As Myanmar is part of the Asean family, the developments there will have broad ramifications for Asean and also the region, said Mr Chi Chiew Sum, Special Assistant to Foreign Minister George Yeo, in a letter yesterday addressed to a group of veteran Myanmar dissidents.

It was in response to a call by the 88 Generation Students' group, which had urged Asean to suspend Myanmar's military regime from the regional bloc if the junta continues to refuse international demands for reform.

In a letter to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Mr Yeo last Thursday, leaders of the group urged Asean to push the junta into talks with the opposition.

The group also asked Asean to reject a military-sponsored Constitution that has been criticised as one-sided and also urged the Singapore Government to stop selling weapons and intelligence technology to the junta.

The 88 Generation group is made up of veterans of the 1988 democracy uprising that ended in bloodshed when soldiers sprayed thousands of protesters with bullets in front of Yangon's City Hall.

In the letter, Mr Chi said Singapore thinks that it is important to give full support to the United Nations' effort in resolving the problem and 'do what we can to help the secretary-general's special envoy, Mr Ibrahim Gambari, in his mission to help Myanmar achieve peaceful national reconciliation'.

Noting that Singapore agrees that a regime change will not solve the problem in Myanmar, Mr Chi said that the Republic supports Prof Gambari's efforts to help achieve national reconciliation in Myanmar through genuine dialogue involving all the parties, including the military, Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy.

Mr Chi also attached a speech by Mr Yeo in Parliament on Oct 22 in which the minister stated Singapore's views and positions on the Myanmar situation.

Mr Yeo had told Parliament that Singapore's defence sales to Myanmar over the years had not been substantial and had always 'been carefully limited to items that are not suitable for countering civilian unrest'.

The letter added that a stable Myanmar is important not only for the future of the people of Myanmar, but also for the region as a whole.