Monthly Archives: February 2014
Engaging with the local
Written on February 28, 2014 at 9:56 am, by Ian Holliday
An established practice of global humanitarian action is engaging with the local. That’s easier said than done, of course, and as the wider world becomes ever more present in Myanmar difficulties are starting to surface. A report issued by the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies last December addresses this topic. Written by Sarah L…
Debating the census
Written on February 27, 2014 at 8:37 am, by Ian Holliday
Debate about the upcoming census, now little more than one month away, continues unabated. The main trigger this week was the release on Monday of the latest Burma Policy Briefing by the Transnational Institute and the Burma Centrum Netherlands. All 13 briefings in the series are terrifically useful, but this one especially so. Entitled Ethnicity…
We need to talk about Rakhine
Written on February 26, 2014 at 9:53 am, by Ian Holliday
A remarkable feature of contemporary Myanmar politics is how often Rakhine exceptionalism surfaces in news feeds. On Monday, for instance, the Irrawaddy carried two articles signaling differences between that part of the country and everywhere else. One was an interview with Tomás Ojea Quintana near the end of his six-year mandate as UN Special Rapporteur…
Hobbes in Burma
Written on February 25, 2014 at 7:24 am, by Ian Holliday
Posting yesterday about the political role of Myanmar’s military in the present and future reminded me of a neat analysis of its role in the past. I’m thinking of an article Federico Ferrara published in the Journal of Conflict Resolution in 2003. It’s called “Why Regimes Create Disorder: Hobbes’s Dilemma during a Rangoon Summer”. I…
“The army may have to make democracy work”
Written on February 24, 2014 at 8:11 am, by Ian Holliday
In full, the statement reads like this: “The army may have to come forward and make sure that democracy works.” It was actually made about Indonesia by former defence minister Juwono Sudarsono. But it triggers Myanmar thoughts too. It was cited in an interesting op-ed by Michael Vatikiotis carried in last Friday’s New York Times….
The Muslims of Burma
Written on February 21, 2014 at 8:56 am, by Ian Holliday
Central to debate about the place of Muslims in contemporary Myanmar is a divisive historical dispute. Extreme Buddhist nationalists insist that Muslims have no organic place in the society. Muslims point to many centuries of settlement. Few systematic studies been written in English, however, making it hard to take a definitive position. Here all I…
Digital divide
Written on February 20, 2014 at 8:56 am, by Ian Holliday
In reformist Myanmar, all agree that rebuilding a decrepit education system is a top priority. To guide the process, UNESCO is working with the Ministry of Education to complete a Comprehensive Education Sector Review. Also underway are three other major audits (which may be one or two too many). If the objective is to deliver…
Spreading intolerance in Myanmar
Written on February 19, 2014 at 7:43 am, by Ian Holliday
An unwelcome addendum to yesterday’s post is news from the Irrawaddy that a Mandalay literary event planned for last weekend (presumably to run in parallel to ILF 2014) was cancelled following protests from dozens of monks about the scheduled appearance of three Muslim speakers. A statement released on Tuesday by the 88 Generation Peace and…
Myanmar Perspectives: 50 Paintings from a Changing Country
Written on February 18, 2014 at 9:32 am, by Ian Holliday
Lingnan University
February 27 – March 27, 2014
For three years since the installation of a quasi-civilian government in March 2011, Myanmar has experienced a large number of reforms. At a time when analysts are struggling to assess the political, economic and social significance of those reforms, this exhibition adopts a somewhat different perspective.
Looking through the eyes of more than a dozen contemporary artists, it presents 50 paintings from a changing country. Alongside openly political images, which until very recently would have been banned by state censors, are depictions of daily life in villages and towns during a period of transition, of religious beliefs and symbols, and of disparate ethnic groups and identities.
The dark side of Myanmar’s democracy
Written on February 18, 2014 at 9:08 am, by Ian Holliday
In an essay published last week by YaleGlobal, Professor David I Steinberg of Georgetown University notes that while Myanmar’s dominant Bamar Buddhist culture has a long history of strength, of successfully resisting challenges from near and far, local people believe it now faces momentous internal and external threats. Alongside anti-Chinese emotion is virulent anti-Muslim sentiment…