Burma Underground

Myanmar: Lessons for America Part II

The Editor — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 10:00:00 -0700

By Anonymous

Ignorance
In 1988, when students and monks were massacred in Myanmar, Universities were closed and the education system completed its deterioration. A whole generation of young people were left without a means of education. Many students found ways to teach themselves, but in general the lack of higher education along with the system of memorization used in elementary through secondary levels resulted in a huge loss of the potential human resources of the country. In this way the younger generations were handicapped, taught to accept and internalize the twisted histories and other lies fed to them in state run schools instead of being taught how to use their brains, how to think, and how to question. They were taught fear instead. The news and media surrounding them was always manipulated and controlled by the Junta. Myanmar is a country in which rumors fly as no where else. When the US invaded Iraq this last time, many respectable Burmese sincerely believed that the US had tanks lined up on the border of Myanmar and Thailand, finally coming to free them. In reality, the US government marked Myanmar down on their black-list as a dangerous country harboring evil terrorists out to destroy the American people.

When I look at what the education system in the United States of America has become it doesn’t seem very different from that in Myanmar. We are not being taught how to think but only to accept what we are given. Even at our University levels we are rewarded for parroting back what we are fed. It is now common knowledge that our media is controlled by a few groups whose purpose is to keep us in fear of the outer world. It has just been over the last couple years that the majority of Americans have realized this. Still today, many of us believe everything we see on the news. We are constantly surrounded by commercialism and fed mind-dulling nonsense about what is healthy for our bodies, and then told the opposite the next day. This keeps us all confused and in fear of cancer, terrorists, bad-credit, other religions, fires, tornadoes, you name it, that we dare not think for ourselves any more.

Myanmar: Lessons for America

The Editor — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 10:00:00 -0700

By Anonymous

While exploring the markets and tea-shops of various cities in Myanmar I have had some interesting discussions with people from all over the country. As we all know, Aung San Su Kyi, Myanmar’s elected President who has been under house arrest for more than a decade, requested that tourists not come to Myanmar in order to boycott the military regime. I have done a lot of low-budget traveling around Myanmar, and I have worked in the tourist industry for extended periods of time. In light of the recent events in Myanmar I am compelled to put forth my perspective, and to pass on what many Burmese citizens from all over Myanmar have discussed with me.

The first time I visited Myanmar was in 1996, the last time I was there was the end of 2006. Please excuse me if the writing is sometimes disjointed as the images I have seen on YouTube of the thousands of Monks marching in the street, brings up strong emotions in me of terror, amazement and vast respect for what they are doing.

Tourism in Myanmar
What I have seen in regards to the tourist industry in Myanmar is that there are basically two categories. The major one being package tour groups. These are generally older people, and they mostly come from Europe—from Italy and Germany. These package tours visit Myanmar for ten days. They go from Inle Lake to Bagan to Ngapali, they stay at the same hotels, eat at the same restaurants and shop at the same tourist shops. They are guided around by the same tour guides and their money does indeed support the military and their cronies. As a result I have seen some incredibly decadent hotels built in these areas of the country in the last five years. This type of tourist never sees the real Myanmar or interacts on the local level with Burmese people. I wouldn’t be surprised if these tour groups had never heard of Aung San Su Kyi or her request not to support the military regime.

Sanctions, to Lift or Not to Lift?

The Editor — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 10:46:00 -0800

The founder of the Free Burma Coalition, Zar Ni, recently released a statement regarding the negative impact of sanctions on Burma’s people. The Free Burma Coalition was the original driving force behind the campaigns to boycott companies and to institute sanctions. In the first place, Zar Ni and the FBC deserve some recognition for having the humility to reconsider their strategy in the face of evidence that its been unsuccessful. As he states, sanctions are too ‘simplistic’. To quote, “[Western approaches]...overemphasise democratisation above other important aspects of nation building, and seek to affect regime change through pressure and sanctions which are in many ways doing more harm than good.” This sentiment was also expressed by Ian Halliday, a professor at the City University of Hong Kong who has apparently done some research into the issue of economic engagement in Burma. Halliday said this, “At present, too much faith is placed in quick political fixes. Burmese activists and Western commentators in liberal think tanks frequently insist that with just one more ratcheting up of sanctions, the junta will fall and a transition to democracy will ensue.” Although I’m a little reticent to lump Zar Ni and Halliday together in this instance, namely because Halliday seems to be a conservative who also said this:

“Take, for instance, the involvement of Western oil corporations in the Yadana gas project. Though highly controversial, Western oil corporations have created well paid jobs, established microcredit schemes to boost indigenous entrepreneurship, and reached out to local communities. They have made considerable investments in education and health care, on a local and nation scale.”

For your reading pleasure...

The Editor — Sun, 30 Oct 2005 01:05:00 -0700

I've been falling behind a bit in keeping up with the news from Burma. Which isn't difficult as there's always a lot coming through the newswires. I was going to do a nice post dedicated to the martyrs of the struggle, in honor of Aung San Suu Kyi on the day of her 10th year under house arrest. But instead I was busy being sick and freaking out about going to Malaysia. RJ at Burma Watch.com has some good stuff, though. And you can google to news. In the grand tradition of blogging, I will proceed to post excerpts of someone else's writing, for your perusal and consideration.

Rethinking Burma

The Editor — Thu, 06 Oct 2005 09:26:00 -0700

I came across an interesting article over at the Freedom Institute recently, concerning the need to rethink our strategic approach to Burma. You can read the full text here: Myanmar: Time for a rethink. The article made a few salient points, namely, that sanctions alone aren’t working, and the conflicting approaches of various nations are counterproductive. Which is, I suppose, what most of us have come to realise, isn’t it? But still, I find it encouraging that there seems to be some kind of dialogue/discourse developing on the topic.

But, I also find the article interesting for other reasons as well, in particular the way it represents a typical outsider/western viewpoint on the problems in Burma. As tends to be the case with outside perspectives, it can miss important details that are obvious from the inside. As tends to be the case with ‘Western’ perspectives, it takes a somewhat short-sighted view of the history and politics of the region. Coming from ‘modern’ nations, where our national identity tends to be linked more with the present and future than the past, we often forget the depth of history in Asia, and the importance it plays in the minds of the people. Don’t get me wrong, the author of the aforementioned article is obviously intelligent, and its a decent piece, but I will still proceed to poke holes in it.

International Sanctions, Regional Cooperation

The Editor — Sun, 25 Sep 2005 11:29:00 -0700

Since Vaclav Havel and Archbishop Desmond Tutu have called on the UN Security Council to take action on the Burma issue, it seems the heat’s really starting to turn up on the junta. The US is also pushing for the Security Council to put Burma on the agenda during the next month. The ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar (Burma) Caucus has also called on ASEAN to increase pressure on the junta to implement democratic reforms - and to suspend its membership if progress is not made within a year. Even a Thai Senator, Kraisak Choonhaven, stated that the relinquishment of the 2006 ASEAN chairmanship “heralded the start of further action against the generals”. (Watch out Mr. Thaksin, a senator supporting sanctions against Burma might lead to an epidemic of people following their own conscience instead of government rhetoric.) One could almost feel as if we are reaching a turning point in the crisis.