The Need for Change

During my five days’ stay in Myanmar, I’ve acquired a better insight into its culture, people and political situation. The West doesn’t understand Myanmar at all and it makes no attempts to rectify its misconceptions and shallow views. It uses the military junta’s “human rights records” to justify the sanctions it imposed on the country in order to coerce the government to do its bidding in introducing reforms and democracy. How can one be a mediator when you don’t even bother to listen and understand and instead impose your own preferences and desires on others? Can democracy really improve the lives of the ordinary Burmese?

The opposition in Myanmar may have all the knowledge in the world, but if the common people are uneducated that amounts to nothing. The people are shouting for democracy but, to be honest, only very few of them know what it actually means. What they need is not necessarily democracy - it took most Western countries centuries to evolve politically to what they are today. What Myanmar needs is change. Democracy implies a lot more than 'change', more than just holding free elections. If the masses are uneducated, if the country is wrecked economically, if powerful opium warlords with huge private armies are operating in the country, and if there's internal ethnic strife, democracy (as defined by the West) may even be an outright dangerous path to take.

Educating the masses will take time. Restoration of the economy will too, and there's always the risk that the sudden introduction of a totally free market will lead to China economically swallowing up the country (which has already started even under present conditions). Many small traders will face bankruptcy and the population will struggle even more (just look at the Former Soviet Union to see how well off the people there are now). Will a democratic government be able to eradicate the drug lords ? Very unlikely - we need only look at what happens elsewhere in the world. Add to this that opium is part of the way of life for more than a just handful of Myanmar people and consider also the ever-present corruption; it is very likely some VIPs in a government chosen by the people will have a lot to gain from the drug trade. Finally there's the internal strife which will not end before the government agrees to far-reaching autonomy for certain states/regions. Will they allow that ?

The economic hardships are felt not by the ruling elite but by the poor common folks. Without external trade and foreign aid, Myanmar’s economy is in ruins and nearing a state of collapse. As a traveller in Myanmar you're definitely not just funding the military junta but your money is also helping the local folks. Admittedly, only a select few (mostly people in the trade business) but that's still better than none at all. Money gets injected into a community, that's the important thing. If I give a donation for the construction of a school I'm helping the local community (albeit on a small scale). If I give money to the poor people cleaning the roads of mud then that money is theirs, not the government's. If I buy toddy candy from a bloke who's just been tapping a palm tree, that money will buy him food. If I give money to a seriously handicapped person who gets no support at all from the state and can't work, then I've actually helped him. Better a handful of people than none at all.

Myanmar’s problems are more real, complicated and multi-faceted than it seems. It is not about human rights violations, what is at stake is national unity and the preservation of the unique Burmese culture and religion. On one hand, there is an urgent need to raise the education level of the younger generation. They have to learn English. Without English, they will never be able to survive and compete in the real world out there and Myanmar will always be remain poor, backward and undeveloped – a rogue state ruled by the military and its cronies. On the other hand, change cannot be too fast and spontaneous, it has to be controlled and gradual to adapt to the country’s actual conditions and needs. Any reforms made must filter right down to the village level, not merely a gross over the government’s policies and they have to be conducted under a protected controlled environment slowly and systematically.

Myanmar will never be able to compete in a free-market economy plugged to the global market without causing upheavals to its social fabric. I think I can finally catch a glimpse of the government’s meaning of “neo-colonialism” – Myanmar will have to abide by the rules set by the West in order to join the international community. As external influences penetrate into every strata of society, erosion of traditional values and cultural identity is inevitable as the young have to adapt themselves in order to survive in a new world order. One need only look at neighboring Thailand to see the social ills afflicting the country like a gangrenous infection slowly chewing away the national conscience. The price to pay for democracy is too high if it means losing one’s cultural heritage. Yet, it is not likely that Myanmar is able to remain closed up like this for long. It requires an influx of humanitarian aid and technical assistance in order to reconstruct the economy and save it from internal implosion and collapse which will spark off political anarchy, escalating the existing rivalries and conflicts between the various armed factions.

The minimum we should do is to work with the government to alleviate human suffering caused by disease, natural disasters and warfare in the form of provision of essential supplies, medication and services. In my opinion a transitional government is the way to go. No longer a military government but a council consisting of democratically elected civilians as well as representatives of the Tatmadaw or military forces. Only that way could the current leaders be convinced to surrender power, and only that way will the country gradually change instead of very suddenly with all the attendant problems. Do not forget that Myanmar has a democratically-elected government for 14 years since independence which has proven to be ineffective in dealing with the multitude of problems besieging the country – poverty, plummeting rice harvests, ethnic armed insurgencies, the communists, illegal logging, smuggling and drug trafficking. A strong military presence under the stewardship of a civilian government is still warranted to prevent these rouge elements from ravaging the land again.