My Dear Wife,
Do you want the good news or the bad news? Well it is he same news really. I am going to be the Foreign Minister, as Win Aung has been fired. I got a tip off that this will be announced on the 16th anniversary of the military coup in Burma, thanks to our Senior Generals. Please prepare to save more money and transfer what we have into your name, as who knows how this will turn out for us. You know, “time and tide waits for no man.”
Win Aung had tried to save ‘face’ after the Depayin incident, flip- flopping between Asean and our neighboring countries, trying to pacify them by repeatedly saying them Aung San Suu Kyi will be released soon. Though he also knows that “Aba”, that is, Than Shwe, can’t even bear to mention her name, Win Aung still had to face the critical foreign diplomats and had to answer their questions about Aung San Suu Kyi. Thank goodness, I still have my colleagues in high places in Military Intelligence, so I am constantly updated with the latest information.
When the National Convention was boycotted by the NLD and the disappointed cease-fire ethnic nationality groups, we knew that this would not sit well with the international community. Win Aung had clearly expressed his disappointment about this to Aba, even in front of the Foreign Ministry staff!
On another front, Aba believes our new Prime Minister’s Road Map is getting nowhere. He blames Khin Nyunt for getting involved with the ethnic nationalities and warned him to mind his step. Khin Nyunt proved to Aba that he had the mettle to escape the heat over Depayin, but now Aba is questioning if he is really up for the job of pulling this Road Map off.
At the moment, my dear, I am being kept very busy with my crash course in English. I don’t have enough time to tell you all the dramas. Maybe, I will go to United Nation General Assembly and Vietnam for the ASEM meeting as Foreign Minister. Aba said it depends on if I can be proficient enough in English. On top of that, I am taking a crash course in diplomatic culture from senior Foreign Ministry staff. They even showed me how to use a fork, and my homework tonight is to learn by heart the names of all the Foreign Ministers attending the ASEM meeting. But what is really humiliating is that, even though I was Vice-Chief of Training for the Armed Forces, I am now being forced to be a student of stupid civilians. As if that wasn’t bad enough, they are gossiping about me behind my back, saying that no matter how hard I try I’m still stupid!
To be completely honest though, I am very excited to be Foreign Minister but I'm afraid to go Vietnam. I knew Win Aung was attacked by his counterparts at the last ASEM meeting and asked many questions by foreign journalists. I don’t know how I’m going to answer if journalists asked me, “How do you feel to be Foreign Minister?” How do you think I should handle that?
Anyway, I hope we can save as much money as we can, as I am sure you understand the risky situation we are in. My immediate predecessors, Ohn Kyaw and Win Aung, both bit the dust trying to appease Aba on the one hand and outside pressure on the other. Nevertheless, I feel ready to take on the world!
Yours truly,
Nyan Linn