The Shan people are cultured, peaceful,
Pious, humble, and aspire only to live quietly
As dignified human beings,
And not subject to oppression by anyone.
They have been unable to do so for more than fifty years.
It is my duty to fight for the Shan people

It is a duty of everyone to love his people,
To treasure his ethnic identity.
But one should be able to think strategically,
To see the big picture of any situation and/or the struggle.
It is not useful in any way to be obsessed
Only with ethnic patriotism.

The Burma Army and its leaders are ethnic-chauvinists.
This is why the whole country is suffering
In so many ways for so many years.

Discipline in the SSA at that time was very strict.
Soldiers and officers were not regarded as superior
to the people, or as more patriotic than others.
They were not above the law.
An army that thinks of itself as a national vanguard,
As the saviour of the nation, as more patriotic than anyone –
This kind of army is a threat to everyone.

Fighting strategically therefore is the key.
War is not about killing.
War is about brainpower,
And it is won firstly up here, in the head.
War is about psychology,
Making the enemy feeling weak
Although they may be many times stronger, more numerous.

As many philosophers of warfare say, war is politics.
At the heart of war is politics.
If one loses the political war,
The armed might that one possess,
No matter how mighty, becomes useless.
Ten, twenty battlefield victories can be neutralized,
Cancelled-out, by one political move.

Military rule is a cancer.
And military rule was not necessary,
And it is still not necessary.
In fact, military rule is never needed
Nor necessary in any country.

It is the responsibility of everyone –
Every good sons and daughters
Of all ethnic segments in Burma –
To remove this cancer
From the body of our politics and our society.

I believe we can do this.
This is why I am still in the fight.
If I did not believe that this putrid cancer can be removed,
I would not be doing what I am doing now.

(Words from our hero given at the Kaowao News Interview)