munnki
07 Jan 2010, 01:51 PM
I notice that Burma are having elections (whatever that means). And I thought I'd post a selection from a text I read on Burma when I last travelled there.
...the people's uprising of 1998. At eight minutes past eight in the morning of the eighth day of the eighth month of that year, students launched a countrywide demonstration against almost three decades of poverty and oppression under military rule. Thousands of people flooded into the streets of cities and towns all over Burma shouting, "Dee-mo-ka-ra-see! Dee-mo-ka-ra-see!" The government response was brutal: that evening, soliders marched into the streets and strafed the crowds with machine gun-fire. In Rangoon, doctors and nurses, overwhelmed by the wounded, hung a sign outside the general hospital begging the soldiers to stop killing people. The sign was written in the blood of the wounded and dead. When a column of nurses joined the protest out in the streets, wearing their white uniforms, they too were shot. Among those who died in the days of chaos that followed were high-school children, teachers and monks. Smoke billowed from crematoriums as authorities rapidly disposed of their corpses. The uprising did not end until more than 3,000 people had been shot or bludgeoned to death by government soldiers.
(Secret Histories - Finding George Orwell In A Burmese Teashop, Emma Larkin, John Murray Publishers, pp11-12, 2005)
Here's also a quote from the Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/04/burma-calls-election) giving commentary on the recent elections. Having visited Myanmar (I should call it by its proper name!) twice - I have to say it was in terrible condition and has one of the sadder recent histories of countries I have visited.
"Plans are under way to hold elections in a systematic way this year," he said in the address, read out on television by a senior junta official. "In that regard, the entire people have to make correct choices." No date has been set for the election.
The 76-year-old general also warned people to "remain vigilant at all times against dangers posed by neocolonialists", in a reference to the US, Britain and other western nations critical of its record on human rights and treatment of political opponents.
Some will interpret the message as a warning not to vote for Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy. The NLD does not recognise the country's new military-authored constitution and has yet to decide whether to take part in the election.
I would love to have a cup of tea with Than Shwe to ask him his opinion on democracy and accountability but it's pretty well outlined in bold above.
Here's my notes (http://munnki.blogspot.com/2006/06/myanmar-three-days-in-yangon.html) on a trip there....
Well, I guess we picked the wrong season to come here as it's very rainy. It rains from 2-3 in the afternoon for pretty much the rest of the day. It's been an experience coming here, mostly from the various rumours you hear about the Myanmarese government and their chicanery. The latest episode in their history is of re-confirming the detention of their democratically elected leader while hurredly moving the captial to a new location in the country. The people here are, at least to talk with them, fairly unpolitical.... this is probably an unfair generalization as it's almost impossible to have a political conversation here as the people live in fear of their government. There's still talk of forced labour and workmen in chains building army/government buildings and there are signs around that things could certainly be better.
This town does have its charm and it's important to remember that you are almost in India when you are in Burma, therefore, there are bustling markets and the people are hard-working and engaged in conversations and activity out on the streets and in their homes.
Walking down a typical street in Yangon you can see people hawking their wares out on the street, food-stands, car-repair shops, moslems out in conversation in the streets and, sadly, beggars, particularly child-beggars, everywhere. The pavements are cracked and of varying quality so when a torrent begins (and it certainly does in this season) you have to be pretty careful where you place your feet. At this time of the year there are few foreigners here, so you definitely have the feeling that you are on your own.
Our first night here we headed for a 'bar' called Traders and discovered that it was a large hotel in the centre of the city. My experience of expensive high-star hotels is that they are generally full of over-rich and extremely dull people and Traders was no disappointment, so we swiftly headed down to another destination called the 50th Street Bar closer to our guesthouse and it was a lovely little place. Of course, we were the only people there for the next five hours but nonetheless it was great food and a great design..... the thing about this town is though, where do you go? After a few hours an Austrailian couple arrived and recommended that we go check out a place called BME which apparently was a club 'full of ex-pats and foreigners' near the 'International Hotel'. Off we duly went, to discover that there were about ten foreigners in this bumping club but they were easily outnumbered by a factor of 100 with the prostitutes that 'worked' this bar. It took me three trips to the bathroom to finally shake off the girl that had glued herself to me in this nightclub and though I've never been a casanova, I lack just enough ego to know that if a girl grabs on to me like I'm her father returned from the wars and I haven't even spoken to her yet.... it's probably not love at first sight.
The following day we went out to see the two main pagodas in the city and following that went out into the countryside around Bago to see more of what life was 'really' like here (people always say that when they go to agricultural areas - as if the only 'real' people on earth were farmers)... it was interesting to see an original pottery-makers, complete with two burning kilns and a host of hand-made pottery. It's also nice to have an experience like this without salesmen and logos thrust at you (which always should make a smart person feel like an idiot). I will write more about Myanmar later, wish I hadn't come here in monsoon season though!
I'm not sure how hopeful I am of an impending positive change in Myanmar. The government have shown a pretty clear willingness to ignore popular mandates and protests. I suppose it remains to be seen.
...the people's uprising of 1998. At eight minutes past eight in the morning of the eighth day of the eighth month of that year, students launched a countrywide demonstration against almost three decades of poverty and oppression under military rule. Thousands of people flooded into the streets of cities and towns all over Burma shouting, "Dee-mo-ka-ra-see! Dee-mo-ka-ra-see!" The government response was brutal: that evening, soliders marched into the streets and strafed the crowds with machine gun-fire. In Rangoon, doctors and nurses, overwhelmed by the wounded, hung a sign outside the general hospital begging the soldiers to stop killing people. The sign was written in the blood of the wounded and dead. When a column of nurses joined the protest out in the streets, wearing their white uniforms, they too were shot. Among those who died in the days of chaos that followed were high-school children, teachers and monks. Smoke billowed from crematoriums as authorities rapidly disposed of their corpses. The uprising did not end until more than 3,000 people had been shot or bludgeoned to death by government soldiers.
(Secret Histories - Finding George Orwell In A Burmese Teashop, Emma Larkin, John Murray Publishers, pp11-12, 2005)
Here's also a quote from the Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/04/burma-calls-election) giving commentary on the recent elections. Having visited Myanmar (I should call it by its proper name!) twice - I have to say it was in terrible condition and has one of the sadder recent histories of countries I have visited.
"Plans are under way to hold elections in a systematic way this year," he said in the address, read out on television by a senior junta official. "In that regard, the entire people have to make correct choices." No date has been set for the election.
The 76-year-old general also warned people to "remain vigilant at all times against dangers posed by neocolonialists", in a reference to the US, Britain and other western nations critical of its record on human rights and treatment of political opponents.
Some will interpret the message as a warning not to vote for Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy. The NLD does not recognise the country's new military-authored constitution and has yet to decide whether to take part in the election.
I would love to have a cup of tea with Than Shwe to ask him his opinion on democracy and accountability but it's pretty well outlined in bold above.
Here's my notes (http://munnki.blogspot.com/2006/06/myanmar-three-days-in-yangon.html) on a trip there....
Well, I guess we picked the wrong season to come here as it's very rainy. It rains from 2-3 in the afternoon for pretty much the rest of the day. It's been an experience coming here, mostly from the various rumours you hear about the Myanmarese government and their chicanery. The latest episode in their history is of re-confirming the detention of their democratically elected leader while hurredly moving the captial to a new location in the country. The people here are, at least to talk with them, fairly unpolitical.... this is probably an unfair generalization as it's almost impossible to have a political conversation here as the people live in fear of their government. There's still talk of forced labour and workmen in chains building army/government buildings and there are signs around that things could certainly be better.
This town does have its charm and it's important to remember that you are almost in India when you are in Burma, therefore, there are bustling markets and the people are hard-working and engaged in conversations and activity out on the streets and in their homes.
Walking down a typical street in Yangon you can see people hawking their wares out on the street, food-stands, car-repair shops, moslems out in conversation in the streets and, sadly, beggars, particularly child-beggars, everywhere. The pavements are cracked and of varying quality so when a torrent begins (and it certainly does in this season) you have to be pretty careful where you place your feet. At this time of the year there are few foreigners here, so you definitely have the feeling that you are on your own.
Our first night here we headed for a 'bar' called Traders and discovered that it was a large hotel in the centre of the city. My experience of expensive high-star hotels is that they are generally full of over-rich and extremely dull people and Traders was no disappointment, so we swiftly headed down to another destination called the 50th Street Bar closer to our guesthouse and it was a lovely little place. Of course, we were the only people there for the next five hours but nonetheless it was great food and a great design..... the thing about this town is though, where do you go? After a few hours an Austrailian couple arrived and recommended that we go check out a place called BME which apparently was a club 'full of ex-pats and foreigners' near the 'International Hotel'. Off we duly went, to discover that there were about ten foreigners in this bumping club but they were easily outnumbered by a factor of 100 with the prostitutes that 'worked' this bar. It took me three trips to the bathroom to finally shake off the girl that had glued herself to me in this nightclub and though I've never been a casanova, I lack just enough ego to know that if a girl grabs on to me like I'm her father returned from the wars and I haven't even spoken to her yet.... it's probably not love at first sight.
The following day we went out to see the two main pagodas in the city and following that went out into the countryside around Bago to see more of what life was 'really' like here (people always say that when they go to agricultural areas - as if the only 'real' people on earth were farmers)... it was interesting to see an original pottery-makers, complete with two burning kilns and a host of hand-made pottery. It's also nice to have an experience like this without salesmen and logos thrust at you (which always should make a smart person feel like an idiot). I will write more about Myanmar later, wish I hadn't come here in monsoon season though!
I'm not sure how hopeful I am of an impending positive change in Myanmar. The government have shown a pretty clear willingness to ignore popular mandates and protests. I suppose it remains to be seen.