Spend a vision with me: March 2021

This is my second blogpost on Myanmar, and since my first one, I spoke to a few people (within the phase 2 rules) and decided that I could share more information and give more opinions (what’s new?). But still, one of my running themes is that if enough of us, as individuals, put our money where our minds/mouths are, we can start affecting change.

1 What’s the big deal about specific army units?

One of the things that may surprise outsiders is why do local reports from Myanmar usually mention the army units in the different towns. This actually matters a lot.

From the beginning, on Feb 2 itself, troops moved into towns. These were troops that have been involved in regular fighting along the borders. For example the 33^rd light infantry, alleged to have been involved in operations in Rakhine (1); they are now in Mandalay (2)(3). The 77^th known for their behaviour in 2007 (4) was deployed to Yangon (5) Let me re-iterate, troops that have been involved in real fighting at the borders, have been moved into town centres. You can’t say the military did not plan properly; they know exactly what they are doing, and so do all other governments and international bodies.

2 Why are Singapore businesses being targeted?

There has been a campaign in Myanmar to boycott certain Singapore brands (6). Why is that so? Yangon is probably the city in Asia that I have visited and that has the most Singapore-grown brands, where it it tiger beer is popular,I have enjoyed ya-kun kaya toast, harry’s, and even had my first koi boba in a mall walking distance from where I used to live…

Singapore is the largest investor in Myanmar (7)(8). But investing in Myanmar is not straightforward.

2a The military in Myanmar has commercial arms

It is well known to people who have spent time in Myanmar that the military is very deeply engaged in the economy of Myanmar(9); the MEC and MEHL are large corporations with fingers in many pies and close ties to the military.

And it’s not only currenlt military figures, as shown by this infographic regarding the Patron Group of the MEHL (10)

2b Many investments into Myanmar go through intermediaries

A UN report as early as 2019 shows that the military have other linked companies (11). I would like to quote a certain point, page 29: “There are also serious allegations of crony companies concealing the wealth of the Tatmadaw and its leadership. These allegations require further investigation. The Mission notes however that the Managing Director of Asia World Group, Steven Law (also known as Htun Myint Naing), has been accused by the U.S. Government of involvement in laundering money for the Tatmadaw.Asia World has three “overseas branch companies” in Singapore, run by Steven Law and his spouse Cecilia Ng, a Singaporean national. More than half of Singapore’s investment in Myanmar reportedly goes through partnerships with Asia World Group, totalling more than USD 1.3 billion.”

So it is important for companies in Myanmar to come clean about their investments and whether they are contributing to the military (12). Kirin, the Japanese beer, has allegedly trying to break its ties (13) (Interestingly the other partner is MEHL itself, no intermediary). And they will pull out within a year (14). Anyway, no more Myanmar beer for me.

I believe the companies that have invested in Myanmar should come clean about their involvement with the military, and let us, the consumers decide. Else, I can understand why all firms fall under suspicion.

3 what each one of us can do as individuals

We are consumers. If we believe that the situation in Myanmar should not continue, then we should change our consumption patterns accordingly. For example I am stopping consumption of Myanmar beer. But I am in Singapore and rarely have access to Myanmar beer, so what else can I do?

Many people in Myanmar believe that a lot of the funds of the people currently in power is somehow in Singapore and also that a large chunk of the country’s reserves are held in Singapore (15). The central bank (MAS) contacted local banks and the result was that “no significant funds from Myanmar companies and individuals found in Singapore” (16).

There are 2 interesting bits:

1 no mention of the 5.7b reserves, these should not be tied to companies and individuals.

2 the word ‘significant’

It would really be nice to know the number. Plus sometimes it’s not whether the money stays into the accounts, but the flow of funds.

A while ago, I did this piece of work (17) about flows of funds in a bank. You can relatively easily trace funds and see round trips, or especially cases where money rests for a while into an account before being moved on, having a new ‘source’ attached to it.

I am more than willing to do something similar for any local banks for free, just to trace money from Myanmar, anonymously of course. If anyone reading this blog can influence the banks, just ping me 😊

I believe that, in an age when people are talking about sustainability, green passport, investors should also take into account the flow of blood (18)(19)(20)(21), don’t you?

And I would extend this to (Singapore-based) companies who have invested in Myanmar, I think their investors would be interested in knowing whether the military is benefiting from these investments, whether the capital gains and/or dividends are coloured red.

Conclusion

In conclusion:

1 The situation in Myanmar is very troubling and people are getting killed. This is not an accident

2 If any change is to happen, it has to come via putting pressure on the powers that be, and that goes through the assets held by these powers.

3 As individuals, those of us who are bothered by the situation, we could simply ask, especially if we are shareholders, whether the companies who invested in Myanmar are ‘in bed’ with the military, and whether locally based banks are holding funds or transaction accounts that are related to the people who have taken power outside the election.

I will leave you with some photos I have found on the internet.

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