Tag Archive for 'burma'

One of the books on AJWS’s excellent Burma reading list is Finding George Orwell in Burma, by Emma Larkin, an American journalist. Larkin recounts her visits to the many places that Orwell inhabited while working as an officer for the British Empire in Burma. Orwell first entered the service in Burma out of feelings of patriotism, inspired like many of his countrymen by Kipling’s attitudes on empire and his poem “Mandalay” (interestingly, as Larkin relates, Kipling never visited the city; perhaps he just liked its poetic name). Over time, Orwell became increasingly disillusioned with empire, and many of his books and essays criticized it strongly.

In Burma, people sometimes refer to Orwell as “the prophet” because his writings about government abuses of power not only ring true but seem to have predicted many of the events that have come about. The Burmese believe that three of Orwell’s most famous books form a trilogy about Burma: Burmese Days, Animal Farm, and 1984.

Of course, it is said that 1984 was actually about the USSR, but many of its ideas couldn’t be more true for Burma. It is also quite telling that the book has been banned in Burma since shortly after its publication in 1949 (although Burmese Days, which criticizes the British occupation, is still widely available).

The more I learn about Burma, the more I think about Orwell and his prophetic commentary. Especially with respect to 1984 and to a certain extent Animal Farm, I often wonder: did he simply predict the events that would take place in Burma, or is the junta using his manuscripts as their playbook? There are countless examples, but here are just a few scary things that seem too Orwellian to be coincidences:

• The names and acronyms of many of the junta’s departments seem just too deliciously Orwellian to be true. It’s almost laughable that the regime decided to name their propaganda wing the Ministry of Information. The Press Registration and Scrutiny Department is responsible for censoring books and other media. Best of all, of course, is the State Law and Order Restoration Council, or the SLORC.
• Last month, General Than Shwe sent a letter to the “esteemed peasantry” touting many of the regime’s accomplishments and urging them to elect representatives who will continue with the status quo. The entire letter is shocking, and reminiscent of the Party’s announcements in 1984, but here’s a money quote: “Now, the nation’s rice supply has far exceeded the demand of the growing population.” Of course, as the international community is well aware, most people inside Burma face poverty and malnutrition. Many farmers have lost most of their land and are forced to buy rice on the black market in order to sell it back to the regime at lower prices in order to meet their quotas.
• During the Ne Win period in Burma, a ubiquitous propaganda phrase expressed the fact that loyalty was valued above education: “lu gaung, lu daw.” Translated as “good man first, smart man second,” to me this just sounds too terrifyingly similar to “four legs good, two legs bad” to be coincidental (from Living Silence, p. 39).
• In 1984, the Ministry of Truth takes on the difficult task of trying to rewrite the history books to paint a more favorable picture of the government. Similarly, the Burmese regime has been trying for years to erase independence hero Aung San from history, in order to devalue his daughter’s ties to him. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and to a certain extent her father Aung San, have received similar treatment to Orwell’s Emmanuel Goldstein in 1984.
• The Ministry of Information publishes books about the country’s impressive “progress” and development, like building hospitals that don’t have doctors or supplying schools with computers but no electricity to operate them.
• Although technological advances like 1984’s telescreen haven’t come to Burma, a low-tech Big Brother is certainly watching, through Military Intelligence spies planted among the population and the regime’s insistence that ordinary people spy on their neighbors.
• Just as in Oceania, the Burmese regime promotes nationalism and general fear of foreign influences to an extreme degree. The size of Burma’s military (half a million people, or one per cent of the population) is incredible for a country with no external enemies.
• The Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), formerly the BSPP, is basically a political party with compulsory membership  – if people refuse to join, they don’t exist and are barred from most jobs, especially in civil service. The USDA rallies don’t seem all that different from 1984’s daily televised Two Minute Hate.