In Sittwe, Su found his father’s adjutant busy over the phone when she entered Lee’s office. By consulting with army headquarters in Yangon, Captain Un had been trying to finalize a date for Lee’s upcoming visit to Minbya when Su appeared before him. Initially Lee wanted to visit the garrison in Minbya in the first week of September. However, for unknown reason Un was told by army headquarters to postpone the visit. Finally, it was decided that Lee would visit the garrison on 18th of September. With a very polite smile on his face, Un asked her to take the seat before his desk, the moment he hung up the phone.
But instead of taking the seat, she came very close to Un and said, “My dad, I mean your boss, how is everything going with him?”
“Miss, you should know it better than me. Why you do you ask?”
“These days dad hardly keeps in touch with me. I assume he must be very busy with something. By the way, could you please tell me where my dad has been planning to go on the 18th of this month? It sounded like dad wanted to go there this week.”
“Miss, I’m not allowed to disclose it, it’s confidential.”
“Okay, I’ll find out from Dad. Now please inform dad that I’m here to see him.”
Un pressed the button of the intercom to convey the message to Lee. Soon afterwards, he beckoned to Su to approach Lee’s office through the door behind him. When Su had left Un’s desk, the adjutant informed Lee the date of his visit to Minbya. When Su entered, he had been busy studying the huge map of the Rakhain state which hung from the wall, inside his office room. She ran to him and embraced him the way a little girl hugged her dad after a long absence.
She said, “Dad, on the 18th of this month you’ll have to be there with us in Yangon because a very close friend of mine will visit us. I would like to introduce you to her.”
“Sweetheart, it won’t be possible for me to be there on 18th.”
With her eyes closed she asked, “Why?”
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“I’ve to be somewhere else for a visit.”
“Dad, are you planning to visit Minbya?”
“Sweetheart, who has informed you this?”
“Dad, you know that journalists are not supposed to disclose their sources. Now listen very carefully, I have information, there might be an assault on you over there.”
“Our army intelligence has already conveyed to us this information.”
“Then why are you going over there?”
“Why should I not go? This is my profession. The day I joined this profession, we had solemnly promised that we would not care about our lives if the time came. Therefore, please sweetheart, do not stop me from performing my sacred duty.”
“Dad, you don’t understand, there’s a plot to kill you. The extremist priest from Mandalay, a vicious international circle and even a few big shots of Tatmadaw are all involved in it.”
“Su, I’m really amazed that you know so much about it. Listen, sometimes the enemy spreads false information in order to confuse us. So, I must do what is expected of me.”
By now there were clear signs of disappointment and desperation in Su’s countenance. From his neck she dropped to his two feet. Having them in a tight embrace, hysterically she kept saying, “Dad, dad, please don’t go. The ones you see as friends, they have been using you. They are not your true friends. They can do anything. They won’t even think twice before killing you. Please, please, don’t, just don’t…,” She couldn’t continue after this. Her voice had become choked, her lips began trembling, tears ran down her cheeks.
Taking her in his arms, very gently Lee placed a kiss on her forehead and said, “Sweetheart, if you behave like this how will I work? I would have never joined this profession, had I been aware, such a tender, loving angel would come to my life.” Lee paused for a few seconds, held Su’s face in his two palms and then resumed, “Alright, here’s what I’m going to do. Once I reach Minbya, constantly I’ll maintain contact with this little bird of mine. If I face any kind of danger, let me know what to do, and I’ll follow every word you say.”
Su wiped her tears, and with a broken voice said, “Alright, it’s a deal then.”
This emotional exchange between father and daughter ended with Lee sending her to his residential compound while telling his adjutant to contact the Chief of Staff Senior General Mong Shui Pon over the phone. Lee had a long conversation with this general. Basically, he conveyed to the general what he had learned from his daughter. The general was acquainted to Su, so he did not doubt the credibility of the source. However, he did not try to hide his annoyance as he said, “This is the danger of working with these religious figures. They have a very thin skin over their belly. You just give it a slight knock, and everything comes out. Unwittingly, the priest from Mandalay must have leaked sensitive information to someone, or else, how did your daughter come to know about this? Since your daughter knows about it, we can safely assume that your wife knows about it as well. What a mess we’re in!”
“If my wife gets to know about this, most likely she has learned this from Ban La’s wife, not from Su because almost every week, with my wife, this blabbermouth talks about what goes on inside Tatmadaw. And as for Ban La, he cannot rest until he divulges every little secret of Tatmadaw to his beloved wife.”
“Oh, don’t mention that submissive character. He has no personality at all. I don’t know why this kind of man has been given such vital responsibility. Anyway, I’ll discuss it with the chief. Don’t worry, we won’t allow this to become a problem for us.”
The Chief of Staff didn’t wait to call the army chief after he was done talking to Lee. Both agreed that things shouldn’t be allowed to go on like this. To rectify the situation, the army chief directed his Chief of Staff to take appropriate action, without any delay. At any cost, the integrity of the state secrets had to be ensured.