The Ugly Duckling Burma or Myanmar?

A Burmese Response to the EU-ASEAN Think Tank Dialogue

By Kanbawza Win
Mizzima News (www.mizzima.com)

November 28, 2002:

The IV EU-ASEAN Think Tank Dialogue was over with a pessimistic mood by the participants. The only optimistic attitude prevail was when Dr Supachai Panitchpakdi, the Director General of the World Trade Organzation (WTO) revealed his plans for putting a human face into the WTO. He made known his intention of not only by tackling the death threatening diseases such as HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis but also to bring some of the 49 LDCs (Least Developed Countries) such as Cambodia and Nepal into the WTO with a special status.

But in the deliberation of two days under the banner of integration and solidarity, with four sessions (excluding opening and closing sessions) speaker after speaker took the platform and label Burma as an albatross of the EU-ASEAN integration. Since Burma became a full fledged member of the ASEAN, five years ago the Foreign Ministers meeting could not be held regularly and hence the EU-ASEAN think tank has to be substituted.

At the Kuala Lumpur meeting, in spite of the Burmese academics and the pro- democracy movement’s warning, Burma was accepted into ASEAN under the grandiose scheme of Constructive Engagement hailing as part of the Asian values. Now no such rhetoric is heard.

Political leaders of core ASEAN countries want to prove that ASEAN is genuinely a regional organisation inclusive of all countries of the region and it is a force to be reckoned with. Hence they make it ASEAN 10.  A classic example is that even though they all belong to one family of poultry, since all of the them are in Southeast Asia, one group is a duck and the other is a hen. That is, the core ASEAN countries of Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia and Brunei belong to the market economy while Burma, Lao and Vietnam are command economies. How can a drake marry a hen and a cock marries a duck? Their offspring being neither chicken nor duckling and so they can neither scratch nor swim meaning that they cannot integrate into ASEAN by any means. But since it is a forced marriage by political leaders (especially by Singapore, Malaysia and Thai leaders) who construe that the Western countries are meddling into the ASEAN affairs, now found out that they themselves have become a lame duck.

The EU and the Western countries have warned their ASEAN counterparts of bringing this pugnacious regime of Burma whose records of gross human rights violations are well known throughout the world, into their legal fold. But the founding fathers of ASEAN brush it aside and even up to this day cling perniciously on to their infamous policy of Constructive Engagement which is giving them a lot of trouble.

What have this Constructive Engagement policy achieved so far? The release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest and release of a fraction of political prisoners are due to international pressure headed by the United Nations. The only aspect of Constructive Engagement is the companies of these core ASEAN countries were able to exploit the natural and the human resources of the Burmese people. But the worst part of all is, that it sent a wrong message to their marauding Burmese Generals and make them think, in their shallow brain, that they are being legitimised. The proof of it is that they often crow this fact in their media while the photos of the Burmese Generals shaking hands with the ASEAN leaders are not wanting. Even if any foreign company comes and opens in the country is interpreted as that the foreign companies have to come and make business with us (the great generals).

No doubt the EU and ASEAN are very similar regional groupings based on economics but what we cannot conjecture is why the ASEAN countries or rather the leaders did not learn from EU? They could have easily taken a leaf out of EU, when the latter take in new members especially from the eastern European countries, which had a good record of command economies. They have to go through a lot of norms before one can become a member and see to it that there was free speech, free publication, human rights and democracy coupled with market economy and its attributes before being accepted as a member. Why was Burma accepted blindly? And only now ASEAN is crying, “help help”.

But the most paradoxical aspects of this “think thank dialogue” is that the ASEAN diplomatic corps are insisting to call the country by the name of Myanmar, that a Burmese scholar has to stood up and explain things of the difference between Burma and Myanmar. This kind of insisting by non other than those who are representing the region of Southeast Asia do not abode well with the topic of solidarity and integration between the two groupings. In this aspect the EU is very flexible as can be seen in the declaration of the common position using the word Myanmar/Burma, why can’t the ASEAN countries follow suit?

A rose called by any other name will still be beautiful and harbor sweet scent whereas a fox will be a fox even if it wore a sheep skin. The Burmese proverb says  Kwe Mi Kauk Kyi Dauk Sut if literally interpreted is that to make a dog’s tail straight the owner put a pipe over it. But when the pipe was removed, it was curved again as usual. So also the military generals of Burma will not become civilized gentlemen and take their rightful place in the family of nations once they become a member of the ASEAN. Brute will remain a brute it is only now that the ASEAN countries are realizing their folly.

Even though there are several Burmese scholars serving in the IISS of ASEAN countries none of them have explained the difference between Burma and Myanmar for obvious reasons. The end result was that the ASEAN diplomats blindly believe the Junta’s hypothesis and is pushing it at the international forums.

For clarity sake the word Myanmar comes from the South Indian tribe called Mrama, they migrated into Burma thousands of years ago and called themselves Myanma with the end pronounced softly as the word Mother in English. Now to this letter, Myanma, the Junta had added a letter R (perhaps very few could understand English language) and was forced down on the people. If properly translated should be Myanma Naing Ngan, whereas Myanma is a people and Naing Ngan is the country. It is ridiculous to call a country and the people by the same word as Myanmar. Besides, Burma has several ethnic nationalities, hence the word “Myanmar” is both phonetically and politically wrong, if not it is synonymous with gross human rights violations, the latest of which is giving their soldiers licensee to rape. Even in the modern history of Burma the most prominent organization that plays a crucial in gaining independence from Britain is called “Doh Barma Asaiyone and not Doh Myanmar Asiayone.”

On the other hand since this Conference communicate in English it should recognize the country’s name in English and not in other languages, such as Deutchland for Germany, Espania for Spain, Chung Gao for China and Myanmar for Burma etc. How can the international community water down a word coined at the whims and fancies of a cruel and ruthless Junta without the consensus of the people. This itself highlighted the uncompromising spirit on the part of the ASEAN countries.  So where is the integration and solidarity and who can stay from being pessimistic?

No doubt the two regional organizations have every intentions to work and cooperate together to counter balance the other major playing powers in the field like China, Japan, US, etc. So even if this small but significant aspect of name-calling cannot be compromised on the part of the ASEAN, we could see very little hope of solidarity.

But if the ASEAN countries realizing its own mistake and take a bold initiative and use a surgeon’s knife to cut the wound, then there is something we can hope for. In other words among their poultry products, as said earlier neither chicken nor duckling, there is a notorious ugly duckling by the name of Myanmar. Kick him out of the nest and go on with the rest. Wash their hands off for shaking the
hands that was stained with blood and start with a clean slate. It will be more fruitful, and only when that ugly duckling become more beautiful such as federal democratic republic of the Union of Burma, we can once again welcome him into the civilized Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Bruxells, Belgique
 

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