Food Menu for those Officer of Tatmadaw called “A Ba”

When I was young, I had read in stories that the king was served with 12 meals on the dinning table. We cannot know it is true or not and only people of that time will know.

As I experienced, lower ranking soldiers, generals and even majors of Tatmadaw cannot eat their meals like that. Most of them had to stay with frugality because of their salary.The larger the family, the more frugality. We have battlion fund and when the officers we called ”A Ba” come to check, we have to serve him or them with that fund. I was familiar with cooking and serving for them as my mother was a cooking them member. It was very complicated like food decoration, refreshing food, midnight meal and etc. It was very tired for me as seeing them, you can imagine how tired for the ones who were serving for ”A Ba”. They have to serve and cook for the whole day. In Tatmadaw, once being a officer, he never give his money back. When that officers come to check the battlion, they eat what we serve with our funds and if they feel disfavor, the battlion chief had to be scolded. The higher ranking in Tatmadaw, the more taking bribe.Although the lower ranking soldiers have low salary and some even have debts, Tatmadaw is with the book like ”Menu to serve for officers”. The food in the menu may be changed, there is no change in the lives of lower ranking soldiers as the cooking teams exist till now.

They have to serve for “A Ba” whole day from part of their salary, battlion fund, and even cannot cook for children at home.For the higher ranking officers of Tatmadaw, wherever they reached, they were served like kings. For the lower ranking soldiers, there is no bathroom and even no place to sleep when they go somewhere for competition. Think simply, is there justice? As for people of Tatmadaw, they will say if you want to be like that, try to become.And they will also know they not all generals and majors of Tatmadaw are not ”A Ba”. There are many soldiers who didn’t even get retirement pension after 60 years old.So you can imagine how do the ones who called “A Ba” in Tatmadaw take bribe and how they become rich more and more when other lower ranking soldiers are being difficult for living with their few salary.

Thanks You.

Ma Tha Zin

Translated to English by KZH