Taiwan's Myanmarese expatriate community has reacted with shock to their government's announcement Monday that it was moving the capital from Yangon to Pyinmana, with speculation rife here that the military regime is acting on astrologers' advice.
"This is crazy. Pyinmana has nothing to boast of. To move the capital to Pyinmana is unthinkable. Imagine the difficulty in rebuilding a capital, let alone the cost!" said U King, 65, a former Yangon lawyer.
U King rejected speculation that the relocation of the capital is to avoid a US seaborne attack similar to that of Iraq.
Like many of his 100,000-strong compatriots in Taipei, U King has a more mystical explanation.
"Myanmar leaders might have sought astrologers' advice and believe the move can improve Myanmar's feng shui [the Chinese belief in energy flows depending on wind and water] of Myanmar" U King said.
"Myanmar leaders are strong believers in feng shui. When Ne Win ruled Myanmar [from the 1960s to the 1980s], he considered relocating the capital for the sake of feng shui," U King said.
U King's views are shared by many other Myanmarese expatriates in Taiwan -- many of them of Chinese descent -- who have emigrated to Taiwan to seek a better life.
Agga Wan Tha, 58, a Buddhist monk in charge of the Therevada Dharma Vihara temple in Chungli (中壢) said the decision to move the capital could be the idea of only a handful of Myanmar leaders.
"Myanmar is run by a military dictatorship. Whatever they say, their subordinates must obey," he said by phone.
"I believe they sought astrologers' advice. Astrology plays an important role in Myanmar politics," the monk said.
"The government has appointed a committee of astrologers who help draft policies and decide on what date a festival is held," he said.
However, U Soe Hla, 67, a former teacher of zoology at the Mandalay University, supports moving the capital to central Myanmar because it is easier for the government to rule the country and develop the economy.
U Soe Hla is the honorary seceretary-general of the Myanmar Expatriates' Association in Taiwan.
Myanmar made the surprise announcement on Monday that it will move the capital from Yangon, capital since Myanmar's independence from Britain in 1948, to Pyinmana.
Information Minister Kyaw Hsan said the move was prompted by a changed situation.
"Pyinmana has become the most appropriate place for the seat of a new city" due to improved communications and transportation systems, he said.
Nine ministries have begun moving to Pyinmana which lies 320km north of Yangon, and the other ministries will follow suit.
Although Myanmar has kept relocation of the capital a secret, some people in among the expatriate community heard about it several months ago.
"I heard it from a friend whose brother-in-law works in the Myanmar government. He said the government planned to move only the important ministries to Pyinmana, and let the less important government units and foreign embassies remain in Yangon," U Kyi Win, 68, said.
He was a high school teacher in Yangon but has been doing business in Taiwan for 23 years.
News that the junta was planning the move first appeared in newspapers in Bangkok and Hong Kong a few months ago.
For instance, Larry Jagan, a Bangkok-based British freelance journalist, in an article carried by the South China Morning Post and the Bangkok Post on July 22, reported that "nervous junta plans to head for the hills," claiming massive construction had been underway for several years.
Government buildings, mansions for officials, national headquarters for ethnic groups, an airport, a hospital, a golf course as well as bunkers and tunnels were being built.
Jagan said the construction of the new capital had been delayed due to shortage of cement and timber. The junta did not want to import construction materials because it wanted to keep its plan a secret.
When Jagan's article appeared on the Internet, many people thought the Myanmar leaders were crazy.
"Nutters always live in fear and jump at shadows. It's what they do best," one reader wrote.
Another reader wrote: "Nobody has been interested in Burma since the Brits left after World War II. Who are these guys worried about?"
The US and other Western nations have not made military threats to Myanmar. They have only imposed sanctions on Myanmar to force it to stop abusing human rights and release pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest most of the past 16 years.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
RSS