Finnish woman living in Myanmar is not afraid of unrest
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Marjut Sieppi, the head of a foster parenting association, answers the phone in Yangon, Myanmar. Voices of small children can be heard in the background. The three-year-old twin girls are foster children of Sieppi's Finncontact organisation.
Sieppi is one of five Finns known to live in Myanmar. She is married to a local businessman, and has lived in the country since 1994.
Sieppi also helps Finnish companies find partners in the country.
Commenting on the situation in Yangon, Sieppi, who drives in the city daily, says that things were calm on Tuesday morning.
"The monks' parade moves slowly, and people watch on the side", she says.
She saw no soldiers or roadblocks on Tuesday morning.
"The people of Myanmar are careful. They do not comment very much", Sieppi said. As she sees it, a small group are taking part in the demonstrations, while most others are waiting to see what happens.
The political upheavals in the country do not frighten Sieppi. "Myanmar is one of the safest countries in the world. I don't lock my doors, and I drive alone to my other house at the Chinese border 700 kilometres away."
Sieppi's friends say that the situation is not as threatening as it was before the 1988 bloodbath.
"Today I was surprised to see people hoarding food in the store. But it could have been because of Ramadan, or because people were waiting for something to happen", Sieppi said.
Demonstrations by monks were sparked by the doubling of the price of petrol. When transport costs increased, the price of vegetables and food went up. Sieppi says that the situation is bad: prices rise on a daily basis. Ordinary people cannot afford to eat anything except rice and chili sauce.
Four other Finns in addition to Sieppi are known to live in Myanmar. Three of them work for international agencies. Mika Itävaara, who works in the travel business, has lived in the country for about two years. He did not want to answer questions put to him by Helsingin Sanomat.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 26.9.2007 - TODAY |
 Finnish woman living in Myanmar is not afraid of unrest |
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