. Everyone should combine their effortsfor the development of our country. Please believe that everyone hasthe ability to work. And with that in mind, please help and support usin our work. Let me say that if we are indeed encouraged just by wordsof support, imagine how much more encouragement we will feel if yousupport us through your actions. That by itself will enable us to workmuch harder for the development of our country.
Q: All of usethnic nationalities welcome and support the 21st century Panglongconference that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been talking about. What arethe problems you face as make plans for the conference? How can all themedia groups, including the SHAN [Shan Herald Agency for News], supportand help with your plans? Also, I would like to know what role thevarious armed cease-fire groups in many of the country’s states willplay, and how all this will be coordinated.
A: I am veryencouraged by the fact that the ethnic nationalities welcome andsupport and will work together to help with the 21st century, or“second,” Panglong conference. The most difficult aspect of planningthis conference is that its purpose is misunderstood. There are somewho think that the aim of this second conference is confrontation, andthat it will be dangerous. But our objective is to bring about nationalreconciliation and an end to internal conflicts, to arrive at a properunderstanding of the concept of Union, and to inculcate a strong senseof the Union spirit.
It will be a big help to us if the mediagroups, including the SHAN, will explain all this to the people so thatthey understand the true meaning of the conference. This will help usto overcome the misunderstanding that seems to exist. As we would likeall of the ethnic nationalities to be steadfast members of the Union, Iwould like to request the armed cease-fire groups to help byparticipating with trust in the 21st century Panglong conference sothat it may be convened successfully.
Q: Are effortscontinuing to convene the tri-party negotiations [among the junta, thedemocratic opposition, and the ethnic groups] to resolve Burma’spolitical problems? And will those efforts include everyone?
A: We are always happy to hear that the ethnic nationals welcome andsupport us. As we continue to believe that the participation of theethnic nationalities in these negotiations is essential for ourcountry, we will continue to work toward that end. We will neverproceed by leaving the ethnic nationalities behind. In a Union, it willnot be possible to find a political solution without the ethnicnationalities. We want you to believe that we are working as quickly aspossible toward a scenario where everyone participates as much aspossible. I would like to request here that everyone work together tohelp us bring this about.
Q: I am happy to hear that you areworking toward reconvening the Panglong conference in Burma. I waswondering if you could create a work plan for this so that the ethnicnationality groups and those working on Burma affairs abroad, as wellas all of the people in Burma, can work together on this.
A: As I mentioned earlier, the best hope for the success of the secondPanglong conference will be for everyone to work together to overcomemisunderstandings about the conference. We want everyone to help sothat everyone understands clearly that the second, or 21st century,Panglong conference is not being convened with a view to confrontation,but rather to assist in national reconciliation efforts.
Let mesay here that it will be a really great help to us if the Burmesepeople and the ethnic nationalities living abroad can put their effortstogether so that our people understand what it means to have a federalsystem, so that they will not be afraid of it, and so that they willunderstand the meaning of Union and give rise to the spirit of Union.