Storm in A Teacup as Aung San Suu Kyi Serves Lipton at State Banquet

Trouble was brewing in Burma on Wednesday after Aung San Suu Kyi was criticised by the grandson of former dictator General Ne Win over her choice of tea at a state banquet.

Aye Ne Win said serving Lipton tea at the state dinner on Tuesday night was a “disgrace”.

“OMG [oh my god] who serves Lipton Tea for State Dinner! Such a disgrace,” he wrote on Facebook. “It should be at least Twinning's (sic) Earl Grey or Fortnum and Mason's Queen Anne Tea.”

The 39-year-old business tycoon referred to the Nobel Peace Prize laureate as “Old Girl” and implied she was being cheap.

He wrote: “I expect the Old Girl to have more fine taste than that. She should definitely not advice (sic) when it comes to Tea at least. And don't give me the crappie (sic) excuse that we should save money when you can get Twinning's (sic) at local City Mart for $13 (£9)  per 20 teabags.”

Aye Ne Win, who studied at the University of London, has a taste for British tea and posts pictures of Fortnum & Mason’s teabags alongside boxes of shortbread on his Facebook page.

It is possible that General Ne Win’s descendant was stirring up trouble as Burma, also known as Myanmar, moves away from its military past. 

The state dinner was held for Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore’s prime minister, in the first visit by a head of government since Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party took power at the end of March.  

The event was hosted by President U Htin Kyaw, who is seen by many as Ms Suu Kyi’s proxy. 

Ms Suu Kyi is barred from the presidency under a military-drafted constitution, but attended the dinner in her role as state counsellor and minister for foreign affairs. Guests were treated to traditional Burmese cuisine including smoked catfish soup, chicken curry and mango sorbet.

Ne Win ruled Burma from 1962 until his resignation amid pro-democracy protests in 1988, during which Ms Suu Kyi emerged as her country’s icon.

Under Ne Win, Burma was isolated from the world and its economy collapsed while the dictator amassed an estimated fortune of $4 billion.

By the time he stepped down, Burma was one of the ten poorest countries in the world.

The comments from Aye Ne Win were met with scorn on social media. “Seriously? Cheap is when one’s family bankrupts the entire Myanmar economy,” wrote May Thu Khine.

“Lipton is all we can afford after decades of isolation and corruption. LOL,” added Nay Ye Aung.  

A government insider, who was not present at the dinner, said he was not aware of complaints about the tea.

“What I heard was people complaining because there was no alcohol,” he said.

CREDIT:Telegraph