Today’s New York Times report from Myanmar (or Burma, if you prefer) is in large measure the same old sad story of a country wracked by poverty and disease while its dictatorial elite has fun and makes money. The angle this time, at least in the lede, is the contrast between the ongoing rush for Myanmar’s natural gas reserves and the domestic penury of petrol and electricity. The article then opens onto a number of other topics; no scoops here, but a useful reminder of a situation that many have found easy to forget. It’s also a timely reminder, considering the imminent passage of the US-India nuclear deal, of the way great-power strategic considerations still trump more ethical goals; for all their differences in other areas, India and China are both big supporters of the Myanmar regime.
Also timely, considering our recent discussion of “citizen journalism” by means of camera-phone, is the article’s mention of video footage of the wedding of the Myanmar leader’s daughter that was smuggled out and posted by The Irrawaddy, a publication and website run largely by Burmese and based in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Senior General Than Shwe has been the head guy in Myanmar for the past 14 years and apparently has given himself the airs of traditional Buddhist royalty, as several examples in the Times story attest. The wedding of his daughter Thandar Shwe to a mid-ranking government official involved a ceremony costing a reported $300,000 and, perhaps more egregiously, $50 million in houses and cars as gifts. Recently posted online, the video gives Burmese a specific target of outrage in the spirit of the great Bob Marley line, “Dem belly full but we hungry,” although how much it wil be seen within Myanmar is unclear.
I took a look at Irrawaddy.org and was extremely impressed by the coverage, analysis and professional values of the website; it can’t be all that easy reporting on a largely closed society and excavating the ties of its leadership with neighboring powers. Perhaps someone more versed on the subject can give more advanced commentary.
Meanwhile, watch the wedding video and what is striking is not so much the six fat ropes of diamonds that the bride wears, nor the train of her dress or the devoted attention of the dinner guests, but rather the sense of emptiness that the whole thing conveys. It seems to be held in an oversize function hall where the trappings of luxury have been grafted onto ultimately ordinary surroundings. The guests, the dinner tables, all look small and lonely and despite the lifting of bottles of Champagne it doesn’t seem like anyone (including the betrothed) is having much fun. The cheesy music only compounds the sense of tawdriness, even sadness, that suffuses the scene. Of course you don’t need to look as far as a paranoid dictatorship to find sensory evidence of the absolute, mind-numbing banality of power, but settings like this one display the phenomenon in its full, melancholy glory. The staging expresses the dialectic that binds the construction of power and spiritual decay, and supplies an updated, self-contained meaning to the term puppet regime.
drive by posting – lest anyone should bring up the relation indica – goes deep – i have burmese relatives (by birth) who were kicked out in the early to mid 1900s – but what used to be a thriving commercial region went into decline thru a wave of nationalization – probbaly correlated with the growth of authoritarian rule.. look this up
Burma is indeed a tragic story. Like thousands of Indian soldiers, my grandfather fought there during WWII for British. Image he gave us of Burma was as of a highly developed country. He had infact thought of settling down there but Japanese brutality crushed all those plans.
Coming to present, do you know there are still thousands of “Indians” in Burma who were born there but can’t get anything from the government. Government does not consider them Burmese! Till 1960 riots Indians held sway in Economy but now are one of the poorest in Burma.
re: India supporting the Burmese regime because of the natural gas reserves – ONGC also invested in Sudan’s oil industry. I don’t know if they are still involved.
Random comment not related to anything political:
Are those wine glasses holding the layer’s of the cake up?
Its always the oil.
It looks like it wasn’t always the case :
I think the difference in India’s stance is a (unfortunate?) philosophical move from an old-school Nehruvian idealistic foreign-policy to a present-day one driven more clearly by perceived self-interest and pragmatism. The same can be said for your recent Tibet post probably.
Looks like it might beat Jayalalithaa’s over the top wedding for her adopted son.
According to a study by the Indian government a few years ago, Myanmar is home to the largest Indian diaspora population, nearly 3 million PIOs and Indian citizens, including some 400,000 who are considered stateless (link).
Amazing resemblance to the typical south indian wedding…
oversize function hall -check trappings of luxury have been grafted onto ultimately ordinary surroundings – check The guests all look small and lonely – check it doesnÂ’t seem like anyone (including the betrothed) is having much fun – check The cheesy music – of course the sense of tawdriness, even sadness, that suffuses the scene – maybe
Of course you donÂ’t need to look as far as a paranoid dictatorship to find sensory evidence of the absolute, mind-numbing banality of power – but tamil nadu comes close
Great post Siddhartha. Guess these guys put the Marcoses to shame. The video of the wedding on You Tube has been deleted – wonder if there was any political pressure.
I’m not sure this one beats Jayalalitha’s (she only had one a in her name at that time) foster son’s wedding in expenses. She had a huge section of Chennai lit up. Guests received silver plates, but no cars, I think.
The two are not quite comparable. Tamils weren’t starving at that time, for one. Another important distinction is that this guy can do whatever he wants, it’s a dictatorship. But she was an elected CM and still did it! People were pissed off and she did get the boot in the following election. But this is a woman with no shame whatsoever… she regularly had people fall at her feet, artists paint her as devi, the virgin Mary etc. She was once on a dais with IAS officers on either side while she addressed a crowd – one of them handing her fresh handkerchiefs, which she would use to wipe her face and hand to the other IAS officer… But the other side is equally bad – they tried pull off her sari in the legislature once, for instance.
Sigh…
Another thing in the times article that is banal and sad is that it tried to lump the blame on Bush Administration. And another thing from the times of not showing any nuances wrt India. If a non intellectual masturbator was to visit delhi he would spot burmese refugees. I dont deny that India has not done enough but it has, and guess what No one can force people to change, It is not about indian colonization vs chinese colonization. Burma has chosen what it wanted from either of its larger neighbors. India has provided voice to burmese dissidents in a fashion similar to thailand. Just what did Mr Clinton do against the dictatorship in Burma? Frankly to most americans in the now ubiquotous binary L/R D/R Red/Blue divide Burma is a defunct brand of shaving accessory and no one gives a \”flying fuck, man\”
The US Government had sent a number of the Irrawaddy’s journalists on exchange programs to the U.S. These programs, called International Visitors programs, are on various topics, including journalism ethics, fact-checking, etc. The participants get a chance to meet with a number of counterparts in media related organizations as well as political types in 5 different cities in the U.S. The IV program often works well over the long-term, and I think it’s borne out by the quality of teh newspaper. One of those “unsung victories” for U.S. public dilpomacy that you rarely hear about.
My mother grew up in Burma till the age of 14, and a part of her still thinks of it as “home”. She often talks of the (relative) prosperity of the place, the absence of social barriers (unlike in Hindu India), and the industriousness of Burmese women in particular. She mostly ends the conversation with tears in her eyes, and says “then the generals came and destroyed everything”. Though her family lost everything in the 60s riots, she maintains that it was the state that turned them out – their Burmese neighbours did everything they could to help, and then some.
I often hope and pray the dictatorship is dismantled during her lifetime, so I can take her to Burma one last time.
“a country wracked by poverty and disease while its dictatorial elite has fun and makes money”
LOL, and you think India is a top notch country do you Siddhartha?
Thanks for posting this Siddhartha. Similar to Like that only, my family have some roots in Burma. My father’s side of the family lived there for decades, my dad was born there. There are many Indians like us who re-settled in Thailand after the junta assumed power, and they all speak very fondly of the country and its people. Very romantical-ish, it gives me goosebumps! I recently made a trip to Rangoon earlier this year after much hesitation over whether or not it was ethically correct. But I’ve had a deep desire to go for years, for the sake of ‘heritage’ mostly. I am still trying to define my thoughts and reconcile what I now know with what I believe, these are not fully-formed ideas. I am not quite sure what my opinion is on boycotting Burma anymore. Honestly, I encourage as many people as possible to go and see what it is like there, you need to experience Burma. I am not so sure I subscribe to the belief that we are doing the people of Burma a favour by staying away, not anymore anyway.
LOL, and your point is…?
how was it? i have a parent born in burma – some place with no name – have always wanted to visit – so am curious about your experience . pix pls.
i have to say – there is something to it – i click the name-link to maybe 1 out of 10 posters – and so far – it may be the one-world tone or something – but i seem to end up more often than not on someone with a toronto beat 🙂 . nice blog pooj. where was the protest march?
The point is, you’re an arrogant Indian shithead Siddhartha.
Pull your thumb outa your ass and look and India. It is a shithole.