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Subhatra Bhumiprabhas
Special to The Nation February 7, 2012 1:00 am
Reform in Burma has been swift, yet for its ethnic people, not nearly swift enough
The news media have been tracking the dramatic political shifts in Burma, but for any visitor to Rangoon, the most striking change is that there are images of Aung San Suu Kyi everywhere.
Just as cinema-goers around the world are watching "The Lady", a biographical movie about her struggle with the ruling military junta from 1988 to 2007, Suu Kyi is suddenly in public view throughout the country. Her photo adorns street stalls, corner shops and even pagodas in remote towns.
Burmese citizens can talk openly about her, and about the generals and their politics, historian Sunait Chutintaranond noted at a recent forum, "Aung San Suu Kyi: The Lady and the Side Story".
The discussion was organised by the Thai Action Committee for Democracy in Burma, the Thai Allied with Desegregated Burma Foundation and Chulalongkorn University's Master of Arts in International Development Studies (MAIDS) programme.
Sunait, who works with Chula's Institute of Asian Studies, has just returned from Burma and also just seen "The Lady" on the big screen.
He found the depiction of Suu Kyi and the generals in the film "static". It's about her private and political ordeal during the years when the fight for democracy first swept her to victory in the 1990 election and the Nobel Peace Prize the following year - and then into 15 years of house arrest.
In the meantime she declined to travel to England to see her dying husband, knowing she would never be allowed back into Burma.
The film portrayals are all that the world has seen for decades, Sunait said, but the situation for both Suu Kyi and its rulers has since altered dynamically, leaving the movie somewhat of an illusion.
Suu Kyi was freed from house arrest in November 2010, in one of a series of advances the government has made in restoring human rights and regaining the support of the international community.
"There are photos on sale everywhere now of Aung San Suu Kyi and her late father, General Aung San, Sunait reported. "Many people wear T-shirts with her photo printed on them, and she's on calendars and in the newspapers. People don't have to refer to her as 'that woman' anymore."
They say her name aloud, without fear of arrest.
Sunait cautioned that, quite apart from her static image as a champion of democracy, peace and non-violence, Suu Kyi the politician now faces the challenge of adjusting to a world that has moved on while she was isolated.
The government's fundamental shift, loosening its grip on people's everyday lives, gives Suu Kyi a chance to improve life in Burma even more, Sunait said.
But any real improvement still seems a long way off to Charm Tong, a young Shan who has worked with ethnic women along the border, where she's seen little change.
Charm Tong, a member of the Shan Women's Action Network, presented a short film at the forum, "Bringing Justice to Women". It described the continuing, systematic and widespread rape of females of all ages, particularly in Kachin, Karen and Shan states, where she said the military has renewed its offensives since the 2010 election.
"I'm not saying that nothing has changed, but I want the world to remember that the Burmese military is still in the ethnic areas.
"Last year we documented 81 cases of ethnic women being raped by the military in these states, and 35 of those women were killed," Charm Tong said.
The network's 2005 "Licence to Rape" report detailed 173 incidents of rape and other forms of sexual violence involving 625 girls and women, committed by army troops in Shan State, mostly between 1996 and 2001.
Charm Tong had seen the trailer for "The Lady" and said that, despite its focus on Suu Kyi, "It also reflects the lives of other people in Burma in many aspects."
She was moved by the film's romantic side story and believes its producers will succeed in their ambition to raise awareness about Suu Kyi's cause and keep Burma in the headlines.
Just as Suu Kyi had to live far from her beloved English husband, Michael Aris, Charm Tong pointed out, many women in Burma suffer the same way, and often worse - when their husbands are killed. It's been a fact of life in Burma for decades, she said.
The ethnic groups believe Suu Kyi will bring them democracy, rights and equality. "She gives us the hope to fight for more change," Charm Tong said.
Still a struggle
Chulalongkorn University historian Sunait Chutintaranond, director of the Asian Studies Institute and an expert on Burma, has witnessed the wind of reform sweeping that country.
"The most obvious change is that people are much more relaxed in communicating with each other and with foreigners," he says. "They dare to criticise their leaders and talk openly about Aung San Suu Kyi.
"We also see freedom of the press. For example, the newspapers published photos of General Khin Nyunt [the premier ousted in 2004 and placed under "protective custody"]. We see photos of Suu Kyi in the papers. This has never happened in Burma before."
Did you notice change in people's daily lives?
It's not as dramatic as in the politics. Their economic situation isn't better. You still see people carrying their pinto [lunch canisters] to work.
The quality of life isn't better, but the hope is there. The hope is that, with politics now relaxed, the foreign investors will come and life will be better.
But at this stage it's no better, because the cost of living is going up. I think this will become problem in the long run, since most of the major opposition in 1988 and 2007 resulted from economic problems.
Where is Senior General Than Shwe now?
He has withdrawn. It seems he's disappeared. Some people believe he's in Naypyidaw, the new capital, and some believe he's under the military's protection, being cared for well. My guide referred to Than Shwe as "the retired general".
Subhatra Bhumiprabhas
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