18 August 2019 - MYANMAR - ONE OF MY FAVOURITE PLACES

MYANMAR - 

ONE OF MY FAVOURITE PLACES

G'day folks,

I had planned to return to Myanmar on my recent overseas trip, but medical problems prevented me. However, this is still a wonderful country to visit, especially if you love food and enjoy taking photographs. 

For 58 years, between 1962 and 2010, Myanmar (alternatively known as Burma) was pretty much inaccessible. Though efforts were made in the 90s to encourage tourism to the Southeast Asian country, the prospect of visiting a harsh military dictatorship widely-considered to be one of the most repressive in the world did not quite appeal to a lot of tourists.

Following the democratization of the country in the early 2010s, things aren’t perfect yet, to say the least, but people have steadily come to discover the wonders that Myanmar has to offer. Of course, those tourists did not discover the beauty of Burma; Rudyard Kipling, the author of the Jungle Book toured Burma for 3 days all the way back in 1889 and fell in love with the beauty of the land, the majestic temples, the good humor of the natives and the Burmese women, who he thought were particularly beautiful. Some 130 years later, we must say, we can relate.

The majority of the people in Myanmar are Theravada Buddhists, the oldest extant school of Buddhism and one that spread to Southeast Asia from the isle of Sri Lanka. Two of the major cultural exports of Burma are rooted in this religious tradition: mindfulness meditation and the Vipassana Movement.

The most important and striking Buddhist temple in Myanmar is the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon (Rangoon), a complex of beautiful, gold-plated stupas (dome or bell-shaped shrines containing holy relics), with a tremendous stupa in the center, which is said to contain the hair of the historical Buddha (Siddharta Gautama), as well as relics of three Buddhas that preceded him.

 The complex is “guarded” by giant Chinthes, leonine statues that have a similar role to the Chinese “lion dogs”. Within are eight shrines dedicated to each day of the week (Wednesday is split in two) and it is customary for visitors to pray at the shrine dedicated to the day they were born by washing a statue of the Buddha in that shrine and giving a tribute of flowers. Be advised there is a dress code for visitors.

 Also in the former capital city of Yangon are dozens of street markets where you can find a large variety of fresh produce, fish, clothes, crafts and delicious street food. There simply is no better place or way to experience the vibrant city life and culture of Myanmar than to literally breathe in the scents of the marketplace.

Guided boat tours are available around Inle Lake that will take you to some truly amazing sites around the lake, including the ancient pagoda city of Shwe Indein, the Nam Pan market with peddlers bringing their wares in by boats, floating gardens and Pindaya Caves, a series of caverns densely-populated by statues of the Buddha.

The ancient and ruined city of Bagan used to be the heart and capital of the empire that would become Burma. At its height, the city was so rich that it housed about 10,000 temples and pagodas, of these, more than 2,000 still dot the plains of Bagan and can be visited.

The many temples, differing in architecture, size and style can either be visited on foot or appreciated from above in a hot air balloon that affords a vista of the entire lost city in all its grandeur.

 Myanmar is located between India, Thailand, and China, and you know just from its geographical location between these three culinary empires that the local cuisine is going to be great. Here are three dishes you have got to taste in Myanmar.

Clancy's comment: I can only urge you to visit this country. The people are awesome.

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21 September 2018 - Aung San Suu Kyi - Burmese Activist

Aung San Suu Kyi 

- Burmese Activist -

G'day folks,

Aung San Suu Kyi is a Burmese politician, diplomat, and author, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. She is the leader of the National League for Democracy and the first and incumbent State Counsellor, a position akin to a prime minister.

Aung San Suu Kyi AC born 19 June 1945 in Rangoon, is a pro-democracy activist and leader of the National League for Democracy in Burma. During the military control of Myanmar, she was a noted prisoner of conscience and advocate of nonviolent resistance. For many years (1989-2010) she was held under house arrest. However, on her release, she led the National League for Democracy and serves as the first and incumbent State Counsellor, a position akin to a Prime Minister. From 2016, she has come under international criticism for failing to stem the persecution of the Rohingya people in Rakhine State on the border with Malaysia.

Aung San Suu Kyi was born on 19 June 1945 in Rangoon (then British Burma). She is the third child in her family. Her name is derived from three relatives; “Aung San” from her father, “Kyi” from her mother and “Suu” from her grandmother. Her father, Aung San, was instrumental in negotiating independence from Britain in 1947. He also founded the Burmese army and was assassinated by political rivals in late 1947.

Suu Kyi studied at primary schools in Rangoon, before studying in India (graduating from New Delhi University, 1964) and St Hugh’s College, Oxford University (1968). After Oxford University, she worked for the United Nations for three years. In 1972 she married  Michael Aris who was living in Bhutan – they had two children.

In 1988 she returned to Burma to visit her ailing mother but became caught up in the 1988 uprising as protests against the Burmese Junta sprang up around the country. Suu Kyi became active in supporting the League for Democracy and soon became promoted to a prominent position in the movement.

 Around this time her husband was diagnosed with terminal cancer, but he was not allowed an entry visa to the country, however, despite her husband’s ailing health Suu Kyi was reluctant to leave now she had a prominent position in the movement for democracy.

In 1989, she was placed under house arrest by the military junta. She was told she could have freedom if she agreed to leave the country, but she preferred to stay. Under house arrest, she spent time studying Buddhism and political activism and remained popular with those who supported the ideals of democracy in Myanmar.

For her principled, non-violent protest against the military and support for democratic principles, she was lauded by many human rights groups and influential bodies around the world. Suu Kyi won the Rafto Prize and the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 1990 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. In 1992, she was awarded the Jawaharlal Nehru peace prize by the Government of India for her peaceful and non-violent struggle under a military dictatorship.

For many years she was kept under house arrest, with the Burmese junta repeatedly extending her detention. According to the results of the 1990 general election, Suu Kyi earned the right to be Prime Minister, as leader of the winning National League for Democracy party, but her detention by the military junta prevented her from assuming that role.

She is frequently called Daw Aung San Suu Kyi; Daw is not part of her name, but an honorific similar to madam for older, revered women, literally meaning “aunt”. Strictly speaking, her given name is equivalent to her full name, but it is acceptable to refer to her as “Ms. Suu Kyi” or Dr. Suu Kyi, since those syllables serve to distinguish her from her father, General Aung San, who is considered to be the father of modern-day Burma. The U2 album All That You Can’t Leave Behind was banned in Burma because one of the songs (Walk On) was written about her struggle and how, even when the government threatened her, she “walked on” the other way.

In 2010, she was released from house arrest and travelled around the world speaking up for democracy in Burma. In the summer of 2012, she received an honorary doctorate from Oxford University. (Aung San Suu Kyi studied PPE at St Hugh’s College, Oxford University)

On 2 May 2012, she was elected to the National Parliament with other Democrat MPs. In 2015, her party, the National League for Democracy won a sweeping victory, although she was ineligible for the Presidency (due to provisions which prevented widows and mother of foreigners.) She claimed she would hold the real power in the new government. The president, Htin Kyaw, created a new role for her – the position of State Counsellor on 1 April 2016. This enabled her to assume the dominant position in the government.

In December 2016, the United Nations strongly criticized the Myanmar government for its poor treatment of the Rohingya people, and called its approach “callous” and warned of possible crimes against humanity. The United Nations called on Aung San Suu Kyi to end her silence and stand up for the oppressed Rohingya minority.

 On 4 September 2017, the UN’s released a report on human rights in Myanmar. It criticised Suu Kyi’s response arguing that given reports of crimes against innocent people in  Rohingya villages  “The de facto leader needs to step in – that is what we would expect from any government, to protect everybody within their own jurisdiction.”

Clancy's comment: I've always admired her struggle against fairly big odds. However, her recent silence regarding the Rohingya people is somewhat disturbing, considering her long struggle for democracy,

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