Silent Killers: Non-Communicable Diseases in Global and Myanmar Context

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Dr Aung Tun

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Silent Killers: Non-Communicable Diseases in Global and Myanmar Context

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1. The Deadliest Threat We Do Not See
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are often described as silent killers because they develop slowly, progress quietly, and frequently remain undetected until serious complications arise. Unlike infectious diseases, they do not spread from person to person, yet they claim more lives every year than any other group of illnesses. Cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes together account for the majority of global deaths today.
Globally and in Myanmar, NCDs have overtaken communicable diseases as the leading cause of mortality. They affect people across all age groups, including those in their most productive years, undermining national development and placing heavy social and economic burdens on families and health systems. Addressing NCDs is therefore not only a health priority but also a development imperative.
 
2. Understanding Non-Communicable Diseases
Non-communicable diseases are chronic conditions that tend to be of long duration and often require lifelong management rather than short-term treatment. The four major groups of NCDs are cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attacks and stroke, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma, and diabetes.
These diseases share common risk factors. Unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol, and exposure to air pollution contribute significantly to their development. Over time, such behaviours lead to metabolic changes including raised blood pressure, high blood glucose levels, abnormal blood lipids, and overweight or obesity, all of which greatly increase the risk of premature death.
 
3. The Global Burden of Silent Killers
Non-communicable diseases account for nearly three-quarters of all deaths worldwide. A particularly alarming feature of this burden is the high proportion of premature deaths occurring before the age of 70. Millions of people die each year during their most productive years, resulting in major economic losses and social consequences.
Low- and middle-income countries carry the greatest share of the global NCD burden. Although NCDs were once considered diseases of affluent societies, nearly three-quarters of NCD-related deaths now occur in developing regions. Rapid urbanization, ageing populations, changing lifestyles, and limited access to preventive and curative health services have accelerated the NCD epidemic in these countries.
 
4. Myanmar’s Growing NCD Challenge
Myanmar is experiencing the same epidemiological transition seen globally. Non- communicable diseases now account for approximately 70 per cent of all deaths in the country. Cardiovascular diseases, particularly heart disease and stroke, are the leading causes of NCD mortality, followed by cancers, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases.
National risk factor data from the WHO STEPwise Approach to NCD Risk Factor Surveillance (STEPS) highlight the scale of the problem. The Myanmar STEPS Survey (2014), conducted among adults aged 25-64 years, reported that around one in four adults had raised blood pressure, while diabetes affected more than one in ten adults. Tobacco use remains widespread, particularly among men, with both smoked and smokeless tobacco contributing to increased risks of heart disease, stroke, cancer, and chronic lung disease. Harmful use of alcohol and rising levels of overweight and obesity, especially in urban areas, further compound the NCD burden.
Importantly, NCDs in Myanmar are not confined to older age groups. A significant proportion of deaths occur before the age of 70, resulting in premature loss of life, reduced workforce productivity, and increased household poverty due to long-term health care costs.
 
5. Risk Factors: Behavioural, Metabolic and Environmental
The major risk factors for NCDs can be grouped into behavioural, metabolic, and environmental categories. Behavioural risk factors include tobacco use, unhealthy diets high in salt, sugar and unhealthy fats, harmful use of alcohol, and insufficient physical activity. These behaviours are strongly influenced by social norms, commercial practices, and the physical environment.
Behavioural risks often lead to metabolic changes such as raised blood pressure, high blood glucose, abnormal cholesterol levels, and overweight or obesity. Among these, elevated blood pressure is one of the leading contributors to NCD-related deaths globally and in Myanmar.
Environmental factors also play a major role. Indoor and outdoor air pollution contribute significantly to cardiovascular diseases, stroke, chronic respiratory diseases, and lung cancer. In Myanmar, exposure to household air pollution from solid fuel use, as well as increasing urban air pollution, remains a major public health concern.
 
6. Socioeconomic Impact and Development Consequences
Non-communicable diseases pose a serious threat to national development and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Chronic illness reduces productivity, increases absenteeism, and places long-term financial strain on households. Many families affected by NCDs face catastrophic health expenditures that can push them into poverty.
Vulnerable and socially disadvantaged populations are disproportionately affected. Limited access to health services, lack of early detection, and delayed treatment contribute to higher rates of complications and premature death. Without strong health systems and social protection mechanisms, the growing NCD burden risks reversing hard-won development gains.
 
7. Prevention and Control: From Policy to Personal Action
The good news is that many non-communicable diseases are preventable. Cost-effective, evidence-based interventions exist to reduce exposure to major risk factors and to promote healthier lifestyles. Strong tobacco and alcohol control policies, promotion of healthy diets, encouragement of physical activity, and actions to reduce air pollution can significantly lower NCD risk at the population level.
 
8. Individual-Level Prevention: What Each Person Can Do
While government policies and health systems are critical, individual actions remain central to preventing NCDs. Every person can take practical steps to protect their health:
• Avoid all forms of tobacco use and protect family members from second-hand smoke. • Choose a healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes, while reducing salt, sugar, and unhealthy fats. • Engage in regular physical activity, such as walking or cycling, for at least 150 minutes per week. • Limit or avoid alcohol consumption. • Maintain a healthy body weight. • Check blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol levels regularly, particularly after the age of 40. • Seek early medical advice and adhere to treatment if diagnosed with hypertension, diabetes, or other chronic conditions.
Early detection and continuous care are essential. Strengthening primary health care to provide screening, diagnosis, and long-term management of NCDs is a cost-effective approach that saves lives and reduces the need for expensive hospital-based treatment.
 
9. Myanmar’s Response to the NCD Challenge
Myanmar has taken important institutional and policy steps to address the growing burden of non-communicable diseases. Within the Ministry of Health, a dedicated Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) Unit was established under the Department of Public Health (DOPH) around 2015 to provide leadership in NCD prevention and control. The NCD Unit is responsible for developing and implementing national strategies, policies, and action plans aimed at reducing morbidity and mortality from major NCDs.
A cornerstone of Myanmar’s response is the adoption and expansion of the World Health Organization’s Package of Essential Noncommunicable Disease Interventions (PEN). Through PEN, cost-effective interventions for the prevention, early detection, treatment, and referral of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, and related risk factors are delivered at the primary health care level. This approach strengthens early diagnosis, improves continuity of care, and promotes equitable access to essential NCD services across the country.
Myanmar’s NCD response also emphasizes surveillance and evidence-based planning. National risk factor data generated through WHO STEPS surveys provide a foundation for monitoring trends in tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol, unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, hypertension, and diabetes. These data guide policy formulation, resource allocation, and programme prioritization.
Multi-sectoral collaboration is another key element of Myanmar’s response. The Ministry of Health works with other government sectors, development partners, civil society organizations, and coordinating mechanisms such as the Myanmar Health Sector Coordinating Committee to address the social, commercial, and environmental determinants of NCDs. Together, these efforts aim to reduce preventable risk factors, improve service delivery, and strengthen health system capacity nationwide.
 
10. From Silent Killers to Visible Action
Non-communicable diseases may progress silently, but their consequences are profound and far-reaching. In Myanmar, as in the rest of the world, NCDs are now the leading cause of death and a major challenge to health systems, economic productivity, and sustainable development.
Myanmar’s response — anchored in strong institutional leadership, primary healthcare-based interventions such as WHO PEN, improved surveillance through STEPS surveys, and multi- sectoral collaboration — demonstrates a clear commitment to tackling this growing epidemic. However, sustained political commitment, adequate investment, and active community participation remain essential to translate policies into measurable health gains.
By combining effective national programmes with individual responsibility for healthier lifestyles, Myanmar can move from reacting to silent killers toward preventing them. Making NCDs visible, preventable, and manageable is essential for protecting lives today and securing a healthier future for generations to come.
 
References
1. World Health Organization. Noncommunicable Diseases: Fact Sheet and Overview, 2024.
2. World Health Organization. Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases 2013–2030.
3. World Health Organization. WHO Global Status Report on Noncommunicable Diseases, 2022.
4. Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. Global Burden of Disease Study 2021 Results, published 2024.
5. World Health Organization South-East Asia Region. Noncommunicable Diseases Country Profile: Myanmar, 2018.
6. Ministry of Health and Sports, Myanmar & World Health Organization. Myanmar STEPS Survey on NCD Risk Factors, 2014.
7. MOHS, National Strategic Plan for Prevention and Control of NCDs(2017-2021)
Myanmar, 2017
8. United Nations. Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDG Target 3.4), 2015.
gnlm

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SAFEGUARDING THE FUTURE
SAFEGUARDING THE FUTURE
Myanmar’s Comprehensive Ban on E-Cigarettes for Public HealthContinued From yesterdayThe Ministry of Health of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar issued Order 8/2026 on 18 February 2026 (3rd Waxing Day of Taboung, 1387 ME) to impose a comprehensive ban on electronic cigarettes. Exercising the authority conferred under Section 4 (a) of the Essential Supplies and Services Law, the Ministry enacted this notification in accordance with Section 9 of the said Act. The order strictly prohibits the importation, exportation, sale, possession, storage, distribution, and consumption of e-cigarettes, e-shisha, and related accessories to protect public health and prevent toxic substance addiction among young people.The order 8/2026 now completes the architecture of Myanmar’s ENDS prohibition, adding a clear, enforceable import and export ban that gives customs officers unambiguous authority to seize prohibited products at borders and ports of entry.Essential Contents of Myanmar’s Order 8/2026The scope and technical precision of the order No. 8/2026 distinguish it from many earlier bans globally. Rather than a broad definitional prohibition susceptible to definitional loopholes, the Order enumerates in granular detail every product category and component part subject to the ban:Category (a) — Electronic Cigarettes and ENDS: Mouthpieces; e-liquid containers (reservoirs, cartridges, tanks, pods); atomizers; microprocessors; batteries; chargers; charging cables; pre-filled and refillable e-liquids, including natural organic substitutes; carrying cases; cleaning tools; and all related accessories.Category (b) — Heated Tobacco/Smoking Devices (HTPs): Holders containing heating elements and their casings; batteries; microprocessors; heating blades; heating coils; heating ovens; e-liquids and natural organic substitutes; carrying cases; cleaning tools; chargers; charging cables; and all related accessories.Category (c) — Electronic Shisha: Mouthpieces; hoses; vases; grommets; e-liquid containers; pre- filled and refillable e-liquids, molasses, and natural organic substitutes; atomizers; microprocessors; flow sensors; batteries; chargers; charging cables; carrying cases; cleaning tools; and all related accessories.The Order prohibits all listed items from: importation, exportation, transit, transhipment, re- exportation, storage, display, and sale — encompassing the full range of customs-related commercial activities at all border entry points throughout Myanmar.Benefits for Myanmar’s Youth and General PublicProtecting Brain Development and Preventing AddictionThe most profound benefit of Myanmar’s e-cigarette ban is the protection it offers to the developing brains of adolescents and young adults. Nicotine is acutely neurotoxic during the critical period of brain development that extends into the mid-twenties. Nicotine exposure during adolescence permanently alters the architecture of the prefrontal cortex — the region governing decision-making, impulse control, and executive function — through its action on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. Studies have demonstrated measurable reductions in attention, learning capacity, working memory, and impulse regulation among adolescent nicotine users. These are not temporary effects; they are permanent structural changes that disadvantage affected individuals throughout their lives.By removing the primary supply channel of affordable, appealing nicotine products from the market, the ban directly reduces the probability that Myanmar’s young people will initiate nicotine use — and therefore protects the cognitive development and academic potential of the next generation of Myanmar’s citizens.Preventing the Gateway to Conventional SmokingThe gateway effect of e-cigarettes is among the most robustly evidenced phenomena in tobacco research. Young people who use e-cigarettes are approximately three times more likely to transition to regular cigarette smoking than non-users. For Myanmar — already carrying a conventional tobacco burden that kills nearly 57,000 people annually — this pipeline effect would compound an existing crisis. The ban interrupts this pathway at the point of initiation, protecting Myanmar from a future in which the brief e- cigarette epidemic creates a new generation of long-term conventional smokers.Respiratory and Cardiovascular Health ProtectionThe aerosol produced by e-cigarettes causes measurable respiratory and cardiovascular harm even in the short term. Ultrafine particles in the aerosol penetrate to the deepest airways, triggering inflammatory responses that, with repeated exposure, can lead to chronic bronchitis, decreased lung function, and increased susceptibility to respiratory infections, including influenza and COVID-19. Nicotine’s acute cardiovascular effects — elevated heart rate, increased blood pressure, endothelial dysfunction — elevate cardiovascular risk with every puff. The removal of these products from Myanmar’s market will prevent a cohort of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases that would otherwise have materialized in the coming decades.Economic and Social BenefitsThe economic burden of tobacco-related disease on Myanmar’s healthcare system and economy is already substantial. Every person who never initiates nicotine use through e-cigarettes represents savings in future healthcare expenditure, preserved workforce productivity, and reduced family suffering. For a health system with limited resources, prevention through supply restriction is among the most cost- effective public health interventions available. The social benefits of denormalizing vaping — reversing the re-glamorization of nicotine use that the industry engineered — are equally significant, as social norms powerfully shape youth behaviour.Making the Ban Effective: What Must FollowThe issuance of Order 8/2026 is a necessary but not sufficient condition for effective e-cigarette prohibition. The experiences of Thailand, Singapore, and India — countries that have operated comprehensive bans for a decade or more — provide clear lessons on what transforms a policy declaration into an on-the-ground reality.Comprehensive LegislationThe order governs border entry and exit but does not explicitly address domestic manufacture, internal trade, possession, or use. Myanmar needs dedicated ENDS legislation — ideally as an amendment to the existing Control of Smoking and Consumption of Tobacco Products Law — that covers the complete product lifecycle within the country. This legislation should specify criminal penalties, establish clear enforcement responsibilities across multiple agencies (customs, police, health inspectors, local authorities), and include provisions for asset forfeiture in large-scale trafficking cases.Enforcement Capacity BuildingMyanmar’s borders — particularly informal crossing points with China, Thailand, and India — represent the most vulnerable points for contraband vaping product entry. Investment in customs officer training, detection equipment, and intelligence-sharing arrangements with neighbouring countries’ enforcement agencies is essential. The Ministry of Commerce and the Customs Department should establish dedicated ENDS enforcement units with clear key performance indicators. Market surveillance in urban retail and online environments must be systematic, not reactive.Online Platform RegulationThe primary marketplace for e-cigarettes in Myanmar is not the physical shop but Facebook, TikTok, Telegram, and other social media platforms. A ban that does not address online sales and promotion will be substantially undermined. Regulatory authority must be extended to require platform operators to remove ENDS listings and advertising, with penalties for non-compliance. This requires both legal authority and the technical capacity to monitor and enforce.Public Education and Demand ReductionSupply restriction through border control addresses availability but not demand. A comprehensive public health communication campaign — designed specifically for adolescents and young adults, delivered through the channels they actually use, and employing messages that resonate with youth values of autonomy, authenticity, and peer respect — is essential to reduce demand. The campaign should specifically counter the industry’s marketing narratives: that vaping is harmless, that it is a lifestyle choice rather than an addiction, and that it is socially desirable. Schools, universities, monasteries, community health workers, and healthcare providers all have roles to play in this communication effort.Cessation Support for Existing UsersAn unknown but significant number of Myanmar residents are already nicotine-dependent through e- cigarette use. A ban without parallel investment in cessation services will either drive these individuals towards conventional cigarettes or towards the contraband market — outcomes that undermine the public health rationale for the ban. Evidence-based cessation support — nicotine replacement therapy, brief behavioural counselling, and telephone quitlines — must be made accessible through the existing township health system.Monitoring and AccountabilityThe effectiveness of the ban must be measured, not assumed. A national surveillance system — building on the existing STEPS and Global Youth Tobacco Survey frameworks — should be established to track ENDS prevalence annually among youth and adults, monitor contraband market activity, and evaluate the impact of enforcement and education interventions. This evidence base will be essential for adaptive management and for reporting to the WHO FCTC Secretariat.ConclusionMyanmar’s Order 8/2026 is a landmark public health measure — a decisive, comprehensive, and technically thorough prohibition on the importation, exportation, and trade in all forms of electronic smoking devices and their components. It places Myanmar firmly alongside India, Thailand, Singapore, Cambodia, and Laos in the most protective tier of global e-cigarette regulation, fulfilling Myanmar’s obligations under the WHO FCTC and acting on the urgent call of COP11.The order arrives after years in which Myanmar’s young people were exposed to an unregulated flood of nicotine products, and after a period in which Myanmar’s robust achievements on conventional tobacco control — its globally-ranked pictorial health warning requirements and its progression towards plain packaging — were undermined by the absence of ENDS-specific measures. The ban corrects this inconsistency and restores the integrity of Myanmar’s comprehensive tobacco control framework.But as this article has argued, the order is the beginning of a journey, not its destination. Thailand, Singapore, and India demonstrate that comprehensive bans are most effective when supported by strong domestic legislation, well-resourced enforcement, targeted public education, and accessible cessation services. Myanmar now has the policy declaration. The measure of success will be whether the institutions, resources, and political will are marshalled to make that declaration real.E-cigarettes are not an escape from nicotine addiction. They are its newest and most seductive gateway. Myanmar has taken the right step in closing that gateway. Let us ensure the door remains firmly shut — for the health, the futures, and the freedom of Myanmar’s next generation.The author is a public health specialist and WHO Guest Adviser who attended the WHO FCTC COP11 Conference in Geneva, November 2025.References1. World Health Organization. WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) — Report of the Conference of the Parties, Eleventh Session (COP11). Geneva: WHO; November 2025. Available at: https://fctc.who.int/2. World Health Organization. The global prevalence of e-cigarettes in youth: A comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis. Geneva: WHO; 2025.3. Myint HS, Hlaing SH, Htay N. Prevalence of e-cigarette use among tobacco smokers in six states and regions of Myanmar. Myanmar Health Sciences Research Journal. 2020.4. Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) 2016 Data. Prevalence and determinants of tobacco use among youth in Myanmar. Atlanta: CDC/WHO; 2016.5. Singapore Ministry of Health. FAQs on E-Cigarettes, Vapourizers and Heat-Not-Burn Tobacco Products. Singapore: MOH; 2018.6. Republic of the Union of Myanmar, Ministry of Health, Order 8/2026: Nay Pyi Taw: 18February 2026.7. The author. E-Cigarette Danger: A Growing Global and National Burden. Global New Light of Myanmar. Yangon: GNLM; 20 December 2025.gnlm
SAFEGUARDING THE FUTURE
SAFEGUARDING THE FUTURE
What Is an E-Cigarette?Electronic cigarettes — commonly known as e-cigarettes, vapes, vapourizers, or Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) — are battery-powered devices that heat a liquid solution to produce an aerosol that is inhaled by the user. Unlike conventional cigarettes, which generate smoke through the combustion of tobacco leaf, e-cigarettes operate through an electrical heating mechanism that vapourizes a chemical liquid, commonly called e-liquid or e-juice. This fundamental distinction — vapourization rather than combustion — was the cornerstone of the industry’s early marketing claim that e-cigarettes are ‘safer’ than traditional smoking. That claim, as the global scientific community has firmly established, is dangerously misleading.E-cigarettes come in numerous forms: cigarlike devices that resemble conventional cigarettes, pen-style vapourizers, tank-based mods, and the increasingly ubiquitous pod systems and disposable single-use devices. Heated tobacco products (HTPs) such as IQOS, and electronic shisha or e-hookah devices fall within the broader category of emerging tobacco and nicotine products regulated under international frameworks.Core ComponentsAll e-cigarette devices share three essential components: a battery providing the power source; an atomizer (heating coil) that converts e-liquid to aerosol; and the e-liquid reservoir — a cartridge, tank, pod, or bottle containing the consumable solution. The e-liquid itself contains a mixture of propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin as the base carrier, nicotine in concentrations ranging from zero to over 50 milligrammes per millilitre in some products, flavouring agents — which may number in the thousands across products — and additional chemical additives.Crucially, the e-liquid and the aerosol it generates are not inert. Heating these compounds produces new chemical species not present in the original liquid. At high temperatures, propylene glycol and glycerin decompose to form formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and acrolein — substances classified as known or probable human carcinogens by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). The flavouring compound diacetyl, widely used in buttery and creamy flavour variants, is firmly linked to bronchiolitis obliterans — a severe, irreversible obliterative lung disease colloquially known as ‘popcorn lung.’ Heavy metals, including nickel, tin, and lead, have been detected in e-cigarette aerosols, leached from heating coil components.Global and Myanmar PrevalenceThe Global Vaping EpidemicThe global growth of e-cigarette use has been extraordinary in both scale and speed. From a niche consumer product a decade ago, the global e-cigarette market had attracted an estimated 82 million users by 2021, up from 68 million in 2020 — a 20.6 per cent increase in a single year. The South-East Asia region alone accounted for approximately 14.3 million users in 2021. Market analysts project the global ENDS industry to exceed US$55 billion in annual revenue by 2030, driven by aggressive expansion into low- and middle-income markets across Asia, Africa, and Latin America.The demographic profile of e-cigarette uptake is perhaps its most alarming feature. According to the World Health Organization’s 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis on global youth e-cigarette prevalence, at least 15 million children aged 13 to 15 years currently use e-cigarettes worldwide. Children are, on average, nine times more likely to use e-cigarettes than adults in surveyed countries. Among youth aged 16 to 19 years, current usage rates range from 7.7 to 9.4 per cent across countries — figures that represent an unprecedented epidemic of nicotine addiction initiation among a generation that had never smoked conventional cigarettes.The tobacco industry’s strategy is explicit in its internal documents: recruit a new generation of nicotine- dependent consumers to replace adults who quit or die from smoking-related diseases. The instrument of this recruitment is the e-cigarette — packaged in child-friendly designs, available in thousands of sweet and fruity flavours, priced at pocket money levels in disposable form, and promoted through social media platforms where young people spend the majority of their leisure time.Myanmar’s BurdenIn Myanmar, e-cigarette use has expanded rapidly against an already concerning backdrop of conventional tobacco use. National STEPS survey data recorded an adult smoking prevalence of approximately 26 per cent, and an estimated 56,841 people die annually in Myanmar from smoking- related diseases — a figure that will grow as the downstream health consequences of the emerging vaping epidemic materialize.A 2020 study of tobacco smokers across six states and regions of Myanmar found that 11.6 per cent of respondents reported ever having used an e-cigarette. Use was significantly concentrated among males, students, youth aged 18 to 29 years, and residents of Mandalay Region — the demographic groups most targeted by the industry’s marketing. Data from the 2016 Global Youth Tobacco Survey showed that smoking prevalence among students aged 13 to 15 in Myanmar had already risen from 6.8 per cent in 2011 to 8.3 per cent in 2016, before the explosive growth of affordable disposable vapes in subsequent years.WHO FCTC: The International Call for ActionThe World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), which entered into force in 2005 and to which Myanmar acceded in 2004, remains the world’s first international public health treaty and the cornerstone of global tobacco control. It’s 182 Parties collectively represent over 90 per cent of the world’s population, making it one of the most widely adopted treaties in United Nations history.The 11th Conference of the Parties (COP11) to the WHO FCTC, held in Geneva, Switzerland from 16 to 22 November 2025, placed ENDS and emerging nicotine products at the centre of its deliberations. I attended COP11 as a WHO Guest Advisor. The consensus of COP11 was unambiguous: e-cigarettes represent a dangerous gateway that leads young people towards conventional cigarette use through nicotine addiction, and the protection of youth must be the paramount priority for all Member States.Key COP11 Resolutions and Positions• All Member States resolved to prioritize protective measures for youth against e-cigarettes and to establish strict regulations, treating the issue as an urgent public health emergency rather than a commercial regulatory matter.• The Conference reaffirmed that e-cigarettes are not an approved smoking cessation therapy — the WHO does not recommend ENDS for cessation — and that framing them as harm reduction tools plays into the tobacco industry’s strategy of delay and deception.• Member States were called upon to implement the full range of FCTC provisions — particularly Articles 5.3 (protection from industry interference), 8 (protection from secondhand exposure), 11 (packaging and labelling), and 13 (advertising, promotion and sponsorship bans) — as applied to ENDS products.• Countries that had not yet enacted ENDS-specific legislation were urged to do so without delay, citing the accelerating youth epidemic and the industry’s deliberate targeting of unregulated markets.• The Conference strongly emphasized that the tobacco and vaping industries must be excluded from all policy-making processes relating to tobacco and ENDS control, in line with Article 5.3.The FCTC framework provides Myanmar — and all Parties — with both the legal mandate and the technical guidance to act decisively. Myanmar’s Customs Order 8/2026 is a direct response to these international obligations and the conclusions of COP11.Global Situation: How the World Has RespondedThe international policy landscape on e-cigarettes is now clearly bifurcating into two camps: countries that have enacted comprehensive bans or severe restrictions, and those that have opted for regulatory frameworks. The trend among public health leaders — particularly in Asia — is decisively towards prohibition.Comprehensive Prohibition CountriesMore than 35 countries have enacted comprehensive bans on the sale, importation, and/or use of e- cigarettes. India’s 2019 Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Ordinance — subsequently enacted as permanent legislation — banned production, manufacture, import, export, transport, sale, distribution, storage, and advertisement of all ENDS products, with penalties of up to 3 years imprisonment for repeat offences. Brazil’s ANVISA has maintained a ban since 2009, one of the earliest in the world. Thailand’s ban, enacted under the Customs Act in 2014, carries penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment. Singapore’s prohibition under the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act has been comprehensively enforced since 2016. Cambodia and Laos both prohibit ENDS, meaning every one of Myanmar’s neighbouring countries to the east and south had acted years before Myanmar’s 2026 order.Strict Regulatory FrameworksThe European Union’s Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) and its 2024 revisions represent the most detailed regulatory framework for ENDS globally, limiting nicotine concentrations to 20 milligrammes per millilitre, restricting tank volumes, mandating health warnings covering 30 per cent of packaging, and prohibiting characterizing flavors in many member states. The United Kingdom, following its post-Brexit regulatory divergence, has adopted a ‘regulated authorization’ approach while pursuing stricter youth protection measures, including a generational tobacco ban. Australia, after a period of prescription-only access, moved in 2024 toward a phased ban on commercial disposable vapes.The Industry’s Preferred MarketsIndonesia, the Philippines, and several Central Asian and African nations remain as relatively permissive markets where the tobacco industry has concentrated its promotional efforts. This deliberate targeting of unregulated markets is a well-documented industry strategy: when one market restricts access, the industry redirects resources toward the next available jurisdiction. Myanmar’s 2026 ban removes the country from this category.gnlm
The Crab Without Claws: Contagion and Cancer of the Mind
The Crab Without Claws: Contagion and Cancer of the Mind
Cancer of the Body: Malignancy Without ContagionCancer of the body evokes profound fear because it has structure, location, and measurable progression. It arises when cells lose their regulatory discipline and begin to multiply for their own survival rather than for the organism they belong to. Yet despite its destructive potential, cancer possesses one important limitation: it is not contagious. It does not spread through proximity, touch, or communication. It originates from within the individual’s own biological system, representing a failure of internal regulation rather than invasion by an external agent. Its threat is intimate, but not transmissible.Cancer of the Mind: Malignancy of ThoughtThe mind can develop an analogous form of malignancy, not in tissue but in patterns. Certain thoughts – fear, despair, self-negation – may initially serve adaptive purposes but later become self-perpetuating. Fear that protects becomes anxiety that imprisons. Reflection that enlightens becomes rumination that paralyzes. These cognitive patterns, like malignant cells, escape normal regulatory mechanisms. They replicate automatically, shaping perception and narrowing psychological flexibility. In conditions such as depression or trauma, these patterns operate with a form of autonomy, sustaining themselves even in the absence of immediate threat.Psychological Contagion: Transmission Without PathogensUnlike cancer of the body, cancer of the mind exists within a social and communicative environment. Human beings are inherently receptive to one another’s emotional and cognitive states. Through emotional contagion, observational learning, and shared narratives, maladaptive mental states can propagate across individuals. Neuroscientific research demonstrates that mirror neuron systems and empathic processes allow one person’s despair, fear, or cynicism to influence another’s neural and emotional equilibrium. In this sense, psychological malignancy becomes transmissible – not through cells, but through ideas, symbols, and repeated exposure.Collective Mind: When Malignancy Becomes CulturalWhen such patterns spread widely, they may become embedded in collective consciousness. Traumatized communities often internalize persistent narratives of helplessness or threat. These narratives replicate across generations, shaping expectations and behaviour independently of present reality. The pathology is no longer confined to individual psychology but becomes systemic, sustained by social reinforcement. What begins as an internal dysregulation can evolve into a shared psychological environment.Awareness as Regulation and RemedyThe mind, however, possesses a unique protective capacity: awareness itself. To observe a thought is to interrupt its automatic authority. Neuroplasticity allows new cognitive and emotional pathways to emerge through reflection, connection, and meaning. Just as maladaptive states can spread, so can resilience, hope, and stability. Psychological health is therefore not static but dynamic, continuously shaped by both internal regulation and external influence.Conclusion: The Ecology of Mental HealthCancer of the body threatens the organism but remains biologically contained. Cancer of the mind, while originating internally, exists within a network of minds and meanings. It can propagate through unexamined beliefs and shared despair, but it can also be contained through awareness and understanding. This dual reality reminds us that mental health is not merely an individual condition but an ecological one, sustained by the quality of both inner regulation and collective consciousness.gnlm
A Football Match I have Watched at Dagon University Football Stadium
A Football Match I have Watched at Dagon University Football Stadium
I am a football fan. I always watch football matches sitting up late to watch matches from different leagues such as La Liga in Spain, Bundesliga in Germany, Calcio in Italy and Premier League in England. I especially prefer to watch Premier League Football matches. I am a delirious fan of Liverpool F.C. Out of 20 football teams which are participating in this season, I like Liverpool the most. I always support Liverpool, whether they win or lose.I enjoy watching their matches and applaud the team. Especially, I admire M Salah (Striker) most because he can make an excellent delivery of the ball into the net (the goal-posts). He is very quick at breaking through the defensive lines of the opposite teams. The defenders of the opposite teams are always thrown into helter-skelter by his attacks. No matter how hard the defenders try to block him, he manages to score the goals, weaving his way through the footballers of the opposite team. So, his performances can take the breath of the audience away. Due to his outstanding talent, he remains a top scorer of Premier League for some years in a row. Another Liverpool footballer who can catch my attention most is Van Dijk, one of the best defenders in the Premier League. He knows very well how to block the ball carried by the players of the opposite team. He is very strong, fast and tactful. He is very competent in sliding and heading away the ball. So, to the strikers of the opposite team, he appears to be a strong defensive wall difficult to penetrate. Moreover, he always leads the team during the match. Under his leadership, Liverpool won many games and even the Premier League Trophy at the end of the last season. I also like Florian Wirtz, a new winger, who recently transferred from Leverkusen (Germany), because he is good at dribbling, passing the ball and formulating the way of playing. I notice his performances always contribute to the victories of Liverpool over other teams. So, I think he is also a promising player for the team. In this season, Liverpool is struggling to hold fast to the current champion (2025).Last week, I went to the Dagon University Football Stadium to watch the football match between the Sports Science Team and the Chemistry Football Team, which was scheduled to kick off at 9 am. It was after 8 am when I walked into U Soe Thein’s food stall next to Dagon University Football Stadium. It was congested with many university students waiting enthusiastically to watch the match. I walked straight, sat at an empty table and ordered food. While having breakfast, I looked out at Padauk Road, lined with Padauk trees. Some hostels stood beside this road. I found many students flocking toward the football stadium to support their major’s team.After I had breakfasted, I drank green tea. Then, I went directly to the stadium, passing through the line of cars that were parked along Padauk Road. Some footballers were warming up in the stadium just before the kick-off. I entered the stadium through the middle gate and walked up to the upper terraces of the grandstand. Some spectators took the seats on the left side of the grandstand and some on the right side, depending on the position of the teams they were to cheer. I took a vacant seat on the left. The university students and some in-charge teachers were eager to watch the soccer competition. Some fans were beating the drums. Some were applauding their team loudly, holding up posters which read’ Our team must win’. The whole stadium was agog and active with a competitive mood. Referees and assistant referees in uniform were sitting at a table near the sideline in the shade of two large umbrellas. Next to them, a Red Cross group was stationed in the shade of a large umbrella. The first lineups of the teams were having their documentary photos taken.Soon, the footballers filed out onto the field. The shouts of the spectators became louder. The Chemistry Team took the right side, wearing yellow jerseys and green shorts, while the Sports Science Team, on the left side in black and white kits. When they were all ready, the main referee started the match with a loud whistling sound. The Sports Science Team started to pass the ball. After receiving the ball, one of their midfielders ran with the ball through the footballers of the opposite team and delivered it to a left winger, who dribbled it and then dashed it to the main striker. He caught the ball with his right foot and shot it into the left corner of the goal-posts with the slash of his left foot. The goalkeeper of the Chemistry Team managed to defend it by diving out into that corner. Thereupon, he placed the ball before him and passed it to the right defender, who ran with the ball along the edge of the field. The footballers of the Sports Science Team followed him and tried to block him. He dodged them and passed the ball to a midfielder of his team, who wove his way through the defenders of the opposite team and gave the ball to the main striker of his team with his left heel. The striker also jumped up a few feet from the ground and headed the ball away into the goalposts of the Sports Science Team. The ball hit the net, and the whole stadium echoed with the applause of the spectators. From then on, the Sports Science Team intensified its attacks on the Chemistry Team. So, all footballers, except the goalkeeper, went forward simultaneously in the total football style. So, their counterattacks sent the Chemistry Team into chaos. Suddenly, while the footballers were being locked in a wrestle for the ball near the goal area of the Chemistry Team, one of the defenders of the Chemistry Team intentionally gave a kick on the calf of the main striker of the Sports Science Team, making him fall on his face. So, the main referee ran to the offender and showed a yellow card to him. Thus, the Sports Science Team chanced to deliver a free-kick into the goal-posts of the Chemistry Team. The main striker and captain of the Sports Science Team, one of the top scorers, was to deliver the free-kick at a 25 metre-distance from the goal-post. With a great desire to equalize his team, he, having concentrated on the ball and put forth all his efforts, shot it. All the spectators held their breath, and their eyes followed the ball. At first, it seemed to pass just above the upper bar of the goal-posts, but when it neared the goal-posts, it suddenly diverted its course and dropped down and went into the right upper corner of the goal-posts. All of a sudden, the pin-drop silence which had reigned for a few seconds burst out into a roaring applause. The first half ended with 1-1.After a break, they resumed the game. The footballers made more efforts in the second half. So, throw-ins and fouls were frequent. The yellow cards were often shown. The Sports Science Team earned a corner kick eight minutes after the start of the second half, while the Chemistry Team got a throw-in a few minutes afterwards. In 62 minutes, the Sports Science Team had a clear shooting opportunity, but the Chemistry Team’s goalkeeper made an excellent save.No team got the upper hand. Despite several attempts, neither team managed to score during the second half. But the Chemistry Team players had greater stamina, and, therefore, although a defender was injured in the 66th minute, he was able to continue playing. The Sports Science created several chances but failed to convert them into goals. The Chemistry Team gradually gained the upper hand and even hit the post in 76 minutes. Substitutions were made by both teams, and more yellow cards were shown as the match grew more violent.The competition felt like a tug-of-war because some professionals who stood for the Myanmar National League played their best to be able to win. Spectators applauded loudly, waved placards featuring their favourite players, and occasionally jeered at opposing players. Soon after a water break, an injured footballer from the Chemistry Team limped off the field in 80 minutes. Both teams continued to fight until the final whistle. Despite several free kicks and chances, the match ended in a 1-1 draw.When the referee blew the final whistle, the players shook hands and left the field. The spectators slowly dispersed from the stadium, excitedly ruminating over the match they had just enjoyed.In conclusion, the author thinks that, nowadays, football is more than just a game or a sort of sport which creates a sound body and mind. It also opens up a way for young people to make their livelihood. Moreover, it teaches them valuable lessons in cooperation, discipline, and resilience. Moreover, participation in sports helps young people avoid illegal drugs and develop a healthy lifestyle. In addition, the author notices that the football tournament is held at Dagon University twice a year, and some footballers produced by Dagon University become Myanmar-selected footballers who can bring laurels to the country. So, it can be said that the football matches held at Dagon University can contribute considerably to the enhancement of the standard of the sport in Myanmar.gnlm
Youth, Freedom, and Responsibility
Youth, Freedom, and Responsibility
Sometimes, while going about our daily journeys, we come across scenes that catch our attention. Among these scenes, there are things that make us feel gentle, thoughtful, emotional, or reflective in different ways. I myself am a person who travels and moves about almost every day, so I often encounter such scenes.In particular, what I frequently see these days are young people in their late teens. When I see these young people, I first notice them, then think about them, and after that, the issue of “youth and rights” begins to occupy my mind.Once, while I was passing through a market area, I saw two young men. One of them had dyed his hair. The other had his hair styled strangely, with part of it standing up thickly and heavily. In modern terms, it could be called “fashion.” Both of them were wearing T-shirts and jeans. I could not help smiling when I looked at them. The reason was that, as young people, they were making use of the rights that belong to youth.As for me, I am only around thirty years old. However, because I am a civil servant, I cannot dress and behave as freely and casually as those teenagers. Because of my surroundings, my age, and my awareness, my lifestyle has become more like that of an adult. So, although I am still called a young person, I am no longer a “real” young person.But are the young people I mentioned earlier real young people? Once, I read in a journal an article criticizing hair styling, hair length, and hair dyeing, saying that these things were blamed on only a small group of people. Young people think in a youthful way, and adults think in an adult way.What I found was that younger people want to try many different hairstyles. I can accept this as their right. In modern times, fashion in hairstyles is constantly changing, and people naturally follow these trends.If we think carefully, it can be said that in youth, one should take the rights that one has, but they should be taken with proper limits and self-control. Wearing flashy clothes, dressing in a striking way, piercing ears, and dyeing hair – young people tend to take as many freedoms as they can.Look at the young girls. Some cut and part their hair in different styles. Some wear clothes so tight that they cling closely to the body. Some dress in strange and unusual ways. Some go out wearing necklaces and bracelets. These, too, may be considered forms of freedom and rights.When I think about the rights of young people, my mind at first goes to such outward matters. Nowadays, young people also give much importance to external appearance and material things.About six months ago, I happened to look again at some photographs taken of my friends and me at Yangon Institute of Technology. When I examined them carefully, our group of friends looked just like figures from old films. From this, it is clear that the rights of young people are not only about outward appearance.The true rights of youth should be based on their youthful qualities, such as being young and tender, being energetic and quick, and being healthy and strong. They should be used to search for life paths and future goals.For example, at the age of twenty, I could go around freely to find training courses and opportunities. At that time, after finishing school and entering university, I was very eager and curious to learn. I used to move quickly from one place to another, wondering which subject to study and how to study it.Now, although I am not in my forties or fifties, I can no longer behave like those in their late teens. In everything, I have become more cautious and restrained. It is clear that I can no longer live as lightly and freely as a young person. In this way, some of the rights of youth are gradually lost.What I want to say is that young people possess great potential and strength. If they use their rights not only for their appearance but also for their own lives and future, and if they express their talents and abilities through the rights of youth, they will surely gain success and achievement.I would like to say that young people should fully express and make use of their rights during their youth, together with the other rights they possess. Only then can a young person truly be said to be using his or her rights in a complete way.Once, I read an essay by U Aung Thin, which was written with reference to a book by Saya Maung Sein Win (Padigon). From that essay, I understood that Maung Sein Win, as a writer, had been able to use the rights of youth well. Indeed, it is true. Excitement, love, and sorrow are felt more deeply in youth. When such feelings are transformed into art by creative people, the result becomes powerful and deeply satisfying artistic works. This is a clear example of how a young person’s rights can be used positively in the field of art.Let us think about other matters as well. The most important of all for young people is education. Although youth and their freedoms seem temporary, they are actually crucial for the future. If a student skips basic education or is absent from university classes, this leads to dropping out and failing to complete courses, and in the end, it becomes difficult to graduate successfully. This is a misuse of one’s rights. Instead of skipping school, attending classes regularly and using one’s youthful intelligence to study subjects seriously is the correct way to use the rights of youth.Education alone is not enough; we should also consider other areas of life. If a young person thinks, “I am young, I can drink, smoke, fall in love freely, live as I like, fight whenever I want, sleep and eat as I wish, and spend all the money I earn,” and uses all his rights only in this way, then sooner or later he will lose all his rights. Not only that, but he will also lose the rights that young people truly deserve.Later, when age advances, and a person becomes weaker, he will look back with regret at his younger self and at the younger people around him who are able to act freely, lightly, quickly, and energetically. As for me, although I am no longer a young person, whenever I meet young people, I feel encouraged by their strength and energy, and I gain motivation myself.In this sense, I believe that I made good use of the valuable rights of youth when I was young. If there are people who wasted their youth by living carelessly, then their regret during adulthood and old age will be even stronger.As I travel from place to place and observe different scenes in daily life, I feel happy when I see young people who truly and fully use their rights in a proper way. Such young people, I regard as “real youth,” and I respect and admire them. When I see young people who only use their rights for outward appearance and fashion, I feel that they are merely pretending to be young and that they are misusing the rights of youth.I understand that today’s young people are often judged only by their appearance. However, when I see young people who, without being obsessed with physical beauty or passing trends, use all the rights of youth fully and positively, I feel even more admiration and encouragement for them.Rights do not come twice. Likewise, youth does not come twice. Therefore, in the only youth that comes to us, we should fully and properly use the valuable and meaningful rights that belong to that stage of life. Only by doing so can life move forward, new opportunities be created, and one’s abilities be developed.The right to beautify one’s appearance is something that will fade with age. But if we reflect deeply on this, young people who truly understand their rights and use them fully and correctly will surely appear. This is what I strongly believe and sincerely hope.(Source: Translation of the article written by Hsuu Thit in The Yadanabon Newspaper on 6 February 2026)gnlm
Comments on a few of TPM’s political statements and articles
Comments on a few of TPM’s political statements and articles
15 January 2026 is the 48th anniversary of the passing of veteran writer and politician U Thein Pe Myint (10 July 1914-15 January 1978).In my previous article (GNLM, 19 July 2025) on U Thein Pe Myint (generally ‘TPM’), I stated that I might write about TPM’s political relationship with the late former Prime Minister U Nu (25 May 1907-14 February 1995). Parts of this article deal with TPM’s a few political statements made in his column ပွင့်ပွင့်လင်းလင်းပြောပါရစေ (‘Let me speak frankly’).U Nu’s comments on TPM to devote solely to literature, not politics and TPM’s responseIn my previous article, I praised TPM’s literary gifts. Hence, I feel almost reluctant to write this Part. A Burmese saying goes ဆိုရေးရှိက ဆိုအပ်လေ ‘if things ought to be said, had a cause to be stated, then, they should be stated’. TPM and U Nu, who was to become the first Prime Minister of independent Burma, were colleagues at the university. U Nu was seven years older than TPM. What was then called ‘Ko Gyi Nu’ (elder brother Nu) was from the delta town of Wakema, and TPM from quite far away, Budalin in the hinterland. They became good friends at the University of Rangoon. When three of TPM’s earlier short stories were published in 1937, U Nu wrote an Introduction. A further collection of nine short stories by TPM was published around 1952. By then, U Nu had become the first democratically-elected Prime Minister of independent Burma. TPM was active in (sort of oppositional) politics against the U Nu government.U Nu wrote a second Introduction to TPM’s 1952 collection of short stories. The Introduction was dated 7 November 1952. U Nu wrote in his second Introduction that the politics of the ‘left’ kind has not given any advantage to TPM. He urged TPM to fully concentrate its energies on the literary field.Since 1952, much water has passed under the bridge. TPM was elected to Parliament in the 1956 election. It was an election held where political parties freely participated in a Parliamentary democracy. Later, post-1962, TPM critiqued ‘bourgeois parliamentary democracy’ to which he had taken full advantage of when it was in force.On 2 March 1962, General Ne Win (6 July 1910-5 December 2002) took over power. ‘Ko Gyi’ (elder brother), U Nu, and many other top leaders were arrested and incarcerated. U Nu was released on 27 October 1966.In a Preface dated 27 November 1966, TPM wrote largely in response to elder brother Nu’s exhortation in 1952 to fully concentrate on the literary field. TPM apparently believed that the ‘fruition’ of his leftist political movement was, by 1966, ‘around the corner’. After all, the then Revolutionary government professed ‘marching towards socialism in our own Burmese way’.Many of those whom the then Revolutionary government stated as ‘leftist and rightist destructionists’ were arrested. Among those, a few thousand arrested were left-wing writers junior in age to TPM. They include Dagon Taya (10 May 1919-19 August 2013), Bhamo Tin Aung (9 June 1920-23 October 1978) and Mya Than Tint (23 May 1929-18 February 1998). Bhamo Tin Aung, for example, spent about seven years being incarcerated. Although a more senior leftist writer than those three leftist writers, TPM was not arrested at any time during the post-1962 period.TPM’s response to U Nu’s second introduction was dated 27 November 1966. TPM wrote in his 1952 response to U Nu that his political aim was to abolish the old system (obviously parliament democracy) and to establish a new ‘social system’. TPM wrote that until such a social revolution is fully established, he will continue to be active in politics. TPM affirmed what he wrote in 1952 again in 1966. By the time TPM affirmed what he wrote in 1952 (in 1966), the ‘Burmese way to socialism’ and ‘epoch-changing revolution’ were in full force.TPM wrote (in November 1966) that the time was approaching when he could open the ‘war front only in the literary field’ (he used the word စစ်မျက်နှာ, which is military usage and displayed militant leftism).U Thein Pe Myint passed away in January 1978, just 11 years after he made that somewhat pompous if not facetious comment. One wonders whether TPM considered in his last year (1977) that the time had come to devote all his efforts to the literary front as General Ne Win’s ‘epoch-changing revolution’ was in its 15th year.Further implied critiques of U Nu and ‘rightist clique’ by TPMOn 29 November 1968, General Ne Win invited 33 civilian politicians in what he himself called a ‘very important meeting’. (See The Working People’s Daily, 30 November 1968). Among those invited was U Nu, whom General Ne Win had overthrown and put in detention for four years and seven months. At least seven or eight of the invitees were previously detained.On 2 December 1968, a 33-man (they were all men) Internal Unity Advisory Board (IUAB) was formed. They were to meet for six months and at the end of it, to submit a report to General Ne Win and his Revolutionary Council. On 3 June 1969, the IUAB report was published in all the government-run official newspapers. The report mentioned that ‘regarding the need for internal unity’, Revolutionary Council Chairman General Ne Win convened a meeting on 29 November 1968. Facetiously (again) and almost obsequiously, TPM wrote, ‘Why did the IUAB Report mention the date 29 November 1968 — the day General Ne Win called the meeting and not 2 March 1962?’ Of course, it was the date of the takeover.My response after all these decades to TPM: why should the IUAB report mention the date of 2 March when several members of the IUAB were detained, if not on the day of the 1962 takeover, then in the subsequent months and years? General Ne Win, in his speech, did not mention his takeover and did not even imply to the invitees that they should endorse his takeover as TPM suggested. So TPM was more ‘General Ne Win than General Ne Win’ himself!Within days of the publication of the 33 men IUAB report, the then hack journalists were severely condemning U Nu. I do not recall the exact contents of TPM’s critique of U Nu, but when U Nu’s interim report was made available in June 1969, U Nu was out of Burma. He left in April 1969 ostensibly for a medical checkup abroad. And then on 27 August 1969, U Nu made a declaration in London that he was ‘still the legitimate Prime Minister of Burma’. (The full declaration was reported in original English and Burmese translation in the 3 September 1969 issue of government-owned newspapers.)To cut a long story short, on 29 July 1980, U Nu returned to Burma after the invitation of the President (Ne Win) on behalf of the organs of State power in consideration, recognition and honour of the leading and distinguished role in the freedom struggle. (This was reported in the front page of all the Burmese language newspapers and also in The Working People’s Daily, predecessor to The Global New Light of Myanmar, on its 30 July 1980 issue). When U Nu returned to Burma in July 1980, his ‘younger brother’ TPM had been dead for over two-and-a -half years.A person who is close to TPM’s family told me that when U Nu heard about the demise of TPM in January 1978, he sent not one but two telegrams (not the internet telegram channel, which did not exist in 1978) to express his condolences to TPM’s family. U Nu sent the condolence telegram twice to make sure that TPM’s family received it.If this story is true, which it probably is, then U Nu was a magnanimous person. TPM’s critiques of U Nu did not in any way diminish the elder statesman’s fondness for and sorrow at the death of his younger colleague.TPM as a columnist in Botahtaung newspaper, and two articles that he wroteTPM contributed regular articles to the Vanguard newspaper he founded. TPM has written a few hundred articles from at least the early 1960s to about 1976 under the generic heading ‘Let me speak frankly’.On 2 March 1972, on the 10th anniversary of the takeover of 1962, TPM published an article.I do recall parts of what TPM wrote, which was published more than 53 years ago. TPM opened its 10th anniversary takeover with the phrase ‘Oh, it has been ten years, yes, ten rainy seasons.’ ဆယ်နှစ်ဆယ်မိုး (since the 1962 takeover). And then the first several sentences listed the shortcomings of the then-10-year-old Revolutionary government, albeit TPM added that these are those made by the Revolutionary government’s ‘detractors’. (Thankfully, he did not use the word ‘enemies’.)In the context of the time, it was just a tad bold to have written thus. In the first four or five sentences, TPM listed a few of the criticisms against the then-10-year-old Revolutionary government. But the rest of his article listed their ‘great achievements’. There is a Burmese mode of argument which, in translation, reads ‘a cock’s retreat and attack.’ The Myanmar-English Dictionary defines it as ‘emulation of a tactic of a game-cock in a debate or an argument, i.e., to give grounds to the adverse view in the opening round and then pounce on its opponents’. TPM in the first few sentences of the ‘tenth anniversary article’ stated the criticisms made by the detractors of the Revolutionary government. But then he tried to negate the criticisms, saying there are also many good things that have been done by the Revolutionary government.In December 1965, Revolutionary Council chairman and Chairman of the sole legal party Burma Socialist Programme Party, General Ne Win, addressed a Party seminar. He admitted that the Burmese economy then was having many difficulties. He stated that some people blamed his then deputy, Brigadier Tin Pe, for the economic mess. General Ne Win stated that he was also responsible for the economic policies and the hardship the Burmese were experiencing. He stated that his government was like a person who had grabbed the tiger’s tail. It must continue to hold it.Time magazine complimented him. It wrote: ‘Candour in a military dictator is rare, self-criticism even rarer, but Burma’s strong man General Ne Win showed both in a speech last week’. Therefore, one had to assume that Thein Pe Myint’s initial listing of the criticism of the ‘social revolution’ or ‘epoch-changing revolution’ in his 2 March 1972 column is not as notable as General Ne Win himself over six years earlier, who sort of admitted that much.The Stoppage of ‘Let me talk frankly’ columns, no more ‘battlefield’ in the political front?In November 1966, in response to U Nu’s exhortation to abandon politics, TPM wrote about his belief that the time to devote all his energy, time, ‘blood’ and sweat only to the ‘literary front’ would be arriving ‘soon’.Query: has it arrived ten years later, in say, late 1976? For that was around the time when U Thein Pe Myint’s political columns ‘disappeared’ from the pages of The Vanguard. Has the time to devote TPM’s energies solely to literary matters finally arrived, say, by 1976? Nah.In his ‘Let me speak frankly’ column of 23 October 1975 under the title ‘Cost of Presidential Pasoe’ (men’s Longyi), TPM had commented on the statement of a resolution made by the one-party Legislature to allow K5,000 a year for presidential clothing or ‘regalia’. In one of his last columns, ‘Let me speak frankly’, TPM did not openly state that allocation of K5,000 (which is equivalent in 2025 to about K5 million as inflation has risen more than 2,000 times since 1975) is ‘a bit much’. But apparently, the title Thamada Pasoe boe (‘The Cost of the Presidential garment’) might have displeased the ‘elders’ လူကြီးများ at that time. This ‘frank opinion’ of TPM, perhaps, was one of the last articles that the Vanguard would publish. TPM’s future columns to the newspaper he had established failed to make it to print.Around 1976 or 1977, I attended a literary-related seminar in Rangoon. One participant asked a question to one of the speakers: ‘Why were there no more columns by TPM in the Vanguard Daily?’ The speaker just started to answer the query by saying that ‘there must be some reason’ when the Chair of the session, U Ba Kyaw (1917-1987), then chief editor of the now defunct The Guardian (Rangoon) newspaper, who wrote under the pseudonym MBK, peremptorily stopped the speaker from proceeding any further. Thein Pe Myint, the veteran writer, journalist and politician’s articles were not published anymore in response to his questioning about the monies allocated for the Presidential ‘regalia’.After his regular columns disappeared from The Vanguard, TPM continued to publish a few short stories and a novella in the literary field in other private magazines. In fact, apparently, his last novella appeared in the August 1977 issue of a private magazine. It was published less than six months before his death. TPM’s political columns, perhaps in the last year or two of his life, came to a stop in a newspaper which he founded. But some of his literary pieces were published in private magazines even after his political columns were not published. His passing at not that old age of sixty-three is to be regretted since he could have further produced significant literary work.gnlm
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