Looking forward by looking back
Bangkok Post - Thailand; Sep 8, 2001
BY SURITDET MARUKATAT
An `alternative view' of Burmese history goes far in explaining the country's current stance
'If Western countries tell them what to do, they won't do it. But if Western countries tell them `don't do it', then they'll do it." This is how a Thai diplomat assigned to handle Burmese affairs summed up Thailand's neighbouring country.
Few people contest the assessment, which lends weight to a perception of Rangoon as one of the most difficult governments in the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) for outsiders to deal with.
Take for example the tug of war between the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party led by Aung San Suu Kyi. The ruling generals kept silent when Western countries asked them to resume a dialogue with the opposition and release the Noble Peace Prize laureate from house detention. Yet, when the commotion stopped, the dialogue resumed quietly in October of last year, leading to a number of NLD members being released from jail or freed from political restrictions. Ask the top brass who deserves the credit for this, and they would name the Malaysian diplomat Razali Ismail, a special envoy of the United Nations, instead of any Western country.
The decision to switch the traffic system from the right-hand drive to the left (even if most of the cars are equipped with the right-hand steering wheel) is another demonstration of the Burmese way of doing things and their deliberate bid to break from the bitter past dominated by the British.
Burma's resistance to Western pressure is probably the result of an accumulation of its unhappiness and frustration under British rulers, who controlled the country, first partially and then entirely, for more thana century before they gave Burma its independence in 1948.Burma's Struggle Against British Imperialism, 1885-1895 gives indirect answers as to why present-day Burma, and the Burmese junta regime in particular, still lives with lessons learned from the past. The 281-page book records Burma's decade-long armed struggle against theBritish from1885-1895. The conflict broke out at a time when the Southeast Asian region was under threat from the British and the French who were competing for new territories and political might.
The Western colonists spread their might on the pretext of lifting poor countries out of backwardness and turning them into civilised nations. The Burmese faced the same strategy, starting with the British setting conditions for them to comply with, followed by their armed struggle against their rulers, in which the victor was predictable.
While Thailand has been hailed for its ability and diplomatic skill in adapting to change for survival amid constant pressure from the British and French, Burma's efforts went unnoticed although it tried to do the same. The book's translator, Chalong Soontravanich, a historian at Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Arts, pointed to scarce information recorded by the Burmese themselves and the predominant influence of Western scholars in the academic world as a cause for this omission.
"When we talk about Burma under British colonial rule, we always rely on references from Western sources," he said. That is one of the reasons why Chalong decided to translate the book written by the Burmese historian, Ni Ni Myint, into Thai. Although he acknowledged the possibility of its being partial to Burma, he still believed the account would provide a better balance to history as it offered an "alternative view" by a Burmese with several pieces of historical evidence in Burma. "The book shows that the Burmese elite tried to adapt their traditional values to the circumstances in the midst of crisis," he said. "At the very least, what happened in Burma during that period could reflect the thinking of the Burmese today," he added.
What could be equally important to the book is the writer herself. Ni Ni Myint is the director of Universities' Historical Research Centre in Rangoon and is seen as one of the most active researchers of history in Burma. What's more important is that she is no other than Madame Ne Win herself, the wife of Gen Ne Win, Burma's controversial strongman of many years.
Her husband turned Burma into a reclusive country when he applied an isolation policy for 26 years starting 1962. That led to an uprising of pro-democracy movements in 1988 and eventually his decision to step down from public life, even though he is believed to remain influential with the Burmese generals in the SPDC.
Chalong, who met the writer several times, praised her laborious quest for detailed information and her English language skills. "I never asked her how long it took her to do the research," he said. "But I have to thank her determination and industrious work for the book's great details on historical evidence."However, although historians may find this wealth of details delightful, it could be too much for general readers.
It is unfortunate that 106 years after its war with the British, Burma is still in turmoil. This time, however, the protagonists in the present struggle are all Burmese _ the generals of the SPDC who cling to power on one side, and on the other, the opposition party and students who have yet to see the results of the 1990 general election respected.
What does the future hold? Will history and past experience be a factor in the unravelling of this country? Observers will have to wait and see.