The problem with the internet is that it has no accountability. You can hide under a pseudonym and a fake profile picture. Lack of accountability encourages people to write things that they might not have said in real life. I myself get emotional sometimes and write derogatory comments, only to be regretted later. Facebook very much wants their platform not to be used for hate speech and keeps implementing measures such as asking to use real names and linking accounts with phone numbers. Furthermore, fake stories have declined considerably after very long jail sentences for authors of a fake rape story which incited anti-Muslim riots in Mandalay.
On the other hand, Myanmar’s problem with hate speech also has historical roots. Wirathu’s vitriolic attacks against Yanghee might surprise Westerners and some liberal Burmese, but not ordinary Burmese. For the Burmese, their culture is frank and to the point. The Burmese don’t want to hide under euphemisms and political correctness. In fact, even their independence hero Aung San said in his famous speech, “If we continue to do this, our country will become a whore country!” That’s why they passed a long list of “discriminatory”, never-to-be-enforced laws that will do nothing expect giving them a bad name.
As for the surge of internet usage in general, few have said it could well represent a major loss of Myanmar culture. I am still 22 but our generation is the last among those who grew up playing traditional Burmese games such as Htoke-See-Htoe, Gawli, Zalnaing, Chinlone and countless others. Today kids, even those three years younger than me can’t name them. They play Dota 2, Clash of Clan and can’t drop their phones. In our times, our parents told thrilling Burmese stories such as the triangular love and hatred between Razadarit, Minyekyawswa and Minkhaung, Bayinnaung’s impossible victory at Naungyo, Yazakuma’s respect for Kyansittha and many others. Most Burmese proverbs and sayings are from these narratives. Most kids today think they are outdated. For the good or bad, one thing I’m sure is today kids will be very different.
Regarding the writer’s statement ‘Whether Democracy can operate in a Buddhist State’. I believe that the Buddha’s teaching is at the very heart of the meaning and practice of Democracy. My question is: Is Thailand a truly Buddhist State? Over-gilded temples are the manifestation of egoists who make great donations to the very visible rituals of Buddhism and then continue to break all of the five basic precepts. Very few indeed learn and follow Buddha’s teachings.
It is true that sadly, there is an absence of leaders with leadership skills and moral principals in the country but this also true for the rest of the world today. Can anyone come up with one name?
Anyone that thinks a YSX is going to get off the ground in Myanmar any time soon and with the launch of IPOs is likely to be dreaming quite a bit. One only has to look at the YSX in Cambodia and Lao PDR to see that YSX simply do not develop overnight.
SWH’s comments are historically incontrovertible. He is 100 % accurate.
“Rohingya” historical revisionism seems to even play better on NM and with many Westerners, than even Dhaka, given Sheikh Hasina Wajid’s insolence towards her own people in Rakhine State, who have managed to
reduce indigenous Rakhine natives to ever-decreasing percentage of the State. Now, what do we call that, again ? And the Bangladesh Government treats the Chittagong Hill tribes, like the Taiwanese Chinese used to treat the Ami aboriginal people, show pieces for wealthy Bangladeshi families on summer outings for picnics in the hills.
It’s also unclear what and when you’re referring to when you say “overwhelming” historical evidence. In case you are, just like the Rohingya lobby, saying Arkanese kings as “Muslims” because of their court rituals taken from Sultanate of Bengal, I find it laughable. It’s a fact contradicted by all available historical evidence. If you also believe Arkanese chronicles are “fakes” just like the Rohingya lobby, I should add in that period, Burman and Mon kings invaded Arakan several times. Razadarit, Minyekyawswa, and Bayinnaung each invaded at least twice. They regularly mentioned Mahamuni Buddha which was a symbol of Arakanese sovereignty. Never was a case they said about Muslims. Do you also believe, like the Rohingya looby that the “Muslim” kings built countless pagodas of Mrauk-U?
Well, first of all, I’m not blaming NGOs for anything. I also don’t blame Bamar, Rakhine, junta, Muslims, or anyone. I’m just trying to understand the situation. It’s of course, great that NGOs created a situation where conditions for those in refugee camps were “even better” than those outside the camps. But it had unintended consequences in Rakhine.
As for the suggestion that Rakhine was previously an Islamic Sultanate, perhaps, you read too many papers from Rohingya lobby? Peter Cohen argued so persuasively that I don’t want to add further.
Chalerm, New Mandala is moderated by University Professors. To become University professors, one can’t be that stupid not to know that the article submitted is not written by Rose herself.
It is not up to me to prove that Rose never wrote this. You are the one who alleged that Rose never wrote this, so it is up to you to bring your allegation to proof. Name the ghost writer who wrote this article for her. Make them come forward and admit it. Or even better, why don’t you try to prove her letter wrong? Find any statement in this letter and bring evidences to prove her wrong. If you can’t do that, then I think your post is amusingly silly, as you allege (without evidence) that Rose never wrote this. Even worse, you cannot disprove ANYTHING she wrote that they are false….which is not surprising to me. Thai brainwashed Royalists lack ability to argue with reasoning and evidence. All they do is prostrate to the murderer who killed his own brother and collaborated with the army to kill his own people who pay taxes to feed his family.
The Sultanate in Aceh, Sumatra, Pattani were all prominent Sultanates. As a Malayan-born expat with 44 years in Malaya/Malaysia, thank you for the lecture on Malay history, but it superfluous. The Rakhine Muslims or Bamar people did not control any of the Malay sultanates, nor the Majapahit and Sriwijaya Hindu-Buddhist empires before Islam came to the Archipelago. I never ever claimed in my life, that the Malay kingdoms were not centres of learning; that is known to any Malaysia expert (e.g., Clive Kessler).
I reject any notion that Islam among the Malays or Indonesians or Pattani Malays or Bangsa Moros, was predominated by Rakhine Muslims, for which there is no evidence, and it is laughable to even contemplate that “Rohingya” presently in Rakhine, as the single source of Islam in the Arcgipelago. Most traders who brought Islam were no Bengali Muslims (some, yes, but not most), but North Indians, Muslims from Kerala and Karnataka, Punjab (north), Yemenis, Iraqis, other Arabs and some Turks later (Tun Hussein Onn, former Prime Minister has Turkish lineage) and famed intellectual and politician, Dr Syed Alatas, had Hadramauti (Yemeni) and Indonesian (born in Bogor) and Malay lineage. Today, Bengali Muslims are uncommon in the Archipelago, and those Malays with Indian blood (e.g., Dr Mahathir, who’s father was from Kerala, India) tend to have North Indian, Malayali and Tamil blood. Your commentary in no way provides DNA, archaeological or palaenthropological evidence for “Rohingya” or Rakhine Muslim migration, en masse, to the Archipelago.
Of all the suffering that claimed to be alleviate by such org.
UN being the lagest and the worst , how can theses org fairness to both sides aside ,ever be trusted to carry out the humanitarian work if often less than 10% of donated is really allocated to the refugee effort?
I would be interested in how you define an “ethnic Rakhine”: it would seem thay can can be either Buddhist, Muslim or something else.
You are correct in claiming that conditions were better in refugee camps for Karens in Thailand than in Karen state. But it is unfair, to say the least, to blame huminitarian organisations for this: they were unable to work in that part of Myanmar and the suffering caused was a result of the Tatmadaw and the civil war.
Yes SWH, Rakhine was a Muslim sultanate historically just as Pattani in southern Thailand and Aceh in northern Sumatra were once great centres of Islamic learning. Sorry to you (and to Peter Cohen) but the historical evidence for this is overwhelming as is the Bamar invasion of that kingdom.
Acknowledging the past is crucial for any reconcilation in Myanmar: just as acknowledging the presence of the aboriginal population in what is today Australia and the impact of the European occupation is central for the nation as a whole to move on.
Ask yourself the question who has kept Rakhine poor? Since independence tha answer is clearly the Bamar majority who control the military and politics. Who is today benefiting from development around the port of Sittwe? The local Buddhist population? Or interlopers from Yangon? So please, put blame where it lies instead of “shooting at the ambulance”!
You do make a valid point however: Rakhine as a whole and its Buddhist as well as Muslim populations must benefit from any massive humnitarian and, above all, development assistance.
Paradoxically the silver lining in this tragedy may be that Rakhine Buddhists could perhaps realize that having a diverse population, including Muslims, is a real plus for them themselves, allowing them to also prosper from the assistance and, hopefully investment that international attention to the plight of the Rohingya should bring.
CT confusion is amusing: “Rose is a very intelligent girl and it is really a breath of fresh air to see her writing such an eloquent letter which really reflects on her high level of education. It is ironic really that ALL of her video clips (in Thai) are full of profanity.”
Rose has a ghost writer for very eloquent letters and disquisitions for NM fans.
I challenge Rose to demonstrate her erudition in English with one passionate video clip on any subject under the sun to remove all doubts that she’s not just profane or worse.
New Guinea is a patchwork of disparate cultures, divided mainly by steep mountain ranges. Perhaps the rest of the world should be more modest about what it has to offer them, and agree to leave them alone.
Sister Megan Rice was originally sentenced to three years and Michael Walli and Greg Boertje-Obed were each sentenced to nearly five years for vandalizing the outside of a Tennessee bunker storing bomb-grade uranium.
Last month, a panel of the sixth US circuit court of appeals overturned the most serious conviction against the three. The court upheld a conviction for injuring government property.
The activists were ordered resentenced on the remaining, lesser charge of injuring government property. They were released from prison on the grounds that their new sentences would probably be shorter than the two years they had already served.
So, just as Thai Political Prisoners are not bailed while they appeal, neither are American Political Prisoners. Years of their lives are stolen from them instead.
I realize that Rose is hoping for more visibility for the Political Prisoners in Thailand … but knocking on the door of the nihilist, neo-con Nobel Peace Prize Laureate is knocking on the wrong door.
He drones women, children, and babies, wedding parties and funerals. Including Americans who say things he doesn’t like. And then their 16 year sons. Just for fun. Every Tuesday.
Hey, Hey! Obama Fay!
How many kids didja kill today?
Rose is a very intelligent girl and it is really a breath of fresh air to see her writing such an eloquent letter which really reflects on her high level of education. It is ironic really that ALL of her video clips are full of profanity.
I think Rose should really change her style of video clips and make this kind of educated, eloquent argument in her video clips so that more and more Thais would be willing to open their minds and listen to what she has to say. That would (in my opinion) be way more effective than her current video clips….which are enjoyable to watch for people who are already “enlightened” (р╕Хр╕▓р╕кр╕зр╣Ир╕▓р╕З) and know what she is talking about. Sadly, they are almost useless for people who are still enlightened but are becoming increasingly curious about Thailand’s current state of affairs and are willing to open their mind to learn new information.
Thailand is unable to move forward because the elites use their dirty brainwashing tactic to lure a considerable number of Thais to become “yellow shirts”. This war can only be won by enlightening the yellow shirts, who are now the “shields” of the elites. It is ironic (like Rose said in her video clips many times) that many of the yellow shirt Royalists have experienced bad lives, starvation, some even had to become prostitutes to earn a living…yet they do not know that it was the elites who made their lives miserable like this…and those Royalists still defend the elites. To win the war, we must change the Royalists’ way of thinking. If both the Reds and the yellows UNDERSTAND what’s really going on behind the curtain, then that is the day when the Elites lose the war.
“systematically restricts” aid? The government usually says “Foreigners do not understand situations on the ground”. But it’s indeed the truth.
When I went to my mother’s village in Karen, villagers there “admired” people in refugee camps across the border. Those in the camps had English classes, adequate food, and opportunity to resettle in developed countries. But the villagers had bland food, no school, no class and no future. Many of them decided to join the camps by telling usual “harrowing” tales.
Now in Rakhine, just imagine you’re an ethnic Rakhine who has to drink muddy water and has nothing left for dinner. After all, it’s the second poorest state in Myanmar with only 30% has access to clean water and with over 50% malnutrition rate. Just over there, a community has been identified as “most vulnerable” with over 20+ NGOs working for them. Fundraising stories about these people dying from “treatable” diseases are everywhere. But your child died from diarrhea, your wife in childbirth. Nobody cares isn’t it? Now, high-energy biscuits are being distributed there. You have nothing to eat and can’t go and get one because, after all, your community has not been identified as “most vulnerable”, though your people are equally poor.
You did nothing to them. So did 95% of your community. But stories based on “interviews” that you guys are killing them whenever you see them are everywhere in the media. Maybe, you might have heard a little 10 years old Rakhine girl was raped and killed by Muslims. But no BBC, VOA interviewing the parents. Nothing. Not even voices for you. Over the past twenty years, all aid goes to them.
Imagine these feelings. And coupled with claims that your state was previously a Muslim kingdom, claims prominently featured in international media, you grow incensed. Nothing left but fight? In fact, attacks on aid agencies were long predictable.
Thanks for these questions, My request is slightly off base. I want to know whether anyone has written a manual or instructional booklet for citizens in Mayanmar who want to introduce a law or to seek redress under the law for something that has been done wrong. i see many people using personal contacts and systems not being institutionalised. What can you tell me? Many thnaks in advance.
Thanks for the article. I have two points I want to raise here.
First, I wish your analysis could give more emphasis on the history of the lost of Khmer territory, and the Cambodian current political situation especially the ruling party’s stand on the matter. Precisely, one would question whether Cambodians’ perception toward Vietnam would be the same if Hun Sen government properly handles the issues of Vietnamese migrants and borders? The fact is Cambodian government is silent on these issues, and sometimes actively silencing people through the ways it has responded to peaceful protests by monks, students and others. I am not saying that violence and hatred should be justified by that, but the past experiences and the present situation surely make people frustrated.
Second comment is general, I wish we, academics or not, should stop labelling a nation, an ethnic, or a religion as violent. I find this generalisation very offensive.
Facebook 
Twitter 
Soundcloud 
Youtube 
Rss
Furlongs on the road to digitopia
The problem with the internet is that it has no accountability. You can hide under a pseudonym and a fake profile picture. Lack of accountability encourages people to write things that they might not have said in real life. I myself get emotional sometimes and write derogatory comments, only to be regretted later. Facebook very much wants their platform not to be used for hate speech and keeps implementing measures such as asking to use real names and linking accounts with phone numbers. Furthermore, fake stories have declined considerably after very long jail sentences for authors of a fake rape story which incited anti-Muslim riots in Mandalay.
On the other hand, Myanmar’s problem with hate speech also has historical roots. Wirathu’s vitriolic attacks against Yanghee might surprise Westerners and some liberal Burmese, but not ordinary Burmese. For the Burmese, their culture is frank and to the point. The Burmese don’t want to hide under euphemisms and political correctness. In fact, even their independence hero Aung San said in his famous speech, “If we continue to do this, our country will become a whore country!” That’s why they passed a long list of “discriminatory”, never-to-be-enforced laws that will do nothing expect giving them a bad name.
As for the surge of internet usage in general, few have said it could well represent a major loss of Myanmar culture. I am still 22 but our generation is the last among those who grew up playing traditional Burmese games such as Htoke-See-Htoe, Gawli, Zalnaing, Chinlone and countless others. Today kids, even those three years younger than me can’t name them. They play Dota 2, Clash of Clan and can’t drop their phones. In our times, our parents told thrilling Burmese stories such as the triangular love and hatred between Razadarit, Minyekyawswa and Minkhaung, Bayinnaung’s impossible victory at Naungyo, Yazakuma’s respect for Kyansittha and many others. Most Burmese proverbs and sayings are from these narratives. Most kids today think they are outdated. For the good or bad, one thing I’m sure is today kids will be very different.
Rice, repression and rule by force
Regarding the writer’s statement ‘Whether Democracy can operate in a Buddhist State’. I believe that the Buddha’s teaching is at the very heart of the meaning and practice of Democracy. My question is: Is Thailand a truly Buddhist State? Over-gilded temples are the manifestation of egoists who make great donations to the very visible rituals of Buddhism and then continue to break all of the five basic precepts. Very few indeed learn and follow Buddha’s teachings.
It is true that sadly, there is an absence of leaders with leadership skills and moral principals in the country but this also true for the rest of the world today. Can anyone come up with one name?
Myanmar needs to forgive tax dodgers
Anyone that thinks a YSX is going to get off the ground in Myanmar any time soon and with the launch of IPOs is likely to be dreaming quite a bit. One only has to look at the YSX in Cambodia and Lao PDR to see that YSX simply do not develop overnight.
The changing face of humanitarianism
SWH’s comments are historically incontrovertible. He is 100 % accurate.
“Rohingya” historical revisionism seems to even play better on NM and with many Westerners, than even Dhaka, given Sheikh Hasina Wajid’s insolence towards her own people in Rakhine State, who have managed to
reduce indigenous Rakhine natives to ever-decreasing percentage of the State. Now, what do we call that, again ? And the Bangladesh Government treats the Chittagong Hill tribes, like the Taiwanese Chinese used to treat the Ami aboriginal people, show pieces for wealthy Bangladeshi families on summer outings for picnics in the hills.
The changing face of humanitarianism
It’s also unclear what and when you’re referring to when you say “overwhelming” historical evidence. In case you are, just like the Rohingya lobby, saying Arkanese kings as “Muslims” because of their court rituals taken from Sultanate of Bengal, I find it laughable. It’s a fact contradicted by all available historical evidence. If you also believe Arkanese chronicles are “fakes” just like the Rohingya lobby, I should add in that period, Burman and Mon kings invaded Arakan several times. Razadarit, Minyekyawswa, and Bayinnaung each invaded at least twice. They regularly mentioned Mahamuni Buddha which was a symbol of Arakanese sovereignty. Never was a case they said about Muslims. Do you also believe, like the Rohingya looby that the “Muslim” kings built countless pagodas of Mrauk-U?
Dear Mr President
Well Rose …. when will you post your video clip to demonstrate your eloquence and/or ‘profanity’?
The changing face of humanitarianism
Well, first of all, I’m not blaming NGOs for anything. I also don’t blame Bamar, Rakhine, junta, Muslims, or anyone. I’m just trying to understand the situation. It’s of course, great that NGOs created a situation where conditions for those in refugee camps were “even better” than those outside the camps. But it had unintended consequences in Rakhine.
As for the suggestion that Rakhine was previously an Islamic Sultanate, perhaps, you read too many papers from Rohingya lobby? Peter Cohen argued so persuasively that I don’t want to add further.
Dear Mr President
Chalerm, New Mandala is moderated by University Professors. To become University professors, one can’t be that stupid not to know that the article submitted is not written by Rose herself.
It is not up to me to prove that Rose never wrote this. You are the one who alleged that Rose never wrote this, so it is up to you to bring your allegation to proof. Name the ghost writer who wrote this article for her. Make them come forward and admit it. Or even better, why don’t you try to prove her letter wrong? Find any statement in this letter and bring evidences to prove her wrong. If you can’t do that, then I think your post is amusingly silly, as you allege (without evidence) that Rose never wrote this. Even worse, you cannot disprove ANYTHING she wrote that they are false….which is not surprising to me. Thai brainwashed Royalists lack ability to argue with reasoning and evidence. All they do is prostrate to the murderer who killed his own brother and collaborated with the army to kill his own people who pay taxes to feed his family.
The changing face of humanitarianism
Mr Camroux,
The Sultanate in Aceh, Sumatra, Pattani were all prominent Sultanates. As a Malayan-born expat with 44 years in Malaya/Malaysia, thank you for the lecture on Malay history, but it superfluous. The Rakhine Muslims or Bamar people did not control any of the Malay sultanates, nor the Majapahit and Sriwijaya Hindu-Buddhist empires before Islam came to the Archipelago. I never ever claimed in my life, that the Malay kingdoms were not centres of learning; that is known to any Malaysia expert (e.g., Clive Kessler).
I reject any notion that Islam among the Malays or Indonesians or Pattani Malays or Bangsa Moros, was predominated by Rakhine Muslims, for which there is no evidence, and it is laughable to even contemplate that “Rohingya” presently in Rakhine, as the single source of Islam in the Arcgipelago. Most traders who brought Islam were no Bengali Muslims (some, yes, but not most), but North Indians, Muslims from Kerala and Karnataka, Punjab (north), Yemenis, Iraqis, other Arabs and some Turks later (Tun Hussein Onn, former Prime Minister has Turkish lineage) and famed intellectual and politician, Dr Syed Alatas, had Hadramauti (Yemeni) and Indonesian (born in Bogor) and Malay lineage. Today, Bengali Muslims are uncommon in the Archipelago, and those Malays with Indian blood (e.g., Dr Mahathir, who’s father was from Kerala, India) tend to have North Indian, Malayali and Tamil blood. Your commentary in no way provides DNA, archaeological or palaenthropological evidence for “Rohingya” or Rakhine Muslim migration, en masse, to the Archipelago.
The changing face of humanitarianism
Ah NGO
Of all the suffering that claimed to be alleviate by such org.
UN being the lagest and the worst , how can theses org fairness to both sides aside ,ever be trusted to carry out the humanitarian work if often less than 10% of donated is really allocated to the refugee effort?
Furlongs on the road to digitopia
Digitopia or Dystopia ?
The changing face of humanitarianism
I would be interested in how you define an “ethnic Rakhine”: it would seem thay can can be either Buddhist, Muslim or something else.
You are correct in claiming that conditions were better in refugee camps for Karens in Thailand than in Karen state. But it is unfair, to say the least, to blame huminitarian organisations for this: they were unable to work in that part of Myanmar and the suffering caused was a result of the Tatmadaw and the civil war.
Yes SWH, Rakhine was a Muslim sultanate historically just as Pattani in southern Thailand and Aceh in northern Sumatra were once great centres of Islamic learning. Sorry to you (and to Peter Cohen) but the historical evidence for this is overwhelming as is the Bamar invasion of that kingdom.
Acknowledging the past is crucial for any reconcilation in Myanmar: just as acknowledging the presence of the aboriginal population in what is today Australia and the impact of the European occupation is central for the nation as a whole to move on.
Ask yourself the question who has kept Rakhine poor? Since independence tha answer is clearly the Bamar majority who control the military and politics. Who is today benefiting from development around the port of Sittwe? The local Buddhist population? Or interlopers from Yangon? So please, put blame where it lies instead of “shooting at the ambulance”!
You do make a valid point however: Rakhine as a whole and its Buddhist as well as Muslim populations must benefit from any massive humnitarian and, above all, development assistance.
Paradoxically the silver lining in this tragedy may be that Rakhine Buddhists could perhaps realize that having a diverse population, including Muslims, is a real plus for them themselves, allowing them to also prosper from the assistance and, hopefully investment that international attention to the plight of the Rohingya should bring.
Dear Mr President
CT confusion is amusing: “Rose is a very intelligent girl and it is really a breath of fresh air to see her writing such an eloquent letter which really reflects on her high level of education. It is ironic really that ALL of her video clips (in Thai) are full of profanity.”
Rose has a ghost writer for very eloquent letters and disquisitions for NM fans.
I challenge Rose to demonstrate her erudition in English with one passionate video clip on any subject under the sun to remove all doubts that she’s not just profane or worse.
The president and the Papua powder keg
New Guinea is a patchwork of disparate cultures, divided mainly by steep mountain ranges. Perhaps the rest of the world should be more modest about what it has to offer them, and agree to leave them alone.
Dear Mr President
When is Barack Obama just like Prayuth On-cha?
All the time, when it comes to ‘national security’
Nun, 85, in nuclear protest set to remain free after sabotage charge dropped
So, just as Thai Political Prisoners are not bailed while they appeal, neither are American Political Prisoners. Years of their lives are stolen from them instead.
I realize that Rose is hoping for more visibility for the Political Prisoners in Thailand … but knocking on the door of the nihilist, neo-con Nobel Peace Prize Laureate is knocking on the wrong door.
He drones women, children, and babies, wedding parties and funerals. Including Americans who say things he doesn’t like. And then their 16 year sons. Just for fun. Every Tuesday.
Hey, Hey! Obama Fay!
How many kids didja kill today?
Dear Mr President
Rose is a very intelligent girl and it is really a breath of fresh air to see her writing such an eloquent letter which really reflects on her high level of education. It is ironic really that ALL of her video clips are full of profanity.
I think Rose should really change her style of video clips and make this kind of educated, eloquent argument in her video clips so that more and more Thais would be willing to open their minds and listen to what she has to say. That would (in my opinion) be way more effective than her current video clips….which are enjoyable to watch for people who are already “enlightened” (р╕Хр╕▓р╕кр╕зр╣Ир╕▓р╕З) and know what she is talking about. Sadly, they are almost useless for people who are still enlightened but are becoming increasingly curious about Thailand’s current state of affairs and are willing to open their mind to learn new information.
Thailand is unable to move forward because the elites use their dirty brainwashing tactic to lure a considerable number of Thais to become “yellow shirts”. This war can only be won by enlightening the yellow shirts, who are now the “shields” of the elites. It is ironic (like Rose said in her video clips many times) that many of the yellow shirt Royalists have experienced bad lives, starvation, some even had to become prostitutes to earn a living…yet they do not know that it was the elites who made their lives miserable like this…and those Royalists still defend the elites. To win the war, we must change the Royalists’ way of thinking. If both the Reds and the yellows UNDERSTAND what’s really going on behind the curtain, then that is the day when the Elites lose the war.
The changing face of humanitarianism
“systematically restricts” aid? The government usually says “Foreigners do not understand situations on the ground”. But it’s indeed the truth.
When I went to my mother’s village in Karen, villagers there “admired” people in refugee camps across the border. Those in the camps had English classes, adequate food, and opportunity to resettle in developed countries. But the villagers had bland food, no school, no class and no future. Many of them decided to join the camps by telling usual “harrowing” tales.
Now in Rakhine, just imagine you’re an ethnic Rakhine who has to drink muddy water and has nothing left for dinner. After all, it’s the second poorest state in Myanmar with only 30% has access to clean water and with over 50% malnutrition rate. Just over there, a community has been identified as “most vulnerable” with over 20+ NGOs working for them. Fundraising stories about these people dying from “treatable” diseases are everywhere. But your child died from diarrhea, your wife in childbirth. Nobody cares isn’t it? Now, high-energy biscuits are being distributed there. You have nothing to eat and can’t go and get one because, after all, your community has not been identified as “most vulnerable”, though your people are equally poor.
You did nothing to them. So did 95% of your community. But stories based on “interviews” that you guys are killing them whenever you see them are everywhere in the media. Maybe, you might have heard a little 10 years old Rakhine girl was raped and killed by Muslims. But no BBC, VOA interviewing the parents. Nothing. Not even voices for you. Over the past twenty years, all aid goes to them.
Imagine these feelings. And coupled with claims that your state was previously a Muslim kingdom, claims prominently featured in international media, you grow incensed. Nothing left but fight? In fact, attacks on aid agencies were long predictable.
The president and the Papua powder keg
Papua and West Papua must be independent like Timor Leste.
Where are Burma’s lawyers in the transition?
Thanks for these questions, My request is slightly off base. I want to know whether anyone has written a manual or instructional booklet for citizens in Mayanmar who want to introduce a law or to seek redress under the law for something that has been done wrong. i see many people using personal contacts and systems not being institutionalised. What can you tell me? Many thnaks in advance.
Fascist assemblages in Cambodia and Myanmar
Thanks for the article. I have two points I want to raise here.
First, I wish your analysis could give more emphasis on the history of the lost of Khmer territory, and the Cambodian current political situation especially the ruling party’s stand on the matter. Precisely, one would question whether Cambodians’ perception toward Vietnam would be the same if Hun Sen government properly handles the issues of Vietnamese migrants and borders? The fact is Cambodian government is silent on these issues, and sometimes actively silencing people through the ways it has responded to peaceful protests by monks, students and others. I am not saying that violence and hatred should be justified by that, but the past experiences and the present situation surely make people frustrated.
Second comment is general, I wish we, academics or not, should stop labelling a nation, an ethnic, or a religion as violent. I find this generalisation very offensive.