Sittwe: After Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested on 14 May, 2009, the prices of shortwave radios have been increasing in Sittwe markets, a town elder said.
"I went to a store in a Sittwe market two days ago, to buy a shortwave radio of Chinese-make, but the prices had increased at least 20 percent, as many radio buyers crowded the market," said the elder.
The price of a shortwave radio of Chinese-make was previously only Kyat 2500, but it has recently increased to Kyat 4000.
"Despite the price increase, I bought a Kubo branch radio for Kyat 4000 that day, because I needed to listen to the news about Daw Suu broadcast by foreign radio stations. At present, every Burmese wants to know about Daw Suu Kyi, after her arrest. I realized why the radio prices have increased at least 20 percent recently in Sittwe," he said.
People in Arakan State are very interested about the current situation of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, after the government arrested her. Many people have been buying shortwave radios to listen to news through Burmese media stations, based abroad.
Ko Hla Maung from Pauktaw Township said, "As we want to know about Daw Suu's situation after her arrest, we need a radio. In our village, everybody owns a shortwave radio. Without a radio, a person is not up to date with modern times in our village."
A store owner from Sittwe said, "Most radio buyers are from rural areas of Arakan and they bought radios through some traders, who regularly come to Sittwe for business purposes. It is the radio era of Burma."
According to a local source, many families in Arakan State have two or three radio sets in their homes and each family member listens to their own set everyday without fail.
A town elder said, "State-run newspapers and the radio stations in Burma have never published such news about Daw Suu or other important news related to opposition activities. So we depend on foreign-based radio stations to listen to accurate news on such topics."
There are four radio programs based abroad that are popular in Burma - the BBC, Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, and Democratic Voice of Burma. The sound of radios can be heard from most homes, every morning and evening with residents listening to the latest news of Burma.
