Nemesis of Burmese Democracy Revolution - Maung Wate

[Source in Burmese]

Under the SLORC rules, a new breed of millionaires in Burma has sprung up. They are not only the business partners to the SLORC but also the closest allies of SLORC. Because of their illegal and monopolistic business practices, the Burmese Economy has been down the drain. They promoted and practices monopoly in every sector of Burmese economy and weed out any competitions by any means. In some market, competition has been forced out or blocked out of any business opportunities in Burmese Economy. Among them, a person name Maung Wate is famous for his unfair business practices. He is a 35 years old man with Chinese ancestry. Usually his business and companies control most construction projects that government has in its pipe lines. He has been rewarded with those big government construction projects because he has bribed a tremendous amount of money to General Than Shwe and its followers. Not only that he also bribed or brown-nose all the family members including sons and daughters of the SLORC generals.

No business men or women in Burma have a chance to do business like Maung Wate.. In Burma, no one can freely trade or perform any business activities within Burma. Let alone overseas. There is no freedom of information towards business opportunities. No one can bid any government grant construction, renovation or trading except their closet allies. Only a small group of people such as Maung Wate who is closely related to Than Shwe, Maung Aye and Shwe man has this opportunity of getting government contracts and grants.

Parents of Maung Wate earn a modest living by selling and trading tea leaves business near the Downtown Rangoon. Maung Wate is also an armature golfer. Because of his golfing ability, he taught golfing lessons to middle age men who wanted to climb upward in social ladder by expanding their social network. That is the very reason Maung Wate got a foot in the business door by getting to know a lot of people. At first he was awarded to become the only person who can import cooking oil to Burma. Later he also imported steel and iron to Burma by partnering with one Indonesia Company. He was sued by that very company for failing to return profits and loans to the company that produced iron and steel.

But in the end, the Indonesian company has lost that case because Maung Wate is a close allies of SLORC and also he has bribed tremendously to them. Therefore some Indonesian Businessmen has threatened Maung Wate’s life and his family for embezzling their profits and money. They even told him that he will be killed instantly as soon as he set his foot in any of the South East Asian Countries. In business circle, he was known for his cut throat and back stabbing business behavior.

Maung Wate has owned numerous real estates and properties in Rangoon. His most famous and grandiose real estate is the custom built homes and luxury condominiums near the corner of Pyi Road and Par Ra Mi Street. This place has been formerly known as quarters for flight attendants and pilots. Not only that, he was rewarded with places near the Hlaing University Campus. His properties near the Pyi Road have the market value of USD one million as the starting price. In addition to that, the house near the Liberty hotel has market price of USD 4 millions even though it is an old house. Now you can imagine how much money Maung Wate has by doing business with SLORC.

All of his houses and properties have been renovated with foreign interior designers and architects and used the state of the art modern technology and parts. He also built luxury homes for the daughters of the generals in his property. The houses that he built have better quality than the one U Tay Za has built. Therefore, his supply of new homes can’t keep up with the huge public demand. He also made a huge amount of profits by getting the biggest construction project near a town called Kyat Pyay near Pyin Ma Nar city. Because of his ability to maintain good relation with Generals by bribing, he was awarded almost all the government contracts along with Shwe Than Lwin Kyaw Win, Ye Ta Khun and Tay Zar.

The wife of General Than Shwe, Daw Khaing Khaing, is in favor of Maung Wate to be her son in law because of his business minded ability and bachelor status. But their vision was not really fast comparing with Maung Wate’s. He managed to get away from this trap by marrying someone whom he really liked as fast as he could. For him to get the special treatments from SLORC and their family, he has to bribe a lot of money. In addition to that, he ordered diamonds from overseas to give as a wedding gift for Than Shwe’s obese daughter. The other form of bribing that he did for the General was in the form of entertainment by building stages during Burmese Water Festivals. He built big stages to house people to throw water, sing and dance. It was primarily for the sons and daughters of SLORC. In those stages, they can get anything from drugs, call girls who are models and alcohol. It was an impromptu drug distribution network during the Water Festival. Not only he uses drugs for himself but also makes them readily available to anyone who needs it.

The cost of the entertainment for General’s sons by building stages and supplying them with drugs were in USD 100K or more. To get more traffic and promotions during water festivals, he built those stages in Rangoon and Mandalay under his close supervision. In this way, he has gained a multitude of wealth that no ordinary person can envision.

For one country to change its political system, business entrepreneurs and middle class play a vital role in this process. The American Revolution has started by a handful of business and middle class people. Also the fight for Burmese Independence from British and Japan was led by a handful of educated middle class Burmese. But now under the SLORC’s rule, the business people like Maung Wate and Zaw Zaw have created a whole new generation of despicable business men. Because of their low moral and ethics standard in Business practices and dealings, their mindsets are not ready for Democracy in Burma. Not only that but they also impose themselves as a barrier towards Burmese Democracy.

Drugs, Prostitution, gambling has caused the low morals among themselves and Burmese nationals. Therefore if we carefully study their so called, self proclaimed successful life we will see that,

* They lack an ability to lead or think for themselves. No leadership ability.
* They perform unfair or near monopolistic business behavior.
* They gain wealth by giving illegal money laundering or bribing. (The main obstacles against free and competitive market under democratic rule.)
* They are the main cause of destroying people morals and ethics.

That is the reason why they are the nemesis of the Burmese Democracy Revolution.