The mirror of glorious past - the tragedy of the future

 

Myanmar, or you can say, Burma, is a country of every reflection on the mind of the people. Historically, the country is unique. And even in the modern era, it is still unique. It appears to be everything in your minds, like how I watched the movie "Beyond Rangoon". But it is also a story where power brought them might, and yet power also brought Myanmar, into tragedy... just like the current coup and protests...

Glory of an imperial state

History of Burma began with the migration of people from the mountains of Tibet and today's Yunnan to the plateau of Irrawaddy river. They first came to Burma in 11,000 BC, but it only became a civilisation from 2nd century BC onward. They established a series of city-states called Pyu, and ruled independently, not an organised structure. Because these city-states maintained limited contact outside between themselves, China and India, historian disagreed on how to interpret the Pyu-states' histories, as they all developed for themselves, for each city, and the idea of a Burmese nation had not existed. Nonetheless, people do agree that the Pyu cultures and customs were derived from India, setting the basis of future Myanmar.

From the 8th century, a group of people would soon arrive from Yunnan. They were known as the Mranma people, which would soon become the Bamars. Coming from a heavily Sinicized Nanzhao Kingdom, the Bamar fighters came raiding into these small, defenceless Pyu states, as well as founding a small city state called Pagan, the predecessor of the future empire. It took them two centuries before they finally took over all these Pyu cities and, instead of exporting the Chinese system, they were assimilated into the Indianised Pyu, adopting all Indian-style customs, and created a new nation that would shape Southeast Asian history.

Three major Kings that shaped Myanmar: Anawrahta (left), Bayinnaung (middle) and Alaungpaya (right)

The first Burmese King was Anawrahta, who established the first empire in mainland Southeast Asia other than Khmer Empire, the Pagan Empire. Anawrahta, who founded the empire, made Theravada Buddhism state religion, and the country flourished. The Burmese language was derived from the Pyu script to be made official. The development of Pagan also followed with several military successes in conquering smaller states, helping the Ceylonese Kingdom and requesting tributary as far as Java. Still, the country was relatively peaceful in term of international relations. Sadly, the empire ended in tragedy when she was toppled by the Mongols in 13th century, and the subsequent disintegration of the empire into smaller states, which led to several wars between them in vying for power.

The second Burmese King going to prominent was Bayinnaung. Bayinnaung founded what would be the greatest empire in Burmese history, the Taungoo Empire. Under Bayinnaung leadership, Burma witnessed an explosion of human energy, conquering neighboring nations like Siam and Lan Xang, as well as holding some small pieces within modern-day India and China. The empire, for once, was regarded as the second most powerful nations after China, with only Cambodia, Champa and Dai Viet escaped from the Burmese wrath. Yet, Bayinnaung never declared himself an Emperor, and relied heavily on the loose mandala network tributary system to maintain loyalty. He could do so because he was generous to the people from countries he'd conquered, which explained why modern Thai people still hold him with high regard. His death in 1581 began the disintegration of the empire, when his son Nanda Bayin, an energetic but bloodthirsty person, sought to undermine his tributary states by harsh repression. To make the pain more, Naresuan, the future King of independent Siamese Ayutthaya, successfully conquered Burma, marking the second time Burma capitulated at the hand of a foreign power. Taungoo eventually survived and reclaimed lost territories, but could not expand like Bayinnaung before, and had relative isolation before its collapse in mid-18th century.

The third and last Burmese King on the list was Alaungpaya. He was best remembered for creating the second largest empire in Burmese history, the Konbaung Empire. However, he died too early, in a battle against Siam and 1760 and was succeeded by his first son Naungdawgyi, but it was his second son Hsinbyushin who truly created the history of Burma by crushing Siam and defeating four Chinese invasions into Burma. By the end of 18th century, Konbaung had become one of three main empires in Southeast Asia's mainland, alongside Vietnam and Siam. Their story, however, also ended with another tragedy, it was defeated by Britain in a bloody 1824-1826 war that saw both sides suffered heavy losses before Britain swallowed Burma in two another wars and officially annexed it in 1886.

The traumatic legacy left by Britain

King Thibaw Min in his final days in his home country before being exiled to India.

During the British conquest, British authorities were quick to point out that Burma was home to many ethnic people, and they had no love for the Burmese Kingdom at all. They formed a close alliance with the Kachins and Karens, two hilly, mountainous peoples and encouraged their conversion from traditional animism to Christianity, the former enjoyed closer relations with the Americans rather than with the British. The Brits were also intrusive in term of exploiting ethnic tensions, by carefully constructing and designing territorial designs for different ethnic groups. The Shans, for example, were given autonomy under the Shan States. The Bamars were at the bottom of society. British authorities also encouraged Chinese and Indian migration, especially the latter, to further exacerbate tensions between migrants and Bamars. The policy did playout. This had culminated into a number of violent unrests against Indian population, as well as the other minorities for siding with the British. The surge of Burmese nationalism provided the British rulers a pretext to violently repress the ethnic Bamar majority.

In 1930s, two Bamar students, Aung San and U Nu, rose to prominence after being expelled from their university (Rangoon University) for giving anti-British speeches. Students then launched nationwide strike against the decision, accusing the British of monopolizing Burmese society. They were later re-admitted to the school, but Aung San and U Nu would not stop their activities. They would go on to play a major role in the future of the Burmese nation.

Aung San and U Nu when they were still university students

Then, World War II broke out. One of the duo would become the man who led the country's fate to independence. Aung San, who went to China trying to get support from the communists after being issued arrest for trying to overthrow the British rule, was surprisingly intercepted by the Japanese instead. The Japanese however, were impressed with Aung San due to his strong anti-British sentiment and desire for an independent Burma. Aung San was already a communist himself, but his alliance with Japan worth playing for. Aung San was sent to Japan, and he was trained by the Japanese alongside 29 others, who subsequently became the famed Thirty Comrades, trying to fight for the independence of Burma. Also the same time, Aung San founded the Burma Independence Army, the first fully-operated army of Burma since 1885. This army would go on to become the modern Burmese Armed Forces, or Tatmadaw.

When the Japanese conquered Burma by 1942, Aung San was considered an ideal candidate to become leader of a future puppet Burmese state that lasted to 1945. He was not selected, in favour of Ba Maw; but he still controlled the very powerful armed forces, where the motto "One Blood, One Voice, One Command" was incorporated and still being used today. Aung San became disgusted when Japan failed to honour its full promise to give the Burmese complete independence, but the same time, he also led his forces to fight against the minorities allying with Britain. His experience, though disputed, served as an inspiration for him to design a plan for a federal democracy to recognise the diversity of his nation. Yet, he was not considered a nice man for those minorities like the Christian Karens and Kachins, who suffered violent oppression throughout the Japanese occupation.

By the end of WWII, Aung San switched side and gained recognition from the British. When Burma was recaptured, Aung San immediately designated a plan with the British for the future of Burma. One of them was the famous Panglong Conference, held in modern-day Shan State city of Panglong, in order to preserve the natural border of Burma. The British government was aware of how popular Aung San was in his native country, and had the second-last governor of Burma, Reginald Dorman-Smith, consulted Aung San. But when Aung San was not invited to the victory parade in Kachin State's capital Myitkyina, Dorman-Smith was replaced by Hubert Rance. Rance was willing to compromise with Aung San, and effectively made him the unofficial leader of Burma.

Aung San meeting with British Prime Minister Clement Attlee, 1947

All was done. Clement Attlee immediately invited Aung San to London, where Aung San expressed his hope to see a complete free Burma and not a part of the Commonwealth. Despite pressures and scepticism from the other officials at the time and distrust from ethnic minorities, Aung San still persuaded them to join his government. Even he distanced himself from his fellow communist party to gain fervour by signing the Panglong Agreement, which was resulted from the successful negotiation in the earlier Conference. This Agreement was special, because it would provide the ethnic minorities their rights to secede from Burma if they were not happy with the central authorities, and promise about a federal system. Further, he invited an Indian Muslim, U Razak; a Karen, Mahn Ba Khaing; and a Shan, Sao Hsan Htun to form the government. Then a tragedy struck.

In 19 July 1947, half a year before the independence, Aung San was murdered alongside the eight other supposed to be future cabinet members. The British government denied any involvement and even helped the Burmese to arrest U Saw, who was thought to be orchestrating the killing of Aung San, and hanged him later. Yet, there was a suspicion against British government that the British didn't want to see a free, prosperous Burma; assassinating Aung San served its ambitions. Whatever it takes to investigate, it's worth mentioning that the death of Aung San on the last days of British colonialism was a drop of Burma's fragile hope for an independent nation.

And it was.

An unhappy independence...

Burma declared independence on 4th January 1948, six months after Aung San's death. When it became independent, the Panglong Agreement which shared power between different ethnic groups, was already torn down. Attempts to reinstate the federal system promise was not bothered, and this led to the beginning of some small-scale rebellions. First in Karen territory, where the Karen Christians were promised an independent state, it was followed by the Arakanese. Still, the country was governed in a fragile democracy based on Westminster system. On the same time, the unstable political landscape of Burma was further rattled by the invasion from the Kuomintang troops to the Shan State, where the Kuomintang soldiers planted opium trees to the locals. Finally, the Burmese drove out the Kuomintang to save face with the newly-established People's Republic of China, but the fact that it was not so okay to rule an insecure nation paved way for the rise of a dictator.

In 1960, Burma had a general election. Two years earlier, as the government was in possible political crisis, U Nu, the old friend of Aung San and Prime Minister of Burma at the time, formed a temporary coalition with the military of General Ne Win, also one of the original Thirty Comrades during World War II. The 1960 election saw a fair and stable outcome, and the military voluntarily handed back to the civilian control after bringing stability. It didn't last long. In 1962, Ne Win decided to overthrow the civilian government, and established a totalitarian, left-wing dictatorship that would change the course of Burma for years to come.

General Ne Win, one of the original Thirty Comrades in WWII, and eventual dictator of Burma.

Ne Win was a ruthless and megalomaniac General soon after seizing power. He founded the Burma Socialist Programme Party and implemented a disastrous policy known as "Burmese Way to Socialism". Under Ne Win, Burma, from being one of Asia's richest, turned upside down and the whole nation was in a complete economic and social crisis. He also violently repressed dissident protests, such as the protest relating to the death of U Thant, the first and only Southeast Asian to hold the General-Secretary of the United Nations in 1974. Ne Win was also a very devout Buddhist believer, and incorporated many Buddhist elements on his left-wing totalitarian regime; and he was also an avid believer of astrology. However, his biggest achievement was creating a political system that eventually suited the military.

Ne Win's repressive regime had to face challenges everywhere. The ethnic insurgencies began to intensify shortly after the coup, where many ethnic minorities were sidelined by the dictatorship of Ne Win, and a number of rebellions broke out against his government. But his biggest challenge came in the last years of his reign. On 5 September 1987, to get the needed financial support for the bankrupting Burma, Ne Win listened to a shaman, and withdrew 100, 75, 35 and 25 kyats, leaving only 45 and 90 kyats because it was separated by 9, considered lucky by the dictator. The students were angry that their tutions wiped out, sparked a national uprising. Brigadier General Aung Gyi, in a letter sent to the dictator, condemned Ne Win for the crisis. Aung Gyi himself would eventually found the democratic opposition, the National League for Democracy (NLD).

Yet, it was the returning of a woman that took the revolution to a new height.

Yes, she is Aung San Suu Kyi. The only daughter of General Aung San, who was and is still revered in Burma, she was not interested in politics at first. Her return to Burma in 1988 was to treat her ailing mother in the hospital. Suu Kyi herself married a British academist and had two sons, living a happy life in Britain. But fate had chosen her to become the leader in an unwanted moment. When she saw a lot of students being fatally wounded in the street carrying the image of her late father, she was shocked, and tried to escape from the insanity. Then, she got approached by the union of Burmese writers, who urged her, from her home, to take command for the democratic movement. Suu Kyi became a national icon, a status she holds to even today.

The military leadership of dictator Ne Win perceived the return of Suu Kyi with an immediate caution. Ne Win himself delivered a truculent valedictory speech the last time in 23 July 1988, warning that,

"If the army shoots, it has no tradition of shooting into the air. It shoots straight to kill."

He was prepared. And he had prepared. His henchman, Sein Lwin, ordered a total massacre, and became known worldwide as "Butcher of Rangoon". More than three thousands killed. But it could not deter the protest, so Ne Win secretly orchestrated a "coup", installed Saw Maung, whom Ne Win saw as his favourite successor. Of course, Saw Maung took all the responsibilities for the "coup", organised the previous Socialist Party into the State Law and Order Restoration Council, or SLORC - but Ne Win remained in the shadow. Saw Maung was even more brutal and cracked down harder, resulting in more thousands died.

To avoid repurcussions and to boast the image of the SLORC, Saw Maung changed the name "Burma" to "Myanmar" (ironically, Burma was already spelled Myanmar in Burmese language), to show unity between different ethnic groups. He promised to allow a free and fair election, and he did in 1990, only to later annull the result when seeing the military's proxy party, National Unity Party (NUP), trounced to the National League for Democracy. Suu Kyi was imprisoned into her house ever since, and could only see her English husband, Michael Aris, five times, before Michael passed away in 1999. Suu Kyi's non-violent struggle against the military inspired worldwide, and she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the first Southeast Asian woman and the second Asian after Mother Teresa (an Indian-Albanian). From Norway, 1991, her eldest son, Alex, delivered an eloquent speech to spectators soon after Suu Kyi was given the award, highlighting the plight of Burmese people.

Saw Maung? Well, he was later removed in 1992. It was thought that he became ill in the later years, began to have illusion that he was a reincarnation of an ancient warrior-king from 11th century. Than Shwe succeeded Saw Maung and continued the repressive policies by Ne Win and Saw Maung, barring any opposition groups. He changed the name of SLORC to State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) in November 1997, months after Myanmar was allowed to the ASEAN, an organisation of Southeast Asian nations. Than Shwe also maintained a very secretive profile, and even secretly moved the capital from Yangon to a newly-constructed city in the middle of the forest, Naypyidaw.

The people of Myanmar didn't give up yet. They kept reminding about how corrupt the military junta was, and once again poured into the street in 2007. This time, they were accompanied by Buddhist monks, known as the Saffron Revolution, when the government raised fuel prices. Remember, Myanmar's difficult economic situation due to government's subsidies. Just like 1988, the military's response was heavy-handed, killing at least more than one thousands people. Official state accounts however, stood only 31. Knowing that maintaining the grip didn't last forever, the military cautiously projected a plan and drafted a new constitution. It was done in 2008, and the Generals unanonymously allowed a referendum the same year, despite Myanmar was already struck with a very aghast cyclone.

Cyclone Nargis' effect in Myanmar.

Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar in early May 2008 leading to the deaths of more than 150,000 people and  might be more, because the junta stopped counting to avoid another national uprising. It was the fifth deadliest natural disaster in the world. The junta was reluctant to receive international aids at first, but later allowing a limited amount of aids. Relief efforts were later harmed by two main events, the shocking Sichuan earthquake ten days later that killed nearly 100,000 civilians in neighbouring China, and, as I've mentioned, the constitutional referendum.

The referendum was done despite international objections. And then, when the matter about Nargis was done, the military carefully planned the 2010 general election. The election saw the military proxy, Union Solidarity and Development Party, won by large margin. This election was condemned as well, because it was deemed unfair and opposition groups had boycotted the election.

But life is far from just bold condemnation without a ground...

...to short-lived democracy

After the election of 2010, Than Shwe dissolved the junta and his hand-picked successor, Thein Sein, a General, came to power as Myanmar's first President. Thein Sein surprised the world by releasing Aung San Suu Kyi and started the process of democratisation. Amazed by Thein Sein's generosity, world began to re-engage. The United States began to lift sanctions, and others followed suits. And that was a good new. Myanmar re-appeared in international map as many major investors were interested on the country.

Thein Sein, the General who led Myanmar to democratic path.

Myanmar was revitalised and it was destined to become a high-income country in just 20 years if a rightful plan were about to be designed. The country also prepared for the peace talk with many ethnic armed groups in order to find a solution for peace. Myanmar was going on the right path, as supposed by many international observers.

It might be. In 2015, Myanmar hosted another general election, this time it was considered fair and square. The NLD of Aung San Suu Kyi stormed most of the parliament seats (Hluttaw), and defeated the incumbent President. The victory of Suu Kyi was smooth, and Thein Sein agreed to hand power peacefully for Aung San Suu Kyi before shaving his head to become a Buddhist monk. Yet, Suu Kyi's attempt to bid for Presidency, soon slowly revealing the real nature of the constitution of 2008 that the military designed for.

According from the 2008 constitution of Myanmar, a President mustn't swear allegiance to any countries outside Myanmar. This article was specifically designed to target Suu Kyi, because she had a British husband and two sons. And this was just the beginning.

When she entered the Hluttaw, she found what the constitution of 2008 truly meant for Myanmar. It's more than just targeting her. It was specifically designed to ensure the power grip of the military unchanged. 25% of the parliament seats were reserved for the military without election, and any constitutional or political, economic reforms would require 75% of votes, meaning that if the military senators did not agree to pass, it would be nothing. Moreover, the military owns two important conglomerates, the Myanma Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) and Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), where it has a number of smaller affiliate companies/banks/estates, etc. An example is the Kanbawza Bank.

And to make it complicated, the Myanmar Tatmadaw was also permitted to operate the three ministries independently: the Defense, the Home Affairs and the Border Affairs; no need to consult with the civilian government. The constitution also granted the military its rights to remove a government they deemed unsatisfactory under the "State Emergency Law". Suu Kyi went to power only after her advisor, the Muslim lawyer Ko Ni, designated the "State Councellor" position.

So outside, Myanmar looked like a democracy. But inside, it was a hidden dictatorship, a state within state. It was unraveled by the infamous ethnic cleansing of ethnic Rohingya Muslims from 2016 to 2018 which led to international condemnation, though Rohingyas weren't the only to suffer (as the Kachins, Karens, Rakhine Buddhists and Shans have already suffered for many decades of violence by the Tatmadaw). Suu Kyi's peace efforts stalled, and her international reputation tarnished by her failure to condemn widespread ethnic cleansings. The Gambia filed a lawsuit against Myanmar over the horrendous atrocities in Rakhine.

I think Suu Kyi was aware about the genocide, but she realised how powerless she was. In order to calm the Generals, who were eager to remove her from power, she supported them. But again, the Generals were still not satisfied. Foreign investors started to be cautious about the environment of Myanmar.

But what I felt strange the most was the popularity of Suu Kyi. Even though international community shunned her for the Rohingya genocide, she is still a magnet at her home country. She is loved by every people in her homeland, and they still saw Suu Kyi their beacon, hope for democracy, they called her "Daw" (Dear Mother). The military must have miscalculated the support people gave Suu Kyi when they just counted only on how the world turned away from Suu Kyi, and pushed up for a reckless 2020 general election campaign where the Union Solidarity and Development Party was, like 1990's National Unity Party, trounced by NLD, this time in an even bigger margin. This humiliation was hard to accept, the Tatmadaw accused the election of fraudulent. Election Committee and international observors dismissed the claim, stating it was fair and square, reflecting the will of the people, even though some areas could not vote due to war situations.

The feeling of being "robbed" was strong among the military personnel, especially for the current Defense Minister, Min Aung Hlaing, who was about to turn 65 and fearful of a future parliament being controlled by NLD even with 25% of the seats still remain under the Generals. With patience run out, the Tatmadaw finally launched a coup d'etat on 1 February 2021, ended Myanmar's 10 years transition to democracy as the Hluttaw was supposed to convene.

Fitness instructor Khine Hnin Wai was dancing an aerobic exercise in the morning, unwittingly captured the moment of the coup.

What's now?

Well, nothing can be certain, that's for sure. Myanmar has returned to the military hand, but the people this time, like the past, refused to cower. From banging pots, to even making three-finger salute, Burmese are pouring to the streets in every corners of the country, as Min Aung Hlaing became eager to erode the 10 years' achievement of democracy even by force, leading to the deaths of more than 80 people. And we already had two girls who had become martyrs.

When I look on Myanmar, I have a dizzy feeling about the country. It was peaceful, it was prideful, but now it was robbed by the army that was supposed to do the duty for the country. And because the people had endured this too much, it will be very impactful.

Likewise, I suddenly remember to an old Al Jazeera's video, "The Boy Who Started the Syrian War". It recalled the story of the Deraa school boy Mouawiya Syasneh, whose anti-Assad graffiti sparked a total civil war in the country after decades of brutal repression by Hafez al-Assad and over ten years of some relative liberalisation under Bashar al-Assad (son of Hafez). I reconnected about the deaths of Mya Thwe Thwe Khaing and Kyal Sin - both two young girls just about only a year; to Mouawiya. While Mouawiya was not killed by the Syrian security forces (though he was tortured), Mya and Kyal were not lucky. And there was a surprising coincidence too. Syria embraced reforms in 2000 and lasted only over 10 years. Myanmar also embraced reforms, and it lasted over 10 years - and both shared histories of uprisings against tyrants, ethnic diversity in both Syria and Myanmar, and their unfortunate locations adjacent to superpowers, Syria-Russia and Myanmar-China.

I am worried. I look on Myanmar, I remind how similar it is to Syria. The vulnerability of Myanmar is even more certain when the army has shown no intention to stop the violence despite their contradict claims, whereas the protesters have also shown no sign of backing down. The military regime of Myanmar had annulled the outcome results, and promised a new election; yet the same time they operated a series of secret kidnap, house to house researches, for any NLD officials or NLD-sympathizers. Protesters are resisting by non-lethal ways, but it could not be certain how long.

Perhaps, I wish not to become a Prophet. But as I remember from the quote of Mouawiya Syasneh back in 2017...

Today, I'm here to visit my friend's grave. Tomorrow, friends will visit mine.

Maybe, it could be, the tragedy of Myanmar, lies on.